Ty Segall is an inspired interpreter. With a previous collection of T. Rex covers and a deep-fried take on Hot Chocolate’s “Every 1’s a Winner” under his belt, he reaches a high noon stand down on this new six-track quarantine collection of covers culled from Harry Nilsson’s 1971 lp, Nilsson Schmilsson. The source material jittery and depraved as it already is, Segall twists it further inward, practically taking a trip to the Overlook Hotel on wholly villainous rides at “Coconut,” “Gotta Get Up,” “Early in the Morning,” and the like. Dripped in psychedelic sludge, sometimes you’ve just got to fight crazy with crazy.

Arrakis…Dune…desert planet. Take a cue from Muad’Dib and and adjust you stillsuit to desert fashion, as Dune’s official soundtrack is being reissued on vinyl August 29th by Jackpot Records for Record Store Day 2020. Arid and sweeping, expect sounds from Brian Eno and Toto, accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Volksoper Choir. Sourced from the original master tapes. The Spice must flow …

The strange and alluring sonic world of Burlington, Vermont’s Benny Yurco comes to life on his sophomore long player, You Are My Dreams, released last month via People in a Position to Know. Having gigged regularly as rhythm guitarist for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, this is Yurco’s first solo output in almost a decade. Dranged and dubbed out bedroom cantina vibes…

With Rastilho, Kiko Dinucci set out to make an album in the vein of Brazilian compatriot João Gilberto … as scanned through the lens of São Paulo’s avant-garde scene, African polyphonic rhythms and percussive post-punk. Sacrosanct this is not.

This fall finds the release of Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland—a collection of the wildly idiosyncratic and brilliantly singular catalog of a pioneering transgender artist. Perhaps most exciting, is its introduction of a heretofore unknown EP from 1983, entitled At Last!. Daring and jazzy, and not without a touch of danger, Glenn-Copeland crafts something of a more straight-forward “rock” here, filling the extended player with soaring guitar lines, muscular rhythms, and power ballads. It works.

This 2004 collaboration between cellist David Darling and the Wulu Bunun singers of Taiwan is nothing short of a miracle. With the Bunun singers’ a capella vocal recordings of indigenous folk songs at the core, their joyous, polyphonic harmonies coalesce with Darling’s luminous, delicate, and occasionally bluesy compositional tones. Together, they brighten and blossom amongst ambient sounds of nature, resulting in something truly spectacular and life-affirming. It’s a breathtakingly beautiful record deserving of far wider recognition.

São Paulo’s Chico Bernardes has been busy. Over the past 12 months the Brazilian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has recorded and released two singles, and a self-titled full length.

Part Soft Machine groove excavation, part Sabbathy ritual, bassist Ron Mathewson and his (unidentified) band take on John Coltrane’s classic “A Love Supreme.”