The Other Music Update

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	July 10, 2007


			We'd like to remind our local customers that Other Music buys, sells, and trades used compact dics, records, and DVDs. If you have a large collection that you're interested in selling, feel free to call 212.477.8150 to make an appointment, otherwise, drop by anytime for immediate service. It's a barely-kept secret that we have the best curated used bins in the city, with new arrivals showing up constantly, whether they be impossible to find rarities or brand spanking new releases. Come by and take a look!!!


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES Spoon No Age Justice The Tuss William Basinski Interpol Nick Drake Prins Thomas (mix CD) Kawabata Makoto Vampire Weekend (Now on CD!) Vladisllav Delay Ulrich Schnauss Pattie Blingh Blossom Toes Crippled Black Phoenix		Zelienople Dead Beat The For Carnation ALSO AVAILABLE Terror Visions Ra Ra Riot Bjorn Torske Mark Ronson Oh No! Oh My! BACK IN STOCK Omary Souleyman Dan Deacon

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		INTERPOL RECORD RELEASE PARTY! Other Music and Capitol Records are throwing a listening party for Interpol's Our Love to Admire, this coming Wednesday at Sweet and Vicious. Guest DJs include Sam from Interpol, Call the Doctor and Gerald Hammill. Free admission from 9pm to 2am, with drink specials all night long! Click Here to view the flyer and for more information. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 SWEET & VICIOUS BAR: 5 Spring Street NYC 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

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		WIN TICKETS TO MAXIMO PARK England’s Maximo Park return to New York City this Thursday, July 12, playing at Webster Hall in support of their brand new album, Our Earthly Pleasures (out on Warp). Other Music has two pairs of tickets to give away. To enter, email tickets@othermusic.com, and please leave a daytime phone number where you can be reached. The two winners will be notified on Wednesday afternoon. THURSDAY, JULY 12 WEBSTER HALL: 125 East 11th Street NYC

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		TICKET GIVE AWAY TO BESNARD LAKES Montreal’s Besnard Lakes bring their rich, orchestrated pop sounds to the Mercury Lounge stage this Friday, July 13, joined by the Jealous Girlfriends, Dappled Cities and the Muggabears. We’ve got one pair of tickets to give away to this night. Send an email to giveaway@othermusic.com, along with a daytime phone number where you can be reached. The winner will be notified on Wednesday afternoon. FRIDAY, JULY 13 MERCURY LOUNGE: 217 East Houston Street NYC

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		OTHER MUSIC PRESENTS THE FIELD This is one night that we’re especially excited about! Next Wednesday, July 18, Other Music is throwing a party at Studio B to celebrate the launch of our new mp3 download store with The Field (Kompakt) headlining! Other special guests include Kate Simko (Traum, Kupei, Spectral) and DJs Brian DeGraw (Gang Gang Dance) and Scott Mou (Other Music). See you next week!!! WEDNESDAY, JULY 18 STUDIO B: 259 Banker Street Greenpoint, Brooklyn $10 adv tix available at Other Music / $12 day of show


	$13.99 CD $15.99 LP $9.99 mp3		SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) "Don't You Evah" "Rhythm & Soul" If this review were as taut as Spoon's 10-song, 36-minute sixth full-length, it'd say something like "Without Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga in your collection, your year will suck worse than a How I Met Your Mother marathon." The minute the whole thing kicks off, it all comes flooding back: You're serenaded with that oh-so-friendly jittery piano, cha-cha beats, guitar as thick as Guinness, and Britt Daniel's bad-older-brother mannerisms kicking into high gear. If you want to really accomplish something meaningful this summer, you could either shell out for a hybrid car, or else you could buy Spoon's damn record. The first four songs are heart-attack specials: rich, shocking, greasy with intent. "The Ghost of You Lingers" pulls some seriously freaky s*t, with disaffected melodies, faraway muttering, sputtering, and crooning (at one point, it feels like you're trapped in one of those old Star Treks where they walk through another dimension and the sound f/x goes something like: "DDRRRBBLLLTTT"). Meanwhile, "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" is as good as anything the band has ever done, and you shouldn't feel ashamed playing it a half-dozen times back-to-back. The unexpected Tommy Jamesian delays and soulfully coy vignettes here could have easily been a highlight for the Stranger Than Fiction* soundtrack (which Daniel helped score last year). As it progresses, things on Ga continue keep you a little off your Spoon game. The Jon Brion-produced "The Underdog" sounds just that: can't-miss Brion leveraging of drilling horns; archly strummed bursts of guitar; Daniels' barbed-wire vox multi-tracked and implanted with a healthy stash of trademark soulful "oohs"; handclaps; plus a little glittering mariachi note to push it through the fade. Two homages to music-biz friends succeed as well, including "Eddie's Ragga," a Clash-y dance through broken glass, and "Don't You Evah," a snarky, locked-on cover of ("Record that s*t!" is the first sample you hear) an as-yet-unreleased groove by NYC's The Natural History -- though surely after this, it will be. It could be 1997 or 2007, but Spoon is still a band that its fans can reliably call home while welcoming the surprises of a renovation here and there. And thank god you saved all that money on the Prius. [KO] CD version comes with bonus disc, while supplies last. First 20 CD/LP web orders will also receive a limited 7".*


	Import Version (Now Available) $17.99 CD Domestic Pre-order $11.99 CD w/scarf		NO AGE Weirdo Rippers (FatCat) "Boy Void" "Semi Sorted" Not too long ago, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall were two-thirds of the insanely great (and ridiculously unheralded) LA art-punk band Wives. Emerging from the same all ages scene that also brought us folks like the Mae Shi, 400 Blows, and Mika Miko, Wives managed to uncork a couple of sweet seven inches and one album worth of ferocious, insightful, vintage Southern California-inspired (think early Black Flag and the Minutemen) hardcore before imploding. Though Spunt and Randall's new band No Age doesn't quite mine the exact territory as Wives, these two have seen fit to keep that same unbridled spirit fully intact, only now opening up their sound equally to noisier passages and more overt pop songcraft. No Age made their recorded debut a few months back with five singles released simultaneously on a whole bunch of different labels. For those not inclined to track down those slabs of wax, Fat Cat has come to the rescue with Weirdo Rippers, an eleven-track collection that cherry picks the highlights of those singles. Beginning with the potent guitar swells of "Every Artist Needs a Tragedy," No Age segue from the effuse, atmospheric noise of tracks like "I Wanna Sleep" and "Sun Spots" to the taut frenzy of "Boy Void" with reckless ease. Better still are the moments when the band manages to pull their punk thrash and heady dream pop into wholly cohesive bursts of manic grandeur, as on the by-turns delirious and propulsive "My Life's Alright Without You" and the positively shimmering "Loosen This Job." At times striking like a more light-hearted Black Dice with a knack for hooks, or a distinctly less punishing Lightning Bolt, No Age's Weirdo Rippers is one of the more impressive debuts I've heard in quite some time. [MC] Weirdo Rippers is currently only available as an import from the UK. We are also taking pre-orders for the domestic version which comes out on August 28th. Customers who pre-order the domestic CD will also receive a FREE BANDANA similar to the ones No Age sell on tour but in a special color combination (click here to get a look). The domestic version of the CD will be shipped to arrive at your door on or near the August 28th release date.


	$13.99 CD $16.99 LP $9.99 mp3		JUSTICE Cross (Vice) "Genesis" "D.A.N.C.E." What more is left to say about the Parisian duo Justice? They have been heralded by everyone from the NY Times to Pitchforkmedia, and every place else in between. They are the current European tastemakers for all that is cool in music and fashion, and they are the current reigning heirs to the dance floor throne. The duo has remixed everyone from Britney Spears and Madonna to their idols and main musical influence, Daft Punk. Well, the wait is over and Cross is finally here. But is it everything that you thought it would be? The answer is yes. Is the inescapable club anthem of the summer on here? Yes again, "D.A.N.C.E." is track three, and with its catchy-as-hell kids' chorus, and infectious disco beat, it is easily the "single of the year." If you buy one dance record this year, let it be Justice's Cross...at this point there really is no other. Limited import vinyl version on sale, while supplies last. [JS]


	Rushup Edge $15.99 CD Confederation Trough $9.99 CD-EP		THE TUSS Rushup Edge (Rephlex) "Synthacon 9" "Rushup I Bank 12" Oh, the nerdy intrigue! Though the good folks at Rephlex would have you believe that their A&R department worked overtime to sign Cornwallers the Tuss, everything about this shadowy crew seems to indicate that it's less the work of the acknowledged "creators" Karen and Brian Tregaskin, and actually a product of the latest pseudonym of living electronic music legend Richard D. James (a/k/a Aphex Twin, AFX, Polygon Window, and a whole host of other guises). While we can't be entirely sure that the rampant internet speculation and casual references to James on the Tuss' Myspace pages are truthful in the least, the music contained on the Tuss' Confederation Trough EP and debut full-length Rushup Edge bear more than enough evidence to suggest that Mr. James is, in fact, up to his old tricks of deception and misdirection once again. When we last saw Richard James, he was exploring vintage analogue techno through his Analord project, restricting himself to a limited palette of gear in order to produce a series of great acid tracks. Bearing only an occasional similarity to those tracks, here James is unencumbered by self-imposed restrictions, and thus uncorks a series of pieces that mate skittering breakbeats with squelchy synths to produce some of the man's most consistently engaging work in years. Be it in the spiraling, alien tones of Rushup's "Synthacon 9," that same album's nifty, bouncing electro update "Shiz Ko E," or the Confederate Trough EP's frantically paranoid "GX1 Solo" (which sounds like it makes use of the phenomenally rare and expensive Yamaha GX1 synthesizer), both Tuss releases definitely sound like a newly invigorated Richard James, one still fascinated with the electronic music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but bent on twisting and shaping those sounds into his own unique brand of braindancing euphoria. And even if the Tuss isn't actually Richard D. James at all, the music itself is still great, and more than worthy of your time. [MC]


	$13.99 CD		WILLIAM BASINSKI El Camino Real (2062) "El Camino Real" El Camino Real is a disc of new work from William Basinski (which after many reissues is a treat), recorded in LA during 2006. If you're familiar with any of the Disintegration Loops, you're prepared for what's to be heard on El Camino Real, or at least the basic structure. This work's distinction is that, where the Disintegration Loops fell apart throughout the length of the piece, these loops actually build for most of El Camino Real's (almost) 50 minutes. The loop itself is filled with a woman's voice buried underneath a type of aged, worn-to-the-bone beauty that exists only through the nature of the tape. The ethereal fuzz that surrounds El Camino Real makes for an easily meditative experience. These sounds are dense, repetitive and very emotionally evocative at times. After this year's Basinski reissue, Shortwavemusic, which displayed a slightly more diverse sonic palette, El Camino Real is an interesting and equally intriguing counterpoint to that. Wherever Basinski acquires these loops from, let's hope they continue to be as plentiful and as beautiful as they have been from the beginning. [LR]


	On Sale $12.99 CD On Sale $17.99 CD Deluxe Edition		INTERPOL Our Love to Admire (Capitol) "The Heinrich Maneuver" "Pace is the Trick" Looking back to 2004, when Interpol released their second album Antics, the band seemed to have reached a turning point. Their debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights, from two years before had won over fans and critics, and I'm certain was responsible for leading many a teenager to the Joy Division section at the local CD shop. (One could have only hoped for a Chameleons comeback.) Branded as the dark horse leading the post-punk revival, the New York City quartet avoided the dangerous sophomore slump, not by reinventing themselves, but staying on a similar, albeit slightly more polished course. Artistically speaking, Antics didn't necessarily surpass Turn On, but the band no longer needed Joy Division references to sell records. Interpol was Interpol. Three years later with a new home on a major label, Our Love to Admire may very well be their tipping point. But without the advantage of hindsight, I can safely say that aside from Carlos D.'s new western gentleman look, the group has once again avoided any dramatic makeover. From the first few chimes out of Daniel Kessler's guitar and Paul Banks' throaty lament on album opener "Pioneer to the Falls," it's immediately apparent that Interpol aren't going to disappoint longtime fans with an attempt at winning the hearts of TRL viewers. Actually, had it not been for the occasional strain of a melodica and a couple of horns coming in at the end, the song would have fit snuggly in the track selection of their first album -- a little more polish, sure, but far from overcooked. If anything, Our Love feels a little brighter in production; during the verses of "No I in Threesome" a pounding piano takes the place of Kessler's usually angular guitar work, allowing him the space for some heavy-handed strumming. Banks' lyrics remain cryptic as ever though, with obtuse sexual undertones, (or in the aforementioned song's case, overtones), and like the title "No I in Threesome," often leave you scratching your head. Though West Coast kiss-off "Heinrich Maneuver," "Mammoth" and "Who Do You Think?" are as driving as "PDA," much of the album finds Interpol at their most introspective, finally closing out the set with the unexpectedly atmospheric "Lighthouse." Banks sings "Let the waves have their way now/ Slow, and let the waves have their day now," and seems resigned to allow the ocean to carry him where it may. Intentional or not, it's a fitting metaphor for a band who, standing at a crossroad in their career, chose to continue down the path they know the best. Whether Interpol reaches the superstar status of a group like the Killers is out of their hands, and I doubt that they really even care. [GH]


	$14.99 CD		NICK DRAKE Family Tree (Tsunami Label Group) "Winter Is Gone" "All My Trials" By now the Nick Drake story is a familiar one to any fan of folk, pop, pop-culture, Anglophiles, emo-philes and probably your mother too. Drake released three exquisite albums of fragile pop music between 1969 and 1972, and while many of his contemporaries on the UK folk scene managed to break through with international recognition, somehow Drake pretty much slipped through the cracks, hamstrung by chronic shyness and a steadfast refusal to compromise his art for commercial success. His albums, long underground favorites, were finally pushed into the mainstream by a much-seen television ad in the mid-'90s, and at long last Drake received his commercial and critical due, some 20-odd years after his death, of an (accidental) overdose of prescribed painkillers. Even an artist with such a short-lived and (at the time) under-appreciated career generally leaves some cast-off recordings in his wake, and while Drake's early home recordings and songwriting demos have often been bootlegged over the years, Family Tree is the first legitimate, and truly definitive collection. The excellent mastering and aural clean-up, as well as lovely packaging, make the set a valuable replacement for the notoriously low-quality boots. That said, this is clearly one for the fans, and while there are a number of wonderful performances throughout, overall the album is far more valuable as a roadmap to Drake's playing and songwriting than as a stand-alone record. His sublime guitar playing and subtle vocals are blossoming throughout, as he takes a pass at several traditional blues numbers, tracks by heroes of Drake's like Bob Dylan, Jackson C. Frank, Bert Jansch and others, and a number of early originals and song sketches (different from the demos compiled on Time of No Reply), and there is much to pour through here. The fans will be thrilled by the excellent job the producers have done, but new fans should clearly start with one of the proper albums, or better yet the complete Fruit Tree box set due to be reissued later this year. [JM]


	$20.99 CDx2		PRINS THOMAS Cosmo Galactic Prism (Eskimo) "Frontera del Ensueno" Rey de Copas "Soul Machine" Sasoul Invention The spaced-out four-on-the-floor masterpieces that Prins Thomas and his Norwegian brethren (Lindstrom, Todd Terje, etc.) have been producing have been wreaking havoc on discerning dancefloors worldwide. We don't expect that to change, as evident from this awesome double-disc mix CD that Thomas has unleashed on us. This painstakingly sequenced collection manages to be leftfield, deep and eclectic, but with nary a hint of elitist, chin stroking. It just sounds like a mix from a guy who's been buying records for years and knows these tunes inside and out, and who knows how to work them. Holger Czukay, Hawkwind, Boards of Canada and Lindstrom flow in and out of each other, each song sounding as if it's all part of one long extended piece with 10 or 12 movements. The tunes tend to have a '70s proggy disco vibe to them (think Alan Parsons produced by Patrick Adams) and the mix itself has a nice ebb-and-flow, as opposed to the all out dancefloor assault of noisy tension that Soulwax and Optimo like to lay on ya. Everything's beautiful, fluffy and 3 a.m. eternal in Thomas' world, and that's fine by us. I'm pretty sure this is gonna be the best mix CD I'll hear all year. Sky-high recommendation!! [DH]


	$13.99 CD		KAWABATA MAKOTO Hosanna Mantra (Important) "Hosanna Mantra" "Door of Your Enigma" Kawabata Makoto, guru of Japanese psych rockers Acid Mothers Temple, adds to his pile of cosmic solo releases with Hosanna Mantra. First released in a limited vinyl pressing of 550, this record is a tribute German experimentalists Popul Vuh. Inspired by Popul Vuh's similarly-titled Hosianna Mantra, Makoto ruminates on their shared love of ethnic multi-instrumentalism. By using only electric guitar, sitar and bouzouki, Makoto's mind-expanding Hosanna Mantra begins with two twenty-minute journeys into meditative ambient landscapes, slowly easing into the drone-filled sitar ragas of the title track, and soars into a vocal lifted bouzouki-plucked rhythm that weaves in and out of electric guitar sonics. "You Are All My Love" sets us down gently with electric guitar echoes that will broaden the smiles of electro-acoustic fans. Hosanna Mantra includes two songs only available on the 7" distributed with the first 100 copies of the vinyl. For those not familiar with Makoto's solo works, this is an excellent place to start. [LG]


	$4.99 CD $2.99 mp3		VAMPIRE WEEKEND EP (Vampire Weekend) "A-Punk" "Oxford Comma" Every once in a while you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Such was the case a few months back, when I caught Vampire Weekend playing on a multi-band bill in Brooklyn. I had never even heard of the group and certainly had no plan of lending them my undivided attention, but as soon as these four mild-mannered gents took the stage and began tearing through an absolutely infectious, high-energy set, there was no doubt that I was catching an early glimpse of New York City's next breakthrough band. Sure enough, Vampire Weekend have been garnering a lot of buzz of late. And while we all hear about a new "next big thing" almost every other week, the group is a refreshing anomaly. Comprised of four clean-cut Columbia grads, their brand of idiosyncratic pop music sets them apart from the plethora of cookie-cutter bands struggling to fit into the various of-the-moment scenes. What really makes Vampire Weekend stand out is their effortless fusion of sounds which, when all put together, results in some of the catchiest, literate pop music that we've come across in ages. British indie and new wave influences from Orange Juice to the English Beat to Teardrop Explodes (singer Ezra Koenig's voice is particularly reminiscent of a young Julian Cope) converge with African high life guitar lines (dare we say Graceland), and twist through delightfully unpredictable rhythmic shifts. Their breezy songs conjure memories of the days when artists like the Talking Heads and the Police began exploring and incorporating non-traditional influences from the far reaches of the globe into their pop sounds. Vampire Weekend's music, however, doesn't look backward or forward, but simply exists in the form of timeless and delightfully catchy songs. Even when singing about punctuation ("Oxford Comma"), Koenig's agile melodies are the sort that you'll find yourself humming along with, reaching for his elastic, high falsetto ohhhhhs, or calling back to his hey-hey-heys. These three songs, which first appeared on a CD-R that the band handed out at their shows, have been remixed and re-mastered, and they sound fantastic. Moving from mbaqanga-influenced "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" to the bouncy, ska-infused "A-Punk" to the smart, Ivy League pop of "Oxford Comma," this is a perfect preview of the group's diverse range. Vampire Weekend will be spending much of the summer touring throughout the country, so keep an eye out all you non-New Yorkers. It's almost guaranteed that by this time next year, you won't be seeing them on the small stage. [GH]


	$15.99 CD		VLADISLAV DELAY Multila (Huume) "Huone" "Karha" Minimal techno devotees have become all too familiar with the work of Finnish super-producer Sasu Ripatti over the past few years, as he has been at the helm of several oft-brilliant collections of micro-house and deeply dubbed-out techno under the guises of Luomo, Vladislav Delay, and Uusitalo. And while Ripatti already released a new Delay album just a couple months ago and an all-new Luomo disc at the end of 2006, he's back again with a reissue of Multila, a now classic collection of bass heavy, gently rhythmic tracks that originally saw release on the Chain Reaction label back in 2000. Ripatti has always used the Vladislav Delay name as an outlet for his dub excursions, digitally updating the genre's bass-heavy spatial grace with keen grasp of minimal techno's basic aesthetics. And while his recent releases under the name have seen the man all but expertly disassemble that palette into a collection of moody, abstract pieces, Multila, was where he first began to truly master the form. More immediately straightforward than anything on either The Four Quarters or Whistleblower, here Ripatti plunges deep into aquatic tones and distant rhythmic clicks, creating oceanic drifts and far-off, crackling rhythms on tracks like "Raamat" and "Viite." Ultimately, though, it's the truly epic tracks like "Huone" and "Pietola" that are the most consistently stunning. Allowing himself ample room to build pieces out of spare glitches, gauzy static, and insistent bass throbs, Ripatti takes his time exploring the furthest reaches of his distinct soundworld here, taking the listener on an extended tour of vistas that, seven years later, sound every bit as urgent and contemporary as they were upon their initial release. [MC]


	$14.99 CD $9.99 mp3		ULRICH SCHNAUSS Goodbye (Domino) "Stars" "Shine" There's no need for this Berlin producer to front with cartoonish, show-offy effects and slapshot beats; his unimposing electro-compositions are as quietly perfect as an unfettered expanse of emerald summer grass. Silent since 2004's triumphantly glassine A Strangely Isolated Place, Ulrich Schnauss picks up where he left off, laying down carefully hewn blocks of hallucinogenic orchestral flips and gauzy atmospherics. "A Song About Hope" is the soundtrack you want for the day you abruptly quit your job, call up your craziest friend, have a Leaving Las Vegas-style bender, and feel more free than you possibly ever have in your life. The track is a skittering exercise in full-on ambient hypnosis at its best, a complete-nutrition meal in one glorious five-minute-55-second drop. You'll want to keep it at the very top of your iTunes library; maybe renaming the artist "Alrich Schnauss" would be a good plan. Elsewhere, Schnauss controls his carefully bubbling cauldron of trilling, ticking, and pinging, until it all comes to a glossy cacophony that feels as good as a sunset in the city. The key is how timeless (yet, strangely, futuristic) it all sounds, splitting its axis between nostalgia and no tomorrow. The paper-thin, haunting vocals and heavenly heartbeat of "Shine" stir up memories of Eno, Slowdive (a moniker that seems to forever be hitched to Schnauss, and that's all right) and even their later incarnation, Mojave 3. Judith Beck's aptly sedating utterances are as purposeful as a boa, capable of wrapping around and holding captive any glorious noise (or in this case, event-horizon pitch) Schnauss throws in her path. "Medusa," which appeared in condensed version on the Quicksand Memory EP, skips its way through a gravelly wall of fuzzed-out guitar samples and creepy choruses -- call it nu-gazing. It all ends with a whisper, just as it should. [KO]


	$14.99 CD		PATTIE BLINGH AND THE AKEBULAN FIVE Sagala (Ramp) "To: Re" "Brother: The Point" Two of last year's most surprising releases came from the young and talented Georgia Anne Muldrow, her Worthnothings EP and debut full-length Olesi, both released on Stones Throw. Being the only woman associated with that independent label is not an easy position, I'm sure, but she carried the torch of J-Dilla and Madlib with a stride that was truly her own. While her new mini-album sees her on a different imprint, we do still find her jumping onto the alias bandwagon of her Stones Throw peers; here she renames herself Pattie Blingh. Her loose yet tasty production picks up where her macho counterparts left off, yet her vocal stylings can't be matched by the dudes. Having established her strongest association with Dudley Perkins, who guests here on "Rebelyouthwithskill" (a perfect title for her style), you know that this is going to be a smoky, soulful, and political outing that's definitely in line with Lauryn Hill and Bahamadia, but bringing things firmly into the present -- check her song "Lara Bush: in HOT Grease" where she sings about freedom fries!? All in all, Sagala is a great, quirky, though too short of a listen (10 songs = 23 minutes). I'm still wondering why Stones Throw didn't include her on their Chrome Children series, everything she makes is worthy of inclusion. [DG]


	$14.99 CD		BOLA Kroungrine (Skam) "Zoft Broiled Ed" "Waknuts" Dude, I don't know what a Kroungrine is but Bola saw fit to name his new record after it or him. Bola has managed to take up that rare position somewhere between the faceless and the infamous IDM producers of the world -- all the mystery and curious expectation as to what he has up his sleeve, plus his fans trust that it will be good. Immediately, Kroungrine starts with a funky jolt that immediately had me humming the melody to Herbie Hancock's "Rockit." (Not that it's too '80s at all, it's just funky with some weird guitar-like chikka-chikka and squiggly talk-box sounds.) Track three, "Waknuts" has a placid, peaceful feel to it, like a dimly lit Isan meets Boards of Canada -- unapologetically electronic sounds with just an extra bit of warmth and feeling that gives it the non-alienating Autechre feel. It's almost like Bola is the romantic cousin to Autechre and Aphex Twin. [SM]


	We Are Ever... $15.99 CD If Only for... $15.99 CD		BLOSSOM TOES We Are Ever So Clean (Sunbeam) "I'll Be Late for Tea" BLOSSOM TOES If Only for a Moment (Sunbeam) "Listen to the Silence" One of British psychedelia's best-kept secrets finally gets the proper and legit reissue treatment courtesy of Sunbeam. The debut from 1967, We Are Ever So Clean, shares the same whimsical and lightly psychedelic qualities as the Smoke, Idle Race, and flower power-era Beatles. And it's just as good. The melodies are irresistible, the arrangements elaborate, and the lyrics tackle the important issues of the era in true Syd Barrett fashion: drinking magical tea, calling in sick, and strange fairytales about frozen dogs and watchmakers. What's wrong with being a little stoned and utterly happy? Nothing at all. A true popsike classic. By 1969, the Summer of Love was over and the Blossom Toes sound had morphed into something quite a bit more sinister. If Only For a Moment is more complex and leans more towards prog and Captain Beefheart than the psych pop of the first album, with searing leads and heavier riffing. The incredible opener, "Peace Loving Man," even rivals Sabbath in the heaviosity stakes. While it is radically different, the trademark harmonizing and intricate writing is still there, and If Only For a Moment also comes wholly recommended. Both CDs come with a bunch of bonus tracks and informative and richly illustrated bookets, so what are you waiting for? [AK]


	$14.99 CD		CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX A Love of Shared Disasters (Invada) "Suppose I Told the Truth" "I'm Almost Home" Crippled Black Phoenix, the brainchild of Justin Greaves (ex-drummer from doom band Electric Wizard) features Dominic Aitchinson from Mogwai and a slew of other heavy (and folk) rock loving members. Their debut release, A Love of Shared Disasters, is what you'd expect from a collaboration using a name that conjures cinematic orchestration, and those of drone and dramatic crescendos. But it's not an obvious "sounds like" Godspeed, Explosions in the Sky, or Southern Lord-esque comparison. Sure, there's a lulling piece dominated by trumpet, cello and glockenspiel ("I'm Almost Home"), and a thick-drawled Tennyson narration backed by violin, piano and guitar ("The Northern Cobbler"), but the vocals on 10 out of the 12 songs chase away the vestiges of same-y instrumental rock (or mind-numbing buzz). The album begins with "backing howls" from the monk-like CBP Brutes choir, followed by a song that conjures up dark folk balladry mixed with early-'90s post-rock musings, and melts away into an intro that could lead into a Pink Floyd breakdown amidst the spacey keyboards and a slow melody. The remainder of A Love of Shared Disasters mostly stays on the epic level, with slow-burning guitar or piano-led tracks that have some great head-nodding moments (like the shredding on "Goodnight Europe"), or the bombastic end of "Sharks & Storms/Blizzard of Horned Cats." Definitely scoop this up if you're ready for a post-rock revival -- this one would be the primer. [LG]


	$14.99 CD $14.99 LP		ZELIENOPLE His / Hers (Type) "Family Beast" "Parts Are Lost" Type has been putting out all kinds of beautiful music and this latest release is no exception. Zelienople, a fairly well established three man psych-folk/rock group based in Chicago, have delivered an album that's equal parts burner, psych blues and ephemeral drone rock. His/Hers is their first widely available CD of new work in a few years, and rightfully so. The trio have been delivering finely crafted pieces of psychedelia for a while now, as well as side projects (the Good Stuff House CD-R on Timelag cannot be recommended enough) and His/Hers is one of the most powerful releases they've put out so far. A lot of reviewers and press releases have called this album a pure piece of psych-rock, but to say that is not being kind enough to just how inventive Zelienople is here. The record is varied enough to keep it constantly interesting and has a subtle beauty that is difficult to find in the overcrowded shadow of psych-folk and New Weird America. Let's hope to hear more from these guys soon, in the meantime, get this immediately! [LR]


	$15.99 CD		DEADBEAT Journeyman's Annual (~scape) "Loneliness and Revelry" "Night Train to Paris" It's been a while, but one of the best digi-dub producers of recent years returns with another tight album of dubby melodies. Deadbeat's Journeyman's Annual is a travelogue from Montreal to Melbourne and Vienna to Berlin, with a layover in Paris. All the new dub landmarks are visited: deep bass lines, sparse shakers and cymbals, warm synths and delayed chord progressions. More melodic and musical than his previous releases, this reminds me of the shift Pole made a few years back. As a bonus, his hard to find remix of Saul Williams "Black Stacey" is included. [DG]


	$11.99 CD		THE FOR CARNATION Promised Works (Touch & Go) "Get and Stay March" "I Wear the Gold" Forgotten gems of the whole Louisville/Chicago scene canon: the two EPs, Fight Songs and Marshmallows from The For Carnation have been reissued by Touch and Go under the name Promised Works. Before Dave Pajo formed Aerial, Papa M., etc., Brian McMahon, the throat behind Slint, came outta nowhere and formed the amorphous solid known as The For Carnation. Tortoise members, Brian's brother Michael, Andrew Bonacci and Tim Ruth helped out. The songs remain interesting for just as much of what they DO as what they seem to REFUSE to do. It seems like there was a simultaneous rejection of what was expected from a post-Slint project (inevitable buildup to explosive climax) and a strict exploration of the long, ultra-stripped-down, cryptic narrative explored in between explosions in the Spiderland LP (also seen in the Slint-backed Palace Brothers song "Riding" and fellow Louisville/Chicagoans Gastr Del Sol). Except for a few surprise bursts, "rock" barely seems to exist in these songs; it's basically just rhythm and sound. One of the closest things to minimal indie rock the '90s ever produced. [SM]


	$10.99 CD $14.99 LP Picture Disc		TERROR VISIONS World of Shit (FDH) "You Look So Pretty in Red" Not sure what we did to deserve another Jay Reatard record but here it is. Terror Visions sounds like the Reatards with all electronic equipment, totally harsh electro-punk that echoes the Screamers and Nervous Gender. However, if you penetrate the squealing, synthetic mess, Jay's distinctive songwriting is easily detectable. Grab the sweet picture disc while you can!


	$8.99 CD		RA RA RIOT Ra Ra Riot EP (Ra Ra Riot) "Dying is Fine" Orange blogger alert! Syracuse, NY-based Ra Ra Riot have been burning up the Internet for quite some time now, and here's the long-awaited debut EP. They have been compared to everyone from Arcade Fire and the Clash to R.E.M. and Dexy's Midnight Runners, and while none of those descriptors are too far off the mark, this is highly original, well-crafted, and super catchy indie rock.


	$16.99 CD		BJORN TORSKE Feil Knapp (Smalltown Supersound) "Hemmelig Orkester" The Norwegian takeover of house and disco continues in the shape of Bjorn Torske's new album Feil Knapp (which translates as Wrong Button in English). Perhaps best known as a premier remixer, Torske ventures out on his own here, and serves up a platter of Metro Area-styled disco, mutant dub, and tweaked, loungey jazz. All of it slightly left of centre, as if Lindstrom and Prins Thomas grew up listening to the Residents. Very nice.


	$13.99 CD		MARK RONSON Version (Red Int) "Stop Me" Domestic version of NY native Mark Ronson's Version album, which had made him pretty huge in the UK. The concept here is taking indie- and chart-rock songs (and Britney's "Toxic" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard!) and covering them, which sounds like a horrible idea...but fortunately Ronson's take is refreshing. Version sounds quite a bit like the Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse albums, in that British Northern soul/ska-vein, and who woulda thunk it considering the record includes remakes of songs by Coldplay, Maximo Park, Charlatans, Smiths, Radiohead, and others.


	$8.99 CD		OH NO! OH MY! Between the Devil and the Sea (Dim Mak) "A Pirate's Anthem" A five-track EP chock full of perfect pop from Austin's Oh No! Oh My!, that draws from Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Neutral, and Belle & Sebastian. Just to straighten out the chronology here, these tracks precede the debut album that dropped last year, but Oh No! Oh My! still sound perfectly confident that they are the greatest pop band in the world. Or at least in Texas.


	$15.99 CD		OMAR SOULEYMAN Highway Hassake (Sublime Frequencies) "Leh Jani" "Arabic Dabke" Often playing at breakneck speeds, Omar Souleyman and his band have created an ecstatic party music that fuses elements of regional folk forms with lo-fi drum machines, phase-shifted Arabic keyboard lines, and unidentifiable spurts of electronic noise, over which Souleyman sings and chants with palpable energy, often in feverish call and response with the aforementioned bevy of electronic sounds, but equally as often with virtuosic displays on traditional Middle Eastern instruments like the oud, spike fiddle, saz, or nay. Pictured in the liners in what has become his signature look -- thick mustache, dark aviator shades, and red and white checkered khaffya -- Souleyman is an intriguing, imposing character capable of impassioned, frenetic vocalizations that are as much about rhythmic invention as they are about delivering the lyrical goods. Interestingly enough, Souleyman doesn't write his own lyrics, but sees himself more as a conduit, leaving the word-smithing to long time collaborator and full-time band member, Mahmoud Harbi. Harbi is Souleyman's silent, chain smoking alter-ego who allegedly stands shoulder to shoulder with the singer during live shows and -- get this -- whispers the verses in Souleyman's ear. Equally at home singing dance floor ass-shakers and mournful calls to prayer, Souleyman is a musical icon in his native Syria and has reputedly released more than 500 studio and live cassette albums since 1994. For Highway to Hassake, Sublime Frequencies regular Mark Gergis (a/k/a Porest, who also compiled 2006's equally great Choubi Choubi: Folk and Pop Sounds of Iraq) has culled some of the highlights from Souleyman's vast cassette catalog with blessings from the man himself. [CC]


	$13.99 CD $9.99 mp3		DEACON DAN Spiderman of the Rings (Carpark) "Crystal Cat" Set your phasers on FUN! Somewhere between ZX81 nostalgia and dayglo futurism rests Dan Deacon. With a tabletop littered with gadgets, including vintage synths, drum machines, a sine wave generator, a vocoder, a homemade light board, and glowing skulls, Deacon creates some of the most inspired and inspiring party music...ever. What makes him even more intriguing is the fact that he supposedly has a degree in electro-acoustic composition, and after a few listens one starts to realize these songs are actually quite carefully crafted. Raymond Scott partying at Pee-Wee's playhouse? Musique concrete for the party set? All and none of the above.


	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 from it for any reason, please send an email from the address you wish to delete to list@othermusic.com and make sure the word "Remove" is included in the subject line.		THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [CC] Che Chen [MC] Michael Crumsho [LG] Lisa Garrett [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [DH] Duane Harriott [AK] Andreas Knutsen [JM] Josh Madell [SM] Scott Mou [KO] Kristy Ojala [LR] Linden Renz [JS] Jeremy Sponder THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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