Tuesday, July 28, 2009

((( EVENTS ))) Ann Arbor Soul Club, Our Brother The Native & Psychic Reality, Calvin Johnson

7 August 2009
ANN ARBOR SOUL CLUB
*** Brad Hales & Breck Bunce play the very finest Northern Soul, r&b, modern, Motown, etc. you will never hear on the radio or pretty much anywhere else,. Always, always a good time. Robert Wells returns in September!
Blind Pig / 208 S. First, A2 / 9:30PM / $5

9 August 2009
OUR BROTHER THE NATIVE / PSYCHIC REALITY / ROYALCHORD / DARK MATTER DJ
*** Fatcat artists, Our Brother the Native, play with SF's awesome Psychic Reality (starring Ms. Leyna Noel, a member of Mirah's touring band) and Royalchord. The Dark Matter doods, Aaron Lindell & myself, will play records inbetween.
Yellow Barn / 416 W. Huron, A2 / 8PM / $5

11 August 2009
CALVIN JOHNSON & Hive Dwellers / CITY CENTER / TYVEK
*** The excellent new band from K Records head Calvin Johnson makes its Ann Arbor debut w/ Fred Thomas & Ryan Howard's City Center and the always great/sloppy Tyvek. I think Brett Lyman & myself will be playing records inbetween/after.
Yellow Barn / 416 W. Huron, A2 / 8PM / $5 / ALL AGES

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Black Rio samba, M Ward reissue

v/a BLACK RIO 2: Original Samba Soul 1968-1981 2xLP
*** "DJ Cliffy has done a marvelous job selecting a compilation for Strut -- 18 prime Samba Soul joints of intoxicatingly slinky and sexually charged rhythms mixed with the typical fender rhodes strokes, squealing horns, cooing backing singers and James Brown style grunts."

M WARD End Of Amnesia 2xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Bill Frisell, Cass McCombs, Clark & more

24-CARAT BLACK Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday CD
*** "Rediscovered in the early 90s by Britain's rare groove scene, 24-Carat Black's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth has since been known as their first and final chapter, barely a footnote in the well documented history of Stax. Wildly divergent in tone, scope, and mission, the second 24-Carat Black album is tethered to the first by a single, crucial element: its creator."

CLARK Totems Flare CD
*** "Totems Flare is Clark's boldest yet most accessible effort to date, featuring breakneck Dance, driving Techno and baroque melodics. It's also perhaps his most accessible, as it's the first to feature his own vocals as well as guitar, drums and piano (albeit unrecognizably processed at times)."

SUGAR PIE DESANTO Go Go Power: The Complete Chess Singles 1961-1966 CD
*** "The complete Chess singles of Sugar Pie DeSanto, one of the original female stars of soul. Includes a UK-only gem, three great duets with Etta James and a tremendous previously unissued bonus track. Many titles are new to CD."

BILL FRISELL Disfarmer CD
*** Created as a result of a multimedia work in which Bill Frisell, lap steel guitar player Greg Leisz and violinist Jenny Scheinman played to slides of the late Michael Disfarmer's photos. A work uniquely American, subtly yet stunningly beautiful.

CASS McCOMBS Catacombs CD
*** "Each track of Cass's fourth album is cloaked in shiver inducing melodies that lay the perfect foundation for Cass' true source of transcendence his vocals and lyrics. McCombs carries on transcending fad and fashion to ensure the art of songwriting lives on."

ROSCOE MITCHELL Congliptious CD
*** "A stunning departure in 1968, presenting instrumental solos by bassist Malachi Favors, trumpeter Lester Bowie and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and a longer group performance where Mitchell, Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors are joined by Robert Crowder on drums. Also included are two tunes recorded for single release."

BRIDGET ST. JOHN Songs For The Gentle Man CD
*** 1971 album by the British folk-rock singer/songwriter, originally released on John Peel's Dandelion label.

Monday, July 20, 2009

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Planet Mu & DFA, Flipper, Public Image Ltd. & more

ALTAIR NOUVEAU Space Fortress 12"
*** "Altair Nouveau's music, though designed with the dance floor in mind, evokes a uniquely personal element -- indistinguishable, larger-than-life, spaced-out future disco sound sure to cause a dance floor frenzy."

BLACK METEORIC STAR Death Tunnel 12"
BLACK METEORIC STAR Domination 12"
BLACK METEORIC STAR Dreamcatcher 12"

*** "Three 12" singles of extended versions of DFA alumni Gavin Russom's new album inspired by equal parts Euro-disco, wonky early electronic body music from America's Midwest, and a fascination with the outer reaches of global psychedelic rock."

JAMES BLACKSHAW Glass Bead Game LP+CD
*** NOW ON VINYL! Includes CD.

BOXCUTTER Arecibo Message 2xLP / CD
*** "Arecibo Message's organic texture is the result of analog synths, delays, and guitar pedals with more guitars and bass than on previous records, with influences ranging from Hendrix to two-step garage." On PLANET MU.

BRACKLES Lhc 12"
*** "With a sound a million miles away from the current blokey, sludgy dubstep fare, this kid effortlessly incorporates funky, rolling grime, vintage two-step, and bassline into his energetic, elastic sets." On PLANET MU.

DIRTY PROJECTORS Bitte Orca 2xLP+MP3

*** BACK IN STOCK!

FALTY DL Human Meadow 12"
FALTY DL Love Is A Liability 2xLP / CD

*** "Post-garage ambience; round, warm melodies; and skippy two-step beats like it's 1999 again. This nostalgic record is immersed in the old New York and Chicago sounds, mashing together influences from hip hop, dubstep, soul, and electronica."

FLIPPER Sex Bomb Baby LP
*** RECOMMENDED "Originally released in 1987, Sex Bomb Baby is actually a of material dated no later than 1982, comprised of singles, B-sides, and compilation tracks."

GALAXIE 500 On Fire LP
GALAXIE 500 This Is Our Music LP
GALAXIE 500 Today LP

*** NOW ON VINYL!

GUILTY SIMPSON Stress 12"
*** Produced by J DILLA.

WALTER JONES I'll Keep On Loving You 12"
*** "Over the course of almost ten years, Walter Jones has released so few singles, one can count them on one hand. This new single is two tracks (no remixes) so staggeringly unique, haunting, and beautiful, DFA was ready to beg and plead Jones to release it."

THE JUAN MACLEAN The Future Will Come 2xLP+CD / CD
*** NOW ON VINYL! Includes CD.

MAJOR LAZER Hold The Line 12"
*** "DIPLO says “‘Hold The Line’--its like a surf rock ragga thingamajig, zeen! and its got MR. LEXX (formerly LEXXUS) and SANTIGOLD rockin out.' Exclusive b-side. Remix by TOADALLY KROSSED OUT."

MILANESE Lockout 2x12" / CD
*** "Melting dubstep's earthshaking frequencies with hip hop and grime vocals and hard-edged Timbaland-influenced drums and percussion, the result defies categorization: neither dubstep, grime, hip hop, nor IDM." On PLANET MU.

NITE JEWEL What Did He Say 12"
*** BACK IN STOCK!

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. Flowers Of Romance LP
PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. Second Edition 2xLP

*** NOW ON VINYL!

RISIL Non Meters Vol. 1 2xLP / CD
*** "First in a series of collaborative albums by Guillermo Herren (Prefuse 73/Savath & Savallas), Zach Hill (Hella), Tyondai Braxton (Battles), John McEntire (Tortoise), Alejandra Deheza (School Of Seven Bells), Eva Puyuelo Muns (Savath & Savalas)."

SHIT ROBOT Simple Things (Work It Out) 12"
*** "The new tracks on this DFA single feature throbbing bass, acidic sounds, and the perfectly haunting vocals of Washington, DC indie legend Ian Svenonius (MAKE UP, NATION OF ULYSSES, WEIRD WAR). Remix by TODD TERJE."

SHITMAT One Foot In The Rave 2xLP / CD
*** "A nostalgic album of '92-'94 jungle breaks and Amen killers, keeping the original authentic jungle sound using an Akai S950 sampler -- the hardcore junglist's weapon of choice -- and samples cassettes from old pirate radio shows."

SOLANGE Robots Are Un-American 12"
*** "A reissue of the 1984 Italo Disco 12" by SOLANGE and producer TINTO B. on Il Discotto Productions backed by a new dub version produced by BOTTIN."

MARK SULTAN Sultanic Verses LP / CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

VENETIAN SNARES Horsey Noises 12"
*** "Hot on the heels of his new album, Venetian Snares is back with a new four-track EP entitled Horsey Noises. The title track includes a vocal, and the B-side includes a remix of the song."

JAMIE VEX'D In System Travel 12"
*** "One of the pioneers of the Dubstep/Bass scene. Waves of bass, flickers of light, and space debris everywhere. Listening is believing." On PLANET MU.

KURT VILE Constant Hitmaker LP / CD
*** “KURT VILE's recordings reflect the artists admiration of everything from delta blues to the minimalist agro of Suicide, the downer psyche of 39 Clocks as well as the skiffle hum of Strapping Fieldhands."

WEEN Chocolate & Cheese 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK! "WEEN’s fourth album, originally released in 1994, is perhaps their finest moment, a brilliant mix of twisted humor and pure pop genius. An outsider-pop classic."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Magnolia Electric Co., Kurt Vile, Terry Riley, Planet Mu, etc

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE Dark Side Of The Black Moon CD
*** "Focused riffing, super fidelity recording and proffy psych sounds mixing Pink Floyd, fuzzed out wah guitars and sounds from the cosmos."

BLACK METEORIC STAR Black Meteoric Star CD
*** "New album from DFA alumni Gavin Russom inspired by equal parts Euro-disco, wonky early electronic body music from America's Midwest, and a fascination with the outer reaches of global psychedelic rock."

BOXCUTTER Arecibo Message 2xLP / CD
*** "Arecibo Message's organic texture is the result of analog synths, delays, and guitar pedals with more guitars and bass than on previous records, with influences ranging from Hendrix to two-step garage." On PLANET MU.

CHROMATICS Nite CD
*** "The first fully realized CHROMATICS tracks since the new lineup/mindset. Intense vocoder action over heavy Italo beats will blow you out of the water."

AARON DILLOWAY Chain Shot CD
*** "A digipak CD reissue of AARON DILLOWAY’s Chain Shot album, which was originally released on LP by Throne Heap. Contains a 28-minute bonus track."

EYEDEA & ABILITIES By The Throat CD
*** "After a five year break exploring new sounds and building their personal repertoires, Eyedea & Abilities return with biting guitars, fuzzy keyboards, melodic choruses, and some of their most intricate turntable work to date."

FALTY DL Love Is A Liability 2xLP / CD
*** "Post-garage ambience; round, warm melodies; and skippy two-step beats like it's 1999 again. This nostalgic record is immersed in the old New York and Chicago sounds, mashing together influences from hip hop, dubstep, soul, and electronica."

FIERY FURNACES I'm Going Away CD
*** "Their eighth album and first studio record since 2007's "Widow City"."

GROUPER Cover The Windows And The Walls CD
*** "Cyclical vocal vapors and guitar / piano shapes from Liz Harris levitate on the surface of hissy atmospherics dense with a feedback that conjures up all sorts of latent images from the subtle body / mind."

MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. Josephine CD
*** "Jason Molina's sixteenth full-length is a concept album that pays tribute to the life and spirit of fallen bassist Evan Farrell. It contains some of the strongest songs Molina has written. He's approached the universal loneliness before, but never in such a focused, directed manner."

MILANESE Lockout 2x12" / CD
*** "Melting dubstep's earthshaking frequencies with hip hop and grime vocals and hard-edged Timbaland-influenced drums and percussion, the result defies categorization: neither dubstep, grime, hip hop, nor IDM." On PLANET MU.

NURSE WITH WOUND & JIM O'ROURKE Angry Electric Finger 1 CD
*** "Haunting, weird, and beautifully dark ambient music that sounds like a hybrid between NWW's Soliloquy For Lilith/Spiral Insana and O'Rourke's Disengage/Tamper."

TERRY RILEY Music For The Gift CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

RISIL Non Meters Vol. 1 2xLP / CD
*** "First in a series of collaborative albums by Guillermo Herren (Prefuse 73/Savath & Savallas), Zach Hill (Hella), Tyondai Braxton (Battles), John McEntire (Tortoise), Alejandra Deheza (School Of Seven Bells), Eva Puyuelo Muns (Savath & Savalas)."

SECRET CHIEFS 3 Le Mani Destre Recise LP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "An imagined Giallo Horror Film Soundtrack by Secret Chiefs 3 where dissonant, violent strings recede into beautiful textures with flute and female vocals through echoplex; analog synthesizers, harpsichords, and celestas hover above a tight, '70s-style rock band rhythm section; crazed psychedelic freakouts payoff majorly; church organs grant repose, until tape treatments and a shrieking chorus of possessed voices force the listener to reconsider his or her position on the existence of Evil."

TY SEGALL Lemons CD
*** "Burying '60s sing-alongs and dance crazes beneath waves of reverb and giddy thud, Lemons is an exploration of the space between Cro-Magnon fuzz and atmospheric acoustic psych."

SHITMAT One Foot In The Rave 2xLP / CD
*** "A nostalgic album of '92-'94 jungle breaks and Amen killers, keeping the original authentic jungle sound using an Akai S950 sampler -- the hardcore junglist's weapon of choice -- and samples cassettes from old pirate radio shows."

MARK SULTAN Sultanic Verses LP / CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS Under The Covers Vol. 2 CD
*** "Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs take on another decade: the '70s. From power-pop like The Raspberries and Big Star to the soft-rock of Carly Simon and Bread, and from the classic-rock of John Lennon and Derek and the Dominos to the prog-rock of Yes."

KURT VILE Constant Hitmaker LP / CD
*** “KURT VILE's recordings reflect the artists admiration of everything from delta blues to the minimalist agro of Suicide, the downer psyche of 39 Clocks as well as the skiffle hum of Strapping Fieldhands."

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: DVD )))) Llik Your Idols!

LLIK YOUR IDOLS by Angelique Bosio DVD
*** "Through steamy excerpts, exclusive interviews (RICHARD KERN, LYDIA LUNCH, JOE COLEMAN, THURSTON MOORE...), in-your-face performances and previously unreleased photographs, Llik Your Idols retraces the chaotic story of transgressive cinema. In 1980s New York, this spontaneous movement -- a monster child of Reaganism -- definitively broke free of the codes set by avant-gardism and the classic conventions of storytelling. As ephemeral as a suicide, as sensual as it is sexual, transgressive cinema created for itself improbable links between Warhol, Dadaism and the punk attitude."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Animal Collective, Carl Craig, William S. Burroughs & more

ELLEN ALLIEN Ondo b/w Caress 12"
*** From Sool. "'Ondu' and 'Caress' get the remix treatment by Chaim and Paul Ritch."

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Water Curses 12"
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Peacebone 12"
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Summertime Clothes 12"

*** BACK IN STOCK! Exclusive tracks and remixes.

GUI BORATTO Atomic Soda 12"
*** From Take My Breath Away. BACK IN STOCK!

WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS Break Through In Grey Room LP
*** "An explosion of styles -- a blasting of borders, the silence after a gunshot -- from the exploded painting to the cut tape. 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."

CARL CRAIG Angel Remixes 12"
*** "Observers of Carl's music declare this era to have been the strongest material since earlier tempered Psyche/BFC classics. Jerome Sydenham and Detroit native Keith Kemp remix"

DIRTY PROJECTORS Stillness If The Move 12"
*** From Bitte Orca. BACK IN STOCK! Exclusive tracks.

SLIM HARPO Raining In My Heart LP
*** RECOMMENDED Exact repro reissue, originally released in 1961 on Excello.

LINDSTROM & PRINS THOMAS II 2xLP+CD / CD
LINDSTROM & PRINS THOMAS Tirsdagjam 12"

*** "Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas present a distinctively more organic, psychedelic, live and loose release. Featuring elements of Italo, Krautrock and disco-influenced productions."

ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO Vol. 1: The Vodoun Effect 2xLP
*** Subtitled "...Funk & Sato From Benin's Obscure Labels 1972-1975." Following the highly-acclaimed African Scream Contest, the music on this compilation is not only rare, but illustrates how Orchestre Poly-Rythmo thrived by mixing the coolest parts of funk, soul, crazy organ sounds and psychedelic guitar riffs, Latin and vodun rhythms into a new sound."

ARTHUR RUSSELL Is It All Over My Face? 12"
*** A1. Is It All Over My Face B1. Home Away From Home B2. This Is How We Walk On The Moon B3. See Through Love. Tracks

TELEFON TEL AVIV Immolate Yourself LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Wolf Eyes, MGMT, Son Volt, Dead Weather and weird stuff

ost CUL-DE-SAC CD
*** "Jazz pianist, Krzysztof Komeda's rarest and weirdest music performed for a film directed by his friend, Roman Polanski. Huge rarity -- here for the first time since 1966. Full explanatory liner notes included."

v/a LEGENDS OF BENIN CD+BOOK
*** Analog Africa presents Legends Of Benin, a collection of super-rare and highly danceable masterpieces recorded between 1969-1981. What you are about to hear is distinctively Benin -- a thick brew of agbadja, soul, cavacha, funk, Afrobeat, and Afro-Latin sounds all mixed in with heavy traditional rhythms."

v/a LOCAL CUSTOMS: Downriver Revival CD+DVD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "Between 1967 and 1981 in Ecorse, Michigan, Felton Williams chronicled gospel, group soul, garage-punk, northern, jazz, and funk and issued them on the Solid Rock, Compose, and Revival labels. Compiled here are 24 recordings and a DVD of the over 200 sound recordings and a 30 minute featurette on the making of Downriver Revival."

v/a ROOTS OF CHICHA: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru CD
*** RECOMMENDED "In the oil-boom cities of the 1960s Peruvian Amazon, the chicha style was 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." Excellent comp!

v/a SI, PARA USTED: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba Vol. 2 CD
*** "Cuban jams from the days of Castro, updated with funk, fuzz, and some revolutionary fervour. The music ranges from son, rock, jazz, and funk, and abounds with psychedelic influences, electronic experimentation, and a heavy dose of soul."

v/a TINY MIX TAPES: Darfur CD
*** "It's been over six years since the War in Darfur officially began. The UN states that up to 300,000 lives have already been lost, with an additional 2.7 million driven from their homes. But while figures continue to rise, awareness of the conflict has declined. This extremely limited-edition CD/LP compilation features 11 exclusive tracks from Jim O'Rourke, Balroynigress, WHY?, Frog Eyes, Burning Star Core, Xiu Xiu, Mount Eerie, Wooden Wand, The Flying Luttenbachers with Henry Kaiser, nmperign and Dan Deacon. 100% of the profits will be donated to the International Rescue Committee."

BEASTIE BOYS Ill Communication 2xCD
*** Already sold out! More on the way!

BOREDOMS Seadrum/House Of Sun CD
*** RECOMMENDED BACK IN STOCK!

CHICKS ON SPEED Cutting The Edge 2xCD
*** Fifth album. "The result of two years of productive creativity created by using the Objekt Instruments; amplified rocks, a high-heeled shoe guitar, a sax going through a guitar amp, plucking a gutted piano, and the inspiration for the album title, scissors."

CLUTCH Strange Cousins From The West CD
*** New!

CUNNINLYNGUISTS Strange Journey Vol. 1 CD
*** New!

THE DEAD WEATHER Horehound CD
*** "The Dead Weather is Alison Mosshart (THE KILLS), Jack Lawrence (THE RACONTEURS), Dean Fertita (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), and JACK WHITE on drums and vocals."

FRANCO & LE TPOK JAZZ Francophonic Vol. 1 2xCD+BOOK
*** "Francophonic finally gives Franco his due. Vol. 1: 1953-1980 comes out on the 70th anniversary of the artist's birth. From Sterns -- 'one of the world's finest disseminators of African music,' according to The New York Times."

JANE Berserker CD
*** RECOMMENDED BACK IN STOCK! "PANDA BEAR and SCOTT MOU doing "mechanical robo dance jams like Detroit and Chicago and the Germans but with less 0s and 1s and more souls." Super good, kinda' hard to describe.

ABNER JAY One Man Band CD
*** "The ultimate one-man-band wild man from the 1960s -- banjo, guitar, drums, harmonica, and voice at the same time -- and the most unusual music talent the world has ever seen and a true southerner. Subjects range from LSD to 'what's six inches long and has two nuts on the end' -- you got to hear it to believe it. A true glimpse at some real Americana."

LINDSTROM & PRINS THOMAS II 2xLP+CD / CD
*** "This is the highly-anticipated second full-length release by Oslo's cosmic-disco kings, a distinctively more organic, psychedelic, live and loose record featuring elements of Italo, Krautrock and disco-influenced productions."

MGMT Time To Pretend CD
*** MGMT's first release ever -- six exclusive jams!

MOKIRA Persona CD
*** "Constructed entirely in analog; the warming hiss of tape, the decomposing buzz of a monosynth, and the nostalgic twitch of the Roland TB303, Mokira has heard his fair share of Cluster and Harmonia records, but his sound is just as rooted in psychedelic rock and even Basic Channel-era dub techno as Germanic ambience."

POPUL VUH Coeur De Verre CD
*** "The soundtrack to Werner Herzog’s 1976 film is one of the true Popul Vuh masterpieces, often citied as the finest of Popol Vuh’s works. Coeur De Verre is based on traditional East Indian classical music on a slow and concentrated blissed out trip through the spiritual and emotional psyche of the human heart."

NINA SIMONE Gifted & Black / Live At Berkeley CD
*** Two albums on one disc!

SON VOLT American Central Dust CD
*** "Jay Farrar has delivered what may be his finest work yet, carrying on the tradition of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Rolling Stones of Exile on Main Street, et al."

OMAR SOULEYMAN Dabke 2020: Folk & Pop Sounds Of Syria CD
*** "The second volume of Northeast Syrian dabke music from legendary vocalist Omar Souleyman and his group, culled from dozens of cassettes recorded in Syria from 1999-2008."

TALIBAM! Boogie In The Breeze Blocks CD
*** "The Brooklyn duo's first ESP Disk release is ensemble playing that goes beyond personal choice to capture a mood and the deep anthropology of the strange beauty of contemporary opposing and debt-maxed-out stimuli."

WOLF EYES Always Wrong CD
*** "Coming forth from the piles of tape loops and effects, the bulk of tables reeling with electronics have been shed. This clarity never sacrifices intensity as paradoxically this is the most organic of the full lengths but also the harshest and most dissonant."