July 23, 2008

		FEATURED NEW RELEASES The Tallest Man on Earth High Places Linda Lewis James Brown's Productions (Various) Diplo & Santogold Black Kids Fucked Up CSS Dr. Boogie Presents: Shim Sham Shimmy Earl Rodney Bernard Bonnier Rail Band Dr. Dog Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh Josephine Foster Like a Kind of Matador Sic Alps Nico Muhly   Windmill John Hill Lawrence English Bodies of Water Varghkoghargasmal ALSO AVAILABLE Prurient VINYL PRESSING Jay Reatard After Dark (Various) BACK IN STOCK Paavoharju MARS The New Age

		JUL Sun 20 Mon 21 Tues 22 Wed 23 Thurs 24 Fri 25 Sat 26   WIN TICKETS TO THE BUNKER FEAT: DANDY JACK This Friday, Chilean DJ/producer Martin Schopf a/k/a Dandy Jack (Perlon, Playhouse, Fax) will be making a rare stop in New York to play at the city's long-running techno party, the Bunker. On record, Schopf's known for infusing his minimal 4/4 beats with a little Latin swing, and he definitely cranks it up a couple of notches in his live set. Dandy Jack will be joined by Bunker resident, DJ Spinoza. Other Music has two pairs of tickets up for grabs, so email enter@othermusic.com right away. We'll be notifying the two winners on Friday morning. Good luck! FRIDAY, JULY 25 THE BUNKER AT PUBLIC ASSEMBLY (FORMERLY GALAPAGOS): 70 North 6th Street Williamsburg, Brooklyn

		JUL Sun 03 Mon 04 Tues 29 Wed 30 Thurs 31 Fri 01 Sat 02   WIN TICKETS TO THE GUTTER TWINS A meeting of the darkened minds, the Gutter Twins -- the new collaboration between Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, solo career) and Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) -- will be performing in Brooklyn at Warsaw on Tuesday, July 29th, in support of their latest album, Saturnalia. We have two pairs of tickets to give away to the show and to enter, just email contest@othermusic.com. The two winners will be notified on Friday, July 25th. TUESDAY, JULY 29 WARSAW: 261 Driggs Avenue Greenpoint, Brooklyn

		JUL Sun 03 Mon 04 Tues 29 Wed 30 Thurs 31 Fri 01 Sat 02   MAX RICHTER TICKET GIVE AWAY Next week, Wordless Music presents producer/composer Max Richter who'll be in New York for three consecutive nights. On Tuesday, July 29th, Richter and a string quintet will perform Memoryhouse (2002) and The Blue Notebooks (2004). Kathleen Supove and Jennifer Choi open with music for violin and piano by Erkki-Sven Tuur, Neil Rolnick, Ramin Heydarbeygi, & Vijay Iyer. Then on Wednesday, Richter and the string quartet will perform The Blue Notebooks and Songs from Before (2006). Bruce Brubaker will open with music for solo piano by Philip Glass and Alvin Curran. For his final performance on Thursday, Richter and the string quintet will perform Songs from Before and music from his new album 24 Postcards in Full Colour. Bing and Ruth will open with original compositions by David Moore. Other Music has one pair of tickets to give away to each night. To enter, send an email to tickets@othermusic.com, and please list the date you would like to see. Winners will be notified on Friday, July 25th. TUESDAY, JULY 29 / WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 / THURSDAY, JULY 31 LE POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleeker Street NYC

		AUG Sun 03 Mon 04 Tues 05 Wed 06 Thurs 07 Fri 08 Sat 09 AUG Sun 10 Mon 11 Tues 12 Wed 13 Thurs 14 Fri 15 Sat 16 SEP Sun 21 Mon 22 Tues 23 Wed 24 Thurs 25 Fri 26 Sat 27   UPCOMING IN-STORE PERFORMANCES NICO MUHLY: Tuesday, August 5 @ 9PM Free Admission / Limited Capacity CONOR OBERST & THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND: Tuesday, August 12 @ 1PM We will be giving away 100 tickets to this in-store event to purchasers of Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band's great new album, to be released on Merge Records on Tuesday August 5. The tickets will be divided between our shop, mail-order website and download store. Beginning at 12 noon on the 5th until the tickets run out, buy any format of the album and get one ticket to the show, with a maximum of two purchases/tickets per person.

		$13.99 CD   THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH Shallow Grave (Gravitation) "I Won't Be Found" "The Gardener" OTHER MUSIC NORTH AMERICAN EXCLUSIVE! For a while I'd been hearing about The Tallest Man on Earth, the moniker of Kristian Matsson. I finally tracked down a copy of his debut Shallow Grave and from the opening finger-picked guitar of "I Won't Be Found," I knew I was going to be hooked. And then Mattson's vocals came in, a truly stunning amalgamation of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Van Morrison. This first listen of Shallow Grave reminded me of how I felt the first time I heard Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever: shocked, amazed, and completely drawn in. The Tallest Man on Earth is just one man and his guitar, holed up somewhere in Sweden pouring his heart out into every note and poetic word. This man has definitely studied the greats, but instead of just emulating people like Dylan and Guthrie, he has taken this music and made it his own. Yes, the music on Shallow Grave has been done before. I mean, how many people have tried to create a Dylan-esque record? But, how many of them have truly come up with something that is all their own, and with the tunes to back it up? And that is the thing about Matsson; he is an amazing songwriter making music that will stick with you for a long, long time. A song like "Honey Won't You Let Me In," with its catchy strummed guitar line, Matsson's nasal vocal delivery, and some beautiful lyrics, will put a smile on your face from ear to ear. And at just under three minutes, it is a perfect little ditty that will have you hitting the repeat button before you get to the other half of the record. All 10 tracks are great but it is my personal favorite, "The Gardener," that really hits home -- a sparse, witty, love song with one of the catchiest melodies I've heard in years. It's a classic tune, and one that could easily be held up next to the greats of yesteryear. And that is just it; the man who calls himself The Tallest Man On Earth has created a truly timeless, classic album, one that can stand on its own as a near perfect work of art. Need I say more? Shallow Grave is one of the finest records this year, or any other! [JS]

		$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3   HIGH PLACES 03/07-09/07 (Thrill Jockey) "Shared Islands" "Jump In" At last! Brooklyn's most buzzed-about duo, High Places, compiles all of their out-of-print seven-inches and rare compilation tracks for 03/07-09/07, their first official release on Thrill Jockey. While bloggers have long been incredulous that they have waited so long to drop a debut full-length -- due out in late September -- remember that it's been just two short years since Rob Barber and Mary Pearson first met at a DeathSet show. Since then, these wholesome "kids next door" have done a mind-boggling amount of extensive touring and hometown gigging, so it's no surprise that their addictive brand of dreamy, tropical pop has netted a loyal fanbase from sea to shining sea. This collection of ten home-recorded tracks from 2007 documents the evolution of High Places' sound over the course of their first year as a band. Accordingly, Pearson's sweet, youthful voice -- occasionally tinged with her endearing native Michigan accent -- lingers on tales of discovery, togetherness, nature, philosophy, conservationism and in the case of "Jump In," a track written specifically for a performance at Gilkey Elementary School, the band's unwavering confidence in the potential of young people. High Places have a unique, instantly recognizable sound rooted in deep, catchy beats, energetic melodic hooks, layered vocalizations, wind instruments imitative of sea breezes, and a miscellany of contact mic'd shakers, rattles, and bells. Anyone who's ever taken a crack at home recording, with even the most modest set-up, can probably remember the first time they stumbled upon the one simple household item that surprisingly yielded exactly the sound they were looking for. With unscientific precision, High Places have repeated this experiment a thousand fold; behind every recording and live performance lays countless field recordings and self-recorded sound effects -- from the punchy clang of drumsticks on a recycled school desk to the more recognizable jangly strum of an acoustic guitar -- which the band then heavily manipulates and layers into well-structured, advanced pop compositions. In fact, first-time listeners might get the impression that High Places initially wrote an album's worth of lo-fi, striking pop songs and then expertly remixed them. Each and every one of these ten songs is an unforgettable pop winner, reflecting the utmost attentiveness to texture, confidence in silence as well as harmony, and equal respect for every instrument's voice. While recent comparisons to Beat Happening are way off -- no rambly lyrical monologues or jagged electric guitars here -- High Places are undoubtedly bound for comparable pop glory, as Brooklynites already know and fans of No Age, Abe Vigoda, Dan Deacon, Ecstatic Sunshine, and basically all modern outsider pop are long overdue to find out. Highest recommendation! [KS]

		$12.99 CD $12.99 CD   LINDA LEWIS Lark (Collectors Choice) "It's the Frame" "Little Indians" LINDA LEWIS Fathoms Deep (Collectors Choice) "Wise Eyes" "Lullabye" Linda Lewis is another one of those musicians' musicians from the past, who should be a household name but isn't. She had a crazy five-octave vocal range (a la Minnie Riperton) and was Robert Wyatt's roommate whilst still a teenager in the '60s, sang on Bowie's Aladdin Sane, duetted with Terry Reid at Glastonbury, counts Stevie Wonder as one of her biggest fans, has been sampled by Kanye West, and wrote a song with Basement Jaxx...whew! Oh yeah, she also produced and co-wrote two of the most underrated and unique folk-soul records of the '70s. These albums rank up there with Riperton's Perfect Angel and Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information, and have been criminally unavailable, until now. Recorded in 1972 when Lewis was just 22, her second solo album, Lark, was all penned by her and she shared co-production duties with her boyfriend and future husband Jim Cregan (member of the acclaimed Blossom Toes). It's a remarkably surefooted affair that combines the sort of feminine acoustic-folk-earth-mama mystique of Joni Mitchell, with mellow, atmospheric soulful production reminiscent of Talking Book-era Stevie. It's for the most part a bright, folky soul record, awash with autobiographical odes to new love, spirituality and possibility. Her voice is the main attraction here though. As stated before, Lewis has the vocal range of Riperton, but while Riperton was all sweetness and light, Lewis' singing is huskier and idiosyncratic. A better comparison would be Melanie or Maria Muldaur (though Lewis is a better vocalist than either of them). Tracks like "Reach for the Truth" and "It's the Frame" find her utilizing all that range, and are two of the best tunes on here. While Lark garnered almost universal critical acclaim and established Lewis as a strong, emerging talent amongst her peers, it didn't translate into album sales. Undeterred, Lewis and Cregan went back into the studio and came out with Fathoms Deep a year later. It's an extremely strong follow-up that is notable for its wide range of styles incorporated. Songs such as "Red Light Ladies" and the title track boast rich string and vocal arrangements with touches of jazz instrumentation peppered throughout. Lyrically, it's a bit more introspective and self-confessional; "I'm in Love Again" and "Wise Eyes" respectively deal with emotional second-guessing and the aforementioned ladies, examining the loveless lives of prostitutes. Even with this strong showing, the record-buying public didn't show their appreciation. Lewis eventually got her hit songs, but only after adapting a more pop-oriented style. Lewis, however, still regards these two albums as her favorites, and they are fantastic. Recommended! [DH]

		$18.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS The Godfather's R&B: James Brown's Productions (BGP) "New Breed" The Boo-ga-loo "I'm Lonely" Bobby Byrd The untimely death of James Brown was no doubt a tragedy, and now that some time has passed, the unearthing of previously obscure material has begun. The Godfather's R&B is a collection of production work by Mr. J. B. spanning 1962 to '67. This blueprint for what would become known as funk features an excellent selection of songs that have not been available on CD until now. Of course, Bobby Byrd and Vicki Anderson are showcased along with the various sidemen and women (including scorchers by Elsie Mae, Anna King, the Jewells, James Crawford, and many others) that formed from the communal live band; Brown worked endlessly, creating different configurations of combos, groups, and solo artists. Many of these songs are taken from singles and albums released on Brown's King label and other offshoots. This comp further places Brown at the top of his game, knowing who to surround himself with on stage and what he could do with them in the studio. Recommended for any lover of soul, funk, and '60s R&B, here's more proof that Brown firmly had his good foot on the pulse in the creation of them all. [DG]

		$12.99 CD   DIPLO & SANTOGOLD Top Ranking (Mad Decent) "Guns of Brooklyn" "Save Me" Aretha Franklin The crafty DJ Diplo is at it again, together with his new running mate Santogold, as they reshape and sculpt some classics and lesser known songs for a mix that really is Top Ranking. Across 34 tracks, timelines become blurred in true 2008 style. Call it a mash-up, a Diplo dub, a mix CD, or whatever you like, from Sir Mix-a-Lot to Panda Bear, or Devo to Aretha Franklin, nothing is spared and nothing is sacred. Exclusive freestyles and tracks from the "next M.I.A.," Santogold, are slammed next to and float atop a variety of post-post-modern jams, from dancehall to new wave, and rock to nu rave. Plenty of re-mixers and vocalists make appearances including XXXchange, Amanda Blank, M.I.A., Jammer, Ratatat, Disco D, Switch, Radioclit, Movado and more. There's even a cover of LL Cool J's "I Need Love" and a remake of the Clash called "Guns of Brooklyn." Looking for that head-twisting mix that may cause you a heat stroke? This is it. As an odd bonus, check the hilarious interlude by Mark Ronson commenting on his formula for a hit. [DG]

		$11.99 CD $21.99 LP   BLACK KIDS Partie Traumatic (Almost Gold) "Partie Traumatic" "I've Underestimated My Charm" The poster children for popular culture, the Black Kids were raised on Labyrinth, the advent of MTV, and the era of hooking up and casual sex -- making them the superlative millennial hipster party soundtrack. Produced by former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, Partie Traumatic is one of the most anticipated pop albums of the year -- following last year's free and heavily downloaded four-song demo EP, Wizards of Ahhhh!. Since then, the Black Kids have received substantial buzz, and rightly so! The opening track, "Hit the Heartbreaks" starts with a knock-knock joke with lyrics that riff on that lame break-up cliche by admitting, "It's not me; it's you." The fist pumping first single, "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" was an instant hit due to a viral Internet campaign. A romping fun sing-a-long, this song is only a taste of what the rest of the album has to offer. The catchiest and most infectious tracks are those where the lead singer, Reggie Youngblood (who sounds a lot like Morrissey or Robert Smith) asks a question that gets answered back by either his sister Ali Youngblood or Dawn Watley, who play dueling keyboards. This call-and-response aspect is addicting and similar to the Go! Team's aesthetic. Rounding out the Jacksonville, FL quintet are Owen Holmes on bass and Kevin Snow on drums. To steal a line from one of their songs and bastardized it: this album's the tits. [TL]

		$7.99 CD $6.99 MP3   FUCKED UP Year of the Pig (Matador) "The Black Hats" "Year of the Pig UK Edit" Matador re-releases the infamous Year of the Pig/The Black Hats 12", originally on What's Your Rupture?, and tacks on a bunch of bonus tracks, including an amazing cover of Another Sunny Day's twee anthem, "Anorak City". Here's what we said about Year of the Pig when it first came out: After about a hundred singles and a trailblazing and totally killer full-length (Hidden World on Jade Tree), Fucked Up have finally dropped the record that will alter people's perception of hardcore. In a genre that's remained pretty rigid over the years (politics, dress code, sound), the band has always done a good job of avoiding convention -- for instance, covering the Shop Assistants and Dolly Mixture is pretty evolutionary for a band in their world -- but this EP on What's Your Rupture? (America's premier hardcore label...ha!) delivers on many more accounts. First off, "Year of the Pig" is more than 18 minutes long. And yes, no matter how much you might doubt this, it does kinda sound like Poison Idea jamming with Pink Floyd. But along the way, the group manage to conjure up a gentle blues howl and then head into Bad Seeds territory with male/female vocal interplay, before launching the full-on repetitive Krautcore attack (wait, was it Neu! jamming with Poison Idea?). As the HC purists walk out the room, enter a whole new, and much larger, crowd. [AK]

		$13.99 CD   CSS Donkey (Sub Pop) "Jager Yoga" "Let's Reggae All Night" CSS, your favorite Sao Paulo sextet, is back with a 12-pack of infectious electro-pop jams that reflect a slight departure from their brash and innocent eponymous debut. While their last record was playful and subversive, Donkey shows a band that has evolved stylistically and technically -- notice frontwoman Lovefoxxx's comparatively polished and poetic vocals or Adriano Cintra's idiosyncratic production. On "Give Up" they evoke Bloc Party's breakout Silent Alarm, whereas at other moments, like the world-synth standout "Move," they bring Talking Heads to mind. Throughout the record, their attitude is omnipresent but not all-encompassing and their youthful enjoyment is palpable. CSS take sizable cues from '80's art-pop and '90's alt-rock to great effect, though their seemingly translated lyrical stylings leave something to desired. But stanza scrutiny obviously isn't the point here, as this conscious party record plays like a blueprint for the future of pop, and if it proves prescient, then musical nihilists will be able to temporarily rest their critical blogging hands and give the dance floor some much needed attention. [MG]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTISTS Dr. Boogie Presents: Shim Sham Shimmy (Sub Rosa) "Shim Sham Shimmy" Champion Jack Dupree "I'm Off That Stuff" Eddie Snow An impeccably curated compilation of mostly unknown blues artists recorded from the forties to the sixties. This is the third installment in a series produced by Walter De Paduwa a/k/a Dr. Boogie of Belgium, who does his part in ensuring culture prevails through his home grown museum dedicated to boogie woogie and his radio programs in devotion to the same. Highlights on this album include better known artists absolutely killing it with holes in their amps, damaged and sloppy guitars, and out of tune pianos like Champion Jack Dupree, Homesick James, Doctor Ross (whose "Texas Hop" is worth the whole disc), Lonnie Johnson, and Albert Collins. True down home fans will die for Moses Williams' "Which Way Did My Baby Go," which is a washboard and jug recording appropriated into modernity and urbanization with a crying baby in the background. Another absolute gem is Hasker Sadler's "Do Right Mind," which is interrupted by a repetitive and hysterically maniacal laugh in the background. Whether a person arrives at this album as a blues aficionado or a casual listener, it is compiled to suit everyone's needs, balancing the accessible with the challenging. Shim Sham Shimmy sits up high with a handful of blues compilations I've revered over the years. My shortlist includes a title called West Coast Down Home Blues, from the Audio Book and Music Company, the Modern Downhome Blues Volumes I - IV compiled by a young Ike Turner and Joe Bihari on Ace records, and the compilations on Boulevard Vintage under the labels Down Home Blues Classics. What these all share with the album highlighted in this review is a freedom of creation that can only exist in music made for the sake of making music. These musicians were definitely hustlers, but they did not yet -- if ever -- fall into the grips of a "clean" producer. The listener can fully imagine this music played in juke joints in the Mississippi hills, backroom bars in Memphis, card rooms in Oakland, on the corners of Maxwell Street, or in dive bars in Los Angeles in this special time between the early forties and the sixties that lead to this unbelievably idiosyncratic music. Frankly, you just won't find the original 45 of Slim Gailard's "Fuck Off" where he sings the title in imitation of a clucking chicken, and you just won't hear what that means unless you own this compilation. Fans of Fat Possum records listen up, Sub Rosa's done it again, and now it is time to pay up. [BCa]

		$21.99 CD   EARL RODNEY Friends and Countrymen (EM Records) "Juck Juck" "Conversations in Love" The brilliant Japanese reissue label EM Records strikes gold again with this, the fourth disc in their excellent Steel Pan Series" of obscure and overlooked carib groove albums, and this one may prove to be the best yet in the series. The liner notes describe this 1973 album as "a never-before-heard interpretation of the African musical experience in the Caribbean," and that's pretty much hitting the nail on the head. What you get here are bright rock-solid Afro grooves of a Fela/Cedric 'Im' Brooks variety, but with pan melodies and improvisations taking center stage as opposed to Kuti or Brooks' sax solos. This isn't your typical steelband, either; rather, you get Rodney as the sole panman with a wrecking crew of horns, electric guitar (sometimes taking some mildly psyche/funk-tinged solos), drums, congas, bass, and great call & response vocal chants. The funk here is solid, and the soul is deep -- take one listen to opener "Juck Juck" and decide whether you're in or out. Recommended! [IQ]

		$17.99 CD   BERNARD BONNIER Casse-tete (Oral) "I Can't Sing" "Blue Marine" Great to see another gem of a reissue arriving in the shop from Quebec's Oral label, who were also responsible for resurrecting the supremely delicious, must-have Monoton reissues last year. Mikey IQ pointed out that Creelpone actually leaked a few of these in their CD-R reissue series, but the few that made it out before the cease and desist are long gone now. This stuff is analogue synth, musique concrete, new wave improv(?) -- it's "open" yet "poppy" at the same time -- that isn't weighed-down by ANY of those genre/catch-phrases. Listening to the first three songs, my initial capsule description for this stuff was "catchy Throbbing Gristle" (Second Annual Report). The homemade vibe keeps it down to earth and fresh, while the rhythms unfold quite naturally, introducing shifts and additions. The pace is so unhurried, but the subtle richness of the sounds keeps the ears waiting for the surprises. While this record could have simply explored the ideas found within the first three songs and had my vote, it only develops further from there. Casse-tete reminds us of the simple fact: It's those in love with sound over style that end up creating the most compelling music. You know, the stuff that keeps you listening and coming back to listen again! Track three, "Vero Lo Toto" uses child voices, real, almost Jaki Liebezeit-textured drums and arpeggiating synthesizer to make tape-splice Boards of CAN-ada. In the next song, "Blue Marine," a delectable loping, cumbersome beat is folded with gurgling synth and intermittent looped voice. Track six has a full-on homemade, personal, analog Art of Noise vibe with voice loops, drums and layered, pulsing Blurt dub-trumpets. I can't stop imagining this stuff as another found-gem/precursor to the aesthetic of Mouse on Mars' Sonig label, in the same way that Ryuichi Sakamoto's 1980 solo LP, B-2 Unit and Canavarro's Plux Quba are. (But I have to say, Bonnier sounds fresher than those right now.) The last track, "Soldier Boy" is Bonnier's anti-war version of Terry Riley's "You're No Good!" (Soldier Boyyy...Tell me why.../Tell me why.../Tell me why..." So sick!!) Fantastic reissue! Effortlessly great. Recommended!! [SM]

		$21.99 CD $17.99 MP3   RAIL BAND Belle Epoque Vol 2: Mansa (Syllart) "Marisa" "Dioula" The second two-disc set of a three volume series documenting the Mali supergroup Rail Band's most prosperous years (1970-1983) picks up right where last year's first volume left off. As we stated in our review of the first volume, Rail Band "adapted the melodic lines usually played on traditional Mandingo instruments like the kora and the balafon into virtuosic and serpentine patterns, while adding elements of Arabic, French, Cuban, and American pop." The results are nothing less than sublime examples of African music during the golden years of the 1970s, before political woes, famine, and the like precipitated a decline (not to mention the infusion of synths and other "earmarks" of world music that came about in the early '80s). Rather than mark this state-sponsored band's trajectory chronologically, these sets alight on three distinct phases. There's the band's formative start, wherein singer Salif Keita grew to be a superstar, as well as the albums made directly after Keita's departure, when balafon/ kora player Mory Kante took over the vocal duties. The third phase documents what music was made when Kante and virtuosic guitarist Djelilmady Tounkara were fired from the band. All three phases of the Rail Band's career are amply documented, from the Keita-led ebullience of "Rail Band" and "Gansana" to the more languid and jazz-inflected "Demba" and the group vocals of "Balakononifing." Needless to say, the Rail Band's music is a long train running. [AB]

		$14.99 CD $19.99 LP $9.99 MP3   DR. DOG Fate (Park the Van) "Hang On" "The Ark" I dare say it was fate that brought me upon Dr. Dog's fifth full-length. After hearing friends and acquaintances rave about them for years and years, what really roped me in was this sassy Bonnie Parker-like woman holding up a shotgun up to a pale-faced gentleman on the album's cover. I knew that now would be the right moment to familiarize myself with this quintet from Philadelphia; if they're alright with young outlaws then they're certainly alright with me, and by no means was this the wrong conclusion. Dr. Dog certainly don't hide their serious devotion to the three Bs: the Beatles, the Band, the Beach Boys -- not to mention most any Apple recording artist; but I do think these influences strengthen their sound while never overshadowing some real talent. I guess I'm trying to say that these songs are really something and they stick with you in a dreamy haze far after the listening experience has come to an end. It's the details in each song that really make this something special: the tickling pianos, the playful percussion, the spaceship synthesizers/loops, the urgent riddle-like lyrics and, of course, the constant emphasizing harmonies -- all these elements create layers and layers of sounds to engulf these perfect pop songs and give them a quirky nature full of surprises. [AC]

		$13.99 CD $15.99 LP $9.99 MP3   HELENA ESPVALL & MASAKI BATOH Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh (Drag City) "Polska" "Uti Var Hage" Drag City has the unnerving ability to regularly release records that embody collaborative efforts by creatively ambitious musicians in albums where the synthesis of talent rarely falls below astonishing. This self-titled duet is no exception. Last year alone found Drag City with a great release from Mick Turner and Tren Brothers, the combined cinematic sound of Espers and Fern Knight in The Valerie Project, and even an American issuing of the phenomenal Boris with Michio Kurihara's Rainbow. So when a member of Espers teams up with Kurihara's co-Ghost collaborator (another group Drag City released stateside) Masaki Batoh, we are as guaranteed an enjoyable listening experience as one can be. Not to let the label banter distract from the album at hand, Helena Espvall and Batoh's self-titled release is mesmerizingly delicate and entrancing. They play Scandinavian folk songs in an improvised format, exploring the possibility and creative license so inherent to folk music. Espvall sings the majority of the tunes in Swedish, and Batoh takes vocals on two songs, one of which is a psychedelic stab at Son House's "Death Letter." Espvall's cello is the central theme of the album, but banjo and guitar also make appearances, while Batoh fills in on various instruments -- but primarily guitar -- providing ghosting, atmosphere, and a deliberate, if subtle, tension. As an improvised effort, the music finds a dissonant release within the seventeen minute closer "Kuklopes." This avant-garde dissent brings to mind Morton Subotnick's ghost electronics compositions, while harp and plucked strings rise to a chilling climax out of a seven-minute preamble. The album is an altogether comprehensive piece, with a sense of unity and cohesion. Espvall and Batoh combine explicitly for beautiful experimental folk music. Fans of Espers must absolutely give this a listen, while anybody unfamiliar with aforementioned bands can appreciate this as a solitary piece of pristine improvisation. [BCa]

		$16.99 CD $9.99 MP3   JOSEPHINE FOSTER This Coming Gladness (Bo Weavil) "A Thimble of Milk" "The Garden of Earthly Delights" Though a talented multi-instrumentalist in her own right, singer-songwriter Josephine Foster's main attraction is and always has been her voice, a forceful, quivering set of pipes that evokes a calming gentility as much as it echoes across rooftops. While they're oft labeled "operatic" (thanks in no small part to the formal vocal training she once pursued in university), her unique and occasionally forceful vocalizations hardly seem exaggerated or overwrought in the context of her songs. Generally considered a member of neo-folk's overstuffed post-millennial class, Foster has still always sounded worlds away from her contemporaries, be it in the barren duo work of Born Heller, the spiraling electric guitars and loose rhythms of the Supposed, or her abrupt 2006 turn into 19th century German lieder. Returning to the fold now after a two year absence, Foster now presents This Coming Gladness, a record that perfectly encapsulates the seemingly disparate ideas she has thus far pursued. Limber all the way through, Gladness strikes as one of the most subtly refined recordings Foster has managed to date. Her voice still darts throughout these ten songs, refusing to be tethered to any specific hook or instrumental anchor. Yet it floats effortlessly across the reverbed guitars and steadily encroaching percussion of album opener "The Garden of Earthly Delights," while she adopts a distinctly matronly tone for "Lullaby to All," contrasting neatly with the song's driving rhythm and discordant keys. Elsewhere "All I Wanted Was the Moon" gently crests into lysergic balladry, while the sprightly "A Thimble Full of Milk" beautifully strips everything back to just voice and acoustic guitar. Undoubtedly one of her best albums to date, This Coming Gladness is staggering proof that Josephine Foster's talents continue to blossom. [MC]

		$13.99 CD   LIKE A KIND OF MATADOR Halfway to Dangerous (tUMULt) "Sweet Mother of Pearl" "Wamba Amma She Eat Cheese" This record is an essential listen for all fans of slow, sludging doom metal. For fans of SUNNO))))), Sleep, Neurosis, or Earth, Like a Kind of Matador synthesized an album fit for true doom pleasure seekers. Halfway to Dangerous is halfway to extremely dark, and would drift into an irrevocably crushing oblivion if not for a sylvan flute that floats in and out, countering and contributing to the guitar's motifs. Despite the flute's dominant presence and droning capability, it is the percussion that begins to stand out vibrantly, with gongs, bells, and cymbals adding a texture to the pounding that frequently starts riffing into true stoner metal. Halfway to Dangerous is made up of three long songs. The first is a twenty-minute, slow-motion masterpiece, while the second seems to tip its hat slightly towards fellow British doomsters Electric Wizard. Yet the album always pulls back from full-on stoner revelry and returns to a more characteristic slow sludge with building groans. The third song is the shortest, tallying up to a shade under ten minutes, and finalizes the album with a brilliantly fuzzed-out burner. On the last cut, the guitar buzz continually saws through a piercingly clear flute. While the guitar explores a rigorously repetitive trudge through the song, the flute keeps the album heading on a more linear path towards mysterious woods, subtly conjuring the occult. Though this record does not fully shred the listener to pieces like something from the Animal Disguise label, it definitely puts a texture to down-tuned guitar that is amiss from plenty of doom around the overly prolific genre today. It places a peg into the cognitive structure held sturdy by Harvey Milk and Earth. For hammering and beautifully weighted doom, Like a Kind of Matador's prevarication makes one expect mediocrity, but the absolute wholeness of their sludging metal removes all doubt. [BCa]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   SIC ALPS US E.Z. (Siltbreeze) "Mater" "Gelly Roll Gum Drop" Oakland psych-noise-pop duo Sic Alps have been careening through a charmed existence in the past couple of years, blowing out speaker cones on a steadily improving succession of vinyl and cassette releases. It was only a matter of time before their wreckage would land on Siltbreeze, America's home for sonic de(con)struction. US E.Z. plots an uncertain but alluring course through shambling, stumbling, red-eyed shards of overmodulated pop haunt, sticking around just long enough to establish a mood before shifting its bleary gaze elsewhere. Beneath all that damage lies an underground corollary to the '60s, Sic Alps gleefully crossing up the Everly Brothers' graceful sleepwalk with hammers in hand. Drugged, hooded, truly beautiful music for those getting fed up with what indie rock has become. [DM]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   NICO MUHLY Mothertongue (Brassland) "Shower" "The Two Sisters" At the tender age of 20-something, Nico Muhly is already being hailed by many as the great white hope of modern composition. His ever-growing resume' includes original orchestral compositions commissioned by everyone from the Boston Pops to the American Ballet Theater, premieres at Carnegie Hall and the Whitney Museum, as well as more pop-minded collaborations with the likes of Bjork, Antony, Rufus Wainwright, the National, Will Oldham (and so many more), not to mention a longtime association with Phillip Glass. The follow-up to 2006's critically lauded Speaks Volumes, Mothertongue is Muhly's second proper solo effort, released here in the US on the Brassland imprint and in the rest of the world on Iceland's Bedroom Community, whose label head, producer Valgeir Sigurosson, is also the driving force behind the album. The record showcases three new Muhly compositions for voice and various instrumentation from orchestra to harpsichord to banjo to buttered toast, and while some of the reference points are obvious (Glass and Steve Reich immediately come to mind), this is a mature and wonderful album with a personality all its own. The Mothertongue suite features mezzo-soprano singer Abigail Fischer reeling off a hallucinogenic series of the half-remembered digits that are life's detritus (e.g. phone numbers and serial numbers) while seemingly random state and city names from various countries are meticulously sung in shifting formations and with increasing and shifting density, but the flow throughout the four movements, and the interplay between Fischer's voice and the traditional orchestral instrumentation is positively hypnotic. The second piece, "Wonders," is based on a 17th-century madrigal, and features the Icelandic artist Helgi Hrafn Jonsson singing and playing trombone. Her vocals are much more earthy and the piece plays off the ancient song-form to create a mood that is out of time, which is taken to its logical conclusion on the album-closing "The Only Tune," based on an old-time murder ballad, and featuring fellow Bedroom Community bard and longtime Muhly collaborator Sam Amidon's haunting folkie vocal and banjo. Nico Muhly has more than lived up to growing expectations on this epic sophomore release, with three wonderful new compositions that not only thrill in their own right, but combine beautifully for an emotional and truly thought-provoking album that leaves the listener elated and satisfied. [JM]

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   WINDMILL Puddle City Racing Lights (Friendly Fire) There used to be this guy that I'd see busking at my subway stop, playing the acoustic guitar for the inattentive commuters. It was always too early (pre-coffee) for me to get his name and story, but inevitably his high-warble and skeletal, psychedelic songs would stick in my head for the duration of the ride. After I stopped seeing him at the station, I wondered if he'd finally done good -- maybe even got picked up by a label. When Puddle City Racing Lights landed on my desk, I was convinced that I'd finally found the subway dude, the throaty singer's yearning melodies and unique cadence instantly bringing me back to my morning commute. Well, that was until I read Windmill's bio and discovered that the group is not the nom de plume of some young Brooklyn troubadour, but rather the one-man-band of London's Matthew Thomas Dillon. You'd never guess, however, that an Englishman was behind the very American sounding helium vocals, Dillon's melodies a cross between Wayne Coyne and Daniel Smith (Danielson Family, et al.), his obfuscated musings of fluorescent lights, airports and asthma floating above a mélange of constant piano and swelling strings. Album opener "Tokyo Moon" brings to mind the symphonic psychedelia of the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, but as Puddle City Racing Lights unfolds, we find his songs are just as intimate as they are soaring, and quite often a see-saw between the two. "Boarding Lounges" is an emotional ebb and flow, its fragile verse fueled by a lone piano and Dillon's resigned inquiry of "If you leave, where will you go?" soon answered by buzzing orchestration and a choir delivering the anthemic chorus of "gates close, escalators climb." Most of the songs seem connected by a surreal sort of wanderlust that is all at once the answer and the curse; Dillon projects life's insecurities onto transportation, travel and the objects that go with it. We find the "plastic pre-flight seats" in an airport terminal being the enabler of his worries, while in "Tilting Trains," it turns out to be the magnets that "have been holding you down." Strange but affecting, Dillon is one of those rare voices who can turn head-scratching, outsider abstraction into a very personal thing that the listener doesn't necessarily need to understand for it to resonate. [GH] Preview songs off of Windmill's Puddle City Racing Lights on Other Music Digital.

		$21.99 CD   JOHN HILL Six Moons of Jupiter (Finders Keepers) "Amalthea" "Callisto" This album is another unreleased gem unearthed by the Finders Keepers collective. As their output spans the genre spectrum from sixties British folk to Hungarian funk, the one constant is that all the music they release is progressive in its own right, pushing any particular genre to unexplored territories, only to be forgotten until now. Six Moons of Jupiter journeys far into the progressive space only possible in primitive electronic music. John Hill, a prominent studio producer in the UK during the sixties and seventies, worked with Susan Christie and Pacific Gas and Electric. On this album, where the concept involves a psychedelic trip of sound to the moons of Jupiter, Hill performs on flute, Moog synthesizer, and Hammond organ, while Gerry Mulligan mans the baritone sax and the legendary electronic pioneer Walter Sear provides pure wizardry on analog electronics. On top of all of the ambitious musicianship, Christie adds some spoken beat poetry to impose some futuristic monologues to the piece. At times, these interludes are reminiscent of Robert Ashley's Purposeful Lady, Slow Afternoon, but only in tone, for the content couldn't be more different; it is the electronic drone backing the opening words that begs the comparison. One highlight is the addition of cello on "Callisto," which leads into a masterful chamber piece of oscillating organ drone and melancholic cello phrasings that builds an engaging and thoughtful arc. A number of songs jump into full-fledged spaced-out progressive jazz, which work in a wonderfully cinematic fashion, with Mulligan leading the way into successful fusion. All around, this comes highly recommended for fans of early Moog, seventies space prog circa Mort Garson, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, good jazz fusion, not to mention contemporary acts in drone like Lichens, Cloudland Canyon, and Arp, that wouldn't exist without the work of pioneering electronic musicians like John Hill and Walter Sear. [BCa]

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   LAWRENCE ENGLISH Kiri No Oto (Touch) "Organs Lost at Sea" "Commentary" Kiri No Oto is a gorgeous attempt at the sonic transposition of "the visual effects of mist, mirage, snow fall and the like" from Australian soundsmith and room40 label-founder Lawrence English. While the title -- translating loosely to "the sound of mist" or "fog" -- or mission statement might suggest that tranquility or minimalism's ahead, this album is more often than not a downright stormy one. Not to mention gorgeous. As with any Touch release, don't let the grays of the Jon Wozencroft cover photo get to you; English draws from an amazing sonic-color palette, his sounds fluid, vaporous, and shimmering, his application of field-recordings from the world over amazingly transporting. Kiri No Oto is a piece of sound art operating at a far distance from impressionism -- English does not attempt to paint us pictures of foggy landscapes or snow storms, so much as he attempts to capture us in environments similarly sublime. [AKa]

		$13.99 CD $13.99 LP $9.99 MP3   BODIES OF WATER A Certain Feeling (Secretly Canadian) "Gold, Tan, Peach, and Grey" "Water Here" It's hard to pin down the source of the religious undertones on Bodies Of Water's new LP A Certain Feeling. When I say religious, it's more a sense of the trappings of religion than some sort of praise-Jesus vibe. Each of the nine songs follow a similar epic trajectory, spanning into six-minute-plus lengths and resonating with gospel-choir style "Ooooh ooohh" chants backing definitively bellowed lead vocals. Maybe it's the church organ and nearly dark (but bathed in light) fuzzy guitar attacks that give off a kind of modern indie take on Jesus Christ Superstar. Flowing in the same vein as Danielson or Polyphonic Spree, but less creepy/cult-y, Bodies Of Water transcend corniness by taking a theatrical stance and just going for it with jazz hands flying, developing a potential gimmick into a language by which to understand the core of these songs. Under imagined cathedrals of stained glass and melodramatic moments is some solidly played, often truly psychedelic heavy rock, lurkingly poetic lyrics and even the occasional moment of danceable if disjointed quasi-funk. In the end, it's the over-the-top-ness that makes the album so satisfying, and the jarring amount of conflicting stimuli couldn't make sense without each other. [FT] Check out a live performance of Bodies of Water at the Other Music & Dig for Fire Lawn Party, filmed earlier this year for our SXSW, All Roads Lead to Austin video series.

		$13.99 CD   VARGHKOGHARGASMAL Drowned in Lakes (tUMULt) "Far Away from Earth" "Wege Des Wassers" About three minutes into Varghkogharsmal's full-length debut I fell in love with the sounds I was hearing. I was over my head in a twisted and sardonic dirge interrupted periodically by spliced in keyboard chord progressions. This is an outsider, dark-metal release that fits under a genre pegging for no reason other than the indescribable deconstruction of sound this German one-man band produces with the most endearing emotion. Endearing in a way only a solitary, misanthropic, dark metal project can be. The drumming is sloppy, off beat, tilted and awkward, and resonates through the entire album in the reverence of a Krautrock epic. So much of what makes me love this release is the ability for the musician to produce an emotional record that is utterly believable. The music sounds pure in a manner void of any overbearing impression. Whether it is the slow motion surf guitar, organ drone, plunking keys, looped found sound of rain, synthesizer indulgences, or whispered and indecipherable lyrics, Varghkoghargasmal put together a singular recording that is absolutely unlike anything I have ever listened to sonically, but totally related to a small and sacred group of recordings that are akin emotively. From swirling ambience, to driving guitar passages or organ-based uprisings, every aspect of the music is perpetually self-aware, paradoxically ironic and sincere. The music manages to reach levels of reverb and distortion from an unaffected guitar that is oddly reminiscent of Neil Young. On a cassette Varghkoghargasmal released awhile back, he cryptically placed the words "Wooden Metal" in the tape's sleeve. Sure, "Wooden Metal" works just fine for me. All I know is that this is everything I look for in an album, and I'm going to get "Wooden Metal" tattooed across my stomach. [BCa]

		$16.99 CD   PRURIENT Arrowhead (Editions Mego) Track 2 Dominick Fernow (a/k/a Prurient, and owner of Hospital Records) has probably reached triple digits in the release department by now, pushing the boundaries of, and constantly innovating, noise and power electronics in the US for a good decade. Arrowhead contains three long pieces of tar-black noise and air-raid feedback, with Fernow's twisted vocals on top. Massive work that can physically draining if digested at appropriate volume levels. Wolf Eyes is for wimps.

		$19.99 CD w/DVD $14.99 LP $9.99 MP3   JAY REATARD Singles 06-07 (In the Red) "Hammer I Miss You" "Oh It's Such a Shame" Well, here you have it! This is what we here at OM have all been waiting for, all of Jay's out-of-print and ultra-rare singles from 2006 and '07 in one handy format. No need to scour e-Bay any longer, it's all here! You get the "Night of Broken Glass" mailorder 12-inch and seven-inches like "I Know A Place," "Hammer I Miss You," "In The Dark," the Stained Circles demo, a split with the Boston Chinks, and a few more. Yeah, and by the way, also included is a bonus DVD containing four brilliant shows! To say that this collection is essential is a true understatement. Contained herein are, hands down, the best songs from the best pop songwriter of the past three years. And if you even think of doubting us, try and name a better pop song than "Let It All Go," "All Over Again" or "Hammer I Miss You." Try playing "Night of Broken Glass" without wanting to rip out your air guitar. I dare you. If this were a "real" album instead of a compilation it would easily be "album of the year." Hell, this collection is the basically one of the best things released this decade...'nuff said. [JS]

		$12.99 CD $21.99 LP $9.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTSTS After Dark (Italians Do It Better) "Law of Life" Farah "Lady Operator" Mirage Now available on vinyl! This After Dark compilation was originally compiled and pressed in an edition of 200 copies as a label sampler/promo for a Glass Candy tour, but an unexpectedly massive response to the sounds contained herein has brought it out of limited edition limbo and into wider availability for the general public. And thank the lord for that, as this disc is an oft-stunning mix of airy, synth-soaked dance glee and low-slung grooves that samples key 12" singles and demo tracks from a whole host of different Giorgio Moroder-loving bands. I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to Glass Candy over the past few years, so imagine my surprise at hearing the opening strains of "Rolling Down the Hills," a sweet blast of dizzying keys and sampled horns that perfectly matches Ida No's breathy croon -- a far cry from the post-punk they cut their teeth on, and all the better for it. From there we get Chromatics' deep take on DNA-member Robin Crutchfield's "Hands in the Dark," a slyly grim track that trades atmospheric keys off with sublime vocals and an insistent thump. Elsewhere, Professor Genius checks in with the pronounced electro throb of "La Grotta," while Farah lopes along with the ascendant chords and echoing drums of "Dancing Girls." And those tracks are just the tip of the figurative iceberg here, as After Dark pumps along over an hour's worth of new school Italo jams, each one sure to have even the snootiest disco connoisseur bobbing their head along in no time. [MC]

		$17.99 CD $9.99 MP3   PAAVOHARJU Laulu Laakson Kukista (Fonal) "Tuoksu tartuu meihin" "Tytto tanssii" Paavoharju's Yha Hamaraa was a staff and customer favorite a few years back, no doubt due to the group's mysterious lo-fi fusion of sounds, their exotic pop melodies frequently teetering in the mix until finally dissolving into otherworldly hiss. Like its predecessor, the Finnish collective's new album plays like the radio during a late night car ride across the middle of nowhere, where songs never have a proper beginning or end as faint transmissions from far away broadcasts morph into each other and are bathed in shimmering static. But Laulu Laakson Kukista is far from a retread, possessing a much darker feel and a more fleshed-out and varied sound. "Pimeankarkelo" opens the album with ethereal guitar plucks and distant spoken word that ebbs and flows around waves of pipe organ and Leena Uotila's angelic, operatic melody -- it's all at once spookily psychedelic and church-like. (Paavoharju are reportedly born again Christians, although I suspect that their faith is much more communal and inclusive, say more like a 21st century Nordic Trees Community, than your typical American denomination.) "Kevatrumpu" finds the band approximating dance music, as a rapid rhythm of dissonant bells and Uotila's exotic voice float above a low synthesizer pulse and clattering percussion, the song fading in and out of white noise. Another highlight, "Uskallan" (originally released as a limited single on Type) is one of Paavoharju's poppiest moments to date, but the interwoven Bollywood-inspired melodies and the see-saw dynamics still play out like a song you'd hear on a Sublime Frequencies compilation. In contrast, "Tuoksu tarttuu meihin" and "Ursulan uni" find the band at their most ethereal, warping classical based piano arrangements around haunting, outdoor ambience and light twinkling electronics. The overall aesthetic of Laulu Laakson Kukista really does remind me of a record that 4AD would have released during their era of This Mortal Coil, Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins, but replace the cold war, post-modern cues of those bands with a mysterious blend of folk, pop and Middle and Far Eastern sounds. Guided by forest spirits and psychedelic ghosts, Paavoharju's music remains breathlessly indescribable. [GH]

		$15.99 CD   MARS Complete Studio Recordings, NYC 1977-1978 (No More) "Helen Fordsdale" "Monopoly" A system of reductive thinking or a process of stripping away... Singer/guitarist Sumner Crane described it as a regression from ten to one. No Wave was a new way of thinking about noise and MARS was at the center of the movement. Inspired by the dissonance of the Velvet Underground and excited with the boundary pushing possibilities put forth by the then current crop of CBGB's bands, MARS set out to free themselves from any semblance of rock oriented form and permanently shifted various paradigms along the way by reducing their music to the most extreme base elements possible. Instead of using chord progressions or verse/chorus structures, odd sounds, vague lyrics, and emotionally charged vocals became part and parcel of their intense mix of noise. Owing a debt to jazz and free music in general, it only makes sense that sonic purity became paramount. No effects or overdubs were ever used during the recording process and everything was performed live in the studio straight-to-tape. Even on stage the vocals would be free of artificial reverb and the guitars were always plugged directly into the amplifiers. These raw primitive explorations of electricity and rhythm proved to be incredibly disorienting and jarring to listeners. Their influence was immediate and both DNA and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks formed in response to their lead. Up until this compilation I would've insisted that 78+ on Atavistic was an essential purchase but now that collection has been superceded by this CD that contains the band's entire studio recorded output. The two-song seven-inch on Rebel, the four songs from No New York on Island, and the five song EP on Lust/Unlust are now for the first time all available on one disc. The compilation is lovingly packaged with a full lyric sheet and extensive liner notes by China Burg and Mark Cunningham. Anyone hesitating to take the plunge because they already own 78+ should know that when Jim Thirlwell assembled that compilation he substituted some of the studio recorded songs with live versions. Please understand that I am not saying that the Atavistic release is now obsolete because it does actually contain some incredible live material that you won't find elsewhere. Those of you lucky enough to own an original vinyl copy of the hard-to-find EP will also be surprised by the vast improvement in sound quality that this release offers. It is a rare occasion that a CD of this importance appears, capable of forever changing the way you will approach and appreciate music, MARS LP is essential listening. [AG]

		$21.99 CD   NEW AGE Aall Around (RD) "All Around" "Higher Than a Kite" It's one thing for a band to put out a record or two and then disappear; it's a strange and different thing that happens when an unexpected turn of events causes an artist's work to slip sight unseen, all but forgotten by history. This is something like what happened to the New Age, a short lived musical group featuring the tightly knit duo of Patrick Kilroy and Susan Graubard, who met at Big Sur in California, and made music in Berkley, New York, and Los Angeles between 1966 and 1967. After building a musical and spiritual relationship, the free-spirited guitarist/songwriter Kilroy and the classically trained Graubard (viola, flute, Japanese koto) signed with Warner Music and created a new group with tabla player Jeffrey Stuart, and enlisted musicians Mark Levinson and Bruce Langhorne to bolster their Eastern sound. It's amazing that such an unconventional and exploratory group was ever signed to Warner in the first place, but it's simply unfortunate that the company would not release the material, as the New Age could not continue on to perform, promote, or follow up the record in the wake of Pat Kilroy's unexpected death of Hodgkin's Disease in December, 1967. (Graubard would later make music with members of the Mighty Baby and Action in the short-lived Habibiyya, recording an album for Island in 1972, which we reviewed a few months back: othermusic.com/2008january09update.html.) Released for the first time ever, All Around" arrives forty years too late in presenting an incredibly daring and mystical record, one of the most pronounced and accomplished meetings of Eastern and Western musical traditions. No doubt privy to the experimental psych/folk currents of the 1960s Bay Area (the New Age played at the Human Be-in and Jabberwock gatherings), Kilroy and Graubard were, however, true students of the East, and their formal and informal relationships with Indian raga and Japanese classical music are the largest informants of their meditative and passionate music. Graubard's viola, in tandem with Kilroy's open songwriting and guitar/vocal style, and with Stuart's exuberant tabla playing, is often the main drone figure in the raga form, while the flute asserts the fantastical presence of the Japanese tradition. The Eastern elements surely dominate the record, but it seems experimental in a uniquely American fashion; meetings such as the dynamics of the electric guitar against that of the tabla on "All Alone in Wonderland," or the interaction of Indian drone and Japanese Flute with Electric Bass on "Bhairavi" are all exquisite juxtapositions, a sound as exciting today as they might have been in '67. Fans of current lo-fi psych/drone music will find much to dig, as will fans of the raga form. All Around is the sound of intensely aware free spirits, deeply ensconced in traditions of the East -- a purely enchanting journey. Sometimes enlightenment must wait 40 years to be unearthed. [JW]

		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 Burkeholder [BCa] Brian Cassidy [AC] Amanda Colbenson [MC] Michael Crumsho [AG] Andy Giles [DG] Daniel Givens [MG] Max Gray [GH] Gerald Hammill [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [AKa] Aaron Kaplan [AK] Andreas Knutsen [TL] Tanya Leet [JM] Josh Madell [SM] Scott Mou [DM] Doug Mosurock {KS] Karen Soskin [JS] Jeremy Sponder [FT] Fred Thomas [JW] Josiah Wolfson THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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