May 28, 2009

		LAST CHANCE FOR THE ANIMAL CRACK BOX All of you Animal Collective fans are well aware of the very limited -- and instantly out of print -- 3-LP box set that Catsup Plate recently put out, featuring live and unreleased tracks recorded between 2000 and 2003, in a handcrafted package that is seriously amazing. Other Music has three in stock right now and we have no doubt that if we simply put the box sets out on the floor, they'd be gone in a nanosecond. So to try to give everyone a fair chance at the opportunity to buy this collectible from one of our favorite artists, we're going to do a lottery-style drawing for our in-store customers. (Because these are so limited, we unfortunately cannot offer this raffle to mail order.) Over this next week, stop by Other Music and with any purchase you will be eligible to put your name into "the hat." We'll be drawing three names next Wednesday and announcing the winners in our email update. The box set will cost each of the winners $99.99 (we know it's weird to win the right to spend a hundred bucks, but we're pretty sure the fans will understand). Good Luck!

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Grouper (Just In!) Ilyas Ahmed Grizzly Bear Phoenix Ernst Reijseger Lindstrom & Prins Thomas El Michels Affair Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens Take Me to the Water (Book & CD) Tyvek Blank Dogs The Intelligence Sunn0))) James Blackshaw Amen Dunes   The Inner Space (Early Can) Ikue Mori Victor Olaiya Fred Fisher Atalobhor Complete Goldwax Singles Volume 1 Vainica Doble Not Given Lightly (Morr Music Comp.) BACK IN STOCK Plantation Gold (Various) ON VINYL Omar Souleyman Neko Case

		$13.99 CD   GROUPER Cover the Windows and the Walls (Root Strata) Liz Harris' one-woman Grouper project has been gathering a lot of steam of late, with the haunting Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill sneaking into some pretty diverse top 10 lists last year, and continuing to build momentum. Not unlike her songs, I guess, which surreptitiously churn their way into your consciousness, blending the hallucinatory slow-building swirl of psychedelic experimentalists like Popul Vuh and Flying Saucer Attack with a more generous pop sensibility. This album could be seen as a throwaway, recorded in 2006 it was originally released as an ultra-limited vinyl LP that disappeared long before you ever knew you wanted it. But want it, you did, or should have at least. Cover the Windows and the Walls is a gem, containing some of Harris' best moments. It's a bit less refined than Dragging..., but no less satisfying, with a wash of sound that encompasses some of Harris' finest flowers, and a pop sensibility that is positively shoegaze. The CD is limited too, 1000 copies for the world, and this will be gone before you know it. Don't sleep on it again; it's not to be missed. [JM]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   ILYAS AHMED Goner (Root Strata) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Mesmerizing new release from Portland, Oregon's Ilyas Ahmed, last heard around these parts on a gorgeous album of nocturnal bedroom folk that we literally blew out of, never to see again. That album was diffuse and formless to the extreme, super private and solitary, full of endearingly meandering digressions that nevertheless followed their own peculiar logic. He's got an entirely new, yet equally compelling, approach for this release, however, with the slack folkiness of his previous LP here mostly replaced by a remarkably taut and tense excursion into rockier territories. It's fairly lo-fi, yet somehow simultaneously massive and totally blown-out, and full of boxy sounding repetitive riffs. There's a near perfect balance here between structure and abandon, the utterly forlorn and the cosmically aspiring. It's an ability he shares with another Portland native, Grouper's Liz Harris, who actually shows up here to sing lead and deliver a grace note on the albums'gorgeous final track. There's something very unique taking place on this record, and as its about all I've been able to listen to for the past couple of weeks I'm certain it'll go down as one of the year's best. [MK]

		$11.99 CD $19.99 LP $9.99 MP3   GRIZZLY BEAR Veckatimest (Warp) "Southern Point" "Cheerleader" The impossibly titled new album from Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear is the most heavily anticipated new release that we've seen in some time, and there is little doubt that 2009 will be the year of the 'Bear. (If you Google the name, the band comes up several times in the search before the actual bears do!) And while popularity is no sign of quality -- if it were, you wouldn't need Other Music, right? -- it's got to make you a little bit curious. These guys have definitely upped the ante on their third proper album, but really it's a continuation of the refinement in sound they pursued from the hazy homemade druggie drone of 2004's Horn of Plenty to the crisper dreaminess of their 2006 breakthrough, Yellow House. On Veckatimest, the band have followed this progression to its logical conclusion, meticulously crafting a crystalline folk-pop album that is rich with complex harmonies, soaring orchestration (courtesy of NYC avant-classical wunderkind Nico Muhly), and a clarity of vision that few indie groups could ever muster. There is a jazzy swing to some tracks, and no doubt there are many unexpected twists and turns in both the arrangements and the melodies that sometimes approach an almost folk-prog complexity; nonetheless, the album feels as if it were assembled piece-by-piece, moment-by-moment, turned over and examined at every angle and then shined to a high gloss. Not to imply that is has an artificial sheen, quite to the contrary; Veckatimest is a wonderfully natural sounding record, relishing in acoustic instruments and breathy room ambience, but you can rest assured that no Bears are running wild in these parts. It was mixed by Garreth Jones, a world-class producer who has worked on classic albums from the likes of Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Wire, and Einstürzende Neubauten, and more recently groups like Interpol, Goldfrapp and Liars, and he managed to make this layered, complex recording sound effortless and light as air, with every subtle nuance nestled in its proper place. The reference points for GB mock 2009 are hard to pinpoint; once tarred as Animal Collective wannabe's, these guys share a harmonic joy with that band, but not much else. The scope of the album, as well as the clear-eyed vocals and lush harmonies bring them closer to Steely Dan or the High Llamas, but Grizzly Bear's songwriting is a bit darker and more esoteric than either of those groups' pop perfection. And what about those songs? Well, suffice it to say that they have refined those as well, and deliver several of their finest moments yet, not just on the beautiful bounce of the debut single, "Two Weeks." Many of the lyrics seem to struggle with interpersonal dynamic, chronicling the ongoing push and pull of intimates, and the emotions here are delivered in a whisper, not a scream. The hubbub around these guys of late is noise enough, and they don't need to raise their voices to be heard. [JM]

		$11.99 CD $19.99 LP   PHOENIX Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote) "Fences" "Liztomania" Within the first few seconds of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix you know exactly what you're going to get; we burst straight into "Lisztomania" without so much as a breath of introduction and Phoenix lay down their philosophy. Now on their fourth album, the French band have never been subtle, but this might be their leanest offering yet -- ten impeccably crafted electro-pop classics destined to tickle hipster dancefloors from Brooklyn to Beijing. They might have been linked to Daft Punk, Air, Justice and pretty much anyone else coming from France in recent years, and sure they share a similarly obsessive attention to detail in terms of production, but that's where the comparison has to end. Uninterested in tired ballads, Phoenix instead seem hell-bent on making an album that plays like a singles collection. This isn't a new idea, they've been attempting to make perfect pop since the gorgeously glossy "Too Young" had our ears doing cartwheels almost a decade ago, but Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the first time they have truly delivered. Even when they decide to experiment (usually the classic indie-rock mistake) with the Steve Reich-influenced noisy ambience of "Love Is Like a Sunset I," it still feels like a high point of the record, with electrified marimba sounds cascading through analog basses and drifting percussion. By the time the album grinds to its epically arranged, composed and crafted close you'll want to go right back and play it all over again -- and if that isn't the sign of a great pop record I don't know what is. Maybe this time they'll get the success they deserve. [JT]

		$17.99 CD   ERNST REIJSEGER Tell Me Everything (Winter and Winter) "Dancing for D" "Tiny Adventure" There's an awesome quote from Werner Herzog on Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger's Wikipedia page: "He is a magnificent cellist, and he can do anything, anything on his cello. He could play the civil war, the American Civil war on his cello." Reijseger has scored a few of Herzog's more recent documentaries, and a previous disc collecting those works was a pretty big hit around here a few years back. The Herzog quote is no doubt true, as Reijseger's technique and creative mind are beyond reproach, but what I personally love about his albums of late is that while he's quite capable of flaunting his extraordinary virtuosity on the violoncello, he's also just as likely to be content in blanketing the listener in gorgeous cascades of pure sound. His latest album, Tell Me Everything, is an intimate and scaled-down affair, apparently recorded in open air at the La Commenda di San Eufronsino in Tuscany, and accompanied solely by the passing breeze and the song of birds. Full of languorous pauses and lyric beauty, along with his signature ability to create wondrous harmonic overtones, this is a perfect, perfect introduction to an incomparable musician. [MK]

		$17.99 CD   LINDSTROM & PRINS THOMAS II (Eskimo) "For Ett Slikk Og Ingenting" "Gudene Vet + Snutt" The space disco dons are back! In the intervening years since the Norwegian duo of Hans-Peter Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas first baked up a batch of tunes on their debut release, the game has changed and their spacey sound has expanded the world over. But while such grooves have been oft-imitated, they have never really been duplicated. And while both gents do incredible work under their own names (see Lindstrøm's astounding solo debut last year or Prins Thomas's own tracks), together there is a symbiosis that remains unmatched. For II, the two sound like they holed up in the lab and just let loose with organic drums, dusty synths, classic-rock piano lines, and all manners of wah-wah guitars. Open-ended jams are held together by the kick of the bass drum and this album flows, meanders, grooves, grows, and evolves like few things out there today. Perfect for sun-dappled afternoons contemplating navels and/or the return of disco. An Album of the Year contender for sure. [AB]

		$14.99 CD   EL MICHELS AFFAIR Enter the 37th Chamber (Truth & Soul / Fat Beats) "Bring Da Ruckus" "Uzi (Pinky Ring)" I've been waiting for this one for a while. From deep in the borough of Brooklyn and featuring some of Daptone's great players, El Michels Affair pay and play tribute to Wu-Tang Clan -- namely the productions of RZA -- with their new album, Enter the 37th Chamber. It's an interesting idea though not completely original; the Roots have been covering hip-hop classics in their live shows for years, and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble have been doing the same on the streets of Chicago and New York (and are currently touring London, including some summer dates with a reunited Blur.) That said, El Michels Affair ups the ante with a full album of instrumental covers of beloved classics like "C.R.E.A.M.," "Can It Be All So Simple," Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Y' All," Raekwon's "Glaciers of Ice," and even Ghostface's "Cherchez La Ghost," not to mention one of my favorite late-era Wu-Tang tracks, "Uzi (Pinky Ring)." Who could have imagined that Wu-Tang's hip-hop versions and re-edits of soul classics (from producer Willie Mitchell, among others) would be the perfect fodder for Leon Michels and his eight piece band to reshape into something so mind blowing, inventive and above all funky -- at times you'd think you were listening to a blaxploitation film soundtrack. The songs are as cinematic as the originals with interludes and children singing and... a surprise that I'll leave for you to discover on your own. I'll just say to look out for the hidden bonus track that appears at the end of the CD; it's the most refreshing and instantly enjoyable thing I've heard in awhile. First jam of the summer? I think so. [DG]

		$14.99 CD $14.99 LP $9.99 MP3   NAOMI SHELTON AND THE GOSPEL QUEENS What Have You Done, My Brother? (Daptone) "I'll Take the Long Road" "By Your Side" Gospel, more than anything else (once you really stack it up), is the most vital source of rock & roll. The sound may even have been at its purest and peak power when it was still referred to as rockin' & reelin', fit to fight the Devil rather than lubricate one's decadence -- but over 50 years of bricolage and bulls**t since it left the Church, it's kinda hard to tell. Hell, I come from a Southern Baptist family from Southwest Georgia, wherein preaching is the biniss, but even I forget...and have fallen short of the Glory. Luckily, Naomi Shelton and 'nem's new What Have You Done, My Brother? is a timely reminder of all that has been. From storefront pulpits where Alabama-bred Shelton has often gathered folks in the Spirit to behemoth arenas where those trickster Tennesseans in Kings of Leon now hold sway, slavery-forged spirit shouts and electric guitar evangelism has been the core of what revolutionized American music since the early 20th century leap of sacred technology and distinguished our sound around the globe (even when inferior acolytes like Eric Clapton still manage to f**k it up). Set up in shrouds of authenticity, this disc frankly comes across like 'hood exotica for non-southern white folks too skurred to ever venture Uptown, but Mr. Driver's organ and all cannot be denied. And the Gospel Queens certainly make it seem like alla Gods chillun got S-O-U-L -- even when yer an apostate. Can we stand another interpretation of "A Change Is Gonna Come?" Yes, we can! (holla, Brotha 'Bama). All Shelton and her Circle need is a stellar concert film segment to put them across the way Dorothy Morrison was in Celebration at Big Sur, and their everlasting viral presence as sistahs ex machina will be assured. Since it is its key root, 'bout time gospel gets recouped and capitalized like The Metal. Rockers: Sunday mornin's callin' y'all. [KCH]

		$31.99 CD & BK   VARIOUS ARTISTS Take Me To The Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950 (Dust-to-Digital) "Denomination Blues Part 1" Washington Phillips "Wade in de Water" Empire Jubilee Quartet The Christian sacrament of baptism has its ritualistic origins in the Jewish mikvah (or collection) in which one is purified, typically in a "collection" of living water (river, lake, ocean, etc.). New Testament prophet John the Baptist adopted this tradition and used the River Jordan to cleanse sinners so that they might enter a new life of repentance. Many biblical scholars would agree that the phrase "immersion baptism" is redundant, but as with many rituals carried out in mainline and not so mainline denominations in Christianity, tidiness has often won out over tradition. Whether or not to baptize as adults or as infants is a theological argument well beyond the Other Music Update, but the transformation from one thing to another is the hallmark of all baptisms. It is this profoundly transformative experience that is the subject of the 75 photographs collected by Jim Linderman and compiled for this release by the incomparable (and Grammy winning) Dust-to-Digital label. As Luc Sante writes in his excellent accompanying essay, "You would have to have a heart of tin not to recognize this as one of the happiest collections of archival photographs ever assembled." I would add that the variations on the theme of baptism contained in these photos are also incredibly compelling; there are white and black baptisms, large and small baptisms, poor and rich baptisms, cold (!) and warm baptisms, etc. One is reminded of the commonality of the human experience when viewing a collection of this ilk and there is nothing wrong with that. Then there is the music; a 25-track disc accompanies the book comprised of sermons and songs on the topic of, you guessed it, Baptism! Many of the heavy hitters of early 20th century sacred and secular music are represented (the Carter Family, Washington Philips, Rev. J.M. Gates, and Clarence Ashley and the Carolina Tar Heels), as are lesser known, but no less rousing sides by Rev. R.M. Massey, Moses Mason, and the Belmont Silvertone Jubilee Singers. I have always been most deeply affected by sacred music from the religions of the world, but I think the music contained here (and on DTD's Goodbye Babylon box set) is my favorite. I can put it on any time and immediately feel a sense of renewal and relief. It also brings to mind the very question posed by Jim Linderman in his introduction to this collection: "Did the performers recorded here reach for a higher standard when they played their gospel songs?" While I'm not sure if they were consciously reaching for a higher standard, I am convinced that these performers and preachers have no doubt about what they are singing and preaching. It is this unwavering certainty depicted in both the photographs and songs/sermons that most interests me, particularly where art and faith intersect, and there is nothing wrong with that either. [KC]

		$11.99 CD $14.99 LP $9.99 MP3   TYVEK Tyvek (Siltbreeze) "Hey Una" "Frustration Rock" Folks who don't pay attention to the garage punk, weird punk, new DIY underground might not be aware of the countless pages on Internet message boards that have already been posted in response to Tyvek's debut album. While people spouting their opinions on the web is certainly not uncommon, the fervor with which they do it and, in this case, the obvious connection they feel to this band, is rare. All of the commotion is understandable though, as their live shows can be incendiary, and Tyvek have been pretty much flawless on record with a series of 7" singles that are even better than they are rare. Get this; they might actually be worth the crazy sums they fetch on eBay, but how about someone releasing an LP reissue collecting the lot of them so we can all enjoy the music? So this debut album arrives with much anticipation and brings a flurry of questions: Can they keep up their winning streak? Is the cover cool or ugly? Can you drive a Honda like they can drive a Honda? Can your pussy do the dog? So many questions and not all of them get answered, but in the end, this record mixes the band's established sound -- a sort of American garage rock take on Wire -- with some new spacey twists like the flute in album opener "Circular Ruins," and the dusty desert interludes throughout (all part of a jam session that might be boring to relive in real time, but works very well chopped up and inserted every few songs) that expand their sound in great, unexpected ways. The end result is good enough to make you forget that you had any questions in the first place. [DMa]

		$11.99 CD   BLANK DOGS Under and Under (In the Red) "No Compass" "Slowing Down" To be sure, the shadowy dude (or dudes, or elderly Panamanian women, or whatever) who records and releases records as Brooklyn's Blank Dogs can't really be given credit for creating the lo-fi bedroom punk aesthetic that's driving all the kids wild these days. He does, however, get the nod for dropping some of the best examples of the form in its post-millennial incarnation, having issued a host of 7" and 12" releases at a breakneck pace since first bowing a couple of years back. Updating ice cold minimal synth tracks for ears raised on classic downer post-punk (a more ramshackle Joy Division immediately springs to mind), Blank Dogs have launched an endless parade of taut, claustrophobic dramas that manage to sound wholly out of time while still giving obvious nods to those influences that came earlier. Under and Under, only the second Blank Dogs' full-length, stands as its creator's most ambitious work to date. Over fifteen tracks (twenty on the double LP that's coming along in a couple of weeks), Blank Dogs cuts a path straight to the echoing heart of darkness, painting broad brush strokes of dour synth and affected vocals across jagged guitars and nagging drum machine beats on songs like "Setting Fire to Your House" and the driving, hauntingly melodic "The New Things." Live drums get added to the mix on a few tunes, thus lending tracks like "Tin Birds" and album opening "No Compass" a driving, human pulse that contrasts nicely with the frozen instrumental harmonies that sound almost as if they were crafted in some long-forgotten post-industrial urban milieu a couple decades back. Definitely one of the best projects Brooklyn has to offer right now (and one that seems to get better with each new recording), Under and Under, the first widely available Blank Dogs release, will give those of you who have missed out on any of the ridiculously limited singles and tapes a chance to do a little catching up, and the fans will not be disappointed. [MC]

		$12.99 CD $10.99 LP   THE INTELLIGENCE Fake Surfers (In the Red) "Saint Bartolomeu" "Pony People" Originally, the Intelligence was the "other band" from Lars Finberg of the A Frames, and for close to ten years, strange and wonderful records would occasionally show up from this group. But with the A Frames retreating to part time status, the Intelligence has been Finberg's main focus for some time now, and with weird punk, noise-pop, and bedroom projects attracting so much attention these days, this album feels like a definitive statement from one of the pioneers of the whole movement. Fake Surfers also happens to be Mr. Finberg's best Intelligence record yet. The Intelligence have always featured a wonderfully chaotic mix of human and synthetic sounds, and for every sinister bass note, cheap drum machine beat or buzzing synth, there is a buoyant melody that you'll need a crowbar to help pry it out of your head. The lyrics take the classic bratty punk approach of focusing mainly on negatives (not including their cover of a pop hit from last year which no one heard, Wounded Lion's "Pony People," which is all euphoric fantasy), but the music, while at times noisy, is uplifting and infectious. For a record with so much fuzz and discord to be so fun seems almost impossible, but I'm telling you this feels like the first party album of the summer. [DMa]

		$13.99 CD   SUNN 0))) Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord) "Aghartha" "Big Church" It is hard to believe how much time has passed since the unveiling of Black One, Greg Anderson and Steven O'Malley's last doom-laden voyage into the underworld. In the time since, the two musicians have busied themselves with a number of side projects, not least O'Malley's triumphant noise/drone assault with Peter Rehberg under the KTL moniker, but for most of the world it's a new Sunn O))) album that stirs the loins most mercilessly. With Black One taking the duo's sound into the usually bassless world of black metal, it was unclear where they would go next. To my mind they had struck upon something very special with that record, and I was worried that as they progressed further they might lose the ominous blackness that made it so compelling. The early word on the street was that Monoliths and Dimensions was Anderson and O'Malley's "orchestral" album, and that's not far wrong, but the way the two have implemented the orchestral elements (with help from Ipecac's Eyvind Kang) is subtle and inspired. "Aghartha" leads us in slowly with the familiar woofer-rattle of the duo's drop-tuned guitars, but no sooner than Attila Csihar's carcinogenic mutterings have graced the airwaves are we treated to something entirely different -- the scrape of strings and the insectoid wobble of horns (from Earth collaborator Steve Moore and jazz legend Julian Priester). It's still Sunn O))), but this is more widescreen, more epic and more sparklingly produced. In fact, at times you could almost be listening to a half-speed Godspeed! You Black Emperor record; such is the detail and orchestral flourish on the album. By the time Jessika Kenney's Viennese vocal choir makes an appearance it feels totally justified -- we have left behind the ear punishing dense noise of 00 Void and Grimm Robe Demos and the band have grown to the point where their compositions could almost be heard as chamber music. It won't please everyone but with Monoliths & Dimensions, Sunn O))) have proven that they can build on the template they drew out for themselves and the results are both surprising and engrossing. It's a sound that many metal bands have approached so many times, but where those bands relegate these musings to "interludes" and "outros," Sunn O))) have managed to create a terrifying full-length statement. [JT]

		$12.99 CD   JAMES BLACKSHAW The Glass Bead Game (Young God) Nearly every year, we wind up gushing about the newest album from London guitarist James Blackshaw, and by the next year, he's blown past all previous expectations with something more eloquent and grandiose. Such is the case with his first album for Michael Gira's Young God imprint. While last year's Litany of Echoes showcased the steel-string maestro branching out to the piano, here he brings all his talents together, commingling his guitar and piano playing with violin, viola, and wordless vocals into something stunning and spellbinding. Opener "Cross" is about the closest modern thing we've heard to reach the peaks of Italian composer Luciano Cilio's mid-70s masterwork, Dell'Universo Assente. Recommended. [AB]

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   AMEN DUNES Dia (Locust) "2,000 Islands" "In Caroline" Amen Dunes is the fittingly cryptic name for the new solo project of New York/ Beijing-based artist Damon McMahon, who began his NYC music career as vocalist/guitarist in the late avant-rock group Inouk and then went on to record a solo album for Astralwerks once that band called it quits. Though the first two endeavors from McMahon showed off his great merit as a vocalist, musician, and songwriter, neither undertaking ever hinted at what he was capable of composing once placed in a looser structure. With Amen Dunes, songs do exist but never in an outright manner; more often they appear like faded murals on beautifully textured walls of guitar and feedback that bridge a gap between folk, psych and noise. Often McMahon's fluttering vocals become an instrument unto themselves as he loops arcane soundscapes between crisper, more decipherable moments. The gritty production of this album combined with such raw otherworldly sounds really makes Amen Dunes' debut sound more like a lost basement tape of Syd Barrett jamming with Amon Düül I (I assume the "band" name is an offbeat reference to that seminal German group) than anything contemporary I can really think of; Blank Dogs have a similar mysterious low-fi noise drifting throughout, but that's really where the similarity ends. Amen Dunes, to me, has a sense of timelessness that will really set this album apart from its peers. These songs not only reveal a glimmering reverb-drenched universe for all to enjoy, but also promise to captivate the listener with a haunting yet wondrous landscape of sound. [AC]

		$21.99 CD   THE INNER SPACE Agilok & Blubbo Soundtrack (Wah Wah) "Kamerasong" "Flop Pop" Prae-Kraut Can-De-Monium! The Inner Space were a five member German progressive/art rock collective in the late '60s, four-fifths of whom would go on to become Can (who, hopefully, need no further explanation). This isn't a Can record, though; before Malcolm Mooney became the group's first vocalist, American composer and flautist David Johnson rounded out the quintet. Most of the members play on these recordings, expanded from the original release as a single, as the soundtrack to an underground film of the same title. They hadn't yet become the crack improvisers that destiny revealed, but the Inner Space had a hallucinogenic sound all the same, calling to mind a more disciplined Amon Düül (commune era). Tracks range from loose, folksy experimentation with propulsive drumming -- remember, it's Jaki Liebezeit on drums, you couldn't hope for more -- to cooled out library music, Komeda-esque pop (vocals handled by libertine actress Rosy Rosy), and the killer closing cut, a free psych/groove blues freakout entitled "Apokalypse." The members of Can went on to write quite a bit of excellent music for films, and it's interesting to hear their approach this early on. Recommended for any Krautrock enthusiast. [DM]

		$15.99 CD   IKUE MORI Class Insecta (Tzadik) "Master of Deception" "Hemiptera" Given her tenure in post-punk pioneers DNA, it shouldn't really surprise us that Ikue Mori has gone back to the cyclic 80s drum machines she made her name programming. Class Insecta is her latest work for the Tzadik imprint and this time around she uses the familiar pulse of the drum machine to form the backbone of the her outré improvisations. Over pulsing, skittering electronic beats, she conducts swarms of buzzing synthesizers and chattering samples -- at times you might get the hint of something you could dance to, but Mori pulls it back just as your feet start tapping. These tracks often bring to mind the pre-techno forms Klaus Schulze and Manuel Gottsching were working with in the late 70s/early 80s, yet instead of the lavish synth work and pounding bass lines, Mori has opted for something far more experimental. Distant pianos and bubbling DSP-work encases her drum patterns in a web of impenetrable discordance, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Simple electronica this isn't -- Mori is post-punk to the core, and whether that's assisting her crowd of limelight-grabbing associates or laying down the law on her latest solo album, there's always something beautifully New York about it all. The original warehouse music? [JT]

		$21.99 CD $22.99 LP $9.99 MP3   VICTOR OLAIYA All Stars Soul International (Vampi Soul) "Let Yourself Go" "Things Got to Get Better" Vampi Soul strikes again with another stunning Nigerian reissue, this time focusing on the sweet and sweaty highlife sounds of bandleader Victor Olaiya, one of the unsung heroes of the scene. This album, originally released in 1970, owes as much to James Brown and "Mother Popcorn" as it does to ET Mensah and Olaiya's Nigerian peers. I'm really digging the odd, spacey, almost dublike production here -- the horns sound like they've been beamed in from another planet, with otherworldly reverb glazing over them, as well as the guitars. The percussion is mixed upfront, and the vocals have an almost schizophrenic quality, jumping with little warning from calm, lilting lullabies to cat-in-heat wailing and right back again. There's also a wild, tape-edit schizophrenia to the production that mirrors the on-a-dime pacing of the jams, giving them an urgency which is reminiscent of the 1970's electric works of Miles Davis jams like "On the Corner." I can honestly say I've never heard an African record that has as many (perhaps unintentional) bizarro moves as it does totally smooth, sultry summer vibes. This, along with the Fred Fisher Atalobhor reissue below (also on Vampi Soul), is one of the best records I've heard all summer. Say it with me now, people: Afro Jam of the Week! [IQ]

		$29.99 CDx2 $31.99 LPx2 $17.99 MP3   FRED FISHER ATALOBHOR African Carnival (Vampi Soul) "Asa-sa" x "W.T.F.S." And here's another sweet plate of Afro goodness, an excellent 2CD platter of jazzy Afro soul and funk by vocalist, trombonist, and bandleader Fred Fisher Atalobhor. This set covers a large portion of FFA's career, beginning with the smooth, robust bounce of the albums Say the Truth (1979) and No Way (1981), and culminating with the later jams Wahala Dey for Town (1988) and Ogiza (1990). These tracks are tight, fluid, and smooth like the classic NYC funk/disco favored in influential clubs like the Loft and Paradise Garage; the collection as a whole gives me an Afro KISS FM feeling -- I put this on and just bounce, skate, funk, and roll my way around the room until the party's over. The horns are robust, FFA's trombone solos are sweet, and the band funks with the best of 'em. Yes, let's say it one more time: Afro Jam of the Week! [IQ]

		$26.99 CDx2   VARIOUS ARTISTS The Complete Goldwax Singles Volume 1 (Ace) "That's How Strong My Love Is" OV Wright "Have You Seen Jean?" Al Vance Straight outta the UK -- of course -- comes the debut run of three volumes aiming to reissue all of the 45rpm singles of Memphis, TN's Goldwax label. Volume 1, covering the early-to-mid 1960s, harkens back to the time when most rock & roll and rhythm & blues were virtually indistinguishable in aesthetics. It was a halcyon time, indeed, before the British Invasion begat "rock" and the music segregated itself in sound and presentation forever after. Painstakingly compiled and noted, the disc lovingly captures a world long gone, represented by the colorful lineup of single sleeves in the case's liner notes. In retrospect, Memphis ruled the world as much as London or San Francisco in the '60s -- and it definitely had the best artists. Goldwax founder Quinton Claunch's life path from Tishomingo County, MS to Muscle Shoals, AL and on to Memphis certainly meshes with those others of the country elite that made history in rock & roll and southern soul by defying the values of the region from whence they and their beloved biracial sound sprang. Disc One features some pre-Wax tracks, but things really heat up with number 7 -- the Lyrics' "Darling." For us archivists of sepia twang, there's also cuts by Senatobia's Osbie McClinton a/k/a/ Oboe, an aspiring hillbilly singer (thwarted by segregation) and follower of the Shoals' under-sung creation myth-maker Arthur Alexander who would go on to pen songs for the label's most important artist, James Carr. Phillip & the Faithfuls' "Love Me" is a minor miracle at 1:53, but it's preceded by Carr's "You Don't Want Me." When the man's fluid baritone swelters outta your speakers on that one, that's it: The End. [KCH]

		$18.99 CD   VAINICA DOBLE Vainica Doble (Wah Wah) "El Duende" "La Bruja" Ooh, this is a nice one for all of you Finders Keepers/B-Music/international psych and freakbeat fans. Vainica Doble was a Spanish duo featuring Gloria Van Aerssen and Carmen Santonja, two sultry singer/songwriters who recorded this debut in 1971. Mixing a wild array of pop, folk, psychedelic, and world music influences into a heady stew that's stunning and quite lovely on first listen, this album grows even stronger with each subsequent spin. There's quite a bit going on here, and the record's eclectic nature can be a tad dizzying at times, but fans of recent reissues like the Selda album on B-Music, Hangman's Beautiful Daughter-era Incredible String Band, and even French pop chanteuses like Jane Birkin's 1970s albums will find much to bite into here -- folk guitars entangle with funky drums, sitars, swirling strings, and percolating jaw harps, topped off by the ladies' eerie harmonies. Along with the original album, the CD also features eight bonus tracks taken from non-album singles and some super trippy artwork. [IQ]

		$19.99 CDx2 $17.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTISTS Not Given Lightly - A Tribute to the Giant Golden Book of New Zealand's Alternative Music Scene (Morr Music) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store It can be argued that the indie-pop "sound" that we all know and love was conceived in the belly of the Velvet Underground's "Loaded," and nurtured in the early 80s by a communal New Zealand family of lo-fi pioneers. The sound of NZ indie-rock was groundbreaking to say the least, and it never really went way, with newer bands today, from Thomas Function and Tyvek to the Box Elders, all clearly influenced by the jangly guitars and primitive driving rhythms of the other land down under. Morr Music's latest compilation pays tribute to NZ's classic music scene with Not Given Lightly, a two-disc collection sure to join the ranks of their earlier themed collections like Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey and the Blue Skied an' Clear Slowdive tribute. Here we find the label as far away as ever from the chill-out IDM instrumentals that defined their early releases, and now firmly entrenched in 21st century indie-pop-tronica. Named after a Chris Knox track, this B. Fleischmann curated set finds the Morr roster reworking songs by groups like the Chills ("Kaleidoscope World" from People Press Play), Tall Dwarves (It's a Musical covers "My Hollowness to You"), and the Clean (A+ take on my personal fave, "Anything Can Happen"). But the Morr Music crew goes deeper into the NZ alt-rock archives, paying tribute to underrated bands like the Jean Paul Sartre Experience as well. The first disc is a respectful, beautiful listen from start to finish, while the second CD focuses on brand new, unreleased tunes from Morr favorites like ISAN, Electric President and Populous, not to mention a great song from New Zealand's young keepers of the flame, Surf City. Not Given Lightly is a loving homage to the rich world of New Zealand pop, a treat for fans, and an education for the friend who thinks Flight of the Conchords and Crowded House are the kiwis' only contributions to music. [DH]

		$17.99 CDx2   VARIOUS ARTISTS Plantation Gold (Omni) Totally, and I mean totally, bananas collection of obscure country tracks issued via visionary Nashville producer Shelby Singleton's myriad collection of independent record labels. Singleton was an ex-marine and Korean War vet who kicked around the record industry throughout the sixties in numerous positions at different labels. He decided to finally go it alone, and set up Plantation records in Nashville. Pretty much straight out the gate he had a gigantic success with Jeannie C. Riley's take on the Tom T. Hall-penned "Harper Valley P.T.A.," which sold millions and allowed Singleton to develop all sorts of Plantation label offshoots, explore the pop and Southern Soul markets, and purchase the essentially dormant Sun Records catalog and turn it into the licensing cash-cow it no doubt remains to this day. Clearly an inveterate opportunist, and seemingly willing to give anybody a shot to see if what they had might stick, Singleton issued countless singles that never made it past the promo only stage. As this 58 (!) track compilation amply demonstrates, plenty of these folks' singles were simply too bizarre to ever have a chance at mainstream success, but what I love here is that everybody was afforded the same stellar and almost uniformly forward-thinking-of-its-time production. For every mildly racially offensive Ray 'Wong' Riley and his "Happy Valley C.I.A.," you find an unsung genius like Dee Mullins or Jackie Burns. The music here constantly traverses a fine line between heartfelt earnestness and calculated exploitation, but it's never less than fascinating. [MK]

		$29.99 LPx2   OMAR SOULEYMAN Highway Hassake (Sublime Frequencies) "Leh Jani" "Arabic Dabke" Often playing at breakneck speeds, Omar Souleyman and his band have created an ecstatic party music that fuses elements of regional folk forms with lo-fi drum machines, phase-shifted Arabic keyboard lines, and unidentifiable spurts of electronic noise, over which Souleyman sings and chants with palpable energy, often in feverish call and response with the aforementioned bevy of electronic sounds, but equally as often with virtuosic displays on traditional Middle Eastern instruments like the oud, spike fiddle, saz, or nay. Pictured in the liners in what has become his signature look -- thick mustache, dark aviator shades, and red and white checkered khaffya -- Souleyman is an intriguing, imposing character capable of impassioned, frenetic vocalizations that are as much about rhythmic invention as they are about delivering the lyrical goods.  Interestingly enough, Souleyman doesn't write his own lyrics, but sees himself more as a conduit, leaving the word-smithing to long time collaborator and full-time band member, Mahmoud Harbi.  Harbi is Souleyman's silent, chain smoking alter-ego who allegedly stands shoulder to shoulder with the singer during live shows and -- get this -- whispers the verses in Souleyman's ear.  Equally at home singing dance floor ass-shakers and mournful calls to prayer, Souleyman is a musical icon in his native Syria and has reputedly released more than 500 studio and live cassette albums since 1994.  For Highway to Hassake, Sublime Frequencies regular Mark Gergis (aka Porest, who also compiled 2006's equally great Choubi Choubi: Folk and Pop Sounds of Iraq) has culled some of the highlights from Souleyman's vast cassette catalog with blessings from the man himself.  [CC]

		$19.99 LP   NEKO CASE The Tigers Have Spoken (Lance Rock) "If You Knew" "The Tigers Have Spoken" Neko Case may just win the Old-Timey Country Music Association of America award for being the realest real dealer in the modern country world. Case is a beautiful young woman with an earthy and emotional voice, a deep songbook of lost classics and moving originals, and a mile-long reputation for hard partying and heart breaking. Neko Case is "real" country -- a strong, complicated, wild and sexy star on the rise. Her musical collaborators have been many, but 2004's Tigers Have Spoken features a roundup of some of the best, including the Sadies, Kelly Hogan, Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops and Jon Rauhouse, and they swing effortlessly from ballads, to rave-ups, to bluegrass with a natural ease and musicianship that is too rare on the indie country scene, and essential in this context, as much of the record was recorded in front of a live audience. A great album, fresh and exciting but deeply rooted in classic American country music, and a high point in a career that has seen more than a few. [JM]

		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 [CC] Che Chen [AC] Amanda Colbenson [KC] Kevin Coultas [MC] Michael Crumsho [DG] Daniel Givens [DH] Duane Harriott [KCH] Kandia Crazy Horse [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [JM] Josh Madell [DMa] Dave Martin [DM] Doug Mosurock [ [JT] John Twells THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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