April 29, 2009

		IRON AND WINE PRE-ORDER INCLUDES A TICKET TO AN OTHER MUSIC IN-STORE PERFORMANCE We're thrilled to be able to celebrate Iron and Wine's forthcoming Around the Well -- a 2CD/3LP set of rarities and never-before-heard tracks -- with Mr. Samuel Beam himself, who will be playing an in-store at Other Music on Tuesday May 19th, the evening of the album's release. To get a ticket to this very intimate performance, just pre-order the album in person at the shop or off of our mail order site, starting at Noon, this Friday, May 1st. Each CD or LP purchase is good for 1 ticket, with a limit of 2 purchases (2 tickets) per person. Limited capacity, tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Martyn El-B Rodriguez Colette Magny Fly Girlz Joyce Thee Oh Sees Eat Skull Fresh & Onlys Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace School Me: 1968-75 (Various)   U.S. Music with Funkadelic Crocodiles Bob Dylan Sun Ra featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold ALSO AVAILABLE Tosca King Khan & the Shrines (Domestic) Duncan Browne (Back in Print)

		$27.99 CD $44.99 LPx2   Buy Early Get Now: Sonic Youth "The Eternal" We're now taking pre-orders for Sonic Youth's The Eternal (out on Tuesday, June 9th) off of our mail order site. Pre-order the CD or double LP and you'll receive access to a pre-release stream of the album, a limited live LP, exclusive MP3s, a poster, and early access to tour pre-sale ticket offers. Questions? Email: orders@othermusic.com

		May Sun 03 Mon 04 Tues 05 Wed 06 Thurs 07 Fri 08 Sat 09   STONES THROW TAKES MANHATTAN...WIN TICKETS! Fresh off of their sold out spring tour of Europe, Peanut Butter Wolf, James Pants, Dam-Funk, and Mayer Hawthorne are now touring the US and Canada and the Stones Throw party will be hitting NYC's Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday, May 9th. It's going to be a killer night, with Peanut Butter Wolf mixing music videos live, James Pants performing with his band Royal Zodiac, and DJ sets from Dam-Funk and Mayer Hawthorne. We've got a pair of tickets to give away to 3 lucky winners. Just email, contest@othermusic.com, and we'll pick names on Monday, May 4th. SATURDAY, MAY 9 LE POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleeker Street NYC

		$16.99 CD   MARTYN Great Lengths (3024) "Right?Star!" "Vancouver" In a world defined by the latest 12", one of the new kings of dubstep releases a full-length album worthy of his throne! Martyn is currently the man of the moment when it comes to the genre, and along with Zomby, EL-B, and the Skull Disco and Hyperdub crews, they are all pushing dubstep to new heights, each with a style of their own. Martyn absolutely kills it on every track here. From the opening "The Only Choice," with its cocky shout out to his new imprint 3024 and its stuttering break and sinister synth stabs, you know there is something special going on. This is not your average moody dubstep filler, Martyn's tracks have warmth and soul that really sets him apart him from most of his peers. Highlights abound throughout, including cuts like "Little Things," a gorgeous track with a squelchy synth line that has made it an international club hit. "These Words" is a pop song (yes, a pop song), with guest vocals by D-Bridge and a melody that would not feel out of place on a Spacek album, and that is one of the highest compliments I can give...trust me! A few tracks later, "Hear Me" is easily one of the best songs on the album, with a soulful vocal sample and a simple drum break -- it kills me every time. Great Lengths ends with the epic "Natural Selection," a track that truly stunned me when the 12" came out last year. It is a 13-minute excursion into everything that dubstep is, and should be; the song is a milestone in the genre and thank god he included it on here! I've been waiting a long time for this record to come out, and it is stunning from beginning to end. Great Lengths is a defining moment in dubstep, and from start to finish the record works beautifully as a whole. It's a journey that anybody with an interest in electronic music needs to take! [JS]

		$17.99 CD $19.99 LP   El-B The Roots of El-B (Tempa) Ghost: "The Club" Ghost: "Lyrical Tempo" Okay, so I'm going to start this review with possibly the highest proof-positive praise I can bestow upon a record: When this set of absolutely banging rare tracks by UK producer Lewis Beadle (a/k/a El-B) first showed up at the shop, we had one copy in stock for investigative purposes. Scott and I were listening to it, we both wigged out over how great it was, and there was a fight over who got to buy the thing that night! I won...thank you Scott!! Thankfully, we've received many more copies and can spread the word to those who may not know the scoop on this underrated grime/dubstep pioneer. Cliff's Notes version: Beadle ran the Ghost Recordings label, and was one of the first producers to really sculpt the foundations of what would become the dubstep sound by bridging the gap between drum 'n' bass music and grime tracks, mixing dark muscle with uptempo, shuffling syncopation and crushing sub-bass drops. Beadle and cohorts like Zed Blas released a number of 12"s in the early 2000s and essentially stopped action in the middle of the decade, just as the genre really began to take off. He's released sporadic records here and there over the years, but this is the first time many of those 12" cuts have made it to CD, and boy oh boy... you need this. I won't hesitate in saying that this is without question one of the most soulful, banging and, above all else, LISTENABLE grime/dubstep albums I've ever heard -- probably because it's a singles collection, yes, but damn. The man runs success after success with instrumentals, vocal cuts, MC cuts, and even cuts with stuttering Prefuse-esque vocal cutups. There's also more of a heavy Detroit vibe running through many of these tracks than on most other records of the genre, and that's nothing but a good thing, buddy. The cuts with MC Juiceman play out like prototypes to the Burial and Kode 9 sound, and his remix of Zed Bias' "Neighborhood" juggles garage anthemics, ragga MC action, classic NYC soulful house, and that omnipresent bass drop to dizzying effect -- perhaps even providing the roots to what's now being played out on the UK Funky scene. My vote for stone-cold classic cut, though, is "Serious," a collaboration with Rolla that was the initial inspiration for my bout of fisticuffs with Scott. So, to brass tacks: if you're a fan of the dubstep sound, if you're down with any faction of what's been coming out of the UK dance underground, and/or if you're looking for some absolutely wicked summer tech jams to blast off, quite simply, You. Need. This. [IQ]

		$17.99 CD $9.99 MP3   RODRIGUEZ Coming from Reality (Light in the Attic) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Last year, Light in the Attic re-released Rodriguez's Cold Fact album, a sleeper candidate for psych-folk reissue of the year. Rodriguez's story was a familiar one in the music industry: a loner recluse appears in a brief, but brilliant run at making his mark on the world, fails to register sales, and swiftly recedes back into the folds of music history until some lucky soul stumbles upon a song sticking out of the sand, grabs his metal detector, and digs up the rest. Cold Fact, originally released in 1970, was a textbook study in this prototype, with one exception: it was truly a great and deserving record. Combining lyrical themes addressing social injustice with a Dylan-like penchant for poetry, Rodriguez situated himself firmly within the '60's counterculture milieu, while simultaneously lambasting it. An affinity to the work of Donovan, Cat Stevens, Love and, of course, Dylan informed Cold Fact, but Sixto Rodriguez was onto something else as well --- an ethos unsullied by phony hippie posturing that aimed to effect real social and political change. This unwillingness to align himself with the zeitgeist of the day, preferring to operate according to a personal belief system of his own creation, may have been one of the reasons success eluded him, but this same conviction, conveyed so well in his music, also opened up new avenues for the songwriter. Such was the crossroads we found our man at, circa-'70. Looking for a change in perspective, Rodriguez accepted an offer from Pretty Things producer Steve Rowland to come to London and begin work for a follow-up to Cold Fact with him. Rowland assembled a heavy-hitting team of local talent to back the singer, including Chris Spedding (Wings, Nilsson, John Cale, and future-producer for the Sex Pistols and the Cramps). Coming from Reality, Rodriguez's second and final full-length effort, was very much a product of this working environment. While hewing close to the socio-political lyrical concerns of Cold Fact, the music expanded considerably, making room for some sweeping string arrangements, and a breezier soft-rock approach overall. While this could be a recipe for AM-pap in the wrong hands, the cleaner production and arrangements only serve to reinforce how capable a pop songwriter Rodriguez really was. We even get some Jose Feliciano moments in the Spanish guitar stylings of "I Think of You," highlighting Rod's softer side without getting sappy. Like its predecessor, Coming from Reality is an album that merits repeated and close listening, as it steadily reveals more of its creator's eye for beauty and detail with each listen. As always, Light in the Attic's conception is immaculate, with an unparalleled attention to detail in both sound and vision. Thoroughly researched liner notes, bonus tracks, and meticulous album art reproduction --- LITA remains at the top of their game with this one. Oh, and the album remaster is AMAZING, with a clarity and sound separation that practically jumps out of the speakers. This record couldn't have dropped at a better time, perfect for easing into the long days of summer on an easy breeze. [JTr]

		$24.99 CD   COLETTE MAGNY Vietnam 67/Mai 68 (EPM Musique) "Vietnam 67" "L'ecolier soldat" It's sort of shocking that we've never run a feature on Colette Magny before, a remarkable agit-prop chanson singer who passed away in 1997, and a person whom I think would be greatly interesting to a large number of Other Music customers. She was born in France in 1927, and her formative influences were American female blues singers of the 1920s like Bessie Smith. Her performing career began in the early sixties, and she had immediate mainstream success with her debut album Melcotonon, but as the sixties wore on she became increasingly radicalized by the situation in Algeria, the civil rights movement in the United States, the Vietnam War and numerous other left-wing positions. Her lyrics became much more politically strident, and her instrumental backing moved further and further beyond the typical French chanson trappings as she sought out France's most gifted musicians from the experimental jazz scene, whose freewheeling tendencies she would reign in to provide incredibly sensitive and unique instrumental shading. Magny absolutely prefigured, and sits comfortably alongside of, longtime Other Music favorites Brigitte Fontaine and Catherine Ribiero, although there is always an earthy, bluesy undercurrent to her performances that those two singers generally lack. The trajectory of her career and sound bears comparison with that of Nina Simone as well, as both worked in a Brechtian mode while utilizing tremendously powerful voices and a rousing political consciousness. The album at hand is simply outstanding and includes some of her greatest work, being a twin meditation on the morass of the Vietnam War and a resounding show of solidarity for the student movement protests in May of 1968, replete with what sound to be field recordings from the barricades. At turns moody, angry, and tenderly sympathetic, this record is quite simply a masterpiece and never less than completely gripping. [MK]

		$11.99 CD $7.99 MP3   FLY GIRLZ Da' Brats from Da' Ville (Sockets) "Love Hurtz" "Tired" The Brownsville section of Brooklyn has the notorious reputation for being one of the roughest neighborhoods in the country, with a high concentration of public housing and chronic gang violence. Luminaries such as Mike Tyson and hardcore rappers MOP and Black Moon are just a few of the more famous folks who once called Brownsville home; suffice to say, it's a rough place to grow up. The neighborhood's newest musical attraction, the Fly Girlz are a group of 14-year-old schoolgirl rappers and were born out of an after school program run by Brooklyn musician Sam Hillmer, who gave these smart, ambitious young ladies a chance to write and create their own album in a real studio. With spooky yet infectious electro beats provided by Excepter's Nathan "Zebrablood," Da' Brats from Da' Ville is an unusual, poignant record that never stoops to novelty. The bubbly, enthusiastic girls write simple yet honest depictions of life in their hood. Tracks like "Welcome 2 Brownsville" and "Tired" have some good bedroom 808 boom and through it all, the ladies deliver fun playground rhymes, while occasionally delivering an observational jaw dropper like, "The boys out here don't act like a man/they shoot little kids and rape little girls/the boys out here will take an old lady's pearls...He'll break your pretty heart and break your pretty face." Real talk indeed! There's a lot of heart and soul in this one, and I've found myself listening to Da Brats quite a bit over the past couple of days. A must for fans of Langley School, ESG, Roxanne Shante, early NYC hip-hop in general and the uncut honesty of the best kind of outsider art. [DH]

		$16.99 CD   JOYCE Visions of Dawn (Far Out) "Nacional Kid" "Banana" Brazilian singer/songwriter Joyce has been an Other Music favorite for many years, mostly thanks to her 1972 self-titled album with Nelson Angelo. I have to admit that I find that album a bit too sleepy for my own enjoyment -- it's lovely, but doesn't really excite me in the way it has my peers. It overjoyed me, then, to see this belated issue of a 1976 Parisian studio session with bassist/guitarist Mauricio Maestro and master percussionist Nana Vasconcelos hit the racks. Vasconcelos is a HUGE inspiration and a fave on my stereo, and his early records for the French Saravah label remain two of my favorite Brazilian albums ever. In fact, I'd be hard-pressed to say that I've heard anything recorded by Nana in the 1970s that I didn't wholeheartedly love. I'm psyched to say that this album, recorded perhaps at the height of all parties' respective powers, does NOT disappoint. The guitars bob, weave, and embroider the melodies delicately while Joyce sings in a gentle yet commanding voice; Nana, meanwhile, colors the tunes with his usual palette of subtle yet kinetic pulsations, with layers of shakers, triangles, onomatopoeic vocals, and samba drums encircling the arrangements, yet never overpowering them. The record works because it retains the steady bounce of samba while utilizing bossa's airy weightlessness and melding it with Nana's almost psychedelic, slightly avant flourishes. It also helps that the songs are all fantastic, including many that Joyce would go on to rerecord later. But to my ears, the versions here are clearly superior (and that's saying something considering how many wonderful records the woman has made), and the record overall retains a focus and energy that I found missing from her album with Angelo -- in fact, this sounds more than anything like a companion to Nana's second Saravah album, which was also a collaboration with Angelo! In a perfect world, I'd hear this music wafting out of speaker systems throughout the city everywhere I walked. Luckily, I've got headphones, and so do you. One of the year's best reissues -- absolutely essential Brazilian listening. [IQ]

		$13.99 CD $10.99 LP   THEE OH SEES Help (In the Red) "Ruby Go Home" "Soda St #1" Over the past few years, ex-Coachwhip (among many other bands) John Dwyer has slowly but surely worked a sublime transformation on his latest venture, turning the spry acoustic musings of OCS, into the full-throated rock stomps and shimmers of Thee Oh Sees. Nodding equally to classic garage and 60s pop, the band's last couple of records have found the foursome really coming into their own, channeling everything from the B-52s and the Cramps to the more modern strains of garage punk. Capturing the band at their most muscular and self-assured, Help presents twelve songs that are easily Thee Oh Sees' best works yet. Opening with the raucous strains of "Enemy Destruct," Dwyer and co. propel their way through layers of gnarled guitars and booming drums, re-imagining classic pop hooks with an updated swagger and punch. Brigid Dawson wraps her voice around John's for the insistent, hook-y thump of "Ruby Go Home," while "Meat Step Lively" abruptly shifts from raw-throated rocker to a flute-laced jam that, surprisingly, works really well. Elsewhere, the band gives the jangles and arching harmonies of "Go Meet the Seed" an extended workout, while the killer, reverb-drenched "Peanut Butter Oven" gets rescued from a long out-of-print Awesome Vistas 12" for the album closer. Better and better with each pass, Thee Oh Sees' latest should have anyone who's ever written this band off rethinking that decision post-haste. [MC]

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   EAT SKULL Wild and Inside (Siltbreeze) "Stick to the Formula" "Talkin' Bro in the Wall Blues" With their second album Wild and Inside, Portland, OR's Eat Skull advances to the very top of lo-fi's precarious pyramid, as they ever so slightly clean up their image in the service of better-realized pop music. The rousing violence of their two singles and debut album Sick to Death has mellowed into a refined appreciation for melody, waltz, and mood that distills the rowdy sing-a-longs of past efforts into a layered love letter to the '90s, by way of Further and Summer Hits records. If you still favor the rough edges, but wish that the end result was a little more than three chords and lyrics about being bored, maybe it's time to graduate to Eat Skull, perhaps the poppiest record ever released on Siltbreeze (and they did a Guided by Voices record). You'll still get the punk, but of far greater substance and with far more wisdom. Frontman Rob Enbom is on some sort of personal streak, between this, his work on the Hospital's Hairdryer Peace, and the new reissue of the tape he made with Times New Viking's Beth Murphy as Hole Class. These twelve songs breeze past, each leaving a unique impression, but overall with the feeling that if Dinosaur Jr would have toured New Zealand with the Clean back in the early '80s, such a sound could have been possible earlier in history. As such, we have it to enjoy now. [DM]

		$12.99 CD $11.99 LP   FRESH & ONLYS Debut (Castleface) "The Mind Is Happy" "I Saw Him" California is the coolest! First Thee Oh Sees ripper of an album on In the Red and then the amazing Eat Skull LP on Siltbreeze, and now the debut by Fresh & Onlys. A totally irresistible mix and a veritable hit parade of sun-bleached garage pop belters, skewed DIY psych punk, and even a few twee C-86 moments. So yeah, the best of all worlds, really. Kinda like seeing the Pastels, the Creation, and Thee Oh Sees all in the same night. We should be so lucky to have bands like this in New York. Look out for upcoming LPs on Captured Tracks and Woodsist, as well. [AK]

		$18.99 CD $9.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTISTS Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace (The Numero Group) "I've Got a Funny Feeling" Smart Brothers w/Baby Neal "Tell Her" Fred Williams & the Jewels Band Numero Group's ongoing Eccentric Soul series continues with this lovely selection of near-unheard gems circling Wichita's prime soul joint, Smart's Palace. As usual, the tracks picked are far from the jaunty sing-a-longs that have become the go-to for forty-somethings in need of a blast of their youth, but it's a testament to the dedication of the Numero staff that they keep seeking out such gems. As I've mentioned before, a lot of these joints were unheard and "lost" for a reason, but there are few duds present on this 19-track compilation, with each smudgy, shin-shaking groove giving us more conviction and wide-eyed satisfaction than anything you can find these days. First and foremost this is dance music, primed and loaded for a loud airing on the sweaty dance floor, but as always with Numero's aptly-titled Eccentric Soul series, there is something else going on here. There's something altogether off-kilter about these tracks; they're not outsider tunes (that would be a bit harsh), but their lack of the spit and polish of the Motor City set lends them an almost lo-fi charm. Just flick your mouse pointer over to Chocolate Snow's peculiarly loungey rendition of the Beatles' classic "A Day in the Life" -- it's barely recognizable when compared to the original, but keeps its head above water with a heavily saturated Rhodes and lazy, green-thumbed beat giving the track more swing than Lennon and McCartney ever had in their poor white bones. It's unlikely to win any new converts, but Numero followers should get clammy with excitement over this particular installment; Smart's Palace is definitely a highlight of the series so far. [JT]

		$15.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS School Me!, Vol. 1: 1968-1975 (Stage Band Research) "Fat Mama" Sam Houston High School Stage Band "Frakenstein" S.M. Dorsey High School Jazz Ensemble Ahh the stage band! "Required" entertainment at mandatory high school assemblies all over the U.S., I'm back in the auditorium being forced to listen to awkward performances of "Gonna Fly Now," "Vehicle" and "Birdland." Suffice it to say, ours was not very good, but any of the stage band's represented on this collection would've made my high school proud, and no doubt turned assembly out! Back in the day, many half-decent stage bands would fundraise money to release a vanity pressing of their music that was often sold locally. Of course, most of these records aren't very good, but the ones that are good, are great! The most famous example would be the Kashmere Stage Band operating out of Houston, Texas. These records are some of the best funk recordings of the region, the original copies go for thousands of dollars, and in 2006 Now-Again released a stellar comp of their best material. Over the past few years, a digging culture has evolved around collecting recordings of high school stage bands and college lab bands. DJ Shadow released a well-regarded comp of his faves of the genre called Schoolhouse Funk a year ago, but in my opinion School Me bests it. The collection focuses on the years of 68-75, because that era was when the high school stage band was the most relevant. At that time, horn ensembles like Kool & the Gang, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Earth, Wind & Fire, we're burning up the R&B and pop charts, while fusion groups like Weather Report and the Headhunters were selling millions of records. Highlights of the collection include a fiery rendition of "Frankenstein" by S.M. Dorsey High's Jazz Workshop from LA, and a ten-minute, slightly psychy rendition of "Come Together" by the Cerrito Jazz-Rock Ensemble. There's the stoned samba fusion of Humboldt County's College of the Redwood stage band's "The Family of Man," and the heavy funk of "Hummin'" by Lab Band, operating out of Morehouse College. I can't imagine the amount of time spent listening to hundreds of bad groups to find these gems, but I'm more than grateful that someone did it for me! Fans of Keb Darge, Daptone, Kool & the Gang, or any sort of horn-fueled funk should find a lot to like here. [DH]

		$12.99 CD   U.S. MUSIC U.S. Music with Funkadelic (Westbound) "This Broken Heart" "I Miss My Baby" Westbound strikes again! The infamous label responsible for introducing the masses to the Funkadelic sound took all of us by surprise just a few months back with their belated issue of the incredible Toys album of previously unheard studio jams from Clinton and company; now they deliver the knockout punch with this issue of the long lost US Music record, featuring lead vocals by Gary Shider and support by many of the core Funkadelic members. The best-known fruits of this project would be an edited version of "This Broken Heart" that appeared on Funkadelic's classic Cosmic Slop record, debuting here in its full-length glory. The US Music session saw the release of one sole 45, which is also included here in both the original released and unedited versions. On the whole, this is one hell of a record, filled with monstrous, psychedelic doo-wop and soul hysterics, fuzzed-out grooves, and rollicking funk bounce; it's wild but very tight, and in essence serves as the flipside to the Toys set. In fact, if you were to combine this set and the Toys record, you'd essentially have an amazing counterpart to the sprawling Funkadelic masterpiece America Eats Its Young. If you dug Toys but wanted more vocals, look no further. If you're a P-Funk fan, do the right thing. If you like your funk dirty, wild, and edgy... you know where this is going. So good! So buy it! [IQ]

		$14.99 CD $14.99 LP   CROCODILES Summer of Hate (Fat Possum) "Summer of Hate" "I Wanna Kill" Continuing the rich tradition of New Zealand indie rock, enter the fresh-faced boys, Crocodiles. Setting aside their promising shepherding careers, the lads released the "Neon Jesus" 7" last year which catapulted them into a frenzy of cult hype (read: it was bought by precisely 4.567 people), so after the usual incessant touring we are finally treated to a full-length record. Fans will be pleased to know that the band's love of Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen has not been over diluted, as from the woozy opening drone of "Screaming Chrome" we're launched into the echoing, distorted rattle-clank of "I Want to Kill." The bump-bump of a cheap drum machine plods fiercely alongside their blurred chords and indistinct vocals and you could almost forget it's 2009. Crocodiles might be joining the likes of Crystal Stilts et al. in trailing the current love of all things British, indie and over fifteen years old, but Crocodiles do it with such panache that it's hard not to fall for their crunchy sincerity. Summer of Hate is garage rock, but it's just that slight bit more "real" than so much of what's oozing from the lofts of Williamsburg right now; you get the feeling that rather than a last-gasp attempt for free blow and a tug behind the bodega, it's a love letter to music past. By the time the band trip-toe into more synthesized tracks such as the stand-out "Sleeping with the Lord," there are echoes of Spiritualized at their best (albeit rendered in blissfully lo-fidelity) and maybe it's just because this is my era, but it leaves me with a giant smile on my usually po-face. Short, sweet and incredibly enjoyable -- start hating. [JT]

		$15.99 CD $25.99 2xCD w/DVD   BOB DYLAN Together Through Life (Columbia) "I Feel a Change Comin' On" "If You Ever Go to Houston" I guess Bob Dylan must be nearing 70, with 40-plus years as one of the true icons of modern music -- and that is a career trajectory that is tough to maintain, to say the least; anybody wanna talk about the relevance of the last Stones record? Some hungry fans have tried to liken Dylan's recent string of remarkably solid releases to those of his heyday, but you can bet that they still scream for "All Along the Watchtower" at the shows, not that good single from Modern Times; what was it called again? But that is nitpicking, because nobody is making records like this guy used to, not the various "new Dylans" out there, not the new actual Dylan either, and that's just a fact of real modern times. Even the best music cannot transform this jaded world; if Dylan himself released a dubstep album today, it would surely get a lot of ink, but ultimately have little impact compared to when he went electric. But again, nitpicking. Together Through Life is a lovely and thoroughly enjoyable album from an artist who will never rest on his laurels or be satisfied being a touring jukebox performing dusty hits for the masses. But his creative impulses are a bit more comfortable these days embracing their own comfort, and the new album looks back on music that clearly shaped much of Dylan's own youth, from artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and the rest of the Chess and Sun Records catalogs. Warm, swaggering blues riffs dominate, with rich guitar and fat Hammond organ from Bob, snaky lead guitar and sweet mandolin refrains from Mike Campbell (of the Heartbreakers), and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo's swooning accordion setting the tone. There is some intriguing religious imagery for the fans to dissect, and funny street-talk swagger on "It's All Good," but more than anything, Dylan uses the sexuality of the blues to explore life's deeper questions. Maybe not the game changing poetry of his younger days, but the man can still turn a phrase, and we will always have an ear for him. [JM]

		$14.99 CD   SUN RA Featuring Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold (ESP Disk) "The Voice of Pan" "The Now Tomorrow" Courtesy of the boomers' abiding Beatles-n-Stones obsessions, the British Invasion is cultural shorthand well beyond the hip precincts of rock snobbery. However, the far more important cultural revolution that transformed the 20th century -- particularly the postwar era of electric blues so lucrative for the likes of the Glimmer Twins -- is far less ratified and examined: the African Invasion. This movement's late modern period came into full flower with the 1950s vanguard fusion of vital Ghanaian modernist Guy Warren, but the homegrown visionary represented on this New Year's Eve 1964 disc -- Sun Ra -- came from this side of the Black Atlantic. Straight outta the Dirty South (Bombingham, to be exact) or from "El Saturn"? That is the question when considering the Afronaut Artist Formerly Known As Sonny Blount and this disc featuring free jazz luminary Pharoah Sanders (subbing for tenor saxophonist John Gilmore who'd decamped for touring with Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers) and such Arkestra mainstays as Marshall Allen, Jimmhi Johnson, Ronnie Boykins, and standout flautist Black Harold (Harold Murray). The sonic innovations of this date, an outgrowth of the October Revolution in Jazz of late '64, certainly presage the subsequent three decades of Afro-Alien aural theory soon to be re-contextualized by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Mills, and Mr. Ra's fellow Dixie-fried fusioneer George Clinton. But how much of the beat science and mystical knockings on display on compositions herein (such as "Gods on a Safari" and "Dawn Over Israel") derives from the folk culture of a South then still resistant to the dominance of machines yet well-acquainted with the awesome power of electric guitar evangelism or to interstellar funk accessed from bouts of star-walking? Spend your season in headphone sessions with this collection reclaimed from the latter-day sun king's vast astral archives and perhaps you might find out. [KCH]

		$17.99 CDx2   TOSCA No Hassle (K7) It's been 15 years since Tosca's smooth ambient dub first caused ripples in the dance music underground (and stormed the sound systems of upscale clothing boutiques and cafes everywhere), and five albums later, they are still crafting the ultimate in laidback, No Hassle grooves. This new one steps back a bit from the duo's more pop-oriented work; it's just as melodic, but the vocals are gone, and the song structures are a bit looser, making the album more of an hour-long journey than a suite of songs. Initial CD pressing comes with bonus live disc.

		$13.99 CD $14.99 LPx2 w/MP3   KING KHAN & THE SHRINES What Is?! (Vice Records) "Take a Little Bit" "I Wanna Be a Girl" King Khan has churned out great rock n roll records for more than a decade now and What Is?! is no exception. In this incarnation, Khan is backed by an incredible eight-piece band, with a full brass section, and makes like Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Stones, the Stooges, Jacques Dutronc, Johnny Thunders, Dylan, and Sun Ra (don't doubt until you hear "Cosmic Serenade"), all in the space of one album. One of the key things that makes What Is?! such an amazing record is the production. It's so authentically 60s sounding, it'll have you fooled, the way it drips with practice space sweat, raw soul power, and snotty punk attitude. And then there's the raspy howl of Khan. The way he preaches and confesses like a man possessed, or James Brown raised on Nuggets and Pebbles, is totally irresistible. If you do not love this record, you are sick of rock n roll. [AK]

		$17.99 CD   DUNCAN BROWNE Give Me Take You - With Bonus Tracks (Grapefruit/C) "Ninepence Worth of Walking" "Give Me Take You (Rehearsal)" Originally released on Immediate Records (Small Faces, Billy Nichols, the Nice) in 1968, Duncan Browne's folk/baroque masterpiece has been neglected for over forty years. Comparable in scope and quality to work done by contemporaries such as the Zombies, the Kinks, or the Left Banke, Browne's record is a delicate, softly-stated collection of exquisite story songs enhanced by tastefully lush production. Harps, woodwinds, subtle psychedelic studio trickery (courtesy of Immediate producer Andrew Loog Oldham), and Browne's own low-key guitar finger-picking give the record a distinctly melancholy vibe. Give Me, Take You would make a wonderful Sunday morning companion to Nick Drake's Bryter Layter. This newly issued version tacks on five bonus tracks (culled from Browne's early-'70s sessions for the Bell label) not included on the previous reissue from 2000. [MK]

		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 [MC] Michael Crumsho [DH] Duane Harriott [KCH] Kandia Crazy Horse [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [AK] Andreas Knutsen [JM] Josh Madell [DM] Doug Mosurock [[JS] Jeremy Sponder [JTr] Jonathan Treneff [JT] John Twells THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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