Friday, December 21, 2007

( NEWS ) WAZOO STAFF TOP TENS OF 2007!

( LLOYD )
01. JUSTICE Cross
02. BLACK DICE Load Blown
03. PANDA BEAR Person Pitch
04. WHITE WILLIAMS Smoke
05. VAMPIRE WEEKEND Blue CDR
06. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Strawberry Jam
07. RADIOHEAD In Rainbows
08. CASS MCCOMBS Dropping the Writ
09. MADLIB Beat Konducta in India
10. AARON DILLOWAY Infinite Lucifer

(( FOREST ))
01. GAVIN BRYARS The Sinking Of The Titanic (1969-)
02. GROWING Vision Swim
03. DEMON'S CLAWS Satan's Little Pet Pig
04. JENNIFER GENTLE The Midnight Room
05. PISSED JEANS Hope For Men
06. STARS OF THE LID And Their Refinement Of The Decline
07. BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Dandelion Gum
08. BATTLES Mirrored
09. ANDREW PEKLER Cue
10. FUCKED UP Year Of The Pig

(((JOHN)))
01. STARS OF THE LID And Their Refinement Of The Decline
02. CASS MCCOMBS Dropping the Writ
03. BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Dandelion Gum
04. THE BUDOS BAND The Budos Band II
05. YESTERDAYS NEW QUINTET Yesterdays Universe
06. FEU THERESE Ca Va Cogner
07. PEDRO You, Me & Everyone
08. YEASAYER All Hour Cymbals
09. PETER, BJORN, & JOHN Writer's Block
10. v/a Ethnic Minority Music Of Northeast Cambodia


(((( WILL ))))
New:
THE FRATELLIS Costello Music
NICK LOWE At My Age
PANDA BEAR Person Pitch
LIAM FINN I'll Be Lightning
ANY TROUBLE Life In Reverse
NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Challengers
M.I.A. Kala
PAUL McCARTNEY Memory Almost Full
PINK MARTINI Hey Eugene
FEIST The Reminder
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE Traffic and Weather
WHITE WILLIAMS Smoke
RILO KILEY Under The Black Light
MIKA Life In Cartoon Motion
MENOMENA Friend Or Foe
LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Strange Weirdos
LOS STRAIGHTJACKETS Rock En EspaƱol

Reissues:
THE MOVE Shazam
v/a GREASY TRUCKERS PARTY
PYLON Gyrate
ROY WOOD Boulders
THE BONGOS Drums Along The Hudson
SCARS Author Author
YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS Colossal Youth
MAGAZINE Real Life
MAGAZINE Secondhand Daylight
MAGAZINE The Correct Use Of Soap
COMSAT ANGELS In Before
PINK FLOYD Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND Gorilla
BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse
ARETHA FRANKLIN Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live In Philly, 1972
NILS LOFGREN Nils Lofgren


(((( SCOTT )))))
01. THE MACCABEES Colour It In
02. M.I.A. Kala
03. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound of Silver
04. BAND OF HORSES Cease to Begin
05. THE NATIONAL The Boxer
06. BAND OF BEES Octopus
07. WHITE STRIPES Icky Thump
08. BLOC PARTY A Weekend In the City
09. THE TWILIGHT SAD Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
10. EL P I'll Sleep When You're Dead

Thursday, December 20, 2007

( NEWS ) RECAP: TOP TENS OF 2006

That's right -- these are our top tens of last year. 2007 to come!

( LLOYD )
01. J DILLA Donuts
02. EXTRA GOLDEN Ok-Oyot System
03. COMETS ON FIRE Avatar
04. GRIZZLY BEAR Yellow House
05. ORNETTE COLEMAN Sound Grammar
06. CORNELIUS Sensuous
07. CAT POWER The Greatest
08. GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
09. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
10. NOMO New Tones


(( FOREST ))
01. J DILLA Donuts
02. JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches
03. SCOTT WALKER Scott 4
04. ARIEL PINK House Arrest
05. TOM WAITS Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards
06. SOM IMAGINARIO Som Imaginario
07. MADLIB Movie Scenes Vol. 1&2
08. TUSSLE Telescope Mind
09. SUNN0))) & BORIS Altar
10. SCOTT WALKER The Drift


((( JOHN )))
01. BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY The Letting Go
02. CHICO BUARQUE Carioca
03. MOSQUITOS III
04. SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE The Sun Awakens
05. CSS Cancei De Ser Sexy
06. YO LA TENGO I Am Not Afraid Of You And I WIll Beat Your Ass
07. KIMYA DAWSON Remember That I Love You
08. TOM WAITS Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards
09. STARLING ELECTRIC Clouded Staircase
10. ARIEL PINK House Arrest


(((( WILL ))))
ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE VENUS 3 Ole! Tarantula
CAMERA OBSCURA Let's Get Out of This Country
GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS Under the Covers, Volume 1
BELLE & SEBASTIAN The Life Pursuit
NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
RAY DAVIES Other People's Lives
JENNY LEWIS & THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
LLOYD COLE Antidepressant
DEF LEPPARD Yeah
SPARKS Hello Young Lovers
LINDSAY BUCKINGHAM Under The Skin
TOM WAITS Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards

REISSUES:
THE BEE GEES The Studio Albums 1967-1968
COMSAT ANGELS Waiting for a Miracle
COMSAT ANGELS Sleep No More
COMSAT ANGELS Fiction
PRETENDERS Pretenders
MATTHEW SWEET Girlfriend (Legacy Edition)
THIS HEAT This Heat
JUDEE SILL Abracadabra: The Asylum Years
JONA LEWIE On The Other Hand...There’s A Fist
ORANGE JUICE The Glasgow School
MOTT THE HOOPLE Mott
BETTYE LAVETTE Child of the Seventies
CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Ice Cream for Crow
BRIAN ENO / DAVID BYRNE My Life in the Bush of Ghosts


((((( SCOTT )))))
01. PETER, BJORN, & JOHN Writer's Block
02. CAMERA OBSCURA Let's Get Out of This Country
03. FOURTET Remixes
04. GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
05. BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
06. LOVE IS ALL Nine Times the Same Song
07. LADY SOVEREIGN Public Warning
08. LUPE FIASCO Food & Liquor
09. BELLE & SEBASTIAN The Life Pursuit
10. TAPES 'N' TAPES The Loon

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Jodorowsky + Tool

THE FILMS OF ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY 4xDVD + 2xCD
*** BACK IN STOCK! The bizarre and amazing films Matthew Barney ripped off to become famous, including HOLY MOUNTAIN and EL TOPO among others. Also included is a documentary and the very rare soundtracks to the aforementioned films.

TOOL Vicarious DVD
*** Extended version with commentary, a making of, and behind the scenes footage.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Spank Rock & Benny Blanco are Bangers & Cash + Nicolay

BANGERS & CASH Bitch 12"
BANGERS & CASH Pussy 12"
BANGERS & CASH Loose 12"
*** Three singles from SPANK ROCK & BENNY BLANCO's new 2 LIVE CREW-esque spin-off. Very dirty. I mean, holy smokes! Features versions both dirty and clean, instrumental and a capella.

NICOLAY & KAY Tight Eyes 12"
*** Featuring OH NO, THE LUV BUGZ, and MIC of THE LEGENDARY KO.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Numero Group reissues, MF Doom, Peaches remixes Tone Loc?!

RIVERS CUOMO Alone: The Home Recordings CD
*** From Rivers: "I've compiled a CD of my favorite demos from the years 1992 to 2007. I hope you enjoy it." 16 song CD with personal photos, song descriptions & insights from Weezer's Rivers Cuomo.

THE FOUR MINTS Gently Ride Your Stream CD
*** "Deluxe reissue of the one and only, highly sought after, and criminally overlooked Four Mints album. While three of these songs appeared on Numero’s Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label in 2004, the rest have sat in the can since their release in 1973. The ten song album has been completely re-mastered and features three previously unissued tracks."

HARMONIA Musik Von Harmonia CD
*** "Once called 'the world's most important rock group' by Brian Eno, legendary minimalist avant-garde band Harmonia was formed by Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius of Cluster. While leaning slightly towards Cluster's ambient sound, they were also entirely their own entity -- a jet engine running clean and precise but also spouting asphyxiating aural exhaust."

HARMONIA Deluxe CD
*** "Formed in the early seventies by HANS-JOACHIM ROEDELIUS and DIETER MOEBIUS of CLUSTER with MICHAEL ROTHER of NEU!. 1975’s Deluxe featured more structured songs, along with a sparse spattering of vocals, and the guest appearance of MANI NEUMEIER of GURU GURU on a few tracks."

JOHNNY LUNCHBREAK Appetizer / Soups On CD
*** "The complete recordings of a band no one was ever meant to hear. Originally issued in an acetate pressing of four copies (one for each band member), the near on 35 year lunch break is over for this Connecticut group of wanna-Bee Gees. they aimed for Gibb but somehow ended up being the working man’s Velvets. They recorded Exile, but the playback copy had Marquee Moon scribbled on it. So far ahead they’re standing right behind you."

LUPE FIASCO Lupe Fiasco's The Cool CD
*** Don't sweat it -- we're already sold out! More to come tomorrow!

KING CRIMSON The Great Deceiver 2xCD
*** A recent issue of live material from the kings.

JOE MEEK You're Holding Me Down: 30 Freakbeat, Mod, and R&B Nuggets CD
*** Top notch collection of Joe Meek productions from a large variety of groups.

MF DOOM / MF GRIMM MF Doom / MF Grimm CD
*** 7 song EP couple with 7 instrumentals from back in the day (that is, pre-masked Doom).

PEACHES & TONE LOC Wild Thing RMX CD
*** Peaches remixes Tone Loc! Anything could happen. And does!

SUFJAN STEVENS Songs For Christmas 5xCD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "A collection of Christmas EPs SUFJAN STEVENS recorded over the past few years as gifts for friends and family. You get forty-two Yuletide favorites as done by one of the most revered songsmiths on the planet. Lavishly packaged in a cardboard box with a 42-page booklet featuring an original Christmas essay by RICKY MOODY, two additional essays and short story by Stevens, a holiday sticker, chord charts, lyrics comic strip, family portrait poster, and photos."

KELLER WILLIAMS 12 CD
*** "12 songs spanning 12 years for the 12th release."

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Ghostface, Panda Bear, The Pogues, etc.

ost DEATH PROOF LP
*** NOW ON VINYL! "Music from Quentin Tarantino's 'Death Proof'. From the motion picture double-feature GRINDHOUSE featuring rare music from the '60s and '70s."

GHOSTFACE KILLAH The Big Doe Rehab 2xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL! "Get your dose! The new album features RAEKWON, METHOD MAN, CAPPADONNA, MASTA KILLA, and BEANIE SIGEL."

GRATEFUL DEAD American Beauty LP
*** "The 1970 classic mastered from the original analog tapes on 180g vinyl!"

PANDA BEAR Person Pitch LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

GILLES PETERSON Digs America 2 2xLP
*** RECOMMENDED. "This is the second in the Digs series of compilations and, like Volume I, this album was curated by DJ Gilles Peterson. We’d initially thought Digs would be a series involving different collectors but by popular demand (and because he has more than his fair share of wax) volume two is another collection from the world renowned tastemaker, DJ, and BBC radio host."
Read more about it here: http://www.ubiquityrecords.com/lh056.html

THE POGUES Rum Sodomy & The Lash LP
*** "ELVIS COSTELLO-produced classic pressed on 180g vinyl!"

SUNN0))) / BORIS Altar 3xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK! LIMITED EDITION! "Ultra heavy, dark and progressive moving into a completely new dimension. Triple LP book gatefold with 16 page libretto and liner notes by Kim Thayil. Special bonus prelude LP features the 28 minute epic 'Her Lips Were Wet With Venom' with guests DYLAN CARLSON (EARTH), REX RITTER, and TOS NIEUWENHUIZEN."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Daft Punk, RZA, Rufus Wainwright, Wu-Tang & more

TONY ALLEN Afro Disco Beat 2xCD
*** "Complete 70s anthology of the drummer and music director of African superstar FELA KUTI's band AFRICA 70, from 1968 until 1979, the creators of a new style called "Afrobeat" one of the (if not THE) hipest rhythmic music styles of the 70s. "

JOE BATAAN Latin Funk Brother CD
*** "A compilation of Bataan's best moments from his Latin Soul albums of the late 60's and early 70s. "

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB American X: Baby 81 Sessions CD
*** 7 new blams from the sessions of their last album and a tasty short film.

DAFT PUNK Alive CD
*** Insane, killer live album from the best live show in the universe. These fellows have been *murdering* people all across the globe, from a giant pyramid no less.

HI-TEK Hi-Teknology3 CD
*** "The legendary producer returns with the third installment of the critically acclaimed Hi-Teknology series. Featuring TALIB KWELI, GHOSTFACE, RAEKWON, YOUNG BUCK, LITTLE BROTHER and more."

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND Live At Piedmont Park 3xCD
*** About time! A DMB live album with so many tasty cuts, I couldn't believe it.

NOVOS BAINANOS E Ferro Na Boneca CD
*** "1970 debut by Novos Baianos, one of the wildest, most creative bands to come in the wake of tropicalia pioneers Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. The group featured guitarists Moraes Moreira and Pepeu Gomes, along with singer Baby (Brasil) Consuela."

NOVOS BAINANOS Vamos Pro Mundo CD
*** "Second album from Novos Baianos, which is a step more towards Brazillian Tropacalia/Samba Style than their 1972 release "Acabou Chorare". "

RABBITS & CARROTS Soul Latino CD
*** "These 14 tracks are the only album (from 1969) and four-track 7” (1971) that Rabbits & Carrots ever recorded. So in one CD you’ve got an instant collection of the band hailed at the time as the Mexican Meters! SUPER FUNK!!!"

RZA The World According To RZA - Instrumentals CD
*** "Rare new deadly melodies from hip-hop's most acclaimed super producer!"

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Does Judy At Carnegie Hall 2xCD
*** "Rufus along with a 36-piece orchestra, re-creates Judy Garland's celebrated 1961 concert song-for-song in the original venue!"

WU-TANG CLAN 8 Diagrams CD+DVD
*** "Highly anticipated historical release includes a limited edition bonus DVD."

Monday, December 3, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Led Zep & Liars

LED ZEPPELIN The Song Remains The Same DVD
*** "Newly remastered and remixed from the original concert recording with 5.1 Dolby audio." Includes never-before-released performances, vintage TV footage, BBC interviews and more.

LIARS Leopard On My Right PICTURE 7"+DVD
*** Super-special and limited picture disc 7" with two exclusive tracks and a DVD of crazy live footage, including a Nirvana cover.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Beirut, Nick Drake, bounce & dance, etc.

BEIRUT The Flying Cup Club LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

BOXCUTTER Glyphic 2xLP
*** "Continuing his hugely successful trademark dubstep/electronica sound from the 2006 album Oneiric, Lynn ups the ante and Glyphic certainly delivers. Floating pads and astral jazz samples sit above deep dub basses, with all manner of instruments thrown into the mix, resulting in a beautiful noise throughout."

VASHTI BUNYAN Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind 2xLP
*** NOW NO VINYL!

DJ SABO Sol Solectas #5 12"
*** "Four previous unreleased remixes of three up-and-coming, cutting edge NYC bands who bridge the gap between global/world music and electronic pop. All four tracks are remixed by Sabo, with two tracks being collaborations with Uriel (aka BN Loco) and Zeb (aka The Spy From Cairo)."

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.

HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR Classique #2 12"
*** "Hercules & Love Affair's debut release, Classique #2, is a kinetic explosion of soulful, anthemic electro disco. Butler draws inspiration from the music he heard growing up, going to parties with Chicago house DJs like Derrick Carter and British expats the Wicked Crew, both of whom played disco and proto-house jams in their inspired DJ sets. A new era of euphoric disco, truly original yet with subtle nods to its glittering past-- where beautiful, bruising harmonies and loose-limbed mechanic rhythms collide to create a utopian and hedonistic dance floor paradise."

JAPANTHER Don't Trust Anyone Over 30 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."

LIARS Leopard On My Right PICTURE 7"+DVD
*** Super-special and limited picture disc 7" with two exclusive tracks and a DVD of crazy live footage, including a Nirvana cover.

LITTLE CLAW Spit And Squalor Swallow The Snow LP
*** "New 2007 LP from this Michigan rock-brut trio who combine the more hypnotic aspects of The Magic Band and Sun City Girls with great/possessed female vocals. This album also has a particular post-‘billy hiccup to it that’s reminiscent of the way that The Cramps or even The Gun Club modified early country blues styles with burlesque rock moves and future-primitive energies."

DAVE NADA Kick Out The Jams 12"
*** "T&A Records continues their Bmore club onslaught with a new EP from renaissance man Dave Nada. KICK OUT THE JAMS features six tough, ready-for-the-club Bmore edits with original synthwork from Mr. Nada (think Blaqstarr, or old Debonair Samir tracks) and instantly recognizable samples. If you're not familiar with Dave (and you will be soon), he partners with T&A co-founder Tittsworth as a regular at the Baltimore club night Taxlo."

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF Badd Santa 12"
*** "This holiday season, Peanut Butter Wolf has combined obscure vinyl archaeology with good old fashioed merriness to bring you a compilation of Christmas songs you've never heard. Guranteed to make you and yours jingle all the way."

SOUTH RAKKAS CREW Mix Up 12"
*** "One of the most innovative production teams in the dancehall business -- releasing international hits with sounds that have as much to do with Miami Bass and Electro as they do with traditional reggae. Dancehall versions of rave classics, Sesame Street bangers, disco vocals and steppers r&b? Yep, its all here--this is some of the freshest, most brain popping music you will hear all year."

WEEN La Cucaracha LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

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."

((((( 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."