Other Music New Release Update
May 30, 2001


In This Week's Update:

Bill Dixon box set
Neu! reissues
Air
RZA's "Ghost Dog" soundtrack (Japanese version)
Plaid
Plunderphonics
Storm Bugs reissue
Tomas Jirku
Tracy + the Plastics
Vote Robot
John Cale archive recordings
Biota
"Scratch 1" compilation
Current 93
Mainliner
Wendy & Bonnie reissue
Barbara Manning
Tobias Hazan
Bill Bissett & The Mandan Massacre
Matching Mole reissue

Just In:
Boredoms "Rebore Vol. 0" Mix by EYE
"Spinout 2" Mix by Masanori Ikeda
Supersilent "5"
Nam June Paik
William S. Burroughs
Mika Vainio/Carsten Nicolai
Noto/Opiate

Restocks:
3rd Eye Foundation, domestic
Kampec Dolores
Modry Efekt/Radim Hladik


Featured New Releases:

BILL DIXON "Odyssey: Solo Works" (Archive Edition) 6xCD Box Set  $79.99
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An Other Music retail exclusive! Signed, numbered retrospective
limited edition of 1000 copies. Bill Dixon ranks right up alongside
Ornette Coleman among our finest living contemporary jazz
composers. Having collaborated with Archie Shepp and Cecil Taylor
in the early to mid-60's, Dixon organized both the Jazz Composer's
Guild and the October Revolution in Jazz in 1964, essentially the
starting point for what would become known as "The New Thing"
and the foundation for the likes of ESP-Disk. Over the past 30
years, Dixon has concentrated mainly on teaching but occasionally
released select works on labels such as Soul Note and FMP. So this
stands as a veritable gold rush by his stringent standards.
Throughout this set, Dixon performs compositions for solo trumpet
and flugelhorn of such astounding clarity, depth, and variety that I
find myself transported into cinematic reveries that complement his
sounds. Forget La Monte Young and all that backstabbing art-school
rigmarole, THIS is Minimalism! After all, what could be more minimal
than one artist/one instrument? And yet, it's so much more. In the
solo world of Bill Dixon, breaths become punctuation, silence
becomes accompaniment, an extended opportunity to explore the
limitations of the horn. But Dixon's horn seemingly knows no limits.
In a heartbeat, fluid melodic lines screech into impossible flurries of
noise, the soul of expression. He is not afraid to process, enhance,
multitrack or even to duet with himself as he does here on occasion,
the purity of his vision shines through undiminished. CDs 1 through
5 collect many rare and previously unreleased recordings, with a
heavy emphasis on compositions recorded in the early to mid-
1970's. Included also is the controversial "Collection" (recently
reissued by Cadence allegedly without Dixon's permission) in its
entirety and in Dixon's intended sequence, mastered from his
original tapes. Disc 6 is a revealing spoken-word Q&A with Professor
Dixon. Accompanied by two deluxe 8x10 booklets of essays and
reproductions of many of Dixon's wonderful paintings. Highest
recommendation! [JG]
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NEU "Neu 1" (Astralwerks) CD $15.99
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NEU "Neu 2" (Astralwerks) CD $15.99
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NEU "Neu 75" (Astralwerks) CD $15.99
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"After having practiced music for a long time we now make NEU!
music for mind and pants."-Klaus Dinger, NEU!. At long last NEU!
NEU!, the sound of an endless autobahn stretching out enticingly
before us. NEU!, those Teutonic mechanik beats appropriated
wholesale by David Bowie during his mid-70's post-Ziggy mutation.
NEU!, obsessed over by the likes of Sonic Youth and indeed, the
very blueprint for Stereolab's first four or five records. NEU!, the
very essence of what we celebrate as Krautrock! Yeah, those
bootlegs served you well for the last ten years or so, Hipster, but
it's time to bequeath them to your younger siblings and pick up the
real deal, lovingly remastered for optimal sonic performance and
revealing nuances we never guessed existed. "NEU!" (aka "NEU!
1") is utter perfection, my desert island NEU!, a blast of blinding
truth and THE one to have if one can only have one! Unprecedented
energy tapped god-knows-where amongst the lethargy that must
have been 1971, chillouts (!), comedowns (Mon Dieu!), the BEAT to
end it all and quite possibly the kick in the ass that got Kraftwerk on
track as well. "NEU! 2" is about 29 minutes perfection; side one is a
worthy continuation of "1", sounding tougher and even harder
driving. Sadly, the band blew its entire recording budget recording
the first six tracks so, when it came time to deliver the record to
the label, they padded out Side 2 by speeding up and slowing
down five existent tracks, complete with needle dropping sounds
and recorded skips! We can view this in one of three ways: 1) as
an ironic commentary on the album as object d'art (take that,
Christian Marclay!) 2) the very first examples of cutting edge
version/remixing (nice try, Astralwerks marketing dept.!), or 3)
two stoned and broke German guys goofing on their label and
sounding mighty cool doing it in 1973 (my personal preference).
"NEU! '75" sees the properly funded band regaining their
momentum and running with it. You might have read a lot of blather
about this being their "punk" record. Don't believe it. Klaus Dinger
either got his hands on some ripple or had his prescription changed
or something, so he screams loudly on a couple tracks. If that's
"punk", then punk started with Can. This is NEU! and you NEED all
3 of these! [JG]
"Neu 1"
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"Neu 2"
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"Neu 75"
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AIR "10,000 Hz Legend" (Astralwerks) CD $13.99
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Listeners who have been holding their breath for another album
like "Moon Safari" should exhale already -- Air have gone off in an
entirely new direction (as with the "Virgin Suicides" soundtrack),
and it's clear they're not returning to that form again. Which is,
artistically, massively for the better--"10,000 Hz Legend" masters
later ('70s-'80s) pop sounds (a clear yet misty ambience here and
there a la 10cc; Level 42-ish piano; production like ELO, only
shrunken); their lyrics have a particular kind of resignation like
turning up empty-handed after searching one's soul. Vocals sail
over the music or are inserted attached to a filter that makes a
whispered-vocoder sound (a quite unusual effect). Beck sings,
probably produces, and definitely dominates a few tracks; Buffalo
Daughter, Jason Falkner, Brian Rietzell (Redd Kross) show up on
vocals and more. Though there are all kinds of sounds and effects
throughout the record, you never get the sense that they're trying
to crowd you out or confuse you (the everything-but-the-kitchen
sink production style is much easier to do than the inflated
spareness here), instead being true to their name. A masterpiece
of wispy strength, so good and so consistent that every track
could stand as a single and probably will. [RE]
CD //perl-bin/OM/CD_Add_To_Cart.cgi?sku=72438103322&refer_url=email

RZA "Ghost Dog Soundtrack" (Victor, Japan) CD $29.99
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Jim Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog" soundtrack seemed to garner more
praise than the film itself. And if you wandered into Tower and
got that 'soundtrack', as released in the U.S., all you got was a
bunch of songs 'inspired' by the film rather than what was
actually used in it. The Japanese release, for some reason, was
the real deal, yet nearly impossible to track down. Yet, a year
later, we got some! And it's a blessed thing, too -- the RZA
concocted something remarkable for the story of a disillusioned
Samurai in the service of the mafia. RZA's hip-hop beats, Japanese
percussion and scales, and array of sharp little hollow sounds
placed into a framework of loops and the interlocked patterns of
classical music is, I think, unique in the history of cinema. Unlike,
for instance, the Deltron 3030 instrumentals CD, which uses
hip-hop and orchestral music to make sweeping, epic statements,
RZA sifts his sounds as if sweeping piles of dust and bits of debris
in and out of corners, for a tiny, dirty, antique sound, like a rococo
table abandoned in a barn. The Wu-Tang Clan make a few
appearances, but it's mostly instrumentals. Lives up to its great
reputation, period. [RE]
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PLAID "Double Figure" (Warp) CD/LP $14.99/$15.99
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Andy Turner and Ed Handley have been at the cornerstone of
British experimental electronics before they ceased working with
Ken Downie in Black Dog Productions and made some of the most
challenging electronic music of the mid 90s. But Plaid has gone on
to create a heavily-electro influenced sound which has constantly
varied from album to album. The recent, significant "Trainer" album
made clear where their roots lay: in hard rave trax and 80s electro-
funk. "Double Figure" sees Plaid in an unusual pose. They are at
once directing their singular brand of funk towards the dance floor,
particularly on the short, sharp, shocks like "Porn Coconut Co" and
"Assault on Precinct Zero" (the latter paraphrasing the title of an
early John Carpenter film) and keeping their "IDM" fans happy with
meandering, squelchy numbers such as "Ti Born" and "Light Rain."
The opening, acoustic-guitar effects on "Eyen, " which set the
album in motion are pushed aside by a bass line that bubbles to
the surface, only to have the ersatz guitar parts re-emerge with a
synth playing the same chord progression. It can be said safely
that "Double Figure" is the most accomplished and sophisticated
Plaid album to date. Never over-produced but with sometimes
half-a-dozen layers of sound constituting a track. [TH]
CD //perl-bin/OM/CD_Add_To_Cart.cgi?sku=80106100842&refer_url=email
LP //perl-bin/OM/CD_Add_To_Cart.cgi?sku=80106100841&refer_url=email

PLUNDERPHONICS "69 Plunderphonics 96" (Seeland) 2xCD $27.99
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If V/VM actually respected the music they shred through their
sampler, you might have something close to this. John Oswald's
sampling techniques are a bit more texture based and not as
triggered sounding as V/VM. The whole thing almost sounds like
variations on "A Day in the Life." Elvis, Dolly Parton, and The
Platters are sucked into a swirly vortex of crescending collage
and the effects are hallucinatory. Pop culture whores, myself
included, live and breathe to hear stuff like this. Pop culture
terrorism at its finest is what you have here. Get it now if you
want it as this set is certain to disappear soon. Every sample is
completely unauthorized. [DH]
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STORM BUGS "Let's Go Outside And Get It Over" (Snatch Tapes, UK) CD $15.99
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I first became aware of the Storm Bugs due to their inclusion on
the recent (and wonderfully dodgy) "I Hate The Pop Group"
compilation. So I was delighted to receive a full length CD of
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. Me, I thrive on this kind of stuff and
this is like uncovering a lost NWW album; my only complaint would
be that these guys probably have enough material to fill five CDs.
More! More! More! And like last year's reissued gem by kindred
spirits Mixed Band Philanthropist, this one's limited to a very scant
300 copies. [JG]
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TOMAS JIRKU "Immaterial" (Substractif, Canada) CD $13.99
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Tomas Jirku's work only gets better and better, and I dare say
that "Immaterial" puts him on a par with both Thomas Brinkmann
and Vladislav Delay. The Czech-turned-Canadian Jirku, with album
number three, has shown he's mastered a sound made of both
wire- thin skeletal techno and scattered-sand ambience.
"Immaterial" is four 15-minute long pieces, mixed together into one
long track, with echoes of field recordings (the distant reverb that
remains after words are spoken, wind has blown or water spilled),
soft pulses of synth and gongs, watched over by a shimmering
spiderweb of high frequencies. There are traces of Delay's oceanic
bellows, Brinkmann's delicate clicks, and Pole's dub tracery, but
Jirku's work is all his own. Very impressive. [RE]
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TRACY + THE PLASTICS "Muscler's Guide to Videonics" (Chainsaw) CD  $12.99
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It was inevitable that Chicks on Speed's influence would creep
around and land on new ears, this time ones who put CoS' ideas
to even better use. Tracy + the Plastics (not to be confused w/the
Japanese new wave group) call in the bash-n-skitter sing-song
mechanical new wave sound to the Pacific Northwest for an album
stuffed full of pop cultural references altered to become gibberish,
some Sleater-Kinney punk tremolo (Carrie Brownstein on one track
too), and what they (aptly) call an 'anti-fi' aesthetic. Spastic synths,
crashing drums, the vocals like a particularly dangerous game of
hungry hungry hippos -- mouths opening and closing quickly and
unexpectedly, only with really sharp teeth. Tracy, Nikki and Cola
have attitude!, but the best kind because they totally back it up --
it's not surface -- what you see on the outside goes all the way
through when bisected or dissected.
See http://www.olywa.net/tracy/tracy.html, too. Great!! [RE]
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VOTE ROBOT "In Meorm Na" (Scratch) CD $13.99
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In an overcrowded world of glitching electronic music, Vote Robot
set themselves apart from the rest of their clicking and cutting
peers. Creating an atmosphere that could most easily be
compared to Oval circa "Systemisch", Vote Robot's sound combines
rhythmic melodic loops and abstract crackles that rely as much
on cerebral tones as it does on subtle melody. Vote Robot digital
experiments capture an oddly song-like structure, with subtle pop
hooks buried beneath the abstract sound. With a tongue in cheek
artwork aesthetic that seems like an obvious stab at the sameness
of their musical compatriots, Vote Robot's debut CD stands apart
from the glut of nameless, faceless electronic sound producers.
[PW]
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JOHN CALE "Sun Blindness Music" (Table of the Elements) CD $13.99
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The first in what will be a three-volume collection of the pieces
Cale recorded concurrent to his work with the Velvet Underground.
While these pieces are entirely abstract, you can hear how this
work seeped in it's own way into VU's rock in the form of walls of
noise erected over and over. These particular walls of noise are
lengthy and, though similar to, they shudder more thickly than the
work of contemporaries Tony Conrad, LaMonte Young, Charlemagne
Palestine. The first piece on the disc is a 42 minute set of organ
tones, not held as long as Palestine's, but with a smaller overtone
generated, and an up-and-down or on-and-off quality that reminds
me, in a perverse way, of a REALLY SLOW version of two-step
music (grin). (Cale works far more with pattern and rhythm than
Conrad or Palestine ever did, yet his rhythms are curious and have
none of the regularity of minimalists like Riley or Reich.) 'Summer
Heat' chronicles 11 minutes of blinding and blinking feedback,
'The Second Fortress' generates synthetics in a simple "beam of
sound". We're lucky Cale's been sharing his brain for over three
decades. Remarkable, chilling, visceral, even joyful sounds. [RE]
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BIOTA "Invisible Map" (ReR, UK) CD $14.99
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Biota is comprised of American genius oddballs who, unlike say,
The Residents, have never quite gotten their due. And maybe they
prefer it that way. Emerging periodically over the past 22 years out
of a Colorado visual artist's collective known as the Mnemonists,
Biota has quietly released nearly a dozen fantastic albums of what
I can best describe as propulsive organic surrealism. Imagine Steven
Stapleton conducting a small ensemble of live musicians, or Ennio
Morricone looping bits together from his favorite film scores. With an
expansive line-up of up to eleven musicians, Biota favors acoustic
instrumentation (slide guitars, pump organ, hurdy-gurdy, piano,
reeds, etc.), but are not above electronic augmentation or
applying certain concrete methodologies. Not quite tunes, yet
tuneful in some angular fashion and certainly not songs or even
improvisations, the music of Biota works like an ever-spiraling
vortex of fragmented memories, seemingly foreign and yet instantly
familiar. "Invisible Map" blazes through 37 tracks in 77 minutes all
merging seamlessly into one another. [JG]
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[V/A] "Scratch 1" (Rawkus) CD/LP $17.99/$17.99
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The Scratch is a London based hip-hop club that's been around for
about 5 years. The club has always tried to provide a haven for
those interested in celebrating the rich culture of hip-hop's
past, yet still acknowledging and creating a support system for
lesser-known artists of the future. This CD is a compilation of
some of the club favorites, with its mix of classic mid-school
('91-'94) and new school cuts. The records all have that classic
early '90s East Coast, jazz-inflected Native Tongues sound that
the British love so much. Many of these records have been out of
print on CD for years, and the 12's sell for ridiculous amounts of
cash on eBay. So, it's great to have them all on CD like this.
Volume 1 collects some of the best hip-hop ever made but barely
anyone heard. A must for the old-school b-boy in all of us. [DH]
CD //perl-bin/OM/CD_Add_To_Cart.cgi?sku=60161712132&refer_url=email
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CURRENT 93 "Cats Drunk On Copper" (Durtro, UK) CD $12.99
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Halloween 1996 brought Current 93 to these shores for the very
first time. We had sold a hundred or so seemingly overpriced
tickets here at Other Music to some very strange people. On the
day of the first show, even stranger people from all across the
country and indeed all over the world began to filter into town,
having scored their seats over the Web, and dressed rather scarily
-- as if for some kind of Black Mass. The venue itself was a dusty,
abandoned synagogue, only minimally refurbished for human
occupancy, but doubtlessly housing a plethora of otherworldly
inhabitants. My pal Jim and I secured seats in an off-limits balcony,
which, we became convinced, might give way at any moment.
Seated next to us was Boyd Rice, not a good omen. Probably the
nearest feeling I'd get to Europe, 1945. Looking over the darkly-
clad throng of goths below, I began to notice an unexpected wave
of joy, giddiness even, sweeping the crowd, as if it were suddenly
the last day of school. Current 93 played. Pure Magick. An
extraordinary evening, soon documented (along with the following
night's set) on the double CD "All Dolled Up Like Christ". Six months
later, Current 93 played the Union Chapel in London, with a line-up
augmented by Coil's John Balance. "Cats Drunk On Copper"
presents that evening in its 77-minute entirety. Another
tremendous set by the masters of Apocalyptic Folk, but as I
listen now it's forever Halloween. [JG]
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MAINLINER "Imaginative Plain" (P.S.F., Japan) CD $20.99
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Oh my. What can one do when one cannot possibly ROCK harder?
I suspect that the three gentlemen who constitute Mainliner are
destined never to find out the answer to that one, although I
seriously doubt they'd even consider the question. Not since High
Rise's "Durophet" have I found myself launched prostrate with
such gleeful abandon. Quel surprise, since Mainliner is led by
High Rise bassist Asahito Nanjo, ably abetted by guitar icon Makoto
Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple) and drummer Koji Shimura (White
Heaven). Best to stock up on spare fuses (not to mention crank)
before you spin this bad boy! [JG]
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WENDY & BONNIE "Genesis" (Sundazed) CD $14.99
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Sisters Wendy (17) and Bonnie (13) Flower, in 1969 released
"Genesis", a quiet yet passionate album of girlish harmonies,
adolescent longing and flower child head-in-the-clouds & feet-on-
the-ground lyrics. Originally on Skye, the label run by Cal Tjader,
Gabor Szabo, and Gary McFarland, "Genesis" was recorded the
same year as the Third Wave's "Here and Now", and the two
harmonizing sister acts have a lot in common, especially the way
they keep shreds of vocal jazz alive in their pop stylings. With
twinges of psychedelic fuzz guitar and samba rhythms, the music
melts behind Wendy and Bonnie's clear voices. Will appeal to
anyone who likes lite, swingy late '60s vocals or Broadcast, for
that matter. Idealism and optimism as one finds in the very
young and the very old. Package has interviews, photos, five
bonus tracks. [RE]
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BARBARA MANNING "You Should Know By Now" (Innerstate) CD  $13.99
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God knows that Barbara Manning has gone from pillar to post,
from Lake Geneva to the Finland Station. Her stints with the SF
Seals in San Francisco, trips to New Zealand to work with a number
of bands on the Flying Nun imprint, and most recently to Berlin
where she's been working with 21-year old twin brothers, Fabrizio
and Flavio Steinbach. The latter play bass and drums respectively
on this somewhat schizophrenic record. The album is certainly a
departure for Manning, whose bittersweet, melancholic songwriting
and voice have often lent themselves to singer-songwriter
contexts. And though that may be the case here on songs such
as "Never Made Love" and "Rhombus," it most certainly is not on
"Don't Neglect Yourself" and "Insist" which are the punkiest tunes
Manning has recorded to date. Nothing wrong with that of course,
just that a great many of her fans may be quite surprised. The fact
remains that Barbara Manning is still one of the most chronically
neglected singer-songwriters in the U.S. Any recorded material to
which she contributes is always a delight. [TH]
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TOBIAS HAZAN "Vowel Architecture" (Sub Rosa, Belgium) CD $15.99
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Israeli composer Hazan views the world of sound as if through the
multifaceted eyes of a fly -- and disseminates his own work the
same way. "Vowel Architecture" collects his work from 1992-99,
some released before (like 'Oeria', also on the "In Memoriam Gilles
Deleuze" comp.), but most new. The most unusual track here was
recorded in part by strapping a microphone to a neck, recording a
weirdly medical version of Henri Chopin's fragmented syllabic
utterances. Only Hazan goes two steps further: one, with some
coughing, sputtering and dry heaves; two, by altering all of the
sounds electronically in choppy edits, giving the voice not only
the filter of flesh but the filter of circuits as well. A collaboration
with Main yields a dense, dark set of complex hums and sinister
vibrations. His work often escapes cliche by recording not only
electronics but subtly introducing tiny acoustic sounds, whose
inclusion hints at a sound world much larger (as if capturing the
miniscule sounds made during the piece's creation -- tap of a
finger on a button, a breath, a dial being turned). Each track is
completely different, yet all of them are obviously the product of
the same mind. [RE]
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BILL BISSETT & THE MANDAN MASSACRE "Awake In The Red Desert" (Gear Fab) CD $13.99
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Now THIS is how we like our tribal stoner hippie psych! Haphazard,
aspiring to be profound, ultimately delusional, pretentiously
infuriating, deliciously primitive and yet, somehow winningly
genuine! I suspect that Mr. Bissett was one very confident "poet"
who clearly saw no limitations to his talent. He assembled a group
of freaks to bang out percussion, play guitars and toy flutes, run
tape loops and operate a Buchla box (pre-keyboard synthesizer).
Which results in sort of a meeting between Ya Ho Wah 13 and the
Shaggs' aesthetic and demonstrates that the line between a
Captain Beefheart and a Von Lmo is indeed perilously thin. A
Canadian private press issue from 1967 (with a companion book,
no less!), "Awake In The Red Desert" had initially been slated for
release on the seminal Allied label (Nihilist Spasm Band,
Intersystems) but never quite made it past the acetate stage.
Highly recommended. [JG]
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MATCHING MOLE "Smoke Signals" (Cuneiform) CD $12.99
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A beautifully packaged treasure-trove of previously unreleased
recordings from Robert Wyatt's initial post-Soft Machine project.
Recorded in 1972 during Matching Mole's most intensive touring
period, this assemblage draws largely on "Little Red Record"
material, but these live performances are strikingly different in
execution to that heavily overdubbed studio classic. Accompanied
by Bill MacCormick (bass), Dave McRae (electric piano), and the
amazing Phil Miller (guitar), Wyatt (drums, vocals) propels the
Mole through intricate compositions and expansive improvisations.
Top-notch! [JG]
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Just In (no chance to review):

BOREDOMS "Rebore Volume 0: Mix by EYE" (Warner, Japan) CD  $31.99
The Boredoms' "Vision Creation New Sun" album gets the mix
treatment for the fourth time now with EYE himself at the
controls. Wild and intense. Full review next week. Special
oversized packaging while supplies last.
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[VA] "Spinout 2: Non-Stop DJ Mix by Masanori Ikeda" (V2, Japan) CD  $27.99
The second incredible volume of non-stop exotic hits blended
in high-energy style by Masanori Ikeda, aka Mansfield of
Readymade Records fame.
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SUPERSILENT "5" (Rune Grammofon) CD $15.99
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PAIK, NAM JUNE "Works: 1958-1979" (Sub Rosa) CD $14.99
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WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS "Break Through In Grey Room" (Sub Rosa) CD $14.99
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MIKA VAINIO/CARSTEN NICOLAI "Wohltemperiert" (Raster Noton) CD $14.99
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NOTO/OPIATE "Opto Files" (Raster Noton) CD $9.99
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Restocks:

THIRD EYE FOUNDATION "I Poo Poo on Your Juju" (Merge) CD $13.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/3rdeye1.rm
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/3rdeye2.rm
Matt Elliott's newest is a collection of remixes (that haven't
appeared elsewhere) and collaborations (with Chris Morris and
Glanta). He took tracks he liked and often stretched them into
hypnotic, knotted strings of pained melody fractured more and
more as the album progresses with cracked-glass beats. Frenchman
Yann Tiersen's 'La Dispute' is set adrift in a floe of solo piano and
accordion, Faultline's original has the delicacy removed until it's
almost a smoothed-over speed garage track (okay, slower too).
Though on most I don't really know how much he's changed the
originals because I haven't heard the founding tracks from Remote
Viewer, Tarwater, etc., except for the Blonde Redhead one, where
Elliot makes some of the instruments trip over themselves and also
eerily reverses the vocals, making the track sound as if it's
erasing itself. [RE]
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KAMPEC DOLORES "A Bivaly Hatan (Sitting on the Buffalo)" (Bahai/ReR, UK) CD $14.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/kampecD1.rm
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/kampecD2.rm
Kampec Dolores started in 1984 with an odd, new wave/ethnic
Hungarian sound, moving further out and into frenetic rock music
mixed with some improvisation a la the Ex. (In fact, their first few
records sound like the Ex and Liliput combined with Iva Bittova.)
Singer Gabi Kenderesi gives them a mournful, centuries-old sound,
even more on this, their newest and 5th album, which veers away
from the rock blasts and edgier noises to land at the intersection
of Hungarian, Middle-Eastern, and Klezmer-sounding melodies
(which are not that far apart to begin with). Kenderesi's vocals
are a boon for this group. While the group makes improvisatory
motions on folk instruments, Kenderesi springs off of that platform,
going from song to gibberish, summoning vocal techniques I
haven't heard since the throaty Amazonian growls of Godmama
in the Boredoms. Their multi-ethnic approach is mirrored in the
metaphors of their name -- 'Kampec Dolores' is not Hungarian,
it's a combination of Yiddish and Latin that means 'the end of
pains'. For all the angles in their music, there is a soulful core that
trusts in rhythm and warbling. [RE]
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MODRY EFEKT / RADIM HLADIK "s/t" (Supraphon/Bonton, Czech Republic) CD $19.99
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/Efektmo.rm
RealAudio: /ramgen/othermusic/Modryef.rm
This Legendary Czech group's finest hour (well, 48 minutes) was
captured in 1973, and offers a concise history of monster guitar
riffage, in all forms: progressive, jazz-fusion and psychedelic.
Less Velvets/Mothers-esque than their countrymen Plastic People,
Modry Efekt ("Blue Effect") specialized in long instrumental
passages within grandiose tracks, not unlike German contempories
like Grobschnitt, Thirsty Moon, or Guru Guru. What set them apart,
however, was superior musicianship. Radim Hladik, one of the most
versatile guitarists of his era, pulls out all the stops on this one,
driving each selection to ever-dizzying heights. Imagine a player
with the proficiency of Sonny Sharrock fronting a Krautrock outfit
-- plus there's inspired alto sax assistance from improv legend Jiri
Stivin. Kind of ridiculous in its own way and almost too much
musical information to handle in one sitting. Highest
recommendation! [JG]
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This week's update penned by:
Robin Edgerton [RE], Jeff Gibson [JG], Duan Harriott [DH],
Tim Haslett [TH], and Phil Waldorf [PW].


The Big Picture:

To see a complete list of Other Music new releases for the
week ending May 29, 2001, use this link as a shortcut:
//29may2001.html

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//newreleases.html

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

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