OUT THIS WEEK
Magna Carda, “CirQlation.” In our February Austin360 Artist of the Month feature, Deborah Sengupta Stith calls the album “an ambitious but cohesive platter loaded with smooth segues between moody jazz and blues, wistful neo-soul love songs and classic hip-hop party hooks. It also packs the firepower the band needs to ride their slow-burn rise to the next level. ‘CirQlation’ is loosely nostalgic — the band still revels in a jazzy throwback vibe — but it’s rooted in the present, with hints of trap bravado in Tillman’s rhymes and EDM beats sprinkled along the way. The album title is a meditation on the cyclical nature of life, a theme that carries through to the sound.” Here’s the album track “Angela Bassett”:
Matthew Logan Vasquez, “Solicitor Returns.” Nearly a true solo album, this 10-song collection from the Delta Spirit frontman, who recently moved back to Austin, features him playing all the instruments on almost all of the record, save for “additional drumming” credits for Matt Aveiro and Loren Humphrey. The feel of these tracks is rawer and more personal than Vasquez’s work with Delta Spirit, though it’s similarly rooted in modern rock and pop. Performing March 16 at the Bungalow and March 19 at the Parish as part of SXSW. Here’s the track “Maria”:
Jenifer Jackson, “Cloud Ten.” As on her 2014 release “Texas Sunrise,” Jackson worked with talented multi-instrumentalist Kullen Fuchs, but she also enlisted a couple of non-local ringers in Wilco’s Pat Sansone and noted Nashville studio maven Brad Jones. Supplementing lightly jazzy folk-pop tunes such as “River Road” and “Only in Dreams” with a couple of Spanish-language numbers (“Sabor a Mi” and “Como Fue”), Jackson casts a romantic spell that seems ideal for the Valentine’s Day show she’s playing at Strange Brew. Here’s the track “Nothing Like Gravity”:
Wealthy West, “Long Play.” Singer-songwriter Brandon Kinder of local pop band the Rocketboys goes solo under another name on this 11-song collection of exquisite folk-pop material centered on acoustic guitar and piano. Release show Feb. 12 at Tellers. Here’s the track “The Highest Tide,” which recently was featured in the CW television series “Reign”:
Slowly Grace, self-titled. Eight songs of grooving funk-blues from a five-piece ensemble fronted by singer Mari Williams, plus a Latin turn on the Spanish-language tune “Amor.” Release show Feb. 13 at Clive Bar. Here’s the tune “Shine”:
COMING SOON
FEB. 19: Carrie Rodriguez + the Sacred Hearts, “Lola” (Luz/Thirty Tigers), release show Feb. 13 at Texas Union Theater and in-store Feb. 19 at Waterloo Records.
FEB. 19: Sam Riggs, “Breathless” (Deep Creek/Thirty Tigers), playing Feb. 18 at Wild West in Cedar Park.
FEB. 20: Wildcat Apollo, “Melt Into the Ocean,” release show Feb. 20 at Empire.
FEB. 26: Willie Nelson, “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin” (Legacy), playing March 12 at Rodeo Austin.
FEB. 26: Bill Carter, “Innocent Victims & Evil Companions” (Forty Below), release show Feb. 27 at Saxon Pub.
FEB. 26: Golden Dawn Arkestra, “Stargazer,” release shows Feb. 26-27 at Mohawk.
FEB. 26: Mama K & the Shades, “Honey Made,” release show Feb. 26 at One-2-One Bar.
FEB. 26: David Messier, “Waiting for Eldridge” (Fable), release show Feb. 26 at the Townsend.
FEB. 26: Black Balsam, “See You Later See You There” (Punctum), release show Feb. 28 at Cheer Up Charlie’s.
FEB. 26: 8 Ball Aitken, self-titled (Red Rocker).
FEB. 26: Kathryn Legendre, “Don’t Give a Damn” EP, release show Feb. 26 at White Horse.
MARCH 2: “Dreamer: A Tribute to Kent Finlay” (Eight 30), with tracks by James McMurtry, Randy Rogers & Sunny Sweeney, Slaid Cleaves, William Clark Green and more.
MARCH 11: Penny & Sparrow, “Let a Lover Drown You” (Single Lock/Thirty Tigers), playing April 16 at the Parish.
MARCH 25: White Denim, “Stiff” (Downtown), produced by Ethan Johns, playing SXSW (dates TBA).
MARCH 25: Bayonne, “Primitives” (Mom+Pop), re-branded wider release of Roger Sellers album issued last fall.
APRIL 1: Explosions in the Sky, “The Wilderness” (Temporary Residence).
APRIL 8: Hayes Carll, “Lovers and Leavers” (Hwy 87/Thirty Tigers).
APRIL 15: Calliope Musicals, “Time Owes You Nothing.”
APRIL: Michael Fracasso, “Here Come the Savages.”
APRIL: Charlie Faye & the Fayettes, title TBA.
MAY 3: Jeremy Nail, “My Mountain.”
MAY 6: A Giant Dog, Pile (Merge).
MAY 2016: Cotton Mather, “Songs From the I Ching,” first in a series of vinyl releases collecting 64 digital tracks.
Are you an Austin-area act with a new record coming out? Let us know at musicsource@statesman.com.
