The Boy Least Likely To - The Law Of The Playground [2009]

If The Best Party Ever was the sound of a band chancing their way up the ladders, then The Law Of The Playground finds them merrily sliding back down the snakes. Musically they exemplify the same playful wide eyed indie pop as on their debut album, but lyrically the album is darker and more isolated.

1. Saddle Up
2. Balloon On A Broken String
3. When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade
4. I Box Up All The Buterflies
5. The Boy With Two Hearts
6. Stringing Up Conkers

7. The Boy Least Likely to is a Machine

8. Whiskers
9. Every Goliath Has Its David
10. The Nature Of The Boy Least Likely To
11. I Keep Myself To Myself
12. The Worm Forgives The Plough
13. A Fairytale Ending

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Condo Fucks - Fuckbook [2009]

Legendary New London, CT trio the Condo Fucks returned to the stage last March after a long absence from the Tri-State Area's concert circuit. A secretive Hoboken rehearsal was recorded and is being released March 24, 2009 by Matador as the LP/CD, Fuckbook. Eschewing such Condo Fucks originals as ‘Fuckin’ Gary Sandy’ and ‘Let’s Get Rid Of New Haven’, the trio – Georgia Condo (drums), Kid Condo (guitar), and James McNew (bass) – instead tear through covers of The Small Faces, Richard Hell, Beach Boys, Electric Eels, Troggs, Flaming Groovies and Slade classics in the style that previously won them so much acclaim from the Nutmeg State’s music journalists and radio programmers all those years ago. In the go-go 1990s, the Condo Fucks released 4 titles on the Matador label (see right), some of which were prominently advertised on the inner sleeve of Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. Sadly, these titles are long out of print and we are unable to provide the media with copies. With Fuckbook, a full tour of major Connecticut nightspots is planned upon release.

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Sholi - Sholi, 2009

Memory is a fickle thing: memories shift and turn on their own as our pasts become something different in mind than they were in reality. Some may seem lost forever, only to appear in fleeting moments of subconscious clarity.

The story of Sholi began when Payam Bavafa and Jonathon Bafus started playing and writing music with friend Danny Milks while attending UC Davis. “Sholi was a nickname my dad gave my brother and me when we wrestled as kids. I wanted a Persian word that sounded nice in English, and Jon liked that one,” Bavafa says.

The trio played locally, releasing a three-song demo shortly before Bavafa relocated to San Francisco to work as an electrical engineer for an experimental neuroscience lab with a brilliant “mad” scientist. Bavafa spent a year and a half processing brain-waves and analyzing data from studies on sleep and memory. Over time, elements of his work trickled through to his songwriting. Theories of memory explored in the lab found their way thematically into early versions of songs such as “Spy in the House of Memories”, “All That We Can See”, and “Out of Orbit”.

Around this time, Bafus and Bavafa began playing with several different bass players, finally coming together with their old friend Eric Ruud. The band began playing new material live, often with the help of one of Ruud. previous bandmates, Greg Hagel on keyboards and percussion.

In 2006, the band sent self-recorded demos of the songs to Greg Saunier to enlist his help in the creation of a proper album. He responded with great interest, and pre-production began shortly thereafter via email. Saunier sent the band production notes on arrangements and sounds as he listened to the songs while on tour in Spain with his band Deerhoof.

Subsequently, the band booked time at New and Improved Studios in Oakland, where Saunier and engineer Eli Crews helped shape the initial sounds of the album. After 4 days of tracking, Sholi took the album home, deconstructing the recordings and spending the next year breathing new life into the songs in apartments, attics, and living rooms that doubled as makeshift studios throughout Northern California.

In late 2007, the band recorded a politically inspired 7″ entitled Hejrat featuring a re-interpretation of the title track, originally by 70. Iranian pop-diva Googoosh. The record was well-received by the Iranian-American community as well as American critics for its unifying and original concept, eventually leading The Believer magazine to pick up the song for their 2008 Music Issue.

Meanwhile, Saunier continued his involvement with the LP helping in the final mixing stages upon his return from tour in the Summer of 2008.

The result is an album that is as self-assured as it is introspective, as warmly familiar as it is unique, and as complex as it is digestible. Concepts of memory permeate the record, both lyrically and musically, as songs grapple with perspective and perception, conscience and consequence, understanding and upheaval. Interconnected ideas appear; songs often become self-referential, folding in upon themselves. Yet underneath the elaborate musical layers and vivid lyrical imagery, there is something straightforwardly timeless in this debut.

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VA - Hava Narghile: Turkish Rock Music 1966-1975

Similar to the [now out of print] Turkish Delights compilation is this great collection of vintage psychedelic rock music from Turkey. With 22 tracks, spanning the years 1966-1975, this collection is a great introduction to the fanatastic, long-lost Middle Eastern acid rock scene. These bands raved it up in Istanbul nighclubs, blending the Western garage-psych rock of the era with Turkish folk influences (electic fuzz saz!), bellydancing beats, and all manner of "exotic" flourishes. Of the 17 artists on here, only a few names were already known to us, mainly from that aforementioned Turkish Delights lp or as the Turkish entries on the fab Love Peace & Poetry: Asian Psychedelic Music compilation. Those would be the amazing Mogollar (two tracks), guitar hero Erkin Koray, Mavi Isiklar, and Baris Manco. And none of their tracks are duplicated between this comp and those other two [and there's no overlap with anything on the more recent Turkish Love, Peace & Poetry volume either]. Of the many cuts on here, everyone will have their own favorites, certainly there's many killer ones. Dionysus' Bacchus Archives imprint has done a colorful job with the packaging, illustrated with promo photos and 7" sleeves. And every track gets a good paragraph of information, so by listening and reading you'll become hip to the history of the whole Turkish psych happenin'. Highly recommended!

1 Silüetler - Lorke-Lorke
2 Kaygısızlar - Sasirdim
3 Mavi Işıklar - Iyi Dusun Tasin
4 Haramiler - Camlica Yolunda
5 Yabancılar - Agit
6 Apaşlar - Gilgamis
7 Moğollar - Hard Work
8 Erkin Koray - Anma Arkadas
9 Barış Manço & Kaygısızlar - Flower Of Love
10 Erkut Taçkın With Okan Dincer & Kontrastlar - Muhur Gozlum
11 Çağrışım - Divane Gonlum
12 Barış Manço & Kaygısızlar - Trip (Fairground)
13 Moğollar - Berkay Oyun Havasi
14 Bunalim - Basak Saclim
15 3 Hür-El - ...Ve Olum
16 Erkin Koray & Ter - Hor Gorme Garibi
17 Barış Manço - Ben Bilirim
18 Koray Oktay - Vefasiz Dost
19 Ersen - Sor Kendine
20 Melih Faruk Serdar Saygun - Gurbet Acisi
21 Erkin Koray - Saskin
22 Gökçen Kaynatan - Pencerenin Perdesini

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Current 93 - Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre (Reissue), 2007

‘Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre’ is the latest re-issue from Current 93’s highly impressive and startlingly diverse back catalogue. Originally released in 1994, ‘Of Ruine..’ saw Tibet and his stripped back assemblage of musicians delivering an album that was awash with simplistic charm and character, yet was as deeply and emotionally charged as anything that had come before it.

Aided by the ever-present Steve Stapleton, the multitalented Michael Cashmore, and Phoebe Cheshire who provided occasional vocal accompaniments, Tibet managed to skilfully construct an album brimming with subtle sounds and ideas which come together to produce an immensely dense and complex framework of lyrics, music and atmosphere. On initial listens ‘Of Ruine..’ seems to be simply an expansion of the folk-esque sound that Current 93 had started to be renowned for, and in simplistic terms this could be correct. And yet this album is so much more than that. It sees a true coming-of-age for Current 93. Tibet seems immensely comfortable with himself and his music, life and beliefs and this is projected through the immensely compelling essence of ‘Of Ruine..’.

(read more)

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Akron/Family - Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free, 2009

1 . Everyone Is Guilty

2. River

3. Creatures

4. The Alps & Their Orange Evergreen

5 . Set 'Em Free

6. Gravelly Mountains of the Moon

7 . Many Ghosts

8 . MBF

9 . They Will Appear

10. Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship Version)

11 . Last Year

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Bon Iver - The Myspace Transmissions EP [2009]

Bon Iver visited with MySpace Transmissions for an exclusive performance.

1. For Emma
2. Flume
3. Lump Sum
4. Blindsided

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The Chatham Singers - Juju Claudius [2009]

The Chatham Singers second album following their critically acclaimed debut ‘Heavens Journey’ which came out in late 2005, the critically acclaimed ‘Heavens Journey’ was a mixture of Blues and Poetry, this time is a straight blues and little bit of country album. It has has a earthy, homespun charm, something to be taken down from the shelf for comfort on those long lonely nights of the soul.It features the two tracks released as a limited 7” just before Christmas 2008 plus 12 others including some classic covers of songs by Slim Harpo, Jimmy Reed & Hank WilliamsThe core band of Billy Childish on Vox / Guitar Nurse Julie on Vox / Bass Wolf Howard on Drums & ‘Bludy’ Jim on Harp are joined on this album by Graham Coxon (Blur) on Guitar and James Taylor (Prisoners / James Taylor Quartet) on Keyboard.

01 All Who Cheated And Lied

02 Juju Claudius

03 An Image Of You

04 Upside Mine

05 The Son Of Art

06 The True Story Of Elizabeth Sargent

07 Queen Bee

08 Evil Thing

09 Angel Of Death

10 Demolition Man

11 The Right Mistake

12 The Good Times

13 Bring Me Water

14 Baby What's Wrong

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Callisto - Providence, 2009

Formed in 2001, Callisto is a metal / progressive / experimental band from Turku, Finland. With their third album "Providence", a follow-up for the widely recognized debut "True Nature Unfolds" and highly acclaimed sophomore album "Noir", the Finnish five-piece has turned a new page in broadening musical expressions. The new album is also the debut for the band’s new vocalist Jani Ala-Hukkala, whose screaming and clean vocals mark a new element in the band’s sonic palette.

Their cathartically dim and characteristic works are the means for the band to draw from a more diverse and timeless sound. Callisto expand on the whole modern sludge genre innovators of Isis and likes with its subtle jazz leanings and experimentation with unconventional rock instruments. Callisto’s lyrics contain strong Christian themes with references to artists such as Trouble and Woven Hand.

"Providence" was produced, engineered and mixed by Jonas Olsson and mastered by Svante Forsbäck. The artwork is contributed by Martin Kvamme of Unit Delta Plus (Fantomas, Satyricon, Turbonegro).

1. In Session
2. Rule the Blood
3. Covenant Colours
4. Eastern Era
5. New Canaan
6. Stasis
7. Where the Spirits Tread
8. Dead Weight
9. Drying Mouths (in a Gasping Land)
10. Providence

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Crëvecoeur - #1, 2007

Crëvecoeur's songs are mostly instrumental pieces, a tribute to the glorious days of soundtrack music, yet with a pop sensibility. Definitely something for fans of Morricone soundtrack music, Calexico or Black Heart Procession.

(someone give me a link to #2, please!)

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