So. Some new releases.

So. So many people these days seem to start their answers with the one-word sentence: "So"... So. What's up with that?



ARTHUR: #22 May 2006 MAG (ARTHUR 022) 0.01
On the cover: "Laid Back" - Growing's Inner Peace Offerings. Features: "Their War" - How columnist Douglas Rushkoff learned to stop worrying about current events. "Donut Power" - Your friend from The Center for Tactical Magic discuss how to recognize-- and use-- occult forces. Includes an example and helpful exercises. "No Choice" - Why power duo Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus reunited to make the meditation-suitable heavy metal sound of Om. "Strange Brew" - Swiss anthropologist-author Jeremy Narby talks about what hallucinogens like LSD and the Amazonian drink ayahuasca have to teach us. "Happy Mediums" - How nature droners Growing found their flow. "Master of Breath" - The life, work and astounding impact of North Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath, guru to Western minimalists La Monte Young and Terry Riley. "Weird Shit's Still Going Down" - Notes from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, 2006. "We Had A Ball" - Scenes from ArthurBall 2006, featuring Joanna Newsom, The 5:15ers (Josh Homme & Chris Gross), and Moris Tepper and Polly Jean Harvey. Plus: reviews by Byron Coley and Thurston Moore. Arthur is a free publication and you may add a copy to your order at no cost while supplies last.



DRONES, THE: Shark Fin Blues (Radio Edit)/You Really Don't Care 7" (ATPR SP001) 9.00
Australia's The Drones scooped the first ever Australian Music Prize for their album Wait Long By The River and the Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By. Now they present a double A-side picture disc of "Shark Fin Blues" (their punk-blues anthem) and "You Really Don't Care," both songs from their aforementioned album. This quartet screams out like Beasts Of Bourbon, the Scientists and Birthday Party all rolled into one. In short, the distillation of Australian rock n' roll history -- a perfectly formed band.



GRIZZLY BEAR: Sorry For the Delay (The Early Recordings) LP (AG 115LP) 11.00
"Initially conceived by Ed Droste, who, in 2002, began a 15-month 'hibernation period' in his Greenpoint apartment, the seven nuggets that make up this release are the creative genesis of the Grizzly Bear oeuvre. Raised in Boston by an elementary school music teacher, Edward Droste grew up surrounded by music, prompting him to take up various instruments and write his own songs at an early age. After years of singing in circles, he discovered the joys of home recording and proceeded to use whatever he could get his hands on to make new sounds, capturing it all on a small hand-held tape recorder. The intimacy felt on their debut, Horn of Plenty, traces back to the songs here on 'Sorry for the Delay' -- they're elegiac, emotional, endearing, and earnest. Contains a haunting cover of Yes hit, 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'."



BEIRUT: Gulag Orkestar CD (BING 048CD) 15.00
"While it may sound like an entire Balkan gypsy orchestra playing modern songs as mournful ballads and upbeat marches, Beirut's first album, Gulag Orkestar, is actually the work of 19-year-old Albuquerque native Zach Condon, with an assist from Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw). There are no guitars on this album; instead, horns, violins, cellos, ukuleles, mandolins, glockenspiel, drums, tambourines, congas, organs, pianos, clarinets and accordions all build and break around Condon's deep-voiced crooner vocals, swaying to the Eastern European beats like a drunken twelve-member carnival band."

(note that you can get a better price by going to the Bada Bing label website)



CURRENT 93: Sleep Has His House CD (JNANA 1925) 16.00
"Sleep Has His House, originally released in 2000, has become one of Current 93's most enduring releases. The album features David Tibet on harmonium and vocals, as well as Michael Cashmore on guitar. The mood is sombre and contemplative, culminating in the epic title track which was inspired by the death of Tibet's father."