Founded by Jack White, Third Man Records has, since its inception, focused on a high-class brand of the unusual. Whether this means releasing a strange, single record from enigmatic Mildred and the Mice or very special vinyl editions of past work from The White Stripes, Third Man has created its own unique place in the world of record labels and stores.
Now, on April 20 (Record Store Day), Third Man is going to prove that everything old is new again.
Call of the Void: Dragged Down a Dead-End Path (Relapse, 3/19/13)
Released last month, Call of the Void’s debut LP announced it as a new breed of sludgy, grindy, acrimonious hardcore. Now, with this cover of “Headless/Heartless,” the band has paid tribute to one of the genre’s cult icons, His Hero is Gone, whose descendents include Tragedy, Severed Head of State, and many others.
Pick up the cover on the digital deluxe version of Dragged Down a Dead-End Path.
Friend Roulette: I’m Sorry You Hit Your Head (Goodnight, 4/23/13)
Concussions are not a pleasant experience. Orch-pop outfit Friend Roulette seems to know this, as its new record expresses with its sympathetic title. In the video for the single of the same name, the band pairs pulsing woodwinds, wailing horns, and swirling strings with a psychedelic world that makes for an unsettlingly vague but colorful experience.
Head here to pre-order I’m Sorry You Hit Your Head on iTunes, and head here to see the band’s upcoming concert dates, including its record-release show at New York’s Mercury Lounge on May 23.
The National: Trouble Will Find Me (4AD, 5/20/13)
The Tribeca Film Festival opens today with a slate of films that run the gamut from drama to documentary to horror. One of these films, Mistaken for Strangers, is from first-time director Tom Berninger. If that last name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the metalhead younger brother of The National front-man Matt Berninger.
Norway’s Shining, which gave a name to its genre with 2010 album Blackjazz, has a new record coming out May 28 on Prosthetic. Entitled One One One, the album includes the recently unveiled riff-rocker “I Won’t Forget” (see the sci-fi music video here).
Now the band has made stems available for download and is holding a remix competition of the single. The three best versions, picked by front-man Jørgen Munkeby, will be posted on the band’s social-media sites, and each winner will receive a Shining button-up, the “Blackjazz Rebel,” pictured below. So download that application, send it back to the band, and get to cutting.
Scale the Summit: The Migration (Prosthetic, 6/11/13)
Did you grow a beard in hopes that one day you’ll enter Valhalla to drink and fight forever? Or only read JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or HP Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu after discovering that even the gods of metal worship at their altars? Have you been to more festivals with “hell” or “blood” in the title than sporting events?
Then enjoy the five minutes of glory that is “Odyssey,” the premiere track from Scale the Summit’s new record, The Migration. And after you reattach your face, go pre-order it from Prosthetic, Bandcamp, or iTunes.
Electronic musician (Chris) Clark is releasing tracks cut from his 2012 album Iradelphic as a free download. Grab ’em to help him avoid self-described solipsism.
Life Coach: Alphawaves (Thrill Jockey, 4/16/13)
Also the title of Phil Manley’s first solo album, Life Coach is now a (mostly instrumental) rock duo comprised of the Trans Am / The Fucking Champs guitarist and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore.
The duo’s first album, out today, features a helluva jam as its lead single, as Manley lays down a wicked groove that’s topped by a raging rock solo from Isaiah Mitchell (Howlin’ Rain, Golden Void). Meanwhile, Theodore — a distinctive drummer in his own right — calls to mind John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and John Stanier (Battles, Tomahawk, ex-Helmet) with his propulsive beats. Enjoy the live-action video as projected landscapes paint the boys’ white-robe canvases.
Say what you will about Metallica’s propensity to put its name on things, but this actually looks pretty awesome.
The band has teamed up with Stern, a leading manufacturer of pinball machines, for a Metallica-themed cabinet. Featuring 12 different songs, including “One,” “Master of Puppets,” “Creeping Death,” “Battery,” “Enter Sandman,” and “Fade to Black,” the machine will come in three different editions: Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition. Some of the features? An electric chair with a “shaking, writhing ‘Sparkey’ figurine,” two different ball-eating snakes, and a ball-smashing hammer. It sounds appropriately metal.
Check out another image and a teaser below. More info and how to order one here.
Coliseum: Sister Faith (Temporary Residence, 4/30/13)
“I need some bad will,” repeats Ryan Patterson, guitarist/singer for hardcore-punk outfit Coliseum, at the climax of his band’s new video. Filmed at an impromptu outdoor performance that gets shut down, the black-and-white video concludes with Patterson being handcuffed and put in a cop car, but not before he expresses some major disdain:
“I hate your band. I hate your voice. I hate your words. I hate your fucking tattoos.
I hate your god. I hate your greed. I’ll hate anything you’ve got, and I hate your smirking face too.”
In the third part of Daft Punk’s “The Collaborators” video series about the making of upcoming album Random Access Memories (Columbia, 5/21/13), legendary producer and disco guitarist Nile Rodgers talks about his reciprocal experience working with the French duo and plays a lick or two of new material.
The “pay what you want” distribution model hasn’t panned out like many had hoped, and early adopters such as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails are changing their tune.