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New Release Round-Up 04-17-20
Shabazz Palaces - The Don Of Diamond Dreams - Sub Pop
Shabazz Palaces’ Black Up, the group’s Sub Pop debut, was recently hailed as one of the best albums of the decade by outlets like Pitchfork, Gorilla Vs Bear, and Variety. Pitchfork summed it up thusly: “Black Up is drowned in murky instrumentals and bombastic, introspective rhymes. The sounds flirt with jazz but also root themselves in a firm understanding of silence, or the sparse magic of simplicity. The songs teem with unexpected climaxes...From great mystery exploded an album of impossible vision.” That “impossible vision” has continued to confound and engage Shabazz Palaces fans over the course of four acclaimed albums and two EPs. Each release feels like an evolution, letting the music speak for itself, while slowly revealing more about its creator. With The Don Of Diamond Dreams, the group’s fifth album, that spirit remains, this time embracing modernism in hip-hop and rap. Featuring 10 tracks in 43 minutes, the album features the highlights “Fast Learner (ft. Purple Tape Nate),” “Chocolate Souffle,” “Bad Bitch Walking (ft. Stas THEE Boss), and “Thanking The Girls.” It also features contributions from singer/keyboardist Darrius Willrich, Seattle’s OCnotes (who collaborated with Shabazz leader Ishmael Butler on the Knife Knights project), Los Angeles musician Carlos Overall, and bassist Evan Flory-Barnes. The Don of Diamond Dreams was recorded throughout 2019 and produced by Shabazz Palaces at Protect and Exalt: A Black Space in Seattle, mixed and engineered by Erik Blood at Studio 4 Labs in Venice, California, and mastered by Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles.
Shelby Lynne - Shelby Lynne - Everso Records
It’s been 20 years since I Am Shelby Lynne, the album which earned her a Best New Artist Grammy nod. This time, Shelby Lynne, her debut Thirty Tigers release, removes the “I Am” and gets direct to the heart of the singer-songwriter-instrumentalist who gives it her name. This is an album of mostly solo, spare but emotionally rich, original torch songs done the only way this idiosyncratic artist knows how – at once tortured and vulnerable, with intimate feelings laid bare, but ultimately offering hope that there’s a light in the darkness. Recalling her 2008 Dusty Springfield tribute, Just a Little Lovin’, recorded with the late Grammy-winning producer Phil Ramone at the same Capitol Studios where the new album was mixed, the soulful Shelby Lynne is her most personal, autobiographical statement yet on the dual, push-pull nature of love: at once close enough to touch, but also a frustrating tease that can both seduce and abandon.
Jeremy Zucker - Love Is Not Dying - Republic
2020 release from singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Zucker. Includes the single "Always, I'll Care". With over two billion global streams across his catalog, Zucker has amassed 13 million Spotify monthly listeners, placing him in the top 300 most listened to artists in the world.
Soul Asylum - Hurry Up and Wait - Blue Elan Records
According to vocalist/guitarist Dave Pirner, making Soul Asylum's twelfth studio full-length, Hurry Up and Wait, was a completely seamless, enjoyable and productive experience. Co-produced with John Fieldsand recorded at Minneapolis' Nicollet Studios, the same place where the celebrated rock band recorded seminal early albums released on Twin/Tone Records the album reflects Soul Asylum's usual eclectic approach. Lyrically, songs dive into topics such as grappling with emotional and geographic disconnection, navigating romantic ebbs and flows, and the power of embracing optimism despite it all. Sonically, HURRY UP AND WAIT features thrashing songs indebted to punk (""Hopped Up Feelin'"") and classic rock (""Got It Pretty Good""), folk-influenced pop-rock (""Silly Things""), and gorgeous jangle-pop (lead single ""If I Told You"").
Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets - Live At The Roundhouse - Sony Legacy
"Live At The Roundhouse” is unlike any other concert film connected with Pink Floyd. It’s the nearest thing you can get to a time machine, transporting you back to the very earliest days of the band. Nick Mason, the only band member to have played on all of Pink Floyd’s studio albums, returns to the group's earliest records, joined in the line-up by Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Lee Harris and Dom Beken. Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets took the drummer back to clubs for the first time in 1967, then to theatres, across the UK, North America and Europe, playing only music his old band had recorded before The Dark Side of the Moon. Captured from the band’s celebrated shows at London’s Roundhouse, where Pink Floyd played some of their most revered early shows in the 1960s, this release features a uniquely thrilling setlist including songs hailing from Syd Barrett’s time with the band. Only four songs from this eclectic roster have ever previously appeared on official live releases by Pink Floyd or its members. Everything else is being experienced for the first time since their original live performances.
EOB - Earth - Capitol
‘Earth’ is an album of rediscovery and adventure by Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, being released under the moniker EOB. Written and recorded over five years during any possible break from the making and touring of Radiohead’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’, the album deftly veers from moments of delicate folk to euphoric house, its songs seamlessly pinned together by unswerving melodic hooks and candid lyricism. A spirit of collaboration runs through 'Earth' from the production team of Flood, Catherine Marks, Alan Moulder and Adam ‘Cecil’ Bartlett to the extraordinary musicians O’Brien assembled to bring these tracks to life; bassist Nathan East, drummers Omar Hakim and Glenn Kotche, and The Invisible’s multi-instrumentalist leader David Okumu. Portishead’s Adrian Utley appears on two tracks, whilst Laura Marling duets with O’Brien on stirring closer “Cloak of The Night.” But every group of collaborators needs a leader, and Earth is all O’Brien’s vision. “I wanted to make a record from the heart,” he says. “I wanted to make something direct. I wanted to talk about love, your family in the immediate and the wider sense, where we are on the planet, the bigger picture, life and death. I wanted to make a big hearted, warm and colorful album… something hopeful and full of love.” Featuring the singles “Shangri-La”, which sways between syncopated beats and twisted rock, and “Brasil”, a track that morphs from a tender opening into a heightened-state rhythmic banger, ‘Earth’ marks a new beginning for Ed O’Brien.UPCOMING RELEASES
Brendan Benson - Dear Life - Third Man Records
Third Man Records is proud to announce the first new LP in almost seven years from Brendan Benson. Dear Life arrives via Third Man Records on Friday, April 24. Benson’s seventh solo album and first full-length release via Third Man, DEAR LIFE is heralded by the rhapsodic first single, “Good To Be Alive.” “’Good To Be Alive’ is kind of weird, to be honest,” Benson says, “But that’s what I’m most excited about. It says a lot about this record, it’s almost got a split personality or something. It’s totally bizarre – I still sit back and listen to it, thinking, that’s so cool! It’s like somebody else played it, it’s not the same old me.” Benson finds himself in an enviable spot as he enters the third decade of a remarkably creative, consistently idiosyncratic career – an accomplished frontman, musician, songwriter, producer, band member, husband, and dad. DEAR LIFE marks this consummate polymath’s most inventive and upbeat work thus far, an 11-track song cycle about life, love, family, fatherhood, and the pure joy of making music. Produced and almost entirely performed by Benson at his own Readymade Studio in Nashville, the album sees the Michigan-born, Nashville-based artist – and co-founder, with Jack White, of The Raconteurs – reveling in a more modernist approach than ever before, fueled by a heady brew of cannabis, hip-hop, and a newly discovered interest in software drum programming. The result is an untapped playfulness that elevates expertly crafted songs like the future funk-fueled opener, “I Can If You Want Me To,” and the ecstatic “Richest Man Alive” with voluble arrangements, elastic grooves, and incandescent power. Imbued with revitalized ambition and confidence, DEAR LIFE is Brendan Benson at his very best. “There's something about this record,” Benson says. “A friend of mine called it ‘life-affirming.’ I thought it was a joke at first but then realized, well, it’s about life and death for sure. I don’t know if that’s positive or optimistic or whatever, but that's what's going on with me.”_________________________________________________________
Lucinda Williams - Good Souls Better Angels - Lucinda Williams
Three-time Grammy Award winner Lucinda Williams unabashedly takes on some of the human, social and political issues of our day with her boldest and most direct album to date, Good Souls Better Angels. During the course of her celebrated four-decade, pioneering career Williams has never rested on her laurels as she continues to push herself as a songwriter. On Good Souls Better Angels, she has much she needs to get out. On Good Souls Better Angels, Williams changes course and chooses to forgo the personal and narrative-based songcraft that has become synonymous with her name and instead speaks to some of the injustices permeating our society. Williams recorded Good Souls Better Angels backed by her remarkable, long time band, featuring Butch Norton (drums), Stuart Mathis (guitar) and David Sutton (bass). The rock-solid unit propels the music with both fire and finesse. Good Souls Better Angels marks the first time Williams' husband/manager Tom Overby is credited as a co-writer on many of the new songs. The album was co-produced by Williams, Overby and Ray Kennedy, who last worked with Williams on her 1998 landmark album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road._________________________________________________________
Corb Lund - Agricultural Tragic - New West Records
Corb Lund embraces his rich and rustic western heritage with a style that’s unique, honest and resolute, while touching on a range of cowboy themes — from rough-and-tumble tales of lawless frontier saloons, to the sombre realities of running a modern family ranch. As a descendant of many generations of rodeo contestants and ranchers, he sings about a life that he and his ancestors have lived themselves, paired with his quick-witted, wry observations of today’s world. As a result of his heritage and the ten years he spent touring the world with his indie rock band, Corb’s writing resonates emphatically with rural and urban audiences alike. It’s a classic sound with a twist, something of a rarity these days, but one that evokes the spirit of the American West, past and present. Corb Lund’s 11th studio album, Agricultural Tragic, finally puts a name to the genre he’s been embodying all of these years._________________________________________________________
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section.
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Trampled By Turtles Vinyl EP Exclusive
One thing that COVID-19 can’t cancel is the fact that this year, Down in the Valley and Electric Fetus are celebrating a combined 100 years in business. That’s 100 years of puttin’ it to your ears! We’re all in this together, and we’re thrilled to have Trampled By Turtles help us celebrate. On Friday, April 17th, TBT’s Sigourney Fever EP will be available on vinyl exclusively at both stores. Visiting Down in the Valley and Electric Fetus’ websites to pre-order is the only way to make sure you get a copy of this limited LP (only 1000 pressed) for 17.99 plus shipping. Thanks to everyone who has supported our two stores all these years, and here’s to another 100!! Read More -
Vinyl Nation Documentary Screening
On April 18th and 19th, you’ve got an opportunity to watch Vinyl Nation, a new documentary about the vinyl resurgence. The creators of this documentary are graciously donating the $10 viewing charge to indie record stores around the country.
From the creators: The vinyl record renaissance over the past decade has brought new fans to a classic format and transformed our idea of a record collector: younger, both male and female, multicultural. This same revival has made buying music more expensive, benefited established bands over independent artists and muddled the question of whether vinyl actually sounds better than other formats.
Vinyl Nation digs into the crates of the record resurgence in search of truths set in deep wax: Has the return of vinyl made music fandom more inclusive or divided? What does vinyl say about our past here in the present? How has the second life of vinyl changed how we hear music and how we listen to each other?The online screening will be available starting 12 midnight Eastern Sat. April 18 until 11:59 PM Pacific Sun. April 19.
CLICK HERE to order your $10 ticket
Ordering through our link benefits Electric Fetus directly. We're grateful to the Vinyl Nation crew for their support!
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COVID-19 Quarantine Update
In order to be in compliance with the MN Emergency Executive order, we are closed to the public including phone and pick up orders.
However, we are available for select internet mail order shopping at www.electricfetus.com where a $35 purchase ships FREE media mail. Orders for new music and movies will be filled directly from our fulfillment partner, and we'll resume accepting gift card and gift department merchandise orders online when we're allowed back at work.
We will be reopening as soon as it is safe to do so for our staff, customers and community.
We will see you in the aisles again when the time is right. Thank you for your support!
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Prince Reissues Due Out May 29th
The latest round of Prince reissues has moved its release date from April 17th to May 29th.
Please note, at this time we can't guarantee you'll be able to pick up in store, as we remain closed due to COVID-19.
On Friday, May 29th, Sony Legacy will reissue Prince's The Rainbow Children and Up All Nite With Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection in various formats.
The Rainbow Children
Click here to pre-order CD - 9.99
Click here to pre-order LP (clear vinyl w/slipmat) - 41.98
Up All Nite With Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection
Click here to pre-order 4 CDs + 1 DVD - 38.98
Click here to pre-order One Nite Alone (solo piano and voice by Prince) purple vinyl - 26.98
Click here to pre-order One Nite Alone...Live! purple vinyl (4 LPs) - 72.98
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New Release Round-Up 04-10-20
The Strokes - The New Abnormal - RCA
The New Abnormal is the long awaited new album from The Strokes, and the band’s first album in seven years. The album was announced with the first track and video, “At The Door.” The New Abnormal is The Strokes’ sixth studio album and was recorded at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, with producer Rick Rubin. The album’s cover artwork is a painting called ‘Bird on Money,’ by famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Strokes are singer Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr, bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti.Pokey LaFarge - Rock Bottom Rhapsody - New West Records
'The man singing these songs isn't exactly the same man who wrote them,' says Pokey LaFarge of Rock Bottom Rhapsody, his eighth and latest studio release. 'This album is about the story of who I used to be.' In early 2018, LaFarge ' searching for the sort of artistic freedom and inspiration he wasn't finding in the Midwest ' relocated from his longtime home base of St. Louis, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California. New songs came quickly to LaFarge in his new environment, but new temptations soon found him, as well. Though he declines to get into specifics, LaFarge admits that he experienced a significant 'fall from grace' during the last months of 2018. 'Things sort of started to unravel in my mind,' Shortly before the recording of Rock Bottom Rhapsody began, LaFarge experienced a spiritual awakening ' and the faith he re-embraced in his hour of darkness helped to buoy him through the making of the album. Though he was struggling for spiritual equilibrium at the time, LaFarge at least had some rock-solid musical support to lean on. Recorded primarily at Reliable Recorders on Chicago's Northwest side, Rock Bottom Rhapsody was produced by LaFarge's friend and collaborator Chris Seefried (who also co-wrote several of the album's tracks), and features the considerable talents of guitarist Joel Paterson, keyboardist Scott Ligon, upright/electric bassist Jimmy Sutton, and drummer Alex Hall. Musically, LaFarge continues to mix and match a wide variety of styles and traditions, while never losing track of his own vision This record is kind of like Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan hanging out with chanson singers and French jazz bands in like the forties, but I was never trying to make it sound like a particular person. Despite the trying period that preceded its recording, Rock Bottom Rhapsody is ultimately far more uplifting and life-affirming than its title would suggest. 'That desperation, that struggle,' LaFarge ponders, 'Did it add something to the record? It certainly did. I mean, I don't know if it made it better; it just is what it is. It's not up to me to decide if people are going to feel that'_________________________________________________________
Watkins Family Hour - Brother Sister - Family Hour Records
Returning to the studio as Watkins Family Hour, Sean and Sara Watkins consider 'Brother Sister' a duo-centric record - yet one that feels bigger than just two people. With Sean primarily on guitar and Sara on fiddle, and with both of them sharing vocals, the siblings enlisted producer Mike Viola (Jenny Lewis, Mandy Moore, J.S. Ondara) and mixer-engineer Clay Blair to harness the energy and honesty of their live sound.
Joe Satriani - Shapeshifting - Sony Legacy
Shapeshifting is the 18th studio album from the acclaimed guitarist. The single 'Nineteen Eighty' is a song that harks back to the period of his first band, the Squares, and to the sounds of that time. "I've always been a huge fan of Eddie Van Halen," Joe Satriani says. "In my mind, he just crystalized that era. The late '70s and early '80s, he kind of saved rock guitar. So that's what I would have been doing."
Sparta - Trust The River - Dine Alone Records
Trust The River is the first album in 14 years from Sparta, the El Paso band featuring Jim Ward. Includes the single "Believe." Of the single Ward notes, "'Believe' is a song that's been on my desk for 10 years, I've recorded numerous versions but couldn't quite get it where I thought it was ready until now. Once we had the basic track I sent it to my friend Carlos Arevalo from Chicano Batman for some guitar touches and was over the moon with his contribution. I couldn't think of a better song from Trust The River to kick this new chapter off."Maddie & Tae - The Way It Feels - Mercury Nashville
Award-winning duo Maddie & Tae are drawing praise for their new music “anchored around their stellar vocal pairings and some of the tightest harmonies on Music Row” (Rolling Stone). Maddie & Tae first broke out in 2013 with their brilliant take down of bro-country, “Girl In A Country Song,” which took Country radio by storm, skyrocketing to the top of the charts and quickly going PLATINUM. The duo became only the third female duo in 70 years to top the Country Airplay charts, also earning trophies from the Country Music Academy and Radio Disney Music Awards along with multiple ACM, CMA and CMT Award nominations. Receiving widespread praise from NPR, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, Glamour and others, country music’s hottest stars including Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice and Brad Paisley have welcomed Maddie & Tae on the road, with Carrie Underwood recently inviting the duo out as direct support on her 2019 The Cry Pretty Tour 360. This week, Maddie & Tae release their new album, "The Way It Feels". CD packaging includes a free poster offer, valid thru 10/1/20._________________________________________________________
Nightwish - HUMAN. :II: NATURE. - Nuclear Blast America
When Finnish sextet Nightwish announce a new studio album people tend to take notice. They know that something special is brewing. Band leader Tuomas Holopainen once said that whenever he creates a new record he has the intention of capturing something rare and unique, a monument and a true album experience. In 2020 he’s certain to achieve his objective once again. NIGHTWISH have completed the recordings for “HUMAN. :II: NATURE.”, their 9th studio album. “HUMAN. :II: NATURE.” is released this week. The long-awaited record, following 2015’s critically-acclaimed, conceptual masterpiece “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, will be a double album containing 9 tracks on the main CD and one long track, divided into eight chapters on CD 2. “HUMAN. :II: NATURE.” was recorded from August to October 2019 at Röskö campsite, Petrax Studios and Troykington Castle, as well as Finnvox Studios, by Tero Kinnunen, Mikko Karmila and Troy Donockley. The mixing was done by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox, with Tuomas Holopainen and Tero Kinnunen. Mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox._________________________________________________________
WE ARE STILL LISTENING TO...
Sam Doores - Sam Doores - New West Records
“Recording in a foreign environment like Berlin, I was inspired to experiment with more cinematic, psychedelic sounds,” says Sam Doores, “but my love for old-school New Orleans R&B, Memphis Soul & Rock n’ Roll, Detroit Motwon & Gospel, Doo-Wop, Early Blues & Folk music will probably always bleed into whatever I do. Recording this album was an opportunity to explore the space between these worlds.” With his captivating self-titled debut, Sam Doores has done precisely that. Written on-and-off over the course of several years, the collection is classic and contemporary all at once, blending traditional southern roots with adventurous sonic landscapes as it reckons with heartache and loss, love and gratitude, fresh starts and, ultimately, a whole lotta change. The performances are infectious in their ease, simple on the surface but built on foundations of deep emotional and harmonic complexity that belie their amiable exteriors._________________________________________________________
Big Gigantic - Free Your Mind - Counter Records
Free Your Mind is about living as the best version of yourself. Showing up fully for yourself and for those you love. Getting clear about what you want and working towards it. Being grateful for all you've been given and using that gratitude to spread positivity. Big Gigantic have enlisted a group of featured artists for the album, including Ashe, Louis Futon, The Funk Hunters, Pell, TOBi, Pell, Nevve and Jennifer Hartswick. The band will be doing a full 3D immersive tour in 2020, with stops in Austin, Detroit, DC, Atlanta, New Orleans and more. They will also bring their annual Rowdytown festival to The Shrine in Los Angeles, The Greek Theatre in Berkeley and The Brooklyn Mirage._________________________________________________________
For more information on these and other releases out this week, check out our New Releases charts by week section. Read More -
March 20th new releases available online
Even though our stores are closed, you may order the March 20th new releases online. Free U.S. shipping for orders of 19.99+.
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Record Store Day Moves to June 20th!
Mark your calendars…Record Store Day will now be Saturday, June 20th. Expect the same great exclusives, live music, DJs, food, giveaways and more. And hey, we won’t be worrying about snow on RSD this year.Note from the Record Store Day organization:Record Store Day is a worldwide event celebrating record stores and their place in the community. In the interest of being good members of those local, national and worldwide communities, we've decided to move the date of Record Store Day 2020 to JUNE 20.
The basic plan is to shift everything to that date, but there are a lot of people and things involved with a worldwide event like this, and a lot of moving pieces, so be nice to your record store if they don't have an immediate answer to your questions. We're all working on, well, everything.
Wash your hands. Take care. We want everyone to be happy, healthy and looking forward to getting together for the party.
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Dave Pirner - "Loud Fast Words" Book Event POSTPONED
At this time we are postponing the Dave Pirner Loud Fast Words event.We will post updates here and on our social media.If we're holding your order for Dave's book to be signed, we'll keep your order open unless you'd like us to cancel it. Thank you.Electric Fetus - MinneapolisThursday, March 26th - 7:00 p.m.Electric Fetus is excited to welcome Dave Pirner back to the store on Thursday, March 26th at 7:00 p.m. to celebrate the release of his new book Loud Fast Words. Dave will play a short acoustic set and sign copies of Loud Fast Words afterwards.Loud Fast Words is the collected lyrics of one of the most beloved alternative rockers of the past thirty years, with insights into the creative process behind the songs.As the primary songwriter for Soul Asylum, Dave Pirner has penned hundreds of songs over the course of nearly four decades and has helped to shape the alternative-rock world through his artful lyrics and distinctive vocals. With twelve full-length studio albums under their belts, Pirner and Soul Asylum have produced songs that have captured multiple generations of music fans.
The lyrics collected here represent Pirner’s life’s work including words from Soul Asylum's forthcoming album, Hurry Up and Wait (4/17/20): nearly 150 songs printed in their full form, annotated by Pirner with his own recollections and reflections on the inspiration behind each song and what they mean to him and his career. Supplemented with photographs and reproductions of his handwritten lyric pages, Loud Fast Words reveals the creative process and the soulful spirit behind one of America's great songwriters.This event is free and open to all ages. Those who purchase Loud Fast Words at The Electric Fetus at this event or earlier will be able to have Dave sign their copy. Read More -
Record Store Day 2020 Exclusive Releases
CLICK HERE to view the planned exclusive releases for Record Store Day, Saturday, April 18th. You'll be able to view the list as a PDF or webpage.
We do our best to carry most of exclusives available on Record Store Day, but due to the extremely limited nature of the titles, we can't guarantee we'll have them all. A few days before RSD we'll publish a list of the titles we'll have.
There are no pre-orders, holds, phone or web orders for the RSD exclusives. On RSD, we start handing out numbers to those in line at 8:30 a.m. We open at 9:00 a.m. on Record Store Day. Those with numbers will be allowed into the special exclusives area, a few at a time. We will let you know the total number of RSD exclusives allowed per person, but there isn't more than one of the same title allowed.
Stay tuned for more info on our Record Store Day plans!
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Music Releases 04-17-20
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Movie Releases 04-21-20
| Artist | Title | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Gentlemen [Movie] | The Gentlemen | New Blu-Ray: $34.98 |
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| Bad Boys [Movie] | Bad Boys For Life | New Blu-Ray: $38.99 |
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| Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets | Live At The Roundhouse [Blu-ray] | New Blu-Ray: $26.98 |
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| Like a Boss [Movie] | Like A Boss | New Blu-Ray: $39.99 |
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