September 15, 2011

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES Girls Toro Y Moi Neon Indian Wild Flag St. Vincent Wooden Shjips (Ltd Edition LP with 7") Thundercat CANT The Rapture Sun Araw Les Rallizes Denudes Blitzen Trapper The Drums Hollie Cook Superchunk Nick Lowe     ALSO AVAILABLE Plastikman (6CD/DVD Arkives Box) A Winged Victory for the Sullen Mogwai Laura Marling NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL Omar Souleyman Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

		SEP Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   WIN PASSES TO SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! SCREENING When two friends tape-recorded the fights of their violently noisy neighbors, they accidentally created one of the world's first 'viral' pop-culture sensations. Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure is a darkly hilarious modern fable, as director Matthew Bates explores the blurring boundaries between privacy, art and exploitation. The film's run at the IFC Center begins this Friday, and immediately after both Friday and Saturday's 6:25 p.m. and 8:25 p.m. screenings, there will be a Q&A session with Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitch D, the original recorders of the tape. (Patton Oswalt will also be moderating the Q&A on Saturday only.) Other Music is giving away two pairs passes that can be redeemed for any screening of the film at IFC between Monday, September 19 and Thursday, September 22. Email enter@othermusic.com for entry and we'll notify the two winners this Friday. IFC CENTER: 323 Sixth Ave.at West 3rd St. NYC facebook.com/shutuplittlemanfilm

		SEP Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   WIN TICKETS TO ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK AT IRVING PLAZA By all accounts OMD were great when they came through New York last year (their first tour of the States since 1988) and now these synth-pop legends will be returning to the Big Apple next Tuesday and Wednesday, September 20 and 21. We've got one pair of tickets up for grabs to each of these shows and all you have to do to enter is email giveaway@othermusic.com, and make sure to list your date preference if you have one. We'll notify the two winners this Friday. TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 & 21 IRVING PLAZA: 17 Irving Plaza, NYC

		SEP Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   Sun 25 Mon 26 Tues 27 Wed 28 Thurs 29 Fri 30 Sat 01 Girls Twin Sister   UPCOMING IN-STORE PERFORMANCES GIRLS: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 9 P.M. Next week San Francisco's Girls will be performing in the store in support of their great new record, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Come by to hear the new tracks live, and get your album signed by the band. It's sure to be a capacity crowd, so don't be late! (You can also catch a live webcast of Girls performing in Nashville at Grimey's record store, this Friday at 6 p.m. EST, streaming live on Other Music Digital's News Page.) TWIN SISTER: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 8 P.M. We've been buzzing about Twin Sister for a couple of years now, whose steady stream of web-only or limited EP releases have continually piqued our interest in this dreamy, hypnotic Long Island pop group. Finally, their proper full-length debut is due out imminently on Domino, and we are helping the band celebrate with a record release party and in-store performance on Monday, September 26th. Join us! OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street NYC Free Admission | Limited Capacity

		SEP Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   WIN TICKETS TO A SPECIAL WILCO PERFORMANCE! Couldn't get a ticket to see Wilco in Central Park next week? Well, in celebration of their new album The Whole Love coming out on September 27, Other Music is offering a lucky winner and their guest a very special opportunity to see Wilco perform a 45-minute set next Wednesday, September 21 at 8 p.m. in the historic Ed Sullivan Theater as part of the LIVE ON LETTERMAN series. To enter, email tickets@othermusic.com and we'll notify the winner on Monday morning. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 ED SULLIVAN THEATER: 524 West 57th Street, NYC Winner must be available to pick up tickets in person between 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. that day

		SEP Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24   WIN TICKETS TO BEIRUT AT TERMINAL 5 Armed with a fantastic new record, The Rip Tide, Beirut's two Terminal 5 performances next week are a hot ticket, with Thursday's show already sold out and Wednesday's well on its way. Zach Condon and his band will be performing with Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab opening, so we know it's a great bill that many of readers won't want to miss. We've got one pair of tickets to each night to give away, and you can enter by emailing contest@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners this Friday. WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 & 22 TERMINAL 5: 610 West 56th Street, NYC

		$12.99 CD $19.99 LPx2+MP3 $9.99 MP3   GIRLS Father, Son, Holy Ghost (True Panther) "Alex" "Magic" After a few rollercoaster years that saw Girls explode from underground San Francisco scenesters to world-conquering pop stars (well, almost), with the requisite triumphs as well as meltdowns along the way, the band have delivered a sophomore album that not only recaptures the magic of their surprising debut, but actually ups the ante, with a more refined and mature sound that, along with a batch of great new songs, adds a certain sheen to their already hook-heavy pop. The most obvious update is in Christopher Owens' vocals which have lost much of the nasal twang that so defined those early songs, replaced here by a nuanced, emotional croon that rocks, swoons, coos and screams with such warmth and emotional clarity that it is almost startling to ears dumbed down by standard indie-rock one-trick ponies. Add to that a meticulously detailed instrumental palette that is so lovingly executed -- I could probably write a whole page on the perfection of the drum sound -- that it is simply a pleasure to listen to. Girls' sound is not exactly original, and in fact, the album is instantly embracing and familiar because they borrow so freely from the depths of classic rock, AM radio pop, and the best of underground rock. But they do it with such control, such precision and such heartfelt love, that Father, Son, Holy Ghost rarely comes of as imitation. Instead, it is a joyful, uplifting celebration of the power of music to transform us. Any fan of the band's earlier work will love this record, but it should really reach a much wider audience, delivering simple, emotional pop songs piled high with infectious riffs, embracing sounds and just plain great musicianship. It's rock, it's pop, it's indie but it's classic too, and in the end, it's just a great record. [JM]

		$9.99 CD $10.99 LP+MP3 $4.99 MP3   TORO Y MOI Freaking Out EP (Carpark) "All Alone" "Saturday Love" Chaz Bundick's Toro Y Moi project took a bit of a sidestep with the last full-length, exploring more of a live band sound on Underneath the Pine, yet he returns to the programmed '80s-influenced magic on this new EP. From the start, the song "All Alone" is a freestyle/vintage R&B-influenced track with a swinging groove and some choppy vocal edits that would make both the Pet Shop Boys and Lisa Lisa jealous. Collectively, these five songs take you on a filtered, phase-shifted journey in nostalgia at its best. Similar to Washed Out, this is splashy nouveau electronic pop, yet unlike that group, Bundick flaunts his love of R&B radio jams proudly, not employing a digital haze to diffuse the soul. Freaking Out's centerpiece is a cover of the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis written/produced hit for Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal, "Saturday Love," and it is a spot-on remake that updates the classic through an indie-pop filter, with a bass line that acknowledges dubstep without swaying too far from the original mood. Bundick's strength is that he's a wizard in regurgitation; he loves electronic soul music, and that love and respect come through crystal clear here. If you are into the Weekend, Ford & Lopatin, Blood Orange, Beach House, and dozens more who have been pursuing these grooves of late, you already know you need this. It'll be twenty minutes well spent. [DG]

		$10.99 CD $18.99 LP+MP3   NEON INDIAN Era Extrana (Mom & Pop) "Polish Girl" "Era Extrana" As Neon Indian, Texas-born/Brooklyn resident Alan Palomo produced one of those ubiquitous tweet anthems of '09 ("Deadbeat Summer"), during ye olde summer of chillwave. The aural equivalent of a Vaseline-lensed summer camp photo, "Deadbeat" and the rest of Neon Indian's debut record, Psychic Chasms, was a hazy, lackadaisical lo-fi tribute to the sunny bounce of Italo-disco and '80s Rundgren-inspired pop, that while not fully formed, still pricked plenty of ears and justified repeated listening. Neon Indian's sophomore effort was born in the icier chill of a Helsinki winter, where Palomo spent some time last year tracking these new songs after a relationship ended. (He then sent the tracks to Dave Fridmann for mixing.) Era Extrana is Palomo's Here, My Dear if you will, a concept album built around the three initial phases of mourning the demise of a relationship: shock, depression and acceptance, each section marked by the instrumental passages "Heart: Attack," "Heart: Decay" and "Heart: Release." It's a high concept that yields some great, if mixed results. The highs are some of Palomo's highest yet, like the undeniably catchy lead single "Polish Girl" and the gauzy one-two combo of the Jesus and Mary Chain-like smear of "The Blindside Kiss" and "Hex Girlfriend." Add to this the dark, chilly title track that sounds like a lost Boards of Canada/Gary Numan demo and is arguably the strongest cut here. Unfortunately, at points the album comes across as a bit hastily done, with the "acceptance" section represented by a jagged, optimistic mid-tempo two-minute instrumental electro number that sounds nice enough, but leaves one feeling a bit disoriented by the buildup. I'll chalk that up to age though; at 23 one doesn't necessarily dwell too much on the past, and Palomo strikes me as one extremely eager to face the future. He should be -- the kid's got talent, and I'm betting he's got a cool new girlfriend too. [DH]

		$13.99 CD $18.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3   WILD FLAG Wild Flag (Merge) "Romance" "Endless Talk" So many dreams -- mine included -- have come true with the release of Wild Flag's debut on none other than Grammy winning indie heavyweight Merge Records. After coming together to compose a soundtrack for a documentary, Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, Mary Timony, and Janet Weiss continued to play, and Wild Flag was born. Soon after, the band brought their unpolished songs to rapt audiences in the form of an explosive live show, and it became clear that Wild Flag was much more than a happy accident -- they had become one of the most highly anticipated artists of the year. Justly dubbed a supergroup by many, Wild Flag is more accurately a group of friends and ongoing collaborators -- Timony (Helium, Autoclave, Soft Power) released an EP with Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney, Excuse 17) under the alias the Spells in 2000; Brownstein and Janet Weiss (Quasi, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks) played in Sleater-Kinney together for ten years until the band announced its indefinite hiatus; and Weiss and Cole (the Minders) currently play together in the '60s garage-rock cover band the Shadow Mortons (named after the Red Bird Records producer and songwriter of such Shangri-Las hits as "Leader of the Pack"). Recorded almost entirely live in a cavernous studio/skate park and infused with the energy of those sold-out performances, the band's debut is action-packed and attention-grabbing from the get-go. In many ways, Wild Flag sounds exactly like you would expect -- it's a perfect fusion of the immediately recognizable styles of the members' respective groups, most prominently the complex, hypnotizing quality of Helium and Timony's subsequent solo work and the last decade of Sleater-Kinney, which showcased their infectious, poppier side as well as their scorching psychedelic fury -- but what you can't fathom without hearing it is how blissfully fun and straight-up rock 'n' roll this record is. The distinct styles of all four musicians synthesize and complement each other astoundingly well, and they're clearly having a blast cranking out these new hits, with Weiss' loose, pounding rhythms and Cole's sparkling keyboards providing the perfect ballast for the twin guitar attack. "Endless Talk" is a flawless pop song that brings the house down -- and Wild Flag always gets people moving -- at the band's live shows, exploding with the collective shout "HEY!" and Brownstein hissing, "You're a little bit ruth-less!" Brownstein and Timony trade off lead vocals nearly song-for-song, and the juxtaposition and inevitable combination of both their completely different approaches to singing and their distinctive guitar tones is riveting. "Glass Tambourine" is a psychedelic epic that blasts off like some Black Sabbath basement tape, but with Weiss upping the urgency with her furious drumming. To my delight, Timony contributes some of her mystical imagery on this track ("The black lullaby," "Crystal song of a glass tambourine") and the song escalates in heaviness with a few jaw-dropping minutes of guitar soloing. My only complaint is that it fades out at the 5:30 mark -- an extended version would have been welcome -- but then again, maybe these improvised jams are best appreciated live. It's so rare that a group of legendary musicians comes together to form an entirely new band, and even rarer that this new group could go toe-to-toe with the history-making bands that initially brought the members acclaim. Making comparisons is hardly relevant, however -- Wild Flag is a brand new band, extraordinarily featuring four of the most talented musicians of our time, and they're hell-bent on waking you up to the primal sounds of rock 'n' roll. [KS]

		$12.99 CD $15.99 LP $9.99 MP3   ST. VINCENT Strange Mercy (4AD) "Northern Lights" "Cruel" Strange Mercy, Annie Clark's third album as St. Vincent, is a lurching, soaring, sweet and uncomfortable record that takes the doe-eyed guitar mangler's strengths -- her dark lyrical intensity and sweet vocal clarity, her twisted, bruising guitar playing, and her unusual knack for combining complicated proggy arrangements and chords with stomping rock and roll catharsis -- and gives them the breathing room to flourish without the sometimes superfluous orchestrations of her (also great) sophomore album Actor, or the tenuous control of her breakthrough debut Marry Me. It's a great record, probably her best, that finds Clark still troubled, still searching, but very much in control. The first track, a chilling fable of masochism and isolation that is "Chloe in the Afternoon," sets up the mood -- Clark's sweet soprano and dangerous guitar doing battle over squelching synth and staccato rhythms. It lures you in, it repels you, and when it's over it leaves you hungry for more. Some of Clark's sweetest pop songs are here (melodically -- not lyrically), like the unadulterated swoon of "Cruel," the measured swing of "Cheerleader," or the near torch-song emotional journey of the title track. But along with her brooding, often chilling lyrics, the overall mood is set by Clark's unconventional production choices, which take the dexterous instrumental flourishes of jazz fusion and progressive rock, both fiercely testosterone-driven mediums, and upend them with both the sensibility of her own unquestionable femininity, and her affinity for hard rock's ballast and indie rock's quirkiness. Her lyrics are so dark, but even her most spite-filled portraits seem touched by humanity; in album-closer "Year of the Tiger," Clark sings in the voice of some lost post-apocalyptic (or perhaps simply modern-day) business tycoon: "Italian shoes like these rubes know the difference/ Suitcase of cash in the back of my stick-shift/ I had to be the best of the bourgeoisie/ Now my kingdom for a cup of coffee/ Living in fear in the Year of the Tiger." It's a dichotomy that aptly describes St.Vincent; dark but lovely, haunted, hated, but full of hope. Strange Mercy is all that, a complicated artistic statement and a powerful catharsis that takes no prisoners, but shows a strange sort of mercy. [JM]

		$14.99 CD $16.99 LP+ Bonus 7" $9.99 MP3   WOODEN SHJIPS West (Thrill Jockey) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Three albums and a handful of singles in, and not a whole lot has changed for San Francisco quartet Wooden Shjips. Still beholden to their original blend of deep, droning, and slyly malevolent psychedelic rock, West (the group's first for Thrill Jockey) once again channels the likes of Suicide, the Velvet Underground, and Spacemen 3 for a set of tense, rolling jams that focus on tightening the bolts on what's turned out to be a pretty solid machine. Thus, instead of presenting any grand reinvention, these guys stick with what they know best on the album's seven tracks -- fuzzy, organ-soaked jams like "Crossing" that take their sweet time to wind up in no particular place, almost casual glides offering up plenty of space for some newfound guitar muscle. Elsewhere, the Shjips court a kind of sideways boogie, imbuing the likes of "Lazy Bones" and "Looking Out" with an almost upbeat shuffle that manages to quicken the pulse while still offering plenty of time to dig a deeper hole. Best of all, though, are moments like "Flight" and "Rising," with the former a hazy pass through some solid riffs, and the latter an exquisite trek through some Teenage Filmstars-esque backwards moments. Five years into their existence, West highlights a group delivering what is easily their best-sounding and best written album overall. [MC] LP pressed in limited edition, seafoam green vinyl, and comes with a bonus 7", while supplies last.

		$13.99 CD   THUNDERCAT The Golden Age of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder) "Is It Love?" "Boat Cruise" If you've bought recent albums from Flying Lotus, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Sa-Ra, J*DaVeY or Shafiq Husayn then you've heard the work of Stephen Bruner, a/k/a Thundercat. Starting out as a bassist in Suidicial Tendencies, Bruner has since become a connecting point in the crème of L.A.'s avant-R&B scene. His debut full-length as a leader, The Golden Age of Apocalypse on FlyLo's Brainfeeder label, is a wonderful and cosmically soulful journey. At times closest to his work on Cosmogramma, the album moves from beatless passages to mellow soul, jazz and psych influenced jams. It's a fresh take on a retro sound, eschewing the Daptone/Now-Again brand of hard soul redux; Bruner remembers when everyone was plugging in and spacing out -- think late '70s boogie-jazz-soul-fusion like Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, or Stevie Wonder. At times the instrumental workouts feel reminiscent of Weather Report, yet still organic, authentic, and right on. Classic elements are coupled with modern fusion twists and turns, as tracks morph into different sections across the album. You can detect the input he's had on other albums in his own songs and it's nice to see and hear Bruner get his own platform. All in all a very nice mix of instrumentals and vocals that further push the modern soul vibe into the new decade. For fans of Jazzanova, 4Hero, Dam Funk, the bass-playing excursions of Squarepusher, or any of the artists mentioned above, along with those who like some electronics with their soul, this right here is the good stuff. [DG]

		$11.99 CD $16.99 LP   CANT Dreams Come True (Terrible) "Too Late, Too Far" "The Edge" It's safe to say that Chris Taylor is one of Brooklyn's hardest working musicians; not only Grizzly Bear's MVP bassist, multi-instrumentalist and producer, his name can be found in the production credits of countless releases including Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca, the Morning Benders' Big Echo, and Twin Shadow's Forget, and he also finds the time to co-run Terrible Records with Ethan Silverman. For these reasons it isn't too surprising that it took two years between the release of "Ghosts," the first single from Taylor's solo project CANT, and its album-length follow-up, but what a difference a few years can make. While the aforementioned 45 replaced the rich, intricate textures of Grizzly Bear's more recent records with a haunting sparseness, its wall-of-vocal harmonies pointed to a direct lineage; one would be hard pressed, however, to immediately connect Dreams Come True to the modern baroque-folk pop of Taylor's main band. Collaborating with Twin Shadow's George Lewis Jr., most of this album tilts in favor of thick pads of synths and electronic beats which form the framework for an arty, intimate set of R&B-infused twilight music that sounds equally indebted to the influences of Prince and Peter Gabriel. With an exotic, plodding rhythm, opener "Too Late, Too Far" taps into the same African-tinged avant-pop as Gabriel's Security or more recently TV on the Radio's electronic moments, while tracks like "Believe" and "The Edge" move in a more sultry, slow-funk direction, with gooey analog synthesizers, hypnotic bass lines and layers of Taylor's chilly, hushed croon. Though the '80s plays a heavy influence on many of these tracks, he completely sidesteps the dazed and glazed trappings of glo-fi; while still dreamy, the production is polished to spit-shine perfection and Taylor's breathy, layered melodies are far from buried. It's only when the gloss is scuffed off during "BANG," "She Found a Way Out" and "Bericht" that one hears the ghost of Grizzly Bear channeling through the choirboy vocals and subdued guitar and piano. Ironically, it's moments like these where the album reaches its emotional apex, and it works as a nice counterweight to the synthetic soul of the rest of Dreams Come True. The only real misstep, however, comes by way of the title track, four-minutes and 18-seconds of grating, quasi industrial-funk that's more nightmarish than its name implies, which breaks the otherwise enchanting spell that Taylor has cast. [GH]

		$13.99 CD $18.99 LP   RAPTURE In the Grace of Your Love (DFA) "Can You Find a Way?" "Sail Away" Big changes are afoot on the Rapture's fourth album, and their first since 2006's Pieces of the People We Love, but you can definitely still dance to them. Grace marks a shift in personnel (bassist Mattie Safer is out, replaced by Q and Not U's Harris Klahr), a period of intense joy and tragedy in the lives of its band members (marriage, childbirth, loss of parents), and a recapitulation of their worldview, resulting in a very spiritual collection of songs. The tempo slows down a bit from dancefloor blasters like "House of Jealous Lovers" and "Get Myself Into It," and the mood diverts from the nightclub hedonism they may have slung in the past, but this is definitely still the same band, working all the angles of disco and electro to come up with a heart-swelling and provocative pop manifesto for uncertain times. One listen to leadoff single "How Deep Is Your Love?" and you'll be shakin' it like you did last summer. [DM]

		$13.99 CD   SUN ARAW Ancient Romans (Drag City) Track 3 Track 6 Cameron Stallones' Sun Araw project has been gathering a full head of steam (or bong smoke, I suppose) over the past couple of years, with a stream of releases on labels like Not Not Fun and Woodsist documenting the dude's singularly bizarre/spacey/dubbed-out approach to psychedelic improvisation. For his first release on his own Sun Ark imprint (which is distributed care of Drag City), Stallones takes a step back (actually way back, temporally speaking) from the generally sun-soaked/quasi-tropical modernist vibes that have permeated his records to date, issuing an album that takes its aesthetic impulses from the days of Virgil and Catullus on Ancient Romans. But rest assured -- this is no dissertation on Republic-era military dress. Instead, it's a more focused take on the types of squiggling, shimmering, percussive-aided stabs that Stallones been perfecting over the past few years. So while not a whole lot has changed in the approach, the overall results are even more palatable than they had been in the past. Tracks like "Crete" and "Trireme" rely on bent rhythms, giving an off-kilter backdrop for Stallones' keyboards and spindly guitar to move across. Elsewhere, the man pursues more explicitly blissed-out paths, with "At Delphi" going waist deep in shimmering drones that undulate through the track, and album-opener "Lucretius" chasing organ swells to some sublimely dubby depths. As much of a head trip as it's ever been, Sun Araw returns once more with an excellent soundtrack to those last few days of summer sun. [MC]

		$64.99 CDx6   LES RALLIZES DENUDES Double Heads - Box Set (Phoenix) What kind of band with one official studio recording to its name warrants a six-CD boxed set? The same kind that dropped a five-LP box earlier this year. Les Rallizes Denudes represents one of the last challenges left in rock 'n' roll -- transcendence through time, through genre (psychedelia, hard rock, blues, folk), through political activism (one of the members was part of a terrorist organization in the '70s) and through fervent belief. Sort of a black leather Grateful Dead, in one of the easiest and least-thought-out references I've ever made, the Japanese psych juggernaut LRD (translation: "The Naked Larrys") convened only on special occasions for hours-long live rock blowouts that extend the cosmic disturbance of the Velvets' "Sister Ray" into super heavy, strange obliterations of the form. They can carry a six-CD set with some of the same songs interspersed from different sessions because of what they do to the form. Les Rallizes Denudes is a cul-de-sac for the form, some might argue, an end result into a quest for purity and singed eyelashes from facing the fires of rock 'n' roll's white-hot furnace. This is as good a chance for any of you to be converted, and as for the converts, you get to fight one another over this limited edition set of live material from the '70s and '80s. [DM]

		$13.99 CD $17.99 LP+MP3   BLITZEN TRAPPER American Goldwing (Sub Pop) "Fletcher" "American Goldwing" Is there any band who can confound a musical algorithm program like Blitzen Trapper? For their third Sub Pop album, the group shifts gears like no one else. They strut and boogie for the biker set on opener "Might Find It Cheap" but just as swiftly get into some downhome groove for the next tune. And then, I'll be damned, "Love the Way You Walk Away" could be easily polished into Nashville gold and some mainstream country radio spins -- crazy but true. Elsewhere, Eric Earley's cracked vocals emulate Jeff Tweedy and Bob Dylan in the best way imaginable, so that just when you think you're listening to a killer slice of modern folk, the dusty stomp of "Street Fighting Sun" roars back and you're left wondering whether you've just unearthed a killer album from the early-'70s -- but it's 2011, through and through. [AB]

		$11.99 CD $9.99 MP3   THE DRUMS Portamento (Frenchkiss) "Days" "I Don't Know How to Love" With the crash-and-burn ratio of bands in this blog-driven era, the pressure behind creating that dreaded sophomore album must be greater than ever. Just two years ago the Drums were the group that everyone was talking about -- a perfect mix of Anglo pop (a la the Smiths, Orange Juice) and Factory Records detachment (the Wake, New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies-era), all delivered with a sunny, twee disposition. Then came the departure of guitarist Adam Kessler last September, and more recently a near break-up just months before this album was released -- it all just seems so dramatic for such an innocuous group that out-whistled Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks" with their jaunty indie-pop hit "Let's Go Surfing." But the Drums pulled through and while Portamento doesn't mark a drastic shift in the Brooklyn band's MO, underneath the spindly guitars and loping rhythm section is a little more melancholy not to mention an urgency that wasn't present on their first full-length -- during album opener "Book of Revelations," Pierce pleads, "And I believe that when we die we die, so let me love you tonight." The keyboards are more prevalent here as well; "Searching for Heaven" is nothing more than Pierce crooning over a lone arpeggiated synthesizer, and immediately after, pulsing synths augment the moodier pop of "Please Don't Leave" and "If He Likes It Let Him Do It." While it's nice to hear the Drums taking it a little more serious, any fan jonesing for the wide-eyed, "I don't care about nothing" optimism of songs like the aforementioned "Let's Go Surfing" won't find too much of it on Portamento. Even though the album single "Money" may bounce along at a familiar brisk pace, the happy-go-lucky whistling has been replaced with a chorus of "I want to buy you something, but I don't have any money." I guess everyone really is feeling the hard times these days -- buzz bands included. [GH]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   HOLLIE COOK Hollie Cook (Mr Bongo) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store This is the age of the next of kin as, for better of worse, we are hearing more and more from the children of the artists we love. The latest album in this wide-ranging genre comes from Hollie Cook, the daughter of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, her debut album being a tropical excursion in lovers rock and pop-reggae. The album is produced by Prince Fatty (whose "Milk and Honey" was a UK radio hit with Cook on vocals), and features Dennis Bovell. With references to legendary female reggae singers like Janet Kay and Phyllis Dillon, and a cover of the Shangri-La's "Walking in the Sand," Cook fuses the breezy pop stylings of Lily Allen with the seductive croon of Amy Winehouse, making for a great listen for those that like their reggae vocals dubby and light. The album does, however, seem to blend together eventually as more than a showcase piece, with extended instrumental dub jams throughout. The songwriting isn't very distinctive yet all the tracks have a wonderfully carefree, casual flow and a nice feel. It's become a surprise hit among the staff and will surely provide pleasure to those wanting to hold on to the waning days of summer. Reminiscent of some women of her father's generation, like the Slits (with whom Cook has performed with for the last couple of years), the Raincoats, or Annie Anxiety, Hollie Cook continues the tradition with her own style and flair. [DG]

		$12.99 CD $19.99 LP+MP3 180 Gram $9.99 MP3   SUPERCHUNK Foolish - Remastered (Merge) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Foolish is the moment where, for lack of a better explanation, you can hear the band Superchunk growing up. Released in 1994, the record came out on singer Mac McCaughan's own label, Merge Records, following three albums for Matador and an increasing public profile that found the group swatting away A&R men like mosquitos by a lake. And while each of their first three efforts found them growing, mastering a form and becoming stronger songwriters, the improvements found on Foolish would signify a real shift away from the punch-in-the-face pop/punk squeals of former efforts. Here's where they slowed down, where they took time to consider their feelings (the record followed a romantic split between McCaughan and bassist Laura Balance, which is reflected in many of its songs). While most bands of their kind would have OD'ed on anger or sapped out on melancholy, Superchunk stood their ground, wrapping those queasy intangibles into one of their strongest works overall. Listeners of a certain era no doubt made or received mixtapes with some of Foolish's most memorable songs -- "Driveway to Driveway," "Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything?" -- but this is a record to be listened to front to back. Without question, it's the band's pivotal release, and signaled the positive gains they'd make across each consecutive effort. Now it's remastered and available again. [DM]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   NICK LOWE The Old Magic (Yep Roc) "Stoplight Roses" "Somebody Cares for Me" Even in his prime -- and any songwriter who isn't a Beatle or a Stone should be envious of Nick Lowe's classic late-'70s tracks like "So It Goes," "Cruel to Be Kind," and "(What's So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding" (which he penned for Elvis Costello) -- Nick Lowe played the role of the wry outsider more that that of the punk-rock tastemaker. Lowe was a singer, songwriter and producer (of seminal acts like Costello, the Damned and the Pretenders) who always maintained his critical distance from his surroundings, with lyrics riddled with sly music-biz slams, and a production style that was raw, rough and ready while drawing on classic pop and rock hit making aesthetics. This lifelong maturity and reserve have positioned Lowe unusually well for a late-career resurgence, and along with recent reissues of his early classics Jesus of Cool and Labour of Lust, Lowe has released some great music in the modern era, from straight country and roots rock to a broader sort of vintage pop sound that befits a man of his age and stature. The Old Magic finds the white-haired, well-dressed Lowe taking the natural role as an elder statesman, delivering a set of songs that draw on vintage country and soul sounds as well as old-time crooners and torch singers, but always with his own iconoclastic point of view. Lead single "I Read a Lot" gives a great look at where this stuff comes from: "I read a lot nowadays/ Much more than before you left me high and dry/ In a loveless land with nothing but time on my hands/ I read a lot, not just magazines/ But other more serious things to get me through the day, night time too/ While wondering how in the world to go on without you/ Lonely isn't the word for me now/ Blue doesn't describe it somehow." It's classic heartbreak sentiment, but with Lowe's inimitable offbeat sensibility. The sound is vintage strummed reverb guitars and brushed drums, piano and hushed organ, with a tasteful smattering of horns and strings to add depth, and, with a wink, or maybe not, The Old Magic captures this legendary artist's magic without a doubt. [JM] WE HAVE A LIMITED SUPPLY OF NICK LOWE MAGIC CARDS AS A BONUS TO THE FIRST 20 CUSTOMERS TO PICK UP THE CD OR LP!

		$207.99 CDx15+DVD+BK   PLASTIKMAN Arkives Box Set (Minus) No less a holy grail for minimal techno heads comes Plastikman's career-spanning 15-CD/DVD Arkives box set. Beautifully packaged, featuring all six remastered albums from Richie Hawtin's legendary alter-ego plus nine more discs(!!!) of unreleased material, rare remixes and a new single, as well as a DVD containing music videos and footage from Glastonbury (1995) and Mutek, Montreal (2003), a 94-page book penned by music journalist/DJ Philip Sherburne, and a digital download code for even more material that didn't make it on to this set. Very limited!

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Kranky) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Featuring Stars of the Lid/Dead Texan's Adam Wiltzie and pianoist/composer Dustin O'Halloran who are joined by guests like violinist Peter Broderick and Icelandic cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, the debut full-length from A Winged Victory for the Sullen is as stunning as one would expect from the musicians involved. These majestic orchestral compositions ebb and flow like the tides -- so peaceful and immersive. Seven gorgeously evocative works including a tribute to the memory of Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous titled "Requiem for the Static King Part One."

		$5.99 CD $9.99 LP   MOGWAI Earth Division EP (Sub Pop) "Hound of Winter" "Does This Always Happen" With their new four-song EP, Mogwai abandon the deafening crescendos that have defined their 15-plus-year career, instead honing in on the quiet, dramatic melancholy that usually precedes those ear-shattering bludgeons. Much of Earth Piano plays out like a film score, the group coaxing emotion from soft piano passages, strings, and guitar. "Hound of Winter," the lone vocal track, is easily Mogwai's prettiest ballad to date, and could land the band some extra bucks if used in an edgy rom-com, should one actually exist, while "Drunk and Crazy" does showcase the group's more experimental side, swinging from noisy washes of guitar and static to cinematic string swells and back again -- but you still won't be reaching for the earplugs. It's not what we expected but a pleasant detour nonetheless, and a unique entry in Mogwai's post-rock cannon.

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   LAURA MARLING A Creature I Don't Know (Ribbon) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Though Laura Marling may only be 21-years-old, you wouldn't know it listening to the London singer/songwriter's third full-length, released on Domino's Ribbons imprint. The touchstones here are vast and great, running from Shirley Collins, Sandy Denny and Leonard Cohen right on up to Fionna Apple and PJ Harvey; Marling continues in this lineage, crafting ornate songs that are as poetic as they are timelessly human.

		$27.99 LP $15.99 CD   OMAR SOULEYMAN Haflat Gharbia: The Western Concerts (Sublime Frequencies) "Gazula/Shift Al Mani (I Saw Her)" "Haram" Omar Souleyman has had a spotlight of the brightest intensity shining on his career for the past few years in a fashion almost unheard of for most international performers of his nature; he began as a Syrian wedding singer and has ended up one of the most highly respected figures of the international underground. After a hugely successful series of recent concerts in Europe and the Americas, not to mention an excellent studio collaboration with superstar Bjork, he's offering up this document of recordings from those Western performances, and it's not only a total doozy, but also a great place to jump on to the bandwagon if you haven't yet become a convert. Those familiar with Souleyman's high-octane Dabke beats will know what they're in for here; the rhythms are dizzying, and the interplay between multi-instrumentalist Rizan Sa'id's fluttering synth splatter and electric saz player Ali Shaker's hypnotic riffs gives these tunes a fluid yet rock-solid backbone that needs to be heard to be believed. This is probably the most hi-fi release yet offered by Souleyman aside from the Bjork collab, and as I stated in my review of that record, it's fantastic to be able to hear his soulful voice bear full fruit over such clear music. While the lo-fi techno vibes of those previous releases is great unto itself, there's a different power at work here, and it is given an excellent, respectful package thanks to Sublime Frequencies. These tunes kick with the force of a house night in Detroit or Berlin, but at the same time display the instrumental dexterity of jazz virtuosos at a Village Vanguard residency; crowd noise is filtered out and every song slays, for an all-killer, no-filler experience. Tempos generally hover in the usual upper BPMs, but the overall feeling seems just a smidge slower, allowing for some breathing room not only in the arrangements, but also in the audience, and that extra oxygen gives these recordings a sensuality one may not have felt in the lo-fi jams of old. Souleyman's earlier releases were also compiled mostly from live recordings, but here they pack a punch that had been previously missing from the equation. Longtime fans are definitely going to need this, and if you're a newbie who just grabbed the Bjork EP and need some more, this is the fix that will get you through. The man is unstoppable; don't stand in his way unless you're ready for one hell of a night! [IQ]

		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 [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [JM] Josh Madell [DM] Doug Mosurock [KS] Karen Soskin THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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