RSDBF Small Business Saturday

Over the past decade, the harpist Brandee Younger has been at the center of music's celebrated work, even if you didn't know she was there. Be it her output with the soul singer John Legend or the rapper Common, she's always put her stamp on the music in question, all while setting a new course for what classical music can entail. But with her major-label debut, Somewhere Different, she's pushing her artistry to the foreground. By her own admission, Younger would've stepped back in years past to let others shine; the harp would've been mixed behind layers of woodwind instruments. Now she's putting her instrument first.

"It was important for me to thrust the harp forward in a non-traditional setting," Younger says of her new album. "I made a conscious effort to make sure that the harp was a bit more present in this recording. It's important for the instrument." Indeed, the first sound heard on Somewhere Different is the harp, a gorgeous, tone-setting solo that ushers in "Love & Struggle," the album's meditative opener. It also sets the mission for the music that follows: Younger has spent her career breaking down the barriers between classical music and contemporary forms of R&B, hip-hop, and funk. This album synthesizes her work while forging new ground. "I started recording music that wasn't common on harp in 2006," she says. This is my way of combining all the worlds I have into one. This is me doing my own thing completely."

Listeners will hear this creative freedom throughout the LP, from the introspective tenor of "Olivia Benson," "Beautiful Is Black" and "Pretend," featuring Tarriona "Tank" Ball of the breakout New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas, to the vibrant rock and bounce-infused sounds of "Reclamation" and the title track, respectively. In that way, Younger pays homage to the pioneering harpists Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, both of whom merged the instrument with jazz, funk and soul at a time when such ingenuity wasn't commonplace. Somewhere Different is not only the realization of Younger's musical journey, it channels the spirit of a deserving performer whose life merits deeper examination. 

1. Love & Struggle
2. Olivia Benson
3. Beautiful Is Black
4. Pretend
5. Reclamation
6. Somewhere Different
7. Spirit U Will
8. Tickled Pink

Vinyl LP pressing. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble's previous album, their 2018 debut Where Future Unfolds, had a best new music in Pitchfork, was a Top 50 Album of the Year in Wire Magazine, and was BBC DJ Gilles Peterson's unequivocal Favorite Album of the Year. NOW is the band's much anticipated follow-up, which carries on their unique brand of Choir-fronted Hip-Hop-meets-Gospel/Jazz Liberation Music ' very much a modern day echo of the Harlem Freedom Singers and/or Eddie Gale's Black Rhythm Happening. This new one is a bit heavier on the beats and drum machines, sounding almost like Public Enemy/Bomb Squad working with ESG. Clarinetist Angel Bat Dawid and cornet player Ben LaMar Gay are heavily featured on this album.

Tracks

1. Now (Forever Momentary Space)
2. The People vs The Rest of Us
3. Keep Your Mind Free
4. Barbara Jones-Hogu and Elizabeth Catlett Discuss Liberation
5. Movement And You
6. The Body Is Electric

Dream pop band from Puerto Rico, who moved to NYC. Beautiful 7″ on clear coke bottle green vinyl.  Comes with a download card that contains 2 bonus tracks.

Hip Hop Icons Return on Def Jam with First Release on the Label in Over Two Decades!

Legendary hip hop group Public Enemy returns to Def Jam - a cultural institution that they helped build - for their first release for the label in over two decades with What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? The loaded 17-track affair boasts a powerful lineup of guests including Nas, YG, Rapsody, DJ Premier, Black Thought, Questlove, Cypress Hill, Run-DMC, Ice-T, PMD, George Clinton, Daddy-O, Jahi, The Impossebulls, Mark Jenkins, S1Ws Pop Diesel, James Bomb and Mike D and Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys. The album is led by the single "Fight the Power: Remix 2020," re-conceptualized by Public Enemy with Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, YG, Jahi and Questlove for the 2020 BET Awards in June 2020, and officially released as a single along with the album announcement. It also includes Public Enemy's recent single, "State of the Union (STFU)," produced by DJ Premier. The track holds nothing back as it calls out Donald Trump and his destructive reign.

1. When The Grid Goes Down ft. George Clinton
2. Grid ft. Cypress Hill and George Clinton
3. State of the Union (STFU) ft. DJ Premier
4. Merica Mirror ft.. Pop Diesel
5. Public Enemy Number Won ft. Mike D, Ad-Rock, Run-DMC
6. Toxic
7. Yesterday Man ft. Daddy-O
8. Crossroads Burning (Interlude) ft. James Bomb
9. Fight The Power: Remix 2020 ft. Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG, Questlove
10. Beat Them All
11. Smash The Crowd ft.. Ice-T, PMD
12. If You Can't Join Em Beat Em
13. Go At It ft. Jahi
14. Don't Look At The Sky (Interlude) ft. Mark Jenkins
15. Rest In Beats ft. The Impossebulls
16. R.I.P. Blackat
17. Closing: I Am Black ft. Ms. Ariel

First New Album from Original Line-Up Since 1985's Ain't Love Grand!

On the 40th Anniversary of the landmark, Los Angeles, and 35 years since the original line-up have released an album – X, one of the greatest punk rock bands in music history, delivers Alphabetland! It finds Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom, and DJ Bonebrake embodying the same spirit they did when they began in 1977. "When your heart is broken you think every song is about that. These songs were written in the last 18 months and it blows my mind how timely they are," says Doe.

Tracks

1. Alphabetland
2. Free
3. Water & Wine
4. Strange Life
5. I Gotta Fever
6. Delta 88 Nightmare
7. Star Chambered
8. Angel On The Road
9. Cyrano de Berger's Back
10. Goodbye Year, Goodbye
11. All The Time In The World

Limited press of 500 on translucent purple vinyl. Matte black paper inner sleeves. Each copy includes unique download code. Produced by J. Robbins. Recorded and mixed at Magpie Cage Recording Studio Baltimore, MD June 2018. Mastered by Dan Coutant, Sun Room Audio, New Windsor, NY. All music, lyrics and arrangements by Jack Murray (BMI). Front cover by Mar Aroko. All other artwork by Jack Murray.