John Mellencamp - Strictly A One-Eyed Jack - Republic
John Mellencamp's 25th studio album, Strictly A One-Eyed Jack, is released this week on Republic Records. The album was written and produced by Mellencamp, recorded at his Belmont Mall Studios in Indiana, and recorded/mixed by GRAMMY-award winner David Leonard. It features a number of longtime band members including Andy York, Dane Clark, Mike Wanchic, Troye Kinnett, and more. It also features three collaborations with Bruce Springsteen including the landmark duet “Wasted Days.”

Greensky Bluegrass - Stress Dreams - Big Blue Zoo Records
For two decades now, Greensky Bluegrass has been building an empire, brick by brick. Their eighth studio release, Stress Dreams was produced by Dominic Davis (Jack White) and Grammy winning engineer/producer Glenn Brown amidst the 2020 pandemic. It follows their 2019 release, All for Money, which landed on the Top 100 at the Billboard Albums Chart, Top 20 at Independent Albums and Current Country Albums, Top 10 at Americana/Folk Albums Top 5 at Heatseekers, and #1 at Bluegrass Albums. Greensky is widely known for their dazzling live performances and relentless touring schedule. As with traditional bluegrass, the band writes about their own contemporary day-to-day happenings, emotions, and experiences in the modern world. Their die-hard fans pack out venues across the country. They travel in droves and sell out multiple-night show runs at iconic venues like Red Rocks and The Ryman.  

  

Frank Zappa - 200 Motels: 50th Anniversary - UMe
Frank Zappa's "200 Motels" turns 50! In celebration of FZ's famous 1971 "Surrealistic Documentary," Zappa Records, UMe, and MGM are pleased to present the original soundtrack newly remastered by the legendary Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and featuring all original packaging including the booklet and mini-replica movie poster. Pressed on 180-gram heavy vinyl 2 LP by Optimal Media in Germany.

Kelley Stoltz - Antique Glow: Expanded Edition - Third Man Records.
Third Man Records is proud to release the 20th anniversary expanded edition of Kelley Stoltz's defining album 'Antique Glow.' Originally self-released in miniscule vinyl-only quantities in 2001, 'Antique Glow' has served not only as a template for the length of Kelley Stoltz's twenty-plus year career, but has also served as a compass for other Anglophile, TASCAM 388 home recording acolytes.  Original copies featured Stoltz's clever, wry and fanciful hand-painted adornments overtop reclaimed thrift store LP jackets, Third Man's release here utilizes some of those original unused images for a die-cut sleeve that ultimately gives the listener six different possible album covers. The songs are by and large masterpieces of bedroom pop magic. From the whispering 'Here Comes the Sun'-adjacent acoustic underpinnings of album opener 'Perpetual Night' through the fuzz-threaded leads of 'Are You Electric?' Stoltz's inspirations are impeccable and clear. Sixties Davies British Invasion through 80's British Bunnymen post-punk, with appropriate off-shoots into West Coast American pop-psych, Velvets-indebted hooliganism and Drake/CSNY acoustic attenuations, the end result is pure joy. On the expanded version, standout tracks previously relegated to an Australian tour-only CD (like the breathlessly cinematic 'Old Pictures') see their first-ever vinyl and digital release while there's an additional 8 songs from the 'Antique Glow'-era seeing their first ever release in any format. The cutting room floor quality here is second-to-none, Stoltz clearly gifted with the curse of writing too many indelible songs, so the newly released 'Too Beck' (originally cast off by Kelley because he thought 'it sounded too much like Beck') and 'Umbrella' stand firm as some of the best, most timeless music Stoltz has ever released... a full two decades after he recorded them! With all instruments and vocals performed by Stoltz, the singularity of vision here is impeccably clear and executed.