NEW RELEASES
Stones Throw 101
Shugo Tokumaru
MF Doom
Dominik Eulberg
Stronen/Storlokken
X-Wife
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Jimmy Edgar EP
How to Kill the DJ Pt. 2

The Prefects (reissue)
Revl9n (CD single)
Grizzly Bear
R.A. the Rugged Man
Tussle
Autistic Daughters
Bellflur
Sam Rivers (reissue)
Dears EP

"Figaro/Beat #222" Madvillain/Madlib

"Kiana/I Can't Help Myself" Wildchild/Oh No

A favorite label of both OM staff and customer, Stones Throw celebrate their 100th release with this best-of bonanza. This release would be worthy just for the exquisite 70-minute mix CD by Stones Throw svengali Peanut Butter Wolf who deftly mixes "the hits, misses and previously unreleased" musical highlights of the label. But wait there's more! You'll also get a DVD of rarely seen Stones Throw videos ranging from the brilliant (MF Doom, Quasimoto), bizarre (Gary Wilson), and breathtaking (live 1968 TV performance of Stark Reality). And look at that price! It's practically nothin'. Both a great deal and a great release from a label that seems to have cornered the market on quality control. If they could sell and bottle that, they'd be billionaires, and we'd have a new president...but I digress! [DH]

"Light Chair"

"Funfair"

Twenty-three year old Shugo Tokumara gives us a completely refreshing take on pop music with his debut, Night Piece. Mostly created from acoustic instruments with some light electronic accents, this Tokyo bedroom producer's record could quite possibly be some of the sweetest 25-minutes of music you'll hear this year. Tokumara's unconventional style of arrangement takes each song into an otherworldly place that somehow remains very accessible and sincere. There's nothing excessive with each melody, rhythm and sound being used in an exact, almost angular fashion, but the end result sounds completely full and all at once dreamy, organic and very much his own.

The opening track, "Such a Color" begins with an awkwardly plucked mandolin that is soon joined by a few more layers of steel stringed instruments. Meanwhile, Tokumaru's gentle, bittersweet melody gives way into a Beach Boy inspired harmony that, amidst hazy swells of slide guitar and accordion, seems to fade into the sunset.

Night Piece is filled with a variety of moods and imaginative interpretations of music styles. The lilting chorus of "Light Chair" could be Cornelius, sans the sampler, experimenting with psych-folk-pop, while "The Mop" is a happy, Western inspired instrumental richly layered with bright acoustic guitars. "Lantern on the Water" features a percussive cello pulsing atop thumb piano accents and a metronomic drum loop, and takes an exotic psychedelic turn once the spaced-out vocals fade to the fore of the mix. In contrast, "Funfair" is very cartoonish, filled with the drone of crickets and recorder-played melodies. Tokumara even gives a playful wink to Les Paul by way of a kooky altered-tape-speed guitar lead during "Paparazzi."

Night Piece is really indescribable. The nearest relative I can think of would be the Books Lemon of Pink, and that's not even that close. This is one of the best album debuts that I've heard in a long, long time, don't miss out. [GH]

MF DOOM
MM...Food
(Rhymesayers)

"One Beer"

"Kon Queso"

Along with being one of the most imaginative wordsmiths in the rap game, MF Doom's biggest talents are his skills as a crate digger and producer; both are always original and mostly unmatched (except for his only equal, Mablib). Those that have been charting his path throughout 2004, from King Geedorah and Viktor Vaughn to the masterpiece Madvillian, already recognize the technique and ingredients. He has a certain charm when sculpting the sonics and prose that make up his various aliases and projects. MM...Food finds him with an apron on, remote in hand and the record button flashing, ready to serve his audience food for thought.

The beats are mainly cooked by Doom with one track from guest chef Madlib and another from Chicago underdog PNS of the Molemen crew. Loopy and chopped soul, R&B and jazz samples lay the foundation while Doom drinks the last beer and gets loose on the mic. Doom dresses his stance towards world and local affairs with a heaping topping of sci-fi and television dialogue. Always mixing his obsession with a theme -- this time all things edible, drinkable and smokeable -- this one has a sly political undertone (e.g. "Everybody wants to rule the world like Tears for Fears" and "A lot of things happen that the news don't tell you.") Don't fear, he hasn't gone Chuck D on us, it's just an added ingredient thrown into his overflowing kettle of home brewed cut-n-paste hip-hop. Maybe he's been watching a lot of the cooking channel as well as CNN.

With titles like "Fillet-o-Rapper," "Potholderz" and "Rapp Snitch Knishes," this dish is best served baked. For those with the munchies hungry for their next plate of Doom delights, he ya go. He even reconfigures the great Madvillian track, "All Caps" as "Kon Queso", mmm...tasty. As always recommended. [DG]

$18.99 CD



$16.99 LP

DOMINIK EULBERG
Flora & Fauna
(Traum)

"'Brenzlich, Brenzlich' dachte der Feuersalamander"

"Das Roehren der Rotwildbrunft"

Flora and Fauna, Dominik Eulberg's new album on Traum, is full of deep throbbing tracks peppered with all kinds of familiar sampled sounds (a shutter clicking, water drop, etc.), but the samples are not in the Matmos/Herbert, found-sound style. Some are found sounds digitized with effects, and some are digital versions of familiar sounds (a door closing, an echoing snare crack). Though the sampled bits and subtle deepness of the tracks set it apart immediately, it's the unique tweaking and placement of each sound that push the album into the "special" category. Finally, another new techno artist has emerged with a signature style.

Though the album is deep, there is a subtle hint of hardness (i.e. propulsion). Speed and softness combine with a feeling of depth that sounds as though all the sounds were encased in a glass container, or more likely, as if they were recorded outdoors amongst the Flora and Fauna.

Do you remember Marcus Guentner's last album? The general depth of the tracks is similar to that but a little less "minimal" and altogether more complex. On top of that, add a bit of genuine German acid funk with new, not retro, sounds ("Das Rohren..." sounds like Reinhard Voigt on the Sender label) and you have a refreshingly good and unique techno album. Thumbs up for every track. The German invasion has officially restarted. Recommended. [SM]

"Sport'n Spice"

"Spectral Rock"'

On his first solo outing, Supersilent keyboardist Stale Storlokken has teamed up with drummer and fellow Helge Sten collaborator Thomas Stronen of Food for an album that veers pretty far away from Deathprod's penchant for dark ambient soundscapes. While it does have an awful lot of electronic elements, Humcrush falls more in line with the jazz-based recordings in the Rune Grammofon catalog than with releases by artists like Skyphone, Maja Ratkje and Phonophani. The duo seems as influenced by the jazz-fusion of Weather Report as it does by the abstract electronica of Autechre. Their improvisations are at their best when the percussion and electronics interact almost in unison, as on the echoey call-and-response of "Sport'n Spice." In Supersilent, Stale Storlokken's contributions are frequently overshadowed by Helge Sten's deep and massive drones. On Humcrush, he finally gets a chance to step out front and show us what he can do. [RH]

"Clinic"

"The Sound of You"

This is one of those straight-outta nowhere albums that falls into our laps and dares us not to recommend it to everyone. With the never-ending line of "sounds like the last big thing, but with a little bit more of (blank)," it's nice to hear a decent rock album with songs on it instead just a few trendy ideas. Apparently, X-Wife hails from Portugal and apart from some airplay on WFMU and some upcoming shows in NYC, they've had no other exposure here in the States.

Without coming across as a Clinic soundalike, X-Wife shares that similar quality of having multiple rock influences, well-digested and mixed together to form a full-grown song. Drum machine that's played like a real drummer, vintage keyboard blasts and melodies (with simultaneous nods to Stereolab and the Cars), not-sure-what-he's-saying-in-the-chorus-but-I'll-sing-along-anyway catchiness, and a singer that sounds like some cross between Jim Reid and Johnny Lydon (via Luke Jenner?) with a drop of androgyny for good measure. On top of it all, this album keeps you listening and enjoying the songs, not wondering how much some talent scout was paid to groom their sound. A record you can play at the party, but won't mind on the road trip too! Recommended. [SM]

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective
(Tee Pee Records)

"Anenome"

BJM have been getting a fair amount of newfound attention lately due to the intriguing art house rockumentary Dig! which chronicles an ongoing love/hate feud between the band's leader, Anton Newcombe, and rivals/muses/far more commercially successful mates the Dandy Warhols. The movie seems to have one overriding theme: Anton Newcombe is brilliant, the classic self-destructive genius, who would be a megastar if not for his own self-sabotage. The most fascinating aspect of the film is that regardless of how bitterly Newcombe trashes his friends, bandmates, label reps and other bands, anyone even remotely associated with the group still maintains that he is bloody brilliant, if an intolerable ass. Released just in time to ride the wave of publicity that is following the film, this career retrospective is a great introduction to the band, and the perfect opportunity to examine the man, the myth, the rock and roll band…ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

First of all, let me say that it does not take genius to drunkenly destroy a stage. The Who, Nirvana, GG Allin…all talented artists, but that wrecking the stage thing is a gimmick, sometimes a tired one, and I'm sure with a bit of thought we could work up a few moves to rival our natural charisma, and let's leave the drums all setup as they were. Is it still unpredictable if we all know what you're gonna do? OK, that's out of the way, and anyway, this is a record review, not a live review. This CD compiles the best of the band's 10-year career, primarily the early Bomp! Records years, notoriously skipping the TVT release from a few years back. But 10 years is just a grain in the hourglass of time if you're the BJM…their sound, now and forever, is a stoned, hazy, lazy blues wail, with layers of strummed guitars, organ drone and circular percussion grooves. A mellower Stones without their incredible pop prowess, and a healthy dose of the Spacemen 3. And although I must say that these songs do tend to blend together a bit, there is a fair dose of magic in the grooves. Warm, fuzzy pop, with the thick buzz of vintage amps, the shake of a tambourine, and a melancholy wail from a stoned singer faking a Brit accent…but with love and passion for sure.

Again, I must say that it's hard for me to buy into the hype; collaborators and label reps are oft-quoted as to Newcombe's unconventional studio antics, as he throws all presets to the wind and is known to grab the nearest instrument, whatever it be, and add it to the mix. This sort of praise might be a bit more thrilling if the final product didn't have a remarkably consistent three-chord vintage guitar and organ hum throughout. But, even if self-generated by the artist, it really doesn't do anyone a real service to judge art in relation to the hype surrounding it. And judged on its own, this double CD retrospective is a great introduction to a great band, and should provide quite a few hours of hazy listening pleasure. And hell, if it doesn't, just smash the CD, and perhaps use the shards to strum your own guitar! [JM]

JIMMY EDGAR
Bounce, Make, Model
(Warp)

"LBLB Detroit"

The new EP from Jimmy Edgar further establishes him as Warp's new beat boy wonder. Bounce, Make, Model is in the Luke Vibert and Prefuse 73 school of hip-hop flavoring and IDM styling. The lead track, "I Wanna Be Your STD" marries pitch-shifted vocoder rap with stuttering, clicky rhythms, while "LBLB Detroit" imagines Jay Dee downtempo bounce through laptop beats and smeared synth textures. Six-tracks in all, 30-minutes of mechanic, metallic snares, sharp cymbals and digital scratches, with a stop-start, spin-back, then release type of process. It's a twisted head-trip of cut-up beats and sliced vocals. No surprises really, but a nice addition to the roster of digital beat heads. Perfect for your next visit to your favorite virtual strip club. [DG]

$18.99 CDx2

"The End (Disco Version Pt. 1)" John Carpenter

"I Walk (Super Pitcher Remix)" Quarks

Disc-one is a crazy mix that goes all over the map -- from classic underground disco cuts, to newer techno and house, old post-punk, funk, soul and psych-pop. It's super tight, at times tracks are almost mash-ups, and will keep you on your toes. Forty-two cuts, I won't mention all the artists but here's a sampling: Hashim, CLS, Liaisons Dangereuses, Gang of Four, Langley Schools Music Project, Os Mutantes, Akufen, Nurse With Wound, Blondie, Loose Joints, Ricardo Villalobos, Art of Noise, The Junkyard Band, Banbarra…you get the picture, right?

Disc-two is un-mixed and features full versions of some of the music that the DJs play at the start of their night as well as many of Optimo's staple songs. Standouts include Arthur Russell's "Another Thought," Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's timeless duet "Some Velvet Morning," and a beautiful version of Kraftwerk's "The Model." (Played by the Balanescu Quartet, the cover is brilliantly arranged for strings.) The disc then picks up the pace with a very diverse range of artists and tracks like Andre' Williams' "Bacon Fat", Nouvelle Vague's stripped down cover of "Guns of Brixton," "Opium Den" from the Sun City Girls, Hasil Adkins' "Chicken Walk," the Meters' "Clap Your Hands," and everyone's favorite "A Minha Menina" by Os Mutantes. Eighteen-songs in all, other artists include the Only Ones, Medium Medium, the Bush Tetras, and the Creepers, and more. [GH]

"Going Through the Motions"

"Things in General"

Their story is almost too perfect. Turned on to punk rock after seeing the Sex Pistols, Alan and Paul Apperly put out an ad in the local paper to look for a singer and bass player. School chums PJ Royster and Robert Lloyd are picked to join the band over the likes of Nikki Sudden. By their fifth gig, the Prefects are on a bill with the Clash, the Jam, the Buzzcocks, and Subway Sect. Then John Peel invites them to play two sessions for his BCC radio show. In spite of all this, the band never scores a proper recording contract and doesn't release its first and only Rough Trade single ("Going Through The Motions" b/w "Things In General") until it has disbanded. Later, the line-up regroups as the Nightingales and earns considerably more attention. The Prefects wrote great, catchy, aggressive, and unusual punk songs occasionally made from out-of-the-ordinary instrumentation including saxophone, clarinet, and harmonica. The song "Going Through The Motions," based around a Velvet Underground-esque one-chord piano dirge, is particularly inspired. This collection of their material includes both sides of their single as well as six other previously unissued studio recordings, a live track from a gig at Manchester's Electric Circus in 1977, and another live track recorded during a 2001 reunion show. Simply put, The Prefects Are Amateur Wankers is an absolutely essential punk reissue. Don't miss it. [RH]

$3.99 CD-single



$4.99 45

"United (Engine One remix)"

Revl9n are never ones to keep still, and their brand new single shows the Swedish trio putting yet another new twist on their sexed-up robo-pop sound. "United" pulses along an agro-industrial beat complete with crunchy guitar stabs, Maria Eilersen and Åsa Cederqvist's militaristic chants broken up by sexy gulps of breath, a sort of electro-punk call to arms. The Engine One remix is stripped down and bounces over an old-school electro beat, expect to hear this version played out at a lot of dance parties this winter. The CD also includes a sleek Herb Ritts inspired music video for their last single "Walking Machine." [GH]

$16.99 CD

"Disappearing Act"

"A Good Place"

Grizzly Bear's debut album Horn Of Plenty is essentially a bedroom 4-track project by Brooklyn's Edward Rosie with overdubs and production help from Christopher Bear. It's a mellow and dreamy lo-fi record primarily built around Rosie's voice and acoustic guitar and augmented by simple but effective embellishments: bells, whistling, keyboards, bare-bone string arrangements, percussion, and some nice vocal harmonies. If I had to guess what artists they were listening to while putting this album together, I'd wager that Iron And Wine, Galaxie 500, Elliott Smith, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, the Microphones, and Syd Barrett were among them. Now a trio, the live incarnation of the band apparently sounds a bit closer to Animal Collective, which should make for an interesting change of direction on their sophomore release. All in all, Horn Of Plenty is a solid and interesting indie singer-songwriter album and one of the better local releases in recent memory. [RH]

"Lessons"

"Chains"

After years and years of failed label deals, R.A. the Rugged Man finally drops his debut album and Die, Rugged Man, Die turns out to be well worth the wait. Destined to be the next big thing, the rapper was courted by many major labels and finally signed to Jive records. During this time he was recording under the name Crustified Dibbs and released a few 12-inches with '90s hip hop stars like Havoc (of Mobb Deep), Notorious BIG, and Akinyele. R.A. was on top of the world until one day his label began focusing on acts like Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. Jive dropped Crustified Dibbs on the eve of his debut album's release and the rest is history. R.A. would go back to Eastern Long Island and put out underground rap hits for labels like Rawkus, Eastern Conference and D&D.

Well, R.A. is back and he finally releases his first full-length and it is everything that you would expect from him. This album is RAW, politically incorrect and sexist, just how he likes it. These tracks will never be played on the radio, and that is a good thing. He was one of the first white MCs…yes, he was doing it before Eminem, who is like a commercialized version of R.A. He rhymes about it all: old school hip hop, white trash culture, being broke, major label troubles, and more. R.A. is hip hop...period! He has lived it way longer than 90 percent of those artists on the Billboard chart and he does it his way. Thank you Nature Sounds for believing in him because Die Rugged Man, Die shows you the other side of hip hop without all of the Bentleys, platinum records and bling. R.A., your friend Biggie would be proud. One of the finest hip hop albums this year. [JS]

"Here It Comes"

"Ghost Barber"

I've been waiting for this one. Formed in 2001, Tussle finally drop their debut full-length after teasing us with couple of ass-shaking EPs and 12-inches, and touring with the likes of Erase Errata and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I know it's 2004 and many think post-punk has taken its last dance at the death disco, but this San Francisco quartet stands out amongst most of today's other bands who utilize that magic rhythm combo of a dense melodic bass and heavy-handed hi-hat.

Made up of two drummers, a bassist and a keyboard player, the members of Tussle are the newest alumni from the same school as ESG and Liquid Liquid. Their grooves are deep and minimal -- the only actual melodies come rumbling from the bass player's low E string. Unlike the Rapture, !!! and Moving Units who all build on top of these skeletal post-punk rhythms by adding vocals, guitars and bigger production, Tussle keep it bare-boned all the way through. But like their early-'80s forefathers and foremothers, their stripped-down songs are inventive and catchy allowing dubbed out effects to be liberally applied to the clanks of found percussion, bells and synthesizer; their Neu! inspired repetitions are trance-inducing.

If you're looking for some spaced out funk or slept on Grand Royal's now out-of-print Liquid Liquid compilation and can't afford the original 99 Records pressings, or if you love the scraping noises and raw dub rhythm in "Bela Lugosi's Dead" but could do without the vampire doom and gloom, you need this. [GH]

$13.99 CD

"Rainy Day in June"

"Spend It on the Enemy (While It Was Raining)"

Keeping up with New Zealand ex-pat guitarist Dean Roberts hasn't been easy. After his group Thela disbanded, he took up the moniker of White-Winged Moth before exploring clicks'n cuts and digitized minimalism under his own name, not to mention his tenure working with Tower Recordings. Following on the song-based amplified textures of last year's Be Mine Tonight, Roberts mans a new power trio, Autistic Daughters. On closer inspection, it reveals European players like Werner Dafeldecker (Polwechsel), and drummer Martin Brandlmayr (Trapist and Radian), exploring intricate sounds that arise alongside the song structures. This is rock for people who like their rock to sound like Slint, late Talk Talk, or This Heat, letting the music evolve in organic ways, gradually building or ebbing away, the experimental sounds never erasing the songs completely. Another side of Roberts' talent gets elucidated. [RB]

"New Song"

"Pretty Piece/Disappear"

Newcomers to an already crowded post-rock scene, Bellflur shouldn't have a problem making their mark with this eponymous debut. Led by brothers Carlos and Pedro Gonzalez who are joined by a half-dozen or so other musicians, the group delivers a heaping dose of melancholic space rock. The production is lush yet very spacious allowing the multiple layers of sparkling keyboards and guitars to literally float about your speakers. The vocals never get louder than a breathy hush -- the music's only anchor to mother terra being the deep, circular basslines and restrained, open drumming. Some songs bring to mind the haunting sentiment of Yo La Tengo's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, only the arrangements seem to be more influenced by OK Computer and ghosts of early-'70s Pink Floyd. The prominence of the electric piano and all the alien transmission static makes me want to pull out my old Seely records, but this is much darker and cinematic. What really allows Bellflur to stand out is their strong sense of melody as well as rich vocal harmonies that cut through the heavy atmosphere and ultimately keeps this album engaging from start to finish. Definitely an impressive debut and recommended to fans of the aforementioned bands and of course lovers of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Sigur Ros. [GH]

"Point of Many Returns"

"Dance of the Tripedal"

Blue Note's contribution to the early jazz avant-garde includes a number of no-brainer classics. Ornette Coleman's Live at the Golden Circle, Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, Jackie McLean's One Step Beyond, and Larry Young's Unity probably get mentioned the most but others such as Grachan Moncur's two brilliant leader dates and this one by Boston tenor saxophonist, Sam Rivers, deserve equal billing. When I called dibs on Contours a couple of months ago, I was fully expecting to write a review of a searing avant-garde slasher. Making this all the more puzzling is the fact that I used to play this LP with some regularity at home. When I listened to it again last week I was surprised to (re)discover a much more grounded date than the one I remembered. Where I was expecting fractured, stutter-step themes and Rivers' corrosive tone to dominate the proceedings, the real Contours sounds quite a bit closer to some of Wayne Shorter's more adventurous material for the label. Rivers' rusty tone is still in effect, of course, but the tunes themselves are far more grounded in early-to mid-'60s post-bop than one might expect, especially given his later output both on Impulse! and the Wildflowers loft series.

Most impressive, to me anyways, is Freddie Hubbard's unexpectedly sympathetic voice. Hubbard, of course, had already appeared on the aforementioned Out to Lunch and showed signs here and there of an avant bent -- he did, after all, model his rapid fire style after Coltrane. But where most folks think of his out material as being nothing more than excitable bursts in the upper register, here we're exposed to something closer to Lester Bowie…only a good couple of years before Lester Bowie really hit the scene. This is especially evident on the mellow numbers where Hubbard solos so quietly and with so much restrain that he eventually eschews standard bop style altogether in favor of breathy meanderings in a register above that which the instrument was actually meant to accommodate. And it's really damned cool. Especially for 1965 and especially coming from a guy that wasn't necessarily known for going there.

It's also worth mentioning, to those familiar with Herbie Hancock's stellar performance on Grachan Moncur's Some Other Stuff, that his style here is similarly mathematical, percussive, and choppy. Recommended for those who don't mind a little old school in their freedom. [BB]

"No Hope Before Destruction"

The first domestic release for this Canadian EP, which came out up north in 2002. Tracks 1-3 play as a dreamy and slowly unfolding suite…I'm not sure what exactly Mr. Lightburn is protesting here, but I will fully support him in his cause simply out of respect to his unnerving vocal performance which finally appears in track 3, all the more haunting due to the seemingly destroyed mic he is crooning into. Track 4 is a lazily funky remix by somebody named Chaunaut. [JM]