Cool New Releases

My weekly Forced Exposure harvest is late... note that the best prices I've found for the more popular new releases (relatively speaking) is at CdUniverse.com - the Sons and Daughters Repulsion Box CD is $10 vs. Forced Exposure's price of $13.00. If you buy a lot of CDs this adds up and I usually use FE for the more obscure releases that I'm unable to find elsewhere. Both companies I have had little problem with shipping, etc.



SONS AND DAUGHTERS: The Repulsion Box CD (DNO 066CD) 13.00
"The Repulsion Box is an enthralling set of ten songs that further explore the quartet's queasy addiction to murder ballad lyrics and celebrate the vital, unpolished sound of a band who can nail a track in a single take. The music, no less compelling, scratches and screeches around them, recalling the Velvet Underground in its eerie minimalism and Smog in its bluesy urgency. The band traveled with producer Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey) to Conny Plank's Studio in Cologne, a cult music institution, where Brian Eno recorded Before And After Science, Kraftwerk made Autobahn and, recalls Scott with some relish, Ultravox recorded Vienna. The result is an album that sounds thoroughly alive, despite its themes of death and repulsion."



BARRETT, SYD: Opel CD (EMI 28908CD) 16.00
UK version (with bonus tracks not found on the domestic U.S. version), of what is largely considered to be a companion album to The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Opel is a 1988 Harvest/E.M.I compilation consisting of unreleased and alternate versions of previously-released songs, recorded by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett between 1968 and 1970, at Abbey Road. Production credits also include Roger Waters and David Gilmour. While Barrett only released two albums in 1970, the existence of unreleased studio work was widely reported. After years of demand from Barrett's considerable fan base, Opel was compiled and released. Despite its positive reviews, it failed to chart. 'The tone is very much in keeping with his pair of solo albums; ragged, predominantly acoustic, melodic, and teetering on the edge of dementia. At the same time, it's charming and lyrically pungent, with Barrett's inimitable sense of childlike whimsy. The production is generally more minimal than on his other albums, even bare-bones at times, but if anything, this adds to the music's stark power.' --All Music Guide. Includes six bonus tracks: "Gigolo Aunt (Take 9)," "It Is Obvious (Take 3)," "It Is Obvious (Take 5)," "Clowns And Jugglers (Take 1)," "Late Night (Take 2)," and "Effervescing Elephant (Take 2)."



MOBIUS BAND: The Loving Sounds of Static CD (GI 053CD) 12.00
"After three years of wood-shedding in the pine forests, electronic rock trio Mobius Band is trading up. Ben Sterling and Peter Sax have migrated to Brooklyn to 'alleviate the boredom' -- a move that has also lent a confident sheen to their modern backwoods aesthetic. Accordingly, The Loving Sounds of Static presents ten of the most sincere and refreshing songs in recent memory. Is it electro-pop fortified by expansive guitars and Noam Schatz's hard-hitting live drums? Or is it rock augmented by striking electronic textures? Either way, between the whimsical buoyancy of 'Twilight,' the rocked-out, Mick-Jagger-death sequence of 'Radio Coup' and the title track's driving urgency, this is the rare sort of record that aggressively cross-pollinates genre and idea into a seamless new model."



TREVA WHATEVA MUSIC: We Have The Technology 12" (ZEN 12154EP) 7.50
"We kick off with 'Dustbowl,' a funk-rock-disco hybrid that's the perfect soundtrack to being chased out of Buttfuck, Illinois by a bunch of crazed hicks high on PCP. Following this up appropriately enough, we have a smoky, Brazillian-esque torch song. 'Music's Made Of Memories' combines a decidedly blue mood, lush atmospherics and a whimsical female vocal to deliver something a little deeper than maybe you'd normally expect from Mr. Whateva."



CHARLAMBIDES: Our Bed is Green 2LP (TLR 025LP) 32.00
"The debut release from Texas' favorite psychedelic voyagers, on vinyl for the first time ever. Originally self released as an ultra-limited cassette way back in 1992, it was later reissued on the band's own Wholly Other imprint in a much edited form. Here the original cassette track list and sequence is restored, minus two cover songs. A historic milestone in the story of the contemporary underground, as well as an extremely mind-melting dose of outsider drone/folk/psych in its own right. The duo of Tom and Christina Carter here managed to wrap their fingers and minds around a whole slew of sonic vibrations, while at the same time clearly charting their own low-key and unique course. Tapping into about every slant of damaged Texas exploration, this massive recording flows through haunting lo-fi slow motion folk, full-blown, fuzzed-out spacerock, beautiful outsider acid psych, fizzing drone experimentation, loose blues forms and plenty of higher-minded guitar improvisation, all with a certain shining wide-eyed bliss. And yes, Christina's voice was just as jaw dropping then as it is now... while worlds away from Charalambides recent outings on one level, those sonic tendrils trace a clear line back to the sweet seeds planted here... pressed on two massive slabs of audiophile 180 gram vinyl. Hand numbered edition of 800 copies."



KUUPUU: Illusia 7" (TLR 027EP) 7.50
"Vinyl debut from Finland's finest fairy goddess, Kuupuu (aka Jonna Karanka). Beautiful extended tracks featuring piles of instruments and noisemakers all played by Jonna. Side one chugs along like a shimmering cosmic freight train, rippling with layers of hovering drones, looped and layered vocals, pitch ebb & flow, and loose tinkling percussion -- a disorienting & lifted vibration frozen in space. Side two begins with sparse moaning vocals, klang, & bells, and slowly shifts into a stunning melancholy lo-fi folk/psych downer, with slow and beautiful vocals and plucked acoustic guitar."



UGLY THINGS: #23 MAG (UT 023) 6.95
"Ugly Things #23 features a huge cover story on '60s punk R&B savages The Belfast Gypsies a.k.a. 'The Other Them.' We also continue the epic saga of The Misunderstood along with feature stories on New England rock'n'rollers Mike & The Ravens, garage maniacs Mott's Men, Ken's Kesey's Merry Pranksters, and The Checkmates from Singapore. There's also exclusive interviews with '60s Brum Beat heroes Mike Sheridan & Rick Price, French beat icon Ronnie Bird and a previously-unpublished conversation with the late, and totally bloody great, Keith Relf of The Yardbirds. Plus dig the Sacramento '60s punk scene (Ikon Records); Argentinean beat chicks Las Mosquitas; Chubby Checker's lost psychedelic album; a tribute to Charlie Crane (The Cryin' Shames, Gary Walker & the Rain); Michael Yonkers; and a Phil Milstein essay on Nervous Norvos and the Afterlife of the One Hit Wonder." 192 pages!