Upcoming Indie Exclusives! Sharon van Etten, Ben Frost, Popstrangers

May 27 will see some indie-store only, limited-edition vinyl:
Ben Frost "A U R O R A" colored vinyl with bonus cd. Limited pressing of 500

Popstrangers Fortuna on clear colored vinyl w/digital download.  Limited to 200 pressings

Sharon Van Etten Are We There

Clear colored vinyl, limited to 300!

Survival Knife in-store in Seattle!

 Survival Knife in-store performance May 17 @ 3 p.m.!  Loose Power out April 19 on cd & lp.

When Justin Trosper and Brandt Sandeno began work on what would become their incredibly influential band Unwound, they were young punks making noise in basements in Olympia at the cusp of the grunge age of the early '90s. 

Their legacy of feedback, ennui, and all-ages shows would inspire fervor and joy for the band's entire lifespan, and echoes of their angular basement punk would be heard in the ripples of independent music for years following their disbandment. Though Sandeno's involvement in Unwound came just at the beginning and end of the band, he and Trosper stayed friends and collaborators on different projects throughout, and Survival Knife see the two founding members of Unwound continuing to the next phase of creative work together. Now a good decade after the last Unwound studio album, Survival Knife don't aim to recapture the urgent squall of those mid-'90s days, but instead approach debut album Loose Power with a compositional lens more muscular and pushy than tormented or inward-looking. For one, Sandeno, who began as Unwound's drummer, instead joins Trosper on second guitar, leaving the rhythm section to Kris and Meg Cunningham. 

 There are some apparent subtleties that amount more to being Trosper's signature sounds than aiming for the sounds of the past. Still, the airy guitar blasts that make up the chorus to "Cut the Quick" and the edgy dynamics that find the songs moving from muted, mumbled lyrics into full-on howling all call back to Unwound's best moments. The songs here, however, are harder, more direct, and less interested in dreamy guitar breakdowns or youthful screaming. The grizzled howls and fantastical dual-guitar intro of "Roman Fever" has more of a hard rock approach than anything resembling '90s punk, and album closer "Heaven Has No Eyes" stretches out in a sprawl of almost proggy proto-metal chunkiness and time-signature shifts. The song, much like the album, only hints at its creators' musical histories. Loose Power sees some of the better minds in the heavier side of indie rock's legacy branching out into grittier, gnarlier territory and turning in some inspired, crushing tunes in the process. ~ Fred Thomas, Allmusic

COLDPLAY indie exclusive 7"

Parlophone is releasing a limited-edition Coldplay 7" single with etched b-side on May 6.  The A-side is the song "Midnight," from the upcoming May 19 release Ghost Stories. 

  

Indie Store Exclusives! tUnE-YaRdS!!

You can get special limited-edition vinyl releases throughout the year...not just on Record Store Day!

• tUnE-YaRdS' new release "Nikki-Nack" will be released May 6 on clear red vinyl with only 1,000 pressings.  
• The Horrors have a limited 2LP 180-gram vinyl (only 200 pressed!) due May 6 as well.  

Check stores for availability!

Dap-Kings in-store DJ Set

Who: Dap-Kings--the fabulous back up band for Sharon Jones
What: In-store DJ set
When: April 1 @ 5:30
Where: 1313 W Burnside Portland Everyday Music!
Why: Because they're so damn funky

Stop by after work and hear the Dap-Kings spin some funky favorites on vinyl. Then head over to the Sharon Jones & Dap-Kings show at the Crystal Ballroom after!  Don't forget to have a beer or two at McMenamins beforehand.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have come a long way since their humble beginnings nearly a decade ago. Steeped within the gilded and gritty sounds of gospel, soul and funk, this nine-piece Brooklyn collective has continued to electrify fans, disc jockeys, critics, record collectors, and bloggers the world-over with their authentic, heart-felt sound. The authenticity is clearly demonstrated on the band's latest Give The People What They Want - released by the independent Daptone Records. All their albums recall an analog era led by iconic studios like those at Motown and Stax Records, and have thrust the fifty-three-year-old Augusta, GA native and crew into the multimedia limelight.

Pick up their latest Give The People What They Want on cd or lp today!

Limited-edition vinyl from Black Lips & War On Drugs

Limited-edition (1500 pressing) of the Black Lips vinyl on 180 gr. marble vinyl due March 18 at indie records stores only.  Check stores for availability! 

Underneath the Rainbow, set to release March 18th. Making this the band’s fourth album it is a whole new direction from their 2011 polished release. Underneath the Rainbow was partially recorded in Nashville and also in New York’s Dunham Studio. The album’s sound is described as, “oozing with classic rock’n’roll tones, lickety-split blues riffs, and low-burning country jangle.” It took the band a long time to finish up this album because they were writing while on tour. BLACK LIPS states, “we always fly by the seat of our pants, though, and things have a way of working themselves out for us.”  

Black Lips play at the Hawthorne Theatre in Portland March 29 and Neumos March 28 in Seattle

The War On Drugs is set to release a limited-edition purple 2-lp.  Only 400 pressings.

90s punkers rejoice! Colored vinyl limited-editions coming your way.

Achtung 90s punkers! Epitaph is reissuing limited-edition Millencolin, NOFX, Pennywise and Rancid on colored vinyls! They are due March 25 and are super limited.

Millencolin Pennybridge Pioneers on red vinyl.  limited to 430 pressings
NOFX Heavy Petting Zoo blue vinyl, limited pressing of 700
NOFX So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes  on pink vinyl, limited to 700 pressings.
Pennywise About Time on red vinyl, limited pressing of 440
Pennywise Unknown Road on white vinyl, pressing of 400
Rancid Rancid Limited-edition red vinyl, 700 pressing.

They'll run about $20 each.  Please call store(s) for availability on March 25!  Punk lives.