July 23, 2009

		$27.99 CD Pre-order $39.99 LPx2 Pre-order   BUY EARLY GET NOW: YO LA TENGO Yo La Tengo's forthcoming album, Popular Songs, gets the Buy Early Get Now treatment! In addition to the CD or double LP, customers who pre-order the album will also receive: August 4 - Album stream goes live August 11 - First Bonus MP3 September 1 - Second Bonus MP3 September 8 - CD or 2xLP will be shipped to arrive at your door on or before the September 8 release date, along with the exclusive live LP of the Adventureland soundtrack and a bonus poster. Questions? Email: orders@othermusic.com

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Moritz von Oswald Trio Robert Hood Foetus (CD & DVD) Fiery Furnaces Hugo Fihlo High Places / Soft Circle 12" Magnolia Electric Co. Derrick May Clark Riechmann Niobe Laurel Aitken Cazumbi Vol. 2 (Various) Skygreen Leopards   Mayfair Set On Emitt Rhodes (Complete solo recordings) Television Personalities (First 2 LPs) Sun Ra Freddie Scott ALSO AVAILABLE Cold Cave (Now on CD) Lights Vile Vinyl Vol. 1 (Various) Powell St. John Sean Bones Megafaun Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/othermusic

		JULY Sun 26 Mon 27 Tues 28 Wed 29 Thurs 30 Fri 31 Sat 01   WIN TICKETS TO JARVIS COCKER Next Thursday, July 30th, the one and only Jarvis Cocker will be performing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and we've got two pairs of tickets to give away. But wait...that's not all. The winners will also go to the meet and greet with Jarvis after the show. To enter, just stop by Other Music and put your name in the entry box near the cash register. We'll notify the two winners on Monday morning. THURSDAY, JULY 30 MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG: 66 North Sixth Street Williamsburg, Brooklyn

		JULY Sun 26 Mon 27 Tues 28 Wed 29 Thurs 30 Fri 31 Sat 01   TICKET GIVEAWAY TO THE VEILS Other Music has two pairs of tickets to catch the Veils at Mercury Lounge next Thursday, July 30th. This will be the first of two shows that these epic moody UK rockers will be playing in the city during this tour (the second being at Brooklyn's Bell House on August 3rd), both performances joined by L.A.'s Foreign Born. To enter for a pair of tickets to July 30th's show, send an email to giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners on Monday morning, July 27th. THURSDAY, JULY 30 MERCURY LOUNGE: 217 East Houston Street NYC

		JULY Sun 26 Mon 27 Tues 28 Wed 29 Thurs 30 Fri 31 Sat 01   WIN TICKETS TO THE BLACKENED MUSIC SERIES FEAT: BRUTAL TRUTH, PIG DESTROYER & REPULSION The greatest grindcore bands of the 80s, 90s, and 00s meet for the first time ever at the debut of the Blackened Music Series, a new Brooklyn-based music series featuring the greatest artists in heavy music. On Friday, July 31, Brutal Truth, Pig Destroyer and Repulsion will come together and we're giving two pairs of tickets away to this once-in-a-lifetime triple headlining bill at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. To enter, send an email to tickets@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners on Thursday, July 30th. FRIDAY, JULY 31 BROOKLYN MASONIC TEMPLE : 317 Clermont Ave (at Lafayette Ave.) Fort Greene, Brooklyn

		AUG Sun 09 Mon 10 Tues 11 Wed 12 Thurs 13 Fri 14 Sat 15   AKRON/FAMILY IN-STORE: SUNDAY, AUG. 9 @ 7PM We are excited to welcome Akron/Family, whose live shows are always thrilling. Like their great, recent album Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free, you can expect to hear plenty of celebratory communal sing-a-longs, but it'll be far from a typical stoned love-in. These Brooklyn beardos channel the incredibly soulful poly-rhythms of '70s African groove merchants like Fela Kuti, and combine that with a wild mix of Sun Ra, Animal Collective, Grateful Dead, Fleet Foxes, Funkadelic and of course, most of all, pure Akron anarchy. Don't miss it! OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street NYC Free Admission / Limited Capacity

		$17.99 CD $21.99 LPx2   MORITZ VON OSWALD TRIO Vertical Ascent (Honest Jon's) "Patterns 1" "Patterns 4" Has anyone taken electronic music to the very brink as often as Moritz von Oswald has, always returning with sonic riches? In the early 90s, he was stripping back BPM-happy manic techno to create a mesmeric electronica carved out of cavernous bass tones and silo-sized kicks as both Basic Channel and Maurizio, and then following those projects up by dropping his beloved dub reggae into an isolation chamber as Rhythm & Sound. Just last year, MvO teamed up with Carl Craig to re-imagine and recast Ravel's "Bolero" as Recomposed. And now this, a live improv trio that features the man supported by Max Loderbauer of NSI and Sun Electric, along with Sasu Ripatti, a/k/a Luomo, a/k/a Vladislav Delay on drumkit! Together the MvO Trio fearlessly explore the intersection where dub, techno, industrial, kling-klang, and avant garde improvisation all meet. Unfolding at its own speed, the group makes such diffuse genres sound of a piece, and there are moments here that simply beggar belief. If anything, this disc reminds me of a peculiar headspace I was in a decade ago, digging free jazz and noise improv deeply, yet getting into Autechre and Basic Channel (or was that vice versa?). Regardless, this is guaranteed to be on many end of the year lists. Highly recommended. [AB]

		$17.99 CDx2   ROBERT HOOD Minimal Nation (Mplant) "Rhythm of Vision" "Station Rider E" An early collaborator with Jeff Mills (working together as H&M) and founding member of the staunchly underground Underground Resistance crew, Robert Hood was one of the first to even describe his no-nonsense aesthetic as 'minimal techno' -- a descriptor that has gone on to be used and abused for many years since. This reissue of his masterpiece from 1994, however, is just what timeless techno sounds like. Hood's music is stripped-down and efficient, yes, but it definitely doesn't match what passes for minimal these days, mainly because it is neither weak nor temporary. The 'futuristic' bent of classic Detroit techno found new heights in Hood's music; at times it sounds completely angular and alien, but as these elements mesmerize, there is always a deeply imbedded, unmistakable sense of soul -- exactly the element that is missing from so much of today's cookie cutter minimal fodder. Furthermore, as throbbing and huge as Hood's music can be, there is always a sense of space and subtle palpable variations within the sounds that are unique, making his work absolutely human and monolithic. So if you've ever wondered what it would be like to hear one of the original masters of the minimal techno genre, a relatively unsung Detroit producer who's sadly discussed with much less frequency than the Belleville Three: Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, then look no further. Hood's unique balance of stripped-down, muscular, intellectual and stark, yet undeniably funky production is directly influencing the best of the current crop of producers at the moment -- Marcel Dettman, Ben Klock, Len Faki, and all the Ost Gut Ton related releases in general -- as well as the many British and German crews that have been popping up of late who are also inspired by the original Underground Resistance crew, and who are releasing killer, un-credited black and white label vinyl-only 12-inches. Feel the real! Make no mistake, Robert Hood is a genius and Minimal Nation is absolutely essential! Now we just need someone to reissue Internal Empire!! [SM]

		$31.99 CD+DVD   FOETUS Limb (Ectopic Ents) "Te Deum" "Industrial Go-slow" JG Thirlwell comes hot on the heels of his recent Venture Bros soundtrack with this outstanding archival issue of early Foetus material from 1980-83, all instrumental and with Thirwell working in a much more overtly minimal strain. Nicely balancing a post-punk DIY aesthetic with the mentality and artfulness of a post-Cage school of compositional thought, Limb features pieces written for prepared pianos, kitchen sink gamelan ensembles, heavily edited and manipulated tape and vinyl plunderphonics, and voice cutups reminiscent of Steve Reich's phase technique. Everything here is wonderfully arranged and performed, and it's astonishing to think that this material ranks with some of Thirlwell's oldest documents, as it still sounds thoroughly modern. Fans of recent reissues by Gavin Bryars, JD Emmanuel, and Monoton, along with the type of modern composition releases that mix the playful with the profound, will find this one a winner. Also included with this set is a 90-minute DVD documentary, entitled NYC Foetus, which chronicles the history of Thirlwell's career, featuring interviews with the man and many of his longtime associates and co-conspirators, along with a wealth of live footage by his numerous projects as well as behind-the-scenes glimpses into Thirlwell's working methods. It's a fascinating and inspiring film for fans and aficionados of the NYC/Euro post-punk, no wave, and experimental music, and the set is packaged beautifully in a slipcase, with a 48-page book designed by Thirlwell himself. Stunning. [IQ]

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   FIERY FURNACES I'm Going Away (Thrill Jockey) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store For five full-length albums now, I've wanted the Fiery Furnaces to sit still long enough for me to pigeonhole them. Ever since Blueberry Boat I've been recklessly recommending them to friends, which is sort of like suggesting Evil Dead 2 to someone when they ask you for a movie to see. Nobody expects that geyser of blood to come from the cellar, just like nobody expects what they get from your average Fiery Furnaces' song. Hard-driving gangsta rap beat? Throw it in. Sizzling deep-fried country slide guitar? That would be awesome. Whirly gig synthesizers and found-sound samples? Perfect. The spastic, turn-on-a-dime nature of the Fiery Furnaces' output is more than half the fun of being a fan. And that's not even mentioning Eleanor Friedberger's beat-poetry/speak-sing lyrics about two women in bed, one wearing a robe and the other a crystal. To say that Fiery Furnaces possess some kind of ADD is an understatement -- the Friedberger's are clearly bat-sh*t insane. But on I'm Going Away, the band is finally easier to follow, reigning in their frantic song structures by relying on traditional instruments like drums, bass, guitars and synths, which makes for proggy classic rock adventures on the Fiery Furnaces' roulette wheel of style. This allows me to say what I could never say about a Fiery Furnaces album before: it kicks. They steal from sixties-era Stax soul as often as they steal from Led Zeppelin, with Matthew Friedberger's Wurlitzer bouncing most of the songs right along to a three-and-a-half-minute stopping point. On "Keep Me in Dark," the band begins a hilarious doom-funk ballad before swinging up to a lively bop-bop chorus -- while allowing a minute for a flute-melodica duel, of course. The more agitated experiments that characterized their earlier releases (and often brought a great grooving song to a herky-jerky halt) disappear. This is the least challenging Fiery Furnaces to date, but it also feels like the band's biggest and best cartwheel. [MS]

		$17.99 CD $46.99 LP   HUGO FILHO Paraibo (Shadoks) "Paraibo" "Meu Sol" Unassuming and exceedingly lovely Brazilian folk LP originally released in a private edition at the tail end of the seventies, but recorded with a nice lo-fi vibe that belies the late date. Can anyone bliss out like the Brazilians? The music is so soft and watery sounding, with the barest of instrumental accents surrounding Filho's sun-blanched melodies. The LP apparently came to be after he was approached by the poet Antônio de Pádua Carvalho to set some of his verse to music. Filho was in a band with the legendary Ze Ramahlo, (he of Paebiru fame, with Lula Cortes) and asked him to contribute, along with some additional musicians roped in to supply the mellow percussion and skeins of 12-string guitars, all laid down on a simple four-track set-up. Perfectly lazy sounding, and a nice counterpart to the likes of Pep Laguarda or Novos Baianos. [MK]

		$10.99 12-inch w/MP3 $2.99 MP3   HIGH PLACES / SOFT CIRCLE Split (PPM) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Here's a great new split EP by two psychedelic beatsmiths from whom we haven't heard in a while. Soft Circle, the one man band project of Hisham Bharoocha, delivers two doses of hypnotic, cyclic dance jams. The first, "Light Bright," is a mellow slice of loping, Juju-inspired funk that utilizes some sweet dream-pop vocals over a looping bass-line. He combines that foundation with an incessant guitar line, while shuffling the beat into slight permutations that induce the dance while soothing the trance. "Don't Just Stand There" has a rather apt title; it's a dancefloor banger featuring a skittering disco-informed beat, a deep, low-end groove, repeating vocal mantra, and dubby punctuation marks that add to the overall freak vibes with success. On the flip, High Places offer up "Late Bloomer," an extended, multipart jam that begins with a post-Cocteau Twins ambient haze before moving into a slightly off-center, loping beat, with vocalist Mary Pearson swimming through a lake of delay. As the track progresses, the beat complicates finally shifting into a 4/4 banger that hits the head and the ass, until we're eventually brought back down into the ambient depths again for the closeout. I'm really feeling this record; it's definitely some of the strongest material both artists have offered up so far. Let's have some more! [IQ]

		$14.99 CD $14.99 LP w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. Josephine (Secretly Canadian) "O! Grace" "Josephine" There are records made by artists who have died, and there are death records. The former is pretty straightforward: John Denver was a man who made records and died. So was Marvin Gaye. But death records are a small, far less populated category -- these are albums that are defined by the deaths of their creators. The Exploding Hearts from Portland, Oregon released their phenomenal debut LP Guitar Romantic, and three months later three of the four Hearts died when their tour van rolled over. Mia Zapata of the Gits was brutally raped and murdered on the eve of the release of her band's second album, the excellent Enter: The Conquering Chicken. Because of the untimely deaths of these artists, their records evoke nostalgia and sadness that wouldn't have graced their music had fate not intervened. On Josephine, the third album from this particular incarnation of Magnolia Electric Co., the fire that claimed bassist Evan Farrell in December of 2007 burns wild and woeful on every track. The whole album is respectfully alt-rock played in stoic minor keys; acoustic guitar, spare electric accompaniment, funeral parlor organ, and glittery pianos never break the sound barrier -- Jason Molina and company maintain a dignified stance in the face of tragedy. Unlike Americana contemporaries Okkervil River or the seemingly born-again Conor Oberst, Molina pinches mostly from Southern gospel traditions and blue-eyed soul, delicately placing Neil Young-like croons on top of padding brush strokes and mournful bass lines that don't stray too far away from the band's favorite 6/8 time signature. The best songs here are the ones that feel informed by seventies country acts like Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, such as the lighter "Whip-Poor-Will," with its sad but springy guitar work, and the album opener, "O! Grace," where Molina and the band sing "Oh grace/if you stop believin'/that don't mean that it just goes away." It's rare to hear a band hurt through your headphones -- I mean, this record just bleeds with loss and longing. These are lush songs of tribute and respect, and sometimes it's tough to listen to in just one sitting as Magnolia Electric Co. so successfully translate the confusing pain of death into words and music. [MS]

		$16.99 CD   DERRICK MAY Innovator (Transmat) "The Dance" "To Be Or Not To Be" It's hard to write about Derrick May without using the words 'genius', 'classic' and 'important' -- the guy was responsible for kick-starting a movement that would define a generation, and really, they don't come much more worthy than that. He wasn't alone, but when he released "Nude Photo" in 1987 under the shadowy pseudonym Rhythim is Rhythim, something in the architecture of electronic music was changed forever. May had taken the house music forms that were making waves across underground American clubs and re-programmed them with his love of Kraftwerk and Funkadelic. He took the sci-fi precision of his German idols and infected it with an electrified funk, creating a blend previously unimaginable. Innovation doesn't go even halfway to explaining how influential these early tracks were; after "Nude Photo" came "Strings of Life," and May was forever guaranteed a place in the history books. His tracks would serve as a prime keystone for the fledgling Warp label all the way across the Atlantic in Sheffield, and would kick start a scene that we're still recovering from over twenty years later. I shouldn't need to say much more really -- this bumper 2CD set has been out of print and much sought after for ages now and it's fantastic to see it back in stock. Innovator is one of those collections every electronic music fan should own; not only is it extensive, collecting most of the best tracks from May's career, but it's also gorgeously sequenced. We've got "Strings of Life," "Nude Photo," "Icon," "It Is What It Is" and many more classics all sitting next to each other, showing just why great electronic music simply doesn't age. Trends come and go, but good quality techno just never ceases to amaze and astound. Don't miss it! [JT]

		$14.99 CD $19.99 LPx2 $9.99 MP3   CLARK Totem's Flare (Warp) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store The music video for UK-based electronic producer Clark's song "Ted," from the 2007 Ted EP, features hyper clear close-ups of very real, very gnarly insects, opening and shutting their jaws, flexing their antennae, and staring fixedly into the camera's lens. Insects often scare us because of their otherworldliness -- possessing hundreds of millions of years of knowledge, they are unsettling to watch because their movements are so refined and precise compared to our fleshy clumsiness. The video's millipedes, praying mantises, and God knows what other creatures, are unnerving and agitate your senses. When the video ends, you look behind you to make sure a giant centipede isn't curled up next the radiator. Clark deliberately wants to destabilize us, shake us up and make us think the centipede is in the room. His latest release from Warp opens up with "Outside Plume," a frenzied track with no centralized beat -- the kick, synthesizers, and layers of drone all seem to be operating on three different rhythms, while at least two of the synths are in different keys entirely. The fact that all of these elements are part of the same song gives the whole pastiche a woozy momentum that keeps you off-balance for the rest of the record. The first three tracks are a clusterf**k of speed-fueled electronic street racing that doesn't let you breathe -- like fast-forwarding the chase scene from Death Proof. Even the more ambient drone songs like "Primary Balloon Landing" feature an unholy amount of static and dissonance. Totem's Flare never settles into anything remotely comfortable, but that's simply the point. The only respite is the final track, "Ambivalence," which is three and half minutes of gently plucked, layered guitar. Indeed, it seems that on this final cut Clark himself is absent, having left the building while the eleventh song cleans up the smoking chaos of the preceding ten. Totem's Flare is, if not necessarily a repeat listen, the least predictable record of 2009, and shows Chris Clark to be a true virtuoso of tension and tempo. [MS]

		$17.99 CD   RIECHMANN Wunderbar (Bureau B) "Wunderbar" "Himmelblau" The pale-faced, gray-lipped Riechmann was a school chum of Michael Rother and Wolfgang Flür, who later went on to play with two bands, Neu! and Kraftwerk, that you may be familiar with. Riechmann himself played in a band called Streetmark before heading off on a promising solo career, of which 1978's Wunderbar is his debut. Sadly, he never got the chance to build on this album's promise, much less see the final product, as he was senselessly stabbed to death by two drunk Germans right before its release. With a visage sure to draw in fans of Gary Numan, the disc itself is an epic, and slightly icy, swirl of Arp and electronic drums and is a must for fans of Klaus Schultze, Cluster, Richard Pinhas (thinking Iceland era) and Edgar Froese. [AB]

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   NIOBE Black Bird's Echo (Tomlab) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store I've been a fan of German avant-chanteuse Niobe's music for many years now, but have always found her albums to be a bit too messy and overambitious on the whole. Her stunning mix of classically trained, jazzy vocal acrobatics, cut-up, plunderphonic sample-based production, and stylistic aesthetics that fall somewhere between torch song, cabaret, and tropical luau always looked great on paper, but never quite reached the heights promised. I approached this record with hesitation at first, but damn! This is not only her most focused album to date, it's likely making it into my top ten list of the best records of the year. Produced by New York-via-Japan sonic collusionist Aki Onda, recorded by former Pere Ubu member Tony Maimone in my neighborhood (Greenpoint represent!), and featuring a stellar cast of supporting musicians including Melvins/Fantomas bassist Trevor Dunn, Stars Like Fleas harpist Shelley Burgon, avant turntable artist DJ Olive, drummer Ches Smith, and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Clifton Hyde, the approach here is the most overtly "live" sounding record she's ever made. The songs are also the most fleshed out and focused of her career thus far. Where her previous songs exuded a much more stream-of-consciousness with a higher hit and miss quotient, on Blackbird's Echo she manages to balance that sonic dreamstate and ambitious eclecticism with restraint and creative arrangements that veer through bobbing bossa and samba-influenced styles, neon-smeared, dubstep-informed R&B jams, a jazzy 1930s cabaret flapper vibe she exudes so wonderfully, and some gorgeous, folky pop tunes, including "Fever," featuring one of the most naively simple, gorgeous codas I've heard on record all year. She still manages to sneak a bit of avantism in here and there, particularly on "Time Is Kindling," a great duet with David Grubbs that manages to mix Etta James with Robert Ashley amidst a bed of piano and an ether of cut up samples. This is the record I always knew she was capable of making, and damn, what a record it is. A wildly successful blend of sophisticated pop and deep avant aesthetics that deserves your attention. Highest recommendation! [IQ]

		$16.99 CD $16.99 CD   LAUREL AITKEN & GIRLIE Scandal in a Brixton Market (Pressure Drop) "Woke Up This Morning" "Run Powell Run" LAUREL AITKEN High Priest of Reggae (Pressure Drop) "Jesse James" "Save the Last Dance" It's about damn time! You could write a pretty nifty dissertation on the unsung historical influence of this man's music on the shaping and molding of reggae and all of its variations, a la ska, dancehall, rocksteady, etc. I don't have room to do all of that here, but the Cliff Notes version goes like this: Laurel Aitken was a Jamaican of Cuban descent who was arguably the first major JA-born singer to make inarguably Jamaican music. His 1958 single "Little Shiela" is considered ground zero for ska, earning him the "Godfather of Ska" moniker, and it also happened to be one of the first records ever produced by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records. He was the first Jamaican artist to gain a recording contract in the UK, and was the first to release a single on the acclaimed Blue Beat label. Many young people adapted his personal style, slang and swagger as a lifestyle and for most UK mods and skinheads at that time, Aitken was God. By the time these two albums were recorded (1969 and 1970), Aitken had relocated to the UK, where for 10 years he built a large, young, London fan-base primarily made up of newly arrived lower class immigrants and working class skinhead youth. The economic and social climate around the country was tense as the rift between classes became ever wider, with conservative leaders playing race-baiting games by exploiting the anxieties of older white British residents. (Sound familiar?) Scandal in a Brixton Market was an unusual concept album built around the story of an unmarried couple living in the diverse, immigrant community of Brixton, and their problems with infidelity. Aitken used the concept to address all of the aforementioned issues, as well as providing an honest reflection of Brixton life in the 60s. With Laurel and his female foil Girlie basically toasting back and forth over killer rocksteady grooves provided by legendary UK reggae band the Rudies, the album would become an immediate hit and Aitken's popularity soared. The following year, Aitken's label Bama capitalized on his ever-growing following, basically packaging all of his biggest hits together as The High Priest of Reggae and releasing the record as the follow-up to Scandal. In a nutshell, this is some of the best bluebeat rocksteady music you'll ever hear. Considered by aficionados as THE definitive "skinhead" reggae album, every single track here is killer, highlighting the diverse, musical prowess and genius of Aitken. Released right around the same time as U-Roy's Version Galore, which many people consider the first major record to feature toasting, songs like "Jesse James," "Mr. Popcorn" and "Skinhead Invasion" are great call-and-response showcases for Aitken's direct deejay/toasting skills. Elsewhere, brilliant covers of "Don't Be Cruel," "(Sloop) John B" and "Save the Last Dance" spotlight his rich crooning tenor and his love of rock 'n' roll while "Landlords and Tenants" and "Suffering Still" are fantastic socially conscious tunes, addressing the exploitation of poor UK immigrants and the widening social gap then occurring in England. Originally pressings of these records will set you back at least $200 a piece, but for a fraction of that price you get both of these brilliant albums, as well as ten-plus bonus tracks on each release. If you still cherish your Clash and 2 Tone ska comps from the 80s, and you're not familiar with Laurel Aitken, then consider this required listening. Superb stuff right here! [DH]

		$24.99 CD $31.99 LP   VARIOUS ARTISTS Cazumbi Volume 2 (Nosmoke) "Uma Velha Foi A Feira" Os Impacto "One Time Too Many" Them Oh, hell yes. The first volume of Cazumbi, documenting the 1960s garage scene in Africa, has become one of my top favorite reissues of the year, and here we are with Volume 2, furthering the cause with another 21 tracks of blazing fuzz, freakbeat grooves, and totally bonkers over-emotive wailing that makes groups like Question Mark & the Mysterians look like a bunch of colons. Covering bands from Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Ghana, Madagascar, and Cameroon, this volume features a hefty mix of R&B dance-craze styled tunes, fuzz-pop, some awesome proto-Cramps mutant rockabilly, along with plenty of bizarre covers of songs that you perhaps thought you'd never want to hear again. If you dug the first volume in the series, you'll definitely find much to love here, as the vibe gets a little more psych and surf-oriented at times on the production front. Here's hoping this becomes an ongoing series; these guys have yet to let me down. [IQ]

		$14.99 CD $14.99 LP w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   SKYGREEN LEOPARDS Gorgeous Johnny (Jagjaguwar) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Donovan Quinn and Glenn Donaldson churn out charming and convincing revisits to sixties pop sounds, pulling inspiration through the same channels of folk and blues that grace so many great artists, from the Byrds and the Band to Bob Dylan. The Skygreen Leopards have the ability to breathe vitality into a tired form and make it sound carefree and original, which is an ability that can't be overstated. Many bands fail exactly where this duo of prolific and multi-faceted musicians succeeds. With the amount of free-form folk music and psychedelic-folk permeating the underground these days, it is easy to forget that these members of the Jewelled Antler collective have been releasing organic field recordings in the form of CDs, CD-Rs and micro-press LPs for a decade now, with varied groups and projects like Thuja, the Blithe Sons, the Giant Skyflower Band, and the Child Readers producing a rather stunning consistency in their experimental improvisations, singer-songwriter folk, and chamber pop. The Skygreen Leopards and their compatriots make this sort of thing sound easy, and it is the their ability to craft a compelling hook that ultimately draws you deeper into their world. Take a closer look at their side work in the realms of electronic guitar improv, and you can see how it impacts their acoustic work here, where their many nuances have an uncanny ability to fit very well together and unfold into catchy hooks with soft, warm psychedelic undertones. Papercut's main man Jason Quaver chips in this go round as well, adding even more of a hazy pop dimension to the ensemble. Recommended for fans of the Band, the Tower Recordings, and lazy sun baked Saturdays in Golden Gate Park. [BCa]

		$11.99 LP   MAYFAIR SET Young One EP (Captured Tracks) Mayfair Set, the collaboration between L.A.'s Dum Dum Girls and Brooklyn's Blank Dogs, finally expand their discography from a sole 7". On their new 12" EP Young One, the duo finds a balance between the bright, lackadaisical pop of the former and the murkier, effects-laden sounds of the latter, managing to create a record that is more than a hybrid -- it's an effortless blend of both the vibrant and dark, the noisy and melodic. Over the course of six tracks, there are winsome dreamy pop tunes ("Junked") and solid, resonant slow burners ("Three for Me"). The clean, strong voice of Dee Dee (moniker of Kristin Gundred, formerly of Grand Ole Party, who has a vocal swagger reminiscent of Siouxsie Sioux) juxtaposed against the dark, effects-riddled echoes of Mike Sniper work perfectly, creating texture and adding depth in places where other bands would normally become distracted and unfocused. Coupled with production that washes the music in a unique, sonically cavernous sheen, the Young One EP is a promising release in today's landscape of constantly proliferating lo-fi bedroom projects. Now, when does a full-length come out?! Other new releases we've just received from Captured Tracks include Roman Soldiers' (a collaboration between Blank Dogs and Gary War) Warmer 7", Blank Dogs' Slow Room 7" and Brilliant Colors' self-titled 12". [PG]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   ON Your Naked Ghost Comes Back at Night (Type) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Shimmering and subtle excavations of drone's deeper end from On, a collaboration between the French composer Sylvain Chauveau, and Steven Hess of Pan American and Haptic. They apparently recorded the works in the studio, and then passed off the tapes to Helge Sten (Deathprod), who was responsible for the entirety of the post production and mix, making him the unofficial third member of the group. Some of the pieces here are barely a whisper, cold streams of air breezing past your consciousness, while others evince a much heavier force, heavily reverbed sonic landscapes seemingly crated from the ringing tones of metallic percussion. [MK]

		$34.99 CDx2   EMITT RHODES The Emitt Rhodes Recordings: 1969-1973 (Hip-O Select) "With My Face on the Floor" "Fresh As a Daisy" Attention pop fans: You need this. Hip-O Select does the world a huge favor by reissuing all four of Hawthorne, CA pop auteur/Merry-Go-Round frontman Emitt Rhodes' long out-of-print solo albums in this convenient two-disc set. The Merry-Go-Round had broken up by 1969, and Rhodes proceeded to record what was to be his solo debut for his then current label, A&M, but that record (The American Dream) didn't end up being released until 1971. The first in what was to be a continuous stream of disenchanting moves made by the various labels he recorded for, Rhodes grew more and more fed up and disgusted with the record biz. By 1970, he'd left A&M, built himself an eight-track home studio in his garage, and signed a bonkers contract with ABC Dunhill which held him to release a new album every six months, calling for six albums over the span of three years(!). As it was, Rhodes only managed to record three more absolutely brilliant slices of pure pop genius. His 1970 self-titled Dunhill debut is one of my desert island records, as close to perfection as pop music can get. Filled with fuzzy tales of broken hearts, confusing courtships, and lustful longing, Rhodes played everything on the album (and its two follow-ups) himself, while also singing all of the record's rich, harmony-laden vocals. Fans of Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums may recognize the song "Lullabye," taken from this LP. The following year, Rhodes would release Mirror, and the critical acclaim that this album and its predecessor received led A&M to finally issue The American Dream in 1971 as well. It would be another two years (with a tumultuous lawsuit by Dunhill for breach of contract) before Rhodes would release his final album, Farewell to Paradise, an altogether darker affair that effectively pronounced his disillusionment with the record industry loud and clear. Astonishingly, Rhodes never made a public recording again. By age 23(!) he'd released five albums (including the Merry-Go-Round's sole LP), and been burned by the system so badly that he retreated behind the scenes, working as an engineer for Elektra for a short time, before disappearing into near total hermetic isolation. Rumor has it he's finally, after all of these years, returned to the studio with the intent of releasing new recordings, and there's allegedly a feature-length documentary in the works about his insane story. This long-revered cult figure's reappraisal is long overdue, and this collection no doubt helps to further the cause. The set includes great liners telling his story in-depth, and the guy is finally getting paid some royalties for the first time in god knows how long. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this set is as essential to pop heads as the first two Big Star records, and comes most highly recommended to fans of McCartney's first two solo albums, early Harry Nilsson, Badfinger, and Todd Rundgren. And as much as I love those artists, I'd take one song of Emitt's over an album by any of them, any day of the week. Yes, he's that good. [IQ]

		$17.99 LP $9.99 MP3 $17.99 LP $9.99 MP3   TELEVISION PERSONALITIES And Don't the Kids Just Love It (Fire) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store TELEVISION PERSONALITIES Mummy You're Not Watching Me (Fire) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store At long last, the first two Television Personalities LPs gets properly reissued on LP! Originally released on Rough Trade in 1981, the wildly influential Television Personalities debut LP is the ultimate iconic DIY pop record. Dan Treacy, with a little help from Ed Ball and Joe Foster (who later went on to work with Alan McGee and Creation Records), wrote amazing, quirky, sad, sardonic, catchy pop songs (and still does, actually), often all at once. While punk rock was fizzling, its ideals were still very alive and active here; much of the album is a little sloppy and off key, but is all the better for it, and instead of lashing out against the Queen and aping the Pistols, Treacy channeled his beloved 60s icons like the Who and the Creation -- along with the wit of Oscar Wilde, and pop art -- into something wholly different. "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives" is a melancholic and slightly cartoon-ish ode to the missing Pink Floyd madman; "Parties in Chelsea" and "Geoffrey Ingram" are uptempo mod anthems; "Look Back in Anger" and "This Angry Silence" are stark kitchen sink tales of relationship complications (many of Treacy's songs play out like 3-minute Ken Loach films); and my own personal favorite, "A Picture of Dorian Gray," retells the famous Wilde story in the form of the perfect pop song. On the follow-up album from a year later, Mummy You're Not Watching Me, Treacy embraces his love for psychedelia more fully, as evidenced by the often phased guitars and keyboard swirls, and the mood is a little darker and more personal. "David Hockney's Diaries" is the epic sixties-ish psych-out centerpiece here, but "Scream Silently" (in all its paranoid, claustrophobic glory), the haunting "A Day in Heaven" and the pure pop (art) double dose of "Painting by Numbers" and "Liechtenstein Painting" all vie for the top spot as well. As with most Television Personalities releases, Mummy is a way too personal, deranged, paranoid, shambling, self-deprecating ...glorious mess. Or to put it as a wise man once said, they sound like "the Swell Maps playing Ray Davies songs." Essential listening for everyone into punk, mod, powerpop, C86, and indie pop. My favorite band of all time? Possibly. [AK]

		$21.99 CD $9.99 MP3   SUN RA Nidhamu & Dark My Equation Visitation (Art Yard) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Mega-moogy workouts from Sun Ra and his Arkestra, recorded live in Cairo over the span of several days in December of 1971, and originally issued as two separate LPs on Saturn. Something about being in Egypt obviously amplified the man's already quite mystical bent, as there are tracks on here that probably rank as some of his most ascetic -- sparse, electronic pulsations he was casting into the aether amphitheater ringing the desert. The band sits out a good deal of the performance on the Nidhamu half of the record, as Sun Ra intensely constructs his own private and spooky music of the spheres. Dark Myth Equation Visitation features more of the gravity and shuffle of the whole Arkestra, with the slow grooves and call-and-response chants interspersed with a number of mind-melting synth explosions. [MK]

		$17.99 CD   FREDDIE SCOTT Mr. Heartache: The Best of the Columbia Recordings (Kent) "One Heartache Too Many" "Lonely Man" The smooth, husky tenor of Freddie Scott is the voice behind "Hey Girl," one of the finest pop/soul ballads of the early sixties. Around that time Scott was an aspiring 30-year-old singer-songwriter who had a pretty successful day job writing hit pop tunes as part of the famed Brill Building team of songwriters, which included Carole King, Gerry Goffin and Neil Sedaka. Originally recorded as a demo for soul singer Chuck Jackson, the song was found languishing by Phil Spector, finally released in the summer of '63, and instantly became a hit, with Scott all of a sudden finding himself a new career as a crooning teen idol. This compilation highlights Scott's three-year tenure with the Columbia label, soon after "Hey Girl" was released, and many of the tunes here are in the style of the rich, pop/soul balladry of that first hit. Fans of big-voiced ballads by Jerry Butler, Sam Cooke and Ben E. King will find a lot to enjoy here. Luminaries like Cissy Houston, Deedee Warwick and the Sweet Inspirations back him up on many of these tunes, with the standouts probably being "For Your Love" and "Blow, Wind," both cavernous, string-drenched numbers that showcase Mr. Scott's incredible vocals. This was a singer's singer who was as influenced by the old school crooners like Bing and Frank as much as the aforementioned Cooke and King. Speaking of Sam and Ben, Scott's respective covers' of "Bring It On Home to Me" and "Spanish Harlem" are totally great and are included on this collection. As strong as these performances are, Columbia didn't have a clue on how to break an R&B artist. Coincidentally, Aretha Franklin was signed to the same label at the time and suffered much the same fate, both artists putting out solid records that were poorly promoted. It wasn't until Scott left Columbia in '67 for the more cutting edge waters of Shout/Bang Records -- home to Aretha's sister Erma Franklin, Van Morrison and Neil Diamond -- that Scott shined. There he hit paydirt with funky hits like "Are You Lonely for Me" and "You (Got What I Need)," which was famously covered by Biz Markie. Although those two songs aren't included here, there are four unreleased gems that were culled from the same sessions as his stellar Are You Lonely for Me LP for Shout/Bang. Lovely stuff and recommended. [DH]

		$11.99 CD $13.99 LP   COLD CAVE Love Comes Close (Heartworm) "Life Magazine" "Love Comes Close" Now on CD! Philly-based noir merchants Cold Cave finally deliver on the promise that their 7"s and EPs showed with Love Comes Close, the debut full-length. Undoubtedly a pop band at its core, Wes Eisold and his revolving cast of characters (Dominic Fernow of Prurient/Hospital, author Max G. Morton, Xiu Xiu's Caralee McElroy, etc.) have a definite knack for crafting the perfect three-minute pop song and then piling on layers of fuzz, static, grime and rust. There's an underlying industrial/early Factory Records/minimal shoegaze wave vibe, and combined with equal parts nihilism and undying romance, Love Comes Close is a true success. Check out the sound samples if you don't believe me. [AK]

		$13.99 CD $15.99 LP   LIGHTS Rites (Drag City) "War Theme" "Can You Hear Me?" The second full-length from Lights finds the Brooklyn band's gentle, lysergic-tinged folk blossoming into something that's all together more soulful and funky, pulling from influences as far and wide as Bobby Womack and Pink Floyd. Of course, drummer Linnea Vedder and guitarist Sophia Knapp's gorgeous melodies and harmonies are still here in spades, but there's also an assuredness to the whole record that we didn't hear in their self-titled debut from last year; just click on the blistering rocker "War Theme" above for proof.

		$17.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Vile Vinyl Volume 1 (Past and Present) "Makin’ Love" The Dirty Shames Past Present continues on their mission to reissue every trailblazing 60s garage punk compilation LP (Acid Dreams series, Off the Wall), this time with the first volume of Vile Vinyl, original released in the mid-80s. It runs the gamut from every micro-genre of the garage spectrum you'd want: R&B ravers, Stones-aping rockers, angsty teen jangle, and full-on punk screamers. Highlights include the Changin' Times cover of "How Is the Air Up There," the Dirty Shames' "Makin' Love," Jolly Green Giants' totally crunching "Caught You Redhanded" and the Belles tuff girl punker "Melvin." Three thumbs up!

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   POWELL ST. JOHN On My Way to Houston (Tompkins Square) "On My Way to Houston" Rousing and real roots-rock from old timer and mouth-harp player extraordinaire Powell St. John, a (mostly) unknown Texan legend who ran around with the likes of Janis Joplin and Roky Erickson back in the day. St. John actually wrote some tunes for the 13th Floor Elevators once upon a time, but it's Roky's other, later band, the Aliens that are backing him here with some super loosey-goosey "real people's" boogie. Includes odes to the Silver Surfer and "Jerry" Lightfoot, nice!

		$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3   SEAN BONES Rings (Frenchkiss) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store An unexpected slice of summery, reggae-infused goodness from Sean Bones, a/k/a Sean Sullivan, the guitarist of Sam Champion. Trading the '90s-vibed indie rock of his fulltime gig for a far more tropical blend, what's not lost is the knack for a well-crafted pop song. Even Norah Jones -- who stars with Bones in the new indie flick Wa Do Dem -- pays her friend a visit, appearing in the album's lovely closing track, "Turn Them."

		$13.99 CD $16.99 LPx2 w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   MEGAFAUN Gather, Form & Fly (Hometapes) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Megafaun is the phoenix that rose from the ashes of DeYarmond Edison, the original recording and touring vehicle for Brad and Phil Cook's longtime friend Justin Vernon (a/k/a Bon Iver). Like Fleet Foxes, Megafaun pluck from the storied branches of Appalachian folk, but splash in some Byrdsian pop sensibility, Kinks-y rhythms, and Townes Van Zandt sadness for a flavorful, mournful, and excellent sophomore effort.

		PHONE ORDERS Phone orders are accepted at (212) 477-8150 (ext. #2, mailorder) Mon-Fri, Noon - 7pm EST EMAIL For general inquiries or other information please email sales@othermusic.com. Do not reply to this message. REMOVE This is an automated list. If you would like to be removed for any reason, please visit: digital.othermusic.com/subscribe.php   THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [AB] Adrian Burkeholder [BCa] Brian Cassidy [PG] Pamela Garavano-Coolbaugh [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [AK] Andreas Knutsen [SM] Scott Mou [MS] Michael Stasiak [JT] John Twells THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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