Untitled Document

New Releases

16
Bridges to Burn
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Relapse
LP
$18.00

16
Bridges to Burn
PS, US A dozen new hits of misanthropy & spite from the seminal sludge-rockers. Features the legendary "Drop Out" line-up. RIYL: Melvins, Kylesa, Jesus Lizard
Relapse
CD
$14.75

A Passing Fancy
S-T
PS, US Revised & expanded version of the much beloved Canadian pop-psych album. Tough garage rock ("I'm Losing Tonight"), beat music influence ("A Passing Fancy," "You're Going Out Of Your Mind") & a great acid rock meltdown ("Your Trip").
LionProductions
CD
$15.00

Afterhours
#25 Winter 2009 (2 CD + 1 DVD)
PS, JAPAN Sounds See The Light On A Long, Dull And Dark Night Issue. Special Feature Adventures in Wonderland Baltimore! HYBRID WAVE OF MUSIC LAPPING ONTO THE HARBOR TOWN We cover Baltimore. Its music scene is now much talked about. From A to Z of this anything-goes crazy town, where the members of Animal Collective were brought up and Matmos moved to. Special Feature In A Transport of Underground London. A FLOWER BLOOMING in DESOLETE LONDON, WHERE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC DECLINED. We have never featured this business town London before, but something is happening to its alternative music scene. We also introduce its pubs, cafes, record shops as well as labels and artists!! SPECIAL PROGRAM: Welcome to My space NON-DOT-COM MySpace, THIS IS MY WORKPLACE. Beginning from visiting the studios of Mice parade, F.S. Blumm and ISO68, covering hand-made CDs that Pastaca's working on with lots of color pages! LET MUSIC AT LARGE, A MUSICAL NOMAD TELLS HIS STORY. One record shop came into existence in Shimokitazawa. Why did he start it in this hard times, what did he think, how did he start it? We cover from its preparation to the very opening. The Take Away Shows. WE DELIVER YOU FRESH MUSIC. A French movie director starts a strange project of shooting a live in the filed on a one-camera/one-shot procedure. VISITING AN HERMIT IN THE FOREST OF RECORDS. A memory of a guy in search of alternative for 40 years. We visit a music writer, Mr. Shin'ichi Ishikawa, whose house some say is stuffed with records. He selected 54 must albums with comments to all of them. Rock'n'roll responsibilities. Members of Kimi records start off on Iceland domestic tour!! We cover their bus tour, which Mum's Orvar joined as well. They rock with the matching sportswears in pre-default Iceland! BONUS 2CD + 1DVD: CD1 Adventure In Wonderland, Baltimore! Deluxe omnibus of 16 artists in Feature 1. CD2 In A Transport Of Underground London and more... London feature, corresponding to the article [Welcome to My space]. DVD The Take Away Shows and more... [The Take Away Shows], promos of Baltimorean artists.
AfterHours-25
ZINE
$21.75

Ala Muerte
Santa Elena
PS, US Debut full-length from this solo venture of BIANCA BIBILONI, is a rich, ethereal excursion filled w/beautiful sadness. Conceptually moving from the apocalyptic to a state of new beginning, this explores solitude & personal growth through melodic tension & environmental metaphor. Layers of guitar & vocals swirl beneath softly sung lyrics. Gentle vocal melodies float atop dissonant sound collages. Tension ebbs & flows throughout, only to explode w/ an introduction of a full drum kit on the closing track. All instruments - guitar, double bass, mixing bowl, alto & soprano recorder, viola, drums, & 10-string cuatro, a traditional Puerto Rican instrument that is a relative of the flute - were played by Bianca.
PublicGuilt
CD
$12.25

American Football
American Football EP
PS, US First time on vinyl! In their brief history together, American Football crafted two releases that left an undeniable mark on independent music. Despite being released nearly a decade ago both releases are consistently among Polyvinyl's top selling titles. Fronted by Mike Kinsella (Owen, Joan of Arc, Cap'n Jazz), American Football created the kind of songs that held new discoveries upon each listen. These three songs along with the nine that appear on the band's full-length are the only American Football songs ever released. This release features all new album artwork, is on high quality 180-gram vinyl and includes a digital download of the entire release.
Polyvinyl-019
12
$8.75

An Albatross
The An Albatross Family Album
PS, US PITCHFORK: "Robo-spazmatazz genre-splicers An Albatross pack more riffs, time changes, and esoteric rock references in one song than many bands jam into an entire album. Fitting for a bunch of dudes whose credo is some sort of mystical mumbo jumbo of cosmic love, fantasy animals, sci-fi weirdness, and-- as the new album expounds on-- space pilgrimages in search of world peace and harmony. And yet, I think they're serious! These love-in rambles only give the ballistic tunes that much more cheeky appeal. For their third full-length, The Family Album, AA continue their psychedelic aural terror, but dig deeper into the annals of kraut and classic rockdom."
Eyeball
CD
$15.00

Anahita
Matricaria
PS, US Tara Burke (FURSAXA) & cellist Helena Espvall (ESPERS). A beautiful, laboriously created, floating affair of skeletal organ drones, ceremonial singing, & subtly frantic instrumental accompaniment that conjures up a natural woodland romp & stomp.
Important
CD
$13.25

Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion (ON SALE)
PS, US Their ninth full-length. The whoops and hollers that previously held together the sublime, chaotic urgency of their earlier work now signal the calm sense of euphoria and wonder that ripples through this wide eyed record.
Domino
CD
$13.00

Antennas
Feeling Feline Tonight [plus bonus remix EP]
PS, US New album from Swedish soul-pop instigators. With "Feeling Feline Tonight" Antennas debut their new sound: a bit more electronic, urban and darker but it still hold all the melody you associate with Antennas.

IT'S A TRAP! REVIEW: "Antennas do not lend themselves easily to comparisons -- there are elements of the pop structures of Shout Out Louds, of the angular nature of Laakso's approach, among other such attempts to define their sound, but very few of these associations hold up as you move through the tracklist. "The collector" is kitschy-chic, like a Weeping Willows ballad hijacked by CDOASS. "Lies" has far more soul and funk in its composition than three Swedes should be able to manifest in song; "Youngbloods" channels a bit of Brit-rock suave before throwing itself recklessly down dance-punk avenues; "Upwardly mobile" could almost be a Hot Chip track..."

SPECIAL OFFER: Bonus EP features "Lies", remixes of same by Radio LXMBRG and Oscar Tillman (Holiday For Strings), plus a cover of the song by The Baboon Show. Free with 'Feeling Feline Tonight', while supplies last.
Novoton
CD/CD5
$13.00

Antony & The Johnsons
The Crying Light
PS, US Antony and the Johnson's breakthrough second album "I Am a Bird Now" won the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005. The success that followed introduced many to a pioneering soul singer unafraid to explore themes that traversed darkness and light, life and death, male and female. Antony's inimitable voice sparked the interest of artists ranging from Bjork to Hercules and Love Affair, resulting in a series of critically acclaimed collaborations. "The Crying Light" is the highly anticipated full-length follow-up to "I Am a Bird Now". Here, Antony shifts the thematic focus and explores his relationship with the natural world. The intimacy of the Johnsons' sound is enveloped by avant-classical composer Nico Muhly's symphonic arrangements. The record's centerpiece, "Another World" traces the singer's dispair in the face of a vanishing landscape. Antony and the Johnsons' music bridges the gap between avant-classical music and the blues, and the band's sold out performances have resulted in standing ovations from Carnegie Hall to the Apollo. "The Crying Light" is a soul-stirring new work with its daring compositions and captivating vocal performances. Antony and the Johnsons have created a subtle and timely work that brings a magical and yet changing world to the forefront of our consciousness.
SecretlyCanadian-194
CD
$11.50

Architecture In Helsinki
That Beep
PS, US Coming off the heels of commercial success in Australia, Architecture in Helsinki are set to release a brand new song in the states. The song is called "That Beep" and it is the most straight forward, 80's inspired pop tune the band has ever created. With a hook so instantly gratifying, the US is likely to follow Australia's lead in making AiH a household name. "That Beep" is a teaser single from the brand new, as-yet-untitled Architecture in Helsinki fulllength that will land on the shores of America in late summer 2009. "That Beep" has widely been covered on the web by outlets like Pitchfork, Gorilla vs. Bear, Fluxblog, You Ain't No Picasso, and Stereogum to name a few, and the video for "That Beep" premiered on Pitchfork.tv. Features 3 bonus tracks, including a Radioclit remix.
Polyvinyl-174
CD5
$6.75

Asobi Seksu
Hush
PS, US A critically acclaimed band with glowing press from such outlets as the New York Times, Nylon, Under the Radar, YRB, XLR8R, and many more, NYC's Asobi Seksu make their stunning Polyvinyl debut with their much anticipated third album Hush. Known for their captivating live shows, Hush captures that energy and transforms it into something new - something different. Shimmering, dew-draped riffs and spiral staircase melodies are blurred by bits of guitar violence and sputtering drums bolstered by the ethereal vocals of vocalist Yuki Chikudate.
Polyvinyl-170
CD
$13.25

Asobi Seksu
Hush
PS, US LP 180 gm vinyl. A critically acclaimed band with glowing press from such outlets as the New York Times, Nylon, Under the Radar, YRB, XLR8R, and many more, NYC's Asobi Seksu make their stunning Polyvinyl debut with their much anticipated third album Hush. Known for their captivating live shows, Hush captures that energy and transforms it into something new - something different. Shimmering, dew-draped riffs and spiral staircase melodies are blurred by bits of guitar violence and sputtering drums bolstered by the ethereal vocals of vocalist Yuki Chikudate.
Polyvinyl-170
LP
$14.75

Astral Social Club
Octuplex
PS, US NEIL CAMPBELL returns w/ an album of squelching, restless ambience. The CD is split roughly in half between Harmonia/Voigt-style chuggers & sweeping swirls of instantly recognizable dronage. Includes contributions from RICHARD YOUNGS, JOHN CLYDE-EVANS & SPIDER STACY (POGUES).
VHF
CD
$14.25

Auerbach, Dan
Keep It Hid
PS, US On his solo debut, Black Keys singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach takes a simple approach: 'I just wanted to do the things I loved.' For Auerbach, that means combining elements of bluegrass a la the Stanley Brothers, mournful country balladry, Memphis-style R&B, fuzzed-out psychedelic rock and low-down blues on this collection of 14 original tunes, which Auerbach self-produced and recorded with friends and family at his family at his newly built studio, Akron Analog.
Nonesuch
CD
$15.25

Auerbach, Dan
Keep It Hid
PS, US VINYL VERSION, comes with CD.
Nonesuch
LP/CD
$19.75

Baikonour
Your Ear Knows Future
PS, US 2nd album by Brighton's BAIKONOUR, aka Jean-Emmanuel Krieger. 3 yrs on from his acclaimed debut, he has delivered another burst of smart, proggy poptronica, bursting w/ Gallic charm & myriad, fully-realized ideas. He plays all the instruments except for drums, which were played by FUJIYA & MIYAGI's LEE ADAMS. Baikonour makes confident strides as an artist, turning in a collection of songs that fuse electronica w/ motorik Krautrock & the dynamics of My Bloody Valentine & The Cocteau Twins, Amon Duul 2, Popol Vuh, Harold Budd, Eno, Neu! Vangelis, Magma & 'Melody Nelson'-era Gainsbourg.
Melodic
CD
$16.25

Banhart, Devendra
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
XL
LP
$19.25

Beastie Boys
Paul's Boutique: 20th Anniversary Edition
PS, US Special 20th anniversary version of 1989's Paul's Boutique. The album was run through a 24-bit remastering process and will be released as an eight-panel digipak. Fans can also download a track-by-track audio commentary from the Boys, which syncs with the album.
Capitol
CD
$17.75

Beat Boys
S-T
PS, US Along w/ Os Mutantes, the group represented the most radical element in Brazilian rock: their intense fuzz guitar raves were a fierce indicator of a rebel spirit. They were at the very epicenter of the movement of rupture, that bringing together of electricity & avant-garde erudition that has come to be known as "Tropicalia". They backed Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil for their defining moments as artists- both live, & in the studio.
LionProductions
CD
$15.00

Beat Happening
S/T
PS, US Limited Qty....warehouse find.
Krecords-001
LP
$10.25

Beat Happening
Black Candy
PS, US Limited Qty.
Krecords-006
LP
$10.25

BeauSoleil
Alligator Purse
PS, US On "Alligator Purse" the group's fearless captain Michael Doucet leads the next installment of his musical journey along the lifeline of Cajun music, this time w/ an all star crew including NATALIE MERCHANT, GARTH HUDSON, JOHN SEBASTIAN, ROSWELL RUDD, & BILL KEITH. His notable friends help Doucet bring the rich folk traditions of south Louisiana into the 21st century through the genius interplay of a new take on Cajun favorites ("Marie") & the 'Cajunization' of modern folk classics. A French language reworking of Bob Dylan's cover of Muddy Waters' classic "Rollin' & Tumblin'" ("Rouler et Tourner") & J.J. Cale's "The Problem" stand alongside Cajun & Creole history lessons like "Reel Cajun (451 St. Joseph St.)," "Les Oignons" & "Theogene Creole", originally sung for John & Alan Lomax's historic 1934 field recordings.
YepRoc
CD
$14.50

Believer
February 2009
SP, US Mock Action in St. Paul, Literature After the Crash, The Best Kind of Self Conscious Fiction, Old Zeal. Interviews with John Ashberry, Heather Chaplain, Mary
Gaitskill, David Levine.
ZINE
$8.00

Ben, Jorge
Forca Bruta
PS, US REISSUE on 180gm vinyl! Originally released in 1970, this is an absolute classic from one of Brazil's most consistently great artists. Despite being embraced by the Tropicalia movement (w/ Caetano Veloso & Gal Costa both covering his songs) there are no psychedelic meandering to be found w/in these grooves, this set is pure samba-soul. BEN is backed here by the innovative Trio Mocotó who never overplay & allow his soulful vocal delivery & samba guitar to be the centerpieces. This was recently reissued on CD on the great Dusty Groove record label & its a pleasant surpise to see it now available on vinyl again! A musthave. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
4MenwithBeards
LP
$16.75

Beneath Oblivion
S-T
PS, US Cincinnati, Ohio's finest in raw doom, sludgy despair & stripped down futility. Crawling forward, white-knuckled, w/ down-tuned guitar riffs that leave you unnerved & anxious, bass lines that thud hard enough to leave you nauseous, & drums that thump one minute in a tribal, trance-inducing cavalcade & the next come crashing down w/ the power of a mountain splitting in two. RIYL: Ocean SunnO))), Buried At Sea. Limited to 500
MyleneSheath
10
$15.50

Bergman, Borah Trio
Luminescence
PS, US Takes his lyrical cross hands contrapuntal technique into the dynamic context of the classic piano trio. Influenced by the exotic melismas of cantorial singing, the counterpoint of Bach & the harmonic beauty of Alban Berg & Bill Evans, he forges a new language of joy & sadness, firmly rooted in the Jewish tradition. JOHN ZORN appears on one track.
Tzadik
CD
$15.25

Besties, The
Home Free
PS, US Equally at home strumming alongside melodic pop bands and invading the occasional crusty punk show, The Besties wear their inclusiveness like a badge of honor. Like Talulah Gosh with an Athens party twang, The Besties punch out fun, loud songs high on smarts and low on snot. After touring the US and Europe several times over, the band now prepares for the release of their sophomore effort, Home Free, on Hugpatch Records. Home Free is the follow-up to the Besties' well-received debut album, Singer (Skipping Stones Records) and Rod N Reel 7" (both of which sold out). Besties Press: "There's a reason why Amelia Fletcher called her flagship twee-pop band Heavenly: its music could whisk away the cynical and melt the hardest of hearts. This Brooklyn trio chews that same pop bubblegum on its debut. Marisa and Kelly swap sugary vocals like classmates of State, vying for - what else? - the boy." - Magnet "First Exposure" "Ever since the Besties' new single dropped back in the spring, we've been smitten with their ridiculously catchy sound. And while pop-punk doesn't always shave the best connotations these days, for a group that evokes the Go-Go's recording for Epitaph, it's rather apt. - Time Out Chicago "The romance of their brand of music is thankfully outstripped by some merited musicianship, all the cooing, girly elements sullied by some real-life issue lyrics and the occasional potty mouth. This is how these kids work it out - hearts bare and spirits smiling to keep up the appearance." - Dusted Magazine
Hugpatch-08
CD
$9.00

Bibio
Vignetting The Compost
PS, US Seamlessly amalgamating nature and electronics, Vignetting The Compost, the third full-length release from Bibio, channels instruments and vocals from a bygone era through a futuristic digital portal. History may credit Edison with the phonograph but, in truth, the first such device mysteriously washed up on the shores of England in 1876... playing Bibio. Vignetting The Compost is at once timeless and innovative; 60s-esque folk guitar and mechanic manipulations of sounds whose instruments of origin are less important than the feelings they evoke, layer upon each other with ease and intricacy. Just when you expect to hear Nico's moan escaping your stereo, Bibio himself comes through with a voice that could have sung next to her on "These Days." Truly, this is an album for the ages. Producer Stephen Wilkinson is a self-taught musician from an area in central England often referred to as the Black Country. His love for sound and noise led him to the University of London and the study of Sonic Arts where he discovered experimental electronic acts such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, and most importantly Boards Of Canada. His own musical identity was christened Bibio, in honor of a fly his father had insisted on using during the fishing trips to Wales that were so influential in establishing his love of the sounds of nature. Focusing on location recording using cassettes, a half-broken sampler, Dictaphones, and experimental ways of affecting sounds, Bibio has crafted a unequalled style that is as subtle as it is powerful.
Mush-263
CD
$9.00

Bird, Andrew
Noble Beast (ON SALE)
PS, US New album of subdued, gentle & dreamily gorgeous folk-pop. 2009 release from the quirky but melodic singer/songwriter. Swiftly picking up popularity with his fifth album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird then signed with Fat Possum Records for his 2007 highly anticipated follow-up record Armchair Apocrypha. Now he stands poised with this new record, which he spent most of 2008 working on. 14 tracks.
FatPossum
CD
$15.00

Bird, Andrew
Noble Beast [vinyl version] (ON SALE)
PS, US VINYL VERSION in gatefold jacket with fold out poster and download codes. Price corrected.
FatPossum
DLP
$27.25

Bird, Andrew
Noble Beast/Useless Creatures [deluxe edition] (ON SALE)
PS, US Double-CD deluxe version features a bonus CD of instrumentals, completely different artworek/packaging, fold out poster... 23 tracks total.
FatPossum
DCD
$27.25

Bisbee, Sam
Son of a Math Teacher
PS, US Veteran newcomer Sam Bisbee may be best known for producing and arranging the Cat Power version of Blondie's "Hanging On the Telephone" for that Cingular commercial, but it's his incredibly personal stories set to music that will keep you coming back for more. Son of a Math Teacher, his first release for Le Grand Magistery, features guest appearances by Leona Naess, Lucie Wainwright Roche, Mike Viola and Liz Tormes, and was co-produced with Britt Myers (Essex Green, Robbers On High Street, Sam Champion) and Bo Boddie. Two songs from the album have already been seen on the FX show "Damages" starring Glenn Close. "Clever lyrics, crisp guitar-rock instrumentation, and subtle, yet insinuating hooks." - Billboard Magazine "Our favorite new New York City singer-songwriter" - Paper Magazine "Sam Bisbee's lyrics are insightful, poetic and humorous when read on their own. Stylistically chartering a meeting point between new wave, hip-hop and pop/rock, this is one of the better and more original surprises you are likely to come across this year." - Harp Magazine "Literate but not pretentious, emotional but never cloying, inevitable but never predictable, Bisbee's songs don't wilt in the spotlight, but flourish." - Boston Herald
LeGrandMagistery-047
CD
$12.25

Bitter Tears
The Grinning Corpse Who Went To Town
PS, US Songwriters Michael McGinley & Alan Scalpone comb resale shops for neglected band instruments. They play everywhere from restauraunts, churches, inside cars & established rock clubs blasting German Mardi Gras beats w/ wild brass bugling, thunderous contrabass lines, acoustic guitars & mellophones.
Roydale
CD
$9.25

Black Moth Super Rainbow
Don't You Want to Be In a Cult [picture disc]
PS, US Amazing picture disc awesomeness from Pittsburgh's weirdest. A rad picture disc, this record marks the first new material following the band's acclaimed 2007 release Dandelion Gum and the "Zodiac Girls" 7" on Suicide Squeeze. Features "Don't You Want to Be in a Cult" b/w "Feel the Drip". Limited to 1000. Includes a download card.
MexicanSummer
12"
$15.00

Blackout Beach
Skin of Evil
PS, US Blackout Beach is the solo nom de guerre of Carey Mercer (FROG EYES/SWAN LAKE). Skin of Evil is remarkable in the sense that a. it contains a story, and b. that it sticks to the story; a rare occurrence in these free times. "Donna" is the subject, and each of her lovers (past & present) say their peace in song (Donna gets her song, too). Composed, played & recorded entirely by Mercer alone, these songs revel in the proto-punk darkness of the heady Cleveland axis (e.g. Peter Laughner, David Thomas) with a minimal, textural & almost Suicide-ish sense of pop form & the experimental nature of contemporary Scott Walker works.
SoftAbuse-31
CD
$11.75

Bleaks
Haste, Error
PS, US Trio of Jeremy Lemos (WHITE/LIGHT & WHITE/LICHENS), Kyle Bruckmann (EKG, PINK MOUNTAIN, LOZENGE) & Steve Silverstein (CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS)
Wodger
LP
$19.00

BMX Bandits
The BMX love EP
PS, SPAIN LIMITED EDITION 600 COPIES. Red vinyl. Elefant are congratulating ourselves on the release, for the second time, of the exclusive 7" of one of the most vital and active groups of the Scottish pop scene. Duglas T. Stewart put together a handful of unreleased songs in this item that marks the sepia tinted memory of the most elegantly poppy seventies, led by the piano, evoking the halo of composers like Burt Bacharach or Henry Mancini and artists like Dusty Springfield or Françoise Hardy. From the new version of "Our Secret Life" in French, rebaptized here as "Quand il n'y a plus d'amour" (with the French adaptation by Nick Garrie) to the closing gem of the EP, a version of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" that Olivia Newton-John sang in "Grease", on of our favorite films, which Duglas deliciously recreates with the collaboration of the Scottish band THE ATTIC LIGHTS. The single is completed with two very recent recordings, the unreleased "I Can Wait Forever", intimate folk pop marked with elegant melodies and vocals, and a version of "You Don't Want to Be My Girlfriend, Phoebe" by MY LITTLE AIRPORT. When Duglas received MY LITTLE AIRPORT's album, published by Elefant, he fell instantly in love with the song. He played it live a few days later and soon after decided to record it in the studio, the magnificent result of which is here. A precious collection of songs with the indelible stamp of one of the most gifted minds in pop of the last 25 years at the controls. As always, Duglas, it's a pleasure.
Elefant-268
45
$7.75

Bodies Obtained, The
From the Top of My Tree
PS, US The path that leads to The Bodies Obtained is a long one. Conceived in Detroit, MI, not much is known of the extremely elusive duo (there isn't even an existing photograph of the artists) other than the fact that they took their name from the Joy Division song "Day of the Lords", and whatever other little bits of information they make available to the public via cryptic press releases sent to the media from within the band's camp. The Bodies Obtained are of indiscriminate age, and only now fielding their first album, From The Top Of My Tree to the greater public. A timeless piece of music, ...My Tree could have been conceived in 1978, 1988, 1998 or 2008: it's the sonic documentation of an ongoing project that spans electronica, experimental rock and synth-pop from a group who have experienced it all. With songs akin to those of Brian Eno, the Residents and Fad Gadget, TBO use their anonymity to lead the listener to explore a realm that could be associated with those bands: an obscure place where nothing is quite what to expect around the next bend. Discord and discomfort are as important as reward and satisfaction, and the album is a living, breathing testament to that rhetoric. The music itself is heavier than most electronic bands out there, more synths, more echo, more ether, more meaning. One member of TBO attests: "For us the band's name also ties into our reason for making music. Due in part, to that perfect act of nature that put us here, in this body, at this time and place. Finding music attractive, it has forced us to express our 'art damaged' selves through it". Song titles like "Let the Worm Seize the Day" and "The Pig that I Am"; channeling even more '80s electro gloom, validate the band's statements off the bat.
FindingYouAttractive
CD
$10.00

Bodychoke
Cold River Songs
PS, US Formed by members of SUTCLIFFE JUGEND & WHITEHOUSE, this was a noisy rock anomaly as powerful & provocative as its name would suggest. Their material was dark, violent, strangely hypnotic & defied categorization. This long out-of-print unheralded classic has been given the deluxe treatment; now remastered to include 3 bonus tracks. RIYL: Swans, Nick Cave/Birthday Party, Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle.
Relapse
CD
$14.75

Bon Iver
Blood Bank
PS, US The four-song Blood Bank collection continues down the path forged by 2008's critically acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago. While still tied to the identity of the place where it was born, Bon Iver is no longer an unplanned entity synonymous with Justin Vernon. It is an idea, a place and sentiment that has now become as international as it is timeless. From the title track's remembrance of the winter warmth we seek, to the summer love tribute of b-side gem"Babys," Bon Iver's snow-blanketed harmonies live across the seasons. Still, there is a reverence for sabbatical, solitude and the winding down of time. As much as Emma is about the cold, the Blood Bank collection is about the warmth that gets you through it. You can feel the air move. Like a fire you've been stoking for hours and finally got to sustain itself, the heat blisters your face while your back is frozen solid. Bon Iver has grown to include more than what was available at the much-fabled Wisconsin cabin, such as piano, slide guitar, and vocoder. As Justin layers on harmonies in the meditative R&B a capella "The Woods," he declares "I'm building a still to slow down the time." It is as poetic as it is necessary. Both expansive and intimate, these four songs explore the darker and lighter natures of the seasons and what they signify, and offer a dynamic glimpse into the Natural energy and refined craftsmanship that characterize Justin Vernon's music.
Jagjaguwar-134
12
$9.00

Bones, Mike
Fool For Everyone
PS, US "A Fool For Everyone was made in April 2008 at a place called The Seaside Lounge. A few musicians joined me, old and new friends. Recording took four days. I don't particularly enjoy being in studios, but this time was easy. Decisions presented themselves naturally and we got good takes. Everyone was on top of his or her game. All these songs were written after June 2007, except "Everybody's Always Coming Down On Me" which is quite an old song. I wrote one on the beach in Spain, the rest at my desk in New York City. Other songs were written in that time and in those places. Those aren't on A Fool For Everyone. Most songs exist because of beautiful women and existential despair, but that's no surprise. There are a lot of guitars on A Fool for Everyone, not just mine, but Matt Sweeney's too. Our moves go well together. My last record purposefully had no guitar solos, this one purposefully does. Intention is important when making things, having complete understanding of one's intentions less so. I heard my father doesn't like the cover of this record because it's a naked picture of me. It's OK, I sort of knew he wouldn't. I like the picture and I like the girl who took it. I have my reasons. All of the above is factual as far as I can tell. Memory is a tricky thing, but you know that. We've probably read the same books. Good night." - Mike Bones "Anthemic doesn't have to mean overblown you know. Mr. Bones can do it with swooning casualness, sieving the twee from Sufjan Stevens and Belle & Sebastian, leaving only heart and soul." - NME
"Mike Bones is the favorite guitarist of every musician you like in New York. He's the New York music-geek world's secret weapon." - Vice Magazine "Bones is a guitar hero inside and out, master apprentice of a steel-eyed, determined blues first informed by punk, not the sallow, honeyed agony seeping out of our most emotionally isolated singer-songwriters." - Dusted
TheSocialRegistry-72
LP
$12.25

Bones, Mike
Fool For Everyone
PS, US "A Fool For Everyone was made in April 2008 at a place called The Seaside Lounge. A few musicians joined me, old and new friends. Recording took four days. I don't particularly enjoy being in studios, but this time was easy. Decisions presented themselves naturally and we got good takes. Everyone was on top of his or her game. All these songs were written after June 2007, except "Everybody's Always Coming Down On Me" which is quite an old song. I wrote one on the beach in Spain, the rest at my desk in New York City. Other songs were written in that time and in those places. Those aren't on A Fool For Everyone. Most songs exist because of beautiful women and existential despair, but that's no surprise. There are a lot of guitars on A Fool for Everyone, not just mine, but Matt Sweeney's too. Our moves go well together. My last record purposefully had no guitar solos, this one purposefully does. Intention is important when making things, having complete understanding of one's intentions less so. I heard my father doesn't like the cover of this record because it's a naked picture of me. It's OK, I sort of knew he wouldn't. I like the picture and I like the girl who took it. I have my reasons. All of the above is factual as far as I can tell. Memory is a tricky thing, but you know that. We've probably read the same books. Good night." - Mike Bones "Anthemic doesn't have to mean overblown you know. Mr. Bones can do it with swooning casualness, sieving the twee from Sufjan Stevens and Belle & Sebastian, leaving only heart and soul." - NME "Mike Bones is the favorite guitarist of every musician you like in New York. He's the New York music-geek world's secret weapon." - Vice Magazine "Bones is a guitar hero inside and out, master apprentice of a steel-eyed, determined blues first informed by punk, not the sallow, honeyed agony seeping out of our most emotionally isolated singer-songwriters." - Dusted
TheSocialRegistry-072
CD
$11.50

BPA
I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
PS, US The legendary forgotten sessions of the BRIGHTON PORT AUTHORITY, recently uncovered! Genre bending music that was ahead of it's time features collaborations w/ IGGY POP, DAVID BYRNE, JAMIE T & MARTHA WAINWRIGHT
SouthernFried
CD
$12.00

Burning Hearts
Aboa Sleeping
PS, US Finland's Henry Ojala (Cats on Fire) & Jessika Rapo (Le Futur Pompiste) as Burning Hearts might be greeted as a marriage of the best elements of both members' other bands, but this is truly a matter of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Full of subtle detail & a uniformly warm sound, this is a dream of idealized pop: beautifully understated vocals, melodies as reassuring as a lover's embrace & a tone of intimacy that could only come from collaboration that is fully simpatico. Listen to the heart-tugging chorus of "Iris," the stately lockstep interplay between vocal & rhythm-track on "A Peasant's Dream," or the fade-to-black melancholy of the title track, and hear that same indefinable, inexplicable musical alchemy that is their homeland's claim.
Shelflife
CD
$12.25

Burst, Charles
Come Home & Feast
PS, US As a distinguished engineer, he has worked on records by the New Pornographers, Gang Gang Dance, Takka Takka, Crystal Stilts & Black Dice. As a performer, he has played in THE OCCASSION. His first solo album tones down the more psychedelic aspects of his past endeavors, w/ stripped down instrumental passages & a dark lyrical approach laced w/ just a hint of humor.
ErnestJenning
CD
$10.00

Bust
#55
PS, US Amber Tamblyn on cover! Cowgirls gone wild, the women of Mad Men, death becomes her, OMG vampires
ZINE
$4.75

Buzzcocks
Singles Going Steady
PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!!
Capitol
LP
$16.00

Calexico
Live From Austin, TX
PS, US They have been called "the voice of the American southwest," but the fact of the matter is that musically they are all over the map (they list as their influences Portuguese fado, 50's jazz, gypsy music, 60's surf & spaghetti westerns). But when they made their debut on the AUSTIN CITY LIMITS stage in September 2006, their latest record "Garden Ruin" had taken them in new directions that even they might not have imagined.
NewWest
DVD
$17.75

Cheap Trick
At Budokan
PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!!
Sony
LP
$18.00

Cheer Accident
Fear Draws Misfortune
PS, US Sixteenth album for this 18 year old Chicago mainstay who have never stayed in one place long enough to get a bead on them, but who have consistently released surprising albums of quality and sometimes consternation. Their latest takes another turn with the core trio being joined by 15 auxiliary musicians & singers. A strongly compelling & high-reaching album using a wide variety of ideas, styles & studio techniques, resulting in a cohesive & ambitious album of art-rock. RIYD Art Bears, This Heat & Faust
Cuneiform
CD
$14.25

Chemicals
S-T
PS, US After a long string of houseparty quasi-performances across the greater Champaign-Urbana area, innumerable changes in membership and instrument assignments, and a horrible bout of whooping cough, four members arose from the ashes of their rocky past, fusing into the band you know (and love) today. August of 2004 was the first live performance of the Chemicals by official name and lineup. Since then, the Chemicals have shared the stage wtih acts including Earlimart , Apollo Sunshine, the M's, Via Satellite, and varoius apperances with locals Mad Science Fair, the Frame, Headlights, Green Light Go, Terminus Victor, the Living Blue, and many more.
Chemicals
CD
$5.50

Cindytalk
Silver Shoals of Light
PS, US Limited to 500 one-sided 10" w/screen-printed b-side. 3rd release in Blue Sanct's "Art Singles" series. Drum machine ticks along w/gorgeous bass that pulses up against Gordon Sharp's vocals, leading to a climax of bliss & dissonance. Sharp was at one time perhaps best known for lending his angelic voice to several tracks on This Mortal Coil's classic masterpiece "It'll End In Tears." The sound straddles several genres at once - ambient, abstract, industrial, cinematic, glitch, post-punk. These will not be around for long, so act quickly!
BlueSanct
10"
$16.00

City Center/Grouper
Split
PS, US LIMITED TO 500! Self-released tour 7"! "Here we have a small slice of hazy gold from two of the best underground solo artists currently making the rounds, namely Grouper (Portland's Liz Harris), and City Center (a/k/a Other Music's own Fred Thomas); they have bestowed upon us one exclusive track each on clear vinyl, and they're both stun-ners... If you connected with the Grouper releases of last year, or if you're a fan of the school of deep, dark psychedelic solo pop coming out of the indie world at the moment, you need this. It's also a nice teaser for the heavy dose of quality that is City Center's forthcoming debut album, hopefully to be released in the coming months. This bad boy is limited to 500 copies, so don't sleep!"
Self-Released
45
$5.50

Cleaver/Parker/Taborn
Farmers By Nature
PS, US A fully improvised communion of 3 of America's masters of music. The manifest intent: sowing seeds of sound & bringing them to full blossom. Abstract, organic, & fully inviting. Recorded live at NYC's The Stone in June of 2008, this was the 3rd meeting of drummer GERALD CLEAVER, bassist WILLIAM PARKER, & pianist CRAIG TABORN. An immersive experience yielding magic & inducing a calming mystical ambience. "Improvising in long, fluid ideas, Mr. Taborn's solos were housewreckers." - NY Times
AUMFidelity
CD
$12.75

Cline, Alex
Continuation
PS, US Twin brother of Nels Cline (Wilco) steps into the limelight w/ a beautiful recording featuring Cline on drums.
Cryptogramophon
CD
$17.50

Cline, Nels
Coward
PS, US WILCO guitarist presents a brilliant solo album that covers an extraordinarily broad range of musical styles, w/ a surprising acoustic sensibility. This blends improvisation & composition w/ a huge & constantly changing emotional & timbral palette
Cryptogramophone
CD
$17.50

Clue To Kalo
Lily Perdida
PS, US Satisfyingly schizophrenic, Clue To Kalo's third full-length release Lily Perdida is ten voices in one, all of them a different branch off the same electric folk tree. Amidst jangly guitar, mod ribbons of flute, and the voices of mastermind Mark Mitchell and duet partner Ellen Carey, ten musical perspectives on fictional character Lily Perdida emerge, each song from the point of view of a different person in her life. A post-modern frolic of keyboards, harpsichords and laptops, Lily Perdida is a gorgeous and sonically sprawling commentary on the nature of history and identity. Each succeeding track reinterprets, misreads or conflicts with the accounts that came before to collectively create an anti-portrait of the main character. The music ebbs and flows with the changing characters but never strays from the utterly satisfying sound we have come to expect from Clue To Kalo. Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Clue To Kalo mastermind Mark Mitchell blends a lo-fi acoustic-folk aesthetic to computer-based production in which the technology is the means rather than the end. A generous use of layered melodies, elemental textures, and multi-tracked vocals highlight a vast range of influences and solidify the fact that Clue To Kalo is first and foremost a songwriter. In addition to many shows in Australia and Japan, Clue To Kalo has toured throughout the US and Canada, was a featured artist at the Mush 2003 CMJ and 2005 SXSW showcases, and has shared the stage with luminaries like the Greenhornes, Willowz, Death Cab For Cutie, Caribou, and many more. Inventive without being inaccessible, Clue To Kalo has established himself as a singular artist of extraordinary scope and depth.
Mush-262
CD
$9.00

Cluster
Grosses Wasser [re-issue]
PS, US Originally released in 1979, this is CLUSTER's last great album. Combining the ambient space rock of early albums on some songs w/ a more updated, beat-driven, dare I say space-disco? sound on others, it at times sounds like the best of both worlds. They were probably the most influential & ground-breaking group to come out of Germany in the '70s (no small feat) & every one of their records is pure trailblazing musical history.
Water
CD
$14.50

Cola Jet Set
Guitarras y Tambores
PS, SPAIN "Guitarras y Tambores" is the long awaited new album by COLA JET SET, the second in their career and their first with Elefant Records. It is a disc of wide horizons, on which the group, lead by Felipe (LOS FRESONES REBELDES, LES TRÈS BIEN ENSEMBLE) and Ana (LA MONJA ENANA) have scrutinized other stylistic limits: here we find ye-ye, sixties pop, disco, soul, indie and touches of psychedelic pop, all done with renewed intentions, as we can see on the opening track, "El Sueño de Mi Vida", when it says: "I dreamed of conquering / unexplored continents / and still I don't know where I'm going to live". After some difficult line-up changes, and certain instabilities created by musical situations (record label changes, parallel projects) as well as by personal situations (which has left the band with the definitive line-up of Felipe, Ana, Joan, Alicia and Cristina), "Guitarras y Tambores" is the album that reflects this period, these comings and goings, these triumphs and failures, the malaise and the happiness of a long period in which sometimes some people won the coin toss and other times other people won, and sometimes it wasn't so clear who won. And all of those references, all of the music that has played during this period of time, have only helped solidify the result.
Elefant-1141
LP
$16.25

Colossal Yes
Charlemagne's Big Thaw
PS, US Inspired by the Kiwi indie-pop formula of Tall Dwarfs, The Clean, & The Verlaines. Using piano as the main instrument, this is a reawakening of the pop aesthetic done Piano Man style. The end result is unique yet similar to the epic pop bands of the past. This pays respect to songwriters like Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Bejar of Destroyer & Alex Chilton while also incorporating the honesty of Graham Nash's "Songs for Beginners," the romanticism of Nikki Sudden't "Waiting on Egypt," & the sonic merriment of Thunderclap Newman's "Hollywood Dream"
BaDaBing!
CD
$14.25

Colossal Yes
Charlemagne's Big Thaw
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
BaDaBing!
LP
$14.25

Cooper, Matthew Robert
Miniatures
PS, US Nine short saturnian interludes make up the first proper vinyl release by the sound artist who has intrigued your collapsed antenna many times before as Eluvium, Matthew Robert Cooper. Atmospheric chamber music from the cardboard box vortex. Miniatures moves from swirling spatial feedback manipulations to stripped down minimal piano pieces and back while you watch from the curbside the ghostly parade. Limited to 2,000 copies with the first 1,000 on colored vinyl. PITCHFORK: "Matthew Robert Cooper maintains the deep-seated ache that characterizes his music as Eluvium, offering an album of orchestral and electronic sketches drawn from a yet-to-be-completed symphony."
GaardenRecords-001
LP
$13.75

Costa, Gal
S-T
PS, US REISSUE on 180gm vinyl! Originally released in 1969, COSTA's 2nd album is one of the finest releases to come out of Brazil's Tropicalia movement. Feat. songwriting & vocal help from 2 of the original Tropicalismos, CAETANO VELOSO & GILBERTO GIL, she flows effortlessly between shredding psychedelia & smooth bossa nova. An essential record for anyone that appreciates the far reaches of Brazilian popular music. Incl. the classic trks "Baby" * "Não Identificado." Such a pleasant surpise to see this available on vinyl again! RECOMMENDED!
4MenWithBeards
LP
$16.75

Cotton Jones
Paranoid Cocoon
PS, US This is an album full of quiet, wooden psychedelia that reflects the duo's casual pursuit of comfort & freedom under the mountains of Cumberland, Maryland. In "By Morning Light," Nau (PAGE FRANCE) & McGraw's voices draw each other out of a contemplative melancholy & into a state of amazed gratification; the music here shimmers, always - the snare cracks against the tug of the guitar - reaching the sublime crush of Yo La Tengo's "And Then Nothing
Turned Itself Inside Out." It's simple, understated perfection.
SuicideSqueeze
CD
$13.25

Crewe, Sally & The Sudden Moves
Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You
PS, US Even before her auspicious 2003 debut full-length, Drive It Like You Stole It, Yorkshire's Sally Crewe proved herself to be a songwriting master of economy, combining a classicist's touch of pop history with a decidedly modern, lean approach to the Next Wave Of New Wave (after The Last Wave). And while 2005's Shortly After Take-Off was a slightly more expansive take on things, musically and lyrically, powerhouse album numero 3, Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You has proven far superior to both, with Crewe proving she can cram twice as much information into each composition if merely allowed to stretch the length from two minutes flat to 2:30. Stylistically, she's bent but not broken a winning formula, and while Your Nearest Exit... is the most varied Sudden Moves effort to date, both rhythmically and lyrically, the bon mots flow very quickly and rarely overstay their welcome. Unlike, say, Turkey's occupation of Cyprus.

Based in Austin, TX for the past four years, Sally's prowess onstage and in the studio is due in some portion to the most empathic and telepathic rhythm section she's recruited to date: drummer George Duron (Roky Erickson, Dumptruck, Jon Dee Graham) and bassist Matt Baab (The Distant Seconds). Though with all due respect to the capitol city's most propulsive rock trio, it's her songs and voice that set The Sudden Moves apart from the legion of merely competent hopefuls that litter the nation's indie circuit.

Recorded throughout 2007 in separate sessions with Spoon's Jim Eno at Public Hi-Fi, (and subsequently with Jim Vollentine at Mob House), Crewe's latest collection of tunes, while unmistakably in her patented style, have never been as catchy, complex nor as anthemic. Nor as well recorded.

Though sporadically touring with friends like Spoon, Mission of Burma and John Vanderslice, to name a handful, The Sudden Moves have until this point generated more goodwill than money. With the band making a hard fought transition into something approaching a full time-y endeavor, the trio are very poised to flip that equation around. (Ideally, they'd like to avoid the bad will).

Like many other brilliant bands that are either 5 or 5 million minutes ahead of their time, Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves have yet to approach household-word status (save for their own households). Said situation is likely to be sorted out shortly, but until then, you have the unique opportunity to tell your friends how terrific 'Magnet' and 'Sleepyhead' are a good few weeks before they've either been leaked or blogged-2-death.I don't wanna say such chances come along once in a lifetime - for all I know, you could be 300 years old - but songwriters this witty, confident and cool are awfully rare. - Gerard Cosloy
8TrackMindRecords-001
CD
$10.50

Cut Off Your Hands
You & I
PS, US Debut from the self-proclaimed "fight-pop" group. Features a contribution from ex-SUEDE guitarist BERNARD BUTLER. Previous tours w/ Crystal Castles, Duke Spirit, Black Kids & We Are Scientists.
FrenchKiss
CD
$13.25

Cut Off Your Hands
You & I
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
FrenchKiss
LP
$17.50

Daily Void
(Surprise Surprise) You've Lost Your Eyes b/w In the Year Zero
PS, US
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Dakota Suite
End of Trying
PS, US This is the first release for Liverpool's Dakota Suite on the Karaoke Kalk label. Chris Hooson is the main singer/songwriter for the trio and it is an extremely personal guitar project that deals with tragedies in Chris' life and the constant ups and downs in the success of his favorite team, FC Everton. One thing's for certain, we're not talking about happy music here. The track titles on the albums Alone With Everybody (1996), The Way I'm Sick (2002) or Waiting For The Dawn To Crawl Through And Take Away Your Life (2007) on Glitterhouse Records already point out some of this sensitive man's feelings. Deeply sad melodies and melancholy pain are also the main emotions on The End Of Trying, but we're not talking about sadness in the form of self-pity. Hooson focuses on understated sounds like flowing piano chords and a flexible cello arrangement, while fellow members David Buxton and Colin Dunkley take turns on the piano. American cellist David Darling wonderfully accentuates Hooson's harmonic sadness with his stylish string instrument. Darling has made soundtracks for Wim Wenders and also was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album Cello Blue. Together, Dakota Suite and Darling form a striking ensemble which by no means only have depressing moments -- their music is very soothing, too. The recordings were made in various houses in Leeds and at Darling's home in Goshen, Connecticut. Chris realized a life long dream recording the album with his all-time favorite cellist. He doesn't usually find life so great. He only gets the strength to survive from collaborations like this, a healthy portion of cynicism which he otherwise channels into his lyrics, and above all, through his peaceful and sentimental sound experiences.
KaraokeKalk
CD
$15.00

Dalek
Gutter Tactics
PS, US One of the heaviest hip-hop groups ever, & one of the few to consistently fuse extreme metal textures w/ hip-hop
beats & radical politics. "[This is] more about us continually doing some early hip-hop shit but w/ the attitude of the Melvins or Black Sabbath" - MC DALEK
Ipecac
CD
$16.25

Death
For The Whole World To See
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
DragCity/Twos&Fews
LP
$14.75

Death
For The Whole World To See
PS, US Classic proto-punk from 1970s Detroit. Raw with little polish, the record showcases the organic power relationships within the trio of brothers. The Hackneys were first influenced by soul & funk music but it all changed when they saw Iggy and the Stooges. Inspired by The Who, Alice Cooper & Led Zeppelin; the brothers finally see their first full length release, remastered & ready for the world to hear.
DragCity/Twos&Fews
CD
$13.25

Decemberists
Tain/5 Songs
PS, US 180 GRAM VINYL!! A combination of new & old, of where The Decemberists have been & where they're headed. The A-side is made up of the new, a short form concept, record called "The Tain", based on what most consider the Illiad of Irish myth. While keeping the signature Decemberists sound intact, the band gives a significant nod to such '70s progrogressive rockers as Deep Purple & Iron Butterfly. "The Tain" was recorded over an intensive 4 day period during which the band actually slept on the floor of the recording studio, & captured & brought to light w/the help of Christopher Walla (Death Cab For Cutie Cutie) at the venerable Hall Of Justice in Seattle. The B-side is a vinyl release of the band's 1st EP "5 Songs". It is simpler & less adorned, but still a marvelous collection of characters trapped in song, clawing & cooing their way out.
JealousButcher
LP
$11.75

Deep Feeling
Pretty Colours
PS, UK This short-lived band wowed London audiences w/ their audacious brand of exotic proto-psychedelia, even backing Jimi Hendrix at his first UK gig.
Sunbeam
CD
$18.00

Derek Trucks Band
Already Free
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
RCA
DLP
$20.00

Diplo
Decent Work for Decent Pay Volume 1
PS, US This provides an overview of what he has been up to for the last four years, starting w/ classic tracks & out-takes from "Florida," taking in production work on such huge records as M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," Kano's "Reload It," & Bonde Do Role's album for Domino, plus a host of remixes for the likes of CSS, Spank Rock, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Black Lips, & Peter Bjorn & John.
BigDada
DCD
$17.25

Diplo
Blow Your Head
PS, US This is the label run by Mr. Popularity...DIPLO! After producing huge tracks like MIA's "Paper Planes," & remixes for heavyweights like Coldplay, Radiohead, Feist, Hot Chip & The Black Lips, as well as releasing mix CDs like 'Santogold in Dub.' "Blow Your Head" is a remix of DIPLO's own production "Wassup Wasshup" feat. RYE RYE. This is the 1st vinyl release from Diplo in 2 years! Feat. remixes from CROOKERS, BART BMORE & DJ SEGA. Full color picture sleeve & comes w/ free MP3 download coupon of the entire EP.
MadDecent
12"
$8.50

Dutchess & The Duke, The
Never Had A Chance b/w Scorpio
PS, US
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Earle, Steve & Del McCoury Band
Mountain
PS, US The acclaimed bluegrass album from 1999, finally reissued after many years out of print. Features contributions from EMMYLOU HARRIS, IRIS DEMENT, JERRY DOUGLAS, MARTY STUART, GILLIAN WELCH, GENE WOOTEN & JOHN HARTFORD.
NewWest
CD
$17.75

Elegi
Varde
PS, US Norwegian composer TOMMY JANSEN returns w/ the second installment of a trilogy for Miasmah Recordings. An incredibly accomplished body of work, its natural progression of movements transporting the listener through cinematic soundscapes & evocative passages of intense, doomladen, droning acoustic instruments. The eerie, underlying sounds taken from seemingly unrecognizable sources, add to the feelings of unresolved tension, bringing to mind the later works of Scott Walker, the slow-build of Gorecki's "3rd Symphony" & the murk of Gavin Bryars' "The Sinking Of The Titanic." He operates in the area between composed & improvised music, building bridges between classical music & dark ambient drones & textures.
Miasmah
CD
$15.50

Eluvium
Life Through Bombardment (7XLP) (ON SALE)
PS, US *LIMITED EDITION! Highly anticipated and long-overdue, Life Through Bombardment collects virtually every Eluvium song ever released (plus a bunch of rare and unreleased non-album tracks) into one stunning 7xLP set, all on vinyl for the first and only time. Each record is packaged in its own full-color jacket, featuring exquisite new artwork from Jeannie Lynn Paske, drawn exclusively for this set. The seven jackets are then bound into a beautiful dark green hardbound, linen-cover book, with metallic gold foil stamping and embossed text on the spine, and a beautiful full-color print embossed into the front cover. The inside front cover includes a removable old-fashioned library card, complete with dated, personalized signatures from the artists and designers involved in the creation of this package. The inside back cover includes a mind-blowing 12x36" foldout double-sided full-color poster insert, featuring more artwork from Ms. Paske. Each copy of this set will include a unique digital code to download high-quality mp3s of the entire box set collection. This is limited to a one-time pressing of 1,000 copies, pressed onto 100% virgin black vinyl. "Eluvium is going down in history as one of the innovators of contemporary ambience." - Drowned In Sound "The best contemporary ambient musician." - Pop Matters "Needless to say, Life Through Bombardment is limited to 1,000 copies and will probably sell out faster than you can say Merzbox." - Pitchfork
TemporaryResidenceLtd.-119
7XLP
$150.00

Eno/Moebius/Roedelius
After The Heat
PS, US Originally released in 1978, Eno's 2nd album collaboration w/ Moebius & Roedelius of CLUSTER is full of blessed-out instrumentals, made up of repeated synthesizer patterns & sustained guitar. Reminiscent of the ambient style from Eno's collaborations w/ Robert Fripp, this is a classic piece of German kosmische musik.
4MenwithBeards
LP
$16.75

Fast N Bulbous-Beefheart
Project-Waxed Oop
PS, US "An Impetuous Stream Bubbled Up" IN TUESDAY. Latest from Capt. Beefheart tribute project, led by two innovators of New York's avant music scene: GARY LUCAS, who was guitarist for Captain Beefheart's Magic Band in its latter years and saxist and arranger PHILLIP JOHNSTON. Incl a bonus track feat. ROBYN HITCHCOCK! Their mission statement: "The idea is to use the compositions of Don Van Vliet as a vehicle for improvisation and arranging. Contains a crew of seasoned improvisers from both the worlds of avant-garde jazz and rock, who render the music as both a tribute and a creative adventure in improvising. We use the horn section to take the place of the vocals, as well as transmute this guitar-based music into ensemble into ensemble interplay, between horns and guitar and rhythm section." "The big brass band [Capt. Beefheart] never had."-Rolling Stone
Cuneiform
CD
$14.25

Faunts
Feel.Love.Thinking.
PS, US With its effervescent guitars, mathematic loops & synthesizers, surging drums, & seemingly nomadic bass lines, this is both more ambitious in its conception & more focused in its execution than anything the band has done before
FriendlyFire
CD
$12.75

Fitness Forever
Personal Train
PS, SPAIN LIMITED EDITION 500 COPIES. White vinyl. FITNESS FOREVER says that their debut album is a homage to their country, Italy, to the musical tradition that gave way to marvelous pop artists from the 60s to the 80s. But the group, led by Carlos Valderrama (VALDERRAMA 5), with this goal in mind, has achieved something much more important: to make this homage extend to music in general, embracing an infinite amount of references, styles and sounds, regurgitating them coherently and with its own personality, without dispersion or eclecticism, showing pop's common essence, independent of the epoch or the country it comes from. It just has to have that touch of magic that makes the melodies work, makes the arrangements surprising, and makes the whole exciting. And in this first album from the Italian quartet, "Personal Train", there is much more than this compressed into 30 minutes and just 12 songs. A titanic work that took over a year to record, using a recording method similar to what composers from the sixties used: hours and hours in the studio, trying out arrangements, instrumentation and melodies. In addition to all of this, there is also the humor they present their project with. They say, on myspace: "The producer, composer, ex-underwear model, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Valderrama (one of the worst dancers and singers in the music industry) started FITNESS FOREVER in Naples (Italy) shortly after realizing that love does not last forever. That's why, unfortunately, he couldn't call the band LOVE FOREVER". Which is where the homage to fitness begins, which is reflected in the very title of the album, the declarations in interviews, or on the album cover. In any case, this album is full of songs to dance to, because in the end, that counts as exercise too, doesn't it? There are so many bands to reference, so many groups to evoke, so many styles to pay homage to, that we can't do anything but propose a little trip, song by song, through the whole album, because it is by far the best way to get inside all of the different paths that are opened up by listening to the album, written by Valderrama (drums, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, glockenspiel, percussion, lead vocals and chorus), Paster (lead vocals and chorus), "Big Tony" Fresa (piano, fender rhodes, organ, synthesizer, voice and clapping) and Scialdone (bass, lead guitar, 12 string guitar and vocals).
Elefant-1139
CD
$16.25

Fitness Forever
Personal Train
PS, SPAIN LP LIMITED EDITION 500 COPIES. White vinyl. FITNESS FOREVER says that their debut album is a homage to their country, Italy, to the musical tradition that gave way to marvelous pop artists from the 60s to the 80s. But the group, led by Carlos Valderrama (VALDERRAMA 5), with this goal in mind, has achieved something much more important: to make this homage extend to music in general, embracing an infinite amount of references, styles and sounds, regurgitating them coherently and with its own personality, without dispersion or eclecticism, showing pop's common essence, independent of the epoch or the country it comes from. It just has to have that touch of magic that makes the melodies work, makes the arrangements surprising, and makes the whole exciting. And in this first album from the Italian quartet, "Personal Train", there is much more than this compressed into 30 minutes and just 12 songs. A titanic work that took over a year to record, using a recording method similar to what composers from the sixties used: hours and hours in the studio, trying out arrangements, instrumentation and melodies. In addition to all of this, there is also the humor they present their project with. They say, on myspace: "The producer, composer, ex-underwear model, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Valderrama (one of the worst dancers and singers in the music industry) started FITNESS FOREVER in Naples (Italy) shortly after realizing that love does not last forever. That's why, unfortunately, he couldn't call the band LOVE FOREVER". Which is where the homage to fitness begins, which is reflected in the very title of the album, the declarations in interviews, or on the album cover. In any case, this album is full of songs to dance to, because in the end, that counts as exercise too, doesn't it? There are so many bands to reference, so many groups to evoke, so many styles to pay homage to, that we can't do anything but propose a little trip, song by song, through the whole album, because it is by far the best way to get inside all of the different paths that are opened up by listening to the album, written by Valderrama (drums, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, glockenspiel, percussion, lead vocals and chorus), Paster (lead vocals and chorus), "Big Tony" Fresa (piano, fender rhodes, organ, synthesizer, voice and clapping) and Scialdone (bass, lead guitar, 12 string guitar and vocals).
Elefant-1139
LP
$16.25

Foals
Olympic Airways
PS, US tune that walks the line between dance music & organic art rock. SUPERMAYER toy w/ the original melodies & chorus, building it all into an elated crescendo. EWAN PEARSON's mix is a Balearic-y blissful gem that sets a new standard.
Kompakt
12
$12.50

Folds, Ben
Stems & Seeds (Way To Normal [expanded])
PS, US Special, re-titled re-release of BF's 'Way To Normal'. Disc one featured the remixed, remastered, re-sequenced original album. Disc two featured files from the sessions that listeners can upload to "Garageband" and remix themselves.
Epic
DCD
$16.00

Forgas Band Phenomena
Axis of Madness
PS, US French prog mainstay Patrick Forgas has been releasing jazz-rock gems that showcase his compositional and arranging skills for over 30 years. The fourth by his current band combines the most attractive aspects of jazz and rock composition with inspired solos. For fans of: Arti e Mestieri, electric Gil Evans, Magic Malik, National Health, Jean-Luc Ponty, Soft Machine, Frank Zappa. "...orchestral jazz-rock...of the kind scarcely made anymore; virtuosic ,tasteful, and melodically pleasing."-Exposé
Cuneiform
CD
$14.25

France Has the Bomb
Invisible Angle b/w GrimTrigger
PS, US 2nd single of prime stuff from these Chicago via Minneapolis or vice-versa dudes. While the 7" single may not be the best medium for these guys (you should read that as "bring on the full length.") that doesn't mean that this thing isn't gonna pay off in spades down the line (and I'm not talkin' about eBay!!?@#%.)
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Franz Ferdinand
Tonight
PS, US
Epic
CD
$16.00

Freezepop
Form Activity Motion EP
PS, US
Blistering
CD5
$8.25

Frumpy
Frumpy 2 [re-issue]
PS, US ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "Inga Rumpf's Frumpy was among the most startling bands on the entire German rock scene of the early '70s, an act so diametrically opposed to the Krautrock boom beloved by critics elsewhere that first impressions of their music always leave listeners scratching their heads. If Frumpy has any role models, it is a collision between Meddle-era Pink Floyd and a less-precocious Uriah Heep. Frumpy 2, unsurprisingly their second album, features just four tracks, but all are soaring slabs of emotive guitar and keyboards, deeply progressive of course, but unquestionably pop as well... Rumpf herself, meanwhile, has a range and depth comparable to Curved Air's Sonja Kristina, with an emotive strength which seems all the more remarkable when you remember that English is not her native language... The guitar and keyboard solos and duels which take place above the tumultuous rhythms are as spectacular as anything else in the genre. But even while you're sitting slack-jawed in awe, it is very difficult to play favorites. Frumpy, like Rumpf's Atlantis after them, has antecedents aplenty, and their influences peep out behind every corner. But the manner in which they've been sewn together owes little to any Anglo-American role models and little to any Krautrock basics, too. Quite simply, Frumpy 2 is the prog album you'll be returning to long after the others have all dulled into wallpaper."
Revisited
CD
$19.00

Frumpy
All Will Be Changed [re-issue]
PS, US No other artist has had as lasting an influence on German rock music as Inga Rumpf. Her smokey, bluesy voice, influenced by icons such as Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone, fills fans all over the world with enthusiasm to this day. Her seemingly limitless stylistic range has rightfully earned Inga Rumpf a reputation as Germany's no. 1 rock vocalist. 1970's All Will Be Changed saw the newly formed band gear their music to established international sounds, but they immediately found their own style thanks to the ever-present drone of a Hammond organ and Rumpf's unique voice. They initially worked without a guitarist, allowing keyboardist Jean-Jacques Kravetz to rotate the powerful Leslie rotor. The national press initially eyed Frumpy with the typical scepticism of that time towards anybody who made rock music on German shores. Unimpressed by such ambiguities, Frumpy continued to work on their career and influenced countless other bands and vocalists over the years. Their now legendary debut album is being released completely remastered in digipak format with exclusive liner notation and rare photos.
Revisited
CD
$19.00

Future Of The Left
Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires
PS, US Super limited stock on the remaining copies of the ultra hot Future of the Left live album that was previously only sold on the US dates of the bands tour with Against Me. When they are gone they're gone.
4AD
CD
$5.00

Gala Drop
S-T
PS, US Synthesizer orchestras, German Kraut & kosmische musik, the keyboard hell of French unit Heldon, psych/free percussive tribalism, a deep understanding of decades of dance music, Jamaica's dub processing techniques, an extraordinary sensibility for sound resources & additional mixing, & finally, the mastering skills of Rafael Toral. The metrics of the groove & backbeat in the drum work, & the ululating understanding of the synthesizer & keyboard phrases reveal a completely familiar yet alien alternate universe of space-y sound that is too good to be just druggy. Utterly zoned-out keyboard & dub astral projection through new jungles of sound.
GalaDrop
CD
$18.00

Gang Gang Dance
God's Money
PS, US Restocked.
TheSocialRegistry-19
CD
$11.50

Garrie, Nick
49 Arlington Gardens
PS, SPAIN Our story begins way back, specifically in 1969, when an English university student picked up his guitar and began playing in the south of France, spurred on by his passion for Dylan and for surrealism. The story ends with this student, our Nick Garrie, recording an album for the French label DiscAZ (home to Brigitte Bardot and Michel Polnareff among others) with the producer Eddie Vartan (brother of Sylvie Vartan and renowned producer of the time). The result, recorded with a 56-musician orchestra, is "The Nightmare of J.B. Stasnislas," a marvelous collection of perfect melodies wrapped in a psychedelic pop with majestic results. However, in one of those strange twists that fate so often gives us, the head of the label and the person in charge of the project, Lucien Morisse, commits suicide just a few days after the album's release, leaving the project orphaned and with no promotional plan. The result? "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas" becomes cursed, but over time grows into a cult item, with people paying more than 1,200 euros for each of the limited copies, which are almost impossible to find. A disc that, of course, Elefant is re-releasing in 2009 as a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of its publication. Meanwhile, our musician distances himself, disappointed, from the music industry and decides to earn a living however he can. In 1976 he meets the composer Francis Lai (who won an Oscar for "Love Story" and wrote the scores for, among other movies, "A Man and A Woman," "Live for Life," "Bilitis," "Dark Eyes" and "Emmanuelle"), with whom he will work on diverse projects over the course of the years. In a rush of inspiration he goes back to the studio, with part of Cat Stevens' band, to record "Suitcase Man," this time under the name Nick Hamilton, an album that will reach number one on Spanish lists thanks to the single "Back to 1930" and which will allow him to tour the country with Leonard Cohen, who will declare that he wished he had written some of Garrie's songs. The impulse isn't strong enough to keep him permanently in the music world, and despite a few different attempts in 1994 ("The Playing Fields") and in 2002 ("Twelve Old Songs"), he still hasn't found his place. In the meantime, without knowing its creator, "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas" continues nourishing its legend, giving the definitive push to fame when Phil Smee (photographer and album cover designer for groups in the 70s like THE YARDBIRDS or Syd Barret) includes a song from this disc, "Wheel of Fortune," on one of his famous compilations, "Circus Days" (a compilation on which LOS BRINCOS also appear). This is all a surprise for Garrie when, in 2005, half joking, googles himself and discovers everything that's happened with "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas". This motivates him to start singing again, and he enters a contest for singer-songwriters, which he wins, and whose prize is a web page to use for publicity for his music. The music industry is reintroduced to Nick Garrie, and he is flooded with offers to reissue "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas". Joe Foster, head of the Rev-ola label and previously of Creation Records (one of the most important and influential independent labels in the world, that had signed artists such as PRIMAL SCREAM, FELT, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, OASIS, RIDE, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, HOUSE OF LOVE, TEENAGE FANCLUB, THE BOO RADLEYS, ST ETIENNE, THE PASTELS, MOMUS and PACIFIC) takes the bull by the horns and rereleases the mythic 2005. Nick Garrie goes back on the road, playing songs from the album as he had always intended them to be: acoustic. Foster introduces him to the Scottish singer Ally Kerr who invites him to play in Scotland. That night led to a recording session, months later, in the Riverside studios in Glasgow, with a group of musicians from the Scottish scene. Recording the new songs with Nick Garrie were important artists like Norman Blake (TEENAGE FANCLUB), Francis McDonald (NICE MAN, TEENAGE FANCLUB, BMX BANDITS), the very Ally Kerr, Duglas T. Stewart (BMX BANDITS) exquisitely producing the album, and Duncan Cameron (DELGADOS, TRAVIS, TRASHCAN SINATRAS) as the sound engineer, along with the still unknown DOGHOUSE ROSES, Spain's Sandra Belda Martínez (CALIFORNIA SNOW STORY, SUPERÉTÉ), Rachel Allison, Iona McDonald and many other characters from the Scottish indie pop scene. Aside from the "Scottish Sessions," the disc includes the marvelous "Lovers," written with Francis Lai for the soundtrack to the film "Plastic Tree" and "Stay Till the Morning Comes," recorded in Villafranca (Portugal) with the Portuguese producer Quim Correia. It is a delicious disc that combines precious arrangements with the off-beat and elegant melodies of Garrie. From the dreamy romanticism of "Lovers" to the clear Frenchification of "Le pont Mirabeau," the precociousness of "Twilight," the incredible voice of Rachel Allison in "When Evening Comes" and the country folk of "On a Wing and a Prayer". It's one of those discs that sees the light of day thanks to the support of a new generation of musicians, admirers of the British singer-songwriter. It's an honest, intimate, elegant, precocious disc that maintains a marvelous balance between arrangements and melodies. Just under thirty minutes of dreamy compositions, of pop and tight folk that deals humbly and candidly with human nature with the surprising element of juvenile fantasy that is "The Clockmaker." This will be the album that musical history uses to pay its dues to Nick Garrie. There are too many reasons for it to be so - the marvelous harmonies added by the Scottish scene, an astonishing collection of musical compositions, a deeply romantic song co-written with a master like Francis Lai, the fact that "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas" is living this small moment of glory that chance took away from it originally and, above all, a singer-songwriter, Nick Garrie, with a precious voice full of solemnity and a classic pop feeling, in the best sense of the word, enjoying a moment of brilliant inspiration.
Elefant-1140
CD
$16.25

Garrie, Nick
49 Arlington Gardens
PS, SPAIN LP LIMITED EDITION 600 COPIES.
Elefant-1140
LP
$16.25

Gaslight Anthem, The
'59 Sound
PS, US In 1988, Jon Bon Jovi was being interviewed by a reporter for Spin Magazine when he was asked if he was a fan of Bruce Springsteen. Bon Jovi replied "In New Jersey, if you don't like Springsteen they raise your taxes." Listening to the Gaslight Anthem's second full-length album The '59 Sound, it's pretty clear that leader Brian Fallon doesn't have to worry much about his tax bill in the Garden State. Hailing from New Brunswick, NJ, the Gaslight Anthem are that rare punk band that displays a strong and unmistakable Springsteen influence, and while Fallon's vocal resemblance to the Boss is clearly coincidental (he has more than a bit of Bruce's throaty gravity without the grit), the boys-and-girls-on-the-backstreets tone of his lyrics is not, especially when stray fragments from Springsteen's lyrics pop up in Fallon's songs (cue up "Meet Me by the River's Edge" and "High Lonesome" for evidence). If Fallon often comes off as a youthful Springsteen wannabe on The '59 Sound, he also happens to be pretty good at it; the force and sincerity of his songs roll over the occasional clunky spots, and the band brings this music across with a strength and urgency that suggests a heartland rock version of Social Distortion, with Alex Rosamila's guitars and Benny Horowitz's drumming brimming with fire and energy. The Gaslight Anthem are far too good to be the New Millennium's answer to John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, but it's all but impossible to listen to The '59 Sound without being aware of this band's key influence; even if they never grow out of their Springsteen obsession, they're worth hearing, but it's hard not to hope they'll develop a stronger identity of their own with time...though they may want to warn their tax accountant before that happens.
~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
Side One Dummy - USOD71358.2
CD
$13.25

Genghis Tron
Dead Mountain Mouth
PS, US REPRESS of this 2LP vinyl release in gatefold sleeve - 2 years of being out of print! A ferocious & unnervingly innovative record - a relentless cacophony of the huge metal riffs & ambient electronics that have earned them worldwide acclaim. At the time, this was hailed as one of the best records of the year by Exclaim!, Decibel & Rock Sound - as well as strong praise from NY Times, Kerrang, etc.
LovepumpUnited
LP
$14.75

Gibson, Laura
Beasts of the Seasons
PS, US Steeped in the fingerpick-guitar rudiments of folk music, inspired by the expressionism of classic jazz vocalists, & finding common ground in the minimal-ism & ear-taunting of the avant-garde. Collaborators include RACHEL BLUMBERG (M. WARD), NATE QUERY (DECEMBERISTS), LAURA VEIRS & DANNY SEIM (ME-
NOMENA).
JealousButcher
LP
$11.75

Goblin Cock
Come with Me If You Want
PS, US "Rumored" to be the brainchild of Rob Crow of indie wunderkinds PINBACK (Oh, it's him all right). This follow-up to their mammoth debut "Bagged & Boarded" is yet another brave step in the re-definition of true metal. Equal parts melodic & punishing. At times this sounds like Failure reincarnated as a stoner rock band...one that loves the crushing riffs of Big Business/Karp.
Robcore
CD
$13.25

Goblin Cock
Come with Me If You Want
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
Robcore
LP
$13.25

Golden Boots
The Winter Of Our Discotheque
PS, US This Southwest alt-country band mixes psychedelic rock, folk, and country which has drawn comparisons to Alex Chilton, The International Submarine Band, Beck, and The Monkees. A blend of pop-folk with distortion-laden breaks, fuzz guitar, primitive keyboards, and the unique clarity of unencumbered experimentation.
ParkTheVan
CD
$13.00

Golden Triangle
S-T
PS, US This amazing band has toured with the likes of The Black Lips, King Khan, Quintron and Miss Pussycat and play damaged psyched out garage rock w/ dual female vocals. Contains six new tracks and a Redd Kross cover! Limited to 500, pressed on gold wax, duh. Includes download card.
MexicanSummer
LP
$15.00

Grateful Dead
American Beauty [Bonus Tracks] (Remastered)
PS, US Unfuckwithable.
Rhino
LP
$17.00

Grave Blankets
Our Love Is Real b/w Trip Wire
PS, US Final (?) release from these mid-west scuzz freaks. If this is it for them then they are definitely going out on a high note. We also still have a handful of the Grave Blankets / Touch-Me-Nots 7" that I'd highly recommend.
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25
Gris Gris

Live at the Creamery
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Birdman
LP
$16.00

Gris Gris
Live at the Creamery
PS, US Final record from the psychedelic quartet, recorded live at the warehouse where Greg Ashley resides. Here is the final piece to that hazy, mysterious, yet strangely familiar sound this band created. With songs from both records played with ferocity & sonic mayhem, their story is here. Bright. Swirling. Gnarly. Electric.
Birdman
CD
$16.00

Groundhogs
Scratching the Surface
PS, US This raw, rootsy album ranks among the finest albums to emerge from the British blues-rock boom, Matching TONY MCPHEE's memorable original tunes w/ a blistering reworking of the Muddy Water's classic "Still a Fool"
Sundazed
CD
$16.50

Groundhogs
Blues Obituary
PS, US This finds the group beginning to stretch beyond traditional blues forms, as demonstrated on the seven-minute epic "Light Was the Day." This marks the group's first effort as a power trio, the format in which the band would do its most acclaimed & popular work.
Sundazed
LP
$16.50

Group Bombino
Guitars From Agadez V.2 (Music of Niger) Vol.2
PS, US One-time LTD ED OF 1,500! This is the latest salvo from the Agadez music scene. Led by the guitar virtuoso OMARA MOCHTAR (Bombino), the group's debut LP, & vol.2 in the 'Guitars From Agadez' series, represents the latest chapter in the modern sound of the Tuareg revolution. As of 2008, the Tuareg rebellion is in full force again, & Bombino is in exile to parts unknown. Agadez has been cut off from the rest of the country. The only road that connects this legendary city w/ the rest of the country is littered w/ land mines & the only escorts are the military. This music & its messages of hope, justice, & desire for validation of the Kel Tamachek way of life ring louder than ever. Side 1 feat. the "dry guitar" sound, an unplugged selection of songs. Side 2 showcases the electric fury of the full band, a melding of heavy, psychedelic guitar heroics w/ a raw, garage sound. 180gm vinyl housed in a gatefold full-color jacket stocked w/ great photos & liner notes by Hisham Mayet.
SublimeFrequencies
LP
$24.50

Guggenheim Grotto
Happy the Man
PS, US Irish folk-rockers' new album.
UnitedOpportunity
CD
$15.00

Gutbucket
A Modest Proposal
PS, US Fourth album in a decade-long career for NYC quartet solidifies their place at the forefront of a revitalized avant-garde music scene in NYC. Their music is filled with layers of mature arrangements and a full-throttle blend of energy, chops, melody, intricacy and noise. Destroying walls between art-rock, avant-squonk, jazz-core and beyond, the group attacks their music with the ferocity usually reserved for punk, and the humorous abstraction of art-rock, despite having earned their jazz bona fides.
Cuneiform
CD
$14.25

Harpoon
Double Gnarly/Triple Suicide
PS, US Drum machine project from Dean Costello & Toney Vast-Binder. Contains songs from their '07 demo along
with three new tracks. A mix of grind & punk with drum machine. A loud, confrontational, aggressive record with lots of screaming. Shield the children's ears.
Interloper
CD
$9.00

Harpoon
Double Gnarly/Triple Suicide
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Interloper
LP
$11.50

Heartless Bastards
Mountain
PS, US The album weaves in an adventurous sonic evolution, expanding their 3 piece rock by adding pedal steel, madnolin, banjo, strings, & Erika's transcendent voice. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "After cutting their first two albums as a lean but muscular power trio, the Heartless Bastards have grown into a somewhat different creature on their third LP, The Mountain. Vocalist and guitarist Erika Wennerstrom is the only survivor from the group's original lineup, and after leaving behind her hometown of Cincinnati, OH for Austin, TX, she's assembled a new version of the Heartless Bastards. Along with new members Billy White on bass and Doni Schroader on drums, The Mountain features violins, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, and banjo as well as a few guest guitarists, and though this music is still rooted in Wennerstrom's full-bodied vocals and thick, no-frills guitar work, The Mountain is a more introspective and rootsy sounding album than this group has released to date. Wennerstrom has a voice that can shake apart a room when she's of a mind, but she takes a more subtle approach here, slipping in a few acoustic tunes that allow her to explore the softer side of her instrument... The Mountain is a more diverse set than the old Heartless Bastards gave us, it's still rooted in the same emotionally direct songwriting and performing that is this band's trademark, and for all that's changed with the band, Wennerstrom has held on to her core virtues -- this is fierce, heartfelt rock & roll that tells stories you can believe in and lets the music sing out with a power that's all the more compelling for being firmly rooted in the real world."
FatPossum
CD
$15.50

Helen Love
Calm Down Dad
PS, SPAIN LIMITED EDITION 1000 COPIES. Orange vinyl. We're in luck - HELEN LOVE are back! Our favorite Bubblegum-disco-punk group is better than ever and they have a splendid collection of new songs that half the planet is going to go crazy over. "Calm Down Dad" is the first advance single from the flaming new album, "Stick It", that will soon be released on Elefant Records. While we're waiting for that moment to arrive, and to ease the long wait, we have this appetizer with three great songs. "Calm Down Dad" is pure energy, catchy indie-punk-pop that talks about the differences between a father and his daughter. She wants to have fun, go out at night, sleep with a boy, dress up like a vampire without being looked at strangely at home, travel the world, try new things and even sing like Kate Nash, but with a more working class accent. Like a mix between Jilted John and THE WAITRESSES, on this limited edition, orange colored vinyl single HELEN LOVE jump from punk to pop to indie, with realist, sarcastic and fun lyrics. The melodies are as sweet as candy, but an orange flavored candy that's as bittersweet as real life. The single is finished off with two fast-beat, punk-pop songs. "John Peel Roadshow" talks about how to work up enough courage to give your demo to a radio show host. HELEN LOVE, loved and supported throughout the years by John Peel, recorded a "Peel session" in 1997, which was, for them, one of the high points of the group's history, as was the summer afternoon on which John Peel, after playing "Does Your Heart Go Boom", said with a sardonic laugh, "That's HELEN LOVE... the sarcastic bastards"'. "Candeelips" closes the advance single with a sweet story about a boy with the sweetest and most desired lips in the neighborhood!!!.
Elefant-267
45
$7.75

Honest Engines
Don't Talk Of California
PS, US "Akin to the Flaming Lips, Electric Soft Parade, and Robyn Hitchcock, one of Chicago's finest indie bands has mastered the art of modernizing classic pop song-craft with an idiosyncratic panache, and has also figured out a way make it sound as if this engaging EP was recorded in a major studio with a noted producer." -Tom Semioli
Amplifier Magazine
HonestEngines-001
CD
$7.00

Honeychurch
Early Times: 2001-2004
PS, US 'Early Times is an anthology of tracks from Honeychurch's critically acclaimed and criminally unavailable records Calling Me Home (2001) and Makes Me Feel Better (2004). Twelve remastered songs, plus two previously unreleased demos - 14 tracks of what Miles of Music called 'rapturous, romantic, blissfully transcendent, sweetly reverent, sun-drenched pop' "Imagine if The Red House Painter's Mark Kozelek added harmonies out of Mojave 3 and the Byrds....the singing, strings, and lap steel are exquisite. Like the Pernice Brothers, you suspect these guys dig Bread as much as Gram Parsons, hooked on the elegiac sweetness of old songs." -Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover
All-new record will be out in 2009!'
SirenElectric
CD
$10.25

Hospitals
Hairdryer Peace
PS, US After a nearly Chinese Democracy situation, the new Hospitals LP "Hairdryer Peace" is finally here. "Hairdryer" is a ripper/apology for the band's previous two albums. Scott Simmons had this to say about it: "Doesn't really matter whether you loved or hated The Hospitals before, cuz this is some year zero shit. This is the most psychedelic fucking record in a long time and there are no rainbows - no feather earrings - no beards. Mixed for maximum hallucinations, it has the stoned riffs of a killer rock record, totally cracked pop, pure headfuck, but more than anything else just an all around perfect album. It's Chief Hospital Adam Stonehouse with oringal Hospital co-founder (and now EAT SKULL member) ROD MEYER, along with ROB ENBAUM (also Eat Skull) and Chris Gunn from an island off the coast of the future. Sounds nothing like any bands or anything else.. Seriously, if a better record comes out this year, next year, whenever.... I promise. Don't be an asshole." Vinyl only, homemade covers, 500 copies.
Hospitals
LP
$12.00

Hot Panda
Volcano...Bloody Volcano
PS, US Comparisons to giant luminaries such as Daniel Johnston & Talking Heads have been swirling about as the group has left behind the frozen garage jam sessions in which their musical explorations began. Here, the group creates a unique blend of Britpop, Gypsy swing, glam, & lo-fi indie.
Mint
CD
$16.75

Howlies
Trippin' With Howlies
PS, US An unexpected re-interpretation of garage, doo-wop, powerpop & rock 'n' roll.
OverUnder
CD
$11.00

Humcrush
Rest At Worlds End
PS, NORWAY VINYL VERSION. 500 copies only limited edition 2LP that is comprised of 7 bonus tracks not on the CD version.
RuneGrammofon
DLP
$25.75

Humcrush
Rest At Worlds End
PS, US With this record, the duo continue adventurous explorations of abstract grooves & atmospheric moods. Stronen's percussion is textured, precise & surprising, while Storlokken's keyboard work is diverse & varied, using daubs of sound across a colorful sonic spectrum. Sometimes frenetic, sometimes meanderingly contemplative.
RuneGrammofon
CD
$18.00

Humcrush
Rest At Worlds End
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
RuneGrammofon
DLP
$28.50

Humcrush
Rest At Worlds End
PS, NORWAY This is the third full-length album from Norway's Humcrush (Thomas Strønen and Ståle Storløkken). Rest At Worlds End was recorded live at various European venues, although the high level of musicianship and focus on detail could easily lead you to think it would be a meticulously assembled studio recording. With this record, the duo continue adventurous explorations of abstract grooves and atmospheric moods. Thomas Strønen has studied music and composition and is a regular member of several bands, most notably Food, Maria Kannegaard Trio and Parish, the quartet led by Swedish ace pianist Bobo Stenson. As is the case for most Norwegian jazz musicians of his generation, he has played with just about everybody and has been a frequent performer on the Norwegian and European festival circuit for several years. Ståle Storløkken is a founding member of Supersilent, Elephant9, and played on Terje Rypdal records, but was first noticed with freeform trio Veslefrekk with fellow Supersilent members Arve Henriksen and Jarle Vespestad. He is probably the most versatile and adventurous electric keyboard player within the Norwegian scene at the moment. Rest At Worlds End perfectly showcases each artist's individual technical virtuosic talent -- Strønen's percussion is textured, precise and surprising, while Storløkken's keyboard work is diverse and varied, using daubs of sound across a colorful sonic spectrum. Sometimes frenetic, sometimes meanderingly contemplative, Rest At Worlds End stimulates your nerve-endings and fires neurons you never even knew existed.
RuneGrammofon
CD
$16.25

Hunches
Exit Dreams
PS, US Portland's finest purveyors of cacophonous garage, delivering ragged-edged rock 'n' roll w/ such devastating hidden melody, one is left wondering how the band crammed such pop into the noise cavalcades. It's a veritable melee of vicious guitar savagery & lo-fi freak-out fugginess, the perfect follow-up to "Hobo Sunrise" - a raging riot of an album that leaves ringing ears, bloody mouths, & shot-to-shit synapses sizzling w/ amplified excess.
IntheRed
CD
$14.25

Idle Times
Get Your Feet Off The Ground
PS, US Debut release from 27 year old Brian Standeford. After the quick dissolution of his previous band Tall Birds, Standeford began recording songs onto cassette in his Seattle home using a Tascam 4-track, practice amps and a toy drum kit. Loner bedroom psych at its best.
Woodsist
45
$5.25

Ielasi, Giuseppe
Aix
PS, US Aix is the latest work from Italian artist Giuseppe Ielasi and the follow-up to 2007's August (12k, 12k1044). With Aix we see Ielasi building his layered, atmospheric music around rhythmic grids. Most of the time these are quite irregular and the pulses are not necessarily stable or clear. Where his previous work approached sound in a linear fashion Aix imposes a strong vertical development with the aforementioned grid and a production consisting of ons and offs, employing as much improvisation as Ielasi's previous work, but in a different way. Despite the self-imposed grid structure, Aix relies heavily on randomization. Not in the traditional sense of sound placement but instead of the specialization of sounds, echoes, reverbs and the stereo image. As a result, Aix has an amazing sense and clarity of space as the small fragments of sound breathe and find their own place in the mix, thanks to Ielasi's sublime skills as a mixer and engineer. Ielasi relied heavily on numerous short samples and combining them in ways that fell into his groove; some found from others' recordings and many more recorded during the past year. We hear fragments of percussive (acoustic) objects, drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, and, of course, synthetic textures. Although there is a distinct rhythmic pulse to Aix, Ielasi manages to mold it into something wonderfully languid and warm... and strangely inviting.
12K-1051
CD
$12.25

Iran
Dissolver
PS, US Indie rock buried in fuzz & hiss - the group takes ultra catchy pop, & drags it through the detritus of lo-fi noise rock, picking up an ungodly assortment of buzz & blur & scuzz. Imagine a Pavement record on Stilbreeze. Or old Smog covering Skullflower.
Narnack
CD
$14.50

Irisarri, Rafael Anton
Hopes & Past Desires
PS, US Packaged in full-color heavy stock jacket, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES WORLDWIDE. 2 tracks clocking in at 12 minutes, this is his first new material since his 2007 debut "Daydreaming." Irisarri's music is a dual perspective close-up focus on the micro textures of rustling static-filled sonic surfaces w/ the wide-open distant tree lined horizons of sunset at dusk. He recently released "Glider" as SIGHT BELOW on Ghostly International.
Immune
45
$8.00

Jaina, Nick
Narrow Way
PS, US A full-band album featuring agressively memorable songs recorded in a unique way to capitalize on the energy of the live performance skills of Nick's band. This album was played entirely by ten musicians in the same room at the same time, all mixed live to 1/4" analog tape. If one person out of the ten missed a note or played the wrong part, the whole take had to be done over. This lack of a safety net gave the recordings a heightened sense of focus & purpose. Every instrument leaps off the tape with immediacy & humanity. Meanwhile, the lyrics of the songs deal w/the narrow path that people must take to do right in the world. There is fear all around; fear of being different, fear of being the same--& in the middle is the narrow way, a small path that is hard to stay on, but which leads to very good things.
JealousButcher
LP
$13.25

Jam, The
All Mod Cons
PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!!
Polydor
LP
$18.00

Jeremy Jay
Love Everlasting
PS, US 4 songs: Love Everlasting · Lite Beam · Jet Stream · Love Everlasting (Winter Version) It was winter outside and something was happening in the storybook world of Jeremy Jay's psyche. While working on his upcoming full-length Slow Dance [KLP197] (to be released in spring '09), there was an icicle-caked excitement that resulted in a snow-flurry of extra recordings. The cozy, insulated vibe of Olympia, Washington and Dub Narcotic Studio took hold and Jeremy, along with Ilya Malinksy (guitar), Nick Pahl (drums) and Derek James (bass) crafted "Love Everlasting" [KLP202] a separate 12" single. These extra songs, recorded with a fiery compulsion, were written in Jeremy's Los Angeles apartment and expanded in studio. The song "Lite Beam" took shape with a solarized hi-hat and synth bass - a real disco dance cut; "Jet Stream," has that special synth bass that propels it to a dance floor climax, and the single itself, "Love Everlasting," twinkles magnificently with a sensual glide. Jeremy Jay and his band have toured extensively across the U.S.A., Europe and Australia in support of his recent album A Place Where We Could Go [KLP187] and will be reacquainting the U.S. with their icy soundscapes after the release of this 12" single. "Part poet, part '50s teen idol and part ghost, Jeremy Jay [takes listeners to] a place where girls have fairytale looks and candied apples are served for lunch, where dreams, fantasies and movies collide, and where Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Morrissey and Alan Vega are loved equally. It's no surprise that Jay calls his hometown of Los Angeles 'the City of Angels' -- he's a true romantic and sensualist, transforming his surroundings into a glamorous, magical reality." - All Music Guide
Krecords-202
12
$5.50

Kemp, Rose
Unholy Majesty
PS, US ROSE KEMP came to the attention of Aurora Borealis when she thrust an advance CD in our hands at a Grave Temple show in London after her telling us how much she loves DEAD RAVEN CHOIR. Upon listening to the first 60 seconds of the album it became clear that we were dealing with something quite remarkable and got on the phone. Some wrangling and legal shennanigans later, the vinyl was confirmed for an Aurora Borealis release Undoubtedly something of a curve ball for fans of Rose's work up until now, "Unholy Majesty" represents a type of coming of age, a bold step out into the landscape of musics less travelled. From the heavy, prog influenced stomp of "Dirt Glow" through to the wavering cries of the penultimate track "Milky White", this is the sound of an artist following her own ear. Some AB adherents may be aware of Rose from her work on the second ATAVIST album, so perhaps her wide musical palette is not such a surprise. That love of sheer heavy power comes through in "Unholy Majesty" time and time again, and dovetails seamlessly with the more gentle moments on offer: without darkness, there can be no light. Part of folk-rock heritage, Rose is the daughter of Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp from seminal, pioneering British band Steeleye Span. As a young teenager she sang and toured and occasionally wrote with her parents various different projects including Steeleye Span (who still gig today), and her life on the road began when she was knee-high, accompanying her parents on tour.
AuroraBorealis
LP
$16.00

Kerretta
Antient
US, AUSTRALIA For those who have seen their blistering live show, Kerretta will no doubt be high on the "to see" gig agenda. Those yet to experience the propulsive, driving rock of this instrumental three-piece have a chance to see them push the envelope of tone & dynamics with their sometimes ambient & occasionally earsplittingly heavy brand of molten-core, Antient will appeal to fans of Isis, Sigur Ros & Bailterspace, but discerning listeners will know the trio peddle a uniquely atmospheric take on angular rock. The Antient 12" contains 4 new songs at a classy 28 minutes, exclusive to the 12" on tasty coloured grey & with free download codes!
Midium
LP
$13.50

Khan of Finland
S-T
PS, GERMANY The I'm Single label releases the eponymous debut CD from Berlin-based Khan of Finland. Centered around the figure of mega-producer Can "Khan" Oral (aka Captain Comatose), Khan Of Finland are a trio in the traditional sense of the word who make a sound that is anything but. Using just vocals, piano and a human beat-box, they play all-acoustic electronic blues, but also switch roles and improvise. The piano becomes a percussive instrument. The beat(box) melodic. The vocal full-blooded. From the blues to a howl. The sound veering from metal-heavy riffs to dubbed-out cabaret. These 9 songs were all recorded live at a defunct gas station in Berlin-Wedding with a few additional over-dubs recorded at various other spectacular locations such as St. Clara Church in Berlin-Neukoelln. Weirdly swank, electro-tinged, and decidedly energetic odes to loving life.
I'mSingle
CD
$15.00

Kick that Habit
Peter Liecht w/ Voice Crack
PS, US This 1989 film collects samples from the land-and-soundscape, underscoring in the process the oft-ignored industrial underpinning of our latter-day culture. Voice Crack, the everyday household electronics duo of Norbert Moslang & Andy Guhl, are part Licechti's vision with exploration of their musical workings . Whether clicking quietly & rhythmically or humming & shrieking at ear-splitting volume, their recycled electronics produce innovative sounds and provide an appropriate accompaniment in this cinematic search for the detritus of our culture, the lost & destroyed remains of the last century of progress. A short, tense film comprised of flashing images: footage of Voice Crack rehearsals & concerts is juxtaposed with visual shards of the fall & winter landscape of the area between Alpstein and the Bodensee. Utilizing color & black-and-white footage as well as combining the visual & the acoustic in an expression that subtly synthesizes the two, Liechti delineates a world of existence through sound & geography. All Region.
DragCity
DVD
$14.75

Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, The
Mutations EP
PS, GERMANY A bridge between their first album on Planet Mu and the forthcoming second one on Ad Noiseam, the "Mutations EP" is The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble's coming of age. Profound and organic but dark and impressive, it is a perfect rendition of the ensemble's live shows and the proof that there is still something fresh to be done at the meeting point of post-rock, jazz and drones. A deeply emotional and original trip.
AdNoiseam-105-2
CD
$13.00

Kinks, The
Picture Book [Box Set] (6 x CD)
PS, UK "The first three CDs, covering the years between 1963 and 1971, are a sheer delight: a master-class in garage rock, social observation, and how to expand the language of popular music in one hard-earned lesson."
-Mojo "Arguably more succinctly than any of their 60s hit-making contemporaries, The Kinks chronicles the times with a succession of stunning vignettes about everyday life." - Record Collector
SanctuaryUK
CD-BOX
$79.75

Kottke, Leo
6 And 12 String Guitar
PS, US Leo Kottke's debut came about after he sent a cassette to John Fahey's Takoma label. Not surprisingly, it recalls Fahey's work in a number of respects: the synthesis of numerous influences from blues, pop, classical, and folk styles, the weirdly titled instrumentals, even the tongue-in-cheek liner notes. Kottke's brand of virtuosity, however, is more soothing and easy on the ear than Fahey's. It's far from sappy, though, the rich and resonant picking intimating some underlying restlessness, like peaceful open fields after a storm. Establishing much of the territory Kottke was to explore throughout his career, this release was also one of his most popular, eventually selling over 500,000 copies. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Takoma TKA6503.2
CD
$13.40

KTL
IV
PS, US Whereas previous releases were blurred washes of fog & noise polished by ambient shine, this is a more direct & demanding beast, referencing such diverse projects as: volume-era Swans, "Red Mecca" period Cabaret Voltaire, phase one Wire, Fushitsusha & This Heat. Includes a guest appearance from BORIS drummer Atsuo & is produced by JIM O'ROURKE.
EditionsMego
CD
$18.00

Kweller, Ben
Changing Horses
PS, US ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "After flirting with country music throughout his solo career, Ben Kweller embraces his Texas roots with Changing Horses, an earthy record filled with pedal steel guitars and honky tonk storytelling. Kweller's southern pedigree has always made itself known -- in the twang of his acoustic guitar, in the lilt of his voice -- but Changing Horses shines a spotlight on those nuances, replacing the heartland rock & roll of his past albums with a healthy dose of Americana. This is saloon-styled songwriting, complete with flashes of close harmony and images of Greyhound stations, starry skies, and homebound highways. Kweller sounds confident throughout, playing the rustic raconteur like a twentysomething Leon Russell, but the album's secret weapon is newcomer Kitt Kitterman, whose pedal steel riffs and Dobro arpeggios lend some authenticity to Kweller's southern state of mind."
ATO
CD
$12.25

Ladyfinger
Dusk
PS, US Nods & winks to the past meet a sound of the not-too-distant future, w/ one foot in the sounds of early 70's classic rock & another in the punk & hardcore scenes of the late 80's & early 90's. The dynamics of each song & across the album are more evident, from the opening 1-2 punch of "Over & Over" & the bass growl of "ADD," through the sharp riffs & aggressiveness of "Work Party," the plaintive "Plans," & into the hit-in-the-making "Let's Get Married"
SaddleCreek
CD
$12.50

Lemonade
S-T
PS, US The San Francisco group's eclectic offerings are coarse with psychedelic textures and light on the easy fixes-the percussion crosses continents, the vocals are tangles of guttural exclamations, and the melodies spring from all over. The closest connections the tracks bear to modern music are to artists like Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance, and Sunburned Hand of the Man-fervent experimentalists deep below the dance charts. Live, it's an intoxicating bit of voodoo; Pasternak will later tell me that his favorite description of Lemonade's sound is 'a techno-Brazilian samba line on mushrooms.'-SF Weekly. Received a "Recommended" rating by Pitchfork.
TruePanther
CD
$13.25

Leno
Vida e Obra de Johnny McCartney [re-issue]
PS, US The album has a sound that has more to do w/ bands such as Sly & The Family Stone, the Beatles (post 1967), Cream, & Steppenwolf, & features contributions from music legends MARCOS VALLE, RAUL SEIXAS, hard psych rockers A BOLHA, & members of LOS SHAKERS & RENATO E SEUS BLUE CAPS. One of the most singular records of the 1970's rock era in Brazil.
LionProductions
CD
$15.00

Liechti, Peter
Kick That Habit
PS, US KICK THAT HABIT is a 1989 film by Peter Liechti, an audio-visual portrait of his native country, eastern Switzerland. The film collects samples from the land-and-soundscape, underscoring in the process the oft-ignored industrial underpinning of our latter-day culture. Also native to eastern Switzerland is Voice Crack, the everyday household electronics duo of Norbert Möslang and Andy Guhl, whose musical workings are explored as part of Liechti's vision. Whether clicking quietly and rhythmically or humming and shrieking at ear-splitting volume, their recycled electronics produce innovative sounds and provide an appropriate accompaniment in this cinematic search for the detritus of our culture, the lost and destroyed remains of the last century of progress. KICK THAT HABIT is a short, tense film comprised of flashing images: footage of Voice Crack rehearsals and concerts is juxtaposed with visual shards of the fall and winter landscape of the area between Alpstein and the Bodensee. Utilizing color and black-and-white footage as well as combining the visual and the acoustic in an expression that subtly synthesizes the two, Liechti delineates a world of existence through sound and geography. Like the world the rest of us live in, it's a world of beauty, quiet tragedy and the endless march forward.
DragCity
DVD
$14.00

Lincoln
Prelude to the Presidency [documentary]
PS, US As a lawyer traveling Illinois' Eighth Judicial Circuit, Abraham Lincoln made two simultaneous journeys. He gained respect as a skilled attorney and mesmerizing speaker, but he also built a political base and refined his views on the important issues of the day, many of which he would face in the White House. His experiences from 1837 to 1860 on muddy roads, in homes of friends and in courtrooms on the circuit guided him when he became president. WILL-TV's Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency tells the story of the cases he tried and people he met during this critical period of his life. DVD features reenactments of Lincoln as you've never seen him before: defending a slaveholder trying to reclaim a slave named Jane Bryant and her children; brandishing a sword on the banks of the Mississippi River at dawn before being talked out of fighting a duel; and crossing the prairie reading a book atop his horse, Old Tom. Features interviews with experts, including Doris Kearns Goodwin, Edna Greene Medford and Orville Vernon Burton, who describe how the circuit built the skills Lincoln used as president.
WILLPublicMedia
DVD
$24.95

Lindstrom
Where You Go I Go Too
PS, US NOW WITH BONUS DISC! Special edition bonus disc includes the Prins Thomas edits found on the LP version. Well known for his epic & ultra melodic disco, it might come as a surprise that this album only contains three long tracks, with the opening track being almost 29 minutes long! But when you listen to this album, you hear that it is still very much Lindstrom... just more Lindstrom-- bigger, longer, more epic & more melodic. Lindstrom says, "I realized that working within 30 minutes instead of five minutes frames forced me to think very differently to what I was used to... when working on longer tracks, there's so much more time to develop different themes & to let them evolve.
SmalltownSupersound
CD
$14.50

Lithops
Ye Viols!
PS, US LTD ED OF 1000 comes packaged in matchbook flip-top style package printed on recycled paper w/ fold-out poster! On this release, LITHOPS (aka JAN ST. WERNER of MOUSE ON MARS, MICROSTORIA, VON SUDENFED) presents a selection of installation soundtracks assembled from several recent exhibitions. This can be seen as background noise for a visual utopia: a recombined industrial iconograhy of spatial adventures, futuristic collages & phantasmagoric scenes. Full of fun danceable beats w/ plunderphonic complexity, textural density & layered details.
ThrillJockey
CD
$13.00

Lithops
Ye Viols!
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
ThrillJockey
LP
$13.00

Loney Dear
Dear John
PS, US Loney Dear is the recording name for multi-instrumentalist and Swedish home-recording phenom Emil Svanängen. Recorded alone in Emil's tiny Stockholm studio apartment and in the comfort of his parents' house in Jönköping, Dear John is an album of contrasts. It will cozy up next to you through the bleakest of winters and be your shade in the blistering summer sun. It is an album that has been on Emil's mind since the inception of Loney Dear. With his first four albums, Emil has always aspired to perfection; he has always promised a masterpiece. Dear John is that record. "Despair has never sounded so sweet." -SPIN "He wraps the ups and downs of a whirlwind romance into tiny packages. You're left hungry, fully certain that 34 minutes-- let alone five-- will never be enough of this very, very good thing." --Pitchfork
Polyvinyl-171
LP
$12.50

Lost Sounds
Memphis is Dead
PS, US Big Neck presents the 4th pressing LIMITED reissue of 1000 copies on MIXED COLOR vinyl. This was the very first foray by JAY REATARD and Alicja Trout (THE FITTS, DESTRUCTION UNIT). Their apocalyptic nightmare of digital music and garage rock are disturbing w/ their frothing rage, unrestrained beauty and wild abandonment.
BigNeck
LP
$12.00

Lover!
No More Reasons b/w All Alone
PS, US Limited red vinyl repress. If you're not hip Lover! is Rich Crook, formerly of the Lost Sounds and he's been making some noise as Lover! for a couple of years now and has been getting stronger with each release. Don't wait for the next full length to "catch you by surprise" as this is here now. USGR alert. (Ugly sleeve, great record.)
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

LSD March
Under Milk Wood
PS, US With grace (in the rock sense), style, humor, & the perfect touch of heavy riffage, this tremendously unique recording is a classic of the new Japanese underground. A fascinating, ghostly rock album featuring TAKAHASHI IKURO's drumming - it isn't until midway through the record that the heavy riffage begins, though it is slowly buried beneath the white blizzard blanket that is the remainder of the album
Important
CD
$13.25

M. Ward
Transfiguration Of Vincent
PS, US Deluxe packaging & 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl. Available on LP for the first time! Ward's 3rd album that is clearly
progressive while simultaneously sounding regressive, feeling dusty w/ age, & manifesting a genius that is pure & untempered. His music defies description except to say it is coming from somewhere seeped in the early blues w/ a Neil Young overlay & the feel of country, blues, pop, & folk.
JealousButcher
LP
$12.50

Madagascar
Goodbye East, Goodbye West
PS, US 2008 release from weirdo chamber-folk quartet. The sophomore album by Madagascar, a Baltimore based quartet that softly stamps out soothing circular melodies on an array of acoustic instruments that include accordion, saw, xylophone, bells and drums. Like dancing an oxycodone waltz with your grandmother to a Bell Biv Devoe 45 on slow speed while cabbage cooks away in the adjoining kitchen. Limited edition of 500 on turquoise vinyl.
GaardenRecords-002
LP
$13.75

Magnetic Morning
A.M.
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
FriendorFaux
LP
$14.75

Magnetic Morning
A.M.
PS, US Magnetic Morning is the new band featuring Adam Franklin of Swervedriver and Sam Fogarino of Interpol.
FriendorFaux
CD
$11.00

Maserati/Zombi
Split
PS, US Long in the making, this split LP finally brings together two similarly influenced and equally provocative groups: Athens, GA's Maserati - with their eternally driving, Krautrock-infused dance anthems - shares the record with Pittsburgh's favorite Italo-cinema fetishists, Zombi. Teaming up once again with longtime producer and friend Andy Baker (Brian Eno, Harvey Milk), Maserati contributes a pair of two-part epics that show the band progressing away from the sparkly-clean productions of their past in favor of a grittier, more experimental sound, occupying the unlikely space between the dark garage-pop infectiousness of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and the analog synth meditations of Harmonia. The result is Maserati's most unique and inspired material to date. On the flipside, Zombi offers a single 14-minute track that slowly and steadily amasses pile of analog synths to build a stage for an extended drum solo (imagine Goblin covering "Moby Dick" and you're almost there). With the synths providing the rhythmic foundation, the drums swirl about in a freeform ascent for over five minutes before patterns start to creep in, signaling the big payoff is imminent. Indeed, when the drums finally snap into an airtight locking groove with the thick bed of synths, the impact is downright euphoric. The song exits with a slow fade, as if to fittingly ride this high into oblivion. The marriage of these two bands couldn't be more perfect, and the inspiration they have brought each other is evident in both the creative exploration and the supreme quality of the tracks. Rather that deliver non-album toss-offs, both groups brought top-shelf a-sides, making this split an essential part of each artist's already rich catalog.
TemporaryResidence-143
LP
$11.50

Math Head
Stab City
PS, GERMANY With "Stab City", Math Head finally presents on wax a new testimony of his insolent skills at creating ever changing, massive dubstep. Never loosing the dance floor from its sight, but including a lot of innovative elements to this genre and not afraid of mixing the club appeal with wider sensibilities, he comes up here again with a highly impressive record that does justice to his extensive talent. Here comes highly efficient, fresh and hard dubstep record you have been waiting for.
AdNoiseam-98
12
$11.00

Matt & Kim
Grand
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
FaderLabel
LP
$17.50

Matt & Kim
Grand
PS, US Brooklyn-based duo Matt and Kim return with Grand, their second album and first in over two years. During the period in between records the duo has toured extensively and developed a loyal and growing fan base that eagerly awaits the release of Grand. The band spent the last nine months recording and tweaking Grand in between tour dates.

The result is an album that takes the band's musicianship and songwriting to the next level and also serves as a glowing representation of how far Matt and Kim have come since their debut. From the anthemic opener 'Daylight' to the harmony-rich, atmospheric ballad 'Turn This Boat Around' and demented pop of 'I Wanna,' Grand is quite literally the sound of Matt and Kim discovering their voice. "All of the songs on the last album we wrote the first year we learned how to play our instruments," Matt acknowledged, "but this one is much more diverse and instead of thinking about the songs we thought of the album as a whole, too."
FaderLabel
CD
$12.25

Matthew & Arrogant Sea
Family Family Family Meets The Magic Christian (LP/CD)
PS, US Dreamy omnichord pop filled w/ hints of folk psychedelia. This evokes the experimental natures of the Flaming Lips & Animal Collective perched upon harmonies reminiscent of the Beach Boys & The Mamas & The Papas. W/free CD insert.
Junketboy
LP
$19.00

Mattson 2
Introducing
PS, US A unique melange of hot jazz, cool jazz, & contemporary post-rockist tendencies. Features guest appearances by BARBEE on guitar & JOHN MCENTIRE (TORTOISE/SEA & CAKE). This is at times evocative of Ennio Morricone, Charles Mingus, & the Chicago Underground Duo.
Galaxia
CD5
$10.00

Mazes
S-T
PS, US While The 1900s make noises about recording the follow-up to their full-length 2007 album, Cold & Kind, front man Edward Anderson has readied a solo album for Parasol Records, under the moniker Mazes. In cahoots with fellow 1900s vocalist (and Ed's significant other) Caroline Donovan and their comrade Charles D'Autremont, Mazes is not so much departure from his hitherto verdant psych-pop meadow as a vehicle for Edward to explore further musical flora and fauna.
Parasol-CD-112
CD
$9.00

Medication
Don't Die b/w Fog
PS, US One of the best singles of last year, in fact the only reason it didn't make my year end list was that I didn't actually own a copy yet. Really, really strong loner fuzz vibes with songs to die for. One of the best HoZac releases for sure (and that's high praise.)
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Mendoza
Si Me Duermo... Choco (If I Sleep, I Crash)
PS, MEXICO R. Mendoza, one of the members of the Nortec Collective as Panóptica returns to the postpunk ambient soundscapes that informed his formative years in music. "Si Me Duermo... choco" is collection of slowed down techno tracks and ambient pieces that touch upon the post punk influence of 4AD bands like This Mortal Coil, Dif Juz and Xmal Deutschland. The album was mastered by Stefan Betke (Pole) and the artwork by Rubén Tamayo (Fax).
StaticDiscos-029
CD
$12.25

Menton, Todd
Dolmen Field
US , PS In true genre-crossing fashion, Menton (BOILED IN LEAD) crosses delicate mandolins & whistles w/ snarling electric guitars, all alongside his powerfully written & played folk ballads. RIYL: Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom.
NewFolk
CD
$16.25

Merzbow
13 Japanese Birds Vol. 1
PS, US First volume of a 13-disc series of limited edition albums (1,000 copies). This 13-month series of releases was inspired by Olivier Messaien's "Catalogue D'Oiseaux." Author, activist, painter, & sound artist Masami Akita has been at the foreground of experimental music for over 25 years. Inspired by psychedelic rock, free jazz, early electronic composition, & the physical arts - especially Kurt Schwitters' "Merzbau" - Akita has created a musical language all his own.
Important
CD
$13.25

MGR & Destructo Swarmbots
Amigos de la Guitarra
PS, US New collaboration between Mike Mare (DESTRUCTO SWARMBOTS) & Mike Gallagher (MGR/Isis). A single 42-minute song entitled "Amor en el Aire" recorded at Deadverse Studios w/ Alap Momin, a.k.a. Oktopus (Dalek)
Neurot
CD
$16.00

Miller, Niela
Songs Of Leaving
PS, US Culled from a warped acetate cut in 1962, this is the complete songbook of NYC folkie Miller. Claim to fame: she wrote "Baby Don't Go To Town," a song that boyfriend Billy Roberts would steal and "rewrite" as "Hey Joe." Inaugural release on Numero Group's new LP-only imprint. Impeccably designed, housed in thick jackets, & pressed on durable 150g vinyl, you'll know a Numerophon album when you see it, the same way you knew Folkways after that 1st thrift store find.
Numerophon
LP
$15.00

Mojo
#184 (March 2009) [Magazine + CD]
PS, UK
ZINE
$10.25

Morrison, Van
Astral Weeks
PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!!
WarnerBros
LP
$23.00

Mothlite
The Flax of Reverie
PS, US Debut from the wonderfully cinematic Mothlite. The six pieces encompass elements as diverse as choral madrigals cascading with strings, the melody and dissonance of Arvo Part & Moondog and the cinematic, studio-as-instrument manipulationsof Pink Floyd, Coil, Cocteau Twins & late period Talk Talk.
Southern
CD
$15.00

Mr. Bungle
Disco Volante [vinyl re-issue]
PS, US One of the most uncompromising & adventurous major label releases of the '90s featuring vocalist MIKE PATTON (x-FAITH NO MORE). Their 2nd album, originally released in 1995, is an "alternative" record only in the vaguest sense of the word. Incorporating death metal, techno, 50's space age pop & Italian avantgarde. This is probably the most important & groundbreaking release of Patton's storied career, & that's saying a lot. Think Faith No More, John Zorn, Frank Zappa, & Ennio Morricone rolled into one sick stew.
Plain
LP
$16.75

Music Go Music
Warm In The Shadows
PS, US Warm in the Shadows rounds out the trio of three-song 12" singles that Music Go Music have released over the course of 2008-09. It's both a fitting end-piece to the trilogy and a remarkable expansion of the group's sonic and emotional breadth. There is a casual but undeniable magic to these songs, and it flows around and out of each note of every melody. Title song "Warm in the Shadows" is dance music, as envisioned by a group with a greater allegiance to pop archetypes than to the hymns of the dance-floor. It's a step in a different direction; an invitation to shake, coupled with a gentle evocation of the pain of wrecked love ("what kind of heart would break so easy as my own"). It's a case history and a cure for both the lovesick and the lovesick-to-be. The B-side offers up stories of exotic depravity consuming itself in ways both savage and deceptively elegant. The gypsy rhythms of "Thousand Crazy Nights" undergird a tale of dog piled revelers instructed to "feel with your face, let eyes be your hands" whilst "trapped in desire's aggro dance.""Love,Violent Love" is a psychedelic voyage through a land of raving mobs who "spiral past control" once their love is at last requited. This collection of songs is further proof of the power of the transformative embrace in which Music Go Music holds what is dear to them, and the singular vision that they impart to it.
SecretlyCanadian-176
12
$9.00

Music Lovers, The
Masculine Feminine
PS, US 'Masculine Feminine' is the third long-playing record from acclaimed San Francisco-based pop-sophisticates The Music Lovers and the pinnacle of their artistic endeavors. The Music Lovers are led by transplanted Englishman songwriter Matthew Edwards. Edwards refers to 'Masculine Feminine' as his own personal 'Day of the Locust', a travelogue through the underbelly of the almost-famous doyens of LA and San Francisco. Like a toxic Graham Greene on a tear, Edwards speaks of motels, love-affairs, addictions, vamps and ingénues, pausing on occasion to look back on a half remembered England and wonder what went wrong (or right)? These are desperate songs born of need and frustration, but never dreary, never self-pitying. Rather, they show a formidable spirit of abandon - an abandon to the pop aesthetic; saddling the darkest sensibilities and wickedest proclivities to the sweetest pop-song frame-works. The music? The girl-group sound on a dreary Tuesday morning in 1976... quietly exultant on a radio in Birmingham. Serge and Stax and The Go-Betweens and Dusty and Lerner and Lowe, dammit! If David Goodis had written lyrics for Carole King they might have sounded a little like this record. Yes, they are all 'love songs' but not only to people, but places, states of mind and to divine release. 'Masculine Feminine' is battered, inebriate, sensual and defiantly and unfashionably romantic! Praise for The Music Lovers: "Gin-spritzed string arrangements and cocktail-bar melancholy, [that comes] off like a Rat Pack version of Lloyd Cole." - WORD "Hints of '60s AM-radio fodder regularly poke through the creamy, dreamy layers of piano, acoustic guitar, concertina, strings and mellotron, and the results are seductive." - MAGNET "The Music Lovers sound is lush and voluptuous, making me think of clouds and rain, strings and guitars, both orchestral and earthy, akin to the sublime pleasure of holding your head in my lap, oh my beautiful one." - comedian MARGARET CHO
LeGrandMagistery-046
CD
$12.25

MV & EE with Bummer Road
Drone Trailer
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
DiCristinaStair
LP
$15.25

MV & EE with Bummer Road
Drone Trailer
PS, US MV & EE With the Golden Road and their Drone Trailer album. In fact still orbiting the earth in Vermont is Matt 'MV' Valentine, once the brawn of the Tower recordings, and Erika 'EE' Elder, the CEO of Heroine Celestial Agriculture. The MV & EE Medicine Show, together with their dog Zuma, they run the child of Microtones Terran library of exploratory music and sing songs with fellow Avatars. 'The Golden Road' is sometimes their own lunar Blues, sometimes fingerstyle noise/space, sometimes lonesome frontier volk...always environments. You will find many are one and they like to jam together within many guitar dimensions/amp realms... respectfully and yours hanging loose.
DiCristinaStair
CD
$14.25

My Cat Is an Alien & Mats Gustafsson
Cosmic Debris, Vol. 4
PS, US Experimental powers united!
ASilentPlace
CD
$16.25

Naked Raygun
All Rise
PS, US The 1985 Chicago punk classic. NAKED RAYGUN's 2nd album... RE-MASTERED and sounding better than ever back on wax. Includes bonus remastered versions of their 1987 smash 7"'Vanilla Blue'. 12x18 2 sided color poster full of unreleased photos, lyrics and more. Another one of the greatest punk albums of all time here. Essential!!
HauntedTown
LP
$14.50

Nana April Jun
Ontology of Noise
PS, US This debut from CHRISTOFER LAMGREN researches the dark associations of post-black metal. No traditional instruments are used on the album & all techniques are digital in their application. This explores the filmic qualities of noise - the image-creating mechanisms that arise almost hallucinogenically from subtle variations of frequencies. Fans of Burzum's "Filosofem" take note.
Touch
CD
$16.25

Nanda Devi
Fifth Season
PS, US Members of ALTER OF EARTH & HELLAS MOUNDS. Drawing influences from Neurosis, Khanate & Red Sparowes, this is one hell of an evil record.
Cavity
CD
$10.75

Newman, A.C.
Get Guilty
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Matador
LP
$14.75

Newman, A.C.
Get Guilty
PS, US The second solo album from A.C. Newman, leader and songwriter behind The New Pornographers, finds the pop songsmith in decidedly more upbeat and guitar heavy form than on the last NP's album. "Get Guilty" is a set of layered pop songs of great melodic and lyrical depth. "A.C. Newman deserves every last bit of praise thrown his way. In a better world, he would be our Elton, our Todd, our McCartney" - All Music Guide.
Matador
CD
$13.25

Nice Face
Exterminator b/w F.U.B.A.R. Over You
PS, US In a lot of ways the world can be boiled down into two sorts of people. Those who are gonna be revolted by the cover of this single and those who will be like "Oh, cool the new Nice Face single!" Once you get past the cover the 2nd Nice Face single might be even better than the first one (on Sacred Bones).
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Nichols, Ben
The Last Pale Light In The West
PS, US The debut mini album by Lucero frontman Ben Nichols was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's novel, "Blood Meridien". Recorded with Rick Steff (Cat Power, Lucero) and Todd Beane (Glossary). Features Nichols' signature gravelly voice accompanied by his acoustic guitar, complimented by Steff's piano and accordion, and Beane's subtle pedal steel guitar. RIYL: Tom Waits, "Nebraska"-era Bruce Springsteen.
Rebel
CD
$9.00

Nickel Eye
Time Of The Assassins
PS, US Solo project of STROKES bassist Nikolai Fraiture. Guest appearances by Nick Zinner (YEAH YEAH YEAHS) & REGINA SPEKTOR. Musically influenced by artists such as Neil Young, Frank Black, Leonard Cohen & The Kinks.
Rykodisc
CD
$12.00

Nixe, The
S-T
PS, US Long overdue compilation of pretty much all of the 1980-81 recordings by the first all girl Dutch Punk band. I love records and I love collecting records, but I don't have the time or money for all of the records that I want so when someone does a right on comp like this I get pretty excited. This is a really great treat. Don't pass it up.
PollyMaggooRecords
LP
$18.00

Nobunny
Give It To Me b/w Motorhead With Me
PS, US Hot on the heels of the re-issue of the essential "Love Visions" full length comes two more one man wonder punk rock dream tunes. Equal amounts of fun, dumb and essential.
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Nomad
Cats and Babies
PS, JAPAN Nomad (Cavemen Speak, Gunporn) finally comes back with his 2nd album called "Cats and Babies" . His debut album called "Lemon Tea" (2006) was critically acclaimed as "bedroom hip hop folk". He was doing between rapping and singing so he was described as "rapper songwriter". With this album, he's become a singer songwriter. He did all by himself in his small bedroom, like songwriting, recording and playing all the instruments (guitar, piano, drums, glockenspiel etc. ) as well as the artwork. Beautiful melodies and fragile fairy voice and witty but intelligent lyrics. You will never forget his voice when once you listen. His music has magic.
Hue-1042
CD
$17.00

Nous Non Plus
Menagerie
PS, US The band dabbles in their 60's French pop influences but also explore a new sonic landscape mixing Moog synthesizers w/ string sections, horns w/ distorted guitars. Imagine Gainsbourg & Bardot as indie rockers in 2009
Aeronaut
CD
$13.50

NOVA
NOVA: Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives
PS, US Follow EELS front man Mark Oliver Everett on his quest to comprehend the theory of parallel universes while unraveling the remarkable life story of his iconoclastic father Hugh - creator of the radical quantum physics theory - in this installment of the popular PBS series, Nova. Dubbed "one of the most important scientists of the 20th Century" by Scientific America, Hugh Everett III proposed the controversial Many Worlds Theory back in 1957. The basis of that theory is the idea that parallel universes are constantly spinning off from reality as we know it. Though generally ignored at the time, that theory has gone on to become not just a popular topic of study among respected physicists, but the inspiration for such popular films, television shows, and books as Star Trek and The Golden Compass. As a young boy growing up, Mark never understood why his father was so distant. It wasn't that Hugh didn't care about his family, just that his brain was constantly swirling with ideas and concepts, and that anything that pulled him out of his own thoughts was considered something of a distraction. Now the last surviving member of his troubled family, Mark interviews his father's old college friends, colleagues, and admirers - including MIT physicist Max Tegmark - in an emotional journey to not only better understand the man he barely knew in life, but also gain a greater understanding of the ideas that still inspire physicists to this very day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
WGBHBoston
DVD
$42.00

Novi_Sad
Jailbirds
PS, US Limited to 500 copies and housed in our plastic-free gatefold sleeves with spine. art design by cs08. Novi_sad's work came to our attention via our good friend Susanna Bolle (Non-Event and Rare Frequency) in Boston. A superbly keen ear, Bolle felt that his work and our label should connect. Though Nov-Sad's has only a few years of practice behind him, the quality and maturity of all of his efforts is striking. The proposed Jailbirds material for Sedimental was totally complete and not only of the highest quality but also of a truly unique vision. What is significant in his work is the multiplicity of its action on the listener. It is a density of sound, acting in three-dimensions, not as auditory "sound effect" but as music with depth both physically and in functionality. Its intensity and purposefulness based in specific conceptual foundations and enhanced by a mastery (and transcendence) of technical means collapses amplified environmental recordings, drone manipulations, structured ambient soundscapes, microtones and overtones into unified whole. Sedimental is truly excited to be an early anchor of this young composer and sound artist's serious oeuvre. Novi_sad (Thanasis Kaproulias, b. 1980) is a graduate student from the Economic University of Piraues. He lives and works in Athens, Greece where he began generating sounds in 2005. His debut album Misguided heart pulses, a hammer, she and the clock received worldwide critical acclaim. Recently, Novi_sad did a recording session at the prestigious VPRO studios in Amsterdam, for the Dutch National Radio which will be released by Staalplaat [NL] in the Mort Aux Vaches series. A recent piece called Dramazon is available on TouchRadio from the publishing house Touch [U.K]. He is currently working on a project based on various methods of audio analysis called Sirens in which he explores the aesthetics of information on sound by using quantitative data from major stock market crashes in history.
Sedimental-053
CD
$12.25

Null, KK
Oxygen Flash
PS, US After playing the guitar as his main instrument for some twenty years, he has gradually moved toward a more electronic
approach. In recent years, he has concentrated on exploring the outer territories of electronica via intense, clashing waves of noise, structured electro-acoustic ambience, broken-down rhythmics, scattered pitch sculptures, & droning isolationist material which one could loosely describe as cosmic noise maximal/minimalism.
Neurot
CD
$16.00

Odd Nosdam
T.I.M.E. Soundtrack
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
Anticon
LP
$15.75

Odd Nosdam
T.I.M.E. Soundtrack
PS, US Created for the Element Skateboards film "This Is My Element," this is the first of its kind: an original, artist-composed score crafted to the beat of polyurethane pounding pavement. The veteran producer & beatsmith tailors each song to fit the style & cadence of the Element rider it accompanies. On its own, quite simply, this album is a banger.
Anticon
CD
$15.25

Of Montreal
Jon Brion Remix EP
PS, US Grammy-nominated producer Jon Brion has worked with Spoon, Kanye West,
Elliott Smith, and Fiona Apple, as well as scored the films Magnolia, Synechdoche
NY, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. An Elurdian Instance is Brion's most recent masterpiece and finds him reinterpreting two cuts from of Montreal's most recent album Skeletal Lamping. These are by no means remixes, as Brion literally reinterprets the songs by taking the basic tracks and adding more instrumentation and backing vocals, including the work of Nickel Creek vocalist and mandolin-player Chris Thile.
Polyvinyl-172
CD
$6.75

Olson, Mark & Gary Louris
Ready for the Flood
PS, US New collaboration from Jayhawks duo! Although they've toured together and renewed their friendship, this is the first recording by Olson and Louris since Olson left the Jayhawks in 1995. What would become READY FOR THE FLOOD was recorded at Sage & Sound Studios in Hollywood with friend Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. Louris had called in Robinson, who happened to be in town at that point, for vibe support and he ended up producing the album; he also appears on the album playing harmonica and contributing backing vocals.

READY FOR THE FLOOD captures the stripped down, fingerpicked guitar playing and Laurel Canyon sound of an earlier time, with allusions to English folk Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, John Renbourne, whom both Mark and Gary had both been getting into independently and a simpler, live recording technique where capturing the right vibe was as important as the sound. It s an album that only two career musicians and friends could make organic, intuitive and loosely confident, heartfelt and moving, echoing with the combined experience of two kindred spirits reuniting to do what they do and love best.
NewWest
CD
$17.75

O'Malley, Stephen
Keep an Eye Out!
PS, US Table of the Elements continues to celebrate its 15th anniversary with the tenth installment in its Guitar Series Vols. 3 & 4. It's a 12xLP romp of deviant fretnoise by some of experimental music's most prominent players, including Christian Fennesz, Thurston Moore, and Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley. Sunn O))) founder Stephen O'Malley summons a mesmerizing drone, absorbing the listener into an aural tar pit of deep, inexorable oblivion. He wears a cloak of post-metal allegiances with behemoths like Earth, but beneath that, there is a vibrant body of work that owes as much to the heady minimalism of Tony Conrad and Steve Reich. Constantly pushing at the extremes of volume and duration, O'Malley's sound is a physical phenomenon, infused with an intimidating power - and possessing, at its core, an oddly meditative tranquility. "The supremacy of Table of the Elements for the past decade as an unwavering outpost of ultra-experimental strains can be attributed to its concomitant adherence to valiance. Most of the Table of the Elements catalogue has no broad commercial appeal, and many of its projects - scores for films directed by early-60s Conrad associate Jack Smith or a 3xCD box set by an unknown two-guitars-and-drums trio from Atlanta - are risky ventures, even with respect to the experimental marketplace. Yet, this philosophy of risk works because everyone associated with the label feels like they're doing important work releasing important records, and they're willing to go for broke to make it happen." -PITCHFORK
"Table of the Elements [are] fearless purveyors of the wildest stuff around." -KYLE GANN (NEW YORK TIMES)
TableOfTheElements-101
LP
$14.25

One Up Downstairs, The
The One Up Downstairs
PS, US The One Up Downstairs is members of American Football, Owen, and Very Secretary. For years The One Up Downstairs was discussed on message boards and became the frequent recipient of questions sent to the Polyvinyl info e-mail account: were they actually a band, did they sound like American Football, did they ever record? The answers to all of these questions are a resounding "yes." In an effort to make the songs available to fans Polyvinyl released the band's only recorded output a few years ago, which led to another question: would the songs ever see a proper release as a 7"? Long sought after, these songs are now available as a 7" that includes a digital download code for the entire release.
Polyvinyl-112
45
$4.00

O'Rourke, Jim & Loren Connors
Two Nice Catholic Boys
PS, US These two nice Catholic boys, Loren Connors and Jim O'Rourke, met at the crossroads each night during a 1997 European tour. By this time O'Rourke had reissued Connors' seminal heartbreak album In Pittsburgh on his Dexter's Cigar label and was preparing to produce the guitarist's big-band mash-up Hoffman Estates with Alan Licht. Together, Connors-O'Rourke unravel slow motion Venusian style blues across three extended pieces to thundering, feedback splattered grooves. The spontaneous melodies shift from devastating, country road intimacy to hypnotic over-amped rock. It's ferocious, epic, and an utter beauty capable only from two who know themselves and each other all too well. This live CD is only the second duo release by these musical partners despite performing
together since the mid-90s. During the past decade, O'Rourke has repeatedly returned to hours of recordings captured across Europe to select these 47 minutes.
FamilyVineyard-59
CD
$11.50

Owen
(The EP)
PS, US Owen is Mike Kinsella (American Football, Joan of Arc, Cap'n Jazz). Previously only available as a CDEP and import-only 12", (the ep) is the usual blend of beautiful acoustic work and wry lyrics that fans have come to expect from Owen. What separates (the ep) from previous Owen titles is the subtle yet intricate inclusion of Cale Parks (Aloha) on drumming and vibraphones along with Jen Tabor on strings and the pedal steel work of Bob Hoffnar (Nora Jones, Ryan Adams). (the ep) continues Polyvinyl's efforts to release Owen's back catalog on high quality 180-gram vinyl. Digital download codes of (the ep) are included in all vinyl. Includes bonus track.
Polyvinyl-70
12
$10.25

Owen/Joan of Arc/Make Believe/The Love Of Everything
The Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers (2X7)
PS, US Repress. The Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers signifies the collaborative efforts of a group of Chicago musicians whose involvement with one another has spawned a host of influential bands, each connected to the other. Includes new songs from • Joan of arc, owen, make Believe, and the love of Everything as well as one surprise bonus track. Second pressing, on colored vinyl (purple and green) for the first time ever. • Double 7" with gatefold cover. • Includes digital download of all the songs.
Polyvinyl-090
45
$7.25

Owl Service
A Garland of Song
PS, US THE OWL SERVICE was formed by STEVEN COLLIN in 2006 as a vehicle to explore his love of British films and television of the 1960s and '70s, the great outdoors and the sound of the English folk revival. A Garland of Song was recorded and mixed almost entirely at home, with a group of like-minded collaborators, between December 2006 and June 2007; it fuses traditional British folk ballads with elements of psychedelic rock, occasionally bordering on a doom-laden garage sound, and is interspersed with Steven's original instrumental compositions. It recalls the great acid-folk bands of the late '60s/early '70s but never once sounds contrived or overtly retro.
Southern
CD
$14.50

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
S-T
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Slumberland
LP
$11.00

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
S-T
PS, US Since forming in early 2007, THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART have become one of the most talked-about pop bands in years. Their distinctive style tidily distills all the great noise-pop precedents-early My Bloody Valentine, House of Love, Pale Saints, Rocketship-with incredible exuberance and energy in every song. Following the band's ace Everything With You single and whirlwind Swedish tour, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart is an instant classic, packed with brilliantly executed pop gems that blend the rush of youthful enthusiasm with crafty arrangements, well-honed tunes and buckets of guitar racket. One instantly identifiable thing about a Pains record is the essential "rightness" of their tunes. They have captured the attention of pop fans around the world and raised anticipation levels for this album to a near-fever pitch. Touted by Pitchfork as one of the top 5 to watch in 2009.
Slumberland
CD
$12.00

Paisley, Doug
S-T
PS, US An album of folk songs that represent the American malaise. Sure, PAISLEY is Canadian (Toronto, to be exact) but so was Neil Young & 4/5 of The Band, & that didn't stop them from tapping into the collective psyche of the continent. Recalls an era fo songwriting that was more simple, more honest, more modest. A time before ipods & myspace, when making a good album was simply enough. Doug has toured recently w/ Bonnie "Prince" Billy under the pseudo name Dark Hand & Lamplight, a collaboration between himself & visual artist Shary Boyle. Shary creates live drawings & animates pre-drawn images on an overhead projector - all projected on a screen, on the wall, Doug, & other available surfaces. On NO QUARTER Recs (home of Endless Boogie, Laddio Bolocko, etc). CD comes in deluxe old-style tip-on gatefold sleeve.
NoQuarter
CD
$13.00

Parenthetical Girls
Safe As Houses [re-issue]
PS, US "THERE'S BLOOD BETWEEN MY LEGS, AND IN THE GRASS OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE I CAME." With this goose-pimplingly visceral couplet begins the fragile journey of Safe As Houses, the second album from experimental Northwestward pop band Parenthetical Girls. Though some two years past between the initial release of the (((GRRRLS))) LP (Parenthetical Girls' debut album, recently reissued on Slender Means Society), Safe As Houses' narrative begins precisely where that album left off-on the same sweat-and-menstrual-blood-soaked summer lawn that so tenderly concluded their debut-but this time from a harrowingly different perspective. "Love Connection, pt. 2" cements the somber, ostensibly sinister narrative tone that shrouds much of Safe As Houses, while simultaneously establishing the tremendous sonic leap the band undertook in their two years of relative quiet. From there, the record leaps into an altogether different sort of narrative-one anchored in the surprising confidence of words-singer Zac Pennington's plainspoken and startlingly corporeal apparitions. Unsettling and beautiful in equal measure, Pennington's a-linear narrative weaves the surprisingly evocative mythology that cradles the record's kitchen-sink experimentation. Recorded with the band's previous three-piece configuration (an ensemble made up of Pennington and Dead Science members Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff-a regular contributor to Xiu Xiu and Casiotone For the Painfully Alone, who also served as producer for the record), Safe As Houses embraces the group's shrewd attention to the awkward confluence of experimental and pop musics-creating a record that is at once more difficult and more intrinsically palatable (not to mention significantly darker) than anything so far bearing the Parenthetical Girls name. Which is to say, it's much better.
Tomlab-116
CD
$12.25

Parenthetical Girls
(((GRRRLS))) [re-issue]
PS, US The cumbersome history of the (((GRRRLS))) LP begins sometime in 2002, when two childhood friends began a home recording project in a failed milltown of Everett, Washington. Compiling an innocent assortment of equipment (bass synthesizer, ill-tuned guitar, analog tape delay, and glockenspiel), Pennington and thencollaborator Jeremy Cooper embarked on a course to emulate the spirit of their mutual musical interests, which at the time primarily included the likes of Brian Eno, Pete Kember, Phil Spector, and the early Rough Trade catalog. Over the following year, the clunky results were compiled onto a low bias cassette tape (split into a strained eight tracks) and labeled "Parenthetical Girls". This cassette was mixed down to a single copy, the original tape promptly lost. A year or so later--with the help of considerably more capable hands (namely the Dead Science's Jherek Bischoff and Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart- Pennington set about digitally (and heavily) retrofitting the original recordings into seven proper compositions. To further complicate matters, Pennington commissioned Bischoff and Stewart to complete two radically different sets of mixes for the songs-which have since become respectively known as the "O" and "X" versions of the record. But now it's four years on. In that time, Parenthetical Girls have released two more critically-acclaimed full lengths (2006's Safe As Houses [Slender Means Society] and this year's Entanglements [Tomlab]), toured the US and Europe with the likes of Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Los Campesinos!, Evangelicals, and Casiotone For the Painfully Alone (whose album Etiquette, incidentally, features a rather lovely cover of (((GRRRLS)))' closing track "Love Connection"). We are pleased to finally present (((GRRRLS))) with the wide distribution that it deserves for the first time. In an attempt to maintain the distinct duality of the LP release, the CD version of (((GRRRLS))) features both editions of the album-but in two different, enhanced CD formats: version "O" (as mixed by Jherek Bischoff) plays on any standard CD player like your average CD should, while the "X" version (as mixed by Jamie Stewart), takes advantage of the near ubiquity of the iPod revolution by offering its tracks as super high quality MP3s, accessible via any computer. (Confused? Me too. Just put it in your computer-you'll figure it out). Additionally, the enhanced materials feature "Inspirational Shortpants (avec paroles)," a track not available on the original vinyl release.
Tomlab-115
CD
$12.25

Pattern Is Movement
All Together
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Hometapes
LP
$14.00

Pegasuses-XL
Electro Agitators
PS, US Featuring members of DISBAND, WE VERSUS THE SHARK, DARK MEAT, CINEMECHANICA & BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. This compilation of the group's first 3 self-released EPs is a synth fueled punk rock experiment w/ nods to 90's hip hop & Kraftwerk. Since the initial release of the EPs, the band has toured the US w/ Girl Talk & Pattern Is Movement.
Ernest Jenning
CD
$10.00

Peyton, Caroline
Intuition
PS, US Issued in 1977, the 10-song album has been expanded to 17, including 2 studio outtakes and 5 demos recorded for Arista. Booklet feat. a dozen candid photos from the period & Edd Hurt's account of Caroline's final days as an outsider folk goddess. "A middle road between Buffy Sainte-Marie's electro-augmented "Illuminations" & Nick Drake's "Pink Moon." - Pitchfork
Asterisk
CD
$15.75

Peyton, Caroline
Mock Up
PS, US Issued in 1972, this 10-song album has been expanded to 14, including 3 vocal cuts on the SCREAMING GYPSY
BANDITS "In The Eye" LP. Dug up in the process was a live performance at Hummingbird Cafe in 1972 captured on film, added as enhanced content on this CD. Liners document the making of "Mock Up" & the Bloomington, IN scene of the 1970s, and feat. scores of unpublished photos
Asterisk
CD
$15.75

Phantom Band
Checkmate Savage
PS, UK This is where Beefheart meets Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, where Neu! meets nick Cave. The end result however is truly special, bringing to mind the beat savvy of The Beta Band, the other-worldliness of Super Furry Animals & the mood of Hallowed Ground-era Violent Femmes.
ChemikalUnderground
CD
$14.25

Phosphorescent
To Willie
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
DeadOceans-013
LP
$12.25

Phosphorescent
To Willie
PS, US In 1975 Willie Nelson recorded the album To Lefty FromWillie, 10 songs in which Nelson pays homage to Lefty Frizell, reinterpreting his favorites from the Frizzell catalog and stamping them with his own unique voice, reshaping them into his own new classics. Now Phosphorescent has done the same for Willie Nelson by bringing us To Willie. Here, Matthew Houck has selected 11 of his favorite Willie Nelson songs and does much more than just simply cover them. He has not selected the greatest hits, but rather digs deep, offering renditions of hidden Nelson gems and lost classics. The songs collected here seem cracked from Phosphorescent's proprietary mold with Matthew Houck's unmistakable voice leading the way. They feel lived in, they feel weathered and they feel just like Phosphorescent. Phosphorescent's 2007 breakthrough album Pride sounded best at the latest of hours-it was narcotic, dreamy and fraught. Following the release of this insomniac masterpiece, Houck toured relentlessly with a solid rock band, turning the meditations of Pride into another beast entirely. Loose and booze-fueled, Phosphorescent put on electrifying performances night after night in which Houck stepped out as confident frontman and band leader. Without question, those hard-living months on the road greatly impacted the To Willie sessions. Houck's swagger and confidence shines through like never before-on songs like "Reasons to Quit" and "I Gotta Get Drunk" Phosphorescent rumbles with a soulful groove that was a fixture of the live show, but was never touched upon in previous recordings. Recalling the finest moments of the late-'70s work of Waylon Jennings and Nelson himself, Phosphorescent has delivered a glorious hangover of an album. It is so much more than a collection of Willie Nelson cover songs-it is a full-blown new classic. But this is not a musical reinvention of the band - Phosphorescent returns with all acknowledged charms in tow; the gentle duet of "It's Not Supposed to be ThatWay," the hauntingly beautiful choir of "Can I Sleep In Your Arms," and the spacious, synth-heavy "Permanently Lonely" all work to pull this album together as a cohesive statement. As the liner notes of Nelson's To Lefty FromWillie simply state: "This album is an unabashed musical love letter. From one towering talent to another."We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
DeadOceans-013
CD
$11.50

Photobooth
Da Me Tus Besos b/w You & 3 In the Morning
PS, US New Bay area band w/ members of the FM Knives and Mothball. 3 catchy
songs.
Daggerman
45
$5.50

Pink Reason/Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones
Split
PS, US Another couple of months and it's time for another great Pink Reason record. This time he goes at it with fellow Wisconsin-ites Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones and they cover each other's songs. Maybe it's the fact that HBJOs have backed up Mr. Pink Reason on many occasions or maybe it is the times they shared in a midwest more isolated than most of us imagine or maybe it is just that both bands are really great. No matter the reason what you get is a great record.
FloridasDyingRecords
12
$12.00

Point Juncture, WA
Heart To Elk
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Mt.Fuji
LP
$16.75

Point Juncture, WA
Heart To Elk
PS, US The group keep their focus towards modern classics like Yo La Tengo's "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One" & the Jogges "Solid Guild" while creating something that sounds fresh & entirely exciting.
Mt.Fuji
CD
$12.75

Pollard, Robert
Crawling Distance
PS, US From the stately Krautrock chug of the album opener, "Faking My Harlequin," to the schizo-frenetic closing track, "Too Much Fun," w/ its structural U-turns piled on top of tempo shifts, this is unlike any Pollard release yet.
GBV
CD
$15.25

Pollard, Robert
Crawling Distance
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
GBV
LP
$15.25

Primus
Saling the Seas of Cheese
PS, US 180gm vinyl LP! Another alternative classic originally released in 1991, available on vinyl for the 1st time since its initial release. The 3rd album from LES CLAYPOOL & co., & 1st for a major label, is a twisted mix of prog rock, funk & punk, w/ a taste for Frank Zappa's humor & Captain Beefheart's guttural growl. One of few bands to have the bass as the prominent instrument, w/ Claypool alternating from funky slaps to throbbing power chords to heavy, heavy solos, the guitar providing almost dissonant texturing beneath
the bass' shredding. Feat. the MTV hit "Jerry Was A Race Car Driver," this is an alternative classic that stands up next to the best work of folks like Jane's Addiction & Nirvana.
Plain
LP
$16.75

Psychic Ills
Mirror Eye
PS, US "Psychic Ills have that dance band by accident thing going for them in a big way. Everything about them is bewitching, really, evacuating, an unlikely future-primitive grind." - Village Voice "This NYC quartet set their stall somewhere between oceanic guitar abstraction and the brittle crunch of psychedelic guitar rock, feeding their extended chugging jams through a thick fog of fuzz." - The Wire Mirror Eye, the second full-length album from Psychic Ills, is an altogether heady affair and as its title suggests, a perspective reflection. Through the course of eight tracks, Elizabeth Hart, Jimy SeiTang, Brian Tamborello and Tres Warren journey through a unique amalgamation of electronic explorations, improvised jamming and various sonic experiments that yield a record at once familiar and otherworldly - and unlike anything happening right now. Sprawling opener "Mantis" sets the record's tone with modulating synths and hand drums that give way to a loose groove, terrestrial guitar patterns and shamanic vocals. If you are still around when it rolls into its ending nearly 11 minutes later, its safe to say that you're on board. Following that, the open-ended trance rock of the second track, 'Meta' fades up as if the band has already been jamming on it long before the listener has been let in. It departs in a similar fashion, save for a brief reprise of reversed tape and whatever remnants of the chorus' "Meta, Meta, Meta" are hanging around in the listener's head like a contact high. "Sub Synth" is an off-the-cuff synthesizer splice that descends into the improvised space raga of "Eyes Closed." I Take You As My Wife Again" continues deeper into the abstract with metallic synths and improvised electronics transitioning into organic percussion and whistles before ultimately arriving at its minimal techno inspired ending. Fingernail Tea" is the most straight forward song and vaguely harkens back to elements of their previous full-length, Dins. The hallucinatory next track, "The Way Of" is the album's last burst of energy, forming out of spinning synths and clatter, and riding an eastern bass line and watery guitar riff before unravelling under percussion and goat scream mania. final track "Go to the radio" is a come down of sorts combining two main processed loops, an electronic tambura with a circular dubbed-out field recording of a man's voice repeating the song's name and message, and perhaps the album's for that matter. Mirror Eye is the imaginative culmination of a period of exploration for Psychic Ills. A transcendent combination of musics that symbolizes how far the band has and continues to evolve beyond genre - and a fun listen too. This release will be followed by a mini-lp in the winter of other unheard material from this period.
TheSocialRegistry-066
CD
$11.50

Psychic Ills
Mirror Eye
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
TheSocialRegistry-066
LP
$12.25

Quatre Tete
Art of the State
PS, US Synapse-melting timing & memory challenging arrangements that never overwhelm the pure joy of a rock band firing on all cylinders. Recorded and mixed by Bob Weston at Electrical Audio, cover artwork by Jay Ryan.
Sickroom
CD
$13.00

Rabid Rabbit
S-T
PS, US Vinyl with free download code! What began as a two piece instrument of terror between Mike Tsoulos & Andrea Jablonski
quickly grew & the buzz saw guitar antics of Gregg Prickett were enlisted. Arman Mabry joined the ranks shortly after on second bass & Rabid Rabbit was spawned. Giving nods to such influences as Sea of Tombs, Earth, Jucifer & Harvey Milk, the band weaves arrangements of doom, rock, jazz & always the heavy low end groan of dual bass.
Interloper
LP
$12.50

Ratatat
Mirando
PS, US Brand new single from last summer's still hot "LP3" LP/CD that features a Yacht remix as well as a remix by Animal
Collective.
XL
12
$6.25

Record Collector
#359 (February 2009)
PS, UK
ZINE
$10.25

Red Light Driver
And Now We Can Be Ourselves
PS, US This atmospheric blend of pop jumps between '70s post-punk (Joy DIvision, Wire), '80s alternative (The Church, Echo & the Bunnymen), & '90s Britpop (Stone Roses, Ride).
MFT
CD
$13.75

Rodriguez-Lopez, Omar
Old Money
PS, US New album from that Mars Volta guy, who's getting almost Pollard-esque in his release schedule, pretty prolific!
StonesThrow
CD
$15.25

Romance of Young Tigers
Marie
PS, US The group guide us through an all-consuming, inherently powerful two-part symphony of glacial-paced chord shifts, electromagnetic static, rumbling surface reverberations & resonating warmth. At times, the sound generated resembles that of an angelic choir, as the apparitional, slow-motion melodic drones thaw, melting layer upon layer of sound into pindrop silence & back again into monolithic walls of noise. Fans of Machinebabriek take note.
MagicBullet
CD
$14.50

Romweber, Dex Duo
Ruins of Berlin
PS, US This promises to be the greatest of Dex's post-FLAT DUO JETS releases thus far, and an exemplary addition to his long and storied career. Here, Dex is joined by his sister Sarah (formerly of LET'S ACTIVE and SNATCHES OF PINK) in a true return-to-form from the man who paved the way for mega-popular two-piece garage engines like Black Keys and the White Stripes. Also included here are duets with such luminaries as CAT POWER, NEKO CASE, and EXENE CERVENKA.
Bloodshot
CD
$12.75

Rose, Ethan
Oaks
PS, US Drawing from his interests in musique concrete, chance operations, & American minimalism, he creates shifting sound experiments that merge the old w/ the new. Much of his recent work has centered on instruments from eras long past, including music boxes, player pianos, carillons, & theater organs. However, he is interested in pulling new sounds & ideas out of these antiquated devices rather than treating them w/ a sense of preservation.
Holocene
CD
$15.75

Roses Kings Castles
S-T
PS, US Adam Ficek's (BABYSHAMBLES) new album of quixotic, chiming, & blissfully astute acoustic pop songs. Lost somewhere between Belle & Sebastian's pastoral warmth & the hallucinatory six-string invocations of Syd Barrett, a typical track is buoyed by the finest elements of classic British songwriting - by turns wry, bizarre and beautiful.
SycamoreClub
CD
$16.25

Royal Trux
Twin Infinitives
PS, US First VINYL pressing since the original LP issue in 1990! When it was released in late '90, Twin Infinitives raised the bar for avant-garde pop music. Listening to some today's pop music, the influences seems undeniable.
DragCity
DLP
$19.25

Royal Trux
S-T
PS, US First VINYL pressing since the original 1988 Royal Records LP issue. Royal Trux burst from the belly of NYC-cum-DC scum punks Pussy Galore in 1986 to gather scraps from glam, burial dub, rockabilly & more to create their version of a rock & roll sound. A cult quickly sprang up around the band & their sporadic live appearances.
DragCity
LP
$15.75

Shearer, Rachel
Fakerie
PS, US Fakerie is a digital séance of aural and visual sculptures by the New Zealand artist Rachel Shearer, formerly known as Lovely Midget. Filmed in an environment to facilitate focused listening, Fakerie is as much for the ears as the eyes. Glowing white lights ebb and expand from darkness in shifting series - like clustered stars - as penetrating resonances of acoustic and electronic overtones decompose into the tiniest sand-like components. Traces of Mary Lucier's mid-1970s burn films and Francois Bayle's musical investigation into the physical and psychical world is present. The specially programmed Region 0 (free)/NTSC format DVD plays in constant loop. Its 22- minutes can be expanded into hours allowing the user to immerse themselves in the work. This DVD is Shearer's first long-form film release. In the past 20 years, she has released records on some of the global underground's most significant labels - Siltbreeze, Xpressway, Flying Nun, Corpus Hermeticum and Ecstatic Peace - as Lovely Midget and with Queen Meanie Puss and Angelhead. Packaged in a mini-LP-styled gatefold book, this set also contains a 20-page booklet investigating the ghosts, distances and signals of fakerie.
FamilyVineyard-40
DVD
$14.25

Sickboy
Time To Play vol. 1
PS, GERMANY People asked for it, it was announced, and here it is: the first of the two vinyl 12" presenting Sickboy's "Time To Play" album on wax, featuring this musician's most infectious, catchiest and most efficient material. While the noise might be gone for good, Sickboy's new clothes are of the colorful party kind. Mixing old school rave, new school electro, breaks and madness, Sickboy hits the nail on its head and invites everybody to play, rave and party non-stop. Refreshing! Featuring big format artwork by Droon and Emily Hasselhoof.
AdNoiseam-107
12
$11.25

Sigur Ros
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
PS, US This album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, up front presence not found in previous recordings; moving away from reverb-soaked guitar sounds towards something altogether more affecting. It also contains some of the most joyous music Sigur Ros has ever recorded. "Old fashioned psychedelic grandeur...is revived with otherworldly majesty and inexorable crescendos¿a typically majestic but uncharacteristically summery album, with jolts of percussive energy and connotations of sunlight and air" - NY Times. Double LP on HQ 180 gram vinyl.
XL
DLP
$20.00

Six Organs of Admittance
RTZ (3XLP)
PS, US Multi-faceted triple-gatefold LP!!!
DragCity
LP
$20.00

Six Organs of Admittance
RTZ
PS, US The double-CD, triple-LP epic called RTZ (named after the button on a Tascam 484 that "returns to zero") fashions several lesser-known pieces from Six Organs of Admittance's early years into a massive prismatic arc, colossal & organic like some wonder of the ancient world. RTZ travels back to the dawn of this century to locate "Resurrection," half of a Time-Lag split 12" with Charalambides. "Warm Earth, Which I've Been Told" is half of a Mental Telemetry split CD with Vibracathedral Orchestra & Magic Carpithans from 2003. "You Can Always See the Sun," was part of Three Lobed Recordings' Purposeful Availments subscription CD series in 2002. And "Nightly Trembling" was released way back in 1999 in an edition of 33 copies, all given away for free! Combined with a never-before-released extended piece called "Punish the Chasm with Wings" from pre-millennial days & you've got yourself a deep, DEEP box set.
DragCity
DCD
$15.50

Skull Defekts
Waving
PS, US Limited edition of 300. Screen printed heavy duty jackets. The Skull Defekts is a band from Sweden in the very North of Europe. Their intense, monotonous, rhythmic and sexual out rock has since their start in early 2005 been spreading energies of various kinds to welcoming audiences and listeners. The DFX have also been exploring worlds of noise, the drone and psychedelic electronics on waves on releases for labels like Riot Season, iDEAL, Release The Bats and Conspiracy Records. Their upcoming album for Important Records - "The Temple" (February 2009) can be seen as the follow up to last years "Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing" (Conspiracy/Nail) but it's deeper, harder, more sex, more occult. A 7" from the album entitled "Waving" with an exclusive B-side is released in 300 copies for their October 2008 tour, also on Important. The tour is their first one in North America but they have played all over Europe and the Skulls have only hit Chicago before... It's time for others to get DFXed. DFX is sex, rhythm and the power of sound.
Important-235
45
$11.50

Sleepover Disaster
Hover
PS, US "Layered soundscapes of guitars married to some pounding post-shoegazer rock" - The Big Takeover
DevilintheWoods
CD
$11.75

Slim Twig
Derelict Dialect
PS, US A chameleonic artist in the tradition of Bowie or Beck, Slim is a performer based out of Toronto. Inspired by pillars of music and film avant garde like Scott Walker, Nick Cave, Godard and Lynch, Twig's sound has morphed several times from hish early apocalyptic folk incarnation to a fuller art-pop sound to the grittier self-coined genre of "concrete rockabilly." Now collected in 2 EPs, Derelict Dialect and Vernacular Violence.
PaperBag
CD5
$7.50

Slim Twig
Vernacular Violence
PS, US A chameleonic artist in the tradition of Bowie or Beck, Slim is a performer based out of Toronto. Inspired by pillars of music and film avant garde like Scott Walker, Nick Cave, Godard and Lynch, Twig's sound has morphed several times from hish early apocalyptic folk incarnation to a fuller art-pop sound to the grittier self-coined genre of "concrete rockabilly." Now collected in 2 EPs, Derelict Dialect and Vernacular Violence.
PaperBag
CD5
$7.50

Slowblow
S-T [re-issue]
PS, ICELAND 2004 release, repressed. The Icelandic duet, Slowblow (Orri Jónsson and Dagur Kári Petursson), has been active for over a decade. They have made their mark on the Icelandic underground scene with a certain kind of friendly dust-music. They exhibit a uniquely Icelandic aesthetic of home-made, lo-fi analog tinkerings, which both musically and lyrically blend together the everyday and the fantastic. On the album, Slowblow match the gentle hum of ancient amplifiers and the tinkling hammers of an old upright piano with the soft squeaking of pump organ pedals or the sound of mechanical sewing machines; for them these are not unwanted artifacts, but the very essence of their sound.
Mobile
CD
$15.00

Sok, G.W. (The Ex)
Into The Gravy
PS, US For this booklet (#45) we reprinted essays by G.W. Sok, a member and vocalist of the Dutch music group The Ex. This 1989 essay was originally published in the book "Threat by Example" which is out of print and will not be reprinted. The essay includes a funny and caustic take on the corporate music industry as well as wonderful reflections on The Ex's group practice and their efforts to build and work in an ethical and independent international network. G.W. Sok has written a new introduction to the text and designed all new layout for the booklet. The Ex continue to inspire us all the time with new and exciting collaborations. A fascinating group that is not to be missed live and has an endless and rich back catalog of great recordings. Visit www.theex.nl to learn more and hear some of their music.
ZINE
$3.00

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Puzzle
Split
PS, US Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is a critically acclaimed, blog-adored band that have shared the stage with Mute Math, of Montreal, Sound Team, Catfish Haven, Chin Up Chin Up, and more. They've headlined in Europe and even made their way to their namesake's homeland of Russia. Spin declared them the band that "could succeed The Shins," and enthusiastic press rolled in. After releasing their sophomore album, Pershing, earlier this year, the band has raised the bar even higher and gained the attention of many listeners, drawn to their massive hooks and quirky melodies. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin entered the studio yet again to record these two exclusive 7" songs, and asked their friends from the band Puzzle to do the same. Puzzle is a four-piece band from Liverpool, England that ShoutandTwist.com calls "feel-good indie pop but in a really amazing magical way." Every 7" includes a free digital download code.
Polyvinyl-159
45
$4.00

Sound Of Arrows, The
M.A.G.I.C.
PS, SWEDEN The Sound of Arrows has gathered a young chanting school class, a girl singer from Tokyo and a handful of well-hidden un-cleared samples, which they've mixed with bouncy analogue synthesizers, soulful guitars and orchestral instruments over a hundred recording channels. The result is a marvelous mix of old TV shows for children, old school hip-hop, new disco and timeless pop hits! The Sound of Arrows debut EP "Danger!" gave them a minor indie hit on both the domestic and the international scene. The song was used in one of the world's most popular TV series, Gossip Girl, reached #1 on the Elbo.ws chart and got them touring halfway across the world. But ToA is not the kind who becomes stressed by success. The new single "M.A.G.I.C." clearly proves they've already improved and developed further since the debut and that the future definitely belongs to The Sound of Arrows. The title track comes in five different versions and they throw in a cozy little track called "Smalltown lullaby" in which a storyteller is backed up with angelic vocals, falling stars and jingle bells. The remixes encompasses several decades. They enter the 70s with the circus sounding version from Ice Cream Shout, the 80s with the up and coming NYC-retro-duo Let's Get Invisible, the 90s is delivered with breakbeats and trip hop sounds of the Uffie och Pharell-remixer Curtis Vodka. And finally, the 00_s and the future are presented by the CSS of Spain, Cof Cof. The Sound of Arrows is right now working on their debut album that will be out in the spring of 2009.
Labrador-119
CD5
$9.50

Spencer, Angelo
Music Is My Sweat b/w Great Salt Lake
PS, US 2 songs: My Music Is My Sweat b/w Great Salt Lake "My Music is My Sweat" began with a conversation between Karl Blau and Angelo Spencer about how music is similar to body odor and, like everyone's stench, one's music is also unique and identifiable. Angelo's music is as raw as sweat. Recorded in one day, on one take by Blau, this 7" is a puddle of twitchy urgency. Generally a one-man band, this recording is fleshed out with frantic drum fills and fidgety keys by L'Orchidee d'Hawaii soon after they finished a tour with Spencer. "My Music is My Sweat" is the sprint and "The Great Salt Lake" is the cool-down, exasperated pause needed to sprint and sweat again; embellished with distant whistling - like the playful intermission of a spaghetti western - and Spencer is the wandering hero. "Music should always be like that." featuring L'Orchidee d'Hawaii
Krecords-121
45
$3.75

Spiritual Singers
Ntsamina
PS, US Teenage Congolese gospel group from the early '80's. Male & female vocals. From slow dirges to fast African rockers. A truly unique record. Beautiful tip-on sleeve might be one of Mississippi's finest yet.
Mississippi
LP
$12.75

Stars Of The Lid
Music for Nitrous Oxide
PS, US Repress/reissue. DEBUT OF THE CLASSIC FROM THE POST-ROCK DRONE MASTERS. NEW VERSION RE-MASTERED WITH NEW COVER ART. This was sedimental's first cd release back in 1994. Robert Ovetz (Ultrasound) mentioned this guy Adam who was doing amazing 4-track stuff at home. I think the name of the tape he gave me was called "Ombudsman". The success of this release was a nice surprise and certainly having Joel at Cargo champion it, who was just getting Kranky going as well, certainly put us both out there. Ultimately, SOTL ended up at Kranky and are still making amazing recordings for them. Many say this is still their favorite Lid release, although I am partial to the "Ballested Orchestra" too. It certainly remains a powerful touchstone for and precursor to, the post-whatever independent music scene and still sounds incredibly solid and undated today. Though Stars founder Adam Wiltzie has admittedly distanced himself from the release in terms of artistic terms he felt it was time to re-visit and re-fresh the work with a new mastering job, as well as having new artwork designed by longtime visual collaborator Craig McCaffrey. Sedimental has always kept the document in print in its original form with a remarkably steady stream of sales, but we welcomed the opportunity to update the release and make it more widely available to a new generation, so to speak. Below are excerpts from the original press release which still seem quite relevant and accurate: Sedimental announces the first CD from Austin drone stars Stars of the Lid, an amazing 4-track recording that is created in the spirit of Eno, Main, and Spacemen 3. Produced without keyboards, this lo-fi ambient journey employs predominately guitar, avoiding typical rock elements while still possessing the "home" recorded feel of so much independent music. Being based in Austin, a town loaded with so many heavy guitar bands, one wonders how they came to make such hypnotic and engaging sounds. Especially when Stars mastermind Adam Wiltzie is involved with so many "rock" bands himself, having recorded Ed Hall's Motherscratcher and its forthcoming release, the Flaming Lips Peel Sessions, as well as running sound for Bad Livers, and Doo Rag tours. Citing Cage, Spacemen 3, Robert from Main and Loop, nitrous oxide, and Bedhead as artistic inspirations, he also comments the group is a reaction against the "muscle" rock and C&W that dominates the Austin music scene and a way to withdraw from it. Despite their current unknown status, we at Sedimental were so impressed by the music of Stars of the Lid , we felt it worthy of our first CD release. After giving this a few listens (especially the brilliant trio of tracks 7,8, and 9), we are sure you will think they belong on the same plateau as EAR, Labradford, Main, and Organum.
Sedimental-023
CD
$12.25

Strand Of Oaks
Leave Ruin
PS, US Debut full length takes cues from luminaries such as Nebraska era Bruce Springsteen and a burgeoning Neil Young.
LaSocieteExpedion
CD
$12.00

Strings Of Consciousness & Angel
S/T
PS, US Featuring members of Pan Sonic & Mum! This is collaboration between Angel (containing members of Mum and Pan Sonic) and Strings Of Consciousness. This dense and droney construction echoes platinum reflections with warm fluidity and delicate detail. The more attention you'll bestow on that record, the more unsuspected new paths you'll be invited to wander about. This is an intricate and imaginative soundtrack with several layers of sound, gathering both organic and sonic elements to assemble a post-industrial sound structure. The latter will give life to a noisy magma where unexpected clicks stumble over interferences, where digital accidents happen and where drones, acoustic resonance fill the space in time. A multitude of digital notes will slowly stretch to reach a dark-grey chaos, a pure and clean big bang echoing and calling lost sound memories. ANGEL: Ilpo Väisänen (Finland), worked with Ultra 3, Sinø and is half of world famous duo Pan Sonic Dirk Dresselhaus (Germany) releases under the pseudonym SchneiderTM who are signed to City Slang and Mute America. Hildur Gudnadottir plays cello for Mum, Johannes Johannsson, Stillupsteypa, BJ Nilsen, and has a prominent feature on the recent Pan Sonic CD. ... As Angel they have released albums on BiP_Hop and Oral. And now signed to Mego.
Important-227
CD
$13.00

Subtle Turnhips
F* the People F* the Power, F* the People to the Power b/w Dinner Time" & "Summer Wine
PS, US
HoZacRecords
45
$5.25

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names
#4
PS, SWEDEN Oh, how we've been waiting for this moment! A three years long hiatus is finally over and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names return to exceed every expectation. #4 is four-track-smash-hit-EP that introduces a wide range of new delicate musical flavors. The Kids mix British soul, tropical rhythms and Turkish disco with a bittersweet taste of lonely afternoons listening to Swedish radio. Nothing less than brilliant! Suburban Kids with Biblical Names' debut #3 was released in 2005 and received amazing reviews in Sweden and was even nominated for a Swedish Grammy. The album was later released on Minty Fresh in North America (2006) and Yesboyicream in the UK (2007) that further spread the word about their playful, catchy and highly unique pop sound. Listening to the band's new songs three distinct changes in sound instantly comes to mind; they've multiplied the number of instruments in their line-up, they've introduced soul and they sing in Swedish well, (at least on one of their songs!). Suburban Kids with Biblical Names in 2009 produce their music with chaotic playfulness. The songs seem to be living a life of their own, going through a large number of transformations before being finished. One and the same song usually passes around five different versions (a song might start as a slow country and western ballad and end up as energetic Afro pop) before the band is happy and the song is finished. It's definitely not a time efficient way of working. But, it does seem to make wonders for the final result.
Labrador-107
CD5
$9.50

Super Vacations
S-T
PS, US Limited to 500, with a somewhat tenuous Wavves connection! Based out of Norfolk, VA, The Super Vacations provide a great body high with their circa The Who meets Dick Dale meets pure timeless pop tunes with a lo-fi recording. Their sound is akin to seminal "nuggets" less aggro Black Lips, and a whole lot of 13th Floor Elevators. "Everybody loves vacations. especially super ones. And if everyone loved gritty lo-fi pop music, that would be cool too." - BmoreMusic Blog
Shadowplay
LP
$11.00

Swervedriver
Raise [expanded re-issue]
PS, US Limited edition digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of this 1991 album from the British Shoegazing legends featuring four rare bonus tracks ('Hands', 'Andaluc¡a', 'Kill The Superheroes' and 'Over') and additional liner notes from the band. 16 tracks total.
Hi-SpeedSoul
CD
$13.75

Swervedriver
Mezcal Head [expanded re-issue]
PS, US Limited edition digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of this 1993 album from the British Shoegazing legends featuring four rare bonus tracks ('Never Lose That Feeling', 'Planes Over The Skyline', 'The Hitcher' and 'Paris') and additional liner notes from the band. 16 tracks total.
Hi-SpeedSoul
CD
$13.75

Szajner, Bernard
Some Deaths Take Forever
PS, UK LTM presents the second in a series of expanded CD reissues by visionary French electronic composer Bernard Szajner. Originally released in late 1980, Some Deaths Take Forever is a deeply emotional, sometimes disturbing musical account of the feelings of a prisoner on death row, conceived as the soundtrack to a short film by Amnesty International. The album mixes dark, angular and unnerving electronic textures with dynamic rock arrangements, guest musicians including Bernard Paganotti of Magma. Reviews rated the album highly: 'A modern electronic masterwork - one of the most exciting and innovative piece of electronic music to be released this year' (Melody Maker); 'Frantic, outraged music shames the bulk of oscillator nuts peddling their dodgy little repetitions around' (Sounds); 'Unquestionably one of the decade's most accomplished fusions of sophisticated electronics and driving rock' (NME). The expanded 60 minute CD features three previously unreleased bonus tracks, recorded in 1982.
Boutique-6620
CD
$17.00

Tarentel
Live Edits: Italy/Switzerland
PS, US Over the course of numerous dates in Italy, the group (a trio on this tour of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Danny Grody, & Jim Redd) improvised every set they played w/often stunning results. This is not your grandfather's Tarentel. This is full of pounding tribal drums & walls of mixer feedback, floating guitar trips & walls of noise - a tug-of war between beauty & tension. Limited to 500 copies
Digitalis
CD
$11.00

Telescopes
Untitled 2nd
PS, US Released in the US for the first time, augmented w/ 4 bonus tracks. The group was among the most innovative & challenging yet successful artists in Creation Records' "middle period", a leading part of the wave of sonic experimenters who included Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, Spectrum & Spiritualized. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "The songs are built on acoustic guitars, then the tricked-out electric guitars are laid on top & garnished w/ bongos, organs, pianos, & all sorts of classic instruments. Stephen Lawrie's vocals are restrained & semi-emotional & female backing vocals add a touch of sweetness that might otherwise be missing from the record, as the overall atmosphere is very moody & introspective"
Bomp!
CD
$13.75

Temporary Conversations
Temporary Conversations: Tim Kerr
PS, US This booklet, #81, is the second in our interview series Temporary Conversations. Some excerpts from the introduction:
"Tim Kerr is a musician, studio engineer and visual artist based in Austin, Texas. He played guitar in the Big Boys, an Austin band that was heavily responsible for putting Texas on the map in the punk and hardcore underground. The Big Boys lasted from 1979-1984. Kerr went on to play in numerous other bands, including Poison 13, Bad Mutha Goose and the Brothers Grimm, MonkeyWrench, Jack O' Fire, Lord High Fixers, King Sound Quartet, the Now Time Delegation, and most recently, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee. He has also recorded and produced (or, as he modestly says, "... [B]een a guidance counselor,") for dozens of bands on nearly 150 releases. In addition to all of that, Kerr has increasingly immersed himself in painting and drawing. Since 2000, he has widely exhibited his works, which commonly pay tribute to exactly the kind of musical, social and political revolutionary ass-kickers that one would expect a trailblazer like Kerr to be inspired by. If Tim Kerr had only played in any one of his bands, or recorded a few of the great records he's helped bring into existence, he would have paid his musical dues and then some. Thankfully, he remains as creatively hyperactive as ever, while paying the bills by working for the University of Texas (UT), along with his wife Beth, where he digitizes audio and video collections for the archives of their libraries."This is easily one of the most extensive interviews with Tim Kerr that we have ever seen. He has an incredibly positive and inspiring approach to life, creativity, and working with others that we are excited to be able to share. In addition to the interview, this includes photos by Bill Daniel, Tim's wife Beth Kerr, and others. It also features multiple illustrations of Tim's art, as well as punk fliers that he designed in the early 1980s. Now what are you doing to participate?
ZINE
$3.00

Temporary Conversations
Temporary Conversations: The Dicks
PS, US This booklet, #82, is the third in our interview series Temporary Conversations. Some excerpts from the introduction:
"The Dicks were confrontational right out of the gate. A seminal band, and not just because singer Gary Floyd sometimes threw condoms filled with fake cum into the crowd. By all accounts, the Dicks challenged their audiences and revealed new possibilities. They made their concerts a hell of an experience and created memorable political music with a sound that was completely their own. The Dicks formed in Austin in 1980. They relocated to San Francisco and changed personnel halfway through the duration of the group, before breaking up in 1986." ... "For this booklet we wanted to include not just members of the Dicks' Austin line up, but also hear from others who witnessed their Texas years. Tim Kerr of the Big Boys, a band that shared many shows and the aforementioned live split LP with the Dicks, offers a short but sweet recollection. Austin Chronicle writer Margaret Moser agreed to a full interview where she describes the musical landscape of Austin leading up the Dicks' formation, as well as the personal impact their music had for her. Photographer Bill Daniel sent us some photos from the Dicks' Texas years and Dave Ensminger and Ryan Richardson scanned examples from their flyer collections. The Dicks' singer Gary Floyd took some questions via e-mail and Dicks bassist Buxf Parrot was interviewed on the phone."
ZINE
$3.00

Tillman, J.
Vacilando Territory Blues
PS, US Since 2004, J. Tillman has quietly been releasing records, some of limited quantity, some mostly available in Europe, but for the most part, unheard. The borderline-alienating starkness and well lived-in narratives of his first two records, I Will Return and Long May You Run, J. Tillman (released in limited runs of 150) endeared him to fans of and drew comparisons to the likes of Nick Drake, Will Oldham, and Jason Molina. In 2006, after three months in Europe touring on his third and most accessible album, Minor Works, Tillman recorded his fourth collection of songs at home with his brother and roommate. Cancer and Delirium struck a perfect balance between the intimacy of his earlier releases with the nuanced, melodic sense of Minor Works. Each song imbued with the same strikingly disconsolate singing and devastatingly poignant prose that Tillman is known for and accented with some of his most gorgeous, spare arrangements. Vacilando Territory Blues, Tillman's fifth and first with Western Vinyl, came as the result of three different recording attempts in 2008, in which entire sessions were scrapped, and ultimately the majority of the final material would surface and be recorded days before mastering. The push and pull of this record veers sharply from the tone of Tillman's previous releases, which for the most part, adhere to a singular mood and stylistic execution. The tension dynamically between songs like "Firstborn" and "New Imperial Grand Blues" is hard to reconcile, but the way the songs are framed herein belies a cohesion not dissimilar to classic oddball albums such as After The Goldrush. Sacrifcing a stylized album, the breadth of Tillman's abilities as a songwriter emerge on VTB, in an array of musical personalities bound by his lyrical existential dread and economical arrangements. In 2008, Tillman joined longtime friends and musical collaborators, Fleet Foxes. Casey Wescott and Christian Wargo both appear on VTB, along with several regular contributors who were willing to adapt to several idiosyncratic recording obstructions. Vacilando Territory Blues is far and away Tillman's most collaborative effort, and the most striking moments here are those seemingly stumbled upon, without resorting to second-takes or microphone re-adjustment. This album casts a strange perspective on what people have come to expect from Tillman's music, but these songs, though oddly untethered, reveal the process of someone coming to terms with the prospect of making music in the void.
WesternVinyl-56
CD
$11.50

Titus Andronicus
The Airing Of Grievances
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
XL
LP
$14.00

Titus Andronicus
The Airing Of Grievances
PS, US Patrick Stickles, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter, launches his insights across a wall of defiant, triumphant rock anthems, which have earned comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, The Pogues, and The Replacements. "Patrick Stickles howls with anguish way beyond his 22 years, often cramming lyrics into tight spaces just to make sure he gets the last word in. The drama's more Boss than Bright Eyes, fueled by blue collar frustration and, most notably, beer" - Pitchfork.
XL
CD
$13.25

Two Tongues
S-T
PS, US New emo/pop/punk effort by members of SAY ANYTHING and SAVES THE DAY.
Vagrant
CD
$15.00

Uncut
#141 (March 2009) [Magazine + CD]
PS, UK
ZINE
$10.25

Under the Radar
#25
PS, US Most Anticipating Albums of 2009: starring GRIZZLY BEAR on cover, Sonic Youth, Bat for Lashes, Depeche Mode, Camera Obscura, The Decemberists, Silversun Pickups, The Flaming Lips, Dan Deacon, Dove.
ZINE
$3.75

Vanisher
Tic-Tac Tactic
PS, US 2004 release in stock for the first time. Sweden's HAKAN LIDBO takes his devastating Stockholm sound to Spectral Sound under the guise of THE VANISHER dropping the thickest, deepest acid-funk track you'll hear this side of an old-school Manchester warehouse party. OSBORNE's "Simulacrum Mix" rounds out the 12-inch with a distinctly more upbeat sound, a perfect complement to Lidbo's darker tones.
SpectralSound
12
$13.00

Various
Colorfield Variations
PS, US Colorfield Variations is a collection of audio/visual works reinterpreting the Color Field movement by an international array of critically acclaimed sound and new media artists and assembled by curator and sound artist Richard Chartier. Color Field painting, an abstract style that emerged as a new direction in American painting in the 1950s following Abstract Expressionism, is characterized by canvases painted primarily with stripes, washes and fields of solid color. An alternate but less frequently encountered term for this style is chromatic abstraction. As the first critically acclaimed art movement to originate in the United States's capital, the Washington Color School was key to the larger Color Field movement. As a reaction to the emotional energy and gestured surfaces of Abstract Expressionists, the Color Field artists broke away from the individual mark in favor of pure color itself becoming the main content of the work. By breaking painting down to its formal and fundamental elements, the Color Field artists created pure, simplified, large format, color-dominated fields on often monumental scale utilizing the full psychological power of color. Artists such as Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Larry Poons, Gene Davis, Jules Olitski, and others eliminated recognizable imagery from their canvas and presented abstraction as an end in itself with each work being a cohesive image. The Color Field movement can be seen as a precursor to the themes and aesthetics of the subsequent Minimalist movement. This program in its original form with special live audio/visual performances by Ernest Edmonds + Mark Fell and Sawako at the Corcoran Gallery of Art was commissioned by Washington Project for the Arts as part of the citywide ColorField.Remix events which took place in April-June 2007 in Washington, DC, celebrating The Washington Color School. Since its creation, Colorfield Variations continues to be screened internationally. TRACKS: STEVE RODEN dark over light earth * 13:00 ALAN CALLANDER CF01 * 04:52 FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER looping i-vi (excerpt) 12:00 STEPHAN MATHIEU Orange was the color of her dress * 10:00 SUE COSTABILE + BEEQUEEN AMP_SWELL 03:49 TEZ CF #1~2n * 05:10 TINA FRANK + GENERAL MAGIC Chronomops 02:00 BAS VAN KOOLWIJK FDBCK/AV - Silver 03:29 CHRIS CARTER + COSEY FANNI TUTTI Chronomanic Redux * 10:00 RYOICHI KUROKAWA Scorch 03:04 SAWAKO Flirting 07121602 * 03:15 EVELINA DOMNITCH + DMITRY GELFAND Ten Thousand Peacock Feathers in Foaming Acid 08:00 ERNEST EDMONDS + MARK FELL Broadway One (excerpt) 02:00 *created for Colorfield Variations.
Line-038
DVD
$20.25

Various
Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to The Cure
PS, US "Just Like Heaven - A Tribute To The Cure" features 16 new cover versions of Cure songs by The Wedding Present, The Brunettes, Devics, Dean & Britta (Luna), The Submarines, The Rosebuds, Grand Duchy (Violet Clark & Black Francis), Joy Zipper, Elk City , and many more. Produced by Joe Spadaro and Gwen Hysler (American Laundromat Records), mastering by Kim Rosen at Alan Douches' West West Side Music (Galaxie 500, Ben Folds Five, Luna, The Wrens), and original album art & design by Rhode Island Illustrator Melinda Rainsberger . Early press is fantastic for this one. Brought to you by the same label who produced the critically acclaimed Neil Young benefit CD "Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity", and the popular 80's tribute "High School Reunion - a tribute to those great 80's films!" All Music Guide called it "one of the finest tribute records ever produced" and went on to say "let this serve as a blueprint for all future tribute sets". Highly recommended for Cure fans or any of the bands covering the Cure on this excellent tribute compilation. Tracklisting: 01. "Just Like Heaven" performed by JOY ZIPPER 02. "The Lovecats" performed by TANYA DONELLY & DYLAN IN THE MOVIES 03. "Lovesong" performed by THE BRUNETTES 04. "In Between Days" performed by KITTY KARLYLE 05. "Friday I'm In Love" performed by DEAN & BRITTA 06. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" performed by LUFF 07. "Boys Don't Cry" performed by THE SUBMARINES 08. "Close To Me" performed by ELK CITY 09. "The Walk" performed by THE ROSEBUDS 10. "Pictures Of You" performed by ELIZABETH HARPER & THE MATINEE 11. "Let's Go To Bed" performed by CASSETTES WON'T LISTEN 12. "Catch" performed by DEVICS 13. "A Night Like This" performed by JULIE PEEL 14. "10:15 Saturday Night" performed by THE POEMS 15. "A Strange Day" performed by GRAND DUCHY (Violet Clark & Black Francis) 16. "High" performed by THE WEDDING PRESENT
AmericanLaundromat-018
CD
$13.00

Various
Factory Records: Communications 1978-92
PS, UK 4-CD boxset! Rhino Records UK is pleased to announce the release of Factory Records: Communications 1978-92. A Factory Box Set celebrates the label from the first release "A Factory Sample" through an extremely diverse roster of acts from the cutting edge post punk of A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, The Railway Children, OMD, James and Joy Division to obscurities such as Section 25, Biting Tongues, Crispy Ambulance, Miaow and Swamp Children via early dance culture - ESG and 52nd Street, to the full flowering of the 'Madchester scene', ending fittingly with the last Factory release, "Sunshine and Love" by Happy Mondays.
Rhino
CD-BOX
$61.00

Various
Trip In Time Vol. 1: Delighted by Psychedelic Rock
PS, US comp of contemporary psych bands (most tracks from 2005/6; plus a previously released Dragonwyck track from 1968 just to throw you off!). Features: Siena Root, Vibravoid, Stoned Circus, La Ira De Dios, Treacle People, Loxley Beade, Fantasyy Factoryy, i-H8 Camera, Ma-Nia, Karmic Society. 72% previously unreleased. "Music for the Mind and Body... while music industry continuously looks for 'new' concepts, trends and music styles to serve the mainstream, Trip in Time ventures a look to the past. We present the artistic, emotional and intensive side of music, the concept of progressive psychedelic rock. It appeared in the public consciousness for the first time in 1966, created by the 13th Floor Elevators. By 1956, the English psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond had already formulated: 'To fathom hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic.' Fifty years later, we invite you to join the bride uncensored spektrum of music with a fine feel for intensity and a variety of interesting influences.
WorldInSound-2501
CD
$15.75

Various
Money Will Ruin Everything: 2nd Edition (DCD/BOOK)
PS, US Rune Grammofon celebrates 5 more years of releases w/ the 2nd edition of "Money Will Ruin Everything," an incredible 2CD/book package, expanded & improved from the last edition into a 152-page hardcover book, designed by KIM HIORTHOY. Two CDs of new music from artists such as ULTRALYD, DEATHPROD, FOOD, SUSANNA & THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA.
RuneGrammofon
DCD
$60.00

Various
Effectuation
PS, AUSTRALIA The second 12" compilation from Midium Records Mountain includes new & exclusive tracks on black vinyl, from the likes of New Zealand's KERRETTA, AVOTOR & BLACK BONES ANGEL as well as a tasty KLUTE remix of JAKOB's Oran Mor and a tranquil cut by experimental UK extraordinaire, ROTHKO. Exclusive to the compilation & limited to 300 copies worldwide!
Midium
LP
$12.75

Various
For Whom The Balls Toll
PS, RUSSIA File under: breakcore, mash-up. First release by the russian label Rednex Rampage, featuring new and unreleased material by Otto Von Schirach, Passenger Of Shit, Inshizzo and Marrow Explosion. Comes in full color sleeve. Tracklisting: A1. Otto Von Schirach - Another Night Another Rave A2. Inshizzo: Large Hadron Collider B1. Passenger Of shit: My Cock Wart B2. Severed Penis Orgy B3. Marrow Explosion: Oparysh
RednexRampageRecords-001
12
$11.50

Volcano Suns
All-Night Lotus Party
PS, US REISSUE. 1st time on CD! This was the band headed by PETER PRESCOTT (of MISSION OF BURMA). Originally released in 1986, this is VS's sophomore album & is more rambunctious than their debut. They meld "hardcore punk & heartland rock" into a heavier, darker sound w/ more distortion on the guitars & more bass-heavy production. This is crisply remastered by legendary engineer BOB WESTON, feat. 11 bonus tracks (many unreleased previously).
Merge
CD
$11.50

Volcano Suns
Bright Orange Years
PS, US REISSUE. 1st time on CD! This was the band headed by PETER PRESCOTT (of MISSION OF BURMA). Originally released in 1985, this is VS's debut album & is chock full of so many catchy songs that it could be any other band's greatest hits album. Merging noise, agression & tunefulness seamlessly, it is a wonder they were not huge from the get-go. Remastered by legendary engineer BOB WESTON, feat. 9 bonus tracks (many unreleased previously) that adds 7-inch only tracks & radio sessions.
Merge
CD
$11.50

Von Bondies
Love Hate and Then There's You
PS, US New album.
ShoutFactory
CD
$15.25

Ware, David S.
Shakti
PS, US First new studio recording in almost 6 yrs, & his 1st with a new group (feat. JOE MORRIS, WILLIAM PARKER, & WARREN SMITH) since his highly esteemed Quartet disbanded. Working w/ musicians (as he ever has) who fully understand the profound ebb & flow of his music, and who can trace the tendrils thereof as close to infinity as human fingers allow. "This is jazz that swallows all aesthetic distinctions." - Village Voice.
AUMFidelity
CD
$12.75

Wax Poetics
#32
PS, US On the cover: Sly Stone, Jimmy Cleff, Jean Grae, Terry Cliff, so much more.
ZINE
$9.50

Weave!
S-T
PS, US Also on clear vinyl! Bizarre & blistering Afro-pop crossbred w/ precise & chilly New Wave. This debut breathes new life into the sound of groups like ESG, The Slits, The Mo-Dettes, Kleenex, The Raincoats, & Delta 5. The arty grinders have a respectable pedigree; their founders spent 2007 w/pickup members including Ariel Pink (Haunted Graffiti). They ultimately solidified their lineup w/ the addition of guitar & keyboard, adding a rhythmic presence to the femme-driven fervency. "A tambourine-ravaging set of Sonic Youth-meets-Talking Heads tinged sounds. The quartet definitely inject a sense of quirky fun into their hypnotic, dance-y yet vicious tunes" - LA Weekly / "Extremely rhythmic &, at times, deliciously poppy" - Flavorpill LA
PacificReasons
LP
$11.75

Welcome Wagon, The
Welcome to the Welcome Wagon
PS, US This debut album by The Welcome Wagon unveils a ramshackle sing-a-long enterprise of a Presbyterian pastor (the Rev. Vito Aiuto) and his wife (Monique) wrestling out the influences of folk music, religion, popular culture, and church tradition in a collection of songs that is as soulful as it is good-humored. This gorgeous brew is reflected in the group's repertoire, which unflinchingly consolidates a vast history of "sacred" song traditions: from old Testament psalms, to Presbyterian Psalters of the 17th century, to iconoclastic pop innovators of the 1960s (The Velvet Underground), to charismatic catholics of the 1970s (Lenny Smith), and even into the melancholy lovelorn pop of the 1980s (The Smiths). Recorded, produced, and arranged by Sufjan Stevens. The Welcome Wagon WELCOME TO THE WELCOME WAGON
AsthmaticKitty-45
LP
$11.50

West, Kanye
808S & Heartbreak
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Roc-A-Fella
DLP
$25.00

Wicked Witch
Chaos: 1978-86
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
EmRecords
LP
$23.50

Wicked Witch
Chaos: 1978-86
PS, US 1st time ever reissue of rare evil psycho machine-funk from '80s Washington, DC, incl. previously-unreleased mixes. Now is not the time to doubt your senses - the WICKED WITCH does exist. WW combines elements from alchemical mentors Parliament Funkadelic, Sun Ra, ESG, Run DMC, James Brown & Jimi Hendrix to cast a crazed spell on the innocent listener. An evil mass of machine-funk w/ lashings of rhythm & blues & fusion delivered direct from the heart of the Witch, a misunderstood psycho-genius weaving his solo web deep w/in the dark studio walls. Remastered from the original master tapes, incl. rare photos
EmRecords
CD
$19.50

Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (Widescreen)
PS, US With his documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, director Matt Wolf etches out a biographical portrait of avant-garde musician, artist, and disco producer Arthur Russell, who died of AIDS at age 40 in 1992. Though Russell was a classically trained composer and cellist with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of indigenous Indian music, this performer quickly branched off in a more offbeat and unusual direction. The Oskaloosa, IA, native fixated on such counterculture icons as John Cage and Timothy Leary at an early age, then ran away from home during adolescence and joined a Frisco-based Buddhist group. Russell became acquainted and associated with poet Allen Ginsberg, then moved to New York City, where (like Cage) he established himself as a veritable fixture in the underground music scene and worked as the music director for The Kitchen. By the mid-'70s, Russell began producing prescient disco records in the pre-Gibb days, under colorful pseudonyms such as Indian Ocean and Loose Joints. Unfortunately, he never culled the devoted following that he deserved until about 15 years after his death. Wolf employs a fractured film-essay style throughout the film, intercutting such materials as archival footage, extracts of musical compositions by Russell, and revealing interviews with Russell's family. Thematically, the director uses the tale of Russell's colorful life as a springboard into investigations of broader subjects and themes including gay lifestyles in the early AIDS era, the sociocultural landscape of Manhattan (and the cultural underground) during the 1970s and '80s, and the importance of staking out new directions in art and music for an innovative mind such as Russell's. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Plexifilm
DVD
$23.50

Windy&Carl/Heavy Winged
Monolith:Earth
PS, US The Monolith series combines two like-minded artists on the same one-sided, reverse-cut LP by hard-panning one recording to the right & the other recording to the left. By adjusting the panning controls on his or her turntable, the listener is free to control the degree to which the two recordings melt into one. Each edition in the series is limited to a one-time pressing of 500 picture disc LPs & includes a CD w/stereo mixes. This edition is the oxymoronic pairing of dreamcore drone legends WINDY & CARL & new school leaders of free rock HEAVY WINGED. Heavy Winged contribute one of their darkest, most oppressive tracks yet. The addition of W&C's purity creates something entirely different. It's no longer the sound of three bros busting out dark drone metal in some shed in snowy Vermont; it's now the sound of some communal artists busting out epic krautjams in the German hinterland. Primitive, vicious early man meets colossal pristine symbol of higher thought
MusicFellowship
LP/CD
$21.50

Wire Magazine
#300
PS, UK
ZINE
$10.25

Woolson, Raymond Scott
Broken Things Mended
PS, US Raymond Scott Woolson has been creating guitar-driven ethereal music for many years now. Broken Things Mended is his fifth full-length album of celestial shoegaze sound-scapes. A long year in the making, and several more months of perfecting during the mixing and mastering process, this release continues Woolson's exploration of soaring guitar epics and pastoral mood meanderings. A fair amount of variety went into the mix. Here a shimmer of dreampop, there a buzz of psychedelia. A brush of piano, a burst of drums, and on several occasions even a very commendable imitation of a string orchestra. Those are in fact guitars. An ocean of guitars. The songs of Broken Things Mended are bright and uplifting. There may be a passing touch of melancholy, a brief wistful feeling, but absolutely no doom and gloom. Woolson will not add to the burden of darkness in the world. His is the music of light and love, of faith and hope. These songs look forward and upward. Victories are won, promises are kept, and broken things are mended.
Clairecords-070
CD
$12.25

Wow & Flutter
Golden Touch
PS, US A collection of Phrygian mode jams, drones & ditties. Opening track "Red Face" is a taut-n-fuzzy rock blast which highlights the three-piece's loud-fast-simple side. "Car Crash" opts for a more restrained approach--until all hell breaks loose w/the de(con)struction of the titular event. "Solar" follows, w/a simple chord pattern repeating for three minutes under a coat of beautiful shimmer. "A Little Help" expands the sonic palette w/banjo & glockenspiel & a mass choir. "Heaven" opens side B; a Morricone-influenced intro complete w/trumpet & melodica gives way to a religious screed, which gives way to a drunken klezmer coda. "Flat White" intertwines sparse riffs over click-clack percussion along w/Amato's ruminations on betrayal. Synthetic slow-jam "Sugarbush" seduces w/snake charmer guitar lines & earworm bass groove.
JealousButcher
LP
$13.25

Yagya
Rigning
PS, NETHERLANDS Yagya has made a new album for us. We can't think of any other way to start this new, promising year as delightful. "Rigning" is the Icelandic word for "rain" and is Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson's third full-length, the previous one "Will I Dream During The Process?" best-selling on Sending Orbs, the first one "Rythm of Snow" on legendary out-of-print status on Force Inc. Yes, we think this album is a new step forward for Yagya and we think this album has the prettiest and saddest melodies ever on a dub techno/ambient record, but we most kindly invite you to be your own judge. And by buying either the CD or 2x12", you may even stimulate the Icelandic economy along your way. We're just confident this is going to be your first great purchase in 2009.
SendingOrbs-011-2
CD
$16.25

Yeasayer
All Hour Cymbals
PS, US Dear Friend, and Friend of Friends, It has been a little bit over a year since I last wrote to you about the debut document created by YEASAYER called "ALL HOUR CYMBALS." What a year it has been! Trips around the world. Playing shows in places you only dream of as a child. Meeting wonderful people from all over, possibly including you. Thank you. Most people will probably wonder why it took so long to release "ALL HOUR CYMBALS" in the vinyl format and why now? Over a year ago we were a mere village, five strong. Laborers without the finance to yet construct the citadel, we worked hard, and worked by hand and mouth to spread the word. We made friends who helped us along the way, who told their friends, who turned and told friends, family, and possibly enemies. It was this chain of mouth to mouth and hard work over an expanse of time that led us to this gift of sound spectacular in 180 GRAM LP format. Though the timing is not perfect in the sense of traveling and performing with merchandise, I promise our friends are thirsty for this artifact. In every village and town people ask for "ALL HOUR CYMBALS" on LP, in fact, they demand it's existence. I could cut and paste press quotes and where YEASAYER has been in print, but that is to cheapen the sell. We know "ALL HOUR CYMBALS" is a magnificent debut and that if you inhabit a record store you should have this album in stock. Someone hit snooze on the last go around causing a major piece of the pie being fed straight to CPUs across the land. Let us come out strong this time and give the citizens what they demand. The LP also contains a digital download for those first time buyers, or those conflicted with sounds past and present. Best. Sir James Winnie
WeAreFree-002
LP
$12.25

Yelle
Ce Jeu EP
PS, US 1st ever commercial 12" single release from France's acclaimed electro-pop starlet YELLE. 4 trks feat. the original version, along w/ remixes by TEPR (Yelle's studio collaborator) & 2 more remixes.
Astralwerks
12
$8.50

Yellow Moon Band, The
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
PS, UK The Brother's dropped some mushroom's one afternoon after decided to experience the love behind the record of the year. Yes they would plot a histogram using Jaffa-cakes and pink wafers. During a distracted moment they pondered over the other important events in music. The Weeley festival 1971 (Juicy Lucy, demon fuzz and Hackensack and all for just £1-50); dancing in the mud in your underpants at Bickershaw to the Greatfull Dead; Cheech and Chong and Haydock Brass Band. Or what about climbing on army tanks to catch Roy Harper at the St. Helens Show. Great days with the endorphin rush of pure music jammed out by buzzing musicians. So here we have the debut album by The Yellow Moon Band. It follows two sold out sevens and some crazy shows at the Green Man Festival. Eight tracks of Instrumental wonk that's as darn exciting as discovering that rare side of wax that's sorta' Anatolian led rare groove in a bare chested wrestle with Be Bop Deluxe's 'Sunburst Finish' and pressed up on Vertigo. Well it might exist in the car boot of your dreams. More Hillage than Gong, more Hacket than Genesis, more Thompson than Fairport and certainly more Velvet Jacket than Leather jacket. The Freakzone friendly Yellow Moon Band will release their debut gatefold album on Static Caravan in November. Gatefold Card CD with artwork by Luke Insect.
StaticCaravan-173
CD
$16.25

Yorke, Thom
The Eraser Rmxs
PS, US This Japanese release collects all the 12-inch remixes originally found on Yorke's debut solo album "The Eraser". The Radiohead frontman asked several of his favorite artists and producers to remix these tracks (Burial, Four Tet, The Field, Cristian Vogel, The Bug, Modeselektor, Various, Surgeon), and the results are as bold and visionary as the originals. "...teems with gorgeous melodies...a testament to the singer's unique vision. 4.5 / 5" - Wired.
XL
CD
$13.25

You Say Party We Say Die
Remik's Cube
PS, US Reworkings of Vancouver's YSPWSD's critically acclaimed sophomore release "Lose All Time" Featuring
remixes by MONTAG, OCTOPUS PROJECT, WALLPAPER, and more!
PaperBag
CD
$13.75

Yussuf Jerusalem
A Heart Full Of Sorrow
PS, US Was kind of dreading this one. The name?!!?, Heard it opens with a Death Metal song (it does) the whole thing just seemed like a bummer. Well I was wrong. Not even the opening track could ruin this record for me. If someone asked me to tell them what kind of music this is I guess I'd say folk-rock. The biggest (and best) surprise in recent memory.
FloridasDyingRecords
LP
$11.00

Zanes, Dan & Friends
The Welcome Table! Songs of Inspiration, Mystery & Good Times
PS, US Dan Zanes and Friends The Welcome Table: Songs of Inspiration, Mystery, and Good Times is a collection of new and previously issued recordings for listeners of all-ages. The songs, mostly from various North American gospel traditions, include Home In That Rock, Working On a Building, Himno Guadalupano, Jesus On the Mainline, Granito de Mostaza, as well as Oseh Shalom and two new DZ originals. Among the guests joining Dan Zanes and Friends are The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Basya Schechter, and Jamaican family music superstar Father Goose. Proceeds from The Welcome Table will benefit the New Sanctuary Movement and Families for Freedom.
FestivalFive
CD
$13.75

Zero Boys
History Of...
PS, US It came out of nowhere in 1982, this punk rock/hardcore fireball with the bright yellow sleeve. In one sense, The Zero Boys' Vicious Circle was yet another example of how U.S. punk seemed to peak coast to coast that year. But unlike most coastal punk, the Zero Boys were pointing the way to a scene that could accommodate heaping helpings of melody, intelligence, and rock 'n' roll sus, not just turbo-charged ferocity. From 1979 into '83, the Indianapolis based ZBs were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Proof is Vicious Circle and the two decades since of copyists, bootleggers, practitioners and reunion concert pogoers. Though before and after that LP's 1982 release they recorded the Livin' in the 80's 7", songs for three comps and released the post-mortem History Of cassette revealing their transformation into a toured band warming to the metaphysical and their demise while still waving torches of rock 'n' roll panache. Now, collected here and remastered from the original tapes is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn't all white bread numbers. Yeah, they played shows with Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and others but in Terry "Hollywood"Howe's guitar there was harmonious terror and unstoppable cadence. Terry's licks and chops - a leap beyond two or three chord punk - offered a zone and measured count for drummer Mark Cutsinger and bassist David "Tufty" Clough, a rhythm unit in par with the Minutemen if not The Meters, to run lines like quicksilver. Meanwhile, frontman, Paul "Z" Mahern provides a constant wash from beginning to end. When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early 80's punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. Between Vicious Circle and History Of, the entire recorded output of this legendary Midwest punk band's original line up is, finally, collected. - Culled from liner notes written by Jack Rabid and EricWeddle
SecretlyCanadian-189
LP
$11.50

Zero Boys
Vicious Circle
PS, US It came out of nowhere in 1982, this punk rock/hardcore fireball with the bright yellow sleeve. In one sense, The Zero Boys' Vicious Circle was yet another example of how U.S. punk seemed to peak coast to coast that year. But unlike most coastal punk, the Zero Boys were pointing the way to a scene that could accommodate heaping helpings of melody, intelligence, and rock 'n' roll sus, not just turbo-charged ferocity. From 1979 into '83, the Indianapolis based ZBs were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Proof is Vicious Circle and the two decades since of copyists, bootleggers, practitioners and reunion concert pogoers. Though before and after that LP's 1982 release they recorded the Livin' in the 80's 7", songs for three comps and released the post-mortem History Of cassette revealing their transformation into a toured band warming to the metaphysical and their demise while still waving torches of rock 'n' roll panache. Now, collected here and remastered from the original tapes is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn't all white bread numbers. Yeah, they played shows with Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and others but in Terry "Hollywood"Howe's guitar there was harmonious terror and unstoppable cadence. Terry's licks and chops - a leap beyond two or three chord punk - offered a zone and measured count for drummer Mark Cutsinger and bassist David "Tufty" Clough, a rhythm unit in par with the Minutemen if not The Meters, to run lines like quicksilver. Meanwhile, frontman, Paul "Z" Mahern provides a constant wash from beginning to end. When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early 80's punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. Between Vicious Circle and History Of, the entire recorded output of this legendary Midwest punk band's original line up is, finally, collected. - Culled from liner notes written by Jack Rabid and EricWeddle
SecretlyCanadian-188
CD
$11.50

Forthcoming Releases

Abe Vigoda
Reviver (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Cantankerous shoegaze poplosion! Washing & slipping through certain moments where "Skeleton" only touched on, this 5 song EP slows the mood, & crashes over your senses, getting more experimental but oddly more catchy. Squirming in a stunning act of pureness, a calming sound overtakes the senses & they destroy it all beautifully & bring it back again.
PostPresentMedium
CD5
$9.50

Abe Vigoda
Reviver (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
PostPresentMedium
LP
$9.75

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
The Century of Self (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US New album from Brooklyn-via-Texas avant-argonauts. 15 years into their career, Trail of Dead continues to innovate and grow. At a point where many other bands would be resting on their laurels and half-heartedly tossing off greatest hits comps, Trail of Dead are just getting started.
RichterScale/Justice
CD
$15.25

Andalusians
Do The Work (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Song-writing vehicle for Basla Andolsun, who has played in BEAUTY PILL, DEL CIELO, & currently tours w/ EDIE
SEDGWICK. This 3-song 7 inch comes w/ an MP3 download coupon that also features 3 extra tracks from the same recording session.
Dischord
45
$4.00

Ant
These Long Dark Country Roads (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, SPAIN Antony Harding was the drummer of Hefner, the British indie cult band. After releasing a couple of low key singles in 1999, ANT released a series of mini albums, albums and compilations, plus a live session with John Peel, before moving to Sweden and retiring for a while to take care of his family. After a few years of silence, ANT comes back now with a new 6 song mini album for Acuarela which features collaborations with former Hefner members Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter as well as help from members of Cornershop.
Acuarela-066
CD
$8.25

Appleseed Cast
Sagarmantha (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US 6th studio album from the Lawrence, Kansas group.
MilitiaGroup
CD
$13.75

Arborea
House of Sticks (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, SPAIN Arborea is Buck Curran and Shanti Curran from Lewiston, Maine. Buck plays guitars, bowed strings, flutes and some banjo, and Shanti provides banjo, bowed strings, and percussion, they both sing; though Shanti sings the majority of the songs. Their songs are low-key intimate spell casting affairs; the fact that they are a couple might help to explain the seamless organic blending of their music together. Conjuring truly transportational magic out of the simplest ingredients, Arborea songs might be a hundreds of years old, and there's little here to lock them into any moment other than forever. Alligator sounds like Fred Neil backing Marissa Nadler. They also bring to mind Josephine Foster, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, the folky side of MV & EE, Timothy Renner's various incarnations, and other similar magician/musicians. A beautifully recorded acoustic-based gem of an album with no weak track amidst the ten they grace us with.
BorneRecordings/Acuarela-002
CD
$12.25

Arbouretum
Song Of The Pearl (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US While 2007's "Rites of Uncovering" seemed to peer down from a vantage point far above, this reaches out from within the mire itself. The songs seem to have more immediacy and urgency, propelled by heavy guitar rythms that roll like waves against a levee until they finally burst through to unleash a flood of ferocious, acid-drenched solo passages. 4-panel mini-LP style jacket
ThrillJockey
CD
$13.00

Arbouretum
Song Of The Pearl (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
ThrillJockey
LP
$13.00

Azita
How Will You? (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
DragCity/Twos&Fews
LP
$15.50

Azita
How Will You? (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US A collection of songs that range from sun-bright & poppy to deep-focus, torrential. AZITA stuck to straight-ahead voicings in her chords to bring heaviness to the sound, working with bassist Matt Lux (Iron & Wine, Plush) and drummer John Herndon (Tortoise) to arrange her songs with the strength of a rock & roll band throughout the album. Compelling pop music, approaching in fun, with beats, and then sinking deep & growing within you. The songs of How Will You? take a new approach for AZITA, with more space in them, more room for the melody lines to echo out, haunted & haunting.
DragCity/Twos&Fews
CD
$13.25

Baja
Aether Obelisk (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th)
PS, US The Aether Obelisk is the fourth release in the Baja saga by composer Daniel Vujanic. It arrives at a broad musical horizon, touching the borderlines of forms ranging from chamber music and psychedelia, to pop/jazz-infected electronic music. The Aether Obelisk is unpredictable as ever, but definitely exploiting more vocal and repetitive elements than its predecessors. The overall mood is also less melancholic and nocturnal than previous Baja offerings. Some almost-tender sequences add more harmonic depth to the fractured signature sound of Vujanic´s suite-like compositions. It's loaded with acoustic and electric guitar textures ranging from folk to improv, synths, panoramic electronics, reverberating piano bits, horn sections, vibes, glockenspiel and multi-layered percussion - both live and programmed. "If the indie rock just isn't getting it done for you anymore, Baja's enveloping, intangible compositions may be just the guide you need to more engaging musical territory." - Tiny Mix Tapes "Vujanic is making music for the Shuffle generation, positing endless subdivisions that thus, beautifully, enable the listener to consider the music in almost anything." -Cokemachine Glow "Incredible, genre-melting... deconstructs rock norms." -The Tripwire
OtherElectricities-017
CD
$12.25

Baker, Keef
Pen Fifteen (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, GERMANY Mighty sub-bass drones, driving, energetic beats, wonderful piano lines, atmospheric keyboards, doomy guitars, occasional vocal work - Pen Fifteen is another journey into Keef Baker's world, where unequal musical styles like trip hop, electronica and even metal are used as base plates and sometimes merge within a single note - just check out what starts as a distorted guitar and ends as click'n'cut in 'dead end'. Instead of 'eclecticism' a logical extrapolation of varied influences is displayed, whether it is post-rock, intelligent dance music, dub... in the end they become one style that can only be called Keef Baker. 11 songs of melodic harshness - loud and powerful even in their quietest moments. Expect your expectations to be confounded! CD2 'light city' - intended to be listened to without interference or pauses - a trip into sudorific clublife that keeps you moving for more than an hour. An astounding mix with well-placed increasing and decreasing speed, ranging from dubstep to techno to drum and bass to breakcore and back. This is Keef as he sounds while performing live - a great addition to a fantastic album.
Hymen-771
DCD
$17.50

Beirut
March of the Zapotec & Realpeople Holland (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Vinyl format.
ObeyYourBrain
2X12
$15.75

Beirut
March of the Zapotec & Realpeople Holland
(PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US New album. For the past year, Beirut has alternated between touring in support of 2007's much-lauded The Flying Club Cup and writing a wealth of new material. With no sense of a release in mind, bandleader Zach Condon recorded in any style that struck his fancy. Some early discussions about recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed into a new idea: What about finding a local band in a small city in Mexico, hiring them to play some new material, and recording the result?

It was a sincere challenge every step of the way. Condon had to find the band, which he did through a bandmate's mother who has connections in Oaxaca. To communicate with the performers, he hired a translator, who had to be able to speak English, Spanish, as well as Zapotec, the band members' native language. From there, he flew down to Oaxaca, traveling a half-hour out of town to the tiny weaver village of Teotitlan del Valle, where he met the nineteen members of The Jimenez Band. The ensuing weeks of recording, rewriting, and relating are documented in a series of short films (being released online in the weeks before and after the release date for March of the Zapotec).

All well and good, but the six songs found on March of the Zapotec are only a part of what this release has become. Before recording as Beirut, Condon went by Realpeople for his bedroom recordings, and he has revived the name for the second half in this collection, Holland. As opposed to March of the Zapotec, Holland collects a series of songs conceived and completed at home. One song, "Venice," appeared on a compilation by The Believer magazine, while "My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille" was on the Big Change digital-only charity compilation on iTunes.

Together, this album-length double release represents the totality of Condon's work over the past year. March of the Zapotec is further testament toward the inventiveness and intimacy he creates as Beirut, a band which started as one person sounding like twelve, and has developed into a particular style and sound. No matter what inspirations jumpstart any one particular song, underlying it all is the realization that Condon is a singular artist creating an original sound. What may appear at first to be two disparate paths are in reality joined by Condon's ability to craft simple melodies that sound both unique and unforgettable. It would be a misconception for Beirut's sound to be considered a dabble in various styles, folk sounds, and music histories, because one could never confuse Condon's music for the original inspiration; all his songs on this release carry more in common with each other than they do their original source of inspiration. And whether he's being inspired by Balkan folk, French chanteuse, Mexican troubadour, '80s synth pop, or '90s house, the common thread remains Condon's ability to personalize the sound.
Pompeii
DCD
$14.25

Belmez
Apariciones (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH)
PS, SPAIN Jaime and Jose began the Bélmez project back in 2004, while they were working on their other band 12twelve. Marc, member of Dolores and Teresa, joined them in 2005 completing the final trio, brought together by their love of American rooted slowcore. In August 2007 they recorded with Paco Loco on analog tape and 100% live what is their first album, Apariciones, mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac) in Chicago, to be released on the Spring of 2009. A combination of powerful yet minimalistic sound, with no effects, but in which every note and every bang is fundamental.
Acuarela-1089
CD
$12.25

Bitter Tears
Jam Tarts in the Jake (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
CarrotTop
LP
$11.50

Bitter Tears
Jam Tarts in the Jake (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US "Jam Tarts in the Jake House" STREET DATE 3/3. Having staked their reputation on a sometimes lewd & always entertaining theatrical live show, The Bitter Tears use their new release to portray their creative growth as both musicians & storytellers. The album utilizes smart & direct pop structures to drive the menacing, old-school country twang of the songs. Known for being over-the-top, the ironic simplicity employed on tracks like "Slay The Heart Of The Earth" showcase the band's conviction. Just as in their live show, no one breaks character. The raw material for the record was written late at night & early in the morning, with a threepenny orchestra's worth of instruments to help the process along. The result sounds antique, without sounding antiquated. The bawdy tales of revenge, lust & corruption are backed by a dusty array of beat-up instruments: horns, oboes, violins...each helping to provide the same dramatic sparks that win people over on-stage. "...thank God for the creative, uber-feisty cabaret edge on this [Bitter Tears] local band's country-fried rock 'n' roll"-Chicago Tribune
CarrotTop
CD
$11.50

Bloom, Luka
Eleven Songs (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US On his eleventh record, the internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter returns to the raw live sound of his earlier releases, brimming with inspiring lyrics and sumptuous melodies. Contributors include Dave Hingerty (ex-Frames), Trevor Hutchinson, Liam O'Maonlai (ex-Hothouse Flowers), Paul Smith, Cora Venus Lunny, Ken Edge, and the Gardiner St. Gospel Choir, with backing vocals by Sinead Martin and Robbie Moore. Luka has toured with The Pogues, The Violent Femmes, Hothouse Flowers, and The Cowboy Junkies, and in all has enjoyed eighteen years of successful worldwide tours.
BarNone
CD
$12.50

Bonnie Prince Billy
Beware (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH)
PS, US Though Beware shares spit with its immediate predecessor, Lie Down in the Light, its reach is longer, its arches more grandiose. Where fiddle & steel contribute their rustic timbre alongside guitars & voices, a thickening thud of low tone rolls beneath, giving the record a bottom that's fun to watch bounce in new clothes. This indensifies the air & heralds Beware as Bonny's most ambidextrous record to date. A listen or two through and you too may conclude that this could also be the great Bonnie 'Prince' Billy contempocountry record.
DragCity
CD
$13.25

Bonnie Prince Billy
Beware (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
DragCity
LP
$14.75

Boston Spaceships
Planets Are Blasted (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
GBVInc
LP
$17.25

Boston Spaceships
Planets Are Blasted (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Chris Slusarenko (GBV) & John Moen (DECEMBERISTS) have never been so impressive. This nuanced & transcendent rock album culminates w/ four of ROBERT POLLARD's best songs yet.
GBVInc
CD
$15.25

Broken Spindles
Kiss/Kick (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US This is more No Wave than New Wave - & is JOEL PETERSEN's strongest work to date. With four Broken Spindles albums & five FAINT albums under his belt, he has found his voice, & has learned how to reduce songs to their basic barts w/o losing the power & excitement of great production.
blank.wav
CD
$12.00

Brotzmann, Peter/Nilssen-Love, Paal
Sweetsweat (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, NORWAY Recorded live at Sting Jazzklubb in Norway during the Maijazz Festival in 2006. The godfather of European free-jazz, Peter Brotzmann, is joined by respected Scandinavian percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love to form a musical partnership of rare & beautiful balance.
SmalltownSuperjazz-143
CD
$15.25

Buzz Or Howl + Astro
Western Mystery School (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US This collaboration was born at the UFO Club in Tokyo. Buzz or Howl (Bruce McKenzie and Eric Nielsen) met Astro (Hiroshi Hasegawa) through mutual friend Junzo Suzuki. after a face-melting set by that duo and a celebratory, raucous set by Bruce and Eric's other band Maquiladora (with Phil Beaumont) - during which they were joined by Saya and Ueno from the Tenniscoats and Koji Shimura from Acid Mothers Temple and White Heaven - music was exchanged and plans were hatched to combine forces somehow. The music Astro took home that night was by Buzz or Howl, a fierce improvisatory psychedelic duo from southern California, using guitars, violin, synth, and lapsteel to create long tracks exploring time and tide. And tone. Through continuously evolving, fugue-like riffage drone and feedback. For the purposes of this collaboration a new instrumentation was found. After an initial flirtation with guitars, the Californians decided on a markedly more pastoral direction and an arabo-andalusian flavor for the music they had been given. Over two tracks of Astro's synth textures the same instrumentation - mandolin, strum stick, and voices, - is radically transformed by electricity. Track one is spare and celestial, a delicate acoustic track that employs spare free improvisation and a repeating ancient-sounding chord progression as a basis for both Astro's sonic flights and a lilting wordless melody. Track two explodes with feedback and a crunching assault develops from exactly the same elements, electrified. One would never know that the sonic roar is created by electric mandolin and modified vocals atop brother Astro's synthesizer. Musical imaginations have reached across the pacific for this combination of filigree and mutilation.
LotusHouse-13
CD
$9.75

Case, Neko
Middle Cyclone (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US Neko's many fans hang on her impressionistic lyrics, classic pop harmonics, and luxurious voice, and her new album revels in all three. "Middle Cyclone" fuses her longtime themes of nature versus man into a shining lyrical broadsword. Numerous guests include M. Ward, Garth Hudson of The Band, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, The Lilys, and Giant Sand.
Anti
CD
$15.50

Chin Chin
Flashing, The Fancing (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US Featuring an impressive roster of side men & soloists, w/ credits including TV on the Radio, Medeski Martin & Wood, Spoon, Antibalas, Sinead O'Connor, Blonde Redhead, Cibbo Matto, Temptations, Delfonics, Glenn Miller Orchestra, & Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, this is as sophisticated as it is fun & catchy. Moody, world weary love songs sit comfortably in between psychedelic synth freak-outs & dance floor bangers.
DefinitiveJux
CD
$15.00

Circle
Hollywood (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US Finland's mighty masters of metallic hypno drone rock have been making some of the most original modern rock music since the beginning of the 90's. For fans of Krautrock, Acid.
Ektro
CD
$15.00

Circle
Saturnus Reality (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US The Finnegan's Wake of Finnish rock documentaries, & a fabulous cul-de-sac in stream of consciousness. This is not a concert film, but rather an intimate documentary which features the occassional live performance. A self-ironic vicious circle of a film that focuses on the curious worl of the band & it's musicians.
NoQuarter
DVD
$14.00

Cloak/Dagger
Untitled (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Two new songs from Richmond, VA's Cloak/ Dagger. Continuing in the Swiz and Drive Like Jehu fashion the Daggers deliver a couple of new driven anthemic tunes. Since forming in 2006, they have toured a bunch with the likes of Paint it Black, Kill Your Idols and many other contemporary punk icons. This single comes with an MP3 download coupon for all you portable punks too.
JadeTree
45
$4.00

Connors, Loren
The Curse of Midnight Mary (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US In 1981 guitarist Loren Connors took his tape recorder to the graveyard where the legendary Midnight Mary's grave lies in New Haven, Conn. The curse is: Anyone who gets caught in her graveyard past midnight will die the next day. But Connors, like a young fool, taped in that place, making this album that was lost and forgotten until uncovered in 2008. Recorded between Connors' eight volume Unaccompanied Acoustic Guitar Improvisations LP series and the folk albums he would make with Tom Hanford and Kath Bloom, these nine pieces meld those distinct forms. Connors, singing in a trance like moan, reforms the Mississippi Delta blues on his acoustic guitar with flashes of melodic hooks and a percussive guitar style that erupts into boogie-woogie riffs and other world spirituals. It's an album for fans of Connors' solo avant work and collaborations with Jim O'Rourke or Jandek; and will enthrall devotees of early the 20th Century blues of Blind Willie Johnson and Charlie Patton. A rare and essential peak into the still mysterious early years of this American guitar master. Recorded March 1981, at the Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Conneticuit.
FamilyVineyard-64
CD
$11.50

Daisuke, Kashiwa
5 Dec. (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, JAPAN "Program Music I", released approximately a year and a half ago introduced audiences to a musical interpretation of two Japanese literary classics, "Night on the Milky Way Railroad" and "Run Melos!" and revealed the rich musical talent of Kashiwa Daisuke. As we enter the final one digit year of the new millennium, we are proud to release "5 Dec.", an album that drops hints of what's to come in the next 10 years. Kashiwa's first album released from German label, Onpa, in 2006 won rave reviews from many artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto. In his second album, "Program Music I" released the following year, Kashiwa Daisuke defined his presence once again in the world of music. The artist's lyrical melody and dynamic and inventive musical arrangements have led his work to new frontiers in TV commercials and fashion shows. Kashiwa casts also off a powerful presence on the online world through his musical + visual collaboration with Koji Nishida of RAKU-GAKU, the artist behind Kashiwa's album jackets. In his third album, "5 Dec.", Kashiwa Daisuke makes yet another step into a new horizon. In this album, the artist's signature melody with its flowing, oriental taste hides behind the shadows to be replaced by tearing voice samples and noisy and metallic guitar sounds thrashing almost violently on top of colorful uplifting beats such as break core, down tempo, bleep techno, and drum n' bass. In contrast to the aggressive sounds of the first half, the second part of the album starting with the 6th track, "Silver Moon" guides audiences to a minimal world created through electronic sounds and the piano. As a whole, the album portrays a brilliant contrast of sound. The melody of this album does not impose sentimentalism or nostalgia onto its listeners but rather, it takes them on a journey into rhythm from beginning to end. Even amidst the violent and excessive elements, there is always a composed eye seeing into the passion that lies beneath, there is a self-disciplined, strict interpretation of the world, a sublime and metallic texture... this is what the artist Kashiwa Daisuke may be all about. Turn your ears and experience the fruit of Kashiwa Daisuke's new challenge and step with him into a whole new level of musical originality.
Noble-1246
CD
$17.00

Davis, Miles
In A Silent Way (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 14TH)
PS, US Listening to Miles Davis' originally released version of In a Silent Way in light of the complete sessions released by Sony in 2001 (Columbia Legacy 65362) reveals just how strategic and dramatic a studio construction it was. If one listens to Joe Zawinul's original version of "In a Silent Way," it comes across as almost a folk song with a very pronounced melody. The version Miles Davis and Teo Macero assembled from the recording session in July of 1968 is anything but. There is no melody, not even a melodic frame. There are only vamps and solos, grooves layered on top of other grooves spiraling toward space but ending in silence. But even these don't begin until almost ten minutes into the piece. It's Miles and McLaughlin, sparely breathing and wending their way through a series of seemingly disconnected phrases until the groove monster kicks in. The solos are extended, digging deep into the heart of the ethereal groove, which was dark, smoky, and ashen. McLaughlin and Hancock are particularly brilliant, but Corea's solo on the Fender Rhodes is one of his most articulate and spiraling on the instrument ever. The A-side of the album, "Shhh/Peaceful," is even more so. With Tony Williams shimmering away on the cymbals in double time, Miles comes out slippery and slowly, playing over the top of the vamp, playing ostinato and moving off into more mysterious territory a moment at a time. With Zawinul's organ in the background offering the occasional swell of darkness and dimension, Miles could continue indefinitely. But McLaughlin is hovering, easing in, moving up against the organ and the trills by Hancock and Corea; Wayne Shorter hesitantly winds in and out of the mix on his soprano, filling space until it's his turn to solo. But John McLaughlin, playing solos and fills throughout (the piece is like one long dreamy solo for the guitarist), is what gives it its open quality, like a piece of music with no borders as he turns in and through the commingling keyboards as Holland paces everything along. When the first round of solos ends, Zawinul and McLaughlin and Williams usher it back in with painterly decoration and illumination from Corea and Hancock. Miles picks up on another riff created by Corea and slips in to bring back the ostinato "theme" of the work. He plays glissando right near the very end, which is the only place where the band swells and the tune moves above a whisper before Zawinul's organ fades it into silence. This disc holds up, and perhaps is even stronger because of the issue of the complete sessions. It is, along with Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, a signature Miles Davis session from the electric era. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
SNYL740415.1
LP
$17.50

Davis, Miles
Bitches Brew (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 14TH)
PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!!
Sony
DLP
$25.25

Davis, Miles
Sketches of Spain (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 14th)
PS, US Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flügelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis' control over his instrument is singular, and Evans' conducting is flawless. Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis' career, and the album's closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
SNYL740414.1
LP
$17.50

Deerhunter
Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
Kranky
DLP
$15.75

Desario
Zero Point Zero (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th)
PS, US Named after Daniel Desario in the cult TV show Freaks & Geeks, Desario plays dark and sometimes threatening punchy indie-pop rock like The Smiths with balls or Felt if they were from the west coast or Modern English stripping down to Wedding Present vulnerability. Kids R.I.Y.L. Death Cab For Cutie, Built To Spill, The Shins. The band line up features former Holiday Flyer, California Oranges singer/songwriter John Conley and former Holiday Flyer, Rocketship members Mike Yoas, guitars, and Jim Rivas, drums. Mike Carr plays bass. EARLY PRESS: "I'm quite enamored with a self titled three-song disc by Desario, and if this is a taste of the forthcoming album the band's still working on (Zero Point Zero, due in October from once local indie Darla Records), it's gonna be a real peach. "Cane Cola" is all gleaming chrome over pastoral sweetness, more melodic and soaring than the reworked Joy Divisionisms of Interpol, with John Conley's friendly and inviting voice surfing over his and Michael Yoas' intertwined clean electric guitars, with bassist Mike Carr underpinning the song while drummer Jim Rivas splatters around like Moby Grape's Skip Spence on "Omaha." The second track, "Fine Time," continues the feel, while "Nautical Ways" has more jangle along with shouted background vocals. All three are winners; Desario has a sense of melody and dynamics that is captivating." Jackson Griffith, Sacramento News and Review
Darla-219
CD
$12.25

Dollboy
A Beard Of Bees (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10th)
PS, UK Written and recorded by Oliver Cherer except "He Went Down To The Sea" which is by the Monks. Dollboy is Oliver Cherer, an English artist who makes quiet, reflective semi-organic music, a hybrid of analog electronic sounds, innovative sound processing and percussive acoustic instrumentation. A Beard of Bees is Oliver's first song based album, his previous releases, Plans for a modern city (2004, Different Drummer) and Casual Nudism (2006, Arable) being instrumental records on which he created lullaby-like structures, blending together old-fashioned folk melodies and warm electronic sound scapes, with Philip Glass-style loops interspersed with scattering beats. Interest in modal music, in particularly Miles Davis 1960s records, inspired Oliver to start learning about the melody, and made him switch from composing on a computer with a sequencer to writing more fully formed tunes using guitar or piano or even glockenspiel. Like an English Victorian artist, Oliver's curiosity has led him to exploring and mixing found and dusty instruments together with peculiar showpiece technology. From 1942 glass toy glockenspiel, Brixton market bongos, flute, viola, toy piano, 50s jazz guitar played with vibraphone mallets and questionable recordings of the Austrian flood warning siren and Stanstead Express, to Gnat, a strange little English synthesizer with no keyboard, VCS3 and Korg synths, the balance of instruments on this album leans towards the organic and acoustic. The inspiration for the album is varied and ranges from tea drinking (One Liner) and geographical references (California refers to a place in the Midlands called new Invention), to more ethereal matters such as drifting through life without aim (a beard of bees), and infinity / "bigness is frightening", another particular kind of particularly English view of the world (Endless). There are even songs about generation "gaps" (jet age kids), prog jokes (Lead Boots), and a sea-shanty written in response to Melville's Moby Dick (O Ahab!). Perhaps, the thread going through all the themes is Oliver's "meditation" on Englishness. Creating post-post-industrial urban-folk, Dollboy has existed in one form or another since the first show at The Garage in 1999, where the iconic performance included a saw, a vinyl killer, Japanese poetry and live eating of pork pies. As a live act Dollboy has developed into one of the The Big Chill and Arctic Circle favorites, performing as a seven piece band as well as a solo acoustic act, constantly morphing and developing.
StaticCaravan-179
CD
$16.25

Elvis Perkins In Dearland
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
XL
LP
$14.00

Elvis Perkins In Dearland
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US The follow-up to the exquisitely melancholic and much hailed solo debut "Ash Wednesday". On this release, Elvis is joined by a talented trio of friends, all clearly influenced by a range of American roots music. At once raucous and profound, this record conjures both the greatest celebration and the saddest funeral, channeling an ageless wisdom that deepens with each listen.
XL
CD
$14.00

English, Lawrence
It's Up to Us to Live (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, PORTUGAL Sirr is very proud to present Lawrence English new album "It's Up To Us To Live", which follows the excellent album on Touch. This work unfolds and reveals Lawrence's delicate sense of textural depth while exploring densities and flows (in his own words, "only offering the occasionally moment to surface for air". A beautiful work where the sounds "emanate from distant calls of guitar, sharply cracked electronics, alien field recordings and a variety of other less identifiable sources." The cover art by renowned Australian photographer Marian Drew, from her 'Still Lives' series. It's Up To Us To Live is a distorted sonic distress beacon. It suggests a possible mapping of the increasingly cluttered sound spaces that find themselves associated with human habitation and expansion.
Sirr-032
CD
$16.25

Extra Golden
Thank You Very Quickly (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
ThrillJockey
LP
$13.00

Extra Golden
Thank You Very Quickly (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US 6-song wonder of a record, whose joyous danceable anthems were crafted in the wake of political & economic upheaval in Kenya. While EG's 1st 2 albums served as thesis & antithesis, this TYVQ showcases a new level of artistry that could only be referred to as synthesis. No longer a 'collaborative enconter', but a band. 4-panel mini-LP style jacket.
ThrillJockey
CD
$13.00

Fever Ray
S-T (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 24TH)
PS, US Fever Ray, aka Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of THE KNIFE, is set to release her debut self-titled album. Fever Ray is the title, of both project and album, an evocation of the music's sound, intense and anxious, yet luminous. It's the culmination of work that began in 2007 when Karin and Olof, the brother-sister duo who are The Knife, decided to take time out following a handful of incredible live shows. After having her second child and eight months of the most productive daydreaming later, Karin had a batch of new songs and the raw materials for the production of Fever Ray. Unsure how to get them over the finishing line, she took half to Christoffer Berg (who mixed The Knife's work) and half to Stockholm production duo Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid for a final brush and tickle. The result is Fever Ray, an album that, while recognisably the work of the same artist, is dramatically different from The Knife. It's still constructed on electronic foundations and embellished with traditional instrumentation (guitar here, congas there). Despite some upbeat moments ("Triangle Walks," "I'm Not Done"), Fever Ray is starker, moodier, in places quite somber - less an invasion, more a slow process of colonization. Not that you'll find anything so literal in the lyrics. One thing's for sure - in a country with a wealth of leftfield pop artists, Karin Dreijer Andersson sounds like no one but herself. Constantly inventive, restlessly emotive, Fever Ray swaggers, broods, intrigues and dazzles without ever making concessions.
Mute
CD
$14.00

Flaherty, Paul & C. Spencer Yeh w/ Greg Kelley
New York Nuts And Boston Baked Beans (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, US Violinist/vocalist C Spencer Yeh & unrivaled saxophone elder-titan Paul Flaherty team up without the assistance of acclaimed drummer Chris Corsano for the first time. Along for the Jamz Is Bonkers Boston trumpeteer Greg Kelley. After performing numerous times and honing a distinct group dynamic as a trio over many years with celebrated percussionist Chris Corsano, Yeh and Flaherty decided to try it out one-on-one. The record comprises of the best from two live sets from a short duo tour in the Northeast -- at the celebrated venue Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, and Nom D'Artiste in Boston. With minimal editing, this is the sound of two people tearing at the limits of their instruments, these iconic configurations of metal and wood; hurling their respective accumulated life experience into one another, exposed and raw. The duo is likely one of the most dangerous configurations for people to interact within, musical or otherwise. Greg Kelley on trumpet is added to the mix and the results mutate into an even more mysterious form - the trumpet is indistinguishable from the vocals; the saxophone creaks so the voice doesn't have to.
Important-195
CD
$13.00

Fol Chen
Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US "You know that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin's "Presence" album? Fol Chen sound like that. But we don't sound like Led Zeppelin. (We actually do a little.) Instead, we sound like Prince with Amon Duul II and a children's religious revival, not to mention Hot Chip, Pink Floyd, Gwen Stefani, Pere Ubu, Danielson Famile, Scritti Politti, Boards of Canada, The Blow, and Pulp. (Mostly.) We are using secret powers and the guidance of legendary DJ Donna Donna to combat our nemesis, John Shade. We are cryptic and joyful and we would like you to dance."
AsthmaticKitty-53
LP
$11.50

Gainsbourg, Serge
Histoire De Melody Nelson (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 24TH)
PS, US Limited Edition Vinyl LP feat. 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, and liner notes. Limited to only 2,000 copies! Sex has always sold, but presented with a landmark musical backdrop, the combination is rare as finding the elusive "G Spot". Quite often, attempts fall flaccid, missing the titillating mark by a mile. But French icon and national treasure Serge Gainsbourg is no stranger to sexual proclivities, and with his 1971 Histoire De Melody Nelson he shared an erotic tale as seductive today as the day it was released. With help from actress, amour, and inspiration Jane Birkin, arranger/conductor and co-conspirator Jean-Claude Vannier (L'Enfant Assassins Des Mouches), not to mention a tight hand picked crew of top shelf UK session musicians, Nelson is often cited as Gainsbourg's master work, an essential album for the discerning music lover. Light In The Attic's reissue of Histoire De Melody Nelson finally gives this still radical record the respect and attention to detail it so rightfully deserves. For the first time ever, this lavishly packaged and true to the original artwork CD and 180 gram LP reissue contains extensive English language liner notes and informative content explaining the times and tales behind the making of this passionate platter. Dispelling the countless myths, hearsay, and rumors surrounding Nelson, New York-based writer Andy Beta contributes a stylish essay for your edification while Finders Keepers' honcho and Twisted Nerve founder Andy Votel shares his deep knowledge of Gainsbourg and the Gallic and UK music scenes with great insight - never before have these stories been told. The maestro himself even chimes in with a period Q&A interview from France's Rock N Folk Magazine, and printed lyrics (both with English translations). So as we said before, sex sells, and yes, we are buying. With Gainsborg, Birkin, Vannier and company supplying the mood, it's our artistic pop-rock duty to explore L'Histoire De Melody Nelson with fresh ears, eyes, and hands. With its massive inspiration reaching out to the quintessential rap of De La Soul and The Beatnuts to like-minded and eclectic singer-songwriter Beck, Nelson continues to entrance. Light In The Attic looks forward to continuing to spread Gainsbourg's provocative message to thrill seekers the world over... TRACKS: 1. Melody 2. LA Ballade de Melody Nelson 3. La Valse do Melody 4. Ah! Melody 5. L' Hotel Particulier 6. En Melody 7. Cargo Culte
LightInTheAttic-040
LP
$20.25

Gainsbourg, Serge
Histoire De Melody Nelson (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 27TH)
PS, US For the first time ever, this lavishly packaged & true to the original artwork CD reissue contains extensive English language liner notes & informative content explaining the times & tales behind the making of this passionate platter. Dispelling the countless myths, hearsay & rumors surrounding Nelson, New York-based writer Andy Beta contributes a stylish essay for your edification while Finders Keepers' honcho & Twisted Nerve founder Andy Votel shares his deep knowledge of Gainsbourg and the Gallic & UK music scenes with great insight - never before have these stories been told. The maestro himself even chimes in with a period Q&A interview from France's Rock N Folk Magazine, and printed lyrics (both with English translations)
LightInTheAttic
CD
$15.00

Gun Outfit
Dim Light (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US
PPM
CD
$10.25

Gun Outfit
Dim Light (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
PPM
LP
$10.25

Handsome Furs
Face Control (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US Just so happens to be Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner and his fiancee, Alexei Perry. The second album by this Montreal band draws inspiration from Eastern Europe and re-maps Eastern Bloc surveillance state themes to contemporary life, showing the irony of our acceptance of self-monitoring through blogs, credit/debit accounts, surveillance cameras, and GPS devices. The album's juxtaposition of cold, metronomic, electronic beats with jagged, dissonant and frail guitars convey what it is to be human in the 21st century. At the same time, it provides the means to opt out.
Subpop
CD
$12.50

Handsome Furs
Face Control (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Subpop
LP
$12.50

Haptic
Medium (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Flingco SS is the new label from Kranky founder/righteous dude Bruce Adams. Creating densely textured works that can range from stark minimalism to violent, carefully directed chaos, Haptic combines a rigorous attention to sonic detail with restless experimentalism. The Medium consists of two sidelong tracks & includes contributions from Boris Hauf, Olivia Block & Tony Buck. LIMITED edition 180 gram vinyl with download coupon.
FlingcoSoundSystem-005
LP
$21.75

Hellberg, Mattias & The White Moose
Out of the frying pan, into the woods (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, SWEDEN VINYL VERSION! Deluxe, gatefold, 180g double LP, includes bonus track "Lady Disgrace" which ain't on the CD! Plus download codes so you can take The Moose into the woods with you! Come on, like this retro-rock bongfest won't sound totally boss pressed into wax? And you know you need that trippy-dippy cover art in large format.
PlaygroundMusicSE
DLP
$18.00

Here We Go Magic
Here We Go Magic (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, US Developed over a two-month period of stream-of-consciousness recording in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Luke Temple's self-titled debut under his new moniker Here We Go Magic is a remarkable departure from his signature singer-songwriter material. Luke recorded the album at home using analog synths, a cassette 4-track, and his trusty SM-57 mic, coloring the sound with warmth and creating textures you want to wrap yourself in. The album opens with the trance-inducing polyrhythms and gorgeous multi-layered vocals of "Only Pieces. " What follows is an album oozing with sounds maternal and subconscious...like floating in amniotic fluid, ripe, hiccup-y and desperate to emerge. Many of the songs pulse with infectious afro-beat and kraut-rock influenced grooves, calling to mind classic albums like Remain in the Light and Graceland. In contrast, the instrumental tracks conjure mystical introspective landscapes reminiscent of Popol Vuh's unforgettable ambience. Despite the album's murky aquatic underpinnings it's hard to resist shakin what you got to ebullient blissed-out tracks like "Fangala" and "Tunnelvision." The album closes with "Everything's Big", a bleak commentary on weakness and fear birthed of opulence and gluttony. Luke's fragile tenor delivers this absurd carnival waltz with the fervor and abandon of a teetotaler under the influence, never breaking the spell of the album's mood of rejuvenation and release.
WesternVinyl-57
CD
$11.50

Hitchcock, Robyn
Goodnight Oslo (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Stabbing horns from compatriot TERRY EDWARDS swim alongside gorgeous harmonies throughout this 10-track snapshot of his version of pop music in a perfect world. Features guest vocals from COLIN MELOY, SEAN NELSON & MORRIS WINDSOR. An album of nearly unwavering positivity.
YepRoc
CD
$14.50

Hitchcock, Robyn
Goodnight Oslo (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
YepRoc
LP
$16.50

Horntveth, Lars
Kaleidoscopic (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, NORWAY Follow-up to the critically acclaimed debut album, Pooka, by Jaga Jazzist leader. Kaleidoscopic consists of one 37 minute long composition & was recorded with 41 members of the Latvian National Orchestra (34 string players, 3 percussionists, clarinet, flute, bass trombone & one harp), with Lars Horntveth himself playing piano, horns & clarinets. Lars' dogma in creating this album was to write the music chronologically into an open, endless score, similar to a diary. Intending for the music to flow from idea to idea, Lars wanted the score to grow 7 develop along with his state of mind. The album is a journey in sound, its form fitting somewhere between Steve Reich's Music For 18 Musicians & KLF's Chill Out. It is a musical experience from start to finish, an auditory trip into very different rooms & moods, with great contrast & surprises from one musical genre to the next.
SmalltownSupersound-097
CD
$15.25

Houghton, Beth Jeans
"Golden" b/w "Night Swimmer" (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, UK In the past year, 18-year-old Newcastle based singer/songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton has garnered a reputation as an antidote to the current crop of acoustic songstresses. With her alternative blend of experimental folk, Beth has been hailed by the NME as "a Joni Mitchell for the anti-folk generation". With influences ranging from Frank Zappa, Vashti Bunyan, Fourtet and Love, Beth has cultivated a sound that is truly her own. Since her first performance in August 06 Beth has played alongside a diverse collection of artists such as Bon Iver, Adem, Imogen Heap, Fionn Regan, Jeffrey Lewis, Scott Matthews, Bowerbirds, Josephine Foster, Woodpigeon, White Magic, King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts, PG Six, Dead Meadow, Voice of the Seven Woods, Tom Brosseau, St Vincent, Euros Childs, Diane Cluck, Jack Savoretti and Stephen Fretwell amongst others. At last years Greenman Festival Devendra Banhart invited Beth to play one of her songs during his set on the main stage to an 8000 strong crowd describing her as, 'very lovely, a musical magician'. Beth's limited edition self-titled Debut EP is out now on Finders Keepers/Bird records, with another single due out on Static Caravan early '09 to be produced by Adem. Beth is currently writing/recording, and is gigging regularly throughout the UK Edition of 500 on 7" vinyl with 'give us a break' quiz card insert.
StaticCaravan-180
45
$6.75

Hussy's, The
Super Pro+ (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th)
PS, JAPAN Do the departed listen to their T-Rex records in heaven? One of many questions posed on the second album by Glasgow's The Hussy's. A superabundance of hooks explains the handful of commercial licensing's already under The Hussy's belt (from Payless Shoes to MTV's The Hills and Paris Hilton's BFF), but for the rest of us, there's ALSO a solid dose of lyrical wit and humor. The punchy quintet features the sly yet substantial vocals of a lass called Fili and lead guitar of James McColl (ex-Supernaturals), while lyrical coverage takes in the semi-square, mods, roller discos, nuclear plant workers turned Russian beauty pageant contestants, and cross dressing nuns. This Japanese version of the album features "Rock Steady," "Jesus," and "Sister Mary Jo" as bonus tracks. Sorry folks, but 2007's "We Expected" mini-album is already sold out. Highly recommended.
QuinceRecords-066
CD
$13.50

Kebnekajse
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 31ST)
PS, SWEDEN Their sound can be heard echoing in most Swedish psych/prog bands, & of course in Dungen, whose lead guitarist worked on the recording & production of this album. Known as the highest band in the land, they were pioneers w/ their instrumentals of electrified Swedish folk/fiddler music w/ psychedelic overtones.
SubliminalSounds
CD
$16.25

Keene, Tommy
In the Late Bright (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US A wide range of songs from the rollicking opener "Late Bright," to his first recorded instrumental "Elevated" & the wistful "Save This Harmony"
SecondMotion
CD
$14.50

Keene, Tommy
Painkiller (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Vast & immediate, lyrically intoxicating, musically loose & rocking or spacious & trippy. It swings from delicate psychedelic pop songs to radiotronic space rock monsters. A must listen for all Church or Kilbey fans.
SecondMotion
CD
$14.50

Kilbey, Steve
Painkiller (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Vast & immediate, lyrically intoxicating, musically loose & rocking or spacious & trippy. It swings from delicate psychedelic pop songs to radiotronic space rock monsters. A must listen for all Church or Kilbey fans.
SecondMotion
CD
$14.50

Land of Kush
Against the Day (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US A complex, intense but accessible hour of hybrid, genre-defying music. The marriage of middle-eastern, North African & western modes & influences that evades categorization from one of Montreal's most challenging & prolific musical iconoclasts, SAM SHALABI. Inspired & named after the Thomas Pychon novel, the music is broken into five sections, named for the book's chapters.
Constellation
CD
$16.25

Last Days
The Safety Of The North (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US Graham Richardson's Last Days project returns with it's latest full-length The Safety of the North. Richardson has fully embraced his cinematic tendencies, expanding his creative palette to include spoken excerpts, a vocal collaboration with Fabiola Sanchez of Familiar Trees, and a "script-based" compositional approach. Drawing on a theme first explored in Sea's "Arrival at Jan Mayen" (in which its sailor is first excited by the prospect of a distant island home, then disappointed by its barren terrain), The Safety of the North tells the story of Alice, her parents and their relocation to a remote northern land. Disappointed with the trappings of the city, they wish for a simpler, more rewarding way of life. Their arrival promises clean air, miles of snow-covered fields surrounded by forests and mountains but above all, safety and a protected existence. As dark as it is light, the Safety Of The North explores relationships, loss, recovery and how hope is the only certainty in life.. With a strict script in mind, Richardson divided the album into 15 "scenes," scoring each with a new focus on the emotional states of his characters and the settings they inhabit. Using the same tools he employs on his previous albums (i.e. field recordings, song titles, and album art), along with snippets of dialogue, monologue and more diverse instrumentation, Richardson guides the listener through Alice's initial departure, hopeful beginnings and eventual tragedy in what may be Last Days most melodic work to date.
n5MD-166
CD
$12.00

Lothar
Montgolfier (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th)
PS, JAPAN Snappy Swedish pop gets an uncharacteristic shoegaze treatment on the debut album by Lothar, a Stockholm 7-piece (4 guitars!) whose sound was purportedly changed when the members set up their rehearsal space next to a whirring, ticking, and buzzing power station on the outskirts of the city. "...[V]ery very good stuff recalling Blonde Redhead, Stereolab, Pia Fraus and the straightforward end of Deerhoof. The guitars are set to 'noisy', the songs are very catchy and very energetic and the singer is a lady. I'd heartily recommend this to those folks who are rather fond of early Lush records." - Clinton @ Norman Records
Quince-65
CD
$13.50

Lovetones, The
Dimensions (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 27TH)
PS, US "glorious psychedelic-pop wave... A trip from start to finish" - Rolling Stone. The Lovetones released their debut album, Be What You Want in 2002 through Bomp! Records creating a palpable buzz among critics from the likes of Creem and Rolling Stone magazine. The latter hailed mainman Matthew J Tow's songwriting worthy of Ray Davies, Bowie, Lennon and McCartney: a bold statement, yet in his case, completely justified. After enjoying the critical success of Be What You Want, touring Australia extensively and even supporting Morrissey during his first ever solo Australian tour, Tow joined The Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2003 and contributed two brilliant tracks to their sonic mastery, ...And This Is Our Music. Tow's opening track Starcleaner later also appeared on the The BJM retrospective Tepid Peppermint Wonderland. In the same year, UK based Fire Records invited The Lovetones to contribute to the James Joyce Chamber Music project alongside Mercury Rev, Sonic Youth and REM's Peter Buck. 2004 saw the release of the Stars EP, coinciding with The Lovetones supporting The Brian Jonestown Massacre on their infamous and now legendary tour of Australia. The second album Meditations was released through New York's Tee Pee Records in late 2005, revealing a stunning development in Tow's songwriting and providing a soundscape of radiant pop, ethereal psychedelia and truly remarkable vocal melodies that arched for the stars. Soulful and sincere, Meditations nodded gently and respectfully to the pop masters of the sixties whilst never lacking in original vision. Returning from triumphant shows in the US in late 2005 and also at SXSW 2006, The Lovetones toured to support Meditations' Australian release in May 2006. June 2006 saw The Lovetones complete a crazed European tour across 12 countries with The Brian Jonestown Massacre in support of Meditations' release there through Tee Pee/Cargo Records, culminating in a rave album review in respected UK magazine Uncut. The Lovetones also managed to record their third album Axiom during 2006 with fervent sessions split between Figment Studios in Hollywood and the Sydney Opera House Recording Studio. More extensive touring in the US and Australia followed. Set for a November 2008 release in Australia, Dimensions is The Lovetones' fourth studio album and the latest chapter in the indie psychedelic pop legacy of frontman Matthew Tow, who remains one of Australia's most underrated songwriters. The album was recorded in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, mixed in Los Angeles by Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre/Quarter After/Black Angels) and mastered by William Bowden (one of Australia's finest mastering engineers). The Lovetones will be touring Australia in November/December before heading back to the US to support the album's North American release via Planting Seeds Records in early 2009.
PlantingSeeds-060
CD
$12.25

Low Frequency In Stereo, The
Futuro (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, NORWAY VINYL VERSION.
RuneGrammofon
LP
$17.75

Low Frequency In Stereo, The
Futuro (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, NORWAY This is the fourth full-length release from The Low Frequency In Stereo. Founded in 2001 in Haugesund on the west coast of Norway, they have been called the band with one foot in Pompeii and one in space. With their first three albums released from 2002 to 2006, they have developed from an instrumental lo-fi-post-rock band that Pitchfork dubbed "psych-garage dronemeisters" to a full-blown, focused and fresh-sounding rock ensemble with great songs and a mix of dark atmospheres and catchy choruses. From the Eastern-tinged pop flirt of "Starstruck" to the near 10-minute cosmic groove-trip that is "Solar System," the new album from this excellent group finds them in top form and taking a big leap from their previous, Norwegian Grammy-nominated album. A sharper and more focused effort without a weak track in sight, Futuro is both industrial and rough as well as polished and streamlined. There are nods to fellow Norwegians 120 Days as well as Stereolab, Can, Joy Division and even The B-52's, but first of all, this is a group that have perfected their own sound from album to album and through periods of extensive touring, working up some well-deserved hype in the process. Per Steinar Lie (bass, organ, voice, guitars), Ørjan Haaland (drums, percussion, organ, voice) and Hanne Andersen (organ, percussion, trumpet, voice, guitars) are founding members, while Njål Clementsen (guitars, organ, piano, voice) and Linn Frøkedal (organ, voice) both joined ranks before the recording of Futuro. Clementsen and Frøkedal are also members of up-and-coming group Megaphonic Thrift. Guest musicians include Rune Grammofon-affiliates Nils Økland and Kjetil Møster (Ultralyd) and the album is produced by wonderboy Jørgen Træen, who has also worked with Jaga Jazzist, Kaizers Orchestra, The National Bank, and Sondre Lerche.
RuneGrammofon
CD
$16.25

M. Ward
End of Amnesia (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US Available for the first time on vinyl! Creating gigantic compositions w/ little more than a guitar & sparse instrumentation, Ward was thrust onto the fertile singer/songwriter scen w/ this release. His music features deft, poised guitar playing, vivid lyrical imagery, & melodies that burrow into your brain - as if they'd been there all along.
FutureFarmer
DLP
$17.50

M. Ward
Hold Time (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Well I think we can safely say that since M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel's breakout album of last year, She & Him Vol. 1, Matt Ward is now pretty much a household (read: Starbucks' and soccer moms') name. This dude is EVERYWHERE. His records continue to grow in sales and it was just announced he will be playing Coachella this year.
Merge
CD
$13.25

M. Ward
Hold Time (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Merge
LP
$16.50

Machine Fabriek & Stephen Vitiello
Box Music (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE JUNE 10TH)
PS, US Rutger and Stephen sort of accidentally met through e-mail. A simple note regarding an ordering question for a CD led to an enthusiastic e-mail conversation and climaxed in a musical collaboration. This all happened in a very short period, both musicians being very inspired by the concept of "exchange," as a means to cross space and time -- Rutger living in the Netherlands and Stephen in Virginia. Most of the time, when (electronic) musicians work together it's a matter of swapping digital files. In this case they decided to do something different and sent each other a box full of (mostly non-musical, or musically non-functional) objects and recordings, with the "assignment" to make music with those objects and all as source materials. As the titles tell, we're talking about an egg cutter, thumb piano, a broken kraakle box, rice, chocolate sprinkles, old cassette tapes, a broken 7" record, etcetera, etcetera. Both musicians made two of their own solo tracks with the box they received, and the last track was done together by Rutger adding sounds and processing to a piece started by Stephen. For Rutger/ Machinefabriek this is part of his most delicate work. For Stephen, it was a new and extremely enjoyable form of long-distance collaboration. Machinefabriek: Rutger Zuydervelt, better known as Machinefabriek, lives in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Started as Machinefabriek in 2004, he released 40+ small run home-made cdr's as well as work for Type Records, Lampse, Digitalis, Staalplaat (Mort Aux Vaches) and now 12K. A double remix cd was released in 2007, with interpetations by Alva Noto, Pita, Mitchell Akiyama, Xela, Gert-Jan Prins and many more. Collaborations (live or recording) include Steinbrüchel, Jasper TX, Wouter van Veldhoven, Simon Nabatov, Frans de Waard, Aaron Martin and Peter Broderick. Stephen Vitiello: Stephen Vitiello is a sound and media artist based in Richmond, VA. CD releases include Bright and Dusty Things (New Albion), Listening to Donald Judd (Sub Rosa) and Untitled/Exchange, a collaborative CD with Michael J. Schumacher (A Question of Re-Entry). Solo exhibitions of Vitiello's sound installations, photographs and drawings have been presented at The Project, NY, Museum 52, London, the Texas Gallery, Houston, TX and Diapason, NYC. Group exhibitions include the 2002 Whitney Biennial and the 2006 Biennial of Sydney. Over the last 18 years, Stephen has collaborated with numerous musicians and artists including Scanner, Pauline Oliveros, Andrew Deutsch, Julie Mehretu and Tony Oursler.
12K-1048
CD
$12.25

Marching Dynamics
The Workers Party of Haiti (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, GERMANY It was worth waiting more than a year for the second aural manifestation of S. Talada's darker self. M.D.'s unique mix of intelligent dance music, dark experimental sound layers and technoid beat'n'bass patterns enthused a large audience worldwide on the previous Nailsleeper release. Now it's the time for the workers party of Haiti to take over... Music as diverse as moody atmospheric dark ambient tunes, slow hop-beat-driven sub-bass monsters and fast dance tracks built upon hard hitting breaks. This album displays Talada's ability to merge all these styles into one instead of simply stringing them together. Crisp percussion blasts meet sound-trackish synth lines while aggravating your somatic responses - distortion from Detroit meets with Los(t) Angeles industrial gloom - dark complexity amalgamates with rhythmic intensity... "'The Workers Party Of Haiti' was my own exorcism from the demon that surrounded me and that was haunting me." (S. Talada) - join the exorcism!
Hymen-773
CD
$16.25

Mathieu, Stephan
The Key to the Kingdom (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, GERMANY Limited/numbered 400. "The Key to the Kingdom" is Stephan Mathieu's tribute to the great gospel preacher Washington Phillips and the world of raw, early gospel on 78rpm platters. The 2-part suite, presented in the classic 10" vinyl format that comes in an authentic, individually stamped and numbered 78rpm archive sleeve, has been performed on a historic Phonoharp No.2 zither from the 1890s utilizing five E-Bows and entropic and convolution processes. "The Key to the Kingdom" is a spin-off of Mathieu's "Virginals" project, a solo recital of contemporary classics performed on historic instruments. Stephan Mathieu is a musician and sound artist based in Saarbrücken, Germany. Duri ng the last decade his music has been released on 16 critical acclaimed CDs, both solo and in collaboration with Douglas Benford, Ekkehard Ehlers, John Hudak, Janek Schaefer and Akira Rabelais on some of the finest electronic music labels worldwide (Die Schachtel, Häpna, Ritornell, Lucky Kitchen, HeadzŠ). His sound is largely based on early instruments, environmental sound and obsolete media which are recorded and transformed by means of experimental microphony, re-editing techniques and software processes involving spectral analysis and convolution and has been compared to the landscape paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and the work of Colorfield artists Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Ellsworth Kelly. Stephan is a collector of 78rpm records from the 1910s and 20s, the era of acoustic and early electronic audio recording. His most recent album "Radioland" made it into "Best of 2008" lists in The Wire, Dusted, Boomkat, Milkfactory and many others.
Dekorder-028
10
$11.25

McGill, Cameron & What Army
Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US warm songs for cold shoulders is the kind of record we hoped Cameron McGill would make for his Parasol debut; songs stripped down and stories laid bare. The songs show a similar vulnerability evident in many of McGill's recordings, though here he returns to the thoughtful folk musings he has made his signature. There is always enough pop to make the songs memorable, but this album deals a weightier hand than his last, the self-released Hold On Beauty (also highly recommended). Cameron is aided & abetted by vocalist Kathleen Bracken (Those Transatlantics) on a handful of duets and backed by What Army, comprised of Noah Harris (Elanors), Daniel McMahon (Wandering Sons), Rodrigo Palma (Judah Johnson) and Darren Garvey (Andreas Kapsalis Trio).
Parasol-CD-110
CD
$9.00

McPhee, Joe/Nilssen-Love, Paal
Tomorrow Came Today (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, NORWAY Recorded in Olso's Grandsport Studio, an analog studio that perfectly captures the atmosphere & warmth of these improvisations. Free jazz legend Joe McPhee spent one day with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love in studio improvising direct to tape. The music is spontaneous, raw & groovy, but at the same time mellow, melodic & beautiful.
SmalltownSuperjazz-148
CD
$15.25

Mi Ami
Watersports (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Quarterstick
LP
$13.25

Mi Ami
Watersports (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US The second newest addition to our roster! San Francisco noise rhythm trio, Mi Ami, features two former members of Dischord cult band Black Eyes. The DC natives have graduated from the angular post h/c steeze into organic, hyper-percussive, post Arthur Russell territory. They have been featured in the Fader and last month's 12" was just reviewed in the New York Times yesterday. This is their first full length. They are on tour constantly and their live show (which frequently evolves into a full on post-Burning Man tribal drum circle) will blow your mind.
Quarterstick
CD
$12.00

Minus The Bear
Acoustics (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Originally released as a tour only cd, this album contains seven exclusive tracks of MTB doing acoustic (in case the title didn't give it away) versions of some of their classic material. Contains two Menos El Oso tracks (S047), three Planet of Ice tracks (S065), a track off Highly Refined Pirates (S021) and one BRAND NEW SONG.
SuicideSqueeze
LP
$10.75

Monks, The
Black Monk Time [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH)
PS, US Rerelease of The Monks' notorious 1966 album, their one and only, lavishly packaged, lovingly remastered. The Monks were American G.I.s based in Germany who created batshit-primal garage-punk and dressed accordingly. Details, release date and price TBC.
LightInTheAttic
CD
$15.25

Monks, The
The Early Years 1964-1965 (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH)
PS, US * Limited Edition Vinyl LP features 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, lyrics, and notes. Tracklist - 1. Monk Time 2. We Do Wie Du 3. Boys Are Boys 4. Pretty Suzanne 5. Higgle-dy Piggle-dy 6. Hushie Pushie 7. Love Came Tumblin' Down 8. Oh, How To Do Now 9. Space Age 10. I Hate You Bonus Tracks: 11. Boys Are Boys 12. There She Walks
LightInTheAttic
LP
$21.75

Monks, The
Black Monk Time (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH)
PS, US Limited Edition Vinyl LP features 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, lyrics, and notes. Today, "garage," "psych," and "punk" are three overused words to say the least. They're dropped from every direction to brand, market, and sell, but looking back to the mid-1960s, there was only one group of musical mavericks that clearly defined them. The Monks were five beat playing American GIs stationed in Germany who, after their discharge, decided to stay and continue their musical mission. Meeting up with a team of local managers, they transformed themselves and their sound into a holy racket like the world had never known. This five-person order literally birthed the above genres through a fuzz-drenched evolution of sound, bursting with social commentary and future primitive rhythms. Krautrock? It started here. Do we hear non-believers? We are NOT making this up. If you aren't already converted, it won't take long... Light In The Attic is ecstatic to present the Monks recorded legacy through two lavishly packaged and lovingly researched reissues (available on CD, LP, and digital download): The Early Years 1964-1965 as well as their landmark studio album Black Monk Time. Numerous period photographs (many unseen) and an extensive two-part essay by Canadian music journalist Kevin Howes (Jamaica-Toronto series) accompany both releases and tell the Monks story like it has never been told. Bonus material dating back to pre-Monks Torquays and up to post Black Monk Time 7"s are also included. From "Shut Up" to "Boys Are Boys", "Complication" to "Cuckoo," worlds will collide before you very eyes. Press play, drop the needle, zone in, and see for yourself. And while there's no need to shave your head, you'll certainly flip your wig. Come on everybody, its Monk Time! TRACKS: 1. Monk Time 2. Shut Up 3. Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice 4. Higgle-Dy - Piggle-Dy 5. I Hate You 6. Oh, How To Do Now 7. Complication 8. We Do Wie Du 9. Drunken Maria 10. Love Came Tumblin' Down 11. Blast Off! 12. That's My Girl Bonus Tracks: 13. I Can't Get Over You 14. Cuckoo 15. Love Can Tame The Wild 16. He Went Down To The Sea 17. Pretty Suzanne 18. Monk Chant (Live)
LightInTheAttic-042
LP
$21.75

Monks, The
The Early Years 1964-1965 (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH)
PS, US Collection of The Monks' singles anmd extraneous genius, lavishly packaged, lovingly remastered. The Monks were American G.I.s based in Germany who created batshit-primal garage-punk and dressed accordingly. Details, release date and price TBC.
LightInTheAttic
CD
$15.25

Morrissey
Years of Refusal (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
LostHighway
LP
$10.75

Morrissey
Years of Refusal [deluxe edition] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Deluxe version of new CD comes w/ a bonus DVD of videos, live performances and an interview w/ Russell Brand.
LostHighway
CD/DVD
$19.00

Morrissey
Years of Refusal (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US PITCHFORK: "Morrissey and his Tormentors continue their 21st century winning streak with a record that, while offering no new twists or surprises, finds the former Smiths co-leader in strong voice-- both as a singer and songwriter."
LostHighway
CD
$15.00

Mountains
Choral (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US BRANDON ANDEREGG & KOEN HOLTKAMP seamlessly blend pastoral electronic sounds with both field recordings & a plethora of acoustic instruments. The resulting soundscapes are broad in scope & rich in detail, often compared to artists such as Brian Eno & Fennesz. CD version is presented in a 4-panel mini-LP style jacket.
ThrillJockey
CD
$13.00

Mountains
Choral (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION, limited to 1000 worldwide, includes 2 vinyl-exlcusive tracks and a download coupon.
ThrillJockey
DLP
$14.50

Mummies
Play Thier Own Records (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US After long years in remission, this release is back in circulation. By the turn of 1990, The Mummies were fed up with the records of their time. Not content to take things lying down, these cut-rate visionaries put out a bunch of their own. So pleased were they with those 45s, that they recorded a mix tape. In 1992, they convinced Estrus Records to release it as the standard long player, "The Mummies: Play Their Own Records," which sold out sometime in 2005. Relive those lazy, hazy, crazy days of the twilight years of the last century with this LP.
Estrus
LP
$12.00

Murder City Devils
Empty Bottles Broken Hearts [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US
Subpop
LP
$12.50

Murder City Devils
In Name & Blood [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US On this their third full-length record, The Murder City Devils demonstrate the notion or Rock and Roll as a life or death proposition: tales of love lost (or destroyed), the doomed romanticism of the road (and an innate inability to deny its call), and suffering the slings and arrows of fate (outrageous or otherwise...). "With head, heart and hands - in name and blood."
Subpop
LP
$12.50

Murder City Devils
Thelema [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US A departure of sorts, the six songs on Thelema (five new and one, "364 Days," taken from the b-side to a limited Paper Bag Series 45) find the six-piece exploring musical terrain that is as informed by the obstacles of their past as it is by an ambitious quest for the unconquered. It's a sound that can't be compared to the influences constantly referenced in early reviews of the band. Having served their purpose, those influences and markers have crumbled away and with Thelema The Murder City Devils have honed a vitality and style entirely their own, one that is elastic in structure, profound in its lyrical content, and melodic-yes, melodic-in tone.
Subpop
12
$9.75

Murder City Devils
S-T [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US
Subpop
LP
$12.50

My Bloody Valentine
Loveless [2009 expanded remaster] (DELAYED. PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 2009)
PS, UK New, expanded, digipak version of MBV's otherworldly 1991 shoegaze classic, digitally remastered by MBV honcho Kevin Shields. Second disc is reported to be a alternate and previously unreleased version of Loveless remastered from original analog tapes.
Sony
DCD
$23.00

My Bloody Valentine
Isn't Anthing [2009 remaster] (DELAYED. PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 2009)
PS, UK New, 2009 re-issue in a digipak, digitally remastered by Kevn Shields.
SonyBMG
CD
$21.75

Neva Dinova
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US Originally self-released in 2001, this self-titled full-length debut is now re-issued with two bonus tracks. Their haunting, three-guitar swirling debut was heralded as a "Top 10 Release of 2002" by the LA Times. Following a split EP in 2004 with Bright Eyes ("One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels"), and a second album, "The Hate Yourself Change" in 2005, the band released their third full-length, "You May Already Be Dreaming" last year.
SaddleCreek
CD
$10.00

New Ruins
We Make Our Own Bad Luck (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Limited to 500, pressed on brick red wax.
AHiddenAgendaRecord-092
LP
$10.00

New Ruins
We Make Our Own Bad Luck (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, US We Make Our Own Bad Luck is the new album from Illinois rock act New Ruins, the follow-up to their first release, The Sound They Make, from 2007. Droning acoustic/electric rock haunted by rural spectres, songs rendered in sepia-tone, but updated with DIY studio machinations. Since their debut the original duo of songwriters J. Caleb Means and Elzie Sexton has expanded into a quintet, featuring bassist/multi-instrumentalist Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet), drummer Roy Ewing (Braid, Very Secretary), and Andrew Davidson (Tractor Kings, Chemicals) on bass and auxiliary percussion. New Ruins is a band as comfortable in a stage-shaking three-guitar line-up as it is in a more intimate stripped-down acoustic setting. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "Dark-hued pop music that strikes a balance between melody-driven pleasure and guitar-fueled malaise."
AHiddenAgendaRecord-092
CD
$9.00

Ocean
Pantheon Of The Lesser (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE NOVEMBER 11TH)
PS, US 2xLP to follow in about one month. Following their acclaimed breakthrough debut album that caught the ears of critics and fans worldwide, and became Important's highest selling album, Ocean has returned with their forward thinking, brutally heavy and purely minimalist sophomore album Pantheon Of The Lesser. Pantheon Of The Lesser was composed over a period of two years in Ocean's home studio in Portland, Maine. As the seasons passed each track was written, re-written, played and then re-played as layers were slowly stripped away until the true essence of the song was revealed. Once Ocean entered the studio it took another two years to deconstruct Pantheon Of The Lesser until they had found the essence of their writing. This disciplined deconstructionist approach to songwriting is how Pantheon Of The Lesser is how Ocean takes it to the next level of the abyss. The result of this compositional technique is over an hour of strictly bare instrumentation and a kind of natural heaviness that slowly rises and falls in a pure organic fashion. Everything in it's own time. Simply profound. Heavy like Schoenberg. While Ocean continues to explore and expand upon their "less is more" approach of profound musical minimalism and sheer heaviness, Pantheon Of The Lesser is a bit more musical than its predecessor. The Beacon, the opening track on Pantheon Of The Lesser, was played as Ocean's complete set on a recent US tour and on dates with Mono and Boris. Clocking in at 41 minutes on record and over an hour live; The Beacon evolves in 3 distinct movements with fleeting moments of hypnotic melody and earth shaking heavy dirges creating an all-encompassing tone of pure misanthropy. The second and final track on Pantheon Of The Lesser, titled Of The Lesser, carries a similar theme of misery. Written as an ode to distraction, chemical and otherwise, it is Ocean at their most personal: a pure sonic stream of consciousness in slow motion. Packaged in a deluxe foil printed heavy-duty cardboard jacket with art by renowned Maine illustrator Bruce Hutchison. The vinyl version is packaged in double 200 gram vinyl, packaged in deluxe letter pressed covers and limted to 500 copies.
Important-219
CD
$13.00

Odawas
The Blue Depths (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, US At first glimpse of the album art - details from Helen Maurene Cooper's Birds Of Appetite series - it becomes apparent that a certain surreal quality will mark the contents within The Blue Depths. A sense of longing and desire is buried within the dizzying layers. Odawas heighten the more subtle components of previous efforts, unashamedly giving into their love of Vangelis' romanticism, Eric Serra's dusky mysticism, and the sweeping, Southwestern strings of Jack Nitzsche. They demonstrate their mastery of nudging to the edge of the over the top with enchanting results. The Blue Depths is an album for warmer places, a balmy haze habitat for headphone meanderings. This is a dream world where Neil Young and Jimmy Webb float in the reverb saturated summer breeze. The solemn harmonies of "Moonlight/Twilight" drift between sheets of stirring bowed bass murmur as shimmering guitar notes ebb and flow underneath. Bursts of yearning harmonica arc over ethereal soundscapes in "The Case Of The Great Irish Elk." The jubilant piano of "Harmless Lover's Discourse" gives way to the most startling pop moment of the album, a soaring bed of synth propelled by a driving bass line and vibrant rhythms. Pulses of light extend towards the murky crevasse of the subconscious: these depths never looked so enticing. - Joel Beeman
Jagjaguwar-138
CD
$11.50

Old Canes
Early Morning Hymns (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US NOW ON VINYL! APPLESEED CAST frontman, Chris Crisci, departs from space rock & moody atmospherics fro a multi-instrumental fuzz-folk experience featuring the talents of Jordan Geiger (MINUS STORY) & Nathan Richardson (CASKET LOTTERY). Layers of home-recorded toy pianos, glockenspiels, children's xylophones, trumpets, & cellos combine w/ the traditional folk-rock instrumentation of acoustic guitars, banjos, & harmonica to form an eerie mix of Daniel Johnston, Van Dyke Parks, & Marc Olsen.
SecondNature
LP
$17.50

Our Love Will Destroy The World
Stillborn Plague Angels (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, GERMANY The gates of Birchville Cat Motel crack, creak wide, and crash, unleashing a gush of soul-fried bleakness and love-damage stained with a defiantly metallic pose. Thats 'METALLIC... as in, has the surface qualities of metal' not 'METAL... as in, has the surface qualities of Metallica'...step back you freaks. Although the broken bricks of BCM are still plain to see amid the burning wreck and ruin, 'Stillborn Plague Angels' represents the first fully formed sentence in a new chapter of Campbell Kneale's ongoing tome of star-spangled, psychedelic, noise-OM. Cholesterol shaving guitar peeks over the trench to survey an adrenalized landscape of endless roaring catastrophe... Everything louder than everything else! Our Love Will Destroy The World is the new one-man project by New Zealander Campbell Kneale after disbanding BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL. In the past Kneale has released albums on Ecstatic Peace, Corpus Hermeticum, Last Visible Dog, Conspiracy and his own Celebrate Psi Phenomena label. He has collaborated with Lee Ranaldo, Neil Campbell, Bruce Russel, John Olson (Wolf Eyes), Yellow Swans, has toured throughout Japan, Europe, America and Australia and also records und the names Black Boned Angel and Ming. "Stillborn Plague Angels" is the debut LP by this new project.
Dekorder-030
LP
$13.50

Outrageous Cherry
Universal Malcontents (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US This new set of pop songs once again showcases the band's distinctive mid-seventies sensibilities. The album is evocative of artists such as early Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, Sparks, 10cc & Eno, & meanders at times into the improvisation realms charted by Amon Duul 2, Man, & early Soft Machine. They have reached well-deserved cult status by releasing amazing psych/pop albums on labels such as Bar None, Mind Expansion, & Alan McGee's Poptones.
Alive
CD
$13.50

Pan American
White Bird Release (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, US The sixth album from Mark Nelson's longtime solo project following Quiet City. "...a mix of warmth & foreboding expansiveness, neither of which is minimal nor overdone" -Dusted (about Quiet City).
Kranky-128
LP
$13.00

Pan American
White Bird Release (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, US The sixth album from Mark Nelson's longtime solo project following Quiet City. "...a mix of warmth & foreboding expansiveness, neither of which is minimal nor overdone" -Dusted (about Quiet City).
Kranky-28
CD
$13.50

Paramount Styles
Failure American Style (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE JULY 7TH)
PS, US This is the 1st solo outing from Scott McCloud (GIRLS AGAINST BOYS). Feat. Richard Fortus (PSYCHEDELIC FURS/GUNS N' ROSES), Alexis Fleisig (Girls Against Boys), & Angela McClusky. The sound of dark forces gathering in a radiant club, at times intimate & at others soaring, slow burns bend & swerve into panoramic lush walls of sound.
Konkurrent
CD
$13.25

Parker, Evan / Jaker Flaten, Ingebrigt
Brewery Tap (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, NORWAY Brewery Tap is the duo of free jazz saxophonist Evan Parker & Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten. The recordings on this disc were recorded live at Oslo Jazz Festival the 13th of August 2007 at the Belleville venue.
SmalltownSuperjazz-160
CD
$15.25

Peter Bjorn And John
Living Thing (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 31ST)
PS, US New album, details and price TBC.
AlmostGold/StarTime
CD
$13.75

Reichmann, Josh Oracle Band
Crazy Power (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US LIMITED edition LP returns to music w/ an entirely new lineup of collaborators, now gathering from a pool of soul, early-funk, roots and dark punk influences. Stevie Wonder meets the Stooges.
PaperBag
LP
$17.00

Sand Pebbles
A Thousand Wild Flowers (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US A "best of" compilation from the Australian psych-rock outfit. Influences range from Stones to Spacemen 3 to Stooges to Alice Coltrane, sometimes they sound like Sonic Youth, sometimes like the Byrds
DoubleFeature
CD
$13.50

Schaeffer, Janek
Extended Play [Triptych for the child survivors of war and conflict] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE JUNE 10TH)
PS, US LIMITED EDITION 600. LINE is proud to release the latest audio work from British composer and installation artist Janek Schaefer based on his installation of the same title. Installation Reviews: "a piece to return to again and again... haunting and lulling" [The Wire, UK] "so inspirational, and in many ways very spiritual" [Gerry Turvey] "I was so deeply touched by your piece" [Mandeep Kaur Samra] Red is the colour of Life, of Death, and of Love. Scarlett, my first child, was born in 2005, and since then I have been very aware of how lucky we all are. have been constantly comparing this to the fact that my mother was born in Warsaw in 1942 - the epicenter of World War II. How opposite can two beginnings be? This inspired me to produce the Extended Play installation, which continuously and positively celebrates hope and new beginnings, for child survivors in all situations around the world. The original idea for the composition came from learning about the 'Jodoform' system of secret musical messages that were broadcast by the BBC Service, during music they played was given a particular meaning, which was interpreted by Polish Underground. Discovered from the original Jodoform logbook, that the lovely Polish folk song 'Tango Lyczakowskie', was broadcast on the day my mother was born. Song describes how children in 1918, had been forced to take up arms, in defense of their town. From this tune, chose a short rising musical phrase, and with my arranger Michael Jennings, developed a ten-minute score. Each of the three solo parts was then recorded separately, edited, and cut onto vinyl. In the gallery, 3 x Cello EP's, 3 x Piano EP's, and 3 x Violin EP's are played at either 33, 45, or 78rpm using nine retro record players. These play continuously, and each was modified to stop playing briefly in response to the audience moving around the exhibition. This has the effect of changing and extending the composition, so that it is never the same again.
Line-036
CD
$12.25

School Of Seven Bells
Alpinisms (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, US 180 gram gatefold vinyl. Includes CD version inside. LIMITED TO 1000!
GhostlyInternational-081
LP
$14.00

Sholi
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Quarterstick
LP
$13.25

Sholi
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US The very newest addition to the Quarterstick/ TG family is also a three piece from San Francisco (like Mi Ami, below). Payam Bavafa (vox, gt) and Jonathan Bafus (drums) started playing music together while studying at UC Davis, by 2006 they had solidified their line-up with the addition of bass player Eric Ruud. They recorded a demo and sent it to Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, who in turn produced this, their first full length album. Equally assured and introspective, Sholi present a stunning debut. Their record release show will be inaugurated at SF's Noise Pop Festival on Feb.28th at Bottom of the Hill.
Quarterstick
CD
$12.00

Silk Flowers
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US This is a limited edition of 500 7" from NYC's artiest new band and PPM's newest roster addition, Silk Flowers. Ex-members of Soiled Mattress and the Springs, Corpse Kisser, and Emergency bring some 4 track magic that sounds kinda like a chopped and screwed Kraftwerk, with some definite nods to their NYC contemporaries on the Sacred Bones roster (Nice Face, Factums, Blank Dogs, etc..). Expect a full length on PPM this year and hopefully some tour news in the near future.
PPM
45
$4.50

Sleeper
Behind Every Mask (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Sleeper's latest instrumental release, Behind Every Mask, is a tour de force of digital intrigue, all thick percussion bombs and mysterious electronic pranks showcasing creativity on full tilt. Bypassing most of the stock studio tools of his trade, he has constructed the album using personally modified electronics, sound generators, and effects units, and even turned a dot matrix printer into a drum machine. A light snare might appear amidst juggernauts of hissing, lo-fi samples while patches of sonic luminance amidst the grainy din to keep you guessing. More meditative than maudlin, Behind Every Mask is simply further proof that Sleeper can weld mood and music with the best of Sleeper is an auteur of claustrophobic, sample-based hip-hop production. His work, both as an accomplished musician, and as a respected tattoo and visual artist balances a breadth of spirit with worldly, emotional depth. Finding influence and community in the worlds of classic hip-hop and artistic, experimental rock, Sleeper fills his tracks with sound, but when working with an MC, has a gift for leaving the MC just enough room to create or with the luxury of saying more by saying less. His music is lo-fi with purpose: grainy sounds are used to lend atmosphere to larger, modern electronic sound collages, grimy drums sound out familiar hip-hop patterns beneath thick layers of sound. Sleeper is a craftsman in the truest sense of the word.
Mush-257
CD
$9.00

Soundtrack of Our Lives, The
Communion [domestic vinyl version] (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION! Translucent wax in a swank double-gatefold jacket, comes with download codes, made in USA. Domestic DCD will be released March 3rd.
YepRoc/Akashic
DLP
$21.00

Soundtrack of Our Lives, The
Communion [domestic version] (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US Swedish power pop-psychedelicists The Soundtrack of Our Lives return in force with the Communion, a double album opus containing 24 tracks dedicated to the moods of each hour of the day and night. On Communion, their first album in nearly four years, caftan-sporting Norseman Ebbot Lundberg and company blast through a veritable pharmacopeia of musical medication for the often insidious symptoms of modern society. But here Soundtrack not only point out the ills experienced by modern man, they offer actual cures in the form of buzzing guitars and glistening pop rock anthems. Despite already counting Grammy nominations (Behind the Music, 2003) opening slots for the icons of rock (The Rolling Stones, U2, The Black Crowes, Oasis) and nearly never ending headlining tours of the world as career milestones, the breadth and intensity of Communion knows no equal in the band's catalog and reminds the world why The Soundtrack of Our Lives remains one of rock's most profound and eccentric voices.
YepRoc/Akashic
DCD
$15.00

Speck Mountain
Some Sweet Relief (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH)
PS, US Following their debut release of "Summer Above", Speck Mountain releases "Some Sweet Relief." Written about the rapture and consequences of desire, this album can truly relieve the mind with its beautiful simplicity. By combining the strength of Marie-Claire Balabanian's lungs with the intuitive, spiky rhythms of Karl Briedrick's guitar, the two writers have been called "musical soul mates." The songs have been filled out with piano, organ, sax, and vintage effects, the mixes booby-trapped all over with headphone-happy detail.
CarrotTop
CD
$11.50

Speck Mountain
Some Sweet Relief (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
CarrotTop
LP
$11.50

SubractiveLAD
Where the Land Meets The Sky (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US Bonus CD is limited to 1000. Producing five albums of high quality in only five years is a monumental task. Yet, this is precisely what Stephen Hummel, who records as SubtractiveLAD, has done and with seeming ease. With "Where The Land Meets The Sky", Hummel's fifth full-length for n5MD, the SubtractiveLAD sound has been perfected to such effect that it allows Hummel to concentrate on conveying his deepest feelings rather than the processes that go into music making. The album serves as an extension of Hummel's previous album "Apparatus" (2008) and effortlessly flows between such genres as shoegaze, armchair electronica, post-rock, and classic ambient. Stylistically it seems far away from his debut "Giving Up The Ghost" and in theory it is. Yet, Hummel has led us on a journey that for the patient has yielded great rewards. The first 1000 copies of "Where The Land Meets The Sky" come with a bonus disc of over 45 minutes of SubtractiveLAD style classically influenced ambient.
n5MD-165
DCD
$12.00

Technical Itch
You Need Therapy (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE SEPTEMBER 9TH)
PS, US Technical Itch is the legendary drum n bass artist behind the worldwide phenomenon "THERAPY SESSIONS" club night. From London to Moscow to Philadelphia to Mexico City, Therapy Sessions is unrivaled for the sounds of the heaviest drum n bass music. Technical Itch is the godfather of the movement, with albums on Moving Shadow, and collaborations with Dieselboy, Dylan, Gein, and more. This mix is a stunning representation of the Technical Itch live set - 28 tracks packed into 80 minutes, masterful set programming with peaks, valleys, and change ups into rock and metal, highlighting the flexibility and integration of drum n bass into the musical landscape. Brutal, passionate, and perfect, this is at the level of the best mix output of Dieselboy.
OhmResistance-9M
CD
$13.00

These Are Powers
All Aboard Future (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Don't fear the future. These are Powers have come to conjure the new musical golden age you've been waiting for-one of insistence, intensity, and light. And yes, you can dance to it. These Are Powers are known for the dissonance of their early recordings, a cacophony of rhythms and industrial/electronic experiments that recalled Throbbing Gristle one moment, DNA the next. Once rule-breakers, the band is now rewriting those rules with a newfound focus: behold All Aboard Future. Exotic, abstract, handcrafted sounds-made, found and electronically born-underscore each of these nine songs. Some wail from Pat Noecker's prepared bass; others stem from the idiosyncratic vocal and guitar style of Anna Barie. The two trade off vocal duties, and in the process dissonant sounds become melodies held together and torn apart in fits by Bill Salas' electro-acoustic beats. At first listen, much of Salas' rhythmic contribution sounds as if it could be pre-programmed, but these abstract rhythms are all performed live, interspersing nods to Timbaland with an appreciation for a car crash's metal-on-metal grind. Ferocious and unhinged, when These Are Powers perform live, it is a kind of spiritual journey, a futuristic fire dance hailing from Chicago and Brooklyn. The bass smolders, topping its low-end sub-rumble with a high-end flutter; abstract beats emanate from the electro-acoustic stand-up drum kit. And piercing through is Anna Barie's guitar while she and Noecker call and respond. Barie blasts through a litany of expressive guitar sounds and full-throated yelps and howls with a confrontational, explosive energy that often finds her entangled with audience members, leaping through the air, or sprawled on the floor in front of the stage. With All Aboard Future, These Are Powers have embraced collaborators, demonstrating their participating in not only a music community, but a community of ideas. The band invited 13 visual artists from Chicago, New York and Beijing to interpret All Aboard Future, either drawing from the musical ideas of the album or solely the album title. The artwork adorns the pages of All Aboard Future's accompanying booklet. Photography, painting, collage, text and more-the record becomes the collective expression of artists creating in many media. All Aboard Future was written and recorded in Chicago during the summer of 2008, and follows the band's 2007 debut LP, Terrific Seasons, and 2008's six song Taro Tarot. All Aboard Future is not just a new album from These Are Powers. It's a seismic shift. A new idea. And the sentiment is real. All Aboard Future!
DeadOceans-023
CD
$11.50

Thieves Like Us
Play Music (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH)
PS, US Vinyl. Thieves Like Us is a musical vehicle -- an elegant starship, pointed straight to the heart of the listener. Although
they encompass a variety of influences, they ultimately consider themselves to be a pop band. Yes, the production style is both disco & hip-hop, but the sheer strength of the melodies & emotional depth of the songs makes them classics (think LCD Soundsystem, New Order, Daft Punk, Digitalism). But no matter how you interpret Thieves Like Us if you have a pulse, you'll know their songs by heart already
Shelflife
LP
$12.25

Thirteenth Assembly, The
(un)sentimental (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th)
PS, US Though each member of the 13th Assembly is acclaimed in their own right (including Taylor Ho Bynum who has worked extensively with Anthony Braxton) this group is very much a singular musical experience. A planned NPR piece should help raise exposure for this sublime recording. The Thirteenth Assembly began as a touring collective made up of four musicians and four musically distinct small ensembles: Tomas and Taylor's duo; Mary and Jessica's duo; Taylor's trio with Mary and Tomas; and the collaborative quartet featured on this recording. The group is a microcosm of an exciting community of young New York musicians that is beginning to receive international attention, a new generation of artists comfortable referencing AACM and Morton Feldman, Otis Redding and the Melvins, yet dedicated to finding their own individual and collective voices. While each musician in the Thirteenth Assembly brings a highly varied and diverse set of influences and aesthetics to the table, the shared experiences and long friendships help create a powerfully unified ensemble sound. From the soul-inflected lyricism of Pavone's Hate Fields to the driving jazz energy of Fujiwara's Chantal to the distorted power chords of Halvorson's Pinched, (un)sentimental traverses many stylistic paths, but the album as a whole captures a snapshot of contemporary music at its most exciting. The Thirteenth Assembly began as a touring collective made up of four musicians and four musically distinct small ensembles: Tomas and Taylor's duo; Mary and Jessica's duo; Taylor's trio with Mary and Tomas; and a newly formed collaborative quartet. We see this project as a chance for us to pool our resources, to work together and support each other through all the creative and business complexities of music making. In live performances, each group performs a short set, but this CD focuses on the quartet music.
Important-231
CD
$13.00

Throw Me The Statue
Purpleface (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Purpleface is the new EP from Seattle band Throw Me The Statue. The four-piece, led by founder/frontman Scott Reitherman, has spent the majority of 2008 touring the US and Europe supporting its critically acclaimed debut, Moonbeams. While on the road, TMTS has explored the depths of its sound, recreating its playful mystique, and emerging as a proficient and an even more engaging live act. Purpleface is the direct result of this time, albeit showing a bit of a softer side than its predecessor. Purpleface features three brand new songs-"Ship," "Honey Bee," and "That's How YouWin"- and a reworking of the Moonbeams cut, "Written In Heart Signs, Faintly." The EP's standout track, "Ship," is an understated yet inventive gem that offers the listener yet another glimpse of Reitherman's prowess and range as a songwriter.
SecretlyCanadian-198
CD5
$5.50

Various
Dark Was The Night: Red Hot Compilation (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US TRIPLE VINYL VERSION!!! DAMN!
4AD
3XLP
$23.00

Various
Local Customs: Downriver (CD/DVD) (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US Between 1967-81, Detroit's downriver neighbor Ecorse, MI had it's very own Moe Asch. Felton Williams chronicled the musical lives of Ecorse's citizins and issued them on the Solid Rock, Compose, & Revival labels. Compiled here are 24 of his most fascinating recordings, covering gospel, group soul, garage-punk, northern, jazz, & funk. Incl. DVD w/ over 200 sound recordings from Williams' archive and a 30-minute featurette on the making of this collection.
Numero
CD/DVD
$18.50

Various
Dark Was The Night: Red Hot Compilation (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US On the occasion of WORLD AIDS DAY today, December 1st a press announcement
was made with the complete list of participating artists and cover art for the upcoming 4AD release Dark Was The Night. Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total of 31 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will be available as a double cd/triple viny and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease - and music is a great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot, and this is the 20th release!

The complete list of artists (in alphabetical order) that recorded tracks for this release is: Andrew Bird, Antony + Bryce Dessner, Arcade Fire, Beach House, Beirut, Blonde Redhead + Devastations, Bon Iver, Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner, The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez, Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti), Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues, The Decemberists, Dirty Projectors + David Byrne, Kevin Drew, Feist + Ben Gibbard, Grizzly Bear, Grizzly Bear + Feist, Iron & Wine, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Kronos Quartet, Stuart Murdoch, My Brightest Diamond, My Morning Jacket, The National, The New Pornographers, Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch, Riceboy Sleeps, Dave Sitek, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens, Yeasayer, Yo La Tengo
4AD
DCD
$13.00

Velouria
Kiss it Better (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, US Like XTC and The Replacements or Grandaddy, Los Angeles trio, Velouria, write powerful pop that can't actually be described as power pop. This hard rocking, yet sweetly sing-along outfit encapsulates all that is best and worst of the Silver Lake scene they sprang from: hardship and beauty. It took them 11 years to put out the follow up to their debut--but it certainly seems to those who like their melodies almost too catchy that it was well worth the wait.
TheEskimoRecordLabel-22
CD
$7.50

Vetiver
Tight Knit (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
Subpop
LP
$13.25

Vetiver
Tight Knit (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Their fourth full-length represents a summation of the different styles and directions heard on past Vetiver releases while introducing some unexpected twists. Their tunes have been described as "dreamy, gentle songs that George Harrison would have written in some sunny country garden." This is a layered and rich record, with subtleties and nuances that reveal themselves with repeated listening.
Subpop
CD
$12.50

Vibrarians, The
Red Light b/w Modern Walker & Woods (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US The Vibrarians, a trio from Olympia, Washington, have recorded the latest volume in our International Pop Underground series of 7" 45 rpm records. More than underground, the Vibrarians belong in a tunnel, a cement basement or any confined space that will bounce the Nuggets-style bass and hushed oh's and yeah's around. Cloaked in reverb and radiant fuzz, "Red Light" comes on like a sleepy runaway truck of bricks that hits the rumble strips. A total corker. The b-side traffics melody and noisy pop into the lopsided "Modern Walker," and the more sinister "Woods." Tunnel vision obscured by refrigerator hum.
Krecords-122
45
$3.75

Wavves
Wavvves (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD)
PS, US VINYL VERSION.
FatPossum
LP
$16.00

Wavves
Wavvves (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH)
PS, US New album, new label. When not watching cops or drinking 40s in the park, Nathan Daniel William blogs on classic rap and records waves of effortlessly great slack / crust / beach / punk compressed onto 4 track cassette in his san diego bedroom. It's a room that most of us will only imagine. Thanks to the eager bloggers, you may have already heard Wavves. If you have not, we can say that few things are more annoying than reading a string of sound references. So how 'bout this : Wavves are exemplifying every musical pastiche of what anyone in their mid 20's has been through, and somehow, some that they have not. How a tune written by a 22 yr old can evoke this boyish reverie and reverence of thoughtful nostalgia is beyond me, but listen between the grooves and yr gonna hear it too. Wavves is the sound of today's american youth! It's a new day rising and as the Wavves get higher, they gotta converge. You can choose to stay down in the curl, but if you follow the winner, we can meet up on the crest.
FatPossum
CD
$13.00

Wavves
California Goth II (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US As you might expect from a SoCal band named after ocean motion, this sounds like a living version of Thrilla Gorilla & Da' Boys. As you might not expect, it is made by one kid named Nathan who has a classic rap blog called "Ghost Ramp". Lo-fi somethingsomething, pre-order or cry.
FatPossum
45
$4.75

Week That Was, The
S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE AUGUST 26TH)
PS, US 2008 debut album from the British Electro Pop outfit, chiefly Field Music dude David Brewis' big brother, and featuring contributions from Field Music colleagues. Musically the record is an expansive tribute, paying direct (and indirect) homage to the wildly ambitious Linn Drum and Fairlight experiments of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, and Tin Drum-era Japan. Fused with typically detailed arrangements and a sense of drama, this makes The Week That Was a brain-shattering, 32-minute epic, straying far outside the conventions of most indie-guitar music.
MemphisIndustries
CD
$15.25

Weight, The
Are Men (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH)
PS, US In contrast to 2004's "10 Mile Grace", which found the group working within an alt-country framework executed by post-punk kids, "Are Men" brings a sense of lighthearted fun to the songwriting and execution - more country-rock block party, less alt.
TeePee
CD
$12.50

Weird Owl
Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US The group has crafted a sonic mindscape inspired by legendary acts such as the 13th Floor Elevators & Crazy Horse that states its relevance to modern-day masters Black Mountain, Dead Meadow & the Black Angels
TeePee
CD
$13.25

Weird Owl
Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US VINYL VERSION!!!
TeePee
LP
$15.00

Whisper in the Noise
Dry Land (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 25TH)
PS, US Self described "orchestral garage rock'" band from Hanska, Minnesota give an extremely humble & personal touch to gorgeous, string-laden rock music. Pretty, melancholic, sad & charming. for fans of Low, Arcade Fire, Guided by Voices.
ExileOnMainstream-030
CD
$13.50

Wolves in the Throne Room
Malevolent Grain (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH)
PS, US Vinyl only EP from the grimm Cascadia black metal horde. Two brand new songs (1 per side) that further solidify their death grip on the bejeweled throne of American Black Metal.
SouthernLord
LP
$13.75

Xela
The Illuminated (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th)
PS, GERMANY The music of Xela is not easily described. The alias of Type Records main-man John Twells, he has over the last decade moved through a dense fog of musical styles from abstract electronics to rusty soundscapes. In recent years his output has allied itself with darker realms, taking a liberal dose of influence from Norway's darker exponents, but retaining a deep and measured experimental focus. 'The Illuminated' was originally released on cassette, a format very fitting to the gloomy, waterlogged sounds; but having sold out in a matter of days it now receives the much needed deluxe re-issue treatment. Taking cues from the cracked black metal of Burzum and Striborg and fusing this with heavy, synthesized noise 'The Illuminated' is possibly Xela's darkest, most spine-chilling work to date. We are taken through chiming Nurse With Wound-inspired soundscapes into Middle Eastern marketplaces and through caverns of thick, buzzing synthesized noise on the album's first piece. Entitled 'Black Scripture' this takes the dank religious themes of 'In Bocca Al Lupo' and goes even deeper into the Church dungeons, digging up lost artifacts and the angry spirits that accompany them. The flipside extends this heresy with a throaty vocal and distorted electric guitar, leaving blackened corpses and the traces of a sleepy village in its wake. Devastating and dark material, listen if you dare...
Dekorder-031
LP
$13.50

Parasol Picks, Recent Restocks, & Noteworthy Reminders

AER “Project” 45 $7.50
Ambarchi, Oren “Destinationless Desire” 45 $7.50
Atkinson, Felicia “La La La” CD $17.75
Attar Cups “Untitled” LP $17.00
Black Watch, The “After The Gold Room EP” CD5 $2.25
Bogner, Ursula “Recordings: 1969-1988” CD $19.50
Bon Iver “For Emma, Forever Ago” LP $11.50
Brain Donor “Drain'd Boner” CD $13.50
Brian Jonestown Massacre “And This Is Our Music [expanded re-issue]” CD $15.75
Bridge “S-T” CD $18.25
Chen Santa Maria “S-T” CD $10.50
CLP “Supercontinental” CD $18.00
Coats, Scotty & Wes The Mes “Double Fisted b/w Weekend Condition” 12 $8.00
Cope, Julian “Preaching Revolution” 45 $7.50
Drakkar Sauna “Wars and Tornadoes” LP $14.25
Ex-Cocaine/Yellow Swans “S-T” LP $15.75
Factory “Path Through The Forest” LP $25.00
Fell, Mark “Attack On the Silence” DVD $22.75
Ferraro, James “Multitopia” LP $17.00
Ferraro, James “K2 - Chameleon Ballet” LP $17.00
FM3 “Buddha Machine II (Burgundy)” MISC $23.00
FM3 “Buddha Machine II (Grey)” MISC $23.00
Gong “Magick Brother” CD $13.00
Harry Pussy/Frosty “Split” 45 $3.75
Helios “Ayres” LP $19.75
I'm From Barcelona “Who Killed Harry Houdini” LP $17.50
Jade “Faces Of Jade” CD $18.25
Kid606 “Die Soundboy Die” CD $10.00
Kiritchenko, Andrey “Misterrious” CD $17.75
La Buena Vida “Soidemersol” CD $19.00
Mojo “#182 (January 2009) [Magazine + CD]” ZINE $10.25
Moon and Moon “VII Acts Of An Iron King” CD $12.50
Nobunny “Love Visions” LP $11.50
Noriko, Tujiko “Trust” CD $16.25
Opale “Level” CD $17.75
Othon “Digital Angel” CD $16.00
Oxbow Duo “Loves Holiday Orchestra Live at Supersonic 2007” LP $12.50
P.A.R.A. “Mermalien” LP $17.00
Pallers “Humdrum” 12 $11.50
Paper (U.S.) “As As” CD $10.00
Push Pull “Hello Soldier” CD $12.50
Record Collector “#357 (Christmas 2008)” ZINE $10.25
Remote Control “Frequencies - 20,000” CD $11.50
Ruibyat “Theme of Love” CD $16.25
Sharkula “Diagnosis Of Sharkula” LP $10.50
Shepherd, Alfie “The Wind In The Willows” CD $21.75
Shindig “Shindig! Annual Number One” BOOK $18.75
Silent Land Time Machine “Hope Still” CD $12.00
Spaceman, J. & Matthew Shipp “Spaceshipp” CD $16.25
Stevens, Sufjan “Illinois” DLP $13.00
Tape Op “#68” ZINE $4.00
Tenshun/Mormon Freegan “Split” 45 $5.25
Three Second Kiss “Long Distance” CD $12.50
Three Second Kiss “Long Distance” LP $12.50
Ulaan Khol “I I” CD $11.50
Under the Radar “#24” ZINE $3.75
Vandermark, Ken “Collected Fiction” DCD $15.00
Various “Psychedelic Minds Vol. 1 (Heavy Underground 1967-71)” LP $21.00
Various “Visitas: A Collection of Remixed Tremelo Audio” CD $11.00
Various “Blue Skies Daisy Days” CD $11.50
Vile Blue Shades “John Thursday California Adventure (LP/CD)” LP $12.50
Winderen, Jana “Surface Runoff” 45 $8.75
Wire Magazine “#298” ZINE $10.25
Woods Family Creeps “S-T” LP $16.75

Parasol New Arrivals • February 10, 2009
Howdy buds, Welp, working on my tenth cup of coffee and let me tell you I’m ready to get this party started. Per usual, there are plenty of jams to sift through and as you know we’re always here to help steer you in the right direction if need be. We know that our yammering is delightful but we’ll graciously bow out and let you poke your way down the list. L8, Roy and Paul
Below is a list of new arrivals for this week. To search for a specific item or to browse our entire catalog click here. Or, click here to go back to the Parasol Home Page. Click here to see previous weeks new arrivals.
QUICK LINKS INTO PARASOL.COM DIGITAL UNDERGROUND: FREE PARASOL DOWNLOADS JIM's PICK: Great Music from Scandinavia Thrillsville: Parasol staffers' personal picks New Releases Mail Order Portal Gift Certificates
Parasol Mail Order Pick of the Week
	Antennas "Feeling Feline Tonight" CD $13.00 (Novoton) New album from Swedish soul-pop instigators, not so retro anymore with their songcraft pushed to even more brilliant and dancey extremes. Their stylized soul-pop futurismo is in full effect, manic and sultry at turns, high-glossy with a newfound appreciation for electronica, and again produced by Existensminimum's Magnus Henriksson. Initial orders come with a bonus "Lies" remix EP, while supplies last!
New Releases 16 Bridges to Burn PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Relapse LP $18.00 16 Bridges to Burn PS, US A dozen new hits of misanthropy & spite from the seminal sludge-rockers. Features the legendary "Drop Out" line-up. RIYL: Melvins, Kylesa, Jesus Lizard Relapse CD $14.75 A Passing Fancy S-T PS, US Revised & expanded version of the much beloved Canadian pop-psych album. Tough garage rock ("I'm Losing Tonight"), beat music influence ("A Passing Fancy," "You're Going Out Of Your Mind") & a great acid rock meltdown ("Your Trip"). LionProductions CD $15.00 A Passing Fancy S-T PS, US Revised & expanded version of the much beloved Canadian pop-psych album. Tough garage rock ("I'm Losing Tonight"), beat music influence ("A Passing Fancy," "You're Going Out Of Your Mind") & a great acid rock meltdown ("Your Trip") LionProductions CD $15.00 Afterhours #25 Winter 2009 (2 CD + 1 DVD) PS, JAPAN Sounds See The Light On A Long, Dull And Dark Night Issue. Special Feature Adventures in Wonderland Baltimore! HYBRID WAVE OF MUSIC LAPPING ONTO THE HARBOR TOWN We cover Baltimore. Its music scene is now much talked about. From A to Z of this anything-goes crazy town, where the members of Animal Collective were brought up and Matmos moved to. Special Feature In A Transport of Underground London. A FLOWER BLOOMING in DESOLETE LONDON, WHERE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC DECLINED. We have never featured this business town London before, but something is happening to its alternative music scene. We also introduce its pubs, cafes, record shops as well as labels and artists!! SPECIAL PROGRAM: Welcome to My space NON-DOT-COM MySpace, THIS IS MY WORKPLACE. Beginning from visiting the studios of Mice parade, F.S. Blumm and ISO68, covering hand-made CDs that Pastaca's working on with lots of color pages! LET MUSIC AT LARGE, A MUSICAL NOMAD TELLS HIS STORY. One record shop came into existence in Shimokitazawa. Why did he start it in this hard times, what did he think, how did he start it? We cover from its preparation to the very opening. The Take Away Shows. WE DELIVER YOU FRESH MUSIC. A French movie director starts a strange project of shooting a live in the filed on a one-camera/one-shot procedure. VISITING AN HERMIT IN THE FOREST OF RECORDS. A memory of a guy in search of alternative for 40 years. We visit a music writer, Mr. Shin'ichi Ishikawa, whose house some say is stuffed with records. He selected 54 must albums with comments to all of them. Rock'n'roll responsibilities. Members of Kimi records start off on Iceland domestic tour!! We cover their bus tour, which Mum's Orvar joined as well. They rock with the matching sportswears in pre-default Iceland! BONUS 2CD + 1DVD: CD1 Adventure In Wonderland, Baltimore! Deluxe omnibus of 16 artists in Feature 1. CD2 In A Transport Of Underground London and more... London feature, corresponding to the article [Welcome to My space]. DVD The Take Away Shows and more... [The Take Away Shows], promos of Baltimorean artists. AfterHours-25 ZINE $21.75 Ala Muerte Santa Elena PS, US Debut full-length from this solo venture of BIANCA BIBILONI, is a rich, ethereal excursion filled w/beautiful sadness. Conceptually moving from the apocalyptic to a state of new beginning, this explores solitude & personal growth through melodic tension & environmental metaphor. Layers of guitar & vocals swirl beneath softly sung lyrics. Gentle vocal melodies float atop dissonant sound collages. Tension ebbs & flows throughout, only to explode w/ an introduction of a full drum kit on the closing track. All instruments - guitar, double bass, mixing bowl, alto & soprano recorder, viola, drums, & 10-string cuatro, a traditional Puerto Rican instrument that is a relative of the flute - were played by Bianca. PublicGuilt CD $12.25 American Football American Football EP PS, US First time on vinyl! In their brief history together, American Football crafted two releases that left an undeniable mark on independent music. Despite being released nearly a decade ago both releases are consistently among Polyvinyl's top selling titles. Fronted by Mike Kinsella (Owen, Joan of Arc, Cap'n Jazz), American Football created the kind of songs that held new discoveries upon each listen. These three songs along with the nine that appear on the band's full-length are the only American Football songs ever released. This release features all new album artwork, is on high quality 180-gram vinyl and includes a digital download of the entire release. Polyvinyl-019 12 $8.75 An Albatross The An Albatross Family Album PS, US PITCHFORK: "Robo-spazmatazz genre-splicers An Albatross pack more riffs, time changes, and esoteric rock references in one song than many bands jam into an entire album. Fitting for a bunch of dudes whose credo is some sort of mystical mumbo jumbo of cosmic love, fantasy animals, sci-fi weirdness, and-- as the new album expounds on-- space pilgrimages in search of world peace and harmony. And yet, I think they're serious! These love-in rambles only give the ballistic tunes that much more cheeky appeal. For their third full-length, The Family Album, AA continue their psychedelic aural terror, but dig deeper into the annals of kraut and classic rockdom." Eyeball CD $15.00 Anahita Matricaria PS, US Tara Burke (FURSAXA) & cellist Helena Espvall (ESPERS). A beautiful, laboriously created, floating affair of skeletal organ drones, ceremonial singing, & subtly frantic instrumental accompaniment that conjures up a natural woodland romp & stomp. Important CD $13.25 Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion (ON SALE) PS, US Their ninth full-length. The whoops and hollers that previously held together the sublime, chaotic urgency of their earlier work now signal the calm sense of euphoria and wonder that ripples through this wide eyed record. Domino CD $13.00 Antennas Feeling Feline Tonight [plus bonus remix EP] PS, US New album from Swedish soul-pop instigators. With "Feeling Feline Tonight" Antennas debut their new sound: a bit more electronic, urban and darker but it still hold all the melody you associate with Antennas. IT'S A TRAP! REVIEW: "Antennas do not lend themselves easily to comparisons -- there are elements of the pop structures of Shout Out Louds, of the angular nature of Laakso's approach, among other such attempts to define their sound, but very few of these associations hold up as you move through the tracklist. "The collector" is kitschy-chic, like a Weeping Willows ballad hijacked by CDOASS. "Lies" has far more soul and funk in its composition than three Swedes should be able to manifest in song; "Youngbloods" channels a bit of Brit-rock suave before throwing itself recklessly down dance-punk avenues; "Upwardly mobile" could almost be a Hot Chip track..." SPECIAL OFFER: Bonus EP features "Lies", remixes of same by Radio LXMBRG and Oscar Tillman (Holiday For Strings), plus a cover of the song by The Baboon Show. Free with 'Feeling Feline Tonight', while supplies last. Novoton CD/CD5 $13.00 Antony & The Johnsons The Crying Light PS, US Antony and the Johnson's breakthrough second album "I Am a Bird Now" won the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005. The success that followed introduced many to a pioneering soul singer unafraid to explore themes that traversed darkness and light, life and death, male and female. Antony's inimitable voice sparked the interest of artists ranging from Bjork to Hercules and Love Affair, resulting in a series of critically acclaimed collaborations. "The Crying Light" is the highly anticipated full-length follow-up to "I Am a Bird Now". Here, Antony shifts the thematic focus and explores his relationship with the natural world. The intimacy of the Johnsons' sound is enveloped by avant-classical composer Nico Muhly's symphonic arrangements. The record's centerpiece, "Another World" traces the singer's dispair in the face of a vanishing landscape. Antony and the Johnsons' music bridges the gap between avant-classical music and the blues, and the band's sold out performances have resulted in standing ovations from Carnegie Hall to the Apollo. "The Crying Light" is a soul-stirring new work with its daring compositions and captivating vocal performances. Antony and the Johnsons have created a subtle and timely work that brings a magical and yet changing world to the forefront of our consciousness. SecretlyCanadian-194 CD $11.50 Architecture In Helsinki That Beep PS, US Coming off the heels of commercial success in Australia, Architecture in Helsinki are set to release a brand new song in the states. The song is called "That Beep" and it is the most straight forward, 80's inspired pop tune the band has ever created. With a hook so instantly gratifying, the US is likely to follow Australia's lead in making AiH a household name. "That Beep" is a teaser single from the brand new, as-yet-untitled Architecture in Helsinki fulllength that will land on the shores of America in late summer 2009. "That Beep" has widely been covered on the web by outlets like Pitchfork, Gorilla vs. Bear, Fluxblog, You Ain't No Picasso, and Stereogum to name a few, and the video for "That Beep" premiered on Pitchfork.tv. Features 3 bonus tracks, including a Radioclit remix. Polyvinyl-174 CD5 $6.75 Architecture In Helsinki That Beep PS, US Coming off the heels of commercial success in Australia, Architecture in Helsinki are set to release a brand new song in the states. The song is called "That Beep" and it is the most straight forward, 80's inspired pop tune the band has ever created. With a hook so instantly gratifying, the US is likely to follow Australia's lead in making AiH a household name. "That Beep" is a teaser single from the brand new, as-yet-untitled Architecture in Helsinki fulllength that will land on the shores of America in late summer 2009. "That Beep" has widely been covered on the web by outlets like Pitchfork, Gorilla vs. Bear, Fluxblog, You Ain't No Picasso, and Stereogum to name a few, and the video for "That Beep" premiered on Pitchfork.tv. Features 3 bonus tracks, including a Radioclit remix. Polyvinyl-174 12 $9.00 Asobi Seksu Hush PS, US A critically acclaimed band with glowing press from such outlets as the New York Times, Nylon, Under the Radar, YRB, XLR8R, and many more, NYC's Asobi Seksu make their stunning Polyvinyl debut with their much anticipated third album Hush. Known for their captivating live shows, Hush captures that energy and transforms it into something new - something different. Shimmering, dew-draped riffs and spiral staircase melodies are blurred by bits of guitar violence and sputtering drums bolstered by the ethereal vocals of vocalist Yuki Chikudate. Polyvinyl-170 CD $13.25 Asobi Seksu Hush PS, US LP 180 gm vinyl. A critically acclaimed band with glowing press from such outlets as the New York Times, Nylon, Under the Radar, YRB, XLR8R, and many more, NYC's Asobi Seksu make their stunning Polyvinyl debut with their much anticipated third album Hush. Known for their captivating live shows, Hush captures that energy and transforms it into something new - something different. Shimmering, dew-draped riffs and spiral staircase melodies are blurred by bits of guitar violence and sputtering drums bolstered by the ethereal vocals of vocalist Yuki Chikudate. Polyvinyl-170 LP $14.75 Astral Social Club Octuplex PS, US NEIL CAMPBELL returns w/ an album of squelching, restless ambience. The CD is split roughly in half between Harmonia/Voigt-style chuggers & sweeping swirls of instantly recognizable dronage. Includes contributions from RICHARD YOUNGS, JOHN CLYDE-EVANS & SPIDER STACY (POGUES). VHF CD $14.25 Auerbach, Dan Keep It Hid PS, US On his solo debut, Black Keys singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach takes a simple approach: 'I just wanted to do the things I loved.' For Auerbach, that means combining elements of bluegrass a la the Stanley Brothers, mournful country balladry, Memphis-style R&B, fuzzed-out psychedelic rock and low-down blues on this collection of 14 original tunes, which Auerbach self-produced and recorded with friends and family at his family at his newly built studio, Akron Analog. Nonesuch CD $15.25 Auerbach, Dan Keep It Hid PS, US VINYL VERSION, comes with CD. Nonesuch LP/CD $19.75 Baikonour Your Ear Knows Future PS, US 2nd album by Brighton's BAIKONOUR, aka Jean-Emmanuel Krieger. 3 yrs on from his acclaimed debut, he has delivered another burst of smart, proggy poptronica, bursting w/ Gallic charm & myriad, fully-realized ideas. He plays all the instruments except for drums, which were played by FUJIYA & MIYAGI's LEE ADAMS. Baikonour makes confident strides as an artist, turning in a collection of songs that fuse electronica w/ motorik Krautrock & the dynamics of My Bloody Valentine & The Cocteau Twins, Amon Duul 2, Popol Vuh, Harold Budd, Eno, Neu! Vangelis, Magma & 'Melody Nelson'-era Gainsbourg. Melodic CD $16.25 Banhart, Devendra Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! XL LP $19.25 Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique: 20th Anniversary Edition PS, US Special 20th anniversary version of 1989's Paul's Boutique. The album was run through a 24-bit remastering process and will be released as an eight-panel digipak. Fans can also download a track-by-track audio commentary from the Boys, which syncs with the album. Capitol CD $17.75 Beat Boys S-T PS, US Along w/ Os Mutantes, the group represented the most radical element in Brazilian rock: their intense fuzz guitar raves were a fierce indicator of a rebel spirit. They were at the very epicenter of the movement of rupture, that bringing together of electricity & avant-garde erudition that has come to be known as "Tropicalia". They backed Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil for their defining moments as artists- both live, & in the studio. LionProductions CD $15.00 Beat Happening S/T PS, US Limited Qty....warehouse find. Krecords-001 LP $10.25 Beat Happening Black Candy PS, US Limited Qty. Krecords-006 LP $10.25 BeauSoleil Alligator Purse PS, US On "Alligator Purse" the group's fearless captain Michael Doucet leads the next installment of his musical journey along the lifeline of Cajun music, this time w/ an all star crew including NATALIE MERCHANT, GARTH HUDSON, JOHN SEBASTIAN, ROSWELL RUDD, & BILL KEITH. His notable friends help Doucet bring the rich folk traditions of south Louisiana into the 21st century through the genius interplay of a new take on Cajun favorites ("Marie") & the 'Cajunization' of modern folk classics. A French language reworking of Bob Dylan's cover of Muddy Waters' classic "Rollin' & Tumblin'" ("Rouler et Tourner") & J.J. Cale's "The Problem" stand alongside Cajun & Creole history lessons like "Reel Cajun (451 St. Joseph St.)," "Les Oignons" & "Theogene Creole", originally sung for John & Alan Lomax's historic 1934 field recordings. YepRoc CD $14.50 Believer February 2009 SP, US Mock Action in St. Paul, Literature After the Crash, The Best Kind of Self Conscious Fiction, Old Zeal. Interviews with John Ashberry, Heather Chaplain, Mary Gaitskill, David Levine. ZINE $8.00 Ben, Jorge Forca Bruta PS, US REISSUE on 180gm vinyl! Originally released in 1970, this is an absolute classic from one of Brazil's most consistently great artists. Despite being embraced by the Tropicalia movement (w/ Caetano Veloso & Gal Costa both covering his songs) there are no psychedelic meandering to be found w/in these grooves, this set is pure samba-soul. BEN is backed here by the innovative Trio Mocotó who never overplay & allow his soulful vocal delivery & samba guitar to be the centerpieces. This was recently reissued on CD on the great Dusty Groove record label & its a pleasant surpise to see it now available on vinyl again! A musthave. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 4MenwithBeards LP $16.75 Beneath Oblivion S-T PS, US Cincinnati, Ohio's finest in raw doom, sludgy despair & stripped down futility. Crawling forward, white-knuckled, w/ down-tuned guitar riffs that leave you unnerved & anxious, bass lines that thud hard enough to leave you nauseous, & drums that thump one minute in a tribal, trance-inducing cavalcade & the next come crashing down w/ the power of a mountain splitting in two. RIYL: Ocean SunnO))), Buried At Sea. Limited to 500 MyleneSheath 10 $15.50 Bergman, Borah Trio Luminescence PS, US Takes his lyrical cross hands contrapuntal technique into the dynamic context of the classic piano trio. Influenced by the exotic melismas of cantorial singing, the counterpoint of Bach & the harmonic beauty of Alban Berg & Bill Evans, he forges a new language of joy & sadness, firmly rooted in the Jewish tradition. JOHN ZORN appears on one track. Tzadik CD $15.25 Besties, The Home Free PS, US Equally at home strumming alongside melodic pop bands and invading the occasional crusty punk show, The Besties wear their inclusiveness like a badge of honor. Like Talulah Gosh with an Athens party twang, The Besties punch out fun, loud songs high on smarts and low on snot. After touring the US and Europe several times over, the band now prepares for the release of their sophomore effort, Home Free, on Hugpatch Records. Home Free is the follow-up to the Besties' well-received debut album, Singer (Skipping Stones Records) and Rod N Reel 7" (both of which sold out). Besties Press: "There's a reason why Amelia Fletcher called her flagship twee-pop band Heavenly: its music could whisk away the cynical and melt the hardest of hearts. This Brooklyn trio chews that same pop bubblegum on its debut. Marisa and Kelly swap sugary vocals like classmates of State, vying for - what else? - the boy." - Magnet "First Exposure" "Ever since the Besties' new single dropped back in the spring, we've been smitten with their ridiculously catchy sound. And while pop-punk doesn't always shave the best connotations these days, for a group that evokes the Go-Go's recording for Epitaph, it's rather apt. - Time Out Chicago "The romance of their brand of music is thankfully outstripped by some merited musicianship, all the cooing, girly elements sullied by some real-life issue lyrics and the occasional potty mouth. This is how these kids work it out - hearts bare and spirits smiling to keep up the appearance." - Dusted Magazine Hugpatch-08 CD $9.00 Bibio Vignetting The Compost PS, US Seamlessly amalgamating nature and electronics, Vignetting The Compost, the third full-length release from Bibio, channels instruments and vocals from a bygone era through a futuristic digital portal. History may credit Edison with the phonograph but, in truth, the first such device mysteriously washed up on the shores of England in 1876... playing Bibio. Vignetting The Compost is at once timeless and innovative; 60s-esque folk guitar and mechanic manipulations of sounds whose instruments of origin are less important than the feelings they evoke, layer upon each other with ease and intricacy. Just when you expect to hear Nico's moan escaping your stereo, Bibio himself comes through with a voice that could have sung next to her on "These Days." Truly, this is an album for the ages. Producer Stephen Wilkinson is a self-taught musician from an area in central England often referred to as the Black Country. His love for sound and noise led him to the University of London and the study of Sonic Arts where he discovered experimental electronic acts such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, and most importantly Boards Of Canada. His own musical identity was christened Bibio, in honor of a fly his father had insisted on using during the fishing trips to Wales that were so influential in establishing his love of the sounds of nature. Focusing on location recording using cassettes, a half-broken sampler, Dictaphones, and experimental ways of affecting sounds, Bibio has crafted a unequalled style that is as subtle as it is powerful. Mush-263 CD $9.00 Bird, Andrew Noble Beast (ON SALE) PS, US New album of subdued, gentle & dreamily gorgeous folk-pop. 2009 release from the quirky but melodic singer/songwriter. Swiftly picking up popularity with his fifth album The Mysterious Production of Eggs, Andrew Bird then signed with Fat Possum Records for his 2007 highly anticipated follow-up record Armchair Apocrypha. Now he stands poised with this new record, which he spent most of 2008 working on. 14 tracks. FatPossum CD $15.00 Bird, Andrew Noble Beast [vinyl version] (ON SALE) PS, US VINYL VERSION in gatefold jacket with fold out poster and download codes. Price corrected. FatPossum DLP $27.25 Bird, Andrew Noble Beast/Useless Creatures [deluxe edition] (ON SALE) PS, US Double-CD deluxe version features a bonus CD of instrumentals, completely different artworek/packaging, fold out poster... 23 tracks total. FatPossum DCD $27.25 Bisbee, Sam Son of a Math Teacher PS, US Veteran newcomer Sam Bisbee may be best known for producing and arranging the Cat Power version of Blondie's "Hanging On the Telephone" for that Cingular commercial, but it's his incredibly personal stories set to music that will keep you coming back for more. Son of a Math Teacher, his first release for Le Grand Magistery, features guest appearances by Leona Naess, Lucie Wainwright Roche, Mike Viola and Liz Tormes, and was co-produced with Britt Myers (Essex Green, Robbers On High Street, Sam Champion) and Bo Boddie. Two songs from the album have already been seen on the FX show "Damages" starring Glenn Close. "Clever lyrics, crisp guitar-rock instrumentation, and subtle, yet insinuating hooks." - Billboard Magazine "Our favorite new New York City singer-songwriter" - Paper Magazine "Sam Bisbee's lyrics are insightful, poetic and humorous when read on their own. Stylistically chartering a meeting point between new wave, hip-hop and pop/rock, this is one of the better and more original surprises you are likely to come across this year." - Harp Magazine "Literate but not pretentious, emotional but never cloying, inevitable but never predictable, Bisbee's songs don't wilt in the spotlight, but flourish." - Boston Herald LeGrandMagistery-047 CD $12.25 Bitter Tears The Grinning Corpse Who Went To Town PS, US Songwriters Michael McGinley & Alan Scalpone comb resale shops for neglected band instruments. They play everywhere from restauraunts, churches, inside cars & established rock clubs blasting German Mardi Gras beats w/ wild brass bugling, thunderous contrabass lines, acoustic guitars & mellophones. Roydale CD $9.25 Black Moth Super Rainbow Don't You Want to Be In a Cult [picture disc] PS, US Amazing picture disc awesomeness from Pittsburgh's weirdest. A rad picture disc, this record marks the first new material following the band's acclaimed 2007 release Dandelion Gum and the "Zodiac Girls" 7" on Suicide Squeeze. Features "Don't You Want to Be in a Cult" b/w "Feel the Drip". Limited to 1000. Includes a download card. MexicanSummer 12" $15.00 Blackout Beach Skin of Evil PS, US Blackout Beach is the solo nom de guerre of Carey Mercer (FROG EYES/SWAN LAKE). Skin of Evil is remarkable in the sense that a. it contains a story, and b. that it sticks to the story; a rare occurrence in these free times. "Donna" is the subject, and each of her lovers (past & present) say their peace in song (Donna gets her song, too). Composed, played & recorded entirely by Mercer alone, these songs revel in the proto-punk darkness of the heady Cleveland axis (e.g. Peter Laughner, David Thomas) with a minimal, textural & almost Suicide-ish sense of pop form & the experimental nature of contemporary Scott Walker works. SoftAbuse-31 CD $11.75 Bleaks Haste, Error PS, US Trio of Jeremy Lemos (WHITE/LIGHT & WHITE/LICHENS), Kyle Bruckmann (EKG, PINK MOUNTAIN, LOZENGE) & Steve Silverstein (CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS) Wodger LP $19.00 BMX Bandits The BMX love EP PS, SPAIN LIMITED EDITION 600 COPIES. Red vinyl. Elefant are congratulating ourselves on the release, for the second time, of the exclusive 7" of one of the most vital and active groups of the Scottish pop scene. Duglas T. Stewart put together a handful of unreleased songs in this item that marks the sepia tinted memory of the most elegantly poppy seventies, led by the piano, evoking the halo of composers like Burt Bacharach or Henry Mancini and artists like Dusty Springfield or Françoise Hardy. From the new version of "Our Secret Life" in French, rebaptized here as "Quand il n'y a plus d'amour" (with the French adaptation by Nick Garrie) to the closing gem of the EP, a version of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" that Olivia Newton-John sang in "Grease", on of our favorite films, which Duglas deliciously recreates with the collaboration of the Scottish band THE ATTIC LIGHTS. The single is completed with two very recent recordings, the unreleased "I Can Wait Forever", intimate folk pop marked with elegant melodies and vocals, and a version of "You Don't Want to Be My Girlfriend, Phoebe" by MY LITTLE AIRPORT. When Duglas received MY LITTLE AIRPORT's album, published by Elefant, he fell instantly in love with the song. He played it live a few days later and soon after decided to record it in the studio, the magnificent result of which is here. A precious collection of songs with the indelible stamp of one of the most gifted minds in pop of the last 25 years at the controls. As always, Duglas, it's a pleasure. Elefant-268 45 $7.75 Bodies Obtained, The From the Top of My Tree PS, US The path that leads to The Bodies Obtained is a long one. Conceived in Detroit, MI, not much is known of the extremely elusive duo (there isn't even an existing photograph of the artists) other than the fact that they took their name from the Joy Division song "Day of the Lords", and whatever other little bits of information they make available to the public via cryptic press releases sent to the media from within the band's camp. The Bodies Obtained are of indiscriminate age, and only now fielding their first album, From The Top Of My Tree to the greater public. A timeless piece of music, ...My Tree could have been conceived in 1978, 1988, 1998 or 2008: it's the sonic documentation of an ongoing project that spans electronica, experimental rock and synth-pop from a group who have experienced it all. With songs akin to those of Brian Eno, the Residents and Fad Gadget, TBO use their anonymity to lead the listener to explore a realm that could be associated with those bands: an obscure place where nothing is quite what to expect around the next bend. Discord and discomfort are as important as reward and satisfaction, and the album is a living, breathing testament to that rhetoric. The music itself is heavier than most electronic bands out there, more synths, more echo, more ether, more meaning. One member of TBO attests: "For us the band's name also ties into our reason for making music. Due in part, to that perfect act of nature that put us here, in this body, at this time and place. Finding music attractive, it has forced us to express our 'art damaged' selves through it". Song titles like "Let the Worm Seize the Day" and "The Pig that I Am"; channeling even more '80s electro gloom, validate the band's statements off the bat. FindingYouAttractive CD $10.00 Bodychoke Cold River Songs PS, US Formed by members of SUTCLIFFE JUGEND & WHITEHOUSE, this was a noisy rock anomaly as powerful & provocative as its name would suggest. Their material was dark, violent, strangely hypnotic & defied categorization. This long out-of-print unheralded classic has been given the deluxe treatment; now remastered to include 3 bonus tracks. RIYL: Swans, Nick Cave/Birthday Party, Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle. Relapse CD $14.75 Bon Iver Blood Bank PS, US The four-song Blood Bank collection continues down the path forged by 2008's critically acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago. While still tied to the identity of the place where it was born, Bon Iver is no longer an unplanned entity synonymous with Justin Vernon. It is an idea, a place and sentiment that has now become as international as it is timeless. From the title track's remembrance of the winter warmth we seek, to the summer love tribute of b-side gem"Babys," Bon Iver's snow-blanketed harmonies live across the seasons. Still, there is a reverence for sabbatical, solitude and the winding down of time. As much as Emma is about the cold, the Blood Bank collection is about the warmth that gets you through it. You can feel the air move. Like a fire you've been stoking for hours and finally got to sustain itself, the heat blisters your face while your back is frozen solid. Bon Iver has grown to include more than what was available at the much-fabled Wisconsin cabin, such as piano, slide guitar, and vocoder. As Justin layers on harmonies in the meditative R&B a capella "The Woods," he declares "I'm building a still to slow down the time." It is as poetic as it is necessary. Both expansive and intimate, these four songs explore the darker and lighter natures of the seasons and what they signify, and offer a dynamic glimpse into the Natural energy and refined craftsmanship that characterize Justin Vernon's music. Jagjaguwar-134 12 $9.00 Bon Iver Blood Bank PS, US The four-song Blood Bank collection continues down the path forged by 2008's critically acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago. While still tied to the identity of the place where it was born, Bon Iver is no longer an unplanned entity synonymous with Justin Vernon. It is an idea, a place and sentiment that has now become as international as it is timeless. From the title track's remembrance of the winter warmth we seek, to the summer love tribute of b-side gem"Babys," Bon Iver's snow-blanketed harmonies live across the seasons. Still, there is a reverence for sabbatical, solitude and the winding down of time. As much as Emma is about the cold, the Blood Bank collection is about the warmth that gets you through it. You can feel the air move. Like a fire you've been stoking for hours and finally got to sustain itself, the heat blisters your face while your back is frozen solid. Bon Iver has grown to include more than what was available at the much-fabled Wisconsin cabin, such as piano, slide guitar, and vocoder. As Justin layers on harmonies in the meditative R&B a capella "The Woods," he declares "I'm building a still to slow down the time." It is as poetic as it is necessary. Both expansive and intimate, these four songs explore the darker and lighter natures of the seasons and what they signify, and offer a dynamic glimpse into the Natural energy and refined craftsmanship that characterize Justin Vernon's music. Jagjaguwar-134 CD5 $7.50 Bones, Mike Fool For Everyone PS, US "A Fool For Everyone was made in April 2008 at a place called The Seaside Lounge. A few musicians joined me, old and new friends. Recording took four days. I don't particularly enjoy being in studios, but this time was easy. Decisions presented themselves naturally and we got good takes. Everyone was on top of his or her game. All these songs were written after June 2007, except "Everybody's Always Coming Down On Me" which is quite an old song. I wrote one on the beach in Spain, the rest at my desk in New York City. Other songs were written in that time and in those places. Those aren't on A Fool For Everyone. Most songs exist because of beautiful women and existential despair, but that's no surprise. There are a lot of guitars on A Fool for Everyone, not just mine, but Matt Sweeney's too. Our moves go well together. My last record purposefully had no guitar solos, this one purposefully does. Intention is important when making things, having complete understanding of one's intentions less so. I heard my father doesn't like the cover of this record because it's a naked picture of me. It's OK, I sort of knew he wouldn't. I like the picture and I like the girl who took it. I have my reasons. All of the above is factual as far as I can tell. Memory is a tricky thing, but you know that. We've probably read the same books. Good night." - Mike Bones "Anthemic doesn't have to mean overblown you know. Mr. Bones can do it with swooning casualness, sieving the twee from Sufjan Stevens and Belle & Sebastian, leaving only heart and soul." - NME "Mike Bones is the favorite guitarist of every musician you like in New York. He's the New York music-geek world's secret weapon." - Vice Magazine "Bones is a guitar hero inside and out, master apprentice of a steel-eyed, determined blues first informed by punk, not the sallow, honeyed agony seeping out of our most emotionally isolated singer-songwriters." - Dusted TheSocialRegistry-72 LP $12.25 Bones, Mike Fool For Everyone PS, US "A Fool For Everyone was made in April 2008 at a place called The Seaside Lounge. A few musicians joined me, old and new friends. Recording took four days. I don't particularly enjoy being in studios, but this time was easy. Decisions presented themselves naturally and we got good takes. Everyone was on top of his or her game. All these songs were written after June 2007, except "Everybody's Always Coming Down On Me" which is quite an old song. I wrote one on the beach in Spain, the rest at my desk in New York City. Other songs were written in that time and in those places. Those aren't on A Fool For Everyone. Most songs exist because of beautiful women and existential despair, but that's no surprise. There are a lot of guitars on A Fool for Everyone, not just mine, but Matt Sweeney's too. Our moves go well together. My last record purposefully had no guitar solos, this one purposefully does. Intention is important when making things, having complete understanding of one's intentions less so. I heard my father doesn't like the cover of this record because it's a naked picture of me. It's OK, I sort of knew he wouldn't. I like the picture and I like the girl who took it. I have my reasons. All of the above is factual as far as I can tell. Memory is a tricky thing, but you know that. We've probably read the same books. Good night." - Mike Bones "Anthemic doesn't have to mean overblown you know. Mr. Bones can do it with swooning casualness, sieving the twee from Sufjan Stevens and Belle & Sebastian, leaving only heart and soul." - NME "Mike Bones is the favorite guitarist of every musician you like in New York. He's the New York music-geek world's secret weapon." - Vice Magazine "Bones is a guitar hero inside and out, master apprentice of a steel-eyed, determined blues first informed by punk, not the sallow, honeyed agony seeping out of our most emotionally isolated singer-songwriters." - Dusted TheSocialRegistry-072 CD $11.50 BPA I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat PS, US The legendary forgotten sessions of the BRIGHTON PORT AUTHORITY, recently uncovered! Genre bending music that was ahead of it's time features collaborations w/ IGGY POP, DAVID BYRNE, JAMIE T & MARTHA WAINWRIGHT SouthernFried CD $12.00 Burning Hearts Aboa Sleeping PS, US Finland's Henry Ojala (Cats on Fire) & Jessika Rapo (Le Futur Pompiste) as Burning Hearts might be greeted as a marriage of the best elements of both members' other bands, but this is truly a matter of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Full of subtle detail & a uniformly warm sound, this is a dream of idealized pop: beautifully understated vocals, melodies as reassuring as a lover's embrace & a tone of intimacy that could only come from collaboration that is fully simpatico. Listen to the heart-tugging chorus of "Iris," the stately lockstep interplay between vocal & rhythm-track on "A Peasant's Dream," or the fade-to-black melancholy of the title track, and hear that same indefinable, inexplicable musical alchemy that is their homeland's claim. Shelflife CD $12.25 Burst, Charles Come Home & Feast PS, US As a distinguished engineer, he has worked on records by the New Pornographers, Gang Gang Dance, Takka Takka, Crystal Stilts & Black Dice. As a performer, he has played in THE OCCASSION. His first solo album tones down the more psychedelic aspects of his past endeavors, w/ stripped down instrumental passages & a dark lyrical approach laced w/ just a hint of humor. ErnestJenning CD $10.00 Bust #55 PS, US Amber Tamblyn on cover! Cowgirls gone wild, the women of Mad Men, death becomes her, OMG vampires ZINE $4.75 Buzzcocks Singles Going Steady PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!! Capitol LP $16.00 Calexico Live From Austin, TX PS, US They have been called "the voice of the American southwest," but the fact of the matter is that musically they are all over the map (they list as their influences Portuguese fado, 50's jazz, gypsy music, 60's surf & spaghetti westerns). But when they made their debut on the AUSTIN CITY LIMITS stage in September 2006, their latest record "Garden Ruin" had taken them in new directions that even they might not have imagined. NewWest DVD $17.75 Cheap Trick At Budokan PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!! Sony LP $18.00 Cheer Accident Fear Draws Misfortune PS, US Sixteenth album for this 18 year old Chicago mainstay who have never stayed in one place long enough to get a bead on them, but who have consistently released surprising albums of quality and sometimes consternation. Their latest takes another turn with the core trio being joined by 15 auxiliary musicians & singers. A strongly compelling & high-reaching album using a wide variety of ideas, styles & studio techniques, resulting in a cohesive & ambitious album of art-rock. RIYD Art Bears, This Heat & Faust Cuneiform CD $14.25 Chemicals S-T PS, US After a long string of houseparty quasi-performances across the greater Champaign-Urbana area, innumerable changes in membership and instrument assignments, and a horrible bout of whooping cough, four members arose from the ashes of their rocky past, fusing into the band you know (and love) today. August of 2004 was the first live performance of the Chemicals by official name and lineup. Since then, the Chemicals have shared the stage wtih acts including Earlimart , Apollo Sunshine, the M's, Via Satellite, and varoius apperances with locals Mad Science Fair, the Frame, Headlights, Green Light Go, Terminus Victor, the Living Blue, and many more. Chemicals CD $5.50 Cindytalk Silver Shoals of Light PS, US Limited to 500 one-sided 10" w/screen-printed b-side. 3rd release in Blue Sanct's "Art Singles" series. Drum machine ticks along w/gorgeous bass that pulses up against Gordon Sharp's vocals, leading to a climax of bliss & dissonance. Sharp was at one time perhaps best known for lending his angelic voice to several tracks on This Mortal Coil's classic masterpiece "It'll End In Tears." The sound straddles several genres at once - ambient, abstract, industrial, cinematic, glitch, post-punk. These will not be around for long, so act quickly! BlueSanct 10" $16.00 City Center/Grouper Split PS, US LIMITED TO 500! Self-released tour 7"! "Here we have a small slice of hazy gold from two of the best underground solo artists currently making the rounds, namely Grouper (Portland's Liz Harris), and City Center (a/k/a Other Music's own Fred Thomas); they have bestowed upon us one exclusive track each on clear vinyl, and they're both stun-ners... If you connected with the Grouper releases of last year, or if you're a fan of the school of deep, dark psychedelic solo pop coming out of the indie world at the moment, you need this. It's also a nice teaser for the heavy dose of quality that is City Center's forthcoming debut album, hopefully to be released in the coming months. This bad boy is limited to 500 copies, so don't sleep!" Self-Released 45 $5.50 Cleaver/Parker/Taborn Farmers By Nature PS, US A fully improvised communion of 3 of America's masters of music. The manifest intent: sowing seeds of sound & bringing them to full blossom. Abstract, organic, & fully inviting. Recorded live at NYC's The Stone in June of 2008, this was the 3rd meeting of drummer GERALD CLEAVER, bassist WILLIAM PARKER, & pianist CRAIG TABORN. An immersive experience yielding magic & inducing a calming mystical ambience. "Improvising in long, fluid ideas, Mr. Taborn's solos were housewreckers." - NY Times AUMFidelity CD $12.75 Cline, Alex Continuation PS, US Twin brother of Nels Cline (Wilco) steps into the limelight w/ a beautiful recording featuring Cline on drums. Cryptogramophon CD $17.50 Cline, Nels Coward PS, US WILCO guitarist presents a brilliant solo album that covers an extraordinarily broad range of musical styles, w/ a surprising acoustic sensibility. This blends improvisation & composition w/ a huge & constantly changing emotional & timbral palette Cryptogramophone CD $17.50 Clue To Kalo Lily Perdida PS, US Satisfyingly schizophrenic, Clue To Kalo's third full-length release Lily Perdida is ten voices in one, all of them a different branch off the same electric folk tree. Amidst jangly guitar, mod ribbons of flute, and the voices of mastermind Mark Mitchell and duet partner Ellen Carey, ten musical perspectives on fictional character Lily Perdida emerge, each song from the point of view of a different person in her life. A post-modern frolic of keyboards, harpsichords and laptops, Lily Perdida is a gorgeous and sonically sprawling commentary on the nature of history and identity. Each succeeding track reinterprets, misreads or conflicts with the accounts that came before to collectively create an anti-portrait of the main character. The music ebbs and flows with the changing characters but never strays from the utterly satisfying sound we have come to expect from Clue To Kalo. Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Clue To Kalo mastermind Mark Mitchell blends a lo-fi acoustic-folk aesthetic to computer-based production in which the technology is the means rather than the end. A generous use of layered melodies, elemental textures, and multi-tracked vocals highlight a vast range of influences and solidify the fact that Clue To Kalo is first and foremost a songwriter. In addition to many shows in Australia and Japan, Clue To Kalo has toured throughout the US and Canada, was a featured artist at the Mush 2003 CMJ and 2005 SXSW showcases, and has shared the stage with luminaries like the Greenhornes, Willowz, Death Cab For Cutie, Caribou, and many more. Inventive without being inaccessible, Clue To Kalo has established himself as a singular artist of extraordinary scope and depth. Mush-262 CD $9.00 Cluster Grosses Wasser [re-issue] PS, US Originally released in 1979, this is CLUSTER's last great album. Combining the ambient space rock of early albums on some songs w/ a more updated, beat-driven, dare I say space-disco? sound on others, it at times sounds like the best of both worlds. They were probably the most influential & ground-breaking group to come out of Germany in the '70s (no small feat) & every one of their records is pure trailblazing musical history. Water CD $14.50 Cola Jet Set Guitarras y Tambores PS, SPAIN "Guitarras y Tambores" is the long awaited new album by COLA JET SET, the second in their career and their first with Elefant Records. It is a disc of wide horizons, on which the group, lead by Felipe (LOS FRESONES REBELDES, LES TRÈS BIEN ENSEMBLE) and Ana (LA MONJA ENANA) have scrutinized other stylistic limits: here we find ye-ye, sixties pop, disco, soul, indie and touches of psychedelic pop, all done with renewed intentions, as we can see on the opening track, "El Sueño de Mi Vida", when it says: "I dreamed of conquering / unexplored continents / and still I don't know where I'm going to live". After some difficult line-up changes, and certain instabilities created by musical situations (record label changes, parallel projects) as well as by personal situations (which has left the band with the definitive line-up of Felipe, Ana, Joan, Alicia and Cristina), "Guitarras y Tambores" is the album that reflects this period, these comings and goings, these triumphs and failures, the malaise and the happiness of a long period in which sometimes some people won the coin toss and other times other people won, and sometimes it wasn't so clear who won. And all of those references, all of the music that has played during this period of time, have only helped solidify the result. Elefant-1141 LP $16.25 Cola Jet Set Guitarras y Tambores PS, SPAIN "Guitarras y Tambores" is the long awaited new album by COLA JET SET, the second in their career and their first with Elefant Records. It is a disc of wide horizons, on which the group, lead by Felipe (LOS FRESONES REBELDES, LES TRÈS BIEN ENSEMBLE) and Ana (LA MONJA ENANA) have scrutinized other stylistic limits: here we find ye-ye, sixties pop, disco, soul, indie and touches of psychedelic pop, all done with renewed intentions, as we can see on the opening track, "El Sueño de Mi Vida", when it says: "I dreamed of conquering / unexplored continents / and still I don't know where I'm going to live". After some difficult line-up changes, and certain instabilities created by musical situations (record label changes, parallel projects) as well as by personal situations (which has left the band with the definitive line-up of Felipe, Ana, Joan, Alicia and Cristina), "Guitarras y Tambores" is the album that reflects this period, these comings and goings, these triumphs and failures, the malaise and the happiness of a long period in which sometimes some people won the coin toss and other times other people won, and sometimes it wasn't so clear who won. And all of those references, all of the music that has played during this period of time, have only helped solidify the result. Elefant-1141 CD $16.25 Colossal Yes Charlemagne's Big Thaw PS, US Inspired by the Kiwi indie-pop formula of Tall Dwarfs, The Clean, & The Verlaines. Using piano as the main instrument, this is a reawakening of the pop aesthetic done Piano Man style. The end result is unique yet similar to the epic pop bands of the past. This pays respect to songwriters like Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Bejar of Destroyer & Alex Chilton while also incorporating the honesty of Graham Nash's "Songs for Beginners," the romanticism of Nikki Sudden't "Waiting on Egypt," & the sonic merriment of Thunderclap Newman's "Hollywood Dream" BaDaBing! CD $14.25 Colossal Yes Charlemagne's Big Thaw PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! BaDaBing! LP $14.25 Cooper, Matthew Robert Miniatures PS, US Nine short saturnian interludes make up the first proper vinyl release by the sound artist who has intrigued your collapsed antenna many times before as Eluvium, Matthew Robert Cooper. Atmospheric chamber music from the cardboard box vortex. Miniatures moves from swirling spatial feedback manipulations to stripped down minimal piano pieces and back while you watch from the curbside the ghostly parade. Limited to 2,000 copies with the first 1,000 on colored vinyl. PITCHFORK: "Matthew Robert Cooper maintains the deep-seated ache that characterizes his music as Eluvium, offering an album of orchestral and electronic sketches drawn from a yet-to-be-completed symphony." GaardenRecords-001 LP $13.75 Costa, Gal S-T PS, US REISSUE on 180gm vinyl! Originally released in 1969, COSTA's 2nd album is one of the finest releases to come out of Brazil's Tropicalia movement. Feat. songwriting & vocal help from 2 of the original Tropicalismos, CAETANO VELOSO & GILBERTO GIL, she flows effortlessly between shredding psychedelia & smooth bossa nova. An essential record for anyone that appreciates the far reaches of Brazilian popular music. Incl. the classic trks "Baby" * "Não Identificado." Such a pleasant surpise to see this available on vinyl again! RECOMMENDED! 4MenWithBeards LP $16.75 Cotton Jones Paranoid Cocoon PS, US This is an album full of quiet, wooden psychedelia that reflects the duo's casual pursuit of comfort & freedom under the mountains of Cumberland, Maryland. In "By Morning Light," Nau (PAGE FRANCE) & McGraw's voices draw each other out of a contemplative melancholy & into a state of amazed gratification; the music here shimmers, always - the snare cracks against the tug of the guitar - reaching the sublime crush of Yo La Tengo's "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out." It's simple, understated perfection. SuicideSqueeze CD $13.25 Crewe, Sally & The Sudden Moves Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You PS, US Even before her auspicious 2003 debut full-length, Drive It Like You Stole It, Yorkshire's Sally Crewe proved herself to be a songwriting master of economy, combining a classicist's touch of pop history with a decidedly modern, lean approach to the Next Wave Of New Wave (after The Last Wave). And while 2005's Shortly After Take-Off was a slightly more expansive take on things, musically and lyrically, powerhouse album numero 3, Your Nearest Exit May Be Behind You has proven far superior to both, with Crewe proving she can cram twice as much information into each composition if merely allowed to stretch the length from two minutes flat to 2:30. Stylistically, she's bent but not broken a winning formula, and while Your Nearest Exit... is the most varied Sudden Moves effort to date, both rhythmically and lyrically, the bon mots flow very quickly and rarely overstay their welcome. Unlike, say, Turkey's occupation of Cyprus. Based in Austin, TX for the past four years, Sally's prowess onstage and in the studio is due in some portion to the most empathic and telepathic rhythm section she's recruited to date: drummer George Duron (Roky Erickson, Dumptruck, Jon Dee Graham) and bassist Matt Baab (The Distant Seconds). Though with all due respect to the capitol city's most propulsive rock trio, it's her songs and voice that set The Sudden Moves apart from the legion of merely competent hopefuls that litter the nation's indie circuit. Recorded throughout 2007 in separate sessions with Spoon's Jim Eno at Public Hi-Fi, (and subsequently with Jim Vollentine at Mob House), Crewe's latest collection of tunes, while unmistakably in her patented style, have never been as catchy, complex nor as anthemic. Nor as well recorded. Though sporadically touring with friends like Spoon, Mission of Burma and John Vanderslice, to name a handful, The Sudden Moves have until this point generated more goodwill than money. With the band making a hard fought transition into something approaching a full time-y endeavor, the trio are very poised to flip that equation around. (Ideally, they'd like to avoid the bad will). Like many other brilliant bands that are either 5 or 5 million minutes ahead of their time, Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves have yet to approach household-word status (save for their own households). Said situation is likely to be sorted out shortly, but until then, you have the unique opportunity to tell your friends how terrific 'Magnet' and 'Sleepyhead' are a good few weeks before they've either been leaked or blogged-2-death.I don't wanna say such chances come along once in a lifetime - for all I know, you could be 300 years old - but songwriters this witty, confident and cool are awfully rare. - Gerard Cosloy 8TrackMindRecords-001 CD $10.50 Cut Off Your Hands You & I PS, US Debut from the self-proclaimed "fight-pop" group. Features a contribution from ex-SUEDE guitarist BERNARD BUTLER. Previous tours w/ Crystal Castles, Duke Spirit, Black Kids & We Are Scientists. FrenchKiss CD $13.25 Cut Off Your Hands You & I PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! FrenchKiss LP $17.50 Daily Void (Surprise Surprise) You've Lost Your Eyes b/w In the Year Zero PS, US HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Dakota Suite End of Trying PS, US This is the first release for Liverpool's Dakota Suite on the Karaoke Kalk label. Chris Hooson is the main singer/songwriter for the trio and it is an extremely personal guitar project that deals with tragedies in Chris' life and the constant ups and downs in the success of his favorite team, FC Everton. One thing's for certain, we're not talking about happy music here. The track titles on the albums Alone With Everybody (1996), The Way I'm Sick (2002) or Waiting For The Dawn To Crawl Through And Take Away Your Life (2007) on Glitterhouse Records already point out some of this sensitive man's feelings. Deeply sad melodies and melancholy pain are also the main emotions on The End Of Trying, but we're not talking about sadness in the form of self-pity. Hooson focuses on understated sounds like flowing piano chords and a flexible cello arrangement, while fellow members David Buxton and Colin Dunkley take turns on the piano. American cellist David Darling wonderfully accentuates Hooson's harmonic sadness with his stylish string instrument. Darling has made soundtracks for Wim Wenders and also was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album Cello Blue. Together, Dakota Suite and Darling form a striking ensemble which by no means only have depressing moments -- their music is very soothing, too. The recordings were made in various houses in Leeds and at Darling's home in Goshen, Connecticut. Chris realized a life long dream recording the album with his all-time favorite cellist. He doesn't usually find life so great. He only gets the strength to survive from collaborations like this, a healthy portion of cynicism which he otherwise channels into his lyrics, and above all, through his peaceful and sentimental sound experiences. KaraokeKalk CD $15.00 Dalek Gutter Tactics PS, US One of the heaviest hip-hop groups ever, & one of the few to consistently fuse extreme metal textures w/ hip-hop beats & radical politics. "[This is] more about us continually doing some early hip-hop shit but w/ the attitude of the Melvins or Black Sabbath" - MC DALEK Ipecac CD $16.25 Death For The Whole World To See PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! DragCity/Twos&Fews LP $14.75 Death For The Whole World To See PS, US Classic proto-punk from 1970s Detroit. Raw with little polish, the record showcases the organic power relationships within the trio of brothers. The Hackneys were first influenced by soul & funk music but it all changed when they saw Iggy and the Stooges. Inspired by The Who, Alice Cooper & Led Zeppelin; the brothers finally see their first full length release, remastered & ready for the world to hear. DragCity/Twos&Fews CD $13.25 Decemberists Tain/5 Songs PS, US 180 GRAM VINYL!! A combination of new & old, of where The Decemberists have been & where they're headed. The A-side is made up of the new, a short form concept, record called "The Tain", based on what most consider the Illiad of Irish myth. While keeping the signature Decemberists sound intact, the band gives a significant nod to such '70s progrogressive rockers as Deep Purple & Iron Butterfly. "The Tain" was recorded over an intensive 4 day period during which the band actually slept on the floor of the recording studio, & captured & brought to light w/the help of Christopher Walla (Death Cab For Cutie Cutie) at the venerable Hall Of Justice in Seattle. The B-side is a vinyl release of the band's 1st EP "5 Songs". It is simpler & less adorned, but still a marvelous collection of characters trapped in song, clawing & cooing their way out. JealousButcher LP $11.75 Deep Feeling Pretty Colours PS, UK This short-lived band wowed London audiences w/ their audacious brand of exotic proto-psychedelia, even backing Jimi Hendrix at his first UK gig. Sunbeam CD $18.00 Derek Trucks Band Already Free PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! RCA DLP $20.00 Diplo Decent Work for Decent Pay Volume 1 PS, US This provides an overview of what he has been up to for the last four years, starting w/ classic tracks & out-takes from "Florida," taking in production work on such huge records as M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," Kano's "Reload It," & Bonde Do Role's album for Domino, plus a host of remixes for the likes of CSS, Spank Rock, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Black Lips, & Peter Bjorn & John. BigDada DCD $17.25 Diplo Blow Your Head PS, US This is the label run by Mr. Popularity...DIPLO! After producing huge tracks like MIA's "Paper Planes," & remixes for heavyweights like Coldplay, Radiohead, Feist, Hot Chip & The Black Lips, as well as releasing mix CDs like 'Santogold in Dub.' "Blow Your Head" is a remix of DIPLO's own production "Wassup Wasshup" feat. RYE RYE. This is the 1st vinyl release from Diplo in 2 years! Feat. remixes from CROOKERS, BART BMORE & DJ SEGA. Full color picture sleeve & comes w/ free MP3 download coupon of the entire EP. MadDecent 12" $8.50 Dutchess & The Duke, The Never Had A Chance b/w Scorpio PS, US HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Earle, Steve & Del McCoury Band Mountain PS, US The acclaimed bluegrass album from 1999, finally reissued after many years out of print. Features contributions from EMMYLOU HARRIS, IRIS DEMENT, JERRY DOUGLAS, MARTY STUART, GILLIAN WELCH, GENE WOOTEN & JOHN HARTFORD. NewWest CD $17.75 Elegi Varde PS, US Norwegian composer TOMMY JANSEN returns w/ the second installment of a trilogy for Miasmah Recordings. An incredibly accomplished body of work, its natural progression of movements transporting the listener through cinematic soundscapes & evocative passages of intense, doomladen, droning acoustic instruments. The eerie, underlying sounds taken from seemingly unrecognizable sources, add to the feelings of unresolved tension, bringing to mind the later works of Scott Walker, the slow-build of Gorecki's "3rd Symphony" & the murk of Gavin Bryars' "The Sinking Of The Titanic." He operates in the area between composed & improvised music, building bridges between classical music & dark ambient drones & textures. Miasmah CD $15.50 Eluvium Life Through Bombardment (7XLP) (ON SALE) PS, US LIMITED EDITION! Highly anticipated and long-overdue, Life Through Bombardment collects virtually every Eluvium song ever released (plus a bunch of rare and unreleased non-album tracks) into one stunning 7xLP set, all on vinyl for the first and only time. Each record is packaged in its own full-color jacket, featuring exquisite new artwork from Jeannie Lynn Paske, drawn exclusively for this set. The seven jackets are then bound into a beautiful dark green hardbound, linen-cover book, with metallic gold foil stamping and embossed text on the spine, and a beautiful full-color print embossed into the front cover. The inside front cover includes a removable old-fashioned library card, complete with dated, personalized signatures from the artists and designers involved in the creation of this package. The inside back cover includes a mind-blowing 12x36" foldout double-sided full-color poster insert, featuring more artwork from Ms. Paske. Each copy of this set will include a unique digital code to download high-quality mp3s of the entire box set collection. This is limited to a one-time pressing of 1,000 copies, pressed onto 100% virgin black vinyl. "Eluvium is going down in history as one of the innovators of contemporary ambience." - Drowned In Sound "The best contemporary ambient musician." - Pop Matters "Needless to say, Life Through Bombardment is limited to 1,000 copies and will probably sell out faster than you can say Merzbox." - Pitchfork TemporaryResidenceLtd.-119 7XLP $150.00 Eno/Moebius/Roedelius After The Heat PS, US Originally released in 1978, Eno's 2nd album collaboration w/ Moebius & Roedelius of CLUSTER is full of blessed-out instrumentals, made up of repeated synthesizer patterns & sustained guitar. Reminiscent of the ambient style from Eno's collaborations w/ Robert Fripp, this is a classic piece of German kosmische musik. 4MenwithBeards LP $16.75 Fast N Bulbous-Beefheart Project-Waxed Oop PS, US "An Impetuous Stream Bubbled Up" IN TUESDAY. Latest from Capt. Beefheart tribute project, led by two innovators of New York's avant music scene: GARY LUCAS, who was guitarist for Captain Beefheart's Magic Band in its latter years and saxist and arranger PHILLIP JOHNSTON. Incl a bonus track feat. ROBYN HITCHCOCK! Their mission statement: "The idea is to use the compositions of Don Van Vliet as a vehicle for improvisation and arranging. Contains a crew of seasoned improvisers from both the worlds of avant-garde jazz and rock, who render the music as both a tribute and a creative adventure in improvising. We use the horn section to take the place of the vocals, as well as transmute this guitar-based music into ensemble into ensemble interplay, between horns and guitar and rhythm section." "The big brass band [Capt. Beefheart] never had."-Rolling Stone Cuneiform CD $14.25 Faunts Feel.Love.Thinking. PS, US With its effervescent guitars, mathematic loops & synthesizers, surging drums, & seemingly nomadic bass lines, this is both more ambitious in its conception & more focused in its execution than anything the band has done before FriendlyFire CD $12.75 Fitness Forever Personal Train PS, SPAIN LIMITED EDITION 500 COPIES. White vinyl. FITNESS FOREVER says that their debut album is a homage to their country, Italy, to the musical tradition that gave way to marvelous pop artists from the 60s to the 80s. But the group, led by Carlos Valderrama (VALDERRAMA 5), with this goal in mind, has achieved something much more important: to make this homage extend to music in general, embracing an infinite amount of references, styles and sounds, regurgitating them coherently and with its own personality, without dispersion or eclecticism, showing pop's common essence, independent of the epoch or the country it comes from. It just has to have that touch of magic that makes the melodies work, makes the arrangements surprising, and makes the whole exciting. And in this first album from the Italian quartet, "Personal Train", there is much more than this compressed into 30 minutes and just 12 songs. A titanic work that took over a year to record, using a recording method similar to what composers from the sixties used: hours and hours in the studio, trying out arrangements, instrumentation and melodies. In addition to all of this, there is also the humor they present their project with. They say, on myspace: "The producer, composer, ex-underwear model, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Valderrama (one of the worst dancers and singers in the music industry) started FITNESS FOREVER in Naples (Italy) shortly after realizing that love does not last forever. That's why, unfortunately, he couldn't call the band LOVE FOREVER". Which is where the homage to fitness begins, which is reflected in the very title of the album, the declarations in interviews, or on the album cover. In any case, this album is full of songs to dance to, because in the end, that counts as exercise too, doesn't it? There are so many bands to reference, so many groups to evoke, so many styles to pay homage to, that we can't do anything but propose a little trip, song by song, through the whole album, because it is by far the best way to get inside all of the different paths that are opened up by listening to the album, written by Valderrama (drums, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, glockenspiel, percussion, lead vocals and chorus), Paster (lead vocals and chorus), "Big Tony" Fresa (piano, fender rhodes, organ, synthesizer, voice and clapping) and Scialdone (bass, lead guitar, 12 string guitar and vocals). Elefant-1139 CD $16.25 Fitness Forever Personal Train PS, SPAIN LP LIMITED EDITION 500 COPIES. White vinyl. FITNESS FOREVER says that their debut album is a homage to their country, Italy, to the musical tradition that gave way to marvelous pop artists from the 60s to the 80s. But the group, led by Carlos Valderrama (VALDERRAMA 5), with this goal in mind, has achieved something much more important: to make this homage extend to music in general, embracing an infinite amount of references, styles and sounds, regurgitating them coherently and with its own personality, without dispersion or eclecticism, showing pop's common essence, independent of the epoch or the country it comes from. It just has to have that touch of magic that makes the melodies work, makes the arrangements surprising, and makes the whole exciting. And in this first album from the Italian quartet, "Personal Train", there is much more than this compressed into 30 minutes and just 12 songs. A titanic work that took over a year to record, using a recording method similar to what composers from the sixties used: hours and hours in the studio, trying out arrangements, instrumentation and melodies. In addition to all of this, there is also the humor they present their project with. They say, on myspace: "The producer, composer, ex-underwear model, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Valderrama (one of the worst dancers and singers in the music industry) started FITNESS FOREVER in Naples (Italy) shortly after realizing that love does not last forever. That's why, unfortunately, he couldn't call the band LOVE FOREVER". Which is where the homage to fitness begins, which is reflected in the very title of the album, the declarations in interviews, or on the album cover. In any case, this album is full of songs to dance to, because in the end, that counts as exercise too, doesn't it? There are so many bands to reference, so many groups to evoke, so many styles to pay homage to, that we can't do anything but propose a little trip, song by song, through the whole album, because it is by far the best way to get inside all of the different paths that are opened up by listening to the album, written by Valderrama (drums, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, glockenspiel, percussion, lead vocals and chorus), Paster (lead vocals and chorus), "Big Tony" Fresa (piano, fender rhodes, organ, synthesizer, voice and clapping) and Scialdone (bass, lead guitar, 12 string guitar and vocals). Elefant-1139 LP $16.25 Foals Olympic Airways PS, US tune that walks the line between dance music & organic art rock. SUPERMAYER toy w/ the original melodies & chorus, building it all into an elated crescendo. EWAN PEARSON's mix is a Balearic-y blissful gem that sets a new standard. Kompakt 12 $12.50 Folds, Ben Stems & Seeds (Way To Normal [expanded]) PS, US Special, re-titled re-release of BF's 'Way To Normal'. Disc one featured the remixed, remastered, re-sequenced original album. Disc two featured files from the sessions that listeners can upload to "Garageband" and remix themselves. Epic DCD $16.00 Forgas Band Phenomena Axis of Madness PS, US French prog mainstay Patrick Forgas has been releasing jazz-rock gems that showcase his compositional and arranging skills for over 30 years. The fourth by his current band combines the most attractive aspects of jazz and rock composition with inspired solos. For fans of: Arti e Mestieri, electric Gil Evans, Magic Malik, National Health, Jean-Luc Ponty, Soft Machine, Frank Zappa. "...orchestral jazz-rock...of the kind scarcely made anymore; virtuosic ,tasteful, and melodically pleasing."-Exposé Cuneiform CD $14.25 France Has the Bomb Invisible Angle b/w GrimTrigger PS, US 2nd single of prime stuff from these Chicago via Minneapolis or vice-versa dudes. While the 7" single may not be the best medium for these guys (you should read that as "bring on the full length.") that doesn't mean that this thing isn't gonna pay off in spades down the line (and I'm not talkin' about eBay!!?@#%.) HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Franz Ferdinand Tonight PS, US Epic CD $16.00 Freezepop Form Activity Motion EP PS, US Blistering CD5 $8.25 Frumpy Frumpy 2 [re-issue] PS, US ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "Inga Rumpf's Frumpy was among the most startling bands on the entire German rock scene of the early '70s, an act so diametrically opposed to the Krautrock boom beloved by critics elsewhere that first impressions of their music always leave listeners scratching their heads. If Frumpy has any role models, it is a collision between Meddle-era Pink Floyd and a less-precocious Uriah Heep. Frumpy 2, unsurprisingly their second album, features just four tracks, but all are soaring slabs of emotive guitar and keyboards, deeply progressive of course, but unquestionably pop as well... Rumpf herself, meanwhile, has a range and depth comparable to Curved Air's Sonja Kristina, with an emotive strength which seems all the more remarkable when you remember that English is not her native language... The guitar and keyboard solos and duels which take place above the tumultuous rhythms are as spectacular as anything else in the genre. But even while you're sitting slack-jawed in awe, it is very difficult to play favorites. Frumpy, like Rumpf's Atlantis after them, has antecedents aplenty, and their influences peep out behind every corner. But the manner in which they've been sewn together owes little to any Anglo-American role models and little to any Krautrock basics, too. Quite simply, Frumpy 2 is the prog album you'll be returning to long after the others have all dulled into wallpaper." Revisited CD $19.00 Frumpy All Will Be Changed [re-issue] PS, US No other artist has had as lasting an influence on German rock music as Inga Rumpf. Her smokey, bluesy voice, influenced by icons such as Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone, fills fans all over the world with enthusiasm to this day. Her seemingly limitless stylistic range has rightfully earned Inga Rumpf a reputation as Germany's no. 1 rock vocalist. 1970's All Will Be Changed saw the newly formed band gear their music to established international sounds, but they immediately found their own style thanks to the ever-present drone of a Hammond organ and Rumpf's unique voice. They initially worked without a guitarist, allowing keyboardist Jean-Jacques Kravetz to rotate the powerful Leslie rotor. The national press initially eyed Frumpy with the typical scepticism of that time towards anybody who made rock music on German shores. Unimpressed by such ambiguities, Frumpy continued to work on their career and influenced countless other bands and vocalists over the years. Their now legendary debut album is being released completely remastered in digipak format with exclusive liner notation and rare photos. Revisited CD $19.00 Future Of The Left Last Night I Saved Her From Vampires PS, US Super limited stock on the remaining copies of the ultra hot Future of the Left live album that was previously only sold on the US dates of the bands tour with Against Me. When they are gone they're gone. 4AD CD $5.00 Gala Drop S-T PS, US Synthesizer orchestras, German Kraut & kosmische musik, the keyboard hell of French unit Heldon, psych/free percussive tribalism, a deep understanding of decades of dance music, Jamaica's dub processing techniques, an extraordinary sensibility for sound resources & additional mixing, & finally, the mastering skills of Rafael Toral. The metrics of the groove & backbeat in the drum work, & the ululating understanding of the synthesizer & keyboard phrases reveal a completely familiar yet alien alternate universe of space-y sound that is too good to be just druggy. Utterly zoned-out keyboard & dub astral projection through new jungles of sound. GalaDrop CD $18.00 Gang Gang Dance God's Money PS, US Restocked. TheSocialRegistry-19 CD $11.50 Garrie, Nick 49 Arlington Gardens PS, SPAIN Our story begins way back, specifically in 1969, when an English university student picked up his guitar and began playing in the south of France, spurred on by his passion for Dylan and for surrealism. The story ends with this student, our Nick Garrie, recording an album for the French label DiscAZ (home to Brigitte Bardot and Michel Polnareff among others) with the producer Eddie Vartan (brother of Sylvie Vartan and renowned producer of the time). The result, recorded with a 56-musician orchestra, is "The Nightmare of J.B. Stasnislas," a marvelous collection of perfect melodies wrapped in a psychedelic pop with majestic results. However, in one of those strange twists that fate so often gives us, the head of the label and the person in charge of the project, Lucien Morisse, commits suicide just a few days after the album's release, leaving the project orphaned and with no promotional plan. The result? "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas" becomes cursed, but over time grows into a cult item, with people paying more than 1,200 euros for each of the limited copies, which are almost impossible to find. A disc that, of course, Elefant is re-releasing in 2009 as a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of its publication. Meanwhile, our musician distances himself, disappointed, from the music industry and decides to earn a living however he can. In 1976 he meets the composer Francis Lai (who won an Oscar for "Love Story" and wrote the scores for, among other movies, "A Man and A Woman," "Live for Life," "Bilitis," "Dark Eyes" and "Emmanuelle"), with whom he will work on diverse projects over the course of the years. In a rush of inspiration he goes back to the studio, with part of Cat Stevens' band, to record "Suitcase Man," this time under the name Nick Hamilton, an album that will reach number one on Spanish lists thanks to the single "Back to 1930" and which will allow him to tour the country with Leonard Cohen, who will declare that he wished he had written some of Garrie's songs. The impulse isn't strong enough to keep him permanently in the music world, and despite a few different attempts in 1994 ("The Playing Fields") and in 2002 ("Twelve Old Songs"), he still hasn't found his place. In the meantime, without knowing its creator, "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas" continues nourishing its legend, giving the definitive push to fame when Phil Smee (photographer and album cover designer for groups in the 70s like THE YARDBIRDS or Syd Barret) includes a song from this disc, "Wheel of Fortune," on one of his famous compilations, "Circus Days" (a compilation on which LOS BRINCOS also appear). This is all a surprise for Garrie when, in 2005, half joking, googles himself and discovers everything that's happened with "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas". This motivates him to start singing again, and he enters a contest for singer-songwriters, which he wins, and whose prize is a web page to use for publicity for his music. The music industry is reintroduced to Nick Garrie, and he is flooded with offers to reissue "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas". Joe Foster, head of the Rev-ola label and previously of Creation Records (one of the most important and influential independent labels in the world, that had signed artists such as PRIMAL SCREAM, FELT, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, OASIS, RIDE, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, HOUSE OF LOVE, TEENAGE FANCLUB, THE BOO RADLEYS, ST ETIENNE, THE PASTELS, MOMUS and PACIFIC) takes the bull by the horns and rereleases the mythic 2005. Nick Garrie goes back on the road, playing songs from the album as he had always intended them to be: acoustic. Foster introduces him to the Scottish singer Ally Kerr who invites him to play in Scotland. That night led to a recording session, months later, in the Riverside studios in Glasgow, with a group of musicians from the Scottish scene. Recording the new songs with Nick Garrie were important artists like Norman Blake (TEENAGE FANCLUB), Francis McDonald (NICE MAN, TEENAGE FANCLUB, BMX BANDITS), the very Ally Kerr, Duglas T. Stewart (BMX BANDITS) exquisitely producing the album, and Duncan Cameron (DELGADOS, TRAVIS, TRASHCAN SINATRAS) as the sound engineer, along with the still unknown DOGHOUSE ROSES, Spain's Sandra Belda Martínez (CALIFORNIA SNOW STORY, SUPERÉTÉ), Rachel Allison, Iona McDonald and many other characters from the Scottish indie pop scene. Aside from the "Scottish Sessions," the disc includes the marvelous "Lovers," written with Francis Lai for the soundtrack to the film "Plastic Tree" and "Stay Till the Morning Comes," recorded in Villafranca (Portugal) with the Portuguese producer Quim Correia. It is a delicious disc that combines precious arrangements with the off-beat and elegant melodies of Garrie. From the dreamy romanticism of "Lovers" to the clear Frenchification of "Le pont Mirabeau," the precociousness of "Twilight," the incredible voice of Rachel Allison in "When Evening Comes" and the country folk of "On a Wing and a Prayer". It's one of those discs that sees the light of day thanks to the support of a new generation of musicians, admirers of the British singer-songwriter. It's an honest, intimate, elegant, precocious disc that maintains a marvelous balance between arrangements and melodies. Just under thirty minutes of dreamy compositions, of pop and tight folk that deals humbly and candidly with human nature with the surprising element of juvenile fantasy that is "The Clockmaker." This will be the album that musical history uses to pay its dues to Nick Garrie. There are too many reasons for it to be so - the marvelous harmonies added by the Scottish scene, an astonishing collection of musical compositions, a deeply romantic song co-written with a master like Francis Lai, the fact that "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas" is living this small moment of glory that chance took away from it originally and, above all, a singer-songwriter, Nick Garrie, with a precious voice full of solemnity and a classic pop feeling, in the best sense of the word, enjoying a moment of brilliant inspiration. Elefant-1140 CD $16.25 Garrie, Nick 49 Arlington Gardens PS, SPAIN LP LIMITED EDITION 600 COPIES. Elefant-1140 LP $16.25 Gaslight Anthem, The '59 Sound PS, US In 1988, Jon Bon Jovi was being interviewed by a reporter for Spin Magazine when he was asked if he was a fan of Bruce Springsteen. Bon Jovi replied "In New Jersey, if you don't like Springsteen they raise your taxes." Listening to the Gaslight Anthem's second full-length album The '59 Sound, it's pretty clear that leader Brian Fallon doesn't have to worry much about his tax bill in the Garden State. Hailing from New Brunswick, NJ, the Gaslight Anthem are that rare punk band that displays a strong and unmistakable Springsteen influence, and while Fallon's vocal resemblance to the Boss is clearly coincidental (he has more than a bit of Bruce's throaty gravity without the grit), the boys-and-girls-on-the-backstreets tone of his lyrics is not, especially when stray fragments from Springsteen's lyrics pop up in Fallon's songs (cue up "Meet Me by the River's Edge" and "High Lonesome" for evidence). If Fallon often comes off as a youthful Springsteen wannabe on The '59 Sound, he also happens to be pretty good at it; the force and sincerity of his songs roll over the occasional clunky spots, and the band brings this music across with a strength and urgency that suggests a heartland rock version of Social Distortion, with Alex Rosamila's guitars and Benny Horowitz's drumming brimming with fire and energy. The Gaslight Anthem are far too good to be the New Millennium's answer to John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, but it's all but impossible to listen to The '59 Sound without being aware of this band's key influence; even if they never grow out of their Springsteen obsession, they're worth hearing, but it's hard not to hope they'll develop a stronger identity of their own with time...though they may want to warn their tax accountant before that happens. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide Side One Dummy - USOD71358.2 CD $13.25 Genghis Tron Dead Mountain Mouth PS, US REPRESS of this 2LP vinyl release in gatefold sleeve - 2 years of being out of print! A ferocious & unnervingly innovative record - a relentless cacophony of the huge metal riffs & ambient electronics that have earned them worldwide acclaim. At the time, this was hailed as one of the best records of the year by Exclaim!, Decibel & Rock Sound - as well as strong praise from NY Times, Kerrang, etc. LovepumpUnited LP $14.75 Gibson, Laura Beasts of the Seasons PS, US Steeped in the fingerpick-guitar rudiments of folk music, inspired by the expressionism of classic jazz vocalists, & finding common ground in the minimal-ism & ear-taunting of the avant-garde. Collaborators include RACHEL BLUMBERG (M. WARD), NATE QUERY (DECEMBERISTS), LAURA VEIRS & DANNY SEIM (ME- NOMENA). JealousButcher LP $11.75 Goblin Cock Come with Me If You Want PS, US "Rumored" to be the brainchild of Rob Crow of indie wunderkinds PINBACK (Oh, it's him all right). This follow-up to their mammoth debut "Bagged & Boarded" is yet another brave step in the re-definition of true metal. Equal parts melodic & punishing. At times this sounds like Failure reincarnated as a stoner rock band...one that loves the crushing riffs of Big Business/Karp. Robcore CD $13.25 Goblin Cock Come with Me If You Want PS, US VINYL VERSION. Robcore LP $13.25 Golden Boots The Winter Of Our Discotheque PS, US This Southwest alt-country band mixes psychedelic rock, folk, and country which has drawn comparisons to Alex Chilton, The International Submarine Band, Beck, and The Monkees. A blend of pop-folk with distortion-laden breaks, fuzz guitar, primitive keyboards, and the unique clarity of unencumbered experimentation. ParkTheVan CD $13.00 Golden Triangle S-T PS, US This amazing band has toured with the likes of The Black Lips, King Khan, Quintron and Miss Pussycat and play damaged psyched out garage rock w/ dual female vocals. Contains six new tracks and a Redd Kross cover! Limited to 500, pressed on gold wax, duh. Includes download card. MexicanSummer LP $15.00 Grateful Dead American Beauty [Bonus Tracks] (Remastered) PS, US Unfuckwithable. Rhino LP $17.00 Grave Blankets Our Love Is Real b/w Trip Wire PS, US Final (?) release from these mid-west scuzz freaks. If this is it for them then they are definitely going out on a high note. We also still have a handful of the Grave Blankets / Touch-Me-Nots 7" that I'd highly recommend. HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Gris Gris Live at the Creamery PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Birdman LP $16.00 Gris Gris Live at the Creamery PS, US Final record from the psychedelic quartet, recorded live at the warehouse where Greg Ashley resides. Here is the final piece to that hazy, mysterious, yet strangely familiar sound this band created. With songs from both records played with ferocity & sonic mayhem, their story is here. Bright. Swirling. Gnarly. Electric. Birdman CD $16.00 Groundhogs Scratching the Surface PS, US This raw, rootsy album ranks among the finest albums to emerge from the British blues-rock boom, Matching TONY MCPHEE's memorable original tunes w/ a blistering reworking of the Muddy Water's classic "Still a Fool" Sundazed CD $16.50 Groundhogs Blues Obituary PS, US This finds the group beginning to stretch beyond traditional blues forms, as demonstrated on the seven-minute epic "Light Was the Day." This marks the group's first effort as a power trio, the format in which the band would do its most acclaimed & popular work. Sundazed LP $16.50 Group Bombino Guitars From Agadez V.2 (Music of Niger) Vol.2 PS, US One-time LTD ED OF 1,500! This is the latest salvo from the Agadez music scene. Led by the guitar virtuoso OMARA MOCHTAR (Bombino), the group's debut LP, & vol.2 in the 'Guitars From Agadez' series, represents the latest chapter in the modern sound of the Tuareg revolution. As of 2008, the Tuareg rebellion is in full force again, & Bombino is in exile to parts unknown. Agadez has been cut off from the rest of the country. The only road that connects this legendary city w/ the rest of the country is littered w/ land mines & the only escorts are the military. This music & its messages of hope, justice, & desire for validation of the Kel Tamachek way of life ring louder than ever. Side 1 feat. the "dry guitar" sound, an unplugged selection of songs. Side 2 showcases the electric fury of the full band, a melding of heavy, psychedelic guitar heroics w/ a raw, garage sound. 180gm vinyl housed in a gatefold full-color jacket stocked w/ great photos & liner notes by Hisham Mayet. SublimeFrequencies LP $24.50 Guggenheim Grotto Happy the Man PS, US Irish folk-rockers' new album. UnitedOpportunity CD $15.00 Gutbucket A Modest Proposal PS, US Fourth album in a decade-long career for NYC quartet solidifies their place at the forefront of a revitalized avant-garde music scene in NYC. Their music is filled with layers of mature arrangements and a full-throttle blend of energy, chops, melody, intricacy and noise. Destroying walls between art-rock, avant-squonk, jazz-core and beyond, the group attacks their music with the ferocity usually reserved for punk, and the humorous abstraction of art-rock, despite having earned their jazz bona fides. Cuneiform CD $14.25 Harpoon Double Gnarly/Triple Suicide PS, US Drum machine project from Dean Costello & Toney Vast-Binder. Contains songs from their '07 demo along with three new tracks. A mix of grind & punk with drum machine. A loud, confrontational, aggressive record with lots of screaming. Shield the children's ears. Interloper CD $9.00 Harpoon Double Gnarly/Triple Suicide PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Interloper LP $11.50 Heartless Bastards Mountain PS, US The album weaves in an adventurous sonic evolution, expanding their 3 piece rock by adding pedal steel, madnolin, banjo, strings, & Erika's transcendent voice. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "After cutting their first two albums as a lean but muscular power trio, the Heartless Bastards have grown into a somewhat different creature on their third LP, The Mountain. Vocalist and guitarist Erika Wennerstrom is the only survivor from the group's original lineup, and after leaving behind her hometown of Cincinnati, OH for Austin, TX, she's assembled a new version of the Heartless Bastards. Along with new members Billy White on bass and Doni Schroader on drums, The Mountain features violins, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, and banjo as well as a few guest guitarists, and though this music is still rooted in Wennerstrom's full-bodied vocals and thick, no-frills guitar work, The Mountain is a more introspective and rootsy sounding album than this group has released to date. Wennerstrom has a voice that can shake apart a room when she's of a mind, but she takes a more subtle approach here, slipping in a few acoustic tunes that allow her to explore the softer side of her instrument... The Mountain is a more diverse set than the old Heartless Bastards gave us, it's still rooted in the same emotionally direct songwriting and performing that is this band's trademark, and for all that's changed with the band, Wennerstrom has held on to her core virtues -- this is fierce, heartfelt rock & roll that tells stories you can believe in and lets the music sing out with a power that's all the more compelling for being firmly rooted in the real world." FatPossum CD $15.50 Helen Love Calm Down Dad PS, SPAIN LIMITED EDITION 1000 COPIES. Orange vinyl. We're in luck - HELEN LOVE are back! Our favorite Bubblegum-disco-punk group is better than ever and they have a splendid collection of new songs that half the planet is going to go crazy over. "Calm Down Dad" is the first advance single from the flaming new album, "Stick It", that will soon be released on Elefant Records. While we're waiting for that moment to arrive, and to ease the long wait, we have this appetizer with three great songs. "Calm Down Dad" is pure energy, catchy indie-punk-pop that talks about the differences between a father and his daughter. She wants to have fun, go out at night, sleep with a boy, dress up like a vampire without being looked at strangely at home, travel the world, try new things and even sing like Kate Nash, but with a more working class accent. Like a mix between Jilted John and THE WAITRESSES, on this limited edition, orange colored vinyl single HELEN LOVE jump from punk to pop to indie, with realist, sarcastic and fun lyrics. The melodies are as sweet as candy, but an orange flavored candy that's as bittersweet as real life. The single is finished off with two fast-beat, punk-pop songs. "John Peel Roadshow" talks about how to work up enough courage to give your demo to a radio show host. HELEN LOVE, loved and supported throughout the years by John Peel, recorded a "Peel session" in 1997, which was, for them, one of the high points of the group's history, as was the summer afternoon on which John Peel, after playing "Does Your Heart Go Boom", said with a sardonic laugh, "That's HELEN LOVE... the sarcastic bastards"'. "Candeelips" closes the advance single with a sweet story about a boy with the sweetest and most desired lips in the neighborhood!!!. Elefant-267 45 $7.75 Honest Engines Don't Talk Of California PS, US "Akin to the Flaming Lips, Electric Soft Parade, and Robyn Hitchcock, one of Chicago's finest indie bands has mastered the art of modernizing classic pop song-craft with an idiosyncratic panache, and has also figured out a way make it sound as if this engaging EP was recorded in a major studio with a noted producer." -Tom Semioli Amplifier Magazine HonestEngines-001 CD $7.00 Honeychurch Early Times: 2001-2004 PS, US 'Early Times is an anthology of tracks from Honeychurch's critically acclaimed and criminally unavailable records Calling Me Home (2001) and Makes Me Feel Better (2004). Twelve remastered songs, plus two previously unreleased demos - 14 tracks of what Miles of Music called 'rapturous, romantic, blissfully transcendent, sweetly reverent, sun-drenched pop' "Imagine if The Red House Painter's Mark Kozelek added harmonies out of Mojave 3 and the Byrds....the singing, strings, and lap steel are exquisite. Like the Pernice Brothers, you suspect these guys dig Bread as much as Gram Parsons, hooked on the elegiac sweetness of old songs." -Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover All-new record will be out in 2009!' SirenElectric CD $10.25 Hospitals Hairdryer Peace PS, US After a nearly Chinese Democracy situation, the new Hospitals LP "Hairdryer Peace" is finally here. "Hairdryer" is a ripper/apology for the band's previous two albums. Scott Simmons had this to say about it: "Doesn't really matter whether you loved or hated The Hospitals before, cuz this is some year zero shit. This is the most psychedelic fucking record in a long time and there are no rainbows - no feather earrings - no beards. Mixed for maximum hallucinations, it has the stoned riffs of a killer rock record, totally cracked pop, pure headfuck, but more than anything else just an all around perfect album. It's Chief Hospital Adam Stonehouse with oringal Hospital co-founder (and now EAT SKULL member) ROD MEYER, along with ROB ENBAUM (also Eat Skull) and Chris Gunn from an island off the coast of the future. Sounds nothing like any bands or anything else.. Seriously, if a better record comes out this year, next year, whenever.... I promise. Don't be an asshole." Vinyl only, homemade covers, 500 copies. Hospitals LP $12.00 Hot Panda Volcano...Bloody Volcano PS, US Comparisons to giant luminaries such as Daniel Johnston & Talking Heads have been swirling about as the group has left behind the frozen garage jam sessions in which their musical explorations began. Here, the group creates a unique blend of Britpop, Gypsy swing, glam, & lo-fi indie. Mint CD $16.75 Howlies Trippin' With Howlies PS, US An unexpected re-interpretation of garage, doo-wop, powerpop & rock 'n' roll. OverUnder CD $11.00 Humcrush Rest At Worlds End PS, NORWAY VINYL VERSION. 500 copies only limited edition 2LP that is comprised of 7 bonus tracks not on the CD version. RuneGrammofon DLP $25.75 Humcrush Rest At Worlds End PS, US With this record, the duo continue adventurous explorations of abstract grooves & atmospheric moods. Stronen's percussion is textured, precise & surprising, while Storlokken's keyboard work is diverse & varied, using daubs of sound across a colorful sonic spectrum. Sometimes frenetic, sometimes meanderingly contemplative. RuneGrammofon CD $18.00 Humcrush Rest At Worlds End PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! RuneGrammofon DLP $28.50 Humcrush Rest At Worlds End PS, NORWAY This is the third full-length album from Norway's Humcrush (Thomas Strønen and Ståle Storløkken). Rest At Worlds End was recorded live at various European venues, although the high level of musicianship and focus on detail could easily lead you to think it would be a meticulously assembled studio recording. With this record, the duo continue adventurous explorations of abstract grooves and atmospheric moods. Thomas Strønen has studied music and composition and is a regular member of several bands, most notably Food, Maria Kannegaard Trio and Parish, the quartet led by Swedish ace pianist Bobo Stenson. As is the case for most Norwegian jazz musicians of his generation, he has played with just about everybody and has been a frequent performer on the Norwegian and European festival circuit for several years. Ståle Storløkken is a founding member of Supersilent, Elephant9, and played on Terje Rypdal records, but was first noticed with freeform trio Veslefrekk with fellow Supersilent members Arve Henriksen and Jarle Vespestad. He is probably the most versatile and adventurous electric keyboard player within the Norwegian scene at the moment. Rest At Worlds End perfectly showcases each artist's individual technical virtuosic talent -- Strønen's percussion is textured, precise and surprising, while Storløkken's keyboard work is diverse and varied, using daubs of sound across a colorful sonic spectrum. Sometimes frenetic, sometimes meanderingly contemplative, Rest At Worlds End stimulates your nerve-endings and fires neurons you never even knew existed. RuneGrammofon CD $16.25 Hunches Exit Dreams PS, US Portland's finest purveyors of cacophonous garage, delivering ragged-edged rock 'n' roll w/ such devastating hidden melody, one is left wondering how the band crammed such pop into the noise cavalcades. It's a veritable melee of vicious guitar savagery & lo-fi freak-out fugginess, the perfect follow-up to "Hobo Sunrise" - a raging riot of an album that leaves ringing ears, bloody mouths, & shot-to-shit synapses sizzling w/ amplified excess. IntheRed CD $14.25 Idle Times Get Your Feet Off The Ground PS, US Debut release from 27 year old Brian Standeford. After the quick dissolution of his previous band Tall Birds, Standeford began recording songs onto cassette in his Seattle home using a Tascam 4-track, practice amps and a toy drum kit. Loner bedroom psych at its best. Woodsist 45 $5.25 Ielasi, Giuseppe Aix PS, US Aix is the latest work from Italian artist Giuseppe Ielasi and the follow-up to 2007's August (12k, 12k1044). With Aix we see Ielasi building his layered, atmospheric music around rhythmic grids. Most of the time these are quite irregular and the pulses are not necessarily stable or clear. Where his previous work approached sound in a linear fashion Aix imposes a strong vertical development with the aforementioned grid and a production consisting of ons and offs, employing as much improvisation as Ielasi's previous work, but in a different way. Despite the self-imposed grid structure, Aix relies heavily on randomization. Not in the traditional sense of sound placement but instead of the specialization of sounds, echoes, reverbs and the stereo image. As a result, Aix has an amazing sense and clarity of space as the small fragments of sound breathe and find their own place in the mix, thanks to Ielasi's sublime skills as a mixer and engineer. Ielasi relied heavily on numerous short samples and combining them in ways that fell into his groove; some found from others' recordings and many more recorded during the past year. We hear fragments of percussive (acoustic) objects, drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, and, of course, synthetic textures. Although there is a distinct rhythmic pulse to Aix, Ielasi manages to mold it into something wonderfully languid and warm... and strangely inviting. 12K-1051 CD $12.25 Iran Dissolver PS, US Indie rock buried in fuzz & hiss - the group takes ultra catchy pop, & drags it through the detritus of lo-fi noise rock, picking up an ungodly assortment of buzz & blur & scuzz. Imagine a Pavement record on Stilbreeze. Or old Smog covering Skullflower. Narnack CD $14.50 Irisarri, Rafael Anton Hopes & Past Desires PS, US Packaged in full-color heavy stock jacket, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES WORLDWIDE. 2 tracks clocking in at 12 minutes, this is his first new material since his 2007 debut "Daydreaming." Irisarri's music is a dual perspective close-up focus on the micro textures of rustling static-filled sonic surfaces w/ the wide-open distant tree lined horizons of sunset at dusk. He recently released "Glider" as SIGHT BELOW on Ghostly International. Immune 45 $8.00 Jaina, Nick Narrow Way PS, US A full-band album featuring agressively memorable songs recorded in a unique way to capitalize on the energy of the live performance skills of Nick's band. This album was played entirely by ten musicians in the same room at the same time, all mixed live to 1/4" analog tape. If one person out of the ten missed a note or played the wrong part, the whole take had to be done over. This lack of a safety net gave the recordings a heightened sense of focus & purpose. Every instrument leaps off the tape with immediacy & humanity. Meanwhile, the lyrics of the songs deal w/the narrow path that people must take to do right in the world. There is fear all around; fear of being different, fear of being the same--& in the middle is the narrow way, a small path that is hard to stay on, but which leads to very good things. JealousButcher LP $13.25 Jam, The All Mod Cons PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!! Polydor LP $18.00 Jeremy Jay Love Everlasting PS, US 4 songs: Love Everlasting · Lite Beam · Jet Stream · Love Everlasting (Winter Version) It was winter outside and something was happening in the storybook world of Jeremy Jay's psyche. While working on his upcoming full-length Slow Dance [KLP197] (to be released in spring '09), there was an icicle-caked excitement that resulted in a snow-flurry of extra recordings. The cozy, insulated vibe of Olympia, Washington and Dub Narcotic Studio took hold and Jeremy, along with Ilya Malinksy (guitar), Nick Pahl (drums) and Derek James (bass) crafted "Love Everlasting" [KLP202] a separate 12" single. These extra songs, recorded with a fiery compulsion, were written in Jeremy's Los Angeles apartment and expanded in studio. The song "Lite Beam" took shape with a solarized hi-hat and synth bass - a real disco dance cut; "Jet Stream," has that special synth bass that propels it to a dance floor climax, and the single itself, "Love Everlasting," twinkles magnificently with a sensual glide. Jeremy Jay and his band have toured extensively across the U.S.A., Europe and Australia in support of his recent album A Place Where We Could Go [KLP187] and will be reacquainting the U.S. with their icy soundscapes after the release of this 12" single. "Part poet, part '50s teen idol and part ghost, Jeremy Jay [takes listeners to] a place where girls have fairytale looks and candied apples are served for lunch, where dreams, fantasies and movies collide, and where Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Morrissey and Alan Vega are loved equally. It's no surprise that Jay calls his hometown of Los Angeles 'the City of Angels' -- he's a true romantic and sensualist, transforming his surroundings into a glamorous, magical reality." - All Music Guide Krecords-202 12 $5.50 Kemp, Rose Unholy Majesty PS, US ROSE KEMP came to the attention of Aurora Borealis when she thrust an advance CD in our hands at a Grave Temple show in London after her telling us how much she loves DEAD RAVEN CHOIR. Upon listening to the first 60 seconds of the album it became clear that we were dealing with something quite remarkable and got on the phone. Some wrangling and legal shennanigans later, the vinyl was confirmed for an Aurora Borealis release Undoubtedly something of a curve ball for fans of Rose's work up until now, "Unholy Majesty" represents a type of coming of age, a bold step out into the landscape of musics less travelled. From the heavy, prog influenced stomp of "Dirt Glow" through to the wavering cries of the penultimate track "Milky White", this is the sound of an artist following her own ear. Some AB adherents may be aware of Rose from her work on the second ATAVIST album, so perhaps her wide musical palette is not such a surprise. That love of sheer heavy power comes through in "Unholy Majesty" time and time again, and dovetails seamlessly with the more gentle moments on offer: without darkness, there can be no light. Part of folk-rock heritage, Rose is the daughter of Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp from seminal, pioneering British band Steeleye Span. As a young teenager she sang and toured and occasionally wrote with her parents various different projects including Steeleye Span (who still gig today), and her life on the road began when she was knee-high, accompanying her parents on tour. AuroraBorealis LP $16.00 Kerretta Antient US, AUSTRALIA For those who have seen their blistering live show, Kerretta will no doubt be high on the "to see" gig agenda. Those yet to experience the propulsive, driving rock of this instrumental three-piece have a chance to see them push the envelope of tone & dynamics with their sometimes ambient & occasionally earsplittingly heavy brand of molten-core, Antient will appeal to fans of Isis, Sigur Ros & Bailterspace, but discerning listeners will know the trio peddle a uniquely atmospheric take on angular rock. The Antient 12" contains 4 new songs at a classy 28 minutes, exclusive to the 12" on tasty coloured grey & with free download codes! Midium LP $13.50 Khan of Finland S-T PS, GERMANY The I'm Single label releases the eponymous debut CD from Berlin-based Khan of Finland. Centered around the figure of mega-producer Can "Khan" Oral (aka Captain Comatose), Khan Of Finland are a trio in the traditional sense of the word who make a sound that is anything but. Using just vocals, piano and a human beat-box, they play all-acoustic electronic blues, but also switch roles and improvise. The piano becomes a percussive instrument. The beat(box) melodic. The vocal full-blooded. From the blues to a howl. The sound veering from metal-heavy riffs to dubbed-out cabaret. These 9 songs were all recorded live at a defunct gas station in Berlin-Wedding with a few additional over-dubs recorded at various other spectacular locations such as St. Clara Church in Berlin-Neukoelln. Weirdly swank, electro-tinged, and decidedly energetic odes to loving life. I'mSingle CD $15.00 Kick that Habit Peter Liecht w/ Voice Crack PS, US This 1989 film collects samples from the land-and-soundscape, underscoring in the process the oft-ignored industrial underpinning of our latter-day culture. Voice Crack, the everyday household electronics duo of Norbert Moslang & Andy Guhl, are part Licechti's vision with exploration of their musical workings . Whether clicking quietly & rhythmically or humming & shrieking at ear-splitting volume, their recycled electronics produce innovative sounds and provide an appropriate accompaniment in this cinematic search for the detritus of our culture, the lost & destroyed remains of the last century of progress. A short, tense film comprised of flashing images: footage of Voice Crack rehearsals & concerts is juxtaposed with visual shards of the fall & winter landscape of the area between Alpstein and the Bodensee. Utilizing color & black-and-white footage as well as combining the visual & the acoustic in an expression that subtly synthesizes the two, Liechti delineates a world of existence through sound & geography. All Region. DragCity DVD $14.75 Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, The Mutations EP PS, GERMANY A bridge between their first album on Planet Mu and the forthcoming second one on Ad Noiseam, the "Mutations EP" is The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble's coming of age. Profound and organic but dark and impressive, it is a perfect rendition of the ensemble's live shows and the proof that there is still something fresh to be done at the meeting point of post-rock, jazz and drones. A deeply emotional and original trip. AdNoiseam-105-2 CD $13.00 Kinks, The Picture Book [Box Set] (6 x CD) PS, UK "The first three CDs, covering the years between 1963 and 1971, are a sheer delight: a master-class in garage rock, social observation, and how to expand the language of popular music in one hard-earned lesson." -Mojo "Arguably more succinctly than any of their 60s hit-making contemporaries, The Kinks chronicles the times with a succession of stunning vignettes about everyday life." - Record Collector SanctuaryUK CD-BOX $79.75 Kottke, Leo 6 And 12 String Guitar PS, US Leo Kottke's debut came about after he sent a cassette to John Fahey's Takoma label. Not surprisingly, it recalls Fahey's work in a number of respects: the synthesis of numerous influences from blues, pop, classical, and folk styles, the weirdly titled instrumentals, even the tongue-in-cheek liner notes. Kottke's brand of virtuosity, however, is more soothing and easy on the ear than Fahey's. It's far from sappy, though, the rich and resonant picking intimating some underlying restlessness, like peaceful open fields after a storm. Establishing much of the territory Kottke was to explore throughout his career, this release was also one of his most popular, eventually selling over 500,000 copies. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Takoma TKA6503.2 CD $13.40 KTL IV PS, US Whereas previous releases were blurred washes of fog & noise polished by ambient shine, this is a more direct & demanding beast, referencing such diverse projects as: volume-era Swans, "Red Mecca" period Cabaret Voltaire, phase one Wire, Fushitsusha & This Heat. Includes a guest appearance from BORIS drummer Atsuo & is produced by JIM O'ROURKE. EditionsMego CD $18.00 Kweller, Ben Changing Horses PS, US ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "After flirting with country music throughout his solo career, Ben Kweller embraces his Texas roots with Changing Horses, an earthy record filled with pedal steel guitars and honky tonk storytelling. Kweller's southern pedigree has always made itself known -- in the twang of his acoustic guitar, in the lilt of his voice -- but Changing Horses shines a spotlight on those nuances, replacing the heartland rock & roll of his past albums with a healthy dose of Americana. This is saloon-styled songwriting, complete with flashes of close harmony and images of Greyhound stations, starry skies, and homebound highways. Kweller sounds confident throughout, playing the rustic raconteur like a twentysomething Leon Russell, but the album's secret weapon is newcomer Kitt Kitterman, whose pedal steel riffs and Dobro arpeggios lend some authenticity to Kweller's southern state of mind." ATO CD $12.25 Ladyfinger Dusk PS, US Nods & winks to the past meet a sound of the not-too-distant future, w/ one foot in the sounds of early 70's classic rock & another in the punk & hardcore scenes of the late 80's & early 90's. The dynamics of each song & across the album are more evident, from the opening 1-2 punch of "Over & Over" & the bass growl of "ADD," through the sharp riffs & aggressiveness of "Work Party," the plaintive "Plans," & into the hit-in-the-making "Let's Get Married" SaddleCreek CD $12.50 Lemonade S-T PS, US The San Francisco group's eclectic offerings are coarse with psychedelic textures and light on the easy fixes-the percussion crosses continents, the vocals are tangles of guttural exclamations, and the melodies spring from all over. The closest connections the tracks bear to modern music are to artists like Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance, and Sunburned Hand of the Man-fervent experimentalists deep below the dance charts. Live, it's an intoxicating bit of voodoo; Pasternak will later tell me that his favorite description of Lemonade's sound is 'a techno-Brazilian samba line on mushrooms.'-SF Weekly. Received a "Recommended" rating by Pitchfork. TruePanther CD $13.25 Leno Vida e Obra de Johnny McCartney [re-issue] PS, US The album has a sound that has more to do w/ bands such as Sly & The Family Stone, the Beatles (post 1967), Cream, & Steppenwolf, & features contributions from music legends MARCOS VALLE, RAUL SEIXAS, hard psych rockers A BOLHA, & members of LOS SHAKERS & RENATO E SEUS BLUE CAPS. One of the most singular records of the 1970's rock era in Brazil. LionProductions CD $15.00 Liechti, Peter Kick That Habit PS, US KICK THAT HABIT is a 1989 film by Peter Liechti, an audio-visual portrait of his native country, eastern Switzerland. The film collects samples from the land-and-soundscape, underscoring in the process the oft-ignored industrial underpinning of our latter-day culture. Also native to eastern Switzerland is Voice Crack, the everyday household electronics duo of Norbert Möslang and Andy Guhl, whose musical workings are explored as part of Liechti's vision. Whether clicking quietly and rhythmically or humming and shrieking at ear-splitting volume, their recycled electronics produce innovative sounds and provide an appropriate accompaniment in this cinematic search for the detritus of our culture, the lost and destroyed remains of the last century of progress. KICK THAT HABIT is a short, tense film comprised of flashing images: footage of Voice Crack rehearsals and concerts is juxtaposed with visual shards of the fall and winter landscape of the area between Alpstein and the Bodensee. Utilizing color and black-and-white footage as well as combining the visual and the acoustic in an expression that subtly synthesizes the two, Liechti delineates a world of existence through sound and geography. Like the world the rest of us live in, it's a world of beauty, quiet tragedy and the endless march forward. DragCity DVD $14.00 Lincoln Prelude to the Presidency [documentary] PS, US As a lawyer traveling Illinois' Eighth Judicial Circuit, Abraham Lincoln made two simultaneous journeys. He gained respect as a skilled attorney and mesmerizing speaker, but he also built a political base and refined his views on the important issues of the day, many of which he would face in the White House. His experiences from 1837 to 1860 on muddy roads, in homes of friends and in courtrooms on the circuit guided him when he became president. WILL-TV's Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency tells the story of the cases he tried and people he met during this critical period of his life. DVD features reenactments of Lincoln as you've never seen him before: defending a slaveholder trying to reclaim a slave named Jane Bryant and her children; brandishing a sword on the banks of the Mississippi River at dawn before being talked out of fighting a duel; and crossing the prairie reading a book atop his horse, Old Tom. Features interviews with experts, including Doris Kearns Goodwin, Edna Greene Medford and Orville Vernon Burton, who describe how the circuit built the skills Lincoln used as president. WILLPublicMedia DVD $24.95 Lindstrom Where You Go I Go Too PS, US NOW WITH BONUS DISC! Special edition bonus disc includes the Prins Thomas edits found on the LP version. Well known for his epic & ultra melodic disco, it might come as a surprise that this album only contains three long tracks, with the opening track being almost 29 minutes long! But when you listen to this album, you hear that it is still very much Lindstrom... just more Lindstrom-- bigger, longer, more epic & more melodic. Lindstrom says, "I realized that working within 30 minutes instead of five minutes frames forced me to think very differently to what I was used to... when working on longer tracks, there's so much more time to develop different themes & to let them evolve. SmalltownSupersound CD $14.50 Lithops Ye Viols! PS, US LTD ED OF 1000 comes packaged in matchbook flip-top style package printed on recycled paper w/ fold-out poster! On this release, LITHOPS (aka JAN ST. WERNER of MOUSE ON MARS, MICROSTORIA, VON SUDENFED) presents a selection of installation soundtracks assembled from several recent exhibitions. This can be seen as background noise for a visual utopia: a recombined industrial iconograhy of spatial adventures, futuristic collages & phantasmagoric scenes. Full of fun danceable beats w/ plunderphonic complexity, textural density & layered details. ThrillJockey CD $13.00 Lithops Ye Viols! PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! ThrillJockey LP $13.00 Loney Dear Dear John PS, US Loney Dear is the recording name for multi-instrumentalist and Swedish home-recording phenom Emil Svanängen. Recorded alone in Emil's tiny Stockholm studio apartment and in the comfort of his parents' house in Jönköping, Dear John is an album of contrasts. It will cozy up next to you through the bleakest of winters and be your shade in the blistering summer sun. It is an album that has been on Emil's mind since the inception of Loney Dear. With his first four albums, Emil has always aspired to perfection; he has always promised a masterpiece. Dear John is that record. "Despair has never sounded so sweet." -SPIN "He wraps the ups and downs of a whirlwind romance into tiny packages. You're left hungry, fully certain that 34 minutes-- let alone five-- will never be enough of this very, very good thing." --Pitchfork Polyvinyl-171 LP $12.50 Loney Dear Dear John PS, US Loney Dear is the recording name for multi-instrumentalist and Swedish home-recording phenom Emil Svanängen. Recorded alone in Emil's tiny Stockholm studio apartment and in the comfort of his parents' house in Jönköping, Dear John is an album of contrasts. It will cozy up next to you through the bleakest of winters and be your shade in the blistering summer sun. It is an album that has been on Emil's mind since the inception of Loney Dear. With his first four albums, Emil has always aspired to perfection; he has always promised a masterpiece. Dear John is that record. "Despair has never sounded so sweet." -SPIN "He wraps the ups and downs of a whirlwind romance into tiny packages. You're left hungry, fully certain that 34 minutes-- let alone five-- will never be enough of this very, very good thing." --Pitchfork Polyvinyl-171 CD $12.50 Lost Sounds Memphis is Dead PS, US Big Neck presents the 4th pressing LIMITED reissue of 1000 copies on MIXED COLOR vinyl. This was the very first foray by JAY REATARD and Alicja Trout (THE FITTS, DESTRUCTION UNIT). Their apocalyptic nightmare of digital music and garage rock are disturbing w/ their frothing rage, unrestrained beauty and wild abandonment. BigNeck LP $12.00 Lover! No More Reasons b/w All Alone PS, US Limited red vinyl repress. If you're not hip Lover! is Rich Crook, formerly of the Lost Sounds and he's been making some noise as Lover! for a couple of years now and has been getting stronger with each release. Don't wait for the next full length to "catch you by surprise" as this is here now. USGR alert. (Ugly sleeve, great record.) HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 LSD March Under Milk Wood PS, US With grace (in the rock sense), style, humor, & the perfect touch of heavy riffage, this tremendously unique recording is a classic of the new Japanese underground. A fascinating, ghostly rock album featuring TAKAHASHI IKURO's drumming - it isn't until midway through the record that the heavy riffage begins, though it is slowly buried beneath the white blizzard blanket that is the remainder of the album Important CD $13.25 M. Ward Transfiguration Of Vincent PS, US Deluxe packaging & 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl. Available on LP for the first time! Ward's 3rd album that is clearly progressive while simultaneously sounding regressive, feeling dusty w/ age, & manifesting a genius that is pure & untempered. His music defies description except to say it is coming from somewhere seeped in the early blues w/ a Neil Young overlay & the feel of country, blues, pop, & folk. JealousButcher LP $12.50 Madagascar Goodbye East, Goodbye West PS, US 2008 release from weirdo chamber-folk quartet. The sophomore album by Madagascar, a Baltimore based quartet that softly stamps out soothing circular melodies on an array of acoustic instruments that include accordion, saw, xylophone, bells and drums. Like dancing an oxycodone waltz with your grandmother to a Bell Biv Devoe 45 on slow speed while cabbage cooks away in the adjoining kitchen. Limited edition of 500 on turquoise vinyl. GaardenRecords-002 LP $13.75 Magnetic Morning A.M. PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! FriendorFaux LP $14.75 Magnetic Morning A.M. PS, US Magnetic Morning is the new band featuring Adam Franklin of Swervedriver and Sam Fogarino of Interpol. FriendorFaux CD $11.00 Maserati/Zombi Split PS, US Long in the making, this split LP finally brings together two similarly influenced and equally provocative groups: Athens, GA's Maserati - with their eternally driving, Krautrock-infused dance anthems - shares the record with Pittsburgh's favorite Italo-cinema fetishists, Zombi. Teaming up once again with longtime producer and friend Andy Baker (Brian Eno, Harvey Milk), Maserati contributes a pair of two-part epics that show the band progressing away from the sparkly-clean productions of their past in favor of a grittier, more experimental sound, occupying the unlikely space between the dark garage-pop infectiousness of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and the analog synth meditations of Harmonia. The result is Maserati's most unique and inspired material to date. On the flipside, Zombi offers a single 14-minute track that slowly and steadily amasses pile of analog synths to build a stage for an extended drum solo (imagine Goblin covering "Moby Dick" and you're almost there). With the synths providing the rhythmic foundation, the drums swirl about in a freeform ascent for over five minutes before patterns start to creep in, signaling the big payoff is imminent. Indeed, when the drums finally snap into an airtight locking groove with the thick bed of synths, the impact is downright euphoric. The song exits with a slow fade, as if to fittingly ride this high into oblivion. The marriage of these two bands couldn't be more perfect, and the inspiration they have brought each other is evident in both the creative exploration and the supreme quality of the tracks. Rather that deliver non-album toss-offs, both groups brought top-shelf a-sides, making this split an essential part of each artist's already rich catalog. TemporaryResidence-143 LP $11.50 Math Head Stab City PS, GERMANY With "Stab City", Math Head finally presents on wax a new testimony of his insolent skills at creating ever changing, massive dubstep. Never loosing the dance floor from its sight, but including a lot of innovative elements to this genre and not afraid of mixing the club appeal with wider sensibilities, he comes up here again with a highly impressive record that does justice to his extensive talent. Here comes highly efficient, fresh and hard dubstep record you have been waiting for. AdNoiseam-98 12 $11.00 Matt & Kim Grand PS, US VINYL VERSION. FaderLabel LP $17.50 Matt & Kim Grand PS, US Brooklyn-based duo Matt and Kim return with Grand, their second album and first in over two years. During the period in between records the duo has toured extensively and developed a loyal and growing fan base that eagerly awaits the release of Grand. The band spent the last nine months recording and tweaking Grand in between tour dates. The result is an album that takes the band's musicianship and songwriting to the next level and also serves as a glowing representation of how far Matt and Kim have come since their debut. From the anthemic opener 'Daylight' to the harmony-rich, atmospheric ballad 'Turn This Boat Around' and demented pop of 'I Wanna,' Grand is quite literally the sound of Matt and Kim discovering their voice. "All of the songs on the last album we wrote the first year we learned how to play our instruments," Matt acknowledged, "but this one is much more diverse and instead of thinking about the songs we thought of the album as a whole, too." FaderLabel CD $12.25 Matthew & Arrogant Sea Family Family Family Meets The Magic Christian (LP/CD) PS, US Dreamy omnichord pop filled w/ hints of folk psychedelia. This evokes the experimental natures of the Flaming Lips & Animal Collective perched upon harmonies reminiscent of the Beach Boys & The Mamas & The Papas. W/free CD insert. Junketboy LP $19.00 Mattson 2 Introducing PS, US A unique melange of hot jazz, cool jazz, & contemporary post-rockist tendencies. Features guest appearances by BARBEE on guitar & JOHN MCENTIRE (TORTOISE/SEA & CAKE). This is at times evocative of Ennio Morricone, Charles Mingus, & the Chicago Underground Duo. Galaxia CD5 $10.00 Mazes S-T PS, US While The 1900s make noises about recording the follow-up to their full-length 2007 album, Cold & Kind, front man Edward Anderson has readied a solo album for Parasol Records, under the moniker Mazes. In cahoots with fellow 1900s vocalist (and Ed's significant other) Caroline Donovan and their comrade Charles D'Autremont, Mazes is not so much departure from his hitherto verdant psych-pop meadow as a vehicle for Edward to explore further musical flora and fauna. Parasol-CD-112 CD $9.00 Medication Don't Die b/w Fog PS, US One of the best singles of last year, in fact the only reason it didn't make my year end list was that I didn't actually own a copy yet. Really, really strong loner fuzz vibes with songs to die for. One of the best HoZac releases for sure (and that's high praise.) HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Mendoza Si Me Duermo... Choco (If I Sleep, I Crash) PS, MEXICO R. Mendoza, one of the members of the Nortec Collective as Panóptica returns to the postpunk ambient soundscapes that informed his formative years in music. "Si Me Duermo... choco" is collection of slowed down techno tracks and ambient pieces that touch upon the post punk influence of 4AD bands like This Mortal Coil, Dif Juz and Xmal Deutschland. The album was mastered by Stefan Betke (Pole) and the artwork by Rubén Tamayo (Fax). StaticDiscos-029 CD $12.25 Menton, Todd Dolmen Field US , PS In true genre-crossing fashion, Menton (BOILED IN LEAD) crosses delicate mandolins & whistles w/ snarling electric guitars, all alongside his powerfully written & played folk ballads. RIYL: Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom. NewFolk CD $16.25 Merzbow 13 Japanese Birds Vol. 1 PS, US First volume of a 13-disc series of limited edition albums (1,000 copies). This 13-month series of releases was inspired by Olivier Messaien's "Catalogue D'Oiseaux." Author, activist, painter, & sound artist Masami Akita has been at the foreground of experimental music for over 25 years. Inspired by psychedelic rock, free jazz, early electronic composition, & the physical arts - especially Kurt Schwitters' "Merzbau" - Akita has created a musical language all his own. Important CD $13.25 MGR & Destructo Swarmbots Amigos de la Guitarra PS, US New collaboration between Mike Mare (DESTRUCTO SWARMBOTS) & Mike Gallagher (MGR/Isis). A single 42-minute song entitled "Amor en el Aire" recorded at Deadverse Studios w/ Alap Momin, a.k.a. Oktopus (Dalek) Neurot CD $16.00 Miller, Niela Songs Of Leaving PS, US Culled from a warped acetate cut in 1962, this is the complete songbook of NYC folkie Miller. Claim to fame: she wrote "Baby Don't Go To Town," a song that boyfriend Billy Roberts would steal and "rewrite" as "Hey Joe." Inaugural release on Numero Group's new LP-only imprint. Impeccably designed, housed in thick jackets, & pressed on durable 150g vinyl, you'll know a Numerophon album when you see it, the same way you knew Folkways after that 1st thrift store find. Numerophon LP $15.00 Mojo #184 (March 2009) [Magazine + CD] PS, UK ZINE $10.25 Morrison, Van Astral Weeks PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!! WarnerBros LP $23.00 Mothlite The Flax of Reverie PS, US Debut from the wonderfully cinematic Mothlite. The six pieces encompass elements as diverse as choral madrigals cascading with strings, the melody and dissonance of Arvo Part & Moondog and the cinematic, studio-as-instrument manipulationsof Pink Floyd, Coil, Cocteau Twins & late period Talk Talk. Southern CD $15.00 Mr. Bungle Disco Volante [vinyl re-issue] PS, US One of the most uncompromising & adventurous major label releases of the '90s featuring vocalist MIKE PATTON (x-FAITH NO MORE). Their 2nd album, originally released in 1995, is an "alternative" record only in the vaguest sense of the word. Incorporating death metal, techno, 50's space age pop & Italian avantgarde. This is probably the most important & groundbreaking release of Patton's storied career, & that's saying a lot. Think Faith No More, John Zorn, Frank Zappa, & Ennio Morricone rolled into one sick stew. Plain LP $16.75 Music Go Music Warm In The Shadows PS, US Warm in the Shadows rounds out the trio of three-song 12" singles that Music Go Music have released over the course of 2008-09. It's both a fitting end-piece to the trilogy and a remarkable expansion of the group's sonic and emotional breadth. There is a casual but undeniable magic to these songs, and it flows around and out of each note of every melody. Title song "Warm in the Shadows" is dance music, as envisioned by a group with a greater allegiance to pop archetypes than to the hymns of the dance-floor. It's a step in a different direction; an invitation to shake, coupled with a gentle evocation of the pain of wrecked love ("what kind of heart would break so easy as my own"). It's a case history and a cure for both the lovesick and the lovesick-to-be. The B-side offers up stories of exotic depravity consuming itself in ways both savage and deceptively elegant. The gypsy rhythms of "Thousand Crazy Nights" undergird a tale of dog piled revelers instructed to "feel with your face, let eyes be your hands" whilst "trapped in desire's aggro dance.""Love,Violent Love" is a psychedelic voyage through a land of raving mobs who "spiral past control" once their love is at last requited. This collection of songs is further proof of the power of the transformative embrace in which Music Go Music holds what is dear to them, and the singular vision that they impart to it. SecretlyCanadian-176 12 $9.00 Music Lovers, The Masculine Feminine PS, US 'Masculine Feminine' is the third long-playing record from acclaimed San Francisco-based pop-sophisticates The Music Lovers and the pinnacle of their artistic endeavors. The Music Lovers are led by transplanted Englishman songwriter Matthew Edwards. Edwards refers to 'Masculine Feminine' as his own personal 'Day of the Locust', a travelogue through the underbelly of the almost-famous doyens of LA and San Francisco. Like a toxic Graham Greene on a tear, Edwards speaks of motels, love-affairs, addictions, vamps and ingénues, pausing on occasion to look back on a half remembered England and wonder what went wrong (or right)? These are desperate songs born of need and frustration, but never dreary, never self-pitying. Rather, they show a formidable spirit of abandon - an abandon to the pop aesthetic; saddling the darkest sensibilities and wickedest proclivities to the sweetest pop-song frame-works. The music? The girl-group sound on a dreary Tuesday morning in 1976... quietly exultant on a radio in Birmingham. Serge and Stax and The Go-Betweens and Dusty and Lerner and Lowe, dammit! If David Goodis had written lyrics for Carole King they might have sounded a little like this record. Yes, they are all 'love songs' but not only to people, but places, states of mind and to divine release. 'Masculine Feminine' is battered, inebriate, sensual and defiantly and unfashionably romantic! Praise for The Music Lovers: "Gin-spritzed string arrangements and cocktail-bar melancholy, [that comes] off like a Rat Pack version of Lloyd Cole." - WORD "Hints of '60s AM-radio fodder regularly poke through the creamy, dreamy layers of piano, acoustic guitar, concertina, strings and mellotron, and the results are seductive." - MAGNET "The Music Lovers sound is lush and voluptuous, making me think of clouds and rain, strings and guitars, both orchestral and earthy, akin to the sublime pleasure of holding your head in my lap, oh my beautiful one." - comedian MARGARET CHO LeGrandMagistery-046 CD $12.25 MV & EE with Bummer Road Drone Trailer PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! DiCristinaStair LP $15.25 MV & EE with Bummer Road Drone Trailer PS, US MV & EE With the Golden Road and their Drone Trailer album. In fact still orbiting the earth in Vermont is Matt 'MV' Valentine, once the brawn of the Tower recordings, and Erika 'EE' Elder, the CEO of Heroine Celestial Agriculture. The MV & EE Medicine Show, together with their dog Zuma, they run the child of Microtones Terran library of exploratory music and sing songs with fellow Avatars. 'The Golden Road' is sometimes their own lunar Blues, sometimes fingerstyle noise/space, sometimes lonesome frontier volk...always environments. You will find many are one and they like to jam together within many guitar dimensions/amp realms... respectfully and yours hanging loose. DiCristinaStair CD $14.25 My Cat Is an Alien & Mats Gustafsson Cosmic Debris, Vol. 4 PS, US Experimental powers united! ASilentPlace CD $16.25 Naked Raygun All Rise PS, US The 1985 Chicago punk classic. NAKED RAYGUN's 2nd album... RE-MASTERED and sounding better than ever back on wax. Includes bonus remastered versions of their 1987 smash 7"'Vanilla Blue'. 12x18 2 sided color poster full of unreleased photos, lyrics and more. Another one of the greatest punk albums of all time here. Essential!! HauntedTown LP $14.50 Nana April Jun Ontology of Noise PS, US This debut from CHRISTOFER LAMGREN researches the dark associations of post-black metal. No traditional instruments are used on the album & all techniques are digital in their application. This explores the filmic qualities of noise - the image-creating mechanisms that arise almost hallucinogenically from subtle variations of frequencies. Fans of Burzum's "Filosofem" take note. Touch CD $16.25 Nanda Devi Fifth Season PS, US Members of ALTER OF EARTH & HELLAS MOUNDS. Drawing influences from Neurosis, Khanate & Red Sparowes, this is one hell of an evil record. Cavity CD $10.75 Newman, A.C. Get Guilty PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Matador LP $14.75 Newman, A.C. Get Guilty PS, US The second solo album from A.C. Newman, leader and songwriter behind The New Pornographers, finds the pop songsmith in decidedly more upbeat and guitar heavy form than on the last NP's album. "Get Guilty" is a set of layered pop songs of great melodic and lyrical depth. "A.C. Newman deserves every last bit of praise thrown his way. In a better world, he would be our Elton, our Todd, our McCartney" - All Music Guide. Matador CD $13.25 Nice Face Exterminator b/w F.U.B.A.R. Over You PS, US In a lot of ways the world can be boiled down into two sorts of people. Those who are gonna be revolted by the cover of this single and those who will be like "Oh, cool the new Nice Face single!" Once you get past the cover the 2nd Nice Face single might be even better than the first one (on Sacred Bones). HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Nichols, Ben The Last Pale Light In The West PS, US The debut mini album by Lucero frontman Ben Nichols was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's novel, "Blood Meridien". Recorded with Rick Steff (Cat Power, Lucero) and Todd Beane (Glossary). Features Nichols' signature gravelly voice accompanied by his acoustic guitar, complimented by Steff's piano and accordion, and Beane's subtle pedal steel guitar. RIYL: Tom Waits, "Nebraska"-era Bruce Springsteen. Rebel CD $9.00 Nickel Eye Time Of The Assassins PS, US Solo project of STROKES bassist Nikolai Fraiture. Guest appearances by Nick Zinner (YEAH YEAH YEAHS) & REGINA SPEKTOR. Musically influenced by artists such as Neil Young, Frank Black, Leonard Cohen & The Kinks. Rykodisc CD $12.00 Nixe, The S-T PS, US Long overdue compilation of pretty much all of the 1980-81 recordings by the first all girl Dutch Punk band. I love records and I love collecting records, but I don't have the time or money for all of the records that I want so when someone does a right on comp like this I get pretty excited. This is a really great treat. Don't pass it up. PollyMaggooRecords LP $18.00 Nobunny Give It To Me b/w Motorhead With Me PS, US Hot on the heels of the re-issue of the essential "Love Visions" full length comes two more one man wonder punk rock dream tunes. Equal amounts of fun, dumb and essential. HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Nomad Cats and Babies PS, JAPAN Nomad (Cavemen Speak, Gunporn) finally comes back with his 2nd album called "Cats and Babies" . His debut album called "Lemon Tea" (2006) was critically acclaimed as "bedroom hip hop folk". He was doing between rapping and singing so he was described as "rapper songwriter". With this album, he's become a singer songwriter. He did all by himself in his small bedroom, like songwriting, recording and playing all the instruments (guitar, piano, drums, glockenspiel etc. ) as well as the artwork. Beautiful melodies and fragile fairy voice and witty but intelligent lyrics. You will never forget his voice when once you listen. His music has magic. Hue-1042 CD $17.00 Nous Non Plus Menagerie PS, US The band dabbles in their 60's French pop influences but also explore a new sonic landscape mixing Moog synthesizers w/ string sections, horns w/ distorted guitars. Imagine Gainsbourg & Bardot as indie rockers in 2009 Aeronaut CD $13.50 NOVA NOVA: Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives PS, US Follow EELS front man Mark Oliver Everett on his quest to comprehend the theory of parallel universes while unraveling the remarkable life story of his iconoclastic father Hugh - creator of the radical quantum physics theory - in this installment of the popular PBS series, Nova. Dubbed "one of the most important scientists of the 20th Century" by Scientific America, Hugh Everett III proposed the controversial Many Worlds Theory back in 1957. The basis of that theory is the idea that parallel universes are constantly spinning off from reality as we know it. Though generally ignored at the time, that theory has gone on to become not just a popular topic of study among respected physicists, but the inspiration for such popular films, television shows, and books as Star Trek and The Golden Compass. As a young boy growing up, Mark never understood why his father was so distant. It wasn't that Hugh didn't care about his family, just that his brain was constantly swirling with ideas and concepts, and that anything that pulled him out of his own thoughts was considered something of a distraction. Now the last surviving member of his troubled family, Mark interviews his father's old college friends, colleagues, and admirers - including MIT physicist Max Tegmark - in an emotional journey to not only better understand the man he barely knew in life, but also gain a greater understanding of the ideas that still inspire physicists to this very day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide WGBHBoston DVD $42.00 Novi_Sad Jailbirds PS, US Limited to 500 copies and housed in our plastic-free gatefold sleeves with spine. art design by cs08. Novi_sad's work came to our attention via our good friend Susanna Bolle (Non-Event and Rare Frequency) in Boston. A superbly keen ear, Bolle felt that his work and our label should connect. Though Nov-Sad's has only a few years of practice behind him, the quality and maturity of all of his efforts is striking. The proposed Jailbirds material for Sedimental was totally complete and not only of the highest quality but also of a truly unique vision. What is significant in his work is the multiplicity of its action on the listener. It is a density of sound, acting in three-dimensions, not as auditory "sound effect" but as music with depth both physically and in functionality. Its intensity and purposefulness based in specific conceptual foundations and enhanced by a mastery (and transcendence) of technical means collapses amplified environmental recordings, drone manipulations, structured ambient soundscapes, microtones and overtones into unified whole. Sedimental is truly excited to be an early anchor of this young composer and sound artist's serious oeuvre. Novi_sad (Thanasis Kaproulias, b. 1980) is a graduate student from the Economic University of Piraues. He lives and works in Athens, Greece where he began generating sounds in 2005. His debut album Misguided heart pulses, a hammer, she and the clock received worldwide critical acclaim. Recently, Novi_sad did a recording session at the prestigious VPRO studios in Amsterdam, for the Dutch National Radio which will be released by Staalplaat [NL] in the Mort Aux Vaches series. A recent piece called Dramazon is available on TouchRadio from the publishing house Touch [U.K]. He is currently working on a project based on various methods of audio analysis called Sirens in which he explores the aesthetics of information on sound by using quantitative data from major stock market crashes in history. Sedimental-053 CD $12.25 Null, KK Oxygen Flash PS, US After playing the guitar as his main instrument for some twenty years, he has gradually moved toward a more electronic approach. In recent years, he has concentrated on exploring the outer territories of electronica via intense, clashing waves of noise, structured electro-acoustic ambience, broken-down rhythmics, scattered pitch sculptures, & droning isolationist material which one could loosely describe as cosmic noise maximal/minimalism. Neurot CD $16.00 Odd Nosdam T.I.M.E. Soundtrack PS, US VINYL VERSION. Anticon LP $15.75 Odd Nosdam T.I.M.E. Soundtrack PS, US Created for the Element Skateboards film "This Is My Element," this is the first of its kind: an original, artist-composed score crafted to the beat of polyurethane pounding pavement. The veteran producer & beatsmith tailors each song to fit the style & cadence of the Element rider it accompanies. On its own, quite simply, this album is a banger. Anticon CD $15.25 Of Montreal Jon Brion Remix EP PS, US Grammy-nominated producer Jon Brion has worked with Spoon, Kanye West, Elliott Smith, and Fiona Apple, as well as scored the films Magnolia, Synechdoche NY, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. An Elurdian Instance is Brion's most recent masterpiece and finds him reinterpreting two cuts from of Montreal's most recent album Skeletal Lamping. These are by no means remixes, as Brion literally reinterprets the songs by taking the basic tracks and adding more instrumentation and backing vocals, including the work of Nickel Creek vocalist and mandolin-player Chris Thile. Polyvinyl-172 CD $6.75 Of Montreal Jon Brion Remix EP PS, US Grammy-nominated producer Jon Brion has worked with Spoon, Kanye West, Elliott Smith, and Fiona Apple, as well as scored the films Magnolia, Synechdoche NY, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. An Elurdian Instance is Brion's most recent masterpiece and finds him reinterpreting two cuts from of Montreal's most recent album Skeletal Lamping. These are by no means remixes, as Brion literally reinterprets the songs by taking the basic tracks and adding more instrumentation and backing vocals, including the work of Nickel Creek vocalist and mandolin-player Chris Thile. Polyvinyl-172 LP $10.00 Olson, Mark & Gary Louris Ready for the Flood PS, US New collaboration from Jayhawks duo! Although they've toured together and renewed their friendship, this is the first recording by Olson and Louris since Olson left the Jayhawks in 1995. What would become READY FOR THE FLOOD was recorded at Sage & Sound Studios in Hollywood with friend Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. Louris had called in Robinson, who happened to be in town at that point, for vibe support and he ended up producing the album; he also appears on the album playing harmonica and contributing backing vocals. READY FOR THE FLOOD captures the stripped down, fingerpicked guitar playing and Laurel Canyon sound of an earlier time, with allusions to English folk Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, John Renbourne, whom both Mark and Gary had both been getting into independently and a simpler, live recording technique where capturing the right vibe was as important as the sound. It s an album that only two career musicians and friends could make organic, intuitive and loosely confident, heartfelt and moving, echoing with the combined experience of two kindred spirits reuniting to do what they do and love best. NewWest CD $17.75 O'Malley, Stephen Keep an Eye Out! PS, US Table of the Elements continues to celebrate its 15th anniversary with the tenth installment in its Guitar Series Vols. 3 & 4. It's a 12xLP romp of deviant fretnoise by some of experimental music's most prominent players, including Christian Fennesz, Thurston Moore, and Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley. Sunn O))) founder Stephen O'Malley summons a mesmerizing drone, absorbing the listener into an aural tar pit of deep, inexorable oblivion. He wears a cloak of post-metal allegiances with behemoths like Earth, but beneath that, there is a vibrant body of work that owes as much to the heady minimalism of Tony Conrad and Steve Reich. Constantly pushing at the extremes of volume and duration, O'Malley's sound is a physical phenomenon, infused with an intimidating power - and possessing, at its core, an oddly meditative tranquility. "The supremacy of Table of the Elements for the past decade as an unwavering outpost of ultra-experimental strains can be attributed to its concomitant adherence to valiance. Most of the Table of the Elements catalogue has no broad commercial appeal, and many of its projects - scores for films directed by early-60s Conrad associate Jack Smith or a 3xCD box set by an unknown two-guitars-and-drums trio from Atlanta - are risky ventures, even with respect to the experimental marketplace. Yet, this philosophy of risk works because everyone associated with the label feels like they're doing important work releasing important records, and they're willing to go for broke to make it happen." -PITCHFORK "Table of the Elements [are] fearless purveyors of the wildest stuff around." -KYLE GANN (NEW YORK TIMES) TableOfTheElements-101 LP $14.25 One Up Downstairs, The The One Up Downstairs PS, US The One Up Downstairs is members of American Football, Owen, and Very Secretary. For years The One Up Downstairs was discussed on message boards and became the frequent recipient of questions sent to the Polyvinyl info e-mail account: were they actually a band, did they sound like American Football, did they ever record? The answers to all of these questions are a resounding "yes." In an effort to make the songs available to fans Polyvinyl released the band's only recorded output a few years ago, which led to another question: would the songs ever see a proper release as a 7"? Long sought after, these songs are now available as a 7" that includes a digital download code for the entire release. Polyvinyl-112 45 $4.00 O'Rourke, Jim & Loren Connors Two Nice Catholic Boys PS, US These two nice Catholic boys, Loren Connors and Jim O'Rourke, met at the crossroads each night during a 1997 European tour. By this time O'Rourke had reissued Connors' seminal heartbreak album In Pittsburgh on his Dexter's Cigar label and was preparing to produce the guitarist's big-band mash-up Hoffman Estates with Alan Licht. Together, Connors-O'Rourke unravel slow motion Venusian style blues across three extended pieces to thundering, feedback splattered grooves. The spontaneous melodies shift from devastating, country road intimacy to hypnotic over-amped rock. It's ferocious, epic, and an utter beauty capable only from two who know themselves and each other all too well. This live CD is only the second duo release by these musical partners despite performing together since the mid-90s. During the past decade, O'Rourke has repeatedly returned to hours of recordings captured across Europe to select these 47 minutes. FamilyVineyard-59 CD $11.50 Owen (The EP) PS, US Owen is Mike Kinsella (American Football, Joan of Arc, Cap'n Jazz). Previously only available as a CDEP and import-only 12", (the ep) is the usual blend of beautiful acoustic work and wry lyrics that fans have come to expect from Owen. What separates (the ep) from previous Owen titles is the subtle yet intricate inclusion of Cale Parks (Aloha) on drumming and vibraphones along with Jen Tabor on strings and the pedal steel work of Bob Hoffnar (Nora Jones, Ryan Adams). (the ep) continues Polyvinyl's efforts to release Owen's back catalog on high quality 180-gram vinyl. Digital download codes of (the ep) are included in all vinyl. Includes bonus track. Polyvinyl-70 12 $10.25 Owen/Joan of Arc/Make Believe/The Love Of Everything The Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers (2X7) PS, US Repress. The Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers signifies the collaborative efforts of a group of Chicago musicians whose involvement with one another has spawned a host of influential bands, each connected to the other. Includes new songs from • Joan of arc, owen, make Believe, and the love of Everything as well as one surprise bonus track. Second pressing, on colored vinyl (purple and green) for the first time ever. • Double 7" with gatefold cover. • Includes digital download of all the songs. Polyvinyl-090 45 $7.25 Owl Service A Garland of Song PS, US THE OWL SERVICE was formed by STEVEN COLLIN in 2006 as a vehicle to explore his love of British films and television of the 1960s and '70s, the great outdoors and the sound of the English folk revival. A Garland of Song was recorded and mixed almost entirely at home, with a group of like-minded collaborators, between December 2006 and June 2007; it fuses traditional British folk ballads with elements of psychedelic rock, occasionally bordering on a doom-laden garage sound, and is interspersed with Steven's original instrumental compositions. It recalls the great acid-folk bands of the late '60s/early '70s but never once sounds contrived or overtly retro. Southern CD $14.50 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart S-T PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Slumberland LP $11.00 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart S-T PS, US Since forming in early 2007, THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART have become one of the most talked-about pop bands in years. Their distinctive style tidily distills all the great noise-pop precedents-early My Bloody Valentine, House of Love, Pale Saints, Rocketship-with incredible exuberance and energy in every song. Following the band's ace Everything With You single and whirlwind Swedish tour, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart is an instant classic, packed with brilliantly executed pop gems that blend the rush of youthful enthusiasm with crafty arrangements, well-honed tunes and buckets of guitar racket. One instantly identifiable thing about a Pains record is the essential "rightness" of their tunes. They have captured the attention of pop fans around the world and raised anticipation levels for this album to a near-fever pitch. Touted by Pitchfork as one of the top 5 to watch in 2009. Slumberland CD $12.00 Paisley, Doug S-T PS, US An album of folk songs that represent the American malaise. Sure, PAISLEY is Canadian (Toronto, to be exact) but so was Neil Young & 4/5 of The Band, & that didn't stop them from tapping into the collective psyche of the continent. Recalls an era fo songwriting that was more simple, more honest, more modest. A time before ipods & myspace, when making a good album was simply enough. Doug has toured recently w/ Bonnie "Prince" Billy under the pseudo name Dark Hand & Lamplight, a collaboration between himself & visual artist Shary Boyle. Shary creates live drawings & animates pre-drawn images on an overhead projector - all projected on a screen, on the wall, Doug, & other available surfaces. On NO QUARTER Recs (home of Endless Boogie, Laddio Bolocko, etc). CD comes in deluxe old-style tip-on gatefold sleeve. NoQuarter CD $13.00 Parenthetical Girls Safe As Houses [re-issue] PS, US "THERE'S BLOOD BETWEEN MY LEGS, AND IN THE GRASS OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE I CAME." With this goose-pimplingly visceral couplet begins the fragile journey of Safe As Houses, the second album from experimental Northwestward pop band Parenthetical Girls. Though some two years past between the initial release of the (((GRRRLS))) LP (Parenthetical Girls' debut album, recently reissued on Slender Means Society), Safe As Houses' narrative begins precisely where that album left off-on the same sweat-and-menstrual-blood-soaked summer lawn that so tenderly concluded their debut-but this time from a harrowingly different perspective. "Love Connection, pt. 2" cements the somber, ostensibly sinister narrative tone that shrouds much of Safe As Houses, while simultaneously establishing the tremendous sonic leap the band undertook in their two years of relative quiet. From there, the record leaps into an altogether different sort of narrative-one anchored in the surprising confidence of words-singer Zac Pennington's plainspoken and startlingly corporeal apparitions. Unsettling and beautiful in equal measure, Pennington's a-linear narrative weaves the surprisingly evocative mythology that cradles the record's kitchen-sink experimentation. Recorded with the band's previous three-piece configuration (an ensemble made up of Pennington and Dead Science members Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff-a regular contributor to Xiu Xiu and Casiotone For the Painfully Alone, who also served as producer for the record), Safe As Houses embraces the group's shrewd attention to the awkward confluence of experimental and pop musics-creating a record that is at once more difficult and more intrinsically palatable (not to mention significantly darker) than anything so far bearing the Parenthetical Girls name. Which is to say, it's much better. Tomlab-116 CD $12.25 Parenthetical Girls (((GRRRLS))) [re-issue] PS, US The cumbersome history of the (((GRRRLS))) LP begins sometime in 2002, when two childhood friends began a home recording project in a failed milltown of Everett, Washington. Compiling an innocent assortment of equipment (bass synthesizer, ill-tuned guitar, analog tape delay, and glockenspiel), Pennington and thencollaborator Jeremy Cooper embarked on a course to emulate the spirit of their mutual musical interests, which at the time primarily included the likes of Brian Eno, Pete Kember, Phil Spector, and the early Rough Trade catalog. Over the following year, the clunky results were compiled onto a low bias cassette tape (split into a strained eight tracks) and labeled "Parenthetical Girls". This cassette was mixed down to a single copy, the original tape promptly lost. A year or so later--with the help of considerably more capable hands (namely the Dead Science's Jherek Bischoff and Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart- Pennington set about digitally (and heavily) retrofitting the original recordings into seven proper compositions. To further complicate matters, Pennington commissioned Bischoff and Stewart to complete two radically different sets of mixes for the songs-which have since become respectively known as the "O" and "X" versions of the record. But now it's four years on. In that time, Parenthetical Girls have released two more critically-acclaimed full lengths (2006's Safe As Houses [Slender Means Society] and this year's Entanglements [Tomlab]), toured the US and Europe with the likes of Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Los Campesinos!, Evangelicals, and Casiotone For the Painfully Alone (whose album Etiquette, incidentally, features a rather lovely cover of (((GRRRLS)))' closing track "Love Connection"). We are pleased to finally present (((GRRRLS))) with the wide distribution that it deserves for the first time. In an attempt to maintain the distinct duality of the LP release, the CD version of (((GRRRLS))) features both editions of the album-but in two different, enhanced CD formats: version "O" (as mixed by Jherek Bischoff) plays on any standard CD player like your average CD should, while the "X" version (as mixed by Jamie Stewart), takes advantage of the near ubiquity of the iPod revolution by offering its tracks as super high quality MP3s, accessible via any computer. (Confused? Me too. Just put it in your computer-you'll figure it out). Additionally, the enhanced materials feature "Inspirational Shortpants (avec paroles)," a track not available on the original vinyl release. Tomlab-115 CD $12.25 Pattern Is Movement All Together PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Hometapes LP $14.00 Pegasuses-XL Electro Agitators PS, US Featuring members of DISBAND, WE VERSUS THE SHARK, DARK MEAT, CINEMECHANICA & BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. This compilation of the group's first 3 self-released EPs is a synth fueled punk rock experiment w/ nods to 90's hip hop & Kraftwerk. Since the initial release of the EPs, the band has toured the US w/ Girl Talk & Pattern Is Movement. Ernest Jenning CD $10.00 Peyton, Caroline Intuition PS, US Issued in 1977, the 10-song album has been expanded to 17, including 2 studio outtakes and 5 demos recorded for Arista. Booklet feat. a dozen candid photos from the period & Edd Hurt's account of Caroline's final days as an outsider folk goddess. "A middle road between Buffy Sainte-Marie's electro-augmented "Illuminations" & Nick Drake's "Pink Moon." - Pitchfork Asterisk CD $15.75 Peyton, Caroline Mock Up PS, US Issued in 1972, this 10-song album has been expanded to 14, including 3 vocal cuts on the SCREAMING GYPSY BANDITS "In The Eye" LP. Dug up in the process was a live performance at Hummingbird Cafe in 1972 captured on film, added as enhanced content on this CD. Liners document the making of "Mock Up" & the Bloomington, IN scene of the 1970s, and feat. scores of unpublished photos Asterisk CD $15.75 Phantom Band Checkmate Savage PS, UK This is where Beefheart meets Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, where Neu! meets nick Cave. The end result however is truly special, bringing to mind the beat savvy of The Beta Band, the other-worldliness of Super Furry Animals & the mood of Hallowed Ground-era Violent Femmes. ChemikalUnderground CD $14.25 Phosphorescent To Willie PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! DeadOceans-013 LP $12.25 Phosphorescent To Willie PS, US In 1975 Willie Nelson recorded the album To Lefty FromWillie, 10 songs in which Nelson pays homage to Lefty Frizell, reinterpreting his favorites from the Frizzell catalog and stamping them with his own unique voice, reshaping them into his own new classics. Now Phosphorescent has done the same for Willie Nelson by bringing us To Willie. Here, Matthew Houck has selected 11 of his favorite Willie Nelson songs and does much more than just simply cover them. He has not selected the greatest hits, but rather digs deep, offering renditions of hidden Nelson gems and lost classics. The songs collected here seem cracked from Phosphorescent's proprietary mold with Matthew Houck's unmistakable voice leading the way. They feel lived in, they feel weathered and they feel just like Phosphorescent. Phosphorescent's 2007 breakthrough album Pride sounded best at the latest of hours-it was narcotic, dreamy and fraught. Following the release of this insomniac masterpiece, Houck toured relentlessly with a solid rock band, turning the meditations of Pride into another beast entirely. Loose and booze-fueled, Phosphorescent put on electrifying performances night after night in which Houck stepped out as confident frontman and band leader. Without question, those hard-living months on the road greatly impacted the To Willie sessions. Houck's swagger and confidence shines through like never before-on songs like "Reasons to Quit" and "I Gotta Get Drunk" Phosphorescent rumbles with a soulful groove that was a fixture of the live show, but was never touched upon in previous recordings. Recalling the finest moments of the late-'70s work of Waylon Jennings and Nelson himself, Phosphorescent has delivered a glorious hangover of an album. It is so much more than a collection of Willie Nelson cover songs-it is a full-blown new classic. But this is not a musical reinvention of the band - Phosphorescent returns with all acknowledged charms in tow; the gentle duet of "It's Not Supposed to be ThatWay," the hauntingly beautiful choir of "Can I Sleep In Your Arms," and the spacious, synth-heavy "Permanently Lonely" all work to pull this album together as a cohesive statement. As the liner notes of Nelson's To Lefty FromWillie simply state: "This album is an unabashed musical love letter. From one towering talent to another."We couldn't have said it better ourselves. DeadOceans-013 CD $11.50 Photobooth Da Me Tus Besos b/w You & 3 In the Morning PS, US New Bay area band w/ members of the FM Knives and Mothball. 3 catchy songs. Daggerman 45 $5.50 Pink Reason/Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones Split PS, US Another couple of months and it's time for another great Pink Reason record. This time he goes at it with fellow Wisconsin-ites Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones and they cover each other's songs. Maybe it's the fact that HBJOs have backed up Mr. Pink Reason on many occasions or maybe it is the times they shared in a midwest more isolated than most of us imagine or maybe it is just that both bands are really great. No matter the reason what you get is a great record. FloridasDyingRecords 12 $12.00 Point Juncture, WA Heart To Elk PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Mt.Fuji LP $16.75 Point Juncture, WA Heart To Elk PS, US The group keep their focus towards modern classics like Yo La Tengo's "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One" & the Jogges "Solid Guild" while creating something that sounds fresh & entirely exciting. Mt.Fuji CD $12.75 Pollard, Robert Crawling Distance PS, US From the stately Krautrock chug of the album opener, "Faking My Harlequin," to the schizo-frenetic closing track, "Too Much Fun," w/ its structural U-turns piled on top of tempo shifts, this is unlike any Pollard release yet. GBV CD $15.25 Pollard, Robert Crawling Distance PS, US VINYL VERSION. GBV LP $15.25 Primus Saling the Seas of Cheese PS, US 180gm vinyl LP! Another alternative classic originally released in 1991, available on vinyl for the 1st time since its initial release. The 3rd album from LES CLAYPOOL & co., & 1st for a major label, is a twisted mix of prog rock, funk & punk, w/ a taste for Frank Zappa's humor & Captain Beefheart's guttural growl. One of few bands to have the bass as the prominent instrument, w/ Claypool alternating from funky slaps to throbbing power chords to heavy, heavy solos, the guitar providing almost dissonant texturing beneath the bass' shredding. Feat. the MTV hit "Jerry Was A Race Car Driver," this is an alternative classic that stands up next to the best work of folks like Jane's Addiction & Nirvana. Plain LP $16.75 Psychic Ills Mirror Eye PS, US "Psychic Ills have that dance band by accident thing going for them in a big way. Everything about them is bewitching, really, evacuating, an unlikely future-primitive grind." - Village Voice "This NYC quartet set their stall somewhere between oceanic guitar abstraction and the brittle crunch of psychedelic guitar rock, feeding their extended chugging jams through a thick fog of fuzz." - The Wire Mirror Eye, the second full-length album from Psychic Ills, is an altogether heady affair and as its title suggests, a perspective reflection. Through the course of eight tracks, Elizabeth Hart, Jimy SeiTang, Brian Tamborello and Tres Warren journey through a unique amalgamation of electronic explorations, improvised jamming and various sonic experiments that yield a record at once familiar and otherworldly - and unlike anything happening right now. Sprawling opener "Mantis" sets the record's tone with modulating synths and hand drums that give way to a loose groove, terrestrial guitar patterns and shamanic vocals. If you are still around when it rolls into its ending nearly 11 minutes later, its safe to say that you're on board. Following that, the open-ended trance rock of the second track, 'Meta' fades up as if the band has already been jamming on it long before the listener has been let in. It departs in a similar fashion, save for a brief reprise of reversed tape and whatever remnants of the chorus' "Meta, Meta, Meta" are hanging around in the listener's head like a contact high. "Sub Synth" is an off-the-cuff synthesizer splice that descends into the improvised space raga of "Eyes Closed." I Take You As My Wife Again" continues deeper into the abstract with metallic synths and improvised electronics transitioning into organic percussion and whistles before ultimately arriving at its minimal techno inspired ending. Fingernail Tea" is the most straight forward song and vaguely harkens back to elements of their previous full-length, Dins. The hallucinatory next track, "The Way Of" is the album's last burst of energy, forming out of spinning synths and clatter, and riding an eastern bass line and watery guitar riff before unravelling under percussion and goat scream mania. final track "Go to the radio" is a come down of sorts combining two main processed loops, an electronic tambura with a circular dubbed-out field recording of a man's voice repeating the song's name and message, and perhaps the album's for that matter. Mirror Eye is the imaginative culmination of a period of exploration for Psychic Ills. A transcendent combination of musics that symbolizes how far the band has and continues to evolve beyond genre - and a fun listen too. This release will be followed by a mini-lp in the winter of other unheard material from this period. TheSocialRegistry-066 CD $11.50 Psychic Ills Mirror Eye PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! TheSocialRegistry-066 LP $12.25 Quatre Tete Art of the State PS, US Synapse-melting timing & memory challenging arrangements that never overwhelm the pure joy of a rock band firing on all cylinders. Recorded and mixed by Bob Weston at Electrical Audio, cover artwork by Jay Ryan. Sickroom CD $13.00 Rabid Rabbit S-T PS, US Vinyl with free download code! What began as a two piece instrument of terror between Mike Tsoulos & Andrea Jablonski quickly grew & the buzz saw guitar antics of Gregg Prickett were enlisted. Arman Mabry joined the ranks shortly after on second bass & Rabid Rabbit was spawned. Giving nods to such influences as Sea of Tombs, Earth, Jucifer & Harvey Milk, the band weaves arrangements of doom, rock, jazz & always the heavy low end groan of dual bass. Interloper LP $12.50 Ratatat Mirando PS, US Brand new single from last summer's still hot "LP3" LP/CD that features a Yacht remix as well as a remix by Animal Collective. XL 12 $6.25 Record Collector #359 (February 2009) PS, UK ZINE $10.25 Red Light Driver And Now We Can Be Ourselves PS, US This atmospheric blend of pop jumps between '70s post-punk (Joy DIvision, Wire), '80s alternative (The Church, Echo & the Bunnymen), & '90s Britpop (Stone Roses, Ride). MFT CD $13.75 Rodriguez-Lopez, Omar Old Money PS, US New album from that Mars Volta guy, who's getting almost Pollard-esque in his release schedule, pretty prolific! StonesThrow CD $15.25 Romance of Young Tigers Marie PS, US The group guide us through an all-consuming, inherently powerful two-part symphony of glacial-paced chord shifts, electromagnetic static, rumbling surface reverberations & resonating warmth. At times, the sound generated resembles that of an angelic choir, as the apparitional, slow-motion melodic drones thaw, melting layer upon layer of sound into pindrop silence & back again into monolithic walls of noise. Fans of Machinebabriek take note. MagicBullet CD $14.50 Romweber, Dex Duo Ruins of Berlin PS, US This promises to be the greatest of Dex's post-FLAT DUO JETS releases thus far, and an exemplary addition to his long and storied career. Here, Dex is joined by his sister Sarah (formerly of LET'S ACTIVE and SNATCHES OF PINK) in a true return-to-form from the man who paved the way for mega-popular two-piece garage engines like Black Keys and the White Stripes. Also included here are duets with such luminaries as CAT POWER, NEKO CASE, and EXENE CERVENKA. Bloodshot CD $12.75 Rose, Ethan Oaks PS, US Drawing from his interests in musique concrete, chance operations, & American minimalism, he creates shifting sound experiments that merge the old w/ the new. Much of his recent work has centered on instruments from eras long past, including music boxes, player pianos, carillons, & theater organs. However, he is interested in pulling new sounds & ideas out of these antiquated devices rather than treating them w/ a sense of preservation. Holocene CD $15.75 Roses Kings Castles S-T PS, US Adam Ficek's (BABYSHAMBLES) new album of quixotic, chiming, & blissfully astute acoustic pop songs. Lost somewhere between Belle & Sebastian's pastoral warmth & the hallucinatory six-string invocations of Syd Barrett, a typical track is buoyed by the finest elements of classic British songwriting - by turns wry, bizarre and beautiful. SycamoreClub CD $16.25 Royal Trux Twin Infinitives PS, US First VINYL pressing since the original LP issue in 1990! When it was released in late '90, Twin Infinitives raised the bar for avant-garde pop music. Listening to some today's pop music, the influences seems undeniable. DragCity DLP $19.25 Royal Trux S-T PS, US First VINYL pressing since the original 1988 Royal Records LP issue. Royal Trux burst from the belly of NYC-cum-DC scum punks Pussy Galore in 1986 to gather scraps from glam, burial dub, rockabilly & more to create their version of a rock & roll sound. A cult quickly sprang up around the band & their sporadic live appearances. DragCity LP $15.75 Shearer, Rachel Fakerie PS, US Fakerie is a digital séance of aural and visual sculptures by the New Zealand artist Rachel Shearer, formerly known as Lovely Midget. Filmed in an environment to facilitate focused listening, Fakerie is as much for the ears as the eyes. Glowing white lights ebb and expand from darkness in shifting series - like clustered stars - as penetrating resonances of acoustic and electronic overtones decompose into the tiniest sand-like components. Traces of Mary Lucier's mid-1970s burn films and Francois Bayle's musical investigation into the physical and psychical world is present. The specially programmed Region 0 (free)/NTSC format DVD plays in constant loop. Its 22- minutes can be expanded into hours allowing the user to immerse themselves in the work. This DVD is Shearer's first long-form film release. In the past 20 years, she has released records on some of the global underground's most significant labels - Siltbreeze, Xpressway, Flying Nun, Corpus Hermeticum and Ecstatic Peace - as Lovely Midget and with Queen Meanie Puss and Angelhead. Packaged in a mini-LP-styled gatefold book, this set also contains a 20-page booklet investigating the ghosts, distances and signals of fakerie. FamilyVineyard-40 DVD $14.25 Sickboy Time To Play vol. 1 PS, GERMANY People asked for it, it was announced, and here it is: the first of the two vinyl 12" presenting Sickboy's "Time To Play" album on wax, featuring this musician's most infectious, catchiest and most efficient material. While the noise might be gone for good, Sickboy's new clothes are of the colorful party kind. Mixing old school rave, new school electro, breaks and madness, Sickboy hits the nail on its head and invites everybody to play, rave and party non-stop. Refreshing! Featuring big format artwork by Droon and Emily Hasselhoof. AdNoiseam-107 12 $11.25 Sigur Ros Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust PS, US This album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, up front presence not found in previous recordings; moving away from reverb-soaked guitar sounds towards something altogether more affecting. It also contains some of the most joyous music Sigur Ros has ever recorded. "Old fashioned psychedelic grandeur...is revived with otherworldly majesty and inexorable crescendos¿a typically majestic but uncharacteristically summery album, with jolts of percussive energy and connotations of sunlight and air" - NY Times. Double LP on HQ 180 gram vinyl. XL DLP $20.00 Six Organs of Admittance RTZ (3XLP) PS, US Multi-faceted triple-gatefold LP!!! DragCity LP $20.00 Six Organs of Admittance RTZ PS, US The double-CD, triple-LP epic called RTZ (named after the button on a Tascam 484 that "returns to zero") fashions several lesser-known pieces from Six Organs of Admittance's early years into a massive prismatic arc, colossal & organic like some wonder of the ancient world. RTZ travels back to the dawn of this century to locate "Resurrection," half of a Time-Lag split 12" with Charalambides. "Warm Earth, Which I've Been Told" is half of a Mental Telemetry split CD with Vibracathedral Orchestra & Magic Carpithans from 2003. "You Can Always See the Sun," was part of Three Lobed Recordings' Purposeful Availments subscription CD series in 2002. And "Nightly Trembling" was released way back in 1999 in an edition of 33 copies, all given away for free! Combined with a never-before-released extended piece called "Punish the Chasm with Wings" from pre-millennial days & you've got yourself a deep, DEEP box set. DragCity DCD $15.50 Skull Defekts Waving PS, US Limited edition of 300. Screen printed heavy duty jackets. The Skull Defekts is a band from Sweden in the very North of Europe. Their intense, monotonous, rhythmic and sexual out rock has since their start in early 2005 been spreading energies of various kinds to welcoming audiences and listeners. The DFX have also been exploring worlds of noise, the drone and psychedelic electronics on waves on releases for labels like Riot Season, iDEAL, Release The Bats and Conspiracy Records. Their upcoming album for Important Records - "The Temple" (February 2009) can be seen as the follow up to last years "Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing" (Conspiracy/Nail) but it's deeper, harder, more sex, more occult. A 7" from the album entitled "Waving" with an exclusive B-side is released in 300 copies for their October 2008 tour, also on Important. The tour is their first one in North America but they have played all over Europe and the Skulls have only hit Chicago before... It's time for others to get DFXed. DFX is sex, rhythm and the power of sound. Important-235 45 $11.50 Sleepover Disaster Hover PS, US "Layered soundscapes of guitars married to some pounding post-shoegazer rock" - The Big Takeover DevilintheWoods CD $11.75 Slim Twig Derelict Dialect PS, US A chameleonic artist in the tradition of Bowie or Beck, Slim is a performer based out of Toronto. Inspired by pillars of music and film avant garde like Scott Walker, Nick Cave, Godard and Lynch, Twig's sound has morphed several times from hish early apocalyptic folk incarnation to a fuller art-pop sound to the grittier self-coined genre of "concrete rockabilly." Now collected in 2 EPs, Derelict Dialect and Vernacular Violence. PaperBag CD5 $7.50 Slim Twig Vernacular Violence PS, US A chameleonic artist in the tradition of Bowie or Beck, Slim is a performer based out of Toronto. Inspired by pillars of music and film avant garde like Scott Walker, Nick Cave, Godard and Lynch, Twig's sound has morphed several times from hish early apocalyptic folk incarnation to a fuller art-pop sound to the grittier self-coined genre of "concrete rockabilly." Now collected in 2 EPs, Derelict Dialect and Vernacular Violence. PaperBag CD5 $7.50 Slowblow S-T [re-issue] PS, ICELAND 2004 release, repressed. The Icelandic duet, Slowblow (Orri Jónsson and Dagur Kári Petursson), has been active for over a decade. They have made their mark on the Icelandic underground scene with a certain kind of friendly dust-music. They exhibit a uniquely Icelandic aesthetic of home-made, lo-fi analog tinkerings, which both musically and lyrically blend together the everyday and the fantastic. On the album, Slowblow match the gentle hum of ancient amplifiers and the tinkling hammers of an old upright piano with the soft squeaking of pump organ pedals or the sound of mechanical sewing machines; for them these are not unwanted artifacts, but the very essence of their sound. Mobile CD $15.00 Sok, G.W. (The Ex) Into The Gravy PS, US For this booklet (#45) we reprinted essays by G.W. Sok, a member and vocalist of the Dutch music group The Ex. This 1989 essay was originally published in the book "Threat by Example" which is out of print and will not be reprinted. The essay includes a funny and caustic take on the corporate music industry as well as wonderful reflections on The Ex's group practice and their efforts to build and work in an ethical and independent international network. G.W. Sok has written a new introduction to the text and designed all new layout for the booklet. The Ex continue to inspire us all the time with new and exciting collaborations. A fascinating group that is not to be missed live and has an endless and rich back catalog of great recordings. Visit www.theex.nl to learn more and hear some of their music. ZINE $3.00 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin/Puzzle Split PS, US Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is a critically acclaimed, blog-adored band that have shared the stage with Mute Math, of Montreal, Sound Team, Catfish Haven, Chin Up Chin Up, and more. They've headlined in Europe and even made their way to their namesake's homeland of Russia. Spin declared them the band that "could succeed The Shins," and enthusiastic press rolled in. After releasing their sophomore album, Pershing, earlier this year, the band has raised the bar even higher and gained the attention of many listeners, drawn to their massive hooks and quirky melodies. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin entered the studio yet again to record these two exclusive 7" songs, and asked their friends from the band Puzzle to do the same. Puzzle is a four-piece band from Liverpool, England that ShoutandTwist.com calls "feel-good indie pop but in a really amazing magical way." Every 7" includes a free digital download code. Polyvinyl-159 45 $4.00 Sound Of Arrows, The M.A.G.I.C. PS, SWEDEN The Sound of Arrows has gathered a young chanting school class, a girl singer from Tokyo and a handful of well-hidden un-cleared samples, which they've mixed with bouncy analogue synthesizers, soulful guitars and orchestral instruments over a hundred recording channels. The result is a marvelous mix of old TV shows for children, old school hip-hop, new disco and timeless pop hits! The Sound of Arrows debut EP "Danger!" gave them a minor indie hit on both the domestic and the international scene. The song was used in one of the world's most popular TV series, Gossip Girl, reached #1 on the Elbo.ws chart and got them touring halfway across the world. But ToA is not the kind who becomes stressed by success. The new single "M.A.G.I.C." clearly proves they've already improved and developed further since the debut and that the future definitely belongs to The Sound of Arrows. The title track comes in five different versions and they throw in a cozy little track called "Smalltown lullaby" in which a storyteller is backed up with angelic vocals, falling stars and jingle bells. The remixes encompasses several decades. They enter the 70s with the circus sounding version from Ice Cream Shout, the 80s with the up and coming NYC-retro-duo Let's Get Invisible, the 90s is delivered with breakbeats and trip hop sounds of the Uffie och Pharell-remixer Curtis Vodka. And finally, the 00_s and the future are presented by the CSS of Spain, Cof Cof. The Sound of Arrows is right now working on their debut album that will be out in the spring of 2009. Labrador-119 CD5 $9.50 Spencer, Angelo Music Is My Sweat b/w Great Salt Lake PS, US 2 songs: My Music Is My Sweat b/w Great Salt Lake "My Music is My Sweat" began with a conversation between Karl Blau and Angelo Spencer about how music is similar to body odor and, like everyone's stench, one's music is also unique and identifiable. Angelo's music is as raw as sweat. Recorded in one day, on one take by Blau, this 7" is a puddle of twitchy urgency. Generally a one-man band, this recording is fleshed out with frantic drum fills and fidgety keys by L'Orchidee d'Hawaii soon after they finished a tour with Spencer. "My Music is My Sweat" is the sprint and "The Great Salt Lake" is the cool-down, exasperated pause needed to sprint and sweat again; embellished with distant whistling - like the playful intermission of a spaghetti western - and Spencer is the wandering hero. "Music should always be like that." featuring L'Orchidee d'Hawaii Krecords-121 45 $3.75 Spiritual Singers Ntsamina PS, US Teenage Congolese gospel group from the early '80's. Male & female vocals. From slow dirges to fast African rockers. A truly unique record. Beautiful tip-on sleeve might be one of Mississippi's finest yet. Mississippi LP $12.75 Stars Of The Lid Music for Nitrous Oxide PS, US Repress/reissue. DEBUT OF THE CLASSIC FROM THE POST-ROCK DRONE MASTERS. NEW VERSION RE-MASTERED WITH NEW COVER ART. This was sedimental's first cd release back in 1994. Robert Ovetz (Ultrasound) mentioned this guy Adam who was doing amazing 4-track stuff at home. I think the name of the tape he gave me was called "Ombudsman". The success of this release was a nice surprise and certainly having Joel at Cargo champion it, who was just getting Kranky going as well, certainly put us both out there. Ultimately, SOTL ended up at Kranky and are still making amazing recordings for them. Many say this is still their favorite Lid release, although I am partial to the "Ballested Orchestra" too. It certainly remains a powerful touchstone for and precursor to, the post-whatever independent music scene and still sounds incredibly solid and undated today. Though Stars founder Adam Wiltzie has admittedly distanced himself from the release in terms of artistic terms he felt it was time to re-visit and re-fresh the work with a new mastering job, as well as having new artwork designed by longtime visual collaborator Craig McCaffrey. Sedimental has always kept the document in print in its original form with a remarkably steady stream of sales, but we welcomed the opportunity to update the release and make it more widely available to a new generation, so to speak. Below are excerpts from the original press release which still seem quite relevant and accurate: Sedimental announces the first CD from Austin drone stars Stars of the Lid, an amazing 4-track recording that is created in the spirit of Eno, Main, and Spacemen 3. Produced without keyboards, this lo-fi ambient journey employs predominately guitar, avoiding typical rock elements while still possessing the "home" recorded feel of so much independent music. Being based in Austin, a town loaded with so many heavy guitar bands, one wonders how they came to make such hypnotic and engaging sounds. Especially when Stars mastermind Adam Wiltzie is involved with so many "rock" bands himself, having recorded Ed Hall's Motherscratcher and its forthcoming release, the Flaming Lips Peel Sessions, as well as running sound for Bad Livers, and Doo Rag tours. Citing Cage, Spacemen 3, Robert from Main and Loop, nitrous oxide, and Bedhead as artistic inspirations, he also comments the group is a reaction against the "muscle" rock and C&W that dominates the Austin music scene and a way to withdraw from it. Despite their current unknown status, we at Sedimental were so impressed by the music of Stars of the Lid , we felt it worthy of our first CD release. After giving this a few listens (especially the brilliant trio of tracks 7,8, and 9), we are sure you will think they belong on the same plateau as EAR, Labradford, Main, and Organum. Sedimental-023 CD $12.25 Strand Of Oaks Leave Ruin PS, US Debut full length takes cues from luminaries such as Nebraska era Bruce Springsteen and a burgeoning Neil Young. LaSocieteExpedion CD $12.00 Strings Of Consciousness & Angel S/T PS, US Featuring members of Pan Sonic & Mum! This is collaboration between Angel (containing members of Mum and Pan Sonic) and Strings Of Consciousness. This dense and droney construction echoes platinum reflections with warm fluidity and delicate detail. The more attention you'll bestow on that record, the more unsuspected new paths you'll be invited to wander about. This is an intricate and imaginative soundtrack with several layers of sound, gathering both organic and sonic elements to assemble a post-industrial sound structure. The latter will give life to a noisy magma where unexpected clicks stumble over interferences, where digital accidents happen and where drones, acoustic resonance fill the space in time. A multitude of digital notes will slowly stretch to reach a dark-grey chaos, a pure and clean big bang echoing and calling lost sound memories. ANGEL: Ilpo Väisänen (Finland), worked with Ultra 3, Sinø and is half of world famous duo Pan Sonic Dirk Dresselhaus (Germany) releases under the pseudonym SchneiderTM who are signed to City Slang and Mute America. Hildur Gudnadottir plays cello for Mum, Johannes Johannsson, Stillupsteypa, BJ Nilsen, and has a prominent feature on the recent Pan Sonic CD. ... As Angel they have released albums on BiP_Hop and Oral. And now signed to Mego. Important-227 CD $13.00 Subtle Turnhips F the People F* the Power, F* the People to the Power b/w Dinner Time" & "Summer Wine PS, US HoZacRecords 45 $5.25 Suburban Kids With Biblical Names #4 PS, SWEDEN Oh, how we've been waiting for this moment! A three years long hiatus is finally over and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names return to exceed every expectation. #4 is four-track-smash-hit-EP that introduces a wide range of new delicate musical flavors. The Kids mix British soul, tropical rhythms and Turkish disco with a bittersweet taste of lonely afternoons listening to Swedish radio. Nothing less than brilliant! Suburban Kids with Biblical Names' debut #3 was released in 2005 and received amazing reviews in Sweden and was even nominated for a Swedish Grammy. The album was later released on Minty Fresh in North America (2006) and Yesboyicream in the UK (2007) that further spread the word about their playful, catchy and highly unique pop sound. Listening to the band's new songs three distinct changes in sound instantly comes to mind; they've multiplied the number of instruments in their line-up, they've introduced soul and they sing in Swedish well, (at least on one of their songs!). Suburban Kids with Biblical Names in 2009 produce their music with chaotic playfulness. The songs seem to be living a life of their own, going through a large number of transformations before being finished. One and the same song usually passes around five different versions (a song might start as a slow country and western ballad and end up as energetic Afro pop) before the band is happy and the song is finished. It's definitely not a time efficient way of working. But, it does seem to make wonders for the final result. Labrador-107 CD5 $9.50 Super Vacations S-T PS, US Limited to 500, with a somewhat tenuous Wavves connection! Based out of Norfolk, VA, The Super Vacations provide a great body high with their circa The Who meets Dick Dale meets pure timeless pop tunes with a lo-fi recording. Their sound is akin to seminal "nuggets" less aggro Black Lips, and a whole lot of 13th Floor Elevators. "Everybody loves vacations. especially super ones. And if everyone loved gritty lo-fi pop music, that would be cool too." - BmoreMusic Blog Shadowplay LP $11.00 Swervedriver Raise [expanded re-issue] PS, US Limited edition digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of this 1991 album from the British Shoegazing legends featuring four rare bonus tracks ('Hands', 'Andaluc¡a', 'Kill The Superheroes' and 'Over') and additional liner notes from the band. 16 tracks total. Hi-SpeedSoul CD $13.75 Swervedriver Mezcal Head [expanded re-issue] PS, US Limited edition digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of this 1993 album from the British Shoegazing legends featuring four rare bonus tracks ('Never Lose That Feeling', 'Planes Over The Skyline', 'The Hitcher' and 'Paris') and additional liner notes from the band. 16 tracks total. Hi-SpeedSoul CD $13.75 Szajner, Bernard Some Deaths Take Forever PS, UK LTM presents the second in a series of expanded CD reissues by visionary French electronic composer Bernard Szajner. Originally released in late 1980, Some Deaths Take Forever is a deeply emotional, sometimes disturbing musical account of the feelings of a prisoner on death row, conceived as the soundtrack to a short film by Amnesty International. The album mixes dark, angular and unnerving electronic textures with dynamic rock arrangements, guest musicians including Bernard Paganotti of Magma. Reviews rated the album highly: 'A modern electronic masterwork - one of the most exciting and innovative piece of electronic music to be released this year' (Melody Maker); 'Frantic, outraged music shames the bulk of oscillator nuts peddling their dodgy little repetitions around' (Sounds); 'Unquestionably one of the decade's most accomplished fusions of sophisticated electronics and driving rock' (NME). The expanded 60 minute CD features three previously unreleased bonus tracks, recorded in 1982. Boutique-6620 CD $17.00 Tarentel Live Edits: Italy/Switzerland PS, US Over the course of numerous dates in Italy, the group (a trio on this tour of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Danny Grody, & Jim Redd) improvised every set they played w/often stunning results. This is not your grandfather's Tarentel. This is full of pounding tribal drums & walls of mixer feedback, floating guitar trips & walls of noise - a tug-of war between beauty & tension. Limited to 500 copies Digitalis CD $11.00 Telescopes Untitled 2nd PS, US Released in the US for the first time, augmented w/ 4 bonus tracks. The group was among the most innovative & challenging yet successful artists in Creation Records' "middle period", a leading part of the wave of sonic experimenters who included Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, Spectrum & Spiritualized. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "The songs are built on acoustic guitars, then the tricked-out electric guitars are laid on top & garnished w/ bongos, organs, pianos, & all sorts of classic instruments. Stephen Lawrie's vocals are restrained & semi-emotional & female backing vocals add a touch of sweetness that might otherwise be missing from the record, as the overall atmosphere is very moody & introspective" Bomp! CD $13.75 Temporary Conversations Temporary Conversations: Tim Kerr PS, US This booklet, #81, is the second in our interview series Temporary Conversations. Some excerpts from the introduction: "Tim Kerr is a musician, studio engineer and visual artist based in Austin, Texas. He played guitar in the Big Boys, an Austin band that was heavily responsible for putting Texas on the map in the punk and hardcore underground. The Big Boys lasted from 1979-1984. Kerr went on to play in numerous other bands, including Poison 13, Bad Mutha Goose and the Brothers Grimm, MonkeyWrench, Jack O' Fire, Lord High Fixers, King Sound Quartet, the Now Time Delegation, and most recently, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee. He has also recorded and produced (or, as he modestly says, "... [B]een a guidance counselor,") for dozens of bands on nearly 150 releases. In addition to all of that, Kerr has increasingly immersed himself in painting and drawing. Since 2000, he has widely exhibited his works, which commonly pay tribute to exactly the kind of musical, social and political revolutionary ass-kickers that one would expect a trailblazer like Kerr to be inspired by. If Tim Kerr had only played in any one of his bands, or recorded a few of the great records he's helped bring into existence, he would have paid his musical dues and then some. Thankfully, he remains as creatively hyperactive as ever, while paying the bills by working for the University of Texas (UT), along with his wife Beth, where he digitizes audio and video collections for the archives of their libraries."This is easily one of the most extensive interviews with Tim Kerr that we have ever seen. He has an incredibly positive and inspiring approach to life, creativity, and working with others that we are excited to be able to share. In addition to the interview, this includes photos by Bill Daniel, Tim's wife Beth Kerr, and others. It also features multiple illustrations of Tim's art, as well as punk fliers that he designed in the early 1980s. Now what are you doing to participate? ZINE $3.00 Temporary Conversations Temporary Conversations: The Dicks PS, US This booklet, #82, is the third in our interview series Temporary Conversations. Some excerpts from the introduction: "The Dicks were confrontational right out of the gate. A seminal band, and not just because singer Gary Floyd sometimes threw condoms filled with fake cum into the crowd. By all accounts, the Dicks challenged their audiences and revealed new possibilities. They made their concerts a hell of an experience and created memorable political music with a sound that was completely their own. The Dicks formed in Austin in 1980. They relocated to San Francisco and changed personnel halfway through the duration of the group, before breaking up in 1986." ... "For this booklet we wanted to include not just members of the Dicks' Austin line up, but also hear from others who witnessed their Texas years. Tim Kerr of the Big Boys, a band that shared many shows and the aforementioned live split LP with the Dicks, offers a short but sweet recollection. Austin Chronicle writer Margaret Moser agreed to a full interview where she describes the musical landscape of Austin leading up the Dicks' formation, as well as the personal impact their music had for her. Photographer Bill Daniel sent us some photos from the Dicks' Texas years and Dave Ensminger and Ryan Richardson scanned examples from their flyer collections. The Dicks' singer Gary Floyd took some questions via e-mail and Dicks bassist Buxf Parrot was interviewed on the phone." ZINE $3.00 Tillman, J. Vacilando Territory Blues PS, US Since 2004, J. Tillman has quietly been releasing records, some of limited quantity, some mostly available in Europe, but for the most part, unheard. The borderline-alienating starkness and well lived-in narratives of his first two records, I Will Return and Long May You Run, J. Tillman (released in limited runs of 150) endeared him to fans of and drew comparisons to the likes of Nick Drake, Will Oldham, and Jason Molina. In 2006, after three months in Europe touring on his third and most accessible album, Minor Works, Tillman recorded his fourth collection of songs at home with his brother and roommate. Cancer and Delirium struck a perfect balance between the intimacy of his earlier releases with the nuanced, melodic sense of Minor Works. Each song imbued with the same strikingly disconsolate singing and devastatingly poignant prose that Tillman is known for and accented with some of his most gorgeous, spare arrangements. Vacilando Territory Blues, Tillman's fifth and first with Western Vinyl, came as the result of three different recording attempts in 2008, in which entire sessions were scrapped, and ultimately the majority of the final material would surface and be recorded days before mastering. The push and pull of this record veers sharply from the tone of Tillman's previous releases, which for the most part, adhere to a singular mood and stylistic execution. The tension dynamically between songs like "Firstborn" and "New Imperial Grand Blues" is hard to reconcile, but the way the songs are framed herein belies a cohesion not dissimilar to classic oddball albums such as After The Goldrush. Sacrifcing a stylized album, the breadth of Tillman's abilities as a songwriter emerge on VTB, in an array of musical personalities bound by his lyrical existential dread and economical arrangements. In 2008, Tillman joined longtime friends and musical collaborators, Fleet Foxes. Casey Wescott and Christian Wargo both appear on VTB, along with several regular contributors who were willing to adapt to several idiosyncratic recording obstructions. Vacilando Territory Blues is far and away Tillman's most collaborative effort, and the most striking moments here are those seemingly stumbled upon, without resorting to second-takes or microphone re-adjustment. This album casts a strange perspective on what people have come to expect from Tillman's music, but these songs, though oddly untethered, reveal the process of someone coming to terms with the prospect of making music in the void. WesternVinyl-56 CD $11.50 Titus Andronicus The Airing Of Grievances PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! XL LP $14.00 Titus Andronicus The Airing Of Grievances PS, US Patrick Stickles, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter, launches his insights across a wall of defiant, triumphant rock anthems, which have earned comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, The Pogues, and The Replacements. "Patrick Stickles howls with anguish way beyond his 22 years, often cramming lyrics into tight spaces just to make sure he gets the last word in. The drama's more Boss than Bright Eyes, fueled by blue collar frustration and, most notably, beer" - Pitchfork. XL CD $13.25 Two Tongues S-T PS, US New emo/pop/punk effort by members of SAY ANYTHING and SAVES THE DAY. Vagrant CD $15.00 Uncut #141 (March 2009) [Magazine + CD] PS, UK ZINE $10.25 Under the Radar #25 PS, US Most Anticipating Albums of 2009: starring GRIZZLY BEAR on cover, Sonic Youth, Bat for Lashes, Depeche Mode, Camera Obscura, The Decemberists, Silversun Pickups, The Flaming Lips, Dan Deacon, Dove. ZINE $3.75 Vanisher Tic-Tac Tactic PS, US 2004 release in stock for the first time. Sweden's HAKAN LIDBO takes his devastating Stockholm sound to Spectral Sound under the guise of THE VANISHER dropping the thickest, deepest acid-funk track you'll hear this side of an old-school Manchester warehouse party. OSBORNE's "Simulacrum Mix" rounds out the 12-inch with a distinctly more upbeat sound, a perfect complement to Lidbo's darker tones. SpectralSound 12 $13.00 Various Colorfield Variations PS, US Colorfield Variations is a collection of audio/visual works reinterpreting the Color Field movement by an international array of critically acclaimed sound and new media artists and assembled by curator and sound artist Richard Chartier. Color Field painting, an abstract style that emerged as a new direction in American painting in the 1950s following Abstract Expressionism, is characterized by canvases painted primarily with stripes, washes and fields of solid color. An alternate but less frequently encountered term for this style is chromatic abstraction. As the first critically acclaimed art movement to originate in the United States's capital, the Washington Color School was key to the larger Color Field movement. As a reaction to the emotional energy and gestured surfaces of Abstract Expressionists, the Color Field artists broke away from the individual mark in favor of pure color itself becoming the main content of the work. By breaking painting down to its formal and fundamental elements, the Color Field artists created pure, simplified, large format, color-dominated fields on often monumental scale utilizing the full psychological power of color. Artists such as Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Larry Poons, Gene Davis, Jules Olitski, and others eliminated recognizable imagery from their canvas and presented abstraction as an end in itself with each work being a cohesive image. The Color Field movement can be seen as a precursor to the themes and aesthetics of the subsequent Minimalist movement. This program in its original form with special live audio/visual performances by Ernest Edmonds + Mark Fell and Sawako at the Corcoran Gallery of Art was commissioned by Washington Project for the Arts as part of the citywide ColorField.Remix events which took place in April-June 2007 in Washington, DC, celebrating The Washington Color School. Since its creation, Colorfield Variations continues to be screened internationally. TRACKS: STEVE RODEN dark over light earth * 13:00 ALAN CALLANDER CF01 * 04:52 FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER looping i-vi (excerpt) 12:00 STEPHAN MATHIEU Orange was the color of her dress * 10:00 SUE COSTABILE + BEEQUEEN AMP_SWELL 03:49 TEZ CF #1~2n * 05:10 TINA FRANK + GENERAL MAGIC Chronomops 02:00 BAS VAN KOOLWIJK FDBCK/AV - Silver 03:29 CHRIS CARTER + COSEY FANNI TUTTI Chronomanic Redux * 10:00 RYOICHI KUROKAWA Scorch 03:04 SAWAKO Flirting 07121602 * 03:15 EVELINA DOMNITCH + DMITRY GELFAND Ten Thousand Peacock Feathers in Foaming Acid 08:00 ERNEST EDMONDS + MARK FELL Broadway One (excerpt) 02:00 created for Colorfield Variations. Line-038 DVD $20.25 Various Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to The Cure PS, US "Just Like Heaven - A Tribute To The Cure" features 16 new cover versions of Cure songs by The Wedding Present, The Brunettes, Devics, Dean & Britta (Luna), The Submarines, The Rosebuds, Grand Duchy (Violet Clark & Black Francis), Joy Zipper, Elk City , and many more. Produced by Joe Spadaro and Gwen Hysler (American Laundromat Records), mastering by Kim Rosen at Alan Douches' West West Side Music (Galaxie 500, Ben Folds Five, Luna, The Wrens), and original album art & design by Rhode Island Illustrator Melinda Rainsberger . Early press is fantastic for this one. Brought to you by the same label who produced the critically acclaimed Neil Young benefit CD "Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity", and the popular 80's tribute "High School Reunion - a tribute to those great 80's films!" All Music Guide called it "one of the finest tribute records ever produced" and went on to say "let this serve as a blueprint for all future tribute sets". Highly recommended for Cure fans or any of the bands covering the Cure on this excellent tribute compilation. Tracklisting: 01. "Just Like Heaven" performed by JOY ZIPPER 02. "The Lovecats" performed by TANYA DONELLY & DYLAN IN THE MOVIES 03. "Lovesong" performed by THE BRUNETTES 04. "In Between Days" performed by KITTY KARLYLE 05. "Friday I'm In Love" performed by DEAN & BRITTA 06. "Jumping Someone Else's Train" performed by LUFF 07. "Boys Don't Cry" performed by THE SUBMARINES 08. "Close To Me" performed by ELK CITY 09. "The Walk" performed by THE ROSEBUDS 10. "Pictures Of You" performed by ELIZABETH HARPER & THE MATINEE 11. "Let's Go To Bed" performed by CASSETTES WON'T LISTEN 12. "Catch" performed by DEVICS 13. "A Night Like This" performed by JULIE PEEL 14. "10:15 Saturday Night" performed by THE POEMS 15. "A Strange Day" performed by GRAND DUCHY (Violet Clark & Black Francis) 16. "High" performed by THE WEDDING PRESENT AmericanLaundromat-018 CD $13.00 Various Factory Records: Communications 1978-92 PS, UK 4-CD boxset! Rhino Records UK is pleased to announce the release of Factory Records: Communications 1978-92. A Factory Box Set celebrates the label from the first release "A Factory Sample" through an extremely diverse roster of acts from the cutting edge post punk of A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, The Railway Children, OMD, James and Joy Division to obscurities such as Section 25, Biting Tongues, Crispy Ambulance, Miaow and Swamp Children via early dance culture - ESG and 52nd Street, to the full flowering of the 'Madchester scene', ending fittingly with the last Factory release, "Sunshine and Love" by Happy Mondays. Rhino CD-BOX $61.00 Various Trip In Time Vol. 1: Delighted by Psychedelic Rock PS, US comp of contemporary psych bands (most tracks from 2005/6; plus a previously released Dragonwyck track from 1968 just to throw you off!). Features: Siena Root, Vibravoid, Stoned Circus, La Ira De Dios, Treacle People, Loxley Beade, Fantasyy Factoryy, i-H8 Camera, Ma-Nia, Karmic Society. 72% previously unreleased. "Music for the Mind and Body... while music industry continuously looks for 'new' concepts, trends and music styles to serve the mainstream, Trip in Time ventures a look to the past. We present the artistic, emotional and intensive side of music, the concept of progressive psychedelic rock. It appeared in the public consciousness for the first time in 1966, created by the 13th Floor Elevators. By 1956, the English psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond had already formulated: 'To fathom hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of psychedelic.' Fifty years later, we invite you to join the bride uncensored spektrum of music with a fine feel for intensity and a variety of interesting influences. WorldInSound-2501 CD $15.75 Various Money Will Ruin Everything: 2nd Edition (DCD/BOOK) PS, US Rune Grammofon celebrates 5 more years of releases w/ the 2nd edition of "Money Will Ruin Everything," an incredible 2CD/book package, expanded & improved from the last edition into a 152-page hardcover book, designed by KIM HIORTHOY. Two CDs of new music from artists such as ULTRALYD, DEATHPROD, FOOD, SUSANNA & THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA. RuneGrammofon DCD $60.00 Various Effectuation PS, AUSTRALIA The second 12" compilation from Midium Records Mountain includes new & exclusive tracks on black vinyl, from the likes of New Zealand's KERRETTA, AVOTOR & BLACK BONES ANGEL as well as a tasty KLUTE remix of JAKOB's Oran Mor and a tranquil cut by experimental UK extraordinaire, ROTHKO. Exclusive to the compilation & limited to 300 copies worldwide! Midium LP $12.75 Various For Whom The Balls Toll PS, RUSSIA File under: breakcore, mash-up. First release by the russian label Rednex Rampage, featuring new and unreleased material by Otto Von Schirach, Passenger Of Shit, Inshizzo and Marrow Explosion. Comes in full color sleeve. Tracklisting: A1. Otto Von Schirach - Another Night Another Rave A2. Inshizzo: Large Hadron Collider B1. Passenger Of shit: My Cock Wart B2. Severed Penis Orgy B3. Marrow Explosion: Oparysh RednexRampageRecords-001 12 $11.50 Volcano Suns All-Night Lotus Party PS, US REISSUE. 1st time on CD! This was the band headed by PETER PRESCOTT (of MISSION OF BURMA). Originally released in 1986, this is VS's sophomore album & is more rambunctious than their debut. They meld "hardcore punk & heartland rock" into a heavier, darker sound w/ more distortion on the guitars & more bass-heavy production. This is crisply remastered by legendary engineer BOB WESTON, feat. 11 bonus tracks (many unreleased previously). Merge CD $11.50 Volcano Suns Bright Orange Years PS, US REISSUE. 1st time on CD! This was the band headed by PETER PRESCOTT (of MISSION OF BURMA). Originally released in 1985, this is VS's debut album & is chock full of so many catchy songs that it could be any other band's greatest hits album. Merging noise, agression & tunefulness seamlessly, it is a wonder they were not huge from the get-go. Remastered by legendary engineer BOB WESTON, feat. 9 bonus tracks (many unreleased previously) that adds 7-inch only tracks & radio sessions. Merge CD $11.50 Von Bondies Love Hate and Then There's You PS, US New album. ShoutFactory CD $15.25 Ware, David S. Shakti PS, US First new studio recording in almost 6 yrs, & his 1st with a new group (feat. JOE MORRIS, WILLIAM PARKER, & WARREN SMITH) since his highly esteemed Quartet disbanded. Working w/ musicians (as he ever has) who fully understand the profound ebb & flow of his music, and who can trace the tendrils thereof as close to infinity as human fingers allow. "This is jazz that swallows all aesthetic distinctions." - Village Voice. AUMFidelity CD $12.75 Wax Poetics #32 PS, US On the cover: Sly Stone, Jimmy Cleff, Jean Grae, Terry Cliff, so much more. ZINE $9.50 Weave! S-T PS, US Also on clear vinyl! Bizarre & blistering Afro-pop crossbred w/ precise & chilly New Wave. This debut breathes new life into the sound of groups like ESG, The Slits, The Mo-Dettes, Kleenex, The Raincoats, & Delta 5. The arty grinders have a respectable pedigree; their founders spent 2007 w/pickup members including Ariel Pink (Haunted Graffiti). They ultimately solidified their lineup w/ the addition of guitar & keyboard, adding a rhythmic presence to the femme-driven fervency. "A tambourine-ravaging set of Sonic Youth-meets-Talking Heads tinged sounds. The quartet definitely inject a sense of quirky fun into their hypnotic, dance-y yet vicious tunes" - LA Weekly / "Extremely rhythmic &, at times, deliciously poppy" - Flavorpill LA PacificReasons LP $11.75 Welcome Wagon, The Welcome to the Welcome Wagon PS, US This debut album by The Welcome Wagon unveils a ramshackle sing-a-long enterprise of a Presbyterian pastor (the Rev. Vito Aiuto) and his wife (Monique) wrestling out the influences of folk music, religion, popular culture, and church tradition in a collection of songs that is as soulful as it is good-humored. This gorgeous brew is reflected in the group's repertoire, which unflinchingly consolidates a vast history of "sacred" song traditions: from old Testament psalms, to Presbyterian Psalters of the 17th century, to iconoclastic pop innovators of the 1960s (The Velvet Underground), to charismatic catholics of the 1970s (Lenny Smith), and even into the melancholy lovelorn pop of the 1980s (The Smiths). Recorded, produced, and arranged by Sufjan Stevens. The Welcome Wagon WELCOME TO THE WELCOME WAGON AsthmaticKitty-45 LP $11.50 West, Kanye 808S & Heartbreak PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Roc-A-Fella DLP $25.00 Wicked Witch Chaos: 1978-86 PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! EmRecords LP $23.50 Wicked Witch Chaos: 1978-86 PS, US 1st time ever reissue of rare evil psycho machine-funk from '80s Washington, DC, incl. previously-unreleased mixes. Now is not the time to doubt your senses - the WICKED WITCH does exist. WW combines elements from alchemical mentors Parliament Funkadelic, Sun Ra, ESG, Run DMC, James Brown & Jimi Hendrix to cast a crazed spell on the innocent listener. An evil mass of machine-funk w/ lashings of rhythm & blues & fusion delivered direct from the heart of the Witch, a misunderstood psycho-genius weaving his solo web deep w/in the dark studio walls. Remastered from the original master tapes, incl. rare photos EmRecords CD $19.50 Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (Widescreen) PS, US With his documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, director Matt Wolf etches out a biographical portrait of avant-garde musician, artist, and disco producer Arthur Russell, who died of AIDS at age 40 in 1992. Though Russell was a classically trained composer and cellist with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of indigenous Indian music, this performer quickly branched off in a more offbeat and unusual direction. The Oskaloosa, IA, native fixated on such counterculture icons as John Cage and Timothy Leary at an early age, then ran away from home during adolescence and joined a Frisco-based Buddhist group. Russell became acquainted and associated with poet Allen Ginsberg, then moved to New York City, where (like Cage) he established himself as a veritable fixture in the underground music scene and worked as the music director for The Kitchen. By the mid-'70s, Russell began producing prescient disco records in the pre-Gibb days, under colorful pseudonyms such as Indian Ocean and Loose Joints. Unfortunately, he never culled the devoted following that he deserved until about 15 years after his death. Wolf employs a fractured film-essay style throughout the film, intercutting such materials as archival footage, extracts of musical compositions by Russell, and revealing interviews with Russell's family. Thematically, the director uses the tale of Russell's colorful life as a springboard into investigations of broader subjects and themes including gay lifestyles in the early AIDS era, the sociocultural landscape of Manhattan (and the cultural underground) during the 1970s and '80s, and the importance of staking out new directions in art and music for an innovative mind such as Russell's. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide Plexifilm DVD $23.50 Windy&Carl/Heavy Winged Monolith:Earth PS, US The Monolith series combines two like-minded artists on the same one-sided, reverse-cut LP by hard-panning one recording to the right & the other recording to the left. By adjusting the panning controls on his or her turntable, the listener is free to control the degree to which the two recordings melt into one. Each edition in the series is limited to a one-time pressing of 500 picture disc LPs & includes a CD w/stereo mixes. This edition is the oxymoronic pairing of dreamcore drone legends WINDY & CARL & new school leaders of free rock HEAVY WINGED. Heavy Winged contribute one of their darkest, most oppressive tracks yet. The addition of W&C's purity creates something entirely different. It's no longer the sound of three bros busting out dark drone metal in some shed in snowy Vermont; it's now the sound of some communal artists busting out epic krautjams in the German hinterland. Primitive, vicious early man meets colossal pristine symbol of higher thought MusicFellowship LP/CD $21.50 Wire Magazine #300 PS, UK ZINE $10.25 Woolson, Raymond Scott Broken Things Mended PS, US Raymond Scott Woolson has been creating guitar-driven ethereal music for many years now. Broken Things Mended is his fifth full-length album of celestial shoegaze sound-scapes. A long year in the making, and several more months of perfecting during the mixing and mastering process, this release continues Woolson's exploration of soaring guitar epics and pastoral mood meanderings. A fair amount of variety went into the mix. Here a shimmer of dreampop, there a buzz of psychedelia. A brush of piano, a burst of drums, and on several occasions even a very commendable imitation of a string orchestra. Those are in fact guitars. An ocean of guitars. The songs of Broken Things Mended are bright and uplifting. There may be a passing touch of melancholy, a brief wistful feeling, but absolutely no doom and gloom. Woolson will not add to the burden of darkness in the world. His is the music of light and love, of faith and hope. These songs look forward and upward. Victories are won, promises are kept, and broken things are mended. Clairecords-070 CD $12.25 Wow & Flutter Golden Touch PS, US A collection of Phrygian mode jams, drones & ditties. Opening track "Red Face" is a taut-n-fuzzy rock blast which highlights the three-piece's loud-fast-simple side. "Car Crash" opts for a more restrained approach--until all hell breaks loose w/the de(con)struction of the titular event. "Solar" follows, w/a simple chord pattern repeating for three minutes under a coat of beautiful shimmer. "A Little Help" expands the sonic palette w/banjo & glockenspiel & a mass choir. "Heaven" opens side B; a Morricone-influenced intro complete w/trumpet & melodica gives way to a religious screed, which gives way to a drunken klezmer coda. "Flat White" intertwines sparse riffs over click-clack percussion along w/Amato's ruminations on betrayal. Synthetic slow-jam "Sugarbush" seduces w/snake charmer guitar lines & earworm bass groove. JealousButcher LP $13.25 Yagya Rigning PS, NETHERLANDS Yagya has made a new album for us. We can't think of any other way to start this new, promising year as delightful. "Rigning" is the Icelandic word for "rain" and is Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson's third full-length, the previous one "Will I Dream During The Process?" best-selling on Sending Orbs, the first one "Rythm of Snow" on legendary out-of-print status on Force Inc. Yes, we think this album is a new step forward for Yagya and we think this album has the prettiest and saddest melodies ever on a dub techno/ambient record, but we most kindly invite you to be your own judge. And by buying either the CD or 2x12", you may even stimulate the Icelandic economy along your way. We're just confident this is going to be your first great purchase in 2009. SendingOrbs-011-2 CD $16.25 Yagya Rigning PS, NETHERLANDS Yagya has made a new album for us. We can't think of any other way to start this new, promising year as delightful. "Rigning" is the Icelandic word for "rain" and is Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson's third full-length, the previous one "Will I Dream During The Process?" best-selling on Sending Orbs, the first one "Rythm of Snow" on legendary out-of-print status on Force Inc. Yes, we think this album is a new step forward for Yagya and we think this album has the prettiest and saddest melodies ever on a dub techno/ambient record, but we most kindly invite you to be your own judge. And by buying either the CD or 2x12", you may even stimulate the Icelandic economy along your way. We're just confident this is going to be your first great purchase in 2009. SendingOrbs-011-1 DLP $17.75 Yeasayer All Hour Cymbals PS, US Dear Friend, and Friend of Friends, It has been a little bit over a year since I last wrote to you about the debut document created by YEASAYER called "ALL HOUR CYMBALS." What a year it has been! Trips around the world. Playing shows in places you only dream of as a child. Meeting wonderful people from all over, possibly including you. Thank you. Most people will probably wonder why it took so long to release "ALL HOUR CYMBALS" in the vinyl format and why now? Over a year ago we were a mere village, five strong. Laborers without the finance to yet construct the citadel, we worked hard, and worked by hand and mouth to spread the word. We made friends who helped us along the way, who told their friends, who turned and told friends, family, and possibly enemies. It was this chain of mouth to mouth and hard work over an expanse of time that led us to this gift of sound spectacular in 180 GRAM LP format. Though the timing is not perfect in the sense of traveling and performing with merchandise, I promise our friends are thirsty for this artifact. In every village and town people ask for "ALL HOUR CYMBALS" on LP, in fact, they demand it's existence. I could cut and paste press quotes and where YEASAYER has been in print, but that is to cheapen the sell. We know "ALL HOUR CYMBALS" is a magnificent debut and that if you inhabit a record store you should have this album in stock. Someone hit snooze on the last go around causing a major piece of the pie being fed straight to CPUs across the land. Let us come out strong this time and give the citizens what they demand. The LP also contains a digital download for those first time buyers, or those conflicted with sounds past and present. Best. Sir James Winnie WeAreFree-002 LP $12.25 Yelle Ce Jeu EP PS, US 1st ever commercial 12" single release from France's acclaimed electro-pop starlet YELLE. 4 trks feat. the original version, along w/ remixes by TEPR (Yelle's studio collaborator) & 2 more remixes. Astralwerks 12 $8.50 Yellow Moon Band, The Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World PS, UK The Brother's dropped some mushroom's one afternoon after decided to experience the love behind the record of the year. Yes they would plot a histogram using Jaffa-cakes and pink wafers. During a distracted moment they pondered over the other important events in music. The Weeley festival 1971 (Juicy Lucy, demon fuzz and Hackensack and all for just £1-50); dancing in the mud in your underpants at Bickershaw to the Greatfull Dead; Cheech and Chong and Haydock Brass Band. Or what about climbing on army tanks to catch Roy Harper at the St. Helens Show. Great days with the endorphin rush of pure music jammed out by buzzing musicians. So here we have the debut album by The Yellow Moon Band. It follows two sold out sevens and some crazy shows at the Green Man Festival. Eight tracks of Instrumental wonk that's as darn exciting as discovering that rare side of wax that's sorta' Anatolian led rare groove in a bare chested wrestle with Be Bop Deluxe's 'Sunburst Finish' and pressed up on Vertigo. Well it might exist in the car boot of your dreams. More Hillage than Gong, more Hacket than Genesis, more Thompson than Fairport and certainly more Velvet Jacket than Leather jacket. The Freakzone friendly Yellow Moon Band will release their debut gatefold album on Static Caravan in November. Gatefold Card CD with artwork by Luke Insect. StaticCaravan-173 CD $16.25 Yorke, Thom The Eraser Rmxs PS, US This Japanese release collects all the 12-inch remixes originally found on Yorke's debut solo album "The Eraser". The Radiohead frontman asked several of his favorite artists and producers to remix these tracks (Burial, Four Tet, The Field, Cristian Vogel, The Bug, Modeselektor, Various, Surgeon), and the results are as bold and visionary as the originals. "...teems with gorgeous melodies...a testament to the singer's unique vision. 4.5 / 5" - Wired. XL CD $13.25 You Say Party We Say Die Remik's Cube PS, US Reworkings of Vancouver's YSPWSD's critically acclaimed sophomore release "Lose All Time" Featuring remixes by MONTAG, OCTOPUS PROJECT, WALLPAPER, and more! PaperBag CD $13.75 Yussuf Jerusalem A Heart Full Of Sorrow PS, US Was kind of dreading this one. The name?!!?, Heard it opens with a Death Metal song (it does) the whole thing just seemed like a bummer. Well I was wrong. Not even the opening track could ruin this record for me. If someone asked me to tell them what kind of music this is I guess I'd say folk-rock. The biggest (and best) surprise in recent memory. FloridasDyingRecords LP $11.00 Zanes, Dan & Friends The Welcome Table! Songs of Inspiration, Mystery & Good Times PS, US Dan Zanes and Friends The Welcome Table: Songs of Inspiration, Mystery, and Good Times is a collection of new and previously issued recordings for listeners of all-ages. The songs, mostly from various North American gospel traditions, include Home In That Rock, Working On a Building, Himno Guadalupano, Jesus On the Mainline, Granito de Mostaza, as well as Oseh Shalom and two new DZ originals. Among the guests joining Dan Zanes and Friends are The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Basya Schechter, and Jamaican family music superstar Father Goose. Proceeds from The Welcome Table will benefit the New Sanctuary Movement and Families for Freedom. FestivalFive CD $13.75 Zero Boys History Of... PS, US It came out of nowhere in 1982, this punk rock/hardcore fireball with the bright yellow sleeve. In one sense, The Zero Boys' Vicious Circle was yet another example of how U.S. punk seemed to peak coast to coast that year. But unlike most coastal punk, the Zero Boys were pointing the way to a scene that could accommodate heaping helpings of melody, intelligence, and rock 'n' roll sus, not just turbo-charged ferocity. From 1979 into '83, the Indianapolis based ZBs were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Proof is Vicious Circle and the two decades since of copyists, bootleggers, practitioners and reunion concert pogoers. Though before and after that LP's 1982 release they recorded the Livin' in the 80's 7", songs for three comps and released the post-mortem History Of cassette revealing their transformation into a toured band warming to the metaphysical and their demise while still waving torches of rock 'n' roll panache. Now, collected here and remastered from the original tapes is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn't all white bread numbers. Yeah, they played shows with Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and others but in Terry "Hollywood"Howe's guitar there was harmonious terror and unstoppable cadence. Terry's licks and chops - a leap beyond two or three chord punk - offered a zone and measured count for drummer Mark Cutsinger and bassist David "Tufty" Clough, a rhythm unit in par with the Minutemen if not The Meters, to run lines like quicksilver. Meanwhile, frontman, Paul "Z" Mahern provides a constant wash from beginning to end. When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early 80's punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. Between Vicious Circle and History Of, the entire recorded output of this legendary Midwest punk band's original line up is, finally, collected. - Culled from liner notes written by Jack Rabid and EricWeddle SecretlyCanadian-189 LP $11.50 Zero Boys Vicious Circle PS, US It came out of nowhere in 1982, this punk rock/hardcore fireball with the bright yellow sleeve. In one sense, The Zero Boys' Vicious Circle was yet another example of how U.S. punk seemed to peak coast to coast that year. But unlike most coastal punk, the Zero Boys were pointing the way to a scene that could accommodate heaping helpings of melody, intelligence, and rock 'n' roll sus, not just turbo-charged ferocity. From 1979 into '83, the Indianapolis based ZBs were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Proof is Vicious Circle and the two decades since of copyists, bootleggers, practitioners and reunion concert pogoers. Though before and after that LP's 1982 release they recorded the Livin' in the 80's 7", songs for three comps and released the post-mortem History Of cassette revealing their transformation into a toured band warming to the metaphysical and their demise while still waving torches of rock 'n' roll panache. Now, collected here and remastered from the original tapes is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn't all white bread numbers. Yeah, they played shows with Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and others but in Terry "Hollywood"Howe's guitar there was harmonious terror and unstoppable cadence. Terry's licks and chops - a leap beyond two or three chord punk - offered a zone and measured count for drummer Mark Cutsinger and bassist David "Tufty" Clough, a rhythm unit in par with the Minutemen if not The Meters, to run lines like quicksilver. Meanwhile, frontman, Paul "Z" Mahern provides a constant wash from beginning to end. When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early 80's punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. Between Vicious Circle and History Of, the entire recorded output of this legendary Midwest punk band's original line up is, finally, collected. - Culled from liner notes written by Jack Rabid and EricWeddle SecretlyCanadian-188 CD $11.50 Zero Boys Vicious Circle PS, US It came out of nowhere in 1982, this punk rock/hardcore fireball with the bright yellow sleeve. In one sense, The Zero Boys' Vicious Circle was yet another example of how U.S. punk seemed to peak coast to coast that year. But unlike most coastal punk, the Zero Boys were pointing the way to a scene that could accommodate heaping helpings of melody, intelligence, and rock 'n' roll sus, not just turbo-charged ferocity. From 1979 into '83, the Indianapolis based ZBs were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Proof is Vicious Circle and the two decades since of copyists, bootleggers, practitioners and reunion concert pogoers. Though before and after that LP's 1982 release they recorded the Livin' in the 80's 7", songs for three comps and released the post-mortem History Of cassette revealing their transformation into a toured band warming to the metaphysical and their demise while still waving torches of rock 'n' roll panache. Now, collected here and remastered from the original tapes is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn't all white bread numbers. Yeah, they played shows with Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and others but in Terry "Hollywood"Howe's guitar there was harmonious terror and unstoppable cadence. Terry's licks and chops - a leap beyond two or three chord punk - offered a zone and measured count for drummer Mark Cutsinger and bassist David "Tufty" Clough, a rhythm unit in par with the Minutemen if not The Meters, to run lines like quicksilver. Meanwhile, frontman, Paul "Z" Mahern provides a constant wash from beginning to end. When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early 80's punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. Between Vicious Circle and History Of, the entire recorded output of this legendary Midwest punk band's original line up is, finally, collected. - Culled from liner notes written by Jack Rabid and EricWeddle SecretlyCanadian-188 LP $11.50 Zero Boys History Of... PS, US It came out of nowhere in 1982, this punk rock/hardcore fireball with the bright yellow sleeve. In one sense, The Zero Boys' Vicious Circle was yet another example of how U.S. punk seemed to peak coast to coast that year. But unlike most coastal punk, the Zero Boys were pointing the way to a scene that could accommodate heaping helpings of melody, intelligence, and rock 'n' roll sus, not just turbo-charged ferocity. From 1979 into '83, the Indianapolis based ZBs were the finest hardcore blitz in the Midwest if not all the lower 48 states. Proof is Vicious Circle and the two decades since of copyists, bootleggers, practitioners and reunion concert pogoers. Though before and after that LP's 1982 release they recorded the Livin' in the 80's 7", songs for three comps and released the post-mortem History Of cassette revealing their transformation into a toured band warming to the metaphysical and their demise while still waving torches of rock 'n' roll panache. Now, collected here and remastered from the original tapes is the proof, if more was needed, that their take of American hardcore wasn't all white bread numbers. Yeah, they played shows with Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Subhumans, and others but in Terry "Hollywood"Howe's guitar there was harmonious terror and unstoppable cadence. Terry's licks and chops - a leap beyond two or three chord punk - offered a zone and measured count for drummer Mark Cutsinger and bassist David "Tufty" Clough, a rhythm unit in par with the Minutemen if not The Meters, to run lines like quicksilver. Meanwhile, frontman, Paul "Z" Mahern provides a constant wash from beginning to end. When the Ramones lost it, the Zero Boys found it; Adding a slam brigade fist to the Blitzkrieg Beat. The Zero Boys managed to come with one of the best early 80's punk records, or one of the best records ever, period. Between Vicious Circle and History Of, the entire recorded output of this legendary Midwest punk band's original line up is, finally, collected. - Culled from liner notes written by Jack Rabid and EricWeddle. SecretlyCanadian-189 CD $11.50 Forthcoming Releases* Abe Vigoda Reviver (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Cantankerous shoegaze poplosion! Washing & slipping through certain moments where "Skeleton" only touched on, this 5 song EP slows the mood, & crashes over your senses, getting more experimental but oddly more catchy. Squirming in a stunning act of pureness, a calming sound overtakes the senses & they destroy it all beautifully & bring it back again. PostPresentMedium CD5 $9.50 Abe Vigoda Reviver (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION. PostPresentMedium LP $9.75 And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead The Century of Self (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US New album from Brooklyn-via-Texas avant-argonauts. 15 years into their career, Trail of Dead continues to innovate and grow. At a point where many other bands would be resting on their laurels and half-heartedly tossing off greatest hits comps, Trail of Dead are just getting started. RichterScale/Justice CD $15.25 Andalusians Do The Work (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Song-writing vehicle for Basla Andolsun, who has played in BEAUTY PILL, DEL CIELO, & currently tours w/ EDIE SEDGWICK. This 3-song 7 inch comes w/ an MP3 download coupon that also features 3 extra tracks from the same recording session. Dischord 45 $4.00 Ant These Long Dark Country Roads (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, SPAIN Antony Harding was the drummer of Hefner, the British indie cult band. After releasing a couple of low key singles in 1999, ANT released a series of mini albums, albums and compilations, plus a live session with John Peel, before moving to Sweden and retiring for a while to take care of his family. After a few years of silence, ANT comes back now with a new 6 song mini album for Acuarela which features collaborations with former Hefner members Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter as well as help from members of Cornershop. Acuarela-066 CD $8.25 Appleseed Cast Sagarmantha (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US 6th studio album from the Lawrence, Kansas group. MilitiaGroup CD $13.75 Arborea House of Sticks (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, SPAIN Arborea is Buck Curran and Shanti Curran from Lewiston, Maine. Buck plays guitars, bowed strings, flutes and some banjo, and Shanti provides banjo, bowed strings, and percussion, they both sing; though Shanti sings the majority of the songs. Their songs are low-key intimate spell casting affairs; the fact that they are a couple might help to explain the seamless organic blending of their music together. Conjuring truly transportational magic out of the simplest ingredients, Arborea songs might be a hundreds of years old, and there's little here to lock them into any moment other than forever. Alligator sounds like Fred Neil backing Marissa Nadler. They also bring to mind Josephine Foster, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs, the folky side of MV & EE, Timothy Renner's various incarnations, and other similar magician/musicians. A beautifully recorded acoustic-based gem of an album with no weak track amidst the ten they grace us with. BorneRecordings/Acuarela-002 CD $12.25 Arbouretum Song Of The Pearl (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US While 2007's "Rites of Uncovering" seemed to peer down from a vantage point far above, this reaches out from within the mire itself. The songs seem to have more immediacy and urgency, propelled by heavy guitar rythms that roll like waves against a levee until they finally burst through to unleash a flood of ferocious, acid-drenched solo passages. 4-panel mini-LP style jacket ThrillJockey CD $13.00 Arbouretum Song Of The Pearl (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! ThrillJockey LP $13.00 Azita How Will You? (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! DragCity/Twos&Fews LP $15.50 Azita How Will You? (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US A collection of songs that range from sun-bright & poppy to deep-focus, torrential. AZITA stuck to straight-ahead voicings in her chords to bring heaviness to the sound, working with bassist Matt Lux (Iron & Wine, Plush) and drummer John Herndon (Tortoise) to arrange her songs with the strength of a rock & roll band throughout the album. Compelling pop music, approaching in fun, with beats, and then sinking deep & growing within you. The songs of How Will You? take a new approach for AZITA, with more space in them, more room for the melody lines to echo out, haunted & haunting. DragCity/Twos&Fews CD $13.25 Baja Aether Obelisk (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th) PS, US The Aether Obelisk is the fourth release in the Baja saga by composer Daniel Vujanic. It arrives at a broad musical horizon, touching the borderlines of forms ranging from chamber music and psychedelia, to pop/jazz-infected electronic music. The Aether Obelisk is unpredictable as ever, but definitely exploiting more vocal and repetitive elements than its predecessors. The overall mood is also less melancholic and nocturnal than previous Baja offerings. Some almost-tender sequences add more harmonic depth to the fractured signature sound of Vujanic´s suite-like compositions. It's loaded with acoustic and electric guitar textures ranging from folk to improv, synths, panoramic electronics, reverberating piano bits, horn sections, vibes, glockenspiel and multi-layered percussion - both live and programmed. "If the indie rock just isn't getting it done for you anymore, Baja's enveloping, intangible compositions may be just the guide you need to more engaging musical territory." - Tiny Mix Tapes "Vujanic is making music for the Shuffle generation, positing endless subdivisions that thus, beautifully, enable the listener to consider the music in almost anything." -Cokemachine Glow "Incredible, genre-melting... deconstructs rock norms." -The Tripwire OtherElectricities-017 CD $12.25 Baker, Keef Pen Fifteen (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, GERMANY Mighty sub-bass drones, driving, energetic beats, wonderful piano lines, atmospheric keyboards, doomy guitars, occasional vocal work - Pen Fifteen is another journey into Keef Baker's world, where unequal musical styles like trip hop, electronica and even metal are used as base plates and sometimes merge within a single note - just check out what starts as a distorted guitar and ends as click'n'cut in 'dead end'. Instead of 'eclecticism' a logical extrapolation of varied influences is displayed, whether it is post-rock, intelligent dance music, dub... in the end they become one style that can only be called Keef Baker. 11 songs of melodic harshness - loud and powerful even in their quietest moments. Expect your expectations to be confounded! CD2 'light city' - intended to be listened to without interference or pauses - a trip into sudorific clublife that keeps you moving for more than an hour. An astounding mix with well-placed increasing and decreasing speed, ranging from dubstep to techno to drum and bass to breakcore and back. This is Keef as he sounds while performing live - a great addition to a fantastic album. Hymen-771 DCD $17.50 Beirut March of the Zapotec & Realpeople Holland (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Vinyl format. ObeyYourBrain 2X12 $15.75 Beirut March of the Zapotec & Realpeople Holland (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US New album. For the past year, Beirut has alternated between touring in support of 2007's much-lauded The Flying Club Cup and writing a wealth of new material. With no sense of a release in mind, bandleader Zach Condon recorded in any style that struck his fancy. Some early discussions about recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed into a new idea: What about finding a local band in a small city in Mexico, hiring them to play some new material, and recording the result? It was a sincere challenge every step of the way. Condon had to find the band, which he did through a bandmate's mother who has connections in Oaxaca. To communicate with the performers, he hired a translator, who had to be able to speak English, Spanish, as well as Zapotec, the band members' native language. From there, he flew down to Oaxaca, traveling a half-hour out of town to the tiny weaver village of Teotitlan del Valle, where he met the nineteen members of The Jimenez Band. The ensuing weeks of recording, rewriting, and relating are documented in a series of short films (being released online in the weeks before and after the release date for March of the Zapotec). All well and good, but the six songs found on March of the Zapotec are only a part of what this release has become. Before recording as Beirut, Condon went by Realpeople for his bedroom recordings, and he has revived the name for the second half in this collection, Holland. As opposed to March of the Zapotec, Holland collects a series of songs conceived and completed at home. One song, "Venice," appeared on a compilation by The Believer magazine, while "My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille" was on the Big Change digital-only charity compilation on iTunes. Together, this album-length double release represents the totality of Condon's work over the past year. March of the Zapotec is further testament toward the inventiveness and intimacy he creates as Beirut, a band which started as one person sounding like twelve, and has developed into a particular style and sound. No matter what inspirations jumpstart any one particular song, underlying it all is the realization that Condon is a singular artist creating an original sound. What may appear at first to be two disparate paths are in reality joined by Condon's ability to craft simple melodies that sound both unique and unforgettable. It would be a misconception for Beirut's sound to be considered a dabble in various styles, folk sounds, and music histories, because one could never confuse Condon's music for the original inspiration; all his songs on this release carry more in common with each other than they do their original source of inspiration. And whether he's being inspired by Balkan folk, French chanteuse, Mexican troubadour, '80s synth pop, or '90s house, the common thread remains Condon's ability to personalize the sound. Pompeii DCD $14.25 Belmez Apariciones (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH) PS, SPAIN Jaime and Jose began the Bélmez project back in 2004, while they were working on their other band 12twelve. Marc, member of Dolores and Teresa, joined them in 2005 completing the final trio, brought together by their love of American rooted slowcore. In August 2007 they recorded with Paco Loco on analog tape and 100% live what is their first album, Apariciones, mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac) in Chicago, to be released on the Spring of 2009. A combination of powerful yet minimalistic sound, with no effects, but in which every note and every bang is fundamental. Acuarela-1089 CD $12.25 Bitter Tears Jam Tarts in the Jake (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! CarrotTop LP $11.50 Bitter Tears Jam Tarts in the Jake (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US "Jam Tarts in the Jake House" STREET DATE 3/3. Having staked their reputation on a sometimes lewd & always entertaining theatrical live show, The Bitter Tears use their new release to portray their creative growth as both musicians & storytellers. The album utilizes smart & direct pop structures to drive the menacing, old-school country twang of the songs. Known for being over-the-top, the ironic simplicity employed on tracks like "Slay The Heart Of The Earth" showcase the band's conviction. Just as in their live show, no one breaks character. The raw material for the record was written late at night & early in the morning, with a threepenny orchestra's worth of instruments to help the process along. The result sounds antique, without sounding antiquated. The bawdy tales of revenge, lust & corruption are backed by a dusty array of beat-up instruments: horns, oboes, violins...each helping to provide the same dramatic sparks that win people over on-stage. "...thank God for the creative, uber-feisty cabaret edge on this [Bitter Tears] local band's country-fried rock 'n' roll"-Chicago Tribune CarrotTop CD $11.50 Bloom, Luka Eleven Songs (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US On his eleventh record, the internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter returns to the raw live sound of his earlier releases, brimming with inspiring lyrics and sumptuous melodies. Contributors include Dave Hingerty (ex-Frames), Trevor Hutchinson, Liam O'Maonlai (ex-Hothouse Flowers), Paul Smith, Cora Venus Lunny, Ken Edge, and the Gardiner St. Gospel Choir, with backing vocals by Sinead Martin and Robbie Moore. Luka has toured with The Pogues, The Violent Femmes, Hothouse Flowers, and The Cowboy Junkies, and in all has enjoyed eighteen years of successful worldwide tours. BarNone CD $12.50 Bonnie Prince Billy Beware (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH) PS, US Though Beware shares spit with its immediate predecessor, Lie Down in the Light, its reach is longer, its arches more grandiose. Where fiddle & steel contribute their rustic timbre alongside guitars & voices, a thickening thud of low tone rolls beneath, giving the record a bottom that's fun to watch bounce in new clothes. This indensifies the air & heralds Beware as Bonny's most ambidextrous record to date. A listen or two through and you too may conclude that this could also be the great Bonnie 'Prince' Billy contempocountry record. DragCity CD $13.25 Bonnie Prince Billy Beware (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! DragCity LP $14.75 Boston Spaceships Planets Are Blasted (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION. GBVInc LP $17.25 Boston Spaceships Planets Are Blasted (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Chris Slusarenko (GBV) & John Moen (DECEMBERISTS) have never been so impressive. This nuanced & transcendent rock album culminates w/ four of ROBERT POLLARD's best songs yet. GBVInc CD $15.25 Broken Spindles Kiss/Kick (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US This is more No Wave than New Wave - & is JOEL PETERSEN's strongest work to date. With four Broken Spindles albums & five FAINT albums under his belt, he has found his voice, & has learned how to reduce songs to their basic barts w/o losing the power & excitement of great production. blank.wav CD $12.00 Brotzmann, Peter/Nilssen-Love, Paal Sweetsweat (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, NORWAY Recorded live at Sting Jazzklubb in Norway during the Maijazz Festival in 2006. The godfather of European free-jazz, Peter Brotzmann, is joined by respected Scandinavian percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love to form a musical partnership of rare & beautiful balance. SmalltownSuperjazz-143 CD $15.25 Buzz Or Howl + Astro Western Mystery School (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US This collaboration was born at the UFO Club in Tokyo. Buzz or Howl (Bruce McKenzie and Eric Nielsen) met Astro (Hiroshi Hasegawa) through mutual friend Junzo Suzuki. after a face-melting set by that duo and a celebratory, raucous set by Bruce and Eric's other band Maquiladora (with Phil Beaumont) - during which they were joined by Saya and Ueno from the Tenniscoats and Koji Shimura from Acid Mothers Temple and White Heaven - music was exchanged and plans were hatched to combine forces somehow. The music Astro took home that night was by Buzz or Howl, a fierce improvisatory psychedelic duo from southern California, using guitars, violin, synth, and lapsteel to create long tracks exploring time and tide. And tone. Through continuously evolving, fugue-like riffage drone and feedback. For the purposes of this collaboration a new instrumentation was found. After an initial flirtation with guitars, the Californians decided on a markedly more pastoral direction and an arabo-andalusian flavor for the music they had been given. Over two tracks of Astro's synth textures the same instrumentation - mandolin, strum stick, and voices, - is radically transformed by electricity. Track one is spare and celestial, a delicate acoustic track that employs spare free improvisation and a repeating ancient-sounding chord progression as a basis for both Astro's sonic flights and a lilting wordless melody. Track two explodes with feedback and a crunching assault develops from exactly the same elements, electrified. One would never know that the sonic roar is created by electric mandolin and modified vocals atop brother Astro's synthesizer. Musical imaginations have reached across the pacific for this combination of filigree and mutilation. LotusHouse-13 CD $9.75 Case, Neko Middle Cyclone (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US Neko's many fans hang on her impressionistic lyrics, classic pop harmonics, and luxurious voice, and her new album revels in all three. "Middle Cyclone" fuses her longtime themes of nature versus man into a shining lyrical broadsword. Numerous guests include M. Ward, Garth Hudson of The Band, Sarah Harmer, and members of The New Pornographers, Los Lobos, Calexico, The Sadies, Visqueen, The Lilys, and Giant Sand. Anti CD $15.50 Chin Chin Flashing, The Fancing (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US Featuring an impressive roster of side men & soloists, w/ credits including TV on the Radio, Medeski Martin & Wood, Spoon, Antibalas, Sinead O'Connor, Blonde Redhead, Cibbo Matto, Temptations, Delfonics, Glenn Miller Orchestra, & Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, this is as sophisticated as it is fun & catchy. Moody, world weary love songs sit comfortably in between psychedelic synth freak-outs & dance floor bangers. DefinitiveJux CD $15.00 Circle Hollywood (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US Finland's mighty masters of metallic hypno drone rock have been making some of the most original modern rock music since the beginning of the 90's. For fans of Krautrock, Acid. Ektro CD $15.00 Circle Saturnus Reality (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US The Finnegan's Wake of Finnish rock documentaries, & a fabulous cul-de-sac in stream of consciousness. This is not a concert film, but rather an intimate documentary which features the occassional live performance. A self-ironic vicious circle of a film that focuses on the curious worl of the band & it's musicians. NoQuarter DVD $14.00 Cloak/Dagger Untitled (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Two new songs from Richmond, VA's Cloak/ Dagger. Continuing in the Swiz and Drive Like Jehu fashion the Daggers deliver a couple of new driven anthemic tunes. Since forming in 2006, they have toured a bunch with the likes of Paint it Black, Kill Your Idols and many other contemporary punk icons. This single comes with an MP3 download coupon for all you portable punks too. JadeTree 45 $4.00 Connors, Loren The Curse of Midnight Mary (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US In 1981 guitarist Loren Connors took his tape recorder to the graveyard where the legendary Midnight Mary's grave lies in New Haven, Conn. The curse is: Anyone who gets caught in her graveyard past midnight will die the next day. But Connors, like a young fool, taped in that place, making this album that was lost and forgotten until uncovered in 2008. Recorded between Connors' eight volume Unaccompanied Acoustic Guitar Improvisations LP series and the folk albums he would make with Tom Hanford and Kath Bloom, these nine pieces meld those distinct forms. Connors, singing in a trance like moan, reforms the Mississippi Delta blues on his acoustic guitar with flashes of melodic hooks and a percussive guitar style that erupts into boogie-woogie riffs and other world spirituals. It's an album for fans of Connors' solo avant work and collaborations with Jim O'Rourke or Jandek; and will enthrall devotees of early the 20th Century blues of Blind Willie Johnson and Charlie Patton. A rare and essential peak into the still mysterious early years of this American guitar master. Recorded March 1981, at the Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, Conneticuit. FamilyVineyard-64 CD $11.50 Daisuke, Kashiwa 5 Dec. (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, JAPAN "Program Music I", released approximately a year and a half ago introduced audiences to a musical interpretation of two Japanese literary classics, "Night on the Milky Way Railroad" and "Run Melos!" and revealed the rich musical talent of Kashiwa Daisuke. As we enter the final one digit year of the new millennium, we are proud to release "5 Dec.", an album that drops hints of what's to come in the next 10 years. Kashiwa's first album released from German label, Onpa, in 2006 won rave reviews from many artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto. In his second album, "Program Music I" released the following year, Kashiwa Daisuke defined his presence once again in the world of music. The artist's lyrical melody and dynamic and inventive musical arrangements have led his work to new frontiers in TV commercials and fashion shows. Kashiwa casts also off a powerful presence on the online world through his musical + visual collaboration with Koji Nishida of RAKU-GAKU, the artist behind Kashiwa's album jackets. In his third album, "5 Dec.", Kashiwa Daisuke makes yet another step into a new horizon. In this album, the artist's signature melody with its flowing, oriental taste hides behind the shadows to be replaced by tearing voice samples and noisy and metallic guitar sounds thrashing almost violently on top of colorful uplifting beats such as break core, down tempo, bleep techno, and drum n' bass. In contrast to the aggressive sounds of the first half, the second part of the album starting with the 6th track, "Silver Moon" guides audiences to a minimal world created through electronic sounds and the piano. As a whole, the album portrays a brilliant contrast of sound. The melody of this album does not impose sentimentalism or nostalgia onto its listeners but rather, it takes them on a journey into rhythm from beginning to end. Even amidst the violent and excessive elements, there is always a composed eye seeing into the passion that lies beneath, there is a self-disciplined, strict interpretation of the world, a sublime and metallic texture... this is what the artist Kashiwa Daisuke may be all about. Turn your ears and experience the fruit of Kashiwa Daisuke's new challenge and step with him into a whole new level of musical originality. Noble-1246 CD $17.00 Davis, Miles In A Silent Way (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 14TH) PS, US Listening to Miles Davis' originally released version of In a Silent Way in light of the complete sessions released by Sony in 2001 (Columbia Legacy 65362) reveals just how strategic and dramatic a studio construction it was. If one listens to Joe Zawinul's original version of "In a Silent Way," it comes across as almost a folk song with a very pronounced melody. The version Miles Davis and Teo Macero assembled from the recording session in July of 1968 is anything but. There is no melody, not even a melodic frame. There are only vamps and solos, grooves layered on top of other grooves spiraling toward space but ending in silence. But even these don't begin until almost ten minutes into the piece. It's Miles and McLaughlin, sparely breathing and wending their way through a series of seemingly disconnected phrases until the groove monster kicks in. The solos are extended, digging deep into the heart of the ethereal groove, which was dark, smoky, and ashen. McLaughlin and Hancock are particularly brilliant, but Corea's solo on the Fender Rhodes is one of his most articulate and spiraling on the instrument ever. The A-side of the album, "Shhh/Peaceful," is even more so. With Tony Williams shimmering away on the cymbals in double time, Miles comes out slippery and slowly, playing over the top of the vamp, playing ostinato and moving off into more mysterious territory a moment at a time. With Zawinul's organ in the background offering the occasional swell of darkness and dimension, Miles could continue indefinitely. But McLaughlin is hovering, easing in, moving up against the organ and the trills by Hancock and Corea; Wayne Shorter hesitantly winds in and out of the mix on his soprano, filling space until it's his turn to solo. But John McLaughlin, playing solos and fills throughout (the piece is like one long dreamy solo for the guitarist), is what gives it its open quality, like a piece of music with no borders as he turns in and through the commingling keyboards as Holland paces everything along. When the first round of solos ends, Zawinul and McLaughlin and Williams usher it back in with painterly decoration and illumination from Corea and Hancock. Miles picks up on another riff created by Corea and slips in to bring back the ostinato "theme" of the work. He plays glissando right near the very end, which is the only place where the band swells and the tune moves above a whisper before Zawinul's organ fades it into silence. This disc holds up, and perhaps is even stronger because of the issue of the complete sessions. It is, along with Jack Johnson and Bitches Brew, a signature Miles Davis session from the electric era. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide SNYL740415.1 LP $17.50 Davis, Miles Bitches Brew (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 14TH) PS, US RESURFACED WAX!!! Sony DLP $25.25 Davis, Miles Sketches of Spain (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE APRIL 14th) PS, US Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band -- Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones -- the opportunity to record a classical work as it was. The piece, with its stunning colors and intricate yet transcendent adagio, played by Davis on a flügelhorn with a Harmon mute, is one of the most memorable works to come from popular culture in the 20th century. Davis' control over his instrument is singular, and Evans' conducting is flawless. Also notable are "Saeta," with one of the most amazing technical solos of Davis' career, and the album's closer, "Solea," which is conceptually a narrative piece, based on an Andalusian folk song, about a woman who encounters the procession taking Christ to Calvary. She sings the narrative of his passion and the procession -- or parade -- with full brass accompaniment moving along. Cobb and Jones, with flamenco-flavored percussion, are particularly wonderful here, as they allow the orchestra to indulge in the lushly passionate arrangement Evans provided to accompany Davis, who was clearly at his most challenged here, though he delivers with grace and verve. Sketches of Spain is the most luxuriant and stridently romantic recording Davis ever made. To listen to it in the 21st century is still a spine-tingling experience, as one encounters a multitude of timbres, tonalities, and harmonic structures seldom found in the music called jazz. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide SNYL740414.1 LP $17.50 Deerhunter Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION. Kranky DLP $15.75 Desario Zero Point Zero (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th) PS, US Named after Daniel Desario in the cult TV show Freaks & Geeks, Desario plays dark and sometimes threatening punchy indie-pop rock like The Smiths with balls or Felt if they were from the west coast or Modern English stripping down to Wedding Present vulnerability. Kids R.I.Y.L. Death Cab For Cutie, Built To Spill, The Shins. The band line up features former Holiday Flyer, California Oranges singer/songwriter John Conley and former Holiday Flyer, Rocketship members Mike Yoas, guitars, and Jim Rivas, drums. Mike Carr plays bass. EARLY PRESS: "I'm quite enamored with a self titled three-song disc by Desario, and if this is a taste of the forthcoming album the band's still working on (Zero Point Zero, due in October from once local indie Darla Records), it's gonna be a real peach. "Cane Cola" is all gleaming chrome over pastoral sweetness, more melodic and soaring than the reworked Joy Divisionisms of Interpol, with John Conley's friendly and inviting voice surfing over his and Michael Yoas' intertwined clean electric guitars, with bassist Mike Carr underpinning the song while drummer Jim Rivas splatters around like Moby Grape's Skip Spence on "Omaha." The second track, "Fine Time," continues the feel, while "Nautical Ways" has more jangle along with shouted background vocals. All three are winners; Desario has a sense of melody and dynamics that is captivating." Jackson Griffith, Sacramento News and Review Darla-219 CD $12.25 Dollboy A Beard Of Bees (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10th) PS, UK Written and recorded by Oliver Cherer except "He Went Down To The Sea" which is by the Monks. Dollboy is Oliver Cherer, an English artist who makes quiet, reflective semi-organic music, a hybrid of analog electronic sounds, innovative sound processing and percussive acoustic instrumentation. A Beard of Bees is Oliver's first song based album, his previous releases, Plans for a modern city (2004, Different Drummer) and Casual Nudism (2006, Arable) being instrumental records on which he created lullaby-like structures, blending together old-fashioned folk melodies and warm electronic sound scapes, with Philip Glass-style loops interspersed with scattering beats. Interest in modal music, in particularly Miles Davis 1960s records, inspired Oliver to start learning about the melody, and made him switch from composing on a computer with a sequencer to writing more fully formed tunes using guitar or piano or even glockenspiel. Like an English Victorian artist, Oliver's curiosity has led him to exploring and mixing found and dusty instruments together with peculiar showpiece technology. From 1942 glass toy glockenspiel, Brixton market bongos, flute, viola, toy piano, 50s jazz guitar played with vibraphone mallets and questionable recordings of the Austrian flood warning siren and Stanstead Express, to Gnat, a strange little English synthesizer with no keyboard, VCS3 and Korg synths, the balance of instruments on this album leans towards the organic and acoustic. The inspiration for the album is varied and ranges from tea drinking (One Liner) and geographical references (California refers to a place in the Midlands called new Invention), to more ethereal matters such as drifting through life without aim (a beard of bees), and infinity / "bigness is frightening", another particular kind of particularly English view of the world (Endless). There are even songs about generation "gaps" (jet age kids), prog jokes (Lead Boots), and a sea-shanty written in response to Melville's Moby Dick (O Ahab!). Perhaps, the thread going through all the themes is Oliver's "meditation" on Englishness. Creating post-post-industrial urban-folk, Dollboy has existed in one form or another since the first show at The Garage in 1999, where the iconic performance included a saw, a vinyl killer, Japanese poetry and live eating of pork pies. As a live act Dollboy has developed into one of the The Big Chill and Arctic Circle favorites, performing as a seven piece band as well as a solo acoustic act, constantly morphing and developing. StaticCaravan-179 CD $16.25 Elvis Perkins In Dearland S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! XL LP $14.00 Elvis Perkins In Dearland S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US The follow-up to the exquisitely melancholic and much hailed solo debut "Ash Wednesday". On this release, Elvis is joined by a talented trio of friends, all clearly influenced by a range of American roots music. At once raucous and profound, this record conjures both the greatest celebration and the saddest funeral, channeling an ageless wisdom that deepens with each listen. XL CD $14.00 English, Lawrence It's Up to Us to Live (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, PORTUGAL Sirr is very proud to present Lawrence English new album "It's Up To Us To Live", which follows the excellent album on Touch. This work unfolds and reveals Lawrence's delicate sense of textural depth while exploring densities and flows (in his own words, "only offering the occasionally moment to surface for air". A beautiful work where the sounds "emanate from distant calls of guitar, sharply cracked electronics, alien field recordings and a variety of other less identifiable sources." The cover art by renowned Australian photographer Marian Drew, from her 'Still Lives' series. It's Up To Us To Live is a distorted sonic distress beacon. It suggests a possible mapping of the increasingly cluttered sound spaces that find themselves associated with human habitation and expansion. Sirr-032 CD $16.25 Extra Golden Thank You Very Quickly (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! ThrillJockey LP $13.00 Extra Golden Thank You Very Quickly (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US 6-song wonder of a record, whose joyous danceable anthems were crafted in the wake of political & economic upheaval in Kenya. While EG's 1st 2 albums served as thesis & antithesis, this TYVQ showcases a new level of artistry that could only be referred to as synthesis. No longer a 'collaborative enconter', but a band. 4-panel mini-LP style jacket. ThrillJockey CD $13.00 Fever Ray S-T (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 24TH) PS, US Fever Ray, aka Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of THE KNIFE, is set to release her debut self-titled album. Fever Ray is the title, of both project and album, an evocation of the music's sound, intense and anxious, yet luminous. It's the culmination of work that began in 2007 when Karin and Olof, the brother-sister duo who are The Knife, decided to take time out following a handful of incredible live shows. After having her second child and eight months of the most productive daydreaming later, Karin had a batch of new songs and the raw materials for the production of Fever Ray. Unsure how to get them over the finishing line, she took half to Christoffer Berg (who mixed The Knife's work) and half to Stockholm production duo Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid for a final brush and tickle. The result is Fever Ray, an album that, while recognisably the work of the same artist, is dramatically different from The Knife. It's still constructed on electronic foundations and embellished with traditional instrumentation (guitar here, congas there). Despite some upbeat moments ("Triangle Walks," "I'm Not Done"), Fever Ray is starker, moodier, in places quite somber - less an invasion, more a slow process of colonization. Not that you'll find anything so literal in the lyrics. One thing's for sure - in a country with a wealth of leftfield pop artists, Karin Dreijer Andersson sounds like no one but herself. Constantly inventive, restlessly emotive, Fever Ray swaggers, broods, intrigues and dazzles without ever making concessions. Mute CD $14.00 Flaherty, Paul & C. Spencer Yeh w/ Greg Kelley New York Nuts And Boston Baked Beans (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, US Violinist/vocalist C Spencer Yeh & unrivaled saxophone elder-titan Paul Flaherty team up without the assistance of acclaimed drummer Chris Corsano for the first time. Along for the Jamz Is Bonkers Boston trumpeteer Greg Kelley. After performing numerous times and honing a distinct group dynamic as a trio over many years with celebrated percussionist Chris Corsano, Yeh and Flaherty decided to try it out one-on-one. The record comprises of the best from two live sets from a short duo tour in the Northeast -- at the celebrated venue Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, and Nom D'Artiste in Boston. With minimal editing, this is the sound of two people tearing at the limits of their instruments, these iconic configurations of metal and wood; hurling their respective accumulated life experience into one another, exposed and raw. The duo is likely one of the most dangerous configurations for people to interact within, musical or otherwise. Greg Kelley on trumpet is added to the mix and the results mutate into an even more mysterious form - the trumpet is indistinguishable from the vocals; the saxophone creaks so the voice doesn't have to. Important-195 CD $13.00 Fol Chen Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US "You know that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin's "Presence" album? Fol Chen sound like that. But we don't sound like Led Zeppelin. (We actually do a little.) Instead, we sound like Prince with Amon Duul II and a children's religious revival, not to mention Hot Chip, Pink Floyd, Gwen Stefani, Pere Ubu, Danielson Famile, Scritti Politti, Boards of Canada, The Blow, and Pulp. (Mostly.) We are using secret powers and the guidance of legendary DJ Donna Donna to combat our nemesis, John Shade. We are cryptic and joyful and we would like you to dance." AsthmaticKitty-53 LP $11.50 Fol Chen Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US "You know that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin's "Presence" album? Fol Chen sound like that. But we don't sound like Led Zeppelin. (We actually do a little.) Instead, we sound like Prince with Amon Duul II and a children's religious revival, not to mention Hot Chip, Pink Floyd, Gwen Stefani, Pere Ubu, Danielson Famile, Scritti Politti, Boards of Canada, The Blow, and Pulp. (Mostly.) We are using secret powers and the guidance of legendary DJ Donna Donna to combat our nemesis, John Shade. We are cryptic and joyful and we would like you to dance." AsthmaticKitty-53 CD $11.50 Gainsbourg, Serge Histoire De Melody Nelson (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 24TH) PS, US Limited Edition Vinyl LP feat. 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, and liner notes. Limited to only 2,000 copies! Sex has always sold, but presented with a landmark musical backdrop, the combination is rare as finding the elusive "G Spot". Quite often, attempts fall flaccid, missing the titillating mark by a mile. But French icon and national treasure Serge Gainsbourg is no stranger to sexual proclivities, and with his 1971 Histoire De Melody Nelson he shared an erotic tale as seductive today as the day it was released. With help from actress, amour, and inspiration Jane Birkin, arranger/conductor and co-conspirator Jean-Claude Vannier (L'Enfant Assassins Des Mouches), not to mention a tight hand picked crew of top shelf UK session musicians, Nelson is often cited as Gainsbourg's master work, an essential album for the discerning music lover. Light In The Attic's reissue of Histoire De Melody Nelson finally gives this still radical record the respect and attention to detail it so rightfully deserves. For the first time ever, this lavishly packaged and true to the original artwork CD and 180 gram LP reissue contains extensive English language liner notes and informative content explaining the times and tales behind the making of this passionate platter. Dispelling the countless myths, hearsay, and rumors surrounding Nelson, New York-based writer Andy Beta contributes a stylish essay for your edification while Finders Keepers' honcho and Twisted Nerve founder Andy Votel shares his deep knowledge of Gainsbourg and the Gallic and UK music scenes with great insight - never before have these stories been told. The maestro himself even chimes in with a period Q&A interview from France's Rock N Folk Magazine, and printed lyrics (both with English translations). So as we said before, sex sells, and yes, we are buying. With Gainsborg, Birkin, Vannier and company supplying the mood, it's our artistic pop-rock duty to explore L'Histoire De Melody Nelson with fresh ears, eyes, and hands. With its massive inspiration reaching out to the quintessential rap of De La Soul and The Beatnuts to like-minded and eclectic singer-songwriter Beck, Nelson continues to entrance. Light In The Attic looks forward to continuing to spread Gainsbourg's provocative message to thrill seekers the world over... TRACKS: 1. Melody 2. LA Ballade de Melody Nelson 3. La Valse do Melody 4. Ah! Melody 5. L' Hotel Particulier 6. En Melody 7. Cargo Culte LightInTheAttic-040 LP $20.25 Gainsbourg, Serge Histoire De Melody Nelson (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 27TH) PS, US For the first time ever, this lavishly packaged & true to the original artwork CD reissue contains extensive English language liner notes & informative content explaining the times & tales behind the making of this passionate platter. Dispelling the countless myths, hearsay & rumors surrounding Nelson, New York-based writer Andy Beta contributes a stylish essay for your edification while Finders Keepers' honcho & Twisted Nerve founder Andy Votel shares his deep knowledge of Gainsbourg and the Gallic & UK music scenes with great insight - never before have these stories been told. The maestro himself even chimes in with a period Q&A interview from France's Rock N Folk Magazine, and printed lyrics (both with English translations) LightInTheAttic CD $15.00 Gun Outfit Dim Light (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US PPM CD $10.25 Gun Outfit Dim Light (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! PPM LP $10.25 Handsome Furs Face Control (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US Just so happens to be Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner and his fiancee, Alexei Perry. The second album by this Montreal band draws inspiration from Eastern Europe and re-maps Eastern Bloc surveillance state themes to contemporary life, showing the irony of our acceptance of self-monitoring through blogs, credit/debit accounts, surveillance cameras, and GPS devices. The album's juxtaposition of cold, metronomic, electronic beats with jagged, dissonant and frail guitars convey what it is to be human in the 21st century. At the same time, it provides the means to opt out. Subpop CD $12.50 Handsome Furs Face Control (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Subpop LP $12.50 Haptic Medium (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Flingco SS is the new label from Kranky founder/righteous dude Bruce Adams. Creating densely textured works that can range from stark minimalism to violent, carefully directed chaos, Haptic combines a rigorous attention to sonic detail with restless experimentalism. The Medium consists of two sidelong tracks & includes contributions from Boris Hauf, Olivia Block & Tony Buck. LIMITED edition 180 gram vinyl with download coupon. FlingcoSoundSystem-005 LP $21.75 Hellberg, Mattias & The White Moose Out of the frying pan, into the woods (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, SWEDEN VINYL VERSION! Deluxe, gatefold, 180g double LP, includes bonus track "Lady Disgrace" which ain't on the CD! Plus download codes so you can take The Moose into the woods with you! Come on, like this retro-rock bongfest won't sound totally boss pressed into wax? And you know you need that trippy-dippy cover art in large format. PlaygroundMusicSE DLP $18.00 Here We Go Magic Here We Go Magic (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, US Developed over a two-month period of stream-of-consciousness recording in Greenpoint, Brooklyn Luke Temple's self-titled debut under his new moniker Here We Go Magic is a remarkable departure from his signature singer-songwriter material. Luke recorded the album at home using analog synths, a cassette 4-track, and his trusty SM-57 mic, coloring the sound with warmth and creating textures you want to wrap yourself in. The album opens with the trance-inducing polyrhythms and gorgeous multi-layered vocals of "Only Pieces. " What follows is an album oozing with sounds maternal and subconscious...like floating in amniotic fluid, ripe, hiccup-y and desperate to emerge. Many of the songs pulse with infectious afro-beat and kraut-rock influenced grooves, calling to mind classic albums like Remain in the Light and Graceland. In contrast, the instrumental tracks conjure mystical introspective landscapes reminiscent of Popol Vuh's unforgettable ambience. Despite the album's murky aquatic underpinnings it's hard to resist shakin what you got to ebullient blissed-out tracks like "Fangala" and "Tunnelvision." The album closes with "Everything's Big", a bleak commentary on weakness and fear birthed of opulence and gluttony. Luke's fragile tenor delivers this absurd carnival waltz with the fervor and abandon of a teetotaler under the influence, never breaking the spell of the album's mood of rejuvenation and release. WesternVinyl-57 CD $11.50 Hitchcock, Robyn Goodnight Oslo (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Stabbing horns from compatriot TERRY EDWARDS swim alongside gorgeous harmonies throughout this 10-track snapshot of his version of pop music in a perfect world. Features guest vocals from COLIN MELOY, SEAN NELSON & MORRIS WINDSOR. An album of nearly unwavering positivity. YepRoc CD $14.50 Hitchcock, Robyn Goodnight Oslo (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! YepRoc LP $16.50 Horntveth, Lars Kaleidoscopic (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, NORWAY Follow-up to the critically acclaimed debut album, Pooka, by Jaga Jazzist leader. Kaleidoscopic consists of one 37 minute long composition & was recorded with 41 members of the Latvian National Orchestra (34 string players, 3 percussionists, clarinet, flute, bass trombone & one harp), with Lars Horntveth himself playing piano, horns & clarinets. Lars' dogma in creating this album was to write the music chronologically into an open, endless score, similar to a diary. Intending for the music to flow from idea to idea, Lars wanted the score to grow 7 develop along with his state of mind. The album is a journey in sound, its form fitting somewhere between Steve Reich's Music For 18 Musicians & KLF's Chill Out. It is a musical experience from start to finish, an auditory trip into very different rooms & moods, with great contrast & surprises from one musical genre to the next. SmalltownSupersound-097 CD $15.25 Houghton, Beth Jeans "Golden" b/w "Night Swimmer" (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, UK In the past year, 18-year-old Newcastle based singer/songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton has garnered a reputation as an antidote to the current crop of acoustic songstresses. With her alternative blend of experimental folk, Beth has been hailed by the NME as "a Joni Mitchell for the anti-folk generation". With influences ranging from Frank Zappa, Vashti Bunyan, Fourtet and Love, Beth has cultivated a sound that is truly her own. Since her first performance in August 06 Beth has played alongside a diverse collection of artists such as Bon Iver, Adem, Imogen Heap, Fionn Regan, Jeffrey Lewis, Scott Matthews, Bowerbirds, Josephine Foster, Woodpigeon, White Magic, King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts, PG Six, Dead Meadow, Voice of the Seven Woods, Tom Brosseau, St Vincent, Euros Childs, Diane Cluck, Jack Savoretti and Stephen Fretwell amongst others. At last years Greenman Festival Devendra Banhart invited Beth to play one of her songs during his set on the main stage to an 8000 strong crowd describing her as, 'very lovely, a musical magician'. Beth's limited edition self-titled Debut EP is out now on Finders Keepers/Bird records, with another single due out on Static Caravan early '09 to be produced by Adem. Beth is currently writing/recording, and is gigging regularly throughout the UK Edition of 500 on 7" vinyl with 'give us a break' quiz card insert. StaticCaravan-180 45 $6.75 Hussy's, The Super Pro+ (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th) PS, JAPAN Do the departed listen to their T-Rex records in heaven? One of many questions posed on the second album by Glasgow's The Hussy's. A superabundance of hooks explains the handful of commercial licensing's already under The Hussy's belt (from Payless Shoes to MTV's The Hills and Paris Hilton's BFF), but for the rest of us, there's ALSO a solid dose of lyrical wit and humor. The punchy quintet features the sly yet substantial vocals of a lass called Fili and lead guitar of James McColl (ex-Supernaturals), while lyrical coverage takes in the semi-square, mods, roller discos, nuclear plant workers turned Russian beauty pageant contestants, and cross dressing nuns. This Japanese version of the album features "Rock Steady," "Jesus," and "Sister Mary Jo" as bonus tracks. Sorry folks, but 2007's "We Expected" mini-album is already sold out. Highly recommended. QuinceRecords-066 CD $13.50 Kebnekajse S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 31ST) PS, SWEDEN Their sound can be heard echoing in most Swedish psych/prog bands, & of course in Dungen, whose lead guitarist worked on the recording & production of this album. Known as the highest band in the land, they were pioneers w/ their instrumentals of electrified Swedish folk/fiddler music w/ psychedelic overtones. SubliminalSounds CD $16.25 Keene, Tommy In the Late Bright (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US A wide range of songs from the rollicking opener "Late Bright," to his first recorded instrumental "Elevated" & the wistful "Save This Harmony" SecondMotion CD $14.50 Keene, Tommy Painkiller (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Vast & immediate, lyrically intoxicating, musically loose & rocking or spacious & trippy. It swings from delicate psychedelic pop songs to radiotronic space rock monsters. A must listen for all Church or Kilbey fans. SecondMotion CD $14.50 Kilbey, Steve Painkiller (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Vast & immediate, lyrically intoxicating, musically loose & rocking or spacious & trippy. It swings from delicate psychedelic pop songs to radiotronic space rock monsters. A must listen for all Church or Kilbey fans. SecondMotion CD $14.50 Land of Kush Against the Day (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US A complex, intense but accessible hour of hybrid, genre-defying music. The marriage of middle-eastern, North African & western modes & influences that evades categorization from one of Montreal's most challenging & prolific musical iconoclasts, SAM SHALABI. Inspired & named after the Thomas Pychon novel, the music is broken into five sections, named for the book's chapters. Constellation CD $16.25 Last Days The Safety Of The North (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US Graham Richardson's Last Days project returns with it's latest full-length The Safety of the North. Richardson has fully embraced his cinematic tendencies, expanding his creative palette to include spoken excerpts, a vocal collaboration with Fabiola Sanchez of Familiar Trees, and a "script-based" compositional approach. Drawing on a theme first explored in Sea's "Arrival at Jan Mayen" (in which its sailor is first excited by the prospect of a distant island home, then disappointed by its barren terrain), The Safety of the North tells the story of Alice, her parents and their relocation to a remote northern land. Disappointed with the trappings of the city, they wish for a simpler, more rewarding way of life. Their arrival promises clean air, miles of snow-covered fields surrounded by forests and mountains but above all, safety and a protected existence. As dark as it is light, the Safety Of The North explores relationships, loss, recovery and how hope is the only certainty in life.. With a strict script in mind, Richardson divided the album into 15 "scenes," scoring each with a new focus on the emotional states of his characters and the settings they inhabit. Using the same tools he employs on his previous albums (i.e. field recordings, song titles, and album art), along with snippets of dialogue, monologue and more diverse instrumentation, Richardson guides the listener through Alice's initial departure, hopeful beginnings and eventual tragedy in what may be Last Days most melodic work to date. n5MD-166 CD $12.00 Lothar Montgolfier (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17th) PS, JAPAN Snappy Swedish pop gets an uncharacteristic shoegaze treatment on the debut album by Lothar, a Stockholm 7-piece (4 guitars!) whose sound was purportedly changed when the members set up their rehearsal space next to a whirring, ticking, and buzzing power station on the outskirts of the city. "...[V]ery very good stuff recalling Blonde Redhead, Stereolab, Pia Fraus and the straightforward end of Deerhoof. The guitars are set to 'noisy', the songs are very catchy and very energetic and the singer is a lady. I'd heartily recommend this to those folks who are rather fond of early Lush records." - Clinton @ Norman Records Quince-65 CD $13.50 Lovetones, The Dimensions (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 27TH) PS, US "glorious psychedelic-pop wave... A trip from start to finish" - Rolling Stone. The Lovetones released their debut album, Be What You Want in 2002 through Bomp! Records creating a palpable buzz among critics from the likes of Creem and Rolling Stone magazine. The latter hailed mainman Matthew J Tow's songwriting worthy of Ray Davies, Bowie, Lennon and McCartney: a bold statement, yet in his case, completely justified. After enjoying the critical success of Be What You Want, touring Australia extensively and even supporting Morrissey during his first ever solo Australian tour, Tow joined The Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2003 and contributed two brilliant tracks to their sonic mastery, ...And This Is Our Music. Tow's opening track Starcleaner later also appeared on the The BJM retrospective Tepid Peppermint Wonderland. In the same year, UK based Fire Records invited The Lovetones to contribute to the James Joyce Chamber Music project alongside Mercury Rev, Sonic Youth and REM's Peter Buck. 2004 saw the release of the Stars EP, coinciding with The Lovetones supporting The Brian Jonestown Massacre on their infamous and now legendary tour of Australia. The second album Meditations was released through New York's Tee Pee Records in late 2005, revealing a stunning development in Tow's songwriting and providing a soundscape of radiant pop, ethereal psychedelia and truly remarkable vocal melodies that arched for the stars. Soulful and sincere, Meditations nodded gently and respectfully to the pop masters of the sixties whilst never lacking in original vision. Returning from triumphant shows in the US in late 2005 and also at SXSW 2006, The Lovetones toured to support Meditations' Australian release in May 2006. June 2006 saw The Lovetones complete a crazed European tour across 12 countries with The Brian Jonestown Massacre in support of Meditations' release there through Tee Pee/Cargo Records, culminating in a rave album review in respected UK magazine Uncut. The Lovetones also managed to record their third album Axiom during 2006 with fervent sessions split between Figment Studios in Hollywood and the Sydney Opera House Recording Studio. More extensive touring in the US and Australia followed. Set for a November 2008 release in Australia, Dimensions is The Lovetones' fourth studio album and the latest chapter in the indie psychedelic pop legacy of frontman Matthew Tow, who remains one of Australia's most underrated songwriters. The album was recorded in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, mixed in Los Angeles by Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre/Quarter After/Black Angels) and mastered by William Bowden (one of Australia's finest mastering engineers). The Lovetones will be touring Australia in November/December before heading back to the US to support the album's North American release via Planting Seeds Records in early 2009. PlantingSeeds-060 CD $12.25 Low Frequency In Stereo, The Futuro (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, NORWAY VINYL VERSION. RuneGrammofon LP $17.75 Low Frequency In Stereo, The Futuro (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, NORWAY This is the fourth full-length release from The Low Frequency In Stereo. Founded in 2001 in Haugesund on the west coast of Norway, they have been called the band with one foot in Pompeii and one in space. With their first three albums released from 2002 to 2006, they have developed from an instrumental lo-fi-post-rock band that Pitchfork dubbed "psych-garage dronemeisters" to a full-blown, focused and fresh-sounding rock ensemble with great songs and a mix of dark atmospheres and catchy choruses. From the Eastern-tinged pop flirt of "Starstruck" to the near 10-minute cosmic groove-trip that is "Solar System," the new album from this excellent group finds them in top form and taking a big leap from their previous, Norwegian Grammy-nominated album. A sharper and more focused effort without a weak track in sight, Futuro is both industrial and rough as well as polished and streamlined. There are nods to fellow Norwegians 120 Days as well as Stereolab, Can, Joy Division and even The B-52's, but first of all, this is a group that have perfected their own sound from album to album and through periods of extensive touring, working up some well-deserved hype in the process. Per Steinar Lie (bass, organ, voice, guitars), Ørjan Haaland (drums, percussion, organ, voice) and Hanne Andersen (organ, percussion, trumpet, voice, guitars) are founding members, while Njål Clementsen (guitars, organ, piano, voice) and Linn Frøkedal (organ, voice) both joined ranks before the recording of Futuro. Clementsen and Frøkedal are also members of up-and-coming group Megaphonic Thrift. Guest musicians include Rune Grammofon-affiliates Nils Økland and Kjetil Møster (Ultralyd) and the album is produced by wonderboy Jørgen Træen, who has also worked with Jaga Jazzist, Kaizers Orchestra, The National Bank, and Sondre Lerche. RuneGrammofon CD $16.25 M. Ward End of Amnesia (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US Available for the first time on vinyl! Creating gigantic compositions w/ little more than a guitar & sparse instrumentation, Ward was thrust onto the fertile singer/songwriter scen w/ this release. His music features deft, poised guitar playing, vivid lyrical imagery, & melodies that burrow into your brain - as if they'd been there all along. FutureFarmer DLP $17.50 M. Ward Hold Time (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Well I think we can safely say that since M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel's breakout album of last year, She & Him Vol. 1, Matt Ward is now pretty much a household (read: Starbucks' and soccer moms') name. This dude is EVERYWHERE. His records continue to grow in sales and it was just announced he will be playing Coachella this year. Merge CD $13.25 M. Ward Hold Time (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Merge LP $16.50 Machine Fabriek & Stephen Vitiello Box Music (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE JUNE 10TH) PS, US Rutger and Stephen sort of accidentally met through e-mail. A simple note regarding an ordering question for a CD led to an enthusiastic e-mail conversation and climaxed in a musical collaboration. This all happened in a very short period, both musicians being very inspired by the concept of "exchange," as a means to cross space and time -- Rutger living in the Netherlands and Stephen in Virginia. Most of the time, when (electronic) musicians work together it's a matter of swapping digital files. In this case they decided to do something different and sent each other a box full of (mostly non-musical, or musically non-functional) objects and recordings, with the "assignment" to make music with those objects and all as source materials. As the titles tell, we're talking about an egg cutter, thumb piano, a broken kraakle box, rice, chocolate sprinkles, old cassette tapes, a broken 7" record, etcetera, etcetera. Both musicians made two of their own solo tracks with the box they received, and the last track was done together by Rutger adding sounds and processing to a piece started by Stephen. For Rutger/ Machinefabriek this is part of his most delicate work. For Stephen, it was a new and extremely enjoyable form of long-distance collaboration. Machinefabriek: Rutger Zuydervelt, better known as Machinefabriek, lives in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Started as Machinefabriek in 2004, he released 40+ small run home-made cdr's as well as work for Type Records, Lampse, Digitalis, Staalplaat (Mort Aux Vaches) and now 12K. A double remix cd was released in 2007, with interpetations by Alva Noto, Pita, Mitchell Akiyama, Xela, Gert-Jan Prins and many more. Collaborations (live or recording) include Steinbrüchel, Jasper TX, Wouter van Veldhoven, Simon Nabatov, Frans de Waard, Aaron Martin and Peter Broderick. Stephen Vitiello: Stephen Vitiello is a sound and media artist based in Richmond, VA. CD releases include Bright and Dusty Things (New Albion), Listening to Donald Judd (Sub Rosa) and Untitled/Exchange, a collaborative CD with Michael J. Schumacher (A Question of Re-Entry). Solo exhibitions of Vitiello's sound installations, photographs and drawings have been presented at The Project, NY, Museum 52, London, the Texas Gallery, Houston, TX and Diapason, NYC. Group exhibitions include the 2002 Whitney Biennial and the 2006 Biennial of Sydney. Over the last 18 years, Stephen has collaborated with numerous musicians and artists including Scanner, Pauline Oliveros, Andrew Deutsch, Julie Mehretu and Tony Oursler. 12K-1048 CD $12.25 Marching Dynamics The Workers Party of Haiti (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, GERMANY It was worth waiting more than a year for the second aural manifestation of S. Talada's darker self. M.D.'s unique mix of intelligent dance music, dark experimental sound layers and technoid beat'n'bass patterns enthused a large audience worldwide on the previous Nailsleeper release. Now it's the time for the workers party of Haiti to take over... Music as diverse as moody atmospheric dark ambient tunes, slow hop-beat-driven sub-bass monsters and fast dance tracks built upon hard hitting breaks. This album displays Talada's ability to merge all these styles into one instead of simply stringing them together. Crisp percussion blasts meet sound-trackish synth lines while aggravating your somatic responses - distortion from Detroit meets with Los(t) Angeles industrial gloom - dark complexity amalgamates with rhythmic intensity... "'The Workers Party Of Haiti' was my own exorcism from the demon that surrounded me and that was haunting me." (S. Talada) - join the exorcism! Hymen-773 CD $16.25 Mathieu, Stephan The Key to the Kingdom (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, GERMANY Limited/numbered 400. "The Key to the Kingdom" is Stephan Mathieu's tribute to the great gospel preacher Washington Phillips and the world of raw, early gospel on 78rpm platters. The 2-part suite, presented in the classic 10" vinyl format that comes in an authentic, individually stamped and numbered 78rpm archive sleeve, has been performed on a historic Phonoharp No.2 zither from the 1890s utilizing five E-Bows and entropic and convolution processes. "The Key to the Kingdom" is a spin-off of Mathieu's "Virginals" project, a solo recital of contemporary classics performed on historic instruments. Stephan Mathieu is a musician and sound artist based in Saarbrücken, Germany. Duri ng the last decade his music has been released on 16 critical acclaimed CDs, both solo and in collaboration with Douglas Benford, Ekkehard Ehlers, John Hudak, Janek Schaefer and Akira Rabelais on some of the finest electronic music labels worldwide (Die Schachtel, Häpna, Ritornell, Lucky Kitchen, HeadzŠ). His sound is largely based on early instruments, environmental sound and obsolete media which are recorded and transformed by means of experimental microphony, re-editing techniques and software processes involving spectral analysis and convolution and has been compared to the landscape paintings of Caspar David Friedrich and the work of Colorfield artists Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Ellsworth Kelly. Stephan is a collector of 78rpm records from the 1910s and 20s, the era of acoustic and early electronic audio recording. His most recent album "Radioland" made it into "Best of 2008" lists in The Wire, Dusted, Boomkat, Milkfactory and many others. Dekorder-028 10 $11.25 McGill, Cameron & What Army Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US warm songs for cold shoulders is the kind of record we hoped Cameron McGill would make for his Parasol debut; songs stripped down and stories laid bare. The songs show a similar vulnerability evident in many of McGill's recordings, though here he returns to the thoughtful folk musings he has made his signature. There is always enough pop to make the songs memorable, but this album deals a weightier hand than his last, the self-released Hold On Beauty (also highly recommended). Cameron is aided & abetted by vocalist Kathleen Bracken (Those Transatlantics) on a handful of duets and backed by What Army, comprised of Noah Harris (Elanors), Daniel McMahon (Wandering Sons), Rodrigo Palma (Judah Johnson) and Darren Garvey (Andreas Kapsalis Trio). Parasol-CD-110 CD $9.00 McPhee, Joe/Nilssen-Love, Paal Tomorrow Came Today (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, NORWAY Recorded in Olso's Grandsport Studio, an analog studio that perfectly captures the atmosphere & warmth of these improvisations. Free jazz legend Joe McPhee spent one day with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love in studio improvising direct to tape. The music is spontaneous, raw & groovy, but at the same time mellow, melodic & beautiful. SmalltownSuperjazz-148 CD $15.25 Mi Ami Watersports (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Quarterstick LP $13.25 Mi Ami Watersports (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US The second newest addition to our roster! San Francisco noise rhythm trio, Mi Ami, features two former members of Dischord cult band Black Eyes. The DC natives have graduated from the angular post h/c steeze into organic, hyper-percussive, post Arthur Russell territory. They have been featured in the Fader and last month's 12" was just reviewed in the New York Times yesterday. This is their first full length. They are on tour constantly and their live show (which frequently evolves into a full on post-Burning Man tribal drum circle) will blow your mind. Quarterstick CD $12.00 Minus The Bear Acoustics (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Originally released as a tour only cd, this album contains seven exclusive tracks of MTB doing acoustic (in case the title didn't give it away) versions of some of their classic material. Contains two Menos El Oso tracks (S047), three Planet of Ice tracks (S065), a track off Highly Refined Pirates (S021) and one BRAND NEW SONG. SuicideSqueeze LP $10.75 Monks, The Black Monk Time [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH) PS, US Rerelease of The Monks' notorious 1966 album, their one and only, lavishly packaged, lovingly remastered. The Monks were American G.I.s based in Germany who created batshit-primal garage-punk and dressed accordingly. Details, release date and price TBC. LightInTheAttic CD $15.25 Monks, The The Early Years 1964-1965 (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH) PS, US * Limited Edition Vinyl LP features 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, lyrics, and notes. Tracklist - 1. Monk Time 2. We Do Wie Du 3. Boys Are Boys 4. Pretty Suzanne 5. Higgle-dy Piggle-dy 6. Hushie Pushie 7. Love Came Tumblin' Down 8. Oh, How To Do Now 9. Space Age 10. I Hate You Bonus Tracks: 11. Boys Are Boys 12. There She Walks LightInTheAttic LP $21.75 Monks, The Black Monk Time (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH) PS, US Limited Edition Vinyl LP features 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, lyrics, and notes. Today, "garage," "psych," and "punk" are three overused words to say the least. They're dropped from every direction to brand, market, and sell, but looking back to the mid-1960s, there was only one group of musical mavericks that clearly defined them. The Monks were five beat playing American GIs stationed in Germany who, after their discharge, decided to stay and continue their musical mission. Meeting up with a team of local managers, they transformed themselves and their sound into a holy racket like the world had never known. This five-person order literally birthed the above genres through a fuzz-drenched evolution of sound, bursting with social commentary and future primitive rhythms. Krautrock? It started here. Do we hear non-believers? We are NOT making this up. If you aren't already converted, it won't take long... Light In The Attic is ecstatic to present the Monks recorded legacy through two lavishly packaged and lovingly researched reissues (available on CD, LP, and digital download): The Early Years 1964-1965 as well as their landmark studio album Black Monk Time. Numerous period photographs (many unseen) and an extensive two-part essay by Canadian music journalist Kevin Howes (Jamaica-Toronto series) accompany both releases and tell the Monks story like it has never been told. Bonus material dating back to pre-Monks Torquays and up to post Black Monk Time 7"s are also included. From "Shut Up" to "Boys Are Boys", "Complication" to "Cuckoo," worlds will collide before you very eyes. Press play, drop the needle, zone in, and see for yourself. And while there's no need to shave your head, you'll certainly flip your wig. Come on everybody, its Monk Time! TRACKS: 1. Monk Time 2. Shut Up 3. Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice 4. Higgle-Dy - Piggle-Dy 5. I Hate You 6. Oh, How To Do Now 7. Complication 8. We Do Wie Du 9. Drunken Maria 10. Love Came Tumblin' Down 11. Blast Off! 12. That's My Girl Bonus Tracks: 13. I Can't Get Over You 14. Cuckoo 15. Love Can Tame The Wild 16. He Went Down To The Sea 17. Pretty Suzanne 18. Monk Chant (Live) LightInTheAttic-042 LP $21.75 Monks, The The Early Years 1964-1965 (PRE-ORDER: APRIL 14TH) PS, US Collection of The Monks' singles anmd extraneous genius, lavishly packaged, lovingly remastered. The Monks were American G.I.s based in Germany who created batshit-primal garage-punk and dressed accordingly. Details, release date and price TBC. LightInTheAttic CD $15.25 Morrissey Years of Refusal (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION. LostHighway LP $10.75 Morrissey Years of Refusal [deluxe edition] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Deluxe version of new CD comes w/ a bonus DVD of videos, live performances and an interview w/ Russell Brand. LostHighway CD/DVD $19.00 Morrissey Years of Refusal (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US PITCHFORK: "Morrissey and his Tormentors continue their 21st century winning streak with a record that, while offering no new twists or surprises, finds the former Smiths co-leader in strong voice-- both as a singer and songwriter." LostHighway CD $15.00 Mountains Choral (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US BRANDON ANDEREGG & KOEN HOLTKAMP seamlessly blend pastoral electronic sounds with both field recordings & a plethora of acoustic instruments. The resulting soundscapes are broad in scope & rich in detail, often compared to artists such as Brian Eno & Fennesz. CD version is presented in a 4-panel mini-LP style jacket. ThrillJockey CD $13.00 Mountains Choral (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION, limited to 1000 worldwide, includes 2 vinyl-exlcusive tracks and a download coupon. ThrillJockey DLP $14.50 Mummies Play Thier Own Records (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US After long years in remission, this release is back in circulation. By the turn of 1990, The Mummies were fed up with the records of their time. Not content to take things lying down, these cut-rate visionaries put out a bunch of their own. So pleased were they with those 45s, that they recorded a mix tape. In 1992, they convinced Estrus Records to release it as the standard long player, "The Mummies: Play Their Own Records," which sold out sometime in 2005. Relive those lazy, hazy, crazy days of the twilight years of the last century with this LP. Estrus LP $12.00 Murder City Devils Empty Bottles Broken Hearts [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Subpop LP $12.50 Murder City Devils In Name & Blood [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US On this their third full-length record, The Murder City Devils demonstrate the notion or Rock and Roll as a life or death proposition: tales of love lost (or destroyed), the doomed romanticism of the road (and an innate inability to deny its call), and suffering the slings and arrows of fate (outrageous or otherwise...). "With head, heart and hands - in name and blood." Subpop LP $12.50 Murder City Devils Thelema [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US A departure of sorts, the six songs on Thelema (five new and one, "364 Days," taken from the b-side to a limited Paper Bag Series 45) find the six-piece exploring musical terrain that is as informed by the obstacles of their past as it is by an ambitious quest for the unconquered. It's a sound that can't be compared to the influences constantly referenced in early reviews of the band. Having served their purpose, those influences and markers have crumbled away and with Thelema The Murder City Devils have honed a vitality and style entirely their own, one that is elastic in structure, profound in its lyrical content, and melodic-yes, melodic-in tone. Subpop 12 $9.75 Murder City Devils S-T [re-issue] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Subpop LP $12.50 My Bloody Valentine Loveless [2009 expanded remaster] (DELAYED. PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 2009) PS, UK New, expanded, digipak version of MBV's otherworldly 1991 shoegaze classic, digitally remastered by MBV honcho Kevin Shields. Second disc is reported to be a alternate and previously unreleased version of Loveless remastered from original analog tapes. Sony DCD $23.00 My Bloody Valentine Isn't Anthing [2009 remaster] (DELAYED. PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 2009) PS, UK New, 2009 re-issue in a digipak, digitally remastered by Kevn Shields. SonyBMG CD $21.75 Neva Dinova S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US Originally self-released in 2001, this self-titled full-length debut is now re-issued with two bonus tracks. Their haunting, three-guitar swirling debut was heralded as a "Top 10 Release of 2002" by the LA Times. Following a split EP in 2004 with Bright Eyes ("One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels"), and a second album, "The Hate Yourself Change" in 2005, the band released their third full-length, "You May Already Be Dreaming" last year. SaddleCreek CD $10.00 New Ruins We Make Our Own Bad Luck (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Limited to 500, pressed on brick red wax. AHiddenAgendaRecord-092 LP $10.00 New Ruins We Make Our Own Bad Luck (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, US We Make Our Own Bad Luck is the new album from Illinois rock act New Ruins, the follow-up to their first release, The Sound They Make, from 2007. Droning acoustic/electric rock haunted by rural spectres, songs rendered in sepia-tone, but updated with DIY studio machinations. Since their debut the original duo of songwriters J. Caleb Means and Elzie Sexton has expanded into a quintet, featuring bassist/multi-instrumentalist Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet), drummer Roy Ewing (Braid, Very Secretary), and Andrew Davidson (Tractor Kings, Chemicals) on bass and auxiliary percussion. New Ruins is a band as comfortable in a stage-shaking three-guitar line-up as it is in a more intimate stripped-down acoustic setting. ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "Dark-hued pop music that strikes a balance between melody-driven pleasure and guitar-fueled malaise." AHiddenAgendaRecord-092 CD $9.00 Ocean Pantheon Of The Lesser (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE NOVEMBER 11TH) PS, US 2xLP to follow in about one month. Following their acclaimed breakthrough debut album that caught the ears of critics and fans worldwide, and became Important's highest selling album, Ocean has returned with their forward thinking, brutally heavy and purely minimalist sophomore album Pantheon Of The Lesser. Pantheon Of The Lesser was composed over a period of two years in Ocean's home studio in Portland, Maine. As the seasons passed each track was written, re-written, played and then re-played as layers were slowly stripped away until the true essence of the song was revealed. Once Ocean entered the studio it took another two years to deconstruct Pantheon Of The Lesser until they had found the essence of their writing. This disciplined deconstructionist approach to songwriting is how Pantheon Of The Lesser is how Ocean takes it to the next level of the abyss. The result of this compositional technique is over an hour of strictly bare instrumentation and a kind of natural heaviness that slowly rises and falls in a pure organic fashion. Everything in it's own time. Simply profound. Heavy like Schoenberg. While Ocean continues to explore and expand upon their "less is more" approach of profound musical minimalism and sheer heaviness, Pantheon Of The Lesser is a bit more musical than its predecessor. The Beacon, the opening track on Pantheon Of The Lesser, was played as Ocean's complete set on a recent US tour and on dates with Mono and Boris. Clocking in at 41 minutes on record and over an hour live; The Beacon evolves in 3 distinct movements with fleeting moments of hypnotic melody and earth shaking heavy dirges creating an all-encompassing tone of pure misanthropy. The second and final track on Pantheon Of The Lesser, titled Of The Lesser, carries a similar theme of misery. Written as an ode to distraction, chemical and otherwise, it is Ocean at their most personal: a pure sonic stream of consciousness in slow motion. Packaged in a deluxe foil printed heavy-duty cardboard jacket with art by renowned Maine illustrator Bruce Hutchison. The vinyl version is packaged in double 200 gram vinyl, packaged in deluxe letter pressed covers and limted to 500 copies. Important-219 CD $13.00 Odawas The Blue Depths (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, US At first glimpse of the album art - details from Helen Maurene Cooper's Birds Of Appetite series - it becomes apparent that a certain surreal quality will mark the contents within The Blue Depths. A sense of longing and desire is buried within the dizzying layers. Odawas heighten the more subtle components of previous efforts, unashamedly giving into their love of Vangelis' romanticism, Eric Serra's dusky mysticism, and the sweeping, Southwestern strings of Jack Nitzsche. They demonstrate their mastery of nudging to the edge of the over the top with enchanting results. The Blue Depths is an album for warmer places, a balmy haze habitat for headphone meanderings. This is a dream world where Neil Young and Jimmy Webb float in the reverb saturated summer breeze. The solemn harmonies of "Moonlight/Twilight" drift between sheets of stirring bowed bass murmur as shimmering guitar notes ebb and flow underneath. Bursts of yearning harmonica arc over ethereal soundscapes in "The Case Of The Great Irish Elk." The jubilant piano of "Harmless Lover's Discourse" gives way to the most startling pop moment of the album, a soaring bed of synth propelled by a driving bass line and vibrant rhythms. Pulses of light extend towards the murky crevasse of the subconscious: these depths never looked so enticing. - Joel Beeman Jagjaguwar-138 CD $11.50 Odawas The Blue Depths (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, US At first glimpse of the album art - details from Helen Maurene Cooper's Birds Of Appetite series - it becomes apparent that a certain surreal quality will mark the contents within The Blue Depths. A sense of longing and desire is buried within the dizzying layers. Odawas heighten the more subtle components of previous efforts, unashamedly giving into their love of Vangelis' romanticism, Eric Serra's dusky mysticism, and the sweeping, Southwestern strings of Jack Nitzsche. They demonstrate their mastery of nudging to the edge of the over the top with enchanting results. The Blue Depths is an album for warmer places, a balmy haze habitat for headphone meanderings. This is a dream world where Neil Young and Jimmy Webb float in the reverb saturated summer breeze. The solemn harmonies of "Moonlight/Twilight" drift between sheets of stirring bowed bass murmur as shimmering guitar notes ebb and flow underneath. Bursts of yearning harmonica arc over ethereal soundscapes in "The Case Of The Great Irish Elk." The jubilant piano of "Harmless Lover's Discourse" gives way to the most startling pop moment of the album, a soaring bed of synth propelled by a driving bass line and vibrant rhythms. Pulses of light extend towards the murky crevasse of the subconscious: these depths never looked so enticing. - Joel Beeman Jagjaguwar-138 LP $11.50 Old Canes Early Morning Hymns (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US NOW ON VINYL! APPLESEED CAST frontman, Chris Crisci, departs from space rock & moody atmospherics fro a multi-instrumental fuzz-folk experience featuring the talents of Jordan Geiger (MINUS STORY) & Nathan Richardson (CASKET LOTTERY). Layers of home-recorded toy pianos, glockenspiels, children's xylophones, trumpets, & cellos combine w/ the traditional folk-rock instrumentation of acoustic guitars, banjos, & harmonica to form an eerie mix of Daniel Johnston, Van Dyke Parks, & Marc Olsen. SecondNature LP $17.50 Our Love Will Destroy The World Stillborn Plague Angels (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, GERMANY The gates of Birchville Cat Motel crack, creak wide, and crash, unleashing a gush of soul-fried bleakness and love-damage stained with a defiantly metallic pose. Thats 'METALLIC... as in, has the surface qualities of metal' not 'METAL... as in, has the surface qualities of Metallica'...step back you freaks. Although the broken bricks of BCM are still plain to see amid the burning wreck and ruin, 'Stillborn Plague Angels' represents the first fully formed sentence in a new chapter of Campbell Kneale's ongoing tome of star-spangled, psychedelic, noise-OM. Cholesterol shaving guitar peeks over the trench to survey an adrenalized landscape of endless roaring catastrophe... Everything louder than everything else! Our Love Will Destroy The World is the new one-man project by New Zealander Campbell Kneale after disbanding BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL. In the past Kneale has released albums on Ecstatic Peace, Corpus Hermeticum, Last Visible Dog, Conspiracy and his own Celebrate Psi Phenomena label. He has collaborated with Lee Ranaldo, Neil Campbell, Bruce Russel, John Olson (Wolf Eyes), Yellow Swans, has toured throughout Japan, Europe, America and Australia and also records und the names Black Boned Angel and Ming. "Stillborn Plague Angels" is the debut LP by this new project. Dekorder-030 LP $13.50 Outrageous Cherry Universal Malcontents (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US This new set of pop songs once again showcases the band's distinctive mid-seventies sensibilities. The album is evocative of artists such as early Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople, Sparks, 10cc & Eno, & meanders at times into the improvisation realms charted by Amon Duul 2, Man, & early Soft Machine. They have reached well-deserved cult status by releasing amazing psych/pop albums on labels such as Bar None, Mind Expansion, & Alan McGee's Poptones. Alive CD $13.50 Pan American White Bird Release (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, US The sixth album from Mark Nelson's longtime solo project following Quiet City. "...a mix of warmth & foreboding expansiveness, neither of which is minimal nor overdone" -Dusted (about Quiet City). Kranky-128 LP $13.00 Pan American White Bird Release (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, US The sixth album from Mark Nelson's longtime solo project following Quiet City. "...a mix of warmth & foreboding expansiveness, neither of which is minimal nor overdone" -Dusted (about Quiet City). Kranky-28 CD $13.50 Paramount Styles Failure American Style (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE JULY 7TH) PS, US This is the 1st solo outing from Scott McCloud (GIRLS AGAINST BOYS). Feat. Richard Fortus (PSYCHEDELIC FURS/GUNS N' ROSES), Alexis Fleisig (Girls Against Boys), & Angela McClusky. The sound of dark forces gathering in a radiant club, at times intimate & at others soaring, slow burns bend & swerve into panoramic lush walls of sound. Konkurrent CD $13.25 Parker, Evan / Jaker Flaten, Ingebrigt Brewery Tap (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, NORWAY Brewery Tap is the duo of free jazz saxophonist Evan Parker & Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten. The recordings on this disc were recorded live at Oslo Jazz Festival the 13th of August 2007 at the Belleville venue. SmalltownSuperjazz-160 CD $15.25 Peter Bjorn And John Living Thing (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 31ST) PS, US New album, details and price TBC. AlmostGold/StarTime CD $13.75 Reichmann, Josh Oracle Band Crazy Power (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US LIMITED edition LP returns to music w/ an entirely new lineup of collaborators, now gathering from a pool of soul, early-funk, roots and dark punk influences. Stevie Wonder meets the Stooges. PaperBag LP $17.00 Sand Pebbles A Thousand Wild Flowers (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US A "best of" compilation from the Australian psych-rock outfit. Influences range from Stones to Spacemen 3 to Stooges to Alice Coltrane, sometimes they sound like Sonic Youth, sometimes like the Byrds DoubleFeature CD $13.50 Schaeffer, Janek Extended Play [Triptych for the child survivors of war and conflict] (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE JUNE 10TH) PS, US LIMITED EDITION 600. LINE is proud to release the latest audio work from British composer and installation artist Janek Schaefer based on his installation of the same title. Installation Reviews: "a piece to return to again and again... haunting and lulling" [The Wire, UK] "so inspirational, and in many ways very spiritual" [Gerry Turvey] "I was so deeply touched by your piece" [Mandeep Kaur Samra] Red is the colour of Life, of Death, and of Love. Scarlett, my first child, was born in 2005, and since then I have been very aware of how lucky we all are. have been constantly comparing this to the fact that my mother was born in Warsaw in 1942 - the epicenter of World War II. How opposite can two beginnings be? This inspired me to produce the Extended Play installation, which continuously and positively celebrates hope and new beginnings, for child survivors in all situations around the world. The original idea for the composition came from learning about the 'Jodoform' system of secret musical messages that were broadcast by the BBC Service, during music they played was given a particular meaning, which was interpreted by Polish Underground. Discovered from the original Jodoform logbook, that the lovely Polish folk song 'Tango Lyczakowskie', was broadcast on the day my mother was born. Song describes how children in 1918, had been forced to take up arms, in defense of their town. From this tune, chose a short rising musical phrase, and with my arranger Michael Jennings, developed a ten-minute score. Each of the three solo parts was then recorded separately, edited, and cut onto vinyl. In the gallery, 3 x Cello EP's, 3 x Piano EP's, and 3 x Violin EP's are played at either 33, 45, or 78rpm using nine retro record players. These play continuously, and each was modified to stop playing briefly in response to the audience moving around the exhibition. This has the effect of changing and extending the composition, so that it is never the same again. Line-036 CD $12.25 School Of Seven Bells Alpinisms (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, US 180 gram gatefold vinyl. Includes CD version inside. LIMITED TO 1000! GhostlyInternational-081 LP $14.00 Sholi S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Quarterstick LP $13.25 Sholi S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US The very newest addition to the Quarterstick/ TG family is also a three piece from San Francisco (like Mi Ami, below). Payam Bavafa (vox, gt) and Jonathan Bafus (drums) started playing music together while studying at UC Davis, by 2006 they had solidified their line-up with the addition of bass player Eric Ruud. They recorded a demo and sent it to Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, who in turn produced this, their first full length album. Equally assured and introspective, Sholi present a stunning debut. Their record release show will be inaugurated at SF's Noise Pop Festival on Feb.28th at Bottom of the Hill. Quarterstick CD $12.00 Silk Flowers S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US This is a limited edition of 500 7" from NYC's artiest new band and PPM's newest roster addition, Silk Flowers. Ex-members of Soiled Mattress and the Springs, Corpse Kisser, and Emergency bring some 4 track magic that sounds kinda like a chopped and screwed Kraftwerk, with some definite nods to their NYC contemporaries on the Sacred Bones roster (Nice Face, Factums, Blank Dogs, etc..). Expect a full length on PPM this year and hopefully some tour news in the near future. PPM 45 $4.50 Sleeper Behind Every Mask (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Sleeper's latest instrumental release, Behind Every Mask, is a tour de force of digital intrigue, all thick percussion bombs and mysterious electronic pranks showcasing creativity on full tilt. Bypassing most of the stock studio tools of his trade, he has constructed the album using personally modified electronics, sound generators, and effects units, and even turned a dot matrix printer into a drum machine. A light snare might appear amidst juggernauts of hissing, lo-fi samples while patches of sonic luminance amidst the grainy din to keep you guessing. More meditative than maudlin, Behind Every Mask is simply further proof that Sleeper can weld mood and music with the best of Sleeper is an auteur of claustrophobic, sample-based hip-hop production. His work, both as an accomplished musician, and as a respected tattoo and visual artist balances a breadth of spirit with worldly, emotional depth. Finding influence and community in the worlds of classic hip-hop and artistic, experimental rock, Sleeper fills his tracks with sound, but when working with an MC, has a gift for leaving the MC just enough room to create or with the luxury of saying more by saying less. His music is lo-fi with purpose: grainy sounds are used to lend atmosphere to larger, modern electronic sound collages, grimy drums sound out familiar hip-hop patterns beneath thick layers of sound. Sleeper is a craftsman in the truest sense of the word. Mush-257 CD $9.00 Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Communion [domestic vinyl version] (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION! Translucent wax in a swank double-gatefold jacket, comes with download codes, made in USA. Domestic DCD will be released March 3rd. YepRoc/Akashic DLP $21.00 Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Communion [domestic version] (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US Swedish power pop-psychedelicists The Soundtrack of Our Lives return in force with the Communion, a double album opus containing 24 tracks dedicated to the moods of each hour of the day and night. On Communion, their first album in nearly four years, caftan-sporting Norseman Ebbot Lundberg and company blast through a veritable pharmacopeia of musical medication for the often insidious symptoms of modern society. But here Soundtrack not only point out the ills experienced by modern man, they offer actual cures in the form of buzzing guitars and glistening pop rock anthems. Despite already counting Grammy nominations (Behind the Music, 2003) opening slots for the icons of rock (The Rolling Stones, U2, The Black Crowes, Oasis) and nearly never ending headlining tours of the world as career milestones, the breadth and intensity of Communion knows no equal in the band's catalog and reminds the world why The Soundtrack of Our Lives remains one of rock's most profound and eccentric voices. YepRoc/Akashic DCD $15.00 Speck Mountain Some Sweet Relief (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH) PS, US Following their debut release of "Summer Above", Speck Mountain releases "Some Sweet Relief." Written about the rapture and consequences of desire, this album can truly relieve the mind with its beautiful simplicity. By combining the strength of Marie-Claire Balabanian's lungs with the intuitive, spiky rhythms of Karl Briedrick's guitar, the two writers have been called "musical soul mates." The songs have been filled out with piano, organ, sax, and vintage effects, the mixes booby-trapped all over with headphone-happy detail. CarrotTop CD $11.50 Speck Mountain Some Sweet Relief (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! CarrotTop LP $11.50 SubractiveLAD Where the Land Meets The Sky (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US Bonus CD is limited to 1000. Producing five albums of high quality in only five years is a monumental task. Yet, this is precisely what Stephen Hummel, who records as SubtractiveLAD, has done and with seeming ease. With "Where The Land Meets The Sky", Hummel's fifth full-length for n5MD, the SubtractiveLAD sound has been perfected to such effect that it allows Hummel to concentrate on conveying his deepest feelings rather than the processes that go into music making. The album serves as an extension of Hummel's previous album "Apparatus" (2008) and effortlessly flows between such genres as shoegaze, armchair electronica, post-rock, and classic ambient. Stylistically it seems far away from his debut "Giving Up The Ghost" and in theory it is. Yet, Hummel has led us on a journey that for the patient has yielded great rewards. The first 1000 copies of "Where The Land Meets The Sky" come with a bonus disc of over 45 minutes of SubtractiveLAD style classically influenced ambient. n5MD-165 DCD $12.00 Technical Itch You Need Therapy (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE SEPTEMBER 9TH) PS, US Technical Itch is the legendary drum n bass artist behind the worldwide phenomenon "THERAPY SESSIONS" club night. From London to Moscow to Philadelphia to Mexico City, Therapy Sessions is unrivaled for the sounds of the heaviest drum n bass music. Technical Itch is the godfather of the movement, with albums on Moving Shadow, and collaborations with Dieselboy, Dylan, Gein, and more. This mix is a stunning representation of the Technical Itch live set - 28 tracks packed into 80 minutes, masterful set programming with peaks, valleys, and change ups into rock and metal, highlighting the flexibility and integration of drum n bass into the musical landscape. Brutal, passionate, and perfect, this is at the level of the best mix output of Dieselboy. OhmResistance-9M CD $13.00 These Are Powers All Aboard Future (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Don't fear the future. These are Powers have come to conjure the new musical golden age you've been waiting for-one of insistence, intensity, and light. And yes, you can dance to it. These Are Powers are known for the dissonance of their early recordings, a cacophony of rhythms and industrial/electronic experiments that recalled Throbbing Gristle one moment, DNA the next. Once rule-breakers, the band is now rewriting those rules with a newfound focus: behold All Aboard Future. Exotic, abstract, handcrafted sounds-made, found and electronically born-underscore each of these nine songs. Some wail from Pat Noecker's prepared bass; others stem from the idiosyncratic vocal and guitar style of Anna Barie. The two trade off vocal duties, and in the process dissonant sounds become melodies held together and torn apart in fits by Bill Salas' electro-acoustic beats. At first listen, much of Salas' rhythmic contribution sounds as if it could be pre-programmed, but these abstract rhythms are all performed live, interspersing nods to Timbaland with an appreciation for a car crash's metal-on-metal grind. Ferocious and unhinged, when These Are Powers perform live, it is a kind of spiritual journey, a futuristic fire dance hailing from Chicago and Brooklyn. The bass smolders, topping its low-end sub-rumble with a high-end flutter; abstract beats emanate from the electro-acoustic stand-up drum kit. And piercing through is Anna Barie's guitar while she and Noecker call and respond. Barie blasts through a litany of expressive guitar sounds and full-throated yelps and howls with a confrontational, explosive energy that often finds her entangled with audience members, leaping through the air, or sprawled on the floor in front of the stage. With All Aboard Future, These Are Powers have embraced collaborators, demonstrating their participating in not only a music community, but a community of ideas. The band invited 13 visual artists from Chicago, New York and Beijing to interpret All Aboard Future, either drawing from the musical ideas of the album or solely the album title. The artwork adorns the pages of All Aboard Future's accompanying booklet. Photography, painting, collage, text and more-the record becomes the collective expression of artists creating in many media. All Aboard Future was written and recorded in Chicago during the summer of 2008, and follows the band's 2007 debut LP, Terrific Seasons, and 2008's six song Taro Tarot. All Aboard Future is not just a new album from These Are Powers. It's a seismic shift. A new idea. And the sentiment is real. All Aboard Future! DeadOceans-023 CD $11.50 These Are Powers All Aboard Future (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Don't fear the future. These are Powers have come to conjure the new musical golden age you've been waiting for-one of insistence, intensity, and light. And yes, you can dance to it. These Are Powers are known for the dissonance of their early recordings, a cacophony of rhythms and industrial/electronic experiments that recalled Throbbing Gristle one moment, DNA the next. Once rule-breakers, the band is now rewriting those rules with a newfound focus: behold All Aboard Future. Exotic, abstract, handcrafted sounds-made, found and electronically born-underscore each of these nine songs. Some wail from Pat Noecker's prepared bass; others stem from the idiosyncratic vocal and guitar style of Anna Barie. The two trade off vocal duties, and in the process dissonant sounds become melodies held together and torn apart in fits by Bill Salas' electro-acoustic beats. At first listen, much of Salas' rhythmic contribution sounds as if it could be pre-programmed, but these abstract rhythms are all performed live, interspersing nods to Timbaland with an appreciation for a car crash's metal-on-metal grind. Ferocious and unhinged, when These Are Powers perform live, it is a kind of spiritual journey, a futuristic fire dance hailing from Chicago and Brooklyn. The bass smolders, topping its low-end sub-rumble with a high-end flutter; abstract beats emanate from the electro-acoustic stand-up drum kit. And piercing through is Anna Barie's guitar while she and Noecker call and respond. Barie blasts through a litany of expressive guitar sounds and full-throated yelps and howls with a confrontational, explosive energy that often finds her entangled with audience members, leaping through the air, or sprawled on the floor in front of the stage. With All Aboard Future, These Are Powers have embraced collaborators, demonstrating their participating in not only a music community, but a community of ideas. The band invited 13 visual artists from Chicago, New York and Beijing to interpret All Aboard Future, either drawing from the musical ideas of the album or solely the album title. The artwork adorns the pages of All Aboard Future's accompanying booklet. Photography, painting, collage, text and more-the record becomes the collective expression of artists creating in many media. All Aboard Future was written and recorded in Chicago during the summer of 2008, and follows the band's 2007 debut LP, Terrific Seasons, and 2008's six song Taro Tarot. All Aboard Future is not just a new album from These Are Powers. It's a seismic shift. A new idea. And the sentiment is real. All Aboard Future! DeadOceans-023 LP $14.25 Thieves Like Us Play Music (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24TH) PS, US Vinyl. Thieves Like Us is a musical vehicle -- an elegant starship, pointed straight to the heart of the listener. Although they encompass a variety of influences, they ultimately consider themselves to be a pop band. Yes, the production style is both disco & hip-hop, but the sheer strength of the melodies & emotional depth of the songs makes them classics (think LCD Soundsystem, New Order, Daft Punk, Digitalism). But no matter how you interpret Thieves Like Us if you have a pulse, you'll know their songs by heart already Shelflife LP $12.25 Thirteenth Assembly, The (un)sentimental (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 24th) PS, US Though each member of the 13th Assembly is acclaimed in their own right (including Taylor Ho Bynum who has worked extensively with Anthony Braxton) this group is very much a singular musical experience. A planned NPR piece should help raise exposure for this sublime recording. The Thirteenth Assembly began as a touring collective made up of four musicians and four musically distinct small ensembles: Tomas and Taylor's duo; Mary and Jessica's duo; Taylor's trio with Mary and Tomas; and the collaborative quartet featured on this recording. The group is a microcosm of an exciting community of young New York musicians that is beginning to receive international attention, a new generation of artists comfortable referencing AACM and Morton Feldman, Otis Redding and the Melvins, yet dedicated to finding their own individual and collective voices. While each musician in the Thirteenth Assembly brings a highly varied and diverse set of influences and aesthetics to the table, the shared experiences and long friendships help create a powerfully unified ensemble sound. From the soul-inflected lyricism of Pavone's Hate Fields to the driving jazz energy of Fujiwara's Chantal to the distorted power chords of Halvorson's Pinched, (un)sentimental traverses many stylistic paths, but the album as a whole captures a snapshot of contemporary music at its most exciting. The Thirteenth Assembly began as a touring collective made up of four musicians and four musically distinct small ensembles: Tomas and Taylor's duo; Mary and Jessica's duo; Taylor's trio with Mary and Tomas; and a newly formed collaborative quartet. We see this project as a chance for us to pool our resources, to work together and support each other through all the creative and business complexities of music making. In live performances, each group performs a short set, but this CD focuses on the quartet music. Important-231 CD $13.00 Throw Me The Statue Purpleface (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Purpleface is the new EP from Seattle band Throw Me The Statue. The four-piece, led by founder/frontman Scott Reitherman, has spent the majority of 2008 touring the US and Europe supporting its critically acclaimed debut, Moonbeams. While on the road, TMTS has explored the depths of its sound, recreating its playful mystique, and emerging as a proficient and an even more engaging live act. Purpleface is the direct result of this time, albeit showing a bit of a softer side than its predecessor. Purpleface features three brand new songs-"Ship," "Honey Bee," and "That's How YouWin"- and a reworking of the Moonbeams cut, "Written In Heart Signs, Faintly." The EP's standout track, "Ship," is an understated yet inventive gem that offers the listener yet another glimpse of Reitherman's prowess and range as a songwriter. SecretlyCanadian-198 CD5 $5.50 Various Dark Was The Night: Red Hot Compilation (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US TRIPLE VINYL VERSION!!! DAMN! 4AD 3XLP $23.00 Various Local Customs: Downriver (CD/DVD) (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US Between 1967-81, Detroit's downriver neighbor Ecorse, MI had it's very own Moe Asch. Felton Williams chronicled the musical lives of Ecorse's citizins and issued them on the Solid Rock, Compose, & Revival labels. Compiled here are 24 of his most fascinating recordings, covering gospel, group soul, garage-punk, northern, jazz, & funk. Incl. DVD w/ over 200 sound recordings from Williams' archive and a 30-minute featurette on the making of this collection. Numero CD/DVD $18.50 Various Dark Was The Night: Red Hot Compilation (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US On the occasion of WORLD AIDS DAY today, December 1st a press announcement was made with the complete list of participating artists and cover art for the upcoming 4AD release Dark Was The Night. Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total of 31 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will be available as a double cd/triple viny and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease - and music is a great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot, and this is the 20th release! The complete list of artists (in alphabetical order) that recorded tracks for this release is: Andrew Bird, Antony + Bryce Dessner, Arcade Fire, Beach House, Beirut, Blonde Redhead + Devastations, Bon Iver, Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner, The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez, Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti), Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues, The Decemberists, Dirty Projectors + David Byrne, Kevin Drew, Feist + Ben Gibbard, Grizzly Bear, Grizzly Bear + Feist, Iron & Wine, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Kronos Quartet, Stuart Murdoch, My Brightest Diamond, My Morning Jacket, The National, The New Pornographers, Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch, Riceboy Sleeps, Dave Sitek, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens, Yeasayer, Yo La Tengo 4AD DCD $13.00 Velouria Kiss it Better (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, US Like XTC and The Replacements or Grandaddy, Los Angeles trio, Velouria, write powerful pop that can't actually be described as power pop. This hard rocking, yet sweetly sing-along outfit encapsulates all that is best and worst of the Silver Lake scene they sprang from: hardship and beauty. It took them 11 years to put out the follow up to their debut--but it certainly seems to those who like their melodies almost too catchy that it was well worth the wait. TheEskimoRecordLabel-22 CD $7.50 Vetiver Tight Knit (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! Subpop LP $13.25 Vetiver Tight Knit (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Their fourth full-length represents a summation of the different styles and directions heard on past Vetiver releases while introducing some unexpected twists. Their tunes have been described as "dreamy, gentle songs that George Harrison would have written in some sunny country garden." This is a layered and rich record, with subtleties and nuances that reveal themselves with repeated listening. Subpop CD $12.50 Vibrarians, The Red Light b/w Modern Walker & Woods (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US The Vibrarians, a trio from Olympia, Washington, have recorded the latest volume in our International Pop Underground series of 7" 45 rpm records. More than underground, the Vibrarians belong in a tunnel, a cement basement or any confined space that will bounce the Nuggets-style bass and hushed oh's and yeah's around. Cloaked in reverb and radiant fuzz, "Red Light" comes on like a sleepy runaway truck of bricks that hits the rumble strips. A total corker. The b-side traffics melody and noisy pop into the lopsided "Modern Walker," and the more sinister "Woods." Tunnel vision obscured by refrigerator hum. Krecords-122 45 $3.75 Wavves Wavvves (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 3RD) PS, US VINYL VERSION. FatPossum LP $16.00 Wavves Wavvves (ON SALE / PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 17TH) PS, US New album, new label. When not watching cops or drinking 40s in the park, Nathan Daniel William blogs on classic rap and records waves of effortlessly great slack / crust / beach / punk compressed onto 4 track cassette in his san diego bedroom. It's a room that most of us will only imagine. Thanks to the eager bloggers, you may have already heard Wavves. If you have not, we can say that few things are more annoying than reading a string of sound references. So how 'bout this : Wavves are exemplifying every musical pastiche of what anyone in their mid 20's has been through, and somehow, some that they have not. How a tune written by a 22 yr old can evoke this boyish reverie and reverence of thoughtful nostalgia is beyond me, but listen between the grooves and yr gonna hear it too. Wavves is the sound of today's american youth! It's a new day rising and as the Wavves get higher, they gotta converge. You can choose to stay down in the curl, but if you follow the winner, we can meet up on the crest. FatPossum CD $13.00 Wavves California Goth II (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US As you might expect from a SoCal band named after ocean motion, this sounds like a living version of Thrilla Gorilla & Da' Boys. As you might not expect, it is made by one kid named Nathan who has a classic rap blog called "Ghost Ramp". Lo-fi somethingsomething, pre-order or cry. FatPossum 45 $4.75 Week That Was, The S-T (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE AUGUST 26TH) PS, US 2008 debut album from the British Electro Pop outfit, chiefly Field Music dude David Brewis' big brother, and featuring contributions from Field Music colleagues. Musically the record is an expansive tribute, paying direct (and indirect) homage to the wildly ambitious Linn Drum and Fairlight experiments of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, and Tin Drum-era Japan. Fused with typically detailed arrangements and a sense of drama, this makes The Week That Was a brain-shattering, 32-minute epic, straying far outside the conventions of most indie-guitar music. MemphisIndustries CD $15.25 Weight, The Are Men (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE MARCH 10TH) PS, US In contrast to 2004's "10 Mile Grace", which found the group working within an alt-country framework executed by post-punk kids, "Are Men" brings a sense of lighthearted fun to the songwriting and execution - more country-rock block party, less alt. TeePee CD $12.50 Weird Owl Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US The group has crafted a sonic mindscape inspired by legendary acts such as the 13th Floor Elevators & Crazy Horse that states its relevance to modern-day masters Black Mountain, Dead Meadow & the Black Angels TeePee CD $13.25 Weird Owl Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US VINYL VERSION!!! TeePee LP $15.00 Whisper in the Noise Dry Land (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 25TH) PS, US Self described "orchestral garage rock'" band from Hanska, Minnesota give an extremely humble & personal touch to gorgeous, string-laden rock music. Pretty, melancholic, sad & charming. for fans of Low, Arcade Fire, Guided by Voices. ExileOnMainstream-030 CD $13.50 Wolves in the Throne Room Malevolent Grain (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17TH) PS, US Vinyl only EP from the grimm Cascadia black metal horde. Two brand new songs (1 per side) that further solidify their death grip on the bejeweled throne of American Black Metal. SouthernLord LP $13.75 Xela The Illuminated (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 17th) PS, GERMANY The music of Xela is not easily described. The alias of Type Records main-man John Twells, he has over the last decade moved through a dense fog of musical styles from abstract electronics to rusty soundscapes. In recent years his output has allied itself with darker realms, taking a liberal dose of influence from Norway's darker exponents, but retaining a deep and measured experimental focus. 'The Illuminated' was originally released on cassette, a format very fitting to the gloomy, waterlogged sounds; but having sold out in a matter of days it now receives the much needed deluxe re-issue treatment. Taking cues from the cracked black metal of Burzum and Striborg and fusing this with heavy, synthesized noise 'The Illuminated' is possibly Xela's darkest, most spine-chilling work to date. We are taken through chiming Nurse With Wound-inspired soundscapes into Middle Eastern marketplaces and through caverns of thick, buzzing synthesized noise on the album's first piece. Entitled 'Black Scripture' this takes the dank religious themes of 'In Bocca Al Lupo' and goes even deeper into the Church dungeons, digging up lost artifacts and the angry spirits that accompany them. The flipside extends this heresy with a throaty vocal and distorted electric guitar, leaving blackened corpses and the traces of a sleepy village in its wake. Devastating and dark material, listen if you dare... Dekorder-031 LP $13.50 Parasol Picks, Recent Restocks, & Noteworthy Reminders AER “Project” 45 $7.50 Ambarchi, Oren “Destinationless Desire” 45 $7.50 Atkinson, Felicia “La La La” CD $17.75 Attar Cups “Untitled” LP $17.00 Black Watch, The “After The Gold Room EP” CD5 $2.25 Bogner, Ursula “Recordings: 1969-1988” CD $19.50 Bon Iver “For Emma, Forever Ago” LP $11.50 Brain Donor “Drain'd Boner” CD $13.50 Brian Jonestown Massacre “And This Is Our Music [expanded re-issue]” CD $15.75 Bridge “S-T” CD $18.25 Chen Santa Maria “S-T” CD $10.50 CLP “Supercontinental” CD $18.00 Coats, Scotty & Wes The Mes “Double Fisted b/w Weekend Condition” 12 $8.00 Cope, Julian “Preaching Revolution” 45 $7.50 Drakkar Sauna “Wars and Tornadoes” LP $14.25 Ex-Cocaine/Yellow Swans “S-T” LP $15.75 Factory “Path Through The Forest” LP $25.00 Fell, Mark “Attack On the Silence” DVD $22.75 Ferraro, James “Multitopia” LP $17.00 Ferraro, James “K2 - Chameleon Ballet” LP $17.00 FM3 “Buddha Machine II (Burgundy)” MISC $23.00 FM3 “Buddha Machine II (Grey)” MISC $23.00 Gong “Magick Brother” CD $13.00 Harry Pussy/Frosty “Split” 45 $3.75 Helios “Ayres” LP $19.75 I'm From Barcelona “Who Killed Harry Houdini” LP $17.50 Jade “Faces Of Jade” CD $18.25 Kid606 “Die Soundboy Die” CD $10.00 Kiritchenko, Andrey “Misterrious” CD $17.75 La Buena Vida “Soidemersol” CD $19.00 Mojo “#182 (January 2009) [Magazine + CD]” ZINE $10.25 Moon and Moon “VII Acts Of An Iron King” CD $12.50 Nobunny “Love Visions” LP $11.50 Noriko, Tujiko “Trust” CD $16.25 Opale “Level” CD $17.75 Othon “Digital Angel” CD $16.00 Oxbow Duo “Loves Holiday Orchestra Live at Supersonic 2007” LP $12.50 P.A.R.A. “Mermalien” LP $17.00 Pallers “Humdrum” 12 $11.50 Paper (U.S.) “As As” CD $10.00 Push Pull “Hello Soldier” CD $12.50 Record Collector “#357 (Christmas 2008)” ZINE $10.25 Remote Control “Frequencies - 20,000” CD $11.50 Ruibyat “Theme of Love” CD $16.25 Sharkula “Diagnosis Of Sharkula” LP $10.50 Shepherd, Alfie “The Wind In The Willows” CD $21.75 Shindig “Shindig! Annual Number One” BOOK $18.75 Silent Land Time Machine “Hope Still” CD $12.00 Spaceman, J. & Matthew Shipp “Spaceshipp” CD $16.25 Stevens, Sufjan “Illinois” DLP $13.00 Tape Op “#68” ZINE $4.00 Tenshun/Mormon Freegan “Split” 45 $5.25 Three Second Kiss “Long Distance” CD $12.50 Three Second Kiss “Long Distance” LP $12.50 Ulaan Khol “I I” CD $11.50 Under the Radar “#24” ZINE $3.75 Vandermark, Ken “Collected Fiction” DCD $15.00 Various “Psychedelic Minds Vol. 1 (Heavy Underground 1967-71)” LP $21.00 Various “Visitas: A Collection of Remixed Tremelo Audio” CD $11.00 Various “Blue Skies Daisy Days” CD $11.50 Vile Blue Shades “John Thursday California Adventure (LP/CD)” LP $12.50 Winderen, Jana “Surface Runoff” 45 $8.75 Wire Magazine “#298” ZINE $10.25 Woods Family Creeps “S-T” LP $16.75