New Music Monthly: May 2020 Releases

Maybe May will be the month that this damn Covid-19 crapola goes the way of the do-do and we can all get out again to the clubs and record stores and imbibe on our favorite tunes. Distribution woes aside, the month promises an impressive slate of new tunes, including albums by American Aquarium, Willie Nile, Steve Earle, Jason Isbell, Marshall Chapman, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, among many others! For those of you who dig the sounds of the past, check out the six-disc live set from Todd Rundgren's Utopia or the more affordable two-disc live set from Richard Thompson. No matter your taste in music, there's something here for everybody...

Release dates are subject to change and nobody tells me when they do. If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy!

MAY 1
American Aquarium - Lamentations   BUY!
Built to Spill - Built To Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston   BUY!
The Psychedelic Furs - Made of Rain   BUY!
Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Benefit For Moogy Klingman [six-CD live box]   BUY!

MAY 8
Airborne Toxic Event - Hollywood Park   BUY!
Lamb of God - Lamb of God   BUY!
Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs of Sorrow   BUY!
John Stewart - Old Forgotten Altars: The 1960s Demos   BUY!
Richard Thompson - Live At Rock City: Nottingham 1986   BUY!

MAY 15
Marshall Chapman - Songs I Can't Live Without   BUY!
Ruthie Foster Big Band - Live At the Paramount   BUY!
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Reunions   BUY!
King Buzzo - Gift of Sacrifice   BUY!
Magnetic Fields - Quickies   BUY!
Moby - All Visible Objects   BUY!
Willie Nile - New York At Night   BUY!
Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip   BUY!
Weezer - Van Weezer   BUY!

MAY 22
The 1975 - Notes On A Conditional Form   BUY!
Steve Earle & the Dukes - Ghosts of West Virginia   BUY!
Iron City Houserockers - Have A Good Time...But Get Out Alive!   BUY!
Throwing Muses - Sun Racket   BUY!
Woods - Strange To Explain   BUY!

MAY 29
Mick Hayes - My Claim To Fame   BUY!
The Killers - Imploding the Mirage   BUY!
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Chunky Shrapnel   BUY!
Static-X - Project Regeneration   BUY!
Vandenberg - 2020   BUY!

Album of the Month: Tough choice, what with new music from personal faves like Willie Nile, King Gizzard, Jason Isbell, and Steve Earle this month, but I'm gonna have to go with an oldie-but-goodie that has endured for 40 years now – Iron City Houserocker's Have A Good Time...But Get Out Alive! Originally released in 1980, the sophomore effort from these Pittsburgh rockers is even more fierce the band's debut and this two-disc deluxe reissue includes the original LP as well as a bonus disc comprised of 16 previously-unreleased demo tracks including cool covers of "Rooster Blues" and "Doo Wah Diddy." Co-produced by Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, and Little Steven the album features a batch of original Joe Grushecky songs guaranteed to rock yer turntable! A vinyl version will be released in June with a download card for all the bonus material. The Rev sez "check it out!"

The Best Rock Albums of 2018 (So Far)

It's gotten to the point where the traditional end-of-the-year "best of" lists aren't good enough anymore, nosiree! Ya just gotta toss up some mid-years lists to try and grab eyeballs as well.  I'm not above posting a little clickbait, so I thought that I'd work up my own list of favorite albums from the first six months of 2018.

But the Reverend has noticed something, ah...shall we say, "disturbing"...about these "best albums of 2018 (so far)" lists that I've seen on other blogs and websites. They're way too mundane, filled with vacuous pop dreck and flash-in-the-pan hip-hop artists. So the Rev's list is comprised of the best rock albums (so far) this year...disagree? Leave your album picks in the comments...

David Byrne - American Utopia [vinyl]



The Damned - Evil Spirits



Graveyard - Peace



Howlin Rain - The Alligator Bride



Wilko Johnson - Blow Your Mind



Judas Priest - Firepower



King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Gumboot Soup [vinyl]



King Tuff - The Other [vinyl]



Matthews Southern Comfort - Like A Radio



Superchunk - What A Time To Be Alive [vinyl]



Click on the artist name and album title to buy from Amazon.com and help the Reverend feed his vinyl addiction with the fees we earn from your purchase!

New Music Monthly: April 2018 Releases

April showers bring May flowers and all that hogwash...here in the frozen tundra of WNY, we'd be satisfied if the temperature would get above freezing for more than a day or two at a time. Oh well, maybe in July...but while we're waiting for our tulips to bloom, April brings another bounty of great music, including the long-anticipated CD release of King Gizard & the Lizard Wizard's Gumboot Soup album, as well as new music from King Tuff, John Prine, bluesman Ian Siegal, King Crimson, and the Melvins as well as reissues and archive releases by Doug Sahm, Steve Wynn, reggae legends the Gladiators, and the magnificent Webb Wilder!

If we wrote about it here on the site, there'll be a link to it in the album title; if you want an album, hit the 'Buy!' link to get it from Amazon.com...it's just that damn easy! Your purchase puts money in the Reverend's pocket that he'll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock 'n' roll ecstasy!

APRIL 6
Eels - The Deconstruction   BUY!
King Crimson - Live In Vienna, December 1st, 2016   BUY!
Manic Street Preachers - Resistance Is Futile   BUY!
Ian Siegal - All the Rage   BUY!
Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs   BUY!

APRIL 13
Sandy Bull - Steel Tears   BUY!
The Damned - Evil Spirits  BUY!
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Gumboot Soup   BUY!
King Tuff - The Other   BUY!
John Prine - The Tree of Forgiveness   BUY!
Doug Sahm - Live From Austin, TX [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Sir Douglas Quintet - Live From Austin, TX [vinyl reissue]   BUY!

APRIL 20
A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant  BUY!
Marcia Ball - Shine Bright   BUY!
Black Stone Cherry - Family Tree   BUY!
Gladiators - Serious Thing [reissue]   BUY!
Gladiators - Symbol of Reality [reissue]   BUY!
Lord Huron - Vide Noir   BUY!
Melvins - Pinkus Abortion Technician   BUY!
Tangerine Dream - Quantum Gate/Quantum Key   BUY!

APRIL 27
Humble Pie - Office Bootleg Box Set, Vol. 2   BUY!
Okkervil River - In the Rainbow Rain   BUY!
Tom Rush - Voices   BUY!
Chris Squire - Fish Out of Water [deluxe box set]   BUY!
Webb Wilder & the Beatnecks - Powerful Stuff!   BUY!
Steve Wynn - Dazzling Display [reissue]   BUY!
Steve Wynn - Kerosene Man [reissue]   BUY!

 

Album of the Month: Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks' Powerful Stuff! Nashville's favorite son (and an old pal of the Reverend's) gets a long overdue odds 'n' sods collection of studio and live tracks dating from 1985 through 1993 and featuring special guests like Al Kooper. Check it out!