August 10, 2011

		We were deeply saddened earlier this week when we learned that the PIAS distribution warehouse in London had been destroyed in a fire during the riots. This was a crucial storage and shipping hub in the UK for so many of the great independent labels whose music is so important to us (and to anyone reading this Update) -- we're just thankful that no one was injured in the blaze. Along with all of the terrible violence and turmoil currently raging in Britain, this monumental setback for so many passionate and forward-thinking labels and artists should give any thinking person pause, and our hearts go out to all those touched by this senseless destruction.

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Bobb Trimble The Horrors Jonny Trunk 7" Hintermass 7" Brownswood Electric 2 (Various) Jef Gilson Fire! w/ Jim O'Rourke Moonface Parade Ground LP Skull Snaps Cindytalk Roska     ALSO AVAILABLE Crystal Antlers Widowspeak (Limited LP pressing) Yo La Tengo (2 Classics on Vinyl) Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

		AUG Sun 14 Mon 15 Tues 16 Wed 17 Thurs 18 Fri 19 Sat 20 AUG Sun 21 Mon 22 Tues 23 Wed 24 Thurs 25 Fri 26 Sat 27 SEP Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 16 Sat 17 The War on Drugs James Pants   UPCOMING IN-STORE PERFORMANCES THE WAR ON DRUGS: Monday, August 15, 8PM Philadelphia's the War on Drugs will be celebrating their new album, Slave Ambient, with a live performance at Other Music on Monday, August 15, the eve of its release. Adam Granduciel and his band's music is a swirling, melting pot of sounds, playing like a thrilling, forward-thinking ride down the dusty back roads of America. We'll have CDs and LPs for sale that night at a special price. JAMES PANTS: Tuesday, August 23, 8PM James Pants' self-titled album on Stone's Throw from a few months back is a dizzying blend of funk, rock, psychedelia, indie weirdness and so much more, and it's been one of the universal favorites at the shop this year. His live show is even better, and we're thrilled to be hosting a special solo performance from Pants at the store -- it should be loopy, loud and loose, and we hope you'll join us! STEPHEN MALKMUS: Thursday, August 25, 9PM You might think that Pavement's recent globetrotting reunion tour would have put the Jicks on hiatus for awhile, but Stephen Malkmus is back, with what just might be his best album of the current era. Mirror Traffic is out on the 23rd, and on Thursday the 25th, Malkmus will be stopping by the store for a rare solo acoustic performance followed by a record signing. Line up early, this one is guaranteed to be a madhouse! NEON INDIAN: Tuesday September 13, 6PM-8PM Alan Palomo releases his highly anticipated second Neon Indian album, Era Extraña on September 13, and he decided to celebrate at Other Music.  Palomo will be DJing, signing records, and hanging with the fans all evening -- please stop by to pick up a copy of the great new album, hear some of the music that influenced Palomo, and show the band how much NYC loves Neon Indian! OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street NYC Free Admission | Limited Capacity

		AUG Sun 07 Mon 08 Tues 09 Wed 10 Thurs 11 Fri 12 Sat 13 AUG Sun 14 Mon 15 Tues 16 Wed 17 Thurs 18 Fri 19 Sat 20   OTHER MUSIC WEDNESDAYS AT ACE HOTEL Back by popular demand, members of the Other Music staff are DJing the gorgeous lobby of NYC's Ace Hotel every Wednesday, through to the end of August. Tonight, Mikey IQ Jones will be slinging all of his favorite international grooves and mutant disco jams, and then next Wednesday, Daniel Givens will be the guest selector, serving up a wide spectrum of electronic and future pop sounds. See you at the Ace! WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10: MIKEY IQ JONES(8PM-2AM) WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17: DANIEL GIVENS (8PM-2AM) ACE HOTEL: 20 West 29th Street NYC

		AUG Sun 21 Mon 22 Tues 23 Wed 24 Thurs 25 Fri 26 Sat 27 JEFF the Brotherhood   WIN TICKETS TO PENTAGRAM, JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD & VALIENT THORR Our friends at Stereogum have put together one of the more inspired, dare we say "rockin'" bills we've seen in some time: doom metal gods Pentagram, JEFF the Brotherhood's home-brewed psych-punk explosion, and blistering beard-rockers Valient Thorr. We have two pairs of tickets to offer our readers, email giveaway@othermusic.com to enter to win. SUNDAY, AUGUST 21 (LE) POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleecker Street, NYC

		$13.99 CD $15.99 LP $8.99 MP3   BOBB TRIMBLE The Crippled Dog Band (Yoga) "Galilean Boy" "You Should See My Girl" Stellar new reissue from Yoga Records of Bobb Trimble's heretofore almost entirely lost early-'80s masterpiece. You'll no doubt recall Trimble from the successful reissue campaign that Secretly Canadian waged on his behalf a few years ago, with the rerelease of his two privately issued LPs of outsider loner psych folk-pop (Iron Curtain Innocence and Harvest of Dreams) which seemed to exist weirdly out of time and space. Despite the accolades those albums received, I personally always felt rather on the fence about them, but I most certainly cannot say the same for the music here, which strikes me as totally fresh and immediately engaging, with little of the insularity of his previous work. Some of this is no doubt due his backing group, the Crippled Dog Band, whose members averaged an age of about fifteen, and whom Trimble had apparently met while working at a bike shop the kids frequented. The whole record just totally exudes that skittish, nervous energy of youth, jettisoning the '60s affectations in favor of a more jangly, contemporary new wave vibe. Although Trimble's general approach remains leftfield, his pop always limned with some weird, woozy warble, and the driving thrust of this album is reminiscent of other early-'80s jangly guitar acts like the Feelies or the Embarrassment. Without a doubt the best pop rediscovery of recent memory, and easy contender for one of my favorite releases this year. [MK]

		$13.99 CD $19.99 LPx2+MP3 $9.99 MP3   THE HORRORS Skying (XL) "You Said" "Moving Further Away" Dropping any semblance of the goth/dark/camp tendencies found in their earliest work -- even to the subdued levels they rested at on 2009's Primary Colours -- the third Horrors album is exactly what a lot of us have been looking for: a lightning strike into the shallow grave of British pop music some 15 to 25 years past, effectively shocking it back to life. While the Horrors might be a more keys-and-synth-centric band than their predecessors, here those elements are used to generate the dreamy atmosphere and Teutonic rhythms required to power wind sprints back to orchestral Echo & the Bunnymen, to the delirium glam of early Suede, to the drifting downer of Slowdive, to the multi-color pop splashes of Blur ... you get the point. Singer Faris Badwan sounds stronger than ever, with a wheezy, detached passion reminiscent of both Ian McCulloch and Richard Butler, and the band plays all around the map, helping to remind us why their influences mattered at all, and pushing them together in preparation for something even greater. I can't stop listening to this record; it is majestic, prescient and memorable, and that's all we can really hope for in our searches for heart-swelling music. [DM]

		$11.99 45   HINTERMASS Study Series 05: The Open Song Book (Ghost Box) Ghost Box offers up two new limited edition 7"s in their Study Series, and this one may be my favorite yet. Hintermass is a collaboration between singer/guitarist Tim Felton of Seeland (and formerly of Broadcast) and Jon Brooks of the Advisory Circle. These two slices of gorgeous, hazy autumnal pop combine the soothing dulcet tones of Felton's voice with acoustic guitar and Brooks' softly ululating electronics, bass, and percussion. The songs drift through the air like leaves on a melancholy wind, reminding me of an imaginary collaboration where Raymond Scott's Manhattan Research labs produce Tim Buckley circa Blue Afternoon. It's absolutely gorgeous, it's pressed in a limited edition on heavyweight vinyl, and as usual, Julian House's sleeve art is equally lovely. If this sounds like your thing, don't sleep! [IQ]

		$11.99 45   JONNY TRUNK Study Series 06: Animation and Interpretation (Ghost Box) Next up in the Study Series is this excellent 7" by Trunk Records boss Jonny Trunk. This is probably the best music he's yet recorded, working with minimal, rhythmic electronic pulsations and subtle, dark drones. It evokes elements of dub music, BBC-inspired radiophonics, and minimal techno while never explicitly providing a pastiche of any of those sounds. "Le Train Fantome" uses a chugging locomotive rhythm loop as its base, upon which tickertapes of electronic pulses and blips build and pass alongside it; "Cardboard Boxford" gets a bit more abstract yet also more melodic, evoking classic public access TV themes and eerie sci-fi nightmares. This is one of the darkest, most "wicked" Ghost Box releases to date, albeit with a devilish playfulness that parallels the Trunk Records sensibility. Like the Hintermass 45 above, this is also pressed on heavyweight vinyl (pretty nice for a 7"), and Julian House tops it off with a great cover design printed on heavy matte paper. [IQ]

		$16.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Brownswood Electric 2 (Brownswood) "Mood Swings" Frederic Robinson "Step In" Funk Ethics From Gilles Peterson's Brownswood label comes another great selection of new electronic music from across the spectrum and around the world. Brownswood Electric 2 gathers fourteen tracks from largely unknown independent producers and artists, handpicked by label associate Alex Stevenson. With so many sub genres in the ever twisting and turning world of music, names, sounds, and tags can be championed and dismissed within a few months; this series seems primed to present and capture the excitement, freshness, and timely nature of bass music, by gathering artists and tracks before they make it big. The first volume featured an ahead-of-the-curve list of contributors like Mount Kimbie, Shlohmo, Letherette, and George Fitzgerald, showcasing their talents while many were still only releasing limited vinyl for the club crowd, and had barely been heard of beyond their own microscopic scenes. Some of the digital diggers out there may be familiar with a few names here, but this is packed with fresh blood like Jus Wan, Funk Ethics, Anenon, and more. Several of these artists have made inroads via their SoundCloud posts, and various blog mentions, but here is a whole compilation featuring a cross section from the next generation of up-and-coming beat makers and producers. From wonky to soul, dubstep to house, jazzy to funky, the selections are diverse and the sequence moves you through the variety with ease. If you're familiar with Gilles Peterson's Worldwide radio show, his various comps through the years, and the array of releases he's been associated with, you know what to expect -- a diverse yet top-notch selection of sonic gems, from lesser names that are sure to gain more attention in the months to come. [DG]

		$17.99 CD $27.99 LPx2 $9.99 MP3   JEF GILSON Jef Gilson (Jazzman) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Jazzman brings us one of the year's best reissues with this stellar compilation of music by French jazz pianist and composer Jef Gilson. He came up through the infamous Hot Club scene in his early years, moving through big band arrangements and fiery swing, but throughout the 1960s, Gilson adventured into all sorts of inspired stylistic collusions, recording albums and 45s that fetch steep prices on the collectors' market not only for their rarity, but for their startling originality. He deftly combined modal grooves, waltz signatures, soul and opera fusions, and in the process bridged stylistic gaps between the likes of Boris Vian, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Frank Lowe; his ambition and his talent were equally matched, as exemplified in this set which offers pieces recorded with full cathedral choirs, master musicians from Madagascar, and small jazz combos alike. The beauty of the comp is that it is beautifully sequenced, focusing predominantly on 1960s and '70s material, opening with moody, noirish organ ambiances, continuing through swinging, soulful beat blues, to interpretations of "Agnus Dei" and Pharoah Sanders' "The Creator Has a Masterplan," with monstrous orchestral accompaniment. This set is stuffed to the gills with groove, emotion, and best of all, true grit; it's one of the best jazz records I've heard in years, and it's made its way onto my personal shortlist of 2011's finest archival releases. Absolute highest recommendation for this one, folks. [IQ]

		$17.99 CD   FIRE! WITH JIM O'ROURKE Unreleased (Rune Grammofon) "...Please, I Am Released" "By Whom and Why Am I Previously Unreleased" Though nominally a jazz group, Swedish trio Fire! earned high marks for deviating from what you'd expect from a meeting of improvisational minds on their 2009 Rune Grammofon debut. Favoring spacious, rhythmic explorations as much as combustible blowouts, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling (of Tape), and drummer Andreas Werliin (from the excellent Wildbirds & Peacedrums) practiced restraint in exemplary ways that still managed to highlight each player's unique voice and style. For their second album, the trio convened with the one and only Jim O'Rourke, who supplements the group's sound here with guitars and synthesizers. Adding ever more subtle shades and contrasts throughout Unreleased, O'Rourke's additions form a neat counterpoint to the work of three already strong players. Much like Gustafsson's work in groups like the Thing has taken traditional expectations of jazz groups and turned them square on their ear with an incorporation of garage rock, here too he works with his bandmates to present more nuanced ensemble pieces. Sounding more like the work of a heavily Kraut-inspired ensemble more than anything else, opening pieces "Are You Both Still Unreleased?" and "...Please, I Am Released" give Berthling and Werliin ample room to set up shop, supplying driving, repetitive rhythms that create a hypnotic backdrop over which Gustafsson and O'Rourke battle it out, the former blasting lines from his horn while the latter conjures tense drones that weave throughout. And while the closing "Happy Ending Borrowing Yours" takes a different approach with its tense opening salvos, it still resolves neatly into a deceptively simple rhythm, leaving enough space for Gustafsson and O'Rourke to dance around each other as the track gradually fades. A great, unassuming record, Unreleased shows its players in undeniably fine form all throughout. [MC]

		$12.99 CD $14.99 LP $4.99 MP3   MOONFACE Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped (Jagjaguwar) "Return to the Violence of the Ocean Floor" "Fast Peter" I guess there are a couple of ways to hear the debut album from Moonface, a solo project of Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake, et al.); it's either one of Krug's less meticulous and almost simplistic productions, or one of his most intimate and enlightening. As the title might suggest, Krug had been hoping to write some oddball vibraphone tunes, but what he has delivered is a dark, harrowing record of stripped-down, vintage organ sounds -- dense chords behind soaring melodies, all layered over rudimentary ancient drum machine rhythms that bore into your head like termites. And with Krug's affected croon overtop, sounding like an edgier David Byrne or more uncomfortable Bowie, you have a pretty engaging album. It's glam without the glitter, at times almost verging on a Canadian take on coldwave. The humor Krug uses in his titles is rarely apparent in his songs, which do explore sarcasm and irony, but here come cross as chilly rather than silly, and an extended listen to this one can be just plain unsettling. It's one of the most barefaced, emotionally raw records Krug has made, and while it may not be the best entry point for this multifaceted artist, fans should definitely give this a listen. [JM]

		$15.99 LP   PARADE GROUND The Golden Years (Dark Entries) The mid-'80s weren't the most fruitful times for bands who originally set out to push the envelope at the onset of punk -- the allure of pop crossover seemed to draw a number of groups away from experimentalism and toward the dance floor. However, this wasn't always such a bad thing; the marriage of a harder-edged synth sound with synth-pop and Euro-dance structures helped usher in the decade's next wave of bands whose sound would come to be known as electronic body music and, eventually, new beat. One of the most consistently excellent groups to emerge during this in-between moment of the '80s was Belgium's Parade Ground, and the new career-spanning retrospective LP, The Golden Years, from the Dark Entries label, documents this shift from raw, synth-driven post-punk toward a sound that aimed to move bodies on the dance floor. Hailing from the same scene as EBM pioneers Front 242 -- many of the tracks here are produced by or feature 242 members Patrick Codenys or Daniel B. -- Parade Ground straddled a variety of the dominant sounds to emerge from Europe during the '80s. While Geography-era Front 242 seems like the best point of reference for Parade Ground -- with the strange, distant synthesizer warbles and insistent, rhythmic propulsion of early tracks like "Retired" or "Moral Support" -- this material feels just as informed by Cabaret Voltaire or Factory Records' Section 25. Indeed, there's an underlying funk to Parade Ground that helped shift their direction toward a more club-oriented sound. While they remained firmly underground in their approach, later tracks like "Strange World," "Action Replay," or the very excellent "Gold Rush" (the undeniable 'hit' on the album) are fantastic examples of the early-EBM sound, with beats that are rhythmic and forceful and synth lines that feel more reminiscent of classic synth-pop than the hard-electro that would come to define EBM as the decade wore on. Those unfamiliar with mid-'80s darkwave or EBM may be turned off by singer Jean-Marc Pauly's dramatic vocal delivery at first, but the production and expert programming and arrangements here will win over fans of early synth and industrial quickly. Also, for this being a compilation of singles tracks, The Golden Years feels consistent throughout and successfully documents the trajectory of the band. Recommended! [CPa]

		$13.99 CD   SKULL SNAPS Skull Snaps (Get on Down) "All of a Sudden" "My Hang-Up Is You" Even if you've never heard of Skull Snaps or their self-titled (and only) album, you've most definitely heard a few seconds of this 1970s funk trio at some point in your life. After all, the opening drum break for their song "It's a New Day" has been sampled and looped dozens of times over the years, by folks ranging from the good (Erik B. & Rakim, Public Enemy, Luke Vibert) to the bad (Alanis Morrissette) to the downright ugly (God Lives Underwater). So, if paying less than three figures for an album with some essential breaks on it is not your thing, feel free to grab this latest reissue of Skull Snaps and vibe out on the drums to your little heart's content. However, lest you think these guys only managed a few seconds worth of memorable music, the remaining tracks on here will go a ways towards proving that they had plenty of power moves beyond a funky drummer. Cuts like "My Hang-Up Is You," "All of a Sudden," and "I'm Your Pimp" are driving, tightly played songs full of snapping rhythms, great vocals, and undeniable melodies. Slower, more soulful numbers like "Didn't I Do It to You" are just as good, too, with great arrangements that display Skull Snaps' deft ability to craft memorable songs. Definitely a must for the breaks fiend and rare groove aficionados, Skull Snaps is well worth the look this latest reissue generously provides. [MC]

		$15.99 CD $27.99 LPx2   CINDYTALK Hold Everything Dear (Editions Mego) "From Rokko-San" "On the Tip of My Tongue" Gordon Sharp dusted off the Cindytalk moniker some years back, after setting out to work in rave and techno culture. What he left behind was his band's previous life as a dark rock/post-punk band with sweeping, orchestral deliverance by the time of its shuttering. The laptop-oriented static he produced when coming out of this phase seemed tailor-made for a label like Editions Mego, who'd canonized similar forms of expression for artists like Pita and Fennesz. For his third Mego release, Cindytalk dusts off the tableau, making for a cleaner, less cluttered sound a repository for galvanized drone hulls, austere piano melodies, and field recordings processed with shape and definition instead of diffuse, frustrated anger. Sharp comes closer to Mark Hollis' landmark solo album from the '90s as has anyone since, and though his use of noisier effects might rankle those looking for such quiet, frigid solace, the end result of Hold Everything Dear matches the overall effect in a way that provides hope for the next phase of genre-busting that will come out of this direction. Quite stirring, and the first must-have Cindytalk release since 1994's Wappinschaw. [DM]

		$15.99 CD   ROSKA Rinse 15 (Rinse) "Myth Vs. Wonderful Day" "High Definition" MA1 For years now, the Rinse FM radio shows, as well as their series of DJ mix CDs, have kept many of us in line with the constantly shifting sound of the British electronic scene. This new installment is selected and mixed by Roska, who has become one of the leaders of the UK funky sub genre. Focusing on the poppier side of contemporary bass music, Roska presents a tight mix of radio-friendly dance music, with lots of bright vocals and shuffling rhythms. Across the 25 tracks we get hip-shaking grooves from Katy B, Magnetic Man, Funkystepz, Brackles, Zinc, Ms. Dynamite, Zeb Bias, and a dozen more cuts of anthemic, hi-octane pop. And much like his own releases (several are included here), these are big-room bangers. Roska says, "It's not for the headz that know, it's for the headz that may have heard of me, the headz that have heard me out once, and so here's a recap." I'll add, that if you're in the mood for some frenetic bass excursions without a journey to the dark side, this may just be what you need. [DG]

		$10.99 CD $15.99 LP+CD   CRYSTAL ANTLERS Two-Way Mirror (Recreation Ltd.) Crystal Antlers' 2009 full-length debut has the dubious honor of being the very last album released on the legendary Touch & Go imprint, and while T&G will be long missed in these parts, we're glad to see the Long Beach, CA group back in the game. Their new one is a bit of a refinement on the fierce psych-prog yowl of their earlier work; it's no more compromising, but leaves room to breathe, with more thoughtful lyrics and melody, and a broader sound that adds depth to the album.

		$15.99 LP* $10.99 CD $9.99 MP3   WIDOWSPEAK Widowspeak (Captured Tracks) "Puritan" "Hard Times" Even if two-thirds of this new Brooklyn trio had not worked at Other Music, and even if they were not on one of our favorite local labels, we would still love Widowspeak. Their music is a natural progression from the simple, sunshine-dappled pop of groups like the Vivian Girls or Best Coast; Widowspeak take the next step forward in that re-evolution of sound, recalling the lighter side of Mazzy Star and the poppier end of Throwing Muses, and are reminiscent of bands who know that three chords and a smile can only get you so far. The thing is, that sort of sad sunshine pop is not the easiest sound to pull off, and we have heard too many bands screw it up with forgettable songs or cheesy production. The heart of this group, no doubt, is Molly Hamilton's warm, sweetly hypnotic voice and earworm melodies, but the band's sound is the perfect foil. Simple and primal, built on pounding tom-toms and Hamilton's spindly guitar leads, and the album's production, from Jarvis Taveniere (of Woods), is perfect for these songs, simple and unadorned, but with a warmth and sonic depth that lets them breathe. The group's music is immediate and winsome without drowning the listener in high fructose corn syrup sounds or stilted lyrics. Not too many modern rock bands can pull off being both relaxing and engaging in the same breath, but Widowspeak are ready to prove to us all that it can be done. [DM] *Limited Edition LP, pressed on clear red vinyl with silk-screened album sleeve.

		Painful $15.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3 And Then... $19.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3   YO LA TENGO Painful (Matador) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store YO LA TENGO And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (Matador) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store There's no shame in your game -- even if you've loved Yo La Tengo since New Wave Hot Dogs, and favored LPs since Edison was pushing wax, you still might need these nice new vinyl reissues of two of Yo La's classics. 1993's Painful features such evergreen hits as "Big Day Coming" and "From a Motel 6," and from 2000 we have And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, with "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House," the Georgia peach "Tears Are in Your Eyes," and fuzz-pop confection "Cherry Chapstick." Great records, best format, nice price.

		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 [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [JM] Josh Madell [DM] Doug Mosurock [CPa] Chris Pappas THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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