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This Week's Free Song Download Free song download of "Up Past the Nursery" off of Suuns' first full-length, Zeroes QC, which will be available on Other Music Digital as an advance release next Tuesday, September 28. The Montreal group's EP was a top seller for several weeks on our download store earlier this year when the band was then known as Zeroes, their music a great blend of taut, sinewy art-rock, post-punk and electronic sounds. As Suuns, they continue this MO, and with Jace Lasek of Besnard Lakes co-producing, have created a strong debut that fans of Suicide, Clinic, Silver Apples and Radiohead won't want to miss. This Week's Featured Downloads Curtis Mayfield holds a singular grip on the hearts of many music fans -- he is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic songwriters and performers in pop music history, and his career basked in equal parts commercial and critical success. From his early years with the Impressions through his chart-topping solo career, including monumental smash hits like his 1972 soundtrack for the film Super Fly, Mayfield's music was known as much for its uplifting, Afro-centric socially conscious message as it was for its indomitable hooks and amazing, soulful grooves. He basically wrote the music for the American civil rights movement, lit up the pop charts, and got the world dancing -- no mean feat. Curtis is gone, but not forgotten, and his singular voice, heart-rending poetry and genius production skills still touch hearts, minds and feet the world over. William Parker is also a brilliant musician who uses his gifts to raise social consciousness as well as get a crowd moving, but his medium -- free jazz -- on the surface at least is so far removed from Curtis Mayfield's that at first blush it is hard to imagine an album of Parker covering Mayfield. How can a large free jazz ensemble, known for innovation and improvisation, approach a set of popular songs that includes chart-topping R&B numbers like "Freddie's Dead," "Move On Up," and "This Is My Country," without undermining the best elements of both the players and the songs? The answer, of course, is with heart, soul, and raw emotion, the same basic elements that drove the original recordings, only reconfigured for their new context. The 11 tracks included on William Parkers wonderful new album, I Plan to Stay a Believer : The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield, approach Mayfield's music with a freewheeling, joyful abandon that evoke the original productions without trying ape them. Truth be told, in many ways these versions, recorded live at various performances in the U.S. and Europe between 2001 and 2008, with an amazing band that included Hamid Drake on drums, Dave Burrell and Lafayette Gilchrist on piano, Sabir Mateen on saxophones and flute, Amiri Baraka doing his free-verse best, and singer Lena Conquest taking most of the lead vocals, are not so far from the originals. They are still driven by soaring horn lines, loose-limbed percussion grooves and topical, uplifting vocal performances. Indeed, the band stretches out, with several tracks approaching the 20-minute mark, and the recordings often hinge on blistering improvised breakdowns. But the groove never falters, the vocal melodies and horn hooks always climb back to the front, and most importantly, the essence of the originals, a surging, triumphant life-force, deep-seated humanity and the will to survive that defined Curtis Mayfield's music, also defines these versions. At times we get gospel-tinged uplift, at times we get soulful swing, at times tight soul groove and at times full-blown freak-out, but what never falters is the clear-eyed joy and righteous purpose that has defined the music of both Mayfield and Parker throughout their careers. -Josh Madell
Last year the San Francisco-based women of Grass Widow put out an LP and an EP and they were both great records that garnered a lot of spins in my house, but what really set the band apart was the amazing live show I experienced. Focused and intense, it was one of the better sets I saw from any band all year. And on this new record, their first for the legendary Kill Rock Stars label, the young trio further prove that they are something of an anomaly in today's underground. With so much previously obscure music now readily available it is easy for bands to get bogged down in mimicry without even really noticing it, but Grass Widow manage to embody the same intangible qualities that made groups like the Raincoats and Scrawl so great without directly sounding like them. Their intricate, rhythm-driven songs dodge and weave, downplaying their hooks at first in favor of an overall sound. Clocking in at just about half an hour, Past Time never overstays its welcome. It may not be the most immediate record but it still begs repeated listens, and it's a grower in the best possible way. Highly recommended! -Dave Martin
The fourth album from one of our favorite Finnish artists strikes out in a decidedly different direction from her previous efforts. Rather than remain beholden to the icy folk music she's embodied previously, Merja Kokkonen draws heavily from electronica this go-round (which isn't so surprising if you've caught her live performances with everyone from Skaters to Animal Collective), which finds her deploying samplers to dizzying effect. In addition to the squalls and loops, her voice is more centered this time as well, giving the listener a better grasp of Kokkonen's singular vision and craft. -Adrian Burkeholder
Take the spastic nature of the Boredoms circa Chocolate Synthesizer, but strip away the aggression. Then take the beatific qualities of Animal Collective, then throw them in a rock tumbler, and hand-solder each unique piece that falls out to a matrix of burbling biomechanics, and the result might be similar to the scrambled, airy, yet joyful pouring forth found in the latest Kemialliset Ystavat album, Ullakkopalo. The brainchild of Jan Anderzen and a host of special guests, including plenty of folks from the Fonal roster, as well as C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) and Neil Campbell (Astral Social Club), this is the first KY release since 2007, and it makes full use of the technology that's been developed over the past three years resulting in a sampled, scrambled, childlike, helium-infused collection of experimental pop that refuses to fit inside of its container. Bewildering and excellent, with surprises at every turn, it may be the most disjointedly harmonious work we'll see this year. -Doug Mosurock This new single by Oneohtrix Point Never is a curious one. We're offered two takes on the title cut to this year's Returnal, but with a twist -- the A-side strips the song to an acoustic piano rendition by OPN's Daniel Lopatin with vocals by Antony, he of the infamous Johnsons. Together, they mutate the original version's Fever Ray pastiche into a haunting, funereal ballad of Nina Simone levels of bleak lament that showcases both Lopatin's piano training and Antony's distinct croon. On the flipside, they take that recording and give it to Fennesz for a bit of coloration, where he wraps the track in his trademark digital gauze for another lovely take on the tune, aesthetically similar to his collabs with David Sylvian. I'll admit that I was honestly not a huge fan of the Returnal album, but this single made me rethink my opinion of Lopatin and what he's up to; it's a great little slice of experimentation and highly recommended to anyone who has enjoyed any of the parties mentioned above. -Mikey IQ Jones
Penpals Forever (and Ever) originally saw life in 2008 as a cassette-only release for Svarte Greiner, the ash-tempered solo project of Deaf Center's Erik Skovdin. Now remastered (and featuring a clutch of bonus tracks), this album gets a second chance at life for those who may have missed out the first time. Slotting in nicely as the middle point in the trajectory he began mapping out with his first solo record Knive and continued with grim precision through last year's Kappe, Penpals Forever (and Ever) continues the focus on blocking out all natural light with an emphasis on blizzard winds as drones. Sourcing from a mix of field recordings and mutilated acoustic instruments, Skovdin's tracks from the initial release take their time to evolve, rising from genteel string plucks and scrapes through distorted piano chords that gradually fade off into the distance, leaving only a howling void in their place. And far from an afterthought, the three bonus tracks here are equally great, favoring more obviously acoustic instruments (and few bird sounds for good measure) in pursuit of similar long form drones and textures that are every bit as effective in filling you with an unmistakable sense of dread. -Michael Crumsho |
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Other Music is giving away a pair of tickets to 
