The Other Music Update

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	May 10, 2012


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES Pye Corner Audio LP Heavy Blanket Tia Blake Here We Go Magic Daughn Gibson LP Royal Headache Cornershop Caltone's Jamaican 45s (Various) Medicine (2 Reissues) Sonic Boom LP Led Er Est Moss Icon Ty Segall & White Fence Craft Spells EP Indians 7" Jagwar Ma 7" Lazer Sword Aphex Twin (SAW II LP Reissue) Manuel Göttsching Play That Beat Mr. Raja #1 (Various) Daytona		ALSO AVAILABLE S. Carey Turing Machine St. Vincent (Stranger Mercy CD/DVD) Hildur Gudnadottir KTL Moon Duo Remixes AVAILABLE ON VINYL Personal Space (Various) Shop Assistants Terry Manning Odd Future OF Tape Vol. 2 Georgia Anne Muldrow BACK IN STOCK Francis Bebey (Now on CD) X-O-Dus Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

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		BEACH HOUSE TICKET GIVE AWAY Beach House's fourth full-length, Bloom, is coming out this Tuesday on Sub Pop Records! (We'll have some extra surprises that day at the store for those of you who stop by and purchase the record.) That night, these hypnotizing Charm City dream-poppers will be celebrating its release in the Big Apple at the Bowery Ballroom, with Zomes rounding out the bill. While the show is sold out, we just might have a pair of tickets with your name on them and all you have to do to enter is email giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the winner this Friday, good luck! TUESDAY, MAY 15 BOWERY BALLROOM: 6 Delancey St. NYC

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		WIN TICKETS TO BETH ORTON We really haven't heard from this groundbreaking English singer-songwriter in some time, but with a new album slated for release on Anti- Records later this year, Beth Orton will performing two sets at Joe's Pub this coming Tuesday, May 15. Other Music is giving away one pair of tickets to each set (7:30 p.m./9:30 p.m.), and you can enter by emailing contest@othermusic.com. Make sure list which show time you would like to see if you have a preference. TUESDAY, MAY 15 JOE'S PUB: 425 Lafayette St. NYC

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		THE BROOKLYN FLEA RECORD FAIR Brooklyn Flea's Superstar DJ Record Fair has become a favorite annual event for record collectors of all stripes, and with last fall's being so much fun and such a huge success, our friends at the Flea, along with the help of Other Music's Amanda Colbenson, are turning this into a twice-a-year happening! On Saturday, May 19, the cream of the crop of NYC indie record labels, DJs, and vintage dealers (25-plus vendors!) will be offering a great range of rare and one-off items, dusty gems, old standbys and plenty of deals, along with DJ sets throughout the day from Finders Keepers, Kanine Records, FatCat, Sacred Bones and Other Music. We'll be there selling a wide selection of both new and used vinyl, and there will be tons of great surprises all afternoon. Click this link for full details, and see you at the fair! SATURDAY, MAY 19 - 11AM to 6PM THE WILLIAMSBURG WATERFRONT INSIDE SMORGASBURG: 27 N. 6th St. (Between Kent Ave & the East River) Williamsburg, Brooklyn


	$25.99 LPx2		PYE CORNER AUDIO Black Mill Tapes Volumes 1 & 2 (Type) "Electronic Rhythm Number Eight" "Recrypt" Pye Corner Audio is the work of a mysterious UK producer who has been quietly delivering download-only albums of gorgeous, dark, eerie synthscapes for the past year or two. Combining elements of everything from John Carpenter and Italian giallo film scores to the German minimalism of Cluster and Monoton, and tied together by the haunted, warped-tone aesthetics of Boards of Canada and the Ghost Box crew, he has delivered three volumes of his incredible Black Mill Tapes thus far. Aside from an excellent 7" recorded for Ghost Box and a super-limited cassette reissue of Black Mill Tapes Vol 2, none of the PCA catalogue has been available in any solid physical format until now. Give Type Records your firstborn child as thanks for this outstanding 2-LP issue of Black Mill Tapes 1 & 2, as it proves to be as essential, dark, and powerful an entry into this sound world as Boards of Canada's Geogaddi, Broadcast's Tender Buttons, and shit, maybe even Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Vol 2. These records all share themes of half-remembered lucidity, setting to music the sounds of a steely gaze squinting through a dark, fog-saturated landscape. There's a strong sense of control and craft to the Black Mill Tapes; one never gets the feeling that these are "research recordings," but rather documentations of a well-thought-out vision executed with total precision. The synths are both cold, arid, and dry yet simultaneously thick, deep, and sensual, and much of the double album is propelled forward by infinitely arcing arpeggios and a steady, throbbing pulse that evokes a sinister streak of sexuality that is often missing from these types of records, like a cold gust of air grazing over sweaty, goose-pimpled flesh. Gorgeous ambient passages flow into hypnotic tracks that thump with dark dance floors in mind, making for an album that sounds as enrapturing on headphones as it does cranked up to 11 in the twilight hours. This record is essential listening for fans of any of the aforementioned artists, not to mention general minimal synth obsessives, cold wave and EBM heads, and anyone who just wants a good, solid electronic album. There's allegedly a Pye Corner Audio album due for release on Ghost Box later this year; for now, put this on the turntable and memorize every sluice of circuitry embedded in the grooves. This is one of 2012's best archival releases, and it won't last long. Buy it now before you cry the blues when it's fetching three figures on the web later! Trust me, it will not likely get better than this guy when it comes to contemporary synth records this year. [IQ]


	$11.99 CD		HEAVY BLANKET Heavy Blanket (Outer Battery) "Spit in the Eye" "Dr. Marten's Blues" Over the years J. Mascis has done a lot of work outside the confines of Dinosaur Jr. in a variety of styles, but he has never really cut loose like this before; there is some goofy backstory on the internet about the supposed origins of the band that some might find intriguing, but really the allure here is the chance to hear Mascis go to town on his guitar!!! The album opens with "Galloping Toward the Unknown," and that title sums it up the vibe of the record pretty well. The rhythm section of Johnny Pancake and Pete Cougar do a good job of setting up a nice, no frills foundation for Mascis to go off on. And off he goes, as the whole record is one big shred-a-thon and since there are no vocals to compete with the guitar soloing it is easy and quite nice to sit back and get lost in the wail, or maybe stare at the fantastic Savage Pencil illustrated cover; it sounds a bit like Mascis is trying to follow the lines. [DMa]


	$15.99 CD		TIA BLAKE Folksongs & Ballads (Water) "Betty and Dupree" "The Rising of the Moon" To say I'm excited about this reissue would perhaps be an understatement -- simply put, this is one of the very finest folk albums of the early 1970s, and an album that is sure to resonate with many, many people. (Full disclosure, I'm thanked in the liner notes for providing an LP to scan for the cover art). Originally released in France on a small independent record label, it has very unfortunately existed at the utmost margins of popular consciousness till now. In 1971, Tia Blake, then barely eighteen years old and with little money saved, moved alone to Paris where she would soon fall in with an international crew of folk-music enthusiasts. They taught her guitar to accompany the voice she'd been singing with privately since childhood, worked up a repertoire of songs popularized during the folk-music revival of the '60s, and in short order scored a record deal with SFP, a tiny but adventurous label that more usually went in for free jazz, ethnic, and experimental music. The results quite honestly almost beggar belief -- that an album recorded by a mere teenager, and mostly comprised of familiar tunes, could exhibit such remarkable depth. On the greatest tracks there's almost something mysterious happening, as Blake sings with a world-weary tone that totally belies her young age. I've listened to many of these songs back to back with their more famous renditions, and it's amazing how Blake strips any commercialism from her renditions, cutting straight to the essence of the material, and making all other comers sound impossibly corny and pop. At times it reminds me of no less than the great Jackson C. Frank's lone album in that there's often an extra-dimensional depth, or sadness even, that lifts the material into the realms of the unreal. In many ways, this record didn't really stand a chance; an English language album of folk tunes by a young American girl who hardly knew anyone in France was probably not the best recipe for success -- her gender was even misidentified on the LP cover of the original release! Blake spent a couple of more years in France, performed in public once, and then moved on. She recorded a demo included here for the CBC in Canada a few years later, and it offers a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been: brilliant original songs with that same timeless, beautiful voice. I played this record once in the shop about a half-dozen years ago right before we were closing, and literally every single person who was shopping in the store at that moment asked to buy it, which in all my years working for Other Music is the only time I have ever seen that happen. It's not surprising though, as it easily stands on par with any of the other rediscovered female folk singers of the last ten or fifteen years: Sybille Baier, Karen Dalton, Vashti Bunyan, Judee Sill, et al. Absolutely essential. [MK]


	$11.99 CD $14.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		HERE WE GO MAGIC A Different Ship (Secretly Canadian) "Alone But Moving" "Make Up Your Mind" Luke Temple's Here We Go Magic are still cloaking their shimmering indie-folk in a supple tapestry of motorik Krautrock rhythms and Afro-pop, but their third full-length is a giant leap both sonically and stylistically for the Brooklyn-based group. The story goes back to 2010 when Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich (Radiohead's George Martin, if you will -- who's also turned the knobs for Beck, Air and Pavement to name a few more) caught the band at Glastonbury and were completely taken by their early morning set. Godrich subsequently signed on as producer for A Different Ship and here we find him working more than a little of his own magic. The resulting record is obviously a night-and-day difference from the home-recorded swirl of HWGM's self-titled debut from three years ago and its denser follow-up, Pigeons; here, everything is close-miked and the detached, dreamy sheen of earlier records is now replaced by a crisp sound that's upfront and focused -- the sonic equivalent of a prism's multi-hued spectrum of light being amplified through a magnifying glass. Following a brief atmospheric album intro, the bare-boned clarity of the first few moments of opener "Hard to Be Close" is almost startling, the plaintive strums of an acoustic guitar and the lone voice of Temple having more in common with his solo singer-songwriter work than the byzantine sound of his band; it's a deceptive beginning, however, as the track slowly unfolds with sparkling layers of finger-picking and a breezy, hypnotic rhythm section that wouldn't sound out of place on a Yo La Tengo album. But from the woozy Kraut-pop of "Make Up Your Mind," to the soft alien paranoia of "I Believe in Action" which nicely borrows a few cues from the Talking Heads' funky world-music forays with Eno, to the lush "How Do I Know" in which Graceland-inspired melodies are enshrouded in a celestial cloud of pulsing synthesizers, even as HWGM soars, there's something altogether more grounded, organic and human happening. The group's hazy, mysterious allure may have dissipated some, but in its place Here We Go Magic has found a soul. [GH]


	$15.99 LP		DAUGHN GIBSON All Hell (White Denim) This is an out of left-field record -- well, really Daughn Gibson is out of rural Pennsylvania, and the album was released on the tiny White Denim vinyl label -- that has deservedly been getting some love of late from your more influential music scribes. And while on paper, Gibson's songs could read as far-fetched or too theoretical, in reality this is powerful, often stunning music. He combines the stark soundscapes and harsh song-stories of late-period Scott Walker with his personal twin obsessions with country music and modern dark ambient electronic production, and the results are wholly original and engaging. Walker's 1996 masterpiece of unease, the haunting Tilt album, is an obvious touchstone for Gibson, but his songs, sung in a dynamic, crooning baritone, tell deeply American stories of small-town losers, neon-lit truck stops and tired, spent dreams. The production is careful and spare, occasionally lurching into a subtle, skittering beat, as on the chilling "Tiffany Lou," but more often Gibson spins his music from the deep atmosphere, with a few well-chosen acoustic samples and the quiet whir of machines. James Blake is another clear reference, and fans of the new pop-step sounds will find much to love here. Limited vinyl, get it while you can. [JM]


	$11.99 CD $13.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		ROYAL HEADACHE Royal Headache (What's Your Rupture?) "Surprise" "Down the Lane" I envy those of you who are just getting to experience this album for the first time. Royal Headache's debut album was released last fall via Australia's RIP Society label and quickly sold through two pressings, attracting the attention of American wunderkind imprint What's Your Rupture? (Iceage, Comet Gain, Tronics), who bring it to a wider audience with this domestic reissue. And that's exactly what this group deserves: fame, fortune, and legendary times, all on the back of its killer repertoire and wild frontman antics. What distinguishes this Sydney band from both the unending crop of garage rock, and the burgeoning activity of Australian bands on the world horizon? There's real passion in these songs, scrappy and scrawny passion infused with soul, busting through the tough lo-fi production of Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring) and Owen Penglis (UV Race) to deliver unbridled, undeniable JOY through their music. The band deserves a great deal of credit here, playing tight and fast, and knowing when to let go, but all praise due to Royal Headache's frontman, Shogun, for pushing this effort well over the top. Handily the most important ginger vocalist since Mick Hucknall, he plays his role part Robert Pollard, part Rod Stewart, hitting those lung-busting high notes with raspy authority. Musically, Royal Headache comes off like a cross between Guided By Voices and the Buzzcocks -- no easy feat, believe us -- with enough attitude and innocence to sell the performance. "Psychotic Episode" has been in my head since last fall, and I think it'll be in yours until at least the end of this year at least. Highest recommendation. [DM]


	$14.99 CD		CORNERSHOP Urban Turban Singhles Club (Ample Play) "Who's Gonna Lite It Up?" "Dedicated" Faithful Update readers know that Cornershop delivered one of my favorite albums last year with The Double-O Groove Of, returning to OM shelves with a fusion of Punjabi folk, greased-up funk, and classic Tin Pan Alley craftsmanship tailor-made to remind listeners that they were one of the first pop practitioners of the modern era to disregard genre boundaries and make music that brought together all of the sounds they loved without discrimination. They followed that with a subscription series of download singles made in collaboration with new friends from around the globe; those six songs are presented here along with an additional six to create a great new set, Urban Turban: The Singhles Club. As The Double-O Groove saw Cornershop frontman Tjinder Singh step back from the mic to focus on the music with fellow mastermind Ben Ayres, shining the spotlight on vocalist Bubbley Kaur, Urban Turban also finds Singh largely silent vocally, this time singing only on the album's excellent opener "What Did the Hippy Have in His Bag?" and its reprise, a delightful duet between Singh and a class of primary school students, who provide backup vocals and belly laughs and set the mood for the positive, casual, off-the-cuff atmosphere of the rest of the record. The band brings in a strong mix of chugging guitar riffs, clattering Indian percussion, and thick, squelchy synth-funk grooves; "Who's Gonna Lite It Up?" features powerful, bluesy vocals and a raw, distorted guitar over a tabla-funk beat that sounds like PJ Harvey relocating her angst from the Mississippi Delta to the Bay of Bengal, while "Non-Stop Radio" and "Solid Gold" feature strong female voices on a Euro-dance tip, blending the finest moments of the Happy Mondays and Daft Punk with the same kind of contemporary synth-pop for which groups like Hot Chip have made a name for themselves. "Dedicated" sounds straight out of a classic Paradise Garage setlist, while "Beacon Radio 303" and "Inspector Bamba Singh's Lament" are the obligatory Punjab-folk-as-original-hip-hop jams, nodding to the magic of their last album. Elsewhere, the group throws down an odd, awesome track that sounds like Mark E. Smith covering the Cold Crush Bros ("Milkin' It"), a northern soul stomper ("Concrete, Concrete"), and even a nod to their scrappy, riot-girl affiliated indie-pop past with "Something Makes You Feel Like." In many hands, this would all come across like an unfocused mess, but Singh and Ayres prove their skill by making this a rather unified album despite its beginnings as a series of standalone singles; out of all of their past records, this compares closest to their excellent yet still underrated album as Clinton, Disco and the Halfway to Discontent, which saw the band getting down and dirty with a similar sound palette as a breather after their worldwide success with Cornershop's 1997 breakthrough When I Was Born for the 7th Time. Where that album had a raw, scrappy, cut-n-paste DIY ethic to it, these songs feel and sound more seamless and fleshed out than those experimental funk sketches did. This band continues to find new ways to tweak and expand upon their trademarked sound while keeping the proceedings as fun and fresh as their early genre-splices. Summer's coming just around the corner, and Urban Turban's one of the best soundtracks to that heat that I can think of. [IQ]


	$16.99 CD $22.99 LPx2 $9.99 MP3		VARIOUS ARTISTS Listen to the Music: Caltone's Jamaican 45's (Pressure Sounds) "I'm Sorry" Peter Austin & the Clarendonians "Hold Your Love" Cool Cats Taking a break from the recent explorations of Lee Perry's vaults, Pressure Sounds digs deep into lesser-known Jamaican music history, here showcasing the keen ear of businessman and label honcho Ken Lack with this killer compilation of rocksteady and ska. Lack was a hip, music-loving hardware store owner who also moonlighted as the tour manager of the Skatalites during their heyday. In the middle of a robust scene and crossing paths with so many great singers and players, Lack founded the Caltone label and began recording and releasing 7" singles, using his business connections from the Skatalites to get his 45s onto the shelves of many UK record shops and into the hands of British fans, while leaving the actual production and duties to legendary names like Bunny Lee, Phil Pratt, Ernest Ranglin, and Tommy McCook, to name a few. A magical pairing of American soul and doo-wop vocal harmonies with the bustling sounds of calypso, rocksteady and ska, these songs (recorded between 1966-69) illustrate a vibrant, different side of Jamaican music. There's a beauty here that almost seems rare when juxtaposed with the much-loved and more widespread sound of labels like Trojan or Studio One; it's the equivalent of comparing Motown to Staxx -- both are soul labels, sure, but the feelings conveyed are worlds apart. Caltone rivaled Studio One, offering a more complex, brass-led and off-key bent to the music. The great songs compiled here were nearly lost when Lack moved from Jamaica to the US in the early '70s and subsequently folded his label; there are lots of rare gems to be found across these 21 tracks, including songs from the Uniques, Clarendonians, Diplomats, and a Max Romeo-led group called the Emotions. If you already know the high quality of a Pressure Sounds comp, then consider this one top choice, and if you don't, here's a great place to start. All I can suggest is that you take this collection's title as your marching order: Listen to the Music; you might just get swept away. Recommended. [DG]


	Shot Forth... $17.99 CDx2 $22.99 LPx2+MP3 The Buried Life $17.99 CDx2 $22.99 LPx2+MP3		MEDICINE Shot Forth Self Living (Captured Tracks) MEDICINE The Buried Life (Captured Tracks) "The Pink" "Never Click" One of the most innovative bands of the 1990s, Los Angeles' Medicine was supposed to be some kind of domestic "answer" to My Bloody Valentine. Much harsher and noisier even than Kevin Shields' gang, they were coming from a different angle altogether. With guitarist Brad Laner and vocalist Beth Thompson's roots in such bands as Savage Republic and Fourwaycross, plus the participation of drummer Jim Goodall in live Whitehouse actions, they forged a sound that was unique among their contemporaries. "One More" announces their debut LP, Shot Forth Self Living, originally issued by Creation in 1992, with a piercing shard of ringing feedback that doesn't let up for nine minutes. "Aruca," which was also their first single, follows it with over a minute of noise, before dance beats announce the start of the song proper. Thompson's vocals glide in and out of this chaos like syrup being poured over manhole covers that look like waffles. A midpoint highlight of the set, "A Short Happy Life" has a coda with a slow, heavy, repetitive vamp that sounds like an updated version of the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," as re-imagined for a generation weaned on smut. Second single "5ive" highlights Goodall's impressive drumming -- his playing had a swing feel to it which was rarely heard at the time, and anyone who witnessed their explosive live sets can attest that his expressive style matched his oddball antics perfectly. Now expanded to include the tracks from both EPs and a ton of live cuts, demos and outtakes on the second disc, this set is the definitive version of one of the best debut albums of all time. Every bit as engaging as the debut, 1993's The Buried Life marks an evolution while being very much a continuation of its predecessor's strengths, a slightly poppier record that still retains a beautiful harshness as well. Laner's reverence for a classic pop melody was always evident, even when the guitars were careening out of control; the inclusion of a cover of the Beach Boys' "Til I Die," a bonus track that was originally the b-side of the "Never Click" single, reveals that this was no coincidence. The guitar on the outro of "She Knows Everything" sounds like slowly falling bombs, and segues directly into one of their finest numbers; the sublime "Something Goes Wrong" is a perfect, if not slightly blown-out, pop song with dual male/female lead vocals. As melodic as the songs often are, there's always a sense of tension. "Beneath the Sands" alternates tuneful verses with repetitive instrumental sections that sound like an industrial version of Swans. Closing track "The Earth Is Soft and White" consists of seven minutes of pure feedback. The Buried Life captured the band at their peak, and both of these albums show Medicine to have been a groundbreaking pop group exploring noise well before it was in vogue, while their brilliant songwriting has ensured that these albums hold up two decades later. Essential. [NN]


	$26.99 LP 180 Gram		SONIC BOOM Spectrum (Vinilissimo) People tend to see Spiritualized as the only post-Spacemen 3 outfit worth remembering, and certainly the most successful project attempted by any of the group's membership, but S3 guitarist/vocalist Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember was clearly a major creative force in that group. In 1990, on the eve of Spacemen 3's disbanding, he released Spectrum as a stunning import, complete with psychedelic/optical illusion gimix sleeve, and its general unavailability stateside has made it little more than a memory. SHAME ON THIS -- this is a beautiful, dark, delicate record worthy of rediscovery. Sonic plays alongside a host of sidemen (Will Carruthers and Mark Refoy, who'd soon go on to start Spiritualized with Jason Pierce, Josephine Wiggs of the Breeders and Perfect Disaster, Jazz Butcher on sax) through some of the most solemn and concerning music of his career, fitting nicely as a depressive coda to 1989's Playing with Fire. Opener "Help Me Please" glides in on a morphine drip, the sad tale of our narrator contemplating suicide, tremolo bubbling up in the background, while leadoff single "Angel" builds from a simple percussive click and three-note bass line into a mournful epic about the loss of a friend that takes a surprising upward trajectory. Covers of Doc Pomus' "Lonely Avenue" and Suicide's "Rock and Roll Is Killing My Life" shake things out of the grooves a bit, but come on -- you're here for the downer, and Sonic makes sure you get nothing but. Better than some Spacemen 3 output, it's a good thing that this one is back in print, reproducing the original over-the-top artwork. You can get lost in that spinning wheel if you want to. Let it happen. [DM]


	$11.99 CD $15.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3		LED ER EST The Diver (Sacred Bones) "Housefire at Zumi's" "Iron and the Mandala" For their second album, NYC synth/darkwave trio Led Er Est pulls together the distant elements from previous releases into a tight core of dramatic, beyond-Gothic expression. The expanse of their native Texan landscape, which came through on their debut Dust on Common is here replaced by icy, claustrophobic synth programming that reaches towards both classic club industrial and something far more isolated. It's safe to say that they've consolidated their powers, and the recent 12" by member Shaun O'Sullivan (as Vapauteen, out on L.I.E.S.) seems to have emboldened his role in Led Er Est, as the hard tracks are harder than before, and the slow/spare ones speak with their own dazed logic, sounding not unlike the legendary Crispin Glover album from the late '80s. Something for everyone whose wardrobe is mainly black, and a real keeper in an era of dry, slavish imitations. [DM]


	$13.99 CDx2 $29.99 LPx3 $12.99 MP3		MOSS ICON Complete Discography (Temporary Residence) "Mirror" "Locket" Now, more than 25 years after they formed, it seems pretty easy to situate Baltimore hardcore band Moss Icon. First coming together in 1986, theirs was a sound that used punk's aggressiveness as a tool for exploring more nuanced themes and topics, allowing this quartet (and occasional quintet) a similar palette to the ones being developed around the same time by the likes of Ian MacKaye's Embrace and Guy Picciotto's Rites of Spring. And yet, Moss Icon's handful of records, gathered here on Temporary Residence's Complete Discography, are littered with clear examples of a band that was far more than the sum of its parts, and one pushing as hard as they could to create something wholly new beyond the boundaries of what punk had established before them. When it was released posthumously in the early '90s, Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly (the group's only full-length, recorded in '88) seemed impossibly mysterious and strange, with a sound that was as much reminiscent of Slint (whom they predated) as anything on Dischord. Loose without being formless and emotional without tending towards the overwrought, Moss Icon buried powerful riffs and pounding rhythms in structures that weren't quite as commonplace in hardcore in the late 1980s, with long-form pieces giving vocalist Jonathan Vance and guitarist Tonie Joy (who would later go on to bands like Born Against and Universal Order of Armageddon) ample room to explore. Songs like the album's title track took their time, working through extended passages before climaxing in a hair-raising crescendo, while shorter pieces like "I'm Back Sleeping or Fucking or Something" wasted no time aggressively driving their point across. Featuring a host of material that's been out of print for at least a decade now, Complete Discography unites the LP with the few singles and split tracks that preceded it, allowing for a glimpse of this unique band's peerless evolution and approach to hardcore and punk. Earlier tracks like "Hate in Me" and "What They Lack" contrast a blistering fury with a pensive chime heard on later-era cuts like "Memorial" and "Moth," the latter of which show something few hardcore bands at the time seemed to have any interest in: range. A truly great and idiosyncratic group, Moss Icon seems generally unknown save to those who were deep in the thick of a lot of otherwise forgettable hardcore in the late 1980s and 1990s. Here's to hoping this collection changes that. [MC]


	$13.99 CD		TY SEGALL & WHITE FENCE Hair (Drag City) "I Am Not a Game" "(I Can't) Get Around You" Ty Segal and Tim Presley (a/k/a White Fence) are both heroes of the modern garage-psych-punk underground, and this collaboration between the two prolific musicians is everything you could hope for as a fan. They trade off lead vocals, trade instruments, trade guitar solos, and it's clear that they traded ideas and inspirations here as well, pushing each other in exciting new directions. Segal has the swagger, Presley has the eerie atmosphere, and feeding off each other in the studio they both transcend their own ruts and niches, making one of the better records either have been involved with in some time. Overall, it's a loose and lazy ride, taking odd turns and full of surprises, but there is a lurching, totally engaging rock and roll heart to this record that can't be denied. [JM]


	$7.99 CD-EP		CRAFT SPELLS Gallery EP (Captured Tracks) "Warmth" "Sun Trails" Led by Justin Paul Vallesteros, Craft Spells have slowly been awakening from their West Coast slumber over the past few years, and on the heels of their 2011 debut LP they now grant us six new, gorgeous, sunbathed tracks. Although the Gallery EP doesn't even reach the half-hour mark, the band's brilliant dreamy melodies, layered synths and guitars, and drum machine-like percussion makes for irresistible repeated listening. At times Vallesteros' yearning, monotone vocals bring to mind Swede poppers like Jens Lekman or the Embassy, and perhaps even the UK's Felt or Field Mice. All you indie-poppers reading this: don't say I didn't warn you. Have a listen to the vibrant '80s-influenced pop tune "Still Left with Me." I have no doubt that it'll be going on my summer mixtapes! [ACo]


	$5.99 45		INDIANS Magic Kids / New (Indians) "New" Here we have the first transmissions from up-and-coming Copenhagen ubermensch, Indians, who works up an impressive lather with crystalline productions built in the bedroom but made to be cranked over the more robust sound systems of the world. Shimmering keyboard lines crest and wash over crisp, minimal drum patterns like crystal spires falling from the ceiling of the winter palace. Not sure when we're due, but these are some next-ice-age tones of what an unwitting future dweller might find after the thaw. A block of ice melting in the backyard reveals the stiffened forms of Bon Iver, Grimes, and Aphex Twin's first synth frozen in a bizarre love triangle. Gathering around the pixelated fire, they shake off 16,000 years of freeze with a jam session, peeling off a little something like these two melancholic numbers of hopeful renewal in the process. Sublime and elegiac, these could be anthems for new hip snow globes. We got our hands on a few of the very limited number of these that made it into the States, so snap this up before it's gone. [JTr]


	$5.99 45		JAGWAR MA Come Save ME (Blue Rider) An intoxicating '60s pop confection filtered through a skewed modern production aesthetic, Jagwar Ma have a definite Beach Boys/Beatles/Spector fascination, but rather than update the sound with a wash of smoggy effects, they deliver a crisp production that is no less modern, just more original and endlessly satisfying. We don't know what's coming next from this new Australian group, but they seem to be on the path to something, and with their connections -- this new single's label is run by some players at XL and Secretly Canadian, Warpaint's Stella Mozgawa handles the cool rhythm here, bandleader Jono Ma has produced the Foals, etc. -- it's certain we will be hearing more from them. Moreover, "Come Save Me" is a killer single, and the flip is pretty tight too! [JM]


	$15.99 CD $21.99 LPx2		LAZER SWORD Memory (Monkeytown) "Toldyall" "Let's Work" Although Lazer Sword first debuted in 2010 on the Innovative Leisure imprint, it's their latest full-length released on Modeselektor's Monkeytown label that feels like this duo's proper introduction. Lando Kal and Low Limit fine-tune their once wacky, abrasive skills and sound, and what results is a deeper, darker, sleeker, and actually very pop brand of new-school electro/dance/bass; Memory is a welcomed addition to an arena already home to Addison Groove, Slava and the many groups associated with the Night Slugs crew. Moving their headquarters from San Francisco to Berlin and L.A. seems to have broadened Lazer Sword's scope and influences, and with similarly minded producers like Jimmy Edgar and Machinedrum added into the mix, the sonic spectrum runs the gamut from synthy and glitchy electro, to subtle footwork-accented house and bass excursions, to odes to Detroit techno's mechanized bleeps. Needless to say, this record is a nice surprise and certainly an enjoyable listen for those that like to dance, as these hypnotic, pulsing grooves will have you moving in no time. I guess sometimes a new city and new label can indeed help a group sharpen their focus; if you were on the fence about Lazer Sword before, forget what you know, as there is no sophomore slumping here for this up-n-coming duo. Fans of dubstep, bassy house, nouveau electro, and funky techno -- there's a little bit of all of those elements and more -- should check this out, good stuff. [DG]


	$32.99 LPx3		APHEX TWIN Selected Ambient Works II (1972 Records) Via pure happenstance, I revisited Aphex Twin's totemic 1994 album, Selected Ambient Works II, a few weeks back, complete with scratched-up discs and jewel case. It was the first electronic album I ever spent any real time with (turned on via a mixtape that had included two-minute track "White Blur" in the waning moments of the cassette spool) and brought back a flood of memories. I realized it was my gateway drug into the pleasures of electronic music and avant-garde music in general, and decades of adventurous listening have followed. Even with groundbreaking new electronic music releases from folks like Actress, Burial and Four Tet, it's easy to trace their roots back here, directly or indirectly. So imagine my surprise to see the album back in print, on heavyweight triple vinyl, no less, complete with the vinyl-only track "Stone in Focus." For years, if you could ever find these LPs (pressed onto brown wax), they would set you back a Ben Franklin at least, and I'm happy to report that this lovely pressing from the folks at 1972, complete with original gatefold sleeve and everything, sounds incredible. Perfect for lucid dreaming and an essential album to own; this is classic Other Music, back on wax. [AB]


	$17.99 CD		MANUEL GOTTSCHING Inventions for Electric Guitar (MG Art) "Echo Waves" "Pluralis" In many ways, Inventions for Electric Guitar could be seen as THE pivotal Manuel Göttsching album; the 1975 LP that led him entirely away from the earlier, heavier stoner/acid and hippy rock his group Ash Ra Tempel specialized in, and towards the effects-heavy space exploration of his peak albums, New Age of Earth, Blackouts and the iconic E2-E4. Credited, somewhat confusingly, to Manuel Göttsching and Ash Ra Tempel VI, Inventions was a cosmos away from Starring Rosi, the not unpleasant but somewhat dippy, rambling record that preceded it. Made entirely with sounds created with a guitar -- with prominent use of the simple yet effective echo, delay and various synth treatments -- the album is a quintessential example of the sequence-driven side of Kosmische. Opener "Echo Waves" is nearly 18 minutes of rippling arpeggios and rhythmic passages. Time warps as the layered guitars ripple infinitely on a cloud-like bed, but like a speedball, it is an amphetamine-driven narcotic. After the ceaseless pulse of "Echo Waves," the ostensibly tranquil floating tones of "Quasarsphere" feel like a relieved exhale. But quickly, one realizes, this is not passive New Age, with a rather dark tone pervading. Not unlike some of Popol Vuh's deeply effective music used in Werner Herzog's soundtracks, "Quasarsphere" shows the range of the guitar as instrument. Eschewing rhythm, Göttsching pursues a Frippian sense of weightlessness. The 22-minute "Pluralis" returns to the repetition of "Echo Waves," and this may have been the first document of a style of composition that would lead to the seminal hour-long proto-techno E2-E4. In many ways, "Pluralis" combines the perpetual motion of "Echo Waves" with the hovering synth-like tones of "Quasarsphere," creating the sensation of moonwalking. Before the term minimalism came to define the music made by Terry Riley, Steve Reich etc., it was often referred to as trance. Far more appropriate in this context than the club variation known as progressive trance, this is trance music for the ages. That it influenced everything from late-'80s 4AD to the heroin house of Basic Channel is something to consider. Far ahead of its time, this was the sound of Manuel Göttsching just beginning to really hit his stride. And so it goes without saying: highly recommended. [AGe]


	$16.99 CD		VARIOUS ARTISTS Play That Beat Mr. Raja #1 (Nature Bliss) Play That Beat Mr. Raja is an outstanding collection of wild South Indian film music from the mid-1980s, centered around the Tamil region whose film industry is often referred to as "Kollywood." This excellent compilation had previously been released as a limited-edition LP in 2010, which is sadly out of print, but is now available as a Japanese CD with an additional seven tracks to sweeten the deal. The songs compiled here are primarily by composer Illaiyaraaja, of whose work we have written before thanks to two compilations on the Finders Keepers label. This set was originally released before those collections, though, and as surprised as I am to say this, the songs on Mr. Raja are actually more wild and unhinged than the selections presented by FK (including the recent KS Chithra comp, whose music was written by Illaiyaraaja). The tracks here explore an Indian take on robotic electro fusions filled with stiff, snapping drum machine beats and Vocoder chants that wouldn't sound out of place on a Mantronix 12", combined with synthesized scales akin to Charanjit Singh's Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat or some Indian minimal wave reissue. It's all tied together with the usual passionate playback singing and orchestral strings that are Indian film music trademarks; what sets this collection apart, though, is the oddly homegrown nature that the technology instills in these tracks. It at times can appeal to fans of the odd, anything-goes genre splices of folks like Ariel Pink or even Prince, thanks to the freaky mix of smooth pop acrobatics with trashy funk grooves. These tracks are most definitely geared toward the dance floor, and more adventurous heads will find much to salivate over here thanks to the squelching synths, robotic post-punk beats, and the sweet vocals. This comp is pure fun, and gets full marks from me; any fan of Indian film tunes or of the odd pop collusionist records mentioned above needs this in their collection, plain and simple. [IQ]


	$11.99 LP $4.99 MP3		DAYTONA Storm So Long EP (Daytona) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store This young Brooklyn group features ex-members of several bands we have enjoyed, including Wild Yaks and Harlem, but their sound lacks much of the blunt guitar ballast of those artists, instead aiming for an airier, shimmering quality that sets Hunter Simpson's swirling, delay-heavy guitar melodies and weary vocals against a clattering bed of percussion and pulsing bass. You could compare them to Vampire Weekend, but Daytona is much looser and more languid, while exploring a similar love of South African guitar and world rhythms, or they might remind you of what MGMT's early records would have sounded like with more organic production choices. Regardless, this self-released EP, available as a download or a lovely hand-screened LP, is one of the better new things we've heard coming out of the borough next door in awhile, and this is definitely a band to watch, and to hear. [JM]


	$7.99 CD $11.99 LP+MP3 $3.99 MP3		S. CAREY Hoyas (Jagjaguwar) "Inspir" "Marfa" Sean Carey is best known as one of Justin Vernon's henchmen in Bon Iver, and the singer, percussionist and multi-instrumentalist serves an important role in that band, adding live, organic nuance and flourish to Vernon's subtle pop. His previous solo album, All We Grow, was a warm, folky set that owed a fair amount to his boss' sense of atmosphere and arrangement, and Hoyas, produced by Vernon and Brian Joseph, takes more than a few cues from the band's recent explorations, with a heavy use of the infamous Auto-Tune all over Carey's dreamy vocals, and a hazy, slightly blippy production sound that washes over you like the rising tide, but crackles and hums with late-night digital interference. For fans of: Bon Iver.


	$11.99 CD $16.99 LP $9.99 MP3		TURING MACHINE What Is the Meaning of What (Temporary Residence) "Lazy Afternoon of the Jaguar" "If It's Gone (It's On)" It's Turing Machine's first new recording since 2004's Zwei, and it's a fitting tribute to the band's former drummer, the amazing Jerry Fuchs (also of !!!, the Juan MacLean, etc.), whose tragic death a few years back gives focus to these instrumental post-rock-disco-prog grooves. These tracks include Fuch's last recordings, and the band recruited friends like LCD Soundsystem drummer Pat Mahoney to help finish the album out (as well as Disappears' Brian Case). The sound is less guitar-heavy that before, with more loops and mechanical rhythms pushing the group's sound forward, while looking back to Krautrock jams and post-disco grooves.


	$13.99 CD+DVD		ST. VINCENT Stranger Mercy (4AD) Annie Clark's stellar third album as St. Vincent, 2011's Strange Mercy, gets the deluxe treatment here. This limited CD & DVD package includes the original full-length plus a DVD featuring music videos for "Cheerleader" and "Cruel," as well as a live five-song session.


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR Leyfdu Ljosinu (Touch) "Prelude" "Leyfdu Ljosinu" A stark, breathtaking work from the Icelandic composer and performer, recorded entirely live with no overdubs, just Gudnadottir's voice, cello and electronic manipulations, using an Ambisonic mic and a pair of Neumanns. The ambiance of the room is thick and intense, with a long, achingly pure vocal and string tones floating in the air as if they have actual weight and body, as the composition builds and recedes, and builds and recedes, over 40 minutes.


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		KTL V (Editions Mego) "Phil 1" "Tony" The latest from KTL, the super-duo of Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley and Peter Rehberg of Pita, takes their established, expected electro-drone sound and injects quite a bit of avant-electronic composition. Recorded at both INA-GRM in Paris and EMS in Stockholm, with a few nice guest appearances by the likes of the City of Prague Philharmonic, the influence of the forefathers of modern experimental composition hangs over this production, in a totally energizing and inspired way. Ear-tickling, mind-expanding music that is dark throughout and harsh at points, but always engaging.


	$15.99 LP+MP3 $7.99 MP3		MOON DUO Mazes Remixed (Sacred Bones) Originally available as a bonus disc if you pre-ordered Mazes, Sacred Bones has pressed a limited vinyl edition of the remix collection, including two versions from Sonic Boom plus Psychic Ills, Gary War, Purling Hiss and Cave. Most of these remixes push the band's stoned guitar drone further into the atmosphere, and this stuff is every bit as compelling as the original album.


	$22.99 LPx2 $19.99 CD		VARIOUS ARTISTS Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-84 (Chocolate Industries) "Disco from a Space Show" Guitar Red "If You Give a Dance" Cotillion Having long been a fan of those rare early moments when acoustic soul and jazz turned towards the electronic, I've enjoyed glimpses in the 1970s-era work of Sly Stone, Herbie Hancock, Timmy Thomas, Stevie Wonder, Shuggie Otis, and Gil Scott-Heron, and of course the many projects associated with Prince throughout the '80s, before the soulful bedroom producer became a kind of norm by the '90s. When I first heard about this compilation more than five years ago, a Dante Carfagna-curated collection of D.I.Y. private-press black electronic soul from the 1970s and '80s, I was hooked, and Personal Space is by far one of the best and most compelling comps that we've had on our shelves in a long time. Carfagna is a legendary crate digger, DJ, archivist and writer (an editor at Wax Poetics), who also compiled Midwest Funk, Chains & Black Exhaust and a few releases for the Numero Group. On Personal Space he pulls gems out from the depths of garage-sale soul. The only name that some may recognize is Jeff Phelps, whose two tracks here are also on his recently reissued LP Magnetic Eyes (Tomlab). This Texas bedroom producer created four-track, drum machine soul that merged rap, new wave, and industrial elements into an outsider odyssey that has been name-dropped by Dam-Funk and Nite Jewel. All seventeen of these nuggets create a needed exploration of the black American electronic outsider world that existed far away from the discos, bars, clubs, airwaves, and major labels, mainly just an inspired person with a simple home recording studio, a good idea for a song, and a few bucks to get it pressed on vinyl. These are beautiful, weird, raw and wonderful recorded moments of the black experience in funky experimentation from Newark, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland, Cincinnati, L.A., and Princeton across a ten-year period, from 1974-1984. I could go into detail about the standout moments, but honestly every second of the whole damn thing is worth talking about, so I'll leave it at this: any fan of Minimal Wave (the label and the genre), Numero's funky discography, freestyle, boogie, electro, new wave, early hip-hop, the history of the drum machine, or modern outsider music, do yourself a favor and buy yourself two copies, you'll no doubt wear one of them out. An all around hit at the store, and the beauty of these songs can't be overstated. Honestly, recommended for everyone. [DG]


	$19.99 LP		SHOP ASSISTANTS Shop Assistants (4 Men with Beards) "I Don't Want to Be Friends with You" "Seems to Be" Scottish C86 poppers the Shop Assistants are back in the racks with this vinyl reissue of the group's sole LP. Fitting nicely somewhere between the melodic shamble of the Pastels (who shared members with the earliest incarnation of Shop Assistants) and the reverberating haze of the Jesus & Mary Chain, with girlsh dreampop vocal stylings akin to Lush and Talulah Gosh, Shop Assistants were one of the crown jewels of the UK C86 compilation and the subsequent "movement" which followed in its wake. Songs like the driving "I Don't Want to Be Friends With You," "All That Ever Mattered," "Caledonia Rd," and "Seems to Be" paved the way for the likes of contemporary NYC faves like the Vivian Girls, fusing post-Mo Tucker drum styles with jangly, buzzing guitars and an infectious exhilaration that will either win you over or turn you away upon first listen. This should also be a prerequisite purchase for anyone who has bought records by the likes of Pastels, Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the Mary Chain. There's really not much else to say -- records this good simply speak for themselves, so take a listen to the soundclips and decide whether you're in or out. [IQ]


	$19.99 LP		TERRY MANNING Home Sweet Home (4 Men with Beards) Every once in a while, one of these reissues shakes itself out of a pile of many that rises so far beyond what anyone could expect, that it becomes Essential Listening. Terry Manning's Home Sweet Home is just such a record, its heavy, stewy rock & roll gumbo predating both glam and punk in one fell swoop. Manning, who'd later co-found the Ardent label, was an engineer barely out of his teens and a friend of Alex Chilton's. The album stemmed from a recording session with the Box Tops, in which he meant to hassle Chilton and songwriter Eddie Hinton with a psychedelicized wild-man "joke" version of Hinton's "Choo Choo Train." To his surprise, the track was received warmly, enough so that Al Bell asked Manning to cut a whole album in that style. He went along with it, and out came this intense, fun, free-wheeling collection of covers and tributes, originally released in 1970 on the Stax imprint Enterprise (and making Manning the labelmate of Isaac Hayes). As if this wasn't already dumbfounding enough, Home Sweet Home marks the recording debut of the late Chris Bell, and features Richard Rosebrough on drums, making this album somewhat of a precursor to Big Star (and in that sense, if you like their tougher songs like "She's a Mover" or Bell's "Make a Scene," you should love this), as well as a cover of the Beatles' "One After 909," constructed from demos Manning had reinterpreted, and recorded before the Beatles had even completed their own version! Paying nods to Johnny Cash, the Yardbirds, the Music Machine, Booker T. and the MG's, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Fab Four (including a massive, 10-minute version of "Savoy Truffle," featuring synth played by Bob Moog himself), everything about Home Sweet Home wallops on you like a sack of doorknobs, from Manning's whiskey-marinated growl to the hard stereo panning that graces every song here. [DM]


	$27.99 LPx2+CD		ODD FUTURE The OF Tape Vol. 2 (Odd Future) "NY (Ned Flander)" "Analog 2" Last of the limited double-vinyl Record Store Day pressing! A lot has changed for the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Crew since Tyler, The Creator's controversial widescreen debut (last year's Goblin), yet a lot is still the same. Actually, the story goes back further to 2008's Odd Future Tape Vol. 1 (which they are still giving away on their website), and in the four years since, Tyler and his merry men and gay woman have grown from immature internet losers to imaginative, creative young artists and entrepreneurs. They've branded themselves in true now-school style, with pop-up shops, an Adult Swim sketch show, a photo book of their friends and antics, and dozens of self-directed and created videos. The crew's official follow-up, The OF Tape Vol. 2 (oh yeah they have a real label now too), shows the collective tightening their skills, having unsupervised fun, inspiring each other, exercising their creativity and being completely stupid and spitefully brilliant. Of the endless stream of young rappers within the daily blog-o-sphere (Main Attrakionz, Lil B, Drake, Waka, etc.), I'm down with Odd Future and think that as they get older, they get better -- even though most of them can't even legally drink yet. From Vol. 1 to Vol. 2 you can hear the growth in their production, their vocal skills and overall song structure, not to mention in the view of their diverse flows, imagery, and personality. While they have not moved beyond the language that's caught the group a lot of flack ("bitch" is the go-to word here), they seem to have more of a handle on it. Well, sort of -- remember, most of them are still under 21. Overall this feels like a young generation's mix tape in line with the sound-defining work of past posse compilations by Neptunes (Star Trak), Outkast (The Dungeon Family), EL-P (Def Jux), Del (Hieroglyphics), Lil Wayne (Young Money), RZA (Wu-Tang) or Kayne West (G.O.O.D. Music); yeah, OF are the contemporary equivalent and this cements their status as one of the best up-n-coming crews. OF Tape Vol. 2 features 18 songs with crew and solo tracks from the whole gang, and it's all in your face, mildly offensive, weird, raunchy, awkward, sharp, funny, at times intensely enjoyable and overall better than I expected. All the tracks are spot-on productions split between Tyler and Left Brain that shine and swing with subtle references to footwork, dubstep and bass that heighten the fresh sounding yet still raw brand of hip-hop they're creating, with beats, rhymes and chords at its next school best. Like the Tyler-directed video for "Rella," this is music for terrorizing suburbs, not to mention some plain old bizarre low-rent reality shit, a la the psycho-trash vision of "NY (Ned Flander)." If you have been on the fence, this may be the one to win you over, or maybe not. I've given in though, and I'm now enjoying the real-time weirdness. Simple yet complex -- that is the world of Odd Future, getting better with age. [DG]


	$18.99 LPx2		GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW Seeds (Someothaship) Beginning with her debut on Stones Throw in 2004, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Georgia Anne Muldrow has changed labels a few times over, yet released an album every year since. With each record she continues her search within, exploring heady themes like Afro-centrism vs. commercialism, while crafting music with not only a message, but usually a funky, self-made beat too. Her latest, Seeds, has a new twist because of her choice to work with an outside producer; having collaborated on various projects throughout the years, Otis "Madlib" Jackson Jr. is an obvious but no less inspired choice for the job. Together they provide one another with inspiration and a much-needed balance; for Madlib, this is the first whole album he's produced for a female artist (though he's featured heavily on Erykah Badu's New Amerykah series), and here he crafts some nicely diced-up soul edits for Muldrow to voice her musings over, while keeping his samples purposeful and focused, offering a natural, rich, and fresh feeling back beat. For Ms. Muldrow, having Madlib produce seems to direct her choice of song selection (keeping things short and sweet at barely thirty-five minutes), and gives her freedom to simply deliver her words, coming up with some of her strongest performances yet. Separately these two have provided some great moments in hip-hop and new soul, and each collaborative track they've dropped has been a welcomed addition to my playlist; now with a full album that merges their sounds, it's an instant gem of underground soul, much like Muldrow's partner Dudley Perkins' debut, A Lil' Light, which Madlib also produced -- she's a better rapper and singer though. Muldrow has always reminded me of Chaka Khan and on the boogie-inspired track "Best Love" she shines with a classic '80s ultra-sheen. She also channels the spirits of Roberta Flack, Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin, yet she's able to drop a rap that echoes Lauryn Hill's solo work -- all with her own modern spin. Lots of great tracks (with no interludes!), it's a pure and effortless fusion of two of the best artists of the California beat-rap-soul scene. [DG]


	$15.99 CD $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 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. 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]


	$16.99 CD $9.99 MP3		X-O-DUS English Black Boys (LTM) "See Them A'Come" "Take It from Me" Not many people know this, but there was actually a reggae release issued by Factory Records during their early years. X-O-Dus were a Manchester band who specialized in a highly political style of reggae that steered clear of religious Rastafarian dogmas; their songs dealt with the hardships of living in British Babylon, melding cutting, realist lyrics with a sharp, hard-edged refinement of spliffed-out loping menace. The group recorded their sole 12" with master producer Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell, known for his work with the Slits, the Pop Group, and his own excellent reggae band Matumbi. English Black Boys was laid to tape in one day, but in typical Factory fashion, it took ten months to mix, and another four months for art direction. The record's stark, post-punk Peter Saville sleeve made it look more like a Joy Division or A Certain Ration release than a soulful roots reggae dispatch, but that 12", featuring only two songs yet clocking in at nearly twenty minutes, is an unheralded classic of the era. Thank the fine folks at LTM once again for restoring its glory to the masses, bringing together the EP's two tracks with another seven tracks found from 1980 studio sessions that were meant to form the band's debut LP on Factory, which sadly have never been released until now! These tracks are simply wicked, seeing X-O-Dus evolve their heavy sound with a bit of jazzy guitar licks and even a little lovers rock soul thrown into the mix. The CD concludes with some 1992 white label bangers recorded by the band's drummer Leddy as Subsonique + Rico, which shows how they were able to hold their own with Manchester's underground club culture, and would have been able to fit the Factory ethos even then, with a bit of rave-inspired ragga soul. This whole package is, quite simply, one of the best reissues I've heard all year -- that 12" is one of my favorite Factory releases, with Bovell's dark dub mixology giving these tunes an added bite, showing that X-O-Dus could have easily ranked right up there amongst the heavy hitters of UK reggae like Matumbi and Steel Pulse. The unreleased album tracks, though, have been kicking my ass; they're so soulful, lightly psychedelic, and massively catchy. This CD will hopefully help to relegate X-O-Dus out of footnote status; for now, it's holding a firm place near the top of my list of best reissues of the year in any genre. Reggae heads, Factory completists, and anyone who wants some good, solid, soulful tunes to jam this summer need this in their collection. This is the definition of a highest recommendation, but please -- Mr. James Nice, LTM mastermind, I beg you, now that you're pressing wax... issue this collection on vinyl!! [IQ]


	PHONE ORDERS Phone orders are accepted at (212) 477-8150 (ext. #2, mailorder) Mon-Fri, Noon - 7pm EST EMAIL For general inquiries or other information please email sales@othermusic.com. Do not reply to this message. REMOVE This is an automated list. If you would like to be removed for any reason, please visit: digital.othermusic.com/subscribe.php		THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [AB] Adrian Burkholder [ACo] Anastasia Cohen [MC] Michael Crumsho [AGe] Alexis Georgopoulos [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [JM] Josh Madell [DMa] Dave Martin [DM] Doug Mosurock [NN] Ning Nong [JTr] Jon Treneff THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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