Group Bombino - Music from Niger: Guitars from Agadez, Vol. 2

Soundtrack of Our Lives - Communion

Sir Lord Von Raven - Please Throw Me Back in the Ocean

El Kinto - Circa 1968

Cold Sun - Dark Shadows

Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali

They're unstoppable. Production was a little on the slick side for die-hards but this is undeniably a great offering from one of the hottest bands in the world.

Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou - The Voudoun Effect: Funk and Sato from Benin's Obscure Label

Damn hot afro-funk. All I gotta say about that. Enjoy!

Shankar, Garbarek, Hussain, Gurtu - Song For Everyone

A re-release of a classic from 1985. This is like an Indian classical take on a score for Blade Runner. If you don't follow me, just listen. You won't be sorry!

Sex Vid - Communal Living

Olympia, Washington hardcore punk! Devastating!!!

Blank Dogs - On Two Sides

Terribly good fuzzed out jams from Brooklyn...feels like The Velvets shoulda spent more time with a synth and doodling in their bedrooms.

Various Artists - Cazumbi - African Sixties Garage Vol. 1

Congo, Angola, Mozambique, you name it -- it's an outrageously raw take on a Western beat, homemade instruments, huge amps, and Beatle boots.

The Rats - The Rats

The Rats were Toody and Fred's (from Dead Moon) answer to ferocious New Wave. Nothing compares to their original LPs, but seeing how they fetch $200, you'll just have to abandon yourself to bedroom dancing with this Mississippi re-issue for the meantime.

Animals & Men - Never Bought, Never Sold

Mississippi really made a go of making the classics readily available this year, and the Animals & Men re-issue serves as the first vinyl re-issue of the legendary girl-fronted beat/DIY/post-punk group outta early '80s Somerset, England. (And yes, nerds, the mixes and tracks are different enough that you'll need it in addition to the Hyped2Death CD-R reissues!)

BLU-RAY:

Groundhog Day, Third Man, There Will Be Blood, Black Narcissus (UK), and Red Desert (UK).

NTSC:

Simon of the Desert, Brand Upon The Brain!, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Vampyr and The New World (The Extended Cut).

PAL:

La Notte, The Devil Probably, A Man Escaped, The Long Day Closes, and L'Argent.

BOXSETS:

The Godfather Trilogy (Restoration), The Films of Budd Boetticher, Mizoguchi’s Fallen Women (Eclipse), Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection, and 4 by Agnès Varda (Criterion).

Soft Machine: Alive In Paris 1970

A vital, stunningly historic issue by one of the greatest versions of one of the greatest improvising rock-jazz ensembles of the late Sixties/early Seventies. It documents a performance by the rare quintet version of the band (Dean/Dobson/Ratledge/Hopper/Wyatt) in peak form, recorded for a then-new half-hour French TV music series. They were the first band featured, and their set was so popular that they aired a second show using the unused footage they shot for the first show. Most of the cameras were onstage and backstage, so some of the angles are unusually intimate and intense. It is only slightly marred by the occasional overdubbed cheers, applause, and drumming(!?) that apparently were used to disguise some of the sound editing that needed to be done, and to create an atmosphere of wild abandon. This was unnecessary as the impassioned playing and hyper-kinetic interaction of the participants (particularly Lyn Dobson's Pied Piperesque reeds, harmonica and vocals[!], Robert Wyatt's jet-propelled drumming and cheerfully heartfelt singing, and Mike Ratledge's mesmeric keys) provide all the visceral surge one needs. Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean were pretty great, too. Do delve.

Hampton Grease Band: Plays Music To Eat

The reunion no one expected from a band that few people seemed to care about. Their only album, Music To Eat, was released in 1971 and shared the distinction (with Jimmy Giuffre's Free Fall [1962]) of being one of the worst selling/fastest deleted albums in Columbia Records history. Of course, this is more of a testament to record label incompetence than to any sort of musical deficiency, as the near-unanimous praise the band's live appearances garnered at the time can attest. Their gruff/heady mixture of country/blues/psych-prog/jazz, often in the same twenty-minute song, inspired favorable comparisons to Beefheart and Zappa (who was a fan) and, in a way, could be seen as a precursor to many an egregious jam band. But, as this 2006 show (prompted by the passing of founding member/co-leader Harold Kelling) shot in their home base of Atlanta, GA demonstrates, their combined forces reveal something altogether more powerful. Glenn Phillips' stuttering vibrato alone is fearsome enough to decimate the Trucks/Anastasios/Haynes/Jer-Bears of this world (and the next), and his dexterous interplay with subbing guitarist Bill Elsey (of the Swimming Pool Q's) is jaw-dropping AND subtle. The superb rhythm section has lost none of its ability to cushion and spur, and while Bruce Hampton's bark lacks some of its former bite, he remains an avuncular and compelling front man.

Roy Buchanan: Live From Austin TX (Austin City Limits)

Jeff Beck dedicated a song to him. Robbie Robertson wanted to play like him. Martin Scorsese featured him prominently over the closing credits of The Departed. It seems that those in the know always knew, but the sometimes tragic details of Buchanan's life and death would indicate that perhaps he himself never quite knew. One of the great virtuoso guitar poets, he bore considerable renown for his mastery of Telecastery. His armory of techniques, while nearly always employed at the service of the tune, tended to transcend the more basic structures of the country or blues settings he favored and pointed to an avant-blues that he never properly explored. Still, to hear him in his element, fronting a sympathetic, capable band, singing his own songs as he does in this 1976 performance is to bear witness to a matchless talent, a humble innovator, and a hair-raising plectrist in full bloom.

Revolutionary Ensemble - Beyond The Boundary Of Time

This aptly named band was one of the most distinctive, pioneering amalgams in the history of Creative Improvised Music. This 2005 concert recording from Warsaw brought together the violin/bass/drum. Majesty of Leroy Jenkins (whose noble nomenclature has been bastardized by a World Of Warcraft character) and Sirone and Jerome Cooper for the last time, as Mr. Jenkins passed away in 2007. Their instrumental and compositional palette was incredibly wide for such a diminutive formation. They were a chamber group who could swing and they were a jazz group that vigorously executed formal structures. Each member was not only a selfless ensemble player but had also developed very sophisticated solo music. All of this and more is featured in this remarkably moving album featuring compositions from each member, as well as more freely derived musical conclusions. They reunited in 2004 after a 27-year hiatus, and if anything, the vitality of the aggregation had grown more acute during those intervening years. While it is heart-breaking that there will probably be no more recordings and certainly no more performances, they have left behind a legacy of staggering ingenuity, of which this disc was merely the latest chapter.

Finland is positively brimming over with amazing and idiosyncratic bands at the moment, and the cream of the crop are generally found on the Finnish label Fonal. From the inside-out psych/folk of Kemialliset Ystävät, to the Björk-meets-Jandek musings of Finn chanteuse Islaja, to the otherworldly pop transmissions of Paavoharju, it's a rare Fonal release that isn't eerily beautiful and unlike anything else you've ever heard (and nicely packaged, to boot).

If you know who Mike Patton and The Melvins are, chances are you already know how you feel about their general aesthetic (uncompromising, singular, not for the faint of heart, etc.). The other bands on their label, Ipecac (which Patton co-runs), generally share that aesthetic, as well as formidable chops, a penchant for minor keys, and a soft spot for metal, though they're more inclined to cherry-pick aspects of the genre (and for that matter, all genres) than just do it outright. If it comes out on Ipecac, somebody with pleeeeennty of other things to do thought it was worth their time.

Like Fonal, Ektro is a Finnish label, and like Ipecac, its bands tend to cherry-pick aspects of metal with a healthy disdain for purity. But Ektro's got a flavor all its own, defined in large part by Finnish kraut/psych/metal/etc. stalwarts Circle, whose records make up the brunt of the label's discography. They've yet to put out an album nearly as transcendent as their live show, but frankly, just about no one has (their live show is pretty goddam transcendent). The records they do put out, however (by Circle, their various and many alter-egos, and such oh-really? bands as Quest For Blood, the only Japanese black-metal band fronted by a free-jazz flautist) are, at the very least, "interesting," often really good, and almost always rockin'.

In a perfect world, every label would be like Tumult, an enterprise formed by a guy who loves music, wants certain records to exist, and then makes it happen with nary a regard to such bourgeois concepts as brand consistency or "the marketplace." Admittedly, their predilection for extreme noise and black metal make it difficult for a milquetoast like me to enjoy every last release, but some of them -- like the shambolic cosmic stoner-rock of Japan's Solar Anus, the stalactite ambience of Thuja, and the gloriously crushing art/metal of Harvey Milk -- are fuckin' awesome. Tumult, for better or worse, is never the same old shit.

Founded almost 20 years ago by Swans mainman Michael Gira as an outlet for his work. Young God also focuses on (according to their website) "highly personalized and emphatically original non-genre-specific songwriting." Generally somewhere between folk and experimental, with innovatively layered arrangements, lyrics that have had some time spent on'em, and the best consistent cover-art aesthetic since the heyday of 4AD. Again, this doesn't mean that every last release is a hit, but if my experiences seeing Gira perform with the Swans and his excellent current project The Angels of Light are anything to go on, he's the real deal, straight up, and if he finds something "emphatically original," there's probably something to it.

tip: If you, like most people, think that this all sounds like a bunch of esoteric bullshit,  check out Lyrics Born.  That guy cranks out alternate-universe R&B radio pop hits like there's no tomorrow.  Japanese eccentric Cornelius and and retro-soulman James Hunter are making some good pop records lately, too.  And fans of melancholy (yet by no means maudlin) singer/songwriters should check out the Bill Fay album From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock. As for up-and-comers, do yourself a favor and keep an eye out for the best live band of '08: the one-woman wunderkind, Tune-Yards.

Dr. Dog - Fate

Good old-timey sounding indie rock. Written and recorded by the band.

Audrey - The Fierce and the Longing

An all-girl band from Sweden, Audrey makes pleasant "post-rock" songs of the less epic variety (songs clock in at 3-5 minutes), with a cello rocking prominently amid the guitar.

Art Farmer - Farmer's Market

Art Farmer gives Miles Davis a run for his money in this outing. Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Horace Silver on piano, plus a drummer and bassist make for a satisfying hard bop record. Props to Shona for telling me about this record. By the way, go visit her in the jazz section for more recommendations and to learn about the Flumpet (flugelhorn + trumpet).

MC 900 Ft Jesus - One Step Ahead of the Spider

Hauschka - Ferndorf

German pianist/composer who records/performs as Hauschka. I'm not quite sure how to describe this release, so I'll quote Mojo magazine: "Ferndorf is a sweet and spirited adventure in post-oral (pseudo) glitch that tracks back to Eric Satie and Ralph Vaughn Williams and is exquisitely suggestive of the rainy countryside where Hauschka grew up." A German magazine also compared him to French composer Yann Tiersen, most famous for the Amélie soundtrack.

tip: Bottom of the Hill is definitely the best place to see live Rock 'N' Roll in SF. There's an outdoor patio for fresh air, good food, tables, and comfy booths in the back.

Various Artist - No New York

4 Bands: D.N.A., Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, The Contortions, Mars: all brung together for this compilation and produced by none other than Mister Brian Eno. NO genre. If I came from outer space, Brian Eno is one of the first humans I would eat. See Also: Suicide...short, sporadic bursts of noisy nonsense that seem to not have come from anywhere, rooted in nothing at all, and goes nowhere at all in the end: it just suddenly ENDS.

Garbage Warrior

Our typical houses are responsible for nearly half the CO2 emissions in many countries, and they've got all the choking building codes on their side, the neighborhood associations on their side. We need to remove the accepted term GARBAGE from our language. No more garbage. We ran out of room, we were on the wrong path. The planet dies partly for the consumerist want of "new granite counter tops in the kitchen, stainless steel appliances, new fixtures, minimum 1400 sf dwelling." If you Google Earthship - look beyond the long hair, if there is a dream-catcher/tie-dye that upsets your Lautner/Nouvel/Ando/ or even McMansion sensibilities, avert your eyes but not your mind, please. We must look beyond the differences and see our common solutions... we can implement much of this right where you are now, cause we can't all run off and live in the desert right? JUST ASK ED BEGLEY and please tell his wife Rachelle that her laughter really got me through the last few months. I love those two. And I think Tadao Ando could rock this design so hard you could have the modernist enclave waving at the curvaceous hippiesque one all friendly like! GARBAGE WARRIOR: we don't have to live like this anymore and we don't have to kill the planet to have a lightbulb glow. The future was years ago.

The Devil Came on Horseback

Genocide, Darfur. Sri Lanka? Sudan? Democratic Republic of Congo? None can avert their eyes, not one of us, not one more day from now on. This documentary: Darfur. See for yourself, then know how much further it unravels in a single day. The times we have been living in: Bush invades a sovereign nation based on obvious lies and yet no one is willing to charge to the rescue of the victims in these genocides because we are supposed to respect that they are within the borders of a sovereign nation? We are living in maddening times and must seek ways to not feel as if we can do nothing as "one simple person" each. We must find ways. The ways are there. That much we must believe. Genocide Intervention Network. QUICK THOUGHT: In the mad shuffle to not lose your retirement funds - have you made sure it does no evil? In the end, thoughtful caution must outweigh such sudden fears: sudandivestment.org (with Calvert, no less) doing the eyeballs for you. They look out for the innocent on the ground- so it is based on specific companies not a blanket economic boycott, which leaves innocent people starving while the jerks at the top still party in gold.

The Films of Charles and Ray Eames

They were just so busy; immense talent seemingly cannot rest. Many short films, just filled with wonder. You can treat yourself to the pretty, pretty box of 6 DVDs or you can hunt them down one at a time, either choice for you - seek and ye shall find. I possess no sense of whimsy & yet - against my wishes!!! - was taken utterly by Toccata for Toy Trains. Yikes! EAMES. I even like typing the name. As for ownership, I only have Volume 2, so if you see these others in the Amoeba bins, calls me up! Yeehaw. Also of note: their furniture, much of it made, what, 5 decades ago or more ...? The originals are holding up great when treated well and are still passed from loving hand to loving hand. This too, though beyond my wallet, is sustainability. If you can afford the initial investment!

tip: My water company - www.ebmud.com - sends me all of these items for FREE: kits to save up to 160 oz of water per toilet flush, stickers that say "Our community is in a drought... thank you for not wasting water." Low flow attachments for your shower head, your kitchen spigot and outside garden hose. Comics for the kids that explain that "it used to rain here,"  - and my fave: The low flow shower head with the OFF switch so when you're scrubbing your toes or letting your all-natural conditioner set: turn off the water flow until you are ready to rinse! Then the water flicks right back on - no long, wasteful warm up. Please contact your local water authority to see what they offer! Wherever you are ...