Behold! MCMX’s handsome and courageous clerks offers more notes on some of their favorite releases of the year so far.

Chris Corsano And Bill Orcutt, The Raw And The Cooked
Prolific avant-jazz drummer Chris Corsano and former Harry Pussy guitarist Bill Orcutt recorded this LP during a series of live dates in 2012. While a lot of Orcutt’s solo work has been on acoustic guitar, he plays electric here, sparring with Corsano in a series of harsh, fierce improvisations.

Dessa, Parts Of Speech
Minneapolis’ Dessa focuses on vulnerability, grief, envy, and other forms of human weakness on her latest LP. It’s bit more concise than her first full length, 2010’s A Badly Broken Code, but overall just as impressive. With Dessa, you always have to stop wondering whether you’re listening to a confessional singer-songwriter or a rapper, hip-hop production or moody chamber-pop arrangements. It’s really none and all of the above, plus, on Parts Of Speech, a Bruce Springsteen cover. Though it feels more raw and personal than her previous work, it’s still full of reminders that Dessa’s an elegant, self-possessed word nerd, even dropping a reference to lorem ipsum [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum] on “Sound The Bells.”

…

Hey folks! Since summer can be a slow time for new releases, we thought we’d take a brief time-out to remind you of some of our favorite records from 2013 so far. In no particular order, here are a few MadCity staff favorites you may have missed.

Sweet Talk “Pickup Lines”

We might be kinda suckers for good power-pop/garage-revival stuff here at MadCity, but you really can’t blame us after hearing this Austin outfit’s punchy rhythms and shiny hooks. Plus, the inner sleeve with the LP has a picture where one band member is wearing an Iron Maiden T-shirt and another is wearing a Gentleman Jesse T-shirt. Clearly, this is a group you can trust.

Handsome Family “Wilderness”

The ever-intriguing folk duo return with a set of songs focused on the natural world, plus a tune inspired by Wisconsin’s own famous window smasher, Mary Sweeney. They’re playing at the High Noon Saloon on July 20!

And now, new releases for July 2!

…

Mavis Staples “One True Vine”

Big Star “Nothing Can Hurt Me” (soundtrack)

Booker T. “Sound The Alarm”

India.Arie “Songveration”

All Tiny Creatures “Dark Clock”

Dessa “Parts Of Speech”

Transplants “In A Warzone”

De La Soul “3 Feet High And Rising” (Vinyl Reissue)

Baths “Obsidian”

Femi Kuti “No Place For My Dream”

David Y0w “Tonight You Look Like A Spider”

Various Artists “Sing Me The Songs: Celebrating The Works Of Kate McGarrigle” (2 CD Set)

Chuck Prophet “Let Freedom Ring”

John Prine “The Missing Years”

Lightning Dust “Fantasy”

Smith Westerns “Soft Will”

Sigur Ros “Kveikur”

Quasimoto “Yessir Whatever”

Kanye West “Yeezus”

Lemuria “The Distance Is So Big”

Camera Obscura “Desire Lines”

Delbert McClinton And Glen Clark “Blind, Crippled And Crazy”

Zomby “With Love”

Patricia Barber “Premonition Years 1994-2002: Originals”

Lurrie Bell “Blues In My Soul”

Donna The Buffalo “Tonight Tomorrow And Yesterday”

Eddie Spaghetti “Value Of Nothing”

Empire Of The Sun “Ice On The Dune”

Bill Frisell “Big Sur”

High On Fire “Spitting Fire Live, Vols. 1 and 2”

Bill Kirchen “Seeds And Stems”

No Means No “Wrong” (Splatter Vinyl Reissue)

Primal Scream “More Light”

Valient Thorr “Our Own Masters”

Frank Zappa “Freak Out,” “Over-Nite Sensation” (Vinyl Reissues)

Gold Panda “Half Of Where You Live”

Paul Metzger “Tombeaux”

Boards Of Canada “Tomorrow’s Harvest”

Black Sabbath “13”

Deafheaven “Sunbather”

John Vanderslice “Dagger Beach”

Sonny And The Sunsets “Antenna To The Afterworld”

Spinal Tap “This Is Spinal Tap” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Vinyl Reissue)

Surfer Blood “Pythons”

The Goo Goo Dolls “Magnetic”

Mick Harvey “Four (Acts Of Love)”

The Lonely Island “Wack Album”

Jimmy Eat World “Damage”

Blackmore’s Night “Dancer And The Moon”

CSS “Planta”

Jason Isbell “Southeastern”

Bob Schneider “Burden Of Proof”

White Mandingos “The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me”

Duke Ellington “Duke At Fargo 1940”