New Releases - 1/4/20
Hitting The Racks
No new releases again this week, but we are receiving restocks daily. Here are a few select titles that are new to the shop this week.
Various Artists - Ayahuasca: Cumbias Psicodelicas, Vol. 1 LP (Lion Productions)
2019 repress. A stunning collection of hot, rare tracks that combine cumbia with psychedelic rock. Starting in the late 1960s, there was a boom of tropical music in Peru, both in Lima and the provinces. Cumbia Peruana merged this tropical sound with that of psychedelic rock. Aspects of cumbia were mixed with electric (often fuzz) guitar, played over Andean and jungle rhythms, and this combination provoked an explosion of original music. An instrument to lead the way, usually from the introduction of the song; over this, hypnotic layers of keyboards and guitar with fuzz and wah wah; add simple bass-lines; and to top it off, syncopated rhythms from bongos, congas, huiros, cymbals, timbales, often played at breakneck speed. In the end, it's like a sonic cousin to Nigerian music: these musicians liked guitar, they had a fondness for echo, and they loved a murky high-octane jam. Fierce, funky and full of flavor!
Mike Selesia - Flavor LP (Mad About Records)
Originally released in 1976. This is a cool jazz album all the way around. From the black-and-white, hand-drawn cover, to the fact that it came out of Fresno, California (not exactly a hotbed for jazz), to the handful of styles present (straight ahead, funky, free, and even a raga), Flavor has got it going on. High quality musicianship and some far-out stoner tracks make this album stand head-and-shoulders above most of its private press peers. Original released in a very limited issue, reportedly only 300 copies, this album was handed out at their shows and sold only to local record stores. Only together for nine months, Mike Selesia (who plays sax and flute) and his band recorded this album in one day: a fascinating hybrid of early '60s Coltrane, early '70s Miles Davis. One of the rarest spiritual jazz LPs ever!
Tim Barnes - DEΔD-LOOP LP (Amish Records)
In many ways DEΔD-LOOP is house music that takes a sideways approach to the language of dance music, supplying an additional thread connecting House, pop, and sound art. As both a concept and a practice, Barnes aims to turn house on its side, reconsidering its structure and form. The pieces here reflect Barnes' status as a renowned percussionist, offering rhythms and textures that both draw the listener in and maintain a spatial and temporal distance/uncertainty. Since 1995, Tim Barnes has been internationally acclaimed as a musician, having played with a range of artists including Tony Conrad, Ikue Mori, Sonic Youth, Glenn Kotche, P.G. Six, Mike Watt, Royal Trux, Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Beth Orton, among others. Working across both genre and instrumentation, Barnes' singular history as a musician reflects his versatile ear and performance range.
Our staff picks for the Best Albums of 2019 are still up on our staff picks page.