listen records

It feels like RSD is coming up still, so many shipments of stuff! Still late RSD stuff coming in, as well as restocks of some of the cooler things as well. And looking at my pre-orders, there’s loads of cool stuff coming in lately and soon…(Black Keys, Bry Webb, Constantines, Lee Fields, etc.) Save your pennies folks….

…..pick of the week…..

Circle (Ex-Falcon): Leviatan (Full Contact) LP/CD
Finland’s avant-rock explorers, Circle are at it again. Just a few months after their brutal exploitation of the capitalistic mindset behind the super rock idiom, Circle plunge into the oceanic depths of true self-expression with their new album, Leviatan. Combining acoustic instrumentation with, at times, menacing vocals, complete with looming space sounds captured by NASA, the album yields a timeless, yet distinctively archaic klang. The ritualistic conviction of the group becomes obvious as the gritty idiosyncracy of the album gradually unfolds into a journey through spiritual anarchism, leaving the listener baffled at the exacting abandonment of the ensemble.

File Under: Kraut, Prog, NWOFHM
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…..new arrivals…..

Big Boys: Lullabies Help The Brain Grow (Modern Classics) LP
Produced by Spot, legendary in-house producer at SST Records, Lullabies is an album that caught the band in ever-turbulent mode, switching drummers through the recording from Fred Schultz to Rey Washam – the fourth person to occupy the stool for vocalist Randy “Biscuit” Turner, guitarist Tim Kerr and bassist Chris Gates. The album found the band testing the boundaries of their wide-ranging sound, with double-quick thrashers like “Lesson” and double-funky jams like “Funk Off” (helped along by the brass of the Fun Fun Fun 12″ horn section). Kerr took lead vocals on two tracks, and on “Sound On Sound” they combine his languid delivery and pendulum bass in a way that must have pricked the ears of a young Steven Malkmus. With features in the earliest issues of Thrasher magazine and coveted spots on their influential Skate Rock tape c omps, Big Boys were the first band to be labeled “skate rock”, the nascent version of the world-conquering skate punk of the late 1980s and 1990s. Now, Light In The Attic’s Modern Classics Recordings imprint is bringing their pioneering music to a new audience. Following the 2013 re-release of Where’s My Towel / Industry Standard, 2014 sees reissues of both Lullabies Help The Brain Grow and the following year’s, No Matter How Long The Line Is At The Cafeteria, There’s Always A Seat, which brought the band’s story to a close.

 File Under: Punk
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Big Boys: No Matter How Long The Line (Modern Classics) LP
They were, in the memory of Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, “Enormous men, decorated jump suits, a horn section, 200 friends onstage singing and dancing.” They were Big Boys by name and by nature – and they had a big effect on US punk culture. When the prevailing trend was for playing hard and fast, this Austin, Texas four-piece played loose and funky. Their cult recordings struck a blend between punk ideology and clever humor, just as the band both railed against and celebrated the hardcore community that bore them. Released at the time of their split in 1985 and now reissued by Modern Classics Recordings, the group’s final album, No Matter How Long the Line Is At the Cafeteria, There’s Always a Seat finds Big Boys continuing to innovate, even including the sound of turntable scratching on “Common Beat,” a sound rarely heard outside of hip-hop at the time. Songs like “Which Way To Go” and “Narrow View” echo their boredom and anger with the changing hardcore scene, while “I Do Care” and “What’s The Word” illustrate the band’s positive outlook for things to come.

File Under: Punk
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Circle: Hollywood (Full Contact) 2LP
Arguably the most prolific working rock band in the world, Circle has even managed to make Guided by Voices look like slackers. Forming in 1991, the band has released over 30 studio albums, 15 live albums, and an additional double-digits of single, EP, and compilation appearances. Along the way, they have collaborated with unpredictable partners, from Seattle-area sound-art project Mamiffer, German innovators Faust, and Damo Suzuki of Can fame. One alliance has been with Californian musician Bruce Duff. Duff has played with many U.S. alt/punk bands, but it was his work with Jesters of Destiny that endeared him to Jussi Lehtisalo, Circle’s bassist and also the man behind their inexhaustible label, Ektro Records. The Jesters’ LP Fun at the Funeral had been a Jussi favorite from his days growing up in Pori, Finland, the band’s home. In 2001, Jussi tracked down Duff via the miracle of the internet, and arranged to reissue FATF on CD for the first time. Before long, Jussi introduced Duff to all things Circle and Pharaoh Overlord (a Circle offshoot that’s released another 15 or 20 albums). DVDs of files began to cross the continents and oceans, and by 2006, Duff had guested on a single and then Circle’s Earthworm EP. Both Circle and the Jesters are bands to whom genres and stylistic restrictions are considerations to be ignored. Not content to leave well-enough alone, Circle with Duff onboard carried on and, within two years, had completed Hollywood. For the punk-damaged American, never had he assembled songs over structures so stretched or outright eliminated. For the Finns, never had their repetitions been divided into sections and then sung in English. The result was new for both participants. Hollywood’s “Sacrifice” is most straight-ahead, un-apologetic classic metal that anyone involved had ever done. The icy repetition of “Spam Folder” was fleshed out lyrically by using the Burroughs’ cut-up technique on Duff’s email junk folder. Half of the hour-long work was devoted to “Requiem in D Minor,” with three distinct but related movements fleshed out with a contemporary libretto ruminating on loss and death. Prog or put-on? It’s Circle with a Jester – does it matter? Now, we’re proud to present a deluxe, double-LP vinyl reissue of Hollywood appended with two additional Earthworm tracks, comprising an hour-and-eleven minutes of music.

File Under: Kraut, Prog, NWOFHM
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Circle: SSEENNSSEESS (Full Contact) LP
“Finnish supergroup Circle and filmmaker/artist Mika Taanila’s new SSEENNSSEESS show is spectacular, somewhat akin to an over-the-top rock opera and a theatrical audio-visual performance with dashes of glam rock, improv, metal, French chanson, and The Shangri La’s as well as Taanila’s perfectly timed, 16mm projections. A feast for the senses.” – Ruth Timmermans, Gonzo (circus). This live album was recorded at the premiere of the show at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki on November 22, 2013. The LP features four brand-new beautifully arranged songs by the band : “Kudos,” “Radiant,” “Sleepwalker,” and “Terminal.”

File Under: Kraut, Prog, NWOFHM
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Dinosaur Jr: Visitors (Numero) 5×7” Box
From 1985 to 1990, Maura Jasper was the go-to artist for “ear-bleeding country” trio Dinosaur Jr. From “Repulsion” to their self-titled debut LP, from You’re Living All Over Me to “Freak Scene,” from Bug to “Just Like Heaven”, and on posters, videos, and t-shirts, the Dinosaur Jr. look was born of Jasper’s love for Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch and English anarchist Gee Vaucher. Collected inside are Dinosaur Jr.’s first four singles, a bonus fifth 7″ pairing “Show Me The Way” with a cover of the Byrds’ “Feel A Whole Lot Better,” plus a Jasper-penned essay on her creative process and a book of unused work from the period. Limited to 5000 copies.

File Under: Alternative Rock
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Falcon (Ex-Circle): Frontier (Full Contact) LP
Foreshadowed by the hit single Beer and Ribs, Falcon (Ex-Circle) continue their ascent to rock ‘n’ roll heaven with their full-length debut, Frontier. With a dazzling array of textures and tempos, Falcon (Ex-Circle) take the listener on an instantly addicting journey through lazer-beamed AOR and soft rock, with more than a few nods to hot-rockin’ weekend rock. Stained-glass synths soar majestically across pulsing beats and power balladry, anthems for one and anthems for all, heading out on the highway with the top down and the sun in your eyes and the wind in your hair. Appropriately, the song titles themselves explore timeless themes like “Miami Tits,” “Vegas Sundown,” “Leather Seat,” “Ace of Hearts,” and of course the mandatory “Beer and Ribs.” This is music for the Everyman, and also for the greater good: unapologetically populist arena-sized sounds beamed in from outer space. Frontier will take you there; hitch a ride with Falcon (Ex-Circle).

File Under: Rock, AOR, Soft Rock, Circle, NWOFHM
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Goblin: Profondo Rosso (AMS) 7”
Late RSD release! Profondo Rosso (a.k.a. Deep Red) was the record that inaugurated the series of Goblin Cinevox reissues by AMS Records. Today, the same Milanese label recovers from the archives the 45rpm of the LP title-track, a historic and immortal song that has forever changed the fate of those who wrote it and of horror cinema on an international level. The song “Profondo Rosso”, the first ever composed by Goblin, consecrated the Roman band among the big names of the Italian pop era, with a strong cinematic boost settled by the eponymous film by Dario Argento. The 7″ of “Deep Red” contains the song “Death Dies” as the B-side.

File Under: OST, Prog, Italian, Argento
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Simon Jones: Melanie & Me (Strawberry Rain) LP
Melanie & Me was a promotional tool used for a movie shot by director Chris Fitchett in Australia in 1975. Pressed in an edition of 100 copies, it was handed out to people who partook in the film, and who attended the only screening to date in Sydney. Used as the background music for the entire movie, this was actually the second version of the soundtrack, recorded last minute by Simon Jones as Chris wasn’t happy with the original. The result had become one of the most sought after releases from the Aussie scene, and one of the most obscure records from the region as well. Beautiful psychedelic folk rock with a combination of male and female vocals, fuzz guitars and organ solos, this won’t disappoint.

File Under: Psych, Folk, Fuzz, Australia
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Josefus: Dead Man (Numero) LP
Dead Man is a 13th Floor Elevator descent headlong into southern-fried bloody Sabbath. Released on the Hookah imprint in 1970, the LP’s gaping cranium cover, sludged-up blues, and bone-bleached riffs outsold Let It Be, if only locally, being far ‘too psychedelic’ and skull-crushing for Houston’s International Artists label to touch. A Texas-bound band except in tracking Dead Man inside the furnace of Phoenix, Josefus strode loud and longhaired amid the oil fields, peddling their own brand of black gold. As US involvement in the Vietnam War peaked and human boots sunk into lunar dust, Josefus powered across the Texas plains, shaking its coliseums awake as openers for the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Heavier by tonnage than both the Stones they cover and ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’, Doug Tull, Pete Bailey, Ray Turner, and Dave Mitchell watched their 17-minute funeral pyre title track burn through statewide airplay, glorying in the evil looseness of the FM format. Read no further than the replica back cover of our JR reissue, which sends Josefus “emitting from the darkness of obscurity, bursting forth with the drive and impact of a celestial happening.” A clattering and prescient skeleton of a record – a deceased Zeppelin reanimated by four lost and darkened country boys – Dead Man truly should be played loud.

 File Under: Psych, Hard Rock, Blues Rock
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Ennio Morricone: Collected (Music on Vinyl) 2LP
Collected is a definitive journey through the vast work of Morricone, stopping by landmark spaghetti westerns like A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad & The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In America and most recently, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

File Under: OST, Morricone, Maestro
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Ennio Morricone: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly (AMS) LP
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is neither more nor less than the perfect soundtrack to the most wonderful of western movies, the third and final act of the “Dollar Trilogy” directed by Sergio Leone. A film not only rated among the best of the genre, but universally considered among the most successful in the history of cinema. Ennio Morricone, a higher caliber composer to whom each musician usually relates with the simple title of “Master”, has here been able to be as meticulous as the director, composing a soundtrack that fits brilliantly to the bombastic and epic atmospheres of the film.

File Under: OST, Spaghetti Western
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OST: Breaking Bad (Space Lab 9) LP
First time on vinyl for the score to this staggeringly popular program. Breaking Bad has received widespread critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest TV series of all time. The show is now among the most-watched series on American television, with audience numbers having doubled year after year, culminating in a series finale watched by approximately 10 million viewers. year over year.

File Under: OST, TV, Meth, Walter White
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OST: Slumber Party Massacre (Death Waltz) LP
Ridiculed on release but later celebrated by some as a feminist parody of slasher films, Slumber Party Massacre is fueled by Ralph Jones’ synth score that remembers the first rule of comedy: never let the audience know you’re in on the joke. Away from the film, the music retains a sense of wit and playfulness amidst the tension that makes it a riot to listen to. Jones’ score wears its influences on its sleeve, with nods to the giants of the world of musical horror – Jaws and Halloween – as well as a more gothic sensibility, with parts sounding like they should come from an electric organ in an ancient cathedral. He ramps up the tension using rhythmic pulses and atmospheric electric piano, with shrill background parts that sound like a field full of electronic crickets. His talent for creating catchy melodies is certainly demonstrated here, with not only upbeat and bouncy tones but also haunting motifs that make you uncomfortable with the greatest of ease.

File Under: OST, Horror
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Ought: More Than Any Other Day (Constellation) LP
Ought has been burning with a strong and steady flame since flickering to life in Montreal in 2012. Holed up in a shared apartment that doubled as their rehearsal space, the four band members self-recorded a first EP and played their first show in these domestic confines, then busted out into the city’s loft circuit, and into the city streets during the Printemps d’Erable Quebec student general strike, in the spring of 2012. These inspired months of mass mobilization against neo-liberal austerity measures galvanized a wide and inspiring range of agit-prop expression in Montreal, and indelibly shaped the emerging sound, vision and social mandate of Ought. Guitarist/vocalist Tim Beeler, who previously had been writing poetry and folk music, drew new energy from electrification/amplification and from solidarity/protest alike; his declarative, observational vocal style ranges from wide-eyed to worried, but never submits to cool irony or emotional detachment. Ought’s earnest, stately and exuberant post-punk is dextrous, deliberate, unfussy and fluid, with debts to Cap’n Jazz, The Feelies, Lungfish, Gang Of Four and early Talking Heads, among many others. The band shifts from sharp angles and stuttering counterpoint to softer edges and chiming flow, with an economy of elements and fidelity to their basic 4-piece constitution. The instrumental interplay is consistently whipsmart, supple and deceptively simple. Beeler’s speak-singing can give way to melancholic melodic croons and ragged, desperate yelps, always driven by sincerity of feeling and connection to his subject matter, whether that’s the conundrum of our fractured interiority, or communion with others in our fractured social space – or, for the most part, both. Ought are a righteous and humble young band, fiercely dedicated to grassroots organizing and artmaking, taking as self-evident the inseparability of politics and aesthetics; we are proud and excited to be releasing their debut full-length.  More Than Any Other Day is the result of a week of recording and mixing at Montreal’s Hotel2Tango with engineer Radwan Moumneh (Suuns, Matana Roberts, Jerusalem In My Heart) in November 2013; the album replaces the band’s previously self-released 5-song Bandcamp EP of the same name, comprised of a separate set of recordings

File Under: Post-Punk
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Psyche: Re-membering Dwayne (Dark Entries) LP
The Psyche live show was a combination of horror and electronics that was completely unprecedented in Western Canada. Although Dwayne Goettel (Skinny Puppy) and the Huss brothers parted ways before Psyche was to release any material, the masters containing Dwayne Goettel’s performances were preserved in the band’s vaults. Now, 19 years after Goettel’s untimely passing, Dark Entries records presents Re-membering Dwayne, the original Psyche sessions. All tracks were recorded and mixed on 4-track during a single day in March of 1983. Psyche’s early material is visceral and abrasive, a far cry from the sleek, dark synthpop they’d later become known for. Like the body horror films of fellow Canadian David Cronenberg, Psyche disquietingly conflate the organic and the mechanical, calling into question the limits of the human form. Dwayne, who would join Skinny Puppy a few years later, contributes heavily to this more aggressive, disturbing sound, offering a glimpse of the early Canadian industrial scene and the roots of Skinny Puppy.

File Under: Industrial, Skinny Puppy
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Rush: s/t  (Anthem) LP
Dead-Quiet 200g LP Remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Engineer Sean McGee (Beatles) and Pressed at QRP Via the Direct Metal Mastering Process: Rush Has Never Sounded Better. Part of ReDISCovered Series, 12″ Box Set Includes Collectable Memorabilia and Outstanding Analog Pressing of Rush’s Seminal 1974 Debut That Includes “Working Man” and “Finding My Way”. Rush is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its debut album in a big way. Remastered at Abbey Road Studios by engineer Sean McGee (the very same gentlemen in charge of the recent, acclaimed Beatles remasters) and pressed on 200g LP at QRP via the Direct Metal Mastering process, Rush (ReDISCovered) presents the trio’s seminal initial salvo in the finest analog fidelity it’s ever enjoyed. Housed in a 12″ box, the set also contains reproductions of the original Canadian retail poster, publicity photos, and a 12 x 12 family poster. Channeling the hard rock flavors of influences such as Cream and Led Zeppelin, and adding distinctive elements such as readily driving melodies and Geddy Lee’s inimitable vocals, Rush hits the ground running on an 8-song album notable for its crisp production and economy of scale. Two songs, “Finding My Way” and the anthem “Working Man,” remain concert and FM radio staples to this day. The gold-certified Rush stands as one of the best rock debuts of its (or any) era. Here, original drummer John Rutsey and company set the tables for the legendary Neil Peart, who joined the band shortly after the record was released. While Rush collectors will immediately find satisfaction in the rare memorabilia contained within, audiophiles everywhere will be smitten with the dynamic, room-filling sound afforded by this 200g LP. Dead-quiet and graced with information-loaded grooves, the vinyl pressing reveals a plethora of previously unheard details, deeper soundstages, and rich textures. Rush now sounds better, and more significant, than ever before.

File Under: CanCon, Classic Rock
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Twilight Nuages: s/t (Folk Evaluation) LP
Folk Evaluation continues to mine the DIY home-recorded pop underground with its second release, an authorized reissue of the seldom seen but highly sought-after 1977 album by Connecticut’s best-kept secret: inter-generational dream-pop outfit Twilight Nuages. Based around the songwriting talents of high school music teacher Bill Last, the band features a supergroup of friends and students, including four incredibly gifted 16-17 yr-old girls sharing lead and backup vocal duties throughout. The ten-piece- strong band recorded live in Bill’s parents’ basement straight to 1/4″ stereo tape with no overdubs whatsoever, and the end result will leave even the most jaded of listeners with their jaws hanging in disbelief. From sunshine pop to country swing to devastatingly sincere piano ballads, the amount of heart and pop ingenuity on display is simply staggering. Imagine if the kids from the Langley Schools Music Project grew up to be in the Olivia Tremor Control and you’re part way there. Originally pressed up in an edition of 200 copies and given away to friends and family, this deluxe reissue comes in a high quality tip-on jacket, features remastering from the original tapes by Josh Bonati, and comes with a download for the full LP plus two never-before-heard cuts from the vaults, extended interviews and sheet music.

File Under: Dream Pop, Folk, DIY, Private Press
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Various: Inner City Beat! (Soul Jazz) LP
Soul Jazz Records new release Inner City Beat: Detective Themes, Spy Music and Imaginary Thrillers 1967-1975 is a unique 2LP release that comes with an exclusive limited-edition, specially created 60-page graphic novel (by the mysterious cult 1960’s pulp-fiction writer Mark ‘Badly’ Antringham). The music on the album is a killer selection of funky, deep, rare, exciting and dance floor heavyweight spy themes, detective music and thrillers from the 1960s and 1970s. The music spans heavyweight break-beat funk, deep and heavy jazz, super-catchy mod themes, imaginary super-charged orchestral soundtracks and more. These tracks are put together from British library music companies (DeWolfe, KPM, Conroy, Amphonic) all of whom supplied music regularly to television and film around the world during this period, often for use in detective and spy programmers, series and films. To accompany this unique album, Soul Jazz has commissioned the creation of a special 60-page graphic novel which features the stunning artwork of the elusive illustrator John C. Pattereson in partnership with the celebrated 1960’s pulp fiction cult novelist Mark ‘Badly” Antringham. The graphic novel is set in the imaginary seedy streets of East London in the 1960’s, in a world full of corrupt police, political intrigue and violent sadistic criminals. This unique limited-edition graphic novel comes free with the initial run of the album Inner City Beat.

File Under: OST, Library

Various: Punk 45 III: Proto-Punk (Soul Jazz) LP/CD
Soul Jazz Records’ new Punk 45 album is a collection of twisted, raw and energized proto-punk from the early 1970s, ahead-of-its-time music which led the way for the birth of punk in the second half of the 1970s. Punk 45: Sick on You! One Way Spit! After the Love & Before the Revolution: Proto-Punk 1970-77 is the third volume in this series, following on from two earlier albums as well as Soul Jazz Records’ massive 400-page Punk 45 cover art book published last year. While the first in the series, Punk 45: Kill The Hippies! Kill Yourself!, focused on the rise of underground punk in America, and the second album, Punk 45: There is No Such Thing as Society did the same for punk and post-punk in Britain, this album draws upon some of the stripped-down hard garage and post-glam sounds of mainly obscure bands that existed in the early 1970s – that were to prove the template for the forthcoming punk movement. Punk 45: Vol. 3 is a unique and fascinating collection of proto-punk tracks from across the USA – Cleveland’s Electric Eels, San Francisco’s Crime, Los Angeles’ Zolar X, Baltimore’s George Brigman and more – as well as from the UK –  with Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash 101ers, the speed- induced r’n’b of the Count Bishops and others also included. As usual the album comes complete with text, biographies on each of the bands, exclusive photos and original record artwork. The album is available as limited-edition, super-loud, super-heavy, double gatefold-sleeve vinyl edition, complete with full sleeve-notes and free download code.

File Under: Punk, Proto-Punk

Various: South Side Story (Numero) LP/CD 
For the lowriders, the souleros, or just anyone with a still-working CD player in their hooptie and a penchant for driving with even a slight gangster lean. Numero pays tribute to the aftermarket sounds of ‘sweet’ soul music still emanating from the West coast, or East Side, depending on your perspective. Inspired by, and paying tribute to the countless cruising compilations, legitimate and (mostly) otherwise, that provide the soundtrack for lowrider and soulero culture, South Side Story is the latest in the Numbero line of takes its aesthetics from the timeless East Side Story series, and its music from Chicago soul groups (mostly, of course, from our mythic South Side). Included here are songs that are completely unreleased, others that are never before issued other than in minuscule pressings on 45, and a few chrome-coated classics, already seen on scads of flash-in-the-pan boots. The Numero Group’s crack team of researchers cut loose on the city of Chicago to assemble the perfect lowriding companion, and the results are unparalleled. From high school rivals The Si-Berians and The Intentions, who both feature their sole recordings here, to unheard material from the original Calvin Harris, to the elite Latino ensemble known as The Mystics, to the missing link in ‘sweet-as-sugar’ Renaldo Domino’s lonely post-Twinight recording, this dazzling collection slices out a delectable cross-section of the city’s sweetest sounds. 13 perfect ‘souldies’ as they are occasionally called, allowing you to throw away any of your many volumes of Gangster Soul Harmony, Lost Soul Oldies, East Side Story, Hood Dreams, Shady Side of Town (or any of the thousands of other similar iterations)

File Under: Funk, Soul
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…..restocks…..

Amon Duul II: Phallus Dei (Cleopatra) LP
Black Angels: Passover (Light in the Attic) LP
Black Angels: Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic) LP
Blue Rodeo: Diamond Mine (Warner) LP
Charles Bradley: No Time For Dreaming (Daptone) LP
Budos Band: s/t (Daptone) LP
Neneh Cherry: Blank Project (Smalltown Supersound) LP
Karen Dalton: In My Own Time (Light in the Attic) LP
Dark: Round the Edges (Macchu Picchu) LP
Darkthrone: Circle The Wagons (Peaceville) LP
Death Cab For Cutie: Transatlanticism (Barsuk) LP
Everly Brothers: Roots (Rhino) LP
Fairhorns: Doki Doki Run (Invada) LP
Flaming Lips: Hear It Is (Plain) LP
Fleet Foxes: s/t (Sub Pop) LP
Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop) LP
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain (4 Men With Beards) LP
Serge Gainsbourg: Historie du Melody Nelson (Light in the Attic) LP
Goblin: Suspiria (AMS) LP
Goblin: Profondo Rosso (AMS) LP
Goblin: Tenebre (AMS) LP
Goblin: Roller (AMS) LP
Goblin: Zombi (AMS) LP
Jay Z/Linkin Park: Collision Course (Warner) LP
July: s/t (Warner) LP
Kid Koala: Some of My Best Friends Are DJs (Ninja Tune) LP
Kraftwerk: Tour De France (EMI) LP
Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express (EMI) LP
Leong Lau: Dragon Man (Strawberry Rain) LP
Medusa: First Step Beyond (Numero) LP
Monks: Black Monk Time (Light in the Attic) LP
Motorhead: s/t (Back on Black) LP
Om: Pilgrimage (Southern Lord) LP
Orange Juice: You Can’t Hide… (Domino) LP
Orange Juice: Texas Fever (Domino) LP
Orange Juice: Rip It Up (Domino) LP
Orange Juice: s/t (Domino) LP
Pearl Jam: Vs (Epic) LP
Pearl Jam: Ten (Epic) LP
Pearl Jam: Vitalogy (Epic) LP
Phosphorescent: Muchacho (Dead Oceans) LP
Placebo: 1973 (Music on Vinyl) LP
Psychic TV: Hacienda (Let Them Eat Vinyl) LP
Psychic TV: Live at Thee Marquee (Let Them Eat Vinyl) LP
Radiohead: Amnesiac (EMI) 2×10″
Radiohead: Kid A (EMI) 2×10″
Smiths: Hatful of Hollow (Rhino) LP
Soundgarden: Superunknown Singles (Universal) 10″ Box
Sunn o))) & Ulver: Terrestrials (Southern Lord) LP
Chad Van Gaalen: Shrink Dust (Flemish Eye) LP
Tom Waits: Frank’s Wild Years (Music on Vinyl) LP
Tom Waits: Mule Variations (Anti) LP
Various: Eccentric Soul: Deep City Label (Numero) LP
Various: Eccentric Soul: Big Mack Label (Numero) LP
Various: Eccentric Soul: Smart’s Palace (Numero) LP
Various: Punk 45 Vol 1 (Soul Jazz) LP
Various: Punk 45 Vol 2 (Soul Jazz) LP

 

Hallelujah! The A/C has finally kicked in, just in time to keep me cool while I receive all this new inventory! Loads of sweet stuff in this week, and it seems like there will be a lot of great new stuff in the very near future so keep your ears peeled.

…..pick of the week…..

Fennesz: Becs (Editions Mego) LP/CD
The last time Fennesz released an album on Austrian label Mego it was 2001 and the name of that release was Endless Summer. Now, in 2014, Editions Mego is extremely proud to release the conceptual follow-up to that landmark of abstract pop. Bécs (pronounced “baeetch”) is Hungarian for “Vienna” and is the first full-length Fennesz solo release since 2008’s Black Sea. Eschewing the more drone-oriented works of Black Sea, Bécs returns to the more florid pop mechanisms as deployed on Endless Summer. “Static Kings” features the extra leverage of Werner Dafeldecker and Martin Brandlmayer, who deploy a range of atmospheric abstract effects to shape a bewitching sound-world. The 10-minute centerpiece “Liminality” (featuring Tony Buck on drums) is classic Fennesz: epic, evocative, beautiful, impossible. “Pallas Athene” creates a sanctuary of hovering beauty which leads into the title-track. Emotional and assured, the track “Bécs” is an astonishing contribution to contemporary pop. “Sav,” co-written by Cédric Stevens, (aka Acid Kirk) inhabits a less structural terrain as one enters a forest of small sounds and oblique atmospheres, where on the closing “Paroles,” a gentle melody unravels amongst swirls of electronics and fried disruption. Bécs is not just an album or a series of songs, it’s a world to inhabit, a landscape ripe with sounds, songs and that esteemed Fennesz signature. A singular work by a singular artist. All tracks by Christian Fennesz, except *by Cédric Stevens & Christian Fennesz. Modular Synthesizer on “Sav” by Cédric Stevens. Bass on “Static Kings” by Werner Dafeldecker. Drums on “Static Kings” by Martin Brandlmayr. Drums on “Liminality” by Tony Buck. Recorded & mixed at Amann Studios, Vienna, 2013/2014. Tony Buck’s drums recorded by Martin Siewert at Garnison7, Vienna, July 2013. Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, February 2014. Cover design by Tina Frank.

File Under: Electronic, Ambient
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…..new arrivals…..

Sir Richard Bishop: Road to Siam (Unrock) 10″
Road to Siam shows Richard Bishop on a musical trip from the Iberian Peninsula all along through North Africa and the Orient to the Far East. “Mekong” is an improvisation on 6-string guitar based on the particular sounds of a traditional three-stringed instrument known as a phin, which originated in Laos. “Mekong,” which was recorded in Phitsanulok, Thailand in December 2013, is a typical Richard Bishop track, elegantly liquid and hypnotic and Bishop’s first new track in years. The B-side of the 20-minute long vinyl-only 10″ features “Alhambra Drag,” “Sand Shuffle” & “Coronado’s Broom,” which are highlights taken from digital-only available albums. Limited edition pressing of 500 copies.

File Under: Guitar Soli, Sun City Girls

Sir Richard Bishop: Solo Acoustic Vol. 8 (Vin Du Select Qualitite) LP
“First new solo acoustic recordings from the master guitarist in years, SRB returns to familiar themes and introduces new ideas simultaneously on this tour de force performance of his singular style.”

File Under: Guitar Soli, Sun City Girls
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Cob: Moyshe McStiff & The Tartan Lancers of the Sacred Heart (Sunbeam) LP
Deluxe vinyl edition, 180 gram LP with 17-track CD and booklet. Featuring Incredible String Band founder Clive Palmer, COB made some of the most imaginative and moving music of their time, and this 1972 masterpiece is considered by many to be the finest folk record ever to emerge from the British Isles. An overwhelmingly beautiful and compelling collection of songs set to Eastern-tinged arrangements, it’s presented here in its definitive vinyl edition, including the original gatefold artwork, a large illustrated color booklet telling the band’s story in their own words, and a CD with the original album and seven bonus tracks. Remastered from the original tapes at Abbey Road.

File Under: Folk, Psych, Incredible String Band
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Nancy Dupree: Ghetto Reality (Mississippi) LP
“In 1969 Nancy Dupree was running an after school music program in Rochester, New York. She helped the kids in the program write songs that related to there own experiences and feelings. The results are presented on this LP, and they are really something else. There are black power anthems, odes to stealing candy, a beautiful tribute to James Brown and an even more beautiful tribute to Martin Luther King. Not a novelty record with kids being goofy but rather a heartfelt work of art. Nancy Dupree sensitively accompanies the kids singing on piano. A real classic. The cover is a faux Folkways style wrap around print on an old school ‘tip on’ jacket. Includes a liner note insert. A co-release with our friends Moi J’Connais.”

File Under: Folk, Soul, Folkways
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Farben: James DIN A4 (Faitiche) LP
Faitiche is very pleased to present a new album and, at the same time, a well-known name: Farben Presents James DIN A4. In the summer of 2013, Farben (Jan Jelinek) remixed his way through the extensive oeuvre of the sample and collage artist James DIN A4 (Dennis Busch) — and gathered 10 of his favorite titles here. Find out more in the following interview: Jan Jelinek: Dennis, you’re a musician and an artist who creates audio and visual collages, as well as designing fashion. Could it be said that the principle of collage is what underlies all of your activities? Dennis Busch: Yes, that’s the common thread running throughout my output. I shake the kaleidoscope and don’t know what the result will be. If I don’t like it, I keep shaking — until some sensible nonsense appears. JJ: Your tracks meander from position to position, and have the effect of seeming to lack concentration — in a positive sense. What’s interesting is that in nearly every track there is one constant: a straight beat. Is this comparable to the white sheet of standard DIN A4 paper on which the collage snippets are spread out? DB: Four-four time is a kind of diametrical baton. It creates structure and acts as a kind of hostel warden to keep the pubescent samples in line. This is important in order to conjure up a fitting little dress for the playful bumblebees and weeds that are the samples. In fact, a track may sometimes present itself as slightly unfocused, but only under the fullest concentration and dedication. A track that starts off as a swimwear vendor at the North Pole may indeed fade away as a gravedigger at the end of an exploding rainbow.”

File Under: Electronic
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Fluxion: Broadway Tales (Echocord) LP
Echocord presents the third album by Fluxion. In the beginning of 2013, K. Soublis (aka Fluxion) met Jamaican vocalist Teddy Selassie in NY. After a brief discussion, they started exchanging music and lyrics and by the end of 2013, the Broadwalk Tales album came to life — an album of musical pieces that visit the roots of reggae and dub music with the distinct Fluxion production aesthetic, combining them with more ambient atmospheric tracks as well as techno and more experimental productions. In the words of the artist: “I wanted to make something more than the usual dub techno tracks with a hint of manipulated voices every now and then. Teddy Selassie came in and gave a breath to the whole material, made it more alive, broadening the journey.”

File Under: Electronic, Techno, Dub, Chain Reaction
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Madlib/Freddy Gibbs: Pinata (Madlib Invazion) LP
“Freddie Gibbs is the product of violent, drug-laden streets. But unlike most rappers with similar resumes, he brings the block to the booth without inhibition or an exaggerated rap persona. Piñata, a 17 track collaboration with producer Madlib, is the best distillation yet of his transparent approach to making music, combining an at times stark honesty with electrifying talent as a lyricist and performer. Piñata is ‘a gangster Blaxploitation film on wax,’ says Gibbs, who came up on the streets of Gary, Indiana, the disregarded city known for producing Michael Jackson. Here he is joined by Mac Miller, Earl Sweatshirt, Raekwon, Scarface, Domo Genesis, Ab-Soul and a host of others in setting his soliloquies of the streets alongside film snippets and dusted funk, soul and prog musical tapestries. While this is the latest in a series of single-artist collaborations for Madlib, after Jaylib (J Dilla), Madvillainy (MF Doom) and the street-centric O.J. Simpson with Detroit’s Guilty Simpson, the pairing is unique as it is the first time for Gibbs working with just one producer.”

File Under: Rap, Hip Hop
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Ingram Marshall: Fog Tropes/Gradual Requiem (Arc Light Editions) LP
Essential piece of modern composition from American composer Ingram Marshall, using tape delay, Serge synth and foghorn field recordings reissued on Arc Light Editions. Described by John Adams as “the antithesis of the human voice against the vast becalmed presence of the natural world.” Originally released in 1984 on Foster Reed’s influential New Albion label (which also released work by John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, and Morton Subotnik) it has not, until now, been made available again on vinyl. Fog Tropes began life as a series of field recordings of foghorns around the San Francisco Bay, made in 1979 for performance artist Grace Ferguson. These were then manipulated, added to, and expanded for performance with a brass section, which acts in sonorous call and answer with its industrial counterpart. In the record’s original sleevenotes, Marshall recalls: “A lot of people are reminded of San Francisco when they hear this piece, but not I. To me it is just about fog, and being lost in the fog. The brass players should sound as if they were off in a raft floating in the middle of a mist-enshrouded bay.” The tone is somber, the rhythm tidal, the sound world an affecting piece of tape collage and modern/minimal composition, with echoing brass, gulls and sirens in the mist. Gradual Requiem is dedicated to Marshall’s father, Harry Marshall. The piece is split into five parts, and includes a Serge synthesizer, with John Adams conducting. Tape delay and electronics are used in the sparse composition, a liminal spirit world, where familiar acoustic sound sources are processed lightly with electronic and tape manipulations and the hollow sound of the gambuh. Marshall began playing the two pieces together, later compiling them for this release. Together they mark a key moment in composition, bringing together environmental sound recordings, ethereal voices, brass and gambuh (Balinese flute), with Serge synthesizer and carefully executed tape manipulations.

File Under: Field Recordings, Modern Composition
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Monolord: Empress Rising (Easy Rider) LP
Sweden’s psychedelic doom band, Monolord, release their first full length LP “Empress Rising” via Easy Rider Records. The five song album comes in at almost 50 minutes of skull crushing heavy grooves and heavy guitars that summon the spirits of Norse gods when played at loud volumes. Monolord is for more than just doom-metal fanatics-this is an epic record for all fans of guitar driven rock and roll, stoner rock, and heavy riffs. Empress Rising has all of the flavors of an iconic doom record and follows in the footsteps of Sleep Holy Mountain, Pallbearer “Sorrow and Extinction”, Electric Wizard “Witchcult Today” with melodic vocals and harmonies that are super psychedelic and easy to sing along with.

File Under: Metal, Doom, Psych
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Roy Montgomery: 324 E. 13th Street #7 (Yellowelectric) LP
“‘Ten singles and two albums. At a certain point during my stay in the apartment on 13th Street I either said it to myself or said it out loud — I can’t recall — but that seemed a realistic target all things considered. Few distractions, few visitors, few appointments. A busy city to break up the endless music looping in my head long after the headphones had been taken off. A micro-studio easily patched together and able to be configured in only one or two variations. Time to pay some dues. Both to the 45 single and the concept album. The small vinyl artefact that fed my musical appetite at key times in my life. No ‘b” sides if it could be helped. Chasing a theme for as long as it took. Waiting for the real pattern to emerge. The perfect visual ratios of 7″ and 12″ cover art. Talking with the dead. Replying to the faded parsimony of a young fan and would-be maker of records (me): “Get it down now because this may be as good as it gets,” “Don’t wait for a real label to pay for your studio time,” “Time spent recording should always at least match time spent playing live.” I figured that the universal average for bands and recording artists was one, maybe two, good singles and an OK album then oblivion or, worse, a slow decline through contractual obligations. The only contract I had was with a scattering of friends, mostly American, who were there to deal with the out-pourings, should they arrive. And things had bottled up. Time to un-bottle. Not all at once. A few minutes at a time only for the intense stuff. Handing over bracketed ideas to this or that label as an act of faith. Then watching in awe as others transformed signals into objects. And here, running full circle in the literal sense, seven goes into 12 many times, with folk new and old keeping the faith. Lucky me.’ -Roy Montgomery. Housed in a gatefold sleeve. Includes three new songs, new artwork and unpublished photos, and an insert with an updated intro by Bill Meyer and Roy Montgomery. Remastered by Timothy Stollenwerk.”

File Under: Lo-Fi, Space Rock, Experimental
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Geoff Mullen: Wind Chimes (Rare Youth) LP
“Limited pressing of 250 copies, on clear vinyl. Wind Chimes gathers material from a recent sound installation and performance. Following up on his last LP, Filtered Water, Mullen continues to use site-specific recordings as a means to explore the sonic characteristics of a given space; yet here the focus is on the idea of feedback-as-process. Using field recordings and staged acoustic environments, Wind Chimes introduces us to a familiar object – in this case, a pair of mass-produced bamboo wind chimes – and listens as they undergo a series of sonic and spatial manipulations. The original sounds are copied and altered, and eventually re-amplified in different spaces, until new forms emerge and collide with both real and manufactured fidelities. The LP version is presented as a series of miniatures, cut in mono, with liner notes and links to additional audio for a wide range of home-listening possibilities. Ideal for blending with your own home-electronics, HVAC’s, and outdoor wildlife. Each record is housed in a white tip-on sleeve and comes with a color paste-on and insert.”

File Under: Installation, Field Recordings
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Nurse With Wound/Graham Bowers: Parade (Red Wharf) LP
The second studio album release by Nurse With Wound and Graham Bowers released as a CD in June 2013 is now available as a double vinyl album. The music is an audio sketch-pad, delving into the multiple manifestations of the human form and psyche … a Commedia dell’Arte-type procession of the extremes and banalities of what we are and what we do on this bizarre and indefinable one-way trip to oblivion. A continuous and thematic piece of music divided into eight tracks. Original artworks by Babs Santini and Graham Bowers.

File Under: NWW, Experimental
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Opera Mort: Dedales (Alter) LP
Dédales is the second LP from Opéra Mort, following up their debut for the in-house label of the sadly-defunct Parisian record shop Bimbo Tower. The project is an ongoing collaboration between Jo Tanz and Laurent Gerard, two figures in the eye of France’s contemporary avant-garde underground; Jo with his Tanzprocess label and Laurent with his Élg project. They also form two-thirds of the trio Reines D’Angleterre with the legendary French artist Ghedalia Tazartés, who will be returning to live performance later in 2014. The eight tracks on Dédales were edited down from a series of improvised live takes of abstract and otherworldy electronics, shifting the Opéra Mort sound into more focused territory and creating a musical language that’s uniquely singular and a direct result of their close collaborative relationship.

File Under: Experimental, Elg, Electronic
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Bill Orcutt: Solo Acoustic Vol 10 (Vin Du Select Qualititie) LP
“The blues, as abstract.” The guitarist from the legendary Harry Pussy makes his guitar sound like no other guitar. Always brilliant.

File Under: Guitar Soli, Bent Blues, Harry Pussy
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OST: Dallas Buyers Club (Music on Vinyl) LP
180 gram audiophile vinyl. Gatefold sleeve. Insert. First pressing of 1000 numbered copies on gold & blue vinyl. Dallas Buyers Club follows the Oscar winning performance by Matthew McConaughey portraying the ‘80s real life character Ron Woodroof, who’s suddenly being diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence. A crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the U.S., so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the U.S. The soundtrack to triple Academy Award winning feature film Dallas Buyers Club contains songs by Shuggie Otis, My Morning Jacket, T. Rex and actor/singer Jared Leto’s Thirty Seconds To Mars. The first 1000 copies of this double LP are uniquely pressed on Gold and Blue vinyl (each record a different colour!).

File Under: OST
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Outer Space: Phantom Center (Editions Mego) 12″
John Elliott and Andrew Veres have been refining their creative powers as Outer Space since 2010 with Akashic Record and II. The pair now release their first new material since 2012, Elliott’s first since Emeralds ceased and the first as a duo. Editions Mego are well-chuffed to release Phantom Center, a stunning two-track EP. “Arrival and Assessment” confidently sets the tone with multi levels of bass lines weaving around complex rhythms and those vast atmospheres we come to expect from this project. The earth-shattering “Crixa / 5925” is the perfect soundtrack to staring into an endless void with bottomless sub-bass and Raicevic-informed synthesizer disarray.

File Under: Electronic, Emeralds, Synth
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Anthony Pasquarosa: Solo Acoustic Vol. 7 (Vin Du Select Qualititie) LP
“12-string alchemy from the wilderness of Western MA, Pasquarosa’s compositions trans¬x with hypnotic ¬finger picked melodies of a true occult nature. Known for his work under the Crystalline Roses moniker, his acoustic playing resounds with mysticism and unknown pleasures.”

File Under: Guitar Soli, Acoustic
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Pink Mountaintops: Get Back (Jagjaguwar) LP/CD
It’s doubtful that Stephen McBean set out to make the great rock ‘n’ roll primer when he started conjuring the songs that would come to be Pink Mountaintops’ Get Back. The record’s beginnings were reasonably straightforward: McBean had moved to Los Angeles, taken a long hiatus from Black Mountain and an even longer one from Pink Mountaintops when he met producer Joe Cardamone, lead singer of Icarus Line at Valley Recording Company in Burbank, CA. The two bonded quickly over Flying Nun bands, Television Personalities, Roxy Music, Johnny Thunders, and Born Against. Joe was excited to meet someone he actually liked. Stephen was excited to work with someone who said “Sing it like you would’ve sung it when you were 21.” Simple enough, right? Ask who’s on the record and you’ll get a constellation of greats: J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr & Witch), Rob Barbato (Darker My Love, The Fall & Cass McCombs), Steve Kille (Dead Meadow), Daniel Allaire (Brian Jonestown Massacre, Cass McCombs & Darker My Love), Annie Hardy (Giant Drag), Jon Wahl (Clawhammer), and Gregg Foreman (Cat Power & Delta 72). Randal Dunn (SunnO))), Earth, Sun City Girls, Boris) mixed Get Back at Avast! Studios (Bikini Kill, Mudhoney, Christ On A Crutch, Soundgarden) in Seattle. Ask about the record itself and McBean will tell you about “Alleys, curbs, walls, and cigarette stained gig flyers. An island on the Pacific coast. Fake British towns. Slayer posters. The beauty of youth. It’s about listening to Driver’s Seat and ‘Guns of Brixton’ and hotboxing The Duster.” And suddenly it becomes clear: when the aliens do touch down and they don’t know rock ‘n’ roll, you can play them Get Back start to finish, and that’ll be all they need.

File Under: Indie Rock, Black Mountain
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Prostitutes: Petit Cochon (Spectrum Spools) LP
Petit Cochon is the third LP and debut album for Spectrum Spools by James Donadio under his Prostitutes guise. From Psychedelic Black, the self-released debut LP limited to only 100, to the esteemed Crushed Interior on Digitalis, it’s safe to say Donadio has crafted a style unmatched in the climate of contemporary electronic music. The top-shelf EPs on Mira and Diagonal were a small glimpse into all that has led up to the new full-length. Petit Cochon is a total burner, no exceptions. From the opening cryptic threat of “Powerful Magnets” into the serrated pummeling of “The Bluffer’s Corporation,” it becomes clear very quickly that no punches will be pulled and that Petit Cochon is a heavy affair. Donadio’s signature sample manipulation in tandem with live electronics and particular mixing processes hit new highs with the manic clatter of “Suck Out the Reason,” which shifts and shuffles between huge snare drums and whispers from the void. “Stains Left Unnamed,” like its title suggests, is a grim and filthy ordeal with head-spinning delay ringing alongside jagged and fractured rhythm. This album has cuts for the club-heads and for those locked away from the rest of the world, and as a whole serves as the perfect and logical next full-length in the Prostitutes cannon. Cut by CGB at Dubplates + Mastering, Berlin. Mastered by James Plotkin.

File Under: Electronic, Experimental
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Red Crayola: Singles (Drag City) LP
“Eight years later, and in another era entirely, a summing-up occurred with the compilation of short-play Krayola records, Singles. Spanning the years 1969 – 2004, Singles contains many Krayola klassics of the pre-punk, punk, post-punk, etc. eras once represented by labels like Texas Revolution, Rough Trade, Konkurrenz, and uh, Drag City. This comp was released on CD only ten years ago — imagine that! Here it is for the first time on vinyl.”

File Under: Texas, Punk, Psych
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Jack Ruby: Hit & Run (Saint Cecilia Knows) 2CD
The collected recordings of legendary lost 1970s New York City band, Jack Ruby. Seen and heard by just a precious few, Jack Ruby made only five studio recordings and played an equal number of gigs between 1973 and 1977. None of their music was ever released and, until now, they have existed solely as a word-of-mouth legend among peers. Yet their legacy and influence can clearly be heard in bands that followed in their wake like Sonic Youth and Teenage Jesus And The Jerks. They have been variously described as “The Velvet Underground in a car crash” and the “art-punk Steely Dan.” Formed in 1973 by vocalist Robin Hall, guitarist Chris Gray, multi-instrumentalist Randy Cohen, classically-trained viola player Boris (also known as Boris Policeband), and later joined by bassist George Scott (James Chance And The Contortions/8-Eyed Spy/John Cale) and new vocalist Stephen Barth, the first incarnation of Jack Ruby demoed two tracks in a Times Square recording studio in 1974; their signature tune, the nihilistic proto-punk “Hit and Run” — sounding like some unholy blend of Raw Power-era Stooges, Velvet Underground and J.G. Ballard’s Crash — and a bizarre number entitled “Mayonnaise,” based around Boris’ amplified viola and primitive electronic “beats” sequenced on Cohen’s Serge synthesizer. These two cuts were used to hustle additional studio time from Epic Records through Sly Stone’s A&R, Stephen Paley. Three more maniacal songs of arch art-punk with killer pop hooks — “Bored Stiff,” “Bad Teeth,” and “Sleep Cure” — were all recorded in one five to six hour session at Columbia Studios in May 1974. With Cohen patching musique concrète sounds through the Serge, set against Gray’s banshee guitar-playing and Hall’s snotty vocals, the Jack Ruby sound was formed. But a record deal evaded them. Cohen left and started a new career as a writer for Late Night With David Letterman and, later, as The Ethicist, a columnist for The New York Times solving readers’ ethical problems. In 1976, Hall and Gray reactivated Jack Ruby as a live-performing unit with George Scott on bass. They played harder, faster and louder than any other band in New York at that time. Their rehearsals at Matrix studios, and dusk-to-dawn parties at the Bowery apartment behind CBGB’s shared by Gray and Scott, became a cult draw for other NYC punk and no wave musicians. Hall quit the band unexpectedly in 1977, days before their first scheduled gig. Jack Ruby continued on as a power trio with Gray, by now the only original member, taking over vocal duties for a couple of shows alongside Teenage Jesus And The Jerks and the Fleshtones, before disbanding for good after one last riotous show with new vocalist Stephen Barth at Max’s Kansas City, formerly stalking ground of the band’s idols, The Velvet Underground. Hit and Run is a two-disc set of everything Jack Ruby recorded between 1973 and 1977 (across four incarnations of the band) that should see them acknowledged as one of the most radical and brilliantly original groups to emerge from the 1970s New York City music scene. Remastered from recently-discovered master tapes, the first disc collects all five of the band’s studio recordings, which although 40 years-old still sound thrillingly urgent and modern, alongside a 1977 cassette of a band rehearsal, and a 2013 remix by producer Don Fleming. Disc two contains another side to Jack Ruby; a series of largely-electronic, avant-garde pieces from 1972 and 1974 — nine short tracks that play like a library record, book-ended by two longer ones — some of the earliest extant recordings made on a Serge synthesizer. What Jack Ruby left is a remarkable legacy of recorded music — hidden for decades, now-revealed — constituting a previously-unheard secret history of the New York City music scene of the early 1970s.

File Under: No Wave, Punk, Contortions
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Aaron Sheppard: Solo Acoustic Vol 9 (Vin Du Select Qualititie) LP
“A dazzling debut from Bay Area guitarist Aaron Sheppard whose virtuoso finger-picked six string attack is stunning in both its precision and melodicism. Sheppard’s album is a bold introduction to a remarkable new talent in the world of acoustic guitar.”

File Under: Guitar Soli, Acoustic
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Shindig!: Interstellar Overdrive BK
“The Shindig! guide to spacerock. This special edition of Shindig! explores spacerock’s peculiar mix of heavy riffs and electronics through the age of the space race, the resulting sci-fi explosion and the mind-expanding influences of the acid-fried ’60s and beyond. We trace spacerock back to its roots with the soundtracks of the ’50s, including Louis and Bebe Barron’s Forbidden Planet, through to the incredible work of Joe Meek on ‘Telstar’. In addition, we will cover the social and cultural context of the moon landings, sci-fi literature and the spaced-out cinema that shaped the end of the ’60s. In this environment came early spacerock efforts from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd and The Byrds. One band arrived at the close of the decade to define the genre — Hawkwind. Just as influential in their own idiosyncratic way were Gong with their Radio Gnome trilogy. Several artists pursued the electronic side of spacerock, such as Silver Apples and Fifty Foot Hose, whilst the BBC Radiophonic Workshop added a distinct Britishness to proceedings. The Germans also produced their own unique contributions to the idiom with Amon Düül Ii, Neu and Ash Ra Tempel. At the close of the ’70s several artists such as Chrome utilised the punk spirit to reinvigorate spacerock. The magazine will take the genre through the ’80s and ’90s with Ozric Tentacles and the cross-pollination of the indie scene with Spacemen 3 and Loop. Taking things up to the present day and proving the genre is still in rude health are the likes of Astra, The Heads, and White Hills.”

Prins Thomas: III (Full Pupp) LP
Double LP version. Includes a CD copy of the album. “Hi there, this is my new album. Keeping with the tradition I decided to call it III. There’s no great concept, no specific theme, no scheme, no plan… No space disco but still plenty of “space.” It is just documentation of the music I made during the recording period. A musical diary, so to speak. Diary entry number three. Musically I feel it belongs somewhere between my last two albums, 2009’s Prins Thomas and 2012’s II. They were both a result of the recording techniques and musical ideas I had at the time. The former organic, freeform (freerange) and organic, the latter more polished and “square,” as I just had figured how midi worked (I have to admit…I’m actually still not sure I know). Anyway, what I’ve learned so far is now coming together in some kind of musical (dis)harmony. One I hope you enjoy listening to as much as I enjoyed making it.” –Thomas Moen Hermansen aka Prins Thomas, March 4, 2014

File Under: Electronic, Dance
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The Topics: Wanted Live! By a Million Girls (Jazzman) LP
The funky soul archaeologists at Jazzman are extremely proud to announce this release in their Soul Spectrum series. This LP is the perfect combination of crossover and modern soul filled with strong black male group harmonies and funky instrumentation — a recording to please the palette of soul and funk collectors across the board. This release isn’t just about the vocalists, but also the variety of talented musicians and unique instrumentation involved in creating this timeless testament to West Coast African-American consciousness of the late ’70s and early ’80s. One of the key initiatives at Jazzman Records is setting the facts straight, righting the wrongs of mistaken identities, and often giving previously-unknown artists credit where credit is well overdue. In this case, the main topic of discussion is The Topics and their Wanted Live! By a Million Girls LP. Jazzman has invested all their fine-tuned resources into making this LP reissue even better than the original. All eight tracks have been digitally remastered, and all of the original LP cover art has been reproduced as an exact replica of the original LP issued in the early 1980s. You may try your hand at obtaining an off-condition copy in the 1,000 GBP price range or file Jazzman’s brilliant limited edition reissue with bonus extensive 16-page liner-notes insert in your collection for only a fraction of the price. As group harmony and soul groups go, in many cases, there are some very popular group names, popular to the point of redundancy. Often the same name was used by different, multiple groups all around the country, round about the same time, coincidentally unbeknownst to one another. While the artists didn’t intend to be any less unique than others sharing the same name, this duplicity has caused quite a bit of debate and confusion for record collectors over the years. The mystery of this rather ambiguously designed modern soul LP has haunted collectors for decades. Now for the first time ever, Jazzman can finally confirm that this specific West Coast group was (from Fresno, CA and) only recorded on the Token and NCS labels and is not to be confused with any other groups of the same name who recorded on the Heavy-Duty, Dream, TSG, Noodle, Carnival, Chadwick, Mercury, Castle and Brother III labels.

File Under: Soul
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Tyler The Creator: Wolf (Odd Future) LP
2013’s Wolf is the third overall solo effort from Los Angeles, CA rapper, producer, director and alternative hip hop collective OFWGKTA head Tyler The Creator. Serving as the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2009 mixtape Bastard and 2011 debut studio album Goblin, Wolf debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 on the strength of lead single “Domo23” and a series of music videos and features collaborations with Hodgy Beats, Frank Ocean, Pharrell Williams, Earl Sweatshirt and Erykah Badu. “Odd Future’s de facto frontman remained one of rap’s most fascinating figures in 2013. Wolf’s videos were just as outrageous and gripping as the viral clips that shot his crew into infamy a couple years ago – but deep cuts like “Answer” and “Bimmer” revealed a growing mind and expanding sound, and the pastel-colored Pharrell collab “IFHY” cemented Tyler as the gravel-pitched voice of an emerging generation.” – #15 on Rolling Stone’s 20 Best Hip-Hip Albums of 2013

File Under: Hip Hop, Rap
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Chad Van Gaalen: Shrink Dust (Flemish Eye) LP/CD
Chad VanGaalen’s blood flows by unrestrained creative impulses.  He has never worked in a commercial recording studio.  By his hands alone, one line, sound, shape or word leads organically to the next. In 2011, he wanted to score a science fiction film, so he started making one. The first episode of his animated feature, Translated Log of Inhabitants, should be released this year, with a fully illustrated D&D-esque compendium of 150 associated characters. Shrink Dust, his fifth full-length album under his own name, is partially a score to this film, but it’s also—in Chad’s view—a country record. Always a fan of esoteric instruments, Chad recently acquired an aluminum pedal steel guitar, and began trying to figure out how to play it: “It took me a month to set it up, and a year to be comfortable recording myself playing this thing.”  His experiments with this instrument unify the album, along with themes of death, transformation, fear, benign evil, and the eccentricity of love.  A newfound affection for The Flying Burrito Brothers, and the sci-fi mysticism of the 1980s graphic novel The Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius, were also significant in recent years. Somehow, with all of its disparate influences and components, Shrink Dust might be one of the most accessible moments in CVG’s creative life, simply because it is more apparent than ever how much fun he is having.

File Under: Indie Rock, CanCon, YYC
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Jozef Van Wissem/SQURL: Only Lovers Left Alive (ATP) LP
ATP Recordings are proud to announce the release of the original soundtrack to the new film by Jim Jarmusch, ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ which stars Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston.. The soundtrack – predominantly by Jozef Van Wissem and SQÜRL, also features Zola Jesus, Yasmin Hamdan and Madeline Follin. Winner of the 2013 Cannes Soundtrack award. Only Lovers Left Alive – Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician (Adam, Tom Hiddleston), deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover (Eve, Tilda Swinton). Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister (Ava, Mia Wasikowska). Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them? Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Only Lovers Left Alive will be released in the UK by Soda Pictures on 21 February 2014. SQÜRL are: Carter Logan, Jim Jarmusch, and Shane Stoneback. An enthusiastically marginal rock band from New York City who like big drums & broken guitars, cassette recorders, loops, feedback, sad country songs, molten stoner core, chopped & screwed hip-hop, and imaginary movie scores.

File Under: OST, Jim Jarmusch
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Various: Everything Is Shit (Sub Rosa) LP
An incredible energy took over Brussels at the onset of the ’80s. It is a strange and rare feeling when you tell yourself that something is happening. And it always happens through an accumulation of very small facts. Then, suddenly, it is there. This collection basically attempts to capture this emerging will. But before that, there was punk rock. In Brussels, it started with a handful of venues, improvised concerts, a few dozens of people recognizing each other, and a festival that gathered everyone together: the first Belgian Punk Contest, at the Vieux Saint-Job, on March 18, 1978. Although the influences came from up north — The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, Crass, essentially — there were also ties and influences from Paris (Asphalt Jungle, Métal Urbain), and Phallus Band, Streets, and H2SO4, who were all also singing in French. The adventure began in the winter of 1976, and the following two years would yield most of the material. Since these bands had very short life-spans, there were a lot of interactions (Chainsaw, X-Pulsion, Streets), while other configurations gave birth to key bands of the next decade: Digital Dance (out of X-Pulsion and Thrills), Snowy Red (from Chainsaw), The Names (The Passengers), and Pseudocode (from Thrills). Other artists in this collection include: Mad Virgins, Terminal Stupid, Isabelle et les Nics-Nacs, The Actors, and Raxola. Features 18 tracks (from the 32-track CD).

File Under: Punk
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Various: Modern Mayan (Mississippi) LP
“In the mid-1970s Richard Alderson made these amazing recordings in Chiapas, Mexico. A very unique blend of ancient music and modern rhythms. Here we have modern Mayan people singing folk songs accompanied by guitar, ragged brass bands, and much more. A trip into a very beautiful world. The cover is a faux Folkways style wrap around print on an old school ‘tip on’ jacket. Includes liner notes. A co-release with our friends Moi J’Connais.”

File Under: Mexico, Ethnic, World

Various: Music from Planet Earth Vol 1 (Stag-o-lee) 10″
Martians, Ray Guns, Flying Saucers & Other Space Junk. First in a series of three 10″ records. Limited edition, comes with a sticker. Each copy also comes with 24×24 cm screenprint of the front cover. Signed by artist Marcel Bontempi. Back in the late 1950s and into the early ’60s, everyone seemed to become obsessed with the possibility that science fiction might become science fact. Movie houses and drive-ins across America were fascinated by the idea of a Martian invasion, with a suitably Theremin-powered eerie soundtrack, not to mention the prospect of the rise of unruly robots. Never one to miss jumping on a trend, the prolific Jimmy Haskell produced a whole album of space-based tomfoolery called Countdown for the Imperial label. Similarly, in the UK, Joe Meek produced the concept album I Hear a New World to quench his intrigue in the stars, having already peaked the public’s imagination with his “Telstar” hit with The Tornados. Meanwhile, in Belgium, in the process of developing new possibilities for sound recording, Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan produced the electronic pulse at the heart of “Song to the Second Moon.” Aspiring rockabilly performers and early rock ‘n’ rollers in the southern states picked up on the phenomena while craning their necks upwards. Billy Lee Riley And The Little Green Men, The Wildetones, Buck Trail and Joe Tate all took the idea to new levels of incredulity, while Lynn Vernon’s instrumental chops for the Tennessee-based Cover label just needed a suitable title to put it in the frame. But if those southern performers were looking to the skies for inspiration, legend has it that Sun Ra And His Arkestra were looking down on them from their own planet.

File Under: Space, Surf, Garage, Rock

…..late or restocked RSD product…..

Childish Gambino: Because the Internet (Glassnote) LP
Jef Gilson et Malagasy: s/t (Jazzman) 5LP Box
JBs: Thought for Food (Get on Down) LP+7″
Moebius/Neumeier/Engler: Wohlauf (Bureau B) 12″
Outkast: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (Sony) LP
Lee Perry: Rastafari on Wall Street (Upsetter) 12″
Power Glove: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon (Invada) LP
Rodion GA: Misuinea Spatiala Delta (Strut) LP
Alexis Zoumbas: A Lament for Epirus (Angry Mom) LP
Various: Bob Dylan & the Basement Tapes Influences (Let Them Eat Vinyl) LP

…..restocks…..

Kevin Ayers: Joy of a Toy (Vinylisssimo) LP
Kevin Ayers: Whatevershebringswesing (Vinylisssimo) LP
Band of Horses: Acoustic at the Ryman (Brown) LP
Francis Bebey: African Electronic (BornBad) LP
Beck: Morning Phase (Columbia) LP
Tim Buckley: s/t (Music on Vinyl) LP
Cabaret Voltaire: Red Mecca (Mute) LP
Chrome: The Visitation (Cleopatra) LP
Charles Cohen: Group Motion (Morphosis) LP
Philip Cohren: On The Beach (Tizona) LP
Sam Cooke: Mr. Soul (Music on Vinyl) LP
Sam Cooke: Night Beat (Music on Vinyl) LP
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew Live (Music on Vinyl) LP
Deltron 3030: s/t (Deltron) LP
Donato Dozzy: Aquapiano (Spectrum Spools) LP
Drones: Miller’s Daughter (Bang) LP
Nils Frahm: Spaces (Erased Tapes) LP
Genius/Gza: Liquid Swords (Get on Down) LP
Hold Steady: Teeth Dreams (Razor & Tie) LP
Erkin Koray: Mechul (Sublime Frequencies) LP
Moondog: More Moondog (4 Men With Beards) LP
New York Dolls: Too Much (Get on Down) LP
Onra: Chinoiseries (Favorite) LP
Painted Caves: Surveillance (Shelter) LP
Lee Perry: Super Ape (Get on Down) LP
Pussy: Plays Pussy (Morgan) LP
Reign Ghost: s/t (Out-Sider) LP
Various: A Fistful of Fuzz (Particles)LP
Various: Kassidat (Parlotone) LP
Various: Turkish Freakout (Bazooka Joe) LP