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.”
…..new arrivals…..
*brast burn – debon – phoenix – lp
– a classic of japanese kraut obscurity originally released in 1975 on voice records. this, their one and only recorded outing left an indelible stamp on those who were to follow. nurse with wound’s steve stapleton thought highly of debon and included it on the legendary nww list. featuring orchestrated fuzz guitar, echo-drenched percussion, reverbed bass, zithers, assorted taped sounds and vocals that are simply inspired, debon is an album that’s a must for headphones and for devotees of the likes of faust and can. a rare musical experience.
*j.a. caesar – kokkyou junreika – phoenix – lp
– tokyo playwright, director and artist j.a. caesar sprang to prominence in the early ’70s largely through his work with shuji terayama’s tenjo sajiki theatre, specializing in vaguely sinister music reminiscent of a hammer house of horrors soundtrack. often considered caesar’s finest work, was culled from the 5 hours of music written for the original play, distilled down to an album’s worth of ageless chants, buddhist mantras, heavenly invocations and fuzztone guitar vamps supported by caesar’s droning electric organ and eerie female vocals. an album that sits comfortably alongside early ash ra tempel, cosmic jokers and atem-period tangerine dream.
*demdike stare – elemental – modern love – 2cd
– after four limited edition vinyl installments, elemental is now released as a 2cd album, including different versions of tracks that have appeared on the vinyl editions, plus extensive additional material — making for a two-hour trip through dark, post-industrial terrain. dark ambient/ethno/dub/electro creaks and moans.
*earth – angels of darkness, demons of light II – southern lord – lp
– now available on vinyl!! recorded in the same two week session as 2011’s ‘angels of darkness, demons of light I’, ‘II’ carries on in the freely improvised, folkloric vein of the title track from their last release. tape was rolled and spontaneous composition occurred. striking in many ways, not least, in the wildly improvised nature of this particular recording. this new earth material brings forth some highly original and deeply mesmerizing tones throughout, at times more hopeful and less dark and death oriented than previous work.
*franco falsini – cold nose – spectrum spools – lp
– an italian musician and producer perhaps best known for his work with his space/prog-rock group sensations’ fix. his music was primarily crafted with impressive guitar technique (proven to be way ahead of his time), various synthesizers, and unorthodox recording methods to churn out beautiful experimental psychedelic sounds. composed in three suites of spiraling and kaleidoscopic proto-ambient psychedelic rock. gentle washes of ems and minimoog synthesizers laced with floating guitar line melodies that break out into sky-high guitar leads.
*lee fields – faithful man – truth & soul – cd
– “the older lee fields becomes, the closer he gets to perfecting the sound of soul” this album is the next step towards perfection. drawing comparisons to the moments, the delfonics, the stylistics, and (of course) james brown, ‘faithful man’ is able to create a space of its own due to the group’s desire to interpret and further the formulas of good soul music rather then imitate them. chalk that up to truth & soul producers and co-owners jeff silverman and leon michels.
general strike – danger in paradise – staubgold – lp
– legendary album from 1984, for the first time available on vinyl and as a download. originally released on cassette by touch in 1984. performed by: steve beresford (bass, piano, farfisa organ, prophet 5, trumpet, flugelhorn, euphonium, percussion, glockenspiel, voice, toy piano, melodica, noises, rhythm tracks, drumkit), david toop (guitar, prepared guitar, bass, percussion, flute, alto flute, glockenspiel, voice, tapes, noises, rhythm tracks), david cunningham (tape treatments) with guests: lol coxhill, dawn roberts and maartje ten hoorn.
julia holter – ekstasis – rvng – cd
– “ekstasis marks a return to the playful searching of her 2007 eating the stars ep, but guided by newly-learned disciplines, slightly better technology, and nearly limitless home recording time. while ekstasis reflects the conventions of her classical training, the album is also uncannily, if unknowingly, poppy. the songs center around what she describes as, ‘open ear decision: what seemed to sound best for that moment.’ this blindness to reverence unintentionally steers ekstasis along the experimental pop spectrum most commonly associated to new york’s downtown music micro-universe of the ’80s, specifically the works of laurie anderson and arthur russell.” vinyl next week.
human teenager – animal husbandry- spectrum spools – lp
– the result of absolute, genuine obsession: a devotional masterwork with song craft, exquisite production and aesthetics regarding the ultra-damaged times we live in, all in perfect harmony. burrowed away in private studio sessions over the course of a year, human teenager have emerged with a profound and colorful masterpiece. like chrome before them, the effects of a carbon copy community of lemming rock groups were avoided and ignored, and the vision of creating a pure, singular work was achieved. rarely does an album with complex structure and abstract tendencies sound as organically catchy as this.
*matsuo ohno – i saw the outer limits – em – 2cd
– mind-stretching analog synth wizardry from the legendary matsuo ohno, sound designer for astro boy and many other japanese films and tv programs. his first non-soundtrack release, from 1978, is a massive, undulating galaxy re-released here on cd with a bonus mini-cd reissue of a rare 1970 flexi-disc play on animals, rated as one of 2011’s top releases by byron coley of the wire. this reissue of his stellar 1978 lp presents him at the peak of his powers, combining his mastery of classic analog tape music techniques with then-state-of-the-art analog synthesizers. this is a true under-recognized classic, a masterfully recorded, massive-sounding poetic construction of unearthly sound, a breathing behemoth, with ohno’s galaxy moving beyond “sounds that already exist” in search of new sonic spaces.
the men – open your heart – sacred bones – lp/cd
– ironically referred to by timeout ny as “thurston moore & the e street band,” the men have never been a band to play by categorical punk subgenre rules. instead, over the last three years, this band has dabbled in everything from hardcore punk to psych to shoegaze to black metal; and they have done all of it effortlessly, and for the most part, flawlessly. totally removed from the current climate of add-youtube-blog-hyped generation of musicians under 21, the men stand out from the pack as both scene elders and actual record collectors.
monolake – ghosts – monolake – cd
– dark and colorful, with haunting and deep excursions into magic worlds of sound and grooves, held together by a fragmentary story as part of the artwork that indicates a continuation of themes present on silence: precisely-crafted, earth-shaking beats, rough, dirty noises, wide, lush soundscapes and little sonic creatures inhabiting a fascinating planet in which a lot of things go badly wrong and nothing is taken for granted.
scuba – personality – hotflush – cd
– scuba is the production and dj alias of paul rose, the curator of hotflush recordings, a label which, having released some of the most important tracks of the formative period of dubstep, has grown into a leading player in the wider world of electronic music. his third album through hotflush, Personality, features 11 brand-new tracks and takes in a wealth of genres across contemporary dance music, proving once again scuba’s place at the cutting-edge of the electronic music scene.
sleigh bells – reign of terror – mom & pop – lp
– now available on vinyl!
*sylvester anfang II – untitled – latitudes – lp
– “limited edition hand numbered qty of 500. sylvester anfang II and the artists surrounding the kraak label in belgium are a beacon of free-form, experimental hope. the 5 tracks presented here were extracted from a 3 hour session with no preconceived plans to see what would materialize from their wigged-out psychedelic improvisation. the result is 35 minutes of kaleidoscopic noise, droning mantras & freak-folk joy that sweeps you off your feet & leaves you hovering in the ether.”
andre williams – hoods and shades – bloodshot – lp/cd
– andre ‘mr. rhythm’ williams is a perfect study in the mysterious, multifaceted power of music. nine songs created by music roadmen led by the music roadman. making contributions are: renowned grammy award-winning producer don was on upright bass, motown legend/funk brother dennis coffey on acoustic and electric guitars, dirty three drummer jim white, greasy carlisi (robert gordon, chris spedding) and jim diamond (dirtbombs) on electric bass, and longtime producer matthew smith. the album plays out like an afternoon hangout among music peers, speaking of experiences through their instruments, dynamic stylings, and overall touch.
…..restocks…..
olafur arnalds – living room songs – erased tapes – 10″+dvd
olafur arnalds – another happy day – erased tapes – lp
beach boys – smile sessions – emi – lp
beach boys – pet sounds – emi – lp
buzzcocks – singles going steady – 4 men with beards – lp
*karen dalton – it’s so hard to tell who’s going to love you the most – light in the attic – lp
miles davis – pangaea – 4 men with beards – lp
fleet foxes – s/t – sub pop – lp
florence and the machine – lungs – island – lp
florence and the machine – ceremonial – island – lp
grimes – visions – arbutus – lp/cd
lambchop – mr. m – merge – cd
*kim jung mi – now – lion – lp
real estate – days – domino – lp
shearwater – winged life – misra – lp
*swell maps – a trip to marineville – secretly canadian – lp+7″
washed out – within & without – sub pop – lp
weakerthans – fallow – anti – lp
weakerthans – left and leaving – anti – lp
thanks for reading…..
listen records
10443a – 124 street
edmonton, ab
t5n 1r7
780.732.1132