April 7, 2010

		RECORD STORE DAY: SATURDAY, APRIL 17 Record Store Day is fast approaching and we're looking to make this year the best one yet. If you're in NYC on Saturday, April 17, swing by Other Music where we'll be offering lots of special and exclusive Record Store Day releases in the shop, with a great line-up of guest DJs spinning their favorite tunes throughout the day (including Scott from the National and Liquid Liquid's Sal Principato), plus live performances from the Drums and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. We'll be announcing more details here and on our website in the coming week. And no matter what town you're in, save the date and please support your local independent record stores on Saturday, April 17.

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Loveliescrushing Alva Noto Jonsi Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Ikonika Oneman (Rinse Mix) Fennesz (Cassette) Young Jazz Rebels (a/k/a Madlib) The Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble (a/k/a Madlib) The Slits (Cut Deluxe Edition) Mulatu Astatke African Pearls: Congo (Various)   Galaxie 500 (3 Double-CD Reissues) Harlem The Pastels Television Personalities Nice Nice ALSO AVAILABLE Javelin Tunng Cobblestone Jazz Meth, Ghost & Rae Robert Lester Folsom (Now on CD) Gonjasufi (LP back in stock) Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/othermusic

		APR Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10   WIN TICKETS TO MUTEK _11: BROOKLYN PREVIEW Mutek will be celebrating its 11th anniversary this year and the Beyond Booking crew have put together a Mutek preview this Friday at Public Assembly, in hopes of encouraging NYC electronic music enthusiasts to make the trek to Montreal for the main event, June 2-6. This Friday's line-up is excellent, featuring: Akufen, Efdemin, Cheap & Deep, Stephen Beaupré, Vincent Lemieux, Derek Plaslaiko, Gamelatron, and Borne. We're giving away two pairs of tickets to this preview, so email enter@othermusic.com right away to enter. FRIDAY, APRIL 9 PUBLIC ASSEMBLY: 70 North 6th Street Williamsburg 10PM-6AM ($10 before midnight, $20 after) | 21+

		APR Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 16 Sat 17 APR Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24 Freelance Whales   UPCOMING IN-STORE PERFORMANCES FREELANCE WHALES: MONDAY, APRIL 12 @ 8PM The night before their sold out show at the Bowery Ballroom, this Queens-based ensemble will be celebrating the release of their new album, Weather Vanes, which comes out the following day on French Kiss/Mom & Pop. Some of the most melodic and textured indie pop you'll hear this year, we'll have the record for sale that night. MESSAGES: MONDAY, APRIL 19 @ 8PM Featuring Taketo Shimada, Tres Warren (Psychic Ills) and Spencer Herbst (Mountains of Matalamma), Messages will be marking the release of their new album After Before, out on De Stijl, performing a third-eye opening set of celestial tones and otherworldly drones.

		APR Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 16 Sat 17   WIN A PAIR OF PASSES TO A SCREENING OF THE LIFE OF THE WORLD TO COME In this essential concert film by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom), John Darnielle and his beloved band the Mountain Goats perform songs on piano and guitar at Pomona College. Shot in the same building where Darnielle performed Bach minuets as an eight-year-old piano student, The Life of the World to Come takes the songs from the album of the same name and restores them to their raw original states: skin, blood, and bone. Other Music has two pairs of passes to give away to this special April 15th screening, and both winners will also receive a signed poster and copy of the limited The Life of the World to Come DVD!! To enter, email tickets@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners on Monday, April 12. THURSDAY, APRIL 15 @ 9:30PM IFC CENTER: 323 Sixth Avenue NYC

		JUN Sun 20 Mon 21 Tues 22 Wed 23 Thurs 24 Fri 25 Sat 26   WIN TICKETS TO GOLDFRAPP Riding high on the release of their great new album, Head First, Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory will be bringing their elegant and electrifying live show to the Hammerstein Ballroom on Wednesday, June 23. Tickets go on sale this Friday, but you also have a chance to win a pair through Other Music. Just email giveaway@othermusic.com, and we'll notify one lucky person via email on Friday. Good luck! WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM: 311 West 34th Street NYC 8PM Show | 7PM Doors $42.50 Advance Tickets go on sale HERE at 10AM, Friday April 9th

		Many of our customers have been enjoying the ease of texting their orders with their mobile phone. To take advantage of this option with any of the items listed below, go to subports.com where you can create your free Subports account. Afterwards, just text the corresponding subcode listed underneath each item to 767825.

		Loveliescrushing $13.99 CD $9.99 MP3 Alva Noto $13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   LOVELIESCRUSHING CRWTH - Chorus Redux (Line) "DZAI" "RHVR" ALVA NOTO For 2 (Line) "Argonaut (for Heiner Müller)" "Anthem Berlin (for The Kingdom of Elgaland-Vargaland)" Two absolutely brilliant releases on the Richard Chartier-curated Line imprint, a label that seems to usually focus on the more process/conceptual end of modern electronic music, but here releasing a pair of albums that pack an enormous emotional wallop. First up is Loveliescrushing, a (new to me) shoegaze duo from Michigan who's apparently been active since the early '90s. In 2007 they released Chorus, a simply gor geous ambient recording utilizing only the sounds of singer Melissa Arpin-Duimstra's voice. Unfortunately, it was only released in Peru in a miniscule edition, and in the course of trying to get a copy, Richard Chartier proposed to member Scott Cortez that he further rework it for a domestic release. While the original album is great (we have it available as a digital release), this is pure bliss. Gauzy in the extreme, with tantalizing remnants of melody left to hold on to, clouds of sounds are comprised only of the human voice, with untold textures residing in an infinite haze. The record bears more than a passing resemblance to Grouper's 2008 release, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, and if you love that album, as I'm sure many of you do, you won't fail to be moved by this as well. Next is the latest Alva Noto release For 2, Carsten Nicolai's second for Line thus far. There's a very diverse array of sounds at play here, with perhaps a bit less of the glitch he's known for in favor of warmer synth tones and celestial sounding harmonies. Surely one of the most personal of his releases to date, each track has a dedication, from Chain Music, to Andrei Tarkovsky and Camera Lucida, providing an intriguing glimpse into his creative process and inspiration. Cello's devolve into bells, Presque Rien-esque soundscapes seem to acquire extra dimensions, and the dedication to Phil Niblock, "Early Winter," slowly accrues a magisterial air that is undeniable. Honestly one of the man's most compelling releases to date, which is saying a lot! [MK] Order Loveliescrushing CD by Texting "omcdloveliescrushingcrwth" to 767825 Order Alva Noto CD by Texting "omcdalvafor" to 767825

		$12.99 CD $15.99 LP+MP3 180 Gram Vinyl $9.99 MP3   JONSI Go (XL) "Go Do" "Kolnidur" Jón Pór Birgisson's debut solo album arrives laden with expectations, as the artist popularly known as Jónsi has generally awed even those who are not particularly interested in the music of his main project, Icelandic post-dream-pop agents Sigur Rós. Whether you love that band, hate them, or struggle to stay awake through their haunting, dramatic and soporific epics, it is hard to disagree that Jónsi has one of the more spectral and truly beautiful voices in modern music. On last year's Riceboy Sleeps album, a collaboration with boyfriend Alex Somers, that voice was largely silent, and the mood throughout was even more hushed and abstract than his work with Sigur Rós. On Go, Jónsi's pendulum swings in the other direction, taking many of the essential elements of his main band and adding some energy and power to the mix, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable suite. Sung mostly in English, and often with a pulsing beat behind them, these songs are some of Jónsi's most immediate and engaging. His main collaborator on these recordings is NYC's own avant wunderkind Nico Muhly, whose orchestrations for artists like Bjork and Antony have consistently brought depth and magic, and the same is true on Go. Mixing subtle electronics with emotional piano, string and woodwind arrangements, Jónsi and Muhly have managed to create a swirling and hypnotic palette of sounds that wonderfully suits that beautiful voice, and its newfound energy and focus. It's not dance music, it's not Sigur Rós' aching emotional drone, but it incorporates both of those sounds, and several others, into a wonderful, and positively uplifting new angle on pop music. Perhaps Jónsi's lyrics from "Animal Arithmetic" best elaborate on this record's worldview (and anyway it is a thrill to quote a songwriter who is generally known to sing in Icelandic, or his own made-up language): Wake up, comb my hair, making food disappear. Riding bikes, making out, elephants running down. You and I, ran away, got lost in the eve, saw the most colorful fireworks. Ever time, everyone, everything's full of life. Every day, everywhere, people are so alive. We should all be (oh-oh-oh) alive! We should all be (oh-oh-oh) alive! [JM] Order CD by Texting "omcdjonsigo" to 767825 Order LP by Texting "omlpjonsigo" to 767825

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone) "The Game Gets Old" "She Ain't a Child No More" Every time I come across one of the splinter factions of our city's modern soul movement (the artists on Desco, Daptone, Soul Fire, Truth & Soul, and a handful of other artist-run imprints), all I can really focus on is how great of a time these musicians must be having making this music, because how their output makes me feel is undoubtedly the same, if not stronger. Musicians putting their chosen axes through the paces, building off of a foundation of Motown and Holland-Dozier-Holland, of Stax and Gamble-Huff, of Curtom and Chisa, of the countless regional labels that put a handful of 45s into circulation, hoping that their flagship artists could make a dent in the charts -- this is the legacy that the unstoppable Dap-Kings have embraced. Best job in the world, no doubt, and with the international recognition they've received in the past 15 odd years, they are part of an elite group of musicians who've gone from copying traditions of the past to continuing the conversation. Add to this wonderful mix the incomparable Sharon Jones, a powerful presence and a powerhouse vocalist who can hold her own with most of the legends of the genre, and you have a thrilling combo that brings real vitality to a genre that has long been relegated to dusty vinyl and the types who hound after it, rather than a living, breathing entity. So welcome back to the fold NYC's finest, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, a soul/R&B ensemble steeped in traditions of music that was phased out by disco and the rise of the modern synthesizer. Nobody could have predicted the group's burgeoning, worldwide success, but after even one listen to their fourth full-length, I Learned the Hard Way, it's hard to believe any other outcome. Lush arrangements (parping horns, slashing strings, ric-tic guitar and soaring winds) back Ms. Jones' timeless voice, sashaying through another watertight set of mid-tempo heartache and balladry with the perpetual insistence of this city's rhythm. On this go-round, the group steps back in time even further, recalling the decadence of Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach in the album's second half, and extending the authenticity back to the grand ballrooms that would host such acts in their time. If not Vegas, the sound of the Dap-Kings now includes Atlantic City, and they never miss a step or bungle a key change throughout. From marching band pipsqueakery to this, the real deal, the resurgence of quality studio talent and durable, heartfelt song craft, you can almost see these folks smiling ear to ear, every step of the way. May they continue to smolder. [DM] Order CD by Texting "omcdsharoni" to 767825

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   IKONIKA Contact, Love Want, Have (Hyperdub) "Ikonoklast" "Millie" Never content to tread water, Hyperdub has consistently pushed at the boundaries of the nascent dubstep sound; most of the label's releases have loosely focused on this young genre, and yet they always approach it from a fresh angle. Continuing that trend, the imprint now issues Contact, Love, Want, Have, the first full-length release from a British producer named Ikonika, successfully following up on the promise of her excellent string of 12"s and remixes for labels like Planet Mu and Warp. Those expecting Burial's emotive, rhythmic lope or King Midas Sound's red-eyed somnambulism dub are in for a surprise here, as Ikonika's work tends to hew more towards R'n'B, albeit a futuristic version of the style, in which 8-bit synths eke out space alongside cutting, off-kilter rhythms and squelching bass. Tracks like "Idiot" and "Fish" bounce along with an unkempt urgency, creating an almost neon dystopian tone that fits thematically with a lot of Ikonika's dubstep contemporaries without relying on the same aesthetic crutches. Collecting other stand-out tracks from her singles as well (like the driving bounce of "Millie" and the classic end-stage video game themes of yore-inspired "Sahara Michael"), Contact, Love, Want, Have is an understated but effective debut, sure to please those tracking Hyperdub all along, or anyone simply interested in seeing what the next stages of dubstep's evolution might bring. [MC] Order CD by Texting "omcdikonikacontact" to 767825

		$17.99 CD   RINSE 11 Mixed by Oneman (Rinse) Double Helix (LHF) / 96 Flavas (No More Games) A4C / Untitled Mambo (Boogaloo Crew Remix) Rinse's DJ mix series provides the best recorded documents available of the vast talents and varied sounds on the UK scene, and Volume 11 is further proof, featuring selections from this much-acclaimed South London DJ. Throughout this diverse yet fluid hour-long mix, Oneman shifts from dark and funky dubstep (Kode 9, Joker, Ramadanman), to new-school melodic tech-house (Joy Orbinson, Destro, Efdemin) and into grime (Breakage, Geeneus). There's also a nice underlying warm and bright pop feel happening via Martyn's glitchy dubstep-meets-post-punk remix of the UK band the Detachments, or the pairing of Ms. Dynamite with Geeneus, not to mention the dancehall 2-step fusion of Sticky with Marvin Brown. Every CD package in this series is printed with a quote from the DJ on the spine, Volume 11 reading: "A snapshot of exactly what I like." I have to concur; it's what I like too. [DG] Order CD by Texting "omcdonemanrinse" to 767825

		$7.99 CS   FENNESZ Szampler Cassette (Tapeworm) Listening to almost an hour of collected sampler bounce-downs might not sound like a particularly enjoyable experience, but then it really all depends on who's been tinkering with said samples, right? Emerging from the shadowy Tapeworm stable is this bumper package of off-cuts from the studio of one Christian Fennesz, a man who surely has enough fan drool to ensure this limited tape disappears into a dust-cloud within a matter of weeks. So yes, you DO have to have a cassette deck, but then the hipsters among you should be prepared regardless, as cassettes seem to be staging a comeback. In any case, the crumbly analogue format absolutely fits the release in this case -- and with the collection being positioned over a period between 1989 and 1996, it was probably fitted up with tape in mind in the first place. Maybe. It is more fascinating than you might think to get a window into Fennesz's working mode; there are tiny fragments of songs you might recognize from his early career laid bare in their proto-song forms. Parts of the early EPs and albums are almost discernable, albeit in slightly less hectically edited iterations. These snippets, however, are markedly less interesting than the examples that didn't make the grade; rhythms and drum machine patterns, textures and half-songs. The complexity of these vignettes make Szampler far more than simply a reward for fanboys like myself; indeed there are moments here that are actually 'playable'... who'd have thought? Recommended. [JT] Order Cassette by Texting "omcsfenneszszampler" to 767825

		Slave Riot $16.99 CD $9.99 MP3 Miles Away $16.99 CD $9.99 MP3   YOUNG JAZZ REBELS Slave Riot (Stones Throw) "Forces Unseen" "Nino's Deeds (Alt. Take)" LAST ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC SPACE JAZZ & PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Miles Away (Stones Throw) "Derf (For Derf Reklaw)" "Two Stories for Dwight (For Dwight Tribble)" Aside from the wealth of forward-looking hip-hop that Madlib has produced for our enjoyment and amazement, Otis Jackson Jr. is also becoming a master at looking back, and recreating the jazz atmospheres that have inspired him. A skilled drummer and percussionist with a family history in jazz, Jackson began his Yesterday's New Quintet project back in 2001 and since has released various full-lengths, tribute albums, EPs and singles from various "members" of the collective, going completely intergalactic on 2007's Yesterday's Universe compilation. That compilation marked the end of the first era of YNQ and welcomed the next phase with a new set of groups and names. The new material feels more accomplished, mature, and solid. What has long been and still is a mystery is how many of the credited personalities are in fact Madlib himself, and how many, if any, are other actual musicians. Regardless, during this slight pause in the release schedule for Madlib's jam-packed Medicine Show global musical tour series, he offers up two albums from new bands he's imagined as part of the YNQ lineage. Young Jazz Rebels' debut, Slave Riot, is a dark, bass-thumping, tribal experience, murky and dense with Brazilian percussion, drowning flutes, dissonant piano, reverbed cymbals, cosmic synths and much more. At times the echoes of Sun Ra inevitably come to mind, circa Atlantis or Lanquidity. The album displays the richness of a strand within deeply rooted African American musical ancestry in Madlib's most accomplished set of material yet. From the minimalist black power symbolism in the art, this feels like a modern exploration of the racial tension of the '60s, and Madlib conjures the spirits of artists like Max Roach, Phil Cohran and Khan Jamal, to great effect. Slave Riot captures not only look and feel, but moreover the sound, of labels like Black Jazz, Tribe and Impulse, complete with the sound of crackling vinyl throughout. The companion album in the Yesterday's New Quintet catalogue comes from the Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble -- an aptly named group if there ever was one. In opposition to the Young Jazz Rebels album, Miles Away is a bright and energetic excursion in dance floor jazz, built on rhythmic, splashy and playful drumming, more of a joyful noise than a riot. Nearly every songs is dedicated to a musician, giving some insight to the inspiration Madlib is channeling. From the play on a Miles Davis title for the album, he goes on to dedicate songs to Derf Reklaw, Horace Tapscott, Woody Shaw, Phil Ranelin, Roy Ayers, Dwight Trible, Pharaoh Sanders, Harry Whitaker, Larry Young, and John Coltrane. With dancing flutes, sitar, vibraphone, and groove-laced bass, this configuration feels more in line with the soulful, progressive, yet still spiritual labels like Milestones, Kudu, Muse, or '70s-era Blue Note. After working on this one for over two years, it feels like Madlib is taking more time in crafting and sculpting his sonic creations and what results is a rich, full, bigger and more bountiful offering. Call it feel-good jazz, if you will, 'cause it does feel good. Madlib continues to expand minds and open ears with nearly every release he touches and these two albums set new standards for what he is capable of when truly inspired. Both come recommended, preferably as a pair! [DG] Order Slave Riot CD by Texting "omcdmadlibslave" to 767825 Order Miles Away CD by Texting "omcdmadlibmiles" to 767825

		$31.99 CDx2   THE SLITS Cut - Deluxe Edition (Universal / Island) Island Records has been celebrating its 50th anniversary with an incredible selection of deluxe remastered editions of some of the label's most influential and innovative titles, the most recent of these being Cut, the debut album by UK all-girl dub punks, the Slits. This happens to be one of my favorite all-time records, and it has greatly shaped my personal tastes and approaches in both listening to and making music. Cut was, and remains, a revolution captured on tape. Released in 1979 amidst other groundbreaking classic records like PiL's Metal Box, the Pop Group's Y, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, and Wire's 154, Cut showed the astonishing evolution of the Slits from a scrappy street gang with piles of attitude but not much in the way of "chops," into a tight, light, grooving force to be reckoned with. Produced by the brilliant Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell, the group fully embraces the aesthetics of reggae and dub, with an emphasis on rhythm and bass rather than the riffs and snarl of many of their punk peers. According to the excellent liner notes in this edition, the group's motto while recording was "when in doubt, leave it out," and that's most evident upon listening to the treasure trove of bonus material, which includes both of the group's pre-Cut Peel Sessions featuring Palmolive on drums, who would later leave to form the Raincoats and start an entirely different revolution, girl style. Best of all, though, is Bovell's "monitor mix" of the record, which features the full album in sequence, but in alternate versions which emphasize many elements in the songs which were toned down or removed altogether in the final mix, and sound better than ever in this fresh remaster. The monitor mix pushes the "Mary Poppins gone punk" harmony vocals way up to the front, along with piano and guitar tracks which were either heavily cut up and dropped in the mix inna dub fashion, or left out altogether. There's a DJ toast version of "Spend Spend Spend," additional dub mixes of a few tunes, as well as all of the single b-sides, early demos, and a few instrumental takes. It's incredible, after all these years, how I listen to this record and it still all sounds so fresh and exciting. Thanks to the bonus material, the listener can hear just how much hard work and ingenuity went into crafting Cut. If you've never heard it before, you're in for a treat. If you're revisiting an old favorite, get ready for some fun. Kudos to Island for treating this album with the respect it deserves. To quote one of the record's best song titles, it's an "Instant Hit." [IQ] Order CD by Texting "omcdslitscut" to 767825

		$14.99 CD   MULATU ASTATKE Steps Ahead (Strut) "I Faram Gami I Faram" "Ethio Blues" Mulatu Astatke, the legendary and influential Amhara grand master of Ethio-Jazz, is back in multifarious black with new drop Mulatu Steps Ahead. Since coming to wider acclaim via the 2005 soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch's film Broken Flowers, vibraphonist Astatke has never been idle, supplying mile-high scores to his native land's airline and enjoying a range of distinguished fellowships at such august institutions as Harvard and MIT. While those residencies were about Afrofuturism, modernizing traditional Ethiopian instruments and producing new work, on Steps Ahead the player-arranger is not so much blazing sonic trails as seeming to refine a past giant step that occurred somewhere in the early 1960s. Those whose ears perk to the myriad infinite fusions of Africana and European styles most arrestingly explored in the under-sung oeuvre of postwar Afro-jazz pioneer Kofi Ghanaba will recognize the rich moment from which much of this album's themes spring, especially on the back-to-back Afro-Latin compositions that anchor the well of the disc: "I Faram Gami I Faram" and "Mulatu's Mood." Blackness in several aural forms is the very meat of this release, and a particular pocket of what followed free jazz and its varying degrees of pan-Africanism that once proved so influential to these developing ears -- Donald Byrd's Ethiopian Knights -- appears to be rejoined in giddy dialogue on the disc's standout, "Green Africa," a perfect remix of sounds linking the world's most ancient highland civilization and the audacity of late modern hope. [KCH] Order CD by Texting "omcdmulatusteps" to 767825

		$22.99 CDx2 $17.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTISTS African Pearls: Congo - Pont Sur Le Congo (Syllart Productions) "Soki Vangu" - Zamba "Nakoko" - Franklin  Boukaka The African Pearls compilation series has been a rock-solid addition to the ever-expanding universe of Afro reissues, and it's wonderful to hear them just get better with each successive release. This newest entry in the region-specific series focuses its sights once again on the Congo; picking up where their last Congolese entry (Congo 70: Rumba Rock) left off, Pont Sur Le Congo features a hearty mix of well-known heavyweights (Franco & OK Jazz, Tabu Ley, Docteur Nico & African Fiesta, Verckys) with some lesser known but equally talented bands (Zaiko Langa Langa, Trio Madjesi, Dewayon, and many more) with a vibe that's a tad more energetic than most Congo rumba recordings. The record retains that sun-soaked shimmer that these guitar-heavy bands do so well, yet there's also a larger spread of horns weaving through the grooves here, giving the tunes a bit of extra kick. Highlights include anything and everything by Verckys, the tight snap of Empire Bakuba's "Kanu," Franklin Boukaka's piano-led groovy ballad "Nakoko," Docteur Nico's "Canchita" (which sounds as though it were made of pure liquid), and best of all, Trio Madjesi's epic "Photo Ya Majesi." Spring is finally here, and this is the perfect sort of tough yet easy groove to get you going. Time for the magic words, folks: AFRO JAM OF THE WEEK! [IQ] Order CD by Texting "omcdafricancongo" to 767825

		$14.99 CDx2 $14.99 CDx2 $14.99 CDx2   GALAXIE 500 Today / Uncollected (20|20|20) GALAXIE 500 On Fire / Peel Sessions (20|20|20) GALAXIE 500 This Is Our Music / Copenhagen (20|20|20) With each passing year it becomes more and more obvious what a treasure Galaxie 500 was. Formed by three high school friends in the mid 1980s, they went on to blaze a trail that laid the groundwork for modern indie rock as we know it. One of their biggest strengths seems to be that they set out with the intention of becoming artists, not rock stars, and their songs are brimming with the restrained confidence of people who know what they want and how to get it. The pace is always easygoing, and many songs go on far longer than most other bands would have dared, which works in their favor as their persistence gives each song just a little more time to set up shop in your brain. Consensus seems to rate On Fire as the band's high water mark, maybe because that was the first one that most of their initial wave of fans heard, but really I can't pick a favorite and can honestly say that if you enjoy one then there's just as much to enjoy by getting the others. When you factor in that each disc is now coupled with the previously stand alone (and quite worthwhile) Uncollected, Peel Sesssions and Copenhagen releases, the new packages are, like the band's music, simple yet complete. Also, with excellent liner notes by Byron Coley these new editions are a boon for anyone just getting into the band or for folks looking to upgrade, and especially those who may not have taken the plunge yet. [DMa] Order Today CD by Texting "omcdgalaxietoday" to 767825 Order On Fire CD by Texting "omcdgalaxieon" to 767825 Order This Is Our Music CD by Texting "omcdgalaxiethis" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $15.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3   HARLEM Hippies (Matador) "Someday Soon" "Three Legged Dog" Harlem are three kids who moved to Austin to pursue the dream, and from the sound of their second album (and Matador debut) Hippies, they have found it. The band writes great two-minute rock songs with big hooks, and wear the scars of puberty like badges. Fans of modern power pop/garage/Technicolor groups like Cheap Time and the Fresh and Onlys will get this, but the guys in Harlem have arrived, where those other bands keep shifting in their chairs. Harlem has the spirit of early Redd Kross on their side, ricocheting between grunge cannonball anthems and sweeter, starry-eyed Ramones-like paeans to young love/lust. At sixteen tracks, this thing doesn't zip by, but there are very few bands of their caliber who can keep up the excitement across so many songs. There's no dip in quality, and no chance to catch your breath before Harlem steamrolls you with another heater. What a great, summery record. [DM] Order CD by Texting "omcdharlemhippies" to 767825 Order LP by Texting "omlpharlemhippies" to 767825

		$15.99 CD   THE PASTELS Up for a Bit with the Pastels (Fire) "Up for a Bit" "Get 'Round Town" What to say about the Pastels? One of my favorite bands of all time without a doubt, the Pastels were the original slackers and the ultimate rejection of music biz professionalism. While never following any standards of how a band should operate, they've still managed to exert a marked influence on the international pop underground of the last 25-plus years. Mainstay and default leader Stephen Pastel was an indie tastemaker before "indie" meant anything (wait, what does it mean again?), running a record shop in Glasgow and helping to bring the music of Jesus & Mary Chain, Shop Assistants, and the Vaselines into the world via his record label. In a scene known for downplaying musicianship, the Pastels took technical naivete to a new level. But they also created some of the most beautiful, genuinely moving pop music ever in the process. What really separated the Pastels from every other C-86/twee/jangle-slop group though was Stephen Pastel's low, mumbling vocal delivery, acting as the perfect reflection to the music's shambling pop mess. It sounded like it took everything he had to get out of bed and into the studio to deliver a music industry roast like "See them pass by yesterday -- spit on your old photograph, look away" with the utmost exhaustion. It was as if hippie-burnout Neil from The Young Ones had started an indie-pop band just so he could call out other bands/scenesters in his lethargic drawl. Up for a Bit with the Pastels contains some of the group's all-time classic jams, and might just be my favorite album of theirs as a whole (but Mobile Safari is up there too). Of all the bands that came out of the Glasgow pop scene in the '80s, they most closely resembled the Vaselines at this point (Eugene Kelly actually joined the band for the follow-up, Sittin' Pretty), and anyone who enjoyed Sub Pop's recent retrospective of that band owes it to themselves to pick this up. Fire's reissue doesn't add anything extra (knowing this band's work ethic, there probably wasn't any) but it seems churlish to gripe when the album itself offers more than it's share of memorable moments ("Address Book" and "Crawl Babies" are definitely going on my Pastels greatest hits comp. -- cassette-only, look for it). Backslaps to Fire for the roll they've been on this year: Spacemen 3, Television Personalities, Teenage Fanclub, and now this gem from the Pastels. [JTr] Order CD by Texting "omcdpastelsup" to 767825

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   TELEVISION PERSONALITIES The Painted Word (Fire) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Painted Word is going to come as a bit of a surprise to some of you. While Dan Treacy is mostly revered for his whimsical, upbeat mod pop, this, Television Personalities' fourth album from 1985, is something entirely different. It's an incredibly powerful record; claustrophobic, dark, and emotionally raw, Painted Word delves deep into Treacy's increasingly troubled mind, with stories of addiction, war, and the quest for love and a place to belong. On "Stop and Smell the Roses," he tells himself to do just that, but he is inevitably unable to, which sets the tone for the rest of the way. Name-checking the George Cukor film (it wouldn't be a TVP's record without a few pop culture references), "A Life of Her Own" tells a stark kitchen sink tale of an unhappily married woman who escapes her daily struggles by disappearing into a pill-induced fog, and on the self-explanatory "Someone to Share My Life With," Treacy offers up glimmer a hope as he seems to have found his companion, but the song ends with the sound of a car crash. Perhaps most powerful of all, "A Sense of Belonging" tells a bleak, Ken Loach-like story of Thatcher's England, and the working classes' endless search for purpose, community and some place to fit in. And it has to be said that while technical proficiency never played a large part in the world of Television Personalities, the band sounds great and surprisingly together here, creating a sound that owes and pays homage to UK psychedelia and the melancholic side of the Velvets, with the obligatory burst of Kinks/Jam-inspired pop as well. There are few records that strike such a nerve with me, and Painted Word is forever filed next to Sister Lovers and Bryter Layter. [AK] Order CD by Texting "omcdtelevisionpainted" to 767825

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   NICE NICE Extra Wow (Warp) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Though the duo Nice Nice (Jason Buehler and Mark Shirazi) have been banging out the jams for years in their hometown of Portland, Oregon, their debut for Warp finds their sonic-blender aesthetic reaching further than ever. As Extra Wow kicks in, the frenetic, at times abrasive, and overall dissonant grooves come blasting out of the speakers. Finding some connection to the rumbling electronic/noise/post-everything bands of Brooklyn like Gang Gang Dance, Aa, or pre-Sung Tungs Animal Collective, we are greeted by a crunchy and primitive fusion of voice, guitar, bass, samples, and synthesizer, fused together in a wall of sound. It's a sonic rollercoaster ride through distorted beats, muffled vocals, and abrasive textures, yet Nice Nice always maintain a hint of playfulness within the aggro. Terror and joy, danceable and disorienting, they mix fever-ridden punk aesthetics with Krautrock's extended lock grooves. I saw Nice Nice years ago in their hometown and still remember the pleasant uneasiness of that experience; two guys making a lot of noise, but in a strangely engaging way. I'm still not able to put my finger on what exactly they did that transfixed me so, yet it still resonates here -- I guess they had the same effect on the peeps at Warp. This album continues in that confusion; it's not for everyone, but good stuff. [DG] Order CD by Texting "omcdniceextra" to 767825

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   JAVELIN No Mas (Luaka Bop) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store This Brooklyn-based duo drop their Luaka Bop debut, here relying a little less heavily on their sampler than on their earlier demos collection and singles, and instead the two cousins actually recreate -- as in perform and then edit -- many of the snippets "lifted" from imaginary dustbin 45s. It's a fun, diverse outing filled with lots of playground funk, breezy psychedelia, electro-pop and soul. Imagine a laidback Go! Team (all the '70/'80s TV kid show theme nostalgia minus the sugar rush) meeting the Avalanches' cinematic, Vaseline-smeared lens productions, and you're halfway there. Order CD by Texting "omcdjavelinno" to 767825

		$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3   TUNNG ...And Then We Saw Land (Thrill Jockey) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Having completely shed the folktronica tag of their earliest records, England's Tunng really hone in on their songcraft here, these 11 tracks placing greater emphasis on melody over atmosphere. Great male/female harmonies float over richly textured arrangements that pull from a wide array of influences, from British folk to bits of modern classical, post-rock and subtle electronic accents. Order CD by Texting "omcdtunngand" to 767825

		$14.99 CD   METH, GHOST AND RAE Wu-Massacre (Def Jam) Tight (and filler-free at 40 minutes), tough (living up to its hardcore imagery and marketing) and solid from end to end, this sample-driven, horn-heavy workout from the Wu warriors is, against odds, as good or better than you might have hoped. Order CD by Texting "omcdmethwu" to 767825

		$14.99 CD   COBBLESTONE JAZZ Modern Deep Left Quartet (K7) This Canadian trio has morphed into a quartet with the addition of Colin "the Mole" de la Piante, and their subtle jazzy bossa nova house grooves and ghost-computer pop vocalizations are more hypnotic and intriguing that ever before. Order CD by Texting "omcdcobblestonemodern" to 767825

		$17.99 CD $21.99 LP+ MP3 $6.99 MP3   ROBERT LESTER FOLSOM Music and Dreams (Mexican Summer / Yoga) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Recorded in '76, this private press LP came to be after Robert Lester Folsom went into a studio in Atlanta to record a demo for one song. The producer was so impressed with Folsom's tune that he encouraged him to come back and record more tracks, which resulted in Music and Dreams. Stylistically, it's straight outta the mellow gold school of '70s folk rock. CS&N, Todd Rundgren and Steve Miller are all good references, but there's also a mysterious vibe to the tunes (a la Merrell Fankhauser) and a healthy dose of yacht rock thrown in as well. Highlights include the lovely title track and the earnest ballad "Please Don't Forget Me." There's a lot of stylistic variety here, including a couple of jazzy instrumentals and a full on blast of Tom Petty-esque power pop ("Blues Stay Away"). All in all, Music and Dreams is a pretty solid and lovely album that'll appeal to fans of the aforementioned. It ain't avant/savant rock by any means, it's simply a great record that is "outside" simply by default...and that's just fine with us. [DH] Order CD by Texting "omcdrobertmusic" to 767825 Order LP by Texting "omcdrobertmusic" to 767825

		$19.99 LPx2 $15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   GONJASUFI A Sufi and a Killer (Warp) "Made" "She Gone" Wow. Newest Warp signing Gonjasufi has managed, with the help of co-producers Gaslamp Killer and Flying Lotus, to create one of the most dense, dizzying, funky, and straight-up impressive debut albums in recent memory from any genre. Hatched from the same dusted, dirty beat scene as Killer and Lotus, Gonjasufi's style serves as a fulcrum between the two extremes of his co-producers; his cracked, parched soul singing comes off somewhere between Jamie Lidell and Tom Waits, and his voice helps reign in the at times excessive bombast of Gaslamp Killer's sample deluge, while emphasizing the grit and raw energy of Lotus's more laidback tracks. He wanders through a kaleidoscopic wonderland like Kane from Kung Fu, a vagabond searching for an oasis in a sun-scorched environment where small sounds grow massive and disorienting in the heat, choirs of Bollywood playback singers serenade him into dreamlike states of lament, and he goes face to face with bustling armies of Middle Eastern psych warriors (is that an Erkin Koray sample I hear early into the album!?), at one point even stating in highlight "Kowboys & Indians," "I'll turn your John Wayne into another John Doe" (nice). Fans of the Finders Keepers label, and their particular brand of funky outre psychedelic orchestration will find just as much to love here as converted fans of Flying Lotus, Gaslamp Killer, and the rest of their already impressive rogues' gallery of beatsmiths. I'm most impressed by how well their productions translate into a full 20 tracks of vocal black magic; the album plays out like a battle between dissonance and melody, noise versus groove, dream versus reality. In the end, no one comes out alive -- they all just follow Sufi through the looking glass and float away like smoke from the Caterpillar's hookah pipe, and you're left wondering if you've followed them as well. This is not only one of the best records that either Killer or Lotus has touched, but also one of the best things Warp has released in years, and one of the most unique and satisfying records of the year. [IQ] Order CD by Texting "omcdgonjasufia" to 767825 Order LP by Texting "omlpgonjasufia" 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 [MC] Michael Crumsho [DG] Daniel Givens [DH] Duane Harriott [KCH] Kandia Crazy Horse [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [AK] Andreas Knutsen [JM] Josh Madell [DMa] Dave Martin [DM] Doug Mosurock [JT] John Twells [JTr] Jonathan Treneff THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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