The final notes of January have faded out, and here in the People’s Republic, it sounded … chaotic. We held space for our inner theater kid with the Wicked soundtrack, paid our respects to late hip-hop legend Mac Miller and got chopped and screwed with Oklahoma City slam-metal freaks Peeling Flesh. What’s the throughline between these bestselling new vinyl releases from Paradise Found Records and Music? Don’t ask us. It just sounds good.
1. Mac Miller - Balloonerism
2. Various Artists - Wicked: Original Soundtrack
3. Childish Gambino - Atavista
4. Peeling Flesh - The G Code
5. Flipturn - Burnout Days
6. VS Self - Everything Seems Better Now
7. Teddy Swims - I've Tried Everything but Therapy (Part 2)
8. The Story So Far - Under Soil And Dirt
9. Rüfüs Du Sol - Inhale / Exhale
10. Dua Lipa - Live from the Royal Albert Hall
STAFF PICK: Few sonic shake-ups have turned heads in recent years quite like Perverts by Ethel Cain. While the Tallahassee-born folk artist’s 2022 breakout Preacher’s Daughter was haunted by echoes of the Southern Gothic tradition, darkness blooms in a whole new register on her stunning new album featuring heavy doses of ambient drone, religious trauma and guitarwork by Colorado’s own Midwife. – Jezy J. Gray, arts editor