June 30, 2010

		PRE-ORDERS M.I.A. (July 13 Release) Arcade Fire (August 3 Release) FEATURED NEW RELEASES Ayobaness! (South African House Comp.) Lo Borges Innergaze Wolf Parade So Percussion & Matmos Cloud Cuckooland (Various) Optimo Fabric Mix Uffie News Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts (Various) Bukka White Noveller   Cloaked Light / Pale Blue Sky (12") Africa Hitech ALSO AVAILABLE To Rococo Rot Scissor Sisters NOW ON VINYL Sibylle Baier Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/othermusicnyc Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/othermusic

		JUL Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10   OTHER MUSIC PRESENTS EL GUINCHO Next Wednesday, El Guincho returns to New York City supporting his new EP Piratas de Sudamérica, which should nicely hold us over until the release of his upcoming full-length Pop Negro, out September 14. Also appearing on the bill are Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang and a DJ set from Barcelona producer John Talabot. Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets to this great night. To enter, email tickets@othermusic.com and we'll notify the two winners this Friday. Good luck! WEDNESDAY, JULY 7 (LE) POISSON ROUGE: 158 Bleeker Street NYC $12 adv. tickets available at Other Music and Here $15 Day of Show

		JUL Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10   FIXED & POPGUN PRESENT: KID SISTER Other Music is giving away two pairs of tickets to see Chicago rapstress Kid Sister, who will be performing next Thursday at Santos Party House, along with Berlin's D.I.M. (Boys Noize Records) and a DJ set from FIXED's JDH and Dave P. Enter by emailing giveaway@othermusic.com, and we'll notify the two winners on Tuesday morning, July 6. THURSDAY, JULY 8 SANTOS PARTY HOUSE: 100 Lafayette Street, Ground Fl South (btwn Walker & White Streets) NYC

		JUL Sun 04 Mon 05 Tues 06 Wed 07 Thurs 08 Fri 09 Sat 10   STRUT/OTHER MUSIC 2010 WORLD CUP PARTY We hope you can join us on Saturday, July 10 at 200 Orchard, where we'll be hanging with the Strut Records crew to watch the second to last match of the 2010 World Cup. Guest DJs will be playing music before and after the game, as well as during the half, not to mention lots of Strut giveaways, drink specials and more! SATURDAY, JULY 10 200 ORCHARD: 200 Orchard Street L.E.S. NYC 2PM until...? | No Cover

		JUL Sun 11 Mon 12 Tues 13 Wed 14 Thurs 15 Fri 16 Sat 17 JUL Sun 18 Mon 19 Tues 20 Wed 21 Thurs 22 Fri 23 Sat 24 Zola Jesus   UPCOMING OTHER MUSIC IN-STORE PERFORMANCES ZOLA JESUS: MONDAY, JULY 12 @ 8PM Zola Jesus will be playing live Other Music, probably the most intimate performance in a summer tour that will take her and her band through the United States sharing the stage with groups like Wolf Parade and the xx as well as several European dates with Fever Ray. Don't miss this one!! DYLAN LEBLANC: TUESDAY, JULY 20 @ 8PM When Dylan LeBlanc performed on the acoustic stage at the Other Music/Dig For Fire SXSW Lawn Party this year, all we really knew about him was that Geoff Travis had signed the 20-year-old Louisiana native to Rough Trade -- that was enough for us to book him. LeBlanc was probably the biggest, best surprise of the weekend, a mesmerizing singer/songwriter whose forthcoming debut album (due out 8/24) is excellent, and will undoubtedly launch him onto a much bigger stage. See him here first! Both Shows are Free Admission & Limited Capacity

		Many of our customers have been enjoying the ease of texting their orders with their mobile phone. To take advantage of this option with any of the items listed below, go to subports.com where you can create your free Subports account. Afterwards, just text the corresponding subcode listed underneath each item to 767825.

		M.I.A Pre-order On Sale $9.99 CD Arcade Fire Pre-order On Sale $11.99 CD   M.I.A. /\/\/\Y/\ (Interscope) ARCADE FIRE The Suburbs (Merge) We're taking pre-orders for two of the summer's most anticipated releases. First up, M.I.A.'s third album /\/\ /\ Y /\ (the cryptic characters spell out her first name, Maya) comes out on Tuesday, July 13. Reserve your copy now and get it for the low price of $9.99. The following month Montreal's Arcade Fire unveil their long-awaited follow-up to 2007's Neon Bible, with The Suburbs hitting store shelves on Tuesday, August 3, on sale for $11.99. Each pre-order will be shipped to arrive at your door on or near the album's release date. Customers who pre-order both will be charged for separate deliveries unless requested to ship both releases together, in which case we'll mail M.I.A. with the Arcade Fire CD, the two discs arriving at your door on or near August 3. Shipping and handling charge for domestic packages in the US begins at $2, and international orders start at $4. Questions: email orders@othermusic.com. Pre-order M.I.A. CD by Texting "omcdmiamaya" to 767825 Pre-order Arcade Fire CD by Texting "omcdarcadesuburbs" to 767825

		$15.99 CD $9.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTISTS Ayobaness! The Sound of South African House (Out Here) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store The timing of this comp couldn't be better, what with all of the World Cup hubbub and what not. I'm sure we've all seen footage of the wild partying in the stadium and the intoxicating wail of the vuvuzela horns emanating from the stands during the games. No matter how your team is doing, the games themselves look like a great party and if this pumping compilation of South African house is any indication, there are some amazing parties going on outside of the games as well. Since the late-'80s and early-'90s, house music has been immensely popular amongst the townships of South Africa. Artists such as DJ Cleo and DJ Oskido released popular mix tapes featuring the sounds of Masters at Work, Dennis Ferrer, Technotronic and Marshall Jefferson back then, and by the mid-'90s, house music was THE adopted sound and lifestyle of post-apartheid youth, capitalizing on the carefree attitude of a people who were finally free. Fast forward a few years and you now have a vibrant homegrown culture that has its own superstar DJs, producers, and entrepreneurs tapping into that energy. DJ Mujava attained a bona fide worldwide smash in '08 with "Township Funk," and many well-known house legends and DJs are now finding inspiration from this young South African scene. Energy is the operative word to describe this record. From the opening tribal thump of L'vovo Derrango's "Resista" to the closing Afro-deepness of Shana's "Iyo'Londaba," the sounds here are big, percussive and geared for maximum dancefloor effect. Fans of the positive, bleepy thump of Booka Shade, Edu K and the like will love this stuff. Songs like DJ Cleo's "Nisho Njalo" and Survivor's "Stjlewa" (which translates literally as "Take Your Clothes Off") are infectious call-and-response vocal tracks in their native tongue. But there's a ton of depth in the productions, and almost all deftly combine traces of minimal techno, electro and dancehall to the pumping tribal-based rhythms. The true gem in this collection comes from 23-year-old producer Aero Manyelo's "Mexican Girl," which is centered around a slow building dirty bass line, a traditional Zulu guitar melody and one of the nastiest drum patterns I've heard in ages from this genre. Whew! Definitely my candidate for track of the year thus far. This comp is what's gonna be pumpin' outta my rock box this summer. I suggest you pick up a copy and do the same! [DH] Order CD by Texting "omcdvariousayobaness" to 767825

		$15.99 CD   LO BORGES Lo Borges (Water) "Nâo Foi Nada" "Aos Barões" This record is what you'd consider an Other Music classic. There have been assorted (import) pressings of this album over the years, and we've carried and played the hell out of it when it has been available, and thanks to Water Records it's now finally available domestically. Most folks in the OM contingent probably know Brazilian singer/songwriter/guitarist Lo Borges from his 1972 Clube da Esquina album, recorded and released in collaboration with Milton Nascimento; this solo LP was released around the same time in '72 and I've gotta say, in my opinion it runs circles around its more widely hat-tipped companion album. It's one of the crown jewels of Brazilian popular music; in just over 30 minutes, Borges and a group of top-flight musicians including Nelson Angelo, Tonino Horta, Novelli, and Dori Caymmi weave a tapestry of psychedelic samba soul, where the light jazzy sway of bossa nova gets fitted with a pair of rock & roll canine teeth and some funky shoes (probably the same pair displayed on the front cover -- it's one of my favorite sleeves), distilling a lightly stoned bounce throughout the proceedings and rendering them in cubist fashions with baroque touches, dense clouds of dream-pop harmonies, odd tonal clusters, and complex polyrhythmic pulsations. It's lightly but tastefully orchestrated in all the right places, too; nothing overstays either its welcome OR its importance, and after repeated listens one realizes how unorthodox and rather avant-garde the arrangements are on this record. Borges' vocals evoke the same tender ache that many of America's best soulmen have channeled for decades, minus the melodrama that tends to put me off of Nascimento's own records from this period. I can't really say much more than state that this is really one of the most essential and modern Brazilian pop albums ever made, as important as the early recordings of Joao Gilberto, the Tropicalist-era recordings of Veloso, Gil, and Mutantes, and the early Rio funk jams by Jorge Ben and Tim Maia. It's also one of my favorite albums of all time. Do the right thing. [IQ] Order CD by Texting "omcdlolo" to 767825

		$14.99 LP   INNERGAZE We Are Strange Loops (Minimal Wave) Jason Letkiewicz has dropped a slew of awesome vinyl and mp3 releases under various aliases (Rhythm Based Lovers, Sensual Beings, and Steve Sumners, to name a few) over the past couple of years on the Future Times label and through his website Confused House. Heavy on dance nostalgia, these releases have all hearkened back to the early days of Chicago house. Being familiar with this previous material, I was surprised to discover that Letkiewicz was behind Innergaze, a band whose influence is drawn from the other side of the Atlantic: namely, European proto-industrial bands like Chris and Cosey, Cabaret Voltaire, and early Portion Control or Front 242. Though he definitely wears his influences on his sleeve, what I've always appreciated about Letkiewicz's material has been his ability to make old sounds feel present and relevant, and We Are Strange Loops is no exception. Teaming up with artist Aurora Halal, whose disaffected vocals weave in and out of different parts of the record, Letkiewicz has created a fantastic homage to cold minimalism, dark electro, and the analog synthesizer. Besides the excellent drum machine programming and catchy synth lines, I just love how this record sounds; a noisy haze persists throughout the entire album, giving the tracks depth and, at times, (dare I say it) warmth that you don't hear on many minimal synth releases, and making Innergaze one of the very few modern artists who fit in with -- and add something to -- the great roster of obscure reissues that the Minimal Wave label is best known for. From the bubbly synth lines of "La La La," to the dance floor-ready "Illusions" and "Perceptions-Receptions," this is an impressive release that fans of this sound are going to absolutely love. This is a limited edition, vinyl-only release and comes with a silk-screened cover and insert. Another great record from the ever-consistent Minimal Wave. [CPa] Order LP by Texting "omlpinnergazewe" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $19.99 LP+MP3   WOLF PARADE Expo 86 (Sub Pop) "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to go This Way)" Sometimes it can be hard to define the things that make a band. At this point, trying to quantify the past and present projects with Wolf Parade ties can be a strain on the brain. Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner, the two main songwriting forces behind the Parade, have been just as prolific with their other projects as they have their better-known band. In light of increased exposure to these disparate groups, Wolf Parade starts to emerge as a precarious balancing act -- one that stands and falls by how well these opposing forces can work together to spark a greater whole. Fortunately, the group sounds more like a band than they ever have here. While never lacking an explosive live show, the studio albums have managed to fall a little flat. Even when the songs were great, they were hampered by unsympathetic production (Apologies) or inscrutable song structure/pacing (Mt. Zoomer). Expo 86 corrects these problem points, leaving only a batch of killer songs. From the start, the band have always pulled as much from art-rock and prog-rock (Bowie/Eno/Roxy) as heartland classic rock (Springsteen/Petty), creating eccentric anthems for a future breed. They keep the pillars firmly in place here, but the album benefits from better sequencing and a more seamless integration of Krug and Boeckner's voices than we've previously heard. Most importantly, the band sounds absolutely on fire, coming closer than they've ever managed to approximating the feverish intensity of their live show thanks to drummer Arlen Thompson's bombastic production (and tub-thumping!). For my money this band has always done the art-damaged modern anthem better than both the Arcade Fire-spawned theater troupes or the neo-Springsteen devil-in-blue-jeans contenders. Look no further than "What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had to Go This Way)" for proof of all this band's legion rock and roll powers at work simultaneously. When was the last time an indie record sounded good cranked? [JTr] Order CD by Texting "omcdwolfexpo" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   SO PERCUSSION & MATMOS Treasure State (Cantaloupe) "Shard" "Treasure" Baltimore-via-San Fran electro-acoustic/concrete wizards Matmos have toured with the modern composition ensemble So Percussion on and off for nearly ten years now, and anyone who has seen their collaborative concerts knows that the two groups often bring out the best in one another. This album feels like either a logical conclusion to that partnership, or perhaps the start of a fruitful new marriage; throughout Treasure State, Matmos and So Percussion sculpt lush, gorgeous landscapes of sound often crafted by little more than the rich tapestry of tones, timbres, and rhythms from their seemingly endless arsenal of instruments. So Percussion are more than adept at conjuring up a multitude of sounds from any one particular percussion instrument, but with the addition of Matmos's infamous sampling vocabulary, literally anything and everything is fair game. At various points throughout they manage to evoke the golden eras of NYC minimalism, Chicago post-rock, Berlin minimal techno, Hawaiian tikki bar exotica, and even a bit of California G-funk -- it's obvious that both parties are having loads of fun making this record, while still taking its compositional roots quite seriously. For me, one of the best things about this album is the way it simply lets Matmos do what they do without being weighed down too heavily by overarching concepts that, while brilliant and witty, can sometimes distract too heavily from paying clear attention to what's actually coming out of the speakers. Treasure State easily ranks up high in both groups' discographies, and deserves your attention if you've ever enjoyed either group's music. If you're new to these artists, I can't think of a better entry point for you to dive in and soak in their riches. [IQ] Order CD by Texting "omcdsotreasure" to 767825

		$16.99 CD   VARIOUS ARTISTS Cloud Cuckooland (B-Music/Finders Keepers) "Stunden" Ihre Kinder "World as One" Sam Spence For years, I've seen the lovely little Kuckuck bird logo while trawling through dusty record bins. Most often on the ubiquitous new age albums by the label's best-selling artist and Rajneesh-head, Deuter. Though I nearly always picked up their records to admire their logo, it took some digging to locate the LPs worth peeping (Deuter's D, Aum and Celebration come to mind). Still, though some of those records contained extended pastoral jams, not to mention the occasional acid-fried freak-out, I had little idea the label released anything resembling the heavy riffage or haunting soundtrack scores found on Cloud Cuckooland. Focusing on the what the label was doing up until 1974, Finders Keepers have opened up a vault of curios. Unsurprisingly, Deuter makes two appearances here. "Der Turm" gives you some sense of his early heavy psych experiments -- closer to early Ash Ra Tempel and Amon Duul than '80s Vangelis -- while "Rain" is typical of where he and Kuckuck would go as the New Age beckoned. (Or rather, as the '70s progressed.) Elsewhere, the wonderful Sam Spence is given ample room to present his cheeky Moog gurglings, sure to please the sound library nut in your family. Spence's "World as One" is particularly hot, suggesting what a Jean-Claude Vannier treatment of the Langley School might sound like. On the heavier end, Ernst Schultz, Sonny Hennig, and Ihre Kinder offer up the kind of heavy blues-prog riffage synonymous with a certain strand of Krautrock. Schultz's most interesting tracks, however, are often riffless. "Paranoia Picknick" showcases a psychedelic landscape of radiophonic plunderphonia while "10 Finger Blind" is a pathological typewriter-inspired tribal jam. For this listener, the curiously-named Antieater may offer the collection's most notable inclusion, their lovely and all-too brief dramatic scores fitting in snugly between Michel Legrand and Ennio Morricone. Recommended! [AG] Order CD by Texting "omcdvariouscloud" to 767825

		$17.99 CD   OPTIMO Fabric 52 (Fabric) The DJ duo of JD Twitch and JG Wilkes decided this past April to end their 13-year-long residency at the Sub Club in their hometown of Glasgow. A sad day considering that the party was probably one of the major catalysts for the burgeoning post-punk/disco resurgence and for those who were privileged to attend those legendary parties, many considered them to be one of the best of its kind on the planet. Instead, the duo has decided to devote most of their attention to touring and running their brand new label. If you're familiar with their mixes, you know that these two have an insatiable love for all things rhythmic and are master technicians of Ableton, the digital/sampling software that they primarily use to deejay. They don't so much blend records, as they do chop them up and layer two or three elements at a time, which is quite intoxicating. Add to the mix the duo's excellent taste, which makes all of the eclecticism sound exciting, even when it's disparate at times, and you have an unbeatable set. This latest mix focuses on fresh new electro/acid house jams, undercut with a nice cumbia, tribal-style rhythm that floats in and out at just the right moment. The organic cosmic thump of Prins Thomas cross-pollinates with the fierce minimal dub house rhythms of Basic Channel with nice results. The euphoric nu-skool acid cuts from Spencer Parker and the Minister were some of my favorite releases of '09 and it's great to see them both given some nice exposure here. There are also some nice flashes of Krautrock, tacky '80s high-energy courtesy of Bobby O and Afro-beat all blended perfectly. Another great mix from these guys and you shouldn't expect any less. [DH] Order CD by Texting "omcdoptimofabric52" to 767825

		$13.99 CD   UFFIE Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans (Elektra) "Art of Uff" "Difficult" This is a baffling, but strangely important record. I don't think I've ever seen such un-distilled bile spit in the direction of an album upon reading the initial reviews for this one; that alone was enough to make me devilishly curious to hear the CD upon its arrival here. I'd been familiar with Uffie's previous singles for the French Ed Banger label (most famously home to Justice, among others), but I'm not sure anything could have prepared me (or anyone else, for that matter) for Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. The album is far from flawless, but its off the cuff, nearly abstract exercises in popwise beat construction and bratty, nonsensical, head-scratching lyrics are what make it worth listening to. In many ways, Uffie is the GG Allin of mallrat clubpop; the album is chock full o' lyrics that are as self-destructive and careless as the infamous punk-rock feces-eater (albeit in obviously different ways), where she tells listeners how much she doesn't care, how many material goods she possesses, how the crack she's smoking is really good, and how she's essentially tricked the record business into releasing this record, where the singles are literally years old. It's witty, yes, but it's also really offensive in perhaps an unprecedented manner -- after, for better or worse, listening to this record about a dozen times, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with either my teenage sisters or some Chelsea or Williamsburg club kids listening to this and absorbing what it either stands for or parodies, depending on your point of view. Let me put it another way: if this CD included video footage of the recent "riot" that took place at South Street Seaport's aborted, overcrowded concert by Drake and Hanson (?!?), you'd have a pretty good time capsule of what's going wrong with pop culture and what corporations encourage and sell to youth these days. That alone makes me feel that the record really does need to be heard, and thankfully, some of the beats and backing tracks are great from a pop standpoint. Mr. Oizo makes his contributions fresh and odd enough to merit repeated listens, and there are tracks where Uffie sings so far off-key that she actually stumps the auto-tune into avant-garde meltdown. There are hooks aplenty, and there's a mix of coked-out disco glitz, hip-hop swagger, drunken karaoke unselfconsciousness, and the impish, giggling awe of a high school trickster marveling at how they've managed to pull off the Big Con and get away with it. I feel like Malcolm McLaren would be proud -- this is the closest thing to the Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle I've heard in ages. [IQ] Order CD by Texting "omcduffiesex" to 767825

		$17.99 CD $6.99 MP3   NEWS Hot Off the Press (Riverman / Yoga Records) "Loser" "Pine Tree Heaven" An unlikely reissue of a charming private press LP from a couple of Yale students circa 1974, the vibe is AM radio blowback, with a distinct Surf's Up-era Beach Boys harmonic sensibility, and the jangly songwriting of the Byrds or Lovin' Spoonful. The majority of tracks also feature a lap steel guitar -- surprising, and slightly befuddling (or slightly Byrdsian), with the choral tones of the lap steel echoing the catchy melodies, reminiscent of the infectious whistling refrains of old blues tunes. In that sense, there is something timeless about this record, something difficult to put your finger on, yet it grows with repeat listens. A couple of tracks -- "Ooh La La" and "New York City" in particular -- wouldn't be surprising to find on a solo Beatles or CSNY-related LP of the time. The album is much more cohesive and well produced than the vast majority of vanity LPs of the era; these guys had a distinct knack for good hooks and lots of unexpected compositional flourishes. All in all, a very noteworthy and unique record, and a testament to how real talent can make unlikely music fall into place. [SG] Order CD by Texting "omcdnewshot" to 767825

		$13.99 CD $9.99 MP3   VARIOUS ARTISTS Frank Fairfield's Pawn Records Presents Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts (Tompkins Square) "Pius Ogola" Akumu Odhiambo "Un Pied Dans L'eau" Bernard & Cantournet This is the debut release from Pawn Records, the new Tompkins Square imprint directed by old-timey L.A. musician Frank Fairfield, with the goal of uncovering hidden gems of the "Gramophone era." Collecting obscure 78s from around the world is a personal passion for Fairfield, and this broad collection features 16 of his favorite tracks from all corners; as such, there is little stylistic consistency beyond the hiss and crackle of ancient shellac and the emotion of unheralded singers and players pouring their hearts into their music. These are unknown artists, who cut a few sides in the early parts of the century (the recordings span from the 1910s to the '60s), and they fall somewhere between commercial recording and field recordings, covering vernacular music from Hawaii, Africa, East Asia, the American South and beyond. And yet, despite crisscrossing the globe and the century, there is still a focus and vision to the collection that makes it a pleasure from start to finish; whether these faded artists were unheard of even in their own time, or forgotten about through the shifting sand of time, their music lives on and will inspire a legion of new fans today. We are looking forward to future releases on what is sure to be a great new label. [JM] Order CD by Texting "omcdvariousunheard" to 767825

		$15.99 CD   BUKKA WHITE Mississippi Blues (Water) "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" "I Am in the Heavenly Way" After you've listened to this record, what is there to say about Booker T. Washington White? There are facts, there are questions, and then there is the music. He's Bukka White, say it out loud, and wonder how some guy at a desk in the Vocalion Records office in New York City could have heard Booker as Bukka and created that name out of thin air. He was born in 1906 and lived until 1977. Bukka White made blues music, through and through. He had some success releasing race records for Victor and Vocalion. John Lomax made field recordings of him while he was incarcerated. Harry Smith included him in the Anthology of American Folk Music. Dylan covered him on his debut album, and then John Fahey tracked him down with a postcard sent general delivery to "Bukka White (Old Blues Singer)" to Aberdeen, Mississippi. Actually White had settled in Memphis by that time, but a relative in the Aberdeen post office forwarded the card, and White's career was back. This reissue is licensed from Fahey's Tacoma Records, recorded in Memphis in '63, and the Water version adds three bonus cuts from the same period. White played the jangly, biting, vibrating machine they call the steel guitar, manufactured in America by the National String Instrument Corporation. He claimed to have met Charley Patton, and they say Bukka's the man who gave B.B. King -- his cousin, actually -- his first guitar. His story is the story of the blues in the 20th century, and this record documents that tale. The collection starts with the song that led John Fahey to Bukka, "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues," and just sort of rolls out from there. You can hear the percussive plucking and slapping of Charley Patton's style, and the heavy upward and downward swells of the slide at work -- in the background, a little washboard. On "Remembrance of Charley Patton," White puts the guitar down and waxes historic. On "Drunk Man Blues" he bangs out some accompaniment on the piano. Most of the time though it's just you, Bukka, a National steel guitar, and the tradition laid bare. [AS] Order CD by Texting "omcdbukkamississippi" to 767825

		$13.99 CD   NOVELLER Desert Fires (Saffron) "Kites Calm Desert Fires" "Three Windows Facing Three Doors" In Parts & Labor and even Rhys Chatham's guitar army, Sarah Lipstate has managed to poke her double-necked guitar above a sea of noise with a sprawling sonic landscape of delightful drone; working with unusual tunings and a dense array of pedals, Listate's guitar is one of the most distinct, and distinctly interesting in Brooklyn and beyond. Lately Lipstate's main musical focus has been her solo project as Noveller, and her second full-length shows a quieter, more dynamic side to this young artist. From the onset, Desert Fires is inviting to curious ears; a flickering of notes chase each other along the rumbling low end drone, drawing the listener into the "Toothnest" only to die out and be reborn in a soup of warm distortion of the succeeding track. This is the sound of calm after a night of raging bonfires, as the sun is just starting to rise over the horizon, the desert still cool and the distance but a blur of the evening that was and the day that shall be. There are moments where the sounds of this album slow time to a crawl and the listener lingers alongside each delayed note, lost in the density of the sound and the emotions that echo throughout the space created. Even at its most ferocious, the overdriven guitar growls are playful and restrained, pulsing breaths that accent the swirl of sounds as they wash over one like the first tide of the day. At just under 35 minutes, this is an experience that fades out as quickly as it snuck in, leaving the listener ever wanting more. [SL] Order CD by Texting "omcdnovellerdesert" to 767825

		$12.99 LP   CLOAKED LIGHT | PALE BLUE SKY Split 12" (Arbor) The drone can be a beautiful thing, but all too often it is used as a counterweight for supreme laziness. Compositional laziness, structural laziness -- these days you say drone, someone else will reply with a protracted yawn. But it doesn't always have to be that way, and Mike Pollard knows this only too well, curating the finest drones from other people (he, like, discovered Emeralds, or something) and in his scant free time making his own fluffed-up tonal variations under the moniker Pale Blue Sky. The attention to detail on this criminally limited split is what initially piqued my interest; from the minimal but engrossing cover art down to the fact that the record is cut to an audiophile-quality 45RPM, everything is seemingly in the right place and executed excellently. A cursory listen might not reveal much, but this is a record concerned almost exclusively with the minute details. The Cloaked Light side brings little in the way of obvious change or harmonic progression, but on repeat listens the mind strips away the dense sounds and reveals shimmers and scratches from a mysterious astral plane. Similar could be said about Pollard's own side, and this is for me his finest moment yet as treacle-heavy viscous synthesizer drones dribble slowly in and out of the conscious brain leaving mere traces of form and a distinct sense of bliss. Ambient music it may be, but this is uncompromising and mercifully lacking the sickly melodrama of many of the current crop of so-called 'ambient' producers. Listen and prepare to be absorbed. [JT] Order LP by Texting "omlpcloakedsplit" to 767825

		$15.99 12"x2 $5.99 MP3   AFRICA HITECH Hitecherous (Warp) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store A new EP from Africa Hitech, the duo of producer Mark Pritchard and vocalist Steve 'Spacek' White, who recently signed to Warp and are eking out a few singles before releasing their proper album, due early next year. Following the hyper-digital Caribbean rhythms of their previous single "Blen," this new double-12", Hitecherous, is a weighty and diverse mix of modern electronica. Pritchard began as a member of Global Communication and more recently Harmonic 313, and with this new project he utilizes a wealth of programming abilities across varied contemporary sub-genres. White is most recognized as the vocalist of the excellent (and now defunct) British electronic soul trio Spacek, but here he keeps his vocals to a minimum and lets the beats take focus. Across the seven tracks on this EP, a mix of vocals and instrumentals, AHT are able to skillfully create a varied sound palette, from dubstep and digital dancehall to 2step/UK funky, acid, techno and grime, all with sonically vibrant results. The track "Said Speed" has decaying bass drops that could be a modern take on the soundtrack for the classic arcade game Centipede, while "Boingy" has an opposite tone, with escalating digital ping-pong lasers. With lots of bubbly low end, percolating synths and a nice mix of rhythms, crispy snares, and bobbing-n-weaving video game sound effects this new duo are creating tracks that live up to and are inspired by their name, Africa Hitech. For fans of Skream, Pinch, and the wealth of tropical-influenced digital rhythms circulating worldwide. [DG] Order LP by Texting "omlpafricahitecherous" to 767825

		$13.99 CD 180 Gram $21.99 LP+MP3 $9.99 MP3   TO ROCOCO ROT Speculation (Domino) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store The first new album from To Rococo Rot in nearly six years finds Stefan Schneider and brothers Robert and Ronald Lippok setting up in Faust's studio for many of these sessions, the trio taking an almost live-performance approach to the recording process. The resulting Speculation includes some of the band's most organic sounding material yet, with Stefan's deep bass and Robert's precise drumming guiding Robert's whirring keyboards, electronics and minimalist beats through hypnotic, dubby explorations and mysterious soundscapes, and finally floating into the kosmische with album closer "Friday," which features Faust's own Jochen Irmler on his self-built organ. Order CD by Texting "omcdtospeculation" to 767825 Order LP by Texting "omlptospeculation" to 767825

		$12.99 CD   SCISSOR SISTERS Night Work (Downtown) Scissor Sisters return with their third full-length, an album that could technically be considered the girls' fourth when you consider that the band scrapped an entire record's worth of songs before this one, after which Jake Shears embarked on an extended stay in Berlin. Inspired by the city's infamous bustling nightlife scene, upon his return the group enlisted producer Stuart Price (Madonna), the resulting Night Work being a shimmering, sexually charged romp through Moroder-esque disco and infectious synth-pop anthems. Order CD by Texting "omcdscissornight" to 767825

		$16.99 LP $9.99 MP3   SIBYLLE BAIER Colour Green (American Dust) Preview Songs on Other Music's Download Store Very rarely, within moments of hearing a record, do you simply know that it will be with you for a long time. I think I can state unequivocally that people will be holding Sibylle Baier's Colour Green near and dear to their hearts long after they've consigned this year's scores of over-hyped albums to the local record shop's 99 cent bin. Generally, I find it distasteful to bandy about comparisons to the likes of Vashti Bunyan or Nick Drake because you're almost inevitably setting the consumer and listener up for, at the very least, slight disappointment. However, if any album I've reviewed over the years deserves to rest in such rarified company, then this is surely the one. Ms. Baier apparently wrote these songs subsequent to a "particularly dark and moody" period of her life in the early-'70s. A close friend coaxed her on a road trip across the Alps and the journey gratefully rejuvenated her spirits. Upon returning home to Germany she began recording delicate little songs in her bedroom on a reel-to-reel tape machine which no one but her close friends and family ever heard until just a few years ago when Colour Green was first issued on CD. Diacritic, and filled with day-to-day observation and experience, these compact little gems are utterly timeless and instantly familiar. If the liner notes hadn't told me they were recorded between 1970 and '73, I'd have thought they could have been made last week. Mark my words, a cult-like devotion is going to grow up around this work of Sybille Baier's and with good reason. [MK] Order LP by Texting "omlpsybillecolour" to 767825

		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 [SG] Simon Gabriel [AG] Alexis Georgopoulos [DG] Daniel Givens [DH] Duane Harriott [IQ] Mikey IQ Jones [MK] Michael Klausman [SL] Sean Lovelace [JM] Josh Madell [CP] Chris Pappas [AS] Andrew Siskind [JTr] Jon Treneff [JT] John Twells THANKS FOR READING - all of us at Other Music

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