Wednesday, December 24, 2008

NEW ARRIVALS/RESTOCKS FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26

NEW ARRIVALS AND RESTOCKS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26


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thanks for looking.


as promised, another update… albeit a little early due to the xmas holiday and despite it still saying it’s for friday, all new and restocked titles are expected in today (wednesday December 24)… um, anyhow… check em out: the top picks section features a new title (as well as restocked shop favorites) from the reboot stereophonic label… barry sisters, jewface, fred katz… all awesome! and don’t miss the other restocked top pick, sterns africa’s franco and le tpok double cd set… it’s a killer! finally got in the jw farquhar lp on shadoks (for some reason i snoozed on this for a while, but it’s a great one, so don’t miss it) as well as much needed restocks of the question mark and suck lps (both on shadoks) and the factory lp, peace lp/cd and chrissy zemby tembo. all killer and bound to sell fast, so don’t delay… got some new and restocked homostupids ep’s, restocked s-s and woodsists vinyl (los llamarada’s, vivian girls, blank dogs, crystal stilts)… new and restocked sun ra cd’s from art yard… restocked skull disco cd’s… restocked the recent Raoul K 12” on baobab (!), a new one on bitches brew, a couple hot ones on circus company, a restocked shop favorite from shinedoe on intacto, a bunch of new ones from musik krause… and restocked sis and ricardo villalobo’s on sei’s drum!!! come on by and get some!!!


gracias


anthony


as always, many of these titles are in very limited quantity, so if you're interested in anything listed below and can’t make it to the shop you can make a purchase via paypal or over the phone with a credit card and pick them up later or have them shipped (see more information below). i will no longer hold records. sorry.


prices are subject to change without notice.


prices do not include shipping and handling. for those of you shipping within the continental united states I offer a 5.00usd flat shipping rate for any amount of records and/or compact discs. shipping cost for international orders are calculated on an order by order basis. payments for orders can be made via paypal or with a credit card by telephone between 12-6pm/est.


i also offer bike messanger service via timecycle couriers. for the low cost of 10.00usd i can deliver any amount of records and/or cds you wish to purchase to your center city philadelphia location (this includes some parts of south, west and north philadelphia) within two hours (and for those of you who need your records even faster, we also offer ‘rush’ service for the low flat rate of 20.00usd for any amount of records/cds delivered to you within one hour). of course, we are still more than happy to ship records via the usps within philadelphia. as with the international shipments, orders placed before 5pm/est will ship out that evening and should reach their destination by the following day.


PICKS OF THE WEEK


THE BARRY SISTERS- OUR WAY CD (reboot stereophonic, usa)
17.98usd/12.20gbp/12.88eur/1630jpy (approx)


*The 1973 release by the internationally beloved Yiddish female duo. 'We take a tune that's sweet and low, and rock it solid and make it gold.' And rock it solid they did, on Our Way, The Barry Sisters' eleventh, and last, full-length studio recording. Throughout their career, they consistently drew from the wells of Yiddish and English popular song, everything from 'Without A Song' and 'Cry Me A River' to 'Hava Nagila' and 'Chiribim Chiribom.' If adapting Jewish music to the rhythms and contours of the American pop landscape can be considered one of the dominant aesthetics of early 20th century popular music, then The Barry Sisters ought to be considered crucial bi-cultural pioneers, part of the same treasured artistic genealogy that usually starts and stops with the Tin Pan Alley likes of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and Harold Arlen. They didn't turn America Jewish, they made Jewish sound more American. On Our Way, The Barry Sisters choose the elegant tradition of popular song itself. They took on the '20s pop chestnut 'Tea For Two,' used Yiddish to return the vanilla Perry Como smash 'It's Impossible' to its Mexican bolero roots, raided Hollywood for 'Love Story' (imagine Ryan O'Neal crooning in Yiddish at the bedside of a dying Kelly McGraw), raided Broadway for 'Cabaret' and 'Alice Blue Gown,' and turned out what just might be -- second only to the one Cuban audio priestess La Lupe did just three years earlier -- the most liberating version ever of the Sinatra staple, 'My Way.'

V/A- JEWFACE CD (reboot stereophonic, usa)
17.98usd/12.20gbp/12.88eur/1630jpy (approx)


*shop favorite from last year, restocked… What did the dawn of American pop music sound like? The answer can be found through the new Reboot Stereophonic release, Jewface, lost Jewish minstrel songs that took vaudeville stages by storm at the turn of the 20th century but that have become written out of history. Composed by legendary tunesmiths like Irving Berlin and Gus Kahn, many of the songs made use of authentically Jewish musical motifs fusing them with every Jewish stereotype under the sun. What may have sounded mournful, exotic, and 'Oriental' to non-Jewish audiences resonated in a unique way for new Jewish immigrants, thrilled at this cultural jujitsu: From 'Under the Matzos Tree' to 'I'm a Yiddish Cowboy,' and 'Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars,' exploring the Jewface recordings reveals one of the dirty little secrets of American culture: some of the very first hit records were fiendishly catchy Jewish musical creations, created by Jews, for Jews. All of these songs have been hunted down and re-mastered from cylinder recordings to create one of the most remarkable and perhaps offensive albums ever.

FRED KATZ- FOLK SONGS FOR FAR OUT FOLK CD (reboot stereophonic, usa)
17.98usd/12.20gbp/12.88eur/1630jpy (approx)


*shop favorite from last year, restocked… Much like Gershon Kingsley, Katz has had one of the more extraordinary, if off-beat careers, in contemporary music. Katz made his biggest mark by bringing the cello into the forefront of the jazz repertoire, most notably as a member of the ever-experimental ensemble, the Chico Hamilton Quintet. The most admired, if under-discussed, Katz album though is probably this one, Folk Songs for Far Out Folk, which he said was dedicated to the idea that all jazz is born from 'the roots of people.' The roots he explores here are folk songs -- American, Hebrew & African. The Hebrew ones no doubt speak to Katz's own roots as the son of a Kabbalist and Hebraic scholar. On 'Baal Shem Tov' and 'Rav's Nigun' Katz is joined by Paul Horn on sax and legendary L.A. jazzman Buddy Collette on flute. The tracks are from 1958 and sound prophetic, in their way pre-Knitting Factory, avant tackle of jazz and Jewish tradition alike.

FRANCO & LE TPOK- JAZZ FRANCOPHONIC, AFRICA'S GREATEST: A RETROSPECTIVE VOL.1 1953-1980 2CD (sterns africa, uk)
17.98usd/12.20gbp/12.88eur/1630jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… beautiful package, 2 cd’s in slipcase, with 48 page book. Francophonic finally gives Franco his due. Vol. 1: 1953-1980 comes out on the 70th anniversary of the artist's birth. Vol. 2: 1980-1989 will be released next year, the 20th anniversary of his death. Each volume is a boxed set containing 2 CDs and a 48-page book. From Sterns -- 'one of the world's finest disseminators of African music,' according to The New York Times -- both albums are researched, compiled, annotated, illustrated and designed by the same people that produced last year's Voice of Lightness, a retrospective of Franco's rival, Tabu Ley Rochereau, which garnered high praise from National Public Radio, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and Pitchfork. This first Francophonic volume is the album that will confirm Franco's international reputation as Africa's greatest.

HARD ROCK AND PSYCHEDELIC


THE PEACE- BLACK POWER LP (groovie, spain)
29.98usd/20.34gbp/21.47eur/2719jpy (approx)


THE PEACE- BLACK POWER CD (groovie, spain)
18.98usd/12.88gbp/13.59eur/1721jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked on vinyl and cd… The Peace were an obscure band from Copperbelt, Zambia. According to some rumors, they were in fact a band from the Zambian Air Force. Before they became The Peace the band was called The Boyfriends, a popular local band featuring Ted Makombe and Emmanuel Chanda from another legendary band from Zambia, The Witch. Recorded at Malachite Studios, Chingola in the mid '70s, Black Power is one of the rarest psych-rock records ever released in Africa. Killer afro-psychedelic rock sound, the missing piece from the weird and amazing African afro-rock '70s puzzle along with other rare as hell records like The Witch, Amanaz and Question Mark. Limited, first time ever reissue with only 500 copies in papersleeve mini-LP replica.

THE FACTORY- PATH THROUGH THE FOREST LP (guerssen, spain)
27.98usd/18.98gbp/20.04eur/2537jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… '60s UK freakbeat legends get a new legit re-release of their complete available recordings and Guerssen is the proud new home for them. A real cult freakbeat and psychedelic group, well-known for such all-time classics as 'Path Through the Forest' and 'Try a Little Sunshine,' Factory released only a couple of 45s (both of them obscenely rare and costing big $$$ when showing up). Here we get the four tracks appearing on these 45s, plus a couple tracks taken from acetates (killer covers of Family's 'Second Generation Woman' and Fairport Convention's 'Mr. Lacey'), as well as a new mix of 'Path Through The Forest' that includes the original, different psychedelic effects that were supposed to make it to the original release but were dropped out by the MGM label supervisor. Remastered sound (only beware, 'Second Generation Woman' comes from a destroyed acetate!) and with liner notes by Factory's producer Brian Carroll.

CHRISSY ZEBBY TEMBO & NGOZI FAMILY- MY ANCESTORS CD (groovie, spain)
24.98usd/16.95gbp/17.89eur/2265jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Killer Afro-psychedelic rock made in Zambia, early 1970s! Chrissy 'Zebby' Tembo and his group Ngozi Family deliver a brutal set of fuzzed to the max psychedelic rock, with a slight African feel and English vocals. First time on CD, limited 500 copies papersleeve edition with fantastic remastered sound.

JW FARQUHAR- THE FORMAL FEMALE LP (shadoks music, germany)
47.98usd/32.55gbp/34.36eur/4351jpy (approx)


*Reissue of this private pressing from the USA, 1972. LP in an edition of 450 numbered copies, with glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing. "All tracks were recorded by JW Jarquhar in 1972. The songs on The Formal Female were written as an outcry against the materialistic nature of the woman during that time period in 1972. Many will tell you it is still that way. JW had recently extricated himself from a 10 year marriage and the words from this experience fit the lyrics on the album still. During that time he lived by himself in a 3rd floor apartment in Philadelphia. It was a street with a lot of traffic. Car horns, busses, police sirens, fire engines, screams, and sometimes even gunshots filled the airwaves. For this reason he sealed up the windows and any other openings with sound-proofing foam. This was necessary because his music was recorded in there. JW was the instrumentalist; rhythm guitar, lead guitar, drums, vocals, and bass. However he could not play them all at once, so he purchased a four track simulsync Teac recorder... professional version. This allowed him to record on one track and then play it back and separately record on a second, third, and fourth track. The original tracks were recorded at 15 IPS. A final mix was then made in stereo with yet a fifth overdub, when needed. At that time other effects were limited. It is amazing electric fuzz album full of effects and it's a masterpiece such as D.R. Hooker. Extra heavy psychedelic.

QUESTION MARK- BE NICE TO THE PEOPLE LP (shadoks music, germany)
44.98usd/32.55gbp/34.36eur/4351jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Numbered edition of 450 copies, glossy heavy sleeve with engraved artwork, 180 gram pressing. Question Mark recorded this album in 1974 in Kenya, the land safari parks, of elephants & lions. Five musicians, all english vocals, heavy fuzz guitar, eight freakin' tracks. If you think Blo and Witch were great African albums, you will love this one. It beats most bands from Africa such as Ofege, Chrissy Zebby, Rikki Ililonga and Mack Sigis Porter, unless you are only in African rhythms and chanting. This album has mostly Western-style songs with great and heavy guitar sounds all over but with a strong African touch of course.

SUCK- TIME TO SUCK LP/7” (shadoks music, germany)
47.98usd/32.55gbp/34.36eur/4351jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… From South Africa, 1971. 600 numbered LPs, matte-varnish heavy gatefold sleeve, 180 gram pressing. Plus a one-sided 7" EP. Suck were from Johannesburg, S.A. In their short history (only eight months) Suck made one album and created more mayhem than most bands do over a ten year career. But what an album. Time To Suck is a highly-charged package of manic drumming, scorching guitars and sublime, wailing vocals. Political statements on stage (in South Africa) against the war. This one is not for folk fans, no moonshine mellow candle, this one kicks ass and is pure adrenaline, a real pusher. If you think Black Sabbath, Uriah Heap, Deep Purple, MC 5 and Grand Funk Railroad are your tip of the iceberg, you might consider this one as your future favorite album. Full of hard, psychedelic tracks with Louis 'Moose' Forer on bass, Steve 'Gil' Gilroy on guitar, who worked in the UK with Mick Abrahams from Jethro Tull, Saverio Grande on drums and Andrew Ionnides on vocals. Again, Julian Laxton from Freedoms Children was the producer.

PUNK AND POST-PUNK


HOMOSTUPIDS- CAT MUSIC 7” (fashionable idiots, usa)
5.98usd/4.06gbp/4.28eur/542jpy (approx)


*Homostupids are back with yet another 7" of loose, raw, noisy garage punk with members of 9 Shocks Terror that prays at the same altar of The Jesus Lizard and maybe The Mummies, kind of like Clockcleaner and Pissed Jeans. --revhq (!)

HOMOSTUPIDS- BRUTAL BIRTHDAY 7” (richie, usa)
6.98usd/4.74gbp/5.00eur/633jpy (approx)


*restocked… I have been gettin email sputtering's from simps 'n soph's alike who seem to have a bee in their collective bonnet over the band, Homostupids. And it's got nary to do w/the music, but solely on account of the name. It is just.....you know.....mind numbing what people can find to complain about. I'm assuming the insinuation is that the name presumes anti Gay sentiment, i.e., homophobia. Uh....one question; why bother me about it? Sure, I am regarded as a 'homme d'esprit' but hardly would I consider myself in the league of 'homo faber'. I am merely a homo sapien, nothing more. If anything I subscribe to the old Latin adage, "Homunculi quanti sunt". You know what I mean? Let's not lose track of the bottom line here people, THIS BAND IS FROM CLEVELAND! The name is rife w/self deprecation. Have you ever been there? It's sorta like Helsinki, Finland but w/a pronounced Great Lakes accent (not as bad as Michigan or Chicago, but close). And like all the Helsinkians I met, Clevelanders LOVE to drink. In both cities you'll see the goobs go through 5 classic stages've chug-a-lug in the course of a night; Euphoric, Defensive, Wanton, Maudlin & finally, Oblivious. Even the abandon has no abandon. It can make for some precipitous highs 'n lows to be sure. So what's in a name? If they was Finnish they'd be called Inhimillinen Tyhma, or somethin there abouts. Sure looks cool! But enough about the goddamn name. This is the 2nd 7" the Homostupids have released this yr & while the 1st one might've filled the void left since Iron Cross slammed into the cement, this one practically recalls Chrome's hallucinatory transformation from demi-god to deity in the sonic, thunderous moments between Alien Soundtracks & Half Machine Lip Moves. Word has it that these tracks actually precede those laid down on their debut & as good as that is, I prefer the yak off this one a whole lot more. And it's all there on one side too, 6 tracks worth. No flipping! I can't say that I know just whose carryin this, but it's a good bet that all the usual suspects oughta have it by now. If your in a hurry though, do it the old fashion way, write; Richie Records, c/o GENERAL DELIVERY, Phila, Pa 19146. Who knows? Philadelphia ain't no Hooterville, but it ain't no Mount Pilot either. It just might work. –silt blog

LOS LLAMARADA- TAKE THE SKY LP (s-s, usa)
14.98usd/10.16gbp/10.73eur/1358jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… New album on S-S from Los Llamarada entitled Take The Sky. Originally slated for an earlier release, we held off on putting it out until we built this into one serious killer. While some of the murk of the first is gone (don't worry, it still has an eerie lo-fi sound), it has been replaced by sharp psych stun guitar which will make your jaw drop.

LOS LLAMARADA- THE EXPLODING NOW LP (s-s, usa)
14.98usd/10.16gbp/10.73eur/1358jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… It has been almost a couple years since Los Llamarada took the world by surprise with their much raved about vinyl debut The Exploding Now. Monterrey, Mexico's premier underground band's claustrophobic psych-punk won praises from everybody from Siltbreeze's Tom Lax to Z Gun's Ryan Wells. After being out of print for a year, The Exploding Now is back in print!

BLANK DOGS THE FIELDS LP (woodsist, usa)
15.98usd/10.84gbp/11.44eur/1449jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Blank Dogs are actually singular: it's the insanely prolific one-man Brooklyn-based band of Mr. Blank Dog. We don't know too much about the biography of the guy behind the bedroom new-wave pop/punk and he's usually covering his face with masks or bedspreads, but that's fine. The aura of anonymity allows you to focus on the sounds -- and, really, he might be releasing a ton of things, but there's definitely a higher jam-to-crap ratio. It's like Joy Division vocal lines with The Cure's synth and guitar melodies filtered through ancient submerged keyboards and eroded recording equipment. And that voice? All the feedback in the world can't hide his knack for melody. Blank Dogs have been making plenty of rumbles in the noisier and more secretive outposts of the underground (half his discography's sold out), but Troubleman Unlimited's just repressed his very recommended full-length On Two Sides (on yellow vinyl in an edition of 500) and In The Red's releasing a 20-song double LP (or single CD) called Under And Under . It's all new material. He's also playing his first shows in NYC, so if you want to take a peek, you can. All this to say: seems like Blank Dogs is on his way out of the basement. --Stereogum

CRYSTAL STILTS- CRYSTAL STILTS LP (woodsist, usa)
14.98usd/10.16gbp/10.73eur/1358jpy (approx)


*restocked… Compiles their s/t 12" and the Shattered Shine 7". 6 tracks. Crystal Stilts started in Brooklyn in 2003 as Brad Hargett and JB Townsend. Not really trying to be a 'band' they recorded and self-released their single Shattered Shine on their Feathery Tongue label in '04 with friend Sean Mafucci (producer of Gang Gang Dance, Psychic Ills, Kid Congo Powers, etc.) Early on, the Stilts played randomly in NYC opening for acts like Blood on the Wall, The Broke Revue, Cause Co-motion, and Psychic Ills. The single spent 7 weeks in WNYU's top 30 and peeked its little fuzzy head out in college radio charts around the country. With no shortage of lazy Jesus and Mary Chain and Factory Records comparisons, (more like VU, Felt, and Blue Orchids) in 2005-2006, they continued to play in New York with bands such as the Long Blondes, 1990s and The Monochrome Set and recorded a 4-song EP. Kyle Forrester (Ladybug Transistor etc., etc.) joined them at gigs playing organ as well. After a brief hiatus to record their back catalog for an upcoming LP (Slumberland), they adopted Andy Adler (who played bass on Eric Copeland of Black Dice's fuzz-pop outfit, Ninjas) to rock the bass. After opening for The Clean in November, Frankie Rose (Vivian Girls) waltzed into their life to play the stand-up drums and complete the equation.

PINK REASON- WINONA 7” (woodsist, usa)
6.98usd/4.74gbp/5.00eur/633jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… During a show with hardcore punks Hatefuck, DeBroux and company traveled to Winona, Minnesota. After a five-hour drive to the town, wasted locals, angry punks and gnarled three-legged dogs greeted them by leading them into a commandeered park. Inside the park, DeBroux found 'the ultimate punk rock experience' with townies huffing rubber glue and mohawk-brandishing kids starting fights with crusties. The show ended and the locals gave the band three dollars for their troubles. A few kids asked DeBroux and company to chip in the three dollars on a keg. Soon, the crowd dispersed and left the band with no money or place to stay. The band wound up sleeping on an island between Minnesota and Wisconsin and breaking up soon thereafter. He wrote the first Pink Reason song, 'Winona,' about this experience.' --Steve Kobak/Blastitude #25

VIVIAN GIRLS- TELL THE WORLD 7” (woodsist, usa)
6.98usd/4.74gbp/5.00eur/633jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Irresistible mix of shoegaze, punk, and '60s girl-group sounds with beautiful reverb-drenched vocals. Features three self-recorded tracks of lo-fi goodness.

JAZZ


SUN RA & HIS INTERGALACTIC MYTH SCIENCE SOLAR ARKESTRA- HORIZON CD (art yard, uk)
21.98usd/14.91gbp/15.74eur/1993jpy (approx)


*In 1971, in Denmark, at the end of a tour, Sun Ra suddenly decided to take his whole band to Egypt. They had no concerts and no contacts there, but Ra sold some recording rights to Black Lion to pay for the tickets and they flew out. They were stopped at customs and their instruments were temporarily impounded, but they were let through as tourists. Then they booked into a hotel facing the pyramid at Giza. Word got to Hartmut Geerken, then working at the Goethe institute, and he quickly threw a concert together at his house in Heliopolis, for which Brigadier Salah Ragab borrowed army instruments for the Arkestra to play (he was later disciplined for it). Ra's Moog had made it through customs and a Tiger Organ was hired. One of the audience (of 25) booked the band in for a Cairo TV session the following day. Then Ragab persuaded the Ministry of Culture to book a concert at the Balloon Theatre (for another tiny audience: only the first 4 rows were occupied). Two more concerts followed -- at the American University (for the cab fare) and the Versailles Club. They stayed for more than a fortnight, making a film while they were there and finally, by band-members selling various personal items, raised the money to fly home. Horizon (also known as Starwatchers and Sun Ra in Egypt Vol. 2) contains a big chunk of the now legendary Balloon Theatre concert (it burned down soon after their visit, as did the hotel in which the Arkestra stayed while they were in Cairo). The Balloon extract is an uncut block (tracks 1- 4 on the CD) and features a lot of Sun Ra's all-hell-let-loose Moog soloing, as well as a great version of 'Discipline #2.' The rest of Horizon is from the Heliopolis concert, kicking off with an instrumental version of 'Enlightenment' and 'Love In Outer Space,' (neither are on the original LP) segueing slowly into 'Space Is The Place' -- followed by drum orchestra, more Ra soloing on Moog, Tiger Organ and detuned piano (bloops, hoovering, whistles, Concords taking off) leading to a first lurching, then wild, 'Discipline #8.' Two bonus tracks, for the first time restored from the original concert, follow: 'We'll Wait For You' (with June Tyson) and 'The Satellites Are Spinning' -- which ends in full-on percussion. A classic recording of a classic band in great form.

SUN RA- MEDIA DREAMS 2CD (art yard, uk)
32.98usd/22.38gbp/23.62eur/2991jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… This is the companion to Disco 3000, made on the same classic Italian quartet tour with John Gilmore, Michael Ray (trumpet) and the minimal but perfect Luqman Ali (drums). Ra himself plays piano and electronic keyboards, including the mysterious Crumar Mainman, which Ra describes as 'like a piano, organ, clavichord, cello, violin and brass instruments' and which also, importantly, has a facility for pre-programmed bass lines and electronic percussion, which Ra uses constantly and to great effect in this small ensemble setting and seldom, if ever, elsewhere. The best of this collection (most of CD1) is luminous: very electronic, often rhythmical and melodic, always economical and making every sound count. These tracks are like no other jazz ensemble and, although recognizable as Ra -- who else could think of, and then get away with this -- unlike any other Ra ensemble, either. Ra makes the machines do amazing, visionary things while the band exercises restraint, remaining always in focus. In between, there are piano, saxophone, trumpet and drum vignettes, fresh and perfectly judged; this real was a fine band. This places the original vinyl release (and related releases, Sound Mirror and Disco 3000) back into the context of the concerts from which they were drawn. An important addition to the Sun Ra canon, since it is a rare document of an unusual Ra project that produced three classic late '70s LPs. Beautifully packaged and well annotated.

SUN RA- DISCO 3000: COMPLETE MILAN CONCERT 1978 2CD (art yard, uk)
34.98usd/23.73gbp/25.05eur/3172jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… 24-bit (mastered from the original tapes, with booklet notes by performer Michael Ray). 6-panel digipack. Recorded at The Teatro Cilak, 1/23/1978, Milan Italy. In the winter of 1977-1978, philosopher, pianist and bandleader Sun Ra was in Italy. The Italian tour resulted in releases on Sun Ra's own Saturn label, all of which have long been out of print and all but impossible to find. With the re-release of Disco 3000, one of the most celebrated of these elusive Saturn gems is once more available. This release, and its companion Media Dreams, capture a side of Sun Ra's work -- small ensemble, close form, original composition, rather minimal -- that is otherwise under-represented. Depending heavily on Ra's electric and electronic keyboards (including the mysterious Crumar Mainman -- of which even the company has no record) and, more unusually, on his intelligent use of sequencers and rhythm machines, this is an important window on the evolution of Ra's musical thinking, rendered even more transparent by the economy of its means; a quartet comprising only saxophonist John Gilmore, trumpeter Michael Ray and drummer Luqman Ali.

DUBSTEP AND FUTURE DUB


SHACKLETON/APPLEBLIM & PEVERELIST- SOUNDBOY'S GRAVESTONE GETS DESECRATED BY VANDALS 2CD (skull disco, uk)
24.98usd/16.95gbp/17.89eur/2265jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… The final chapter in the Skull Disco story has arrived, in the shape of a 2CD compilation, Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals. Shackleton and Appleblim have decided to call time on the label, which over the past three years has acted as a platform mainly for their own productions, with one-off contributions from Bristolians Gatekeeper and Peverelist. Although Skull Disco will be sorely missed, massive respect to Shack and 'Blim for quitting while they're ahead and leaving behind a small but perfectly formed body of work that helped evolve and re-define bass music for the 21st century. Disc one of Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals collects all the tracks from SKULL006 to SKULL010, except Ricardo Villalobos' groundbreaking remix of Shackleton's 'Blood On My Hands' (SKULL007), which found its way onto the first Skull Disco CD compilation, Soundboy Punishments. Highlights include Appleblim's dub-techno masterpiece 'Vansan' and brooding Peverelist collaborations 'Circling' and 'Over Here,' as well as Shackleton's 'Death Is Not Final' and the previously-unreleased original mix of 'Shortwave.' Disc two is dedicated to remixes of Skull Disco tracks. Some have been released before, like the Pole remix of 'Shortwave' (originally out on ~scape), Brendan Moeller's 'Over Here' version and T++'s frankily terrifying re-work of 'Death Is Not Final'; but others, by the likes of DJ/Rupture, Geiom, Badawi and Bass Clef, are new. T++'s long-awaited mix of 'Vansan' also finally sees the light of day here. As with all Skull Disco releases, Soundboy's Gravestone is packaged in terrific artwork by the inimitable Zeke Clough.

V/A- SOUNDBOY PUNISHMENTS 2CD (skull disco, uk)
22.98usd/15.59gbp/16.46eur/2265jpy (approx)


*uk version of this shop favorite restocked… Skull Disco's reputation as an innovative and boundary-pushing record label seems to be ever growing, while Shackleton and Appleblim's reputation as two dubhead mavericks single-mindedly following the path seldom travelled and being far the more interesting as a result is already well-formed by those in the know. As both producers seem to be on the verge of greater popularity, Shackleton's unique percussive sound-winning plaudits from the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Radio Slave and Kode 9, who have all put Shackleton releases in their sets while Appleblim's bass line fury has been unleashed on many a dancefloor, including the legendary Forward Club, with devastating results. Now seems to be the ideal time for releasing a document of the first releases. From the tender, melancholy chords of Shackleton's 'Blood On My Hands,' through to Appleblim's brutal riffage on 'Fear,' this is music that defies easy categorization. On the one hand, huge, swooping basslines and explosive snares, on the other, delicate percussion and tripped-out melodies. Appleblim and Shackleton's styles not only contrast with each other, but are diverse within their own individual domains, never stuck on an idea, always looking how to reach the next level of invention. So here we have it, on the first disc, the collection of the first five releases on Skull Disco, each standing out from its peers with its idiosyncratic nature and bloody minded refusal to follow the crowd. The second CD, a collection of the more eclectic, unreleased, or non-Skull releases, including the eagerly-anticipated Ricardo Villalobos remix of Shackleton's 'Blood On My Hands,' the Mordant Music and Hot Flush releases, and a couple of unreleased beasts from each producer. This is as comprehensive as it gets.

HOUSE, TECHNO AND DISCO


MR RAOUL K- HIMALAYA 12” (baobab music, germany)
13.98usd/9.49gbp/10.01eur/1267jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… With his second release on Baobab Music, producer Mr. Raoul K heads into new territories. Like he did on his first release Le Cercle Peul, he combines traditional African instruments and the African approach to rhythm with European production techniques and soundscapes. This time he examines the depths of dub techno. This effort results in an epic musical journey, an almost soundtrack-esque piece of music that accompanies the travelling mind as easily as the dancing body. Mr. Raoul K manages to stay focused throughout this long trip through the land of haunting grooves and irie sounds with ease. Driving, yet calm at the very same moment. And full of surprises, too. The flipside delivers -- besides a condensed edit of 'Himalaya' -- a grooving piece of Afro-funk-goes-house, perfectly fitting in the sunnier time of the year. Fellow Ivorian Doungous delivers the infectious vocals to round out this track.

WILD RUMPUS- ROCK THE JOINT 12” (bitches brew, uk)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*To mark the third release from Cosmo & Gary Lucas' hugely-acclaimed Wild Rumpus project, they've bagged collaboration with vocal entertainer extraordinaire Beardyman -- the result being the tripped-out hoe-down that is 'Rock The Joint.' Wild Rumpus have been at the forefront of the cosmic tip since the reggae-dub-bliss-out Musical Blaze Up, released in 2007 and the ensuing surf anthem 'Purple Somersault,' which sent psychedelic taste buds sizzling alongside other acts such as Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, Time & Space Machine, Voice of the Seven Woods, and of course, Goldfrapp. This new single Rock The Joint takes the sound to another dimension. Once again -- originality at its most outstanding. Featured artist Beardyman is becoming more popular than Kate Moss' phone number, from headlining stages at Glastonbury, Lovebox, Rise, Bestival and Bloom. Rock The Joint features a remix by Reverso 68 and has already been given props by long-term fans like Radio One's Rob Da Bank and Lemon Jelly's Fred Deaken.

D'JULZ- FLEURETTE 12” (circus company, france)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*D'Julz releases Fleurette, his new 12" on Circus Company. "Fleurette" is a sweet, naïve and house-y track. The track is built up over a piano loop which leads us to some children's vocals. All that is surrounded by a strong and percussive rhythm stuffed with a beautiful ride. On the B-side comes the Tobias. remix. Supported by Dixon, Jay Haze, Âme, Luciano, Laurent Garnier, 2000 And One, Josh Wink and DJ Deep.

DOP- BLANCHE NEIGE 12” (circus company, france)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*Dop is Clement Zemtsov on beat programming, Damien Vandesande on keyboards and horns and Jonathan Illel as vocalist. Blanche Neige (Snow White) features lyrics from the original text by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. On the A-side is the original dancefloor mix with a slower house beat, a solid groove, and a choir, while the "Kinder Cut" remix is poppier. "Romeo" features Shakespeare lyrics, a saxophone section and a piano ride by Nôze. An acoustic house blaster!

SHINEDOE- IBO GROOVES 12” (intacto, netherlands)
14.98usd/10.16gbp/10.73eur/1358jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Intacto Records spotlights label owner and techno diva, Shinedoe. "Ibo Grooves" is a warm European peak-time track combined with her Afro groove straight from Iboland in West Africa. "Back In Tha Days" brings it to a deeper trip, but still has that jacking Chicago vibe, like back in tha days. Played by 2000 And One.

PORTABLE- THE EMERALD LIFE 12” (musik krause, germany)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*Alan Abraham (aka Portable, Bodycode) belongs to the special world of electrical thump and sizzle. For his first release on Musik Krause, he presents two personable pieces. The first features big-mouthed beats held at gunpoint against a restrained, early '90s zeitgeist and today's production know-how. "The Shallow Final" is a nocturnal killer dusted with a flurry of deep, post-wave house. Ecstatic dancefloor control.

IAN SIMMONDS- THE WENDELSTEIN VARIATIONS: SOULPHICTON REMIX 12” (musik krause, germany)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*Ian Simmonds presents bewitching "head music" which searches the depths of the dancefloor. On "The Wendelstein Variations," an epic, feathery jazz structure allows plastic palm fronds to bloom. Lonesome, fragmented melodies meet house ingredients suspended between utopia and reality. "Whos Blues" is film music without the film. Overstuffed house and downbeat infused with thoughtful elements from Afrobeat, jazz, blues, etc. The Soulphiction remix could measure the heavenly bodies, if sonics were telescopes and if machines were made from living cells.

KRAUSE DUO- AUTOMATISCHLER PING 12” (musik krause, germany)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*The Krause Duo (Metaboman & Carlson Basu) present the Automatischler Ping EP. "So Hell" is jazzy-darkroom-hip-house, a true hymn for the night. "The Monkey" is a clap-step number with a luxurious sensibility and nasty harmonies. "The Controller" is defiant, out-of-it, semi-somnolent minimalism. "If She Is A He" is the perfect conclusion: breakable, but with a light, sweet character. Don't ask what the Krause Duo can do for you. Ask what you can do for the Krause Duo.

IAN SIMMONDS- THE WOODHOUSE 12” (musik krause, germany)
12.98usd/8.81gbp/9.30eur/1177jpy (approx)


*Ian Simmonds presents a theater for the ears with three new pieces for the Musik Krause label. "Roots" is a charming, poetic staccato swing dunked into the depths of the world. "Nikki" will make your hips move with its open-hearted, trumpeting frankness. Finally, "Woodhouse Suite" finishes the EP with an Irish beat and jazz follicles that will make you sweaty.

SIS- TROMPETA/CLARINETE 12” (sei’s drum, germany)
18.98usd/12.88gbp/13.59eur/1721jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… The brilliant follow-up on Sei's Drum, the label run by Ricardo Villalobos! Sar Burak aka SIS is originally from Hessen, Germany. His last release La Garua on Cecille received exciting feedback. On Trompeta/Clarinette SIS combines state-of-the-art techno, house and folk music. Following Ricardo's Enfants single from earlier this year, this is, again, a golden release! Played by: Loco Dice, Luciano, and DubFire.

RICARDO VILLALOBOS- ENFANTS 12” (sei’s drum, germany)
18.98usd/12.88gbp/13.59eur/1721jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Second pressing of the second release on Richardo Villalobos's "private expression vehicle" SED (what do you call a record label that is not a record label, anyway?). Yes, this is the Villalobos record w/ the Christian Vander (Magma) reconstruction and it's great mix of a riveting minimalist piano pulse and children singing. As they said at Phonica: "'Enfants' is for minimal techno what Mr Levan's 'Stand On The Word' is for disco and what Theo Parrish's 'Friendly Children' is for house! A future classic." "One of the most talked-about records of recent, speculated about, awaited with high and higher anticipation, finally gets released on Ricardo Villalobos' SED label. We can simply think nothing else than this INTENSE follow-up to the massive 3LP of SED00(0) -- it is leading the way to further design SED into an actual label now.

GIFT CERTIFICATES


gift certificates are always available in any denomination and come in a envelope ready to be stocking stuffed, slipped into pockets or dispensed in any way you see fit. they can be paid for in cash, credit card (visa, master card or discover) or paypal in person, phoned in or via email. gift certificates not paid for in person can either be mailed to you, or we can keep it in shop if the recipient plans to use it for mail-order.

ADDRESS


tequila sunrise records
525 w. girard avenue
(btwn 5th and 6th streets)
philadelphia, pa 19122


SUBWAY: blue or orange line to girard ave TROLLY: 15 to 5th street BUS: 57 to girard/3rd-4th st; 47 to girard/7th-8th st.


MAP


t/us: 1215 965 9616
t/uk: 0203 004 8357
e: ajv@tequilasunriserecords.com
u: www.tequilasunriserecords.com
m: www.myspace.com/tequilasunriserecords
b: www. tequilasunriserecordshop.blogspot.com
f: www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1447421864&ref=profile


HOURS


monday: closed
tuesday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
Wednesday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
thursday: 12:00-7:00pm/est
friday: 12:00-7:00pm/est
saturday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
sunday: 12:00-6:00pm/est



Thursday, December 18, 2008

NEW ARRIVALS/RESTOCKS FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19

NEW ARRIVALS AND RESTOCKS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19


Photobucket


thanks for looking.


alright… it’s looking like this may be the last update of 2008 (although i might have a last minute order coming in next week, we’ll see)… either way, there’s some heavy action coming in that should not be missed, check em out: shadoks music represses of the witch and amanaz lp’s (first time in shop for the witch lp, but if yr familiar w/ the amanaz, question mark or peace lp’s, you know this is more top notch african psych); La Düsseldorf and zombies vinyl (both new and restocked); a bunch of 99 records restocks (timeless and essential stuff); new and restocked titles from locust music (nnck, henry flynt, silmaril, etc); ANOTHER TON of dubstep and a nice lil pile of dirt crew restocks… good stuff… don’t miss out!!!


gracias


anthony


as always, many of these titles are in very limited quantity, so if you're interested in anything listed below and can’t make it to the shop you can make a purchase via paypal or over the phone with a credit card and pick them up later or have them shipped (see more information below). i will no longer hold records. sorry.


prices are subject to change without notice.


prices do not include shipping and handling. for those of you shipping within the continental united states I offer a 5.00usd flat shipping rate for any amount of records and/or compact discs. shipping cost for international orders are calculated on an order by order basis. payments for orders can be made via paypal or with a credit card by telephone between 12-6pm/est.


i also offer bike messanger service via timecycle couriers. for the low cost of 10.00usd i can deliver any amount of records and/or cds you wish to purchase to your center city philadelphia location (this includes some parts of south, west and north philadelphia) within two hours (and for those of you who need your records even faster, we also offer ‘rush’ service for the low flat rate of 20.00usd for any amount of records/cds delivered to you within one hour). of course, we are still more than happy to ship records via the usps within philadelphia. as with the international shipments, orders placed before 5pm/est will ship out that evening and should reach their destination by the following day.


PICKS OF THE WEEK


WITCH- LAZY BONES!! LP (shadoks music, germany)
44.98usd/29.20gbp/30.76eur/3979jpy (approx)


*in stock for the first time, second pressing by shadoks on transparent blue vinyl, edition of 300 copies, originally released in 1975. Another out-of-nowhere African 70's rock discovery in the Blo mold… Completely unknown band from Zambia, privately pressed on a small local label, this five-piece electric band plays a strong electric African underground style. Tons of wah wah-fuzz guitar in every track, African-style beats and vocals and all original songs. If bands from Nigeria such as Blo and Ofege and bands from Zambia such as Rikki Ililonga and Chrissy Zebby are all travelling on the psychedelic highway at 100 mph, the Witch overtakes them with 120. On the cover we can read: if you're feeling depressed, low, disturbed, out-of-sorts, sad, frustrated or widely demented, then folks, we suggest you seek out a quiet place, indulge in some soothing meditation and cut away that headache by listening to this inspirational album.

AMANAZ- AFRICA LP (shadoks music, germany)
47.98usd/31.15gbp/32.81eur/4245jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked just in tome for the holidays… second pressing by shadoks on transparent yellow vinyl, edition of 300 copies… From Zambia, Africa, 1975. LP in an edition of 450 numbered copies, with glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing. Amanaz was formed in 1973. Three songs are in the native language Bemba, and 9 songs in English, recorded in Kitwe, the 3rd biggest city in Zambia up north. Musically, it goes in the same direction as Blo, The Witch and Question Mark, but this album is way cooler and stoned with an amazing fuzz guitar all over which sounds like an African version of early Cream. The cover makes it look very traditional but after a few spins, you are aware that this one is very special. It's so cool, so tightly-produced and easily compares with UK underground albums with a touch of African beats. Still completely unknown, so this album has not been scored yet by the collectors' scene. A real surprise.

HARD ROCK AND PSYCHEDELIC


LA DÜSSELDORF- LA DÜSSELDORF LP (4 men with beards, usa)
19.98usd/12.97gbp/13.66eur/1767jpy (approx)


*Upon the break-up of legendary Krautrock duo Neu!, drummer Klaus Dinger formed La Düsseldorf with his brother Thomas and keyboard player Hans Lampe. This, their self-titled debut, was recorded in 1975 and is a staggering mix of Dinger's trademark motorik rhythms, glammy synths, pulsing organs, and urgent guitar work that altogether create a sound that, at times, predates both punk and post-punk, no small feat. Featuring their European hit single 'Silver Cloud,' La Düsseldorf's debut record is classic Krautrock on par with the best offerings of Neu!, Kraftwerk, and Can.

LA DÜSSELDORF- VIVA LP (4 men with beards, usa)
19.98usd/12.97gbp/13.66eur/1767jpy (approx)


*Viva is the second release from Klaus Dinger's post-Neu! group. Originally released in 1978, Viva is a stunning combination of washed-out synthesizers, swirling guitar work and Dinger's trademark motorik rhythms. Featuring the classic 'Cha, Cha 2000,' Viva is another fine effort from one of Krautrock's legends and stands as a testament of just how gloriously ahead of their time the German progressive rock scene of the '70s could be. An essential record.

THE ZOMBIES- BEGIN HERE LP (sweet dandelion, uk)
32.98usd/21.41gbp/22.55eur/2918jpy (approx)


*No need to introduce them -- nobody will disagree that The Zombies are one of the seminal bands from the '60s. Before their pop-psych masterpiece Odyssey & Oracle, containing 'Time of the Season', a world wide hit still known to younger audiences today through numerous TV spots, in 1964 they released their debut album Begin Here as a followup to their hit single She's Not There. The record is a perfect showcase of the Zombies' unique early style combining R&B, beat and even a hint of jazz. Every track here is a winner. 14 perfectly executed compositions by 5 dedicated musicians. It's really hard to describe such one-of-a-kind music, but let's just say, if we had to burn all our records and save only five of them, this would stay on the shelf. Now reissued on vinyl after many years of being unavailable. Get it now before you need to wait another decade! Limited to 500 copies, with remastered sound and preserving the original artwork.

THE ZOMBIES- ODESSEY AND ORACLE LP (big beat, uk)
24.98usd/16.22gbp/17.08eur/2210jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Odessey and Oracle was recorded in 1967 after the Zombies signed to the CBS label, and was only the second album they had released since 1965. As their first LP, Begin Here, was a collection of singles, Odessey can be regarded as the only true Zombies album. While their first album included several cover versions, Odessey consisted entirely of original compositions by the group's two main songwriters, Rod Argent and Chris White.
The group began work on the album in June 1967. Some songs were recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, where earlier in the year the Beatles had recorded Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Pink Floyd recorded The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This was the first time Abbey Road would be used for an independently produced (non-EMI) release. By the time the recording was finished, in late 1967, the Zombies were effectively disbanded, due to lack of financial success. Odessey and Oracle was released in the UK in April 1968 and in the United States in June. The single "Time of the Season" became a surprise hit in early 1969, and Columbia Records (in the United States) re-released Odessey in February, with a different album cover that severely cropped the original illustration.
The gap in time between the UK and US record release dates owes to the Zombies having not prepared a stereo mix initially, a condition the American label insisted on. At the urging of staff producer, Al Kooper, the U.S. CBS/Columbia Records label was belatedly persuaded to release the album on their small Date Records subsidiary label. Argent and White spent their accrued royalties to book studio time and remix the album for stereo specifically for that US release. However, the ninth song "This Will Be Our Year" was not mixed into stereo in 1969 owing to a "missing" horn overdub not on the original 4-track tape.

PUNK AND POST-PUNK


HUMAN LEAGUE/THE FUTURE- GOLDEN HOUR OF THE FUTURE 12” (black melody, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*2008 repress of this 12", originally issued in 2002… 12" sneak preview of the Golden Hour Of The Future CD. This album includes previously unheard material from the pre-Travelogue and Reproduction era Human League, and their earlier alias, The Future. There are 3 tracks exclusive to this 12" format that will not be featured on the album. Transporting us back to 1977 Sheffield, the tracks showcase the more ambient and experimental side of the band. This is rare, rare stuff.

ESG- ESG 12” (99, usa)
9.98usd/6.48gbp/6.82eur/883jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… ESG's story is long and involved and I'm not going to tell it all here except to say that ESG were a group of sisters (the Scroggins) along with a male friend Tito on congas (who would later pass away) and that the name stands for Emerald Sapphire Gold. Anyway, one day Ed was invited to be a judge at a talent show. ESG were playing and lost but Ed was captivated by them. He offered to (unofficially) manage them and started getting them shows around New York at clubs such as Hurrah's and Danceteria. One of these was as support to A Certain Ratio and after the show, Factory Record's Tony Wilson asked ESG if they would release something on Factory. Wilson got them over to play at the opening night of the Hacienda and put them in the studio with legendary producer Martin Hannett. Legend has it that Hannett was only available because Joy Division had booked studio time that had to be cancelled following Ian Curtis's suicide. The first three tracks on this ep were produced by him and originally came out as a 7" on Factory. The 99 release added three tracks recorded live at Hurrah's in New York early in 1980 and had completely different artwork designed by Gina Franklyn. 'Moody' and 'UFO' from the EP have ended up being two of the most sampled records of all time. -optimo.co.uk

ESG- ESG SAYS DANCE TO THE BEAT OF MOODY 12” (99, usa)
9.98usd/6.48gbp/6.82eur/883jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Could ESG cut it in the studio without Martin Hannett's production? This showed that with Ed's help they most certainly could. The 12"s real title is 'ESG Says Dance to The Beat of Moody' and it is recorded so that 'The Beat' and 'Moody' segue from one to the other without losing a beat. The version of 'Moody' is more full sounding than the original and it was this Bahlman produced version that would become a dance anthem at all the clubs in New York and lead to ESG performing at The Paradise Garage and other legendary clubs. Oddly, at many of these performances they would be singing to a backing track rather than playing as a band as that was how most acts did personal appearances back then, as the idea of an actual band playing was too weird for many club promoters and audiences. ESG head honcho Rene Scroggins thought it weird that they wouldn't want the whole band too, so would charge the same amount as she would have if they were performing properly. -optimo.co.uk

LIQUID LIQUID- OPTIMO 12” (99, usa)
9.98usd/6.48gbp/6.82eur/883jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… This record is what ultimately destroyed 99 Records. This EP was Liquid Liquid's most accomplished recording so far and 'Optimo' and 'Cavern' became big club hits. 'Cavern' became a huge hit in the newly developing hip hop scene and the 99 shop was inundated with people looking for the record with THAT bassline. It would go on to sell almost 30 000 copies. At this point in time, sampling was a very new phenomenon and no one was really sure what the legal situation was with regards to sampling other people's records. 'Cavern' was such a big hit around New York that summer that it wasn't long before Sugarhill Records, the first label to commercially exploit hip hop, appropriated the bassline for the backing to Grand Master Flash's 'White Lines'. As they were fans, initially Liquid Liquid were delighted that Flash had used 'Cavern' but when it became a global hit their attitude changed somewhat. Ed in particular was outraged and contacted Sugarhill to try and get payment. Sugarhill hadn't actually sampled 'Cavern' but had got The Sugarhill Band (who would ironically later become Tackhead, the biggest band on his friend Adrian Sherwood's On U Sound label) to replay the bassline and also appropriated other elements of the song, right down to Sal's words (Sal's "slip in and out out of phenomena" was changed to "something like a phenomenon"). This was when the nightmare began. Sugarhill were renowned for shady business practices. The raps on their first hit release 'Rappers Delight' were stolen from other rappers and they weren't known for paying out to anyone. Various stories have been told that indicate Ed was threatened and there are tales of Bahlman being 'taken for a ride in a car', Sugarhill people intimidating employees and customers at the 99 store and vague mentions of Mafia involvement. Nevertheless, despite intimidation, Bahlman pursued this through legal channels and eventually it came to court. In a case that would set precedents with regard to sampling law, the judge ruled in favour of 99 and Sugarhill were ordered to pay out. Unfortunately, partly due to their shady business practices, Sugarhill didn't have the money to pay and filed for bankruptcy. This was the final straw for Ed who had put all his energy and money into the case and by all accounts was now a broken man. He decided to get out of the music business and urged all the artists on 99 to do the same. Unfortunately, when Ed left the music business he also left ESG and Liquid Liquid somewhat in the lurch as they had no contracts with him and the rights to their records would remain in limbo for years. As Liquid Liquid were on the verge of imploding anyway, this wasn't too much of a problem for them but it would cause huge problems for ESG in the years that followed. To this day Ed still fiercely guards the master tapes to all the 99 releases that he regards as his. The story doesn't quite end there. Some years later a dj friend of Richard McGuire's informed him that Duran Duran had covered 'White Lines' so McGuire hired a lawyer and went after them. An out of court settlement was agreed upon with Duran's lawyers and the Liquids finally got their payment. By this time Ed was long gone and it's not even known whether he is even aware that justice was finally served. 'Cavern' has gone on to become a bona fide hip hop classic and has been used in several films. That bassline is possibly one of the most famous and instantly recognisable in the history of music. For someone who never really considered himself that much of a musician, this is a fact that to this day amazes McGuire. -optimo.co.uk

LIQUID LIQUID- DIG WE MUST 12” (99, uk)
9.98usd/6.48gbp/6.82eur/883jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… After quite a gap this came out and was the very last release on the label. By this point, founder member, bassist and sleeve designer Richard McGuire, partly disillusioned with the whole Sugarhill debacle had left to pursue his career as an artist (which he still does successfully to this day). Richard McGuire's departure is obvious in the sound of this record which is by far and away the weakest Liquid's and (99 Records for that matter) release although the very short 'Flextone' on the b-side is great (I got to re edit this for a re release as the b-side of a Dennis Young solo single in late 2004). Ed was getting more into technology and the idea of the remix but the drum machines, samplers and synths he employed when producing this make it sound very dated whereas all the other 99 releases sound timeless. Still, it's interesting to ponder what Ed would have gone on to do in a production capacity had he not jacked the whole thing in. I guess Liquid Liquid knew the magic had gone too as shortly after this came out they called it a day too. Sadly not the greatest end to such a great label. -optimo.co.uk

GREY AREA, AVANT GARDE AND NOISE


HENRY FLYNT- DHARMA WARRIORS LP (locust music, usa)
19.98usd/12.97gbp/13.66eur/1767jpy (approx)


*The Dharma Warriors was the elemental guitar / drum rock concoction of Henry Flynt & C.C. Hennix. In 1983, the pair hooked up in Woodstock at Hennix's rented house and let freedom ring with two lengthy boombox recordings. "Warriors of the Dharma" and "Mount Fuji on My Mind" are classics of unrefined blues boogie & unhemmed stoner rock. limited edition.

NO NECK BLUES BAND- CLOMEIM 2LP (locust music, usa)
27.98usd/18.16gbp/19.13eur/2475jpy (approx)


*Locust is proud to announce the release of Clomeim, the new studio album from New York's No-Neck Blues Band. Clomeim is an evolution, a vital document of change in The No-Neck Blues Band's 15+ years of para-musical activity. This pivotal recording is a creative distillation of the collective at a new and startling saturation point. For three rainy days in March 2007, the seven-headed hydra that is NNCK holed up in Black Dirt Studios, their newly outfitted recording studio in the foothills of upstate New York. With a discipline and a clarity of vision they've rarely displayed before, the collective channeled all of their energies into hours of recording live, real-time improvisation. After months spent sculpting and recasting the raw material, Clomeim emerged -- a distinct whole, recalling in its parts the communal howl of Algarnas Tradgard, the dead spirit channeling of Geino Yamashiro Gumi, the glacial shadowplay of Heresie era Univers Zero, and krautrock zenith Faust at their finest hour. Clomeim is that rare hybrid -- a rock exterior with a cryptic, experimental core; a dense groover and a burning, exploratory psychedelic grimoire for the new dark ages. limited edition double vinyl.

SILMARIL- THE VOYAGE OF ICARUS 2LP (locust music, usa)
27.98usd/18.16gbp/19.13eur/2475jpy (approx)


*restocked… Awash in fuzz boxes and acid trips, the dozens of other overlooked groups from the psychedelic era bear little resemblance to Silmaril. While others buzzed within the hippie epicenters of Haight Street and the Lower East Side, Silmaril formed in haunted, industrial Milwaukee. Other bands might have met at a love-in; Silmaril were friends from a Catholic youth retreat bound together by a doomed figure in the eccentric madman tradition of Syd Barrett, Roy Harper and Mel Lyman, by the name of Matthew Peregrine. The Voyage of Icarus captures the dark, mysterious, and achingly beautiful acid folk & Christian-themed psychedelic sounds that emanated from 1973's highly collectable privately-pressed album, Given Time... Or the Several Roads, and their dormant, unreleased follow up, No Mirrored Temple.

TRUE PRIMES- WE HAVE WON LP (locust music, usa)
21.98usd/14.27gbp/15.03eur/1944jpy (approx)


*restocked… The Brooklyn duo of Che Chen (founder of the cool O Sirhan O Sirhan magazine) and Rolyn Hu (operatrix of the fine Glasslands performance space) disinfect disaffection with their brand of elemental buzzing unrock. Guitar, girl voice, off drum & unidentifiable noisemakers & homemade gadgets are the foundation for a sound that grafts a smiley face on the body of no wave's penchant for alienation. The unified duo are out on a mission to reverse the flow of negative energy through anthemic fractured ecstatic noise pop and feedback wash. Inspired by DNA, Henry Flynt, Sigmar Polke, Ramnad Krishnan, P.I.L., Yoko Ono, Arthur Russell, Friendship, French folding bicycles and those Eskimo girls who sing into each other's mouths to create harmonic overtones.

V/A- WOODEN GUITAR 2LP (locust music, usa)
29.98usd/19.46gbp/20.50eur/2652jpy (approx)


*Fall 2008 marks the 5th anniversary of Locust's inaugural Wooden Guitar compilation touted then, as today, as a simple title with a simple concept. Back in print on CD and available on double 180 gram vinyl for the first time. First vinyl edition housed in screenprinted jackets much like the original compilation's first CD release. Wooden Guitar is an inspired excursion into the creases and folds of modern delta-delica and a thinly veiled homage to the great Takoma compilations of yore (remember that great Kottke, Lang, Fahey collection?) where guitarists could sit back, work those muscles in their fingers and go the extra musical distance. Four of the great worldwide guitarists -- Germany's Steffen Basho-Junghans, Seattle's Sir Richard Bishop (the Sun City Girls), Japan's Tetuzi Akiyama & Virginia's Jack Rose give us a fresh look at a very old instrument with gloriously stretched out solo compositions. limited edition double vinyl.

V/A- WOODEN GUITAR CD (locust music, usa)
15.98usd/10.37gbp/10.93eur/1413jpy (approx)


*restocked… A simple title with a simple concept. Wooden Guitar is an inspired excursion into the creases and folds of modern deltadelica & a thinly veiled homage to the great Takoma compilations of yore (remember that great Kottke, Lang, Fahey collection?) where guitarists could sit back, work those muscles in their fingers and go the extra musical distance. Four of the great worldwide guitarists -- Germany's Steffen Basho-Junghans, Seattle's Sir Richard Bishop (the Sun City Girls), Japan's Tetuzi Akiyama & Virginia's Jack Rose give us a fresh look at a very old instrument with gloriously stretched out solo compositions.

FOLK, BLUES AND ROOTS


V/A- THE BEST THERE EVER WAS: LEGENDARY EARLY BLUES PERFORMERS CD (yazoo, usa)
18.98usd/12.32gbp/12.98eur/1679jpy (approx)


*Features the 20 greatest blues performers of the earliest period of blues recording, the 1920's into the early 1930's, including Charlie Patton, Skip James, Son House, Blind Willie McTell, etc., etc. For 35 years now Yazoo has been recognized as the leading historical blues label, and its credibility and extremely high standards add to the sales potential for this album featuring many of the greatest blues performances of all time. Cover photo is a newly discovered photo of Charlie Patton which will cause great excitement among blues fans everywhere.

DUBSTEP AND FUTURE DUB


T++- UNKNOWN 12” (apple pips, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*For the fourth outing on Appleblim's label, we are very excited to bring you 2 tracks from one of our favourite producers -- T++. We are very proud to present this forward thinking music from a mainstay of pioneering beats. We won't wax lyrical, just drop the needle and lose yourself in the music. Deep rolling decaying techno, with submerged beats rising and surfacing from the depths, then switching the tempo to 140bpm and twisting the same sounds into ever more entrancing shapes, T++ shows his love of drumfunk producers such as Paradox in a new exciting context. Radio & club support coming from Marcel Dettman (Berghain / Ostgut), Mary Anne Hobbs (Radio 1), Peverelist (Punch Drunk / Tectonic), Shed (Ostgut) and more.

COTTI FEAT DOCTOR- CALM DOWN 12” (bass face, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*Cotti has saved the best for his own label with Calm Down, featuring Doctor on one mix, and Jammer, P Money and Slickman holding it down on the version. Cotti's knocked up a pure anthem here, and although we know the autotune thing is sonic marmite to a lot of you, we (or I anyway) love it, and it brings a much needed contemporary African pop/dancefloor flavour to dubstep that hasn't really been explored anywhere else. Move out the way, this one's a skanker.

GEOIM/EARLYBIRD/SPAMCHOP- NET WEIGHT 12” (berkane sol, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*The Berkane Sol family continues to grow with release number nine, a mesmerizing 12", that sees Geiom collaborating with 2 of Nottinghams' most promising producers, Spamchop and Earlybird. 'Geile Zwazo' is a twitchy, unsettling exploration of the dubstep sound, with a churning bassline and demented percussive rhythms, driven through club floors to the hypnotic beat of a broken 4/4 riddim. On the flip, 'Net Weight' surges, from sparse beginnings, into an epic, garage-addled monster. Skipping, infectious drums propel shuddering bass and distant melodies, through a proper song structure that stems from a haunting, synthesized chorus line. Despite Geiom's irrepressible musical presence, both collaborators find a clear voice on this 12". Spamchops' techno sensibilities resonate throughout 'Geile Zwazo''s rumbling bottom end, and Earlybird's own unique dancefloor style charges headlong into Geiom's twinkling analogue soundscapes, taking the Berkane Sol library to new heights. This 12" is being played by Dj's such as: Kode 9 (Hyperdub), Martyn (3024), Joe Nice + Dave Q (Dubwar NYC), Pangaea (Hessle Audio), and both tunes have recently featured on the Mary Anne Hobbs Radio One Experimental show.

BENGA- THE INVASION 2X12” (big apple music, uk)
24.98usd/16.22gbp/17.08eur/2210jpy (approx)


*2006 release, repressed and thus restocked… Benga's back on the Big Apple Music with this FAT seven track The Invasion EP. Played by and rewound many times by N Type, Youngsta, Skream, Digital Mystiks, Hijak. Widely regarded as one of the founding forefathers of the scene known as dubstep, after early heads like El-B and Steve Gurley had laid the foundations on swung garage beats and post-jungle rhythms, along came Benga and Big Apple records.

MILLIE & ANDREA- BLACK HAMMER 12” (daphne, sweden)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*Presenting a mutant 2-step/techno/wonky mash-up produced with all the low-end brilliance you'd expect from two producers at the top of their game. They're not really called Millie, or Andrea, but it isn't any big secret who's behind this. Look closely, and you'll figure it out. If you like the idea of Martyn, Kaman Leung, Rustie, Hairy Butter, Artwork and Maurizio battling it out, this ticks all the boxes. Housed in a printed paper inner and limited to 500 copies, the shit is already hitting the fan for this one.

MALA- MIRACLES 12” (deep medi music, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*Mala gets the balance right. Subtle moods interacting perfectly. 'Miracles' will give you the chills. Soooo soooo good. On the flip one of Mala's long lost dubs is finally let out the vaults, 'New Life Baby Paris.' Minimal and weaving. Deep Medi on point per usual.

16 BIT- PUT YA DIRT INSIDE/FORD FIESTA 10" (destpub, france)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*Please, please check this release from France. Just when you thought dubstep was all dub. 16 bit come along and get demented. Imagine Spor making dubstep and your getting close. 16bit is DRT and Kidnappa. Put Ya Dirt Inside/Ford Fiesta has seen DJ support from Warlock, Stenchman, AfterDark, Skrewface, Marlow, etc. Look out for 16Bit they are going to blow up!

COKI- TRIPLE SIX 12” (dmz, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*Just in time for the Christmas stockings, DMZ come correct with a tune that demands you buy a new bass bin! Minimal Industrial factory madness 'Triple Six' by Coki, can't stress this enough, this is wicked! Don't forget Coki's 'Road Rage' on the flip. Highly recommended!

CASPA & RUSKO/UNITZ- LICENSE TO THRILL PART FOUR 12" (dub police, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Kicking off the next chapter in the LTT series is this deep track by Caspa & Rusko, and it isn't what you would quite expect from these two, whose tracks are usually all out dancefloor dominators. Warm pads, trance esq. synths, and steppy beats really set this one apart from the typical sound these two are so well known for. What better way to kick things off? Unitz -- 'Wait A Minute': things couldn't get more different on the flip, as Dub Police's very own boy wonder Unitz steps up with this sickening track. Fans of his first release (The Drop) will be digging this as the synth twists and bends like a Slinky, and a crisp powerful bass and big beats carries the whole track. Proper sick stuff.

V/A- LICENSE TO THRILL PART FIVE 12" (dub police, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Kicking off part 5 of the series is Dub Police regulars The Others with one serious riddim! Bone-crushing, mechanical beats and snarling bass lines are in order here with eerie soundscapes and a super catchy synth. Gaining some serious support from the likes of Caspa, N-Type and The Scratch Perverts, this one is guaranteed to tear down any dance -- think Robocop on steroids. L-Wiz -- 'Amy Diamond': Dub Police's answer to Abba yet again manage to deliver an absolutely mind-blowing track that will send tingles down your spine. This little number is carried along by a loose beat, warm bass, and beautiful synths and melodies in typical L-Wiz fashion. This is one for those lazy Sunday mornings -- mesmerizing stuff from Stockholm's finest! Dubwoofa -- 'The Nightmare': L-Wiz' s Scandinavian counterparts Dubwoofa round off part 5 with one seriously dark tune -- this makes black metal sound like nursery rhymes! Eerie soundscapes, tribal beats, dark, warping bass and hints of atmospheric piano. If it's tension you want, this is one for you. Absolutely mind-blowing stuff from these two, who are fast proving they are the kings of the dark side -- this will give you nightmares!

LD/SUBSCAPE- LICENSE TO THRILL PART SIX 12" (dub police, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Following the same vibes as Conquests 'Forever' (as featured on LTT Part 3), South London's LD comes with this deep track that has found its way into sets from the likes of Mala, Chef and Caspa, to name a few. Tribal beats with hints of amens floating in and out and pounding deep bass that shuffles along in typical LD style. This one is sure to get you grooving! SubScape -- 'Tomahawk': an absolutely outstanding track from one of dubstep's rising stars. This one has been battered by the likes of Caspa, Rusko, The Scratch Perverts, N-Type, The Others and Reso. Heavy stomping beats and a tension-building intro lay way for the tear bass that follows. One seriously big tune from the West London newbie.

UNKNOWN- HUMAN RESOURCES 12” (hate, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*The A-side of Human Resources features a 2008 reworking of an original track dating back to 1993. The track has been reconstructed using only the original sound files and samples. "Cunning Love" on the flipside is an original track dating back to 1992, restored and lovingly remastered from the original DAT tapes by the very capable heads over at Berlin's Dubplates and Mastering.

UNKNOWN- DARKCORE/INJUSTICE 12” (hate, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Very little is known about HATE, except for the following: The majority of the material on the label is previously-unreleased, original junglist hardcore dating back to 1991-1994 from producers who wish to remain anonymous. A carload full of dubplates and DAT tapes full of unreleased material was handed over to the label at Sowerby Bridge in Yorkshire in 2008. The material (several hundred original tracks) has been gradually catalogued, with a few tracks already planned for release and re-mastered at Berlin's D&M. HATE is a Modern Love project. The label will also feature occasional new versions from different producers. All HATE transmissions will be limited to 300 stamped copies.

UNKNOWN- PRETTY BOYS DON'T SURVIVE UP NORTH/PRETTY BOY 12” (hate, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Second in the HATE series, one track an original production from 1993, and one re-working from Summer 2008.

QUARTA 330/CARDOPUSHER- SABACCO 12” (hyperdub, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*After the 8-bit cult classic success of his debut Hyperdub release, Tokyo's Quarta 330 returns with some fresh beats. On "Sabacco," Quarta takes one step outside of the video game console, expanding his palette, with his signature synths lacing scattered snares in a lush and melodic slice of broken techno. On the flip, he steps up to remix Venezuelan bassman Cardopusher, with a refix of "Homeless" that returns to crunchy arcade vibes. A strong outing that adds bonus points to his earlier Hyperdub high score.

KODE9 VS. LD- BAD 12” (hyperdub, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*Hyperdub presents two off-beat, house-flavored dubs driven along by crushed synth piano hooks. Kode9 and LD (dub-cutter extraordinaire from Transition studios in South London) brings percussion and cut-up, filtered female vocals back into the mix. "Bad" has been circulating on dubplate since the beginning of 2008 and has been a dancefloor-friendly favorite from Kode9's DJ sets. "2Bad" is a slower slice of broken house laced with synthetic soul, and that little extra underneath the pavement that you expect from Hyperdub.

UNTOLD- YUKON: FANTASTIC MR FOX REMIX 10" (hemlock, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*The first in a series of remix 10"s, LV (Hyperdub) and Fantastic Mr Fox (Mercury, Mute) take Untold's 'Walk Through Walls' & 'Yukon' to new and exciting places. A. Untold - 'Yukon (Fantastic Mr Fox Remix).' Fantastic Mr Fox takes the vocal samples from the original and weaves them into mournfully beautiful lyrics resting on glitchy hip hop beats and piano chords. AA. Untold - 'Walk Through Walls (LV remix).' LV lend their sublime bass soaked, dubbed out touch to the original. Expect high grade drums, Miami vice guitar chops, and rig shaking subs.

SCUBA- TENSE 12" (hot shore, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*With his first new material since his superb LP A Mutual Antipathy, Scuba once again teams his Hotflush label with Stateside imprint Offshore on this split twelve. 'Tense' starts from the most basic of loops, a single offbeat chord, but layers quickly build up, first pingpong bleeps and taps, psychedelic trickling and eventually handcrafted beats, finally joined by a thick slab of sub-bass. The tune evolves slowly and gradually, the rise in tension almost unnoticeable until you realize you're on the edge of your seat.

PEVERELIST- CLUNK CLICK EVERY TRIP/GATHER 12” (punch drunk, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*restocked… Unsettling machine dub soul backed with a ruff n' tuff Bristol future rocksteady dub excursion. DJ support from Appleblim, Pinch, 2562, Blackdown, Ramadanman, Pangaea, Mary Anne Hobbs.

EXCISION- WASTED 12" (rag and bone, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*At the young age of 22, Canadian based Excision has already established himself as one of the rising stars in the increasingly global world of dubstep and is part of a new wave of producers hailing from the Americas. His sound is uniquely dark and led him to set up the highly respected and aptly named Rottun Recordings which to date has a roster featuring Noiz, Stenchman, Innasekt, and Sully amongst others. Wasted and Serious Business are a barrage of bass heavy nastiness along the lines of recent output from the likes of Skream, Rusko and N-Type but just tweaked to a darker zone. Watch out for an Excision remix of Pendulum about to be unleashed on their label Ear Storm, plus a whole host of forthcoming releases scheduled for labels Cyberfunk, Pitch Black, Aufect, and Shift Recordings. Excision's tracks have been getting regular plays by Distance, Pendulum, Freq Nasty, Evol Intent, Bassnectar, and Blackmass Plastics. Such has been Excision's cult popularity that a DJ mix made available on the www.barefiles.com web site, specialising in dubstep mixes and a barometer for the cutting edge of this sound, achieved over 20,000 downloads and is now their 2nd most popular mix ever, topped only by a Plastician set.

CYRUS & DISTANCE- VIOLATE 12" (random trio productions, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*This next installment on the self entitled imprint is the label's biggest release to date and one of the biggest tunes in the scene this year. RTP005 sees us with the club banger 'Violate' -- a collaboration between front man Cyrus and scene heavy weight Distance. A must have for the box this track has been tearing up dance's world wide. Cyrus goes alone on the flip with a track called 'Silence.' One of those tracks where you can't keep your feet still. Big drums and low bass.

BENGA & G SQUAD- ASSUMPTIONS: BENGA REMIX 12" (ringo, uk)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*Limited white label, one-sided promo. A: Benga & G Squad - Assumptions (Benga Remix).

GEENEUS- VOLUMES: ONE 2X12” (rinse, uk)
21.98usd/14.27gbp/15.03eur/1944jpy (approx)


*Hot on the heels of I Love Dubstep, Rinse presents the first collection of Funky available anywhere for retail. Step into the future with Volumes, the brand new series from Geeneus. This first edition doublepack introduces Funky, the UK's freshest underground dance movement, to the masses. Released on doublepack vinyl to accommodate vinyl fans and features Geeneus' remix of Benga & Coki's hit single "Night," on vinyl for the first time. Also features club smash singles "As I," "Emotions" and "Yellowtail," the first time these in-demand tracks have appeared as full mixes. Introducing music reminiscent of Afro house to a new generation who have little idea who Masters At Work or Fela Kuti are, Geeneus himself confesses that other than Dennis Ferrer, he looks no further than his peers for inspiration. Yet with the production value he has developed over the years, you'd be forgiven for thinking he's studied the super producers of old. As a long time contributor to Rinse FM since the age of 15, Geeneus has consistently been at the forefront of the British underground dance scene: rinsing jungle with childhood spars Wiley and Slimzee, forming one of the most respected and successful garage crews, Pay As You Go Cartel and nurturing British pirate culture music as it twisted and turned through jungle, garage, grime, bass line and dubstep with the now world-revered Rinse FM.

GRIMELOCK/SAVIOUR- STAIN 12" (stainage, belgium)
15.98usd/10.37gbp/10.93eur/1413jpy (approx)


*Belgium's Stainage crew run the leading night dedicated to all open-minded sounds of the bass spectrum in their home city of Brussels. They have regularly attracted many of the UK and Europe's foremost dubstep and grime DJs as guest selectors, and with a hand from Cargo they now launch their label with this shapeshifting four track EP, showcasing the talents of Grimelock and Saviour, two of the crew's founding members, who each offer a pair of intriguingly-flavored and horizon-broadening cuts. Producer extraordinaire Grimelock is the beating heart of Stainage, and he fires first with 'Justice,' aiming straight for the target with a combination of grime energy and punishing electro-bass sonorities. The atmosphere is dark and oppressive, but the moody tones are balanced by infectious half-step beats and irresistible bass, a recipe mixed only with the dancefloor in mind. With rhythms designed to flatten whole city blocks and a disorientating collection of spiraling synth tones and effects borrowed from the harshest of early 90s Belgian techno, this ominously-addictive low-end scarifier is the sound of the heyday of R&S launched howling and headlong into 2008. Next up, a switch of style with 'Glow,' an astonishingly heavyweight tribute to old school influences of the UK hardcore house sound, made with a contemporary dubstep feeling. Built around soulful and intricately edited female voice samples, 'Glow' rides a tickling Burial-esque woodblock garage rhythm, rising on huge clouds of thunderous sub-bass. Precise string motifs and chiming synths add a welcome continental melodic sensibility, while an envelopingly-dynamic arrangement is the key component in a real hands-aloft bass anthem. Saviour takes side two with the aptly-titled 'Stampede,' a pounding iron man giant of track which has been overwhelming the Stainage crowds for months. Booming dubstep beats and weapons-grade wobble are the muscle and bone, with a climbing fuzztone synth riff which worms its way through a rolling cycle of build ups and drops. Direct and deliberately uncomplex, 'Stampede' is strength in simplicity. 'Darkness Fall' is another Saviour-signature towering cut, with an hypnotic intro dissolving into barrage of pure bass. Again, resolutely dubstep in formation, 'Darkness Fall' is an excellent mix of deep vibes and power, all low-tempo atmospherics and high impact sonics.

V/A- TEMPA ALLSTARS VOL.5 2X12” (rinse, uk)
21.98usd/14.27gbp/15.03eur/1944jpy (approx)


*This is the fifth volume in the Tempa Allstars series, where established and usurping talent rub shoulders over two heavyweight 12"s. "Siren" by Seven is the fanfare riddim which DJs including Youngsta and Benga have been using to intro their sets, TRG offers an early-hour dancefloor rub, Pinch gives us light-headed "Motion Sickness," Skream makes you hallucinate purple lasers, Luke.Envoy presents a very Todd Edwards production, and Ramadanman's progressive excursion is built of ghostly stabs and tension.

SPHERIX- LOOK BACK/DRONE 10” (tube 10, uk)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*The second instalment of the Tube10 series shows some deep down under pressure in the form of Spherix. For the A-side he teamed up with fellow Australian producer Kwality to bring to you 'Look Back.' Starting with its 4x4/2step beat it evolves into a melodic clash between dubstep and minimal while it keeps on rolling into new ventures. A Tube10 perfect fit! The flip holds 'Drone' a great minimal wobbler that could best be described as what would happen if Pinch's Underwater Dancehall spent a year or 2 in the fridge, cause this one is ice cold. The eerie vibe flows through every little corner giving you chills all over your body.

HOUSE, TECHNO AND DISCO


DIRT CREW- COLLECTION 02 12” (dirt crew, germany)
13.98usd/9.08gbp/9.56eur/1236jpy (approx)


*Following the release of Dirt Crew's mix CD Collection 02, here are three hot tracks from the compilation in a vinyl edition. The Crew present "Soundwave," a deep and driving tech-house burner with a great bass line and beautiful strings. On the flip is a massive house tool, a remix of James Flavour by Gregor Tresher , and he went for the old school this time. The mix by Afrilounge of Chopstick & Johnjon is dark, deep, pure minimal hypnotism.

DIRT CREW- PLACES/DEEP REMIXES 12” (dirt crew, germany)
11.98usd/7.78gbp/8.19eur/1059jpy (approx)


*restocked… Monster Francois Dubois remix, and yes, Francois is also known as Funk D'Void. Following their full-length, this is the hot remix single with three smashing deep cuts. First up is Berlin-based BPitch Control artist, Smash TV aka Holger Zilske, who delivers a mad electro interpretation. The B-side is by Mr. Dubois himself with tons of funk and deep swelling basslines. A class house record that will go down with the true deep house crowd.

DIRT CREW- COMING FOR YOU/BIG BAD CITY 12” (dirt crew, germany)
11.98usd/7.78gbp/8.19eur/1059jpy (approx)


*restocked… This is the second single from Dirt Crew's full-length. The Crew goes deep into the old school again with "Coming For You" -- experience the power of jacking bass and rough beats. The "Big Bad City" is another step towards darkness and warm, minimalistic deep house: a great combination of percussion and deep organs make this track a special afterhours tune for sweaty raves.

TIGERSKIN- PETER'S SECRET WEAPON 12” (dirt crew, germany)
12.98usd/8.43gbp/8.88eur/1148jpy (approx)


*restocked… Alex Krueger follows up his excellent Push The Patton 12" with an absolute minimal killer with three quality tracks that were produced with analog equipment only. The title track is a warm and reduced builder with a devastating guitar breakdown. "Wanted" is a typical Tigerskin rave anthem --pure power on the dancefloor. The last track is more funky and has a great electro groove to it, featuring a beautiful break with great analog sounds.

TIGERSKIN- PUSH THE PATTON 12” (dirt crew, germany)
11.98usd/7.78gbp/8.19eur/1059jpy (approx)


*restocked… Tigerskin is back on Dirt Crew Recordings with a minimal smasher. "Push the Patton" is another outstanding track by Alex Krueger with his typical phat production and great building arrangement. Also, "As We Are" shows Tigerskin heading into the techier side of things with its cool vocal sample. "The Meadow" is a beautiful house cut and sounds very similar to his other great output as Dub Taylor. For afterhours or peaktime, this new Tigerskin release will do the job for sure.

DRUM CULT- RADIO 12” (dirt crew, germany)
11.98usd/7.78gbp/8.19eur/1059jpy (approx)


*restocked… John Askew and Zak Frost are Drum Cult. John is a highly respected techno/trance producer and Zak is a leading figure in the world of alternative house with his cult London club, Nodisko. Both have also rocked dancefloors worldwide with their DJ sets. "Radio" is a true rocker with delicate melodies and solid beat programming, reminding of early Dirt Crew. Catchy vocals and a nice flow throughout makes this single similar to the sounds of Mike Monday and the Playtime crew. The first remix is by the bassthedub heroes 2020 Soundsystem, who transform the track into a great minimal stomper, fully loaded with tons of bass and a great live feel to it. The flip offers another deep and spacey rework by Dirt Crew. The perfect mix of deep house and techno, this remix is smooth and powerful.

SIAN- ROBOT IN THE FOREST 12” (dirt crew, germany)
11.98usd/7.78gbp/8.19eur/1059jpy (approx)


*restocked… Born in Dublin, Ireland -- raised gypsy style in southern Spain -- Sian aka Graham Goodwin has released on labels like Pokerflat, Dessous and Karmarouge. His production is arty, unique and childlike simple. He works with sounds as blocks of bright color and makes music for both the club and mind simultaneously, keeping his music intellectual whilst wrecking the dancefloor. The A-side "Robot in the Forest" is a dark minimal groover with a very powerful bassline that pumps its way through the solid and sparse beat programming. On the flip Sian follows a different formula, with a catchy melody laid on a fat tech house groove. The last track is smooth and atmospheric, with an almost sacred feeling and a flow of sweet strings and beautiful arrangements.

PRUDO- ANCORA NO 12” (dirt crew, germany)
11.98usd/7.78gbp/8.19eur/1059jpy (approx)


*restocked… Pisa-based Prudo drops his fresh house sound with a cool groove and deep chords alongside his typical vocal madness, all combined in a strong arrangement. The dub version goes even deeper and is the perfect tool for a sweaty minimal house set. On the flip you'll find a smashing remix from Belgian house gurus Spirit Catcher -- a damn good remix... no words necessary.

MAGAZINES AND BOOKS


PAULA COURT- NEW YORK NOISE BOOK (soul jazz, uk)
34.98usd/22.71gbp/23.92eur/3095jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Released by Soul Jazz Records in conjunction with their series of New York Noise compilation CDs. Subtitled: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1977-88. Beautifully produced oversized softcover book of photography. 205 pages, b&w photographs, with various small texts by the featured artists. New York Noise features amazing photos of the New York music and art scene during the 1980s alongside text from some of the most important artists of the period. The photographs taken by Paula Court over a ten-year period capture the vibrancy of this era when everyone in a band was also an artist, every artist was also a film-maker and every film-maker in a band. The book shows how hip-hop, punk, no wave, free jazz, underground dance and experimental music scenes collided with the art world. With hundreds of stunning photographs of everyone from Warhol, Africa Bambaataa, Keith Haring, Patti Smith, John Cage, Michael Stipe, Liquid Liquid, Julian Schnabel, Futura 2000, Madonna, Jean Michel Basquiat, ESG and many more, the book is a who's who of New York's downtown scene. Accompanying text and essays by the likes of David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Cindy Sherman and others brilliantly evoke this period. With over 400 images, many of them previously published, this is an essential document of a fascinating era in New York's music and art scene.

THE WIRE- #299 JANUARY 2009 MAGAZINE (the wire, uk)
8.98usd/5.83gbp/6.14eur/794jpy (approx)


*On the cover of this month's issue: Rewind 2008. (The Wire's review of the year's best music, including our Top 50 Records of the Year, writers' and musicians' reflections, plus Joseph Stannard on the year in riffs, Simon Reynolds on archival glut, Nick Cain at music's outer limits and Lisa Blanning on the dancefloor. Features: Emeralds (Nick Richardson gets lost in the Kosmische-inspired drone of Ohio's analogue converts); Peverelist (Derek Walmsley on how the Bristol bass technician's sound is rooted in futurist beats and the idea of perpetual motion); Global Ear: Knoxville, Tennessee (Eric Dawson discovers and underground scene inspired by Cormac McCarthy and Sun Ra at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains); Cross Platform: Peter Liechti (The Swiss film maker reflects on the 'sound film' he made with electronics duo Voice Crack); Invisible Jukebox: Animal Collective. Epiphanies: (Hugo Wilcken explains how Joy Division brought visions of post-industrial Europe to the beaches of 80s Sydney).

GIFT CERTIFICATES


gift certificates are always available in any denomination and come in a envelope ready to be stocking stuffed, slipped into pockets or dispensed in any way you see fit. they can be paid for in cash, credit card (visa, master card or discover) or paypal in person, phoned in or via email. gift certificates not paid for in person can either be mailed to you, or we can keep it in shop if the recipient plans to use it for mail-order.

ADDRESS


tequila sunrise records
525 w. girard avenue
(btwn 5th and 6th streets)
philadelphia, pa 19122


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MAP


t/us: 1215 965 9616
t/uk: 0203 004 8357
e: ajv@tequilasunriserecords.com
u: www.tequilasunriserecords.com
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HOURS


monday: closed
tuesday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
Wednesday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
thursday: 12:00-7:00pm/est
friday: 12:00-7:00pm/est
saturday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
sunday: 12:00-6:00pm/est



Friday, December 12, 2008

NEW ARRIVALS/RESTOCKS FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12

NEW ARRIVALS AND RESTOCKS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12


Photobucket


thanks for looking.


this weeks list is a killer! straight off, the top picks section is the longest, and most label oriented, to date and for good reason… after noticing these releases on a number of uk/eu websites i did some searching around and a few dozen emails later i am exciting to finally have in house the slow to speak 12” series compiled by francis englehardt and paul nickerson. all housed in consistently beautiful two color screen printed jackets (some with flocking), but musically run the stylistic gamut with artists as varied as the Jefferson airplane, the doors and fleetwood mac (rumours/tusk era!) to paul winter, pharaoh sanders and charles earland to kate bush, the mars volta(!?) and beyond… and take note, these are NOT edits or mash-ups, they’re the original tracks, slightly tweaked and mastered loud for club play, but are more in keeping with those great series’ of yore like the ‘loft classics’ and ‘garage classics’ (but will easily appeal to fans of more recent edit oriented releases by the likes of a mountain of one or the history clock label)… making great disco-not-disco/baleric tracks available, many for the first time, in the desired 12”45 format. as always, supplies are limited so don’t snooze… and also don’t snooze on the rest of this weeks update: in case you haven’t checked the website, the JACK ROSE ‘DR. RAGTIME AND HIS PALS’ LP is out now on tequila sunrise records! i have a very limited quantity available for sale in the shop with distribution being handled by FORCED EXPOSURE and HONEST JON’S, so interested shops/distro’s should get in touch with either of them. also in this week: buddha machine version I and II; black cat bones triple lp: s.t. mikael restocks; la dusseldorf vinyl reissue; mi ami 12” restock (!); tons of sun ra/saturn restocks as well as the usual dose of new dance titles… as i said, killer stuff!!! come on down!


gracias


anthony


as always, many of these titles are in very limited quantity, so if you're interested in anything listed below and can’t make it to the shop you can make a purchase via paypal or over the phone with a credit card and pick them up later or have them shipped (see more information below). i will no longer hold records. sorry.


prices are subject to change without notice.


prices do not include shipping and handling. for those of you shipping within the continental united states I offer a 5.00usd flat shipping rate for any amount of records and/or compact discs. shipping cost for international orders are calculated on an order by order basis. payments for orders can be made via paypal or with a credit card by telephone between 12-6pm/est.


i also offer bike messanger service via timecycle couriers. for the low cost of 10.00usd i can deliver any amount of records and/or cds you wish to purchase to your center city philadelphia location (this includes some parts of south, west and north philadelphia) within two hours (and for those of you who need your records even faster, we also offer ‘rush’ service for the low flat rate of 20.00usd for any amount of records/cds delivered to you within one hour). of course, we are still more than happy to ship records via the usps within philadelphia. as with the international shipments, orders placed before 5pm/est will ship out that evening and should reach their destination by the following day.


OUT NOW ON TEQUILA SUNRISE


JACK ROSE- DR. RAGTIME AND HIS PALS LP (tequila sunrise, usa)
19.98usd/13.39gbp/15.06eur/1822jpy (approx)


*limited edition of 960. domestically-pressed vinyl, housed in a european manufactured hard board inner-sleeve slipped inside a matte board jacket with j-card style obi.
The Appalachian Trail runs 2175 miles south from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, though there are those who want to stretch it further, into Alabama, because the mountains go there. Why not extend it? Trails are made for that. But there's another Appalachian Trail, too - one that goes through time, extending from unfinished studios in Williamsburg, NY, winding down the grooves of ancient 78's to the 1920's or even earlier, past Stephen Foster's wet dream to a place beyond the compass of change. If you're hiking on *that* trail, you're likely to run into a lot of post-grad Parsifal’s with inscrutable hair and de-tuned banjos - these days, you can't swing a cat around without hitting one! But if you're lucky, you might stumble across a clearing somewhere south of Lily Dale, where revolutionists stop for orangeade and Dr. Ragtime hangs out with his pals. If you ask him politely, he might offer you a taste of his elixir - made from codeine, sarsaparilla, and goat-gland extract - guaranteed to restore memories that never were. And if you're quiet, he might let you stay and listen to the music: Ethiopian novelties, characteristic marches and parlor favorites - bittersweet slices of Methodist pie, familiar tunes, at least in those sections where the square dance has not yet been supplanted by the fox-trot. And if you have a couple of dimes to rub together in your pocket, you'll want to purchase his newest, electrically-recorded phonograph recording, entitled "Doctor Ragtime and his Pals." The Doctor, who hitherto has recorded only on his own, is joined here by Micah Blue Smaldone (who has been compared to both Tiny Tim and Kierkegaard), Glenn Jones (of Cul de Sac, last seen around these parts urging college students to contemplate the prospect of their own death on a balmy September evening), Michael Gangloff (late of Pelt and the Black Twig Pickers), Nathan Bowles (also of the Black Twig Pickers as well as the Spiral Joy Band) and the mysterious Harmonica Dan (from Pennsauken, New Jersey by way of ethereal caminos). -- Charles Fourier, Tequila Sunrise Records

PICKS OF THE WEEK


THE BEATLES- A DAY IN THE LIFE 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*In their infancy no one could have fathomed the Beatles would eventually transform into the quintessential symbol of the counterculture movement of the 1960’s. Until their first U.S. tour, they represented all that was good and fair in the world of early 1960’s nuclear society, gaining worldwide pop stardom for their catchy songwriting and heartthrob appeal. Shortly after their stay in the United States, however, something changed. Exposed to the emerging L.S.D. culture of the then budding counterculture movement, The Beatles released “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the album that immediately served as THE soundtrack to this new and total transformation of the very parameters of the socially acceptable and psychically possible. The Beatles represented a threat to the status quo if only because they proved that the consumption of L.S.D. radically expanded and matured perceptions both political and metaphysical rather than completely demolishing basic cognitive capacities of the individual. The fact that the Beatles became indescribably doper with the onset of psychedelic experimentation was the testament to the youth of yesterday that L.S.D. could do more than cause social disintegration; to the contrary, the expansion of social awareness and comradery is the first accomplishment of L.S.D.’s introduction into society on a mass social scale. This newest 12” from Slow/To\Speak’s Francis Englehardt and Paul Nickerson features a full side 12" pressing of "A Day in The Life”.

KATE BUSH- SUNSET/EGYPT/PI 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Master-articulator of dynamic and solitary convolution, the science of the soul; capable of slaying foes with the delicate power of her voice, the clever dexterity of her linguistic versatility---and yet as fierce and unsparing in character and spirit as any warrior queen, choosing the feminine façade of shy frailty from which to ambush her audience with cunning wisdom & armor-piercing analytical genius: Kate Bush, gifted singer/songwriter extraordinaire, teen prodigy, intrepid stoic, maser interpreter of the coded secrets of the soul. At the age of 16 she was awarded with a full record-deal from EMI, given creative freedom, and allowed to wander the artistic path of her choosing. Her debut “The Kick Inside” was a massive success, leading to world tour (her first and last) and worldwide acclaim. Rather than be swallowed whole by her own celebrity spectacle, Bush chose the quiet reclusion of her creative havens, recording 7 more albums out of sight while very much in mind. Her unparalleled, inimitably idiosyncratic enunciations of the complex subtleties of love, the simple beauty of the human struggle & the natural world, balanced with the social and political consciousness of the most learned intellectual, all delivered with the disarming beauty of her prodigious songwriting & skilled musicianship: the perfectly rounded artist, one of the best of our time, or any for that matter, Kate Bush must and will be recognized as one of the best. It is for this reason precisely that Slow To Speak has set out to bring fresh attention to her long-established brilliance, featuring three of her most outstanding works, “Sunset,” “Egypt” and “π,” for the latest in their series of limited-edition high quality classic reissues. Uncompromising, ingenious, dashingly intelligent and, most importantly, capable of articulating the seemingly inexplicable mechanics of social relation, internal tumult, external wonder, Bush has always remained unashamed of her talents, prepared to exploit and negate her image as “singer/songwriter” as she’s seen fit, at once embracing and then rejecting her own status as celebrity in remaining stubbornly committed to her striking, sublime, immaculate art.

DON CHERRY- MALKAUNS/BROWN RICE 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*It’s been said that Sun Ra is the cosmic champion of Jazz, the man of genius from outer space sent to Earth to reinterpret the message of our celestial ancestors through his music. Well, if Sun Ra is from another galaxy, Don Cherry is from another dimension entirely, a man so hauntingly original and seemingly unrooted that he defies origin, heritage, homeland. Most noted for providing the soundtrack for both of Jodorowsky’s masterpieces, “Holy Mountain” and “El Topo,” Cherry did for Jazz what Ash Ra Tempel and Kraftwerk did for Rock, taking a genre and superceding well beyond its previously demarcated boundaries, demolishing all set rules in seeing in this style the potential for something far more original and expressive than any of his predecessors could’ve imagined possible and unconcerned with the potential fallout from reactionaries far less gifted than he. Cherry’s style is dirty, gritty, unembarrassed, and uncompromisingly experimental. Bound only by his insatiable desire for the uncharted and unheard, Cherry stood for a perverted re-appropriation of Jazz, determined to bring the sound from out of the secluded club or café and out into the streets, through the illegal brothels and sleezy strip-clubs of yesteryear, past the LSD fueled psychedelic romps of the 1960’s, on to the meditative reflection of the New Age, and finally upwards into the timeless, limitless space of unknown Universes. It is in this realm that his music has remained, lingering there for eternity as Cherry’s eternal gift to mankind. Sadly, only a few have actually heard his genius, and thus the obvious necessity of highlighting some of his more remarkable work. Explore this 12”, and then explore more, as the universe of Don Cherry holds far more than the untrained mind could possibly fathom.

THE CURE- OTHER VOICES 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Tracklisting: Side A. Other Voices; Side B,1. The Figurehead 2. The Same Deep Water As You. Compiled by Francis Englehardt & Paul Nickerson for slow/to\speak. screen printed cover.

THE DOORS- THE END 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Despite being regarded as one of the chief staples of the sounds and philosophies being developed in the increasingly hedonistic youth culture of the 1960’s, performing to enthusiastic and wildly experimental crowds of young people across the country and the globe and championing LSD and psychedelic experimentation at an early age, The Doors, and perhaps more so band leader Jim Morrison, have a met a strange and rather unsavory fate in the annals of historical memory…specifically with the young people of our time, who seemed to have been convinced by some demon whispering in their ear that The Doors were fake, untalented and empty. Perhaps Morison’s unrestrained misogyny and deeply committed drug and alcohol use turns off the softened ears of those averse to music devoted to the reveling in the darkest urges of human nature. The Doors’ mission was total social-cultural assault; apolitical in nature, it aimed less to expound a specific program and more at shocking and provoking its audiences into spontaneous and uncontrolled spasms of unrestrained desire. The deeply entrancing yet violently offensive effect of their songs carry this imputed unlocking of social constraint directly into the earlobes and subconscious netherworld of it’s listeners, and it’s no wonder that many of their most memorable performances literally resulted in the entire audience rioting, leading to an obligatory police presence at many of their concerts (ostensibly this was to prevent Morrison from committing one of his frequent violations against laws of decency, but the concern of broader social outbreaks of debauchery were implicit). Perhaps the resistance that generations of our current times put up reveals their inability to even grasp at the base level music whose appeal should be as obvious as the basic pull of sexual or violent urges; and let there be no doubt that the unlocking of these desires are one of the last weapons the youth can wield against the increasingly boring and unsurprising social script written by the demigods of quasi-celebrity and stale culture, dispersed through every available outlet of mass & minute media, and acted out over countless dinner dates, rock concerts and club nights to the detriment of what we might call, simply, real lived experience, the present. “How many of you are REALLY alive?”

CHARLES EARLAND- LEAVING THIS PLANET 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*A heavily-played classic at David Mancuso's Loft parties, Charles Earland's "Leaving This Planet" encapsulates the visionary appropriation of the early NYC disco scene: an uptempo funky Jazz masterpiece that spoke to the precise moment of divine convergence that was NYC's underground dance community, and in so doing, secured it's place in the annals of musical and cultural immortality far beyond it's originally intended role. "Leaving This Planet" explicates both lyrically & musically, verbally and viscerally the basic platform of early club culture: a veritable antithetic to organized political action, and yet deeply political in it's own (possibly unconscious) right. A longing not just for immediate and total escape from the physical and spiritual plight of modern American urban poverty, but, in fact, an actually cohesive, organized and structured fraternity that applied a philosophy formulated from direct experience under the hardships of alienated material existence to the latter's objective stranglehold on passion, expression and cultural mobility, establishing a politics of the everyday that was practiced with tenacity and resolved, determined to abolish banal drudgery in favor of a new utopian vision: theoretical architecture constructed on top of the cold, estranging urban landscape of American inner-city plight. The early pioneers of NYC's underground have demonstrated for us continually through their example & legacy (which we should always reinvent & re-theorize for our own needs, of course) that to truly escape the hardships of this world requires an uncompromising exploitation of it's most base material simplicities, their direct reconstruction and re-appropriation, not for the continued service of the superstructures of economic and social division, but for the purposes of human need, human passion, human necessity: in service of LIFE. Compiled by Francis Englehardt & Paul Nickerson for slow/to\speak, featuring an exclusive B-Side by anti-philosopher DG9...there are no leaders...

BRIAN ENO- BA-BENZÈLÈ/SUBTERRANEANS 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Tracklisting: Side A. Ba-Benzélé; Side B. Subterraneans… Compiled by Francis Englehardt & Paul Nickerson for slow/to\speak. screen printed cover.

FLEETWOOD MAC- SISTERS OF THE MOON 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Before Fleetwood Mac inadvertently admitted Ms. Stevie Nicks into their band as a required adjunct to her then partner Lindsey Buckingham joining, the already multi-platinum rock powerhouse had achieved nothing close to the inquisitive substance & analytical content that they would eventually typify in the subsequent years. Of course, Nicks turned out to be the undeniable genius of the troop, her elegantly tempestuous creativity anchoring the band in a solidly poetic tradition and forcing the group’s trajectory in favor of a critical excavation of the human condition in search of the very base substance of human tragedy & romantic interface: it is these crucial years of Fleetwood Mac’s history that Slow To Speak seeks to emphasize in this latest of their growing reissue series. Nicks’ stark explications of the unspoken, opportunistic underbelly of human interaction---delivered with the graceful yet stalwart delivery of her vocal range---elevated her above & beyond the simplistic romantic naivety of standard pop-consciousness. Nicks grasped the necessity of embracing & fully understanding misery & wrongdoing as necessary elements of the social and philosophical balance of human passion, and she was more than willing to live in the dark shadow of villainy to fully comprehend the actual workings of humanities inequitably spaced web of virtue & vice. “And black moons in those eyes of hers, Made more sense to me.” Unafraid to admit and hold close the murk in her own subject, Nicks cast aside the false moralizing & boyish positivism and embraced the absorbing wasteland of ethical ambiguity and doomed affection.

JOE JACKSON- STEPPIN' OUT 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Sincerity should always be considered a chief virtue in the creation of music, regardless of what purpose or practical application one intends. What could be called a standard code by which one ought to go about mapping out songs should first and foremost dictate that no piece is created for the wrong reason. This is not necessarily a edict on the base-required sophistication of a record, and let this be clarified: of the infinitely diverse moments of experience the subject has and will encounter in their short life, every increment need representation, explication, aural verbalization. Different artists maintain a sort of specialized place of expertise whereby their endowed brilliance elucidates that specific moment of common plight, joy, sorrow, anger and is able to symbolize, represent if you will, the universality within this moment for the communal identification of those lucky enough to listen. This latest of reissues in the Slow To Speak catalog, featuring three of Joe Jackson’s shining moments of unbarred honesty and communicative genius---“Steppin’ Out” (live version), “Trying to Cry” and “Blue Flame”---embody some of our more mournful dispositions as social creatures, trying to establish even the smallest bit of common ground between each other and trying desperately to retain this connection, as we all starve and yet quietly recoil from this needed touch. Jackson refuses the weight of misguided sadness by proclaiming that only in the positive assertion of intimacy and fraternity do we have to the potential to sublimate this difficult opposition within our natural inclinations and rest in peace, fully aware of our inherent shortcomings and depressive potentials. Ultimately what he knows we will all know soon, that only in embracing our social nature can we master and ultimately derive joy in the sometimes terrifying but ultimately beautiful domain of the intimate.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE- WHITE RABBIT 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*As the self-promoted vanguard of the generation of 20th century hedonism, Jefferson Airplanes established themselves as a sort of unconscious mouthpiece of the drug culture of the 1960’s, an unflinching critic in the unique journey traveled by countless youth of their time, eager to consume, and then consume more, hungry for physical methods of circumventing the normal social routine in favor of the excesses of the new era. More interested in the unseen morphing of perception & consciousness brought about by the casual consumption of both drug & pleasure, sex & communal cohabitation, the band made it their mission to observe, chronicle and then perform the ensuing internal turmoil, often something darker and more profound than some exercise in irresponsible self-gratifying release. Their haunting, original ballads of the dazed & confused captured the moment of panic, confusion, disoriented euphoria, all mixed together in an indescribable experience of altered perception: that very moment at the crossroads of the taboo and the perverted when societal parameters set up originally for the protection of the species have finally become irrelevant with humanity’s superceding of survival in it’s frequently self-destructive quest for knowledge of self, mind, ego. With these selections from Slow To Speak, songs that whisper of dark secrets of human consciousness forgotten & rediscovered anew under the influence of post-industrial vertigo, the warning is spelt crystal clear for all to read: that when consuming the mind-altering, the proper techniques and the appropriate intentions in executing this self-exploratory ritual are imperative. For when the individual, confronted with the massive accumulation of dead technologies and the hallow toys of dreaded leisure, chooses punitive self-flagellation via the consumption of psychedelics in hopes of ridding themselves of the very fields of consciousness that operate unchallenged in modern class society, they risk unleashing the monsters of suppressed desire & unconscious despair, an act of utter self-destruction that spelled the end of many a teenager’s love affair with the mind-altering drugs of yesteryear. Jefferson Airplane’s melody warned & encouraged simultaneously, demonstrating the confusion of the band itself, as they too had already embarked on their own long and storied path to the enlightened throne of self-understanding and universal perception.

THE MARS VOLTA- VICARIOUS ATONEMENT 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*With their latest reissue in a the now prolific collection of classic 12” promotional releases from their Brooklyn, NY based label, Slow To Speak continues their tireless efforts in spreading the good word of exceptional & timeless music, this time delving into territory previously unexplored until now: the world of contemporary music. The Mars Volta arose in part from the ashes of “Emo/Hardcore,” an impoverished and completely exhausted subgenre whose major downfall, even in it’s most sincere manifestations, was it’s morbid & self-indulgent obsession with self-pitying romantic tragedy. With creative leader Omar Rodriguez Lopez at the helm & a constantly rotating cast of exceptionally talented & invested musicians at his side, The Mars Volta have broken violently with their lesser heritage in superceding the unhealthy fixation with infantile interpersonal dramatics, embracing the broader and definitively more sinister existential melancholia of post-modern immobility in articulating with remarkable dexterity the simple fact that, beyond the microscopic hardships of love lost, lies the seemingly infinite pool of social & philosophical vapidity of our increasingly sinister existences. While songs like the heart-wrenching “Vicarious Atonement” might initially appear fixated on the anti-social irrelevancies of romantic fallout, a closer inspection informs the listener of the less-than-comforting truth: that of a deeply ominous, older and more experienced wisdom, equally as anti-social yet, sadly, spot on in it’s comprehensive articulation of our daily lives: that no friendship can proceed in good health & autonomously from the ever-numbing abstractions of mass spectacular gaze. Not content to sit idly with this knowledge, The Mars Volta relentlessly propagate their disturbed wisdom, assaulting their listeners with the aggressive & unrelenting barrage of rabid poetic catharsis, militants for the sincere & unpolished truth in popular music.

THE POLICE- THE BED'S TOO BIG WITHOUT YOU 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*One of London’s quintessential punk turned new-wave turned pop sensations, The Police ruled the top of the charts for a solid 3 years with a series of wildly successful full-lengths and fully accepted hit singles that culminated in their massively successful LP “Synchronicity,” released in 1983 to much fan-fair and eventually selling 8,000,000 copies in the United States alone. Looking back on their unique styling, skilled songwriting and masterful lyrical composition, one can only stand amazed at the subtle maneuvering in which they were able to appeal to the widest range of audiences while maintaining total integrity and sophisticated, highly intellectual dispositions during a time when pop as a corporate force of bland, edge-cutting formulaics were being revived, redeveloped and strengthened once more under the reactionary corporate assault on the advances of sophisticated popular music during the 60’s and 70’s. Blending punk rock, new-wave, jazz and reggae without fully owing allegiance to any of these genres, Sting and band members Stewart Copeland & Henry Padovani championed a new pop approach that blended strong, irresistible song structuring and rhythmically undeniable groundings with urbane, subtly discerning themes that borrowed as much from the literature of Carl Jung & Paul Bowles as much as it did the critical theory of Foucault and the philosophical discourse of Spinoza & Schelling---nevertheless appealing to everyday themes of working-class plight, existential despair and innocent desire. Theirs is an example of a band pulling off the high order of retaining full artistic integrity while refusing to relegate themselves to falsely pretentious circles of unimportant artistic babbling…and their songs continue to speak volumes in sound and story years after their project crumbled under the pressure of personal strain of individual dispute.

PHAROAH SANDERS- ELEVATION 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*A shining example of technical virtuosity & conceptual vision, Pharoah Sanders came to prominence like so many Jazz greats before him: having honed his professional craft playing in local Rhythm & Blues acts in Oakland, CA, Sanders traveled East in 1961 to become part of the rising avant-garde Jazz circle of New York City, and, per the protocol of the honorable and sacred lineage of Jazz musicians, bloomed into his own under the creative support of an elder’s weathered wing---in this case, playing tenor saxophone with John Coltrane through the early to mid-1960’s, participating and to a great extent influencing the increasingly free-formed Jazz experimentations that Coltrane’s outfit would become deeply immersed in throughout this era. Despite amassing unparalleled respect & reverence from his peers and devoted followers in the Free-Jazz community, Sanders quickly rejected the allegedly boundless domain of anti-structure that he had helped to construct, embarking---whether through conscious intention or accidental genius---to develop a new aesthetic that recognized within the infinite & completely un-chartable expanses of some Free-Jazz experimentation & expressionism lay an acute dogmatism, and “ideology of anti-ideology” that Sanders would quickly supercede through his explorations of melody and musicality in esoteric notational expression. Pharoah Sanders arose as one of the quintessential figureheads of a musical genre that, ironically, refuted the very concepts of individual egotistical worth and corporeal concern, focused on the transitive and transcendent properties of melody & impeccably crafted harmony, their philosophical, spiritual and political potentials through it’s theory & practice: “Spiritual Jazz.” The major contribution that Sanders and his contemporaries in this newly budding genre of the early 1970’s discovered was the higher form of expressionism, not through absolute refutation and denunciation of structure, but through the careful analysis and engagement with the basic necessities of musical simplicity to create something completely boundless within the parameters of traditional structure: an autonomous zone of instrumental catharsis that allowed equally the unrestrained bursting of brass screams and the meditative soothing of repetitive bass refrains & lush melodic chords---a perfectly boundless synthesis of free expression & wise musical grounding. This latest reissue compiled by Slow To Speak’s Francis Englehardt & Paul Nickerson highlights with equal reverence and profound awe the transitive properties of Sander’s masterful arrangement and musical prophecy, featuring two original works of the tenor great, “Elevation” & “Astral Traveling,” along with his absolutely breathtaking early groundwork with Alice Coltrane with the classic “Journey In Satchidananda.”

SANTANA- AQUA MARINE/MIRAGE/MANTRA 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*highly limited 12” featuring some of Santana’s finest work---as compiled by slow/to\speak’s Paul Nickerson & Francis Englehardt. These records hail from the elusive, almost mystical years of mid-late 20th Century musical genius, an era whose boundaries defy demarcation, except to say its legacy must have commenced somewhere between the budding possibilities (both political and metaphysical) of the late 1960’s to the ultimate crumbling of those newly resurrected aspirations only shortly after having sprung to life---the dark times, when quality music shifted its concentrated focus from the introverted and attentively concerned to the essentially cathartic, escapist and hedonistic. A time when the Old World seemed to gasp for its last breathe as it kneeled in defeat to the tide of new thought and action, this era viewed and (more importantly) utilized music as the centrifugal anchor, the chief intersecting point of political, social and spiritual life, a meeting place for the realms of the radically new and the anciently sacred. This was a time when new techniques of spiritual practice and enlightenment were taken seriously---not as the latest coping mechanism to enable the week-willed and broken hearted to stomach just a few more moments of their miserable existences, but rather as a revolutionary and fresh means to achieve transcendence from the often-limiting terrain of the physical realm.
The records featured on this stunning collection really do manifest in aural form this significant though sadly short-lived project of exploratory spirituality, experimenting with the very Forms of music, rhythm and sound to produce some of the most effective, moving and sublime records to ever have graced this Earth. Some of these records have not seen a proper 12” release, such as “Aqua Marine”; others, like “Mantra”," never saw the light of day until just recently, and for the first time on vinyl with this latest of Slow To Speak releases. Regardless, this record should be worthy of taking serious note, if only as a marker, a memory, commemorating the now close to forgotten age of spiritual realization as acheived through the practice of music---it's writing and performance, of course, but more importantly, it's actually being used as a direct means to expand and explore the normally confining domain of everyday life.

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES- SPELLBOUND 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Pushing on with their continuing series of high-quality classic reissues, Slow to Speak presents their latest 12” featuring the exceptional post-punk of one Siouxsie & The Banshees. Clear contemporaries of fellow reissued monoliths of British rock, The Police & The Cure, Siouxie & the Banshees, though having formed in 1975 by core members Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin, the group didn’t really come into their own until the late-1970’s crisis of Rock Music, when Punk’s initial furry began to dissipate under the cooling gaze of mainstream fixation, arguably neutralizing such counter-cultural monoliths as Iggy Pop & David Bowie. Sioux & Severin, excessively grand in their aspirations & determined not to succumb to the same fate, found themselves drawn to the emerging post-punk philosophies of anti-pop image formulation and projection, combining an essentially anti-celebrity presentation with starkly realist social commentaries intertwined confidently into their peculiarly unique and sinisterly haunting dark-rock aesthetic, one of the major contributors along with The Cure in the creation of the still-debatable Goth Rock genre. Irrelevant of their cultural allegiances, Siouxsie and the Banshees were able to accomplish complete artistic autonomy while retaining their patently anti-authoritarian stance through the medium of their aural poetics, taking up verbal arms against legacies of British Imperialism, Medicine & Power, post-industrial technological melancholia & religious-politico-psychosis of rabid Zionism; all this was performed under the advantageously offsetting façade of self-imposed outcasting, presenting themselves in dooming attire & make-up, exactly as they saw their world: a desolate land drifting towards an existential void of endless consequence, inhabited increasingly by a zombie-like rabble uncertain of what they live for, and more importantly, what is worth living for.

SYLVESTER- OVER & OVER/I NEED SOMEBODY TO LOVE TONIGHT 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Last night I attended the Manuel Gottsching performance at Club Love NYC. A few minutes into Göttsching’s set, in the silence following the enthusiastic applause for his classic “Shuttlecock” track, a lone individual in the crowd shouted enthusiastically, “Fuck her in the ass!” As I chuckled to myself, I was surprised to see the young man in question vocally denounced by his surrounding patrons for what they believed was an insulting, inappropriate and immature act. Clearly these attendees felt that the young man’s perverse proclamation was an attack on the integrity of the event, an insult to Göttsching’s legacy and his appearance that evening. I was surprised and taken aback as well, not with the young man but with the appalling show of conservativism on the part of these patrons, denouncing this young man for what was once the very energy and enthusiasm that fueled the legendary parties and club communities of NYC’s underground in years past. I can understand that some people came to the event expecting a conforming, pleasantly civil and relatively tame concert by the legendary kraut-rock pioneer (which is disturbing in itself); what I was most worried by was the fact that the majority of those who rose in anger against this youngster were themselves veterans of the party circuits of NYC’s legendary past. It seems they’ve forgotten the fun-loving, unrestrained, youthful energy that made the parties like the Paradise Garage, The Loft, Club Zanzibar & Body & SOUL so free, where the normal formalities and social constraints of everyday routine were washed away and impulsive, pleasure-seeking mania took over. I mean, seriously, think about it: if the flaming transsexuals that used to rule the party scene of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s were at the event in question, they would’ve been driven out the second they walked by the very people who are constantly pushing empty slogans like “It’s all about love" and "Everyone’s welcome!” down our throats. In reality, many of these so-called “party people” are too old (more so in attitude than age), too straight-laced, too concerned with their image and air of “maturity” and “sophistication” to even remember what was so free about the “Loft” all the way up to the not-so-long-gone Body & SOUL parties: these events were free-zones, unsoiled spaces of fraternity and pleasure where individuals were finally able to interact with each other without worrying about what they said, how they looked, who they knew and how cultured or respected they seemed. It never ceases to amaze me how often many of these completely out-of-touch elders of the dance music community talk about being “free,” about “love and happiness,” when they can’t even find the inner-child within them to let go of their idiotic pretenses and actually have a good time. In reality, their major concern is to ensure that House Music is perceived by the rest of the world as a legitimate and dignified “culture,” one that can be respected by the rich, the noble, the fashion world, the safeguards of accepted norms and standards for decency and discipline in society: to ensure that they keep their distance from street people, drag-queens and drug-addicts, so that they can finally be respected as discerning, unthreatening, dignified adults who have a place in this increasingly boring and very much UNspontaneous society. Something tells me that Sylvester did not draw his inspiration for the completely unrestrained, wildly energetic vocal belting of “Over & Over” from a gathering of 40 & 50 somethings who were more concerned with how they dressed and who they knew than having a good time. Equally less likely it seems that Sylvester would’ve made the brilliant, sex-obsessed “I Need Somebody to Love Tonight” after attending a party of married couples trying to relive their wilder days in the tamest way imaginable. And yet these brilliant songs are championed by the very same heads that would look at a drunken, lustful gathering of young adults now with patronizing disapproval. Dance music must push forward and stay free if it is to survive. Now is the time to change by recovering the old ways. BE FREE, always. Limited-edition Sylvester classics as brought to you by Slow To Speak...

PAUL WINTER- SEA JOY 12” (slow to speak, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Slow to Speak proudly presents the newest installment of their highly regarded reissue series, featuring the unknown instrumental masterpiece “Sea Joy” on a special single-sided 12” pressing. A work of exceptional, climactic majesty, “Sea Joy” draws its inspiration from the contemplative reclusion of desolate natural beauty, an aural ode to the poetic celebration of pastoral serenity typical of the romantic tradition---equally as ethereal though dialectically opposite from electronic production in its refutation of the urban wellspring of creative resource. Ironically, Paul Winters’ splendorous, worldly instrumentation & breathtaking orchestral direction was recorded at the Cathedral of St. John’s the Devine in New York City, located squarely amidst the polluting & disorienting haze of strenuous metropolitan frenzy. Regardless, the result of this session was our subject of concern, a piece of serenely peaceful & sincerely-inspired music that Blake or Shelley would be more than proud to claim as their rightful heir.

LOGGINS & MESSINA- PATHWAY TO GLORY 12” (slow to speak/feed.back, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*The second in the Feed.back series, following up U2's 'Bloody Sunday' on the 'slow to speak' appendix label 'Feed.back'. Often times dreams are lost when paths are roadblocked, we compromise the vision forgetting that the resistance is the very thing that sculpts us. Somehow this concept was more apparent in the 70's, maybe because you really had to work and think then or just because their wasnt so much information everywhere that was too easily accesible (see: things actually having value). Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina put these ideals into sound, or maybe someone else put the sounds in words and they just unearthed the lost manuscript. Whatever way it happened, its still relevant. Take a listen and THINK for yourself, you might need your seldgehammer though as many of main thoroughfares are not so fluid.

NEIL YOUNG- SOUTHERN MAN 12” (slow to speak/feed.back, usa)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*The Feed.back series has never been focused on making the rare and obscure once again commercially available for record collectors and DJ’s to own. As demonstrated by the previous two selections, U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and Loggins & Messina’s “Pathway to Glory,” the Feed.back series is intended to really showcase some of the dopest as well as most urgently relevant classics of our recent times. More than just a music showcase, Feed.back highlights records that actually concern serious conditions of the modern era up to this day, both spiritual and political/material, records that speak to the everyday conditions that we live through in our day-to-day existence on this earth. Music has the potential to become something beyond personal healer, a social tool both for political organization and propaganda, but also for the necessary expression of mass frustration and collective purpose. Feed.back strives for the rejuvenation of this intent in the creation and playing of music. The 3rd edition of this series, Neil Young’s “Southern Man,” articulates a marked disgust with the reactionary and inherently racist tendency of regional nationalism. Everyone is familiar with the alleged animosity between Young and Alabama’s Lynard Skynard over the blatantly condemnatory articulation of the South’s almost fascistic obsession with local heritage---sic. blood & soil, the completely fallacious belief in a national Story, a legacy of firm local traditionalism that fuels so much of the racism in the South. Past, present, and future is accounted for, and the legacy of slavery is carried on through demented “local pride” that goes largely unquestioned, disguised as it is. Young put out a song that sought to openly and aggressively single out the violent legacy of Southern racism and its influence still operating strong within Southern social thought, refusing to let it fade away from the popular memory just as the most influential and high-ranking of apologists were beginning to formulate and put into action the notion of equality finally achieved in the “new America.”

HARD ROCK AND PSYCHEDELIC


LA DÜSSELDORF- VIVA LP (4 men with beards, usa)
19.98usd/13.39gbp/15.06eur/1822jpy (approx)


*Viva is the second release from Klaus Dinger's post-Neu! group. Originally released in 1978, Viva is a stunning combination of washed-out synthesizers, swirling guitar work and Dinger's trademark motorik rhythms. Featuring the classic 'Cha, Cha 2000,' Viva is another fine effort from one of Krautrock's legends and stands as a testament of just how gloriously ahead of their time the German progressive rock scene of the '70s could be. An essential record.

BABY GRANDMOTHERS- BABY GRANDMOTHERS 2LP (subliminal sounds, sweden)
33.98usd/22.78gbp/25.61eur/3099jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Limited 2LP vinyl version of 500 copies, following the previously-released CD. Baby Grandmothers were a short-lived Swedish band, but one of the most prolific and unique psychedelic, modal, experimental power trios to emerge out of the Scandinavian psychedelic underground scene in 1967. Although hailing from Stockholm, Sweden they only released a single in Finland, which has since become one of the most sought-after pieces of vinyl from the era. Formed out of the legendary R&B/beat band T-Boones which included guitar-wiz Kenny Håkansson, who ushered the group into the psychedelic sounds of the time. Not only were they the house band at the legendary psychedelic club, Filips, they also supported Jimi Hendrix on his Swedish tour in 1968 and then turned into Mecki Mark Men, who became the first Swedish rock band to tour the U.S. This unique collection includes live recordings made at Filips, their impossibly rare single and a rare live recording made in Finland. Painstakingly collected and researched by Dungen's guitarist, Reine Fiske.

S.T. MIKAEL- IN HARMONY LP (subliminal sounds, sweden)
31.98usd/21.44gbp/24.10eur/2916jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… This brand new and heavily mind-bending album is the second volume in a suite of two separate albums marking the return of the mysterious and legendary Swedish psychedelic multi-instrumentalist S.T. Mikael. Mikael spearheaded the DIY psychedelic rock/folk movement of the late 1980s/mid-'90s, and he returned in early 2008, after an 11 year silence, to record some music with some friends for Subliminal Sounds. In Harmony is the natural conclusion to the recordings S.T. Mikael made with Dungen's Fredrik Bjorling and Reine Fiske, which were introduced with the album Mind of Fire. Signaled from the outset with the opening track "Mother Is Calling," In Harmony is dedicated to our arch mother, Nature, and all the treasures and mysteries it contains. On his 15-minute epos, "Higher," Mikael performs as a one-man-band, offering insight into the blissful happiness he has received from that which springs from -- and grows -- in nature. As our world continues to change faster than ever, S.T. Mikael's melodic folk-rock and spiritual psychedelia tells us of the importance of partaking in the psychedelic communion and listening to each other -- before it's too late. Get ready for more visions of winged creatures galloping across a thunderous and cloud-swirled sky and another glimpse into your inner mind's eye. Limited edition of 500 copies on vinyl only.

S.T. MIKAEL- MIND OF FIRE LP (subliminal sounds, sweden)
36.98usd/24.79gbp/27.87eur/3372jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… After an 11 year silence, here's a new album by the mysterious and legendary Swedish psychedelic multi-instrumentalist, S.T. Mikael. This is part one of a suite of two separate albums. Mikael spearheaded the DIY psychedelic rock/folk movement of the late 1980s/mid-'90s, with a collection of albums that now fetch up and over $1000 on eBay. During his long absence, S.T. Mikael grew more secretive and reclusive, but all the while he was still writing music. Now that he's finally back, here's a chance at last for the world to join his psychedelic world again. The music, stretching out in many different directions, has been done freely and spontaneously in an extremely relaxed and happy environment. He also joins forces with Dungen's Reine Fiske and Fredrik Björling, whose musical expertise now also grace the grooves. These otherworldly acid tripper recordings now exist in the real world and S.T. Mikael proves, once again, to be a gifted songwriter and an unconventional performer with a very personal ear for acoustics and an emotional honesty seldom seen these days. Melodic folk-rock elements flow with waves of heavy fuzz-phase leads; weird, detached, haunted vocals echo over the band and the whole thing seems to teeter on the brink of psychedelic oblivion. This is not psychedelic revival, but the psychedelic NOW. His soaring vocals, surreal lyrics, fragile, folky melodies, heavy fuzz riffs, mind-bending soul funk and penchant for the spiritual and mystical make this a fascinating voyage that is so mind-twisting, soul-swirling, upper psychedelic that your third eye takes you on a joyride through an altered state! This album makes your brain start thinking in those pebble-splash-pond-mind circular expanding waveforms that reveal the password to tomorrow.

PAUL KOSSOFF WITH BLACK CAT BONES- PAUL'S BLUES 3LP (sunbeam, uk)
47.98usd/32.16gbp/36.16eur/4376jpy (approx)


*Previously released on 2CD by Sunbeam, now issued on deluxe 180 gram virgin vinyl. This 3LP package contains the earliest known recordings of the UK's Paul Kossoff (Free), whose tragic death at 25 in 1976 robbed the rock world of one of its finest-ever blues guitarists. Taped at rehearsals with Black Cat Bones in London in 1967, the raw, lo-fi tracks find the teenaged Kossoff already a master of his instrument. Accompanied by musicians including Derek and Stuart Brookes (later to form the legendary Leaf Hound), and featuring a guest appearance from Paul Rodgers (later to form Free with Kossoff), the recordings are of considerable historical importance. They are released here for the very first time, along with a triple fold-out sleeve featuring rare photographs, full liner notes and an introduction from the band's drummer, Frank Perry, making this numbered, limited package an essential purchase for all serious rock collectors.

PUNK AND POST-PUNK


MI AMI- ARK OF THE COVENANT 12” (lovers rock, usa)
12.98usd/8.70gbp/9.78eur/1183jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Heavy and frantic dub punk from San Francisco's Mi Ami, featuring Dan and Jacob of Dischord's Black Eyes. A spacious exploration of 21st century paranoia and psycho-sexual body terror. Debut release from Lovers Rock. Limited to 500 copies, 45rpm, 140 gram vinyl, hand screened covers.

BLANK DOGS- ON TWO SIDES CD (sacred bones, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*Sacred Bones presents the CD version of the first Blank Dogs full-length On Two Sides--vinyl was released (and already oop) earlier this year via Troubleman Unlimited. The first long-playing release and the first non-vinyl appearance (save for a very limited run cassette release of this album via Fuckit Tapes) from bedroom punk's new crowned prince of home-recorded DIY synth dementia. After a string of highly coveted and now mostly out of print singles and EP's On Two Sides finds the band holding attention in the long form. Buried under the layers of distortion, fuzz, and synth lines are pop hooks that call to mind The Bats and The Chills as much as Helios Creed or Debris. Psychedelic punk for fans of the more minimal and electro tendencies of the Komische. Which mask will you wear during Blank Dog Time?

CHILDREN’S HOSTPIAL- ALONE TOGETHER LP (sacred bones, usa)
18.98usd/12.72gbp/14.31eur/1731jpy (approx)


*Alone Together is the debut release from Children’s Hospital. If their despondent sounds remind you of something you may have once heard its because this is the latest project from the A-Frames/Intelligence/Rodent Plague/AFCGT axis. Reminiscent of the brooding and gray skyline of their hometown of Seattle the duo hover between abstract soundscape compositions, Jandek inspired bouts of melancholy droned out dementia, and stripped apart abrasive punk...often combining several of the forms at once. If recent Rodent Plague releases on Killshaman and Jerkave Tapes are any indication it would be ill-advised to sleep on Children’s Hospital.

THE REBEL- NORTHERN ROCKS BEAR WEIRD VEGETABLE LP (sacred bones, usa)
18.98usd/12.72gbp/14.31eur/1731jpy (approx)


*Sacred Bones Records presents Northern Rocks Bear Weird Vegetable—the next full-length from London, England’s The Rebel. The alter ego of Country Teasers’ Ben Wallers, The Rebel dates back to the tail-end of the 80s—having existed side-by-side throughout Country Teasers’ prolific career—often releasing records at a steadier clip than Waller’s main project with songs too madcap to fit into even their William-Burroughs-by-way-of-The-Residents take on country music. Wallers’ characteristic self-aware irony and surreal gender/race ruminations are still present but sitting backseat in this more fleshed out concept album about decaying conditions on the planet 3AR7H. Although Burroughs comparisons are inevitable, Northern Rocks Bear Weird Vegetable could only have been scripted by The Rebel. The album’s narrator is in a band, has a valet named Mulholland, but inhabits an otherwise unrecognizable dystopian landscape where evil science laboratories combat college radio personalities, and nuclear war with Iran is well underway. Important issues of today and tomorrow are touched on. In “Why Must I Pay?” Mr. Thatcher, a future Prime Minister, is excoriated for the rising costs of tea, rent, drugs and sex. In “Scarlett Johansen Conceiving the Design&8221; we are shown a horrific world in which starlets replace scientists as consumerdom’s inventors. In “You’re Just Like Tammy Wynette” the Radical Islam Problem is diagnosed by looking at the politics of ladies headgear, while in “Turtle v. Octopus” a battle between Lovecraftian ancient adversaries plays out, potentially affecting the future of Music itself. This is the first Rebel album to be recorded in the studio with a live backing band...that band being the Country Teasers. In terms of sound, Northern Rocks Bears Weird Vegetable exchanges The Rebel’s clautrophobic home studio layers and d.i.y. effects for the improvisational band chemistry and controlled looseness of Country Teasers’ infamous live act.

FUNK AND SOUL


WICKED WITCH- CHAOS: 1978-86 LP (em, japan)
24.98usd/16.75gbp/18.83eur/2278jpy (approx)


*First-time ever reissue of rare evil psycho machine-funk from '80s Washington, D.C., including previously-unreleased mixes. Now is not the time to doubt your senses -- the Wicked Witch does exist. Born and raised in the musical magical cauldron of Washington D.C., Wicked Witch combines elements from alchemical mentors Parliament Funkadelic, Sun Ra, ESG, Run DMC, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix to cast a crazed spell on the innocent listener. An evil mass of machine-funk with lashings of rhythm and blues and fusion delivered direct from the heart of the Witch, a misunderstood psycho-genius weaving his solo web deep within the dark studio walls. Trained by masters at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Wicked Witch is in full control; he plays all, knows all, tells all. His message will not be denied. Believe your ears, believe your eyes: the Wicked Witch does indeed exist. First-time ever re-issue, remastered from the original master tapes.

GREY AREA, AVANT GARDE AND NOISE


KOEN HOLTKAMP- FIELD RITUALS 2LP (type, uk)
23.98usd/16.08gbp/18.07eur/2187jpy (approx)


*Double LP version. Includes two vinyl-only remixes by Robert Aubrey Lowe (Lichens) and Xela… Field Rituals is the first solo album to come from Koen Holtkamp, an artist probably better known as one-half of ambient duo Mountains. Based in Brooklyn, Koen created the album slowly and as a love letter of sorts, taking in delicate field recordings and using them like faded photos, representing his distinct memories of the people and places he chanced upon. Taking cues from the classic ambience of Brian Eno and fusing it with the instrumental subtlety of Sweden's Tape, Koen has come up with an aural book on his subject matter. Each track feels entwined in the next and feels like a part of something much bigger. Sure we've heard field recordings, synthesizers and guitars before, but rarely have these instruments been injected with such a lightness of touch and with such a delicate open ear. Each listen reveals more, like peeling back layers of onion skin -- take the album's epic centerpiece "Sky Flowers" for example, which blends slow-moving synthesizers with good-natured environmental recordings and shimmering strings. The result is explosive somehow, with the grandeur more usually exploited by Arvo Pärt being framed with a distant electronic ambience. The slow-burning pace is probably the single most important facet and reveals an artist at ease with his musical choices, something unusual in a genre brimming with young hopefuls. A good comparison might be Stars Of The Lid, but Koen's music is more organic and more humble somewhat than the ex-Texan duo. This is a look into Holtkamp's most personal of works.

JAZZ


SUN RA- OF MYTHIC WORLDS LP (philly jazz, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*Exact repro of this 1980 album, the second Sun Ra album to be released on Philly Jazz following Lanquidity. Undated live recording, not previously reissued on either LP or CD! "Sun Ra's music is equational. It is based on a system and philosophy as old as the most ancient of civilizations, and it points the way of the future as well. Music is not seen as merely entertainment. Ra has oftentimes mentioned the potentials of music to change the social order. In fact, the highlight of many of his performances is his self-conceived cosmodrama which is essentially a dramatic monologue by Sun Ra in which he outlines the paths toward omniversal perfection. The Arkestra itself becomes the musical foil for Pharonic wisdom and cosmic insight." --Spencer R. Weston

SUN RA- INTERSTELLER LOW WAYS LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Originally titled Rocket Number Nine. Tracklisting: Onward, Somewhere in Space, Interplanetary Music, Interstellar Low Ways, Space Loneliness, Space Aura, Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus. Recorded at various locations, Chicago, late 1960.

SUN RA- WHEN SUN COMES OUT LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: Circe, The Nile, Brazilian Sun, We Travel the Spaceways, Calling Planet Earth, Dancing Shadows, The Rainmaker, When Sun Comes Out. First two tracks probably made during the same session at the Choreographers' Workshop, late 1962 or 1963. Remaining tracks recorded during different sessions around the same period. The master tape of side B is in stereo; all known pressings of the album are in mono, however. The master tape also includes a rejected take of an unidentified piece at the beginning. In addition, three pieces were recorded backwards (!) on the master used by Evidence.

SUN RA- SUPER-SONIC JAZZ LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Retitled Super Sonic Sounds on Impulse. Tracklisting: India, Sunology, Advice to Medics, Super Blonde, Soft Talk, Sunology, part II, Kingdom of Not, Portrait of the Living Sky, Blues at Midnight, El is a Sound of Joy, Springtime in Chicago, Medicine for a Nightmare. Recorded RCA Studios, Chicago, 1956.

SUN RA- THE NUBIANS OF PLUTONIA LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Originally titled The Lady With the Golden Stockings. Tracklisting: Plutonian Nights, The Lady with the Golden Stockings (The Golden Lady), Star Time, Nubia, Africa, Watusa, Aiethopia. All from various clubs and rehearsal rooms, Chicago, 1958-1959.

SUN RA- WE TRAVEL THE SPACE WAYS LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: Interplanetary Music, Eve, We Travel the Spaceways, Tapestry from an Asteroid, Space Loneliness, New Horizons, Velvet. Recorded at "El Saturn Studio" (meaning some club or rehearsal room), Chicago, around 1959.

SUN RA- STRANGE STRINGS LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: Worlds Approaching, Strange Strings featuring vocal by Arthur Jenkins, Strange Strings featuring lightning drum. Recorded in New York, probably 1966. A very uncommon Sun Ra LP, originally issued on Thoth (a Saturn-subsidiary?) in '66 or '67. A concept album of sorts, dealing with musicians playing unfamiliar instruments ("Chinese lutes, moon-guitars, mandolin, bass, koto," according to Tam Fiofori). "It is a piece of astonishing variety...Sun Ra here succeeds in creating perhaps the most completely improvised but organic piece in the history of jazz, with no prepared rhythmic, melodic or harmonic material, performed by players on instruments foreign to them." -- John Szwed.

SUN RA- HOLIDAY FOR SOUL DANCE LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: But Not for Me, Day by Day, Holiday for Strings, Dorothy's Dance, Early Autumn, I Loves You Porgy, Body and Soul, Keep Your Sunny Side Up. Hall Recording Co., Chicago, late 1960, except Early Autumn, which was made at the Wonder Inn around the same time.

SUN RA- SOUND SUN PLEASURE!! LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: 'Round Midnight, You Never Told Me That You Care, Hour of Parting, Back In Your Own Backyard, Enlightenment (taken from Jazz in Silhouette), I Could Have Danced All Night. Recorded by Alton Abraham, Chicago, 1958. Also seems to be a studio recording. Not the same session as Jazz in Silhouette.

SUN RA- MY BROTHER THE WIND LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: My Brother the Wind, Intergalactic II, To Nature's God, The Code of Interdependence. New York or Philadelphia, 1970.

SUN RA- THE NIGHT OF THE PURPLE MOON LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: Sun-Earth Rock, The All of Everything, Impromptu Festival, Blue Soul, Narrative, Outside the Time Zone, The Night of the Purple Moon, A Bird's Eye View of Man's World, 21st Century Romance, Dance of the Living Image, Love in Outer Space. Probably recorded in New York 1970. Small grouping of Sun Ra (Moog synthesizers, Roksichord), John Gilmore (sax, perc.), Danny Davis (sax, clarinet), Stafford James (bass).

SUN RA- MY BROTHER THE WIND VOL.2 LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: Somewhere Else, Contrast, The Wind Speaks, Sun Thoughts, Journey to the Stars, World of the Myth "I", The DesignQCosmos II, Otherness Blue, Somebody Else's Idea (Somebody Else's World), Pleasant Twilight, Walking on the Moon. Recorded in New York or Philadelphia 1969.The session tapes also include a rejected version of an unidentified composition.

SUN RA- BAD AND BEAUTIFUL LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… All recorded at the Choreographers' Workshop, New York, November or December 1961. Tracklisting: The Bad and the Beautiful, Ankh, Just in Time, Search Light Blues, Exotic Two, On the Blue Side, And This is My Beloved. A tape of these sessions was sold to Alan Bates of Black Lion/Freedom records (probably in 1970). It also included an incomplete, untitled piano and bass duet and an incomplete title featuring piano and percussion.

SUN RA- MAGIC CITY LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: The Magic City, The Shadow World, Abstract Eye, Abstract "I". Recorded at Rehearsal, New York City, around 9/24/65 and Live at Olatunji's loft, New York, spring 1965.

SUN RA- OTHER PLANES OF THERE LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Tracklisting: Other Planes of There, Sound Spectra, Spec Sket, Sketch, Pleasure, Spiral Galaxy. Recorded at Choreographers' Workshop, New York, 1964. 'Spiral Galaxy' is from a different session than the other three tracks. Probably recorded by Tommy Hunter.

SUN RA- ART FORMS OF DIMENSIONS TOMORROW LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Classic Chicago Saturn release, issued in 1965, recorded at the Choreographers' Workshop, all but the last two tracks in the basement (where Ra liked the piano sound). Recorded in New York 1961/1962. Tracklisting: Cluster of Galaxies, Solar Drums , The Outer Heavens, Infinity of the Universe, Lights on a Satellite, Kosmos in Blue. Featuring: "Cluster of Galaxies", "Ankh", "Solar Drums", "The Outer Heavens", "Infinity of the Universe", "Lights on a Satellite", "Kosmos In Blue". With futuristic space interludes that are mindblowing... "This music, performed by a jazz band in the early 1960's, predates Syd Barrett, and occurred long before Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditations. But you will swear you are listening to a lost Kraut/psych classic inspired by both of these. 'Solar Drums' is everyone in the band grabbing a percussion instrument except for the man behind the recording desk, who plunges everyone into a swirl of echo until they tip and tremble off each other luminescently, plinking brightly in the dark...one of the most amazing documents of Sun Ra's foresight.

SUN RA- FATE IN A PLEASANT MOOD LP (saturn, usa)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*shop favorite restocked… Hall Recording Co. and rehearsals, Chicago late 1960-early 1961. Tracklisting: The Others in their World , Space Mates, Lights of a Satellite, Distant Stars, Kingdom of Thunder, Fate in a Pleasant Mood, Ankhnaton.

WILLIAM PARKER QUARTET- PETIT OISEAU 2LP (shortwave, usa)
29.98usd/20.10gbp/22.60eur/2734jpy (approx)


*limited double vinyl version of the aum fidelity release… William Parker's Quartet is the premier outlet for his (and their) immense and timeless talents. The group's first two albums are universally recognized as still-revealing exemplars of modern music. Here now is the third album -- Petit Oiseau aka 'Little Bird' -- a wholly new set of melodically, harmonically and rhythmically advanced compositions rendered by one of the greatest jazz bands the world has yet had the good fortune to bear witness to. Insinuating melodies and counter-melodies, layers upon layers of sound unfolding through dancing in your head and with your muscles 'n' bones. The band uses the launching pad of Parker's indelible tunes to explore the far reaches of collective improvisation and then returns home to move it back to you here on planet Earth. The music is delivered within a beautiful 6-panel digipak featuring extensive liner notes by William Parker and cover art by renowned modern master painter David Kroll. So eternally much here to enjoy, wrap yourself in sound and get alive with. Named after Little Bird (or Petit Oiseau in French), a character from one of bassist/composer William Parker's tone poems, this recording features eight original compositions, including works dedicated to musicians Malachi Favors, Alan Shorter and Arthur Williams. Other pieces take their inspiration from such diverse sources as the inherent rhythm of life and the nomadic people of Northern Europe.

EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA - WE ARE ALL FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE 2LP (shortwave, usa)
29.98usd/20.10gbp/22.60eur/2734jpy (approx)


*In 2005, cornetist Rob Mazurek was approached by The Chicago Cultural Center and the Jazz Institute to put together a group that would represent the more contemporary / avant-garde side of sound in Chicago for a concert in Millennium Park’s Frank Gehry-designed concert hall. The music was conceptualized/composed in Manaus Brazil, Fontevraud, France and Chicago, and developed over more than a dozen performances of the Orchestra before it was recorded by John McEntire at his Soma Studio in Chicago. We Are All From Somewhere Else is comprised of 3 distinct sections, and corresponds to a story involving an exploding star, cosmic transformation, a sting ray, the travels of the sting ray, intelligent conversations with electric eels, the destructive power of humans, the death and ascension of sting ray, the transformation of sting ray ghost to flying bird, and the transformation of bird to phoenix to rocket to flying burning matter to a new-born star. Says Mazurek, “I could clearly see and hear the events as a kind of animated adult/children’s story that could be presented in book or video form. In the end you have a poem text based on the original story line that is then flipped backwards to reveal another perspective on the poem. The flipped text was orchestrated by Portuguese video artist and conceptualist Joao Simoes, while I was in Lisbon making final preparations for the release of this recording.” As the arrangements of the parts of the pieces came together it became more and more evident that Nicole Mitchell’s flutes would play a major role in the realization of the music. That said the intent of the music is not to featuring individual players (although this very well could have featured any individual in the group, as they are all very strong soloists and improvisers) it is more about the projection of a certain sound pertaining to imagination and the trajectory of the sound as movement in time and space, weaving patterns and non-patterns around and inside the idea of the poem. The overall organic approach included actual organic sounds - for example, the sounds of electric eels recorded by Mazurek at INPA research laboratory in Manaus. The juxtaposition of two drums, two basses, two mallets, multiple flutes, two cornets, bass clarinet, ARP synthesizer, guitar, trombone, voices and flugelhorn all played important roles in the development of the final sound. “Psycho-Tropic Electric Eel Dream” is a group improvisation centered around the sound of electric eels. The electric eel tanks Mazurek recorded at INPA contain two species of eels, Pulsating and Waveform. The sound was recorded in a special tank of 15-20 eels of various sub-species, each with its own tone. The results are fascinating tonal clusters not unlike the sound of violins. This track reveals the beauty of these fine creatures and juxtaposes our improvisation with them, and concludes with spoken word by Rob Mazurek (“Robert Ashley was in my head during this part”), some ARP by Jim Baker and some final cascades of Nicole’s flute, which was snuck into the recording on the bass amp mic sitting in the hallway while Nicole was playing in another room. “Black Sun” features Jim Baker’s lovely piano playing. “This piece was originally written for the great French pianist Jeanne-Pierre Armengaud,” says Mazurek, “who I had the pleasure of working with at Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud in France during my residency there.” What you hear is Jim’s emotionally charged and understated improvisation on the theme of the composition. The sound corresponds perfectly to the text/poem of the recording in which the death of the stingray is a new re-birth of the bird and eventually a new star. “Cosmic Tomes” starts out with storm sounds from the Amazon reversed. The powerful first section reveals a wide-open improvisation on a specific theme and then deconstructed through 3 harmonic centers. The Cornet is that of composer and leader Mazurek. Corey Wilkes’ poignant flugelhorn plays an important role within the center of the piece and for a moment he takes off in a more grand gesture. The song then melts into the second part of this suite; repeated lines based on the last harmonic chord of the first section find the bass taking the lead and Matt Bauder’s two tenor parts and bass clarinet part playing a major role. One hears Jeff Parker’s guitar, Jeb Bishop`s trombone, Josh Berman`s cornet, Matt Lux`s electric bass, Jim Baker`s modified piano, Nicole Mitchell`s flute, and some excellent cutting, filtering post-production work by John McEntire. Part 3 of “Cosmic Tomes” is meant as a kind of prayer or meditation on the idea of unity in the world/universe. “15 Ways of Looking at a Finite Universe” is a quick piece inspired by the Anna Levine book “How the Universe got its Spots”, and catapults the recording into the last piece, “part 5,” In which we travel back to space, birthing or re-birthing new galaxies. Nicole Mitchell’s flute floats over the thick harmonics with Matt Bauder`s bass clarinet doubling the bass of Matt Lux and Jason Ajemian, creating the foundation for the sweet melodic interplay.

HOUSE, TECHNO AND DISCO


PAGLIARA MASSIMILIANO- TRANSMISSIONS FLORALES 12” (balihu, germany)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Transmissions Florales is Massi's first vinyl release. The density of the 808 drums reminds us this is synthetic from the start; but as the the swirling, phasing 7th chords and the crystal-like lead tones build up and blend with the laid-back wah-wah guitars, this simple song take us to some sensual, forgotten place with swaying limbs and flashing lights. With a few changes in structure and the timbre of the bass, the 'Acid Mix' proposes an alternate scenario -- gliding to the edge of madness with a wink at raving in the late '80s. Are we in the disco? Or at the seashore? Keep on moving, keep on flying. Bionic gulls call to each other over the ocean's arpeggios. 'Alpha Base' uses a similar synth palette, but with quite different results. Rather than waves, this piece seems to evoke dramatic weather over a jagged terrain. The funky, syncopated bass and percussion remind us of some ancient tribal ceremony on parched soil. Odd sound effects imitate the heat and sudden shots of lightning, while the ascending pentatonic breaks suggest a primitive electronic geisha, draped in mylar foil, deflecting the sun's rays as she dances for the gods. She performs an intricate sequence of steps, each with its own placement and hidden meaning. Having spent the past 2 years entertaining crowds at underground clubs in Berlin and around the EU, Massi is already somewhat known to those who enjoy dancing to whatever is eclectic, energetic, and atmospheric. Now, perhaps more people will hear his special groove. We hope you share our joy, our obsession and the particular oscillations from this very personal 'transmission florale.'

SHADOW DANCER- SOAP 12” (boysnoize, germany)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*Soap, the long-awaited release by the UK's Shadow Dancer, is a pure peak-time cut-disco-banger, plus the title track is the lead single of his debut album Golden Traxe. On the flip, you get "Northern," which is a dark, Chicago house-inspired, straight 4/4 that won't disappoint you on any dancefloor. Already supported by Erol Alkan, 2manyDj's, Ed Banger, A-Trak, etc.

MARIUS VAREID- SKUMLE PLANER/TROPISK STORM 12” (full pupp, norway)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*Marius Vareid (1/2 of Ytre Rymden Dansskola) brings us a sunbaked and red-hot 12″ just in time before another miserable winter. We love it, you should too!

MICHAEL JACKSON- BUTTERFLIES: HALLSTROM SHELTER REMIX 12” (gay, usa)
9.98usd/6.69gbp/7.52eur/910jpy (approx)


*It seems certain unnamed forces are attempting to Stonewall the Gay Records empire---to stop it in it's tracks here, before it can bring it's message to the masses of the world craving the new dance sound....but let this be said now: the righteous pounding of Bobbi Hallstrom cannot and will not be silenced!!! The triumphant return of Gay Records is heralded here by Hallstrom's latest remix---his fiercest yet---a beautiful rework of Michael Jackson's recent hit "Butterflies," wielding a powerful force below the belt in the form of it's unrelentingly forceful bass, dark and haunting keys and the gorgeous, distorted vibrato of Jackson's vocals, glorified with adoration by the innocent & delicate solo key work by the newest member of the Gay Records family, Tinkerbell, who recently moved from the NYC area to California to join fellow militants combatting the unjust marriage laws recently passed there by some of our less than enlightened countrymen...(s)he is very much missed. Nevertheless, Tinkerbell's presence is still felt within the confines of Gotham once more, as Gay Records continues to consolidate it's rule within and without the city, marching forward with ever increasing momentum to the soundtrack of anti-heteronormative sleaze, "Butterflies" blasting for all the queens, extroverted & introverted, straight & gay, to set their lives of passion in motion, determined to pioneer the sound of the new pleasure, the new flesh, the new club. "We're not here to be shady, just fierce."

TOKYO BLACK STAR- BIT COMMANDER 12” (innervisions, germany)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*This is the first EP from Tokyo Black Star's upcoming full-length. Inspired by Yellow Magic Orchestra, the Japanese electronic music pioneers. The B-side is a housey Loco Dice remix of "Game Over," similar to his remix of Dennis Ferrer's "Son Of Raw."

FRANKIE FLOWERZ- BREAK THE BARRIERS 12” (innervisions, germany)
13.98usd/9.37gbp/10.54eur/1275jpy (approx)


*The Internasjonal label continues their track of highlighting new talent with a slow house chugger in the form of Break The Barriers, by Malaysia-born and Berlin-based Frankie Flowerz. A perfect match for remix duties is man of the moment (and soon to be legendary) John Daly of Galway, who turns in a slightly faster, darker and bit dubbier affair. Sooooooo good.

REBOOT- ASSIGN THE SOURCE 12” (motivbank, uk)
14.98usd/10.04gbp/11.29eur/1366jpy (approx)


*New house label with a superb release by Reboot!

OTHER FORMATS


FM3- BUDDHA MACHINE II SOUNDBOX (fm3, china)
25.98usd/17.42gbp/19.58eur/2369jpy (approx)


*The Beijing-based duo FM3 is back with an all-new version of their wildly successful 2005 release, the Buddha Machine. Introducing Buddha Machine 2.0: 9 new loops. 3 new colors. Pitch bend. Blurring the line between music box and musical instrument, the Buddha Machine 2.0 is an interactive album that lets users customize the listening experience. Drop the pitch and the music ebbs in a low ambient drone. Boost the speed and suddenly its alive with melody. Add a few more machines, set them at different speeds and you have an evolving audio perfume. Plug it into a mixer, add some beats or vocals or guitar... FM3 won't mind. In fact, they encourage people to use the Buddha Machine as inspiration. Since its release in 2005, the original Buddha Machine has sold more than 50,000 units worldwide and has won praise from artists as diverse as Daft Punk, Gorillaz, Low, Monolake, Sunn O))), Blixa Bargeld and Mike Patton. Legendary producer Brian Eno was the first customer for the original Buddha Machine and nearly 3 years later told FM3 he still "cherishes" his purchase! Similar in shape and design to the original Buddha Machine, but boasting more robust construction and improved sound quality, the 2.0 comes in three colors: burgundy, grey and brown. For those who haven't experienced the pleasure of the original, the Buddha Machine is essentially a small plastic box that plays ambient loops. The loops repeat endlessly until the "track" is switched or the two AA batteries (not included) run out. The machine has its own built-in speaker and there is also a headphone jack for a more personal experience. But the charm of the device isn't nearly as specific: the Buddha Machine has a calming presence in today's fast-paced world. Its charm mixes with FM3's innovative music to provide the owner with an experience that is hard to define. Essentially, it's a box with a life, a tool for living, and to many, it's a friend. Founded in 1999 by Christiaan Virant and Zhang Jian, FM3 are considered pioneers of electronic music in China. Inspired by Buddhist prayer boxes found at temples around Asia, the duo released the original Buddha Machine in April 2005, winning acclaim in publications including BoingBoing.net, The New York Times and Arthur magazine.

FM3- BUDDHA MACHINE I SOUNDBOX (fm3, china)
25.98usd/17.42gbp/19.58eur/2369jpy (approx)


*restocked… This is the original Buddha Machine, first released to worldwide acclaim in 2005. FM3 present the Buddha Machine, a unique "soundbox" from China which is causing sensation worldwide. The Buddha Machine is a small musical loop player, built kind of like a little AM radio -- but without all the nonsense. Total genius from out of nowhere, it comes with an integrated speaker, a volume control, a mini jack-out and a switch to choose between nine different loops which are stored on a small chip and can be directly played by this mini soundsystem. A totally dazzling item which causes jaw-dropping delight everywhere -- Alan Bishop bought twenty-four of these on sight, Brian Eno bought eight (how's that for apocalyptical math?). FM3 are a duo of Christiaan Virant and Chinese keyboardist and computer musician Zhang Jian who create loop-based ambient electronic music. Based in Beijing, they came upon a small box used at Buddhist temples to chant or play prayers. Explains Virant: "...there are a number of different explanations of why they invented this box in China. Some people say it's because modern people are too lazy to go to the temples to say the chants to the Buddha like they used to, so they invented this small machine to do it for them." FM3 gave it a name and began manufacturing it in 2005. In two years, they sold nearly 50,000 of them. The Buddha Machine is not an iPod. It's not loaded with features. It's simply a small plastic box -- available in an assortment of colors -- that plays nine different loops. The possibilities of how you listen to it, however, are infinite.

MAGAZINES AND BOOKS


ANPQUARTERLY- VOLUME 2, NO.2 MAGAZINE (anpquarterly/rvca, usa)
0.00usd/0.00gbp/0.00eur/000jpy (approx)


*Brendan Fowler catches up on 30+ years of Mark Flood, while Aaron Rose gets as much with V. Vale. Naomi Harris shows us a lot of America and the swingers she met in the process. Shannon Ebner discusses politics, poetry and photography while cover stars Lizzie Bougatsos and Sadie Laska discuss the intersections of their band, I.U.D., and their separate studio art practices. We also get in touch with the Mega Words Store, Chris Johanson's record label, Paperback, Wildness and more. ANPQuarterly is an arts magazine published by RVCA that focuses on a broader sense of art and community. The idea behind this endeavor is to make a magazine that will educate and inform openly and without the social or financial restrictions that plague many publications today. Our goal is not to focus on current events or 'who's hot' but rather to bring forward people and phenomena that deserve acknowledgment and coverage regardless of their place in time. 66 pages.

GIFT CERTIFICATES


gift certificates are always available in any denomination and come in a envelope ready to be stocking stuffed, slipped into pockets or dispensed in any way you see fit. they can be paid for in cash, credit card (visa, master card or discover) or paypal in person, phoned in or via email. gift certificates not paid for in person can either be mailed to you, or we can keep it in shop if the recipient plans to use it for mail-order.

ADDRESS


tequila sunrise records
525 w. girard avenue
(btwn 5th and 6th streets)
philadelphia, pa 19122


SUBWAY: blue or orange line to girard ave TROLLY: 15 to 5th street BUS: 57 to girard/3rd-4th st; 47 to girard/7th-8th st.


MAP


t/us: 1215 965 9616
t/uk: 0203 004 8357
e: ajv@tequilasunriserecords.com
u: www.tequilasunriserecords.com
m: www.myspace.com/tequilasunriserecords
b: www. tequilasunriserecordshop.blogspot.com
f: www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1447421864&ref=profile


HOURS


monday: closed
tuesday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
Wednesday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
thursday: 12:00-7:00pm/est
friday: 12:00-7:00pm/est
saturday: 12:00-6:00pm/est
sunday: 12:00-6:00pm/est