On March 29, 2024, Shabazz Palaces’ two new mini-albums, Robed in Rareness and Exotic Birds of Prey, come out on CD and LP. Shabazz Palaces is masterminded by Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets), whose relentless drive to reimagine hip-hop – even as he enjoys his fifth decade on Earth – remains undiminished.

When Robed in Rareness hit digital platforms in 2023, NPR Music called it “enchanting and subversive," while Pitchfork observed that “the futurism of Shabazz Palaces has always been interwoven with the past and present, their songs scintillating tapestries of old-school shit talk, proggy psychedelia, and melodic flossing. Robed in Rareness is draped in this multiplicity as Butler and a team of close collaborators swagger across eras of rap.”

Exotic Birds of Prey furthers the modus operandi of Robed in Rareness: a respectful eye on the past, an embrace of an ever-evolving present, with its feet firmly planted in the future. Where Robed warped sounds like shoegaze and ambient music into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, Exotic cross-pollinates these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.

The final album from Canadian punk rock legends Sum 41 album. Spanning 2 discs and 20 tracks, the album features the singles “Landmines” and “Rise Up”.’

serpentwithfeet, the Baltimore born singer-songwriter, is taking natural steps as a versatile talent from chapter to chapter in his career. His third album Grip is the result of these latest steps. GRIP finds its home on the dance floor of Black gay clubs and the intimate moments that happen there and afterward, no matter the location. It explores the small moments of physical touch and how they occur. Whether it be a grip around the waist or the face, serpentwithfeet manages to explore all angles.

GRIP and the Black gay club share an interesting juxtaposition: the club is public; the dancefloor is obviously a place where people look at and watch one another. At the same time, the Black gay club is a safe community space, it is “for us”, and in that way is very private, very intimate. These clubs provided a different atmosphere for him, a different comfort, and a different sense of welcoming that nurtured him in a new way.

From start to finish, GRIP sonically lives the highs and lows of not only a night out at the club but of romance as well. “Damn Gloves (ft. Ty Dolla $ign and Yanga Yaya)” captures the adrenaline rush of a night’s peak with a thumping bass entwined in dance production that mimics the heartbeat’s speed as intimacy runs high between two lovers.“Spades”employs a sweet guitar-driven melody to create a tender moment as a slow-dance would. “Lucky Me” is sweet and honest, void of anything that distracts from the moment at hand as serpent’s voice, a twinkling guitar melody, and enchanting synths serve as the driving force to champion a new romance.

It is a body of work that highlights moments that are closest to the heart. Throughout his seven-year career, he has exhibited versatility through R&B music that’s been in and outside of grim, spiritual, and joyous. serpentwithfeet continues to push the limits of his artistry.

Nine-time Grammy Award winner and 2023 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee, Sheryl Crow, will release her 11th full length studio album, Evolution. The album comes as a welcomed surprise after Crow publicly stated that she would not release another full-length album after Threads (2018) and kicks off with her lead single “Alarm Clock,” which is perhaps Sheryl Crow’s most radio-friendly pop song since “Soak Up The Sun.”

In their decade-plus together, the four-piece—Julia Shapiro (guitar, vocals), Lydia Lund (guitar, vocals), Gretchen Grimm (drums, vocals), and Annie Truscott (bass, vocals)—have created a resonant body of work. Live Laugh Love is a natural continuation. Against the bizarre backdrop of the past few years, Chastity Belt remained a supportive space for the members to grow and experiment, drawing on the ingredients most essential to their process since the beginning: authenticity and levity. Recorded over three sessions in as many years (January 2020, November 2021 and 2022), the focus became more about enjoying their time together in the studio than making it feel like work. Their ease and familiarity with engineer Samur Khouja in LA, who also recorded their last album, made for a particularly enjoyable process. Once completed, they returned to renowned engineer Heba Kadry who mastered the album.

Album opener “Hollow” sets the tone with a gently driving rhythm while guitar layers stream like sun rays through an open car window. A warmth radiates through Shapiro’s voice, even while grappling with feeling lost and stuck. “The older I get,” Shapiro says of the lyrics, “the more I realize that I might just always feel this way, and it’s more about sitting with the feeling and accepting it, rather than trying to fight it.” That wisdom seems to anchor Live Laugh Love. Chastity Belt has never shied from navigating the spectrum of difficult emotions, and an existential thread weaves throughout the subject matter. And yet the songs feel more grounded than ever; there’s a sense of quiet confidence and self-assurance that comes with being less numb and more present. Facing discomfort takes more fortitude, after all.

Live Laugh Love finds the members in their prime as musicians. Their parts trace intricate patterns over one another, but there’s room to breathe between the layers. Everyone contributes to the writing, sometimes switching instruments, and for the first time, all four members sing a song. It’s never been more apparent that they are creative siblings, cut from the same belt. “We’ve been playing music with each other for over a decade,” says Shapiro, “so it really does feel like we’re all fluent in the same language, and a lot of it just happens naturally.”

“Laugh” seeks in the balm of friendship, aware of the anticipatory nostalgia that hits during a good time that you’re already missing before it’s gone; the heavier guitar tones on “Chemtrails” streak ominous chord progressions over Grimm’s precision timekeeping, lamenting memories that won’t fade easily. During a transitional time, Truscott came across a note in their phone that read, “it's not hard all day, just sometimes,” which inspired a poignant line in the chorus of “Kool-Aid,” their first song as lead vocalist on a Chastity Belt recording. Another standout, “I-90 Bridge” shines with a silvery melody that soars as Lund belts one of the most resounding moments on the album: “Tell your girlfriend she’s got nothing to fear/I’m set in my head/My body’s a different story.” The track “Blue” saunters nonchalantly with a wink; you can almost hear Shapiro’s smile as she sings “Faking it big time/So I can hit my stride/Man, it feels good to be alive,” channeling early Chastity Belt channeling early ’90s before channeling the late Elliott Smith in a spiral of distortion and insight: “Don’t get upset about it/It’s gonna pass/Tell all your friends about it/They’re gonna laugh.”

“We have such a strong sense of each other’s musical inclinations” says Lund. “I think this allows for a lot of playfulness…we can kinda surprise each other, like a good punchline would.”

Transnational Speedway League is Clutch’s very first recording (1993) and was never before released on vinyl - until now. It is the next release in our vinyl only Clutch Collector’s Series. Clutch’s guitar mastermind, Tim Sult, quarterbacked this release from A to Z. The album is remastered and manufactured on 180-gram colored vinyl (Translucent Emerald Green) which in turn is stored in extra heavy sleeves. The artwork was redesigned by Dan Winters (original graphic designer) and Tim Sult. The gatefold jacket is printed on metalized polyester paper, and each album includes a numbered insert autographed by the band. It is safe to say that Clutch fans around the world will want to get their hands on one of these very limited albums (7,500 units worldwide/4000 US). 

Aaron Lewis grew up in Springfield, Vermont, listening to his grandparents’ Country 8-track tapes. Those roots inspired the multi-platinum STAIND founder to return to his origins for the No. 1 Billboard Country Album debuts Town Line and Sinner, as well as Billboard’s No. 1 Hot Country Song debut “Am I The Only One.” Lewis has put a traditionalist brand on his outlier Country, and with his new album The Hill, the 15 million-selling workingman’s star offers his most personal and unplugged collection to date.

CNTS are back with their sophomore release! The band features guitarist Mike Crain (Dead Cross, Retox, Festival Of Dead Deer), drummer Kevin Avery (Retox, Planet B)  and vocalist Matt Cronk (Qui) with new guitarist Koko Arabian and bassist Rico Adair.

Our fifth chapter is the one where we seek, savor, and settle. The muse found us in the depths of raising children, nurturing relationships, surviving a world-changing virus, bidding farewell, shifting our mindsets, and discovering a sense of peace heretofore unseen. Our third decade of life has proven to be one of routine, rest, and realization, and these songs are about the lessons we’ve learned. We’ve learned to be space-holders and defenders of the people we hold close. We’ve learned from deep, steady love in various forms. We’ve learned to let go of people and perceptions and priorities that just didn’t make the cut as we weighed what is right and important and worth keeping. We’ve learned how all the things we’ve always treasured continue to withstand the pressure of time. If you notice an upward trend to the mood and emotions, you’re on target-we have found calm waters, for now.- The Secret Sisters

On March 29, 2024, Shabazz Palaces’ two new mini-albums, Robed in Rareness and Exotic Birds of Prey, come out on CD and LP. Shabazz Palaces is masterminded by Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets), whose relentless drive to reimagine hip-hop – even as he enjoys his fifth decade on Earth – remains undiminished.

When Robed in Rareness hit digital platforms in 2023, NPR Music called it “enchanting and subversive," while Pitchfork observed that “the futurism of Shabazz Palaces has always been interwoven with the past and present, their songs scintillating tapestries of old-school shit talk, proggy psychedelia, and melodic flossing. Robed in Rareness is draped in this multiplicity as Butler and a team of close collaborators swagger across eras of rap.”

Exotic Birds of Prey furthers the modus operandi of Robed in Rareness: a respectful eye on the past, an embrace of an ever-evolving present, with its feet firmly planted in the future. Where Robed warped sounds like shoegaze and ambient music into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, Exotic cross-pollinates these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.

Since forming in 2008, Chicano Batman have followed their own visionary impulses to tremendous heights—a journey that began at local dive bars and recently saw them co-headlining the legendary Hollywood Bowl. In the making of Notebook Fantasy, Chicano Batman worked with producer John Congleton (Erykah Badu, Death Cab For Cutie, St. Vincent) to double down on their hyper-creative tendencies, discovering new dimensions of their prismatic music while infusing the lyrics with an unflinching honesty.

Stitching together the frenzied snarl of gory early 1990s OSDM and eerily plodding doom intonations, COFFINS find no shame in continuing to perfect the vile, derelict strain of dungeon-crawling death-doom for which they are revered." - Invisible Oranges Japan’s COFFINS return with their crushing new full-length album, Sinister Oath. Recorded ahead of the band's 25th anniversary in Tokyo, Sinister Oath further cements COFFINS' legacy as one of the most putrid sounding and uncompromising Old School Death Metal bands in the world. From the chest-pounding, drudgy opening of "Spontaneous Rot" to the hammer-crushing riffage of "Things Infestation" thereafter, Sinister Oath creeps and crawls through a cavernous space firmly rooted in no-frills Death Metal. The band's signature sound is forever-present: equal parts bleak, doomy, crusty, disgusting, and wholly heavy. Featuring album art by Axel Hermann (Asphyx, Bloodbath, Demolition Hammer, Sodom, and more,) Sinister Oath is COFFINS at their most vile!

Known as the main dancer of global superstar group BTS, j-hope releases his second album titled ‘HOPE ON THE
STREET VOL.1’ in which he tells of his humble beginnings as a part of a street dance crew and the journey to BTS.
This new album will be available in 2 versions: VER.1 PRELUDE and VER.2 INTERLUDE. Contents include a CD,
Zipper Bag, Photo Zine (80 pages), Lyrics Book (8 pages), Poster, 2 Photo Cards, Sticker and Hang Tag.
Dimensions: 340 x 235 x 10 mm.

Known as the main dancer of global superstar group BTS, j-hope releases his second album titled ‘HOPE ON THE
STREET VOL.1’ in which he tells of his humble beginnings as a part of a street dance crew and the journey to BTS.
This new album will be available in 2 versions: VER.1 PRELUDE and VER.2 INTERLUDE. Contents include a CD,
Zipper Bag, Photo Zine (80 pages), Lyrics Book (8 pages), Poster, 2 Photo Cards, Sticker and Hang Tag.
Dimensions: 340 x 235 x 10 mm.

Catfish and the Bottlemen are back after a nearly 5-year hiatus with new song “Showtime.” Frontman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Van McCann recorded the song in Los Angeles with multi-GRAMMY® Award winning producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, LCD Soundsystem, Rolling Stones). The song reflects the sun-kissed optimism of LA and marks a bold evolution in Van’s songwriting. White 7" Single.

For You is a collection of songs that reflect change, both the desire for it and the anxieties that hold you back from it. It's about working through challenging transitions in your life, a call to be kind to yourself in the process, and a move towards a bigger picture in your life. On a grander scale For You is about navigating challenging new changes in life. The desire to stay true to yourself but let go of the anxieties that stop you from flowing with that change and embracing new experiences. Honed in For You reflects my challenges touring for the first time and embracing a new chapter in my life with music.

On her debut Capitol Records studio album All I Ever Want Is Everything, Blu DeTiger claims the spotlight as a rising pop icon who’s not afraid to feel it all. The record is a portrait of Blu at her most unstoppable and most vulnerable as she captures the unpredictable process of coming into one's own. Inspired by sleepless nights out on the town and memories of her thumping DJ sets, the album sees Blu staking a claim to her desires and transforming into the messy protagonist of her fantasies.