Tuesday, September 28, 2010

EVENTS - Ann Arbor Soul Club & Campfires/City Center/Skate Laws+Strange Brew/Ah Holly Fam'ly

ANN ARBOR SOUL CLUB - Friday, October 1 @ Blind Pig
*** Robert Wells, Brad Hales, Breck Bunce & Aaron Anderson play the finest Northern Soul, r&b, modern, Motown, etc. you will never hear on the radio or pretty much anywhere else.
Blind Pig / 208 S. First, A2 / 9:30PM / $5

CAMPFIRES, CITY CENTER, SKATE LAWS/STRANGE BREW - Saturday, October 2 @ Dreamland Theatre
*** Campfires (Mexican Summer) leave Pop Montreal to play with City Center (ex-Saturday Looks Good To Me), Strange Laws (Skate Laws + Strange Brew), and Ah Holly Fam'ly. ALL AGES
Dreamland Theatre / 26 N Washington, Ypsilanti / 9PM / $5 / FBOOK: http://bit.ly/9I0geQ

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Matador @ 21, City Center, Deerhunter, Grinderman, Teengirl Fantasy

v/a MATADOR AT 21 2xLP / 6xCD
*** Budget 2 LP version of CD 5 from the Matador at 21 6 CD Box Set.

CITY CENTER Zen Kids 7"
*** "Zen Kids" [DBN117] splinters guitars and chillingly desolate drones until it forms as a soft summery pop song. As with all singles in the Dub Narcotic Disco Plate series, just ip the record and Selector Dub Narcotic scrambles and reforms it, "Version"

DEERHUNTER Halcyon Digest LP / CD
*** "Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter's fourth album and their first to be released on 4AD. The band self-produced w/ Ben Allen enlisted to mix it (Merriweather Post Pavillion)." Best new music.

GLASSER Ring LP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "GLASSER is one woman, Cameron Mesirow, and Ring is her debut album. Her intimate, luxurious post-pop is laced with strings, woodwinds and simple, angelic vocal melodies. Ring has the universal lure of a lullaby and a hymn."

GRINDERMAN Grinderman 2 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

TEENGIRL FANTASY 7AM LP
*** "Nick Weiss & Logan Takahashi make 'some kind of dance music that wasn’t just emulating what (they) were hearing'. The duo’s music often forms out of melodies, samples or concepts that through jamming and improvisation organically materialize into full-fledged compositions."

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Neil Young, No Age, Deerhunter, Glasser & more

v/a MATADOR AT 21 2xLP / 6xCD
*** "Limited edition 6xCD linen-covered box set - 5 CDs of remastered tracks & 1 CD of unreleased tracks - with 36 custom poker chips in 3 values, 85-page perfect bound book with history of the label, photos, ephemera, emails, more."

DEERHUNTER Halcyon Digest LP / CD
*** "Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter's fourth album and their first to be released on 4AD. The band self-produced w/ Ben Allen enlisted to mix it (Merriweather Post Pavillion)." Best new music.

GLASSER Ring LP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "GLASSER is one woman, Cameron Mesirow, and Ring is her debut album. Her intimate, luxurious post-pop is laced with strings, woodwinds and simple, angelic vocal melodies. Ring has the universal lure of a lullaby and a hymn."

NO AGE Everything In Between CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Everything in Between sees No Age expand on the emotional force at the core of their catchy song-writing through tone, structure, noise, and samples. They've pushed themselves in challenging and different directions, deconstructing their weird-out pop songs while still maintaining their original aesthetic and intent. And, it's their best record yet.

SOUNDGARDEN Telephantasm 2xCD+DVD
*** Deluxe edition of the first multi-label, career-spanning retrospective album including 12 additional tracks (5 previously unreleased), and Soundgarden's first-ever DVD, featuring 20 videos, 13 of which have never been released."

NEIL YOUNG Le Noise CD
*** "This eight-song album is a collaboration between the acclaimed rock icon and musician, songwriter, and producer Daniel Lanois ‘Le Noise’ features Young on acoustic and electric guitars with Lanois adding his trademark sonic textures. No band, no overdubs."

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

EVENTS - The Holy Mountain!!

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN - Friday, September 25 @ State Theatre
*** HOTT LAVA presents a "midnight special" -- Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1977 psychedelic epic film about seven powerful mortals attempting to ascend a mountain said to unite Heaven & Earth! You get prostitutes hangin' with apes, a dwarf with no hands, scenes of unexplainable beauty and gore, and a group of cloaked immortals (or are they?). "YOU ARE EXCREMENT! YOU CAN CHANGE YOURSELF INTO GOLD!"*
State Theatre / 220 S. State, A2 / $5 / MIDNIGHT / http://bit.ly/cAHmQC

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Neu!, No Age, Miles Davis, Arrington de Dionyso

ARRINGTON de DIONYSO Malaikat dan Singa LP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Malaikat Dan Singa is a collection of throbbing, hallucinogenic, trance-inducing Indonesian-sung trans-utopian cosmic post-punk sounds from OLD TIME RELIJUN's Arrington de Dionyso. And you can dance to it."

ARRINGTON de DIONYSO I See Beyond The Black Sun LP
*** Climb the color spectrum with OLD TIME RELIJUN's Arrington (d) D! Rhythmic drones, deceptive gradient shifts, culminating cathartic conclusions, and propulsive mythical beasts are all yours to be had!

MILES DAVIS Bitches Brew 40th 2xLP+3xCD+DVD
*** Yow! Perhaps you've heard of Miles Davis! One of his craziest records gets some crazy reissue treatment in a big, fancy box. You won't believe it! On sale.

NEU! Neu! '86 LP
*** Whoa!! The lost Neu! album (a version of which was once bootlegged by Klaus Dinger as Neu! 4) has finally been released! Michael Rother spent a year tweaking the jams that are distinctly Neu! but with a completely different '80s flavor. Hard to explain exactly but you'll know it when you hear it.

NO AGE Glitter 7"
NO AGE Glitter 12"

*** New single from the forthcoming No Age album "Everything in Between." Different b-sides for each format!

OLD TIME RELIJUN Catharsis In Crisis LP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "The ferocity of OTR draws listeners deep into a world where language, rhythm and unrepentant libido collide. This music is temperamental, unwieldy and unyielding; and it cuts you to the bone. And it's terrible background music!"

TOM WAITS Mule Variations 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Miles Davis, Gayngs, Swans, Les Savy Fav, Robyn et al

v/a PSYCH-FUNK 101 CD
*** RECOMMENDED An incredible compilation of late 1960s/early '70s obscure international psychedelic funk with an emphasis on the psychedelic, Psych-Funk 101 is a dark & awesome combo of fried organs, heavy bass, crack drummers, and mind-bending guitar.

LES BAXTER African Jazz / Jungle Jazz CD
*** "Digitally remastered two-fer containing a pair of albums from the Exotica/Lounge legend on one CD."

JACQUES BREL My Death CD
*** Import collection of smash tunes! "Jacques Brel was an earthquake for French culture, holding audiences spellbound by the sheer ferocity of his performances and by deep, dark lyrics."

CURRENT 93 Baalstrom, Sing Omega CD
*** "Their most raw, powerful and hallucinatory album yet. Thanks for glistening. We hallucinate on, and then we're gone."

MILES DAVIS Bitches Brew 40th 2xLP+3xCD+DVD
*** Yow! Perhaps you've heard of Miles Davis! One of his craziest records gets some crazy reissue treatment in a big, fancy box. You won't believe it! On sale.

GAYNGS Relayted CD
*** "Vocally, Gayngs is a triumph. Zack Coulter floats over the record with airy, haunting melodies. Bon Iver's familiar falsetto will flip wigs with Bone Thug's-style R&B, while P.O.S. abandons his genre entirely for a soul inspired tenor. Each song is 69 BPM's with tripped-out transitions from song to song."

INTERPOL Interpol LP+MP3 / CD
*** BACK IN STOCK! And we have free 45 adapters bearing the Interpol logo. Just ask for one!

JOHN LEGEND & THE ROOTS Wake Up! CD
*** "Musical powerhouses John Legend & The Roots present eleven profoundly evocative songs(!) pulled from the soulful music of the 60's and 70's all with an underlying theme of awareness, engagement and consciousness."

LES SAVY FAV Root For Ruin CD
*** Brand spanking new "disk" from Weird Beard & The Boys!

THE NAKED FUTURE Gigantomachia CD
*** World-shattering free jazz and well-reviewed too (just ask the internet!) and it's on ESP-Disk which is a fact both crazy & righteous. Ever heard of Albert Ayler? Pharoah Sanders? ESP, baby! Feat. ARRINGTON DE DIONYSO (Old Time Relijun), THOLLEM MCDONAS, JOHN NIEKRASZ and GREG SKLOFF.

OLD TIME RELIJUN Witchcraft Rebellion CD
OLD TIME RELIJUN Lost Light CD
OLD TIME RELIJUN Catharsis In Crisis LP / CD

*** BACK IN STOCK! "Modern American primitive deconstructionists with their frantic fusion of raw roots rock, latter 60's ecstatic jazz and aggressive punk mutations, and raging schizophrenic convulsions... it's great."

ROBYN Bodytalk Pt. 2 CD
*** "Robyn expands her pool of collaborators, bringing aboard Snoop Dogg and Savage Skulls for the second in a trilogy of albums she'll release this year."

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS Up From Below CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

SWANS My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope To The Sky CD
*** "After years of pursuing a lightly different path with his band Angels Of Light and recording and producing a diverse roster of artists for his Young God label, Michael Gira has reconvened his legendary group Swans."

TALLEST MAN ON EARTH Shallow Grave CD
*** Now available in North America for the first time: the Tallest Man on Earth's self-titled debut!

THE THERMALS Personal Life CD
*** BACK IN STOCK!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

EVENTS - Jury Duty & Arrington de Dionyso

JURY DUTY - Friday, September 17 @ Elks Lodge
*** A brand spanking new dance night featuring disc jocks FOREST J. (HOTT LAVA), ROBERT W. (Ann Arbor Soul Club) and GEOFF P. (Mystery Party). Do the pony & watusi with us, baby. Soul, R&B, boogie, int'l psych & more. Only $3!
Elks Lodge / 220 Sunset, A2 / $3 / http://bit.ly/aWKnP2

ARRINGTON DE DIONYSO - Monday, September 20 @ Arbor Vitae
*** Throbbing, hallucinogenic, trance-inducing Indonesian-sung trans-utopian cosmic post-punk sounds from OLD TIME RELIJUN's Arrington de Dionyso. And you can dance to it.
Arbor Vitae / 336 1/2 S. State (above Wazoo), A2 / $5 / http://bit.ly/c7sAYS

NEW ARRIVALS: Vinyl - Pavement, Blonde Redhead, Deerhunter & more

BELLE & SEBASTIAN Tigermilk LP+MP3
BELLE & SEBASTIAN If You're Feeling Sinister LP+MP3

*** BACK IN STOCK!

BLONDE REDHEAD Penny Sparkle LP+MP3 / CD / DELUXE CD
*** "Penny Sparkle is the band's third album for 4AD marking another sonic twist in their already adventurous canon."

DEERHUNTER Revival 7"
*** First single for their forthcoming 4AD album.

INTERPOL Interpol LP / 2x12" / CD
*** NOW ON VINYL! There's a regular edition & a 45rpm edition w/ big ol' 45 holes.

MAGIC KIDS Memphis LP+MP3 / CD
*** New!

MISSION OF BURMA Signals, Calls & Marches LP
MISSION OF BURMA vs. LP

*** NOW ON VINYL!

MY TEENAGE STRIDE Creep Academy 7"
*** This thing has been blowing up & ain't nobody even know who they is!

MYSTERY JETS Serotonin LP / CD
*** New!

THE NATIONAL Alligator LP
THE NATIONAL Boxer LP
THE NATIONAL High Violet 2xLP

*** BACK IN STOCK!

PAVEMENT Slanted & Enchanted LP+MP3
PAVEMENT Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain LP+MP3

*** BACK IN STOCK!

TOM WAITS Mule Variations 2xLP
*** BACK IN STOCK!

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - Rhys Chatham, of Montreal, Walkmen, Grinderman, Blonde Redhead & more

THE BLACK ANGELS Phosphene Dream CD
*** "The Black Angels third album is a fresh take on the neo-Psychedelic movement they've been at the forefront of for years."

BLACK MILK Album Of The Year CD
*** "Black Milk's AKAI MPC-2000 XL is joined by a team of studio musicians and session players. A broad range of influence shines through in the tracks, with tinges of Rock, Reggae, and Afro-Beat joining his trademark Hip Hop bangers."

BLACK MOUNTAIN Wilderness Heart CD
*** "This is arguably the band's tightest, most concentrated venture, but there's still plenty of raw rock energy at work, their 'most metal and most folk' record so far."

BLONDE REDHEAD Penny Sparkle LP+MP3 / CD / DELUXE CD
*** "Penny Sparkle is the band's third album for 4AD marking another sonic twist in their already adventurous canon."

BORIS & IAN ASTBURY Bxi CD
*** "Astbury's iconic Rock vocals are a perfect match for Boris' straightforward and laid back but still raw and imaginative songwriting."

RHYS CHATHAM A Crimson Grail CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Following its Paris debut, 'A Crimson Grail' had been re-imagined for the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival and featured an astonishing 200 electric guitars, 16 electric basses, five conductors and one percussionist. For the thousands who witnessed this event, it was an earth-shaking visual and sonic spectacle. On this live document, 'A Crimson Grail' becomes something else yet again: a hypnotic, album-length piece that's visceral, soul stirring, and at times surprisingly intimate. Its thunderous passages give way to meditative interludes and the music builds to a kind of musical and spiritual ecstasy."

CHROMEO Business Casual CD
*** "'Business Casual' is party-rocking, club-banging, and heart-thrilling electrofunk. Where does a group go after mastering their craft? Do they rest on their laurels? Do they retreat into self-parody? Neighbor, please."

EL GUINCHO Pop Negro CD
*** "Pop Negro is a blend of afro-beat percussion, psych tropicalia, trance repetition, steel drums, and more, transporting the listener to an island paradise no one has ever been to."

GRINDERMAN Grinderman 2 CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Grinderman 2 bears the hallmark of its rapturously received predecessor, yet is more open ended in its structure, more far reaching in its scope, and gloriously lost in its own transports of noise and rhythm."

LINKIN PARK A Thousand Suns CD
*** "On the eve of its completion, this body of work, assembled through unconscious inspiration and unmitigated exertion, has revealed to us notions both stirring and surprising."

MAGIC KIDS Memphis LP+MP3 / CD
*** New!

MYSTERY JETS Serotonin LP / CD
*** New!

OF MONTREAL False Priest CD
*** "Teaming up with Grammy-nominated producer JON BRION, False Priest is speaker-rattling heavy on the low end and features appearances by Janelle MonĂ¡e and Solange Knowles."

ROBERT PLANT Band Of Joy CD
*** "Not satisfied with his stature as one of the great innovators and heroes of pop music, Plant continues to let his curiosity guide him to unexplored territory building on the roots-imbued sound he achieved with Alison Krauss."

MAVIS STAPLES You Are Not Alone CD
*** "Produced by fellow Chicagoan Jeff Tweedy at Wilco's studio The Loft, 'You Are Not Alone' showcases the iconic singer at her most powerful and fervent. The album mixes traditional gospel numbers with two new songs written for Mavis by Tweedy among others."

THE WALKMEN Lisbon CD
*** "Featuring the band'ssignature vintage instrument-sound, Lisbon will showcase 'A lot of stuff that's Elvis-sounding, like early Elvis and Sun Records kind of sounds,' says frontman Hamilton Leithauser."

WEEZER Hurley CD
*** "'Hurley' finds the band making some of the most powerful and adventuresome music of their storied career." I bet!