Rock & Pop

The New Abnormal is the long awaited new album from The Strokes, and the band’s first album in seven years. The album was announced with the first track and video, “At The Door.”

The New Abnormal is The Strokes’ sixth studio album and was recorded at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, with producer Rick Rubin. The album’s cover artwork is a painting called ‘Bird on Money,’ by famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The Strokes are singer Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr, bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti.

'The man singing these songs isn't exactly the same man who wrote them,' says Pokey LaFarge of Rock Bottom Rhapsody, his eighth and latest studio release. 'This album is about the story of who I used to be.' In early 2018, LaFarge ' searching for the sort of artistic freedom and inspiration he wasn't finding in the Midwest ' relocated from his longtime home base of St. Louis, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California. New songs came quickly to LaFarge in his new environment, but new temptations soon found him, as well. Though he declines to get into specifics, LaFarge admits that he experienced a significant 'fall from grace' during the last months of 2018. 'Things sort of started to unravel in my mind,' Shortly before the recording of Rock Bottom Rhapsody began, LaFarge experienced a spiritual awakening ' and the faith he re-embraced in his hour of darkness helped to buoy him through the making of the album. Though he was struggling for spiritual equilibrium at the time, LaFarge at least had some rock-solid musical support to lean on. Recorded primarily at Reliable Recorders on Chicago's Northwest side, Rock Bottom Rhapsody was produced by LaFarge's friend and collaborator Chris Seefried (who also co-wrote several of the album's tracks), and features the considerable talents of guitarist Joel Paterson, keyboardist Scott Ligon, upright/electric bassist Jimmy Sutton, and drummer Alex Hall. Musically, LaFarge continues to mix and match a wide variety of styles and traditions, while never losing track of his own vision This record is kind of like Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan hanging out with chanson singers and French jazz bands in like the forties, but I was never trying to make it sound like a particular person. Despite the trying period that preceded its recording, Rock Bottom Rhapsody is ultimately far more uplifting and life-affirming than its title would suggest. 'That desperation, that struggle,' LaFarge ponders, 'Did it add something to the record? It certainly did. I mean, I don't know if it made it better; it just is what it is. It's not up to me to decide if people are going to feel that'

"It was in winter 18/19 - I flew to Montreal to meet with Tim Kingsbury, Richard Reed Parry, Craig Silvey and Teddy Impakt at Le Studio Du Arcade Fire. It was a fine time with a dream team in a city I love. Winter in beautiful Quebec. Les semaines les plus froides de ma vie. I had a bunch of demos that were inspired by migration stories I had heard from friends or read in newspapers while on tour in Europe and North America. I remember being struck by the similarities of the stories I heard from both continents and how really only the names of the powerful and the powerless had changed - thinking, "Is this the future? Is this our future?"Some time went by, the stories wove together and I remember them now closer to characters in a dream of how people could treat each other than any kind of front-page news realism. I think music subconsciously - whether writing or listening - is a filter for me - helping to process all the bad news into something new to build from - some records to me are like self-fulfilling prophecies - visualizing change to wish something into being - those records inspired this one." - M. Ward

2020 live release. Produced by The Monkees' archivist Andrew Sandoval and mixed by Christian Nesmith, The Monkees - The Mike & Micky Show Live was recorded live in March 2019. The collection includes performances of all three of the band's #1 hits: "Last Train To Clarksville," "I'm A Believer" and "Daydream Believer." In addition to those hits, the live album also spotlights many of Nesmith's finest compositions, including several songs that were never performed live during the Monkees' heyday, like "St. Matthew" and "Auntie's Municipal Court." Other Nesmith-penned tunes on the collection include live versions of "The Girl I Knew Somewhere," "Listen To The Band," "Papa Gene's Blues," "You Just May Be The One" and "You Told Me." Dolenz takes the spotlight singing hits like "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Randy Scouse Git," "Mary, Mary," "Goin' Down," "For Pete's Sake," and "Porpoise Song." The collection also features live versions of "Me & Magdelena" and "Birth Of An Accidental Hipster" from The Monkees' most-recent studio album, Good Times (2016).

2LP – Double Vinyl w/ 3-sides audio and 1-side etched; includes 32-page booklet

Pearl Jam will release their much-anticipated eleventh studio album, Gigaton, on March 27th. It marks the band's first studio album since 2013. "Making this record was a long journey," explains Mike McCready. "It was emotionally dark and confusing at times, but also an exciting and experimental road map to musical redemption." 2020 officially marks 30 years of Pearl Jam performing live, with over 85 million albums sold worldwide and a 2017 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Lilly Hiatt felt lost. She’d just returned home from the better part of a year on tour in support of her acclaimed third album, Trinity Lane, and, stripped of the daily rituals and direction of life on the road, she found herself alone with her thoughts for the first time in what felt like ages.

So Hiatt did what’s always come most natural to her in times of questioning and uncertainty: she picked up a guitar. Over the course of the ensuing winter, she wrote new music that grappled with her sense of self and place in the world, reckoning with issues that had been bubbling beneath the surface of her subconscious in some cases for years. The result is Walking Proof, Hiatt’s fourth and most probing collection to date. The record walks the line between Hiatt’s rough, rock and roll exterior and her tender, country roots. Lilly Hiatt’s not feeling so lost these days, and with Walking Proof, she’s crafted a roadmap to share with the rest of us.

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Tesla visited the iconic Abbey Road Studios for a one-night musical event, performing songs from their legendary arsenal including "Love Song" and "What You Give" along with their classic covers of "Signs" and "We Can Work It Out." Additionally, for the first time ever, the band performed the track "California Love Song," from their latest studio album, Shock. The performance was recorded and filmed in 4K HD, bringing forth Tesla's upcoming live album, Five Man London Jam. Available on 2LP.

Cavetown’s major-label debut album, SLEEPYHEAD, due out March 27, 2020, on Sire Records. Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Skinner himself in the bedroom of his new London apartment (some things never change), the 11-song collection is set to prove to the world why he’s become not just a cornerstone of the bedroom pop community, but a torchbearer for the next generation of his genre.

By focusing less on the more imperceptible aspects of his productions, Skinner’s distilled his energy on Sleepyhead into what really moves fans: the songs themselves, occasionally lighthearted, largely poignant – but always authentically him. The album is awash in ambient indie-rock nuance, creaking acoustic guitars and Skinner’s poetic lyricism, all steadied by his tranquil melodies and reassuring timbre.

Some 250 million Spotify plays and 1.15 million YouTube subscribers after launching Cavetown, he’s a radically different person than he was just a few years ago. “Basically every aspect of my life has changed since putting out Lemon Boy,” he admits. “Often when change happens, it’s so slow that you don’t notice it. The speed at which it’s happened has made me appreciate everything.”

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Half Waif Nandi Rose is on her own again, and three songs into her forthcoming album The Caretaker, the singer, songwriter and producer declares her fearlessness: "Baby don't worry about me, I don't worry about you." Here, on "Ordinary Talk," Rose meditates on the heaviness of ordinary moments, the constellation of tears and chores and self-doubt and small talk that comprise being a person, accompanied by her most cinematic, pulsing arrangements to date. It's an apt introduction to The Caretaker, an ax-lbum that negotiates the space between working alone and with others, between isolation and connection. The result is her boldest work yet. Over the course of eleven songs, Rose creates the lush world of a humid summer night, dreaming of and reaching for a season in which she is her "best self."

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The film, 'Viva The Underdogs' features over a decade of behind the scenes personal footage, coupled with unprecedented access to the bands most explosive live tours and world's biggest music festivals. The film gives an incredibly honest and candid look at Parkway Drive's journey; the good-times, battles, triumphs, and sacrifices. "Viva The Underdogs" the album features 14 tracks; 11 of their biggest songs recorded live at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, as well as three of their most popular tracks re-imagined, recorded in German and one with a feature from German Rap artist, Casper.

Devotion, the second album from Margaret Glaspy, is a collection of twelve love songs, reflecting the phases of romance –appreciation and frustration, doubt and adoration. While Glaspy has become known as a skilled guitarist; on Devotion she shifted her songwriting process, building these tracks on computer-based tools like MIDI and Ableton before opening them up on guitar. The result is a new sonic terrain that highlights her vulnerable lyrics and unique emotive vocals.

Single LP on black vinyl in single jacket w/ matte coating. Includes euro sleeve (with lyrics) & 24”x36” poster. Download coupon also included

What do we hold on to from our past? What must we let go of to truly move forward? Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield spent much of 2018 reckoning with these questions and revisiting her roots for answers. The result is Saint Cloud, an intimate journey through the places she’s been, filled with the people she’s loved.

Conan Gray announces his highly anticipated debut album Kid Krow, releasing on March 20th, 2020 via Republic Records. Gray recently wrapped up his headlining tour with three sold out nights at The Fonda in Los Angeles. Having sold over 65,000 tickets over his first two headline tours, Conan has quickly built an undeniable fan base. Kid Krow features the hit single "Maniac" which has already amassed over 110K in Global Consumption!

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Recorded at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. Includes the new song “Bitter End”, a cover of the Bee Gees classic “To Love Somebody”, and a re-imagining of their hit single “Wish I Knew You”.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release. The band is known for their fast, punk-influenced two-piece bass and drum songs, with both their music and image being characterized by "DIY principles, thrift store-cum-glam fashion style and a vast list of influences." The brothers classify their sound as "vada vada," a philosophy which Wyatt Shears describes as "an idea that represents pure creative expression, that disregards all previously made genres and ideals".

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Capitol Records recording artist Niall Horan returns with his highly anticipated sophomore album "Heartbreak Weather." Featuring his new single "No Judgement" and up tempo record "Nice To Meet Ya," this body of work showcases his unique musicianship and magnetic vocal range. The singer/songwriter has earned platinum certification or greater in 18 countries, achieved global critical acclaim and amassed 3 million adjusted album sales and 3.5 billion streams worldwide.

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Deap Lips is Wayne & Steven from THE FLAMING LIPS with Julie & Lindsey from DEAP VALLY. This special collaboration came together after a friendship formed between the bands. It will hit stores on CD and LP via Cooking Vinyl  on 3/13.

Experience the original soundtrack from the Emmy Award-winning series Ozark. Composed by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, the Ozark Original Soundtrack (Seasons 1 & 2) is available as a limited vinyl edition, available on March 13 in advance of the Ozark season 3 premiere on March 27, 2020.

Here comes SUPERSTAR the bigger, badder, glitter-driven record by Caroline Rose. Written as a sequel to 2018's LONER, the forthcoming 2020 release 'plays out like an epic movie about the pursuit of fame and fortune,' Rose states. 'I've always been fascinated by this pursuit, but what's even more fascinating is what happens when it fails.' Indeed, gone are the successful Hollywood hunks and starlets of old. SUPERSTAR chronicles a quirky anti-hero, who after receiving a wrong call from the elite hotel Chateau Marmont, decides to leave their old life behind in order to become a big Hollywood star.

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Emmy-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress, singer, and songwriter, Mandy Moore returns to music with her first album in a decade, Silver Landings. In a purposeful departure from the more tightly structured pop of her previous material, she's worked closely with long-time collaborator and producer Mike Viola and with her husband, Taylor Goldsmith (singer/guitarist/songwriter for L.A.-based folk-rock band Dawes), creating the album's lyrics on her own and recording each song live with a full band setup. The album deftly moves from 70s inspired soft-rock (When I Wasn’t Watching, I’d Rather Lose) to contemporary pop (Save A Little For Yourself, Tryin’ My Best, Los Angeles). “I wanted to make a California-inspired record, something that feels airy and natural”, says Moore.

Moore looks forward to embarking on the next chapter of her music career with a newfound sense of agency. “I very much feel like I'm at the helm of the ship now, where I'm stepping back into music completely on my own terms,” she says. “Everything that's happened up until this point has gotten me to where I am today, and I'm so excited to just keep moving forward.”

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Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 release. Born from the DIY/all-ages scene in New York, Thick make music with the raw defiance of punk and addictive melodies of pop, punchy and catchy and wildly tongue-in-cheek. With their live show typically spawning a mosh pit described by Stereogum as "more like an aggressive hug," the Brooklyn-based trio brings an unchecked intimacy while building a deep and unshakable solidarity with the audience.

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This is the Ozzman’s first album in 10 years and with his recent appearance on the Post Malone track “Take What You Want” as well as his single “Under The Graveyard” which has now been #1 at Active Rock for five weeks and #1 at Classic Rock for nine weeks we are poised to have a massive return to the marketplace.  Some of the announced features include longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde, Slash & Duff McKagan (GNR), Chad Smith of the RHCP, and Post Malone guitarist / producer Andrew Watt.  There are additional big name features that have yet to be announced.

On October 22nd Courtney Barnett performed a unique and special show at the invitation of MTV Australia in her hometown of Melbourne. The “Unplugged” performance features Barnett as you’ve never heard her before, warm, vulnerable and emotional. Under a garland of lights and a canopy of florals in the outdoor courtyard of Howler, Barnett performed a stirring set of eight songs to an intimate audience including “Depreston”, “Avant Gardener” and “Sunday Roast." Joined by her usual band Dave Mudie and Bones Sloane, she also enlisted cellist Lucy Waldron. MTV Australia Unplugged Live in Melbourne will be released physically on February 21.

Norwegian indie rock band Sløtface deliver a powerful sophomore record in "Sorry for the late reply". Fierce yet melodic, the album takes on everything from break ups to climate change and lead vocalist Haley Shea's immigrant experience.

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