The Other Music Update

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	September 17, 2009


			FLORIDA LP OPENING RECEPTION AT OTHER MUSIC We'd like to invite you to the opening reception for a new photo show that we will be displaying at the shop by Other Music's own Amanda Colbenson. Entitled Florida LP, the exhibit will include nine photographs that reveal the landscape of New Smyrna Beach, FL, as well as some of Amanda's own record collection. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 - 6PM to 8PM Other Music 15 East 4th Street NYC


	FEATURED NEW RELEASES A Sunny Day in Glasgow Big Star (Box Set) The Fresh & Onlys The Drums Rustie Mary Anne Hobbs Presents Wild Angels Ducktails Pens Tyondai Braxton Eric Copeland Arve Henriiksen Henson Cargill The Feelies Circulatory System Funky Frauleins (Various Artists) The Vampires of Dartmoore Nudge		Drake KiD CuDi ALSO AVAILABLE Siamese Soul: Thai Pop Spectacular 2 Shadow Music of Thailand GusGus Lawrence Trapez 100 (Various) Sunny Day Real Estate (2 Reissues) Grand Archives Cosmic Balearic Beats 2 (Various) Ras G & the Afrikan Space Program Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/othermusic

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YURA YURA TEIKOKU TICKET GIVE AWAY
While they are bona fide rock stars in their homeland, Yura Yura Teikoku are one of Japan's best kept secrets to the rest of the world...That is until now, with DFA signing the band and releasing their new album Hollow Me, a record which finds the trio redefining their psychedelic sounds with touches of Eno and Byrne, Krautrock and a melodic dose of 10CC. You can catch Yura Yura Teikoku live tomorrow night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Other Music has two pairs of tickets to give away! Email tickets@othermusic.com right away and we'll be notifying the two winners on Friday morning. Good luck!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Music Hall of Williamsburg: 66 North Sixth Street Williamsburg, Brooklyn

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WIN TICKETS TO A HAWK AND A HACKSAW
This Saturday, Jeremy Barnes, Heather Drost, et al. will be bringing their truly great and beguiling Eastern European-inspired sounds to the stage of New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge, performing in support of their latest A Hawk and a Hacksaw album, Delivrance, out now on Leaf Records. Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets and to enter just email contest@othermusic.com. We'll notify the two winners via email on Friday, September 18.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
(LE) POISSON ROUGE: : 158 Bleeker Street NYC

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BLOODSHOT RECORD'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY BBQ
Chicago indie stalwarts Bloodshot Records will be celebrating their 15th Anniversary at Brooklyn's Bell House on Saturday, September 26th, with a BBQ and full day of bands (including Exene Cervenka of X, Dex Romweber Duo, Bobby Bare, Jr and more), and free food for the first 150 people in the door. Other Music has three pairs of tickets to give away to this great party, not to mention a Grand Prize for one of the lucky winners that includes a Vinyl Fun-Pak featuring: Justin Townes Earle The Good Life test pressing LP (out of print), Scott H. Biram Something's Wrong/Lost Forever LP, Ha Ha Tonka Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South LP, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir ...and the horse you rode in on LP and a Dex Romweber Duo/Jack White 7", along with other Bloodshot goodies. To enter, email giveaway@othermusic.com. We'll notify the three winners on Monday, September 21st.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
THE BELL HOUSE: 149 7th Street Brooklyn


	$12.99 CD $18.99 LPx2 w/MP3 $9.99 MP3		A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW Ashes Grammar (Mis Ojos) "Passionate introverts (Dinosaurs)" "Close Chorus" Since the late 90s, shoegaze music has been seen as fair game for the electronic music producers of the world to pillage without a second thought. Ulrich Schnauss took hold of Slowdive, M83 went for My Bloody Valentine before deciding a-ha were a safer bet, and a whole plethora of nu-gazers decided to re-appropriate the sound of Scottish dream poppers the Cocteau Twins, creating a new subgenre while they were at it. It seems only fair then that indie/shoegaze outfit A Sunny Day in Glasgow should go about it the other way round, taking a hefty chunk of influence from the current wave of electronic music smattering the airwaves at the moment. Ashes Grammar is the Philly outfit's second full-length record and perfectly realizes their electronic/pop hybrid without ever feeling forced or trite. Kompakt-lite rhythms emerge beneath gaseous clouds of guitar and synthesizer, but rather than seeming bolted together, they manage to gel seamlessly. At its heart Ashes Grammar is a pop album, with songs that wouldn't feel out of place on an early Lush record, but the post-millennium Pro Tools trickery sets it apart from many of the band's peers. While artists like the Postal Service and their entourage of copyists set out to make indie pop with an almost entirely electronic bent, A Sunny Day in Glasgow simply let their production skill run alongside. It feels like you could listen to tracks like "Close Chorus" or "Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)" without even noticing the propulsive electronic production, such is the quality of the songs themselves, but once you become aware of it, you realize it could easily sidle up next to tracks from the Field or A Sight Below. Hopefully then, Ashes Grammar should open up A Sunny Day in Glasgow to two sets of fans, those indie rockers looking for something a little different, and those techno lovers desperate to hear some "proper songs" for a change. [JT] Free Download of A Sunny Day in Glasgow's "Passionate Introverts (Dinosaurs)" available through Friday on Other Music Digital.


	$64.99 CDx4		BIG STAR Keep an Eye on the Sky Box Set (Rhino) "When My Baby's Beside Me - Alternate Mix" "Life Is White" Now that 9/9/9 has passed and those 37 Beatles' re-masters have been reduced to paperweights and doorstops (I know, I know, Rubber Soul is great), here's something to actually get excited about...the definitive Big Star box set! Ever since the Ardent compilation (Thank You Friends) dropped, I've been wondering, on a near-daily basis, what this thing was going to look and sound like, and it is with great relief and much joy I can tell you: It's perfect. The beautiful 7"-sized box holds four CDs and a gorgeous 102-page book, with essays by Robert Gordon and Bob Mehr and tons of great photos (Big Star partying at TGI Fridays!). Starting off with songs by early incarnations of the band, Rock City and Icewater, and a couple of solo tracks by Chris Bell and Alex Chilton, Keep an Eye on the Sky then segues into the album tracks (including selections from all three LPs; #1 Record, Radio City, and 3rd/Sister Lovers) which sound better than they ever have, and as far as American rock 'n' roll goes, this is pure godhead. I cannot think of a music that contains such a vast range of emotion, be it the melancholic, heartbreaking ballads of Chris Bell (both sides of his "I Am the Cosmos" 45 are featured here), the aching, longing twisted pop Alex Chilton was/is such a master of, or the lustful, joyous rawk Big Star was also capable of crafting. Additionally, and this is where it gets real interesting, we get a massive batch of alternate mixes, demos, and unreleased versions which shed a whole new light on many of the band's classics, and then there's real gold such as Chilton covering Loudon Wainwright's "Motel Blues" and the scarce "Country Morn," which appeared on a fanzine flexi disc. Disc four is made up of an absolutely stirring live recording from 1973 in Memphis, where they cover T. Rex, Todd Rundgren, Kinks and Flying Burrito Brothers! If you're new to the band, be prepared to have your mind blown wide open. If you already consider yourself a fan, this is a revelation. If you already have everything on here (who are you??), pick Keep an Eye on the Sky up for a friend. The best rock band to come out of Memphis, the US, and the World...ever. [AK]


	$12.99 CD $14.99 LP $9.99 MP3		THE FRESH & ONLYS Grey-Eyed Girls (Woodsist) "Grey-Eyed Girl" "The Delusion of Man" I've got a pretty voracious appetite for new music, but in this information-era it's overwhelming to try to keep up with new bands and the sheer volume of records that come out. Last year at this time there were no Fresh & Onlys records around and now there's at least two 7"s and two full-lengths, and don't forget that tour-only cassette for the hardcore. That, combined with the fact that when it comes to rock 'n' roll music there aren't really new boundaries to be broken or new ground to tread (now it's a game of how you combine the elements), well it's enough to wear a guy out. But when the songs are good and when the records get better with each successive release, it kind of makes it all worthwhile, and thankfully San Francisco's Fresh & Onlys have done just that on their second full-length LP. They've got a strong allegiance to melody and straightforward song craft that draws from '60s garage pop, '80s New Zealand scene-isms with the occasional post-punk curveball thrown in ("Invisible Forces" is a dead ringer for a lost Factory records gem.) And at just over half-an-hour things feel a little tighter and more focused than their debut album on Castle Face (released what, six months ago?). Just try to pry songs like "I'm Gonna Be Your Elevator" or "What's His Shadow Still Doing Here?" out of your head after a couple of listens. I doubt you'll be able to. [DMa]


	$5.99 CD-EP		THE DRUMS Summertime EP (Twenty Seven) "Saddest Summer" "Make You Mine" Where the hell was this record back in June? This Brooklyn (via Florida) four-piece is sunshine in a jewel case, despite a frequently melancholy undertone, and if you missed their shot-heard-round-the-world debut show at Cake Shop during NYC Popfest or the Annex residency in June, now is your chance to get with a buzzed-about new band that actually deserves the excitement, and maybe you can draw the summer out a bit longer. Most of these songs pay clear homage to early-'60s surf culture, singing innocent tales of Saturdays at the beach holding hands and thrill rides at the amusement park, but the vibe is filtered through early-'80s Factory Records sounds and moods, somehow blending the sunshine optimism of the former with the gray-skies melancholy of the latter in a seamless package. One thing both genres share is a love of simplicity, and these guys have that in spades; the keyboards sound like effects on your little brother's Casio, the guitars are not allowed to play something so heavy or complicated as a chord, and on stage or on record, you get the feeling that no one had to try terribly hard to write the songs, which is the key to genuinely affecting pop music: making it sound effortless. Underneath the doo-wop affectations, the comely matching backup singers, and the fun-on-the-run silliness is a band that understands happy-sad music. The closest living relative to the Drums is undoubtedly the Cure, and their influence shines through on nearly every track, especially on the excellent "Don't Be a Jerk Johnny," when singer Jonathan Pierce lifts the vocal rhythm from "Just Like Heaven" ("Show me show me show me" becomes "Jenny Jenny Jenny"). Most of the songs are about losing love, which resonates far longer in our hearts than some jerk crooning about the love he's already got. You can always count on a character in a Drums song to be the one watching other people hold hands. [MS]


	$12.99 12-inch		RUSTIE Bad Science EP (Wireblock) When it comes to the burgeoning wonky sub-genre, there are few artists quite as jaw-dropping and continuously interesting as Scotland's Rustie. Fusing contemporary American R&B and hip-hop sounds with a U.K. urban knowledge unrivalled by many of his peers, his output is at all times challenging, fresh and unashamedly funky. These are tracks that astound on many levels -- they're technically skilled but never fail to force a shuffle from your beat-up sneakers, something the stuttering IDM class of '99 never really managed. Bad Science is first and foremost a dancefloor record, with the title track fusing crunk, dubstep and Lord knows what else to devastating effect. Timbaland-lite squelches and arpeggios bounce across dissolving beats and skittering glitches but the shuffled-up hip-hop backbone is never lost in the fug. For the techno heads amongst you it's worth noting that Heinrich Mueller (a/k/a surviving Drexciyan Gerald Donald) contributes a monstrous electro reshape of the fantastic "Zig-Zag" (a track recently featured on Mary Anne Hobbs' Wild Angels mix, also reviewed in this Update), giving the bumper EP yet another dancefloor angle to explore. If you've got any interest in any of the aforementioned styles or artists, you owe it to yourself to check out Rustie; along with the similarly enigmatic Zomby, he's causing quite a stir in the U.K. scene right now... and with good reason. Don't miss out. [JT]


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		VARIOUS ARTISTS Mary Anne Hobbs Presents: Wild Angels (Planet Mu) "Knock Knock" Mike Slott "Videotape" Darkstar In the U.K., BBC Radio1's Mary Anne Hobbs is a legend, a breathy blonde who rides big motorbikes, with a long history as a cutting-edge music journalist and editor, covering hard rock, punk, metal, hip-hop and much more at Sounds, NME and Loaded. Since the late '90s she has been at the BBC, and her current obsession with underground electronica has made her an important player in that world; her Radio1 "Dubstep Warz" show in early 2006 put the fledgling scene before a global audience, she hosts a great weekly electronica show, and she is responsible for bringing many of the best young acts to the BBC festival stages. Wild Angels, her third comp for Planet Mu, gathers tracks from the new, unheard of, as well as some more established producers currently causing a stir on both sides of the Atlantic. From minimal/ambient and dubstep/wonky she picks the cream of further-reaching beat makers worldwide and it's another refreshing and edgy journey into the contemporary electronic underground. Although not all exclusive tracks, her selections and sequencing still makes this one near flawless. Beginning with Mark Pritchard (Harmonic 313) she guides us through selections by Hudson Mohawke, Mike Slott, Brackles, Gemmy, Rustie, Starkey, Floating Points, Nosaj Thing, Legion of Two and more. Another great listening experience from a woman who knows her history, feels the pulse of the present, and is shining a bright light on the future of electronic music. Guaranteed to lull you in and "rock" your world. Recommended. [DG]


	$16.99 LP		DUCKTAILS Landscapes (Olde English Spelling Bee) From the moment Matt Mondanile came in to Other Music with five copies of his debut 7" last fall, his gentle, dreamy tropical pop has been a sentimental favorite here at the shop. In the past year, his psychedelic musings have caught on far and wide -- not only has the Ridgewood, N.J. resident become a major staple of the Brooklyn d.i.y. show circuit with his bands Ducktails, Real Estate and Predator Vision, but October will find Mondanile touring around the West Coast, Australia and New Zealand. There's plenty to love from this prolific artist, whose swirling, hypnotic guitar, synth and drum loops constitute some of the prettiest, most uplifting pop we've heard since City Center, High Places, and even, on tracks like "House of Mirrors," which features Mondanile's heart-melting falsetto vocals, a lo-fi Grizzly Bear. Ducktails's second full-length, Landscapes, treats us to a picnic basket full of sounds; (relatively) straightforward pop ballads a la Little Wings or Animal Collective, chugging 80s-style synth tunes that are equal parts M83 and Blues Control, and more experimental, tinkered-on compositions like "Deck Observatory" that take you a little further from shore, revealing influences from Africa and Asia a la Lucky Dragons, hinting at Mondanile's time spent in western Massachusetts's experimental noise scene. Yet throughout this diverse offering, Ducktails maintains a timeless and coherent pop feel on this sublime, mind-expanding sophomore record. [KS]


	$13.99 CD		PENS Hey Friend, What You Doing? (De Stijl) "Yeah Baby I'll Take You To Bagel Town" "I Heart U" The three British ladies that make up Pens are the latest in a seemingly endless string of new-school, lo-fi, ramshackle punks that are popping up everywhere these days. While that ship seems as though it's fast getting ready to sail, the tracks that make up Hey Friend! What You Doing?, their debut for the De Stijl label, prove that there may just be a berth left for them when it eventually does. Loose and tinny in all the right ways, the fourteen tracks gathered herein seethe with a certain hardcore ferocity, shot through with naïve melodies and a gleeful irreverence that makes the bashing pop moves of tracks like "High in the Cinema" sound surprisingly fresh. Trading off on keyboards, fuzzy guitars, and percussion, Pens don't just lean on an aesthetic. Rather, as shown by the interlocking vocals of album opener "Horsies" and the simplistic yet effective breakdowns of "Cry Baby," they slide some well-crafted songs into the buzz and tumble. That goes double for the pounding, keyboard and distortion drenched "Freddy," a track that ably proves that Pens debut has far more to offer than just another run-of-the-mill take on the latest flavor of the month. [MC]


	$14.99 CD $9.99 MP3		TYONDAI BRAXTON Central Market (Warp) "Opening Bell" "J. City" Over the last few years, Tyondai Braxton (son of virtuoso jazzer Anthony Braxton) has gone from relative obscurity to media darling thanks to his association with post-post-rock rockers Battles. With that band he showed that there was life in rock music yet, infusing the genre with a creativity and hyperactivity the scene is still reeling from. Being one of the guiding forces in Battles, it was surely only a matter of time before his lofty ambitions were realized on a further solo effort (this is Braxton's second lone full-length), and ambitious Central Market certainly is. Composing for the Wordless Music Orchestra has obviously given Braxton a freedom he never had with Battles, and the chunky rock edge we associate with the band is all but lost in a flurry of lush cinematics and blurred electronics. The closest relative I can bring to mind would be Fantomas, not necessarily in the sound itself but in the scope and complexity of Braxton's compositions -- these pieces could have been chopped from 1/2" reels of 1940s Disney Soundtracks and assembled plunderphonic-style before being replayed by the orchestra. Sure, his vision is going to leave many listeners cold -- it's certainly polarized the OM office -- but Central Market is a vivid, Technicolor listening experience far removed from anything else you're likely to stumble across this year. Who knew modern classical music could be so damned playful? [JT]


	$13.99 12-inch		ERIC COPELAND Al Anon (Catsup Plate) It's not enough that Eric Copeland releases brain-scrambling tunes with his trio Black Dice or with his old friend, Animal Collective's Avey Tare as Terrestrial Tones, but he's kept a steady and prolific pace under his own name as well. This limited edition vinyl EP shows Copeland in an incredibly playful mode this time around. There are snatches of reggae, krautrock, and (we swear) some old blues lick, but it all gets scrambled and scoured with acid. Mesmerizing, unpredictable, and singular. Limited edition, too. [AB]


	$17.99 CD		ARVE HENRIKSEN Cartography (ECM) "Before and Afterlife" "Famine's Ghost" After cutting his teeth playing in Norwegian experimental supergroup Supersilent, Arve Henriksen has been making something of a name for himself as a solo artist over the last few years. With two records on the influential Rune Grammofon label and a number of guest appearances with the God-like David Sylvian, his name has become synonymous with a certain level of quality, and the distant wail of his signature muted trumpet has been the backbone of his sound. The trumpet combined with his worryingly falsetto vocal tones have been his arsenal thus far, but Cartography finds Henriksen shelving the vocals for the time being and concentrating on just horns and electronic processes. Sylvian also appears for a couple of spoken word slots, but the success of Cartography rests on the subtle treatments of the horn, which drifts through the record in clouds and pads, clean yet heavily processed. Each track seems so perfectly measured and enjoyable that you might even forget it's on ECM at all -- the academia more readily associated with the label is all but lost in waves of blissful harmony. Even the live tracks, usually a misstep on a studio album, seem to slot into the record's flow as if it had always been intended that way, showing that Henriksen is just as adept at performing these processes live as he is in the studio. Those of you who were stunned by Hildur Gunnarsdóttir's Without Sinking should check Cartography without delay. [JT]


	$17.99 CD		HENSON CARGILL On the Road (Omni) "Daddy Frank" "Red Skies Over Georgia" After notching a string of top 20 country hits in the late 1960s (one of which, "Skip a Rope," hit the pop charts as well), Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter (and sometime television host) Henson Cargill landed on Nashville indie label Mega. Though his recordings for that imprint met with some critical accolades, in terms of chart success this was a dry period for the singer, and the lone album and accompanying series of singles he cut for the label have always been somewhat overshadowed by his other, more commercially recognized work. A damn shame, as these recordings evidence the same beautifully deep voice, complex arrangements, and genuine knack for evocative storytelling for which he had become known and respected during his tenure at Monument records. Thankfully, the good folks at Omni Records have seen fit to follow up their first collection of Cargill material with On the Road - The Mega Years Plus, a generous anthology that gathers his excellent On the Road LP along with a clutch of other tracks he recorded in the early 1970s. A loose concept album about the trials and tribulations of those living through the Great Depression, On the Road finds Cargill in prime form, singing stories of foreclosures and family bands on tracks like "1932" and "Daddy Frank," going so far as to lecture a wayward society on the marimba-laced "Afraid to Rock the Boat." He even notches a surprisingly effective cover of the Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," turning that classic from an emotional historical set piece to a gleaming Nashville standard with a lush backing that sounds almost celebratory. At times playful, and others heartfelt and pensive, this batch of songs sheds more light on the great work of Henson Cargill, making it essential for both his longtime fans and curious country devotees alike. [MC]


	The Good Earth $13.99 CD $9.99 MP3 Crazy Rhythms $13.99 CD $9.99 MP3		THE FEELIES The Good Earth (Bar/None) "On the Roof" "The Good Earth" When the Feelies returned six years after Crazy Rhythms with The Good Earth, things were very different. Gone were the thorny electric tangles of the debut, instead replaced by a streamlined acoustic sound, still retaining that rhythmic pulse, but beating at an entirely more relaxed pace. The album was produced by Feelies leaders Glenn Mercer and Bill Million along with noted disciple Peter Buck, better known as the guitarist of REM, by then one of America's biggest and most highly regarded underground/college rock bands, and on the verge of their first top-ten hit. The original frenetic rhythm section was gone, replaced by Stanley Demeski on drums (who'd later joined another noted American band, Luna), with bass duties by Brenda Sauter and additional percussion by Dave Weckerman. The difference between the two versions of the group, and the albums they created, is really quite astonishing, but the acoustic jangle and more subdued vocals seem to make perfect sense -- it would be hard to believe that the band was STILL, after all that time, as tense, wound-up, and frazzled as they had been at their outset. The newfound maturity seemed to suit them perfectly, and their stylistic move from the dirty, claustrophobic confines of city life to the more spacious dangers of the suburbs and country infused the songs with a different kind of tension. While I wouldn't say that The Good Earth is as game-changing an album as Crazy Rhythms, it's a fantastic record, and is one-hundred percent worth your attention -- after all, this is the lineup of the band that continues to perform in present times, and that says quite a lot. There is a powerful magic to the quiet reflection that follows extremely intense experiences, and that's exactly what this album delivers. It is, in a word, stunning. Like the Crazy Rhythms reissue, this comes with a download card which will get you three bonus tracks: A cover of the Beatles' "She Said, She Said" and Neil Young's "Sedan Delivery" (both originally appeared on the No One Knows vinyl EP) and "Slipping (Into Something)," recorded earlier this year at DC's 9:30 Club. [IQ]


	$14.99 CD		CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Signal Morning (Cloud) "This Morning (We Remembered Everything)" "Blasting Through" Some might say that there are two kinds of people in this world: people who love Olivia Tremor Control and people who don't like music. When the band shut up shop in 2001 it felt like the passing of a close friend, but thankfully the jumbled, explosive pop textures that Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss and friends made their own didn't quite stop there. Doss would soon reveal himself to have been the Paul McCartney of the group with his poppier Sunshine Fix records, but for many OTC fetishists like myself, it was Cullen Hart's debut under the Circulatory System moniker that really hit the spot. With a similar drive towards the experimental that made OTC so damned interesting, the debut album was a mammoth 22-track journey into production prowess and simply gorgeous songwriting. It's surprising then that this was almost ten years ago and since then Cullen Hart has been quiet, no doubt in part because this new album is just as intricate as his acclaimed debut, with many of his old friends including Doss and Jeff Mangum contributing. As lo-fi has slipped back into vogue in the last few years with Ariel Pink spawning bands like Wavves, Blank Dogs and US Girls, it's nice to hear Cullen Hart raising the bar yet again with Signal Morning. It might at first come across as lo-fi, but as always his sounds are so intricately placed, so complex, that the overall sound is almost a red herring. This is deep, rich and detailed music, and while each layer may have been recorded to various tapes and through various vintage (possibly broken) microphones, everything is there for a purpose and nothing, absolutely nothing, is left to chance. As with the debut album, each song trips and falls through various movements, jumping through hoops of synth, percussion, layered vocals and goodness knows what else. Never, however, do these splices feel jarring; rather, the album is like a great book -- richly crafted and dying for you to study each part again and again, revealing more each and every time. [JT]


	$17.99 CD		VARIOUS ARTISTS Funky Frauleins (Bureau B) "Kikilala Hawaii" Evelyn Kunneke "Berlin" Heidi Bruhl Previously, the only way you could hear German female beat was through a couple of brilliant Marine Records compilations released back in 2005 and '06, called The In-Kraut: Hip Shaking Grooves Made in Germany 1966-1974. But those collections focused on just a small group of performers, you could probably count the number of artists on one hand. Bureau B attempts to rectify the situation with this eighteen-track homage to a decade of Deutschland girls with grooves, and though I have some qualms with the sequencing, there can be no doubt that the results are revelatory. Only one of the songs from the Marina compilations makes a comeback, Heidi Bruhl's sizzling, angry "Berlin," sung in English and imbued with dread and tragedy despite the angular, fuzzed-out psych guitar and funky hot-stepping feel. Other gems include Jane Morel's lean, doped-up "Special Agent" and the lead track, Topsy Kupper's "Sagen Sie Frau Zimmerman," which I had a friend translate, and she came back with a crazy triangle story about Mrs. Zimmerman, her husband the dentist, and a peeping tom, all shrouded with cryptic references to domestic abuse. The deepest funk may be on Su Kramer's "Die Grune Witwe," where she successfully channels Betty Davis' powerhouse grunts and squeals. The funk and groove tracks sizzle, but when the compilation kicks into high-definition and presents a couple of disco gems, despite the continued quality there is a bit of a disconnect, as the technological leaps made in this ten-year time span creates a schism between the analog haziness of Caterina Valente's "Blueberry Hill" and the blistering, crystal clear disco fever of Roberta Kelly's "Sunburst." But that's no reason to skip the dance tracks -- on "Sunburst" there is an extended cosmic keyboard battle that would put Stevie Wonder to shame. This is an excellent compilation from an underrepresented pop music paradise, and I would also highly recommend checking out the equally amazing In-Kraut compilations. [MS]


	$16.99 CD		THE VAMPIRES OF DARTMOORE Dracula's Music Cabin (Finders Keepers) "Mord im Ohio Express (Murder in the Ohio Express)" "Frankenstein Grüßt Alpha 7 (Frankenstein Greets Alpha 7)" I can't say the press sheet for this particular B-Music album had me salivating; although the horror/erotica angle piqued my interest, the idea of German psychedelic library music...well, I suppose I didn't know what to expect. Luckily B-Music have done it again (I should trust them by now), and this lost gem is far better than you might anticipate it being. Lost library records are nothing new, but with a heady sexual charm giving it links to the wonderful Vampyros Lesbos and a few sly nods to Ennio Morricone, there's a lot here to sink your teeth into (so to speak). As you'll probably expect, the record is chock full of dusty samples and nice clean breaks which are sure to pop up in the next couple of years of hip-hop production, but Dracula's Music Cabinet is a little more than simply a collection of undiscovered samples. There's a flow to the album that gives it more meat than your run of the mill thrift store find, so it's hardly surprising the record was being exchanged for stupid money before B-Music graciously opened it up to the general public. The album comes to a frothy head with "Hallo, Mr. Hitchcock", which blends humorous dialogue with a smattering of lounge music to surprisingly cinematic effect. It's perilous to resist the glamorous charm of The Vampires of Dartmoore; if you enjoyed the recent Science Fiction Dance Party and fancy something primed for the Halloween season you couldn't do much better than this. [JT]


	$13.99 CD $13.99 LP $9.99 MP3		NUDGE As Good as Gone (Kranky) "Harmo" "Arolac" One of the lesser known, but always rewarding bands on Kranky's roster, Nudge take us on another journey down the mellow, moody, and dub-strewn road they've been traversing for some years now. Nudge are a three-piece consisting of leader Brian Foote, Honey Owens (Valet/Jackie-O MF/Atlas Sound) and Paul Dickow (Strategy), with guests here including Marc Hellner (Pulseprogramming), Jon Pyle and Mat Morgan. Together they weave a loosely knit web of sounds, combining acoustic and electronic instrumentation seamlessly, an organic mix of guitar, synth, electronics, minimal drums and percussion. The opening track "Harmo" feels like a full band fed through a harmonium, as swelling effect-laden male and female vocals and atmospherics rise and fall effortlessly, conjuring a mystic brew. As Good As Gone is definitely the band's most accomplished and accessible work to date, bringing all the unique elements from the individuals involved to their rich and ripe potential, one part post-rock, one part shoegaze, and a dose of drifting dub with just the slightest touch of freak folk, and barely a hint of indie rock. There's lots to get lost in, though at times it feels like not much is happening. Their strength comes from the gentle tug of emotion and the rubbery stretching of sound and melody. Sometimes less is more, and here's a perfect example. Recommended. [DG]


	$9.99 CD		DRAKE So Far Gone (Universal Motown) So we finally arrive on the first "official" release from Canadian hip-hop almost-star Drake, and people are already sick to the back teeth of him. Okay, so he hasn't had the usual rags-to-riches story the American public is so fond of and being in DeGrassi can't have helped his street credibility -- but for the last few years he's been honing his craft, talking to the right people and coming up with a sound that genuinely represents his unusual background. From these beginnings he's had the one of the best selling unsigned singles on iTunes ("Best I Ever Had"), and predictably with success comes hatred and jealousy. Few artists right now can divide audiences like Drake -- coming from Lil Wayne's Young Money stable and touting a sound that bears all the hallmarks of a young Kanye, he's not setting himself up in good stead to excite the backpackers, but then why does he have to? Thanks to his Canadian good looks he's already got the teens on his side, and with tunes as disarming as "Successful" and "Houstatlantavegas" it's not going to take long for the more serious listeners to take notice. I stumbled across him thanks to the expanded mixtape version of So Far Gone that dropped earlier this year, and with an odd blend of indie, DJ Screw-influenced slow rap, jump-cut dance and sugared ballads it did what most mixtapes fail to do -- it drew me in to listen more than once. By the time I got to my twentieth play or so I knew I was sold; sure, Drake might not be as humorous as Weezy, as unpredictable as Yeezy or as boisterous as Hova but he's got a restraint that is sorely lacking in most of today's hip-hop. At times the record might not even be hip-hop at all; there's sporadic rapping throughout, but like the game-changing 808s & Heartbreak it feels like we've finally gone some way past the clichés of 90s East Coast rap. Not hung up on thick Primo-baiting beats and overused samples, Drake's producers space out the (mostly electronic) beats and layer up organs to create clouds of harmony. The result is some of the most melancholic music the game has ever thrown up, and without pandering to the street or the soapbox, Drake seems to have the formula just right. A huge recommendation. [JT]


	$14.99 CD $18.99 LP		KID CUDI Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Universal Motown) Finally, the official debut release from KiD CuDi, the newest protege of Kanye West. Originally from Ohio, now a resident of Brooklyn, KC's Man on the Moon takes off where West's 808s & Heartbreak left off, and where Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 dared not go (CuDi is featured on both), but with lonely stoner CuDi at the helm the overall vibe is much more personal and real. Sonically, MOTM swims in the murky water of dark electronic backdrops, thick synth chord progressions, moody late night atmosphere, and CuDi's pure desire to get his head right and survive in this modern society. He often sings his own hooks, adding more similarities to West (without the auto-tune) -- think "Can't Tell Me Nothing" era. Minimal and spare, full of ambition and a sense of hunger, CuDi represents the current colorfully-dressed social misfit that has become the new icon of black youth throughout the country. Though similar to Lupe Fiasco, CuDi seems to be more of an outcast and awkward in his new role as backpacker poster boy, and thus he can be more endearing. His smash hit "Day 'N' Nite," which grew to become the stoner/skater/hipster anthem of the past two seasons is of course included here, but it doesn't offer a glimpse of what the rest of the album sounds like -- a dark conceptual piece that directly relates to his current ascension up the hipster/popularity ladder. MOTM is pretty much a solo effort, except for narration throughout from Common, two tracks featuring Ratatat and one with MGMT. I think that says it all. [DG]


	$15.99 CD $15.99 CD		VARIOUS ARTISTS Siamese Soul: Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s, Vol. 2 (Sublime Frequencies) VARIOUS ARTISTS Shadow Music of Thailand (Sublime Frequencies) "Luk Tung Klong Yao" The Sun of PM "Lao Kratob Mai" Johnny Guitar The CD version of this much-anticipated second volume of Thai madness just arrived. Expect a full review next week, but we imagine you know what to expect --truly inspired yet almost unimaginable tracks from Thai obscurities as well as superstars, crafting their organ-fueled versions of U.S. funk and soul grooves from the '70s, with a smattering of '60s rock and funky '80s stuff. It's not your papa's soul music, but it's sure got plenty of soul. We'll also be featuring Sublime Frequencies' CD pressing of the Shadow Music of Thailand LP in the next Update, which focuses on the country's exotic, Western-influenced guitar pop sounds of the 1960s, and is a great companion to Siamese Soul 2.


	$15.99 CD $19.99 LPx2 w/CD $12.99 MP3		GUSGUS 24/7 (Kompakt) "On the Job" "Thin Ice" With a new home on Kompakt, this really is GusGus' comeback record. The legendary Reykjavík collective's atmospheric tech-pop is more stripped down than ever -- very befitting to the minimal electronica that Kompakt made its name on -- and all the better for it. Scaled down to a trio, longtime fans will also be thrilled to find former singer Daniel Agust back in the fold, not to mention a cover of Jimi Tenor's "Take Me Baby," which features a guest vocal from Mr. Tenor himself. Full review next week.


	$15.99 CD		LAWRENCE Until Then, Goodbye (Mule) "Jill" "In Your Eyes" Lawrence is one of Scott's favorite's of late, but our man is too busy DJing silly Fashion Week blowouts every night this week to give this excellent new album the attention it deserves; expect a full review in our next update, but for now, just know it's here, and it sounds great! Deeply atmospheric and warm, it is a melodic album, sequenced to be listened to as such, with beat-driven tracks interspaced with beautiful ambience.


	$15.99 CD		VARIOUS ARTISTS Trapez 100 (Trapez) "Ambvialent" Dominik Eulberg To celebrate their 100th vinyl release, nine-year-old techno innovators Trapez Records (the Detroit-influenced subsidiary of Cologne-based Traum) release this 11-track CD of rarities and oddities from their estimable stable, featuring Oliver Hacke, Dominick Eulberg, Florian Meindl and many more greats.


	Diary $11.99 CD LP2 $11.99 CD		SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE Diary - Remastered (Sub Pop) "Seven" SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE LP2 - Remastered (Sub Pop) "Red Elephant" Sub Pop delivers beautifully re-mastered versions of Sunny Day Real Estate's classic first two albums. This band was surely an anomaly on the Northwest rock scene of the mid-'90s, crafting fragile, crisp, dynamic pop that was a long way from the raw buzz and howl the region is best known for. But they were massively influential, basically inventing emo, or at least the modern version of it, and these reissues, including all the b-sides, are long overdue. If you want to try one, start with the shimmering debut Diary.


	$13.99 CD $15.99 LP w/MP3		GRAND ARCHIVES Keep in Mind Frankenstein (Sub Pop) "Left for All the Strays" Grand Archives' haunting acoustic Americana is even more refined and restrained on the new one, with a suite of deep melancholy made so much sweeter with richly layered vocal harmonies and subtle playing. They travel a similar path to pals Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses (GA's Mat Brooke was a founder of that band as well), but their approach largely forgoes those group's rock aspirations. And they wrote a song about New York's favorite martyred elephant, Topsy!


	$17.99 CDx2		VARIOUS ARTISTS Cosmic Balearic Beats 2 (Eskimo) "Stanza" Mugwump Another batch of laidback cosmic house, disco and funk that is aimed at the island-hopping Euro set, from the fine folks at Eskimo. Features tracks from the likes of Roberto Rodriguez, Naum Gabo, Social Disco Club, Mugwump, Dance Disorder and much more, and includes a bonus disc of unmixed MP3 versions.


	$11.99 12-inch		RAS G & THE AFRIKAN SPACE PROGRAM Destination There EP (Ramp) Stoned, dusty lo-fi hip-hop from this West Coast beatmaker who travels in the same circles as Flying Lotus and Daedelus. Ras G delivers on hip-hop's promise of disorienting, truly psychedelic production matched with snappy head-nodding beats. Recommended!


	PHONE ORDERS Phone orders are accepted at (212) 477-8150 (ext. #2, mailorder) Mon-Fri, Noon - 7pm EST EMAIL For general inquiries or other information please email sales@othermusic.com. Do not reply to this message. REMOVE This is an automated list. If you would like to be removed for any reason, please visit: digital.othermusic.com/subscribe.php		THIS WEEK'S CONTRIBUTORS [AB] Adrian Burkholder [MC] Michael Crumsho [DG] Daniel Givens [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [AK] Andreas Knutsen [DMa] Dave Martin [KS] Karen Soskin [MS] Michael Stasiak [JT] John Twells THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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