Tuesday, October 27, 2009

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Of Monteal reissues, Tortoise, Thank You & more

MOUNTAINS Etching LP
*** "Recorded in real time with no overdubs, the music on Etching parallels the live set the band performed on recent tours. To translate the recording to the vinyl format the band re-sequenced the recordings to fit more appropriately on the LP."

OF MONTREAL Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies 2xLP+MP3
OF MONTREAL The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy LP+MP3
OF MONTREAL Aldhils Arboretum LP+MP3

*** NOW ON VINYL! Repressed & fancy! Includes a download card for the entire album.

THE STOOGES The Stooges LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

THANK YOU Pathetic Magic 12"
*** RECOMMENDED "After a year of touring, Thank You return with an EP featuring two new tracks & three remixes from DAN DEACON, Asa Osborne (LUNGFISH), and JOE WILLIAMS and JASON URICK (WZT HEARTS).”

TORTOISE Beacons Remixes 12"
*** Remixes by EYE of BOREDOMS and MARK ERNESTUS.

YEAH YEAH YEAHS It's Blitz LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Broadcast, Avett Bros, Richard Hawley, Devendra & more

AVETT BROTHERS Mignonette CD
AVETT BROTHERS Emotionalism CD
AVETT BROTHERS The Gleam CD
AVETT BROTHERS The Gleam II CD

*** BACK IN STOCK! And ain't they great.

DEVENDRA BANHART What Will We Be CD
*** "What Will We Be has a sunny, breezy feel, evoking warm, lazy afternoons spent with good friends. The album is dominated by powerfully melodic, mid-tempo numbers played with relaxed expertise and an ambitious stylistic range."

BROADCAST & THE FOCUS GROUP Investigate Witchcults of The Radio Age CD
*** RECOMMENDED "BROADCAST and graphic artist JULIAN HOUSE (aka THE FOCUS GROUP) present a psychedelic album pulling in a unique sense of melody and love of library music, film scores, electronics and psych-pop colour."

JERRY GARCIA & HOWARD WALES Hooteroll? CD
*** "On his first album release outside the Dead, Garcia seldom takes center stage, instead seasoning a diverse collection of instrumentals with spare, tasty trademark fills and some propulsive funk- and R&B-inspired rhythm work."

RICHARD HAWLEY Truelove's Gutter CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Thematically his darkest work to date, Truelove's Gutter explores the idea of people or things that are broken in some way. The album's lush production provides a haunting backdrop to Hawley's unique voice and guitar work."

JAMES HUSBAND A Parallax I 2xCD
*** "Debut solo album from OF MONTREAL multi-instrumentalist Jamey Huggins. Deluxe CD includes 6-song covers disc & 16-song Polyvinyl digital sampler."

JESU Opiate Sun CD
*** "New, heavy & melodious EP from Justin Broadrick of NAPALM DEATH and GODFLESH."

JACK JOHNSON En Concert CD
*** "A live album featuring some of Jack's biggest songs."

PELICAN What We All Come To Need CD
*** "This is Pelican at their most inspired and sonically adept, straddling the fine line between adherence to roots and the mining of the unexplored, as punishing as it is calming. 50 minutes of weighty riffs and textured progressions in momentous succession."

THE SWELL SEASON Strict Joy CD
*** "The Swell Season is Oscar-winning duo Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglove - the follow'up to their ONCE film & soundtrack."

HENRY THREADGILL ZOOID This Bring Us To Volume 1 CD
*** "Threadgill first release since 2001, he has spent those eight years creating and perfecting a new system of improvisation in a group setting based on a series of interval blocks comprised of three notes, improvising melodies and creating counterpoint to one another."

THE TWILIGHT SAD Forget The Night Ahead CD
*** "The Twilight Sad's much-anticipated follow-up is a dark and tumultuous listen, retaining the guitar-washed drama of their previous effort, with an added complexity both sonic and thematic."

WOLF MOTHER Cosmic Egg CD
*** "Wolfmother is back with Cosmic Egg, delivering their aggressive and classic sound laced with crunching guitars, muscular rhythms and soaring vocals. Cosmic Egg is bound to take fans into another sonic dimension."

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Sufjan, Butthole Surfers, Boredoms, Mi Ami & Antony

ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS Aeon 7"
*** The b-side is "Crazy In Love" and everybody's crazy about it!

BOREDOMS Super Roots 10 2xLP+POSTER
*** "One looong Boredoms track -- that combination of amazing technical skills and limitless imagination -- plus three remixes from LINDSTROM, ALTZ, and DJ FINGER HAT." Includes poster.

BUTTHOLE SURFERS Live Pcppep 12"
*** "Finally back in print! This is where it all began for the Butthole Surfers. Their second release on vintage thick wax; still as crazed and lysergic as ever!"

MI AMI Towers Fall 12"
*** "Using Shackleton's now-seminal 'Blood On My Hands' as a source/jumping-off point, Mi Ami take a lateral step away from the visceral punch of their live show, marrying slowly unfolding polyrhythmic grooves and washes of oceanic bass to a long-form synth-and-drum machines workout."

SUFJAN STEVENS The BQE LP+COMIC+BOOK / CD+DVD+COMIC+BOOK
*** "The BQE is a cinematic suite inspired by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway commissioned by Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The BQE is available as a double-disc format (CD/DVD), which includes the original 16mm/8mm film (widescreen), the original motion picture soundtrack, a 40-page booklet (with extensive liner notes and photographs), and the stereoscopic image reel (playable in all View-Master® viewers)."

SUFJAN STEVENS & OSSO Run Rabbit Run LP / CD
*** "Sufjan re-arranged the entirety of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit for OSSO, a string quartet that had previously contributed strings to Sufjan’s Illinois."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Sufjan, Antony, Lightning Bolt, Slits, White Rainbow, Yusef Lateef & more!

ATLAS SOUND Logos LP / CD
*** "The prolific Bradford Cox delivers yet again -- 11 delectable pop delights served up to tantalize and tickle your taste buds. This is the second solo album from the frontman of DEERHUNTER."

LESTER BOWIE All The Numbers 2xCD
*** "These first recordings under Lester Bowie's name were made in 1967 with his compatriots from the Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble -- the first documentation of the quartet soon recognized as the Art Ensemble of Chicago."

BETTY DAVIS Nasty Gal CD
*** "Betty Davis' unapologetically uncompromising, self-referential 1975 album Nasty Gal is Hendrix and Sly Stone inspired funk-rock at its finest. From the title track's mutant groove and grunt to her onetime husband and jazz legend Miles Davis co-written ballad ('You and I'), this lady will tear your heart out!"

DO MAKE SAY THINK Other Truths CD
*** RECOMMENDED "More than ever, Do Make Say Think are creating wonderful multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul."

JAY FARRAR & BENJAMIN GIBBARD One Fast Move Or I'm Gone CD
*** "Music from Kerouac's Big Sur. Includes 12 original songs."

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS I Told You I Was Freaky CD
*** I Told You I Was Freaky is, among a great many other things, a genre-tripping tour de force and includes songs from the second series of their popular and award-winning/nominated HBO TV show.

FUCK BUTTONS Tarot Sport CD
*** "Tarot Sport is one of unbound possibility and lucid cohesion; a cerebral pilgrimage that refines, crafts, explores and develops the experimental aesthetic of last year's critically acclaimed debut, Street Horrrsing."

YUSEF LATEEF At Cranbrook And Elsewhere CD
*** RECOMMENDED "At Cranbrook is Lateef's rarest album (never before on CD!), augmented by brilliantly adventurous repertoire from sessions recorded in 1957. These selections are those that founded his reputation as a pioneer for World Music, the unusual timbres and colors of which would have come as a huge shock to the listener back in the '50s."

LIGHTNING BOLT Earthly Delights CD
*** "Taking the lessons of extreme metal, blood-brother marrying them to expansive & explosive song form, using electric stimulus to shock smile technology to worldwide domes. This is what 2000 years of evolution & the invention of electric instrumentation introduced into the tank of hook force can do to you."

NOUVELLE VAGUE 3 CD
*** "Nouvelle Vague's third and strongest album from the French band that conquered the world with Bossa Nova covers of Punk and New Wave classics. This time around, the songs are inspired by American Country music and Bluegrass."

THE SLITS Trapped Animal CD
*** "The first full-length release from The Slits in over 25 years!! With Trapped Animal, The Slits remain the same genre bending band they were in their inception, still standing out from the rest of the pack."

SUFJAN STEVENS The BQE LP+COMIC+BOOK / CD+DVD+COMIC+BOOK
*** "The BQE is a cinematic suite inspired by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway commissioned by Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The BQE is available as a double-disc format (CD/DVD), which includes the original 16mm/8mm film (widescreen), the original motion picture soundtrack, a 40-page booklet (with extensive liner notes and photographs), and the stereoscopic image reel (playable in all View-Master® viewers)."

SUFJAN STEVENS & OSSO Run Rabbit Run LP / CD
*** "Sufjan re-arranged the entirety of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit for OSSO, a string quartet that had previously contributed strings to Sufjan’s Illinois."

WHITE RAINBOW New Clouds CD
*** "New Clouds is a dense, lengthy exploration of the relationship between hypnotic, circular, fourth-world drum rhythms, acid-boogie guitar, and drifting sheets of fuzzy psychedelic drone. Slowly melting fluorescent sunsets morph into drapes of psychedelic fog, rumbling over cacophonous rhythms."

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Blues Control, Califone, Tortoise & Volcano Choir

BIBIO Handcranked LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

BLUES CONTROL Blues Control LP / CD
*** "Blues Control might just be the missing link between Van Halen and legendary experimentalist Henry Flynt. It’s a hazy, spaced world that exists between fuzzed distortion, jabbering electronics, and a lazy, stay-in-bed psychedelic glaze, with rhythmic keyboards pulsating below. Oh yeah, I gotta mention the humid bikini-vibe that permeates the entire album."

BLUES CONTROL Local Flavor LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

CALIFONE All My Friends Are Funeral Singers LP+MP3
*** NOW ON VINYL! Includes an entire LP side of EXTRA MUSIC plus download.

TORTOISE Beacons Of Ancestorship 2xLP+MP3
*** REPRESSED! Includes download of album.

VOLCANO CHOIR Unmap LP+MP3
*** NOW ON VINYL! Includes download of album.

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Blues Control, Bob Dylan, F'Lips, Mountains, PUTS & more

BLUES CONTROL Puff LP / CD
*** "Blues Control via a postmodern portal; gorgeous sheens of rust that fissure throughout, harmonicas smoke in the distance, guitars splatter, keyboards ooze white hot neo psychedelic lava. Blues Control seem beget from the prominent clang & snarl of Dead C, who was beget by This Heat, who was beget by Faust."

BLUES CONTROL Blues Control LP / CD
*** "Blues Control might just be the missing link between Van Halen and legendary experimentalist Henry Flynt. It’s a hazy, spaced world that exists between fuzzed distortion, jabbering electronics, and a lazy, stay-in-bed psychedelic glaze, with rhythmic keyboards pulsating below. Oh yeah, I gotta mention the humid bikini-vibe that permeates the entire album."

BOB DYLAN Christmas In The Heart CD
*** "The first Christmas album from the legendaryFolk/Rock singer/songwriter -- Dylan's 47th album!"

THE FLAMING LIPS Embryonic CD
THE FLAMING LIPS Embryonic 2xCD+DVD
*** New! Apparently it's a return to form -- no B.S.!

LIGHTNING DUST Infinite Light CD
*** "Amber Webber and Joshua Wells (both of Black Mountain) call upon the powers of classic pop arrangements to deliver a cosmic record, reminding us of the glory days of musical theatre, with touches of Hair, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Tommy."

MOUNTAINS Mountains CD
*** "Four lengthy pieces composed around acoustic instrumentation, field recordings, subtle electronics and live sampling to create an epic suite of sychedelia, Americana and classical minimalism."

MOUNTAINS Sewn CD
*** "Eight tracks that combine live instrumentation (guitar, piano, accordion, harmonica etc..), binaural field recordings and resonant electronic processing to create a beautiful combination of clean crisp texture and warm pulsating harmony."

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO Devil's Halo CD
*** "The highly anticipated new album from the 10 time Grammy Award nominee."

PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS Carried Away CD
*** "Upbeat, crazy, balls to the wall and ridiculous, Carried Away was recorded entirely on reel to reel with tons of Rock samples, distorted vocals, lots of cussing, drum machines, delays, yelling, the works."

THE VERY BEST Warm Heart Of Africa CD
*** "European production duo Radioclit and Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya concoct new global pop that lands somewhere between a Michael Jackson break-beat and a dancier version of Paul Simon's Graceland."

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

((( EVENTS ))) Blues Control + Tyvek + Mean Mugger



A show on Sunday night?? Yeah, but it's going to be a doozy, my friend. If this show was a vinyl record, you'd play it into unplayability. If it was a CD, it would melt in your discman. If it was an iPod, well, fuck iPods!!! Three killer performances seemingly from the center of the earth, ready & able to melt your mind & your face, here's the spiel...


BLUES CONTROL -
With albums on Holy Mountain, Fusetron & Siltbreeze, their underground pedigree cannot be touched. Their music has been described as "beauteous extrapolations into the miasmic core of psychedelia and billowing fog of ambient space" but hey, there's a little boogie rock in their these days too. Unlike anything else, you just have to taste this.
http://www.myspace.com/bluescontrol

TYVEK -
Do you know Tyvek? Come now -- you KNOW Tyvek. Ramshackle brilliance, threatening to fall apart at any moment but just about the most solid thing on earth too. It's like punk, but it's not -- it's TYVEK. Strange, I know.
http://www.myspace.com/tyvekmusic

MEAN MUGGER -
This guy did/does serious time in Detroit's YOUU., which is/was one of the most exciting things to play behind BMX stunt footage. It was all bottles of wine littering the stage as they did their dark-jams-in-muddy-mudwater jams. But this isn't YOUU., and it isn't me; it's MEAN MUGGER. And he doesn't even have a MySpace, but check this out anyway:
http://www.myspace.com/32164411


This is a HOTT LAVA production, meaning there'll be plenty of psychedelic visuals & possibly a short film. Forest Juziuk of DARK MATTER will play records in between acts. Join us, won't you?

Dreamland Theater
26 N. Washington St.
Ypsilanti MI 48197
8PM
$5

ATTN: FACEBOOK PEOPLE

Print by: S. Patrick @ andrasklang.com [view large]

((( EVENTS ))) John Porcellino + Blues Control

JOHN PORCELLINO - Friday, October 9 @ VAULT OF MIDNIGHT
*** Cartoonist & author of the long-running comic/zine King-Cat Comics celebrates 20 years of King-Cat and a new book with a signing at Ann Arbor's Vault Of Midnight. For more information, visit:
http://www.vaultofmidnight.com/pages/index.php?cat=10
Vault Of Midnight Comics / 219 S Main, A2 / 9PM / free

BLUES CONTROL wsg TYVEK and MEAN MUGGER - Sunday, October 11 @ DREAMLAND THEATER
*** A show on Sunday night?? Yeah, but it's going to be a doozy, my friend. Trip into the miasmic core of kraut-y psychedelia, ramshackle brilliance, and melted jams with two of Siltbreeze's finest acts as well as a Detroit troublemaker. "Three killer performances seemingly from the center of the earth, ready & able to melt your mind & your face." For more information, visit:
http://www.hottlava.net
Dreamland Theater / 26 N. Washington, Ypsilanti / 8PM / $5

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl ))))) Feelies, Clientele, Jesus Lizard and Gilles

THE CLIENTELE Bonfires On The Heath LP / CD
*** "A return to roots; the dreamlike suburban landscapes first encountered in the early singles, their trippy sense of menace stronger now. English folk, familiar bossa and pop elements, timeless, eerie songs."

THE FEELIES Crazy Rhythms LP
*** NOW ON VINYL!

JESUS LIZARD Head+Pure LP / CD
JESUS LIZARD Liar LP / CD
JESUS LIZARD Goat LP / CD
JESUS LIZARD Down LP / CD

*** RECOMMENDED Dang! These didn't sound bad at all before but not their albums are remastered & set to stun. Bonus jams included! The LPs come with the complete mp3s plus bonus mp3s too. It's crazy, I know. It's not just crazy -- it's recommended.

GILLES PETERSON Brazilika: Explorations Deep Inside The Vaults 15th Anniversary LP
*** "Brazilian music aficionado Peterson introduced a new generation to the cream of Brazil's Bossa and post-Bossa artists and here expertly blends the cream of the timeless (Ipanemas, Grupo Batuque, Azymuth and Arthur Verocai) with the new breed (Clara Moreno, Binario and Zeep) from Far Out's monumental catalog."

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Kurt Vile, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Mountain Goats, Jesus Lizard, Warp and more...

v/a WARP20 (Chosen) 2xCD
*** "Double CD album. The definitive best of Warp on 2xCDs. Ten songs chosen by you (Warp20.net), ten songs chosen by Warp co-founder Steve Beckett."

v/a WARP20 (Recreated) 2xCD
*** "Double CD album, 2xCDs featuring twenty brand new cover versions of Warp songs by Warp artists past and present; including tracks by Autechre, Harmonic 313, Jamie Lidell, Plaid, Clark, Maximo Park, Leila, Seefeel, Luke Vibert and more."

AIR Love 2 CD
*** "Love 2 is the group's fifth studio album and, whilst being instantly recognisable as an Air record, sees the band exploring some new territories with the help of L.A.-based drummer/percussionist Joey Waronker."

LOU BARLOW Goodnight Unknown CD
*** "Borrowing the live-band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach of Sebadoh, Barlow has written a set of immediate, melodic pop songs that Lou describes as, "a cross between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with Sebadoh to my ears, anyway."

BRAND NEW Daisy CD
*** "Brand New continues to break the mold and in true Brand New form, they delve into new musical territory that will astonish both critics and fans alike." Nice!

BUILT TO SPILL There Is No Enemy CD
*** "When making the new album There Is No Enemy, Doug literally lived in the studio working all day and night. It has the sound and feel of the album that every Built To Spill fan has been anxiously awaiting." Huh. The reviews have been great!

CALIFONE All My Friends Are Funeral Singers CD
*** Califone is at the peak of its powers -- All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is a dense collage of sounds, expertly formed into fully realized pop songs."

THE CLIENTELE Bonfires On The Heath LP / CD
*** "A return to roots; the dreamlike suburban landscapes first encountered in the early singles, their trippy sense of menace stronger now. English folk, familiar bossa and pop elements, timeless, eerie songs."

CYMBALS EAT GUITARS Why There Are Mountains CD
*** New!

MATTHEW FRIEDBERGER Winter Women / Holy Ghost Language School 2xCD
*** Matthew Friedberger is one half of the The Fiery Furnaces brother and sister duo. Matt wrote and arranged all the music, played all the instruments, and sings all the songs! Memorable, accessible, un-ironic, sixties inspired pop songs with the requisite sonic twists and turns."

GOGOL BORDELLO Live From Axis Mundi CD+DVD
*** "The CD features six tracks from the band s BBC sessions, unreleased tracks from both the Gypsy Punks and Super Taranta sessions, and demos. The DVD features a full 15-track live set recorded in NYC, plus over an hour of bonus footage, 4 music videos and more."

GOSSIP Music For Men CD
*** "The genre-bending DIY post-punk rock trio Gossip bring a new level of lyrical power and musical sophistication to their ever-evolving, always-electrifying sound and sensibility on Music For Men."

HARMONIA & ENO Tracks & Traces CD
*** CLUSTER, one half of NEU!, and BRIAN ENO present a milestone in the history of Ambient/Electronic music from 1976 -- a classic of electronic krautrock!!"

JESUS LIZARD Head+Pure LP / CD
JESUS LIZARD Liar LP / CD
JESUS LIZARD Goat LP / CD
JESUS LIZARD Down LP / CD

*** RECOMMENDED Dang! These didn't sound bad at all before but not their albums are remastered & set to stun. Bonus jams included! The LPs come with the complete mp3s plus bonus mp3s too. It's crazy, I know. It's not just crazy -- it's recommended.

DANIEL JOHNSTON Is And Always Was CD
*** "D.J."s first new album in years and years. Supremely witchy cover.

KRAFTWERK Autobahn CD
*** RECOMMENDED "An epic ode to the joys of highway travel, Autobahn wraps a mesmerizing beat around a sampled collage of car horns, engine noise, whirring tires and radio crackle so infectious that US pop press at the time declares that Kraftwerk's music does for driving what the Beach Boys has done for surfing!"

LAROUX Laroux CD
*** "Highly anticipated 2009 debut. Everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Daft Punk has hailed her as a talent to watch, bringing classic songwriting back into the clubs and charts."

MORPHINE At Your Service 2xCD
*** "35 gems -- 2xCDs -- of previously unissued studio tracks, alternate takes, and live performances spanning the group's entire career."

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS The Life Of The World To Come CD
*** New album! And it's kind of about the bible. Or, is. Something like that. Word on the street is that it's a great "studio album."

NOAH & THE WHALE The First Days Of Spring CD
*** "2009 sophomore album from the British Folk/Pop outfit. The First Days Of Spring is released to coincide with their film of the same name."

PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART Higher Than The Stars CD
*** "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are back with four brand new songs (plus an incredible Balearic dub-disco remix from Saint Etienne) typical of what they do best--breathe fresh life into indie-pop with exuberance, charm, and of course quality tunes."

A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS Exploding Head CD
*** "43 mesmerizing minutes of pain as pleasure. A vortex of groove-locked rhythms and back-spun power chords. Gorgeous gate-crashing melodies, sputtering percussion, firework finale flare-ups. The band's most arousing recording to date."

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Temporary Pleasure CD
*** "Simian Mobile Disco return with their new album of indie-dance, featuring guests such as BETH DITTO, Alexis from HOT CHIP and JAMIE LIDELL."

SPARKLEHORSE & FENNESZ In The Fishtank 15 CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of them! Perhaps you smell a collabo!

KURT VILE Childish Prodigy CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Kurt Vile's Matador debut is an absorbing and addictive tapestry of rock and folk sounds, occasionally lo-fi, occasionally lustrous, hitting touchstones from Tom Petty to Street Legal-era Dylan to Spacemen 3 to Skip Spence. Pounding rockers & gorgeous folky numbers."