Other Music New Release Update
October 3, 2001

In This Week's Update:
Mum remixes (2)
"Japanese Independent Music" book/CD
Troubleman "mix tape" comp.
Brotherhood of Breath Live
Stilluppsteypa
Team Doyobi
Fluxion
"Resurrection" (funky '60s Christian music) comp.
Ouba reissue
Vincent Gallo
Jay Farrar
Half-Hearted Cloud
Terre Thaemlitz does Devo on solo piano
"Nude Dimensions" vol. 3 comp.

Just In:
Tindersticks soundtrack
Daft Punk live 1997
Armand Van Helden
Chickfactor magazine
X reissues

Restocks:
Four Tet domestic
Call and Response (debut, remastered and now w/bonus trax)

This week:

MUM "Please Smile My Noise Bleed" (Morr Music, Germany) CD/LP  $13.99/$12.99
MUM "Remixed" (Thule, Iceland) CD $16.99
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Iceland's fabulous Mum return with two new CDs this month. Neither
of these are the follow-up to the critically acclaimed (and Other
Music fave) "Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today is OK", but both are
essential in their own right. On "Please Smile My Noise Bleed",
Mum hand over three brilliant new tracks of warm electronics,
crisp beats, strings and guitars, and their trademark
distorted/whispered vocals. This CD does not stop there, for these
tracks were then sent out to the Morr Music family of artists for
remixing, a veritable who's who of bedroom electronics with mixes
by Isan, B. Fleischmann, Arovane, Styrofoam, Phonem, Christian
Kleine. A magnificent release and another notchin Morr Music's
belt. Essential!
The next release is Mum "Remixed": their label Thule sent out
tracks from their album to various Icelandic artists (and Mu-ziq)
to remix. Excellent newcomers Ruxpin, Ilo, Traktor, Bix and more
take Mum's original ideas and expand them, adding elements of
techno and house, making them more dancefloor-friendly (as if the
Kompakt or Ware labels had a go at Mum tracks). Pumped-up beats
thump and collide with one another, as Mum's trademark melodies
float in and out of the mix, snippets of vocals appear for a short
time then fade. Another amazing release to add to your Mum
catalog and two releases total to tide you over 'till their Fat Cat
records debut. All hail Iceland! [JS]
"Please Smile My Noise Bleed" CD
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"Please Smile My Noise Bleed" LP
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"Remixed" CD
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[V/A] "Japanese Independent Music" (Sonore, France) Book & CD  $31.99
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Book contains 64 pages of essays on the dawn of Japanese
Independent Music, Japanese Psychedelia, Noise, the effect of the
Web, the FBI festival, etc. AND a 270+ page alphabetical
encyclopedia/overview/discography of bands and artists of Japanese
origin. A CD included w/the book has music from Haino Keiji, KK
Null, Hoppy Kamiyama, Jyoji Sawada, Haco, Ruins, and twelve more
artists (most unreleased, none older than 1996, three of the 18
just happen to be from Sonore releases). Independent pop,
experimental music, psychedelia, extreme noise, and lots of those
unclassifiable sounds that the country is especially good at. It's
incredible that such a resource has not existed (esp. in English)
on this subject until now -- even though fragments of it exist on
the Web, none so comprehensive as this or cover a such a multitude
of genres (and musics that fall between genres). [RE]
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[V/A] "Troubleman Mix Tape" (Troubleman Unlimited) 2xCD $13.99
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The best punk Various Artists album to come around in a LONG time.
Taking as his cues classic compilation albums -- "Flex Your
Head", "Kill Rock Stars", "No New York", "Let Them Eat
Jellybeans", etc. -- Mike Simonetti of Troubleman records was
inspired to put together his dream compilation of bands. Four
years later, his overview of the current state of U.S. (and a
little int'l) punk hits shelves. The "Troubleman Mix Tape" is one
man's labor of love in conception, in execution the product of
hundreds of women and men. 52 bands, over 100 hours of music
-- all kickass quality. Obviously, not all bands are Troubleman
bands -- he borrows from the stables of Kill Rock Stars, time stereo,
Load, GSL, K, etc. I'd say the major difference between punk
compilations of 10 or 20 years ago and this is: there are more
women involved, and obvious leaps of creativity that integrate the
25-year history of punk into newly-evolving styles are apparent.
You need this! [RE]
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CHRIS MACGREGOR'S BROTHERHOOD OF BREATH "Travelling Somewhere" (Cuneiform) CD $13.99
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The best recording I've heard yet of this fantastic, oft-
overlooked jazz ensemble. South African expats Chris MacGregor,
Mongezi Feza, Harry Miller, Louis Moholo and Dudu Pukwana were
joined by British free-jazz talents including Evan Parker, Gary
Windo, others (12 players total on this date). January 1973 saw
them hit their peak, captured here for radio broadcast. The
players go from hyper to heartbreaking in one step, from tightly
interlaced melodies to cascading rhythmic chaos. African motifs
swing, chattering beats dissolve, horns stretch and embrace all. A
gleeful warming fire contained in but one small, German club.
Amazing. [RE]
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STILLUPPSTEYPA "Stories Part Five" (Ritornell, Germany) CD $15.99
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Let me start by mentioning that the band has dedicated this
release to A.M. McKenzie (Hafler Trio) and, sure enough, "Stories
Part Five" takes a similar course of deconstruction.
Stilluppsteypa have focused their collective ear on the task of
dismantling contemporary electronica. Whether the metronome of
Kompakt, the noise of Mego, the isolationist tones of Touch, or
big pounding house beats, all become blended (in varying degrees)
into something unique. By narrowing or expanding frequencies they
melt together the cold plastic sounds into something truly
organic. This is not that same old simple sample game; these guys
are generating the sounds that are then systematically subjected
to certain methods of destruction. A track does not start in the
same way it ends; each is a multi-faceted transcription of
uncertainty. It is debatable whether Stilluppsteypa have found the
philosopher's stone to sound alchemy or not, but they have most
certainly taken to a path that places them in the company of
Hafler Trio, Christoph Heemann, and Nurse With Wound. Easily their
most accomplished work to date, and definitely recommended to both
fans of electronic and experimental music. [AG]
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TEAM DOYOBI "Cryptoburners" (Skam, UK) CD $16.99
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This group's debut full-length release. The most playful group on
Skam! Electronic music is often so goddamn serious, and Team
Doyobi break that pattern (okay, there are a few other exceptions)
with "Cryptoburners". It's lighthearted without descending to
smarmy, goofy but still subtle. With bouncy, boundy noises,
jerking rhythms, they're like a funky, sweet Daft Punk for kids
that haven't yet learned to read. Some tracks take off on hip-hop
like they're Oval doing Timbaland, others use Spike Jones noises
in an abstract framework. Surprising! [RE]
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FLUXION "Spaces" (Vibrant, Germany) CD $15.99
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Fluxion is a name well-known by followers of the Chain Reaction
label, for whom K. Soublis has recorded two full-length albums and
four vinyl EPs, each of which took the sheet metal dub aesthetic
developed by Mark Ernestus and Moritz von Oswald and pushed it
further into dark, choppy waters. Fluxion's music inhabits a vast,
cold, world in which each movement brings the listener closer to
the ocean floor. The aquatic imagery is hardly accidental, with
tracks like 'Coast', 'Emergence', and 'Surface'. But is tracks
such as 'Plain' that shun all melody, held together sonically by
the fragments of a distant explosion, which seem to come closer
only to recede. On 'Cylindral', one senses Fluxion going through a
Sisyphean effort, trying to push a bassline to the surface but
finding metal walls all around. The latter is certainly the most
claustrophobic track in the constellation of Chain Reaction-
related artists and labels. The final irony is that "Spaces" is so
thick, so dark and dense, that there is not a glimpse of daylight.
But this is meant as praise, not condemnation. [TH]
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[V/A] "Resurrection: The Amplified Bible of Heavenly Grooves" (Trunk, UK) CD/LP $15.99/$12.99
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In the late '60s, one of the more peculiar phenomena in the music
industry was the practice of Christian musicians making a 'hippie'
album in order to 'speak to the youth in their own language'.
Basically, if teenagers were off joining all kinds of cults
and 'dropping out' of society, why couldn't a few of them be
shepherded their way? Folk, beat-rock, and psychedelia were
usually antagonistic to Christian culture at worst, critical at
best (gospel was usually spared). So the fact that these genres
were used as message-bearers for God was quite disjunctive, and
the results always had an undercurrent of humor from such a gap
breached with the flimsiest of bridges. Martin Green (who curated
the "Sound Gallery" comps) and Jonny Trunk have put together their
favorites of this ilk. All represent Him, from suavely swingin'
hipster John Ylvisaker to garage rockers the Torchbearers, from
the Axelrod-esque Ted Taylor Organization (breakbeats aplenty!) to
funk of the Crusaders. Anyone fond of any MSR Singers disc or the
recent "Yee Haw" (psychedelic country) compilation will be quite
taken with this as well. Crazy and excellent. [RE]
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OUBA "A1 Freak Out Total" (Gear Fab) CD $13.99
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1968. Canada. Draft-dodgers? No, two side-long jams of primo
lysergic improvisation. No edits or studio wizardry, just roll
tape and let's go! Some sort of connection to that brilliant
Maledictus Sound project. Eerily convergent with early Can, who
they couldn't possibly have heard. Only 28 minutes total, but not
a second is wasted. This is what we like! [JG]
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VINCENT GALLO "When" (Warp, UK) Ltd. CD/ Reg. CD/LP $19.99/$15.99/$21.99
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Vincent Gallo's always sad when he's lonely. This soul-baring
revelation is the emotive core of the actor/director's debut as
singer/songwriter. Gallo's legendary tantrums are nowhere to
be seen on this quiet, ruminative suite of half-songs and
multitracked guitar pluckings, occasionally supplemented by
Portishead-y beatlets. The mood's not far from his contributions to
the soundtrack of his own "Buffalo '66" (he'd previously been in the
Goods, Bohack, and even Gray, with Jean-Michel Basquiat.) Recorded
at The University for the Development And Theory Of Magnetic Tape
(presumably Gallo's living room), every tenderly amateurish note
is sung or played by the man himself, in a sonic atmosphere which
makes 4 P.M. feel like 4 A.M. A yearning, under-rehearsed Joao
Gilberto without the Brazilian stuff, a better-medicated Daniel
Johnston with a movie deal, Gallo's unafraid of your laughter, and
might even earn your tears. And the CD cover helpfully prepares
you for either response; instead of a booklet, it's a coaster. [AL]
Special Limited Edition CD
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Regular Edition CD
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JAY FARRAR "Sebastopol" (Artemis) CD $14.99
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Elaborate but not baroque, Jay Farrar's solo debut glistens with
strings, organ, even sitar, with a heavy, steady drum that leads
one through the record. Farrar's voice seems to have lost a bit of
the country twang in favor of a stingy, dry-ice smokiness, verging
toward a bit of  Michael Stipe's plaintive qualities. His lyrics,
often cryptically telling stories, has a country and western
absurdity when the metaphors gel in different ways. He's really
going for a '60s C&W sound, and the raw number of folks
participating on each track (usually just 3 or 4 total) seems at
odds with the gloriously-produced hugeness that results. [RE]
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HALF-HANDED CLOUD "Learning About Your Scale" (Sounds Familyre/Asthmatic Kitty) CD $12.99
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25 tracks in 23 minutes?This group, made up of 20 participants but
all songs written by John Ringhofer, have a patchwork of a debut,
the obvious legacy of the Danielson Famile (whose own label co-
released this) but with their own tricks up their sleeves. Their
short-attention-span musical quilt is made from swatches of
early '70s Paul Simon's pop, Olivia Tremor Control's rambling
psychedelia, and Daniel Johnston's halting instrumentation, with
an erratic rhythmic sense that is quite their own. Very fun and
very naif, sent from heaven in the form of tiny pop melodies.
Creative and understated, it's truly a work from 'outside the
box', and I look forward to hearing more from them. [RE]
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TERRE THAEMLITZ "Oh No! It's Rubato!" (Mille Plateaux, Germany) CD  $15.99
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The third in Thaemlitz' 'Rubato' series (the word 'Rubato'--
Italian for 'robbed', also means 'a fluctuation of tempo within a
musical phrase often against a rhythmically steady accompaniment'
--well, I thought it was interesting?), in which Thaemlitz sets new
wave/electro pioneers' music into solo piano arrangements -- this
time, Devo. His first was Kraftwerk, and that one worked quite
differently -- that group's repetitions are hard to disguise, so
their stamp was more forcefully upon "Die Roboter Rubato". Here,
Devo's influence is in but a faint, headscratching memory trigger,
only glimmers of recognition form in the deepest recesses of your
brain. This is because Thaemlitz doesn't alter the work, but he
sets it all in different phrasing -- as if saying a sentence with
the usual syllabic emphasis shifted entirely. The result is very
quiet, drawn out, performed delicately a la some of Satie's
gentler material, and a classical beauty is revealed in Devo's
structures you didn't know was there. He's already done Gary
Numan ("Replicas Rubato") -- what's next? Sigue Sigue Sputnik?
Yellow Magic Orchestra? [RE]
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[V/A] "Nude Dimensions Vol. 3" (Astralwerks) CD $15.99
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Mixed by Bruno Ybarra (who also did Volume 1) of Naked Music. Deep
house DJ mix with a few '80s beats (some Michael Jackson-ish
production sounds, notably), even raw minimal soul (Morgan Geist)
Fun for lounge, dancefloor, etc. Quality, interesting productions. [RE]
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Just In:

TINDERSTICKS "Trouble Every Day Soundtrack" (Beggars Banquet, UK) CD  $21.99
Soundtrack to Claire Denis' controversial film starring Vincent
Gallo, import CD. This is their second soundtrack for Denis and
supposedly affected the shape of the film as well.
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DAFT PUNK "Alive 1997" (Virgin, UK) CD $18.99
A 45-minute live concert recorded in 1997 during the "Homework"
tour in Birmingham, England. Some parts have already been made
available on the band's Web site.
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ARMAND VAN HELDEN "Gandhi Khan" (Armed) CD $14.99
New one from legendary NY producer. LP version out soon.
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CHICKFACTOR "Issue 14" (Chickfactor) Magazine $7.00
Features: Broadcast, Goldfrapp, Delgados, Future Pilot AKA, Laura
Cantrell, Archer Prewitt, more.
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X "Los Angeles" (Rhino) CD $11.99
X "Wild Gift" (Rhino) CD $11.99
X "Under the Big Black Sun" (Rhino) CD $11.99
L.A.'s most innovative punk band ever. Re-reissues (remastered,
w/bonus tracks) of their first three albums.
"Los Angeles"
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"Wild Gift"
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"Under the Big Black Sun"
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Restock:

FOUR TET "Pause" (Domino, UK) CD $13.99
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Four Tet take a slightly different route on their long-awaited
second album. Jazzy warmth heats up the cool electronic
sequencing, but instead of juggling multi-instrumental
compositions, only a few instruments sound in the foreground,
carrying less electronically-driven melodies. A dulcimer sample
pushes through the skittering beats on the first song, floating
above softened hip-hop beats. While 'Give of the World' uses
acoustic guitar and hammered dulcimer, '23' uses horns. 'Harmony
One' take the road paved by Boards of Canada and B. Fleischmann
with its children-at-play samples/undertones, nailed down by an
annoyingly familiar dulcimer melody and backwards tape
loops. 'Untangle' plucks the harp amid techno-ish beats, proving
there's more than one speed to Four Tet: this is the less serious,
looser side of Kieran Hebden and friends. Taken by itself, "Pause"
is a pleasing, exotically-mixed album of acoustics and electronics.
[LG]
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CALL AND RESPONSE "s/t" (Emperor Norton) CD $13.99
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The debut of Call and Response, a Georgian group who evoke
comparisons to the Free Design. They have a mannered,
conspicously 'lite' quality, twinkling electric piano, ethereally
swinging backdrops, and 'aaahhh aaahhh' choruses. If they add
any actual funk, it's softly spun (no bricks or houses here), or
included via thin lines only (like the borrowing of the bassline
from Jean Knight's hit 'Mr Big Stuff'). A gender-balanced quintet
(two men, three women), they also owe a small debt to Joe Raposo
in their melodies. I'm not sure why, but they've switched labels --
once the Kindercore one went OOP, we didn't have it for awhile;
the new Emperor Norton version has two bonus tracks. [RE]
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This week's contributors: Robin Edgerton [RE], Lisa Garrett [LG],
Jeff Gibson [JG], Andy Giles [AG], Tim Haslett [TH], Andrew Leigh [AL],
Jeremy Sponder [JS].


The Big Picture:

To see a complete list of Other Music new releases for the
week ending October 2, 2001, use this link as a shortcut:
//02october2001.html

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

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

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