Wednesday, May 26, 2010

EVENTS - Strictly Modern is this Friday!

EVENTS - Strictly Modern, HOTT LAVA and CAVE + Stellar OM Source + SFV Acid

STRICTLY MODERN - Friday, May 28 @ Elks Lodge
*** DJ Geoff Perrin's radical sweat lodge dance-off: boogie, electro, disco & modern soul are all yours for the taking. Do not deny the summer vibes, y'all. DJ Forest Juziuk of Dark Matter & Hott Lava guests.
Elks Lodge / 220 W Sunset, A2 / 10PM / $5 / FBOOK: http://bit.ly/cKgcWB

HOTT LAVA IV wsg WHITE/LIGHT + tba - Friday, June 11 @ YELLOW BARN
*** Brainbending, hair raising, beguiling & gnarly tempered with that mysterious & otherworldly SOMETHING -- HOTT LAVA returns with Chicago's sick, brainpeeling dronesters WHITE/LIGHT. Lots more info TBA. HL BBQ?? Perhaps.
Yellow Barn / 416 W Huron, A2 / 8PM / $10 / FBOOK: http://bit.ly/c3Es0D

CAVE + STELLAR OM SOURCE + SFV ACID - Saturday, June 19 @ Dreamland Theater
*** Radical recent DRAG CITY signees CAVE play w/ post-new age synth goddess STELLAR OM SOURCE and hazy rainbow-synth beat jerk SFV ACID. Seriously killer bill. If you take a chance on this show, you will not be disappointed. Holy smokes.
Dreamland Theater / 26 N Washington, Ypsilanti / 9PM / $5 / FBOOK: http://bit.ly/c3Es0D

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

NEW ARRIVALS: DVD - T.A.M.I.'s back!

THE T.A.M.I. SHOW DVD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "The T.A.M.I. Show introduced rock n' soul youth culture to America in the first concert movie of the rock era. One of the rarest and most sought-after performance films from its time, the 1964 concert event featured The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes and many other hitmakers."

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Flying Lotus, Terry Riley, Tallest Man on Earth and some brits

FLYING LOTUS Los Angeles 2xLP
FLYING LOTUS Cosmogramma 2xLP
FLYING LOTUS & JOKER Tectonic Plates Vol. 23 12"

*** BACK IN STOCK!

TERRY RILEY A Rainbow In Curved Air LP
*** RECOMMENDED "Riley is one of the granddaddies of Minimalism. A spooky & hypnotic masterpiece, the music on this extraordinary disc was made with electric organ, electric harpsichord, "rocksichord," dumbec, tambourine, and soprano saxophone."

ROLLING STONES Exile On Main St LP / 2xCD / CD
*** BACK IN STOCK! Perhaps you've heard of them! This thing is flying off the shelves already.

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH Wild Hunt LP+MP3
*** "With unbridled excitement, we bring you: The words. The voice. The melodies. Ten perfect songs. Urgent strums, sweet melodies, playful lyricism and subtle hooks."

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Cyrstal Castles, jazz bugs, Bettye L, J. Monae, Tobacco & more!

CRYSTAL CASTLES Crystal Castles CD
*** By all accounts, Crystal Castles new album is an improvement over their first album (which was undoubtedly one of Wazoo's best selling CDs).

KEITH JARRETT & CHARLIE HADEN Jasmine CD
*** "Keith Jarrett's first recorded collaboration in decades, reuniting him with the great bassist Charlie Haden, a close partner until the mid-seventies. Intimate, spontaneous and warm, this album of love songs recorded at Jarrett's home."

BETTYE LAVETTE Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook CD
*** "Bettye LaVette brings the British Invasion home to its American R&B roots on Interpretations, a 13 song journey through compositions by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Pink Floyd among others."

JANELLE MONAE Archandroid CD
*** BACK IN STOCK! Surprise hit!

JOHN PRINE In Person & On Stage CD
*** "14 songs that Prine's fan base would select themselves if they could have a collective voice. Featuring special collaborations with Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter, Sara Watkins, Iris Dement and Kane Welch Kaplin."

THRONES Day Late, Dollar Short CD
*** RECOMMENDED Let the rumble begin with this collection of previously unreleased & rare tracks from 7"s, cassettes, compilations, and collabos. JOE PRESTON is a monster, having played with MELVINS, EARTH, and HIGH ON FIRE among others.

TOBACCO Maniac Meat CD
*** "Black Moth Super Rainbow's main constituent bullies his previous works into a corner, guts them and leaves 'em for dead." Feat. BECK.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

EVENTS - HOTT LAVA and CAVE + STELLAR OM SOURCE + SFV ACID

HOTT LAVA IV wsg WHITE/LIGHT + tba - Friday, June 11 @ YELLOW BARN
*** Brainbending, hair raising, beguiling & gnarly tempered with that mysterious & otherworldly SOMETHING -- HOTT LAVA returns with Chicago's sick, brainpeeling dronesters WHITE/LIGHT. Lots more info TBA. HL BBQ?? Perhaps. Check White/Light over here: www.myspace.com/whitelightdrone
Yellow Barn / 416 W Huron, A2 / 8PM / $?

CAVE + STELLAR OM SOURCE + SFV ACID - Saturday, June 19 @ DREAMLAND THEATER
*** Radical recent DRAG CITY signees CAVE play w/ post-new age synth goddess STELLAR OM SOURCE and hazy rainbow-synth beat jerk SFV ACID. Seriously killer bill. If you take a chance on this show, you will not be disappointed. Holy smokes. Facebook event: http://bit.ly/c3Es0D
CAVE: www.myspace.com/realreelpro + STELLAR OM SOURCE: www.myspace.com/omsource + SFV ACID: www.myspace.com/sfvacid
Dreamland Theater / 26 N Washington, Ypsilanti / 9PM / $?

NEW ARRIVALS: DVD - Eno, Wholphin, Zappa

BRIAN ENO 14 Video Paintings DVD
*** BACK IN STOCK! "14 Video Paintings is comprised of 'Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan' and 'Thursday Afternoon.' Created in the early ‘80s for art gallery exhibition, viewers are presented with a series of slowly evolving 'video paintings' with alternate versions of classic Eno ambient tracks & an unreleased track."

WHOLPHIN No. 6 DVD
*** Subtitled: DVD Magazine Of Rare & Unseen Short Films. "Chinese third graders hold a democratic election for classroom monitor & unintentionally mock US politics; a black, comic exploration of 70s England that could be the prequel to A Clockwork Orange; a surreal dating short w/ Michael Cera, with alternate audio versions feat. John Cleese; a Herzog-ian documentary about the lives of America’s top bigfoot hunters & more."

WHOLPHIN No. 7 DVD
*** Subtitled: DVD Magazine Of Rare & Unseen Short Films. "Gus Van Sant adapts a William S. Burroughs short story; American gray squirrels & British red squirrels face off; a hallucinogenic post-Katrina New Orleans masterpiece; an autism doc from the animators of Waking Life; an incredibly close look at the sun in its most inactive and gorgeous state; Field Notes from Dimension X, bumper cars, UFOs and more."

WHOLPHIN No. 8 DVD
*** Subtitled: DVD Magazine Of Rare & Unseen Short Films. "Lauren Greenfield’s disturbing & hilarious doc: kids + money; a gorgeously-shot, surrealist dreamscape by Interpol’s Carlos D; My Friends Told Me About You, Sam Taylor-Woods’ film adaptation of a Patrick Marber short story; a series of bedroom-trashing menu films, films from Sweden, England & North Korea + more."

FRANK ZAPPA 200 Motels DVD
*** Well, hello there! Throw out that 200 Motels laserdisc you've been coveting lo these many years cuz this sucker's now on Digital Video Disc (they call it "DVD").

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Beach House, Flying Lotus, Joy Division, Rolling Stones, Detroyer...

BEACH HOUSE Devotion 2xLP
BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream 2xLP+MP3+DVD

*** BACK IN STOCK!

DAFT PUNK Discovery LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

DEAD WEATHER Sea Of Cowards 2xLP / CD
*** "A robust and vigorous second act, filled with primal, bone quaking rock rhythms and the same stellar urban blues and throbbing sleaze as its predecessor; but this time The Dead Weather push their sound even further."

DESTROYER Streethawk: A Seduction LP / CD
*** BACK IN PRINT!

FLYING LOTUS Cosmogramma 2xLP
*** NOW ON VINYL! The "Hendrix of his generation'' reveals "a nearly infinite palate of planetary (and interplanetary) sonics" somewhere between "Harry Partch and Ghostface Killah." Feat. RAVI COLTRANE, THOM YORKE and some other talented people.

JOY DIVISION Closer LP
JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures LP

*** BACK IN STOCK!

JAMIE LIDELL Compass LP / CD
*** "Jamie Lidell's most eclectic album yet: songs shift, chop, change and mutate genres and forms before our very ears. It's got funk in spades; the jaw-dropping vocal power; it rocks, it pops, it's sweet, angry, hard, soulful and soft, often within the span of a single track."

ROLLING STONES Exile On Main St LP / 2xCD / CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of them! This thing is flying off the shelves already.

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Black Keys, Dead Weather, Bands Of Horses, Reflection Eternal, LCD Soundsystem & more

v/a AFRO TROPICAL SOUNDZ Vol. 1 CD
*** RECOMMENDED "A retrospective 'discovery price' sampler featuring a choice selection of Soundway's tracks released over the last nine years. From the highlife, disco and rock sounds of '70s Nigeria to the golden age of Panamanian music, Benin's Afro-Latin grooves, Colombia's champeta and all other forms of tropical and Afro sounds imaginable."

BAND OF HORSES Infinite Arms LP+MP3 / CD
*** "The songs on 'Infinite Arms' project the essence of the different American locales that became the setting for the recording and songwriting process, yielding the group's most focused and dynamic recordings to date."

BLACK KEYS Brothers 2xLP+CD / CD
*** "An even more intensely focused, deeply soulful set that includes a cover of Jerry Butler's 'Never Gonna Give You Up.' Inventive & impassioned with more than a little dark humor; the grooves alternate between ballsy swagger and bluesy rumination."

NELS CLINE SINGERS Initiate 2xCD
*** "Documenting a remarkable three-day recording session, Initiate is a double album - one studio recording, one live recording. Three members of DEERHOOF play percussion on the live album."

DEAD WEATHER Sea Of Cowards 2xLP / CD
*** "A robust and vigorous second act, filled with primal, bone quaking rock rhythms and the same stellar urban blues and throbbing sleaze as its predecessor; but this time The Dead Weather push their sound even further."

DESTROYER Streethawk: A Seduction LP / CD
DESTROYER Thief CD
DESTROYER City Of Daughters CD

*** BACK IN PRINT!

KIERAN HEBDEN & STEVE REID Exchange Sessions Vol. 1 CD
KIERAN HEBDEN & STEVE REID Exchange Sessions Vol. 2 CD

*** BACK IN STOCK! RIP Steve Reid. "Kieran (FOUR TET) was keen to revisit the kind of intense dialogues to be found in 70s free jazz duos; Steve liked Four Tet and wanted to engage with modern electronic textures, something he felt had not yet been done well in jazz."

THE JAYHAWKS The Bunkhouse album CD
*** "Originally released in 1986, Jayhawks debut has more in common with Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers than it does with later Jayhawks classics."

KINGS GO FORTH The Outsiders Are Back CD
*** RECOMMENDED "A powerhouse ten-piece soul unit consisting of seven players and three singers that is simply one of the most thrillingly creative new bands to be heard, in any genre, in the U.S.A. today. And to date, the soul revival has not produced another band with a vocal blend so rich in tone and feeling."

TALIB KWELI & HI-TEK Revolutions Per Minute CD
*** "Since 1997, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek have achieved critical success as the rap & producer collaboration known as Reflection Eternal. Here's the follow-up to their debut!"

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM This Is Happening CD
*** "The new album is LCD Soundsystem's first full offering of new studio material since 2007's Sound Of Silver."

JAMIE LIDELL Compass LP / CD
*** "Jamie Lidell's most eclectic album yet: songs shift, chop, change and mutate genres and forms before our very ears. It's got funk in spades; the jaw-dropping vocal power; it rocks, it pops, it's sweet, angry, hard, soulful and soft, often within the span of a single track."

MAGNETIC FIELDS 69 Love Songs BOX
*** BACK IN STOCK!

MALE BONDING Nothing Hurts CD
*** "Nothing Hurts is the Sub Pop debut and first full-length for Dalston-based trio Male Bonding."

MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE Raw Cuts Vol. 1 CD
*** "Stuttgart's Motor City Drum Ensemble drops a heady mix of contemporary house and breezy techno combined with heavy doses of soul and diva-disco blurts, all blended until creamy-smooth and groove-able. This CD compiles all MCDE material plus three exclusive tracks."

NAS & DAMIAN "JR GONG" MARLEY Distant Relatives CD
*** "Two serious artists explore and celebrate the correlations and deep-rooted connections between reggae and Hip Hop, featuring the signature instrumentation and musicianship of Marley with the hard-hitting beats and lyrics of Nas."

ROLLING STONES Exile On Main St LP / 2xCD / CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of them! This thing is flying off the shelves already.

SHINING Blackjazz CD
*** "Norwegian band SHINING have created their own unique and bizarre hybrid of jazz and extreme metal, with their one of a kind sound and experimental approach to music."

SIGHTINGS City Of Straw CD
*** "With a deep reach beyond the spirit of their influence (ie: Birthday Party, The Dead C and Jesus Lizard), the band's seventh studio album is the crucible from which their grandest and most coherent statement finally emerges."

STAFF BENDA BILILI Tres Tres Fort CD
*** "Staff Benda Bilili is a group of paraplegic street musicians who live in and around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, Congo. They make mesmerising rumba-rooted grooves, overlaid with vibrant vocals with echoes of old-school rhythm and blues, then reggae, then no-holds barred funk."

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

EVENTS - HOTT LAVA and CAVE + STELLAR OM SOURCE + SFV ACID

HOTT LAVA IV wsg WHITE/LIGHT + tba - Friday, June 11 @ YELLOW BARN
*** Brainbending, hair raising, beguiling & gnarly tempered with that mysterious & otherworldly SOMETHING -- HOTT LAVA returns with Chicago's sick, brainpeeling dronesters WHITE/LIGHT. Lots more info TBA. HL BBQ?? Perhaps. Check White/Light over here: www.myspace.com/whitelightdrone
Yellow Barn / 416 W Huron, A2 / 8PM / $?

CAVE + STELLAR OM SOURCE + SFV ACID - Saturday, June 19 @ Dreamland Theater
*** Radical recent DRAG CITY signees CAVE play w/ post-new age synth goddess STELLAR OM SOURCE and hazy rainbow-synth beat jerk SFV ACID. Seriously killer bill. If you take a chance on this show, you will not be disappointed. Holy smokes. Check myspace for more: CAVE: www.myspace.com/realreelpro + STELLAR OM SOURCE: www.myspace.com/omsource + SFV ACID: www.myspace.com/sfvacid
Facebook event: http://bit.ly/c3Es0D
Dreamland Theater / 26 N Washington, Ypsilanti / 9PM / $?

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Nat'l, Black Dynamite score, Holy F*ck, Moon Duo, Joy Division & more

AVI BUFFALO Avi Buffalo LP+MP3 / CD
*** "By the time you read this, Avi Buffalo will pretty much all be out of high school. They ve toured with Beach House, Final Fantasy, opened for Vampire Weekend and found fans at KCRW and Steve Lamacq at the BBC."

BLACK DYNAMITE by Adrian Younge LP
*** "Multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge's original score to the Michael Jai White comedy ''Black Dynamite'' was inspired by the great blaxploitation soundtracks of the 1970s. Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ, Hohner Clavinet, harpsichord, synthesizer, vibraphone, guitar, bass, flute, sax, cello, and drums -- authentic!"

MATTHEW LARKIN CASSELL The Complete Works 2xLP
*** New release from STONES THROW. Cassell contacted the label about his music being sampled on Madvilliany & scored a record deal. This is his self-financed and released trilogy of albums showing the "influence of Cassell’s childhood love of rock, jazz and R&B and demonstrated the chops he saw demonstrated by his heroes at legendary Bay Area venues."

COCO ROSIE Grey Oceans LP+MP3 / CD
*** CocoRosie's 11-song Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, is hair. I mean "here."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Happy Birthday LP+MP3 / CD
*** "Happy Birthday formed in November 2008 to play one show at the punk-space "Tinderbox" (RIP) & enjoyed playing with each other so much that they decided to keep doing it."

HOLY FUCK Latin LP+MP3 / CD
*** "If opposites really do attract, it makes perfect sense that Holy Fuck would choose a barn in rural Ontario to record a series of dynamic electro-noise pop tracks that compose their latest full-length release, titled Latin."

JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures LP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

MOON DUO Killing Time LP / CD
*** "MOON DUO is the solo alter-ego of WOODEN SHJIPS guitarist/singer RIPLEY JOHNSON. Expansive Krautrock influenced tapestries of warm cascading fuzz and controlled feedback, organ, and accenting keyboard."

THE NATIONAL High Violet 2xLP+MP3 / CD
*** "A nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set, wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. High Violet may be The National's most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate."

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - The National, Holy F*ck, CoCoRosie, Moon Duo & more

AVI BUFFALO Avi Buffalo LP+MP3 / CD
*** "By the time you read this, Avi Buffalo will pretty much all be out of high school. They ve toured with Beach House, Final Fantasy, opened for Vampire Weekend and found fans at KCRW and Steve Lamacq at the BBC."

COCO ROSIE Grey Oceans LP+MP3 / CD
*** CocoRosie's 11-song Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, is hair. I mean "here."

DUM DUM GIRLS I Will Be CD
*** "I Will Be is a decidedly medium-fi record. Just under thirty minutes with eleven songs, it's a short tribute to love, fun and the classic pop form of the '60s girl groups and early punk rockers."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Happy Birthday LP+MP3 / CD
*** "Happy Birthday formed in November 2008 to play one show at the punk-space "Tinderbox" (RIP) & enjoyed playing with each other so much that they decided to keep doing it."

HOLY FUCK Latin LP+MP3 / CD
*** "If opposites really do attract, it makes perfect sense that Holy Fuck would choose a barn in rural Ontario to record a series of dynamic electro-noise pop tracks that compose their latest full-length release, titled Latin."

MOON DUO Killing Time LP / CD
*** "MOON DUO is the solo alter-ego of WOODEN SHJIPS guitarist/singer RIPLEY JOHNSON. Expansive Krautrock influenced tapestries of warm cascading fuzz and controlled feedback, organ, and accenting keyboard."

THE NATIONAL High Violet 2xLP+MP3 / CD
*** "A nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set, wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. High Violet may be The National's most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate."

THE RADIO DEPT Clinging To A Scheme CD
*** Someone called Radio Dept "the perfect mix between Saint Etienne and early The Jesus and Mary Chain and The best songs Pet Shop Boys never wrote and the album you'd hoped My Bloody Valentine did after 'Loveless'"

SECOND HAND Death May Be Your Santa Claus CD
*** "Second album from one of the best 1960s UK psychedelic bands. Originally recorded as the soundtrack to an obscure underground movie, it's a dark, dense and challenging masterwork combining uniquely experimental compositions with wild organ playing and complex rhythms."

DOUG SAHM He's About A Groover: An Essential Collection 2xCD
*** "50 Tracks spanning Dough Sahm's solo career from 1957 to 1980 plus the best from Sir Douglas Quintet. This collection contains the hits, previously unreleased tracks and unreleased live tracks."

BRIDGET ST. JOHN BBC Radio 1968-1976 CD
*** "Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Bridget made many unique recordings for BBC Radio, mostly for John Peel, unreleased until now, several songs released here for the first time."

UNKLE Where Did The Night Fall CD
*** "James Lavelle teams up with a whole range of talented guest collaborators, (MARK LANEGAN and BLACK ANGELS among others) to create a sonically dense record that encompasses musical styles as diverse as Psychedelic Rock and Minimal House."

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Nat'l, New Pornos, Pavement, Ponys, Hold Steady...

THE HOLD STEADY Heaven Is Whenever LP+MP3 / CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of them! One of the guys in this band left & another said this album is "less anthem-y." People love these guys tho', I'll tell you what.

THE NATIONAL Bloodbuzz Ohio 7"
*** The first single from the sure to be HUGE new National record, "High Violet". Exclusive b-side. good times.

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Together LP+MP3 / CD + BONUS 7"
*** "Playing to all the New Pornographers strengths, 'Together' combines the freewheeling, glammy spirit of their debut Mass Romantic with the very personal, emotional songwriting of their most recent material. An album that aims to please!" BONUS 7" WITH ALL SALES!

PAVEMENT Quarantine The Past 2xLP+MP3
PAVEMENT Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain LP+MP3
PAVEMENT Brighten The Corners LP+MP3

*** BACK IN STOCK!

THE PONYS Deathbed Plus Four EP+MP3
*** "Let it be known: The Ponys are back! Picking up where 'Turn Out The Lights' left off albeit with rawer production, 'Deathbed Plus 4' expertly catches the bands unique take on American guitar rock with four brand new songs and a new version of one of their best songs from an insanely rare single."

GIL SCOTT-HERON I'm New Here LP+MP3
*** BACK IN STOCK!

TITUS ANDRONICUS The Monitor 2xLP+MP3 / CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Flying Lotus, New Pornos (w/ BONUS 7"), Hold Steady, F'Lips to Floyd...

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE Forgiveness Rock Record CD
*** With the new album, Broken Social Scene created spacious songs written as a band by a band(!?), resulting in more cohesive, melody-driven compositions than previous BSS output. Recording both in Toronto and Chicago with producer John McEntire."

DELOREAN Subiza CD
*** "Barcelona's DELOREAN play Mediterranean dance music, taking cues from their native Balearic beat, Madchester house, techno, R&B to carve out a sunny sweet spot between the stage and the dance floor."

THE FALL Your Future Our Clutter CD
*** "Your Future Our Clutter is The Fall at their most rampant, most forward moving, bone-shaking best. With nine tracks that rock like raw fury, we see The Fall heading into their next decade with the same intensity with which they started."

FLAMING LIPS & STARDEATH AND WHITE DWARFS The Dark Side Of The Moon CD
*** "The world's most predictably unpredictable band, "The F'Lips," have teamed up with Stardeath And White Dwarfs to record their own unique take of Pink Floyd's 1973 classic album 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' with Henry Rollins And Peaches."

FLYING LOTUS Cosmogramma CD
*** The "Hendrix of his generation'' reveals "a nearly infinite palate of planetary (and interplanetary) sonics" somewhere between "Harry Partch and Ghostface Killah." Feat. RAVI COLTRANE, THOM YORKE and some other talented people.

GOTAN PROJECT Tango 3.0 CD
*** "Gotan Project's new album fluidly steps back on the dance floor where their last album left off. Another beautiful melange of traditional Argentinean tango, dub, jazz and electronics."

THE HOLD STEADY Heaven Is Whenever LP+MP3 / CD
*** Perhaps you've heard of them! One of the guys in this band left & another said this album is "less anthem-y." People love these guys tho', I'll tell you what.

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Together LP+MP3 / CD + BONUS 7"
*** "Playing to all the New Pornographers strengths, 'Together' combines the freewheeling, glammy spirit of their debut Mass Romantic with the very personal, emotional songwriting of their most recent material. An album that aims to please!" BONUS 7" WITH ALL SALES!

MIKE PATTON Mondo Cane CD
*** "Recorded with a 30-piece orchestra and choir at a series of European performances, this album features traditional Italian Pop songs as well as a rendition of Morricone's 'Deep Down'."

JOSH RITTER So Runs The World Away CD
*** NPR is all over this shiz. Josh describes the songs as ''more detailed and feel as if they were painted in oil on large canvasses.'' Nice.