howdy all,
well, now that i’m done my taxes for another year i seem to have more time to get these news letters together in a timely manner. isn’t that swell. some real swell gems in this week… and since you’ll be in the area for the 124 street grand market tonight anyway, you might as well stop in.
oh ya… and one important tidbit of news… starting this sunday we will be closed for sundays for the summer. get outside and have some fun.
…..pick of the week…..
*ost – drive – invada – pink 2lp
– finally available on vinyl!!! “invada records (owned by geoff barrow/portishead) are proud to announce the vinyl release of the critically acclaimed, drive – original motion picture soundtrack on 28th may 2012. released in full colour gatefold sleeves on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl and is available as a double lp black vinyl / double lp pink vinyl and a limited edition 2lp picture disc. the soundtrack features original music by cliff martinez (the lincoln lawyer, traffic) with eurosynthstyled songs by kavinsky & lovefoxxx (‘nightcall’), the chromatics (‘tick of the clock’), desire (‘under your spell’), college featuring electric youth (‘a real hero’), and riziero ortolani featuring katyna ranieri (‘oh my love’). rolling stone magazine named drive the no. 1 movie of 2011. in variety, laura ferreiro wrote,”while a synthetic electronica score may seem an unusual choice for a cerebral action thriller, it plays a pivotal role in setting drive apart from other heist-gone-awry films, and arguably helped it become one of this year’s critical darlings”. the drive soundtrack raced to the top of the itunes album charts, hitting no. 4 within a week of its digital release and peaking at no. 35 on the billboard top 200. the soundtrack re-entered the charts in february 2012 when the film was released on dvd.” a killer score, for a killer flick.
…..new arrivals…..
*robbie basho – seal blue lotus – 4 men with beards – lp
– “originally released on john fahey’s takoma records in 1965, the seal of the blue lotus is the debut album from american guitar soli legend robbie basho. in college basho immersed himself in the study of asian art and culture, even changing his last name to that of the japanese poet matsuo basho, and his music shows a much greater eastern influence than contemporaries like fahey and peter lang. basho was particularly entranced by the raga form. a guitar solo masterwork.”
martin brandlmayr/werner dafeldecker/christian fennesz – till the old world’s blown up… – m=minimal – lp
– now available on vinyl! an outstanding work of reductionism and minimalism. the trio on this record created a new kind of cool jazz coupled with a big portion of new york school (john cage, morton feldman, earle brown and christian wolff). it’s hard to describe the music with words. this work reveals its secrets only after listening to it a couple of times. it grows with each time you listen to it. in this work, silence and noise are never used as an end in itself. as equal parameters they stand in the composition that also has space for some tonal “flowers.”
brian jonestown massacre – their satanic majesties second request – a records – lp
– “truth in advertising: the brian jonestown massacre’s sophomore album does, as promised, spring forth from the rolling stones’ long-underrated 1967 masterpiece their satanic majesties request, copping not only mick and keith’s leering bad-boy attitude but also their their rock-and-roll-circus spirit. the record is a kaleidoscopic, drug-fueled freakout — like the stones’ namesake album, second request is painted by eastern drones and psychedelic tangents, each track bubbling with dozens of sound effects including sitars, mellotrons, farfisas, didgeridoos, tablas, congas, and glockenspiels.”
chubby checker – chequered – sunbeam – lp
– like several other icons of early ’60s pop, by the end of the decade, chubby checker was eager to update his sound and message. the result was this enigmatic set of raw, soulful, psych-tinged ballads and rockers. overseen by jimi hendrix’s early producer ed chalpin, it was released in the uk only in 1971. complete with background notes and rare pictures. fully remastered.
*gruppo di improvvisazione nuova consonanza – niente – roundtable – lp
– founded in rome in 1964, ‘il gruppo di improvvisazione nuova consonanza’ was a collective of noted and noteworthy composers who challenged the very structure and performance of music itself. today the most renowned of its members would be film scoring genius ennio morricone. the collective improvised live and in the studio. come 1970, “il gruppo’ (as ‘the group’) recorded “the feed-back” (for rca italy), an insane amalgam of avant-improvsation and motorik krautrock beats that, understandably, has become one of the most collectable lps ever issued. in october 1971 ‘il gruppo’ returned to the studio to record a sequel. this is that record. for reasons unknown “niente” was never originally issued but one listen will convince that not only is it the sequel to one of the most sought after lps of all time, but it is also by far its superior. wildly accessible, brain-melting jams collide with smokin’ grooves in a hothouse of italo avant-improv. you have been warned.
hot chip – in our heads – domino – lp/cd
– it’s more or less business as usual for the band, which means lots of clever and catchy tunes balanced with more poignant moments. The single hints at a slightly happier band than their previous album, while the slow-burning, eight-minute track “flutes” lets hot chip indulge their more experimental side.
*omar khorshid – guitar el chark (guitar of the orient) – sublime frequencies – 2cd
– double cd reissue of the out-of-print vinyl edition. with an additional ten bonus tracks and a 14-page booklet in a tri-fold digipak! the late omar khorshid remains an iconic legend of the arab world, though he’s received criminally little international acclaim. he is regarded as the greatest guitarist the arab world has ever known. the tracks included here in this retrospective are from the prolific span of khorshid’s career in beirut from 1973 to 1977. essential!!
koudede – guitars from agadez vol 5 – sublime frequencies – 7″
– first american release for one of the leading lights from the agadez guitar scene. koudede maman finally steps out of the shadows and delivers two scorching tunes recorded live from the european tour of last year. from the young visionary who made his first guitar out of a tin can to his current avatar as the heir apparent to the legacy of ali farka touré in west african guitar music, koudede has blazed forth from a relatively small following in agadez and niamey to take the world by storm.
*egisto macchi – i futurbili – roundtable – lp
– egisto macchi has long existed in the shadow of his friend and famous collaborator ennio morricone. as morricone melded pop idioms and western scores, macchi too melded classicism, the avant garde and early electronic music. macchi cut a number of highly desirable library lps for the gemelli, sermi and other italian labels in the 1970s. ‘i futuribili’ is one of the greatest and most sought after of those lps, a stunning and powerful hybrid of haunting orchestral arrangements, jarring avant tones and dense electronic atmospheres. presented as an exact replica of the incredibly rare 1972 gemelli lp, remastered from the original master tapes and complete with scholarly liner notes as an insert.
harry nilsson – the point! – get on down – lp
– “is it a children’s story, an acid trip, or a combination of both? for the first time in generations, harry nilsson’s 1971 album the point! is available again on vinyl! essentially a fable, extolling the trials and tribulations of a round-headed person named oblio growing up in a ‘pointed village’ where by rule of order everyone and everything in the land was to have ‘a point.’ fully remastered audio sourced from the original recordings.” housed in a gatefold sleeve with an 8-page full-color booklet.
*loren nerell – point of arrival – forced nostalgia – lp
– a composer and performer of ambient music and balinese gamelan. as a composer, loren has written music for film, theater, dance and interactive multi-media. he has performed with the kronos quartet, has recorded eight albums of original work, has appeared on several compilations. point of arrival was originally released on cassette in 1986 and has never previously been available on vinyl. it was recorded using an arp 2600, arp sequencers (two of them), emu emulator 1 with cv/gate converter, emu emulator 2, emlL 101, ems synthi a (two of them), linn linndrum, moog micromoog, moog minimoog, moog model 15 modular, oberheim obxa, oberheim dsx sequencer, oberheim dx drum machine, oberheim dmx drum machine, roland jupiter 4 and roland sh3a.
*annette peacock – i’m the one – future days – lp
– now available as a gatefold lp version with 18″x24″ poster. jazz, rock, and electronic music pioneer annette peacock’s solo debut lp. the album’s wide range of vocal emotions and diverse sonic palette (featuring robert moog’s early modular synthesizers, which the singer actually transmitted her voice through to wild effect) places it firmly at the forefront of the pop avant-garde. hand-numbered edition of 1000 copies.
peaking lights – lucifer – mexican summer – lp/cd
– the third full length release from west coast dub heroes peaking lights. the golden duo of aaron coyes and indra dunis continue to crystallize their mesmerizing sound and find new dimensions within. peaking lights consider lucifer a nocturnal version of their sound. it’s slinkier and full of grooves.
pyramids with wraiths – magpie & raven – aurora borealis – lp
– pyramids are a somewhat enigmatic outfit from texas, a fluctuating band of musical adventurers who explore new territory with every release. unconstrained by the dogma of genre, pyramids sometimes approach musical projects in an almost curatorial way, adding and subtracting styles, sounds and guest musicians on an ad hoc basis. magpie & raven sees pyramids at their most sprawling and with moments of ultimate bombast. edition of 350.
raymond scott quintette – radio music – doxy – lp
– “a major american composer, electronic music pioneer, and all-around fascinating figure in the american musical panorama, the brooklyn-born raymond scott (1908-1994) is perhaps most widely known because his music was widely used as the background music for many a warner bros. cartoon. he, however, was also a hugely successful pop artist, and during the late 1930s his albums sold in the millions of copies, despite criticism from jazz and classical music purists who did not understand scott’s brand of musical fusion and chose to write it off as ‘novelty music’. he began to ‘design and manufacture electronic music devices and systems’ including new electronic instruments like the ‘clavivox’ and the ‘electronium’. scott used his new technology to record commercials for tv and radio using entirely electronic music.”
shindig! no 27 – mag
– “the chocolate watch band: at the love-in. california’s answer to the rolling stones: the coolest image and the wildest psych-punk sounds. toby twirl: revered classic psych-pop 45s… small faces support slots… working men’s clubs! the highs and lows of a provincial pop band. the wheels/demick & armstron: from ‘bad little woman’ to little willie ramble. belfast duo who fed garage-punk to the shadows of knight, counted them’s van morrison as a friend and fan and recorded singer-songwriter gems in the early ’70s. joy bang: Behind the smile of the freewheeling hippie chick actress. and more”
tallest man on earth – there’s no leaving now – dead oceans – lp/cd
– “there’s no leaving now, the 2012 record from kristian matsson’s aptly titled moniker, the tallest man on earth, finds the swedish troubadour trading in the sense of urgency that fueled his first two records for a confidently relaxed approach. drums, piano, baritone guitar, woodwinds and pedal steel layer this collection of songs that never compromise virtuosity for immediacy.”.
*peter thomas – orion 2000 – roundtable – lp
– the ‘holy grail’ of kraut-space-funk. the highpoint of a career that boasts the legendary ‘space patrol’ (raumpatrouille) and ‘chariots of the gods’ soundtracks, peter thomas’ ‘orion 2000’ is a near-mythical release that was only ever pressed in miniscule amounts as a german library lp (in 1975) and has never been available commercially before now. drums pound, basses buzz, horns flail and star-maidens wail. berserk electronic and musique-concrete effects collide with manic energy. there is nothing on this world (or any other) that sounds like the ‘blaxploitation-kraut-jazz-in-space’ sound of the orchestra peter thomas. the star-people have, at last, landed.
tortoise – millions now living will never die – thrill jockey – lp
– vinyl reissue of this classic post-rock album.
wax poetics #51 – mag
– on the covers, front: nas; back: danny brown. contents: g-side, theesatisfaction, cities aviv, gangrene (oh no and alchemist), oddisee, kurtis blow, el-p, beats by the pound, rap videos, the roots, killer mike, shabazz palaces, robert glasper, coke la rock, big fun in the big town.
*wicked lady – the axeman cometh – guerssen records – cd
– if you are looking for raw, psychedelic hard-rock, look no further — guerssen presents the complete recordings (1968-1972) from wicked lady, the legendary uk underground power trio led by ace guitarist martin weaver, later a member of dark on their round the edges album. the music here was originally recorded in 1968/1969 and features new artwork and liner notes by weaver, who tells the real (and bizarre!) story behind wicked lady for the first time. the stuff of legend, this is a real fest of fuzz, wah-wah and heavy riffs that will blow the mind of any hard-psych collector. vinyl soon.
*wicked lady – psychotic overkill – guerssen records – cd
– second volume to complete the anthology of wicked lady recordings, their final tracks recorded in 1972, just before the band split up and guitarist martin weaver left for dark. another batch of excessive, over-the-top, doom-y psychedelic hard-rock including underground classics like “i’m a freak” and the 21-minute epic “ship of ghosts.” maximum sound quality, new artwork and liner notes by psychedelic guitar god, martin weaver, telling the real story behind wicked lady for the first time.
the wire #341 – mag
– “attached to the front cover of issue 341: the wire tapper 29. inside the issue: low end theories: (the wire writers pick 50 monumental bass riffs, immersive moments of sub bass pressure, low frequency waveforms, walking bass lines, phat boom baps and beyond). plus: david toop, will montgomery, dave tompkins, fushitsusha, duane pitre, and more.”
zelienople – the world is a house on fire – type – lp
– veterans of the sprawling chicago music scene, zelienople have carved out a unique sound over their album releases. the lastt chapter in the band’s story managed to perfect brooding, melancholy doom-pop, and this latest lp finds the band in a more evocative mood. the trio have utilized dream-pop tropes before, but in the first bars of opener “The Southern,” there is no doubt that the haunted americana of the band’s previous recordings has been swathed in a haze of drifting synthesizer tones and echoing organ drones.
*various – dabke: sounds of the syrian houran – sham palace – lp
– dabke is the celebratory music and dance found throughout the levantine middle east. by the mid-1990s, a new wave of high-energy electronic dabke music had emerged — to be heard at weddings, parties and cassette-stalls region-wide. new wave dabke was first introduced to western ears by way of omar souleyman and his northeastern syrian sounds. this collection presents a hypnotic and diverse selection of electrified dabke dance cuts from a region in the south of syria known as the houran. limited pressing of 1,000.
various – festival electronica en abril 2003-2012 – la casa encendida – 2lp box
– oh, just an insanely nice-looking, borderline lenticular bright green / purple cloth boxed set, containing two lp’s (milky clear vinyl ; each housed in its own printed inner sleeve) of exclusive music from eleh, snd (aka mark fell & mat steel), thomas köner, jan “farben” jelinek (aka 1/2 of ursula bogner), matmos, radian, maja ratkje, dopplereffekt, and elektro guzzi, acting as something of a “love letter” to the current state of electronic music… kind of a ridiculously covetable thing ; at this price-point it’s a steal … highly recommended !!!
various – number 8 wire: 16 trippy new zealand nuggets – particles – lp
– it might be thousands of miles from the acid capitals of the uk and the u.s., but who said new zealanders couldn’t turn on, tune in and drop out, too? this legendary compilation (first issued in a tiny edition in 1997) gathers 16 of the trippiest tracks recorded in nz in the 1960s, and comes complete with detailed background notes and rare photos. the gremlins, the smoke, the avengers, the group people, lew pryme, the hi-revving tongues, the la de das, and more…
*various – southern folk heritage series by alan lomax – doxy – 7lp box
– “7lp box set of authentic field recordings made by alan lomax (and british folk singer shirley collins) in 1959 for atlantic records. meant as a kind of follow-up to alan and his father john lomax’s legendary work for the library of congress in the 1930s, lomax (now with hi-fi stereo equipment) once again set out for the Southern states on a two month long tour that resulted in over 80 hours of recordings. the recordings were divided by genre and released in 1960 as a series of 7 lps now available in one deluxe box set with a 16-page booklet.”
…..restocks…..
alabama shakes – boys & girls – ato – lp
*john cale – paris 1919 – 4 men with beards – lp
*susanne ciani – lixiviation – b-music – lp
grimes – geidi primes – arbutus – cd
*howlin’ wolf – message… – get on down – lp
nirvana – unplugged in new york – geffen – lp
radiohead – in rainbows – tbd – lp
smashing pumpkins – gish – emi – lp
smashing pumpkins – siamese dream – emi – lp
*this heat – s/t – this is – cd
*tinariwen – tassili – anti – cd
zombies – odessey & oracle – big beat – lp
thanks for listening….
listen records & cds
10443a – 124 street
edmonton, ab
t5n 1r7
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