Tuesday, December 15, 2009

((((( NEW ARRIVALS: CDs ))))) Animal Collective, Jon Mueller, Julianna Barwick & many EXCELLENT int'l comps!

v/a 5 YEARS OF HYPERDUB 2xCD
*** "Honoring past, present and future in equal measure, 5 is comprised of one disc of prior highlights, and one of freshly-composed material contributed by Hyperdub artists and close friends. Including an exclusive track by Burial especially for this compilation."

v/a AFRICA BOOGALOO: The Latinization Of West Africa 2xLP / CD
*** "Rocking the party and ramming the dancefloor is the first priority of this review of Latin styles in classic West African dance music, as it emerged with 1950s anti-colonialism, and ran on gloriously into the 70s."

v/a THE BYG DEAL CD
*** "Between 1968 and 1974, BYG might not have been the surefire code to financial fulfillment but the indelible contribution to experimental pop, free jazz, spiritual prog rock and total space music would continue to send positive vibrations through future generations of progressive pop." For more info, see:
http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/discog_fkr025.html

v/a FREEDOM, RHYTHM & SOUND: Revolutionary Jazz & The Civil Rights Movement 1963-82 2xCD
*** RECOMMENDED "Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement of the 1960s loom large as self-determination, economic power and musical freedom led to revolutionary jazz artists finding new paths -- both musical and economic. Concurrent with the emergence of the counter culture and underground rock movement in the 1960s and years before the D-I-Y cultural revolution of punk in the 1970s, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and others 'took control' of their own work by recording, releasing and distributing their own music themselves. This album features major artists as well as many hidden gems of records made on very small run cottage-industry jazz labels from this period -- the original DIY records!" Includes a 28-page booklet. For more info, see:
http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/releases/?id=17577

v/a PSYCH-FUNK 101 2xLP / CD
*** RECOMMENDED "Funky fuzzy psychedelic tracks from '60s and '70s Nigeria, Iran, Turkey, Russia, South Korean and other exotic countries. But these bands added their own, unique cultural flourishes. The result is mind-bending. Inspiring new investigations into shapes of rhythm."

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Fall Be Kind EP+MP3 / CD
*** "The Fall Be Kind EP features 5 brand new studio tracks that are every bit as lush and beautiful as those found on Merriweather. The year of Animal Collective continues.

JULIANNA BARWICK Florine CD
*** "Admired by Pitchfork & Dusted, Julianna Barwick's melodic vocal arrangements, layers and textures are fascinating and dizzying -- 'warm sunlight rendered into sound'."

CARL CRAIG The Album Formerly Known As... CD
*** "A completely remastered and reworked version of Detroit techno legend Carl Craig's seminal 1995 record Landcruising. Here, Craig reveals his old skool techno side, and features new track 'Sparkle,' as well as new ambient versions of 'Technology' and 'Home Entertainment.'"

JON MUELLER Physical Changes LP+CD+DVD
*** RECOMMENDED "Jon Mueller's mammoth new solo percussion work, Physical Changes, drives the idea of 'pummeling rhythms and frequencies' into oblivion over an elaborate, all-inclusive three format (LP/CD/DVD), as the sounds here are something to be felt as much as heard. Joined by the intense propulsion of James Plotkin (KHANATE), the textural chaos of FRED LONBERG-HOLM (Wilco, Brotzmann, Vandermark), Marcus Schmickler (Pluramon), Dan Burke (Illusion of Safety), Jim Schoenecker (COLLECTIONS OF COLOIES OF BEES) and the stunning landscape film work of DAVID DINNELL, Physical Changes reveals how complex and diverse heavy rhythm can be."

PAULINE OLIVEROS Four Electronic Pieces CD
*** "Sub Rosa presents Pauline Oliveros' early and definitive tape and electronic music of the late fifties and sixties -- all released for the first time ever! Tape pieces, sound as noise, variations on silence, systematic exploration of electronic sounds & more."

ORCHESTRE POLY-RHYTMO DE COTONOU Vol.2: Echos Hypnotiques CD+BOOK
*** Subtitled: From The Vaults Of Albarika Store 1969-1979. "Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou was one of Africa's most innovative groups, capable of playing any style of music, from traditional Vodoun rhythms to funk, sato, Latin, sakpata, psychedelia and Afro-Beat seamlessly. Those astonishing combinations can be heard here, all mixed into a heavy hypnotic sound -- Les Echos Hypnotiques."