In no particular order:
Prins Thomas - Cosmo Galactic Prism
This double-disc mix comes from a Norwegian DJ who really knows his stuff, new and old… it’s a sonic treat and a history lesson, ranging from a freaky Joe Meek opener through some groovy Italo disco, Holger Czukay grooves, even some Hawkwind (!) and racing-car sound effects, and somehow it all sounds like the latest dancefloor thing. As Savoir Faire would say – flambostic!

Pylon - Gyrate
The fact that the entire Pylon catalogue has been out of print for years is a national tragedy, and this reissue on DFA at least goes a little way towards healing the pain. Pylon was the greatest American postpunk band to never make it, a muscular, minimalist combo out of Athens GA. with scratchy guitar, pulsing bass and the wild, yowling vocals of superwoman Vanessa Briscoe-Hay. Having made the world safe for the wimpier sounds of R.E.M. and the B-52s, they gradually faded into undeserved obscurity. Their name was inspired by the logo on the the first two Kraftwerk albums (see next entry), and their sound is an attempt to translate the Dusseldorf klingklang into guitar-based rock, which they most surely did. Ahead of its time then (like Kraftwerk), it sounds perfect now. If you love postpunk and haven’t heard this, you’re missing out on the best, and if you love the DFA dance-punk sound, this puts the new stuff in the shade.

Kraftwerk 1 & 2
This lovely reissue gives you the first 2 Kraftwerk albums in all their haunting, shimmering, and minimalist glory. Electronics, chimes, gentle guitars and flutes are orchestrated into a prismatic sound that is both robotic and organic. Kraftwerk took modern classical music into the ‘70s hippie world, gave it a sci-fi twist and in time became one of the major sources of electronica, hip-hop and ambient music. These early albums are quite unlike their later, better-known electro-pop – they are at once quieter, subtler and more challenging.

B-Music - Cross-Continental Road Trip
Amazing compilation from this excellent, deep-digging reissue label gives you unbelievable psych-funk treats from around the world, with an especial focus on Turkish, Middle Eastern and Eastern European rarities. All have crazed vocals, odd instrumentation and slammin’ drums and sound like they’re taken from original 45s, and most of them sound like nothing you’ve ever heard. Everything on B-Music, pick it up!

Furry Selection - Luxury Cuts of Trojan Chosen By a Super Furry Animal
There’s a lot of reggae compilations out there but this one is my favorite ever. It has a particular kind of late night, stoney, dubby flow to it, and every song has some sort of production oddity to it that really stands out, especially on the Mikey Dread and Lee “Scratch” Perry tracks but pretty much throughout. Let this be your gateway drug to exploring the rest of the Trojan universe…

Roots of Chicha - Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru
This will hook you from the first track – it’s got one of those uncategorizable drunken, rusty, tick-tock shuffles, that sounds like it’s being played by a bunch of skeletons in an underwater pirate hangout. A great set of low-budget, super-groovin’ vintage cumbias with just enough cruddy wah-wah and phaser to justify the title. A side note: many people do not know what the word “psychedelic” is supposed to mean. I had someone ask me for the “psychedelic” section the other day and when I asked what he meant, he said “you know, Beatles, Ramones…” Not everything that sounds interesting or unusual is thereby “psychedelic”. It should at least refer to truly whacked-out, freaky music, that makes you feel like you’re on a psychedelic drug, and that sounds pretty disturbing to someone who’s not insane or experienced. This cumbia compilation is not actually psychedelic…but it is really great and very unusual!

Cass McCombs - Dropping the Writ
None of his CDs have really grabbed me yet but I saw him live and I was completely floored. It took me back to when rock giants walked the earth (late ‘70s and early ‘80s rock giants at least). Phenomenal voice, fascinating labyrinthine lyrics, epic, slow-building tunes, and laserlike, intense dark energy. Somewhat like Ian McCulloch but more complex and less pop-friendly. Someday his ship will come in and then we’ll have some real rock to care about, I hope.

High Society - EP
Speaking of real rock to care about… my own co-worker Jason Moore has decided to turn his back on modern crap rock and pretend like it’s 1972, with a hardrockin’ band and high-flying tunes that do a pretty damn good job of recreating classic rock. Hell, I think it in fact IS classic rock. Why don’t people still play classic rock anyway? I am not so sure, especially when you hear this fun batch of tunes that fuse rock riffs, soulful singing, a little dance floor shuffle, a little country honk. AND you can remember how the songs go after you’ve heard them… coz they’re catchy! Like how bands used to do. Maybe more bands will get back to this sort of thing…in the meantime, enjoy the High Society. Especially live!

Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 - various artists
Awesome 4-CD box set gives you a slew of wonderful rarities and a handful of hits that make us all feel bad that we missed out on the magical glory years of the original San Francisco scene in its full creative swing. Unless you were there…in which case I salute you. Amazing text & photos too, all courtesy of Sir Alec Palao, whom I also salute!

White Widow II
Enter the next pyramid… epic new space junk odyssey from this mysterious local electro/goth/prog warlock! Danceable homemade ditties about glow-in-the-dark mini golf and Rosicrucianism, with echoes of Steely Dan, Psychic TV, Durutti Column, Ariel Pink. %&#!

And finally, my favorite out-of-print vinyl discoveries from the last 6 months:

Woo
Amazing early ‘80s low-key Can/Clusteresque scribbles from two brothers who are also Hari Krishnas!

Tax Free
Beautiful, meditative early ‘70s folk-rock from Wally Tax, of the Dutch Outsiders!

Linda Cohen
Mellow solo acoustic guitar explorations with mildly trippy accompaniment from this Mandrake Memorial cohort!

The Magik Markers - Boss
I know everyone is sick of hearing me talk about it already, but i seriously, for really real, think this is the best record to come out in the past decade or so. These cats have been laying down some incredibly noisy jams for a while now and they’ve fi nally gotten their act together and rewarded us loyal fans, and a bunch of new converts, with this proper LP of actual songs. The only way I can really describe “Boss” at this point is to say it’s kinda like if The Germs, Harry Pussy and Void formed a super group and made their very own “Bad Moon Rising.” Yes, it’s that freakin’ good.

Mute Audio Documents - Various Artists
Big 10xCD set of every 7” single Mute Records released between 1978 and 1984. There are some rarities on here, too, and a pretty bitchin’ repro poster for The Normal. I had a lot of these tunes before, but it’s uber-convenient to have ‘em all in one place. Plus, it made me feel a little less weird for thinking Yazoo and Smegma sound really good back-to-back.

Kylie Minogue - X
I guess this is album number 10 from everyone’s favorite Australian pop vixen and it’s one of her strongest. Party jams like “In My Arms,” “Like a Drug” and “Wow” make me wiggle every time they come on and “2 Hearts” does they fauxgay-glam thing way better than the Scissor Scissors or Mika could ever hope to. Some folks say this record isn’t innovative enough, which is completely beside the point. It’s a blast and Kylie’s back and OMGSHEISTOTALLYAWESOME!!!

Zweistein - Trip/Flip-Out/Meditation
Leave it to Japanese label Captain Trip to release a crazily lavish 3xCD reissue of what is quite possibly the furthest-out Krautrock triple LP set ever made. The
mirrored, gatefold package is a mini replica of the original LP release (not that any of us will ever see the genuine article to verify this) and the music is post-psych/pre-new age thud of the highest order. Both relaxing and horrifying, like all the fi ner things in this life. This might be the most ridiculous CD I’ve ever purchased and I in no way regret dropping $80 on this thing.

Yoshi Wada - Lament for the Rise and Fall of the Elephantine Crocodile
Another Japanese reissue, this time on the even groovier EM label, of a legendary minimalist LP that probably sounds like an hour of refrigerator hum to most people. Mr. Wada was a key player in the whole Fluxus thing and this is one of two (barely) commercially available recordings the guy made. The fi rst piece, aka side 1, is a vocal raga that you can tell was heavily inspired by his connection to Prandit Pran Nath via La Monte Young. It’s totally righteous and all, but the real keeper is side 2’s jam “Bagpipe.” It’s pretty much a solid half hour of Yoshi’s homemade, electric bagpipe going off and it’s heavy as all get out. Trade in your Sunn0))) records, folks... this is the real drone deal.

TIP: Mississippi Records. Vinyl-only reissue label out of Portland. They do small runs that we sell out of within a week or so and usually can’t restock. There is no website, so it’s hard to tell when and what is coming out. If you put in the effort to seek this stuff out, though, you’ll be rewarded with crazy rare gems by obscure, electric gospel acts, old country/ blues dudes, African party bands and the Dog Faced Herman.

Cecilia Bartoli - Maria
Bartoli’s tribute to the great Italian 19th Century Mezzo, Maria Malibran. With excellent notes and packaging.

Bantock - Omar Khayam
First recording of post-romantic British composer Granville Bantock’s lush Biblical Oratorio conducted by Vernon Handley.

Stockhausen - Stimmung
The Theater of Voices under Paul Hillier offers a stunning performance of the late Karlheinz Stockhausen’s masterpiece.

Korngold - Sea Hawk
Naxos continues their excellent series of film recordings with the fullest recording yet of Erich Korngold’s famous score to Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling film.

Mozart - Don Giovanni
Rene Jacobs continues his series of Mozart opera recordings with a revelatory performance of Don Giovanni.

Rusko - Babylon Vol. 1 (Sub Soldiers)
This is some serious dubstep bizness.

6 BLOCC - Sub Assault 1, 2, & 3
All three volumes deliver Los Angeles dubstep massive.

U - OME - Keep it Skanky
If you like Kromestar this mix is for you. Heavy reggae vibes. One of my favorite mixes.

Barrington Levy - Englishman Reissue
Classic early 80s reggae.

Columbia! Golden Age of Discos Fuentes Powerhouse of Columbian Music 1960 - 1976 - Various Artists(Soundway Records)
Cumbia, Gaita, Fandango, Salsa, and Champeta.

tip: Barfiles.com - Dubstep mixes from DJs all over the world.

The Specials: Too Much Too Young DVD
All the classic videos and bonus live footage of the greatest band of all time!

Saxondale: Season 1 Import DVD
Steve Coogan proves once again that he is the British comedian since Peter Sellers!

Rockford Files: Season 5 DVD
Jim Rockford for president 2008!

Roxy Music: The Thrill of it All DVD
Fantastic visual anthology of Roxy Music!Lots of rare live footage.

Killing Joke - Fire Dances & Night Time CD
Reissues - Remastered with bonus tracks.

Cherry Ghost - Thirst for Romance (July 9. 2007)
Import only Debut from British troubadour Simon Aldred and Company. A sunny, jangly, even melancholy blend of Wilco meets Sparklehorse meets Doves. A Must Have! This was my favoritest favorite album of all 2007!)

Soulsavers - It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land (October 16, 2007)
Gospel electronica from the UK’s Soulsavers and grunge survivor Mark Lanegan. Ghostly, spiritual, and euphoric…a wonderfully downbeat collection.

José González - In Our Nature (September 25, 2007)
The sophomore album from Argentinian - Swedish folk musician José González. This time around, José offers a set of emotive, deftly-picked acoustic numbers abut the human condition.

There Will Be Blood - Soundtrack by Jonny Greenwood (December 18, 2007)
Mini-epic masterpiece soundtrack from Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling, gutwrenching, mega-epic masterpiece film. Radiohead’s guitarist Jonny Greenwood composes 11 songs of minimalist classical arrangements blended with minimalist electronic arrangements. WOW!

Ryan Adams - Love is Hell
Japanese edition w/ bonus disc (June 27, 2007) Import only Japanese pressing of the haunting 2004 album includes bonus disc of 7 unreleased recordings, ranging from sing along acoustic ditties (“Halloween”) to painful romantic excursions (“Caterwall”, “Fuck the Universe”) that only heighten the album’s stark appeal.

The Bomp Book
Eye candy, fantastic reading. The history of Los Angeles rock. Go back in time with Greg Shaw. He knew his shit!

The Records - self-titled
The self titled LP is the best. British power - pop of the highest order. What a brilliant name, huh? “I just bought The Records record…”

The Shoes - Present Tense
is incredible. One power-pop burst of brilliance after another. My favorite record.

Paul Collins - The Beat
Paul Collins remakes the first Who record and it’s just as amazing as the real thing. The first Beat record can’t be beat.

Devo - De-Evolution
De-Evolution is right. Reality T.V. - crappy everything. Cell phones, internet be damned, Devo knew what was what. Join the cult, be a part of the downfall. Listen
to Devo.

tip: Go for a walk in the Hills, buy a bum a donut & coffee, and pet your cat.

Beau Brummel (1924) DVD
Directed by Harry Beaumont. John Barrymore plays the revolutionary dandy who used wit & anti-foppish style to gain the favor of the Prince of Whaled & various women whilst remaining devoted (in his heart) to the unattainable Lady Margery Alvanley.

Lost & Found: The Harry Langden Collection DVD
Discovered by slapstick pioneer Mack Sennett in 1923, he was considered by Sennet to be the best comedian he’d ever seen. His character of the sweet, dopey, & creepy innocent basically invented the idiot-manchild.

Bit of Fry & Laurie: The Complete Collection DVD
Every Bit! You don’t have to be britarded to appreciate the prickly satire of this peerless comedic duo. Variously silly, stupid, & smart, it’s almost always better than anything else from the sketch comedies of the era.

This Sporting Life (1963) DVD
Directed by Lindsay Anderson. Richard Harris stars in this, one of the finest examples from the Angry Young Man movement. A miner who gains fame as a rugby league player, but still finds happiness out of reach amongst strangely beautiful Northern grimness.

Zodiac - Director’s Cut DVD
Directed by David Fincher. A surprisingly & pleasantly reserved police procedural marketed as a standard serial killer thriller. There are thrills but also amazing atmosphere & a lot to say about the obsessive desire for closure that never comes.

tip: When there are no good new releases in the theaters, remember the Silent Movie Theater, The New Beverly, Nuart, & other revival theaters.