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This ain't yer daddy's "Louie Louie" kids, this is the real heavy deal. Rollins, Ginn, Dukowski and Robo take on the garage rock classic(1) and leave it bloody and wimpering in the street. Shit, you can even understand some of the words...
expand review this time and I guarantee you they're not the ones you're expecting. "Damaged I(2)" evens out the "feelgood" with a grinding, screaching, lumbering rant against just about everything imaginable. If you're looking for the fun dance hit of the summer, steer far the fuck clear of side B of this record. If you're looking to get your rage on, you've come to the right place. Recommended.
-Newjack
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With everyone and their mom ripping off Black Flag's steez these days (cough... Rostarr, Blaqstarr... coughcough) the Lab felt it was time to teach you your roots. That's right, Black Flag, on 7", at TTL. Black Flag was the punk band that...
expand review established the base for all independent musicians to come. Everyone currently touring in any kind of non-Top 40 band owes a huge debt to these guys for their relentless touring and opening new venues in every small town across the US, not to mention for making some of the best music in history. This 4 song 7" (that's right - hardcore was about quantity as well as quality) features some of the best of Keith Morris (later of Circle Jerks and Midget Handjob fame) era Flag. The first time I ever heard "Nervous Breakdown(1)" it was like getting kicked in the neck. It's all sorts of teenage agression, hatred for the system, and catchy rock'n'roll all tangled up in just about 2:00 of song. Definitely check out "Wasted(2)" for a good old fashioned anti-hippy rant if that's your jam. Includes awesome Raymond Pettibon cover art. Highly Recommended. -Newjack
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With everyone and their mom ripping off Black Flag's steez these days (cough... Rostarr, Blaqstarr... coughcough) the Lab felt it was time to teach you your roots. Remember kids, there's more to the band than the Raymond Pettibon cover art. Greg, Dez...
expand review and the boys had a special place in their hearts for good old fashioned drinking anthems with just the right amount of irony and self-loathing. "Six Pack(1)" fits right into that category. This is still in the pre-Rollins period with Dez on vox and Dukowski on bass and honestly it's pretty fucking hard to beat. If you want to hear the Flag at their most furious, this is a great place to start. Both cuts on side B are full scale rants on the Reagan era. Good thing so much has changed... P.S. This album features possibly the most surreal run out etching ever. It makes me hungry. Recommended. -Newjack
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You don't really know about "Rapture" until you own this 10 minute 12" version(1). Nothing more really needs to be said. Standard 5 minute version on the flip. Recommended. -the mgmnt
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NOTE: This LP comes with a coupon for a free MP3 download of the album, including tracks not found on the vinyl. Just go to the URL on the coupon, enter the unique code and download 192kbps MP3s direct from Secretly Canadian's...
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This is Bobb Trimble's insanely rare debut LP, released in 1980, though it sounds like it could've come out of any decade from '65 to present... and maybe beyond. Secretly Canadian has mercifully reissued Bobb's two most sought after records, so now you don't have to drop few hundred ducats on the Bay just for the privelege of hearing his truly unique brand of psych / space / rock / folk (not to mention that otherworldly falsetto). Young Jonesy (of Caps & Jones) put me on to Bobb and I was smitten from the first time I heard "Glass Menagerie Fantasies(1)." Not to sound like a prematurely old man, but THEY DON'T MAKE SHIT LIKE THIS ANYMORE. Even when Bobb was recording this in 1980, he wasn't emulating the music of the changing times, but his idols like (Syd Barrett-era) Pink Floyd, (early) Bowie and The (weed smoking) Beatles. Filtered through Bobb's cracked kaleidoscope, it comes out as a more authentic and freaky trip than those guys ever cooked up in an expensive studio. Check out: "One Mile From Heaven(2)," "When The Raven Calls(3)," "Night At The Asylum(4)" and "Your Little Pawn(5)." 8 tracks on the vinyl; 11 on the digital download. Highly recommended. -Larri Byrd
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GAWD-DAMN! That's all I gotta say. 23 tracks of the heaviest drum tracks I've ever heard, straight from the funk gods at Stones Throw. If anyone knows beats, its these dudes. Don't bother scratchin' your head, going "where is this loop from?"...
expand review I'll tell you - they're all written and performed by Dan Bitney, John Herndon and John Mcentire of Tortoise. If you don't know Tortoise, don't worry. Just know that they are masters and everyone of these tracks is a gem. Anywhere you drop the needle is going to be like the golden sample record at the end of a 3 week digging spree. It's that good. To humor you, check "A Safe Balm(1)," "...As Bond Did(2)," "Crass Jenny(3)" and "Craven(4)." See how the funk just seeps out yo' speakers? Oh, not enough? If you want some slumpy scratch beats, check "Sniper Growl(5)" for that hardness. And I've only mentioned cuts from the first LP (it's a double!). With people like Egon and PB Wolf on the creative team, they wouldn't leave anyone hanging. Whatever genre you're feeling, whether it's funk, disco, jazz, or rock - they got something for everyone here. Only questions left are, "How long before these drums get sampled for a hit?" and "How many copies does Gaslamp Killer have?" I see you. Highly recommended. -C'mish
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One of the most in-demand re-edits around, Carl Craig splices up the Talking Head's "Once In A Lifetime" exposing it as the spacey loop affair it actually is (while adding no new elements or effects). That song has got some mystical powers....
expand review I was always amazed when Spinna would drop this track in the middle of a hip-hop set (circa late nineties). The crowd would be like "wha," but he always knew it was dope. Flip features a re-edit of the intense electro cut "There's A Woman" by Gino Soccio. -the mgmnt
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NYC's Cousin Cole & Pocketknife (aka Flagrant Fowl) are back at it, this time landing on the Philly-based Flamin' Hotz label with an EP of folk and indie rock remixes. Pocketknife leads off with "The Book of Right On(1)," throwing some tuff...
expand review electronic drums underneath the saccharine high-pitched vox of indie harpstress Joanna Newsom. Next up is the mellow, finger-picking "Each Coming Night(2)" by Iron & Wine, followed by Cousin Cole's lush edit of Neil Young's "My My, Hey Hey(3)." Cole also adds a downtempo remix of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire(4)," before Pocketknife rounds it out with edits of Beirut's indie hit "Scenic World(5)" and my personal fave, John Lennon's "Oh Yoko(6)." All this, plus DOPE artwork from Nathan Fox and Strange Attractors on both sides of a full-color pic disk. Recommended. -Larri Byrd
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I know that Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is the Dead Kennedy's definitive album, this 1987 compilation is my favorite album. It's like New Order's Substance, it makes the band's catalog much easier to swallow. What sounds more friendlier as an opener,...
expand review "Kill The Poor" or the awesome combination here of "Police Truck(1)" and "Too Drunk To Fuck(2)"? Plus it backs it up with the DK classics "California Uber Alles(3)," Holiday In Cambodia(4), I Fought The Law(5)," and "Pull My Strings(6)." Also checkout the super-oddities like the spoken word "Night Of The Living Rednecks(7)" and the bug-voiced "Buzzbomb From Pasadena(8)." This is a deluxe reissue of the album, pressed on heavy vinyl and packaged with a large fold-out insert. Recommended. -the mgmnt
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In the world of disco, it's seldom that you'll find an artist like Arthur Russell. Here's a little background on this leftfield disco master: He studied cello, then Indian Music at the Ali Akbar Khan School in SF, accompanied legendary beat...
expand review poets like Allen Ginsberg, worked with large bands with musicians like David Byrne, and went to produce some of disco's finest works. In 1979, he produced Sire Records' first two hits, Dinosaur's "Kiss Me Again" and Loose Joint's "Is It All Over My Face?" before starting his own label, Sleeping Bag Records. This album is a prestine repress of their first album, Dinosaur L's 24-->24 Music, capturing all the creativity and energy of Russell's earliest works with dance music. Listen to "Clean On Your Bean #1(1)" and hear how modern the production is. The reverbed slap bass intro, the new wave horns, the eerie chords, and the addictively strange hook is the envy of many producers today. The line in his hit "Go Bang! (Thank You Arthur Edit)(2)" summarizes the energy of the early 80's disco/new wave scene, "I wanna see all my friends at once, I'll do anything to get a chance to Go Bang! I wanna Go Bang!" Pure genius. Also check his more experimental jams "#7(3)," "#3 (in The Corn Belt)(4)," for a taste of his wilder side. Also includes the "#5 Go Bang! (Francois K Mix)(5) and "In The Corn Belt (Larry Levan Mix)(6)" where you have two key NY DJ's giving their unique versions. Pretty much a must have for any fan. Highly recommended. -C'mish
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DJ Eli is the DJ's champ. Most every big name club DJ has some of his remixes in their arsenal. And for good reason: Eli's remixes are unparalleled. Sometimes he'll build a completely new song from a popular acapella, sometimes he'll use...
expand review just the right amount of editing and extra drums to give a classic track some extra punch in the club. The latest volume in our Money Lotion series (for the working DJ!) features six of Eli's most requested remixes: "Juicy(1)" (Eric B & Rakim's "Know The Ledge"), a massive edit of Cassie's "Me & U(2)," "Voices(3)" (The Police's "Voices Inside My Head"), a slow-burning new disco take on Feist's "One Evening(4)," "I Will Be With You Again(5)" (U2's "New Year's Day") and "If You Need A Friend(6)," an edit of the Lab best-seller "The Promise" by When In Rome. This is the first time any of Eli's "whitelabel" remixes have been pressed on wax, and Money Lotion volumes are known for selling out anyway, so get 'em while they're hot. Limited pressing, Recommended. -the mgmnt
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This is the universally loved Elliott Smith album, the last one he recorded for Kill Rock Stars and the last time he recorded an all-folky album. This one ups the rock factor a bit from his self-titled offering (see: "Ballad of Big...
expand review Nothing(1)," "Pictures of Me(2)"), but there's still plenty of lovely, sparse solo tracks, like the ominous opener "Speed Trials(3)" or the waltzy "Between The Bars(4)." Nothing tops those Good Will Hunting joints, though: the multi-tracked harmonies on "Say Yes(5)" still melt hearts, and "Angeles(6)" is pretty much the essence of E.S. boiled down into one perfect track. Did I mention this guy was really awesome? Buy this now so your kids can "discover" it in 20 years. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Real heads (real indie folk heads, that is) will tell you that this is the best album in Elliott Smith's woefully small discography. Virtually every song here is great, with Smith really at the peak of his emotional folky styles. (Either/Or is...
expand review great, but it just doesn't have the same impact as these stark, lo-fi recordings.) Most of these tracks are nothing more than Elliott and his guitar, though some tracks employ some terribly recorded (but strangely fitting) drums. "Needle In The Hay(1)" is a perfect opener, an intense requiem for a junkie that sets the tone for the rest of the album's demons, like the lonesome drunks in "Clementine(2)" and "St. Ides Heaven(3)" or, uhhh, some more junkies in "The White Lady Loves You More(4)." The guitar on "Southern Belle(5)" kills, too. 12 tracks; 38 minutes. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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The late Mr. Smith's most sonically adventurous and the "biggest" of his big label releases, the most excellent Figure 8 is back in print for the first time since 2000 (and on heavyweight vinyl too). From the sleepwalking opener "Son of Sam(1)"...
expand review to the pseudo-sunny psych-influenced "L.A.(2)" to the knockout pair of "Happiness(3)" and "Pretty Mary K(4)" (recorded at Abbey Road, yeh), this is what they call a doozy of a record. You got Rothrock/Schnapf production, Jon Brion on backup vocals (hey, dude knows backup vocals), and of course Smith's always stunning arrangements and harmonies. Was always partial to the Heatmiser style rockers on here: the sinister piano and acid tongued lyrics of "Junk Bond Trader(5)" or the urgency in the chorus and faltering organ of "Wouldn't Mama Be Proud(6)." Definitely one for the collection. 16 tracks, double vinyl. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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