Encore Records

dirty three

Toward the sun

The first studio album in seven years from this Alt-Rock/Folk trio led by Grinderman/Bad Seeds mainstay Warren Ellis. Toward The Low Sun is a true humdinger. Ellis is always sawing away at something on the violin that kind of tightens our chest and gives us that ol’ thousand-yard stare; Mick Turner wanders with hollow-bodied guitar from abstract and dreamy to punishing hard chord rock in the space of a breath, never sacrificing a sense of the awesome along the path; then there’s Jim White, who is doing something that no one else does back there. Plus, he’s drumming!

the chieftains

Voice of ages

An imaginative collaboration featuring a dazzling collection of like-minded musical visionaries and kindred spirits, Voice of Ages, produced by Paddy Moloney and T Bone Burnett, features The Chieftains teaming with stars from the worlds of indie-rock (Bon Iver, The Decemberists, The Low Anthem), country and Americana (The Civil Wars, Pistol Annies, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Punch Brothers), Irish and Scottish folk (Imelda May, Lisa Hannigan, Paolo Nutini) and more.

plants and animals

the end of that

The band took a different, more relaxed approach with The End of That as opposed to their former sprawling, in-the-studio songwriting process; they decided to write and fully develop a large volume of material before setting the tape rolling and clock running. But whereas they spent more time than ever before preparing, they actually recorded and mixed The End of That faster than any other Plants and Animals record to-date. With their new songs fleshed out, the band returned to La Frette Studios, outside of Paris, and with the help and ear of engineer Lionel Darenne (Feist), wrapped up their sessions in two weeks. The end result is arguably Plants and Animals’ most live-off-the floor offering. That also makes The End of That their most intimate record.

Archers Of Loaf

Vee Vee 2CD

Expanded reissue of ARCHERS OF LOAF’s second album, ‘Vee Vee’.

CD copies of ‘Vee Vee’  include 16 bonus tracks and new cover art re-imagined by graphic artist Jay Ryan.

The limited edition LP’s are pressed to green vinyl and include a coupon to download the entire album, plus the 16 bonus tracks.

Buck Satan & The 666 Shooters

Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free

2012 album from Ministry founder Al Jourgensen under the guise of his Country doppelganger, Buck Satan. Joining Jourgensen are The 666 Shooters, AKA Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), Tony Campos (Static-X) and Mike Scaccia (Rigor Mortis/Ministry).

Also features other guest artists from the Metal and Rock world as well as Country artists, fiddlers, cellists, pedal steel guitars, mandolins, banjos etc. Jourgensen digs deep into the vaults of his extensive knowledge of both kinds of music (Country & Western!) for inspiration to accomplish this provocative and melodically gorgeous array of original tracks and Gram Parsons/The Byrds, The Grateful Dead and Heartsfield covers

Wire

Black Session: Paris 10 May 2011

Taken from a 2011 performance for the French radio show C’est Lenoir at Maison de Radio, this recording concentrates on pop-oriented material, mainly from 2010’s Red Barked Tree.

Uncut / Mojo / The Wire / Classic Rock / The Word / Classic Rock Prog / Terrorizer

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February 2012 issues are in stock now !!

Of Montreal

Paralytic Stalks

Quirky, funky indie pop outfit Of Montreal offer their 11th full-length with Paralytic Stalks, finding band brainchild Kevin Barnes at his most personal since 2007 release Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

Recorded in Athens, Georgia at Barnes’ home studio with engineer Drew Vanderberg (Deerhunter, Best Coast) and a crew of session musicians (a first in Of Montreal history), Barnes lays bare his emotions to ponder revenge, self-loathing, and relationship turmoil through an eclectic ‘60s pop, revivalist prog, and pseudo country-tinged lens.

Craig Finn

Clear Heart Full Eyes

Clear Heart Full Eyes is the debut solo release from Hold Steady and Lifter Puller front man Craig Finn.

The record takes a simpler route than the intricate musings of the Hold Steady, with Americana and country influences manifesting here.

Recorded in Houston, Texas, with producer Mike McCarthy and friends from bands such as Phosphorescent and White Denim during a 5-day session, the album showcases Finn s superb lyrical narrative and accompanying melodic vocals.

John K. Samson

Provincial

Debut solo album from the Weakerthans main main. Provincial began with a simple idea: to explore four different roads in Manitoba.  “They’re the places I kept going back to. ” Samson talked to relatives, friends and strangers; he visited archives, a tuberculosis sanatorium turned RV park, a forgotten cemetery. The result is this collection of evocative songs, an album that fits beside Bruce Springsteen s Nebraska, Sun Kil Moon s Ghosts Of The Great Highway, Mountain Goats Tallahassee. While the teenage craving of “Cruise Night” recalls the Cars, “Stop Error” invokes Bach; for “When I Write my Master s Thesis, ” Samson s inspiration was all jukebox serendipity Bob Dylan s “When I Paint My Masterpiece, ” sailing out from the corner of a Yukon dive bar. Provincial is a record full of fierce, tuneful, vivid stories.