Release Day Picks: October 7th 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 Phish, Todd Snider, Norah Jones, The Marcus King Band, Hiss Golden Messenger and Shovels & Rope. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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Phish – Big Boat

The Scoop: Today Phish releases their 13th studio album Big Boat, which like 2014’s Fuego was produced by Bob Ezrin. Big Boat’s 13 tracks mix songs the jam titans have performed in the live setting and those that have yet to be debuted. Each member of the band contributed at least one song to the album with keyboardist Page McConnell contributing three tunes to a Phish LP for the first time ever. The foursome enlisted a number of collaborators for the effort including a horn section and Hamilton drummer/percussionist Andres Forero. Phish tracked Big Boat at multiple locations, namely McConnell’s home, Ezrin’s Nashville studio and the famed Barn in Vermont where they recorded a number of previous albums. Listen to “Breath And Burning,” the first single off Big Boat:

Label: JEMP

Producer: Bob Ezrin

Number Of Tracks: 13

Running Time: 66:00

Tracklist:

1. Friends
2. Breath And Burning
3. Home
4. Blaze On
5. Tide Turns
6. Things People Do
7. Waking Up Dead
8. Running Out Of Time
9. No Men In No Man’s Land
10. Miss You
11. I Always Wanted It This Way
12. More
13. Petrichor

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Todd Snider – Eastside Bulldog

The Scoop: Here’s a good one for you. Ever the good humored singer-songwriter, Todd Snider recorded his latest album as his elaborate alter-ego Elmo Buzz, a skirt-chasing beer-guzzling Hank Williams fan with East Nashville roots. In fact, the album title is meant to be based on the fictional mascot of Elmo Buzz’s East Nashville high school. The album aims to stick to Elmo’s roots musically as it’s meant to be a collection of bar band rockers. The songs and lyrics were often improvised in the studio with a high profile batch of guests including Jason Isbell, Chris Robinson, Hank Williams III and more. Snider’s albums are always good for a helping of belly laughs in addition to providing a new batch of solid songs, but this one looks to be even funnier than usual. Have a listen to “Ways And Means” off the new record:

Label: Aimless Records

Producer: Eric McConnell, Todd Snider

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 25:22

Guest Musicians: Elizabeth Cook, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Chris Robinson, Hank Williams III, Shooter Jennings

Tracklist:

1. Hey Pretty Boy
2. 37206
3. The Funky Tomato
4. Eastside Building
5. Check It Out
6. Bocephus
7. Are You With Me
8. Enough Is Enough
9. Ways And Means
10. Come On Up

Stream / Download / CD and Digital

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Norah Jones – Day Breaks

The Scoop: Phrases like “coming full circle” and “returning to her roots” accompanied the announcement of Norah Jones’ sixth studio album. That manifests across the record’s 12-tracks as Jones refocuses on piano across the LP’s nine new originals and three cover songs including Neil Young’s “Don’t Be Denied.” Jones employed a vast roster of musicians to record the album, including saxophonist Wayne Shorter, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and drummer Brian Blade. Here’s “Carry On”:

Label: Blue Note Records

Producer: Sarah Oda, Eli Wolf,

Number Of Tracks: 12

Running Time: 48:55

Guest Musicians: Wayne Shorter, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Brian Blade, Vicente Archer, Jon Cowherd, Sasha Dobson, Dave Eggar, Dave Guy, J. Walter Hawkes, Dan Iead, Katie Kresek, Todd Low, Tony Maceli, Leon Michels, Max Moston, John Patitucci Catherine Popper, Peter Remm, Karriem Riggins, Daniel Sadownick, Tony Scherr, Petter Ericson Stakee, Chris Thomas

Tracklist:

1. Burn
2. Tragedy
3. Flipside
4. It’s A Wonderful Time For Love
5. And Then There Was You
6. Don’t Be Denied
7. Day Breaks
8. Peace
9. Once I Had A Laugh
10. Sleeping Wild
11. Carry On
12. Fleurette Africane (African Flower)

Download / CD/LP

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The Marcus King Band – The Marcus King Band

The Scoop: One year after bursting onto the scene with 2015’s Soul Insight, The Marcus King Band issues their self-titled sophomore effort today. The band led by 20-year-old guitarist Marcus King has been championed by Warren Haynes who produced the 13-track LP. Haynes also guests on the album as does his former The Allman Brothers Band mate Derek Trucks. King leads a six-piece that plays what Marcus has described as “soul-influenced psychedelic southern rock.” Stream the lead track and single “Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With That” below:

https://soundcloud.com/themarcuskingband/ain-t-nothing-wrong-with-that

Label: Fantasy/Concord

Producer: Warren Haynes

Number Of Tracks: 13

Running Time: 58:22

Guest Musicians: Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks

Tracklist:

1. Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With That
2. Devil’s Land
3. Rita Is Gone
4. Self-Hatred (featuring Derek Trucks)
5. Jealous Man
6. The Man You Didn’t Know
7. Plant Your Corn Early
8. Radio Soldier
9. Guitar In My Hands
10. Thespian Espionage
11. Virginia (featuring Warren Haynes)
12. Sorry ‘Bout Your Lover
13. The Mystery Of Mr. Eads

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Hiss Golden Messenger – Heart Like a Levee

The Scoop: Back in 2014, Hiss Golden Messenger seemed to magically appear out of nowhere with his fifth studio album, Lateness Of Dancers, a fantastic record of Southern folk-rock, filled with loose gospel and funk grooves, all built around M.C. Taylor’s introspective songwriting. For the follow-up, Like a Leveee, Taylor was approached by a group from Duke University to write a song cycle to accompany a set of black-and-white portraits of life in a coal-mining camp in Eastern Kentucky, taken in 1972 by documentary photographer William Gedney. As Taylor got further into writing songs for the project he changed the focus towards himself and wound up with a deeply personal collection about being a touring musician and being away from his family for stretches at a time. Check out the video for “Tell Her I’m Just Dancing”:

Label: Merge Records

Producer: M.C. Taylor, Bradley Cook

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 42:59

Guest Musicians: Phil Cook, Bradley Cook, Tift Merritt, Matt McCaughan

Tracklist:

1. Biloxi
2. Tell Her I’m Just Dancing
3. Heart Like a Levee
4. Like a Mirror Loves a Ham
5. Smoky’s Song
6. Cracked Windshield
7. As the Crow Flies
8. Happy Day (Sister My Sister)
9. Say It Like You Mean It
10. Ace of Cups Hung Low Band
11. Highland Grace

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Shovels & Rope – Little Seeds

The Scoop:Last year Shovels & Rope released Busted Jukebox Vol. 1, a collaborative covers collection inspired by their experience playing an after-show at the Newport Folk Festival. Some major life changes have happened with the husband and wife duo in the year-plus since its release both for the better and worse. The pair had their first child, but where also dealt with a blow of a parent being diagnose with Alzheimer’s disease. Both of those life events, along with the 2015 mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina play a role lyrically on their latest, Little Seeds. The 13-track effort finds Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent rocking with a bit of a harder edge with fuzzed out guitars on several tracks. At its heart through Shovels & Rope still deliver what they do best: soulful country-infused folk-rock highlighted by their uniquely beautiful harmonies. Here’s the album track “Botched Execution”:

Label: New West Records

Producer: Michael Trent

Number Of Tracks: 13

Running Time: 46:16

Guest Musicians: N/A

Tracklist:

1. Biloxi
2. I Know
3. Botched Execution
4. St. Anne’s Parade
5. The Last Hawk
6. Buffalo Nickel
7. Mourning Song
8. Invisible Man
9. Johnny Come Outside
10. Missionary Ridge
11. San Andreas Fault Line
12. BWYR
13. Eric’s Birthday
14. The Ride

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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