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Updated 6/26/03 Release dates [among other things] subject to change. Our mailorder pages feature all the titles below-- and more-- sorted by release date at the following links:
6/2/03,
6/16/03,
and
6/23/03.
Our May 2003 new release page can be found here.
If you need to see further into the future, Revolverwise, there's no better starting point than here.
Yes, this page displays funny to those of you on Mac systems using the Safari browser. However, as much as we love it, until Safari's out of beta, we won't be altering the page design to accommodate its adorable quirks...  CUT-OUTInterlude With Fun Machine (STARLIGHT FURNITURE CO *18) CD Released the week of June 2nd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
Steve Fisk (Pell Mell, Pigeonhed) and Bob Beerman (Pell Mell) approached Interlude With Fun Machine in a similar manner to their work in Pell Mell: set up a pattern, offset it with a contrasting pattern, layer on a counter-pattern, and so on. But where Pell Mell's renown derives from a signature guitar-based sound, Cut-Out relies on textures, patterns, found sounds, presets, rhythm boxes, inversion of background and foreground elements, and a very deadpan sense of humor.
Fisk and Beerman were first introduced to The Fun Machine's charms when Pell Mell were recording the Star City album with Tchad Blake. Almost all of the tracks on Interlude With Fun Machine started with this arresting home organ's built-in rhythm box and chord accompaniment presets. Anyone who gets buzzed from the warm glow of keyboards such as the Optigan and the Mellotron will find plenty to intoxicate here. Music performed by Fisk and Beerman in their other configurations has found temporary residence in diverse upscale audio trailer parks such as a Microsoft commercial, Kids in the Hall's Brain Candy film, the short film Green Monster (shown on PBS's P.O.V.), MTV's Road Rules, Sex and The City, Six Feet Under, lots of NPR between-feature snippets, the film Joy Ride, ER, and others. Interlude With Fun Machine is similarly soundtrack ready.
The all-instrumental album was recorded in one week, and benefits from noticeable inspiration from Hematic Sunsets' (aka Asmus Tietchens) odd combination of kitschy lounge and soundtrack-ish music and "modern" electronic sounds; the casual, DIY, homespun aesthetic of French Paddleboat; classics such Dieter Moebius's Tonspuren and, of course, Eno's Another Green World; The Young Marble Giants' unadorned rhythm boxes and Wurlitzer frailty; and minimal electronic music by Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, Cabaret Voltaire, Pyrolator, Cluster, Harmonia, et al.).
30-second RealAudio excerpts: At it Again Released the week of June 2nd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
After a string of successes as producer of eccentric electronica for well respected labels Plug Research and Eastern Developments (run by Prefuse 73), Daedelus hooked up with emcees Busdriver and Radioinactive to produce Mush's February 2003 hit, The Weather. Using the instrumentals of that album as a base, Daedelus has chopped, relayered, remixed, twisted, and given life to a new instrumental project dubbed Rethinking The Weather. Fans of the original should take note that this is not your typical hiphop instrumental album, where the music is remixed without the vocals. Although the original was used as a starting point, the end result is something entirely unique and a glimpse into the mind of a one-of-a-kind artist.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Fin
Released the week of June 16th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder That Cambodia Rocks CD tapped into a serious jones for Vietnam War-era Cambodian psychedelic surf/garage rock. Given the dodgy availability of such releases, there are reasons aplenty to hail the arrival of Dengue Fever-- in vivid, stark, hallucinatory reality, an actual, real live band. Fronted by amazing vocalist Chhom Nimol, Dengue Fever has surprisingly universal appeal. Chhom herself is already quite accustomed to seizing the hearts of listeners (including the King and Queen of Cambodia), as she comes from a family best considered as a Cambodia pop music dynasty-- not unlike a Cambodian version of the Jacksons. The rest of the band is no flake-fest either, consisting of Zac Holtzman (Dieselhed) and his brother Ethan on Farfisa organ, Seenon Williams (Radar Brothers), David Ralicke (Beck) and seasoned drummer/engineer Paul Smith. Their covers stay remarkably true to the crazy party music spirit of the '60s- and '70s-era originals. But there are also original songs, some of which veer off into the darkened corridors of lost love and ghostly noir romanticism, dissolving sometimes into spaces of genuine bleakness and tragedy-- all in the Khmer tongue. Far from mere novelty or cheap Orientophile thrill, Dengue Fever keeps listeners on their toes, dancing to their way-out tones.
Chhom Nimol and Dengue Fever recently got a taste of Homeland Security en route to a performance on the eve of a code orange alert; Chhom was pulled from the car by the San Diego border patrol, and sent to jail where she kicked it with Latina gangsters for 22 days. We can all feel safer now.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Lost in Laos Released the week of June 2nd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
On James William Hindle's new full-length album Prospect Park, you can almost hear the artist coming-of-age; there's of evidence of both introspection and reckoning. As on his acclaimed debut album, wistful, delicately strummed melodies are strewn with hope and acoustic longing, but on Prospect Park, there's also the definite sound of a maturity found. You can expect nothing less than sheer loveliness and loneliness from this British folk-pop balladeer. Aficionados of fine-crafted songs might detect a faint Elephant-6-esque thread running through the songs, as Hindle is ably backed up on these proceedings by members of The Essex Green, The Ladybug Transistor, Sunshine Fix, and Aden.
Through it all shines an undeniable pop sensibility, a wistful lyricism and an assurance that these songs will endure. -Comes with a Smile
The subtleness of Hindle's work makes his tunes feel as much like bubbles as music, with the iridescent shapes floating on updrafts of cello and tiny currents of finger-picked guitar. -SF Weekly
Hindle's melodic pop-folk songs immediately transport you into a certain state of being, an emotional place more than a geographic one. Hindle's voice also has the perfect mix of weariness and optimism, giving the songs hope to match their sadness. -Pop Matters
30-second RealAudio excerpts: You Will be Safe Released the week of June 23rd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
The mind-numbingly violent sounds of The Hospitals are among the ugliest ever to creep out of Portland, Oregon. This remarkable guitar-and-drums duo assault their instruments and audience in a way that could be described conservatively as wildly aggressive and frantically crazed, deliberately harsh and unapologetically brutal. Drummer / vocalist Adam Stonehouse attacks his kit in a style that has to be seen to be believed (any description would only trivialize it), all the while screaming as if he were passing kidney stones. Guitarist Roddy thrashes away with kinetic and spastic riffs that would make Greg Ginn proud. Influenced by the likes of Flipper, The Scientists, Electric Eels, Japanese noise bands, power tools and pro wrestling, the "music" of The Hospitals is not for the squeamish or feint of heart or eardrum. Brevity is the order of the day here, because, really, how long does one need for the aural equivalent of a knife assault? Seriously.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Song 1 Released the week of June 2nd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
A band who have justifiably been championed across the world, Tokyo's Melt-Banana have been responsible for some of the most complex punk rock ever made ... that far outshines ninety-nine percent of most other bands out there. The band once described their live show as "Shooting machine gun and laser beam, chaos in order." And I think that pretty much sums them up. - Olli Siebelt, BBC
No wave without the self-conscious pretension, avant garde composition compressed into one-minute-or-less bursts, urgency, intricate destruction, pure glorious abandon. Melt-Banana play the same way that Repulsion, Naked City, The Ruins, or The Boredoms all make you want to scream and dance and kill your neighbors. This is not music that we are conditioned to accept. This is you delirious with joy scraping your five senses off the floor.-Matthew Moyer, ink19
Melt-Banana are in a league of their own. There are other extreme hardcore bands out there who are experimental and unique but Melt-Banana are more than that. They area giants amongst infants. Masters amongst pupils. Kings amongst serfs. Nobody can do what they do and nobody can adequately use words to describe them. -Jeb, Crass Menagerie
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Phantasmagoria
Released the week of June 2nd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
To say that Freestyle Fellowship significantly influenced West Coast hiphop is like saying that Jesus was a pivotal figure in Christianity. --Pitchfork
Myka Nyne of the legendary Freestyle Fellowship is back with his new solo full length, Work In Progress-- the first on his own M9 imprint. Featuring over seventy minutes of trademark Myka Nyne lyrics and styling, Work In Progress showcases each and every aspect of his style-- from slow burners to lightning flow, from nu-soul to battle raps. The release features standout guest spots from RBX, Brother J of the X-Clan, Tajai of Souls of Mischief, and Saafir of Hobo Junction. A-List production is handled by Joseph Leimberg, RC, and Myka himself. With one of the most impressive back catalogs in underground hiphop (Inner City Griots, To Whom It May Concern, Haiku D'Etat, Timetable, It's All Love), Myka Nyne has proven himself as not only an artistic force but as one of the most recognizable names in independent hiphop. Work In Progress should go down as another landmark in the already notable career of this fiercely independent artist.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Fanfare Released the week of June 16th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
Nudge is the Northwest indietronica supergroup headed by Outward Music Company label head Brian Foote and featuring musicians who've played in Fontanelle, Jackie-o-Motherfucker, Emergency, Nice Nice, Jessamine, Strategy and Sunn. For the past five years Nudge has attracted an estranged ark full of talented musicians for marathon improvisations and edits that result in perfectly glitched future musics. Alongside core members Honey Owens and Paul Dickow, Foote battles the source-fragments' natural entropy by coercing them into a near-seamless collage. At its best, the fusion is both ear-pleasing and inebriating. Points of reference become irrelevant as layer upon layer of influence smudge into a unique flavor of rave-damaged art pop. From the thump-and-bounce jank of disassembled funk jumbles like "Poor Impulse Control" to the half-calm lilt of "Blue Screen" (a torch song about system failure), an energetic anxiety floats Elaborate Devices For Filtering Crisis. Nudge seems almost in harmony with their technology, but at odds with themselves.
Much of Elaborate Devices For Filtering Crisis takes the live-meets-programmed promises of their debut Trick Doubt one step further by introducing human vocals, alternate controllers and cross-patched instrumentation. That Nudge can explore experimental working methods (those who have seen the band live can attest to their tangled MIDI rigs and appalling amounts of gear more fitting of a rock band), while still evoking simultaneous moods of mischief, sadness, frustration, surprise, and ecstasy is astonishing enough; that they can do so while retaining a commitment to performing live what would ordinarily be sequenced is more impressive still. Nudge makes their complex, multi-layered, tech-soul songs sound almost embarrassingly organic.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Blue
Screen
Released the week of June 2nd, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
Matt Haines (born Mateo Hernandez) moved from his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, to the border town of Tijuana when he was twelve years old. During his teenage years, he and his friends regularly snuck across the border into the United States for fun, back when it was easy for a small bunch of teenagers. One of their favorite routes was the set of one-way pedestrian bridges from San Ysidro (US) to Tijuana. Pedestrians crossing from the US to Mexico traveled in one direction on one bridge, and return traffic used the other. However, it was possible to climb among the support struts underneath the southbound bridge, and sneak into the US undetected.
Matt has since moved to the United States, changed his name, and has had a successful recording career for the past seven years. But The Rip Off Artist still remembers fondly the times he crossed the border, going north on the southbound bridge to sneak "in through the out door." This release on Tigerbeat6 is about that period of his life. On In Through The Out Door, he has created a playful world of found voices, peppy rhythms and smart-ass musical references. The music harkens back to his The Kids Are Alright album from 2000, with glitchy electro-fried beats and hummable pop aspects rarely found in modern electronica, which is what makes Tigerbeat6 a perfect home for it.
As the Rip Off Artist, Haines done three full-lengths, six 12-inch EPs, and numerous compilation tracks for labels such as Hot Air, Mille Plateaux, Tigersushi, Massive Advance, City of Angels, Sub Rosa (a glitch house release on a new Mo'Wax / XL sublabel is forthcoming). He's also had previous drum'n'bass and electro releases on labels like BottomHeavy / Moonshine, and Spinyl; compilation appearances on legendary Miami bass label Pandisc and old school electronica labels Instinct, Moonshine, and Streetbeat (mixed by people like AK1200 an DJ Dan). He's done remixes for acts like Crystal Method, DeeJay Punk Roc, John Tehada even lounge legends Dean Martin and Julie Sway.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Fuzzbottom Released the week of June 16th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
Swell is the quintessential San Francisco band. They've been compared to Bay Area pioneers like Pavement, American Music Club and Red House Painters and similarly have found more fans in Europe and South China than in their own notoriously fickle hometown. They recorded their first album, Swell, in 1989 and released it on their own Psycho-Specific label. In 1994, Swell were one of the first bands to release an album on Rick Rubin's new Def American label.
Bastard & Rarities culls songs from out of print EPs and 7-inch singles released during their early years of 1989 through 1994. Recorded on the second floor of a warehouse at 41 Turk Street in San Francisco, the album so evokes gritty realism that traffic from the street below is audible. Showcases are the trademark sound of David Freel's scratchy acoustic guitar and deadpan whisper, the hypnotic cadence of Sean Kirkpatrick's textured drumming, and the steely bass lines of Monte Vallier. Although a collection of songs recorded at different times, Bastards has a remarkably cohesive feel and flow, almost as if they knew these songs would someday end up side by side.
While never predictably "experimental," Swell are riveting in their refusal of all ingratiating pop conventions. Filled with mise-en-scène sounds (footsteps, ringing phones), 41 resembles an aural black-and-white movie of San Francisco's hard-luck Tenderloin district. Bassist Monte Vallier and drummer Sean Kirkpatrick join Freel on these lean life studies, fashioning an ambient folk music capable of sparking disturbing epiphanies. -Rolling Stone
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Come
Tomorrow Released the week of June 16th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
Political activist and sex symbol, downhome bluesman and urbane stylist, Josh White's credentials as a genuine representative of Southern blues and gospel traditions were undeniable. Empty Bed Blues was his final record for Elektra, and this reissue should help reestablish a place in music history for this remarkable musician who has received relatively scant attention in blues circles over the past decades.
With Elektra White rode the wave of the '60s folk revival, subsequently becoming one of the most popular performers on college campuses. With hundreds of amateurs jumping on the folk music bandwagon, White stood out with his brilliant guitar work, radiant stage presence, and seasoned professionalism.
White relied on his past repertoire-- songs that were unfamiliar to his new audience and beloved by his old fans. All of the songs on Empty Bed Blues (except the Bessie Smith-associated title track) had been recorded by White during the '30s and '40s, and despite the sexy cover, only half dealt with secular themes: "Mother On That Train" was originally recorded by White's mentor Blind Joe Taggart, while the other four religious songs were popular in the jubilee tradition; a 1935 single by White had paired "Home In That Rock" and "Paul and Silas"; on the blues side, "Backwater Blues" is another classic from the Bessie Smith songbook, while the standard "Bottle Up And Go" is associated with the Memphis Jug Band and Tommy McClennan; the White composition "Baby Baby Blues" was initially recorded by the white stage singer Libby Holman, with whom White toured and recorded in the '40s; and "That Suits Me" was originally cut by White in 1934.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Empty Bed Blues Released the week of June 16th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
why? grew up in Cincinnati playing kickball in the cul de sac and watching 8-bit Nintendo in his big brother's attic bedroom. The minor key melodies of religious music and the tight belt, tight-laced shoes of his soft-spoken middle childhood in part provide the impetus for why?'s candytime-dissonant, singsong-suicide style. In addition to his membership in cLOUDDEAD and reaching quiet, why? has collaborated with Hood, Fog, boombip, jel and sole; he has toured the world twice, performed two Peel Sessions under the cLOUDDEAD moniker, and is admired by Boards of Canada, Mum, Stereolab, Danielson Famile, The Notwist and Mogwai. why?'s quirky production and infectious melodies are merely sugar coating for the contents of a young man with unbuttoned lips and a gut spitting words. oaklandazulasylum, why?'s first official self-produced full-length release, is fourteen lonely art songs recorded over two years' time. With sharp focus and visceral lyrics set in decisive production, each song maintains individuality while positioned to fulfill its unique role in the record's sequence. why?'s rapped and crooned poem parts are a grief-like laugh with the western world, and through the eyeholes of a catchy candy song mask outpour the half-empty honests of a man in moods. The audio equivalent to the slideshow presentation of a clowncar crash, oaklandazulasylum is dirty drum digital dark folk catered to the raw sensibilities of hiphop in headphones.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: Ferriswheel FLASH! Release date MOVED to the week of July 14th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
In the spring of 2002, Mush Records embarked on its first organized tour. After two weeks of rehearsal in Los Angeles, seventeen people climbed aboard a tour bus for 30 North American and nine European shows. Headlined by cLOUDDEAD, the bill also included Reaching Quiet (backed by a full rock band), Boom Bip & Doseone, Radioinactive (with his Pyramidi all-stars band in full costume), and Labtekwon. The final two shows in the US (San Francisco at The Great American Music Hall) and Los Angeles (at The El Rey) were professionally recorded (video and audio) and have been mixed down along with candid footage shot during the rest of the tour for this 90-minute DVD. The track list includes the best tracks from the artist's Mush releases and is a testament to the amazing live show and hard work that made Mush's first tour an overwhelming success.
Released the week of June 16th, 2003 order from Midheaven mailorder
Originally intended to be the fifth Tigerbeat6 release, this compilation has been completed after more than three years. The compositions were created to induce trances, removed states of mind, and sleep. Avoiding his usual samples'n'rhythm schizophrenia, Kid606 culls three guitar compositions from three years of recordings similar to his Why I Love Life EP and Mille Plateaux releases. The somber trilogy of songs by Stephan Mathieu aka Full Swing (who has remixed Yo La Tengo, Kit Clayton and Monolake, and received critical acclaimed for solo and collaborative work) are comfortable musical pillows. Ex-Ultra Vivid Scene frontman Kurt Ralske takes a break from his live visual work as part of 242 Pilots to provide the impressively desolate "Lilyguilding," as well as four dreamlike Quicktime movies inspired by the project and its other musicians. Electric Company's ethnically flavored, shifting, two-part composition hypnotizes and draws one away from one's surroundings. Ambient/experimental laptop ambassador from Australia Pimmon, whose music was one of the main inspirations for the project, starts off disc two, while Tim Hecker aka Jetone (Force Inc., Alien8, Mille Plateaux) comes through with an ambient epic created out of digitally processed guitar and piano along the lines of his Haunt Me full length. Main (Robert Hampson from Loop) and Oren Ambarchi both use treated guitar to create unexpected, lengthy sonic environments.
Disc One track listing:
1. Kid606 Enemic
Disc One Movies:
1. Kurt Ralske Kave
Disc Two track listing:
1. Pimmon Minimal Slee
Disc Two Movies:
1. Kurt Ralske Avian.Requiem
30-second RealAudio excerpts: "Enemic"
- Kid606 |
Click the titles below for details on specific new releases.
CUT-OUT
DAEDELUS
DENGUE FEVER
JAMES WILLIAM HINDLE
HOSPITALS
MELT BANANA
MYKA NYNE
NUDGE
THE RIP OFF ARTIST
SWELL
JOSH WHITE
why?
VARIOUS ARTISTS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
May 2003 releases
Coming "soon":
dates subject to change
ALI AKBAR KHAN
KID 606
MY CAT IS ALIEN
OVE-NAXX
alias
KID 606/DWAYNE SODAHBERK
LISTENER
NATHAN MICHEL
PFFR
SKATING CLUB
VARIOUS ARTISTS
BUSDRIVER
HERMAN DÜNE
SENTRIDOH
VILLAIN ACCELERATE
BLACKTOP
COUNTRY TEASERS
MODEY LEMON
PIMMON
PUZZLEWEASEL
STARS AS EYES
SONIC YOUTH
DAVE DERBY
dosh
DYNASTY
GUIDED BY VOICES
THE INNOCENCE MISSION
KNIFEHANDCHOP
The releases above and on the left (as well as over 19,000 other
independent-label and import titles) can be purchased online at Midheaven Mailorder.
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Bananafish 16
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DAEDELUS
DENGUE FEVER
JAMES WILLIAM HINDLE
HOSPITALS
MELT-BANANA
MYKA NYNE
NUDGE
THE RIP OFF ARTIST
SWELL
JOSH WHITE
why?
VARIOUS ARTISTS
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