NEW RELEASES WEEK #49 DECEMBER 3, 2013

DECEMBER 3 (WEEK #49)

1.    ANTONY & FRANCO BATTIATO-“DEL SUO VELOCE VOLO” (IMPORT) (12/3) 

2.    DANIEL ASH-“ANTHOLOGY” (3-CD COLLECTION) (12/3)

3.    BLACK FLAG-“WHAT THE…” (12/3) 

4.    CALORIES-“3” (12/3) 

5.    DISCLOSURE-“HERE COMES THE SUN” (VARIOUS ARTISTS MIX ALBUM) (12/3) 

6.    FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM-“5 ALBUM BOX SET” (12/3) 

7.    FOALS-“HOLY FIRE (REMIXES)” (12/3) 

8.    FORT ROMEAU-“STAY / TRUE” (SINGLE) (12/4)

9.    NILS FRAHM-“JUNO REWORKED” (12/3) 

10. GLEN HANSARD-“DRIVE ALL NIGHT” [EP] (12/3)

11. KOWALSKI-“FOR THE LOVE OF LETTING GO” (12/3) 

12. THE MACS-“STRUMMING TO YOUR BEAT” (12/3) 

13. THE MARCH VIOLETS-“MADE GLORIOUS” (12/3) 

14. PETER MURPHY-“LOVE HYSTERIA: EXPANDED EDITION” (12/3) (IMPORT)

15. NEW BUMS-“SLIM VOLUME” [EP] (12/3)  "Slim Volume is the debut single by New Bums, a duo consisting of Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards).  Although the two began playing together during the summer of 2008 while neighbors in San Francisco, 2013 has seen them finally performing live (including touring with Bill Callahan) and recording. Slim Volume exemplifies the surreal storytelling, 4:00 A.M. acoustic guitars and urban paranoia that lie at the core of their music."

16. OSCAR AND THE WOLF-“EP COLLECTION” (12/3) 

17. THROWING MUSES-“PURGATORY / PARADISE” (64-PAGE BOOK & 32-TRACK CD) (12/3) 

18. TWEAKER-“AND THEN THERE’S NOTHING” (REMIX ALBUM) (11/26) 

19. VATICAN SHADOW-“WHEN YOU ARE CRAWLING” (12/3) (When You Are Crawling is a 35-minute companion piece to Vatican Shadow's recently released Remember Your Black Day (HOS 399CD/LP) album, the iconography and tracklisting concluding its narrative, with a musical focus more directly aimed at the club bolstered by additional production from Juan Mendez, aka Silent Servant. The centerpiece of the EP is "Atta's Apartment Slated for Demolition (Bouthayna Engineering)," a previously-unreleased 15-minute production that builds from tempered percussion to a more driving denouement. The EP also includes the previously-unreleased "Al Qaeda," plus an alternate version of the album's title-track. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton.)

20. WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY-“GHOST REPUBLIC” (12/3) 

21. XIU XIU-“NINA” (12/3) With an artist as wide-ranging and prolific as Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart, it can be hard to put into words what, exactly, his music sounds like. But, when it comes to Stewart's forthcoming ''NINA'', he certainly doesn't sound like himself. ''NINA'' is a thank-you note, a love letter and a kind of musical fan-fic for the late icon Nina Simone. This being Xiu Xiu, of course, Stewart's tribute album is far from a collection of straight covers. Rather, he and long-time collaborator Ches Smith ''the only person I know who could understand this in his heart and also handle the technical side of fearlessly reorienting such wonderful music'' bring Simone into focus through their own avant-dark lens. Stewart pushes his tenor into Tom Waits territory on tracks like ''Wild Is the Wind'' while maintaining femininity by adopting a trembling and breathy singing style. Smith's arrangements, replete with languid, discordant jazz saxophone; sedate accordion; and brisk, minimalist drums, are disquieting, sometimes downright spooky. The collection is both haunting and haunted and, like the best tributes, provides a new perspective on Simone, showcasing both her versatility as a songwriter and Stewart's vigorous creativity.''The idea came being back stage in Austin TX, opening for Swans and feeling like I did not play well,'' Stewart explains. The night before, he and Swans' Michael Gira had discussed Simone, their love both for her talent as a musician and her fearlessness as a civil rights activist, and how Simone inspired them to make better work. Feeling down on himself, yet inspired both by the memory of Simone and the ''epic and beautiful persistence'' of Gira and Swans, Stewart decided to honor Simone and challenge himself in making ''NINA''. To that end, ''NINA'' was recorded in just one day, all in first or second takes. In doing so, Stewart captured the immediacy of the feelings that inspired the record, but it was also a practical decision. Stewart is a busy man. In the next year alone he has a new full-length Xiu Xiu record coming out, along with other planned releases, and an event with conceptual artist Danh Vo at Milwaukee's Walker Arts Center in October. Last month, he wrapped up another performance, ''Dark Materials,'' with visual artist Monika Grzymala and choreographer Jeremy Wade at Hamburg's Internationales Sommerfestival and he's also been busy touring with Swans and working with Eugene Robinson from Oxbow on their side project, Sal Mineo.

22. VARIOUS ARTISTS-“MUSIC FROM DRINKING BUDDIES, A FILM BY JOE SWANBERG” (12/3)