FEATURED NEW RELEASES
Georgia Anne Muldrow
Islands
Megan Reilly
Hyldon
Not Alone (5-CD compilation)
DFA Remixes Chapter One
Sun Dial
Kudu
The Flaming Lips
Popi Asteriadi with Lakis Pappas
Mas Rock and Roll (Various)
Eliane Radigue

The Concretes
Black Angels
Friction
Tomorrow's Friend
Virgin Insanity

DOMESTIC PRESSING
Babyshambles


COMPLETE LIST OF THIS WEEK'S NEW ARRIVALS

GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW
Worthnothings
(Stones Throw)

"Nothingness"

"Larva"

Stones Throw finally welcomes a woman to their roster of hip-hop heavyweights. Georgia Anne Muldrow is the lady in question and Worthnothings is the seven-track EP which precedes her upcoming full-length debut. The daughter of two musical parents (her father invented instruments for Eddie Harris and her mother sang for Pharoah Sanders), she's a perfect fit in the ST family. Muldrow's mix of the new soul is an infectious brew of jazz, R&B and, of course, hip-hop; to me it sounds like Chaka Khan being produced by the late J-Dilla. Worthnothings is also one the tightest and most enjoyable things that I've heard in a while; self-produced, her tracks sit up there with the best of today's underground scene (Madlib, 9th Wonder, Nicolay, Sa-Ra). With an overflowing love of vocals, Muldrow doubles, triples and continuously layers her sweet, strong, and natural voice over the snap-and-click of live and programmed drums, lots of wobbling, oozing synth lines and thick, bump 'n' thump bass. Muldrow's unique voice first blessed my ears on three tracks on the Platinum Pied Pipers' album last year and couldn't stop listening. Fans of great contemporary vocalists like Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Alice Smith, Vinja Mojica, Tiombe Lockhart (another PPP vocalist), or classic message driven songs by Roberta Flack, Minnie Riperton and Nina Simone will be pleasantly surprised. Inspired, accomplished, upbeat, and full of life, this is a pure joy to listen to. Just think, she used to just sell CD-Rs of this material at live shows and on the Internet. I can't wait for the full-length, but until then I'll be playing this one again and again. [DG]

"Swans (Life After Death)"

"Jogging Gorgeous Summer"

Nicholas "Neil" Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur of Unicorns fame are back with a new name and a new album, but with a similarly clever-pop approach that made their previous band so much fun to listen to. Thanks to the assortment of musical devices (clavinet, accordion, cello, French horn, charango, organ and flute) and the tactful placement of synthesizers and piano effects, Return to the Sea comes off with a quirky yet dramatic appeal that promises to hold your attention through its entirety--from the sprawling 10-minute album opener "Swans (Life After Death)" to the whimsical, acoustic guitar-driven (and hilariously titled) "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby." Also of note is the unexpected guest vocal appearances by Anticon's Subtitle and Busdriver who turn the plodding "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" into a strangely organic psychedelic/hip-hop freak out, adding yet another unexpected genre into Nick and J'aime's odd concoction of mutant indie rock. [AC]

"Let Your Ghost Go"

"Nighttime"

The second full-length from Memphis-to-Brooklyn singer-songwriter Megan Reilly comes on like a fever-dream, slow, hot and swooning, brimming with love and death and sadness and joy. Reilly has a warm, expressive voice that can be both hazy and powerfully direct, and this new batch of subtle, rootsy songs give her plenty of room to shine. The band and production team features a number of notables, including Tim Foljahn (Cat Power/Two Dollar Guitar) on guitar, Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu) on bass, Steve Goulding (Mekons) on drums, and Eric Morrison (Home) on keys. Sue Garner produced the album (with Tortoise/Sea & Cake's John McEntire on the mix), allowing room for this talented group of players to craft rich yet subtle sounds and always leaving room for Reilly's emotional singing as the centerpiece of the songs. There are elements here of later Mazzy Star, with lovely country-tinged orchestration and sexy, swooning vocals, or Neko Case, but Reilly's voice is all her own. Simply put, Reilly has crafted a wonderful, timeless sophomore record of quiet, haunting country pop. [JM]

"O Balanço do Violão"

"Quando A Noite Vem"

Nothing like some warm Brazilian soul to accompany the unexpected April snow shower outside my window right now…but by the time you read this, I'm sure Mother Nature will have switched back to beautiful spring weather, to which the record at hand is the perfect accompaniment. By the late-'60s/early-'70s, the influence of soul and funk was beginning to infiltrate Brazilian music via DJs (particularly radio DJ Big Boy and Ademir Lemos) who were introducing party goers to American and Northern soul sounds at their popular weekly bailes, and musicians like Tim Maia, who is credited with being Brazilian soul's first superstar. Hyldon may not be as recognizable of a name outside of Rio and Sao Paulo, but his album Na Rua, Na Chuva, Na Fazenda is an essential piece in the history of the genre. He had been a collaborator with Maia as well as a member of Cassiano's band before going out on his own with this debut from 1975.

Mostly a laidback collection, the songs are rich with electric piano, finger-picked guitar and string arrangements by Roberto Bertrami complementing Hyldon's expressive voice, which often brings to mind the yearning croon of Caetano Veloso. Slow-grooved ballads like the title track (which would be his first hit and was also included on the City of God soundtrack) and "Na Sombra de uma Árvore" both feature a lush chorus of backing singers and seem as equally indebted, if not more, to soft rock and soul as much as Brazilian music. You can also detect some light jazz influences in the arrangement of the funky samba "Guitarras, Violinos e Instrumentos de Samba," while the slinky bass and call-and-response melodies of "Meu Patuá" are enveloped in big, surround-sound orchestration. Not too long after this release, Brazilian soul would become an even larger phenomena with Maia, Cassiano and Banda Black Rio all releasing hugely successful records, but that's a whole other story. For a bigger picture of the movement, check out the current issue of Wax Poetics which features a fantastic overview of Black Rio--a necessary read for anyone exploring these exotic, soulful sounds. [GH]

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Not Alone
(Durtro Jnana)

Curated by Mark Logan and David Tibet, the label will be donating all proceeds from this 5-CD set to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in their fight against the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Featuring 75 tracks, most of them unreleased, the impressively varied artist list should speak for itself: irr.app.ext, Damon and Naomi, John Contreras, Mirror, Fursaxa, Baby Dee, Howie B, Tom Recchion Matmos, Blue Eyed Black, Eric Lanzilotta, Little Annie, Colin Potter, Keiji Haino, Allen Ginsberg, Devendra Banhart, David Surkamp, Jarboe, Richard Buckner, Cyclobe, Six Organs of Admittance, Dolly Collins, William Basinski, Edward Ka-Spel, Larsen, Vashti Bunyan, Angels of Light, Thighpaulsandra, Suishou no Fune, Pantaleimon, Aube, Mr Durt, Michael Yonkers, Bevis Frond, Sarah Hallman, Faun Fables, Luke Doucet, Jad Fair, Unveiled, Antony, Charlemagne Palestine, Alex Neilson & Richard Youngs, Anomoanon, James William Hindle, Isobel Campbell, The Bricoleur, Sorrow, Teenage Fanclub, Mary 5E, Sundial, Jeremy Reed, Shannon Lyon, The Hafler Trio, Marissa Nadler, Max Richter, Bill Fay, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Lynn Jackson, Nurse With Wound, Clodagh Simonds, Shirley Collins, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle, John Terrill, Brett Smiley, Linda Perhacs, Current 93, Pearls Before Swine, Thurston Moore, Marc Almond, Simon Finn, Stephanie Volkmar, Small Creatures, Thee Majesty, Jim O'Rourke, Scott Stapleton, John Maslen, Jooel, Ghostigital, Amy Curl, srmeixner, Mount Vernon Arts Lab, Coil, Shock Headed Peters, and Ghost.

VARIOUS ARTISTS
DFA Remixes Chapter One
(DFA/Astralwerks)

"(Just Like We) Breakdown" Hot Chip

"Another Excuse" Soulwax

Those hot pieces of wax featuring remixes by the DFA crew, previously only available on 12" and select CD singles, are now available all together on LP and CD! For those that didn't pick up the now out of print UK-only remixes of Metro Area and Blues Explosion, here they are, along with the Gorillaz "Dare" promo. As usual, James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy and crew make incredible alchemy from hand-picked indie/dance groups--all becoming songs of their own and clocking in at an average of eight minutes each. Dancefloor faves like the remixes of Le Tigre's "Deceptacon" and Radio 4's "Dance to the Underground" still stand out, but the just as infectious Metro Area and disco-funkified Blues Explosion have their hands in the air, feet on the floor, smile on your face moments, too. Also included are Chemical Brothers, Soulwax, Fischerspooner and Hot Chip remixes. Best taken in doses so you don't miss the subtly brilliant twists of knobs and turns of beat. [LG]

Other Way Out
$15.99 CD






Return Journey
$15.99 CD

SUN DIAL
Other Way Out
(Relapse)

"Exploding in Your Mind"

SUN DIAL
Return Journey
(Relapse)

"Magic Potion"

Step inside the mind of psychedelic shaman Gary Ramon. There was probably nothing more unfashionable in late-'80s/early-'90s Britain than Other Way Out, with the Happy Mondays groovin' hard on E and a generation floppy-fringed kids being whipped into a frenzy by the shoegazer militia. (By the way, who wrote the sticker on the cover? For fans of Inspiral Carpets?) So, what does Ramon do? Whips out an album trademarked by hour-long guitar solos, bamboo flutes, Tibetan bells and references to "sepia skies" and "the orange clock that turns backwards." Naturally. In Ramon's world there was only Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, and Rubble compilations, and his intense love for it all translates into a joyous celebration of psychedelia. Other Way Out is excessive and "far out" by choice (I'm guessing) and in this context these adjectives work as compliments, as the more overtly hallucinogenic the songs get, the better they work. In addition to the original six songs on the album, Relapse has tagged on an additional 15 tracks of outtakes and archival material which makes this massive double-CD set all the more indispensable.

Two definitive documents of classic neo-psych. Come on, take the trip. If you're lucky, you'll never return. [AK]

KUDU
Death of the Party
(Nublu)

"Bar Star"

"Hey 50"

Hey kids, THIS is electroclash. Steadily gaining attention throughout the Lower East Side, the duo known as Kudu take their goth-influenced, sexually-charged electronic sound beyond the blocks of Ludlow and Orchard. Mixing influences like ESG, Lisa Lisa, and Siouxsie, they've created a minimal yet heavy soundtrack to the (once) dirty streets of NYC, killing the soul-house-electro-nu wave formula for good. Danceable and catchy, edgy but accessible, song titles like "Bar Star", "Neon Graveyard" and "Hot Lava" give you a glimpse of their tarnished glamour 'n' glitz mindset. When I first saw Kudu perform as the backing band for Beans, the pairing felt effortless, chunky and tight; but here there's no rapper in sight, and instead bassist Sylvia's singing sounds secure and sexy over Dee's rhythms. (Dee also moonlights as a drummer for John Cale?!) Think of a dirtier, streetwise Goldfrapp, a less chaotic Mu, or the sex of Brooks. Fans of any of the electro-influenced bands of the past few years will definitely be gravitating towards the new thing in town. [DG]

THE FLAMING LIPS
At War with the Mystics
(Warner)

"The W.A.N.D."

"The Sound of Failure"

Accidental alt-rock superstars the Flaming Lips always have a lot to live up to with a new record. Although I imagine they would not be completely crushed if they were sent back to Oklahoma to enjoy the spoils of their success, the band continues to push ahead in their quest to meet the expectation that they will defy all expectations on each successive album. They put the acid in punk rock in their early years, became frat-boy darlings with their huge "She Don't Use Jelly" single, and then spearheaded the modern orchestrated pop revolution on their critical smash The Soft Bulletin. 2006 finds the Lips still sitting on top of the world, with a new film, soundtrack, biography and, oh yeah, a new album to boot.

At War with the Mystics takes the Lips' playful pop sound of the last few records, adds some more bubbling electronics, the occasional vocoder, Fridmann's soaring orchestrations, and Wayne Coyne's wobbly soprano and arching falsetto. There is some sort of a concept here, one small man's place in the universe or some such drama, but Coyne delivers the message in comic asides and silly sound bites. The album is full of lovely musical moments, at times strung together with seeming haphazardness, perhaps in deference to the cosmic randomness of the "heavy" concept. The Lips ask many more questions than they answer on this one, life, death, failure, success…why? Because we can? [JM]

POPI ASTERIADI WITH LAKIS PAPPAS
Another Sunday Gone
(World Psychedelia)

"Wild Bird"

"A Celebration"

Charming work from Popi Asteriadi and Lakis Pappas, a Greek performing duo who made a name for themselves at the height of Greece's Neo Kyma (new wave) movement. Neo Kyma took cues from both the hashish smoke-filled dins where one could listen to the sounds of rembettika, as well as the work of continental European ballad singers like Georges Brassens and Françoise Hardy. The music Asteriadi and Pappas made together was incredibly restrained and hushed and if you're as taken with melancholic music as I am, you'll find much to love here; it's a melancholia that comes through even in many of the song titles--"Another Sunday Gone", "My Engraved Eyes", "The Rain, Tears Amongst the Stones", etc. That said, the record isn't necessarily a one note affair; both are possessed of very fine singing voices and each artist is allowed their own star turn which breaks up what could have been austere monotony. Very lovely, and I'd highly recommend it to fans of the Bulent reissue or those into the darker and softer side of Françoise Hardy. [MK]

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Mas Rock and Roll
(Electro Harmonix)

"El Entierro de los Gatos" Los Saicos

"Taurus" Los Comandos

Written across the cover are the words "26 rare '60s teen-punk artyfacts." Don't let the words "punk" and "artyfacts" fool you. Not only are the tracks from 10" LPs and 7" records from South and Latin America, they're all not one genre; some are even from the late-'50s. From garage to psych to surf, cover and original, Electro Harmonix compiles choice slices of bands from Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Columbia, to name a few. If that wasn't enough to pique your interest, inside the cover are thumbnails of the albums from which these songs are taken* and a witty quip about each one. Peppered with words like raw, fuzz, savage and quotes from Russel Quan (from the Mummies) and Lux Interior, it makes it all the more unique when, toward the end, the garage edge softens a bit into psychedelia.

On the garage tip, you'll recognize songs like "Sonambulo" (Sleepwalker) from, well, Los Sonambulos, and "Viaje en le Alfombria Magica" (Magic Carpet Ride) from Los Grimm, as well as my favorite Latin American garage band Los Shains doing a somewhat surfy original, "Shains a-Go-Go." I highly recommend checking more of their stuff out. The reverb and tremolo mellow out a bit for the psych songs, beginning with the perfect bridge of garage and psych--the organ--in a track by Los Monjes. No, not THOSE Monjes (the Monks), although check out the Five Torquays for the real thing, before these five GIs called themselves the Monks!

Heavy beat melts into more organic percussion allowing the psych fuzz guitar and organ in on "Taurus" by Los Comandos, and steps it up with some wah (letting a little surf seep in) on Los Holys' "Campo de Vampiros." Mas Rock and Roll keeps on with Los Electronicos and their organ-led Columbian folk, and the very Jimi Hendrix-like "Glue" from the New Juggler Sound. There's much more not even mentioned here, so if you want your Monks, Trashmen, Link Wray and Beatles sounds with a South American flavor, this comp is a great start. [LG]

Images and quips from more albums not on this comp, but available in their catalogue, are also listed inside the album.

ELIANE RADIGUE
Elemental II
(R.O.S.A.)

"Elemental II"

One of our favorite minimalists returns with a more recent work and despite Radigue's back catalog of transcendent studio electronics, this marks the first piece composed to be played live. In this recording, Kasper T. Toeplitz plays electric bass, but we'll be damned if the thunder stick ever sounded so low and deep. For as much as works like Adnos I-III were heavenly, Elemental II is evocative of plate tectonics and the sounds made deep within the Earth's core. As the piece evolves though, the subtle rumble slowly accrues around it a humming field of electricity, all of it slowly glowing like lava. A real melter that also made The Wire's Top 50 for 2005. [AB]

THE CONCRETES
In Colour
(EMI/Astralwerks)

"Sunbeams"

"Fiction"

The Concretes' third full-length finds the Swedish group back with another round of their lovely melancholic songs. This time out, however, the band pretty much eschews their swirling love of the Velvet Underground and Diana Ross, and instead takes a direct aim at the pop jugular, though it's not always a bulls-eye. Mostly fronted by the uniquely soulful Victoria Bergsman (who rarely sings louder than a whisper), each song reveals a beautifully orchestrated intent via the tinkling keys, strings and even a little glockenspiel; still, the additional instrumentation rarely overpowers the group's subtle melodies. Producer Mike Mogis, (best known for his work with Bright Eyes and the rest of the Saddle Creek gang), seems to have encouraged these usually modest musicians to branch out and embrace a little more stylistic experimentation than before, as heard in the rootsy rocker "Chosen One" and "Your Call," a vocal duet between drummer Lisa Milberg and the Magic Numbers' Romeo Stodart which, for a moment, brings to mind the Velvet's playful "I'm Sticking with You." In Colour doesn't, however, give us the song-for-song consistency of 2004's self-titled record, and while the Concretes haven't forgotten the pop, in this case it seems that they left behind a little bit of the charm. [AC/GH]

BLACK ANGELS
Passover
(Light in the Attic)

"The First Vietnamese War"

"Black Grease"

No point dancing around the fact that Austin's Black Angels wear their influences openly and proudly on their sleeves: Velvet Underground, early Pink Floyd, Roky Erickson and Brian Jonestown Massacre. Passover is all death, destruction, and paranoia lyrically, and a giant fuzz and dronefest. It's a potential recipe for rehash disaster but there's enough hypnotic jamming and passionate intensity here to make for a fine rock 'n roll' record; the towering back-to-back inferno of "Prodigal Sun" and "Black Grease," and the poppier and less dense "Bloodhounds on My Trail" work especially well, showcasing two different sides of finding a groove and sticking with it to trance-inducing effect. Well worth searching out for fans of BJM, Warlocks, Black Mountain/Pink Mountaintops and the like. [AK]

Friction
$23.99 CD






'79 Live
$31.99 CD w/DVD

FRICTION
Friction
(Blues Interactions)

FRICTION
'79 Live
(Blues Interactions)

"Pistol"

Friction is a late-'70s/early-'80s Japanese punk band formed by their bassist/singer/frontman ("Reck") who spent the better part of a year in NYC during the No Wave heyday. Like a lot of the better Japanese rock bands past and present, they took something great and tweaked it in another direction that still displays their love of the initial inspiration. There is a stripped down Contortions element to Friction (Sure enough, Reck played with Contortions and Teenage Jesus) but they are better described as a noir-ish, No Wave version of Crime. As recognizable as their influences may be, they are inarguably primal, energetic and seminal sounding, and the No Wave influence only informs their jaggedness and angular edge. In the end, these recordings capture the snarly-cool punk rock attitude as vividly as any reissue I've heard. It rocks. The studio CD has 10 tracks and the '79 Live set contains a CD plus a DVD featuring two medium-length 8 mm films. One is a live set in a foil-lined, Factory-esque raw space. The action is cut up and repeated throughout in vintage color film stock and is misaligned with the sound in a really cool way. (Like the homemade Jesus and Mary Chain videos but more energetic and arty). The second part of the DVD is a silent film made up of abstract nighttime city scenes and footage showing the band flailing live and working out their punk moves. Pretty cool. [SM]

TOMORROW'S FRIEND
"Always You Can" / "Hole in the Head"
(Say Hey)

Formed in 2003, psych-rockers Tomorrow's Friend have quickly become a staple act in the NYC/Brooklyn scene, a status cemented when they were chosen to warm up for one of Slint's reunion show at Irving Plaza. Fronted by Alassandra Maria, the group's revolving-door membership has swollen to include 10 people, while at other times it's more or less her own solo endeavor. This 12" single was recorded in the Walkmen's studio around the same time as the Slint show, when the group consisted of about seven players, including drummer Hamish Kilgour from the Clean. Over the course of these two tracks, melodic psychedelia is the order of the day, with layers of sparkling guitars and swells of delay and backwards riffs encircling Maria's vocals, which are actually more direct than one might expect for this sort of music. During "Always You Can, she plays the mystic instructing us to "gather around to hear about a day in your future" over the drones of what sounds to be the Velvet Underground suddenly embracing their inner-hippie. "Hole in the Head" isn't as far out, and actually makes me think of the Breeders on some sort of magic mushroom trip (and I mean that in a good way). [GH]

VIRGIN INSANITY
Illusions of Maintenance Man
(P-Vine)

"For a While"

"Charity"

If you've had a chance to peep the recent Daniel Johnston documentary showing at Sunshine as of late, you've come to understand that Texas has a tendency to bring out devoutly Christian weirdos by the score. Need we mention David Koresh? And for some reason we can't quite fathom, they all make some odd endearing music, too. Case in point is Virgin Insanity, a group of teens in Richardson, Texas who cut a most stoned folk record in 1971; maybe when they were skipping out of Sunday School to smoke doobs. Grail-like surely, rescued from collector-curio obscurity by DeStijl in a limited run last year (who deemed its true origins as "from the loin of god"), P-Vine digitizes it for us this go-around while adding on seven more head-scratching tracks. As they are wont to do, the packaging is sturdy mini-LP sleeve with Japanese and English translations of the lyrics. (Note: P-Vine also unearthed two other never-released albums from Virgin Insanity.) [AB]

"F**k Forever"

"Pipe Down"

It has been a long time since the NME hype-machine has actually found credibility in my eyes. Libertines…nah didn't want any of that. Their only redeeming factors were their true love of rock 'n' roll and co-frontman Pete Doherty, a man who has been featured more times in the Sun than he has in the NME--a feat for any budding rock star. Yes, the stories of his drug habits, robberies, and supermodel girlfriends are true; but Doherty is one rare talent and you don't need to hear it from Sir Paul McCartney or Sir Elton John, just listen. At face value, his debut album Down in Albion is a shambolic mess, but behind it all is amazing songwriting. Yes, Pete has given us 16 gems produced by the one and only Mick Jones. These tracks, at times, recall the Clash, the Smiths and just about every great British band since the dawn of time. "Pipe Down" could as well be an outtake from London Calling. "F**k Forever" is every kid's middle finger to the world of disbelievers. "Sticks and Stones" is a Clash and Police-influenced monster of a song. Forget the gossip and just listen to the music; maybe we will all learn something from Mr. Doherty. [JS]

THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS

[AB] Adrian Burkholder
[AC] Amanda Colbenson
[LG] Lisa Garrett
[DG] Daniel Givens
[GH] Gerald Hammill
[MK] Michael Klausman
[AK] Andreas Knutsen
[JM] Josh Madell
[SM] Scott Mou
[JS] Jeremy Sponder


THANKS FOR READING
- all of us at Other Music