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Former HYPE WILLIAMS member Dean Blunt returns with another solo album, the hilariously titled "Black Metal." Many of the song titles are pretty sweet too but all joking aside, Blunt's music is pretty damn unique sounding, with bizarre samples (hear BIG STAR on track 1) & a sort of flat, baritone vocal delivery that really works with the sparse drum machines & weirdly 90's sounding shimmery Brit Pop guitars. Blunt's voice sort of reminds us of Bill Callahan but all comparisons to Mr. SMOG stop there. This is a hard record to describe but anybody that's into forward thinking pop music that sounds like a mash-up of TV ON THE RADIO, Leonard Cohen & Willis Earl Beale will like this.

2017 & second second full-length collaboration between THE BODY & FULL OF HELL is quite the 30- something minute experience, ranging from free- jazz to complete noise & back again. There is a LOT of electronic noise going on here & also some dance rhythms. Not for the faint of heart.

2003 Release from BONNIE PRINCE BILLY (aka WILL OLDHAM) is another masterful slab of country-tinged folk rock. More upbeat in subject than previous releases, this album has enough warmth and beauty to keep you inside on those cold cold days.

Collaborative release between the horse-faced one, Will Oldham a.k.a BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY & one of indie rock's most nervous dudes, MATT SWEENEY (ex-CHAVEZ, ZWAN). Mr. Sweeney provides the music & Mr. Oldham provides the lyrics and the result is a very listenable blend of southern-fried-mope-rock. This record leans more towards the early PALACE BROS. material than the later & Matt Sweeney's poppier song structures & tasty harmonies provide a nice change of pace, bringing almost a PAPA M feel to this record. It's nice to see that the ZWAN monster didn't swallow Sweeney alive. Limited edition digipak version features a fancy gatefold sleeve with different artwork.

THREE YEARS BEFORE THE BLUES BROTHERS MOVIE

On January 8, 2016, David Bowie released his 25th album on his 68th birthday. It's called "Black Star" & it's really great. We loved "The Next Day" and still do but after hearing "Black Star", that record almost seems like a pallet cleanser, a fine record that he needed to get out of the way so he could make this incredible one. Tony Visconti is of course there on production duties & Bowie gathered a group of New York jazz musicians for his backing band. Something about the complex rhythms & linear song structures reminds us of RADIOHEAD a bit, but with more of the drama of "The Next Day" or Scott Walker's recent albums. Really though, nobody else is making records that sound like this & it's amazing that Bowie still finds a way to sound more modern than anybody else just shy of turning 70. RECOMMENDED.

The announcement of the imminent release of "The Next Day" surprised almost everybody as Mr. Bowie was supposedly in retirement after a 2004 heart attack that lead to a lengthy recovery. After being teased by two kind of amazing videos, we now have David Bowie's first new album since 2003's "Reality." Mortality is clearly the central theme here, not surprisingly due to Bowie's brush with death, but this album addresses this with vitality & power instead of fear & trepidation. "The Next Day" is a mostly rocking affair with hints of "Lodger" & "Station to Station" & even reminds us in some ways of Scott Walker's rebirth in the past 6 or so years. The is a fantastic album from one of our most important living artists. Do yourself a favor & check it out.

These reissues were already in the works when the legendary David Bowie died in January 2016. These LPS haven't been officially available on vinyl for many years & they've all been remastered with beautifully restored artwork. These are easily some of the most needed LP reissues of the past 10 years. RIP BOWIE.