May 26, 2011

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Boris Amon Tobin Thurston Moore Mickey Newbury (CD Box Set) Cambodia Rock Spectacular 2 (Various) Gene Hunt Presents Chicago Dance Tracks Bohannon Friendly Fires BART: Bay Area Retrograde LP Robag Wruhme Hyetal Liturgy Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (4 Deluxe CD Reissues)     ALSO AVAILABLE Ran Blake Delta Swamp Rock (Soul Jazz Comp.) Deep Magic LP White Denim Eternal Summers 12" EP GusGus Terea Glasvegas Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

		MAY Sun 29 Mon 30 Tues 31 Wed 01 Thurs 02 Fri 03 Sat 04   ROCKS-OFF CONCERT CRUISE WITH DAM-FUNK & MASTER BLAZTER, STEVE ARRINGTON + MORE After a bit of a hiatus, Dam-Funk returns to the Big Apple, and this appearance is not to be missed. Stepping things up from his solo live performance last year aboard the Temptress, LA's Ambassador of Boogie Funk is bringing out his live band Master Blazter for this Memorial Day concert cruise aboard the Queen of the Hearts, and also welcoming legendary funkster Steve Arrington of Slave(!!!), Bryant K and a DJ set from Beautiful Swimmers. We've got two pairs of tickets up for grabs, just email enter@othermusic.com to put your name in the skipper's hat. We'll notify the winners on Friday. MONDAY, MAY 30 ROCKS OFF CONCERT CRUISE ABOARD THE QUEEN OF HEARTS: Pier 40. W. Houston St. at West Side Highway, NYC Boards 6PM | Departure 7PM

		JUN Sun 29 Mon 30 Tues 31 Wed 01 Thurs 02 Fri 03 Sat 04   WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS TICKET GIVEAWAY Truly unclassifiable in the best way possible, Swedish experimental pop duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums' North American tour in support of their wonderful Rivers album comes through New York City on Friday, June 3 at Mercury Lounge and the following night at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg. We've got a pair of tickets to give away to each of these nights; just email tickets@othermusic.com to enter (and list which show you'd like to see in the header if you have a preference). We'll notify the two winners on Tuesday, May 31. FRIDAY, JUNE 3 MERCURY LOUNGE: 217 E. Houston St. NYC SATURDAY, JUNE 4 MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG: 66 N. 6th Street, BKLN

		JUN Sun 05 Mon 06 Tues 07 Wed 08 Thurs 09 Fri 10 Sat 11   Sun 19 Mon 20 Tues 21 Wed 22 Thurs 23 Fri 24 Sat 25 Heresy of the Free Spirit Iceage   UPCOMING IN-STORE PERFORMANCES CULTS: MONDAY, JUNE 6 @ 8 p.m. We're excited to welcome Cults who will be playing live at Other Music on the eve of the release of their much-anticipated debut full-length. We'll have copies of this enigmatic pop duo's new, self-titled album available for purchase that night, so you can be the first on your block to own a copy. Cults' set was great at Other Music and Dig For Fire's Lawn Party at SXSW earlier this year, and you can watch some of the highlights of that performance right here. HERESY OF THE FREE SPIRIT & PAUL METZGER: THURSDAY, JUNE 9 @ 8:30PM Featuring lutenist Jozef Van Wissem and multi-instrumentalists Robbie Lee and Che Chen, Heresy of the Free Spirit plays Van Wissem's arrangements of lute compositions and improvisations that draw on early music, folk traditions, modern composition and noise. Their set will be followed by a performance from Paul Metzger, whose singular brand of solo banjo music is equally influenced by American primitive, Indian raga, and Middle Eastern tonality. ICEAGE: WEDNEDSAY, JUNE 22 @ 8PM These young Copehenhagen punks have already sold out a couple of small-label pressings of their first album, New Brigade, and Brooklyn's What's Your Rupture? is stepping up to the plate to give the record a proper North American release on Tuesday, June 21. The following night, Iceage will be celebrating its release playing a set of their exhilarating post-punk/hardcore at Other Music. OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street, NYC Free Admission | Limited Capacity

		JUN Sun 05 Mon 06 Tues 07 Wed 08 Thurs 09 Fri 10 Sat 11   WIN TICKETS TO BUSH TETRAS Bush Tetras was one of the most important groups to emerge from New York's punk/no wave scene during the late '70s and early '80s, revered by countless bands through the years, from the Clash to Sonic Youth to LCD Soundsystem. Recently featured in the Blank City documentary, which just finished its extended run at the IFC, and on the heels of the release of a limited 7" featuring the original 99 Records recording of "Too Many Creeps" and "You Can't Be Funky," the group will be performing at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Friday, June 10th. Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets that you can enter for by emailing giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners on Monday, June 6. FRIDAY, JUNE 10 (LE) POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleecker St. NYC

		$14.99 CD $26.99 LPx2 $14.99 CD $23.99 LP   BORIS Heavy Rocks 2011 (Sargent House) "Riot Sugar" "Tu, La La" BORIS Attention Please (Sargent House) "Attention Please" "Les Paul Custom '86" For a while there, it seemed like Japanese polymaths Boris were everywhere. Gradually evolving from an epic doom/sludge metal band to one that pulled as much from noise, classic psychedelic rock, and shoegaze, the trio spent much of our current century either on tour, or releasing full-lengths and collaborations at an increasingly rapid clip. After 2008's Smile, though, drummer Atsuo, guitarist Wata, and bassist Takeshi seemed to go silent, save for a few singles that trickled out a couple of years back, and a couple of collections that just seemed to be tying up loose ends. It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, that for their first full-length in three years, the band release not one, but two albums on the same day, with both Attention Please and Heavy Rocks coming via their new Sargent House imprint. Given their fascination with channeling the sound and visual style of a lot of their influences, one would be forgiven for fearing that the simultaneous album release signals some misguided channeling of the bloated 1990s corpse of Guns 'n' Roses. Instead, we find Boris splitting the impulses they've embraced over the past few years into two distinct programmes -- one embracing their more overt rock tendencies, with another devoted to more further flung sounds and ideas. That it's named Heavy Rocks to begin with should give you a bit of an indication as to what's in store on the first of these two new discs. After all, that title was used once in 2002 for an album that first found Boris streamlining their approach to embrace more straight-ahead rock and punk moves. Though the content here is entirely different, it still largely holds to the same impulses, kicking off with the crunch and roar of "Riot Sugar" before launching headlong into the screaming guitar solos of "Leak -Truth,yesnoyesnoyes-". But while the focus of the album is undoubtedly tracks like those, the band also make room for more extended takes on the type of psychedelic ambiance found on albums like 2000s Flood, as both "Aileron" and "Missing Pieces" work their way through gradual builds that are punctuated by punishing noise and feedback. If the new Heavy Rocks highlights where Boris has been in the past, delivering essentially a summary of their more rock impulses to date, then Attention Please is the curveball. Ostensibly a showcase for guitarist Wata to take her turn in front of the mic, the ten cuts gathered here find the band trying on a variety of new sounds and styles. Tracks like "Party Boy" border on some hybridized form of electro-pop, with Wata's vocals drifting across a grungy bassline and a steady drum thump before opening up. The whole album expertly establishes an almost dream-like quality, with distant drums and scorching guitars wandering off into the distance of "Tokyo Wonder Land," while reverb laces the sparse and oddly beautiful ballad "You." There's even a slight version of "Aileron" on here as well, paring the original epic down to a quick two minute duet for guitars. Ultimately, it's good to see that any layoff hasn't negatively impacted Boris' ability to both deliver the goods for which they have become known and push their sound in new directions. [MC]

		$12.99 CD $21.99 LP+MP3 $29.99 BOOK+CD   AMON TOBIN ISAM (Ninja Tune) "Surge" "Mass & Spring" Throughout the last heyday of electronic music (the '90s), some of the edgiest and freshest music coming from the UK included Autechre (the minimalist), Matthew Herbert (the avant-garde), and Amon Tobin (the breakbeat wonder kid). Each of theses artists presented a new take on electronic composition built from an array of samples, found sounds, self-created noises, and a vivid imagination of what their combinations could bring about. With 1997's watershed Bricolage and the following year's excellent Permutation, the Brazilian born, UK-based Tobin would utilize thousands of record samples in creating his spastic, elastic, swirling, and stuttering brand of music -- then known as drum-n-bass. Over the next decade, he'd continue to mature, soon replacing his vast LP collection with live, acoustic and natural sounds, and it all culminated in 2007's surprisingly great The Foley Room. Now with the release of his tenth album (seventh for Ninja Tune), Tobin again steps forward in his study of sound design, ISAM being a collection of textured and melodic pieces completely composed from self-created sounds, which he then manipulated through state-of-the-art software and hardware. Like Hebert, Tobin favors the use of household items like old rocking chairs, light bulbs, springs, tools, etc. The results are great, and while you still hear his trademarked breakbeat inflections, hip-hop informed beat patterns, jazzy interludes and abstract chord structures, the actual sound has been completely re-envisioned. His always-cinematic constructions play more like dramatic film scores here; the use of familiar and natural sound elements never lose their organic origins, even as they are pushed, pulled, shrunken and expanded into an array of atmospheres. It's a compelling concept and honestly, the results are hard to describe. While the first several minutes of ISAM are slightly chaotic, about a third of the way in the album suddenly opens into a wide, spacious place. The sounds are distilled a bit and not jerked around as much, yet it's still almost impossible to grasp what you are actually listening to beyond the melody. It becomes more and more clear that the bass lines are not from a bass, the beats are not from drums, all of the traditional instruments replaced by sculpted sounds. It's a giant leap for Tobin as a producer -- he even sings on two pieces -- while still being a natural progression from all the great places he has taken us before in the past. For those of you that don't know the man, ISAM is an excellent place to start, and if you're already acquainted with this breakbeat boy from Brazil, this is all the reason you need for a re-introduction. Fans of a wide array of labels including Type, Ghost Box, Leaf and Warp will find much to love here. Think Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma minus the 'beats,' meets the Focus Group with some rhythm -- it's psychedelic, atmospheric, driving at times, confrontational, complex, and overall, hauntingly beautiful. The CD is also available in a beautiful limited art book edition, aptly subtitled Control over Nature, which contains images by artist Tessa Farmer, and an essay by John Doran of the Quitetus. [DG] Enter to win an extremely limited LP edition of ISAM, autographed by Amon Tobin, email: enter@othermusic.com. And while supplies last, CD and LP purchase comes with a limited edition postcard pack, featuring images created by Tessa Farmer.

		$13.99 CD $19.99 LPx2+MP3 $9.99 MP3   THURSTON MOORE Demolished Thoughts (Matador) "Benediction" "Orchard Street" Thurston Moore is the icon at the heart of one of "alternative" music's most iconic groups; Sonic Youth have been at the figurative center of the American scene since the dawn of the '80s, and while they have always been a band made up of several strong, essential personalities, Moore seems to tower over the group both physically and spiritually. His taste, knowledge and passion for the underground has launched too many careers to even list; of course there was Nirvana, but moreover there have been countless impenetrable noise bands, poets and sonic weirdos that he has continued to champion tirelessly. And yet, Moore's solo career, which encompasses myriad noise improv albums, oddball collaborations, as well as a pair of earlier "pop" records, has always been as quirky and surprising as his own tastes are -- it seems that he makes solo records because his need to create extends well beyond the confines of his popular "rock" band, and his vision takes many different forms. On the face of it, it would be easy to see Demolished Thoughts as Moore's "folk" album, maybe call it "pop-folk," as it was produced by longtime SY-friend Beck Hansen, whose soulful orchestrated production sound of the last few years is very much present here. Indeed, there is a swooning lushness to the sound of this record that is new to the elder statesman of noise guitar, but anything more than a cursory listen will disabuse you from any thoughts of pastoral folk within these grooves. The guitars are mostly acoustic, though still reveling in the odd tunings and creepy keys that Sonic Youth tend to lurk in, and while the core of the band is filled out by the sometimes-bucolic sounds of harp and violin, these songs have a churning, disorienting vibe to them, with long, unsettling instrumental passages and subtle and surprising shifts of tone that do not recall any chamber-folk platter. On a track like whispered "Illuminine," Samara Lubelski's pointed violin melodies dance around the pulsing strum of the acoustic guitars, only to be let loose on the oil-slick of Mary Lattimore's out-of-time harp textures; the seven-minute "Orchard Street" swaggers through a few minutes of hazy storytelling before the band takes off into the hemisphere, giving context to Moore's pin-eyed earthbound ruminations. What is most satisfying here is the unification of his penchant for loose structures and dark textures, with Beck's touch for arrangement and warmly augmented melody. As the core band staggers and swerves, a well-placed piano or nuanced string pizzicato always manages to right them, with the gentlest of nudge one way or another. It's an inspired set of new music from the rare artist who continues to challenge and surprise his listeners when he could easily rest on his laurels and coast. [JM]

		$61.99 CDx4   MICKEY NEWBURY An American Trilogy CD Box Set (Drag City) "Sunshine" "San Francisco" 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 print in a gorgeous box set and series of LP reissues, 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]

		$16.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Groove Club 2: Cambodia Rock Spectacular! (Get on Down) "Khnyom Jah Karake" Tet Somnang & Meas Samon "Satt Thee Thuy" Sinn Sisamouth The market has explained to us time and again, through Sublime Frequencies comps and the OG ripper Cambodian Rocks!: there is a special niche for rock music from the Pacific Rim. That niche gets a new spackling over with Groove Club Vol. 2: Cambodia Rock Spectacular! Feeling FAR less like some sort of exploitative stab at record geeks gawking over James Brown soundalikes grunting over lo-fi rock stubble, this new collection does an admirable job of reaching across the table, making sure that every track presented here holds onto the country's folk traditions, even as they ooze into grimy psychedelic blues or hard-as-nails R&B. That said, the "rock" quotient of this is leveraged a bit with balladry and lounge pop, but that shouldn't really matter in the grand scheme of things; once you get your fix of vocalists Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea, you'll be coming back to the well time and again. [DM]

		$26.99 LPx2   VARIOUS ARTISTS Gene Hunt Presents Chicago Dance Tracks Part 1: A Collection of Unreleased & Uncut Tracks from 1982 to 1989 (Rush Hour) Any classic Chicago house/Trax-related reissue is good news, but this one is truly something special; it's a collection of unreleased reel-to-reel edits (compiled by Chicago DJ/producer Gene Hunt) that were passed around between producers like Farley Jackmaster Funk, Steve Silk Hurley, Larry Heard (Fingers Inc.), Ron Hardy(!), and their friends -- that's right, these are DJ crate ''SECRET WEAPON'' tracks. And the kicker is that it's not just exclusivity that makes these cuts special; they just so happen to be amazing to boot, with not one throwaway in the bunch. One listen and it becomes apparent that these songs are made to be dropped at that special moment, when the entire floor is focused on the music. They are full of everything from a crazy amount of expectation-defying tension to a clobbering sensual overload, all painstakingly designed to take the dancefloor truly somewhere else. Check out Steve Hurley's deep, mental master track "I Don't Know," as it teases and layers tension on the dancefloor so masterfully you'd swear he was broadcasting live and direct to your nervous system. And the total opposite style from legendary Music Box DJ/resident hedonist Ron Hardy with "Sensation," a schizophrenic dancefloor rumbler that cuts in and out of rolling toms and a stuttering clown horn! Other 'hits' collections sound 'fun' and nostalgic but this one really is the sound of people being controlled by music, with tracks you can imagine people really losing it to in the late-'80s/early-'90s Chicago scene. They're just so focused and rich, I haven't heard a compilation this essential/special in eons! Absolute no-brainer here folks, and look out for the Volume 2 LP on the way as well as a full-length CD. [SM]

		$11.99 CD   BOHANNON The Collection (Spectrum) "Come Dance with Me" "Bohannon Disco Sympony" There were an abundance of treasures to be had in Wax Poetics' recent "Dance Issue," ranging from stories on the Belleville Three to Tom Moulton, but the absolute highlight of the issue had to be the profile of onetime Stevie Wonder drummer turned disco and house music progenitor Hamilton Bohannon. Throughout the '70s, "The Mighty" Bohannon's incessant four-on-the-floor drumming style fueled dancers across the country and around the world, and the man inspired everyone from Chicago house DJs to folks like Arthur Russell and the Tom Tom Club. If you don't believe me, listen to "Genius of Love" and wait for the chant of "Bohannon!" Jay-Z even sampled him on Reasonable Doubt. And yet, aside from a Rhino collection from the '90s, there have been no reissues of Bohannon's fantastic run of records on Dakar and Mercury -- and while that Rhino comp covered the early '70s, there was nothing to document the man when he grew more ambitious and funkier at the end of the decade. Thank god for this set, which covers what I consider to be his peak, 1977-1980. You get cuts like the body-moving "Disco Symphony" (elevating beyond what could easily have been total cheese into something seriously deep and funky) and the dancefloor igniter "Let's Start the Dance," powered by the ecstatic vocals of Carolyn Crawford. It also features one the most wicked funk cuts in "I Got to Stay Funky." Fans of dance music from this era and beyond need to familiarize themselves with the man, and this set is a great place to start. [AB]

		$9.99 CD $9.99 MP3   FRIENDLY FIRES Pala (XL) "Live Those Days Tonight" "Hurting" Friendly Fires came out of Hertfordshire, England a few years back, about the time the U.K. was in the final throes of nu rave, but unlike many their British contemporaries, the group seemed a little more interested in the sort of funky post-punk, disco and house music that inspired the U.S. scene around the DFA crew, !!!, et al. The follow-up to their eponymous full-length debut from 2009 now finds the St. Albans trio hit by the Balearic bug that's been working its way through indie-dance acts like Barcelona's Delorean and Philadelphia's Sun Airway. And while the galloping beats and swirling humid synths of Pala may sound familiar, the 4 a.m. bliss here is less druggy, with unabashed pop hooks worn loudly and proudly on Friendly Fires' collective sleeve. The album kicks off with "Live Those Days Tonight," an arms-in-the-air anthem that's propelled by its railroad-chug rhythm and buoyed by singer Ed Macfarlane's passionate, Bono-esque proclamation of, "I'll live, I'll live, I'll live." While restraint may not be in this trio's vocabulary, there are more nuances to Pala than you might expect; "Blue Cassette" deceptively opens with a squelched keyboard mimicking Daft Punk and then immediately veers out of the European discotheque and into the tropics, with island drumming and Technicolor synthesizers and loops matching the euphoria of Macfarlane's nostalgic melody. During "True Lies," Friendly Fires offsets the catchy dance-punk chorus with the verse's quirky Prince-inspired funk, while "Chimes" is a succinct slice of indie-house that dares you not to spill your piña colada, with drummer Jack Savidge's four-on-the-floor time-keeping as relentless as an old 808 beneath the pulsing synths. There's nothing subtle at all about Friendly Fires' music, and even amidst '80s cues like popping bass and Macfarlane's infectious heart-on-the-sleeve melodies, Pala feels very much crafted for the modern iPod age. Almost every track is a bona fide single and as such, listening to the album from start to finish may leave one a little winded by the end. Fans of the aforementioned as well as retro-futurists like Cut Copy and Holy Ghost! shouldn't be deterred though, as these are 11 great new songs perfect for your "Summer Fun" playlist -- just make sure that your iPod is set to shuffle. [GH]

		$17.99 LP   VARIOUS ARTISTS BART: Bay Area Retrograde Vol. 1 (Dark Entries) On its first compilation release, BART: Bay Area Retrograde Vol. 1, the Dark Entries imprint looks to its home turf to assemble some rare-as-hell minimal tracks from the early- to mid-'80s San Francisco scene. Featuring cuts from art-punk stalwarts Los Microwaves, Voice Farm, the Units and a slew of obscurities (Batang Frisco or Wasp Women, anyone?), this collection provides further proof that San Francisco has always been one of the USA's biggest exporters of arty pop weirdness. While there are (thankfully) no Residents or Tuxedomoon rip-offs to be found here, a lot of the bands possess elements of Devo's tight, jerky funk or an adherence to straight-up cold minimalism; standouts include Distant Thunder's lo-fi take on the Human League circa Travelogue and the supremely dark "NFA" by Standards of Living. There's definitely something here for every synth lover here, yet the inclusion of the electro classic "Castro Boy" by Danny Boy & the Serious Party Gods is definitely the highlight for me. Originally released in 1983, the track fetched some pretty intense collector's prices after being included on Internet radio station Cybernetic Broadcast System's top 100 Italo/electro tracks of 2004. Referencing the slick, Hi-NRG sound of Patrick Cowley and the gay disco classic "Cruisin' the Streets" by San Francisco's Boys Town Gang, "Castro Boy" hilariously depicts the seedy underworld of SF nightlife against a hard-hitting arpeggiated synth line -- it's just such a killer electro stomper. Though subsequently reissued as a 12", Dark Entries has included the best version of "Castro Boy" on BART, and the compilation's that much stronger for it. Another fantastic release from this label that's sure to impress fans of the genre, we'll definitely be looking forward to Volume 2 of the BART series. [CPa]

		$15.99 CD   ROBAG WRUHME Thora Vukk (Pampa) Back in 2004, an emergent producer on the German minimal scene as half of the Wighnomy Brothers, Robag Wruhme, dropped his first full-length, Wuzzelbud K.K.. And it was a head-scratcher to be sure, veering from the minimal house and schaffel that got him included on lots of Kompakt mixes of the era to glitchy dancehall, downtempo R&B tracks as well as quirky electronica that was as playful as prime-era Aphex Twin (no higher compliment in my book). Since then, there have followed a slew of remixes (ranging from Depeche Mode to Ellen Allien), some exquisite mixes (see this year's evocative Wuppdeckmischmampflow), and the man is a frequent visitor to the Blkmarket Membership parties in NYC, but it's taken seven years for a proper follow-up solo album. While not as eclectic as the previous record, Thora Vukk proves that no one makes more gorgeous and nuanced tracks than Wruhme. As a whole, the CD feels like a great mix rather than the grab bag of his first album, starting off low-key and gently cresting from there. It seems that since he produces enough singles for the dancefloor, Wruhme used Thora Vukk as a chance to prove his skill with home-listening. Almost every full track comes with minute interludes on either side; check the jazzy, brushed-snare sounds of "Pnom Gobal," the Bill Evans-like piano chords of "Tulpa Ovi," and the lullaby-like finale of "Ende." [AB]

		$15.99 CD $17.99 LPx2   HYETAL Broadcast (Black Acre) "Beach Scene" "Dime Piece" The debut album, Broadcast, from Bristol-based dubstep producer Hyetal (David Corney) is a thick, synth-heavy, dark, and at times beatless excursion. Fusing a taste for high-production value akin to film scores by Vangelis or John Carpenter, with the spatial deep rumbling and post-apocalyptic low-end vibrations of say Burial, Corney takes the dubstep full-length into new territory. Corney began as a sample-based hip-hop producer then slowly began to find more enjoyment from listening to, instead of simply sampling classic breaks and melodies -- think Tangerine Dream, not James Brown. For his debut album, he takes those influences and creates something not so different, yet also very new. Amidst the rich textural ambiance, Corney layers and build tracks with heightened emotion, yet many cuts never have that moment of release, the pinnacle moment when the beat finally drops. He sidesteps the traditional anticipated climax with a slight fade out, leaving the moment that could-have-been for the imagination. These beatless passages feel like intros or bridges from one song to the next, yet as the album plays out, the interludes are less frequent, the beats become more consistent, and he adds the Liz Fraser-esque vocals of Alison Garner on two songs. Broadcast feels like it was constructed as an album, with a nice arc across the sonic spectrum and an engaging build and flow. Throughout, there are similarities to the soft, drifty, moody psych feel of Demdike Stare, yet minus the vintage nostalgia (well more '80s than '60s). Though he seems aware of horror and sci-fi soundtracks, Corney is more of a forward-looking producer than a retread wanderer. Hyetal sits between the deep synth work of fellow Bristolians Joker or Peverelist, and the imaginary urban soundtrack of Massive Attack. He draws from a rich and melodic palette and makes good use of the classic LinnDrum sound made popular by Prince and others in the 1980s (a few of the tracks with beats sound slightly reminiscent of "I Would Die 4 U"). Corney's debut is a mixed bag of beatless atmosphere, churning dubstep, and hi-def yet subtle house. A nice departure from the run of the mill dubstep album, with more to consider than just a good beat, though there are plenty of those. [DG]

		$15.99 CD $19.99 LPx2 $9.99 MP3   LITURGY Aesthetica (Thrill Jockey) "Tragic Laurel" "Veins of God" If black metal has always been as much about an overall lifestyle aesthetic (think corpse paint, tinny bedroom recordings, and maybe stabbing dudes every once in a while) as it has been about the music, then it's no wonder Brooklyn metallers Liturgy have always found themselves at odds with the kvltest of the kvlt. Preaching transcendence more than gloom and despair, approaching religion with something other than contempt, ditching the uniform in favor of workman-like jeans and t-shirts, and taking their recordings out of the murk and into relatively comfortable fidelity -- is it any wonder the more dogmatic black metal devotees out there have delighted in ripping these guys? Ultimately, though, none of that stuff should matter so long as your ears are functioning. For all of the petty ways in which Liturgy deviate from the norms of black metal, their releases thus far have showcased a band with an exemplary grasp of the form, a talented crew of musicians crafting tight pieces that kick freely against any self-imposed boundaries. Aesthetica is the band's second full-length, and first for their surprising new home Thrill Jockey. Given that label's history for redrawing tired genre lines, this release makes sense; however, the screams and blast beats that open up "High Gold" have got to be a first for any of the Chicago imprint's ilk. Coming at a breakneck pace, but sacrificing no precision as a result, tracks like "Returner" and "Glory Bronze" absolutely pummel with slicing guitars and almost impenetrable percussion, while an instrumental like "Generation" showcases the band's (and guitarist Hunter Hunt-Hendrix in particular) deft composition skills. Black metal and experimental music fans looking to see what lies beyond both of those genres should take note -- Aesthetica might just be the fix for which you have been searching. [MC]

		$24.99 CD+DVD $24.99 CD+DVD $24.99 CD+DVD $24.99 CD+DVD   NICK CAVE Let Love In (Mute) NICK CAVE Murder Ballads (Mute) NICK CAVE The Boatman's Call (Mute) NICK CAVE No More Shall We Part (Mute) Mute continues their Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds reissue series with four albums from their mid-period that see Cave go through a transformation and back. On 1994's Let Love In, the classic lineup of the band is at the height of its powers -- "Red Right Hand" and "Do You Love Me?" are certainly standouts among Cave's strong oeuvre. Murder Ballads (1996) is notable for its inclusion of a wild reading of "Stagger Lee," re-imagined for a generation weaned on obscenities. At the time Cave's was a surprising voice to be heard drawing lines between primitive blues and gangster rap, but given his recent work in Grinderman, it makes twisted sense. The other genius move he pulled on this album was re-contextualizing Kylie Minogue as a murder victim in their menacing duet "Where the Wild Roses Grow." After a set that also includes the epic tale of a barroom bloodbath that is "O'Malley's Bar," Cave did an about-face and reinvented himself as a balladeer for 1997's The Boatman's Call. Many of the tracks reference a then-current relationship with Polly Jean Harvey, which yielded some of his most bittersweet numbers to date. On "Into My Arms," Cave comes as close as possible to the sublime beauty of "The Ship Song," from 1990's The Good Son. After a four-year hiatus, the band returned to a more rawkus sound on No More Shall We Part, on which Cave explores themes of redemption. This batch of albums includes an experiment in updating the traditional murder ballad, a worthy collection of singer-songwriter balladry, and two solid archetypical Bad Seeds flare-ups as bookends. Already 20 years into his career, these records find Cave still clearly in his prime, and the reissues look and sound great. [NN]

		$14.99 CD   RAN BLAKE Grey December - Live in Rome (Tompkins Square) "Let's Stay Together/Brazil" "Luciano" The first and only truly live album from Ran Blake finds the illustrious pianist-composer performing some gorgeously transformed standards as well as several new originals before an audience in Rome. Recorded in December of last year, this is a remarkably potent album, preserving the fluidity and intensity of one of our nation's most brilliant melodic inventors, vibrantly documented in the naked immediacy of a live setting. As we were reminded with the release of 2009's masterpiece, Driftwoods, Mr. Blake is aging like a fine wine, and his ability to transform small pieces of musical history -- as well as his own gorgeously abstracted expressions -- into brilliant living pieces of art, is still very much intact, and there's plenty of proof in these great live recordings.

		$21.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Delta Swamp Rock - Songs from the South: At the Crossroads of Rock, Country and Soul (Soul Jazz) "God Rest His Soul" Duane & Greg Allman "Seasons Come, Seasons Go" Bobbie Gentry Soul Jazz offers this fantastic primer tracking the ascent of southern rock from its swampy funk/soul roots well into its mid-'70s heyday. Accompanied by a 68-page booklet, 25 great, varied cuts are spread over two discs, highlights including Lynyrd Skynyrd's autumnal "The Seasons," the rocking pseudo-gospel of Link Wray's "Be What You Are," and the likes of Bobbie Gentry, Leon Russell, the Allman Brothers, Boz Scaggs, Big Star and even one tune from Cher. Can't think of a much better soundtrack for your summer than this one.

		$15.99 CD   DEEP MAGIC Lucid Thought (Preservation) The second Deep Magic record from Alex Gray (Sun Araw, Pocahaunted) is an ecstatic, celestial expedition built from layers of finger-picked guitars, swelling synths and keyboard, implied vocals, and various percussion. It's all organized with a sun-baked, resplendent focus that delivers the music upon the shores of an aberrated plane, allowing for just what the album title suggests: Lucid Thought. This is a super-limited release out on the Preservation imprint and won't be around for long!

		$11.99 CD On Sale $16.99 LP+MP3   WHITE DENIM D (Downtown) With their fifth studio album, White Denim filters their dizzying, globe-trotting mosaic of pop, garage, psych, classic rock and jam-band excursions through a slightly less groovy, more expansive lens than 2009's Fits. With a second guitarist joining the group's ranks, what results is a batch of songs that are as accessible as they are experimental, the Austin quartet moving from the nodulus rock of "It's Him!" and "Anvil Everything" to the gracefully complex "At the Farm" and the unbelievably catchy "Drugs." As expected, there's a lot of ground covered, all rhythmically stationed yet psychically aloft.

		$11.99 12" $3.99 MP3   ETERNAL SUMMERS Prisoner EP (Kanine) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store No need in fixing what ain't broke, as Virginian duo Eternal Summers follow-up their debut full-length with another sweet, jangly dose of their arresting, low-key indie pop. This short four-song set is rife with questions of identity and self-psychology, sung by guitarist/frontwoman Nicole Yun, whose expressive melodies are as immediate as ever.

		$15.99 CD $12.99 MP3   GUSGUS Arabian Horse (Kompakt) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store If you last checked in with Icelandic electronic experimentalists GusGus around the time of their 1997 full-length debut for 4AD, Polydistortion, this new Kompakt album of swelling minimal techno might surprise you a bit. Some 15 years into an eclectic career, GusGus have streamlined a sound that once fit somewhere in the realm of trip-hop, into a cooler, yet no less nuanced production that sometimes slides into a vocal house mode, and continues to push boundaries, but rarely explores the flights of fancy that their early work enjoyed. But if you've kept up with the band, you know that this is just one more step in a continuum that GusGus has followed since their inception, pushing at the edges of dance-pop.

		$17.99 CD   TEREA Terea (Jazzman) "Try Harder" "For Free" A nice slice of jazzy soul rescued from obscurity. This self-titled album from California's Terea was originally issued in 1971 on Baby Grand -- one of many storied record labels set up for the purpose of shady businessmen to take advantage of tax loopholes. The great vocals of Sharon Robinson and tracks like the breezy funk of "Pretty Bird" and the band's cover of Hendrix's "Manic Depression" are too good to only be available to collectors willing to pay top dollar for a rare, original pressing, and thankfully Jazzman has now come to the rescue.

		$10.99 CD   GLASVEGAS Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\ (Columbia) Glasvegas have outgrown their indie roots in a very big way, as their new record trades in their Phil Spector-meets-JAMC sound for an even larger aural shellacking, with production courtesy of Flood. As the album title suggests, the band is shooting for a polar emotional experience here, and Euphoric Heartbreak (or as the band prefers: Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\) is filled with singer James Allen's large, lithe vocals, huge heroic choruses and intimate wordplay butting up against a palisade of guitars and synths, and new member Jonna Löfgren's steady, tactfully adorned drumming.

		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 [MK] Michael Klausman [JM] Josh Madell [DM] Doug Mosurock [SM] Scott Mou [NN] Ning Nong [CPa] Chris Pappas THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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