Parasol Records : Five Star

NEXT
	Earth Dissolution III (PRE-ORDER: SALEABLE FEBRUARY 8TH) CD $12.25 Listen to: Dissolution III • Living In The Gleam Of An Unsheated Sword Earth formed over ten years ago and was infamous for their intensely loud volume and extreme heavy drone sounds. This is their first record of new material in years and they share in the new scene of drone bands with the likes of Sunn and Growing. "Dissolution III" is a two-song drone masterpiece in the making.
	Skygreen Leopards Life and Love in Sparrow's Meadow CD $13.00 • LP $11.25 Listen to: A Child Adrift • Belle of the Woodsman's Autumn Ball With Life & Love in Sparrow's Meadow, The Skygreen Leopards expand on their strange pastoral folk-pop and enter center stage as one of the most unique voices in the new folk movement. The Skygreen Leopards are Donovan Quinn (Verdure) and Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Blithe Sons, Franciscan Hobbies, Birdtree, Ivytree, etc.). Formed in 2001, Quinn and Donaldson met while responding to a cryptic ad in the paper looking for Lumberjack players (little wooden dancing men you play on a board for percussion and visual interest). After being bested by an Appalachian man, Donovan and Glenn began studying the stars together where Glenn, while tracing his finger along Orion, said, "Donovan, we are the Skygreen Leopards", and so they were. The Skygreen Leopards originate from the Bay Area-based Jewelled Antler forest of bands. Donaldson co-founded the Jewelled Antler label in 1999, which has since released over 25 CD-R's ranging from straight field recordings & outdoor improv-folk to noise & fractured pop music. The Skygreen Leopards are without a doubt the most structured and accessible of these projects. Much of the Jewelled Antler music is recorded live outdoors on mini-discs & boomboxes while the Skygreen Leopards primarily focus on a surreal form of multi-layered folk-pop recorded on an old reel-to-reel housed in a moldy trailer on the back of a horse ranch. 12-string guitars, banjos, dulcimers, Jew's harps, organs, maracas, mandolins, harmonicas, ocarinas & reed flutes harmonize with the field-recorded songs of birds, barnyard animals & insects. This hedge of sounds is the backdrop for Quinn & Donaldson's mythological rants & hazy melodies.
	Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney Superwolf CD $13.75 • LP $13.75 Listen to: Goat And Ram • Beast For Thee Matt and Bonnie folking around. Bonnie "Prince" Billy (Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Music, Will Oldham) challenged Matt Sweeney (Chavez) to write some music for a set of lyrics he's written. They put the two pieces together and the glorious results have been dubbed "Superwolf." You will love it.
	Jesu S/T CD $13.00 Listen to: Tired Of Me • Friends Are Evil • We All Faulter Someone who’s wielded an influence on the estimable likes of Neurosis and Ministry and even Pelican, living legend Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Final, Techno Animal, et. al.) brings us his most intensely personal offering to date in Jesu. Combing a wounding groove with a soul-wounded clean-tenor, Broadrick’s latest muse burrows deep into the corpus and then starkly paints with repose and resignation. Enigmas never rest, and neither does Jesu. R.I.Y.L. Codeine, Pelican, Low, Mogwai and Centaur.
	Sunn O))) Grimmrobe Demos CD $13.00 Listen to: Black Wedding • Defeating; Earths' Gravity • Dylan Carlson This is NOT the new album from sunn, rather the return to the eve of destructive birth. In 1999 a subsonic concept and "stoned band idea" came to life. Stephen O' Malley, and Greg Anderson holed up in a cave in HELL-A with stacks of sunn amplifiers and unleashed riff after blasphemous riff. Along with the assistance of Bootsy Kronos on bass, the cacophony that was evoked became the infamous Grimm Robe demos. A couple years later this album was released on CD in a limited edition of 700 copies. It quickly sold out and went into infamy/obscurity. Please dry your eyes, THE GRIMM ROBES LIVE!
	Matt Pond PA Winter Songs CD $7.50 Listen to: Fall Two • Snow Day • Winterlong In the heat of the summer of 2004, Matt Pond PA sat down and recorded some songs that reminded them of winter, hence the EP Winter Songs. Apart from the two short, pastoral instrumentals "Winter One" and "Fall Two" and the lovely soft-focus ballad "Snow Day," the songs are covers. Neil Young's "Winterlong" and Richard & Linda Thompson's "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" are two familiar songs given reverential treatment, sounding nice but not too interesting. Better is the cover of Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road" (from National Lampoon's Vacation), a sort of lost classic of a pop song that they rescue with a buoyant and sweet version. Not so great is the cover of Neutral Milk Hotel's "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea" which is marred by weak guitar effects and a tame arrangement as well as rather slight and uninteresting source material. Slight is the one word that might describe the whole EP, unless you are the type of Matt Pond PA fan who must have every note they commit to plastic; you could probably skip this record and save up for their next full-length. AMG-
	Bettie Serveert Attagirl CD $13.75 Listen to: Dreamaniacs • Don't Touch That Dial! • Attagirl After two albums for Hidden Agenda Bettie Serveert has signed on with the esteemed Minty Fresh label. We wish them all the best! On "Attagirl" the band takes their music a step further, experimenting more with samples, beats & keyboards then ever before. On Attagirl, the band's new freshness really finds its groove, and the songs are compact and exciting. Dreamaniacs, the opening title track and first single, starts with a smooth, catchy sample, giving a good kick-off for the rest of the album. Combining dance & rock (‘Versace’), jazz & Captain Beefheart guitarlicks ( ‘Greyhound Song’), or just one simple acoustic guitar & vocal ('You've Changed'),they continue to amaze both the listener as them selves. Bettie serveert has never before taken such a huge step foreword.
	Barlow, Lou EMOH CD $13.75 Listen to: Home • Caterpillar Girl • Holding Back the Year Fans of Barlow's work with Sebadoh and the Folk Implosion and his previous solo recordings as Sentridoh are in for a real treat. Emoh is a lush, well recorded gem featuring some of Barlow's strongest songwriting in years.
	And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead Worlds Apart (FULL ALBUM) CD $13.00 Listen to: Worlds Apart • Ode To Isis • Will You Smile Again Allow me to be frank: this is the best album Trail of Dead has ever made. For that matter, it is one of the best melodic hardcore albums ever made. It is very nearly a perfect album. It will kick your ass, and then it will make you cry. It will make you pull over while driving to listen to it more closely. It will make you tell your girlfriend to be quiet so you can pay attention to that one part. She will yell at you, then she will hear that one part, and then she will pay attention. And then you both will be left dazed and dumbfounded and wondering why you never realized that this was one of the best bands out there. Worlds Apart will silence all the naysayers who complain that Trail is often too hard or too screamy or too whatever. The melody and songwriting are both here, all wrapped up in a tight ball of carnage and fury. It's more immediate than 2002's Source Tags & Codes, and every bit as epic and grand. It's fucking awesome, and if you don't know, shut up and listen to that one part. Then you'll know. (Pat McGuire- Filter Magazine)
	Six Organs of Admittance School of the Flower CD $13.75 • LP $13.75 Listen to: Saint Cloud • Eighth Cognition - All You've Left • Words for Two Six Organs of Admittance is Ben Chasny (Comets on Fire, Badgerlore, Plauge Lounge, Booze.) School of the Flower is Six Organ's first proper studio album. It's brimming with Ben's near-patented loner psych/drone musings that is sure to please old fans and definitely gain him quite a few new ones. Joining Ben on drums is free-jazz superstar Chris Corsano!
	Low The Great Destroyer CD $14.50 • LP $11.75 Listen to: California • Everybody's Song • Monkey Formed in 1993, Low is a trio from Duluth, Minnesota comprised of guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk, percussionist/vocalist Mimi Parker and bassist Zak Sally. Throughout Low’s history, the band has accumulated acclaim from critics ("Low build big magic from so little" - Rolling Stone) and musicians (Radiohead hand-picked Low to open a string of dates in 2003). Initially garnering attention as leaders of the ‘90s slowcore movement, Low went on to develop a sonic repertoire that incorporated pop, R&B and dissonant rock n’ roll. With this kind of storied history, most people thought they had Low pegged. But then they turned in their Sub Pop debut, The Great Destroyer. The band's seventh full-length album, The Great Destroyer is fascinating in that it blends the band’s austere melodies (“On the Edge Of,” “Silver Rider”) with an aggressive guitar onslaught (“Monkey,” “Everybody’s Song”) and even melds Low’s varied styles together into a single song (“When I Go Deaf”). Co-produced by Low and David Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), The Great Destroyer is a welcome surprise and, in the end, a rock n’ roll revelation.
	Jennifer Gentle Valende CD $14.50 • LP $11.75 Listen to: I Do Dream You • Universal Daughter Hailing from Padova, Italy, Jennifer Gentle is not a girl. Jennifer Gentle is, in fact, a band made up of singer/guitarist Marco Fasolo and drummer Alessio Gastaldello (joined by various accomplices when they play live). Valende is their third full-length, and first for Sub Pop (their first two albums, I Am You Are and Funny Creatures Lane were released individually on Italy's Sillyboy Entertainment, and together as a double CD under the name Ectoplasmic Garden Party by Australia's Lexicon Devil label). The record was, like its predecessors, home-recorded by Marco and Alessio and it's a psych pop charmer, drawing on the band's own brand of musical dementia: an almost impossible-to-describe melting pot of whacked experimentation, deep fried eccentricity and acoustic beauty, drawing judiciously on the band's long-term fascination with Syd Barrett, 13th Floor Elevators, and Joe Meek production techniques. Jennifer Gentle is also the first Italian band Sub Pop has ever signed (such is our deep affection for the band). But, again, Jennifer gentle is not a girl.
	Stamey, Chris Question of Temperature CD $14.75 Listen to: Politician • Shapes Of Things • Venus Chris Stamey is a political man. So it’s a given that this year’s political Sturm and Drang has left him all hot and bothered. Fortunately for him, some of his old neighbors came together to help him whip that feverish inspiration into music. And fortunately for us, those old neighbors just happened to be ubiquitous rockers Yo La Tengo. “A Question of Temperature”, the resulting pop squall, is no ordinary ruck of rock. As the founder of kudzu-pop originals the dBs and producer of influential bands like Whiskeytown and Le Tigre, Stamey has always had cred to spare. And Yo La Tengo’s no slouch either. The YLT trio of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, and James McNew have played with everybody cool who’s still alive and have been called “one of rock’s last true visionary bands” (USA Today). With another rock veteran, Let’s Active’s Mitch Easter, at the mixing board, Stamey and company traded licks on a variety of originals and choice covers like The Yardbirds “Shapes of Things” and the Eddie Harris/Les McCann Vietnam War-era recording, “(Let’s Make It Real) Compared to What.” And if you’re still not sold on “A Question of Temperature”, we’ll even throw in honey-throated songbird Caitlin Cary, wunderkind keyboardist Tyson Rogers, award-winning bluegrass quartet Chatham County Line, and a pro-voting PSA for the price of admission.
	M83 Before the Dawn Heals Us CD $14.75 Moon Child • Don't Save Us From The Flames • In The Cold I'm Standing Before the Dawn Heals Us is M83's powerful follow up to their recent album Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts, which has received cult-like status in North America. Recorded and produced in the French countryside during June of 2004 by M83, consisting of one Anthony Gonzalez, Before the Dawn Heals Us contains more vocals and live instrumentation than previous releases.
	Coyote S/T CD $8.00 Listen to: Half the Time COYOTE formed when members of the HOLY FALLOUT, EXCELSIOR and THE RABBLE ROUSERS convened in a West Philadelphia basement. Meaning: the heart of the Philadelphia music scene thrown into one supergroup is releasing their debut, and you are there. The driving pianos, screaming vocals, and fuzzed-out champion guitar leads produce a unique sound that is ready to be unleashed. They have been compared to The Black Heart Procession, The Doors and The VSS/Slaves.
	Repp, Corrina It's Only The Future CD $13.75 Listen to: Finally Her songwriting is empowered, reflective, meditative & appealing. In the past, she’s been compared to Cat Power & Gillian Welch; understandable because of the way all 3 infuse their songwriting w/ strength, complexity & a rare beauty capable of sending shivers up your spine. W/ this record, Repp’s warm, spacious, minimal guitar & smoky voice dovetail w/ electronic beats & programming. (provided by collaborator Keith Schreinerof Dahlia)
	Zirafa Turnstyles CD $7.75 Turnstyles projects an "in limbo" state; the suspension one feels when leaving home and learning to acclimate to new surroundings. Zirafa approaches the new and the old with an entire scope of musical expression, seamlessly combining elements of jazz, sampling, electronica, rock, and clip-hop. RIYL: Cornelius. Closer Musik, Dntel, and Notwist.
	Iron And Wine Passing Afternoon CD $4.50 "Passing Afternoon" from Our Endless Numbered Days. "Communion Cups and Someone's Coat" is a new one and was recorded in August of 2004. This track should keep you satisfied until the new Iron and Wine EP Woman King comes out February 22, 2005. "Dearest Forsaken" previously available only on the Iron and Wine Sub Pop Singles Club 7 inch; here recorded live at KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in Los Angeles.
	Peter Bjorn And John Falling Out CD $13.50 New album from Swedish trio. Glorious, inventive, extrasensory guitar pop. Falling Out combindes energy, melody, melancholy, pure joy, silence and violence as well as masterful arrangements stretching from the simple to the orchestral. Peter Bjorn and John formed in Stockholm in the late summer of 1999, centered around the songs of Peter Morén and Bjorn Yttling, which have been writing together since their teens. The trio was completed by drummer and comedian John Eriksson. After a couple of home-made vinyl-singles, their debut-cd was released in november 2002. Called simply "Peter Bjorn And John", the album, with the dirty, inventive lo-fi-production of Bjorn's, was very well received in the the swedish and norwegian press. The guys were compared with such classics as early Costello, Beatles, Buzzcocks, Soft Boys, Eggstone & Paul Simon, to mention a few. The singles as well as the videos have rotated on tv and radio. In the live situation they have kept on improving and now are an exciting experience, slightly punkier than on record, with John's marvelous dynamic drumming as well as Peters fretwork coming alive as well as their unique stage presence and audience communication. The band has also been busy in the studio, releasing singles with a generous amount of extra tracks, just as good as the album cuts. Highly recommended!
	Various French Sounds CD $15.25 Featuring previously unpublished tracks by: Bosco, highly acclaimed 'Satellite' (featuring on Tombraider OST) taken from the album Action), Télépopmusik, emblematic leader of the new French Touch with their 120 000 albums sold worlwide Genetic world? Avril, which offers us a remix of his single 'The Date' by Chloé, the French She-DJ-producer in vogue. The compilation French Sounds reviews with exultation the panorama of a French electronica scene constantly renewed." Other artists include: Vitalic, Dat Politics, D.I.P., Electronicat, Williams Traffic, Readymade feat. Juice Aleem, Doctor L., Sporto Kantes, M83, Domotic, Avia.
	Various Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey CD $14.75 Compilations of electronic music don't get any more enjoyable and essential than Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey, a sampler of techno soundsmiths on Thomas Morr's superb German record label. Getting past the Smiths pun in the title, one encounters more than two hours of bubbly, warm sounds from some of the most promising knob twiddlers in the business. Though there are a number of musical styles compiled, from contemplative post-rock hybrids to IDM to electro, the artists all share a knack for crafting sweet organic songs. Genre-besting moments peak out of every nook and cranny. The Notwist, Herrmann & Kleine, Lali Puna, B. Fleischmann, ISAN, and Tied & Tickled Trio are all captured at the top of their games. The first disc of the two-disc set consists of 14 original compositions; disc two presents 14 remixes where artists pair up and remix each other's songs, whether the songs derive from disc one or anywhere else in the label's discography. The most remarkable thing about the compilation is that it's such a cohesive listen from start to finish. Morr Music is establishing itself as one of the most forwarding-thinking, smart collectives of musicians on the planet. Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey is engrossing proof. AMG
	Red Eyed Legends Mutual Insignificance CD $8.25 Following up their debut EP "The High I Feel When I'm Low" on GSL earlier this year, Chicago's RED EYED LEGENDS return with the Mutual Insignificance EP. Now with Kiki Yablon [ex THE DISHES] on guitar, keyboards and vocals, REL's sound has changed, and for the better if you can imagine that. Singer/guitarist Chris Thomson's classic vocals recognized from his previous bands CIRCUS LUPUS, MONORCHID, AND SKULL KONTROL [Thomson also played bass in the legendary Dischord band IGNITION] are thankfully and blaringly apparent. The rhythm section still gives Bonham and Jones a run for their money, and now Yablon's intertwined organ and backup vocals create a more melodic backdrop for the heavy riffs and lyrical sneers. The one sentence description of "waved-out punk meets art damage in the parking lot of a heavy metal show with the treble cranked¦" suits RED EYED LEGENDS well, but still can't do them justice.
	Fembots Small Town Murder Scene CD $13.00 Combining retro-sounding, analog instruments and film noir atmospherics with traditional, roots-based song structures, Toronto's Fembots make alt-country that's infused with an eerie, video-8 graininess. Beginning in a haze of percussion and looped, blood-curdling squeals, the duo's second full-length Small Town Murder Scene strikes a disquieting, panicky tone right from the start. The effect is such that when the clamor gives way to a quiet chord progression, as it does with the skeletal guitar strum of "Broken and Blue," you know that something ominous is probably lurking just around the corner. That's not to say there aren't some pretty pop moments on Small Town Murder Scene — with its glistening bell tones and swirling organs, "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist" sounds like Mark Linkous on a good day — but as a rule, it's a swampy, disembodied record that privileges discord and ragged disorder. As a result, otherwise traditional stomps such as "Tombstone Blues" and the piano-led title track end up taking on slightly sinister qualities, like back porch music performed at night with the candles extinguished. AMG-
	Kites/Prurient Load Split Series #4 CD $10.50 a bonus collaboration track between KITES and PRURIENT. Another jammed-elevator mismatch between two of Providence, RI's hottest pedal jackers and circuit board melters. KITES has a record on LOAD already and his side of the split evokes a crunchy square toned melodic flair with organic almost organ-fueled Disneyland melodies. These are the rockers. PRURIENT is another Providence-based sound artist doing low toned rumble jammed up against cassette culture screech. Live shows are a blur of power and volume. PRURIENT has releases on Ground Fault recordings and is one of the artists on the RRR RECORDS Boxset New England. Yes the cream of the noise crop. This record is a bit more subdued in all out attack and more drenched in total murk-o-phonic atmosphere. Percussive chug and downer vibes!
	Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO Minstrel In the Galaxy CD $20.00 Minstrel In The Galaxy is the first Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO studio recording since the departure of vocalist/synth goddess Cotton Casino earlier this year. To replace Cotton's space whispers, AMT have recruited Japanese duo Afrirampo (who recently toured Europe with Sonic Youth) to contribute vocals to this album and they fill the void with ease. Musically you can forget the mind-melting guitar psychouts of previous AMT albums, this is the sound of a much darker AMT in comedown mode. Drones, acoustic guitars, misplaced voices and a beautiful 41 minute centre-piece title track all combine to make this their finest experimental studio work since the acclaimed Absolutely Freak Out (Zap Your Mind!) double album. There's still enough of the original AMT sound going on here to keep the hardcore fans happy but also enough twists to bring in a whole new audience too.
	Mnemonists Gyromancy CD $15.00 The Mnemonists were a legendary group of composers and artists from Fort Collins, Colorado, who went on to call themselves Biota, and released a series of five CD's on ReR (Tumble, Bellowing Room/Tinct, Almost Never, Object Holder, and Invisible Map). They created drifting hypnotic sound collages out of pre-industrial loops, processed ambient sound, rock 'n' roll guitar, and fragments of half forgotten memory. Their work was highly visual, and always accompanied by beautiful line drawings and painted art works; the total meaning is forged from the combination of sonic and visual information. Gyromancy stands as a classic early noise album, somewhere between the work of AMM, Faust and Brian Eno. What makes it stand out is the subtlety of the work: The process begins with the recording of played acoustic and electric instruments that are later re-processed and electrically altered, leading to a spiraling of replaying, re-composition and re-structuring. This aural world is as vast as space, and seemingly as limitless; The Mnemonists were the one group most apt to embrace the latest technology, and to put it to good use to create 'anti-music'. But the outcome is so beautifully flowing and amazingly profound that their radical methods create positive change in a sonically transparent way, rather than to bludgeon the listener into submission by means of shock tactics. The result then, is elucidating and exciting. This disk is presented in a visually stunning manner as well, including gorgeous reproductions of the group's paintings, bringing the Mnemonist's penchant for 'artisanship-as-a-whole' full circle.
	Styrofoam Nothing's Lost CD $12.54 This release features (It's not a joke): Markus Acher (Notwist/Lali Puna), Alias (Anticon), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie/Postal Service), Valerie Trebeljahr (Lali Puna), Bent Van Looy (Das Pop), Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set) and Miki (Pitchtuner).
	Saint Etienne Travel Edition CD $13.00 In the late '90s and into 2000, Sub Pop Records conducted a brief, torrid affair with Saint Etienne. They parted amicably, each going their separate ways, never really able to forget (nor wanting to) the time they spent together, the memories they shared, the records they released. With this 18-song compilation, they're able, albeit briefly, to once again bask in the glow of their cosmopolitan friends in Saint Etienne. And, in addition to two previously unreleased tracks (the early instrumental "Primrose Hill" and the new song "Fascination"), this career-spanning collection includes stand-out tracks from all of their full-length releases, as well as singles "He's on the Phone" and "Burnt Out Car." Saint Etienne (along with Swedish phenoms, The Concretes) will be playing a New Year's Eve show in London, and there have been hints at a new album in 2005. Track Listing: 1. Primrose Hill(Prev. unreleased) 2. Only Love Can Break Your Heart 3. Nothing Can Stop Us 4. Avenue 5. Mario's Cafe 6. Hobart Paving 7. Hug My Soul 8. Like a Motorway 9. He's on the Phone 10. Burnt Out Car 11. Sylvie 12. Lose That Girl 13. Good Night Jack 14. How We Used To Live 15. Heart Failed(In the Back of a taxi) 16. Action 17. Fascination (Prev. Unreleased) 18. Finisterre
	Innocence Mission, The Now The Day Is Over CD $13.25 Jazz-tinged and dreamy, this new offering from The Innocence Mission collects standards and traditional songs that singer Karen Peris has sung to her children as lullabies since they were born. "After hearing Bono speak," says Peris, "about orphaned children in South Africa, our plans to make another benefit record were strengthened and propelled and we worked more quickly and spontaneously than usual." A portion of the proceeds will be donated to organizations working to aid impoverished children throughout Africa. Most of the songs on Now The Day Is Over were recorded late at night over a three-week period. A lot of the singing was done live to Don Peris's guitar playing. Spacious arrangements allowed for piano and pump organ and Mike Bitt's upright bass. The Innocence Mission began as four friends who met during a Catholic high school production of Godspell. Since their fortuitous parochial meeting, they have released five major label albums and the critically acclaimed Befriended on Badman in 2003. The one consistent element in all incarnations of The Innocence Mission is the musical and literal marriage of guitarist Don Peris and vocalist/pianist Karen Peris. Los Angeles Tines: "For anyone in need of respite from Madonna's Catholic guilt, The Innocence Mission offers the rarer, intriguing tonic of Catholic joy." Joni Mitchell: "Of all the new singer-songwriters, Karen Peris is the most interesting to me."
	Call And Response My Favorite Song Writers CD $10.00 A step back in time...to when Call and Response were in between the California twee pop sound of their debut and the matured radiance of their recent full length, "Winds Take No Shape". "Tiger Teeth" was recorded over a period of 6 months in 2002. This is a perfect blend of the first Call and Response record and the second, really. The EP is filled with strong catchy, groovy, California pop tunes such as "Nervous Wreck " and " Tiger Teeth." The songs "Connection" and "Messages" features keyboardist Simone Rubi on lead vocals, which is reminiscent of their debut album.
	Various My Favorite Song Writers CD $14.50 This release celebrates the 10th Release Anniversary of Five One, Inc. This is a very special compilation album by Five One, Inc's favorite song writers. All songs are exclusively written and performed by the artists for this project. Featuring solo recordings by Tim Kasher (Cursive/The Good Life), Jim Ward (Sparta), Stephen Brodsky (Cave In), Ryan Ferguson (No Knife), Derek Fudesco (Pretty Girls Make Graves), Yoshino Hisashi (Eastern Youth), Robert Nanna (Hey Mercedes /Braid), Masafumi Isobe (Husking Bee), Pedro Carmona and Lars Heintz (Sister Sonny), Dan Hargest (Pollen), Arabella Harrison (The And Ors). These artists were gracious enough to spend a little time away from their groups and write songs that showcase their individual talents. Many are first time solo artists and offer the listener a passenger seat view at their very first solo efforts. Track List: 01. On Elvira Street by Ryan Ferguson 02. These Years by Jim Ward 03. Nekkikyu by Masafumi Isobe/Corner 04. Couple Next Door by Lars Heintz 05. Stranger Than Strangers by Tim Kasher 06. Last Chance by Arabella Harrison 07. Water Me by Dan Hargest/Sextet 08. AM Jam by Derek Fudesco 09. Beautiful Break-up by Stephen Brodsky 10. Furimukuna by Hisashi Yoshino & M.A.G.O. 11. Birthday #2 by Pedro Carmona/Moonpedro and the New Farm Street Orchestra 12. I’d Rather Be Wine Drunk by Robert Nanna /The City on Film
	Lenz, Frank Slaughter Conquest CD $10.75 Fucking brilliant! Frank Lenz has played in and produced records for Lassie Foundation, Richard Swift, Pedro the Lion, Ester Drang, Duraluxe, Fold Zandura, SF 59, Pony Express, Map, Calico Sunset, Kat Jones, (the list could go on forever), it's no wonder his own solo record is the almost the sound of heaven. From the heart breaking piano ballads to all out stoner-wanking guitar solos Frank Lenz has created a 41-minute masterpiece.
	Carter, Christina Living Contact CD $13.75 The material is made up solely of CHRISTINA CARTER (CHARALAMBIDES) on acoustic guitar & vocals. It was recorded on a boombox & 4 track tape from 1994-98. It reminds us how pivotal CHARALAMBIDES have been as a band & as individuals over the last decade, & proves that the most basic musical tools can still rivet the attention of a listener when they are used by an astute & daring musician. Performed by 1 woman in a room by herself, this music sounds both as old as the hills & utterly contemporary.
	Dolour New Old Friends CD $13.00 Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Shane Tutmarc (Dolour) delivers his unique brand of charming yet sophisticated indie pop through Dolour's latest release New Old Friends on Made in Mexico Records. John Richards, Program Director for KEXP says, "Shane Tutmarc is one of the best songwriters in Seattle, let alone the rest of the music world." From elegant orchestral flourishes to catchy guitar hooks and sing-along choruses, Dolour's music draws comparisons to both pop icons and contemporaries alike, including the Flaming Lips, the Beach Boys, Weezer, Wilco, Squeeze, the Beatles, Elvis Costello, Elliott Smith, Randy Newman, and even Queen.
	L Holy Letters CD $13.25 This release features (It's not a joke): Markus Acher (Notwist/Lali Recorded in 1989 and 1990, Hiroyuki Usui's barely circulated masterpiece of deeply felt self-expression beautifully captures the spirit and substance of a half-dozen key sub-underground pillars of sound. Working with guitar, vocals, vibes, harmonium, bass, drums, cello, field recordings, digeridoo, and more, Usui blends delicate folk, psychedelia, and experimental sounds into a mostly subdued but undeniably glowing suite. The layered but careful instrumentation on the epic title track and "Troll" backs the alternately plain-spoken and crooning vocals perfectly. Odd touches like snatches of throat singing and bowed vibraphone leap out of the mix at just the right time. There are overt references to the blues (the first track is an oblique cover of "Cold Was The Ground") -- but other than the occasional slide guitar touch, the connection is overwhelmingly in the timeless feeling and atmosphere. For anyone who's into Richard Youngs, Popol Vuh, Six Organs of Admittance, Tim Buckley, acid-folk, or Japanese underground, this is an essential purchase. Holy Letters was self-released by Usui in the early '90s and primarily given away to friends, while a handful made it into shops in Tokyo and the U.S. before it disappeared completely. VHF's reissue includes the entire CD and seven-inch from the original package, plus a tenminute bonus track from the original sessions. The gatefold folio with 20-page booklet includes previously unpublished photos and new liner notes by Usui and Ben Chasny (in both Japanese and English).
	Boris Amplifier Worship CD $14.50 With their second full-length album, Boris takes their sludgy, Melvins-influenced doom rock style and gives it a heavy psychedelic slant. The album is divided into five tracks, but like their other albums, Absolutego and Flood, it plays out like one extended piece and is meant to be listened to straight through in one sitting. It starts out with a slow, ugly doom riff that repeats for several minutes before heading into a stretched-out, psychedelic jam section on the lengthy second track, "Ganbou-Ki." After another succession of heavy riffing, psych-rock jamming, and a little bit of up-tempo punk action (the first part of "Kuruimizu," which still retains a Melvins-like feel), they move into several minutes of spacey, surprisingly pretty guitar/bass picking, similar to much of what's on Flood. Finally, they settle into a dense guitar/bass feedback drone à la Earth for the lengthy final track, "Vomitself." The album as a whole feels like a sort of journey in terms of how it opens in one vein, moves through various other sections, and then closes in yet another style, but it also maintains a consistent mood (and they don't use the word "doom" to refer to this type of music for nothing). In any case, Amplifier Worship proves Boris to be on the more innovative (not to mention heavy) end of the sludgedoom metal spectrum and is recommended to open-eared fans of the style; casual listeners, on the other hand, will probably have trouble getting into the album, since it does require some patience. AMG
	Aloha Here Comes Everyone CD $11.00 • LP $9.75 Listen to: Summer Away • You've Escaped Here Comes Everyone launches the retooled Aloha machine with a fury of stick-to-the-ribcage blasts and shimmering ballads. Aloha adds the orchestral pop of the late '60s and the post-prog rock of the '80s to its big-thinking, rhythmn-rich repetoire. Engaging yet contemplative, Aloha crosses the experimental/populist divide. Long-time fans and will find a dreamy, layered soundscape to get lost in. Casual passers-by will find hooks to keep them standing by the speaker. Here Comes Everyone brings the listener on a fevered tour of post-modernity, from the edge cities to the urban enclaves, from buried history to the impending future. What can't be painted with words is told by yearning mellotrons, spikey guitars, and graceful chord changes. With the help of Don Zientara and Chad Clark at Inner Ear/Silver Sonya (where new Aloha member T.J. Lipple works as an engineer), the band sounds warmer than ever, with all the spirit of a basement-show sensation and the gloss and confidence of an arena rocker.
	Sigur Ros Von Brigoi (AKA Recycle Bin) [Icelandic Edition] CD $14.50 The Icelandic version of the "Von" remix album, entitled "Von Brigoi" AKA "Recycle Bin", which is also being released here in the States later this month. Includes remixes of "Von" tracks by Mum, Gus Gus, Sigur Ros themselves, and more! Same tracks as the US version, slightly better price. Tracklist: 1. Syndir Guðs [Recycled by Biogen] 2. Syndir Guðs [Recycled by Múm] 3. Leit Af Lífi [Recycled by Plastmic] 4. Myrkur [Recycled Ila] 5. Myrkur [Recycled Dirty-bix] 6. 180 Sekúndur Fyrir Sólarupprás (Recycled by Curver) 7. Hún Jörð [Recycled by Hassbræður] 8. Leit Af Lífi [Recycled by Thor] 9. Von [Recycled by Gus Gus] 10. Leit Af Lífi [Recycled by Sigur Rós]
	Black Mayonnaise Ttssattsr CD $13.25 Black Mayonnaise is the one-man bedroom doom project of Akron, Ohio's Mike Duncan. This extremely disturbing music features dying Elephant Man gurgles as vocals mixed with detuned sludge metal guitar and an overall cough syrup spacerock feel. Small-minded folk might call it "depressing," but for slow-mo headbangers and psych freaks alike, it serves as a blessing of beautiful bleakness. The relentless lo-fi drum machine has a profound effect on the overall desolate feel of the album -- the nine-minute "Spherics," for example, begins with a grueling six-minute intro of space gurgles and a S-L-O-W Melvins-like kick/snare pattern, but the payoff is immense: a rush of Sabbath-on-16 guitar flood that runs like a river of mayonnaise. Good things come for those who wait. Full of heavy spaced out drum tracks, low distorted sludge bass and pitchshifted vocals. The mood is deep and very, very dark: the waltz of the sewer rats safely tucked beneath the city streets. --The Kettle Black
	Autolux Future Perfect CD $12.25 Los Angeles trio comprised of former members of Failure/Replicants/Lusk, Maids of Gravity, and Ednaswap. "When the Coen brothers started the DMZ music label with bluesman T-Bone Burnett in 2002, cynics expected them to release a series of precious O Brother, Where Art Thou?-style compilations. But the movie mavens took a different route, signing Autolux, an L.A. rock trio that dispenses with Sunset Strip debauchery in favor of a fusion of percolating pop and My Bloody Valentine grandeur. Though it might appear like they were out of their element, the Coens' chose the right band. Autolux soars on this excellent debut, with cascading, fuzzy feedback and joyful, saccharine singing, especially on the psych-pop track Sugarless. But the group isn't merely interested in precocious pop, interspersing muscular tracks within the album that are anchored by Carla Azar's solid drumming. Throughout the course of the record, songs will trail off into a swirling, psychedelic collage, only to be followed by a jolt as the next track accelerates like a nitro-fueled sports car. And, the band can pull off moody rock without becoming the sulking, suit-wearing boys of Interpol, copping an attitude but always returning to kick out the jams. The Dude would definitely approve." - Playboy ================= from URB: "Autolux: Three The Hard Way They’ve survived everything from also-ran bands to a shattered elbow to become the most important band in Los Angeles. Next stop: the world. Los Angeles’ intimate Silverlake Lounge is bursting at the seams. There are hip kids of countless persuasions jockeying for position around the tiny makeshift stage at the end of the bar, upon which actor Giovanni Ribisi (hanging with fellow thespian Tim Roth) was just busted for perching in hopes of a better view in the cramped room. On the stage, clumps of red Christmas lights hang precariously from the rafters while behind the drum set glows an oversized three-dimensional star. When the house lights dim and three slight figures take the stage, the boisterous crowd grows quiet in anticipation. A warped guitar wash is looped into a hypnotic blur which eventually explodes in a rush of sound somewhere between mid-period Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and 3 a.m. on the best college radio station ever. The Christmas lights twinkle in time with the music as the trio — bassist/voice Eugene Goresther, guitarist Greg Edwards and drummer Carla Azar — set about proving exactly why they’re the band most likely to cause a genuine sensation when finally set loose on an unsuspecting music world. A few weeks later, I meet up with Autolux in Goreshter’s nearby loft apartment, where I find them at the tail end of a day spent entertaining similarly smitten journalists. They exude a collective cool most likely gleaned from each member having been on the verge of breakout status with different bands (Edwards in Failure, Goreshter in Maids of Gravity and Azar in Ednaswap, best know as the band that wrote “Torn,” (in)famously covered into a worldwide hit by Natalie Imbruglia). The trio’s debut album, Future Perfect (DMZ/Sony), has already garnered all nature of praise, and one listen bears out the accolades. An androgynous swirl of guitars and Azur’s massive drum style, it’s a sound that’s completely unique, yet comfortably familiar. The legendary T-Bone Burnett, who co-owns the DMZ label with renowned filmmakers the Coen Brothers, produced the album. “T-Bone just created a relaxed environment so we could make the album we wanted,” remembers Goreshter. “He didn’t mess with the songs at all. The best way I can sum up the experience is to talk about the buzz.” The three exchange knowing glances. “When we first got to the studio, there was this awful buzz that just wouldn’t go away, no matter what the engineers did. When T-Bone walked in, the buzzing just stopped, and it never came back.” It’s obvious that Autolux is appreciative of their position, all the more due to a freak accident that could’ve cost Azur her ability to drum. After opening for Elvis Costello at LA’s Kodak Theater, she was talking to a friend at the edge of the stage when the worst happened. “The stage lights went down for Elvis to start his show, and I didn’t realize my feet were tangled in cables. I stood up and fell from the stage onto the concrete floor ten feet below and landed on my elbow.” The elbow shattered, requiring nine metal pins and lengthy physical rehab to repair. She produces a wince-inducing x-ray. According to her bandmates, she is playing better than ever. “She’s got something to prove,” chuckles Edwards. “I was afraid she’d never be able to play again.” Azur looks peeved. “You never told me that,” she retorts. “Way to be supportive.” Goreshter jumps in and reestablishes the peace, steering the conversation to their summer tour of the UK and plans to hit America in the fall. “We’re just really excited,” he says finally. “This is something we all really believe in.”
	Butler, Brandon Killer On the Road CD $11.50 • LP $8.25 New album from Boy's Life, Farewell Bend, Canyon founder, a collection of world-weary songs likened to Neil Young, Steve Earle, etc. Produced by Brendan Canty (Fugazi, Ted Leo).
	Pavement Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins CD $15.00 Pavement's 2nd and best-selling album, reissued as a super-deluxe double-CD with 40-page, perfect-bound booklet and embossed die-cut slipcase. The original 12 tracks that comprised the original album PLUS 39 BONUS TRACKS! 11 B-sides, 8 songs recorded with original drummer Gary Young, 15 never-before-heard album outtakes including 11 UNRELEASED SONGS, as well as 4 songs from a Peel Session. One of SPIN's "Greatest Albums of the 90s" and ROLLING STONE'S "Greatest Albums of All Time." Features the songs Cut Your Hair and Gold Soundz and helped define the slasker sensibility melding mighty blunted 1970s riff with catchy choruses and lyricism spanning California, careerism, and the traumas of war. I believe there was also some type of gorilla suit. Yes, I'm sure of it. = = = = = = = = = "Given the mean age of Pitchfork staffers, this list should be absolutely dripping with My First Indie Album teary-eyed recollections. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is the one album guaranteed to start me a-blubberin', as I remember how discovering "Cut Your Hair" through (no shit) The Countdown to The Headbangers' Ball was my gentle push down the greasy slope of elitism. Which is why I'll forever treasure it as the essential Pavement album. What's remarkable about the album is not its shoestring budget technique, but how friggin' epic the material sounds despite (or possibly because of) being crammed into such humble surroundings. From the Skynyrd-coda of "Stop Breathing" to the California Adventure of "Unfair" to the Quadrophenia mods vs. rockers battle of "Fillmore Jive", Crooked Rain is an album recorded in basement Cinemascope. The twangy monolith at the center, though, is "Range Life", paradoxically featuring some of Stephen Malkmus' most evocative imagery alongside some of his most petty, albeit hilarious and OTM, whining. It's the score to the inevitable slow-motion retrospectives of Pavement's career, and the most moving song of their tenure-- even if you can't really bang your head to it." - Pitchfork Media
	Cat Power Speaking for Trees: A Film by Mark Borthwick CD $21.50 DVD and CD! The long awaited new album from one of the most powerful voices and minds of her generation or any other, 'You Are Free' marks Chan Marshall's first album of original material in nearly four years. Achingly beautiful and carefully crafted, 'You Are Free' is most assuredly not easy listening. Great albums rarely are. Experimental filmmaker, photographer and visual artist Mark Borthwick has completed an elaborate package including a nearly 2-hour-long film of Cat Power playing solo outdoors in the countryside. Shot from a great distance in gloriously grainy color, and recorded with all the ambient sounds of nature, this film in the tradition of Warhol and Wiseman is a fascinating document. The DVD also includes 3 nature films set to music from 'You Are Free', and a CD including a single 18-minute long unreleased song saga entitled "Willie Deadwilder," an outtake from the 'You Are Free' recording sessions. In a slipcase with foldout digipak and 64-page perfect-bound book created and illustrated by Mark Borthwick.
	Sigur Ros Von [Icelandic Edition] CD $14.50 Sigur Ros' debut album, "Von", originally issued in 1997, and never before released outside Iceland. The predecessor to their masterpiece, "Agaetis Byrjun", this is the Icelandic pressing housed in a lovely purple jewelcase. Same tracks as the US version coming out later this month, slightly better price!
	Elliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill CD $15.72 • LP $15.25 Listen to: Twilight Elliott Smith has been a patron saint of the indie scene since his days helming Portland heroes Heatmiser. As a solo artist, his fondness for Beatlesque melody led to some of the most beautifully orchestrated pop of the last decade. This is his final recording, which found him returning to an edgier, guitar-driven sound, alongside his trademark heart-rending balladry.
	American Music Club Love Songs for Patriots CD $12.75 Listen to: Another Morning • Ladies And Gentlemen AMC are back after a ten year hiatus, with the original members. "Love Songs" blends the band's unique mix of rock, folk, country, and jazz with Mark Eitzel's ever-present acerbic, brutally honest lyrics. = = = = = = = = = = = = After a 10-year hiatus, American Music Club is back together!! The band tracked the new songs in San Francisco at Closer Recording Studios and mixed the record at The Echo Lab in Denton, TX with Matt Pence (Centro-matic, South San Gabriel) Mark Eitzel (vocals and guitar) reports that things turned out “much better than I could have ever expected.” “It’s very inspiring to be working with these great musicians once again,” Eitzel recently told RollingStone.com. “We’re pretty different now. I think we’ve changed a lot. You’d have to in ten years, right?” Forming in San Francisco back in 1983, Mark Eitzel, Vudi and Dan Pearson began by synthesizing their love for rock, country, blues, folk, pop and punk, into an incredibly unique and engaging musical melting pot, featuring Eitzel’s enigmatic presence, heartfelt vocals and brilliant songwriting.
	Pinback Summer In Abaddon CD $12.75 • LP $12.75 Listen to: Fortress Although it may seem like gentle pop music at first, the brilliance of "Summer In Abaddon" is slowly revealed over repeated listenings. The songs are buoyant and lively at times, melancholy and dark at others, and always resonate with an underlying intensity. Pinback lays out beautiful melodies that are deceptively complex, layering sounds and instruments upon one another and trading contrasting vocal parts with ease.
	Bloodthirsty Lovers Delicate Seam CD $13.00 Listen to: Listen to: A Postcard From The Sea • Now You Know • The Mods Go Mad Great sophomore release from the Bloodthirsty Lovers, the band led by Dave Shouse of The Grifters and Those Bastard Souls. A longtime fan of both of Dave's previous groups, I was mildly underwhelmed by the first Bloodthirsty Lovers album, but this new record is really tremendous and remniscent of the gorgeous epics on the Those Bastard Souls CD. This is one of those records that I got early from a friend of the band and each time I've played it in the office my co-workers say, "Wow, who is this?" Recommended!
	Ulrich Schnauss A Strangely Isolated Place CD $13.00 Listen to: On My Own• A Letter From Home For fans of M83, Slowdive, U2's "The Unforgettable Fire", Cocteau Twin's star-shimmer, Lanterna's delayed haze, and Orbital's "brown album." RECOMMENDED! Electronic music has rarely found itself a popular home. Switch on your TV set or go to the cinema, however, and you'll discover a world of vast and endless possibilities brought to life with instrumental textures designed to arouse an emotional response. Add some guitars, unforgettable tunes and even a sliver of voice here and there, and you have yourself a soundtrack with instant mass appeal and an emotional vocabulary that is enriched with every single listen. Ulrich's debut album followed these principles perfectly, and this, his long-awaited follow-up A Strangely Isolated Place extends and expands on a formula which is uniquely and unforgettably his own. This is a record with an unashamed love of many forms of popular music, as well as a technologically inspired method of delivery, ...Isolated Place starts off with timeless melodies and embroiders itself with indie stylings, some vocals and a euphoric, larger than life sound that betrays the loneliness of its highly evocative title. Moving away from the widespread fascination with all things 'micro', the scope here is big, although every fragment of sound from the opening melancholy bliss of 'gone forever' to the dusty detuned breakbeat of 'a letter from home' has been carefully wrapped and labelled 'fragile'. For this is music that has been assembled piece by piece, every fragment carefully chosen and given a sense of belonging, a home. Ulrich Schnauss has brought to life a place that you may have never visited, but it's a place that you have always known.
	The Beauty Shop Crisis Helpline CD $19.75 Listen to: Monster • Paper Hearts For Josie • Babyshaker Sophomore album from Champaign-Urbana based band led by singer/guitarist John Hoeffleur with bassist Ariane Peralta. Steve Lamos (The Geese/DMS/American Football/National Skyline/The One-Up Downstairs) plays drums and Rachael Dietkus (Very Secretary) adds violins.
	The Delgados Universal Audio CD $14.50 • LP $15.50 Listen to: Girls Of Valour • The City Consumes Us • I Fought The Angels "ONE OF THE GREATEST BANDS IN THE WORLD" - John Peel "I AGREE. 100%" - Bill Parasol • Four albums into their critically acclaimed careers and The Delgados have decided to throw everyone something of a curve ball. Dispensing with the lush orchestrations of their previous two releases, The Delgados withdrew to their Chem19 studio in Hamilton (just outside Glasgow, Scotland) to record with the help of their long-time collaborator Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Super Furry Animals). When they finally emerged from 4 months of recording, Universal Audio had a sunning melodic sensibility and was a stunning achievement. Smothered in guitars; drenched in hooks; loaded with melodies and overflowing with harmonies, Universal Audio is a pop triumph: articulate, eclectic, overwhelmingly immediate and thoroughly captivating. It represents the same level of seismic leap taken by the band on their third, Mercury nominated album The Great Eastern, and a brave departure from the dark, symphonic follow up of 2002's Hate. Universal Audio sounds more effervescent than its bombastic predecessors - a different feel for a very different record. The Delgados stand out as uniquely gifted songwriters and with Universal Audio -- they have produced a torch song for the great albums of the past and a timeless addition to their increasingly spectacular body of work. The Delgados transcended their early days palling around with Bis beginning with their album Peloton and truly upped the ante with the release of The Great Eastern and Hate, Universal Audio continues in this fine tradition, the delivery may be less claustrophobic ("claustrophobic" being a good element on the past two outings), but ideas still abound. Among many highlights is is the terrific Novak-meets-Brian Wilson (or is it The Melody Unit-meets-XTC?) "Girls Of Valour." I was braced to have one of my favorite bands buckle after their past success. This album is a little different without producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Mogwai, etc) lending a hand, but it's still great!!
	Client City CD $14.75 Listen to: Down To The Underground • Overdrive • In It For The Money Duo formed by Sarah Blackwood (Client B) from Dubstar and Kate Holmes (Client A) from Technique/Frazier Chorus (and wife to Creation/Poptones Records kingpin Alan McGee... right?). Features guest vocal appearances from The Libertines' Pete Doherty and Carl Barat and Depeche Mode's Martin Gore. City was co-produced by Joe Wilson (Sneaker Pimps) and proves to be a bit darker than the material on the duo's debut. According to Client, "The first album was about pills, sex, and prostitution. The new album will be darker, bleaker and more lush." To my ears the album is propelled by a dark, synth groove recalling favorite bands from my formative years - Soft Cell, Heaven 17, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, Pet Shop Boys - and a healthy dose of my beloved Dubstar. Poppy without being sanitized. A stark, sexy brand of electronica grounded in classic songwriting fashion that combines pulsing, machine funk w/classic song writing. “Dance grooves with a provocative edge” - The Guardian • “Client have taken the punky electro sound on to a new level… better than a nicotine rush from a cheeky fag out the widow” - Mixmag • “Enigmatic electro pop” - Uncut • Client are a female electro duo producing stark and compulsive electro pop anthems that combine the incisive and acerbic lyrical wit of The Smiths and the ‘Northern song writer tradition’ with a pulsing, immediate electronic sound reminiscent of Kraftwerk and Joy Division. ‘In It For The Money’ written by Client and co-produced by Client and Joe Wilson (Sneaker Pimps) is a wry riposte to the cynicism of pop culture and is one of many highlights on the eagerly anticipated new album. Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk, who is a major fan of Client’s work and who recruited them as a support act on three of his UK dates last year, had this to say about Client: “Client is witty electro pop coming from a creative mind. And they’re doing it in style. So, if you’re into real people with an attitude you should listen to this!”
	Daydream Nation Bella Vendetta CD $12.00 Listen to: A New Dawn • Neon After releasing an amazing self-titled debut that drew praise from major publications such as The Big Takeover, Skyscraper, Exclaim!, and Creem, Daydream Nation are back with a vengeance on their brand new effort Bella Vendetta. The duo consisting of Pat Vaz on guitar and vocals and Hunter Crowley (formerly of Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Warlocks) on drums were joined on this album by the likes of Brent Rademaker (Frausdots, Beachwood Sparks, The Tyde), Dave Koenig (Brian Jonestown Massacre), and Rob Campanella (Quarter After, Brian Jonestown Massacre) and the results are spectacular. Think prime time Oasis and Soundtrack of Our Lives meets Ride and Swervedriver at their most epic. File under "Arena Shoegaze." “ Rough-hewn dream pop, reminiscent of Ride, The Jesus and Mary Chain and (especially) Swervedriver that is hard to resist. Their guitars are relentless, thick and pedaled into frenzy.” - Skyscraper “ Dirty shoegaze mood drifting through muddy ecstatic guitar fuzz. Heavy mellow, and thick. Elements of Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, and that Jesus and Mary Chain noise break through the guitars and bass, while the vocals drift over it all” - The Big Takeover
	Singapore Sling Life Is Killing My Rock 'N' Roll CD $13.00 Listen to: Life Is Killing My Rock 'n' Roll • Guiding Light Fantastic stuff wholly indebted to The Jesus And Mary Chain's "Psychocandy" - so much so that these sound like they could be outtakes to that seminal record. Very good stuff. Iceland’s dark masters of avant-garage Singapore Sling return to center stage with “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll”, the blistering follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut album, 2003’s “The Curse of Singapore Sling”. “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll” brims with hook-laden, psychedelic-cum-garage pop gems, married with the brute, raw power the band introduced on their debut album. “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll” depicts a nihilistic, renegade world of joyrides, zombies, casual mayhem and devil-may-care self-destruction. Cuts like the title track burst with snarling vocals, primal drum beats, hypnotically wailing keyboards and Singapore Sling’s signature feedback-besotted wall-of-guitars. “Curse Curse Curse” is an unabashed, rump-shaking, manic pop thrill, marked by a penetrating lead guitar hook and propulsive percussion. Intricate keyboards provide additional texture – and, in some instances, menace – throughout the album, most notably on “Guiding Light”.
	Various I Am A Cold Rock, I Am Dull Grass: A Tribute To The Music Of Will Oldham CD $13.75 Listen to: Iron & Wine covers "We All, Us Three, Will Ride" • Calexico covers "I Send My Love To You" Double-CD (2xCD set is limited to the first 500 copies) tribute to Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Music, etc.) featuring Iron And Wine, Calexico, Pinetop Seven, Sodastream, Pale Horse And Rider, The Impossible Shapes, Rivulets, Sorry About Dresden, Scout Niblett, Moyra McBride and Maxon Blewitt, The Strugglers, Boy Omega, Celestine, etc.
	Crippled Pilgrims Down Here: Collected Recordings (1983-1985) CD $12.50 Listen to: Black and White • Down Here • Undone A compilation of recordings (and the digital debut) from one of my most listened to artists of the past 20 years - the criminally unknown (not for long) Crippled Pilgrims of Washington DC! A stunning blend of Dumptruck, Television, Meat Puppets, Wire, The Beatles, Ramones, Grateful Dead, The Rain Parade, Green On Red, and The Dream Syndicate with great vocals by Jay Moglia and guitar by Scott Wingo. "...Last year's 6-song mini-album, Head Down-Hand Out, got the kind of critical raves that are generally reserved for veterans of the music biz, and the new release is certain to follow in it's predecessor's footsteps. Imagine some sort of psychedelic garage combo playing jazz on the side for extra bucks; picture a surreal blending of Televison, Grateful Dead, space cowboy Byrds and Meat Puppets. C.P. are from D.C. and are led by singer/songwriter/cover artist Jay Moglia; Mitch Parker plays bass, Dan Joseph contributes drums and some great piano playing as well, and Scott Wingo handles lead guitar. Of the latter I cannot begin to curb my praise, for the astonishing clarity with which Wingo unleashes his notes is chilling at times, so fluid and on-the-mark are his offerings. While Moglia’s vocals are never 'pretty' or even completely in tune, they seem perfectly suited for his hazy, ambiguous lyrics, recalling at times Lou Reed or perhaps a younger Robyn Hitchcock... I think some will call this album a 'sleeper' - and you WILL be hooked. A fine brilliant album." - Fred Mills circa 1985 (more info/sound samples)
	The Green Pajamas Ten White Stones CD $12.00 Listen to: The Cruel Night • Gazelle • Lost Girls Song With numerous albums released over the years and a strong and dedicated fanbase worldwide, Seattle psychedelic pop outfit The Green Pajamas, led by main songwriter and singer Jeff Kelly (The Goblin Market) with Joe Ross (Capping Day), Eric Lichter, Laura Weller (The Goblin Market/Capping Day), and Scott Vanderpool, enjoys critical recognition from all corners of music journalism, from Entertainment Weekly to Ptolemaic Terrascope. To celebrate The Green Pajamas’ 20th Anniversary, Hidden Agenda will release two CDs of new material. Kicking off is Ten White Stones, recorded live-in-the-studio over two nights at Studio V in Seattle during April of 2004. Ten White Stones offers much more than merely live renditions of Green PJ's classics. Outside of three tracks, "The Cruel Night" and "Lost Girls Song" (both from Northern Gothic), and “(She’s Still) Bewitching Me” (showcased as a steamy lament in this setting), the remaining seven songs are all previously unreleased, including the closer, a slow-burn version of the Hank Williams classic "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)". Jeff Kelly comments, “We were invited by a friend who had been wanting to record us for a while and we decided it could be a fun experiment. It's raw and fairly spontaneous like our live shows.” Looking forward into the new year The Green Pajamas will release a new album on Hidden Agenda tentatively titled The Night Races Into Anna, which Kelly says “will have a great variety of music and production style, which I picture more along the lines of Strung Behind the Sun then say Northern Gothic and some of our more thematic albums." (more info/sound samples)
	The Arcade Fire Funeral CD $12.75 Listen to: Rebellion (Lies) • Neighborhood #2 (Laika) • Wake Up Montreal's Arcade Fire brings a theatricality, an intensity, an insanity, and a penchant for amazing hooks to their debut full-length. You've never heard such energy, beauty, and emotion from such a young band. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Broken Social Scene, The Decemberists, and Roxy Music's first two albums will have a new favorite band.
	Memphis I Dreamed We Fell Apart CD $13.00 Listen to: Love Comes Quickly • Nada • The Second Summer New album by Torquil Campbell from Stars, James Shaw from Metric and Chris Dumont. Great shadowy pop for fans of the Stars, Looper's detached yet heartfelt nature, The Clientele's glorious grey skies, and Trembling Blue Stars' sensitivity bubbling under with a New Wave revisionism as if Vitesse were deciphering and updating Talk Talk and The Blue Nile rather than New Order. As is true of Stars, I'm also very fond of Memphis.
	Matthew Sweet Living Things CD $14.50 Listen to: You're Not Sorry • Push The Feelings • I Saw Red A few months after the completion of Kimi Ga Suki, Matthew Sweet had another burst of inspiration, this time resulting in the brand new abum Living Things. Sweet and drummer Ric Menck (Velvet Crush) laid down the spines of the tracks, with Matthew playing acoustic guitar and singing over Menck’s grooves. String wizard and Sweet regular Greg Leisz showed up to provide his arsenal of axes. Joining him was the legendary Van Dyke Parks on keyboards. Tony Marsico and Pete Phillips from the artist’s touring band added stand-up bass and acoustic guitar, respectively. Sweet topped it all off with his signature touch, singing and stacking the intricate vocal harmonies—and Living Things was alive and kicking.
	Jens Lekman When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog CD $13.00 • LP $11.25 Listen to: You Are The Light (By Which I Travel Into This and That) • The Cold Swedish Winter • Tram #7 to Heaven Highly recommended new album from 23-year-old wunderkind Jens Lekman, the artist formerly known as Rocky Dennis. After three lovely EPs (together a wonderful album in their own right) this the first full-length album from our pop-crooner from Göteborg. In our opinion Jens Lekman is the Swedish Scott Walker, the Scandinavian Morrissey, a Viking Harry Nilsson, a Nordic Stephin Merritt, and the Arctic Circle's very own Divine Comedy, with hints of Orange Juice, Modern Lovers, and Belle & Sebastian thrown in for good measure... Lusciously lo-fi orchestral pop bliss combines late-60's soft pop (lotsa piano) with sampledelic beats and a sweet voice full of camp and heartbreaking melancholy and distinctive turns of phrase, morose to the point of paralysis or catharsis he hasn't sorted out which. The album has no overlap with tracks from the EPs and features brass and string sections, a capella singing, steel drums, piano, and mandolin.
	Headlights The Enemies EP CD-EP $5.75 Listen to: Centuries • It Isn't Easy To Live That Well This is the 4 song debut from the ashes of Absinthe Blind. Erin Fein, Tristan Wraight, Seth Fein, and Brett Sanderson, the surviving members of Absinthe Blind, retooled shortly after their band's break-up and quickly came up with new material. These four songs were recorded by Brett (The Beauty Shop/Triple Whip/Cortisol/The April Crash) and Aaron McCallister and was mixed by producer Adam Schmitt (who's currently at the top of his game with new releases recorded by The Blackouts, Velvet Crush, The Beauty Shop). A new name was less easy to find as the band have performed as Orphans, Orphan, and Enemies over the past few months, prior to settling on a name that should stick: Headlights.
	The Blue Nile High CD $16.75 Listen to: I Would Never • She Saw The World • High Fourth album from longtime Scottish popsters does not disspoint!! This is twilight mood music featuring Paul Buchanan's evocative, buttery croon and lush cinematic instrumentation. High is music for poets and romantics to score the films in their melacholic minds - perfect for the slow-motion scene of a protaganist reflecting alone in the apartment at 2:00 am, for the steady-cam shot of the last dance (or the first dance), or for simply rolling the end credits. The Blue Nile have long been a standby in my record collection nestled somewhere amid old vinyl LPs from Tears For Fears and Talk Talk, Prefab Sprout and early-Everything But The Girl. • "Inexpressibly lovely." - Q Magazine • "Some just don't get it. Then there are those of us, more than you might think, who fall silent, cross themselves and genuflect whenever they're mentioned. If they speak to you, if you feel them, The Blue Nile's soulful, resolute records are as exquisite as records get." - The Independent • "Every second of it's on the brink of something; it makes emotional sense, it's the truth. It encourages you to put your own yearnings in there, whoever you are. It's an Edward Hopper, the ordinary as miracle, quietly burning. If Hats was top, High is sky." - Uncut • "As they have repeatedly proved in the past, the end always justifies the wait... the real magic of The Blue Nile is the depth of feeling Buchanan is able to convey with so few, sometimes seemingly random words. it is a rare thing to be able to say." - Hi-Fi World
	Thirdimension Permanent Holiday CD $12.00 Listen to: Black and Blue • Holiday • Last Real People • Only Healer Thirdimension crank up the swoon and the swagger on their second Hidden Agenda release, Permanent Holiday, the follow-up to their debut album Protect Us From What We Want (released in Sweden in 1998 and in the U.S. in 2002), a critically acclaimed collection of glossy Brit-Pop epics, rowdy garage-rock odes, ethereal electro hymns, and larger-than-life guitar anthems, rendered with fervent devotion. In unanimously positive response to their debut reviewers dropped names like The Beatles, Blur, Super Furry Animals, Doves, The Byrds, The Who, The Kinks and fellow Swedes The Soundtrack of Our Lives. The 11 songs that comprise Thirdimension's new album are of a shimmering, melodic, and willfully grandiose stripe of classic rock-n-roll. Mellifluous orchestral maneuvers, swaggering proto-pop, nimble prog fancy, and Volvonic garage rock. Grounded in sensual neo-psychedelia but evoking much more, Thirdimension translate traditional late sixties British Invasion artists like The Who, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, and The Small Faces, for a not so brave new world. Like their debut , Permanent Holiday was recorded and produced by Thirdimension and Christoffer Lundquist at The Aerosol Grey Machine. The album features a special transatlantic-vocal guest star spot by Caroline Schutz (vocalist for Hidden Agenda labelmates Folksongs For The Afterlife) on "The Only Healer", a spine-tingling duet. (more info/sound samples)
	Guided By Voices Half Smiles of the Decomposed CD $13.00 • LP $10.75 Listen to: Gonna Never Have To Die • Everybody Thinks I'm A Raincloud Here is the last Guided By Voices album. Not in the sense of "Here is the previous Guided By Voices album," but in the sense of "final." If it’s true in movies where the voice-over says "You never really appreciate something until it’s gone," and the credits roll, and you leave the theater with little bits of popcorn stuck to your shoes, then you will soon appreciate Guided By Voices. Because following this album and its ensuing tour, the band will be gone. After twenty-odd years, twenty-odd lineups, and twenty-odd albums, EPs, singles, triples, stolen bases, misdemeanor convictions, and broken hearts, Dayton, OH’s fortunate sons are taking leave of your senses. Half Smiles Of The Decomposed is the most serious and mature album in years from GbV - a record more akin to those recorded in the mid-'90s than the most recent releases. It's influenced at the same time by both American and British veins of mid-60s chime-pop, pointing out the intricate interweaving guitar lines, the stunning wordplay, the vastly melancholic and somehow still uplifting tone, the impeccably tossed off phrasing, and even the stately, plump rhythm section.
	Poster Children On The Offensive CD-EP $6.00 Clampdown • Complicated Game A mini-album of cover songs inspired by the United States’ current political climate. “We decided to record this batch of political songs because we're pissed off and we don't feel like keeping it to ourselves,” explains guitarist/vocalist Rick Valentin. “One politician, one musician or one citizen isn't going to change the world but if enough of us speak out and more importantly VOTE we can make things better. That's not crazy idealistic hippie talk, that's democracy and democracy is punk rock! This CD is just one more snowflake on the snowball aimed at toppling over an administration leading our country down the primrose path.” Register to vote. (more info/sound samples)
	22 Pistepirkko The Nature of 22-Pistepirkko 1985-2002 Collection DCD $12.00 Listen to: Motorcycleman This low-price import DCD collection offers an unabashed peek into the peculiar phenomenon of veteran Finnish trio 22-Pistepirkko (translates as "22-ladybug"). The band’s sound and diabolical dynamic, remarkably consistent over the span of the 17-year career embraced here, is a luminous, surreal, guitar-based electro-pop and proto-garage-psychedelia blended with elements of acoustic folk and spaced-out bohemian blues-rock. Easily one of Scandinavia’s most eccentric and evocative pop acts, 22-Pistepirkko are like The Clinic in a prescription-only fog, The Kinks in keyboard overload, Primal Scream woozy on moonshine and maracas, a lo-fi Pet Shop Boys whose disco ball has escaped earth orbit, and T. Rex savant Marc Bolan, who 22-P vocalist PK is often compared to. 22-Pistepirkko are slightly weird, slightly childish, slightly psychedelic, slightly awkward, slightly rockin', but mostly epic, genius, and supremely Finnish. Disc one (1986-1994) leans on wired blues-tinged organ-driven garage-rumble and sublime vocal yelps, sizzling with fuzz-guitars and maracas… Truly a marvel of anthropological and historical musical freakery, everything the band does, from simplex to complex, is rendered in a deliriously odd way. Disc two (1996-2002) finds the band exploring their synthier side, set loose upon a stack of mesmerizing pop songs, skewed melodies, luxuriant ambient textures, tweaked drum-n-bass brazenry, all performed on traditional instruments and lovingly swaddled in echoing studio expressionism.
	Angie Heaton Let It Ride CD $12.00 Let It Ride • Easier When You're Here Let It Ride is the third album from Illinois singer-songwriter Angie Heaton, a former member of Corndolly, Liquorette and Tractor Kings. Angie's music is a kaleidoscope of influences, her albums lovingly assembled scrapbooks filled with torn pages from yearbooks and journals, concert tickets worn down from the washing machine, dog-eared photos of backyard parties and summer vacations. Every song Angie writes is a love letter that never got mailed, a list of hopeful New Year's resolutions, diary-personal, fragile, beautiful, and real. Angie’s songs are about crushes and death… and being crushed to death, while her phrasing falls comfortably behind the beat like Willie Nelson, with a voice recalling Lucinda Williams and Garrison Starr. Features guest appearances from Ric Menck (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet, The Tyde), Neilson Hubbard, L.P., and Gina Villalobos. 11 songs including a cover of the Cheap Trick classic “Downed." (more info/sound samples)
	Sukilove You Kill Me (AHA!068) CD $12.00 Girl On The Moon • Start A Life • 1234 • You Kill Me On You Kill Me listeners will find the catharsis that deserve to make this Belgian band a household name on two continents! Pascal Deweze (Chitlin' Fooks, Shadowgraphic City, Metal Molly, Mitsoobishy Jacson, Nemo - he's also played on albums by Bettie Serveert and Alex Chilton) and his band have loaded up their keen ability to craft pop songs and wheeled their amplifiers over to the dark side of the nightclub. You Kill Me showcases building melodies, swelling arrangements, a driving undercurrent, and pure tension-release expertly recorded in studios in the US and The Netherlands and produced by John Morand (Sparklehorse, Labradford, Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, etc.). Dense production, a wall of sound, and Pascal's wonderful songwriting and acute wit prove You Kill Me to be a stupendous new album!! The album is - for lack of a better phrase - far more Lennon than McCartney this time out. While still melodic and well-sung, there seems to be a lot more upheaval in these tunes; less like Wilco's pop adventurism and more like Franz Ferdinand deciphering Radiohead's rock experimentalism or channeling an angry, young Elvis Costello. Yes, this is the type of record for which NME should be writing 2 page reviews. Great lyrics spilled over dark, driving, brilliant music (that doesn't skimp on the hooks!) from a band led by a tremendous songwriter, inspired performer, and one helluva guy. Let the music do the talking and try to pin down your favorite song. I simply adore 3 or 4 songs here and it’s tough to choose a favorite, when they're ALL favorites! These guys kill me. Aces!(more info/sound samples)
	Kevin Tihista's Red Terror Wake Up Captain CD $12.00 Good Wings • Damn the Weather • Family Curse Stupendous third album by Chicagoan Kevin Tihista. Kevin has played with Triple Fast Action, Veruca Salt, Menthol, and Guided By Voices' Tobin Sprout, but it's when Kevin is at the helm, in front of the microphone with his guitar and his very own songs, that he shines the brightest. On "Wake Up Captain" Kevin once again reunites with producer Ellis Clark (Epicycle, June & The Exit Wounds, Chamber Strings, Nikki Sudden) and delivers his most stirring album to date. Balancing clever insights, extreme wit, and tender frailty into a cinematic - nearly visual - song cycle that mines themes of the paralyzing insecurity and the boundless safety found in love and life. The duality of strength and weakness, sentimentality and sarcasm are presented with honest, intimate realism, a sense of humor, and gorgeous vocals echoing myriad influences. I've heard folks claim that Kevin's classic style reminds them of everyone from Terry Hall and Todd Rundgren to Elliott Smith and Harry Nilsson. The common thread here might simply be Kevin's terrific voice and direct approach. As far as I'm concerned all of these supposed influences are starting to sound more like Kevin than the reverse. The mind is a tricky thing after all. Like Joe Pernice (Pernice Brothers, Scud Mountain Boys, Chappaquiddick Skyline) and Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, Twin Princess), Kevin Tihista is one of those pop songwriters that just seems to "get it." (more info/sound samples)
	Low "A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: B-Sides & Rarities" Venus • Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me • Open Arms 3xCD + 1xDVD Box Set $37.50 At long last, an exhaustive compilation of B-sides, rarities, outtakes & never before heard demos from the past 10 years of Low's career! Features more than 53 songs assembled by the band, over 3 discs, this ranges from their very first bedroom recordings in 1993 all the way through the vinyl-only cuts from "Trust." Bound together w/a 4th DVD disc, w/all 11 videos, 3 live songs & a series of documentaries by Marc Gartman. 32 page booklet w/song descriptions & commentary by the band, all wrapped up in a pretty white & blue cardboard box! 7 songs are exclusive to the boxset! Includes covers of Heartbeat (Wire), I Started A Joke (Bee Gees), Long Long Long (Beatles), Lord Can You Hear Me? (Spacemen 3), Blue-Eyed Devil (Soul Coughing), Back Home Again (John Denver), Surfer Girl (Beach Boys), Blowin' In The Wind (Bob Dylan), Open Arms (Journey), I Love (Tom T. Hall), Carnival Qeen (Jandek), Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me (The Smiths), and Fearless (Pink Floyd). Essential listening from the slowcore elite. Like Galaxie 500 on barbituates, like Spacemen 3 singing and strumming quietly from the last pew, and like Mazzy Star under the ether. Excellent.
	M83 "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts" (plus Bonus Disc) $14.75 Run Into Flowers • Unrecorded Highly anticipated domestic release of the critically lauded French act M83. "Dead Cities..." album includes a Bonus Disc with five additional tracks and 2 videos, packaging not available on any import. Brilliant sophomore album by this duo from Antibes, France. Highly recommended fans of My Bloody Valentine, Ulrich Schnauss, Glifted, Guitar, Manitoba, and The Avalanches. "Air meets My Bloody Valentine meets total sex. It's simply totally amazing." -NME
	Eskju Divine Darkness All Around EP CD $7.00 Darkness All Around • Outshine • The Five-Sixer Tremendous EP that satisfies like a full-length CD! Spacious pop that comes off like Coldplay, without the indie-cred busting baggage! Eskju Divine (say "S-Q Divine") are an ethereal, Swedish, power-trio who have chosen to forgo guitars, relying merely on piano, bass and drums. Yes, I know, Keane (this year's Coldplay) follow the same blueprint, and I actually like all 3 bands, but none more than Eskju Divine... except maybe for that song "Yellow." That said, you will not believe the heights of anthemic grandeur and lush bombast the band ascends to, an incredible dynamic, guitars would just get in the way! For fans of the aforementioned bands, Starsailor, Jeff Buckley, etc.
	The Heavy Blinkers"The Night And I Are Still So Young" CD $10.50 Filtered Light • In The Morning • Try Telling That To My Baby • The Night And I Are Still So Young New album from Parasol faves The Heavy Blinkers. Long considered one of the best pop bands in Canada, the Blinkers have reached a new maturity with this stunningly orchestrated pop masterpiece. Two years in the making, "The Night And I Are Still So Young" consolidates the nocturnal orchestrations of The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev and grafts them onto material akin to 70's era Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman. This album finds the five Blinkers collaborating with over 25 auxilliary players to help create a symphonic tapestry that is as rich and dense as you're likely to hear this year.
	The Jan Martens Frustration "Pole Position" CD5 $4.00 Pole Position • Get Along, Get Together Coming up this Fall on Hidden Agenda is the self-titled debut album of honest-to-Odin Swedish Rock from The Jan Martens Frustration, featuring former members of The Nymphet Noodlers, with a guest appearance from Martin Hederos (Hederos & Hellberg, The Soundtrack of Our Lives). About 30 of you will recall The JMF’s H-Bomb Club EP from 2002. Getting the ball rolling we have a brand new three-song single. Features "Pole Position" from the upcoming album, plus “Catch As Catch Can” (exclusive), and “Get Along, Get Together”, a killer tune taken from the aforementioned 2002 EP. A muscular squall of overdriven vintage amps and cosmic effects coiled around powerhouse retro hooks. A retro vibe that encompasses the 60s, 70s, 80s… Leans more towards the Union Carbide Production side of the spectrum, big riffs leavened with bigger riffs, with sweet little sojourns into Pink Floyd and TSOOL territories.
NEXT

PARASOL's DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE The Parasol 5-Star serves to highlight our favorite releases for the month. Although many music retailers - from the big guys to the small fries - have found that selling product positioning on store shelves, on-line shops, e-mail marketing messages, and listening stations is a lucrative money generator, no money has been exchanged between Parasol and the bands or labels involved for this consideration. Our 5-Star releases are profiled because of the impact they've made upon our ears, hearts and minds - not because of a desire to improve our advertising revenue. For us, this is still a labor of love, not money. Rest assured that if we tell you we love a particular record, that it is a genuine recommendation from a fan, not a sales pitch that has been auctioned to the highest bidder. Furthermore, we are not members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) or any buying coalitions. We are not beholden to any outside interests, but are bound solely to our valued customers, our personal tastes, and an addictive yearning to find new music. Parasol Purity. Payola free since 1991. No additives. More real cheese flavor.