STAFF PICKS

kimber – avalanches
lindsay – car seat headrest, omni
dario – wymond miles
jeff – omni, aphex twin

THIS WEEK’S NEW RELEASES
Aphex TwinCheetah EP CD/LP+MP3 (Warp)
The Aphex Twin Cheetah EP uses digital sound generation techniques combined with wave sequencing technology to bring you sounds with movement and depth rarely found on records today. To assure you that your Cheetah EP will give you many years of enjoyment, please be sure to read the owner’s manual carefully before attempting to operate the Cheetah EP. All forms of Cheetah EP come encased in high gloss packaging with silver foil detailing to ensure a high quality product experience. We sincerely hope that having battled through the programming of the Cheetah EP, you will have now become familiar with the exceptional potential of this record.


The AvalanchesWildflower CD/2xLP (Astralwerks/XL)
16 years after the release of their critically acclaimed, award-winning debut Since I Left You, The Avalanches return with their second album, Wildflower. Created by the band’s core duo Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi,Wildflower is like The Beach Boys’ Smile re-imagined in the Daisy Age: a mind-bending cartoon road movie that’s best viewed with closed eyes and an open mind. Here’s what Chater has said of the 16 year hiatus: “What kept us going during the making of the record was a belief in the day-to-day experience of music as a life force – an energy capable of changing your life. Hearing a certain song on a certain morning can change your day; it can make the world look different. It can change the way you perceive light refracting through the atmosphere for the rest of the afternoon. Literally changing the colour and feeling-tone of our world.”Wildflower includes 21 tracks and features from Danny Brown, MF Doom, Toro y Moi, Camp Lo, Biz Markie, and more.


BADBADNOTGOOD IV CD/2xLP+MP3 (Innovative Leisure)
BADBADNOTGOOD is the talented young quartet of Matthew Tavares on keys, Chester Hansen on bass, Alex Sowinski on drums and Leland Whitty on saxophone. They formed and became inseparable friends at Humber College’s Music Performance program in 2011 and have been on a critically acclaimed, rule bending musical journey ever since. IV continues their forward thinking progression, sounding something like a jam session in space between Can, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, Weather Report, Arthur Russell and MF Doom. With tracks like “Time Moves Slow” featuring haunting vocals from Sam Herring of Future Islands, the syncopated groove of “Lavender,” a collaboration with Montreal based producer Kaytranada, the rumbling fusion build of “Confessions Pt. II” featuring Colin Stetson on the bass sax, “Love” which is highlighted with smokey left field raps from Mick Jenkins and the epic chords of “Speaking Gently,” IV is an exploration in post-genre virtuosity.


Big BusinessCommand Your Weather CD/LP (Joyful Noise)
Recorded in Joshua Tree, CA, Command Your Weather sees Big Business return to its original two-man lineup of Jared Warren and Coady Willis. It is a haunting dream about the struggle for dominance of will over the power and unpredictability of nature. Or it is just a really great rock record – it depends on how weird you’re willing to get.


Boris Pink [Deluxe Edition/Reissue/2006] 2xCD/3xLP (Sargent House)
Expanded deluxe reissue of Boris’ 2006 album, featuring an additional album’s worth of previously unreleased tracks recorded during the Pink album sessions in 2004-2005. The bonus Forbidden Songs collects nine tracks of the same hyperactive, accessible and aggressive caliber of the original album, available here for the first time, mixed (with additional editing and arrangement) in 2015 and mastered in January 2016. Like the original US vinyl release, the Pink [Deluxe Edition] vinyl reissue has three longer edits of songs that were truncated on the original CD issue.


Car Seat HeadrestTeens Of Denial CD/2xLP+MP3 (Matador)
With Teens Of Denial, his first real “studio” album with an actual band, Will Toledo moves from bedroom pop to something approaching classic rock grandeur and huge (if detailed and personal) narrative ambitions, with nods to the Cars, Pavement, Jonathan Richman, Wire, and William Onyeabor.


Eric CopelandBlack Bubblegum CD/LP (DFA)
Recorded at Copeland’s old practice space in South Williamsburg, Black Bubblegum contains songs with more conventional sounds and songwriting than any of his previous releases. While there are similarities with Copeland’s earlier work in the drum patterns, major scales and vocals, Black Bubblegum moves away from his trademark psychedelic dub towards strange and fantastical pop; imagine Arthur Russell going into the studio with the Ramones. Wanting to take a more “hands-on” approach to these recordings, Copeland exchanged sample-driven tech and hardware for keyboards, guitars and effect pedals, creating a new sound that is oddly easy to digest despite its rejection of melody in favor of discord and dissonance.


Ian William CraigCentres CD/2xLP (FatCat)
Ian William Craig is a trained operatic vocalist who combines his voice with analog synthesizers, reel-to-reel machines, and faulty tape decks to create sublime cascades of unpredictable decay and beauty.


The Julie RuinHit Reset CD/LP+MP3 (Hardly Art)
Mixed by Eli Crews (with whom the band worked on Run Fast), Hit Reset expands on the The Julie Ruin’s established sound: dancier in spots and moodier in others, with girl group backing vocals and even a touching ballad closer. “Throughout Hit Reset, Kathleen Hannah faces down the abuse she’s suffered in her life, beginning in a youth spent with a father she feared: ‘Slept with the lights on, on the floor / Behind a chair that blocked the door,’ she sings in low tones in the album’s opening title track. Hit Reset is by her own admission some of her most personal work, the result of insights she’s gained about how her all-too-common childhood experiences connect to both her adult struggles with chronic illness and her life as a feminist. Hit Reset takes a wide perspective on an adult woman’s decision to ‘be more hellbent on living than that I am just surviving.’ Some songs are tender; others, like ‘Mr. So And So,’ an anti-ode to an entitled male fan, are amiable sarcastic. But the music always generates joy.” — NPR


Left Lane CruiserBeck In Black CD (Alive)
Previously released on marble color vinyl for RSD 2016, Beck In Black is now available on CD. “It’s safe to say that punk, garage, or deep blues has a bee line to my heart and soul and makes up part of my very being. That said one of the finest purveyors of said sounds, Left Lane Cruiser, who made my favorite record of 2015 Dirty Spliff Blues, has an incomparable anthology of sorts – a loving collection of LLC material from the onset line-up of Freddy J IV on the vocals and guitar crunch and Breen Beck on the boom bap drum kit and blowing some harp — a fleeting piece of envelope pushing blues to add to your collection.” – No Depression


MetronomySummer 08 CD/LP+CD (Because Music)
Entirely written, played and produced by Metronomy himself, Summer 08 finds the multi-instrumentalist reflecting on his experiences around the time that Metronomy first landed a major breakthrough with Nights Out. “I wanted to make another record with the naivety of Nights Out: ten tracks, straight up, upbeat. Write another banger, then another, and don’t really think about it.”The result is a mature, eclectic pop record in the vein of OutKast, David Bowie and Daft Punk.


Wymond MilesCall By Night CD (Sacred Bones)
Wymond Miles was raised in the working-class small towns of the American West. On Call By Night, the singer’s latest widescreen opus, Miles masterfully evokes that lost landscape, all while grappling with issues of fatherhood, privacy, PTSD, police brutality, and love. The album adds a critical new chapter to the Fresh & Onlys guitarist’s story as an artist, and reasserts him as a major voice in contemporary songwriting.


OmniDeluxe CD/LP (Trouble In Mind)
Atlanta band Omni play lo-fi pop that channels the spectre of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Features ex-Deerhunter guitarist Frankie Broyles. 


Radio MoscowLive In California CD/2xLP (Alive)
76 minutes of the trio’s unique brand of high-energy psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll recorded live over two nights at The Satellite club in Los Angeles in December 2015


Woodkid & Nils FrahmEllis CD/LP (Erased Tapes)
Directed by renowned artist JR, Ellis is a lens through which the story of Ellis Island is captured and retold by the words of one immigrant. Starring Robert de Niro and featuring the visually arresting Unframed art installation, which inhabits the abandoned Ellis Island hospital complex, the short film takes you ona compelling journey through the crumbling hallways of what once stood as the gateway to America. Entwined with this unfolding narrative is a score composed by multi-talented Woodkid, performed and co-written by Nils Frahm.


Cibo MattoStereotype A [Reissue/1999] 2xLP (Rhino)
Stereo Type A is the second studio album by Cibo Matto released in 1999. As the group disbanded in 2001, it was their last studio album prior to their 2011 reunion. While having a strong focus on atmospheric and ambient sounds and melody (particularly in “Moonchild”), Stereo Type A also contains a broad range of styles, reaching in to hip-hop territory in “Sci-Fi Wasabi” (with vocals by Duma Love), and heavy metal in “Blue Train.” Several critics noted the album’s difference from the group’s debut, regarding it positively as a progression of style and a maturation.


Dead Can DanceDead Can Dance [Reissue/1984] 2xLP (4AD)
Dead Can DanceSpleen And Ideal [Reissue/1985] 2xLP (4AD)
Dead Can DanceInto The Labyrinth [Reissue/1993] 2xLP (4AD)
Quintessential early-period 4AD – back in print on vinyl. (Into The Labyrinth features new album art and an altered track sequence.)


Søren JuulThis Moment LP (4AD)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Juul’s first album under his own name, having previously recorded under the moniker Indians. “The Danish singer-songwriter Soren Juul isn’t afraid to mix things up. After scoring a solo hit in 2013 with the album ‘Somewhere Else,’ recorded under the pseudonym Indians, Juul returns this summer with his first album under his own name, This Moment. “With a moniker, it’s kind of like you’re protecting yourself,” says Juul, whose spare yet evocative songs have garnered comparisons to Bon Iver and M83. ‘I don’t really need the safety net anymore.’” – New York Times


Kaytranda99.9 % 2xLP (XL)
Recently released on CD – now available on vinyl. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and raised in the city of Montreal, 23-year-old Canadian artist Kaytranada is widely regarded as one of the most important new producers in the musical landscape today. Since the age of fourteen, when he first began to DJ and when his brother introduced him to music production software, his output has been relentless. He’s produced for artists such as Mobb Deep, Kali Uchis, Freddie Gibbs, The Internet, &Talib Kweli and remixed the likes of Disclosure, Pharrell, Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson, and others. Last year he was tapped by the legendary Rick Rubin who has acted as a mentor, eventually signing him to a publishing relationship. 99.9% will be Kaytranada’s first debut album on XL Recordings.


Minus The Bear Interpretaciones del Oso [Reissue/2007] LP+MP3 (Suicide Squeeze)
Turquoise and gold swirl color vinyl reissue. Remixed versions of tracks Minus The Bear’s sophomore album, Menos El Oso, featuring interpretations by P.O.S., Fog, Tyondai Braxton, Plan B, Alias, and more.


Rogue WaveDescended Like Vultures [Reissue/2005] LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
Rogue Wave’s second album is back in print on vinyl — a free-flowing album that includes equal amounts of tension, release and resolution. In the process they made a brilliantly layered, expertly crafted album that changes shape with repeated spins.

 

NEXT WEEK’S NEW RELEASES
MICHAEL KIWANUKA – Love and Hate CD/LP
JACK PALMER / AMANDA PALMER – You Got Me Singing CD/LP
ARIEL PINK / STEVIE R MOORE – Ku Klux Glam LP
BIRTHDAY PARTY LP reissues
JHEREK BISCHOFF – Cistern CD/LP
GØGGS – Self-Titled LP
SUICIDE – Alan Vega Martin Rev LP
THEE OH SEES – Live in San Francisco CD
ELZHI – Lead Poison LP
CHURCH – Sometime Anywhere LP
SONIC YOUTH – Murray St LP reissue
SONIC YOUTH – Rather Ripped LP reissue
SONIC YOUTH – Sonic Nurse LP reissue