Liz Phair

'Pre Pleasure' is the breathtaking third album from Australian singer-songwriter, Julia Jacklin. Co-produced with Marcus Paquin, the album sees Jacklin as her most authentic self, delivering the most intimate, raw and devastating ten songs of her career to date. An uncompromising and masterful lyricist, always willing to mine the depths of her own life experience, and singular in translating it into deeply personal, timeless songs.

Rhino's five-disc box set Respect: A Century of Women in Music was surely assembled with the best of intentions, but it doesn't quite work. First of all, any collection that focuses solely on "the female contribution" comes off as a little condescending, no matter how good the intentions are. Still, the concept has enough weight to make for at least an interesting listen. However, any compilation that spans nearly 100 years and every conceivable popular musical genre is bound not only to be incomplete, but too sweeping to be totally effective. The scope is impressive, as are the featured artists – think of any major female musician and they're likely to be here, unless it's Joni Mitchell (Kim Gordon and Kim Deal are also missing, as are several other similarly minded post-punk rockers and various pop and folk singer/songwriters, but no omission is as shocking as Mitchell's) – but the overall effect is somewhat bewildering.

Dino Meneghin is the primary composer for MTV's Teen Wolf. Meneghin was born in Walnut Creek, California. He moved to Los Angeles when he was 18 to attend the University of Southern California's Studio/Jazz Guitar program. He graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music degree. He worked with various R&B and pop acts before joining The Calling. Meneghin provided guitar and backing vocals on the album TWO and performed on a world tour to support the album. Meneghin's relationship, both professional and romantic, with singer Liz Phair lasted several years. Meneghin toured with her and is listed as producer on Phair's 2005 album Somebody's Miracle. Meneghin also toured with Michael Bublé and Josh Groban. In 2008, Meneghin was hired as the music producer for the MTV docudrama, Taking the Stage, which ran for two seasons.

American rock & roll mainstay Beach Slang has announced their most accomplished new album to date 'The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City'. While James has always invited a rotating gang of friends and players for recordings and shows, this record features a VERY special guest bassist: Tommy Stinson (The Replacements, Guns N Roses). "It was a real-life rock & roll daydream come true,” says James.

Although originally formed as a chamber pop quintet, matt pond PA went through several different lineups throughout its existence, with each incarnation revolving around the talents of singer/songwriter Matt Pond (previously of Mel's Rockpile). Pond formed the group upon relocating from New England to Philadelphia, and he filled out his first lineup with guitarist/bassist Josh Kramer, cellist Jim Hostetter, violinist Rosie McNamara-Jones, and drummer Sean Byrne. The band debuted in 1998 with Deer Apartments and won top honors in an unsigned bands competition sponsored by online retailer CDNOW. A sophomore effort, Measure, followed in 2000 and garnered comparisons to a stripped-down version of the Cure, while the I Thought You Were Sleeping EP appeared in spring 2001. By the next year, the band shifted its roster to include drummer Mike Kennedy, bassist Matt Raisch, guitarist Jim Kehoe, and cellist Eve Miller, alongside Pond and Hostetter. A third album (and the band's first release for the Polyvinyl label), The Green Fury, was released in spring 2002 while Pond also took on duties writing music for the Oxygen Network. The Nature of Maps followed several months later, marking the band's third release in two years.

SASAMI (Sasami Ashworth) has been making music in the Los Angeles area, in almost every way you can, for the last decade. Between playing keys, bass, and guitar within Cherry Glazerr and Dirt Dress; contributing vocal, string, and horn arrangements to studio albums (Vagabon, Curtis Harding, Wild Nothing, Hand Habits, etc.); arranging for films and commercials; and even playing French horn in an orchestra; plus teaching music to students and producing for other artists, she has gained a reputation as an all-around musical badass.

Following their well-matched 2017 collaboration with Veruca Salt frontwomen Nina Gordon and Louise Post, '90s-influenced indie rock trio Skating Polly roll out their infectious fifth album, The Make It All Show. It's hard to believe that the Oklahoma City band, fronted by stepsisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse, is already on record number five, but Skating Polly started young – in 2009, when Kelli was nine and Peyton 14 – and hit their stride quickly, earning plenty of critical acclaim and attracting notable collaborators like punk legend Exene Cervenka (X), who returns here with a guest vocal.