Music We Like

Driving anywhere in Texas can cost you half a day, easy. For example, it'll take you over four hours just to get from R&B singer Leon Bridges' hometown of Fort Worth down to Houston, where the psychedelic wanderers in Khruangbin hail from. The state is vast, crisscrossed with rugged expanses of road flanked by limestone cliffs and granite mountains, forests of pine and mesquite, miles of desert or acres of sprawling grassland, all depending on what part you're in. And it's all baking under the Texas Sun that lends its name to Bridges and Khruangbin's new collaborative EP. "Big sky country, that's what they call Texas," Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee says. "The horizon line goes all the way from one side to another without interruption. There's something really comforting about that." On Texas Sun, these two members of the state's musical vanguard meet up somewhere in the middle of that scene, in the mythical nexus of Texas' past, present, and future – a dreamy badlands where genres blur as seamlessly as the terrain.

1. Texas Sun
2. Midnight
3. C-Side
4. Conversion

Black Vinyl. Two of the acts boldly leading Texas music into the future have now delivered a second chapter of their groundbreaking collaboration, further extending the region's sonic possibilities. Singer/songwriter Leon Bridges, from Ft. Worth, and trailblazing Houston trio Khruangbin have joined forces for the Texas Moon EP, a follow-up to 2020's acclaimed Texas Sun project. While the five new songs are clearly a continuation of the first EP, they also have an identity all their own-Bridges calls it "more introspective," while Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee says it "feels more night time." When Texas Sun was released, AllMusic called the results "intoxicating" and Paste noted that "their talents and character go together so well." Now comes the next stage-a set of songs that touch on themes like love, faith, and death while exploring new dimensions of inventive, hypnotic grooves. Significantly, both parties' musical directions were clearly affected by their time working together. Khruangbin's most recent album, Mordechai, moved their own vocals much further forward, a change they readily admit was a direct result of working with Bridges. Meanwhile, since these recordings began, in addition to his genre-defying album Gold-Digger's Sound, Bridges has put out several other challenging, shared tracks, including work with John Mayer, Lucky Daye, and Jazmine Sullivan. Texas Moon represents a genuine and rare achievement, with two of the most respected and innovative acts of their generation truly collaborating to create something new. "As far as an essentially instrumental band, these guys are kind of the top for me," says Bridges. "I'm honored to have been the first singer that they've incorporated in their music." "It feels really special to me," says Lee. "It's not Khruangbin, it's not Leon, it's this world we created together.

Tracks

• 1 Doris
• 2 B-Side
• 3 Chocolate Hills
• 4 Father Father
• 5 Mariella

Unlimited Love serves as the LA funk-rockers follow-up to 2016's The Getaway and their first with former guitarist John Frusciante since 2006's Stadium Arcadium. The 17-track double album is introduced by the meditative lead single "Black Summer." "It's been a long time since I made a new friеnd/ Waitin' on another black summer to end/ It's been a long timе and you never know when/ Waitin' on another black summer to end," Kiedis sings on the track's yearning chorus.

Drummer Chad Smith commented on the direction of the band's twelfth album, "John hasn't been in our group in 10 years. That's a long time. So of course it's going to sound different, but it's going to sound like the four of us because we do have this special chemistry together. It sounds like Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it's different and new, and to me that's great."

John Frusciante adds, "When we got together to start writing material, we began by playing old songs by people like Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, The Kinks, The New York Dolls, Richard Barrett and others. Ever so gradually, we started bringing in new ideas, and turning jams into songs, and after a couple of months the new stuff was all we were playing. The feeling of effortless fun we had when we were playing songs by other people, stayed with us the whole time we were writing. For me, this record represents our love for, and faith in each other."

Exclaims longtime Red Hot Chili Peppers producer Rick Rubin, "Frusciante's back in the band and it's unbelievable. I [was invited to] the first rehearsal after John rejoined the band and it made me cry. It was so thrilling to see that group of people back together because they made such great music for so long together and it really hit me in an emotional way."

Tracks

LP1

1. Black Summer
2. Here Ever After
3. Aquatic Mouth Dance
4. Not the One
5. Poster Child
6. The Great Apes
7. It's Only Natural
8. She's a Lover

LP2

1. These Are the Ways
2. Whatchu Thinkin'
3. Bastards of Light
4. White Braids & Pillow Chair
5. One Way Traffic
6. Veronica
7. Let 'Em Cry
8. The Heavy Wing
9. Tangelo

Some forty years into one of music's most impactful partnerships, Tears For Fears have arrived together at The Tipping Point – the group's ambitious, accomplished and surprising first new studio album in nearly two decades. An inspired song cycle that vividly recalls the depth and emotional force of the group's earliest triumphs, The Tipping Point is the bold, beautiful and powerful sound of Tears For Fears finding themselves together all over again. The Tipping Point sees Orzabal and Smith joined by longtime collaborator Charlton Pettus, along with producers and songwriters Sacha Skarbek and Florian Reutter.

"Before everything went so right with this album, everything first had to go wrong," says Roland Orzabal. "It took years, but something happens when we put our heads together. We've got this balance, this push-me-pull-you thing – and it works really well." Agrees Curt Smith: "If that balance doesn't work on a Tears For Fears album, the whole thing just doesn't work. To put it in simple terms, a Tears For Fears record and what people perceive to be the sound of Tears For Fears is the stuff we can both agree on."

"When you've known each other as long as we have, and have worked together as long as we have, there's a bond there that becomes familial. So, it's different from a friendship," Smith adds. 

"And it's different from a marriage. It's literally like that's your brother. It's the kind of bond that you can't really break. It can fall apart at times. You separate for periods, which I also think is healthy, really. But in the end, we always seem to find each other again."

Tracks

1. No Small Thing
2. The Tipping Point
3. Long, Long, Long Time
4. Break The Man
5. My Demons
6. Rivers Of Mercy
7. Please Be Happy
8. Master Plan
9. End Of Night
10. Stay

Double 180gm vinyl LP pressing at half-speed 45rpm for enhanced audio quality. Housed in gatefold jacket including with a 28-page booklet. Originally released in 1987, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was updated and remixed by David Gilmour and Andy Jackson for The Later Years Box Set. By returning to some of Richard Wright's original keyboard parts and by re-recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason, producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin have restored the creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members. The front cover features an alternative photograph from the original album cover photoshoot.

Tracks

LP1

1. Signs Of Life
2. Learning To Fly
3. The Dogs Of War
4. One Slip
5. On The Turning Away

LP2

1. Yet Another Movie
2. Round And Around
3. A New Machine Part 1
4. Terminal Frost
5. A New Machine Part 2
6. Sorrow

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Guitarist Kenny Burrell debuted on Blue Note Records in 1956 and over the following 7 years made a series of excellent albums for the label that culminated with his masterwork Midnight Blue. Recorded in 1963, the album waded deep into the blues, conjuring an alluring late-night vibe with a profoundly soulful cast including tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, bassist Major Holley, Jr., drummer Bill English, and Ray Barretto on congas. Burrell originals including "Chitlins con Carne," "Midnight Blue," "Saturday Night Blues," and the stunning solo guitar piece "Soul Lament" set the tone for this timeless classic adorned by one of the all-time great Reid Miles cover designs.

Musicians:
Kenny Burrell, guitar
Stanley Turrentine, tenor saxophone
Major Holley, Jr., bass
Bill English, drums
Ray Barretto, conga

Tracks

1. Chitlins Con Carne
2. Mule
3. Soul Lament
4. Midnight Blue
5. Wavy Gravy
6. Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
7. Saturday Night Blues

Audiophile Quality 180g Vinyl LP Reissue Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the Original Analog Tapes and Pressed at RTI!

From its humble beginnings, 2001's Brushfire Fairytales launched the meteoric career of the modern master of soft acoustic folk and surf rock, Jack Johnson. Cut to nearly 20 years later and the singer/songwriter's auspicious debut has stood the test of time selling over 2.5 million copies to date and continues to be one of the best sellers in his catalog. An ear for the irresistible – whether in the vocal delivery or the construction of a pop hook – certainly accounts for its success.

It starts with "Inaudible Melodies," a reference to the singer's laid-back, not to say reticent persona in the early days, and includes some lovely gems like "Flake," with Ben Harper on pedal steel. Only a minor hit, as a single, "Flake" still became a signature tune and live staple. The equally impressive "Drink the Water" is a face up to your fears type song. All have the magic of the campfire; honest, inclusive and warm-hearted tracks that bring folks together.

Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes, this is a true AAA edition pressed at RTI on HQ Vinyl 180g for unsurpassed quality and long life. A must for audiophiles and beach bums alike!

1. Inaudible Melodies
2. Middle Man
3. Posters
4. Sexy Plexi
5. Flake
6. Bubble Toes
7. Fortunate Fool
8. The News
9. Drink The Water
10. Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)
11. F-Stop Blues
12. Losing Hope
13. It's All Understood

Deluxe Edition Colored Vinyl 2LP+7"-Set with Original Album Plus 11 Bonus Tracks including 3 New Songs, 4 Covers and Unreleased Live Material!

Black Pumas is led by the creative partnership between Grammy Award-winning guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada and songwriter Eric Burton. The latter is a relative newcomer who arrived in Austin in 2015 after busking his way across the country from Los Angeles, while Quesada has a storied reputation for playing in bands like Grupo Fantasma and Brownout. After the two connected via friends in the Austin scene, they began to collaborate on a new sound that transmutes soul into something idiosyncratically modern.

Reminiscent of Ghostface Killah and Motown in equal measure, this original sound ensured that Black Pumas' weekly residency at C-Boys quickly became "the hottest party in town" (Austin-American Statesman). Produced by Quesada in his home studio and colored by Burton's dark imagery and haunting vocals, their Grammy-nominated eponymous 2019 debut is equally as indebted to East Coast hip-hop as it is to classic funk and soul, resulting in a project that is of the moment rather than retro. From the roiling, solar eclipse-inspired noir of "Black Moon Rising" to the ponderous yet epic "Oct 33," it's a stunner.

This Deluxe Edition reissue of their debut features the original album plus eleven bonus tracks, three new original songs and four covers, plus unreleased live material. The colored vinyl 2LP-set comes complete with a bonus 7" single, new artwork and unpublished studio and live photographs.

Tracks

LP1

1. Black Moon Rising
2. Colors
3. Know You Better
4. Fire
5. OCT 33
6. Stay Gold
7. Old Man
8. Confines
9. Touch The Sky
10. Sweet Conversations

LP2

1. Fast Car
2. I'm Ready
3. Red Rover
4. Black Cat
5. Politicians In My Eyes
6. Colors (Live In Studio)
7. OCT 33 (Live In Studio)
8. Confines (Live In Studio)
9. Know You Better (Live At C-Boys)

Bonus 7" Single

1. Eleanor Rigby
2. Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City

Vinyl LP pressing, includes digital download. Cigarettes After Sex main man Greg Gonzalez's ability to set a scene and sustain a mood reels you in deeply. On album opener K., a tale of blossoming love etched in tiny details luxuriates over chiming guitars; on the hymn to romantic compulsion of Each Time You Fall in Love, the suspended animation of Angelo Badalamenti's heart-stopping Twin Peaks music is echoed. Sunsetz and the gently lilting Sweet, meanwhile, showcase Gonzalez's ability to weave impressionistic snapshots of romance into melodies that haunt like memories of past loves, all coalescing around his melting vocals. Elsewhere, Gonzalez mounts movies in miniature with the photographic references of Flash and Fitzcarraldo echoes of Opera House, a song so lovingly languid it could, conceivably, soundtrack a man hauling ships over mountains for love. And, just as every good film-maker knows the need for a killer finale, so Gonzalez closes the album with the retro-romantic swing and teasingly filthy put-downs of Young & Dumb, which brings the album to a close with good, timeless advice: Drive your car to the beach with the song on repeat... To mirror their woozy romanticism in music, Gonzalez rejected conventional studio routes for his band, which numbers Randy Miller on bass, Jacob Tomsky on drums and Phillip Tubbs on keyboards. Taking influence from The Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Session (recorded in a church, single microphone), Cigarettes recorded most of the album in three days at the Sweatshop rehearsal space, Bushwick. The exception is Each Time You Fall in Love, which was recorded in the Beekman's stairway after hours, the ghosts of screen lovers channeled in every warm note. Like the best movie, Cigarettes After Sex holds you in a hell of a spell.

• 1 K
• 2 Each Time You Fall in Love
• 3 Sunsetz
• 4 Apocalypse
• 5 Flash
• 6 Sweet
• 7 Opera House
• 8 Truly
• 9 John Wayne
• 10 Young & Dumb [Explicit]

"Everything has to be said." This is the conviction guiding Indigo De Souza's sophomore album, Any Shape You Take. This dynamic record successfully creates a container for the full spectrum – pushing through and against every emotion: "I wanted this album to give a feeling of shifting with and embracing change. These songs came from a turbulent time when I was coming to self-love through many existential crises and shifts in perspective."

Faithful to its name, Any Shape You Take changes form to match the tenor of each story it tells. "The album title is a nod to the many shapes I take musically. I don't feel that I fully embody any particular genre – all of the music just comes from the universe that is my ever-shifting brain/heart/world," says Indigo. This sonic range is unified by Indigo's strikingly confessional and effortless approach to songwriting, a signature first introduced in her debut, self-released LP, I Love My Mom. Written in quick succession, Indigo sees these two records as companion pieces, both distinct but in communion with each other: "Many of the songs on these two records came from the same season in my life and a certain version of myself which I feel much further from now. I feel very much like a shape-shifter with my music, I'm always trying to embody a balance between the existential weight and the overflowing sense of love I feel in the world."

It is exactly this balance that Indigo strikes in her Saddle Creek debut, Any Shape You Take. A listening experience that gives back, as you shed and shape-shift along with her.

Tracks