Yikes! Loads of killer wax in this week, and even some used stuff trickling in and out into the used bins. I’m swamped, so I won’t keep you long, but do stop in, there’s plenty to stuff in yer ear.
…..pick of the week…..
Ignatz & De Stervende Honden: Teenage Boys (Ultra Eczema) LP
Another killer slab from this Belgian psych/blues troubadour. “In the past 10 or so years Ignatz has explored all visible cracks and overlapping layers between (or underneath) folk music, blues, singer- songwriter and psychedelia. It is a pleasure to see him take this beauty to yet another level by unleashing 2 dying dogs to join him as a backing band, pushing his tunes into directions Les Rallizes Dénudés took a left and forgot their mountain of distortion, to end up in a dessert where Teenage Boys dance their first slow. De Stervende Honden know their place more then well, sending the anxious listener with endless muffled psych bass and primitive percussion into a kennel where after a few bites dream state replaces sense of direction, any moment on this record seems to be one you´ve experienced already. Comes in a pro mat duo color printed sleeve with artwork by DT, with an insert and a ue sticker, limited to 300 copies.”
File Under: Blues, Folk, Psych
Listen Here
A Winged Victory for the Sullen: Atomos (Kranky) 12″
In tomorrow… This new EP from A Winged Victory For The Sullen heralds the arrival of a new full-length album later this year, a score for choreographer Wayne McGregor’s long-form dance piece of the same name. McGregor, mastermind behind “Random Dance Company” and resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet since 2006, is known in popular culture circles for serving as movement director for the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. McGregor was influenced by the duo’s 2011 self-titled debut, playing it repeatedly during practices with his core group of dancers. After noticing the group’s reaction with the music, he contacted A Winged Victory to see if they would write the score for his new oeuvre and the collaboration was begun. As a final note of symbiosis, the EP also sees the involvement of Ben Frost, who composed McGregors previous work “Far.” The title track is taken from the upcoming full-length album Atomos, track two is an outtake from A Winged Victory’s debut album, and the final track is a remix of the title track by Ben Frost.
File Under: Ambient, Drone, Stars of the Lid, Ben Frost
Listen Here
Listen Here
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley: Simigwa (Academy) LP
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley unleashed his unique brand of “Simigwa” music on an eager yet unsuspecting world in 1975 with the release of this, his debut album. Suffused with his larger-than-life personality, this LP is an absolutely irresistible manifesto of his heavy Afro-Funk Simigwa philosophy. This record spawned a genuine dance craze in Ghana and is even considered a foundation record of the Hip Life style of Hip Hop that is popular in Ghana today.
File Under: Afrobeat, Funk, Highlife
Listen Here
Eduard Artemiev: The Mirror/Stalker (Superior Viaduct) LPIn tomorrow… It comes as no surprise that Andrei Tarkovsky, master of Soviet cinema, turned to composer Eduard Artemiev to score his two lyrical and haunting films, The Mirror (1975) and Stalker (1979), as he had done for Solaris (also available on Superior Viaduct). Artemiev’s magnificent soundtrack to The Mirror is the natural follow-up to Solaris. Dense, slow-moving, and often disorienting mood pieces with Baroque sensibilities resonate beyond the film’s dream-like images. For Stalker–Tarkovsky’s other science fiction masterpiece–Artemiev was inspired by Indian classical music and employed layers of synth tones, flute and tar (a traditional Iranian stringed instrument) to create a central theme as spellbinding as The Zone, a setting in the film where laws of physics no longer apply. Superior Viaduct presents the first-time official release of these two astonishingly unique soundtracks. Recommended for fans of Lech Jankowski’s music for Brothers Quay films, BC Gilbert & G Lewis and Oneohtrix Point Never.
File Under: Early Electronic, OST, Drone
Listen Here
Big Boys: Lullabies Help The Brain Grow (Light in the Attic/Burger) CS
Everyone knows Burger Records loves cassettes. Heck, they made their name in that game! Starting May 13th, Burger Records / Light In the Attic will release one cassette a week. Each tape is hand-numbered and housed in gorgeous old school hand-made tip-on boxes, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the ’70s. Extremely limited – GET YERS TODAY!!!!
File Under: Punk
Listen Here
Listen Here
Black Hippies: s/t (Academy) LP
Pazy from the Black Hippies started playing music in the Fire Flies in the city of Warri in Nigeria in 1973. The area was in the midst of an oil boom, and like most bands on that scene, the Fire Flies played American and European pop hits mixed with Jazz and Highlife for the largely expat audiences in local clubs. Along with an influx of foreigners, the oil boom also gave rise to an emerging Nigerian youth market, and soon Pazy formed the Black Hippies, who found success playng the uniquely African style of hard rock that was favored by this new audience. By the time this album was released in 1977, though, Disco and Funk were starting to take over and the hard fuzzy rock of The Black Hippies first album was somewhat behind the times. As a result, the album was barely released and is now virtually nonexistent, unseen by all but a few of the most hardcore collectors. Featuring whiplash funk drumming, searing fuzz guitar, raw vocals and that uniquely West African organ sound, The Black Hippies first album is a definitive classic of the genre. Beautifully remastered with restored artwork, this release stands alongside Academy’s Ofege and Psychedelic Aliens releases as some of the finest restored gems from a largely unknown but incredibly vital Rock scene in 70’s West Africa.
Pazy from the Black Hippies started playing music in the Fire Flies in the city of Warri in Nigeria in 1973. The area was in the midst of an oil boom, and like most bands on that scene, the Fire Flies played American and European pop hits mixed with Jazz and Highlife for the largely expat audiences in local clubs. Along with an influx of foreigners, the oil boom also gave rise to an emerging Nigerian youth market, and soon Pazy formed the Black Hippies, who found success playng the uniquely African style of hard rock that was favored by this new audience. By the time this album was released in 1977, though, Disco and Funk were starting to take over and the hard fuzzy rock of The Black Hippies first album was somewhat behind the times. As a result, the album was barely released and is now virtually nonexistent, unseen by all but a few of the most hardcore collectors. Featuring whiplash funk drumming, searing fuzz guitar, raw vocals and that uniquely West African organ sound, The Black Hippies first album is a definitive classic of the genre. Beautifully remastered with restored artwork, this release stands alongside Academy’s Ofege and Psychedelic Aliens releases as some of the finest restored gems from a largely unknown but incredibly vital Rock scene in 70’s West Africa.
File Under: Psych, Afro Funk, Fuzz
Boris: Noise (Sargent House) CD
Boris has always demolished expectations of what a band can do musically and aesthetically. In keeping with that tradition, they again flip the script for the band’s first official release in three years by serving up their most all-encompassing effort to date. Noise is an amplification of Boris’ endless pursuit of musical extremes while moving aggressive, intense rock into new territories. In writing Noise, Boris was intent upon condensing all that the band had explored over the years, in order to create something more bold, streamlined and powerful. And, upon completion, the band considers Noise its most defining effort, stating, “If we had to suggest just one album for those unfamiliar with Boris’ music, we will pick this for sure.” That’s a bold statement from a band having released over 20 albums covering a vast array of sounds. Yet somehow throughout the album’s 8 song, 58 minute duration, the band masterfully intermingles sludge-rock, blistering crust punk, shimmering shoegaze, epic thunderous doom, psychedelic melodies and just about everything else they’ve ever done. Over the course of Boris’ three previous Sargent House albums (Heavy Rocks, Attention Please and New Album) the band sought to expand its musical vision ever further. And, the results helped redefine the band’s already iconoclastic sound. However, in early 2013 they decided to return to their classic trio lineup moving forward: drummer/vocalist Atsuo, guitarist/vocalist Wata and bassist/guitarist/vocalist Takeshi. Having been able to explore many new ideas as a quartet in recent years, the band was concerned about logistics, until their very successful residency shows and tour in the U.S. convinced them that Boris could return to the simpler, solid trio without sacrificing artistic growth. Now, having rebuilt the classic trio’s ‘equilateral triangle’ they’re heavier, louder, more confident and incisive than ever before.
File Under: Metal, Japan
Listen Here
Listen Here
Alice Coltrane: A Monastic Trio (Superior Viaduct) LPIn tomorrow… Born Alive McLeod into a musical Detroit family, Alice Coltrane began playing piano at age seven and later studied with Bud Powell in Paris. Upon returning to the States, she joined vibraphonist Terry Gibbs’s group and eventually shared a bill with the John Coltrane Quartet. In 1965, the two wed in Juarez, Mexico, and played alongside one another until her husband’s last performance in May, 1967. A Monastic Trio, created in the year following her husband’s passing, is Coltrane’s first recording as a band leader and features six original compositions. While John’s spirit can be felt throughout–from the song titles (“Ohnedaruth” was his adopted Hindu name) to the personnel (Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and Pharoah Sanders were frequent collaborators)–the album showcases Alice’s immense talent for fusing spiritual free jazz and new age with classical, Eastern, post-bop and gospel. As the late Amiri Baraka writes, “‘I Want to See You’ is a monastic piano concerto. With echoes of Europe…, it has a solemnity and majesty to it…. Yes, monastic is the word. The piano broods in its earth imagination.”
File Under: Jazz, Spiritual Jazz
Listen Here
Saul Conrad: A Tyrant & Lamb (Mountain of Leopards) LPA Tyrant and Lamb, Saul Conrad’s third studio album, draws ten crystalline songs into a tight orbit around a haunted country sun. Gently interrogating the lifelong echoes of cruel words, unpredictable outbursts and deep-set affection – if you love someone, kill their family in their mind, and set them free. Conrad constructs, from the ligaments of childhood wonder and searing disappointment, a mature musculature into which each listener must step and learn anew how it feels to walk.Immune to classification, Conrad’s songwriting finds a new harmony and control in his third album, combining backcountry austerity with unbridled urban opulence into displaced, almost homeless, intensity. Called a “chamber-pop head trip, evoking everything from Brian Wilson’s druggy, Smile-era pop orchestrations to Joan of Arc’s disjointed, dissonant indie-rock,” Saul Conrad’s songwriting may not strive to erase discord or pain, but perhaps gives us a new means of interpreting the mechanism of our troubled minds.
File Under: Singer-Song Writer, Indie Folk
Listen Here
Cousins: The Halls of Wickwire (Ba Da Bing) LPIn tomorrow… We all have cousins, but Cousins are not actually cousins. Cousins are Leigh Dotey and Aaron Mangle and they are the hardest working band in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Cousins are a guitar / drums duo that plays rock and roll music for today. Their Halls of Wickwire is generously filled with fuzz and reverb. There are ten thousand bands in Halifax, rising up, gasping for air, sinking, stuck in the mud, or flaring up like model rockets over the harbor’s shitty waters. The geographic, cultural and economic factors of the region take their toll on the lifespan of the average Atlantic Canadian rock unit. But these Cousins have persisted and carry on. This band is poised, clean and lean. Cousins break through fences and set off roman candles. Their rock and roll is devastating and joyful, full of love and punk romance. It will fix your bike and leave paint under your fingernails. It is music that will shake off all that faux, dead, cool. This record will change your life if you let it. A heartbreaker and a healer, it looks an awful world dead in the eye, fills the lungs up with all that pain and worry, and then comes back breathing a beautiful fire. This is the fine art of defense and hope. A ramshackle monument built over a steady spring of melancholy. Electricity and blood in the lines. Guitar and drums. A musical avalanche set apart from the macho and debaucherous posturing and fictions of rock culture. This is a sound set loose, rolling down hill in a shopping cart, at once full of confidence, excitement, dread and anticipation.
File Under: Rock, Fuzz, CanCon
Listen Here
Daemonia: Zombi/Dawn of the Dead (Black Widow) LP
For those who aren’t familiar with the Italian band Daemonia perhaps some historical facts are appropriate here. The band were formed by Claudio Simonetti, composer and keyboard player of the famous Italian band Goblin. After Goblin, Simonetti started the Daemonia project with the help of young musicians of the Roman metal scene. The music they perform is particularly inspired by themes of the many soundtracks of Dario Argento’s movies. The songs on this album originally appeared on a bonus disc for Daemonia’s DVD Dario Argento Tribute Live In Los Angeles (2006). People who know the albums recorded by Goblin will notice that many of these pieces taken from several Goblin albums remain in the spirit of the original versions.
File Under: Italian, Prog, Synth
Dark Matter: s/t (Siltbreeze) LP
In tomorrow… Hold the tidings, reconnoiterers. This is a new set of songs from Stephen Cogle of Vacuum, The Victor Dimisich Band and The Terminals. Dark Matter stands with contemporaries The Renderers and The Puddle in exemplifying a “late” style of New Zealand post-punk—more concrete, more distilled. Cogle’s vocal flourish stills reminds one of Roxy Music—a band that, recall, is only ten years older than Cogle’s earliest projects. The continued relevance of an ensemble like Dark Matter over Roxy Music can only be attributed to the richness of the musical moment that birthed it. Trusted names like Cogle, John Christoffels, John Billows, Joanne Billesdon, Nicole Moffat and Michael Daly continue into the 21st century in new combinations with new aspects to notice. But more than just an update on the Christchurch Sound, Dark Matter plays with punk nostalgia to craft an overwhelmingly romantic (with a lowercase r) pop record. Too cat-like to be reflective, totally immersed in the garage rock impetus, their flat, gothic psychedelia is equal parts Chills, Television Personalities and Scientists, with the intimacy of Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive Stereos or Small World Experience. With a breadth of material fitting to the subject of “getting older,” Dark Matter is perhaps the most finessed document of Cogle’s vision yet.
File Under: Rock, Post-Punk, New Zealand
Listen Here
Listen Here
Kyle Bobby Dunn: Kyle Bobby Dunn & The Infinite Sadness (Students of Decay) 3LP
In tomorrow… Based in Montreal, Kyle Bobby Dunn has been producing elegant and refined works of ambient minimalism for the better part of a decade. His two lengthy and critically lauded collections for the Low Point label, A Young Person’s Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn and Bring Me the Head of Kyle Bobby Dunn, established him as a force to be reckoned with in the current epoch of drone / ambient music. Indeed, his compositions offer listeners wonder, sadness and pathos in equal measure, and are executed with a precision and effortlessness that eludes many musicians working in the genre. Kyle Bobby Dunn and the Infinite Sadness is undoubtedly his most focused and emotionally charged work thus far, a rich, expansive collection of slowly unfurling beauty that stretches out over the course of more than two hours. Dunn’s trademark guitar swells and slow-moving loops feel clearer and have a renewed sense of purpose and poise. He recorded source material for the album in various Canadian towns, including Belleville and Dorset, and processed and arranged the recordings at L’auberge de Dunn Studios in Montreal while, in his own words, “reflecting heavily on the gorgeous feet of a certain French woman and binging on strong beer and cheese.” From the opening salvo, “Ouverture de Peter Hodge Transport,” Dunn establishes a haunting, lovelorn trajectory that is developed through the strikingly beautiful “Boring Foothills of Foot Fetishville” and the poignant closer “And the Day Is Dunn and I Can Only Think of You,” titles that exhibit well his trademark sense of (black) humor. Kyle Bobby Dunn and the Infinite Sadness is a powerful statement, the artist’s most complex, complete and accessible album to date.
File Under: Ambient, Drone, Modern Classical, CanCon
Listen Here
Eastlink: s/t (In The Red) LP
In tomorrow… “This self-titled debut album from rigid Melbourne, Australia, punks Eastlink is the best full-length to come from Down Under since… well, since the last really incredible release on Aarght!, RIP Society, Homeless or any of the other countless many fantastic new labels that have appeared from that country over the past few years. For those paying attention, it’s hard to not be blown away by the amount of amazing records coming out of Australia lately. This album is no exception and stands near the top of the heap. “Eastlink features members from a variety of bands you already love like Total Control, UV Race, Repairs, Lakes and Straightjacket Nation, just to name a few. With four guitars, one drum and two vocalists, they splinter and drench two-note monotonic riffs the rest of us never noticed were right under our noses the whole time. These nine tracks range from harsh, crude, fuzzed-out one-note pounders to droning soundscapes.
File Under: Punk, Australia, Fuzz
Listen Here
Listen Here
Donnie & Joe Emerson: Still Dreamin’ (Light in the Attic) CDBy now, most of you reading this will be familiar with Donnie & Joe Emerson, the rock ‘n roll farmers, story. But Dreamin’ Wild does not tell the full story. In a relatively short span of time – just two and half years – the boys put close to 70 songs down on tape, all recorded at that magical home studio on the farm. A dozen of them are included here on Still Dreamin’ Wild: The Lost Recordings 1979-81 and ready to be enjoyed for the first time ever. With a familiar blend of FM rock, power pop, and new wave, these 12 tracks cover the entirety of that fruitful period, stretching from the second song Donnie ever recorded to tracks documenting his temporary move to L.A. in 1981. Donnie’s life story is in these songs. Where Dreamin’ Wild captures the teenage experience, Still Dreamin’ Wild tells a broader story, one in which teenage dreams turn to painful yearning. So where the Beach Boys indebted “Ooh Baby Yeah” is inspired by a teenage girlfriend, “Big Money” shows the emergence of a naive political awareness. Later, 1981’s “One True Love” captures the sound of what Donnie described as “the city as imagined from the farm,” and the epic closing track, “Don’t Disguise The Way You Feel” found Donnie after high school, feeling stifled and frustrated in the isolation of the countryside and mourning the loss of his friend and occasional backing vocalist Dwayne. It is, quite simply, heartbreaking. Still Dreamin’ Wild proves that the Emersons’ inspiration wasn’t a fluke, and that Donnie’s songwriting is as consistent as it is rare. All this time later, we finally have the pleasure of hearing the brothers’ music. And the good news? They’ve still got the jumpsuits.
File Under: Soft Rock, Power Pop
Listen Here
Estranged: s/t (Dirtnap) LP
In tomorrow… The Estranged return with their third (fourth, if you count the Singles Comp LP) album for Dirtnap! The Estranged formed in Portland, OR back in the summer of ’06 by Mark Herman (vocals, guitar), Derek Willman (bass) and Keith Testerman (drums). All three were in legendary Portland band Remains of the Day, and various members are/were in notable Portland bands such as From Ashes Rise, Hellshock, Lebenden Toten and more. Continuing in the band’s tradition of mutating and evolving with each subsequent release, the new album is an epic, sprawling masterpiece of tense, ominous angst-ridden postpunk. The influences on their newest album range from the Cure to Echo & the Bunnymen to The Troggs. Lyrically, they have more of an ambiguous angst ridden approach, musically showing the bands continued maturity in their song writing and recording process. The first pressing of 1,000 LPs are packaged in ultra-heavy “tip-on” style jacket and inner sleeves (subsequent pressings will come in regular jacket/sleeves). All copies come with download coupon.
In tomorrow… The Estranged return with their third (fourth, if you count the Singles Comp LP) album for Dirtnap! The Estranged formed in Portland, OR back in the summer of ’06 by Mark Herman (vocals, guitar), Derek Willman (bass) and Keith Testerman (drums). All three were in legendary Portland band Remains of the Day, and various members are/were in notable Portland bands such as From Ashes Rise, Hellshock, Lebenden Toten and more. Continuing in the band’s tradition of mutating and evolving with each subsequent release, the new album is an epic, sprawling masterpiece of tense, ominous angst-ridden postpunk. The influences on their newest album range from the Cure to Echo & the Bunnymen to The Troggs. Lyrically, they have more of an ambiguous angst ridden approach, musically showing the bands continued maturity in their song writing and recording process. The first pressing of 1,000 LPs are packaged in ultra-heavy “tip-on” style jacket and inner sleeves (subsequent pressings will come in regular jacket/sleeves). All copies come with download coupon.
File Under: Post-Punk, Punk
Freedom Family: Ayentsoo (Academy) LP
Academy LPs and Voodoo Funk continue their fruitful collaboration with the release of this incredible Afro Funk record that is rivaled only by the first Marijata record (also released on Academy) in it’s sheer power and heaviness. Indeed, this record takes it’s rightful place along any funk record from anywhere as a pinnacle of the genre. Absolutely consistent from beginning to end, there is not a dull second here. Recorded in 1974 with legendary producer Odion Iruoje (Ofege, SJOB Movement, Fela, and many others), this record features one of the fattest bass sounds ever committed to tape and captures the band at the absolute stunning peak of their powers. In fact, Odion would play this record for years to come as an example to other bands he was producing.
File Under: Afrobeat, Funk, Afro Funk
Listen Here
Frog Eyes: Carey’s Cold Spring (Paper Bag) LP
Just two days after Carey Mercer completed the final mixes for the he received a call from his doctor telling him that he had throat cancer. He had been working on the album since 2010 and chose to self-release the record through Bandcamp. News like this has a way of understandably overshadowing the music itself, and, thankfully, Mercer’s cancer seems to be departed, leaving us the opportunity to appreciate the record without such a dire context. The joy here is tripled: he’s not going to die, and, as a bonus, the record is awesome. And these victories are made even sweeter with the addition of tour dates. Mercer explains that Carey’s Cold Spring is not only built from personal experiences but also from what he saw over the last three years of recording: riots, storms, mass protests, the dissolution of any collective faith in our political and economic institutions. But it’s not all doom and gloom: He describes the record’s duality: “deeply fearful, almost paranoid, the sound of a person grinding his or her teeth in the night. But just a part of it. It’s also the sound of the birds in the morning, I hope”.
File Under: Indie Rock, CanCon
Listen Here
Listen Here
Haunted Hearts: Initiation (Zoo Music) LP
In tomorrow… Many years dreamt, one cold winter realized, Haunted Hearts is Dee Dee Penny (Dum Dum Girls) and Brandon Welchez (Crocodiles). It is not the melding of two bands; it is a true collaboration. The duo’s first full-length album, entitled Initiation, was written in the winter of 2012, holed up in their apartment, surrounded by a lot of books, Motown and krautrock. It was recorded by Jon Greene at Electric Orange Studios in San Diego, mixed by Jorge Elbrecht (Ariel Pink/Violens) at Static Recording in Brooklyn, and mastered by Joe La Porta at Sterling Sound in New York City. Vinyl includes digital download card.
File Under: Indie Rock, Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles
Listen Here
Listen Here
Led Zeppelin: II (Atlantic) LP
Hopefully we’ll see some of the other reissues tomorrow. The release of these reissues has been a gigantic clusterfuck, but they are finally starting to show up, one at a time… “Painstakingly Remastered from the Original Master Tapes by Jimmy Page and Pressed at Pallas: Expect These 180g LPs to Sound Better Than Any Prior Zeppelin Pressing. Packing Faithfully Replicates the Look of the Original LP’s First Pressing. You’ve Never Heard This Legendary Record Like This. John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant came together in 1968 as Led Zeppelin. Over the next decade, the band would become one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, selling more than 300 million albums worldwide. Their songs are some of the most celebrated in rock ‘n’ roll history that, to this day, resonate with fans young and old around the globe. Still, no matter how many times you may have listened to their music, you’ve never heard Led Zeppelin like this before. Painstakingly remastered from the original master tapes by guitarist Jimmy Page, and pressed at Pallas (Europe’s best plant), this 180g LP of Led Zeppelin II sounds utterly amazing. Page spent years on this project with one goal in mind: Making these reissues the end-all-be-all definitive editions of his iconic band’s records. He has succeeded, and then some. In addition to the reference-caliber audio, each LP features packaging that fully replicates the look of the first pressing of the original album. You won’t believe how these records sound, look, and feel. The band wrote and recorded nearly all of Led Zeppelin II while touring relentlessly to support its debut album. Incredibly, the album was released just seven months after Led Zeppelin in October of 1969. Led Zeppelin II features some of the band’s most beloved tracks including “Ramble On” and “Heartbreaker” as well as “Whole Lotta Love,” considered by many to be one of the greatest rock n’ roll songs of all time. The album is certified diamond by the RIAA with sales of over 12 million copies.”
File Under: Classic Rock
Listen to Keith Fullerton Whitman’s Remix Here
Lewis: L’Amour (Light in the Attic) CD
L’Amour is a true discovery of the blog age, uncovered in an Edmonton flea market, passed on to private press fanatic Aaron Levin, then shared on the internet and speculated over by lovers of curious LPs. There’s almost no information about Lewis or the album on the internet, and precious little on the sleeve to help illuminate things: a dedication to Sports Illustrated supermodel Christie Brinkley, a photo credit for Ed Colver, the noted L.A. punk rock photographer, and credits for engineer Bob Kinsey and synth player Philip Lees. All that was known of Lewis is conjecture: a rumor that he was a con artist who fled after not paying for the album’s photo-shoot and a dubious theory that he was not actually of this earth. The record itself is a delicate, whispered album, reflecting the way the artist himself – spectral, movie star-like – almost disappearing into the grey of the cover. It should come as no surprise that it failed to be noticed, another private press album that sank without trace. The ingredients are simple: smooth synthesizers, feather-light piano, ethereal, occasionally inaudible vocals and the gentle plucking of acoustic guitars. But the effects are arresting: a spine-tingling, somber album that echoes Springsteen’s Nebraska or Angelo Badalamenti’s atmospheric soundtracks. Later, Arthur Russell would grasp for something similar on his epochal World Of Echo LP. One of the more enigmatic, and truly singular records we’ve had the pleasure to work on. A real stunner, through and through.
File Under: Soft ‘Rock’, Private Press
Listen Here
Listen Here
Martyn: The Air Between Words (Ninja Tune) LP
Three years after his last album – Ghost People – Martyn joins the Ninja Tune family to present his third long player. Universally respected for his ever-evolving, but inimitable sound, the Dutch-born, Washington DC-based producer brings an entirely new sonic direction with The Air Between Words. This is an exploration of the essence of all of Martyn’s music: a rugged four-to-the-floor groove, intelligently sculpted and artfully composed. Where Great Lengths – his 2009 debut – was a body of work that explored Martyn’s uncategorizable versatility, and 2011’s Ghost People was a focused effort on writing an album with a specific sound, The Air Between Words came from a different realm altogether. Martyn had no parameters, and in fact no plan at all. He fell into a back-to-basics mentality where simple experimentation with purely analogue sounds and equipment inadvertently turned to melodic sketches, and without warning the album revealed itself. Martyn joins forces with Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet for “Glassbeadgames”, a powerhouse of a track that finds the perfect amalgamation of both producers’ fortés. Heavy kicks, UKG-esque percussion and swirling subs dictate the groove, whilst the melodic progressions are simultaneously melancholic and anthemic, and further enhanced by a Hebden trademark thumb piano motif. Another collaboration – “Love of Pleasure” – finds Martyn partnering with his good friend copeland (formerly known as Inga Copeland, or one half of art pop duo Hype Williams). His sound is heritage and future – and that character has elevated him alongside fellow electronic heavyweights such as Four Tet, Kode9, dBridge and Mark Pritchard.
File Under: Electronic, Dance
Listen Here
Listen Here
Merchandise/Milk Music/Destruction Unit: split (540) LP
The Milk Music / Merchandise / Destruction Unit split LP is a document of a 2013 US tour which drew worldwide attention from those interested in the modern US rock underground from a seemingly unlikely combination of bands. When we say “unlikely” it is because these bands are from the geographical fringes of the country: from the far corners we have the despondent and desperate Merchandise (Florida) and the freedom freak jams of Milk Music (Washington), and from the depths of the Sonoran desert the majestic psychedelic assault of Destruction Unit. When we say “unlikely” we don’t mean to suggest they are ill-fitted. While the songs occasionally scrape against one another in disparate tone and pace, the resulting sparks thrown off do little to affect the overall congruency of these bands, a communal trip and a beautiful come down: we move from the introverted warmth of Merchandise to the sensory overload of Destruction Unit into a blissful, careering drift in the capable arms of Milk Music. The booklet that accompanies the record, designed by Destruction Unit’s J.S. Aurelius, collates some of the fliers and photos from the road, and gives one pause to consider: this may well be a document of the best of the American psych underground in 2013/2014.
File Under: Punk, Psych
Listen Here
Listen Here
Night Terrors: Spiral Vortex (Homeless) LP
In tomorrow… Melbourne’s The Night Terrors offer a mind-melting mix of dark synth magic, thunderous dreamscapes and other-worldly electronica. An interstellar horror-synth fantasy featuring an orgy of vintage electronics, Spiral Vortex sees the band build upon their post-prog roots to explore a broader universe of warped psychedelia, thunderous dreamscapes and dark cosmic dance. Featuring the haunting theremin melodies of Miles Brown (student of Russian theremin queen Lydia Kavina), vintage horror synths, and the powerhouse drumming of Damian Coward (Heirs, High Tension), The Night Terrors have earned a reputation as one of Australia’s most unusual and original acts. Deluxe pressing of 300 copies pressed on 180-gram transparent red with Halloween orange splatter accents. Packaged in gatefold sleeves.
File Under: OST, Prog, Theremin
Listen Here
No Means No: Dance of the Headless (Wrong) LP
In tomorrow… Originally released in 1998 on Alternative Tentacles, Dance Of The Headless Bourgeoisie was reissued on CD on the band’s own Wrong Records in 2004. The 10th album from No Means No was, and still is, a groundbreaking exploration of social & political lyrical statements and post-punk musical workouts.
File Under: Punk, CanCon
Listen Here
Listen Here
OST: Brown Bunny (Twelve Suns) LP
In tomorrow… Deluxe 180-gram vinyl with tip-on gatefold sleeve reissue of the soundtrack to the controversial film Brown Bunny by Vincent Gallo. You get ten tracks including five exclusive songs from John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (which he claims are among the best he’s ever written), along with music from Jeff Alexander, Ted Curson, Jackson C. Frank, Gordon Lightfoot, and the Matisse/Accardo Quartet. Edition of 1000.
File Under: OST
OST: Cannibal Ferox (One Way Static) LP
Like many of the Italian cannibal films, this soundtrack is just as powerful and effective as the disturbing butchery. Cannibal Ferox features a soundtrack that is more 70s cop show than many of its counterparts. The use of funk guitar, bass, rock piano and synthesizer makes for a fun yet still powerful sound. It’s 70s recklessness with an 80s sensibility, perfect for a film that rides the line between two decades. The bulk of the soundtrack was done by Budy-Maglione, a partnership of Roberto Donati and Fiamma Maglione (who also appears in the film). This pair was responsible for collaborating on such films as Eaten Alive (1980) and Daughter of the Jungle (1982). Cunningly stimulating and ferociously absorbing, Donati’s soundtrack is an essential piece of the enigma that makes the film a pulse pounding inferno of death.
File Under: OST, Horror OSTs
Listen Here
Listen Here
OST: Hardware (Flick) 2LP
Celebrated British composer Simon Boswell has amassed an array of impressive credits in cult films of every class. From splattery Italian shockers like Stage Fright to the hallucinatory excesses of Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre to the Hitchcockian Shallow Grave, Boswell has applied his innate ability to manipulate an emotional connection to image using sound with great success. Perhaps the man’s most celebrated achievement is his dynamic music for director Richard Stanley’s legendary 1990 sci-fi/horror chamber piece Hardware. Boswell’s eclectic musicianship, spiraling from his slide guitar theme to synthy soundscapes, more traditional orchestral arrangements and FX infused experiments, was an integral part to Stanley’s post-apocalyptic visions in Hardware. Now, that amazing sonic landscape is being issued for the first time in 23 years as a double LP: one disc being the “clean” music, and the other containing sound FX and voice samples of Iggy Pop, Lemmy and others weaving in and out of the score, plus additional unused cues and weird/cool stuff like Stanley reading the Bible! Heavy!
File Under: OST, Cult OSTs
Listen Here
OST: Valhalla Rising (WEME) 2LPWe managed to procure a small batch of this excellent release on the Belgian Weme label. Quantities are limited since it’s almost sold out with the label. The Brussels-based Weme have previous form with regards to issuing soundtrack scores, releasing Francois de Roubaix’s compositions for the documentaries L’Antarctique and Autres Seances Electroniques Rue De Courcelles back in 2009. Released in 2009, the stark and violent Valhalla Rising stars Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) as a mute warrior called One Eye whose travels with a group of Christian crusaders ends in bloody fashion. Winding Refn allegedly wanted the highly lauded Scottish group Mogwai to compose the score, but instead turned to Peter (formerly the guitarist in legendary and incredible Danish rock act Sorte Sol) with whom the director had previously used on his Pusher trilogy. The resultant score in collaboration with his namesake Kyed iss filled with ambient electronic passages and very suited to a film that laid down an early marker for the heavily stylised approach Winding Refn would later gain Hollywood recognition for as director of Ryan Gosling vehicles Drive and Only God Forgives.
File Under: OST, Ambient
Listen Here
Residents: Residue of the Residents (Superior Viaduct) LP
In tomorrow… Residue of The Residents collects outtakes, rare tracks and other experiments from this legendary San Francisco collective. Originally released on Ralph Records in 1983 and spanning The Residents’ career up to that point, this first-time vinyl reissue has been expanded to a double LP and contains 26 songs from the late ’70s and early ’80s—the group’s most fertile period. Highlights from the first LP include the Morricone-inspired “The Sleeper,” the dreamlike “Whoopy Snort” (initially on the LAFMS compilation Blorp Esette), the intense collage piece “Kamikaze Lady” from the pre-Residents 1971 Baby Sex tapes, and the RAO Studio Orchestra version of “Ups & Downs” (which may be the group’s finest pop moment). The second LP features many insider favorites that have not been available on vinyl for decades: “Loser = Weed” (initially released as the B-side to the Satisfaction single), “Death in Barstow” and “Melon Collie Lassie” (from the Babyfingers EP), as well as The Residents’ contributions to the great Subterranean Modern compilation. Balancing the group’s conceptual impulses with a dark palette of electro-esotericism, Residue of The Residents is an intoxicating collection that serves as an ideal starting point for the uninitiated.
File Under: Experimental, Rock, Weirdos
Listen Here
Listen Here
Residents: Santa Dog (Superior Viaduct) 2×7″
In tomorrow… Welcome to the wild, bizarro world of the experimental artists The Residents. Little is known about the group’s origins or its members’ identities, although it is widely believed that they are based out of San Francisco, California. When their debut release, Santa Dog, first appeared in 1972 on the equally enigmatic Ralph Records / Cryptic Corporation, the few hundred copies quickly fell on deaf ears and blind eyes. Rumor has it that then-President Richard Nixon sent his record back. True to their “Theory of Obscurity” concept, The Residents cultivate mystery to ensure artistic integrity. With different musical personas for each of its four tracks, Santa Dog is a fully-formed avant-garde pastiche of musique concrète, Raymond Scott-esque exotica, television sound effects and the group’s own mutilated take on rock ’n’ roll that later became their trademark aesthetic. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time vinyl reissue of Santa Dog, complete with Christmas-themed fold-out sleeve. The package is an essential artifact for devout fans and beginners—a puzzle wrapped in a piece of commercial music. Or perhaps it is the other way around?
File Under: Experimental, Rock, Weirdos
Listen Here
Listen Here
Rodriguez: Cold FactRodriguez: Coming from Reality
(Light in the Attic/Burger) CS
Everyone knows Burger Records loves cassettes. Heck, they made their name in that game! Starting May 13th, Burger Records / Light In the Attic will release one cassette a week. Each tape is hand-numbered and housed in gorgeous old school hand-made tip-on boxes, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the ’70s. Extremely limited – GET YERS ASAP!!!
File Under: Rock, Psych, Tapes
Listen Here
Listen Here
Rudimentary Peni: Death Church (Outer Himilayan) LP
In tomorrow… Death Church was recorded in two days at Southern Studios in April, 1983. It was the band’s first long-player, following on the heels of their self-titled EP in 1981 and the “Farce” single on Crass Records in 1982. Arguably the most beloved album album of the band’s many fans, Death Church wore its contents on its sleeve, quite literally. The intricate line drawings of vocalist/ guitarist Nick Blinko are dark visions of madness, religion and death… all of which are to be found in the lyrics within. Musically, Death Church has been embraced and claimed by every fringe musical niche of its time. It’s the album that brought together the death rockers, anarcho-punks, peace punks, hardcore punks, proto-metallers and art rockers. LP pressed on 180-gram black vinyl with download and fold-out poster.
File Under: Punk
Listen Here
Listen Here
Dylan Shearer: Garagearry (Castleface) LP
In tomorrow… Cut from the cloth of early Soft Machine and Kevin Ayers-isms, garagearray is a lofty, loopy flight in a candy-floss-clouded sky, with an ever-present darkness just below the surface. It’s wonderfully off the cuff, at times reminiscent of a Syd Barrett session where the band must’ve just closed their eyes and felt it out in the dark, coming together in all the right moments in the nick of time. For garagearray, Dylan Shearer is joined by Petey Dammit (Thee Oh Sees) on bass and Noel von Harmonson (Comets on Fire) on drums. Produced by Eric Bauer (Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, etc.), the recording maintains a lighter-than-life vibration, like a breeze weaving through a tree far overhead. The production smacks with that lost-in-time quality of a BBC session piloted by a natural-on-the-knobs genius. Shearer has a sort of shy quality that seems to fall away when he sings these songs live. It’s really quite lovely and full of sad and poetic moments. Castle Face is very proud to co-release garagearray with Empty Cellar Records, and to celebrate the occasion, the labels have come up with two special limited, hand-printed jacket / colored vinyl editions featuring artwork by Michael Sean Coleman.
File Under: Psych, Pop
Listen Here
Listen Here
Shivvers: s/t (Sing Sing) LP
In tomorrow… In the spirit of Badfinger & Raspberries with a heavy dose of Girl Group soul, get ready for the 3-minute magic of The Shivvers! To those that know, saying Milwaukee’s punk and new wave scene in the late ’70s and early ’80s punched well above its weight than larger Midwestern cities is a gross understatement. Though only one half million strong, Milwaukee put together a flurry of such great bands and singles, yet even in this remarkable environment, no band burned brighter or more intensely with white-hot, pure-pop than the arc-light of The Shivvers. Classic pop in an age of plastic fops, it’s taken over thirty years, but ‘Now People’ around the world may finally be ready for the three-minute magic of The Shivvers.
File Under: Punk, Pop, New Wave
Listen Here
Listen Here
Skeppet: Phase 3 (Not Not Fun) LP
In tomorrow… Though active for roughly half a decade, instrumental hypno-kosmische duo Skeppet (Swedish for “Vessel” or “Ship”) have only released two cassette EPs, one 7-inch and one split LP–each more spacious and weightless than the last–all on local labels in Sweden. Even so, their mantric ceremonial psychedelia hooked the minds behind Not Not Fun immediately, delivering on the title of a 2010 compilation curated by core members Andreas Malm and Henrik Wallin for their own Kosmisk Vaeg imprint: The New Wave of Swedish Cosmic Music. For Phase 3, the group’s first full-length, they drafted Upper Layer Cruiser Martin Nilsson to play additional percussion, infusing a texture of mind-washed congas within their futurist Popul Vuh ascension voyages and gracefully opiated raga-rock. The album mimics the journey of a deep-orbiting craft, first spiraling deep into the ether, eclipsed and endless (the 20-minute wormhole “Den Nya Kusten,” or “The New Coast”), before arcing back toward the solar wind, increasingly sunbathed and radiant (fittingly kicking off the B-side is “Solskeppet,” or “Sun-Ship”). Block-stamped graphic artwork and layout by Henrik Wallin. Edition of 345 copies.
File Under: Electronic, Ambient, Kosmische
Listen Here
Listen Here
Sonic Chicken 4: s/t (Dusty Medical) LP
In tomorrow… After releasing a string of seven inches on Nasty Product, receiving glowing reviews in magazines, webzines and blogs across the globe, and playing dates in Europe and the USA, Sonic Chicken 4 inked a deal with one of the leading garage punk record labels, In The Red to release their first full-length back in 2007. The album got raving reviews so the band decided to tour the USA in 2009. They they did singles on Robs House and Trouble In Mind and recorded another full length that was supposed to come out in 2009 just in time for another US adventure, this one with appearances at Goner Fest 6 (Memphis) and Scion Fest (Portland). When this tour began, the album was postponed by the label. They went back to Europe to do another month of touring and the album was postponed again… and until now it never came out. In 2010 the band slowly stopped its activity… stopped playing live and stopped practicing. Years later, Dusty Medical Records (Milwaukee WI) and Bachelor Records (Austria) rediscovered this ‘lost’ 12 song masterpiece, a garage punk gem from a looong forgotten time. Yes it’s true, only about 5 years ago this thing we call Garage Punk sounded a lot different! That was before this genre was washed down by hipsters, before it was cool to shake bums to primitive beats. Before garage punk bands had booking agencies, five-page hospitality riders and tuners… This album is a document from a not so long-gone era. Recorded in only two days in a Spanish castle in Valencia, produced by King Khan with help from Isidro (Wau Y Los Arrghs) and mixed by the band in Perpignan, France, the 12 songs serve as a wayback machine. Try it take a sip and go T-R-I-P-P-I-N-G!
File Under: Garage, Punk, Rock
Listen Here
Listen Here
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation (Goofin) 2LP
In tomorrow… Daydream Nation was Sonic Youth’s sixth full-length, their first double-LP, and their last for an indie label before signing with Geffen. Widely considered to be their watershed moment, the album catapulted them into the mainstream and proved that indie bands could enjoy wide commercial success without compromising their artistic vision. More recently, Daydream Nation has been recognized as a classic of its time: Pitchfork ranked it #1 on their “100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s”; Spin listed it at #13 on their “125 Best Albums of 1985-2010”; Rolling Stone put it at #45 on their “100 Best Albums of the Eighties” list and #328 on their “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” It was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2006. 2007 saw the release of an expanded four-disc vinyl box set, but now the album is back in its original form after years of being out of print and highly sought after. CD out of print for years, available via Goofin’ / Revolver for the first time. Vinyl includes a digital download card and Sonic Youth poster
File Under: Indie Rock, Classics
Listen Here
Listen Here
Staple Singers: Uncloudy DayStaple Singers: Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Staple Singers: Swing Low
(Mississippi) LP
In tomorrow… The first three Staples Singers LPs reproduced exactly as they were originally released in 1959, 1961, & 1962! Some of the deepest, most intense music ever recorded. Pops Staples’ tremolo guitar is maybe the purest sound ever to hit air. Mavis Staples’ voice is maybe the most emotionally pure ever recorded. Every song is arresting and marvelous. Spare arrangements with Pop Staples’ stunning guitar work at the front, sparse percussion and the angelic voices of the Staple Singers. Some of the great masterpieces of gospel music. Old school “tip on” cover. Inserts– small press photos and extensive liner notes by Opal Nations with archival photos. Co-release with Yeti Records.
File Under: Gospel, Blues
Listen Here
H. Usui: Sing The Blues (VHF) LP
In tomorrow… Solo darkness from remarkably pedigreed but rarely recorded Japanese legend Hiroyuki Usui (Ghost, Fushitsusha, L, Marble Sheep, A-Musik, August Born, etc.), Sings the Blues is raw and gripping, like a darker version of his all-time classic folk-psych work Holy Letters (VHF). Performed by Usui alone on voice, guitar, banjo, bass, steel guitar and cornet, the music is blunt and rough around the edges–a Tonight’s the Night-like offhandedness that increases the feeling of existential seriousness. Like Holy Letters, most of these tracks are undeniably “blues,” but there’s nary a familiar progression or guitar phrase. Vocals are a whisper, accompanied by simple guitar or banjo. Clever overdubs add to a few of the tracks–untutored (but just right) blats of cornet here, some electronic static there. Pressed in a limited edition, the vinyl includes a CD version of the album as well.
File Under: Japrock, Psych
Listen Here
Verma: Sunrunner (Trouble in Mind) LP
In tomorrow… Sunrunner finds the Chicago band veering back towards the cosmic/’kosmiche’, song-oriented compositions without sacrificing their sharply-honed talents for improvisation in the studio. The swirling, layered loops of Johnny Caluyas guitar mesh seamlessly w/the interstellar drones and throbs ebbing from Whitney Johnsons Acetone, but the real secret weapon of Sunrunner lies in the rhythm section of bassist Rob Goerke and drummer Zach Corns locked-tight grooves that pulse steadily and subtly like all great rhythm sections are supposed to, providing a rubbery backbone that supports the albums’ 7 tunes. LP includes download.
File Under: Kosmiche, Krautrock, Psych
Listen Here
Watery Love: Decorative Feeding (In The Red) LP
In tomorrow… “Take it from me, orbitin’ the Earth over ’n’ over ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. When I was asked to hop on board a Soyuz headed to the International Space Station (Assignment: Critical Observation), I reckoned this’d be the trip of a lifetime. Space, the final frontier. And how ’bout that view? But now I feel like I’ve been here that long—a lifetime, that is. You know, the food ain’t much to speak of, plus I gotta constantly make sure I don’t make no crumbs, else they might fuck up our air breathin’ filters. Crumbs! The things one learns. Drinkin’ ain’t no fun neither, ’less you get your jollies sippin’ daquiris from a straw out a plastic bag, like some swishy, doe-eyed Deadhead. And don’t even get me started on hygiene issues! I believe I could take a life for a proper bubble bath right about now (I miss my ducky, too). Which is all just a lumberin’ yet apropos segue to the matter at hand: this debut LP by Watery Love. “Now, any right-minded corncob south of the Van Allen Belt knows them three precedin’ 7-inches via Richie, Siltbreeze and Negative Guestlist smacked kernels hard, and that smolderin’ ferocity has naturally been carried over here. The glow ’n’ throb what’s got got is as much the byproduct of the eternal bioluminescence of Iron Cross or Third World War as an appreciation for the corroded, fractoluminescence exuded once upon a time by Chain Gang, Slow Death EP-era Leather Nun ’n’ The Gordons. Sure, their environment might seem cold and uncarin’—even downright sociopathic—but behind that facade of David Goodis-like grimness are four sodbusters chompin’ to have a good time. When singer Richie Charles hollers “I’m a skull!” who among the masses would not rush headlong to get a lick off that boney pate? It ain’t about Rofinol, people, it’s about the roof, and how far can Watery Love raise the fucker. Unlike you dickheads, I’m sittin’ pretty in the catbird seat (what part of me bein’ out to space did you miss?) so let me say, keep it comin’! Higher ’n’ higher, nose to the grindstone and all that. Don’t worry, I’ll stop ya when ya get here. And one more thing—don’t forget to bring a six pack. We’ll need it.” —Roland Seward Woodbe International Space Station, Outer Space Call Sign: Alphar
File Under: Punk
Listen Here
Leslie Winer: Witch (Superior Viaduct) LP
In tomorrow… Produced in the twilight of the ’80s in London and originally released on white-label LP with a homemade rubber stamp impression, Witch is the mysterious and powerful debut from poet, artist and musician Leslie Winer. It’s an infectious patchwork of dub beats, tasteful samples and Winer’s sultry blend of spoken word with cool, folksy lullabies that later became popularized by acts such as Massive Attack and Tricky. Even though Witch predates those artists’ breakthroughs by a year or more, Winer quickly rejected NME’s christening her as the “grandmother of trip-hop.” No stranger to the concept of fame and its pitfalls, Winer moved to New York in the late ’70s to attend university and befriended William S. Burroughs and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among other street-level luminaries. Her striking, androgynous looks eventually led to a successful modeling career. As the ’80s closed, Winer chose to use (c) instead of her own name as a moniker; the front cover of Witch features an ouroboros around the letter C to form a copyright symbol. Winer’s spoken delivery evokes the frank realism of beat poetry; her lyrics grapple with socially constructed notions of beauty, womanhood and domestic roles. These stark challenges to power structures are articulate and staggeringly direct, pushing the boundaries of pop music’s form. This message, matched with Winer’s uncanny approach and melodic ear, fitted with an electro-acoustic palette built on tension and restraint, culminates in the extraordinary work that–as John Peel said–is “the very definition of a hidden gem.” Features Jah Wobble (Public Image Ltd.). Received a 7.6 rating from Pitchfork.
File Under: Electronic, Dub
Listen Here
Wreck & Reference: Want (Flenser) LP
In tomorrow… Since their inception in 2011, California-based heavy experimental duo Wreck and Reference has (de)constructed a manifesto of post-genre misanthropy using only drums, vocals and electronics. A handful of unorthodox and captivating releases have turned heads of critics and fans alike, and live, the band is crushing. Now, Wreck and Reference returns with their best and most distinct work yet. Sophomore full-length Want explores more refined and melodic territory, yet the band keeps one foot in the experimental, electronic, and post-metal genres. Mixed and mastered by JACK SHIRLY (Deafheaven, Whirr, Loma Prieta), Want is Wreck and Reference fully realized: undeniably nihilistic and devastatingly addictive. For fans of Have a Nice Life, The Body, Haxan Cloak, Deafheaven, White Suns.
File Under: Post-Punk, Gloom, Metal
Listen Here
Zig Zags: s/t (In The Red) LP
In tomorrow… In the year 2014, in the ruins of the city once known as Los Angeles, three underworld dwellers with one job, one hot tub and one unkillable riff between them knew they had to make a ripping record—or die trying. This is their story. Guitarist Jed, bassist Patrick and drummer Bobby started in a room lit by a single green light, which changed them from humans to Zig Zags in the summer of 2010. Within the next four years, they’d record a song with Iggy Pop and an album with Ty Segall and go from playing house parties for pizza to staring off the stage at the Fillmore West. Before them had come giants—bands like Kiss and Sabbath whose names were carved into desks in detention for decades. Before them had come mutants, heavy metal and punk bands like the Dictators and Pentagram that spun into the void of history after failed orbital rendezvous with the fame they’d deserved. And before them had come freaks, one-known-copy private-press insanities like J.T. IV, White Boy and the Average Rat Band—the bands that happened when someone with a guitar thought fuck it loud enough for the tape to pick up. Those were visionaries, each of them, even if most of them paid—or never got paid—for it. And Zig Zags had a vision, too. It was a dark and weird one, the kind of thing you see flickering on the monitor when your stolen spaceship wakes you up from cryo-sleep, or the kind of thing that flashes across the inside of your forehead when you wake up hungover from sleeping in your van. Theirs was the nightmare of the insane and the all-too-normal, the Bermuda Triangle between sci-fi and lo-fi and no-budget, the Twilight Zone twist ending where it turns out everyone else was an alien the whole time. When Cliff Burton wore that Misfits shirt—Zig Zags. When the Emergency Broadcast System interrupts that John Carpenter movie—Zig Zags. When a soggy pile of Thrasher mags and Jack Kirby comics spill out of a dumpster behind the Sunday School—Zig Zags. When the Ramones were scared of the basement and the Angry Samoans couldn’t find the right side of their mind—Zig Zags. When a kid breaks his elbow copying a WWF heel’s piledriver and starts laughing instead of crying—Zig Zags. And when the electricity goes off forever and torchlight reflects off chrome—Zig Zags. All of this and more becomes real on the Zig Zags’ self-titled debut LP, recorded and produced by Ty Segall for In The Red. In twelve songs, they chainsaw through weirdo film and caveman rock and space noise and make smart sound so dumb it turns inside-out and becomes brilliant. Their very first 7-inch had a song called “Scavenger” cuz that’s what Zig Zags do—dig through garbage to find genius. In 2014, it turns out they did make their ripping record. But it’s up to you to figure out the twist ending.
File Under: Punk
Listen Here
Various: Hyperdub 10.1 (Hyperdub) 2CD
In 2014 Hyperdub is 10 years old. Founded by DJ and producer Kode9, the label has grown from its humble origins as a left-field dubstep label, and spread out to function as a cross-genre hub, absorbing sounds and ideas, keeping listeners on their toes, and refreshing itself while still maintaining its core sensibilities. To celebrate, Hyperdub will release four compilations which cluster thematic highlights from the last five years, all augmented with new material, as well as staging a number of international showcase events across the year. First up comes ‘Hyperdub 10.1’, a double CD covering the label’s dance floor dimension. Disc 1 features almost all new material from Hyperdub regulars such as Kode9 & The Spaceape, Quarta 330 and DJ Rashad, along with old and new allies. The pace picks up on the second half of the CD with a volley of woozy and twisted footwork from most of the key members of Chicago’s Teklife crew. Disc 1 closes with ‘Chasing A Beast’, a new gnarly hip hop track from Kode9 & The Spaceape, and Tokyo-based veteran ally Quarta330, who crafts in ‘Hanabi’ an epic, uptempo synthesiser jam. Disc 2 spotlights 17 high points of Hyperdub’s last half-decade, proven dance floor material from the grittier end of UK funky, grime, dubstep, hip hop and footwork. Artists featured include Burial, Cooly G, Champion, DVA, Funkystepz, Ill Blu, Walton, Ikonika, Kode9 & The Spaceape, Morgan Zarate, Mark Pritchard & Om’mas Keith, Terror Danjah & Riko, DOK, LV ft. Okmalumkoolkat, and DJ Rashad. (Key tracks from this compilation are being released on a series of 12″EPs starting with ‘Decadubs 1 EP’ (HDB082))
File Under: Electronic
Various: Wheedle’s Groove Vol. 2 (Light in the Attic) CD
In 2004, the first volume of Wheedle’s Groove shone a light on the formerly unheralded soul scene in 1960s and ’70s Seattle. The ongoing series continues to present a vast chapter of the city’s musical heritage that has little to do with long-haired rock dudes with guitars. To the contrary, platform shoes and pimp hats were the order of the day. But Seattle’s soul scene did not end in 1975. This new volume documents the period from 1972 to 1987, when funk was superseded by disco and modern soul. Heading into the ’80s, artists in the Emerald City caught wind of the hip-hop and electro scenes that were growing in bigger cities across America, and gave the music their own distinct spin. As the years unfurl in the tracks of Wheedle’s Groove Volume II, so does the recent history of American music, the songs tracing technological changes and social change, and music’s move from the club to disco as live bands moved aside for DJs. Witness Septimus, on the cusp of both, blending a live drummer with a Roland drum machine and cutting “Here I Go Again” on a disco-friendly 12″ single. Compiled and sequenced by Seattle’s DJ Supreme La Rock, this 18-track compilation will also introduce you to the long-forgotten blue-eyed soul boy Don Brown and frustrated talents Push, overlooked for record deals on account of singer “Big Joe” Erickson’s larger-than-life heft. There’s Frederick Robinson III and his gospel-funk protest tune “Love One Another”, Tony Benton of Teleclere being Seattle’s answer to Prince and Seattle Mariners baseball star Lenny Randle recording a tribute to their infamous stadium.
File Under: Funk, Soul
Listen Here
…..restocks…..
Franco Battiato: Fetus (AMS) LP
Beirut: Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing) LP
Beirut: March of the Zapotec (Pompeii) LP
Black Keys: Thickfreakness (Fat Possum) LP
Glenn Branca: Lesson One (Superior Viaduct) LP
Captain Beefheart: Doc at the Radar Station (4 Men With Beards) LP
Caribou: Up in Flames (Leaf) LP
Comet Control: s/t (Teepee) LP
Cramps: Flamejob (Drastic Plastic) LP
Digable Planets: Blowout Comb (Modern Classics) LP
Dinosaur Jr: Where You Been (Rhino) LP
Fuzz: s/t (In The Red) LP
Green Day: Warning (Adeline) LP
Have A Nice Life: The Unnatural World (Flenser) LP
Josefus: Dead Man (Numero) LP
LCD Soundsystem: s/t (DFA) LP
LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver (DFA) LP
Nirvana: Live At Reading (Geffen) LP
Thee Oh Sees: Singles Collection (Castle Face) LP
OST: Maniac (Death Waltz) LP
Radiohead: Kid A (EMI) 2×10″
Radiohead: The Bends (EMI) LP
Wendy Rene: After Laughter Comes Tears (Light in the Attic) LP
Replacements: All Shook Down (ORG) LP
Rodriguez: Cold Fact (Light in the Attic) LP
Sleep: Dopesmoker (Southern Lord) LP
Sonic Youth: s/t (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: Murray Street (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: Rather Ripped (Goofin) LP
Space Lady: Greatest Hits (Night School) LP
Todd Terje: It’s Album Time (Olsen) LP
Kurt Vile: Constant Hitmaker (Woodsist) LP
Tom Waits: Heart of Saturday Night (Rhino) LP
Tom Waits: Blue Valentine (Asylum) LP
War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream (Secretly Canadian) LP
Zoviet France: Tables Are Turning (Soleilmoon) LP
Various: I am the Center (Light in the Attic) 3LP
Various: Nuggets (Rhino) LP