Other Music New Release Update
July 11, 2001


In This Week's Update:

Avey Tare Panda Bear Geologist
Prefuse 73
Waves comp. (Daft Punk spinoffs)
Kalacakra reissue
Fugu
Luke Haines (2)
Poets of Rhythm
B Fleischmann live
Ellen Allien
Strokes single
Le Forte Four reissue
Doo-Dooettes reissue
Airway reissue
Midisport
Burning Spear reissue
Marumari
Manu Chao
Acid Mothers Temple
Little Computer People
Caural
Twilight Circus Dub Sound System
Ptolemaic Terrascope
The Wire July 2001

Just In:
David Axelrod (new album!)
Nurse With Wound/Current 93
Xhol Caravan live set

Restocks:
Company Flow "Funcrusher Plus"
Tindersticks domestic
Badmarsh and Shri domestic
Storm Bugs reissue
Young Marble Giants
Sigur Ros Icelandic imports

This Week:

AVEY TARE PANDA BEAR GEOLOGIST "Danse Manatee" (Catsup Plate) CD  $11.99
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On last year's "Spirit They're Gone Spirit They've Vanished", Avey
Tare's (David Portner) writing/recording/performing effort was
supplemented by Panda Bear's (Noah Lennox) complex lattices of
percussion for a revelatory and breathtaking album. This year, the
addition of Geologist (Brian Weitz) contributing live electronics
and incidental vocals and Panda singing more makes their new
effort sound much more organic, while keeping the otherworldliness
that was there before. "Danse Manatee" is fleshed out and looser,
though this is not improvised music -- think more along the lines
of The Music Improvisation Company's late '60s material,
Can's "Aumgn," and early Amon Duul with doses of classic stream-of-
consciousness pop songwriting a la Incredible String Band or Robyn
Hitchcock. But there's a very modern take on all these influences
going on, one that isn't summed up by their psychedelic
forerunners. Though it's probably unfair to single out particular
pieces on what's probably best described as a song-cycle, two
tracks on "Danse Manatee" stand out: 'Meet the Light Child'
and 'Ahhh Good Country.' The former seems to be a revolving
depiction of their newfound ensemble prowess, an epic celebration
of the new Forest Children sound. The latter is less a song than
some sort of strange ceremony unto itself, sounding much more than
the sum of our trio of wood sprites, like the whole damn forest in
lucid LSD/Bambi-fire-scene mode, with plunderphonic patters going
in and out of phase, a kind of microcosm of "Danse Manatee"
itself. [DHo]
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PREFUSE 73 "Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives" (Warp) CD/LP  $14.99/$16.99
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On "Vocal Studies", Prefuse 73 (Scott Herren) puts not only the
loungy downtempo stylings of his other project, Savath + Savalas,
into the mix, but also the glitchy tendencies of Delarosa + Asora
(yet another of his aliases) to make stuff aural archivists dream
of. Many samples sprinkle this release, strung, pounded, scratched
and shuffled together by bits of storylines, upheld by a melee of
hip-hop beats. The songs seem to surf the radio dial, landing on a
junglish beat (check the southern bouncy breakdown on 'Life/Death
with Mikah 9'), a smooth groove (a cut-up of Sea and Cake frontman
Sam Prekop sounds like a Kool Keith outtake on 'Last Light') or
skittering ambience ('Point to b'). Without switching stations,
Prefuse 73 seamlessly utilizes his jazz, hip-hop and electronic
arsenal. Instead of sounding like an electronic experiment with
too many ingredients, this album fuses interesting but familiar
transmissions--and the binding agent always begins with the beat.
Repeated listening recommended to take everything in. [LG]
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[V/A] "Waves" (Crydamoure, France) CD $15.99
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While Thomas Bangalter was busy creating mainstream club smashes
with Benjamin Diamond (Stardust) and Alan Braxe (the brilliant
2gether), his other half, Guy De Homen-Cristo, was creating a
prolific number of filtered disco 12-inchers (with partner Eric
Chedeville) on the Crydamoure label. The records are increasingly
difficult to find, and none ever made it to CD -- until this. Far
more self-indulgent than the Thomas Bangalter projects, the songs
are basically one or two loops from an old Loft classic, flanged
and triggered like a 5-year-old operating a Speak'n'Spell. These
records must've been a blast to make, because they're a blast to
hear. I especially like the Eternals' 'Wrath of Zeus', with its
ridiculous "I am Zeus!!!!!" vocal exclamations. There isn't an
iota of subtlety included in these selections, but that's not what
any of these guys are known for. And so what? These songs
weren't meant to make you ponder -- they are meant to make
you shake your ass. [DH]
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KALACAKRA "Crawling To Lhasa" (Garden Of Delights, Germany) CD  $16.99
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This week's no-brainer! I've treasured a bootleg copy of this 1972
gem for many years and now it's finally available as a fabulous-
sounding legit CD. In my personal pantheon of unheralded Krautrock
classics, this ranks right alongside the first Siloah album, Dom's
"The Edge Of Time", and Amon Duul's "Paradieswarts Duul".
A hypnotic and ecstatic blend of distorted blues, eccentric hippie
folk and Eastern mantra, "Crawling To Lhasa" is not merely content
to lay about and be adored; the duo of Heinz Martin and Claus
Rauschenbach are prone to outbursts of psychotic hilarity which
vaults them above my customary expectations of Teutonic
earnestness. And I always award extra props to psych-prog bands
whose usage of the flute does not transport my mind into street-
fair hell! Caveats: two unfortunate new-agey extra tracks recorded
by Martin in 1993 are no "bonus" whatsoever; liner notes belittle
previous bootleg versions in ridiculous (I'm talkin' pages here)
detail. In essence, though, a most perfect album. Highest
recommendation! [JG]
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FUGU "s/t" (Ici D'Ailleurs, France) CD $16.99
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Following two blue-ribbon split-7" (with Stereolab and St.
Etienne, no less), his glorious EP from 1996, and a few other
singles, Fugu (Frenchman Mehdi Zannad) lays out his first real
(and completely swoon-worthy) album. It reveals a major Brian
Wilson fixation, with a French backbone: intricate, sweet pop sung
in three languages where melodies shine via horn, harpsichord and
strings. His 25-piece orchestra gives his work a mechanical, yet
classical edge, the songs floating through are immensely
pleasureable and positively inescapable. This CD has logged so
many hours in my player already (the Japanese version made my
top 10 of last year, too) that if CDs wore out, this one would be
down to the nub. Guest appearances from Stereolab members
(Laetitia Sadier sings in Spanish!) just add to the cake. [RE]
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LUKE HAINES "Oliver Twist Manifesto" (Hut, UK) CD $24.99
LUKE HAINES "Christie Malry's Own Double Entry OST" (Hut, UK) CD  $24.99

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For the past eight years, Luke Haines and his merry band of
raconteurs, The Auteurs, have been looking consistently into the
ugly little corners of British rural life. Haines' debut as a
singer/songwriter was the brilliant but totally overlooked 1993
Auteurs album "New Wave", which pre-dated Brit-pop by nearly a
decade, with its faux Bowie-isms and side glances at Marc Bolan,
but without any of the those artists' self-seriousness. If
mediocrity in British pop hadn't triumphed since that first album,
The Auteurs would be a household name like Oasis, Suede, Pulp,
or Blur. But that didn't happen. And it should have. Haines' smart
and smarmy songwriting, his ability to craft lyrics that, upon
first hearing, sound unbearably pretentious ala Bowie circa '73,
but laced with an arid and self-effacing sense of humor and a
combination of narrative sense, nonsensical lines, and
nonsequiturs to make him one of the greatest British songwriters
of the decade. Haines then established Black Box Recorder, a trio
which included Sarah Nixey on vocals (Auteurs songs were sung by
Haines) and John Moore. Their debut album "England Made Me,"
like the Auteurs' first release, is an album of startling originality
and brilliance that garnered much critical acclaim, and little
popularity. On these new Haines records, the wonderful
misanthrope's vocals are at once detached and passionate,
apathetic and plaintive, speaking to the bleakness of Margaret
Thatcher's ghastly Little England, shivering in the shopfronts of
national glory, naked beneath its filthy blankets, piled up by the
debris of Empires loss and ruination. He sounds as if hes
resigned to the country's hysterical boredom. No nostalgia here.
Stripped of all sentiment and often hilarious, the soundtrack
to "Christie Malry's Own Double Entry" is a tale of England
burning while Haines sings pop songs. Given the lyrical concerns
of songs such as 'Discomania', it would be so easy for Haines to
fall prey to a cheap cynicism, and its a testament to his
integrity that he never does. A song such as 'Rock 'n' Roll
Communique No. 1' on "Oliver Twist", mocks the rock'n'roll
institution at the same time as it builds a wax effigy of rock and
sets it alight. Taken together, these two Luke Haines albums
represent what Brit-pop should be. [TH]
"Oliver Twist"
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"Christie Malry's"
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THE POETS OF RHYTHM "Discern/Define" (Quannum) CD $13.99
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The Poets of Rhythm, from Munich, are Deutschland's answer to the
Daktaris/Antibalas axis, a contemporary band that do something
between funky jazz and retro acid jazz and spectacular afro funk.
This 7-piece goes a little further in their obsession, though--
they look as if they crawled out of a time capsule, mustaches and
flares and perfect gear. They've been honing their chops longer
than you might think (their first album came out in 1993), and they
take their shit seriously -- no cutesy, faux-retro touches, just
raw, tight funk a la 1972. Their singer and trumpeter moonlight in
Syrup (on Compost, PoR have had releases on that label as well)
so they're not just isolating themselves in the '70s either. [RE]
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B. FLEISCHMANN "TMP" (Charhizma, Austria) CD $16.99
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A live recording made in November of 1999 shows Mr. Fleischmann
taking longer breaths than on 1999's "Pop Loops for
Breakfast". "TMP" has two long tracks: the first is 17 minutes,
the second 52. The first is rocked at regular intervals by small
explosions--that's the pulse, almost an exploration of war sounds
in miniature, with purring underneath and no shorts on sweetness.
The second is closer to the work of Vladislav Delay, but retains
that B. Fleischmann charm. The best part about it is the way he
turns the sounds as if creating small chapters within--it releases
showers of sparks, winds, skips and currents, none of which last
longer than one minute but there's never the sense of a short
attention span at work. Tuneful, sonorous and deep. [RE]
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ELLEN ALLIEN "Stadtkind" (Bpitch Control, Germany) CD $15.99
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It often seems there's no end to the amount of floor burning
German tech house. Add to the list of your favorite labels
Bpitch Control, started a mere two years ago. The imprint
has released numerous singles and now Allien, a DJ and
founder of the label, has her own CD, in which its revealed
that a big chunk of those singles were her all along: from
microscopic vocoder tracks such as 'Send' and 'Licht' to
howling, ragged electro tracks like 'Data Romance' and the
title track. She understands so well how to take a nice,
clean electro drum program and drag it through the mud,
leaving it filthy and distorted, albeit sprayed with minute
effects that move with the speed of a rattlesnake's
tongue. She effectively creates something that resembles
the sounds of electro pioneers of yore (yore being about
1985). [TH]
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STROKES "Hard To Explain" (Rough Trade, UK) CD single $7.99
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In the wake of a buzz that could turn crackers into powder,
Strokes release their second single, two songs that are not
without charm and certainly enveloped by a hook--the first song
adds some new-wavish keyboards to the earnest ROK, the second
rolls out balladish about their home city, here. Slight forks in
the road and the Lou Reed comparisons disappear. Yay. [RE]
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LE FORTE FOUR / PATIENTS "Boris The Spider / Priceless" (Cortical Foundation) CD + 7"  $32.99
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I remember in high school there was this burnout guy named Ward
Zelman. He had hair out to Billy Squierville and a practice
mustache-goatee combo that seemed pretty cool at the time. Ward
was actually quite a soft-spoken and gentle soul, but he was
preoccupied by three driving obsessions. First, he was determined
to PUNT one of the squirrels that inhabited the park adjacent to
the football field. Next, he attempted to breed a species of
goldfish that could thrive in his bongwater. Fortunately for the
squirrels, Ward was only flash on the guitar, though God only
knows how many fish were flushed. Finally, he was consumed by the
early Fleetwood Mac metallic blues stomper 'The Green Manalishi
(With the Two Prong Crown)'. He'd hum it in the hallways, air-axe
it in the lunchroom and assembled a band of like-minded stoners
to perform it at our annual school hair-rock blowout, known simply
as 'The Folk Concert' to keep the administration off our backs.
Since I was one of the organizers of the show, Ward asked me
to swing by his garage one Friday afternoon. I must've sat
through 'Green Manalishi' something like 36 times that day,
including blown intros, botched solos and seemingly endless
discussions thereof. Ward was indeed a stern taskmaster. LAFMS
legends Le Forte Four (Rick & Joe Potts, in their teenage
incarnation as The Patients) explore a similar fascination here
with The Who's 'Boris The Spider'. Take after take, the tape is
rolling and after they've finished with 'Boris' it rolls onward
through cassette assemblages of Bugs Bunny cartoons, Frank Zappa,
Moog demo records, dialogue from Valley Of The Dolls, Speed Racer,
snippets from scratchy Monty Python records, Yoko Ono, etc., even
Match Game PM! Primitive phono montage, adolescent tomfoolery,
call it what you will and don'tcha know I just love stuff like
this. Beyond-lavish 7" gatefold package includes Rick Potts'
slightly embarrassed session notes and an exact repro of their
1977 single as Slimy Adenoid And The Pablums, goofin' on The
Beatles' 'Glass Onion'. And our show? Ward absolutely nailed it.
If you're still out there, man, please send me the tape! [JG]
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DOO-DOOETTES "Think Space" (Cortical Foundation) CD+7" $32.99
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In 1976, NASA sent up the Voyager Space Probe. It was the first in
the space program to have an LP attached: it carried, pressed in
gold, "The Sounds of Earth", a collage of sounds of cultures,
voices and figures, representing all of human history in
approximately 45 minutes. A year earlier, the Doo-Dooettes
recorded a concert as an accompaniment to a film about the
_Viking_ Space Probe (two of which were sent up that same year, in
1975). You can think of this recording as their own bid for space
immortality. This group improvisation includes the original lineup
(Dennis Duck, Juan Gomez, Fredrik Nilsen, Tom Recchion, Harold
Schroeder), where they act like a mature bunch of kindergartners
with a whole room full of musical toys and a real urge to mess
with them. They ramble repetitively on mic, spin records with
their fingers very fast, hit everything in sight in no particular
rhythm (drums, tambourines, odd things that go 'thunk' and no
doubt the walls and floor), squonk and squeak and more. Saxophones
like sputtering balloons, fragments of all kinds of records (for
that "Sound of Earth" effect), sped-up vaudeville piano, knuckles
dragged across the drum kit. Three tracks of approx. 15 minutes
each. The bonus 7" for this pak was recorded during a bizarre
fashion show in 1978, of them covering Faust (probably the first
to do such a thing) as if they're the Velvet Underground on the A-
side, like the Looney Tunes Orchestra on the flip. Ltd. edition,
lovely packaging designed by pro Recchion. [RE]
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AIRWAY "Beyond The Pink / Live" (Cortical Foundation) CD + CD-ROM + 7"  $32.99
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LAFMS (that's Los Angeles Free Music Society) stalwarts Airway
began in 1976 as an experiment by Joe Potts (Le Forte Four) to
subliminally program the minds of his listening audience through
multi-tracking out of phase loops from sampled sources. The first
Airway single (reproduced on 7" here) featured screechy art-school
vocals by a woman named Vetza and was designed to be heard in
conjunction with a poster and a suite of autopsy photographs in
such a way as to implant the basic principles of CPR into a
listener's subconscious. Upon three listens, however, I'm not
quite sure that I'm any better prepared to save lives, but I'm
certainly grooving on the sounds of some pretty boss heavily-
flanged big-beat proto no-wave! Fast-forward 22 years to 1998, and
Potts is still at it on this live Airway CD, reunited with Vetza
and conducting an avant noise free-for-all featuring brother Rick,
John Duncan, Tom Recchion (Doo-Dooettes), Dennis Duck (Human
Hands, Doo-Dooettes), Mike Kelley and a dozen or so others
inflicting maximum sonic damage. CD-ROM includes historical Airway
artwork portfolio and video from the live performance so you can
pretend you attended the happening! 7" gatefold sleeve includes
color reproductions of original Airway gig fliers and a few not-
too-queasy autopsy shots. [JG]
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MIDISPORT "14 Footballers in Milk Chocolate" (Rather Interesting, Germany) CD $16.99
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Brace yourself, because here comes another wave of releases of
wonderfulness from the amazingly prolific  (and just plain
amazing) Uwe Schmidt (Atom Heart). Midisport is his tribute to
Brazil (more specifically the big cultural touchstones of Brazil,
soccer and samba). Like what he did to Cuban music as Los
Samplers: samba and bossa nova literally go under Midisport's
knife. The samba hiccups, buzzes and snags catchily while
retaining its melodic essence. He's definitely the diva of the
Latin vocoder, and has a delicate, but masterful touch on the
sampler. A great record that falls into the fractures of its own
creation. [RE]
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BURNING SPEAR "Burning Spear Productions 1975-1979" (Pressure Sounds, UK) CD $15.99
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To say that Winston Rodney is a central figure in Jamaican roots
music does not _begin_ to capture his immense influence and
following. He came out of Studio One, playing with keyboard king
Jackie Mittoo and bassist Ernest Ranglin. Though many think of
Burning Spear as a group, it has always been Rodney at the
controls. The infamous Joe Gibbs Studio was where Burning Spear
cut their numerous sides, with the expert engineering of Errol
Thompson. More than any other conscious reggae artist in the mid-
'70s (when Jamaica was undergoing considerable political turmoil),
Burning Spear spoke frankly to the defeated hopes of an earlier
generation on 'Marcus Garvey' and 'Garvey's Ghost', reanimating
the spectre of that great black nationalist. The material on this
stellar album fills in some gaps, including spine-tingling dub
versions peppered throughout the record. Tracks such as 'Free
Black People' and its attendant dub bypass the ears and enter the
bloodstream directly: one wonders how he was able to retain his
composure singing it. 'Jomo', a tribute to former Kenyan president
Jomo Kenyatta, is another gem, as is the glorious seven-
minute 'discomix' of 'Jah No Dead,' channeling the Rastafarian god
through the sheer volume of the dancehall sound system. Once
again, Pressure Sounds releases an essential piece of reggae
history. [TH]
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MARUMARI "Supermogadon" (Carpark) CD/LP $12.99/$9.99
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The splendid world of the North American Electronic Undergound is
populated by carefree characters. Many have well-paying day jobs,
girlfriends (or boyfriends) and houses with balconies. Most make
their music at night, headphones snug, mouse well in hand. It's an
idyllic cyber-community where everyone uploads their latest
melodic, squooshy creatures for others to manipulate as they see
fit. Marumari is the quintessential NAEU member. An animator by
day, bubbly composer by night, Marumari has a well-designed web
site, hundreds of attractive fans and a knack for making
beautiful, spacious and melodic music. Electronic pieces with
titles like 'Indigo Florist,' 'The Golden People' and 'Super
Botany.' Hailing from the rock monster of Providence, home to Fort
Thunder and Load Records, Marumari chooses instead to minimize
and simplify. He twists and turns beat patterns, then adds Tron-like
effects, phasing them in and out. Simple sonic sculptures reveal
themselves then retreat. There's nothing revolutionary here, no
sinewave massacre, no roaring compression, but that is beside the
point. NAEU is all about evolution; the slow morph of ideas into
art, and the open exchange of intellectual property.
"Supermogadon" is calming techno to help you weather the
Martian dust storms. [DD]
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MANU CHAO "'Proxima Estacion: Esperanza" (Virgin, France) CD $16.99
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Chao's second album shows a confidence bolstered (if it's possible
for him to even have MORE) to the point where he can relax and
just play with the music. His last, though wildly popular at Other
Music (with our customers a little more than with staff!), I found
a little too slick--this one flamboyantly ventures where that one
never would have. For instance, there are melodies that sound
Israeli, some of Rai's intensity, TONS of reggae and some dub
beats: all in a hyper Samba/Latin/Spanish mix as if he's trying to
cover the entire Spanish AND Portuguese-speaking world in one
sweep. Born in France of Spanish parents, his experiences living
in Paris and leading the group Mano Negra has exposed him to all
kinds of music; he's finally letting everything flow out at once,
and it's really fun to hear. [RE]
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ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE "La Novia" (Swordfish, UK) CD $17.99
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Acid Mothers Temple will have the distinction of following
Radiohead as cover stars in next month's issue of The Wire.
One listen to this and you'll know why! Originally a stunning vinyl-
only release on Eclipse, "La Novia" is expanded with 2 bonus
tracks for this CD release. The title track is a now-uninterrupted
40-minute mindswirler based on Occitanian traditional melodies.
On this track alone, leader Makoto Kawabata checks in on electric
guitars, violin, bouzouki, bowed peacock harp, and synthesizer,
striking the perfect balance between the deft ethno-explorations
of Magic Carpathians and the full-on lysergic pyrotechnics of The
Spacious Mind. The hilariously titled additional tracks 'Bois-Tu
de la Bier' & 'Bon Voyage Au LSD' extend the ride for another 20
minutes and evoke "Bad Moon Rising"-era Sonic Youth which is
never a bad thing in my book. [JG]
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LITTLE COMPUTER PEOPLE "Electro Pop" (PSI49Net, Germany) CD $15.99
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LCP is Anthony Rother, on his own label. Rother's obsession
with '80s culture (which actually goes back TO the '80s, as he was
composing music on an old C64 back in 1988, at age 16) comes to
a head with this 'tribute' to the computer game of the same name
from 1985. LCP (the game) was the first Tamagochi-esque 'virtual
pet' game, where you had a little person living in your computer
who you needed to feed, shelter, provide entertainment (you could
even give him records!) and education. LCP (the band) makes giddy,
bleepy electro-pop with '80s touches (Berlin bassline, anyone?).
It's a little bit cheesy but it's mixed together well (play it
continuously and the trax run into each other), and anyone who
likes things like the "Input 64" comp. or Adult will find this in
tune. [RE]
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CAURAL "Initial Experiments in 3-D" (Toshoklabs) CD $12.99
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The first full-length record by Zachary Mastoon (a.k.a. Caural),
who became involved with Nate Harrison's overlooked but highly
respected Toshoklabs imprint in New York. Caural's debut record
makes a great deal of what gets called lo-fi production sound like
it was mixed by Bob Clearmountain at Sting's studio in Montserrat.
A track such as 'Ganesh' opens with decaying, sparkling cymbals
giving way to baroque strings, backwards tape loops full of off-
key piano chords and tiny dog barks. 'Martian Landscapes Number
Three' is a standout, with its slippery, hesitant bassline and
rushing, gated snares. '80s video game sounds dart around the mix
like a superball and a deep kick-drum drops in now and then in
like an unexpected visitor. This 14-track record augurs very well
for Caural's career--in a space where commercial success is hardly
valued, one finds music that is a truly a labor of love. [TH]
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TWILIGHT CIRCUS DUB SOUND SYSTEM "Volcanic Dub" (M Records, The Netherlands) CD $14.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/twicirc1.rm
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Did you think Ryan Moore was going to return to Studio Twilight
and make a bad record? If so, "Volcanic Dub" is going to burn a
hole in your woofer cones as punishment. There are so few artists
capable of making contemporary roots dub without lapsing into
shiny, loungy digitalia or revivalism so contrived it's
embarrassing. Before Moore's foray into dub, it was only Jah
Shaka, Mad Professor, Smith & Mighty, and Doug Wardrop who kept
the roots spirit alive. When Moore left the Legendary Pink Dots
recently, it was to concentrate on his sublime dub. 'Floorshaker'
opens with rippling, metallic horns stretched to the horizon by
Moore's dazzling echo box. What he does with that instrument is
wondrous, from flattening a snare like it was hit by a steamroller
to pushing dripping melodica chords off the earth's edge. If
you're even mildly interested in what good dub sounds like thirty
years after King Tubby invented it at 18 Drummile Road in
Kingston, this album is crucial. [TH]
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PTOLEMAIC TERRASCOPE "Issue #30" Magazine+CD $9.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/vbunyan.rm
Their 30th issue, still going strong with features on the Lucky
Bishops, interviews with Bardo Pond, Gary Marker (Rising Sons,
Beefheart), Vashti Bunyan, Scott McCaughey (Minus 5, Young Fresh
Fellows), Hugh Hopper, more. 13-track CD has unreleased material
from the Soft Boys, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and others,
particularly the gorgeous, unissued Vashti Bunyan track (see RA
above).
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THE WIRE "Issue 209, July 2001" (The Wire, UK) Magazine $7.00
New issue of The Wire with features on Radiohead and Arthur Doyle,
what they call the "Micro House" movement (Delay, Brinkmann,
etc.), musings on music of the "Man-Machine and the Metropolis",
Fennesz, Four Tet, more. Invisible Jukebox with Pauline Oliveros,
too.
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Just In:

DAVID AXELROD "s/t" (Mo'Wax/Toys Factory, Japan) CD $25.99
A new album from legendary producer and arranger David Axelrod.
Features all-new tracks recorded with many of the same session
musicians that created the heavily-sampled classics "Songs of
Innoncence" and "Songs of Experience". Full review next week.
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NURSE WITH WOUND/CURRENT 93 "Bright Yellow Moon" (United Durtro, UK) CD $16.99
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XHOL CARAVAN "Motherfuckers Live" (United Durtro, UK) 3xCD $24.99
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Restocks:

COMPANY FLOW "Funcrusher Plus" (Rawkus) CD $15.99
A huge re-stock on this, the long out-of-print and heavily-requested
debut album from the now-defunct NYC crew of Company Flow. A
hip hop classic that has been unavailable for far too long.
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TINDERSTICKS "Can Our Love" (Beggar's Banquet) CD $15.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/tinder2.rm
After receding from the critical spotlight for five years, the
Tindersticks' brooding, barfly music makes a full return on "Can
Our Love...", their fifth official full-length. After ten years,
the group has become a "collective" of arrangers, maestros and
virtuosos, all turning on the resounding vibrato of Stuart
Staples, who is one part Nick Cave, one part Leonard Cohen, and,
sometimes, for effect, one part Curtis Mayfield. Staples does not
entirely resign himself to melancholy. When he does dig into
hopeful, major-key lines, the listener's heart goes with him.
There's the requisite Staples duet, this time with another man,
on 'People Keep Comin' Around,' which could very well be a Steely
Dan homage. In a smoky venue, there are few things that sound
better than this assemblage of talented blokes. [DD]
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BADMARSH & SHRI "Signs" (Outcaste, UK) CD $14.99
More vocals, and gentler sounding than their last, "Dancing
Drums", but a similar collection of breakbeats, world sounds
(tabla, anyone?), with palms out to the dancefloor. Going towards
trip-hop, they bring in guest vocalists Kathryn Williams and
Sanchita Farruque, plus the reggae-inflected voice of UK Apache.
Mellower, but with a few edges: esp. the bopping 'Swarm', a slice
of deconstructed funk. [RE]
CD //perl-bin/OM/CD_Add_To_Cart.cgi?sku=503068870207&refer_url=email

STORM BUGS "Let's Go Outside And Get It Over" (Snatch Tapes, UK) CD $15.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/Slipslap.rm
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Endlessly surprising 1978-1981 recordings from this obscure group
of English D.I.Y. terrorists. Storm Bugs were constructed around
core members Philip Sanderson and Steven Ball, who ran a cassette-
only label called Snatch Tapes that released works by the Scratch
Orchestra, John Cage, Lemon Kittens, and David Jackman (Organum),
among others. As Storm Bugs, they were spiritual forefathers to
Oval and today's "Clicks & Cuts" generation, creating a slapdash
industrial experimental music that exploited the idiosyncrasies of
domestic hi-fi gear. Radios were unceremoniously disemboweled and
rewired to emit impromptu squeals and belches, records scratched
with a scalpel to produce stunted percussion tracks, while tape
loops and primitive analogue synthesizers wove faltering rhythmic
patterns. This one's limited to but 300 copies. [JG]
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YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS "Salad Days" (Vinyl Japan, UK) CD $13.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/Youngmar.rm
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/Marblegi.rm
Young Marble Giants' work was the product of a minimal, luminous
celestial convergence that somehow managed to transcend both time
and civilization. And these 1979 home recordings by Alison Statton
and the brothers Moxham comprise the blueprint for their
classic "Colossal Youth", the largest-selling post-punk album of
all time here at Other Music. A fascinating document that
conclusively demonstrates that music, even from the gods, is the
product of sweat and tribulation. [JG]
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SIGUR ROS "Von" (Smekkleysa SM, Iceland) CD $22.99
The first album from Icelandic natives Sigur Ros. Dynamic and
orchestral, also quiet and experimental.
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SIGUR ROS "Von Brigdi" (Smekkleysa SM, Iceland) CD $22.99
Ros' album "Von" remixed by themselves, Mum, Curver, Gus Gus,
others.
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HILMAR ORN HILMARSSON & SIGUR ROS "Englar Alheimsins" (Krunk, Iceland) CD $22.99
Sigur Ros add guitar melodies to soundtrack composer Hilmarsson's
Michael Nyman stylings and string patterns.
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This week's newsletter from: David Day [DD], Robin Edgerton [RE],
Lisa Garrett [LG], Jeff Gibson [JG], Duane Harriott [DH],
Tim Haslett [TH], Dan Hougland [DHo].


The Big Picture:

To see a complete list of Other Music new releases for the
week ending July 11, 2001, use this link as a shortcut:
//11july2001.html

To see a list of new releases from previous weeks:
//newreleases.html

To see new release updates from previous weeks:
//updates.html

To order any of the items you see on these pages simply click
the links following each review or visit our Web site at
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-all of us at Other Music

Other Music NYC
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