Thursday, January 31, 2008

( NEWS ) preorder Stephen Malkmus & Jicks 'Real Emotional Trash'

For those who don't know, Matador Records has been running a promotion service with their indie retail accounts, Wazoo Records being one of them. Called Buy Early Get Now, customers are entitled to listen to the entire album for free as well as download b-sides, live shows, and more.

For the release of Stephen Malkmus' fourth album, Matador whipped this up:

* Stream of the entire album from the BuyEarlyGetNow site NOW
* "Walk Into The Mirror" b-side exclusive to BEGN customers NOW
* Second b-side to be posted soon
* Full live show recorded on December 21, 2007 in Portland (to be posted on Friday, February 15)
* All other b-sides and/or exclusive tracks related to this record (to be posted on BEGN site 90 days after street date)
* Poster for Real Emotional Trash to be picked up on street date -- Tuesday, March 4 -- with purchase of the album

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) DFA, Kanye, Stars Of The Lid

2 LIVE CREW Greatest Hits LP
*** All the smashes plus three (3!!) more dirty, dirty exclusive songs. Geeeez....

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS A Place To Bury Strangers LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

BOT'OX Babylon By Car 12"
*** On DFA. "They set out to form a producer team like that of the golden disco era, and developed a totally unexpected dark disco terrain."

DJ ELI ESCOBAR Money Lotion Vol. 4 12"
*** "Unparalleled remixes. This volume features six of Eli's most in-demand remixes, and also marks the first time any of his white label remixes have been pressed on vinyl."

KID SISTER Control 12"
*** "The debut 12-inch on Fool’s Gold, the new label launched by DJs A-TRAK and NICK CATCHDUBS. Produced by XXXCHANGE and A-TRAK with a remix by DJ GANT-MAN."

KID SISTER Pro Nails 12"
*** Featuring KANYE WEST. Produced by A-TRAK.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Confuse The Marketplace 12"
*** "Three tracks aimed directly at the dancefloor found only on the CD version of 45:33. Soulful jams laced with heavy congas and soothing vocals & percussion-heavy cosmic disco."

SOUNDGARDEN Ultramega OK LP
*** Unlike any other Soundgarden album, this thing is an SST-released shredder.

STARS OF THE LID And Their Refinement Of The Decline 3xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK! Practically the Wazoo Album Of The Year, this comes on monster triple-disc heavy vinyl with alternate artwork. Beautiful.

AMON TOBIN Kitchen Sink Remixes 12"
*** Remixes by CLARK, SIXTOO, NOSIA, and BOXCUTTER.

TYVEK Summer Burns 2x7"
*** Michigan sons TYVEK: "Alienated nowness banged out for love and bro-dom and drinks. Think half the monks, half the electric eels, playing half japanese's gear."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) The Mars Volta, Diplo, Xiu Xiu, Beck

ost DOWNTOWN 81 CD
*** "Finally! The soundtrack to the cult underground movie starring JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT. Including tracks by DNA, JAMES WHITE, KID CREOLE, LYDIA LUNCH, SUICIDE, LOUNGE LIZARDS, TUXEDOMOON, and more!"

v/a JAMAICA FUNK CD
*** "This is a stellar selection of rare reggae funk and soul 45s that clearly show the influences of American musical styles in Jamaican music and Britain's long standing interest in the music of the Caribbean. Mostly released in Jamaica in the early 1970s, these 45s feature versions of songs by Betty Wright, The Temptations, Al Green, The Stylistics, Bill Withers, The JBs and more as well as original cuts."

v/a PROG IS NOT A FOUR LETTER WORD CD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "Unintentionally progressive musicians from the far reaches of the globe, forced to create their own brand of psychedelic rock. Most of the 15 tracks on this compilation were recorded over 30 years ago they still, individually embody a wide range of challenging progressive musical ideas which are as relevant today as they were when the vinyl first came off the press."

ARP In Light CD
*** "Arp is Alexis Georgopoulos, formerly of TUSSLE. Recorded live to bring back some of the rough (re: natural) edges that have been lost in so much 'Electronic Music' today. This is a luminous album of warm, pulsing music. Call it Pop Minimalism. Call it Cosmic Pop. Call it Cosmic Minimalism. Call it what you will."

BECK Odelay 2xCD
*** The fancy Pitchfork-approved deluxe edition of Beck's groundbreaking album.

BLACK MILK Caltroit CD
*** New mix from Detroit's most talked about recent musical export. Featuring a slew of guests, big and small.

BONOBO Days To Come 2xCD
*** "The third full-length from electronic artist BONOBO. Days To Come is a big, brooding, emotional and uplifting record that you can dance to, do the dishes to, or sit and really study. Seventeen tracks and his most accomplished release to date."

WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS Break Through In Grey Room CD
*** "Extraordinary cut-up voices recorded during the mid-60's in hotel rooms in New York, Paris, London...It's impossible not to recognize the writer's voice. An explosion of styles -- a blasting of borders -- the silence after a gunshot -- from the exploded painting to the cut tape. This record starts with a piece of more than 13 minutes, recorded around 1965 -- K-9 was in combat with the alien mind-screens, including various monologues, radio short waves and music..."

DIPLO I Like Turtles Mix CD
*** "Diplo's usual live mix of all genres all the time, plus new and unreleased tracks like the BUN B and RICH BOY remix of Mia's "Paper Planes," tracks from Diplo and SWITCH’s JAMAICA PROJECT featuring ELEPHANT MAN and BEENIE MAN, exclusive Diplo remixes like "Bart So Krispy," SIZZLA & Mia "Bamboo Banga" and blends all over the place."

EELS Essential Eels Vol. 1 1996-2006 CD+DVD
*** The best of EEL's first decade.

EELS Useless Trinkets CD+DVD
*** Subtitled: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities, and Unreleased. "2 discs of 50 digitally remastered rare, hard to find, or unreleased tracks from Eels' first decade.

FUTURE OF THE LEFT Curses CD
*** "Two-parts MCLUSKY and one-part JARCREW. It's like rock and roll but a little different. For fans of MCLUSKY and Shellac, perhaps.

LEE HAZLEWOOD Hazlewoodism CD
LEE HAZLEWOOD Very Special World Of... CD
*** Hazlewood's 2nd and 4th albums, both from 1966, featuring Billy Strange's Western movie classic-styled orchestration to the usual mix of rock, country, cowboy music, and folk.

IDA Lovers Prayers CD
*** "IDA is known for their quiet, pastoral take on urban life. But, since moving to the country, the woods have made their way into the music. This new, organic approach to crafting and performing songs is bolstered by collabos with LEVON HELM (The Band) and MICHAEL HURLEY."

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER Valley Of Fire CD
*** "Fascinating, mystical spaceways, proving their affinity with organic songwriting and arrangement on three finely crafted songs and one sprawling instrumental. Produced by ADAM FORKNER (YUME BITSU, WHITE RAINBOW)."

KRAFTWERK 1+2 2xCD
*** "Their first two legendary LPs! The 'oscilloscope' gatefold artwork from the rare Vertigo 'swirl' double-LP re-package is used for the first time ever on a compact disc reissue. [The separate CDs of these titles are no longer available]."

MARS VOLTA The Bedlam In Goliath CD
*** Brand new and apparently comprised of shorter songs. Buy only if you're ready to have your... brain... melted....

PAT METHENY w/ CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE & ANTONIO SANCHEZ Day Trip CD
*** Brand new "jazz music".

VAN MORRISON Tupelo Honey CD
VAN MORRISON Wavelength CD
VAN MORRISON It's Too Late To Stop 2xCD
*** RE-ISSUED & REMASTERED! "Newly remastered using the original analog tapes with enhanced packaging and lyrics and previously unreleased bonus material."

MURCOF Cosmos CD
*** "Composed almost entirely of recordings of classical instruments 'expanding the possibilities of acoustic instruments through electronics.' It's a move away from the micro-programmed sound Murcof helped pioneer but is truly monumental in scale."

NURSE WITH WOUND Gyllenskold, Geijerstam and I at Rydberg's CD
*** Originally released on vinyl in 1983, this is a remastered version of the original album with three re-workings tacked on.

PRURIENT & KEVIN DRUMM All Are Guests In The... CD
*** "One of the darker records in either artist's discographies. The two create a haunted atmosphere that is far removed from noise, exploring minimal junctures, using field recordings and clean, patient vocals to lead the way. Subtle electronic textures combine with near-cinematic arrangements."

NINO ROTA La Strada / Nights Of Cabiria CD
*** "These are the original mono soundtracks for two of Federico Fellini's Oscar-winning films, recorded in 1952 and 1956 respectively: the same recordings that are used on the films and both are long out-of-print in any format."

STARS OF THE LID Per Aspera Ad Astra CD
*** "A collaboration between tonal feedback reverie kings Stars of the Lid, and New York minimalist painter JOHN McCAFFERTY. The Stars have incorporated the sounds of McCafferty painting into the music, as it was composed to accompany the visual images."

13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS Psychedelic Sounds Of... CD
13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS Easter Everywhere CD
*** IMPORT. Bonus tracks.

UP, BUSTLE & OUT Istanbul's Secrets 2xCD
*** A wild and crazy album that's new. In fact, it's so new that the shrinkwrap still sparkles like one of God's gleeks.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND Vampire Weekend CD
*** "These fellows experiment and explore the intersections of the things they love: African guitar music, the Western classical canon, hazy memories of summers in Cape Cod, winters in upper Manhattan, reggaeton and everything else that would become a part of Vampire Weekend."

XIU XIU Women As Lovers CD
*** "Intense and virtuosic performances led by Jamie Stewart's one-of-a-kind voice, painting in a spectrum of acoustic and electronic colors that find black humor where there is usually horror and horror where there is usually apathy."

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD ))))) Thunderbolt Pagoda & Sigur Ros

THE INVASION OF THUNDERBOLT PAGODA by Ira Cohen DVD
*** "The first-ever, fully authorized commercial release of Ira Cohen's legendary 1968 film, The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda, fully restored and director's cut. The legendary soundtrack, newly remastered by Tim Barnes, featuring The Universal Mutant Repertory Company (Loren Standlee, Ziska Baum, Angus MacLise, Raja Samayana, Tony Conrad, Henry Flynt and Jackson MacLow) and two new, never-before-released alternative soundtracks to Invasion by SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN and ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE SWR."

SIGUR ROS Heima 2xDVD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Cat Power, Rivers Cuomo, Grizzly Bear

AS MERCENARIAS / FELLINI 7"
*** "Super-limited two-sided 7" sampler taken from Soul Jazz Records Brazilian Post-Punk compilation, The Sexual Life of The Savages. As Mercenarias are an all-female equivalent of ESG who hail from Sao Paolo, Brasil and sound like Gang of Four/Pop Group/Slits as well as Le Tigre/Chicks on Speed."

CAT POWER Jukebox 2xLP
*** "CAT POWER returns with her second album of cover songs, this one a tribute to the great vocalists who have influenced her over the years. The album comes in two versions: a.) Deluxe silver-foil gatefold cover (on both LP and CD) with bonus disc containing extra tracks, and b.) Regular jewelcase version (CD only)."

RIVERS CUOMO Alone LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

GRIZZLY BEAR Sorry For The Delay LP
*** "Initially conceived by Ed Droste, who, in 2002, began a 15-month 'hibernation period' in his Greenpoint apartment, the seven nuggets that make up this release are the creative genesis of the Grizzly Bear oeuvre. Elegiac, emotional, endearing, and earnest. Contains a haunting cover of Yes hit, 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Cat Power, Blood On The Wall, Magnetic Fields, Times New Viking

v/a WAYFARING STRANGERS: Guitar Soli CD
*** On NUMERO GROUP. "Bridging the gap between American primitive pioneers John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Leo Kottke, and the California modernists William Ackerman, Alex de Grassi, and Michael Hedges, Guitar Soli explores the private side of the solo guitar movement from 1966-1981."

BLACK MOUNTAIN In The Future 2xCD
*** "Resonating with the same epic ring, beloved deep rock touchstones and genuine folk fragility that made their self-titled debut full-length an instant classic, the new album possesses immense breadth, seamlessly showcasing short and classic folk-pop gems along with driving modern rock masterpieces"

BLOOD ON THE WALL Liferz CD
*** "Having gone from hometown heroes to national fan favorites and critical darlings, the band has earned its reputation as top of the rock heap, putting out raucously fun records. Liferz is a portrait of a band at the top of their game somehow they have managed to get even more 'awesomer'."

BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY + DAWN MCCARTHY Wai Notes CD
*** "The material seems to be demo versions of material that ended up on The Letting Go album in 2006, but we don't want to give away all the luxurious details." Packaged in an embossed paper sleeve. LIMITED.

CAT POWER Jukebox CD
CAT POWER Jukebox 2xCD
*** "CAT POWER returns with her second album of cover songs, this one a tribute to the great vocalists who have influenced her over the years. The album comes in two versions: a.) Deluxe silver-foil gatefold cover (on both LP and CD) with bonus disc containing extra tracks, and b.) Regular jewelcase version (CD only)."

DENGUE FEVER Venus On Earth CD
*** "A unique and surprisingly danceable group that combines a beautiful Khmer-language vocalist from Cambodia and a quintet of seasoned locals with a knack for mixing southeast asian pop, Vietnam-war-era lounge music, klezmer, ska, surf rock, and Ethiopian jazz."

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Brighter Than Creation's Dark CD
*** "19 brand new songs! 75 minutes of music! Sprawling, intense & rocking!"

EVANGELICALS The Evening Descends CD
*** "Dabbling in glam, slipping in a little funk and soul, drinking the psychedelic Kool-aid, blasting the synths, cranking up the guitars, and wrapping it all up with a dose of pop smarts, The Evening Descends is the first great album of 2008."

MIKE LADD Nostalgialator CD
*** "Mike Ladd rolls from stuttering, electro steeped funky rock breaks to sci fi boombap and even some spacey soul -- never too schitzo to be straight up fun."

MAGNETIC FIELDS Distortion CD
*** Brand new -- a full-length winner!

MOE. Sticks & Stones CD
*** 10 new jams of the highest order. If you've ever smelled the lobby of one of their shows and liked it, you'll no doubt enjoy this.

MICHAEL ROTHER Flammende CD
MICHAEL ROTHER Sterntaler CD
MICHAEL ROTHER Katzenmusik CD
*** A founding member of KRAFTWERK, 1/2 of NEU! and 1/3 of HARMONIA, Michael Rother's first albums get fancy reissue treatment from Water.

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS Hey Venus! 2xCD
*** "Expanded U.S. edition contains a bonus disc with four extra tracks, the video for 'Run Away', and exclusive video footage of the band recording."

TIMES NEW VIKING Rip It Off CD
*** MATADOR debut. "These two guys and a girl make super lo-fi thrashy arty stuff with melodies buried under screeds of noise. There's a touch of early Pavement, but with Mid-Western energy."

TOWNES VAN ZANT Rear View Mirror CD
*** A collection of live and obscure recordings originally released in 1993. "Backed by second guitarist Danny Rowland and fiddler Owen Cody, Van Zandt works his way through tunes he'd performed hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of times."

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) American Hardcore, Daniel Johnston & more

v/a AMERICAN HARDCORE: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986 LP
*** "The intense soundtrack to American Hardcore featuring BLACK FLAG, BAD BRAINS, MINOR THREAT, CIRCLE JERKS, ADOLESCENTS, D.R.I., 7 SECONDS, FLIPPER and more."

BIG STAR 3rd LP
*** "For the first time since its debut in 1978, Big Star's legendary 3rd, also known as Sister Lovers, is available on LP with the original tracklisting, mixes, and complete original packaging."

IGGY POP New Values LP
*** NOW IN STOCK ON VINYL!

DANIEL JOHNSTON Yip / Jump Music LP
DANIEL JOHNSTON Hi, How Are You LP
*** "The legendary 'homemade' cassette recordings originally released in 1983. Digitally remastered and available on vinyl for the first time in 15 years!" FREE DOWNLOAD of album included.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Juno, The Roots Of Chicha

ost JUNO CD
*** Music from the motion picture starring that kid from Arrested Development and Superbad playing -- guess what -- an awkward teen! This time he gets a girl pregnant. But the movie's really about her. Anyway, it contains "19 totally boss, sing-along songs" with a big dose of KIMYA DAWSON.

v/a THE ROOTS OF CHICHA: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru CD
*** "Chicha started out in the late sixties, in the oil-boom cities of the Peruvian Amazon. Cumbias Amazonicas, as they were first known, were loosely inspired by Colombian cumbias but incorporated the distinctive pentatonic scales of Andean melodies, some Cuban guajiras, and the psychedelic sounds of surf guitars, wah-wah pedals, farfisa organs, and moog synthesizers."

JOHNNY CASH The Best Of The Johnny Cash TV Show 1969-1971 CD
*** "The very best of Johnny's 1969-1971 variety show that ran 58 episodes.

SIA Some People Have Real Problems CD
*** Anti-music said "...upbeat, quirky, and achingly gorgeous, featuring incredible songwriting and...SIA's stunning vocals."