Update: Note that we'll be closed this coming Monday (Aug 2) for the holiday.

First, some store news: Classical is now GONE. All of it. We were going to offer 50 percent off remaining stock for one week and we did it for five, which I think is more than fair. Even at that only about 30 percent of it sold, which says a lot about the remaining inventory. Those upset about this deletion, I feel your pain, but there simply was no other solution. The reason we do no longer carry classical is that none of the staff listens to the genre which makes buying it and pricing it very difficult and a zero sum game. We recommend Second Vinyl (10 Wellesley Street) or Amoroso (4 St. Patrick) for your Classical fix.

We have now moved Jazz into Classical's old home. This may be temporary--we're thinking of some other solutions as that space is not quite big enough for Jazz. Until another solution comes up, it'll be under the window.

New sections are coming as soon as I get a chance to wrangle them together. We're thinking Soul/R&B, Ambient/Experimental/Electronic, and maybe Metal. If you have suggestions for what you'd like added, by all means mention them and we'll see if we can accommodate.

Some new vinyl arrived yesterday (both new and used), including a bunch of jazz (Coltrane, Blakey, Gordon, Moncur III, Pepper). Here's a list of what I can remember:

Tool - 2LP ltd ed. picture disc
Panda Bear 7"
Husker Du - Metal Circus
Beck - Guerro
Eminem - Recovery
Tina Brooks - True Blue
The National - High Violet, s/t, and Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers
Joy Division - Closer
Svarte Greiner - Penpals Forever (Digitalis; in on CD as well; vinyl is ltd to 450 copies and is already sold out from the label)
Soundway's two 3LP sets: The World Ends Part A and Part B
Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974 (2LP on Sublime Frequencies)

A bunch of you have asked about the new Mississippi Records releases I mentioned a few posts previous. They're on order but have not arrived. Those who have emailed about them will get a heads-up when we've got them in-hand. MR are somewhat notorious for announcing titles early, so we may have these very soon or not for a while--it's impossible for me to say. However, I can say with certainty that there's no doubt we'll get them as soon as they're available. Of course, I'll announce their arrival here on the site as well. We have a different (faster, cheaper) source for MR titles than anyone else in the city so should have them first and a couple bucks cheaper than everyone else, just like we do with all other MR vinyls.

We also received a heap of nice used LPs of some contemporary artists (Cat Power, Paul Weller, Tom Petty, and a few others).

Someone brought in a bunch of Emerson, Lake and Palmer Japanese CDs as well as a complete set of those UK Rolling Stones CDs with the miniature album art repros.

Lastly, we also got stock on the Roll the Dice album on CD (it's out of print on vinyl), as well as stock of the latest CDs by The Gaslight Anthem, National, Great Big Sea, Stars, Nirvana, Dum Dum Girls, Discovery, Black Keys, Tom Petty, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, Jonsi, Sting, Sun Burned Hand of the Man, Jimmy Webb, New Pornographers, Melissa Etheridge, KD Lang, and a few others I can't recall off the top of my head.

Just a heads-up about some upcoming vinyl pieces. Some interesting stuff, for sure:

Five volumes on Mississippi Records of Various Artists compilations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alan Lomax's Southern Journey.

1. Wave the Ocean, Wave the Sea
2. Worried Now, Won't Be Worried Long
3. I'll Meet You On That Other Shore
4. I'll Be Glad When the Sun Goes Down
5. I'm Gonna Live Anyhow Until I Die

Here's a little write up:

In 1959 and 1960, at the height of the Folk Revival, Alan Lomax undertook the first-ever stereo field recording trip through the American South to document its still thriving vernacular musical culture. He traveled through Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and North Carolina, making over 70 hours of recordings. The trip came to be known as Lomax's "Southern Journey," and its recordings were first issued for the Atlantic and Prestige labels in the early '60s. Those, however, as well as subsequent releases on New World and Rounder Records, are now all out of print. To remedy this, and to celebrate the Southern Journey's 50th anniversary, Mississippi Records and the Alan Lomax Collection have collaborated on five commemorative LPs, spanning the breadth of Lomax's '59-60 Southern recordings, drawing on new transfers of the original 1/4" tapes, and featuring a considerable amount of previously unreleased material. The five LP volumes feature singing siblings Hobart Smith and Texas Gladden from Saltville, Virginia; menhaden fishermen's chorus the Bright Light Quartet; the Young Brothers' Mississippi Hill Country fife and drum band; Blue Ridge instrumentalists Wade Ward and Charlie Higgins; Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers; work songs and hollers from Parchman Farm; congregational hymns from African American and white Appalachian meeting-houses; Alabama's singing washerwoman Vera Ward Hall; the 1959 United Sacred Harp Convention; and the debut recordings of bluesman Fred McDowell, among much else.

Each volume is being sold separately with its own distinctive packaging. All come with a 12 page booklet featuring many never before published photos. Old school tip on sleeves & beautiful sound. Like all MR releases, these will be limited. I've ordered a few of each but if it's something you're desperate for, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so I'm certain to order enough. Not to be missed!

Italy's Doxy Records has some nice stuff coming out:

Willie Dixon - Walkin' the Blues
Ornette Coleman - Something Else
Ornette Coleman - Tomorrow Is the Question
Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud
John Lee Hooker - Driftin' the Blues
John Lee Hooker - The Blues
John Lee Hooker - The Great John Lee Hooker
Lightnin' Hopkins - Country Blues

The wonderful The National's first few records are finally coming out on vinyl: Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers and The National.

Ambient Doom master Svarte Greiner's got a new release on Digitalis--it's a rerelease of a 2008 cassette-only album, with a new side of material as a bonus. We'll be getting it in on CD and LP. Title is Penpals Forever (and Ever). The vinyl is limited to just 450 copies.

Speaking of Digitalis, the Roll the Dice LP which we sold out of earlier in the year... ? It's coming in on CD. I play it often at the store and people always inquire. It's a duo, featuring the male half of The Knife, which lots of people have been asking about as well. We'll have Silent Shout 2LP in stock soon.

Soundway's got two 3LP sets coming: The World Ends Part A and Part B. But what are they, you ask? Here's the write-up:

The World Ends is the latest title from Soundway Records showcasing a wave of guitar-driven and psychedelic groups that sprung up in Nigeria during the early 1970s. Featuring 32 electrifying and funk-laden grooves, this is the sound of a generation attempting to pick up the pieces after the devastation of the Nigerian civil war. Spread over 2 triple gatefold LPs, this bumper collection is brimming with youthful exuberance, fuzzed-out guitar and cosmic organ vibes and owes much to the psychedelic sounds of Jim Morrison, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and James Brown. As the Summer of Love was blossoming in London and San Francisco, Nigeria was imploding into civil war. Also known as the Biafra War of 1967, it was a grisly conflict taking over three million lives, yet at the same time the country was being pulled apart, there was a new world beginning. The tracks featured represent a forgotten chapter in Nigeria's musical history when the youth threw their varied morsels into the pot, from hard rock to psychedelic soul, when guitars were cherished instruments, symbolic of a new movement, when highlife and Afrobeat played second fiddle to "the beat."

Another interesting 2LP release is coming from Sublime Frequencies: Saigon Rock & Soul: Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974:

Saigon Rock & Soul delivers the goods international retro collectors have been searching for in vain for many years -- and it delivers beyond belief. Every song is a mini-masterpiece, be it heavy acid-rock psychedelia, horn- and guitar- drenched funk grooves, or gripping soul ballads reflective of life during wartime. The tracks that form this collection cut a window into a rich musical Vietnamese music scene that has long been obscured, and for the most part, forgotten. As the scope of electrified Vietnamese music from the 1960s and 1970s begins to be revealed, it becomes evident that this was among the heaviest and most eclectic musical scenes of Southeast Asia at the time. These songs tell of war, love and what war does to love. All of them were recorded in makeshift studios and even U.S. army facilities while the Vietnam War raged -- and were issued by a handful of Saigon record companies on vinyl 45s and reel or cassette tapes.

I guess I should also be asking whether anyone is keen on the multi-LP Neu! box. It's CRAZY expensive so we're not bringing it in unless it's a special order. That said, I *do* think I can get the best price on it in the city, which would be around $200, I think. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you want me to investigate further.

And, finally, 12-string guitar master James Blackshaw's new album, All Is Falling is coming soon. Here's a taste:

Some vinyl came in yesterday. Here's a bit of a run down:

Brain Sound - An Attempt To Record Coincidence (limited to 500 copies; 180g)
"Pictured in all its tantalizing, eye-popping glory in Hans Pokora's 1001 Record Collector Dreams, this hellishly-rare Austrian avant garde LP from 1972 is nothing short of astonishing." - Forced Exposure

Various Artists - An Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music Vol 1 and Vol 2 (3 LP each)
Bardo Pond - Bufo Alvarius (w/ CD)

Mono - You Are There
"They are rock songwriters whose lyrics are guitar lines sung, shrieked, and wailed to the accompaniment of a masterful rhythm section. Mono are a rock band -- and a damn fine one -- and they only get better with time." -- Allmusic Guide

Ben Frost - By the Throat
"This formidable and far-reaching body of work might be one of 2009's most singularly impressive listening experiences, and very likely the only record you'll hear this year whose repertoire consists of both luscious classical chamber compositions and the hunting calls of killer whales." -- Boomkat

Spider John Koerner - March 1963 (180g)
""Spider" John Koerner has been an influential practitioner of traditional folk music and country blues since the days of the late-'50s/early-'60s folk revival. Both in his group, Koerner, Ray & Glover, and on his own, he has helped popularize early folk and blues music through his performances and recordings, directly affecting the careers of Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt, and influencing many others." -- Allmusic Guide

As well as restocks of

Candi Staton - s/t
Betty Swann - s/t

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.

Buncha soul CDs in, along with a heap of other stuff from various genres:

Shirley Brown - The Soul of a Woman and Diva of Soul and For the Real Thing
Denise LaSalle - Right Place, Right Time
William Bell - Wow/Bound to Happen
Mad Lads - Complete Early Volt
Anson Funderburge and the Rockets featuring Sam Myers - Live at Grand Emporium
Carla Thomas - Love Means / Memphis Queen
Johnnie Taylor - Raw Blues / Little Bird and There's No Good in Goodbye
Tyrone Davis - Simply
ZZ Hill - s/t
Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers - s/t
Eddie Floyd - Down to Earth / California Girl
King Floyd - Choice Cuts

Speaking of Soul, Kent is releasing Doris Duke's Southern/Deep Soul classic, I'm a Loser on vinyl in June. We have it on order but if it's a title you're keen on, give me a .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so I make sure I've ordered enough.