July 2, 2009

		$14.99 CD w/Ticket $9.99 MP3 w/Ticket   TORTOISE'S NEW ALBUM COMES WITH IN-STORE PERFORMANCE TICKET Tortoise will be performing at Other Music on July 18th at 9PM, in support of their first new album in five years, Beacons of Ancestorship. It's a great record and needless to say we're thrilled to be hosting an in-store with one of the best live acts we know, and we're sure many of you will be just as excited to catch such an intimate performance from the band. The price of admission is the purchase of their new album from us in any format, 1 ticket per purchase, limit 2 purchases per person. We've only got a handful of tickets remaining, so grab one while you can.

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Richard Youngs (Limited 7") Wilco Total-Pop (Limited LP) Famous L. Renfroe Designer Records Presents Together Theo Angell God Help the Girl Olatunji (50th Anniversary Edition) Sol Hoopii Sudeten Creche Dinosaur Jr. Loop (2 Reissues) Legends of Benin (Various)   The World Is Shaking (Various) Love Is All The Metros ALSO AVAILABLE Deastro Moby The Bats Ada (Mix CD) BACK IN STOCK Bernard Bonnier Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/othermusic

		JULY Sun 28 Mon 29 Tues 30 Wed 01 Thurs 02 Fri 03 Sat 04   WIN BUNKER TICKETS FEAT: MARCEL DETTMANN This Friday, the Bunker crew welcomes back one of the best techno DJs in the world, Marcell Dettmann (Berghain, Ostgut, MDR). A resident at the famous Berghain in Berlin, Dettmann's set at the Bunker last January was unforgettable and we expect Friday's appearance to be just as spectacular. Also appearing is fellow Berghain resident Marcel Fengler (Berghain, Ostgut) and of course, Spinoza, while Move D, Anthony Parasole and Eric Cloutier will be rocking the front room. Other Music has two pairs of tickets up for grabs. To enter, email contest@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners this Friday, July 3rd. FRIDAY, JULY 3 THE BUNKER @ PUBLIC ASSEMBLY: North 6th Street (between Wythe and Kent) Williamsburg, Brooklyn $10 before midnight / $20 afterwards

		JULY Sun 05 Mon 06 Tues 07 Wed 08 Thurs 09 Fri 10 Sat 11   WIN SUNDAY BEST TICKETS FEATURING LOSOUL Sunday afternoon's barbecue meets dance party is going strong, and this week residents Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin and Doug Singer are welcoming Playhouse all-star Losoul, who'll be bringing his soulful beats to the BLKN Yard. We're giving away two pairs of passes to this weekend's edition of Sunday Best and you can enter by emailing giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners this Friday. SUNDAY, JULY 5 THE YARD: 388-400 Carroll Street Brooklyn 3PM-9PM $10 cover advance / $8 before 4PM with RSVP RAIN LOCATION: The Bell House (round the corner -- 149 7th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues).

		JULY Sun 12 Mon 13 Tues 14 Wed 15 Thurs 16 Fri 17 Sat 18 Photo By Phil Knott   WIN TICKETS TO STELLASTARR* On Thursday, July 16th, Brooklyn's own stellastarr* will be celebrating the release of their new album, Civilized (out Tuesday, July 7th) at the Highline Ballroom. The group will be joined by special guests Wild Light and the Postmarks, making this a must see indie-rock show. To enter for a pair of passes, send an email to: tickets@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners on Monday, July 13th. THURSDAY, JULY 16 HIGHLINE BALLROOM: 431 W 16th Street NYC Doors open at 7PM / Concert starts at 8PM Tickets $18 advance / $20 day of show

		$24.99 45   RICHARD YOUNGS Sleep Deprivation (Five Minute Association) The new lathe cut vinyl label Five Minute Association, based in Northern Ireland, delivers a visually and aurally arresting 7" from Richard Youngs. Limited to 100 copies, clear vinyl with no center label (side A is distinguishable only by feeling a small notch near the center hole), packaged in a cardboard sleeve with four silkscreened cards, all in a fitted burlap sack (!) with a screened belly band. It's a concept single on sleep deprivation, the tracks, "no recovery" and "you don't" recorded in late 2006, filtering and ring modulating sound waves, and may well keep you up nights, especially if you sleep on grabbing these ultra-limited art pieces. [JM]

		$17.99 CD $23.99 180 Gram LP w/CD   WILCO Wilco - The Album (Nonesuch) "Wilco the Song" "Deeper Down" The recent death of Jay Bennett, the multi-instrumentalist who was such a huge part of what made Wilco's breakthrough Yankee Hotel Foxtrot what it is today (and promptly fell out with bandleader Jeff Tweedy, and was fired), makes the release of Wilco (the album) a bittersweet one. Sweet, because this is technically the best that the band has ever been -- every arrangement is locked down tighter than Glenn Kotche's snare drum. But it's also bitter, because the songs don't unspool -- like they did on YHF -- into a beautiful, painful scroll of emotion and texture. Frankly, the more distance the band puts between them and their 2002 masterpiece makes YHF seem like somewhat of a fluke, and it's tough not to feel that the dismissal of the (late) firecracker Bennett also removed the sparks of spontaneity that made the sum of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot greater than its parts. That's not to imply that Jeff Tweedy and company have made a bad record -- far, far from it. Wilco (the album) is the band's portrait, to be hung above the mantel of their luxurious Chicago rehearsal loft. First, there's that ass-kicker of a theme song, a real anthem that I imagine will be the cathartic opener to every upcoming Wilco show this summer. The following track, "Deeper Down," is lush and tense at the same time, with Kotche's skittery percussion keeping the listener from bedding down and getting comfortable -- a sort of musical rendering of the group's transition from YHF to A Ghost Is Born. And then there's "Bull Black Nova," a nervy song that refuses to let up until guitarist Nels Cline says so with a fuzzy feedback explosion that spits shards of Krautrock in every direction. Wilco (the album) is an exceptional pop record with frequent flashes of brilliance that shine because of the musical proficiency of its members and the croaky strangeness of Jeff Tweedy's quiet, dark poetry. This is an album of good to great songs (including the duet with Feist on "You and I" and the Stax-y soul groove of "I'll Fight") and once again reaffirms the fact that Wilco is an excellent band that can make anything sound damn near perfect. And if you're in the mood for a loving pop song from one of the last real American rock and roll bands, well, Wilco will love you too, baby (check out their new theme song and you'll know just what I mean). [MS]

		$16.99 LP   VARIOUS ARTISTS Total-Pop Volume 1 (Total Pop) It's been a while since there has been a good compilation in the Killed By Death / Bloodstains realm, but that drought is definitely over with Total-Pop Volume 1. The subject of Sweden's seemingly disproportionate output of HIGH QUALITY punk rock records has been written about at length so I won't go into it here, but I will say that even after three volumes of Bloodstains Across Sweden it is obvious that the well is still overflowing with punk, power-pop and mod-pop nuggets, as the fourteen tracks here haven't shown up on any previous comps. Only the most severely damaged Termbo, KBD, Collector Scum aficionados will recognize many of these bands (HS Art, Badboll, Knugens Haf, Tant Brun, Vertex etc.) but before long you'll be adding them to your want lists. All but two tracks are sung in the mother tongue, but these songs are so catchy that you'll be doing some hooked on phonics sing-a-longs by the second listen. Nice, crude silk-screened sleeves in a variety of color combos and numbered in an ultima-hyper limited edition of 333, so don't delay as this one will soon be long gone. [DMa]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   FAMOUS L. RENFROE Children (Fat Possum / Big Legal Mess) "Believe" "Reaching" This actually came out last year, but it has got to be the most slept on reissue in recent memory, as I looked around online and it seems to have been barely reviewed. I only just discovered it somewhat serendipitously, but rest assured it would have made my top ten of the year had I been fortunate enough to notice at the time of its release. Gospel/soul singer Famous L. Renfroe privately released his lone album in 1969 before apparently disappearing into the mists of history, as there is not a shred of biographical evidence available about this man. Regardless, Renfroe found a killer balance between the low-down and dirgeful, and the ebulliently joyful, all while managing the remarkable feat of performing nearly everything on here himself, excepting the drums, but including all the parts of the vocal harmonies! The results are totally loosey-goosey, just slightly off-kilter and out of whack in the perfect way, but never less than devastatingly soulful. It's almost as if he set out to make a D.I.Y. version of a Stax gospel album, and I don't know about you, but that's exactly the kind of thing I want to hear right now! If you dig those Mississippi records gospel comps you absolutely owe it to yourself to pick this up, as this is just a perfect gem of little record that I can't recommend highly enough. [MK]

		$13.99 LP   VARIOUS ARTISTS Designer Records Presents Together (Big Legal Mess) By most reckonings, the Designer label of Memphis, Tennessee, has the distinction of being the most prolific gospel outlet of the 1970s, no doubt due to the novel and brilliant business plan co-owners Charles Bowen and Style Wooten (who also served as producer) adopted for it. While a portion of the label was comprised of signed acts, the majority of it was devoted to its "vanity" operation. As ads placed in Memphis newspapers explained, "for $425 you can become a star." That price bought aspiring gospel groups studio recordings of two of their songs, which were then pressed on five hundred 45s. Literally hundreds of groups took Designer up on their offer, and between 1968 and 1978 the label released some 700 singles (and a few dozen LPs). Wooten retained the rights to these recordings, which, in turn, the Big Legal Mess label has recently acquired and will be reissuing over the next several years. Designer Records Presents Together is the inaugural re-release of material from this massive catalog -- in fact it's a reissue of one of the few LPs Designer released -- and if things keep going like this, we're in for a hell of a treat. What's interesting about the LP, apart from many killer performances, is that nearly 40 years later it's not at all aurally obvious which of the groups were getting paid and which were paying to be on the label. Memphis' professional Jubilee Hummingbirds, who recorded for a number of labels besides Designer -- including the Stax gospel imprint Chalice -- begin the record with Rev. Al Banks' smoking "Will the Lord Be with Me." They're followed by the Union Gospel Singers, an amateur, multi-generational group whose three songs here constitute their entire recorded output, and whose version of "Jesus on the Mainline" is one of the most stirring you're likely to hear anywhere. The story's the same on the B side, where it moves from the near-hilarious (the Rev. Harold Guss' campy vocal on "Nobody Could Do It") to the near-sublime (Irene Mosby and Mosby Family Singers' "Eternal Life"), before it ends with the adolescent warble of Irene Mosby on "The Life I Enjoy (Jesus Gave to Me)." This is a limited LP so act fast, and be prepared that there's a lot -- A LOT -- more where this came from. [NS]

		$16.99 CD $9.99 MP3   THEO ANGELL Tenebrae (Amish) "A Crime from the Vine" "Never Heard That Baby Cry" New work from Theo Angell (Jackie O' Motherfucker, Hall of Fame) is always welcome around these parts. Drawing inspiration from old time blues gospel and Appalachian folk, Tenebrae conjures memories of Little Wings or early M. Ward, with Angell navigating his enchanting tales through a hazy, modern filter. His spellbinding voice overwhelmed me at a Cakeshop date last fall, and this album captures his wide range exquisitely -- for moments Angell conjures David Crosby, hides behind Woods-like falsettos, and steps ahead like an understated Devendra Banhart. With this set, he divides his time between the guitar, banjo, and a touch of piano, his foggy traditional structures embellished with ingenious touches of ambience and percussion. Songs on the album range from near-flamenco instrumentals to hymns, dirges, and traditional tunes, and find a wonderful niche somewhere between Scott Tuma's brand of sparse Americana and Animal Collective, circa Campfire Songs. Plenty here for a very wide range of listeners, this record is not to be overlooked. [BCa]

		$13.99 CD   GOD HELP THE GIRL God Help the Girl (Matador) "A Down and Dusky Blonde" "Perfection As a Helper" I try to keep these reviews as impartially informative as possible, having been thoroughly worn out over the years by record reviewers (and record store clerks for that matter) who think I care how an album makes them feel, as opposed to how it might make me feel, or more specifically, if I'll like it. The question here, with this new project from Belle and Sebastian main-man Stuart Murdoch, is if Belle and Sebastian fans will like it, and the answer is, I'm not entirely sure. This is not a new B&S album, and in fact, Murdoch admittedly launched this band (or "project" would be more accurate, as the lineup is largely the same as in his other group, and by some accounts this record is actually a soundtrack for a forthcoming film of the same name) as a forum for new songs he was writing that he couldn't seem to fit into Belle and Sebastian. The first thing that most will note, with some sadness, is that Murdoch shies away from the mic here on all but a couple of tracks. That is largely the point, working with a whole mess of singers to realize songs that he could not hear himself voicing. There is in fact another lead singer here, the silky and soulfully voiced Catherine Ireton, who handles primary vocal duties on most of the songs, along with appearances on occasional leads and regular back-ups from Smoosh's Asya, the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, B&S's own Stevie Jackson, and a couple of young women chosen from a competition Murdoch ran online. Why exactly these songs were not deemed appropriate for the main band is not entirely clear to me, but this is definitely not the swaggering rock and roll of B&S's last album, 2006's The Life Pursuit (despite featuring great orch-pop remakes of a couple of songs from that record). It hearkens back to the sound of the group's earlier albums, but in the end it's a lushly orchestrated, swinging pop record that uses Murdoch's evocative storytelling and rich sense of melody to explore the sounds of classic 60s girl-groups, musicals, and indelible pop from the 60s, 70s and 80s. As you might imagine, the production is immaculate, the orchestral arrangements, by B&S trumpeter Mick Cooke, are often breathtaking, and the rambling storyline, about a young girl's struggles to find herself and her place in the world, is heartfelt, emotional, and wonderfully hard to decipher at times. This is not a new Belle and Sebastian album, nor is it a Stuart Murdoch solo album. It's not an easy fit in any genre, nor a surefire hit with B&S fans, who (you must admit) can be awfully precious about this sort of stuff. But it's a great album for sure, and if you care, I like it a lot. [JM]

		$23.99 CDx2   OLATUNJI Drums of Passion: 50th Anniversary Edition (Sony) "Akiwowo" "Mbira" Oh man, I have only two words to describe this deluxe reissue of Olatunji's Drums of Passion: beautiful and essential. Released in 1959, this album is widely regarded as the first long-playing record of "world music" ever recorded in America on a major record label. The LP features Nigerian percussionist Olatunji, then studying in the US as a political science student in New York City, arranging Nigerian folk tunes for a percussion quartet and a sextet of vocalists with staggering, powerful results. The album would go on to influence countless musicians, including Carlos Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Coltrane, and even Serge Gainsbourg, all of whom went on to either cover or adapt some of the tunes recorded, or to play with the man himself. After 50(!) years, the album loses none of its power; stunningly produced, the arrangements are lean, efficient, and effective, and best of all, both the rhythms and chants are catchy, hypnotizing, and infectious. While it may sound hyperbolic, it's an album everyone should hear at least once before they die -- it's that good and that important. If that weren't enough to recommend the set already, disc two includes for the first time on CD, 1966's More Drums of Passion, produced by master jazz producer and composer Teo Macero, and featuring nine percussionists and about as many vocalists. On More Drums, Olatunji stretches the jams out further; the arrangements grow more complex as do the chants, and the instrumental palette, while remaining on the percussive tip, expands to include mbiras and bells along with shekeres and hand drums, widening the range of timbres greatly. While perhaps not as immediately striking as the previous album, it has been long overdue for reissue and still holds up as a totally engrossing follow-up worthy on its own merits. But wait, there's still more. Each disc also includes a set of bonus tracks, eight in total, produced by John Hammond and featuring the group augmented by a horn section and a jazz drummer, bringing a reciprocating Coltrane influence back into the fold and a different vibe to the proceedings. In essence, you're getting three rock-solid sessions of staggering African magic, every bit as powerful now as ever. If that doesn't make this the Afro Jam of the Week, I don't know what the hell does. You know what to do! [IQ]

		$13.99 CD   SOL HOOPII Classic Hawaiian Steel Guitar Performances: 1933-34 (Origin Jazz) "Aloha Beloved" "My Hawaiian Queen" If songs in the 1920s and '30s didn't tell a story or weren't danceable, they were often classified as "novelty." If they were sort-of-but-not-entirely "ethnic," they too might get slapped with the "novelty" tag. Now the idea of novelty song brings to mind Dr. Demento, but though the Hawaiian Sol Hoopii, accompanied by his Novelty Trio (later Novelty Quartette), did sing some funny material, it's Hoopii's synthesis of jazz, ragtime, blues, Tin Pan Alley, and Hawaiian music, punctuated by his peerless steel guitar playing, that really deserve to be called novel. His virtuosity and experimentation might not be so immediately apparent today, when the steel guitar has become an instrument of choice for savants and show-offs -- and when Hawaiian music unfortunately strikes many ears as kitsch -- but he was a radically gifted guitarist, with a versatility that might be best compared to that of Lonnie Johnson (and with whom he also shared a penchant for schmaltz). These 1933-'34 Novelty Quartette sides -- the last Hoopii made before switching to electric steel and by far his best, despite a pile of very good records made with his Trio from '26 to '31 -- range from Hawaiian or Hawaiian-themed lyric songs and ballads; sentimental parlor chestnuts; yes, novelty songs (the opener, "I Like You," is both impossibly catchy and irresistibly cute); and some jazzy and raggy dance tunes, propelled by Hoopii's modest yet able falsetto vocal and his steel guitar. Much ink has been devoted to exploring Hoopii's influence upon western swing and post-Hillbilly-era country music (not to mention the influence of ragtime and hot jazz on early twentieth-century Hawaiian pop music) and sure, it's neat to put on his records to hear that easily identifiable Ur-steel sound. But his records also stand completely on their own as some of the most exciting, satisfying, forward-thinking, and polyglot music around. Full of great photos, extensive notes, and supremely clean disc transfers of many previously un-issued sides, a very highly recommended release for Sol Hoopii fans and newcomers alike. [NS]

		$17.99 LP $4.99 MP3   SUDETEN CRECHE Are Kisses Out of Fashion? (Minimal Wave) How does Minimal Wave do it? While some labels can only release the obscure dregs of the New Wave era, this Brooklyn-based label deals in obscurities, but consistently busts out with top-shelf stuff that's reminiscent of tried and true artists, but with its own sincere take on things. This four-song EP features a mix of unreleased songs and tracks originally released in the '80s on S/Phonograph and Illuminated Records. Even after bracing myself for disappointment from the questionable title, Are Kisses Out of Fashion?, I was surprisingly greeted by what sounded to be a more D.I.Y. Human League. Seriously, you'd think the League had made a record for early-'80s-era Cherry Red, the music being synthy, poppy, catchy and even unexpectedly funky at times -- homemade but altogether sophisticated and elegant. Think Human League meets the Gist. Sound good to you? It should! [SM]

		$14.99 CDx2 $17.99 LPx2 w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   DINOSAUR JR. Farm - w/Bonus Tracks (Jagjaguwar) "I Want You to Know" "Over It" The most careful Dinosaur Jr. listener -- if their eardrums haven't dissolved into Mascist gelatin from listening to "Freak Scene" a million-thousand times in high school -- might note that Farm's opening salvo is almost a precise inversion of You're Living All Over Me's intro to "Little Fury Things." In "LFT," Murph whangs on the snare for two beats before Mascis' Marshall stack squadron storms the Bastille like a goddamn banshee, devouring both channels for the rest of the record. But here, as he kicks off "Pieces," Murph's two beat kick drum stutter dictates the tone of Farm: bottomless, devastating, with an emphasis on the lowest end of the Dino Jr. universe. J's voice is often buried underneath Lou Barlow's fuzzy bass washes and Murph's furious cymbal bashing. For once, you can hear Mascis' iron fist relax, letting the other two guys lead the songs to the highest sonic height of the band's nine-album career. Hell, J even gives Barlow two full songs on the disc to unwind all that Sebadoh frustration. The lyrics, too, reach further down. Mascis' voice is gnarled and hoarse, imbuing each song with a dimension of further strain, tension, and torture. His words continue to spin revolutions around themes of loneliness and feeling like you're the only one. When J chokes out "I've been staring, I've been staring into space/All this time, not a smile, such a waste," you are laid bare and caught off guard by the line's sentimentality, then floored by a guitar solo that masterfully evokes that precise sentiment. "Pieces" sounds like J's perfect shattered love song, but closer inspection reveals a different sort of autobiographical texture. The lyrics read like an open love letter to the other guys in the band, in the van, and on the tour, with J encouraging them to "Grab the wheel/feel the pieces of our love." J, Lou and Murph's new album reveals their universe to be a lonely one, and you may even wonder if there is still a place in the post-Nevermind, post-grunge world for an all-grown-up Dinosaur Jr. The answer turns out to be a resounding yes; we've been playing Farm non-stop at the shop and obviously our customers are listening as well, with the record sitting at the very top of our best sellers list this past week. These guys were one of the best, and against the odds, Farm is one of their best, the original trio back at it, and thankfully as f**ked up as ever. [MS]

		$15.99 CDx2 $19.99 CDx3 $17.99 MP3   LOOP A Gilded Eternity (Reactor) LOOP The World in Your Eyes (Reactor) "Brittle Head Girl" "Arc-Lite" Formed in 1986 and done by 1991, British drone-rockers Loop still managed to leave behind an impressive body of work in those five years, releasing a series of albums and singles that charted their progression from minimalist, Kraut- and garage-inspired shoegazer material to a much gnarlier beast that was surprisingly comfortable collaborating with the likes of Godflesh. Having already presented authoritative two-disc versions of the band's first couple of records, the Reactor label now gives the same treatment to A Gilded Eternity, their final full-length, and also dramatically updates the group's 1987 singles collection The World in Your Eyes, presenting a massive triple set that pulls together a host of the band's singles from various points through their career. Heaven's End and Fade Out won the band endless comparisons to their contemporaries Spacemen 3 (a fact which rather hilariously bugged Kember, Pierce, and company, it should be noted). By the time of A Gilded Eternity, however, they had started to move into far more bleak territory, in the process creating an LP that was easily the band's most grim statement to date. Bearing a bit of a similarity to the work of folks like Sonic Youth, the seven tracks that make up the album proper traipsed through thicker guitars and darker rhythms, replacing the hypnotic feel of their previous albums with a distinct sense of creeping dread. Without a doubt their heaviest album, tracks like "The Nail Will Burn," the slow-building epic "Be Here Now," and the stunning album opener, "Vapour," find the band pairing crushing riffs with pulsing rhythms that make for some of Loop's finest compositions. Better still is "Blood," the most overtly experimental piece here, devoid of almost all guitars and relying solely on a pairing of drums and swirling effects to make for one of the album's highlights. And as with all of the reissues in this series, A Gilded Eternity comes paired with a bonus disc of Peel Sessions, outtakes, and other odds and ends. Originally released as a reissue of Loop's first couple of 12" singles, The World in Your Eyes, Reactor's final entry in the series, now greatly expands on that original LP. Still collected are songs from the 16 Dreams and Spinning EPs, which show the group working out their approach to mantra-like riffs and deep, intuitive rhythms. Now, however, the set encompasses singles and compilation tracks from throughout the band's career, in addition to a handful of surprisingly great early demos that really give a full picture of Loop's development. Thus, not only do we get a chance to hear tracks like "Collision," (a taut riff-rocker from a 1988 single), but we also get to hear their take on classics from Neil Young ("Cinnamon Girl"), Can ("Mother Sky," of course), Nick Drake (a surprisingly great and straight "Pink Moon"), and the aforementioned Godflesh. As if that weren't enough, this set also collects tracks from the band's killer last single "Arc-Lite," a brilliant blend of droning guitars and propulsive rhythms that somewhat foreshadowed the direction Loop head honcho Robert Hampson would head with his next project Main. [MC]

		$22.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Legends of Benin (Analog Africa) "Feeling You Got" El Rego et Ses Commandos "Okpo Videa Bassouo" Gnonnas Pedro et Ses Panchos Analog Africa strikes reissue gold once again with this new volume of monster grooves from Benin. Picking up where the previous Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou collection left off, this set focuses on the output of four of Benin's strongest bandleaders: Gnonnas Pedro, Antoine Dougbé, El Rego et Ses Commandos and Honoré Avolonto. The sound here is much more diverse than perhaps on any of the label's previous sets, veering from relentless swinging R&B and floaty Juju vibes, Latinesque rumba grooves to even some modernized takes on African burial rites, all held together by heavy Vodoun funk rhythms. As usual, the instrumentation is top-flight -- lots of bright, punchy brass sections, wild organ solos, and deep harmonies that folks like Miles Davis got heavily into on albums like Get Up with It and On the Corner. As usual with Analog Africa, the set includes a huge booklet stuffed to the gills with photos and informative liners -- these guys seriously keep hitting home runs, and the quality of these reissues is starting to freak me out! If you've been knocked out by any of the label's previous sets, you're very likely to be down for the count once again with this one. I'm already foaming for the next one! [IQ]

		$17.99 CD $21.99 LPx2   VARIOUS ARTISTS The World Is Shaking: Cubanismo from the Congo, 1954-55 (Honest Jon's) "Matete Paris" Adikwa Depala "Kioo Cha Nyumba" Norbert Yakari Honest Jon's continues its outstanding excavation of important world music recordings from the vaults of the Hayes EMI Archive, with the focus this time on the mid-'50s roots of what would become the continent's most popular musical style throughout the 1960s and 70s -- Congolese Rumba. This collection is one of the strongest documents of the sound's early developments into the Congo's burgeoning musical nightlife scene, and its adaptations and hybridizations of then-popular influences like Louis Armstrong's jazz bands and European chanson ballads with the ever present Latin and calypso music being imported; it also documents the adaptation of traditional music from indigenous instruments like the thumb piano into the mastery of new imports like horns and guitars. This is the sound of one of the world's most beautiful musics in its pubescent stages, at times awkward and seemingly underdeveloped but always charming and innovative with the risks it was taking in order to develop and move forward. The transfers of these songs are beautifully restored for this set, which also includes great, informative liners and lots of gorgeous photos of Brazzaville nightlife. This is probably my favorite collection in the series thus far; anyone with an interest in the music of Congolese heavies like Franco, Tabu Ley, or Henri Bowane should take it upon themselves to check this out -- all of these masters owe a considerable debt to the sounds collected here. Simply stunning. [IQ]

		$7.99 CD   LOVE IS ALL Last Choice (What's Your Rupture?) "Last Choice" "Loud Heart" Everyone's favorite Swedes, Love Is All, are back with a new EP on What's Your Rupture?! Last Choice features the titular track, a highlight from their sophomore full-length, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night, now accompanied by five all-new B-sides that are neither cast-offs nor leftovers. And their cutesy, chaotic charm is still intact as the wonderfully messy instrumentation takes a back seat to Olausson's bright and punchy vocals. Stand-out tracks include Flying Nun-inspired "From Your Corner" (seriously, this could almost be a Clean cover), the requisite twee number, a tambourine-outfitted "Loud Heart" and the frenzied, post-punk informed "Vans Vans Vans." An essential purchase for fans as well as for anyone who likes their pop music to be solid, energetic and fun. [PG]

		$12.99 CD   THE METROS Sweetest One (Dusty Groove) "Sweetest One" "I'm with You All the Way" This one and only album from the Metros is a soul jewel that stands out as one of the finer unsung documents of the Motor City's bustling, mid-'60s soul scene. A five-piece vocal group that featured legendary Detroit players including former Motown vibesman Jack Ashford and guitarist/producer/label owner Dave Hamilton (whose discography will be explored in next week's Digital Update), the Metros earned quite a local following, one of the best of the era in fact. Why they weren't picked up by Gordy and co. is still a head-scratcher, but Detroit-based Pied Piper Productions signed them to RCA and produced this all-killer, no-filler soul-party record, featuring great post-doo-wop toe-tappers. Highlights like "Sweetest One" and "Egyptian Love" showcase the Metros' tight harmonies, rivaled only by their hometown contemporaries, the Temptations, while tracks like "Since I Found My Baby" and "Do the Pied Piper" can be considered aural checklists of the Northern Soul sound: hard tambourine on the 2-and-4, scratch rhythm guitar, vibe solo, tight harmonies, and urgent horn blasts. Though Pied Piper Productions would never come close to matching Motown's chart success, the music they produced would be embraced by critics and also electrify Europe's Northern Soul dance scene. I have to say that you won't find any better music to accompany bright summer days than this. Tip! [DH]

		$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3   DEASTRO MoonDagger (Ghostly International) "Moondagger" "Day of Wonder" Randolph Chabot is back after last year's standout opus, Keepers. Amidst joyous underwater sounds, dissonant atmospherics and some video-game-on-the-moon synth noodling, you can detect an Animal Collective influence in some of the vocal flourishes, and even a little '80s flashback here and there (a la Alphaville) in a few of the wistful pop melodies. Ghostly International's answer to the Killers? Perhaps. But what would you expect from an album called MoonDagger?

		$13.99 CD $19.99 LPx2 w/CD   MOBY Wait for Me (Mute) "Wait for Me" While Moby put a face on the faceless genre of electronica in the early-'90 and was techno's first rock star, his last few records have found the Lower East Side resident (and iced tea entrepreneur) playing chameleon, whether it be taking a stab at modern rock on 2005's Hotel or his ode to dance club culture with '08's Last Night. Wait for Me marks another shift of direction, and is in fact a 180 degree turn from the anthemic tracks of his last album. Like Sigur Ros, whose Ken Thomas mixed the album, Wait for Me is all at once atmospheric and emotionally charged with a smoky cloud of melancholia hovering over the beautiful arrangements and vocal melodies sung by a few non-star friends who get a chance to step into the national spotlight. Moby's most focused album in years is no doubt his most personal.

		$14.99 CD   THE BATS The Guilty Office (A Hidden Agenda) "Like Water in Your Hands" NZ mainstays the Bats (featuring the Clean's Robert Scott) are nothing if not reliable (save the nine-year hiatus they took before 2005's At the National Grid); that chugging rhythm, that hooky guitar, and Scott's sweet and melancholy pop vocals generally soothe all that ails you. The new one is no exception, and in fact, it's a pretty great record, the best from them since well into the last decade, or before. After 25-plus years in the game, it's doubtful they are about to win legions of new fans, but damned if they're not still one of the best out there.

		$14.99 CD $12.99 MP3   ADA Adaptations - Mixtape #1 (Kompakt) "Maps" Ada "Vertigo vs. Cha" Booka Shade Cologne, Germany’s legendary electronic house label Kompakt brings us Adaptations - Mixtape #1, a mesmerizing collection of new and unreleased material from and about the slyly prolific Michaela Dipple, also known as Ada. The collection features powerful, wistfully melodic remixes of her own songs by label mates like Michael Mayer and Tobias Thomas, as well as her remixes of artists as diverse as Tracey Thorn, Booka Shade and Alex Smoke.

		$17.99 CD $9.99 MP3   BERNARD BONNIER Casse-tete (Oral) "I Can't Sing" "Blue Marine" Great to see another gem of a reissue arriving in the shop from Quebec's Oral label, who were also responsible for resurrecting the supremely delicious, must-have Monoton reissues last year. Mikey IQ pointed out that Creelpone actually leaked a few of these in their CD-R reissue series, but the few that made it out before the cease and desist are long gone now. This stuff is analogue synth, musique concrete, new wave improv(?) -- it's "open" yet "poppy" at the same time -- that isn't weighed-down by ANY of those genre/catch-phrases. Listening to the first three songs, my initial capsule description for this stuff was "catchy Throbbing Gristle" (Second Annual Report). The homemade vibe keeps it down to earth and fresh, while the rhythms unfold quite naturally, introducing shifts and additions. The pace is so unhurried, but the subtle richness of the sounds keeps the ears waiting for the surprises. While this record could have simply explored the ideas found within the first three songs and had my vote, it only develops further from there. Casse-tete reminds us of the simple fact: It's those in love with sound over style that end up creating the most compelling music. You know, the stuff that keeps you listening and coming back to listen again! Track three, "Vero Lo Toto" uses child voices, real, almost Jaki Liebezeit-textured drums and arpeggiating synthesizer to make tape-splice Boards of CAN-ada. In the next song, "Blue Marine," a delectable loping, cumbersome beat is folded with gurgling synth and intermittent looped voice. Track six has a full-on homemade, personal, analog Art of Noise vibe with voice loops, drums and layered, pulsing Blurt dub-trumpets. I can't stop imagining this stuff as another found-gem/precursor to the aesthetic of Mouse on Mars' Sonig label, in the same way that Ryuichi Sakamoto's 1980 solo LP, B-2 Unit and Canavarro's Plux Quba are. (But I have to say, Bonnier sounds fresher than those right now.) The last track, "Soldier Boy" is Bonnier's anti-war version of Terry Riley's "You're No Good!" (Soldier Boyyy...Tell me why.../Tell me why.../Tell me why..." So sick!!) Fantastic reissue! Effortlessly great. Recommended!! [SM]

		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 [BCa] Brian Cassidy [MC] Michael Crumsho [PG] Pamela Garavano-Coolbaugh [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] MIchael Klausman [JM] Josh Madell [DMa] Dave Martin [SM] Scott Mou [NS] Nathan Salsburg [MS] Michael Stasiak THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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