The Other Music Update

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	March 19, 2008

It is with the utmost sadness that we pass on the tragic news of the death of our friend and co-worker Tim Haslett. Both here in NYC and at our Cambridge store, and as a writer for our weekly updates, Tim was a deep well of knowledge as well as a wonderful friend, and his boundless passion for great music and for life was an inspiration to us all. He was one of the smartest, kindest, most fascinating people that you could ever know. There is a memorial service in Cambridge, this Friday, March 21, 3pm, at the Friends Meeting: 5 Long Fellow Park (off Brattle, near Harvard Square). We love you Tim, always.


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES Destroyer Benga Hercules & Love Affair Kelley Polar She & Him Crystal Stilts Mission of Burma (Reissues) Blues Control Scott Walker Chris Corsano Del the Funky Homosapien Angel Crystal Castles		Tinchy Styder Neon Neon Clark Triple R Selection-6 (Various) ALSO AVAILABLE Big Dipper (Anthology) Kevin Ayers C Joynes Adam Green BACK IN PRINT Lula Cortes e Ze Ramalho

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OTHER MUSIC PRESENTS: DIAL RECORDS NIGHTS
Other Music is presenting two Dial Records parties in the coming week, featuring two of the label's very own. First up, Stanley Ipkiss (a/k/a Marcel Huppauf, one half of Dial and Kompakt Records production duo Nightshift) will be taking over the decks downstairs at APT next Tuesday, March 25, along with our very own Scott Mou. (Enter to win a pair of tickets by emailing contest@othermusic.com. Two winners will be notified on Friday, March 21.) A few days later, Snow will be joining Scott performing at Williamsburg's Monkeytown. Two great nights of music from minimal techno's premier label.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25
STANLEY IPKISS @ APT: 419 West 13th Street NYC

SATURDAY, MARCH 29
SNOW @ MONKEYTOWN: 58 North 3rd Street (btw. Kent & Wythe) Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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SEARCH AND RESTORE: JAZZ AT THE KNIT
When Tonic closed its doors last year, the downtown lost a vital hub for experimental jazz. While there are still plenty of venues to see live jazz, you're either charged an arm and a leg along with a drink minimum, or you're left waiting in long lines at excellent venues like the Stone, 55 Bar and Jazz Gallery because of the small size of those clubs. Search and Restore: Jazz at the Knit is a show series and organization geared towards making current jazz more public and available. The monthly showcase takes place at the Knitting Factory's Tap Bar (capacity of 200 - no drink minimum), a great setting where people can feel as though they're part of something. Other Music has one pair of tickets to the next night, Sunday, March 30, which features Ben Allison's Man Size Safe and Dave Pietro's Banda Brazil. To enter, send an email to enter@othermusic.com. We'll notify the winner on Monday, March 24. Look for live recordings from this gig in a week or two on our MP3 website.

SUNDAY, MARCH 30
KNITTING FACTORY: 74 Leonard Street NYC
8PM - ALL AGES
$10 students / $13 everyone else / $12 in advance gets you into both sets

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The Dirtbombs

Antipop Consortium

UPCOMING OTHER MUSIC IN-STORES

JOE CARDUCCI (Book Reading): APRIL 2 @ 7:30PM
Joe Carducci, former SST label head and author of one of the seminal books on rock 'n' roll, "Rock and the Pop Narcotic," will be on hand to read from and discuss his latest memoir "Enter Naomi - SST, L.A. and All That..."

THE DIRTBOMBS: APRIL 7 @ 8PM
Back with their first album in five years, Mick Collins and his Dirtbombs are one of rock 'n' roll's best live bands -- fuzzy, ragged and loud!

ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM: APRIL 21 @ 8PM
Reunited and it feels so good! Legendary experimental hip-hop group Antipop Consortium are back together performing at Other Music!

OTHER MUSIC: 15 East 4th Street NYC
Free admission / Limited Capacity

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WIN TICKETS TO EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
Explosions in the Sky return to NYC, performing at Terminal Five on Tuesday, April 8, where the Texas post-rockers will also be joined by Lichens and Ola Podrida. It's not a surprise that the show is already sold out, but before you go and write that "looking for a ticket" post on Craigslist, send an email to tickets@othermusic.com, to enter to win a pair! Other Music will be picking two winners on Monday, March 24th.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8
TERMINAL 5: 610 West 56 Street NYC
SOLD OUT!


	$13.99 CD $19.99 LP $9.99 MP3		DESTROYER Trouble in Dreams (Merge) "River" "The State" Dan Bejar's eighth Destroyer full-length finds the frequent New Pornographers contributor working with the same musicians that backed him on 2006's Destroyer's Rubies -- an unusual consistency for the Canadian songwriter. With bigger production and heavy embellishments, Trouble in Dreams shares all the elements which made Rubies so lauded. Backed with full strings, drums, horns, synths and lofty background vocals, Bejar continues to mess with traditional rock song structures; in less capable hands, the constant chord shifts and time signature changes would come out nonsensical, but everything is hinged on a good, strong melody that ties it all together. There's a myriad of references here; everything from blues-rock ("Libby's First Sunrise") to traditional pop ("Foam Hands") are reworked with a sense of Bejar's quirky, spacey electric folk aesthetic. However, the elements of earlier Destroyer are not missing either. Bejar has a history of turning the indie singer-songwriter convention on its head and he continues to do that as he uses his lyrics in a more obtuse, literary vein; apparent on the opener and onwards, each track is a vehicle for Bejar's idiosyncratic voice to sing, whisper, yell and even accent his eccentric, abstract and, well, dreamy prose. Overall, the effect is an album of enjoyable, yet obfuscating rock, all done with wit -- a great thing. It seems Bejar has finally found a place that he's comfortable in...for now. [PG]


	$17.99 CD $25.99 LP		BENGA Diary of an Afro Warrior (Tempa) "Light Bulb" "Emotions" Once thought of only as the instrumental counterpart to grime's verbose MCs, dubstep has made major inroads towards commercial and critical success over the past few years. No longer confined solely to niche status as a curious permutation of British dance music, producers like Skream, Kode9, Shackleton, and Burial (whose 2007 album Untrue played a massive role in increasing the genre's global profile) have helped push the style and its sub-bass heavy records from the floors of London clubs to the world at large. Active since 2002, Croydon's Benga has also done more than his fair share to push dubstep's loping rhythms forward, issuing a string of singles that have galvanized DJs and listeners alike. Now with the release of Diary of an Afro Warrior, his first full-length album, Benga is poised to bring his beats to a much larger stage. Playing the brash extrovert to Burial's moody, understated introvert, Benga traffics in a similar sort of tension, with skittish beats matching up against throbbing bass swells all throughout the album. His productions, however, focus on brighter textures and subtly different instrumentation than the works of many of his contemporaries. Though the bass rumbles deep on each and every cut, tracks like "Night" (a crossover hit co-produced with Coki) spotlight spare, descending keyboard lines and ominous metallic drones, while the shuffling "The Dual" imbues its synth swells with touches of horns. And be it in an exploration of the intersections between dubstep and American hip-hop on "Crunked Out," or a confident tour through the propulsive rhythms of tracks like "Emotions," Benga spends the whole of Diary of an Afro Warrior proving that he'll definitely be one to watch as dubstep continues to unfold. [MC]


	$24.99 CD		HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR Hercules & Love Affair (EMI/DFA) "Iris" "Blind" The brainchild of DFA's Andrew Butler, the much-anticipated self-titled debut album from Hercules & Love Affair pulls from 70s/80s disco, electro and early house, but it's wrapped together with a sweeping emotion that's not normally felt in modern dance music. There's a lot of soul permeating the sparkling production, no doubt thanks to guest vocalists like CocoRosie collaborator Nomi and Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons). "Blind" seems to connect the dots between Sylvester and Arthur Russell, Hegarty's expressive voice sounding unexpectedly right at home amidst the climbing bass and keyboard arpeggiations as he delivers lines like, "As a child, I knew that the stars could only get brighter." It's really hard to imagine a more life-affirming dance record than this. On "Iris," Kim Ann Foxman sings, "This moment is yours and you can give it to someone else." (That moment is obviously right now for Butler.) Co-produced and programmed by DFA mainman Tim Goldsworthy, these tracks sound equally great blasting over a nightclub soundsystem or in the bedroom. Hercules & Love Affair is one of the best, original, dance-oriented releases since 2007's epic Sound of Silver, and I guarantee that you'll be seeing this record topping many year end lists. Highly Recommended! [BL]


	$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3		KELLEY POLAR I Need You to Hold On While the Sky Is Falling (Environ) "Chrysanthemum" "In Paradisium" This classically trained violinist/composer/vocalist's first album was an inventive, yet ultimately overlooked neo-cosmic orchestral disco album that ended up on many a year-end list of '05. Unfortunately, he was just a half step ahead of his time and Polar's distilled, string-laden sound was the (excuse the pun) polar opposite to the dirty, cowbell-abusing, punk-funk that was popular on the hipster dancefloors at the time. Three-and-a-half years later, that same dancefloor is now positively glowing with shiny, diffused white light and Polar's music couldn't sound anymore relevant. Seizing the moment, he steps up and presents us with I Need You..., a streamlined, focused 21st century, new romantic disko-pop record. Here, Polar tweaks his image a bit and reinvents himself as the icy prince of Cosmic-Boogie Wonderland. The hushed vocal stylings of the debut are pushed to the forefront, injecting bits of Human League-styled pop melodrama to his phrasing. Production-wise, this is one of the richest sounding albums I've heard all year and Polar's string arrangements are way more ambitious than the debut. Fans of the astral arpeggiations will enjoy this one, but aesthetically, this is probably closer to the indie electro-baroque fusion of Jens Lekman, Jim Noir, and the like. I don't think Polar has to be worried about being overlooked again. [DH]


	$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3		SHE & HIM Volume One (Merge) "I Thought I Saw Your Face Today" "Sweet Darln'" Movie stars making credible pop albums, is it possible? Is there anyone since Eddie Murphy who has successfully crossed that line? I'll leave the jokes to Eddie (he's actually pretty good at those), and turn to the highly anticipated debut from indie film's much-loved Zooey Deschanel (Elf anyone?). Unlike most of the Hollywood set, who tend to shoot for (and usually miss) the top 40 when they dabble in music, with big-name producers, songwriting teams, and production budgets, Deschanel takes a winningly different approach on Volume One, from her new "band", She & Him. Featuring none other than M. Ward arranging, performing and producing a lovely batch of Deschanel-penned country-pop a la Dusty in Memphis, and releasing the album on one of indie rock's unassailable pillars, Merge Records, Deschanel seems to have found a perfect forum for her surprisingly good songwriting and endearing performances. Were it not for her acting fame, it's doubtful that Deschanel could have snagged Ward for a collaborator, or that her packed SXSW shows last week would have been such a crazy scene, but try as you might (and why are you such a hater?), it's hard to poke holes in the album. Rather than trying to be something she is not, Deschanel plays herself on this one, and what she is, it turns out, is a pretty talented songwriter, with a love of classic country and 60s/70s AM radio pop, and an emotional, natural singing voice that perfectly suits her songs. Of course Ward's playing and arrangements craft low key, effortless nuggets from Deschanel's raw material, and the results are undeniably enjoyable. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Volume One is that is simply is what it is, a lovely little pop album without pretense. I don't think Deschanel will be giving up her day job anytime soon, but if she wanted she could no doubt have a future in music, and I fully expect a second volume from this duo. And I look forward to it, because this is not a vanity project, it's clearly a passion. [JM]


	$8.99 12" EP		CRYSTAL STILTS Crystal Stilts (Feathery Tongue) Formed in Brooklyn in 2004 by two Floridians, Crystal Stilts (based around the core of singer Brad Hargett and multi-instrumentalist JB Townsend) has continued to be plagued by bad luck: busted vans, stolen gear, and tapes sitting on shelves for ages due to various unfortunate circumstances. Some three years in the making, this 12" (limited to 500 copies) finally sees the light of day on their own Feathery Tongue label, and while the wait has been too long, the rewards are endless. With primitive girl group stand-up drums and reverb-heavy and melodic surf/rockabilly-soaked guitar lines, the four songs on the EP are the perfect amalgam of the pop immediacy of C86/Flying Nun and a DIY take on the spacious '60s sounds of Spector and Nitzsche. Unstoppable. For audio samples, check out the band's MySpace page: www.myspace.com/crystalstilts. [AK]


	Signals Calls and Marches $15.99 CD w/DVD $24.99 LP w/DVD $9.99 MP3 vs. $15.99 CD w/DVD $24.99 LP w/DVD $9.99 MP3 The Horrible Truth About Burma $15.99 CD w/DVD $24.99 LP w/DVD $9.99 MP3		MISSION OF BURMA Signals Calls & Marches (Matador) "Max Ernst" MISSION OF BURMA vs. (Matador) "Secrets" MISSION OF BURMA The Horrible Truth About Burma (Matador) "Peking Spring" It's not much of a secret that Boston's best band, Mission of Burma, were a seminal influence on Matador Records chief Gerard Cosloy, and the label was instrumental in the group's vital reunion albums as well as various side-projects over the years, so these definitive reissues are clearly a labor of love. Burma were a relatively short-lived group, first releasing the classic Academy Fight Song 7" in 1980, and disbanding just three years later after a stunning EP, one more single and a lone, legendary LP. A posthumous live album followed the break-up, and that was all she wrote, at least for the next 20 years or so. In their day, the band somehow managed to bridge the gap between punk's primal rock and roll roots and raw power, post-punk's rhythmic complexity and avant experimentalism. And with their tape-loop textures and intense, physical volume experiments, they paved the way for everyone from My Bloody Valentine to Black Dice. Although they never received the worldwide prominence of peers like Gang of Four and Pere Ubu, Mission of Burma are without a doubt one of the more influential American bands of the era, and while their recent reunion albums have been excellent, and wonderfully received, these early releases are straight-up classics that every rock fan should hear, and the re-mastering and deluxe CD and LP packages and booklets just can't be beat. In 1981, the Signals, Calls & Marches EP followed 1980's Academy Fight Song single with six more slabs of hooky, melodic and incredibly muscular post-punk, and proved that Burma had much more to offer than one great song. This reissue, featuring the single, two never before released outtakes from the single sessions, and the original six EP tracks ("That's When I Reach for My Revolver" and "This Is Not a Photograph" included), is simply essential. Plus the LP and CD come with a bonus DVD with ten live performances from 1979 and 1980. In 1983, the band released their proper debut full-length, a darker, more intense affair than the earlier records but still full of melody and great songwriting. It should have been the band's big breakthrough, but Roger Miller had developed a debilitating case of tinnitus from the group's brutal stage volume, and after a bittersweet farewell tour the band hung up their guitars (for twenty years or so). This great package includes the same four bonus cuts from the Ryko reissue of a few years back, studio outtakes and the b-side of the album's one single. The bonus DVD with the LP and CD features 13 songs from the band's final Boston shows of the original era, from the afternoon of March 12, 1983. Two years after their untimely demise, Burma released an excellent live album, commemorating the band's famous live fury, and included several live staples that had never made it onto the two official studio releases, as well as covers of the Stooges' "1970" and Pere Ubu's "Heart of Darkness," making the release an essential companion piece to the albums, if perhaps not quite as vital. The Matador version restores The Horrible Truth to its original sequence, and includes the three bonus tracks from the Ryko version, plus one never before released cut "Weatherbox". The bonus DVD with the LP and CD includes 17 performances from the very last show with the original lineup, the evening show from March 12, 1983, plus the original 11-song version with original titles that Ace of Hearts/Atavistic released on VHS in 1988. [JM]


	$12.99 CD		BLUES CONTROL Puff (Fusetron) "Behind the Skies" "Call Collect" 2007 saw the release of a pair of great full-lengths from Queens' own Blues Control, a duo featuring Russ Waterhouse on guitar and tapes and Leah Cho on keys and vocals. Tapping into a rich vein that took the titular blues as a starting point for beautiful, minimal explorations of major keys, extended riffing, and random drum beats from yours and everyone else's past, the pair released a stunning debut LP called Puff on Woodsist, followed quickly by a another full-length for the esteemed Holy Mountain label. While the latter is still easy to come by, the former has been through a couple of pressings already, forcing the good folks at Fusetron to step in and issue Puff on CD so that more people can pick up what Waterhouse and Cho have been putting down. While Blues Control's music exists at the intersection of Kraut repetition and noise blasts, it's buoyed by a fun-loving 70s rock vibe that manifests itself in Waterhouse's slippery leads and Cho's instantly memorable keyboard lines. That said, these are hardly the jams of AM Gold's future. Instead, these two work their way through slowly mutating keyboard figures in "Always on Time," turning a simple hook into a jump off for extended guitar gropes and echoed melodies. Elsewhere, the introductory beats of Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison" (seriously) get consumed by "Behind the Skies" and its central riff as it battles with steadily encroaching cacophonous bleats. At times sounding like a more upbeat, less smack-addled version of early Royal Trux, Puff is proof positive that Blues Control is one of the best things this overpriced city has going for it these days. [MC]


	$17.99 LP $17.99 LP $17.99 LP $17.99 LP		SCOTT WALKER Scott 1 (4 Men with Beards) SCOTT WALKER Scott 2 (4 Men with Beards) SCOTT WALKER Scott 3 (4 Men with Beards) SCOTT WALKER Scott 4 (4 Men with Beards) 4 Men with Beards makes Scott Walker's first four solo albums available to vinyl lovers via these 180-gram pressed LPs. After the initial demise of the Walker Brothers -- three American ex-pats living in the UK who scored a few hits Stateside during the British invasion -- the singer's unconventional turn as a solo artist would fail to make a dent in the US charts despite his first three albums hitting the British top 20. Released during psychedelic rock's heyday, Walker's late-'60s work seemed to be an anomaly. His dramatic baritone croon was highly influenced by singers like Frank Sinatra and especially Jacques Brel. Walker kicked off his first solo album, Scott , with a spirited cover of the Brel-penned "Mathilde" along with two other Brel tracks ("My Death" and "Amsterdam"), as well as tunes by Tim Hardin, Weill/Mann and Andre & Dory Previn, and three original songs. Filled with rich, over-the-top orchestration and Walker's existential musings, this record would prove to be a preview of things to come. A year later, 1968's Scott 2 found the singer refining all of the elements of its predecessor with three more Brel tunes (including his incendiary version of "Jackie," which would land in the UK top 20 -- the album itself going to number one) and songs by Bacharach/David, and Hardin. Original tracks like "The Girls from the Streets" and "The Bridge" showed Walker coming into his own as a vivid, extremely literate lyricist. Scott 3 from 1969 would be his most ornate outing yet, dominated by ten originals and only three Brel tunes which were tagged on at the end. The album begins with one of my all time favorite Walker songs, the beautifully languid "It's Raining Today," which majestically moves between spacious, swaying verses and a sweeping, string-led refrain, and includes another favorite, the charging Morricone spaghetti western-influenced "We Came Through." Elsewhere, Walker would introduce seedy characters like "Big Louise," an overweight prostitute, and also deliver his iconic "30th Century Man," an unusually stripped-down, folky moment for the singer. The singer closed out the decade with Scott 4, an album made up of all originals. Though not as bombastic as 3, the record was still filled with splendid orchestration, with Walker delving into some of his darkest, most morbid material yet. The album opens with the Ingmar Bergman-inspired "Seventh Seal," another spaghetti western ode featuring a haunting choir of background vocals. Soon after comes another Walker classic, "The Old Man's Back Again," a song about Josef Stalin. While today, 4 is considered by many fans, including myself, as Walker's most triumphant album, it never made the British charts. The singer would spend the next decade or so clamoring for commercial success with a failed TV variety show and mediocre attempts at soft rock and country, before taking his unexpectedly reclusive detour into the avant-garde world. These four records, however, are Walker's most influential, undoubtedly ground zero inspiration for artists like Nick Cave and the Divine Comedy, and more recent torch-song-bearers like Antony and even Shearwater. Music doesn't get any more glorious or timeless as this. [GH]


	$14.99 LP		CHRIS CORSANO Young Cricketer (Family Vineyard) Drummer Chris Corsano has lent both his name and formidable percussive talents to dozens of records over the past few years. Easily one of the best jazz drummers working the idiom today, he's participated in legendary blowouts with the likes of saxophonist Paul Flaherty, helped further Ben Chasny's acid folk cause as an occasional member of Six Organs of Admittance, popped up from time to time with New England's finest weirdos Sunburned Hand of the Man, played a couple of shows with former recluse Jandek, and even toured the globe with Icelandic pop princess Bjork. Given the guy's insane work ethic, it's strange that he had never released a solo percussion album until 2006s limited, CD-R only, self-released The Young Cricketer. Though that album came and went with little notice outside of those who already worship at the remple of Corsano, Family Vineyard has rescued it from the brink of undeserved obscurity, pressing up a limited vinyl run (600 copies) so a (slightly) larger audience can get a taste of what this guy can do outside the realm of the collaboration. Stretched across sixteen, mostly brief, tracks, Corsano doesn't so much drum here as he does explore the possibilities of percussion with all manner of skins, sticks, pot lids, sax mouth pieces, and other accoutrement both conventional and not so much. Best taken as a whole, Corsano bounds across The Young Cricketer, exploring pounding rock refrains, junkshop gamelan, and limber blowouts with equal aplomb. Far from just an exercise in rhythm, Corsano's solo debut maps out all new terrain that most people probably didn't know was available behind a drum kit. [MC]


	$13.99 CD $15.99 LP $9.99 MP3		DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN The Eleventh Hour (Def Jux) "Back in the Chamber" "Str8 Up and Down" Hieroglyphics founding father Del Tha Funkee Homosapien has been working the Bay Area underground scene for a while, quietly turning out sci-fi concept albums (Deltron 3030) and unexpected collaborations (Gorillaz) relatively under the radar of the mainstream. In his first solo effort since 2000, Del takes his game from Oakland to New York, where he joins the ranks of famed east coast underground label Definitive Jux. Perhaps due to his pedigree, Del evaded the El-P production job that has more than once served as a Def Jux initiation ritual. While it would have been interesting to see what Del's new boss would've done with him, this largely self-produced record benefits from being an auteur joint. Del's straightforward flow cracks crisp and clear through the speakers, and with its relative lack of jazz samples and aggressive electronics, The Eleventh Hour sounds far more California than other label releases. At times, the production can get dizzying, especially on "I'll Tell You," which purees light synth with Seinfeld-ian guitar licks. Despite this, there's no dearth of hooky tracks ("Funkyhomosapien," "Str8 Up and Down") and the album maintains a consistent feel. Although it's just a new entry in an already large and acclaimed Del catalog, this is a good "first alt-hip hop" album. [DS]


	$17.99 CD $9.99 MP3		ANGEL Kalmukia (Editions Mego) "Bones in the Sand" "Aftermath: The Mutation" The unique booklet for Kalmukia by Angel (Ilpo Vaisanen of Pan Sonic, Hildur Gudnadottir, and Dirk Dresselhaus a/k/a Schneider TM) is full of impenetrable but attractive maps, diagrams and descriptions, supposedly about a place called Kalmukia. The music itself is something of a vague map, drawing one slowly through a vast soul searching terrain, where expectations of apparent routes and destinations ought to be curbed from the outset. In this way, the record confronts the listener by withdrawing itself and yet asking to be engaged, at times ambient, but not without the payoff one might ask for from such patient developments. The most immediate rewards -- if not simply the loudest -- are the bookends of the journey that is Kalmukia, which sandwich very faint, drifting, minimal orchestration. The first track, aptly titled "Bones in the Sand," opens up not sounding nearly angelic, but rather as a dry, jagged hellfire, ringing in like Neil Young's electric-guitar only soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Dead Man, which takes place in the barren west of cowboys and Indians. "Bones" rolls like a drop of sweat in a heated showdown, before breaking away into cloudlike formations of glassy, high-end synths and meditative organ drones, as a contemplative cello sweeps in and cools our cowboy down. It isn't until the closer, "Aftermath: the Mutation," that Angel return to the sonic density that they began with, but that's not to say that Kalmukia's meandering is not a worthwhile venture -- somber cello and blissful synths, outlined by vague industrial drones and cave-like reverberations are actually quite enlightening in their distanced passage. [JW]


	$13.99 CD		CRYSTAL CASTLES Crystal Castles (Last Gang) "Untrust Us" "Vanished" Super Mario on mushrooms? Paperboy on pills? The self-titled debut record from the Toronto band buzzed about for their remixes (groups of note: Bloc Party, Klaxons, HEALTH, and more), Crystal Castles offers a variety of moods, of which the most talked about and most glaringly novel is a sound that runs full throttle with bit-crushed, brazen, amphetamine Atari-rock, owing to their use of an actual Atari chip to generate sound. But their first full length offsets that arcade urgency with desolate, stripped down, late night anthems, as self-reflective as they are head-banging, as fitting for the drive to the club as for the drive back. Out of the thick haze of blips and bleats, come repetitive, artsy, and very clearly orchestrated infusions of lush, manipulated vocals, dense micro-Korgs, and razor sharp, uber-compressed dance beats, propelled by octave hopping bass. If this formula sounds vaguely familiar, think something like the Knife, or a more intelligent form of electroclash. Crystal Castles manage extremely nuanced and innovative sounds, and the thick basslines and bouncing beats are sure to keep the kids going crazy. The record reminds me a lot of the cultish, emotionally distraught films of Chinese filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, where urban characters are alone, exultingly effervescent, and for the most part, disorientated with the flashing lights, all the while perpetuating the lifestyle that seems to fracture them. And like one particular scene from his film Fallen Angels, this album is much like being lost in a labyrinthine arcade, drunk, alone, and searching for some sign of familiarity. The spirits of each individual voice flutter and struggle for breath in the crush of synthesized stimuli, and then suddenly, out of the crush, comes something like the gentle collapse of album closer, "Tell Me What to Swallow," which floats beautifully like smoke from a nightclub arson, the exasperated reflection of having set the night on fire. [JW]


	$14.99 CD-EP		TINCHY STRYDER Cloud 9 the EP (Stryder) "Full Effect" "Line Em Up" The new EP from UK MC Tinchy Stryder is full of fast paced grime beats and a solid flow. Featured on the first Run the Road comp, Wiley's debut, and Streets remixes, Stryder is a subterranean favorite, often compared to early Dizzee Rascal, adding a much needed voice, personality, and twist to a predominately instrumental genre. The influence of mainstream American hip-hop can be felt yet it's absorbed and refigured into the ever-growing sound of the underground. Nine tracks produced by some of the scene's finest, including Skepta, Maniac, Dirty Danger, and Rapid, if you were excited about the An England Story collection on Soul Jazz, here's one of the next generation of British rappers fresh out the yard. [DG]


	$11.99 CD		NEON NEON Stainless Style (Lex) "Dream Cars" "Belfast" The much blogged about collaborative project of Super Furry Animal's Gruff Rhys and noted experimental hip-hop producer Boom Bip is a concept album about the hedonistic exploits of a fictional '80s character. Musically, the references are the shiny, disposable pop music of that era, but Neon Neon gives it a blinged-out, electro-hip hop overhaul and reinvents it for the American Apparel Rhythm Nation of today. Loads of special guests ranging from Spank Rock to Har Mar make appearances as well. It's a lot better than you might think if you're on the fence about it, and if this crosses over by the summer, I wouldn't be surprised at all. [DH]

$14.99 CD

$17.99 LP

CLARK
Turning Dragon
(Warp)

"Truncation Horn"

"Hot May Slides"

The latest from Clark finds Warp's new school favorite once again pitch shifting and transforming. Turning Dragon is fire and claws, scaly, rough, and abrasive, yet also hauntingly enchanting. Moving away from the soft acoustics and brash electronic textures of his previous outings, TD sees him taking aim at the dancefloor from his bedroom, laptop in hand. Feeling like a headier and harsher version of Justice, or the soundtrack to a mixed martial arts fight, Clark rips sharp beats, micro-rhythms, synths, vocal snippets and a million plug-ins to form something that's immediate and nervous, yet also fully sculpted and in control. His pulse is like an adrenaline rush, straight taurine shooting through your eardrums. It's not all noise 'n' beats though; Clark's meticulous approach to composition, structure, and balance is well showcased here with his approach to big room dynamics bridged with moments of just synth washes, dropping the rhythm out all together. With titles like "New Year Storm," "For Wolves Crew" and "Hot May Slides," you get the picture of the eruption taking place. Only for the headstrong, or those looking for what's beyond Autechre. Worth a listen when you're about to explode. Pure energy! [DG]


	$15.99 CD $12.99 MP3		VARIOUS ARTISTS Triple R Selection-6 (Trapez) "Earthworm" SLG "Metza" Reggy Von Oers Noted minimal techno tastemaker and DJ, Triple R's mix CDs are always much anticipated by our customers and employees alike. This new one, volume six in the series, is another solid affair, highlighting the forthcoming Trapez label releases, and is well worth checking out. Overall, the sound is a bit more jackin' and metallic than the deep tech-y sounds of previous mixes, but that's not a bad thing at all. The robotic funk of Mihalis Safras' "R2" and Roland Dill's "Modus Operandi" point the way towards a dirtier minimal techno sound for the summer ahead and it's about time. Nice one! [DH]


	$15.99 CDx3 $11.99 MP3		BIG DIPPER Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (Merge) "Faith Healer" "She's Fetching" Legendary, but sadly neglected, Boston pop band Big Dipper gets honored with a much-deserved deluxe reissue package by Merge. Supercluster collects the band's debut EP from 1987 and their two albums (Heavens from that same year and 1988's Craps), along with a myriad of extras, that include 15 unreleased tracks from the early '90s. Big Dipper was formed by ex-members of Volcano Suns and the Embarrassment (pedigree!) in 1985 and played a sort of mixture of power pop, flowery psychedelia and quirky, catchy indie pop that is ripe for rediscovery. With a total of 49 songs, and a video, Supercluster overflows with riches and is a perfect opportunity to discover a great pop band from an era when "indie" and "alternative" actually meant something.


	$11.99 CD $9.99 MP3		KEVIN AYERS The Unfairground (Gigantic) "Friends and Strangers" "Brainstorm" Fifteen years after his last solo album, the ex-Soft Machine man releases The Unfairground, and it's just what we've come to expect; ten perfectly warm yet skewed pop songs peppered with strings, horns, and piano. With a little assistance from Ladybug Transistor, Teenage Fanclub, and Euros Childs, Ayers pours his heart out in deeply emotional and reflective fashion, and the duet with Bridget St. John is achingly gorgeous.


	$18.99 CD $9.99 MP3		C JOYNES God Feeds the Ravens (Bo Weavil) "Do as You Will Do" "Night on Djerba" Just when you thought we'd run out of genres, here comes "Anglo-naïve" (a take on "American primitive", perhaps?) guitarist C Joynes and his record God Feeds the Ravens. The British fingerpicker marries old-timey virtuosity with new directions, and a nice rustic, backporch feel. And somewhere up there, John Fahey smiles approvingly. And ss always from Bo' Weavil, gorgeous fold-out, cardstock packaging.


	$12.99 CD $9.99 MP3		ADAM GREEN Sixes & Sevens (Rough Trade) "Leaky Flask" "Bed of Prayer" From scruffy, anti-folk ringleader to alterna heartthrob and a major contributor the soundtrack of acclaimed indie feature Juno (and guest on the The View!), the one-time Moldy Peaches man delivers another album of great pop songs and quirky curiosities. In the time that it took to read this, another twenty-or-so teenage hearts were set aflame.

$22.99 CD

$9.99 MP3

LULA CORTES E ZE RAMALHO
Paebiru
(Shadoks)

"Trilha De Sume"

"Pedra Templo Animal"

A remarkable reissue of Lula Cortes and Zé Ramalho's rarely heard and mysterious song cycle, Paebiru. Despite Ramalho's subsequent popular success as a Brazilian songwriter, little information can be found regarding the circumstances of this album's creation -- I'm sure due in no small part to the fact that nearly the entire pressing was destroyed in a flood (or according to some, a fire) before it had a chance to be distributed. What I can gather is that the movements of the double LP are divided between the four elements (Terra, Ar, Fogo, Agua) and that the narrative concerns itself with the creation myths and shamanistic practices of the indigenous inhabitants of Northeastern Brazil, and the enigmatic carvings to be found on the walls of their mountains.

Over a dozen musicians contributed to the making of Paebiru, amongst them Alceu Valença, who along with Ramalho has had a long career forging the folk idioms of Northeastern Brazil to contemporary rock and roll. And while the illustrious members of the Tropicalia movement had successfully integrated those two extremes previously, they never took their experiments to the radical heights that are to be found on Paebiru. Indeed, this record is more usually mentioned in the same breath alongside psychedelic folk fusions by the likes of Träd Gräs och Stenar and Amon Düül 1 than any of their Brazilian brethren. But even those comparisons are somewhat facile when confronted with the breadth of song and invention that Cortes, Ramalho and co. conjure across the four sides of the album. Joyful carnival songs, introspective ragas, beautiful group singing, spiraling and syncopated clapping, birdcalls, waterfalls, arsenals of percussion, full-fledged pop songs, and Faustian electric guitars spiritedly join hands in linking the communal elements that serve as Paebiru's unifying vision. [MK]


	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 [MC] Michael Crumsho [PG] Pamela Garavano-Coolbaugh [DG] Daniel Givens [GH] Gerald Hammill [DH] Duane Harriott [MK] Michael Klausman [AK] Andreas Knutsen [BL] Brian Levine [JM] Josh Madell [DS] Daniel Salas [JW] Josiah Wolfson THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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