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Free Song Download of "Fangela," one of the many highlights from the self-titled album debut of Here We Go Magic, the nom de plume of Brooklyn singer/songwriter Luke Temple. (Full-length album also available on Other Music Digital.) Recorded on a cassette 4-track, there's a mysterious, otherworldly quality to his songs, as layers of Temple's gorgeous, introspective melodies and effervescent guitar are enshrouded in hypnotic poly-rhythms, analog synths, and an overall warm, underwater ambience. An album that channels influences like Byrne/Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and Paul Simon's Graceland, with some occasional instrumental ventures into cosmic, Krautrock territory. Very recommended! This Week's Featured Downloads
In all my years of working on the floor at Other Music, I've probably heard Black Monk Time spun on the shop's stereo more than any other record. I've also read dozens of essays on the Monks and their biography, as well as listening to many customers asserting that they were the "first punk band," the "first post-punk band," "Dadaist bubblegum pop," "modal jazz, not rock-n-roll," and "better than the Velvet Underground, Beatles, Stones and God." With only a quick a Google search you can find numerous accounts documenting the amazing story of this group, but here's a quick summary: In 1964, five American GIs stationed in Germany formed a beat band. After their stint in the military ended, they stayed in that country, donned monastic threads and haircuts, and released one sexy, distortion-drenched cave-stomp of a record that predated the reductionist, amphetamine-fueled Raw Power, Kick Out the Jams and WhiteLight/White Heat by a good three-or-so years. But garnering only a small bit of fame in Germany and with nary a US release or contract in sight, they broke up two-and-a-half years later. The remarkable thing about Black Monk Time is, well...everything! The Monks delivered a primitive one-two percussive stomp, accented by fuzzed-out basslines that were most of their songs' only melodies. The lead guitar was there only to deliver heavily distorted shreds of noise while two rhythm guitars -- one actually supplied by an over-amplified banjo -- and ghostly organ passages pushed these tunes forward like a freight train. And then there are the vocals! Singer/guitarist Gary Burger yelps and squeals about "hating you with a passion," "Pussy Galore comin' down" and Viet Cong killings, all with a crazy intensity not typical of the era. But this ain't heavy...this is good time, high five-ing rock-n-roll of the highest order. For the past 44 years, Black Monk Time has only gained more and more acclaim and continues to subversively influence modern music. Even after all these years of hearing these tunes blaring from the shop stereo, it's still an astounding listen. Also available, The Early Years, a collection of Monks demos -- a great document of the musical evolution of one of rock-n-roll's most important bands. -Duane Harriott
Taken from Tim Hecker's performance at Sweden's Norberg festival, this EP sees the Candian producer doing exactly what he does best. Over twenty minutes, he condenses his esteemed output for mass consumption allowing the thick harmonic noise and stray shortwave broadcasts to drift into a blur of beauty. His releases may have become slowly more ambient over the years but Norberg catches him at his noisy, blissful best and features discernible elements from his career-high Mirages disc. Chunky sampled guitars are buried beneath layer upon layer of static and synthesizer to create a sound that can truly only be his own. It might be short, but what Hecker lacks in length he more than makes up for in quality. Worth every penny. -John Twells
It shouldn't be surprising that so many 'ambient' artists have drifted into a nocturnal subgenre. The music almost invites heavy eyelids and moonlight through a crack in the curtains with its bubbling synthesized drones and lilting harmonies. DJ Olive is the latest avant experimentalist to carve out a record devoted to the midnight hours and the imaginatively titled Sleep is possibly his best to date. Made up of a single fifty-minute long piece, Sleep does exactly what it says on the tin, lulling the listener into a deep and peaceful slumber with its calming collection of lower-case drones and tempered field recordings. Like Stars of the Lid through a thick concrete wall or Philip Jeck on downers, the result is impossibly inviting, whether to sleep to or to listen to intently. I've found it best suited to air travel where you can allow the music to push you out of the conscious world into a place of awareness though without feeling. It is a place where you can ignore everything around you and concentrate solely on the music itself, drifting in and out of daydreams to a state of almost lucid control. DJ Olive's cooling tones soundtrack these feelings with a knowing elegance, and you begin to understand how living in the city (New York in Olive's case) makes this music indispensable. Switching off has rarely been so exciting, or important. -John Twells
Sliding out as part of Room 40's limited EP series, Track 4 is a beautifully understated piece from Boston-based electronics expert Keith Fullerton Whitman. Keith might be best known for his work on the Kranky label or possibly for single-handedly running one of the most consistently beguiling record stores in the world, but there's a world of lesser known releases out there -- this gem being one of them. Released to coincide with an Australian tour, the track has been composed to play exactly the same backwards as it is forwards. Now I'm not entirely sure of the relevance of this but I just had to test it out, and it's true. So the theory's there, but this isn't just a static drone and typically for Whitman, it's anything but boring. Those who are familiar with Multiples and Playthroughs will know the man's innate ability to inject the most unassuming sounds with a vibrancy and humanity rarely heard in the genre. Electronic droplets of sound dribble across shards of dense drone resulting in a hugely enjoyable twenty-minute journey. You won't want it to end. -John Twells
I sometimes play a game with the nerdiest of my music nerd friends that we call The Six Degrees of Eumir Deodato. Like connecting the dots with Kevin Bacon in film, this Brazilian-born producer/arranger seems to have worked with every single musician/producer on the Planet. I mean, not only did he sit behind the board for Kool & the Gang's "Celebration," but he's also produced hits for Frank Sinatra, Bjork and Lupe Fiasco, for crissakes! In any case, this album precedes all of that work. Around the time of this recording, Deodato was already a noted pianist and arranger within Brazil's bossa nova scene, but by the early '70s he had relocated to New York to escape the dictatorship of his country. Immediately influenced by his surroundings, Deodato started to throw a meatier jazz-funk flavor to his bossa recordings. Heavier backbeats and a cleaner, brassier style of horn and woodwind arrangements were added to the proceedings, not to mention a subtle NYC boogaloo-style swing to the groove. Tracks such as album opener "Arranha Ceu," "Flap" and "Menina" are bright, up-tempo burners boasting Technicolor brass arrangements on par with Lalo Schifrin, and some impressive Hammond work from Deodato himself. Big, cinematic and expansive but very, very funky, the record still retains a distinctively Brazilian feel throughout. Less than a year later he would record the jazz-funk-fusion milestone Prelude, which would contain his biggest hit, a reworking of "Also Sprach Zarathrusta" (a/k/a the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey). From there Deodato would release killer forays into disco, funk and classical, and produce a slew of artists like the aforementioned, but Os Catedráticos 73 has always been one of my favorites. If you dig on the funkier side of Brazilian music, Johnny Hammond, Henry Mancini, Schifrin and the like, this comes recommended. -Duane Harriott
As far as boogaloo collections go, you're not going to get a bigger bang for your buck than this one. Featuring a great mix of staple bandleaders and lesser knowns, there's something here for both aficionados and those who are just now getting bitten by the boogaloo bug. Kicking off with the Queen of Latin Soul, La Lupe's spirited cover of "Fever" sets the tone for the next 15 tracks that follow -- 50 minutes of joyous call-and-response sing-a-longs, rollicking piano and horns, handclaps and groovy rhythms. No boogaloo record collection is complete without cuts like the vibe-filled "Gimme Some Love" by Joe Cuba Sextet; hard hands conga king Ray Barretto's "Mercy Mercy Baby;" Eddie Palmieri's "Ay Que Rico" (the song title says it all!); Joey Pastrana's breakthrough "King of Latin Soul;" and an early recording from famed Fania All-Stars bassist Bobby Valentin (playing the trumpet here), delivering his funky ode to halitosis, "Bad Breath." The all-but-forgotten cuts are equal highlights, including the swinging instrumental "Morris Park" taken from bandleader Lenni Sesar's one and only album, and Puerto Rican trumpet player Ralph Robles' "Come and Get It." A few personal faves: Dave Cortez and the Moon People's funky horn and organ groover "Happy Soul with a Hook" (which lifts the rhythm of Archie Bell's "Tighten Up"); King Nando's hard-to-find mod-soul stomper "Mama's Girl;" and another incredible slice of Latin soul, George Guzman's "Marilu," produced by Fania great Harvey Averne (whose own "You're No Good" has been an Other Music staff favorite for years, via Terry Riley's infamous spliced and diced twenty-minute re-working -- not included here). Some shing-a-ling to get you ready for the spring! -Gerald Hammill
Out of all the records in Sun Ra's lengthy and expansive catalog, this little gem called The Night of the Purple Moon is one of my favorites. Along with his Astro-Infinity Arkestra, Ra not only flexes some serious skills behind the pen as a composer, but also behind the release's featured instrument, the Roksichord keyboard, along with two Mini Moogs. This set finds him in a bright and upbeat mood, with no end of the world assertions or tidal waves of joyful noise, just some nice bluesy instrumentals including the classic "Love in Outer Space." Of course, main sidemen John Gilmore and Marshall Allen are in place, yet their presence is subtle, and the main focus throughout seems to be the drums, percussion, and the keyboards. A wonderful listen, transfers were taken from an unplayed LP, so the occasional crackle (but never a pop) of the vinyl gives the songs a warm and worn feel. But the creme de la creme of this reissue is the inclusion of three previously unheard Wurlitzer solos, where Ra produces amazing celestial tones and what sounds to be a small African ensemble of whistles, bells, chimes, xylophones, and woodblocks -- incredible that it's just one man and his synth. Great music and a wonderfully pleasing listening experience, this is Ra displaying his softer, gentler side, with a bit of bluesy funk thrown in. One of the godfathers of the funky avant-garde, The Night of the Purple Moon shows the connection to current music makers such as Madlib and his Yesterday's New Quintet projects. I can only hope that Sun Ra, J Dilla, and Max Roach, are jamming somewhere beyond the horizon, trading secrets and playing to the heavens. -Daniel Givens
Masterful reissue of a handful of vintage 78rpm recordings from Ustad Bismillah Khan, really one of the true titans of 20th century Indian classical music. If you love Pandit Pran Nath, and the connections to be made between raga and La Monte Young styled minimalism, then this is the next place to turn, as Bismillah Khan truly created some of the deepest and droniest ragas we've ever heard. Ustad Bismillah Khan's name is rightfully synonymous with the shehnai, a quadruple-reed instrument of Persian origin which is commonly heard in North Indian weddings and hailed for possessing auspicious qualities, such as the eerie way in which it can be used to mimic a soaring voice and produce mind-melting harmonic overtones. Khan has been an emblematic symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in a post-Independence India, as he was a devout Shi'a Muslim who chose to live his life in the holy Hindu city Varanasi, playing his shehnai outside of temples along the banks of the Ganges. The highly emotive, reflective, hypnotic and sublime qualities of the shehnai are captured here by the man who secured its status as a prestigious classical instrument, playing it for more than eight decades with a heartfelt dedication and precision. - Jo Colagiacomi
LTM reissues a long-unavailable 1981 LP by British composer Gavin Bryars in remastered form and with two brilliant period bonus tracks. Originally released on Les Disques Du Crepuscule and produced by composer Wim Mertens (himself a Crepuscule alum at this point), Hommages is an important piece of Bryars's creative puzzle in that it represents a transition from his early experimental works (released on Brian Eno's Obscure label and more recently in compilation on New World Records) towards his more ambitious works like Medea and After the Requiem. It consisted originally of four extended pieces, each written in homage to a particular composer's influential style -- opener "My First Homage" was a tribute, for instance, to pianist Bill Evans. Written and recorded during a period during which Bryars digested a heavy diet of Satie and Raymond Roussel, each piece here -- performed by small ensembles often including the composer -- drips with the same dark, exquisite beauty, but also displays a playfulness that early works like "Jesus's Blood Never Failed Me Yet" and "The Sinking of the Titanic" certainly lacked with their density and heavily emotional subject matter. The bonus cuts are equally wonderful, too --- "Out of Zaleski's Gazebo," for 2 pianos and 6 or 8 hands, is perhaps the most forceful and certainly the most overtly "minimalist" composition Byrars had written up 'til then; "Danse Dieppoise," for piano, vibes, tuba, and baritone horn, is Bryars's most Roussel-inspired piece and even quotes a bit of Debussy's "La Mer" at one point... it's fabulous, soothing, and simply gorgeous, just like the rest of the record. These recordings certainly would have fit the sound and concept of Obscure's mentality, but Crepuscule seems a logical and fitting choice to have released this originally -- the mellow, cool sensuality and minor flirtations with minimalism in Bryars' arrangements for pianos, vibes, and low brass instruments certainly match the Crepuscule aesthetic nicely, and had a stylistic sister in producer Mertens' project of the time, Soft Verdict. Fans of Eno's early Ambient series of recordings (particularly Discreet Music and Music for Airports), fans of recent releases by the likes of Hauschka and Goldmund, and of course, fans of Bryars himself would be wise to check this out. - Mikey IQ Jones
Between 1982 and 1985, the individual members of New Order produced and re-mixed a slew of bands and artists, always using the production tag Be Music. A majority of the songs in this collection were recorded during the group's most creative era -- roughly between the release of "Blue Monday" and Low Life -- and predominantly released on the Factory and Factory Benelux labels. The 12 tracks here are focused on Be Music's dance productions and include the necessary club classics like Section 25's electro-pulse driven "Looking from a Hilltop," Quando Quango's funky "Love Tempo," and 52nd Street's "Cool as Ice." (The latter is more than a stylistic nod to NYC's then burgeoning dance scene; "Cool as Ice" would go on to be re-mixed by Madonna's ex-boyfriend 'Jellybean' Benitez.) As far as dance chart successes, Bernard Sumner (who often worked in tandem with A Certain Ratio's Donald 'Dojo' Johnson) seems to have his hand on the most; however, many of the collection's memorable tracks come from the other members. Thick Pigeon's "Babcock + Wilcox," produced by Steve Morris and Gillian Gilbert, doesn't exactly qualify as death disco, but its dissonance and warbled organ is haunting. Peter Hook lays a Moroder-esque gloss on Nyam Nyam's "Face/Hate," which also includes his signature, ringing bass guitar lead. Listening to the various productions, you can also pick out similar sounds and techniques that the band themselves would employ. Paul Haig's "The Only Truth" could connect the dots between New Order's "Temptation," "Confusion" and their Low Life album, as electro beats thump against jangly guitars and melodic synth-string melodies. Also included is Marcel King's "Reach for Love" (which the Happy Monday's Shawn Ryder would later proclaim as his favorite Factory release), and the Hook-produced Be Music "Theme." Clocking in at over 70-minutes, Cool as Ice stands as a necessary compilation for those wishing to explore Manchester's very important contribution to dance music, and an amazing and often overlooked facet of one of the '80s' most influential bands. -Gerald Hammill
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