October 22, 2009

		ORDER OTHER MUSIC UPDATE ITEMS BY TEXT MESSAGE Other Music has teamed up with Subports to give you the option to purchase any release featured in the Other Music Update with a simple text message from your cell phone. Subports offers the flexibility and convenience of text-to-buy technology, while exclusively promoting independent retailers, artists and designers. All you have to do is take a moment to set up an account at www.subports.com/signup. Afterwards you'll have the option to purchase any CD or LP featured in this Update (and future Updates) by sending a simple text message. Every album will have a Subcode at the bottom of the review. Just text that Subcode to 767825 (which spells the word PORTAL) to place an order. Using text-to-buy, you'll never need to log in with a user name and password, or enter in your billing info (after the one-time registration) to purchase items. Easy to remember, most of our Subcodes use this simple formula: om, format (cd or lp), the first name of the artist and the first word of the album title. For example, the Subcode for Atlas Sound's new album Logos is: "omcdatlaslogos" (with or without the quotes). Within seconds you will receive an order confirmation via text and email, which will include your order total, including sales tax when applicable. Other Music will confirm the shipping charge once the order is processed -- our standard shipping and handling rates will be applied. The total will then be charged to the credit card linked to your Subports account. That's it, you're done. If you've changed your mind, just text NO back to PORTAL to cancel your order.

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Atlas Sound Ouled Bambara (Various Artists) Dam Funk Mountains OOIOO Fuck Buttons Lightning Bolt El Perro Del Mar Shackleton White Rainbow Pylon   Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard DOWNLOAD OF THE WEEK The Phenomenal Handclap Band (Remixes + Free Song Download) ALSO AVAILABLE Sufjan Stevens Spiral Stairs Bauhaus (Box Sets) Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/othermusic

		OCT Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   TICKET GIVE AWAY TO WNYU PRESENTS... Our good friends up the block at WNYU are throwing a cool party at the Market Hotel in Brooklyn tonight, featuring Gary War, Eric Copeland (of Black Dice), Amen Dunes, Expo '70, Fluffy Lumbers and DJs Mike McGill and Mr A*Ok. The station has offered our Update readers two pairs of tickets to the party, so enter right away by emailing tickets@othermusic.com. We'll be notifying the two winners by phone very shortly, so make sure to leave your number. We hope to see you there tonight. TONIGHT! THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 MARKET HOTEL: 142 Myrtle Ave (JMZ to Myrtle-Broadway) Brooklyn 8PM / $5 / All Ages

		OCT Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24 Click Image to Enlarge   WIN TICKETS TO THE KEMADO & MEXICAN SUMMER CMJ SHOWCASE This Saturday, Kemado Records and Mexican Summer will be throwing their official CMJ showcase at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, with a great line-up scheduled: The Amazing (members of Dungen), Real Estate, Farmer Dave Scher, Smith Westerns, and Young Prisms. Other Music has two pairs of tickets to give away, and all you have to do to enter is email contest@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners tomorrow, Friday, October 23rd. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG: 66 North Sixth Street Williamsburg, Brooklyn $8 / CMJ Badges Accepted

		OCT Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   MUM TICKET GIVE AWAY Longtime Other Music favorites, Iceland's Mum returns to New York City this Saturday, performing at (Le) Poisson Rouge performing to their lovely, beguiling new album, Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know. Opening the night will be Reykjavik's Sing Fan Bous, the brainchild of Seabear's Sindri Sigfusson. We've got two pairs of tickets up for grabs, so email enter@othermusic.com to put your name in the "hat." We'll notify the two winners by email this Friday. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24 (LE) POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleeker Street NYC

		OCT Sun 25 Mon 26 Tues 27 Wed 28 Thurs 29 Fri 30 Sat 31   THE ALMIGHTY DEFENDERS TAKE HOBOKEN Following the Black Lips infamous escape from India, the Atlanta "flower punks" landed in Berlin where they commenced an eight-day, booze-driven recording session with King Khan & BBQ (Mark Sultan). What resulted was the birth of the Almighty Defenders, whose raw, gospel-inspired R&R conjures images of Rev. Charlie Jackson jamming with the Velvet Undeground. Can we get a Hallelujah?! The garage rock super group has taken their show on the road, touring in support of their self-titled vinyl-only debut, and we've got a pair of tickets to their show at Maxwell's this Sunday, October 25. You know the drill...enter by emailing giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the winner this Friday. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 MAXWELL'S: 1039 Washington Street Hoboken, NJ

		Broadcast & Focus Group $11.99 CD $12.99 LP Hudson Mohawke $14.99 CD $19.99 LPx2 +MP3 5 Years of Hyperdub $23.99 CD   For our mail-order customers, we are now shipping three great new albums that are being released this coming Tuesday, October 27. The new full-lengths from Broadcast & Focus Group and Hudson Mohawke and the new Hyperdub compilation are all shipping now to arrive on your doorstep on Tuesday. Just click on the buy button to add to your shopping cart or you can also order with your cell phone by texting the respective subcode below to 767825. Use your cell phone to order the Broadcast/Focus Group CD by texting "omcdbroadcastinvestigate" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order the Broadcast/Focus Group LP by texting "omlpbroadcastinvestigate" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order the Hudson Mohawke CD by texting "omcdhudsonbutter" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order Hudson Mohawke LP by texting "omlphudsonbutter" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order Hyperdub Compilation CD by texting "omcdvarious5" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $12.99 LP $9.99 MP3   ATLAS SOUND Logos (Kranky) "Walkabout" (with Noah Lennox) " "Kid Klimax" With their excellent double full-length Microcastles/Weird Era Cont., and it's equally great follow-up EP Rainwater Cassette Exchange, Bradford Cox's Deerhunter has had a helluva year. But with Logos, Cox returns to the bedroom-pop of his Atlas Sound project, with fresh takes on old ideas and an intense intimacy that was missing from his Atlas Sound debut Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel. What lures us into Cox's universe is his outward fragility, combined with an inner intensity and his love for wrinkled textures. On Logos, Cox perfects his tunnel-vision method of psychedelic introspection, often betting it all on one fierce pony, a lick or a rhythm, then cloaking his voice with blinking lights. His songs seem hazy and obscure, but they are never as foggy as we think. A Bradford Cox song is like a jet trail in the sky, focused to a point but dissipating into the ether. Lead-off track "The Light That Failed" builds on a pretty acoustic guitar line, repeated continuously, while Cox layers some "Yellow Submarine" tricks on top; squawks and bleeps abound while his haunting warble fades in and out of comprehension. "An Orchid" sounds like Cox channeling his best Syd Barrett. The standout song on the album is "Walkabout," Cox's collaboration with Animal Collective's Noah Lennox (a/k/a Panda Bear). Lennox employs a skittery beat and a synthesizer line made out of starlight to burrow into your ear, but Cox makes the song profound and infinitely listenable with a sea of vocal counter-melodies. Cox's lyrics tend to be nostalgic without seeming smarmy, and "Walkabout" nails his backwards-looking manifesto by asking us, "What did you want to see/what did you want to be when you grew up?" That's the thing about Bradford Cox; his charm never seems like a put on, and when he asks you a direct (and probably painful) question, it always feels like genuine concern. Logos is an autumnal experience, a bedroom-pop album of beauty and tenderness, and the best collection of Cox's songs yet. Highly, highly recommended. [BCa] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdaltaslogos" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpaltaslogos" to 767825

		$17.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Ouled Bambara: Portraits of Gnawa (Twos & Fews / Drag City) "Turku Lila" Brahim Belkani "Sandiya" Abdelkbir Marchane & Ahmed Baqbou The mysterious world of Moroccan Gnawa trance music has gripped the imagination of Western ears for a long time now, with counter-cultural icons ranging from Paul Bowles, Brion Gysin, William Burroughs and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones all having spent energy in exposing this fascinating sound-world to a wider audience. And while there have been numerous albums documenting this hermetic culture before, few I've heard come as close to capturing the intimacy between the musicians and the spirits they're ritually conjuring than this excellent new CD/DVD compilation issued by Drag City subsidiary Twos and Fews. Producer Caitlin McNally doggedly pursued a number of false leads before gaining access to a handful of extraordinary Gnawa performers in what is normally a very closed-off world. Propelled by the plucking of the guinbri, a three-stringed bass lute, iron clackers, and rhythmic hand clapping, the trance performers are able to communicate with a dizzying variety of jinn (genie) in the hopes of appeasing their sometimes malevolent dispositions. That's sort of putting it simply; in Gnawa music the role between the musicians, the trance-dancers, and the spirit world is complex and assigns music a role we don't normally acknowledge in the West, although if pressed I'm sure even many skeptical listeners would admit they've on occasion succumbed to any number of different music's trance-inducing qualities. It's rare though that the express purpose of a music is to induce a trance, and that's partly what makes this music so compelling, and nearly impossible to not get wrapped up in. The documentary accompanying the disc is superb, and the accessible, and frankly fascinating, liner notes provide the sort of clear context that has been sorely lacking in quite a few other releases of this nature I've seen in the last few years. [MK] Use your cell phone to order the CD/DVD by texting "omcdvariousouled" to 767825

		$15.99 CD   DAM FUNK Toeachizown (Stones Throw) "Let's Take Off" "The Sky Is Ours" I'll be straight-up with you; my listening habits of late have consisted of a hell of a lot of Prince bootlegs and a hefty smattering of Paisley Park side projects. This is nothing but a good thing -- I'm taking the entirety of the Minneapolis sound with me to the desert island when it's time to get marooned. Of course, as many of you fanatics know, you get into a listening zone and you start reaching out for other records that sound similar, or that connect the dots between scenes. Dam-Funk (say it Dame Funk)'s debut long player Toeachizown offers up a hefty two-plus hours of sweaty robot funk that effectively (and rather impressively) connects the dots between Pre-Paisley Minneapolis, California's G-funk, Detroit's P-funk, Ohio's Zapp & Roger, and hell, even New Jersey's Italians Do It Better. Dam takes elements of all of these signature sounds, mixes them up into a bottle of Spanish Fly, and lets the funk do the talking. There's no doubt that a double-album debut is both ambitious and overwhelming, but that's the point here -- this is a fly or cry establishment, and if you can't get with it, get the funk outta here. Toeachizown wonderfully blends sex, wit, and above all else, soul, on an album that manages to be both retro and futuristic, impressive and nonchalant, intricate and direct. Dam's an old pro on the production tip; he got his start during the New Jack Swing era, but had been playing and recording far earlier than that. He's diplomatic enough to list all of the gear used in the making of the record inside the sleeve, and his analog-heavy approach is tailor-made to appeal to all of you kids who go nuts for Glass Candy's post-Blondie bedroom eyes. There isn't an autotuner to be found on this album, because Dam knows how to play the keys while he sings into the vocoder, and seriously, if you dig funky, wonky, modern R&B, whatever, and you don't give this album a listen, you're a dam fool. Good things come in small packages, but the best things are larger than life and too hot to handle. You've got all winter to cozy up to this hot, sweaty beast, so take off that itchy sweater and do the right thing. Highest recommendation. [IQ] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcddamto" to 767825

		$14.99 LP +MP3   MOUNTAINS Etching (Thrill Jockey) Limited to one thousand LPs with hand stamped sleeves, each unique and striking, Etching comes on the heels of Mountains' exquisite and critically acclaimed Thrill Jockey debut, Choral. Other Music alumnus Koen Holtkamp and longtime collaborator Brendon Anderegg recorded this in one take, real time, to release as a CD-R for their national tour behind Choral. It's a sublime and intriguing record, near-impossible decipher exactly what was where and when, with layers of organ, synthesizer and acoustic guitar, processed on the fly, and I am in awe that there are no overdubs here. This kind of pastoral electonica elicits direct comparisons to 1970s German bands like Popol Vuh and Harmonia, but that is just a leaping-off point in Mountains' musical genome. Add in touches of Fennesz and Stars of the Lid and you begin to fill in the holes. Recorded quickly and intended as a limited item, Etching feels more sprawling and reaching than the duo's earlier work, living and breathing in the most organic, satisfying way. The a-side is a sort of post-folk, built around acoustic guitar and gently layered until it becomes something much more; the b-side delivers a wall of light and fuzzy drone, drawn out and shimmering, continuing in more directions at once than might be tracked. Etching is a pristine artifact, from the recording to the packaging. This is a unique gem, and one of Mountains' best. Each LP comes with a free mp3 download. [BCa] Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpmountainsetching" to 767825

		$15.99 CD $16.99 LP $9.99 MP3   OOIOO Armonico Hewa (Thrill Jockey) "OROKAI" "OOIAH" Japanese tribal-psych girl-group OOIOO (say it "oh-oh-eye-oh-oh"!) return with a wonderful new album (their sixth, not counting comps and remix collections) that successfully distills the best elements of the previous five while still introducing some new sounds that keep this group at the top of their game. OOIOO is best known for being fronted by Boredoms drummer Yoshimi Yokota; in this group, she focuses on vocals, guitar, synths, and trumpet, while percussion duties are handed over to Ai, an outstanding drummer in her own right who has recorded two amazing solo albums in her homeland (as OLAibi) that I really wish someone would issue over here in the States. The current lineup of the band, which has been in place since before the recording of 2006's excellent Taiga album, is without question their most powerful thus far, and on Armonico Hewa the group creates a voodoo dance-a-thon that combines the slightly wonky tribal aesthetics of the Slits and Raincoats -- all clattering whirlwinds and call and response melodies -- with a precision and complexity akin to prog groups like Magma and the Soft Machine. There are, of course, similarities to the cyclical tension, expanse, and release that Boredoms have mastered so well, but OOIOO's joy is often more direct and much more loosely arranged -- you can feel these songs breathe, and the air of spontaneity that surrounds the recordings adds to their charm. This is also the most successfully eclectic of their records thus far, riding the grooves deep into sun-baked echo canyons, propelling back upwards on heavy psych atmospherics, and celebrating their ascension with a straight-up party, all four of the girls singing triumphantly (holy shit, I think I just heard Yoshimi auto-tuned?!?!) while guitars rip holes in the fabric, and synths burble and weave their way through the openings. There's a reason these ladies (and their bros in the Boretribe) are so revered by the likes of Gang Gang Dance, Soft Circle, Hella, and nearly every weirdo in Brooklyn and beyond -- they are the best at what they do. They remain one of the most simultaneously challenging yet catchy and cheerful bands of the modern age, and their enthusiasm is infectious and utterly hypnotic. Catch the wave! [IQ] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdooiooarmonico" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpooiooarmonico" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $17.99 LPx2+MP3   FUCK BUTTONS Tarot Sport (ATP) "Rough Steez" "Space Mountain" It's clear that Bristol's Fuck Buttons have a jones for Brooklyn noisemakers like Excepter, Gang Gang Dance, and, most overtly, Black Dice, but they're by no means rote imitators, and the duo carved out a nice noisy niche for themselves with last year's debut Street Horrrsing. Expansive, ear-taxing, melodic and hypnotic all at once is no mean feat, and they're back at it on Tarot Sport, emphasizing the beats a bit more and getting even more grandiose in their soundscapes. The first time this came on, we thought for a moment that we were hearing some hidden track off of the Field record, so meticulously arranged were its cuts and edits, each small fragment of sound building and building to great release. It's no surprise when you learn the album was produced by Andrew Weatherall (Two Lone Swordsmen, etc.), and the beats, raw and serrated as they are, define this album, but the FB's signature drone attack eventually rears its ugly-beautiful head, making it perfectly clear this is a dangerously shifting dancefloor. [AB] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdfucktarot" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpfucktarot" to 767825

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   LIGHTNING BOLT Earthly Delights (Load) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store It's been four long years since the fuzzed-out, bass-heavy spasticity of Hypermagic Mountain, four years devoid of brand-new matter-vaporizing riffage from everyone's favorite Providence two-piece, but fear not, fellow believers, Lightning Bolt are finally back! And, boy, is it good to hear that unholy low-end rumbling forth from my speakers, and, in all likelihood, destroying them. The Load-released Earthly Delights finds Brian and Brian sounding as absolutely insane and extraterrestrial as ever, as they once more summon their trademarked crushingly heavy, cymbal-rupturing waves of breakneck brutality, song after song. The album kicks off without hesitation (a word rarely used in conjunction with Lightning Bolt), as the duo launches into "Sound Guardians," a track that at first sounds like a marching band-gone-satanic, and then collapses into blown-out, fist-pumping madness, setting the pace and tone for the remainder of the record. Vocals are, of course, of the garbled, incoherent, and frantic variety, a style that has always suited Lightning Bolt's instrumentals. But the band has evolved since their last record; there's a subtle semblance of melody in these tracks, an attention to song craft that wasn't present on previous recordings. Take, for example, the slowed-down (relatively speaking), super-heavy gem "Colossus." Here's a song in which Chippendale and Gibson manage to stay true to their roots, while simultaneously displaying tunefulness that verges on, dare I say it, catchy. Then there's the delightfully weird "Funny Farm," which features infectious, distorted down-on-the-farm bluegrass picking interludes, complete with folksy yelping; you have to hear it to believe it. The album closes with the 12-minute-plus behemoth "Transmissionary," which is hands down the duo's heaviest, most epic piece to date. Gibson's bass has never sounded more thunderous, and Chippendale's drumming has become, somehow, more raging, more frenetic, and more spot-on. Highly recommended. [JK] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdlightningearthly" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $13.99 LP +MP3   EL PERRO DEL MAR Love Is Not Pop (TCG) "Heavenly Arms" "Change of Heart" Well, this is a pleasant surprise. After two albums of gorgeous, but increasingly dour torch songs, Sarah Assbring throws a refreshing curveball with this new El Perro Del Mar album. While the presiding themes of doomed relationships and lost love still hold court, the overall mood here is buoyed by a more engaging, sultry, and dare I say, funky backdrop courtesy of producer Rasmus Hagg. Some of you may recognize Hagg's work as half of the Swedish duo Studio, who have a knack for soldering the motorik drive of the Autobahn onto Miami Beach, a la Jan Hammer. Luckily, the transplant works just as well with El Perro's stunning voice floating over the top of it all, taking Hagg's electro synthwork and dry drum rolls and making them that much more spaced-out and eerie. Imagine an even more cosmic Julee Cruise/Twin Peaks soundtrack that grooved with a sort of Laurel Canyon soulfulness, and you're getting there. A better, weirder world worth inhabiting, if only for a little while. [JTr] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdellove" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpellove" to 767825

		$17.99 CD $25.99 LPx3   SHACKLETON Three EPs (Perlon) "(No More) Negative Thoughts" "Mountains of Ashes" Sam Shackleton's debut on Perlon, Three EPs, is possibly the best selection of tracks he's released yet. Following his inclusion on both the Skull Disco and Mordant Music label compilations (Shackleton also runs the Skull Disco imprint with partner Appleblim), this set is full of the textures and low-end theory he's become known for. Beginning with the track "(No More) Negative Thoughts," Shackleton firmly establishes this journey as a tightly executed but loosely woven flight into the depths of minimal ethno-techno and dubstep. His style of production relies on a unique library of sounds, the thumping drums of North Africa along with the snappy hand cymbals of the Middle East, to form the framework for his skeletal-mechanic rhythms. Not unlike the work of Muslimgauze, Shackleton's earthly and organic soundscapes propel the listener into a world that is at times dark and spacious, hazy and ominous, and yet always driving, full of simple sounding yet complex polyrhythm. I like to imagine raving belly dancers, gold medallions dangling from gyrating hips, arms waving like the tide of the Red Sea, thick incense smoke billowing through the air; yet this is not some Bollywood techno re-edit, this is something deeper. A sonic cultural marriage of London, Berlin, Detroit, Morocco and Tel Aviv, deeply moving, melodic, and at times magical. Recommended. [DG] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdshackletonthree" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpshackletonthree" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $17.99 LP $9.99 MP3   WHITE RAINBOW New Clouds (Kranky) "Tuesday Rollers and Strollers" "Major Spillage" My first introduction to White Rainbow happened when I stumbled across a critical one-line review of Adam Forkner's self-released CD-R, Ambient Music Series Vol. 2. The note read, "So white a rainbow I can't even fucking hear it." I was intrigued, and spent a month trying to track down a copy; I couldn't imagine a more flattering response. Since then, Forkner, who records under the White Rainbow name, has cultured a far more active sound, manipulating an array of effects pedals worthy of their own display case to drive his guitar into a cosmic bliss. New Clouds picks up right where 2007's Prism of Eternal Now left off, further pushing his influences and abilities to create his most fully-realized LP to date. The Eastern influences are unmistakable; pulling from ragas and mantras, Forkner constructs cities around loops, with a haze that binds rhythms and infectious melodies. His beats firmly cement the music in danceable primitivism, akin to fellow free spirit Lucky Dragons. White Rainbow recordings are distinct and immediately recognizable; definitely an innovator in the new ambience, White Rainbow leads a kosmische regiment of his peers to forge ahead where Terry Riley, Brian Eno, and Cluster left off. As a large percent of Forkner's recorded output disappears in micro-releases and cassettes, it is fortunate that Kranky delivers on CD and two slabs of vinyl what would pass most of us by as CD-Rs or cassettes, making somewhat permanent the haunting and ethereal sound-image that is a White Rainbow. [BCa] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdwhitenew" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpwhitenew" to 767825

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   PYLON Chomp More (DFA) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store As an essential part of the scene that defined Athens, GA as the nerve center for offbeat alternative rock in the late 1970s, Pylon released a handful of great singles and albums before calling it quits in 1983, the year the group's sophomore effort Chomp was first released. And although the band was eclipsed both in popularity and sales by fellow Georgian compatriots R.E.M. (who refer to Pylon as a major influence) and the B-52s, their dynamic and frenetic post-punk sounds struck a chord with contemporaries as it still does today, and their position as forbearers in the rise of the alternative music underground in America is fixed. Now getting the attention they deserve from James Murphy's DFA label -- which reissued Pylon's first album, Gyrate in 2007 -- the 12 cuts on Chomp, now re-titled as Chomp More have been remastered and made available on CD for the first time ever. More fully-formed than the debut, Chomp cultivates their sound, a pairing of the same elaborate, angular instrumentals and eccentric vocals of bands like Television and Gang of Four with more dance-informed rhythms. Showcasing their stash of jagged guitar hooks (R.E.M.'s cover of the single "Crazy" never did it justice) complemented by the unmatched energy and exuberance behind the distinctive yelp of lead vocalist Vanessa Briscoe, Chomp contains some of Pylon's best work: the throbbing snare-infused opener "K," the jangly "Crazy" (this song is so good!), and the buzzing "Gyrate," among others. And as a cherry on top, this expanded version adds four bonus tracks: the 7-inch version of "Crazy," an alternate version of "Yo-Yo," Pylon's own remix of "Gyrate" and the rarely heard "Four Minutes." [PG] Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdpylonchomp" to 767825

		$13.99 CD with MP3 Sampler   MILES BENJANJAMIN ANTHONY ROBINSON Summer of Fear (Saddle Creek) "Shake a Shot" "Death by Dust" Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is a young br'er with one too many handles to be easily processed, but that must be fine in his world, where songs clocking at almost 12 minutes -- like "More Than a Mess" from his Saddle Creek debut -- ain't 'xactly ringtone-able. Between his move from Brooklyn (Portland), Oregon, to Brooklyn, New York, Robinson has endured some oft-cited hardship, and gained a powerful, influential circle of friends including the magnificent Grizzly Bear -- some of whom support him well here on Summer of Fear, including Christophers Bear and Taylor, and TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone. When this disc works best -- the fresh-if-dour "The 100th of March" with horn fanfare and sweep worthy of the late Arthur Lee -- it gets one lifted. On the other hand, when "The Sound" comes off rather like a TVOTR outtake, one is rather nonplussed, if temporarily entertained, by its jagged mesh of ringing guitar. The anguished voice emerging from his interior muddy waters can smack of the cocksure legend Stagger Lee (despite such seemingly vulnerable lyrics as, "Why would I try to hang on to anyone else? / It's a hard enough time just trying to hang myself"), but "soulful" ought not to be a descriptor directed Robinson's way so much just because he's darker than beige. Yes, he's covered Otis Redding live at least once, but Summer of Fear's tenuous link to the soul genre comes primarily from its being a concept album, displaying an ambition that once littered the "urban" landscape -- I Want You, The Belle Album, Across 110th Street -- but now appears to be but a twinkle in his fellow caramel Maxwell's eye. What's far more intriguing is Saddle Creek's burgeoning rep as prime institution harboring and distributing the Nü-Blackness or Post-blackness (tellingly only the black male iteration...who love surf music...and didn't Brother Ray banish the white backing choruses for volatile black maleness trick once and for all?), following on their successes with the swirly bro formerly known as Devonte. If TVOTR is the crucial transitional outfit, Robinson seems to be the first genuine post-black artist, his disc's themes of self-loathing and the bittersweet expressed far more in-line with the disconsolate O.G.s from across the Pond and their pale Yank imitators now powering '80s revivalism rather than the typically sweet-voiced Sissy Soul geniuses (Russell Thompkins Jr., Phillippe Wynne, etc.) of yore. Sometimes it seems the most suitable medicine for Brotha Robinson's melancholy would be a young sista resembling Aunt Jemima in red hot pants. "Summer of Fear, Parts 1 & 2," cunningly released just as Indian Summer's aftereffects are fading from view to make one sufficiently nostalgic for even the heartbreak of New York City's cruel hot season, ain't no Isleys' "Summer Breeze," and thus lack the velocity to crossover to yo' Mama; these are the songs of a man-child, not a man -- compelling though they may be (particularly "Pt. 2"). Yes, yes, gallows humor, it's a brand new 21st century day blah blah blah. If all these latter-day chillun of A.R. Kane are only going to mime the motions of growth, this ole buffalo gal may have to stay relegated to the dustbin of history with Afro-Sheen. Still, the hustlin' naufragé's mariner themes and alienation supply perhaps perfect soundtrack for this era of the Apotheosis of the Pirates of the Sea of Zanj -- and that's way cool for the Youth! [KCH] Use your cell phone to order CD by Texting "omcdmilessummer" to 767825

		$17.99 CD $28.99 CD+DVD Deluxe Edition   JAY FARRAR & BENJAMIN GIBBARD One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Music from Kerouac's Big Sur (Atlantic) "Low Life Kingdom" "One Fast Move or I'm Gone" Jack Keoruac's novel Big Sur is a dark autobiographical tale of loss and redemption, written after the unprecedented success of his iconic first novel, On the Road. Out in a gloomy cabin on the haunted southern California coastline, Kerouac drowns himself in booze while slipping in and out of reality, listening to the rhythmic, demonic voice of the Pacific Ocean. It is a ghastly adventure, filled with alcohol-induced nightmares and unsettling reflections on the shadowy bits of our fragile selves. Death Cab for Cutie's huggy-bear main man Ben Gibbard and Son Volt's craggy Jay Farrar team up on One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, a soundtrack companion to a new film of the same name. Over the course of twelve original songs, they attempt to translate Kerouac's eerie book of the dead into their particular brand of Americana folk and blues. We've heard this kind of appropriation and projection before: you might as well call this record Mermaid Avenue, Volume 3. And just like that Wilco and Billy Bragg collaboration, Gibbard and Farrar split the record cleanly in half by trading vocal duties back and forth, song for song. The results can be a little incongruous, but so cleanly and lovingly executed that they reveal aspects of Kerouac's words that simply didn't exist before. Gibbard's songs lean toward full Nashville pageantry, with sparkling acoustic guitars, swirling Wurlitzers, and sleek slide guitars that echo Dennis Wilson's driving-down-the-coast grandiosity. His best song is the title track, on which he employs his taut, outstretched vocal delivery to great effect. Farrar plays the affair pretty straight, going for understatement and melancholy, and staying true to the source material's dread and loneliness. On "Big Sur" he lifts most of Kerouac's words about the ocean and plunks them right on top of a bed of slides and distant electric guitar cat-scratches. He illustrates the repetition of waves with a maddeningly good looped acoustic guitar riff on "Breathing Out Iodine," and generally uses his rusty pipes to evoke the weariness of traveling. Ben Gibbard's fans will enjoy this record because it heralds our nerdy, bespectacled hero's return to folk and country territory, which he tentatively explored on the fifth installment of Post-Parlo's Home EP series. Jay Farrar fans will enjoy this record because it's got more jolt than his latest Sun Volt album. Will Jack Kerouac fans like it? Tough to say, though lush alt-country is a snug fit for a reflective film like One Fast Move, so I'm sure there won't be too many complaints from diehard dharma bums. At times, Gibbard's clear bell voice is at odds with Farrar's moody growling, but that dichotomy also neatly reflects Kerouac's own charming, fearsome personality. [MS] Use your cell phone to order the CD by texting "omcdjayone" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order the CD/DVD deluxe version by texting "omcdjayonedeluxe" to 767825

		$9.99 MP3 Full Album $0.00 MP3 Free Track   THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND 15 to 20 / You'll Disappear Remixes (Friendly Fire Recordings) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store The New York based PHCB's debut album is an infectious blend of psychedelic soul and disco funk. Over the past six months, the band has garnered quite a bit of attention and a nice buzz, spurred by both their dynamic live shows and their soulful, catchy tunes. This remix EP collects 13 different versions of two of their most popular tunes. The remix roster is a who's who collection of neo-disco heavy hitters like Prins Thomas, the Glimmers and Horse Meat Disco. Each mix contained here is a dancefloor filler, some highlights being Thomas's slow building 12-minute live disco-rock take on "You'll Disappear," NYC's Bim Marx's electro-tinged take on "15 to 20" and the Glimmers' Tom Tom Club meets Chic take on the same tune. There's also a nice folk-funk bonus track from the band thrown in for good measure. Tip!! [PH] Other Music Digital is offering a FREE SONG DOWNLOAD of Horse Meat Disco's remix of "You'll Disappear," good through next Thursday, October 29th.

		$16.99 CD $24.99 LPx2+Comic $9.99 MP3   SUFJAN STEVENS The BQE (Asthmatic Kitty) "Movement V: Self-Organizing Emergent Patterns" "Movement III: Linear Tableau with Intersecting Surprise" In typical Sufjan style, America's bard has embraced a filthy patch of highway that is integral to the lives of we New Yorkers of the outer boroughs: the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. This is an accompaniment to a multi-media event commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and performed there in the fall of '07. The DVD/CD combo includes a triptych film Sufjan created, pretty abstract stuff shot on the great highway, and some choreographed hula-hooping (?), plus the CD of the lovely instrumental score. The LP is two slabs of 180 gram vinyl, plus a 40-page comic book. Not for the casual fan of his pop music, but this is deep and thrilling art, and a must for the big fans. Use your cell phone to order the CD/DVD by texting "omcdsufjanbqe" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order the LP by texting "omlpsufjanbqe" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $17.99 LP+45+MP3   SPIRAL STAIRS Real Feel (Matador) "Cold Change" "Real Feel" For his first proper solo album (post-Preston School of Industry, pre-Pavement reunion), Scott Kannberg delivers a sturdy set of songs that rock a little harder and sprawl and skronk a bit less than you might expect. This album may not distract anyone from the mania of the Pavement reissues and impending shows, but S.S. is doing his own thing, and bless him for it. Use your cell phone to order CD by texting "omcdspiralreal" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order LP by texting "omlpspiralreal" to 767825

		In the Flat Field $21.99 CDx2 Mask $27.99 CDx3   BAUHAUS In the Flat Field - Box Set (4AD) BAUHAUS Mask - Box Set (4AD) 4AD delivers extravagant, and probably essential versions of Bauhaus' seminal first two albums, which basically created Goth, remastered, and packaged in lovely DVD-styled boxes. The debut In The Flat Field is restored to its original running order, and comes with a second disc of 16 singles and outtakes. The sophomore Mask (available separately) has a second disc with 17 singles, outtakes and original versions, as well as a third disc live at the Hammersmith Palais, 9 November 1981. Our only question would be, what exactly is an "Omnibus Edition"? Use your cell phone to order the In the Flat Field Box Set by texting "omcdbauhausin" to 767825 Use your cell phone to order the Mask Box Set by texting "omcdbauhausmask" to 767825

		PHONE ORDERS Phone orders are accepted at (212) 477-8150 (ext. #2, mailorder) Mon-Fri, Noon - 7pm EST EMAIL For general inquiries or other information please email sales@othermusic.com. Do not reply to this message. REMOVE This is an automated list. If you would like to be removed for any reason, please visit: digital.othermusic.com/subscribe.php   THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [AB] Adrian Burkeholder [BCa] Brian Cassidy [PG] Pamela Garavano-Coolbaugh [DG] Daniel Givens [PH] Patrick Hunt [KCH] Kandia Crazy Horse [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [JK] Jacob Kaplan [MK] Michael Klausman [MS] Michael Stasiak [JTr] Jonathan Treneff THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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