New & Notable releases

People don't seem to comment on interesting new releases in Mutantis' daily updates anymore. This thread is to highlight new releases that you think look interesting or worth noting. Kind of like a group SFL.

I'll start off:

Langhorne Slim- Be Set Free I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet.
Tom Russell- Blood And Candle Smoke Hey Nanker, I think you'd be interested in this. Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Dave Alvin, and Doug Sahm have recorded his songs. This is a new album and AMG's pick. Review says that was recorded with members of Calexico, though not obvious from the samples.
The Walkabouts- Ended Up A Stranger This was previously on my SFL, but then it got dropped from emu. Good to see it back.
Willard Grant Conspiracy- Paper Covers Stone I kind of have a soft spot for WGC's gloomy americana, but this one sounds like acoustic re-recordings of their own songs which makes it less interesting to me.
Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood- Out Louder MMW's new album is supposed to be real good. Too bad it's not on emu. This sounds pretty good if you're into their groove and haven't already OD'ed on similar stuff.

Of course, I'm excited about the Feelies reissues. I got chills listening to the Crazy Rhythms samples this morning. It brings back good memories. MP3's can't really replace my copy on white vinyl, but it will be good to hear the tunes again.
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Comments

  • Thanks hoosfoos. I do indeed adore Tom Russell, he's one of my favourites (and I have a low level campaign of spamming his Facebook page and Twtter account with desperate please for him to tour Australia, which he has never done.) I've had the new record for a while, and he has been blogging about it for ages so its been on my radar a long time. it is pretty great. The eMu version isn't available for download here though.

    I think he's actually meant to be on Letterman tonight ... ?
  • edited October 2009
    As posted at the other place:

    Exciting new stuff from Digitalis:

    Black To Comm - Charlemagne & Pippin

    Concern - Truth & Distance

    Green Blossoms - Whiskey Leaves

    North Sea - Crusades

    Scott Tuma & Mike Weis - Taradiddle

    Digitalis Fall 2009 Sampler

    Some full track samples can be found at the Digitalis Recordings website

    - And finally, links to the first and the second Digitalis thread.


    - Enjoy !
    Brighternow


    @ hoosfoos: It's a wonderfull The Walkabouts release.
    I've seen them live in Copenhagen many times, they are such loveable and kind people and Carla Torgerson's voice is just astonishing.
  • @NankerP, I should have figured you'd be all over Tom Russell. Nice to get confirmation that the album is good. To be honest when I first saw Tom Russell in the new releases, I confused him with Bill Morrissey. I discovered both of them at the same time off the same two Rounder/Philo comps.

    @Brighternow, I'll have to check out Digitalis a bit more. The Green Blossoms sounds like an Icelandic neofolk band. Barn Owl from the sampler sounds promising.
  • NankerP - Thanks a million for the free Tom Russell mp3 of "Santa Ana Wind" from the new album that you have up on your blog. I think Russell has outdone himself on this new album!!
  • edited October 2009
    - Deleted.
    Ooops, I posted at the wrong thread...
  • edited October 2009
    Everyone with a passion for the The Residents related duo Renaldo & The Loaf, are recommended to pay attention to this one:

    Ptose - Ignobles Limaces-Night Of The Reptiles
    - Released by the newly arrived Gazul label.

    A few soundclips from this one:
    Boule - Viens Ici ! - Eat Your Fish - Like a Mouse - What Was It ?

    - Other notable releases from Gazul:
    Etron Fou Leloublan - En Public Aux Etats-Unis D'Amerique (featuring Fred Frith)
    Les Nouvelles Lectures Cosmopolites - Friesengeist - Part One
  • @brighternow, Ptose sounds great! Thanks for pointing out the Gazul label. I have the Etron Fou Leloublan and am a big fan of this type of stuff (quirky avant rock). I also noticed a couple of Guigou Chenevier (Etron Fou) side projects: Octavo and Encore Grande. The Encore Grande sounds similar to Blast on ReR.
  • I guess I wasn't paying attention when these first came out, but there is a Zanzibara series of African comps on the same label that does the Ethiopiques series. Zanzibara focuses on the East African coast. Vol 5 is the most recent and most modern. Mlimani Park Orchestra is highlighted and great. Vol 3 is the one I'm most interested in. It is vintage music from the 60's with mellow gorgeus grooves. Check this out for a sample.

    On a different note, Moon Duo - Killing Time EP sounds real good. Review from Other Music:

    Such a killer record this one. Ripley Johnson from Wooden Shjips teams up with Sanae Yamada to create Moon Duo, and births a sorta Kraut-inspired (the motorik Neu!-beats especially) psych record that blows hundreds of stoner bands out of the water and back into their parents' basements. Recurring-era Spacemen 3 and Suicide (especially on "Speed," the second track) loom rather large here, with cascades of reverb fuzz and cavernous echo and organ (also known as "Jon McCafferty-rock"), this stuff is more concise and less drifting than a lot of the Wooden Shjips songs, and that's just perfect with me. Beautiful, hypnotic, nocturnal music. Best new record in a long, long while. By Andreas Knutsen.
  • edited October 2009
    Already spent time in the top 10 downloads of the day, but The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control. I'm a fan girl and have been for years. This has a lighter overall tone than Lust Lust Lust with poppier melodies and lyrics like "Kids wanna bop out in the street/Fu-fu-fun all summer long." Then again, you can balance that out with "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)."
  • edited October 2009
    This has a lighter overall tone than Lust Lust Lust with poppier melodies and lyrics

    Poppier melodies, yes. Poppier lyrics? No. Consider Boys Who Rape and Last Dance; very disturbing -- and some think offensive -- lyrics. (n.1) I love the new disc, BTW.

    _______________________________________
    (n.1) Offensive in the case of Boys Who Rape, since the poppy sound and flippant attitude of the lyrics trivializes the very serious subject matter. I'm not sure I agree with that criticism, but it's a debatable point.
  • edited October 2009
    - From Lens records:

    O'Leary - Pasborg - Riis : Groenland (Greenland)

    "Groenland has always intrigued Mark O'Leary, the vast and enchanting arctic tundra has for many years captured his imagination.

    Its minimal ice terrain, fjords, creative urban spaces, northern light, abundance of nature juxtaposed with a colourful cultural fabric have been a source of curiosity and inspiration.

    Given its historic relationship with Denmark, when Mark had the opportunity to record with drummer Stefan Pasborg and electronic artist Jakob Riis in Copenhagen Groenland would be the sonic subject matter.

    The song titles point to many of the strong visual, historic and cultural images of Groenland.

    Sirius Patrol - the brave, fearless Danish Navy Unit that patrol and protect the North-East with their beloved canines.

    Inuit - the highly cultured indigenous people that inhabit the terrain, are one of the most resourceful, innovative and skilled races on earth.

    Aurora, After Dawn, and Moving Towards The Light all allude to the special light that emanates from the region and its strategic importance during the Cold War and its vital environmental importance to the new world.

    Finally Nuuk - the capital of Groenland and one of the most unique cities on earth with its kaleidoscope of urban landscape, Nordic influenced, but totally unique.

    The music endeavored to encapsulate all of the above essences. It allowed for the spontaneous energy of the band to contour the conceptual terrain and develop into atmospheric soundscapes projecting an expressive dynamic minimalism that ebbs and flows very much like the cinematographic experience espoused by Andrej Tarkowski, juxtaposed with a micro-textural ambience coming straight from the heart of Ligeti in a post-industrial mantle.

    The music is very much alive, the central core of the project was recorded in Copenhagen, with treatments added later in Cork by O'Leary and mix engineer Donncha Moynihan."
    Lens Records.


    Mr. Brighternow sez: WOW !
  • edited October 2009
    @Daniel: YMMV.

    The Heavy - The House That Dirt Built. I'm digging the samples on this one, and suspect it will go into heavy rotation. Rock and soul.

    Eric McKeown - Hundreds of Lions. She's always had that gorgeous voice, but I didn't warm to her earlier material. I only liked her swing phase on Sing You Sinners. I think this new album is going to change my mind.

    The Holloways - No Smoke, No Mirror. This is one of my favorite styles of indie rock -- bubbly as champagne. This came out at the end of 2008, but it looks like eMusic just got it.

    Non-eMusic:
    Carsie Blanton - Bouy. John Oates calls her a "folky female Cole Porter." She has some great imagery in her lyrics: "Give me a thrill, I can't sit still, I already tried countin' to ten/ but it itches and tugs like a bag full of bugs/Baby, when can I see you again?" And of course, her voice is lovely.
  • edited October 2009
    A historical significant catalogue of musique concrete has just arrived by the addition of the INA GRM label.
    INA-GRM (Institut National Audiovisuel, Groupe de Recherches Musicales) GRM- a Paris studio formed by Pierre Schaeffer in 1951 to foster and encourage the development of electronic music, later assisted by Fran
  • edited October 2009
    Anyone interested in following Brighternow down the corridors of musique concrete should read this page on INA GRM's releases.
  • A couple of old Tom Russell studio albums dropped as part of the huge Rounder Records add today -- confusingly listed under "Tom Russell", "The Tom Russell Band" and "Tom Russell Band". I used to have them all on CD back in the day but my whole collection was stolen in a break in in 2000 and I never got to replace them. So very happy I have the chance to hear them again.

    And man what a motherlode is that Rounder add -- just did a quick swing through and added about 40 albums to SFL ....... but only 2 credits left until December ;-(

    Its not just folk and country too, although thats what the labels known for, some great "world music", soul and jazz (Sun Ra at the Village Vanguard off the top of my head for instance).
  • Umm, Rounder.
  • edited November 2009
    Don't judge me, but I think I love the new single from Blake Lewis, which is available at the other place. It's reminiscent of classic Erasure and Pet Shop Boys. A fan video of "Heartbreak on Vinyl" is on YouTube, rather cutely edited with clips from classic movies set in record stores.

    Total earworm. Blake is a heck of a pop songwriter.
  • A true gem from the Danish psychedellic hippie scene in the late sixties has arrived:

    Hurdy Gurdy - Hurdy Gurdy
    - Featuring the amazing Claus Boehling on Guitar, also known from Secret Oyster

    Hurdy Gurdy arose out of the Danish group Peter Belli & the B.B. Brothers in 1967. Three of the B.B. Brothers -- guitarist Claus Bohling, drummer Jens Otzen, and English bassist Mac MacLeod, then temporarily based in Denmark -- split from Belli to form a psychedelic-hard rock-oriented trio. The band moved to England in 1968, after MacLeod had been deported. It's been reported that Donovan, a friend of MacLeod whom Mac had played with previously as a backing musician, wanted to produce a version of the band covering "Hurdy Gurdy Man," a Donovan composition. However, Donovan released his own hit version of the song, and Hurdy Gurdy didn't issue anything while MacLeod was in the group, despite doing some recordings produced by Chris White and Rod Argent of the Zombies. Two late-'60s tracks by the MacLeod lineup of Hurdy Gurdy, "Neo Camel" and "Tick Tock Man," eventually appeared on the 2003 MacLeod anthology The Incredible Musical Odyssey of the Original Hurdy Gurdy Man, and are rather loose and frenetic pieces of period guitar psychedelia. Bohling and Otzen had to go back to Denmark shortly after those recordings, owing to their inability to secure work permits. There they picked up a new bassist, and in the early 1970s recorded a self-titled album for CBS Scandinavia. The record, a routine, early-'70s hard rock offering with Hendrix-influenced guitar by Bohling, was reissued on CD by Akarma.
    — Richie Unterberger , All Music Guide

    - Brighternow
  • This is an old favorite of mine:

    Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath

    It's a great blend of South African township jazz, big band and free improv. AMG Review.
  • A new drop in from Gazul, including Etron Fou Leloublan, Ghedalia Tazartes and Les Nouvelles Lectures Cosmopolites:
    Gazul/Musea / Believe Digital

    - Link to the last Gazul drop in: Gazul / Believe Digital
  • edited January 2010
    Fausse joie by Les Poissons Autistes

    Full streaming at: Helvet Underground

    "Les Poissons Autistes continue to explore the possibilities of electroacoustic composition. On this release they dig deeper into their modern classical and electronica influences but keep also space for plenty of noise. To their usual bunch of instruments (electric guitar, trumpet, bass, treated voice, field recordings, laptops) they add this time acoustic guitar and baritone horn to widen their sound palette. As on their two previous albums ("Fort festif" on Deadvox and "Three Times Dead" with Hemlock Smith on Everest Records) the mood is dark, perhaps even more, but paradoxicaly it is also their most rythmic album to date, with three tracks sustained by a drum machine and one track with the live drumming of Arnaud Sponar"

    - What can I say but OMG !


    Edited after 2 hours.
  • Ben Frost's By The Throat has arrived.
  • edited February 2010
    - A brand new Type/Morr release:
    fullsize.jpg
    Going Places by Yellow Swans

    "In April 2008, American noise duo Yellow Swans (comprised of Peter Swanson and Gabriel Mindel) announced their decision to split. The news was a shock to the noise community, not least because the band had become a regular fixture in the live arena-touring incessantly and garnering a huge, dedicated following in the process. What the duo neglected to announce however was that a final album was already in the works, and while they would not tour together again, steps were being taken to finish off their crowning achievement. 'Going Places' is Yellow Swans' conclusion as an entity, and sees the duo looking inward to create their most introspective work to date. It shouldn't be surprising given the climate in which the record was put together, but without the constant touring Swanson and Mindel allowed themselves to take their time on the record and allow the tracks to breathe somewhat. The resulting collection is distilled and reflective, retaining the grit and damage of their earlier work but adding layers of harmony and, maybe more surprisingly, pulsing rhythms. The improvisational, psychedelic washes that have always enriched their sound are tempered and controlled, leaving an almost Kosmische narrative. The drifting, subtle beauty that characterised their last album, 'At All Ends', has emerged even further in the mix, and Mindels guitar is allowed to play foil to Swanson's piercing noise. Comparisons could be made to Tim Hecker or even Brian Eno in parts, but Yellow Swans' harsher edge sets them apart from many of their peers.?No doubt some listeners might be put off by Yellow Swans' noise background, but make no mistake, 'Going Places' is one of the most haunting and engrossing albums yet to appear on the Type label. Swanson and Mindel have proved, if proof was ever needed, that there is beauty in dense cacophony, and 'Going Places' is the perfect way to close a startling career."
    Other Music
  • A noteworthy from todays freshly ripped:
    rdn08-eRikm-big.jpg
    Variations Opportunistes by eRikm

    Created entirely by looping small snippets of CDs and then treating them in the studio, the newest album from eRikm makes for a surprisingly atmospheric listen. "Correlation I" begins with the expected glitch effects, but as the five-second fragment (taken from a composition by Jean-Philippe Rameau) is looped back on itself at different pitches and drawn out by sustain, it takes on an ethereal character, less like damaged playback equipment than intentional ambience. Drawing the contrast between eRikm's own studio abstraction and the concreteness of the source material, the track blends seamlessly into the 13-second "Source C.1," revealing Rameau's original composition to be a technical harpsichord piece before dragging to a halt. "Correlation II" uses a small section from Igor Stravisnky as its source, looping a single section of violin into an everlasting hum. Gradual tonal changes in minor key give things a vague sadness as eRikm manipulates the loop. "Generescence - Soustractive" ends things with an even more extreme form of minimalism; for the first several minutes, the tones are barely audible, and eventually build into a quiet ringing. While it's tempting to write off eRikm's obsession with studio experimentation as mere technology fetishism, the fact remains that these compositions are subtly moving in their own way, and result in something greater than mere technical experimentation. This album has niche appeal at best, but anyone with an interest or appreciation for musique concrete and avant-garde ambient will enjoy what eRikm has created here.
    Grave Concerns

    Other links:
    Ronda label
    eRikm.com
  • edited July 2011
    300x300.jpg
    In Stereo by Fenn O'berg

    - Fenn O'berg is Christian Fennesz and Peter Rehberg (aka. Pita)


    Edit:
    I can't believe its only me finding new and noteworthy abums since november 2009
  • Thanks! Magic and Return also - and Jim O'Rourke provides the O' in O'berg as well.

    As far as new and notable - I usually use the "what are you listening to thread right no" instead, because I never think to post about something until it comes up on the ipod rotation.
  • A new label:
    Intransitive Recordings
    "is an independent record label for experimental electronic, electro-acoustic, abstract, and otherwise unclassifiable sound-art and music"

    - With names like:
    Roel Meelkop - Howard Stelzer - Lethe - Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek) and nmperign (also on the 7 Things label)

    Intransitive Recordings
  • edited March 2010
    From todays freshly ripped:
    line044.jpg
    Alva Noto - For 2
    "Four years after the release of his dedicatory for record (LINE_026), Carsten Nicolai as alva noto returned to assemble a second recording of compositions devoted to a number of creative figures including industrial designer Dieter Rams, filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and German dramatist Heiner Müller. Opener 'garment', inspired by a translucent textile designed in connecting sections, may serve well as a metaphor for this collection of tracks that take as their source of inspiration shifting zones and in-between places, links in chain-letter music, luminous bubbles, fragments of orchestral strings, and slowly decaying resonances. In 'anthem berlin' alva noto delivers a national anthem for artists Carl Michael von Hausswolf's and Leif Elggren's fictional land of Elgaland-Vargaland. Rather than relying on traditional orchestration, he snaps off a section of a marching band's snare drum roll and lets the percussive rattle reverberate to a tonal hum. 'ans' acknowledges Russian Evgeny Murzin's research into obtaining sound from a visible image and vice versa -- a central aspect of Carsten Nicolai's work as a visual artist. For this recording, alva noto was invited to draw onto the glass plate of the ANS synthesizer, producing the modulating sound heard on the composition. 'interim' and 't3' were composed for a prize-giving ceremony in honor of designer Dieter Rams. Performed live at the event, the background audio layers of 'interim' recalled the alva noto xerrox project in which peripheral sounds are elevated to a conscious composition. In 'villa aurora' we find ourselves among the dying moments of a held chord, until seconds later the lid of the piano is dropped shut, amputating its echo forever." "As we listen we are almost aware of this record having breath, as a watchful vacuum draws in influences before exhaling them back into the music. This ebb and flow marks time over for 2's reference points, reminding us that creativity is perceptive of that which lies at its edges and, similar to language, absorbs it within." -- Andrew Cannon (Forced Exposure)
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
    - And from Taylor Deupree's 12K label:
    12k1059.jpg
    Pjusk - Sval
    "Pjusk is Rune Sagevik and Jostein Dahl Gjelsvik from the west coast of Norway -- both from small villages close to nature. The sound of Pjusk is inspired by the harsh Norwegian weather and wild landscape. At the center point of the collaboration between the two is an old cabin high up in the mountains. This is where most of the music of Pjusk is made -- framed by snowy peaks and the sound of cold streams. Sval is the second full-length release by Pjusk. Their debut album, Sart (12K 1042CD, 2007), came as a very welcome surprise to listeners and was heralded in the press as an incredibly strong, deep, and mature album for a debut artist. Boomkat (UK) called it 'an album which truly stands out, and will no doubt incite the sound of jaws dropping for the rest of the year." While Sart explored a number of the different paths that Pjusk takes -- from deep ambient, to near-IDM rhythmics and back to guitar-twinged experimentations -- Sval is an absolutely focused album that sees Pjusk settle into the style they are most comfortable creating: lush, wet, textured ambience. Restrained and warm, and keeping the barren Norwegian landscape close to heart, Pjusk has quite effectively drawn the connection between the warmly lit cabin in the mountains and the polar environs right outside their door. Deep, deep textures that stretch the horizon, beautiful wisps of ghostly vocals, and murky percolating beats that seem trapped beneath thick layers of ice -- Pjusk have stripped away any excesses from Sart and delivered a wonderfully singular vision with Sval."
    (Forced Exposure)
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Btw: Did I mention that Digitalis has added 4 albums to their eMu catalogue ?
    - And as usual with full track samples from some of them at their website.
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