14th of September 2012 Update

14th of September 2012 Update of New and Key Restocked Items + Reviews
at Redscroll Records


LPs & 12″s
______________________
2 Chainz    “Based On A T.R.U. Story” (2LP Gatefold)
Acid Problem    “Acid Problem”
Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop Of Sun City Girls)    “Alvarius B.” (2LP Reissue /400 Ltd. Ed.)
Antibalas    “Antibalas” (+ D/L)
Azure Ray    “As Above So Below”
Band Of Horses    “Mirage Rock” (Gatefold + Poster + D/L)
Ben Folds Five    “The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind” (180 Gram 2LP Gatefold + D/L)
Blue On Blue / Os Ovni    “Vision Imaginary”
Crypts    “Crypts”
Cult Of Youth    “Love Will Prevail” (+ D/L)
Dinosaur Jr.    “I Bet on Sky” (Ltd. Ed. Colored Vinyl + D/L)
Dixon, Willie    “I Am The Blues Man” (180 Gram)
Easy Star All*Stars    “Thrillah (A Dub Take On Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’)” (2LP Gatefold)
Ein-St-Ein    “Varsavia”
Fennesz    “FA 2012”
Frak    “Prism”
Grizzly Bear    “Shields” (2LP Gatefold + D/L)
Hooded Menace    “Effigies Of Evil” (2LP Gatefold)
Lekman, Jens    “I Know What Love Isn’t” (Ltd. Ed. Colored Vinyl + D/L)
Little Walter    “Hate To See You Go” (180 Gram)
Locrian & Christoph Heemann    “Locrian & Christoph Heemann”
Lymbyc System    “Symbolyst” (Gatefold + D/L)
Macka B    “Rasta Soldier”
Merzbow    “Merzbient” (18xLP 2xBox Set – It Is $355.00 In The Store And It Is Hefty)
Moore, R. Stevie    “Hearing Aid”
Negro, Joey And The Sunburst Band    “The Secret Life Of Us” (2LP Gatefold)
Neud Photo    “Kraftjerkz 012”
NOFX    “Self/Entitled” (+ D/L)
Northstar    “Is This Thing Loaded”
Oppenheimer    “Analysis”
O’Rourke, Jim    “ON #8 (Old News #8)” (2LP)
Polar Bear Club    “Live At The Montage”
Prekop, Sam    “Who’s Your New Professor”
Rangda    “Formerly Extinct”
Rhyton    “The Emerald Tablet”
S.Y.P.H.    “4.LP” (+ CD)
Schnitzler, Conrad / Andreas Reihse    “Con-Struct” (+ D/L With Bonus Tracks)
Sea And Cake, The    “Runner”
Sic Alps    “Sic Alps”
Sleepies    “Weird Wild World”
Sleeping People    “NOTRUF” (Ltd. Ed. /1000 + D/L)
Sorgini, Giuliano    “Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue” (Death Waltz Recording Co.)
Sun Araw    “The Inner Treaty”
Terror    “No Regrets No Shame: The Bridge Nine Days” (Grey Vinyl + D/L)
Trash Company, The    “Having Fun”
Treasure Fleet    Cocamotion (+ D/L)
Various Artists    “This Is How It Should Be Done Vol. 1” (+ CD; Green Street, LoopMaffia, Evil Needle…)
Various Artists    “Surinam! Boogie & Disco Funk From The Surinamese Dance Floors 76′ – 83′”
Waters, Muddy    “Sail On” (180 Gram)
Woods    “Bend Beyond” (Gatefold + D/L)

Electronic 12″s & LPs
______________________
Bell, Damon    “Nommo WL”
Bobby Tank    “Afterburn / Vorpheum”
Deadbeat    “Eight” (3LP)
Drvg Cvltvre    “Everything Oblivion EP”
Exaltics, The    “Node EP”
Exaltics, The    “The Exaltics Meets Morphology”
Huckaby, Mike    “Baseline 88-89”
Marter & Yony    “Spye EP”
Moodyman    “Picture This Sampler 2”
Moodyman    “Picture This Sampler 1”
Murphy, Hakim    “Wet Analog EP”
Obsolete Music Technology    “Relapse EP”
Old Apparatus    “Realise EP”
Parrish, Theo    “Urban 24”
Pursuit Grooves    “91 Fellows”
Pusherman    “Donuts EP”

10″s
______________________
Innerspace Halflife    “Wind (Innerspace Halflife) / Phazzled (Ike Release)”
Porter, Glen    “The Devil Is A Dancer, The Piper Is A Madman”
Various Artists    “The Unified Field Issue 01″ (Magazine + 10” Clear Vinyl)

7″s
______________________
Antibalas    “Dirty Money / A.W.O.L.”
Bug, The    “Can’t Take This No More” (Ft. Daddy Freddy)
Cho, Margaret & Neil Hamburger    “I Drink / How Little Men Care”
Coma Regalia / Capacities    “Coma Regalia / Capacities”
Crime    “Hot Wire My Heart / Baby You’re So Repulsive”
Harness    “Victim Of Suffering”
Howlin Rain    “When The Morning Comes / Collage”
Hunted Down    “Life’s Womb”
Lloyd, Martin    “L’Amant Electronique” (Hand Numbered Ltd. Ed.)
Man… Or Astro-Man?    “Analog Series 1”
Mob, The     “Back To Queens”
My Iron Lung    “Grief”
Night Beds    “Even If We Try / You Were Afraid”
Oh No / Doom    “3 Dollars” (5-Inch Vinyl)
Parasol    “Crush Season”
Red Hot Chili Peppers    “Magpies On Fire / Victorian Machinery”
Sea Lions / Golden Grrrls    “Sea Lions / Golden Grrrls”
Socialized Crucifixion    “More Than A Glance”
Soul Control    “Bore Core”
State Champs    “Overslept”
Vom    “Live At Surf City”
Wreck    “Reap What You Sow”

CDs Rock
______________________
Dinosaur Jr.    “I Bet On Sky”
Ehnahre    “Old Earth”
Grave    “Endless Procession Of Souls”
Hooded Menace    “Effigies Of Evil”
How To Dress Well    “Total Loss” (First Few Copies Come With Bonus 7″ – The LP Was Delayed A Month)
Loomis, Jeff    “Plains Of Oblivion”
Pinkish Black    “Pinkish Black”
Woods    “Bend Beyond”
Yuppicide    “American Oblivion”

CDs Non-Rock
______________________
Kid 606    “Lost In The Game”
Masta Ace & MF Doom    MA_DOOM: Son Of Yvonne
Sensations’ Fix    “Music Is Painting In The Air (1974-1977)”
Theologian    “Finding Comfort In Overwhelming Negativity” (DVD Size Box CD)
Zygadlo, Rudi    “Tragicomedies”

Books
______________________
The Minus Times Collected: 20 Years / 30 Issues (Edited By Hunter Kennedy)(Contributors Include: Stephen Colbert, Brad Neely, Robert Frank, Dave Eggers…)

Reviews
_____________________

Landing Landing

(Geographic North)
Formed in 1998, this New Haven-based trio provides Connecticut with an ethereal blend of genres such as Krautrock, shoegaze and space rock. After six years of working on their latest album, the culmination of effort has paid off.  The shimmering synth dreamscapes and ornate guitars make me feel like I’m drifting through memories of surreal places. Landing creates gorgeous, transcendent ambience excellently with their uniquely mixed sound that shouldn’t be relegated to a single genre. Right from the beginning, “Finally” builds a massive wall of electronic glow to back the calm vocals, brisk drums and spacey guitar sounds. Another instant standout, the faster-tempo “Heart Finds The Beat,” emphasizes on nebula-echoing bass, airy female vocals and numerous other reverb effects for an atmosphere to get lost in. One more I particularly enjoyed is the very warm-sounding closer “Native Land,” with numerous “ahhhh” vocals used as a multilayered instrument, reminding me of Sigur Rós. For maximum effect, this album should be played extra-loud.
[Reviewer: Mark][Note: We don’t have this right now and if you know the band please tell them we’d like them to bring some by ;)]

Lee Ranaldo Between The Times & The Tides

(Matador)
Being one of Sonic Youth’s founding members, Ranaldo has taken a surprising turn on his latest album. It’s been promoted as his “first rock record,” which is fitting due to its pure, very accessible sound of… well, rock (specifically of the alternative/indie persuasion.) Even with the absence of avant-garde, he constructs downright great songs without abandoning his roots: his strong voice combined with his glowing guitar licks makes me imagine R.E.M. if they drew inspiration from Sonic Youth. The powerfully delivered seven-minute “Xtina As I Knew Her” serves as an excellent example of this: the somber, overcast atmosphere is crafted with layers of guitars that aren’t afraid to wander into a bit of controlled-yet-trippy dissonance. “Fire Island (Phases)” incorporates a huge variety of multi-tempo passages, drawing influences from not only Sonic Youth-style alt-rock, but also steel guitar-based country rock and 70s hard rock, among others. Another example of the steel guitar sounding refreshingly rich is on the longing acoustic ballad “Stranded,” with easily relatable lyrics (“I’ll be right there when you call / you know I love you best of all…”)
[Reviewer: Mark]

Wednesday Weekly Video Volume 11


Wednesday Weekly Video Volume 11
(If you’re seeing this on our home webpage [redscrollrecords.com] you’re going to want to press the “Read More” link on the bottom to view the videos.)

In 2009, I was lucky enough to see Heaven & Hell (aka Dio-era Black Sabbath) just down the road from here at the Oakdale Theatre. The live show was awesome and “The Devil You Know” was one of my favorite albums to come out that year. It’s crazy to me that Dio’s voice sounded that good live and they were writing such killer music well into their 60s (50s for Appice)! RIP RONNIE JAMES DIO. (Josh)

A divisive project that paired down to just one member over its beginning years (who only feeds into the divisiveness by being cryptic or straight up not answering direct questions). This is from a few years back in NYC when D.I.J. had established itself as an experimental folk project/neofolk (in the beginning it wasn’t so much). And here’s a recent interview with Douglas P.: http://www.mishkanyc.com/death-in-june-interview

Brit pop infused with some tribal industrial percussion and adventurous instrumentation. A friend turned me onto these guys a couple years back and I immediately devoured (through my ear holes) their entire catalog (not that it’s all that intimidating) multiple times before listening to anything else (at least in my own free time as I’m sure the store had many different things playing). (Rick)

In 2009, Trent Reznor announced that Nine Inch Nails would play a series of shows billed as their farewell to live performance, which included several dates in New York. We had the opportunity to catch one of the shows at Terminal 5, which featured Peter Murphy (of Bauhaus) as a surprise upside-down guest on “Reptile” & came out again to sing “Dead Souls” (orig. by Joy Division) as part of their 6 song encore.

Into Another is playing a couple shows in NYC next month (one at Saint Vitus Bar and one for the Revelation Records 25th Anniversary). They just recently released this video they made some years back. Groove.

HydraHead Records called it a day today (announcement here: http://www.hydraheadlines.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-imminent-demise-of-hydra-head.html ). They’ve put out a lot of great music for the past 20 years and a lot of that was far under-appreciated (at the time and now). Included in that umbrella is Discordance Axis – a seminal grind band that continues to inspire.

Pallbearer is currently on the East Coast doing a few gigs in support of their most recent album “Sorrow And Extinction,” which was just released on LP by 20 Buck Spin. Here’s a video of one of their songs from the show last night in NYC. Slow & Doomy. (Sean)

We post these videos daily on Facebook.com/Redscroll. Please “Like” that page if you are on FB. If you aren’t on Facebook then these are here for you – posted weekly. Music is so extremely important and good. 

T-USED-DAY September 11th of 2012 Update

T-USED-DAY September 11th of 2012 Update
at Redscroll Records


This is becoming quite the bi-weekly feature. Let’s keep it going!
Here are some of the latest used arrivals at the shop. Keep in mind this doesn’t include any of the CDs or any LPs in the general rock/pop/jazz/anything-in-the-back-room that we get in.
These are the in-store prices – if you’d like to find any of these online please visit us here: http://www.discogs.com/seller/Redscroll
Email or call with any hold requests (at our discretion and must be picked up within a couple days). These are actively being sold so by the time you see this some of these may already be gone.

LPs & 12″s
______________________
All Pigs Must Die    “All Pigs Must Die” (2nd Press)    $13.00
Baikonour    “Your Ear Knows Future”    $10.00
Continental OP, The    “Slitch Music”    $8.00
Copy Right Chaos    “Veni Vidi Vici”    $6.00
Defiance    “Out Of The Ashes”    $4.00
Enon     “High Society”    $6.00
Fleas And Lice    “Prepare For Armageddon”    $5.00
G.B.H.    “No Need To Panic”    $6.00
Good Riddance    “A Comprehensive Guide To Moderne Rebellion”    $5.00
Government Issue    “Boycott Stab”    $6.00
Hawk And A Hacksaw, A    “The Way The Wind Blows”    $13.00
Horns Of Happiness    “Would I Find Your Psychic Guideline”    $6.00
Jesus And The Gospel-Fuckers / Agent Orange    “Jesus And The Gospel-Fuckers / Agent Orange”    $6.00
La Sera    “La Sera”    $10.00
Mongoloids, The    “Time Trials”    $8.00
Radical Face    “Ghost”    $22.00
Reatards, The    “Bed Room Disasters”    $30.00
Scrawl    “He’s Drunk”    $6.00
Shonen Knife    “712”    $8.00
Sin Fang Bous     “Clangour”    $10.00
Solex / The 1985    “The Cutter / Treasure Of The Nervous Nothing”    $4.00
Total Fury    “Ears Go Deaf” (401/500)    $13.00
Unseen, The    “Complete Singles Collection 1994-2000”    $3.00
Various Artists    “When Hell Freezes Over (A Minneapolis HC/Punk Compilation)”    $5.00
Vivian Girls    “Vivian Girls”    $7.00
Wexler, Mike    “Mike Wexler” (WHITE)    $5.00
White, Jack    “Sixteen Salteens”    $6.00
Yeasayer    “Fragrant World” (+ 7″)    $13.00

Hip-Hop 12″s & LPs
______________________
Akinyele    “Unreleased Hit’s…”    $11.00
Atmosphere    “Strictly Leakage”    $10.00
Big Daddy Kane    “How U Get A Record Deal” (Test Pressing)    $11.00
MIA    “Maya”    $9.00
Rubberoom    “Architechnology”    $3.00

7″s
______________________
Abalienation    “Live CBGB”    $3.00
Antiseen    “It All Breaks”    $5.00
Aus-Rotten    “Fuck Nazi Sympathy”    $3.00
Born Under Saturn     “45”    $3.00
Burn    “Burn” (Yellow Vinyl RSD 2011)    $6.00
Creation Is Crucifixion / Unruh    “A Split Seven Inch Battle To The Death”    $3.00
Defiance    “Against The Law”    $1.00
Detention    “Detention”    $15.00
Drums & tuba    “Officer Pieper”    $2.00
Earlimart    “Answers & Questions”    $5.00
Eek-A-Mouse / Dennis Brown    “Star Daily News & Gleaner / Westbound Train”    $3.00
El Smasho    “Foster Brooks”    $2.00
Fartz, The    “The Fartz”     $2.00
Full Speed Ahead    “Born And Bred”    $3.00
Groundzero / Fleshold    “Groundzero / Fleshold”    $2.00
Inane    “Inane”    $2.00
Japanther / Panthers    “Seven Inch Lovers”    $3.00
My 3 Scum    “Ridin / You Creep Me Out”    $3.00
My Heart To Joy At The Same Tone    “Virgin Sails”    $10.00
Reagan SS    “Hail The New Dawn”    $5.00
Scared Straight    “Born To Be Wild” (Blue)    $10.00
She & Him    “In The Sun”    $5.00
Street Brats    “Short-Fused Street Punk EP”    $3.00
Toxic Narcotic / The Unseen    “Boston’s Finest”    $3.00
Unseen     “Raise Your Finger, Raise Your Fist”    $4.00
Unseen     “Protect And Serve”    $4.00
Uproar    “Die For Me”    $10.00
Various Artists    “4 Corners” (Sever, Die My Will, Groundzero, Dying Game Theory)    $4.00
Various Artists    “The Right To Assemble” (Degenerics, Stormshadow, Heidnik Stew…)    $2.00
Various Artists    “Sounds To Make You Shiver” (BB Gun, Leadfoot…)    $4.00
Vetiver    “Wishing Well / Pay No Mind” (RSD 2009)    $3.00
Vicious, The    “Obsessive”    $3.00
Vivian Girls    “Tell The World”    $3.50
Youth Of Today     “Disengage” (Pink RSD 2011)    $8.00

The True Story of the American Giant Red Squirrel (new t-shirt)

The True Story of the American Giant Red Squirrel 
(new t-shirt)

The Indian giant squirrel is well documented. The American red squirrel is also very well documented. In the family Sciuridae there are myriad well documented species. There is one glaring omission: the American Giant Red Squirrel.

Here is an artists interpretation of the mythological Megared Squirrel:

I cannot stress enough how mythological this thing is. Megared squirrels are not real.  The Giant American Red Squirrel is not this big. Look at that thing. That’s ridiculous. Do you think it could hide if it were actually that big?! Seriously, jeez!



The Giant American Red Squirrel is giant comparatively to other squirrels (of course), but not mythologically giant in comparison to large buildings.  Let’s use record store terms to put it in perspective.  If a Giant American Red Squirrel were to be compared to a 12″ record its head would be just smaller than one (basically like a human’s, but y’know a squirrel). 

American Giant Red Squirrels generally live by large bodies of water, are nocturnal and proportionally more skittish than their smaller counterparts (which makes them hard to photograph or study).


 [Squirrel Drinking Water]

While a small squirrel must drink some water to keep itself healthy a giant one must drink more water (thus living by large bodies of water; fresh water – did I forget to mention that the first time, well, it’s large bodies of fresh water they live by). 

Introducing the new Redscroll Records T-Shirt (as shown by Al):


The shirts are available
at the shop in sizes S-XXL and are $12 – printed on American Apparel by our friends at Print Indie and designed by our friend Todd Rogers (Teaessare)

[Read beyond the page break for the actual thinking behind the shirts or don’t because you prefer the fun story of The Giant American Red Squirrel.]

 You might remember that our last sale flyer had a red squirrel on it. Here it is:

That squirrel’s inspiration was simply our name, Redscroll, which often gets heard as a variety of other things in spoken conversation. Redscroll? Red Squirrel? Red’s Crawl? (I’ve actually never heard that last one. We do get calls for the Red Cross every so often though which isn’t really that close when spoken – maybe when written/read.)

The squirrel reappeared in sticker form recently – the same design as the front of the shirts:


The size of the squirrel with what must be a 12″ record (because of it’s label to vinyl ratio) is very big.  That was totally a design decision by Todd and we entirely support it. It looks good.  Here’s a doodle Al (the guy wearing/holding the shirts above) did on break recently further confirming the aural folly:


So, what’s up with the “DRINK MORE WATER,” written on the back? Well, it’s got nothing to do with squirrels. It’s got to do with making a strong declarative statement that mostly no one would disagree with. “DRINK ALL THE WATER,” is too strong and if one tried to do that it would not be advantageous to their health.  “DON’T DRINK ANY WATER,” is absolutely something we don’t support and I’d be hard pressed to find anyone that did support that.  “Drink some water,” is not a strong statement so that’s right out.  It is also notable that this originally came from a conversation about http://thepluralofvinyl.com. The statement behind that website is a bit flawed and whereas it can be a bit of an annoyance to hear the word, “vinyls,” when referencing records the fact is “vinyls” is not entirely grammatically incorrect though it generally is used in the world of polymers (for instance) rather than audio records.

7th Of September 2012 Update

7th Of September 2012 Update of New and Key Restocked Items + Reviews
at Redscroll Records

LPs & 12″s
______________________
45 Grave     “Pick Your Poison”
Byrne, David & St. Vincent    “Love This Giant” (Gatefold; Out For Sale On Tuesday)
Chomp    “Buddha Jabba Mumma”
Dylan, Bob    “Tempest” (180 Gram + CD)
Enough    “Common Visions”
Enslaved    “Yggdrasill”
Forward    “What’s The Meaning Of Love? Singles Collection”
Genesis P-Orridge / Stan Bingo    “What’s History” (+ D/L)
Hardside    “2009-2011”
Harry Pussy    “One Plus One” (Gatefold 2LP)
Hopkins, Lightning    “Texas Blues Man” (+ D/L)
I Can See Mountains    “Hope You Never Get It” (+ D/L)
Kowalsky, Gregg With Jozef Van Wissem    “Movements In Marble And Stone”
Kuti, Fela    “Fela Ransome-Kuti And His Koola Lobitos”
Land    “Night Within”
Lorelei    “Enterprising Sidewalks” (+ D/L)
Loscil    “Sketches From New Brighton” (2LP Gatefold)
Melchior, Dan    “The Backward Path” (+ D/L)
Minus The Bear    “Infinity Overhead”
Mono    “For My Parents”
Mould, Bob    “Silver Age” (+ D/L)
Oh Sees, Thee    “Putrifiers II EP”
Pswingset    “All Our False Starts”
Red City Radio    “To The Sons & Daughters Of Woody Guthrie”
Residents, The    “Duck Stab” (+D/L)
Sam Bros. 5    “Sam Bros. 5 – With Daddy ‘Good Rockin’ Sam” (+ D/L)
Shiflet, Mike / Pet Swanson    “Bedside / College View”
Sick Fix    “Vexed”
Tower & The Fool, The    “How Long”
UV Race / Eddy Current Suppression Ring    “UV Race & Eddy Current Supression Ring Live At Missing Link” (+ D/L)
Verocai, Arthur    “Timeless: Arthur Vercai March 15, 2009” (2LP Gatefold)
XX, The    “Coexist” (Regular Edition Our For Sale On Tuesday – Deluxe LP Edition Has Been Delayed to a Sept. 25th Release)

Hip-Hop 12″s & LPs
______________________
Masta Ace Incorporated    “Slaughta House” (2LP)

Electronic 12″s & LPs
______________________
Dear, Matthew    “Beams” (2LP)
Dusk + Blackdown    “Dasaflex”
Fake, Nathan    “Steam Days” (+ D/L)
Lorn    “Weigh Me Down”
Mala    “Cuba Electronic / Calle F”
Tejada, John    “The Predicting Machine” (2LP 180 Gram + CD)
Toddla T    “Watch Me Dance: Agitated By Ross Orton & Pips” (+ D/L)
Woolfy Vs. Projections    “The Return Of Love” (+ CD)

7″s
______________________
Bottom Out    “Mourning” (Red Vinyl + D/L)
Carridale    “The Wandering EP” (Purple Vinyl + D/L)
Cheap Time    “Other Stories / In This World”
Clear    “Demo”
Crucial Dudes / Shared Arms    “Crucial Dudes / Shared Arms” (+ D/L)
Dry Hump    “Dry Hump”
Eyehategod    “New Orleans Is The New Vietnam”
Full Of Hell / The Guilt Of…    “Full Of Hell / The Guilt Of…”
Miller, Roger (Mission Of Burma / Alloy Orchestra)    “Big Steam / Dream Interpretation”
Primitive Calculators    “Sick / Cunt”
Rodrigo & Gruff / Cate Le Bon    “Gold Medal Winner / Time Could Change Your Mind”
Segall, Ty    “The Hill / Mother Lemonade”
Shannon And The Clams    “Ozma / Muppet Babies”
Slugz    “Empty Space”
Young Prisms    “Apartment Song EP”

CDs Rock
______________________
Byrne, David & St. Vincent    “Love This Giant” (Out For Sale On Tuesday)
Enemy Within, The    “As Long As I Can Walk, I’ll Step Out Of Line”
Horse Latitudes    “Awakening”
Mono    “For My Parents”
Oh Sees, Thee    “Putrifiers II EP”
Swans    “The Seer” (2xCD + DVD Special Edition)
XX, The     “Coexist” (Out For Sale On Tuesday)

CDs Non-Rock
______________________
Alvarius B (Alan Bishop Of Sun City Girls)    “Alvarius B” (Legendary Solo 1998 2-CD Reissue)
Assembly Of Light Choir    “Assembly Of Light Choir”
Blu & Exile    “Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them”
Groundislava    “Feel Me”
JJ Doom    “Key To The Kuffs”
Lustmord    “Heresy / Heretic: The Sixtystone Edition” (2CD Deluxe Package)
Reks    “Rebelutionary”

Reviews
_____________________

Matthew Dear Beams

[Buy From RSR Online]
(Ghostly International)
Was born in Texas and moved to Michigan while he was a teenager.  In Michigan he was influenced by the Detroit Techno scene.  Dears style can be seen as glitch, techouse, and electronic avant- pop.  I believe Dears new album to have more of an electronic, indie, rock influence to it.  His newest album, Beams, has upbeat futuristic beats with dance floor ready tempos.  He companies his upbeat tempo and more than fun beats with his intense and deep lyrics that seem to be very personal to Dear.  This new album reminds me of a very upbeat and techno like TV on the Radio.  If TV on the radio was going to do a techno dance party on a spaceship, this is probably what it would sound like.  Dear’s music contradicts itself in many ways, which he believes to be his different personalities shining.  Dear’s music has changed very much throughout the years and this album is his most rock like album yet. Dear’s many personalities are seen as his “Beams”, hence the new album.  If you are ready to hop on the futuristic dance floor then Beams is a perfect album for you.
[Reviewer: Kacie]

Jeff Loomis Plains of Oblivion

(Century Media)
Best known for being the lead guitarist of the progressive/thrash/neo-classical metal band Nevermore, Loomis further demonstrates his incredibly advanced techniques on his second solo record. Like one would expect from him, he manages to pull off an epic scope with a combination of white-hot shredding and soaring licks to craft songs that really feel like they’re telling a story (opener “Mercurial” sets the mood excellently by employing both aforementioned elements.) The lightning-speed “Escape Velocity” is another favorite, with several blasting breakdowns to punctuate the face-melting guitar chords. The acoustic, medieval-sounding “Rapture” demonstrates his flexibility well, with an array of complex string techniques. Loomis didn’t accomplish this all alone, though: he features an impressive roster of guest guitarists for solos as well, including Attila Vörös from Hungary (“Requiem For The Living”) and Tony MacAlpine from the U.S. (“The Ultimatum”), as well as ex-Megadeth members Marty Friedman (“Mercurial”) and Chris Poland (“Continuum Drift.”) Though most of the tracks are instrumental, he also invites guest vocals from Christine Rhoades (“Tragedy And Harmony” and “Chosen Time”) and Insahn (“Surrender”) to further punctuate the feeling.
[Reviewer: Mark]

Mono For My Parents

[Buy From RSR Online]
(Temporary Residence Records)
Mono is a band from Japan that has been experimenting with post- rock/instrumental rock since 1999.  Mono is made up of electronics, strings, chorus, a pianist, and a saxophonist.  This new album by Mono reminds me of a much calmer more fine tuned Explosions in the Sky. Not to get confused that they are any better or worse than Explosions.  Mono’s instruments are just timed more particularly then that of Explosions and other Instrumental bands.  They are precise with their execution and because of this great harmonization the band sounds like a Japanese symphony.  While listening to the album I felt myself placing Mono in either a symphony hall or in a grungy rock hall.  Mono has moved into a brighter territory of music that is uplifting with their triumphant climaxes.  Their eruption of noise is much more tamed then past albums.  While listening to the album I felt as though I was watching a Japanese War movie (in slow motion).  The guitars feel as though they are melting out of the speakers and pouring into my ears. The album makes for a musically emotional roller coaster.  The light guitar repetitions along with the bombastic drums erupts into an uplifting climax in every song which makes the album somewhat soundtrack like.  This would be a perfect album to listen to on a long train ride home.
[Reviewer: Kacie]

Porcelain Raft Strange Weekend

[Buy From RSR Online]
(Secretly Canadian)
Rome-born and NYC-based Mauro Remiddi is a composer, songwriter and musician: after a 2010 EP, this is the first full-length from his current project. Although his original band, Sunny Day Sets Fire, focused on indie-pop, Porcelain Raft is all about dreamy, atmospheric electropop. His warm, ethereal and lo-fi sound can be attributed to a combination of his wistful, echoed vocals with a varied, driving drum machine, bright-sounding acoustic/electric guitars and a generous helping of sensual synth. The end result sounds quite refreshingly natural, which isn’t an easy feat for an album based mainly on numerous electronic effects. My favorites include the twinkling opener “Drifting In And Out,” with a head-bobbing rhythm to complement the shimmering, descending synth notes. “Unless You Speak From Your Heart” takes a similar kind of drum pattern, with a greater focus on an easily memorable melody. Acoustic-based “Picture” is another unique standout, with the sunny guitar backed by a chunky hip-hop sounding beat.
[Reviewer: Mark]

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