Vinyl Picks of the Month

Veruca Salt

Blow It Out Your Ass It’s Veruca Salt

The only way to properly pay tribute to Steve Albini, the musician and recording engineer who died last week at the far-too-young age of 61, is to play one of the many records he helped make, and play it loudly. A fine place to start is with this 1996 EP, recently reissued by Chicago quartet Veruca Salt (out on El Camino Records). A stopgap measure for fans waiting for the follow-up to the group’s debut, American Thighs, and its fluke alt-rock smash “Seether,” the four-song release has all the hallmarks of an Albini session: booming drums, corrosive guitar tones, and punk rock attitude to spare.

Broadcast

Spell Blanket: Collected Demos 2006-2009

The first of two archival collections that will be the last releases from this venerated British psychedelic pop group owing to the passing of its main creative force, Trish Keenan, in 2011. This double LP set pulls together partially fleshed-out tunes and fragments of material that Keenan and her musical/life partner James Cargill captured on 4-track tape machines and MiniDisc recorders. They all point to a furthering of the group’s dreamy, haunted sound that feels warped by time and a healthy dose of psychotropic drugs.

Four Tet

Three

New music from Kieran Hebden, the DJ-producer known as Four Tet, is always cause for celebration. From the tone of the artist’s 12th album, Three, that party is going to be a somewhat muted affair due to its downtempo beats and long ambient stretches that cover the stereo field with a nice colorful layer of soft fuzz. For an immediate shot of inspiration, drop the needle first on the record’s closing track, “Three Drums,” which begins in lush jazz-hop mode before slowly melting into a pool of burbling mewls and drones.