CIMS Now Hear This
Recorded in 1982, not long after she moved to Paris, Fodder On My Wings was one of Nina Simone's favorite albums. In addition to having written the music and lyrics for all but one of the album s 13 songs, the back cover proudly states that she 'arranged, conducted and conceived' all of them. Originally recorded for a small French label and only sporadically available since its initial release, Fodder On My Wings is a lesserknown but important part of Nina's musical history. The album contains deeply personal songs, including 'I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive' and 'I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them', as well a searing lyrical improvisation about the death of her father on 'Alone Again, Naturally'. Recorded at a time when Nina was feeling rejuvenated by her surroundings and the African musicians she met in Paris, Fodder On My Wings is an essential Nina Simone album that is making a longoverdue reappearance.
Hot Mulligan writes songs for people to sing as loud as possible. Their music is the cathartic outcry for growth from a generation of forward-thinking Midwesterners caught in the gears of a rusted system in desperate need ofhope. The members -Tades Sanville, Chris Freeman, Ryan Malicsi, Garrett "Sniff" Willig, andBrandon Blakeley -use songwriting to explore the lessons they've learned from lives lead in the pursuit of dreams with full awareness of the cost.
Thundercat is set to release his new album It Is What It Is on Brainfeeder Records on April 3, 2020, and shares the first music; 'Black Qualls (featuring Steve Lacy and Steve Arrington). The album, produced by Flying Lotus and Thundercat, features musical contributions from Ty Dolla $ign, Childish Gambino, Lil B, Kamasi Washington, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, BADBADNOTGOOD, Louis Cole and Zack Fox. It Is What It Is follows his game-changing third album Drunk (2017). That record completed his transition from virtuoso bassist to bonafide star and cemented his reputation as a unique voice that transcends genre. 'This album is about love, loss, life and the ups and downs that come with that,' Bruner says. 'It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but at different points in life you come across places that you don't necessarily understand' some things just aren't meant to be understood.'
In their first collaboration, Brian and Roger Eno present an anthology of sonic inspiration. ‘Mixing Colours’ invites listeners into a prismatic world of calm contemplation. Based on a series of deliberately abstract colours, the innovative brothers evolved the new recording into a unique collection over the years. Their creative DG debut will reach an audience still unfamiliar with their artistry. The poetic set spotlights two celebrated ambient musicians at the height of their artistry.
2020 release. Early James, an Alabama native and signing to Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound roster, releases his debut album, Singing for My Supper. The album spans hard-charging blues, wistful folk, and ages-old pop crooning, anchored by the singer's voice that oscillates from gravel-gruff shout to a honey-smooth whisper. James' inspirations run from Fiona Apple and Tom Waits to the Southern gothic poets, as heard in the album's darker themes and in the wry humor with which he writes about them. Early James' debut features ten wide-ranging songs, co-produced by Auerbach and David "Fergie" Ferguson, is full of world-weary wisdom. "Blue Pill Blues" details a period when James, who was being treated for depression, quit his antipsychotic medication cold turkey. "High Horse" is a lament of the ways his adolescent excitement faded with the arrival of the vices of adulthood, while "Easter Eggs" finds the songwriter coming to terms with some of the darker sides of his heredity.
• Expanded reissue of Grammy®-winner’s third solo release. • Contains first CD/Digital release of his vinyl-only 2015 EP. • 12 previously unissued bonus tracks. • New liner notes from the artist, and photography from Timothy Duffy Dom Flemons is known as “The American Songster.” The talented multi-instrumentalist was a member of the Grammy®-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops from their inception in 2005 through 2013, and has performed with artists including Guy Davis, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Taj Mahal. His third solo album, Prospect Hill, was released in 2014 after Flemons spent “many days listening to vinyl records, 78s and CDs, discovering new genres of music in record stores all across the country and the world.” That seminal release returns in an incredible, expanded edition. Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus is a 2-CD and Digital collection containing a three-part journey: the original album; the 2015 Record Store Day 9-track EP What Got Over (originally vinyl only, making its first appearance on CD/Digital); and a third section, The Drum Major Instinct, a set of 12 previously unissued instrumental tracks that “presents the vision of the Phoenix rising from the ashes, morphing into a butterfly, and seeing the world with a new set of eyes.” With extensive liner notes from Flemons and his wife, Vania Kinard, matched by extraordinary photography from Timothy Duffy (whose works are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, the New Orleans Museum of Art, among others), this new collection truly showcases Flemons’ artistry, talents, and dedication to deserving the moniker “The American Songster.” So, take the journey, whether it’s your first time, or a return trip with new sights and sounds on Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus.
Cavetown’s major-label debut album, SLEEPYHEAD, due out March 27, 2020, on Sire Records. Recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Skinner himself in the bedroom of his new London apartment (some things never change), the 11-song collection is set to prove to the world why he’s become not just a cornerstone of the bedroom pop community, but a torchbearer for the next generation of his genre.
By focusing less on the more imperceptible aspects of his productions, Skinner’s distilled his energy on Sleepyhead into what really moves fans: the songs themselves, occasionally lighthearted, largely poignant – but always authentically him. The album is awash in ambient indie-rock nuance, creaking acoustic guitars and Skinner’s poetic lyricism, all steadied by his tranquil melodies and reassuring timbre.
Some 250 million Spotify plays and 1.15 million YouTube subscribers after launching Cavetown, he’s a radically different person than he was just a few years ago. “Basically every aspect of my life has changed since putting out Lemon Boy,” he admits. “Often when change happens, it’s so slow that you don’t notice it. The speed at which it’s happened has made me appreciate everything.”
In This Moment will release their seventh album "Mother" on March 27 via Roadrunner/Atlantic. The first single "The In-Between," is a sonically gorgeous labyrinth of sound steered by frontwoman Maria Brink's beguiling vocals, which swirl around guitarist Chris Howorth's heavier-than-granite riffing. "Mother" follows 2017's beloved "Ritual." Excitement for this record burns at a fevered pitch, as In This Moment landed on several "Most Anticipated" lists, including Alternative Press, Loudwire, and Revolver.
2020 release. Global Pop superstar Dua Lipa is back with Future Nostalgia. Dua arrived in style in 2015 with her self-titled, chart topping debut album which eclipsed 4 million sales worldwide with single sales reaching over 40 million. Dua Lipa is also officially the most streamed album by a female artist in Spotify history. Dua made Brit Award history in 2018 by becoming the first female artist to pick up five nominations, with two wings for British Breakthrough Act and British Female Solo Artist, all while selling out tours around the world. In early 2019, she received two Grammy awards for best new artist and best dance recording.
When asked to describe himself, Whitmer Thomas—comic, musician, skateboarder, infamous Blink182 fan—will tell you, “I’m always gonna be the one whose mom called him ‘the Golden One,’ right before she died.” This is where his debut HBO comedy special, The Golden One, finds Whitmer: age thirty, investigating this sense (curse?) of destiny-as-identity. It’s been thirteen years since he left Alabama for LA, becoming a linchpin for LA’s young, independent comedy scene with Power Violence, the monthly show he hosted with friends. But he became haunted by the question: had he already peaked, just like his mom, singer in a local band with big ambitions that never made it out of the Flora-Bama Lounge in Gulf Shores? Rather than shy away from all that messy self-mythology, Whitmer tapped the source of it all through writing this one-man show featuring his own original music. Songs from The Golden One, a companion album of songs from the special, features Whitmer’s darkwave bangers, synthesizing relatable content: millennial anxieties, therapy-speak jokes, and the annals of his own childhood tragedies. Songs from The Golden One feature ten cuts of borderline-John Maus cosplay with spasms of pop-punk absurdity. Thomas uses the gothy, nasal vocal drone as a tool of comic detachment to cover the funny-’cause-its-true territory of awkward sex, crippling insecurity, the shame of ambition, and the long tail of abandonment traumas. Each song is a capsule of initial therapy breakthroughs: those realization zingers where suddenly it all makes sense how each fucked variable from then makes up the weird shit of now. When you see it all for what it is, it looks like some sick, clever joke from the universe, driving you desperate to revise the comedy so that if you have to be reality’s punchline, at least you can write the jokes. Original tracks from the special include the shimmering, synthy euphoria of “Eat You Out,” a glorious admission to performance anxiety and the ol’ magician’s cloak of cunnilingus move. There’s “The Codependent Enabler,” a whole jungle gym of toxic relationship rationale where “I can only get it up if you are down,” and the sadboy sobriety anthem “Partied to Death,” about when you’re young in LA and you have to tell people that you’re not “Cali sober for wellness,” you’re sober because your mom actually died from addiction. At first pass, Whitmer’s special and album make a relevant, hilarious articulation of one tragic childhood, of the messiness of masculinity, of the timeless qualms of being broke with a dream in Los Angeles, and the humiliation inherent in having “a dream” at all. But in flashes of unexpected weirdo wisdom, Whitmer weaves a deeper story of a person finding reconciliation and forgiveness while finding his own self and voice. He faces his darkness with darkwave, writing the story of his objectively insane youth through a Venn diagram of cool guy music, goofy dude jokes, and sensitive boy reflections that hit in a way that feels bigger than the sum of its parts. Whitmer will say that he made The Golden One out of desperation, but there’s something about it that feels a lot more like destiny.
From the first second of Kandace Springs' new album — as those warm, hand-plucked bass notes fill the air — you know you've arrived at something different. And once she starts singing, well, it's pretty clear The Women Who Raised Me exists apart from the normal rules that govern space, time, and talent. While 2018's Indigo LP found the Nashville singer-pianist using modern production to bend sound into new genre forms in collaboration with Karriem Riggins, this set adheres sonically to jazz while Springs travels back and forth across a near-century of music. While the feel is as rich and complex as our host's voice, the concept is simple. Springs covers the women who inspired her while she was growing up, putting her own spin on songs associated with a dozen of the greatest female vocalists of all-time: Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, Astrud Gilberto, Lauryn Hill, Billie Holiday, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Carmen McRae, Bonnie Raitt, Sade, Nina Simone, and Dusty Springfield.
Tesla visited the iconic Abbey Road Studios for a one-night musical event, performing songs from their legendary arsenal including "Love Song" and "What You Give" along with their classic covers of "Signs" and "We Can Work It Out." Additionally, for the first time ever, the band performed the track "California Love Song," from their latest studio album, Shock. The performance was recorded and filmed in 4K HD, bringing forth Tesla's upcoming live album, Five Man London Jam. Available on CD.
The Sleep Eazys is comprised of Joe Bonamassa, Anton Fig, Michael Rhodes, Reese Wynans and John Jorgenson with special guests appearing throughout the album. Produced by Joe Bonamassa. The album pays tribute to Joe's mentor, friend and one of the greatest guitarists of all time - the late great Danny Gatton - who fused blues, rockabilly, jazz, and country to create a unique musical style.
Sam Gendel’s Nonesuch Records debut, Satin Doll will be released March 13, 2020. Recorded in Gendel’s native California, Satin Doll is a futuristic homage to historical jazz. The album features three musicians—Gendel on saxophone, Gabe Noel on electric bass, and Philippe Melanson on electronic percussion—engaging in simultaneous synchronized sonic construction/deconstruction of jazz standards, including Miles Davis’ “Freddie Freeloader,” Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” and Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll.”
What happens when an abrasive rock trio trades guitars for synths, cranks up the beats and leans into the everyday anxieties of simply being a functioning human in the 21st century? The answer is Uneasy Laughter, the sensational second Sub Pop release from Los Angeles-based Moaning. Vocalist/guitarist Sean Solomon, bassist/keyboardist Pascal Stevenson and drummer Andrew MacKelvie have been friends and co-conspirators amid the fertile L.A. DIY scene for more than a decade. They are also immersed in other creative pursuits — Solomon is a noted illustrator, art director and animator, while Stevenson and MacKelvie have played or worked behind the boards with acts such as Cherry Glazerr, Sasami and Surf Curse. On Uneasy Laughter, they’ve tackled challenges both personal and universal the only way they know how: by talking about how they’re feeling and channeling those emotions directly into their music. “We’ve known each other forever and we’re really comfortable trying to express where we’re at. A lot of bands aren’t so close,” says MacKelvie. Adds Solomon, who celebrated a year of sobriety during the Uneasy Laughter sessions, “Men are conditioned not to be vulnerable or admit they’re wrong. But I wanted to talk openly about my feelings and mistakes I’ve made.” Moaning’s 2018’s self-titled Sub Pop debut featured songs mostly written in practice or brought in already complete by individual band members. It garnered acclaim from Pitchfork, Stereogum and Los Angeles Times, who observed, “Moaning craft anxious music for an increasingly nervous local scene.” But Uneasy Laughter is a collaborative breakthrough which significantly brightens Moaning’s once claustrophobic sound, again abetted by producer/engineer Alex Newport (At The Drive-In, Bloc Party, Melvins). The trio points to first single “Ego,” which features a costume-heavy video directed by Ambar Navarro, as an embodiment of this evolution. Solomon admits Uneasy Laughter could have gone in quite another direction had he not gotten sober and educated himself on such core subjects as gender and mental health. “I did a lot of reading in the tour van — authors like bell hooks, Mark Fisher, and Alain de Botton, all really inspired me. I don’t want to be the person who influences young people to go get high and become cliche tragic artists,” he says. “What I’d rather convey to people is that they’re not alone in what they think and how they feel. ‘Ego’ specifically and the album overall is about those themes — letting go of your bullshit so you can help other people and be present.” “We want to be part of a community,” he adds. “I wrote online about being sober for a year, and I had kids from all over writing and asking for advice. One of them said, ‘For the first time I can remember, I didn’t drink last night.’ I thought, for once, maybe we did something besides sell a record. That’s a win. That’s incredibly exciting.”
2020 release from the singer/songwriter. Supernova, the follow-up to her 2018 debut Starfire, is a "reflection of on the highs and lows that make life so beautiful," according to a press release. It was written after an extensive time on the road and the birth of her second child.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids are an Indigenous rap duo from the west coast of Canada. Trapline is the 3rd full length album, which was short-listed for Canada's prestigious Polaris Award. Working with hip hop/trap producers like Kato and Pilgrim, SNRK take time to honour their history, their hometown of Kitimat and the Haisla Nation. Features collaborations with Tanya Tagaq, Birdz and Nooky, The Sorority, Cartel Madras, Brevner, Kimmortal, Boslen, and Shanks Sioux.