NEW RELEASES WEEK #44 OCTOBER 28, 2014

OCTOBER 28, 2014 (WEEK #44)

1.    ADAM X-“IRREFORMABLE” (10/28) 

2.    AFGHAN WHIGS-“GENTLEMAN AT 21” (21^ST ANNIVERSARY 2-CD EDITION!) (1993/2014) (10/28)

3.    OREN AMBARCHI-“QUIXOTISM” (10/27) 

4.    BALMORHEA-“BALMORHEA” (10/27)

5.    BELL GARDENS-“SLOW DAWNS FOR LOST CONCLUSIONS” (10/28) (**BELL GARDENS combines the musical visions of KENNETH JAMES GIBSON (FURRY THINGS, 8 FROZEN MODULES) and BRIAN MCBRIDE (STARS OF THE LID). Their sound is less reliant on effects and studio trickery than the pairs' independent guises, laying bare as it does vocals and live instruments with emotional sincerity, and presenting songs imbued with an almost pastoral or gospel simplicity and timelessness. Features a wider palette of players (pedal steel, bass, drums, keys), and also features contributions from LAUREN CHIPMAN  (RENTALS), STEWART COLE (EDWARD SHARPE  and THE MAGNETIC ZEROS)

6.    THE BILINDA BUTCHERS-“HEAVEN” (10/28) 

7.    BLACK MAP-“…AND WE EXPLODE” (10/28)

8.    BLIND SHAKE-“BREAKFAST OF FAILURES” (10/28)

9.    DAN BODAN-“SOFT” (10/28) 

10. ELLIOTT BROOD-“WORK AND LOVE” (DELUXE EDITION) (10/28)

11. THE CORAL-“THE CURSE OF LOVE” (10/28)

12. THE CRAMPS-5 REISSUES! “ROCKINNREELININAUCKLANDNEWZEALAND”, “FIENDS OF DOPE ISLAND”, “SMELL OF FEMALE”, “LOOK MOM NO HEAD”, “A DATE WITH ELVIS” (10/28)

13. DAVE DAVIES-“RIPPIN IT UP” (10/28)

14. DOOMED STUDENT-“WALK THROUGH HYSTERIA PARK” (10/28)

15. CHRIS FORSYTH & THE SOLAR MOTEL BAND-“INTENSITY GHOST” (10/27) (Intensity Ghost is a follow-up to last years critically acclaimed Solar Motel album, which made year ends lists at The New Yorker, Uncut Magazine and Popmatters and provoked ecstatic comparisons; from Television and Neil Young & Crazy Horse to Richard Thompson and The Grateful Dead. Solar Motel came together as a solo album but the band Forsyth assembled to tour the record bassist Peter Kerlin, guitarist Paul Sukeena (Spacin ), and drummer Steve Urgo (ex-War on Drugs) - took things to another level and quickly became a powerhouse.)

16. ROBIN GUTHRIE & HAROLD BUDD-“WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD” (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) (10/28)

17. HAERTS-“HAERTS” (10/27) 

18. HARD WORKING AMERICANS-“FIRST WALTZ” (10/28)

19. HIGH HIGHS-“OCEAN TO CITY” [EP] (10/28) 

20. HIS NAME IS ALIVE-“TEUCIZTECATL” (10/28)

21. HORSE FEATHERS-“SO IT IS WITH US” (10/21) 

22. I LOVE YOU BUT I’VE CHOSEN DARKNESS-“DUST” (10/28)

23. KIASMOS-“KIASMOS” (10/28) (Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen finally release their unique Nordic electronic sounds in album-size. After dropping several tracks and performing at select festivals throughout the years, Ólafur Arnalds and Janus Rasmussen dedicated the year 2014 to explore the area in-between Ólafur's more acoustic, piano-based solo work and Janus' synth-heavy electro-pop, with their collaborative electronic project Kiasmos. By focusing solely on their self-titled debut album, Ólafur and Janus have been able to combine and further develop their unique sound aesthetics to complete an album driven by their mutual love for electronic music. Made in Ólafur's newly-built studio in Reykjavik, Iceland, a majority of the album was recorded using acoustic instruments next to a variety of synthesizers, drum machines and tape delays. It features a live drummer, string quartet and Ólafur performing on the grand piano, producing an ambient, textured sound which makes it a perfect home listen and equally danceable record. If you listen closely, you can spot them recording the thumb piano, finger-snapping, and even the sound of the metal grinder of a lighter used to replace the usual electronic hi-hat sounds, giving the album a far more intimate and unique atmosphere. Long-time Erased Tapes graphics collaborator Torsten Posselt at Feld Studios in Berlin created the cover artwork. Feld Studios was a natural choice for Kiasmos, seeing how he also designed the cover for their Thrown EP. Kiasmos is made up of Icelandic BAFTA-winning composer Ólafur Arnalds, known for his unique blend of minimal piano and string compositions with electronic sounds, and Janus Rasmussen from the Faroe Islands, known as the mastermind of the electro-pop outfit Bloodgroup. Based in Reykjavik, Arnalds used to work as a sound engineer, often for Rasmussen's other projects, where the two musicians discovered their common love for minimal, experimental music. They eventually became best friends, often hanging out in their studio, exploring electronic sounds.)

24. LED ZEPPELIN-“LED ZEPPELIN IV” (2-CD DELUXE EDITION) (10/28) (1971/2014) 

25. LED ZEPPELIN-“HOUSES OF THE HOLY” (2-CD DELUXE EDITION) (10/28) (1973/2014)

26. LILY & MADELEINE-“FUMES” (10/28) 

27. MEDICINE-“HOME EVERYWHERE” (10/28) (During this past year Brad Laner, Elizabeth Thompson and Jim Goodall eschewed the 90ís nostalgia touring circuit trod by their peers and instead dug deep to bring you ìHome Everywhereî: A collection of new songs created with a gaze that is omni-directional. An answer to no other band, movement or genre (donít be lazy, you). An ambitious work that could be no one else but said three lifer music weirdies in full inspiration mode.)

28. LEIGHTON MEESTER-“HEARTSTRINGS” (10/31) 

29. MICHAEL A GRAMMAR-“MICHAEL A GRAMMAR” (10/28) 

30. MIND FAIR-“MIND FAIR” (10/28)

31. PETER MURPHY-DVD “MR MOONLIGHT TOUR: 35 YEARS OF BAUHAUS” (DVD) (10/28) 

32. OBJEKT-“FLATLAND” (10/24) 

33. PACO OSUNA-“LONG PLAY” (10/28) (After a three-year production hiatus, Barcelona's techno kingpin Paco Osuna returns with not only a new release for Richie Hawtin's M_nus label, but also his debut LP, entitled Long Play -- eight precision tracks, purposely built for the dancefloor in his inimitable style. Long Play is a meeting-point of Paco Osuna's past and his future. The product of nearly 20 years behind the decks, from early residencies at Amnesia in the late '90s, to an integral role in Hawtin's current ENTER. events at Space and a push forward for techno, house, minimal, and tech- house, Long Play's sleek and exuberant tracks are thread together by Osuna's always-addictive bass lines. "The bass line is my obsession," he says -- the key ingredient to making picture-perfect techno and playing incredible, unflaggingly energetic DJ sets.)

34. BEN OTTEWELL-“RATTLEBAG” (10/27) (As a singer and lead guitarist in rock band Gomez, Ben Ottewell is well known for his unmistakable voice and talent for blistering and inspired guitar solos. On his newest record, Rattlebag, Ottewell once again collaborated with childhood friend and his Shapes & Shadows writing partner Sam Genders, previously of Tunng. Simultaneously stripped-down and lush, Rattlebag is a collection of beautifully poetic tales of salvation and redemption, of sanctuary and braving rocky seas in search of distant shores. Ottewell s infectious melodies and bluesy riffs will stick with you.)

35. PRIMUS-“PRIMUS & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY WITH THE FUNGI ENSEMBLE” (10/21) 

36. PULSHAR-“BLOOD & MATHEMATICS” (10/27) 

37. PYE CORNER AUDIO-“INTERCEPTS (WITH NOT WAVING” (10/28)

38. LEE RANALDO & THE DUST-“ACOUSTIC DUST” (10/28)

39. RANCID-“…HONOR IS ALL WE KNOW” (10/28) 

40. MARK ROGERS & MARY BYRNE-“I LINE MY DAYS ALONG YOUR WEIGHT” (10/28) (Brooklyn duo Mark Rogers and Mary Byrne recorded their debut, I Line My Days Along Your Weight, as a true duet: facing each other inches apart, intent upon listening. They wove together archaic instruments -- baritone acoustic, tricone resonator, golden-era flattop, space-age lap steel, upright piano, and hundred-year-old mandolin -- into a new and vibrant third voice. All the songs were recorded live to two-inch analog tape, the studio equivalent of tightrope-walking without a net. Mark and Mary later added minimal touches of lap steel, piano, and electric guitar, but essentially what you hear is what they performed together, start to finish. With Mark's deeply expressive, contextual fingerstyle and Mary's emphatic, unaffected singing, this striking debut invites listeners into a space most intimate, and most human. Mark and Mary each grew up on opposite sides of Central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River, but their paths did not cross until years later in the explosively creative East Atlanta music scene. From there, the two moved to Brooklyn, where they married, and where Mary earned her MFA in writing from Brooklyn College and Mark quickly became an in-demand stage and session player and music instructor. Their collaboration began in earnest in the days after Hurricane Sandy hit New York in November 2012; with the city at a standstill, the two sketched many of the songs now on I Line My Days Along Your Weight. Before this, Mark played with Brooklyn indie-folk band The Loom, with whom he toured and performed as part of Brooklyn Academy of Music's "Next Wave" series and at Pop Montreal and CMJ. He was also multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with Atlanta's renowned alt-Americana quartet, Myssouri, whose War/Love Blues was selected by Pitchfork as a top album. Mary was lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Atlanta trio Hot Young Priest, which toured nationwide; their Fiendish Freaky Love (Two Sheds Music) garnered critics' praise in Magnet, Amplifier, The Big Takeover, Time Out New York, and NPR's "All Songs Considered.")

41. SANTE-“CURRENT” (10/27) 

42.    SYLVIE SIMMONS-“SYLVIE” (10/28) (Produced primarily by Howe Gelb (Chris Schultz produced track 6). This is the debut album by esteemed writer and Leonard Cohen biographer Sylvie Simmons. Available either on CD or as an LP housed in 'tip-on' gatefold Stoughton jacket. Lyric booklet included.Light In The Attic has an impeccable reputation for uncovering rare and precious albums from the past. This release, Sylvie, is haunting and out-of-time - but it is also a brand-new, original debut album, by a singer-writer who has been making music since she was a little girl but just for herself. The raw, delicate, and sensual songs about love and love gone wrong are performed on a ukulele, which here sounds like a broken harp or a heartbroken guitar. ''I'd always thought of the uke as a toy, a little handful of happiness,'' says Sylvie, ''but not any more. My first ukulele - in fact all my ukuleles - came to me by accident, under strange circumstances usually involving mysterious, vanishing men. From the moment I picked it up, I fell in love. A uke has a sad, fractured sweetness and a modesty. It doesn't try to impress you, it almost apologizes for being there. The notes are like feathers; you play them and they're blown away in a second. And yet these songs kept coming through this tiny instrument with all their heartbreak and truth intact.'' The first person to hear them was Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. ''I'd send them one at a time, as I'd written them, and if I left it too long before sending another, he would ask for the next installment. We would talk about recording an album of them one day, and we did.'' Returning to the stage, she performed solo at SXSW, going on to play a number of shows under the radar with celebrated guest musicians. Late last year, in a gap between tours, Howe lured Sylvie to the desert where they recorded live to tape in Wavelab Studio in Tucson, with Thoger Lund playing upright bass and Howe, who produced the album, backing her brilliantly on guitar, synthesizers, and piano. ''I was staying in Tucson in a motel with no car, running alongside the freeway in the hot morning sun, and then we just went into the cool, dark studio and played. No rehearsals and no going back. It was magic. We planned to record ten of my songs, including a couple I'd just written. We ended up with twelve: one spontaneous cover, and an instrumental with all of us gathered around Howe's piano, which sounds like the soundtrack to a lost David Lynch film.'' It's apt that the album should be made in such a musically evocative setting, because another love affair that informs the record is that of Sylvie and the USA. Born in London, she'd felt the pull of America since childhood and ran away to LA in the late seventies to write about music, convinced she'd never have the nerve to perform it. She became renowned as a rock writer (she's the subject of a BBC documentary, The Rock Chick) and also as an acclaimed author. Her books include the cult fiction Too Weird For Ziggy and biographies Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes, and I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen. Following numerous movements across the globe - including three years in a tumbledown French chateau - she now lives in San Francisco. ''The main constant in my life, aside from escape, has been music,'' Sylvie says, ''writing about it in public and playing it in secret, until now.'' On her intimate, mesmerizing debut she lays herself bare. ''Clearly from my songs, my skin is thinner than a butterfly's wing, but these are true songs, and this is how they came out, alone in the dead of night, sad, sweet, and mysterious.'')

43. SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES-“THE RAPTURE” (REMASTERED EDITION) (10/28) + “PEEPSHOW” (REMASTERED EDITION) (10/28) + “SUPERSTITION” (REMASTERED EDITION) (10/28)

44. SLAM-“REVERSE PROCEED” (10/28) (Electronic music pioneers Slam return to their home base of Soma with their brand-new album, Reverse Proceed. After tireless months in the studio, the Glaswegian duo are ready to unleash what is easily their best body of work to date. Not only does this album capture where the two are at musically at the moment, but is an extension of their unending fascination with all things Electronic. Lending their 22 years of experience to this new project, Slam have delved into the past for inspiration while simultaneously heralding future technologies in the production process. Conceptually, Slam wanted to have the human experience in mind when recording and to base the architecture of the album around "the sequence." This led them to a locally-built hardware sequencer called the "Sequentix Cirklon" that became the heart of the album. Allowing them to access older machines and also a modern modular synth set-up simultaneously, Stuart & Orde merged live manipulation and recording techniques to full potential to bring soul to the album. Reverse Proceed is more than an album; it is a well-defined experience built on the principle of the sequence. Having been meticulously woven together to create a seamless listening environment, Reverse Proceed aims to capture the audience and guide them through the sonic landscape of the album. This method allowed Slam to fully explore the concept of the album being more than just a collection of tracks but rather a thoroughly immersible piece. With this concept in mind, the album's opening drifts in over the course of several tracks as the malevolent "Tokyo Subway" opens what is the ambient first third of the album. Tension is built through sweeping pads and dubbed-out synths, leading perfectly into the more delicate "Visual Capture," where a sea of field recorded rain splashes over subtle bell tones and dream-state strings. The title-track begins with intensity as pulsing sub-bass fills the void with yet more time-induced percussive fluctuations though synthesis, the haunting pads giving more depth to this deep, evolving track. The hardware at the center of the album takes hold now as "Cirklon Bells" brings a slight edge of melancholy to proceedings. Heavenly pads bring "Synchronicity" into existence as we hear the first semblance of a 4/4 make its way out of the depths of the ambience. "Ghosts of Detroit" stamps that typical Slam sound on the album. This ode to the Motor City sees an almighty melodic upheaval as tones begin to form complete harmonious coexistence and the album sees the shift into a more dancefloor-oriented state of being. The ethereal interlude of "Relevant Question" proves to be little respite, as "Pattern A3" stomps in with flourishing modular-based sequential tones and sparse, kicking 909 drums -- the album's defining heads-down techno moment. Tweeked-out, delayed and cerebral, "Factory Music" continues on perfectly as yet more off-kilter sequences makes heads spin with its subtle use of FX and crisp percussion. The wail of "Convolute" keeps things in check as discord swells enough to keep you ready for the solid and hypnotic "Catacoustics." Dark and brooding, it sets the tone for "Irritant," with its broken beat and roomy percussion riding spaced-out, otherworldly forces. "Rotary" helps see the album out with its elastic synths and driving rhythms, showing Slam's credentials as straight-up dance-floor killers. As we finally wind down from the journey, we are brought into great depths with the sublime "Resolved." Modern techno albums come and go, but the dynamic duo of Stuart McMillan & Orde Meikle have once again raised the bar for the world of techno.)

45. SLEATER KINNEY-“START TOGETHER” (7-LP BOX SET” (10/21)

46. SPANDAU BALLET-“THE STORY: THE VERY BEST OF” (10/21) 

47. THESE NEW PURITANS-“EXPANDED” (LIVE AT THE BARBICAN) (2-CD) (10/28)

48. TINDERSTICKS-“YPRES” (10/28) (In early 2011, Tindersticks were commissioned by the In Flanders Fields World War One Museum in Ypres, Belgium to create the soundscapes for the new permanent exhibition commemorating the centenary of the Great War and beyond. Tindersticks' response was to write, record and produce a continuous, orchestral score to accompany the visitor on their emotional journey through the unique story of Ypres in the Great War. The score evolves through the different, distinctive spaces and sections of the museum, punctuated with private contemplative spaces where the music was allowed to be more poetic. Made from a series of interlocking orchestral loops, the music flows seamlessly all day, everyday, without beginning, middle or end. The aim, for Stuart Staples, was for the soundtrack to "become the sound of air within the museum." Ypres was the epicenter of the Western Front in The Great War and was virtually destroyed by the conflict. It has since, only relatively recently, been rebuilt to its original plans. The museum is housed in the rebuilt cloth hall that stands in the center of the town and was once the hub of the town's industry. Hundreds of thousands died in Ypres and the surrounding area, with allied cemeteries and graves scattered everywhere. In keeping with the perspective of the new museum, Staples felt it crucial to "bring the essence of the experience to a personal level. To somehow loosen it away from the images we have all become accustomed to." Inspiration for the work was found in the quiet, dignified German memorial garden of Vladslo and Kathe Kollwitz' famous "Grieving Parents" statue that resides there. Stuart Staples and Dan McKinna worked closely to compose the score and felt the museum building resonated with a key of F. The starting point for the music became a musical cluster of E flat, F and F sharp. The recording was presided over by long-time collaborator and orchestra leader Lucy Wilkins. The orchestral recordings were made at the Church in Crouch End, London and were then taken back to Le Chien Chanceux studio in France to prepare for the installation. In collaboration with London Sound designers "Sound Intermedia," a bank holiday weekend in May 2012 was spent meticulously building the soundscape for every individual space. The In Flanders Field Museum re-opened its doors with Tindersticks' soundtrack on June 11, 2012. Now Tindersticks are releasing the recording of the soundtrack via Lucky Dog Recordings.)

49. THE TWILIGHT SAD-“NOBODY WANTS TO BE HERE AND NOBODY WANTS TO LEAVE” (10/28) 

50. 2562-“NEW TODAY” (10/28) (Under the 2562 codename, Dutchman Dave Huismans aka A Made Up Sound has been integral to deviant dancefloors since 2007. The otherworldly yet lifelike The New Today is 2562's fourth album and presents his first new material in this guise since 2012's Air Jordan EP, which was also self-released on his When In Doubt imprint. As with that last EP, The New Today was sketched out during a trip abroad -- a six week stay in New York in late summer 2013 -- and later arranged at his home studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Composed as a narrative collage drawing upon and splicing from an eclectic library of early European synth experiments, new age tapes, musique concrète, Krautrock, post-punk, obscure electro-pop and other largely forgotten and out of print music, The New Today loosely references the novel of ideas tradition of writing as a restless, eight-track drift bolstered and propelled by his signature texturhythms. From the humid concrète drone sphere of "Arrival" through the hypnotizing gyrations of "Terraforming," to the airborne rhythmelodies and mercurial syncopation of "Vibedoctor" and centerpiece "Utopia," the tension and conflict of aural assault "Drumroll" and ultimately the celestial sweep of closing chapter, "New Life," it's equally the most diffuse, cohesive and involving LP in his celebrated cache.)

51. ULTIMATE PAINTING-“ULTIMATE PAINTING” (10/28) (Jack Cooper (Mazes) and James Hoare (Veronica Falls) are Ultimate Painting. Each member composed five songs each, creating a seamless journey that is both pastoral and cosmopolitan. Intertwining guitar lines that ride off into the sunset, shuffling head-boppers with hook after hook, mellow gothic romances and sunny melodies - they are all found herein.)

52. VELVET ACID CHRIST-“SUBCONSCIOUS LANDSCAPES” (10/28)

53. JANE WEAVER-“SILVER GLOBE” (10/28)

NEW RELEASES WEEK # 43 OCTOBER 21, 2014

OCTOBER 21, 2014 (WEEK #43)

1.    BILL CALLAHAN-“I DRIVE A VALENCE” (BOOK) (10/21) (DRAG CITY BOOK***Until we have a feature film in which BILL CALLAHAN's words are spoken by the true and deep characters who exist within the songs, the best format will be this lyric book--wait, no, the best format will always be the albums featuring the songs, since they are sung by Bill Callahan, the author and singer, in his own inimitable and completely individual fashion.  I Drive a Valence, however, which spans two decades of SMOG/BILL CALLAHAN songs, is a fairly unforgettable look-see; in fact, it's a definitive-yet-concise trip through the mirror, collecting the lyrics to 70 songs and pairing them with 116 dreamy ink-wash images by the man himself. The nuances and ambiguities within plain-spoke expression are at the exquisite center of Callahan's gift, and the plain fact of words on paper nails them down in a concrete fashion that signals eternity somehow more concretely than sounds in the air can conjure. I Drive a Valence does this for the listener--makes him/her a reader, while putting Bill Callahan's songs on another shelf where they sit just as entirely as they do on LP shelves around the world. 8"x5.5" 196-page paperback book.)

2.    CAVE-“RELEASE – SINGLES 2007-2013” (10/21)

3.    COLD WAR KIDS-“HOLD MY HOME SAN PEDRO, CA 2014” (10/21) 

4.    CONTACT-“FIRST CONTACT” (10/21) (Contact is the new duo of A.E. Paterra (aka Majeure) of famed sci-fi synth-rock group Zombi, and acclaimed British film composer, Paul Lawler. Exploring a similar orbit as Majeure and Zombi, multi-instrumentalist Lawler infuses heavy doses of melody and drama to give First Contact a sound and feel that blends late 70s Pink Floyd sprawl, the nostalgic wonder of early 80s science documentaries, and John Carpenter’s 80s sci-fi action films. Equal parts fascinating and euphoric, Contact is two masters of their respective crafts finding common ground in zero gravity. ON TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LABEL.

5.    KELE-“TRICK” (10/14) (FROM BLOC PARTY) 

6.    LAMB-“BACKSPACE UNWIND” (10/21) 

7.    MARK LANEGAN BAND-“PHANTOM RADIO” (10/21) 

8.    MINERAL-“1994-1998 THE COMPLETE COLLECTION” (2-CD) (10/21)

9.    THURSTON MOORE-“THE BEST DAY” (10/21) (The Best Day, Thurston Moore s first solo record since 2010 s Demolished Thoughts, radiates with both his signature dynamism of dense thrashing electric guitars as well as blissful 12-string acoustic ballads. Recorded with Thurston s current band line-up of James Sedwards (guitars, UK), Deb Googe (of My Bloody Valentine, bass, UK) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth, drums, USA), there are also a some tracks that feature all instrumentation by Thurston.)

10. MUSEUM OF LOVE-“MUSEUM OF LOVE” (10/14) (Museum of Love is the musical project of Pat Mahoney (Founding member of LCD Soundsystem) and Dennis McNany (Jee Day). Longtime friends in New York, McNany and Mahoney found a similar sensibility and a shared vocabulary for interpreting surroundings, something that began with their remix of Battles My Machines feat. Gary Numan and extended into their creation of a full length record together.)

11. NUDE BEACH-“77” (10/21)

12. PANDA BEAR-“MR NOAH” [EP] (10/24) 

13. PHARMAKON-“BESTIAL BURDEN” (10/14) 

14. THE POP GROUP-“CABINET OF CURIOSITIES” (10/21) 

15. SHEARWATER-“MISSING ISLANDS: DEMOS & OUTTAKES 2007-2012” (10/21) 

16. THE 2 BEARS-“THE NIGHT IS YOUNG” (10/21) (Two years ago The 2 Bears dropped a debut album that re-invigorated a genre and gathered music fans in the open embrace of house music. On October 13th the return with the second instalment The Night Is Young, the eagerly awaited follow up released on Southern Fried. Where debut smash Be Strong was rooted in their love for London, The Night Is Young takes on a more global vision. With a love for their home city still at its heart, the album pulls influences and experiences from across the world of dance music, drawing deeply from their trip to Africa last summer. As part of a project for Brixton based youth magazine Live, the duo played shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg and spent time recording in a studio run by BLKJKS's TsepangRamoba. The lead vocals for Son Of The Sun were recorded there with a young singer called Sbusiso and Kwaito legend Senyaka, who also added his vocal to lead single Angel (Touch Me). Speeding through multiple genres, often condensed into single tracks, The Night Is Young lifts The 2 Bear's famed, eclectic DJ sets to higher realms, shifting the imperative to lose both body and mind distinctly up a gear. 'I love tunes that disguise things,' says Joe. 'A really sweet melody with a really dark sentiment. Money Man is meant to be like that, you can have those glossy reggae records that still say something. We didn't want to just be in that culture of not saying anything, where it's all a fantasy world and everyone just goes and gets fucked up but no one says anything.' It's a stark contrast and one that cleverly moves the full-on party hedonism of their debut forward, without sacrificing any of its unadulterated disco charm. The record undulates, it's like a taster menu; courses of hard house, soft reggae, punchy ragga, piano tear-jerkers, funk and soul, all made crystalline with the typically high level of production and the passion of Raf's voice. Honing their craft with all the care and attention paid to a well-groomed patch of facial hair, Raf and Joe have bounced from Brixton to Tel Aviv via Cape Town, sharing the decks ever since their fateful incarnation, delivering a memorable blend of house, techno, ragga and more to almost every continent. A bearded pilgrimage if you will, and one that has coloured in the bold dancefloor-centric shapes of their second album The Night Is Young.)

17. SCOTT WALKER + SUNN O)))-“SOUSED” (10/21) 

18. JAMES WILLIAMSON-“RE-LICKED” (10/21)

19. WOLF GANG-“ALVERON” (10/21) 

NEW RELEASES WEEK # 42 OCTOBER 14, 2014

OCTOBER 14, 2014 (WEEK #42)

1.    ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB-“FOUNTAIN TRANSMITTER MEDICATIONS” (2-CD) (10/14) 

2.    AUGIE MARCH-“HAVENS DUMB” (10/14) 

3.    DADS-“I’LL BE THE TORNADO” (10/14) (I'll Be The Tornado is the follow-up to the duo s highly acclaimed 2013 Pretty Good EP and marks a decidedly more diverse approach to songwriting for the band.
Recorded by Neil Strauch (Bonnie Prince Billy, IRON & WINE, OWEN) at MinBal Studio in Chicago and mastered by Carl Saff (DINOSAUR JR., GUIDED BY VOICES, SPEEDY ORTIZ.)

4.    ERASE ERRATA-“LOST WEEKEND” (10/14) (VINYL, REGULAR RELEASE 1/20/15)

5.    FRAZEY FORD-“INDIAN OCEAN” (10/14) 

6.    FOXYGEN-“…AND STAR POWER” (2-CD) (10/14) 

7.    KINDNESS-“OTHERNESS” (10/14) 

8.    JENNIFER KNAPP-“SET ME FREE” (10/14) (NEW ALBUM ON ANI DIFRANCO’S RIGHTEOUS BABE RECORDS LABEL)

9.    KRUGER-“ADAM & STEVE” (10/14) 

10. LOCUST-“AFTER THE RAIN” (10/14)

11. LOSCIL / FIELDHEAD-“FURY AND HECLA” (10/14) (Fury and Hecla is a meeting of worlds. Named after a near mid-point between the residences of artists Fieldhead and Loscil, it explores both the familiar and the foreign. Although not a collaboration in the strictest sense, sounds were shared by each artist, allowing for a sort of aural infusion between the compositions. The results are a series of fragments and quotes that appear and reappear -- sometimes in ghostly form -- throughout each artist's tracks. The serene ambient compositions of Loscil come courtesy of Vancouver-based musician Scott Morgan. Taking his moniker from the "looping oscillator" function in the computer music language Csound, Morgan uses custom-made Max for Live devices and the occasional live instrument to build robust, droning soundscapes. Morgan cites influences including Krautrock pioneers Cluster, minimalist composer Gavin Bryars, and a wealth of film music composers. Loscil's origins come from Morgan's combined influence and involvement with Vancouver's indie-rock scene in the '90s, having played in several bands as a guitarist and drummer, and also from his academic studies at Simon Fraser University where he learned computer music, film sound and new music composition studying with influential electroacoustics pioneer Barry Truax. Loscil's self-released album, A New Demonstration of Thermodynamic Tendencies, caught the ear of the Chicago independent label Kranky, who in turn signed Morgan's project and released Triple Point in October of 2001. Since then, Morgan has gone on to release five additional full-length albums with Kranky, including the latest Sketches from New Brighton, released in September of 2012. In light of Loscil's exclusive track "Umbra" on Ghostly's 2006 compilation Idol Tryouts 2, Ghostly partnered with Morgan in 2009 for the EP Strathcona Variations. Morgan has periodically partnered with other labels for special projects including 2012's City Hospital on Dublin's Wist Rec (for their Book Report series) and 2011's Coast/Range/Arc on Italy's Glacial Movements. Loscil has toured internationally and played respected festivals and events such as MUTEK, New Forms, Decibel, Substrata, Wordless Music, and more. In addition to his Loscil duties, Morgan has played drums for acclaimed Vancouver indie-rock band Destroyer and has composed several scores for major and independent games and films. Fieldhead is Paul Elam. He produces ambient/electronic music that delights in tape-hiss, geography, bleak landscapes and decaying analog loops. He is ably assisted by violinist and long-term collaborator Elaine Reynolds (The Boats, The Declining Winter). Formed in Leeds, UK in 2008, Fieldhead released a number of EPs and the critically-acclaimed album They Shook Hands for Hours (Home Assembly Music, 2009) before relocating to Vancouver, BC in 2010. While residing in Canada, Paul busied himself with remixing the likes of Epic45, Conquering Animal Sound and Brave Timbers and recording Fieldhead's second album, A Correction, which was released to wide acclaim on Gizeh Records in late October 2012. The new album builds on the love of melody, brevity and dusty atmosphere to be found in previous releases, but also adds a widescreen expansiveness in keeping with the vastness of the landscape it was created in. Paul returned to the UK to take up residence in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2012.)

12. MEATBODIES-“MEATBODIES” (10/14) (2014 debut from this band lead by Chad Ubovich of Fuzz and Mikal Cronin's band. Loud, fast, wild - you've heard this all before but you haven't because the Meatbodies are brand new and they're going to dominate your eyes and ears and give you a bangover like you've never had before. While both of his other bands have kept him busy over the past few years, his mind was always on his own songs. Eventually, In the Red took notice and the Meatbodies were added to their roster. Sequestering himself in master studio magician Eric King Riff Bauer's San Francisco studio/psychedelic sanctuary, Ubovich busted out an album's worth of songs, barely leaving the small Technicolor underground quarters. Once the tracks were done, he sent them up to Chris Woodhouse to give them just the right final touches of perfectly controlled chaos. And perfectly controlled chaos is what this trifecta delivered. The self-titled record is a sonic experience truly evocative of its creator: Unabashed, unrestrained, beautiful and strange. Riffs for days. It's everything we've come to expect from Chad Ubovich.)

13. MELVINS-“HOLD IT IN” (10/14) 

14. MONO-“RAYS OF DARKNESS” (10/14) 

15. KEVIN MORBY-“STILL LIFE WITH REJECTS FROM THE LAND OF MISFIT TOYS” (10/14) 

16. MR. KITTY-“TIME” (10/14) 

17. NIGHT TERRORS OF 1927-“ANYTHING TO ANYONE” [EP] (10/14) 

18. OBLITERATIONS-“POISON EVERYTHING” (10/14)

19. OK GO-“HUNGRY GHOSTS” (10/14) 

20. ERLAND OYE-“LEGAO” (10/14) 

21. POMPEII-“LOOM” (10/14) 

22. PRIMITIVES-“SPIN-O-RAMA” (10/14)

23. SCUBA DEATH-“NITROGEN NARCOSIS” (10/14) 

24. STARS-“NO ONE IS LOST” (10/14) 

25. SUPERSILENT-“SUPERSILENT 12” (10/14) 

26. THE TERMINALS-“SINGLES & SUNDRIES” (10/14)

27. TOSCA-“OUTTA HERE” (10/14)

28. UNWOUND-“NO ENERGY” (3-CD COLLECTION) (10/14) (As a robust rock underground got swallowed alive by the Major Label Industrial Complex, the very autonomous Unwound - Olympia, Washington's Great Noise Hope - toed the troublesome line between pay check and Check Engine light. Captured in the gaps of a ruthless touring schedule, defining fourth and fifth albums The Future of What and Repetition were issued in the back-to-back springs of 1995 and '96. Both find the band severing their post-hardcore roots, for gripping detours into Echoplex, kraut, D&B, and Mingus, as guided by a sun-worn copy of Book Your Own Fuckin' Life.)

29. WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS-“UNRAVELLING” (10/14) 

30. WINTERPILLS-“ECHOLALIA” (10/14) (While their full band was busy raising kids and committed to various day jobs, Flora Reed and Philip Price of Winterpills decided it would be fun to quickly record some of their favorite cover songs while the tape rolled. But what began as a small casual project morphed into an orchestrated, introspective transformation of a few well-known songs and quite a lot of under-appreciated gems: songs by Sharon Van Etten, Buddy Holly, Lisa Germano, the Go-Betweens, XTC, Beck, the Beatles, and more get the treatment of filtering through the alchemy of Flora and Philip s vocal & instrumental chemistry experiment.)

31. JEN WOOD-“WILDERNESS” (10/14)

NEW RELEASES WEEK # 41 OCTOBER 7, 2014

OCTOBER 7, 2014 (WEEK #41)

1.    JOHN LUTHER ADAMS-“BECOME OCEAN” (WITH SEATTLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA) (10/2) 

2.    ALLO DARLIN’-“WE COME FROM THE SAME PLACE” (10/7) 

3.    MATIAS AGUAYO-“LEGENDE” (10/6) 

4.    BASS DRUM OF DEATH-“RIP THIS” (10/7) 

5.    BROODS-“EVERGREEN” (10/7) 

6.    VASHTI BUNYAN-“HEARTLEAP” (10/7) (Nine years after Lookaftering, her last album of new material, legendary British singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan returns with a breathtaking new LP. Recorded largely in her home studio, Heartleap is a unique and entrancing collection of ten songs comprising what Vashti is adamant will be her final album. Vashti s third album follows her rediscovery after thirty years in the wilderness, with the 2000 re-release of Just Another Diamond Day and the critical success of 2005 s Lookaftering. Heartleap has a classic sound and is the first album where she herself has been in control of the whole process, from writing and arranging to playing and recording. Crafted predominantly from a studio setup in her Edinburgh home, the record was slowly pieced together, and reveals an artist at her peak, capturing her songs within fluid settings that masterfully marry content and form. Both Just Another Diamond Day and Lookaftering saw Vashti s songs arranged and framed by others. Joe Boyd s production and Robert Kirby s arranging of the former remain timelessly classy, while Max Richter s bold production of the latter was enhanced by contributions from a raft of supporting artists (including Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Vetiver and Adem), all eagerly adding their colors. Vashti is justly proud of Lookaftering, but Heartleap is an equally strong and even more personal record, standing solely on the merits and patient endeavor of its author rather than being buoyed by and filtered through the cachet and collaborative creativity of a powerful supporting cast. Recording her vocals when no one else was around to overhear freed Vashti up to deliver more confident performances. At the same time, the absence of studio deadlines enabled her to work slowly and lovingly in her own time, weaving together tracks out of numerous takes. Predominantly guitar or piano led, with additional instrumentation building throughout, the songs have no underpinning bassline or percussion, giving each instrument and voice the chance to pace itself. It took in total seven years to put together these ten songs. The first was written in 2007, the last just two months before mastering. A hiatus in recording came with the untimely passing of Robert Kirby in 2009. Robert had arranged three songs on Just Another Diamond Day and the pair had just reconnected and planned to work on new arrangements together just weeks before he died. It would be another two years before Vashti took the decision that she must arrange the music herself, with Robert always in mind. The subsequent three years saw her gradually picking the thread back up and working with renewed purpose. Slowly more songs found their way out of her. Seven became ten. The right final mix frustratingly eluded her until the album magically came together in a week in May 2014 when it was balanced and mastered beautifully. Like the deer on the cover painting, Heartleap moves gracefully, enchantingly. Overcoming adversity through sheer willpower, its very existence is a dazzling triumph. ) 

7.    CARIBOU-“OUR LOVE” (10/7) 

8.    ADAM COHEN-“WE GO HOME” (9/23) 

9.    DYLAN IN THE MOVIES-“SWEET REBEL THEE” (10/7) (Bostonian crooner Brian Sullivan, the driving force behind Dylan In The Movies (perhaps a reference to Bob Dylan’s 1967 film Don’t Look Back?), returned this year with his first release since 2006. With help from fellow East Coaster Tanya Donelly, indie favorite Jenny Lewis and others, Sweet Rebel Thee is a deep well of talent.)

10.    EX HEX-“RIPS” (10/7) (MARY TIMONY!!! ***EX HEX is a power trio hailing from Washington, DC, making the music you've been waiting for. Drums, bass, guitar, P90s, searing leads--this is unapologetic rock 'n' roll spat out in the discipline's mother tongue. With WILD FLAG on hiatus, MARY TIMONY (AUTOCLAVE, HELIUM) needed a new outlet, so she retreated to her basement and started writing. To her surprise, the songs came easily and the hooks practically wrote themselves. Mary found LAURA HARRIS (THE AQUARIUM, BENJY FERREE) and they hit it off immediately. Laura is a monster on drums: intuitive, solid, and just a bit rough around the edges. The pair played together for a couple of months in a tiny carpet-lined practice space shared with half a dozen hardcore bands and what appeared to be the better part of a B.C. Rich Mockingbird. In walked BETSY WRIGHT from the wilds of Virginia. She and Mary have similar tendencies, both defaulting to denim and The Voidoids. Betsy is a performer and an ace piano player, and before long, she was slinging a cherry SG as the third member of Ex Hex. The group played a handful of shows and a couple of months later, in the spring of 2014, headed into the studio. Working furiously, they recorded overthe span of two weeks in North Carolina with MITCH EASTER (Let's Active) and in the basement of Mary's home with frequent collaborator JONAH TAKAGI. BOBBY HARLOW (The Go, Conspiracy of Owls) was tapped to mix because of his unique take on making rock records. What results is Ex Hex Rips , twelve songs about underdogs, guys stealing your wallet, schoolyard brawls, and getting bent. The record happens pretty quickly, so don't blink.)

11.   MARIANNE FAITHFULL-“GIVE MY LOVE TO LONDON” (10/7)

12.    FIELD REPORT-“MARIGOLDEN” (10/7)

13. FROM INDIAN LAKES-“ABSENT SOUND” (10/7)

14. GODFLESH-“A WORLD LIT ONLY BY FIRE” (10/7) 

15. HOZIER-“HOZIER” (10/7) 

16. ICEAGE-“PLOWING INTO THE FIELD OF LOVE” (10/7) (Plowing into the Field of Love is the third album from Copenhagen s ICEAGE. It is new, bold and forceful. Channeling the rage and emotion of their tempestuous early releases into finely honed musicianship, Plowing Into The Field of Love features piano, mandolin, viola and organ atop Johan Suurballe-Wieth s razor-sharp guitars and the lolloping, synchronized rhythm section of Jacob Tvilling Pless and Dan Kjær Nielsen. The record has a clear, uncompressed sound, and Elias Bender Rønnenfelt s desperate vocals are out front, nakedly accountable for the words.)

17. THE JUAN MACLEAN-“IN A DREAM” (10/7) 

18. JOHNNY MARR-“PLAYLAND” (10/7) 

19. MINUS THE BEAR-“LOST LOVES” (10/7) 

20. MISS KITTIN & DUBFIRE-“EXIT” [EP] (10/7) 

21. MOTOPONY-“IDLE BEAUTY” [EP] (10/7)

22. O’DEATH-“OUT OF HANDS WE GO” (10/7)

23. PEAKING LIGHTS-“COSMIC LOGIC” (10/7) 

24. SBTRKT-“WONDER WHERE WE LAND” (DELUXE 2-CD) (10/7) 

25. SHAKEY GRAVES-“AND THE WAR CAME” (10/7) 

26. NIKKI SUDDEN-“FRED BEETHOVEN” (10/7)

27. THOSE POOR BASTARDS-“VICIOUS LOSERS” (10/7)

28. THE VASELINES-“V FOR VASELINES” (10/7) 

29. WAMPIRE-“BAZAAR” (10/7)

30. WAX WITCHES-“CENTER OF YOUR UNIVERSE” (10/7) 

31. A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN-“ATOMOS” (10/7)

32. ZOLA JESUS-“TAIGA” (10/7)