Release Day Picks: October 28th 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 She & Him, Sam Roberts Band, Lou Barlow and Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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She & Him – Christmas Party

The Scoop: Five years after the release of A Very She And Him Christmas, the duo today have unveiled another collection of holiday songs. Christmas Party features 12 new holiday-themed covers from Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. The pair recruited friends Jenny Lewis, The Chapin Sisters and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) to contribute to their first release since 2014’s Classics Included within are takes on such holiday songs as Darlene Love and Phil Spector’s “Marshmallow World,” Bing Crosby’s “Mele Kalikimaka” and Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph.” Give a listen to “Happy Holiday” below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3YwqGRmw0c

Label: Columbia

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 32:14

Guest Musicians: Jenny Lewis, The Chapin Sisters, Steve Shelley

Tracklist:

1. All I Want For Christmas Is You
2. Let It Snow
3. Must Be Santa
4. Happy Holiday
5. Mele Kalikimaka
6. Christmas Memories
7. Run Rudolph Run
8. Winter Wonderland
9. The Coldest Night Of The Year
10. A Marshmallow World
11. The Man With The Bag
12. Christmas Don’t Be Late

Stream / CD/LP

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Sam Roberts Band – TerraForm

The Scoop: Fifteen years after his debut, Canadian singer-songwriter Sam Roberts has today released his latest full-length album under the Sam Roberts Band moniker, TerraForm. Roberts co-produced the 11-track effort with Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck and is backed by his longtime band of guitarist Dave Nugent, keyboardist Eric Fares, bassist James Hall and drummer Josh Trager. Sam recently explained to the Toronto Sun that the songs on TerraForm are “really about life as we live it and trying to confront and overcome challenges we face as people, as individuals, as family, as society.” Listen to “If You Want It,” the first single off TerraForm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6zt8l0-FY8

Label: Paper Bag Records

Producer: Sam Roberts, Graham Walsh

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 49:04

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. TerraForm
2. Fiend
3. If You Want It
4. Black Spark
5. Roll With The Spirits
6. Ritual Dance
7. Tourist Trap
8. Rogue Empire
9. Lake Effect
10. The House Inside
11. Spring Fever

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Lou Barlow – Apocalypse Festish

The Scoop: A five-song set from “fired up” Dinosaur Jr.’s Lou Barlow, the new music is a companion of sorts to the full length record Brace The Wave he issued last year. The songs on the new EP were first formed in August 2015 backstage at the reportedly haunted Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin while Dinosaur Jr. was opening for Primus. Barlow teamed with with Justin Pizzoferrato to lay down the tracks at Sonelab in Easthampton, Massachusetts in May of this year. The release features Barlow playing a ukulele “strung with heavy strings and tuned much lower than a standard uke,” which you can hear on the track “Anniversary Song” below:

Label: Joyful Noise

Producer: Lou Barlow, Justin Pizzoferrato

Number Of Tracks: 5

Guest Musicians: 17:26

Tracklist:

1. The Breeze
2. Apocalypse Fetish
3. Anniversary Song
4. Pour Reward
5. Try 2 B

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders – Keystone Companions: The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings Vinyl Box Set

The Scoop: First issued digitally on CD and MP3 in 2102, the acclaimed comprehensive release of the July 10 and 11 Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders concerts at the Keystone club in Berkeley, California are being issued as part of a deluxe 180 gram vinyl box set. Featuring the late Grateful Dead guitarist and his longtime keyboardist collaborator and bassist John Kahn, as well as seasoned drummer Bill Vitt, the two concerts were pressed to wax from remastered recordings made by Betty Cantor-Jackson and Rex Jackson and are presented chronologically. The box set comes with a book of never-before-seen photos and updated liner notes by David Gans. Here’s a trailer regarding the deluxe vinyl box set:

Label: Fantasy Records

Producer: Betty Cantor-Jackson, Rex Jackson, Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, John Kahn, Bill Vitt

Number Of Tracks: 24

Running Time: 3:51:51

Guest Musicians: John Kahn, Bill Vitt

Tracklist:

LP 1

Side A:

1. Hi–Heel Sneakers
2. Keepers

Side B:

1. The Harder They Come
2. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
3. It’s Too Late (She’s Gone)

LP 2

Side A:

1. My Funny Valentine

Side B:

1. Mystery Train
2. I Second That Emotion

LP 3

Side A:

1. Someday Baby
2. Merl’s Tune

Side B:

1. It Ain’t No Use
2. Positively 4th Street

LP 4

Side A:

1. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)
2. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
3. Keepers

Side B:

1. One Kind Favor
2. That’s All Right, Mama
3. The Harder They Come

LP 5

Side A:

1. My Funny Valentine

Side B:

1. Money Honey
2. Someday Baby

LP 6

Side A:

1. Merl’s Tune

Side B:

1. Like A Road Leading Home
2. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

Stream / Download / CD/LP .

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Compiled by Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.