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Mar 08 2012
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Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #527 – tinnin’ spoons…..

howdy all…..

well i sure hope this warm weather holds cuz there have been some hot desert jams coming in these days, and it’s real hard to fully enjoy that stuff in -30 temperatures. along with those releases there are a good stack of other killer tunes comin’ in pretty much every other day lately for your listening pleasure…

one last reminder, tonight i’ll be spinning records just down the street at the common probably starting after 10. i’ve got a weird mix of synth wankery, japanese psych, and industrial jammed in my crate for tonight. come on down and hear some tunes you’re not likely to ever hear again in any other bar.

…..pick of the week…..


*bombino – agadez – cumbancha – 2lp
- new album from bombino who you might know from his 2009 release on sublime frequencies. “omara “bombino” moctar, a young tuareg guitarist and songwriter, was raised during an era of armed struggles for independence and violent suppression by government forces. his electrifying jams capture the spirit of resistance and rebellion while echoing with guitar riffs reminiscent of fellow africans tinariwen and ali farka touré not to mention rock and blues icons such as jimi hendrix, john lee hooker and jimmy page. already a superstar in the tuareg community, with the release of agadez on cumbancha discovery bombino’s stature as one of africa’s hottest young guitarists is revealed to the world.” “contains some of the most sublime guitar licks you’ll hear in 2011. the songs on agadez combine the best traits of saturday nights and sunday mornings, mixing killer solos with delicate repetition. the most magical moments come when bombino finishes a verse — all sung in the tuareg language of tamasheq — and begins to lose himself in his guitar. you can’t help but follow him down.” – national public radio. virtually sold out at the source.

*group doueh – zayna jumma – sublime frequencies – lp
- finally available on lp!! “from the gorgeously cracked yet all-embracing opening drum roll of “zayna jumma” (the title track), it’s evident this band is hell-bent on redefining the sound of its influences and in turn, shape the future sound of its surroundings. it’s musical alchemy in its purest, most remarkable form, pushing at the boundaries of geographical divergence while simultaneously speaking to the shared resonances between western rock rhythms and the pulse of the saharan trance tradition. since its inception, group doueh’s ability to craft pop hooks from a foundation of saharoui roots music has been a manifestation of sheer song craft and innovation. the tracks on zayna jumma are a deeper excavation of the group’s forged terrain: a collision of contemporary afro-saharan grooves balanced with the searing modalities of doueh’s desert origins, finally nuanced by the transcendental pop/rock/desert blues elements honed from gestating in the fringes of the sahara desert. for the latest installment of this dakhla family’s musical dynasty, doueh recruits his next eldest sons el waar (synth) and hamdan (drum kit), and wife halima is augmented by three female back-up singers. the band keeps evolving and this album reveals its newest phase — that of a formidable rock unit. the songs on this record were recorded in 2010 — a busy year for doueh, maintaining its day job as the go-to group of the saharan wedding industry while still managing recording sessions and a tour with tony allen (fela kuti’s long-time drummer). this band continues to redefine the musical landscape and keep listeners amazed and transfixed. it’s the perfect ecstatic music for the impending apocalypse, a rogue sound rooted in the past and yet boldly harnessing the aural possibilities of the landscape ahead… go ahead and jump aboard. recorded on location in dakhla, west sahara in 2010 by hisham mayet. housed in a full-color heavy-duty gatefold tip-on jacket.”

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Mar 01 2012
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Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #526 – oh boy…..

howdy all….

so i guess we will have winter after all. but records keep you warm.

once again, i’ll be spinning records down the street at the common next thursday night. starting likely around 11pm. come down, say hi, have some beers and hear some stuff you don’t often get to hear in a bar.

…..pick of the week…..

*radiophonic workshop – the seasons – trunk – lp
- in tomorrow. “at long last the rarest and most peculiar of all radiophonic workshop albums is available. originally issued in 1969, the seasons has become almost mythical over the last few years. with its mix of unexpected electronics, percussion, tape manipulation and austere poetry, it sounds like no other. the seasons has also become a major influence on bands such as broadcast and a key reference in the development of ghost box and the whole “hauntology” soundscape. it is seen and heard very much now as an important and lost classic. and after over one year of detective work and rights investigation (which is a lot in this modern world of instant communication), this impressive, strange and wholly unique album is seeing the light of day once again. originally made as part of the bbc’s drama workshop broadcasts, this album was meant for educational purposes. coming in the later period of what is commonly known and remembered as “music and movement” or “movement and mime classes,” the album was issued briefly as a teaching aid for the modern thinking 1960s classroom. the idea was to play the album and get the school children to dance, improvise, think and create to the sounds and words. the music was originated by one of the early pioneering radiophonic musicians, david cain. very little of his music has ever been made available (except on the classic bbc “pink” album) but to some followers of early british electronics, he is the forgotten master. and for this release he has been interviewed by julian house (the focus group) with a fascinating q&a, which will appear in the new sleevenotes. as for the poet ronald duncan, he is now deceased, but had an interesting and inspired life. a born pacifist, he famously wrote the libretto for britten’s opera the rape of lucretia, wrote the script for girl on a motorcycle, and started the english stage company at the royal court theatre. his poetry was published by faber and faber by t.s. eliot, who became a friend. duncan’s 16 featured poems were specially written in 1969 just for this project. the album sold in tiny quantities when it came out and was quickly deleted by the bbc. even the bbc archive doesn’t have a copy. in fact the album’s scarcity has only added to its mythical status. a handful of originals started appearing in bargain bins throughout the mid-1990s, and as interest in british electronics and the radiophonic workshop started to grow, the album’s reputation began to gain a little momentum. the album rarely surfaces, but jonny trunk and fellow collector martin green found three copies at back in about 1998, one of which was passed on to jarvis cocker. this limited edition lp comes with the original 1969 bbc sleeve and an insert of all the poetry. also worth noting is that this album has been remastered from the original radiophonic workshop tapes.”

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Feb 23 2012
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Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #525 – and so on and so forth…..

howdy all,

see, what’d i tell ya… loads of new stuff this week. a little something for everyone at that. but enough about me, how are you?

…..pick of the week…..

*derdiyoklar ikilisi – disko folk – guerssen – lp/cd
- in tomorrow. anadolu pop doesn’t get weirder than this! back in 1979, two turkish guys armed with electro-saz, guitar, drums and synthesizers were hitting the turkish market in germany where they lived, playing their sets of traditional-flavored electro-folk in weddings and circumcision feasts for turkish emigrants in germany. that’s their crazy story, and that’s their crazy sound. this is their third album, in a limited edition of 500 copies only. comes with a booklet including liner notes. you must watch this…. 

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Feb 16 2012
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Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #524 – holy sit…..

howdy all…..

finally! new releases are starting to trickle in. a bunch of stuff this week and more on the way for monday. now that you’ve finished with valentines day, you can get back to spending money on yourself….

…..pick of the week…..

*slant azymuth – s/t – pre-cert – lp
- yes! new release from one of my favorite labels… “slant azymuth expand on the concepts shared on 2011′s virtually unobtainable series of releases on andy votel and demdike stare’s pre-cert home entertainment label. slant azymuth is more than likely a joint venture between label heads demdike and votel, once again exploring fake-loric nonlanguage/electric codes and forbidden information to create an archive of sonic and poetic commentary (evidence) concerning corruption in pre-war local industry, perverted belief systems and scientific invention. part music concrète, part folklore, part-pulp-fictitious, part neorealism — this indulgent patchwork of mechanical folk/pop and non-music combines essential influences of electric smithsonian releases, sound poetry, zdeněk liska, ilhan mimaroglu, basic carnatic music, lettrism, pierre henry, oramics in ardwick, massiera, lloyd m. williams, stella crenshaw, bruno nicolai, suzanne ciani, eastern european fiction, agitprop, l.s. lowry, j.g. frazer, gurdjieff, kommune pop groups and futen theater. limited to 700 copies.”

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Feb 09 2012
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New, Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #523 – to drop ceiling, or to not drop ceiling…..

howdy all,

you know, every week make this news letter, and it takes me a varying amount of time depending on how much is in (or coming in), how busy i am in the store that day, and how motivated i am to get to it. and nearly every week i wonder, ‘does anyone even read this damned thing’. and then i put out a list like last week full of some nice used goodies, and a week later most of it is all gone, so i guess it does get read after all. this week finds not a huge amount in, but some real top notch stuff not to be missed. we are slowly sorting out the void left by the loss of one of our suppliers and hope that some of the new sources we’ve drummed up will work out even better going forward.. only time shall tell though. in the meantime, here’s what did come in this week that you should buy…

…..pick of the week…..

*neung phak – 2 – abduction – lp
- yes!!!!! “in the pantheon of western-tilted south east asian tribute groups, oakland, california’s neung phak (pronounced: “noong pahk”) have carved out a decade’s worth of inspired and unique recordings and performance since their 2001 debut, (birthed as a spin-off from legendary bay area group mono pause). galvanized by exposure to thousands of south east asian cassette tapes, lps and radio broadcasts harvested during years of travels (co-founder mark gergis is a key conspirator with international record label sublime frequencies), the 7-piece group play folk and pop sounds from thailand, cambodia, laos, indonesia, vietnam and elsewhere, using a variety of western and non-western instruments. neung phak delivers international sounds that trade the gloss and sheen of so-called “world music” for the energy and unpredictability you can find when you’re somewhere else. after two releases on abduction and several performances and tours, neung phak have returned with their second full-length studio lp. 2 showcases molam-folk pop and acid-rock hauntings from thailand’s yesterday and today, javanese dancefloor dangdut, and cambodian instrumental dramas — all retold in inimitable neung phak parlance. the stunning indonesian pop gem, “bang toyib,” features guest alan bishop (sun city girls) on bahasa vocals. thai dance-pop cuts “poot” and “poo jud” feature veteran singer diana hayes. the damning “fucking usa” was purportedly recorded in a north korean studio — and the epic retelling of the classic southern thai-styled “sat chatri,” closes down the lp in sprawling, psychedelic form. limited edition one-time pressing of 500 copies with download card.” super rad.

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Feb 02 2012
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New, Used, Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #522 – ugh, sanding…..

howdy all,
     welcome to february, the month in which stuff finally starts to come out again. sadly, yesterday one of our main suppliers called it quits. so hopefully not too much gets missed while we pick up the pieces and find new sources for everything. who knows, maybe this will turn out to be a good thing. maybe….

…..pick of the week…..

*keiji haino/jim o’rourke/oren ambarchi – imikuzushi – black truffle – lp
- limited gatefold double lp version with printed innersleeves. “the yearly summit of keiji haino, jim o’rourke and oren ambarchi continues with imikuzushi, which finds the group extending the power-trio strategies of 2011′s highly-praised in a flash everything comes together as one there is no need for a subject and bringing to them a newly-sustained intensity. for this performance, haino limits himself to electric guitar and vocals, forming complex networks of slashing rhythm work, noise squall and chromatic shredding, moving at times to near-silent passages of howled vocals and isolated, hanging guitar strums. the tendency towards driving free-rock which surfaced on moments of the trio’s last release is cemented here, with o’rourke’s fuzzed-out, non-linear bass riffing moving the music into almost garage-rock areas, combining with ambarchi’s drums to form a bedrock of hypnotic, metronomic pounding which transforms itself effortlessly into passages of flowing free-time. like all of haino’s best work, the trio transcends any ‘rock’ genre exercise to enter a non-idiomatic zone of ritual intensity, creating a music formed purely out of instrumental and group-mind possibility. presented as four unedited excerpts salvaged from an epic show that lasted well over three hours, the sometimes raw nature of the recording only adds to its directness and harshly emotive quality.” –francis plagne, melbourne, november, 2011. design by stephen o’malley (sunn o)))) with high quality live shots by ujin matsuo and stunning images by tokyo-based photographer and sound artist shunichiro okada.

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Jan 26 2012
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Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #521 – ick…..

howdy all…..

in what is becoming the ups standard, we’re still waiting on a box here, but i guess they still have a bit of time. not that there’s a huge amount in that box. next week there should be a lot more in this little list, as i know of a few things that are en route. anyway there’s still lots to catch up on anyway, right?

a little reminder too, that tonight i’ll be over at the common spinning records for a little while, starting around 9:30. come down and say hi…

…..pick of the week…..

*nord – lsd – pcp – lp
- super cool early 80s japanese synth explorations. “the first of two requested nord lp’s, l.s.d. features rough hewn sheets of ominous yet trippy pulsating textural electronics with an obvious debt to the stark teutonic soundworlds of kluster and (especially) seesselberg. any glimmers of transcendence are immediately offset by a deadzone ambience that reeks of maurizio bianchi. hiroshi oikawa’s solo explorations of the galactic void seem considerably more enticing to these set of ears than the more formalized quotidian post-industrial con-structs he was fabricating under the nord moniker with satoshi katayama on their pinakotheca label debut lp from three years earlier. if this is cos-mic, than it’s the cosmos as viewed from the vantage point of a burned out cinder drifting into entropy. gripping stuff!“ limited repress from germany.

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Jan 19 2012
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New, Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #520 – winter much?…..

howdy all…..

well, it’s definitely january. -30 and slim pickin’s for new releases. but as usual, despite the lack of releases, that doesn’t mean a lack of quality. there’s some top notch stuff in this week, and it’s warming up again too so get out of your cave and get down here.

oh ya, if you’ve missed it in past, next week i’ll be djing again down the street at the common next thursday night. come on down, after 9, i’ll be spinning some cool fuzzy funky library and soundtrack tunes along side some folks from other local shops. come show your love for listen!

…..pick of the week…..


*eddie callahan – false ego – time-lag – lp
- first ever reissue, deluxe & legit, of this quite rare 1976 southern california private press gem. it’s a strange, fantastical, and totally distinct album that will have you sucked in almost instantly. this one is extremely hard to pin down – think something like a loner powerpop rock opus, heavy on the psychedelic production values, studio dreamer vibes, and timeless hooks. the songs are unusual but infectious, the production is breezy & expansive but not polished, and the vocals are constantly morphing yet always effective. in fact, the hazy chameleon-like personality here might be one of the best things going for the album, as not only does eddie seem to be channeling a handful of different vocalists, but the whole mood & sound shifts around unexpectedly as well. even the potential low points somehow work, and there’s surprises around every turn. the often questioning, self-reflective lyrics add yet another layer of mystique to the trip. musically the most mellow points hover around gorgeous, airy, rural-tinged, floating psychedelia with beautifully layered acoustic & electric guitars, tinkling keys, and lush mellotron. when things pick up they’re truly rocking, with tight punchy rhythms and eddie firing off big chunky guitar riffs like he’s playing to the packed stadium behind his third eye. all the studio tricks at hand are put to full use with sweet leslie guitar effects, special tones, backwards solos, elaborate multi-tracked sound fields, and some of the most wonderfully bent synthesizer soloing ever laid to tape. the perfectly strange & beautiful cover art seals the deal… mastered from the artist’s well preserved & great sounding master tapes. pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl, and packaging in an exact reproduction heavy old-style cover, with exact repro labels. also includes a double-sided heavy stock insert with a bunch of great vintage photos of eddie rockin’ the marshall stacks at the ‘false ego’ sessions, plus new notes from eddie, his wife donna-davi, and album producer robert berry. one time pressing of 700 copies.


*ghedelia tazartes – works 1977-1979 – vinyl on demand – 4lp+10″
- in tomorrow… back in stock!! “4lp-box with 10″ tazartes’ transports, tazartes, diaspora, une eclipse totale de soleil, and quelque part quelqu’un. the french artist and autodidact ghedalia tazartes who is born in paris in 1947 is a true nomad spending more than 30 years within musical practice and experimentation. ghedalia is the orchestra and a pop group all in one person: the self is multitude and others, freely connecting the sounds, the rhythms, his voice, his voices. the extra-european music opens the ear to ghedalia’s intra-european exotism. the permanent metamorphosis is a principle of composition; it escapes control, refuses classification, diametrical to the purists of synthetic culture and technocrates of noise. he wanders through music from chant to rhythm, from one voice to another. utilizing magnetic tape recorders, he paves the way for the electric and the vocal paths, between the muezzin psalmody and the screaming of a rocker. he traces vague landscapes where the mitre of the white clown, the plumes of the sorcerer, the helmet of a cop and parisian anhydride collide into polyphonic ceremonies. this box concentrates on his early works from 1977-1979 and his four officially released vinyl-lp’s plus a 10″ of an unreleased work from 1978. all the material is superbly remastered for vinyl by anders peterson of ghostsounds.net, pushing the overall quality and dimension in sound to an amazing new level and experience.”

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Jan 12 2012
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New, Used, vinyl, Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #519 – prog actually is a four letter word…..

howdy all,

well, it may be january, but there are still some cool new things in for your listening pleasure, and we are slowly starting to see some much needed restocks as well. also, to make up the difference, we bought a few used records this week to keep you busy. if you trust the weather man, it’s supposed to get much colder next week, so stop in before you’re afraid to leave the house…

…..pick of the week…..

*bruce haack & miss nelson – the way-out record for children – mississippi – lp
- “recorded in 1968, a true psychedelic masterpiece for the kids. ms. nelson (a child educator) and bruce haack (an early electronic music pioneer) designed this record to open the minds and hearts of children to deeper levels of insight and culture. not condescending in the least and with a childlike sense of wonder, bruce and ms. nelson lay into some heavy songs about everything from robots to indian mysticism to motorcycle riding fantasies. it’s all in here. the music is all generated by bruces’ homemade electronic instruments which churn out proto hip hop beats and straight up avante garde moments left and right. the kids in ms. nelson’s community chime in with their voices here and there and the record ends with a haunting existential twist that’ll leave you screamin’ for more. a great record for children and adults of all ages.”

*bruce haack & miss nelson – electronic record for children – mississippi – lp
- “recorded in 1969 , early electronic music pioneer bruce haack and child educator ms. nelson go bravely and deeply into psychedelic music compositions designed to open the minds and hearts of the young. truly far out electronic music that evokes a space age alternate universe. bruce and ms. nelson are joined by pianist praxietellis pandit and their relaxed sounding friend chris to bring you songs about everything from ancient folk tales to outerspace to what the world sounds like when you listen with your inner self. real great stuff, not for the faint of heart. avante garde music by and for the people.”

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Jan 05 2012
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News, vinyl, Weekly News Letters

…..news letter #518 – in the cold january rain…..

howdy all,

hope you all survived new years… i know it’s early in the year, but fortunately, a bit of stuff has started to trickle in. it’ll still be a few weeks before a lot of out of stock stuff will all be back in, but in the meantime, here’s some cool new stuff for you to enjoy….

…..pick of the week…..

*ash ra tempel – s/t – mg.art – cd
*ash ra tempel – schwingungen – mg.art – cd
*ash ra tempel – join inn – mg.art – cd
*ash ra tempel – starring rosi – mg.art – cd
*timothy leary & ash ra tempel – seven up – mg.art – cd
*manuel gottsching – inventions for electric guitar – mg.art – cd
*manuel gottsching – e2-e4 – mg.art – cd
- what a way to start the year! it’s not very often i hype cds, but this stuff is sooooooo essential that it has to be done. some of the absolutely best kraut-rock/kosmiche music to ever be released is finally available again and has been completely remastered by manuel gottsching himself, as well as released on his own label. these albums date from 1971 – 1981, and bands today still can’t pull off what gottsching and crew (and what a crew… klaus schulze, hartmut enke, conny plank, etc) were able to pull off on these records 30-40 years after the fact. the first ash ra tempel is a blistering guitar freak out of the highest order… completely mind-melting. inventions for electric guitar is a staggering feat that sounds like it was made in a room full of synthesizers, yet there is only guitar used to create these early dance sounding tracks. then of course you have the seminal e2-e4, which is considered to be one of the most influential electronic pieces ever recorded. needless to say, these are must haves for any collection, and considering the price of original lps of this stuff, these cds reissues are your most economic way to acquire these albums. highest possible recommendation!!!!

…..new arrivals….. Continue reading →

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