Not only is it beautiful out, but there’s loads of killer wax pouring through the doors as of late. Both our used bins and new bins are over flowing with killer tunes to keep your ears happy while you enjoy the changing seasons.
As you may know…. Record Store Day is quickly approaching. The ‘official’ RSD list has been posted…. here. Please take a look at it and if there is something you’d like to be able to pick up on RSD here, please let us know ASAP. While we obviously order everything we thing our customers would be interested in, if you want to pick up that Dolly Parton LP as much as I do let us know so we can be sure to order enough so you and me aren’t fist fighting in the parking lot over it.
…..picks of the week…..
Arthur Russell: Calling Out of Context (Audika) LP
“The compilation that started the renaissance. In 2002 Audika Records entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the estate of Arthur Russell to compile and issue previously unreleased and out of print material from Arthur’s vast archive. This first album Calling Out of Context, features 12 previously unreleased tracks of Buddhist Bubblegum Alt Disco Pop recorded during Arthur’s prime years 1985-90.” When Arthur Russell died in 1992 he left an overwhelming archive of over a 1000 tapes that reveal the sublime genius of one of the most important musicians of the last 25 years. As a cellist, songwriter, composer, and disco visionary Arthur Russell consistently blurred the lines of our expectations of what pop music could be. Originally from Iowa, Arthur travelled west in 1970 to study Indian classical composition with Ali Akbar Khan, befriended Allen Ginsberg, performed with Alice Coltrane, and then moved to New York in 1973 to study at the Manhattan School of Music. Quickly gravitating to the then burgeoning downtown scene, Arthur wrote and performed his minimal compositions (captured on Instrumentals and Tower Of Meaning. Both to be re-issued by Audika) and collaborated with a who’s who of some of New York’s most influential artists including Rhy’s Chatham, Ernie Brooks, David Byrne, Phillip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Jon Gibson, Robert Wilson, Christian Wolff, John Cage, Arnold Dreyblatt, and Phill Niblock. It then changed by a mere accident. Simply, he went to a disco. Inspired by the sonic repetition and sense of community, Arthur wrote and recorded some of the most important records of the disco era including ‘Kiss Me Again’, ‘Is It All Over My Face’, and co-founded Sleeping Bag Records with partner Will Socolov releasing ‘Go Bang’ and the album 24-24 Music. In 2002 Audika Records entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the estate of Arthur Russell to issue previously unreleased and out of print material from Arthur’s vast archive. The first album Calling Out Of Context , features 12 previously unreleased tracks recorded during Arthur’s prime years 1985-90. The material is drawn from Corn, an album that was completed in 1985 but never released, and an abandoned album recorded for Rough Trade as Arthur had become ill. Many of these tracks show hidden sides of Arthur’s talent and underline the loss of his great potential. Contrary by nature, Arthur’s spontaneous reaction and altered perception to his environment produced music that remains challenging and contemporary. Arthur’s open hearted attitude to music was far ahead of it’s time, and now that time is ours.”
File Under: Pop, Disco, Cello, 80s, Essential Grooves
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Broadcast: Noise Made By People (Warp) LP
In tomorrow!!! Broadcast will have their long out of print LPs made available again through Warp Records. Compilation album Work And Non Work (1997); full-lengths The Noise Made By People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005); rarities album The Future Crayon (2006); and mini-album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009) – will all be released on the label in March 2015. Released at the turn of the new millennium, it is this 2000 debut that keeps people lauding Broadcast as one of the most overlooked and influential outfits of the past 15 years. Their juxtaposition of sugary 1960s pop melodies against experimentalist sampling and production has never been rivaled or even successfully imitated. Echoey chimes and eerie insomniac melodies play out against a backdrop of orchestral instrumentation and cinematic symphony. The atmospheres created on this record are truly unique – testament to the outfit that constructed them.
File Under: Electronic, 60s Pop, Pseudo-Library
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…..new arrivals…..
Broadcast: Future Crayon (Warp) LP
In tomorrow!!! Broadcast will have their long out of print LPs made available again through Warp Records. Compilation album Work And Non Work (1997); full-lengths The Noise Made By People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005); rarities album The Future Crayon (2006); and mini-album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009) – will all be released on the label in March 2015. A compendium of early EP tracks and B-sides, along with rare compilation tracks that plays through like a concise summary of their music to date. Through the deeply intricate orchestral compositions and the unmistakably glassy vocal work of Trish Keenan, this treasure chest is the perfect introduction to Broadcast’s singular form of indie electronica. Cuts like “Illumination” and “Unchanging Window” embody their fusion of melancholia and unease. Even the more ambient instrumentally-led cuts like “Locusts” and “DDL” carry that same sense of exploratory symphony. Always delivered with a streak of honest pathos and emotional authenticity, this is a collection of gems from Broadcast’s prolific output.
File Under: Electronic, 60s Pop, Pseudo-Library
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Broadcast: Haha Sound (Warp) LP
In tomorrow!!! Broadcast will have their long out of print LPs made available again through Warp Records. Compilation album Work And Non Work (1997); full-lengths The Noise Made By People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005); rarities album The Future Crayon (2006); and mini-album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009) – will all be released on the label in March 2015. Having graced more “Albums You Must Hear” lists than many other revered long players, Haha Sound is vintage, retro-centric electronic pop that helped to establish Broadcast’s inimitable sound. “Ominous Cloud,” for example, is an archetypal Broadcast treasure. Blissful, glowing compositions holding up the vacant melodies of Trish Keenan. “Lunch Hour Pops” is another blast of their idiosyncratic sound which reaches a spiralling climax on closer “Hawk.” Poetic lyricism, cinematic instrumentation and a constant undercarriage of life’s darker possibilities.
File Under: Electronic, 60s Pop, Pseudo-Library
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Broadcast: Tender Buttons (Warp) LP
In tomorrow!!! Broadcast will have their long out of print LPs made available again through Warp Records. Compilation album Work And Non Work (1997); full-lengths The Noise Made By People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005); rarities album The Future Crayon (2006); and mini-album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009) – will all be released on the label in March 2015. Returning after a two year absence, this LP saw a new sound for the band and a new line up of just Keenan and James Cargill. Stripped down to these essential components, they sought inspiration from minimalist post-punk outfits like Young Marble Giants and created a record of pop melodies that maintained the signature Broadcast feeling of melodrama and despondency. Having lost a third member in the run-up to this album, track 11 is entitled “Minus 3” and further demonstrates Broadcast’s ability to bring real life experiences to record in inventive and effective ways. The stark minimalism of Tender Buttons was a first for Broadcast but their enduring melodies triumphed once again.
File Under: Electronic, 60s Pop, Pseudo-Library
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Broadcast: Work & Non-Work (Warp) LP
In tomorrow!!! Broadcast will have their long out of print LPs made available again through Warp Records. Compilation album Work And Non Work (1997); full-lengths The Noise Made By People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005); rarities album The Future Crayon (2006); and mini-album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009) – will all be released on the label in March 2015. Warp compiled these singles in 1997 to collect the riches that had people infatuated with Broadcast’s distinctive sound. Their retro-futurist vision was brought about by shapeless analogue oscillations and sliced sampling. The dystopian lullaby melodies that featured on singles like “According To No Plan” and “The Book Lovers” were – and still are – completely in their own lane. Trish Keenan’s vacant vocals cascade around the instrumentation and production of James Cargill and Roj Stevens.
File Under: Electronic, 60s Pop, Pseudo-Library
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Broadcast & The Focus Group: Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (Warp) LP
In tomorrow!!! Broadcast will have their long out of print LPs made available again through Warp Records. Compilation album Work And Non Work (1997); full-lengths The Noise Made By People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005); rarities album The Future Crayon (2006); and mini-album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (2009) – will all be released on the label in March 2015. A collaborative effort between Broadcast and Julian House of The Focus Group (who has also been responsible for the artistic direction of every Broadcast sleeve to date). Spanning 50 minutes and 23 tracks, the psychotronic sound of Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age evokes both the spirit of Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass and the creepy horror of Tigon’s Witchfinder General and Blood On Satan’s Claw.
File Under: Electronic, Pseudo-Library
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Will Butler: Policy (Merge) LP
“Will Butler has been a member of the band Arcade Fire for over 10 years. This is his first release under his own name. Policy is American music—in the tradition of the Violent Femmes, The Breeders, The Modern Lovers, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, The Magnetic Fields, Ghostface Killah. And John Lennon (I know, but it counts). Music where the holy fool runs afoul of the casual world. Policy was recorded in one week in Jimi Hendrix’s old living room (upstairs at Electric Lady Studios). Jeremy Gara played drums; other musicians contributed woodwinds and backing vocals. Most everything else was played by Will. The song structures are traditional; the arrangements are clean. The music is experimental only in that it attacks consistency as a requirement for sincerity. The songs are angry, loving, joking, tired, honest, idiotic. They clash against each other but also fit and work together—as if a blind watchmaker made a Frankenstein watch that came alive and told extremely accurate time while having conflicting feelings about its creator. No, about creation itself. But then the watch makes friends with a talking rat, and they go on hilarious adventures until it turns out that the rat was dead the whole time. With a really good credits song—I mean, the whole soundtrack is excellent. You should check it out.”—Memphis Slim
File Under: Indie Rock, Arcade Fire
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Caribou Vibration Ensemble: CVE Live 2011 (CVE) LP
Our first batch of these never even hit the shelf, I’m sure these copies won’t last long! Comes in clear sleeve with a poster designed by Jason Evans and Matthew Cooper. Proceeds go to genderedintelligence.co.uk in memory of Julia Brightly, Caribou’s sound engineer. “We’ve played a lot of shows and it’s senseless to document them all but every once in a while you get the feeling that something special is happening – and that it might only happen once. That’s what it felt like when in 2011 we assembled a group of friends – Four Tet, James Holden, Ahmed Gallab of Sinkane and the quartet of horn players who recorded on ‘Swim’: Kyle Brenders, Colin Fisher, Rob Piilonen and Steve Ward, and the four members of Caribou’s regular touring band – under the name of the Caribou Vibration Ensemble. And that’s why it felt like it would be a good idea to document it. We gathered for a small tour around ATP’s Nightmare Before Christmas festival in 2011 and the music collected here comprises recordings from two shows – one at Scala, London on Dec 7th, 2011 and one at Concertzaal Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium on Dec 8th, 2011. Opener ‘Bowls’ is reinvented by combining the album version from ‘Swim’ with elements from James’ Holden’s own remix. The next track ‘Ahmed, Colin, James, Kieran, Kyle, Rob and Steve’ is an improvised collaboration between all the members not in the regular Caribou touring band and features Ahmed’s drum kit triggering all the synthesizer sounds coming from James’ modular synthesizer. The release closes with an epic version of ‘Sun’. Thanks for listening,” – Dan Snaith, Caribou
File Under: Electronic, Pop, CanCon
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Carlton Melton/Kandodo 3: split (Creepy Crawl) LP
Carlton Melton lead the charge with three new tracks, recorded at the Dome with Brian McDougall taping it down and John McBain mastering it for vinyl perfection. This is the Melton soaring into the stratosphere with their own toke on spaced travel via olfactory motion. Many would simply say “psych”, we say “SPACE” and “NO frontiers!”, fly on brothers. Kandodo 3 is the new “nom de plume” for Simon Price’s (The Heads) Kandodo project, having roped in fellow Heads’ Wayne Maskell (drum patterns and rhythm driving) and Hugo Morgan (bass throb and guidance) to record under the name Kandodo 3. They take up their whole side with one looping soundscape that jitters and skitters into and around patterns of dub and space, this exhilarating take on an already pre-determined trajectory is as awesome in its scope as it is in its journey, catch a ride! Mastered by Shawn Joseph (Optimum). Simon Kandodo Price artwork. 500 copies only.
File Under: Psych, Space Rock
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Damon & Naomi: Fortune (20/20/20) LP
“Grey day celebration music for meshed afternoons; eleven strums and songs to savor as you wander till spring. Did Damon & Naomi dream them? Did I? Will you?” —Andy Zax People talk about Damon & Naomi as if they’re the raw infrastructure that remained after Galaxie 500 fell apart, a steel skeleton stubbornly standing after an earthquake. But when the pair began a new project, they weren’t adjusting so much as starting from scratch. By the time they released More Sad Hits, they had grown enough as musicians and songwriters that they didn’t need to lean on stark sincerity and reverb-drenched emoting. Instead, they reigned in their sound, favoring acoustic over electric, building more complex and specific textures, and exploring smaller sonic spaces. If Galaxie 500 was ahead of its time, Damon & Naomi are prescient in their own way, firmly rooted in the early ’90s but hinting at things to come. The project provided a necessary platform for the pair to focus, hone and build on the groundwork that they laid for themselves, peeling away layers to reveal a shy closeness that Galaxie 500 never could. The pair’s latest project, Fortune, is an LP released in tandem with Naomi Yang’s video piece of the same name. She refers to the work as “a silent movie,” though the visuals are so bound up in the music (and vice versa) that it’s more of a long-form music video, a visual poem set to the metronome of a textural score. She conceived of the piece to explore conflicting feelings surrounding her father’s recent passing; Yang was suddenly burdened with a massive archive of his artistic work (her father was a photographer), as well as the ongoing aftermath of flawed parenting. Her use of the term “fortune,” then, is tinged with sardonicism but also with nostalgia—portraits from the 1940s and ’50s painted by protagonist Norman von Holtzendorff’s father (also recently deceased, and who also left his archive in Norman’s hands) feature prominently. An ongoing tarot card motif ties in another facet of the suddenly slippery term “fortune,” using Damon & Naomi’s now familiar brand of close, acoustic warmth to explore the past’s bearing on the future: “I want to be over / To touch and be gone / Forget this amnesia.” Fortune—as a film or an album—is itself an expressive portrait, but doesn’t adhere to any obvious narrative; rather, it’s a comfortable space that the viewer can move in and out of, dreamlike and immersive. The eleven new songs don’t require visual accompaniment—Damon & Naomi have constructed the sequence to communicate through sound alone—but at upcoming performances the duo will be presenting them live as a soundtrack to Yang’s “silent” film.
File Under: Pop, Indie Rock, Galaxie 500
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Sarah Davachi: Barons Court (Students of Decay) LP
Barons Court is the debut full-length album by Canadian electroacoustic composer Sarah Davachi, following short run releases on Important Records’ Cassauna imprint and Full Spectrum. Trained at Mills College, Davachi’s academic approach to synthesis and live instrumentation unites with a preternatural attunement to timbre, pacing and atmosphere. While the record employs a number of vintage and legendary synthesizers, including Buchla’s 200 and Music Easel, an EMS Synthi, and Sequential Circuit’s Prophet 5, Davachi’s approach to her craft here is much more in line with the longform textural minimalism of Éliane Radigue than it is with the hyper-dense modular pyrotechnics of the majority of her synthesist contemporaries. Three of the album’s five compositions feature acoustic instrumentation (cello, flue, harmonium, oboe and viola, played by Davachi and others) which is situated alongside a battery of keyboards and synths, and emphasizes the composerly aspect of her work. “heliotrope” slowly billows into being with a low, keeling drone that is gradually married to an assortment of sympathetic, aurally complex sounds to yield a rich fantasia of beat frequencies and overtones. Later, “wood green” opens almost inaudibly, with lovely eddies of subtly modulating synth clouds evolving effortlessly into something much larger, as comforting and familiar as it is expansive. In an era in which the synthesizer inarguably dominates the topography of experimental music, Davachi’s work stands alone—distinctive, patient and beautiful.
File Under: Ambient, Electroacoustic, Synth, CanCon
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Destruction Unit: Live in San Francisco (Castle Face) LP
“I believe Destruction Unit to be one of the most important underground bands in America. The live shows vary from dense chaos to dumbstruck pandemonium. The volume is always colossal. The spectacle, dramatic. “Putting microphones on these Arizona weirdos is similar to trying to get a decent recording of a soccer riot—getting Ryan [Rousseau] to sing into our microphone like shooting a hummingbird with a spitball from across a gorge…but we’ve done it. Polished up and pushing the red, we present this deathless comet captured to tape. Headphones on, lowlights flickering, spliff in hand—you are a warrior on the dawn of a new perilous passage…until you have to flip the LP. Enjoy.” —John Dwyer
File Under: Punk
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Dick Diver: Melbourne, Florida (Trouble in Mind) LP
Dick Diver managed to avoid the “sophomore slump” with their 2013 album Calendar Days (Chapter Music) and look to perfect a “three-peat” with their 3rd album Melbourne, Florida, which hums with a strident assurance, buoyed by the benefit of the band’s four talented songwriters whose singular voices sit comfortably beside each other in the albums 12 tracks. If Dick Diver weren’t already leading the pack of new-school Australian pop (as their ranks include members of Total Control, UV Race, Lower Plenty, and Boomgates) then Melbourne, Florida is sure to put them in the pole-position.
File Under: Australia, Indie Rock
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Elder: Lore (Armageddon) LP
Elder is a heavy psych band from Boston, USA. Founded by long-time friends Nicholas Disalvo, Jack Donovan and Mat Couto, the group spent years plodding in Sabbathian territory, releasing their self-titled debut 2007, followed by Dead Roots Stirring in 2011. They also released a two song EP Spires Burn / Release in 2012 showing musical growth in a more refined vision of the band’s sound. With Dead Roots Stirring and Spires Burn, Elder took a surprising turn away from their more traditional stoner rock roots, incorporating uplifting melodies and progressive song structures into their lengthy epics. Their third full length Lore is a watershed moment in the band’s history. Joining the interplay of heaviness and melody which has become the hallmark Elder sound are a host of new meanderings through uncharted kosmische territory; krautrock, prog as well as classic heavy rock and doom can all be heard unfolding throughout the record’s five songs. By giving equal credence to riffs and atmosphere, Lore bypasses genre constraints, the group’s penchant for progressive songwriting and melody shining more brightly than ever. While Elder’s sound is now much more evolved and varied, it is still consistently based around rock and metal, originally influenced by such heavy landmark bands as Black Sabbath, Sleep and Electric Wizard.
File Under: Metal, Stoner
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Ex-Cult: Cigarette Machine (Castle Face) LP
On the tail of their breakout second LP Midnight Passenger, Memphis-based punk cyclone Ex-Cult delivers a brand new batch of bruisers. Chris Shaw lends a sneering, spitting toughness to the proceedings while the band flays riffs in loose, hairy, mosh-inducing menace behind him, touching on post-punk, psych sprawl and early-’80s hardcore while remaining beholden to none. They have the power to convert even the most jaded and bored concertgoer into a sweaty mess in the pit. Punks, skate rats, scenesters, skinheads, hardcore kids, druggies—so many disparate groups dig this band it’s like an MRR cartoon waiting to happen. The adrenal-enhancers on Cigarette Machine are road warriors already, having been honed on the band’s recent tour that no doubt laid waste to a town nearby. The only problem with this sterling batch of sluggers is that it’s over too quick.
File Under: Punk
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B.C. Gilbert/G. Lewis: 3r4 (Superior Viaduct) LP
In 1980, after three relentlessly creative albums, the members of Wire were at an impasse, unsure of how to push themselves any further as a four-piece rock band. While frontman Colin Newman spent the band’s hiatus mining Wire’s knack for intelligent and contorted pop songs, guitarist Bruce Gilbert and bassist / vocalist Graham Lewis joined forces for a series of experimental projects (Dome, Cupol, etc.) where the primary motivating concept was “studio as instrument.” 3R4, the duo’s only LP under the B.C. Gilbert/G. Lewis moniker and the very second album to be released on 4AD, eschews melody and structure in favor of ambient-noise soundscapes, metallic textures and tense moods. If the brief “Barge Calm” tracks appear like sonic exercises, the longer pieces (“3. 4…” and “R”) are true exorcisms, conjuring supernatural found-sounds with the patience and deliberation of (un)holy men. Play this record loud and try not to think that it is the soundtrack to a lost David Lynch film. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Faust, David Cunningham, and Thomas Leer & Robert Rental’s The Bridge.
File Under: Experimental, Wire
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Impetuous Ritual: Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence (Profound Lore) LP
In their brief career, Australia’s Impetuous Ritual has already been recognized as one of the mightiest death metal entities in the underground today, alongside such likeminded acts as Portal (with whom Impetuous Ritual shares two members) and Mitochondrion. From their leveling, jaw-dropping live performances to the devastating, ultra-brutal, occult-driven style showcased on their Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence debut album, no death metal on the planet captures the vibe, attitude and aesthetic of Impetuous Ritual. With their anticipated follow-up to Relentless Execution, the band takes their sound even further into the depths of horror and depravity. Christened Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence, the album will be hailed as the death metal triumph of 2014.
File Under: Metal, Death Metal
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Living Eyes: Living Large (Agitated) LP
Geelong delinquents The Living Eyes will unleash a new, 10-track slab of stompers, Living Large via Agitated Records. The Living Eyes are Billy Gardner (who, not only runs the esteemed Geelong record label Antifade, but also plays in Ausmuteants and Wet Blankets amongst others…) on vocals and guitar, Mitch Campleman on guitar / vocals, bassist Dayle Herbert and drummer Nicholas Hill. Their second full-length, Living Large, was recorded in a day-and-a-half by (Straight Arrows’ front man) Owen Penglis in his (new) Sydney hideout, Goliath Professional Recording Studio. The tapes were then driven back down the Hume highway and finished off in a couple of West Geelong bedrooms before being sent off to Australia’s mixing master, Mikey Young. Taking their cues from the likes of The Easybeats, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Saints and The Hard Ons, The Living Eyes stand true to the vitriolic punk brash and sharp garage crunch of their self-titled debut (2013, Antifade Records) whilst crafting some Damn Sweet power-pop hooks. The Living Eyes are Living Large with feral wallaby beat to make you pick up your feet and a shake you just can’t shake! For Fans Of: Jay Reatard, Citadel Records, The Kinks, Waterfront Records, The Ramones, In The Red Records, High Voltage AC /DC.
File Under: Punk, Garage
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Charles Mingus: Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (Superior Viaduct) LP
Bassist / composer Charles Mingus is one of the most radical figures in American music. Throughout the ’50s, he worked as a sideman with legendary players Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and more. In the ’60s, he gained recognition as a bandleader, often followed by controversy for making strong-minded statements in the press about race, politics and stodgy music critics. While Mingus received many honors posthumously as well as during his career, perhaps his greatest achievement was transcending the restrictive label of jazz. The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady is without question Mingus’ magnum opus. Originally released on Impulse! in 1963, the album broke new ground in both genre-defying composition and innovative recording techniques. A six-part suite with dramatic shifts in mood and tempo, The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady features the three-way brass dialogue of trumpets, trombone and tuba, swooping reeds and awe-inspiring rhythm section. Balancing delicate Spanish modes and Ellingtonian themes, the ensemble breaks into a divine cacophony of group improvisation on par with free jazz giants like Ornette Coleman or Cecil Taylor. In his best-known essay, “Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung,” Lester Bangs praises, “the experience of the first few listenings to a record so total, so mind-twisting, that you authentically can say you’ll never be quite the same again. Black Saint and The Sinner Lady did that, and a very few others. They’re events you remember all your life, like your first real orgasm.” This long out-of-print vinyl release has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes.
File Under: Jazz, Classics
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Charles Mingus: Mingus Plays Piano (Superior Viaduct) LP
Bassist / composer Charles Mingus is one of the most radical figures in American music. Throughout the ’50s, he worked as a sideman with legendary players Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and more. In the ’60s, he gained recognition as a bandleader, often followed by controversy for making strong-minded statements in the press about race, politics and stodgy music critics. While Mingus received many honors posthumously as well as during his career, perhaps his greatest achievement was transcending the restrictive label of jazz. Mingus Plays Piano, released just a few months after his masterpiece The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady, is the only record to feature Mingus performing on his instrument of choice for composing. From the opening track, appropriately titled “Myself When I Am Real,” Mingus shrugs off any virtuosic pretensions of solo albums and stakes out more introspective territory. These trance-like, poetic musings reveal a tenderness rarely associated with Mingus, reminiscent of Erik Satie’s piano works and Art Tatum’s free rhythmic style. This long out-of-print vinyl release has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes.
File Under: Jazz
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Parquet Courts: Live at Third Man (Third Man) LP
Parquet Courts brought a sweltering performance to the hallowed grounds of Third Man’s Blue Room on June 5th of last year–and very fortunately, TMR was able to lovingly capture it with their one-of-a-kind, direct-to-acetate recording process. The set included a dynamic selection of songs from last year’s critically acclaimed album Sunbathing Animal, as well as the 2013 EP, Tally All The Things That You Broke. The end result? A record that will have your feet stompin’ and body rockin’ as soon as the needle hits.
File Under: Punk, Indie
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Ann Peebles: Handwriting is on the Wall (Fat Possum) LP
Released in 1979, The Handwriting Is On The Wall boasted some high-powered funk backdrops, but for the most part the album finds Ann Peebles taking on a set of straight-ahead soul numbers in which she was usually either taking a man away from some woman who didn’t know how to hold on to him, or was warning the ladies why they should stay away from her signifi ant other. Peebles is a tower of defiant sass on “I Didn’t Take Your Man” and “You’ve Got the Papers (I’ve Got the Man),” she leaves no doubt about why she’s dating outside her age group on “Old Man with Young Ideas,” and “Bip Bam Thank You Mam” alerts listeners to the consequences of not pleasing Ms. Peebles. Willie Mitchell pairs Peebles up with some full-bodied soul and funk arrangements for these songs, and while unfortunately most of the great Hi Rhythm Section were unavailable for this record, the players on board do fine work, even if the groove lacks the ineffable touch of Peebles’ finest work. The Handwriting Is on the Wall was Ann Peebles’ last album for Hi, and the last new set she would release until 1988, but it captures one of the great R&B singers of the 1970s doing what she does best, and here she bows out on a high point.
File Under: Funk, Soul
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Pink Section: s/t (Superior Viaduct) LP
Named after San Francisco Chronicle’s pink-hued arts and entertainment guide, Pink Section coalesced at SF Art Institute and performed their first show at the legendary Deaf Club on Valentine’s Day, 1979. These self-taught musicians existed on the fringe (even in the local underground scene), producing an unusual brand of off-kilter post-punk against a backdrop of Dadaist aesthetics. The group itself was strangely symmetrical: singer Judy Gittelsohn and drummer Carol Detweiler (both members of Inflatable Boy Clams), singer / guitarist Matt Heckert (Survival Research Laboratories) and bassist Stephen Wymore. While the hallucinatory layers of male / female vocals on “Shopping” conjure images of deranged domesticity and ’50s Americana gone haywire, the fractured riffs of “Midsummer New York” deconstruct Yoko Ono’s original even further, stripping bare Pink Section’s fondness for angular rhythms and out-of-control oscillations. This first-time retrospective LP collects the band’s rare 1979 single, the self-titled EP, unreleased demos and live material. Recommended for fans of Suburban Lawns, Units, and DEVO.
File Under: Punk, Dadaism
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Spiral Shades: Hypnosis Sessions (Riding Easy) LP
Limited RED vinyl! RidingEasy Records is pleased to announce the debut release of Hypnosis Sessions by Spiral Shades; a uniquely assembled doom metal album four thousand miles in the making. Formed by Vennesla, Norway-native Filip Peterson and Mumbai based singer-songwriter Khushal Bhadra Spiral Shades is a metal record unlike any other. As avid fans of obscure 70s rock, doom and proto-metal, prior to forming Spiral Shades both Peterson and Bhadra relied on YouTube to unearth lost music and showcase their individual talents as musicians. Each would upload cover versions of songs by artists they had discovered online but it wasnt until one evening in the Summer of 2012 that Khushal happened to stumble onto Filips channel where he was taken aback by the Norwegians choices and impressive guitar playing.
File Under: Metal, Doom, Norway
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Terminal Fuzz Terror: Vol. 0: In the Shadow of the Mountain (Robotic Empire) LP
On their vinyl debut, Vol. 0: In the Shadow of the Mountain, Terminal Fuzz Terror unleashes raw rock ’n’ roll fury sifted through the filters of punk, psychedelia and blues. Pummeling percussion and wailing riffs accompany vocals channeling an obliterated Jim Morrison at the height of religious revelry! The magnanimous, side-long, 17-minute title track closes the album with a long-form, slow-burning mind-melter. Terminal Fuzz Terror is comprised of D. Rodriguez (guitar, vocals), D. Nelson (guitar, vocals), A. Crawshaw (drums) and J. Kleine (bass). The band recorded at Witch Ape Studio and enlisted Tad Doyle (Tad) to engineer / mix the album. Limited to 300 copies, Vol. 0: In the Shadow of the Mountain is housed in a silk-screened jacket printed at Broken Press in Seattle, WA, and includes a high-quality digital download.
File Under: Rock, Blues, Punk, Psych
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Scott Tuma: Hard Again/The River (Scissor Tail) 2LP
Scott Tuma has earned himself a cult status via his involvement in Souled American—the precursor to Uncle Tupelo, Wilco and Son Volt in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. Hard Again sees Tuma team with Jim White (Dirty Three, Cat Power) and Michael Krassner (Boxhead Ensemble), while The River is a solo affair. Fans of Dirty Three, David Pajo or Neil Young’s Dead Man OST will find solace in these ethereal sounds. Limited edition of 500 copies.
File Under: Guitar Soli, Ambient
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Urinals: Next Year At Marienbad (Happy Squid) LP
The legendary URINALS are back with their third long-player, Next Year at Marienbad. Sure to be another fan sing-along favorite, the record delivers thirteen high-energy tracks showing the Urinals haven’t taken their foot of the pedal. Formed in the first wave of Los Angeles punk in 1978, the Urinals forged a unique path by gigging with bands across the LA punk and post-punk spectrum, from hardcore (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Minutemen) to paisley underground (The Last, Rain Parade, Bang[les]) to everything in between (Go-Go’s, X, Savage Republic, Gun Club). They morphed into 100 Flowers in the early ‘80s and released a critically acclaimed LP (recently reissued on vinyl by Superior Viaduct) and are back now as the Urinals, playing songs from all phases of their 35 year career. The Urinals are Kevin Barrett (drums), Rob Roberge (guitar/vocals) and John Talley-Jones (bass/vocals). In the past few years the Urinals have headlined festivals from Calgary to Louisville, from Belgium to Beijing. They continue to perform on a regular basis, giving their fans a taste from the past (”I’m A Bug,” “Black Hole,” “Ack Ack Ack Ack”) mixed with songs from their current lineup. They band will be touring the US and Europe to promote NYAM.
File Under: Punk
Wand: Golem (In The Red) LP
Following up their debut full-length on Ty Segall’s God? label, Wand presents their second album, Golem, on In The Red. Recording with Chris Woodhouse at his Hanger studio in Sacramento, Wand summons the dark and heavy power of the riff. Back in September 2013, Wand was quietly dismembered and ritually eaten in the hills near Dodger Stadium. Wand was reborn as “Wand” an obese organ falsely organized as four overjoyous nerds. Four flesh balloons betting on a few aging amplifiers. Rumor has it they listen to Here Come the Warm Jets on loop all day and plot mail fraud. What’s more, they allegedely stole Dale Crover’s car and sacrificed it to the weather near the Los Angeles County Line. A few things, at least, are certain: Wand hears ghosts. Wand prefers serpents. The Sun is the mother of every fiction. All phenomena will be consumed in alphabetical order, but desire will recirculate ad infinitum. If all else fails, Wand will just devour more hands. Wand is coming your way soon.
File Under: Rock
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…..Restocks…..
A Tribe Called Red: Nation II Nation (Sony) LP
Aleph Null: Nocturnal (Riding Easy) LP
Alexisonfire: Old Crows/Young Cardinals (Dine Alone) LP
Aphex Twin: I Care Because You Do (1972) LP
Beirut: March of the Zapotec (Pompeii) LP
Beirut: Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing) LP
Big Star: #1 Record (4 Men With Beards) LP
Black Keys: Rubber Factory (Fat Possum) LP
Boards of Canada: Geogaddi (Warp) LP
Boards of Canada: Tomorrow’s Harvest (Warp) LP
Boards of Canada: Twoisms (Warp) LP
Glenn Branca: Ascension (Superior Viaduct) LP
James Brown: Love, Power, Peace (Polydor) LP
Budos Band: s/t (Daptone) LP
Brandi Carlile: Firewatcher’s Daughter (ATO) LP
Coloured Balls: Heavy Metal Kid (Defcon) LP
Daft Punk: Alive 1997 (EMI) LP
D’Angelo & The Vanguard: Black Messiah (RCA) LP
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (Columbia) LP
Death Grips: Money Store (Sony) LP
Death Grips: No Love Deep Web (Harvest) LP
Lana Del Rey: Ultra Violence (Interscope) LP
Lana Del Rey: Born To Die (Interscope) LP
Lana Del Rey: Born To Die: Paradise Edition (Interscope) LP
DOA: Hardcore 81 (Sudden Death) LP
DOA: Something Better Change (Sudden Death) LP
Eno/Hyde: High Life (Warp) LP
John Fahey: Voice of the Turtle (4 Men With Beards) LP
Flipper: Generic Flipper (4 Men With Beards) LP
Flying Lotus: You’re Dead! (Warp) LP
Fugazi: End Hits (Dischord) LP
Fugazi: In On The Killtaker (Dischord) LP
Fugazi: Instrument OST (Dischord) LP
Fugazi: Red Medicine (Dischord) LP
Fugazi: Repeater (Dischord) LP
Galaxie 500: This is Our Music (20/20/20) LP
France Gall: Double Best of (Barclay) LP
Grouper: Ruins (Kranky) LP
Bruce Haack: Electric Luficer II (Telephone Explosion) LP
Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight (Swami) LP
Jawbreaker: 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (Blackball) LP
King Khan & BBQ Show: Invisible Girl (In The Red) LP
King Khan & BBQ Show: What’s For Dinner? (In The Red) LP
La Dusseldorf: s/t (4 Men With Beards) LP
Mammatus: Coast Explodes (Holy Mountain) LP
Mastodon: Blood Mountain (Reprise) LP
Moondog: s/t (4 Men With Beards) LP
Nine Inch Nails: Hesitation Marks (Null) LP
Oh Sees: Drop (Castle Face) LP
Oh Sees: Floating Coffin (Castle Face) LP
Oh Sees: Warm Slime (In The Red) LP
Old Man Gloom: Ape of God 1 & 2 (Sige) LP
OM: Conference of Birds (Holy Mountain) LP
OM: God Is Good (Drag City) LP
Purity Ring: Another Eternity (Last Gang) LP
Purity Ring: Shrines (Last Gang) LP
Real Estate: s/t (Woodsist) LP
Residents: Kawliga (Music on Vinyl) LP
Ty Segall/Black Time: split (Telephone Explosion) LP
Ty Segall: Goodbye Bread (Drag City) LP
Ty Segall: Melted (Goner) LP
Ty Segall: Sleeper (Drag City) LP
Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin: Reverse Shark Attack (In the Red) LP
Del Shannon: Further Adventures of… (Trouble in Mind) LP
Slow Season: Mountains (Riding Easy) LP
Sonic Youth: A Thousand Leaves (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation (Goofin) 4LP Box
Sonic Youth: Murray Street (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: Rather Ripped (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: s/t (Goofin) LP
Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse (Goofin) LP
Stereolab: Transient Random Noise… (1972) LP
T. Rex: The Slider (Fat Possum) LP
T. Rex: Electric Warrior (Rhino) LP
Timber Timbre: Hot Dream (Arts & Crafts) LP
Total Control: Typical Systems (Iron Lung) LP
Twin Shadow: Confess (4AD) LP
Kurt Vile: Constant Hitmaker (Woodsist) LP
Jack White: Blunderbuss (Third Man) LP
Jack White: Lazaretto (Third Man) LP
Wooden Shjips: s/t (Holy Mountain) LP
Wooden Shjips: Vol. 1 (Holy Mountain) LP