((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs & LPs ))))) MIA, Liars, Madlib, and more

v/a HOME SCHOOLED: The ABCs Of Kid Soul CD
*** On NUMERO. "These are the homeschooled kids. The groups who didn't have access to publicists, stylists, dance instructors or crack songwriting teams. The formula was simple: marry bubblegum and soul to the absolute sincerity of an enthusiastic child, cross your fingers and pray for airplay."

AESOP ROCK None Shall Pass LP / CD
*** "New album featuring appearances by EL-P, CAGE, ROB SONIC, and John Darnielle of THE MOUNTAIN GOATS. Produced by BLOCKHEAD."

ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI Places Like This CD
*** "Instantly lovable pop brilliance, fizzing with electrical currents, channeling calypso rhythms and tropicalia flavors with lashings of percussive a-go-go. Fresh."

CARIBOU Andorra CD
*** "Andorra marries the kaleidoscopic grandeur with which Caribou has become associated, with pop melodies and harmonies crammed so densely from beginning to end that they jump over each other in forcing their way out of the speakers. Vividly three-dimensional sound."

CIRCUS DEVILS Sgt. Disco CD
*** Robert Pollard strikes! Holy shit! How can the man put out SO MUCH music?! Perhaps more importantly, how does he remember all these tunes when he's hammered?

EARLIMART Mentor Tormentor CD
*** New!

JEREMY ENIGK The Missing Link CD
*** SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE frontman steps out for another round of well done proggy pop. The man hasn't made a bad album on his own.

GALACTIC From The Corner To The Block CD
*** "14 funk-loaded tracks that mix old school brass band grooves with bounce-style hip-hop. Featuring MR. LIF, LYRICS BORN, JUVENILE (!!!), GIFT OF GAB, and others."

BEN HARPER Lifeline CD / CD+DVD+BOOK
*** "11 gorgeous songs recorded in Paris over a 7-day period." Rolling Stone called it "an acoustic-soul stunner."

TALIB KWELI Eardrum CD
*** "New album featuring collabs with KANYE WEST, NORAH JONES, KRS ONE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, JEAN GRAE, and UGK; production from WILL.I.AM, HI-TEK, JUST BLAZE, MADLIB, and PETE ROCK."

LIARS Liars CD
*** "For this new album, Liars have foregone theory for a more practical approach, one based on tradtional song structures and instrument usage. Liars is a set of songs only connected by the fact that no other band around could make music like this; an album that manages to balance the old, experimentally-minded Liars with an excitingly insidious new pop edge."

LYLE LOVETT & HIS LARGE BAND It's Not Big It's Large CD
*** Lyle's band really is more of a "big band." Seriously--between pensive country numbers, they play jazz! Real jazz!

MADLIB Beat Konducta Vol. 3 & 4: In India CD
*** 34 hip-hop instrumentals!

MIA Kala LP / CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of her! She's got a new jam and must be seen live!

MINUS THE BEAR Planet Of Ice CD
*** The first new album in a few years wherein the boys attempt to transcend the ol' Minus The Bear sound with a more organic feel (re: "raw riffage") and a cohesiveness not found on their other platters.

MODERN LOVERS The Modern Lovers CD
*** Yes! Finally available again, it's the Modern Lovers debut album with a whole slew of bonus tracks not found on the recently released import.

PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL Prinzhorn Dance School CD
*** "No dance music here -- more like The Fall jamming with The White Stripes after firing half the members. The debut bristles with buzzing one-riff guitars and kick-drum thuds playing bare bones, lo-fi funk with boy-girl shout-out vocals."

RILO KILEY Under The Blacklight CD
*** They didn't break up! They made a new album instead.

JOSH RITTER The Historical Conquests Of... CD
*** New!

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE Greatest Hits CD
*** REMASTERED! "One of the greatest party records ever made!"

SWAYZAK Some Other Country CD
*** "Swayzak return with their fifth album, and the new opus sounds mature and full. Swayzak have always loved their echo pedal, but now their dub-techno attains a new, compositional dimension. Darker and heaviier."

VOICE OF THE SEVEN WOODS Voice Of The Seven Woods CD
*** "Trading his own collectable limited 45s and self released CD-R's - which have been known to top the £100 mark on eBay - in record shops worldwide has part-funded Rick's collection of Krautrock, South American psych and Turkish acid rock LPs, which clearly play a large part in his inspired current output, as well as fuelling occasional DJ sets alongside long running friends from the Finders Keepers / B-Music collective. And the few weeks since Rick finished recording his debut 10 track LP have been spent in good company: he has played live with TWO members of seminal Krautrockers Can, built up a hefty daytime bar tab in Wales with the legendary Meic Stevens and has backed lost West Coast folk/pop luminaries Wendy and Bonnie."

ANDREW WK Close Calls With Brick Walls 2xLP
*** "Load Records is proud to present a U.S. domestic vinyl pressing of 2006's Asia-only release "Close Calls with Brick Walls" record. Be prepared for ultra-bombast, as this record holds a flame to the gas can of music as you know it."