Friday, June 29, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Bad Brains, Frank Black, Grizzly Bear, The Hentchmen

ALEX DELIVERY Star Destroyer CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Think Can or Faust all mashed up with the personal disco of Arthur Russell. Think of the electric organ of Terry Riley's Shri Camel, slowly morphing and perpetually in motion, but remaining in step with a guitar-less and Moroder-charged Sparks. And think of a more composed Dead C, where Michael Morley sings about Big Thunder Mountain while holding a beach ball in one hand and fending off the digital shards of musique concrete humming around his ears with the other."

BAD BRAINS Build A Nation CD
*** Bad Brains first new album in years, featuring all four original members no less. It's the classic Brains formula: HC & reggae. Produced by MCA of the BEASTIES and recorded at BEASTIES' studio.

FRANK BLACK 93-03 2xCD
*** The first best-of compilation of Black Francis' solo career following the first demise of Pixies.

CEX Sketchi CD
*** "Cex's densest, darkest, and longest album to date; slow-moving ambient dirges that are heavy on the beats and light on vocals (being instrumental and all). There are sounds in these songs that you will swear are not of this world, and truth be told, you never know with the Cex man. Strictly limited to 1,000 copies."

DON CHERRY Hear & Now CD
*** 1977 album re-released! This ain't smooth jazz!

DOG DAY Night Group CD
*** RECOMMENDED "In many ways a pop group's success hinges on their ability to write memorable songs. Dog Day's Night Group not only delivers in this sense, but also shows how simple tunes can convey meaning, beauty, and honesty. Night Group shares qualities of classics like The Smith's The Queen Is Dead, or more recently Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped, which despite their extensive productions, sound effortless and raw."

GANG GANG DANCE Retina Riddim CD+DVD
*** "Gang Gang Dance's first ever DVD release, Retina Riddim. This film was made by Gang Gang Dance member, and visual artist, Brian DeGraw. Retina Riddim is by no means a tour film, documentary, live video, or anything as remotely stringent. Included on the DVD is a fan film, GGDbyOP, shot and edited on the road by Oliver Payne, a friend of the band's. As an added bonus Retina Riddim also contains an audio CD cut together by Degraw specifically for this release, and a fold-out poster designed by Mr. DeGraw. Retina Riddim is both a document of Gang Gang Dance's progress over the past few years, and a look forward to the direction they are moving in."

GONG You CD
*** Re-release with new artwork of Gong's psychedelic space-rock brilliance. Shocker. Wild. Considered to be their magnum opus by some.

GRIZZLY BEAR Horn Of Plenty 2xCD
*** NOW IN STOCK! The first album by the Grizzlers featuring a bonus disc with remixes by DNTEL, SOFT PINK TRUTH (Drew of MATMOS), FINAL FANTASY, EFTERKLANG, THE CASTANETS, SOLIX, RUSTY SANTOS (Animal Collective bro), and more.

THE HENTCHMEN Hentch-Forth. Five. CD
*** "A first-time-on-CD reissue of the 1998 Hentch-Forth album from Detroit garage rockers THE HENTCHMEN along with friend and compadre JACK WHITE (THE WHITE STRIPES). Originally released the same day as the second White Stripes 7-inch (both records on Italy), the album's nine tracks have been remixed and digitally remastered to sound as the band and Jack had originally intended. Also included are all four songs from the Ham And Oil instrumental 7-inch, and one previously unheard gem."

METRIC Grow Up And Blow Away CD
*** An early, toned down release when Metric was a two-piece. Hot pants!

MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND Tear It Down CD
*** "My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden has decided to set loose her bobby pins and let her hair fly on the ambient dance floor. Her latest semi-collaboration with 13 different remixers, entitled "Tear It Down", reworks songs from the highly acclaimed album, "Bring Me The Workhorse" featuring tracks by Alias, Lusine, Murcof, Stakka and Gold Chains. Oh, it's international too! With diplomatic representatives from Belgium, France, Mexico, The UK and America (East and West Coasts baby!), the remixes range from drum-n-bass, to glitchy ambient, minimalism, and get-your-booty-on-the-dance-floor club music."

SOUP Soup CD
*** NILS PETER MOLVAER on trumpet and electronics, BUCKETHEAD on guitar, BERNIE WORRELL on keyboards, LILI HAYDEN on violin, KARL BERGER on strings, and then some.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: VINYL ))))) Limited edition Tomlab 7"s, Vietnam, restocks

ISLANDS S 7"
*** "Ex-UNICORNS ultra-limited 7" featuring two exclusive songs--one a fresh take on a leftover from their debut and the other is their first recording as Islands. I'd love to tell you the titles but then you might download them."

MICROPHONES Live In Japan LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

SUFJAN STEVENS Michigan 2xLP
SUFJAN STEVENS Illinois 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

TUSSLE R 7"
*** "TUSSLE plays a deep mixture of minimal techno backed by a classic Bass vs. Drums setup. This ultra-limited 7" features a remix by Jona Bechtolt (YACHT/THE BLOW) and a sneak taster of TUSSLE's third album for 2007."

VIETNAM ep #1 12"
*** "The first of three limited edition twelve inch EPs from VietNam. Each of the three features a track from the band's self-titled full-length, along with tracks recorded recently at the band's Freedom School Compound, a store-front apartment/studio that the band shares with producer Matt Boyton in Brooklyn, NY. These recordings capture the band cutting loose, writing and recording at their will, and form a perfect counterpoint to their professionally recorded full-length."

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS ))))) Ryan Adams, Beastie Boys, Brian Ferry

RYAN ADAMS Easy Tiger CD
*** "I won't say Adams is the best North American singer-songwriter since Neil Young...but I won't say he isn't, either. What I know is there has never been a Ryan Adams record quite as strong and together as Easy Tiger. The songs themselves are beautiful--the lyrics tightly focused and brief, the feeling one of melancholy calm that will probably be a revelation to fans that remember the old, sometimes angry Ryan Adams." - Stephen King. Yeah, seriously.

BEASTIE BOYS The Mix-Up CD
*** "The first-ever full album of all new instrumental material!"

BRIAN FERRY Dylanesque CD
*** Roxy's top bro sings 11 of Dylan's classics.

GORE GORE GIRLS Get The Gore CD
*** "To appreciate this music, you have to have a streak of wildness, a fierce independence of spirit, and an absolute belief in the unusual, the strange, the unpredictable, the offbeat, and even the generally unacceptable." - HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS.

GRATEFUL DEAD Three From The Vault 2xCD
*** "Long-delayed final installment in the historic From The Vault series. It's a full-concert gem from long-heralded '71 Port Chester, NY, run."

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN The Essential 2xCD
*** "The consummate guitar god! Nearly three hours of music, including works by THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, MILES DAVIS, JACK BRUCE, THE TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME, SANTANA, CHICK COREA, THE GUITAR TRIO and more."

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, JACO PASTORIUS, & TONY WILLIAMS Trio Of Doom CD
*** "The show you've waited 28 years to get into! Three titans of '70s electric jazz/rock first ever release of their one explosive live show from the historic 1979 Havana Jam in Cuba plus their one subsequent recording session. Liner notes of McLaughlin."

OXBOW The Narcotic Story CD
*** "The sixth chambered installment of a suiciide that plays itself out on the hustings of a substanced and principled addiction to failure while the band plays on." Yes!

PHAROAHE MONCH Desire CD
*** The new and controversial album from the Pharoahe. Featuring ERYKAH BADU, DWELE, and TOWER OF POWER.

SOCIAL DISTORTION Greatest Hits CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of them! Somehow they only came up with 11 tunes from their entire career to highlight.

Monday, June 25, 2007

( NEWS ) Wazoo on Amazon!

Dear readers,

it wasn't long ago that Wazoo opened an Amazon storefront to reach new customers with strange and collectible music. We've linked the virtual storefront below. If interested, take a look and let us know if there's something from over 300 listings that you might be interested in. If you'd like to purchase something, don't hesitate to call us or stop by. We'll remove the item from our listing and sell it to you at to additional cost.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CD ))))) Chromeo, Tomahawk, Prefuse side projects, Mouse on Mars + Mark E. Smith

CHROMEO Fancyfootwork CD
*** "The sex, the beats, the dream, the suits, the gloves, the laughs, the tears, the past and the future."

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE The Fragile Army CD
***"Probably the Poly's best and deepest album yet!" - David Bowie.

SAVATH & SAVALAS Golden Pollen CD
*** The latest strange samba album from PREFUSE and co. Featuring Jose Gonzalez. Produced by Guillermo Scott Herren (PREFUSE 73) & TORTOISE's John McEntire.

TOMAHAWK Anonymous CD
*** MIKE PATTON and a slew of other jerks are back with an album of...original arrangments inspired by Native American material from the late 19th century! Interesting!

VON SUDENFED Tromatic Reflexxions CD
*** RECOMMENDED. "This is the debut by a trio formed by Mark E. Smith of The Fall along with Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner of Mouse On Mars. It combines the genre-smashing attack of early millennia club music with Smith's free-associating visionary wordplay. The riffs and rhythms come together from many different places, with synths, samplers, and sequencers all firing off. It's not a band, it's a free-flowing collectivist dance generator - a futurist sound system."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Decasia, Paper Rad, Wilco, Lightning Bolt

Bill Morrison DECASIA: THE STATE OF DECAY DVD
*** "Created by award-winning avant-garde director Bill Morrison, DECASIA was edited entirely from found film footage left in archives that had decayed over time. The severe emulsion deterioration reveals the film stock in its basic chemical form and the images are stripped to their most primitive emotional state. The film was shaped to Michael Gordon's moving symphony performed by the 55-piece basel sinfonietta. The soundtrack is decaying itself: Gordon took the orchestra to musical extremes by detuning the instruments and using prepared pianos to further emphasize the powerful hallucinatory visual experience."
LIGHTNING BOLT The Power Of Salad & Milkshakes DVD
*** A sprawling tour film documenting Rhode Island's most infamous noise band. Hilarious and intense. Includes fridge scene.

PAPER RAD Taking Out The Trash/Faces In The Trash DVD
*** "PAPER RAD is a Pittsburgh, PA/Northampton, MA collective. This collective first started churning out cortex hemorrhaging lysergia comics and moved on to bands, videos, snack foods and installations. Past videos for the band for bands have included LIGHTNING BOLT and the PICK A WINNER video compilation. Think of this group showing up to the 80’s dance party with tazers and ketamine, and you waking up at the bottom of the ball tank at CHUCK E. CHEESE. Not suitable for work, but definitely suitable for family occasions!"

WILCO I Am Trying To Break Your Heart DVD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: VINYL ))))) Battles, Panda Bear, White Stripes

BATTLES Atlas 12"
*** Dang! The ultra-fine single from their hot new blast backed by a slick Kompakt remix by DJ KOZE.

BOARDS OF CANADA Trans-Canada Highway LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

EL-P I'll Sleep When You're Dead LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

J DILLA The Shining 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

THE KNIFE Silent Shout 2xLP
THE KNIFE Silent Shout (Single) 12"
*** BACK IN STOCK!

PANDA BEAR Take Pills/Bonfire of the Vanities 7"
*** One album cut and one exclusive b-side. So nice!

PANDA BEAR Young Prayer LP
PANDA BEAR Bros 12"
*** BACK IN STOCK!

JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER L'enfant Assassin Des Mouches LP
*** NOW ON VINYL! "An inimitable, 45-minute concept LP handcrafted by a bass-driven psychedelic rock group and a heaven-sent 1001 piece orchestral and choral symphony. The album left hip-hop producers alongside progressive rock aficionados crying out for more and more for years to come. This LP was in a league of its very own... or was it? The seldom-sung musical arranger for Melody Nelson, Jean-Claude Vannier, has become one of the most enigmatic names in French-funk; lorded by many as the 'French David Axelrod.' Vannier's name is the lesser-spotted, tell-tale seal of sample-friendly quality when it comes to crate-digging 'en Francais.' "

WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump (Single) 7"
*** White vinyl! Etched on one side! The companion piece to the red 7" included in an issue of the NME.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS ))))) Art Brut, Bumps, Fridge, Jaylib

v/a CHROME CHILDREN Vol. 2 CD
*** 16 new tracks: Madlib, Guilty Simpson, Percee P, James Pants, Aloe Blacc, more.

ELLEN ALLIEN Fabric.34 CD
*** Ellen had this to say about her new blam: “I wanted to do an analogue mix, by hand. I used my favourite records of last year and the newest ones. I like analogue! And I like to hear how one has to manipulate the mix until it’s tight. ...It’s the ideal club mix that I personally would like to hear in a club. It’s also a nice memory for me - I can remember every record being played by myself in a club. And when I now listen to the mix I can recall all the great moments."

ART BRUT It's A Bit Complicated CD
*** "Much like the art movement of the same name, Art Brut are outsiderish, rebellious, punk before punk, and deliciously libertine. Their second full-length is poppier than the first (2004's "Brutlegs"), and with tracks titled "Pump Up The Volume" and "I Will Survive", expect it to be tongue-in-cheek and rancorously funny."

ARTHUR & YU In Camera CD
*** "An album that grapples with the idea of growing up and of letting go. With hazy, layered vocals that float over textural acoustics, In Camera is an album made for forgetting and remembering. Drawing sonic inspiration from the Velvet Underground as well as the studio experimentation of Lee Hazlewood, each track is a study in expansion, centered loosely around chiming guitars and swirling melodies. Built upon nostalgia and exuding a certain warmth that is undeniably earnest, In Camera is their debut."

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE ...And This Is Our Music CD
*** REISSUED!

BUMPS Bumps CD
*** "The three percussion experts behind the seminal indie rock / post rock band Tortoise showcase their rhythmical prowess, coming together for this self-titled concept break beat record entitled Bumps. One of indie rock’s most in-demand master producers of the last decade, Tortoise’s producer/drummer/vibes player John McEntire has worked with a staggering number of artists as engineer, producer and remixer. With Bumps, he lends his talents toward pushing the boundaries of a typical break beat record, fusing influences from funk, Brazilian, Latin and Afrobeat music."

BURIAL CHAMBER TRIO Green LP
*** LP ONLY! Greg Anderson (Sunn0)))), Oren Ambarchi, and Attila Csihar.

FRIDGE The Sun CD
*** "It may have been a while since Fridge's last record (2001's Happiness), but contrary to what some may think the band never went away, never went on sabbatical and certainly never broke up - they just stretched a little at the edges, and ended up with a bigger, wider sound than ever for their new record, The Sun. The pure and simple fun of playing music with friends that you can hear in a garage pours off the record. It's the impulse behind everything the band does. But The Sun is still orchestrated with all the musical intelligence to be heard on the Adem and Four Tet records. Process is key, with the studio itself being integrated as one of the instruments Fridge 'play'. But really it's Fridge's harmonies that hold The Sun together, joining up the dots between their disparate interests and influences. It's not a part of the band's sound that gets recognized enough, but there are plenty of tunes here that will get stuck in your head for weeks.

THE IDLE RACE Back To The Story 2xCD
*** "The complete recorded legacy of Idle Race -- an incredible pre-ELO group that featured some amazing work from a young Jeff Lynne! In a way, the work here is almost more ELO than some of the earliest albums issued by the band a few years later -- more of the pop-styled groove that Lynne would bring to the group during their mighty mid 70s run -- with a great flair for catchy hooks, and a style of production that was in the same flanged-out, cross-speaker compressed mode that would become the Jeff Lynne trademark in years to come."

JAYLIB Champion Sound (Deluxe Ed.) 2xCD
*** "The Detroit-Los Angeles collab that brought two icon hip-hop MCs & producers together. Deluxe 2 disc set includes bonus tracks, remixes, & instrumentals for the first time on CD. Featuring TALIB KWELI, QUASIMOTO, GUILTY SIMPSON, and PERCEE P."

JENNIFER GENTLE The Midnight Room CD
*** "Sub Pop's Italian psychedelic avant-pop explorers are back! Marco Fasolo wrote, performed and produced the entire new album alone in his Ectoplasmic Studio, a rambling old house lost in the foggy plains of Northern Italy, infamous for its previous owner’s suicide by rifle. And, perhaps fittingly, the new record pulses with a nocturnal, feverish, hallucinatory emotional atmosphere, making for a truly unique aural experience. Informed by a deep love for American ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll and European musicians like Nino Rota and Kurt Weill, The Midnight Room is by far the most personal Jennifer Gentle album to date. Focusing on the possibilities of the quintessential rock combo (two guitars, bass and drums) and enriched by swirling keyboard touches, Marco created an album that feels like music from some forgotten amusement park at midnight. T he Midnight Room marries the intensity of primitive rock ‘n’ roll with a renewed taste for a certain kind of typically Italian melody—albeit deconstructed, shattered and broken into tiny little bits. Think of Link Wray, Krysztof Komeda and Federico Fellini rolled into one short, dense, cryptic tour de force. And then think again."

MASERATI Inventions For The New Season CD
*** "The band's sound has evolved so significantly that only shades of the reverb and delay-drenched guitars resemble their previous output. The rhythm section has been overhauled, with Gerhardt Fuchs (!!!, Turing Machine, LCD Soundsystem, The Juan Maclean) replacing Phil Horan on drums. The result is a bloodshot, 3AM soundtrack to a Michael Mann movie that hasn't happened yet; a sweaty, delirious mix of mid-to-late 70s Pink Floyd, German psych-rock, Krautrock, and mid-80s action film scores."

MEMPHIS A Little Place In The Wilderness CD
*** "Sophomore album by STARS singer Torquil Campbell and Chris Dumont."

NAPALM DEATH Scum [20th Anniversary Edition] CD+DVD
*** "The classic grindcore album -- 28 tracks, remastered -- with DVD -- 45 minutes of detailedexamination of one of the most confrontational albums of all time including in-depth interviews with Mick Harris!"

WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump CD
*** The new Stripes! And it sounds like a fuckin' dooozy! In the next few months, you'll quite possibly come across many many articles explaining why this is a grand release, from new instrumentation, to the expanded sonic pallete, etc. It's the Stripes!

Monday, June 18, 2007

(( RECOMMENDED: NEW RELEASES )) Jennifer Gentle & Bumps

JENNIFER GENTLE The Midnight Room CD
"Sub Pop's Italian psychedelic avant-pop explorers are back! Marco Fasolo wrote, performed and produced the entire new album alone in his Ectoplasmic Studio, a rambling old house lost in the foggy plains of Northern Italy, infamous for its previous owner’s suicide by rifle.

And, perhaps fittingly, the new record pulses with a nocturnal, feverish, hallucinatory emotional atmosphere, making for a truly unique aural experience. Informed by a deep love for American ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll and European musicians like Nino Rota and Kurt Weill, The Midnight Room is by far the most personal Jennifer Gentle album to date. Focusing on the possibilities of the quintessential rock combo (two guitars, bass and drums) and enriched by swirling keyboard touches, Marco created an album that feels like music from some forgotten amusement park at midnight. The Midnight Room marries the intensity of primitive rock ‘n’ roll with a renewed taste for a certain kind of typically Italian melody—albeit deconstructed, shattered and broken into tiny little bits. Think of Link Wray, Krysztof Komeda and Federico Fellini rolled into one short, dense, cryptic tour de force. And then think again."


BUMPS Bumps CD
"The three percussion experts behind the seminal indie rock/post rock band Tortoise showcase their rhythmical prowess, coming together for this self-titled concept break beat record entitled Bumps.

One of indie rock’s most in-demand master producers of the last decade, Tortoise’s producer/
drummer/vibes player John McEntire has worked with a staggering number of artists as engineer, producer and remixer. With Bumps, he lends his talents toward pushing the boundaries of a typical break beat record, fusing influences from funk, Brazilian, Latin and Afrobeat music."

Thursday, June 14, 2007

(( RECOMMENDED )) INNER SPACE: SVEN LIBAEK'S LIFE AQUATIC

SVEN LIBAEK - Inner Space CD
"Trunk is thrilled to present a compilation of the great lost film music from Norwegian composer Sven Libaek, on CD for the very first time. An Australian resident for many years, Libaek is considered one of the most important little-mentioned film composers of all time. These are some of the most desirable recordings out there for film music collectors, jazz heads and beat diggers. Produced between 1965 and 1974, these recordings include sounds from four desirable and exceptionally rare Australian-only scores. The music is modal, beautiful, hypnotic, warm, welcoming and sounds like nothing else on earth. It's where jazz meets the shark, where waltzes meet wildfowl and longboard surfers meet a lively sea of cool flutes and groovy, spacey, moody vibes. Trunk contacted Libaek to see if he had any old vinyl or other recordings kicking about, and he sent a tape of "To Ride A White Horse," a rare recording of his surfing movie soundtrack from 1966 -- one of the earliest and rarest examples of this film music sub-genre. Over the years, the prices of Libaek originals have shot through the roof as interest in his recordings slowly and steadily increase. As soon as you begin listening you'll quickly notice why -- the bright, warm sound that is classic Libaek is irresistible. His melodies are hooky and unusual, and the perfect accompaniment for films about the sea, wildlife and nature. And now you can swim about in it, too."

Sven Libaek recently notoriety when two of his compositions ("Shark Attack Theme" and "Open Sea Theme," included here under their original titles) were used in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic. This is library music at its finest, loved by Stereolab, Broadcast, and Barry 7 among others (releasing Libaek's work spurred the excellent and out-of-print Barry 7's Connectors series of compilations).

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS ))))) ALL VINYL: Kompakt, Detroit techno and mo'

v/a QUATERMASS: Art Of The Beats LP
*** Reissue of this unusual 1997 Mo'Wax "bootleg". "Includes DJ Shadow, Peanut Butter Wolf etc. Collection of trippy hip hop beats from all the greatest turntabilism DJs in that period."

v/a RUSS MEYER PRESENTS: Lorna / Vixen / Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! LP
*** "The LP versions of these Russ Meyer soundtrack albums come in full color gatefold sleeves, with the same booklet of photographs found in the CDs taped inside the covers. Elaborate. Last available LP in the series of Russ Meyer albums in QDK, limited stock."

GUI BORATTO Chromophobia 2xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

BURIAL Burial 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK1

THE FIELD Sun & Ice 12"
*** "Absolutely liberated from all hipness and hysteria, Willner sings his own story of beautiful-poppy loop essentials, in his very own way. The Field means rustle like silk. Warmed by soundscapes. Guided by the bass drum. If this world were righteous and fair, The Field would enter the charts."

THE FIELD From Here We Go Sublime 12"
*** "12" version; three DJ-friendly tracks from the debut album. The Field's music literally breathes: harmonious drones mingle with the dizzying swell and reversed motion of bass drums and euphony. Feel the beautiful dynamic of beats and space that exists in endlessness."

LINDSTROM Contemporary Fix 12"
*** "You might think the use of banjo, autoharp & clavinet together with acid squiggles on top of live disco-drums is a most unusual combination?"

OPTIMO Walkabout 12"
*** "Three tracks from the Walkabout mix CD, but full versions of the Optimo edits. Walkabout is a set of Optimo's best club hits consisting of industrial, new wave, techno and minimal house. The tracks included here are Pan Sonic : "Hapatus", Databrain : "Electrofrogs" and Grungerman : "Grungerman", with edits by JG Wilkes and JD Twitch."

PLASTICMAN The Plastician 12"
*** ""New jammy from the Mancunian grimestep camp -- and we're cruising the Rusholme mile for the big tunes here. Head straight to the double upped flip side. Check a tabla fueled rhythm, rising up under a beautiful Indo-stringed melody, this is timeless sophistication gracing hybrid northern bass pressure -- watch it knock your wheels off their axles. For the closer, we're warmed up and zoned out by a sublow version beyond comparison, submariner strings, singing stinging spy chords on top of a symphonic excursion -- worth price of admission alone."

KELLEY POLAR Chrysanthemum 12"
*** "Chrysanthemum EP is the first new recording from Kelley Polar since his hugely successful debut album released in 2005, Love Songs of The Hanging Gardens. This EP continues his unique take on pop music and includes an extended and radical B-side rework (exclusive to this EP) for DJs and dancefloors. Guest arrangement and mix by Morgan Geist with DJs in mind!"

SKATEBÄRD Love Attack 12"
*** "'Love Attack' gets a makeover thanks to the addition of vocals from Annie and A Boy Named Sue The outcome is a post-nu wave anthem! "Gamle Furutraer" is a well-paced crooner that flows with hollowed synth pleasures. 'Disco Nonstop' is a slow-mo space-disco lullaby that would make Lindstrøm proud."

SKATEBÄRD Marimba b/w Pagans 12"
*** "'Before the Gods had names, Scandinavian pagans of the bronze age worshipped the sun and other spirits in nature. It was a warm and colorful era after the long and cold Ice Age.' That's what Bård Aasen Lødemel aka Skatebård tells us about his unholy blend of Detroit-ish techno and Bobby-O style synthesizer disco he displays in his track 'Pagans,' featured on the latest Supersoul Recordings release. 'Marimba' is a midtempo deep house cut for early mornings after long awake nights, which features old-school rhythm machines, lush synths and 12-bit floating point panpipe samples."

CLAUDE VONSTROKE Who's Afraid Of Detroit 12"
*** "With remixes from Audion, Tanner Ross, Kevin Saunderson. "Richie Hawtin named it 'best track of 2006.' This is a very special remix package blessed by the kings of Detroit, old and new."

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS ))))) Soul Jazz, Kompakt, Brasilian reissues and more!

v/a BOX OF DUB: Dubstep and Future Dub CD
*** On SOUL JAZZ. "The Box of Dub album features an all-star cast of dubstep pioneers: Skream, Burial, Tayo, Scuba, Digital Mystikz, Kode 9 and more. The album is a unique project for Soul Jazz Records, featuring all-newly recorded exclusive tracks of future dub and dubstep from key artists in the scene."

v/a DISCO DEUTSCHLAND DISCO: Disco, Funk, & Philly Anthems From Germany 1975-1980 CD
*** "Welcome to Teutonic boogie wonderland, fellow disco citizens. Presenting 18 sparkling disco, funk & Philly anthems from Germany -- recorded between 1975 and 1980. While never appreciated by rock critics, disco is actually one of the few musical genres where German productions had a huge international impact and heavily influenced American and British recordings. It's finally time to get this documented and appreciated. Shying away from the obvious hits, Disco Deutschland Disco digs a bit deeper - with many tracks appearing on CD for the first time."

v/a NOTHING MUCH: A Best Of Minus 2xCD
*** "Eleven track compilation CD plus bonus M_nus mix CD: Something More mixed by Troy Pierce. From its minimalist aesthetic, increasing output and steady impact on electronic music since 1998, a blueprint has been developing at M_nus. Nothing Much takes a snapshot of rock-solid M_nus memories that are more nouveau than retro, challenging any notion that the sound has remained the same. While not representing the complete history here on disc, the compilation addresses a deeper note with a bonus disc showcasing Berlin's Troy Pierce as he weaves a web of stolen moments from the catalog."

v/a RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE CD
*** On SOUL JAZZ. "In the early 1990s, jungle was on the rise in the UK. After initially emerging out of the post-rave scene, jungle quickly evolved, and by 1993 was now drawing on the slow, heavy bass-lines and ragga vocals of Jamaican music. Whilst many would come to see this era as a short-lived phase in the evolution of drum and bass history (ragga-influenced jungle was all but over by 1995) this album counters this theory, showing that the roots of jungle started much further back -- in the UK's vibrant dancehall scene of the 1980s. Ragga-influenced jungle always works best as a clash. The double-time drums against the slow bass-lines, the Jamaican or Jamaican-influenced vocals against the dark, contemporary rhythms of young UK producers."

APPARAT Walls CD
*** "Walls is the fifth full-length album for Apparat. Strings and mallet instruments; rock guitar and gravelly sawtooth synths; stuttering digital percussion and muscular studio drumming abound. What might be most striking about Walls is the way it creates a kind of single, sustained mood -- this is an album for listening to all in one go, front to back. This is one of those road-trip records, one of those coming-down records, one of those bedding-down records. 14 songs brimming with ideas, energy, texture, light, color. They are hummable, embraceable, swimmable, possibly edible."

WILLIAM BASINSKI Shortwave CD
*** "Using two reel-to-reel decks from the '60s, a radio and a shortwave radio, Basinski recorded samples of music from the radio, edited the tape into loops of varying lengths, and slowed them down. These themes were then layered together in real time to an accompaniment of randomly shifting shortwave radio static. The themes explored were often brief excerpts [3 or 4 notes] from muzak-type string versions of American popular standards. By manipulating these themes and mixing them with an existing symphony of electronic information, Basinski has created a series of glacial, atmospheric aural landscapes for the listener to inhabit."

THOMAS FEHLMANN Honigpumpe CD
*** "Fehlmann is one of Kompakt's most beloved members, and one of electronic music's most humble and respected players."

THE FIELD From Here We Go Sublime CD
*** "His adoration for Kompakt co-owner Wolfgang Voigt 's GAS and M:I:5 projects from the '90s and the shoegazer rock of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine brought forward a new fusion of ambient and techno that sounds wholly original and accomplished -- post-pop ambient anyone?"

ROBIN GUTHRIE / HAROLD BUDD After The Night Falls CD
ROBIN GUTHRIE / HAROLD BUDD Before The Day Breaks CD
*** DEAD CAN DANCE with ENO collaborator! The results will boggle the mind!

HARUMI s/t CD
*** "Produced by Tom Wilson (The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel), this sprawling set of Japanese acid pop and folk was originally released in 1968. With contents ranging from Eastern-tinged pop to introverted epics, all featuring a range of Japanese instruments, it's stuffed with possible samples and is sure to delight all fans of mystic psychedelia."

JANDEK Manhattan Tuesday 2xCD
*** "Recorded live at the Anthology Film Archives, Manhattan, NY, September 6, 2005. The representative from Corwood plays Korg synthesizers (set to organ-like sounds) and sings; he is accompanied by Loren Connors (electric guitar), Matt Heyner (bass), and Chris Corsano (drums). Disc 2 is entitled: Afternoon Of Insensitivity . Very sympathetic playing from the backing musicians and in general, one of the heaviest Jandek albums in years."

KTL 2 CD
*** "This is the second full-length release by KTL, the formidable collaboration between Stephen O'Malley (SunnO))), Khanate, etc.) and Peter Rehberg (Pita, etc.). Devastatingly beautiful four-part follow up to the highly acclaimed debut, taking the blueprint that was laid out on the first record even further."

MICHIO KURIHARA Sunset Notes CD
*** "The first solo album for the guitarist, whose musicianship has enlightened such groups as Ghost, Damon & Naomi, White Heaven, The Stars and Yura Yura Teikoku. While embracing a variety of styles and techniques (a gentle song sung by Pedal pop star Ai Aso is followed by a snakelike instrumental psych workout, which is followed by a Brancaesque tsunami of distorted guitars, and so on), the album maintains a focus around Kurihara's ingenious guitar playing."

LINDSTROM & PRINS THOMAS Reinterpretations CD
*** "Reinterpretations is the re-working of Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas' debut eponymous album from late 2005. Since then, they have been heralded the world over as the kings of cosmic space disco, spearheading the vanguard of new sounds emanating from their native Norway. This album collates their own alternative versions and vinyl-only B-sides and gives a more uptempo, dancefloor vibe to their highly praised debut."

LINKIN PARK Minutes To Midnight CD
*** "The new album featuring 12 new tracks and a 20-page booklet."

GERARD MANSET 1968 CD
*** "Gérard Manset's first recordings represent some of the best psychedelic chansons in existence and in league with such luminaries as Gainsbourg, Polnareff and Ferrer."

MICHAEL MAYER Immer 2 CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

O BANDO s/t CD
*** "Reissue of the sole album (1969) from this Brazilian rock super-group formed in São Paulo in the end of the 1960s. O Bando's music blended MPB, regional music and tropicalistic 'psicodelia.' It's a bizarre record, which starts off with a blast of rampaging brass before searing fuzz guitar and disturbing astral keyboard sound effects kick in; the end result sounds like an insane hellfire version of soundtrack/library music of the period. The rest of the album is quirky in the best of all possible ways: some definitive tropicalia moments, funky break intros to many of the songs, and nice harmonies too, when required."

PIG DESTROYER Phantom Limb CD
*** "A nihilistic, shock and awe metal/grind attack! Phantom Limb is a musical manifestation of the violent experience of the human animal."

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Era Vulgaris CD
*** Don't call it an EP--it's a mini-album!

SONIC YOUTH Daydream Nation 2xCD
*** The original double-LP super remastered plus unreleased "Eric's Trip" bedroom demo. Also: Daydream Nation live plus bonus tribute tracks."

TRAVELING WILBURYS Collection 2xCD+DVD
*** Finally available! The Wilburys were a champaign jam from the supergroup of ROY ORBISON, GEORGE HARRISON, TOM PETTY, JEFF LYNNE, and BOB DYLAN.

WHITE RABBITS Fort Nightly CD
*** Hott snot over at the ol' Pitchfork camp.

Friday, June 8, 2007

(( RECOMMENDED )) TEEN DANCE MUSIC FROM CHINA & MALAYSIA

v/a - TEEN DANCE MUSIC FROM CHINA & MALAYSIA CD
"18 tracks taken from Chinese and Malaysian records by groups who were trying to imitate the Western 'go-go' and psychploitation styles. The fun begins when they innocently throw together a lot of western musical elements, not impeded by any stylistic 'rules' -- the 'do's and dont's' that make most Western music so predictable. You may begin to realize there's something quite odd about this music: vaguely Asian touches, apparently random gun shots and horse sounds, whistling, Latin rhythm sections, and Chipmunks voices backed by belly dance music.... The results are a bit disorientating sometimes. Strange indeed, but not over-the-top. Just great fun."

When asked to define "teen dance music," would one include go-go interpretations of Ennio Morricone spaghetti western scores? Perhaps not, but that's no slight toward this wild and raw exotic surf comp that seems to be a permanent fixture on WFMU's playlist. A "must have" for fans of strange international music.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS ))))) CDs + LPs: TV On The Radio, Dan Deacon, The Pop Group

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA Ma Fleur LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW And The Hun Hangar Ensemble CD
*** "Consisting of eight newly recorded and songs, both original and traditional, the EP serves as an introduction for both the listener and the artists themselves as they get to know each other, providing a platform from which music and ideas can evolve. In addition to the CD, a 20-minute bonus DVD (An Introduction To A Hawk And A Hacksaw) documents the last two years of almost continuous touring."

CHRIS CORNELL Carry On CD
*** If it isn't the voice of rock hisself! You may know this fellow from SOUNDGARDEN or AUDIOSLAVE or from his other solo album or from the new James Bond movie.

DAN DEACON Spiderman Of Rings CD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "A brand new album from Baltimore-based electronic artist and classically trained composer DAN DEACON--who sports a Masters degree in electroacoustic composition. Spiderman of the Rings is a nine-track blast of sweat-and-grime-soaked electronics that form the foundation of Deacon's raging, maxed-out party music, intricate instrumentals, and humorous monologues."

DOME Dome 1&2 CD
*** REISSUE! Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis of WIRE, during Wire's 1980-1984 hiatus, turned up the experimentalism and produced several albums of lo-fi minimalist somewhat droney tunes made from tape loops, found sounds, and sparse instrumentation.

DREAM THEATER Systematic Chaos CD
*** Brand new, and how they love those long songs!

POP GROUP Y CD
*** REISSUE! A brilliant work, striking in its originality at the time (although relatively unmatched even now), The Pop Group's 1979 debut is an amalgam of rock, funk, dub and audio collage. This is the first time in years that their work has been available in the US outside of some appearances on Soul Jazz compilations.

TV ON THE RADIO Live At Amoeba CD
*** A low-priced 4-song EP recorded live at Amoeba Music in Hollywood.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS ))))) Shellac, Cinematic Orchestra, Ella, Junior Boys, Paul McCartney, Pissed Jeans

v/a MONTEREY INTERNATIONAL POP FESTIVAL 2xCD
*** Live performances by JIMI HENDRIX ("Like a Rolling Stone"), SIMON & GARFUNKEL, THE BYRDS, JANIS JOPLIN, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, THE WHO and more.

AFGHAN WHIGS Unbreakable (A Retrospective 1990-2006) CD
*** "The first career-spanning collection for the alt-rock legends. Compiled by GREG DULLI & JOHN CURLEY. Includes 2 brand-new tracks!"

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA Ma Fleur CD
*** "The first new studio album since the acclaimed Everyday, featuring guest vocalists FONTELLA BASS (Art Ensemble of Chicago), LOU RHODES (Lamb), and PATRICK WATSON."

MATTHEW DEAR Asa Breed CD | LP
*** "This year's most unexpected pop masterpiece, Asa Breed might make you rethink everything you thought you knew about guitars, drum machines, and pop itself." - Philip Sherburne (Pitchfork, The Wire, XLR8R)

ELLA FITZGERALD Lullabies Of Birdland CD
*** "The popular mid-'50s LP available in the US for the first time! 11 bebop- and blues-oriented performances recorded for Decca between 1947 and 1955. They display her unsurpassed mastery of the art of scat singings and remains a great collection of vocal improvisation."

ELLA FITZGERALD Love, Ella: The Original Versions CD
*** Ella with orchestras of CHICK WEBB, SY OLIVER, DUKE ELLINGTON, COUNT BASIE and others.

JUNIOR BOYS So This Is Goodbye [Special Edition] 2xCD
*** Hot shit. The latest snappy album from the Boys, featuring a bonus disc including the entirety of The Dead Horse E.P., further remixes, and a number of iTunes sessions. An unbelievable deal at the price of a normal cheap CD. The mind boggles.

THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR Can't Wait Another Day CD
*** "A delicate, crafted mix of hazy, airbrushed melancholia infused with a brighter undercurrent - a promise of good things to come in a country tinged manner that will have the hardest of hearts melting. A distillation of sixties inspired pop."

MARILYN MANSON Eat Me, Drink Me CD
*** 11 new tunes inspired by EVAN RACHEL WOOD.

PAUL MCCARTNEY Memory Almost Full CD
*** 13 new songs by a Beatle.

PELICAN City Of Echoes CD
*** The third full-length album. Triumphant epics, awe-inspiring and unstoppable. "Chicago's adroit instrumentalists shatter all expectations of what loud guitar rock is supposed to sound like." - VILLAGE VOICE.

PISSED JEANS Hope For Men CD
*** "Thick-as-glue punk bombast and Aussie sludge stoke the coals of your existence, you have found, not only your new favorite band, but a reason to get up in the morning. The album is diverse, but the Jeans ain’t no dilettantes. Mixing volatility with humor is a damned hard thing to master in music. Pissed Jeans do it with smarts and poignancy. Consider the bar raised."

SHELLAC Excellent Italian Greyhound CD | LP
*** Shellac's 4th LP, recorded over the past few years. The LP is real fancy with a silkscreened obi by Jay Ryan (Dianogah). If you know Shellac, you know that Steve Albini can play guitar no other way and this is indeed a Shellac record.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Live In Dublin 2xCD
*** New two-disc set featuring 23 songs: fan favorites, Springsteen classics and never-before-released performances.

SUN RA Strange Strings CD
*** "The culmination of Sun Ra's string studies is without a doubt one of Sun Ra's master works. Strange Strings stands squarely alongside Sun Ra's other epics of the mid 1960s -- Atlantis and Magic City -- shining as his most painterly of expositions in its surface richness and play with deep space and coloration."

TIGER ARMY Music From Regions Beyond CD
*** "TIGER ARMY’s music channels the frustration, loneliness, despair and triumph of a lost generation, buzzing with power and dark romance. The band may have roots in Southern California's fervent psychobilly scene, but Tiger Army is no longer “psychobilly,” just as The Clash and The Smiths cannot be contained by the label “punk.” With a newfound sense of pop melody, leader/singer/songwriter NICK 13 has realized a set of anthems for the dispossessed, songs destined to be sung along to in stadiums across the world."

Monday, June 4, 2007

(( RECOMMENDED: NEW RELEASES )) Pissed Jeans & The Cinematic Orchestra

PISSED JEANS Hope For Men CD
*** "Hope for Men (we like to think of it in the “mankind” sense). If classic, thick-as-glue punk bombast and Aussie sludge stoke the coals of your existence, you have found, not only your new favorite band, but a reason to get up in the morning. The album is diverse, but the Jeans ain’t no dilettantes. Mixing volatility with humor is a damned hard thing to master in music. Pissed Jeans do it with smarts and poignancy. Consider the bar raised."

Pissed Jeans previous album, Shallow, was a brainmelter. Here was a band that could stretch one chord into four minutes of brutal perfection. Between that hot platter and this bruiser, I'm convinced Black Flag almost completely dropped the ball trying to reinvent themselves: Pissed Jeans might have been the sound they were looking for.

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA Ma Fleur CD
*** "The first new studio album since the acclaimed Everyday, featuring guest vocalists FONTELLA BASS (Art Ensemble of Chicago), LOU RHODES (Lamb), and PATRICK WATSON. Dealing with themes of loss and love - and in itself representing a kind of absence - "Ma Fleur" is fertile ground for Swinscoe's brand of music-making."

A grand and gorgeous record and a bit of a departure since The Man With The Movie Camera. The highlight of the record is Fontella Bass' beautiful, plaintive singing.