Release Day Picks: March 10th 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 Shins, Laura Marling, Valerie June, Hurray for the Riff Raff and the Jerry Garcia Band. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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The Shins – Heartworms

The Scoop: It’s been five years since The Shins last album Port Of Morrow and even longer since the band felt like a project with a purpose, but frontman James Mercer seems to have rekindled his Shins passion after years of focusing on Broken Bells and other projects. The Shins dropped a new song in 2014 for Zach Braff’s Wish I Was Here as well as a recent cover for the Netflix kids’ show Beat Bugs, which seemed to spark the quirk-pop ethos of The Shins back into action. Mercer was joined by the band’s current lineup of Yuuki Matthews (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Mark Watrous (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Casey Foubert (guitar), Jon Sortland (drums), Patti King (keyboards) on the 11 new tunes. It remains to be seen (and heard) if The Shins’ indie-pop style makes as much sense to the masses today as it did in 2004, but for fans of The Shins’ particular sound, this is a welcome return. Have a listen to the opening track “Name For You” off of Heartworms.

Label: Columbia

Producer: James Mercer

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 41:44

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Name for You
2. Painting a Hole
3. Cherry Hearts
4. Fantasy Island
5. Mildenhall
6. Rubber Ballz
7. Half a Million
8. Dead Alive
9. Heartworms
10. So Now What
11. The Fear

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Laura Marling – Semper Femina

The Scoop: It’s sometimes hard to fathom the fact that Laura Marling is just 27-years-old. The current “Queen of Folk Music” has built a reputation for writing wise-beyond-her-years songs, all wrapped up in her Joni Mitchell-esque cadences and jazz-inflected finger-picking guitar playing. Semper Femina, which is Latin for “always a woman,” is Marling’s sixth studio album in nine years and finds the singer-songwriter melting British folk with the 1970s sunny folk-pop sounds of her current home of Los Angeles. The record, which sees Marling exploring her personal feeling on femininity and female relationships, is awash in some fantastic production work from Blake Mills (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes). Check out the video for “Next Time”:

Label: More Alarming Records

Producer: Blake Mills

Number Of Tracks: 9

Running Time: 42:15

Guest Musicians: Nick Pini, Sebastian Steinberg, Matt Ingram, Matt Chamberlain, Blake Mills, Eddie Berman, Pete Randall, Rob Moose

Tracklist:

1. Soothing
2. The Valley
3. Wild Fire
4. Don’t Pass Me By
5. Always This Way
6. Wild Once
7. Next Time
8. Nouel
9. Nothing, Not Really

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Valerie June – The Order Of Time

The Scoop: Singer-songwriter Valerie June follows-up her impressive 2013 debut Pushin’ Against A Stone with 12 new originals recorded in rural Vermont and her current hometown of Brooklyn. Norah Jones sings on three of the tracks. The Tennessee-native enlisted the help of several family members while making The Order Of Time, including her brothers Jason and Patrick Hockett and June’s late father Emerson Hockett who recorded vocals at home in Tennessee. Watch the video for “Shake Down” featuring Jones as well as June’s dad and brothers:

Label: Concord Records

Producer: Matt Marinelli, Richard Swift

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 43:35

Guest Musicians: Norah Jones, Emerson Hockett, Kaye Hockett, Jason Hockett, Rae Hockett, Patrick Hockett, Kayla Sanders, Deo Sanders, Jasmine Hockett, Alex Sweet, Coy Martin, Allison Martin, Mary Burns, Rosemary Carroll, Heidi Knochenhauer, Tommy Kha, Ayan Ajanaku, Sheena Keane, Kate Hyman, Boche, Ryan Fitzjohn, Mike Greek

Tracklist:

1. Long Lonely Road
2. Love You Once Made
3. Shake Down
4. If And
5. Man Done Wrong
6. The Front Door
7. Astral Plane
8. Just In Time
9. With You
10. Slip Slide On By
11. Two Hearts
12. Got Soul

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator

The Scoop: Hurray For Riff Raff frontwoman Alynda Segarra did a lot of soul searching as she prepared to write songs for her band’s latest album, The Navigator. Conceived as an imaginary off-Broadway play starring Segarra’s alter-ego Navita Milagros Negron, the record draws inspiration from her personal experiences growing up as an outsider in The Bronx, while also honoring both the sounds and struggles of her Puerto Rican heritage. Segarra has also pivoted her sound a bit too, melding her love of doo-wop and 1960s girl-groups with Latin rhythms and rock guitars instead of the country-tinged folk-blues she favored on her previous releases. Make no mistake though, this is still a folk album at its core with strong sociopolitical messages. Segarra is stepping a bit outside of her traditional Americana past, while also establishing herself as one of the strongest feminist voices out there right now. Check out the video for “Hungry Ghost”:

Label:ATO Records

Producer: Paul Butler

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 40:35

Guest Musicians: Paul Butler, Juan-Carlos Chaurand, Claudia Chopek, Mthakathi Ema, Phil Granito, Caitlin Gray, Norka Hernandez, Jordan Hyde, Joel Katz, Gregory Rogove, Jose Santiago, Patricia Santos, Jonathan Troncoso, Yva Las Vegass

Tracklist:

1. Entrance
2. Living in the City
3. Hungry Ghost
4. Life to Save
5. Nothing’s Gonna Change That Girl
6. The Navigator
7. Halfway There
8. Rican Beach
9. Fourteen Floors
10. Settle
11. Pa’lante
12. Finale

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Jerry Garcia Band – GarciaLive – Volume Eight

The Scoop: Today marks the release of the eighth installment of Jerry Garcia’s GarciaLive live archival series. Garcia Live – Volume Eight features the full show the Jerry Garcia Band played at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center on November 23, 1991. The Jerry Garcia Band lineup from Fall ’91 is what keyboardist Melvin Seals considers “the magic band” as Garcia and Seals are joined by drummer Dave Kemper, bassist John Kahn and vocalists Jackie LaBranch and Gloria Jones. JGB performed a mix of repertoire staples such as “Cats Under The Stars,” “Deal,” “Tangled Up In Blue” and “Lay Down Sally” as well as more rare material including Van Morrison’s “Bright Side Of The Road” and the gospel standard “That Lucky Old Sun.” Listen to “Lay Down Sally” from GarciaLive Volume Eight:

Label: Round Records

Producer: Jerry Garcia, Marc Allan, Kevin Monty

Number Of Tracks: 15

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

Set One

1. Cats Under The Stars
2. They Love Each Other
3. Lay Down Sally
4. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
5. Reuben & Cerise
6. Money Honey
7. My Sisters & Brothers
8. Deal

Set Two

1. Bright Side Of The Road
2. Waiting For A Miracle
3. Think
4. Shining Star
5. Ain’t No Bread In The Breadbox
6. That Lucky Old Sun
7. Tangled Up In Blue

Download / CD/LP

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