New Releases for December 2007

Index of New Releases for December 2007

EXTREME (AUSTRALIA)

Artist:	MERZBOW
Title:	Merzbox
Label:	EXTREME (AUSTRALIA)
Format:	50CD
Price:	$585.00
Catalog #:	XCD LTD003BX

Restocked! This 50 CD Merzbow as released in the year 2000. "Fifty CDs providing as many hours of Merzbow noise music. The collection spans from 1979 to 1997, 18 years of sonic decomposition. Many of the titles were only available as cassettes and have long since been deleted. Five LPs and a CD, which were originally released in limited numbers and have since been deleted, are now reissued in the Merzbox. Also included are 20 discs that have previously never been released. All CDs have four color cover labels, featuring new Merzbow artwork. All CDs are exclusive to the Merzbox." Comes with an interactive CD-Rom, Merzdallion, Merzshirt, Merzcards, Merzstickers, Merzposter, all wrapped up in a "fetish-rubber" Merzcase.

FALLOUT (UK)

Artist:	SHANKAR, ANANDA
Title:	Missing You
Label:	FALLOUT (UK)
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	FO 2062LP

Previously reissued on CD by Fallout, now issued on deluxe LP format as well; 180 gram pressing. Ananda Shankar is now firmly established as a pioneer of sitar funk, fusing the musical traditions of his homeland with a solid rock and roll influence -- but he also worked in the classical idiom, as the elegiac Missing You (originally released in 1977 and dedicated to his late father) demonstrates. Originally released in India only, this is the first vinyl reissue of this superb album.

Artist:	RICHARD TWICE
Title:	Richard Twice
Label:	FALLOUT (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	FO 2070CD

This glorious pop album, originally released in 1970, makes its long-overdue CD debut here. Named after the mysterious duo of Richard Atkins and Richard Manning, its beautifully crafted songs and glorious melodies have assured it an ever-growing cult reputation. The sleeve tells us these two songwriters are "as different as the sun and the moon in their daily lives, and yet who can sing songs that go directly to the heart of the matter, with a seemingly single mind and voice." Featuring top-notch backing from musicians such as Drake Levin (Paul Revere & the Raiders), Larry Knechtel (Bread), Mark Tulin (The Electric Prunes) and Rusty Young (Poco), it's bound to appeal to all fans of high-quality early '70s U.S. pop-rock.

Artist:	JOY UNLIMITED
Title:	Overground
Label:	FALLOUT (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	FO 2073CD

This psych-tinged German crew are best known for the 1971 progressive masterpiece Schmetterlinge (trans. Butterflies), but their 1970 debut was just as good. Confusingly released as Overground in Germany, as Turbulence in the UK and as Joy Unlimited in the United States, it's a superb blend of psychedelia, funk and pop, boasting the powerhouse vocals of Joy Fleming as well as an array of guitar and organ textures and breaks and samples galore. It makes its long-overdue CD debut here, along with three rare bonus tracks, and is sure to become a firm favorite with DJs and psych-pop fans alike.

Artist:	REDWING
Title:	Redwing
Label:	FALLOUT (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	FO 2074CD

This superb album makes its long-overdue CD debut here, showing Redwing to be an excellent, unfairly neglected piece of the early 1970s Californian musical jigsaw. They had made an earlier psych-pop album as Glad, featuring Timothy B Schmit (later of Poco and The Eagles), and when he departed they regrouped and put together this classy collection of gritty rock and roll. It was much-praised on its original release in 1971, but despite gigging alongside acts including Delaney & Bonnie, Deep Purple, the Steve Miller Band, and releasing four further LPs, the band never got the commercial breakthrough they deserved.

Artist:	BLESSING, LYNN
Title:	Sunset Painter
Label:	FALLOUT (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	FO 2075CD

Shortly before he appeared on the landmark Advancement LP in 1969, vibraphone virtuoso Lynn Blessing released this, his only solo album. A superb fusion of jazz and laid-back psychedelia, it features musicians such as Sneaky Pete Kleinow (Flying Burrito Bros., John Lennon, Frank Zappa) and Wolfgang Melz (The Association, Gabor Szabo) and was produced by legendary jazz flautist Paul Horn (Miles Davis, Donovan). Including a handful of mellow originals alongside unorthodox covers of songs by The Beatles, The Byrds, The Who, Bob Dylan and Judee Sill, it's a laid-back delight from start to finish. As Blessing says at the outset: "sit back, relax, and take off your shoes..."

Artist:	TITUS & ROSS
Title:	Titus & Ross
Label:	FALLOUT (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	FO 2076CD

This enigmatic duo from Marion, Indiana only made one album, which appeared in 1970 and stands as one of the most appealing underground folk-rock recordings of its time. Certain songs were used in contemporary TV and film productions, but their origins and subsequent history remains unknown. Full of beautiful melodies and hazy harmonies, as well as poetic lyrics and psychedelic flourishes such as recorder and fuzz guitar, the LP bears more than a passing resemblance to the work of Simon & Garfunkel, and is sure to appeal to fans of fellow hippie folk heroes such as Fresh Maggots, Linda Perhacs and Lambert & Nuttycombe.

FEEDELITY (NORWAY)

FINDERS KEEPERS (UK)

Artist:	VA
Title:	Daisies OST
Label:	FINDERS KEEPERS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	FKR 013CD

"Back in the latter half of the 1960s, the burgeoning idiosyncratic group of alternative filmmakers coming out of (then) Czechoslovakia known as the Czech New Wave were taking art house cinemas in Western Europe and America by storm. The hour-long films that came out of the infamous Barrandov production house played a competitive rival to that of the French and Italian new waves with their very own immaculate and spell-binding takes on cinema verit�, film noir, surrealism and cinema concrete. But after the Soviet Union invaded Czech in August 1968, the clampdown on non-conformist creative arts saw over 70 films either banned or withdrawn from production in a mass culling of film reels until 1970. It is not until recent years that the genre has become widely recognized as a veritable and virtually untapped source of inspiration for fans of experimental cinema, psychedelic cinematography, baroque costumes and scenery, music and graphic design. Daisies pulls together what you might call the 'Holy Trinity' of the Czech New Wave -- director Vera Chytilova, costume and set designer Esther Krumbachova, and cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera -- arguably the three most forward-thinking and truly experiMENTAL minds in the whole of the CNW collective. The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed release of (the previously unreleased) Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders -- another Czech masterpiece -- this release was previously unprepared for public consumption and taken from the original reels. This immaculate release has been compiled in close accordance to the original storyline and comes complete with unseen archive images, original international poster designs and new and extensive sleevenotes by Andy Votel and Professor Peter Hames. This release also carries personal endorsements from Jarvis Cocker, Trish Keenan (Broadcast) and Jim O'Rourke."

Artist:	VA
Title:	Welsh Rare Beat 2
Label:	FINDERS KEEPERS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	FKR 014CD

"Gruff Rhys joins the Andy Votel, Dom Thomas and the Finders Keepers team once again to produce this, the second instalment in our critically-acclaimed and best-selling Welsh Rare Beat series. Derived from Dyfed bands with added friends from further a field in the Swansea valleys, Cardiff and Flint in the north, this is a wide and wonderful collection of bands -- some were part of a political upheaval that empowered Welsh speakers to sing and express themselves in their mother tongue, part of a wider international youthquake, others were singing from the heart, paying the bills and just happened to live in Wales during this cultural crossroad. Here for your enjoyment are songs mostly about the sky, flying, seagulls, clouds and ghosts. But also songs that deal in political activism, The Mabinogi, or issues of Welsh identity. Girl group boy meets girl songs, parodies of boy meets girls songs, Welsh language covers of English and American hits of the day sung in a traditional Welsh style counteracted by traditional Welsh folk songs played in contemporary Anglo-American styles. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Welsh Rare Beat compilation, this album features exclusive liner notes and track-by-track annotations from Gruff Rhys as well as a number of tracks previously unavailable on CD."

Artist:	GALWAD Y MYNYDD
Title:	Galwad Y Mynydd
Label:	FINDERS KEEPERS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	FKR 015CD

"Gruff Rhys joins the Finders Keepers team once again to produce this, the third instalment in our critically-acclaimed and best-selling Welsh Rare Beat series -- combining the 2 ultra rare Galwad Y Mynydd EPs on one album for the first time ever! Galwad Y Mynydd defined a Dyfed-centric harmonic gentle vocal sound. Formed by brothers; Alwyn (17) and Eifion (16) Daniels, their Camarthen grammar school friend Derek Brown (18), and Camarthen Technical College student Mike Harries (19) on drums; Galwad Y Mynydd (The Call of The Mountain) ticked all the right boxes in their quest to deliver in their own words 'a new style of contemporary Welsh folk music.' Choosing musicality over volume, beauty and heartache over protest and politics, they were a young anomaly in Welsh language pop. Songs such as 'Can Cadwaladr' were aimed at the dancefloors of a new breed of Welsh language pop sound system that mushroomed in the 1970s, spearheaded by the charismatic and bearded DJ, Mici Plwm. GYM clearly understood their audience and were winners of the pop group competition at the 1972 Pontrhydfendigaid eisteddfod. They were, however, never to achieve their ambition of becoming a fully-formed professional outfit, rather, they were the opening act of a scene of bands that eventually morphed into smooth folk rock college super group; Hergest. The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Welsh Rare Beat compilation and accompanying album to the new Welsh Rare Beat 2 compilation, this album features exclusive liner notes from Gruff Rhys and Derek Brown (in Welsh). These two EPs have previously been unavailable on CD, or indeed anywhere outside of their original 7" EP releases."

FIRE MUSEUM

Artist:	CURIA
Title:	Curia
Label:	FIRE MUSEUM
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	FM 015CD

"Fire Museum Records presents the eponymous debut release by the Portuguese molten music masters, Curia. Forged in the fertile grounds of the Lisbon music underground, each member an established musician in their own right, what each brings to the new project is a commitment to sonic exploration that builds on their individual histories while creating a collective identity that is uniquely Curia. The alchemy here is stunning, as bowed and wah guitars, Hammond organ and percussion intertwine and fade out to create a soundscape that is not only unique, but a high point for the fascinating Portuguese experimental music scene (Special guest on track 3: Helena Espvall). David Maranha: started his work in music in 1986, both solo and with the group Osso Ex�tico. Manuel Mota: from the late '80s to 1997 studied and experimented with prepared guitar (mainly acoustic) and focused his work on drone music; influenced by Phill Niblock and La Monte Young. Margarida Garcia: Margarida collaborates regularly with Manuel Mota. Afonso Sim�es: he has performed with the likes of Mayo Thompson, Rafael Toral, Helena Espvall, and Mean Motion."

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Artist:	LINDSTROM
Title:	Breakfast In Heaven
Label:	FEEDELITY (NORWAY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	FEED 010EP