Alright, now this is the kind of thing I can never get enough of, a laidback, thoroughly unknown female singer-songwriter album produced in such a minuscule edition that only about five copies are known to exist. And the kicker is that it's actually awesome! The first inkling most people had of this album was back in 2008, when Vetiver, with the help of the inimitable Vashti Bunyan, included a version of the LP's "Sleep a Million Years" on their extremely excellent covers record, Things of the Past. Easily one of the highlights of that album and this one, this mysterious song, one of the only ones on the record which was nearly impossible to source where it originated, was credited to a Dia Joyce, and it seemingly took forever for Vetiver's Andy Cabic to spill the beans that Joyce was the producer and songwriter of the song, who had apparently contracted singer-for-hire Kathy Heideman to realize her vision with an LP called Move with Love, long since swallowed in the void. It probably didn't help that Cabic possessed what was probably the only known copy at the time.

As Heideman sings Joyce's compositions, she's accompanied by a loose, somewhat rag-tag, DIY-sounding backing band, and is vocally reminiscent at times of a mid-'70s Marianne Faithful. Definitely country inflected, but in just the right amount really, like the patina on an old bronze, or just a thin layer of dust on a saddle. These are mid-tempo groovers for a lazy Saturday afternoon, perhaps. It must of been tough for Vetiver & Co. to pick which track to cover though, as there are some real killers, with the dreamy "Tell It True" and love ballad "Bob" being serious contenders for best song here. Great stuff, for fans of the Elyse album, Evie Sands, or maybe Jackie DeShannon's Laurel Canyon. [MK]

With debut singles and this excellent album released on the Fabric club's Houndstooth imprint, you can bet that this is something to get you off the wall and on to the floor. Though the name Special Request may be new, its originator, Paul Woolford, has been around for a while. Since the early '00s he's released singles under his own name on Hot Flush, Junior Boys' Own imprint, and many more, yet his new reboot as Special Request is indeed special. The album, Soul Music, is a lengthy and relentless exploration of jungle, breakbeat, and 'ardcore, inspired by the UK pirate radio sound system culture of the '90s. Every few years it seems like a record appears that updates jungle and nails it, yet maybe not since Vex'd's Degenerate from 2005 or Instra:Mental's Resolution 653 from 2011 has a project's sole mission been about bringing that often forgotten and tossed aside genre into the modern conversation. As jungle continues to stick its head back into the mainstream, from Andy Stott and Demdike Stare to Zomby and Lee Gamble, UK artists have re-embraced the cut-n-paste, rave-tastic atmosphere that breaks and bass, time-stretching, distortion, and vocal samples can create. However, Special Request differs by not presenting his productions in a heady, clinical version -- first and foremost, this is jungle to dance to. Having made his mark in the house arena, Woolford is well aware of what it takes to move a crowd, and every track here could be a primetime highlight. Special Request captures the sound system vibe, as well as the overall energetic fever that made that music so magnetic.

What I like about the new trend in jungle is that everyone brings their own fond memories into their updated productions, and Woolford remembers many of the best aesthetic touches. The sounds, effects, rhythms, every other element is in place and comes through the speakers in high-definition -- his use of low-end bass is worth it alone. Though the overall feel is thick and dense, heavy even, he does leave out most of the dark and spooky elements usually associated with jungle, and the sound palette is of a somewhat lighter, brighter hue, yet it's far from happy hardcore. Special Request seems to be designed to give the listeners what they want, and blowing minds while doing so. From the Sade-sampling "Broken Dreams," where the soothing vocals give ease to the militant pounding stride of the breaks and boasting Jamaican toasters, little tidbits of sonics that drop in, drop out, or otherwise just push things back to the future, nothing seems out of place or unnecessary. It's a chaotic listen for sure, and near exhausting in its entirety, yet Woolford is in full control as elements stutter, spin, and trip under his touch -- he keeps the party moving the whole time, with no filler. In addition to the hour-long album, there's an even longer bonus CD gathering his vinyl twelve-inch singles (his VIP remix of Lana Del Ray's "Ride," as well as remixes from Lee Gamble, Hieroglyphic Being, Anthony Shakir, Anthony Naples, Warehouse, Kassem Mosse, and Mix Mup) that offers some nice variations and recreations of the theme. This record seemingly came from nowhere and has quickly become a favorite in the store and out in the world. Definitely on my year end list, right next to Zomby's With Love. 2013, the year jungle came back? [DG]

With TV on the Radio on a semi-break between albums, one might have expected the band's frontman and actor Tunde Adebimpe to be catching his breath before he starts work on director Sebastian Silva's new film, Nasty Baby, in which he'll be starring alongside Kristen Wiig. Instead, Adebimpe's kept a pretty hectic schedule as of late, with the release of the debut EP from his newest group, Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band, performing live sets on New York-area airwaves via WNYC's Soundcheck and community radio stalwarts WFMU, and taking up a Sunday residency at Brooklyn's Union Pool for the month of October. Listening to the self-titled 12", however, it feels disingenuous to single out HIWABLAMABA as Adebimpe's project alone, as this is clearly a band outing, with drummer Ryan Sawyer (Lone Wolf & Cub, Tall Firs, Stars Like Fleas, and a TVOTR collaborator), bassist Josh Werner (Lee 'Scratch' Perry, CocoRosie) and guitarist Alex Holden (Big Numbers) working together as equal contributors to this brooding, hypnotic set. Recorded at Bill Laswell's Orange Sound Music Studio, the music is dark and sweaty like a fever dream, and though the five songs are fully formed, there still remains an improvisational, captured-in-the-moment feel. Propulsive opener "The Blast, the Bloom" establishes the blueprint for the EP, with Werner's low, Jah Wobble-esque bass lines and Sawyer's byzantine drumming cutting a deep groove for Holden's textured guitar fills and Adebimpe's impassioned vocals which often trail off and disintegrate through a layered cloud of echo and reverb. Avant-dub-rocker "Hugh Beaumont Is Dead" imagines Can performing in Lee Perry's Black Ark studio, while "Knocking Ghost" and "Mad Lifeline" finds the band integrating West African melodies and polyrhythms -- the latter, produced by Laswell himself, is an exotic, restrained song cycle enshrouded in mysterious atmospherics and textures. A fantastic debut that should be filed under "Other Music," let's hope there's a Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band full-length around the curve. Recommended! [GH]

It is all too rare to hear a band like this, literally bursting at the seams with ideas. Zacht Automaat, the Canadian duo of Carl Didur and Michael McLean, have released an astonishingly diverse and kaleidoscopic array of music across eleven (!) albums in the past three (!!!) years, of which this gorgeously presented set distills the best two LPs worth of sounds. But even that abbreviated amount of music is almost impossible to encapsulate, filled as this record is with tape loops, cosmic workouts, lo-fi dirges, loping exotica-ish patterns, tuneful synth bliss, and modal psychedelia. They've clearly taken a page from Krautrock pioneers Faust, particularly the masterpiece that is Tapes, and let their imaginations and musicality run rampant. This is the best kind of totally listenable experimentation we can always get behind here, and the sounds they conjure hark back to so many long-time Other Music favorites it practically has us giddy, from Can, Cluster, Black Dice, Stereolab, Soft Machine, the Finnish psych underground, the Ghost Box roster, Bruce Haack, and Raymond Scott to a myriad of other brilliant artists we've championed over the years, while still managing to retain a distinct vision and voice. Yes, we realize we're asking you to fork over nearly $30.00 for a double LP from a band you've probably never heard of, but mark my words, you will not be disappointed. Limited to 333 copies, we have a small quantity available, and they most likely will not be coming back. [MK]

Praise be to the fine folks at Warp Records for FINALLY reissuing the Boards of Canada catalogue on vinyl! Their campaign kicks off with the duo's epochal Music Has the Right to Children, its follow-up (and arguable masterpiece) Geogaddi, and the oft-unfairly maligned and misunderstood Campfire Headphase, from 2005. While the group had already put out a number of EP releases by the time of 1998's Music Has the Right to Children, it was their first proper full-length album, and was the release which took the world at large by storm. Its blend of fluttering, somewhat faded synthesizer melodies, stoned, loping hip-hop rhythms, and ambient field recorded atmospheres established a blueprint which is still hugely influential to a large swath of beatmakers and electronic producers today, perhaps more so than ever. If you've never heard anything by the group, this is the place to start; it sets the tone for all that follows, and most impressively consolidates all that came before it with a flow and feel that works surprisingly well over the course of an album.

2002's Geogaddi found the duo heading into much darker territories, whilst remaining faithful to their signature sound. The beats pack a harder punch, the ambient interludes are more shadowed and wholly eerie, and while the album is perhaps a bit too long for its own good, it nevertheless evokes a powerful mood that remains undiluted today. This is my personal favorite out of all of the group's records, warts and all; its kaleidoscopic claustrophobia is only amplified by the cover art, and the sounds within are overflowing with all of the cryptic clues and references that the duo's cult following love to pore over and analyze. However, none of that is needed or necessary to enjoy the dark, disorienting trip on which its grooves will take you.

2005's The Campfire Headphase saw the group throw a bit of a curveball in the introduction and heavy inclusion of acoustic guitar figures into the mix; many fans came to disown and downplay this album, but to my ears, it's a refreshing oddity and the real dark horse in the band's catalogue. The gentle, cyclic hypnotism of the guitar figures only serve to add to the record's overall concept, and they provide enough variety to give the listener fresh ears while still remaining true to the group's core sonic DNA. This is the sleeper hit of the duo's discography; it's not as immediate or epic, and its intimacy only serves to downplay some of the magic hidden in the album's tracks. Give this one a bit of time, and its charms will win you over.

All of these albums are on 140 gram vinyl pressed from the original masters with a bonus mp3 download, and each is packaged in reproductions of the original covers with all relevant details (gatefold sleeves, raised and embossed braille, etc.) and a series of stickers thematically relevant to each record's respective promo campaign. These LPs haven't been available for some time now, and have fetched heavy duty prices on the collectors market for years; now's the time to grab these before they disappear once more, and with the EPs coming up for reissue in just a few weeks, set aside that milk money, because more greatness is yet to come. [IQ]

Over the last few years, Four Tet's Kieran Hebden has been slowly shifting from the pastoral jazz and Krauty bedroom IDM he's long been known for to his own brand of glitchy and bass-filled 4/4 house/techno. More recently with the start of his Text label, however, he's been placing more focus on releasing a series of twelve-inch singles and solo club tracks with a few interesting collaborations along the way, primarily with Burial and Thom Yorke. Similar to Yorke, Hebden has been on a mission to rebrand himself, throwing his laptop into the dance music producer arena. Perhaps because of this newfound focus on producing for the clubs, Beautiful Rewind plays out less like an album and more like a collection, similar to Pink, Four Tet's compilation of dance singles from last year, however, the results are less engaging here. There is a throwback feeling to many of the choppy/skittering rhythmic grooves with several overlapping thoughts grouped together, but without any real album arc or through-line, and as such, it feels a bit jumbled and uneven to me. One track, however, pulled me in every time, the song "Unicorn." Second to last on the album, the piece is composed of what sounds like plucked harp, a breathy vocal stab, and percolating percussion; it begins simply and then starts to swirl and orbit around itself, coming off like a digitally sliced edit of Alice Coltrane. Hedben spent many years convincing us that he was avant-garde at heart, inspired by free jazz, and that's where I still think he's strongest, fusing his electronic skills with more organic ingredients, not concerned with filling floors and getting hands in the air. Hebden is one of the more diverse and talented producers around, but his dance floor excursions are still yet to be fully realized. [DG]

Sometimes, listening to a retrospective of a band's work can feel a bit like walking through a drafty museum. Every song has been carefully remastered and polished to a shine, while the narrative -- origins, success, struggles, dissolution -- is wrapped up neatly into some grubby archival photographs and backslapping liner notes that resemble the little information cards next to the paintings. Put your headphones on, take the guided tour, and exit through the gift shop. Sooner or Later, the 44-song set that chronicles the recorded history of the Neo Boys, is definitely NOT that kind of retrospective. Rather, it's a stunning portrait of a band constantly in bloom; for the all-female Neo Boys, the reigning DIY aesthetic in Portland, Oregon not only meant "Do It Yourself," but also "Don't Imitate Yourself."

Formed in 1978 by sisters K.T. and Kim Kincaid, the band quickly threw itself onstage, and the first five tracks of the 1978-1980 disc document a very early show, wherein the girls are propelled by a tumbling, amateurish thunder that ends with an out-of-tune and wonderfully heartfelt cover of the Stones' "I'm Free." From these humble beginnings, the entirety of the collection plays out like a time-lapse photography sequence: the fidelity creeps upward, from home demos that find drummer Pat Baum and bassist K.T. Kincaid finding lockstep perfection, to their blistering Greg Sage-produced EP, to a humming and ferocious live radio performance that leaves the DJ in the dust. "Yeah, wow man," he says after a few seconds pause, as though out of breath. "I was so into that, I forgot they were done." After opening for most anybody who rolled through the Portland area in the late '70s, including the Wipers, Television, and Nico, the band set out to make a full-length focused on wiry post-punk, with plenty of nods to Portland buddies like the Rats, as well as more far-flung influences like Talking Heads and Kleenex. The resulting Crumbling Myths EP forms the bulk of the second half of Sooner or Later, along with live performances from that era that exemplify the band's prowess on stage. Listening to these songs now, you can hear the ripples that echoed outward from the Neo Boys explosion: Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Grass Widow all plucked bits of the Kincaid's vision to help construct their own sounds and scenes. This is a trip that must be taken, particularly for everyone who dug the heat coming off of that recent Bona Dish reissue. [MS]

Debut 12" EP from White Haus, the nom de plume of Joao Vieira whose former band X-Wife surprisingly never broke through to a bigger audience here in the States. The Portugal-based group's catchy hybrid of art-pop and dance-rock should have seen them touring the world with everyone from Clinic to the Rapture, and while their couple of albums from the mid-2000s weren't too far removed from the disco-punk thing that was brewing in NYC at the time, there was also something a little different in the presentation and sound that made X-Wife stand out. Vieira's first outing under his White Haus guise utilizes some of the same cues as his former band while also following a similar trajectory as New York labels like DFA and Rong; there's a bigger emphasis on the rhythm now, with sights set directly on a leftfield dancefloor. Opener "How I Feel" and "No Mistakes" are all funk and strut, as low, rubbery bass lines bounce in lockstep atop the beats and synths, and Vieira leads the proceedings with his agit, song-speak callouts and a little falsetto swagger. "Make No Sense" heads into nu-disco territory and sets the stage for the EP closer, "Invisible," a floor-filling fusion of no-wave-funk and proto-house, with some creepy, pitched-down Matthew Dear-esque vocals instructing dancers and listeners to "Put your hands down, where I can see them." We don't have a lot of copies to go around, so fans of the aforementioned along with modern dance denizens like LCD Soundystem, !!!, Phenomenal Handclap Band, and Midnight Magic shouldn't hesitate. Solid gold! [GH]

Cosmic Machine, a collection of French music merging avant-garde sensibilities with splashing disco grooves, is at once festive, experimental, and ultra-danceable, a rare accomplishment that turns out to be a real treat. Filled with synthetic pleasure and artificial delight, the tracks splattered across its convincing 78 minutes are a welcome reminder that some of the most adventurous and forward-thinking musical accomplishments can also be fun -- even funny -- and tongue-in-cheek. As the very idea of "authenticity" in music is a conditioned construct anyway, the musicians on these avant-disco explorations fully embrace "inauthenticity" in all of its enchanting glory. Notwithstanding this mischievous attitude, in which experimentation converges with often dubious taste, they actually arrive somewhere very close to the heart, displaying equal amounts of originality and genuineness of expression as any of the so-called "authentic" music, such as those neatly associated with rock, blues, and jazz idioms, all musical coordinates they playfully offset.

Despite the compilation's somewhat misleading subtitle, which brings less poppy endeavors to mind -- not in the least the rich and well-documented history of pioneering French electronic music by the likes of Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer -- the music on this compilation strives for non-stop cosmic bliss and serious booty-shaking. Highlights are plenty and diverse. Take "Shanti Dance Pt1 & Pt2" by Droids, an exceptionally funky prog-rock endeavor driven by floating bass lines and a meandering 4/4 beat, and Space's climactic "Magic Fly" which displays as much extraterrestrial ecstasy as any Giorgio Moroder track of the same period. Then there's René Roussel's relentless repetition in "Carousel," which sounds somewhat like (French) cheesy proto-house, alongside more widely available gems by the likes of Cerrone, Jean Michel Jarre, and Pierre Bachelet.

Cosmic Machine, in presenting a near-definitive and essential primer on the era, delivers exactly what we expect from archival compilations these days: by unearthing a forgotten recent musical past, it hints at potential musical innovation in the present. Such archival impulses might become tiresome after a while -- how much truly essential music can there actually be disclosed, and how much of it is truly essential in the first place? Yet when it's done with as much love and enthusiasm as this one I can only cheer for its self-assured brilliance. [NVT]

After releasing a slew of EPs that demonstrated this UK producer's ability to form sultry, subdued, and free-flowing grandiose tracks, Daniel Avery is back with an epic full-length. Clocking in at over 110 minutes, Avery's proper debut dangerously flirts with the fine line between monotony and grandeur, and most of the time falls into the latter category. The songs here could soundtrack the bubbling tension of The Social Network as well as they could humidify an after-hours club. The intricate 4/4 beats, the squiggly acid synth lines, the smooth chord progressions, the ravey melodies, the sporadic passionate vocal sample...it all works here to create an equally hectic and calming environment. Some cuts are certainly livelier, catchier, and more fit for the dance floor ("Naïve Response," "Need Electric") than other more experimental sedatives ("Platform Zero," "New Energy"). Avery has often claimed to be inspired by electronica revolutionaries like the Chemical Brothers and Underworld, but it seems he has taken a much more subdued approach and you can certainly detect shoegaze, Krautrock and psychedelic influences coming through as well. The emphasis here is on the menacing subtle tremors, rather than blatant hands-in-the-air explosions, and it makes for an engaging journey when listening to Drone Logic from beginning to end. [MM]

One of the most essential documents of the Japanese psychedelic underground, this glorious monster was originally released in 1996 and is the first recording of the power trio featuring Makoto Kawabata of Acid Mothers Temple and Asahito Nanjo of High Rise. After a two-minute intro track that serves almost as a warning, we're treated to a pair of totally blown-out psychedelic jams that are equal parts grooving, badass swagger and fuzzed-out chaos. Much like the best free jazz, a theme is established and then the rhythm section vamps while Kawabata peels off streams of guitar freak-out that makes Raw Power sound like classic rock. It is a total masterpiece that's on par with Les Rallizes Denudes and Fushitsusha. [NN]

After several years of pounding a drum kit for Dum Dum Girls, Sandy Vu steps to the front for her debut album, Blood Tears. The vibe here is more Siouxsie Sioux than Ronnie Spector, with Vu's voice emerging as the engine behind a strong collection of songs that capture the loud-quiet-loud dynamics of classic Pixies, the gliding guitar textures of Slowdive, and the prowling, black lipstick aesthetic of the aforementioned Banshee. Despite the gauzy textures of songs like "Counting Stars" and "Electronic," electric guitars are almost dormant across the album, with the bass contributing many of the melody lines while fellow Dum Dum Girl Jules Medeiros adds harmonies and minimal synthesizer countermelodies. The winners on the album include the New Order-inspired "Cut Me Off" and the propulsive neon stomp of "Sinking Feeling." Don't call it a side project; on Blood Tears, Sisu demonstrates a flair for crafting lush, gothic rock songs that are tempered by Vu's fierce and lovely voice. [MS]

Though this started as a side-project from Beach Fossils bassist John Pena, since releasing last year's Talent, Pena has turned Heavenly Beat into a full time job. With Prominence, we get another batch of blissful, hazy electro-pop gems, recorded in his home, playing most of the instruments himself, and as such the album feels cozy and warm -- the perfect soundtrack for a lazy afternoon of daydreaming. Though Pena's voice is soft and sweet, he tackles some tough territory at times, confessing, "I can't remember a time when I didn't feel awful" on "Forever." The gorgeous instrumentation creates a shimmering melancholy, a lovely sadness, perfect for folks who love the dreaminess of Wild Nothing with a bit of the dark edge of the xx. [KB]

The third and final remix EP drawn from Sandro Perri's great Impossible Spaces album; for this series, Perri commissioned some of his favorite electronic artists to deconstruct the decidedly analog LP. This set features Larry Gus' floor-filling take on "Love & Light," supposedly constructed from over 500 samples from the original stems. Also Roger Tellier-Craig's Le Revelateur project crafts pulsing ambience from "Wolfman," and on the flip, Japanese producer Imugem Orihasam fully deconstructs "How Will I?", pushing the swinging drums to the fore, keeping Perri's vocal, and then getting crazy with the arrangement. Good stuff! [JM]

Back in stock! Seemingly out of nowhere the Bonnie 'Prince' recently dropped a new, self-released LP with just the lone Will Oldham here accompanying himself on guitar -- his first full album to do so since '94's Days in the Wake. This one kind of flew under everyone's radar but it's a good one, featuring 10 bare-boned folk songs, intimately recorded -- listen close and you might hear his foot tapping or even some birds chirping in the background.

THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS

[KB] Kari Boston
[DG] Daniel Givens
[GH] Gerald Hammill
[IQ] Mikey IQ Jones
[MK] Michael Klausman
[JM] Josh Madell
[MM] Matthew Malone
[NN] Ning Nong
[MS] Michael Stasiak
[NVT] Niels Van Tomme

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