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Updated 12/11/00 Release dates subject to change.  SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Dust & Chimes (HOLY MOUNTAIN HOLY 1165) CD Released the week of November 6th, 2000 order from Midheaven mailorder Holy Mountain is beside itself with the limited edition reissue of Dust & Chimes by Six Organs of Admittance, Ben Chasny's second amazing, underground folk-psych project from behind California's Redwood curtain. Heavy, acoustic guitar and mumbled vocalizations merge with out-there jamming in a style that has been compared to guys with LPs on Takoma, though Dust & Chimes is actually closer than anyone else is ever going to come to pantsing the first two Tyrannosaurus Rex albums. The sun is tanging, people. Really.
"After a brief, textural opening, Dust and Chimes rekindles the aplomb of
"Visnu" with a mortal vs. guitar death dance called "Assyria"; it soon
subsides into a calmer, introspective mood. The simple riffs are rooted in
American folk, but suggestive of an Ottoman court. Six Organs stick with
bare-bones song arrangements - most cuts are just dressed up with
overdubbed chimes and bells, and three are direct-to-tape acoustic slices.
The understated nature of the songs - often serving primarily as launch
pads for extended acoustic extemporization - dictates that the album grows
on the listener rather than convinces in a single play. The solos are
delicate, subdued, as is the album as a whole. The structure to the songs
may be too similar, but the mood is so pleasant that one barely notices,
especially since the songs are broken up by other types of pieces."
 SILVER SCOOTERGoodbye (PEEK-A-BOO BOO 1001) CD Released the week of November 6th, 2000
order from Midheaven mailorder Singer/guitarist Scott Garred's farewell in the title track from this new EP is more comforting than absolute certainty about what awaits just over the horizon. Small wonder that it's slated as the lead-off track on Silver Scooter's forthcoming album, The Blue Law, scheduled for February release on Peek-A-Boo Records. Silver Scooter began as a deceptively simple pop trio with the uncanny ability to hit as many emotional chords as musical ones. With their third full-length, the band has evolved into a sophisticated pop quartet that now hits those chords with articulate precision. This four-song EP precedes The Blue Law by several months and offers a sample of what's to come with three Scooter originals, plus a stunning rendition of New Order's "Run." Following the release of their previous album, Orleans Parish, Garred, bassist John Hunt, and drummer Tom Hudson added longtime friend Shawn Camp to Silver Scooter's permanent line-up on guitar and keyboards. Shawn played bass with Scott and Tom in their PacNW college band. He also created the painting on the cover of Silver Scooter's first album, The Other Palm Springs, as well as the photo assemblage that graces the cover of The Blue Law. As always, Silver Scooter uses the studio as a tool to silken, not slicken, a tasteful sound that was already tight, controlled and in many ways, perfect. However, beneath the studied polish of their new record breathes a beast. Bass lines rumble with a nearly unperceived menace, the way powerful ocean currents are felt by pleasure cruise passengers on an otherwise placid sea. Guitars churn out chunky chords, occasionally stepping to the front for a subtle melody. And, in the midst of a groove so steady it defies metronomes, hints of organ and additional percussion embellish Silver Scooter's elegant pop songs.
 DJ EDDIE DEFWax People II: Open Your Mind (HIP HOP SLAM HHS019) CD Released the week of November 6th, 2000
order from Midheaven mailorder Eddie Def of the pioneering Bullet Proof Space Travelers DJ crew follows up last year's acclaimed Hip Hop Slam release, Wax People, with Open Your Mind (Wax People II)-another ear bending blend of Eddie Def's trademark megamixes and tweaked out turntable/drum machine innovations. The often elusive DJ is one incredibly prolific artist constantly holed up in the studio working on some new recording project. His discography includes such recent recordings as his ongoing five part DMT (Drum Machine Technicians) collaborations with DJ Cue on Stray Records, his collaborations with Extrakd on Return of the DJ Vol. 3 (BOMB) and on Bill Laswell's 1999 Material release Intonarumori (Island), his contributions to the Deep Concentration series (OM), the highly anticipated Bullet Proof Space Travelers album and Cue's Hip Hop Shop Vol. II (both on Stray), the break record he's recording with DJ Marz, the Poochie Breaks album, the Gonerville project (similar lineup to El Stew with Buckethead, etc.), The Last Kreep five part series that will include the Instrumental Pills and Stuff full-lengths (Stray), an ongoing collaboration with Mike Patton (Faith No More fame), plus this amazing, diverse 18-track collection. 30-second RealAudio excerpts: Ol' Skool Mix  WHITE OUTDrunken Little Mass (ECSTATIC PEACE! E96B) CD Released the week of November 6th, 2000
order from Midheaven mailorder White Out is a sound terrorist collective of two, arising from the freedom-charged excitement of the NYC improv community. Drunken Little Mass marks the summit meeting between the combustible duo of multi-instrumentalist Lin Culbertson (analog synthesizers, autoharp, flute, and treated voice) and Tom Surgal (drums, gongs and infinite percussion), and free agent/renaissance maestro Jim O'Rourke (powerbook and guitar). The contents of this album are totally improvised, recorded in one take, with no overdubs or studio effects. The end result is impressive, the range of sound expansive, the interplay precise. Every note put forth was the combined effort of three performers working as one. Drunken Little Mass is a volatile work, at times delicate, at others raging, sometimes both simultaneously. One moment the music might lull the listener with its psychedelic space drone minimalism. The next moment could induce electric shock with its soaring distortion attacks. Culbertson and O'Rourke strive to create an electronic collage like no other, while Surgal tirelessly accompanies with his unique brand of free drum association. The CD also contains two duo tracks recorded live in concert. Just imagine Phil Wachsman commandeering Sun Ra's mothership, en route to El Saturn, with stowaways AMM and Popul Vuh duking it out for cosmic domination. O'Rourke's credentials are so voluminous that they almost don't bear mentioning; suffice to say that he has worked with everyone from Takehisa Kosugi to Stereolab to Sonic Youth. Surgal and Culbertson have also performed with a wide array of other artists including Mike Watt, Peter Brštzmann, Charles Gayle, Beck, Cecil Taylor, Elliott Sharp, Nels Cline, Zeena Parkins and Thurston Moore. White Out has appeared in the Roulette concert series, the Skif II and CMJ music festivals, and were recent guest artists of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
 VARIOUS ARTISTSThe Peek-A-Boo Book Of Spells (PEEK-A-BOO BOO1208) LP Released the week of November 6th, 2000
order from Midheaven mailorder The Peek-A-Boo Book of Spells is a compilation of Texas artists, documenting the underground music scene of Austin and Houston circa 1999 - 2000. All the bands involved contribute songs having something to do with magic, spells, witchcraft, etc., however they chose to interpret it. This record has nothing to do with Halloween, nor is it a tribute to the Wiccan community. Rather, the record was intended as an innocuous mainstream gateway into the dark practice of Satan worship, much like Harry Potter. As with Peek-A-Boo Records' first full-length release in 1995 (The Peek-A-Boo Bicycle Rodeo, which featured 16 Texas bands - including Spoon, Lord High Fixers, and The 1-4-5s - performing songs about bicycles, and was financed by a series of fundraiser shows by the bands on the record), The Book of Spells is limited to a single pressing of 1,000 copies on clear vinyl with a zine-like booklet of band photos and information. Expect this album to be well-received-- and go out of print quickly.
Port Vale "Witchcraft and Snowfall"
 VARIOUS ARTISTSShort Fast + Loud (SLAP-A-HAM SLAP59) CD Released the week of November 13th, 2000
order from Midheaven mailorder Dr. Chris Dodge and his St. Slap a Ham Children's Hospital have declared the state of the scene CONDEMNED and UNFIT TO INHABIT. Symptoms of the epidemic include: acute boredom with retro punk 'n' roll; morbid burnout on contagious fads like swing and ska-core; inflamed willingness to bust weepy, collegiate emo phonies in the coccyx. Look no further, sufferer, because the homeopathic cure is here! Dr. Dodge prescribes an assault on the aural orifices with pharmaceutical-grade fastcore, power violence, thrash, noise, and hardcore. The dosage should not exceed 40 of the ass-kickingest new bands from around the globe doing their best at punishing the ears. Coinciding with the publication of the seventh issue of Dr. Dodge's medical research journal of the same name, Short, Fast + Loud! represents the current state of the underground extreme music scene, derived from rare, completely legal plants harvested in every country from Japan to Brazil, from the U.S. to greater Europe (African and Antarctican fastcore bands having been reserved for a follow-up volume, presumably). Fastcore is thriving, constantly regenerating, and stronger than ever before. Next time some bedsore-riddled mugwump needs fast-acting relief, slap this disc in the player and give 'em a sonic bummer. Turn on, tune in, and mosh! Some side effects may occur. AFTERMATH * B.S.E. * CATHETER * DATACLAST * DAYBREAK * DEAD NATION * DESPITE * DISCORDIA DREAD 101 * DUMBSTRUCK * EL NUDO * ENTROPIA * EXISTENCH * FETUS EATERS * GOAT SHANTY * IN CONTROL * INSULT * IRON LUNG * KONTORTION * LANA DAGALES * LIFE IN A BURN CLINIC * LIFE'S HALT * MOUTHBREATHER * MUKEKA DI RATO * OTOPHOBIA * PERUKE * PIGNATION * POINT OF FEW * PROGERIA * RUINACRE * RUINATION * THE SCARLET LETTER * SHANK * SPAUL * TOTALLY RIDICULOUS * TUSKS OF BLOOD * THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS * UNIQ * WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? * WILBUR COBB
 VARIOUS ARTISTSJust Payin' the Rent (HIP HOP SLAM HHS021) CD Released the week of December 11th, 2000
order from Midheaven mailorder Just Payin' The Rent: Amoeba Music Compilation Vol. II is a ninteeen track, musically diverse compilation of (mostly) Bay Area artists. It is the second collection in the budget-priced Amoeba Music/Hip Hop Slam collaboration series, specifically designed to spread the word on these multi-talented indie artists. Contact information for all 19 acts, along with brief bios on each, is included in the CD's comprehensive liner notes. The first compilation, the April 2000 released All That Glitters Isn't Platinum: Amoeba Music Compilation Vol. I, won wide critical praise from such publications as Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, East Bay Express, CMJ New Music Monthly (who called it a "recommended collection of provocative, purposeful, independent music") and Vice magazine (who called it "a wicked, multi-genre mix of bay Area hip hop, soul, rock, and electronic music"). Just Payin The Rent: Amoeba Music Compilation Vol. II is an equally diverse mix of music including hip hop (Slumplordz, Bachelors, B.L.A.C.K., Two Man Band), electronic (Halocline, Afrocubist, Ska Boys, DJ Fear), rock (The Gods Hate Kansas, Dealership, the pre-teens, Sweetheart, Subincision, Mumble & Peg), turntablist jazz (DJ Zeph), folk (Baia), country-fused rock (Drive By Truckers), and "other" (0-Type, Crack Emcee). All aritsts hail from the San Francisco Bay Area with the exception of Georgia's Drive By Truckers and Northern Ireland's Ska Boys.
01 The Crack Emcee / "Babylon.Com" |
Click the underlined titles below for details on specific new releases.
November / December 2000 New Release index:
DJ EDDIE DEF
SILVER SCOOTER
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE
WHITE OUT
VARIOUS ARTISTS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
VARIOUS ARTISTS
January 2002 new releases
(all dates subject to change)
BROTHER JT
CONSUMERS
LARSEN
HERSCHEL GORDON LEWIS
SWANS
ORNETTE COLEMAN
ALICE COLTRANE
BEN KUNIN
NOVEX
DON HOWLAND
INFINITE X's
L. STINKBUG
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE
VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH
AWOL ONE
ETERNAL ELYSIUM
TONY JOE WHITE
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