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RICHARD BUCKNER The Hill CD 16.98 What is the correct adjective to describe the barns scattered about the Prairie landscape? Enchanted? Spooky? Stoic? Austere? Richard Buckner is the perfect candidate to help us out with this description. He recently moved to Edmonton, smitten and to be married. Was the wedding in a barn? Wheat Field? Silo? Best men John and Joey of Calexico/Giant Sand were in attendance - as they are on this lovely collection of alt-country ballads about life, the road we travel, and the people we meet. Definitely enchanted. |
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CHICKS ON SPEED The Re-Release of the Unreleased CD 16.98 Browsing through foreign record bins, I stumbled upon a band that was bound to revolutionize my summer, and maybe even my fall. Truly the merits and longevity of this band are up for debate, but if you ignore the un-hype and choose to listen to those in the know, you're likely to stumble onto some seriously kickin' cut-and-paste disco action. The three women who front up the men behind the gear (gotta work on that, ladies) are messing around with electronic collages; they're walking that fine line, and could lose control at any minute. At times uncontrollably danceable and alternately thoroughly confusing, this collection of 33 tracks, featuring songs from limited vinyl releases, the Chick's European full-length, and clever interview snippets, will tune you in to the now sound of Germany. Feel free to book your flight, and maybe you can hang with the Chicks, Peaches, and Gonzales for Christmas! There'll be laptops under the tree for everyone! |
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DAVE DOUGLAS A Thousand Evenings CD 16.98 A thousand evenings might not fully release the charms of this great record. With ideas to spare, there is much to take in. But in fact, this is a good thing, a very good thing. And this doesn't mean that this record is in anyway too obscure or difficult. Instead, it's so immediate and, frankly, beautiful, that it is almost too easy to by won over by its enchanting quality, and become mesmerised, spellbound. Yet with further listens, and they come easily, the thoughtful complexity of the music becomes clearer, as well as the tremendous musicianship of the performers, Mark Feldman on violin, Guy Klucevsek on accordion, Greg Cohen on bass, and Dave Douglas on trumpet. Also features a string cover of Goldfinger, just for fun, because fun is good. Enjoy. |
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CORN SISTERS Party Girl CD 12.98 Ever heard of Hattie's Hat in Seattle, Washington? We hadn't either, until we heard this recording. It's the result of an evening of music at said establishment, featuring the raw and true talents of wayward island girl Carolyn Mark, wandering star Nico Case, a guitar, a drum, and a stomp board. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Corn Sisters and this is their record. They are the other women. |
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GORKY'S ZYGOTIC MYNCI The Blue Trees CD 14.98 As one romance ends, the threads of a new one are sewn. After three triumphant (our biased opinion) post-romantic Beach Boys-esque pop records, Welch eccentrics Gorky's Zygotic Mynci have been rewarded with sadly little public applause. Obscurity is their fate. But they're in good company. Obscurity blows with the wind that billows in the sails of Nick Drake, Scott Walker, and Jimmy Webb! Undo the wrong! Do not let their harmonious pop choir-songs be fodder for Mojo Magazine's ode to tragic beauties ignored by the machinery of contemporary press! Gasp. Yes, ring the bells and release a pig in the streets to wipe away the trash for Gorky's Zygotic Mynci are more than just another pop mouthful! |
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DELTRON 3030 CD 16.98/2LP 16.98 The record label is 75 Ark, an offshoot of Asphodel, its mandate is to bring underground hip-hop - a la Anti-Pop Consortium - above ground. Thus, introductions in, DELTRON is Kid Koala, Dan the Automator (Kool Keith's ex-producer) and, yes, Del! The name checking doesn't stop here - head Consortium MC Beans checks in, as do Peanut Butter Wolf, Money Mark, Sean Lennon, and Blur's Damon Albarn. We sense a concept-style angle on this record - a playful and positive look at sci-fi futurists. What do you think? |
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| MICROSTORIA Model 3, Step 2 CD19.98/LP 14.98 Oval's Marcus Popp and Mouse on Mars' Jan St. Werner are good pals. Every once in a while, when their busy schedules allow, they hang out. And when they do, after much good humour and handshaking, of course, they make crazy music; crazy like nothing else. And they're a good fit; Popp's digital obscurantism nicely offsets Werner's more playful electro-tomfoolery, or maybe it's the other way around. In any case, Microstoria are the definition of uniqueness - a fresh style in an increasingly cluttered and like-sounding market. And somehow they're even more listener-friendly! Hurrah! | |
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EUPHONE Hashin' It Out CD 16.98/LP14.98 We see trend in settlement patterns. Cities, wich once were centres of commerce, reach peaks, and then dramatically transform into spaces ideal for the practising musician, artist or writer. Look at Montreal - once the Canadian business beehive, now the perfect low-rent borough for Apocalyptic Post-Rock. Now take Chicago, the forgotten jewel of America's Midwest. Yes, it too is a precinct of creativity, style and artistic musical advancement. Euphone, from Chicago, reside in the 'post-Tortoise' neighbourhoods of sonic experimentation (though this isn't really a valid summing-up). We've sung their praises before - to a compositionally dextrous tune played on horns, marimba, and juicy electro-acoustics. Features help from members of Isotope 217, Joan of Arc, and Lonesome Organist. A relocation is in order... |
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| TALIB KWELI & HI TEK Reflection Eternal CD 16.98/LP 14.98 For all the heads out there, emcee Talib Kweli and DJ Hi Tek, collectively known as Reflection Eternal, have finally released their first, self-titled album. Kweli, half of the dynamic duo Black Star, has stayed true to form, with the kind of introspective lyrics he's known best for. And Hi Tek comes correct, providing beats ranging from laid back to hype. Also, Mos Def, De La Soul, and Les Nubians nicely collaborate. These two New Yorkers have put out head nodding music sure to enlighten. So, pick up this Rawkus album, designed for you to pump through your stereos and headphones. | |
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GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR Raise Your Skinny Fists... 2CD 24.98/2LP 18.98 With a sound that is at once highly melodic and enormously grandiose, one might expect Godspeed to embody the worst excesses of progressive rock pomposity But - oh the humanity - this is music that expresses the overwhelming drama of every little life on earth. By seeing the huge in the tiny and the tiny in the huge, Montreal's finest post-rock orchestra has created something almost impossibly poignant with this second full-length. With no attempt to sound coolly detached or smugly contemporary, Canada's crustiest nine-piece has truly imortalized the human spirit as it stands today. Two CD's worth of sheer nerve-wracking bliss, this is the band's best effort yet - capturing as it does the full intenisity of their, at best, staggeringly full-on live performances. |
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NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Mass Romantic CD 12.98 New born, pop has spirit, dash and political emotion. Pop is not a hairstyle on a barber's wall. Pop is more than the cut of your jeans. Pop is about the Beach Boys playing behind the Iron Curtain in the summer of '68 - a tradition of changing the course of living. Vancouver's New Pornographers don't meet regularly to rehearse. Why? Do you practise your moves before you enjoy a night out? No! Instead they meet to discuss strategy. 'Mass Romantic' is their gambit, their campaign. The battle is on - a pornographic life surrounds us. |
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VARIOUS THE STATE OF EMOTION VOL 8 2CD 14.98 While summering in Germany, my ears were introduced to the next wave of Electronica. As the beautiful countryside accented regional variations, so each stop on my tour of discos and indie-record shops was met with a locally distinct electro-beat sound. Berlin's dub-beats, Cologne's minimal pocketbook spirit ... All were very adventurous sonic detours from the Western Hemisphere. I spent countless evenings listening to Monolake, Burnt Friedman, Chicks on Speed, Senior Coconut and more - plus I fell in love with a DJ known to me only as 'Gonzales'. |
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Other New Releases: Elf Power - Winter is Coming CD/LP
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And at The Tart Gallery and Satellite Store: SPOOKY, the Halloween show, on now plus PEEP SHOW, an erotic group
show, Also at the 1972 Location: Selected used CD's on sale throughout November, see the store for details. Check out a photo essay on our mezzanine by Richard Folgar. |
| september / october Discorder Ads. | *prices in effect until Nov 30th. |