Rahsaan Roland Kirk- Natural Black Inventions- Root Strata


Master Musicians of Jajouka- Pipes of Pan

Brother Ahh- Sound Awareness

ex-Arkestra space jazz strangeness courtesy FM Shades. woah.

A!r France-No Way Down



There have been many a spontaneous dance party at brainstains soundtracked by A!r France's 'Beach Party'. Imagine my excitement when gorillavsbear announced the release of the group's EP, No Way Down.. I bought it. Now you can have it too. 320 kbps, bitches. DEFINITELY in the running for best record of 2008

Robert Wyatt-The End of an Ear

Cryptids- Popul Vhu High School
(an unreleased track that might be showing up on a BG scene comp in the future)

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band- Grow Fins
1 2 3 4 5
(this is the reason the internet was invented. demos and live from the entire beefheart discography. methinks the trout mask demos sound better than the album. the "safe as milk" demos are also wonderful. thank you, Don.)

Gandalf- Gandalf

elfin acid casualties from 1967 that play a lot of odd cover songs drowned in reverb ("Nature Boy"?). the Zombies never did it for me, but i dig Gandalf's version of paisley psych pop. they're especially cute when they try to get "heavy". awww!

Mahmoud Guinia

Magnificent Gnawa music from one of Morocco's foremost practitioners. Characterized by a few key musical phrases repeated over a long period of time, the full individual pieces here are made up of a series of movements or suites which are intended to induce a sort of trance-like state. However effective Mahmoud might be at this, there are a few things that really addict me to this record outside of the aforementioned over-arching appeal. The rhythms on this record stumble over themselves in strange, skipping, psychosomatic patterns which command your attention because of their slightly askew yet mechanically consistent charm. Slightly reminiscent of 'Are You that Somebody' era Timbaland. Just barely out of focus. Or maybe not? It compels you to overindulge. It coaxes you to attempt to decipher it's mysterious spirit-drunk logic until you start to lose your sense of direction. it is screwing with your equilibrium. By the time you've realized you're already past the point of no return. So instead of futilely attempting to struggle your way out, fall forward and cling to the unflinchingly steady, guiding human voice at the epicenter. Mahmoud's chanting, the assertive and soulful current of this stoned and rhythmically decadent stream, is the only way your going to get out of here with your brain in tact. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Pocahaunted-Island Diamonds

a bit cleaner, a bit more dub, a tiny bit more recent, my favorite from them so far.

Poni Hoax-Images of Sigrid

password: nodata.tv

Pocahaunted-Peyote Road

Ratatat-LP3

For my birthday you can get me any of the following: a hug from Marshall (or more?), a new roommate/apt in Logan Square, my Ohio peeps to come visit, a record deal with Leaf, pit tickets to Radiohead, the bottom button from my tweed blazer, the Marc Jacobs jacket I saw in the window on Milwaukee, a solid gold house and rocket car (those should come together).. On second thought, I'm pretty much in the process of getting myself most of those things anyhow... just send cash instead.

David Bowie-Lodger





Lodger is one of those albums that you've had a copy of a million times, but never when you really want to hear it. And then when you are in the mood, you're really really in the mood. But it can't be found anywhere and you spend hours scouring the internet for even a 192kbps version of it. Cursing the internet gods the entire time for making it so easy to find some obscure Tanzanian fuzz rock album that's been out of print since it was first pressed while making it virtually impossible to find something relatively well-known by one of the western world's most iconic pop songwriters. Until you eventually get so desperate that you start to struggle with Itunes trying to get it to recognize your goddamned appleid and feeling really defeated the whole time. And finally at the last second when you're about to say fuckitall and give up hope a megaupload search swoops in to save the day. It's that kind of album. And it's totally worth it. Because it's one of his best.


also, I've officially landed the permanent AIC position I wanted (which is to tide me over till I get back to PDX, so don't get your panties in a bunch, west coast friends)!! yeah!! Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Throbbing Gristle-20 Jazz Funk Greats

Bonnie "Prince" Billy-Lie Down in the Light

Raven- Back to Ohio Blues- unlike most white boy blues rockers, Raven lives it. "gotta get fucked" is the mantra, mahnn.
Circuit Rider- Circuit Rider- gnostic biker/trucker rock that is absurd as it is genius. get out the no-doz, bub.
Silvester Anfang- Kosmies Schlactaval- belgian satanic psych.

and, for your pleasure:
Les Rallizes Denudes- Live 1972
LRD- December's Children 1980
LRD- Flightless Bird

Pyramids-Pyramids

Dear 20-something visual artists... can we please cool it with the deer imagery? It's getting really tired. And don't even try to say that those are caribou. Cause I will tell you to go to hell...

Fantastic record though.

"It starts in the upper atmosphere, in that rarefied air where silence sings and time is little more than an abstraction. As it makes its way down through the tree line, to sea level, to the ear canals, elliptical windows and auditory nerves of the great unwashed, the shapes begin to shift. The sine waves become more distinct: swarming, swirling guitars, drums like a churning steam press, a chorus of celestial voices. Instru- ments collude and collide in a roiling shoal and then dissipate, leaving a cavernous hole, a ghost town, the vestiges and echoes of a brief terres- trial existence. Out in Denton and “other parts of the country,” where seemingly mild psychotropic disturbances can have vast and sinister implications for certain elements within the local populaces, Pyramids conjure the cacophonies of the great unknown, one song at a time."-20jazzfunkgreats

Philip Jeck-Sand password: redizork




"When we last heard from experimental turntablist Philip Jeck he was performing alongside Alter Ego as part of their fresh take on Gavin Bryars' The Sinking Of The Titanic, casting a sepia-tinged crackle over the recording. Sand is a return to Jeck's solo work, further exploring the quite unexpected emotional resonance stirred up by old records and their dismantled sonic properties. As ever, Jeck uses old vinyl and decayed audio as a portal into memories, and like the machinations of remembrance, his audio is hazy, obscured and coloured by distortions. 'Unveiled' is an apt re-introduction to Jeck's universe, constructed from waves of pure texture and mist, phasing out of control at first only to permit some recognisable streams of piano to permeate the deep, cavernous crackle. Following directly on, 'Chime Again' manipulates recordings of bells, sounding like some psychedelic campanologist's nightmare. Suddenly the tone shifts for 'Fanfares', a piece assembled from recognisable elements of Emerson Lake & Palmer's recording 'Fanfare For The Common Man' looped and detuned into a clamorous haze. This is a theme that persists over the course of much of this album's remainder, with 'Fanfares Forward' further making a mockery of this most grandiose of musical forms: the overwhelming, brassy qualities of the previous 'Fanfares' have been pared down to a more sedate, distorted loop format, before the lengthy album closer 'Fanfares Over' devours an escalating mass of anthemic sounds, coloured by the same spiralling phase effects that commenced the record via 'Unveiled'. "Sand" is one of Jeck's most beautiful and approachable releases to date: his source material is so thoroughly dissolved that the music enters the domain of outright ambience more comprehensively than on records like Surf or Stoke - albums that explicitly made use of old gospel and bluegrass 78s. Instead, Sand is more about the processes themselves than the content, forging music from raw texture and effects-driven manipulation. The result is, predictably enough for a Philip Jeck record, quite breathtaking"-boomkat

Finland is clearly not fucking around.









Paavoharju-Laulu Laakson Kukista























Lau Nau-Nukkuu

It's post #200 here at Beulahland, so your Uncle Wiggly's got some presents for you boys and girls:

Big Blood- Sew Your Wild Days Tour Vol. 1
Freak-folk fambly jams that are sweet as honey and as potent as moonshine. Worth it just for the elfin cover of Can's "Vitamin C", but the whole album's pretty damn fantastic.

Blues Control- Full Tank cd-r
The lords of new-kraut get crazy with Casio SK-1 beats, fucked guitar and ZZ Top overdrive. It's no "Puff", but what the hell...

Sibylle Baier- Colour Green
Sibylle Baier is like Syd Barrett without the acid, or Karen Dalton on downers. Music to sit at home and cry to. She makes Jandek seem like a cheery fellow.

My Morning Jacket-Evil Urges


First of all thanks to mr. wiggly for posting again. I was afraid he had bailed on us.

second of all, here's the new my morning jacket which I haven't listened to yet, but is sort of unavoidable at this point. It's got some serious buzz happening behind it. That doesn't necessarily mean anything. But if for no other reason, Jim James is a total sex bomb.

exhibit a:








p.s. I'm mainly posting this because a certain boy mentioned liking them and let's be real, I'd repent and bow at the altar of Phish if it meant he'd hug me like he did at the end of last night... not that he likes Phish.

Basil Kirchen- The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Ariel Kalma- Osmose

Avarus- III

Ya Ho Wa 13- The Feather of Wisdom (2008)

Moondog- Sax Pax for a Sax

Brian Eno & John Cale-Wrong Way Up

Pyramids-Pyramids







I'm waiting to hear back from the Art Institute of Chicago. About a permanent position. If I don't get it I will probably be back in Oregon by the end of the month, which is a little sad, because I kind of feel that I'm on the verge of something great here in Chicago. I know that probably doesn't make a lot of sense to most of you. It doesn't seem to make much sense to my Chicago friends anyhow. None of whom, as a side-note, read this blog. I've always tended to follow my instincts when it comes to this sort of thing, and so far, at least, it's gone pretty well for me. Right now my gut is telling me to stay in Chicago. No, wait. My gut is telling me to stay at the AIC. There are good people there that can help me. There are attractive men there as well. Which complicates things, but is not really much of a contributing factor. I promise.

anyhow, I've discovered a new band. They're called Pyramids. They're from Denton, Texas. I ripped their debut from their website. it is at once guttural, violent, and strangely sedate. They're also myspace friends with Birchville Cat Motel, whom I love. And who was introduced to me by a guy in Portland who owns the most spoiled cat I've ever met in my life.

Lastly, Radiohead. Summer. My God. my god.

Indian Jewelry-Free Gold (part 1)

Indian Jewelry-Free Gold (part 2)



drugs.




A brief list of musicians I'm excited about:

SALEM
Young Cream (who may or may not be the members of SALEM)
Poni Hoax
Gatto Fritto
Kiev Stingl
Zola Jesus

Ladytron-Velocifero
















Tickley Feather-Tickley Feather