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

Time for another visit to the CD New Arrivals Bin. Here are the standout or rarely-seen items that are currently there. Click for reviews where appropriate.



Barbara Acklin - Greatest Hits
Barbara Lynn - The Jamie Singles Collection
The Hustle and the Best of Van McCoy
Don Bryant - s/t
Maxine Brown - Something You Got
Syl Johnson - Back for a Taste
Delfonics - Best Of
Various - Blue Rock Records Story
Millie Jackson - Feelin' Bitchy (Import)
Wheedle's Groove - Seattle's Finest in Funk and Soul
Banda Uniao Black - s/t
Willie Mitchell - Ooh Baby, You Turn Me On
Joe Meek - Freak Beat
Ike and Tina Turner - Live, Raw and Funky
Trampps - s/t




Various - 2131 South Michigan Ave - 60s Garage and Psychedelia (on Sundazed)
Magazine - Real Life



Vincent Gallo - Recordings of Music for Film
Yo La Tengo - Prisoners of Love (2cd best of) and Popular Songs
Dead Man's Bones - Featuring the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir
St. Vincent - Actor
Grand Archives - Keep In Mind Frankenstein
Le Loup - Family
Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions (singer from Mazzy Star) - Through the Devil Softly
Antlers - Hospice
Dan Mangan - Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Flying Saucer Attack - Outdoor Miner / Psychic Driving
Future of the Left - Travels With Myself and Another
Orenda Fink - Ask the Night
Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly and Bury the Square
FanFarlo - Reservoir
Taken By Trees - East of Eden
The XX - s/t
Hidden Cameras - OriginOrphan
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - And the Horse They Rode In On and s/t
John Cale - Island Years



Boards of Canada - Hi Scores
Fripp and Eno - No Pussyfooting



Mance Lipscomb - You Got To Reap What You Sow
Robert Pete Williams - Great Louisiana Bluesman
Keb Darge and Cut Chemist Present: Lost & Found: Rockabilly and Jump Blues



Anti-Pop Consortium - Flourescent Black
Jay-Z - The Black Album

I'm not gonna say too much yet, but in the coming weeks we expect some very nice limited edition vinyl treats for our Icelandic-music loving friends. They'll be from what I think are the three most popular Icelandic musical exports this decade. One is pictured to the left. The other two are probably much more obvious. Stay tuned!

Here's the lovely Amiina doing their thing: