Tuesday, July 29, 2008

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Diplo + Santogold, Detroit Cobras, Sparks, Wire & much more

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB Eight Oh Eight CD
*** "The third and final part in the Black Devil Disco Club's Cosmic Trilogy. Like its predecessors, Eight Oh Eight features six tracks, all with the trademark Black Devil sound -- but now even more haunting and bizarre. If the last album was like Giorgio Moroder meets Joy Division, then this one is like Salvador Dali meets Cerrone; surrealistic disco for space cadets. Totally unique, yet disturbingly familiar-- a sinister, psychedelic, analogue throb that moves you like no other."

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Just Like Kicking Jesus CD
*** "The new mini-album, recored in Reykjavik and showcases 5 songs (4 never released before) and runs over 27 minutes."

THE BUG London Zoo CD
*** "The obvious entry point to the album is the dubstep tag, particularly after the success of the three lead-up singles, but London Zoo clearly reaches past, brings together, and celebrates reference points from dancehall, grime, hip-hop, and noise-- it could have only come out of London sound-system culture, while its appeal spans cities and scenes."

DAEDELUS Love To Make Music To 2xLP / CD
*** "The few reports which have filtered out say that people go mad as they listen to the strange, alien sounds the young composer DAEDELUS describes as 'music' -- that they scream, laugh, pull off their clothes, have sex with each other and themselves, fall into reveries, and shout of 'the hills, the beautiful hills.'"

DETROIT COBRAS Original Recordings LP / CD
*** "Collects for the VERY FIRST TIME these early DETROIT COBRAS rare, unreleased and singles recordings! Compiles their very first 3 7" singles plus NINE previously unreleased studio tracks from the same era!"

DIPLO I Like Turtles CD
*** "I don't think we've had a DIPLO mix like this since Hollertronix. I Like Turtles features Diplo's usual mix of all genres all the time, plus new and unreleased tracks like the BUN B and RICH BOY remix of Mia's "Paper Planes," tracks from Diplo and SWITCH’s JAMAICA PROJECT featuring ELEPHANT MAN and BEENIE MAN, exclusive Diplo remixes like "Bart So Krispy," SIZZLA & Mia "Bamboo Banga" and blends all over the place."

DIPLO & SANTOGOLD Top Ranking CD
*** "Diplo meets Santogold in a dub chamber of remix special guest exclusive madness! Diplo and Santogold spent almost as much time on this thing as some people do on albums- getting together in the studio to record tracks, recruiting people for guest spots and remixes, going back and forth on what tracks to include but it’s all worth it because this is a one in a million mixtape. There are 35 tracks here (filling up the entire CD), including a exclusives made just for this mix (the Diplo produced “Icarus” and a live band cover of the Bad Brains’ “Right Brigade”), Diplo remixes you won’t hear anywhere else (Santogold over Panda Bear?!) plus remixes from SWITCH, MUMDANCE, XXXCHANGE and RADIOCLIT, guest verses from AMANDA BLANK and KID CUDI, plenty of blends, and even some dubplates. Limited pressing."

FLYING LOTUS 1983 CD
*** The debut album on Plug Research from recent Warp signee Flying Lotus.

GILBERTO GIL Expresso 2222 CD
*** "Originally released in 1972, Expresso 2222 is Gil’s first release since returning to Brazil after a two year political exile. Moving away from the psychedelic tone of his late ‘60s recordings, Expresso 2222 has a funky and jazzy feel that blends perfectly with Gil’s percussive guitar work and soulful vocal delivery. This is one of Gil’s last masterworks, one that many consider to be his best."

ICY DEMONS Miami Ice CD
*** "Miami Ice is the upbeat and wide-ranging third full-length album, drawing on a wide range of musical vocabulary-- sometimes within a single song. Icy Demons cofounders Chris Powell (a.k.a. Pow Pow) and Griffin Rodriguez (a.k.a. Blue Hawaii) use an odd assortment of vintage keyboards and ethnic percussion, and evoke a past that actually might prove to be the future."

MENEGUAR The In Hour CD
*** "Switching instruments and experimenting with recording techniques, Meneguar has cooked up a totally unique(and surprising) record. The In Hour channels the spontaneity and aesthetics of Swell Maps, the pop hooks of the Zombies, and lyrical collage of Guided By Voices."

NURSE WITH WOUND Huffin' Rag Blues CD
*** "Steven Stapleton and Andrew Liles form the core of the band on Huffin' Rag Blues, and the direction to which they are heading is the lounge! Huffin' Rag Blues is unlike any Nurse With Wound album in recent memory as they veer into the space-age bachelor pad. This is truly exotica as imagined by the twisted genius that is Nurse With Wound."

JAY REATARD Singles 06-07 2xLP / CD
*** "After recording his debut solo LP, 2006's Blood Visions, Reatard released a slew of singles and EPs on labels across the globe; all were pressed in limited quantities and now fetch serious coin on eBay. In The Red is proud to release Singles 06-07-- a collection of said tracks."

SONIC YOUTH + MATS GUSTAFSSON + MERZBOW Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth CD
*** "Sonic Youth (with Jim O'Rourke) and guests Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Japanese sound artist Masami Akita (a.k.a. Merzbow). The single piece performed was a structured improvisation which for 60 minutes added and subtracted musicians one by one until only Akita was left onstage."

SPARKS Exotic Creatures Of The Deep CD
*** "Sparks' 21st studio album. The result of a year spent in near-isolation, Exotic Creatures of the Deep could, perhaps, be seen as a natural evolution from their last two records, on which pop-opera, rock, and high drama combined to redefine Sparks' sound."

SPARKS Introducing Sparks CD
*** "Originally released in 1977, Introducing Sparks finds the Mael brothers, in the company of an array of top session musicians (mirroring Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan in this respect), caught between the innovative glam-prog-pop of their four early-to-mid-'70s Island albums and the audacious proto-electro of their 1979 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder (No. 1 in Heaven)."

SYCLOPS I've Got My Eye On You 2xLP / CD
*** *** "The DFA-debut of Syclops, produced by MAURICE FULTON. They refuse to do interviews or reveal anything about themselves. The listener will have to imagine what kind of people they are and where they find their inspiration -- heavy metal riffs over acid house? Playing folkloric instruments with old school analog synthesizers in a Finnish laboratory? Only the band themselves know for certain."

THREATENER The Hammering, The Fastening, And The Bending Of Throats CD
*** "A collection of all output by this 1000mph Michigan power violence blast squad: EPs, Comps, Radio session plus extra tracks galore. Its pure mayhem, most songs 30 seconds or less - a total audio assault on the senses. Easily one of the best fastcore bands from the past decade."

VENETIAN SNARES Detrimentalist 2xLP / CD
*** "The latest studio album revisits jungle when it was more about energy and experimentation than a strict formula. The days before they took out all the good bits between the kicks and the snares! These beats shoot thick and sticky! Bass that makes your colon drop like you grew a new nut out your ass! Over 20 people were harmed in the creation of this record!"

WIRE Object 47 CD
*** "Wire's eleventh studio album and 47th object in their discography. While retaining Wire's idiosyncratic mix of an avant-garde mindset with classic pop timing, this album boasts "tunes with zoom," a unique formula that somehow manages to sound wholly Wire (in a classic sense) and wholly contemporary."

WOODEN SHJIPS Vol. 1 LP / CD
*** "The Wooden Shjips' earliest material was released on vinyl, pressed in small quantities that were either free or hard to come by and are now hopelessly out of print. Vol. 1 collects all the tracks from the free 10-inch, the Dance, California 7-inch, and the SOL 7-inch."