Between me and you: This week at South
→ New this week
A varied week of new releases, from sunshine pop landmarks to deep spiritual jazz and long-lost grunge chaos. The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights celebrates sixty years of the Beach Boys masterpiece with a double LP of a cappellas, alternate takes and tracking sessions, much of it appearing on vinyl for the first time. Jeff Parker’s Happy Today captures the ETA IVtet live at Lodge Room in Los Angeles, long-form minimalist improvisation recorded direct to tape, expanding the group’s hypnotic, deeply tuned sound into a larger space without losing its intimacy. Outer Worlds Jazz Ensemble’s The Karman Line draws on Yusef Lateef, Alice Coltrane and David Axelrod, seven tracks of deep, spiritual, groove-driven jazz recorded to tape at ATA.
Elsewhere, Kevin Morby’s Little Wide Open, produced by Aaron Dessner, continues his Midwest reflections with a newfound clarity and openness, while The Loft return with Badges, their second album following last year’s unexpected comeback, capturing the jangled, literate songwriting that defined them the first time around. Soul Jazz Records’ Reggae Island Soul traces the meeting point between reggae, soul and funk in the 1970s through cuts from John Holt, Lee Perry, Cornel Campbell and more. There’s also a deep dive into the Style Council vaults with a lavish Café Bleu special edition, Ian Svenonius continuing his mission to dismantle garage and indie-rock conventions with Escape-ism, and Mudhoney’s long out-of-print Five Dollar Bob’s Mock Cooter Stew finally returning to vinyl after thirty years away.
Also out this week (but didn't make it in to the mailout): Rostam returns with American Stories, blending Americana and Persian musical traditions through fingerpicked guitars, pedal steel and microtonal melodies, while Paul Pena’s long-overlooked self-titled debut finally returns to vinyl, moving between bluesy funk, country soul, gospel and politically charged songwriting with remarkable ease. There are also essential jazz reissues from the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s expansive and ambitious People in Sorrow, Kenny Dorham’s hard bop classic Whistle Stop, and Donald Byrd’s groove-heavy The Cat Walk.
→ Recommended
Max Romeo’s Let The Power Fall is a deep roots statement, politically charged and rhythmically stripped-back, built around militant grooves and Romeo’s unmistakable voice. Recorded in the mid-70s at a moment of unrest and change in Jamaica, it channels tension, spirituality and resistance into something heavy, meditative and completely absorbing. Pick up the UK first pressing here.
