August 24, 2011

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Bjork & Omar Souleyman 12" Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks The Rapture 12" (Very Limited) Ras G Freddy Stephin Merritt Charles "Packy" Axton House of Trax Vol. 3 12" Move D 12" Mike Simonetti Deepchord James Blake 12" Ganglians West Indies Funk 3     Tara Cross 4LP Box Set Manorexia Canon Blue Active Child ALSO AVAILABLE Dom Mickey Newbury (Back in Print) Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

		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   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 now, and this Thursday, the 25th, Malkmus will be stopping by the store for a rare 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 21 Mon 22 Tues 23 Wed 24 Thurs 25 Fri 26 Sat 27   WIN TICKETS TO SUN ARAW, PRINCE RAMA, JULIANNA BARWICK, PTERODACTYL + MORE Friday nights in August -- they separate the real New Yorkers from the beach-bound fair-weather friends who run for the shore, turning their backs on culture for the love of "beach reading" and fruity drinks. For the rest of us, there is a killer show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this Friday, with a slew of our favorite oddballs: Sun Araw, Prince Rama, Julianna Barwick, and much more. Email us at giveaway@othermusic.com for your chance to win a pair of tix. You can still hit the bar for a fruity drink, if you must. FRIDAY, AUGUST 26 MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG: 66 N. 6th Street, BKLN

		AUG Sun 28 Mon 29 Tues 30 Wed 31 Thurs 01 Fri 02 Sat 03   OTHER MUSIC WEDNESDAYS AT ACE HOTEL Next week, Other Music will be wrapping up our summer Wednesday residency in the gorgeous lobby of New York's Ace Hotel with Scott Mou behind the turntables. We hope you can join us for what is sure to be a great closer and we'd like to thank all of you who came out to the party these past few months. See you at the Ace! WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31 - DJ Scott Mou (8PM-2AM) ACE HOTEL: 20 West 29th Street NYC

		$15.99 12"   BJORK The Crystalline Series: Omar Souleyman Versions (Nonesuch) "Crystalline" "Mawal" In anticipation of her forthcoming album Biophilia, Bjork has offered up a series of four great remix EPs by the likes of Matthew Herbert and Serban Ghenea; the most exciting of these, however, is a fantastic collaboration with Omar Souleyman. Souleyman and his band don't so much remix the Biophilia material; instead, they went into Bjork's studio and recorded three new full-blown collaborations (all exclusive to this release), and to hear his dabke beats in crystal clear studio sound is a minor revelation. The EP begins with their new version of album track "Crystalline," where Bjork starts the verses with interjections by Souleyman overtop some seriously kicking rhythm and synth wizardry, with a snaking electric oud line slithering across the mix. "Mawal" closes the EP with a gorgeous, haunting solo turn by Souleyman, as he intones some passionate cries overtop a beatless landscape of synth drone-wind and gently arpeggiating oud and fiddle scales. It's the middle track, "Tesla," that really shines for me, though, with a pummeling, tumbling beat and some wild, high-octane synth splatter. It's all topped by some of Souleyman's most impassioned vocals, and a lovely, multi-tracked choir of Bjorks backing him up. I've got to give credit to Bjork for not wimping out on this collab; after some blown opportunities in the past with the likes of Konono No 1 and avant drummers Chris Corsano and Brian Chippendale on her last album, she learns from her mistakes and steps back while her guests do what they do best, assimilating herself into their soundworlds rather than vice versa. It's not only a shining moment for Souleyman, but it's also one of my favorite things Bjork's ever recorded. Absolute highest recommendation on this one, folks. [IQ]

		$12.99 CD $16.99 LPx2+MP3 $9.99 MP3   STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS Mirror Traffic (Matador) "Senator" "Share the Red" We've been slyly playing this CD in the shop for a couple of weeks now, and what struck some of us is how little Stephen Malkmus has changed over the course of his career. Mirror Traffic, Malkmus' fifth solo studio album with the Jicks, is another heavy dose of non-sequitur lyrics, fat honking riffs, and the curious blend of power-pop and progressive-rock structures that has characterized every album Malkmus has ever been involved with. It's also the most Pavement-esque of anything he's done as a solo artist, with a hook-filled, focused but freewheeling set that reins in some of the more guitar-jam driven songs of his more recent recordings. The last Jicks album, Real Emotional Trash, leaned toward the kind of gigantic riffs that could be found underneath a teenage classic rock fan's gravity bong; it was a heavy record and sometimes a little humorless in all that dense smoke, so fans of Malkmus' sprightly first records will be relieved to know that Mirror Traffic, produced by fellow '90s titan Beck, is more of a return to form for a band that has succeeded at mostly resisting form. Opener "Tigers" is bright, catchy, effortless, and powered by a light chug and almost no hot shit guitar solos -- it's an inviting welcome to Malkmus' most pleasantly enjoyable record to date. The second track, "No One Is (As I Are Be)," sounds like Malkmus' take on '60s and '70s AM radio rock, with plucked acoustic guitar, a piano line that trots alongside the vocals at his most weary and backward-looking, and a baleful trumpet pulled straight from a Burt Bacharach session -- it makes the most of Beck's lush vintage production style. There are rockers here, too, like the foul-mouthed "Senator," "Spazz," and "Tune Grief," but the real gems are the tunes that reveal Beck's soft touch at the boards and subtle flourishes in arrangement and orchestration; "Long Hard Book," with its swelling slide guitars, sounds like a Sea Change outtake. "Asking Price" and "Share the Red" are, simply put, some of the prettiest songs that Malkmus has ever recorded. At 15 tracks and just over 50 minutes, Mirror Traffic at times feels a little overloaded, but on the whole, it's a rock record that sounds good and feels good from a guy for whom these things have always come naturally. And don't forget, he's playing an acoustic in-store performance at OM tonight (Thursday, August 25), 9 p.m. [MS]

		$11.99 12"   THE RAPTURE How Deep Is Your Love? (DFA) Last week, scrappy stand-up duo Hall & Jokes -- a/k/a East Village Radio Pizza Party DJs Max and Kev reinventing Hall & Oates as washed-up comedians -- fired off one "The Rapture are so old..." joke after another during their 20-minute routine leading up to the group's "secret" performance at Union Pool. Even though most of the bad puns were directed at Luke, Gabe and Vito, the intimate gathering of the band's friends and friends-of-friends were feeling a little old too; after all many of these were the same faces you would have seen in the audience of a Rapture show a decade ago, during their pre-"House of Jealous Lovers" days. While it would be an impossible feat for the band to recapture the genuine thrill of the time when that 12" dropped and officially kicked in the dance-punk era of NYC and beyond, the Rapture sounded genuinely reinvigorated that night on the tiny Union Pool stage, and their new album, In the Grace of Your Love (which comes out September 6th), does as well. Reunited with the DFA, their first single, "How Deep Is Your Love?" sees the band eschewing much of their post-punk cues, save for Luke Jenner's signature yelp which sounds more melodic than ever, and a little skronky sax work from Gabe Andruzzi. The percussive clang of the cowbell's been replaced here with an equally percussive house piano, the whole track being a straight-up vintage Chicago house anthem built around an uplifting arms-in-the-air chorus that still sounds great even after 50 spins -- just like "House of Jealous Lovers" did. Limited vinyl pressing, so don't sleep on this one! [GH]

		$15.99 CD   RAS G Down 2 Earth (Ramp) "Crush on an Earthling" "Hey Baby!!!!" A mainstay of the L.A. underground beat scene and co-founder of Poo-Bah Records, Gregory Shorter, Jr. (a/k/a Ras G) finally drops an album worth talking about. Over the last few years, especially in wake of the popularity of Flying Lotus and the death of J-Dilla, there has been an endless stream of knob turners rising to the surface. Ras G fits not so nicely between the loopy re-edit vibe of Dilla and the off-kilter sample-psychedelic aspect of Madlib, with a love of the air-horn as embraced by Zomby, and the nervous energy of Gaslamp Killer. His latest, Down 2 Earth, for the UK-based Ramp label, is a nice and sloppy, funky mix of soul loops, cosmic boom-bap thumping, and a dizzying sense of lock groove. Similar in style to Dilla's Donuts or Madlib's Beat Konducta series, these are loose party jams served in bite-sized portions (most under two minutes), filled with sampled dialogue, laser beams, digital scratching, and other futuristic accents. Unlike some of Ras G's previous output, which seemed to be suffering from either a severe case of ADD or simply one too many blunts, Down 2 Earth is a complete and satisfying work, and though the tracks are still littered with his trademarked "ohhhh Rrrraaasss" sample drops (like Terror Danjah's gremlins), they aren't as annoying as before. I'm a big fan of this sound, and while Ras G has never been my favorite from the L.A. contingent, mostly due to the lack of focus that seems to be inherent in his productions, this new offering is starting to change my mind. He's definitely one you should know, and not underestimate, being both the missing link and the underdog within the contemporary beat scene. More hip-hop than IDM, more grounded than much of his earlier work, this one seems to be balanced with just enough thick head-nodding bass and snappy snares alongside his off-the-cuff style of sliced-n-diced beats. Fans of MF Doom's productions or any of the above mentioned will find a kindred spirit in the work of Ras G. [DG]

		$13.99 CD   FREDDY La Voz Del Sentimiento (Antilla) "Noche Y Dia" "Debi Llorar" Man oh man, get ready for this one, because you're in for a treat; I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to offer up one of my favorite recent discoveries, largely unavailable and which I think many of you will totally flip for as much as I have. Fredesvinda García Valdés was a Cuban singer better known as Freddy, who became a sensation in the 1950s Havana nightclubs with her unique renditions of boleros and canciones. She cut just one lone album in 1960 for the Puchito label, before passing away just a year later, and hot damn, is that album good. I first heard this record at a friend's house after a long night of social imbibing and dining; it was the perfect scenario to discover what would shortly become my newest obsession. Amazed that I'd never heard this incredible music before, I went on a quest to track down the record, which was available briefly on CD in France and has seen sporadic, grassroots distribution here in America. I discovered that the original LP traded for pretty serious money, and was one of esteemed director Pedro Almodóvar's favorite albums. After having the luck and solid detective skills to find a well-loved copy of the original LP at a steal of a price, I understood why; this album is one of a kind, familiar yet strangely alien, tapping into feelings and moods you've heard before yet presented in a fashion so simultaneously clear-cut and shrouded in mystery, it's practically tailor-made for passionate obsession. At around 300 pounds, Freddy's physical stature gave her contralto voice a bewitching, androgynous sound that often reminds me of a Cuban precursor to Antony Hegarty and the same sad, forlorn nightclubs and cabarets are conjured up as the places where these figures haunt with their powerful yet spectral songs. Freddy is backed by the arrangements of Humberto Suárez, who gives these songs a gorgeous blend of noirish afterhours jazz peppered with organ, brass, softly percolating Latin percussion, and sweeping strings; everything is mapped out with an expert touch, showing restraint and then pouncing forward with emotional torrent as the songs build to emotional climax. She tackles popular boleros of the era as well as giving voice to fantastic versions of Gershwin's "The Man I Love," which opens the album, and an incredible take on Cole Porter's "Night And Day," which slow-burns and pulsates with a fire so intense that I had to stop what I was doing when I first heard it. The record closes with a dark, mind-melting version of "Besame Mucho," moving like a criminal in the shadows, ready to mug your senses until her final exaltation at album's end. I seriously cannot express how deeply I was moved by this LP, and how much I've listened to it since I first discovered it a few months back. I don't want to pigeonhole any potential listeners by saying "fans of this should give it a chance," because honestly, this is one of those albums that everyone should hear at least once before they die. This is passion on wax and plastic, captured for your enjoyment, your torment, your rabid consumption. If anything I've said in this overview has piqued your interest, listen to the soundclips and give it a shot. I'm not sure when we'll see this again, or for how long, so don't sleep. Absolute highest recommendation, but you knew that already, didn't you? [IQ]

		$13.99 CD $18.99 LP $9.99 MP3   STEPHIN MERRITT Obscurities (Merge) "I Don't Believe You" "Yet Another Girl" Behind the counter at the shop, pinned on top of decade-old post-it notes and setlists from many of the great bands that have played at Other Music, hangs a New York Times crossword puzzle that a lot of people notice and smile at. A hastily scrawled label, like a tag at the Museum of Natural History, informs customers that the clipping is "Stephin Merritt's Unfinished NY Times Crossword: $99.99." The puzzle is indeed Mr. Merritt's, left behind at an event held at the shop for the opening of the Strange Powers documentary (no, it's not for sale). I think that Magnetic Fields fans get a kick out of this curio because it seems like a bookish, revealing artifact about a bookish, reclusive songwriter. A tossed-off crossword from Stephin Merritt is like a tossed-off meatball and bacon sandwich from Elvis, or a spent cigarette butt from Serge Gainsbourg; all of these items can seem like talismans, sparking heretofore unknown insights about their owners. Obscurities, a compilation of rare Merritt recordings from his Merge years (1994-99), is a much more revealing version of our ratty, clipped-out crossword. The 14 tracks in the collection span a lot of time, genres, and fidelities. There are songs from early singles, like the trippily loop-based "Rats in the Garbage of the Western World," and the jaunty, inverted Buddy Holly riff of "Beach-a-Boop-Boop." Alongside those concentrated dips into different genre pools are sweet, naked moments like "The Sun and the Sea and the Sky," a lonesome acoustic tune that didn't fit into the arc of 69 Love Songs. Some of my favorite Magnetic Fields songs are the ones that flirt with '80s dance pop, and that makes "Yet Another Girl," one of Merritt's compositions with the 6ths, one of them, thanks to its jumpy, adolescent groove (a beat that wouldn't sound out of place in a John Hughes soundtrack). For Merritt completists, the real gems will be the songs from the man's unfinished science fiction musical, The Song from Venus. The musical's title track is a bubbly bit of orchestral, Forbidden Planet-esque playfulness. "Forever and a Day" could very well be the musical's emotional centerpiece, placed at the end of the second act when the protagonist and the alien fall in love with each other. I'm just speculating with regard to the plot, but the sentiment is so beautifully and simply written that such a scenario doesn't even seem far-fetched -- just sentimental. By the end of Obscurities, I don't think we know any more or any less about Merritt's songwriting process, and ultimately it's not really our place to know. But this collection does reveal the sides of Merritt that we already loved -- his playfulness, his joyfulness, his ruefulness -- with songs that most of us have never heard before. As an album, it's is not the meticulous pop presentation we have come to expect from Merritt, but it's a great batch of lost gems from one of the modern era's best songwriters. [MS]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   CHARLES "PACKY" AXTON Late Late Party 1965-67 (Light in the Attic) "No Ending" Stacy Lane "Key Chain" The Martinis With such fare like "Memphis" currently playing on Broadway, the fine reissue imprint Light in the Attic should be commended for releasing this fascinating document of one Charles "Packy" Axton, who in the words of liner note writer Andria Lisle, was "a phantom hovering on the edge of the frame." But he was also the life of the party and one of the catalysts for the mixing of white and black musicians in the late 50s and early 60s down in segregated Memphis that made soul music possible. He was a bandmate of future Stax linchpins Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn and for good reason, as his mother and his uncle started the label. He was a member of the Mar-Keys, the label's main instrumental group, and blew saxophone on their earliest sides. So the comp promises and deals in that gritty and festive sound that defined those early Stax 45s. Fitting, one of the first sounds you hear on Late Late Party is the pouring of a drink. For it was well known that Packy liked to tipple, to the detriment of his career and ultimately his health. But as is often the case with drink, when the good times were on, they were rolling. Opener "Holiday Cheer" should become an office party staple for eggnog and snogging while the more soulful "Hung Over" features a very peculiar grunt from the man himself. And then there's the bizarre kazoo solo powering "Hip Pocket." Other instrumentals like "South American Robot" and "Key Chain" feature future Al Green/ Cat Power players like "Teeny" Hodges while "Hole in the Wall" is essentially an augmented version of Booker T. and the MGs with Packy on horn and a conga player. Basically, fans of that Memphis Sound (this comp also draws from sessions at Ardent and Hi Studios) will need this. [AB]

		$14.99 12"   ACE & THE SANDMAN / JAMIE PRINCIPLE House of Trax Vol. 3 (Rush) We managed to score some copies of the House of Trax Vol. 3 reissue, which is filled with the kind of early acid house that would have influenced late-'80s/early-'90s Warp artists like Tricky Disco, LFO or Sweet Exorcist. Think bleepy acid-pop with moody synths throughout, but with rawer, post-hip-hop/soul vocals that bring it all down to earth while being totally specific to the genre and time. Honestly, skipping ahead to the Jamie Principle tracks, I almost missed Ace and the Sandman's "Let Your Body Talk." A perfect cross between early acid, Italo disco and '80s soul-infused house, it's the sleeper hit of the EP, filled with bubbling bass lines, synth chords and well-placed vocal bits. But I digress. The centerpieces of this 12" have to be the classic Jamie Principle jams, "It's a Cold World" and "Bad Boy," both cuts featuring pre-Warp style bleep with that minor-key synth wash, clap-like snare hits, and seductive, dark, sweaty, hedonistic vocals. During "It's a Cold War," Principle pleads, "Oh Mommy...please understand...I'm just trying to be me!" while in "Bad Boy," he comes across more self-assured and liberated, proclaiming "Well, you might call me a queer, you might call me a freak...I'm just a bad boy." These two tracks lie in the perfect crux between early homemade acid house and the moody new wave that came right before. Both are absolute Jamie Principle must-haves, plus this EP includes two takes of "Bad Boy:" the slower, sleazier Ron Hardy version (which sounds much better here than the bootlegs out there) and the uptempo original. [SM]

		$13.99 12"   MOVE D Workshop 13 (Workshop) The Workshop label has been putting out some raw-ass, leftfield, and most importantly, special underground house music for a solid 13-release run now. From Lowtec and Kassem Mosse, to uber-underground heads like Schweiz Rec. and Madteo, almost every one of these records could be considered essential -- some deep, deep shit of rare quality, usually created with a less obvious, less synthetic sound. So for a label like this to join forces again with the impeccable Move D, a much respected, legend-status elder statesman in his own right, and curator of the excellent Source Recordings label...it's just too promising! What we have here are three gorgeous tracks, the A-side being a side-long, gently cut-up number that utilizes Move D's patented, ultra-refined ability to infuse jazz and soul into electronic house -- a la Prince-like snare hits, vocal snippets, and electric guitar licks, even -- while keeping it both distinct and effortlessly edgy. (A higher-fi, more architectural take on Moodymann, perhaps?) An effective combination of modern house, jazz, soul and effervescent disco, the sound palette sits just outside its reference points, the perfect middle-ground between Workshop and Move D: a raw, synth-acoustic aesthetic and swinging mid-tempo vibe, impeccably produced and arranged. The first cut on the B-side is a slightly more thumping, driving, hypnotic track that adds some soft stabs of piano and other mesmerizing tech-house elements and nicely recalls pre-Metro Area Morgan Geist, while the closer sounds like a Roxy Music instrumental (a la "Avalon"), and is a perfect slow jam to round out this top-notch, versatile EP. These will not last long, buy now or pray for a repress! Recommended!! [SM]

		$12.99 CD $12.99 LP $6.99 MP3   MIKE SIMONETTI Capricorn Rising EP (Italians Do It Better) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Released on his own Italians Do It Better imprint, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Mike Simonetti's solo debut of original material plays out like a cosmic cruise across the disco autobahn. However, where the night drives that IDIB friends like Glass Candy/Chromatics and Desire take most often lead to glamorous, after-hours locales, Capricorn Rising's route is far more expansive and scenic. Opener "The Third of the Storms" is a blissful eight-minute, slo-mo disco journey with smooth-voiced Aussie hitmaker Sam Sparro softly crooning over a gentle pulsing rhythm and Pop Ambient-styled washes of keys and synths, complete with a few beatless, pastoral detours. (Two more variations of this track appear later -- a vocal version during the middle of the EP and an instrumental take which closes out Capricorn Rising.) The BPMs pick up for "Song for Luca" as chilly synthesizers swell and chime over a house beat, while the free-floating "Dust Devil" filters the spacey ambience of mid-'70s era Tangerine Dream through an eerie, hauntological lens. The EP finally reaches its climax with title track "Capricorn Rising" as sheets of synths and guitar ice over a subtle Moroder-esque pulse, resulting in a dark, Italo disco thriller that's as cinematic as its name implies. [GH]

		$15.99 CD   DEEPCHORD Hash-Bar Loops (Soma) "Sofitel" "Balm" Recorded (as one might expect from the title) during a stay in Amsterdam, Rod Modell returns once more as Deepchord with the exquisite Hash-Bar Loops. No stranger to all things minimal/dub-inflected techno, Modell has released a number of great records over the past few years, some solo (like 2007's Incense & Black Light) and others in communion with Stephen Hitchell as Echospace (like last year's thoroughly great Liumin). Balanced neatly between echoing ambient pieces and warm, thudding beats, these twelve tracks find Modell in fine form throughout, as he weaves an album of delicate, yet strongly propulsive textures that flow effortlessly from one set of ideas of emotional touch points to the next. His attention to detail is exceedingly keen as well, as shown by the faded organ chords and vocal snippets that haunt the background of "Merlot," or the swells of gauzy static that periodically punctuate "Electromagnetic." Later on, he effortlessly incorporates street noise and the sounds of crowds through both "Oude Kerk" and "City Centre," adding a bit of grounding to the latter before a breezy melodic drone slowly slides to the surface. Another great record from a guy who has quietly and unassumingly been assembling a discography stacked with them for years now, Hash-Bar Loops is required 2011 listening for anyone who's ever been smitten with an Echospace release, or any of their obvious influential forefathers (Pole, Basic Channel, Vladislav Delay). [MC]

		$11.99 12"   JAMES BLAKE Order / Pan (Hemlock) James Blake doesn't sing on his new single for Hemlock. The Order 12" contains two instrumentals that sound like they could have been made prior to his full-length album, as if Blake is stepping back for a breather after all the hype and success that has followed him since that debut. The track "Pan" is a spacious and minimal series of percussion hits, a stretched-out and dirty synth patch, and insect-like high hats. Things move slow, sometimes slightly fading out to resurface a little stronger and with added sonics; it's a seesaw of two patterns that grows more complex as the five-and-a-half minute track creeps forward. On the flip, the four-and-a-half minute title track is a muffled, blown-out bass bin thump, with nervous shakers and intersecting cowbell taps. This one is a swirling yet steady trip with clipped snares, reversed cymbals, and a slow-motion feel, like waiting for a helicopter to take off that never does, just sitting there with propellers spinning. It's a solid record, but really this is for the fan who must have everything that Blake does; neither track has the strong sense of personality or emotion that Blake so clearly brought to some of his other singles, and these cuts seem stiff in comparison. Not designed for the dance floor, and a dry and barren vocal-less landscape in headphones -- maybe that's the point. [DG]

		$11.99 CD $13.99 LP $9.99 MP3   GANGLIANS Still Living (Lefse) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store When Ganglians first made a splash a couple of years ago with a pair of releases on Brooklyn's Woodsist label, they stood a little ways apart from their lo-fi peers like Kurt Vile, Woods, and Vivian Girls; instead of staking out a musical era and burning the edges of the magnetic tape, the band crafted a sound that lifted a little of everything from a lot of places. They could crank out a West African highlife beat and supplant a little twangy surf guitar on top, garnish the whole thing with some killer CSNY vocal harmonies, and, somewhat surprisingly, it all sounded pretty natural and right. Ganglians have been a little quiet for the past two years, but with the aptly titled full-length Still Living, the band turns loose a record that successfully washes away their lo-fi beginnings, and brings them closer in sound and style to contemporary indie powerhouse groups like Local Natives and Suckers. Graduating from the four-track is a great look for this band. The straight rock and roll tendencies are still there, but epic vocal work has always been Ganglians' secret weapon, and with producer Robby Moncrief (Dirty Projectors) at the helm, the heaven-reaching harmonies are brought to the fore. The band's swirl of styles is most apparent on songs like "Jungle," where fuzzy Link Wray guitars share sonic space with the oaken voices of lead singer Ryan Grubbs and company. Other highlights include "Good Times," which is simpler and surfier than many of the more ambitious, darker cuts here. Still Living is a more complex record than most people will be expecting from a band that came to light in the lo-fi flowering a few years back; it deserves comparison to a few other percussion-heavy indie pop albums from the past year, like Wild Beasts' Smother, Asobi Seksu's Fluorescence, and last year's Gorilla Manor from Local Natives. [MS]

		$16.99 CD $18.99 LPx2   VARIOUS ARTISTS West Indies Funk 3 (Trans Air) "Funky Abbey Road" Original Tropicana Steel Band "Make It Funky" Silvertones The West Indies Funk series returns with its third installment, and while I found myself a bit let down by Volume Two's lack of distinct Carib flavor, it's back in full force on this new one, with a heavy emphasis on steel pan bands offering up wonderful covers of funk and soul classics. The record opens with Original Tropicana Steel Band's "Funky Abbey Road," all skittering drums and chicken scratch guitars overtop a rich bed of low-end pan harmonics. They also deliver a wicked instrumental version of "Ain't No Sunshine," where the pans really get to deliver the dark emotion in the song's melody, and a sharp break-fest called "Calypso Rock." There are great covers of "Cissy Strut," "Make It Funky," and a weird, wild version of Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra," here titled "2001" (of course). The real highlights for me, though, and the tracks that make this totally essential for groovehounds, are Sapodilla Punch's wicked version of Sam & Dave's "Hold On (I'm Coming)," with female vocals and a razor sharp pan groove, and "The Devil's Out Tonight" by Carl McNight's Sweat and Steel Drum Band, with nicely amateurish, folky call-and-response vocals and some white-hot drumming, and Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers doing Gwen McRae's "90 Percent of Me Is You," which sounds like J-Dilla after too many piña coladas. After all of these comps have rocked my summer listening in a serious way, I've got to say that Volume Three probably wins out as the best, most consistent overall. If you've shown the Esso Trinidad Steel Band record produced by Van Dyke Parks any love, you need this in your life; it's got a similar vibe, with the song selection mapping out an equal spread of soul, rock, and classical covers, all done with hefty spoonfuls of inspiration. [IQ]

		$114.99 LPx4   TARA CROSS Tara Cross 1982-89 - 4LP Box Set (Vinyl-On-Demand) Over the last several years, Germany's Vinyl-On-Demand has quietly released some of the most beautiful and complete minimal synth and industrial reissues. Something of the quintessential boutique label, VOD releases are a completist's dream come true; usually housed in elaborate packaging, these sets are expertly archived appraisals of some of the rarest synth material. Of course, they are also extremely limited. We've been fortunate to get a hold of a few copies of one of the latest VOD releases, which features NYC-based avant-synth artist Tara Cross and compiles her cassette releases, compilation appearances and collaborations over four LPs. This one is sure to please fans of lo-fi, bedroom synth experimentalism. Created with a meager set-up of an Electro-Harmonix mini synth, a cheap rhythm box and voice, Cross' body of work avoids the trappings of conventional synth-pop in favor of a unique approach to electronic creation that feels completely her own. The music here is haunting, ephemeral and stripped down to the point where many of these tracks nearly verge on pure ambience. Yet, there remains a playfulness and adventurousness that falls in line with a DIY mentality that keeps things varied and interesting. From the brief, pop exercises on the Spurt Ditties cassette from '82 to the dark, woozy experimentalism of her later '80s output, Cross truly captures the creativity of the era's underground cassette culture. You may be familiar with a couple of her pieces from recent appearances on Minimal Wave compilations, but with 65 tracks total, this set really does go above and beyond -- there's just so much excellent, odd and often beautiful material here that the hefty price tag seems justifiable. While this is certainly not meant for the casual minimal synth fan, those dedicated to ultra-minimal, innovative and unconventional synth music will be pleased with how much excellent material there is here. This set is limited to 600 copies in a gorgeous embossed canvas box, and like all VOD reissues, will likely become a sought after collector's item before you're finished reading this Update. A truly stunning release. [CPa] We also have extremely limited quantities of the Portion Control and Psyche from Vinyl-On-Demand. Email orders@othermusic.com for more information.

		$14.99 CD+DVD   MANOREXIA Dinoflagellate Blooms (Ectopic Ents) "Anabiosis" "Hydrofrack" Composer JG Thirlwell returns to his Manorexia guise after releasing one of the best records of his career as Foetus last year. Manorexia has always been my favorite of Thirlwell's numerous projects, focusing on sinister mutations of chamber music, classical forms, and twisting the more traditional orchestral palette in rather untraditional ways. The new Dinoflagellate Blooms, his fourth album under this name, reworks pieces originally commissioned for the Bang on a Can ensemble, as well as giving us new works that combine textural instrumental preparation, grand orchestral sweep and bombast, gamelan-inspired rhythmic hypnotism, and musique concrete manipulation. The album is offered as a CD/DVD set, with the CD giving you traditional stereo while the DVD offers you a complete brainf**k in full 5.1 surround sound! Even in the already-experimental contexts he's working in, Thirlwell impressively branches the project's sound further outwards than ever before; "Krzystl" and "Kinaesthesia" evoke the concrete soundscapes of Luc Ferrari or Bernard Parmegiani, mixing the sounds of bug zappers, overlapping breaths, dial tones, and layers of bowed metal amongst spectral string drones and cavernous atmospheres. "A Plastic Island in the Pacific" is a particular highlight, its dense soundclouds recalling an orchestra playing something off of Fennesz's work for the Mego label, while "Ten Ton Shadow" recalls Jean-Claude Vannier's instrumental rearrangements of French songsmith Georges Brassens, with wheezing, seasick accordions and strings swaying across small fragments of tinkling bells and droning organs. This is classical music for the noise set, or noise music for the classical set; it's consistently impressive how well Thirlwell manages to straddle both sides of the coin while never settling for it to fall on just one face. That he's kept up the quality for this long is true testament to his skills as a composer; his work is always intense, but it's doubly rewarding, and on Dinoflagellate Blooms, he's reaping serious creative rewards. [IQ]

		$13.99 CD $15.99 LP $9.99 MP3   CANON BLUE Rumspringa (Temporary Residence) "Bows & Arrows (Vegas)" "Honeysuckle (Milwaukee)" When you hear Daniel James begin to sing on Canon Blue's sophomore LP, Rumspringa, it comes as a bit of a shock; situated among the driving percussion and big band brass of "Chicago (Chicago)," his Chris Martin croon sounds out of place. His melodies and rhythms are a concoction prepared from the Jim O'Rourke and Badly Drawn Boy cookbook of pop; there are jazzy inflections, big hooks, fat electric beats, unexpected harmonies, and a good many twists and turns propelling the record along. On "Indian Summer (Des Moines)" those ingredients are used to leaven a sentimental mood, while elsewhere, as on "Heavy Heart (Minneapolis A)," they add up to orchestral pop grandeur, with twirling strings and glittering electronic accompaniment providing all the weight and drama. His recipe is entirely maximal, so it isn't surprising that his voice sounds small next to the cellos, trombones, and small digital orchestrations that make this music go. James' pop vision is a singular one, which can fit into a variety of contexts; his summer touring has included a string of dates with L.A. indie-pop pretty boys Foster the People, and also a birthday tribute for minimalist composer Steve Reich. Much of the orchestral bang on Rumspringa is provided by Amiina, the Icelandic string quartet probably best known for supporting Sigur Ros. When they're not busy winding themselves into a precise rhythmic tension, they're delivering taut, utterly simple expressions that sweep James' voice right out from under him. On "Honeysuckle (Milkwaukee)" they give the chorus its weightlessness, and on "Lulls (Memphis)" their gently glowing tones practically make the song. But it's James' skill as a composer and producer that truly takes center stage here. There's a hint of drum 'n' bass at points, and the influence of several other electronic precedents show themselves on songs like "Velveteenager (Minneapolis B)" and "A Native (Madison)." Both Aniima and James himself are melted into this unlikely compound, but his personal side survives the process. There's a bittersweet lyricism underscoring his musical motions, and that's why his singing is so shocking. Despite the electronic and underground influences, Canon Blue's second effort is ultimately a pop record with some serious compositional muscle. I suspect it will win many people over for precisely that reason. [LS]

		$9.99 CD   ACTIVE CHILD You Are All I See (Vagrant) "Hanging On" "High Priestess" Vagrant Records have been diversifying their roster of late, moving further and further from the emo-pop-punk sound that made the venerable Santa Monica indie label, but the debut full-length from L.A.'s Pat Grossi, a/k/a Active Child, is a curveball few could have expected. Coming off like Bon Iver embracing his inner Destiny's Child, or James Blake raised on synth-pop (Alphaville anyone?) and hip-hop rather than dubstep, this is a blissed-out, blown-out pop record that has been causing some serious waves in Los Angeles; look out world. Grossi's bell-clear falsetto and effect-laden harp drive these songs, and there are a handful of irresistible hits on here, starting with the How To Dress Well collaboration "Playing House," but including about half of the album. It's not for everyone, surely not everyone who loves other Vagrant stalwarts like the Hold Steady, Dashboard Confessional or the Get Up Kids -- I mean, this is slow jam, sexed-up, smooth new age R&B without posturing or irony -- but it's a pretty solid, maybe even a stunning album, from a burgeoning new star. [JM]

		$8.99 CD $9.99 10"   DOM Family of Love EP (Astralwerks) Massachusetts-based weirdo electro-psychedelic stoners Dom return with a great little record (it's less than 20-minutes long) that turns the coming-to-you-from-the-bottom-of-a-deep-well sound of their excellent Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP on its ear. Recorded with Nicholas Vernhes at Brooklyn's Rare Book Room, the record fully realizes the many layers and nuances that the earlier stuff only hinted at, with a multicolored, lush sound that is just as playful and impromptu, but with much more depth.

		$31.99 CDx4+Booklet   MICKEY NEWBURY An American Trilogy (Drag City) "Sunshine" "San Francisco Mable Joy" Back in print and now housed in more affordable packaging. Drag City does right by Mickey Newbury, one of the greatest American singer-songwriters of all time, by returning his three most crucial albums to the shelves in this four-disc set, including an amazing fourth disc of never-before-released outtakes, publishing demos, and live sessions that equals much of what you hear on his properly released records. Newbury was inarguably one of the most ambitious and talented songwriters to ever grace the streets of Nashville, a man held in awe by such peers as Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Even if you've never heard him, you've undoubtedly heard his songs, as performed by many dozens of artists of note during the 1960s and '70s. Despite never having much chart success, I've always felt Newbury was his own best interpreter -- he claimed that he "wrote through his sadness," and there's always a depth of melancholy soul in his performances that even his greatest interpreters could never match. The three albums at the heart of this box set, Looks Like Rain, Frisco Mabel Joy and Heaven Help the Child, were recorded between 1969 and 1973, and are somewhat thematically linked, with Looks Like Rain being to my ears his crowning achievement. One of the most intimate records imaginable, filled with many moments of quiet, stark, heartbreaking material, Newbury totally expanded the parameters of country music with this album -- pushing song lengths past the eight-minute mark, transitioning each track with the ambient sounds of rain, trains, and ghostly humming, and alternating neo-realistic story-songs with moments of clever, nearly oblique wordplay, such as: It's the thirty-third of August and you're finally touching' ground Eight days from Sunday finds you Saturday bound or Tea total Tommy took a toke of tea Black cat backin' up a big oak tree Tick tock ticking' out of tune on time Last word lookin' for a line to rhyme Saw fish swimmin' in a sea saw sea And me - I'm only lookin' I could probably spend the rest of this review just quoting lyrics, his writing is of such a high caliber, but I suppose you could get the point simply enough with a few song titles: "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye," "I Don't Think About Her No More," "The Future's Not What It Used to Be" (insanely great, that one). The next two albums after It Looks Like Rain explored similar territory, albeit somewhat more succinctly, and feature many of his greatest songs: "How Many Times (Must the Piper Be Paid for His Song)," "Remember the Good," "Sunshine," "Sweet Memories," etc. There's barely an unmoving moment across these albums, and rarely has the pain and sadness and sardonic humor to be found in a man's life been manifested in such lovely form. [MK]

		PHONE ORDERS Phone orders are accepted at (212) 477-8150 (ext. #2, mailorder) Mon-Fri, Noon - 7pm EST EMAIL For general inquiries or other information please email sales@othermusic.com. Do not reply to this message. REMOVE This is an automated list. If you would like to be removed for any reason, please visit: digital.othermusic.com/subscribe.php   THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [AB] Adrian Burkholder [MC] Michael Crumsho [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [JM] Josh Madell [SM] Scott Mou [CPa] Chris Pappas [LS] Lucas Schleicher [MS] Michael Stasiak THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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