New Releases for March 2008

Index of New Releases for March 2008

DBK WORKS

Artist:	CLARK, GUY
Title:	Old No. 1
Label:	DBK WORKS
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	DBK 539CD

"Guy Clark's debut from 1975 is one of the all-time classic country singer-songwriter records. By the time of its release, the Texas native had been shopping his tunes in Nashville for a few years and the songs from Old No.1 were already well-aged and oft covered (most notably, Clark's buddy Jerry Jeff Walker had a minor hit with 'L.A. Freeway' on 1972's Jerry Jeff Walker). Regardless, though Clark considers himself more a songwriter than recording artist, nobody holds a candle to these performances. From the rollicking Texas swing of opener 'Rita Ballou' to the fingerpicked heartbreak of closer 'Let Him Roll,' there is not a stinker to be found. Features help from Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and a young Steve Earle."

Artist:	CLARK, GUY
Title:	Texas Cookin'
Label:	DBK WORKS
Format:	CD
Price:	$18.00
Catalog #:	DBK 540CD

"Originally released in 1976, Guy Clark's sophomore effort for RCA is another fine set of country tunes that run the gamut of emotions from goofy and playful to brutally heartbreaking, sometimes within the same song. Featuring a ridiculously talented set of players that includes Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Gimble, Chip Young, Jerry Jeff Walker and Rodney Crowell, Texas Cookin' is an Outlaw Country classic. While Willie and Waylon were turning the Outlaw into a marketing campaign, Guy Clark really was doing things differently than the Nash Vegas crowd, preferring whiskey and a picking session at his Nashville home to the endless drugs and groupies of the road."

DIGITALIS

Artist:	CURSILLISTAS
Title:	Wasp Stings The Last Bitter Flavor
Label:	DIGITALIS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	ACE 006CD

"Wasp Stings The Last Bitter Flavor marks the first widely available release from this Portland, Maine troubadour. The brains behind the project is Matt Lajoie and he is perhaps best known for his enchanted album on Time-Lag Records. His folk-inspired psychedelia reaches new heights on Wasp Stings as he puts together an album of lost songs, found hiding in a dank and dusty cellar. Lajoie's approach here is different. It's as if he's taken the negative space of his previous works and hashed them out and spruced them up until they've become epic, flowing songs whitewashed with a basket full of analog hiss. The whole thing flows together like magic poured straight from the sky. It's haunting, beautiful music. Cursillistas' music is often densely populated with a variety of instrumentation and textures. Lajoie is a master at molding sounds from a variety of sources into a cohesive, organic whole. This music, as with past efforts, sounds like an intimate secret whispered in the listener's ear. You feel as though you're being led into a world where very few lucky souls find their way. Lajoie's distinctive voice is the true weapon here, weaving hypnotic melodies over rivers of delicately strummed acoustic guitars. Wasp Stings The Last Bitter Flavor is his message in a bottle. It's a love letter to everyone and no one, and there's a lot to love here. Lajoie is joined by the inimitable Nemo Birdstrup (Time-Lag Records figurehead and the brains behind Drona Parva) and sometime MV & EE collaborator, Sparrow Wildchild."

Artist:	TWINSISTERMOON
Title:	Levels and Crossings
Label:	DIGITALIS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	ACE 009CD

"France's duo Natural Snow Buildings made a huge splash a few years ago with their self-released masterwork, The Dance of the Moon and the Sun. It was ultra-limited and packaged in immaculate fashion. It caused quite a stir and has been talked about at length on any number of prominent web sites. This was furthered last year when 1/2 of the group, Mehdi Amaziane, released his first solo album as Twinsistermoon. It was every bit as enchanting as Natural Snow Buildings. Again, the initial run was highly limited and sold out immediately though reissue plans for that album are in the works with Time-Lag Records & Digitalis. This year, the dream continued with the release of Levels and Crossings. With a first edition of 36 copies, those lucky to hear it were awe-struck. After one listen, it was obvious that it had to be reissued and unleashed unto the world. And with that in mind, we're extremely proud to offer the first widely-available release from this duo with Levels and Crossings, reissued in its full, exquisite glory. While the packaging won't be an exact replica, it features full-color 6-panel gatefold jackets from Stumptown, showing off the genius of Solange Gularte's Mayan-inspired drawings. They are true works of art, intricate and beautiful with a close relationship to the aural ideas Amaziane expresses. Musically, Twinsistermoon is all over the map. At times it is reminiscent of '60s folk music. Amaziane's voice will fool you into thinking he is the female half of the group. He sounds more like Vashti Bunyan than Nick Drake. His voice is beautiful. But where Levels and Crossings really shines is in the passages where Amaziane unleashes walls of organic, shimmering drones. The intermingling of straightforward songs and immense sheets of sound is perfect. Even with the album's extended length, the dichotomy creates such a dynamic that you never lose interest. Twinsistermoon is a force to be reckoned with."

Artist:	TUMA, SCOTT
Title:	Not For Nobody
Label:	DIGITALIS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	ACE 010CD

"To me, Scott Tuma is a bit of a legend. From his days with the seminal Souled American to performing with Boxhead Ensemble, his two incredible solo records, Hard Again and The River 1 2 3 4, there are few musicians with such a quality discography. I kept waiting for him to drop another solo record, but it never came. So when I learned that he'd been working with members of Zelienople under the moniker Good Stuff House, I jumped at the chance to make contact. A few emails were exchanged, and 18 months later after the birth of Tuma's second child, Not For Nobody was finally ready. It's been nearly five years, but the wait has definitely been worth it. Not For Nobody hits you hard, straight in the throat. These mostly-acoustic compositions, recorded with guitar, banjo, harmonium, and percussion among other instruments, are steeped in an elegance that few artists can master. Not For Nobody marks the triumphant return of a musician sorely missed. It is dripping with beauty and melancholy and hope for something better. This is an album for the ages. Housed in a silkscreened gatefold jacket."

DIRTER PROMOTIONS (UK)

Artist:	MERZBOW/BAND OF PAIN
Title:	Reptile/Insect
Label:	DIRTER PROMOTIONS (UK)
Format:	PIC. DISC
Price:	$23.50
Catalog #:	DPROM 060LP

"After over a year in preparation, we are delighted to announce the new split Merzbow/Band Of Pain full length picture disc LP. Ltd worldwide to 1000 copies, this beautiful picture disc vinyl LP features a side by each of these artists. Merzbow, well established as THE pioneer of the Japanese noise/avant-garde scene and Band Of Pain, leaders in a slightly darker experimental world, who were once described by Terroriser magazine as being 'what Wagner would be doing if he was alive today!' The full color picture disc is pressed on heavyweight vinyl and cut by the finest mastering studio to give the best possible reproduction for its powerful and intoxicating layers of sound."

DRAG CITY

Artist:	SINGER
Title:	Unhistories
Label:	DRAG CITY
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	DC 356CD

"Singer is the rock band peopled by Robert Lowe, Todd Rittmann, Adam Vida and Ben Vida. Their music has two guitars, bass and some drums, plus four lovesome voices that may or may not have given the band their name (we don't know for sure, they're kinda tightlipped when not singing). The Unhistories sound is psychedelic, but not in the paisley way. More mind-expanding/modern... get it straight, Singer isn't referencing any past trend in music. Their original idea involves their (very) original compositions tangling with voices stumbling, clucking, heaving, whipping, shrieking and sighing in a graceful jumble. This is a crux. They've played around a little bit and there's a convivial breeze that blows the air on show evenings. Singer stride forth from the crowd and strike their variations on the pose. Then the semi-describable WHAM of their show, a friendly sidling that shatters into lurching, explosive entertainment without fail. A stiff-legged stomp with that argument of harmony voices uncoiling throughout. What do you expect? It's kinda tense or it's nothing. But it's not a nightmare, just a weird dream. Don't be afraid!"

DUDE RECORDS (GERMANY)

Artist:	WIMBISH, DOUG
Title:	Trippy Notes For Bass & Remixes
Label:	DUDE RECORDS (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	DR 104CD

The Echo Beach subdivision Dude Records proudly presents the ultimate re-release of the original 1999 On-U Sound album, Trippy Notes For Bass by renowned bassist Doug Wimbish (Living Colour, Tackhead, Headfake, Jungle Funk, Strange Parcels, etc.), featuring four bonus remixes. Those who know Wimbish from his other projects may find his first solo album to be disconcertingly tame. Where his playing in most previous contexts has been wild, funky, and sometimes anarchic, drawing freely on jazz, dub, and punk influences, here he's in an almost contemplative mood. It's not that there are no beats -- "Bedwood," with its chugging midtempo groove and an ambience lifted straight from label mates African Head Charge, is propulsive enough, "Logdrum" is based on some seriously booty-moving loops, and "Will & Skip" (a tribute to drummer Will Calhoun and guitarist Skip McDonald, Wimbish's frequent collaborators) has a definite funk underpinning. But the prevailing mood here is gently atmospheric, almost spiritual. "Glory" sounds like a field recording from an electronic rain forest; "Glorification Chant" sounds like a sort of North African qawwali variant in 12/8 time. Words cannot describe how much there is to discover -- from the incredible vocals of Sussan Deyhim in "Arabic Cat" to Doug's one-man band in "Just Another Minute." Those hoping for bone-shaking grooves and crazier-than-thou Adrian Sherwood mixes may be disappointed, but they shouldn't be -- this is a very beautiful piece of work.

EARMARK (ITALY)

EDITIONS MEGO (AUSTRIA)

Artist:	POPOL VUH
Title:	Nachts: Schnee/Aguirre I (Remixes)
Label:	EDITIONS MEGO (AUSTRIA)
Format:	12"
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	EMEGO 090EP

Editions Mego is pleased to present two re-workings of classic Popol Vuh tracks. Mika Vainio takes "Nachts: Schnee" from the 1987 soundtrack Cobra Verde and delivers a skillfully-constructed ambient piece of beauty. Haswell & Hecker turn "Aguirre I" from the 1972 soundtrack Aguirre: The Wrath Of God into the first track to be played at the last rave on Earth. This release uses vintage digital delays and freeze effect units, in conjunction with digital compositional tools. Pressed on red vinyl.

EL RECORDS (UK)

Artist:	SHANKAR, RAVI
Title:	Flowers of India
Label:	EL RECORDS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	ACMEM 117CD

"Historic Ravi Shankar beginning with the astonishing 28 minute 'Raga Jog' recorded in 1956 and arguably one of his absolute finest recordings. The other really serious rarities of this set are the those made of the Hindu musicians that provided music for the production of original Uday Shankar (Ravi's brother) dance company of Hindu musicians when it made its historic first visit to the United States in 1937; the young Ravi Shankar was amongst that number. These are therefore the earliest recordings of Ravi that exist, originally released on 78s and available digitally for the first time ever. Ravi Shankar is the biggest name in world music and -- due partly to the closeness of his involvement with The Beatles -- a towering figure in psychedelic circles also. 'Raga Jog' is first and foremost, the most refined Indian classical music; it is also the most incredible piece of sitar psychedelia you will hear!"

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Artist:	GEESIN, RON
Title:	A Raise of Eyebrows
Label:	EARMARK (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	EAR 42085LP