The Other Music Update

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	April 20, 2012

THIS SATURDAY: FIFTH ANNUAL RECORD STORE DAY!!
Record Store Day 2012 is now upon us and we're just as excited as you are! It's the once-a-year event in which record shops across the country, and the people who love them, celebrate their special place in modern culture. Hundreds of artists and labels get together in support of independent retailers by creating limited-edition vinyl (and some CD) pressings that are only available at your favorite indie record store. This Saturday, all the participating stores like Other Music will be packed with great new releases, limited reissues and special one-offs, and we hope that you will stop by and dig through the bins with us and join in the fun. (The full list of RSD releases is here -- no guarantee of actual quantity and availability.)

Our doors will be opening at 11:00 a.m. and all of the early risers waiting in line will be treated to some hot coffee an hour before, courtesy of our neighbors, La Colombe. Then throughout the day a great roster of DJs will be stopping by to spin their favorite tunes while you shop (schedule listed below). We'll also have the first release on our new Other Music Recording Co imprint available for purchase exclusively here at the store: Ex Cops' debut 7" single "You Are a Lion, I Am a Lamb (Original Dram Session)" / "Millionaire." So if you're in NYC this Saturday, make sure to swing by Other Music and any other record store in the city that you can visit, and wherever you are, please give some RSD love to your favorite local indie music retailer.

RECORD STORE DAY DJ LINE-UP:
NOON - 1PM: Suckers
1 - 2PM: Finders Keepers' Amanda Colbenson
2 - 3PM: Four Tet
3 - 4PM: Black Dice
4 - 5PM: Ex Cops
5 - 6PM Psychic Ills
6 - 7PM: The Men
7 - 8PM: Wild Nothing

Other Music Record Store Day Facebook Event Invite


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES Quantic & Alice Russell Niobe Spiritualized Grouper Julia Holter Traxman Love Apple (LP) Sedition Ensemble Mad Scene (LP) Francis Bebey (2xLP) Emptyset David Byrne Best of Perception & Today Records Black Breath		ALSO AVAILABLE Doug Paisley Tenniscoats Photek (DJ-Kicks) Battles (Remixes) Races Oberhofer The Alps (LP Back in Print) Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

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		WIN TICKETS TO GARY WILSON Watch out...Gary Wilson's creeping around the streets of Brooklyn this evening and also performing at Glasslands in support of his new album, Feel the Beat. In other words: Date Night!! We've got a pair of tickets to give away to you and that special lady (Mary, Linda or Cheryl, perhaps) or guy friend, just email enter@othermusic.com to put your name in the hat and we'll notify the winner this afternoon. FRIDAY, APRIL 20 GLASSLANDS GALLERY: 289 Kent Ave, Williamsburg BKLN

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		UNSOUND FESTIVAL TICKET GIVE-AWAY Other Music has tickets up for grabs to two more Unsound events this weekend. The first pair we're giving away is to the very anticipated Bunker installment at Warsaw tonight (Friday, April 20), featuring a slew of Other Music favorites: Monolake, Demdike Stare, Hieroglyphic Being, Ital, Laurel Halo and Zemi17! To enter for this one, email giveaway@othermusic.com. We're also offering another pair to an equally great show at West Park Presbyterian Church this Saturday, where LA dark ambient overlord Lustmord will be joining forces with Norway's Biosphere to premiere the Unsound-commissioned piece, Trinity! Poland's Jacaszek will be opening. Send an email to tickets@othermusic.com to enter for this one. We'll notify both winners on Friday.

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		WASHED OUT TICKET GIVEAWAY A killer double-bill for all of you fans of blissed-out pop music. This Sunday, April 22, Washed Out is performing at the Highline Ballroom with Memoryhouse opening the night, and Other Music is giving away a pair of tickets to one lucky person. Email contest@othermusic.com and we'll notify the winner this Friday. SUNDAY, APRIL 20 HIGHLINE BALLROOM: 431 W. 16th Street, NYC

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		JACK WHITE LISTENING PARTY: THIS TUESDAY From turning out some of the best rock music of our generation in bands like the White Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather, to record producer, to label boss of his Third Man imprint, Jack White certainly needs no introduction. Now comes his newest music venture, his first solo album, Blunderbuss, which hits store shelves this Tuesday, April 24! To celebrate the release, Other Music is throwing a listening party that evening from 6-8 p.m., and during that time we'll be spinning the record in the shop and giving away lots of posters and stickers. And anyone who purchases Blunderbuss that day at OM can ENTER TO WIN a very special prize: a LIMITED TEST PRESSING that we'll be raffling off to one lucky winner! See ya Tuesday!! TUESDAY, APRIL 24 - 6 to 8 P.M. OTHER MUSIC: 15 E. 4th St. NYC Free posters, stickers + Enter to Win Test Pressing with Purchase of Blunderbuss

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		NITE JEWEL TICKET GIVE-AWAY! Nite Jewel returns to New York City this Tuesday, April 24, taking her dreamy R&B-tinged electro-pop to the Bowery Ballroom stage, with Mac DeMarco and Sophia Knapp supporting the bill! We're giving away a pair of tickets; email enter@othermusic.com and we'll notify the winner on Friday. TUESDAY, APRIL 24 BOWERY BALLROOM: 6 Delancey St. NYC


	$11.99 CD		QUANTIC & ALICE RUSSELL Look Around the Corner (Tru Thoughts) "Here Again" "Boogaloo 33" I'll spare you the cliches about how "this is an early contender for Album of the Year, etc." Suffice to say that the Rotary Connection-meets-the-White Album title track has been in heavy personal rotation for several months now and that the rest of the album leaves previous efforts by both main protagonists in the dust. Will "Quantic" Holland and Alice Russell are a powerfully effective combination, but this record manages to transcend the sum of its parts. Quantic has proven himself over the years as a great DJ/producer/musician and Alice Russell is like the thinking person's Adele, but the true value of the album at hand is how much care was taken at the songwriting stage -- something too often overlooked these days. Yes, these are SONGS, and many of them will take up residence in your brain through the summer and beyond. "I'll Keep My Light in My Window," "Magdalena," "Similau" and "I'd Cry" are just a few of the highlights. Aside from the oft-commented Charles Stepney/Quincy Jones vibe here, there is also a strong element of vintage boogaloo and Latin soul running through many of the tracks, which will thrill Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez fans. The Combo Barbaro, all from Quantic's adopted home of Colombia, shine in wonderful Charanga style, with violin and cello-inflected acoustic loveliness, all beautifully recorded. Buy this album for yourself, and buy another copy for your parents and anybody else you love. It's that good. [GC]


	$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3		NIOBE The Cclose Calll (Tomlab) "The Stillness" "Walk the Walk!" German avant-songstress Niobe, one of my favorite contemporary songwriters and performers, returns with a follow-up to 2009's absolutely stunning Blackbird's Echo, which sat high atop my personal best list of that year. Recorded in NYC with a crop of downtown experimental musicians, Blackbird's Echo fused her Billie Holiday chanteuse chops with doses of chamber pop, Robert Ashley-esque theatrical monologues, and a sharp infusion of neon-tinted electronic soul. Her latest, however, was recorded in Germany with a stripped-down guitar/bass/drums lineup, with Niobe herself handling vocals and keyboard duty, and co-production and mix duties handled by Marcus Schmickler. It's arguably her most direct, least obtuse record to date; the arrangements recall the dark bluesy sludge of prime PJ Harvey fused together with the stark, minimalist funk of ESG, while never straying far from her trademarked multi-tracked, densely layered vocal arrangements. These songs are dark, instilled with a sense of everyday horror that pays tribute to Lynch and Hitchcock; it's an interesting direction for her to take, and probably the last thing I'd ever expect her to offer up. It's a resounding success, though; the tracks buzz, whirl, and stutter like faulty machinery, anchored by some tight, jagged hypnotic grooves. She retains her theatricality as well, casting herself in a dozen mini dramas like a skilled character actor, even pitching her voice down on a few tracks to effectively evoke the male subjects detailed in the songs. I'd been eagerly anticipating this album for over a year now, and I'm happy to say that it does not disappoint. I love the way she wraps left-field DNA in the Frankensteined flesh of accessibility, letting the seams show in a grotesque beauty that few manage to pull off. This one's a strong contender for my Best of 2012 list; listeners looking for some pop/soul with a bit of art-damaged terror under the surface should check this out post-haste. [IQ]


	$12.99 CD		SPIRITUALIZED Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Fat Possum) "Hey Jane" "Heading for the Top" Pain, addiction and walking with Jesus have been constants throughout Jason Pierce's musical career, but on his seventh Spiritualized album it's impossible not to feel the weight of lyrics like "Help me lord, help me Jesus/'cause I'm lonely and tired" -- even if sung metaphorically. Having already survived a near-death experience from double pneumonia back in 2005, Pierce had fallen ill once again, this time with a long-term liver disease, and during the mixing of Sweet Heart Sweet Light was undergoing experimental chemotherapy that placed him in a very different sort of mind-altered state than the drug-fueled highs long associated with his music and persona. It sets a sort of prescient tone, even as Pierce's MO -- filtering blues, gospel, early rock 'n' roll, free-jazz freakouts, and motorik Velvets/Krautrock droning into a swirling and oft-grandiose, psychedelic confection -- hasn't changed; in fact, this album sounds like it could have been released on the heels of 1997's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Spiritualized's (and Pierce's) creative apex. Following a brief introduction of celestial orchestration, Sweet Heart Sweet Light kicks into the almost nine-minute "Hey Jane," which chugs on a VU-cribbing two-chord groove before resetting itself at the halfway point for a gloriously rapturous, rocking ascent, complete with a gospel choir repeating the album title as a heavenly refrain. Throughout the record, though, mortality is always lurking, be it in the deceptively sweet, orchestrated Brit-pop of "Little Girl" (where Pierce plaintively longs, "Sometimes I wish I was dead/because only the living can feel the pain") or over the woozy drone of "Get What You Deserve," in which it's never quite clear whether his druggy proclamation of "Gonna shoot you while you're laying down" refers to a gun or a needle. Elsewhere, Dr. John (who also appeared on Ladies and Gentlemen...) lends some of his gris-gris to the swampy blues-n-skronk of "I Am What I Am," while "Life Is a Problem" finds Pierce pleading over the gently swaying Disney-esque strings, "Jesus be my bullet and gun/shoot all the sinners down, every one/ Kill all my demons and that would be fine/but I would be reloading all of the time." By the time closer "So Long You Pretty Thing" comes in it seems that all hope is lost, but the sweet voice of his 11-year-old daughter hints that things may turn out different. Soon after, Pierce finds salvation as he laments the death of rock 'n' roll while simultaneously hopping on the back of its spirit and soaring to the heavens singing, "So long you pretty thing, God save your little soul/The music that you played so hard ain't on your radio/And all your dreams of diamond rings and all that rock 'n' roll can bring you/Sail on, so long." [GH]


	$16.99 CDx2		GROUPER A I A (Kranky) The best music is always more than the sum of its parts; Liz Harris' Grouper project clearly fits that bill, and as such it's quite difficult to spell out what makes this music so special. Harris crafts simple, almost slight music, out of the most basic elements -- a piano chord, a guitar strum, a hazy drone, a synth tone, a quiet vocal refrain -- and yet, these small songs can be all-encompassing, washing over you and enveloping you until it seems there is nothing else that even matters. Harris' voice is at the center of the appeal, marshaling the hiss and the bliss and giving ballast to songs that can seem almost weightless, but her singing is always quiet, her words usually all but indistinguishable; again, it's near-impossible to say why so many of us get lost in her sound. Here we have the CD issue of a two-part album initially self-released last year as two separate LPs, hazy and narcotic and sounding a bit like her earliest Grouper missives -- one part quiet, dreamy folk, one part dense, dark noise, and three parts Harris magic. Dream Loss, which was recorded first, contains the barest, most stripped-down dispatches, while Alien Observer is just a bit denser and more nuanced, but they work well as a pair, and for those of you who don't need me to figure out how to explain the deep appeal of this music, let me say simply this: you need this. [JM]


	$14.99 CD		JULIA HOLTER Tragedy (Leaving) Julia Holter's Tragedy album from 2011 is finally available on CD for wider consumption after its two limited vinyl pressings sold out in the blink of an eye, and if you missed out on the wax, here's your chance to see what all of the fuss was about. Tragedy ended up sitting high amongst many critics and listeners Best of 2011 lists (my own included), and with good reason; its deft blend of thick synth clouds, plundered vinyl archaeology, classical formalism, and dreamy pop vocals made Holter a name to keep an eye on, and she made good on that promise with this year's excellent Ekstasis. Where that album elevates pop songcraft via clearer production and less reliance on field recordings and drones, the music on Tragedy straddles a hallucinogenic mindstate that seems like a fever dream, where everything is in soft focus with blurred textures. Holter based Tragedy's song cycle on Euripides' Ancient Greek play Hippolytus, and there's a definite theatricality to the album that evokes Robert Ashley or Laurie Anderson's downtown inner monologues, but blended with a medieval ancient modernity practiced by the likes of Dead Can Dance, where the ancient and modern rub against one another with contrasting yet fascinating textures. She takes plundered samples from classical albums, bathes them in the dry-ice fog of synth drone and tape hiss, and creates landscapes with unpredictable topography via the usage of field recordings and simple, pulsating rhythm beds. It's often difficult to discern what is being "played" and what is being plundered, and that's precisely what makes the record so magical. The album's home-recorded fidelity adds the same sort of voodoo that worked magic with Lee Perry and Ariel Pink, where she uses that fidelity to her advantage, and her vocals at times evoke the same dream logic of Nite Jewel's first album, but replacing the 1980s electro/pop aesthetic for a more avant-garde sensibility. There are absolutely stunning moments of pop brilliance on display here, particularly on "So Lillies," which begins with a field recording of some kind of market or transit station, before slowly coiling into a gaseous minimal dance beat halfway through, with Holter softly whispering into a delay unit, chasing her own light trails until she is cloaked in a gown of her own vocals. One is also led to believe that Tragedy and Ekstasis are familial works, as both albums share one of her best songs to date, the hypnotic robot lullaby "Goddess Eyes." While sharing similarities, Tragedy stands as a high-water mark for me, a distinct and special album that deserves every minute of attention it has received. If you found pleasure in Ekstasis, come to Tragedy with an open mind and find absolute bliss. This gets my absolute highest recommendation. [IQ]


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		TRAXMAN Da Mind of Traxman (Planet Mu) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store The latest release in Planet Mu's current embrace, exploration, and fondness for Chicago-born footwork comes from the scene's longest-invested producer, Cornelius "Traxman" Ferguson. He's had a hands-on influence in the development of the sound and style since the '90s -- from ghetto-house to juke to footwork -- as well as being a co-founder of leading cliques within the city and the scene, including DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn's Ghetto Teknitianz crew. He's got the résumé and Da Mind of Traxman is the footwork classic the scene has been hinting at, and waiting for. With a strong and solid skill set and deep knowledge of crate digging, Traxman creates a dizzying and energetic listen that merges footwork's start-stop and triple-time signatures with the feel of a hip-hop beat juggler, or a free-spirited jazz drummer. His tracks have a swing that is really rooted in jazz, even when he's flipping Kraftwerk's "The Robots" (downloadable bonus track) or Prince's intro monologue from "Let's Go Crazy." What stands out most is the diversity of the samples; where most of his peers rely heavily on a cappella cuts of contemporary hip-hop/R&B, Traxman often and effectively uses soul, funk, and jazz as well as techno and house, all filtered through a stern urban framework by his frenetic sonic cut-ups. You'll hear moments from the Mizell Brothers, James Brown, Ofra Haza, the Sylvers, Stevie Wonder and more across the eighteen tracks. The album is well balanced between purely instrumental cuts, roughneck battle calls, death-by-laser video game squiggles, screaming divas, soulful chords, stuttering horn stabs, jazz shuffling, and of course, tripping-over-themselves 808 bass thumps and rolls. The album opener, "Footworking on Air," is absolutely one of the most beautiful tracks I've heard on any of these series releases so far; Traxman flips a poly-rhythmic sample of a kalimba and creates a staggering piece of beauty and lightness. Throughout the productions here is the sense of great timing, freedom, looseness, and soul that comes with maturity. As with most of the entries in the Bangs & Works series, this isn't for everyone, but it does have the most crossover potential I've heard, due to the diversity and skill at play. This is not for the easily rattled or agitated, and you would be forgiven for thinking your record was skipping. That said, if you're adventurous and want to have at least one footwork album in your catalogue, this would be the one. It's the work of a seasoned producer at the top of his game, presenting the rich and imaginative mind, heart, soul, and the depth of a sub-sub-genre that continues to grow and expand. Harder, rawer, and funkier than Machinedrum, Addison Groove, or Kuedo, this here is the real deal, and I think it's real good, no doubt. [DG]


	$14.99 LP		LOVE APPLE Love Apple (The Numero Group) Considering the sheer volume of exceptional records the Numero Group has put out in the last few years, one could be forgiven for overlooking a few items in their growing catalog. A vinyl-only release of a rehearsal tape from an obscure trio of harmonizing soul sisters would certainly be an easy miss, yet to pass over Love Apple would be a disservice to all lovers of underground soul. The story really begins with the talented indie-soul Svengali Lou Ragland -- whose stellar catalog is documented on the excellent By the Numbers collection that Numero just released. The Cleveland, Ohio-based singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, label owner and promoter discovered this trio of young ladies in the late-'70s, and was writing songs and preparing them for a concert debut when these recordings took place in '78. The raw, funky mid-tempo ballads feature sparse accompaniment from Ragland on guitar, and a heavy backbeat bottom provided by drummer Tony Roberson. But the real joy here is in the rich three-part vocal interplay of Lily Pearson, Annette Warren and Avetta Henry. It's an intimate aural snapshot of the creative process at work, and it's funk at its most minimal. Tracks like "Guess I Always Knew" and "Man on the Side" are head-scratching wonders, both featuring sweet vocal harmonies from the women, and spare piano that contrasts with the hard-hitting drums and scratchy rhythm guitar from Ragland -- though you can hear Ragland literally shout out changes in the middle of the songs, your spine will still tingle at the intoxicating blend of the vocals and the band interplay. Even though these were only working demos, you get the feeling that with the tunes fleshed out, the magic captured here would've been difficult to capture again. Unfortunately Love Apple's career was over before it started; the group imploded prior to a concert appearance and these tapes languished in a milk barn for more than three decades before being rescued and shared with the world by Numero. It's hard not to be moved by these simple tunes, which convey emotions as deep and wide as the skies. Lovely, lovely stuff. [DH]


	$12.99 CD $17.99 LP $9.99 MP3		SEDITION ENSEMBLE Regeneration Report (Sol Re Sol) "Regeneration Report" "Tax" Before I worked at Other Music, I ran the mail-order department of a shop that specialized in jazz and experimental music, and during my long tenure at that store, I came into contact with many rare albums that absolutely changed my ears and mind for the better. There were so many great records I first heard about in conversation with staff and clientele there which eventually I'd track down, but one much-discussed release that had always escaped my grasp was this excellent 1981 album by NYC's Sedition Ensemble, led by San Franciscan filmmaker and musician Ed Montgomery. Montgomery came to NYC with a plan to assemble a sociopolitical performance ensemble that reflected the cultural hotbed found throughout the city. After playing with the likes of Bobo Shaw at LaMama, he assembled this top-notch band that includes Bern Nix, guitarist for Ornette Coleman's Prime Time and the Contortions, and bassist Melvin Gibbs, a founding member of the Black Rock Coalition who would go on to play in the Rollins Band, Harriet Tubman, Arto Lindsay and many others. Ben Bierman was a horn player who played with such heavyweights of the Latin scene as Hector Lavoe and Johnny Pacheco, while drummer Bob De Meo played with the likes of Eddie Gale and Jaki Byard. Finishing off the combo were the fiery vocals of Valois Mickens and Crystal Joy, who brought a blend of soulful seduction and powerful street rap that echoed the work of the Last Poets and Gil-Scott Heron, not to mention the likes of poet Jayne Cortez. Their one and only LP, Regeneration Report, is a spirited, ballsy mix of jagged punk angles, rolling funk grooves, robust horn work straight out of the loft jazz scene, a bit of Latin percolation, and militant soulful poetry. It was a private-press obscurity of the era, a prime document of downtown NYC's hotbed of multiculturalism, infused with the heavy, heady emotions of the city during that time, with crime and urban decay rampant, but the vibrant creativity of the scene unstoppable. Fans of everything from Ornette's Prime Time, Fela Kuti, Kip Hanrahan, ESG, and the excellent Defunkt should check this out post-haste; it's a sharp, funky album that I'm overjoyed to FINALLY have in my possession thanks to this excellent reissue by Sol Re Sol. After all these years wondering if the damn thing even truly existed anymore, I'm happy to say that it was well worth the wait. Expect to hear this pumping from my stereo all summer long... we could all use a good kick in the ass, and boy oh boy, does this album do the job well! [IQ]


	$15.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		MAD SCENE Blip (Siltbreeze) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Yes, it's been 17 years since Mad Scene released an album, and yes, it really was worth the wait! They never exactly went away, but this Brooklyn-based psych-pop band, led by New Zealand pop icon Hamish Kilgour (the Clean, etc.) and Lisa Siegel, has always been decidedly low-key as well as lo-fi, and their loose, shambling, intentionally under-the-radar (Blip) aesthetic defines the sound as well as the modus operandi. If you see Mad Scene as part of the continuum of the NZ indie-pop sound that Kilgour helped invent, they fall on the darker, hazier side of the equation, drawing on much-loved classics like the Velvets, the TVPs and the Modern Lovers, but slowed down and fuzzed out and somehow slightly unhinged -- this is not a drug band, but they have an awfully narcotic churn at times. And here, with a decidedly druggy producer in Sonic Boom, Mad Scene have made their dreamiest, trippiest album yet, leavening their pop with quite a healthy dose of psychedelia. Joined by many of their usual live collaborators, including Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley (on guitar), Ladybug Transistor's Gary Olson, Brian Turner (from WFMU) and Steve Thornton, this is a record that is thick with ambiance and ear-candy, delivering both joy and melancholy from beneath a hiss-filled shroud. Perhaps this band is just a Blip on the radar of rock and roll, but many of us are surely on the same wavelength. [JM]


	$27.99 LPx2		FRANCIS BEBEY African Electronic Music (Born Bad) "Divorce Pygmée" Francis Bebey is a long-standing favorite here at Other Music; a writer, artist and musician from Cameroon, his work blended roots in African folklore with an unabashed embrace of modernity. His albums began as guitar-based song poems, but quickly embraced the usage of thumb pianos and synthesizers. Original copies of his records, predominantly released on the Ozileka label, now fetch steep prices on the collector's circuit, but thankfully Born Bad delivers this tasty two-LP collection of some of his finest songs with steep usage of synth and drum machine technology compiled from albums recorded between 1975 and 1983. This music is quite simply astonishing and otherworldly, yet simultaneously charming and homegrown. There's a distinct DIY ethos at work here; Bebey's songs come off like Young Marble Giants in the African savannah, simple on the surface but with intricate polyrhythmic and harmonic interplay, all infused with a bit of minimal synthwave thrown in, while his lyrics detail everything from simple love songs to sharp sociopolitical commentary about the battle of the sexes and anti-apartheid sentiments. The package is also to be commended; the sleeve reworks visual elements of his La Condition Masculine album, and each of the LPs is housed in a heavyweight full-color inner sleeve with photos and liner notes. As someone who owns a large collection of original Bebey LPs, I'm so happy to be able to offer this up to our readers for wider consumption. It's been a long time since we've seen any sort of reissue of his work here at Other Music, and I think it goes without saying that this comes with my absolute highest recommendation. [IQ]


	$12.99 CD $12.99 LP		EMPTYSET Medium EP (Subtext) "Mirror" "Medium" Bristol-based producers James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas are members of the Multiverse collective, which includes various dubstep and grime artists and labels. Having received a generous grant from the Woodchester Mansion Trust, they moved their gear out of the studio and into an incomplete mansion to create their latest EP, the resulting Medium being about process. Recorded live inside the stone structure, they placed contact microphones on various walls, down halls, and in open rooms, then mixed the feedback and echoes back into and through their equipment, becoming one with the environment. The results are an open yet weighty and haunting exercise in live sound design. Like Pan Sonic without the electrified beats, Emptyset create ghost-like figures out of pure electronic sound and ambiance. The listener seems to wander, lost in this deserted castle, sounds coming out from nowhere, darting past, hovering just outside your ear, echoing down the hall, and heading directly towards you. It's a short (21-minute) journey that combines dark and minimal gothic sonic imagery with abrasive and charged electronic textures. This might not be as fulfilling overall as their last album, Demiurge (which I still actively recommend), but it's an intriguing experiment in live sound manipulation. Fans of Type, Blackest Ever Black, or their own Subtext label, will feel at home amongst these haunting pieces. [DG]


	$15.99 CD		DAVID BYRNE Rei Momo (Warner Bros) "Make Believe Mambo" "The Dream Police" It blows my mind that so few people know the hot, sweaty joy that is David Byrne's first proper solo album, 1989's Rei Momo. I say without hesitation that this is, in my opinion, one of the best albums Byrne ever created, Talking Heads catalogue included. Recorded with a stunning cast of Latin musicians, including Willie Colon, Celia Cruz, and Johnny Pacheco, the album sees Byrne tackling the indestructible beats of the Latin scene, where he tries his hand at Afro-Cuban, Hispanic, and Brazilian styles like merengue, Cuban son, samba, mambo, and even cumbia! The real kick is that he wears each one admirably, never looking like the awkwardly dancing, big-suited character from Stop Making Sense, but instead showing his obvious love, respect, and admiration not only for the music, but the musicians as well. The first lines out of Byrne's mouth on Rei Momo are "Now and then, I get horny..." and as soon as the gloves come off, his lyrics blend well with the rhythms, crafting the same sorts of character studies and off-kilter tales he's so well known for, and in the process delivering some of my all-time favorite songs in Byrne's repertoire, from "Dirty Old Town" (a look inside the mind of an agent of gentrification), "The Dream Police" (one of Byrne's most beautiful songs -- no relation to Cheap Trick!), and his sweltering duet with Celia Cruz, "Loco De Amor," which opens Jonathan Demme's 1986 film Something Wild, and which was the first spark of inspiration that lit this bonfire. I listened to this album so many times over the course of my teenage years and young adulthood; it helped foster my love of Latin music, it's one of my favorite soundtracks to the beauty and grime of New York City, and it remains a personal desert-island disc. This album also single-handedly got me through last year's heatwave; I listened to it every day, multiple times a day, and as we're pushing 80 degrees in April already, I can't think of a better time to spread the love. The record is mysteriously available only as an import CD these days, and still remains an unheralded part of Byrne's back catalogue. I'm absolutely thrilled to be able to offer it up to be devoured by OM listeners; if you've never heard this album, you're in for a real treat; turn up the A.C. as Byrne turns up the heat. [IQ]


	$16.99 CDx2		VARIOUS ARTISTS The Best of Perception & Today Records (BBE) "Dance Girl" Fatback Brother Bill Curtis "Looking for a Brand New Game" The Eight Minutes The NYC-based Perception and Today imprints were launched by Terry Frazier and Boo Phillips in 1969, and in their five-year existence the labels would put out a wide range of funk, soul, jazz, spoken-word poetry as well as pop albums -- the one thread running through their catalog being the founders' impeccable ear for quality. Even though they were able to somehow produce a major hit record with King Harvest's "Dancing in the Moonlight," and they produced a stellar catalog from start to finish, it was probably inevitable that the labels wouldn't make it through to the decade's end. Yet time has been kind to this music, and years later many of the records have gone on to become revered amongst beat-diggers and fans. Famed NYC producer DJ Spinna helps curate this fine overview of some of the highlights, and there ain't a dud on this two-disc collection. Frazier and Phillips had a left-field eclectic bent, yet their roster featured releases from iconic artists including Bobby Rydell, Dizzy Gillespie, and Astrud Gilberto; they also introduced the world to NYC funk legends Fatback Band and famed disco producer Patrick Adams. There are also some great tracks from little-known funk-rock groups like Bartel and the silky J5-styled bubblegum vocal soul of the Eight Minutes and the Patrick Adams-produced band Black Ivory. Hip-hop fans will recognize many of these grooves which have been sampled for hits by Wu-Tang Clan, the Beatnuts, PM Dawn and Kanye, but these tunes definitely stand tall on their own. I've been a fan of these labels' output for years, and this collection is way overdue! [DH]


	$13.99 CD $13.99 LP $9.99 MP3		BLACK BREATH Sentenced to Life (Southern Lord) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Though the racks at Other Music are home to a fairly wide assortment of metal records, those who prefer their Hessian impulses to be tempered by the academic (like Sunn O)))), the ersatz (sorry, Liturgy), or the accepted classic (hello, Pentagram) should know forthwith what they're getting themselves into with Black Breath's second full-length Sentenced to Life. Produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, the Seattle quintet's sophomore effort aims squarely for a mix thrashing hardcore, crusty punk, and a dash of doom metal that is not a commentary on or exploration of metals' boundaries, but a gleeful melee celebrating the fastest, grimiest, and most furious impulses the genre has to offer. Ultimately sounding like a crew who have little use for records not made by Discharge, Poison Idea, or issued by Earache in the late 1980s, the ten tracks contained herein absolutely pummel over the course of their thirty minutes, proving a more than worthy follow-up to their unexpectedly excellent 2010 debut Heavy Breathing. Speed proves to be the name of the game at the outset of the record, as Black Breath waste little time pushing their gnarled approach to death metal at a furious, double-kickdrum-enhanced pace across opener "Feast of the Damned" and the immediately following title track. No less menacing, "Home of the Grave" finds the band taking their riffs and shredded vocals through some slower breakdowns, while second-half tracks like "Mother Abyss" and "Of Flesh" up the tempos to almost grind-like territory. In all, while Black Breath's debut could get a little wearisome at times, Sentenced to Life showcases a band that has only managed to get tighter and more efficient at getting their message of maximum carnage across in the shortest time possible. And, it is fully acceptable music for lifting weights, which is one of the highest compliments I can grant a record like this. No joke! [MC]


	$5.99 CD $7.99 10" $9.99 MP3		DOUG PAISLEY Golden Embers EP (No Quarter) "City Lights" "Two Like Us" We loved Doug Paisley's Constant Companion album from late 2010, the soft-spoken Canadian catching the ears of fans of the Band (R.I.P. Levon), Townes Van Zandt and Neil Young. Sadly, it was a slept on record here in the States, even as it was garnering rave reviews in the UK. His latest EP is a solid introduction to newcomers of this great talent, and for those in the know, these five songs are a nice continuation of Constant Companion, with several guest musicians from those sessions returning, including Leslie Feist. He's got a new album coming down the pike, but this will certainly tide us over in the meantime. Recommended!


	$15.99 CD		TENNISCOATS Papa's Ear (Hapna) "Kuki no sako" "Sabaku" Backed by Swedish electro-acoustic trio Tape (who also collaborated with this Tokyo duo on 2007's Tan-Tan Therapy), Tenniscoats' new album might just be their most accessible to date, while still retaining their musical touchstones. Crafted from light orchestration, soft-swelling organs, gentle guitar strums, and of course, Saya's wispy, lullaby melodies, it's a gorgeous lulling set seemingly created for sun-kissed daydreaming. Fans of modern Japanese psych-pop, a la Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Nagisa Ni Te, the quieter side of late-'90s Windy City post-rock, and folktronica will love this record.


	$14.99 CD $19.99 LPx2		PHOTEK DJ Kicks (!K7) "In 2 Minds" Kromestar "Here Come the Dark Lights" DJG A much-anticipated DJ-Kicks mix from this drum-n-bass purveyor whose recent output had been pretty quiet until last year, when he jumped back into the scene releasing his Avalanche and Aviator EPs and several remixes. His most current productions could be described as falling on the cerebral side of post-dubstep, which is reflected in this killer mix featuring four new Photek tracks as well as cuts from bass-music staples like Boddika, Pinch, and Sepulcure, and lots more.


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		BATTLES Dross Glop (Warp) "Futura" The Alchemist Remix "Dominican Fade" Qluster Remix CD issue compiling the 12" series of remixes of Battles' Gloss Drop full-length. Eleven tracks total from an all-star cast featuring names like Gui Boratto, the Field, Shabazz Palaces, Kode9, Kangding Ray, Brian DeGraw of Gang Gang Dance, Hudson Mohawke, Boredoms' EYE, and more, who each naturally put their own signature on their respective track.


	$11.99 CD $14.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		RACES Year of the Witch (Frenchkiss) "Big Broom" "Don't Be Cruel" Inspired by bandleader Wade Ryff's break-up with -- you guessed it -- a witch, this Southern California sextet's debut album is a lush set of indie rock, fully formed with intricate pop arrangements and bright female harmonies nicely balancing Ryff's bittersweet confessionals.


	$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3		OBERHOFER Time Capsules II (Glassnote) "I Could Go" "Gold" A surprisingly grandiose debut from this Brooklyn band led by 21-year-old Brad Oberhofer. Produced by the legendary Steve Lilywhite, the group's orchestrated odes to young love and heartbreak are infectious, with glockenspiels, pianos and all sorts of other ear-candy zigzagging around propulsive guitars, cascading drums and Oberhofer's anthemic yelps and oooooohhhs.


	$18.99 LP+MP3		THE ALPS III (Mexican Summer) "A Manha Na Praia" "Hallucinations" Back in print on vinyl! 2008's appropriately named III was indeed the third release from The Alps, but it also marked the first time ARP main man Alex Georgopoulos, Tarentel member Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, and Scott Hewicker made a trip into the studio to document their pastoral-vibed, Kraut-tinged psychedelia. Pulling equally from sun-kissed folk and driving, Popol Vuh-esque soundtrack instrumentals, these three crafted a bright album of subtle grooves, dosing its experimental textures with warm drones, delicate guitars, and locked rhythms. Tracks like "Hallucinations" work through taut bass and drum figures, allowing ample room for chanted vocals and moody strings to stretch towards the heavens. Elsewhere, pieces like "Cloud One" work more of a folk bent, lacing gentle strums with ascendant keys for sounds that eerily evoke Florian Fricke on a hefty dose of downers. Later still, pieces like "Pink Light" and "Echoes" almost eschew rhythm entirely, favoring hazy bursts of gauzy melodics that capably mask their instrumental origins in the service of some truly transcendent sounds. [MC]


	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 [GC] Greg Caz [MC] Michael Crumsho [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [JM] Josh Madell THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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