Did you know that Record Store Day (April 21) is less than two weeks away? Are you ready? What have you done to prepare yourself for it? Today is a perfect day to make a test run to your local shop, where you can scout for the best positions and flex the required muscles by filling up your basket with some of this week’s worthwhile new releases. At the top or your stack (or maybe the bottom, as it’s likely to be the first thing you grab today), should be the anticipated full-length debut from the soulful-beyond-their-years Alabama Shakes, who follow up their much blogged about 4-song EP with what our Music Director, Don Yates, calls “an equally impressive full-length that injects ‘60s-influenced southern soul with some rock muscle and energy, employing a raw, stripped-down sound on a variety of beautifully arranged, classic-sounding songs combining rumbling guitar lines, majestic keyboards, soulful rhythms and singer Brittany Howard’s gritty, powerhouse vocals.” Currently, the ‘Shakes are blowing up and, following a very successful run at SXSW, now selling out shows nationwide and even getting to open for Jack White on a leg of his tour. Those of you in the Northwest will get your chance to see them again when they play Sasquatch! on Memorial Day weekend.

You’ll also want to pick up the latest from another KEXP favorite, Danish group Choir Of Young Believers, who have appeared live on KEXP from several locations (twice in Austin for SXSW and once for CMJ in New York). It’s hard to believe that Rhine Gold is only the band’s second album, not only because they debuted some of these songs last year but also because their “expansive blend of orchestral folk-pop, 80s synth-pop, motorik German prog, atmospheric psych-folk and more on mostly sprawling, cinematic songs with majestic melodies, melancholy lyrics and plaintive tenor vocals” is more than what other groups with years more experience could even hope to accomplish. Another sophomore effort that should rank high on your must-buy list is Whistle Tips by Dinosaur Feathers, which features the Brooklyn band on “a more aggressive, rock-oriented take on their sunny indie-pop sound, switching out the drum machine for live drumming and turning up the amps with an energetic blend of crunchy guitars, uptempo, occasionally tropical-influenced rhythms, ebullient harmonies and catchy pop hooks.” And Portland singer-songwriter M. Ward enlists his pals Zooey Deschanel, Howe Gelb, John Parish, Steve Shelley, Mike Mogis on his latest album of dusty atmospheric folk.

Other new releases you’ll want to check out include the latest album from Duluth, MN, bandTrampled By Turtles, which “finds them branching out from the punkish bluegrass and raw folk of their earlier recordings in ways similar to The Avett Brothers”, plus three excellent debuts: one from Kishi Bashi, a Seattle-born, East Coast-raised violin virtuoso, composer, and instrumentalist, who “brings a soaring, inventive streak to his avant-pop creations that are immaculately, intricately arranged with gorgeous sonic layers alongside anthemic, celebratory bursts, propelled by both his robust, string-heavy instrumentation and operatic vocals”; another from Brooklyn sister duo Zambri, which is “a fine set of goth-tinged electro-pop, with a hazy, densely produced sound combining dark, swirling synths, eerie electronic textures, New Wave/industrial dance beats and ethereal vocals”; and a third, from Brooklyn artist Devin, a.k.a. Devin Therriault, whose “fun” album is chock full of “‘50s-influenced garage-pop with fuzzy guitars, energetic rhythms, buzzing nasal vocals and catchy pop hooks.”

There’s also some dark and experimental new music you’ll want to check out from the consonant challenged oOoOO, new French “witch house” band UNISON, sunny Cali spook-pop duo The Creepy Crawlies, and two Brooklyn experimental trios: Black Dice and Extra Life. Pick up all of these, plus the latest from Malian duo Amadou & Mariam and a pairing of Scottish folkstersTrembling Bells with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, in at your favorite record today. But first, you’ve got a ton of great stuff to sample here:

Extra Life – Righteous Seed (MP3)
from Dream Seeds on Northern Spy Records

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