I'm glad you asked. Some treats in on all formats:

Celer - Dwell in Possibility (vinyl, ltd to 420 copies; "Over a relatively short period of time, Celer's catalogue has amounted to a major presence in the field of ambient music, and this fine limited edition LP will only add to the duo's prestige within the genre." - Boomkat)
Z'EV - As / If / When (vinyl)
Max Richter - 24 Postcards (vinyl)
V/A - Ecstatic Music of the Jemaa El Fna (vinyl, Sublime Frequencies)
For centuries, the Jemaa El Fna (Rendezvous of the Dead) has remained the stage for one of the most spectacular social forums on the planet. By day, this central square in the city of Marrakesh, one of Morocco's great imperial cities, fosters a kaleidoscope of entertainment for its local inhabitants; storytellers, acrobats, magicians and snake charmers all create intriguing displays of bewitching spectacle. As the sun sets, the evening grows frantic with the pulse of the crowd; it is then that the night musicians set up. Free from the restrictions and expectations of light entertainment for a tourist crowd, these musicians manifest ecstatic performances that animate the audience and players alike. The groups represented on this album; Troupe Majidi, Amal Saha, and Mustapha Mahjoub, are working and carrying the torch of their musical heroes nightly in the square. These songs come from the repertoire of Morocco's greatest musical exports: Nass El Ghiwane, Lemchaheb, Jil Jilala, Larssad, and many others from the Chaabi (Moroccan popular music) canon and are given a raw, emotional and fiery interpretation. Instruments are powered by car batteries and blown out through megaphone speakers. These recordings represent a rare opportunity to hear this music at such close proximity taking in all the power and passion of the performances. The raw fidelity captures an unflinching immersion of what is simply some of the greatest street music on earth.

On CD we've got the latest releases from:

Broken Social Scene
Band of Horses
Court Yard Hounds
Keith Jarret / Charlie Haden
Hold Steady
Japandroids
Rolling Stones
KD Lang
The National
Jack Johnson


&

Jasper TX - Black Sheep
Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

&

Two nice Mosaic Box Sets, both ltd to 5000 each:

Curtis Amy
McCoy Tyner

The latest from Hollywood is also in on DVD and Blu-Ray: Alice In Wonderland and Avatar.

First off, we will have the new Joanna Newsom triple record, Have One on Me, on the floor today about 2:30 pm. (It has arrived and is awaiting my processing--I start at 2). Today, Pitchfork gave it a 9.2 outta 10 and categorized it as "best new music". We have it on CD and LP.

I believe the box will also contain ONE copy of Susumu Yokota's Grinning Cat on 2LP. This album has been a bitch to bring in. I've only managed to find 3 copies in almost a year as it's technically out of print and was limited to 2500 copies. I bought one of the three, sold the other, and now the third'll be on the floor later today. If you like electronic music, this is a masterpiece of the genre. And I'm not alone in thinking that:

"Ambient genius." - MOJO

"One of the most gifted producers on the planet... the early works of Eno and Aphex Twin have been joined on their pedestal." -- Wax

"God-like genius." - Sleazenation

"Blissfully enchanting music...Fantastic sounds to immerse yourself in completely." - DJ

"Yokota exists on a different plane to most of his contemporaries." - NME

I should just take this copy and give it to a friend. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone worthy. You can hear a track in the left column.

I believe the box will also have some restock of some catalog titles (Beatles, Husker Du, Soundgarden, Bad Brains, Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, AC/DC, yadda yadda yadda).

Next... one of the touchstone releases of my generation, The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs is being issued in April on vinyl for the first time. It'll be a 6 x 10" box set and is limited to just 3000 copies. I don't have exact pricing yet but expect it to be around $95. We'll do our best to beat Amazon and other big box shops, just as we did with the Tom Waits and Numero box sets.

If this is something you're keen on, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so we order enough copies. Here's the Allmusic review. Here it is on PFM. The Onion AV Club gave it a 10, as did Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice. It was #1 on many 1999 year end lists as well as in the top slot for best of the 90s. Hell, it even has an unofficial wiki. To me, the only record that maybe held more significance for me in that decade was Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. As I said, touchstone. You've no doubt heard a bunch of songs from the release, even if you don't know it. Hopefully you didn't have to suffer through Peter Gabriel's dreadful cover of The Book of Love. The original is below.

So, we got our first batch of new (as in sealed) CDs in today, as well as a small batch of interesting vinyl. Most of the CDs we only brought one copy in, so we've opened them and stuck a NEW sticker on them and put the cases out and kept the discs behind the counter, same way we always do. Items we received more than one of have sealed counterparts behind the counter and the opened case on the floor.

I've made a section on the wall above the new arrivals (as in used) bin. Here's a breakdown of what's there right now, as well as the new records we received. More should be in by week's end.

Compact Disc:

- Kevin Drumm - Imperial Distortion (2CD; Hospital Productions)
- Hildur Gudnadottir - Without Sinking (Touch; UK Import) - "... a captivating, often unsettled release..." (Allmusic)
- Ilyas Ahmed - The Vertigo of Dawn (Time Lag)
- Grouper / Inca Ore - Split (Acuarela; Spanish Import) - "These two artists complement each other brilliantly ... Highly Recommended." (Boomkat)
- Spoon - Transference (Merge) - "... smarts, wit, hooks ..." (Allmusic)
- Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was (3CD, HAFTW) "Truly life affirming sounds, and without doubt one of the most important, substantial releases of the year." (Boomkat) - This release also made many year end top 10 lists; we sold out instantly on vinyl (6LP).
- My Morning Jacket - At Dawn, original pressing (2CD; Darla; Limited to 2000 copies in 2001; Out of print)
- Jasper TX - Singing Stones (Fang Bomb; Swedish Import) "Singing Stones is an exceptional album, artfully constructed and sequenced in a way that preserves its enigmatic feel, continually shifting between coy tunefulness and glorious abstraction. Superb." (Boomkat)
- Julie Doiron / Okkervil River - Split (Acuarela; Spanish Import) "[Doiron's] five songs are short, spare, heart-wrenching, and bedroom recorded." (Allmusic)
- His Name Is Alive - Firefly Dragonfly (Acuarela; Spanish Import)
- Lou Barlow - Mirror the Eye (Acuarela; Spanish Import)
- Damien Jurado - Holding His Breath (Acuarela; Spanish Import) "... a tense twenty minutes inside Jurado's world." (Allmusic)

Vinyl:

- Richard Skelton - Landings (2LP+CD) "Richard Skelton proves himself to be more than just a modern-classical outsider and consolidates his status as an auteur with a singular vision... Amazing Music." (Boomkat)
- Spoon - Transference (Merge) 7.8 outta 10 (Pitchfork)
- Coil / The New Blockaders / Vortex Campaign - The Melancholy Mad Tennant (Important; Ltd to 500 copies; 180g)
- Black to Comm - Rückwärts Backwards (Dekorder; Ltd. to 222 Copies; Out of print) - "... recalling Fennesz or Tim Hecker's crumbly, floury vapournoise ... the lines between organic and digital are invisible..." (The Wire)
- Black to Comm - Fractal Hair Geometry (Dekorder; Ltd. to 500 Copies) - "With a sound built on Krautrock-style keyboard oscillations, fluttering electronics and processed vocal moans, his songs play out as textural pieces with a closed-in, near claustrophobic feel." (The Wire)
- Animal Hospital - Memory (2LP; Barge; Ltd to 350 Hand-Numbered copies; white vinyl) - "Memory is a record that engages with familiar techniques and proceeds to completely fuck with the programme.... Just awesome." (Boomkat)
- Charley Patton - You're Gonna Need Somebody When You Die: The Recorded Works (4LP; Monk Records; Ltd. to 275 Copies; 4 different colored vinyls)
- Reverend Johnny L. "Hurricane" Jones - Jesus Christ From A To Z (Parlotone; Ltd Edition; Culled from recordings Johnny made for his own private use -- over 1,000 tapes going back to 1957 -- assembled for the very first time.)
- Faust - IV (Virgin; UK Import; Exact replica, officially reissued by EMI. 180 gram audiophile pressing with printed inner sleeve.)

And restocks of these Mississippi Records titles:

- Reverend Louis Overstreet
- Fight On, Your Time Ain't Long
- Mortika
- Mississippi Fred McDowell
- Clara Rockmore

Today will be a heavy day for new vinyl stock. A large list of what's expected is below.

In addition, yesterday saw the arrival of the following CD and Blu-Ray box sets:

- Waylon Jennings - The Journey: Destiny's Child (6 CDs; Bear Family)
- Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Sam Butera - The Capital Years (8 CDs; Bear Family)
- Various Artists - A Shot in the Dark: Nashville Jumps: Blues & Rhythm on Nashville Indepedent Labels (8 CDs; Bear Family)
- Various Artists - Motown: The Complete Singles, Vols. 2: 1962 (Limited to 8000 copies), 6: 1966 (Limited to 6000 copies; out of print), and 10: 1970 (Limited to 8000 copies) (5 CDs and 1x7" each; Hip-O Select)
- Miles Davis - Complete In A Silent Way Sessions
- Rolling Stones - Singles, 1963 - 1965, Singles, 1965 - 1967, and Singles, 1968 - 1971

- Star Trek, The Original Series, Season 1 (Blu-ray)
- Star Trek, The Original Series, Season 2 (Blu-ray)

Some interesting used CDs came in as well (you know, in addition to the hundreds of interesting things we see every week):

The Nigeria '70 3 disc set--two CDs and a DVD which has a documentary on the country's music. As far as I can make out, the two disc version is still in print but this 3 disc one is not. It's on Strut, so is a UK import as well.

Three volumes of the Verve France: Free America series came in. Here's an article on the series in Jazz Times and another in All About Jazz. The titles we received were Art Ensemble of Chicago's Certain Blacks, and one title each from Clifford Thornton and Frank Wright. These CDs were obviously released in France and are numbered, limited to 3500 numbered copies. We've put a premium price on these; they're in perfect shape.

As for the vinyl, I think the following will be in boxes that arrive today:

- Devendra Banhart - Oh Me Oh My The Day Goes By
- Vashti Bunyan - Just Another Diamond Day (LP + 7")
- Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson (180g)
- Girl Talk - Night Ripper (2LP, limited ed)
- Simon Joyner - Songs for the New Year
- The Knife - Silent Shout
- Lady Gaga - The Fame
- Pelican - March Into the Sea
- Set Fire to Flames - Telegraphs In Negative / Mouths Trapped in Static (2LP)
- Velvet Underground - Loaded (180g), VU and Nico (180g), VU and Nico (Mono)
- Scott Walker - Scott, Scott 2, Scott 3, and Scott 4
- Mazzy Star - She Hangs Brightly
- Deep Listening Band - Then & Now Now & Then (2LP, Ltd to 500)
- Tim Buckley - Greetings From L.A.
- Budos Band - s/t
- Elmore James - The Sky is Crying
- Johnny Cash - The Sun Singles (6 x 7" box set)
- Boris - Japanese Heavy Rock Hits (Ltd. ed. 7")

As well as restocks of:

- Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
- Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
- Husker Du - Zen Arcade
- Soundgarden - Badmotofinger
- Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of The Decline (2LP), Avec Laudenum, The Tired Sounds Of... (2LP)
- Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (180g)
- Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced (2LP), Band of Gypsies (140g), and Axis: Bold As Love
- John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

We also managed to find one more copy of Nadja's out of print 2LP 180g Radiance of Shadows. Limited to 750 copies.

These are also in the wind and may arrive today but could be as late as next week:

- Cinematic Orchestra - Everyday
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - Freakey Styley and Uplift Mojo...
- Radiohead - The Bends
- Radiohead - Kid A

Some nice blues:

- Mississippi Fred McDowell - Mama Said I'm Crazy
- Joe Callicott - Ain't A Gonna Lie to You
- Scott Dunbar - From Lake Mary
- Heartless Bastards - Stairs and Elevators
- Sweet Tea - s/t
- Elmo Williams - Takes One to Know One

And restocks of:

- MF Doom - MM Food
- Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
- Kraftwerk - Autobhan
- Kraftwerk - Radio Activity
- Kraftwerk - Man Machine
- Kraftwerk - Tour De France
- Kraftwerk - Europe Express

Okay, so two short bits of news:

We absolutely will have the new Tom Waits LPs on Tuesday. The 7LP Orphans box will be $138.99. The 2LP Glitter and Doom will be $22.99.

As to the question I'm getting hit with daily... YES! We will be having our annual boxing sale. No, we have not decided what the discount will be. It will be at least 25% off all used product, and may be higher. The best way to stay on top of this is to join our emailing list. Once the final decision has been made, I'll email the list. Promise.