RSDBF Small Business Saturday

Daddies don’t always come home for Christmas. From the snow-covered plains of Wisconsin’s Driftless region to the palm-lined avenues of Los Angeles, the loneliness of the holidays is a universal theme, best expressed by tear-in-the-beer country music hopefuls. Sung and strummed (and plucked) by an unlikely assortment of Nashville aspirants, our Christmas Dreamers spent the ’60s gambling their futures on the AM airwaves of a forgotten America.

PSA is the full-length debut album from Houston-based singer Peyton. Radiating confidence and self-love, PSA sees Peyton standing in the spotlight and making herself heard. Throughout the 12-track album, listeners are taken inside the reflective world of a young woman's attempt to comprehend love, friendship, and life itself. "Everything I'm singing feels like my thoughts are pouring out boldly to the world," she says. Peyton began writing PSA in 2018, then worked with several producers including Biako, Jay Anthony, Vicky Farewell, Julia Lewis and Keys & Krates, to bring her vision to life. The album's opening track "What Did I Do" puts a positive spin on her break-up with a close friend; "Don't U Wanna Fly" is a reminder to see the beauty in child-like simplicity; "Let It Flow" is about trusting your intuition, and "Perfect Peach" is a song about innocent love. The album closes with Peyton's cover of "Pure Imagination" – originally sung by Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory – a song that draws on PSA's themes of youthful hope and continual creativity.

1. What Did I Do
2. Let it Flow feat. Brice Blanco
3. Haters
4. Ppl Say
5. IRLMB
6. Vicky’s Interlude
7. Big Flexer feat. Ian McGilber
8. Don’t U Wanna Fly feat. Fousheé
9. Tad Bit
10. It’s Been So Long
11. Perfect Peach
12. Pure Imagination

Coldplay celebrate the holiday season with the re-release of 'Christmas Lights' as a recycled black vinyl 7-inch single, backed by Coldplay's take on the perennial Christmas classic 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' which was recorded for a Jo Whiley, BBC Radio 1 live session, at the tail end of 2000.

• 1 Christmas Lights
• 2 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Debut album from local Bel Air, MD musician!

Knitting Factory Records reissues Fela Kuti's Army Arrangement on vinyl LP, previously only available as part of the Box Set series. Army Arrangement is about Nigeria's attempt at ‘democracy' in 1979 after more than a decade of military rule. The audio has been restored and remastered from Fela's original Nigerian recordings. The artwork has been meticulously recreated from original album artwork. 

Tracks

1. Army Arrangement (Part 1)
2. Army Arrangement (Part 2)

Brownswood Recordings are proud to present Indaba Is – a compilation of current South African improvised music and jazz. The project is a collaboration with two luminaries of the South African Music scene, pianist / songwriter Thandi Nthuli and The Brother Moves On's Siyabonga Mthembu who act as curators / musical directors on the project.

Bokani Dyer's "Ke Nako" (now's the time) opens with an irony, because that was a slogan used to get voters to the polls in the first post-apartheid election. Now, Dyer's using it to remind us to think again about who we are and where we're going. That's always been the question for The Brother Moves On (TBMO: a genre-refusing, personnel-revolving performance collective named, with a twist, for The Wire's assassin: Brother Mouzone). Here, it's embodied in a meditation on relationships refracted through the distorting-glass of their context. It's the singing voices on both those tracks that reference roots even as they engage with contemporary spoken flows and instrumental improvisations.

Explicitly, trumpeter Lwanda Gogwana bookends his track with the idioms of the Eastern Cape – galloping rhythms, harmonies from bow music and split-tone singing, a spluttering trumpet reminiscent of Mongezi Feza – and grows from them a chill contemporary meditation: no spatial or temporal barriers here. Chill, though, is the last term you'd use for Wretched, vocalist Gabisile Motuba's Fanon-inspired project with drummer Tumi Mogorosi and sound artist Andrei van Wyk and the voices of Black Panther Kwame Toure and liberation leader Winnie Madikizela-Mandela: "What is History?.."

That, like "Ke Nako" and The Brother Moves On's bitter allusion to "black yellow and green" (the colours of the ruling ANC) is the thread of another kind of tradition – the reminders and remainders of South Africa's struggle not yet won – weaving through the album. Balm is offered by what guitarist Sibusile Xaba has described as his "modal, groove-oriented roots music". It is, he says, inspired by dreams; he sees himself as a diviner not a performer and his music as functional for healing. That echoes one of his musical masters, the late Dr Philip Nchipi Tabane. "Umdali" is a reference to the Creator, inspirer of such service.

The Ancestors weave Siyabonga Mthembu's voice into a web of musical references forward-looking and historical, including bluesy instrumentals that hark back to what South Africa's jazz bandleaders of the ‘70s and ‘80s conjured up – another aspect of South Africa's musical tradition. Then pianist/composer/vocalist Thandi Ntuli returns to the theme of identity in "Dikeledi" (‘Tears'). "Who are you?' she asks. "What do you call yourself?.. the illusion [of who you are] emerges from you." Ultimately, the song concludes, rootedness in community trumps image.

But community isn't unproblematic. The persistent fractures in South African society were deliberately engineered by apartheid, results of an attempt to impose unitary, racially-constructed identities on all. All the tracks in this collection challenge that: they demonstrate the unifying power of collective hard music work. In that context, iPhupho L'ka Biko's "Abaphezulu" ("They are coming, those who are above" – an invocation to ancestors, including the spirit of Steve Bantu Biko) is a fitting conclusion. Opening with the notes of Kinsmen's Druv Sodha's sitar, it smashes another of the walls apartheid tried to build against Black unity: between South Africans of African and South Asian heritage. The classically-inflected gospel voices of Mthembu's dialogue with Indian and modern jazz rhythms and free horn improvisations in joyous heterophony.

LP1

1. Bokani Dyer - Ke Nako
2. The Brother Moves On - Umthandazo Wamagenge
3. Lwanda Gogwana - All Ok
4. The Wretched - What is History

LP2

1. Sibusile Xaba with Naftali, Fakazile Nkosi, & AshK - Umdali
2. The Ancestors - Prelude to Writing Together
3. Thandi Ntuli - Dikeledi
4. iPhupho L'ka Biko ft Siyabonga Mthembu & Kinsmen - Abaphezulu

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed in gatefold jacket. Blue Note Tone Poet Series release. The All Seeing Eye is Wayne Shorter's brilliant and multi-layered album for Blue Note. His goal was to use "a wider range of colors and textures" while continuing his explorations of "life and the universe and God." Joining Shorter are Freddie Hubbard, Grachan Moncur III, James Spaulding, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers, and Wayne's brother Alan Shorter on flugelhorn.

Kelela's debut album, Take Me Apart emerges as an epic portrait of an artist spanning the past and future of R&B. In her hands, however, the genre knows no boundaries and so Take Me Apart exists as an absolutely singular and fearless addition to a canon of recent classics. From her very earliest work, honesty and vulnerability have been cornerstones of Kelela's art - even when clad in the armor of the avant-garde electronics she so deftly inhabits - and Take Me Apart sees her double down on both the emotional intensity and resonance of her message as well as the sonic seeking she is renowned for.

The timeless, zero-gravity ballad "Better" sees Kelela at her most unadorned - baring her soul to a nameless other over subtly transforming piano and synth textures while first single "LMK" is all staggering club swagger that manages to span the past 20 years of innovative R&B while still exploring another dimension of possibilities. These songs typify the melding of classic song-craft and inventive production approach at the album's core, but it's here where things take yet another exhilarating turn. "Truth or Dare" has the brittle snap and vocal twists of a Neptunes track while "Blue Light" sees Kelela weld her sweeping pleas to the warped sonic palette of grime, pointing the way forward to a possible future of cybernetic soul.

Now we are swept into the slipstream of a pair of breathtaking Arca collaborations in "On And On" and the otherworldly grandeur of "Turn To Dust," which conjures images of the powerful and iconic diva of Luc Besson's The Fifth Element; and it's a short trip to the unforgettable pneumatic gospel of album closer "Altadena," a perfect uroboros link back to "Frontline" to begin the saga all over again. At this point you're left with the feeling that this trip through Take Me Apart is one you'll be making many more times.

1. Frontline
2. Waitin
3. Take Me Apart
4. Enough
5. Jupiter
6. Better
7. LMK
8. Truth Or Dare
9. S.O.S.
10. Blue Light
11. On and On
12. Turn To Dust
13. Bluff
14. Altadena

This is Bill Evans' first trio date under his own name for Verve, and the deep communication he maintains throughout with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, two brilliant rhythm players, is sublime. All of the songs are standards of one for or another, but Evans and Co. find a depth to them that's astonishing. Bill uses the spaces between phrases in a way that broadens and deepens the emotional content. Two outstanding examples of Bill's interpretive magic here are the novelty numbers "Little Lulu" and "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," which both acquire a warmth, scope of imagery and sardonic touch that enlivens their musical essence like never before. This all-analog 180g vinyl LP reissue was mastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, pressed at QRP, and comes housed in a Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket.

Tracks

1. Little Lulu
2. A Sleeping Bee
3. Always
4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
5. I'll See You Again
6. For Heaven's Sake
7. Dancing In The Dark
8. Everything Happens To Me

Vinyl LP pressing. Eliza Noble and Jennifer Skillman are Eli & Fur: the British live act, singer-songwriter and producer duo whose career together stretches back for nearly a decade. Having formed a close bond in their teens born out of their unwavering passion for music in all it's guises, their careers as DJs, songwriters, vocalists and producers has taken them around the globe as touring musicians and seen them grace the stages of the biggest festivals in the world including Coachella, Tomorrowland and Glastonbury.

Norwegian artist and writer Jenny Hval has developed her distinct take on intimate sound since the release of her debut album in 2006. For her last two solo albums, 2013's Innocence Is Kinky and 2015's Apocalypse, Girl, Hval's debut for Sacred Bones, she has received thoughtful and widespread international acclaim for her fascinating voice, singular delivery and markedly non-traditional arrangements which incorporate elements of poetry, prose writing, performance art, and film.

The New York Times defines her writing as "taking a scalpel to the subjects of gender politics and sexuality." Hval has eloquently brought to light issues of both male and female gaze, which for years had been swept under the rug and/or denied all together. Apocalypse, Girl landed on numerous year-end lists with leading compelling writers everywhere to grapple with the age-old, yet previously unspoken, question: What is Soft Dick Rock?

After touring for a year and earning her second Nordic Prize nomination, as any perfectionist would, Hval immediately went back into the studio to continue her work with acumen noise producer Lasse Marhaug, with whom she co-produces here on Blood Bitch. Her new effort is in many respects a complete 180° from her last in subject matter, execution and production. It is her most focused, but the lens is filtered through a gaze which the viewer least expects.

1. Ritual Awakening
2. Female Vampire
3. In the Red
4. Conceptual Romance
5. Untamed Region
6. The Great Undressing
7. Period Piece
8. The Plague
9. Secret Touch
10. Lorna

Vinyl LP pressing. Travelogue through a cybernetical soundscape! The future rendered here by Ra seems more dystopian than utopian, and these 1975 guided improvisations are imbued with an underlying violence, alternate twists, bank turns, headchoppers, loops, rolls, sidewinders and drops. It's a dark & glorious journey. Featuring the debut of the complete version of 'Extension Out,' Pathways has been exquisitely mastered from the four-track session reel and includes an insert offering an enlightening glimpse at Ra & co.'s plans for their major label lucre.

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

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Originally released in 1981, now remastered and cut at revelatory Half-Speed at Abbey Road Studios from vinyl specific original tape transfers designed to get the very best possible sound from the format. This album features the singles 'Start Me Up', 'Waiting On A Friend' and 'Hang Fire'.

• - Disc 1 -
• 1 Start Me Up
• 2 Hang Fire
• 3 Slave
• 4 Little T&A
• 5 Black Limousine
• 6 Neighbours
• - Disc 2 -
• 1 Worried About You
• 2 Tops
• 3 Heaven
• 4 No Use in Crying
• 5 Waiting on a Friend

Visceral, musically cinematic, otherworldly but strangely familiar and a bit unsettling, welcome to Pixies' brand new studio album, Beneath the Eyrie, where tales of witches, Daniel Boone, misfits and other characters fit utterly into the band's inherent weirdness. Boasting twelve new boundary pushing songs, the album was produced by Grammy-nominated Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Royal Blood) and recorded in December 2018 at Dreamland Recordings near Woodstock, NY. Drummer David Lovering spotted an eagles nest (or eyrie) right above the studio hence the title.

Tracks

• - Disc 1 -
• 1 In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain
• 2 Graveyard Hill
• 3 Catfish Kate
• 4 This Is My Fate
• 5 Ready for Love
• 6 Silver Bullet
• - Disc 2 -
• 1 Long Rider
• 2 Los Surfers Muertos
• 3 St. Nazaire
• 4 Bird of Prey
• 5 Daniel Boone
• 6 Death Horizon

1981's October saw U2 rising not only to the usual challenges of proving that you're more than a one-album wonder, but to the specific pressure of creating new work as the clock ticked ever louder. Where Boy had only brushed against a mainstream audience in the UK, peaking at No. 52, October reached No. 11. "Fire" was the opening shot, and it made some noise. The song was their first hit single at home, reaching the Top 5 in Ireland, and gave U2 their first UK Top 40 entry. Next came "Gloria," the second single and the opening track. The song's Latin chorus foretold an LP with strong religious themes, but also with a developing sense of the band's songwriting maturity and instrumental dexterity. The innate percussive tension of "I Threw A Brick Through A Window" and urgency of "Rejoice" were offset by the measured, near-instrumental "Scarlet" and the affecting piano balladry of "October" itself.

1. Gloria
2. I Fall Down
3. I Threw A Brick Through A Window
4. Rejoice
5. Fire
6. Tomorrow
7. October
8. With A Shout
9. Stranger In A Strange Land
10. Scarlet
11. Is That All?

No Doubt built their reputation the old-fashioned way: gigging relentlessly in and around LA where they frequently turned in high-octane sets at venues such as The Whisky A-Go-Go, Fender's Grand Ballroom and The Roxy, where they could often be found propping up bills for luminaries such as Fishbone and fellow SoCal ska-popsters The Untouchables. Thanks to Gwen Stefani's increasingly alluring stage presence and the band's energetic set of hooky, ska-flavored punk-pop songs, record companies began to take note and, in 1990, No Doubt landed a multi-album deal with the newly created Interscope imprint.

Though they'd pulled off a coup signing with the upwardly mobile and highly respected label, mainstream success initially eluded No Doubt. Their self-titled debut LP was released in 1992, but while it sold a decent number of copies, it appeared at a time when grunge was still in vogue and the industry was reeling from the shockwaves emanating from Seattle. No Doubt's bright, horn-laden ska-pop was anathema at a time when bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam were shifting serious units; they doggedly toured the US in support of their self-titled debut, No Doubt struggled to attract a sizeable audience outside of their Southern Californian stomping ground.

Ostensibly their first official single, "Trapped In A Box" was admittedly too out there for the radio of the time. It wasn't aggressively promoted and largely fell upon deaf ears in a world enthralled with an "alternative revolution" mainly centered on male aggression. That changed soon enough though. The horn section and quasi-ska rhythms remain inspired by early Madness/Fishbone influences, while the emerging sense of flow and pop bounce makes the track a benchmark for the time and a notable milestone today.

1. BND
2. Let's Get Back
3. Ache
4. Get On The Ball
5. Move On
6. Sad For Me
7. Doormat
8. Big City Train
9. Trapped In A Box
10. Sometimes
11. Sinking
12. A Little Something Refreshing
13. Paulina
14. Brand New Day

Feeble Little Horse is naturally delighted to present their third full-length LP, bitknot. The album was written, arranged, produced, and recorded by Sebastian Kinsler, Lydia Slocum, and Jake Kelley across their respective homes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A spirited investigation into the unnatural space created between human nature and a culture of convenience, a synthesis of dirt and digital, bitknot by Feeble Little Horse creates a language wherein one can re-imbue a sanctity of interdependence away from consumptive "self-sufficiency" and materialism. Slocum's meandering introspection playfully harmonizes against Kinsler's hooks, walls of noise, a supercharged car battery's worth of synths and samples dropped in the ocean of their guitar-driven songwriting framework. Meanwhile, some of Kelley's most laser-focused drums to date create a sonic chimera that is as likely to be found nascently developing in the early aughts as some unknown, chromatic future.

• 1 Doorway
• 2 Poison
• 3 Rewind
• 4 Shady
• 5 Dior
• 6 Paris
• 7 Cradle
• 8 Upside Down
• 9 Guts
• 10 Shopping
• 11 DMT