Recs with Merritt guides us through the hottest new vinyl releases for Aug. 2024 including Meshell Ndegeocello, Amos Lee

Recs With Merritt. // Art by Cassondra Jones

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 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 Aug. 2024.

Aug. 2, 2024

Meshell Ndegeocello’s 2023, Grammy Award-winning album, Omnichord Real Book, was one of our favorite albums of the year. Her new musical journey, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, pays homage to writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin, on the Centennial of his birth, August 2, 2024. No More Water takes us to church and demands a call to action for social change. No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin is scheduled to be released on August 2, 2024, via Blue Note Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

Orville Peck Stampede
Joe Ely Driven To Drive
Kevin Abstract Arizona Baby
Yasuhiro Usui Undulation
Brigitte Calls Me Baby Future Is Our Way Out
MGK & Trippie Redd Genre: Sadboy
London Music Works Music From Succession
Larry Wallis Police Car: The Anthology
Chrystabell Cellophane Memories
Jorge Ben Africa Brasil
Brotha Lynch Hung Season Of Da Siccness 2: Kevlar
X Smoke $ Fiction
Pinnick-Gales-Pridgen Pinnick Gales Pridgen
49 Winchester Leavin’ This Holler
Various Artists Whiplash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Charles Brown I Just Want To Talk To You
Shaela Miller After The Masquerade
Steve Young Honky-Tonk Man
Ray Angry Ray Angry Three
Elijah Blake Elijah
Reverend Baron Overpass Boy
Tele Novella Poet’s Tooth

Aug. 9, 2024

We first saw Amos Lee live in 2006, not long after the release of his debut self-titled album Amos Lee. We were captivated by this soft-spoken teacher, turned singer-songwriter. For his eleventh studio album, Transmissions, Lee wanted to return to the old-school style of recording, using a studio built with reclaimed wood, playing live and jamming with his long-time bandmates, all in the same room, listening and collaborating with each other. Because of the chemistry and long hours spent in the studio, Transmissions was recorded in less than a week. Transmissions is scheduled to be released on August 9, 2024, via Hoaglemouth Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

Osees Sorcs 80
Justin Townes Earle All In: Unreleased & Rarities (The New West Years)
Conway the Machine Slant Face Killah
Destroy Boys Funeral Soundtrack #4
Futurebirds Easy Company
The Logic Ultra 85
Earl King Street Parade
Smashing Pumpkins Rotten Apples-Greatest Hits
Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding Milton + Esperanza
Russian Circles Empros
Inner Wave Apoptosis
Beebadoobee This Is How Tomorrow Moves
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Flight B741
Raven Lenae Bird’s Eye
The Outsiders A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Dasha What Happens Now?
Crying Vessel Before Life Was Death
Super Djata Band Volume 2
The Hooten Hallers The Devil’s Egg
Poison Girl Friend Melting Moment
Thee Marloes Perak
Oresund Space Collective Orgone Unicorn

Aug. 16, 2024

There can be an argument made that singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne’s 2004 Trouble was the start of an Americana revival. That may be true about Trouble, but the seven albums that followed are a mixture of musical genres. LaMontagne’s ninth release, Long Way Home, has that classic ’70s folk-rock vibe that we need right now. Long Way Home is scheduled to be released on August 16, 2024, via Liula Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

Post Malone F-1 Trillion
Charly Bliss Forever
Falling In Reverse Popular Monster
Foster the People Paradise State Of Mind
Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force Planet Rock-The Album
UK Subs The Last Will and Testament of UK Subs
Rain Parade Last Stop On The Underground
The Album Leaf In A Safe Place (20th Anniversary)
Lil Dicky Professional Rapper
Pissed Jeans King of Jeans
Algorithm Algorithm
Po’ Ramblin Boys Wanderers Like Me
Elliott Smith Roman Candle
Blind Pilot In The Shadow Of The Holy Mountain
Black Bacon Every Action Has Reaction
The Wiz (2024 Broadway Cast Recording)
Lafayette Afro-Rock Soul Makossa
Muscadine Bloodline The Coastal Plain
Yogi & Woof Let Tha Dopeness Begin
John Williams John Williams In Tokyo
Darian Thomas Thomas: A Room With Many Doors

Aug. 23, 2024

Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 concept album, Illinoise has been brought to life with the Tony Award-nominated, Broadway hit, Illinoise: A New Musical (Original Cast Recording). This album features all-new musical arrangements by Stevens and his frequent collaborator, Timo Andres, crossing many musical styles from DIY folk to indie rock to marching band and ambient electronics. Illinoise: A New Musical (Original Cast Recording) is scheduled to be released on August 23, 2024, via Nonesuch Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

Sabrina Carpenter Short n’ Sweet
Randy Rogers Band Rollercoaster
Stand Atlantic Was Here
Harlem Gospel Travelers Rhapsody
Thee Heart Tones Forever & Ever
Spirit of the Beehive You’ll Have To Lose Something
Built to Spill There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (30th Anniversary)
Lainey Wilson Whirlwind
Illuminati Hotties Power
Kishi Bashi Kantos
Sofi Tukker Bread
Margo Guryan Take A Picture
Colin James Chasing The Sun
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine Post Historic Monsters-2024 Remaster
Big Something Headspace
Thomas Rhett About A Woman
Falcon Jane Legacy
Various Artists Socialist Disco: Dancing Behind Yugoslavia’s Curtain
Cornelius Dream In Dream
Melt Banana 3+5
Fontaines D.C. Romance

Aug. 30, 2024

In 2016, Foals singer Yannis Philippakis was offered the opportunity of a lifetime: a two-day session with one of the greatest drummers, Tony Allen. Philippakis has said that the pair quickly established intuitive telepathy, and the resulting music germinated from jams and loops, with the unique atmosphere of two cultures and creatives colliding. The project, Lagos Paris London, was near completion, but between scheduling conflicts and the COVID restrictions, the recordings were not completed before Allen’s death in 2020. Philippakis was determined to finish the project, honor Allen, and share their songs with the world. Yannis & The Yaw’s Lagos Paris London is set to be released on August 30, 2024, via Transgressive Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Wild God
Tycho Infinite Health
Luke Combs Fathers & Sons
Denzel Curry King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2
Paris Paloma Cacophony
New Found Glory Forever and Ever X Infinity
D. Savage Mafia Musik
The Bug Club On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System
Sebadoh Bakesale (30th Anniversary)
Courettes Hold On, We’re Comin’
Ty Segall Love Rudiments
Ekkstacy Ekkstacy
Neil Hannon & Job Talbot Wonka (Original Soundtrack)
The American Analog Set The Golden Band
Uniform American Standard
Nate Wood The Bird Of A Thousand Voices
86TVS 86TVS
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs (Original Soundtrack)
Telever Inside The Game
Ach Buddha Beat System Heart Sutra
The Bevis Frond Focus On Nature
Los Bitchos Talkie Talkie
Various Artists Nigeria 70: The Definitive Guide To 1970s Funky Lagos
Shemeka Copeland Blame It On Eve