2011 release from the always-compelling P.J. HARVEY, this time in "concept album" mode. This album is loosely based on a specific battle from WWI, but takes those themes to expand on centrist politics, regional pride, expansionism and the horrors of war in general (among others). Deep and layered, this record will reward multiple listens. Subtle samples and interpolations are woven through the production and writing to comment and create tension with the music and lyrics. Collaboration with JOHN PARISH, MICK HARVEY and FLOOD has resulted in a brilliant album that is more than the sum of its parts. H I G H L Y R E C O M M E N D E D ! ! !

PJ HARVEY doesn't speak to the music press very often so it's been a quiet few years since "Uh Huh Her." Those of you waiting for another "Stories from the City..." or "Is This Desire" should keep waiting. Harvey's shed her guitar for a piano this time around & there's not much of backing musicians to speak of either. Her piano playing is sparse but effective with many of the parts having as much of a rhythmic quality as they do a simple melody. The album is only 30 minutes long & in a way some might people may feel that she just threw this together to get something out but you can tell that a lot of though went in to the mood & feel of this album. Some of the melodies sound like some of the upcoming RADIOHEAD songs ("In Rainbows") & there's hints of 60's British folk as well. She gets help again from John Parish & producer Flood, but this is mostly a PJ HARVEY solo album to the end. This is a nice collection of short, dark songs that will make for some nice autumn & winter listening.

<<<FAIR CONDITION>>>

Check out the lineup on this one! Cecil McBee & Leon Thomas from Pharoah Sanders as well as Frank Strozier & Louis Hayes.....

Quite an interesting debut for this supergroup comprising members from PONTIAK, GUARDIAN ALIEN, LITURGY, BEN FROST and BEACH HOUSE. The album features an extensive monologue from KEN BABBS of Grateful Dead and Merry Pranksters, delivered over HEAT LEISURE's freewheeling psychedelic trance-inducing noodling. Bonus CD of HEAT LEISURE'S I & II

Tim Hecker's 2011 "Ravedeath, 1974" is built around some recordings that he made over the course of one day using a pipe organ in a church in Reykjavik, Iceland. Hecker then finished the record in a studio, building upon those recordings with washes of reverb, guitars & synths. Hecker sites the concept of sonic decay as a theme for this album & the sounds of the organ are certainly diminished & stripped down into rich swaths of swirling ambience. Some of the tones reach cacophonous levels but there are also plenty of meditative passages that retain the massive reverb of the church in which the organ was recorded. Another incredible album from Tim Hecker.

Bureau B present a reissue of HELDON's 4th album, 'Agneta Nilsson', originally released on Urus Records in 1976.

Cellist Alison Chesley's project HELEN MONEY offer up a bleak, emotive and intense new record "Become Zero." Joined by Rachel Grimes (RACHEL'S) and drummer Jason Roeder (SLEEP, NEUROSIS) she uses manipulated cello to create haunting soundscapes.

Fourth full-length from this Portland group. This whole album has a very spacious feel to it, with plenty of reverb on the guitars and what could either be a shitload of guitars in the background or various synths helping to create that MY BLOODY VALENTINE sound. Any way you look at it, though, there's enough going on here to not lose interest and is a definite headphone listen, at least at first. Check this out! *** New LP comes with a coupon for a digital download of this entire album! ***