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."

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Bad Brains, Beatles, and Radiohead

BAD BRAINS Live At CBGB 1982 DVD
*** 19 *blistering* live cuts from one of the best hardcore bands of all time. Bonus materials include interviews from 1982 and a bonus audio track.

THE BEATLES Help 2xDVD
*** "2-disc set containing fully restored film with 5.1 surround soundtrack, 7 classic Beatles tracks, a 2nd disc of special features, and a 16 page booklet."

RADIOHEAD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time DVD
*** All the episodes of Radiohead's TV show, with exclusive tunes, and indie store only!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Aphex Twin, Battles, Serge, LCD Soundsystem, & much more!

(APHEX TWIN) Caustic Window Compilation 3xLP
*** "Repressed. Caustic Window is Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin/AFX/Diceman/Gak/Polygon Window/Q-Chastic/etc... This release collects ALL of the audio from his classic Joyrex J4/J5/J9i/J9ii releases originally issued in the early-mid '90s."

BATTLES Tonto+ 12"+DVD
*** NOW ON VINYL! And it still has the DVD.

DASO Meine Idee 12"
*** "Daso truly comes into his own on his first Spectral record, expanding upon his marvelous reputation already earned in the house and techno scenes. Blending various elements throughout the EP creates a sound uniquely his own that dancefloors will no doubt covet."

DEAD MACHINES / JOHN WEISE / DAMION ROMERO Friday The 13th 2xLP
*** Totally brainbending Wolf Eyes members and buddies melting your world -- all recorded on Friday the 13th one of these last couple years. Limited, of course.

SERGE GAINSBOURG Rock The Bunker LP
*** "A boogie-ish glam-rock simulation, with the same band as on Vu De L'exterieur . "In 1975 his album Rock Around the Bunker ruffled feathers because he hurled his legendary sarcasm at political ghosts. Gainsbourg insists that Nazism does not stop at the German border, and pokes fun at I-love-a-man-in-uniform chic. He, a Jew who wore the yellow star, is denounced as anti-semitic. Gainsbourg is by now everywhere -- TV, film, scandal sheets, he publishes a novel, has a photo exhibit, does more soundtracks -- at least everywhere in France." -- Bart Plantenga

PAR GRINDVIK Continuate 12"
*** "'Continue In My Words' may start off simple, but it's laced with a tantric-build, pushing subconsciously to the edge where kamikaze lemmings blend mid-air into an exasperated steam machine. 'Continue Me' rides on a topography of mist, blasting and splitting-up, only to be reshaped into gestures that could replace the notion of melody altogether. The few choice notes which actually are singable get de-tuned and tweaked into an irresistible, bittersweet tinge of lust."

JOY DIVISION Closer LP
JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures LP
*** BACK IN STOCK! Remastered and pressed on heavy duty vinyl.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM 45:33 2xLP
*** "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."

LINDSTROM Lindstrom EP 12"
*** "Repress of these very scarce early Lindstrom 12" releases, on his own Feedelity label."

LINDSTROM The 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? Don't be a jerk!

LINDSTROM Plague The Kid 12"
*** "Three tracks from Feedelity-artist and Nordish disco-don Hans-Peter Lindstrom. 'Jodleknappen' and 'Naa Er Bestemor Paa Moten' are 2 nasty tracks with lots of jazzy percussion and techno-ish disco-beats. Arthur Russell meets Carl Craig. 'Gang Sound' is another percussive track from Lindstrom with dirty disco-ish."

MODEST MOUSE We Were Dead Before The Ship Sank 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK! Double-LP, 180g.

MOONDOG Snaketime Series LP
*** "The collection of vignettes contained in this album are fully realized attempts to integrate music and sound. Music and life's sounds are inseparable to Moondog." You should probably look this one up.

SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Shelter From The Ash LP / CD
*** "BEN CHASNY returns with a new SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE album--a most fluid combination of electric and acoustic SOOA styles. Though there are definite song structures in place, improvisations and heavy drones are still a big part of the sound. Includes playing from NOEL HARMONSON (COMETS ON FIRE), TIM GREEN (FUCKING CHAMPS), ELISA AMBROGIO (MAGIK MARKERS), and MATT SWEENEY (SUPERWOLF)."

SMEGMA The Smell Remains The Same LP
*** "Second in a slow series of 7" reissues, The Smell Remains The Same presents 10 tracks originally released in 1990-95 on 7" by various labels. The tracks display Smegma's pioneering style of audiophile-lo-brow folk-noise-rock, in their early-middle age when they were surviving through the birth of grunge, alternative, and indie rock."

SUPERMAYER Save The World 2xLP
*** "Supermayer is Michael Mayer & Superpitcher -- easily Kompakt's most recognizable faces. Save The World places our two superheroes along the edges of the world of techno-bliss. The dynamic duo also take a few death-defying risks by sonically experimenting with some indie-pop and laidback, lounge-y jams. But fear not, there are enough pounding dance beats, stratospheric synth washes and electrified robot voices in their arsenal to slay even the most stubborn of rhythm-haters."

VELVET UNDERGROUND Another View LP
*** Brand new virgin vinyl 180g pressing from 4 Men With Beards.

YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS Colossal Youth LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Led Zep, Amy Winhouse, Harmonia, Vashti, Boris & more

ost BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW by Marc Wilkinson CD
*** " Soundtrack from the 1971 cult British horror movie. Scored by Marc Wilkinson, musical ingredients include the ondes Martenot (the earliest electronic instrument) and the cimbalom, which add to the overall spookiness of this recording. And in 38 years, the music has lost none of its depth or addictive, evil hooks. Wilkinson's thoughts: " The descending chromatic scale which features throughout the music omits the perfect fifth (the only true consonant in the chromatic scale) and therefore highlights the diminished fifth, which ever since the middle ages in Europe has been known as the Devil's Interval!"

v/a DISCOVERED: A Collection of Daft Funk Samples CD
*** 12 tracks Daft Punk sampled (with key to which breaks went to which songs) presented in their original forms.

v/a THE IN-KRAUT Vol. 1 CD
v/a THE IN-KRAUT Vol. 2 CD
*** "20 mindblowing beat, now sound, soul & soundtrack nuggets from Germany, recorded in the '60s & '70s.

v/a LOVE IS THE SONG WE SING The True Story Of 1960s San Francisco 4xCD
*** The true story of 1960s San Francisco starts and ends with the music: 4 CDs with 77 tracks from a revolutionary rock 'n' roll community. Includes JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING CO., THE CHARLATANS, GRATEFUL DEAD, QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH, and many more. 120-page book featuring dozens of rare photos included!

v/a NEW ORLEANS FUNK The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 CD
*** 2007 repress of this SJR classic from 2000 -- has been o/p for a couple years. "This is a definitive collection of New Orleans funk, featuring acknowledged masters of funk such as the METERS EDDIE BO, ALLEN TOUSSAINT, and LEE DORSEY next to some of the earlier artists from the area who helped shape the meaning of funk. The album is also filled with many rare, sought after, and undiscovered funk tracks from the early 1960s through to the mid-'70s."

v/a SOUL JAZZ SINGLES 2006-2007 2xCD
*** "Featuring exclusive Soul Jazz Records singles over the last two years for the first time on CD. Some of the finest artists around have chosen to work with Soul Jazz Records over the last two years. As well as working with all the top dubstep producers recently such as Digital Mystikz, Skream, Kode 9, etc, Soul Jazz have continued to release new music by the likes of Rekid, Ladybug (The Bug), DJ Rupture and many more while continuing to work with legendary dance music pioneers such as ESG. Dancehall, reggae, Italo-disco, Baile funk, dubstep, German rock, post-punk, deep techno and house all feature. This album brings together tracks that have only been available on 12" vinyl." Artists include: Digital Mystikz, Capracara, Ladybug (feat. Warrior Queen), Kode 9, Subway, Soul 223, Private Lives, Skream, Tetine, Matias Aguayo, Secondo, Capracara/Kit Clayton, Rekid, ESG, DJ Rupture/Sister Nancy/Kid 606, Ladybug (feat. Deize Tigrona), Sutekh, JBP.

AFI I Heard A Voice: Live From Long Beach Arena CD
*** "All the music from AFI's first DVD ever!" 18 joints.

BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY Ask Forgiveness LP / CD
*** Eight unidentified covers (although one is attributed to DANZIG!) from Will Oldham, Greg Weeks and Meg Baird of ESPERS.

BORIS w/ MERZBOW Rock Dream CD
*** "This time round its a live, psychedelic, mind expanding collaboration with the legendary Japanese master of abrasion: MERZBOW! The usually harsh, corrosive grate of Merzbow is not as apparent with Boris involved. Also the inspired charge of the Boris rock machine seems to reach new heights with Merzbows' intuitive textures added."

VASHTI BUNYAN Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind 2xCD
*** "Following the amazing success story of Vashti Bunyan's re-emergence as an artist after an exile of over 30 years, comes the release of Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind, a comprehensive compilation of early recordings dating from the period prior to Vashti's classic 1970 album, Just Another Diamond Day. Titled after Vashti's (Jagger/Richards-penned) debut single which opens the compilation, this double-album represents an attempt to both open out and draw a line under the past, and also to try to set the record straight about the disparity between how Vashti viewed (and still views) herself against the way she has been popularly perceived. Widely construed as a folk singer - a tag she fundamentally disagrees with - these recordings instead reveal Vashti as a pop singer, however 'fragile' and unique."

BURIAL Untrue CD
*** "Untrue is a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporized R&B and smudged 2-step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy."

NEKO CASE Canadian Amp CD
*** Available only to indie stores or pals, but this is a gem of a release, recorded in Neko's kitchen -- in her underwear -- no less.

CLUSTER Cluster II CD
*** "Originally released in 1972, this is the second album by legendary German ambient pioneers Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Moebius and Roedelius essentially create ambient electronic soundscapes that ebb and flow, droning on in a suspended world of anti-gravity where machine has conquered man."

DJ SHADOW & CUT CHEMIST Product Placement CD
*** Back in stock!

FAIRPORT CONVENTION Unhalfbricking CD
FAIRPORT CONVENTION What We Did On Our Holidays CD
*** Remastered w/ bonus tracks

KILN Dusker CD
*** "Electronic composition with an almost impossible organic sense, its lush songs packed with flourishes that appear and disappear, cycling, spilling and disintegrating across the stereo field. It is an aural feast on headphones, and a perfect companion for a stroll through auburn fields. KILN have a knack for balancing heart rending melodies & progressions against rhythmic forms & textures of incredible depth, making for a richness of sound that may well be instrumental for the sole fact that words could never express as much."

HARMONIA Musik Von Harmonia CD
HARMONIA Deluxe CD
*** RECOMMENDED. Now available domestically.

HARUMI Harumi CD
*** "Produced by Tom Wilson (VU, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel), this lengthy set of Japanese acid pop and folk makes its long-awaited CD debut here. Its contents range from Eastern-tinged pop to introverted epics, all featuring a range of Japanese instruments. Sure to delight all fans of mystic psychedelia."

KIM HIORTHOY My Last Day CD
*** "Second full-length album since his critically acclaimed debut Hei in 2000. Compared to his debut, My Last Day is less fragmented & more song based, more melodic & complete, organic & folk-like, placing him in the forefront of the new electronic folk music movement."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK Eye CD
*** "Deluxe reissue of 1990 album with 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks and expanded packaging."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK I Often Dream Of Trains CD
*** "Deluxe reissue of 1984 album with 6 previously unreleased bonus tracks and expanded packaging."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK Black Snake Diamond Role CD
*** "Deluxe reissue of 1981 debut solo album with 8 bonus tracks and expanded packaging."

ALICIA KEYS As I Am CD
*** The new album featuring many, many hit singles and a tune "featuring a special guest appearance by JOHN MAYER."

THE KILLERS Sawdust: B-Sides & Rarities 2003-2007 CD
*** I know what you're thinking: it's about time The Killers had a b-sides collection! My only question is why it took so long. Includes 4 new, never-before-released songs, including a guest spot from LOU REED.

KRAFTWERK Kraftwerk 2 CD
*** The hard-to-find second Kraftwerk release, originally released in 1971. This was before the robots but shortly after the invention of primitive drum machines, giving the sound a more motorik Krauty feel ala Neu!, especially since it's an instrumental affair.

LED ZEPPELIN Mothership 2xCD
LED ZEPPELIN Mothership 2xCD+DVD
*** I know what you're thinking: it's about time Led Zeppelin had a best of collection! My only question is why it took so long. "The very best of Led Zeppelin remastered on 2 CDs." The special edition includes DVD with over two hours of footage from the Led Zeppelin DVD.

LED ZEPPELIN The Song Remains The Same 2xCD
*** "Remastered & expanded with 6 previously unreleased tracks from LZ's legendary 1973 performance at Madison Square Garden plus new liner notes by Cameron Crowe."

MAJOR STARS Mirror/Messenger CD
*** "Mirror/Messenger is an assault on poplular music, with considerable muscle exerted to create a jukebox-ready duck-and-shuffle--if the needle doesn’t get tossed out of the groove, that is. Eight powerful tracks loaded with screaming solos and psych-heavy riffs."

NINE INCH NAILS Year Zero Remixed CD+DVD-ROM
*** "includes 14 new remixes by SAUL WILLIAMS, LADYTRON, THE FAINT, FENNESZ, THE KNIFE, BILL LASWELL, and more. Bonus DVD-ROM has the complete Year Zero multitrack recordings for creating your own remix."

OH NO! OH MY! Oh No! Oh My! CD
*** Practically an indie store-only debut.

PHISH The White Tape CD
*** Indie store-only release of Phish's first album, originally a self-released affair and very hard to come by.

SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Shelter From The Ash LP / CD
*** "BEN CHASNY returns with a new SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE album--a most fluid combination of electric and acoustic SOOA styles. Though there are definite song structures in place, improvisations and heavy drones are still a big part of the sound. Includes playing from NOEL HARMONSON (COMETS ON FIRE), TIM GREEN (FUCKING CHAMPS), ELISA AMBROGIO (MAGIK MARKERS), and MATT SWEENEY (SUPERWOLF)."

MEIC STEVENS Outlander CD
*** "In the popular music of Wales, Meic Stevens is as important there as Bob Dylan in the United States, John Lennon in England, Caetano Veloso in Brazil and Serge Gainsbourg in France. Outlander, his sole English language release from 1970, is a diverse mix of folk, psych and rock with a distinct Welsh flavor."

SUPERMAYER Save The World CD
*** "Supermayer is Michael Mayer & Superpitcher -- easily Kompakt's most recognizable faces. Save The World places our two superheroes along the edges of the world of techno-bliss -- a trumpet, saxophone, acoustic guitar, melodica, flute, a vast array of percussive instruments and even a gong are just a handful of gizmos they used to defeat those electronic purists who would not dance. The dynamic duo also take a few death-defying risks by sonically experimenting with some indie-pop and laidback, lounge-y jams. But fear not, there are enough pounding dance beats, stratospheric synth washes and electrified robot voices in their arsenal to slay even the most stubborn of rhythm-haters. This is certainly the most musically diverse album release to have ever come from the Kompakt stable."

SUPERSILENT Supersilent 8 CD
*** "Supersilent celebrate 10 years as a groundbreaking quartet with their first studio album in almost 5 years, the eighth release in their series. Supersilent is a band that refuse categorization, with experiments in such disparate elements as ambient, jazz, electronica, rock, techno, noise and musique concrƩte."

TOKYO POLICE CLUB Smith EP CD
*** 4 killer cuts and 3 videos from this Pitchfork-approved band.

U2 The Joshua Tree Deluxe 2xCD
*** "Remastered audio plus b-sides and previously unreleased tracks."

THE VALERIE PROJECT The Valerie Project CD
*** g Weeks (of Espers) is describing the genesis of a new musical entitled The Valerie Project. Inspired by a classic of Czech New Wave cinema, Jaromir Jires’ VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970), Greg, joined by members of Espers and other Philadelphia groups Fern Knight, Grass, Fursaxa, Timesbold, Woodwose and Rake (as enigmatic electronicist Charles Cohen), conceived a new soundtrack the film. VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS is allegorical coming of age work populated by bewitched earrings, weasels, vampires, frisky maidens, friskier huntsmen, wicked aunts, bespectacled eagles and the handsomest mustache this side of 1970, the year the film debuted. Key to The Valerie Project’s conception is how reframing the film’s with an alternate soundtrack draws new interpretations from a work depth and changeable meaning. Lubos Fiser’s original score is lovingly recalled and ambitiously targeted by the group as a sound cycle to equaled every time they play it. The tone is dense and ornate, expansively acid-charged -- “a symphonic version of Magma” at its zenith.

ANY WINEHOUSE Frank CD
*** "Amy's debut album now available domestically. Features the smash hit 'F*** Me Pumps'."

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Can, Neil Young, Otis Redding, Make Up, & more

CAN Can DVD 2xDVD
*** Much cheaper non-CD version of this ridiculously great document on one of Germany's most influential bands. Includes a full concert, documentary, tribute by BRIAN ENO, and more.

MAKE UP In Film / On Video DVD
*** Awesome DVD collection of the Blue Is Beautiful "documentary" (including scenes from the late, great Zoots in Detroit) bookended by four videos with previously unreleased versions of songs, 43 minutes of live footage, and an excerpt from a German TV show (!).

RADIO ON by Christopher Petit DVD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "The 1979 post-punk classic, with music by DAVID BOWIE, KRAFTWERK, STING, LENE LOVICH, & more." Co-produced by WIM WENDERS.

OTIS REDDING Dreams To Remember: The Legacy Of... DVD
*** "First-ever full length DVD featuring the soul music legend!"

SPEND AN EVENING WITH SADDLE CREEK The First Ten Years of Saddle Creek Records DVD
*** A feature-length documentary on the first ten years of Omaha record label Saddle Creek featuring pretty much everyone on the Saddle Creek roster incuding BRIGHT EYES, THE FAINT, and some others.

NEIL YOUNG Rust Never Sleeps DVD
*** 1978 "concert fantasy" was picked by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the "greatest live performances of the last twenty years."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Kon & Amir edits on 45!

MATTHEW L. CASSELL / THE BLACK SOULS Heaven / Baki Mutane Nakuka 7"
*** Cratediggers extraordinaire KON & AMIR pick two cuts off their recent unmixed comp of latin & soul classics.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Battles, Grizzly Bear, David Byrne

BATTLES Tonto+ LP+DVD / CD+DVD
*** Brand new EP featuring an album cut, a live version, remixes by FOUR TET, THE FIELD, and some other guy. Includes a DVD with their excellent videos of "Tonto" and "Atlas".

BRIGHT EYES Motion Sickness CD
*** The live re-release.

DAVID BYRNE The Knee Plays CD+DVD
*** "Available on CD for the first time. DAVID BYRNE and ROBERT WILSON's 1984 collaboration from the theatrical epic the CIVIL warS. Includes 8 bonus tracks, plus full-length DVD slide show featuring JoAnn Verburg's photographs of the performers with music."

DR. DRE Chronicles Deluxe CD+DVD
*** "Deluxe edition includes 50 minute bonus DVD featuring the classic videos 'Nuthin But A G Thang', 'Let Me Ride', 'Natural Born Killaz', and many more."

EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN Alles Wieder Offen CD
*** "Many a younger band would be delighted with this as a debut, let alone the 20-oddth studio album of a consistently innovative career, not just musically but also the very means by which a record is made."

GRIZZLY BEAR Friend EP 12" / CD
*** "Includes new songs and Grizzly Bear covers by CSS, BAND OF HORSES, and ATLAS SOUND (Bradford Cox of DEERHUNTER)."

JAY-Z American Gangster CD
*** Allegedly HOTT new album inspired by the movie of the same name. Blockbuster!

VAN MORRISON Still On Top - The Greatest Hits CD
*** "Together for the first time! 21 career-spanning hits."

NAS Greatest Hits CD
*** 14 classic cuts!

OPERATION IVY Operation Ivy CD
*** Back in print on Tim "Lint" Armstrong's Hellcat label.

JOHN SEBASTIAN & DAVID GRISMAN Satisfied CD
*** 14 jugband waltzes!

SIGUR ROS Hvart / Heim 2xCD
*** A companion to the as yet unreleased DVD with one disc of 5 brand new recordings and a second disc of 6 new live acoustic recordings.

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & FRIENDS Solos, Sessions, & Encores CD
*** "The very best of Stevie's collaborations. Features studio tracks, live jams, & guest appearances. Includes 6 previously unreleased performances." Includes "Let's Dance".

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Bob Dylan

BOB DYLAN The Other Side Of The Mirror: Dylan Live At The Newport Folk Festival DVD
*** "Over 80 minutes of Bob Dylan's groundbreaking and controversial appearances at Newport. Featuring rare and previously unseen performances of some of Dylan's greatest songs."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Akron / Family, Vashti Bunyan, Italians Do It Better

AKRON / FAMILY Love Is Simple 2xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

VASHTI BUNYAN Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind 7"
*** Repress of Vashti's debut Decca single, written by Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for the forthcoming two-disc collection of old odds and ends.

CHROMATICS In The City 12"
*** “CHROMATICS draft in new vocalist RUTH RADELET for this ‘70s opus of Chicago Nosferatu disco. A stabby little cardiac-monitor bleep darts back and forth through the shimmering strings and swathes of gold and silver. Chromatics cast themselves as afro-ed divas gliding through the city in a gleaming Back To The Future Delorean, but we’re only seeing this in the dazzling reflective sheen from their aviator shades as the vroom off into 2012 AD leaving flaming tire marks."

DJ BLAQSTARR Shake It To The Ground 12"
*** "With Baltimore club's influence seeping everywhere else on earth, it might seem strange that the new 12" from DJ Blaqstarr - Bmore's most talented and quickest rising producer - is way darker and more intense than your average gimmick club track." Released on DIPLO's Mad Decent label. SWITCH, CLAUDE VON STROKE, and DROP THE LIME remix.

FAUST Faust LP
*** "Legendary German post-rock band formed in 1971 by undisputed noise pioneer Uwe Nettelbeck, Faust garnered an immediate following due to its artistically extreme experimentations with music cut ups and other mixed sources hinging on cacophony and distortion. Don't miss their 1971 cult classic debut, now reissued with its original clear printed sleeve on clear vinyl."

GLASS CANDY Miss Broadway 12"
*** "One of GLASS CANDY's most insane covers ever! Originally recorded by Euro-disco legends Belle Epoque, “Miss Broadway” is a legendary baeleric disco song. Known for the epic string arrangements and insane vocal range--the band does it justice." Features main, instrumental, and synth/drum mix versions.

HOLY GHOST Hold On 12"
*** "Holy Ghost! consists of NY boys Nicholas Millhiser and Alexander Frankel formerly of AUTOMATO. Holy Ghost! is a product of their obsessions with analog synthesizers, rare disco, and ancient production techniques. Their first single is 'Hold On', a thumping disco trot that recalls a smoother and more mysterious time. Accompanying the title track is an instrumental version and a rhythmic French disco remix by Blackjoy a.k.a. Jerome Caron."

JAY DEE Jay Deelicious 3xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

PHAT KAT Carte Blanche 2xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

PROFESSOR GENIUS La Grotta 12"
*** "PROFESSOR GENIUS come out of Jersey City with three totally intense dancefloor anthems rocked with breezy synths, thumping Italo basslines, and smooth analog drums that brings to mind Cerrone and Moroder, but with a more soundtrackish feel Ć  la Midnight Express or Scarface."

RUB Party Medleys 12"
*** "Basically the record is 4 medleys, about 6 minutes long each, in four different genres (at four different tempos). Each side is a continuous 12 minutes, so that is also valuable if you have to run to the bathroom, or if you're a beginner, just to throw on at a party. It's all quick mixed, NYC party style, but with intros and outros to each medley for mixing, and it's easy enough to just run a couple songs off of it."

SAGE FRANCIS Personal Journals 2xLP / CD
*** BACK IN PRINT!

SCOTTIE B Money Lotion Vol. 3 12"
*** "Baltimore club godfather Scottie B sets the record straight on this new EP for the DJ's champ, the Money Lotion series. Sick of all the amateurish Baltimore-style records dropping lately, Scottie’s created an instant classic with every style of the Baltimore spectrum represented. Scottie finally unleashes the track that EVERYONE has been look for the Bmore version of: “Never Be Alone.” (This one’s been getting hammered by Hollertronix, Tittsworth, Ayres...)" Limited edition.

SHIT ROBOT Chasm 12"
*** "On the epic A-side, 'Chasm', Lambkin masterfully joins relentless, brooding, patiently building techno with underlying melodic rock grooves. This dance track is both innovative and immediately familiar. The flipside, appropriately titled 'Lonely Planet', is a galactic krautrock adventure through whirling synths into the unknown." On DFA.

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION Jukebox Explosion LP / CD
*** "Beginning in 1992, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion earmarked songs from their recording sessions for their Jukebox Single Series on In The Red. Now, for the first time, all five out-of-print singles have been collected in one place on Jukebox Explosion, along with eight previously unheard rarities from the band's early days that are every bit as action-packed, frantic, and furious."

STILL GOING Still Going Theme 12"
*** "Still Going is the combination of two NYC dance music leaders-- Eric 'Dunks' Duncan of Rub 'n' Tug and Olivier Spencer of Manthraxx and Mr. Negative." On DFA.

VENETIAN SNARES My Downfall 2xLP / CD
*** "Since 2005, there has been one Venetian Snares album that everybody has talked about: the masterpiece Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett, Aaron Funk's story of falling in love among the spires of Budapest, scored by an orchestra and the Amen break. If that album was in effect a question, then this one is his answer: the unfolding of this particular Hungarian story. If anything, My Downfall is even more epic and bombastic than its predecessor, but not without those little humorous touches so beloved of Snares."

NEIL YOUNG Tonight's The Night LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Chromatics, Coltrane, Venetian Snares, & more

o.s.t. TWIN PEAKS Season Two Music & More CD
*** 21 jams by the great ANGELO BADALAMENTI from Twin Peaks second season and another jam from David Lynch hisself.

v/a MILKY DISCO CD
*** "Variously referred to as Nu Disco or Cosmic Disco, this underground scene has been getting bigger and stronger in the last couple of years. Milky Disco features exclusive tracks from LINDSTROM (under his Six Cups Of Rebel alias), SALLY SHAPIRO, QUIET VILLAGE, KERRIER DISTRICT, and BLACK MUSTANG, along with rare tracks previously released on vinyl only, making this the quintessential cosmic disco compendium."

v/a PORTABLE SUPERSOUND CD
*** "Label compilation showcasing the current & future sounds of Smalltown Supersound. Features ARP, DISKJOKKE, LINDSTROM, KIM HIORTHOY, BJORN TORSKE, 120 DAYS, MENTAL OVERDRIVE (with a track that is soon to be released on 12” by DFAbroad in US and by Prins Thomas`s Full Pupp label in Europe), LARS HORNTVETH (Four Tet remix) & TOY."

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS A Place To Bury Strangers CD
*** "A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS is not loud simply for the sake of it. The sonically overdriven sound they've accomplished is no clumsy accident, but a carefully cultivated and well-maintained entity all its own, fostered by an unbridled passion that's clearly evident in every live show they play and each recording they make. While there are obvious reference points--Pornography-era Cure, early Ride, My Bloody Valentine, and pre-1990s Jesus and Mary Chain--the sound is all their own."

ACID MOTHERS GURU GURU Psychedelic Navigator CD
*** "AcidMothersGuruGuru features Mani Neumeier from the legendary and influential German Krautrock group Guru Guru as well as Kawabata Makoto and Atsushi Tsuyama from Japan's holy Acid Mothers Temple. The result is a fiery fantasy filled, loud/soft, colorful trans-generational psychedelic collaboration."

ANGELS OF LIGHT We Are Him CD
*** "We Are Him is the fifth album from Angels of Light, the main vehicle for Michael Gira's music since he disbanded Swans in 1997. Backing/contributing musicians include Akron/Family, Bill Rieflin (Ministry, Swans, Robert Fripp, and currently drummer for both Robyn Hitchcock and REM), Julia Kent (Antony and the Johnsons) Christoph Hahn (longtime Angel and former Swan) and many, many more...."

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Falling Through A Field CD
BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Start A People CD
*** The first two BMSR albums re-released with bonus tracks!

BUCK 65 Situation CD
*** "Following his prior record's release, BUCK 65's label folded. While waiting to get through the red tape, he made a record with Tortoise (which saw no American release), moved to Paris, fell in love, scored a film, won a Juno (he also co-hosted said awards show with Pamela Anderson), and toured the globe. He settled in after all that and made his most realized work yet-- Situation, out on Strange Famous Records/Warner Bros. worldwide."

BURIED AT SEA Ghosts CD
*** "Buried At Sea is a flowing wave of trance-like massiveness. They combine elements of doom, space rock, and experimental noise to create a sound of thick and heavy textures that migrate from quiet to an Earth-rattling assault. The weak need not apply."

CHROMATICS IV Night Drive CD
*** "Nite Drive is the latest CHROMATICS tour CD turned-actual-release due to consumer demand. Like the After Dark compilation, the response was so great the label had to do a proper pressing. Like all IDIB releases, this one is limited (1,000 copies) and will probably not be repressed. Vinyl will be released sometime next year.

JOHN COLTRANE The Impulse! Albums Volume One 5xCD
*** "Specially priced, limited edition 5 CD box set containing these five classic, influnential John Coltrane albums: Africa/Brass (1961), Live At The Village Vanguard (1961), Coltrane (1962), Duke Ellington & John Coltrane (1962), and Ballads (1962). Each album newly remastered from the original master tapes."

DOSE ONE Skeleton Repellent CD
*** "An inspired collection of hooks, mayhem and mantras, produced entirely by doseone. From prose to percussion, doseone wields and reveals the fallapart then fullon production style behind his band's SUBTLE, THEMSELVES, and cLOUDDEAD. Fear not, the terms rap, rock, folk, ambient, electronic, and experimental all apply here."

FRUSTRATIONS Glowing Red Pill CD
*** From X! Records Detroit!

JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures 2xCD
JOY DIVISION Closer 2xCD
*** The albums newly remastered with a bonus disc for each including one live show from 1979 and 1980.

LINDSTROM Contemporary Fix EP CD
*** "This EP features the original version of The Contemporay Fix as well as a alternative version by Lindstrom himself called Serious Syntoms version. Also features a fantastic remix from EYE of The Boredoms who delivers a raving tribal-disco mix, and a remix by the innovator of the Norwegian disco scene, BJORN TORSKE."

MURCOF Cosmos CD
*** "Fernando Corona's long-awaited third album as Murcof marks a dramatic departure from previous works. Truly monumental in scale, Cosmos is composed almost entirely of recordings of classical instruments, a process which Corona describes as 'expanding the possibilities of acoustic instruments through electronics.'Ć® It's a move away from the micro-programmed sound he helped to pioneer, and his seamless integration of these apparently opposed forms is almost unprecedented."

OCTOPUS PROJECT Hello Avalanche CD
*** "With ragged, furious distorted guitars at one end of the spectrum and the pure, luminescent tones of the Theremin at the other, the members of The Octopus Project mine a staggering variety of sounds in between (via strings, synthesizers, drums, glockenspiel, trombones, etc.), filling their songs with brilliant contrasting colors and cascading waves of sonic bliss."

TERRY RILEY Music For The Gift CD
*** This CD brings together four seminal tape works of Terry Riley. The Gift music was performed in Paris 1963 by Chet Baker, with tape manipulations by Riley--the first use of tape delay to fragment, attenuate, and return time, looping tape through twin-tape recorders. The Gift recordings, referred to often by Soft Machine members, is the precursor to the landmark that launched the minimalist movement In C. Also included are 'Bird of Paradise', 'Mescalin Mix', and 'Concert for Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders' with La Monte Young."

SAGE FRANCIS Personal Journals LP / CD
*** BACK IN PRINT!

SAVES THE DAY Under The Boards CD
*** 13 new tunes. Includes a bonus DVD that gives you a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the album.

BIM SHERMAN Tribulation: Down In Jamdown 1974 to 1979 CD
*** 23 tracks, about half original tunes and half the tasty dub versions. Too cool.

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION Jukebox Explosion LP / CD
*** "Beginning in 1992, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion earmarked songs from their recording sessions for their Jukebox Single Series on In The Red. Now, for the first time, all five out-of-print singles have been collected in one place on Jukebox Explosion, along with eight previously unheard rarities from the band's early days that are every bit as action-packed, frantic, and furious."

SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN Fire Escape CD
*** "Produced by FOUR TET with artwork by EYE. In March 2006, FOUR TET asked the band if they would like him to record them with the idea that he would take the recordings & construct his vision of a Sunburned record. This is that vision!"

TUSSLE Warning EP CD
*** "Tussle remix EP with remixes by HOT CHIP, OPTIMO, DENNIS YOUNG (LIQUID LIQUID) and KANGO & TORKILL!" “Makes the last Rapture album sound like some rank American jam band" -(9/10 VICE MAGAZINE)

VALET Blood Is Clean CD
*** "The debut release from Portland, Oregon’s HONEY OWENS (JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER) under the name VALET. The songs are at once spare and expansive; exploratory, yet deceptively simple. A mix of alien-psychedelic-blues jams, Voodoo drumming, and shamanic dream music." On KRANKY.

VENETIAN SNARES My Downfall 2xLP / CD
*** "Since 2005, there has been one Venetian Snares album that everybody has talked about: the masterpiece Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett, Aaron Funk's story of falling in love among the spires of Budapest, scored by an orchestra and the Amen break. If that album was in effect a question, then this one is his answer: the unfolding of this particular Hungarian story. If anything, My Downfall is even more epic and bombastic than its predecessor, but not without those little humorous touches so beloved of Snares."

LUKE VIBERT & JEAN JACQUES PERRY Moog Acid CD
*** "The Godfather of space age pop meets the undisputed champ of left field Moog beats to create one of the most unusual records of the year so far. An eclectic but accessible mixture of electronica, dnb, disco, hip hop and beyond."

XBXRX Sounds CD
*** "Sounds documents the improvisational side of XBXRX. Through the years improvisation has been a major part of the XBXRX live show, but remained unrecorded until now. The album features 7 improvisations of distinctive character and mood ranging from frenzied storms of white noise to pointillistic chamber music."

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Scott Walker, Saturday Looks Good To Me, Black Dice, etc.

RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS Follow The Lights CD
*** When this arrived, I thought "Another Ryan Adams album!?" It turns out it's not an album after all--it's a 7-song EP, featuring 4 new tracks and 3 alternate versions of Adams' songs.

OREN AMBARCHI In The Pendulum's Embrace CD
*** "Ambarchi continues his otherworldly investigations with his latest where he expands the scope and range of his unique musical language, incorporating an even broader palette of instruments and sensibilities."

BABYSHAMBLES Shotters Nation CD
*** The NME said: "Babyshambles have far exceeded all expectations. This record is the work of a bunch of musicians hellbent on making he best record they have in them."

BLACK DICE Load Blown CD
*** "Strange and abrasive, yet somehow more familiar, accessible and familiar than ever, this is Black Dice at their most palatable yet."

CAN Anthology 2xCD
*** "A double CD of 29 classic CAN tracks--the perfect intro to the legendary German musical pioneers."

CASSIUS 15 Again CD
*** "Features the international dance floor smash 'Toop Toop' and the PHARRELL collabo 'Eye Water'." Plus bonus track!

CASTANETS In The Vines CD
*** "Appropriately, the album he was struggling to complete is based on a Hindu fable about being trapped in an inescapable fate, with death and the limitations of our physical lives closing in from all corners. The songs are sung with such intimacy and earnestness that "In The Vines" sways somewhere between the serpent, elephant, bees and rats, the honey representing a strange sense of hope and delight in the brief moments of beauty that sustain our lives."

COHEED AND CAMBRIA No World For Tomorrow CD
*** Yes, they're still mining that prog/hardcore thing, even going so far as to include a 5-part (re: song) cycle called "The End Complete". Most hilariously fantastic art of 2007? Perhaps. (Curious about the 2006 cover? It was Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquer album. It was every 1980s 5th grader's dream yearbook photo.)

iLIKETRAINS Elegies To Lessons Learnt CD
*** "The Leeds five piece arrived in 2006 with their powerful tales of morose events from bygone days, murder and misfortune. The stories told by iLiKETRAiNS are set to carefully structured, adorning melodies with instrumental patterns capable of creating an incredible range of emotions."

JESU Lifeline CD
*** It looks like Jesu took a note from Ryan Adams and decided to pop out an EP following an album too. Damn, 2007! But yeah, this features JARBOE of Swans and is a "clutch of dream rock gems. ...Lifeline is upper-atmosphere music that works just as well down here on Earth."

KRAFTWERK Aerodynamik / La Forme CD
*** NOW ON CD.

LITTLE BROTHER Get Back CD
*** These guys were so hot and then it slowed down but I think it's going to pick back up. LIL' WAYNE guests, for crying out loud.

METALOCALYPSE Dethklok CD
*** "The full length album from the most brutal band on the planet. Featuring songs from the [adult swim] series."

OF MONTREAL If He Is Protecting Our Nation Then Who Will Protect Big Oil, Our Children? CD
*** Would you like a mouthfull with your Of Montreal reissue? Just say the title! Moving on, this was an import-only item that's been unavailable for a year or so now.

ORTHODOX Amanecer en Puerta Oscura CD
*** "Sophomore release from this Spanish power trio helps give a new perspective into the soul of the music they create as well as its movement into several different directions without forgetting their metal roots."

ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS Raising Sand CD
*** What!? Are these two together? MOJO magazine seems to think so, referring to it as their "courtship dance." I also heard it's "gentle, attentive, and respectfully intimate."

PREFUSE 73 Preparations 2xCD / LP+CD
*** "By focusing on the foundation of his creative process and less on the intricacies of his trademark editing and chopping magic, he's emerged with an album that will give fans a subtle taste of his record that have come before." Apparently the bonus disc is the jam.

SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME Fill Up The Room CD
*** Yow! Fred Thomas jumped the Michigan ship and got signed to Olympia, WA's #1 former cassette label: K! Congrats, fellow. It turns out Thomas has been shying away from the Motown sound of past records and has expanded into the ether a bit. Give it a whirl.

DAVID SHRIGLEY Worried Noodles 2xCD+BOOK
*** Two years ago, artist DAVID SHRIGLEY released an LP-sized book of song lyrics which sold out almost immediately. It found a slew of admirers in music circles, wherein the idea of adapting these songs to music was realized. Featuring 39 exclusive tracks with contributions from DAVID BYRNE, FRANZ FERDINAND, ISLANDS, GRIZZLY BEAR, TV ON THE RADIO, HOT CHIP, LIARS, TRANS AM, and many more. Included with the two discs is a hardcover book reproduction of the lyrics.

SIGHTINGS Through The Panama CD
*** Produced by ANDREW WK. "Bass, drums, and guitars meshed together with a synthetic twine envisioned in future think tanks...this is a rock album, but a rock for times coming, a sound of future days."

SKULL DISCO Soundboy Punishments 2xCD
*** "Skull Disco's dubwise approach is a mutant mix of techno, tribal drums, eastern drum patterns and dubbed out resonating bass lines fused together to make this one of the most exciting and forward thinking new sounds to come out of the UK's underground dance scene. Includes RICARDO VILLALOBOS' epic remix of 'Blood On My Hands'."

SUBTLE Yell & Ice CD
*** Their second disc of collabos and exclusive b-sides, etc., featuring TV ON THE RADIO, NOTWIST (remember them?), WOLF PARADE, FOG and believe it or not, CLOUDEAD!

THE THRILLS Teenager CD
*** Perhaps the most apt cover art in regard to the album title. Hmm... what else should you know? It's a 4 star (****) album according to both MOJO and UNCUT.

SCOTT WALKER And Who Shall Go To The Ball? And What Shall Go To The Ball? CD
*** "After confirming his position as one of the most singular talents working in any field of the arts by releasing The Drift, Scott was commissioned by London's South Bank Centre to write music for a contemporary dance piece. Titled 'And Who Shall Go To The Ball? And What Shall Go To The Ball?', the entirely instrumental composition is made up of four movements with a total running time of 25 minutes. This is a limited edition release in deluxe packaging and will never be repressed."

ROGER WATERS / RON GEESIN Music From The Body CD
*** "Sound experimentalist Ron Geesin collaborated with Pink Floyd's Roger Waters to release this twisted auditory exploration of the human body. PINK FLOYD joins the duo for the soundtrack finale."

WEEN La Cucaracha CD
*** The brothers Ween holed up in a rented bungalow and recorded at least three albums worth of tunes, but here's 13. Like the last few albums preceding it, the fellows eek out a little bit serious territory while polishing up the fart jokes for a truly strange experience.

WEST INDIAN GIRL 4th & Wall CD
*** New album from very pretty, very Astralwerks sounding band formerly known in Ann Arbor as WIG.

WITCHCRAFT The Alchemist CD
*** "Third album from Witchcraft, finding the band delivering their 70s laden rock while expanding into a progressive soundscape. Includes a 13 minute three-part doom epic."

YEASAYER All Hour Cymbals CD
*** "Pulling from every spectrum and mashing, then re-mashing, the YEASAYER collective have bent genre's until unrecognizable. YEASAYER'S components are four, each multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and chanter. Founded by half of a barbershop quartet, then followed by the rhythm, YEASAYER is a tight brotherhood undisrupted by the external."

NEIL YOUNG Chrome Dreams II CD
NEIL YOUNG Chrome Dreams II CD+DVD
*** Critically acclaimed new album of ten songs and a sequel to an unreleased album. This is Neil Young's world!