I think we’ve finally hit the summer lull. There’s not a heck of a lot coming out right now, and subsequently, there’s not a heck of a lot coming in either. Which makes the task of making this here news letter a lot easier, and at the same time, a whole lot trickier. Anyway, there’s a FEW things in this week. And some upcoming releases listed at the bottom…
Also, I guess I should mention that as usual, we will be closed at the end of the month from July 29th to August 2nd, and open again on Saturday, August 3rd. Mark it on your calender, cuz we won’t be here… so stock up in advance.
…..pick of the week…..
Used records!!!
Well isn’t that just perfect! On a slower than average week for new arrivals, I bought probably the best batch of used records I’ve seen in 6-10 months. Not a huge collection, but some sweet goods. Check the list at the bottom of the news letter for a partial list of what we scored.
…..new arrivals…..
The Mantles: Long Enought To Leave (Slumberland) LP
San Francisco/Oakland’s The Mantles have been charting a unique path through the Bay Area’s storied garage/pop scene since 2007. The early shows were loose & loud Velvets/ Nuggets-bashing, always with weirdly catchy songs & oddball chord changes. Their first singles saw them honing their sound, building towards their excellent 2009 self-titled debut album (on Siltbreeze) and follow-up EP on Mexican Summer. Loosely aligning with artists like White Fence and Ty Segall, The Mantles thoroughly modernize and personalize the folk-rock tradition. Now on Long Enough To Leave, The Mantles still color outside the lines but dial a cleaner, more infectious sound. SF’s Kelley Stoltz (Sub Pop) recorded the new album with enough savvy to make it pop while keeping the performances idiosyncratic & affecting. Sharp ears may spot bits of early Love, New Zealand’s Flying Nun label and LA’s Paisley Underground, but The Mantles are very far from revivalists and have more songwriting and arranging skill at their disposal than many bands could hope to have.
File Under: Garage, Pop, Slumberland
Palms: s/t (Ipecac) LP/CD
Palms came together following the demise of ISIS, with Jeff Caxide (bass), Aaron Harris, (drums) and Clifford Meyer (keyboards/guitar) electing to continue playing music together. “After a little time Jeff, Cliff, and I decided that it was insane that we all still lived here in Los Angeles and weren’t playing together,” Harris says. “It just sort of happened naturally, probably because we have been playing together for so long, and things started to come together. But we didn’t want to be instrumental: We wanted vocals. We just weren’t exactly sure who that would be at first.” The band, knowing that Chino Moreno (Deftones) had been a fan of ISIS, thought he would be a great fit and he agreed. “A chance to work with the guys from ISIS sounded like a lot of fun,” Moreno says, “I’ve always been into the atmospheric sounds they had created with that project and felt my sense of melody would meld well with theirs.”
File Under: Isis, Deftones, Metal, Ipecac
Zomby: With Love (4AD) 3LP/CD
Production master Zomby broke a lengthy hiatus to announce that his new release will be the 2CD / 3LP “With Love”. A grand double album that draws an arc through dance music history, touching upon rave, jungle, house, techno, grime, but not in a way that feels nostalgic. It’s basically ‘post-everything’; a palimpsest of true experience, from a producer who has absorbed by osmosis dance’s shifting textures and plains, and reconfigured them into a definitive, sprawling love letter to the soulful dance music of his past. Divided into two volumes, the 33-track triple vinyl/double CD moves seamlessly between the dance floor and after-hours emotional introspection, serving as a love letter to the soulful dance music of his past. “Zomby’s early work stood out for the care with which it was created, but even given that, there’s something startlingly mature about the production here.” – The Village Voice. “Wonderfully innovative, state-of-the-art urban electronica.” – Mojo. “Zomby’s achievement with Dedication is in plausibly connecting these austere sounds to underground bass music. The best DJs can do this, but few producers even try.” – Dusted.
File Under: Electronic, Dance
…..restocks…..
Big Black: Songs About Fucking (Touch & Go) LP
Black Flag: Damaged (SST) LP
*Boards of Canada: Tomorrow’s Harvest (Warp) LP/CD
Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts) LP
Cluster: Zukerzeit (Lilith) LP
Miles Davis: Live At The Plugged Nickle (Klimt) 5LP
Death From Above 1979: You’re A Woman… (Last Gang) LP
Fuchsia: s/t (Klimt) LP
Tim Hecker: Ravedeath 1972 (Kranky) LP
*Arve Henriksen: Cartography (ECM) LP
*Ignatz: Can I Go Home Now? (Fonal) LP
Mississippi Sheiks: Complete Recorded Works 1 (Thirdman) LP
Mississippi Sheiks: Complete Recorded Works 2 (Thirdman) LP
Pavement: Wowee Zowee (Matador) LP
Queens of the Stone Age: Like Clockwork (Matador) LP/CD
Savages: Silence Yourself (Matador) LP/CD
Saviours: Death’s Procession (Kemado) LP
Sonics: Boom (Norton) LP
The Sword: Gods of the Earth (Kemado) LP
The Sword: Warp Riders (Kemado) LP
Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City (XL) LP
Stevie Wonder: Innervisions (Tamla) LP
*Various: Ecstasy of Gold Vol 1 (Semi Automatic) LP
*Various: Ecstasy of Gold Vol 2 (Semi Automatic) LP
…..used goodies…..
Alambama Shakes: Boys & Girls (ATO) LP
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Capitol) LP
The Beatles: White Album (Capitol) 2LP
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust (RCA) LP
Billy Bragg: Life’s a Riot/Between the Wars (Go! Discs) LP
Billy Bragg: Talking with the Taxman About Poetry (Go! Discs) LP
Buzzcocks: Love Bites (United Artists) LP
John Cale: Paris 1919 (Reprise) LP
Camper Van Beethoven: Telephone Free Landslide Victory (Rough Trade) LP
Camper Van Beethoven: Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (Virgin) LP
Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison (Columbia) LP
Alex Chilton: Lost Decade (Fan Club) 2LP
The Clash: Black Market Clash (Epic) LP
The Clash: Combat Rock (Epic) LP
The Clash: London Calling (Epic) 2LP
The Clash: Cut the Crap (Epic) LP
The Clash: Live At Mont De Marsan 1977 (Bootleg) LP
The Clash: s/t (Epic) LP
The Clash: Sandinista! (Epic) 3LP
The Clash: S.O.S. Cardiff/New York (Disease Discophiles) 2LP
The Clash: Klashing with the Clash (Not on Label) 2LP
The Clash: 16 Tracks (Bootleg) LP
Elvis Costello: My Aim is True (Columbia) LP
The Creation: We Are Paintermen (Outline) LP
Deja Voodoo: Swamp of Love (OG) LP
Deja Voodoo: Live at the Backstage Club (OG) LP
D.O.A.: War on 45 (Fringe) LP
Bob Dylan/The Band: Basement Tapes (Columbia) 2LP
Bob Dylan/The Band: Before The Flood (Columbia) 2LP
Bob Dylan: Gentleman’s Club of Spalding (Bootleg) LP
Bob Dylan: Dylan (Columbia) LP
Bob Dylan: New Morning (Columbia) LP
Bob Dylan: Freezer Burn (Trademark of Quality) 2LP
Bob Dylan: Homesick Blues (Trademark of Quality) 2LP
The Flying Burrito Bros: Flying Again (Columbia) LP
The Gruesomes: Tyrants of Teen Trash (OG) LP
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced (Reprise) LP
Husker Du: Warehouse: Songs & Stories (Warner) 2LP
Led Zeppelin: I (Atlantic) LP
Led Zeppelin: II (Atlantic) LP
Led Zeppelin: III (Atlantic) LP
Led Zeppelin: IV (Atlantic) LP
Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy (Atlantic) LP
Led Zeppelin: In Through the Out Door (Atlantic) LP
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti (Atlantic) 2LP
The Modern Lovers:
Pink Floyd: The Final Cut (Columbia) LP
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest) LP
Pink Floyd: The Wall (CBS) LP
Pogues: Red Roses For Me (Ariston) LP
Public Image Ltd.: Album (Elektra) LP
REM: Down South (Bootleg) LP
Rich Kids: Ghosts of Princes In Towers (EMI) LP
Jonathan Richman: s/t (Rounder) LP
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: Modern Lovers 88 (Rounder) LP
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: Back in Your Life (Beserkley) LP
Rush: A Farewell to Kings (Anthem) LP
Rush: Moving Pictures (Anthem) LP
Rush: Exit… Stage Left (Anthem) LP
Sex Pistols: Live Worldwide (Konexion) LP
Sex Pistols: The Great Rock N Rock Swindle (Virgin) LP
Sex Pistols: Mini Album (Chaos) LP
Joe Strummer: Walker OST (Virgin) LP
Velvet Underground: & Nico (Verve) LP
Neil Young: Harvest (Reprise) LP
Neil Young: Live Rust (Reprise) 2LP
…..upcoming releases…..
Julianna Barwick: Nepenthe (Dead Oceans) LP/CD
Bobby Beausoleil: Lucifer Rising Suite (Ajna) 4LP
Belle & Sebastian: The Third Eye Centre (Matador) LP/DLX LP/CD
Birthday Party: Mutiny!/The Bad Seed (Drastic Plastic) 2LP
Braids: Flourish/Perish (Flemish Eye) LP
Burnt Ones: You’ll Never Walk Alone (Burger) LP
Neko Case: The Worse Things Get… (Anti) LP/DLX LP/CD/ DLX CD
City & Colour: The Hurry & The Harm (Dine Alone) LP
Dead Ghosts: Can’t Get No (Burger) LP
Explosions in the Sky: Prince Avalanche (Temporary Residence) LP/CD
Fuck Buttons: Slow Focus (ATP LP/CD
Julia Holter: Loud City Song (Weird World) LP/CD
King Krule: 6 Feet Beneath the Moon (True Panther) LP/CD
Cliff Martinez: Only God Forgives (Milan) LP
No Age: An Object (Sub Pop) LP/CD
Red Sparowes: Fear is Excrutiating… (Sargent House) LP
Ty Segall: Sleeper (Drag City) LP/CD
Washed Out: Paracosm (Sub Pop) LP/CD
Ruth White: Flowers of Evil (Black Mass Rising) LP
White Hills: So You Are… So You’ll Be (Thrill Jockey) LP/CD
Various: After Dark II (Italians Do It Better) LP/CD
Various: Black Mass Rising OST (Black Mass Rising) 3LP