New Music Monthly: August 2018 Releases

Wow, if the new releases trickled into the stores throughout July, the month of August opens the floodgates. New albums from blues singer Shemekia Copeland, alt-rockers Robert Poss (Band of Susans) and Interpol, Rich Robinson's the Magpie Salute, metal up 'n' comers the Oh Sees, White Denim, and the Lemon Twigs will tax any fan's finances. Throw in a live album by Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul and archive releases from the Hampton Grease Band, Crack the Sky, the Posies, Status Quo, Bob Marley and many more and August is guaranteed to break the bank!

If we wrote about it here on the site, there will 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!

AUGUST 3
Gene Clark & Carla Olson - So Rebellious A Lover   BUY!
Shemekia Copeland - America's Child   BUY!
Ronnie Davis & Idren - Come Straight   BUY!
Electric Light Orchestra - Secret Messages [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
Hampton Grease Band - Music To Eat   [vinyl reissue]   BUY!
James House and the Blues Cowboys - James House and the Blues Cowboys   BUY!
Winston Jarrett & the Righteous Flames - Jonestown   BUY!
Robert Poss - Frozen Flowers Curse the Day   BUY!

AUGUST 10
The Gladiators - Presenting the Gladiators   BUY!
Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul - Soulfire Live!   BUY!
The Magpie Salute - High Water I   BUY!
Walter Salas-Humara - Walterio   BUY!

AUGUST 17
Blue October - I Hope You're Happy   BUY!
Thee Oh Sees - Smote Reverser   BUY!

AUGUST 24
Alice In Chains - Rainier Fog   BUY!
Crack the Sky - Crackology   BUY!
Crack the Sky - Living In Reverse   BUY!
Neil & Liam Finn - Lightsleeper   BUY!
Interpol - Marauder   BUY!
Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - With Animals   BUY!
The Lemon Twigs - Go To School   BUY!
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Kaya [40th anniversary edition]   BUY!
The Posies - Frosting On the Beater [deluxe reissue]   BUY!
White Denim - Performance   BUY!

AUGUST 31
Angel - Angel: The Casablanca Years [box set]   BUY!
The Band - Music From Big Pink [50th anniversary edition]   BUY!
Alice Cooper - A Paranormal Evening at the Olympia Paris   BUY!
Amos Lee - My New Moon   BUY!
Nick Mason - Unattended Luggage   BUY!
David Olney - This Side or the Other   BUY!
Status Quo - Down & Dirty at Wacken   BUY!
Aaron Lee Tasjan - Karma For Cheap   BUY!
Various Artists - The Soul of Baltimore: The Ru-Jac Records Story [box set]   BUY!

Album of the Month: It's another hard call, but in a month crowded with great music, I'm going to go with Shemeka Copeland's America's Child album. One of the top two or three best blues singers in the business today, Copeland returned to Nashville to record America's Child with talented producer and guitarist Will Kimbrough and a cast of great singers and musicians like Emmy Lou Harris, John Prine, Mary Gauthier, Al Perkins, Rhiannon Giddens, Steve Cropper, and more. Although Copeland veers close to Americana territory on a couple of songs (and does so well), America's Child is pure-D blues, Copeland mixing socially-conscious tunes with bluesy romantic moments, calling on the talents of skilled wordsmiths like Kimbrough, Prine, Gauthier, John Hahn, Kevin Gordon & Gwil Owen, among others. She even delivers a fiery take on the Ray Davies' Kinks classic "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." 

CD Preview: The Magpie Salute’s High Water I

When the Black Crowes finally split up for good after eight studio and five live albums released over a quarter-century and selling better than 30 million records, band founders and (feuding) brothers Chris and Rich Robinson went their separate ways. Band frontman Chris picked up with his solo project, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, which has been relatively prolific with a trio of well-regarded albums to the band’s credit. Guitarist Rich has pursued a solo career with mixed results, releasing his fourth solo record, Flux, in 2016. The same year, Robinson formed the Magpie Salute with former Crowes’ members Marc Ford (guitar) and Sven Pipien (bass).

Although Chris Robinson has unfairly dismissed his younger brother’s efforts as a glorified Black Crowes cover band (yes, they do perform songs by Robinson’s former band as well as material from Robinson and Ford’s solo albums). However, I think that Chris is missing the boat here (full disclosure…I’ve run into conflict with Chris before and, well, don’t think much of him as a person). The Magpie Salute’s 2017 self-titled live album was not dissimilar to the Black Crowes (sans Chris’s Steve Marriott-styled vox), showcasing heavier guitars and a sonic identity that falls somewhere between Gov’t Mule and the Allman Brothers Band. The album included inspired covers of songs by Delaney & Bonnie, Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, and Ronnie Lane as well as a smattering of tunes by Robinson.

On August 10th, 2018 the Magpie Salute will release their debut studio album, High Water I, via Eagle Rock Entertainment in the U.S. and the Mascot Label Group in Europe. High Water I will be released on both CD and as a two-disc set on blue and white splatter vinyl. The band is currently comprised of Robinson, Ford, and Pipien along with vocalist John Hogg, keyboardist Matt Slocum, and drummer Joe Magistro. The album’s first single is “Send Me An Omen” (check out the video below), of which Robinson, in a press release, says “wraps up all of the elements of this band. There’s pure rock ‘n’ roll juxtaposed with these pop melodies sung with a melancholy that creates this beautiful balance of surreal dark and light.”

High Water I was produced by Robinson and recorded at Dark Horse Studios in Nashville. The twelve-track collection is said to “represent a musical union of swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, psychedelic blues, and campfire-worthy storytelling” (according to press release hype), and while I haven’t heard it (yet), I enjoyed the band’s self-titled debut so I’m certainly looking forward to hearing this one. The band has plans to release a second studio set, High Water II, at some point in 2019 but in the meanwhile they’ll be hitting the asphalt this summer to spread their musical gospel to a stage near you (tour dates can be found on the band’s website).

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: The Magpie Salute’s High Water I