Release Day Picks: February 2nd 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 The Wood Brothers, Fruition, Rhye and Frank Zappa. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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The Wood Brothers – One Drop Of The Truth

The Scoop: For their sixth studio release The Wood Brothers looked to switch things up a bit from their normal approach to making an album. Instead of hunkering down in one place, the soulful folk-rock act picked a handful of studios around their home base of Nashville. The band then assigned tracks to four different engineers based on the sound they were looking for. The results can be heard throughout One Drop Of The Truth, which lyrically draws influences from a number of events that happened last fall – from hurricanes to the presidential election and more. Check out the music video for “Happiness Jones”:

Label: Honey Jar Records/Thirty Tigers Records

Producer: Chris Wood, Oliver Wood, Jano Rix

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 41:33

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. River Takes the Town
2. Happiness Jones
3. Laughin’ Or Crying
4. Strange As It Seems
5. Sky High
6. Seasick Emotions
7. This Is It
8. Sparking Wine
9. One Drop Of Truth
10. Can’t Look Away

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Fruition – Watching It All Fall Apart

The Scoop: For the first time in their career Fruition looked to some outside help when it came to recording their new record. The Portland, Oregon-based band tapped Tucker Martine, best known for his work with the likes of My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists and First Aid Kit, to produce their latest Watching It All Fall Apart. Recorded over the course of 10 days in their hometown, the album is a breakup album at its core. “The songs are mostly breakup songs,” said Kellen Asebroek (vocals, rhythm guitar, piano). “There was love and now it’s gone — we fucked it up, or some outside circumstance brought it to an end. It’s about dealing with all that but still having hope in your heart, even if you’re feeling a little lost and jaded.” Check out the music video for “I’ll Never Sing Your Name”:

Label: LoHi Records

Producer: Tucker Martine

Number Of Tracks: 10

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Stuck On You
2. Northern Town
3. There She Was
4. I’ll Never SIng Your Name
5. Let’s Take It Too Far
6. Turn To Dust
7. FOMO
8. I Should Be (On Top Of The World)
9. Lonesome Prayers
10. Eraser

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Rhye – Blood

The Scoop: For the follow-up to the 2013 debut LP Woman, the one-time duo of Rhye is now the singularly led project of vocalist/producer Milosh. Co-founder Robin Hannibal is no longer affiliated with the group, having left shortly after the relese of the previous LP. In the subsequent years Milosh toured extensively with a full supporting band who contriuted to the new music. Back again is the groovy, sexy, moody sounds that support’s Milosh’s distinctive high-pitch vocals across the new album’s 11 tracks. Here’s “Count to Five”:

Label: Loma Vista Recordings

Producer: Mike Milosh

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 42:08

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Waste
2. Taste
3. Feel Your Weight
4. Please
5. Count To Five
6. Song For You
7. Blood Knows
8. Stay Safe
9. Phoenix
10. Softly
11. Sinful

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Frank Zappa – The Roxy Performances

The Scoop: For a large swath of Frank Zappa fans it doesn’t get any better than the early-mid ‘70s. In late 1973, the famed guitarist assembled a version of The Mothers that included keyboardist George Duke, multi-instrumentalist Napoleon Murphy Brock, bassist Tom Fowler, trombonist Bruce Fowler, Ruth Underwood on percussion and Ralph Humphrey and Chester Thompson on drums to play a series of four shows over two nights at The Roxy in Hollywood. While 1974’s Roxy & Elsewhere and 2015’s The Roxy Movie gave fans a taste of these shows, today a new box set dubbed The Roxy Performances features the whole kit and caboodle. If that isn’t enough, the set also contains a recording of a private invite-only performance that took place the night before the Roxy shows and highlights from a Frank Zappa & The Mothers’ session at Ike Turner’s Bolic Sound that was held a few days later. Listen to “Inca Roads” from Frank Zappa & The Mothers’ The Roxy Performances:

Label: uME/Zappa Family Trust

Producer: Ahmet Zappa/Joe Travers

Number Of Tracks: 50

Running Time: 7:56:25

Tracklist:

DISC 1
12-9-73 Show 1
1. Sunday Show 1 Start 4:59
2. Cosmik Debris 11:33
3. “We’re Makin’ A Movie” 3:16
4. Pygmy Twylyte 9:08
5. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:19
6. Cheepnis 3:44
7. Hollywood Perverts 1:07
8. Penguin In Bondage 5:54
9. T’Mershi Duween 1:56
10. The Dog Breath Variations 1:44
11. Uncle Meat 2:29
12. RDNZL 5:14
13. Montana 7:49
14. Dupree’s Paradise 15:25
TT: 76:43

DISC 2
1. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 10:29
12-9-73 Show 2
2. Sunday Show 2 Start 4:08
3. Inca Roads 8:27
4. Village Of The Sun 4:19
5. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) 4:01
6. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 13:22
7. Slime Intro :59
8. I’m The Slime 3:34
9. Big Swifty 9:01
TT: 58:25

DISC 3
1. Tango #1 Intro 3:50
2. Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church) 18:12
3. Medley:
King Kong
Chunga’s Revenge
Son Of Mr. Green Genes 9:46
12-10-73 Show 1
4. Monday Show 1 Start 5:31
5. Montana 6:57
6. Dupree’s Paradise 21:26
7. Cosmik Intro 1:05
8. Cosmik Debris 8:05
TT: 74:57

DISC 4
1. Bondage Intro 1:52
2. Penguin In Bondage 6:54
3. T’Mershi Duween 1:52
4. The Dog Breath Variations 1:48
5. Uncle Meat 2:29
6. RDNZL 4:59
7. Audience Participation – RDNZL 3:08
8. Pygmy Twylyte 4:05
9. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:21
10. Cheepnis 4:49
11. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 10:21
12-10-73 Show 2
12. Monday Show 2 Start 5:13
13. Penguin In Bondage 6:33
14. T’Mershi Duween 1:52
15. The Dog Breath Variations 1:46
16. Uncle Meat 2:28
17. RDNZL 5:11
TT: 67:50

DISC 5
1. Village Of The Sun 4:05
2. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) 3:54
3. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 6:56
4. Cheepnis – Percussion 4:08
5. “I Love Monster Movies” 2:10
6. Cheepnis 3:35
7. “Turn The Light Off”/Pamela’s Intro 3:59
8. Pygmy Twylyte 7:23
9. The Idiot Bastard Son 2:22
10. Tango #2 Intro 2:01
11. Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen’s Church) 22:08
TT: 62:46

DISC 6
1. Dickie’s Such An Asshole 15:39
Bonus Section: 12-10-73 Roxy Rehearsal
2. Big Swifty – In Rehearsal 2:50
3. Village Of The Sun 3:13
4. Farther O’Blivion – In Rehearsal 5:34
5. Pygmy Twylyte 6:17
Unreleased Track
6. That Arrogant Dick Nixon 2:19
12-12-73 Bolic Studios Recording Session
7. Kung Fu – In Session 4:50
8. Kung Fu – with guitar overdub 1:17
9. Tuning and Studio Chatter 3:38
10. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) – In Session 1:22
11. Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow – In Session 9:49
12. Nanook Rubs It – In Session 5:41
13. St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast – In Session 2:46
14. Father O’Blivion – In Session 2:31
15. Rollo (Be-Bop Version) 2:36
TT: 70:31

DISC 7
12-8-73 Sound Check/Film Shoot
1. Saturday Show Start 2:20
2. Pygmy Twylyte/Dummy Up* 20:25
3. Pygmy Twylyte – Part II 14:25
4. Echidna’s Arf (Of You) 3:42
5. Don’t You Ever Wash That Thing? 6:01
6. Orgy, Orgy 3:39
7. Penguin In Bondage 6:30
8. T’Mershi Duween 1:53
9. The Dog Breath Variations 1:45
10. Uncle Meat/Show End 4:01
TT: 64:46

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.