Call Back the Giants - Call Back the Giants

Kye

Bleak, British electronics are the best.

Vicki Leekx - Vicki Leekz Mixtape

Self-released

The most fun record ever, somehow made by M.I.A. and given away for free.

Deerhunter - Vox Celeste 5

Sub Pop

The only band that matters released the only 7" that matters in a super-limited edition. Luckily, I got one for my birthday.

Demdike Stare - Triptych

Modern Love

More dark electronic music from the UK. The vinyl is out of print, but you can get all the tunes in this box.

LCD Soundsystem - London Sessions

DFA

This band had to break up in order for me to like them. Everything is played live on this record and it rules.

Alvarius B. - Baroque Primitiva

Poon Village

Sun City girls had to break up so Alan Bishop could make beautiful music again. Also, this is the prettiest LP packaging I've seen in years.

Burzum - Fallen

Byelobog

Striking.Refined.Dignified.Majestic.Mature.Nordic.Metal.Black.Simplicity.Modest.Complex.
Focused.Raw.Organic.Lone.Warrior.Philosopher.Vikerness.Redeem.Return.Revelation.
Mastery.Composed.Purity.Speechless.Transcendence.Beyond.Bitter.Time.Pain.Loathing.
Fate.Void.Fear.

Mournful Congregation - All titles

 

Adelaide.Australia.Unique.Bleakest.Merciless.Blackened.Doom.Funeral.Procession.
Sludge.Snail.Sloth.No.Hope.All.Releases.Recommended.

Seven Sisters of Sleep - Seven Sisters of Sleep

Southern Lord

Orange.County.Southern.Lord.Vicious.Intense.Menacing.Doom.Sludge.Core.Beefy.Damn.
Pissed.Off.Very.Very.Brutal.Named.After.Classic.Drug.Book.1860.Mondecai.Cook.Look.It.Up.

Witches Hammer - Anything you can find

 

Obscure.80s.Canadian.Black.Thrash.Ahead.Of.Its.Time.Sick.Ripping.Aggro.Insane.Sloppy.
Raw.Brutal.Maniacal.Nuclear.War.Now.

Solanaceae - Solanaceae

Heiorunar Myrkrunar

Dane.Kim.Larsen.Of.The.Wand.And.The.Moon.Came.Out.2.Years.Ago.Still.Feels.New.But.
Timeless.Dark.Folk.Medieval.Romanticism.

Darkness - Death Squad

Battle Cry Records

Darkness - Defenders of Justice

Battle Cry Records

Exumer - Possessed By Fire

Disaster Records

Living Death - Metal Revolution

Banzai

Necronomicon - Necronomicon

Maze/Kraze Records

Necronomicon - Apocalyptic Nightmare

Maze/Kraze Records

Necronomicon - Escalation

Battle Cry

Deathrow - Satan's Gift / Raging Steel / Deception Ignored

Metalhit.com / Displeased / Noise

Essential.Releases.German.Thrash.Speed.80s.Raw.Punky.Savage.Fast.Obscure.Spikes.
Nikes.Reeboks.Pumas.Leather.Denim.Zits.Musctaches.Mullets.Beer.Sausage.Ripping.
Moshing.Hell.Yeah.Seek.'Em.Out!

Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus

Season of Mist

Haha.LOL.Gotcha! :(

tip: I always can't think of what's new and cool at the moment ... But I SWEAR I czech out a bunch of cool shit. Like ALL DAY EVERYDAY. Yup. Laterz.

Bleached - Francis

Ooga Booga

The totally rad sisters of Mika Miko, Jessie and Jennifer Clavin have struck again! Think The Runaways with a little Wipers influence, and you've got yourself Bleached. Super catchy rock & roll songs to suit your summertime needs. Francis is the group's first release with an upcoming EP Carter this summer, so make sure you be on the lookout for that! It's going to be awesome!

Tearist - Living: 2009 - Present

PPM

If you have yet to experience Tearist, you are totally missing out! Living: 2009 ­- Present is a document of the band's live performances captured and recorded for you to keep at home. In a sea of modern electronic music, Tearist are making a great name for themselves. With rightful reason, they are a force to be reckoned with, which can truly be found in their captivating shows. Get into it!

Austra - Feel It Break

Domino Records

Austra's Feel It Break just might have to be my favorite release this year, thus far. Feel It Break is one of the most beautiful electronic albums from start to finish. Incredible dark, dancey pop songs that are backed by one of the most stunning voices in music right now. For the fans of: Zola Jesus, Cold Cave, Light Asylum. Alternative music's call for a modern Siouxsie and the Banshees might have just been answered.

Comadre - Mixtape Vol. 5

Comadre is one of my favorite hardcore acts. Mixtape 5 showcases new unheard tracks from Comadre, Punch, Loma Prieta, Ghostlimb, and various others. In an effort to help support Japan, these punk heavyweights have banded together to bring meaning back to unity and support. So awesome!

Iceage - New Brigade

What's Your Rupture?

When I thought I lost hope in punk music, I was shown Iceage. Fast punk songs in the light of Warsaw. Super into it.

ESG - Family Bizness

Crass - Penis Envy

Crass

Gang of Four - Content

Yep Roc

Legends of post-punk have struck again. But you already know this!

Christian Death - Only Theatre of Pain (Reissue)

Phantom

James Pants - James Pants

Stones Throw

The Slits - The John Peel Sessions

Hux Records

Rest in peace forever Ari Up. John Peel Sessions captures The Slits in their most raw and rambunctious state. Jams like "Vindictive" and "Love und Romance" will keep you dancing around your bedroom until your legs fall off.

Thursday - No Devolución

Epitaph Records

Trap Them - Darker Handcraft

Prosthetic Records

Led Er Est - May

Captured Tracks

Gloomy & Raw. All things that I love in my dance music. Thanks Led Er Est for bringing it. May is an awesome EP. It will satisfy your darkwave needs, for sure.

Converge / Dropdead - Split

Self-released

Holy smokes! My two favorite names in hardcore making a split together, nothing is better.

tip: Three One G.

Jill Scott - The Light Of The Sun

Warner Bros.

Various Artists - Delta Swamp Rock - Sounds From the South: At The Crossroads of Rock, Country & Soul

Soul Jazz Records

Various Artists - Cartegena! - Curro Fuentes & The Big Band Cumbia and Descarga Sound of Columbia 1962-1972

Soundway Records

Another great compilation from the golden era of Columbian music from Soundway Records. If you like the classic Big Band Cumbia sound from the early days of Discos Fuentes then you will absolutely love this collection. Soundway consistently releases some of the best compilations and represses of African & Latin American music. Highly Recommended!

Kid Gusto - BSTRD BTS #14 Promo Only

BSTRD BTS

Forthcoming release from DC native/LA resident Kid Gusto—True Grooves label head, DJ, Producer & Multi-instrumentalist. I've been a fan of Kid Gusto's work since I first heard the DC Funk crew demo in 2003. This 12" has four smokin' hot edits of Latin tunes. There's not a bad track on here. Limited Promo Only release, so if you see this one you had better act fast. Another great addition to the BSTRD BTS series. BIG Up! Check out his full-length album titled KG Originals for a diverse collection of global grooves or peep some of his other promos at http://soundcloud.com/kidgusto

Toy Selectah - Mex Machine

Mad Decent

Veteran Mexican music producer Toy Selectah's first 12" for Mad Decent explores several styles of Latin music fused with heavy drums. Toy Selectah has a unique take on Latin club music. This EP has a heavy Baltimore Club. My favorite tracks are "Ani Riddim," which might appeal to fans of UK Funky or Tropical Bass, and "Half Mex Half Columbian Bandit." For fans of Digital Cumbia, Raverton, Moombahton, and releases from ZZK or Bersa Discos (tip—check out his killer Chicha edit from Bersa Discos #5 titled "Lamento En La Jungla").

Treme: The Complete First Season

If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise

Various Artists - Brazil Bossa Beat!: Bossa Nova & The Story of Elenco Records, Brazil

Soul Jazz

Various Artists - Bossa Nova and the Rise of Brazilian Music in the 1960s

Soul Jazz

Ocote Soul Sounds - Taurus

Eighteen Street Lounge Records

Los Viajes Del Vinto (The Wind Journeys)

tip: My Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/djbennett-amoeba

Follow me on Twitter: @turtlemack

Craft Spells - Idle Labor

Captured Tracks

Pictureplane - Thee Physical

Lovepump United

Zombi - Escape Velocity

Relapse

The Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave

Vice

Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost!

DFA

Det Vackra Livet - Det Vackra Livet

Labrador

Seapony - Go With Me

Hardly Art

John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Ribbon Music

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Jagjaguwar

Cold Cave - Cherish The Light Years

Matador

tip: read my blog....www.amoeba.com/brad

Glasvegas - EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\

Columbia

Glaswegian shoegazers Glasvegas retreated from the gray skies of Scotland to the smog-choked and usually-consistent weather of the California coast to record their sophomore album EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ (yes, all caps with slashes). The change of scenery and addition of frequent sunshine (as well as the departure of original drummer Caroline McKay and addition of Jonna Löfgren) didn't do much to the band's sound—if anything, they've gotten a wee bit darker and stripped away much of the girl-group harmonizing of their self-titled debut (even lead singer James Allan's thick Scottish accent is less discernable here). The anthems are still present, though less chest-beating than "Go Square Go!" or "Geraldine," as on the should-be-singles "Dream Dream Dreaming" and "You," the former with its cascading riffs and hearty swell of feedback, and the latter with its melancholic skyscraping and strained chorus; the dreamy first single "Euphoria, Take My Hand," and the towering, thunderous "The World Is Yours." The album closes with the sparse piano ballad "Change," which features James Allan's mother's spoken-word outro (she delivers one of the album's most stunning lines, "Before you change for me... change for you"), but perhaps the album's best moment is track 10, "Lots Sometimes," a seven-minute classic Glasvegas anthem that builds in intensity as Allan recites lovelorn and heartbroken stanzas (after the song fades out, the sounds of typewriter-tapping and tidal ambience nestle with a group of friends singing "Happy Birthday"—it's the musical equivalent of looking through a box of old pictures and all swells of faded memories). EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ is a beautiful album every bit as awesome as the first, and just as stubborn, confused, pompous, aching, ethereal, and funereal as its title implies and then some.

R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now

Warner Bros.

R.E.M.: Athens' favorite sons...they came, they saw, they conquered. Then they got older, wiser, and more confident. Somewhere along the way, their popularity in America waned, but they remained consistenly brilliant (2001's Reveal and 2004's Around The Sun are NOT the incredible missteps they're notoriously known to be). 2008's Accelerate was a blast of post-punk guitar rock that harkened back to and updated the band's Lifes Rich Pageant and Document albums, and three years later, R.E.M. unleashed Collapse Into Now—the album they could've made in their heyday (it would've fit perfectly between the dated chamber pop of Out Of Time and the bona-fide masterpiece Automatic For The People). From the Eastern-tinged opener "Discoverer," the high-energy "All The Best" and "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter," and the very-R.E.M. ballads "Überlin," "Oh My Heart," and "Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando And I," this is R.E.M. in classic mode—"old hat" without sounding old. Other highlights include the building anthem "It Happened Today" (featuring vocals from Eddie Vedder), and the show-stopping closing track "Blue." The song combines the painful crawl of "Country Feedback" and the spoken-word ferocity of "E-Bow The Letter," backed by Patti Smith's shadowy vocals. It's all dreamy and intense, damned and dark, with some of Michael Stipe's best poetry—until the song fades to a reprise of "Discoverer"'s coda and the album comes full circle to its bright beginning. Collapse Into Now finds the band just as thrilling and professional some 30+ years from its incarnation, still making some of their life's best work.

Cat's Eyes - Cat's Eyes

Polydor

Cat's Eyes is the duo of Faris Badwan (from goth-punk/neo-shoegazers The Horrors) and Rachel Zeffira, a classically-trained opera singer and multi-instrumentalist. How this pairing came to fruition one can only guess, but what a knockout debut—the sounds of '60s girl-group harmonies (the opening track), Broadcast-meets-Stereolab subtle-noise assaults ("The Best Person I Know"), Spectoresque string orchestration ("The Lull"), Eastern instrumentation ("Bandit"), hymnal ballads ("I Knew It Was Over," which Cat's Eyes performed at The Vatican earlier in the year), and psychedelic keyboard and organ riffs throughout—all constitute a thrilling, albeit brief, retro-fied experience. The drone metal-copping "Sooner Or Later" does mildly stick out like a sore thumb amidst all the sugary-sweetness and gold, but even that pure gold belies the blue—a vast majority of the lyrics sound like break-up songs--but what you have here is a wonderfully rich and impressively gorgeous first album.

Rocko's Modern Life - Season One

At long last, an official 2-disc DVD release of my favorite cartoon when I was a kid...Rocko's Modern Life. The show ran from 1993 to 1996 on Nickelodeon, and followed the misadventures of an Australian wallaby named Rocko, who lives his adult life in O-Town with his friends—a steer named Heffer, and a turtle named Filburt—his dog Spunky, and his frog neighbors—the ornery Ed Bighead, and his wife Bev. The show was incredibly adult for a kid's show, filled with sexual innuendo and grown-up predicaments, most of which I'm sure I didn't grasp at seven years old, but there's such a lighthearted spirit to Rocko that makes every episode thoroughly enjoyable and ultimately rewatchable. The only drag about Shout! Factory's release is some of the shows are the broadcast edits (apparently the only masters of the show remaining are the ones cut for TV), but it's such a minor issue; I'll take this release over nothing any day! (And hopefully they get on releasing Seasons 2 and 3, pronto!)

The Witches - A Haunted Person's Guide To The Witches

Alive Records

The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle

Vinilisssimo

180 Gram re-issue

The Cramps - Songs The Lord Taught Us

Vinilisssimo

180 Gram re-issue

Dex Romweber - Is That You In The Blue?

Bloodshot Records

Little Fish - Wonderful

Estupendo Universal Records

Marianne Faithfull - Horses and High Heels

Naïve

Nick Lowe - Old Magic

Yep Roc

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In

Mute

CD+DVD

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads

Mute

CD+DVD

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call

Mute

CD+DVD

Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch

Exene Cervenka - The Excitement of Maybe

Bloodshot Records

Left Lane Cruiser - Junkyard Speed Ball

Alive Records

The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World

History Always Favours The Winners

Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise

Circus Company

Tropic of Cancer - Be Brave

Downwards

Andy Stott - Passed Me By

Modern Love

Deaf Center - Owl Splinters

Type

Black Swan - In 8 Movements

Experimedia

Peaking Lights - 936

Not Not Fun

Belong - Common Era

Kranky

John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Upset! The Rhythm

Clams Casino - Rainforest EP

Tri Angle