This year has the potential to be an enormous shit show. I don’t need to tell you why. Despite this or because of this, it’s important to surround yourself with good music. For those with turntables and a knack for the wax, I’ve thought up six new or recent releases you should consider buying to help ease the journey through the tumult.
Michael Giacchino — Society Of The Snow: Soundtrack From The Netflix Film
Mutant is the new poster/toy/vinyl company from exiles of MONDO/Death Waltz in the wake of Funko’s purchase and mismanagement of those storied properties. Giacchino’s intriguing score for Netflix flick Society Of The Snow kicks off a release schedule that, according to the Austin Chronicle, should also include a new Le Matos studio album (their first non-soundtrack album since Join Us more than a decade ago). Also along for the ride is Neil Hannon and Joby Talbot’s WONKA, Dune: Part Two, and some stuff from Hans Zimmer, Carter Burwell, Isabella Summers, Goblin, Laura Karpman, and Simon Wasko. Pretty damn stacked out the gate, right?
Society Of The Snow is available in two variants: a color vinyl with Spanish-language packaging that is a Mutant webstore exclusive and a black variant with English packaging. You can buy them via Mutant.
Lou Reed — Hudson River Wind Meditations
Light in the Attic, those inimitable curators of all things good and great, on Jan. 12 released on vinyl the late Lou Reed’s 2007 ambient and drone album. I live in the Hudson Valley, so I’m a sucker for art inspired by the place, but regardless I highly recommend this release. Reed was obviously no stranger to experimental music — Metal Machine Music, anyone? However, for his final album before his death, Reed leans heavily on the spirituality he practiced in his sunset years. The result is something far more listenable than something like MMM. (According to Light in the Attic, Reed composed the music to accompany spoken-word meditations his acupuncturist had recorded for him.) The 65-minute record unfurls in four parts: “Move Your Heart,” “Find Your Note,” “Hudson River Wind (Blend the Ambience),” and “Wind Coda.” It’s available now in three different variants: black, Coke Bottle, and glacial blue. The deluxe edition includes a host of extras, including a set of five, Lou Reed-shot 8×10 photos of the Hudson River printed on 10-pt, high gloss, Kromekote C1S cover stock, and housed in a glassine envelope; and a 24-inch by 36-inch poster designed by Yolanda Cuomo.
Congo Funk! – Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa-Brazzaville 1969-1982)
This propulsive compilation is coming out in April from the extraordinary Germany-based Analog Africa Records. Congo Funk! showcases an often overlooked (at least in the West) region of funk and even just based on the promo videos, and Analog Africa’s track record, this is a must-buy. On Feb. 1 at 10 pm Berlin time, the label will host a listening party on its Bandcamp page. The pre-order is imminent, too, and the official release is in a couple months.
Thomas Bangalter — Daaaaaalí (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Bangalter is no stranger to film scores, whether with his former robot duo (Tron: Legacy) or under his own name (Gaspar Noé flicks). This time around — via Ed Banger Records no less — we get Bangalter augmenting the Quentin Dupieux film about the surrealist Salvador Dali. Anything Bangalter does is worth checking out. The record drops Feb. 9, when the film also releases; pre-order it here.
Various Artists — You’re Not From Around Here (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
This gem has some really great spacey, tremolo- and reverb-laden guitar cuts and in general a lot of dreamy and foreboding 1960’s rock/pop numbers — many instrumental — that would fit in well in a classic Lynch film. You can pre-order it now via Numero Group in two variants: transparent with red splatter and black. It ships in February. (The film itself is a relatively unknown ’64 noir filled with all kinds of seedy and dirty and fascinating people.
Justice — Hyperdrama
The dynamic duo are back and, based on the singles so far, it seems like they’re nodding more to their dirtier, “compressier” past than the more straightforward nu-disco and funk of 2016’s Woman, their most recent LP. (Not that the singles so far are a redux of their bloghaus classic debut, but they’re letting things get a little grittier.) Even on “One Night/All Night,” their collaboration with Tame Impala, there is an edge. There are three different vinyl offerings, all double disc: a classic black-variant, a crystal-clear edition, and a picture disc set avec accoutrements featuring both Gaspard Augé’s and Xavier de Rosnay’s visages. There’s a decent chance at least one of these will be sold out by the time this article publishes, so act fast.
