Monday, December 3, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Ghostface Killah, Nick Drake, LCD Soundsystem, & then some!

v/a 10 TONS HEAVY: A Planet Mu Dubstep Compilation 2xCD
*** "Dubstep truly is the sound of now, and what better way for Planet Mu to celebrate its own unique journey through this fresh genre over the last few years than an extremely huge compilation? CD1 is a collection of the finest, deepest tunes released on mu over the last 4 years, and CD2 is a special bonus mix by Kiss FM's DJ Hatcha , containing massive new tunes from Planet Mu's freshest artists in the scene."

v/a ECCENTRIC SOUL: The Outskirts Of Deep City CD
*** "After a box of 'lost' Deep City master tapes turned up in January of 2007, an idea both fascinating and ugly reared its head: Sequel. Instead of rehashing old news, The Outskirts Of Deep City colors in the spaces left open by its predecessor."

v/a HE & SHE: Soft Sounds For Gentle People CD
*** "The fifth installment in the Soft Sound For Gentle People series features twenty-two far-out pop psych duos from the late ’60s. It pretty much began with Sonny and Cher, but here are the ones who didn’t quite crack the radio charts, at least not for long. Heroes and heroines in the nightclubs and studio booths. Reaching out in the darkness, and the sunshine too. In love and touching forever. She and He. He and She."

v/a WELL DEEP: Ten Years Of Big Dada 2xCD
*** "A tenth anniversary celebration of the UK's Big Dada Recordings, home of some of the most maverick, forward-thinking and innovative artists in hip hop and beyond. Well Deep is not so much a 'best of' as it is an overview of the label's history and philosophy. Includes thirty-one tracks from ROOTS MANUVA, TY, INFESTICONS, CLOUDDEAD, NEW FLESH, MAJESTICONS, DIPLO, WILEY, SPANK ROCK, BIG JUS, BUSDRIVER, KING GEEDORAH, and others."

CARBONAS Carbonas CD
*** "A taut, brilliant blast of both pop and punk. Given the record's running time, there's 'nary a wasted moment, riff or breath, as the band crams in a host of late-'70s/early-'80s Antipodean and East Coast rock influences, and strains those sounds through the Carbonas' distinctively greasy Southern sonic filter.”--Bob Mehr, Commercial Appeal

CLUSTER Cluster 71 CD
*** "On the outer edge of German space rock, Cluster '71 stands as a testament to minimalist 'cosmische' music. The three untitled tracks composed and performed by MOEBIUS and ROEDELIUS are exploratory, ever-changing pieces with focuses on guitar distortion and synthesizer wails, though each goes far beyond."

COMMON Thisisme Then: The Best Of... CD
*** "Greatest hits of the rap genius' early years! Put this CD in your computer to unlock 4 bonus videos and more!"

DEMONS Invisible Darkness CD
*** "Five new tracks from Kenney and Young - exploring the depths of the Pro One, these new tracks sound like nothing they've done before. New Nate Young drawing cover art."

DRAGONS B.F.I. CD
*** RECOMMENDED. "It's the late '60. Three brothers are living in Malibu, surfing and gigging around the Los Angeles area, and having their minds blown by the music of The Beatles, Hendrix, and The Doors. The multi-instrumentalist sons of a symphony conductor and an opera singer, the brothers decide it's time to create their own psychedelic soul/rock masterpiece. They find themselves layering their instruments in new ways, adding deep, bassy vocal lines and then ramming them up against falsetto harmonies, adding organs and space age sound effects, recording spirituals and pop and crazy rock opera. The effect is increasingly spacey and weird, but also funky-- a missing link between new directions others are exploring in jazz and soul as well as rock music."

NICK DRAKE Fruit Tree 3xLP+BOOK+DVD / 3xCD+BOOK+DVD
*** Holy smokes! The box set gets re-released and on VINYL no less! Also includes a 100 page book and a DVD.

GHOSTFACE KILLAH The Big Doe Rehab CD
*** New album! The man can do no wrong. Featuring RAEKWON, METHOD MAN, CAPPADONNA, MASTA KILLA, and BEANIE SIGEL. Paisley darts!

JAPANTHER Don't Trust Anyone Over LP+CD
*** "Japanther are the Brooklyn noise-fuzz duo, formed as a senior project while the two participants were completing art school. While they often refer to themselves as 'more of an art project than a band, Japanther gets points for making some of the most memorable, hummable and fun music of any art project in recent memory. Japanther is part Screamers intensity, part Misfits anthemery, part RZA samples/beats and part Lightning Bolt art/freakshow."

KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW King Khan & BBQ Show CD
*** "Following the demise of The Spaceshits, King Khan relocated to Germany to become the Maharaja of '60s super-soul with his band The Shrines and Mark Sultan traveled the world with his guitar, serenading Brazilians, Laotians, Americans, and the French with his one-man band BBQ. In The Red presents this long-overdue re-release of this classic in a newly expanded package. Take off your pants and dance."

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM 45:33 CD
*** "45:33 was originally recorded by James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) as a continuous album-length disco symphony. Commissioned by Nike for their Original Run series, it was the second in the series and proved a massive success, both critically and commercially."

SIGHTINGS Through The Panama CD
*** "This album has a coldly pulsing artificial heart. And the beat of this heart sounds off in an alien tongue of bass and drums. Guitars descend like unforgiving sheets of napalm from the skyline. Songs pop out of this miasma that tick off icy coolness with piano and vocal stylings. A Scott Walker cover is included. This is a rock album of future days."

SLEEP Dopesmoker CD
*** "Hypnotically thundering, deeply mystical, and sacrament-demanding. Dopesmoker is the band's glorious 65-minute, single-track stoner magnum opus. A cathartic single-tempo, trance-inducing groove of the heaviest order, carried across a celestial soundscape that sounds as it it was forged by Thor himself and unearthed from the depths of Valhalla."

SLITS Return Of The Giant Slits 2xCD
*** "The full 1981 album + a bonus CD that features ALL the archived dub versions. The 1981, second, and final, Slits studio album, featuring the same line up as their controversial first album Cut. It represents their natural development as artistes by focusing more on their interests in dub and "world music" sound eclecticism (featuring Steve Beresford and ex Pop Group drummer Bruce Smith ) that is well suited to their, by then, more accomplished playing style."

FRED THOMAS Flood CD
*** SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME frontman turns it down a notch for another solo outing.

WHITE WILLIAMS Smoke CD
*** GIRL TALK best bud and tourmate "became enamored with learning about the studio situations of his favorite 1970s and 80s albums, fascinated by the idea of recontextualizing how music could be made with the tools given. Guitars and vocals are repitched, copied and pasted, and heavily edited at times--or not edited at all when they should be, while Williams focuses on producing more of a live recorded sound that still uses modern techniques." Just toured with BATTLES.

WOODEN SHJIPS Wooden Shjips LP / CD
*** "Wooden Shjips, a quartet from San Francisco heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism, and garage rock excess, started as an experiment in rhythmic primitivism and group improvisation."