Permanent Records New Releases 11/7 (mid 1st page)

[kriss]

Hey Folks,

I'll be posting along the new haps at P-Rex Chicago and L.A. in this here page and hopefully some of you guys will find some beyond rad records in the process! For the Chicago and L.A. folks, perusing the new arrivals will be a bit easier here and for those who play the mail order game, maybe you'll find that out of stock item that's everywhere else right here!

http://permanentrecordschicago.com/news.php

This Week's Featured Items

LP - Moon Duo - Horror Tour

Hand-numbered and limited to 1000!

We're definitely suckers for Halloween here around the shop - the smell of autumn hits our nostrils & we hunger for the warm glow from a jack-o-lantern & delicious candy sweets. Thankfully two of our favorite lunar lunatics have delivered us a candy sweet of the 12-inch vinyl variety in the form of this limited 12-inch released for a recent European mini-tour! Moon Duo have long been a shop favorite & ANY new jams from these two are a welcome sound to our ears. The four extended tracks on this release are all centered around a loose horror theme that were supposedly inspired by an antique book of spells they discovered at a library sale in rural New Hampshire - titles like "Horror Theme", "Sickener" & "Circle Of Evocation Pt. 2" definitely bring to mind some macabre, hooded-robe type imagery in our minds, but the music itself is a different story. The group's signature driving, krautrock beats are still firmly in place, but the tunes have a noticeably positive vibe to them - as if they're the soundtrack to the end credits or "redemption scene" to a horror movie (you know, the "everything's gonna be all right" moment). Now we've always thought that Moon Duo's tunes had a dark, mystical air to them, so the thought of them doing a horror themed recording didn't seem to out of place, but leave it to those guys to "flip the scrip" & deliver a suite of tunes (three instrumentals & one with vocals) that are downright snappy & (gasp) uplifting melodies - way to turn that frown upside-down! Recorded at home in Colorado & mixed in Berlin, this was mastered by Chicago's own Cooper Crain of Cave/Bitchin' Bajas & is limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies worldwide - we were able to score a "gentleman's grip", but who knows how long they'll last - better drop one of these in your tick-or-treat basket before your mom discovers the razor blade hiding inside & takes it away from ya! RECOMMENDED!

LP - OCS - Songs About Death & Dying Vol 3 (Thee Oh Sees, White Vinyl)

LIMITED TO 700 HAND SCREENED CHIPBOARD HAND NUMBERED COPIES

Rotted Tooth Recordings comes to the rescue of Oh Sees fans across the globe by reissuing the third Oh Sees LP "Songs About Death & Dying Vol. 3" - from the folky, lo-fi days when it was just John Dwyer & sometimes Patrick Mullins, (a.k.a pre-hot-shit-best-band-on-the-planet days) when they went under the moniker OCS. This is essentially the "studio" recordings of some of the material that ended up on the Captcha live release 'Hounds Of Foggy Notion' - great, GREAT tunes like "Second Date", "If I Had A Reason" & "I Am Slow" that pull from Dwyer's love of loner Americana folk & blues as well as more experimental electro-acoustic music. This stuff was QUITE a shock when it first came out, particularly since Dwyer had just broken up his former band The Coachwhips & the OCS recordings are definitely at odds with that band's ramshackle, primal garage snarl. The tracks on this LP are pretty dang mellow, having more akin to the solo guitar records of folks like John Fahey & early Leo Kottke, with Dwyer donning an intricate finger-picking guitar style that meshes nicely with the ambient noise & sound collage aspects of each tunes, with Dwyer harmonizing with himself in that odd sounding falsetto he sometimes uses in the more mellow Oh Sees tunes. A terrific album - one we've personally been looking for for a few years - and KUDOS to hometown heroes Rotted Tooth for stepping up & reissuing this bad-boy. This is pretty limited (at least in the scope of Oh Sees records - only 700 copies have been pressed up) & replicates the original Narnack sleeve design pretty closely; white vinyl housed in 2-color hand-screened brown chipboard jackets with a full color insert & hand-numbered for all you collector scum out there! Grab this one if you're even remotely inclined, cuz this is one that DEFINITELY will not stick around long. RECOMMENDED!

LP - Heavy Times - Jacker

CD - Heavy Times - Jacker

EDITION OF 550 COPIES

Chicago's almighty HEAVY TIMES blast into a higher sphere of general awareness with "Jacker," their 2nd LP and first on HoZac. We got a huge kick out of their "Dead" LP on Rotted Tooth last year, to the point of nearly wearing the grooves out of our shop copy, and we loved the "Ice Age" 7" which came out on HoZac earlier this year, so we were super stoked to hear what "Jacker" had to offer. Well, it doesn't disappoint. In fact, "Jacker" sees vocalist Bo Hansen growing further into what might be one our new favorite rock voices, combining a Yow-ish yowl with the combined growling bellow and melody of Greg Graffin from Bad Religion (just talkin' voices here, we'll get to the instrumentation in a sec) that makes any hook, and Heavy Times have always been hook-laden, at least three times more sing-along-with-able. And when he's not yelling, whenever he takes his foot off the throttle a little for a real "I'm gonna sing now" number, the resulting vocal chord damage gives him a "we better listen to this guy, he's been through the ringer" quality. As for the tune-age, it's the no frills driving high-gain dual guitar attack we've come to rely on from the Times, with a departure-point jumparound between "So It Goes" powerpop, straight-ahead Zero Boysian punk, surfer-friendly Jan and Dean/Del Shannon bubblegummage, Troggsy garage, and dirgey stoner riff repetition, sometimes occurring in as whiplash a fashion as between verse and chorus and bridge, but all delivered with a singular enough flavor that it's a very smooth ride. The rock starts when the needle drops and doesn't let up for the entirety of its diamond-sharp 23 minutes. Simply put: we are psyched about the existence of this band, and this one is a'recommended.

LP - Pumphouse Gang - Pumphouse Gang

More unreleased rock deliciousness from our pals at Sing Sing Records! The Pumphouse Gang were formed from the ashes of a mid-seventies rock act called 'Horse', some of whose members were active on the fringes of the UK punk scene (seems like there's a real blurry line in the mid Seventies UK music scene, particularly regarding those who were "punk" first, i.e. which bands were OG & which were fence-jumpers from the glam, pub-rock or hard rock scenes - but we digress). The Pumphouse Gang started gigging as early as '76 & quickly established themselves as a solid act, opening for the likes of The Damned, Generation X & The Lurkers before entering the studio themselves in 1977, signing & releasing their first single on Kitsch Records that still retained a little of the rock sound they had previously mined, (sounding a bit like Alice Cooper or something), but THIS record right here represents the tracks they recorded in 1979 after signing to Splash Records (who released three singles for the band - most of whose tracks are contained here). These tracks definitely give the listener a solid idea as to what the Gang's proposed full-length would have sounded like - SUPER hooky & catchy pop tunes, in the vein of early Elvis Costello or the (Paul Collins) Beat with hummable melodies & memorable riffs that WILL stay stuck in your head. Sadly the full-length never happened, since the singles apparently didn't sell so well (these guys were definitely popping some "yellow pills" & wouldn't sound outta place on said compilation), but we have the well-versed archivists at Sing Sing to thank for unearthing this 12-track gem. Solid packaging (as per usual with Sing Sing) & a great sounding LP, with the band's story & liner notes from Worthless Trash's James Denholm on the back cover. RECOMMENDED listening for those with an appetite for POP music! Get it!

LP - Comus - First Utterance

ORIGINALS SELL FOR $250 AND HAVE SOLD FOR $1000+ USD!

Okay dudes. This is a totally insane lost classic from 1971 reissued by Get Back and back in print for the first time since the mid-90's. How would we describe it? Let's call it crazy British folk from 1971 that somehow also simultaneously managed to come out on ESP Disk in New York in the mid-60's, as well as on the legendary Krautrock label Brain Records in 1973, a strange hybrid of Fairport Convention, The Godz, and Amon D��l I. Not really, but the effect is like somebody used British folk as a springboard to somehow blast into the same rarefied "no rules" air as those pioneering movements. So what do you get, sonically? You get acoustic strumming and insane flutes and violins and warbling minstrelsy and all the instrumentation you'd expect when somebody says "British folk" to you, but thrown together in such a wildly disorienting and extendo-journey-freakout fashion that you forget you're in the middle of some quaint English village green, and all of a sudden whoooops, looks like the pagans and druids and leprechauns are back, Wicker Man style. There goes the neighborhood. The second 12" includes tracks from the 1971 Diana 7". We recommend you give it a spin for your next bizarrely terrifying tea party.

LP - Jesu - Jesu (reissue)

Originally released in the wintery end of 2004, the self-titled LP by Jesu marked the official end of the mighty Godflesh. Justin Broadrick had been recording under the Jesu moniker since the early aughts and this first LP is a logical progression of Godflesh's mechanical industrial crunch. Jesu still pummels with slow and heavy ambient droning doomy riffs yet incorporates live drumming and Broadrick has stopped his guttural screams being replaced by a melancholy delay drenched moan. The presence of actual (GASP!) singing in such heavy music sent Godflesh/Broadrick's fans into a bamboozled tizzy creating some pretty hilarious online forum diatribes shortly after its release. But all basement dwelling goons be damned the "pretty" vocals were to remain on each and every subsequent Jesu release. The mix of heavy distorted doom channeled through a shoegaze sensibility and paced at a mournful dirge that transcends into epic emotional swells of atmosphere has proven to be an extremely successful formula through the years. So much so that the fine folks at Hydra Head have gone and reissued this LP less than a decade after its intial release. And you know what? It fucking deserves it. This record spawned alot of imitators yet none have been able to achieve such high quality song craft and production full of subtly that reaches for the sublime. If you slept on this one back in '04 or are just hearing about it now, this is your chance to score a true original. Housed in a dye-cut jacket and pressed up as a heavy duty double LP, these 8 tracks offer up tons of punishing heaviness that simultaneously floats into the ether. Highly Recommended.

LP - Curtains - Deep In Night City (color vinyl)

Here we have the debut LP by Chicago's own spookster-rockers CURTAINS! on Dead Beat records. Their most recent release, "The Two of Swords" tape, saw them working in a psychobilly gypsy cabaret direction, and this here slab of brains-colored wax is the fully plugged-in version of those same uneasy feelings. Gone is the frightening wooziness of being drugged at a funhouse, instead replaced with Joy Division/Moon Duo-esque compressed robot-voice guitar distortion and Tangerine Dream spook-o-phonic windswept synth atmospherics. So the trip is more of a spaced out "hiding from invisible enemies in some foggy bog in Northern England" thing than the more frantic "ohhhh nooooo everything's gone wronnnng" vibe of previous material. The New Romantic theatricality is still present in the vocal delivery, which gives off a distinctly glam feeling, kind of like David Bowie in an Italian Horror version of Labyrinth as scored by Goblin. Recommended if you like all of those things, or the completely made up by us right now lost Psychedelic Furs Halloween album.

LP - Black Humor - Love God Love One Another

Edition of 500, Originals Have Sold For $60

Holy Freak Flag Batman! The Superior Viaduct label has gone and reissued the Black Humor "Love God Love One Another" LP. Originally released in 1982, this SF artpunk industrial mongoloid of a band challenged all notions of "taste" and political correctness with their extremely unique tunes that are some sort of mutant combination of DNA, Pere Ubu, The Birthday Party and Flipper turned inside out and infused with dark vibes and sly wit. The A side is pretty straight ahead with bass driven melodies and depraved howls with dissonant guitar work forming post-punky vibes of decay and blight that oozes with attitude. The B side moves into more experimental territory with strange sound collage passages and noise tracks with misanthropic yelling but NOT in the Power Electronics sort of way but in more the acid drenched tradition of LAFMS (yep, Los Angeles Free Music Society). There is even a fucking PARROT on here!?! This reissue comes housed in a hand stenciled/hand numbered jacket with the original intended art work and extensive liner notes by vocalist George Miller and engineer Tom Mallon from 2011. Not for the faint of heart or thin skinned, "Love God Love One Another" is a challenging listen that awards the diligent who dare to go the distance. Like wearing a noose for a necktie, Black Humor strings you up and gets to work. Highly Recommended.

LP - Birthday Party - Peel Sessions 1980-82

Edition Of 500

It's our party and we'll cry if we want to... die if we want to... buy if we want to. Well summana bitch lookey here a killer collection of tracks from the Birthday Party's legendary Peel sessions recorded shortly after their move to the UK by the late great John Peel. Over the course of multiple recording sessions for BBC Radio the Birthday Party laid down some classics like 'King Ink", "Big Jesus Trash Can", "Sometimes Pleasure Heads Must Burn", "Deep In the Woods" and even a cover of the Stooges "Loose"! The Birthday Party was a lock-tight well oiled machine that could churn out frighteningly ominous art-punk that was on the verge of exploding at every turn and often times did in fact burst apart into frenzied chaos. This collection has 16 tracks in all and sounds tremendous with Peel at the board dialing in the fury like only he could. With all the reissue madness in full swing these days one would be remiss not to grab a truly unique collection from one of Australia's most groundbreaking and influential bands. And if today is your special day, then let us be the first to say... Happy Birthday! Seriously Recommended. Like drool worthy recommended.

LP - Flat Duo Jets - Go Go Harlem Baby - 2011 Reissue

"We are so very excited to announce the reissue of the Flat Duo Jets classic 1991 release "Go Go Harlem Baby." The piece de resistance of Dex Romweber's voluminous back catalog, ably backed by the trusty Chris "Crow" Smith on drums, "GGHB" is as solid an LP as you will ever find. Some of you may remember Jack White dropping the needle on the Jets' version of "Froggy Went a Courtin'" in the "It Might Get Loud" doc as an indicator of his early influences. Maybe you remember the White Stripes covering "You Belong to Me" or "Apple Blossom Time" in their live performances. Those songs, as well as all the rest featured on "Go Go Harlem Baby" are genuinely important in the pantheon of American music. Out-of-print on vinyl since it's original issue twenty years ago, Third Man Records worked solidly for a year-and-a-half to make this record available again. Please enjoy." - Third Man Records

LP - Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen - 2011 Reissue

"The first LP by Buzzcocks, released in 1978 after the departure of Howard Devoto, is one of the truly essential punk rock albums. It sounds fast and aggressive, raw and witty, but the band also had pop hooks to spare and incorporated influences such as kraut rock to their sound, which added to the brilliant songwriting means these songs remain as emotionally intense today as when they came out." - Vinilisssimo

LP - Vis-A-Vis - Obi Agye Me Dofo

"The hard touring West African stalwarts Vis-A-Vis helped propel K. Frimpong to fame as one of Ghana's most popular stars of the 1970s. On Frimpong's records they were usually known as the Cubano Fiestas, but Vis-A-Vis recorded a number of albums under their own name. Led by vocalist Isaac 'Superstar' Yeboah and featuring top players like Sammy Cropper on guitar, Slim Manu on bass and Gybson 'Shaolin Kung-Fu' Papra on drums, Vis-A-Vis were both a popular live act and in-demand studio musicians, becoming the de facto house band at Ghanaian independent label Ofo Brothers Records. Continental Records is proud to announce the release of the group's rare and essential 1977 LP Obi Agye Me Dofo. Briefly issued as an LP in the US in 1980, this is the first proper vinyl reissue of the album in its original Ghanaian form. The title track is very much in the mold of Frimpong's big hits and the eight minute Kankyema shows how Vis-A-Vis could lock into a propelling funk groove with Superstar Yeboah's soulful vocals riding on top. The three tracks on side 2 show Vis-A-Vis as masters of a spiraling, hypnotic Highlife. Original copies of this LP are scarce and in great demand. Along with the Frimpong albums it is one of the most sought after West African records from the golden age. This reissue has been handled with the utmost respect -- every detail has been given strict attention and care. The remastered LP has never sounded more direct, vibrant and timeless. Each LP comes with a free HQ MP3 download of the entire album and is packaged in a resealable dust bag." - Continental Records

LP - Mattin - Exquisite Corpse

"If you've been following his work (and even if you haven't, you big bugbear) you know that Mattin brings a conceptual musician's ear to his rock 'n' roll but he keeps it out of the museum and on the 'streetz,' 'cos that's where the riots went down, and this places him at a helluva impasse: the European dialectical impulse has no choice but to hurtle head-on into a game of chicken with the American-historical rock narrative (not the name of a band, though it should be) or to get in bed with it and allow their legs to intertwine in an awkward genital embrace. So it was that in the winter of '08, the bellicose Basque recruited globetrotting bass pervert Margarida Garcia, Kevin Failure of Pink Reason (guitar and piano), and erstwhile Chinese Restaurant 'Lucky' Lloyd Frackkbonner (drums) for an exquisitely corpsical seance conducted on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where Lautreamont shakes hands with the Language Poets and hunkers down for a burger and a smoke with Ivan Julian and Dougie Bowne (engineers and Vietnam vets both). Together they perform an ontological autopsy on the body of rock & roll form, then hogtie the improviser's process with a rope made of crisis (remember the bailout?) -- the Surrealist parlor game subjected here to crushing technology and a stopwatch plus liquor and god-knows-what else. The Rules: ten songs, each exactly three minutes in duration, recorded in strict ass-backwards fashion: first the vocals, then Kevin's guitars, etc., then Margarida's bowed and throbbing bass, then the drums. No second takes. No two musicians were allowed in the studio at the same time and none of them could hear a playback so their only guide -- their score, if you will -- was Mattin's lyrics, which themselves are a living corpse that slices itself open to display its guts, which look like these ten songs or a mangled womb. So we hear it for the first time and guess what? It sounds like a Top-40 station playing nothing but side B of No New York. No shit. Every song is a hit." - Azul Discografica

LP - Los Destellos - Constelacion

"Peruvian Cumbia is one of the most unique sounds of modern South America. It mixes the more widely known Colombian Cumbia with rock, funk, phsycadellia, surf music, Cuban Guracha, and of course traditional Peruvian crillo and highlands music. No single artist was more influential in the creation of this sound than Enrique Delgado and Los Destellos. Delgado, an incredibly skilled crillo guitar player was the first artist to take the electric guitar and make it the lead instrument in cumbia, earning him the nickname 'Father of Peruvian Cumbia.' After the release of their debut single, 'El Gatito' in '66, Delgado continued to push the band in a more experimental direction which reached its pinnacle with 1971's Constelacion. Today Constelacion is among the most collectable South American LPs known. Tattered copies yield top dollar on sites like eBay and discogs. Though a couple tracks have appeared on some very successful compilations over the last few years, a proper reissue has never been released until now! Secret Stash is thrilled to announce the release of this, the first ever reissue of Los Destello's ultra rare masterpiece. Each copy is hand assembled in our facilities, hand numbered, includes an MP3 download card of the entire album, and comes in a re-sealable dust bag." - Secret Stash Records

LP - Various Artists - Chicago Soul - 2xLP

"2011 repress, originally released in 2004. Subtitled: Electric Blues, Funk and Soul: Chess Records: The New Sound of Chicago in the 1960s. "Soul Jazz Records are releasing one of the most popular, long out of print titles Chicago Soul in a stunning, beautiful new deluxe hardback CD with casing and perfect bound booklet (has to be seen to be believed!). Chess Records has recently been the subject of both a BBC4 documentary and a 4 part BBC6 documentary celebrating the story of this amazing independent soul, funk, jazz, rock and blues label that took on the mighty giants of Atlantic, Stax and the majors in the 1960s. This CD features a stunning selection of the heaviest funk, psychedelic soul, rock and jazz tracks ever recorded for Chess and comes with Soul Jazz Records usual attention to detail -- a 40 page booklet featuring extensive social, cultural and historical text and info and loads of exclusive photographs." - Soul Jazz Records

LP - Mike Shiflet - Sufferers

"Ohio-based noise upsetter Mike Shiflet has amassed an enviable amount of releases in the last decade. Tapes, vinyl, CD-Rs -- you name it, he's done it, but it's taken until now for Shiflet to weld together what he regards as his defining work. The first in a series of two "proper" albums, Sufferers takes the listener to the very heart of Shiflet's sound -- through the abrasive noise heard on his early releases all the way to the shimmering ambience that made up his breakthrough album Llanos. A deeply patient and rewarding record, Shiflet uses his long-practiced skills to lay waste to a gaseous collection of source recordings, bringing a chattering, disturbing resonance to what sounds like whirring hospital equipment. It is always difficult to reframe U.S. noise music without the punk, tape-destroyed aesthetic -- but like Kevin Drumm before him, Shiflet manages to push his sound into high fidelity effortlessly. Each frequency is picked meticulously for maximum effect, and if you listen on headphones, you are treated to an entirely different experience. Whether reducing the listener to an opium-fuelled coma on the shimmering "Axle Grease," or treating us to the kind of intensity Fennesz last exhibited on Endless Summer with "Blessed And Oppressed," there is a sense that Shiflet has an ineffable control over his plethora of techniques and ideas. A rare gem in a mire of half-hearted records, Sufferers grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until the final creak. And this is only the beginning. Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin. Limited vinyl pressing of 500 copies only." - Type

LP - Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords - 2011 Reissue - 2xLP

"According to legend, when the Wu-Tang Clan formed like Voltron on their debut album in 1993, GZA happened to be the head--an appropriate place for a man also called 'The Genius.' Yet at the time few could have predicted that his 1995 masterpiece Liquid Swords would be considered 'one of the most substantial lyrical journeys in hip-hop history' (Chicago Tribune). At the peak of his powers as a producer, Wu-Tang mastermind RZA crafted the album's distinctive soundtrack at his basement studio in Staten Island; a haunting landscape of dusty samples, sharp snares and menacing urban gloom, with frequent interludes of dialogue from the classic Samurai flick Shogun Assassin. Cerebral, strategic and precise with his words, GZA crystallizes a range of influences--from chess to kung-fu films to mob flicks and Eastern philosophy--into sharply delivered rhymes. The album features appearances by the entire Wu-Tang Clan, and includes the auspicious debut of Killah Priest on 'B.I.B.L.E.' Acknowledged as one of the '100 Best Rap Albums' (The Source) and 'Top 100 Records of the 1990s' (Pitchfork.com), Get On Down is proud to present Liquid Swords as it was intended to be experienced, on double vinyl with audio remastered from the original source tapes and the original iconic cover artwork from DC Comics artist Denys Cowan." Includes poster insert." - Get On Down

LP - Chad VanGaalen - Diaper Island

"Every so often, Chad VanGaalen emerges from his bunker in Calgary with a batch of songs, giving us a window into the private world of this reclusive and enigmatic songwriter. With Diaper Island, VanGaalen distills his approach, producing his most sonically cohesive album to date, and the closest thing he has done to a rock album." - Sub Pop

Format - Artist - Title Price Status

7in - 12 Minutes At The Hot Club Murphy - 12 Minutes At The Hot Club Murphy 6.99 Featured

7in - Dwarf - Gotta Get Louder b/w I Won't Be Back 5.99 Featured

7in - Jet Staxx - Im Gonna Be The Best Guy 5.99 Featured

7in - Jonathan Halper - Puce Moment 9.99

7in - Metz - Negative Space b/w Automat 4.99

7in - Metz - Soft Whiteout b/w Sums 4.99

7in - Reactors - It's Not Important b/w Cold Eyes (reissue) 6.99 Featured

7in - Trent Fox - And The Tenants - Mess Around 4.99

7in - Two Tears - Eat People 4.99

12in - Pharaohs - Uhh Uhh 10.99

CD - Beets - Let The Poison Out 10.99

CD - Heavy Times - Jacker $8.99 Featured

CD - Taj Mahal Travellers - August 1974 - Import 22.99

LP - Beets - Let The Poison Out 11.99

LP - Birthday Party - Peel Sessions 1980-82 17.99 Featured

LP - Black Humor - Love God Love One Another 14.99 Featured

LP - Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen - 2011 Reissue 24.99

LP - Chad VanGaalen - Diaper Island 16.99

LP - Comus - First Utterance 39.99 Featured

LP - Curtains - Deep In Night City (color vinyl) 12.99 Featured

LP - Field - Looping State of MInd - 2xLP with CD 20.99

LP - Flat Duo Jets - Go Go Harlem Baby - 2011 Reissue 15.99

LP - Gary Wilson - Forgotten Lovers 17.99

LP - Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords - 2011 Reissue - 2xLP 23.99

LP - Heavy Times - Jacker 11.99 Featured

LP - Jesu - Jesu (reissue) 24.99 Featured

LP - Los Destellos - Constelacion 17.99

LP - Mattin - Exquisite Corpse 16.99

LP - Mike Shiflet - Sufferers 18.99

LP - Moon Duo - Horror Tour 15.99 Featured

LP - OCS - Songs About Death & Dying Vol 3 (Thee Oh Sees, white vinyl, Limited to 700) 14.99 Featured

LP - Pumphouse Gang - Pumphouse Gang 11.99 Featured

LP - Tom Waits - Bad As Me (180gm vinyl) 20.99

LP - Various Artists - Chicago Soul - 2xLP 23.99

LP - Vis-A-Vis - Obi Agye Me Dofo 17.99

Tape - C Spencer Yeh - Songs 2002 6.99

Tape - Curtains - The Two Of Swords 5.99

Tape - Night Room - Night Room 4.99 Featured

Tape - Purling Hiss - Dizzy Polizzy 4.99 Featured

* All New Releases should be considered in-stock as of this update unless noted otherwise.

[jerseydave77]

Interesting to see that Oh Sees record pop up again. I'm going to grab it this time.

[magnumtaurus]

Do you work at Permanent?! Can you help me track down Zuma by Neil Young?!

I always tend to find the Neil records I'm looking for at Permanent Chicago, but Zuma eludes me still...

[kriss]

I do all of the instore poster art for both shops as well as posting the newsletter across a couple of places so I can't really help you procure a copy - best bet would be to give the dudes at the shop a call and they can probably put yr name in for the next copy that comes in!

[idreamofpunk]

I was gonna ask if you were their VC ambassador now.

[jerseydave77]

I totally missed that Flat Duo Jets reissue - that is a killer album. I'll need to add to my existing order now.

[kriss]

I was gonna ask if you were their VC ambassador now.

I am, I am. We're actually gonna be working with some screen printers hopefully in the near future to get some of the more important posters onto a better format as well.

I totally missed that Flat Duo Jets reissue - that is a killer album. I'll need to add to my existing order now.

that Flat Duo Jets album is pretty rad - really gnarly rockabilly grime. If you don't mind, be sure to include in the shipping notes that yr order is coming due to you seeing the newsletter on VC.

[cardiac]

Liz, Lance, Jamie, et al are really nice people. I could care less about 99% of the stuff Permanent has come to specialize in, but if YOU think any of the above releases are up your alley, you could certainly do worse than to support their business. All y'all mailorder kids should browse the site (which, admittedly, has massive scripting bugs in the search feature).

[enjoyadrian]

can't wait to get my heavy times record from hozac. The rotted tooth lp and hozac single are KILLER.

[skidroje]

I made a post about Permanent a couple years ago on here (August 9, 2009, to be exact) Copy and pasted below, to show what awesome people Lance and Liz are. Also, notice the high praise for VC. Lolz.

Hi everyone. Long time reader, first time poster. I usually don't post on message boards, but everyone seems nice here. I apologize if this is in the wrong forum. ANYWAY, here is my story:

A few months ago I purchased some records from VC. They never showed, even though the confirmation said they did. I emailed Virgil to see if they were returned for some reason, and of course they werent. Bummer man. I live in Wicker Park in Chicago, so I assumed someone swiped them off of my door step. Anyway, a couple weeks later I receive an email from VC, saying that they got an email from a record store (Permanent Records) saying they had some records that were meant for me. So I head down to Permanent, and some old dude had sold them them my records(3 of them) for $7 and left my packing slip in the box. They said the guy seemed kind of fishy, so they emailed VC wondering if I had goten my order, and VC relayed the message to me. So Permanent tried giving me my records back for nothing, but I happily paid them the $7 that they paid the douchebag that stole them.

So at this point I can't believe how awesome Permanent was, and VC for taking the time to email me abou it.

So, about a week later I'm checking my bank statement and notice I had a refund from VC for, yep you guessed it, $7. I never asked for that, and certainly didn't expect it. I mean, why would I?, its not their fault in the slightest. I'm assuming Permanent emailed VC back after I had gotten my records, and must have told VC that I paid them $7 for them. I couldn't believe it. I maybe place a small order every 2 months, so I'm by no means one of their biggest customers.

[kriss]

can't wait to get my heavy times record from hozac. The rotted tooth lp and hozac single are KILLER.

Fun story, the lead vocalist for Heavy Times was actually in the running to be our roommate at one point but decided to stay where he was I think - really nice dude.

As for the above list, I have a copy of the Moon Duo record on hold - anything MD or Wooden Shjips related I buy immediately and without question.

[kriss]

Another week - another new batch of records. Personal recommendations: those Wooden Shjips and Ty Segall 7"s are killer and I've been playing them non stop!

This Week's Featured Items

2xLP - Beach Boys - Smile Sessions - $26.99

FIRST OFFICIAL RELEASE OF THIS LONG LOST RECORD

Now, we're sure there's gonna be a TON of talk about "SMiLE"s status as rock music's great "lost album" ad-infinitum in reviews - and we're not going to necessarily refute that status by any means, but we'd like to just take a moment to have a listen to the full-package before assigning it any such lofty status. Oh wait... Nevermind - THIS LP RULES - ok FINE. Began and conceived as Brian Wilson's follow-up to The Beach Boys' groundbreaking masterpiece "Pet Sounds", the "SMiLE" sessions were long, arduous and we're gonna guess pretty baffling for all parties involved (including Wilson himself), and it was Wilson's unrelenting and unwavering desire to get the sounds he heard in his head onto tape that most likely contributed to his crack-up (along with some chemical assistance we're guessing). Either that or the sonic complexities Wilson seems to have been imagining just weren't possible to create in 1966 - recording an album was far more laborious a task back then than it is now - no Garageband or ProTools in your bedroom, we're talkin' tape splicing and complex overdubs and the (un)luxury in alot of cases to have to do many takes live over and over again until they are perfect 'cause there's just no other way to do it. That sounds like it could get a lil' frustrating to us... particularly if you have sweaty Capitol Records big-wigs lording over you to produce the follow-up to their unexpected smash single "Good Vibrations". Wilson, of any of Beach Boys wanted to be taken as seriously by critics as The Beatles and The Stones, but most critics couldn't look past their teeny-bopper past and in his mind, this was the album that was gonna push them into the canon - had this project been able to come to completion it probably would have solidified The Beach Boys' status as "serious artists" and washed away the sea-salt smell of surf that (still) permeates their legacy. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 - we all know the Beach Boys are in the same canon as The Beatles and Stones, plus we are able to examine their entire recorded legacy and see the culmination of Wilson's vision; a joyous and melancholic lamentation on the bittersweet transformation from the innocence of childhood to the (jaded) experience of adulthood. Or something like that. "SMiLE" takes that unnameable ennui that is felt from listening to "Pet Sounds" and packs it into a more densely layered onion that is somehow easier to peel away from - the "cloud" has been lifted from the legend of this album and reveals a record that exudes a maturity belying the 27 years Wilson had lived up to that point. Even now - despite knowing all that we know about the history of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, this album remains a STUNNER, untainted all these years - almost as if time has made this album sound MORE contemporary. We're not gonna bore you with anymore of our gum-flappin', 'cuz we could talk about The Beach Boys all day (and we've got things to do!) - basically, even if you own any of the various bootlegs that have popped up over the years, or have any interest whatsoever in pop music you NEED this record. Especially since this is the first OFFICIAL release of this album, produced and overseen by Wilson himself, remastered audio stretched out over two heavy and beautiful 180gm LPs, and a sweet 10-inch sized booklet with restored photos of the band in and out of the studio. A CONTENDER FOR REISSUE OF THE YEAR. Unfuckwithable and RECOMMENDED.

LP - Sympathy Nervous - Automaticism - $24.99

180 GRAM CLEAR VINYL IN A HEAVY CLEAR PRINTED SLEEVE

Yoshihumi Niinuma is the man behind Sympathy Nervous, a Japanese minimal synth project that has been recording since the late 70's and on through the 80's and 90's. His stunning album "Automaticism" is the latest installment on the stellar Minimal Wave label. "Automaticism" is a truly unique sound that differs wildly from the usual tones on the Minimal Wave label. Sympathy Nervous is a very direct and studied process of repetition and strategy that funnels sonics into motorik grooves and tightly structured compositions. Niinuma is equally influenced by classical and Krautrock which comes through in the music as well as hints of proto-industrial and cold, dystopian themes that add a lot of attitude and character throughout. The fact this LP exists at all is a miracle considering the back-story leading up to its release. Originally recorded between 1979 and 1981 and intended for a cassette release that never came to be, these tunes were shelved and eventually sent to the Minimal Wave label for its current release. But, in March of 2011, when the Tsunami devastated the coast of Japan, Niinuma lost everything. He lost an entire lifetime of recordings, instruments and even his home! Luckily he had sent off the masters of these recordings to the label in time to get them released. In light of this tragedy, all proceeds from the album will go directly to the artist. This album is pressed on 180 gram clear vinyl and housed in a heavy weight clear sleeve with liner notes by Niinuma giving his account of what happened the day the Tsunami hit. This is a wonderfully original sounding record full of pulse pumping electronics and brain scramble future shock. "Automaticism" is like a soundtrack to an evil video game that is circuit bent on corrupting your soul. Highly Recommended.

LP - In Trance 95 - Cities Of Steel And Neon - $24.99

LIMITED TO 999 HAND NUMBERED COPIES

Attention directors of action-thriller movies in the 1990's! You know that one scene in your film where the protagonist follows the antagonist into their native habitat, a packed dance club with some cheesy synth/house jam that the "calling all weirdos" extras are dancing to with an offbeat abandonment which suggests hedonistic recklessness and general underworld oogie boogies to the viewer? WHY CAN'T YOU FOLKS EVER NAIL THAT SCENE? Is it because you've never heard of Greek minimal synth duo In Trance 95, who launched into the real-life version of your pretend world back in the 80's? And because of this, you didn't know that they actually pack a supremely threatening yet danceable punch in that oh-so-90's cyberpunk erotica way? Like if a European Alan Vega fronted early Depeche Mode? Is that why, you 90's movie directors, that the only bad guy music scene from your whole decade that was totally spot-on was when Buffalo Bill was bopping to "Hip Priest" by The Fall while sewing up his ladysuit? Let's solve this right away, you guys. Minimal Wave just came out with this collection of '88-'89 era In Trance 95 tunes, including their first single "Desire To Desire," all of which are the hottest tracks you could ever hope to hear during a fictional goth night club scene where Bridget Fonda tracks down Jennifer Jason Leigh, gets grabbed by a creepy S&M guy in a cage, and generally does not like what she sees. Let's seriously re-shoot all of those scenes. Just remember to invite us. We'll gladly bring our copy of "Cities Of Steel and Neon".

LP - Pas De Deux - Cardiocleptomanie - $24.99

LIMITED TO 999 HAND NUMBERED COPIES ON BRIGHT BLUE WAX

And the mighty Minimal Wave label strikes again! This time around they have compiled tracks by Belgian pop trio Pas De Deux and released "Cardiocleptomanie". The title track was featured not long ago on the Minimal Wave compilation "The Hidden Tapes" and was just a teaser of the killer tunes that make up this full album. Pas De Deux lean to the more Post-Punk/New Wave side of things and pump out quirky tunes with female harmonized vocals and tribal dance rhythms. Pas De Deux was formed in 1982 and doled out hypnotic and catchy dream pop that would hold up against any of the crop of groups around at the time. There is definitely some Bush Tetras and Kleenex/Liliput vibes throughout but Pas De Deux most certainly have their own thing going on. While less "synth-y" than most of the Minimal Wave catalog, Pas De Deux use drum machines, bongos and breathy vocal harmonies to conjure up a compelling upbeat joy. "Cardiocleptomanie" is pressed up on 180 gram bright blue vinyl and limited to 999 hand numbered copies. As with all Minimal Wave titles this comes with our highest recommendation.

2xLP - Various Artists - Orgelvark - $33.99

LIMITED TO 999 HAND NUMBERED COPIES

Orgelvark, Minimal Wave's newest compilation, is yet another essential album for any cold/synth/minimal/dark-wave fan. Subtitled "en stadig samling svensk synthmusik"�"a solid collection of Swedish synth music," Orgelvark is a killer assortment of bitching weirdo synth magic. This is the first time a lot of these obscure tracks from Sweden's underground electronic music scene have been lovingly released on vinyl, remastered from the original tapes by the guy who released Orgelvark the first time around, Tor Sigvardson. And while minimal wave is the obvious genre to attach to this release, goth, industrial and new wave undertones pop up all over the place here. Be on the look out for stand out deep cut "Killed By Death" by Spilluffe. Yes it's a Motorhead cover that segues into a loose interpretation of Hawkwind's "Master Of The Universe" done Scandanavian synth style. It's a fucking brilliant treat among a smorgasbord of tasty cuts. Apparently all these groups were living in separate villages around Sweden at the time, possibly explaining the difference between bands. Icy synths, unintelligible lyrics (to most of us, anyway) and a distinctly DIY vibe all factor into the radness of this record. "Orgelvark" is a double LP pressed up in a limited edition run of 999 hand-numbered copies, and comes housed in a beautiful Gatefold jacket with extensive notes on the inside. Better be swift cuz this 'un is sure to disappear faster than coke off a stripper's ass. Hugely Recommended.

LP - Catacombz - Catacombz - $16.99

LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, HAND-SCREENED COVER, INCLUDES DOWNLOAD CARD

It's been a pretty kickass year for repetitive/extended psych jams. So far we've had new releases from Wooden Shjips, Cave, Moon Duo, White Hills, Sun Araw, Eternal Tapestry, Oneida, and the list goes on. Well here we have a potential new entry into that otherworldly lineup of the fictional Spaceoutfest 2011. It's Milwaukee's own Catacombz, and their self-titled debut is out in an extremely scarce quantity on Organalog Records. Partially recorded in Chicago under the watchful eye of Cave's own Cooper Crain, the gents, killer musicians all, display an excellent grasp of when to ride a groove into deep state of hypnosis and when to crack out of it into explosive new territory. There's also a comfort level with effects-driven atmospherics that doffs its cap to the Eno rock records and "how can they keep up the intensity for this long, my arms would fall off" Oneida/Boredoms-style drumming, plus occasional use of vox effects that's leaving a delicious Trans Am "Red Line"y aftertaste in our mouths. The whole thing is excellently recorded and tighter than a dolphin's sphincter. We are excited to see what this band will get themselves up to in the future since the present is the exact opposite of shabby. We recommend you snatch one up before it pulls a Copperfield and disappears.

LP - Resonars - Bright And Dark - $12.99

Sunny, chiming harmonies of The Resonars - finally reissued (or issued for the FIRST TIME ON WAX in this case) courtesy of Burger Records! The Resonars are essentially the on-again-off-again home recording project of one man, Matt Rendon who lives in the sunbaked city of modern-day Tuscon, Arizona, but whose heart apparently lies in the music scene of the Sixties British Invasion! The story of The Resonars begins in the early 1990s, when Rendon planned on releasing a comic about a band from the Sixties who gets stuck in the Nineties. The comic never panned out, but the band did, with Rendon and some buddies releasing a few cassettes and eventually breaking up. Rendon kept on recording by himself at his home studio, revived the moniker, and released the first eponymous Resonars LP on the Tuscon label, Star Time in 1998. THIS record right here "Bright and Dark" was its follow-up, originally released on CD by Get Hip in 1999, rescued from the CD cut-out bins, and rightfully released on vinyl by Burger Records in 2011! We're talkin' some of the most convincingly OG sounding tunes influenced by The Who, The Hollies, Small Faces and The Byrds (dude's even mixing it like a Sixties Record; drums hard-panned left, guitars hard-panned right, etc) - Snappy pop tunes with ringing, reverb'd Rickenbackers Rickenbacking their twelve-string jangle and three part harmonies sha-la-la-ing all over the place! We had the tune "Marina" on an unlabeled mix cd that friend had made for us for a long time, thinking it was a Sixties pop group - that's how convincing Rendon is with his sonic palette. "Bright and Dark" is a fitting title for an album that understands the music of that period's affectation for bright harmonies and dark moods; like lamenting over a lost love, while simultaneously knowing it's still gonna be OK in the end. You know, music for blasting with the top down or for hangin' on a park bench during the waning days of Autumn. Beautiful and bittersweet. Great, great stuff - a real treat to finally have this one on wax! Keep 'em coming Burger boys!! RECOMMENDED!

LP - Wax Idols - No Future - $10.99

CD - Wax Idols - No Future - $8.99

Wow, we dug the Wax Idols' debut single "All Too Human" on HoZac, but we can't say it prepared us for the "No Future" full length (also on HoZac). The female fronted Wax Idols give you a friendly wave from a-far only to give you the finger when you make an attempt to wave back. They reach out and gently hold your hand as they lead you down the path of ripping your whole damn arm out of its socket and clubbing you with it, just 'cause. What we're saying here is, if you accept that hug you're most certainly going to get a punch in the stomach. The Wax Idols' channel solid attitude punk rock with pop and hooks in all the right places. Hether Fortune boasts a "been there, done that" all-knowing approach to her vocals knowing when to kill it at all the right moments and reel it in before it's too much. Although Fortune has the prowess at certain moments to unleash her inner Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks she mostly rides strong in the Suzi Quatro pop with 'tude realm. Underneath all the Quatro sensibilities, the entirety of Wax Idols rock a combination of "now"-era San Francisco Bay area Castleface garage (Fortune is also in Blasted Canyons), the gothy post punk of the early Cure, and a hint of the ferocity of L7. Their layers are thick, and they've got a bad attitude, so we recommend you pick this one on up.

7" - Wooden Shjips - Phonograph - $5.99

Originally appearing as a bonus along with the gone-in-a-flash limited first pressing of this year's "West" LP, the Phonograph 7" is now available for those Wooden Shjips fans that missed the bjoat. We can understand why the average Wooden Shjips collector might be a little slow paced, as they're the current reigning kings of the mellow-ripping psyche drone trip. The two tracks grooved into wax here are "Phonograph," a repetitive organ-n-guitar shred-o-delic burner from the West sessions that's every bit as potent as anything on that LP or, really, any of their other ones, and the album cut "Looking Out" remixed by dub-o-tronic duo Peaking Lights and renamed "Lights Out," which sounds like a chopped-n-skrewed version of "It's Time For The Percolator" drizzled with some vintage Ripley man without a name slowhand guitar rippage. If "West" was a full bongload, this here's a lil' bubbler with two solid hits. We call it recommended.

7" - Ty Segall - Spiders - $5.99

NEXT LEVEL single from the almighty Ty Segall! It should be no surprise what big fans of Ty we are here around the shop(s), & we've kept a close grip on any & all of his discography to date, so we are here to say that this single is a surprising new direction for our main man. 'Spiders' & 'Hand Glams' are HEAVY jams of the highest order - dude has been listening to some gnarly Seventies rock to be sure - elements of Hawkwind, Black Sabbath (he's been known to cover 'Paranoid' in his live sets lately), or even Budgie are creeping into his earholes & out onto vinyl (hell he even covers the Groundhogs almighty classic pounder 'Cherry Red' on the flip side of this 7-inch, & covers it well - retaining all the OG version's sweat & swagger). Keep wise true-believers, all this "heavy" is still filtered thru Segall's fuzzed out, California haze, so it still SOUNDS like Ty Segall, just one who's maybe starting to bust out of the 'psych-garage' cocoon he's woven around himself... a great, surprising aside in his already stellar oeuvre - it'll be interesting to see where he goes from here! Recorded by Mike Donovan of Sic Alps & pressed up by the fine folks at Chicago's own Drag City Records. RECOMMENDED? You betcha...

7" - Radar Eyes - Miracle - $5.99

Chicago's Radar Eyes have been front and center on our radar's eye for a while now, ever since their self-titled cassette on Plustapes slapped us in the face back in spring of '10. Since then they've put out a HoZac Hookup Klub 7", the excellent but completely unavailable "Shake," a slice of shoegaragaze pop perfection that for some reason always cross-references in our brainspace to Flamin' Groovies' similarly titles "Shake Some Action" in a way that totally works. Radar Eyes have been laying somewhat low, gigging a bunch but not recording a ton, and listening to this great wham-bam set of tunes we can only assume that's because they're taking their time to get things right. "Miracle" is a slice of male-female Crocodilian vocal sunshine, undercut with organ drone and dripping with hooks, and the flip "Me & My Dogs" is a fuzzguitar houseparty ripper in Dave Allen tingletone. If you like your pop to have teeth and your teeth to have pop, this one is a recommen-dental appointment.

7" - Electric Blood - Single 2011 - $5.99

This misleadingly titled "Single 2011" is the first ever vinyl release by the first ever garage band of Kiwi rocker Robert Scott (later of The Bats and The Clean, yes, THAT Robert Scott). We know it's 2011 now, but this is some vintage Kiwi pop right here y'all. Electric Blood formed in 1977 and these four cuts we're recorded way back in 1982/84!!! They sound like nothing so much as a more UK DIY version of the recent Michael Yonkers Band "Microminiature Love" reissue. In other words, it's a kind of no-phonic no-reo audio documentation of the early songwriting development of an even-then-apparent major talent who at the time was not trying to pull off anything in particular, and so the four tunes here have a completely charming offhandedness and immediacy about them that can't possibly be faked. It's definitely a roots of Kiwi pop archival recording and it might also contain a clue or two about the looseness of a lot of stuff we dig in the current Aussie rock scene. In short, "Single 2011" is an overdue but incredibly timely issue of some incredible seminal recordings of some of our favorite Kiwi musicians EVER!

7" - Red Pens - Next Summer - $5.99

Red Pens are a Minneapolis guy-girl team that has for no good reason completely escaped our notice until now. It's a sad day at Permanent Records when we find ourselves scooped by Pitchfork, who had a track review of "Weekdays" from the duo's debut LP "Reasons" as early as January '10, but sometimes it be like that, mang, especially as far as DIY bedroom-punk goes. We'd like to make up for our earlier boat-missing by heaping some well-deserved praise on this killer slab of marbelized wax, also apparently self-released in a quite limited quantity. The A-side "Next Summer" is a Human Eye-esque growler of gnarly guitar piled atop itself and packed with snarling attitude, but nevertheless catchy, like some put-together beastmaster prince riding statesmanlike on a buffalo-sized warthog. The flip is a gentler pop tune, "I Run This," which turns the snarl down on guitar for a more shoegazey '88 Bloody Valentine beauty approach and offers up genuinely affecting heartfelt sentiment, like our beastmaster prince dismounting and being handed his newborn baby girl. The two together pack a hell of a one-two punch, and we're glad to call ourselves Red Pens fans with the zeal of the recently converted. Recommended.

More Sweet New Jams

LP - Vita Noctis - Against The Rule

"Dark Entries and Minimal Maximal have joined forces to reissue the complete discography of VITA NOCTIS on a double vinyl LP. Previously these songs were restricted to limited self-released cassettes, compilation appearances and a sole 12" Mini LP. Beware, this is abrasive, primal music made by irritated teenagers full of angst! Vita Noctis were a trio from Vilvoorde, Belgium in the Flemish Region. Inspired by the post-punk movement twin brothers KRIS and JOS KIPS convinced their friend MARTINE GENIJN to start a band in 1983. They recorded their earliest songs onto a 4-track machine in their bedroom studio using the meager equipment they could afford: bass, guitar, two synthesizers and a drum machine. Their first album, In The Face Of...DEATH, was self-released on cassette only in 1984 followed by the Much Money Good Boy, No Money Good-Bye cassette in 1985. In February 1986 the band recorded five songs at Studio Care in Gent, Belgium later released as the self-titled 12" Mini-LP on Mad In Belgium Records. Their final recording session was November 1986 returning to the band's bedroom studio, resulting in the song "She Likes Me" which appeared on the Climax Productions Presents LP. More "arthouse" than "goth", Vita Noctis blend the sneering attitude of punk with the spartan structures of minimal electronics. The band had more in common with the early electronic Sheffield scene of Cabaret Voltaire, Vice Versa or early Human League than their Belgian contemporaries. Urgent vocals go from a whisper to a scream in seconds and sound restless, bored and irritated all at once. Fuzzy guitar, simple baselines and crude electronics take turns accompanying the dynamic vocal stylings. While lyrics tackle weighty topics like death and religion, the landscape they paint is as playfully bratty as it is grim. All songs have been remastered from the restored 1/4" reel to reel tapes by GEORGE HORN at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley California. Each double LP comes in a deluxe gatefold jacket with cover art by original designer STEPHAN BARBERY and never before seen band photos and lyrics for each song. Spanning three years and four recording sessions Against The Rule is the soundtrack to Armageddon, very fitting in the contemporary climate of dissatisfaction and social upheaval." - Dark Entries

LP - Skoal Kodiak - Kryptonym Bodliak

"While Minneapolis band SKOAL KODIAK has a prestigious lineage (QUAD MUTH, THE COWS and SEAWHORES), they've already released a 12-inch a few years back, and this record ups the ante large. Echoes of the hard funk jut up against Mars Rover squelch to create something totally timeless and new but also borne of a future so toxic that there is no escaping. I dare you to listen and not be immediately summoned to movement. Buy one, buy several, you are now a foot soldier with a flesh uniform, go out and preach the word of Skoal Kodiak from a tall structure loudly." - Load

LP - Dwarr - Starting Over

CD - Dwarr - Starting Over

"Posterity is a word that simply means "all future generations." Only sex, money, and power are stronger driving forces behind human creativity, and posterity is the thing that motivated DUANE WARR to create his first album, Starting Over, in 1984. What makes a person in their 20s concerned about posterity? Hard living, a sense of mortality, the fear of dying before having done something worth a damn. And Duane Warr lived hard, oh yes. So what did he leave for posterity? A spectacular vision of the apocalypse�of starting over from zero. A vision of terror and suffering but also, perhaps, one of hope. (Warr would be born again nine years later.) Following on the heels of last year's acclaimed reissue of Dwarr's hard rock masterpiece Animals, Drag City and Yoga Records proudly present Duane Warr's first testament, a home-recorded rock-metal-blues shredder unlike anything else, a true outlier from the heart of the conformist '80s. Don't believe us? Take a look at his "Screams of Terror" music video on YouTube and remind yourself what it feels like to be fucking amazed by something so different it's almost threatening." - Drag City

DUDE IT'S FUCKING DWARR, CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING VID FOR "Screams of Terror":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-79yPTbH3lE

LP - Twerps - Twerps

"Up til now, a large part of TWERP's charm has been their rough edges. Recording to hissy four track tape, singing songs about enjoying the "occasional quiet drink" and then throwing up on your friends. But now, with their self-titled debut album, there might just be a little bit of growing up going on. It's definitely the biggest-sounding recording Twerps have ever done. Unlike their early manifestos, Twerps was recorded in a bona fide studio, with the help of engineer JACK FARLEY (Beaches, St Helens). But it's not just the sound, it's the songs. Tracks like "Through The Day" and first single "Dreamin" contain instantly recognizable Twerps elements: the fascination with New Zealand's 1980s Flying Nun era, as well as US bands like the Feelies and Galaxie 500. They also contain a kind of Australian pop timelessness that harks back to the Go-Betweens, Paul Kelly and the Sunnyboys. This is something new for the band, and it's deep and resonant. Received a 7.9 rating from Pitchfork." - Underwater Peoples

LP - Royal Trux - Singles Live Unreleased - 3xLP

2xCD - Royal Trux - Singles Live Unreleased

"REISSUED!!! This 32-song bomb was dropped on a highly suspect America back in the early winter of 1997. It was a celebration of�and no tombstone upon�the then-major label act known as ROYAL TRUX, RTX and/or "these guys suck," depending on whom you were reading. The songs were collected from along the various ways they'd passed by from 1988 to around the time they were signed to Virgin in 1994. The title really says it all, without delivering strictly on the promise; rather than divide the album into sections dedicated to each of the above, the singles, live and unreleased tracks were scrambled in unchronologic / anthropomorphic / anti-idiomatic fashion to represent a living, breathing entity built of contradictions, rhythm, gleeful exploitation of limitations and clichés, the short con (and when you finally notice, they'd slip into the long one) and above all, total commitment. This was a band to which the word "definition" had no meaning, other than as the punch-line to a variety of jokes that we won't bore you with right now. You may never understand unless you sit in a crouch for three days, on the balls of your feet with the knees pointing out like arrows before you. And then maybe you'll know how it feels. Some people in this life have no choice, they've been Indians since the day they were born. Others take it upon themselves. This was Royal Trux. And when Maker's Day finally comes�and trust us, you too will stand naked�when we humans are finally judged on intention�Royal Trux will roll in to heaven heavy with it, 100% pure and solid." - Drag City

LP - Video - Leather Leather

EDITION OF 500 COPIES

"Denton TX's VIDEO began intending to sound like a mix between Crime, Chrome and Cream. However, the twelve songs on this debut LP end up sounding like your record collection melted into one solid album. Ranging from songs that have the primal pounding of Flipper, the space jam sessions of Hawkwind, and the lyrical bent of early Alice Cooper and Stick Men With Ray Guns, Video's debut album should shatter all preconceptions of what Denton's punk scene can produce. Featuring members of THE WAX MUSEUMS, BAD SPORTS, WICCANS, SILVER SHAMPOO, and as many other bands that you can name, Leather Leather breaks the mold of the usual poppy, melodic punk and instead forges a new territory somewhere between punk, hard rock, and weirdo psych. First pressing of 500 copies with die-cut jackets and printed innersleeves." - Play Pinball

LP - Luke Roberts - Big Bells And Dime Songs

CD - Luke Roberts - Big Bells And Dime Songs

INCLUDES DOWNLOAD COUPON

The debut album by Nashville native and occasional Brooklyn resident Luke Roberts is an intimate and immediate experience. Songs about running, stumbling, falling, crashing, crying, spitting, fighting, sleeping, dancing, healing, bruising, the butterfly, crawling, creeping, building, flying, fording, gargling, just starting out, homecoming, claiming, calling, bridges, tunnels, planets, and the sun and money. Essentially they are just gifts for Luke's loved ones. Luke says it best: "They are poems that I didn't feel comfortable not reciting before I go." Big Bells and Dime Songs was recorded by Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk) in his Ronniejone$ound Studio in Athens, Georgia. This was Luke's first trip to a studio. Kyle also played drums and some bass on the record. They had never met prior to the recording of this record. Luke got his name and number from a fellow cook and Harvey Milk member. (Thrill Jockey got Luke's music from another cook.)" - Thrill Jockey

LP - Kashmere Stage Band - Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 - 3xLP/DVD

"EXPANDED REISSUE ON VINYL!!! The definitive anthology of the KASHMERE HIGH SCHOOL STAGE BAND�whose "Kashmere" was sampled by DJ Shadow for "Holy Calamity"�courtesy of Now Again archivist EGON. Reissued in conjunction with the JAMIE FOXX produced, awared-winning documentary Thunder Soul: The True Story of Conrad Johnson and the Kashmere Stage Band (in theaters now). Includes a bonus LP with additional tracks, a booklet and a DVD featuring the B+ / FLYING LOTUS produced Texas Jewels: The Making of Texas Thunder Soul, a recently unearthed 1973 documentary of the band and a 1972 performance." - Now Again

CD - Real Estate - Days

"A gorgeous suite of guitar-pop songs, Days is a testament to the fact that the sonic formula Real Estate developed and shared with their debut album (Real Estate, Woodsist 2009) heralded the arrival of a new, genuine and enduring group of voices in American independent music. Days sees the band tighten and refine their brand of timeless, melodic and genuine music- consolidating the breezy sketches of their earlier work into considered, graceful pop songs. Others, like "Green Aisles" and the Bleeker-fronted "Wonder Years" formed out of extended jams, providing them a fluid structure that only a band of craftsmen could make sound so effortless and guided. Courtney has also matured as a lyricist, adeptly capturing and singing youth's most potent crystalline moments with a surgeon's precision. He wrote most of the songs on Days early in the morning, immediately upon waking up, when the unscripted promise of a new day was still in its purest form. In "Green Aisles" he sings "all those aimless drives through green aisles / our careless lifestyle, it was not so unwise". Such a sentiment is an almost perfect lens through which to view Days, the coming of age album they've made. " - Domino

12" - Skull Defekts - 2013-3012

LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES WORLD-WIDE

"2013 - 3012 is limited to only 1,000 vinyl copies worldwide and includes a free download coupon. The A side consists of three new songs while the B side is a reverse cut done on a Scully Lathe. We were told that there were only a handful of mastering facilities with an operating Scully lathe in the United states. We could only find one. The B Side is not only a reverse recording of the A side - but literally PLAYS BACKWARDS from the inside of the record to the outside. In April 2011, The Skull Defekts toured the US to celebrate the release of the "Peer Amid" album on Thrill Jockey Records, a record where the Swedish core of the band was completed by the presence of Daniel Higgs on vocals. The band decided to invite Higgs' old Lungfish companion Asa Osborne and his Zomes project to open for them on tour. It didn't take long for them to find each other in friendship and a common belief in the power of music and sound. The Skull Defekts and Zomes have different ways of presenting this belief but it was clear to everyone attending these intense shows that the artists did share something special, beautiful, and rare. When the crew found themselves with a cancelled show midway through the tour, they luckily were at Machines With Magnets where they had played a show the night before - a great studio in Pawtucket, RI (previously used by bands like Battles and The Psychic Paramount). The studio had just ended a recording session and the band entered for an explosive and extremely creative one day session. Two new songs were written and recorded, and another one that had been played on the tour was put to tape... The Skull Defekts and Zomes in Pawtucket, RI. Something beautiful, something strong and important was there, and these six men succeeded in documenting it with the great help of Seth Manchester and Keith Souza. Sometimes magic happens. This was one of those moments." - Thrill Jockey

7" - Gone Bad - Midnight Love EP

Anybody out there listened to that first L7 LP anytime recently? Worth re-investigating. Heavily. How about Bikini Kill? When's the last time? Be honest. EXACTLY. Exactly, you guys. We don't have much to go on about these guys. They are from Brooklyn, we know that. They're self-releasing this and everything else, and they're tearing a hole in bandcamp.com in true manic DIY fashion. They are HEAVY riffers and punk pukers in the tradition of those fabulous bands already mentioned as well as fellow Brooklynites Pygmy Shrews. And we also know these women and men, especially vocalist Coco Roy, have most definitely GONE BAD. Recommended if you like being screamed at by an unhinged maniac (we LOVE it).

7" - Dead Farmers - Out The Door - Import

"The new Dead Farmers 7" (hell, possibly only 7", I don't have time to look everything up for you creeps) is an excellent garage, lightning in a bottle of Molotov cocktail rocker. The A-side, "Out the Door" has a Natural Child, Stones circa Exile thing going for it (in case that means nothing to you, you need to listen to cooler music - why not start with this 7"?). The B-side, "Never Enough", has a similar vibe happening, until the sweet two-noter guitar solo at 0:43 (this isn't a critique - I love it). Ok. I looked these guys up and they're from Australia. Hmmmm. Like some slowed-down Cosmic Psychos, perhaps? Check out this and other releases at R.I.P. Society." - http://letsgetbent.tumblr.com