October 8, 2009

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Memory Tapes Kurt Vile Moon Duo The Very Best Built to Spill Vernon Wray Sparklehorse + Fennesz Karen O & the Kids The Mountain Goats The Raveonettes Velvet Underground 7" Box Set BLO Califone Eliane Radigue Muhal Richard Abrams The Clientele Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions Michael Angelo A Place to Bury Strangers Christmas Island   Black Devil Disco Club Erma Franklin Margo Guryan SST ALSO AVAIABLE Black Heart Procession Michael Hurley Sufjan Stevens & Osso Music Go Music Air Lou Barlow Evangelista Vic Chesnutt The Jesus Lizard (4 Reissues) VINYL PRESSING Betty Davis Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/othermusic

		OCT Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10   WIN TICKETS TO MONTONIX Monotonix is a band that has to be seen, the manic Tel Aviv garage rockers' live show being the stuff of legend, even giving the Black Lips a good run for the money. This Friday the trio will be playing...no make that throwing a bloodbath at Santos Party House and we've got two pairs of tickets up for grabs. Just email contest@othermusic.com and we'll notify two winners Friday morning via email. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 SANTOS PARTY HOUSE: 100 Lafayette Street, Ground Fl South (btwn Walker & White Streets) NYC

		OCT Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10   BUILT TO SPILL TICKET GIVE-AWAY This show needs no introduction, Built to Spill are indie rock greats and 16 years in Doug Martsch and the boys are better than ever. Just check the review further down in this week's update for proof. We're giving away a pair of tickets to each of their NYC appearances next week at Webster Hall, Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13. To enter, email tickets@othermusic.com and make sure to list which night you'd win tickets to if you have a preference. MONDAY & TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12 & 13 WEBSTER HALL: 125 East 11th Street NYC

		OCT Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 15 Sat 16   WIN TICKETS TO NO AGE You're bound to run into more than a few of the OM staff at this show next Wednesday, when noisy LA art-punk duo No Age perform at (Le) Poisson Rouge, with Woods and Silk Flowers rounding out the bill! Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets to the event, so email enter@othermusic.com to register to win. We'll notify the two winners this Friday. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 (LE) POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleeker Street NYC

		OCT Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   UPCOMING EL PERRO DEL MAR IN-STORE Sweden's El Perror Del Mar will be playing a free in-store at Other Music on Tuesday evening, October 20th, celebrating the release of her great new album, Love Is Not Pop, which comes out that same day on Control Group/TCG. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 @ 8PM OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street NYC Free Admission / Limited Capacity

		$16.99 CD   MEMORY TAPES Seek Magic (Something in Construction) "Plain Material" "Bicycle" Memory Tapes, a/k/a Dayve Hawk, has been blowing up the blogs for a little while now, and the anticipation for Seek Magic has been building to a heated fervor. Other Music has scored a semi-exclusive on the CD, and it is more than worthy of the hype that surrounds it. While the prolific Hawk has put out a variety of ultra-limited releases under a couple of similar monikers (Memory Cassette, Weird Tapes, etc.), it is as Memory Tapes that his vision is fully realized. Seek Magic contains eight near-perfect and meticulously crafted bedroom pop anthems. Hawk wears his influences on his sleeve which is definitely not a bad thing -- think vintage synth pop like New Order, Visage, and OMD mixed with new contemporaries like LCD Soundsystem, Cut Copy, and the best Kompakt Pop releases. "Swimming Field" is a 2009 dream pop anthem that holds up to anything by new emerging artists in the genre, a la Washed Out, Toro Y Moi, or Nite Jewel. A perfect gem of a song, slow and dreamy, it reminds me of something off of Slowdive's Souvlaki. Yeah, it's that good! The stunning "Bicycle" ups the BPMs a bit and features a melody that could have come from Bernard Sumner himself; add to that a hypnotic bass line and a thrilling guitar hook, I could see this packing a dancefloor in a matter of seconds (too bad the vinyl isn't out for a few weeks). Another standout, "Plain Material" is centered around a jangly guitar line, and is proof that a good pop song is a good pop song -- whether backed by a band or a MacBook, all it takes is a little innovation and an ear for a melody. Yeah well, that and a load of talent which our man Dayve Hawk and his Memory Tapes has in spades. Highly Recommended! [JS]

		$13.99 CD $17.99 LP w/MP3   KURT VILE Childish Prodigy (Matador) "Amplifier" "Hunchback" Kurt Vile has been gathering steam over the last year or so, with the critic's pick Constant Hitmaker on Woodsist, followed by two flawless, limited edition run EPs on Richie Records and Mexican Summer, and thus his Matador debut, Childish Prodigy, arrives loaded with expectations from both his growing underground fan base, and the many more who have heard of, but not yet heard the Philly rock wonder. Vile harkens back to mystical classic rock purism, often framed as the heir to graying radio staples like Springsteen, the Stones or (the) Bob Seger (System), and hipper classicists like Spacemen 3 and the Stooges. Here is rock music to get loaded and sing along to, tapping toes, nodding heads, and swearing unnecessarily. There is a vitality and sincerity at the essence of Kurt Vile recordings that permeates any room where people listen to his songs. Vile's major-indie debut finds him strumming alone in a room and also stomping along with the Violators, his Crazy Horse if you will, with a swagger and strut that is infectious, and if you are not already a fan, but wrest satisfaction out of albums like Fun House, Rust Never Sleeps, or Nebraska, prepare to be won over. [BCa]

		$11.99 12-inch $3.99 MP3   MOON DUO Killing Time EP (Sacred Bones) "Killing Time" "Dead West" Such a killer record this one. Ripley Johnson from Wooden Shjips teams up with Sanae Yamada to create Moon Duo, and births a sorta Kraut-inspired (the motorik Neu!-beats especially) psych record that blows hundreds of stoner bands out of the water and back into their parents' basements. Recurring-era Spacemen 3 and Suicide (especially on "Speed," the second track) loom rather large here, with cascades of reverb fuzz and cavernous echo and organ (also known as "Jon McCafferty-rock"), this stuff is more concise and less drifting than a lot of the Wooden Shjips songs, and that's just perfect with me. Beautiful, hypnotic, nocturnal music. Best new record in a long, long while. [AK]

		$14.99 CD   THE VERY BEST Warm Heart of Africa (Green Owl) "Nsokoto" "Kada Manja" Esau Mwamwaya, Malian frontman for the Very Best, first caught my attention (and that of many others) with a somewhat novel concept and an inspiring story. As the manager of a UK furniture shop who happened to have a gorgeous, uplifting singing voice, he'd take popular indie songs and essentially "version" them in a style usually reserved for Jamaican reggae b-sides, by wiping most or all of the vocals, and laying his own multilayered harmonies overtop of the tune. I became a fan because he took songs that I personally couldn't get with by the likes of M.I.A, Vampire Weekend and Architecture in Helsinki, and made me really appreciate and enjoy them. Many others caught the buzz, and Esau, with the help of producers Radioclit, slowly teased out new jams via the web and a pair of 7" singles, calling themselves the Very Best. Over the summer they released a stopgap mixtape on the web as a free download which featured most of those indie version tunes and a few new jams, and now we finally have the much-anticipated debut album. So how does it sound? Well, for the most part it's great, a gorgeous, enthusiastic slice of sunny pop made by a group of obvious music fans. There's no question that the trio loves creating music together -- the record is filled with an energy so infectious that it's either going to make you dance or want to punch a wall. Esau sounds fantastic, his voice often layered into thick tapestries of background harmony while the lead vox sing melodic hooks that manage to be catchy even in foreign tongues. Radioclit offer up a wide array of styles in their backing tracks, from tumble-dry cycles of thick, synth-heavy washes and brittle machine beats to more polished versions of the tribal danceclub beatscapes of M.I.A.'s Kala. Surprisingly, the one record I'm most reminded of is Peter Gabriel 4 (also known as Security). While there's nothing like "Shock the Monkey" on here by any means, the odd fusion of Euro-viewed tribal primitivism with machine synthesis makes for a pop album that's perhaps not as dark and moody as PG4, but is nevertheless just as itchy and somewhat uncomfortable in its new clothes, and Esau's voice is just as boisterous and emotive as Gabriel's over these soundscapes. That's nothing but a good thing. (For the record, PG4 is one of my favorite albums, so there's nothing backhanded about the comparison, I assure you.) The record's only missteps, to my ears, are the attempts to more overtly cater to that so-called "indie" crowd -- the appearance by Ezra from Vampire Weekend on the title track is a little too saccharine and precious for its own good, and the unfortunate but now sadly ubiquitous of autotune on "Angonde" is a tad cringe-worthy. Otherwise, the album features some true pop bangers, like "Nsokoto"'s shuffling minimal Afro-techno groove, and "Rain Dance," featuring a pleasingly subdued M.I.A. on a few guest verses. All in all, the Very Best have released one of those rare records that will reach a wide range of music listeners, from the whole Vampire Weekend/Discovery axis of indie pop to M.I.A. and Diplo's global-appropriate beats, and it doesn't stop there. Anyone who's grooved to the sounds of Malcolm McLaren's Duck Rock, on which South African Zulu township jive meets South Bronx Zulu Nation block party, or Zazou/Bikaye/CY1's groundbreaking 1983 collaboration, Noir Et Blanc, which presented a similar fusion of beautiful, soulful African vocals with funky, minimal European electronics (available in OM's digital store -- if you haven't heard it, purchase it post-haste!), then you should definitely scope this record. Fans of any of the aforementioned are going to be surprised how the enthusiasm spreads and that the Very Best's heart is, indeed, warm and in the right place. [IQ]

		$13.99 CD   BUILT TO SPILL There Is No Enemy (Warner Bros) "Aisle 13" "Planting Seeds" Great news for all you long-suffering Built to Spill fans out there; Doug Martsch has finally relented and turned in a good old pop record. Lord knows, it couldn't have come a minute sooner, as even the heartiest of BTS devotees could scarcely mask their fatigue with Martsch's increasing disregard for any kind of audience. More alienating than the interminable guitar jams and plodding song structures, though, was the overriding feeling of indifference -- the sound of a band making albums to fulfill a contract. Happily, the fog seems to have burned off on this new record, revealing a more engaged Martsch than we've seen in years. There Is No Enemy is primarily composed of shorter pop songs that stay focused on melody and momentum to a degree not heard since the days of Keep It Like a Secret. Beyond just pruning the songs to more digestible lengths, the lyrics come back to the forefront with renewed passion and vigor as Martsch reinstates some of the bilious send-ups and ambiguous jabs that he trademarked on Perfect from Now On. It's been a good year for the indie old-timer. Already, we've seen Dinosaur Jr, Yo La Tengo, and Polvo drop albums that measure up to, and expand on their already estimable legacies. Add Built to Spill to that list of sleeping giants, rising up to reclaim their titles as Indie Rock's Rightful Rulers. [JTr]

		$19.99 CD   VERNON WRAY Wasted (Big Pink) "God Is Color Blind" "When I Started Drinking" We've sold literally hundreds of Link Wray's Three Track Shack recordings in the last few years, and it's a body of work that seems to still be gaining steady converts all the time as it's simply some of the most raw and soulful rock and roll put to tape in the early '70s. Truly can't recommend it enough, and I can't tell you how pleased we are to offer a missing piece of the three track shack puzzle, Link's older brother Vernon's privately released album Wasted, originally pressed in a miniscule edition and apparently only ever sold at gigs in and around Arizona. I despaired of ever hearing this record, but here we've got a pretty sweet little miniature-LP styled reissue, and I'm happy to report it doesn't disappoint one bit. Vernon must have been the sensitive brother in the Wray family, as there isn't quite as much hellfire here as there is on Link's shack recordings, but it's more than made up for by a dusty forlornness that is every bit as compelling. A few of these tracks would fit right in on that recent Numero comp of loner folk, but just as often you've got some gloriously loose rock and roll, with Link on hand to provide some deliriously skewed guitar histrionics. Pretty bad-assed all around I've gotta say, from the black and white cover to the album title to the tunes, this is the real deal right here people. [MK]

		$12.99 CD $6.99 MP3   SPARKLEHORSE + FENNESZ In the Fishtank 15 (Konkurrent) "Music Box of Snakes" "NC Bongo Buddy" Konkurrent's long-running In the Fishtank series has belched out some startling (and often unexpected) collaborations in the past, but this meeting of Mark Linkous (a/k/a Sparklehorse) and Christian Fennesz has to be among the finest so far. Although the two musicians come from very different disciplines, really it's not the most surprising of partnerships, as Fennesz has appeared in cahoots with Linkous on a number of occasions in the past, but giving them a platform to develop an entire album was nothing short of inspired. The two musicians are clearly more than comfortable with each other's strengths and weaknesses, and having the pressure of only two days to record (as with all the In the Fishtank records) was clearly an advantage. One surprise is that Linkous manages to restrain himself from the typical "songs" that he is best known for -- this collaboration seems to have let him work in the long form for once. This might be simply passed off as the influence of Christian Fennesz, but you get the sense that it has been somewhat freeing for Linkous as he adds layers of indistinct vocals and shimmering guitar to Fennesz's trademarked electronic sputters. More experimental than anything in Linkous' back catalogue and more irrepressibly beautiful than anything in Fennesz's, In the Fishtank manages to make itself the perfect meeting of minds, a representation of both artists' work which is far more than the sum of its parts. This is an album to play to people who still think that electronic music has no soul -- a grown man would be hard pushed not to shed a solitary tear listening to album highlight "Goodnight Sweetheart." Unmissable stuff. [JT]

		$15.99 CD   KAREN O AND THE KIDS Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrrack (Interscope) "Rumpus" "Building All Is Love" Well, this was a nice surprise! Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O gathered a children's choir and a bunch of pals together from Deerhunter, Dead Weather, Liars, and YYYs to record the soundtrack for Spike Jonze's upcoming film interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are. The results are gorgeous; every song utilizes an entirely acoustic sound palette of campfire guitars, interlocking cycles of marimba, glockenspiel, handclaps, finger-snaps, and wood percussion along with occasional trap drums, and LOTS of thick group vocal harmony. The idea is taking small sounds and retaining their quiet menace while also making them seem scarily larger than life. It's without question the most overtly psychedelic thing KO's ever put to tape, and I'm hoping that she'll pursue this direction further; the songs are great, the project doesn't have the whiff of vanity usually associated with such endeavors, and everyone involved checks their ego at the door to deliver an album that retains its mood and concept as a successful whole in ways that at times even Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums can't manage. The snippets of film dialogue that pop up in some of the songs only add to the fun, which reaches its apex on "Animal," where all involved parties gather around the fire with guitars, banging on objects and hooting, hollering, barking, and wailing like the kids from Lord of the Flies all fighting over the conch. This record is a total delight, perfect for the autumn weather, and full of creativity and innocent inventiveness; listening to this reminded me of the days when film soundtracks were more concept-oriented and less about collecting hip tracks, selling B-side-worthy collabs as hit singles, or recreating a character's iPod playlist. Even if you're not a YYYs fan, check this out -- its eerie, minimalist psych-pop vibe might surprise you. Recommended! [IQ]

		$13.99 CD $19.99 LPx2   THE MOUNTAIN GOATS The Life of the World to Come (4AD) "Psalms 40:2" "Romans 10:9" The Life of the World to Come finds indie stalwart John Darnielle exploring the Bible as literature, an explicit muse for allegorical songs grounded in the familiar themes of family, addiction, loneliness, and solace. We Mountain Goats fans are reverential, sometimes obsessive and deeply devoted to the words and the deeds of our spiritual guide and sometime savior, and the listener can approach this album in two ways; one way is with footnotes, tracking the allusions both literary and self-referential, exploring the fine details of a songwriter very consciously writing within an elegiac tradition. Another is with the adolescent innocence of teenagers with boomboxes, cassettes, and crushes, giving over to the swoon of emotion that Mountain Goats music elicits. Neither approach is more relevant than the other, and this haunting new album holds up to both methodologies. The album is intimate, but is not a bedroom recording, and tracks with piano and drums work out a tension between a higher fidelity Mountain Goats and a lo-fi aesthetic this long-running project pioneered, and had never really abandoned, in spirit at least. However, it sounds like Darnielle is getting close to finding the balance between his history as a musician and the opportunities 4AD allows him to explore in the studio. Another gem from Darnielle is always welcome around these parts, and a gem this is! [BCa]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3 w/Bonus Tracks   THE RAVEONETTES In and Out of Control (Vice) "Heart of Stone" "Oh, I Buried You Today" After a (failed) run at the Billboard Top 100 courtesy of a major-label frenzy for stylish garage bands following the success of the White Stripes, this three-chord duo ended up on Vice, and I fell hard for Lust Lust Lust, the Raveonettes' 2007 ear-destroying opus. It was a classic back-to-basics record for the Copenhagen/New York City band, and against all odds it was great. Lust Lust Lust was the bad younger sister of the Raveonettes discography, hotwiring Jesus and Mary Chain riffs and doing a hundred-and-thirty-five off a cliff with them, all while blasting the Velvet Underground's "Run Run Run" out of the stereo system. On In and Out of Control, the Raveonettes' second album for Vice, that high-flying younger sister is still bad as hell, but she's learned that sneaking around in the dark can be just as fun. Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo sound a little cheekier, a little more knowing, and a lot more relaxed. One of their songwriting charms is that they tend to see love through the lens of addiction. On the peppy "Last Dance," their protagonist is sad because she wants to be part of her junkie partner's overdose: "If this is the last dance, then this is the last dance, so save it for me baby." There's more Debbie Harry here than Ronnie Spector -- tracks like "Suicide" shimmer with 1980s new wave fervor, while Sharin Foo works out her revenge fantasies on "Breaking into Cars," a slow-burn number that gently explodes into their best chorus yet. "Boys Who Rape (Should Be Destroyed)" stands out, too, with a plain-spoken lyrical intensity, a nineties R&B breakdown, and the chilling pre-chorus line "Those fuckers stay in your head." They haven't abandoned their love of the Jesus and Mary Chain, either, but In and Out of Control possesses more of a Darklands heart than their usual Psychocandy fantasies. These two records for Vice have demonstrated neatly and noisily that the Raveonettes are thriving without major label clout or major label ambitions. There is experimentation and exploration inside of In and Out of Control, and more open spaces that Lust Lust Lust happily filled with squall. Just listen to the minute-and-a-half of "Oh, I Buried You Today" for their kiss-off elegy to Sony and Columbia, and then bask in the reverb glow of closer "Wine" for what is just beyond the horizon for the Raveonettes. Though I always advocate the traditional music mediums (remember those things called CDs?), the Other Music Digital Store is graciously offering two excellent, exclusive bonus tracks with the full album purchase. Stop lusting and just get this record already. [MS]

		$44.99 7"x7   THE VELVET UNDERGROUND Singles 1966 to 69 - 7" Box Set (Sundazed) Well, this here's a thing of beauty. I guess I wrote myself into a little bit a corner a few weeks ago when I stated that Big Star's the best band of all time, but I'm going to have to stand by that and this week announce that Velvet Underground is the second best band in the world. Not really considered a singles band by many, this fantastic box set goes a long way in proving the opposite. Over seven 45s (reproduced meticulously, and two with gorgeous picture sleeves), VU get to spread and show their many sides: the raw, furious genius of "White Light/White Heat," the mesmerizing "Sunday Morning," and the stark beauty of "All Tomorrow's Parties." And, all of these characteristics are actually enhanced by the mono mixes featured here. Compare these versions to the album tracks and see for yourself. Then there's the inclusion of the "Temptation Inside Your Heart"/"Stephanie Says" single, which was shelved at the time, which would've only made one of the greatest pop 45s ever. No big deal, but it does help explain why Lou Reed is so bitter. The box comes with a nice little insert as well, with liners by rock historian David Fricke, and a postcard. Gotta get up and spin "Here She Comes Now" again, see ya later. [AK]

		$17.99 CD   BLO Chapters and Phases (RPM) "Preacherman" "BLO" Afro Jam of the Week!! RPM does the music world a favor with this release, an excellent CD reissue of the first two albums by Nigerian psychedelic rock trio Blo. Some of you may be familiar with Blo either via their track "Chant to Mother Earth" on the first edition of Strut's Nigeria 70 2CD comp, or Strut's subsequent Blo compilation entitled Phases. While that collection covered a much broader time period in the band's career (1972-'82), this CD captures the group's first two years on record highlighting their stunning, raw creativity and blistering instrumental interplay. The band's sound incorporates slow-burning funk, extended guitar solos, catchy vocal choruses and group chants, and even a bit of post-Hendrix voodoo stew; you can hear elements of everything from Cream (two of the group's members actually spent time in Ginger Baker's ranks before starting Blo), Traffic, Grand Funk, ET Mensah, Can, and even some Grateful Dead. They aren't copying, though, much in the way Can took international music influences and mutated them into what they called "ethnological forgeries," Blo do the same with British and American rock sounds, blending them into something akin to a middle ground between Tago Mago's free-flowing canvases and Ege Bamyasi's more tightly-wound rhythmic workouts. Bottom line: this stuff is brilliant, funky, heady, and damn near essential listening. Highest recommendation for those who dig any of the aforementioned artists and albums, as well as OM Afro-faves like Chrissy Zebby Tembo, the Peace, and Witch. The only reason this band isn't more widely talked about in the annals of rock nerd scripture is primarily because so few have actually heard these albums. Let this reissue change that and put them back on the road where they belong. [IQ]

		$13.99 CD $16.99 LP $9.99 MP3   CALIFONE All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Dead Oceans) "Buñuel" "Ape-like" Just in time for All Hallow's Eve, Califone come through with another ramshackle manifesto that promises to sufficiently spook your late-night walking, be it on country roads, or through the desolate warehouse districts. Tim Rutili and co. have been conjuring the woebegone ghosts of Appalachia for nigh on two decades now, beginning with the more rambunctious Red Red Meat in the early '90s. As the years peel away so have the excess "rock" leaning elements of the group, leaving the resulting boiled-down bones all the more intriguing for the effort. These guys have always been the weird woodsmen, out in the shack chopping up timber (and who knows what else) and skinning deer, all the while singing songs to the birds about Luis Bunuel smoking while he made guns. Califone have been doing this particular/peculiar thing so well, for so long, that it's easy to take it for granted, which makes it that much more impressive when I say that this album is the perfect place to start if you're interested in getting into the Califone business. Fans of Kyp Malone's Rain Machine album need look no further for their next infatuation -- that dude has clearly taken copious notes. [JTr]

		Visa Versa $15.99 CDx2 Triptych $14.99 CD   ELIANE RADIGUE Vice Versa, etc... (Important) "Onward 38" "Backward 19" ELIANE RADIGUE Triptych (Important) "Part 1" "Part 3" The field of 20th Century avant-garde composition may appear to have been a bit of boys club, lest we forget the contributions of important figures like Delia Derbyshire, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono and Eliane Radigue, female composers who've made inestimable, essential contributions to the field. Radigue, a French woman now in her late 70s, has for nearly 40 years, pursued a fascination with spectral drone music, most often made with an ARP 2500 modular synthesizer. Though a French avant-gardist who began in the '60s under the tutelage of Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, her music shares more in common with American minimalist composers such as Phil Nibblock or LaMonte Young than it does with her compatriots' musique concréte. Important's two lovingly reissued titles, Vice Versa and Triptych (available separately), from 1970 and 1978 respectively, are notable in that they were made prior to her acquisition of her ARP 2500 -- though even astute listeners may be hard pressed to differentiate between these tape feedback tones and those made with her future synth. Not unlike the recent reissue of Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting, Vice Versa's two CDs collect the original album's four pieces as well as versions captured at different speeds and backwards. The tones are typically meditative and full of subtle pulsing patterns. Triptych, made for a modern dance piece by Douglas Dunn, represents Radigue's return to composition after a four-year hiatus pursuing a spiritual interest in Tibetan Buddhism, something she continues to practice today. As such, it is the first of her compositions inspired by Buddhism. It moves like a gentle, continuous tide, soft feedback ebbing slowly back and forth before two drones fill out the hour. Simply put, mesmerizing. [AGe]

		$11.99 CD   RICHARD MUHAL ABRAMS Afrisong (Candid) "The Infinitive Flow" "Hymn to the East" Outrageously beautiful and flowing solo piano works recorded in the mid '70s for the Japanese market by composer/pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, and available now for the first time stateside. Abrams was one of the founders of the enormously influential Chicago-based composers pool AACM in the early '60s, and one of the first artists from that scene to be documented on record, with large scale works that featured nearly every member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, along with notable figures such as trombonist George Lewis, and Anthony Braxton. Those late-'60s albums recorded for Delmark are how I've primarily been acquainted with his work, sprawling, dense, and full of information, but they little prepared me for what's going on for this release. While there had previously been moments of great lyric beauty in his work, I don't believe Abrams had ever unleashed such lush, cascading streams of notes in such a manner on LP before. Abrams is a self-taught pianist, and though there is a very subtle undercurrent of the blues on a few of these pieces, he seems much less concerned with referencing the past than many jazz pianists I've heard, and his ability to create a compelling forward momentum tinged with dark reflections seems wholly his own. Instantly appealing with a remarkable sonic fidelity, and an album I'm glad to have finally had a chance to enjoy. [MK]

		$14.99 CD $16.99 LP w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   THE CLIENTELE Bonfires on the Heath (Merge) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store The fall always brings a bounty of great new records for consideration, and it's always an added bonus when the overall vibe of some of these happens to coincide perfectly with the turning of the season. The Clientele have always managed to convey this emotional shift with their own wistful, nostalgic, but no less haunted tales, as filtered through a uniquely British lens. Over the course of five albums the group have gradually diversified their original Velvet's-indebted portfolio, picking up the pace on a few songs and sounding like a more vaporous Byrds via the Glasgow School at times. The Clientele may be THE ultimate autumnal band, ready to take your hand (ever so softly) and walk down the lane, while you reminisce on summer days of smoking in hatchbacks, screwing on the lawn, and feeling altogether like someone else. [JTr]

		$12.99 CD   HOPE SANDOVAL & THE WARM INVENTIONS Through the Devil Softly (Nettwerk) "Blanchard" "There's a Willow" Former Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval and her Warm Inventions collaborator (and My Bloody Valentine drummer) Colm O'Ciosoig return after an eight-year hiatus with another intoxicating dose of paisley-flavored shoegaze-folk. Hope and Colm's first album, Bavarian Fruit Bread, was a triumphant yet subtle shift away from the dustbowl country-flavored swoon of Mazzy Star. No longer competing with former bandmate David Toback's rumbling slide guitar, Bavarian Fruit Bread allowed Sandoval to turn the reverb down to five, and incorporated touches of British folk, baroque pop and live string arrangements into the mix, which resulted in a much more varied listen than her work with Mazzy Star, and served as a sonic blueprint for up-n-coming chanteuses like Marissa Nadler and Victoria Legrand of Beach House. For this one the varied instrumentation of Bavarian Fruit Bread is retained, but the sound has a more distinctive haze that harkens back to her former band. The slide guitar rumble is there in full force on "Trouble," "Satellite" and "Bluebird," which should satisfy Mazzy Star fans, and "Wild Roses" and "Lady Jessica and Sam" are lovely and intoxicating modern acoustic psych-folk numbers of the highest order. But whatever subtle changes the music takes, Sandovals' fragile, sensual vocals are why we're all here, and she sounds fantastic, as ever. It's a mellow, consuming soundtrack to low lights and cold nights inside. [DH]

		$19.99 CD   MICHAEL ANGELO Michael Angelo (Big Pink) "The World to Be" "Journey (To Find Where We Are)" For all the impossibly rare private press folk and psych albums out there, Michael Angelo's LP from 1977 might be the best of the bunch, up there with Zerfas, Bachs, Third Estate and Anonymous. Impeccably reissued by the South Korean Big Pink label (it's one of those awesome miniature-LP sleeve type jobs, and it comes with a whopping seven bonus tracks), the Kansas City songwriter's self-titled LP is a truly special mix of wonderfully arranged psych-pop and flowery folk-rock, and the man is blessed with a great voice. Imagine if Donovan (there's some definite '60s Anglo worship going on here) had been born in the US and walked in on Bobb Trimble jammin' on some tunes. It's that good. Dreamy, sublime, and a must-own if '60s/'70s psych is your thing. [AK]

		$14.99 CD   A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS Exploding Head (Mute) "It Is Nothing" "Smile When You Smile" Here's a philosophical question for you: When the loudest band in New York City signs to major label imprint Mute, does the corporate influence make them turn the volume down? Only a little bit. Though they are a dedicated noise band, APTBS has always operated on a pop platform with verses and choruses, and there are melodies, even vocal melodies, buried deep within the miasma of their guitar/effects attack, though the lyrics really serve as impressionistic placeholders within the song, evoking an unsettling emotion while the riff and effect work develops the rest of the negative space. Title track "Exploding Head" is definitely a step down on the volume ladder, featuring a jackhammer Joy Division drumbeat and otherworldly effects transmissions. It's also one of APTBS's best songs yet, all churning emotions and psychedelic textures. The simulated tape effects that spin throughout opener "It Is Nothing" is a nod to the band's pedal-making roots. "Everything Always Goes Wrong" can play right alongside of Dinosaur Jr.'s You're Living All Over Me, for its intensity of pathos and fury, and its raw emotion. After their stunning debut last year for Killer Pimp, A Place to Bury Strangers have settled into our brains -- perhaps they simply don't seem quite as shockingly loud on their second record. We've tidily put them into a compartment in our brains labeled "Total Sonic Annihilation," along with My Bloody Valentine, Dino Jr., and the Jesus and Mary Chain, who somehow come off as pop bands, most of the time at least. Spin this record again, and then again; if you're any kind of noise digger, what you'll notice is that APTBS are slyly bending the boundaries of guitar-based rock and roll with every exhalation -- I can't wait to see what comes out when their sound balloon finally explodes. Highly recommended for anybody looking to beat the hell out their ears, or have their mind blown. [MS]

		$13.99 CD   CHRISTMAS ISLAND Blackout Summer (In the Red) "Pre-Apocalyptic" "Bed Island" If you're familiar with California's In the Red Records, you know that they've been knee-deep in lo-fi garage rock since well before it became the trend of the moment. And very much in line with In the Red's output, San Diego's Christmas Island crafts fuss-free music, trimming excesses. Citing the Television Personalities, the Urinals and Tronics as inspiration, Blackout Summer is sun-soaked surf rock funneled through the homemade aesthetic of the late-'70s/early-'80s UK DIY scene. On the surface, Christmas Island's brand of lo-fi pop meets punk is joyous and cheerful in spite of the darker tone of their lyrics, shambolic guitars and knocking drums constantly crushing along with a carefree air, especially on opener "Pre Apocalyptic" and single "Bed Island." And while the duo isn't treading any new ground, they have created a solid, resonant album that warrants multiple listens. [PG]

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB PRESENTS: The Strange New World of Bernard Fevre (Lo Recordings) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store There are some questions floating around regarding the label's claims about the source and timeline of this "reissue," but regardless of the original recording date, this is one outrageously sweet time-traveling journey into the nether-regions of space disco. The album works so well because it flawlessly traverses temporal planes, dropping house beats here, vintage synthesizers there, and tape loops and dubbed-out bliss all over the place. Who cares whether this thing is an exact reissue of Bernard Fevre's pre-Disco Club, Radiophonic Workshop-esque, first recordings known as The Strange New World of Bernard Fevre, some sort of a re-imagining of a lost classic, or a gross retooling of history? No matter what the album's back-story, this is a sexy science fiction disco gem, from a world where the French went to the moon first, wearing high heels with their spacesuits while drinking zero-gravity cocktails with umbrellas in them. Somewhere between Sebastien Tellier and the Droids lies a mysterious galaxy where a planet named Space Disco resides, and on it a man named Bernard Fevre has crafted superior dance music since the dawn of time. He produced those wonderful Milky Disco comps, and some know him as Milpatte, and until the Intergalactic Music Police can produce a copy of the original vinyl LP, the provenance of this album will be a mystery. Highly suitable for those inclined to listen to Belbury Poly, LCD Soundsystem, Yellow Magic Orchestra, or Kraftwerk while shifting their rockets into super-sexy overdrive. [BCa]

		$18.99 CD   ERMA FRANKLIN Piece of Her Heart (Shout / Cherry) "Open Up Your Soul" "Each Night I Cry" This underrated R&B soul singer from Detroit sang the original version of "Piece of My Heart," the song that introduced Janis Joplin to the world. She also happens to be Aretha and Carolyn's older sister, and was the first one to secure a recording contract of the three. Erma possessed the same serious pipes as her siblings and, like Aretha, she was signed to Columbia in the early '60s, at a time when the label didn't quite know how to record or market R&B. Rather than showcasing their artists with a raw R&B sound, Columbia pushed for a "sophisticated" blend of orchestrated ballads and pop and jazz standards, with a sprinkling of original tunes. This formula proved disastrous for younger sister Aretha, whose emotive, shouting style of singing didn't gel with these arrangements. But Erma's clear-throated blues- and jazz-influenced vocal delivery actually worked more than it failed. Her bluesy take on "The Man I Love," the Randy Newman-penned standard "Love Is Blind," and "Pledging My Love" are incredible performances on par with the Nancy Wilson and Etta James material that inspired these sessions. Despite the strong material, Erma's career stalled and by 1966 she had left the music world; opting to utilize the business degree she had obtained from Clark College, she took a job as an executive at IBM. A year later, legendary songwriter and producer Bert Berns reached out to Erma, hoping to lure her to his Shout/Bang label, already home to Van Morrison, Neil Diamond and Freddie Scott. She obliged with the condition that she could still keep her IBM day job and record part time. Her first release on the label was "Piece of My Heart," originally a calypso-tinged "Brown-Eyed Girl" knockoff written for and rejected by Van Morrison. Franklin opted to transform it into a heart-wrenching proto-funk soul ballad that has to be one of the finest vocal soul performances ever put to tape, hands down. No disrespect to Ms. Joplin, but this is Erma's song through and through. The tune was an R&B top 10 smash hit, scraped the lower rungs of the pop charts and garnered a Grammy nomination for best R&B vocal performance that year, but she was beaten by her sister Aretha's little ditty, "Respect." This collection contains all seven sides of the grits-n-gravy soul that Erma recorded for Shout. It's every bit as good as the music Aretha was recording in Muscle Shoals at the time, not to mention a lot more bluesy and less gospel-influenced. "Don't Catch the Dog's Bone," penned by her sister Carolyn, and "Open Up Your Soul" are both straight-up Memphis/Stax-styled soul cuts with rock-n-roll attitude that Joplin and friends co-opted to great effect. "I'm Just Not Ready for Love" is a brilliant Ike & Tina-styled shouter that shoulda been a classic...I could go on and on. In the midst of preparing to record a new album with Erma, Berns unexpectedly died from a heart attack and the eldest Franklin sister's career was cut short again. After two more singles and a fantastic, if little heard, album recorded for Brunswick in the early '70s, she quietly retired from the music business and resumed her career at IBM until her untimely passing from cancer in 2002. Like her sister Carolyn, Erma was an underrated, brilliant vocalist who never quite got her due, but hopefully this long overdue anthology will right those wrongs. Highest of the highest recommendation folks! [DH]

		$36.99 CDx2   MARGO GURYAN Take a Picture / More Songs (Beatball) "Sunday Morning" "Come to Me Slowly" This is at least the third time this '60s psych-pop classic has been reissued with extras, but no previous edition comes close to the amount of bells and whistles contained in this little box, which could seriously injure someone if you flung it at them! The whole 1968 release (including the rare B-side "Spanky and Our Gang"!), plus a second CD with 27 tracks of demos and B-sides and everything else they could dig up, with help from the lady herself. Basically, every note she ever recorded before retiring to teach piano, except for a more recent song, "16 Words," based on Bush and the Iraq war. Then there's a thick bound booklet with interviews, photos and full lyrics and even a mini-poster. This is without a doubt the absolute final word on the recorded legacy of Margo Guryan. [GC]

		$21.99 CD   SST Soft Soul Transition (Beatball) "Soft Soul Transition" "She Came Back" There seems to be no end to these late-'60s/early-'70s soft-psych, sunshine pop rarities and virtual private pressings such as this one. Spoken of in hushed tones by collectors, it's a supremely pleasant slice of laid back, harmony-laden Cali sunshine from three guys guaranteed to be found chatting up foxy ladies at the local singles bar with their shirts unbuttoned to the navels. It does gain much of its cachet from its sheer scarcity, but songs like the title track, "Gotta Move Along" and "Move It on Down" demonstrate why large sums of money have been spent tracking down one of the mere thousand original copies of this unassuming yet surprisingly effective "bah-bah-BAH" harmony classic. Features seven bonus tracks which are at times stronger than some of the ones on the original release itself! [GC]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   BLACK HEART PROCESSION Six (Temporary Residence) "All My Steps" "When You Finish Me" Aptly titled Six, Black Heart Procession hark back to their first three numerically titled albums, their latest also finding the group paring down with its two core members, Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel, handling the recording and much of the instrumentation -- no mariachi horns or grandiose string arrangements to be found here. But this is where they operate at their spooky best, the band rotating between pounding dirges and their own funeral pyre ballads. (Deluxe edition, while supplies last.)

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   MICHAEL HURLEY Ida Con Snock (Gnomonsong) "Hoot Owl" "It Must Be Gelatine" We're not sure whose idea it was to pair Michael Hurley with Ida as his backing band, bring the group up to Levon Helm's Woodstock studio, and record this breezy, beautiful album of old-time favorites and Hurley classics, but it really was a good one. Hurley's time-worn, gruff voice is set off beautifully by Liz Mitchell's dreamy backing vocals and Dan Littleton's earthy and atmospheric playing, and Ida's recent success making children's music finds them in perfect form for Hurley's child-like, playful music.

		$14.99 CD $24.99 LPx2 w/M3 $9.99 MP3   SUFJAN STEVENS & OSSO Run Rabbit Run (Asthmatic Kitty) "Year of the Dragon" An intriguing orchestral reinterpretation of Sufjan Stevens' second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit (a sprawling instrumental album from 2001, based on the animals of the Chinese Zodiac), Run Rabbit Run is a beautiful reworking performed by Osso, the same string quartet who have collaborated with both Stevens and My Brightest Diamond on past recordings. What results is a whimsical-yet-intense string rendition of one of the Detroit songwriter's more experimental works.

		$14.99 CD $14.99 LP w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   MUSIC GO MUSIC Expressions (Secretly Canadian) "Warm in the Shadows" "Light of Love" Secretly Canadian collects everything from Music Go Music's three 12" releases on this debut album, and in the best possible way it comes across as a singles collection, from one of the rare indie bands these days who actually deserves a "single." The group does a remarkably convincing job of recreating the sugar-coated sound of lightweight dance-pop from a bygone era, falling somewhere between ABBA, ELO and Chic, and they actually pull it off, with hooky choruses to back up their pitch-perfect songs. If you like this sort of stuff, don't miss Music Go Music.

		$16.99 CD   AIR Love 2 (Astralwerks) "So Light Is Her Footfall" The best parts of Air's fifth studio album nudge the group's patented lazy summertime-synth vibe in the direction of hooky AM-radio pop, and there are surely a few nuggets in here that will be hard to get out of your noggin after a couple of listens. In the end, it is a little bit hard to believe that these guys were once Other Music's biggest band; they sound "nice" but a little bland here, and their relevance today is eclipsed by many of the groups they inspired, including a few fellow Frenchmen. Regardless, we all need Air -- right?

		$14.99 CD $17.99 LP w/MP3 $9.99 MP3   LOU BARLOW Goodnight Unknown (Merge) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Lou Barlow hasn't completely abandoned the lo-fi crackle that made Sebadoh a household name, but on his second solo full-length, Goodnight Unknown, the songs shine through with refreshing clarity. His hooks and arrangements have grown more earnest, more complex, and more richly, intricately sad, while still retaining their pop edge.

		$15.99 CD $23.99 180 Gram LP w/CD $6.99 MP3   EVANGELISTA Prince of Truth (Constellation) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store On Prince of Truth, Evangelista (featuring Carla Bozulich and Tara Barnes, plus scattered members of A Silver Mt. Zion) play everything from crackling, satanic post-rockers to gentle, spacey slow takes, but, regardless of the particular texture, this superb collaboration is truly different. The guitar is weirdly wicked, the vocals are ghostly and the twists and turns are excitingly unexpected, resulting in a hectic-yet-thoughtful smattering of sounds.

		$15.99 CD   VIC CHESNUTT Skitter on Take Off (Vapor) "Dimples" "Society Sue" Chesnutt has worked with so many great and diverse artists over the years, and the new one shows another side of the songwriter, with a spare, haunting set produced by Jonathan Richman and Richman's longtime collaborator Tommy Larkins. Almost exclusively Chesnutt alone with his guitar and voice, Richman has done a great job capturing the unique melancholy that is Vic Chesnutt.

		$15.99 CD $15.99 CD Liar $15.99 CD Down $15.99 CD   THE JESUS LIZARD Head - Remastered w/ Bonus Tracks (Touch & Go) Preview & Buy MP3 on Other Music's Download Store - $9.99 THE JESUS LIZARD Goat - Remastered w/ Bonus Tracks (Touch & Go) Preview & Buy MP3 on Other Music's Download Store - $9.99 THE JESUS LIZARD Liar - Remastered w/ Bonus Tracks (Touch & Go) Preview & Buy MP3 on Other Music's Download Store - $9.99 THE JESUS LIZARD Down - Remastered w/ Bonus Tracks (Touch & Go) Preview & Buy MP3 on Other Music's Download Store - $9.99 Despite Touch & Go's recent, somewhat devastating implosion, the legendary indie powerhouse label has done a great job with these remasters and reissues from one of their keystone bands. It's hard to say if the Jesus Lizard can connect with a new generation of disaffected youth, but if not, it's just those ageist brats refusing to give grandpa Yow his due out of spite. Their precise, pounding rhythms, dark, angular guitars and Yow's unhinged vocal delivery sound as fresh and genuinely unnerving as ever.

		$16.99 189 Gram LP $16.99 CD $9.99 MP3   BETTY DAVIS Is It Love or Desire (Sundazed / Light in the Attic) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Now on vinyl, 10 previously unreleased cuts (that's right, previously unreleased) courtesy of the most bad ass funk diva of all time! Betty Davis' libidinous growl hits all the right notes, and her backing band lays down some of the most watertight grooves we've heard in a while, or, really, ever. "Is It Love or Desire" has traveled from the year 1976 to reach your ears, but Davis' songs, mastered straight-from-the-tapes, sound fresh and alive. Read the full review in the September 24, 2009 Update.

		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 [GC] Greg Caz [PG] Pamela Garavano-Coolbaugh [Age] Alexis Georgopoulos [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [AK] Andreas Knutsen [JM] Josh Madell [JS] Jeremy Sponder [MS] Michael Stasiak [JTr] Jonathan Treneff [JT] John Twells THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

Copyright 2009 Other Music

Newsletter Design Big Code