EAR/Rational Update Week 33, 2009

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This week's update contains releases by:

(Haven) * 16 Horsepower * 3 Shades * Action, The * Adrian Sherwood * Amazing, The * Annelies Monseré * Annie * Autoclav 1.1 * Bastard Noise * Blasta * Boyd Rice * Brian Harnetty * Bruce Gilbert * By Night With Spear * Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band * Chris Connelly * Clew of Theseus * Controlled Bleeding * David Wenngren * dISHARMONY * Drums, The * Dubkasm * Dudley Perkins * Durutti Column * Fleetwood Mac * Fontanas * F***pony * Future Sound of London * Gabriel Severin * Gareth Williams * Gateway District * Georgia Anne Muldrow * Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker * Green Army Faction/Niellerade Fallibilisthorstar * Groundhogs, The * Haito Gopfrich * Heiner Goebbels * Henry Cow * Isnaj Dui * Italoboyz * Jade * Jandek * Jean Baudrillard * Juice Aleem * Karuna Khyal * Kazuki Tomokawa * Laudanum * Lawrence * Liturgy * Longcut, The * Luke Vibert * Lycia * Lyrics Born * Mariachi El Bronx * Mike Vanportfleet * Morris Bailey * Mount Eerie * Mountain Ocean Sun * Mr. Scruff * Orb, The * Painting Petals on Planet Ghost * Pax Nicholas and the Netty Family * Pere Ubu * Piano Magic * Pierre Berthet * PRE * Radio Noisz Ensemble * Rameses III * Red Fox Chasers, The * Robert Schroeder * Robert Wyatt * Roger Waters & Ron Geesin * Russell Haswell * Sam Isaac * Samuel L Session * Sean Lennon * Sebastian Lexer * Shindig * Simon Fisher Turner * Slow * Spider Bags * Spyra * Stephen O'Malley * Sub * Sudden Weather Change * Sunburned Hand Of The Man * Tara Van Flower * Tetragon * The Boyd Rice Experience * Theoretical Girl * Tim Buckley * Tori Kudo * Vandaveer * Vladislav Delay * Von Iva * Vril * Wander * Warpaint * Xhol Caravan

...plus sale items by:

Crystal Antlers * Douglas Lilburn * Ernan Roch * Gui Boratto * Magnetophone

[ F E A T U R E D   R E L E A S E S ]

Adrian Sherwood - On-U Sound Crash: Slash & Mix CD (EMI) [EMI3750252CD] $12.00
2006 remastered reissue collecting the highlights from Adrian Sherwood's On-U-Sound label. Over thirty tracks, assembled in quick-edit/mashup/overload your brain style, including classic cuts from Dub Syndicate, New Age Steppers, Gary Clail, Mark Stewart & Maffia, Doctor Pablo, African Head Charge, Noah House of Dread, Creation Rebel, Jack The Biscuit and a shit-ton more. An amazing overview of this legendary label.

Boyd Rice Experience, The - Hatesville! CD (Caciocavallo) [10547] $14.25
RELEASE DATE: 09-14-2009
"Hatesville!" is a collection of songs by The Boyd Rice Experience, The Partridge in the Pear Tree, Adam Parfrey and Jim Goad. It was orignally released in 1995, but quickly went out of print, and has - until today - commanded absurd prices from collectors. This new edition has been completely remastered and features three new songs. Best of all, it's available for the first time on vinyl. Famed hot rod artist Coop, whose black & white artwork appeared on the 1995 version, added color to the artwork for the new edition. No expense has been spared for this reissue. The CD is presented in sturdy six-panel folder, the black vinyl LP comes in an sturdy old-school "tip-on" cover, and the picture disc comes in a heavy PVC sleeve. The CD is unlimited and we plan to keep it in print forever, but the black vinyl LP is limited to 1000 copies and the picture disc is limited to 500. Boyd Rice's biography is extensive and includes numerous albums, books and film appearances. His musical career began in the 1970s when he performed and recorded as NON. In the mid 1980s he became involved in the Church of Satan, and later launched a Social Darwinist think tank called The Abraxis Foundation. He has performed and recorded with Douglas Pearce of Death In June, Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis, and famed industrial percussionist Z'ev. His newest book No is a collection of essays. He presently lives in his underground bunker in Denver, Colorado. Adam Parfrey is best known as the founder of Feral House, a small but influential book publisher, with titles like Apocalypse Culture, Lords of Chaos, and Jim Goad's Giant Book of Sex. He's always had an interest in music, and released two albums and a number of singles in the 1990s, including S.W.A.T - Deep Inside A Cop's Mind: The Soundtrack for the Next Police State and A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington. The Partridge in the Pear Tree, previously known as Shaun Partridge, co-founded the Partridge Family Temple in Denver in 1988 with a friend. "The Partridge Family Temple is a religion based on fun, truth, and reality. We believe in freedom, fun, and enjoying life every day, because we all know we're going to die. Life is scary and miserable and we say, 'Come On, Get Happy!'" He now lives in Portland, Oregon. Jim Goad became famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for his magazine Answer Me!, which he published from 1991 to 1994. He contributed to the S.W.A.T recordings, and released the album Truck Drivin' Psycho in 1996. He has authored several books, including The Redneck Manifesto and Shit Magnet: One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt. He runs jimgoad.net, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Controlled Bleeding - Girrbering Canker-opera Slaves (Studies in Meditation and Evisceration) CD (Ultra Mail Productions) [10534] $36.50
RELEASE DATE: 09-30-2009
Ultra Mail Prod begins an exciting series of new and archive releases by the innovative New York based group, Controlled Bleeding, with this impressive 5 CD box, compiled by original member, Paul Lemos. Disc #1 features fifty minutes of new music that debuted on the last year's very limited vinyl box, "SONGS FROM A SEWER OF DREAMS". This material represents some of the group's most explosive yet refined sonic experiments, intermingled with passages of lush textural beauty and screaming free improvisation. Few groups move so effortlessly between genres. The first CD of this massive collection provides fascinating sonic exploration, moving from the glistening warmth of "Rothko" (the full 8 minute version appearing for the first time) to the howling power electronics of "Dedicated to Richard R." onto the swirling maelstrom of darkness that is "GRINDER'S SONG" before blasting into free jazz heaven with "Spattered in the Key of "O"". And that's just the beginning! With assitance from world class drummers like Weasel Walter and Tatsuya Yoshida, Controlled Bleeding delivers some of their most varied, powerful music to date. This CD alone is worth the price of admission. Disc #2 is another bizzare, totally unpredicatable journey, packed with unreleased gems, starting off with 21 minutes of absolutely unrelenting power electronics taken from recently unearthed tapes, recorded in 1983, around the same time as the the group's infamous debut lp, "KNEES AND BONES". From this point, we move into wildly obsure realms, like Boston's famous punk club The Rat, circa 1977, where some formation of Cont Bleeding appeared onstage in a drunken disorganized mess...In the next moment, we are live at NYC's new music venue, TONIC circa 2005, where another formation of the band spatters the walls with scattershot hardcore improv, sounding like some weird cross between Captain Beefheart and The Locust...A couple of truly twisted outtakes from 2004's Breastfed Yak sessions ("Chunky Love Boy" pts 1&2) are featured along with ancient live recordings documenting Joe Papa and Chris Moriatry's first appearance in the band, around 1982, playing highly sturctured progressive music.(Luckly, the tape was running since this was the only gig to feature this line up of the group.) Disc #3 is a must for collectors and noise completists: the entire first cassette, issued in 1983 on the XXX label. Taken from the original masters, this self titled recording is still extremely powerful. Some of these tracks would eventulally appear on the "Knees and Bones" album in severely edited form. CD #4 is another one that will delight collectors of early power electronics and industrial music, the long out of print cassette, "SHITSLIPPER", the group's final release for XXX... Again, taken from the master recordings, this version includes 12 minutes of material that could not fit onto the original C-60 tape. Already, one can hear the group broadening its sound, moving away from pure screaming noise (of which there is plenty), experimenting with multitracking and keyboards for the first time. CD #5, which will appear only with the first 200 copies of the box set, is perhaps the most highly coveted of the set-60 minutes of mind-splitting noise work. While compiling this project, rummaging though hours of old tapes, Lemos discovered a previously unreleased casstte of superior quality. Several of those tracks are featured here, along with extreme power mixes of some of the selections from the two XXX tapes.

Durutti Column - Four Factory Records CD Box (Kooky) [KOOKYDISC027BOX] $66.50
RELEASE DATE: 08-24-2009
Kooky are pleased to announce the re-issue of the first four albums by the Durutti Column. Originally released on the seminal Factory Records label between 1980 and 1984, these albums have been carefully re-mastered from the original master tapes, which had been thought to be lost along with the demise of Factory in the mid 1990's. Ironically these had been stored along with many other tapes at Tony Wilson's home and were passed on for this release by his son Oliver. Named after a political cartoon strip used by the Situationist Movement in Strasbourg, The Durutti Column were always one of the more eclectic bands on Manchester's seminal Factory Records. Their unique sound, a rich fusion of classical, folk and jazz, whilst strangely out of place in 1978, has proved to be one of the most enduring sounds of the Factory stable. To this day they have a large cult following, both in the UK and abroad. Tony Wilson (Mr Factory Records himself) put the band together in January 1978 by inviting Vini Reilly to join the existing line-up of guitarist Dave Rowbotham and drummer Chris Joyce. The band split up soon after but Vini continued alone as The Durutti Column, recording his debut album, The Return Of The Durutti Column, for Factory in 1980 produced by the late, great, Martin Hannett. Bruce Mitchell joined soon after to record two tracks for Sordide Sentimental in 1981 and has played ever since. This six CD box set is limited to 1175 copies and comprises of: Four fully re-mastered albums: 1. The Return Of The Durutti Column, 2. LC, 3. Another Setting, 4. Without Mercy, Plus two limited bonus CDs only available as part of this boxset; 5. Unreleased: demos, versions and outtakes from the period,6. Live: previously unreleased live recordings from London, Glasgow, and Brighton 82/84. The package also includes extensive liner notes and interviews with the key protagonists from the period including the musicians Vini Reilly, Bruce Mitchell, John Metcalfe, and Tim Kellett and interviews with those who worked on the albums Kier Stewart, Stu Pickering and Oliver Wilson — without whom the tapes may never have found the light of day. Ironically, this release coincides with Manchester International Music Festival commission Paen to Wilson. A piece of music which has been specially written as a lasting memory to the bands former label owner and close friend Tony Wilson. The Durutti Column played to three full houses at the Festival in July critically acclaimed by the Guardian and BBC2's culture show amongst others.

Future Sound of London - Environments Vol. 2 CD (Jumpin' and Pumpin') [1451624] $21.00
When a follow-up to the first Environments record was announced, it was initially believed to featuremore material from the band's 1994 ambient radio sessions. What came, however, was considerablydifferent - and even better. Environments II is the band's first foray into more cinematic ambientmusic. Beginning with the almost classical string-based Viewed From Above, and moving on to the firstof the dreamy, lightly percussive Glacier tracks, the record is vastly different to anything heard by theband before (it's not surprising to see Max Richter and Robert Fripp on the credits list). Tracks:

  1. Viewed From Above
  2. Glacier (Part 1)
  3. Serengeti
  4. Colour-Blind
  5. A Corner
  6. Newfoundland
  7. North Arctic
  8. Factories And Assembly
  9. Ice Formed
  10. Small Town
  11. Nearly Home
  12. Boca Manu
  13. Journey To The Center
  14. Glacier (Part 2)

Gareth Williams - Flaming Tunes CD (Recommended) [RERLLRGW] $16.50
"When Gareth Williams died on Christmas Eve 2001 at the age of 48, the world lost a huge personality and a unique creative talent, yet little is known of his work outside of the legendary group This Heat. With this first official release on Compact Disc of Williams's solo and collaborative works from 1985, Life and Living Records take the first steps to correcting this imbalance. Flaming Tunes was recorded by Gareth Williams and Mary Currie with input from a variety of contributors including fellow This Heat member Charles Bullen, long term collaborators Martin Harrison, Rick Wilson, Mick Hobbs and others. After Gareth left This Heat in the early eighties he made the first of several trips to India, an experience which affected him deeply on personal and musical levels. On returning he began a collaboration with Mary Currie, building up songs from fragments and simple arrangements, using whatever instruments they had to hand and the resourceful aesthetic of pushing a cassette portastudio to its maximum. Originally released on cassette in 1985, Flaming Tunes has languished in relative obscurity over the years, although bootlegged in its entirety in the 1990's. There has been no official Compact Disc release until now. Flaming Tunes comes packaged in a bespoke 4 panel Digipak with a PaperFoam tray replacing the standard plastic holder for the CD. This part of the package was specifically researched and made in line with Williams's wishes for future editions of his work, to reduce or remove all plastic where possible. The cover features graphics derived from the original cassette insert and expands the edition with a newly designed sixteen panel concertina insert with images and photographs from throughout Gareth's life, selected by Mary Currie. Each section accompanies Gareth's handwritten lyrics for the songs."

Henry Cow - The Road: Vols. 1-5 CD Box (Recommended) [RERHC40] $86.50
"40th Anniversary Box Set Volumes 1 & 2. 9 CDs and 1 DVD with 2 60pp books, in two solid boxes. Limited edition. A substantial collection of all-new material that puts the depth and breadth of the work of one of the most controversial and edgy of the British bands of the '70s into an altogether new perspective. Even at 10 discs it still represents only the tip of the iceberg, but even this will oblige the histories to be amended. Henry Cow was a band viewed by almost all its contemporaries as outsiders, but embraced equally on the art fringes of rock, jazz and contemporary music (as evidenced by the festivals and venues at which they appeared) as innovators and mavericks. It was also a band that walked the talk, finessing its way out of a stifling commercial contract with Virgin and then taking control of every aspect of its life and appearances, remaining unfashionably political and evenly divided in gender (band and roadcrew) until the end. The music was extreme, often complex, constantly changing and driven, on the one hand, by an intense dialogue between craft and tight-knit composition and, on the other, radically open improvisation and experimentation - all expressed through a deep root in popular music and rock. These nine CDs embody some extraordinary and prescient music; then there is the DVD, 80 minutes of the 1976 band in performance - the only known video recording in existence, professionally made, multi camera and unseen since its original broadcast. Last but not least, there is a great deal of historical documentation in two 60 page booklets photographs, posters, memorabilia, facsimiles? as well as a complete biography and a series of specially written essays, recollections, histories and commentaries on the compositions by all the members of the band, and a few close friends. This 40th anniversary collection comes in two sturdy limited edition boxes, one covering the period between 1971 to 1976 and the other (Vol.2, which includes the DVD) following through to the end in 1978."

Henry Cow - The Road: Vols. 6-10 CD Box (Recommended) [RERHC41] $98.75
The second box, which includes the DVD.

Karuna Khyal - Alomoni 1985 CD (Phoenix Records) [ASH3024CD] $16.00
Karuna Khyal's album Alomoni 1985, originally released on Voice Records around 1976, is widely acknowledged as years ahead of its time, preceding other Japanese underground experimental outfits such as Fushitsusha, White Heaven and Magical Power Mako by almost 20 years. The band's musical influences are, if anything, more Germanic than Japanese, with long, hypnotic free-form rock passages, a heavy use of tape loops, electronics, environmental sounds, distortion and backwards tapes underpinning some manic harmonica-playing on some gut-wrenching blues dirges. Can, Faust and Guru Guru clearly had an influence on the band, as did Captain Beefheart and Pere Ubu. Not much is known about the band's line-up, although it is widely thought there was some crossover in personnel with Brast Burn, another significant outfit of the same era which exerted such influence over newer participants in the Japanese psych scene as well as Nurse With Wound. At No.19 in Julian Cope's Japrocksampler publication, this is a true hidden treasure buried deep in time -- unearthed and digitally-remastered by Phoenix Records. Package includes a replica of the original full-color insert in a numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies only, housed in a unique card wallet.

Orb, The - Baghdad Batteries: Orbsessions Vol. 3 CD (Malicious Damage) [MD645] $16.00
RELEASE DATE: 09-14-2009
There's always been two quite contrasting sides to The Orb's centrifugal epicentre Dr Alex Paterson. One is the purveyor of hook-ridden songs laden with vocal toppings or memorable samples, as heard on last year's delightful collaboration with Youth and Tim Bran, The Dream, which Alex describes as 'pop'. The other is more serious, focusing primarily on the sound itself, noticeably rearing in the mid-90s almost as a reaction to The Orb's initial success on under-rated masterworks like Orbus Terrarum.These startling electronic odysseys are often hatched with long-time collaborator Thomas Fehlmann, The Orb's Berlin connection who's been there from the first album and last made his towering presence felt on 2005's Okie Dokie album for the renowned Kompakt label, bastion of KOLN minimalmuzik. Such is the case with Baghdad Batteries where the pair have injected some of these breathtaking outings with a subterranean house pulse beamed up from the Earth's core, resulting in a new form of space disco which sounds as old as time itself while brushed with the most future-pointed minimal techno shadows.The album is actually the third volume in Malicious Damage's ongoing Orbsessions series, but whereas the previous two were compiled from nuggets trawled from the vaults, these are new tracks recorded at Thomas' Berlin studio, which also provide the soundtrack for Austrian director Werner Boote's film Plastic Planet. It rather recalls when Pink Floyd did the music for a film called More in 1969, which appeared as an album in its own right to great success and is a brilliant move for The Orb.The opening Styrofoam Meltdown rains in with similar sense of extra-terrestrial shock and awe which would levitate the heart-strings when The Orb revved up their live shows with O.O.B.E. in the early 90s, a kind of heavenly carwash explosion of interstellar frequencies which here sees the inter-acting pulses joined by kick drum, even, at one point, invoking the ghost of Giorgio Moroder's I Feel Love. Chocolate Fingers starts as a beatless floater drenched in shimmering keys and shining melodic strands setting off an aural firework display, stun-quotient doubled when the chord changes kick in. The title track is gorgeously haunting as marimba tones melt over swirling effects before one of the highlights - the pastoral Raven's Reprise, a poignant tribute to the late Killing Joke bassist. This celestial electronic space symphony is followed by anotherŠ oh bollocks, they're all highlights! Dolly Unit is a dense, throbbing tech-flavoured pulser, sprayed with bluesy guitar peelings, giving way to an ancient rock steady beat before the muted house shuffle of Super Soakers. The beat carries on into Suburban Smog, deploying spaced tribal percussion and lush, organic ambience. Big Hammond chords highlight Orban Tumbleweed before the spoken interlude of Pebbles. Old mucker Max Loderbauer from Sun Electric came in on the breezy sax and bleep vamp of Woodlarking while the creaking resonance of OOPA takes the album out - actually a non-movie nugget first released on noted German electronic Skitkatapult last year [the initials stand for Out Of Place Artefact].There's a very special atmosphere to this album: two men bouncing ideas and exploring in classic Orb style to make a classic Orb album, hitting the magic place Alex always strives for, but this time with a lustful vengeance tempered with new gentleness and a movie in their heads.

Robert Schroeder - 30 Years After CD (Spheric Music) [SMCD2019] $21.00
Exciting new material presented by one of the electronic routinists of the electronic scene. Robert Schroeder is celebrating his 30th musical anniversary, starting the album by remindung us of his first release Harmonic Ascendant. But soon Robert leads us in new dreamland-like territories. An exquisite blend of moods of the good old analogue era and brilliant atmospheres of todays sound library. Decent rhythms, light sequencer patterns and dreamy melodies are combined to create a harmonic sound atmosphere which could be a kind of refuge for dreaming.

Various Artists - Hope CD (Fluid Audio) [FluidAudio001] $17.11
Fluid Audio kick starts its catalogue with 'Hope', a compilation sprawling across 13 tracks from established artists, Digitonal, Hol Baumann, Ishq, Bersarin Quartet and James Murray, as well as up and coming producers, Field Rotation, Iambic, Snakestyle, Playb, Halogen and Ben Beiny. As suggested by its title, 'Hope', embodies a concept of positivity and the alleviation of strife "through the creative translation of emotion into sounds sent to soothe [and] images formed to inspire". Artists were asked to create compositions that reflected their interpretation of the term Hope, producing varied yet cohesive results with a profound resonance. 50% of the profits are donated to Toybox, a charity providing aid, shelter and support for homeless children in Latin America, the majority of which are estimated a life expectancy of around four years on the street. Coupling all of this with the CD's bespoke artwork and carbon neutral manufacture provides a consumable and tangible product that serves to aid a constructive cause through the medium of music. The Vision That Enthused All Involved: Although we are living in a world of injustice - where the rich get richer, while those in need get left behind - there is often an inherent hope in those who suffer the most. Where people have the least they value more, the simple things that others take for granted. While some are disconnected from the true meaning of life, there are others who appreciate the beauty and awe of the world and what is has to offer. In these souls is a spark of light that no corrupt power can extinguish. Despite the negativity that we are all faced with in life, the human spirit can always overcome. Whether this is in the innocent laughter of a child, the compassion shown from one suffering human being to another, or through the creative translation of emotion into sound, the joy of life is communicated all around us - we need only be willing to open our hearts to it. Some Facts: An estimated 40 million children live on the streets of Latin America's densely populated cities (unicef). Observers from our partner in Guatemala say that street children there have a life expectancy of around four years on the street. Unicef reported in 2004 that in Guatemala in the first 10 months of 2002, gangs or security forces killed 408 children and youths, but most street children were killed by drive by shootings. THINK ABOUT IT! Ethically Produced: The CD is ISO14001 certified, all paper & card used is FSC certified, all produced by a Carbon Zero CD manufacturing company, via the award-winning CO2 Balance. The scientific data to calculate the embedded carbon emissions of the CD/Packaging, and offset an equivalent amount of CO2 by investing in 100% additional carbon-offsetting schemes with immediate & many secondary benefits to communities that simply would not happen unless we paid for them. The premises used to create the CD/Packaging is also 100% carbon neutral and powered with green electricity, and business travel emissions are also offset. Eco-conscious disc manufacturing: ISO 14000 & 14001 compliant CD manufacturing 100% Re-use of scrap polycarbonate salvaged from CD & DVD replication Eco-conscious printing: Sourcing of paper stock from FSC Compliant (Forestry Stewardship Council) mills and printers. Wood fibre procured within the Sustainable Forest Initiative guidelines: every acre harvested is reforested - 400 Million tree seedlings planted each year. Paper products are typically recyclable, compost-able, and under the right conditions biodegradable. No wood from old-growth or endangered forests. Vegetable based inks. 100% alcohol-free printing. No Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions from inks or coatings, and use of quick dry glues with Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) being eliminated. Collection and recycling of paperboard, inks, coatings and other waste from printing processes. 60,000 tons of paper and board shipped from one supplier alone to recycler in one year. Treat This CD With Care : What The Artists Say: Iambic: My two tracks, Flags and Turn the Seasons, were intended to give the listener a blank canvass to paint their emotions of Hope on. It occurred to me before writing the tunes that each individual lives in hope for some thing or other, hope is what prevents many peoples lives from becoming mundane, or keeps them hanging on when times are tough. So my two tunes - both being quite different - represent each aspect of Hope. Playb: When I was asked to contribute to this compilation it quickly came to my mind to remix 'Acoustics Of The Piano' because of the special circumstances with which it was created. I was experiencing hard times, the kind when you feel that there is no way out though you cling to some kind of hope regardless of how difficult things get. Children who are born in disadvantaged situations stir up so much admiration within me. I see sadness in their eyes but at the same time a passion to live. I am proud to be associated with this project, and proves that music is a tool to make people aware of social injustice. Field Rotation: Regenzeit (German for rainy season) describes the meaning of rain from different points of view. In the temperate zone of the earth rain is part of the daily weather, nothing special. For millions of people in tropical and subtropical regions rain gives hope — the hope for a better life after the aridity, an efficient harvest and the end of starvation, the hope for enough rain to refill the fountains and riverbeds to survive the following dry season. Regenzeit is about all the people who pray and hope for rain. Ishq: Hope for me rests in a belief and remembrance that we are all eternal beings and live forever. When we die we do not - we awake into a new world and all we take with us is the love and essence of ourselves whether positive or negative. The false prophecy we call death is simply that - one of the root causes of mankind's drive toward destructive selfish materialism and consumption. To 'take', 'have', 'be', 'want' NOW.....at the expense of others with no consideration for the whole or the future or the planet is the result of a hopeless belief in death which motivates many to build castles made of sand and seek unnecessary levels of wealth and power so in turn they may feel 'protected' from death. Fear fundamentally of death make humans greedy. Greed - the opposite from sharing is a result of a hopeless belief in death deep within us and breed into us and taught to us. We are told and taught a lie from birth....Fear creates greed which results in many living lives of hopelessness as others live like kings. My hope is people will remember more 'before' this life and remember the eternal self which lives forever as this will help free us from the slavery of materialism and the selfishness which misleads us. We can build a world of equality where we all share and we all profit and all rise as one. Its very simple - Share and we create HOPE and love. HOPE and faith in eternity leads to us to want for nothing more than to help others and so we may all evolve. I hope we eventually realise this on earth and share and remember who we really are when the body is left behind. Snakestyle: With the music I make, I try to create something that gently catches your attention, hypnotises you, helps you think, and takes you to a place where you feel reassured. It's great that there are people out there who genuinely believe in music and its ability to give people hope and make a difference. It inspires me to keep going, to keep doing what i do, and I hope that people find a sense of hope while listening to this project. Best wishes. Snakestyle
  1. Forever - Ishq
  2. Hopeful - Snakestyle
  3. Regenzeit - Field Rotation
  4. Fingersand - James Murray
  5. Turn The Seasons - Iambic
  6. Was uns Bleibt - Bersarin Quartett
  7. Acoustics Of The Piano - Playb
  8. Sunriser - Halogen
  9. Start Again - Ben Beiny
  10. Flags - Iambic
  11. We Three — Digitonal
  12. Time To Change - Hol Baumann
  13. A Part Of You - Ben Beiny (Digipak bonus track)

[ . . . ]

(Haven) - Plastic CD (Tympanik) [10542] $13.75
Poland's hidden talent [Haven] signs to the Tympanik Audio family for his debut album titled 'Plastic'. A gradual scorching dirge that reveals itself amidst an impeccable quilt of tight beatwork, sleuthing throughout memorable soundscapes, and airy atmospheres. With heavy basslines, delicate sampling, infectious, stabbing beats, and an uncanny sense of raw emotion woven into each piece of work, [Haven] separates himself from the pack with his debut album 'Plastic' on Tympanik Audio. Bonus material will be supplemented by Aphorism and Tapage with secular results. Sloppy-wet and wanting you real bad...

Graphic design and mastering by Justin Brink of Pneumatic Detach

3 Shades - Thank God For Beatniks CD (Alien Transistor) [N019CD] $14.75
This is the debut full-length release by 3 Shades -- a collective of musicians (and guests) that one could call a "supergroup." Based in and around Munich, Germany, members include Ivica Vucelic (Dis*ka, Die Regierung, Lightnin' Ivi) on guitar, pedals and vocals; Carl Oesterheld (Carlo Fashion, F.S.K., Ms. John Soda, Tied & Tickled Trio) on organ, harmonium, glockenspiel, and metallophone; Markus Acher (The Notwist, Tied & Tickled Trio, Village Of Savoonga, Lali Puna, 13 & God) on drums, organ, percussion and vocals; and Micha Acher (The Notwist, Tied & Tickled Trio, Ms. John Soda) on bass, organ, trombone and trumpet. On Thank God For Beatniks the band explores soundscapes, rhythm-patterns and moods in multi-colored shades. Some of them filled with whirling sunbeams, others covered with smoke and dust. "Bombay Can" sets the key -- a throbbing and bittersweet harmonium lures you into a hypnotic groove-monster, filled with echoes from the past and future. More spinning melodies are offered on "Subsequently" with hip-hop activist Fat Jon on guest vocals. "El Topo" is named after Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1970 film, and is itself a surrealistic trip into a psychedelic desert, filled with audio hallucinations, a jazz mirage and some obscure encounters at the Mexican border. More psychedelic moods in darker colors abound on "Tiny Bits Of Terrible," featuring guest vocalist and spoken-word poet Mike Ladd. The beats are dented, there are eerie whizzing sounds, and nearly everything is filled with smoke. "Thank God For Beatniks" is based on lyrics by Afro-American beatnik pioneer Bob Kaufman. "Sometimes Up" features an abstract ambient soundscape surrounding a melancholic love song. "Counting The Days" features guest vocalist Jihae Jean Meek (The Royal We, The Champagne Socialists) and an acoustic guitar suitable for night ballads. Thank God For Beatniks remembers when music was about freedom of speech and revolutionary thought unbound.

Amazing, The - The Amazing CD (Subliminal Sounds) [SUBL030CD] $14.00
This is the debut full-length release from Sweden's The Amazing. The Amazing is a group of prominent Swedish musicians who are playing or who have played with Dungen, Anna Jarvinen and Sagor & Swing. They've been called a super-group, but the band members think this sounds too contrived; rather, The Amazing is a natural process, a force of nature. There was nothing planned in them coming together, they just happened to enjoy each other's company and started jamming together, and the jams crystallized into this folk-rock/psych-pop collective. This album is wide-ranging and spans everything from groovy electric folk rock, via psychedelic pop, to airy, acoustic ballads. One track possesses the rambling, abstract haze of Blue Ä-yster Cult, others the golden moments of Topanga Canyon lite rock. Nothing is introverted or overworked -- everything is perfectly balanced and kept together by natural melodies and soulful vocals. The core musicians in The Amazing are: Christoffer Gunrup (Swedish singer/songwriter extraordinaire, ex-Granada), Reine Fiske (lead guitar wizard in Dungen, etc.), Johan Holmegard (drummer in Dungen and Life On Earth!), and Fredrik Swahn (prominent Swedish multi-musician with Anna Jarvinen, Dungen, etc.). Special guests include some of Sweden's finest musicians; for example, Fredrik BjĶrling (ex-Dungen) and Erik Malmberg (the keyboard champ from Sagor & Swing), amongst others. This is spirited, psychedelic pop with a laidback country-drive feel.

Annelies Monseré - Marit CD (Auetic) [AUECD001] $16.00
RELEASE DATE: 09-28-2009
"Marit" is Annelies' second full length. Annelies started recording the album in Hilversum, the Netherlands and continued the process, after moving there, in Gent, Belgium. For the first time, Annelies invited friends to play and sing. Jessica Bailiff, Nathan Amundsen (rivulets), Michael Anderson (dREKKA), Ellen Evers (Puddle parade) and the Vollmar-brothers make guest-appearances. They introduced sounds and instruments new to Annelies' oeuvre like the violin-uke, stairwell -- reverb, electric guitar drones and even drums. All musicians added their very own interpretations of proposed arrangements to the songs, without throwing overboard Annelies' recognizable sense for simple, yet poignant melodies and stark sounds. This gives the album a significantly warmer sound and a less solitary feel than her previous material. It's a diverse collection of songs ranging from a folky tale like "will you be found?" to more the droney "common ground" and the miniature piano song "can't". The album is a strong coherent whole, the beginning nicely tied up with the end. Lyrically, these songs are stories about leaving home & building new homes, hidden thoughts & tales, love & intimacy.Recommended if you like: Nico, Movietone, Richard Youngs, Folk, Shoegaze, drones and/or minimal songwriting

Annie - Don't Stop CD (Smalltown Supersound) [sts178] $15.00
RELEASE DATE: 11-17-2009
Dynamite sophomore release from Scandinavian pop princess Annie. Both immediately listenable & utterly beguiling, this "pop with strange edges" is mainstream & underground, all at once. Sometimes expressive, sometimes funny, but always totally fresh & utterly human. Complementing Anne Lilia Berge Strand's pick â~@~Xn' mix, genre-hopping pincer movement are an array of handpicked associates: Don't Stop reunites Annie with Timo Kaukolampi & Richard X, Anniemal, Paul Epworth (known for his work with Bloc Party, Primal Scream, The Rapture, Florence & the Machine), Brian Higgins (Xenomania) and Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos. It's a twelve-course feast for the modern musical connoisseur -- a frenzied, but undeniably solid proposition, an effortless & organic blend with Annie center stage.

Autoclav 1.1 - Where Once Were Exit Wounds CD (Tympanik) [10540] $13.75
'Where Once Were Exit Wounds' perpetuates the Autoclav1.1 legacy with a stunning presentation of electronic works that truly captures the heart and soul of this Tympanik artist favourite. While still absorbing praise from his critically-acclaimed 2008 release 'Love No Longer Lives Here' Autoclav1.1's Tony Young reaches even deeper into his seemingly endless bag of talent to unleash a collection of work that will surely be hailed as his most promising venture to date. 'Where Once Were Exit Wounds' is a visceral montage of complex beats, surging guitars, pulsating synthwork, and undying melodies, that will well exceed even the most ascertaining tastes, all the while exhibiting a flow of embracing atmospheres and lovely melodic breeziness that will encompass its listener with warmth and gentle adrenaline time and time again. Autoclav1.1 fearlessly interjects a powerful concoction of love, loss, and despair fueled by lathering electronic rhythms akin to a thoughtful drive accelerating almost uncontrollably along a distant country road on a warm summer night. Get ready for the most engaging Autoclav1.1 album to date...

Bastard Noise - Our Earth's Blood IV CD Box (Cathartic Process) [CP08] $44.75
First conceived in 1999, and intensively honed over the past four years, Our Earth's Blood, IV is finally realized! This is no collection-OEB IV is a full-length album spanning five discs! Few artists in any genre have delved to these depths to create such an expansive communication, in such a deepened language. BASTARD NOISE, aided by over two dozen artists from all over the world, have reached a true pinnacle with Our Earth's Blood IV. This new release not only encapsulates the Our Earth's Blood tradition of over 15 years, but defines the spirit of caveman electronics that Bastard Noise created. Our Earth's Blood IV pulls together "Skull Servants" in collaboration of sound and fury, including: MERZBOW, ANDORKAPPEN, AZOIKUM, BIZARRE UPROAR, CHRISTIAN BASS, CLEW OF THESEUS, CULPIS, DEFEKTRO, EMESIS, GOLEM GROSS, GOVERNMENT ALPHA, GUILTY CONNECTOR, JAY RANDALL/AGOROPHOBIC NOSEBLEED, KELLY CHURKO, NYARLATHOTEP, OBLONG BOX, PEACEMAKER, P.W.E., RICK GRIBENAS, ROTTEN PIECE, SICKNESS, SURROUNDED, and VOLITION. Housed within a completely custom, die-cut package. Exterior graphics are printed in alternating matte lamination and spot gloss to create a unique black-on-black look. The package folds out into a cross-shape, with each disc housed in its own sleeve on each side of the cross and one in the center. Careful attention was paid with the design of both the graphics and the package to ensure that the presentation of this monumental album stacked-up to its scale and content. The package is identical in width and height to a jewel case, so it can be stored and displayed in any standard CD rack.

Blasta - The Incredible Adventures Of Kenzolika & Quetzalcoatl CD (Argon) [ARG002CD] $13.50
..Among The Air Castles. "Blasta met Kenzolika, Kyiv's dubstep princess, in November 2008. It all started with a coincidence -- the owls were falling, and they keep falling now. Blasta is a musician based in Vaska, St. Petersburg, Russia. Each tune on the album is filled with pure sweet emotions. Feel the tension in 'Your Dub Delay,' a poignant cosmic dubstep anthem with vocals by Blasta. It doesn't matter if you are drinking the 'Black Muscatel' wine, drifting through the clouds inside a 'Zeppelin Nacelle,' or just chilling and dancing slowly with beautiful girls inside the 'Cosmic Lounge'." 'This LP is something that has popped up from nowhere and is to be one of the best dance album's I've heard in years, tracks like 'Cosmic Lounge' & 'Black Muscatel' are strong power plays from myself in the clubs and have had people singing with joy to the melodies or clenching their hearts with emotion - sumthing you don't see in the clubs these days anymore due to the lack of good music played by the top DJs. Other tempo's on the album shows the talent that Blasta really has with music making.......This album WILL be remembered for years to come!!' - Heny G 'The tunes are just snapshots of your feelings.' -- Quest 'This is as deep & sexy as it gets. Blasta delivers one of the most beautiful dubstep albums ever made.' -- L-Wiz. Blasta gives birth to a brand new sound, true future music. Music that is cooked from the most delicious rave, dub and jazz flavors ever created. This album gives you a complete feeling of tenderness and love, taken from the winter and fitting perfectly into the early spring.""

Boyd Rice - The Way I Feel CD (Caciocavallo) [03450] $12.00
RELEASE DATE: 09-14-2009
This is an album about feelings. Those of you who only know Boyd Rice from his rather brutish and insensitive noise music will no doubt be surprised to discover the sensitive, at times passionate individual lurking beneath his often gruff exterior. Here, Rice opens up for us. He shares how he feels about a wide range of topics, and we bet you'll be surprised just how often his thoughts and feelings mirror your own.

Throughout his long and storied career Boyd Rice has collaborated with other musicians. From the leading lights of England's neo-folk underground to America's most obscure eccentrics, Denver, Colorado's favorite agent provocateur has repeatedly insinuated himself into the lives of the most interesting, the most notorious, and most memorable artists and performers, every time producing a classic song that defies easy categorization. "The Way I Feel" collects the best of these tracks onto one album. Whether it's with Coil or David Tibet, Douglas P. or Tiffiny Anders, every song is special, and the atmosphere is unforgettable.

"The Way I Feel" was first released in the year 2000 and has never gone out of print on CD at Soleilmoon, but with the release of "Hatesville" imminent we decided to relaunch it. When we first put it out we pressed 1000 copies on black vinyl, but they sold out in a matter of weeks. On September 14 we'll issue two vinyl configurations, both very limited: 300 copies on red vinyl and 500 picture discs. A fresh pressing of CDs will accompany the other formats.

Brian Harnetty - Silent City CD (Atavistic) [ALP190] $15.25
BRIAN HARNETTY is a musician and artist from Ohio, and his work involves overlooked elements of sound. Many of his pieces transform found material-including field recordings, transcriptions, and historic recordings-into personal and often political sound worlds. His music and installations have been performed and exhibited in the US and Europe. Silent City is the follow-up album to his incredible 2007 work American Winter and features WILL OLDHAM (Palace Brothers, Bonnie Prince Billy, Boxhead Ensemble) on vocals. A fascinating, compelling collaboration that mixes the last three centuries into one beautifully haunting, cryptic flow of idea-sound.

Bruce Gilbert - Oblivio Agitatum CD (Editions Mego) [EMEGO096CD] $16.00
Editions Mego proudly releases a new album by the UK's legendary experimental noise musician Bruce Gilbert, whose career stretches back to late-1960s British avant garde art and music scenes, and who has since played an important and influential role with his involvement in various rock-based formations (he is a former member of Wire), and choreographic projects and art installations. Oblivio Agitatum is Gilbert's first album-length release since Ordier (realized in 1996 and released in 2004), essentially making this his first album of the 21st century. A startling and mesmerizing work which recalls some of his mid-1980s works such as This Way and Shivering Man. An ever-shifting set of agitated and obscure tones, creating a sense of confusion while still being highly structured and concentrated. A stunning return.

By Night With Spear - Cypher CDEP (Self Storage Recordings) [SSR006] $7.00
By Night With Spear's sister EPs Fortune and Cipher touch on the history of girly Manchester early shoegaze while updating the style with vigor and modern strength. The complex lyrics and catchy baselines also keep things interesting. Their name was inspired by the American artist, sculptor and avant-garde filmmaker, Joseph Cornell. His last film, the silent 9-minute, By Night with Torch and Spear, was produced in 1979 and explores the world of a steel foundry. It's exactly this type of artistic inclination and exploration that inspires their current body of work. Heavily influenced by 80s post-punk and British new wave, this four-piece, fronted by the lovely Anaben, proves that their worth their weight in spirit. By Night With Spear will undoubtedly make an indelible impact upon those listeners that prefer their drops of beauty mixed equally with majestic power.

Chris Connelly - Pentland Firth Howl CD (Busted Flat) [BUSTED021] $13.25
Murder, romance, ghost stories, disasters, paganism, whiskey, all are covered on Pentland Firth Howl, the tenth solo release by CHRIS CONNELLY. The album is a song cycle about his native Scotland, though this is no playful romp in the heather! With only one other accompanist, the arrangements are as bare and spartan as the landscapes Connelly invokes with his words and melodies. Pentland Firth Howl was produced by psych / folk wizard ZAK BOERGER from THOSE WONDERFUL EVILS, and features artwork by Scottish painter ANDY MCGREGOR. "A former soldier in the techno-industrial ranks (MINISTRY, REVOLTING COCKS, PIGFACE), Connelly turned his back on sheer noise in the early '90s and with Whiplash Boychild and Phenobaerb Bambalam began exploring a muted beauty far more intense in its impact."-Rolling Stone. Connelly also plays in THE CONFESSIONS with Sanford Parker (Minsk, Buried at Sea), Jeremy Lemos (White/Light), and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth). No exports to the UK/Europe

Clew of Theseus - Meridian CD (Cathartic Process) [CP11] $13.50
This album shows a projection and further maturity in CLEW OF THESEUS' sound. Meridian is a dark and esoteric album, very focused, full of sounds at once harsh and ambient, with forceful drones and rich textures. Sounds were created with acoustic winds, electric guitar, analog and junk synthesizers and gritty electronics, mixed to create a foreboding atmosphere. The album was mastered by TIMOTHY STOLLENWERK at Stereophonic Mastering, best known for his work on dozens of Daniel Menche albums. Meridian was recorded in two weeks during the monsoon season of 2008. A careful study into the symbols inside the album show an obsession with elemental force and eternal power. Clew Of Theseus evokes images of furious storms, wiping the landscape of blight, bringing beautiful darkness in its wake. CD packaged in standard jewel case with full-color artwork.

David Wenngren - Sleepless Nights CD (Auetic) [AUECD002] $16.00
RELEASE DATE: 09-28-2009
Sleepless nights is the debut album by David wenngren, however not the first album he's been involved in. he's been releasing music with various other projects and is perhaps most known for his work with Library Tapes. The nine songs of this album were all recorded during late nights and early mornings at a time when Wenngren went through a brief period of insomnia. The music is not that different than his work with Library Tapes but has a more experimental feel to it and Wenngren is putting more focus on strings and computer processing than piano this time , however there's a couple of stunningly beautiful solo piano songs on the album as well. The cd will be released in a matte finish digipack and is limited to 1000 copies. Recommended if you like: Max richter, Arvo PĤrt, Library Tapes, Sylvain Chauveau, Peter Broderick.

dISHARMONY - Evolution CD (Tympanik) [10541] $13.75
Under-rated, yet revered with undying admiration by the already initiated, this Slovakian duo has (un)quietly scorched the underground Electro-Industrial scene for many years, releasing several continuously morphing collections of work amongst the awe of fans and music critics alike. With a plethora of remixing and album credits to their name, dISHARMONY manage to speak volumes once again with their signature brand of down-tempo, yet hard-hitting electronica-tinged dark electro works, paying never mind to any looming trends, but instead constantly evolving beyond the typical genre clones and earn their right to the throne amongst a horde of imitators.

With graceful progression towards the beautiful and harsh, dISHARMONY utilizes their unique mesh of dark, technoid beats and classic Industrial rhythms, matched perfectly with harsh vocals and addictive melodies, to arrive at a dark and complex new cavern of sonic stimulation.

You may know dISHARMONY's critically-hailed last album 'Malignant Shields'. You may know their prolific remix collection 'Cloned: The Other Side Of Evolution'. You may know their recent collaborations with the likes of Flint Glass, Totakeke, Mnemonic, Stendeck, Fractional, Anhedonia, Zentriert ins Antlitz, and countless others. But be sure of this: you do not know 'Evolution'... Yet.

Drums, The - Summertime! CDEP (27 Records) [TRCDEP000] $5.50
RELEASE DATE: 08-24-2009
The Drums have a sound that pulls together years of obvious influence by the Factory records sound and a sudden fascination with 50's surf culture. A combination that maybe doesn't seem logical, but when you hear it you'll know you need it, you've gotta have it and it's what has always been missing. Now back in New York City, The Drums are hard at work on their first record, which is bound to be an instant classic!

"They'll be HUGE." - Oh My Rockness

"They are teen dreamers...their post-war optimism rides on the pink, paradise island surf" -- RCRD LBL

"From start to finish, they play a totally refreshing set that shed a bright joyful light over the entire room." - NY PRESS

"Simultaneously dipping into the sounds of '50s surf culture and Factory Records for inspiration (for reals), the result is nothing short of drive-with-the-top-down amazing." -- 'Sup Magazine

Dubkasm - Transform I CD (Sufferah's Choice) [DUBK001CD] $14.75
Dubkasm is a UK and Brazil-based roots reggae/dub outfit from Bristol, England. Formed by producer Digistep and DJ Stryda in 1994 during the emergence period of the UK "digital dub" sound, their debut release in 1996 was Chemical Reaction Dub. Since then they have released nine records on their own Sufferah's Choice Recordings label (named after DJ Stryda's well-established Bristol radio show) and received consistent radio and soundsystem play, most notably by the legendary Jah Shaka. Meanwhile, their live shows, fronted by veteran mic-man Afrikan Simba combine exclusive dubplates, live saxophone and improvised sound effects -- guaranteed to move any crowd. Transform I is the result of many years of work carried out between the two musical hubs of Bristol and Brazil. A heavy, authentic blend of roots and dub reggae, Dubkasm's sound varies from militant digital steppas to acoustic vocal tracks, with Brazilian rhythms and samba instrumentation occasionally woven into the mix. Atmospherics and percussion recorded in Brazil reflect the journey of producer Digistep tracing his Brazilian roots, as instruments such as berimbau, zabumba, cavaquinho and cuica are called into play, while his Bristolian counterpart DJ Stryda captures some of the finest vocalists from the UK's reggae and dub scene, promoting the material worldwide. The album's conscious Rasta messages are conveyed over lovingly-crafted roots rhythms. Amidst the more traditional dub styles, nyahbinghi drumming bonds with samba, capoeira percussion rides one-drop rhythms, and the first album to mix UK dub with Brazilian influences is born. CD version includes bonus audiovisual content.

Dudley Perkins - Holy Smokes CD (E1) [EMC9760CD] $13.25
"Hailing from Oxnard, California, Dudley Perkins (rap moniker Declaime) gained critical acclaim for collaborating with fellow Oxnardian heavyweight, Madlib. His raw commentary is known for being deeply rooted in funk and feelgood grooves of yesteryear while maintaining today's edgy truths of love and war. Holy Smokes is his latest release with Georgia Anne Muldrow behind the boards and is named aptly so -- its swirling organs, gut-wrenching concepts, and hard hitting rhythms are bound to astound you."

Fontanas - Fontanas CD (X! Records Detroit) [X!016] $10.25
FONTANA's anticipated new full-length album is out now and ready for ordering. Killer recording by JIM DIAMOND. If you're into giant centipedes, unhealthy obsessions, and Wayne Kramer from the MC3 then this recording is for you. Yeah, that's right, MC3. Ten tracks strong.

F***pony - Let The Love Flow CD (Bpitch Control) [BPC204CD] $14.00
This is the second full-length release by Berlin-based American Jay Haze under his F***pony alias. Haze is an exceptionally-gifted composer as well as the owner and head of countless labels, projects, and pseudonyms. As a result, hardly anyone knows the legacy of American-style house like Mr. Haze does -- but despite a sense of tradition, his intention was never just to reproduce a well-known sound. With futurism as a conceptual basis, Chicago as grammar, and pop as an abstract embellishment, through the diversity of his projects, he constantly crosses boundaries. The title track features angular, sharp-edged pop you could light a match with, while others illuminate like the lightning of a Saturday night and the pale daylight of a Sunday morning. This album also features emotional house tracks with plenty of kicks and super-tight bass drums, almost sounding as if Haze has discovered his feminine side on BPitch. You could call it house with heart -- an entire album without loops, and samples made from scratch. The horns, the drums, and of course, the dominating piano -- all sustain the Fuckpony vibe, with a gentler re-orientation. Let The Love Flow features vocals by Laila Tov and Chela Simone, who indulges in some genre-breaking soul moments that instantly make your arm-hairs stand on end. Let The Love Flow is a self-contained album with powerful, melodic arches and a great, dramatic understatement of house for ravers in love and for raved-out lovers who are still going, long after peak-time.

Gabriel Severin - Solliloques CD (Sub Rosa) [SR237CD] $14.75
This is the first full-length solo release from Brussels-based sound-poet Gabriel Séverin on Sub Rosa. Séverin has been active in the field of electronic music for almost two decades (Silk Saw, Jardin d'Usure, Ultraphonist, Rob(u)rang, Dead Hollywood Stars), delving into diverse disciplines, exploring forgotten or obscure areas of the avant-garde. The artist himself contextualizes his literary and vocal-based work on Solliloques thusly: "The enemy's tongue/a friendly voice: there is a voice, the one we know, or so we think. Then, there is another one, the inner voice, timbre-less yet holding all timbres, the one talking when the first one does not. It does not always express itself, and with some people it might never do so, because it comes unrestrainedly and freely. How were the texts for this recording selected? Besides representatives from the écrit brut current (art brut's 'literary' equivalent), such as Aimable Jayet, Sylvain Lecoq, and Jeanne Tripier, celebrities from the literary pantheon have found a place within this collection. To us, there is no doubt that some of the writings of Henri Michaux, Antonin Artaud, Samuel Beckett, Raymond Roussel, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Claudel (his 'art poétique'), Pierre Guyotat, Alfred Jarry, and many others, are level with a large number of écrits bruts. They convey the same desire to transgress codes, a similar explosion of semantics, an identical questioning of social standards, the same trance, an inner voice expressing a similar gift in clairvoyance or even shamanism, and finally very close kinds of fancy, humor and freshness. A few more words about this recording: each text was performed several times in the studio. Microphones (between three and six) were placed in various locations: usually one just above the mouth and another very close to the throat, with other microphones placed at an increasing distance from me (in one recording, there is even a microphone in the yard -- you can hear church bells). Sometimes, there was a mike pointed at the ceiling (but what could have been coming from that direction, except the voices of the household). In occasionally favoring the further microphones, we get breath, but also a certain sound modification (or even a delay) and a quavering in the air."

Gateway District - Some Days You Get The Thunder CD (It's Alive) [IAR35] $12.00
RELEASE DATE: 08-25-2009
***THE GATEWAY DISTRICT is one of the latest and definitely greatest bands to come out of the Minneapolis scene. Members include MAREN (SOVIETTES, SALTEENS), CARRIE (AMERICAN MONSTERS, Salteens), BRAD (DEAR LANDLORD, RIVETHEAD), and NATE (BANNER PILOT, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS, Rivethead). Call it a supergroup, a side project or whatever you want. They will be doing two weeks on the West coast in September including the North Park Awesome Fest in San Diego. "A few years back Maren, Brad and Nate started messing around in the basement of the Alamo house. We wrote some songs, played one show and recorded a 4-song 7-inch, which our pal Phil released on Rock Bottom Records. After being scattered around the US for awhile we all ended up back in Minneapolis with nothing better to do so we talked Carrie into playing bass and wrote one million more songs. That's that, yo." From the band's Myspace page.

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Umsindo CD (E1) [EMC9757CD] $13.75
"Los Angeles-born Georgia Anne Muldrow (a.k.a. Ms. One) is well known for her unorthodox soundscaping and inspired traditional African song structuring. Her cameo performances with artists such as Dudley Perkins, Madlib, Wildchild, and Erykah Badu have her featured as a vocalist garnering raspy tones... yet there is more to her story as a producer! UMSINDO (which means sound in Zulu) is her second full length album and tells this story, with subject matter ranging from world politics to the metaphysical sciences -- with laserlike synthwork to match!"

Green Army Faction/Niellerade Fallibilisthorstar - Split CD (Cathartic Process) [CP14] $16.25
After Sweden's NIELLERADE FALLIBILISTHORSTAR's impressive full lengths Halrum (SNSE) and Skrankverk (Dystonia EK) (among other stellar releases), this collaborative album shows an even further development in their sound. The pairing with GREEN ARMY FACTION (also from Sweden) results in a massive, powerful sound. Their heavy use of cymbals and analog synthesizers creates impressions that surpass harsh noise trappings, and the listener immediately realizes that the album exceeds genre definitions or expectations of either group involved. The sounds created reveal the magickal qualities of Metgumbnerbone or Coil, the dark psychedelic ambiance of The Stargazer's Assistant or Wolf Eyes' Black Wing Over the Sand, and the cacophony of The New Blockaders. Prepare yourself for one of the most impressive listens in recent memory. Elaborately printed and packaged in a gatefold sleeve, along with a 16-page booklet.

Haito Gopfrich - Fiat Lux CD (Boxer Recordings) [BOXER072CD] $14.75
This is the debut full-length release from Berlin producer/DJ Haito Göpfrich -- the man of innumerable faces and the Doctor Mabuse of German dancefloors. Hooked by the eclectic early DJ-work of Hans Nieswandt and Eric D. Clark, Haito is now well-trained on Berlin's Loveparade vehicles, and as a result, his work has been pressed onto vinyl by labels such as Kickboxer, Malatoid, Spagat, Low Spirit and Acker Records. With Fiat Lux, Haito tells us his stories from the club in a colorful, thrilling and filmic way, emphasizing a diversified, round dance of styles, genres, ideas, sounds and beats. From the exhilarated groove of a gritty high-school comedy ("I Ro Love"), over the sticky heat of a foreign marketplace demolished by a wild chase with James Bond ("Pusher"), to the fizzling noise of a motor in a SF manga road movie, Haito seems to know how to set everything to the music he's got in mind. The hardcore continuum is cultivated by elegantly-rushed drum patterns ("Drug People"), Alfred Hitchcock's shower curtain knife-scene is shot into the universe via electro-funk ("Freedub"), and a harmonized depth of field meets a roughened, saw-tooth discourse ("Disconnect"). Even the Yakuza smasher with Renaissance costumes filmed in Andalusia finds its true destiny in the spinet rave of "Non Plus Ultra." And above all, intelligent sample editing, four-dimensional, fluffy synths and springy percussion sounds can't be wrong. The peak of the album is the 2009 version of "E-Love," a revised version of the 2008 hit released on Kickboxer: a couple of tricky samba piano sounds are smuggled into the pockets of a subtly-bouncing clapper trailing a comet-tail of synths. Last but not least, after the Wall Street psycho thriller "Mummy," and "Komm' Mal Klar," you'll find "Good Times, Bad Times" -- a hymn for the closing credits with vocals by Eric D. Clark that pulls out all the emotional stops to keep the audience enthralled and teary-eyed.

Heiner Goebbels - The Italian Concerts CD (Recommended) [RERHG024] $16.50
"With Chris Cutler, The Icarus Ensemble, Sira and Boubacar Djebate, Johannes Bauer, Tiziano Popoli, Jocelyn B. Smith and the Orchestra of the Teatro Popoli, Bologna, conducted by Yoichi Sugiyama, this is a rare release from one of the pioneers of contemporary cross-platform composition. Working with montage, superposition and elements of different musical languages, Heiner sidesteps genre to concentrate on the material. This CD comprises four high quality (world premiere) recordings that feature a disparate set of compositions performed at a three-city festival organised by Angelica in 2007. The Italian concerto/Tutti Writing marks a now vanishingly rare live appearance from Heiner in an extended duet with Chris Cutler, concluding with TuttiWriting, in which they are joined by the Icarus Ensemble. This is followed by Ou bien Sunyatta for Kora, Voice and Orchestra, Die Faust im Wappen, derived from a story by Franz Kafka, for trombone (Johannes Bauer) and orchestra and So that the blood dropped to the earth, for orchestra and voice adapted from Surrogate Cities. These are remarkable and substantial pieces. From a background in radical experimental music (Sogenanntes Linksradikales Blasorchester, Goebbels/Harth, Cassiber) and prizewinning theatre and radio works, Heiner Goebbels has risen to become one of Germany's leading Music-Theatre author/directors, famed worldwide for his unique and extraordinary productions. He continues to write for all manner of ensembles and orchestras, winning an embarrassing number of major prizes (34 I make it) and is President of the Theatre Academy in Hessen."

Isnaj Dui - Unstable Equilibrium CD (Home Normal) [HN006] $13.50
RELEASE DATE: 08-28-2009
Limited to 500. It's hard to describe an album of moods, emotions and distant memories, but to me that's what I find myself doing with Katie English's music. Katie under her Isnaj Dui guise uses conventional and her own home made instrumentation to add loops and layers, until the track is ready to take on its own shape and form. This music triggers for me a different experience with every listen. Maybe it will be the sound of a lonely alien crying on a tranquil moon, a field of singing flowers staring at the sun, or just my past dreams sailing away on an endless ocean. -- Ben Eshmade, Arctic Circle

Italoboyz - Bla Bla Bla CD (Mothership) [MSHIP023CD] $16.00
This is the debut full-length release by Italoboyz. The 2007 hit "Viktor Casanova" was picked out of a folder of hundreds of demos by Claude VonStroke. It went on to sell out many, many times and started a somewhat unlikely and fantastical relationship between a small upstart U.S. techno label and two Italians living in London. The Italoboyz went on to then sign hit 12"s like Zinga to Get Physical and continued their hot streak on Mothership with Bahia, their masterwork featuring the only John Coltrane sample ever licensed for dance music. Italoboyz have always pushed the boundaries and tested the limits of traditional dancefloor music. Bla Bla Bla is the culmination of their hard work over the years and takes them to the next level -- producing live instrumentation. Of course it is the Italoboyz, so the live music is tweaked and twisted, but the source material is much more fluid. There are still some samples, but the majority of new material is recorded from long studio sessions in London with their many friends (including Masomenos). Piano, saxophone, live bass, percussion and old school drum machines show up frequently and are worked and played in unusual and creative ways, forming 70+ minutes you will definitely not hear anywhere else. Italoboyz have a distinct identity and will never get lost in the sea of samey-same music that flows freely these days. Minimal melodicism that thinks about the instrumentation as much as the dance.

Jandek - Not Hunting For Meaning CD (Corwood Industries) [COR0797] $7.25
57th Jandek release. No funk here, just more sparse acoustic guitar and a lot of particularly tortured, passing a kidney stone-style vocalizing. Three tracks, with the last one, "Silent Wander," clocking in at just under thirty minutes. On the cover: a charming, Flowbee-haircut era representative, wearing a flannel shirt, in a classic hands-folded pose.

Jean Baudrillard - Le Xerox et l'Infini cassette (The Tapeworm) [TTW002CS] $7.25
Cassette-only release in a limited edition of 250 copies. Jean Baudrillard's Le Xerox Et l'Infini -- originally published in Paris, 1987 -- as read by Patricia and Ellen. Recorded on July 12, 2009 by Vicki Bennett in Hersham, England. Jean Baudrillard is perhaps the most important theorist of the "after modern." Though he says he has "nothing to do with postmodernism," many interpret him among the most important prophets of a truly postmodern era. His works have attracted praise and derision all over the world. Since 1991, British artist Vicki Bennett (People Like Us) has been an influential figure in the field of audiovisual collage, through her innovative sampling, appropriating and cutting up of found footage and archives. Using collage as her main form of expression, she creates works that communicate a humorous, dark and often surreal view on life. Patricia and Ellen were born in Reims, northeastern France, on July 29, 1929. They told interviewers that their grandparents were peasants and their parents were civil servants. They became the first of their family to attend university when they enrolled in the Sorbonne University in Paris. There they studied German, which led to them teaching the subject at a provincial lycée, where they remained from 1958 until their departure in 1966. While teaching, Patricia and Ellen began to publish reviews of literature, and translate the works of such authors as Peter Weiss, Bertolt Brecht and Wilhelm Mühlmann. Later on, with the development of the magnetic tape recorder, Patricia and Ellen used these new means in order to manipulate their performances and expand the possibilities of language sound transformations. Patricia and Ellen continue to actively perform their work, the contextual quality of which is enhanced by their idiosyncratic delivery.

Juice Aleem - Jerusalaam Come CD (Big Dada) [BD147CD] $15.25
"Juice Aleem, long-acknowledged as one of the finest MCs the UK has ever produced, finally goes solo. The sometime New Flesh and Gamma frontman who has also worked with Coldcut, Hexstatic, Evil 9 and Adam Freedland amongst many, many others, has decided that at last it's time to go for self. Jerusalaam Come is the result -- thirteen tracks of varied beats and broad musical influences held together by Juice's unique lyrical style and mental dexterity. Largely produced by Gamma/Shadowless legend Blackitude, it's an album which is both as raw and as sophisticated as the minds who have made it. First single 'First Lesson' kicks things off, Juice showing rather than telling, when it comes to the failings of many of the MCs on the scene. 'Straight Out Of BC' is an electro-dub tribute to the second city featuring Moorish Delta's Cipher Jewels. 'The Fallen' (Gen. 15.13) continues the dub and roots feeling with a complex lyric drawing links between Biblical proverbs and 'The Fallen' of our own society. 'Who Is He?' -- produced by Tomz and featuring him and Blackitude -- is a Gamma get-together, the lyrics skipping over the beat with complete control. 'Rock My Hologram,' produced by Si Begg, is a dubstep-flavoured number . On 'U4Mi' Juice addresses sex and relationships, using a sly humour which is sometimes overlooked in discussions of an MC who can deliver lyrics any way he likes. 'KunteKinTeTarDiss' is an attack on rap music and contemporary society more generally. The album finishes with 'Sang Real,' an uplifting tribute to the internationalism in Juice's own bloodline and his worldview."

Kazuki Tomokawa - A Bumpkin's Empty Bravado CD (PSF) [PSF8031CD] $18.25
"Celebrating 35 years of vagabond soul by one of Japan's most distinctive and original folk voices. A Bumpkin's Empty Bravado (Japanese title: Inakamono no karagenki) is Tomokawa's first completely solo album in fifteen years and a triumphant return to full-voiced form after his recent illness. Stripped of his usual backing band, there's a crystalline hardness evident in the best of Tomokawa's songs here -- a hard, blazing core in which mellifluous lyricism and eruptions of highly individual madness are fused. Lyrically there's a new focus on Akita, the northern prefecture of his birth, as well as on the linkages between visual and musical art. Nine tracks; thirty-five minutes. Booklet includes liner-notes and lyrics in Japanese and English." -- Alan Cummings

Laudanum - Coronation CD (20 Buck Spin) [SPIN032] $9.50
In April 2009, 20 Buck Spin released the Sacred Death split LP between Oakland's LAUDANUM and STORMCROW. That record featured two exclusive Laudanum tracks and led Cosmo Lee of the Invisible Oranges blog to claim Sacred Death "may be the heaviest split I've ever heard." While the band's two sludge / doom contributions clearly stood out from the pack, it is on their sophomore full-length album, The Coronation, that the band's world-eating heaviness is fully realized. Joining the husband-and-wife duo of JUDD HAWK (overdriven string corrosion, ambient texture, and documentation) and BECKY HAWK (battering ram and subsonic transmissions) are GREG WILKINSON (low-end frequency discharge, vocal disruption, and auditory experimentation; also of BRAINOIL, PIG HEART TRANSPLANT, Earhammer Studios) and the latest addition, NATHAN MISTEREK on "battery acid, bellows, and blasphemy," or what most call vocals. Misterek, widely known as vocalist for the legendary GRAVES AT SEA, adds an element of occult grimness previously absent from Laudanum's corrosive noise-doom wasteland-the final piece in the puzzle. On The Coronation, punishing, bruised sludge doom and bleak industrial noise experiments are fused ever more tightly together into a cohesive soundtrack for the slow collapse of modern life and culture.

Lawrence - Until Then, Goodbye CD (Mule Electronic) [MULE017CD] $14.75
This is the second full-length release from Hamburg's Lawrence on the Mule Electronic label. Dial and Smallville owner Peter Kersten aka Lawrence aka Sten is one of the most valued and highly-regarded artists in the modern dance music community with a long history of releases on Nova Mute, Kompakt, Ladomat, Spectral, Ghostly, and of course, his own imprints. Until Then, Goodbye kicks off with a special "intro" version of fan favorite "Friday's Child," followed by the introspective ambient piece "Sunrise." "Grey Light" harkens to the electronic style of Durutti Column while "Jill" is purely sweet, slow house music. The album shifts towards more acoustic-driven material with songs such as "Father Umbrillo" and "Toderhausen Blues" -- but don't fret, purists, as Lawrence hits back with his classic signature sounds with the likes of "In Your Eyes" and "Sleep And Suffer." The beautiful whisper of the atmospheric ambient tune, "Don't Follow Me," the ebb and flow of the piano-driven "A New Day," and the title track leave the listener in a state of bliss. This is one of Lawrence's most daring and diverse albums to date -- not necessarily a "concept" album, but it definitely showcases his gift for provoking a remarkably wide range of musical influences and styles. Including nine previously-unreleased cuts, these are contemplative, acoustic-driven tracks with the deft, light hand that Lawrence has become renowned for.

Liturgy - Renihilation CD (20 Buck Spin) [SPIN031] $9.50
Brooklyn, NY's LITURGY (not to be confused with a Chicago death metal band of the same name) steeps indie black metal in the genre's most basic foundations of buzzing, dissonant guitars and whirlwind percussion, yet they make the sound firmly their own--both modern and ancient. With a style similar to that of their NYC friends Krallice as well as the earlier works of the Norwegian wolves Ulver (particularly that band's third LP masterwork Nattens Madrigal), Liturgy represents the seeping of black metal into the consciousness of the indie music world at large. The band claims influences ranging from cult black metal figures Vlad Tepes to Angelo Badalamenti to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, all of whom can be distantly identified in Liturgy's approach. Renihilation, the band's debut album following two demo tapes and the Immortal Life 12-inch, weaves intricate strands of dissonant dual-guitar riffing and complex blackened harmonics between main songwriter HUNTER HUNT-HENDRIX and second guitarist BERNARD GANN. The strange tonalities provide layers of eerie distortion over which Hunt-Hendrix's tortured howls battle to be heard. The chaotic yet superbly minimalist drumming of GREG FOX (also of DAN DEACON and TEETH MOUNTAIN), who uses only a kick, snare, and crash symbols, adds a dose of DIY punk / grind style to the mix. Several untitled intros and interludes consisting of vocal pieces and drones break the album up into distinct sections. Tours planned throughout 2009, into 2010

Longcut, The - Open Hearts CD (Melodic) [MELO062CD] $14.75
Manchester, UK-based trio The Longcut release their second full-length album, Open Hearts -- the long-awaited follow-up to their acclaimed 2006 debut, A Call And Response. There's been a shift to grassroots principals for this album: it was recorded in the band's Salford rehearsal room (with some vocals done at home in the shower, for that cavernous, echoing effect). It was also produced by friend-of-the-band and Nine Black Alps guitarist David Jones, who brought "a f***ed up pop sensibility." For a group whose reputation was built on blistering live shows, they set out to make an album that reflected the raw energy of their performances -- and succeeded. This is the rough-edged, vital, visceral sound of a band at the peak of their powers. It's still undeniably The Longcut -- Stuart's shamanic howls, Jon's crunching bass and Lee's hypnotic guitar are all in place -- but it's fresher, trimmer and more focused than ever before. Lyrically, it's upbeat, happier, love-struck even, but with that weighty sonic sucker-punch behind it to counter-balance the sugar. The title, Open Hearts, refers to a shift in the band's focus, bringing emotion into the often bleak landscape of post-rock. This release follows a period of change for the band, whose original label, Deltasonic, was cut adrift from Sony after their first album. Throughout the interim period, the trio's passion for music grew, and they have embraced the chance to make their own album in their own way. This is an album that retains its darkened, Manchester roots, with industrial/electro synths and beats that darken bright washes of guitar-driven intensity.

Luke Vibert - We Hear You CD (Planet Mu) [ZIQ240] $13.25
LUKE VIBERT is back with an album that defies expectations. We Hear You melds modes and effects with his trademark quick wit and deft skills for a solid, enjoyable full-length-one of his best to date. The songs here bend genre rules to suit Vibert's stylistic traits and his ear for idiosyncratic samples, sweetly strange melodies, big bass, and sloppy drums. Songs like "De-Pimp Act" connect the dots between Terry Riley, dubstep bass, and hip hop with the lightness of everyday occurrence; "Hot Sick" and "Square Footage" sound like Daft Punk's dreams distilled. In contrast, "Dive and Lie Wrecked" mixes scary bass with two-step drums and G-funk melody to create something much stranger than the sum of its parts. Vibert mines the best bits of the old school on "House Stabs," with its melodic diva vocals and tight, swinging drums. Perhaps if Vibert was from LA instead of Cornwall, people's perception of his work would be very different. Maybe if every album he made was as good as this one, that perception might change, too. Regardless, We Hear You definitely goes a long way to address any doubts that Vibert is a producer in a league of his own, making strange and brilliant music. No exports outside North America or Japan

Lycia - The Burning Circle And Then Dust CD (Silber) [10536] $12.75
The Burning Circle And Then Dust was a groundbreaking point in Lycia's career. It marked a shift from more atmospheric music towards song-oriented music with tracks like "Pray" & "Slip Away." It marked the first collaborations between Mike VanPortfleet & Lycia members David Galas & Tara Vanflower. It marked the transformation of Lycia into a honed out live touring machine. Originally released as a double disc, VanPortfleet himself explained the truncation For the re-mastered The Burning Circle And Then Dust to a single disc. Shortly after recording what would become disc one of the album David Galas & I were doing so well in the studio that we went on to record another ten songs with the intent of them possibly being used for compilation appearances. Though I thought most of the songs were stylistically different from the initial songs, when offered the possibility of releasing a double disc including the more recently recorded material I decided to go ahead & release the whole lot. Hindsight being 20/20 I have opted to hone the disc back down to my original vision."

Lyrics Born - Variety Show Season Pho (vol. 4) CD (Mobile Home) [MH005] $12.00
It's the fourth fantastic installment of the hit LYRICS BORN mixtape franchise, The Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Pho (4), brough to you by Mobile Home Recordings in partnership with VTech. Featuring exclusive tracks you won't hear anywhere else, superstar guests, remixes, mash-ups and more, Season Pho is guaranteed to fill you up and titillate your musical tastebuds. Includes amazing guest artists such as JOYO VELARDE (Quannum Projects), TRACKADEMICKS, LATEEF THE TRUTHSPEAKER (LATYRX, THE MIGHTY UNDERDOGS) and CLYDE CARSON (THE TEAM) this latest mixtape pulls no punches. You'll also hear LB on tracks with J-BOOGIE, KASABIAN, THE BAMBOOS, SOULICO, DOSMOCCOS, ERIC LEGNINI TRIO and THE MIGHTY UNDERDOGS. Season Pho is a non-stop serving of red hot exclusives as well including LB's first ever spoken-word track and sneak peeks from his forthcoming album, As U Were, dropping in early 2010! So pull up a chair and get a big ol' helping of the most filling music of 2009, The Lyrics Born Variety Show Season Pho! Includes two bonus tracks not available on the digital release.

Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx CD (Swami) [SWA139] $12.00
Los Angeles-based punk band THE BRONX-aptly named after the Left Coast borough-has for the last six years redefined what punk means, sounds, and doesn't look like. After three self-titled full-lengths, countless tours all over the world, and more singles and EPs than one can count, they return with their latest offering inspired by the inescapable Mariachi music that celebrates Mexican-American culture. MARIACHI EL BRONX features the grammy-award-winning artist DAVID HIDALGO from LOS LOBOS and LATIN PLAYBOYS, as well as ALFREDO ORTIZ (BEASTIE BOYS). The self-titled album was produced by JOHN AVILA in Los Angeles. The band has a loyal fanbase of over 20,000 and is set to perform select US dates with The Hold Steady and to hit the UK on the main stages of the Reading and Leeds Festivals. CD not exportable outside North America

Mike Vanportfleet - Beyond the Horizon Line CD (Silber) [10539] $12.75
Mike VanPortfleet is best known for his band Lycia which officially formed in 1988 & officially ended in 1999. In 2004, armed with new recording technology & an aggressive ambient edge only hinted at in Lycia, Mike recorded his solo debut...an album Silber was born to release. Beyond The Horizon Line is somewhat of a concept record, involving a growing fear of the sky & it bringing the end of the world over the course of a 24-hour cycle, from sunrise to just before dawn with the fear the sun will never rise again. The only lyrics sum up the main overall theme; scanning the horizon, sensing something unknown, and feeling the change taking place. An ambient album built from the ground up with loop sources & effects into shimmering walls & minimalist soundscapes. Crystalline harmonic washes resonating from the cold depths of mind & matter. Glacial rhythms & serenity through fathoms of uncharted seas. If Brian Eno collaborated with Justin Broadrick it might sound like this. Majestic & heart breaking.

Morris Bailey - The Philly Sound You Never Heard Vol. One CD (Philly Soul) [PH013CD] $11.25
Songs, Productions & Arrangements of Morris Bailey. "Contrary to popular belief, there were many producers before Gamble & Huff who helped create and define what is known as the Philly Sound. One such producer who never got any recognition until now is Morris Bailey. Includes 8-page booklet with photos and fact-filled information." Artists include Orientals, Donnie Elbert, Johnny Newbag, Jesse Fountain, Bobby Wells, Don Gardner, Tyrone Chestnut, Essau Isaacs, Lou Jackson, Billy Harner, Thoughts and Prince Johnny Robinson.

Morris Bailey - The Philly Sound You Never Heard Vol. Two CD (Philly Soul) [PH014CD] $11.25
Songs, Productions & Arrangements of Morris Bailey Volume 2: Philly Soul Girls. Artists include Bette Renee & Thrillettes, Femm-ells, Little Teena Bronson, Claudine Clark, Jean Wells, Fay Simmons, Joan Proctor, Tico Mills, Mel Vena Allen, Celestrals, Ronnie & Joyce, Honey & Bees, Cooperettes, Minx, Monica and Norma & Heataches.

Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem CD (P.W. Elverum & Sun Ltd.) [ELV020] $13.75
"Wind's Poem triumphs. Its dark, faintly persistent narrative of transformation and ruin is indeed the kind of thing that makes an epic record, and PHIL ELVERUM himself manages to continue his personal study of lo-fi metal in an extremely impressive manner. Opening track 'Wind's Dark Poem' employs a combination of distortion and cymbal crashes in order to immediately reveal the black metal intentions of the album, but, almost as quickly as he laid it down, Elverum pulls the hardcore rug (woven in Valhalla by a hundred ghastly beasts) out from under our feet with the abruptly gentle 'Through The Trees.' Its calm, quiet chords come in like a test of the Emergency Broadcast System, and the song rolls on for eleven and a half completely necessary minutes." 8.2 RATING FROM PITCHFORK.

Mountain Ocean Sun - Peace Conference CD (Home Normal) [HN005] $13.50
RELEASE DATE: 08-24-2009
Mountain Ocean Sun's search for deep peace, heavy drones, and sound healing has found them jamming with Deerhoof in Detroit, starting an organic music society in the extreme tropical heat of the Matthaei Botancial Garden on new years day, and all the way back to their first performance at a 500 year-old buddhist temple in Osaka, Japan. Bowed strings, harmonium, indian shruti boxes, gongs, ghosts, sea shells and bells are the spirit tools that these elemental earth's children bring to this sixty-four minute peace conference.

"Recorded on a moutain, in the woods, near a river, a lake, and the city, the summer air was heavy and we sweated a lot. When it was over I was blind. I was pummeled by the minimalixm" - War (livonia michigan 2009)

These guys are pretty darn well known (His Name Is Alive and IDA).

Moutain Ocean Sun is: Jean Cook - Violin, Viola, Shruti box Hitoko Sakai - Harmonium, Shruti box Daniel Littleton - Harmonium, Bells, Kubing Warren Defever - Bells, Percussion, Gong

Daniel Littleton has spent years playing with NYC's quietest band IDA, and is also a frequent Tara Jane Oneil collaborator. Jean Cooks a violin-veteran and has jammed with everyone from Jon Langford to William Parker and Assif Tsahar. Hitoko Sakai worked with Japanese noise artist MSBR for years performing, organizing tours, and writing about the Japanese experimental and noise scene before recently moving to the USA. Warren Defever runs an artspace in Detroit called the UFO FACTORY and probably best known for his work with His Name is Alive (4AD).

Mr. Scruff - Keep It Unreal (10th Anniversary Analogue Remaster Edition) 2CD (Ninja Tune) [ZEN422CD] $17.25
"Boy, you just can't pin him down. Chipmunk or fish?? Soul weekender or Madchester bender? Peak district wanderer or purveyor of premier flip-flop? Welcome to the fishbowl of Andy McCarthy, the boy who couldn't say 'normal'. This is a trip into the slightly skewiff world of the Scruff machine, a one fella crusade against a far too serious world. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the release of Keep It Unreal the Scruff masterplan of unspecificalness once again takes hold in the form of a reissue of his first album. This time not only has it been remastered but we have also thrown in a 9 track bonus disc with 6 unreleased tracks for the original studio sessions. From cheesy organs and squelchy basslines. Through to slick sunshine slow-fi soul to bouncy beats and choons with references to marine aura, the man who had the audacity to refuse to remix Nigel Kennedy presents his world for your listening pleasure. Also featuring the vocal skills of Mr. Roots Manuva, Fi, Miss. C. Gull."

Painting Petals on Planet Ghost - Haruno Omoi CD (PSF) [PSF190CD] $18.25
No description available at this time.

Pere Ubu - Long Live Père Ubu! CD (Smog Vei) [HR149] $12.00
RELEASE DATE: 09-15-2009
Released by Hearthan, and exclusively marketed in North America by Smog Veil, "Long Live Père Ubu!" is the album of songs that was the genesis of the entire mess. It is a great leap forward in our pursuit of hyper-naturalistic recording techniques by which we replace microphones in the studio with wooden boxes, junked radio speakers, metal horns, and electrically charged window panes. Sound itself becomes the narrative. Everyone is going to hate it. We know that. The story, though satiric and comedic, is utterly bleak, lacking charm (the usual counter-weight to the band's noire tendencies) and devoid of redemption. Few people have ever read Ubu Roi, fewer heard of it. Wonderful. Altogether two years of work. Père Ubu, the character, ruined Jarry's life. And now he's ruined our career. This thing is our Waterloo, our Bridge Too Far, our Pickett's Charge. Well, somebody had to do it. An on-going effort to turn the theatrical production into a film, directed by The Brothers Quay, prompted Thomas to assemble an audio storyboard. At the same time the script was revised and improved into Version 2 of "Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi" and was incorporated into a recording known as The Radio Play, which includes all dialog, songs, and ambient sound, and achieves the original vision for the project. The radio play is available as a free podcast from the official Pere Ubu rarities site: http://www.hearpen.com. "(Pere Ubu) play undiminished rock'n'roll from the ruins, as innocent, violent and arcane as it was as its start." Nick Hasted, THE INDEPENDENT

Piano Magic - Ovations CD (Darla) [DRL227-2] $12.25
RELEASE DATE: 10-12-2009
10th official album by London-based Anglo-French coldwave group, Piano Magic. Features special guests Brendan Perry and Peter Ulrich of Dead Can Dance.

It's difficult to know what propels Piano Magic. Here's a group that despite releasing over 30 records since their debut in 1996 have managed to sidestep anything resembling accolades. Though it was they who coaxed Vashti Bunyan out of a 30 year retirement for their 2001 album, Writers Without Homes, the credit went to the hipper Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective. Further collaborations with the likes of Low and Cornershop were quickly papered over. A beautiful soundtrack for Spanish film director, Bigas Luna, was lost to all but Spain's video stores. Regular tours and festival headlines throughout Italy, France, Germany and Spain may have paid off with a devout Continental following but haven't particularly translated into press or record sales. Records for the likes of 4AD, Morr Music and Darla have anchored them in "cult" status. Even so, after 13 years beneath a cloud of indifference Piano Magic have made some of the most compelling, poetic, dynamic and romantic records of our time.

Ovations, released October 12th is no exception. Recorded May through August of 2009 by Gareth Parton (The Go-Team, The Breeders, Pete & The Pirates) at his petite La Planque studio and The Fortress in London, Ovations is the Anglo-French group's 10th album proper. Typically for a Piano Magic record it's a restless beast; a record that swings wildly between Marrakesh, Eastern Europe, Sevilla and early 80s Manchester without breaking a sweat. Piano Magic have always worn their influences on their sleeves. The Chameleons, Joy Division and The Cure rub shoulders with Turkish darabuka, hammered dulcimer, viola, cello, flamenco claps. Elsewhere there are cold analogue synths, chiming guitars, mournful piano and industrial percussion.

Piano Magic's fascination with Eastern European percussion is in part much due to one of their biggest influences -- the Melbourne-born though World-wise 4AD Records-signed group, Dead Can Dance. And it's no small coup that Ovations features not only DCD's supreme percussionist/dulcimer, Peter Ulrich but also the voice of principal songwriter, Brendan Perry on two tracks ("You Never Loved This City" and "The Nightmare Goes On"). The reclusive Perry, himself, a very recent convert to Piano Magic's music was only happy to sing with a group that by his own admission, were making "the most beautiful music" he's heard for a long time.

Whether this new album is quickly consigned to a dusty drawer in the museum of musical curios like so many other Piano Magic records is yet to be seen but there's more depth, soul, variety, dynamic, romance, emotion here than many groups manage in their entire careers.

Pierre Berthet - Extended Loudspeakers CD (Sub Rosa) [SR296CD] $14.75
Pierre Berthet is a Belgium-based musician, composer, inventor, sound installation artist and craftsman, and this is his second release on Sub Rosa. He studied percussion with André Van Belle and Georges-Elie Octors, improvisation with Garrett List, composition with Frederic Rzewski, and music theory with Henri Pousseur. He designs and builds sound objects and installations (made with steel, plastic, water, magnetic fields, etc.), and presents them in exhibitions and solo or duo performances. He has worked with Frédéric Le Junter, Pierre Bastien, DJ Low and Rudi Trouvé and played percussion with Arnold Dreyblatt. On Extended Loudspeakers, jerrycans (fuel containers made from pressed steel) are connected by a network of steel wires, with each wire length and can location adapted to the space. A loudspeaker is slipped inside one of the cans; the sounds it broadcasts make the wires vibrate. When these sounds are modulated (pitch, timbre, volume, density), the cans produce various resonances, which can be injected back into the speaker (feedback). The cans are hanging, so that listeners can circulate and choose different listening perspectives.

PRE - Hope Freaks CD (Skin Graft) [GR94] $13.50
Hope Freaks is the second album from London's new-school, no wave naughties PRE. Recorded in Chicago with STEVE ALBINI at Electrical Audio and mastered by WEASEL WALTER in San Francisco, Hope Freaks is a power-vault up from the acclaimed newborn gnarl of their debut Epic Fits. Like it's predecessor, Hope Freaks weighs in at a lean twenty minutes. Every punch is packed, and with a master at the faders, you will feel the devil in all its detail. Each unhinged swing never fails to connect. And now, bare-knuckled, PRE spring forward for round two-unprotected, unwavering-and with infectious left hooks guaranteed to leave listeners staggering.

Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More CD (Type) [TYPE052CD] $14.00
Croydon, UK three-piece Rameses III have been busy proving to the wider world that there's more to their hometown than dubstep with their deep and original take on ambient music. In that time, Daniel Freeman (keyboards, processing), Spencer Grady (guitars, noises) and Stephen Lewis (guitars, percussion) have notched up a number of releases for Important Records, Digitalis and of course Type Records, but it is with this latest opus that they truly leave their mark on the faded musical landscape. I Could Not Love You More is a record that reframes their sound, taking their drifting ambience and pastoral folk and sharpening it at every opportunity. You can hear echoes of Takoma in Lewis' delicate acoustic guitar playing, shadows of early 4AD in the shimmering drones, and all this is wrapped up in an Eno-esque sense of restraint. It sounds almost as if the pieces were written for the mid-20th century, with sounds coming from electric pianos, Mellotrons and guitars rather than heavy electronic processes. We end up with a warming blur of sound, something far removed from the chatter of zeroes and ones we have become accustomed to. As the album drifts from beginning to end, there is a delicate yet defined narrative, enhanced by the inclusion of subtle field recordings and just the right amount of silence. The tracks lull us forward and send us into a state of nostalgic reminiscence, which is, in essence, the theme which balances the album. I Could Not Love You More is simply a gorgeous reflection -- exactly what it reflects upon is left up to the listeners themselves. Who would have thought the mean streets of South London could produce such beautiful music?

Russell Haswell - Wild Tracks CD (Editions Mego) [EMEGO099CD] $16.00
The UK's multidisciplinary artist Russell Haswell returns with a complete departure from his real-time computer-generated improvisations Live Salvage 1997-2000 (MEGO 012CD, 2001) and Second Live Salvage, (EMEGO 013LP, 2008). Wild Tracks is a collection of "deliberate recordings" made with other multimedia/film projects in mind. These recordings do not contain any overdubs or compression, and document a wide variety of audio experiences. Taking you to a blowhole in Jamaica, inside an ant colony, to the entrance of a wasp nest in Suffolk, on a helicopter ride in St. Lucia, and two waterfalls in County Durham, and also including the sound of freshly-fallen snow, flies being electrocuted and contributions from various military tactical airlift planes, air defense fighters and attack helicopters. The recordings on Wild Tracks were realized using a variety of techniques, including using hydrophones to record falling snow, recording gamekeepers many fields away with a parabolic dish, as well as using binaural, "near-field" and "direct" recording devices. Editions Mego understands this to be the first commercially-released audio CD to be packaged in a KIDZBOX, containing a full-color A2 poster with photographs and detailed recording notes. Unlike any other release this season. WARNING: extreme dynamic levels. Listeners' experience may change during playback!

Sam Isaac - Bears CD (Low Transit Industries) [LTID098] $13.50
RELEASE DATE: 10-12-2009
Meet Sam Isaac. Born in Malvern, the bit of Worcester officially recognised as an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sam's music has received similar recognition from far cooler sources, thanks to the raw, romantic charm of his songs. Praise has come in thick and fast. From early stories in Time Out, covering Sam's Living Room Tour of Great Britain ("he fills the room with a sweet, melancholy haze" they wrote), he has also opened for Edwyn Collins at his Electric Proms comeback gig, a triumph of brass and string arrangements. Sam also travelled to Cape Town to raise awareness for the White Ribbon Alliance, who work for better healthcare for women giving birth in the developing world ("Giving my time for that was amazing" says Sam). Justly celebrated by Jo Whiley, Zane Lowe, Colin Murray, Huw Stephens and many at Xfm and 6 Music for his easy way with melody and sweeping choruses, songs such as 'Sideways' feel like the kind of heartwarming, life-affirming sound you need in these bleak times. Beautiful stuff indeed. But Sam is no snoozy singer-songwriter. Just like his shock of red hair, Sam's voice is a striking, powerful thing (and both are completely natural, he says). "I can't express myself with just wood and strings," says Sam. "I need volume to do that and the volume IS in my voice." Indeed, anyone who's seen Sam begin a gig by singing acapella in a crowded venue will attest to the jaw-dropping, stop-and-look impact of his voice. And, after a surreally-fraught recording process (in which Sam became seriously ill with a disease caught from a mackerel -- and normally exclusive to mackerel, we kid you not), his debut album 'Bears' is finally ready. Recorded with Dan Swift at his Super Swift Sound studio in London and featuring players from the Royal College of Music, the Hoosiers' horn section, and Sam's own band (who include Sophie Galpin from My First Tooth), 'Bears' swings from earnest, hopeful love songs like "Annie", to rousing numbers such as "Fire Fire", which had 4,000 people singing along at Latitude. "I'm so proud of the results," says Sam. And this is, after all, the album he's been working towards since he was still in short trousers. Sam first started fiddling around with an acoustic guitar as a little kid; "I remember writing my own songs when I was about 10 years old," he says. "And as soon as I'd taught myself a few chords, I wanted to write my own songs." While his school chums were busy climbing trees and scraping knees, Sam was off on his own, sculpting rogue symphonies and learning deft key changes. By the time he was in his teens, his restlessness drove him to run away to Canada, where he immersed himself in Montreal's burgeoning scene with the likes of Stars, The Dears, and Broken Social Scene. "Canada came at a point when everything was changing with my relationships and family," says Sam. "Running away to another part of the world and finding myself a new set of friends and surroundings was as romantic as it was inspiring." Well, as romantic as living alone in a stranger's basement can be. "It taught me to take care of my own life, but crucially, to take care of my music. I sat in that basement for months, listening to records and writing new songs." Sam's approach to music is resolutely independent and adventurous. "I am a punk, or least I adhere to those DIY ethics," he says. "We do everything for ourselves in the band, and always have done. I've never waited for anything." So banish those preconceptions, and ready yourself for the new year -- and the first edgy, romantic, punk singer-songwriter from Malvern. He's Sam Isaac, and he's quite spectacular.

Samuel L Session - The Man With The Case CD (Be As One) [BAO001CD] $16.00
This is the first full-length album by Swedish old-school techno DJ, Samuel L Session aka SLS. The Man With The Case is a culmination of two decades of experience -- the sound of the past often collides with current movements, but never has it sounded so fresh than here. Containing 12 tracks of pure old-school techno, including 10 previously-unreleased tracks, his skills and knowledge from the evolving electronic music scene create a stark and original album that will remind you of what REAL techno sounds like. Sounding as fresh as the early days of the 909, The Man With The Case harkens back to the house veins of Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, but in an inspiring new context, digging into the roots of techno while stamping the SLS classic and groovy print into each production. The album opens elegantly with "Time," drifting into a dreamy and evocative atmosphere glowing with luminosity. Bouncing straight into "Chimes," the album's first EP release sinks quickly into rolling grooves and soars with radiant melodies. The tempo is raised with burning dancefloor cuts "Tronic," "My People" and "Big Bad Drum," and simmers with the smouldering embers of warm house music with "Lucious" and "Past and Present." Menacing flares and bold snares make "The Soloist" shake the skull and the closing moments in "Tight Stack" and "Pulse" offer a chance for reflection and new insight. Samuel L Session's career began in the late '80s, mixing hip-hop and early forms of techno and house in his home of Sweden. His SLS guise soon became synonymous with groovy techno through a string of high-profile releases on labels such as Planet E, Soma and Intec and remixes for techno veterans such as Slam and Kevin Saunderson. SLS also founded a string of his own successful imprints, Solid Beat, Cycle and Klap Klap, each making a significant mark on the landscape of techno. Now a main player in the Be As One family, The Man With The Case gives way to a new dawn in electronic music, while still keeping the spirit of its origins alive.

Sean Lennon - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead CD (Chimera Music) [chim02-2] $12.75
RELEASE DATE: 10-27-2009
The instrumental score to an idiosyncratic low-budget vampire flick, composed on Lennon's bedroom computer, Undead is dramatic and wild, sounding like the son of Ennio Morricone or Bruno Nicolai circa early '70s. Featuring Kool Keith and Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto) on the song 'Desire'. Beautiful gatefold sleevevinyl with old-fashioned "tip-on" printing.

Sebastian Lexer - Dazwischen CD (Matchless Recordings) [MRCD74] $17.75
"The piano is doomed, in my opinion, said the younger. The piano-tuner also, said the elder. The pianist also, said the younger." -- Samuel Beckett in Watt "I no longer share Beckett's gloomy prognosis." -- John Tilbury, May 2009 "I am impressed by the varying degrees of intentionality and the spatial deployment of sounds (isolated, remote, etc.) which enrich Lexer's music. Shades of Cardew and Wolff. For example, in an ensemble the piano sound can be effectively subsumed, not obliterated, into the context; different degrees of presence, from the soloistic to a situation where its contribution is barely perceived but none the less telling -- overheard rather than heard, working in the nooks and crannies, fleetingly emerging from time to time. Lexer aims to expand performance by making studio techniques available on stage and including electro-acoustic techniques in live performance -- making the physically impossible possible. Decay and the way it is extended and metamorphosed through electronic treatment. Lexer's music comprises and juxtaposes the whole repertoire of tones, and noises, associated with the piano. All those sounds just faintly associated with the piano are brought into focus and brought to musical life. The piano creates its own delicate accompaniment of quasi aleatoric, electronic noises; these subsidiary 'noises' are always interesting. Lexer's piano is a kind of Pandora's Box; this intrigues me." -- John Tilbury

Shindig - Shindig! Annual Number 2 Book (Shindig) [SHINANN#2] $16.00
"The second hardback book from Shindig! Following our acclaimed first compendium we are proud to present Shindig! Annual No.2 featuring the biggest and best bits from the pages of Shindig! Magazine. Prepare yourself for a feast of features from the technicolour back pages of 1960s, '70s and even '80s rock, including: Moby Grape, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band The San Francisco Scene 1965-67, The Dukes Of Stratosphear Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Youngbloods, The Sonics, The Charlatans Gary Walker & The Rain. These in-depth and exclusive features -- from the pens of top pop writers, archivists and historians -- hail from out-of-print back issues of the bi-monthly hip and happening chronicle of super- cool new and vintage music. An absolute must for all lovers of cult rock, pop, garage and psychedelia. Hardback, full colour, 112 pages. Cover price £11.99."

Shindig - Shindig! presents Psychotic Reaction Book (Shindig) [SHINPSY] $9.75
"Sonics, Bay Area Garage, Count V, Flintstones, Gonn, Texas Garage, Garage in the Movies, Blues Magoos, Pleasure Seekers, Elastik Band, Standells, Rationals, Tampa Bay Garage, Davie Allan, We The People. These in-depth and exclusive features -- from the pens of top pop writers, archivists and historians -- cover a broad spectrum of North American bands who have come to define the term 'garage.' Loooooong hair, Vox guitars, Farfisa organs, Beatle boots, tight Levis and a ton of snot and attitude -- these bands invented the punk ethic 10 years before the word 'punk' was even being used. From New York (The Blues Magoos) down to Florida (We The People); from Texas (Zakary Thaks) up to the North West (The Sonics, The Wailers); this is the first US garage reader to hit the shelves to date. Nobody has covered the U.S. '60s garage band explosion with such dedication and know-how before. This Shindig! special will be produced as a premium price 128pp paperback. Cover price £5.99."

Shindig - Shindig! Vol. 2, Issue 12 Sept-Oct MAG/CD (SHIN V2#12) CD (Shindig) [SHINV2#12] $8.50
"Shindig! gets a make-over! Issue 12 is brimming over with strong editorial features and is being specially promoted. CD covermount -- 20 tracks of exciting Shindig-style bands! Re-design - a stronger cover style to make the magazine stand out on the racks, plus inside sections improved and re- styled. Julie Driscoll & Brian Auger; A Kind Of Love-In: Adventures in jazz with the queen of UK psychedelia. Spirit: The early years of the LA rock heroes. Kim Fowley: Hustler, producer, madman, genius. Wimple Winch: The whole story of the UK freakbeat legends. Circulus: Wyrd tales from the modern-day folk-psych aggregation. Bob Lind: The veteran singer-songwriter speaks exclusively. On the free CD: The Soundcarriers, Duncan Maitland, Circulus, The Magnificent Brotherhood, The Junipers, Gothic Chicken, The Higher State, The Hidden Masters, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, The Jim Jones Revue, The Beep Seals, Blood Ceremony, Diagonal, El Goodo, The Campbell Stokes Sunshine Recorder, The She-Creatures, and more."

Simon Fisher Turner - De Dentro Hacia Afuera cassette (The Tapeworm) [TTW004CS] $7.25
This is a cassette-only limited edition of 250 copies. From child actor to teenage pop idol, from self-confessed "extreme sound freak" to acclaimed solo recording artist, the UK-based Simon Turner Fisher's career has been nothing if not varied. His early acting credits included film and TV roles from Black Beauty to The Big Sleep (re-made with Robert Mitchum). At the same time, he was fronting various '70s pop acts, and at the age of 17, was signed to Jonathan King's UK Records, releasing his first solo album in 1969. After that precocious start, Simon followed an often eccentric, sometimes outlandish musical path. He operated on the fringes of punk, performed briefly with The The, became "Musician In Residence" at the ICA in 1980, and released two albums as one-half of a fictional French female duo known as Deux Filles. But through all this, Simon was developing a deep and abiding interest in the stuff of sound, accumulating a vast library of collected sounds from daily life. It is this interest which now forms the basis of his improvisatory, eclectic approach to music-making, and is manifest on his solo albums on Mute (his discography comprises some 30 solo albums to date). From trite pop to extreme sound-freakery, the mature SFT (as he now styles himself) has arrived at a mesmeric originality. Simon's life as a film composer stems from his association with Derek Jarman in the 1980s and 1990s. His scoring credits for Jarman include Caravaggio, The Last Of England, The Garden and Edward II. His final film for Jarman was the powerful, poignant Blue, where a soundscape recorded by Simon at Eno's country house, together with Jarman's spoken words, stood in for visuals -- only a blue screen was projected. His work with films has continued unabated since Jarman's death, recent credits including the Anna Campion-directed Inertia and Bipolar, Don Boyd's My Kingdom (on which he collaborated with Deirdre Gribbin), Paul McGuigan's Ganster No. 1 and Mike Hodges' Croupier and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. On this release, "Carboneras Saints Day, 16 July 2002" captures the sounds of the procession of the Virgen del Carmen, recorded at Carboneras in the provence of Almería, Spain. "Solo Piano Improvisation #54" is one of two improvisations recorded at Eastcote Studios, London in 2003, for the film I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.

Slow - Seeland CD (Self Storage Recordings) [SSR004] $8.50
Sealand by Slow is an artist and album that is truly aptly titled. Slow's Sergy Soukas thoughtfully crafted ambient landscapes morph, slide, and melt with fluidity and intoxication. Tonal, forlorn, and vast.

Spider Bags - Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World CD (Birdman) [BMR118] $13.25
On Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World, North Carolina natives SPIDER BAGS work once again with legendary engineer BRIAN PAULSON. Picking themselves up from the drunken wranglings of last year's A Celebration of Hunger, the band kicks off with the upbeat "It Always Loved to Happen," full of open-road energy and memories. "Quevivaelrocanroll" is the next step in their evolution: a drawn-back, anthemic barn-burner with sweat rolling through the speakers. The listener can picture frontman DAN MCGEE (ex-DC SNIPERS) leading the way, with a guitar in one hand and drink in the other, marching through the old town square on an impromptu parade at midnight in the middle of July. No exports to the UK/Europe

Spyra - January in June CD (Fax) [PS08/118] $16.50
No description available at this time.

Stephen O'Malley - Petite Géante cassette (The Tapeworm) [TTW003CS] $7.25
This is a cassette-only limited edition of 250 copies. Recorded in 1208 Saalfelden, 01-0209 Brest by Stephen O'Malley (electrical guitar, Supro, Fulltone tape echo, sine wave, field recording). Petite Géante was originally commissioned for the Enter sound installation series at Tou Scene, Stavanger, Norway curated by Anne Hilde Neset. Appears as a 4 channel work which loops for a full day, on a cycle with 9 other artists, every tenth day, for at least two years. Stephen O'Malley is a participant in the following acts: Sunn O))), KTL, Gravetemple, Ä?thenor, Ginnungagap, Lotus Eaters, L.A.M.F., and various collaborations such as the Kindertotenlieder theatre piece by GisĨle Vienne and Dennis Cooper. Previously involved with Khanate, Burning Witch, Thorr's Hammer, Black Mass, Black Horizon, Sarin, Ceremonium, Kuboaah, Bigg Dogg, etc. Published by Ideologic Organ (BMI) administered by Rough Trade Music Publishing. Thanks to: Anne Hilde Neset, GisĨle Vienne, Edwin Pouncey. For Takehisa Kosugi and Oren Ambarchi. Cover illustration: SAVX

Sudden Weather Change - Stop! Handgrenade In The Name Of Crib Death 'nderstand? CD (Kimi) [KRCD010CD] $14.75
This is the first full-length release by Sudden Weather Change, a five-piece rock band from Reykjavík, Iceland. Their sound has been likened to bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement, Polvo and countless other '90s alt-rock bands from the U.S., but they also sound very much in the vein of current European darlings, Phoenix, but with more complex arrangements, tons of moody scrawl, and a singer with a wail that at time recalls Fugazi's Ian Mackaye. Stop! Handgrenade... contains 13 juicy, guitar-heavy songs. The band has been together for 3 years, and released a home-made EP in late 2007 by themselves, which sold out after a short, but successful tour in France. The Icelandic music press have hailed their crazy, loud and astounding live shows, with Morgunblaðið (Iceland's oldest and most respected newspaper) naming them the most promising band of 2009. Stop! Handgrenade... has received good reviews since its release and the album's first single, "St. Peters Day," has been getting excellent airplay in Iceland.

Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Loose Bugs CD (Magnetic Expansion) [MER01] $12.50
Sax blowing, cymbal scratching, upside-down bicycle with a wooden stick-in-the-spokes free jazz, analog tape spinning forward and backward while broken stringed gourds are quietly plucked, a perfectly contented demon child occasionally mumbling, a tribe of self-proclaimed psychic gamblers blowing Thai flutes. Loose Bugs documents the first few months of SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN's formation, recorded on Vestax 6-track with overhead hanging mics at Con-Artist loft in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1998. In hand-packaged and numbered card jackets, covered inside and out with hand-carved stamps.

Tara Van Flower - My Little Fire-filled Heart CD (Silber Records) [10535] $12.75
Experimental-ambient recording artist Tara Vanflower, best known for her work on keyboards and vocals with darkwave artists Lycia, has a history in music performance and writing dating back over 10 years. Blessed with a multi-octave voice capable of many diverse forms and an eclectic writing style, Tara has created selected ambient works showcasing the darker side of her compositional skills. Tara is currently promoting the long-awaited follow up to her debut solo album This Womb Like Liquid Honey entitled My Little Fire-Filled Heart. This release was composed, performed, and produced entirely by Tara using her talented voice, traditional and improvised percussive instruments, and some guitar work. This album is very ambient and organic. Her vocal ranges from the playfully seductive to the passionately aggressive. Utilizing loops to fill out the background, Tara has created a blissful wash of echoing chimes, throbbing basses, and howling choruses. The pieces on this album are very free form in tempo, but blissfully appealing to ears attuned to more "experimental" artists such as Einstuerzende Neubauten, Current 93, and Nurse With Wound. In songs such as "I Lost The Moon," for example, Tara creates a musical piece that is more "textured" than "composed." A soft choir of heavy breathing duels with an improvised guitar track and Tara's aching voice for control of the listener.

Theoretical Girl - Divided CD (Memphis Industries) [M0138] $13.25
Conjured into existence three years ago by Southend-on-Sea siren AMY TURNNIDGE, THEORETICAL GIRL, has been busy making waves and leaving a trail of swooning hearts in her wake. Her debut album, rcorded last autumn in North London with Grammy nominated remixer, producer and general sound-fiend ANDY CHATTERLEY, Divided's twelve tales of unrequited love, mistakes and regrets are juxtaposed against twisting melodies and grooves. Amy professes to take inspiration from such diverse sources as '60s girl groups, Tom Waits, Billy Joel, Purcell and even the classic twee pop of Sarah Records, and her hands on approach is surely a testament to her DIY roots-when she's not multi-tasking on bass, keys, guitar and vocals she's arranging and scoring the strings. As further evidence to her song writing talent, the tracks sound equally as special when stripped down to just her sweet voice and acoustic guitar, as they do when performed live with her full backing band THE EQUATIONS.

Tori Kudo - Piano Solo CD (PSF) [PSF191CD] $18.25
No description available at this time.

Vandaveer - Divide & Conquer CD (Supply And Demand Music) [SAD005] $12.00
RELEASE DATE: 08-25-2009
***VANDAVEER is the alt-folk song-singing/record making/globetrotting project penned and put forth by DC-by-way-of-Kentucky tunesmith MARK CHARLES HEIDINGER. The son of a preacher whose father was a gambler whose father was both judge and US congressman, Mark Charles one day found himself in possession of a golden pocket watch owned, wound, and regularly counseled by each in this paternal line. On the backside of said watch was a family name engraved, passed down for a century or more like the timepiece that followed. Vandaveer's sophomore effort, Divide & Conquer, touches upon similar themes found in its elder sibling, winding timeworn themes of love & death, malice & goodwill, sin & perseverance into (mostly) four-minute vignettes. To see D&C through, Vandaveer enlisted the able assistance of longtime collaborator and producer DUANE LUNDY, ROBBY COSENZA & JUSTIN CRAIG (THESE UNITED STATES), and most notably, his fair sister ROSE GUERIN, supplying the loveliest harmonies this side of Eden. A decidedly more produced venture, D&C offers up a flourishing chamber folk companion to its bedroomy lo-fi folk/pop predecessor.

Various Artists - Chimera Music Release No. 0 CD (Chimera Music) [CHIM00] $10.75
RELEASE DATE: 08-25-2009
***A Japanese import previewing a half dozen exciting new projects coming out over the next year on the Chimera Music label. Ten of the fourteen tracks are exclusive to this comp. Includes songs from SEAN LENNON, YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND, IF BY YES (YUKA HONDA of CIBO MATTO, PETRA HAYDEN and members of CORNELIUS), and THE GHOST OF A SABRE-TOOTHED TIGER aka THE G.O.A.S.T.T (Lennon and CHARLOTTE KEMP MUHL). Charlotte Kemp Muhl). NORTH AMERICA ONLY - NO EXPORT!

Various Artists - 400% Dynamite CD (Soul Jazz Records) [SJR046CD] $17.75
2009 repress. "The fourth installment of Soul Jazz Records' Dynamite series takes you further into the land of reggae, ska, soul, rocksteady and funk alongside dancehall DJs and dub to give you classic reggae sounds from Jamaica. You'll find excursions with Tenor Saw and Buju Banton's 'Ring The Alarm Quick', Lloyd Robinson's original Harry J production 'Cuss Cuss', and Paris Connection's super-sweet 'Who's That Lady'. There's classics like the Maytals' '54-46', Barrington Levy's dancefloor monster 'Under Me Sensi' alongside King Tubby (featuring Tommy McCook and the Aggrovators), and rude boy rocksteady from the likes of sweet-talking Honey Boy Martin. Anyway, here's more Dynamite. From mento to digital it's the sound of Jamaica." Artists include: Bongo Herman, Tenor Saw & Buju Banton, Prince Buster, Barrington Levy, Lloyd Robinson, King Tubby, Dennis Alcapone, Honey Boy Martin, Toots and the Maytals, General Degree, Paris Connection, U-Roy, Lyn Taitt, Granville Williams Orchestra, Cimarons."

Various Artists - And Suddenly It's Morning CD (Smallville) [SMALL002CD] $16.00
The Smallville label, founded in 2006, releases their first CD compilation. And Suddenly It's Morning has an incredible tracklist -- the CD and upcoming series of four 12"s features all-time favorite artists Lowtec, Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search, STL, Sven Tasnadi, and Move D & Benjamin Brunn, plus newcomers Christopher Rau, Jacques Bon and Dionne -- and of course, label-bosses Julius Steinhoff and Lawrence. Starting with the deep, flowing "Something Like Wonderful" by Julius Steinhoff, you have the perfect warm intro to be followed by Christopher Rau's magically-grooving track, "Childhood." Lowtec's tribute to Manchester's "meandyou" party circle can be regarded as an anthem of the lowest delights. Steinhoff & Hammouda with Dionne, Move D & Benjamin Brunn and Bon & Rau are the next dream-teams of deepness and Tasnadi and Lawrence follow their own definition of classic and unique production. Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search's "Our Life With The Wave," is a track based on Mike Huckaby's incredible sample library, and STL's "Neurotransmitting Clouds On The Secret Freeway" starts off as a thumping road-trip groover that gradually morphs into a wavering mirage of flanging synths. And Suddenly It's Morning proves that there still are fresh impulses and innovations possible in contemporary house music and beyond. The CD comes with a 16-page booklet designed by Stefan Marx, who is responsible for every piece of Smallville's beauty.

Various Artists - Our Sound 1 & 2 2CD (Destructive Recordings) [DST001CD] $16.00
"Wicked release 2 X CD from the Destructive camp, covering the diverse styles within the dubstep scene, featuring some heavy weight producers like Skream, Distance, Caspa & Rusko, Elemental,and Search & Destroy. There are many angles to Our Sound. Whatever you want to call it -- dubstep, breaks, grime -- they all have their place here, but neither explains this music in its entirety. Reflecting inner city chaos and the paranoia instilled within it, CD 1 provides a snapshot of the U.K. underground scene's most forward thinking artists, whilst CD 2 features gems from 2005's rare Our Sound 1 album. Igniting dance floors and opening peoples minds simultaneously. This is the music with no name, this is Our Sound."

Various Artists - Georgia Anne Muldrow Presents... Ms. One CD (E1) [EMC9574CD] $13.25
"Georgia Anne (aka Ms.One) and Dudley Perkins aka (Declaime) introduce the world to Ms. One's label with her latest release, the EPS compilation album. This project is a full introduction to the fonk eclectic of Epistrophik Peach Sound that has released solo albums by Jimmetta Rose and Eagle Nebula. Fine musical artistry and compelling lyricism by every artist on the project makes this album a beacon of light amidst a dark musical landscape. Ms One features appearances from Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dudley Perkins, Stacey Epps, Big Pooh (of Little Brother), Black Milk and more!"

Various Artists - XVI Reflections On Classical Music CD (Point Music/universal) [POINT4802220CD] $29.50
"Featuring Takeo Toyama, Sylvain Chauveau, Alva Noto, Gas, Final Fantasy, Francesco Tristano, Philip Glass, Murcof, Max Richter, Akira Rabelais, Ryan Teague, Greg Haines, Gavin Bryars, with with exclusive tracks by Lawrence, Hauschka and Slowcream. In pop music, the days are finally over when a new genre simultaneously means the end of the old genre. The same applies to social and political relevance of styles in pop music. There will no longer be such a thing as a new music style, which comes along like punk did, leaving behind scorched earth and an entirely new attitude to life. Pop music has gradually lost its identity-defining momentum. Instead, crazy pop style mixes are becoming successful. Happy eclecticism has long been suitable for clubs and even the charts. Sampling is a common cultural practice, not just since yesterday and not only in music. We are living in the age of open archives. Since high-speed data transmission has enabled access to practically the entire repertoire of recorded music, a silent revolution has been underway. A revolution that is apparent in various ways, including the dissolution of stylistic boundaries. The musician and owner of the 'nonine recordings' record label Me Raabenstein has long been following these fundamental changes. What he is observing are not deliberately fabricated crossover hypes. The new combinations of the most diverse music styles have more of an organic nature. XVI Reflections on Classical Music gives a name to a genre that does not yet exist. That is to say, there is no term for it yet. But there are certainly well-established connections between classical and unconventional, often electronic music. In countless forms and hues, worldwide, conscious or unconscious. XVI Reflections on Classical Music is dedicated to this musical meltdown. XVI Reflections on Classical Music was compiled entirely according to aesthetic criteria. This is not a question of musicological stringency or historical assignment. It is rather an individual effort by a music enthusiast who has painstakingly put together the pieces which he is most passionate about. So, on the one hand, this compilation is subjective. On the other hand, something has been created unintentionally here which can be considered a cross-section through a young musical genre. This is an absolutely huge achievement for Raabenstein, as the phenomenon of a music genre which is influenced equally by classical and electronic can be compared to a swarming beehive. Just listing the similarities of the pieces compiled here is no simple task. All these musical pieces are imbued with the classical spirit, that much is certain, whereby 'classical' here embraces all the different types of art music from Renaissance to New Music."

Vladislav Delay - Tummaa CD (Leaf) [BAY72] $13.50
RELEASE DATE: 09-08-2009
Finnish composer Sasu Ripatti returns with Tummaa, his first album as Vladislav Delay since 2007's Whistleblower. The new full-length marks a significant shift in emphasis in this acclaimed musician's work, reflecting a renewed interest in jazz and acoustic performance--Tummaa is far more organic and live-sounding than anything he's done before. Ripatti is a genuine musical maverick. Trained as a jazz drummer, he abandoned his instrument ten years ago. While he has largely shunned the limelight since emerging as a producer in Helsinki in the late '90s, his prolific output (as Delay, Luomo and Uusitalo, as well as collaborations with partner Antye Greie) speaks for itself. Tummaa marks a return to Ripatti?s first love of performing as a percussionist. The album essentially features a live trio?Ripatti, Argentine musician Lucio Capece on clarinet and saxophone, and acclaimed Scottish soundtrack composer and arranger Craig Armstrong on piano and Rhodes. Ripatti set the tone, recording his drum parts and then inviting Capece to his studio to improvise alongside the drums. Armstrong offered recordings of pure solo piano playing he had made for the project. From these two sound sources, Ripatti began composing and arranging, and wrote a whole suite of music. The results are jaw-dropping. Ripatti is venerated as a master of rhythm and a true artisan of the studio (the photos of his immaculate analog equip- ment from The Wire's 2008 cover shoot had gear hounds aquiver), and captures resonant, organic, and acoustic sounds, coercing them into unearthly cadences and foreign textures that are unlike anything else--yet irresistibly hypnotic. His love of jazz is also never far from the surface. Armstrong's waterfall piano and Rhodes infuse "Melankolia" with sweep- ing emotion amid the tension and intensity of Ripatti's fractured, almost industrial percussive fragments, anticipatory fizzes, and low-end hums. In some ways, this is a very gentle introduction to the incredible galaxy of sound contained on "Kuula (Kiitos)," where glimmering piano bleeds into the fabric of Capece?s strangled bass clarinet and muffled soprano sax, entwined with a scattering of grainy beats. By far the most immediately striking piece is the woody, resounding animal honk of "Mustelmia" where a defiantly springy, bouncy array of volcanic beats and liquid gulps and pops erupt in response to Capece's eerie tones and textures. While "Musta Planeetta" is a more meditative play across the key- board timbres, "Toive" builds into a crescendo of throbbing, submarine percussion, Capece's horns like distant wildlife in a tropical forest. "Tummaa" has a cavernous dub sensibility, all ricocheting percussion and the Rhodes distilled to stabs or glistening feedback reverberations. "Tunnelivisio" burrows even deeper into the echo chamber, lending a cinematic drama to the album's finale.

Von Iva - Girls On Film 12" CD (Stickfigure) [STICK039V] $11.00
JILLIAN IVA, BEX and KELLY HARRIS, better known as the San Francisco-based trio VON IVA, has had many musical tags thrust upon them. Electro pop punk. Soul rock dance. Synth rawk. Fashion-forward dance punk queens. Alt-pop. Gay icons. Dirty disco. The new purveyors of soul. A bombastic live band. Punk soul. A booty-shaking mix of soul, disco, and dirty raw rock and roll. Genre-crossing. Skuzzy and sultry. A saucy little affair. "If you ever wished for Franz Ferdinand, P.J. Harvey, Gary Numan, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to be bottled up into a love potion, here it is! They're soul-shaking dance-punk queens-and they're going to rock your world."-Bust

Vril - The Fatal Duckpond CD (Recommended) [RERVRIL2] $16.50
"After a break of six years, Chris Cutler, Bob Drake and Lukas Simonis, now with added ingredient Pierre Omer, present the second volume of recordings by the elusive VRIL -- a band who revive and update both the great institution of the guitar instrumental and the now sadly neglected practice of collective arrangement, intense rehearsal and live studio performance. Appropriate to the half century that has passed since the birth of the form, these hits dodge about, get bored easily and blend both concentration and complexity with the still indispensable traditional qualities that made the genre great: hummability, crafted sounds, nifty arrangements, ridiculous gimmicks and ensemble playing. 'Neither tribute nor parody, these enigmatic pieces are never more nor less than exactly what they are,' wrote Lothar Preen in his Melbourne concert review, 'but perfectly realised'. With film stills, misleading sleeve-notes and storyboard by the Diogenesian recluse Frank Key."

Wander - Wander CD (Divine Frequency) [10544] $14.25
You could be excused for being confused. Like all previous albums the new Wander album for Divine Frequency is entitled "Wander". Blame it on Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar's conceptual sense of humor. You might know these boys from Beequeen, where they combine soundscapes with pop songs. When they feel like a day out they disguise themselves as Wander, and concentrate themselves on organ drones.

For Wander this album is another step forward; these recordings (mostly created on ancient and dangerous synthesizers and open microphones) take Wander back to the 70's with an open, spacious sound. It's quite good for falling asleep. Freek calls this Wander's "Tangerine Dream" album but since he doesn't own any Tangerine Dream albums, he could be wrong.

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse CD (Manimal Vinyl) [mani017-2] $12.25
RELEASE DATE: 10-06-2009
LA's mystical Warpaint weave majestic, haiku-like guitars, hypnotic vocals & driving post-punk rhythms into gorgeous, sprawling songs that skirt the line between the soundscapes of psychedelia/shoegaze, the haunting intimacy of folk & rock's primal heaviness. Official label release of their self-released EP comes with a new bonus track. Expertly mixed by John Frusciante, the EP captures the band's sonic textures & playful dynamism Warpaint is notorious for creating live.

[ D V D ]

16 Horsepower - Secret South DVD+CD (Alternative Tentacles) [VIRUS406] $14.50
16 HORSEPOWER looms large in the Alternative Tentacles catalog, and over the entire alt-Americana musical landscape. Secret South is a cornerstone to this Denver band's legacy, their first indie outing after departing A&M, recorded at Hamilton Glory Lodge outside Blue River, Colorado, in 2000. This album has long been out of print in America (originally released on Razor and Tie) and only available on vinyl in a very limited edition in Europe through Glitterhouse. As rural gothic goes, one cannot do much better than DAVID EUGENE EDWARDS and company, with their use of acoustic old-time instruments mixed with the impassioned vocals and fire-and-brimstone lyrics (excepting a cover of Dylan's "Nobody 'Cept You"). Additional surround-sound mix of the album by producer BOB FERBRACHE (Blood Axis, Soul Merchants) for this release is included on the DVD-audio format for both the 180-gram black vinyl LP and the CD.

Xhol Caravan - Talking To My Soul DVD (Garden of Delights) [DVD01] $19.25
The very first DVD on Garden of Delights. In the beginning of 1970, XHOL CARAVAN from Wiesbaden performed at the film studios of the Suedwestfunk (SWF) radio and TV station in Baden-Baden in front of a blue screen. So psychedelic color and cross-fading effects could be added later, following the pioneering Beat-Club TV show example. The gig was first transmitted at the SWF on 1st March, 1970, and in a slightly shortened version on 18th October, 1972, at the first German TV channel, ARD. The well-established music by Xhol Caravan can be heard, a peculiar blend of psychedelia and jazz, without any vocals but with an extended flute solo by HANSI FISCHER. As bonus you can find two Xhol clips from the most recent years. The DVD is released in a double-fold-out digipak, accompanied by a 32-page booklet.

[ H I S T O R I C A L ]

Action, The - Complete Punk Recordings 1977-1978 CD (Sudden Death) [SDR0084] $13.25
THE ACTION, one of Canada's first punk bands, formed in Ottawa in 1977. Their style combined early American and English punk like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Vibrators with rock influences such as The Rolling Stones' guitar attack and The Allman Brothers' dual-guitar and slide-guitar leads, which, combined with provocative lyrics and an untouchable stage show, made The Action a musician's band. The Action was chosen to open for The Ramones in 1978 and helped spearhead punk across Canada when they supported The Stranglers on that band's first North American tour the same year. This collection covers The Action's short but wild career from 1977-'78: their debut 12-inch (which includes the cult classic "TV's on the Blink") and a recording for a never-released follow-up EP, plus smokin' live tracks recorded at the infamous Rotters Club in Ottawa, Canada. No exports to Canada, the UK, or Italy

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Doc at the Radar Station CD (Astralwerks) [ASW65513CD] $15.00
2006 remastered reissue. "Often called the Salvador Dali of rock'n'roll, Captain Beefheart is a true American original. He had a voice that's a cross between the blues bellow of Howlin' Wolf and the gruff posturing of Yosemite Sam (legend has it his voice once destroyed a $1200 Telefunken microphone), and he ran his Magic Band almost like a messianic cult. Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band produced a wildly original brew of rock, blues, psychedelia, jazz and punk influenced the likes of P.J. Harvey, Tom Waits, Public Image Ltd., Devo, the B-52s, and even The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Sadly, after Ice Cream For Crow, his last album in 1982, he left music to concentrate on painting, turning into a virtual recluse, further building his legendary status as rock's most enigmatic genius. You gotta love the Captain, who after hearing that U2's leader was looking for him to come out of retirement to tour and collaborate, responded with 'Who is this Bongo?' Now the two critically acclaimed, final Captain Beefheart albums have been painstakingly remastered and feature fascinating new liner notes by revered Captain Beefheart biographer, Mike Barnes. Mixing surrealistic rock'n'roll, schlock-horror film scores and raw bluesy guitar riffs that haven't been heard since a mid-'60s Rolling Stones album, Doc At The Radar Station took its energy from punk rock's back-to-basics sound."

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Ice Cream For Crow CD (Astralwerks) [ASW65514CD] $15.00
2006 remastered reissue. "Captain Beefheart's final album is filled with his trademarked outrageousness and masterful ramblings (some of which were bubbling on the back burner since the 1960's), while the stunning guitar work of Gary Lucas and the rest of The Magic Band make this the Captain's swansong."

Fleetwood Mac - Live At The Boston Tea Party 4xLP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900571LP] $50.75
"By 1970 Fleetwood Mac were immensely popular, touring constantly both at home and abroad. In February 1970 the band rocked Boston's legendary 'Boston Tea Party' playing three amazing concerts there for three consecutive nights in a row. The performances were recorded in hopes of releasing a live album, but frontman Peter Green soon announced his decision to quit the band and the masters were promptly shelved. Some of the material eventually trickled out onto a few albums during the 1980s (Jumping at Shadows, Roots-The Original Fleetwood Mac Live in Concert, etc.), but the sound quality was consistently poor and much of the material was left unreleased. The recordings were finally given the treatment they deserved in 1998 when the original masters were uncovered and remixed at SRT Studios in the UK (by Nick Watson). These recordings were released the following year as a 3-CD box set called The Boston Box and now, for the first time, are being brought to vinyl, as a 4-disc 'book style' limited edition deluxe collector's LP with new vintage cover art. This is essential Fleetwood Mac by any standards!"

Gilles Peterson & Stuart Baker - Freedom, Rhythm and Sound Book (Soul Jazz Records) [SJR218BK] $25.75
Subtitled: Revolutionary Jazz Original Cover Art 1965-83. "This heavyweight deluxe hardback 200-plus book is a unique collection of cover artwork of revolutionary jazz music between 1965-83 compiled by Gilles Peterson and Stuart Baker, founder of Soul Jazz Records. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement of the 1960s loom large as self-determination, economic power and musical freedom led to revolutionary jazz artists finding new paths -- both musical and economic. Concurrent with the emergence of the counter culture and underground rock movement in the 1960s and years before the D-I-Y cultural revolution of punk in the 1970s, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and others 'took control' of their own work by recording, releasing and distributing their own music themselves. The record sleeves of this era are as iconic and historically unique as the music itself and a striking reflection of the time; pre-desktop publishing, pre-internet these small-run (sometimes as low as 500 copies), self-made sleeves are graphically bold and radical. Freedom, Rhythm and Sound is the first ever collection of this fascinating goldmine of album art, which represents the first wave of inspired independent production within popular music. Freedom, Rhythm and Sound includes a large introduction contextualising the music and artwork as well as features on many of the people involved. Alongside the musicians mentioned above these include Rashied Ali, Steve Reid, Mary Lou Williams, Horace Tapscott, Lloyd McNeil, Tribe, The Last Poets, The Pharoahs, Philip Cohran, Black Artists Group and many others."

Groundhogs, The - The Best Of CD (EMI) [EMI555042CD] $13.50
1997 release. "Though the 1960s and early-'70s U.K. blues and boogie band the Groundhogs never achieved widespread fame, this best-of shows them to be a solidly rocking outfit most at home with workmanlike interpretations of the urban blues of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. A lean three-piece who concentrated more on feel and groove than their jazzier contemporaries Cream, the Groundhogs' evolution into one of the many socially and politically aware bands of the era is documented here on cuts such as the psychedelic-sounding 'Strange Town' and the prog-rock 'Rich Man, Poor Man.' 'Earth Is Not Room Enough' is a fine example of eccentric '60s boogie, and the always-stirring 'Amazing Grace' features the band's much-lauded guitarist Tony McPhee at his most expressive."

Groundhogs, The - Split CD (EMI) [EMI5848192CD] $11.50
2003 remastered reissue, originally released in 1971. Includes four bonus tracks from BBC In Concert 1972. "On Split, more than any other Groundhogs album, they played in a shamanic whirling that shattered and scattered the beat around in several directions at once...This album of paranoid delusion and post-drug trauma was seen by its author as a straight account of a real event. Both musically and lyrically, Split speaks for a lost time, a nomad time when ideals took to the hoof and musicians stayed on the road rather than confront the fact that the '60s 'war' had been lost." --Julian Cope

Groundhogs, The - Thank Christ For The Bomb CD (EMI) [EMI5848202CD] $13.50
2003 remastered reissue, originally released in 1970. Includes three bonus tracks. "Talk about a great album title -- sardonic, sarcastic, literal or what? Luckily, it goes any way you want it, and since the album's all clean guitar lines, time signatures played and basking in a rough'n'ready bluesy amped-up post-Altamont surge out, it's a glorious riot. The Groundhogs at this period in time were the perfect trio of Tony (T.S.) McPhee on guitar and vocals, Pete Cruickshank on bass and Ken Pustelnik's on drums. You can spin this record over and over and marvel at its completeness, integrity and singular purpose, keeping to a few themes (actually, only one--alienation), but rock out so complex yet effortless it's a miracle. All compositions and arrangements by main 'Hog Tony (T.S.) McPhee are exquisite and rock out like crazy." --Julian Cope

Jade - Fly On Strangewings 2CD (Sunbeam Records) [SBR5068CD] $21.25
Sunbeam Records is delighted to announce the fullest edition of this UK folk-rock classic ever assembled. Boasting the talents of Rod Edwards (Picadilly Line, Edwards Hand), John Wetton (Family, King Crimson), Pete Sears (Jefferson Starship), Terry Cox (Pentangle), and others, Fly On Strangewings first appeared in July 1970, and is presented here complete with previously-unavailable bonus tracks and a full booklet including copious notes and rare photos. This is a stunning, highly-celebrated album replete with gorgeous male/female harmonies led by Sandy Denny-ish, silver-throated Marianne Segal, backed by harpsichord, guitar, and rustic violin arranged and played by members of some of the finest UK folk rock luminaries of the era. Hailed during its time, but regrettably mishandled, this reissue of Fly On Strangewings was assembled with the full involvement of leader and songwriter Marianne Segal, and it's simply essential for all fans of acid folk and folk-rock.

Lycia - Empty Space CD (Silber) [10537] $12.75
Empty Space is a work of dark, atmospheric, post-punk, comprised entirely of treated guitars, bass, & drum machines. It is perhaps Lycia's closest brush with making a pop- oriented album, though the cold rhythms of the vintage drum machine are just pieces of a much larger picture. Mike's whispered, desert-parched musings duel with Tara's more ethereal vocals & land atop shimmering, melodic, treble-boosted guitar lines. The result is a sound that's more Durutti Column than Cabaret Voltaire & more Chameleons than Joy Division, but always recognizable as Lycia. In this way, Empty Space is a return to the original atmospheric post-punk style Lycia helped birth back in the late-80's, before 1991's groundbreaking Ionia & 1993's apocalyp- tic A Day In The Stark Corner. The return to form was made authentic by the involve- ment of original member John Fair (drum programs) & long time member David Galas (bass), who once again teamed up with Mike VanPortfleet & Tara VanFlower to create what would be this, the final Lycia album.

Lycia - Estrella CD (Silber) [10538] $12.75
Estrella was Lycia's last proper studio album (Empty Space was unfinished & Tripping Back Into The Broken Days was recorded & mixed as an Estraya release). The songs on Estrella were originally written in 1996 & fleshed out over a fifty show tour. Eight years later, Mike VanPortfleet has revisited the songs to remaster them using the engineering skills he's improved over this time as well as the improvements of technology to make a definitive version of the release uncompromised by the hands of others. The artwork has been restored to the original version, unaltered from the artistic vision meant to match the music.

Pax Nicholas and the Netty Family - Na Teef Know De Road Of Teef CD (Daptone) [DAP017CD] $13.25
"The first record Pax Nicholas appeared on was Lady Shakara -- an international smash hit and one of Fela's greatest. Nicholas was at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela's Shrine club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat. While playing and recording for Felas's Africa 70 (Nicholas appeared on all Fela's releases between 1971 and 1978), Mr. Addo-Nettey always had his own thing going on the side. He released Na Teef Know The Road of Teef in 1973 and is a heavy afro-funk. Fela reportedly said: 'Don't you ever, EVER play it again!' And so it was. Despite being a killer record, Na Teef Know The Road of Teef remained undercover for more than 30 years."

Radio Noisz Ensemble - Yniverse + 6 Bonus Tracks CD (Garden of Delights) [148] $19.25
THE RADIO NOISZ ENSEMBLE from the Weinheim an der BergstraBe area was the successor group of EMMA MYLDENBERGER, who had played folk with a medieval touch. Instead, the music with an oboe as the lead instrument was now more complex and oriental, sometimes almost meditative, entirely instrumental, and was partly evocative of Between, Tri Atma, and the Third Ear Band. The only LP of the Radio Noisz Ensemble-not regarding the cassette editions-was Yniverze, released in 1972 in an edition of 1,000 copies. The CD on hand was taken from the master tape. Five of the six bonus tracks were recorded live in Weinheim on Dec. 4th, 1982, the sixth one is a demo recording from the summer of 1981.

Red Fox Chasers, The - I'm Going Down To North Carolina 2CD (Tompkins Square) [TSQ2219CD] $19.00
The Complete Recordings of the Red Fox Chasers (1928-31). "The Red Fox Chasers, composed of neighbors Guy Brooks, Bob Cranford, Paul Miles and A.P. Thompson, recorded at the high water mark of the Golden Era of American Vernacular Music, 1928-1931. These recordings represent a unique and exciting blend of Appalachian fiddle tunes & ballads, popular tin pan alley songs & Victorian sentimental compositions. Hailing from north-west North Carolina, the group assimilated a 'Galax fiddle-sound' with an intricate three-finger banjo style that simultaneously evokes Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters and Charlie Poole. One of the more prolific groups to record during this era, the Red Fox Chasers' material was particularly well received in the Virginias and Carolinas. This collection is the first complete anthology of their work, with several of the tracks being reissued for the very first time. The Red Fox Chasers represent an idiosyncratic slice of early Appalachian music as it was captured commercially during the 1920s & 1930s. Painstakingly remastered by Grammy winner Christopher King. Designed by Grammy winner Susan Archie. Notes and annotations by the host of 'Back To The Blue Ridge,' Kinney Rorrer."

Robert Wyatt - Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981 CD (Rai Trade) [RTD014CD] $22.75
"Previously unreleased material made by Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) in studio for an Italian radio programme in 1981.Why did this demi-god of rock's underground to travel all the way to Rome with his wife, Alfreda Benge, to spend a week recording for an obscure (even to Italians) radio programme? Because he believed in what these Roman radio guys were doing! Wyatt himself described the experience as 'a chance to expand ideas to bring to life outside the music business, which is just one big fashion industry...normally you have to obtain money for studio time and aim at a particular recording for a particular product. Here they wanted to see a musician's work in progress so it wasn't necessary to have a finished product...it's a fantastic chance to work more freely.' So after three days of testing, the eight-track started officially rolling -- piano, vocals, hi-hat, a jaw harp -- laying down track after track, until the Roman radio guys ended up with 45 min of music, including pieces like 'Born Again Cretin,' a song about Nelson Mandela, the 'Opium War,' with garbled 'radio-like' vocals, and 'Heathens have no Souls,' featuring a jaw harp. This is a rare opportunity to see what the great Robert Wyatt is capable of when left to work freely, outside the pressures of the star system and the 'moneygoround.'"

Roger Waters & Ron Geesin - Music From The Body CD (EMI) [EMI7925482CD] $13.50
1989 reissue -- originally released in 1970 on Harvest Records -- of the soundtrack to Roy Battersby's art-docu-sex film The Body. Sparse sound effects, musical fragments, bodily noises and tracks with titles like "Lick Your Partners," "The Womb Bit" and "Bridge Passage For Three Plastic Teeth." To this day, some of the most invested Pink Floyd fans still don't know that Roger Waters performed a song called "More Than Seven Dwarfs In Penis-Land."

Sub - In Concert + 5 Bonus Tracks CD (Garden of Delights) [009] $19.25
"Formed in Munich in early 1969, originating from various local beat groups, SUB chose their name due to their affinity with the underground scene that was proliferating at the time. Though, unlike Amon Dueuel's brand of underground music, Sub were much more inspired by American psychedelia, notably Vanilla Fudge, and British bands like Traffic, Egg and Soft Machine. They had a heavy riffing psychedelic style, an excellent lead vocalist, and knew how to jam and freak out. Strangely, fed up with waiting for a contract, an employee of Sub's management, made off with the tapes of their album, getting it released in Italy. Masquerading as a live album, complete with overdubbed audience sounds, Sub In Concert was still a fine album, showcasing a style of music that's little-heard from Germany. Only about a thousand were pressed, and in Germany they were still stuck with apathetic reactions. Sub split in 1971."-The Crack In The Cosmic Egg. Mastertape reissue with 24-page color booklet, the infamous "Ma-mari-huana" was included on Rubble Vol. 14.

Tetragon - Stretch CD (Garden of Delights) [151] $19.25
TETRAGON, successor of TRIKOLON, were founded in Osnabrueck (Lower Saxony) in the spring of 1971. They released their first and only LP, Nature, in the same year. At the end of 1971, Tetragon recorded in a Hamburg studio five long tracks in their well-proven style for their second LP, the release of which, however, failed. Fortunately, the master tape has survived until the present day, so that now, 38 years past schedule, the work is released on CD. Three of the five songs were written by the band, one by Eddie Harris ("Listen here") and one by John McLaughlin ("Dragon song"). The two latter ones had already been worked on by Brian Auger. Especially remarkable are HENDRIK SCHAPER's exceptional play on keyboards and JURGEN JAEHNER's hot guitar play. The other two, however, are their equals in skill and talent.

Tim Buckley - Live At The Folklore Center, NYC - March 6 1967 CD (Tompkins Square) [TSQ2189CD] $15.25
"The unreleased recording was captured by folk impresario Izzy Young at his famed Folklore Center located at 321 Sixth Avenue, which served as a nexus for up-and-coming singer-songwriters during the folk boom of the late '60s. The entire night's concert, performed in front of about 35 people, is presented in its original running order of 16 songs, six of which are Tim Buckley compositions that have never appeared on any studio or live album. The CD package includes an unpublished interview with Buckley conducted by Izzy Young on March 17th & 18th, 1967, along with new notes from Young. The album was produced for release by Tompkins Square label's Josh Rosenthal, and mastered from the original tapes by Grammy-winning engineers Steve Rosenthal, Warren Russell-Smith and Jamie Howarth. Tim Buckley (1947-1975) was among the most adventurous and influential singer-songwriters of the '60s and '70s, releasing nine studio albums in his career. Buckley's music continues to deeply inspire new fans and artists with each passing year. Live at the Folklore Center, the earliest live recording among seven others commercially available, showcases Buckley in an intimate, solo acoustic setting, highlighting his magical guitar playing and soaring vocal style."

Various Artists - Shadow Music of Thailand CD (Sublime Frequencies) [SF042CD] $14.75
This is the CD issue of the sold-out limited LP vinyl release from 2008. "Shadow Music" was a broad term given to the Thai guitar pop movement of the 1960s and the groups that came out of it -- all under the profound influence of early Western rock and roll. British instrumental wonders The Shadows (as in Cliff Richards & The Shadows) were the origin of the genre's title -- also coined "Wong Shadow" or early Thai "string" music. Shadow records were often marketed as "Thai Modernized Music," which it was in the truest sense. Traditional Thai melodies were given the Shadow treatment -- incorporating rock, surf, a-go-go, exotica, soul, blues, Latin and other worldly styles of the times. Inventive compositions and instrumental genius meet the occasional odd vocal arrangement and the results range from plaintive guitar and organ-driven lullabies to full-blown electric garage folk-psychedelia! Featured on this collection are a handful of the leading recorded artists from the time; P.M. Pocket Music, The Son of P.M., P.M.7, Jupiter, and Johnny Guitar. Throughout the 1960s, these groups forged a unique and highly self-referential Thai sound. Includes an 8-page insert featuring the gorgeous original Thai Shadow LP artwork and liner notes by compiler Mark Gergis.

Various Artists - Siamese Soul: Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s Vol. 2 CD (Sublime Frequencies) [SF050CD] $14.75
This second volume in the Thai Pop Spectacular series brings together regional artists from across Thailand. Some were modest pop players of their time, while others were major stars. Siamese Soul features 1970s hard-grooved roots funk, hypnotic Luk Thung tracks from the Northeastern Thai countryside, 1960s rock & roll and 1980s groove anomalies. All cuts come heavily laced with electric organs and guitar, thick horn sections, the traditional khaen, driving bass and stunning vocal performances with a richness that can easily be called Thai soul music of the highest order. These creative sounds formed by hybrids with Western instrumentation and genres, result in an incredibly dynamic music that is distinctively Thai. Selected from cassette tapes and vinyl found buried on bottom shelves in rural locales, these tracks serve as further evidence of a vital Thai pop scene that's been kept from Western ears for far too long. This CD comes with a 16-page booklet of amazing exclusive photos documenting the era with translated song titles and liner notes by Mark Gergis and Alan Bishop.

Various Artists - Can You Dig It? 2CD (Soul Jazz Records) [SJR214CD] $19.75
"Can You Dig It? charts the rise and fall of 'Black Action Films' from 1970-75. As well as featuring a double-CD collection of the stunning music from these films, Can You Dig It? comes with a 100-page booklet, mini-film poster cards and stickers. The Black Action Films of the early 1970s gave Hollywood its first African-American cinema -- actors, directors, cameramen, editors and writers. These films discussed aspects of the African-American experience in the form of entertainment. Storylines interwove post-civil rights revolution with action stories, many involving pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers or private detectives. The films also featured the finest funk and soul black music of the time as stars such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Willie Hutch and Roy Ayers produced some of their finest work, with film budgets allowing for the addition of huge orchestral arrangements by jazz legends such as Quincy Jones, Johnny Pate and JJ Johnson. In the early 1970s, Black Action Films exploded into the cinema with three extremely successful films -- 'Shaft', 'Super Fly' and 'Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song.' The most profound statement of these films was their actual existence -- black actors and black directors entering the previously closed Hollywood film industry. Black Action Films were a representation of politically everything that had gone before and stylistically of everything that was current. Civil rights, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Black Power, Black Panthers, Vietnam sit alongside the criminal worlds of policemen, private investigators, bail bondsmen and the criminals, drug dealers, pimps and hustlers that they parole. Black American culture is reflected in the scorching soundtracks, some seriously funky clothes and the language of the street. Rarely does ten minutes pass when someone will expound 'Right on!', Can You Dig It?, 'Stay loose' or the eponymous 'Is it Black enough for you?'. The term 'Blaxploitation', was created by a writer for Vogue magazine, a confused word implying exploitation of African-Americans. 'Exploitation of black', or 'black exploitation films'? Black characters in these films are nearly always strong, the bad guys are usually white bad guys, and the resolution of the narrative in most of the films is nearly always morally correct (although sometimes complex) and as Gordon Parks noted at the time, 'it is ridiculous to imply that blacks don't know the difference between truth and fantasy and therefore will be influenced in an unhealthy way'. In 1973 that the first black female lead roles were created. Pam Grier starred in Coffy and the follow up Foxy Brown, and Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones, all three films featuring incredibly strong female lead characters created specifically for these two black American actresses. For the next few years, Black Action Film mutated across genres, weaving its way through black cinema versions of horror (Blacula), martial arts (Black Belt Jones), westerns (Soul of Nigger Charley) and any permutation thereof. Can You Dig It? presents the best of the killer musical soundtracks to these films alongside analysis of the social and political conditions that helped create the films. The booklet also comes with an in-depth guide to the films including many film stills. Also included is a set of mini- film poster cards and stickers. The vinyl edition also comes on two super-loud volumes of double vinyl and includes free poster!"

[ S A L E ]

Crystal Antlers - Crystal Antlers CDEP (Touch And Go) [TG337] $6.50
If the words "chimney sweep" and "soul psychedelia" don't go together in your mind, they just may after you take a listen to CRYSTAL ANTLERS' debut EP, the beguilingly titled EP. When the band formed in 2006, three of it's members-including lead singer and bassist JONNY BELL-were in fact working as chimney sweeps and playing out constantly in SoCal. Getting dirty by day and by night, the band recorded two 7-inch singles before settling down to record this EP with the MARS VOLTA's IKEY OWENS. When the band sent us a copy earlier this year, we were blown away by its swirling guitars, dramatic organ clamor, and relentless blending of influences ranging from cinematic psych to noisy soul punk. Merging psych, garage, lo-fi, prog, and countless other influences, the group easily maintains consistency despite a complete inability to be pinned to any specific movement or trend.

Douglas Lilburn - Complete Electro Acoustic Works CD Box (Atoll) [AC404x] $47.00
Some shelf wear to outer sleeve which holds the CDs, but the CDs and inner sleeves are M/M-.

Ernan Roch - Con Las Voces Frescas CD (Mariposa Records) [MCDS0401] $14.00
"First time on CD for this extremely rare Rex label psychedelic classic (1971) from Mexico; terrific West Coast style psych, with melodic vocals and blasts of incredible fuzz guitar that seem to come out of nowhere; excellent album, whose current price for an original copy is around $1,000, if you can find a copy."

Gui Boratto - Take My Breath Away CD (Kompakt) [KOMP070CD] $13.00
This is the hotly-anticipated second full-length release from architect, producer, musician and composer, Gui Boratto, born in São Paulo, Brazil. Two years have passed and much has changed since Gui Boratto shot to prominence with his Kompakt debut Chromophobia. A much-needed spot of color amidst the minimal milieu, Gui's mixture of fierce production skills and a blissful pop sensibility have characterized his trajectory to the techno heavyweight before us today. Amidst a rigorous touring schedule and busy family life arises Take My Breath Away. Laced with subtle critique and double-entendre, Gui's philosophical approach is adept at packaging the rough, smooth, bitter and sweet into a number of emotive and ultimately optimistic productions. Equally a statement of concern and call for solidarity, the title track conveys a sense of scale and immediacy with soaring melodic progressions and pounding bass. Epic and densely constructed, clattering metallic tones escalate to a howling climax before a deep-pulsed drive to close. "Atomic Soda" rasps with gritty, hovering synths and complex rhythms, phase transitioning into a monolithic bass stomp with staccato percussive modulation that was built to move. The bit-crushed melodies of "Colors" enters shimmering dream-pop territory, while "Opus 17" marks Gui's 17th album track, continuing the lineage of his debut with a mixture of droning Cologne, shuffling IDM beats and kaleidoscopic synth textures. "No Turning Back" jars with uneasy cyclical rhythms, developing a tension that breaks with a chorus as grandiose as it is energetic. Gui's wife Luciana Villanova provides the Midas touch yet again, contributing a stirring vocal reminiscent of her contribution to Gui's anthemic "A Beautiful Life." "Azzura" swings with delicate harmonic shifts, while "Les Enfants" features a tripped-out organ melody and live drum break to continue the brief descent in pace. "Ballroom" is strictly club material, probing with stabbed synth and the hardest kick on the record. Taken deep and destabilized with uneasy melodic tones, it provides a fitting introduction to closer "Eggplant." Patiently progressing from ascendant synth chords to a tightly-wound concoction of frenetic percussion and dissonant harmonic elements, "Eggplant" gathers enough momentum to make a vegetable move. Take My Breath Away is riddled with profound melody, layers of color, and modern deepness and is addictively danceable. It is also further proof that Boratto is worthy of any and all breathless adulation heaped upon him.

Magnetophone - Wires And Traps CD (First Fold) [FOLDCD005] $14.00
Magnetophone are Birmingham natives Matt Huish Saunders and John Hanson. Friends since childhood, as boys they would often be found under water, weighed down by bricks and playing Stylophones. Displaying a gift for linguistic manipulation which has continued to sustain their career, they named this ritual the "Alpha Beti Bon-Tempi Underwater Electro-Hydro Sound-Fusion" About Wires and Traps EP Magnetophone bring their unique vision of electronic music to First Fold with this carefully structured EP, each track features a different acoustic instrument as a musical base, created as melancholic Steve Reich inspired arpeggios, the songs then build up with ever changing vocal phases, swirling synthetic sounds and expanding melodies, that culminate into the finely crafted electronica we have come to expect from Magnetophone.

This week's VINYL update contains releases by:

24 Carat Black * 3 Shades * Adam Pacione * Adultnapper * Alan Courtis/Bruce Russell/Eddie Prevost/Mattin * Alice Cohen * All Tiny Creatures * Amazing, The * An-2 * And.id * Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra * Anne Briggs * Barking Dogs, The * Black Boned Angel * Blind Man's Colour * Boredoms * Boyd Rice * Boyd Rice Experience, The * Breeders * Brian Jonestown Massacre, The * Broombeck * Canyons * Catz 'n Dogz (FEAT. Pol_on) * Chris Carrier & Jef K * Cloudland Canyon * Computer Jay * Dale Lloyd * Dave P. & Adam Sparkles * David Pher * Dimmer * Dragon Turtle/Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air * Drakkar Sauna * Dubkasm * Ducktails * Dylan Shearer * Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville * Erol Alkan & Boys Noize * Explorers * Eyes * Fleetwood Mac * Frank Stokes * Gastr Del Sol * Geiom & Spamchop * Gerd * Giuseppe Ielasi * Glimpse & Jay Shepheard * Goth-Trad * Hey Today! * Holy Modal Rounders, The * Idioma * Ignacio * Ita the Rita * Itamar Sagi * Jacob Korn * JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound * Jeroen Search * John Daly * John's Children * Julian Lynch * Knee Deep feat. Kathy Battistessa * Kollektiv Turmstrasse * Larry Levan * Lee Curtiss * Lemos * Little Claw * Longcut, The * M.in & Patrick Kunkel Feat. Harold Todd * Magna Carta * Marco Carola * Marko Furstenberg * Mass Shivers * Miracle Condition * Mississippi Sheiks * Mount Kimbie * Mountain People, The * Move D & Benjaminn Brunn/lawrence * Nite Jewel * Odd Clouds * Oliver Koletzki (feat. Juli Holz) * Ozric Tentacles * Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras * Pax Nicholas And The Netty Family * Piano Magic * Pink Noise * Post Human * Powder * Quarion * R. Stevie Moore * Rameses III * Ras Michael * Reactors * Reigning Sound * Rhauder feat. Paul St. Hilaire * Ribn * Robert Beatty * Robert Wyatt * Roxy Music * Savas Pascalidis * Sean Lennon * Shirley Collins * Shits and Giggles * Shortstuff * Sic Alps * Six Organs Of Admittance & Azul * Small Faces, The * Smog * Stefan Goldmann * Stephen Beaupre * Stereolab * Style Of Eye * Sudden Weather Change * Sven Libaek * Taksi * Thee Headcoats * Tom Clark * Tomas Barfod & Fredski * Vanity Fare * Vladislav Delay * Warpaint * Waterloo * Wiley and the Checkmates * Xenia Beliayeva * Young Marble Giants * Zaza * Zed Bias * Zomby

[ F E A T U R E D   R E L E A S E S ]

Boyd Rice Experience, The - Hatesville! LP (Caciocavallo) [10546] $16.75
"Hatesville!" is a collection of songs by The Boyd Rice Experience, The Partridge in the Pear Tree, Adam Parfrey and Jim Goad. It was orignally released in 1995, but quickly went out of print, and has - until today - commanded absurd prices from collectors. This new edition has been completely remastered and features three new songs. Best of all, it's available for the first time on vinyl. Famed hot rod artist Coop, whose black & white artwork appeared on the 1995 version, added color to the artwork for the new edition. No expense has been spared for this reissue. The CD is presented in sturdy six-panel folder, the black vinyl LP comes in an sturdy old-school "tip-on" cover, and the picture disc comes in a heavy PVC sleeve. The CD is unlimited and we plan to keep it in print forever, but the black vinyl LP is limited to 1000 copies and the picture disc is limited to 500. Boyd Rice's biography is extensive and includes numerous albums, books and film appearances. His musical career began in the 1970s when he performed and recorded as NON. In the mid 1980s he became involved in the Church of Satan, and later launched a Social Darwinist think tank called The Abraxis Foundation. He has performed and recorded with Douglas Pearce of Death In June, Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis, and famed industrial percussionist Z'ev. His newest book No is a collection of essays. He presently lives in his underground bunker in Denver, Colorado. Adam Parfrey is best known as the founder of Feral House, a small but influential book publisher, with titles like Apocalypse Culture, Lords of Chaos, and Jim Goad's Giant Book of Sex. He's always had an interest in music, and released two albums and a number of singles in the 1990s, including S.W.A.T - Deep Inside A Cop's Mind: The Soundtrack for the Next Police State and A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington. The Partridge in the Pear Tree, previously known as Shaun Partridge, co-founded the Partridge Family Temple in Denver in 1988 with a friend. "The Partridge Family Temple is a religion based on fun, truth, and reality. We believe in freedom, fun, and enjoying life every day, because we all know we're going to die. Life is scary and miserable and we say, 'Come On, Get Happy!'" He now lives in Portland, Oregon. Jim Goad became famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for his magazine Answer Me!, which he published from 1991 to 1994. He contributed to the S.W.A.T recordings, and released the album Truck Drivin' Psycho in 1996. He has authored several books, including The Redneck Manifesto and Shit Magnet: One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt. He runs jimgoad.net, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Boyd Rice Experience, The - Hatesville! (picture disc) LP (Caciocavallo) [10545] $19.25
RELEASE DATE: 09-14-2009
"Hatesville!" is a collection of songs by The Boyd Rice Experience, The Partridge in the Pear Tree, Adam Parfrey and Jim Goad. It was orignally released in 1995, but quickly went out of print, and has — until today — commanded absurd prices from collectors. This new edition has been completely remastered and features three new songs. Best of all, it's available for the first time on vinyl. Famed hot rod artist Coop, whose black & white artwork appeared on the 1995 version, added color to the artwork for the new edition. No expense has been spared for this reissue. The CD is presented in sturdy six-panel folder, the black vinyl LP comes in an sturdy old-school "tip-on" cover, and the picture disc comes in a heavy PVC sleeve. The CD is unlimited and we plan to keep it in print forever, but the black vinyl LP is limited to 1000 copies and the picture disc is limited to 500. Boyd Rice's biography is extensive and includes numerous albums, books and film appearances. His musical career began in the 1970s when he performed and recorded as NON. In the mid 1980s he became involved in the Church of Satan, and later launched a Social Darwinist think tank called The Abraxis Foundation. He has performed and recorded with Douglas Pearce of Death In June, Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis, and famed industrial percussionist Z'ev. His newest book No is a collection of essays. He presently lives in his underground bunker in Denver, Colorado. Adam Parfrey is best known as the founder of Feral House, a small but influential book publisher, with titles like Apocalypse Culture, Lords of Chaos, and Jim Goad's Giant Book of Sex. He's always had an interest in music, and released two albums and a number of singles in the 1990s, including S.W.A.T - Deep Inside A Cop's Mind: The Soundtrack for the Next Police State and A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington. The Partridge in the Pear Tree, previously known as Shaun Partridge, co-founded the Partridge Family Temple in Denver in 1988 with a friend. "The Partridge Family Temple is a religion based on fun, truth, and reality. We believe in freedom, fun, and enjoying life every day, because we all know we're going to die. Life is scary and miserable and we say, 'Come On, Get Happy!'" He now lives in Portland, Oregon. Jim Goad became famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) for his magazine Answer Me!, which he published from 1991 to 1994. He contributed to the S.W.A.T recordings, and released the album Truck Drivin' Psycho in 1996. He has authored several books, including The Redneck Manifesto and Shit Magnet: One Man's Miraculous Ability to Absorb the World's Guilt. He runs jimgoad.net, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. TRACK LISTING 1. Hatesville (The Boyd Rice Experience) 2. Race Riot (Adam Parfrey) 3. Dog (The Partridge in the Pear Tree) 4. Shit List (The Boyd Rice Experience) 5. What if they gave a love in... (Adam Parfrey) 6. How God Makes Little Girls (The Boyd Rice Experience) 7. Let's Hear It For Violence Towards Women! (Jim Goad) 8. Heather Mills (The Partridge in the Pear Tree) 9. Nation Down For The Count (Adam Parfrey) 10. Take a San Francisco Bad Trip (The Partridge in the Pear Tree) 11. Mr. Intolerance (The Boyd Rice Experience) 12. I Am Man (Sometimes I Hate) (The Partridge in the Pear Tree) 13. Love Will Change The World (The Boyd Rice Experience) 14. Low Blood Sugar (The Partridge in the Pear Tree) 15. Hatesville Suicide Hotline (Adam Parfrey) 16. Alone With The Calm (The Boyd Rice Experience)

Breeders - Pod LP (Plain) [PLAIN139] $16.00
Though ostensibly a side project of THE PIXIES' KIM DEAL and THROWING MUSES TANYA DONELLY, THE BREEDERS' 1990 debut, Pod, has held up as a classic of late '80s / early '90s off-kilter alternative pop, surpassing the contemporaneous work of their main bands. Though Deal would really hit the big time three years later with the Breeders' follow-up, Last Splash, and Donelly would do the same with her next band, BELLY, Pod is the band's finest, most coherent, album and perhaps the high point in both their careers. Engineered by the legendary STEVE ALBINI.

Brian Jonestown Massacre, The - Methodrone 2xLP (A Records) [AUK008LP] $37.75
"Originally released on CD in 1995 now reissued on Anton Newcombe's own record label. This is the first time on vinyl. Released on 180 g blue vinyl redolent with the spirit of such high priests of effects and delay as Loop, Spaceman 3, and My Bloody Valentine, not to mention a fair dollop of the Jesus and Mary Chain. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a psychedelic rock band originally from San Francisco, California, led by guitarist/singer Anton Newcombe."

[ . . . ]

3 Shades - Thank God For Beatniks LP (Alien Transistor) [N019LP] $16.00
This is the debut full-length release by 3 Shades -- a collective of musicians (and guests) that one could call a "supergroup." Based in and around Munich, Germany, members include Ivica Vucelic (Dis*ka, Die Regierung, Lightnin' Ivi) on guitar, pedals and vocals; Carl Oesterheld (Carlo Fashion, F.S.K., Ms. John Soda, Tied & Tickled Trio) on organ, harmonium, glockenspiel, and metallophone; Markus Acher (The Notwist, Tied & Tickled Trio, Village Of Savoonga, Lali Puna, 13 & God) on drums, organ, percussion and vocals; and Micha Acher (The Notwist, Tied & Tickled Trio, Ms. John Soda) on bass, organ, trombone and trumpet. On Thank God For Beatniks the band explores soundscapes, rhythm-patterns and moods in multi-colored shades. Some of them filled with whirling sunbeams, others covered with smoke and dust. "Bombay Can" sets the key -- a throbbing and bittersweet harmonium lures you into a hypnotic groove-monster, filled with echoes from the past and future. More spinning melodies are offered on "Subsequently" with hip-hop activist Fat Jon on guest vocals. "El Topo" is named after Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1970 film, and is itself a surrealistic trip into a psychedelic desert, filled with audio hallucinations, a jazz mirage and some obscure encounters at the Mexican border. More psychedelic moods in darker colors abound on "Tiny Bits Of Terrible," featuring guest vocalist and spoken-word poet Mike Ladd. The beats are dented, there are eerie whizzing sounds, and nearly everything is filled with smoke. "Thank God For Beatniks" is based on lyrics by Afro-American beatnik pioneer Bob Kaufman. "Sometimes Up" features an abstract ambient soundscape surrounding a melancholic love song. "Counting The Days" features guest vocalist Jihae Jean Meek (The Royal We, The Champagne Socialists) and an acoustic guitar suitable for night ballads. Thank God For Beatniks remembers when music was about freedom of speech and revolutionary thought unbound.

Adam Pacione - Dobranoc PIC. DISC LP (Elevator Bath) [EEAOA029LP] $19.75
"Dobranoc contains more than 40 minutes of new music utilizing field recordings, guitars, shortwave radio, analog keyboards & Moog filters. Haunting and yet serene, overflowing with contemplative and melodic tones, these are mostly long-form pieces: 'Always' builds slowly into a monolithic block of sound, while in the title track, layer after layer of warm atmosphere appears and then unravels into a sea of tranquility. This is three-dimensional music, strikingly elegant, from a modern master of the art. This picture disc LP is adorned with Pacione's lovely full-color macro photography circa 1995. The colorful sounds and images are bound together into a unified abstraction, dreamlike in its beauty. Adam Pacione has been a fixture in the upper echelon of ambient drone for the last five years with releases on Elevator Bath, Infraction, and his own Bee Eater Recordings imprint. Pacione is also a highly skilled photographer with solo exhibitions and nearly a lifetime of experience under his belt. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas. This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 268 copies."

Adultnapper - Compass Rose 12 inch (Nummer-schallplatten) [NUMMER031EP] $10.25
"Compass Rose: Beware. When Adultnapper is at the controls, what often starts out innocently enough as a thick dub rhythm, proves, by the end, to be something entirely more nefarious. On Compass Rose, Adultnapper is up to no good again, wooing the listener with gently pulsating kicks and snappy hats before foreboding tidbits of well placed noise that open the door for an insistent pad rising ever so slowly from the nether regions of consciousness. Like the onset of a migraine, the groove tightens around the pad until its mass obliterates all else... and then, just like that, it melts away to reveal a sweet melodic surprise that is sure to unleash a wave of euphoric emotion on the dance floor. 'Lugubrious': File under surrealist sci-fi soundtracks for the club. Rich with strange atmospherics, listening to 'Lugubrious' evokes scenes of Barbarella exploring an Yves Tanguy landscape, only our heroine had better hurry back to her ship before that sinister sounding synth catches up to her!"

Alan Courtis/Bruce Russell/Eddie Prevost/Mattin - The Sakada Sessions LP (Azul Discografica) [AZD007LP] $22.75
"Now that we've wrapped up our inaugural six-volume CD series, Azul Discografica continues in earnest with our first vinyl release, The Sakada Sessions. Sakada is the duo of Eddie Prevost (AMM) and experimental noise agitator Mattin (Billy Bao, Josetxo Grieta, and countless other projects). Since Sakada's 2001 inception, the pair has performed with a host of radical improvisers of the highest order. This record documents two such sessions: the first, a spare, inverted dronework featuring Alan Courtis on guitar and electronics, Prevost on bowed cymbals, snare, and miscellaneous percussion, and Mattin casting beams of grainy laptop feedback through the mist; the second, an intense, uneasy scrape session with The Dead C's Bruce Russell, whose synth drones provide an insistent counterpoint to Mattin's roaring computer noise and Prevost's mechanized tam-tam drills and cymbalic violence. At times, the musicians sound uncannily like one another, Mattin teasing Russellesque squalor out of his circuitry, Eddie's perverse timekeeping recalling Alan's degree-zero pulsations on that early Billy Bao CD. It's an extraordinary set: two sidelong improvisations by three generations of uncompromising improvisers. As usual, the performances are of a very high calibre. By necessity, this is an extremely limited edition. Silkscreened covers, exquisite sound, an impeccable piece of work in every respect."

Alice Cohen - Walking Up Walls LP (Olde English Spelling Bee) [OESB16] $17.75
The second solo album from longtime musician and visual artist ALICE COHEN. In contrast to her previous studio efforts these are raw home recordings with an intensely personal vibe. The sixteen short song-sketches alternate between densely layered shoegaze burners and shimmering, ethereal drifters. Exploring shadowy corners and using the musical equivalent of automatic writing-this was considered to be a sonic diary and not originally intended for release. For reference points think Pink Opaque-era Cocteau Twins filtered through the early '90s lens of New Zealanders like Alastair Galbraith & Sandra Bell.

Alice Cohen - Walking Up Walls LP (Olde English Spelling Bee) [OESB016LP] $18.00
"Walking Up Walls is the second solo album from long-time musician and visual artist Alice Cohen. In contrast to her previous studio efforts, these are raw home recordings with an intensely personal vibe. The sixteen short song-sketches alternate between densely layered shoegaze burners and shimmering, ethereal drifters. Exploring shadowy corners and using the musical equivalent of automatic writing -- this was considered to be a sonic diary and not originally intended for release. For reference points think Pink Opaque-era Cocteau Twins filtered through the early '90s lens of New Zealanders like Alastair Galbraith & Sandra Bell."

All Tiny Creatures - Segni 12 inch (Hometapes) [HT030] $10.25
Stacked melodies, distorted organs, stretched chords, reimagined vocals. COLLECTIONS OF COLONIES OF BEES and VOLCANO CHOIR multi-instrumentalist THOMAS WINCEK drops his Emotional Joystick handle for the glorious themes of ALL TINY CREATURES. During the 17-minute titular piano triumph of "Segni" and through the luminous haze of "Street Lights Ten Thousand Feet," ATC's debut EP builds four ideas into four engrossing instrumentals. This limited-edition colored vinyl release is a prelude to ATC's debut LP-featuring vocalists Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Megafaun and Ryan Olcott (12 Rods, Mystery Palace)-due in early 2010.

Amazing, The - The Amazing LP (Subliminal Sounds) [SUBL034LP] $23.75
This is the debut full-length release from Sweden's The Amazing. The Amazing is a group of prominent Swedish musicians who are playing or who have played with Dungen, Anna Jarvinen and Sagor & Swing. They've been called a super-group, but the band members think this sounds too contrived; rather, The Amazing is a natural process, a force of nature. There was nothing planned in them coming together, they just happened to enjoy each other's company and started jamming together, and the jams crystallized into this folk-rock/psych-pop collective. This album is wide-ranging and spans everything from groovy electric folk rock, via psychedelic pop, to airy, acoustic ballads. One track possesses the rambling, abstract haze of Blue Ä-yster Cult, others the golden moments of Topanga Canyon lite rock. Nothing is introverted or overworked -- everything is perfectly balanced and kept together by natural melodies and soulful vocals. The core musicians in The Amazing are: Christoffer Gunrup (Swedish singer/songwriter extraordinaire, ex-Granada), Reine Fiske (lead guitar wizard in Dungen, etc.), Johan Holmegard (drummer in Dungen and Life On Earth!), and Fredrik Swahn (prominent Swedish multi-musician with Anna Jarvinen, Dungen, etc.). Special guests include some of Sweden's finest musicians; for example, Fredrik BjĶrling (ex-Dungen) and Erik Malmberg (the keyboard champ from Sagor & Swing), amongst others. This is spirited, psychedelic pop with a laidback country-drive feel.

An-2 - From Now On 12 inch (Theomatic) [THEOM011EP] $11.50
"Joining forces with the Minsk-based whiz kid Maxim Samos, who makes his second appearance on Theomatic, AN-2 delivers two mid-paced numbers that naturally blend the elements of funk, rock and disco. Sometime you may find yourself in a mood when you are not worried about past troubles and there is a calm confidence that from now on everything in the future will be just fine. And this is what the new Theomatic release from An-2 is about."

And.id - First Talk 12 inch (Mobilee) [MOBILEE055EP] $11.50
And.id is renowned for his live performances in which he integrates both released and unreleased productions, loops, and live use of his trumpet into an incomparably high-energy affair. "First Talk" is a bouncing, tech-y track that constantly moves forward, with build-ups that stop just short of peaking. "Ephoria" also maintains restraint, with stuttered house beats and melodic undercurrents. "Lights On" displays his darker, more minimal side, taking advantage of lower frequency ranges and recurrent echoes.

Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra - Take Off! LP (Alien Transistor) [N018LP] $16.00
Previously released on CD by Alien Transistor, now available in a vinyl version that comes with a big DINA1 poster. This is the debut full-length release by Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra. This multi-national 20-piece orchestra, led by 25-year-old Berlin-based composer Daniel Glatzel, sets off a firework of energy, musicality and fresh ideas and juggles genres, styles and musical references in a way that can make you dizzy. Jazz doesn't begin to describe it. We're talking about everything from minimalism to film scores, Romanticism, modern classical music, and Bartók, right through to Frank Zappa. Glatzel also cites computer games, cartoons, shabby infomercials and elevators in expensive hotels as influences. Take Off! is true to its name -- the album is wild, headstrong, haunting, atmospheric, funny, disturbing -- all at once.

Barking Dogs, The - It's What 12 inch (Mad On The Moon) [MAD003EP] $11.50
"A deep and evocative late-nite track with a killer remix from P. Lauer of the Arto Mwambe duo. The Barking Dogs came to the attention of the public with their bootleg version of 'Incantation' in summer 2008, their spaced out disco rework was heard on all the underground dancefloors. The follow up 'The Guitar Man' saw them team up with Club Silencio (Red Music) to work on a nu-disco track that was playlisted by Ellen Alien, James Murphy and everyone in between. This is the first official release for the duo and it's coupled with a great deep and mystic version courtesy of Phillip Lauer (Brontosaurus Rec.) from the Arto Mwambe duo."

Black Boned Angel - Verdun LP (Riot Season) [REPOSE020LP] $16.00
"Black Boned Angel return with their second Riot Season release, following the sold out Eternal Love/Eternal Hunger vinyl LP (REPOSELP013). Sharing a similarly bleak ground to Corrupted, Sunn 0))) and Earth, New Zealand's Black Boned Angel return with their fourth full length album Verdun, and perhaps their most sombre and fully-realized work to date. The Battle of Verdun was fought between the German and French armies, and was one of the critical battles during World War 1 on the Western Front. It resulted in more than a quarter of a million battlefield deaths and at least half a million wounded. Verdun was the longest battle and one of the most devastating in World War 1 and indeed in history. Over the course of 50 minutes, BBA soundtrack that brutal conflict with their trademark dark ambient drones and doom-laden riffs. The CD version of this release contains an exclusive extra piece entitled 'Tears Strike The Mile High Gong' and comes in a card gatefold sleeve (1000 copies only)."

Blind Man's Colour - Season's Dreaming LP (Kanine) [LPBLINDSEAS] $16.25
Two Florida 19 year olds make mature pysch pop, receive blog love from Stereogum, I Guess I'm Floating, Indie Rock Cafe, and Kanye West, sign to Kanine Records and release debut album Season Dreaming. Limited run of CD and vinyl LP with printed inner sleeve and digital download card.

Boredoms - Super Roots 10 2xLP (Thrill Jockey) [THR221LP] $15.00
"Long regarded as musical pioneers, Boredoms have continually pushed sonic boundaries and inspired musicians for over 20 years. Their albums and their performances defy categorization, each one a completely unique event. The one commonality is that the members of the Boredoms have amazing technical skills as musicians, limitless imagination and the ability to combine the two -- as no others have. After only being released on CD in Japan, Thrill Jockey is proud to bring Super Roots 10 to the US. The album will only be available as a limited 2 x 12" release. The album is produced by EYE and all the artwork was created and designed by EYE as well. Super Roots 10 features a remix from Norwegian artist Lindstrøm who has released music on the label Smalltown Supersound and has also done remixes for artists as varied as Franz Ferdinand, LCD Soundsystem, and The Juan McClean. Also featured is a remix from Japanese artist Altz who has recorded albums for Bear Funk and Jet Set Records Japan and previously done remixes for the Boredoms in addition to Tal M. Klein, Cro-Magnon, and Harp On Mouth Sextet." Includes poster.

Boyd Rice - The Way I Feel Picture Disc LP (Caciocavallo) [10548] $19.25
RELEASE DATE: 09-14-2009
This is an album about feelings. Those of you who only know Boyd Rice from his rather brutish and insensitive noise music will no doubt be surprised to discover the sensitive, at times passionate individual lurking beneath his often gruff exterior. Here, Rice opens up for us. He shares how he feels about a wide range of topics, and we bet you'll be surprised just how often his thoughts and feelings mirror your own.

Throughout his long and storied career Boyd Rice has collaborated with other musicians. From the leading lights of England's neo-folk underground to America's most obscure eccentrics, Denver, Colorado's favorite agent provocateur has repeatedly insinuated himself into the lives of the most interesting, the most notorious, and most memorable artists and performers, every time producing a classic song that defies easy categorization. "The Way I Feel" collects the best of these tracks onto one album. Whether it's with Coil or David Tibet, Douglas P. or Tiffiny Anders, every song is special, and the atmosphere is unforgettable.

"The Way I Feel" was first released in the year 2000 and has never gone out of print on CD at Soleilmoon, but with the release of "Hatesville" imminent we decided to relaunch it. When we first put it out we pressed 1000 copies on black vinyl, but they sold out in a matter of weeks. On September 14 we'll issue two vinyl configurations, both very limited: 300 copies on red vinyl and 500 picture discs. A fresh pressing of CDs will accompany the other formats.

Boyd Rice - The Way I Feel LP (Caciocavallo) [10549] $16.75
RELEASE DATE: 09-14-2009
This is an album about feelings. Those of you who only know Boyd Rice from his rather brutish and insensitive noise music will no doubt be surprised to discover the sensitive, at times passionate individual lurking beneath his often gruff exterior. Here, Rice opens up for us. He shares how he feels about a wide range of topics, and we bet you'll be surprised just how often his thoughts and feelings mirror your own.

Throughout his long and storied career Boyd Rice has collaborated with other musicians. From the leading lights of England's neo-folk underground to America's most obscure eccentrics, Denver, Colorado's favorite agent provocateur has repeatedly insinuated himself into the lives of the most interesting, the most notorious, and most memorable artists and performers, every time producing a classic song that defies easy categorization. "The Way I Feel" collects the best of these tracks onto one album. Whether it's with Coil or David Tibet, Douglas P. or Tiffiny Anders, every song is special, and the atmosphere is unforgettable.

"The Way I Feel" was first released in the year 2000 and has never gone out of print on CD at Soleilmoon, but with the release of "Hatesville" imminent we decided to relaunch it. When we first put it out we pressed 1000 copies on black vinyl, but they sold out in a matter of weeks. On September 14 we'll issue two vinyl configurations, both very limited: 300 copies on red vinyl and 500 picture discs. A fresh pressing of CDs will accompany the other formats.

Broombeck - The Clapper - Reclapped 12 inch (Opossum) [OPSM022EP] $12.25
"With this release, The Dolphins, Daso and Monoder deliver a massive remix package on Broombeck's Uberhit 'The Clapper.' Italian producers collective The Dolphins transfers the original techno stomper into an up-todate, technohousey reinterpretation with overwhelming peaktime attitude while space cowboy Daso drifts into a more intergalactic dreamy dimension, one can almost imagine shiny happy people slapping their friends while clapping their hands. Finally, Jussi-Pekka brings up his Monoder character to calm down again, as if he just got back from the darkest Rökerei in Good Old Amsterdam. We call it Clapno!"

Canyons - Fire Eyes 12 inch (DFA) [DFA2222] $7.50
Drawing influences from the far corners of planet Earth and beyond, Australia's CANYONS strikes a balance between psych and acid house, pop and disco, fiction and fact. LEO HOLIDAY and RYAN SEA-MIST have been producing their distinctly boundary-less modern cacophony for a couple of years now, attracting interest from fans of eclectic, irreverent dance music everywhere. The duo has remixed tracks for Empire of the Sun and Ladyhawke, and also runs the Hole in the Sky label. Fire Eyes is Canyons' first release for DFA Records and follows recent compilation appearances on Modular, Lo Recordings, and Cosmo Vitelli's I'm a Cliche, among others. Their debut album is in the making and will be out on Modular in late '09 / early '10. With the odd remix in the pipelines, Canyons are also piecing together a full live band to take their musical healing on the road and to the people. Features a JACQUES RENAULT remix.

Catz 'n Dogz (FEAT. Pol_on) - Me 12 inch (Get Physical Music) [GPM116EP] $12.25
On this 12", accomplished Polish tech-house producers Catz 'N Dogz team up with their homeboys, Pol_On. "Me" features Todd Terry stabs, gospel diva vocals, and a rhythm played with chopped, escalating vocals that will definitely get your hands up. "Kawa Z Gruntem" is a cosmic-disco house journey, perfect for sipping cognac at closing parties. "Lolek & Bolek" is a hip-hop funkster with a dirty bass line, heavy beats, cheeky drum fills and effects. Three tracks, three different vibes.

Chris Carrier & Jef K - Morning 12 inch (Silver Network) [SILVER024EP] $11.50
"The long-overdue relaunch of the Silver Network imprint -- by none other than Jef K & Chris Carrier. Way back when, Silver Network was primarily doing the deep-house thing. And boom! Wouldn't you know it, these sounds are making a resurgence in club-land. Back by popular demand, and out the gate with a nu-disco flavoured ditty, Jef K & Chris Carrier team up on the Morning EP. Side A features the title track. Side B features the throwback, 'I'm in Love Today.' Silver Network is back to stay & the year ahead is going to bring forth more tasty numbers."

Cloudland Canyon - Silver Tongue Sisyphus LP (Holy Mountain) [HOLY111] $13.25
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!! Recorded in Brooklyn, Germany, and Memphis, Silver Tongued Sisyphus follows CLOUDLAND CANYON's well-received Requiems Der Natur 2002-2004 released on the Tee Pee label. The album's secular calls to prayer with humming, looping, and loping ambient passages are interspersed with bursting rhythmic energy and agitated guitar lines. Pulling influences from the foggy ether of generations past, the band stakes their claim to the shadows of the cult musical culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s German underground scene. Live shows sound like unauthorized soundtracks to netherworld versions of The Swimmer or The Scorceror. Originally released on vinyl in an edition of 96 copies, Silver Tongued Sisyphus is now available once again. "... a stunning neo-psychedelic experience where the musical spirits of This Heat, Ash Ra Temple, and The Mahavishnu Orchestra are evoked, celebrated, and absorbed inside Uhlhorn and Wojan's shifting cloud-formations of sound."-The Wire. Pressed on silver colored vinyl. CD version released by Kranky.

Computer Jay - Distance 10 inch (Hotflush) [RAMP017EP] $10.25
"In the late '70s, a young boy was surgically attached to an Atari 2600 using primitive medical procedures by the U.S. government, and then hidden in a massive conspiracy thing like what happens in films and stuff. Upon hearing his plight, we found that boy, who is now a man, and he has only gone and made some tunes!"

Dale Lloyd - Akasha_for Record PIC. DISC LP (Elevator Bath) [EEAOA028LP] $19.75
"A welcome return from Dale Lloyd with this, his first new release in three years. Akasha_for Record is a two-part composition, filled with highly dynamic intricacies very carefully arranged. Rich micro-detail meets subtle emotional resonance in a spellbinding work created specifically for the vinyl format. Akasha_for Record is an opulent listening experience, indeed, and one that will reward close, repeated scrutiny. The record's artwork consists of two gorgeous, lightly manipulated, full-color photographic images by Lloyd. The sound/vision combination of Akasha_for Record is truly intriguing and utterly beautiful. Dale Lloyd is well known for phonography, composition, graphic design, and curatorial skills for his highly acclaimed and/OAR label. He has recorded for numerous labels over the years, including Elevator Bath, and/OAR, Alluvial Recordings, Mystery Sea, and Room40. Lloyd lives in Seattle, Washington. This picture disc LP has been released in an edition of 216 copies."

Dave P. & Adam Sparkles - Delaze 12 inch (Satellite Of Love) [SAT002EP] $10.25
"'Delaze' is Dave P & Adam Sparkles follow up single to last year's much-lauded 'Sunday Night In Glasgow.' This debut 12" won critical acclaim such as Record of the Month in Tsugi magazine and Record of the Week in Manchester's legendary music store Piccadilly Records. On their return we see our protagonists sticking to their trademark sound of melodic techno madness but upping their game by delivering a record of distinct originality that is already burning the boxes of 2 Many DJ's, Erol Alkan, Riton, Simian Mobile Disco, Boys Noize, Michael Mayer, Etienne De Crecy and Angel Molina."

David Pher - The Return To Harare 12 inch (Gluckskind Schallplatten) [GLUCK012EP] $11.50
"Berlin based producer David Pher was born in 1982 close to Frankfurt. He discovered his passion for electronic music during a sojourn in Ibiza in 1997. After studying Popular Music and Media he moved to Berlin and worked for Sonar Kollektiv as well as attending the SAE Institutes electronic music producer program. His first EP on Glückskind was released in 2008 and quickly became a big success. Phers releases hit the style of contemporary club music in a very unique way. His style of fresh, deep, and minimal house brought his tracks into the DJ cases of many well known DJs like Barem, Tiefschwarz, Steve Lawler, Gabriel Ananda, and many others. His new release for Glückskind is the Return to Harare EP. For all the vinyl lovers it includes the massive Digital-Smasher 'Harare' and three handsome, fresh songs which have this so called warmth a track need to be special."

Dimmer - Remissions 2xLP (Isounderscore) [ISO008LP] $24.25
"Dimmer's Remissions is the second full-length album from longtime sonic architects of interactive feedback circuits, Thomas Dimuzio and Joseph Hammer. This 2xLP effectively represents four side-long pieces from their live shows throughout California taken place between 2006 and 2007. Essentially a follow-up to their 2007 album on Los Angeles' Melon Expander, Remissions expands upon the immense recursive tape looping and resampling that is found inherent in their work but achieves a weight and time displacement that greatly overshadows their dark preceding full-lengh. All four pieces were recorded at: Norcal Noisefest in Sacramento (2006, 'Sky Wire'), The Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco (2006, 'Sun Dog'), The Smell in Los Angeles (2006, 'Gases That Emit Light'), and ArtSF's Noise Pancakes Series (2007, 'Giant Eagle'). Live sampling, processing, feedback, looping by Thomas Dimuzio. Tape manipulation and processing by Joseph Hammer. Design and layout by Thomas Dimuzio, Joseph Hammer and Brandon Nickell. Limited to 500 copies on full-color sleeves with cover photography by John Dalton."

Dragon Turtle/Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air - Split 12 inch (La Societe Exped.) [LSE014] $10.00
The depth of field is adjusted by a natural collaboration between two artists; GOODNIGHT AIR GOODNIGHT STARS (DAVID KRESGE), who plays on and off with DRAGON TURTLE (TOM ASSELIN and BRIAN LIGHTBODY). DT takes us on a 17-minute journey from drifting blues of ocean, to patches of dry land and the epiphanies embedded in the natural environment, using the sky as a map. It is a call to arms, a jubilant acceptance of embracing challenge, exploration and discovery through natural wonder, and realizing journeys through cycles in life. One might imagine Steve Reich wandering a desolate beach during a meteor shower while humming the Bar-Kay's "Soulfinger." He kneels to examine a bottle washed ashore, containing a cassette tape labeled "Echo & The Bunnymen / Jesus and Mary Chain". On the flip side, for as macro as Dragon Turtle weaves their tale, Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air goes microscopic with "Subluminal," as if looking through a high powered telescope into the deepest recesses of night. Where Dragon Turtle take inspiration from the warm rotations of summer, GSGA faces off with the cold winter sky, inspired by crystalline frozen nightscapes, deconstructed guitar drones, and broken electronics. Beautiful and monolithic walls of string scrapes slowly yield to dark melody.

Drakkar Sauna - 20009 LP (Marriage) [MAR057] $11.00
It's pronounced "Two Thousand-ousand Nine." The new record is about different kinds of love and the astronauts who feel it, what BLAISE CENDRARS called "the amputees of space." The songs are all taken from The Moon For Its Citizens which is a book lyricist and singer WALLACE COCHRAN wrote. The book will be published by Marriage Publishing House and include a download code for the record. The LP record will include an excerpt from the book. 20009 features JASON GROTH, MICHAEL KAPINUS and MARK RICE of MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC COMPANY, CHRIS BARTH and AARON DEER of THE IMPOSSIBLE SHAPES and JILL SAHIBA NIELSEN-FARRELL.

Dubkasm - Transform I 2xLP (Sufferah's Choice) [DUBK001LP] $22.00
Dubkasm is a UK and Brazil-based roots reggae/dub outfit from Bristol, England. Formed by producer Digistep and DJ Stryda in 1994 during the emergence period of the UK "digital dub" sound, their debut release in 1996 was Chemical Reaction Dub. Since then they have released nine records on their own Sufferah's Choice Recordings label (named after DJ Stryda's well-established Bristol radio show) and received consistent radio and soundsystem play, most notably by the legendary Jah Shaka. Meanwhile, their live shows, fronted by veteran mic-man Afrikan Simba combine exclusive dubplates, live saxophone and improvised sound effects -- guaranteed to move any crowd. Transform I is the result of many years of work carried out between the two musical hubs of Bristol and Brazil. A heavy, authentic blend of roots and dub reggae, Dubkasm's sound varies from militant digital steppas to acoustic vocal tracks, with Brazilian rhythms and samba instrumentation occasionally woven into the mix. Atmospherics and percussion recorded in Brazil reflect the journey of producer Digistep tracing his Brazilian roots, as instruments such as berimbau, zabumba, cavaquinho and cuica are called into play, while his Bristolian counterpart DJ Stryda captures some of the finest vocalists from the UK's reggae and dub scene, promoting the material worldwide. The album's conscious Rasta messages are conveyed over lovingly-crafted roots rhythms. Amidst the more traditional dub styles, nyahbinghi drumming bonds with samba, capoeira percussion rides one-drop rhythms, and the first album to mix UK dub with Brazilian influences is born. CD version includes bonus audiovisual content.

Ducktails - Landscapes LP (Olde English Spelling Bee) [OESB40] $17.75
"Stories are forever and i got to get back to PIPELINE, which is hitting the screen right now, and its definitely not about surfing and reminds charles of when Ebay and you stayed at the New York Dante's microchip apartment and it was so hot and you guys passed out next to each other in your undies exclusively like siamese pipeline limbo style, if I had hoagie it would have been Chazzi to Chucky in like 4 doners and sixty seckies."-Charles Berlitz

Ducktails - Landscapes LP (Olde English Spelling Bee) [OESB040LP] $18.00
"Stories are forever and i got to get back to PIPELINE, which is hitting the screen right now, and its definitely not about surfing and reminds charles of when Ebay and you stayed at the new york dante's microchip apartment and it was so hot and you guys passed out next to each other in your undies exclusively like siamese pipeline limbo style, if i had hoagie it would have been chazzi to chucky in like 4 doners and sixty seckies."

Dylan Shearer - Planted/Plans LP (Yik Yak) [YIKYAK015LP] $16.50
"Written, performed and recorded by Shearer in 2007, Planted/Plans is beautiful melancholic avant-pop informed by west coast luminaries such as Van Dyke Parks and Harry Partch. A nice follow-up to the Robert Martin LP (Yik Yak 013) from another Santa Cruz long-gone. Second edition of 100."

Edouard-Leon Scott De Martinville - Au Clair de la Lune 7 inch (Parlortone) [PT1001EP] $8.25
Dust-to-Digital proudly inaugurates its vinyl imprint Parlortone with the earliest intelligible recording of the human voice: a historic 20-second version of "Au Clair de la Lune" made in 1860, 17 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. This one-sided 45rpm record comes complete with an etched back, a descriptive essay and a reproduction of Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville's original "Au Clair..." phonautogram. Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville was born in France in 1817. As a printer by trade, he was able to read accounts of the latest scientific discoveries and became an inventor. On March 25, 1857, he received French patent #17,897/31,470 for the phonautograph. This device made a visual image of sound waves on a cylinder, but did not play or reproduce any sounds. Scott used a horn to collect sound, a diaphragm at the end of the horn that vibrated from the sound, a stiff brush bristle attached to the diaphragm, and a rotating cylinder covered with lampblack or blackened paper that recorded the wavy lines from the vibrating diaphragm and bristle. Example "No. 5" -- "Au Clair de la Lune" was recorded on April 9, 1860. Scott prepared its recording surface by wrapping a sheet of paper around a cylinder, which he rotated over a smoking lantern to cover with soot. He recorded with two styli -- one driven by the vibrations of a tuning fork, the other driven by a membrane vibrating in sympathy with his voice. He removed the paper from the cylinder and immersed it in an alcohol-based fixative from behind its curtain of noise. He sang purposely into his instrument to reveal the shape of sounds and the frequency of his notes. In listening to "Au Clair..." we eavesdrop not on a musical performance, but on a scientific experiment -- wafting imperfectly through a window in time.

Erol Alkan & Boys Noize - Waves/Death Suite 12 inch (Boysnoize Records) [BNR036EP] $11.50
Erol Alkan & Boys Noize, peers of the new electronic movement, have teamed up for the hottest Berlin/London connection on the dancefloor. "Waves" is a top-of-the-night Balearic/disco storm, while "Death Suite" is a more abstract, cut 'n' paste techno/acid rollercoaster. Both tracks were initially envisaged purely as battle weapons for Erol and Boys Noize's respective DJ sets, but the response has been such that a full release became absolutely necessary.

Explorers - Bermuda Telepaths LP (Not Not Fun) [NNF166LP] $12.00
"Bermuda Telepaths is the latest title lifted out of the fruit-and-photocopy-strewn Outer Limits Recordings archive and into the ears of the world at large. Recorded under the never-again-used Explorers moniker and first edited into album form about a year ago, this hallucinatory patchwork trip into the ether synthesizes all of OLR's deepest loves -- boombox fidelity, quick cuts, keyboard loop sorcery, underwater pop, general mind surfing -- into a humbly hypnotic whirlpool of energies. Apparently there was a concept/thesis behind the album's genesis somehow involving psychic powers, lizard people, and the Bermuda Triangle, but the details are hazy. Which befits the audio in question. Read your palm. Take a walk in your thoughts. Explore away. Black vinyl LPs in jackets with artwork designed by the artist, plus a copy shop poem insert. Edition of 330."

Gastr Del Sol - Camoufleur LP (Drag City) [DC133LP] $12.75
2009 repress, LP version. "Sometimes it's like an overstuffed musical armchair -- quite comfy, even when lumpy. The contribution of Markus Popp, whose style of digital scratching has made Oval an experimental household name, adds to the density and often provides an echo of Gastr past while the rest of Camoufleur paints the future."

Geiom & Spamchop - Cave Rave 12 inch (Berkane Sol Records) [BRKDUB012EP] $10.25
"Geiom + Spamchop find themselves in a distant mysterious land ravaged by sub zero temperatures. Across the hills they can hear faint echoes of deep bass. Crunching through the snow towards the source they discover a party in a massive cave full of odd rock formations and sparkling crystals. The ravers seem slightly unhinged but happy, dancing to strange future music that reminds our explorers of UK garage without the bling. Spamchop records some of it into his phone for future analysis -- when the pair get back to the studio Cave Rave is the result. After the beach jam which spawned 'Eyl Booty' (brk011) Geiom is making preparations to leave when one of the pirates shows him a video camera with footage of their most ambitious raid -- the capture of the Sirius Star oil tanker -- Geiom likes the idea of this ramshackle bunch going head to head with the greedy oil barons. He agrees to make the pirates something they can pump out while they make their way across the Indian Ocean -- 'give us something with a lot of bass - we kitted out our speedboats with some tasty subwoofers' is the request. Geiom also includes some audio from the footage for good measure. 'Sirius Star' is going to be rocking boats, cars and raves everywhere for some time to come."

Gerd - Arkest's Blaze 12 inch (Music Man) [MM048EP] $11.50
Originally released in 1999 on Music Man. This is Arkest's Blaze from Gerd. The title track starts with minimal shuffle and swoosh, building slowly with pulse agitations into throbbing tech-house. Also including a mono mix.

Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix LP (Minority Records) [MIN24] $18.50
RELEASE DATE: 09-28-2009
Aix is the latest work from Italian artist Giuseppe Ielasi and the follow-up to 2007's August on 12K. Ielasi relied heavily on numerous short samples and combining them in ways that fell into his groove; some found from others' recordings and many more recorded during the past year. We hear fragments of percussive (acoustic) objects, drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, and, of course, synthetic textures.

Glimpse & Jay Shepheard - The Lazer Bather 12 inch (Glimpse) [GLIMPSE008EP] $10.25
"Production powerhouse Glimpse returns from recent outings on Planet E & Cadenza to provide one of this summer's must have releases. In the last few years there have been a select number of producers who have truly stood out from the pack to join the ranks of the revered, and leading the bunch has got to be Chris Spero AKA Glimpse. Spero set up his Glimpse Recordings imprint in 2005 purely to deal with his own releases, but it wasn't long before his exceptional production skills drew the attention of some of the most respected electronic labels in the world. Four Twenty Recordings, Hypercolour and Leftroom were soon joined by Carl Craig's Planet E and Luciano's Cadenza as official keepers of the sound of Glimpse. Despite this Spero has had the great sense to maintain his own label keeping some true gems to disperse on his beloved imprint. This EP sees him teaming up with Jay Shepheard, the much respected Compost artist who pools his talent here with Spero to create something quite special. The last Glimpse Recordings release, 5 Easy Pieces, was released in 2008 and was one of the most hotly tipped underground records of the year garnering support from the likes of Ripperton, Tiefschwarz, Akufen, Garnier etc. Now it's time for 2009 to make space for the Lazer Bather EP a single in 7 pieces that is likely to be shaking dancefloors across the world for the foreseeable future. The Lazer Bather EP is a glorious aural feast, showcasing the best of house music from Glimpse & Jay Shepheard and friends. The EP features 2 collaborations with Shepheard, likewise with Alex Jones from Hypercolour, as well as original cuts from Spero and an exclusive track from Jay Shepheard on his own. It also sees Shenoda and Cesare vs Disorder on remix duty. This is a release that provides variety and quality at every turn, from the old school house anthem of 'Colours' to the deep, jackin' stylings of 'Bad Monday' it truly is a joy to behold. Add Shenoda's wonderful mix of 'In my Soul' and Shepheard's soulful 'Here Comes' and along with the rest of this superb EP you have a sterling slice of the best electronic music has to offer. This is without a doubt essential listening for 2009."

Goth-Trad - Dark Path 12 inch (Deep Medi Musik) [MEDI015EP] $10.25
"Sickness from Goth-Trad on Mala's label, with perhaps his best twelve to date. 'Dark Path' on the A is an exercise in dub technology, thick slabs of bass overlaid with eastern melodies and mad FX. Percussion and snares are treated with heavy delays, pinging around like auditory hallucinations, building a framework upon which to hang the wistful chords and gentle flute topline. The flip is just as involving, stabbing wind samples and off-kilter hats readying you for sub undulations, runnin beats and mental bendy midrange noises."

Hey Today! - Wonderman 12 inch (Bang Gang 12 Inches) [BANG019EP] $11.50
"Hey Today!, the Hamburgian duo of Raik Fargo and Dy! emerge from long months spent twiddling knobs, eating icecream on mars and listening to themselves twiddle deeeeep inside their tekhno bunker to offer up their latest and greatest 3 track (plus Kicktro), Wonderman E.P, on BangGang12s. Following on from their debut release on Kitsune last year, remixes for Digitalism (Kitsune), Shazam (Bang Gang) and Zombie Nation (Turbo) and time spent appreciating the wonders of German sausage, Wonderman combines the duos epic production talents with robotic vocoding, synth solos and female (not diva) vocals to produce a very German-non-German-sounding-superhero-house stormer. 'Wish I Was a Wonderman' is a slow chugging euphoric noisy-but-not-too-noisy jammer that works just as well for foot tapping, head nodding, chin stroking and body moving alike. As big on the breakdowns as it is on the synth stabs, this one will tear holes in the dancefloors from Beirut to Berlin. Wonderman reworks the title track into a faster and even noisier affair that is straight up peaktime hands in the air 'have you got any more Es woah here comes the breakdown I'm peakin'" fun. And Parisienne Instituber Bobmo takes the original and jams it through his trademark '90s cut-ghetto-dancemaniac hit machine to produce a rave-but-not-nu-rave missle to finish off this release."

Idioma - Landscapes 12 inch (Marketing Records) [MKG009EP] $11.50
"Created in 2005 by French producer Tim Paris, Marketing Records has taken a bit of a breather -- but is back on track with MKG 009, featuring newcomers Idioma. And what a way to unleash the label from its relapse. Idioma, 'Landscapes' is unbelievable. Ambient, edgy -- and featuring remixes by Tim Paris & hit Robot -- who pipe in the heat, hot off the tails of their newest release on DFA. Expect the forthcoming year to bring a gritty & eclectic feel to the label -- electronic music in various genres, pop to disco, techno to contemporary."

Ignacio - Virton 12 inch (Music Man) [MM077EP] $11.50
Originally released in 2001 on Music Man. Featuring the original mix of "Virton" by Ignacio aka Steve Rachmad, and a remix by Chris Liebing. Rapid, hypnotic beats and cymbal skims swell and recede into metallic raindrops of high-pitched synth. Liebing takes it down a couple octaves, but still keeps the pace heart-racingly fast, with a skull-shaking backbeat.

Ita the Rita - Snorkel/Skate LP (Rrr) [RRRITA] $16.50
"Extreme noise, each side a separate sound source. 'Skate' = amplified skateboard rail. 'Snorkel' = a shark feeding frenzy. Printed cover - edition 500."

Itamar Sagi - Selio/Series 1 12 inch (Be As One) [BAO020EP] $11.50
Itamar Sagi returns to Be As One in perfect Sagi-style with the Selio/Series 1 EP. The title track is an uplifting and punching slab of techno, with a real fat beat and Itamar's distinctive, trademark chord sound. "Series 1" is a paced-down and trippy number -- very atmospheric in mood, but with a bouncy groove. Perfect for a summer dancefloor.

Jacob Korn - I Like The Sun 12 inch (Running Back) [RB017EP] $12.25
"New kid on the block Jacob Korn (Dresden, Germany y'all!) convinced sometime somewhere in Toronto with a hearty live set that took a route over hip hop, down tempo house and all kinds of funkiness until it peaked with the disco-house-craze 'I Like The Sun (But not on LEDs).' Much to the delight of a present Running Back A&R. Hands were shook and it took only 2 and a half years until the test pressing arrived. Supplemented with the slow burning 'Selene' that really gets you the second time around, prevents the typical mistakes current deep house likes to make (at least, we think so) and is the sun god's sister, the A-side is good to go. Flip the script to see Prins Thomas in a good temper, rolling out the red carpet with one of his tried and tested remixes. 'I Like The Sun' piles up to 13 minutes of true Diskomiks glory including drums that go on forever (bonus beats, y'all!) and some eye-cue-markers for those of you who are deaf already. Well, swell!"

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Beat Of Our Own Drum LP+CD (Rabbit Factory) [RF07] $12.75
JC BROOKS is determined to become the next in the long line of classic Chicago Soul singers. Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Syl Johnson-JC has learned from them all, and he's got no illusions about what it takes to become a classic. Armed with THE UPTOWN SOUND, one of the most ferocious bands to ever crawl up out of the windy city, JC's live shows are all-out assaults on the audience employing everything from raw punk to heart-drenched R&B. Guaranteed to make you dance by any means necessary. JC Brooks is the new sound of Chicago.

Jeroen Search - A 12 inch (Figure Spc) [FIGSPCA001EP] $11.50
"With great pleasure we announce a brand new label from Len Series: Figure SPC. A strictly limited run of elite releases that tread the sweet sublime grounds between extended hybrid techno, phasing dub-excursions and deep, off-the-wall house variations. After four years of releasing quality, mind expanding and earth shaking electronic music, and with a back catalogue that boasts some of the most forward thinking producers in the world today, Len Faki's Berlin based Figure imprint is at the eve of its latest adventure into the unknown. Designed as a platform to nurture some of label boss Len Faki's more complexing, or submerged, uplifting or delicate signings, its sure to breath yet more life into the Len Series label family. Its first, limited-press release features a special 3 part release by Rotterdam's Jeroen Search, re-inventing the album format and in turn the boundaries of hypnotising, strikingly modern electronic arrangements."

John Daly - Aurora 12 inch (International Records Recordings) [IRR005EP] $10.25
"It's IRRness how this guy blows out one hit after another. You may get the slight feeling that something must be IRRegular here. And we say: IRRor! IRRness is only the IRR garden of emotions you'll find yourself in whenever you listen to John Daly's music. And it is this Daly-ish flIRRing that turns your feelings into a rattle. We say ?thank you to IRReland!"

Julian Lynch - Orange You Glad LP (Olde English Spelling Bee) [OESB41] $17.75
The debut full-length LP from JULIAN LYNCH, following a string of self-released CDRs and a recent split 7-inch with his childhood friend and frequent collaborator Matt Mondanile of Ducktails on the Underwater Peoples label. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Julian has had a busy summer playing countless shows both solo and as a member of PREDATOR VISION, DUCKTAILS and REAL ESTATE offshoot ALEX BLEEKER & THE FREAKS. This album is comprised of 4-track home recordings made in his hometown of Ridgewood, New Jersey and also in Madison, Wisconsin where he is a graduate student in ethnomusicology. His interest in Indian & South Asian music blossomed several years ago when he was living in Washington, DC and working for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. This exposure to their vast library of world music has informed his output, and he blends instruments such as harmonium & tabla with guitar-rock instrumentation. Also of note is his use of circular breathing techniques on the clarinet-often a focal point during his meditative live shows.

Julian Lynch - Orange You Glad LP (Olde English Spelling Bee) [OESB041LP] $18.00
"Orange You Glad is the debut full-length LP from Julian Lynch, following a string of self-released cd-r's and a recent split 7" with his childhood friend and frequent collaborator Matt Mondanile of Ducktails on the Underwater Peoples label. A talented multi-instrumentalist, Julian has had a busy summer playing countless shows both solo and as a member of Predator Vision, Ducktails, and Real Estate offshoot Alex Bleeker & the Freaks. This album is comprised of 4-track home recordings made in his hometown of Ridgewood, New Jersey and also in Madison, Wisconsin where he is a graduate student in ethnomusicology. His interest in Indian & South Asian music blossomed several years ago when he was living in Washington, D.C. and working for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. This exposure to their vast library of world music has informed his output, and he blends instruments such as harmonium & tabla with guitar-rock instrumentation. Also of note is his use of circular breathing techniques on the clarinet -- often a focal point during his meditative live shows."

Knee Deep feat. Kathy Battistessa - All About Love 12 inch (Knee Deep Recordings) [KDR018EP] $11.50
"As an instrumental track, 'All About Love' was released back in early 2008. To be found on the highly acclaimed Big Love EP from Knee Deep's Love Trilogy EP series. 'All About Love' received remarkable wide-range club plays. And during the WMC this heavy club-track was the flavour of the month. In spite of everything the Kneedeep guys couldn't let the track go. Somehow they felt it could be a raving success if lyrics would be added. And being known for their big vocal workouts the KD duo teamed up with the voice of Café del Mar, MissCathy Battistessa! It turned out to be a more than fitting collaboration! Knee Deep and Cathy- 'More than ever People' - Battistess layed down this beautiful soul-searching song for the summer season. Three Mixes will be served by Ralf Gum and Mister Lovebirds of KD fame himself. 'All About Love' is a must have and future classic tune. Word."

Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Luechttoorn 12 inch (Musik Gewinnt Freunde) [MGF010EP] $10.25
"With MGF10 the guys behind Kollektiv Turmstrasse take us on a journey to the roots of their childhood to show us the harsh beauty of the sea. With dubby sounds and pianoriffs, 'Luechtoorn' reminds of a foggy , dark bay that's only enlightened by the flashing of a distant lighthouse. Like ghostlights we slide through this darkness to finally reach the coastline. Domink Eulberg turns 'Luechtoorn' into a moving peaktime-track and proves here one more time that he knows very well how to produce powerful and playful tracks."

Larry Levan - The Final Nights Of Paradise/Disk 4 Of 5 12 inch (Garage) [ZUKI4517EP] $10.25
"Vinyl edition of the final night at the Paradise Garage, featuring the live finale from legendary DJ Larry Levan. Apparently this is the fourth installment in a series of five total releases to feature 12" vinyl recordings of the continuous mix. Far from a hidden gem of historical obscurity, Final Night of Paradise documents the celebratory end-all party commemorating 10 years at the Garage and featuring a steady regiment of classics established & championed by Levan over his storied career there. There's nothing extremely edgy or obscure about the mix; if anything it testifies to the straightforward intuitiveness & communicative receptivity of Levan's energy and verifies a time when songs could speak for themselves if handled & guided with meticulous care by the vanguard of artistic communal expression. But really more than anything this piece serves as an objective marker for an event that's been told & retold so many times to so many who could not be there for one reason or another. Instead of listening to the stories, which are invaluable in their own way, we can look toward this piece as a concrete reassurance. True, this 12" can't possibly capture the prolific nature those times, and anyone saying so would be foolish. Still there's something uncanny about hearing it all in action, in the real & unadulterated form of 'fact,' satisfying the absurd but good natured obsession of those infatuated with dance music lore while at the same time providing an existing account in the real." Over 25 minutes playing time per side. Silkscreened Keith Haring art on cover.

Lee Curtiss - The Mantra 12 inch (Cityfox) [CITYFOX001EP] $11.50
"The new Swiss label Cityfox starts with the two sides of Detroit's Lee Curtiss. On side A, Lee shows his darker techno side with a phat smooth baseline and some wise poetry on 'The Mantra' as well as 'Vibrant Member,' where he gives some advices how to handle a girl. On side b you can hear his housy heart and you realize, that this guy isn't as though as you thought. 'Reverse Caress' is a tooly horn bomb. 'Whatcha Need' comes in with an euphoric baseline and is as simple as it's raw and massive."

Lemos - Kalooo 12 inch (Bass Culture) [BASSCULT001EP] $11.50
"The first single from the brand-new label founded by D'Julz. Despite being in the business for many years & maintaining a reputable stake amongst both the Parisian DJ circuit & worldwide who's-who of techno & electro-house -- D'Julz has never had his own label. Bass Culture, named for his own night & longest running party ever at the infamous Rex Club in Paris (now 12 years strong), where he is also a resident. Having produced many remixes over the years, it was a natural progression to finally start up his own label for promoting & signing releases by up & coming artists, as well as those that are already established. Kalooo features the new-on-the scene producers, Lemos -- from Greece. Side B features a remix by another well-known dancefloor Parisian king, Arnaud Le Texier. The year ahead and well into 2010 will promise a steady stream of new Bass Culture releases, each with its own distinctive flavor. Stay tuned."

Little Claw - Human Taste LP (Not Not Fun) [NNF174LP] $15.25
"Brand new LP by this fiery Portland, OR art-garage trio. This is the LP edition of the CD on Ecstatic Peace! Records. Comes with a double-sided 11x17 poster."

Longcut, The - Open Hearts 2xLP (Melodic) [MELO062LP] $19.00
Manchester, UK-based trio The Longcut release their second full-length album, Open Hearts -- the long-awaited follow-up to their acclaimed 2006 debut, A Call And Response. There's been a shift to grassroots principals for this album: it was recorded in the band's Salford rehearsal room (with some vocals done at home in the shower, for that cavernous, echoing effect). It was also produced by friend-of-the-band and Nine Black Alps guitarist David Jones, who brought "a f***ed up pop sensibility." For a group whose reputation was built on blistering live shows, they set out to make an album that reflected the raw energy of their performances -- and succeeded. This is the rough-edged, vital, visceral sound of a band at the peak of their powers. It's still undeniably The Longcut -- Stuart's shamanic howls, Jon's crunching bass and Lee's hypnotic guitar are all in place -- but it's fresher, trimmer and more focused than ever before. Lyrically, it's upbeat, happier, love-struck even, but with that weighty sonic sucker-punch behind it to counter-balance the sugar. The title, Open Hearts, refers to a shift in the band's focus, bringing emotion into the often bleak landscape of post-rock. This release follows a period of change for the band, whose original label, Deltasonic, was cut adrift from Sony after their first album. Throughout the interim period, the trio's passion for music grew, and they have embraced the chance to make their own album in their own way. This is an album that retains its darkened, Manchester roots, with industrial/electro synths and beats that darken bright washes of guitar-driven intensity.

M.in & Patrick Kunkel Feat. Harold Todd - Frauen & Blumen 12 inch (International Freakshow) [IF014EP] $11.50
"What you will get with buying this record is an extraordinary kind of culture clash in electronic music. We have the young guns M.In, Patrick Kunkel and Basti Grub in the red corner and the blue corner comes up with no other than the legendary DJ Sneak accompanied by Mr. Harold 'Lenny Kravitz saxophone god' Todd. Some might say that the combination of names who contributed their skills and creativity to the production process of this release alone should make any electronic music freak become desperately interested in this record but if that ain't reason enough to at least give it a try, you will find 3 timeless state of the art house tracks on intl. Freakshow's 14th vinyl release, from which each one has it's unique, carefully crafted structure and arrangement. All of them manage to develop a superb uplifting energy, ideal for the upcoming hot summer nights and the daytime parties, too!"

Marco Carola - Bloody Cash 12 inch (Plus 8) [PLUS8104EP] $10.75
On the title track "Bloody Cash," Marco Carola lets fly with a tribal groove full of crisp percussive elements. However, the tough, earthy beats keep everything rooted to the ground. Perfectly balanced and enhanced for maximum danceability. "Sirens" kicks off with broken electronic rhythms and chirping effects before the kick and bass lock everything down. A loose groove sways along with rolling snares, more ethnic percussion and rhythmic synth-lines, culminating in an electro-tinged breakdown.

Marko Furstenberg - Blofeld 12 inch (Ornaments) [ORN007EP] $13.50
"Next strong limited vinyl of this mysterious label from Marko Fürstenberg." Pressed on clear, black marbled vinyl.

Mass Shivers - Torrid Sex In East Berlin 7 inch (Licking River Records) [LR003EP] $7.75
"Rock in a post-Beefheart vs. 90s Aerosmith way, heart surprisingly always on sleeve. Crossing the Rubicon -- it's better when it isn't safe, when there's a chance of being caught. But, life is free and easy beyond the wall, in the Neon City, so why risk it? Why defy the panoptic eye? Don't heed the call of the exotic/erotic drums. Ignore the riffs. Don't stop to wonder how they float above, below, between the beat - simultaneously. Then comes the refrain. Don't mind it -- it's the anthem of the Other. There's no context for this, at least not on your side. No, stay there. Choose style, and a clearly demarcated one at that, over substance. Those fluorescent glasses won't do much good on our side. True freedom of expression can only be experienced by breaking barriers. You thought the wall came down years ago? Perhaps it did, but we put it back up. For you. Yet, despite all warnings, you will slip through. You'll find a way to the forbidden zone. We built it, so you'd come. Things got too easy without barbed wire and watchtowers. Without checkpoints and tunnels, it all felt too safe. There's no exhilaration without danger. There's Torrid Sex In East Berlin."

Miracle Condition - Miracle Condition LP (Tizona) [TIZONA004] $12.75
Debut project from Chicago noise pioneers: MIRACLE CONDITION reconciles the dissonant abrasiveness of US MAPLE with sublime, spacey grooves, subdued vocal harmonies and swirling sounds. Limited edition LP from MARK SHIPPY (US Maple, MARNIE STERN), PAT SAMSON (US Maple) and MATT CARSON.

Mount Kimbie - Sketch On Glass 12 inch (Hotflush) [HF023EP] $10.25
"Mount Kimbie have carved out another superb foursome for Hotflush, and once again the music is just as comfortable in the hiphop or electronica realm as it is dubstep. Folksy melodies and ducking piped synths swoop over garage cheek and serrated bass in opener 'Sketch On Glass,' before 'Serged' takes us deeper and darker with its anti-quantised beats, spring reverb drips and surgically-altered vocals. Flipside, an epic sonic vista in '50 Mile View' makes way for delicate instrumental RnB before the introverted 2-step bleep of 'At Least.'"

Mountain People, The - Mountain008.1 12 inch (Mountain People) [MOUNTAIN008EP] $12.75
"Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use." -- Carlos Castaneda

Move D & Benjaminn Brunn/lawrence - In The Beginning/Don't Forget 12 inch (Smallville) [SMALL015EP] $11.50
Smallville presents the second edition of tracks culled from their And Suddenly It's Morning compilation CD in a limited 12" series. This EP presents a dream-team of contemporary soundscaping, Move D and Benjamin Brunn, who come up with a moving earwig -- track-y and reduced to give the dancefloor a colorful kick. Smallville co-owner Lawrence crafted a classic with the bassy and chordish tune, "Don't Forget." A tribute to deep-house, but with a dreamy, Detroitish twist.

Nite Jewel - Want You Back 12 inch (Italians Do It Better) [IDIB018] $8.75
NITE JEWEL is the performing moniker of RAMONA GONZALEZ. She is a composer, songwriter, and multimedia artist from Los Angeles, California, where she has exhibited a number of video and sound installation pieces. The Nite Jewel project is a remarkable combination of revisionist Bronx pop and hazy musical impressionism. This latest EP for Italians Do It Better features the track "Want You Back," along with a bonus remix, backed with the track "All Out Of Order," which is accompanied by a alternate mix sung in Spanish. Includes a lyric insert.

Odd Clouds - Deceiving Illusion LP (Not Not Fun) [NNF143LP] $16.50
"Michigan psych-jazz supergroup's best LP to date. In an intricately silkscreened 3-color jacket. Limited to 400 copies."

Oliver Koletzki (feat. Juli Holz) - Zuckerwatte 12 inch (Stil Vor Talent) [SVT036EP] $11.50
"Zuckerwatte" is the second single from Oliver Koletzki's album GroÄYstadtmĤrchen. The original is softly-grooving electro-pop featuring vocals by Juli Holz. David August, one-half of August & Bachert, delivers a glitchy tech-house edit, while BjĶrn StĶrig envisions Holz singing over some neo-soul/tech-R'n'B-influenced electronica with Spanish guitar, claps and synthesizers. You'll also find Koletzki's instrumental house-homage "Kusskompatibel" and "These Habits," featuring 17 year-old Pyur singing over a downbeat trip-hop groove.

Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras - Soon 12 inch (Macro Recordings) [MACROM013EP] $11.50
This is the first single from the Catholic full-length by Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras. "Soon" is a dark proto-techno track with hypnotic lyrics and warped synths, while "Robot Children" builds on a rigid sequencer bass line and futuristic sound-design. The first remix is by Morgan Geist -- who transforms Cowley's trademark production sound into 2009. KiNK's remix is derived from the original's drum machine sounds, crossing boundaries from techno to dubstep to experimental.

Piano Magic - Ovations LP (Darla) [DRL227-1] $13.50
RELEASE DATE: 10-12-2009
Limited edition 180 gm vinyl LP has download coupon included. 10th official album by London-based Anglo-French coldwave group, Piano Magic. Features special guests Brendan Perry and Peter Ulrich of Dead Can Dance. Ovations, released October 12th is no exception. Recorded May through August of 2009 by Gareth Parton (The Go-Team, The Breeders, Pete & The Pirates) at his petite La Planque studio and The Fortress in London, Ovations is the Anglo-French group's 10th album proper. Typically for a Piano Magic record it's a restless beast; a record that swings wildly between Marrakesh, Eastern Europe, Sevilla and early 80s Manchester without breaking a sweat. Piano Magic have always worn their influences on their sleeves. The Chameleons, Joy Division and The Cure rub shoulders with Turkish darabuka, hammered dulcimer, viola, cello, flamenco claps. Elsewhere there are cold analogue synths, chiming guitars, mournful piano and industrial percussion.

Piano Magic's fascination with Eastern European percussion is in part much due to one of their biggest influences -- the Melbourne-born though World-wise 4AD Records-signed group, Dead Can Dance. And it's no small coup that Ovations features not only DCD's supreme percussionist/dulcimer, Peter Ulrich but also the voice of principal songwriter, Brendan Perry on two tracks ("You Never Loved This City" and "The Nightmare Goes On"). The reclusive Perry, himself, a very recent convert to Piano Magic's music was only happy to sing with a group that by his own admission, were making "the most beautiful music" he's heard for a long time.

Whether this new album is quickly consigned to a dusty drawer in the museum of musical curios like so many other Piano Magic records is yet to be seen but there's more depth, soul, variety, dynamic, romance, emotion here than many groups manage in their entire careers.

Pink Noise - Graffiti Youth LP (Kill Shaman) [KSR36] $14.50
THE PINK NOISE's third (?) full-length LP. A follow up to their great releases on Sacred Bones and Almost Ready. Awesome, pulsing lo-fi synths surrounded by dirty drum machines and distorted vocals from this Canadian two-piece. Highly recommended if you ever enjoyed the Residents or anything in that vein.

Post Human - Monsters And Vortices E 12 inch (B12) [B12022EP] $10.25
"Posthuman's entry into the electronic music world was via the now legendary Skam Records in the late '90s. After the duo relocated to London in late 1999 they established their own label, Seed Records which showcased many pioneering acts and became the platform from which Bevan and Doherty released three albums between 2001 and 2006. After leaving the label behind and focusing on their own projects the duo have established themselves as not only Post human but post techno, post minimal and post rave, cumulating in this excellent, creative and diverse four track EP. Musically, their sound was unrestricted by genre, 'Monsters Exist' and `Callisto' being Posthuman's take on dark, brooding, complex and emotional techno. `The Karman Vortices' is a fine example of thoughtful downtempo classy electronica, while `Krill' is aimed straight at the dancefloor and is set to become an instant DJ classic."

Post Human - Monsters And Vortices E 12 inch (B12) [B12022X-EP] $10.25
Colored vinyl version (?).

Quarion - Dusty Fingers 12 inch (Retreat) [RTR003EP] $11.50
"Just in time to conclude a bittersweet summer (at least in Berlin), Retreat brings the heat with a soulful EP from one of his founders, hotshot producer Quarion. As the name implies, Dusty Fingers sees the beatmaker return to his hip-hop roots and dig in the crates for a sample-based deep & dirty 3 tracker! 'Turn Off The Light' is a tribute to mid-nineties house garage classics, when the drums were phat and the basslines heavy: a distant breakbeat introduces a rhodes loop before the elements combine into a powerful groove. The beat stops while beautiful chords and hair-raising strings evolve from the background and it's then time for the bouncy bassline to kick in. The track keeps rolling as whispers begging you to 'Turn Off The Light' get more present but the song soon drops into an emotional break complete with soulful vocals and extra instrumentation. When the beat comes back in, you know the track has classic written all over it. Seems Like starts with a heavy 808 pattern and phased drone that later evolves into a string section. The beat is locked down with the introduction of a percussion riff and jumping bassline while you're taken on a deep excursion as nautilus-style keys and moody vocals bring you underwater. The flashing hi-hats keep the whole song moving and you're soon left with only the groove to keep you company. The keys sneak in from the background and you're taken once more on an underwater journey before the beat brings you safely to the shore."

R. Stevie Moore - Meet The R. Stevie Moore 2xLP (Get Back) [GET701LP] $30.25
Subtitled: An Introduction to the Godfather of Home Recordings. 180 gram vinyl. "R. Stevie Moore, son of Elvis' bass player, has spent the last 40 years fiddling around in his home studio, and simultaneously creating a huge body of work that has covered everything from psych-pop, to hip hop, to spoken word, to found sound, making him one of the great unsung heroes of underground music. This release, compiled with Stevie's help, is a doorway into one of his most accessible and prolific periods (1974-1986). Contains an insert with liner notes and lots of pictures."

Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More LP (Type) [TYPE052LP] $17.25
Croydon, UK three-piece Rameses III have been busy proving to the wider world that there's more to their hometown than dubstep with their deep and original take on ambient music. In that time, Daniel Freeman (keyboards, processing), Spencer Grady (guitars, noises) and Stephen Lewis (guitars, percussion) have notched up a number of releases for Important Records, Digitalis and of course Type Records, but it is with this latest opus that they truly leave their mark on the faded musical landscape. I Could Not Love You More is a record that reframes their sound, taking their drifting ambience and pastoral folk and sharpening it at every opportunity. You can hear echoes of Takoma in Lewis' delicate acoustic guitar playing, shadows of early 4AD in the shimmering drones, and all this is wrapped up in an Eno-esque sense of restraint. It sounds almost as if the pieces were written for the mid-20th century, with sounds coming from electric pianos, Mellotrons and guitars rather than heavy electronic processes. We end up with a warming blur of sound, something far removed from the chatter of zeroes and ones we have become accustomed to. As the album drifts from beginning to end, there is a delicate yet defined narrative, enhanced by the inclusion of subtle field recordings and just the right amount of silence. The tracks lull us forward and send us into a state of nostalgic reminiscence, which is, in essence, the theme which balances the album. I Could Not Love You More is simply a gorgeous reflection -- exactly what it reflects upon is left up to the listeners themselves. Who would have thought the mean streets of South London could produce such beautiful music?

Reigning Sound - Love And Curses LP (In The Red) [ITR155LP] $9.50
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!! It's been five years since GREG CARTWRIGHT's REIGNING SOUND dropped their last full-length studio album, Too Much Guitar. Not that Cartwright has been resting on his laurels. The Reigning Sound backed SHANGRI-LA MARY WEISS on her critically acclaimed comeback album, Dangerous Game, which was produced and largely written by Cartwright. The band performed with Weiss on tour, including an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Cartwright also produced, penned songs for, and played in THE DETROIT COBRAS for a spell. All the while, the Reigning Sound toured the US on and off and released a couple of live albums, yet never managed to get into the studio to record. All the while, Cartwright stockpiled loads of new tunes. Finally, late last year, the band entered Ardent Studios in Memphis and laid down a bunch of songs. Some months later, they went into Echo Mountain Studios in North Carolina and recorded a bunch more. In the end, the band had more than enough for two albums, and carefully whittled it down to the cream of the musical crop. Love and Curses (title comes from Memphis TV horror host Sivad) is a return to the sound and style of the Reigning Sound's incredible Time Bomb High School. The band once again features a full-time keyboardist, DAVE AMELS, and has jettisoned the lo-fi approach used on Too Much Guitar in favor of a bigger, warmer studio sound. As with Time Bomb High School, Love and Curses strikes a balance between soulful rockers and beautiful ballads. The results are a rock 'n' roll album as near to perfection as any one is likely to hear this year. On tour in the US and Europe this fall.

Rhauder feat. Paul St. Hilaire - No News 12 inch (Ornaments) [ORN009EP] $13.50
"Next vinyl only & limited ornaments by Rhauder feat Paul St. Hilaire (Rhythm & Sound / Burial Mix) incl. remixes by Daniel Stefanik & Marko Fürstenberg." Pressed on clear, black marbled vinyl.

Ribn - This Feeling 12 inch (Mild Pitch) [MILD001EP] $11.50
"Welcome and hello to the first release on Mild Pitch, the newly launched label from Essen, Germany. Founded by Manuel Tur, Dplay and Langenberg you can expect tons of groundbreaking and earthshaking house music on this label in the future. The first release is called This Feeling. Produced by Essen's finest, Ribn, this tune is what house music should be all about. Ribn is a project of Manuel Tur and Langenberg that sort of happened by accident. After some productive jam-sessions in their studio they discovered that both shared a passion for deep and dubby techno tracks and all of a sudden they had their first releases on Styrax Leaves, Millions Of Moments and Ovum. A stunning new EP on Mule Electronic will be released very soon. 'This Feeling' is a deep, chord-driven track in the tradition of Global Communications infamous 'The Way,' that with its enormous vocal loop and warm harmonies, grows constantly to a catchy tune. With no doubts this track is a real peaktime smasher, which became obvious when being played for the first time at Mild Pitchs legendary 'Slow Club' parties in Essen. The flipside includes the brilliant 'Rapidsnare Mix' of 'This Feeling.' This version is way darker than the original and stands in the tradition of other well-known Ribn tracks like 'Ctrl' or 'Mined.'"

Robert Beatty - Solos LP (What The...?) [WHAT009] $19.00
In spring 2009, ROBERT BEATTY (THREE LEGGED RACE, HAIR POLICE) traveled as a collaborating and touring member of BURNING STAR CORE; written into the set list every night was slot for an improvised solo on his special electronics rig, synthesizer, space echo, question boxes, etc. Solos cuts them together into a work of their own. Not a collage, but a document not comprehensive to the originating context. Ten complete solos, in chronological order, for fans of detailed-driven minimum electronics. Paste-on jacket with a creepy poster to get to know. Edition of 166 copies.

Savas Pascalidis - Deep Inside Your Eyes 12 inch (Sweatshop) [SWSH001EP] $11.50
"Berlin's one and only master the dancefloor-dark-arts Savas Pascalidis drops a brand new bomb on a brand new label ? Sweatshop. Deep Inside Your Eyes is a paranoia-infused, funked-out club weapon -- elaborating on the winning combination of tough beats and bass that made recent hits like last year's 'Vapors' on Figure, or his new offering for Len Faki's label, Figure SPC, and this one is guaranteed to rock! Allow the track to take control, and its bounicng, e-funk bassline and introspective vocal hook will draw you ever further into Savas' world. Filtering and tweaking its way through almost 8 minutes of expert analogue twists and turns, this bass heavy jam will dust off the pretenders and show us for who we really are. Savas Pascalidis' reign over the dancefloor is undoubted, we are all at his mercy! Swede-now-Berliner Joel Alter cooks up a hot remix on the flip, taking the tempo up a notch and freaking things out even further with a static-infested break-down that simply needs to be heard to be believed! Funky, post-minimal grooves drive this rock-solid, club-assured mix through its many peaks, leaving us more than satisfied and asking for more. Certainly a producer to watch out for this year."

Sean Lennon - Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead LP (Chimera Music) [chim02-1] $14.50
RELEASE DATE: 10-27-2009
The instrumental score to an idiosyncratic low-budget vampire flick, composed on Lennon's bedroom computer, Undead is dramatic and wild, sounding like the son of Ennio Morricone or Bruno Nicolai circa early '70s. Featuring Kool Keith and Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto) on the song 'Desire'. Beautiful gatefold sleevevinyl with old-fashioned "tip-on" printing.

Shits and Giggles - Trick Or Treat LP (F.D.A.F.I.T.S.) [FDAFITS001LP] $19.75
"The union of warped avant pop maestro Ariel Pink and the shapeshifting surrealists and Mutant Sounds blog co-authors in Vas Deferens Organization, Shits And Giggles is an inspired and unprecedented collision of two distinct and fully formed galaxies of advanced dream logic art f***, with Ariel's hazy/glazy universe of dissociative pop song rupture and advanced command of psychedelic song structure a virtual playpen for the pranksters in VDO to jerry-rig with plunderphonic joy buzzers, synth punk trap doors, kosmiche time machines and an embrace of willful illogic; a psychotropic melee onto whose exoskeleton has been grafted unexpected episodes of luminous grace from legendary free jazz trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez and his son, bassist Aaron Gonzalez."

Shortstuff - A Rustling 12 inch (Ramp) [RAMP023EP] $10.25
"Hailing from a sect of French God-fearing refugees, Shortstuff is generally a nice lad, but hides a jaded past of taunting old couples, purely for his own amusement. DJ support from Mary Anne Hobbs, Erol Alkan, Sinden, Diplo, Oneman, Mumdance, Clouds, Brackles."

Sic Alps - L Mansion 7 inch (Slumberland) [SL104] $4.50
SIC ALPS make music with their eyes on the past but their feet firmly in the present. Bits of psychedelia, folk, garage, punk, and other fuh fairly well flow from their fingers, seamlessly worked together to render easy categorizations pointless. Over the course of numerous singles and albums, Sic Alps' MIKE DONOVAN and MATT HARTMAN have carved themselves a snug niche filled with fuzz, crackle, vibes, and most of all, cracking tunes. Continuing this fine tradition is "L. Mansion," a swinging little folk / beat tune that is totally timeless / out of time in the way of Sic Alps' best songs. It's as straightforwardly "pop" as anything they've done, and a totally effective summertime single. On the flip is a banging cover of the other Donovan's ode to puff-"Superlungs." Wild and thumping, the pair have definitely taken the Sunshine Superman on a little side trip to Detroit rock city.

Six Organs Of Admittance & Azul - Split LP (PSf) [PSFSA001LP] $19.75
No description available at this time.

Stefan Goldmann - Yes To All 12 inch (Cocoon) [COR064EP] $12.25
On his debut for Cocoon, Stefan Goldmann draws a mysterious but irresistible intersection from mild acid citations, dub-infected minimal house, francophile sound aesthetics and pumping bass kicks; almost ten minutes of hypnotic and opulent cinemascope broadband. "Under The Beam" shows an affinity to elementary freestyle within a strict beat and pizzicato strings as well as orchestral horn riffs. Unforgettable.

Stephen Beaupre - Achaemenid 12 inch (Wagon Repair) [WAG053EP] $11.50
This is Montreal-native Stephen Beaupré's Wagon Repair debut. One half of Crackhaus, a long-time collaboration with Deadbeat, Stephen has released solo material on Musique Risquée, Mutek_Rec and ~scape. "Achaemenid" roams stridently with a tight kick, clangorous, melodic cascades, and rhythmic tones. Ethereal string pads and moaning atmospherics imply conflict, narrated by catchy vocals. A reverberant synth-line injects life into "Lotus Eaters," with vocal samples and melodic tones forming sonic structures around a deep tom and rattled hat. Totally intoxicating.

Style Of Eye - Grounded 12 inch (Pickadoll Music) [PICK041EP] $12.25
"Grounded" is Style Of Eye's huge hit for the summer season of 2009, featured here in the original version, a horns mix, and a radio edit. Already receiving strong plays from Sébastien Léger, Marco Carola, Super Flu, Butch, Ida Engberg and John Dahlbäck.

Sudden Weather Change - Stop! Handgrenade In The Name Of Crib Death 'nderstand? 2xLP (Kimi) [KRLP010LP] $17.25
This is the first full-length release by Sudden Weather Change, a five-piece rock band from Reykjavík, Iceland. Their sound has been likened to bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement, Polvo and countless other '90s alt-rock bands from the U.S., but they also sound very much in the vein of current European darlings, Phoenix, but with more complex arrangements, tons of moody scrawl, and a singer with a wail that at time recalls Fugazi's Ian Mackaye. Stop! Handgrenade... contains 13 juicy, guitar-heavy songs. The band has been together for 3 years, and released a home-made EP in late 2007 by themselves, which sold out after a short, but successful tour in France. The Icelandic music press have hailed their crazy, loud and astounding live shows, with Morgunblaðið (Iceland's oldest and most respected newspaper) naming them the most promising band of 2009. Stop! Handgrenade... has received good reviews since its release and the album's first single, "St. Peters Day," has been getting excellent airplay in Iceland.

Sven Libaek - Solar Flares LP (Votary Records) [VOT007LP] $29.50
"Continuing our relationship with the master film composer Sven Libaek, we here at Votary are very pleased to announce our acquisition of the entire Libaek back catalogue. First off the ranks we offer an LP reissue of the brilliant 1974 library album Solar Flares. Fresh from recording the legendary Inner Space, Libaek then embarked on this amazing album for the Peer International Library. Solar Flares is best described as the polar vision of Inner Space; instead of the underwater sounds of the deep Libaek's cues were now influenced by the far reaches of 'Outer Space.' Expect Libaek's trademark jazz-exotica sound complete with the cosmic tones of homemade synth! Featuring the usual gang of Australia's finest studio and jazz musicians. We are now taking pre-orders. Only 500 LPs have been pressed."

Taksi - Rohrbruch 12 inch (Music Man) [MM095EP] $11.50
Originally released in 2002 on Music Man. Taksi is André Galluzzi and Paul Brtschitsch, and "Rohrbruch" is taken from their album Rundfahrt. Deeply throbbing, acidic tech-house that remains a true classic. Includes a remix by Steve Rachmad.

Tom Clark - Scorpio 12 inch (Highgrade) [HIGH065EP] $11.50
Highgrade's Tom Clark needs surprisingly few elements to build a unique atmosphere and his matchless grooves. On the title track "Scorpio," we find a deep, rolling bass line and an exotic vocal combined with synth leads. "Albino" also features sparkling synths and rolling drums that create an impression of fluidity and unhurried beginnings. "Sand Flea" is as lively as a box of fleas, but not nearly as aggravating, with a love for detail and an innate sense for strange sounds.

Tomas Barfod & Fredski - Mr. Fleurquin 12 inch (Get Physical Music) [GPM114EP] $12.25
Copenhagen's Tomas Barfod & Fredski bring forth "Mr. Fleurquin," a most funky tune. Catz 'N Dogz add their Polish patina to an already-precious black diamond, taking it straight to the club. The vocals circle above like vultures and the bass rumbles below like tremors. "Super Mercado" is a workout of percussion and thunderous sub-bass drops. Sneaky edits keep it rolling, but this a tried-and-true DJ tool that is versatile enough to pick the lock or just smash the door down.

Various Artists - Dublab Presents: In The Loop 5 LP (Anticon) [ABR0097] $9.50
Dublab's In the Loop vinyl series continues with a new home on Anticon and fresh sounds from the most vivid music-makers around. Like the previous four installments-which have included celebrated names like Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Caribou, and Prefuse 73-this chapter represents a wave of pure creativity: diverse gems from a shining circle of highly-inspired minds. Each In the Loop installment comes in two halves, and number five's "Future Side" kicks off with tropical tones and vibrant rhythms from New Zealand's RUBY SUNS, and then follows with tracks from TEENGIRL FANTASY, and ZACKEY FORCE FUNK, THE LUCKY DRAGONS usher in the "Roots Side," and are followed by MATTHEWDAVID & OBA, JULIA HOLTER (HUMAN EAR MUSIC COLLECTIVE), and WHITE RAINBOW. As with the previous volumes, In the Loop 5 features covers culled from the epic art experience Up Our Sleeve: The Dublab Covers Project. This chapter stars the sunny styles of KYOTAROW AOKI and MOIRA HAHN. Vinyl limited to 1,000 copies, No exports to Japan, Canada, or the UK/Europe

Various Artists - Aprés 3 12 inch (Future Classic) [FCL036EP] $11.50
"The third instalment of the Après vinyl series explores the indie disco dimensions of Future Classic's 2 year old Sunday afternoon session in Sydney. When we commissioned Gemma Smith to produce four artworks for the series this angular and intense piece sat well with the spiky Hot Chip-meets-Junior Boys disco punk funk of Melbourne 3 piece Clubfeet. It also worked with Adelaide's Sidwho?, another promising newcomer who's recent 12" on Cage & Aviary's The Walls Have Ears imprint got rave reviews from Horse Meat Disco, Mock & Toof, Tim Sweeney and Optimo to name a few. 'Millionaire' is an early taster of the pop sensibilities of Sid's forthcoming solo album with Future Classic. Sid's also a member of the Modular signed live disco act The Swiss. Chad and Nathan took some time out from the Future Classic HQ to turn in a remix of 'Millionaire' together with good friend Bryan O'Callaghan who also happens to be head chef at the Tilbury where Après is held. Bryan quickly became a firm friend of Future Classic after Mudd and Aeroplane were booked for sets at Après with Bryan seeking us out, immediately impressing us with his unparalleled knowledge of rare disco and groove. Last but definitely not least (since it made the A1) came Pink Frost's remix of 'Evening Star' by another local Sydney band Todd Sparrow. After a heavy vinyl digging session at Redeye Records, the store's vinyl buyer Scott, handed Nathan a CDR and the call was made then and there and we had our third Après release -- an intentionally all Australian installment!"

Various Artists - 1000 Lock Groove LP (RRR) [RRR1000] $21.25
"20 artists -- 50 grooves each. AMK, Aaron Dilloway, Thomas Dimuzio, Kevin Drumm, Carlos Giffoni, Incapacitants, GX Jupitter-Larsen, Jason Lescalleet, Francisco Lopez, Lasse Marhaug, New Blockaders, Jerome Noetinger, Prurient, RLW, Damion Romero, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Sudden Infant, Keith Fullerton Whitman, C.Spencer Yeh, Otomo Yoshihide. All covers hand decorated."

Vladislav Delay - Tummaa 2xLP (Leaf) [BAY72LP] $18.75
RELEASE DATE: 09-08-2009
Finnish composer Sasu Ripatti returns with Tummaa, his first album as Vladislav Delay since 2007's Whistleblower. The new full-length marks a significant shift in emphasis in this acclaimed musician's work, reflecting a renewed interest in jazz and acoustic performance--Tummaa is far more organic and live-sounding than anything he's done before. Ripatti is a genuine musical maverick. Trained as a jazz drummer, he abandoned his instrument ten years ago. While he has largely shunned the limelight since emerging as a producer in Helsinki in the late '90s, his prolific output (as Delay, Luomo and Uusitalo, as well as collaborations with partner Antye Greie) speaks for itself. Tummaa marks a return to Ripatti?s first love of performing as a percussionist. The album essentially features a live trio?Ripatti, Argentine musician Lucio Capece on clarinet and saxophone, and acclaimed Scottish soundtrack composer and arranger Craig Armstrong on piano and Rhodes. Ripatti set the tone, recording his drum parts and then inviting Capece to his studio to improvise alongside the drums. Armstrong offered recordings of pure solo piano playing he had made for the project. From these two sound sources, Ripatti began composing and arranging, and wrote a whole suite of music. The results are jaw-dropping. Ripatti is venerated as a master of rhythm and a true artisan of the studio (the photos of his immaculate analog equip- ment from The Wire's 2008 cover shoot had gear hounds aquiver), and captures resonant, organic, and acoustic sounds, coercing them into unearthly cadences and foreign textures that are unlike anything else--yet irresistibly hypnotic. His love of jazz is also never far from the surface. Armstrong's waterfall piano and Rhodes infuse "Melankolia" with sweep- ing emotion amid the tension and intensity of Ripatti's fractured, almost industrial percussive fragments, anticipatory fizzes, and low-end hums. In some ways, this is a very gentle introduction to the incredible galaxy of sound contained on "Kuula (Kiitos)," where glimmering piano bleeds into the fabric of Capece?s strangled bass clarinet and muffled soprano sax, entwined with a scattering of grainy beats. By far the most immediately striking piece is the woody, resounding animal honk of "Mustelmia" where a defiantly springy, bouncy array of volcanic beats and liquid gulps and pops erupt in response to Capece's eerie tones and textures. While "Musta Planeetta" is a more meditative play across the key- board timbres, "Toive" builds into a crescendo of throbbing, submarine percussion, Capece's horns like distant wildlife in a tropical forest. "Tummaa" has a cavernous dub sensibility, all ricocheting percussion and the Rhodes distilled to stabs or glistening feedback reverberations. "Tunnelivisio" burrows even deeper into the echo chamber, lending a cinematic drama to the album's finale.

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse LP (Manimal Vinyl) [mani017-1] $18.50
RELEASE DATE: 10-06-2009
LA's mystical Warpaint weave majestic, haiku-like guitars, hypnotic vocals & driving post-punk rhythms into gorgeous, sprawling songs that skirt the line between the soundscapes of psychedelia/shoegaze, the haunting intimacy of folk & rock's primal heaviness. Official label release of their self-released EP comes with a new bonus track. Expertly mixed by John Frusciante, the EP captures the band's sonic textures & playful dynamism Warpaint is notorious for creating live.

Xenia Beliayeva - Analog Effekt 12 inch (Systematic) [SYST059EP] $12.25
With different releases and remixes on labels such as Anthony Rother's Datapunk, Huntemann's Dance Electric and Different, Xenia Beliayeva and her production partner André Winter have earned a highly-respected reputation. Analog Effekt includes the original version of "Analog Effekt, the more tech-y André Winter remix, and "Monolog Defekt." Support by Dave Clark, Miss Kittin, Laurent Garnier, Oliver Huntemann, and many more.

Zaza - Cameo 12 inch (Kanine) [LPZAZACAME] $14.75
"ZAZA are a name you need to know about, they have become one of New York's best kept secrets"-Dazed and Confused. "The New York-based three-piece let their echo-laden vocals wash over waves of gothy, post-punk-influenced guitars and muscular percussion for a sound that is, at once, sensual and suspenseful. Erotic thrillers would be well matched with these eerie, enticing songs, which can make crime scenes and sex scenes alike seem more mysterious"- Rumblefish." This is a six-song debut release limited to 500 copies.

Zed Bias - Neighbourhood 12 inch (Sidestepper Recordings) [SDSTPR005EP] $10.25
"Anthem alert. 'Neighbourhood' is a stone cold classic from back in 2000 when it was THE anthem on all the London pirates and a massive club hit with the darker garage crew. This limited vinyl promo 12" features two massive refixs. Chimpos' grimey Dubstep mix, and Roska's UK Funky remix. DJ support from Toddla T, Mista Jam, Annie Mac, Kissy Sell Out, Sinden, Jenna G, Marlow."

Zomby - One Foot Ahead Of The Other 2x12 inch (Ramp) [RAMP022LP] $21.50
"Once upon a time, there was a band called The Cure, who had a front man named Robert Smith. Robert was an emotional being, who was always looking to test his boundaries and search out new experiences. After touring the Germany in the early '80s with his band of eyeliner encrusted over-emotional Goth-men, Robert began a non-sexual but intensely intimate relationship with Florian Schneider, front man of electro forefathers, Kraftwerk. The unlikely couple decided to experiment with the then new science of gene splicing. After a few horrific failed attempts, they finally managed to successfully cross their DNA into the vessel of a baby boy. Months past, and it became disturbingly apparent that they two men, who at the time were at the peaks of their careers, had created a being of pure evil. They decided to enlist the help of the 4'2 purple sex-pest Prince to drown the young baby in a sea of colours and tears, and try as hard as they can to move on with their lives alone, ever trying to forget the horrific experiences the child had graced upon their lives. For many years, the baby's soul circled the earth, crying pixels and watching women get undressed in locker rooms and stuff, for he is just a soul, and invisible to the human eye, and can get away with that kind of thing. The child found out there was a way to come back from the dead in some kind of Hellraiser type puzzle themed ritual, and hark, the boy (who was now a man) did indeed rise from the dead, and yes, he did once again walk the earth with the sole intent of wrong-doing. That boy is Zomby, and this is his new EP."

[ H I S T O R I C A L ]

24 Carat Black - Gone - The Promises Of Yesterday LP (Numero Group) [NUM025V] $17.00
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!! The forgotten sophomore album from 24 CARAT BLACK. For 35 years, the sketches for 24-Carat Black's sophomore release hibernated in keyboardist and session engineer BRUCE THOMPSON's basement below the south side of Chicago. Abandoned by producer DALE WARREN when the studio bill darkened his mailbox, the tapes, over decades, had fallen into soggy disrepair, useless save for the six tracks featured on this release. Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday is by no means a sequel to the group's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth (a favorite of rare groove diggers). Missing are the poignant and bleak sermons on the pain of inner-city existence, replaced by dusky, sensuous re-workings of tainted love songs Warren had written as far back as 1965 during his time as a songwriter at Shrine and Motown. Still, his unfinished self-reinvention, even heard through the prism of these skeletal remnants, delivers on a remarkable purity of vision: one man's corner of black culture, 24 carats pure and mishandled perhaps until now, finally a bit less misunderstood. Packaged in embossed jackets.

Anne Briggs - Nottinghamshire Tales LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900564LP] $22.75
180 gram vinyl. "There are few female folk singers with the natural talent of Anne Briggs, and although she never became a major star (mostly because she wasn't interested) it is difficult to overstate her influence on the British folk scene of the '60s and '70s. (i.e. Pentangle, Fairport Convention). Discovered in a local club in 1962 before she had even turned 18, she was soon touring all over the British Isles, living the troubador's life and influencing a generation of young folk musicians wherever she went. She went on to release three solo albums between 1971 and 1973 before tragically abandoning the music scene forever. Brilliant musicians who walk away from their career at their creative peak are few and far between (remember Cat Stevens?), but that is exactly what Anne Briggs did...and fans and fellow musicians have been begging her to go back into the recording studio ever since! This is her third and last solo album, recorded in 1973 and finally released in the '90s as Sing A Song For You. Anne was pregnant for her second child at the time of these recordings and already living off the coast of Scotland in the Hebrides islands, as far from the London music scene as possible! Not surprisingly, given Briggs' talent, the album has since become known as 'lost classic'. Accompanied by 'Ragged Robin' a folk rock band assembled by Steve Ashley (with Richard Byers on mandolin and lead guitar, Brian Diprose on bass, and John Thompson on drums), these brilliant versions of British folk standards and original material, are delivered with the kind of rare sincerity and natural vocal ability that slices through time, straight to the soul."

Breeders - Last Splash LP (Plain) [PLAIN140] $16.00
Following the departure of TANYA DONELLY, the breakup of THE PIXIES, and the return of KELLEY DEAL to the fold, THE BREEDERS' hit the alternative big time with their second (and last of the decade) record, and its hit singles "Cannonball," "Divine Hammer," and "Saints." The last Breeders album of the 1990s, as Kelley suffered and recovered from drug addiction and Kim found a new outlet in THE AMPS, Last Splash went platinum and brought the massive songwriting talents out from behind the shadow of Black Francis.

Eyes - Complete Dangerhouse Sessions 1979 10 inch (Artifix) [SPR029EP] $10.25
Featuring six songs comprising everything the band ever recorded for the Dangerhouse label.

Fleetwood Mac - Live At The Boston Tea Party 4xLP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900571LP] $50.75
"By 1970 Fleetwood Mac were immensely popular, touring constantly both at home and abroad. In February 1970 the band rocked Boston's legendary 'Boston Tea Party' playing three amazing concerts there for three consecutive nights in a row. The performances were recorded in hopes of releasing a live album, but frontman Peter Green soon announced his decision to quit the band and the masters were promptly shelved. Some of the material eventually trickled out onto a few albums during the 1980s (Jumping at Shadows, Roots-The Original Fleetwood Mac Live in Concert, etc.), but the sound quality was consistently poor and much of the material was left unreleased. The recordings were finally given the treatment they deserved in 1998 when the original masters were uncovered and remixed at SRT Studios in the UK (by Nick Watson). These recordings were released the following year as a 3-CD box set called The Boston Box and now, for the first time, are being brought to vinyl, as a 4-disc 'book style' limited edition deluxe collector's LP with new vintage cover art. This is essential Fleetwood Mac by any standards!"

Frank Stokes - Downtown Blues LP (Monk) [MOK316LP] $22.25
"African American singer and guitar player who got his start playing on the streets of Memphis around the turn of the century. His enormous repertoire of early folk, blues, old time country and popular music, along with his influence on local musicians has made many point to him as the true father of Memphis blues. He began touring the South with a black face Medicine Show comedian in the 1910s where it is said he met and influenced Jimmie Rodgers, among others. He then moved to Tennessee where he began playing with musician Dan Sane with whom he made his first recordings as the 'Beale Street Sheiks' for Paramount in 1927. Throughout this period Stokes recorded a number of sides for Paramount and Victor until his old time style began to lose popularity with the record buying public."

Holy Modal Rounders, The - The Holy Modal Rounders LP (4 Men With Beards) [4M183LP] $16.50
180 gram vinyl. "Originally released in 1964 this is the debut album from Greenwich Village's strangest folk revivalists. At odds with the tired rehashing of folk tunes that was so in vogue at the time, the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber took traditional material and obliterated it. In the words of Peter Stampfel 'The Rounders were the first really bent traditional band. And the first traditionally based band that was not trying to sound like an old record.' And thank God for that. Remastered from the original tapes, the debut from the 60s folk revival biggest outcasts. Classic."

Holy Modal Rounders, The - 2 LP (4 Men With Beards) [4M184LP] $16.50
"This is the second Holy Modal Rounders record for Prestige's Folk line, originally released in 1965. 2 continues the Rounders obsession with reinventing folk music traditions, taking public domain material and flipping it, in both arrangement and lyric, with masterful, off-kilter playing. Remastered from the original tapes, the second album from the '60s folk revival's biggest outcasts. A must."

Ignacio - Organa/Organon 12 inch (Music Man) [MM038EP] $11.50
Originally released in 1997 by Music Man. Ignacio is Steve Rachmad, and this is his first release for the Music Man label. A classic bit of trance-y, minimal, synth-based '90s techno that builds and builds in updrafts of grit, shake, and kick.

John's Children - Smashed Blocked LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900717] $6.00
180 gram vinyl. "An album collecting the material Marc Bolan recorded during his brief stint as lead singer of the short-lived (1966-68) mod psych band John's Children, although perhaps better known for their image and stage antics than their actual music (apparently managing to upstage the kings of stage antics, the Who, and inspire generations of punk rockers). Their debut single 'Smashed Blocked' was recorded by session men due to their lack of proficiency on their instruments, but by the time their second single 'Just What You'll Get' was released things were looking considerably up, featuring a solo by Jeff Beck on 'But She's Mine,' the single's B-side. Bolan joined the group soon after and recorded the single 'Desdemona' (banned by the BBC for its controversial lyrics). Of the 17 tracks present, a full 9 are either penned or performed by Marc Bolan. Although this band may only be a footnote in the annals of British freakbeat, original copies of the 'Midsummer's Night Scene' single have sold for

Magna Carta - Live In Bergen LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900670LP] $22.75
180 gram vinyl. "Despite being one of the greatest and longest running British folk bands of all time, Chris Simpson's Magna Carta has kept a relatively low profile compared to the various bands its members -like Rick Wakeman (Yes), Pick Withers (Dire Straits), and Davey Johnstone (Elton John) - have gone on to form. By the time this concert was recorded live in Norway in 1978, Magna Carta had already been together for nearly a decade. Here, with the help of an exceptional lineup -- featuring Tom Hoy on vocals, Robin Thyne on percussion, Tom McConville on fiddle, and Lee Abbott on bass -- Simpson creates a magic atmosphere, and listening to these impeccably crafted songs it is easy to hear why Magna Carta have kept on going while so many of their contemporaries have just faded away. An absolute masterpiece, finally back on vinyl!"

Mississippi Sheiks - Sitting On Top Of The World LP (Monk) [MOK315LP] $22.25
"Formed in 1930 as a trio of guitar and fiddle music, the original lineup was composed of Lonnie, Sam and Armenter Chatmon, the latter best known as Bo Carter, who was also a solo star of the period. The Mississippi Sheiks took their name from Rudolph Valentino's movie The Sheik and became extremely popular in the 1930s despite the fact that the famous country music artists of the day were almost all solo artists. Their first single, 'Sittin' On Top of The World,' was also their biggest success. It went on to become a standard country blues song covered by many artists of the caliber of Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan and Cream."

Ozric Tentacles - Strangeitude LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900601LP] $22.75
180 gram vinyl. "Taking the essence of the hippy / psych movement of the 1960s, the DIY spirit of punk rock and elements of new age, the Ozric Tentacles, beginning in 1983, began dominating the British underground with their own unique style of instrumental space rock. The band gained popularity playing the festival circuit and releasing self-produced cassette tapes to an ever increasing number of fans. By 1991 they had amassed a huge following and had become gurus for a new generation of hippies, aka the 'crusties.' Despite their managing to stay below the radar for most of their musical career, by 1991 they had become so popular that they attracted interest of record labels in the US. The album that finally brought the Ozrics to American audiences (via a contract with Capitol) was 1991's Strangeitude, an album that despite its musical complexity still manages to have widespread appeal, due to the shear genius of its musicianship, use of instruments, and the band's ability to build a compelling parallel universe. Includes two bonus tracks: 'Throbbe' and 'Weirditude.'"

Pax Nicholas And The Netty Family - Na Teef Know De Road Of Teef LP (Daptone) [DAP017LP] $15.25
"The first record Pax Nicholas appeared on was Lady Shakara -- an international smash hit and one of Fela's greatest. Nicholas was at the right place at the right time. In the 70s, stars like James Brown, B.B. King, Ginger Baker, Stevie Wonder and Manu Dibango came to Lagos to visit Fela's Shrine club to hear this new and incredibly heavy thing called Afrobeat. While playing and recording for Felas's Africa 70 (Nicholas appeared on all Fela's releases between 1971 and 1978), Mr. Addo-Nettey always had his own thing going on the side. He released Na Teef Know The Road of Teef in 1973 and is a heavy afro-funk. Fela reportedly said: 'Don't you ever, EVER play it again!' And so it was. Despite being a killer record, Na Teef Know The Road of Teef remained undercover for more than 30 years."

Powder - Biff! Bang! Powder LP (Guerssen Records) [GUESS060LP] $22.00
California doesn't look like the natural place for a band sounding the way these guys did, but they were certainly there. During the mid-to-late '60s, the Powder sound was much more British than West Coast-inspired, and they built their legend on being one of the most exciting, mod, pre-power-pop combos ever. Responsible for anthems such as "I Try" or "Turn Another Page," among many other killer tracks, their music has pleased all mods and pure pop fans around for decades. Despite avid endorsement by Sonny & Cher, Powder never officially released an album. U.S. label Distortions put out a compilation of their tracks many, many years ago, and Guerssen Records makes these recordings, mostly 1968 demos, available again for the new Powder generation. Totally ahead of its time, totally catchy. 500 copies only.

Ras Michael - Rastafari Dub LP (Roir) [RSLP8251LP] $12.00
2007 release. "Nyabinghi sound: African drums & bass. First released in 1972 as a limited edition white label LP. Features Peter Tosh, Robbie Shakespeare & Earl 'Chinna' Smith." "Excellent dub set. Uncompromisingly rasta, committed & powerful." -- World Beat

Reactors - Meltdown 7 inch (Artifix) [SPR030EP] $5.75
Reissue of a 1979 7".

Robert Wyatt - Radio Experiment Rome, February 1981 LP (Rai Trade) [RTD014LP] $26.50
"Previously unreleased material made by Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) in studio for an Italian radio programme in 1981.Why did this demi-god of rock's underground to travel all the way to Rome with his wife, Alfreda Benge, to spend a week recording for an obscure (even to Italians) radio programme? Because he believed in what these Roman radio guys were doing! Wyatt himself described the experience as 'a chance to expand ideas to bring to life outside the music business, which is just one big fashion industry...normally you have to obtain money for studio time and aim at a particular recording for a particular product. Here they wanted to see a musician's work in progress so it wasn't necessary to have a finished product...it's a fantastic chance to work more freely.' So after three days of testing, the eight-track started officially rolling -- piano, vocals, hi-hat, a jaw harp -- laying down track after track, until the Roman radio guys ended up with 45 min of music, including pieces like 'Born Again Cretin,' a song about Nelson Mandela, the 'Opium War,' with garbled 'radio-like' vocals, and 'Heathens have no Souls,' featuring a jaw harp. This is a rare opportunity to see what the great Robert Wyatt is capable of when left to work freely, outside the pressures of the star system and the 'moneygoround.'"

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure LP (Capitol) [VIR430321LP] $17.50
The second Roxy Music album, originally released in 1973, on 180 gram vinyl. The glossy gatefold sleeve includes a poster. Includes the songs "Do The Strand," "Editions Of You," "The Bogus Man" and "In Every Dream Home A Heartache."

Roxy Music - Roxy Music LP (Capitol) [VIR430331LP] $17.50
On 180 gram vinyl. Gatefold sleeve with poster. "With startling, boundless creativity, Roxy Music's juiced-up debut record put a subversive spin on mid-'70s conventions, embracing glam-pop and artsy electronics while harboring a deep love of classic rock songcraft. Brian Eno's stamp is all over the record, driving songs like 'Re-Make/Re-Model' down strange, atonal avenues. Bryan Ferry's nightclub glamour-boy persona and wandering vibratos help make timeless epics out of molehills like the (originally non-album) track 'Virginia Plain.' Eno stuck around for one more record, 1973's For Your Pleasure, leaving Ferry and the band to embrace their less avant-garde leanings. This unpredictable, dangerous record might be a shock for those who associate Roxy Music with the silky sounds of later records such as Flesh + Blood and Avalon. It is nevertheless essential listening for all who care about boundary-defining rock, as well as the possibilities for profound innovation and redefinition that artists like David Bowie, T. Rex, and the New York Dolls promised, but never quite delivered."

Shirley Collins - False True Lovers LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900762] $22.75
180 gram vinyl. "One of the key voices in British folk, False True Lovers was Shirley Collins debut album, recorded in 1959 for Smithsonian Folkways when Collins (who had just spent time collecting field recordings with the legendary Alan Lomax all around the American South) was just 23. This album, a collection of a cappella British and Irish folk songs helped paved the way for the British folk revival of the 1960s, when Collins, by this time married to Ashley Hutchings, helped introduce bands like Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span to more traditional fare. A masterpiece of the genre!"

Small Faces, The - The Small Faces LP (4 Men With Beards) [4M181LP] $16.50
180 gram vinyl. "Nowadays the Small Faces are criminally overlooked and often thought of as only the preamble to the Faces and, of course, Rod Stewart. At the time of their debut's original release back in 1966 however, they were one of the absolute greatest rock bands in the UK, with the Who and Rolling Stones being their only real competition. And lead vocalist Steve Marriott could sing circles around both Jagger and Daltrey. Reissued here in all its soul-influenced garage-rock glory is the Small Faces masterful debut."

Small Faces, The - From The Beginning LP (4 Men With Beards) [4M182LP] $16.50
180 gram vinyl. "The Small Faces' second album, originally released in 1967, is a rock & soul classic from Steve Marriott & Co. that holds up next to the best the Rolling Stones and Who had to offer around the same time. There's garage rock, soul, psychedelia, and dance numbers all represented. A classic release from one of the best, and most criminally underrated bands of the initial British rock explosion."

Smog - Red Apple Falls LP (Drag City) [DC116LP] $12.75
2009 repress, originally released in 1997. The sixth Smog album, and the first one produced by Jim O'Rourke. Tracks include the single "Ex-Con" and "I Was A Stranger," later covered by Cat Power. "Like Wild Love and Knock Knock, Red Apple Falls represents the more elaborate side of Bill Callahan's discography. His outsider/loser image is still perfectly intact, but it is shaped here with a more expansive sonic palette. Everything from French horn and pedal steel to hurdy gurdy is employed on these unassumingly poetic tales of self-loathing. There's a larger cast than usual at work here, and the denser musical texture may be the reason Callahan's lyrical self-deprecation seems more like an artistic device than a desperate cry in the wilderness. The use of more natural, organic imagery in the songs, however, adds an extra level of depth to the subtle, carefully constructed."

Stereolab - Refried Ectoplasm (Switched On Volume 2) 2xLP (Drag City) [DC082LP] $18.50
2009 repress on black vinyl, originally released in 1995. Housed in a foldout cardboard sleeve with chipboard insert. Includes "Exploding Head Movie 'Animal Or Vegetable (A Wonderful Wooden Reason...)'," a cut from their essential collaboration with Nurse With Wound, Crumb Duck. "Refried Ectoplasm, which compiles compilation cuts, outtakes and single tracks of the post-Switched On period, is a terrific get-acquainted visit with the band's ever-changing moods. In addition to self-explanatory mood pieces like 'Harmonium' and 'Farfisa,' the thirteen-song set contains a previously unreleased 'country' (the band's designation, not necessarily a factual description) reworking of the airy 'Tone Burst.'" -- Trouser Press

Thee Headcoats - The Sound Of The Baskervilles LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900748] $22.75
180 gram vinyl. "The self-proclaimed 'king of garage rock' Billy Childish acted as frontman to this band from 1989 to 2000. The most prolific of Childish's musical endeavors, the band recorded 14 albums during its lifetime. Here is what Childish himself had to say about the album: 'unsophisticated balderdash from the English gentlemen of rock n' roll Thee Headcoats and their cohorts, the majorettes from hell, Thee Headcoatees. 15 raucous tracks of unabashed ineptitude from a secret London pub gig in April 1995. This gig was wasted on the audience as most probably will this record be wasted on your good self.'"

Vanity Fare - Early In The Morning LP (Vinyl Lovers) [VL900649] $22.75
"Formed in 1968 in Kent, England, the band is probably best remembered for its hit songs 'Early In the Morning' and 'Hitchin' A Ride,' which both became gold albums in the USA and reached the Top Ten. 'Hitchin A Ride' actually became a hippy anthem and dance craze. Going against the heavy acid rock trend of the late sixties with their brilliant melodies and harmonic singing, the band, still active today, is one of the true forgotten gems of the era. This version of the album -- originally released in 1970 -- features 10 bonus tracks from the period."

Various Artists - Can You Dig It? LP (Soul Jazz Records) [SJR214A-LP] $20.25
2LP version, part 1. "Can You Dig It? charts the rise and fall of 'Black Action Films' from 1970-75. As well as featuring a double-CD collection of the stunning music from these films, Can You Dig It? comes with a 100-page booklet, mini-film poster cards and stickers. The Black Action Films of the early 1970s gave Hollywood its first African-American cinema -- actors, directors, cameramen, editors and writers. These films discussed aspects of the African-American experience in the form of entertainment. Storylines interwove post-civil rights revolution with action stories, many involving pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers or private detectives. The films also featured the finest funk and soul black music of the time as stars such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Willie Hutch and Roy Ayers produced some of their finest work, with film budgets allowing for the addition of huge orchestral arrangements by jazz legends such as Quincy Jones, Johnny Pate and JJ Johnson. In the early 1970s, Black Action Films exploded into the cinema with three extremely successful films -- 'Shaft', 'Super Fly' and 'Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song.' The most profound statement of these films was their actual existence -- black actors and black directors entering the previously closed Hollywood film industry. Black Action Films were a representation of politically everything that had gone before and stylistically of everything that was current. Civil rights, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Black Power, Black Panthers, Vietnam sit alongside the criminal worlds of policemen, private investigators, bail bondsmen and the criminals, drug dealers, pimps and hustlers that they parole. Black American culture is reflected in the scorching soundtracks, some seriously funky clothes and the language of the street. Rarely does ten minutes pass when someone will expound 'Right on!', Can You Dig It?, 'Stay loose' or the eponymous 'Is it Black enough for you?'. The term 'Blaxploitation', was created by a writer for Vogue magazine, a confused word implying exploitation of African-Americans. 'Exploitation of black', or 'black exploitation films'? Black characters in these films are nearly always strong, the bad guys are usually white bad guys, and the resolution of the narrative in most of the films is nearly always morally correct (although sometimes complex) and as Gordon Parks noted at the time, 'it is ridiculous to imply that blacks don't know the difference between truth and fantasy and therefore will be influenced in an unhealthy way'. In 1973 that the first black female lead roles were created. Pam Grier starred in Coffy and the follow up Foxy Brown, and Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones, all three films featuring incredibly strong female lead characters created specifically for these two black American actresses. For the next few years, Black Action Film mutated across genres, weaving its way through black cinema versions of horror (Blacula), martial arts (Black Belt Jones), westerns (Soul of Nigger Charley) and any permutation thereof. Can You Dig It? presents the best of the killer musical soundtracks to these films alongside analysis of the social and political conditions that helped create the films. The booklet also comes with an in-depth guide to the films including many film stills. Also included is a set of mini- film poster cards and stickers. The vinyl edition also comes on two super-loud volumes of double vinyl and includes free poster!"

Various Artists - Can You Dig It? 2xLP (Soul Jazz Records) [SJR214B-LP] $20.25
2LP version, part 2. "Can You Dig It? charts the rise and fall of 'Black Action Films' from 1970-75. As well as featuring a double-CD collection of the stunning music from these films, Can You Dig It? comes with a 100-page booklet, mini-film poster cards and stickers. The Black Action Films of the early 1970s gave Hollywood its first African-American cinema -- actors, directors, cameramen, editors and writers. These films discussed aspects of the African-American experience in the form of entertainment. Storylines interwove post-civil rights revolution with action stories, many involving pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers or private detectives. The films also featured the finest funk and soul black music of the time as stars such as James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Willie Hutch and Roy Ayers produced some of their finest work, with film budgets allowing for the addition of huge orchestral arrangements by jazz legends such as Quincy Jones, Johnny Pate and JJ Johnson. In the early 1970s, Black Action Films exploded into the cinema with three extremely successful films -- 'Shaft', 'Super Fly' and 'Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song.' The most profound statement of these films was their actual existence -- black actors and black directors entering the previously closed Hollywood film industry. Black Action Films were a representation of politically everything that had gone before and stylistically of everything that was current. Civil rights, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Black Power, Black Panthers, Vietnam sit alongside the criminal worlds of policemen, private investigators, bail bondsmen and the criminals, drug dealers, pimps and hustlers that they parole. Black American culture is reflected in the scorching soundtracks, some seriously funky clothes and the language of the street. Rarely does ten minutes pass when someone will expound 'Right on!', Can You Dig It?, 'Stay loose' or the eponymous 'Is it Black enough for you?'. The term 'Blaxploitation', was created by a writer for Vogue magazine, a confused word implying exploitation of African-Americans. 'Exploitation of black', or 'black exploitation films'? Black characters in these films are nearly always strong, the bad guys are usually white bad guys, and the resolution of the narrative in most of the films is nearly always morally correct (although sometimes complex) and as Gordon Parks noted at the time, 'it is ridiculous to imply that blacks don't know the difference between truth and fantasy and therefore will be influenced in an unhealthy way'. In 1973 that the first black female lead roles were created. Pam Grier starred in Coffy and the follow up Foxy Brown, and Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones, all three films featuring incredibly strong female lead characters created specifically for these two black American actresses. For the next few years, Black Action Film mutated across genres, weaving its way through black cinema versions of horror (Blacula), martial arts (Black Belt Jones), westerns (Soul of Nigger Charley) and any permutation thereof. Can You Dig It? presents the best of the killer musical soundtracks to these films alongside analysis of the social and political conditions that helped create the films. The booklet also comes with an in-depth guide to the films including many film stills. Also included is a set of mini- film poster cards and stickers. The vinyl edition also comes on two super-loud volumes of double vinyl and includes free poster!"

Waterloo - First Battle LP (Guerssen Records) [GUESS061LP] $22.00
Regarded as one of the best European progressive rock albums from the '70s, the sole release by Belgian group Waterloo was originally released on the Vogue label and is a highly collectable item worth obscene sums in the collector's market. Released in 1970 and entirely sung in English, this brilliant album is a blend of progressive rock and heavy prog, with obvious Jethro Tull influences but with something else really of their own, making it a very special album. This is the first-ever official vinyl reissue of such a classic of European progressive rock history, with high quality reissue standards, including an insert with extensive liner notes and photos. 600 copies only.

Wiley and the Checkmates - We Call It Soul LP+CD (Rabbit Factory) [RF06LP] $12.75
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!! WILEY AND THE CHECKMATES have a lot to live up to. The hill country blues of Fred McDowell, Junior Kimbrough, and R.L. Burnside. The literary landmarks of William Faulkner, Larry Brown and John Grisham. HERBERT WILEY formed the Checkmates in 1960 and the group began performing on the chitlin' circuit as a marquee act and playing behind soul legends like Otis Clay, Percy Sledge, and Syl Johnson. After a dozen years with the Checkmates, Wiley quit music to run the family business and raise a family. In 2002, Wiley was inspired to reform the Checkmates after watching an Oxford punk band rehearse in a local storefront. Wiley brought together local gospel, jazz, and rock musicians and fashioned a modern take on the sound of the original Checkmates. Wiley and the Checkmates released their debut CD Introducing... in 2004. Wiley began crisscrossing the Southeast with Checkmate regulars like J.D. MARK (PRECIOUS BRYANT, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM touring guitarist) and MATT PATTON (PAUL 'WINE' JONES, THE DEXATEENS), playing venues ranging from Alabama frat bars to the annual Ponderosa Stomp festival, where the Checkmates backed unheralded soul pioneers like Bobby Patterson, Harvey Scales, Ralph "Soul" Jackson, Roscoe Robinson and Hermon Hitson.

Young Marble Giants - Live At The Hurrah LP (Get Back) [GET702LP] $22.75
180 gram vinyl. "Although the Young Marble Giants, a trio formed in Cardiff, Wales in 1979, are forever emblazoned on the mind and hearts of every post-punk rocker since their classic debut Colossal Youth was released on Rough Trade in 1980, they sadly were only around long enough to record that one seminal album. This full length live LP is therefore, a welcome event for all YMG fans around the globe. Recorded at NYC's Hurrah Club during their one legendary U.S. Tour in 1980, it captures that moment in time when the YMG ruled the independent charts. Their only full-length live recording is now available for the first time ever on vinyl."