OUR FAVORITE NEW MUSIC & MOVIES! - Amoeba Music

gem out of the best-worst bargain bin dregs.
Fact: this program will definitely do something
to you, like it or not.
House (Hausu) (1977) –
Directed by Nobuhiko
Obayashi (CrITErION)
Criterion presents: Filmmaking by any and every
means possible.
Agent Ribbons –
Chateau Crone
(ANTENNA FArM)
One of the best live bands
around, period. These two
babes serve up their unique girls
in the garage meets three-penny
opera approach to rocking out in
with such charm and aplomb that
even the most hard-hearted and
lunk-headed fall hard for them
at first listen. everything they’ve
done is great, do yourself a favor
and get the record and go to their
shows. What more can I say? A++
Blonde Redhead –
Penny Sparkle (4AD)
Like a new pair of underwear. At first, it’s constrictive.
But after awhile it becomes a part of
you. I finally succumbed to comfort during their
live show last November which is telling, I feel.
It’s a fall/winter record for longer nights haunted
by women disguised as white horses. good luck
bumping this on the boardwalk in August.
Afrirampo – We Are Uchu
No Ko (rOCk ACTION)
Afrirampo’s double-disc swansong plays like
a cross-section of their previous releases fermented
into a heady, intoxicating super nova of
far out space-rock the likes of which only these
two red-painted ladies are capable of blasting off.
Final frontier jams.
Puro Instinct – Headbangers
In Ecstasy (MExICAN SUMMEr)
Barely legal? Maybe. So very? Definitely.
Beachcomber Trio –
Live At Kahiki 1975 (DIONYSUS)
Not only is this Exotica record NOT a reissue,
it’s a vinyl only, hand numbered limited
edish packaged with a cocktail recipe AND an
Mp3 download coupon of the entire program:
how’s that for anachronistic listening! Featur-
34 MUSIC WE LIKE H Spring/Summer 2011
ing house band The Beachcomber Trio, this lost
recording of an exotic evening at Columbus,
Ohio’s kahiki Supper Club, a legendary though
now defunct “tiki temple,” packs the sort of
quiet, environmental excitement other live restaurant
recordings released in the ’60s present.
The sound of the bar’s waterfall, the tinkling of
glasses and muffled voices sometimes offering
discernible words like the man with the Jimmy
Stewart voice identifying songs such as Arthur
Lyman’s “Yellow Bird” as the band begins
to play them. An absolute must have
for Exotica enthusiasts and theme restaurant
lovers alike. And, while you’re
at it, pick up a copy of lately reissued
Exotic Dreamers 2-on-1 CD featuring
both Ethel Azama’s Exotic Dream
and Tak Shindo’s Mganga! and
the new Sound of Tiki compilation
presented by urban archeologist
Sven A. kirsten, author of
Taschen’s gorgeous and extremely
comprehensive Book of Tiki and Tiki
Modern. The CD itself was issued
last year as a companion piece to
kirsten’s books and features its
own amazing 50-page frenzy of facts
and fancy — all of these worth the price
of a painkiller #9.
Lloyd Miller & Heliocentrics
– Lloyd Miller & Heliocentrics
(STrUT)
gamelan Appreciation Society approved!
Tamaryn – The Waves (MExICAN
SUMMEr)
See: Blonde redhead Penny Sparkle. Back home
we used to hang out at this once a week goth
night called “1708” at Club 1708. It was fun,
but middling though there were a lot of guys
dressed like Trent reznor. recently I heard buzzing
among fellow Amoeba peeps about a band
called Tamaryn; seems they’d made quite the
impression with their live show, and everyone
was remarking upon their certain success and
notoriety. I confess, I rushed to get a listen and
found a properly elevated “1708” sound so atmospheric
I could almost feel the tense softness
of spilled candlewax cooling on velvet cushions.
I recognized Tamaryn’s voice at a local karaoke
joint about two weeks after hearing The Waves
for the first time. As far as I can remember she
sang “killing Moon” in the style of Echo and the
Bunnymen, “Silver Spring” in the style of Fleetwood
Mac and “Life on Mars” in the style of David
Bowie, so her influences certainly check out.
It’s a shame “Love Will Tear Us Apart” wasn’t in
the songbook.
The Sandwitches –
Summer Of Love 7” (1234gO!)
“Female Creedence,” best band in town.
Nine Inch Nails –
Pretty Hate Machine (TVT)
I was up above it, now I’m down in it (again).
Now with more “get Down, Make Love!”
Oni – Sunwave Heart
A pure and free-flowing acoustic folk opus from
Afrirampo guitarist Oni. Unbridled and chaotic
at times, but nothing like her cyclonic Afri-flipside.
refreshing.
Lou Harrison – Scenes From
Cavafy (NEW WOrLD)
Another recommendation from the g.A.S. Especially
the tracks that feature the gamelan pacifica
Chorus — total swoon
Far East Family Band –
Nipponjin (pHOENIx)
phoenix seems to be tapping Julian Cope’s Japrock
Sampler top 50 what with all the recent
reissues of chart-toppers like Flower Travellin’
Band’s Satori (#1) Speed, glue and Shinki’s Eve
(#2) and Les rallizes Denudes’ Heavier Than A
Death In the Family (#3). Far East Family Band’s
Nipponjin (1975) clocks in at #14 (really?), but
this klaus Schulze produced, pink Floyd a la
Japonais take on experimental, new age psych
is sounding so right these days — the second
half of January to be exact. I mix my medicine
seasonally.
Ducktails – Ducktails III:
Arcade Dynamics (WOODSIST)
Ahh… more berm highs from my fave Jersey
Shore juicebox, Matt Mondanile a.k.a. Ducktails!
This record is a lot poppier than his first two
solo flights but worth a listen.
Little Wings – Black Grass (rAD)
Finally…
Sun City Girls – Funeral
Mariachi (ABDUCTION)
golden. One of the very best of 2010.
Leland – Feel the Pain
(CONTEMpT)
Hero material. Up there with Souleyman and
Rundgren. Drank the Kool-Aid at first listen.
The Sword – Warp Riders
(kEMADO)
A science-fantasy concept album inspired by
queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime with heavy
traces of Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath and Iron
Maiden influences? exactly.
Tip:
karaoke means empty orchestra
lUCIANO
Toro y Moi – Underneath the
Pine (CArpArk)
Toro y Moi’s second full-length album delivers
more of his beautiful trademark electronic
and unpredictable sound, but this time with
live instrumentation , creating a more mature
and authentic work. If you liked his first album
Causers of This (2010), you will definitely enjoy
this one.
Ducktails – Ducktails III:
Arcade Dynamics
(WOODSIST)
A beautiful trip thru different genres. With this
album Matthew Mondanile becomes more consistent,
more conventional. With new structural
songs that are full of nostalgia and a subtle garage
sound perfect for short road trips, this album
invites you in by it’s simplicity. And that’s
what makes it beautiful.
Junip – Fields (MUTE)
resonant, warm and intimate. Full of haunting
guitars and vocals, Jose gonzales one more time
delivers a timeless album worth owning and
sharing.
Drivan – Disko
(SMALLTOWN SUpErSOUND)
Mysterious, elemental and unpredictable songs
from this musical project called Drivan. Mixing
talent from Sweden and Finland, this album is
pop, electronic and experimental yet lo-fi in a
pleasant way, with beautiful vocals, intriguing
melodies and folk references.
Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
(LL rECOrDINgS)
Sexier and definitely darker than her debut album
Youth Novels. Wounded Rhymes (produced
by Björn Yttling) is tribal, pop, feminist and obscure
all in one.
MUSIC WE LIKE H Spring/Summer 2011 35