Encore Records

Conor Oberst

One Of My Kind

Two disc (DVD + CD) edition includes bonus CD.

2012 documentary on the Bright Eyes frontman’s solo venture.

Phil Shaffart was not hired by Conor Oberst to make the film One Of My Kind. He was hired to make sure the guitars stayed in tune.

But Phil had a video camera with him as the Mystic Valley Band came together for the first time at Valle Mistico in Tepoztlan, Mexico in January of 2008 and so he started filming what he sensed was something special.

“When I started filming, none of us had the intentions of turning what was being shot into a film,” says Phil, “but the things we were seeing, feeling and capturing with the music proved to be inspiring in ways we were not prepared for.”

Willie Nelson

Heroes

On Heroes, the songs take on a reflective, emotional tone and move from heartfelt (a stunning rendition of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe”) to humor (on “Roll Me Up” with guest vocalist Snoop Dogg).

Other guest vocalists on the album include Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Jamey Johnston, Billy Joe Shaver and Sheryl Crow. Sons Lukas and Micah Nelson also feature prominently, making this a real family affair.

This beautiful album, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, should have broad appeal among Nelson’s core fans and followers and beyond.

Uncut / Mojo / Classic Rock / Classic Rock Prog

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The June 2012 issues are now in stock !!

Gordon Lightfoot

All Live

May 25th, 2011 marked Gordon’s 150th concert at the hallowed hall in the past 40 years.

In 1978 he played a remarkable 10 shows in 9 days, selling out each and every night.

Now, for the first time ever, Gordon has gone through the archives of live recordings from Massey Hall and has picked the finest performances recorded between 1998 - 2001.

“The recordings have not been technically altered and are authentic live mixes,” says Lightfoot of the album

Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy

The Marble Downs

Just 12 months after the release of their critically-acclaimed third album “The Constant Pageant”,  the Glasgow quartet return to share the billing with a similarly restless creative spirit.

In 2010, a limited-edition 7” “New Year’s Eve Is The Loneliest Night Of The Year” showed what an inspired match the vocals of Trembling Bells singer Lavinia Blackwall and Will Oldham made.

The cut-glass precision of the classically-trained student of medieval music and the worldly, careworn tones of Oldham created an unlikely chemistry.

It must have seemed that way to Neilson too.

He set about assembling a cache of songs with the purpose of further harnessing that chemistry.

The result is an album that has, once again, redrafted the boundaries of what Trembling Bells can achieve together. Indeed, genre-lines aren’t terribly helpful this time around.

M. Ward

A Wasteland Companion

Ward s honey-soaked vocals, deft finger-picking, innate sense of melody and beguiling lyrics have already cemented his reputation as one of America s true musical treasures and A Wasteland Companion features some of the finest songwriting and most striking delivery of his career.

A Wasteland Companion features the added talents of Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, John Parish, Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis, She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and many others.

Florence and the Machine

Unplugged

CD / DVD set.

2012 release that finds the British band stripping down their heavenly sound to the divine essentials.

The set list boasts favorites from both of her Universal Republic Records releases.

There’s a hypnotic rendition of her breakout double platinum single “Dog Days Are Over” as well as a chillingly beautiful cover of Johnny Cash and June Carter’s “Jackson” featuring Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures singer Josh Homme.

In addition, she gives a wonderful take on Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” for this performance.

Cowboy Junkies

The Wilderness

The Wilderness is the fourth and final volume in the Cowboy Junkies’ ambitious Nomad Series, a project that saw them release four albums of new material in an 18-month period.

Earlier volumes were focused tightly around various unconnected themes; inspirations from a trip to China, a set of noisy acid blues, and an entire album’s worth of Vic Chesnutt covers as a loving tribute to a departed friend.

These conceptually sound chapters bring us to The Wilderness, ten songs centered on no fixed theme, but rather traversing a wider array of emotional settings.

Unlike the previous installments of the Nomad Series, this album plays out the most like a standard Cowboy Junkies album. All the songs are penned by guitarist Michael Timmins and sung by his sister Margo Timmins with what has come to be her signature hushed yet powerful delivery.

Joel Plaskett

Scrappy Happiness

Rather than follow the now common schedule of write, record, manufacture, release over a period of a year or so; Joel is taking the album out of the incubator, one song at a time.

During Jan. 10 - March 13, 2012, Joel has one week to record and produced on a strict weekly schedule that have premiered on CBC Radio2.

Scrappy Happiness is the culmination of this latest project.

The Decemberists

We All Raise Our Voices to the Air

2012 two CD live release from the acclaimed Alt-Rock/Folk outfit culled from the band’s 2011 tour supporting their chart-topping, Grammy-nominated album The King Is Dead.

With songs spanning their entire first decade as a band—from their debut EP 5 Songs through each of their six LP’s—We All Raise Our Voices To The Air is the first-ever live album from a band that has grown into one of rock’s most thrilling live acts.