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As minimal two-man blues-rock bands go, this has to be near the top of the heap. The problem with minimal two-man blues-rock outfits (and there have been more of them than you think) is that they're, well, usually too minimal, with thin garage sound and a shortage of variety. The Black Keys' sound, impressively, is not too thin (though it is garage-ish), and there's enough deft incorporation of funk, soul, and hard rock into the harsh juke joint-ish core to avoid monotony. Most importantly, Dan Auerbach has a genuinely fine, powerful blues voice, sometimes approximating a white, slightly smoother Howlin' Wolf (particularly on the opener, "Busted"). Auerbach's a good guitarist, too, conjuring suitably harsh and busy (and sometimes heavily reverbed) riffs out of what sounds like a cheap but effectively harsh amp. Patrick Carney's drums might be the cruder component of this two-man band, but they keep the sound earthy without sounding sloppily punkish for the hell of it, as too many such groups searching for the blues-punk fusion do. The very occasional insertion of hip-hop snippets seems neither here nor there, and the cover of the Beatles' "She Said, She Said" seems like an odd choice. But overall it's quite cool raunchy electric blues with more vigor and imagination than similarly raw, elderly Southern juke joint artists who came into vogue starting in the 1990s. And it's way fresher than the standard bar band blues-rockers with slicker execution and more reverence for blues clichés. – All Music

No More Shall We Part ended a four-year silence from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. A best-of was issued in 2000, but no new material had appeared since 1997's landmark album, The Boatman's Call. With that record, Cave had finally delivered what everyone knew he was capable of: an entire album of deeply tragic and beautiful love songs without irony, sarcasm, or violent resolution. It appears that The Boatman's Call altered the manner in which Cave writes songs, and the Bad Seeds illustrate it. Two musical directors -- the ubiquitous Mick Harvey and Dirty Three violinist Warren Ellis -- craft a sonic atmosphere whose textures deepen and widen Cave's most profound and beautiful lyrics to date. The ballads have the wide, spacious, sobering ambience one has come to expect from the Bad Seeds. There is an ethereal change in sound in the uptempo numbers which are, for lack of better terminology, musical novellas. They plumb the depths of blues, yet contain glissando and crescendos from the orchestral music of composers such as Fartein Valen and Olivier Messiaen. There are places, such as in "Oh My Lord," where rock & roll is evoked as a device, but this isn't rock music. A listen to "As I Sat Sadly by Her Side," "Hallelujah," and the aforementioned track (the most "rock" song here) will attest that it is merely one color on a musical palette that is more expansive now than at any time in the band's history. Also in the band's musical treasure trove is the addition of the McGarrigle sisters on backing vocals -- nowhere is their contribution more poignant than on the tenderly daunting, haunted house that is "Love Letter." Lyrically and as a vocalist, Cave has undergone a startling, profound metamorphosis. Gone is the angry, humorous cynic whose venom and bile touched even his lighter moments. His deep, taunting ambivalence about Christ and Christianity in general is gone, vanished into a maturity that ponders spiritual things contemplatively. Humor that pokes fun at "churchianity" remains, but not as a source of inspiration. Over these 12 tracks, Cave has taken the broken heart -- so openly exhibited on The Boatman's Call -- and elevated it to the place where he has learned to live, and to speak from as both an artist and a human being – All Music

And what if the infamous UNDERGROUND and OVERGROUND albums had a third psychedelic chapter, still secret and unreleased until today? Yes, you heard correctly: this SUPERGROUND LP is sonically akin to the legendary pair for which composer Sandro Brugnolini will always shine worldwide, and ideally brings the trilogy to a close. Composed and recorded in two sessions between July 1969 and November 1970, the album echoes the shocking 1969's Charles Manson massacre, with tracks dedicated to the villa at Cielo Drive, in Hollywood, where Sharon Tate e Roman Polanski lived for six months. Some music was also used for an animated short movie signed by Pino Zac, “Radice Quadrata di 3”, a little art-film gem about the consumer society.

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The recordings have all in common the terrific line up, featuring MARC 4 members Antonello Vannucchi (organ), Maurizio Majorana (bass), Roberto Podio (drums), along with Angelo Baroncini (guitar) replacing Carlo Pes. An incredible groovy combo that plays a strange psychedelic rock and r’n’b with funky and prog flavor. Another lost masterpiece from Italian golden age soundtracks finally rescued and brought back in life to see the light of the wax for its very first time. - Bandcamp

Three emotional years in the making, Be With and Efficient Space finally present Steve Hiett’s Girls In The Grass. Pressed alongside the long awaited reissue of his one-shot masterpiece Down On The Road By The Beach, these ten balearic soul instrumentals are of equal necessity; unrivalled beauty rescued from the fashion photographer-guitarist’s Paris Tapes (1986-1997).

While recordings unintended for release should often be approached with caution, this is a rare case of unheard material being assembled as an indispensable and coherent piece. Girls In The Grass is something super special. The light and shadow that defines Hiett’s music is arguably more compelling here. It speaks to us in a language that feels profound, yet entirely comforting and familiar.

Girls In The Grass reintroduces Hiett’s languid electric blues boogie, crafted on Saturday afternoons with fellow art director Simon Kentish. Kentish would cook, pour some wine and then utilise his arsenal of technology. He’d dial up a chugging rhythm, together with some ambient pads or keyboard textures, and anchor the weightless gauze of Hiett’s six-stringed touch. - Effecient Space

On Perfume Genius' previous albums, Mike Hadreas revealed so much of himself that it's difficult to imagine he'd have more to uncover. With Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, however, he goes beyond baring his soul to exploring the power and tenderness of the body. Before making this record, Hadreas collaborated with choreographer Kate Wallich and her dance company the YC, not just writing the music for her piece The Sun Still Burns Here but performing in it as well. This collaborative, body-oriented way of making art had a profound impact on his fifth album. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is more theatrical and more direct than much of Perfume Genius' earlier work, and revels in the physicality of his music in inspired ways. The album's textures are almost tangible, particularly on "Describe"'s thick distortion and flowing slide guitars, and with the standout "On the Floor," he delivers the kind of irresistibly bouncy, joyous longing that's impossible not to dance to. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately reunites Hadreas with producer Blake Mills, whose work on 2017's breathtaking No Shape earned a Grammy nomination. Once again, the pair covers lots of musical ground, subverting rugged Americana and sweeping, nostalgic melodies that have decades of emotional resonance behind them. "Whole Life" begins the album with a tremulous sigh and the sheltering drones that defined records like Put Your Back N 2 It before building into lush, almost syrupy symphonic pop majesty and twangy guitars. On the standouts "Without You" and "Nothing at All," Hadreas borrows some of Bruce Springsteen's manly chug and surrounds it with fluttering synths and sparkling pianos, echoing the vulnerability and growing strength within both songs (when he sings "I got what you need, son" on the latter track, it feels like he's talking to himself as much as a lover). More proof that a more physical and immediate Perfume Genius isn't one-dimensional comes with "Jason," a dreamily sensual reverie that recalls Air or Blonde Redhead with its rounded, flowing bass and delicate harpsichord, and "Moonbend," where flute, acoustic guitar and ever-so-slightly eerie harmonies come together as gracefully as a ballet. Frequently, Hadreas buries his voice in the mix on the album -- a daring choice for such an empathetic singer and lyricist, but one that conveys how engulfing his emotions are. On the mesmerizing "Leave," strings overtake Hadreas' wordless murmuring in a wave of passion that lives up to Set My Heart on Fire Immediately's name. The demanding, commanding nature of that title makes itself felt on songs as different as "Your Body Changes Everything"'s dark swagger or the breathy pleas of "Just a Touch." All the nuances of desire that Hadreas explores on Set My Heart on Fire Immediately enhance the individuality of each song, as well as his own individuality -- and as he honors every part of his music and himself, he gives listeners another rich, densely packed album to savor. – All Music

Some Old Bullshit is a compilation album by the Beastie Boys released in 1994. It compiles several of their early EPs, recorded in the early 1980s. These recordings present a sound radically different from that of the hip-hop sound generally associated with the band. Instead, these songs represent the band's part in the early New York hardcore scene. The album also features taped segments originally heard on Noise the Show, a popular hardcore radio show on WNYU in New York that played early recordings from the Beastie Boys. These segments feature the hyperbolic introductions of Noise the Show's host, Tim Sommer, an early supporter of the band. – Record Store Day

Bélver Yin's soul mining odysseys have been unjustly overlooked for three decades. An anomaly in the Spanish alt-pop scene, their forlorn instrumentals and ethereal romanticism would have struck a chord in the British league of Felt, The Chameleons, Cocteau Twins and Dif Juz, leaving their 1991 debut Luz Bel deserving of reappraisal.

While coining their band name from a Jesús Ferrero novel and quoting Laozi philosophy on album sleeves, Bélver Yin create illuminating textures that unlock a wordless language of memory and adolescent emotion. Formed in Salamanca by self-taught musicians Pedro Ortega Sánchez and José María Martín, the guitar-bass duo spent two years crafting their divine interplay with interim drummers before submitting a demo to Noisex Music, their only attempt at label courting. The phone rang mere days later with owner and producer Bernar Marks (Dust Sessions) offering to cut an album and the band ventured to Valencia with cloud-touching optimism soon after.

Championed by local press, the release fell short of expectation, fueling the mythology of a vanished band known only to the initiated. Varying lineups would, however, continue to work in the shadows under Pedro's direction, recording two spatially arranged follow-ups at their own pace in 1996 and 2005.

A glorious debut that undeniably set a high watermark, Luz Bel is finally available again, faithfully remastered by Mikey Young and featuring bilingual liner notes from John Gómez, the authoritative ear behind Outro Tempo. – Efficient Space

Modern Jazz / Jazz Rock / Psychedelia group out of Finland, Helsinki. 2nd re-press of this amazing LP - Highly recommend checking it out!

There is a Window Of Opportunity called life. A limited period of time, into which we must fit the quotidian activities of everyday life, our dreams, relationships, personal pleasures and self-discovery. Sometimes we contemplate our death, our impact on the world and the traces we’ve left. Biodiversity is one of the most serious issues of our time. We are currently experiencing a period of mass extinction mainly caused by human activity, e.g. overfishing, hunting and the spread of cities and agriculture.

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It is said that we can’t understand our own death, but is it any easier for us humans to comprehend the scale of death associated with mass extinction, the disappearance of species? Every species is an important part of the ecosystem. Furthermore, with every extinct species, a mode of being is lost. With biodiversity being in such a precarious state, it might be easy to submit to feelings of resignation. Yet, for those who seek beauty, there is still beauty to be found. And there will be, I hope. Likewise, for those who wish to express their love and compassion for the world and for the life inhabiting it, the possibility is still there. The possibility of love having a home in a human heart. – A Message from Soft Power | Bandcamp

Originally released in 2003, Boris' Akuma No Uta will see a reissue on Oct. 4th 2019. Akuma No Uta was known by many as one of the top 200 releases from the 2000s noted by Pitchfork and one of Boris’ most successful releases of their 20 full-length album discography. The reissue will feature the original US cover art which is a tribute to Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, even attributing the length of the album to 39 minutes like Bryter Layter. – Bandcamp

Originally released in 1973, the record sounds simultaneously vintage and contemporary. It is akin to something Madlib might dream up whilst lost in Japan collaborating with Min'yō players at a recording session. The record features some amazing shakuhachi (bamboo flute) playing by Hozan Yamamoto, which gives the music a haunting, dreamlike atmosphere. You can almost visualise the long grass blowing in the wind, and hear the bamboo rustling in the distance on a long hot summer’s day. Takeshi Inomata, Tadao Sawai and Kazue Sawai anchor the session. Takeshi’s exceptionally funky-drum work will almost certainly get some producers dusting off and firing up their MPC's. Whilst Kazue and Tadao work their magic on the koto (a traditional string instrument).

Though certainly not an ambient record, 'Jazz-Rock' has the same meditative, other-worldly quality that invites you to sit back, listen and be transported somewhere else. Unfortunately, until now the 'Jazz Rock' album is a scarcity that commanded a high price-tag only for the most hardened of record collectors. So it is pleasure to make it accessible to all, and we hope you dig this lost, obscure future-classic as much as we do. – Mr Bongo

Scorching free improvisation by Chicago-based cellist Fredrick Lonberg-Holm and Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. 'You Can Be Mine' catches the duo sparking against each other in a free-flying tussle of drums, cello and electronics, from raging jazz tornados to pointillist precision and quieter, intent passages of extended technique. – Boomkat

Most Nine Inch Nails albums play like documents of sharp, turbulent mood swings. Bursts of rage give way to creeping anxiety; momentary ambiance begets nihilism and noise. It’s a routine so familiar by now that fans should be able to predict Trent Reznor’s shifting temperaments like weather patterns. So when he recently announced plans to release his new music in a series of interconnected EPs, there was hope that he might, in this condensed format, locate his best angles, find a few new ones, and leave us wanting more. 

Depending on who you ask, the refreshingly cohesive Bad Witch is either the final EP in that trilogy or his first full-length in five years. Even Reznor himself seems slightly bewildered by it: “It wasn’t necessarily what we thought it was going to be when we started,” he explained coyly about the project. While the six-song, 31-minute record is easily the shortest thing to ever pass for a NIN album, it’s hard to deny that it does feel distinct. Its preceding releases, 2016’s Not the Actual Events and last year’s Add Violence, were concise and sporadically thrilling surveys of Reznor’s oeuvre, but Bad Witch stands on its own. Like his greatest albums, it works best as a whole, played loudly on headphones in a dark room. Like his celebrated film scores with bandmate Atticus Ross, it successfully creates an atmosphere and invites us to explore every inch of it. – Pitchfork

Afro-Rock + Funk + Disco + Psychedelia = Sweet Spot

Ofege was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenagers at the St. Gregory’s College in Lagos Nigeria. They were largely influenced by the guitar solos of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page while closer to home, they were influenced by the music of ‘BLO’ (Berkley Jones, Laolu Akins and Mike Odumosu), ‘Monomono’ (led by Joni Haastrup), The Funkees, and Ofo The Black Company. Due to their vibrant combo of sweet harmonies, hooks & fuzz, Ofege would become one of the most legendary Nigerian groups of all time, with expressive sales and national stardom. At the turn of the century (and because of tracks appearing on various psychedelic music compilations) Ofege would receive international acknowledgment for being the first of their kind and the ultimate West-African psychedelic funk band! 

Their debut album (Try And Love, EMI 1973 – also reissued by Tidal Waves Music) was recorded while the band members were still in high school (average age of 16) … their follow up ‘The Last Of The Origins’ (Recorded in 1975 and released on EMI in 1976) took some years to come out because some band members had to finish school first. ‘The Last Of The Origins’ is an exceptional record with a deep psychedelic approach. Complex rhythm sections, African inspirations, huge breaks, wah wah guitars and cosmic synths …it’s all there! Easily one of the best Afro-funk albums recorded in Nigeria in the 70s. – Tidal Waves Music

Jazz meets Post Rock and Psychedelia in the great outdoors.

Sam Shepherd and his ensemble incorporate the vast, rocky landscape of the California desert into the very fabric of their ambient post-rock.

Floating Points has always been especially attentive to the way sound exists in space; many of his most electrifying moments take place along the periphery of silence. Here, the painstaking way he details the psychoacoustic properties of the landscape is remarkable. While “Kites” might at first seem like a mere interlude, playback on headphones situates you in the remarkable headspace of the desert, evoking the kind of calm most modern urban listeners rarely experience. As Shepherd swings the mic, distant echo and miles-off reverb color the distant arpeggios of that synth situated on the rocks. Listen deeper and the smallest of sounds also arise, like the crunching of rocks under Shepherd’s feet as he moves through the space; the very breath of the desert is made audible. The result is transportive and supremely psychedelic. - Pitchfork

Alounge in the Poconos located just inside a Holiday Inn, 1973. The smoky haze clears to reveal a middle-aged couple on a one-foot high stage, prattling on about the weather or Watergate before launching into a serviceable cover of Burt Bacharach’s “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?” Tens of thousands of such combos littered restaurants, cruise ships, casinos, lobbies, and cocktail bars throughout the ’60s and ’70s, but far fewer cut a record worth buying from the stage, much less listening to on the home hi-fi. Gathered here are 14 lounge originals from across the entire easy listening spectrum. A spent matchbook’s worth of crooners, bossa nobodies, seafood jazzers, and Donca-Matic enthusiasts all in search of their ticket out of a red leather booth hell. – Numero Group

Mobo jazz award winners Sons of Kemet’s follow-up to their 2013 debut album, Burn, features a comparable chemistry of hooky horn themes – from reeds-player Shabaka Hutchings and new tubist Theon Cross – and rapturously hip double-drumming from Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford. Their sound balances ritualistic sparseness, conversational clamour and unpredictable jazz looseness. 

The languid tenor-sax vamp of In Memory of Samir Awad turns to smeary upper-tone asides over pounding drums; the initially free-jazzy Tiger gets slinkier in dialogue with the tuba; Afrofuturism mixes marching-band music, abstract sax shimmers and distant vocal chants. But there’s also a gentleness in the lyrical sway of Play Mass and the hypnotic, north African-inflected Mo’ Wiser. 

Two years ago, Sons of Kemet were already blowing live audiences away and fascinating listeners on record – they do it even better now. – The Guardian 

Era Vulgaris is Homme’s fifth Queens album, and like the others, it’s intricately crafted, meticulously polished and ruthlessly efficient in its pursuit of depraved rock thrills, with robotic rhythm machines like “Turning on the Screw” and “I’m Designer.” Last time, Homme got slept on with the excellent but underrated Lullabies to Paralyze — people were thrown off initially by its down-in-the-dumps mood, which may be why the music took longer to kick in for some fans. But Era Vulgaris is a lot cockier than Lullabies, clobbering you instantly with guitars louder and uglier than a psychedelic biker party at Joshua Tree’s Skull Rock. “Misfit Love” is the ultimate Queens anthem, all low-register guitar crunch, with a percussion track that sounds like tennis balls the size of Betelgeuse crashing into a Moog factory. Homme snarls, “I wanna see my past in flames,” and he gets his wish. – Rolling Stone

The magnificent ego of Father John Misty makes his music seem really important. The music is not really that important, of course, but when you hear that smooth and gentle soft-rock with his olden croon centered so perfectly on every pitch, it seems like it is, in the way that narcissists or the canon of classic rock seem important. This outsized persona bursting forth from singer-songwriter Josh Tillman is full of self-mythology descended straight from Bob Dylan, dripping with a painted-on significance: His greatest passion is his thoughts. The autofiction of his songwriting imparts its own patina of truth, something that seems unassailable if you subscribe to the man, the voice, the facial hair. He strolls through his own songs like a melancholy king finding every opportunity to catch his reflection. – Pitchfork

There's an aural poignancy that runs throughout Lionlimb's compelling sophomore album, 2018's six-track Tape Recorder. While the Nashville-based duo of singer/songwriter Stewart Bronaugh and drummer Joshua Jaeger have always evinced a sun-dappled, '60s brand of emotionality, the added poignancy on Tape Recorder can, at least in part, be explained by the group's slightly different recording process this time out. Fresh off their European tour, Lionlimb settled into a studio at New York's Columbia University (and later, the Relic Room studio) where they began crafting these layered, classical chamber-inflected songs. While the core of the band's sound still centers on Bronaugh's hushed, poetic vocals, they've expanded their indie rock approach with Bronaugh setting pen to staff paper to score his expansive arrangements. Along with swirling guitar and basslines, he weaves in organic amounts of cello, violin, and bass clarinet. The result builds nicely upon the group's heretofore psychedelia-dipped brand of indie rock, and retains much of their longstanding devotion to the late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith. This atmospheric, bedroom orchestral aesthetic also brings to mind more vintage touchstones like Nick Garrie's 1969 cult-classic The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, and even some of Donovan's more esoteric recordings. – All Music

His journey began in 1972, leaving home in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Heading west to Northern California, Arthur studied Indian classical composition at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music followed by western orchestral music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, before ending two years later in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.

Traversing the popular and the serious, Arthur composed “Instrumentals” in 1974, inspired by the photography of his Buddhist teacher, Yuko Nonomura, as Arthur described, “I was awakened, or re-awakened to the bright-sound and magical qualities of the bubblegum and easy-listening currents in American popular music”.

Pitchfork lauded “Instrumentals” Vol. 1 as a masterpiece and one of Arthur’s “greatest achievements”. Americana touching on Copeland, Ives, and maybe even Brian Wilson. “Instrumentals” Vol. 2 is a moving, deeply pastoral work performed by the CETA Orchestra and conducted by Julius Eastman. - Bandcamp

Over ten years ago, Audika Records began releasing the exceptionally varied, long sought-after music of Arthur Russell, and in the process has succeeded at helping the beloved, late artist find the broader audience he always believed he would reach. A new generation of listeners and critics has come to appreciate Russell as a visionary and an influence upon a broad range of today’s most compelling musical artists. On October 28, Audika will bring to light an as-yet-unavailable side of Russell’s body of work- the most rare and, at the same time, arguably the most accessible part- in Love Is Overtaking Me, which comprises 21 demos and home recordings of unreleased pop, folk and country songs from his vast catalog.While much critical and popular affection for Russell’s music has come about well after his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, many fellow artists believed in his genius and were drawn to collaborate with him during his lifetime. The legendary producer John Hammond (Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen) recorded Russell on several occasions; a number of these recordings will finally be heard on Love Is Overtaking Me. - Bandcamp

Issued for the first time are the rhapsodic, intimate, melancholy tunes of Lynn Castle, the first lady barber of L.A. who recorded these demos with Lee Hazlewood and Jack Nitzsche in the late 1960s.- Pitchfork

Through A Glass Darkly is a 1978 album by Peter Howell and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. It featured six original instrumental compositions including "Through A Glass Darkly - A Lyrical Adventure", a 19-minute track which took up the whole of the first side of the record. Much of the music on the album leaned far more towards the prog rock of the 1970s than the previous output by the Radiophonic Workshop. The track "The Astronauts" later featured as the B-side to the 1980 single release of Howell's arrangement of the Doctor Who theme. - Wiki

Prince and his all-female backing band 3rdEyeGirl present Plectrumelectrum! A must have for the Prince completionist!

Forty years after Nurse With Wound’s first record, Finders Keepers Records, in close collaboration with Steve Stapleton remind fans of THIS kind of “lost” music, that there once existed a feint path which was worn away decades before major label pop property developers built over this psychedelic underground. As long-running fans and liberators of some of the same records, arriving at the same axis from different-but-the-same planets, Finders Keepers and Nurse WIth Wound finally sing from the same hymn sheet resulting in a collaborative attempt to officially, authentically and legally compile the best tracks from the list, succeeding where many overzealous nerds have deferred (or simply, got the wrong end of the stick). Naturally our lavish metallic gatefold double vinyl compendium would only scratch the surface of this DIY dossier of elongated punk-prog peculiarities hence out decision to release volume one in a series which, in accordance with Steve’s wishes, focuses exclusively on individual tracks of French origin, the country that unsurprisingly hosted the highest content of bands on the list. Comprising of musique concrète, free jazz, Rock In Opposition, Zeuhl School space rock, macabre ballet music, lo-fi sci-fi, and classic horror literature inspired prog, this first volume of the series entitled Strain Crack And Break throws us in at the deep end, where the Seine meets the in-sane, introducing the space cadets that found Mars in Marseilles. – Bandcamp