Recs with Merritt previews February’s best vinyl releases—including Bowie, Sunny War, and Boogarins

Photo by Travis Young, design 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 new monthly column, where the tastemaker shares her picks for the best wax releases to look forward to grabbing, divided by release date.

Here are Marion Merritt’s picks for the best of February 2023’s vinyl releases.

Feb. 3

Nashville-based folk/punk singer-songwriter Sunny War will release her fourth album, Anarchist Gospel February 3, on New West Records. This album represents her attempts to come to terms and find balance in what she calls her “very self-destructive personality.” Anarchist Gospel is a blend of gospel, folk, blues, and rock with a hint of avant-garde and topped off with her brilliant guitar work. But it is the words of her pain, finding a life outside of oneself, and her eventual survival that make this album a blend of the good and bad we all possess.

Other albums of note for the week:

The WAEVE by The WAEVE
SZNZ: Spring by Weezer 
Dive by Tycho  
Get Up Sequences Part Two by The Go! Team  

Feb. 10

Portland, Oregon-based Swinomish/Inupiaq singer/songwriter Katherine Paul’s Black Belt Eagle Scout 2019 release, At The Party With My Brown Friends, was one of my favorite albums of that year. Her new release, The Land, The Water, The Sky, continues to explore her relationship to her ancestors, her ancestral home, the mountains, and the rivers. Through her songs, we can try to experience the combination of pain and coming to terms with the horrors and destruction of a people whose souls are still crying out and sharing their wisdom—if you listen. The Land, The Water, The Sky will be released Feb. 10 on Saddle Creek Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

The Future Is Your Past by The Brian Jonestown Massacre 
Segue To Infinity by Laraaji  
This Stupid World by Yo La Tengo  
Dollen by Tennis 
This is Why by Paramore

Feb. 17

Brazilian Neo-psychedelic rock band Boogarins’ new album, Manchaca Vol. 1 & 2, is a compilation of Boogarins’ memories, dreams, demos, and outtakes from the Austin, TX, live recording sessions during the pandemic shutdown in 2020. This album is an intimate peek inside the creative process of the band and what may lie in the future for the Boogarins. Manchaca Vol. 1 & 2 will be released Feb. 17 on Overseas Artists Records.

Other albums of note for the week:

Alpha Zulu by Phoenix  
How To Replace It by dEUS
Dig Lazarus Dig! by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds  
No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Feb. 24

David Bowie’s A Divine Symmetry (An alternative journey through Hunky Dory) is a deep dive into his 1971 album Hunky Dory, including home demos, BBC sessions, and live and studio recordings. Liner notes have been written for this release by Bowie expert Tris Penna, with contributions from Hunky Dory co-producer Ken Scott and lifelong Bowie friends Geoff MacCormack and George Underwood. A four-CD box set containing 48 previously unreleased tracks, memorabilia, photos, Bowie’s notebooks, handwritten lyrics, and Blu-Ray versions of A Divine Symmetry were released in Nov. 2022. The Feb. 24 vinyl release will be a single LP.

Other albums of note for the week:

IWorkin’ On A World by ris DeMent  
Cracker Island by Gorillaz
I Play My Bass Loud by Gina Birch  
TA1300 by Denzel Curry