Finally The Henry Cow Box-Set in Stock This Monday!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Four New Discs from Tzadik: Bill Laswell Solo, Guy Klucevsek Quint & Greg Wall's Later Prophets, 2 from Gunter Hampel, Radio I-Ching, Alan Licht Solo LP, Reut Regev R*Time, Capece & Vaino, 4 from Martin Philadelphy, Horace Tapscott, Gottschalk & Jacquemyn, Adventures in Sound w/ Xenakis, Stockhausen & Schaeffer, Charlemagne Palestine & Christoph Heemann and even more...




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HEY!
1st Free In-Store Performance at our New Location:

MONDAY (not Sunday), March 23rd at 7pm:

HERB ROBERSTON & TIM BERNE!
Herb on trumpets & Tim on alto sax!
Two early downtown horn heroes back together after all those years!
WOW!


and JUST ADDED, our 2nd Free Instore show:

Sunday, March 29th at 7pm:

FRANK GRATKOWSKI & THOMAS HEBERER!
Frank on alto sax & clarinets and Thomas on trumpet!
Two European Horn Giants in a rare, intimate, duo setting!
WOW!


Need we say more!?! We expect the place to be packed with You ..and You ..and You!

And you thought we'd given up our old ways!

More to Come!


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LIMITED ENGAGEMENT FOR THIS FOREMAN-ZORN THEATRICAL EVENT!

Richard Foreman is one of the most important theatre directors in the world, and has been a personal hero of John Zorn's for over 30 years. This theatre/music piece is the historic first-time collaboration for two masters of the bizarre (both MacArthur geniuses) who individually have challenged, enlightened and entertained adventurous audiences for decades.

ASTRONOME: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is a work dominated by ecstatic groans, grunts and babbling, and explores the initiation of a group of people into a world where ambiguous behavior alone leads to freedom--perhaps under the tutelage of the necessary "false messiah." This is one of those events that can only happen downtown - culminating from a chance meeting in the street - independent of any special grants, funding, institution or administration.

Based on ASTRONOME, the intense second CD of a series featuring Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and Joey Baron, Richard Foreman's staging of it is absolutely stunning!

Please make a special effort to see this once in a lifetime event, opening FEBRUARY 5th and RUNNING FOR ONLY TWO MONTHS through APRIL 5th at the ONOTOLOGICAL-HYSTERIC THEATRE
@ St Marks Church in the East Village, 131 East 10th St on Second Ave!


to purchase tickets, go to:

https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/633735


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Last two days for PREORDER 10% DISCOUNT reservations for The Two HENRY COW 'The Road' Boxes!

We are promised them IN-STOCK ON MONDAY, and they will be shipped out through mid-week


YOU may order only one or both boxes [if ordering both 'The Road' boxes, or only box #2, please let us know if you have previously purchased V6 "Stockholm & Goteburg", so that you will not be sent that disc and be charged proportionately less]

..

HENRY COW [FRED FRITH/TIM HODGKINSON/CHRIS CUTLER/GEORGIE BORN/JOHN GREAVES/LINDSAY COOPER/DAGMAR KRAUSE et al] 's

40th Anniversary Box #1 - The Road Vols 1-5: Beginnings/1974-5/Hamburg/Trondheim [5 CD Box Set + Book] (ReR HC7-11BOX; UK) Disc 1 - Beginnings; Disc 2 - 1974-5; Disc 3 - Hamburg; Discs 4 & 5 - Trondheim
the Preorder Price is $81
($90 if ordered after 3/22/09)

AND..

40th Anniversary Box #2 - The Road Vols 6-10 [4 CD + DVD Box Set + Book] (ReR HC12-16BOX; UK) Disc 1 [v6] - Stockholm & Goteburg; Disc 2 [v7] - Later And Post-Virgin; Disc 3 [v8] - Bremen; Disc 4 [v9] - Late; Disc 5 [v10; DVD] - Vevey 1976

the Preorder Price is $81
($90 if ordered after 3/22/09)

if ordering BOX #2 WITHOUT Vol 6, Preorder Price is $67
($74 if ordered after 3/22/09)

..

Everyone so far has preordered BOTH BOXES - of course! - for which the preorder price is $162
($180 if ordered after 3/22/09)

if ordering BOTH BOXES but WITHOUT Vol 6, Preorder Price is $148
($164 if ordered after 3/22/09)

Cost of Shipping not included - which will include Insurance unless otherwise requested.
(Foreign orders may be registered or insured)

..

"My introduction to Henry Cow: 1972 was the year when it all came together for me. I entered college (Glassboro State) in September and finally found a new family of friends who were as enthusiastic as I was about music. My two favorite bands were the Mothers of Invention and Soft Machine plus I listened to as much interesting music as possible. I took a "History of Jazz" course freshman year with Manny Albam as one of my two professors. It started with Herbie Hancock ('Sextant' LP) and Miles Davis ('Bitches Brew') and then worked its way backwards through jazz's long history. I soon became a jazz fan, absorbing everything I could get my hands on. I recall hitching home for a weekend to visit my girlfriend Mindy and hanging out with an older friend named Bob Grohl [Dave's brother]. Bob had the largest collection of British import albums and singles that I've ever seen and turned me on to hundreds of obscure British rock bands through our long friendship. He played me the first Patto album, which blew my mind and said he had a present. He handed me an album and said that it was way too weird for him but that I would most likely dig it. It was Henry Cow's first album, 'Leg End' and he was right since it became one of my favorite records of all time. The first time I listened to it, I was mystified. It didn't sound like anything I had ever heard, yet I thought I heard the influence of The Mothers (circa 'Uncle Meat') and Soft Machine ('Third' & 'Four'). I played it over and over for my friends from college and home and turned many folks on to this unique gem. 1972-1974 were my favorite years for music with a number of my (still) favorite records produced then: Robert Wyatt's 'Rock Bottom' & 'Ruth is Stranger Richard', the first two Henry Cow albums & the first two Hatfield & the North albums.
It took me a long time to figure out how this music was made and what exactly I dug about those two Henry Cow records. They still remain mysterious in certain ways even today. I wrote to members of Henry Cow during the summer of 1974 and when I got back to college in September, lo & behold, I received response from Fred Frith, Chris Cutler & Tim Hodgkinson, with a letter from each. I had asked about their influences and the music they liked and received lengthy notes from Chris & Fred and concise response from Tim. My three roommates & myself read these letters over and over to learn more about these mysterious folks. Since then, I have become friends with all three and continue to look forward to all of the discs they have been involved with through the years. I asked Fred, Tim and Chris to play together for a DMG curated month at The Stone in December of 2006 for the first time since the Henry Cow days (1968-1979) and they did! We recorded all four trio sets, which will eventually be released on the DMG/ARC label, so please remain patient.
In the meantime, this Holy Grail double-collection of Henry Cow live recordings, The Road Vols 1-10, has finally been released and all we can say is, "Hallelujah!". During their recorded lifespan, Henry Cow released just six albums, five studio and one live double album ('Concerts'). It has been a couple of years since Chris Cutler mentioned that he was working on a large Henry Cow live box-set, so there has been a great deal of anticipation involved. The great news is this: this massive box-set with 9 CD's and 1 DVD is even better than anyone could've imagined. As with Soft Machine, whose personnel and sound changed/evolved on every record, Henry Cow's distinctive sound was constantly in flux. This colossal box-set, fills in the space between each of the six albums with incredible live performances from various venues in Europe throughout their history. As with any important document (box-set), it will take a while to absorb this entire 10-disc set, there is a great deal listen to and to think about. A friend of mine took an entire weekend to listen carefully to this 10-disc set and it still reeling from the immense amount of historic music and great listening involved. I am slowly listening to each disc, one at a time, so that I can consider and savor each one. One of the great things about this box is that it includes two lengthy (60 page) booklets which discuss the way these pieces develop. All members of Henry Cow get a chance to discuss their time with and ideas about the band. This helps to unravel the mystery quite a bit. There a number of both fascinating and occasionally hilarious stories told throughout. A longer version of this review will appear in our database as I review each disc. Prog(ressive) heads worldwide are now rejoicing with the release of this fabulous double box-set. Without any doubt these are the finest historic recordings of the year." - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

A lengthy review of the entire Henry Cow Box-Set will be transmitted next week and/or just appear on the DMG website. I am nearly done & I am still blown away! - BLG


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New from Tzadik!

BILL LASWELL - Invisible Design II (Tzadik 8062; USA) In addition to being one of the most unique producers in contemporary music, (Iggy Pop, Herbie Hancock, George Clinton, Mick Jagger, Laurie Anderson, et al, et al!), Bill Laswell is also one of the world's most original and creative bassists. Here he brings his prodigious technique, massive sound and renegade conception to the fore in this intense and virtuosic outing for solo bass. Armed with four-string and eight-string bass and a barrage of effects and distortion boxes, his skill as a player has never been more evident. A dynamic follow-up to his 1999 release Invisible Design, this is an intimate view into the mind of one of the greatest musicians of our time. TZADIK COMPOSER SERIES
CD $14

GUY KLUCEVSEK - Dancing on the Volcano (Tzadik 7627; USA) Guy Klucevsek is one of the world's first and foremost accordion virtuosos, performing with the likes of Laurie Anderson, Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith and the Kronos Quartet, among many others. His music has graced theater productions, films, dance concerts and he has toured with his ensembles the world over. Guy's third CD for Tzadik presents a series of charming new compositions filled with the patented Klucevsek wit and humor, and is scored for a fabulous quartet of some of his closest collaborators. A new CD from Guy is always a delight, and this is one of his very best. TZADIK KEY SERIES
CD $14

GREG WALL'S LATER PROPHETS - The Kook Project (Tzadik 8137; USA) A leading figure in the Jewish music scene for over thirty years, Greg Wall is one of the pioneers in blending Jewish music with jazz. His newest recording with his powerful ensemble Later Prophets is a colorful and provocative mix of jazz and Jewish poetry and features the spiritual writings of Rabbi Avraham Itzchak HaCohen Kook, recently voted the most influential figure in the shaping of modern Israel. Kook was a unique blend of the traditional and the modern - and the music follows suit, with funky grooves, improvisations and even a few of Kook's own compositions. With texts read by one of the greatest living scholars on Kook and his milieu, this is an important document of Jewish mysticism. TZADIK RADICAL JEWISH CULTURE SERIES
CD $14

TAFILALT - Tafilalt (Tzadik 8138; USA) Sacred texts from the Mishnah, prayers from North Africa and the Middle East, modern Hebrew poetry and even a letter found in the streets of Jerusalem all serve as the basis for this exciting exploration of the roots of Hebrew song by these innovative young Israeli composer/performers. Original members of Haoman 18, an Israeli counterpart to Radical Jewish Culture, these three musicians combine traditional music with improvisation and contemporary composition in adventurous arrangements. Exotic and passionate new music from the Holy Land featuring middle eastern percussion, mediaeval strings and voices. TZADIK RADICAL JEWISH CULTURE SERIES
CD $14


RADIO I-CHING [ANDY HAAS/DON FIORINO/DEE POP] - No Wave Au Go Go (Resonant 06; USA) Featuring Andy Haas on sax & electronics, Don Fiorino on guitar, banjo, mandolin & glissentar and Dee Pop on drums & percussion. They did it again, they did it again! Our favorite local trio continue to dazzle us with their own unique, jubilant sound/blend. All three of these fine folks are veterans of the downtown scene with diverse backgrounds and influences. Even the songs that they choose to cover are an odd selection: Monk, Harold Arlen, Eddie Durham, Duke Jordan and Johnny Mercer. The other half of their songs are originals that have their own distinctive sound. The opening track, "Shadowboy Radio Theme Song" is a great, funky, greasy, surf-rockin' groove tune that gotta make you smile. Old jazz standard, "Judgement Day" features some spirited soprano sax from Andy Haas and cool mandolin over Dee's righteous, dancing drums. "Molly Simpson" is a swell, simmering song with soft, sly wah-wah guitar and eerie sax. Monk's classic "Mysterioso" gets a dreamy rendition that is both unique and mesmerizing. Dee's swirling drumming here is completely enchanting. The title track is a bent sort of no-wave rocker with some twisted sax by Andy over an infectious beat. I dig the way Radio I-Ching take an old standard like "Topsy" and take out into space while still swinging at the same time. On Duke Jordan's "No Problem" the guitar and sax swirl around one another magically intersecting two lines while Dee holds down the inner pulse with subdued waves of hypnotic rhythm. For "On the Road to Algeria", the trio get into a great Rai-like (North African funk) groove with more quiet psych guitar from Don. You would think that an old corny song like, "I'm an Old Cowhand" would be an silly way to bring this disc to close, yet Radio I-Ching take this tune into outer-space and then slowly bring u don to the planet earth once again. Ting ting ting, another hidden treasure from the mighty Radio I-Ching! - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
Radio I-Ching will celebrate the release of this CD at The Cake Shop (152 Ludlow Street, NYC) on Wednesday, March 25th at 9pm!
CD $10


REUT REGEV QUARTET - This is R*Time (RopeADope Digital; EEC) Featuring Reut Regev on trombone, flugelhorn & compositions, David Phelps on guitars, Brad Jones on basses and Igal Foni on drums & compositions plus Eddie Bobe on congas. The first time I heard/saw Israeli trombonist Ms. Reut Regev play with Ras Moshe, I was amazed that I hadn't heard of her yet and that she was an incredible trombonist! Since then I've heard Ms. Regev play with Butch Morris, Anthony Braxton klezmer & Latin others and she just keeps getting better. R*Time is Reut's own quartet and this is her/their debut disc. All I can say is like wow! Right from the first tune, we know we are in for something special, something spirited! "Swill" opens with a smokin' , hard jazz-rockin' groove. The trombone and guitar are burning together over the tight, slamming rhythm team. Brad Jones takes a great electric bass solo, not the instrument we usually hear him on (contrabass). Lead guitarist, David Phelps, is yet another of those great but under-recognized guitar players the NYC is filled with so it is great to hear him playing his tight, intricate and creative lines together with Reut's always sassy and inspired trombone. "Nutcase Scenario" reinds me of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun" and Phelps sounds wonderful taking an incredible post-Hendrix like guitar solo. When Reut takes over later in the tune, she outdoes herself with an astonishing trombone solo that must be heard to be believed. Even Igal's drum solo near the end is superb. Latin percussion hero Eddie Bobe plays on "Balibalaila" which is a swell, laid back sort of ballad with some exquisite trombone and guitar. One of the highlights here is "Some of the Best Fish are Alive" which has a tight yet twisted structure with fractured guitar and furious trombone over the tight, pumping rhythm section. "Faradise" is a unique piece that blends Latin influences with intricate start & stop rhythmics. Drum wiz, Igal Foni, is constantly turning the beat on its head as it shifts through different sections. One of the things that makes this disc so special is that it is so well produced, the sound and balance are perfect, everyone involved contributes to their sound. There are nine original songs on this disc and each one is outstanding and diverse. Is this the CD of the month? It certainly seems so!
CD release party on Wednesday April 29th 8:30pm for 2 sets at Cornelia Street Cafe. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $15


New from NimbusWest: Unheard Tapscott!
[in stock Monday]

HORACE TAPSCOTT - Vol. 1: Lighthouse '79 (NimbusWest 4035; USA) Never before released in any form! Amazing playing from pianist Horace Tapscott with Roberto Miranda and David Bryant basses, George Goldsmith drums; and student horns Gary Bias alto, Reggie Bullen trumpet [whose not-up-to-scratch solos have been edited out]. Recorded live at Rudy Onderwyzer's Lighthouse in 1979
CD $13

DADISI KOMOLAFE QUINTET - Hassan's Walk (NimbusWest 3035; USA) Dadisi Komolafe flute and alto sax, Ricky Kelly vibes, Eric Tillman piano, Roberto Miranda bass, Sunhip Theus on drums. Recorded 1984 at Paramount Studios, Hollywood. A very beautiful West Coast outsider record from members of Tapscott's Pan-Arkestra.
CD $13


GUNTER HAMPEL - Lifer: Solo Live At The Bowery Poetry Club [DVD] (Birth 90217; Germany) DVD-R. Featuring Gunter Hampel on vibes, bass clarinet and flute. This set was just a few weeks ago and Mr. Hampel was playing on the same bill with another ESP: Guiseppi Logan, who had disappeared for nearly 40 years from the music scene. Bowery Poetry Club was packed and Gunter blew everyone away. Like Guiseppi Logan, Gunter also had a great disc on ESP from 1968, more than 40 years ago and which was recently reissued. It sounds as fresh and exciting today as it did when it first came out.
Back then Gunter Hampel started his own label (Birth) and has released more than forty discs of his own unique music.In all of that time Gunter has only released 3 solo discs on Birth, the first almost 40 years ago, the second one came out just last month.. Considering that Gunter played alone, his set was well balanced and dynamic. He would develop a theme on one instrument (the vibes) and them continue to evolve and stretch out on another instrument (bass clarinet or flute). It was completely magical and told a full story. This DVD captures Gunter Hampel telling that wonderful story so be prepared to be stunned. - BLG
DVD $16

GUNTER HAMPEL EUROPEAN TRIO + BASS - Thank You: Live At The Theaterkapelle In Berlin [2 CD set] (Birth 81218; Germany) [2 x CD-R] Featuring Gunter Hampel on vibes, bass clarinet & flute, Johannes Schleiermacher on tenor sax & percussion, Andreas Lang on bass & percussion and Bernd Oezsevim on drums & percussion. This is the fifth fine disc from Euro/New York free/jazz legend Gunter Hampel's European Trio. The difference with this disc is that have added bassist Andreas Lang. There is something extraordinary going on here. This is the past, present and future of modern jazz going on simultaneously. You could say that modern jazz was born with the birth of bebop in the late 1940's, making this music about 60 years old. Free jazz exploded in the mid-sixties in the US and soon there after in Europe. Gunter Hampel has been there developing (t)his music since the birth avant/jazz, first in Germany, then in other parts of Europe and finally moving to the NY in 1969. He has always sought out like-minded musicians and has played with many of the best European and American musicians. You can here the history of this music whenever he plays making all of his discs special in the own unique way.
This disc starts freely but you can hear the interplay between the two reeds, bass and drums immediately. The quartet soon hit their stride about halfway through the first piece when they start swinging joyously. Gunter eventually comes in on vibes and spins his web of notes underneath Johannes' tenor, swirling tightly with Bernd's drums. "Straff" has an older sounding theme with stronger harmonies for the bass clarinet & tenor and strong rhythm team interplay. Andreas Lang (another fine Hampel discovery) takes a strong contrabass solo here and elsewhere on these discs. "Godzilla" is a long. laid back piece which includes a fine flute and acoustic bass duo. Each piece uncovers another aspect of Gunter's thoughtful writing and ever-engaging playing. The second disc/second set starts a piece called "Another" that features an amazing unaccompanied bass clarinet solo. Slowly the musicians come in on percussion, bass and tenor as the piece escalates higher and gets more dense, intense and even hits a swinging jazz groove. "Jazzlife" has a quick Art Blakey-like central drum pulse with both reeds spinning together robustly. Gunter's solid quartet deals with a good deal of diverse arranging and inspired playing throughout. Two complete sets and over two hours long. Well worth the inexpensive cost. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
2 CD set for $20


Copies found of ..!

GUNDA GOTTSCHALK/PETER JACQUEMYN - E Pericoloso Sporgersi (Valve 7099; EEC) Featuring Gunda Gottschalk on violin & viola and Peter Jacquemyn on double bass. At last year's Victo Fest there was a duo set that blew everyone away and folks are still talking about. It was a duo with Xu Feng Xia on komungo and Gunda Gottschalk on violin & viola. I first heard Gunda with the late Peter Kowald at an early Vision Fest and on an FMP CD. Gunda also once played a fine solo set at the old DMG and her duo with Xu Feng Xia was dazzling at a earlier Vision Fest. Actually it was Peter Kowald who dropped off this box of discs at our old store the week before he passed away. Peter Jacquemyn once played in amazing solo acoustic bass set at our store that I recall with him laying the bass on the floor and bowing it in odd ways. Hence, I looked forward to hearing this mighty duo.
This is an all acoustic duo that is consistently exploring through deep improvisations. Both musicians bow, scrape, pluck and bend their strings in a variety of fascinating ways. This duo is often intense, highly-charged and consistently twisting their notes into all sorts of odd shapes. It sounds as if they are using some sort of devices, wood or plastic objects on the strings at times, making their sounds all the more weird and difficult to pinpoint exactly who is doing what. There is a consistent balance between two extremes at work here: when Peter starts plucking and pulling the strings of his bass aggressively, Gunda plays more lyrical lines in sharp contrast. At times both players will bend their strings into harsh fragments at the same time and then show some magical restraint on the next piece. What makes this so extraordinary is the way both string players reach deep into the bag of tricks and come up with fascinating results time and again. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $14


ALAN LICHT - YMCA (Family Vineyard 63; USA) "YMCA is guitarist Alan Licht's first solo release since 2003's A New York Minute double CD (on XI), and his first solo vinyl outing since 1994's long out-of-print Sink The Aging Process (on Siltbreeze). Largely recorded at a 2004 concert at a Cambridge Massachusetts YMCA by Keith Fullerton Whitman, YMCA documents Licht's solo guitar set of the time -- a three-part structured improvisation that moves from mournful, layered sustained tones that sound more like a reed organ than a guitar, to a gently plucked middle section, to a final firestorm of loop processing that is a tour de force of 'the changing same.' Inspired by his friends Oren Ambarchi and Tetuzi Akiyama's then-current albums (Triste and Don't Forget To Boogie), Licht proposed YMCA to Idea Records to form a kind of trilogy with those releases. With Idea's subsequent demise, Family Vineyard has stepped in to bring this peak performance out as a special limited edition vinyl release, exactly as the artist originally conceived it. Limited to 500 copies."
LP $17


CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE & CHRISTOPH HEEMANN - Saiten In Flammen (Streamline 1021; Germany) "Saiten In Flammen, a new album by Charlemagne Palestine and Christoph Heemann follows their collaborative work on Palestine's heavy-metal-piano workout The Apocalypse Will Blossom with a more textural approach. As on The Apocalypse... the only sound source used throughout these two electro-acoustic explorations of the lower depths is the Bosendorfer Imperial Grand Piano, notorious for its unique resonant qualities. The title is a German translation of 'strings aflame.' ...looking directly at the cloud, he saw that it was not a cloud, although what it was he did not know. It was a massive wall of utter blackness that rose from where it met the surface of the downward sloping sand far into the sky, so that he was forced to crane his neck to see the top of it. Lightning bolts still slashed across its face with devastating ferocity, and thunder crashed and rumbled. The wall, he saw or thought he'd saw, was a monstrous dam raised against the sky, and over the lip of it was pouring something that was not water, a gigantic waterfall of blackness that was not water, crashing down across the face of it, a waterfall so solid and unbroken that he did not see the actual falling of it, but only had the hypnotic sense of its falling. Watching it, he realized that it was not only thunder he heard, but the deep, awful roar of whatever was falling over the lip of the dam, the Niagara-like rushing sound of something falling down from great height, falling from the unknown into the unknown. It seemed to him that the very ground beneath him was trembling with the roar.'"
LP $17


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Austrian Guitarist, Composer & Multi-bandleader, Martin Philadelphy is in Town this Week & Playing with Lukas Ligeti Tonight (3/20/09). He left us with copies of four newer CD's & Only a few of each. So here goes:

ELEKTRO FARMER [MARTIN PHILADELPHY] - Ultra Natural (Delphy 22; EEC) [limited time price, normally $17] Featuring Martin Philadelphy on guitar & vocals, Stephan Sperlich on electronics, synth & cello and Philipp Moosbrugger on upright bass. This reminds me of sly stripped down music of Tom Waits, one of the folks that this disc is dedicated to. The trio plays twisted , skeletal post-rock with sly guitar, synth and cool beat. I kept thinking that Tom Waits' voice was going to come in. The guitar and drums play the slinky rhythms while the synth plays short, nifty solos. In some ways this recalls Fred Frith's twisted pop records on Ralph ('Gravity' & 'Speechless'). Martin sings on a few of these songs and certainly has his own odd charm. On "Acre of Bacon", the trio calm down and chant "Living in a tofu town" over a laid-back hypnotic groove, very nice. I have to admit that I found this disc to be thoroughly enchanting in its own twisted way. Martin takes a few short yet inspired guitar solos here & there but it is the actual instantly memorable ditties that stand out. - BLG
CD $12

[MARTIN PHILADELPHY'S] PAINT - 6to6 String Dezibel (Delphy 15/Extrapatte 595; EEC) [ltd time price, normally $17] This disc features eleven guitarist including Martin Siewert, Burkhard Stangl and Martin Philadelphy plus Lukas Ligeti & Jorg Hollwarth on drums. The only players I recognize are Siewert & Stangl who have worked with Efzeg and Trapist. The concept here is that the first guitarist uses six E strings tuned to an E, the next guitarist uses six A strings tuned to an A and so on. Thus the eleven guitarists create an extra-large guitar sound when playing together. The orchestral sound of the numerous guitars does sound like it comes from the Glenn Branca or Rhys Chatham school, without the overly loud cacophony that those composers strive for. On each piece Martin layers the guitars in different ways or combinations. The guitars play mutant harmonies which are often fascinating but occasionally unsettling. It sounds like we are listening to rock music from other planets with harmonies that are not quite right. - BLG
CD $12

6to6 STRING DEZIBEL [MARTIN PHILADELPHY'S PAINT] - String Driven Blower (Delphy 18/Extraplatte 713; EEC) [ltd time price, normally $17] This disc features Martin Philadelphy, Emanuel Preusch, Daniel Pabst, Chris Janka, Claudius Jelinek and Didier Hampl all on guitars with Thomas Kaefer on drums. Like the previous 6to6 String Dezibel project, this disc features a more stripped down version of the band with only 6 guitars and a drummer. Once again the first guitarist uses 6 E strings tuned to an E, the second guitarist uses six A strings and tunes to an A, so on & so forth. The sixteen pieces are all relatively short and utilize Martin's twisted harmonies differently on each piece. I must admit that I am a fan of electric guitar ensembles and this one is pretty successful. Somewhere between the Raybeats and Pell Mell, lies this fine plectrum ensemble. It is nice for a change to hear a guitar ensemble that doesn't play too loud or too densely to enjoy. - BLG
CD $12

[MARTIN] PHILADELPHY'S PAINT - Open to Attack with Exuberate Silence (Delphy 17/Extrapatte 709; EEC)[limited time price, normally $17] Featuring: Martin Philadelphy on guitar, Christian Martinek on electronics, Helge Hinteregger on vocalese & kaos pad, Mia Zabelka on violin, Didier Hampl on bass and Josef Klammer on drums. This appears to be the sixth disc by Martin Philadelphy's band Paint and was recorded live in December of 2006 and March of 2007. The personnel hasn't changed very much guests have included Tom Abbs, Dave Bryant and Pavel Fajt. The group blends atmospheric electronics with bent guitar explorations, sort of stripped down version of Hawkwind without their cosmic boogie. Some of the more restrained atmospheric soundscapes are quite good with focused, free-floating spacey sounds. Sometimes the band get into an odd funky groove while the guitar and synth play strange solos together or apart. Some of Martin's whammy bar work sounds like Adrian Belew. Quite a long disc that heads out to space and then goes into other unexpected directions. Some of Martin's crafty guitar solos are well worth the price of admission. - BLG
CD $12


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MONO - Hymn To The Immortal Wind (Temporary Residence 148; USA) "Just in time for their 10-year anniversary, Mono return with their fifth studio album, the absolutely massive Hymn To The Immortal Wind. The music is naturally majestic, with Mono's trademark wall of noise crashing beautifully against the largest chamber orchestra the band has ever enlisted. The instrumentation is vast, incorporating strings, flutes, organ, piano, glockenspiel and tympani into their standard face-melting set-up. While Hymn continues to mine the cinematic drama inherent in all of Mono's music, the dynamic shifts now come more from dark-to-light instead of quiet-to-loud. The maturity to balance these elements so masterfully has become Mono's strongest virtue." Includes 24-page booklet with short stories and dazzling illustrations.
CD $14

FRIDGE - Early Output 1996-1998 (Temporary Residence 139; USA) "Originally released on Trevor Jackson's fledgling Output Recordings, Fridge's early releases playfully skated all over the musical map, jumping from bashing lo-fi punk to sublime expanses of downtempo dance with equal enthusiasm. Always produced by the band at home (and often mixed directly to cassette), these early records drew much deserved fanfare. With Output Recordings now defunct, and Fridge having spawned no less than three successful side-projects (most notably Four Tet, Adem and Kieran Hebden's collaborations with jazz legend Steve Reid), Early Output 1996-1998 is a band-curated collection of the most memorable tracks from those wildly prolific early years, including six previously unreleased tracks from that era. Remastered from the original master tapes, the package also includes extensive liner notes from the friends, collaborators, and the band themselves."
CD $14


SATOSHI SONODA - Early Works Of Satoshi Sonoda 1977-1978: Memories Of Yasushi Ozawa (PSF 186; Japan) "Conceived of as a tribute to the late Fushitsusha bassist Yasushi Ozawa, who passed away in February 2008, this CD presents a fascinating and rare glimpse of the nascent Tokyo underground scene, circa 1977/1978. Another piece of the puzzle! Compiled by Satoshi Sonoda, who led a student club at Meiji University dedicated to the performance and appreciation of free and out musics of many stripes, the CD documents the fascination with musical collisions of free jazz, rigorous twentieth century composition, art-inspired free improv moves, as well as the fried gargle of acid punk. Capturing small scale shows in after-hours university classrooms and tiny clubs, this is a music that is just intensely evocative of its specific time and place. Includes appearances by Yasushi Ozawa, Satoshi Sonoda, Chie Mukai, Masami Tada, and members of Gaseneta. Seven tracks, 75 minutes. Includes extensive, detailed liner-notes about the people, places and happenings of late seventies Tokyo by Satoshi Sonoda in both Japanese and English." -- Alan Cummings
CD $20


THE LOW FREQUENCY IN STEREO - Futuro (Rune Grammofon 2082; EEC) This is the fourth full-length release from The Low Frequency In Stereo. Founded in 2001 in Haugesund on the west coast of Norway, they have been called the band with one foot in Pompeii and one in space. With their first three albums released from 2002 to 2006, they have developed from an instrumental lo-fi-post-rock band that Pitchfork dubbed "psych-garage dronemeisters" to a full-blown, focused and fresh-sounding rock ensemble with great songs and a mix of dark atmospheres and catchy choruses. From the Eastern-tinged pop flirt of "Starstruck" to the near 10-minute cosmic groove-trip that is "Solar System," the new album from this excellent group finds them in top form and taking a big leap from their previous, Norwegian Grammy-nominated album. A sharper and more focused effort without a weak track in sight, Futuro is both industrial and rough as well as polished and streamlined. There are nods to fellow Norwegians 120 Days as well as Stereolab, Can, Joy Division and even The B-52's, but first of all, this is a group that have perfected their own sound from album to album and through periods of extensive touring, working up some well-deserved hype in the process. Per Steinar Lie (bass, organ, voice, guitars), Orjan Haaland (drums, percussion, organ, voice) and Hanne Andersen (organ, percussion, trumpet, voice, guitars) are founding members, while Njal Clementsen (guitars, organ, piano, voice) and Linn Frokedal (organ, voice) both joined ranks before the recording of Futuro. Clementsen and Frokedal are also members of up-and-coming group Megaphonic Thrift. Guest musicians include Rune Grammofon-affiliates Nils Okland and Kjetil Moster (Ultralyd) and the album is produced by wonderboy Jorgen Traen, who has also worked with Jaga Jazzist, KaizersOrchestra, The National Bank, and Sondre Lerche.
CD $17


LAWRENCE ENGLISH - A Colour For Autumn (12K 1052; USA) "A Colour For Autumn is the second in a series of editions from Australian sound artist Lawrence English that trace the experience of seasonal transit. Following on from For Varying Degrees Of Winter (published by Baskaru), A Colour For Autumn reflects on and explores the transitory nature of Autumn -- counterpointing the uniformity of the 'term' with the varied qualities expressed by landscapes in different countries. Like all environmental phenomena, seasonal variation is highly localized, and expressed not only visually through vegetation etc, but also sonically as insect life, leaves under foot and fauna all change in response to the climatic shifts. Northern and southern hemisphere experiences of Autumn are strikingly different and it's also this contrast which rests at the very centre of A Colour For Autumn. Recorded between 2007-2009, this series of pieces acts almost as small auditory portraits of given spaces in the often gentle throws of Autumn -- 'Droplet,' for example, features field recordings gathered in Notre-Dame De La Garde in Marseilles, capturing the infamous 'Mistral' wind as it blows the first cooler breezes of Autumn into the city in 2007. By contrast 'Watching It Unfold' measures a more Australian experience of Autumn -- a series of open static phrases, shifting ever so slightly -- a reflection of the slow changes of the season around English's home of Brisbane. Working with a range of analog approaches, A Colour For Autumn is a tonally rich affair, sourcing much of its sounds from a mixture of instruments, field recordings and assorted electronics. A Colour For Autumn also features contributions from New Zealand's Dean Roberts (whose vocals adorn the opening moments of the album) and Viennese musician Christian Fennesz, who offers intricate clusters of electronics on 'The Surface Of Everything.' This is an album of subtle variation, graded hues and tonal warmth, all of which act as an invitation for the listener to consider their own localized transition of Autumn."
CD $13

SEAWORTHY - 1897 (12K 1053; USA) "1897 is the second full length album on 12k from Australian soundscapists Seaworthy. Primarily the recording project of Cameron Webb, Seaworthy have continued to develop their sound over the last eight years with a move towards a greater emphasis on minimalism in their improvisation and composition of guitar, electronics and field recordings. In the winter of 2007, Webb commenced recording in and around a 100-year-old decommissioned ammunitions bunker. Constructed in 1897 to store gunpowder, the bunkers were in use by the Australian navy until recently, including during the Gulf War of the 1990s. In stark contrast to the cold dark interiors of the ammunitions bunkers, surrounding the building are extensive remnant wetland and forest environments that provide locally important habitats for a number of endangered and internationally protected wildlife. These areas are essentially off limits to the general public. During a three month period as an 'Artist in Residence' with the Sydney Olympic Park Authority's Arts Program, Webb undertook a series of improvisations, compositions and field recordings within the bunkers and surrounding natural environment. As well as pieces of looped guitar and electronics, installations of field recordings played back with the bunkers were also recorded, using the natural reverb of the large rooms as a way of processing the sounds of birds, insects and wind through trees. The large sandstone bunkers were infused with so much natural reverberation that even the gentlest footstep seemed to take on a life of its own. Over 6 hours of 4-track cassette, minidisk and computer recordings resulted from the sessions, and the processing, assemblage and mixing of the tracks that make up 1897 took most of 2008 to complete. The process was made more difficult with the recording and post-production sessions punctuated by the birth of Webb's first child. As a result, most of the post-production was completed under the haze of sleep deprivation and was a long, drawn out process. Unlike the warm pastoral sounds on Map In Hand (12k1040), 1897 is a starker, more melancholic album. Some tracks stripped back to a single guitar track while others feature a colder, abrasive approach to drone pieces. Generally more minimal compositions that reflect the emptiness of the bunkers and the eerie quiet that so often descends on the natural world within the depth of winter. Since the release of Map In Hand, Seaworthy have increasingly stepped out to perform live with a diverse range of artists including Philip Jeck, Christopher Willits, Birchville Cat Motel, ii, Love of Diagrams, Papa M, Rand and Holland, Tujiko Noriko, Adrian Klumpes and Because of Ghosts."
CD $13


LUCIO CAPECE & MIKA VAINIO - Trahnie (Editions Mego 098; Austria) "An unflinching sruti box (an electronic droning device used as a practice device to accompany a sitar, much like a metronome for western instruments) opens up the disc; it is not a pleasant drone. A quick flash of disappointment falls upon my ears, but the emotion is fleeting (the next track comes on) and those who stayed are rewarded with a great treat! We find out that the unwavering tone was used as an initiation ceremony to only induct the truly dedicated. "Trahnie" finds two men locked in passion as our ears voyeuristically partake in their intimate rough and raw, yet loving, interactions. Lucio Capece, reed player who has recorded for NY's own Azul Discographica label, utilizes the breathiness of such instruments as the soprano sax and bass clarinet ranging from Brotzmann style blasts to the weazing tones popularized by the versatile Nmperign. Mika Vainio is quite well known for being half of the great Pan Sonic and is responsible for the bulk of the electronics on this disc. His homemade analog electronic device is that of wonder, which is too amazing to be called just a noise box. On this recording, he also uncharacteristically plays guitar and cymbals, but this is fitting for this disc, since it seems to be an unusually low-fi Editions Mego release. The disc closes how it started, which at this time only hints at disappointment knowing that it is coming to an end, completing the cycle until next time you choose to be mesmerized by it's sonic hypnotism. RECOMMENDED!!!" - Chuck Bettis, DMG
CD $16


I.U.D. - The Proper Sex (Social Registery 69; USA) "The Social Registry is proud to break your bones with I.U.D. -- Lizzi Bougatsos of Gang Gang Dance's (vocals, percussion) new project. Teaming with Sadie Laska of Growing and Extreme Violence (the duo is known here as Mr. Egglesby and Lil' Pickle -- they have different names for each release), The Proper Sex is a downright brutal industrial clusterfuck that's sure to fog the glasses of experimental music nerds and provide the catalyst for many a record store argument. Put The Boredoms, Einsturzende Neubauten, Meat Beat Manifesto, Tribe 8, Front 242 and some black metal tropes in a blender and then serve chilled at a party hosted by hyper-feminist vampires and you're getting close to the sound on this one. Recorded at Vacation Island Studios by Matt Boyton AKA Professor Funkenstein, The Proper Sex is creepy, relentless and (most of all) extremely fascinating. It's a varied listen that reflects its influences and cover art -- which mimics Sparks -- to a stunning effect. Like Gang Gang Dance, these rhythms are already cemented in a listener's head. It's just that this journey might be a descent into the inferno rather than up to the heavens."
LP $18


BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY [WILL OLDHAM] - Beware (Drag City 666; USA) "Breaking through the dirt and shooting upward into our atmosphere is a new variety of exotic Bonnie 'Prince' Billy plant. Stronger. Stinkier. It blooms in low light and cold but thrives in the sun as well, showing enticing spots and eating small creatures as they wander into its jaws. They had it coming, they were weak.... and you're next! Beware. Though Beware shares spit with its immediate predecessor, Lie Down In The Light, its reach is longer, its arches more grandiose. Where fiddle and steel contribute their rustic timbre alongside guitars and voices, a thickening thud of low tone rolls beneath, giving the record a bottom that's fun to watch bounce in new clothes. This intensifies the air and heralds Beware as Bonnie's most ambidextrous record to date -- even more so than The Letting Go! A listen or two through and you too may conclude that this could also be the great Bonnie 'Prince' Billy contempo-country record -- though, as always, the 'Prince' goes his own special way, even when climbing the charts with brawny arms and classic titles like 'I Don't Belong To Anyone,' 'You Can't Hurt Me Now,' and 'I Am Goodbye.' Though the title -- and catalog number! -- portends horror, Beware is a much more measured exploration of the soul's frailty and the sorry state of human relationships than your typical, everyday, bleaked-out, all-and-nothing roots rock platter. Song titles suggest half of a heated dialogue, perhaps just one side of a super-apocalypto phone call. Yet, there's humor here as well, some of it too cute to call black. Lyrically, domestic ripostes are mixed with I-thou asides, statements of lusty selfhood and subtlety in between the lines, examining culpability and the need for release and rebellion, if you must know. Basically, if you haven't learned already, love goes down mazy, anfractuous paths, on some days giving rise to irritations -- both spiritual and physical -- and the difficult consideration of an alternative fate. Sometimes all you want to do is fuck. Then there are the times of fun, laughter and learning, and the sudden appreciation of your partner, your only friend. And with all these things in hand, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy says Beware."
CD $14


OREKA T - Nomadak Tx (World Village 468065; Germany) "In the early part of the new millennium, a pair of intrepid musicians who call themselves Oreka Tx (from the Basque word for 'balance' and the initial letters of their chosen medium), took their txalaparta, a locally beloved but otherwise little-known instrument, and traveled to India, Lapland, Mongolia, and the Sahara in search of fresh collaborations, adventures and ideas. The result was an astounding documentary called Nomadak Tx ('Nomadic Txalaparta') which won multiple awards at international film festivals and is coming soon to theaters worldwide. The new album, Nomadak Tx, offers a wealth of newly arranged material inspired by the film, and makes an ideal companion to it. The txalaparta (pronounced roughly 'tchala-parta'), although nearly extinct as recently as the 1950s, is inextricably tied to Basque culture and is now enjoying a renaissance. It is a member of the idiophone family and consists of wooden planks supported by insulated stands. It is struck from above by two players (txalapartaris), each employing a pair of thick, pestle-like wooden sticks. Acting at once in tandem and independently of one another, but always eerily in synch, the players create complex, lightning-fast, changeable rhythmic and melodic patterns, moving between the tenor range and bass notes so profound that they pummel the listener's solar plexus. Inspired for life by their far-flung encounters, the men of Oreka Tx have obliterated established boundaries of culture, time and space by embracing and transforming them."
CD $20

SO KALMERY - Brakka System (World Village 479023; Germany) "So Kalmery is originally from the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country sadly so often in the headlines over the last years. His story is one marked by the rich history but also the misfortunes of this part of Africa. His father was assassinated because of his close ties to the independence leader Patrice Lumumba, and So Kalmery became an orphan and a refugee at the age of seven... He spent many years fleeing from the various wars that devastated the region and finally found asylum in Zambia. It was during this period that the humanism which permeates his songs was forged. Very young, he learned music and played in numerous local orchestras. He established himself in Europe following a tour with the great Congolese musician Franco. A prodigious musician, an insatiable traveler, a poet, singer and dancer in search of the roots and the values of humanity, So Kalmery is an atypical and mystical figure, who plays an unclassifiable music which is at the crossroads of blues, folk music, soul and pop: Brakka."
CD $20

HABIB KOITE & BAMADA - Muso Ko (World Village 468055; Germany) "Habib Koite, Mali's maverick singer/songwriter, has earned a worldwide reputation thanks to his critically acclaimed second album, Ma Ya. But it was his first release, Muso Ko, that made him an instant star back home in Mali, and it contains some of his best and most enduring compositions to date. 'Cigarette Abana,' still a mainstay of Koite's live show, has become an anti-smoking anthem these days, but it began in a humble, after hours jam session when Koite was making fun out of the fact that the musicians had run out of smokes. Muso Ko raised Koite and his group, Bamada, from the status of respected Bamako bar band to national headliners with a budding global career. The album draws upon Koite's many years of songwriting and delivers one crowd-pleaser after another."
CD $20


ADVENTURES IN SOUND [V.C. With IANNIS XENAKIS/PIERRE SCHAEFFER/KARHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN/PIERRE HENRY] - Adventures In Sound (Cherry Red/El 159; UK) "Across post-war Europe, composers like the young German, Karleheinz Stockhausen, the Romanian-born architect, Iannis Xenakis and the Frenchmen, Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry began to seek out new ways of organizing sound and looked to science for inspiration. Science and logic, after all, held out the promise of a new civilization unsullied by irrational forces like nationalism; might it not do the same for the arts? These composers constructed their music according to widely differing philosophies, systems, formulae and beliefs. What drove them on was a hunger for new sounds and new soundscapes that pointed the way towards a world in which there was simply no place for the horrors of war. And there can be no doubt that their pioneering work proved an inspiration for future generations of musicians. They too were looking to free themselves from the dead weight of convention, and when in 1967 Paul McCartney discovered how much further Stockhausen had already gone with 'Gesang der Junglinge,' he encouraged the Beatles to experiment with techniques ranging from the use of reversed tapes to the total abandonment of metre and melody -- most notably on 'Revolution 9' and the (to date) unreleased 14-minute free-for-all 'Carnival of Light.' All of the recordings in this set are beyond groundbreaking and historic. Everything is out of print or impossible to find and, as an overview of the development of electronic and electro-acoustic music in the post-war years, our edition is an invaluable document."
Tracklisting: Pierre Schaeffer 'Cinq etudes de bruits (Five Studies of Noises)': 1. 'Etude aux chemins de fer' 2. 'Etude aux tourniquets' 3. 'Etude violette' 4. 'Etude noire' 5. 'Pathetique' Karlheinz Stockhausen: 6. 'Studie Nr. 1' 7. 'Studie Nr. 2' 8. 'Gesang der Junglinge' Iannis Xenakis: 9. 'Diamorphoses' 10. 'Concret PH' Edgard Varese: 11. 'Poeme Electronique' Pierre Henry: 12. 'Voile d'Orphee (Veil of Orpheus).'
CD $17


NMC SONGBOOK [V.C.] - NMC Songbook [4 CD set] (NMC 150; UK) "To mark its 20th Anniversary in 2009, NMC Recordings has commissioned The NMC Songbook. Nearly 100 composers, ranging from the country's most highly regarded figures to the younger generation of emerging talents, have each written a song, loosely themed on 'Britain' and scored for single voice or duet and a range of accompanying instruments. Songs are interspersed with instrumental interludes from an arrangement of a galliard by Thomas Morley, specially made for the Songbook by NMC's executive producer, composer Colin Matthews. The songs have been set to text chosen by the composers and cover a vast array of subjects, from traditional poems by Blake and Byron through to a list of the Kings and Queens of England, extracts from a National Trust brochure, chants from the Leyton Orient terraces, a whiskey recipe, and a colorful rant about our consumerist society. The first recording to be made at the new state-of-the-art concert hall at Kings Place, London. A 4-CD set with special packaging and a 60-page booklet. Featured composers include James Dillon, Jonathan Harvey, Tansy Davies, Harrison Birtwistle, James Macmillan, Huw Watkins, Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr, Gordon Crosse, Michael Berkeley, Judith Weir, Julian Anderson, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Howard Skempton, Robin Holloway, Roxanna Panufnik, Tarik O'regan, Thea Musgrave, Michael Finnissy, Gerald Barry, Stuart Macrae, John Mccabe, Luke Bedford, Colin Matthews and more. Performed by: Claire Booth, Ailish Tynan, Elizabeth Atherton, sopranos; Susan Bickley, Lor1 Lixenberg, Jean Rigby, mezzo sopranos; James Bowman, Michael Chance, Andrew Watts, countertenors; Andrew Kennedy, Daniel Norman, Benjamin Hulett, tenors; Stefan Loges, Roderick Williams, George Mosley, Richard Jackson, David Stout, baritones; Andrew Swait, Sam Harris, trebles Iain Burnside, Andrew Ball, Andrew Plant, Andrew West, Michael Finnissy, Huw Watkins, Jonathan Powell, pianos; Lucy Wakeford, harps; Jane Chapman, harpsichord; Owen Gunnell, percussion; Antonis Hatzinikolaou, guitar.
4 CD set for $44


VICTROLA FAVORITES [V.A.] - Artifacts from Bygone Days [2 CD Box + book] (Dust To Digital 011; USA) Now available again - Third Pressing! Recordings made between the 1920s-1950s compiled by Rob Millis and Jeffrey Taylor of the Seattle-based experimental band Climax Golden Twins from their collections of rare 78rpm records and design ephemera. Deluxe 144-page clothbound, full-color book with two CDs featuring Burmese guitars, Chinese opera, Persian folk songs, fado, hillbilly, jazz, blues and much, much more. Climax Golden Twins have designed gallery and museum installations, composed soundtracks (most notably the film Session Nine), worked on documentary films (Phi Ta Khon: Ghosts Of Isan released on Sublime Frequencies) and contributed soundscapes to NPR radio programs in addition to releasing numerous recordings on CD and LP, including a recent LP on the Sun City Girls' Abduction Records imprint entitled 5 Cents A Piece. Influenced by the Secret Museum of Mankind, Yazoo releases, Harry Smith's Anthology Of American Folk Music, as well as record labels like Sublime Frequencies, Ethnic Folkways and Ocora. Also inspired by art and design books such as those published by Chronicle. Sounds like vintage music from around the globe. Looks like a clothbound book printed on extremely fine museum quality wood-free paper and is meant as a visual manifestation of the sounds contained on the CDs. Hundreds of beautiful images of sleeves, photos, labels, needle tins and more.
2 CD + Book set for $40


LIMBUS 4 - Mandalas (Spalax 14277; France) Repressed. Reissue of the 2nd Limbus album (their even more obscure debut from 1969, under the name Limbus 3, has been bootlegged on CD by Germanofon & is legitimately available on LP via the Batschong label), which was originally issued by OHR in 1970. A fantastic dose of early 70s German freeform weirdness and an essential reissue for the tuned-out community. "Formed in 1968, Limbus were a most unusual band who grew a unique music out of jazz, folk and avant-garde roots. As the more varied instrumental quartet Limbus 4, with swirling organ, studio effects and a most bizarre use of kazoos, Mandalas has perplexed and confused many. Limbus 4 were certainly one of a kind. We uncover: Odysseus Artnern, Bernd Henninger, Matthias Knieper & Gerd Kraus (piano, bass, cello, viola, violin, flutes, percussion, tablas)."
CD $17

WALTER WEGMULLER - Tarot [2 CD set] (Spalax 14900; France) Repressed. Long deleted in the elaborate box set version with it's unique Tarot cards, here is the regular priced double CD version of this Krautrock all-time classic. Originally issued on the OHR subsidiary label Kosmiche in 1973. Wegmuller was a gypsy painter who had designed a 78 card Tarot set; the music, spread out over 2 CDs is performed by what is essentially the first version of the Cosmic Jokers: Manuel Gottsching, Hartmut Enke, Harald Grosskopf, Jurgen Dollase, Jerry Berkers & Walter Westrupp. Produced by Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser & Gille, with guest appearance by Dieter Dirks and Rosi. The music is classic space-out Krautrock (ala early Ash Ra or C. Jokers), with 22 tracks dedicated in concept to the Major Arcana cards in the Tarot set. "Tarot is a major German electronic music piece composed and directed by Walter Wegmuller and played by the Cosmic Jokers. In the past it was available in a limited boxset coming with the Tarot game designed by Walter Wegmuller. As it is sold out since over 3 years, it was time to re release it as a double CD with the original 16 pages leaflet."
2 CD set for $28


CHRYSALIS - Definition (Cherry Red/Rev-Ola 94; UK) "Chrysalis' lone 1968 long player is a hugely respected and much sought-after jazz/folk/ rock crossover from the psychedelic era, and one which has recently earned classic status among collectors and aficionados. It's a most mysterious album, boasting exotic song titles and some very Zen liner notes and the twelve pieces of music contained within its grooves are unlike any others recorded before or since! Flitting butterfly-like between the gossamer-light acoustics of 'Cynthia Gerome,' the fuzz-drenched satire of 'Father's Getting Old' and the ragtime psychedelia of '30 Poplar,' the album takes lush woodwind and string arrangements, full-on acid-rock weird-outs and unbearably delicate jazz vibes and mixes them up into one giant bittersweet birthday cake! Covered in insects! First time on CD -- never before re-issued in any format and features no less than eight previously unheard bonus demos taken from the lone original acetate! Remastered in the usual painstaking Rev-Ola style and has luxurious expanded packaging containing the beautiful original artwork and liner notes!"
"Chrysalis were a colorful quintet from Ithaca, New York who dabbled in everything from folk, rock and jazz to Middle Eastern music fall somewhere in the middle, and their one and only recording, Definition remains a fascinating, if uneven lesson in the fine art of psychedelia. Frank Zappa, who championed Chrysalis as "a group that has yet to destroy your mind" was originally asked to produce, but was in the throes of removing himself from a bitter contractual dispute with MGM/Verve. In the end, Definition went through numerous production teams who all left for various reasons -- none relating to the music or musicians -- which makes it all the more curious that it sounds so defined and cohesive. Frontman Spider Barbour, who had appeared on both Zappa's We're Only in It for the Money and Lumpy Gravy -- and who is now, ironically, a naturalist devoted to the lives of moths and butterflies -- brings a great deal of early Mothers of Invention aesthetic to the table. Jazzy piano motifs flitter about truncated world-beat rhythms, while short comedy skits provide segues between songs that deal with insects, yodeling girls, and hippie culture. It's all very Sgt. Pepper's, but there is an adventurous glee to the songs and arrangements that's equally matched by the talent behind them. It's the kind of brainy yet daft art rock that collegiate drug users, music school geeks and even children can find common ground in, and Rev-Ola's extensive liner notes and inclusion of eight bonus tracks from the sessions makes for a rewarding listen whoever you are." - James Christopher Monger/AMG
CD $17

FRED NEIL - Do You Ever Think Of Me (Cherry Red/Rev-Ola 47; UK) Fred Neil was the eminence grise of 1960s folkrock. The most famous unknown songwriter in the world, a reclusive, truculent man, who vehemently shied away from stardom, so admired by his contemporaries that his songs are everywhere. Covered by Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, the Lovin' Spoonful, Tim Buckley, Jefferson Airplane (who also wrote two songs *about* Fred!)...and most famously I suppose by Harry Nilsson, whose mega-hit cover of 'Everybody's Talking' (from the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy) means that Fred Neil is the writer of one of the seven most played songs in the world! Not bad for a man who deliberately retreated from fame at the height of his powers to pursue dolphin research! 'He taught me everything that was music,' says David Crosby. And here are some of his best recordings, produced for Capitol by Nik Venet, the almost-pop-structured Fred Neil album, and its experimental follow-up Sessions. Pure genius! I quite seriously defy anyone not to love Fred Neil! This repress of a Rev-Ola classic contains his best known songs -- 'Everybody's Talking' and 'The Dolphins' -- and is must for folk, folk rock and general music fans everywhere."
CD $17

THE LEMON PIPERS - Love Beads And Meditation (Cherry Red/Rev-Ola 264; UK) "Yes, you read that right. The Lemon Pipers! The undisputed kings of bubblegum psych are welcomed at Rev- Ola like old, old friends. It's a pleasure chaps. OK, you know the score. 'Green Tambourine'; massive hit everywhere; covered by 1001 artists; dyed-in-the-wool classic. 'Rice Is Nice,' 'Jelly Jungle,' those sweet and soft hits just kept coming. But behind the grins of Ohio's happy hippie hit makers was a down and dirty psychedelic rock band, a caged beast straining to get out. Just listen to the likes of 'Fifty Year Void,' 'No Help From Me' and the eardrum-frying 'Through With You' for proof. Love Beads And Meditation combines their two albums, Green Tambourine and Jungle Marmalade, which mashed up those Paul Leka-helmed soft pop bubblegum gems (listen to 'Rainbow Tree' and 'Love Beads And Meditation' and try not to smile - it's impossible!) with the band's growling rock tendencies and confused the hell out of everybody. Forty years later it's easier to take them at face value and enjoy them for what they are - great late '60s pop records. First time UK twofer of classic bubblegum psych LPs. Re-mastered by Norman Blake at the mysterious Studio 3. Brand new in-depth liner notes and lots of pretty pictures, and is an absolute must for fans of bubblegum, psych, pop and classic US '60s sounds.
CD $17

TOMMY ROE - Paisley Dreams: The Pop-Psych Sounds Of Tommy Roe (Cherry Red/Rev-Ola 269; UK) "On that vital cusp of 1966/67, it seemed everybody wanted to make their very own Pet Sounds-style masterwork -- and bubblegum-meister Tommy Roe was no exception. Coming off a formidable run of hits, Roe was able to enter the studio with Millennium wunderkind Curt Boettcher and his team (later to become both The Ballroom and Goldenrod) to record It's Now Winter's Day. Bizarrely sounding more like a group effort than a solo album, replete with theremins, fuzz guitar, strings and general psych bendiness, not to mention being entirely composed by Roe, it was a major triumph. The follow-up,Phantasy, upped the ante even further. Here we have both albums, together for the first time, a key piece in the story of the legendary Curt Boettcher and his associates, and a Californian sunshine psych-pop extravaganza in its own right. Beautiful songs, great singing and innovative production. Who could ask for anything more? First official U.K. release of these sunshine psych-pop nuggets! Wonderfully re-mastered in the usual Rev-Ola style! In-depth notes and expansive packaging! A must for any fan of Californian psych pop, sunshine pop, bubblegum, The Millennium, Sagittarius and related classics!"
CD $17

MONICA ZETTERLUND - Swedish Sensation (Cherry Red/El 165; UK) "Few performers epitomized the sound of Scandinavian jazz, or did more to introduce it to the rest of the world, than Monica Zetterlund. On its release in 1958, the 21-year-old's first album Swedish Sensation announced the arrival of a genuinely distinctive talent. Her voice was delicate, fragile and tinged with melancholy -- far removed from the barnstorming style that characterized so many American jazz singers - yet there was nothing bloodless about her sense of rhythm and melody. In Sweden her popularity extended far beyond the jazz ghetto. Monica possessed enormous personal charm, beauty and grace, with the result that she also made a substantial impact on the pop charts, television and cinema. In 1963 she represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest at a time when to be asked to do so was still considered an honour and a year later recorded Waltz for Debby with Bill Evans, the masterpiece for which she is internationally best known. Our restoration combines Monica Zetterlund's long deleted and extremely rare first solo album Swedish Sensation with all the original A and B sides of her early EPs. These records sell for ridiculous money on eBay to much the same modern American and Japanese audience that is enjoyed by Blossom Dearie. An audience that is taken by the charm and timeless playfulness of the artist."
CD $17


LEO KOTTKE - 6- And 12-String Guitar (Takoma; USA) "With the 1969 release of 6-And 12 String Guitar, Leo Kottke established his pre-eminence as a guitar virtuoso and composer of quirky, pop-inflected pieces. Harmonically adventurous and technically dazzling, this album showcases Kottke's penchant for infusing traditional elements of folk guitar with more modern, even impressionistic harmony and tonality. Kottke inspired a revolution in acoustic guitar playing, and this record provided the opening volley. 'The Driving of the Year Nail' starts things off with a relentless fingerpicked chug, featuring splashes of open harmonics executed with the delicacy of a ballerina. Kottke proceeds to combine the familiar with the strange -- each of these brief pieces (around three minutes and under) has the effect of being simultaneously charming, and a little twisted. For example, 'Vaseline Machine Gun' starts with 'Taps' played with a bottleneck slide, then morphs into a thumb-and-slide frenzy. Bach`s 'Jesu, Joy of Man`s Desiring' is the exception, given a straight and loving reading on six-string guitar. This is pure steel-string joy, with liberal doses of irony and ecstasy."
LP $16
also available as H-SACD edition [playable on any regular CD player] for $19


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