AIMS Music

Archive Series Volume No. 5: Tallahassee is the lost-in-time debut album from Iron & Wine. A collection of songs recorded three years prior to his official Sub Pop debut, The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002). A period before the concept of Iron & Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam Beam was studying at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film. Tallahassee documents the very first steps on a journey that would lead to a career as one of America's most original and distinctive singer-songwriters. Creek arrived like a thief in the night with it's lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely Tallahassee comes with a strange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion that likely comes from being too young to know better and too naïve to give a shit. The recordings themselves are more polished than Creek and give a peak into what a studio version of that record might have offered up. Tallahassee was recorded over the course of 1998-1999 when Beam and future bandmate EJ Holowicki moved into a house together.

Build A Problem is an album of processing. I build problems - I was the problem that was built. It explores my hugest emotions; from the dark depths of bad brain to the giggly, performative nonchalance of feeling broken," says Dodie. "Build A Problem is full of feeling, full of soaring strings, thick harmonies, honesty, vulnerability and therapy." And on lead single "Cool Girl" she adds that it's a "song about misplaced anger. Stemming from the suppression of communicating your needs in a relationship in order to attempt to be the most chill, cool, and loveable. It's bitter, desperate, frustrated, proud, determined, and unhealthy.

While many know Bergman as one half of brother-sister duo Wild Belle, her forthcoming record is a cathartic collection rooted in the hopeful values and traditions of gospel that have helped her through the recent, tragic loss of her father. On the signing of Natalie Bergman, Third Man Records co-founder Ben Swank adds, “Natalie has a unique vision and has approached this album with a reverence for the sacred and healing nature of the history of this music, but has managed to update it in a way that is distinctly her own. We're very excited to welcome her to the Third Man label and family.” Alongside her brother Elliot, the island-influenced music Natalie Bergman made in Wild Belle has led to collaborations ranging from Major Lazer to Tom Tom Club, performances at Coachella and Lollapalooza, tours with Beck, Cage The Elephant, Toro y Moi and more. Helmed by her heavenly voice, Bergman’s solo album is steeped in mystic melodies and time-bending tones of psychedelic rock and soul. Showcasing her multi-instrumental and creative versatility, songs will be accompanied by visuals that blend her own abstract artwork, self-designed wardrobe and beyond. Stay tuned.

Bright Green Field is an album of towering scope and ambition, it is deeply considered, paced and intricately constructed. With all band members playing such a vital and equal role, this album is very much the product of five heads operating as one. Some bands might be tempted to include previous singles on their debut - and the band already released two more in 2020 via 'Sludge' and 'Broadcaster' - but instead Bright Green Field is completely new. This sense of limitlessness and perpetual forward motion is one of the the key ingredients that makes Squid so loved by fans and critics alike, from BBC Radio 6 Music who have A-Listed previous singles, 'Houseplants', 'The Cleaner' and 'Match Bet' to publications such as, The Guardian, NME, The Face, The Quietus and countless others. The band was also on the longlist for the BBC Music Sound of 2020 poll.

TEKE::TEKE is a unique beast. A seven-piece experimental-rock band that fuses traditional Japanese instruments and influences with loud fuzzy guitars, trombone, flute, keys and a powerhouse rhythm section to create a modern take on a sound reminiscent of 1960's-70's-era psychedelic Japanese soundtracks. The delirious yet sharp song arrangements are a perfect playground for vocalist Maya Kuroki's wide range of singing and theatrical delivery, where her voice sometimes screams frantically and sometimes soothes. Live, the band's frenetic energy is palpable, a vibrant punk circus that hits you like a storm. Their debut album 'SHIRUSHI' (or 'signs of great changes to come') takes you through a vast array of imagery and sonic landscapes. Recorded and mixed by Seth Manchester (Battles, Daughters) at Machines with Magnets and mastered by Heba Kadry (Bjork, Julianna Barwick), the resulting album is as storied and unique as the band itself.

On Dropkick Murphys' new album, Turn Up That Dial, the band boots in the front door of 2021 with a record that punches you square in the face and says, in the words of Ken Casey, "Get up, get out of those sweatpants you've been wearing for the last year... better times are ahead - LET'S F-in' GO!!"

Recorded sporadically over five years from 2015 to 2019, Sixty Summers was shaped profoundly by Stone's key collaborators on the album: Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, and Annie Clark, the Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer known as St. Vincent. The scope of Sixty Summers is dizzyingly vast; miles away from Stone's past work, it is a world unto itself, a surreal and breathtaking new landscape. Where Stone's previous solo records, 2010's The Memory Machine and 2014's By The Horns, found her grappling with the natural darkness that comes with loving too much, Sixty Summers finds Stone claiming every part of herself: fire, fury, love, lust, longing. Touching on reference points as disparate as the avant-funk of Talking Heads (on 'Break') the romantic 2am musings of Serge Gainsbourg ('Free', 'Dance') and the sleek, ecstatic synth work of Lorde's Melodrama ('Substance'), Sixty Summers is an album you can dance to and one you can lose yourself in completely.

A unique new album of poetry and music featuring Marianne Faithfull, set to the music of Warren Ellis, and featuring Nick Cave, Brian Eno and Vincent Ségal.

Marianne Faithfull releases one of the most distinctive albums of her extraordinary life and career with composer and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis. It was recorded just before and during the first Covid-19 lockdown – during which the singer herself became infected and almost died. Together with musical friends and family, She Walks in Beauty fulfils Faithfull’s long-held ambition to record an album of poetry with music.

Delving deep into her past, it’s a record that draws on her passion for the English Romantic poets, a passion she fostered at St Joseph's Convent School before leaving for London at the age of 16. There she entered the world of As Tears Go By, of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, setting her on a left-hand path to pop stardom. Sixties iconography and outrage followed, as did her subsequent battles with addiction before her 1979 return to powerful female and artistic autonomy with Broken English.

On April 30, Mascot Label Group/Provogue will release "How Blue Can You Get", a collection of previously unreleased songs from Gary's substantial body of outstanding work in his back catalogue. The album contains 4 originals, and 4 songs previously recorded and made famous by classic bluesmen like Elmore James, Sonny Thompson, Memphis Slim and BB King. It's our hope that current and future generations of music fans discover and re-discover Gary Moore, revelling in the artistry of not just a great guitarist, but a supremely talented musician. Back to the future with Gary Moore. "How Blue Can You Get" is available on light blue 180 grams vinyl and a Limited Deluxe CD.

Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. Born in Sheet'ka (Sitka, Alaska), Galanin is Tlingit and Unangax^; he creates from his perspective as an Indigenous man. His work calls for an accounting of the damages done to land and life by unfettered capitalism while envisioning and advocating alternate possibilities. For the 2020 Biennale of Sydney, he excavated the shape of the shadow cast by the monumental statue of Captain James Cook, a call for the burial of monuments to violent histories, which ArtNEWS and Artsy called a defining work of 2020. Land Swipe-a painted deer hide that depicts the NYC subway map, marked with selected sites of police violence against Black youth-was called one of "the most important art moments in 2020" by The New York Times. His work spans sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry and music; advocating Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social and environmental justice, for present, and future generations. His debut as Ya Tseen ("be alive," and a reference to his Tlingit name Yeil Ya Tseen) is Indian Yard, his first album for Sub Pop. Rich with emotional range and sharp awareness, Indian Yard explores love, desire, frustration, pain, revolution, and connection through the magnetic expressions of an Indigenous mind. These 11 tracks put Galanin, Ya Tseen, and Indigenous art at large in a current musical conversation with the likes of Moses Sumney and TV on the Radio, FKA Twigs and James Blake. Indian Yard is a profound record of liberation and an implicit act of protest, making it's case by facing the intersection of past, present, and future realities. In a nod to Sun Ra, "Gently To The Sun" mentions "meds for a nightmare"-an apt description for a record that offers a much-needed antidote for what now ails us personally and universally. This is not, by any means, Galanin's first album. He has released a steady stream of records under a panoply of aliases, including Silver Jackson and Indian Agent. He has worked with the likes of Meshell Ndegeocello, Tanya Tagaq, and Samantha Crain. And for the better part of a decade, he's also been part of the revolutionarily borderless art collective Black Constellation alongside Shabazz Palaces and THEESatisfaction. Galanin brings all that experience and his partnerships to bear on the highly collaborative songs of Indian Yard. Galanin began working on the record in 2017 while going back and forth between his home in Sitka Alaska and Juneau where he was carving a totem pole. The album entwines falling in love and the birth of a child with the urgency of current social and environmental justice movements to tear down destructive systems and build anew. He shared the concepts with bandmates Zak D. Wass and Otis Calvin III and together they collaborated to build the album alongside longtime collaborator Benjamin Verdoes. During strings of sessions in Sitka and Seattle, a cast of brilliant friends-Shabazz Palaces, Nick Hakim, fellow Indigenous Alaskan singer and songwriter Qacung, fellow Alaskans Portugal. The Man (whom Galanin counts as friends and allies for social and environmental justice), Stas THEE Boss (THEESatisfaction), to name a few-helped turn Indian Yard into a cataract of intensely current pop wonders. Indian Yard is a compelling document of humanity centered in an Indigenous perspective. Created by one of the world's foremost Indigenous artists, the irrepressible Indian Yard is an intense illumination of feeling and connection.

Charleston rock duo Shovels & Rope continue their Busted Jukebox series where they join forces with their musical friends to cover classic songs in their own unique ways with Busted Jukebox Volume 3. Out digitally on February 5 and on physical formats on April 30, Volume 3 sees the duo covering a series of kid-friendly songs, such as "Tomorrow" from 'Annie' featuring The War and Treaty, "You Are My Sunshine" featuring The Felice Brothers, and "What A Wonderful World" featuring John Paul White, along with some other classics like REM's "Everybody Hurts" alongside T. Hardy Morris, and The Beach Boys' "In My Room" featuring Sharon Van Etten.

A reliable traditionalist with a penchant for bittersweet songs of heartbreak and loss, Ashley Monroe pulled a complete 180 for her spectacular new album, Rosegold, riding the joyful emotional wave that followed the birth of her son to create her most ecstatic, blissed-out collection yet. Written and recorded over the past two years, the record finds the Grammy - nominated Nashville star pushing her sound in bold new directions, drawing on everything from Kanye West and Kid Cudi to Beck and The Beach Boys as she layers lush vocal harmonies atop dreamy, synthesized soundscapes and sensual, intoxicating beats.

"I play yours, you play mine. The music never ends." The wisdom of the late, great Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen's words was as deep as his grooves, and his words truly capture the spirit of There is No End. For a man "born into rhythms," the thousands of grooves he recorded, the innumerable more he performed on stages the world over, all make it clear that while this album marks the coda of a legendary career, it will inspire generations more of musicians, artists and fans who hear it.

As if shedding skin and baring armor in its place, the album's first single, “Born For One Thing” represents a natural evolution for the acclaimed French band: hyper-focused but unhinged, confrontational and yet compassionate. “We have to practice detaching ourselves from everything, beginning with actual things,” vocalist / guitarist Joe Duplantier says of the song’s anti-consumerist message, which was partially inspired by the Tibetan and Thai philosophers he read in his youth back in France. “Own less possessions, and give what you don’t need away, because one day we’ll have to let everything go, and if we don’t, we’ll just become ghosts stuck between dimensions.”

2021 release. After two UK #1 albums, 2 million album sales and an array of international acclaim, you might've thought you knew what to expect from Royal Blood. Those preconceptions were shattered when they released 'Trouble's Coming' last summer. Hitting a melting pot of fiery rock riffs and danceable beats, they delivered something fresh, unexpected and yet entirely in tune with what they'd forged their reputation with. When Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher sat down to talk about making a new album, they knew what they wanted to achieve. It involved a conscious return to their roots, back when they had made music that was influenced by Daft Punk, Justice, and Philippe Zdar of Cassius. It also called for a similar back-to-basics approach to what had made their self-titled debut album so thrilling, visceral and original. Those traits pulsate throughout the new single and title track. Kerr's spiralling bass riff casts an hypnotic allure as it grows in intensity, while his vocals switch at will between a raw rock roar and a soulful falsetto. It's underpinned by Thatcher's thundering beats, his taut rhythms infused with groove-laden hi-hats. After setting the tone with 'Trouble's Coming', the album opens in breathless, take-no-prisoners style with the fierce metallic grooves of 'Who Needs Friends' hitting an early visceral peak. Royal Blood further reference their fresh array of influences by deploying vocodered vocals on 'Million & One' before dynamically switching between the biggest contrasts of their sound with 'Limbo'. Already a fan favourite having been a regular during the duo's 2019 shows, 'Boilermaker' lives up to it's reputation and is more than matched by 'Mad Visions', which evokes a hyper-aggressive Prince. It ends with a final surprise in the shape of the stark piano ballad 'All We Have Is Now', a vulnerable and revealing reminder to live in the moment. This new approach manifested itself in the duo's decision to produce the majority of 'Typhoons' themselves. 'Boilermaker' was produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the two bands having first connected when Royal Blood supported them on a huge North American tour. Meanwhile, the multiple Grammy Award winner Paul Epworth produced 'Who Needs Friends' and contributed additional production to 'Trouble's Coming'.

soft pack with 20 page booklet and spot gloss finish on CD jacket.

The Million Masks of God showcases the strength and boundary-pushing invention of Manchester Orchestra’s catalog, and is a testament to the kinship of its songwriting duo—the bond that enables them to take something so tragically personal and turn it into limitless, compassionate, communal, revelatory art.

Tripping with Nils Frahm is an illustration of Nils's lauded ability as a composer and passionate live artist as well as the enchanting atmosphere of his captivating, and already legendary Funkhaus shows: An extraordinary musical trip ' rare and exclusive, close and intimate, bringing a unique concert experience to screen.

The term "Guitar Hero" is bandied about loosely these days. Seems like all you have to do is look good holding the thing and you qualify. But if you ask the actual guitar heroes---like Brian May, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton---who THEIR Guitar Heroes are, Steve Cropper is definitely on the shortlist. If all he had done were the records with Otis Redding that would be enough, but shortly thereafter he was leaving his fingerprints on records by Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Johnny Taylor, Albert King, and virtually anybody worthy who came within earshot of Memphis. He was a Guitarist's Guitarist, and a Songwriter's Songwriter. Fire It Up is Steve Cropper's first album of new Soul/R&B material in 10 years. The album was produced by Steve and Jon Tiven, and will be released worldwide on April 23, 2021 via Mascot Label Group/Provogue.

"Where Do We Go From Here" is Dumpstaphunk's first album in seven years. It will be released on April 23, 2021 on The Funk Garage, an imprint of Mascot Label Group. Over its past 17 years, Dumpstaphunk has earned its reputation as the most well-regarded next-generation New Orleans live powerhouse, the type of band whose live shows attract sit-ins from legends like Carlos Santana, Bob Weir and Trombone Shorty. Alongside Hall, Daniels, Alex Wasily, Ryan Nyther and drummer Devin Trusclair, cousins Ivan and Ian Neville have built upon their family’s iconic NOLA legacy as they’ve transformed Dumpstaphunk into the city’s pre-eminent 21st-century funk-fusion export. The band’s mix of classic and modern influences can be heard throughout the party-friendly mix of R&B, funk, rock, swamp-pop and blues of "Where Do We Go From Here," from the slap-bass rave "Make It After All" to the band's contemporary renderings of NOLA R&B rarities (the 1975 Blackmail gem "Let’s Get At It") and early Seventies classics (Sly and the Family Stone's "In Time").

Alfa Mist is one of the driving forces behind a young and vibrant scene of UK musicians, who've taken on jazz as their musical narrative. On his new album Bring Backs the producer, self-taught pianist and rapper takes us on a sonic trip back to his beat-making past on the streets of East London, through the depth and musicality he discovered composing and playing jazz. 2017 saw the release of Alfa's breakthrough record, Antiphon and the 2019's album Structuralism were both self-released on his Sekito label. His latest endeavour, 2021's Bring Backs, sees Alfa taking on new challenges. The record marks his first release for the label Anti and is also the most detailed exploration of his upbringing in musical form.

Lost Horizons is a collaboration between Simon Raymonde, former bassist of the Cocteau Twins, and drummer Richard Thomas, whose past resume includes Dif Juz and the Jesus and Mary Chain. Their haunting, low-key indie pop combines elements of dance-rock and Bowie-esque singer songwriter folk. In Quiet Moments features a distinguished cast of guest singers and a handful of supporting instrumentalists embellishing the core duo's gorgeously free-flowing and loose-limbed blueprint. While the albbum has it's pockets of loss, they are aligned to the concept of hope, and the end result is more about rebirth than death.

2021 release from the Americana singer/songwriter.

Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church confirmed that new music is on the horizon: "I have [new] albums coming out in April. They came out of my 28 days in the mountains of North Carolina, where the songs were recorded and written. The collection is entitled Heart & Soul."

Also Available:



Eric Church  - Heart

Wide-eyed Nashville singer-songwriter Dreamer Boy’s upcoming album All the Ways We Are Together wasn’t necessarily written with the turmoil of 2020 in mind, but its ethereal melodies, delicate timbre and empathetic lyrics will surely speak to fans burdened by the state of things. He chose Earth Day, April 22^nd, as a release date for the album to reflect the global communal spirit he feels with people and our shared environment.

Frontman and songwriter JJ Julius Son has been in the studio off-and-on for two years, allowing for a combination of globe-trotting and meticulous tinkering, resulting in a spectrum of sounds recorded around the world – in North America, South America and across Europe. The final product is refreshingly free of calculation, with Julius Son allowing each tune to dictate its path while simultaneously leaning-in to his blues, folk and rock inclinations. 

Cannibal Corpse will be releasing a new studio album called "Violence Unimagined" on 4/16. The title tells you everything you need to know about Cannibal Corpse's fifteenth hellish opus. Comprising eleven tracks, it is state of the art death metal played with passion and breathless precision, making for another flawless addition to what is inarguably one of the premier catalogues the genre has thrown up.

Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church confirmed that new music is on the horizon: "I have [new] albums coming out in April. They came out of my 28 days in the mountains of North Carolina, where the songs were recorded and written. The collection is entitled Heart & Soul."

Also Available:



Eric Church  - Soul

Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions)—the latest offering of Tom Petty music, curated with help from his loving family, bandmates and collaborators—will be released on April 16 via Warner Records. The tracks, which were previously released on the limited-edition Super Deluxe 9-LP version of 2020’s Wildflowers & All The Rest, will now be available on limited edition gold vinyl for indie retail, and CD.  A black vinyl release will follow on May 7.

Finding Wildflowers (Alternate Versions) features 16 studio recordings of alternate takes, long cuts and jam versions of Wildflowers songs as Tom, band members and co-producer Rick Rubin worked to finalize the album in 1994. The release offers fans further deep access into the writing and recording of Wildflowers, as well as realizing the full vision of the project as Tom had always intended.

The collection was produced by Tom’s longtime engineer and co-producer Ryan Ulyate who listened to 245 reels of 24-track tape, revealing Tom and his collaborators’ evolutionary process, and finding the group willing to do whatever it took to discover the essence and magic in the material.

The legendary So-Cal punk group The Offspring return with their 10th album (and first new offering since 2008), the blistering and triumphant Let The Bad Times Roll. Produced by Bob Rock, the group describes the album as "the most cathartic thing we've done. The messages might be dark, but at the end what's left is that communication is important, working through feelings is important and most of all, hope is important." 

Description: Nearly two decades into her storied career, 9-time GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter, pianist, and 2020’s most livestreamed artists, Norah Jones is set to release her first full live album ‘Til We Meet Again.The collection presents globe-spanning performances from the U.S., France, Italy, Brazil, and Argentina that were recorded between 2017-2019. The 14 songs featured on ‘Til We Meet Again also span Jones’ entire career from her 2002 debut Come Away With Me (“Don’t Know Why,” “I’ve Got To See You Again,” “Cold, Cold Heart”), 2004’s Feels Like Home (“Sunrise,” “Those Sweet Words”), 2012’s Little Broken Hearts (“After The Fall”), 2016’s Day Breaks (“Flipside,” “Tragedy”), as well as her more recent singles series (“It Was You,” “Begin Again,” “Just A Little Bit,” “Falling,” and the GRAMMY-nominated “I’ll Be Gone”).

The album closes with Jones’ stunning solo piano performance of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” a tribute to Chris Cornell that was recorded at the Fox Theatre in Detroit just days after Cornell’s death following a performance at the same venue.

In the midst of the thick New Orleans summer of 2017, Chris Lyons of garage punks Bottomfeeders found himself sitting on a small batch of songs that didn’t quite fit the fuzzed-out pileups of that band. The new songs were more chiming, driving but relaxed, full of little corners begging to be filled with classic pop harmonies and wayward country licks. He called in his trusted confidants: Bottomfeeders drummer and longtime musical partner Lucas Bogner—the two started playing music together at the tender age of 15—plus bassist Pete Campanelli, and Kunal Prakash (Jeff the Brotherhood) dug the songs and signed on, and the quartet started playing in earnest, hunkering down in the practice space.

By the time the band played its first gig in late 2018 at the opening of Nola’s ManRay Records, the songs had multiplied and the members of the newly christened Silver Synthetic had become genuine rock & roll craftsmen. In a world that doesn’t seem capable of swaying, Silver Synthetic’s self-titled debut shakes and boogies.

It makes sense that the band’s first gig was in a record shop ‘cause folks, this is record nerd-core in a major way, evocative of the LP's first golden era, as the late sixties oozed into the strange 1970s, with the requisite T-Rex stomps, Britfolk twists and turns, and dueling Verlaine/Lloyd guitars. It’s about warmth, and you can practically smell the gently glowing amp tubes on “In the Beginning,” which wafts along on a gust borrowed from Lou Reed’s beatific Coney Island Baby breeziness. With “Chasm Killer,” the boys lean into jammy heartland rock, almost approaching Silver Bullet Band territory at one point! Even when the band kicks into charging lean rock-n-roller, like on the Kinksy “Around the Bend,” there’s a laid-backness that allows more room for the spirit.

You could call Silver Synthetic rock & roll formalists, but the truth is they're more like minimalists, stripping away tired clutter and unnecessary bloat and just zooming in on the essential.

The fifth album from Oklahoma-bred singer/songwriter Parker Millsap, Be Here Instead emerged from a wild alchemy of instinct, ingenuity, and joyfully determined rule-breaking. In a departure from the guitar-and-notebook-based approach to songwriting that shaped his earlier work, the Nashville-based artist followed his curiosity to countless other modes of expression, experimenting with everything from piano to effects pedals to old-school drum machines (a fascination partly inspired by the early-’70s innovations of Sly Stone and J.J. Cale). As those explorations deepened and broadened his musical vision, Millsap soon arrived at a body of work touched with both unbridled imagination and lucid insight into the search for presence in a chaotic world.

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band are the greatest front-porch blues band in the world. They are led by Reverend Peyton, who most consider to be the premier finger picker playing today. He has earned a reputation as both a singularly compelling performer and a persuasive evangelist for the rootsy, country blues styles that captured his imagination early in life and inspired him and his band to make pilgrimages to Clarksdale, Mississippi to study under such blues masters as T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour and David “Honeyboy” Edwards. The band has built through their legendary live shows. Playing as many as 300 shows each year, the band has one of the most dedicated followings out there. This following is sure to eat up the band's latest offering, Dance Songs For Hard Times, a country blues record that was made the right way — two feet on the ground and both hands getting dirty.

The Pink Stones deliver a full serving of Peach State picked country-rock from Athens, Georgia with the release of their debut album, Introducing… The Pink Stones, via the New West Records imprint Normaltown Records. Mixing elements of classic cosmic country, raucous rock’n’roll and fresh humor and heartaches, The Pink Stones are authoring a new chapter in the annals of Cosmic American Music.