Date: November 3rd 2009

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Hola, friends.

Apologies if you are receiving this twice -- a glitch happened the first time which truncated the message. Take two!

A healthy amount of new stuff has trickled in slowly, and I'm finally getting it all into update format. Dig in below and feast your eyes and ears.

Thanks!
http://www.tonevendor.com


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--->> Too lazy to scroll through this update? Check out all the latest arrivals from the past 14 days here: http://www.tonevendor.com/catalog/fresh

** EXCLUSIVE AND/OR RECOMMENDED **

BELL HORSES-This Loves Last Time CD (Trysquare-$9.99)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! This is one of those albums that you throw on, and at first blush, you think "this sounds pretty good", then the second track comes on, and you think "hmm, this song is even betterthan the last one!" and by the time you are midway through the album, you find yourself staring at the CD player, mouth agape, thinking "how can each song possibly be getting successively better? Can it get any betterthan this track right here?!" A slow-building, gorgeous, dreampop stunner that squeezes you in full-grip by its midway point and won't let go. Guaranteed you will be hitting the repeat button.
Bell Horses is a left-field pop outing from Xian Hawkins & Jenny Owen Youngs. The
8 songs that comprise their debut album work together to create a world of contrasts
both challenging & familiar. Arrangements blend acoustic instruments (guitars, strings, piano, percussion) with synthetic textures and samples while vocals sit up front in the mix, often doubling as instruments themselves. A subtle attention to detail reveals more with each listen. This Loves Last Time is about the infinite and the finite – things that cease to be but linger all the same.
The name Bell Horses is taken from a turn of the century song about horses passing in the night, strung with bells so as not to collide. An apt analogy for the working methods of this group whose members all live in different cities. Various parts of the album were tracked in Brooklyn, Berlin & London with the majority of the music being recorded, arranged & mixed by Xian Hawkins in a converted Victorian Church in Western Massachusetts. This Loves Last Time succeeds as it becomes more than the sum of the individuals involved – all of whom have projects of their own.
Xian Hawkins records as Sybarite - making distinct & lauded electronica for a variety of labels, most notably 4AD, Temporary Residence & Ghostly International. His music has been featured in film & television. Jenny Owen Youngs is a singer songwriter who signed to Nettwerk Records in 2006 and recently released her sophomore record, Transistor Failure, to critical acclaim. Also on the album is Alexander Ericson (Alberta Cross, Stjarna) contributing vocals to three of the tracks - along with Michael Lerner, drummer for NYC band The Antlers (Frenchkiss), & classical string player Eve Boltax. This Loves Last Time was mastered by Denis Blackham (Brian Eno, Cocteau Twins) at Skye Mastering in Scotland. UK artist Rick Myers designed the sleeve - he has done covers for the likes of Doves, Dinosaur Jr. & John Cale, among others. Photographs were taken by California artist Noele Lusano. The album is the first release on the band’s own Trysquare label.

KEITH CANISIUS-Waves CD (Quince-$13.99)
On this totally self produced album, Keith Canisius (Rumskib) takes his romantic ocean dream pop one step further from his previous album Ferris Wheel Makeout (2008), making it sound even more psychedelic and ambient on one side, yet more poppy, melodic and modern on the other. His great sense for creating atmospheres and melodies together with a sharp structural awareness will take you places you've never been before. Yet again Canisius often seeks the explosive moments in his music, but only with an exceptional sense for timing where the listener would least expect it. Listen to the 7 min. dream pop anthem with guest appearance by Isol Misenta (Entre Rios, Alsace Lorraine, Isol/Zypce) and you will know what we're talking about. Canisius's music has an emotional depth and musical vision that seems quite unique which allows him to work with a wide musical pallet without limitation and specific genre loyalty.
Anything can happen and will on a Canisius album, often with a classic sounding underline to it, but always pushing the boundaries and seeking those key moments where thoughts loose their sense of basic control.

DEPRECIATION GUILD-In Her Gentle Jaws LP (Kanine-$16.99)
FINALLY IN STOCK! This is the debut full length on vinyl/digital only. Following their premiere full-length In Her Gentle Jaws, self-released in December ‘07 exclusively as a free download (www.inhergentlejaws.com), the album has already found its way to over 90,000 hard drives. The stir across the internet, as well as in their own backyard, is testament to some breathtaking songwriting and arranging. A musical piece to be heard as a whole saturated in color, and drifting into dream. Limited one time 500 pressing only.

GUITAR-Friends CD (& Records-$17.99)
This is the 6th album by Guitar. This album features the Japanese lyrics by the Japanese vocalist Ayako Akashiba for almost all tracks. Ayako wanted to express her gratitude to everything close to her, to her "friends". The German trackmaker Michael Lückner a.k.a. Digital Jockey made more sensuous backtrack than ever. You can hear a new chemistry between these two talented artists. This is an exclusive release on & records Japan.


** LES COMPACT DISQUES **

ATLAS SOUND-Logos CD (Kranky-$12.99)
The prolific Bradford Cox delivers yet again, with his second solo album under the Atlas Sound moniker. Eleven delectable pop delights served up to tantalize & tickle your taste buds. Guest appearances by Noah Lennox (ANIMAL COLLECTIVE) & Laetitia Sadier (STEREOLAB).

PETER BRODERICK-Falling From Trees CD (Western Vinyl-$9.99)
Peter Broderick's Music for Falling From Trees, is a 29 minute piece, in seven sections, created for a contemporary dance by London's Adrienne Hart. Adrienne told Peter she was looking for a score of piano and strings, so he left the guitar and his voice aside and focused entirely on those two timbres. The dance tells the story of a man in a psychiatric hospital, and his struggle to maintain his identity. Beautifully utilizing piano and strings, the music evokes a melancholic and playful narrative.

GROUPER-Cover the Windows and the Walls CD (Root Strata-$13.99)
1st ever CD version of the LP originally released in 2007. Cyclical vocal vapors & guitar/piano shapes levitate on the surface of hissy atmospherics dense w/ a feedback that conjures up all sorts of latent images from the subtle body/mind. Liz's songs always seem to be perched delicately between layers of blissful fuzz & her stark, gorgeous song craft. For those who missed out on the extremely limited vinyl pressings, here is your chance to hear this gem! Limited to 1000

ROBIN GUTHRIE-Soongs To Help My Children Sleep CD (Darla-$8.99)
Limited to 1000. Digipak. Tracks: 1. Laughter in the Dark 2. Fireflies 3. White Bear in Honolulu 4. Misty

THE LEGENDS-Over and Over CD (Labrador-$12.99)
A brilliantly modern mix of white noise, 60's girls pop, indie & krautrock. Hypnotic washes of distorted synthesizers & sweet bouncy melodies echoes under walls of feedback & crushingly loud shimmering guitars. Pure loveliness!

LIGHTNING BOLT-Earthly Delights CD (Load-$11.99)
After scrapping two entire full lengths, LB is finally ready to unleash new music to the masses. Taking the lessons of extreme metal, blood-brother marrying them to expansive & explosive song form and applying it to Olympic training methods - "Earthly Delights" uses electric stimulus to shock smile technology to worldwide domes. This is what 2000 years of evolution & the invention of electric instrumentation introduced into the tank of hook force can do to you. This record has the sound of a ten piece band with a much tighter pay scale, matched with the sonics of military cartoons. Swank artwork by Brian Chippendale.

ROSE MELBERG-Homemade Ship CD (K-$11.99)
The songs of Rose Melberg belong to her voice; its stark stillness is as hauntingly playful and familiar as the first days of fall. Similar to her work with previous bands Tiger Trap and The Softies, her approach is always tender and hushed. Homemade Ship is a small masterpiece. Melberg uses just a guitar and vocals on Homemade Ship (with occasional harmony vocal and piano work provided by Larissa Loyva of The Choir Practice and P:ano), offering helpful and insightfully delicate lyrics to perfectly ease out of sorrow and into contentment. At the forefront, her voice holds a warmth and generosity that adds strength and hopefulness to her aching lyrics. Set a table for two.

MUM-Sing Along To Songs You Already Know CD (Euphono-$11.99)
Two years (almost to the day) after their previous release, Iceland's eccentric pop maestros mum have returned with their fifth studio album, Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know. Sing Along... recalls sand running through fingers or ripples on a lake; it's an ode to the light in its different shapes, from a fading bulb to the blinding sun. Alternately sunny and melancholy, Sing Along... flows like the tides: now ebullient, now brooding, cacophony resolving into tight melody.

NO AND THE MAYBES-s/t CD (Quince-$13.99)
No and the Maybes are an eclectic three-piece from Copenhagen, Denmark, on a mission to save and reclaim the catchy melody from wedding singers and Eurovision.
This Danish chamber pop ensemble have set their sights on creating vivid, engaging yet easygoing music with an after-kick, taking inspiration from 60s sounds through to more thoughtful 80s New Wave music. No and the Maybes make it their obligation to bring something fresh and exciting to the table, celebrating that little extra something to catch your attention and make you fall in love: surprising hand claps, finger snaps, a choir arrangement or an unexpected instrumentation.
Their DIY principles mean that everything they produce is lovingly stamped with their own unique signature, be it their music and videos. Similarly their live set breaks down the conventional lead singer set-up and gives way to a more democratic use of the stage, the band forming a line with a standing drummer and all members sharing vocal
duties.
No and the Maybes' eponymous debut album was released in Denmark on the reputed A:larm Music label (The Raveonettes, Mew, Band of Horses, The Dø to name but a few) towards the end of last year and led to the band hitting no.1 in the Alternative Radio charts, being nominated at the Danish Music Awards, performing on national television and being lauded across the press and media. And lately their single "Petra Petrified" was selected "Single of the Week" on the BBC. 2009 sees the band bring their warm electro-tinged pop to the Americas for the first time.
"Their sunny vocals lean towards The Magic Numbers, but instrumentally they evoke the early Cure, 1979 XTC and Aztec Camera. They're a winner." -MOJO Magazine, UK

OLA PODRIDA-Belly of the Lion CD (Western Vinyl-$11.99)
Belly of the Lion, is David Wingo's much anticipated sophomore effort under the name Ola Podrida. Chockfull of unsentimental love songs, the album pulses with the burgeoning sexuality borne of feral adolescent summers spent in the sprawling suburbs of the South. It's hard not to be wooed, as the songs gingerly lay to rest the calamities that inevitably befall an adventurous heart.

PIANO MAGIC-Ovations CD (Darla-$12.99)
10th official album by London-based Anglo-French coldwave group, Piano Magic. Features special guests Brendan Perry and Peter Ulrich of Dead Can Dance.
It's difficult to know what propels Piano Magic. Here's a group that despite releasing over 30 records since their debut in 1996 have managed to sidestep anything resembling accolades. Though it was they who coaxed Vashti Bunyan out of a 30 year retirement for their 2001 album, Writers Without Homes, the credit went to the hipper Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective. Further collaborations with the likes of Low and Cornershop were quickly papered over. A beautiful soundtrack for Spanish film director, Bigas Luna, was lost to all but Spain's video stores. Regular tours and festival headlines throughout Italy, France, Germany and Spain may have paid off with a devout Continental following but haven't particularly translated into press or record sales. Records for the likes of 4AD, Morr Music and Darla have anchored them in "cult" status. Even so, after 13 years beneath a cloud of indifference Piano Magic have made some of the most compelling, poetic, dynamic and romantic rec
ords of our time.
Ovations, released October 12th is no exception. Recorded May through August of 2009 by Gareth Parton (The Go-Team, The Breeders, Pete & The Pirates) at his petite La Planque studio and The Fortress in London, Ovations is the Anglo-French group's 10th album proper. Typically for a Piano Magic record it's a restless beast; a record that swings wildly between Marrakesh, Eastern Europe, Sevilla and early 80s Manchester without breaking a sweat. Piano Magic have always worn their influences on their sleeves. The Chameleons, Joy Division and The Cure rub shoulders with Turkish darabuka, hammered dulcimer, viola, cello, flamenco claps. Elsewhere there are cold analogue synths, chiming guitars, mournful piano and industrial percussion.
Piano Magic's fascination with Eastern European percussion is in part much due to one of their biggest influences -- the Melbourne-born though World-wise 4AD Records-signed group, Dead Can Dance. And it's no small coup that Ovations features not only DCD's supreme percussionist/dulcimer, Peter Ulrich but also the voice of principal songwriter, Brendan Perry on two tracks ("You Never Loved This City" and "The Nightmare Goes On"). The reclusive Perry, himself, a very recent convert to Piano Magic's music was only happy to sing with a group that by his own admission, were making "the most beautiful music" he's heard for a long time.
Whether this new album is quickly consigned to a dusty drawer in the museum of musical curios like so many other Piano Magic records is yet to be seen but there's more depth, soul, variety, dynamic, romance, emotion here than many groups manage in their entire careers.

MAX RICHTER-Memoryhouse CD (Fatcat-$11.99)
Originally released in 2002 but long out of print, Max Richter's gorgeous debut album will finally see a much-awaited reissue. Recorded by Richter with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and critically lauded on its original release, Memoryhouse is quite deservedly held very dear to the broad-reaching "post-classical" field. Memoryhouse is bright, sparkling, exhilarating, warming, gripping, heartbreaking, comforting and rousing, and never loses its awe-inspiring sense of identity and imagination. It is enveloping one can get lost in the lovingly-composed intricacies and interaction between instruments or can be a subtle, albeit chill-inducing, soundtrack to the everyday.

SIMON SCOTT-Navigare CD (Miasmah-$14.99)
This is the debut full-length release by the UK's Simon Scott. Scott has had a notable musical past: in the early '90s he was the drummer for the renowned shoegaze band Slowdive. Upon leaving Slowdive, he formed the more electronic-based group Televise. He also set up his own label, Kesh Recordings, and has so far released titles by the likes of Hannu, Sebastian Roux, Aus and Mark Templeton. More recently, Scott has been involved in several diverse projects, including his work as a member of Seavault (with Antony Ryan from Isan), and collaborations with Machinefabriek, Jasper TX and Emmanuele Errante. With Navigare, there are shades of Scott's previous output and musical interests, but as a whole, the album marks a bold new direction. Navigare opens with "Introduction Of Cambridge," a shimmering wall of sound, its ethereal tones and slow-burning drones gradually drawing closer and closer, creating gorgeous uplifting melodies and textures. The processed guitar combined with ge
ntle swathes of interference and underlying rhythms echoes the processes of Chain Reaction's productions as much as it does the screeching, arcing feedback lines of Kevin Shield's guitar work. Navigare shares an affinity with the melodic content of Fennesz's work, the dark beauty of Tim Hecker's sound, and houses elements of the restraint found in Andrew Chalk's drone compositions. What really devastates here is Scott's ability to merge ambient passages with such memorable melodic cycles, taking the simplest of ideas and building on them, generating murky hooks and submerged "riffs." Scott explores textures using a variety of instruments including sitar, violin, cello, and flute, merging them with excerpts from field recordings; it all sounds so effortless. The looping rhythms and slow guitars rise and grow, at times approaching something oppressive; select pieces such as "Flood Inn" house an underlying weight, comparable to Justin K. Broderick's Jesu and Final projects. Perhaps the hazy drums, bass and guitar drift of "The ACC" presents the most recognizable of stylistic qualities from Scott's back catalog; a groove that recalls the Souvlaki-era sound in all its glory, re-imagined in a new, darker and more expansive form. Additionally, a guest appearance from label mate Jasper TX, a vocal contribution from Moskitoo, and a track co-written with Rafael Anton Irisarri, adds even more depth to Scott's already ambitious vision.

SOLAR POWERED PEOPLE-Living Through the Low CD (Quince-$13.99)
Solar Powered People is a four piece rock/shoegaze band from the Central Valley of California. They are poised to launch into a bright future that should eclipse their already well accomplished past. The sound the band produces is enveloping, warm and powerful with just enough grit to leave a few claw marks. Some of the songs cut through the atmosphere with pace and power, while others sweep and swirl, wrapping the listener into a haze of sound. The various levels of volume, pace and space are anchored by two consistent elements. The always-solid rhythm section provided by Coscia and McKinnon give every song a sturdy backbone. Coscia's powerful drumming and McKinnon's tasteful bass lines are the rails on which each song can successfully roll from. The second consistent element is the melodic hooks layered into the guitars. There are no pointless notes in Morris' or Pennington's guitar lines. The weaving of guitar parts gives the listener many layers to uncover while listening
. Solar Powered People has a crafted sound that comes from the vast experience found in each respective member's past. Taking these experiences and combining them with a shared love for such bands as The Cure, Slowdive, Tears For Fears, Failure, and Joy Division to name a few, the members of Solar Powered People feel they have found themselves a musical home. This musical home has been appreciated by many around the world over the last few years. Their second full-length, Living Through the Low, was recorded by Matt McCord, who also worked with Cake, Fleeting Joys, the Deftones and Team Sleep.
"I fell asleep one night with my headphones on listening to "Living Through the Low", and I had slow motion dreams of Alpine avalanches, followed by vintage James Bond high speed chases. This music is awesome…it's good for the imagination." -Jason Lytle of Grandaddy
"love love the new record...there are no accidents i hear- lots of really beautiful stuff on here…" -Jeff Martin of Idaho

SPARKLEHORSE & FENNESZ-In the Fishtank Vilume 15 CD (Fishtank-$10.99)
Just two days in December 2007 were enough to record over 40 minutes of the sublime Fennesz & Sparklehorse combination. Prepared oddities & masses of inspiration make these recordings unique in their style and in this series in particular. Songs & soundscapes of rare beauty with stunning atmospherics, where abstract sounds & well-crafted traditional songstructure meet & where acoustic instruments & electronics create outstanding ambience.

WHITE RAINBOW-New Clouds CD (Kranky-$12.99)
Forkner has turned White Rainbow into an even more spontaneous & open-ended musical project & has shaped this new album into a dense, lengthy exploration of the relationship between hypnotic, circular, fourth-world drum rhythms, acid-boogie guitar & drifting sheets of fuzzy psychedelic drone. The tracks on New Clouds are a tug-of-war between stasis & change, the desire to meld the meditative effects of a near static drone with the uplifting trip of free-flowing compositions. Slowly melting fluorescent sunsets morph into drapes of psychedelic fog, rumbling over cacophonous rhythms.


** YE OLDE TYME VINYL **

-- The following few titles are described in the CD section above --

ATLAS SOUND-Logos LP (Kranky-$11.99)
ROSE MELBERG-Homemade Ship LP (K-$11.99)
WHITE RAINBOW-New Clouds 2xLP (Kranky-$16.99)

AKRON/FAMILY-River 7" (Dead Oceans-$5.99)
"River" is the second single from Akron/Family's 2009 release, Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free. Following the thundering and anthemic "Everyone is Guilty," "River" returns to something they have always been known for: a timeless hook. "River" delivers Ali Farka Toure-like guitar work, but this song is all about the infectious vocal melody. Like the "Everyone is Guilty" 7-inch, "River" features an exclusive non-album b-side, the lovely "Morning on Michigan Avenue (Thinking of Old Friends)." Strictly limited edition, we advise scoring one of these slabs of vinyl now.

ALBERT AYLER-Bells 180g LP (ESP Disk-$21.99)
Remastered one-sided LP on 180 gram clear vinyl with screenprinted logo. Hand-numbered, limited edition of 1000. "Bells is the celebrated set that overjoyed the audience at New York's Town Hall on May 1st, 1965. It's a ferocious, twenty-minute romp containing excellent group improvisation and Ayler's signature military-themed melodies. The performance marks an important shift in Albert's music: towards blurring the lines between composition and improvisation. It is also the debut recording of Charles Tyler. Reissued on 180 gram transparent vinyl with screenprinted Bells logo on the blank side."

DAVID BAZAN-Happy Xmas (War is Over) 7" (Suicide Squeeze-$4.99)
Limited to 1,000 copies! This is the sixth installment of Bazan's Christmas Singles Series for Suicide Squeeze Records. Two new examples of this master songwriter's ruminative, and ultimately, hopefully approach to traditional melody and arrangement. The exclusive adaptations of John Lennon & Yoko Ono's "happy Xmas (War is Over)" and Wayne Coyne's "Say it Isn't Greensleeves (A Change At Christmas)" continue Bazan's Yueltide tradition in a style totally his own.

DOCK BOGGS-Legendary Singer and Banjo Player LP (Smithsonian Folkways-$17.99)
"Originally released in 1964, this is the first of three volumes that Boggs recorded for the Folkways label after being rediscovered by Mike Seeger during the folk revival of the early '60s. Incredible, sparse and haunting country blues featuring only Dock's banjo and voice. Absolutely essential Appalachian folk music lovingly reissued in a perfect replica of the original Folkways jacket and including a reproduction of the original information booklet."

CALIFONE-All My Friends Are Funeral Singers 2xLP (Dead Oceans-$14.99)
In an underground music landscape where 140 characters equals "journalism" and lone MP3s propel bands to momentary internet stardom, bands are here today and gone tomorrow. Califone is a band that defies this blueprint. Their albums are full of layers and textures, offering endless depth, entire universes to lose yourself in and beyond the thick spectrum of sound, they do something even more important: They write great songs. Califone is a band that will stand the test of time. The band is at the peak of its powers on All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, its sixth song based album. The long-awaited follow-up to 2006's acclaimed Roots and Crowns, the album is the strongest collection of songs in a career with no shortage of strength. The subtlety and detail of Califone's previous work is present here the atmospheres are carefully nuanced, the percussion is both rattling and melodic, the melodies are rich and soulful, interspersed throughout softly strummed folk and electrified
blues. All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is a dense collage of sounds, expertly formed into fully realized pop songs. All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is the record that the great Roots and Crowns hinted at. The songwriting is fleshed out, the musical vision is boiling over, the sonic experimentation is indulgent and dense, yet there's a great cohesion, a sense of purpose and a newfound focus to this Califone effort. Never has the band felt so vibrant, so alive, on one of their albums. All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is built for the long haul. Make space on your record shelf, because this one is here to stay.

CASTANETS-Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts Castanets LP (Asthmatic Kitty-$12.99)
With Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts Castanets' Raymond Raposa keeps one foot in the rustic country, folk, and blues of past records while taking it--everything--to the next level. Straddling the line between "out" and accessible, the Rafter Roberts-produced Texas Rose is a full-band affair, a bent noise-country terrain of dissolving interludes and spaced-out electronic pop tracks up against songs that wouldn't be out of place on a Merle or Willie record. Texas Rose, Raposa's fifth for Asthmatic Kitty, is a statement of stoic subtlety and grandeur, an equal balance of the big and the humble, the disparate and the cohesive. It is nearly 39 minutes of stride-hitting, potential-reaching, and pure big epicness.

EARLY DAY MINERS-The Treatment LP (Secretly Canadian-$12.99)
What happens when a band of resolute perfectionists make their most accessible and upbeat rock album -- a departure so startling, you almost want to call it "their pop album"? When Early Day Miners loosen up, it's almost a different band. The complex layers and atmospherics are still there, but front-and-center on The Treatment are insistent basslines and straightforward melodies on multiple organs and guitars. One of the poppiest here, "So Slowly", manages to combine a buoyant Cure bassline, a wah-wah solo worthy of Robert Fripp, and yet still conveys the lazy drift of summer. You can even hear an echo of "Sympathy for the Devil" on the album's centerpiece "How to Fall". In some respects their most personal, subjective, and emotional album, The Treatment starts like every pop album should, with an invitation to join the band in enjoying The Treatment : "we're going out tonight / won't you join us?" but subtle clues reveal its questioning voices are not so straightforward. So
listen close -- this is an album whose every layer demands attention, and re-pays it.

MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC COMPANY-Josephine LP (Secretly Canadian-$12.99)
Molina's concept album is an honest-to-God effort on the part of Magnolia Electric Co. to pay tribute to the life and spirit of fallen bassist Evan Farrell (R.I.P. December 2007), as the ideas for Josephine were being pieced together. Molina said each tune is a good faith attempt to make real Evan's hopes for the record. And in doing so, Evan's spirit becomes part of the concept. The loss of Josephine becomes the loss of Evan. Molina's familiar lyrical allegories are still in tact. But here, in what is no doubt the strongest set of songs Molina has written since the inception of Magnolia Electric Co., those classic themes take on new meanings. Molina has approached the universal loneliness before, but never in such a focused, directed manner as found on Josephine.

JASON MOLINA & WILL JOHNSON-s/t LP (Secretly Canadian-$19.99)
Consider the collective catalogs of these two prolific masters of the new American folk songcraft: Magnolia Electric Co., Centro-matic, Songs: Ohia, South San Gabriel. Now, let's just be honest. A little bit of artistic ego and one-upsmanship can serve a greater purpose. In this collaboration between Jason Molina and Will Johnson, each seem to hold the other's talents to the fire and elevate both performance and creativity. In the friendly sharing of ideas, Molina and Johnson become two poets' poets in a workshop to craft a singular, searing elegy. Limited LP pressing that is already out of print.

KAWABATA MAKOTO-Under Your Moonshine LP (Qbico-$23.99)
"Makoto Kawabata -- electric guitar (with no overdubbing) recorded around 2003/4. The last Makoto Kawabata release for Qbico! And strange enough, Makoto told me that this was his last solo guitar recording with no overdubs. He gave to me this special solo a while ago, maybe 2003/4. I waited for the right moment to release it, just before the closure of Qbico, it all started with him."

MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. - Rider, Shadow, Wolf 7" (Secretly Canadian-$6.99)
You keep on your eyes on the horizon long enough, you're bound to hit the coast. Jason Molina and the men of Magnolia Electric Co. have explored all realms of classic rock - from the subtleties of folk to charging Crazy Horse meditations. Now, on Rider.Shadow.Wolf. the band brings a surf-rock dynamic to its signature punch. This is where the tired rider, just having battled the desert, meets the eternity of an ocean. Also found here is a stripped-down, early take of "Josephine" from the band's recent longplayer of the same name. This particular recording of Josephine was laid down just after the song's inception, during the session that will later be released as a collaborative album from Molina and Will Johnson of Centro-matic. This version features Molina and Magnolia utility man Michale Kapinus on keys, and serves as a preview of what's to come in the arch of Molina's career.

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS-Gorgeous Johnny LP (Jagjaguwar-$12.99)
It's been 8 years since the first Skygreen Leopards' record was released. Since then the boys have maintained their singular aesthetic while managing to dabble with faux-folk, avant garde pop, reverb-drenched lo-fi psychedelia, plastic country and blurry ballads. This latest effort finds them collaborating with Jason Quever (Papercuts) to create a melancholy world overflowing with itinerant dandies, urban streets, suburban teens, and more girls' names than I care to count, all set to melodic shuffles featuring harmonies, frail piano, and romantic guitars. As always with the Leopards the rhythms refuse to be bridled, the boys resist the urge to jam, and they won't ever learn to sing properly. This will frustrate the expectations of some. Others will find a sweet shadowy hiding place in these songs -- 3 minutes to hang out with girls who race horses, boys who never learned to dance, and a dirty uncle who steals your cigarettes.

SUFJAN STEVENS / OSSO - Run Rabbit Run 2xLP (Asthmatic Kitty-$21.99)
In 2001, Sufjan Stevens followed up his debut album, A Sun Came, with Enjoy Your Rabbit, a series of fourteen instrumentals programmatically inspired by the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Much later, in 2006, Bryce Dessner (The National, Dark Was the Night compilation, Clogs) suggested that Sufjan re-arrange the entirety of Enjoy Your Rabbit for Osso, a string quartet that had previously contributed strings to Sufjan's Illinois and My Brightest Diamond's Bring Me The Workhorse. The result is Run Rabbit Run.

SABU TOYOZUMI & MOTOTERU TAKAGI-If Ocean is Broken 2xLP (Qbico-$42.99)
"Unreleased free jazz from Japan in its prime, recorded live in Tokyo in 1971. Mototeru Takagi already released two beautiful duo LPs back then with master Japanese drummers like Masahiko Togashi (Isolation) and Toshi Tsuchitori (Origination), so this last DLP is complete in a sense the set of duo recorded with the best, 1st generation, free music drummers from Japan. On the other side it's complete also, the duo recorded by Sabu with the greatest reeds player from Japan (still of the 1st generation); being, his various duos with legendary Kaoru Abe, already documented on Qbico (Senzei) and elsewhere. About the music: raw and passionate = primitive beauty; both musicians are in top form and surely in their most creative period. Mr. Takagi plays tenor, soprano sax and bass clarinet, while Sabu is on drums and percussion. Original recordings were very well preserved (fortunately) and the pressing came out wonderful! Cover by qbico which Sabu can really dig, saying that En no Gy
oja is deeply respected by him, he opened the way..."

JONNY TRUNK-Scrapbook LP (Trunk-$16.99)
This is the second album from UK-based Trunk Records label-head, Jonny Trunk. As one would expect from a lad from Trunk, Scrapbook is a curious, entertaining and quite bewildering mix of samples, piano, men with no throats, lesbians and a Japanese choir. It's kind of jazzy, hip-hoppy, filmic, and borders on novelty once in a while. And there's a rock bit on there too. As Jonny Trunk himself explains: "This album has all come about through impatience. Over the last seven years I have tinkered and diddled with music in my bedroom, my office and my head. The 20 tracks on this album are the ones that are still just about alive and represent the scraps of music I have dubbed off or that have not been trashed from my desktop. I don't really want to see them all die, so the only way to get them off my computer and out of my life is to issue them, and the only way I thought I could do it was under the umbrella excuse of a musical scrapbook. It will become obvious quite fast that many
of the tracks are indeed scraps, sketches or unfinished business. But getting tracks completed is the hardest bit about making music, if you ask me, it takes ages to finish things sometimes, and ages is really not what I have. So I thought it best to get it all out as it is. I actually think this is alright and acceptable these days -- our attention spans have diminished, we are more used to sound bites, shorter cues, weird little things. The other nearly noteworthy point is that rather that sit around and deliberate for hours, days, weeks or months about which track should follow which track, I've simply compiled them all alphabetically, which was dead easy. It took about ten seconds. And I have only stuck with working titles for the tracks, too." Equipment used: an EMU E5000 Ultra, an old Beocenter 1800, Logic 4.7 on an Apple G3, a Yamaha P90 electric piano and a small Mackie mixer.

YEASAYER-Ambling Alp 12" (Secretly Canadian-$7.99)
Hello Again Music Enthusiast, It has been 2 full years since I last wrote about Yeasayer's debut album All Hour Cymbals and prophesied on the power of their music. I could rejoice in the accuracy of the claims, but we are merely in the beginning of the Yeasayer life cycle...there is work to be done. After 3 white winter months (Feb-Apr '09) in upstate NY at the Marotta cabin, Yeasayer wrote and layered songs for #2 (album title TBA). The tracks were then transported to Great City in NYC for mixing and the microscope. Out of these sessions came "Ambling Alp," which we elected as the first single for Yeasayer #2. A stand out from their recent live set, the band reworked the song into its former: a pop anthem. The 12" single contains remixes by friends Memory Tapes and DJ/rupture and is Yeasayer's first release on US label Secretly Canadian. To celebrate the release of the "Ambling Alp" 12" we will be unleashing a breakthrough video at yeasayer.net on the evening of October 30th
. Hush-hush we must be regarding this activity, but we promise something pioneering. More soon regarding movement in early 2010. Best.

VARIOUS ARTISTS-Thai Beat A Go-Go Volume 1: Wild and Rockin' Sounds From the Land of Smile LP (Subliminal Sounds-$25.99)
Finally on vinyl, volume 1 of the legendary Thai Beat compilation, originally released in 2004, including two awesome previously-unreleased tracks! Incredible and ultra-rare recordings from Thailand in the 1960s. The amazing Thai Beat A Go-Go, which concentrates on red-hot Thai curry rock n' roll, Shadow music string bands, cosmic surf instros, mad garage/beat, mystic go-go organs, wild guitar rave-ups and psychedelic mind-benders, exotic female singers, funky and soulful with extreme sensuality and emotions, surreal and groovy, all with a totally otherworldly Thai flavor. Experience the blossoming Bangkok night club scene with the exotic bar and lounge go-go bands! These recordings have a sound that's completely inexplicable despite the use of standard rock instrumentation and song structures, combining a fascinating and primal version of rock n' roll, surf, and r 'n' b -- sometimes all in one song. Don't miss this ultimate wild rockin' Thai '60s compilation. Limited edition
of 1,000 copies worldwide. Housed in a beautiful full-color gatefold sleeve.


** RESTOCKS **

A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW-Ashes Grammar CD
MONTGOLFIER BROTHERS-All My Bad Thoughts CD

And a lot more re-stocks on the website!

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