The Other Music Update

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	March 9, 2012


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES Julia Holter Main Attrakionz LP Nite Jewel The Magnetic Fields The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume 2 Frak LP Demdike Stare/Hype Williams 12" Ital Dustin Wong Fort Romeau Edzawaya K.S. Chithra Ceremony The Men Listen, Whitey! (CD, LP & Book) Edu Lobo & Tamba Trio Heatsick		ALSO AVAILABLE Andrew Bird Beth Jeans Houghton Bon Iver 12" Barry Adamson BACK IN PRINT Porter Ricks 2LP The Sound (2 CD reissues) Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

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		SHINS LISTENING PARTY, THIS SUNDAY This Sunday, March 11 from 4-6pm, stop by Other Music to hear a sneak preview of the great upcoming album from the Shins, Port of Morrow, set for release on March 20. While you're enjoying the new songs, you can enter to win an ultra-limited test pressing and we'll also be giving away signed posters and lots of other goodies from the band. SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 4-6PM OTHER MUSIC: 15 E. 4th St. NYC

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		WIN TICKETS TO BIG DEAL Big Deal's Alice Costelloe and Kacey Underwood quickly won over UK music fans last year with their debut album, Lights Out, a record built from not much more than a couple of guitars and the duo's heartbreak vocal melodies. But wow, it's a shimmering set packed full of intoxicating emotions and nostalgia, and the album has finally been released in the States. Big Deal will be playing a couple of New York shows before heading over to Austin for SXSW: Sunday, March 11 at Brooklyn's Glasslands and Monday, March 12 at Mercury Lounge. For your chance to win a pair of tickets, email enter@othermusic.com. SUNDAY, MARCH 11 GLASSLANDS GALLERY: 289 Kent Ave, BKLN MONDAY, MARCH 12 MERCURY LOUNGE: 217 E. Houston St. NYC

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		WIN TICKETS TO WHY? & DANIELSON As far as "mavericks" go, we couldn't think of two indie artists more befitting of that title than WHY? and Danielson, who are playing at Le Poisson Rouge as part of Carnegie Hall's 2012 American Mavericks Festival. We've got two pair of passes up for grabs to this show, Friday, March 16, and to enter to win, simply email contest@othermusic.com. FRIDAY, MARCH 16 LE POISSON ROUGE: LE POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleecker St. NYC

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		LEE RANALDO IN-STORE PERFORMANCE We are very excited to announce a record release party and special in-store performance from a New York City legend, none other than Lee Ranaldo, celebrating the release of his great new Matador LP, Between the Time and the Tides! This is sure to be packed, so arrive early to get a good spot on the floor. TUESDAY, MARCH 20 @ 9:00 P.M. OTHER MUSIC: 15 E. 4th St. NYC Free Admission \| Limited Capacity

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		SPOEK MATHAMBO TICKET GIVEAWAY Spoek Mathambo blew our minds last year with his dark, wobble-house cover of Joy Division's "She's Lost Control," and now the Johannesburg producer/rapper/DJ is releasing his sophomore album, Father Creeper, on Sub Pop next week, and we can't wait! Spoek will be celebrating his new record with a show at New York's SOB's on Thursday, March 22. We've got a pair of tickets to offer and you can enter to win by emailing: tickets@othermusic.com. THURSDAY, MARCH 22 SOB'S: 204 Varick St. NYC

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		NITE JEWEL TICKET & TEST PRESSING GIVE AWAY! Nite Jewel's anticipated second full-length, One Second of Love, has just been released on Secretly Canadian, who are not only offering up one pair of tickets to see her upcoming show at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, April 24 (with Mac DeMarco and Sophia Knapp opening) but also an autographed test pressing of her new album to a lucky winner. Email giveaway@othermusic.com to enter, and then read our full review of One Second of Love below in this week's Update. TUESDAY, APRIL 24 BOWERY BALLROOM: 6 Delancey St. NYC


	$11.99 CD $15.99 LPx2 $9.99 MP3		JULIA HOLTER Ekstasis (RVNG Intl.) "Our Sorrows" "Goddess Eyes I" Last year, we became enamored with an album from California singer-songwriter Julia Holter, entitled Tragedy. It was a sparse, experimental affair, suggesting the abstraction and uncanny understanding of space that were earmarks of Arthur Russell's iconic World of Echo record, yet it also suggested the underlying sense of pop's formalism that defined Laurie Anderson's groundbreaking work. But let's not get it twisted, Tragedy was not a pop album, although her debut EP, Eating the Stars, suggested such a direction. And less than a year on, Ms. Holter fulfills that promise with Ekstasis, a shimmering synth-pop album that can be enjoyed for its textures and melodies or else for its underlying aesthetics. Sure, on a song like "In the Same Room," synthesizers and drum machines propel the track along, but suddenly space will open up for gentle harmonium, whistling, and an ethereal drone. That sense of weightlessness infuses the aptly-titled "Boy in the Moon" as well. Opener "Marienbad," namechecking the Alain Renais art film of the same name, is a beatific blend of baroque Beach Boys pop and Mrs. Anderson's vocalese inside of an echo chamber. "F" again suggests that glorious strain of sunshine psych-pop that her coast defined in the '60s while "Goddess Eyes II" could go with the coda to Kraftwerk's "Europe Endless," what with the beautiful Vocoder melody. But aside from such namechecks and invoking of previous artists, Ekstasis levitates over such boundaries into a rarefied air. For the adventurous listener out there, this album promises riches and new layers even after multiple listens. Expect to see it mentioned again and again come year's end. [AB]


	$25.99 LPx2		MAIN ATTRAKIONZ 808s & Dark Grapes II (Type) I'm gonna be straight-up with you; I tend to find most of the current crop of narco-blend internet rappers a little lame. Not really feeling most of the Odd Future scene (though the Internet's record is pretty sweet), Lil B seems more exciting as a Tony Robbins-esque motivational speaker than an actual rapper, and I'm still not sure how I'm feeling about A$AP Rocky. I understand the need to document, but I'm a little fried trying to sort out the bangers from the mash amongst the 800 mixtapes these guys record. Too many of these guys sound good to me on paper, but not so much on record. Part of my problem has been the production -- I just haven't been feeling a lot of the tracks these guys are rapping over, and while producers like Clams Casino have been shining some light into that world, helping to establish a "sound" that gives the free associative, sluggish hotbox flows of many of these guys a proper context, there hasn't really been a record that nails the sound in full until now. Oakland duo Main Attrakionz offer up a full-length that started as an internet download, and thanks to Type Records, delivers a much-needed vinyl hard copy to the discerning masses. They feel like the first group to really understand how to integrate themselves into the anything-goes-and-everything-is-sample-fodder production landscape that is in vogue these days; their tracks often sound simultaneously familiar and strangely alien, smudging and smearing textures into clustered drifts (there's a reason they call their sound "cloud rap"), addressing topics from the usual weed, girls, get-off-my-jock stance to more thoughtful contemplations on self-doubt, living in a fucked up neighborhood and an even more fucked up world, and the fact that yeah, this shit just moves too fast now. It seems like an odd move to document records like this on wax, but like the Clams Casino instrumental mixtape that Type committed to vinyl last year (which quickly sold out, as this one will as well), it's an important time capsule of a scene that feeds off of a struggle with technology and communication. Their verses are solid, ably blending braggadocio and confusion via a keen grasp of the art of storytelling, and the music is honestly quite gorgeous, tapping into the same strand of hazy dream logic that made folks flip over the Weeknd's three free mixtapes, but the R&B roofie-dropping is substituted instead for a deeper examination into what not only makes their lives such a dizzying mess, but much of present-day hip-hop as well. The more time you spend with this record, the deeper it gets; it's arguably the first real, solid document of the transition between the old rap scene as we knew it and the future of the genre, it is ticker tape parades looping into Moebius strips and it is heartbeats muffling themselves amidst too much reverb. It's hard to say what they'll do next and where they're headed, but what's important is that the tracks are wicked, eerie, and hugely listenable while retaining an art-damaged core, and as far out as their music travels into dreamland, their words keep them quite firmly Earthbound. It's too soon to throw words like "classic" around, but I'll be honest in saying that it's one of the most solid rap records I've heard in ages, which delivers on all fronts, and comes most highly recommended. [IQ]


	$12.99 CD $14.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		NITE JEWEL One Second of Love (Secretly Canadian) "One Second of Love" "Memory, Man" In the past, Ramona Gonzales' Nite Jewel moniker seemed like an attempt to maintain some anonymity while she worked out her own singular musical vision; her songs were always worth hearing, but beneath all of the reverb and mysteriously compressed, hushed vocals was an artist still figuring out how to balance her urge to subvert, with her genuine respect and love for the earnest song craft and balladry of early Madonna, Sade and '90s R&B. One gander at the stark black and white portrait of Gonzales on the cover of One Second of Love lets you know that she's finally ready to step out from the shadows, so to speak, and deliver a fully realized musical vision. Gonzales' vocals are mixed way up front and center here, and tracks such as the two-part album coda "Autograph" and "Clive" are earnest, non-ironic attempts at the '90s AOR pop-jazz/slow-jam hybrids of Sade, Expose and TLC; these songs are solid, but they lack the subtle arrangements which are that genre's bread and butter. The album really shines, however, when Gonzales' skewed sense of melody, drum programming and experimentation is allowed to take precedence. The title track is a wonderful slice of avant new wave pop that could be mistaken for a collaborative session between Kate Bush and Prince circa 1985, and the mellow "Unearthly Delights" is a tricky amalgam of New Age psych-folk and This Mortal Coil styled ethno-ambience. Gonzales is at her best when she gives free reign to her natural urge to experiment and subvert the pop influences of her songs; it's moments like these (and there are plenty of them on One Second of Love) that retain the air of mystery that made her past releases so arresting and ensures that our love affair with Nite Jewel continues. [DH]


	$13.99 CD $19.99 LP $9.99 MP3		THE MAGNETIC FIELDS Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge) "Andrew in Drag" "The Machine in Your Hand" Now back on Merge after spending the last decade playing major-league ball, Love at the Bottom of the Sea is another batch of smart, hook-filled and fun songs from Stephin Merritt and Co. Lyrically, it's the same sort of witty love-gone-wrong that Merritt has perfected over the last 20-plus years; musically, it's a bit of a return to the band's pre-Nonesuch days, with a rinky-dink electro-pop sound that they perfected on 1990s classics like The Charm of the Highway Strip and Get Lost. Perhaps freed from pressure to deliver (NPR) radio-friendly hits, the band seem like they are having more fun than ever on this new one, with Merritt trading off lead vocals with the girls song for song, and a catchall production sound incorporating loopy guitar riffs, weird background vocals and a bevy of cheeseball Casio presets. If there is a criticism to levy on the set, perhaps it's a lack of "sincerity" in the lyrics, which have more hilarious couplets and surprise endings than they do honest heartbreak or emotion -- but really, even the majority of the iconic 69 Love Songs was more about love songs than actual love, right? But first single "Andrew in Drag" might be Merritt's "gayest" song to date (though its protagonist is not exactly "out"), and anyway there is no love lost here; Merritt's passion is songwriting, and this is another set of classics, incorporating Brill Building skill, show tune wit, disco strut, and indie-pop charm into a sound that is distinctly his own. [JM] For a limited time, the Magnetic Fields' "Andrew in Drag" is available as a Free Download on Other Music Digital.


	$12.99 CD $21.99 LP		VARIOUS ARTISTS The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume 2 (Stones Throw) "Distorsion" Philippe Laurent "The Sleep Room" Geneva Jacuzzi NYC's Minimal Wave imprint is by now a household name here at Other Music. Seven years in, the label run by Veronica Vasicka is still going strong with its reissues of lost and obscure '80s minimal synth, anchored by Vasicka's impeccable focus and signature aesthetic. Approached by Stones Throw head Peanut Butter Wolf in 2010, the two compiled the first volume of the Minimal Wave Tapes that collected tracks from the first years of Minimal Wave releases and brought minimal synth to the masses (well, sort of). With promises of a second installment, Stones Throw has finally released Minimal Wave Tapes: Volume 2, which nicely compiles material from the last couple years of MW releases along with a handful of previously un-reissued tracks exclusive to the mix. Largely shifting focus from the lo-fi synth pop of the first compilation for a more rhythmic, harder-edged sound, Minimal Wave Tapes Volume 2 dabbles in analog synth sounds more informed by industrial, early techno, and experimental synth music that Vasicka has been exploring on her more recent releases. There's still plenty of lo-fi melancholia here to please fans of straight-up minimal synth (the very excellent "Annie" from In Aeternam Vale, "Out of Line" from the extremely rare Class Info LP, and a more recent track from Geneva Jacuzzi), but Volume Two really shines with the inclusion of tracks that move beyond the minimal synth formula to show how synth music developed throughout the '80s. From the industrial funk of Hard Corps' "Dirty" and In Trance 95's "Presidente," the bedroom experimentalism of Felix Kubin, the early techno influence on Antonym's "Cinnamon Air," on to Ruins' Italo disco stomper "Fire," Vasicka and Peanut Butter Wolf seem intent on opening listeners' understanding of what minimal synth is and, even more so, what it could be. Another excellent compilation for casual fans and hardcore aficionados alike, Minimal Wave Tapes Volume 2 comes, of course, most definitely recommended. [CPa]


	$19.99 LP		FRAK Muzika Electronic (Digitalis) Swedish experimental synth legends Frak (Jan Svensson and Johan Sturesson) have been going for a quarter of a century now, with a vast array of peculiar cassette-only releases and painfully limited LPs on their own Borft label under their belt. It's only right and natural that in 2012, with Not Not Fun, Spectrum Spools, 100% Silk, etc. being the coolest sh!t money can buy, these true originators get some recognition. Muzika Electronic is, as the title suggests, a wonderful assortment of skewed takes on electronic music, with meditative excursions, DIY minimal synth ditties, uptempo, f'ed with techno bangers, and alien disco. You've heard the pupils, now get with the teachers. Limited edition, won't last long [AK]


	$11.99 12"		DEMDIKE STARE / HYPE WILLIAMS Meets Shangaan Electro (Honest Jon's) The most recent 12" in Honest Jon's Shangaan Shake series -- in which some of the brightest lights in contemporary electronic music and dance production take a shot at reworking material from the stellar Shangaan Electro compilation -- may just be my favorite in the bunch, and that's saying a lot. Demdike Stare offer up one of their creepiest, most compelling tracks to date, with droplets of loping voudou percussion, the distant squawk of seagulls in the distance, and the Shangaan crew's vocals slowed and back masked to a molasses smudge of unintelligibility. Hype Williams, though, deliver the biggest surprise; I'd long been anticipating what both of these acts were going to do to the Shangaan sound, and while Demdike's tracks are excellent, they're pretty much spot on what you'd expect from the crew (not a complaint). Hype Williams, on the other hand, use their vinyl real estate to offer up a lover's rock reggae tune with great vocals by Inga Copeland, sampling the Shangaan tune as textural background amidst a jazzy drum loop, some chiming keyboards, and what might be their clearest production yet. I've got to admit, as curious and excited for their next record as I was already, this track has me near foaming at the mouth. There's also a "version" from each artist, in which their already skeletal tracks are picked clean, letting the tracks' ghostly atmospheres waft from the speakers like cruddy incense smoke. This one comes most highly recommended, and for the vinyl-impaired, Honest Jon's will be issuing a 2CD collection of all the 12" tracks very soon, so sit tight. [IQ]


	$14.99 CD $21.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		ITAL Hive Mind (Planet Mu) "Floridian Void" "First Wave" Washington DC native Daniel Martin-McCormick is the latest signing to the ever-surprising Planet Mu label. His debut full-length as Ital follows an evolution and departure from his previous bands, Mi Ami and Sex Worker; Ital is McCormick's 'dance music' project, a ghostly, psychedelic and sub-aquatic version of house that works on or off of the dance floor. Think Actress meets Sun Araw, as Ital keeps his hands steady on the triggers while he dubs, subtracts, slows, filters, cross fades and EQs many layers of sonics and samples into a murky and throbbing swamp of ambience, all with a steady 4/4 beat swinging along underneath. Three of the five tracks clock in over the ten-minute mark, and within these lengthy jams moods shift and heighten, become long washes of synthesizers, or get lost in the loopy and effected collage. Not aimless or self-indulgent, McCormick sculpts each piece as a possible mini-mix of elements that for the most part are quite danceable. Ital's sound could at times be compared to dub/industrial/dance acts of yore on labels like On-U Sound, Wax Trax or 4AD, yet it also feels like a wonderfully warped old acid house tape. He works in a rich and thick world of faint voices, abrasive textures, big beats, and slowly unfolding memories; having released material on Not Not Fun as well as their sister 'dance' label 100% Silk, this project balances elements of both ventures, a weird and not-not-so-easy listen while also being an ode to house music's analogue-masterpieces-created-in-a-basement era. This is more satisfying than those 12"s and will appeal to a varied cross section of new music fans. If you've been following the Modern Love, Blackest Ever Black, or Software labels, this in my opinion is a more sensual, guttural, and raw outing into the minimal, dark, sampled and analogue world of post-industrial-dance, post-techno, house-not-house, mind-funk music having more in common with Hieroglyphic Being, Patten, and leading leader Andy Stott. Like the title Hive Mind suggests, after repeated listens, my head is buzzing. Intoxicating stuff. [DG]


	$13.99 CD $17.99 LP $9.99 MP3		DUSTIN WONG Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads (Thrill Jockey) "Ice Sheets on Feet Prints" "Route Through Eyebrow" Before actually having a listen to this album, I was intrigued and perplexed by the bizarre cover art and title of Dustin Wong's second solo full-length; it seemed clear that this would be a surreal dream-like concept record, and it is. To compose Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads, Wong took inspiration from his own dreams and those of his fans, who he asked to send him narrations of their dreams, and Wong built soundscapes "inspired by" these spoken-word dream diaries. The result is an hour-long guitar-pop exploration of multi-layered loops split up into sixteen oddly named pieces, crystalline sounds built around hazy psychedelic fantasies. At times, the tracks gradually flow into one another, other times end abruptly; they have a tendency to warp and shift into obscurity, as dreams usually do. No vocals are necessary here, the guitar says it all, except on the closing track where Wong echoes a few wordless sounds for a sort of grand finale. Somewhere between Brian Eno and Animal Collective, this album hints at psychedelic indie-rock, influenced by Japanese folk, wrapped up in a space capsule or bobbing in the waves miles out in open water. No doubt, this self-taught former Ponytail guitarist has nailed a unique personal style, fueled by loop pedals. [ACo]


	$12.99 CD $14.99 LP $9.99 MP3		FORT ROMEAU Kingdoms (100% Silk) "Jack Rollin'" "I Need U" Mike Norris is the man responsible for the rich, colorful, and dazzling synth-pop work of La Roux, and his own project, Fort Romeau, is also full of lots sparkling keys. His debut for 100% Silk finds him revitalizing the late-'80s/early-'90s era of house, where musicality and technology merged seamlessly and went deep; some of the best moments in '90s house come to mind when I hear this -- Herbert, Bobby Konders, Derrick Carter, Ron Trent, Carl Craig, and Masters at Work all make spiritual guest appearances throughout -- and yet Norris has his own style and vision. In this current state of genre hopping, many producers are creating albums that may or may not intentionally sound like dozens of lost jams from the previous three decades, yet the latest wave also seem to be updating great music from near-forgotten eras, offering modern day classics of their own. Each track here is a jam, as clear and sensual as the black and white cover photo of a beautiful woman holding a big-ass diamond. Norris doesn't shroud his beats in a murky haze of sound; his synth work is pristine, clear and clean, and his beats swing just right. Check the tracks "I Need U" or "Say Something" (which freaks Mariah Carey's a cappella), or another favorite, "Theo," which I like to think is his shout out to Theo Parrish, who seems to be referenced everywhere these days. It opens with the high end missing, then throbs its way into a full-spectrum stride of hi-hat, bass, clipped vocals and dubby synth, like hearing the music first from outside the club, becoming more focused as you get closer, and finally bursting onto a dance floor filled with people spinning, twirling, dipping, and shuffling. This album is filled with wonderful nights of heated movements, sweaty clothes and burning muscles; it's not often that new-schoolers can capture and recreate the essence of the music, not just the surface sound, but Fort Romeau is one of those rare artists who can make it all fit together and feel right. Recommended for fans of Martyn, Joy O and Four Tet on one hand, and Kyle Hall, Kassem Mosse or Redshape on the other. It's really solid either way and that's saying something these days. [DG]


	$15.99 CD $15.99 LP+MP3 180 Gram		EDZAYAWA Projection One (Soundway) A more rock-based and darker sounding reissue than we're used to on Soundway, teenage Ghanaian group Edzawaya's only album, Projection One from 1973, is an incredible mix of traditional music of Ghana and Togo, fuzz guitar and offbeat experimentalism (there's a track on here that, unknowingly, sounds like Can). Edzayawa are far removed from the happy sounds of Afrobeat, with a deeper, more philosophical approach and it's easy to see why this zoomed right over people's heads at the time. One man who did get the band, though, was Fela Kuti who brought them to Lagos where they regularly played his Shrine club, and subsequently were signed by EMI Nigeria. Failing to make much of a splash the group broke up after a couple of years, and was unfairly reduced to becoming a mere footnote in Afro-rock history books. If you're into the Blo albums, or the Witch LPs on Shadoks, or perhaps fancy hearing something that at times sounds like an African take on Krautrock, this will be right up your alley. [AK]


	$16.99 CD		K.S. CHITHRA K.S. Chithra (Finders Keepers) "Yaaro Sonnaangalaam" "Poojaikettha" Man oh man, this is good. Finders Keepers have been knocking it out of the park lately with their anthologies of Pakistani and South Indian film music; their Sound of Wonder and Life Is Dance! collections provided ample evidence that Pakistan has had its fair share of genre-splicing collusionist genius film composers (let's have a Tafo Brothers anthology ASAP, please!), but one of the most insane releases in the catalogue has been Solla Solla, their compilation of music by Tamil composer Ilaiyaraaja. That comp, along with Cartilage Consortium's mind-blowing Play That Beat, Mr. Raja, showed that Ilaiyaraaja is a force to be reckoned with, a genius up there with Bollywood's R.D. Burman; this collection of songs showcasing playback singer K.S. Chithra adds another notch onto the belt, as all of the songs are by Ilaiyaraaja himself, featuring a wild strain of synthesized and heavily spliced brilliance that adds new layers into your preconceived notions of the Indian film music sound. Chithra was the most in-demand playback singer in the Tamil film world during the 1980s; known as the "little nightingale" of the industry for her sweet voice yet expressive range, she adds a grounding weight to Ilaiyaraaja's musical flights of fancy. He was one of the first Indian film composers to embrace synthesizer technology, machine drums, and the concepts of sampling into his work, cutting up and heavily layering the usual types of stylistic mash-ups found in these soundtracks; it's his technological embrace that gives these tracks an extra advantage, though, with the synth basses and spliced edits pushing film music into the present while holding firmly onto its core compositional values and trademarks. What I love about the Chithra collection, though, is the way it ups the ingenuity while toning down the madcap ADD nature of rock & roll excess that can run rampant through many of these scores. There are still four or five different genres wrestling in a steel cage match throughout each song, but the arrangements here feel more sultry, the rough edges smoothed out into collusions that don't feel as madcap as some of their predecessors. The synth textures add enough of an alien texture here, and it's an excellent addition; at times the technology references everything from Kraftwerk to jazz-funk to your local forecast, but none of it feels stapled on. Rather, it's an integral part of the arrangements, and gives many of these tracks a flavor that'd be sorely missing without it. This is one of the best collections of 1980s Indian film music I've ever heard, and it's a lovely introduction to Chithra's work for the uninitiated. As usual, Finders Keepers do an excellent job with the packaging and overall presentation, and whether you're a fan of Indian film music, of obscure synth records, or you just want something crazy yet cool to listen to, this is primo listening right here; you'll be hard-pressed to find another record this year that even comes close to sounding like this unique gem. [IQ]


	$13.99 CD $15.99 LPx2+MP3 $9.99 MP3		CEREMONY Zoo (Matador) "Repeating the Circle" "Ordinary People" If you've been paying attention to this Bay Area punk band over the past few years, you might be wondering what they are doing on Matator Records, a label who pretty much defined the notoriously un-hardcore genre of indie rock, despite recent alliances with post-hardcore groups like Fucked Up and Cold Cave. Ceremony's 2006 debut, the aptly-titled Violence, Violence, was a 13-minute, 13-song explosion of rage and raw power, coming on like a first-wave American hardcore band with a mix of fury, politics and unbridled aggression that was petty damn invigorating, if adding little to the somewhat limited genre. But over the years the group has slowly unfurled their sound, not exactly "lightening up," either musically or lyrically, but expanding and exploring their angst into a broader palette that incorporates bands like Wire, Joy Division, Birthday Party and the Fall into their lexicon, as well as a touch of classic Bay Area forefathers like the Dead Kennedys and even (early) Green Day. Zoo is their best and most expansive album to date, keeping the primal sound of the early material, built on fierce guitar squall, tinny, frenetic drumming, and singer Ross Farrar's angst-filled, soaring vocals. Farrar manages to affect a punk rock snarl while still sounding totally pure and nearly un-tethered at times, with dark lyric content that speaks to a world gone mad from a profoundly personal point of view. With Zoo, Ceremony have taken a decisive step away from their hardcore roots, but they have done so without abandoning any of their history or lessening their intensity; they have simply found an honest path forward, and many of you will want to walk with them. [JM]


	$13.99 CD $15.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		THE MEN Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones) "Candy" "Turn It Around" The Men are a punk band, but before you dismiss them and move on to the next review, let's make it clear that these dudes are of the open-minded variety, and are probably more likely to crack open a Bud and jam some Springsteen or CCR than squeeze into crust pants and rage to Discharge. Let's also make it clear that this is guaranteed to be one of the best rock records you'll hear all year. There are elements of punk (obviously), the Stooges, Sonic Youth, country, Spacemen 3, Husker Du, psych, and bombastic radio rock (and a few really ripping guitar solos), but it's distilled into something quite original as opposed to aping their heroes. Dare I say there are even a couple of potential "singles" on here?? The title track and "Candy" sure sound like it to me. Most importantly though, lend this record to your little brother or sister because Open Your Heart is the kind of inspirational rock n roll record that will make kids want to start bands for years to come. [AK]


	$15.99 CD $24.99 LPx2		VARIOUS ARTISTS Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974 (Light in the Attic) "Woman of the Ghetto" Marlena Shaw "Winter in America (Solo Version)" Gil Scott-Heron Far from the first compilation of its type, this excellent roundup is certainly among the most incisive and far-reaching. More of a cultural chronicle than a selection of funky songs from the "kill Whitey" era, it contains obscure private-press tracks, rare speeches (Eldridge Cleaver discussing Timothy Leary and drugs in general is particularly priceless!), hard-hitting songs and surprise contributors in the form of John Lennon, Bob Dylan and even Roy Harper! Some of these tracks will be very familiar (Gil Scott-Heron's "Winter in America," obviously) but most will be serious eye-and-ear-openers. This accompanies a 200-page hardcover book from Fantagraphics (reviewed below), for which it serves as a soundtrack, but the extensive and extremely informative liner notes included with the CD/LP are a treasure unto themselves, a quick black revolutionary Cliff's Notes, if you will. I can't recommend this highly enough! [GC]


	$39.99 BK		LISTEN, WHITEY! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 (Fantagraphics) Pat Thomas' Listen, Whitey! is the definitive statement on the Black Panther Party and the Black Power movement from a visual and musical perspective. During his research, Thomas befriended members of the Black Panthers and discovered rare recordings of interviews and music by Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale and many others, creating the framework for this book. Thomas also discusses the connections between famous white musicians (Dylan, Lennon, etc.) and the Panthers, tells the story of Black Forum (Motown's political subsidiary label), and continues to examine the works of Nina Simone, Archie Shepp, Last Poets, Roland Kirk, Horace Silver, Angela Davis and a slew of others. One of the most intriguing sections from a record nerd standpoint is the section on privately pressed Black Power-themed 45s, with plenty of photographic record porn to go along with it. An incredible book (hardbound, 204 10" x 10" pages, with 250 reproductions of albums and singles) not be missed. [AK]


	$21.99 CD $25.99 LP Tamba Trio- Avanco $21.99 CD $25.99 LP		EDU LOBO A Musica de Edu Lobo por Edu Lobo (Universal Sounds) TAMBA TRIO Avanco (Universal Sounds) "Sonho de Maria" "Negro" Kudos to Universal Sound for this reissue, an absolutely essential record. This was the debut release of one of the finest Brazilian composers of the '60s/'70s generation, who was then all of 21 years old. For this album, recorded in late 1964 and released early the following year, Edu was backed by the legendary Tamba Trio and signed to the then-ultra-chic Elenco label. The track list reveals an artist who came fully formed from the get-go, to the point where his debut could almost be renamed The Best of Edu Lobo. Standard after standard after standard pours forth here, songs that are so deeply ingrained in the international bossa nova/pop/jazz consciousness that many hear them and assume them to be Jobim songs. There's a dark, haunting quality to the material here that is almost unbearably beautiful and serves as a useful rebuttal to the standard stereotypical view of bossa nova as a sunny soundtrack to a day at the beach. A profoundly influential record, and a classic. Also available from Universal Sound, Tamba Trio's debut album Avanco from 1963, a watershed work for bossa-jazz. CDs come in deluxe packaging with exact reproduction artwork, while LPs are limited to 1000 worldwide and pressed on 180 gram vinyl. [GC]


	$26.99 LP		HEATSICK Intersex (PAN) Based on what I'd read about Berlin-via-UK producer Stephen Warwick's seemingly legendary performance at Panorama Bar this past summer, I have to admit I was expecting something a little different from his first proper LP under his Heatsick moniker. While the sound on Intersex is more subdued than what I had anticipated, Warwick still delivers an engaging and inventive listen of lo-fi bedroom electronics and refracted dance beats full of dreamy, looping rhythms, manipulated voices and ethereal, tropical textures. Clocking in under 40 minutes and working with only a Casio keyboard and effects, Warwick manages to pack a lot of ideas and sounds across the four tracks here. The house and techno influences he claims come across indirectly, almost as abstract structures to hang his brand of experimentalism on rather than being key points of reference. Instead, Warwick uses the looping rhythms and tones to explore a more conceptual idea of dance music that takes cues from early Chicago house producers like Mr. Fingers ("Tertiary"), while elsewhere he uses repetition to elicit some nice minimal Kraut-like grooves and total sound abstraction. Housed in a beautiful silkscreened PVC sleeve and limited to 500 copies, we're not going to see many copies of this LP so definitely act fast on this one. Fans of Peaking Lights, Emeralds, Boards of Canada, Oneohtrix Point Never or the Not Not Fun label will find much to appreciate here. Recommended! [CPa]


	$13.99 CD $18.99 LPx2+MP3		ANDREW BIRD Break It Yourself (Mom and Pop) "Danse Carribe" "Lazy Projector" Chicago singer, songwriter and violinist Andrew Bird has been kicking around the scene for nearly 20 years at this point. During that time, he's taken pains to create an image of tasteful eclecticism and eccentricity -- to his fans, he's always managed to be wistful and whimsical without being gimmicky, adding folk and jazz ornamentations to his songs, usually without any alienating pretension. On his sixth album, Break It Yourself, he continues to refresh his cultivated aesthetic while also exiting his comfort zone with a few tunes that sound both more restrained (poppier single "Eyeoneye") and more experimental (the feedback-laden "Belles") than he's used to. The result is an album that, although somewhat uneven, is still clever and enjoyable. He's in a transition period, just about to find his proper footing, and, here, the journey can be just as rewarding as the destination.


	$14.99 CD		BETH JEANS HOUGHTON Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose (Mute) "Sweet Tooth Bird" "Dodecahedron" Already garnering attention in her native UK, Beth Jeans Houghton and her backing band, the Hooves of Destiny, have been designated "Ones to Watch" by NME and have, by now, toured with Bon Iver, St. Vincent and Mumford & Sons. This is all before the release date of their debut album, Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose. Two years in the making, we're glad to say that the wait for the release has been worth it. It's mature and carefully crafted, delivering on all the band's previous buzz with range and bounds of eccentric charm. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Laura Marling, Houghton layers honeyed vocals over everything from lively, dynamic rock to sparkling acid-tinged folk with sweeping flourishes of ornamental orchestration and fragile melodies in between. We're going to keep a watchful eye on this young singer and, if this sounds up your alley, you should too.


	$9.99 LP $1.99 MP3		BON IVER Towers (Jagjaguwar) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store "Towers" is the third single from Jagjaguwar's Bon Iver, Bon Iver 12" series. As per usual, the A-sides in this series remain untouched, while the B-sides hold the real treats. Here we've got Justin Vernon's take on "Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)," originally by John Prine. Recorded at first for an upcoming Prine tribute album, Vernon reinvents the song with a new, haunting spirit and it's everything you've come to expect from the now Grammy winning artist.


	$13.99 CD $14.99 LP $9.99 MP3		BARRY ADAMSON I Will Set You Free (Central Control) "Get Your Mind Right" "The Sun and the Sea" Best known for his role in Magazine and the Bad Seeds, Barry Adamson's solo output usually falls outside of the dirge-y, dirty realm of his previous cohorts. Don't get us wrong, Adamson is still defiant in attitude, he's just smoother in delivery with I Will Set You Free prowling somewhere between a vast film score and a bellowing rock album with hints of pop-song theatrics and some soulful glam and glitz thrown in the mix. It's an album that relies on its many shifting moods and the power and skill of Adamson's instrumentation. The songs are romantic, dreamy and occasionally explosive to the point of dangerous excess. Throughout, there's well played atmospheric piano, organ, synthesizers, real guitar riffage (of course), big booming drums and horn solos -- he's got it all. As for Adamson's voice, it's swampy, fiery and suave. Coupled with the instrumentation, there are a few songs that end up a bit cloying; on the flip side, when he hits the mark, he really nails it down. )


	$25.99 LPx2 $15.99 CD $9.99 MP3		PORTER RICKS Biokinetics (Type) "Nautical Nuba" "Port of Call" Type Records celebrates its landmark 100th release with a long-needed reissue of an equally landmark album. Porter Ricks was the electronic duo of Thomas Köner and Andy Mellwig; named after the main human character from the old American television show Flipper, Köner and Mellwig expanded upon the minimal techno being trail-blazed by the likes of Moritz Von Oswald and the Basic Channel crew, but mutating the smoky dub atmospheres of Basic Channel into a lush, enveloping aquatic atmosphere that was hugely groundbreaking. Biokinetics was also the first CD release on the massive Chain Reaction label, known as much for their important roster of electronic artists as their frustrating packaging. Anyone who ever fought Chain Reaction's annoying tin boxes and lost with a shattered disc in their hand will understand how great it feels to know that this album is finally back in print and available on double LP! This record sounds like watery dub lost in the Bermuda Triangle, with oozing fluid textures enveloping rugged techno beats pulsating like jellyfish electricity and delivering one of the most effortless organic and mechanical combinations; it's a masterpiece that has oft been imitated but never duplicated. This is hands down one of the most important reissues of the year, and is essential listening for anyone who's ever purchased an album on Type, Kompakt, Modern Love, or just about any other modern electronic label making records these days. Those are big words, I know, but the proof is in the pudding. Electronic music rarely gets as good as this. [IQ]


	$14.99 CD		THE SOUND Jeopardy (1972 Records) "I Can't Escape Myself" "Hour of Need" Remember when you were in high school and your older friends turned you on to the Gang of Four, Wire, the Only Ones, Pere Ubu and all that other awesome post-punk from the late-'70s when you'd just been listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Well, why didn't they mention the Sound?!? This UK band should have been a household name a la Joy Division and this record will certainly fulfill your post-punk jones. Their 1980 debut, Jeopardy, was and still is a stunning album of propulsive rhythms, jagged guitars, catchy as hell hooks, and frighteningly emotional. It just doesn't quit. No exaggeration, this is as good as it gets! [MK]


	$14.99 CD		THE SOUND From the Lion's Mouth (1972 Records) "Sense of Purpose" "Skeletons" Also available is the Sound's second album, From the Lion's Mouth. Release in 1981 and still as unhinged as their debut, this album proved that the Sound were not a minor flash in the pan. File this under criminally overlooked. Now can we get can LP reissue? Please?!

		ESKUCHE HEADPHONES + COSMIC KIDS MIXTAPE We're big fans of eskuche's Obsessive Compulsive Frequency headphones -- you might have spotted some of the Other Music staff sporting a pair on the streets or subway. Right now, if you come into the shop and purchase any style, you'll also receive a very limited Cosmic Kids mixtape that was recorded direct to cassette. We've only got a handful of these tapes to go around, so swing on by the store and toss out those uncomfortable, tinny sounding white earbuds. You can check out a video of the making of the Cosmic Kids mixtape here.


	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 [GC] Greg Caz [ACo] Anastasia Cohen [DG] Daniel Givens [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [AK] Andreas Knutsen [JM] Josh Madell CPa] Chris Pappas THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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