The Other Music Update

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	February 23, 2012


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES Grimes Frankie Rose Slant Azymuth 12" Rockin' Horse LP Sleigh Bells Perfume Genius The 2 Bears Lambchop Ty Segall LP Le Mystere Jazz De Tombouctou LP Shlohmo 12" EP My Best Fiend Beat Frauleins (Various Artists)		ALSO AVAILABLE Terry Malts Wooden Shjips Remix 12" EP Heartless Bastards Plug Tindersticks Young Magic BACK IN PRINT Andy Stott (Modern Love 12"s) BACK IN STOCK The American Dream Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

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		TANLINES LISTENING PARTY TONIGHT! Brooklyn art-pop duo Tanlines' new album, Mixed Emotions, comes out March 20th on True Panther Sounds, and we're starting the celebration early with a record listening party tonight at the Hi-Fi Bar, presented by East Village Radio and Other Music. The album will be playing between 7 and 9 p.m. and accompanied by 2-for-1 drink specials -- so belly on up to the bar, grab a couple of cold ones, then sit back and enjoy the new record! Also, tune into EVR beforehand, from 6 to 8 p.m., for a True Panther + Tanlines House Mafia Takeover! THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 THE HI-FI BAR: 169 Avenue A (at 11th Street) NYC 7 to 9 p.m. \| 21+ with ID

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		ISLANDS TICKET GIVE AWAY Nick Thorburn returns to NYC with his band Islands this Saturday, February 25, performing at Le Poisson Rouge in support of their great new album, A Sleep & A Forgetting, joined by Kentucky's Idiot Glee who'll be opening the night. Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets which you can enter for by emailing giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners on Friday. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 LE POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleecker St. NYC

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		OTHER MUSIC MONDAYS AT ACE HOTEL NYC This Monday, Other Music will be wrapping up our February residency at NYC's Ace Hotel, with DJ Amanda Colbenson behind the turntables playing a great eclectic mix of '60s & '70s international pop, rock and soul. While you're in the Ace lobby bar, make sure to check out Other Music's release display around the corner by the front desk, where we've stocked Bollywood Bloodbath, the Big Pink, Mighty Sparrow, Porcelain Raft, and several other titles on CD and LP formats. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27: DJ AMANDA COLBENSON ACE HOTEL: 20 W. 29th St. NYC

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		KID KOALA SPACE CADET HEADPHONE EXPERIENCE WIN TICKETS!! Kid Koala brings his Space Cadet Headphone Experience to New York on April 3 and 4th! The live concert and gallery will be taking place at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn, and with space pods, headphones, piano, turntables and cookies, it's a great show that almost any age will enjoy! Seating is limited so you'll want to book your tickets early, and Other Music is also giving away a pair to one of our Update subscribers, courtesy of BOOM Collective. Just email tickets@othermusic.com to enter and we'll notify the winner on Friday. TUESDAY, APRIL 3 & WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 IRONDALE CENTER: 85 S. Oxford St. Fort Greene, Brooklyn Click here for more info and tickets, and view a trailer from an earlier Space Cadet Headphone Experience.


	$13.99 CD $16.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		GRIMES Visions (4AD) "Without Fulfillment" "Be a Body" After a series of records that showed an intriguing talent who had yet to quite figure out where she was going, Montreal-based phenom Grimes (a/k/a Claire Boucher) has finally harnessed her strengths into a solid, impressive album for 4AD. Filled with sunshine harmonies, childlike vocals, and synthesized beats and textures, with Visions Boucher takes a sound reminiscent of '80s acts like Stacey Q or even early Madonna, and refits it all into her world. Much has been said of her admiration for contemporary Korean idol pop, and it definitely shows itself here; things sound positive, uplifting, and overtly "pop," but remain slightly foreign via her arrangements. Boucher's avant/experimental tendencies are very much toned down in favor of clear melodic hooks, and that's a good thing; she throws in little patches of square-peg ambiance, a bit of queasy synth tones, or some vocal arrangements that combine her teen/pixie delivery with more chopped, screwed, and thoroughly mutilated textures to make the sugar coating a bit less sweet. To make some contemporaneous references, imagine someone splicing bits of the Knife, early Nite Jewel, and Annie's collabs with Richard X together with some YouTube videos of Japanese variety show performances, and you'll get an idea of the familiar but alien soundworld she's working in. This is an album that draws you in upon first listen, but whose tracks' subtleties creep in after repeated listens. She's definitely not for everyone -- some of you may not be able to handle the borderline saccharine tone of her singing voice, but you know what? Lots of you go nuts for Joanna Newsom, a singer with similarly "off-kilter" qualities, so give this a shot. This is definitely an artist to watch; she's been growing by leaps and bounds, and this is definitely her finest offering yet. I'm happy to hear someone so fully embracing both the pop and unpop ids so willfully, and actually making a record that could appeal to both halves of the dichotomy. Fans of the artists I've mentioned above should definitely check this out without hesitation; it's one of the biggest surprises I've heard all year, and will be a strong contender for those End of Year lists everyone loves to make. Her blend of bubblegum, new age, R&B, and dance music is something that's been attempted MANY times recently, often with little success; Grimes does it well, and she does it right. Dive in and enjoy. [IQ]


	$9.99 CD $14.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		FRANKIE ROSE Interstellar (Slumberland) "Know Me" "Night Swim" On her second full-length for indie veteran label Slumberland, Brooklyn's Frankie Rose is finally ready to stand alone. She's dropped her backing band, the Outs, as well as the fuzzed-out guitars and veiling reverb that were so characteristic of her earlier releases. Instead, what we get is Interstellar, a much more personal album on many levels. Full of lush, delicately arranged tracks that put her clean, sparkling guitar and vocal melodies in the forefront, Rose is no longer shy about showcasing her shining, dreamy voice, literally and metaphorically. On buoyant tracks like "The Fall" and "Night Swim," there's no hiding behind a wash of jingle-jangle noisy garage pop, and that, more than anything else, really shows her growth as both an artist and a talented songwriter. Rose is no longer a former Vivian Girl, Dum Dum Girl or Crystal Stilts member and, on Interstellar, she makes a point to show it. More romantic and atmospheric than any of her previous efforts, the constant vocal and guitar layering among airy synths and uplifting drumbeats is beautiful and interesting, guiding the listener to a spectral escape by way of '80s pop. Thanks to the production help from Le Chev (remixer for Lemonade, Narcisse and Passion Pit), Frankie Rose creates a style of sound that is both indebted to the old and feels uniquely new -- it's almost as if she envisioned a cinematic soundscape suggestive of a meeting between Cocteau Twins and Arthur Russell. It's definitely highly recommended listening in my book, especially in the dim twilight whilst slow dancing in your Moonboots -- what, you don't do that too? [ACo]


	$21.99 LP		SLANT AZYMUTH Slant Azymuth (Pre-Cert) Demdike Stare continue their domination of my turntable with this super-limited collaborative LP with Andy Votel of the Finders Keepers/B-Music empire. These three have joined forces before, making two excellent albums of dark sampledelic psych as Anworth Kirk, but this new one as Slant Azymuth takes their trademarks while moving into some new territories. Throwing together everything from Krzysztof Komeda samples (I'm pretty sure the opening track is sampling vocal music from the Fearless Vampire Killers), dark elliptical drones, some thumping voodoo percussion, a bit of modern classical percussion and strings (reminding me of Morricone's work with the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza), and some gorgeous musique concrete drone and splice work that pays tribute to the French pioneers at INA/GRM, these guys are further refining the sound that makes them one of the best in the biz right now. Anyone who has been feeling their black witchcraft needs to jump on this ASAP, because the Pre-Cert releases never last, and to be honest, we're lucky we even got this at all! I'm not gonna try to sell this any further; you're either in or you're out, and this is one of their most "out" releases yet. So, so good. [IQ]


	$12.99 LP		ROCKIN' HORSE Yes It Is (Sing Sing) When legendary rock-n-roll guru Greg Shaw started the Bomp! subsidiary label Voxx, the first release was Rockin' Horse's "The Biggest Gossip in Town" 45, which Shaw proclaimed was "the best powerpop record ever," or something to that effect. While that might be a slight exaggeration, Rockin' Horse are going to be a major discovery for a lot of people. This Liverpool group, featuring Jimmy Campbell (who some might know from his solo albums on Vertigo, or from the rather excellent '60s psychpop band 23rd Turnoff), sound distinctively Liverpudlian at times, with late-'60s/early-'70s Beatles as a relevant reference point, but I also hear Badfinger and Todd Rundgren in here. Yes It Is is an incredibly well-crafted pop album, with a ton of hooks and infectious choruses but there's also a sprinkling of complex arrangements and random idiosyncrasies to keep the listener on his or her toes throughout. There's a trio of songs here, the aforementioned single, "Stayed Out Late Last Night" and "Julian the Hooligan," that are right up there with any band of the era, and the rest aren't far behind. And that is NOT an exaggeration. One of my favorite albums of all time. [AK]


	$12.99 CD $18.99 LP+MP3		SLEIGH BELLS Reign of Terror (Mom & Pop) "Road to Hell" "Comeback Kid" Amidst a backdrop of arena rock cheers, screams and wailing guitar, Sleigh Bells kick off their second album with no apologies. It's not that anyone could have expected anything less from this Brooklyn-based duo; after all there was nothing subtle about their debut's needle-in-the-red fusion of monsters-of-rock guitar riffs, crunk rhythms and bubblegum melodies, and if there were any indie act that owned 2010, it would be them. To be fair, Reign of Terror isn't exactly an if-it-ain't-broke-why-fix-it sophomore follow-up to Treats, but it's the kind of record that only Sleigh Bells could pull of. With a little more polish and a lot less sample clutter, Derek Miller's flashy axe work (on a Jackson USA Soloist) carries most of the instrumental brunt on this outing, with song names like the aforementioned album opener "True Shred Guitar," "Road to Hell," "Never Say Die" and "D.O.A." proving to be apt titles for his blister-and-squeal leads and bright '80s-metal power chords. Of course, Alexis Krauss' breathy lullaby melodies continue to be the counterweight for Miller's noisy Guitar Center follies, but here they're more nuanced and malleable, whether trading between sugar-sweet coos and agro pep-rally chants like a bi-polar cheerleader in "Crush," or channeling a little bit of her inner Elizabeth Fraser through a '60s girl-group chorus no less during "End of the Line" -- perhaps the closest Sleigh Bells gets to the unexpectedly breezy pop of Treats' Funkadelic-sampling "Rill Rill." Hell, the duo even has the balls to call a track "Leader of the Pack" that's only an homage in name, otherwise it's all nosedive guitar leads, stomping beats, and Krauss' airy yearn. Fans are going to love Reign of Terror as much as their debut and no doubt this will be an even bigger record for the band. It does, however, leave one wondering what Sleigh Bells' next creative move is going to be. We'll let Krauss and Miller worry about that one in a year or two; for now let's just enjoy this ride -- it's a fun one. [GH]


	$12.99 CD $15.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		PERFUME GENIUS Put Your Back N 2 It (Matador) "Normal Song" "Dark Parts" Back in 2010, Mike Hadreas crept up from his bedroom with a handful of songs he wrote at his mother's home during a dark time of drug and drink recovery. Such was the creative birth of our troubled Perfume Genius, ultimately occasioned by the release of his introspective debut album Learning, which documented those times of personal torment. As gorgeously heartfelt as that record was, it was equally somber and depressive; I don't think I was able to play it more than once in a day. Now, with his sophomore release, Hadreas has put his energies into making an album that you can actually listen to for a long time without ultimately leaving you feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Even the title Put Your Back N 2 It lends a bit of comic relief to the entire Perfume Genius aesthetic -- not that the tracks are at all silly. With his haunting, plaintive piano guiding these sparse chamber-rock arrangements, Hardeas continues to remind us of his sincerity by touching on such emotionally heavy topics as secrecy, family and intimacy. At the same time, the record carries a glimmer of hope, whereas before Hardeas presented his life as one big dark room. There's a bit more familiarity and outside touchstones apparent as well, with some songs recalling an occasional hint of Elliott Smith, Conor Oberst and even Antony. As a songwriter Hardeas is certainly not embarrassed to share tales from his uneasy world, and he here makes a genuine, unflinching delivery with his second record. [ACo]


	$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3		THE 2 BEARS Be Strong (DFA) "The Birds & the Bees" "Time in Mind" When times are hard, you should hit the dance floor; or at least that seems to be the lyrical and musical sentiment of this side-project from Hot Chip member Joe Goddard and DJ Raf Rundell. As the 2 Bears, the duo creates euphoric bangers that pull from all strands of UK club culture. It's a lil' bit ravey, a bit disco-electro, and plenty tongue-in-cheek. There's also a healthy nod to Damon Albarn in the droll vocal stylings of Joe and Raf and the cartoonish anonymity of the project (the guys have been known to perform in dirty overgrown bear suits). Just as with Hot Chip, the album is musically all over the map, but here Goddard's humorous lyrical bent and uncanny ear for melody keeps things cohesive and fun. Songs like "Heart of the Congos" and the title track are slightly wistful tributes to the redemptive power of music -- the former a fan letter documenting his love of that classic Congos album and the latter a significantly less-jaded "Losing My Edge"-styled rave-romp that namechecks house, 2-step and drum-n-bass faves. Their first single, "Bear Hug," is a cheeky re-working of the UK '90s club classic "This Is Acid," featuring a pitched-down rhyme about sweaty rave embraces and platonic kisses on the mouth! It's hilarious but it's also a bona fide banger. The whole album is a solid tribute to the redemptive power of music and a worthy distraction 'til the next Hot Chip album drops. [DH]


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		LAMBCHOP Mr. M (Merge) "If Not I'll Just Die" "Gone Tomorrow" You'd be forgiven for not noticing that Lambchop have now been quietly carving out their own unique corner in the country music continuum for nigh on two decades. Never a band to demand your attention, their restrained take on the classic American idiom could hardly be further from the modern country their native Nashville has come to be associated with. Unlike many of their indie-country contemporaries, Lambchop didn't take the stripped-down American primitive, or the wounded bad-ass spirit of outlaw country approach in their conscientious rejection of the country establishment. Instead, they've taken the opposite route, building an elegiac body of work from the sanded-down bones of country, jazz, and easy listening. Like nearly every Lambchop release of the last decade or so, Mr. M is aurally stunning. Hardly a lo-fi act, the 'Chop have always gone to great lengths to make records that sound lush and warm, with Kurt Wagner's hushed baritone mic'd close enough to be in the room with you. Coming off a run that saw them indulging the double album and larger arrangements, Mr. M is a retrenchment of sorts, scaling the band back to a more manageable core and stripping away some of the gilded excess that was threatening to engulf them. The result is a concise testament to this group's strengths, and it's smooth enough to wax your Benz with. The songs groove and glide, the horns pipe-in. Strings chirp and buzz past your ear, in and out of the mix quick enough to nearly miss them. Wagner's lyricism, always a highlight, is in top form here as well. The quintessential Southern wordsmith, his conversational tone is the perfect conduit for the detailed vignettes of everyday life Wagner has made his lyrical trademark. Not many people (okay, maybe Ghostface) can sing at length about what kind of pots they cook in and keep your attention, much less make you laugh while they're doing it. Here's an album ready to thaw you out of your winter hibernation with a warm center and the lightest of touches. [JTr] For a limited time: Free Download of "If Not I'll Just Die" taken from Lambchop's new album, available on Other Music Digital.


	$18.99 LP		TY SEGALL San Francisco Rock Compilation or Foor or Weird Beer from Microsoft (Social Music) Seems like every couple of weeks there's a new slab of smokin' San Francisco garage rock hitting our shelves. If you flipped your wig over that recent Thee Oh Sees/Total Control split 12" like I did, you should definitely check out this psychotic nugget from psych-punk wunderkind Ty Segall. Rock Compilation provides a nice bridge between last year's understated, Syd Barrett-inspired Goodbye Bread, and the recent Goner Records collection of Segall's screamingly fast singles. The sound quality of the record alternates between charmingly, crunchingly mid-fi and willfully FUBAR. Imagine if a copy of the Monkees' Head had been left out to bake in the California sun for a while, then stepped on by a girl wearing boots made for walkin', then used as a chew toy for that basset hound on the cover of Goodbye Bread. Segall cranks the distortion on every song (including a very good rendition of "Happy Birthday," dedicated to somebody named Alex), but even better than the tunes themselves are the melted samples, humorous tape manipulations ("Give me that sponge," says a man, and a woman nonchalantly replies, "But the oxygen is failing."), and industrial feedback squalls that precede each tune. The end of the first side is a brilliant sound collage of a hundred different guitar licks, each bleeding into the other perfectly, despite different keys, tones, and fidelities. Right now, San Francisco is where the action is, and you'd be remiss to miss out on this psychedelic gem. [MS]


	$19.99 LP		LE MYSTERE JAZZ DE TOMBOUCTOU Le Mystere Jazz de Tombouctou (Kindred Spirits) Kindred Spirits did me a solid last year by reissuing the Kanaga De Mopti album, a Malian dance band whose sole LP had been on my holy grail list for years; they follow that up with another excellent slice of vintage Malian danceband jazz, with which I was previously unfamiliar. This 1977 album features six tracks of gorgeous, soulful dance tunes that effectively bridge the gap between the traditional griot sounds and rhythms of folklore, and the contemporary sounds sweeping the region via the introduction of electric guitar into danceband culture. These tracks are long and spacious, some hitting the ten-minute mark, and that ample breathing room gives the musicians opportunities to stretch out and cut loose, while never sacrificing the solid, hypnotic grooves laid down. Along with the heat-soaked guitars, there are ample brass blasts, percolating hand percussion beats, and passionate vocals, all combining for one of the best albums of Malian music I've ever heard. It's not as frenetic as the Kanaga LP, but that's a good thing; this is the flipside of the coin, a relaxed, soulful serenade whose spell doesn't lift until the stylus does. This one comes most highly recommended, folks; if you dig on Afro jams, especially of the whole Mali music/Sublime Frequencies axis, this is essential listening, plain and simple. [IQ]


	$10.99 12"		SHLOHMO Vacation EP (Friends of Friends) I was a big fan of Bad Vibes from Shlohmo (a/k/a Henry Laufer); the album even earned a spot on my overflowing Best of 2011 list. Now comes a new EP from this 20-year-old producer and it is a solid continuation of the aforementioned full-length's downtempo/soul chop-up that placed him in the league with Mount Kimbie, James Blake and Jamie xx. True to his name, Shlohmo's tracks are more on the trip-hop side than bassy house; Laufer stretches and slices R&B-styled vocals and it all brings a sense of humanness and dripping emotion to his glitchy, crackling and snappy beats. Full of melodic synths that swirl and shimmer across the breezy sonic spectrum, Vacation acts as a nice little get-away to hold us over while he works on his next full-length, and as an added bonus, the vinyl version features remixes from Nicolas Jarr, Slava, and Blake collaborator Airhead. For those that can't get enough of the low-hung synths, sun bleached beats, boy-in-a bedroom vibes and soulful accents that seem to be everywhere, Shlohmo's discography is constantly growing and expanding, and he's quickly becoming a name that doesn't disappoint. [DG]


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		MY BEST FIEND In Ghostlike Fading (Warp) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store As of late, there seems to be a nineties revival thing happenin' in the indie rock realm. Young bands like Big Troubles, Yuck and Surfer Blood have all crafted albums in the past year or two that throw a passing glance backwards at bands like Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Not to mention all the many different versions of Chris Isaak's broken-hearted ballad "Wicked Game" we've seen come tumbling out of the blogosphere; sometimes it feels like I'm going to peek in the windows of Kellogg's Diner and see kids smacking Pogs on the tabletops, or swapping VHS copies of Singles or Reality Bites. My Best Fiend, a young Brooklyn band by way of Philadelphia, strikes out for a different spread of Generation X territory, but with the same fervor as their aforementioned contemporaries. Instead of wack slacks, Salvation Army guitars, and loser attitudes, MBF head east to the UK, borrowing the heavy vibrations of bands like the Verve, Oasis, or Radiohead back in their Pablo Honey/The Bends stage of development. Singer Fred Coldwell rides the dramatic dynamism of the band impressively, stretching his sweet, nicotine-charred Richard Ashcroft croon out into a hoarse, convincing yowl of joyful anguish. Behind him, acoustic and electric guitars hum gorgeously alongside swirling organs and choirs; the band is clearly most at home when they are strung out way up in heaven, like on the ethereal title track. My Best Fiend are at their best when they cave in to cinematic, skyscraping urges, as on "Cracking Eggs" or "One Velvet Day." The sparing use of other orchestration is just right as well, like the barely there cello on closer "On the Shores of Infinite." This kind of mopey, urban psychedelia/shoegaze is tough to pull off, but In Ghostlike Fading succeeds by making Coldwell's emotive voice the center of attention. [MS]


	$17.99 CD		VARIOUS ARTISTS Beat Frauleins: Female Pop in Germany 1964-1968 (Grosse Freiheit) "...Da Beisst Kein Goldfisch An" Brigitt "Kismet" Caterina Valente Beat Frauleins shines a bit of light on the swinging '60s pop scene coming out of Germany, overflowing with some serious yé-yé, soul, and jazz pop grooves that none but the most seasoned Euro collector will have heard. There's a heavy debt to both the garage band sound, with lots of Yardbirds/Stones-inspired pop/rock vibes on many tracks, as well as some wonderful tunes that show a heavier influence from Northern soul and the orchestrated yé-yé sound making waves in France and the UK. My biggest surprise was how well these songs take the German language, not known for its fluidity, and actually makes the words sound slinky, and sexy. Many tracks emphasize the onomatopoeic nature of the syllables, and it goes over like gangbusters to these ears. There are seriously too many highlights to recount here, but special nods go out to the songs by Brigitt, Monique and the Lions, Dorthe, Anita Weibel, and Caterina Valente. If you've been feeling the Spanish Chicas comp, or have stomped & twisted to any of the French pop jams I love bringing into the shop, you should check this out; I've always had a problem getting into what little German pop from this era I could find, but this collection thankfully proves me wrong and shows me that there was some great stuff coming out. If you'll excuse me, I've got some hunting to do! [IQ]


	$9.99 CD $9.99 MP3		TERRY MALTS Killing Time (Slumberland) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Rowdy SF fuzz-pop trio Terry Malts drop their first full-length for Slumberland, and it's a perfect fit since what this reminds us of the most is the seminal and much under-appreciated Henry's Dress and early My Bloody Valentine. Or maybe, for the five people out there that it'll actually mean something to, Sarah Records recording artists the Golden Dawn. Catchy, hooky, and punky buzzsaw pop, which is seemingly becoming somewhat of a San Francisco tradition, Killing Time is a topnotch album all the way through.


	$13.99 12" $4.99 MP3		WOODEN SHJIPS Remixes EP (Thrill Jockey) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store One of the few psychedelic groups of today worth a damn continues their hot streak with a limited 12" of remixes. Legendary English DJ, producer and man of many tattoos, Andrew Weatherall provides a killer trancey proto-techno/Krautrock take on "Crossing" (no doubt a highlight) from the most recent Wooden Shjips album, West, and Sonic Boom doesn't so much remix as he plays over (at least that's what it sounds like) an already existing song. The flipside is an epic collaboration between Shjips main man Ripley Johnson and Simon Price of legendary UK psych shamans the Heads, which stretches out into 15-plus minutes of repetitive bliss.


	$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3		HEARTLESS BASTARDS Arrow (Partisan) "Parted Ways" "Simple Feeling" With dirty blues-rock all the rage these days (White Stripes, Black Keys), Arrow should and deserves to be Heartless Bastards' big breakthrough. Erika Wennerstrom has everything you'd want in a frontwoman (snarl and soul) and the band sounds well-oiled and urgent. When the group shines the brightest, they beat Black Keys at their own game, sounding dirtier and bluesier, and unstoppable. A must for anyone who's digging El Camino, Jack & Meg, or anything unabashedly rock-n-roll.


	$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3		PLUG Back on Time (Ninja Tune) "Come on My Skeleton" "Back on Time" Warp recently discovered these 1995-98 era recordings by Luke Vibert; he went by Plug (and Wagon Christ) during that time, and what we have here is an eclectic and inventive take on the drum-n-bass genre. It would've been certain to turn a few heads back then, especially considering how formulaic and rigid d'n'b was when it first started out, and it still sounds fresh today. Vibert added a twisted sense of humor and elements of funk and kitsch (throwing in Bollywood samples, circus music and proto-garage vocals) to create something wholly new and exciting.


	$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3		TINDERSTICKS The Something Rain (Constellation) MP3 Clip MP3 Clip There are few things more reliable than Tindersticks. Three decades in (including a rather lengthy hiatus, of course) and nine albums under their collective belt, Stuart Staples and gang have yet to disappoint. The Something Rain is no exception, with Staples' wonderful, instantly recognizable, baritone croon permeating the room, and cinematic string arrangements and woodwinds blanketing his 3 a.m. kitchen sink tales of love and desperation. As seductive and noir as ever, Tindersticks deliver another winner.


	$13.99 CD $14.99 LP		YOUNG MAGIC Melt (Carpark) "This Fire of Autumn" "Frozen" Next-wave chillwave from this Brooklyn-dwelling Aussie, Isaac Emmanuel colors his hazy dreamscapes with a touch of R&B, adding booming bass, hand-claps and even some low-key rapping to his found-sound, pan-global grooves -- like Flying Lotus in indie pop mode. Young Magic nods to big-league production and Mid-Eastern mash-ups, but keeps it freewheeling and intimate, a true indie interpretation of a very current high-fashion style.


	Passed Me By $21.99 12"x2 We Stay Together $21.99 12"x2		ANDY STOTT Passed Me By (Modern Love) ANDY STOTT We Stay Together (Modern Love) Last year, these two limited vinyl double-packs from Andy Stott set the high bar for rumbling, bass-heavy, dub-infused techno, and each record subsequently went out of print before many even knew we had it on our shelves. Of course, the CD pressing, which combined both LPs and added lots of bonus material, was great, but wax enthusiasts who missed out on the first pressing are going to be thrilled, with Modern Love putting both records back in print on vinyl. Too slow to be techno, too earthy to be industrial and too fast to be hip-hop, there's a subtle sensuality in these tracks; rather than pummeling you with such extreme, stark textures, Stott gives everything ample breathing room and lets his creations swim in an almost aquatic environment. Many have tried to emulate the slow, deep majesty of this Manchester producer's work, but few have come close.


	$17.99 CD		THE AMERICAN DREAM The American Dream (Kismet) The American Dream's lone 1970 album is one of those great, forgotten rock records that guitar geeks, psych freaks, and collector fanatics can all salivate over, and if you love CSNY, Big Star, MC5, the Byrds, or Moby Grape, you're gonna flip your wig, too. Produced by Todd Rundgren, these Philadelphia good ol' boys (one of whom, guitarist and singer Nick Jameson, continued past the Dream to fame and fortune with Foghat) churned out a freaky mix of power pop, boogie blues, and stormy psychedelic pop. Two things set the American Dream apart from their '70s rock and roll brethren: first, a palpable sense of humor; second, a knack for nailing a lot of the fat hooks and riffs that would come to define the AM radio rock of the era. There are a lot of laughs to be had throughout the record, and on many tracks, Rundgren preserves the boys whooping, hollering, and hooting their way from one barn-burning breakdown to the next. There's even a very weird Tommy-esque number in "Credemphels" that might be sung in German, but also might just be slightly racist nonsense. But for every scorched earth guitar-driven basher (and there are plenty, like the MC5-inspired "Cadillac" and the boozy, bluesy, ballsy "My Babe"), there's a tune whose easygoing grooviness recalls Buffalo Springfield and early CSNY. There's the contemplative, vaguely anti-war "The Other Side," and a veritable tribute to the Byrds on "I Ain't Searchin'." On these tunes, the band's three (!) guitarists and bassist Don Ferris harmonize beautifully. In most places, it's difficult to tell whether the American Dream are stealing from their contemporaries (that's definitely the Beatles' "Get Back" riff on album closer "Raspberries"), or just inhaling the riffs and rhythms that permeated the air of the period -- but who gives a damn when rock and roll feels this good? The American Dream, like the very idea behind their band's name, is a sprawling, energetic, often beautiful, sometimes goofy melting pot of some of the hottest rock and roll ever made. [MS]


	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 [ACo] Anastasia Cohen [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [AK] Andreas Knutsen [MS] Michael Stasiak [JTr] Jon Treneff THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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