Fucked Up - Year of the Pig 12”
The most visionary band in contemporary hardcore follow their groundbreaking 2006 2 LP masterpiece HIDDEN WORLD with an epic 18minute song that builds from a Godspeed You Pink Floyd organ & guitar intro through a Neu-esque Krautrock jam into a raging hardcore climax. The crushing b-side “The Black Hats” is one of this Toronto juggernaut’s most lethal hardcore assaults.

Christ on Parade - Sounds of Nature
One of the cornerstone bands of the original 80’s Gilman Street punk scene finally receive the re-issue treatment they deserve. Informed by the English anarchopunk scene (think Rudimentary Peni/ Subhumans) but uniquely Bay Area at the same time.

Bryan Ray Turcotte - Punk Is Dead Punk Is Everything
An incredible follow-up to the amazing 1999 punk/hardcore fl yer art book FUCKED UP AND PHOTOCOPIED. Even more great gig flyer art plus killer interviews with scene regulars including some of the original San Jose punks I admired as a kid.

Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men
Brutal Pennsylvania hate-punk that recalls killer 80’s outfits like Scratch Acid, Flipper & Big Black as well as early Killing Joke. Dark, vicious & punishing.

Cock Sparrer - Here We Stand
There is nothing... and I mean NOTHING... more embarrassing than ‘ol punkers hanging around until well past their “sell by date.” These 50-plus year old godfathers of British street-punk deliver their fi rst LP in over 10 years & reclaim their throne as the fi nest songwriters in the street style. Unexpected & heartwarming.

Honorable Mentions:

Go It Alone - Histories
Vancouver’s fi nest say goodbye with a final killer LP. R.I.P.

Career Suicide - Attempted Suicide
2nd killer LP from these Toronto rippers who do the Adolescents almost as well as the Adolescents.

Neil Young - Live At Massey Hall CD/ DVD

Jean-Luc Godard’s BREATHLESS Criterion Collection DVD
A man cannot live on piss & vinegar alone... though lord knows I’m tryin’...

Joe Strummer - The Future Is Unwritten
Hopefully out on DVD soon, this theatrical documentary is a lovely tribute to one of the few people I feel comfortable calling a hero.

Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
The Great One returns with a landmark effort. Considering how creatively desiccated many of his bipedal Sixties contemporaries have become, not to mention the regurgitated muskeg that often passes for musical vitality now, it is all the more remarkable that Wyatt can so consistently find the wherewithal to touch the soul. Part of it has to do with his breadth as both player and listener. His CV includes work with Daevid Allen, Carla Bley, Jimi Hendrix, Mongezi Feza, Brian Eno, “Sugarcane” Harris, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Chris & Cosey, Elvis Costello, the Raincoats, Björk a.o. Interviews with him reference myriad musics from Mingus to Mongolian throat singers. And yet, his own work sounds like no one else, despite the occasional reference to any or all of the above. Margaret Thatcher’s dictatorship rendered him mute with anger for much of the Eighties. Fortunately, current world events and his own personal demons have caused him to raise his heartfelt, melancholy voice once more. The songs, some co-written with his wife, muse, and album cover artist, Alfreda Benge, initially deal with relationships: their own and those of friends around, them each dealing with the loss and neglect that can transpire almost
imperceptibly. These are the most straightforward songs on the album, and as a result are the most immediately heartbreaking. Next, Wyatt deals with the world around him, particularly the atrocities the West is perpetrating in the Middle East. Many of these songs deal with the subject so microscopically that it is not always obvious what he intends until the end. And then, it stings, like a withering punchline. The album’s final side is where he departs from employing the English language at all, seeking the solace and hope of other cultures and ideas. This the most abstract part of the album linguistically and musically. In many ways, it is also the most beautiful as Wyatt’s sincere handling of the Spanish
and Italian languages and Orphy Robinson vibraphonic interlude induce a calm perspective on all that has come before. It ends, joyously, with Carlos Puebla’s famous ode to Che Guevara, which is the most up tempo piece on the album. It is a recording that must be heard repeatedly to be fully appreciated. The voices and the immaculate arrangements are more fully charged with magic each time. Every note seems inevitable. At the risk of waxing hyperbolic, his is just about the only set of vocal cords that really matter right now.

Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart
Teddy Thompson - Upfront & Down Low
In commercial terms, the above three would undoubtedly prefer to be assessed as individual artists rather than call attention to their erstwhile/current familiar or marital ties. But, as in mid-2007, when fortuitous circumstance brought about the near-simultaneous release of three new Thompson family albums, the temptation was too great not to delight in them collectively and singularly--particularly when they are all so damn good. Sweet Warrior managed to squeak into the last MWL book, but it deserves a further mention as it ranks among RT’s greatest works. Funny how in this youth-oriented marketing miasma there are a select few 60-somethings still quietly creating masterpieces? The songs in question at first exude an air of familiarity; after all it is that powerfully unfeigned baritone singing them. But, there is something about that voice that seems to amass fervency as one memorable tune after the next leaves an exacting imprint upon the psyche and each play on words migrates from astute observation to poignant image. He is able to imbue societal, theoretical and, most blatantly on this album, global events with an intimacy that is almost disarming. The arrangements swirl with strings, sax and sinew and even though they seldom allow for the stinging, skirling, epic exploration of plectoral prestidigitation that highlight his live work, each solo impresses with its juxtaposition of craft and intensity. Despite LT’s work and associations over the years with Martin Carthy, the Albion Band, the Trio (Harris/Ronstadt/ Parton), David Thomas (of Pere Ubu), Peter Blegvad (cover artist on album in question), and newer collaborators such as Rufus Wainwright, Rob Burger, Antony and Steven Bernstein, her stance as a solo artist has been primarily overshadowed by that legendary duo of yore. Versatile Heart should go a considerable way to certify her as a potent individualist. Not unlike her ex, her vocals sound better than ever as she negotiates songs of regret and exultation within the confines of rock, country, folk and blues in a feisty, beguiling manner. All fears that the condition that cruelly stole her voice for over a decade has been banished and Linda Thompson, the artist, goes from strength to strength. In a single fell swoop, she inadvertently displaces those other “rediscovered” female folkies from the Sixties that are au courant into the dustbin of fashionability. Sometimes one has to explore other voices before one can find one’s own and on TT’s latest he returns to his “roots” in country music. And such is the skill and devotion that he brings to these sometimes lesser known classics written and/or sung by Ernest Tubb, George Jones, Dolly Parton, & Merle
Haggard that one is quickly convinced that a young man from London has just made a more authentic country album than most of the Rocky-Tonkers that spew forth from the fetid rhinestone maw of the modern Nashville hit machine. The bell-like clarity of his voice is underscored neatly by accompaniments that range from simple strumming to full string ensembles. He has so internalized the idiom that the album’s sole original composition in no way sounds out of place. Lastly, two out of the above three graced an Amoeba with an in-store in 2007. Well, Linda?

Amalgam - Wipe Out
Reissues are not generally within my purview, but this album, which appeared as a 4-LP box set in 1980 on Impetus, was in print for such a short time that the current issue is practically new. Amalgam was the name of a series of free-boppish bands led by saxist Trevor Watts throughout the Seventies and often featured such key figures as John Stevens, Barry Guy and Keith Tippett among others. However, this version of the band was always the most mythic as it included AMM guitarist Keith Rowe, a pioneer of playing the guitar as a sound source fl at on its back on a table, and a reputed influence on Syd Barrett who attended AMM’s first recording sessions in 1966. What makes this 3-CD set, recorded on tour in November of 26 1979, unique is that Rowe is playing guitar in a more conventional manner which he had done only a handful of times since 1963. He includes a droll if rather involved explanation for why he decided to play in this manner, but the results are far from academic. He somehow elides his own deft, subtle sonic peregrinations with the more linear, virtuosic approach of early McLaughlin
or later Sharrock. He just burns. Watts plays wonderfully in his post-Ornette style, bassist Colin McKenzie finds wondrous grooves which might otherwise have been lost and drummer Liam Genockey marshals the maelstrom with Herculean abandon. Those who pine for the glory days of Last Exit in the mid-Eighties, might want to investigate. Oh yeah, to my knowledge, after leaving this band, Rome placed his guitar back on the table, where it has stayed.

Biota - Half a True Day
It took the Fort Collins-based sound and art collective six years to create their sixth album of obliquely tuneful sound collages. The “band” coalesced in 1979 as the Mnemonists, a rigorous musique concrète group that tended to record their improvisations on any number of modern and antiquated musical instruments and then sculpt the resulting sounds into rich atonal abstractions. When they changed their name to Biota in 1982 they used the same processes to create music, but this time the results began to yield more structured, even melodic results. They have followed and refined this course ever since, even adding singers along the way. While this may seem like a band pursuing greater acceptance via more commercial means, in many respects they remain just as avant-garde as the Mnemonists. On the other hand, they are also more accessible. Their sound art veers from a lugubrious, aquatic churning to a buoyant, crystalline gleam. All the while melodies displaying a global awareness played on accordions, acoustic guitars; violins, rubabs and backward voices appear and vanish into the frothy melange. Many of the musicians are also exceptional visual artists and their art fills the CD booklet, which is a superb complement to the music therein. If this were a more aesthetically just omniverse, these folks would be the guiding models of the so-called phreeee(k) faux(k) movement rather than some hersuited, trans-genre robber baron and his
overly-orchestrated warbling harpee. But, I digress....

Little Wings - Soft Pow’r
If you’re familiar with those decorative, driftwood “hydrometer”/weather indicators that usually adorn the outer wall of beach bungalows and surf shacks then you need to get familiar with this album. If not, get hip.

My Little Airport - Zoo is Sad, People Are Cruel
This Hong Kong duo make scandalously cute music that’ll likely endanger some listeners of being uncompromisingly charmed out of your shoes (especially if you are wont to wear smart, saddle-styled footwear). Fans of CTFPA and Takako Minekawa listen up!

Agent Ribbons - And The Star-Crossed Doppleganger
Beautiful granny-smith vinyl, entrancing cover art by Dame Darcy, and two killer songs by two lovely ladies making a mess of my heart. Limited to 500 hand numbered releases ~ get it while you can.

Woelv - Tout Seul dans la Foret en plein Jour, Avez-Vous Peur?
Rather scary. The audible equivalent of the enchanted forest superstitious parents warn their children about wandering too close to, it may give listeners the impression that they’re being banefully infringed upon by some pernicious faerie cantation.

Ai Aso - Chamomile Pool
As mellow and precious as the title suggests. Ai gets a little group effort going here with contributions from her hubby Michio Kurihara and other members of White Heaven/The Stars including a cover of a Boris song.

Survive Style 5+ DVD
Simply mind blowing. An over tanned hypnotist with bejeweled, tiger-faced loins, a road-tripping family of five singing along to raunchy rock songs, a man who, try as he might, cannot kill his wife, bizarre “commercial breaks,” sets dripping in the most over-the-top decor imaginable, crazy dialouge, insane hitmen, and ridiculous small time crooks all entwined together with unique editing and a surreal soundtrack make for one of the most original and entertaining films I’ve ever seen. With such cool cats as Tadanobu Asano, Vinnie “Bullet Tooth Tony” Jones, Kanji Tsuda (Japan’s answer to our Steve Buscemi) and Ittoku Kishibe this movie cannot help but make you smile like a child and laugh like an idiot in love. This rules!

Musical Tip: Keep a weather eye out for the new ep by local unicorn Uni & Her Ukulele with the DING! String Trio entitled “As Gold” out in April. So good you’ll swoon!

Planet Earth - The Complete Series DVD
This five DVD set narrated by Sir David Attenborough is THE reason that you bought a HD Television. Seriously. There are things and animals and nature on these DVDs that you will never see in real life and probably never see again on DVD. The producers went all out and spared no expense to bring you the best of the best... It will even make your cheapo TV and DVD player look amazing, not to mention Blu Ray... Just buy it already... sheesh.

Kanye West - Graduation
Say what you will, this album is GOOD. Kanye West is Hip Hop’s version of Kobe Bryant. It doesn’t matter how much you don’t like him or think he’s an asshole or arrogant or whatever. Just like Kobe you can’t stop him. If he’s playing, you’re gonna get dunked on and Kanye certainly showed up to play. Sure his voice is annoying at times, but he more than makes up for it in production value. If you’re one of those people who haven’t copped this because you “don’t like Kanye...” shake that shit off and buy this album. It grows on you (and it’s a slam dunk :-).

Common - Finding Forever
This is the companion piece to “Graduation”. Kanye keeps the production value on par with his own stuff, without forcing you to listen to his voice on every single track. Common is as soulful as ever and it lines up perfectly with “Go”, “Like Water for Chocolate” and “One Day It’ll All Make Sense.” Thank me later.

28 Weeks Later DVD
The opening sequence is the best I’ve ever seen in a zombie movie. This also has to be one of the best zombie sequels ever (not counting remakes and adaptations). It might even be better than “28 Days Later.” Go see it if you haven’t.

Music Tip: Support your local record store!

White Magic- Dark Stars
Mira Bilotte is a mesmerizing vocalist. She whoops, howls, chants, and plays the piano like she’s casting some kind of spell.

Bill Callahan- Woke on a Whaleheart
I love everything this man does. “Diamond Dancer” is his best song ever - a soulful, R&Binspired jam about a girl who “was dancing so hard, she danced herself into a diamond.”

Vashti Bunyan - Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind
A collection of ‘60s pop songs from Vashti Bunyan’s brief career as a Marianne Faithfull-esque pop star. Simple but lovely songs with whispery high vocals.

Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls
Why is Electrelane so underrated? They’re so great! Another totally solid album from these 4 Brighton ladies - triumphant, powerful, and pretty.

M.I.A.- Kala
M.I.A. is an international badass.

Music Tip: Soul Nights! Oldies Night at the Knockout and 1964 at Edinburgh Castle are the best.

The Traditional Fools
Nodzz
Dimples
Lemonade
Punch
100s of Dismembered Handbags
Baader Brains

Wire - Read & Burn 03
Map of Africa - self-titled
Cheap Sunglasses
Turf Talk - West Coast Vaccine
Fresh Is the Word
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
Brainbombs - self-titled
Time We Left This World Today
Reissue:
Circle - Sunrise
You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’

Beach House - Devotion
One of a precious few “rock” records to catch my ear lately. Dreamy indie-pop. This has been in constant rotation since it leaked onto the internets over 2 months prior to street date. The fact that I’m still listening is, I suppose, testament to its quality. Way high on the itunes play-count.

Kathy Diamond - Miss Diamond to You Syclops - Where’s Jason’s K?
Bubbletease Communications Podcast Maurice Fulton is owning it as usual with a few different projects. His production on the Kathy Diamond record is a perfect balance of smooth space-disco and quirky weirdness. The Syclops single on DFA (with full length to come!) dives further into the squelchy synth realm over a bed of dirty electro beats. The best thing though, is his podcast, which brings all his projects together in half hour mixed monthly transmissions, all for free. Love it!

Studio - West Coast
This is just as good as everyone else is telling you it is; lush, melodic, and spaced-out. They’ve managed to combine the sounds of the current Scandinavian disco scene with just enough Cure and New Order to bump the accessibility up to the point where if these songs weren’t so long they’d be hits. Someone please start a live band that sounds like this. I am by record store law required to include the word “balearic” in this review.

Burial - Untrue
One more that probably doesn’t need another endorsement, but this did get a lot of spins for a reason. For actual, dancefl oor-bound dubstep, I refer you to Skreamism 4, but if you’re on the bus home, Untrue is where it’s at. Don’t get spooked.

Paramore - Riot!
In which mall-emo achieves some sort of manifest destiny. An impossibly hooky pop record performed by a 4 1/2 ft. tall teenage girl with awful orange hair and her band of fl at-ironed, guy-linered Pro-tools plug-ins. Bonus points awarded for a lyrical homage to Refused and for actually catching my attention via an appearance on TRL. See also: my 2004 obsession with My Chemical Romance. You’ve been warned.

Tip: Secret Springs Radio on West Add Radio. Every other Friday from 7-9 on 93.7FM in some parts of SF. westaddradio.com 4 tha world! We play the best music ever and sometimes we say funny stuff. It’s cute.