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   July 8, 2010  
       
   
     
 
 
PRE-ORDERS
M.I.A. (July 13 Release)
Arcade Fire (August 3 Release)

FEATURED NEW RELEASES
Robert Hood
Philip Cohran
Segun Bucknor
Deux
Todd Terje
Ensemble Economique
Les Rallizes Denudes
Los Saicos
Touch and Go Zine (Book)
Allez-Allez
O.V. Wright
Big Boi
Von Haze
 
Milky Disco Vol. 3
A.R.E. Weapons
Noun

ALSO AVAILABLE
Tiefschwarz
Shindig! Magazine
Bustin' Out: New Wave to New Beat



All of this week's new arrivals.

Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc
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JUL Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10




  STRUT/OTHER MUSIC 2010 WORLD CUP PARTY
We hope you can join us this Saturday, July 10 at 200 Orchard, where we'll be hanging with the Strut Records crew to watch the second to last match of the 2010 World Cup. Guest DJs will be playing music before and after the game, as well as during the half, not to mention lots of Strut giveaways, drink specials and more!

SATURDAY, JULY 10
200 ORCHARD: 200 Orchard Street L.E.S. NYC
2PM until...? | No Cover


 
   
   
 
 
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  Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 16 Sat 17




Jeremy Greenspan





Alex from Tokyo




  WIN TICKETS TO MISTER SATURDAY NIGHT & SUNDAY BEST
We've got two pairs of tickets to give away to each of the weekend's best parties. First up, Mister Saturday Night returns from the great outdoors back underground to the wonderful 12-turn-13 loft in Clinton Hill, where residents Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin will be welcoming Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys as guest selector. This isn't just a celebrity set from a band you love, though. Jeremy is a bona fide disc jockey, having released a top-notch mix CD on Get Physical a couple years back, and spending plenty of time around the world mixing records. Beers will be on the house for the first hour of the evening. To enter to win two guest spots, email giveaway@othermusic.com.

The next day, residents Justin, Eamon and Doug Singer will be hosting their weekly Sunday Best party with special guest Alex from Tokyo (who's actually based in NYC), making a rare Stateside appearance serving up his specialty, a lush, melodic set of deep house, at the new home of Sunday Best, the charming outdoor space of Brooklyn Fire Proof in Bushwick. Enter to win a pair of tickets to this one by emailing tickets@othermusic.com. We'll notify the winners for both of these parties on Friday afternoon.

MISTER SATURDAY NIGHT W/ JEREMY GREENSPAN OF JUNIOR BOYS
SATURDAY, JULY 10
12-TURN-13: 172 Classon Ave, Brooklyn
10PM - Late | Price $10 in advance at residentadvisor.net/mistersaturdaynight
$15 before midnight with RSVP, $20 at door

SUNDAY BEST W/ ALEX FROM TOKYO
SUNDAY, JULY 11
BROOKLYN FIRE PROOF: 119 Ingraham Street, Brooklyn
$12 at the door, $8 in advance at residentadvisor.net/sundaybest
or $8 before 4pm with RSVP: rsvp@sundaybestnyc.com
 
   
   
 
 
JUL Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 16 Sat 17
JUL Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24


Zola Jesus

  UPCOMING OTHER MUSIC IN-STORE PERFORMANCES
ZOLA JESUS: MONDAY, JULY 12 @ 8PM
Zola Jesus will be playing live Other Music, probably the most intimate performance in a summer tour that will take her and her band through the United States sharing the stage with groups like Wolf Parade and the xx as well as several European dates with Fever Ray. Don't miss this one!!

DYLAN LEBLANC: TUESDAY, JULY 20 @ 8PM
When Dylan LeBlanc performed on the acoustic stage at the Other Music/Dig For Fire SXSW Lawn Party this year, all we really knew about him was that Geoff Travis had signed the 20-year-old Louisiana native to Rough Trade -- that was enough for us to book him. LeBlanc was probably the biggest, best surprise of the weekend, a mesmerizing singer/songwriter whose forthcoming debut album (due out 8/24) is excellent, and will undoubtedly launch him onto a much bigger stage. See him here first!

Both Shows are Free Admission & Limited Capacity

 
   
       
   

 

 

     
    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.
 
         
   
   
   
   
   
       
   

 

 

     
 
M.I.A Pre-order
On Sale
$9.99
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Arcade Fire
Pre-order
On Sale
$11.99
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  M.I.A.
/\/\/\Y/\
(Interscope)


ARCADE FIRE
The Suburbs
(Merge)

We're taking pre-orders for two of the summer's most anticipated releases. First up, M.I.A.'s third album /\/\ /\ Y /\ (the cryptic characters spell out her first name, Maya) comes out next Tuesday, July 13. Reserve your copy now and get it for the low price of $9.99. The following month Montreal's Arcade Fire unveil their long-awaited follow-up to 2007's Neon Bible, with The Suburbs hitting store shelves on Tuesday, August 3, on sale for $11.99.

Each pre-order will be shipped to arrive at your door on or near the album's release date. Customers who pre-order both will be charged for separate deliveries unless requested to ship both releases together, in which case we'll mail M.I.A. with the Arcade Fire CD, the two discs arriving at your door on or near August 3. Shipping and handling charge for domestic packages in the US begins at $2, and international orders start at $4. Questions: email orders@othermusic.com.

Pre-order M.I.A. CD by Texting "omcdmiamaya" to 767825
Pre-order Arcade Fire CD by Texting "omcdarcadesuburbs" to 767825
 
         
   
       
   

 

 

     
 

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  ROBERT HOOD
Omega
(M-Plant)

"Towns That Disappeared Completely"
"The Family Watches"

Minimal techno originator and creator of seminal albums like Minimal Nation and Internal Empire, Robert Hood returns with Omega, and again stakes his claim as one of the best and most forward-thinking producers in the genre. While so many of today's limelight-occupying producers are (rightfully) looking back to classic Detroit and Chicago for inspiration, one of the originals is here to show all of us how it's really done with an incredibly surprising level of grace and poise. In true form, Hood utilizes his signature M.O.: the time-honored Detroit techno method of peering from the city's urban decay and looking towards an imaginary future. Here, he also adds some inspiration from the post-apocalyptic, sci-fi horror classic, Omega Man -- which proves to be a nice contrast to the art-house leanings of Jeff Mills' use of Metropolis. Rumor has it Omega Man is a childhood favorite of Hood's and judging from the utterly sophisticated intensity of this album, it really shows.

You can always count on great things from Rob Hood, but I have to say it would have been too much to expect an album this good so far into any techno producer's career. After the first two stark, eerie mood-setting pieces, Omega kicks into "Towns That Disappeared Completely." This is the first taste of what Hood demonstrates throughout the record: his ability to overwhelm with both exceptionally thoughtful and inherently funky compositional ideas. His tracks have reached a new level of sonic intricacy that builds in unexpected ways but without being cluttered, tricky or in a hurry to get anywhere. Expectations are destroyed over and over again as Hood deftly shifts the tracks' momentum, with surprising changes and bonus layers of sound that would become a mess in a lesser producer's hands. Imagine Green Velvet collaborating with Sahko-era Vaino -- to be specific, I hear the inviting, jacking intensity of the former ("The War in the Streets") and the precise, sci-fi minimal frequencies of the latter ("The Family Watches"). Now add the poppy stomp of Reinhard Voigt ("Alpha"), the edgy drive of Dettman and Ost Gut Ton, the chopped and screwed techno of Brinkmann, the handmade composition of Redshape, the laidback ease of Villalobos ("Workers of Iniquity")... there is just so much good stuff going on here! I feel like he's been listening to all these guys and more and finally just said, "Alright, I got that."

Is it Hood's passion for the music, the film, or a desire to just destroy all in his path? The music here displays a delicate balance of classic Robert Hood relentlessness with a new level of sophistication and finesse. These tracks are not just 'tracks' either; they just keep on giving and giving with sound/texture/dynamics that leave you guessing what's coming next. (Over and over my mind reaches for the term 'maximal techno' instead of 'minimal techno'.) As usual, Hood injects a rare amount human-ness, i.e. 'soul' -- it's the man running the machines and not the other way around. I could go on... 9.9 out of 10. (I'd say 10, but you then you wouldn't believe me.) I love this record and it's at the top of my list for best techno albums of the year so far. Thank you Robert Hood! [SM]

Order CD by Texting "omcdrobertomega" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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  PHILIP COHRAN
Armaggedon
(Katalyst)

"Creation of the Beast"
"The Window"

Archival release of a blistering ensemble session, live in Chicago at Cohran's own Afro Arts Theater circa 1968. Phil Cohran was an early member of Sun Ra's Arkestra, but quickly decided to pursue his own intellectual interests as a bandleader, introducing his theories of the harmony of all matter, or what he has dubbed, "sphereology." The conceptual arc of his compositions, by nature of their grand focus, gives Cohran's music a verisimilitude not often found in other spiritual jazz artists, who can tend toward the forced and costumey. Cohran's works are malleable and fluid, harmonic lines searching for their corners in each sphere that the band's interplay creates. There is almost always some kind of drone in Cohran's work, whether vocal, bass or brass, and nowhere is this more evident than on this performance's centerpiece, "The Window." With a haunting and hypnotic rhythm kept throughout the track's 11-plus minutes on the amplified kalimba (or in Cohran-speak, the Frankiphone), instruments gradually appear and descend, doubling back on themselves in ebbing harmonic conjunctions. "Creation of the Beast" and "The Warning" play out ominously, as if calling an audience to action, surely aided by the energies in the room, full of sympathetic supporters. The track "Armageddon" is the show's most fiery moment, with some scathing LeRoi Jones-esque Afro-centric incantations laid over machinegun drums and Morse code bass patterns, giving way to a majestic convalescence that is a tenet of Cohran's work to this day. With each of these Cohran releases, we get another window into a truly unique creative American spirit, and one who is long overdue to take his place among the countercultural jazz legends of the 60s. [SG]

Order CD by Texting "omcdphilarmageddon" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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  SEGUN BUCKNOR
Who Say I Tire
(Vampi-Soul)

"Only in My Sleep"
"Ayinde Ogo"

Though he's popped up on a couple of compilations in the past few years as the push to anthologize all things Nigerian has reached fever pitch, relatively little attention has still been paid to singer and songwriter Segun Bucknor. A contemporary of Fela Kuti as he was formulating the first strains of what would become his Afrobeat sound, Bucknor's sound and style undoubtedly owe an important debt to that giant of a man; all the same, it was the time Bucknor spent as a student in America that had the most significant impact on his music when he returned to his native Nigeria. As much as he reveled in hard-charging funk, Bucknor was obviously infected by the strains of American soul music that were on the rise in the 1960s, a sound that he would incorporate into his own music once he started gigging around with bands like the Revolution and the Assembly back home.

With an earlier collection of Bucknor's music from the Strut label now long out of print, Who Say I Tire shines a light once more on his activities from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. Ranging from obvious attempts at pop hits to reflections on the (then-) troubled times in which he lived and salutes to his home country, the sixteen tracks scattered across these two discs display a marked diversity. Songs like "Love and Affection" "La La La" (more so the so-called "Hard Version"), and "Dye Dye" are immediately anthemic, uniting strong rhythms with stabbing horns to make for some of Bucknor's more succinct and immediate pieces, tracks that could have easily lit up floors during their heyday (not to mention today). Elsewhere, he goes deeper, reflecting on Nigerian unrest in "Son of January 15th," while "Ayinde Ogo" sports a low-slung groove and chants in his native tongue. Almost always stripped down to just the essentials needed to let his passionate, oft-searing voice ring out loud and clear, the music collected here will hopefully bring Segun Bucknor a little bit of the acclaim being handed out to so many of his once-contemporaries these days. [MC]

Order CD by Texting "omcdsegunwho" to 767825
 
         
   
   
   
   

 

 

     
 

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  DEUX
Decadence
(Minimal Wave)

Another great find from Minimal Wave, this one a blend of studio and demo tracks (made after meeting in 1981) from synthwave/pop duo Deux, entitled Decadence. Surprisingly, the excellent reissue label (with the occasional new artist) is maintaining their quality while also pushing a healthy bit of diversity, and this record bears the honorable title of Minimal Wave's most warm and inviting release to date.

Deux's style can be hard to pin down; theirs is a rare combination of Kraftwerk precision (ranging from their upbeat pop to the more dramatic sounds) and a coldwave coolness flavored by the vibe of French songwriters like Serge Gainsbourg and Francoise Hardy (with the expected omission of any annoying, overtly '60s sounds). There is at times a basic similarity to Stereo Total (listen to "Paris Orly") as well as Gina X, but the comparison only goes so far, as Deux are utterly elegant and cool. They never allow their songs to go into the hyper, spazzy new wave pogo cliché zone. "Dance With Me" is a perfect example of a Kraftwerk/Serge collaboration. "La Camion" comes across like a Francoise Hardy/Gainsbourg duet for some lost film's end credits. "Sex and Trouble" almost sounds like a French take on the darker side of Altered Images (no squeaking voices here though).

Aside from these, the best final comparison I can make is to fellow Minimal Wavers, Linear Movement. There is just something about a male/female duo that can writes such varied, elegant songs, as sultry and sexy as they are cool and laid back. It's also worth pointing out that though these are synthpop songs that are completely authentic and of the time, the band are not nearly as obsessed with over-arching dramatic synth and bleepy robot pop as was typical. While many of their peers could be accused of being drenched in stylization, Deux manage to infuse the qualities of their genre with a rare degree of intimacy. For mature audiences only perhaps? Recommended! [SM]

Order LP by Texting "omlpdeuxdecadence" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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  TODD TERJE
Remaster of the Universe
(Permanent Vacation)

Reverso 68 - Piece Together (Todd Terje Remix #2)
Antena - Camino Del Sol (Todd Terje Remix)

While his Norwegian brethren Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas have gotten a head start on him, "Todd" Terje Olsen, who also goes by various nom de plume, including "Chuck Norris" and "Wade Nichols" (which is a shout out to porn star turned disco one-hit wonder Dennis Parker), has caught up with this two-disc set. His deft disco edits of Chic, Michael Jackson, and Paul Simon got Terje loads of play from DJs around the world, and Remaster of the Universe highlights the barely-legal side of the man's body of work. Drawing from a massive back catalog of remixes, this first disc weaves together Terje's reworkings of everybody from Jose Gonzalez to Chaz Jankel, from Studio to M's "Pop Muzik." The second disc culls his more hard to track down work for Antena, Lindstrøm, and Shit Robot. As the premiere name in hot Balearic beats, this is a perfect mix CD set for the summer heat already upon us. Recommended. [AB]

Order CD by Texting "omcdtoddremaster" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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$9.99 MP3

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  ENSEMBLE ECONOMIQUE
Standing Still, Facing Forward
(Amish)

Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store

I must admit this album came as something of a surprise to me. Being a fan and follower of Starving Weirdos, a Brian Pyle side-project is always of interest, but I definitely had pre-conceptions about its sound. I figured something dark, a little noisy, maybe improvised, and I don't think any of that is out of the question given Pyle's recording history. Well, Standing Still, Facing Forward is definitely dark, but that's where comparisons to his previous work fall away. The Ensemble Economique project is, as the name may suggest, a place for Pyle to exorcise his 'post classical' demons, but where many of his contemporaries set their sights on the 'beautiful' and 'ethereal,' Pyle plumbs the depths of chaos and terror. These are post-modern soundtracks to a lost Hungarian torture movie (which may or may not have been animated). These are epic sequences from an undiscovered Communist opera, filled with the pain and torment of hundreds of lost souls. I'm not certain how Pyle works and if it's with samples or with instruments, but the result is so arresting that it hardly matters. Fans of Jacaszek's incredible Treny will no doubt get a real kick out of the haunted, gothic orchestrals of Standing Still, Facing Forward, just don't play it too late at night -- you never know what perils the moon might bring. [JT]

Order LP by Texting "omlpensemblestanding" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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$17.99
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  LES RALLIZES DENUDES
Heavier Than a Death in the Family
(Phoenix)

"Night of the Assassins"
"Ice Fire"


LES RALLIZES DENUDES
Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes
(Phoenix)

"Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes"
"An Aweful Eternitie"

This review is both easy and difficult for me to complete, as I'm privileged to be writing up one of my all-time faves, Les Rallizes Denudes. This music has until now only been available on bootlegged CD-Rs, but finally these two albums get a proper CD reissue on the Phoenix imprint. Monumentally important, ahead-of-its-time music from the '70s post-Group Sounds/Futen scene of Japan, Les Rallizes' vibe has infected countless artists including Fushitsusha/Keiji Haino, as well as Kousokuya and LSD March -- really, pretty much any black-clad, long-haired Japanese band making harrowing, overdriven bliss-out sounds owes it to LRD. I always like to describe the group as a much more evil, nihilistic, bad-trip version of Exploding Plastic Inevitable V.U. meets Psychocandy-era JAMC, complete with that screaming wall of jet-engine guitar. Les Rallizes Denudes also have a way of throwing a bit of doo-wop into the mix, which allows listeners to put their guard down long enough for the band to then explode in their faces like a glass-filled I.E.D.

While there are a number of great records in the LRD catalogue, Heavier Than a Death in the Family and Blind Baby Has Its Mother's Eyes are surely among the best to start with. And you've got to agree, these are two of the coolest record titles of the '70s, maybe ever. I won't go into a blow-by-blow description for each album, but suffice to say that if you're into the idea of plaintive, ghostly, ethereal doo-wop arching and lurching into beautifully anguished, skin-melting sheets of distorted guitar that bring forth curiously appealing images of Godzilla tearing down skyscrapers in slow motion, then this is for you.

Heavier Than... has the essential "Strong Out Deeper Than the Night," "Enter the Mirror" and "Night Collectors" as well as the decidedly more rocked-out and thunderous "People Can Choose" and the screaming, white-hot blizzard of "Ice Fire." The later album of the two, Blind Baby... features the mildly Arabesque "An Aweful Eternitie" and a somewhat more urgent, quicker-than-normal version of the dinosaur dirge, "The Last One," while the title track is a 19-minute epic of especially phased-out, UFO-effected guitar -- for Les Rallizes' headman Mizutani at least. The album also quickly cuts to some folksier and otherwise dissimilar Les Rallizes moments but then jumps back before you know it. (So don't cry "defective CD" my friends. Simply chalk it up to being "Psych-a-Derrick!") Excellent, essential stuff for fans of ultimate blissed-out distortion from the likes of classic bands like Parsons Sound, Spacemen 3, Jesus & Mary Chain, Loop and Godflesh to more current groups like Wooden Shijps, Black Tambourine, Dead Meadow, Bardo Pond, etc., and so on ad infinitum. [SM]

Order Heavier Than CD by Texting "omcdlesheavier" to 767825
Order Blind Baby CD by Texting "omcdlesblind" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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  LOS SAICOS
Demolicion
(Munster)

I've got a great friend who has hipped me to a countless number of great records over the years. A few years back, when he asked me if I'd ever heard the Saicos and I said no, he got this amazing, far away look in his eyes and said, "Oh man, you gotta get it right away." And really I could tell, more from the look than his words, that this was a bit more than a pretty good record; this was something special. When the needle touched down on "Demolicion," all of that was confirmed and more. Simply put, it is one of the most insane '60s punk songs of all time and if you've never heard it before, it will stop you in your tracks and implant its amazing refrain of "tatatata tatatata yayayaya" in your brain for days to come.

Formed in 1964 in Lima, Peru, Los Saicos recorded and released enough material for six singles, all of which are included here along with unreleased, alternate mixes of two songs. And while there is no doubting that "Demolicion" is the star of the show, that's not to say that the rest of the material is lacking. Cool fuzz-rockers and brooding ballads all delivered with gravel-throated authority, packaged with a 40-page booklet, with detailed notes in both English and Spanish, and a bunch of unseen photos, plus a free download card. Essential stuff: I'm giving you "that look."

Order CD by Texting "omcdlosdemolicion" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

$29.95
BK

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  TOUCH AND GO ZINE
The Complete Hardcore and Punk Zine '79-'83
(Bazillion Points)

You all know the Touch & Go label as one of the cornerstones of the underground rock scene; the now-defunct imprint helped usher in the post-punk, post-hardcore sound of American indie music in the '80s and '90s (and beyond), with such essential bands as the Butthole Surfers, Big Black, the Jesus Lizard and Slint, up through the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio. What you may not remember is the fanzine of the same name that founders Tesco Vee (of the Meatmen) and Dave Stimson launched in East Lansing, Michigan, just prior to starting the label with longtime head Corey Rusk. As one of the first 'zines to spring up around the young American hardcore/punk scene, and guided by Vee's irreverent yet deeply passionate style, Touch and Go: The Complete Hardcore and Punk Zine '79-'83 collects all 22 issues, with amazing interviews, gig reports, record reviews, photos, flyers, and much more from bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, the Misfits, Negative Approach, the Fix, the Avengers, the Necros, Discharge, Iron Cross, Youth Brigade, Faith, Die Kreuzen, Crucifix, Poison Idea, the Minutemen, JFA, 7 Seconds, Bad Religion, and so much more. This is the real D.I.Y., this is American punk rock seen from the trenches. Truly essential reading! [JM]

Order Book by Texting "ombktouchcomplete" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

$8.99
12"

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  ALLEZ-ALLEZ
Hideous Racket EP
(RVNG)

"Hideous Racket"
"Seven Down Six Across"

A really nice EP that took me by surprise with its ear-catching melodies and textural/stylistic variety. Four really good, utterly playable tracks, starting with the Italo disco meets New Order of the title cut; we're not talking about another tired stepchild of "Bizarre Love Triangle" either. They take the chime-y synth-pop side of Technique, or OMD inflected with some Italo synth bells and trumpet melodies, and it works, trust me! Next up is my personal fave, as emotively deep acid meets "Groove la Chord" tech house in "Seven Down Six Across." The flip offers the plodding, slightly C-64 electro disco track "Weird Science" and the cloud-city Vangelis vibe of "Slump" (another fave). Nice stuff here folks. Limited to 550, and I already bought one -- go grab one of the remaining 549! Bonus points for fun interactive sleeve design. [SM]

Order LP by Texting "omlpallezhideous" to 767825
 
         
   
   

 

 

     
 

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  O.V. WRIGHT
A Nickel and a Nail & the Ace of Spades
(Reel Music)

"Don't Let My Baby Ride"
"I Can't Take It"

"When you gave O.V. Wright a song, the song belonged to him and nobody would do it that way again." -- Willie Mitchell

Over the past year, we've made it a mission here at OM to expose as many people as possible to the unsung architects of the Memphis soul sound, praising folks like Spencer Wiggins and the great James Carr in our Updates. Well, O.V. Wright was considered by both of these singers as their favorite male vocalist of the time. A lifelong resident of the Germantown section of Memphis, by the age of 15, Wright was already well regarded locally as one of the city's finest gospel singers. In 1956, he recorded his first hit when he was just 17, "Sit Down and Rest a While," as a member of the male gospel quartet the Sunset Travelers. Though Wright's heart and soul belonged to gospel, after a five-year struggle to make ends meet he went solo and started singing R&B, with most of his songs at that time being slight lyrical re-workings of well-known blues and gospel numbers. In 1964, his single "That's How Strong My Love Is" (released on Memphis' legendary Goldwax label) caught the ear of Otis Redding, who would re-record the track later that year, eliminating any chance for Wright's version to ever really make a dent on the charts, though he would have a smash hit the following year with "You're Gonna Make Me Cry."

Wright's biggest breakthrough would come during the early '70s when A Nickel and a Nail and Ace of Spades was released (capitalizing on the two hit singles from which the album took its name), and it is now considered to be one of the finest Memphis soul LPs of the era. Legendary producer Willie Mitchell had produced many songs for Wright prior to this record, but on A Nickel we find Mitchell and his crack studio band solidifying the same grooves that he would spin into gold with the Rev. Al Green some four years later. Arguably it's Mitchell's first production masterpiece and Wright's finest album. Like Carr, Wright shines when he sings ballads like "I Can't Take It" and "Don't Take It Away," both tunes featuring some of the most aching blues vocals you'll ever hear. Wright's gruff, pleading voice is relentless in its pathos, and the testifyin' shoutin' in his delivery would be a direct influence on future Hi Records royalty like Syl Johnson, Al Green and Ann Peebles. In contrast, his biggest hit, "Ace of Spades", is a nasty piece of Memphis funk that'll leave Meter's fans' ears ringing.

Throughout his career, Wright was besieged with bad record deals and a nagging drug problem, and in 1980 at the age of 41, Wright suffered a fatal heart attack before a gig, dying in obscurity and buried in an unmarked grave in Memphis until finally provided a headstone in 2008. In recent years, singers like Cee-Lo Green, Amy Winehouse and Sharon Jones have acknowledged his influence in their lives, and top hip-hop artists ranging from RZA and Ghostface to Slim Thug and Three 6 Mafia have sampled his music. Consider this nothing less than required listening! [DH]

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  BIG BOI
Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
(Def Jam)

Of Outkast's two magnetic personalities, while Andre 3000 seems to get the most ink, I've always liked Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. Though I can count on A3 to keep it flamboyant and freaky, Big Boi's songs are the ones that have earned repeated listens throughout the years on my stereo. Always the straight man to A3's metrosexual outlook, BB is a true hip-hop fan's rapper -- never falling into a typical rhyme pattern, verbal versatility is one of his main strengths. Add to this, he's funny, charismatic, skillful and smart. Now with the ridiculously long-overdue release of his official debut solo album, Big Boi dusts off his shoulders and gets dirty, funky and more adventurous than many of us could have ever imagined.

Years in the making Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty finds BB constructing a sonic caravan of rubbery gangsta rap, syrupy southern R&B, gooey synth funk, a hint of dubstep, dirty south hydraulics and rich space age sounds, with lots of sharp brass, funky bass, beefy beats, and shimmering double time hi-hats. While any music fan with an internet connection may already be familiar with leaked tracks like "Shutterbugg," "Tangerine," 'Fo Yo Sorrows" and "Shine Blockas," there are a wealth of new songs that glow like iridescent pearls. Actually, Big Boi's songs are like 1000-count, purple satin sheets, and black light velvet paintings -- finely crafted and ghetto fabulous.

Like his half of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Big Boi keeps the vibe strong, the songs simultaneously loose and tight, the low end thick, and the fun overflowing as the album touches upon different hip-hop sub-genres with ease. Working with A-list producers like Organized Noise, Lil Jon, Salaam Remi, Scott Storch, DJ Cutmaster Swift, and Andre 3000, it's as if BB is absorbing musical trends into his own fold as opposed to trying to reinvent himself for a fleeting style. Add to this a great cross section of singers and rappers both young and old -- including George Clinton, Too Short, Janelle Monae, Joi, Gucci Mane, Jamie Foxx, Khujo Goodie, Sleepy Brown, B.O.B., and T.I. -- and you've got one of the best mainstream hip-hop albums I've heard this year. A solid outing that's guaranteed to be rocking a Casbah near you this summer [DG]

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  VON HAZE
Von Haze
(Hippos in Tanks)

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NYC duo Von Haze have released a debut six-song mini-album that varies from moody, hazy and druggy, to driving lo-fi synth rock, propelled by the drum machines, throbby bass and distorted guitar found in bands ranging from Bowery Electric to Moon Duo. But Von Haze approach their songs with a more decadent groove; whether driving or molasses-slow, the band lace Suicide synth and drums with the drawling haziness of bands like Brightblack Morning Light as well as the dopesick 'tude and male/female vocal duets of Royal Trux. (See the nodded-out "Get Me Alone" and the funeral organ dirge (meets Eno landscape) of "Looking Down," the ethereal "Outside the Night" or the dungeon doom of "Sooner or Later".) Guitar jams like "Sad Girls" and "Everyway" inject a bit more rock with a dirty dose of the Stooges. This one is LP and MP3 download only; vinyl is cut to 45 rpm for better sound, housed in a gatefold sleeve with a photo inner sleeve, and limited to 750 copies. Produced by Richard Fearless (Death in Vegas). Recommended. [SM]

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  VARIOUS ARTISTS
Milky Disco III: To the Stars
(Lo)

"I Feel Your Soul" Ghostape
"Closer Space" Telespazio

For a few years now, Lo Recordings' annual Milky Disco compilation series has been a reliable gauge on all things cosmic, arpeggiated, shiny, funky and slowburnin'. Each one is lovingly curated by the label's own Jon Tye, whose selection always features the crème de la crème of producers in the underground "nu-disco" scene. Not surprisingly, the third installment is another winner as all 12 tracks are stellar, but this time around there are also some fresh new sounds creeping into the mix: NYC-based Oneohtrix Point Never's slow-rising "Astral Project T.I.N.A." is a gorgeous Kevin Shields-esque ambient piece while the UK's Brassica offer up fantastic slo-mo electro-house with "Made Up My Mind," which features weary female lead vocals. Of course, familiar names like Black Devil Disco Club and In Flagranti make strong appearances too and there's also a bonus disc featuring a mix from Tye highlighting tracks from this edition as well as some additional exclusive cuts. [DH]

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  A.R.E. WEAPONS
Darker Blue
(Defend Music)

"Jeffrey Lee"
"Street Justice"

You are forgiven if you are a little bit apprehensive about a new A.R.E. Weapons album dropping in 2010 -- if you were a fan of this noisy, drug-fueled, Suicide-damaged NYC band back in their heyday around the turn of the millennium, you may well have "moved on" with your life, and perhaps hope to forget some of the hedonism and dark energy that the group personified. This was back before Brooklyn existed, when the Lower East Side was littered with heroin and whores, and the last vestiges of seediness still clung to the dark corners and clubs of downtown, full of intrigue and romance. You may have moved on, but your music doesn't have to, does it? The mayhem, the overdoses, and perhaps a touch of the glamour may have faded into their past, but A.R.E. Weapons are still making tough, edgy electro-punk, still heavily indebted to Alan Vega, but with a bit more depth now, adding in some of the Cramps' rock and twang and some of Nick Cave's uncomfortable grandeur. Despite their inclusion on the Electroclash comp back in the day, these guys were always more of a rock band than a dance act, and their current sound features more guitars -- even a pedal steel -- but it has lost none of the loose, lusty swagger of the band's youth. We all grow up, but it's nice to know that it doesn't have to kill the music. [JM]

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  NOUN
Holy Hell
(Don Giovanni)

"Wrong Things"
"Brother"

Melissa Paternoster, the wailing guitar goddess at the front of New Jersey's Screaming Females, gives us her solo debut as Noun. Holy Hell relinquishes the pace of her parent band's fury a slight bit, offering up a varied, but no less powerful approach. Paternoster tempers her trademark guitar work with piano-led pop, folky bits reminiscent of Judy Henske's work (!), and big, '90s style alt-pop anthems like "So Rough" that get stuck in your teeth like Jolly Ranchers. A brief, but empowering look at an important new musician who continues to dole out surprises. What a voice, what a record! [DM]

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  TIEFSCHWARZ
Chocolate
(Souvenir)

Ali and Basti Schwarz continue to move away from their club-friendly electro, their first full-length in five years finding the German brothers back in touch with their house roots. Co-produced by Philipp Maier (a/k/a Santé), who is also now a proper member, the tracks on Chocolate are a nice balance between the dancefloor and the living room, the trio combining the influences of deep house, minimal, techno and jazz with help from friends like Cassy, Seth Troxler, Dave Aju and Daniel Wilde.

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  SHINDIG!
Issue #17 - July/August 2010
(Shindig!)

The July/August issue of Shindig! features a great must-read interview with cover star Lee Hazlewood and a lengthy chat with Peter Giles about Giles, Giles & Fripp. Additionally, there are articles on US '70s hard rockers Bang and UK mod/psych pop legends Pandamonium, an interview with Captain Sensible, a piece on Michael Fennelly (the Millennium/Crabby Appleton), and tons more, including the usual hefty slew of reviews.

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  VARIOUS ARTISTS
Bustin' Out: New Wave to New Beat -The Post Punk Era 1979-1981
(Year Zero Records)

The first volume of young label Year Zero's ongoing compilation series, Bustin' Out's range of artists is much broader in both region and sound than other comps of this ilk. Sure, you've got a few alums from the New York City downtown scene like Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Bush Tetras, Loose Joints and Material, but throw in Killing Joke ("Almost Red"), Tubeway Army ("Replicas") and Chris and Cosey ("Heartbeat"), Dead Can Dance ("Frontier" 1981 demo), Front 242 ("Body to Body"), MOEV ("Cracked Mirror") and No More ("Suicide Commando"), and this plays like a sonic bridge between your New York Noise and Disco Not Disco collections and the colder, more obscuro Minimal Wave comps.

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THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS

[AB] Adrian Burkholder
[MC] Michael Crumsho
[SG] Simon Gabriel
[DG] Daniel Givens
[DH] Duane Harriott
[JM] Josh Madell
[DMa] Dave Martin
[DM] Doug Mosurock
[SM] Scott Mou
[JT] John Twells


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