New Music Monthly: April 2017 Releases

April seems to bring the "revenge of the indies" as a number of high-profile indie-rock artists are releasing new material, with Father John Misty, the New Pornographers, Guided by Voices, and Robyn Hitchcock all dropping new albums this month. Classic rock legends Deep Purple and Ray Davies are both offering new LPs, and there's also a cool Cheap Trick rarities collection and other great stuff to be had in April! And don't forget – Record Store Day 2017 happens on Saturday, April 22nd!

APRIL 7
Carptree - Emerger   BUY!
Deep Purple - InFinite   BUY!
Father John Misty - Pure Comedy   BUY!
Guided by Voices - August By Cake   BUY!
Nick Lowe - Nick The Knife   BUY!
Nick Lowe - The Abominable Showman   BUY!
Imelda May - Life Love Flesh Blood   BUY!
The New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions   BUY!
Professor Louie & The Crowmatix - Crowin' The Blues   BUY!

APRIL 14
Brinsley Schwarz - It's All Over Now   BUY!

APRIL 21
The Black Angels - Death Song   BUY!
Ray Davies - Americana   BUY!
Robyn Hitchcock - Robyn Hitchcock   BUY!
Marc Jonson - Years   BUY!
Rhino Bucket - The Last Real Rock 'n' Roll   BUY!
Neil Young - Bottom Line 1974   BUY!

APRIL 28
Cheap Trick - The Epic Archive, Vol. 1 (1975-1979)   BUY!
Mark Lanegan Band - Gargoyle   BUY!
Leon Russell - Leon Russell [vinyl]   BUY!

(Album release dates are subject to change without notice and they don't always let me know, so there...)

Album of the Month: Neil Young's Bottom Line 1974 is a semi-legit import release of the rock legend's fabled (and often bootlegged) 1974 show at the infamous NYC venue. This unannounced solo acoustic set of eleven mostly new (at the time) songs runs slightly more than an hour and was fortunately caught on tape by an anonymous fan. Five of the songs Young performed debuted with this show, and ten of the eleven songs were unreleased at the time. Surprisingly, as beloved as this Bottom Line show is among Neil Young fans, he has yet to provide it an authorized release as part of his archive series.