December 6, 2007

		We hope we can make your holiday shopping just a little bit easier this year. Other Music gift certificates are perfect for that music lover in your life and can be redeemed for purchases made both in the store and off our CD/LP website. You can buy a gift certificate in the shop, or purchase one on-line by going to: www.othermusic.com/giftcertificates.html Coming Soon: Gift Certificates for Download Purchases on Other Music Digital. Stay tuned for details.

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Daft Punk Discovered (Various) Julianna Barwick Enrico Simonetti w/Goblin Daisies Soundtrack Bim Sherman David Watson Dale Hawkins Jonathan Kane The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (Soundtrack) Ghostface Killah Arp Moondog (Book & CD) Eccentric Soul: Outskirts of Deep City Life Is a Problem (Various) Christina Kubisch Nino Rota Bearded Ladies (Various) Jane Weaver   Paul Metzger The Libertines A Glass Menagerie (Various) Changing of the Guard (Various) Welsh Rare Beat 2 (Various) Galwad Y Mynydd ALSO AVAILABLE Untold Story of Father Yod (Book+CD) Nick Drake (Box Set) Taj Mahal Travellers Marcus Schmickler VINYL PRESSING Magik Markers (Limited Hand-screened) COMPLETE LIST OF THIS WEEK'S NEW ARRIVALS

		DEC Sun 02 Mon 03 Tues 04 Wed 05 Thurs 06 Fri 07 Sat 08   WHITE WILLIAMS IN-STORE PERFORMANCE TONIGHT Thursday, December 6 @ 8:00 p.m. OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street NYC Free admission / Limited Capacity Other Music closes for shopping an hour before all in-stores Go to digital.othermusic.com/wp/?p=406 to watch our premiere episode of Live at Other Music, featuring St. Vincent. Look for more videos in the coming weeks from No Age, Tinariwen, the Clean, Vampire Weekend, and more.

		DEC Sun 02 Mon 03 Tues 04 Wed 05 Thurs 06 Fri 07 Sat 08 Peter Stampfel & Steve Weber     WIN TICKETS TO THE NYC PREMIERE RUN OF THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS...BOUND TO LOSE Anthology Film Archives is thrilled to present The Holy Modal Rounders...Bound to Lose, a new documentary on the legendary bad boys of folk, the Holy Modal Rounders, who are currently in their fifth decade of creating surreal American music. Directed by Sam Wainwright Douglas & Paul Lovelace, starring the Holy Modal Rounders, Sam Shepard and Dennis Hopper. Also showing will be a screening of Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (the screenplay is co-written by one time Holy Modal Rounders drummer Sam Shepard). Guests for the opening evening will include Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters, plus a screening of The Godz, directed by Jud Yalkut, with a special intro by Paul Thornton of the Godz! Other Music has two pairs of tickets to give away to the opening on Friday, December 7. To enter, send an email to contest@othermusic.com, and please leave a daytime phone number where you can be reached. The two winners will be notified by 2PM, this Friday, December 7th. For a full schedule of events and more details, please visit www.anthologyfilmarchives.org ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES: 32 Second Avenue NYC We also have one pair of tickets to see the Velocity Ramblers (featuring Peter Stampfel, John Cohen, Sam Shepard, Walker Shepard, Pat Conte and Betty Berkin) at Pianos on Sunday, December 9 at 10 PM. To enter, send an email to enter@othermusic.com

		DEC Sun 02 Mon 03 Tues 04 Wed 05 Thurs 06 Fri 07 Sat 08   WIN TICKETS TO JOHN ZORN'S CELEBRATION OF LIGHT The Abrons Arts Center kicks off the holiday season with two special celebrations featuring the music of John Zorn. Marking the first two nights of Hanukkah, John Zorn's Celebration of Light is comprised of two unique concerts of classic and new work, both featuring Bar Kokhba, the most popular band in Zorn's ever-widening Masada Family. A fabulous sextet for strings and percussion, Bar Kokhba takes the Jewish musical tradition into the twenty first century with beautiful, flamboyant melodies touching on exotica, surf, jazz, klezmer and more. Friday's performance will include classic compositions from Zorn's The Circle Maker (Masada Book One). Saturday will feature the world premiere of new compositions from his Book of Angels (Masada Book Two). Both evenings will also feature the virtuosic Masada String Trio of Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander and Greg Cohen, the guitar wizard Marc Ribot, the gifted Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, and jazz great Joey Baron on drums. Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets to each night! To enter, email tickets@othermusic.com, and please specify which evening you'd like to register for. The four winners will be notified on 2PM Friday, December 7th. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7 & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 ABRONS ARTS CENTER: 466 Grand (at Pitt) NYC $20 Tix available through www.henrystreet.org/arts and www.theatermania.com

		DEC Sun 09 Mon 10 Tues 11 Wed 12 Thurs 13 Fri 14 Sat 15 Tim Berne Dan Weiss   WIN TICKETS TO SEARCH & RESTORE: JAZZ AT THE KNIT The good folks at Search and Restore: Jazz at the Knit are trying to take back downtown NYC for the downtown sound, and this premier edition of their new monthly jazz event in the tap room of the Knitting Factory (otherwise known as the best space in the sprawling Tribeca club) is a pretty strong coming out party. We have two pairs of tickets to what we hope becomes a legendary first night in a long-running new series, and if you can't make the show (or if you can, and it blows your mind), Other Music Digital will be featuring live recordings from each performance within a few days of the gig. To enter, send an email to giveaway@othermusic.com. Two winners will be notified on Friday, December 7th. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11 @ 8PM Featuring Dan Weiss/Miles Okazaki Duo & Shank (Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Shane Endsley) KNITTING FACTORY: 74 Leonard Street NYC $10/students, $13 otherwise

		$17.99 CD   DAFT PUNK Alive 2007 (Virgin) "Touch It" "Prime Time of Your Life" 2007's going to be remembered for a lot of things in the history of music, and a lot of it has to do with the technology by which we consume it -- independent digital music retail, Radiohead breaking the boundaries of how an album can be successfully distributed, and the abandonment of DRM ideology in the sale of digital media. But for those who were able to attend, Daft Punk's Alive 2007 tour will probably be remembered as the touchstone, one of the defining moments for live music, technology, and performance art for the decade. They answered lost sci-fi missives, appropriating the "Wyld Stalyns" ideology of ultimate media spectacle, made one of the most satisfying and momentous mixes of our times, and rolled up about 35 years worth of dance music into 80 minutes of mind-fracturing, computer-aided bliss, even going so far as to reinvent material from their lackluster studio effort Human After All into something not only listenable but life-shaking. You'll have to wait for the eventual DVD release to experience the video pyramid and all of the retina-blazing sights that shot forth from it, but until then, this is the surviving document, and it's impeccable. No promises that the top of your head will pop off and lasers will shoot out of it (again) but the sensations you'll get from checking this out one more time will definitely snap you out of da funk of winter, trigger a flashback or two, and leave you rollin' and scratchin' around the world. [DM]

		$14.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Discovered: As Sampled by Daft Punk (Rapster) "Cola Bottle Baby" Edwin Birdsong "I Put a Spell on You" Eddie Johns They say great artists steal...or something like that. In any case, the artists who have the most universal impact do generally borrow good ideas and re-contextualize them to make those ideas great. This is especially true in music, everyone from Bo Diddley to Led Zeppelin and yes, Daft Punk. This compilation is a killer collection of great disco and jazz-funk riffs that have served as the basis for many a Daft Punk hit. But not only that, it gives insight into how a DP hit is crafted. One Listen to Chaka Khan's "Fate" or "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong and you'll have no problem figuring out exactly what they took; while on other tunes, you'll barely be able to tell just what was borrowed. In any case, this would stand up as one of the better disco-funk comps that we've gotten here in a while just on the strength of the tunes. The fact that Daft Punk sampled them proves what great taste they have. [DH]

		$11.99 CD $9.99 mp3   JULIANNA BARWICK Sanguine (Self-Released) "Unit 2" "Unit 8" I hate to pigeonhole an artist like this, especially one that I actually LIKE, but Julianna Barwick's haunting self-released debut is tailor-made for fans of Animal Collective and Panda Bear's solo stuff. Hey, it might be a cheap shot but there is definitely some truth to it, as Barwick's loopy, layered suite of songs owes much to the AC family. The Brooklyn artist's sound is built on hazy vocal refrains, largely wordless sighs and coos that drift in and out of the picture backed by abstract keyboard washes and clattering rhythms, much like a deep dub album without the defining bass lines. It may not be a wholly original concept, but it is so well executed and lovingly constructed that despite the lack of many actual "songs", the hypnotic sounds and moods make this hard to pass up. [JM]

		$17.99 CD   ENRICO SIMONETTI WITH GOBLIN Gamma OST (Cherry Red) "Gamma" "Amore Mio Non Farmi" Definitely not the evil, haunting prog-rock that one normally associates with Goblin, it's pretty unbelievable that this soundtrack to an Italian sci-fi television series was created by the same players who scored so many of horror movie master Dario Argento's flicks. Nonetheless, it's become one of my favorites in their catalog and having been unavailable for 30 some years, is one of those Holy Grail records for collectors. The story behind the Gamma score is pretty cool too. Enrico Simonetti was a popular TV entertainer, pianist, composer and bandleader in Italy, and also the father of Goblin founder Claudio. While the musical backgrounds of the two were certainly that of different eras, it is fair to assume that both family members influenced each other's craft. So much so, that when asked to score this four-part television series, the elder Simonetti enlisted his son's band for backing. The results of these sessions are more whimsical than you'd ever imagine, with Enrico introducing a traditional sense of melody and a swing that hadn't been heard in Goblin's music, and the group returning the favor with a (then) contemporary jazz-rock accompaniment. Surprisingly, many of the songs have much in common with easy listening composers like Enoch Light and Martin Denny. All in all, it's a mind-blowingly diverse score, from the sweeping, sax-driven title track (which enjoyed an 11-week run at the top of the Italian charts, coincidentally knocking Goblin's theme from Profondo Rosso from the one spot) to the bouncy, Perrey-Kingsley-esque space age exotica of "Paoletta" and "Mascia," not to mention elements of Morricone, Bacharach and bossa nova throughout. This is seriously one of my favorite soundtracks, and though it's completely different, it's right up there with Alain Goraguer's score to Fantastic Planet and yes, Suspiria. [GH]

		$21.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Daisies OST (Finders Keepers) "Bath of Milk" "Strip-teas" From the same wacky denizens that brought us Valerie and Her Week of Wonders comes this soundtrack to seminal Czech underground film, Daisies. The opening title track "Sedmikrasky" (Daisies in Czech) begins modestly -- a tentative tapping on a tom, subtly heralded by a muted trumpet, the song's rhythm hesitating for a moment, then beginning again. Consider it the wink and batting of eyelashes from the two lead characters, up to no good. From baroque French themes to the Charleston to an ode to musique concrete, Daisies' cut and paste soundtrack fits perfectly with the vivid colors, bedlam plot, and vanguard cinematography that earned this film both its banned status in Eastern Europe and international acclaim. Even the variations of Mozart and Bach, glued together with a choral arrangement and a waltz played with music boxes ("Cuckoos") take the familiar to create something new and delightfully twisted. And just when classical and jazz become the paste in these montages, the album ends with "Strip-teas," an original organ-led '60s beat composition. Like the fanfare that surrounded the recent screening of Valerie, this soundtrack is sure to set fire to the imaginations and inspire even more love for Czech New Wave cinema. [LG]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 mp3   BIM SHERMAN Tribulation: Down In Jamdown 1974-1979 (Pressure Sounds) "Ital West aka Dispensation" "Natty Cale" Like the great singers Horace Andy and Burning Spear, Bim Sherman's powerful words and golden voice were keystones in the musical bridge spanning from Jamaica to England, connecting reggae with punk. This excellent collection from Pressure Sounds celebrates the roots of Sherman's melodic legacy, showcasing the singer's releases between 1974 and 1979, the years before he left Kingston for the UK, without looking back. Having grown frustrated with the producers in Jamaica, Sherman began to produce, arrange and release his own records, often creating new songs by recycling his rhythm tracks and adding new lyrics and melodies. There's a stellar line-up of players on these tunes, this collection including the original versions of songs that he would later redevelop with Adrian Sherwood and ON-U Sound collective -- classics like "Lover's Leap," "My Woman," "Just Can't Stand It" and "Golden Locks" are all here without the industrial dub stylings of the '80s. Twenty tracks in all, including vocal and dub mixes, Tribulation is one of the best reggae collections of the year. [DG]

		$13.99 CDx2 $9.99 mp3   DAVID WATSON Fingering an Idea (XI) "Dexter, Music for Highland Bagpipe" "Sinister, Music for Acoustic and Electric Guitars" Despite the obvious differences between the two discs of David Watson's Fingering an Idea -- the first is devoted entirely to Watson's ensemble music for Highland bagpipes, while the second is all overdubbed guitar music performed by the composer himself -- what both sets share is an eccentric and highly developed approach to tuning. Though one could certainly call it "microtonal", it isn't just intonation or anything quite so theoretical. It seems to have more to do with a sheer interest in hearing sounds rub up against each other in unusual ways, whether it's the long sustained tones of the bagpipes or the complex pulsating chords of Watson's guitars. In the former case, the resulting music often belies the means of its facture. That is, the bagpipes often do not sound like bagpipes -- there are moments of rapid, unmistakable highland flourish to be sure, but for much of the first disc's 70 minutes, Watson's bagpipe ensembles sound more akin to the dense clustered drones of fellow downtown composer (and XI label head) Phil Niblock. The effect of these long form tonal explorations can be so otherworldly and engrossing that the slight wheeze of the windbag that comes at the end of each piece can be a startling and oddly necessary reminder that these sounds were created by human breath. In contrast, the human hand is always prevalent in the guitar pieces, and Watson's idiosyncratic approach to the instrument is truly original -- electric and acoustic guitars are oddly tuned and layered to great effect, sounding at times like mistuned bells, gongs or strummed fields of beating chords. A rich record with a rewarding, two-pronged vision. [CC]

		$15.99 CD   DALE HAWKINS L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas (Rev-Ola) "Joe" "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" You may know Dale as the man who wrote and performed "Suzie Q" but that knowledge will in no way prepare you for L.A., Memphis & Tyler, Texas. Recorded on his travels in 1969, in three different studios, this is essentially, and move over Elvis and Dusty, his own In Memphis. With help from Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, Mouse and the Traps, horn man Wayne Jackson, and legendary Elvis session wiz Joe Osborne, Dale Hawkins rips through ten swamp rock/country-got-soul classics, including the ridiculously funky title track, a suitably seedy version of "Candy Man," and the one-note Hound Dog Taylor-informed blues stomp of "Little Rain Cloud." One of my favorite discoveries of the year, this is a must for anyone who've been digging the recent Jim Ford, Terry Manning, and Link Wray reissues. [AK]

		$10.99 CD-EP $6.99 mp3   JONATHAN KANE The Little Drummer Boy (Radium) "The Little Drummer Boy" My neighbors two houses down have a thing for decorating the front of their place for the holidays, mainly Halloween, with skulls and coffins and screaming ghouls, and Christmas, which as we all know starts before Thanksgiving these days. The whole block is treated to more than a month of these trees and lights and presents and in addition, they have some sort of all-weather stereo set up with an endless loop of synthesizer versions of all your Yuletide favorites, and as I drift off to sleep with that infernal racket blaring it's not sugar-plums I see but visions of a crowded mall, and all the worst parts of what ought to be a lovely season. Anyway, Christmas music. I have mixed feelings about the season as well as the soundtrack, but I do actually love a nice holiday song done right. And Jonathan Kane...he does it right! A fifteen-minute version of the holiday classic "Little Drummer Boy" might sound daunting, but when it's done you just want to start it all over again. It's a typical Kane production, blending minimalism and melody, repetition and movement, and with a sweet simple riff like this, what you get is a truly great performance. The track starts with tight military snare drumming, and adds layers of guitar and "snow-drift deep" bass, warm and inviting but I promise it is anything but cloying... do you know what I mean unnamed owners of 475 Waverly Avenue? DO YOU! I digress... this record is as good as Kane's wonderful I Looked at the Sun, and I think even your mom might like it. It provides the aural equivalent of staring into a blizzard from the warmth of your front window, cup of hot buttered rum in hand -- hazy, hallucinogenic, disorienting, but embracing and warm. [JM]

		$15.99 CD   THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T Soundtrack (El / Cherry Red) "Dungeon Ballet" "Oh! We Are the Guards" I'm sure you've noticed that we're reviewing more than our usual share of soundtracks this week, but all of this diverse bunch is pretty great. The music here is the score to 1953's The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, a movie based on the story by Theodor Seuss Geisel (yes, THE Dr. Seuss), who also had a hand in writing the screenplay. It's definitely his spookiest work, and way stranger than, say, Cat in the Hat, but still unmistakably Seuss. If you haven't seen the film yet, you'll want to add it to your Netflix queue. The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T is a surreal musical (and certainly not your formulaic, McCarthy-era Hollywood production) based upon a young boy's extravagant dream of an oppressive music institute where he and 500 other young lads are forced to follow the tyrannical Dr. Terwilliker's 24-hour-a-day practice techniques, all seated around a giant piano. Between the colorful set, bizarrely costumed characters and strange props, had it come out a decade and a half later, the visuals probably would have been branded as psychedelic. In spite of being a box office flop, the score -- by German composer Frederick Hollander (who also wrote songs for Marlene Dietrich) -- was nominated for an Oscar. Beautifully orchestrated and almost cartoonish at times (a Carl Stalling comparison wouldn't be too off base), Hollander's arrangements perfectly complement Seuss' head-scratching prose during the vocal numbers like "Dressing Song Do-Me-Do Duds" (I want my undulating undies with the maribou frills! / I want my beautiful bolero with the porcupine quills! / I want my purple nylon girdle with the orange blossom buds / 'Cause I'm going do-me-do-ing in my do-me-do duds!"). The CD also includes 11 additional recordings not used in the movie. [GH]

		$14.99 CD   GHOSTFACE KILLAH Big Doe Rehab (Def Jam) "Yolanda's House" "Paisely Darts" The sharp humor and quick wit continues to flow from one of the hardest working members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah brings us another slice of Staten Island life with his eighth solo album, Big Doe Rehab. Though it seems like it could be hard to keep up with his excellent debut, Ironman, or 2006's acclaimed Fishscale, GFK is still holding things down, with Wu members like Raekwon, Method Man, Sun God, Masta Killa, and Cappadonna (alas, no RZA) along for the ride. With most of the production handled by LV and Sean C. (the team behind Jay Z's latest), Ghostface's trademark mixture of drug talk, street life, and soul samples still sounds as fresh as before. He's also absorbed elements of Rare Earth, Al Wilson, El Michels Affair, Johnny Guitar Watson, and Soul Generation, and enlisted the help of some live musicians to take him further back to the old school. Though it doesn't quite achieve the masterpiece status of his aforementioned efforts, Big Doe Rehab is still a rich, dense and soulful outing. [DG]

		$16.99 CD   ARP In Light (Smalltown Supersound) "St. Tropez" "Potentialities" Arp's new album sports nice Kraut-inspired synth workouts that have that sweet indie inflection to keep it charming. Imagine early B. Fleischmann jamming with Schlammpeitziger in a Cluster tribute competition versus Delia & Gavin. Arp gets the formula dead on and then some by tempering the psychedelic loops with a melancholic atmosphere and melody. Droning, phasing, climbing, and pulsating analog keys are layered and then grow at their own pace. It's a really nice mix of the old earthy Krautrock vibe and a new, more song-oriented quality, with a few starker, slightly more experimental tracks thrown in at the end for good measure. This album will appeal to fans ranging from slow-mo analog disco heads and bearded Kraut fiends, to the discerning IDM fan and the curious indie bloke. A nice surprise and a perfect record to bring some warmth into the apartment this winter. [SM]

		$24.95 Book w/CD   MOONDOG The Viking of Sixth Avenue (Process) Moondog: The Viking of Sixth Avenue is Robert Scotto's biography of the iconoclastic, blind American composer. A curious and fiercely independent figure in modern American music, Moondog could be found on the streets of 1950s and '60s New York, playing his spellbinding rhythmic compositions on instruments of his own design, espousing poetry, talking to passersby, and yes, dressed in full Viking regalia. While this persona may strike some -- as it indeed has in the past -- as an affectation, Moondog's vision belongs to that great American tradition of outsider composers that includes the likes of Harry Partch (a fellow "Hobo" composer) and Sun Ra (who dressed funnier than Sun Ra?), two other mavericks uncompromisingly devoted to their unique musical worlds. Moondog's percussive, contrapuntal music was an inspiration to many younger composers who found what would eventually be called "minimalism", Steve Reich, Jon Gibson, and Philip Glass (with whom Moondog lived with for more than a year) among them. Scotto's text is well-written, meticulously researched but not tedious as some bios can be, tracing Moondog's development from Midwest preacher's son to internationally renowned (at least in some circles) composer, recounting the accident that resulted in his blindness at 16, his various marriages and children, his musical development and the gradual formation of his Viking persona along the way. A good read about a truly mystifying figure. Comes with a 28-track CD. [CC]

		$17.99 CD $9.99 mp3   VARIOUS ARTISTS Eccentric Soul: Outskirts of Deep City (Numero) "Mr. Lucky" Betty Wright "One Night Affair" The Rising Sun Slide the jewel case out of Numero Group's telltale cardboard slip and you'll see a box of decrepit tape reels on the front. You can almost smell the mildew, but the grooves themselves are germane and evergreen. Between Numero Group's first Deep City comp and Soul Jazz's Miami Sound investigations, you would think that the pre-TK Disco scene had been thoroughly excavated and examined. Not so, especially when dealing with the handiwork of Clarence Reid (a/k/a Blowfly) who was nothing if not funky and prolific. Twenty new cuts here (featuring Reid, Helene Smith, and barely legal Betty Wright) showcase the endemic soul, funk and -- most crucial to that Miami sound -- the drum battery of the FLA marching bands to great effect. [AB]

		$12.99 LP+45   VARIOUS ARTISTS Life is a Problem (Mississippi) Writer Mike McGonigal goes back a minute. He put out the well-regarded Chemical Imbalance 'zine back in the day and in the early '90s, he was an early champion of little bands like Stereolab and Pavement. When he started up his next mag project, Yeti, he wrote about unknown beardos like Iron and Wine and Devendra Banhart. Yeti also has its own book imprint, releasing tomes this year from the likes of Tara Jane O'Neil and the collected writings of Luc Sante, both of which we can't recommend enough. For all his being ahead of the curve, there's little doubt that McGonigal's lasting contribution to culture will be his unabashed love of sanctified blues and gospel. A champion of the raw stuff, McGonigal curates Life Is a Problem, which compiles a few prime cuts of post-war sides from preachers and players like Rev. Lonnie Farris and Bishop Perry Tills. Come for the testifying or for the shouted vocals, but man, if this doesn't feature some of the gnarliest guitar tones I've ever heard. Fans of Rev. Charlie Jackson, the Revenant imprint, Goodbye Babylon, and Jesus will dig this deeply. [AB]

		Five Electrical Walks $13.99 CD Night Flights $13.99 CD   CHRISTINA KUBISCH Invisible/Inaudible: Five Electrical Walks (Important) "Security" CHRISTINA KUBISCH Night Flights (Important) "The Cat's Dream" While established galleries and museums have only begun to embrace the notion of "sound art" over the last few years, pioneers such as Christina Kubisch have been creating sound-based works for more than two decades. Five Electrical Walks began as an interactive piece in 1981 where the listener wears specially designed headphones which reveal electro-magnetic radiation emanating from the technological world around us. Five Electrical Walks is the first collection of compositions created by Kubisch which utilize the sound material recorded during that time, and sonically speaking, the pieces would fit in quite well with the more minimal side of the Raster-Noton catalog. From the rhythmic-based "Homage with Minimal Disinformation" to the more drone-based "Atocha" and in the buzz and crackle of "Night Shift," it's easy to hear how Kubisch's work would inspire many of the younger generation of sound manipulators. Also available from Important is a newly re-mastered version of Kubisch's fantastic 1987 album, Night Flights, originally issued on Auf Dem Nil. It's an album of carefully constructed and heavily layered sound sources. Less clinical than Five Electrical Walks, Night Flights combines field recordings, synth, various wind instruments (flute, tubular glass horns, eagle bone), electronics, voice and other unidentifiable instrumentation in a purposeful and sometimes playful way that shows an artist truly engaged in their materials. The focus here is on warmth and breath as each sound color brings out new shades in the overall sound. Recorded in Milan while Kubisch was overseeing the release of Giancarlo Scelsi's recordings and during regular meetings with Alvin Curran, one can hear the influence of these two giants in the beautifully stretched overtones of the cosmic voices of the final piece, "Circles III." Additionally, both releases contain extensive photo documentation and insightful liner notes written by Kubisch. [KH]

		$15.99 CD   NINO ROTA LA Strada / Nights of Cabiria OST (El / Cherry Red) "E Arrivato Zampano" "Il Trasloco" Nino Rota's 28-year association with Frederico Fellini was a legendary pairing. The Italian composer's arrangements were the very glue that held the director's fragmented style of cinema together. The liner notes expound upon their unique relationship, describing how Fellini would shoot his scenes to the accompaniment of records in order to establish the mood and pace for the actors. (The dialogue and actual soundtrack would be dubbed over later.) Afterwards, Rota would come in and improvise themes on the piano, based on Fellini's description of the characters, and wait for the director to stand-up and shout, "Yes, this is it!" Fellini is quoted in the liners as saying, "That was how the new motifs of the film came to life. I was immediately captivated and I forgot what the old songs I used on the shooting had suggested to me." This CD culls together the music from two of the Italian director's classics, both starring Fellini's wife Giuletta Masini. In La Strada (1954), Masini plays a young woman sold to a Gypsy carnival by her mother, and naturally, the music moves from bombastic circus-like themes to dramatic, sweeping orchestration. Released three years later, Le Notti Di Cabiria finds Masini playing the role of a prostitute searching for true love in a seedy section of Rome. The arrangements here are fuller and stylistically more diverse, the main theme even receives a few mambo re-workings. While nothing can beat the magnificent experience of listening to the music as it was meant to be heard -- as a backdrop to Fellini's characters and images -- Rota's arrangements are thoroughly enjoyable on their own. Like the films of the great director, Nino Rota's music is distinctly European, amazingly expressive, and truly singular. [GH]

		$14.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Bearded Ladies (Finders Keepers) "Branches Low" Lights "Disappear" Cate Le Bon Manchester-based label Finders Keepers keeps mining the gems, both new and old, to make brilliant compilations. On Bearded Ladies, they take some of their hometown talent and other modern folk faves and compile them with '70s-era rarities and primers from across the pond and beyond. Contemporary songstress Jane Weaver contributes "All These Rivers," a tuneful tale that would not be out of place on a Fairport Convention record. Similarly, the perennial fave and '60s icon Brigitte Fontaine sultrily intones the bluesy, sitar-inflicted "Le Goudron" (The Tar) that could have easily found its way on a split with White Magic, had it not been recorded in the '70s. On the more obscure tip (wouldn't be a Finders Keepers release without it!), Swedish artist Turid sweetly sings her way through her country's answer to Pentangle: a psychedelic folk sound with layers of jazz-like key changes and harmonica. And if you haven't heard of Selda yet (thanks to another release on this label), "Gesi Baglari" showcases this Turkish singer's beautifully sad, highly-political folk songs backed by flute, strings, percussion and reverb soaked vocals. Recommended for both trad neophytes and long-time lovers of "femme-folk." [LG]

		$14.99 CD   JANE WEAVER Cherlokalate (B Music) "Shoulder Seasons" "Oh You Lucky Ones" Weaver is a bit of a U.K. scene-maker, the girlfriend of Andy Votel, and front-woman of the Twisted Nerve house band Misty Dixon, as well as having a remarkably long and storied career considering that until last year's official debut solo album Seven Day Smile, she never actually released a record. Weaver has a lovely voice and sound that combines more recent influences like Mazzy Star, Cat Power or Smog with the sound of classic folk chanteuses like Karen Dalton, Linda Perhacs, etc., and Cherlokalate is her best effort to date. The instrumentation is driven by Weaver's acoustic guitar and keyboard, fleshed out with percussion, bass, and strings, and the sound is warm and retro, lush but always laying back for Weaver's emotional but subdued vocals. Sweet, lovely folk-pop that won't change your world but might make your day. [JM]

		$14.99 CD $9.99 mp3   PAUL METZGER Deliverance (Locust) "Orans" "Deliverance" Banjo virtuoso Paul Metzger delivers another impressive display of his incredible talent on Deliverance, but unlike Three Improvisations, this is held together by a more traditional theme, that of North Indian classical music. Metzger plays with much more focus here, as if he's given himself a goal but no specific methods as to how he will achieve it, and he approaches that goal from many different angles with most working successfully. He manages to draw an incredible range of sounds from his instrument, weaving raga-esque drones with traditional Appalachian folk and at times it's difficult to believe that only one instrument is being played. One can only imagine the speed and precision with which he moves along the 21 strings of his modified banjo. Deliverance is a strong album and would be of interest not only to fans of contemporary improv/folk, but raga lovers as well. Recommended. [LR]

		$10.99 CD $9.99 mp3   THE LIBERTINES Time for Heroes (Rough Trade) "Time for Heroes" Time for Heroes chronicles the Libertines' turbulent and short-lived career as the faces of a new generation of Brit-indie bands. Heralded as one of the most important groups to emerge in the 2000s, the Libertines paralleled the garage pop aesthetic while remaining true to their British roots (i.e. the Clash). Putting aside the accolades that this controversial band received, they revived a somewhat stagnant scene in London and that is what I will remember them for. This collection encapsulates the atmosphere in an English indie club, it transports the listener there with a pint in hand, bouncing off the walls and belting out all the words to "Up the Bracket." [KP]

		$17.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS A Glass Menagerie (RPM) "She's a Rainbow" Glass Menagerie "Never Trust in Tomorrow" Gentle Influence Pye is one of those undeniably classic British '60s labels, releasing everything from radio fodder by Petula Clark and the Searchers to early David Bowie, the Kinks, Donovan, Status Quo, and, as compiled here, a slew of obscure pop/psych singles. Taking the concept a little bit further, RPM has gathered both sides of eleven 7" singles from 1967-69 -- some of the names will ring a bell to owners of Rubble compilations, but most of these bands were marginal players at the time and exist only in the footnotes of psychedelic history today. Quite a shame because the majority of stuff on A Glass Menagerie is really great. Five of six sides by Glass Menagerie are excellent Small Faces-esque pop, with the soaring "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" as an absolute highlight and Timon's "The Bitter Thoughts of Little Jane" is well-known popsike gold, but less heard b-side, "Rambling Boy" is equally classy orchestrated pop. For trivia buffs, Timon (a/k/a Tymon Dogg) later joined Joe Strummer in the Mescaleros. Elsewhere, the Movement's fuzzed-out and totally killer "Head for the Sun" and Onyx's uptempo stomper (with a weird off-kilter breakdown) "My Son John" have to count as stand-outs, and Mooche (who apparently had a member join Supertramp and mod revivalists Secret Affair!) kicking out a rocking cover of Bubble Puppy's "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" doesn't hurt either. In all honesty, I thought this was going to be highly mediocre but I was wrong. If the Kinks, Donovan, Small Faces, and Billy Nicholls make you tingle just a little bit, this is definitely for you. [AK]

		$17.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS The Changing of the Guard (El / Cherry Red) "Night Time Girl" Twice as Much "Sad" Australian Playboys In true el fashion, The Changing of the Guard is very much a conceptual record. The great collection of mod/popsike tracks are interspersed by bits of dialogue from '60s icons and key figures on the scene at the time, including Rolling Stones' godfather-slash-visionary Andrew Loog Oldham ("I don't have time to think about today, I've got to get on with tomorrow"), Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, Julie Christie, Allen Ginsberg, writer Edna O'Brien, and eight seconds of wisdom from painter David Hockney. It plays like an audio tour of London in 1964-67, capturing the "anything is possible"-vibe of that era, and musically the highlights are many -- Les Fleur de Lys' classic "Circles," two great Stones covers by Chris Farlowe, the Australian Playboys' five star mod rave-up, "Sad," and wrapping up with Amen Corner's heartfelt "If Paradise Is Half As Nice." And in-between there's Vashti, Small Faces, Marquess of Kensington, Tony Rivers, Duncan Browne, Humble Pie, and Billy Nicholls demanding your full attention throughout. A refreshingly different take on "the Sixties comp," The Changing of the Guard is an excellent and smart document of Swinging London. [AK]

		$21.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Welsh Rare Beat 2 (Finders Keepers) "Can O Dristwch" Heather Jones "Dawns" Eleri Llwyd Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys, Andy Votel and Dom Thomas hit us with yet another stellar collection of exotic Welsh indie rock from the '60s and '70s. Like the previous volume, most of these tunes were released on the country's premier independent label Sain, and its predecessor Dryw. This time around, they focus on the vibrant music scene of the Dyfed Triangle, which was basically the ancient kingdom of Dyfed, and all the cities contained within it. This was the birthplace of ancient Pagan mythology such as Merlin the Wizard and at one point this region boasted the record for the number of recorded UFO sightings. All this considered, it should come as no surprise that most of the music from here has an ethereal, mystical quality to it, as demonstrated by the airy, cosmic folk pop of Sidan's "Ar Goll." There's a lot more variety in this collection, including the cosmic pop of the aforementioned, the whimsical psych rock of the great Meic Stevens and weird break-heavy rock from Edward H. Dafis. All in all, an excellent release giving light to a vibrant scene most of the world never knew about. [DH]

		$21.99 CD   GALWAD Y MYNYDD Galwad Y Mynydd (Finders Keepers) "Niwl y Mor" "Mynd i Bysgota" One of two Welsh related reissues Finders Keepers has released this week, this collects the rare EPs from this folk-pop group. Primarily discovered through a national pop band competition in the early '70s, Galwad grew out of the strong Welsh empowerment movement. Like most oppressed groups of the time, there was a growing sense of pride fueled by indignation at the injustices thrust upon them, so there was a strong movement to support and cultivate and preserve their culture. These gentle yet urgent tunes from this band of teenagers sprung out of this movement. There is a mysterious quality to the sound, having the same sort of shambolic drive of late Velvet Underground, but with the harmony-drenched vocal sensibility of American '60s pop like the Monkees or the Association. Poignant, honest, unusual and strongly recommended. [DH]

		$24.95 Book w/CD   AQUARIAN ISIS The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod (Process) Written by one of Yod's former wives, this is one of the most definitive books written about the flamboyant cult leader and his merry band of psych-drone playin', organic food peddlin' followers. One of the more strange and compelling biographies released this year, comes with CD.

		$59.99 CDx3+DVD $64.99 LPx3+DVD   NICK DRAKE Fruit Tree Box Set (Universal / Island) This collection has been in and out of print for years, and that's just dumb. It is the essential, nearly complete Nick Drake, the three studio albums (Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon), and the original outtakes demos and rarities collection Time of No Reply. What is left off you probably don't need, a few scraps from Drake's primary-school days, etc., that have turned up over the years. You've all read enough about Drake over the years, just buy this box for yourself or pretty much anyone on your holiday list and be done with it.

		$38.99 CDx2   TAJ MAHAL TRAVELLERS August 1974 (P-Vine Japan Import) "II" "IV" A landmark psychedelic recording from this legendary Tokyo improv-collective is finally available again thanks to Japan's P-Vine imprint! Recorded live in the studio, this is essentially a two-hour long improvisation spread over two CDs, and is as meditative and blissful as any La Monte Young recording.

		$16.99 CD/DVD $9.99 mp3   MARCUS SCHMICKLER Altars of Science (Editions Mego) "Altars of Science" "Altars of Science 2" Taking in the wonderfully gauzy, ethereal pop of Marcus Schmickler's recent Pluramon record, it's easy to forget that this Cologne-based producer has many different personalities. Altars of Science finds Schmickler creating his first solely electronic album since 1998's acclaimed Sator Rotas, and what results is absolutely his most intense experimental composition to date. The CD is packaged as a dual-disc, with a 5.1 surround sound DVD side offering a much more detailed sonic experience for listeners -- who own the proper equipment -- in all its phased glory.

		$17.99 LP   MAGIK MARKERS Boss (Self-Released) "Last of the Lemach Line" "Bad Dream / Hartford's Beat Suite" Considering that we've experienced this New England group live a good dozen times over the years and have always known to expect the unexpected, be it fiery free-form live shows and acerbic, cardboard-wrapped live CD-Rs, we were totally not expecting BOSS. The Markers have gone deep to lay down this long-player, with Elisa's clear-eyed voice shaping her verbiage into verse-chorus constructs and Pete's octopus-pulsing motorik cohering into some steady rock beat. They not only drop an alt-rock cherry bomb like "Taste," but even hit us with a heart-shredding piano ballad. It's a POP album, fer chrissakes! Each copy of this vinyl edition is indvidually hand-screened and extremely limited. [AB]

		PHONE ORDERS Phone orders are accepted at (212) 477-8150 (ext. #2, mailorder) Mon-Fri, Noon - 7pm EST EMAIL For general inquiries or other information please email sales@othermusic.com. Do not reply to this message. REMOVE This is an automated list. If you would like to be removed for any reason, please visit: digital.othermusic.com/subscribe.php   THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [AB] Adrian Burkholder [CC] Che Chen [LG] Lisa Garrett [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [DH] Duane Harriott [KH] Koen Holtkamp [AK] Andreas Knutsen [JM] Josh Madell [DM] Doug Mosurock [SM] Scott Mou [KP] Kimberly Powenski [LR] Linden Renz THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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