hi. Welcome to another newsletter - a bit early then usual. But we got so many new stuff and we are excited about it so we wanted to share the news. A bunch of new Mississippi titles arrived (incl. some DEAD MOON restocks), the long awaited new MICROPHONES - Microphones in 2020 DLP along with a bunch of restocks, THE EX - Disturbing Domestic Peace LP + 7“, some EMPIRE! EMPIRE! (I WAS A LONELY ESTATE) restocks, KALYANI ROY restocks, CORIKY restock, new HOME BLITZ LP, GIA MARGARET - Mia Gargaret LP, BODUF SONGS restock, TARA JANE O NEILL - Songs for Peacock LP, ZACHARY CALE - False Spring DLP, VIRGINIA PLAINE - Strange Game LP (check out it if you like Kate Bush :) ), the new COMETBUS and some restocks of older ones, lots of HENRY & GLENN restocks a long with a killer coloring book, Patti Smith books etc etc
We also got the SLOW WORRIES test press … More news on this and other new releases like the new REMEMBERABLES LP, new FLETCHER TUCKER LP, OSTSEETRAUM LP, new GHOSTBAG LP, TRUTH CULT LP soon via ADAGIO830.
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Norman & Robert
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10“
EMPIRE! EMPIRE! (I WAS A LONELY ESTATE) - When the Sea Became a Giant 10“ (cyls - The first release from Empire! Empire!, originally self-released on CD in 2006 and now available for the first time ever on a 10" vinyl. All 5 songs have been remixed and remastered from the original files and sound better than ever before. See where the magic began! Also includes a rare and until now unreleased bonus track recorded at the same time as When the Sea Became a Giant.) 18.00
TWO KNIGHTS - A Lot of Bad Things Happened, But We're Still Here 10“ (cyls - Our first release with Two Knights came on the CYLS 4-Way 7" #2 last year, and it was just a taste of things to come. On "A Lot of Bad Things Happened, But We're Still Here", the two-piece play with their heart on their sleeve, and then tear the shirt off and burn it in seven intense, cathartic moments that keep you glued by your stereo. You feel every ounce of emotion singer Parker Lawson belts out, every movement he and Miles DeBruin make. And then you listen- again and again.) 18.00
LP
BROTHER THEOTIS TAYLOR - s/t LP (mississippi - Brother Theotis Taylor is a 92-year-old spiritual singer and piano player known throughout South Georgia and beyond for his powerful voice and heavenly falsetto. His music took him from his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the stage with Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, to Harlem’s Apollo, and even to Carnegie Hall. Though his releases are limited to six stunning and rare singles on the Pitch label and a single small-press LP, his recorded archive is vast. For much of his life, Brother Taylor kept a reel-to-reel recorder atop his piano at home. “The music just comes down on you,” Brother Taylor told us late last year. “You always have your machine where you can catch everything. ‘Cause what you can catch today you can’t remember tomorrow.” Brother Taylor recorded himself on his DIY home setup only when he was inspired by a higher power, often fasting and praying for days before recording. These intimate home recordings were digitized in 2020 and are being heard for the first time with this release. Revisiting these old songs brought Brother Taylor to tears. “[When I hear this music] I pick up the same spirit that I did it in. And you see me cryin’. It made me feel good ‘cause I know I did it and I did it well. And I want to see it get out, because if it made me feel good, it make somebody else feel good. Right? This is spiritual music.”) 20.00
CARMAN MOORE - Personal Problems OST LP (rwading group - LIGHT DENT CORNER - Reading Group is proud to present the first-ever issue of Carman Moore's beautiful soundtrack to the "meta-soap opera" Personal Problems (1980). Starring Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor (writer, culinary anthropologist, and one-time member of Sun Ra's Arkestra), Personal Problems was the result of a collaboration between Ishmael Reed, Bill Gunn, and Steve Cannon. Side A of this LP presents Moore's original score as it was recorded in New York City in 1980. Side B contains improvisations by Moore on the themes from the score, recorded in 2019. Including liner notes by Carman Moore and Ishmael Reed. Carman Moore is an Ohio-born, New York City-based composer and writer with over fifty years of multiform music under his belt. Ornette Coleman called him "the greatest composer, not just in New York, but in the whole world." Moore has written extensively for a number of settings, including orchestras, piano, and most recently his terrific Skymusic Ensemble.) 23.00
CORIKY - s/t LP (dischord - What is the spiritual opposite of a supergroup? Although the trio Coriky is composed of three formidable D.C. punk legends — Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally — its guiding ethos has, from inception, been one of extreme modesty. Consider that Coriky’s first show, at St. Stephen’s Church in November 2018, was announced only a few days before it happened, as a footnote to an email sent out to the listserv of the local activist group. To even call it a “show,” actually, was too grand: Coriky billed the gig as an “open practice.” No promotional photos of Coriky exist, just a minimalist collage of three faceless, whole-moon-like construction paper cut-outs (the one representing Farina has a shaggy haircut; the MacKaye one, a construction-paper beanie). Their official bio contains not so much as a breath of filler: “Formed in 2015, Coriky did not play their first show until 2018. They have recorded one album. They hope to tour. (washington post)) 18.00
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS - Under the Spell of Joy LP (gold vinyl) (suicide squeeze - While singer and multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Bloomgarden and guitarist Larry Schemel knew their intention for the album before a single note was written, the actual nature and direction of the music was a mystery. The initial inspiration for the record came from the jubilant spirit of Ethiopian funk records the band had been listening to on tour, but once they began to channel the songs it seemed like the music came from somewhere not in the past but in the future. In the weeks leading up to recording, Death Valley Girls relied on their subconscious and effortlessly conjured Under the Spell of Joy’s eleven tracks as if they’d tapped into the Akashic Chronicle and pulled the music from the ether. The album opens with “Hypnagogia,” an ode to the space between sleep and wakefulness where we are open to other realms of consciousness. The song slowly builds along a steady pulse provided by bassist Pickle (Nicole Smith) and drummer Rikki Styxx. Tripped out saxophone bleats from guest player Gabe Flores swirl on top of the organ drones laid out by guest keyboardist Gregg Foreman. The band’s choral objectives for Under the Spell of Joy are established right off the bat, with Bloomgarden’s melodic invocations bolstered by a choir, giving the album a rich and vibrant wall-of-sound aesthetic. The song ominously builds on its hypnotic foundation until it opens up into a raucous revelry at the four-minute mark. The portentous simmer of the opening track yields to the ecstatic rocker “Hold My Hand,” where verses reminiscent of Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting For The Man” explode into big triumphant choruses. From there the band launches into the title track, which marries the griminess of The Stooges with an innocence provided by a children’s choir chanting the album’s primary mantra “under the spell of joy / under the spell of love.” Death Valley Girls have always vacillated between lightness and darkness, and on “Bliss Out” they demonstrate their current exuberant focus with a patina-hued pop song driven by an irrepressibly buoyant organ line laid down by keyboardist The Kid (Laura Kelsey). A similar cosmic euphoria is obtained on “The Universe,” where alternating chords on the organ help elevate soaring saxophone and keyboard lines out beyond the stratosphere. If you’re looking for transcendental rock music, look no further. ) 25.00
DEREK BARON - recollects LP (readong group - Limited edition of 250. Includes digital download card. Recollects, Derek Baron's second solo LP following Penultimate Press's Crooked Dances, was recorded in September 2016 in the Boundary Waters between Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park in southwest Ontario. Here, Derek brings together a repeatedly postponed canoe trip and a bin of old cassette tapes from the 1990s. Family histories are retold and misremembered, wildlife calls are heard and misidentified.) 20.00
EMPIRE! EMPIRE! (I WAS A LONELY ESTATE) - You Will Eventually Be Forgotten LP (cyls - Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate)'s highly-anticipated new album "You Will Eventually Be Forgotten" may have taken half a decade to get here, but it was absolutely worth the wait. The Michigan band's constant touring and a litany of splits and EPs (twelve splits and four EPs) have tightened their sound and honed their chops, and it shows. "You Will Eventually Be Forgotten" is what the band does best: intimate vocals, melodic guitar work and vivid storytelling to the point where you feel like you are living each song. For fans of Death Cab For Cutie, Kimmy Eat World and Mineral. Vinyl version includes digital download.) 20.00
THE EX - Disturbing Domestic Peace LP + 7“ (ex records - Reissue of The Ex' first album, originally released in 1980. This album comes with free bonus live 7" "Live~Skive" (on Eh Records). Includes 20-page A5 booklet and poster. "This is prime stuff. It's primitive when compared with their current wide-ranging output, but even then they were embellishing their their scratchy politico-punk with some interesting instrumental touches. Morse code keyboards, a chipped-flint guitar sound, distorted vocals, and the rhythm section's implacable forward motion make this worth a listen even if you don't care what they had to say." "What makes them interesting, is their original musical approach, not hindered by technical ingenuity.“) 23.00
J.H. GURAN - Introspection / Migration LP (maple death - From an ocean of black, sometimes there is a slim chance you might emerge clean and translucent, with another life chapter under your belt and a renewed story to tell. J.H. Guraj, our favourite wandering bird, is back with his first proper opus on Maple Death: Introspection / Migration. Sometimes records lead off into an unknown path that never considers release schedules or the outside world, inhabiting the abysses of the artists’ mind and dropping a hefty anchor in the murky waters. Dominique Vaccaro, stage name Guraj in homage to an old sage picker from the Albanian rocky landscape, started Introspection / Migration on a two day recording spree in 2014 using a resophonic guitar, a distinct unifying songbook theme and his usual freestyle wizardry … then the dust settled. In between releasing Underrated Glances At The Edge Of Town (Maple Death, 2016) ,Steadfast On Our Sand (Boring Machines, 2018), touring with Be My Delay and his experiments as Vaccaro Overlapped Memories (Tsss Tapes, 2019) and Close Distances (Dinzu Artefacts, 2018), his determination to finish this album never wandered. Informed by his work over the last ten years as a visual artist and electro-acoustic musician, he kept chipping away, adding layers, sounds, field recordings, percussion while maintaining the pureness,soul and integrity of the original guitar recording; a five year long inner journey, a long drawn-out process of migration and settlement. The additions not only augment reality, they hyper-define it, a beautiful crisp photograph where an empty woven chair is ready to welcome you in through the rollicking Middle-Eastern theme ‘Furnace’; ‘Closer’ weaves and intersects with that loose tightness found in greats like Mick Turner and Loren Connors, while ‘Yet Still’ stumbles elegantly creating a suspension in time before crashing into a circular hail storm. ‘Migration’ is the perfect closing elegy, uplifted by men’s chants recorded in Marrakesh, a Western lament of rare beauty and timeless nature that feels present, comforting and fading at the same time.) 20.00
GIA MARGARET - Mia Gargaret LP (orindal - Mia Gargaret is an ambient, (mostly) instrumental album by Chicago, IL singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & producer Gia Margaret. Mia Gargaret was not the follow-up album that Gia intended to release after the critical success of her 2018 debut, There’s Always Glimmer. But after she suddenly found herself without use of her primary instrument, she had to rethink her methods, at least temporarily. Gia explains: “After having to cancel tours because of illness, I was unable to sing for nearly half of the year. This left me feeling like a shell of myself, so I turned to my synthesizer for comfort. These compositions helped me hold onto my identity as a music maker. At times this music helped soothe my anxiety more than therapy or anything else could.” Without singing or lyrics to steal the focus, the instrumental tracks on Mia Gargaret shine a light on Gia Margaret’s skills as a musician, composer & producer. Spare but immersive arrangements of synthesizer, piano & acoustic guitar simultaneously ache & soothe, building emotional landscapes that rise & recede like scenery through a train window.) 23.00
HOME BLITZ - all through the year LP (sophomore - "Mercer County is in central New Jersey, main city is Trenton (they make pork roll) but the more known town is Princeton (they have the college where Einstein spent time thinking grandiose thoughts). Additionally many great Revolutionary War battles and glorious victories happened there. It was also a place with a rich, loamy history that may not necessarily appeal to the average guy mowing his lawn but for all of us drooling music maniacs there was much to be proud of or at least alleviate boredom, whether it was the vastness of the Princeton Record Exchange, the dangerous punk shitbox of City Gardens, the perplexing urban weirdness of Trenton Avant Garde Festival, the headquarters of college rock/punk/hardcore mail order catalog Burning Airlines, or the harmlessly unscrupulous bootleg label Scorpio. Yet other than totally solid straight edge purists Mouthpiece, there really wasn't much musical export of note. Until Home Blitz! They're from Mercer County. They probably could have been bestowed large ornamental keys if they didn't leave the fucking county years back! What the hell. Because the music of Home Blitz is totally great! It was great as shards of self released suburban teenage power pop noise, it was great as increasingly complex records for Richie Records//Testostertunes and Mexican Summer that juxtaposed gargantuan forward leaps in melodic construct with plunges into utterly obtuse weirdness, and it's great as whatever the hell this record is. Because while there are moments on this new ep that do feature the "classic" Home Blitz breathless guitar pop perfection (see Chris Stamey "Summer Sun" or the Alternate Learning to Game Theory arc of Scott Miller for reference) things quickly head into territory that could only be deemed „uncharted“.) 20.00
JOIE DE VIVRE - Summer Months LP (cyls - Silver Vinyl - Joie De Vivre bring their joy of life straight into their music- every song bursting with sincerity, every vocal line a direct line from the heart. Sure, your brother grew up listening to Mineral and Christie Front Drive and would love this record, but 2009 is the new 1997 and this is your record- and maybe if you're nice you can lend it to him.) 20.00
KALYANI ROY - The Virtuoso of Sitar, Volume I LP (vishra - First vinyl reissue of this Indian classical masterpiece recorded by Shrimati Kalyani Roy in the late 1960’s. Undoubtedly one of the most talented sitar players in the history of the instrument. She is considered as one the finest female players in a field that was dominated by her male counterparts. On these recordings, a two volume set, she is accompanied by Manick Das (Tabla) and Namita Chatterjee (Tambura). Recorded in Japan on the 20th of September 1974. Volume 1 and Volume 2. Two separate LPs) 20.00
KALYANI ROY - The Virtuoso of Sitar, Volume II LP (vishra - First vinyl reissue of this Indian classical masterpiece recorded by Shrimati Kalyani Roy in the late 1960’s. Undoubtedly one of the most talented sitar players in the history of the instrument. She is considered as one the finest female players in a field that was dominated by her male counterparts. On these recordings, a two volume set, she is accompanied by Manick Das (Tabla) and Namita Chatterjee (Tambura). Recorded in Japan on the 20th of September 1974. Volume 1 and Volume 2. Two separate LPs) 20.00
MARCIN BARSKI - Wandas dream LP (reading group - LIGHT DENT CORNER - Limited edition of 250. Includes digital download card. Reading Group is thrilled to present Wanda's Dream, the new work by Krakow-based sound artist and researcher Marcin Barski. Below is Barski's introduction to the record. The 1980s were special. It was then when microphones became a natural common part of the equipment of many households. Audio recordings were no longer unusual: everyone could make them. Handheld walkmans with a dictaphone option, analogue answering machines, tape players always equipped with a red button and a tiny hole to which one should speak in order to have their voice archived – all of these were to be found pretty much everywhere and pretty much everyone knew how to use them. There was no philosophy behind it: tapes cost pennies. And many of them have survived to this day. (…) Disappointment is a recurrent theme in these tapes. The jammed Radio Free Europe broadcasts, the vulgar sexist cabarets which stopped being funny many, many years ago (if they were ever funny at all) and above all the conversations describing new taxes, the difficulties of everyday life, or even complaints about the phoning system and the need to wait hours by the phone before being able to speak to relatives abroad. ) 18.00
MICROPHONES - Microphones in 2020 DLP (pw elvrum - Following a few years of critical acclaim under the moniker Mount Eerie, Phil Elverum resurrects one of his other previous guises, The Microphones, for the project’s first album in 17 years. Consisting of just one long, 44-minute track and accompanied by a short film of the same length, Microphones In 2020 is an absorbing and pure experience. ) 28.00
MIKE HANAPI WITH KALAMAS QUARTET - s/t LP (Mississippi - Mike Hanapi was a brilliant steel guitarist and vocalist from Honolulu, whose recordings with Kalama’s Quartet and the Ilima Islanders remain among the highest peaks of early 20th century Hawaiian music. Truly peaceful, tranquil and unique. Hanapi’s gorgeous falsetto voice is backed by lush harmony vocals, like a lonesome yodel floating above an oceanside choir. The purely acoustic instrumentation of lap steel guitars, ukeleles and harp-guitars weaves gently in and out of the vocal melodies, creating fluid and harmonious layers and achingly beautiful blue notes. While past reissues of Hawaiian music from this era have focused on “hot” and up-tempo material, this compilation is entirely dedicated to the peaceful, deeply emotional and lilting style in which Mike Hanapi and Kalama’s Quartet excelled. Most of these songs have never been reissued on any format, and have been remastered from original 78 rpm discs by Tim Stollenwerk, with beautiful clarity and presence. 12” black vinyl LP with reverse-board jacket, and 8-page full sized booklet with biographical notes, and beautiful rare photographs, and full lyrics in Hawaiian and English. Co-released with Olvido Records.) 20.00
MOONDOG - On The Streets of New York LP (mississippi - Behold! A survey of Moondog’s earliest recorded works - many of them unreleased until now - through a collaboration by Mississippi Records and Lucia Records. From 1953 - 1962 field recordist Tony Schwartz frequently checked in with Moondog, his favorite street musician. Tony Schwartz made recordings of Moondog’s earliest compositions as they were coming into focus. Sometimes these recordings were made right on the street as Moondog busked, sometimes they were made in Schwartz’s studio, and sometimes they were made on NYC rooftops. The resulting recordings, many of which had never been released, were deposited at the Library Of Congress as part of the Tony Schwartz Collection in 2006 when Schwartz passed away, and this record was culled straight from these original tapes. Side one kicks off with an unreleased version of Moondog’s classic composition “Why Spend The Dark Night With You?” followed by the first ever complete recording of his “Nocturne Suite,” a beautiful piece of classical music performed with members of the Royal Philharmonic. The side ends with the complete “On The Streets Of New York” 7” EP, which was released on Mars records in 1953 and subsequently re-released by Honest Jon’s Records in 2004 on their excellent Moondog anthology. Side B features sketches of Moondog compositions never released, many with the man himself howling and chanting over his homemade percussion set. Moondog’s music is as universal as it gets - part classical music, part Native American, part European folk, and part something completely unique. Moondog is one of the towering figures of 20th century music. This record comes with liner notes featuring never before released interviews with Moodog by Tony Schwartz and is housed in an old school “tip on” cover. All tracks fully licensed from the Library of Congress.) 21.00
NORDRA - pylon III LP (sige - Score to PYLON III--choreographed by Coleman Pester // TMS -PYLON III is a multi media performance blending highly physical dance, active visual projections, and live-feed surveillance; blurring the line between observer and observed and is the third iteration of PYLON. The ongoing project PYLON is concerned with themes of systematic fear and control placed on human bodies operating within modern society; between communal pressure and self-fulfillment, between surveillance and privacy, between unyielding architecture and fragile flesh. This is an investigation of watching and individuation. PYLON features dynamic choreography, architectural installation, and a complex quagmire of digital image gathering/projection.) 25.00
RUTH GARBUS - Kleinmeister LP (orindal -Kleinmeister, the new album by Ruth Garbus, is a rarity, the holy wastewater of folk-rock decanted into the Lake of Avalon by a provincial plebe, turned into wine. It is sublime, and absurd, and infused with the green hills, grey cemeteries, and plastic detritus of her Brattleboro, Vermont home. These compositions come from an odd but familiar world, chiaroscuro silver litter in the beam of a flashlight. In Garbus’s voice, too, the dark and light are combined - even the highest pitches contain pools of undertones, a depth. (She became fully expressed as a mezzo soprano, in both her range and her soul, with the aid of opera singer Jim Anderson, whom she studied with in 2017/18.)) 21.00
SOPHIA - Holding On / Letting Go LP (flower shop - Robin Proper-Sheppard (of 90’s noise-rock legends The God Machine) returns with Sophia’s 7th studio album featuring his new collective of road-wisened multi- instrumentalists (now often referred to as Sophia 2.0) and yet again somehow manages to balance his whisper-soft acoustic melancholy with great swathes of dirt, noise and aggression and still sound distinctly Sophia. Includes singles Undone Again, We See You (Taking Aim) and Alive featuring maestro Terry Edwards (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey) on saxophone.) 24.00
SA ROC - The Sharecropper's Daughter DLP (Since signing with Rhymesayers in 2015, Sa-Roc has continued to both invigorate and grow her fanbase with a string of singles, accompanied with powerful and visually enthralling music videos, including "Forever", which has over 4 million views on YouTube. In that time, she has continued to cultivate and sharpen her skill sets, and now she is set to release her first album for the label. ) 28.00
TARA JANE O NEILL - Songs for Peacock LP (orindal - Twenty-eight years into her kaleidoscopic discography, Songs for Peacock is the first album singer/guitarist/composer Tara Jane O’Neil has credited to just her initials: TJO. Recorded at home using primitive electronic instruments in addition to heavily effected electric guitar, bass & voice, Songs for Peacock is a collection of pop covers recalled from TJO’s youth, intended as a “mixtape” for her late brother Brian. Over twelve tracks & thirty-nine minutes, Songs for Peacock abstracts radio hits by the likes of Boy George, Bananarama, Leonard Cohen, Siouxsie and the Banshees & INXS, distilling earworms into thin wisps of dreamlike atmosphere, or stretching them into languorous psychedelic soundscapes. Songs for Peacock warps our collective musical memory to form a singular & cohesive body of work that defines TJO’s highly personal sonic landscape. Tara Jane O’Neil explains: Pop music is sticky. It can stick on you for 30 years without you knowing. It can stick you right back into a room or a car. Commercial radio is powerful like smell. There was a mint green Honda Accord with a cassette player, and we drove it down Imperial Highway listening to Madonna for the first time. Even though we were listening to radio gold, it felt like a secret, not to be enjoyed with the family like my Olivia Newton John obsession could be. A lot of pop music that year felt the same. (The “ANT MUSIC FOR SEX PEOPLE” badge in the liner notes I covered over with a Sharpie. I can't remember if we bought our own copies or if I defaced yours?) The mothers were driving station wagons and Celicas and moving their bodies to Neil Diamond and to Jane Fonda. There were soup can hand weights and ceremonial leotards you could wear to stave off middle age in the afternoon. (And unbeknownst to them, finance Jane’s leftist causes.)) 24.00
VIRGINIA PLAINE - Strange Game LP (all hands - LTD TO 100 Virginia Plain, a project created by Alfra Martini, has returned. After appearing on the scene in 2012 with a lone 7” single Virginia Plain vanished like a rock n roll ghost, forever delegated to haunt the jukeboxes of an imaginary future. Fast-forward 6 years Virginia Plain has reappeared with a debut album, entitled 'Strange Game'. Alter egos are nothing new in music and Martini aligns herself with singers such as Deborah Harry, David Bowie, Madonna, Kate Bush and Bryan Ferry, singers that are unabashed in their drive to project something bigger than themselves. Virginia Plain is mythical, a changeling. With a stage name taken from a Roxy Music character you could almost imagine her to be any one of the models adorning one of their glossy LP covers. Those images are oddly seductive yet garish as if there’s something darkly hidden beneath all that make up. Martini is an expert at striking the balance between the bawdy and broken hearted. Behind every sly smile there’s a chipped tooth, behind every glittering tear a devilish glance. Thematically the album reaches into the prisons of solitary confinement and pulls out plucky dreamers and battle-bruised fighters, isolated figures searching for a sort of redemption or acceptance. Half the characters in the album seem to be in a constant state of unrest reaching out to questionable or unattainable goals, while their counterparts (though wary and contemplative) respond with hope and resignation so that the album settles into a perpetual state of interlocution and equivocation – the natural state of the romantic, or perhaps the unending “strange game” of life. Musically the album has a distinctive range of style. The songs shift between down tempo ballads, to cold and abstract synth-heavy gothic rock, and new romantic 80’s pop. The ballads have a touch of the bittersweet, incorporating husky vocals over austere piano phrases, recalling the work of artists like Portishead or PJ Harvey. The darker electronic songs feel akin to goth divas like Siouxsie Sioux and Peter Murphy, with feisty tounge n’cheek vocals over 808 style drumbeats and intersecting synthesizer melodies. The catchier tracks hold nothing back. They’re emotional and thrilling like the best pop songs from the punk, glam and new wave era. Songs like “Resolution” and “Strange Game” live up to the legacy of Blondie and The Psychedelic Furs. ) 25.00
ZACHARY CALE - False Spring DLP (all hands - False Spring, Zachary Cale's sixth full-length album, explores the spaces between the cold we left behind and the uncertainty ahead, between that fleeting, green warmth and its lack. "Shine a light on the path so I can see," Cale sings on the album opener, "Shine," making a plea for hope and happiness rather than merely claiming it, starting the search for whatever possibility may exist. And the album explores so many possible paths in ever-shifting textures. On "Come Morning," Cale admits "I'm just sitting on a fence, two fingers out to test the wind" while on others songs -- the disorienting anxiety of "Mad Season"; the bittersweet travel of "By Starlight"; the mix of hope and regret that comes from staying afloat on "Slide" -- False Spring vacillates between facing down the troubling now, reckoning with and paying tribute to then, and sifting through the dark to find the faintest match-head of light for tomorrow. Cale's poetic lyrics etches out all these themes in complex layers and careful melodies, but the band he assembled for False Spring drives home the sense of openness and possibility in these songs. Cale is accompanied here by Brent Cordero on piano, Wurlitzer and organ, James Preston on bass, and Charles Burst and Jason Labbe on drums. Cale brought the songs to the studio and enlisted the players to flesh them out. He didn't write parts for the musicians; they figured out their own way through these tunes. The record is the sound of the band finding itself, capturing these songs live in all their subtle, ragged glory. The album's 16 songs run just over an hour, but the expansive record is, at every turn, an intimate affair, the listener invited in as these players find connections between this part and that, between one song and another, between melody and feeling) 30.00
V/A - Freedom For The Stallion 3xLP (cairo - Volume 4 of the Cairo Records soul series. 3xLP, long sold out, but Cairo made a few warehouse copies available. Includes big booklet with artist biographies and photos. American Soul Music 1952-1976) 40.00
V/A - The World Is A Cafeteria 2xLP (cairo - Volume 5 in the Cairo Soul series! Includes big booklet with artist biographies and photos. “American Soul Music (and one song from Ghana) 1955 - 1988”) 28.00
BOOKS / FANZINES
AARON COMETBUS - cometbus #59 BOOK (What are the successes and failures of punk and its institutions? What happened to a once-thriving punk underground that paralleled the mainstream in music, publishing, comics, and art? Aaron Cometbus embarked on a year-long quest for the truth, interviewing scene makers like the people behind Epitaph Records, Fat Wreck Chords, Bound Together Books, Left Bank Books, Thrasher, Interference Archive, Fantagraphics, the Center for Cartoon Studies, C-Squat, and many other friends, luminaries, artists, and troubled souls. This is Cometbus at its finest, casting a loose net over an era and giving it meaning that would otherwise slip right past the history books and out of sight.) 7.00
ALEXANDER HERBERT - Punks Around #10: Zine About Ziines FANZINE (A love letter to the zines that have formatively inspired editor Alex over the years. Includes a long conversation with Aaron Cometbus, essays by the editors of Sluice, Suburban Voice and others, an interview with Matt Thompson of Fluke, and excerpts from Razorblades & Aspirin and Carrot Cake.) 5.00
BEN KISSEL - The Last Book on the Left (Hardcover) BOOK (A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An equal parts haunting and hilarious deep-dive review of history’s most notorious and cold-blooded serial killers, from the creators of the award-winning Last Podcast on the Left - Since its first show in 2010, The Last Podcast on the Left has barreled headlong into all things horror, as hosts Henry Zebrowski, Ben Kissel, and Marcus Parks cover subjects spanning Jeffrey Dahmer, werewolves, Jonestown, and supernatural phenomena. Deeply researched but with a morbidly humorous bent, the podcast has earned a dedicated and aptly cultlike following for its unique take on all things macabre. In their first book, the guys take a deep dive into history’s most infamous serial killers, from Ted Bundy to John Wayne Gacy, exploring their origin stories, haunting habits, and perverse predilections. Featuring newly developed content alongside updated fan favorites, each profile is an exhaustive examination of the darker side of human existence. With appropriately creepy four-color illustrations throughout and a gift-worthy paper over board format, The Last Book on the Left will satisfy the bloodlust of readers everywhere. ) 27.00
DEE DEE RAMONE - Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones BOOK (Dee Dee Ramone, who brought us such unbelievable bubblegum gems as "Rockaway Beach," brings us his account of being a member of the Ramones for seventeen years. He depicts how Johnny imposed and enforced endless absurd rules upon him, the complete and utter chaos of their daily life, and how all of this begot no significant mainstream success. But most important to this book is the frighteningly realistic (if not terribly well written) scene depicting his heroin withdrawl on a flight back from Europe to New York. If you saw End of the Century, you already know how much of a wonderful wackjob weirdo Dee Dee was. This is him trying to be coherent. ) 17.00
LARRY LIVERMORE - How To Ru(i)n A Record Label: The Story of Lookout Records BOOK (don Giovanni - Larry Livermore has lived an almost unbelievable life. In these pages he recalls attending the original Woodstock, seeing the Supremes homecoming in early 1960s Detroit, witnessing MC5 at a battle of the bands on a tennis court, and joining the White Panther Party. Of course all of this could not prepare him for an even more regimented and controlled life in his depictions of a cultish Maximum Rocknroll house. While Larry deserves much credit for displaying the East Bay punk rock scene and reviving punk rock in a global way from 1987-1997, what's interesting is what's not in this book. Despite a long-passed statute of limitations, Larry does not address the rumors of whether Lookout was founded with money from pot sales as co-founder David Hayes alleges. Similarly to Bob Mould's See a Little Light, we get to see Larry as an insecure, less-than confident individual who seems to be successful both because of and in spite of himself. While there is plenty of self-effacing commentary in these pages, Larry's depictions of other people seem less aware of the implicit power dynamic in their drastic age differences or how others might be reacting to his unique personality. A stirring commentary on building a scene in a material way, it's compellingly well written and a perfection companion to Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records, with a parallel narrative. It's the story of how one off-the-grid hippie-turned-punk agitator, despite all odds, managed to introduce the world to the likes of Green Day, Operation Ivy, Screeching Weasel, and a hundred other artists. And how an awkward relationship with being the boss and personality disputes that could ultimately disrupt all that had been built. This story is magical because it shows us that someone with enough stubborn passion can leave their mark on the world and write history and that the best things don't last forever.) 17.00
PATTI SMITH - year of monkey Book (Hardcover) (Travel along with Patti Smith as she draws out her dreamscape in front of you in her year of solitude. Grappling with aging, personal losses and the ever changing political climate in the U.S, take the chance to see a deeper insight into a musical icon of the ages. With a blend of poetics, surrealism and deep personal fact, get a close-up into the world through her eyes in the astroglogical Year of the Monkey. ) 25.00
SLINGSHOT - 2021 Planner (The Slingshot is the classic organizer for radicals. Keep your plans off the internet and in your pocket, with this perfect-bound calendar and day planner. It includes space to write your phone numbers, a contact list of radical leftist groups around the globe, a menstrual calendar, info on police repression, and extra note pages to record your revolutionary ideas. It also lists popular activist and alternative cultural holidays, and teaches you to say key phrases in multiple languages; phrases such as "freedom and mutual aid" and "where is the library?“) 10.00
TOM NEELY & FRIENDS - Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever: The Completely Ridiculous Ed. BOOK (HARDCOVER - This ridiculously complete edition compiles all of the comics, jokes, artwork and stories that have made a cult-hit phenomenon out of the dumbest idea that ever fell out of a beer bottle. Birthed by The Igloo Tornado and drawn on everything from bar napkins to gallery walls by Tom Neely and more than 50 artists, this volume collects more than 13 years of jokes about the domestic life of our two favorite muscle-headed punks.) 25.00
TOM NEELY - Henry & Glenn Adult Activity and Coloring BOOK (Love is so metal. Get pumped on inspirational love with the coloring book of the century, celebrating the romance of the millenium: Henry & Glenn Forever. Bust out your rainbow crayons and make your own mark on the ongoing story of two tough men learning to express their emotions, together. Includes all-new artwork by Tom Neely, Ed Luce, Jim Rugg, Mark Rudolph, Carmen Monoxide, Kristina Collantes, Scot Nobles, Matt Crabe, Tom Scioli, Beth Dean Rachel Adler, Keenan Marshall Keller, Tim Sievert, Katie Skelly, Alex Delaney, Rafer Roberts, Tom Forget, Don Pablo Pedro, Jeremy Owen, Willow Dawson, Shaky Kane, Gabe Martinez, Coop, and Dino-Fucker.) 15.00
DVD
SWANS - Where Does A Body End? DVD (Where Does a Body End? is an intimate portrait of the band SWANS, from their roots as a brutal, confrontational post-punk band that emerged from the same early 1980s era NYC that gave us Sonic Youth (and, somehow, Madonna) through their ill-fated bid at mainstream success in the 90s indie-rock gold rush, through breakups and chaos (on and offstage) to their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, one whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips back through their most popular songs. SWANS has always been a collection of singular performers, but there's been one constant since its formation in 1982--singer, songwriter Michael Gira. With unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Gira/SWANS archives of never-seen-before recordings, videos, and photographs, the film brings us along the path they needed to carve for themselves. The film is many things, a musical history, a time-capsule, a tour diary, a concert film, but mostly it's the story of a life in the arts, frequently difficult, spanning decades without a safety net, creating the work because Gira says What else am I going to do? As bandmate Thor Harris notes, Michael is not a fearless person, but he is a fearless artist. There really is no other force of music like Swans. Swans stand alone, integral, drenched in pathos. A band to end all bands. --Thurston Moore) 20.00