Release Day Picks: February 26th New Album Highlights

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by Bonnie Raitt, Yuck, Quilt, Dead Winter Carpenters, Larry Keel and compilation tribute to Blind Willie Johnson. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

Bonnie Raitt – Dig In Deep

The Scoop: Following up 2012’s Grammy winner for Americana Album Of The Year, Bonnie Raitt is already raising critical brows for her latest effort, Dig In Deep. While Raitt tends to strike her biggest chord with broad audiences for her cover renditions – this time around her take on INXS’ “Need You Tonight” should be a big hitter – fans stay for the slide guitar playing and original material. Following two years of tireless road support for 2012’s Slipstream, Raitt and her band should be firing on all cylinders musically on the new album. Have a listen to the first single “Gypsy in Me” below :

Label: Redwing Records

Producer: [self produced]

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 59:10

Guest Musicians: George Marinelli (Electric Guitars, Backing Vocals), Mike Finnigan (Electric Piano, Hammond B3, Backing Vocals), James “Hutch” Hutchinson (Bass), Ricky Fataar (Drums) and Arnold McCuller (Backing Vocals)

Tracklist:

1. Unintended Consequence Of Love
2. Need You Tonight
3. I Knew
4. All Alone With Something To Say
5. What You’re Doin’ To Me
6. Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes
7. Undone
8. If You Need Somebody
9. Gypsy In Me
10. The Comin’ Round Is Going Through
11. You’ve Changed My Mind
12. The Ones We Couldn’t Be

Stream / Download / CD/Double LP

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Yuck – Stranger Things

The Scoop: Since debuting with a bang with in 2011, London’s Yuck is a band that has struggled to find their footing. In 2013 they lost their lead singer Daniel Blumberg and haven’t quite matched the level of excellence achieved on their first album on either the follow-up LP or subsequent EP. For their third full-length, Stranger Things, Max Bloom and company decided to go back to basics and self-produce and record at his parents’ house, which is the same process used on their self-titled debut. Based on the two singles thus far, the band has maintained their 90s revival sound with heavy doses of Weezer and Built To Spill. Have a listen to the second single “Hearts in Motion” below :

https://soundcloud.com/yuck/hearts-in-motion

Label: Mamé Records

Producer: [self produced]

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 46:10

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Hold Me Closer
2. Cannonball
3. Like a Moth
4. Only Silence
5. Stranger Things
6. I’m Ok
7. I Walk Away
8. Hearts in Motion
9. Swirling
10. Down
11. Yr Face

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Quilt – Plaza

The Scoop: The cat’s out of the bag: psychedelic rock are no longer dirty words reserved for bands that played extended noodle-y jams. The genre’s recent resurgence has a a lot to do with the acts that have embraced its ethos without most of the excess. On their third full-length effort Quilt continues build on their take on it that gravitates towards swirling harmony-laden folk-rock sounds. For their latest, the Boston-based band recruited Wood’s bassist Jarvis Taveniere as producer, who upped the ante from their lo-fi aesthetic to a more lush, driving sound. Give a listen to album’s lead single “Roller”:

Label: Mexican Summer

Producer: Jarvis Taveniere

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 40:47

Guest Musicians: NA

Tracklist:

1. Passerby
2. Roller
3. Searcing For
4. O’Connor’s Barn
5. Eliot St.
6. Hissing My Plea
7. Something There
8. Padova
9. Your Island
10. Own Ways

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Dead Winter Carpenters – Washoe

The Scoop: North Lake Tahoe, California’s Dead Winter Carpenters fourth studio project features 12 original compositions from instruments both plugged and unplugged. Jesse Dunn (acoustic and electric guitars, vocals), Jenni Charles (fiddle, vocals), Dave Lockhart (upright and electric bass, vocals), Bryan Daines (lead telecaster guitar, vocals) and Brian Huston (drums, vocals) contribute to an LP recorded at Reno’s Sierra Sonics Studio (Ozzy Ozbourne, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Collective Soul) and co-produced by Dead Winter Carpenters and Zachary Girdis. The ever-evolving alt-country/Americana act show off the latest changes to their sound since 2012’s Ain’t It Strange (the band’s last full-length studio album) on the first single and opening track from the self-released Washoe, “Midnight Ghost”:

Label: Self-Released

Producer: Dead Winter Carpenters & Zachary Girdis

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 53:26

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Midnight Ghost
2. Love Amongst Thieves
3. Good Old Time
4. If I Wrote You A Song
5. Winning Hand
6. Is It Enough?
7. North Wind
8. White River Junction
9. Dallas
10. Aftermath
11. Maverick Sky
12. Roland And Annalee

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Larry Keel – Experienced

The Scoop: Flatpicking guitar superstar Larry Keel enlisted a bevy of his musical comrades to contribute an album entirely made up of original tunes. Experienced shows off the songwriting, singing and instrumental prowess of both Keel and his bandmate Will Lee throughout along with Larry’s equally talented wife Jenny Keel. Sam Bush, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Keller Williams, Jason Carter (The Del McCoury Band), Mike Guggino (Steep Canyon Rangers), and Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass) each contribute to Larry Kee’s 15th self-released LP. Experienced was recorded at Wally Cleaver Studio in Fredericksburg, Virginia with engineer Jeff Covert, who also makes a cameo as guest drummer. Listen to “Fill’em Up Again” featuring Del McCoury, Jason Carter and Mike Guggino:

Label: Self-Released

Producer: The Keels, Will Lee & Jeff Covert (engineer)

Number Of Tracks: 7

Running Time: 31:28

Guest Musicians: Del McCoury, Sam Bush, Peter Rowan, Keller Williams, Jason Carter, Mike Guggino, Anders Beck, Jeff Covert

Tracklist:

1. Ripchord
2. ‘Lil Miss
3. Memories
4. Fill’em Up Again
5. Miles And Miles
6. The Warrior
7. Another Summer Day

Download / CD/LP

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Various Artists – God Don’t Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson

The Scoop: Producer Jeffrey Gaskill has been working on this compilation tribute LP for years, even taking to Kickstarter to help fund the project. The all-star group of musicians enlisted to record songs by the late greate Blind Willie Johnson includes Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, Luther Dickinson featuring The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Rickie Lee Jones, Sinéad O’Connor, Cowboy Junkies and Maria McKee. Head here to enter to win a copy of the tribute album. and below stream one of two Tom Waits recordings on the compilation, his interpretation of “John the Revelator,” followed by a brief video about the recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r94g8BWhhNU

Label: Alligator Records

Producer:Jeffrey Gaskill

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 41:52

Guest Musicians: Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, Cowboy Junkies, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Sinéad O’Connor, Luther Dickinson featuring The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band, Maria McKee, Rickie Lee Jones

Tracklist:

1. Tom Waits – The Soul of a Man
2. Lucinda Williams – It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine
3. Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi – Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
4. Cowboy Junkies – Jesus is Coming Soon
5. The Blind Boys Of Alabama – Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time
6. Sinéad O’Connor – Trouble Will Soon Be Over
7. Luther Dickinson featuring The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band – Bye and Bye I’m Going to See the King
8. Lucinda Williams – God Don’t Never Change
9. Tom Waits – John The Revelator
10. Maria McKee – Let Your Light Shine on Me
11. Rickie Lee Jones – Dark Was the Night-Cold Was the Ground

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Ryan Dembinsky, Jeffrey Greenblatt, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein