New Release Scan - Week of Nov 13 2005

First, let me UNrecommend the new flavored Dasani water. I bought the lemon-"flavored" water after a long walk this morning (awesome Fall weather in DC, by the way) and nearly spit it up. Thinking it would taste like fresh filtered water with a twist of the yellow fruit, I was instead appalled to get a nutrasweetish diluted lemonade taste. Not that I normally buy bottled water (big ripoff) but I was thirsty and still a mile from home.

Now that you have been properly warned, here are some new releases or reissues that have caught my eye this week - they come from FE, Bomp and Aquarius, all fine mail-order independent outfits with easily findable webpages.

Why give your money to Jeff Bezos when you can give it to someone that can use it and is doing great things for music retail?




via forcedexposure.com:



HOWLING HEX, THE: You Can't Beat Tomorrow CD/DVD (DC 291CD) 13.50
"The DVD contains the pilot episode of The Howling Hex's variety show, You Can't Beat Tomorrow, while the CD is the soundtrack of the same name, containing complete versions of the songs featured in the show -- and more. Listeners who've already sampled the high-energy sounds of The Howling Hex (as heard on their CD, All-Night Fox) will be thrilled by the expanded lineup, featuring The Theatre Fire on banjo, violin, trumpet and pedal steel guitar and Neil Michael Hagerty on lead vocals and guitar. The video presentation weaves a collage of every-day images, musical segments and a hilarious animated serial following a group of all-American types down at Henry's bar."



MANGUM, JEFF: Live at Jittery Joe's LP (SODY 030LP) 13.00
"Already considered a classic live album from the genius behind Neutral Milk Hotel. Includes solo versions of several Neutral Milk Hotel classics, Phil Spector's 'I Love How You Love Me,' and the never officially released Jeff Mangum original 'I Will Bury You In Time.' This vinyl edition will also include a poster with new artwork from In The Aeroplane Over The Sea artist Brian Dewan. First time on vinyl."



BILLY, BONNIE 'PRINCE': Summer In the Southeast 2LP (SN 011LP) 15.00
Double LP version.



FM3: Buddha Machine Soundbox (BUDDHA 001) 23.00
2nd edition now available! A unique 'soundbox' from China, which is causing senstation worldwide. A totally dazzling item which causes jaw-dropping delight everywhere -- Alan Bishop bought twenty-four of these on sight, Brian Eno bought eight (how's that for apocalyptical math?). FM3 are a duo of Christiaan Virant and Chinese keyboardist and computer musician Zhang Jian -- based in Beijing. The Buddha Machine is a hardware loop player, built kind of like a little AM radio (available in 6 different colors, shipped randomly), but without all the nonsense -- total genius from out of nowhere. More info/pictures at: www.fm3.com.cn [there's also a definitive FM3 interview at: www.rarefrequency.com]. Comes with 2 x AA batteries. "The Buddha Machine is a small soundbox made in China which comes with an integrated speaker, a volume control, mini jack-out and a switch to choose between nine different loops which are stored on a small chip and can be directly played by this mini soundsystem."

via bomprecords.com:

ADOLESCENTS Complete Demos 1980-1986 Special
packaging just for the band to sell on the road!
Not available in stores. The cover and LP labels
are black and white instead of black and red.,
Each LP jacket is hand-numbered, no bar code.,
opaque green marble color. re-sealable poly
sleeves instead of shrink-wrap.The entire
production run of this special edition is limited
to 2000 LP $14

via Aquariusrecords.org

NO NECK BLUES BAND "Qvaris" (5 Rue Christine) cd/lp 14.98/14.98
Yet another freaky transmission from
whatever otherworldly outpost these mysterious NY
free jazz / drone rock / outsider avant hippy
tribalists call home, and lordy, is it a
gloriously moody creep! A series of slithering,
warbling, shimmering, stumbling psychedelic jams
deftly constructed from grinding electric
guitars, pounding krautrock rhythms, haunting
quavering organs, alien little pizzicato
melodies, all swirling and swaying in a dense
murky haze. However, unlike the delicate ambience
and unstructured abstraction of past NNCK
efforts, Qvaris is downright rocking, with at
least half the tracks held together by shuffling,
stomping, swinging drum beats. Those tracks are
especially reminiscent of krautrock legends
German Oak, with their strangely claustrophobic
vibe and dense unfunky funk. The less structured
bits scattered throughout are sparkly
kaleidoscopic flares, free floating stretches of
smeary ambience and glistening radiance. The
combination of the two, surprisingly lush and
lustrous. All of Qvaris sounds much more composed
and less improvised than most NNCK material,
which makes the whole record sound less 'New
Weird America' and more like some weird psych
rock / post rock band whose propulsive rocking
manages to get sort of twisted and tangled, into
a deliriously druggy moonlit tumble through the
looking glass.
Judging from the cryptic liner notes, the
album artwork, and the video on the NNCK website
(http://www.theserth.com), the new record seems
to somehow concern a certain sacred object, that
appears (at least to our untrained eyes) to be a
sequined eggplant, which in some strange way
makes perfect sense when you're dealing with the
cracked vision of the No Neck Blues Band. But
don't let the addition of sparkling vegetables to
the mix throw you off, this is some of the most
gorgeously dreamy and drone-y and drugged out
psychedelic free folk noise rock you'll ever hear!