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 D.M. Stith - Heavy Ghost (Asthmatic Kitty Records)
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A stunning marriage of things old and new, beautiful and chaotic, ragged and polished. Stith incorporates melodies and harmonies from old musicals and Disney movies with his own strange arrangements and intimate recordings of his singular guitar strumming and piano work (sometimes reminiscent of Garson's infamous solo on Bowie's Aladdin Sane). Hints of Radiohead or Buckley will inevitably be heard but he steers you away from those comparisons with deftly composed lyrics and unique phrasing. Not just some neo-folkie who wishes he was born in the 50's, D.M. Stith is a modernist through and through. -Corby |
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 Emitt Rhodes - Recordings 1969-1973 (Hip-o-Select)
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Hey pop music fans look no further! this cd is what you need! Yes the fine people at Hipo-Select have heard me! (well i DID send email requesting this to happen!) they finally put out all the Emitt Rhodes LPs. He is the long lost brother to pop music, although he gets some Paul Mccartney
comparisons, he is in a world all is own. After hits he wrote with the 60's Merry-Go-Round including "Live", he made these 4 great pop records...and none did well! during all this he got sued by his label...after his 4th record, Farewell To Paradise , failed he got discouraged and stopped putting
out records. After you listen to this incredible output you'll see what a great loss it is that he stopped. I hope he will forgive this cruel and indifferent world and make more...but in the meantime we have this... -Bill |
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 Balmorhea - All is Wild, All is Silent (Western Vinyl)
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Balmorhea is an Austin six-piece band headed by co-founders Rob Lowe and Michael Muller. All Is Wild, All Is Silent is their 3rd LP in as many years. Strikingly haunting and beautiful, the group works within the minimalist framework of the post-rock movement that is so popular nowadays. Lush piano, strings, and guitar effectively paint a sonic landscape of what the band imagines some of the first European-descended settlers of Texas might have come across when they made their home in a fairly uninhabited wilderness. Indeed, the band includes text from one such settler, William B Dewees (apparently one of SFA’s Old Three Hundred), in their liner notes, in which he expounds on the rough yet wondrous quality of the land. While it seems to me that the music invokes images of West Texas like the area around Alpine and the band’s namesake rather than Washington-on-the-Brazos and East Texas, the stark beauty recalls a time where the rugged individualist could set off in adventure to unknown lands, taking in untarnished nature, and doing things their way. At least, that’s the romanticized version that plays out in my head. Hey, I can’t help it. I’m Texan.
- Matt |
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 Wand - Hard Knox
(Ecstatic Peace!)
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Wand aka Wooden Wand aka James Toth has emerged as one of the
most interesting young American songwriters. What distinguishes him is his penchant for surreal, almost 'beat'-like lyrics without surrendering comprehensibility; and also, his love for gritty and sometimes unruly sounds. This is a collection of 'outtakes' from the past 5 + years - but you'd never know it. It stands as a great album on its own. -c |
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 James Blackshaw- Glass Bead Game (Young God)
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The newest album from English acoustic guitar whiz Blackshaw finds him adding piano to his sound arsenal. Beautiful, meditative, and absorbing it reminds me of Robbie Basho and Terry Riley. There's an emotional vitality to this release which raises it above just being an amalgam of those
influences. This one makes everything feel 'right' with the world. -c |
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 Future Of The Left -
Travels With Myself And Another (4AD)
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Welsh rockers Future Of The Left (formerly of Mclusky) step it up with their sophomore album Travels with Myself and Another. The record is short blast after blast of angular post-hardcore with some math thrown in for good measure. The music is rounded out with snarky, funny lyrics. This particular record seems to have dropped some of the keys and some of the meandering aspects of the previous release and turned up the guitars and aggressiveness. Definitely a contender for my year end list.
- Matt |
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 Shop Assistants - Shop Assistants AKA Will Anything Happen (Cherry Red)Shop Assistants - Shop Assistants AKA Will Anything Happen (Cherry Red)
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Mid 80's C86 twee pop!!! The guitars jangle with much Reverb.The all female lead vocals really come threw in this post patriarchy 9-11 Indie pop scene we find ourselves in day after day. The song structures are tight and concise making you want to dance around your room in your underwear. Morrissey named their 1985 song All day long his favorite of that year which explains Stephen Streets Engineering on the first and only selftitled LP,and really one of the kings of indie pop endorses it what more can you possibly want.
- Nate |
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 Medusa - En Raga Sul
(ILCR)
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The first thing that grabbed me about this album was the badass samples from a crazy Mexican horror movie. Then I realized that there were good songs as well. Ending up somewhere between Big Business/Karp and Mastodon's first record (and mildly encompassing of many other styles), En Raga Sul has those awesome low-budget (not lo-fi) production qualities that have endeared me to so many other rock/metal albums. The instruments on this album sound like they belong to someone specific. And that’s a good thing. But the horror movie samples are badass. -Corby |
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 Caspian - Tertia
(The Mylene Sheath)
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Post Rock fans rejoice! Caspian has just released their 2nd full-length on Mylene Sheath, and if you’re any sort of fan of “Crescendo-Core,” chances are you should pick this album up immediately. Tertia ebbs and flows between sublime lulls, both melancholic and hopeful, and the raucous, driving immediacy of their pummeling attacks, which are the group’s strength. And with the CD’s price tag as low as it is, who could resist? If you like Mogwai, Daturah, Mono, Explosions In The Sky, This Will Destroy You, etc., then get on this. |
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 Superchunk - Leaves In The Gutter [EP](Merge)
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For the first time a band going on hiatus was good for them. After two good albums of suck SUPERCHUNK'S new E.P. picks up the HEAVIER, CRUNCHIER and yes even FUZZIER sides of the band ala WHERE THE STRINGS COME IN and FOOLISH."Learned to Surf " has an "austin"tatious lyrical attack that will leave you singing in your sleep.The second track "Misfits & Mistakes" plays like a long lost B-side for what Joe thinks would be ON THE MOUTH and I NATE, Thinks would be from INDOOR LIVING! - Joe and Nate |
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Fleetwood Mac - Bare Trees / Future Games (Reprise)
Fleetwood Mac doesn't really need any more exposure.
The Buckingham/Nicks era is very much a household name of music,whereas the Peter Green era has a huge blues/ underground following.These two cds however need re-examination. To me its all about Danny Kirwin. Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green left the band and guitar duties to Danny Kirwin and Bob Welch. Those two along with Christine McVie bring there unique song writing into the game... and let me tell you 2 albums isnt enough! I wish there were more of
this core band!
 BARE TREES Buy CD
Although Bob Welch wrote the hit for Bare Trees , with "Sentimental Lady", (a bigger solo hit for him later) It's Danny Kirwins contributions that really shine.He would quit after these records. He made some solo records later then dropped out of the music world completely and was homeless in the 80's. which is a shame. but at least we have these two cds today to listen to!
 FUTURE GAMES Buy CD
Future Games starts out with Kirwin's "Woman Of A Thousand Years".
This song has that cool haunting acoustic 70's feel to it that sets the
tone for the rest of the LP.
- Bill |
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 Alela Diane- To Be Still (Rough Trade)
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Alela Diane's beautiful voice and music will transport you to another time and place. “To Be Still” is a huge leap from her debuy “Pirate's Gospel”, which came out in 2006. She's been Classified as “nouveau psych-folk” whatever that means. I would say this is as near perfection as an album can get.
- K |
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 Secret Chiefs 3 - Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9
(Tzadik)
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Sure, John Zorn is a burrito of pretension wrapped in a tortilla of his own ego, but that doesn't change the fact that Secret Chiefs 3 is the best spazzy jazz/world-fusion outfit on the planet and Xaphan is a welcome addition to the catalog. For fans of: Isreal, Palestine, and metal. – I.J. |
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 Diagonal - Diagonal (Candlelight Records)
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Wielding the influence of King Crimson, Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, and Harvest Records brand of progressive rock as if it had the same cultural cachet as Gang of Four or Wire, England's Diagonal deliver an album delightfully retro yet still undeniably contemporary. In this time where Post-Punk has been aped to the Nth degree for nigh on 20 years now, it's good to see someone digging out muscular prog and pastoral folk and using it as a weapon to hammer us out of our musical complacency. – Joe |
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 The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent (UME)
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The fall, Mark E.Smith, England , what more can be said about these subjects except...............This record is totally awesome. Just like Totally Wired this album is high energy Mark E.smith type energy Ala "50 year old man" which by the way has to be one of the most angst ridden songs to come out by someone over 45 in the whole world. I just wrote a review for the new fall album what'cha going to do about it. BUY IT!!!!!!
- Nate |
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