Last Felt

The very best pop music satisfies a craving. With bubblegum pop, the sugar rush can come on too strong and cause a mean crash. Trash pop indulges bacchanal desires, but can leave a hell of a hangover. When My Heart Felt Volcanic, the Aces' full-length debut, is a pop confectionery, but there's substance to its sweetness: it's a shimmering statement of purpose, confident and controlled, constructed with care. Originally formed as The Blue Aces, vocalist and guitarist Cristal Ramirez, her sister, Alisa, on drums, guitarist Katie Henderson and bassist McKenna Petty first began performing together in their native Utah a decade ago. After years of refinement, last year's glittery '80s-inspired singles "Physical" and "Stuck" previewed the pastel-hued pop that's fully realized on When My Heart Felt Volcanic.

Symphonic, vast, and emotionally stirring, ‘The Last Goodbye’ is set to be the GRAMMY-nominated duo’s most ambitious album to date. A project rife with brightness and emotion, nostalgic yet rooted in the present, it serves as a sweeping sonic experience that speaks to themes of connection, reminiscence and the impact we impart on one another. It’s a vivid celebration of the people and moments that have left fingerprints on our existence, echoing throughout the record. As the duo’s most personal record to date, it’s a brilliant collection which looks to interweave the past and the present in a euphoric way.

Kaki King has never been one for convention. Her third album (following 2003's "Everybody Loves You" on Velour and 2004's "Legs To Make Us Longer" on Epic) is certainly no exception. Over the last few years, she's enjoyed well-earned status as the zeit-girl of instrumental acoustic guitar. Here she bests herself and defies expectation again, ditching her acoustic for an electric, lap steel, and perhaps the most unexpected instrument of all: her own voice; disarmingly winsome and sweet for a woman with so much attitude. The haunting melodies are sadder, the lush orchestrations are fuller, and the sharp edges can cut.

New Riders Of The Purple Sage American country rock band founded in 1969 in San Francisco.

Incredible four CD box set filled with influential and diverse U.K.-based Indie Pop and Rock acts that emerged from Great Britain in the broad wake of '80s Post-Punk. The Brit Box features all of the styles that wormed their way into the hearts of the music lovers during the late '80s, all through the '90s and beyond including Indie, Shoegaze, Baggy and Brit-Pop. While many artists featured here enjoyed superstar status in Mother England, their impact on U.S. charts was more peripheral but their stylistic imprint and collective uber-hip peer-pressure on late 20th century popular music overall is undeniable. With the respect given the '60s-era British Invasion in countless other compilations, Rhino's new trans-Atlantic ocean liner-sized box shaped to resemble a vintage UK phone booth with real flickering lights champions close to 80 independent acts that didn't so much reject mainstream musical sensibilities as spin it in their own fashion for hits that defined cool. Lovingly compiled with true oh to be in England spirit, Rhino hails Britannia with over five hours of tastemaker tracks.

Reviewing the 2015 world premiere of composer Donnacha Dennehy and playwright Enda Walsh's opera The Last Hotel, The Guardian's Kate Molleson was smitten by "a dark drama in which death hangs over every move the titular hotel is a shabby establishment where guests go to kill themselves." That description alone is all the listener needs to appreciate the visceral energy of the performances captured here by Claudia Boyle, Robin Adams, Katherine Manley and actor Mikel Murfi (whose presence as the silent Porter is more implied than directly felt), all ably supported by the agile, dynamic sound of Ireland's renowned Crash Ensemble, conducted by Alan Pierson.

Last Place, is the new album from Grandaddy: Jason Lyte (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Kevin Garcia (bass guitar), Aaron Burtch (drums), Jim Fairchild (guitar), and Tim Dreyden (keyboards). The band formed in Modesto, CA in 1992, and after four albums disbanded in 2006. Jason Lytle relocated to Montana, where he happily made two solo albums, and reconnected with the natural world around him. Eventually, though, life uprooted him again, taking him to Portland, Oregon until he eventually returned to his former home of Modesto. The return to California was practical (he needed to be near his bandmates) but also appropriate, as he had started writing songs that he felt would be fitting for another Grandaddy album. Following a second reunion tour in the summer of 2016, the band announced the new album would be released on Danger Mouse's 30th Century Records along with releasing a video for the single, "Way We Won't."