Wanna keep up with what’s new, what’s hot, what’s freshly pressed? Here's what's out this week:

→ THE SHINS - HEARTWORMS

→ JASON FAULKNER/R.STEVIE MOORE - MAKE IT BE

→ LAURA MARLING - SEMPER FEMINA

→ MAGNETIC FIELDS - 50 SONG MEMOIR

→ ELLIOTT SMITH - EITHER/OR

→ CHICKENFOOT - BEST + LIVE

→ HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF - NAVIGATOR

THE SHINS - HEARTWORMS

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2017 release, the fifth studio album from the alt-rock band. 

In contrast to 2012's Port of Morrow, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and was nominated for a Best Alternative Album Grammy, Heartworms ushers in a return to the handmade. Heartworms is, as always, entirely written by James Mercer, with exception of "So Now What" (produced by band member Richard Swift). 

Heartworms is the first Shins album to be self-produced by Mercer since Oh, Inverted World in 2001. Heartworms features Mercer's most diverse lyrical palette to date. The result is a cohesive, yet genre defying album marked by Mercer's distinct voice and melodic composition. 

Unified by his singular vision, Mercer creates a sound that is both familiar a nostalgic nod to the album's predecessors - and distinctly new. 

The album's first single, "Name For You," is a resounding call for female empowerment inspired by Mercer's three daughters.

JASON FAULKNER/R.STEVIE MOORE - MAKE IT BE

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Vinyl LP pressing includes digital download. 

R Stevie Moore and Jason Falkner's collaborative album Make It Be was recorded at Rhetoric, in Hollywood CA with Falkner producing. The grand majority of the songs were composed by Moore with one by Falkner, one co-written by the pair, one co-written by Roger Ferguson. 

Then there's a wonderful rendition of Huey Smith & The Clowns "Don't You Just Know It." What happens when R. Stevie Moore and Jason Falkner get together to record, arrange, and mix R. Stevie's songs? We get to hear an audacious realization of these songs' full potential in an epic collaboration no one saw coming. Moore and Falkner burst through your door with "I H8 Ppl" and take you on a journey through rock, pop, and experimental textures. 

Anchors such as "Play My Self Some Music" and "Sincero Amore," keep the effort focused, while guitar-only interludes and spoken word pieces push boundaries.

LAURA MARLING - SEMPER FEMINA

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GET IT ON LIMITED EDITION DOUBLE VINYL

Limited double vinyl LP pressing includes bonus tracks.

2017 release, the sixth album from the British folk singer/songwriter. 

Semper Femina is an intimate, devoted exploration of femininity and female relationships, and among her finest work to date. 

Written largely on the tour that followed 2015's Short Movie and recorded in Los Angeles with production from Blake Mills, it is at once a distinctive and musically compelling collection of songs, run through with Marling's fierce intelligence; a keen, beautiful and unparalleled take on womanhood. Laura's debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim, her second album I Speak Because I Can, and her fourth album Once I Was an Eagle were each nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, 2010, and 2013, respectively. 

She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards, and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Brit Awards.

MAGNETIC FIELDS - 50 SONG MEMOIR

GET THE 5 CD BOX SET

Five CD set. 2017 release from the alt-rock band led by Stephin Merritt. 

50 Year Memoir chronicles the 50 years of songwriter Stephin Merritt’s life with one song per year; it was produced by Stephin Merritt with additional production by Thomas Bartlett and Charles Newman. 

This set includes an extensive interview by Daniel Handler and facsimile handwritten lyrics by Merritt. Stephin began recording on his 50th birthday: February 9, 2015. 

Unlike his previous work, the lyrics on 50 Song Memoir are nonfiction—in Merritt’s words, “a mix of autobiography (bedbugs, Buddhism, buggery) and documentary (hippies, Hollywood, hyperacusis).” 

In addition to his vocals on all 50 songs, Merritt plays more than 100 instruments on 50 Song Memoir, ranging from ukulele to piano to drum machine to abacus.

ELLIOTT SMITH - EITHER/OR REISSUE

GET IT ON LIMITED EDITION DOUBLE VINYL

Double vinyl LP pressing in a gatefold jacket that includes an insert of the original liner notes, a postcard of the original master tapes, and several never-before seen photos OR Limited double yellow colored vinyl LP pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve. 

'Either/Or is widely regarded as Elliott s best album, and remains his best-selling. To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of this masterpiece, Kill Rock Stars proudly presents Either/Or: Expanded Edition. 

This album features the original tracks carefully remastered from original tapes under the supervision of Larry Crane, owner of Jackpot! Studios and archivist of the Estate of Elliott Smith. 

The additional content features five live multi-track recordings from the Yo Yo A Go Go Festival in Olympia WA in 1997, as well as three previously unreleased studio recordings and one b-side gem. 

The double LP is packaged in a gatefold jacket that includes an insert of the original liner notes, a postcard of the original master tapes, and several never-before seen photos. 

This gorgeous collection is an essential listen for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

CHICKENFOOT - BEST + LIVE

GET THE 2CD COLLECTOR SET

Two CD collection by this supergroup featuring legendary front man Sammy Hagar, guitar god Joe Satriani and the classic rhythm section of bassist Michael Anthony (Van Halen) and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers). 

Disc One features The best tracks from the ablums Chickenfoot and Chickenfoot III plus live covers and one new recording. 

Disc Two captures Chickenfoot in concert from Phoenix…and as the legion of fans who have seen Chickenfoot will attest to this is how the band is meant to be experienced! 

Chickenfoot has established themselves as one of the premier rock bands to carry the title of ‘supergroup’.

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF - NAVIGATOR

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GET IT ON LIMITED EDITION WHITE VINYL

Limited white vinyl LP pressing. 

2017 release. The Navigator tells an interwoven, cinematic story of a wandering soul at a crossroads of identity and ancestral weight. 

It finds a street kid named Navita traversing a perpetually burning city in search of herself. The Navigator is a thrilling call to arms that could not come at a more crucial time. It also finds Hurray for the Riff Raff at its own musical intersection, delving deep into the worlds of Latin rhythms, searing rock, and incisive ballads.

Hurray for the Riff Raff is an American folk-blues and Americana band from New Orleans, Louisiana. The Navigator is the follow-up to 2014’s Small Town Heroes. 

The band’s impressive catalog spans a 10 year time frame.

Get amongst, music lovers!