Recs with Merritt breaks down the spookiest vinyl releases of October 2023 including Sufjan Stevens, Black Pumas
Records with Merritt is Marion Merritt’s vinyl store in Westport [1614 Westport Rd] with partner Ann Stewart. As a staple in our community for nearly a decade, we’ve partnered with Merritt for a new monthly column, where the tastemaker shares her picks for the best wax releases to look forward to grabbing, divided by release date.
Here’s Marion Merritt’s rundown of the most exciting offerings in October 2023.
Oct. 6th
Javelin is Sufjan Stevens’ first solo album of songs since 2020’s The Ascension and his first as a solo singer-songwriter since 2015’s Carrie & Lowell. Stevens, who loves to experiment in different musical styles, also uses his platform to ask universal questions that we can ponder and share as a community. Included with the LP is a 48-page book of art and essays. With a series of meticulous collages, cut-up catalog fantasies, puff-paint word clouds and iterative color fields. Toward the middle of it all, are 10 short essays by Stevens, another window into the process that informed Javelin.
Javelin is set to be released October 6, 2023 via Asthmatic Kitty.
Other albums of note for the week:
Cowboy Junkies Lay It Down
Jolie Holland Haunted Mountain
Run the Jewels Run The Jewels 10th Anniversary
Mudhoney Superfuzz Big Muff
DMX X Gon’ Give It To Ya
Dogstar Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees
Reba McEntire Not That Fancy
Timber Timbre Lovage
Butcher Brown Solar Music
Blood Brothers Burn Piano Island Burn
Ibrahim Hesnaw Father of Libyan Reggae
Paper Moon Project City Pop Avenue
Ryo Rukui Mellow Dream
Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Archives 3: Asylum Years (1972-1975)
Mac Miller Re-releases:
Go:Od Am
NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
Swimming
Divine Feminine
Circles
Oct. 13th
For the last 15 years, Allah-Las have perfected the musical blend of surf rock, folk rock, jangle and psych rock. Band members, Matthew Correia, Spencer Dunham, Miles Michaud, and Pedrum Siadatian first bonded over psych rock vinyl in the back room at the famous Los Angeles record store, Amoeba Records, in the late aughts. Zuma 85 will be the start of a new era for Allah-Las, with the band reinventing itself in defiance of the algorithmic categorization. The album will be released October 13, 2023 on their own label, Calico Discos, in partnership with Innovative Leisure.
Other albums of note for the week:
Boygenius Rest
Dominique Fils-Aime Nameless
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon (50th Anniversary)
MGMT 11.11.11
Ghost Infestissumam (10th Anniversary)
Daniel Johnston Fear Yourself
Gucci Mane Breath of Fresh Air
Drums Jonny
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Live in London
Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire Thrills
Fatboy Slim You’ve Come a Long Way Baby
Zach Bryan Zach Bryan
Crosses Goodnight God Bless I Love U Delete
Wendell Harrison Organic Dream
Popa Chubby Emotional Gangster
Oct. 20th
Charlie Megira & the Modern Dance Club’s Love Police shows another side of Israel’s, post-punk, undercover goth prince, Charlie Megira. Love Police was his lone album with the Modern Dance Club. The album showcased a grimier, more driving vision of his brand of trashy no wave. Spread across 31 tracks and two LPs, Love Police mixes industrial soundscapes, surf ditties, hardcore, swamp pop, bubble grunge, screaming, ecstasy and just enough fuzz to make you check your speakers. Love Police is set to be released October 20,2023 via Numero.
Other albums of note for the week:
Sampha Lahai
Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds
Jarboe Sacrificial Cake
Shins Chutes Too Narrow (20th Anniversary Remaster)
Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter Saved!
Kid Koala Some of My Best Friends Are DJS
Minas Num Dia Azul
Ana Frango Eletrico Me Chama de Gato Que Eu Sou Sua
Frightwig We Need To Talk
Bombay Cycle Club My Big Day
Future Pluto
Chvrches Bones of What You Believe (10th Anniversary)
U2 Zooropa
Tyler the Creator Wolf
Rival Sons Lightbringer
Glen Hansard All That Was East Is West of Me Now
Esbjorn Svensson Trio (E.S.T.) EST Plays Monk
Lil Uzi Vert Pink Tape
Blink-182 One More Time…
Oct. 27th
As they set to work on their highly awaited sophomore album, Chronicles Of A Diamond, the Grammy Award Winning, Black Pumas, broadened their palette to include a dazzling expanse of musical forms: heavenly hybrids of soul and symphonic pop, mind-bending excursions into jazz-funk and psychedelia and starry-eyed love songs that feel dropped from the cosmos. Chronicles Of A Diamond is set to be released October 27, 2023 via Ato Records.
Other albums of note for the week:
Taylor Swift 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
The Mountain Goats Jenny from Thebes
Deerhoof Runners Four
Jamila Woods Water Made Us
Eluvium Lambent Material (Anniversary Edition)
Red Hot + Fela / Various
Prince & New Power Generation Diamonds and Pearls
Les Demerle Sound 67 Ft. Randy Brecker Once in a Lifetime
Swans Feel Good Now
Barbra Streisand Evergreens: Celebrating Six Decades on Columbia Records
Gaslight Anthem History Books
Ulver Blood Inside
Macho Man Randy Savage Be a Man
Sparks Sparks
Kitchen Dwellers Ghost in the Bottle
Doctor Bionic Spiritual Conquest
DJ Shadow Action Adventure
