Search Results: staffpick
Displaying items 1 to 40 of 627
Angel Olsen
Big Time [ Jagjaguwar / CD - released 3/Jun/2022 ] Fresh grief, like fresh love, has a way of sharpening our vision and bringing on painful clarifications. No matter how temporary we know these states to be, the vulnerability and transformation they demand can overpower the strongest among us. Then... |
Big Thief
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You (LP) [ 4AD / LP - released 11/Feb/2022 ] Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief. To truly dig into all that the music of Adrianne Lenker, Max Oleartchik, Buck Meek, and James Krivchenia desired in... |
Big Thief
Two Hands [ 4AD / CD - released 11/Oct/2019 ] Big Thief had only just finished work on their 3rd album, U.F.O.F. - "the celestial twin" - days before in a cabin studio in the woods of Washington State. Now it was time to birth U.F.O.F.'s sister album - "the earth twin" - Two Hands. |
Bon Iver
22, A Million [ Jagjaguwar / CD - released 30/Sep/2016 ] 22, A Million is part love letter, part final resting place of two decades of searching for self-understanding like a religion. And the inner-resolution of maybe never finding that understanding. The album's 10 poly-fi recordings are a collection of... |
Bon Iver
22, A Million (LP) [ Jagjaguwar / LP - released 30/Sep/2016 ] 22, A Million is part love letter, part final resting place of two decades of searching for self-understanding like a religion. And the inner-resolution of maybe never finding that understanding. The album's 10 poly-fi recordings are a collection of... |
The Cleves
The Musical Adventures of The Clevedonaires, Cleves & Bitch [ Frenzy / CD - released 18/Apr/2015 ] Every now and then an exceptional album will arrive on the scene that rewrites the history of local music. With the release of The Clevedonaires, aka The Cleves, aka Bitch the best kept secret of a few is now available for all. Recorded between... |
Cocteau Twins
Heaven or Las Vegas [ 4AD / CD - released 31/Dec/1993 ] "Formed in Scotland in 1979 by guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Will Heggie, The Cocteau Twins were later joined by Elizabeth Fraser, an exceptional singer whose gorgeous, operatic style vocals emotively lifted the music to beautiful new... |
Damien Jurado
In The Shape Of A Storm [ Mama Bird / CD - released 19/Apr/2019 ] Damien has always worked fast, but In the Shape of a Storm came together with unprecedented speed. Recorded over the course of two hours one California afternoon, it's Jurado's sparsest album to date. Gone are the thundering drums and psychedelic... |
Dope Lemon
Smooth Big Cat [ BMG / ADA / CD - released 12/Jul/2019 ] A mystical creature of leisure, the Smooth Big Cat likes to stay up late drinking whiskey with his rascally mates listening to records. He doesn't have stakes in the troubles of the world, and his life is guided by the mood of the breeze & what's... |
Dry Cleaning
Stumpwork [ 4AD / CD - released 21/Oct/2022 ] Stumpwork, the follow-up to 2021's New Long Leg. The South London-based group's first studio album, recorded in just two weeks with producer John Parish at the iconic Rockfield Studios, became a huge critical and commercial success reaching #4 in the... |
Dry Cleaning
Stumpwork (Limited Edition Black Eco Vinyl LP) [ 4AD / LP - released 21/Oct/2022 ] Stumpwork, the follow-up to 2021's New Long Leg. The South London-based group's first studio album, recorded in just two weeks with producer John Parish at the iconic Rockfield Studios, became a huge critical and commercial success reaching #4 in the... |
Dry Cleaning
Stumpwork (White Gatefold LP) [ 4AD / LP - released 21/Oct/2022 ] Stumpwork, the follow-up to 2021's New Long Leg. The South London-based group's first studio album, recorded in just two weeks with producer John Parish at the iconic Rockfield Studios, became a huge critical and commercial success reaching #4 in the... |
Emily Fairlight
Mother Of Gloom [ Emily Fairlight / CD - released 4/May/2018 ] Taking its title from a line by Martha Wainwright and with song titles like Body Below, Drag The Night In, Private Apocalypse, Sinking Ship and Loneliest Race you'd expect a fairly dark ride on the second album by this Wellington-based alt.folk... |
Faye Webster
Underdressed At The Symphony [ Secretly Canadia / CD - released 1/Mar/2024 ] Late last year Faye Webster released two of the album singles, teasing the forthcoming project. "But Not Kiss" was a tension-filled first peek at the record. "It's damn near ecstatic in ambiguity, but it's not a song about indecision. Webster knows... |
Faye Webster
Underdressed At The Symphony (Black Vinyl LP) [ Secretly Canadia / LP - released 1/Mar/2024 ] Late last year Faye Webster released two of the album singles, teasing the forthcoming project. "But Not Kiss" was a tension-filled first peek at the record. "It's damn near ecstatic in ambiguity, but it's not a song about indecision. Webster knows... |
Fenne Lily
Big Picture [ Dead Oceans / CD - released 14/Apr/2023 ] A gorgeous and gripping portrait of Fenne's last two years, Big Picture was pieced together in an effort to self-soothe. Tracked live in co-producer Brad Cook's North Carolina studio, the album delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of... |
GRG67 & Roger Manins
Happy Place [ Rattle Records / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] GRG67 follow their Jazz Album of the Year (2019) release, "The Thing", with an album of equally vibrant new compositions. |
Gruff Rhys
Pang! (Limited Edition LP) [ Rough Trade / LP - released 13/Sep/2019 ] Pang! is a futuristic psychedelic world pop album, a cross-cultural collaboration between Welsh musician and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys and South African electronic producer Muzi. Having met while recording the track "Vessels" for... |
Gruff Rhys
Pang! (LP) [ Rough Trade / LP - released 13/Sep/2019 ] Pang! is a futuristic psychedelic world pop album, a cross-cultural collaboration between Welsh musician and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys and South African electronic producer Muzi. Having met while recording the track "Vessels" for... |
Jonathan Crayford
East West Moon [ Rattle Jazz / CD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] Teaming up once more with the same killer rhythm section on the critically acclaimed Dark Light (2014), Jonathan Crayford returns with another beautiful album. Recording again with engineer Mike Marciano at Systems Two Studio in New York, East West... |
Joshua Redman & Brooklyn Rider
Sun On Sand [ Nonesuch / Warner / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] Sun On Sand comprises eight compositions from a suite by composer Patrick Zimmerli. Each piece in the suite, which premiered at London's Wigmore Hall in 2014, represents a different expression of light. Bassist Scott Colley and drummer Satoshi... |
Kacey Musgraves
Pageant Material [ Lost Highway / CD - released 25/Jun/2015 ] Pageant Material is the much anticipated follow-up to Grammy Award winning debut album Same Trailer, Different Park. Kacey Musgraves worked with the same creative team as on her 2013 debut, which she co-produced with Shane McAnally and Luke Laird.... |
Kevin Morby
This Is A Photograph [ Dead Oceans / CD - released 13/May/2022 ] This Is A Photograph, Morby's 7th album, finds him making an Americana paean, a visceral life and death, blood on the canvas outpouring. The creatively invigorated songwriter has managed to align his finest songs, his best vocal performances, his... |
Khruangbin
Mordechai [ Dead Oceans / CD - released 26/Jun/2020 ] Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. But on its third album, it's finally speaking out loud. Mordechai features vocals... |
Kit Sebastian
Mantra Moderne [ Mr Bongo / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] 'Mantra Moderne' is a stunning, contemporary masterpiece that fuses Anatolian Psychedelia, Brazilian Tropicalia, 60's European pop and American jazz. A must for fans of Khruangbin, Portishead, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Os... |
The Lahaar
The Lahaar EP (12") [ Soundway / 12in - released 31/Mar/2023 ] Drawing inspiration from the depths of late 70's NYC proto-rap disco instrumentals, Nigerian boogie, Jamaican dub and modern jazzy house - The Lahaar is a Trans-Tasman collaboration between Julien Dyne, Horatio Luna and Surprise Chef's Lachlan... |
Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie
Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie [ East West Records / CD - released 9/Jun/2017 ] Longtime members of Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have joined together to record their first-ever album as a duo. The collaboration began three years ago, when McVie rejoined Fleetwood Mac for the group's "On With The Show"... |
Marissa Nadler
For My Crimes (LP) [ Bella Union / LP - released 5/Oct/2018 ] The eighth album from Marissa Nadler, For My Crimes, is the sound of turmoil giving way to truth. The songs stare down the dark realization that love may not be enough to keep two people together through distance and differing needs. By asking these... |
Mark Turner
Return From The Stars [ ECM Records / CD - released 25/Mar/2022 ] Mark Turner's writing for his quartet on Return from the Stars (titled after Stanislav Lem's science fiction novel) gives the players plenty of space in which to move, on an album both exhilarating and thoughtful in its arc of expression. Solos flow... |
Mitski
Be The Cowboy (LP) [ Dead Oceans / LP - released 17/Aug/2018 ] Hailed as the new vanguard of indie rock following the breakout success of 2016's Puberty 2, Mitski returns with Be The Cowboy. Mitski's carefully crafted songs have often been portrayed as emotionally raw, overflowing confessionals from a fevered... |
MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks [ Anti- / CD - released 6/Sep/2024 ] "Lenderman puts a new spin on southern rock with his blissful knack for guitar work that's gnarled yet breezy, and a lyrical style that is as sincere as it is sardonic, as mythic as it is mundane, as he finds the beauty in frailty." - The... |
Moses Sumney
Aromanticism [ Jagjaguwar / CD - released 22/Sep/2017 ] Since emerging onto the scene in 2014, Moses Sumney has ridden a wave of word-of-mouth praise, hushed recordings, and dynamic live performances. It's an organic, patient ascent all too rare in today's musical climate. In a voice both mellifluous and... |
GARETH FARR
Farr: Warriors from Pluto New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. Strike. Deborah Wai Kapohe, Marc Decio Taddei [ Trust / CD - released 7/Dec/2001 ] New recording featuring two startlingly dramatic works for chamber orchestra |
Nicola Cruz
Siku [ ZZK Records / CD - released 25/Jan/2019 ] The siku is a wind instrument of Andean origin, highly symbolic in ancestral rituals, made up of two separate, complementary parts, the arca and the ira. It is a representation of duality, an essential element of the indigenous world view, associated... |
Perfume Genius
Set My Heart On Fire Immediately [ Matador / CD - released 29/May/2020 ] Set My Heart On Fire Immediately is the fifth studio album from Perfume Genius. It sees artist and musician Mike Hadreas re-teaming with GRAMMY-nominated producer Blake Mills and features contributions from musicians Jim Keltner, Pino Palladino and... |
Pinegrove
Marigold (LP) [ Rough Trade / LP - released 17/Jan/2020 ] Pinegrove's new album begins with a breath and ends with a shimmering exhalation. Marigold marks their Rough Trade Records debut, offering what songwriter Evan Stephens Hall calls a "heart-first" perspective. |
Recitals
Orbit I (Clear Vinyl LP) [ Papaiti Records / Flying Nun Records / LP - released 26/Aug/2022 ] Flying Nun Records are pleased to announce their latest signing, Recitals, a 7-piece band based in both Te Whanganui-A-Tara and Tāmaki Makaurau. They are made up of Xanthe Rook (Bass/Vocals), Tharushi Bowatte (Trumpet), Carla Camilleri (Keys/Vocals),... |
The Reduction Agents
The Dance Reduction Agents [ Lil Chief Records / CD - released 20/Apr/2006 ] Originally released In 2006 on Lil Chief Records, this is The Reduction Agents' first and only album . It is special for many reasons, but mostly because it is James Milne's (aka Lawrence Arabia's) first venture as a singer songwriter. |
Reuben Bradley, Roger Manins & Brett Hirst
Shark Variations [ Rattle Jazz / CD - released 16/Jun/2017 ] One of New Zealand's most revered drummers and jazz composers, Reuben Bradley teams up with Roger Manins (sax) and Brett Hirst (bass) for his fourth Rattle release. Recorded after their New Zealand tour in September 2016 (by Rattle's in-house... |
Sharon Van Etten
Are We There [ Jagaguwar / CD - released 23/May/2014 ] Stunning Brooklyn-based songstress Sharon Van Etten follows up her third and breakthrough album - 2012's Tramp with an equally heartbreakingly beautiful release Are We There. Sharon sings heartbreaking and heartfelt songs that are intensely... |
