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Now Hear This! – February 2023

Elle King Come Get Your Wife RCA Buy Now Elle King, singular, swaggering, sardonic, is a musically and personally fearless woman. With Come Get Your Wife, she sharpens her gaze, digs into her roots, puts her banjo front and center and creates a record that’s as alive and electric as she is. Taking all the pieces – the rock, soul, bluegrass and country that she loves – she’s made an album that demands your attention, then delivers on all cylinders. Maneskin Rush! Arista Buy Now The self-assured swagger that enlivens Rush! emanates from the focused attack of Maneskin’s members, whose playing thrums with attitude. “Supermodel” sets the template with its flinty rock and sinewy rhythmic foundation. The delirious punk rave-up “Kool Kids” and a handful of widescreen power ballads break up the pummeling hard rock that is this album’s raison d’étre. Brit Taylor Kentucky Blue Thirty Tigers Buy Now Brit Taylor’s highly anticipated sophomore album is a drive down the famed Country Music Highway – Route 23 — back to her Appalachian roots. It is a shift back to her East Kentucky influences where the cry of the fiddle, the moan of the steel guitar, the twangy banjo and the atmospheric string section are like a journey floating through space and time. Produced by Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson. Somebody’s Child Somebody’s Child Frenchkiss Buy Now After striking out on his on with fantastic indie pop ear-worms, the revered Frenchkiss Records swooped in to sign the Irish songwriter Cian Godfrey. His debut album pivots between joyous indie pop and crunching, riotous guitar, with Godfrey (aka Somebody’s Child) using the space to explore emerging adulthood, and the importance of retaining your innocence. Dave Rowntree Radio Songs Cooking Vinyl Buy Now Radio Songs, the Blur drummer’s first solo outing, is underpinned by the idea of recreating childhood twirlings of the AM dial in search of signals from bigger cities, other planets. Its melancholy electronica is not, however, unapproachable. Modest yet sumptuous ballads suggest something of a lo-fi Blue Nile, while “London Bridge”, is basically a Blur song, to which Rowntree is surely entitled. Illiterate Light Sunburned Thirty Tigers Buy Now Their most fully-realized and ambitious LP yet, Sunburned is full of immediate songs that update and revolutionize the band’s approach to making music. There are rich keyboard and programmed percussion textures now populating their songs, as well as soaring anthemic choruses, and hefty doses of fuzz. It’s an album for searchers, the people who channel the darkest energy into something healing and positive. Quinn CXII The People’s Champ Republic Buy Now Down-to-earth and incredibly vibey, The People’s Champ is twelve tracks that feature an incredible roster of collaborators, including Chelsea Cutler, AJR, Big Sean, and Adrian Cota. The album stays true to everything we already love about the Detroit beatmaker: his humble approach to life, his Midwest spirit, and his focus on letting things be and enjoying the ride that is life. Eminem The Eminem Show: Expanded Edition Aftermath Buy Now The Eminem Show was originally released on May 26, 2002 by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records and Interscope. Featuring guest appearances from Obie Trice, D12, Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, Dina Rae and Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade Scott-Mathers, this Expanded Edition 4 LP set on 180-gram vinyl includes audio from the 1999 Tramps show in New York, as well as the previously unreleased track “Jimmy, Brian, and Mike.” My Kid Brother Happy.Mad.Werid.Sad Fearless Buy Now After much enthusiasm that helped foster the band’s self-titled 2020 EP, My Kid Brother are branching out. Mad.Happy.Weird.Sad, recorded with producer Eric Palmquist (Thrice, Bad Suns, Mutemath), builds on their EP’s polished, hooky rock with heavier riffs and thicker grooves, colorful and quirky arrangements, lyrics that span stalker tales to unfiltered love songs, and choruses that punch with a newfound intensity. Sampa The Great As Above, So Below Loma Vista Buy Now Having started her professional career outside of her home of Zambia, Sampa The Great returned at the beginning of the pandemic to Africa. As Above, So Below is the result of this return to her roots, embracing the sounds and themes of her origins. Now, in an age of authenticity, meet a 360 Sampa, a higher version of herself. No mask on, or role to play. Zella Day Sunday In Heaven Concord Buy Now Blessed with a velvety, cherubic voice as well as a knack for memorable hooks, Zella Day is a distinctive presence on the modern pop landscape — spiritually connected to artists like Lorde and Lana Del Rey (the latter of whom she toured with in 2018), but with a sound all her own. Sunday in Heaven is a powerful statement – an expansive exploration from an artist truly in her prime. Heaven, indeed. Varials Scars For You To Remember Fearless Buy Now Balance occurs amid extremes. Varials seamlessly alternate between moments of crushing power and melodic poise, unlocking harmony in the middle of opposite poles. The Philadelphia quintet continue to sharpen their signature style with searing intensity, uncontainable energy, and uncompromising creativity, delivering controlled chaos like never before. Iggy Pop Every Loser Atlantic Buy Now At 75, Iggy Pop is happy to be smart, pissed off, capable of writing good songs about it all, and singing with a crack rock band behind him. There’s a heady joy in his bile that’s infectious, and Every Loser is a weirdly joyous celebration of life from someone who knows why you shouldn’t toss it aside. We haven’t seen the last of Pop’s hairless and curiously leathery chest. This is a good thing. Rachael & Vilray I Love A Love Song! Nonesuch Buy Now Rachael & Vilray—the duo singer/songwriter Rachael Price (Lake Street Dive) and the guitarist/singer/songwriter Vilray—return with their second studio album. Combining Price’s singular voice with Vilray’s knack for songwriting, I Love a Love Song! showcases their respect for their jazz predecessors, taking the best of the past and creating something new. Featuring 11 new songs and one 1930’s classic. Bob Dylan Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions: 1996 – 1997 Legacy Buy Now The latest chapter in the highly acclaimed Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at Dylan’s mid-career masterpiece. This edition includes a new 2022 remix, by Michael H. Brauer, of the eleven original recordings on Time Out of Mind, and 12 previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for Time Out of Mind, including such iconic tracks as “Love Sick”, “Not Dark Yet” and “Make You Feel My Love”. Raye My 21st Century Blues Human Resources Buy Now The biggest weapon Raye wields on her debut is her undeniable talent. “Oscar Winning Tears” has runs that simmer with tooth-kissed sass, and belts so effortlessly impassioned they put 80% of modern popstars to shame. Meanwhile, “Hard Out Here” sees Raye belt out a powerful verse with the rage and sorrow of a fresh war veteran. In telling her story, Raye delivers a versatile and stinging gut punch of an album. LISTEN HERE LISTEN HERE Margo Price Strays Loma Vista Buy Now In just three remarkable solo albums Margo Price has cemented herself as a force in American music and a generational talent. On her fourth full-length Strays, recorded in Topanga Canyon and produced by Jonathan Wilson, the singer and songwriter presents a clear-eyed mission statement delivered in blistering rock and roll. Margo Price has something to say, and nothing to prove. Sylvan Esso No Rules Sandy Loma Vista Buy Now The stimulus behind Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn’s shiny, sophisticated electronic pop is, they say, an ongoing “argument” between themselves. If so, recording the North Carolina duo’s fourth album must have been a tumultuous, unfettered affair. It’s a free-wheeling surge of glitchy beats and fizzing, ravey energy, with the wobbly UK garage underpinnings of “Echo Party” a notable standout. The Arcs Electrophonic Chronic Easy Eye Sound Buy Now In 2015, Dan Auerbach entered the studio with Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and the late Richard Swift (who passed away in 2018) to record The Arcs’ debut album. Now, more than 7 years later, those same sessions became the bedrock on which the surviving members fleshed out the follow-up, Electrophonic Chronic, a collection of psychedelic rock, gritty funk, and heady, soulful grooves. The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a national level organization comprised of the best independent record stores in America. CIMS was founded in 1995 with the goal of uniting like minded independent store owners, giving them a more powerful voice in the music industry. The stores that make up CIMS are all very different, but we share the same desires – to be the heart of our communities, to super-serve our customers, to support and develop artists, and to share our love of music. For more information about CIMS and the stores in our organization, please visit cimsmusic.com or find us through social media with the #cimsmusic hashtag. And please remember to always shop local by supporting your neighborhood record store.

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