Melissa Kacar

Happy Record Store Day! To celebrate the recent ten -year anniversary of their self-titled debut album, The 1975 released a limited edition live album that was recorded in February 2023 at a surprise intimate show in their hometown of Manchester. This is an indie record store exclusive released in April 2024 for Record Store Day , which is an event held twice a year to celebrate independent record stores with dozens of new and exclusive music releases special for the occasion. So much of this album is inspired by their time in Manchester as teenagers and early 20's, so the setting really is so perfect! With the release of this album in 2013 , they became one of the most influential rock bands of this generation. This record is a testament to how far they've come since then, but also a celebration of the musical journey this album took them on as a band. The 1975's debut album impacted me greatly and shaped so much of my musical taste from that point forward. It shaped so

Happy Record Store Day! This year's ambassadors for the semi-annual event is one of my favorites, Paramore ! To celebrate the occasion, they released a few special vinyl variants, including Re: This Is Why  pressed on vinyl for the first time. This is an indie record store exclusive released in April 2024 for Record Store Day , which is an event held twice a year to celebrate independent record stores with dozens of new and exclusive music releases special for the occasion. Paramore is newly independent themselves, so this is a great time for them to be the face of the semi-annual celebration of independent record stores!  In a press release Paramore said, "...The discovery of music was always meant to be romantic. Indie record shops are some of the only spaces we’ve got that offer a tangible, tactile experience of music discovery. In this world that feels more disconnected and hostile than ever, it feels important to remain in touch (literally) with what inspires us, empower

In celebration of Lana Del Rey 's legendary return to Coachella , this time headlining the first day of the festival, she released a special limited edition vinyl variant of her latest album , Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd . In person, 100 copies were available each weekend of the festival, but it was also widely sold on her webstore for those that couldn't attend the show, like myself. This special edition features alternate album artwork and an exclusive translucent orange vinyl pressing. The design of this festival release is so well done, I love the groovy, psychedelic illustrated effect on the original cover photo, as well as the overlays on the back cover and gatefold. It is so colorful and matches the festival's aesthetic so well. I love having this tangible piece of her artistry in my record collection to celebrate such a major milestone in her career! I have talked about how much I love this album so many times, it was both my top album of

Tragic Kingdom is the hit breakthrough album by  No Doubt , released in 1995 to widespread critical acclaim. Blending a mix of pop, punk, rock and ska, it was a groundbreaking album for the music landscape of the mid-90's and instantly became a timeless classic. It was the band's third album together, which differed quite a bit from their first two lesser-known records, partly because of the interpersonal drama within the lives of the members at the time. For the first time, No Doubt's music was mainly written from the perspective of the band's frontwoman  Gwen Stefani . This album was just the start of Gwen becoming the major force in pop music that she was for much of the next decade to follow. This record still is just as relevant now as it was then, I hear the influences of  Tragic Kingdom and Gwen's emblematic attitude try to be replicated by so many modern pop and rock records released today.  This album spawned several massive hits for them, including "S

Deeper Well  by Kacey Musgraves sounds like the first blossoming of spring after a long, cold winter. An aspect that shines the most within this music is her talent for sweet and simple songwriting. Every song is very rooted in nature and uses vivid imagery to paint such a stunning, honest and reflective portrait of this current phase of her life. The production is very stripped-back on most of these tracks, with the focus mainly on her vocals and lyricism. This is among her most introspective work yet, chronicling her inner-most thoughts and emotions from where she last left off in 2021 with  star-crossed . She worked on this album primarily in New York City at Electric Lady Studios , which is an environment that played into her wanting to make a softer, more subdued album this time. "There’s the smell of marijuana, pizza, people talking, skateboarders, loud music, everything at 220. And I think you take some of those things to the studio. When the outside environment is so max