COOLEY, SPADE & THE WESTERN SWING DANCE GANG Shame On You (Bloodshot) cd 14.98
Apt title, but despite being a bad, violent man, fiddler Spade Cooley made some great music, helping to establish the style known as "Western Swing" back in the 1940s. 25 songs, 9 with the vocals of Tex Williams, the others all adrenaline-fueled instrumentals. These tracks are all previously unreleased versions, cut for radio broadcast and never before available to the public.

CORN SISTERS The Other Women (Mint) cd 15.98
When Neko Case isn't out breakin' hearts with her country combo The Boyfriends or popping up with the New Pornographers, she gets together with her pal Carolyn Mark to become the Corn Sisters. Two beautiful, gutsy gals fueled by a love of country and yes, corn. Together they're a wild hayride of hilarity breaking out into song or story at the drop of a hat. They can wind a beautiful tale of love lost and in the next breath hoot out a gutbusting tale of the rawest humour. These songs were recorded live at a cool little cafe known as Hattie's Hat in Seattle, WA. Highlights include a string of songs mid-cd namely "She's Leaving Town", Loretta Lynn's "Fist City", the Carolyn-penned "Matineed", and Leiber & Stoller's "Love Me" as well as a Nick Lowe cover and a reworking of Neko's "High On Cruel".
RealAudio clip: "Too Many Pills"

COTTEN, ELIZABETH Freight Train And Other North Carolina Folk Songs And Tunes (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
If you found your ears as pleased as plums (as we found ours to be) by Shake Sugaree, the album of Elizabeth Cotten's music, here's more of her early 20th century goodness! As we've mentioned before, at the age of eleven, Cotten wrote "Freight Train", one of the most influential and stunning folk songs ever written. If this is your first introduction to Cotten, and you like what you hear, well then, Shake Sugaree's the next stop for you!

COTTEN, ELIZABETH Shake Sugaree (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
Absolutely amazing! Elizabeth Cotton, born in Chapel Hill, NC in 1895, has provided brilliant inspiration to many notable folk performers since her discovery and first recordings by Mike Seeger in 1958 -- when Cotton was well-past sixty! The daughter of a miner and a midwife, Cotton developed her own unique fingerpicking guitar style as a young girl by stealing away to her brother's room while he was away to learn the guitar and banjo for herself. By laying the instrument flat on the bed, she figured out a picking pattern, then moved on to rudimentary chord development. At age 11, she wrote one of the most influential and stunning folk songs ever written, "Freight Train". Age twelve found her moving to DC to become a domestic and working temporarily at a department store. At this store, fate took its turn when the daughter of Peggy Seeger was running around frightened and lost. Cotton returned her to Peggy Seeger and they quickly became friends. The Seeger's hired Cotton as their maid and during her years with them, she picked up the instrument again, remembering the songs from her youth and performing them for the Seeger family, only then to begin her public musicianship. I could go on and on about how lovely her songs are, how touching her story is, etc. Her songs are sparse but inspired and beautiful. Shake Sugaree contains 26 folk gems, including its sparkling title track. This album works extraordinarily well as a companion piece to her album Freight Train and is lovely on its own. Crazy recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Shake Sugaree"
MPEG Stream: "Take Me Back To Baltimore"

COTTEN, ELIZABETH AND JESSE FULLER Masters Of The Country Blues (Yazoo) dvd 16.98

COUNTRY GENTLEMEN On The Road And More (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 15.98
The Country Gentlemen were one of the great bluegrass bands to come out of the Washington DC area folk revival in the late fifties. The diverse backgrounds of core members Charlie Waller (guitar), John Duffey (mandolin), Eddie Adcock (banjo) and Tom Gray (bass) gave the band a sound that fit the traditional bluegrass mold and an urbane quality that was fresh without being so slick and smarmy as the later "newgrass" bands that would follow in the years to come. "On the Road" was originally released in 1963 and features recordings of two live performances by the Country Gentlemen, one recorded at Antioch College in 1962 and the other at The Sacred Mushroom, a coffee house in Columbus, Ohio in 1963. As a bonus to this reissue are six tracks recently uncovered in the Folkways' archives from the Country Gentlemen's appearance at Carnegie Hall in 1961 as part of Pete Seeger's "Hootenanny" folk concert to introduce urbanites to the world of folk. An added benefit to hearing live recordings of the Country Gentlemen is that they were quite the jokesters on stage -- just shy of the Smothers Brothers at times -- and many of their antics are included here. Also included is a 29 page booklet with a detailed bio of the band and notes on all the songs.
RealAudio clip: "Long Black Veil"
RealAudio clip: "John Henry"

COUNTRY MUSIC: THE ROUGH GUIDE book 24.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Except for a few well-chosen biographies, this mindblowing volume may be the last book on country music that you'll ever have to pick up. AQ-pal and SF resident Kurt Wolff took on the monumental task of writing about country music in all its multifaceted glory, and he's clearly done a great job. Almost 600 pages of information is divided into sections by genre and chronology (hillbilly, western swing, bluegrass, honky tonk, rockabilly, outlaw country, alt.country, countrypolitan, etc) and each section is preceded by a several-page essay that puts everything into easily-digestible context. Wolff covers all the historic giants, from Hank Williams to Johnny Cash, Bob Wills, and Bill Monroe, plus literally HUNDREDS of lesser knowns. Gram Parsons, Ernest Tubb, Dolly Parton, Hazel Dickens, Freakwater, Uncle Tupelo, Doc Watson, Kitty Wells, Tammy Wynette, Lambchop, Dock Boggs, Spade Cooley, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, the Seldom Scene, Chet Atkins, Elvis, Doug Sahm, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Alison Kraus, Charley Pride, Jimmie Rodgers, the Stanley Brothers, Scud Mountain Boys -- it's ALL here. Contains individual album reviews, artist bios, lots of photos (some previously unpublished), and anthology roundups, as well as cute sidebars about common themes in country music lyrics, etc. An absolutely essential, very complete reference guide that is super well written and super easy to read straight through as a book, to boot. Each copy signed by the author!

COURT AND SPARK Bless You (Absolutely Kosher Records) cd 13.98
Record number two from local country rockers the Court And Spark takes the whispery desert twang of their debut on Andee's tUMULt label, and expands on it, creating a lush, dark and surprisingly varied masterpiece. That may seem a bit effusive, but these guys are so so good. It's unbelievable that they aren't huge and playing bills with Wilco or Ryan Adams or Jay Farrar -- people who I'd imagine they'd blow off the stage at this point. But with the release of 'Bless You' and on the heels of their debut 'Ventura Whites', it probably won't be long. 'Bless You' starts out with the sound of far away pianos and Tom Waits-ish junkyard percussion, all buried under a haze of reverb. Slowly, gently strummed guitars and ringing piano emerge from the gloom, as they launch into 'To See The Fires', probably their best song yet. The whole record is a mix of gloomy slow core country dirges like a countrified Codeine or Low, and rollicking country rock reminiscent of Uncle Tupelo or even the Eagles. The production is bizarre and experimental with all sorts of stereo panning, disembodied brushed snares, strange hums and whirs, extra percussion, and shimmering cymbals. And the musicianship is ace, especially with the permanent addition of Wendy Allen on angelic harmony vocals and Tom Heyman on lap steel. And it doesn't hurt that Gene Parsons of the Byrds plays on a bunch of the tracks as well. The vocals, which seemed to be what the Court and Spark were all about circa their first record, seem to have become more just a part of the whole sound, with MC Taylor's gruff gravelly growl smoothed out, and eased back in the mix a bit, giving their gorgeous twangscapes center stage. Practically perfect.
RealAudio clip: "Fade Out to Lttle Arrow"
RealAudio clip: "To See the Fires"

COURT AND SPARK Bless You (Absolutely Kosher Records) lp 8.98
Record number two from local country rockers the Court And Spark takes the whispery desert twang of their debut on Andee's tUMULt label, and expands on it, creating a lush, dark and surprisingly varied masterpiece. That may seem a bit effusive, but these guys are so so good. It's unbelievable that they aren't huge and playing bills with Wilco or Ryan Adams or Jay Farrar -- people who I'd imagine they'd blow off the stage at this point. But with the release of 'Bless You' and on the heels of their debut 'Ventura Whites', it probably won't be long. 'Bless You' starts out with the sound of far away pianos and Tom Waits-ish junkyard percussion, all buried under a haze of reverb. Slowly, gently strummed guitars and ringing piano emerge from the gloom, as they launch into 'To See The Fires', probably their best song yet. The whole record is a mix of gloomy slow core country dirges like a countrified Codeine or Low, and rollicking country rock reminiscent of Uncle Tupelo or even the Eagles. The production is bizarre and experimental with all sorts of stereo panning, disembodied brushed snares, strange hums and whirs, extra percussion, and shimmering cymbals. And the musicianship is ace, especially with the permanent addition of Wendy Allen on angelic harmony vocals and Tom Heyman on lap steel. And it doesn't hurt that Gene Parsons of the Byrds plays on a bunch of the tracks as well. The vocals, which seemed to be what the Court and Spark were all about circa their first record, seem to have become more just a part of the whole sound, with MC Taylor's gruff gravelly growl smoothed out, and eased back in the mix a bit, giving their gorgeous twangscapes center stage. Practically perfect.
RealAudio clip: "Fade Out to Lttle Arrow"
RealAudio clip: "To See the Fires"

COURT AND SPARK Dead Diamond River (Absolutely Kosher) cd ep 11.98
5 new tracks to keep us sated in lieu of a full length from AQ faves Court And Spark. Like their previous releases, especially Bless You, Court & Spark continue with their lush -- so gorgeous it fairly drips from the speakers -- brand of Gram Parsons-esque country rock. Songs like "Bar The Door, Davy" are just as perfect to listen to alone at the bar with a bourbon on the rocks as it is sidling up to your significant other on the dance floor for a slooooow dance. They've got all the elements you could want: beautiful male/female harmonies, pedal steel guitar, harmonium, vibraphone, violin, organ, fingerpicked guitar and the usual supects (bass & drums). We feel pretty damn lucky to have these stars here locally to shine on us day and night, but there's no reason you can't enjoy them as well.
MPEG Stream: "Lucia"
MPEG Stream: "Bar The Door, Davy"

COURT AND SPARK, THE Double Roses (Prophecy Connection) cd ep 9.98
You know how we hate to pull the "buy now or cry later" guns on you all, but this one's definitely in that realm. So all you fellow Court And Spark fans out there, no dilly dallying on this one. Unless you had a chance to see them on their recent tour, you wouldn't have had a chance to pick this one up. Double Roses is a tour EP the band put together of home recordings (really *nice* recordings we might add, not your typical crappy home studio fare), originals and covers and some tracks recorded live around town and on the radio in Portland. A little more of that Court And Spark smoke and smolder, torch and twang to hold us over until their next full length to be entitled Witch Season. This band just keeps getting better. Lush country folk, amazing arrangements, perfect players, and MC Taylor's gorgeous rough hewn drawl. We'll never understand why this band isn't HUGE. But it's only a matter of time.
Gorgeous, numbered (limited to 400 copies), silkscreened/letterpressed sleeves.

COURT AND SPARK, THE Hearts (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
This week marks the welcome release of a few new albums by a few old AQ faves including this fine Bay Area combo Court & Spark (others include Matmos, Black Heart Procession, Jolie Holland, Enslaved and Longmont Potion Castle!). Hearts finds the band taking even more of a '70s classic country rock direction than on their 2004 album Witch Season (which was already knee deep in that vibe and sound). That said, somehow they've struck what in our opinion is a better balance between their earlier roughhewn selves and their more recent luminously polish recordings.
There are two types of songs on Hearts, although the differences are subtle shades of grey. There are the dark brooding soulful introspective numbers, with glistening guitars, lush instrumentation, and MC Taylor's velvety croon, much more polished now than whiskey soaked, but it definitely suits their constantly maturing sound. Then there are the slightly more rocking tracks, channeling the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, with foot stomping rhythms and wah guitar. But even when the band is kicking up a rocking fuss, this is still more of a late night early afternoon stroll, definitely on the dark introspective side, all warm breezes and rustling leaves, looking inward with eyes cast earthward, hearts on sleeves, lumps in throats. So nice.
And if you're looking for a listening companion, this fits quite nicely alongside Calexico's most recent album Garden Ruin.
MPEG Stream: "Let's Get High"
MPEG Stream: "Your Mother Was Lightning"
MPEG Stream: "We Were All Uptown Rulers"

COURT AND SPARK, THE Ventura Whites (tUMULt) cd 13.98
The long awaited debut from San Francisco's purveyors of epic and sweeping country rock heartbreak is finally here. If the Beachwood Sparks (last week's record of the week) can be likened to the bouncy and sunny side of The Byrds, all harmonies and jangle, then The Court and Spark represent The Byrds' dark side: melancholy murmur, stark and wintery, like the restless ghost of Gram Parsons, with echoes of Nick Drake and Townes Van Zandt.
TC&S produce perfectly bittersweet songs and spectral soundscapes constructed from plaintive piano, delicately plucked guitars and found sounds. A wash of sweet strings, organ hum and muted buzz, pedal steel and breathtaking harmonies. Epic and sweeping. Gossamer traces of sounds heard in dreams. Dobro, mandolin, banjo, and even glockenspiel. And then there's the voice, a deep and ragged drawl, rough and world weary. For fans of the abovementioned artists, as well as folks who like the Scud Mountain Boys, the Jayhawks, and Souled American.
Which reminds us, we should mention that this is being put out by our own Andee's fabulous tUMULt label, and it may well be the only other tUMULt release that will appeal to those who have been waiting for a follow-up to tUMULt's Souled American reissues, except of course, for the very broadminded!
RealAudio clip: "Doctor The Veranda"
RealAudio clip: "Sugar Pie In Bed"

COURT AND SPARK, THE Witch Season (Absolutely Kosher) cd 12.98
With each release San Francisco's beloved Court & Spark seem to draw closer and closer to a smoooooth country rock (occasionally dangerously close to 'adult contemporary' territory) -- systematically smoothing out any and all perceptible rough edges. Some see this as a good thing, while others might view their progression as much less favorable, preferring there to be a little dust and grit on their lonesome country path. Don't want things to be too pristine now do we? That said, we've had many customers coming in saying they far prefer this new record to C&S's last full length Bless You which we described as being "practically perfect". But then a band full of perfectionists who spend several years recording their record, with an engineer who is also a perfectionist, well the results should be darn near perfect, right? And they pretty much are. Really, except for that urgency, the raw element, the roughness a lot of us loved and felt was an important part of the Court And Spark's sound. Which is fine, bands don't always stay angry, and their sound changes as they get more successful or have to struggle less or have access to more money and have more time teven wrong, this is by no means a bad review, this is a positive review and Witch Season is an AMAZING record. Certainly the Court And Spark's songwriting has grown by leaps and bounds. As has the band's sound. Soaring and melancholic, sweet and smooth, lush and epic, gorgeously melodic and sonically dense. They truly are one of the best San Francisco bands of the moment, and certainly one of the most important bands currently exploring the whole modern country, post-no-depression sound. And as they grow, and shed their raggedy, rough around the edges, old skins, they will be exposed to more and more folks who will love this band. And we are truly psyched. We have always though they should be HUGE. But once in a while, we just want to hear Mike's voice crack, or a barely out-of-tune guitar, or a bit of their charmingly ramshackle past. But maybe that's just us.
MPEG Stream: "Suffolk Down Upon The Night"
MPEG Stream: "Out On The Water"

COWBOY JUNKIES Open (Latent / Zoe) cd 16.98
Alt-country long before the term ever existed, these kings and queen of dreamy slower than slow, more bitter than sweet music have rarely strayed from the mellow path they've tread for over fifteen years. However, on 'Open' they venture into brief moments of almost psych/space-y territory and more upbeat tempos. Not sure if this is a good thing 'cause the Cowboy Junkies are at their best when main songwriter Michael Timmins keeps the pace slow ---weaving, drifting and richly enveloping with his sister Margot's voice, so languid and velvety it rivals that of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval.

CROOKED JADES Seven Sisters (Crooked) cd 14.98
Seven Sisters is actually a soundtrack for a documentary film of the same name which follows the lives of seven sisters who grew up and moved away from their home in the Kentucky Appalachians during the 30's and 40's. The songs are all covers and traditional numbers that were popular during this time and arranged by the Crooked Jades. Among the tracks here are "Put My Little Shoes Away", Roscoe Holcomb's "I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again", "Cumberland Gap", "Mystery Train" (the very one popularized by E. Presley), "Pretty Polly" and much more.
RealAudio clip: "Put My Little Shoes Away"
RealAudio clip: "Moonshiner"

CROOKED JADES Shining Darkness (Jade Note Music) cd 14.98
Feels like it's been ages since we've heard from local faves, The Crooked Jades, and just when we were about to file a missing persons report, in they walk with a brand spanking new release of the darkly tinged Americana that we've been craving. Shining Darkness has a more fleshed out sound than previous Jade releases covering a lot of ground from haunting Appalachian lullabies and fiery bluegrass dust-ups to dirgy British folk, full of sweet two part male and female harmonies, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and atmospheric harmonium. So nice!
MPEG Stream: "The Marrow of A Young Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Lost In The Woods"
MPEG Stream: "Shining Darkness"

CROOKED JADES The Unfortunate Rake Vol. 2 (Copper Creek) cd 14.98
After a much too long three year recording hiatus, the Crooked Jades return with 23 new tracks. Like their previous releases, volume 2 of The Unfortunate Rake is a mix of both arrangements of traditional tunes and original compositions. For those who still haven't heard them yet, the Crooked Jades play a seamless blend of American roots music that absorbs bluegrass, country, and early string band styles with remarkable fluidity. Like their previous releases, heart rending ballads, superb vocal harmonies and high powered fiddle tunes abound here. As much as the Jades -- possibly the hardest working roots music band in the Bay Area -- excel in what's expected of a great string band (excellent instrumental breaks & vocal harmonies), it's their arrangements and choice of instrumentation that puts them over the edge. With judicious inclusion of hammond organ and piano to their growing arsenal of ukuleles, Hawaiian slide guitars, dobros, myriad banjos (tenor, banjo-uke, etc) and pedal-steel as well as the usual suspects (fiddle, guitar, string bass, mandolin), the Jades have developed a sound that's far more rich and interesting than the "olde-timey" groups they're unfortunately often lumped in with. There's even a soundtracky instrumental composed by leader Jeff Kazor which is nicely reminiscent of Penguin Cafe Orchestra's better moments -- Yellow Mercury No. 2 -- featuring Jeff on dulcimer accompanied by Richard Buckner (who again plays all over this new album as well as being credited as co-producer) on piano & ukulele and Michael Ismerio on fiddle. Highly recommended! And for those who still don't have them, we still stock the Jades first two records.
MPEG Stream: "Love Got In the Grain"
MPEG Stream: "Yellow Mercury No. 2"

CROOKED JADES Unfortunate Rake Vol. 1 (Crooked) cd 14.98
Those AQ customers who live here in SF may have seen the Crooked Jades play at the Mission's beloved Radio Valencia (R.I.P.) on Sunday nights for years. And though it's been hard to catch them live these days, we're blessed with two new releases by the group to serenade us any day of the week, any time of the day in lieu of the real thing. Drawing from old time string band, bluegrass and country influences the Crooked Jades put together a sound that's original, but never forced. With a full arsenal of guitars, dobro, hawaiian guitar, banjo (played clawhammer style), fiddle, piano, ukulele, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, string bass and even the occasional casio & moog (says so on the liner notes, but hardly noticeable) the Crooked Jades continually vary the size and style of their arrangements to accompany beautiful male and female harmonies. The Unfortunate Rake is comprised of about 50% traditional numbers and the other half equally divided between covers and originals. The album was produced (and excellently recorded at SF's Tiny Telephone) by Richard Buckner, who also sings and plays on several of the tracks including an eerie rendition of the traditional song 'Ida Red' played on piano, baritone ukulele & E-bow.
RealAudio clip: "Angel of Mercy"
RealAudio clip: "Little Painter Boy"
RealAudio clip: "Lucy Molen"

CROOKED JADES World's On Fire (Jade Note Music) cd 14.98
Another wonderful album from these veteran Bay Area craftsmen and women of old time, rootsy Americana finery! Tireless band leader Jeff Kazor once again heads the ever-changing cast of Crooked Jades, and he does so with remarkable consistency in sound and feel from one album to the next. Not only that, on the generous 15-song long World's On Fire, the band glides seamlessly between The Jades' originals and their cover versions of vintage country, Appalachian folk and bluegrass tunes, and effortlessly between rowdy bootstompers and aching heartbreakers. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Goodbye Trouble The Soul Of Man"
MPEG Stream: "Heaven's Gonna Be My Home"

CROOKED JADES, THE s/t (self-released) cd ep 9.98
In lieu of a new full length (this Fall perhaps?), the Crooked Jades have tossed us a very nice bone of an EP. Five tracks, recorded live to multitrack at SF's own Tiny Telephone in August of 2004. Of the five tracks, three are traditional arrangements and two are originals: one by Jades frontman Jeff Kazor and the other by newly added mandolin player extraordinaire Jennie Benford. For this outing the group have reigned in their broad influences and focused their labors to produce an EP that's almost strictly bluegrass, and very traditional at that. The exception is the final track "Gabriel (World's On Fire)" which is a traditional gospel tune sung by the group a cappella, but for some frantic blues acoustic guitar accompaniment. So nice.
MPEG Stream: "Black Eyed Susan"
MPEG Stream: "Carrier Bird"

D.W. HOLIDAY Fish And Flying Creatures (Three Ring Records) cd 14.98
Back in 2004 D.W. Holiday released their third album Technical Difficulties, Under The Influence. At that time the core members Craig Clarke and Daniel Crowell made it known that they were going to become a two city musical entity with full bands performing under the same name in SF and Minneapolis. Now two years later they're ambitions carry on into the recorded realm with the gorgeous, shimmering, magical Fish And Flying Creatures. D.W. Holiday blossoms luminous like a deep sea jellyfish, bringing together sumptuous orchestral pop with slightly twee male vocals (a la Flaming Lips or Sparklehorse) and atmospheric shoegazerly guitar washes (like Spiritualized or Jesus And Mary Chain). So haunting and lovely! One thing though, while we're all for the insertion of incongruous elements, the odd IDM track that pops up halfway through the album seemed like a rather jarring interruption. Ah, but it is a minor bump in what is for the most part a languidly swirling shadowy affair.
MPEG Stream: "Every Beat Of Your Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Year Of The Dog"

DALTON, KAREN Cotton Eyed-Joe: The Loop Tapes Live in Boulder 1962 (Delmore) 2cd + dvd 30.00
We have been waiting with baited breath for this since we first heard rumor of its impending release. 2 cds of newly discovered and previously unreleased live recordings by enigmatic folk legend Karen Dalton! Recorded in 1962 by Joe Loop, a musician who owned and managed an influential night spot in Boulder, Colorado called "The Attic", these intimate recordings capture the raw talent of Dalton's smoky delivery and sparse 12-string guitar and banjo arrangements. While not as solid a set as her debut recording released 7 years later, these sessions offer us a feel of what it was like for traveling folk musicians during the heyday of the folk revival, who literally had to sing for their supper. Working out unique arrangements of tunes by Fred Neil ("Blues On The Ceiling" and "Red Are The Flowers"), Ray Charles ("It's Alright", "Blackjack") and traditional folk blues such as "In The Evening" and "Pallet On Your Floor", this is a shining example of an artist in her element, lost in the delicate emotive possibilities of performing songs so close to her heart. Includes a DVD of early film footage of Dalton performing, some of which was on the last import reissue of It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best, but in a friendlier format than before. It also includes home movie footage from when she lived in Summerville Colorado most likely around the same time these sessions were recorded. So Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Red Are The Flowers"
MPEG Stream: "Pallett On Your Floor"
MPEG Stream: "Katie Cruel"

DALTON, KAREN Green Rocky Road (Delmore) cd 19.98
This is the one!! The beautiful, raw, and majestic lost Karen Dalton recordings we've all been waiting for. While we loved the recent release Cotton-Eyed Joe, it was mostly because we thought we'd never get to hear any other recordings, so we were happy with the below lo-fidelity and wavering performances (Dalton never liked performing live, so we don't think those recordings showcased her best side). Then these recordings showed up and have blown the others away. Recorded in 1962 at home on two track tape, played mostly on solo banjo, Green Rocky Road captures Dalton at her most intimate and unearthly. Like some old dusty recordings of lost Appalachian folk, Dalton's circular fingerpicking and warm wooly voice invokes a magical quality as she works through several interpretations of traditional folk songs including versions of "Katie Cruel", "If I Had A Ribbon Bow", and "In The Evening", which were featured on her studio albums.
Other songs not previously featured are the British Folk classic "Nottamun Town", the ghostly "Little Margaret" and the famous cowboy song "Whoopee Ti Yi Yo". There's even a nice moment where you hear Dalton talking to her mother about going to dances. The quality of the recordings while still raw is so much greater in fidelity than Cotton Eyed-Joe, you'd think she was singing to herself in your home not realizing you were secretly standing behind her hanging on to every breath, praying that nothing breaks her transcendent spell. We can't recommend this enough!!!
MPEG Stream: "Green Rocky Road"
MPEG Stream: "Little Margaret"
MPEG Stream: "Whoopie Ti Yi Yo"

DALTON, KAREN In My Own Time (Light In The Attic) cd 14.98
Wow!! It wasn't just but three lists ago when we were lamenting that Karen Dalton's second album (and only other recording), In My Own Time had yet to be reissued, and now here we are reviewing it (thanks Light In the Attic!). And we have to say, it has never sounded better! Recorded in 1971 with a full band at Bearsville studio in Woodstock, In My Own Time has a much different feel then Dalton's spare and smoky first recording, It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You the Best. Since Dalton had so little recorded output, the differences between the two records has given In My Own Time, an unfairly maligned reputation over the years by folk purists and others due to its more contemporized feel and bluesy folk-rock arrangements. True, In My own Time, doesn't quite meet the folk majesty of It's So Hard To Tell, and there are a couple of song choices, such as the all too familiar "When A Man Loves A Woman", and the saccharine Motown stalwart, "How Sweet It Is", that we could probably do without (however, in Dalton's defense, if we had to hear either of those songs again, we would prefer her versions to anyone else's! Such is the strength of her musical interpretations.). But every other song is purest gold, from the heartbreaking opener by Dino Valenti, "Something's On Your Mind", to the traditional tunes "Katie Cruel" (covered recently both by Bert Jansch and White Magic) and "Same Old Man", where we get to hear her play her mighty 27 fret banjo. Produced by Harvey Brooks, who played bass on her first album, In My Own Time is right up there with the best folk and roots rock albums of the time put out by Dylan, The Band, The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Featuring a 30-page booklet with lots of pictures and extensive liner notes by Lenny Kaye, Nick Cave and Devendra Banhart. Reissue of the year and of course absolutely essential!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Something On Your Mind"
MPEG Stream: "In My Own Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Same Old Man"

DALTON, KAREN In My Own Time (Light In The Attic) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!
Wow!! It wasn't that long ago we were lamenting that Karen Dalton's second album (and only other recording), In My Own Time had yet to be reissued, and now here we are reviewing it (thanks Light In the Attic!). And we have to say, it has never sounded better! Recorded in 1971 with a full band at Bearsville studio in Woodstock, In My Own Time has a much different feel then Dalton's spare and smoky first recording, It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You the Best. Since Dalton had so little recorded output, the differences between the two records has given In My Own Time, an unfairly maligned reputation over the years by folk purists and others due to its more contemporized feel and bluesy folk-rock arrangements. True, In My own Time, doesn't quite meet the folk majesty of It's So Hard To Tell, and there are a couple of song choices, such as the all too familiar "When A Man Loves A Woman", and the saccharine Motown stalwart, "How Sweet It Is", that we could probably do without (however, in Dalton's defense, if we had to hear either of those songs again, we would prefer her versions to anyone else's! Such is the strength of her musical interpretations.). But every other song is purest gold, from the heartbreaking opener by Dino Valenti, "Something's On Your Mind", to the traditional tunes "Katie Cruel" (covered recently both by Bert Jansch and White Magic) and "Same Old Man", where we get to hear her play her mighty 27 fret banjo. Produced by Harvey Brooks, who played bass on her first album, In My Own Time is right up there with the best folk and roots rock albums of the time put out by Dylan, The Band, The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
MPEG Stream: "Something On Your Mind"
MPEG Stream: "In My Own Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Same Old Man"

DALTON, KAREN It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best (Koch) cd 16.98
Wow, what a gem of an album that I (Windy) can't believe I never heard before. Doubtless some of you are already aware of Karen Dalton, but for those of you who, like me, are new to her, here's the story:
The half-Irish, half-Cherokee Oklahoman moved to New York around 1960, where she immediately fell in with the Greenwich Village folk scene (there's an awesome photo here of her, Bob Dylan, and Fred Neil). Though Dalton didn't write her own songs, her interpretations of pieces by Fred Neil, Jelly Roll Morton, Tim Hardin, etc. are just lovely...
And HER VOICE! It's this glowing, honeydripping voice -- a country-blues Billie Holiday kind of voice. It is *stunning*. The instrumentation includes Karen on 12-string guitar and banjo, and she's got a talented band backing her up, but her gorgeous voice is foregrounded clearly throughout.
Includes lots of liner notes (written by Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders, Fugs, etc.) that appear to only scratch the surface of this amazing woman: she was a lifelong dumpster diver, for one thing, and also a single mom. She was reportedly so shy that only by sort of tricking her into a recording session were these songs ever laid down on tape! Most of them are first and only takes, recorded in one day: so fresh, so alive, so sweet. Enjoy.
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Substitute"
MPEG Stream: "Ribbon Bow"

DALTON, KAREN It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best (import w/DVD) ( Megaphone) cd + dvd 24.00
Deluxe import reissue from French Label Megaphone of Karen Dalton's legendary first album and one of our favorite records ever. Considered the "Queen" of the Greenwich village folk scene of the sixties, Dalton was no protest singer but a highly nuanced interpreter of traditional folk songs as well songs by her contemporaries such as Dino Valenti and Fred Neil. Slow and sedate, her vocal delivery recalls Billie Holiday's, thick as smoke and tinged with hurt, while her sophisticated guitar and banjo playing hangs on every turn of phrase. Such deliberately paced performances however made playing with bands difficult. Often racked with stage fright, she performed rarely for audiences instead opting just to play at social gatherings with friends. It was at one of these gatherings that Nicholas Venet, who produced many of the best sixties folk records, recorded her with the promise that it was just for his personal collection. How lucky we are, he did not stay true to his word. It's amazing this magical recording was done in a single take. A devastatingly beautiful performance!! What's even better is that this reissue comes with a DVD of rare live footage including a performance of her singing "God Bless The Child".
Our only complaint is that her underrated second album (and only other recording), In My Own Time was not included, which would make the expense of this release even more worthy. Hopefully with the recent White Magic single which covers her version of "Katie Cruel" from In My Own Time, and the popularity of Devendra Banhart (whose signature warble was cribbed almost entirely from Dalton), we'll be seeing that reissue soon enough. Of course this is absolutely recommended!!!
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Substitute"
MPEG Stream: "Ribbon Bow"

DALTON, KAREN Something On Your Mind b/w Katie Cruel (Light In The Attic) 7" 6.98
Released in conjunction with Karen Dalton's freshly reissued second album, In My Own Time, this 7" single of "Something's On Your Mind" and a previously unreleased alternate take of "Katie Cruel" features two of the best cuts from the album. Her rich sweet voice was made for vinyl, and if you have never heard it before, than this is just the place to start.
MPEG Stream: "Something's On Your Mind"

DANE, BARBARA The Tradition Years - Anthology Of American Folk Songs (Empire Musicwerks) cd 13.98
Sometimes one person's tragedy is another's good fortune. Don't know if any of you scored any good deals from Tower Records sad going out of business sale, but we were surprised at some of the finds still available on the second to last day. Of course the Rock and the Hip Hop sections were long plundered, but if you ventured into the Folk, World, and 20th century composer section, you could still find a $35 import for just 4 bucks of some obscure koto avant-jazz or take a chance on an old folkie that we had never heard of which is the case with this gem. Who is Barbara Dane? Well we thought she would be some songbird like Carolyn Hester or Texas Gladden, but Dane's voice is truly a force to be reckoned with, not a collegiate howler, like Judy Henske or Dorris Henderson but husky, low and tainted with regret. Here on her first recording on the Tradition label (home of John Jacob Niles) she delivers some of the loneliest sounding interpretations of songs from the folk cannon including the Carter Family's "Single Girl", "Girl of Constant Sorrow", and Woody Gutherie's "Ramblin'". Moonshinin', the painful bedevilment of men and standing tall on one's own are consistent themes in these songs, accompanied by guitar and banjo. Dane, who is still alive and still singing is now known for being more of a Blues singer, but she entered that particular world through these amazing folk interpretations. What a nice discovery! Fans of John Jacob Niles, Cat Power, and Karen Dalton will find lots to love here. Since not everybody was as lucky as one of us happened to be to find this at the Tower sale, we thought we'd order 'em in -- even at full price, it's well worth it!!
MPEG Stream: "When I Was A Young Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Little Maggie"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Sing Love Songs"

DAVIS, REVEREND GARY If I Had My Way: Early Home Recordings (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 15.98

DE GENNARO, MATTHEW A Guide For The Perplexed (Epigonic) cd 9.98
Another dose of dreamy acoustic guitar haze from Matt De Gennaro. We loved his last record, Humbled Down, and here he continues in a similar vein through a 5-piece suite of gently finger picked and slide guitar compositions. Although comparisons to the recent primitive guitar school of Fahey, Jack Rose, and Sir Richard Bishop will abound, we feel De Gennaro's airy and spacious compositions are more closely related to William Eaton's pastoral paean's to nature's lonely loveliness. Beautiful.
MPEG Stream: " Part One"
MPEG Stream: "Part Four"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR A Tree Inside The Wolves (Jewelled Antler) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Weird-folk musician Smolken is from Poland, lives in Texas (to be closer to Jandek?), and records prolifically under the name Dead Raven Choir. Following up January's "Armoured Wolves", this is his second release on San Francisco's Jewelled Antler cd-r label, who must really love DRC since they usually only draw from their own Collective ranks for releases. According to Jewelled Antler's Glenn Donaldson, this was originally supposed to have been a collaborative project between DRC and Furisubi's Kris Lapke. But before Smolken got his tracks to Kris (or while he was waiting for Kris to complete them, perhaps?) he happened to send 'em to Glenn, who immediately persuaded Smolken to release them on Jewelled Antler just as they were, without any additions. The resultant spaciousness of the songs (a direction DRC was heading in anyway) really works well, and in the liner notes these silences are dedicated to Kris Lapke, so Glenn's story holds up. Harsh acoustic guitar strum, tangled melodic picking, droning strings, tape hiss, sudden voids of sound, and Smolken's dark, dramatic, accented vocals (lyrics this time all taken from Rainer Maria Rilke) -- it all makes for a stark and beautiful listen, the sparseness making every sound all the more portentious. It's (old-)country avant garde poetic stuff with a spooky black metal spirit, perfect for the campfires of your imagination. Smoken's voice is sometimes multitracked, spoken, whispering, and not quite as "difficult" as on some past releases, but every bit as eerie. Very nice.
MPEG Stream: "Comforting Of Elijah"
MPEG Stream: "Lunatics In The Garden ~ Dijon"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Armoured Wolves (Jewelled Antler) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Dead Raven Choir centers on the person known as Smolken (a native of Poland, temporarily residing in Texas). Smolken contributed a track to the recent "Heat & Birds" compilation on San Francisco's Jewelled Antler cd-r label, and now this DRC cd-r becomes the first thing released by JA not to feature musicians from their Thuja/Blithe Sons/Child Readers/Franciscan Hobbies/Skygreen Leopards/etc. collective. So what got the Jewelled Antlers all so gosh-darn interested in DRC? This disc provides the reason: DRC specializes in a warped, weird old-timey folk music -- all sparsely strummed guitar, with dark cello drones, atonal piano, and spooky organ faintly heard in the background, over which Smolken sings, in a rather unique style. It's bizarre outsider folk made by a black metal fan. Imagine the dead bones of a rustic farmer, propped up on his back porch with a broken-down guitar, possessed by a spirit or vampire from the Old Country. This animated corpse is made to strum the guitar, and to sing and whisper in an oddly dramatic, Polish accented voice, in this case declaiming lyrics from the poems of Hilaire Belloc and Rainer Maria Rilke!! Eerily quiet (mostly, but for some violent outbursts), and very dark and disturbing, the strange Eastern European theatricality of Smolken's singing and his abstract, alienated string pluck creates a negative, but fascinating, psychological atmosphere. It reminds us a bit of Japanese avant-garde folk troubadour Kan Mikami, or the mysterious Jandek...but creepier.
RealAudio clip: "November"
RealAudio clip: "The World's End"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Cask Strength Black Metal (Supernal) 2cd 18.98
We listed the amazing triple lp box set version of Dead Raven CHoir's Cask Strength Black Metal last year, and now it's finally available as a double cd from the fine folks at Supernal. The biggest difference (besides being a cd and not an lp) is that the amazingly illegible liner notes from the box (which included the song titles) are now actually readable. And what we were reminded of, that we failed to mention in the review of the lp, is that most of these songs are standards, country and otherwise, given the old DRC black metal makeover. There are some lyics by Rainer Maria Riilke as well as covers of classic songs by Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt. But don't let that deter the black hearted among you, as this is indeed harsh harrowing buzzy black metal. Just a bit twisted and demented.
Dead Raven Choir is a one man band, now living in Poland, formerly of Texas, purveyor of damaged free folk, abstract strum and of course utterly grim black metal. We've tried desperately to keep up with his non stop cd-r release schedule and his constant flitting from folk to metal and back again, sometimes pausing beautifully right in between, a gnarled hybrid of campfire twang and lo-fi buzz, then there's Wolfmangler too, his country doom outfit! But, as is often the case, most of those cd-r's disappeared in no time flat. So after a limited lp boxset release, it's Supernal to the rescue, compiling 4 LONG out of print cd-r's (Sheath & Knife, Grand Ravishing Extravaganza, Sevenfold Songs Of Death, and Sturmfuckingleider) onto two glorious slabs of aluminum blackness. This one is definitely for the true, the grim, the cult, this is utterly dismal, freaked out and fuzzed out lo-fi black metal. But while sonically it may fit somewhere between the foresty buzz of early Ulver, the midtempo droning hypno plod of Burzum, and the thrashy blur of Darkthrone, this is Dead Raven Choir after all, so beneath and amidst all the buzzing and riffing, there are plenty of banjos, mandolins, and lots of percussion, a creepy clattery folk undercurrent, albeit all bathed in hiss and drone and distortion, black metal folk may be more accurate, closer in feel to Abruptum, a black pagan ritual, shrill and noisy and harsh and HEAVY, but in that home-recorded, perfectly underproduced way. Awesome!
MPEG Stream: "Sheath And Knife"
MPEG Stream: "Gawney Bean"
MPEG Stream: "Die"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting Around To Die"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Death To Dead Wolves (Jewelled Antler) cd 11.98
Oooh. That cover photo of the fog, sheep and trees is nice. A misty meadow for your imagination to wander in as you listen to this, which happens to be the debut "real cd" release from the previously cd-r only label Jewelled Antler. For the occasion, they've chosen an artist from outside their SF-based "collective", their friend Smolken's Dead Raven Choir. (A bit like picking Merzbow, that, since he's so prolific, but still a good choice quality-wise.) Smolken is the guy who has discovered the secret commonality between anguished black metal and emotional folk-minimalism (such as that of Japanese troubadours like Kan Mikami). Some of his releases tend towards the noise and distortion of black metal, others towards the broken Jandekian folk of one man and a guitar. Death To Dead Wolves is yet another haunting/haunted DRC album on the sparser side of that spectrum. If you're already a fan, go ahead and get this one, it's good. If not, perhaps some explanation is in order. Smolken's modus operandi on this disc is to intone poetry (all lyrics here are from the works of 20th century American poet and sometime monk, William Everson) in a heavy Polish accent, sounding rather like a B-movie vampire. Smolken's sinister stage-whisper melds with piano and guitar, all notes struck stark and creepy, with drones and silence both adding to the eerie mix. Electric guitar is utilized, but the playing is in his usual damaged folk style. The final song, "A Canticle To The Waterbirds" is 23 minutes long, the music loosely based on a traditional folk melody. An epic ending to an evocative disc.
MPEG Stream: "Red Sky At Morning"
MPEG Stream: "These Are The Ravens"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Lesbian Corpse Wolves (Brazos Valley Meat Authority) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yet another Dead Raven Choir cd-r! And again incredibly limited. We actually got the last 8 copies and after they're gone, they're gone for good. This time around, Smolken, who is Dead Raven Choir, tackles the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke, composing a suitably somber folkscape around his weighty words. Jandek-ian guitar clatter, Appalachian folk, tenuous piano, dramatic almost operatic vocals, and creepy dark ambience all coalesce into nightmarish outsider-folk grimness. Two guest vocalists, one male and one female, handle most of the singing, while Smolken takes care of the rest (the rest being string bass, tenor banjo, guitar, piano and some singing). Dark and pretty, sad and somber, and really nice. Each cover is unique, with the top layer carefully singed to reveal the layer beneath, and each cd comes with a different beer label under the tray, which the liner notes explain quite simply: All beer consumption by Smolken!
MPEG Stream: "Funeral Monument of a Young Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Eranna To Sappho"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Sevenfold Songs Of Death (Pink Skulls) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Polish Texan avant folk experimentalist Smolken has released three cd-rs so far of his Dead Raven Choir output on the Jewelled Antler label. Now DRC makes an appearance on Jewelled Antler side-imprint Pink Skulls, with a disc that is just too nasty and noisy to fit in with the JA aesthetic... With "Sevenfold Songs Of Death" he really indulges his black metal inspired side, resulting in 32 minutes of what might be called noise-folk. It's as if you took all the most raw, distorted, shrill, buzzy, chaotically noisy parts of your favorite black metal albums, cranked 'em up to 11, and tried to pass it off as folk music (supposedly, all words and music here, with the exception of one song, are "traditional"). Sure, Smolken and his friends are playing mandolin and banjo and percussion, but all that's buried beneath so much grinding hiss and drone that if you listen to this at more than the barest, most minute volume you'll endanger your ears/lease/stereo/sanity (not necessarily in that order). A low volume, you can make out the folky melodies and scary vocals. Turn it up at all, and it's like Merzbow meets Abigor meets Kemialliset Ystavat... More evil atmosphere than even Abruptum, seriously. Apparently, this was originally intended for an aborted split release with AQ black metal fave Leviathan, and we'd have to say that Leviathan's probably lucky that he didn't have to go up against this!
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 4"

DEAD RAVEN CHOIR Wine, Women And Wolves (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98
Back in stock, and one of DRC's best:
Another transmission from the Dead Raven Choir, the work of a Polish ex-patriate Texan who calls himself Smolken. Followers will understand when we say that this falls into the sparse, dramatic folk half of his ouvre, rather than on the black metal noise folk side of things. Whispered, accented vox deliver the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Hilaire Beloc, Charles Baudelaire, A.A. Milne and others over doleful strings and abstractly strummed guitar. Smolken seems to be a creepy, well-read Eastern-European version of Jandek, and he's a master of atmosphere, going totally over the top with minimal means. Every note played, and every hiss between notes, turns the blood colder. If an album could sound cursed, this is it.
Fans will of course pick this up, but if you haven't yet delved into Smolken's haunted sound-world, perhaps this is the one to try. For one thing, it's the man's first 'proper' cd after many cd-rs and tapes. And one of his best album titles too! The clincher, perhaps, is that aside from Smolken himself, the only other musician to appear on this recording is our friend, Jewelled Antler stalwart Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Blithe Sons, Birdtree, Skygreen Leopards, etc.). Ever since, he's had a hollow look in his eyes and his beard seems paler and wispier... Or so we imagine.
MPEG Stream: "The Kings Of The World Are Growing Old"
MPEG Stream: "The Owls"

DEADBOY & THE ELEPHANTMEN We Are Night Sky (Fat Possum) cd 13.98
There's quite a bit of tortured artist in the career of Deadboy's Dax Riggs. Even back in the nineties, fronting grind-glam-sludge lords Acid Bath, Riggs singlehandedly supplied the glam, a crooning superstar trudging through swamps of Eyehategod sludge and NOLA stoner doom groove. The combination was electric, ask anyone here how much we absolutely loved Acid Bath and their dark psychedelic tales of butterflies and codeine, death and broken hearts, told in haunting vignettes equal parts druggy acoustic dirge and crushing downtuned groove. It was only a matter of timee though before Riggs outgrew the confines of a metal band and thus was born the Agents Of Oblivion, a slow burning smoldering hard rock band, delivering intensely emotional ballads wrapped in thick guitars, incredible hooks, a sweetly psychedelic haze and Riggs' even more prominent velveety croon. Totally channelling the spirt of Bowie and Bolan, Riggs was a serpentine superstar, howling and cooing, above a thick rich web of warm groovy sound. But still, Dax Riggs Superstar remained an acquired taste, a completely underground phenomenon. The Agents splintered and Deadboy and The Elephantmen were born, the sound was nearly the same, some of the members too, as they self released another amazing record that sort of just disappeared. But now it's 2006 and Deadboy is reborn, as a two piece, the Elephantmen replaced by Riggs's girlfriend Tessie Brunet, and on Fat Possum of all labels, which makes absolutely no sense until you hear We Are Night Sky. The record starts off with a wild rock stomp, equal parts the White Stripes and labelmates the Black Keys, with Riggs' voice swooping all over the place over an impossibly hooky riff, and lots of strange start stop dynamics. At first we were a little bit bummed, this was NOT at all what we wanted from Riggs at all, but the more we listened, the more we got sucked in and now that track is an everyday play. The record definitely veers back into classic Riggs / Agents territory after that with delicate acoustic guitars, hushed vocals, Brunet's sweet harmonies in the background, each track a psychedelic swirl, all drifty and druggy and folky and oh so lovely. But before you know if, a fuzzed out riff kicks in and we're back to serious blown out bloooz rock territory, huge swaths of swaggering Stripes / Keys / Crows rock and rhythm and bluees, always with that distinct NOLA stoner groove, no matter how subtle, we can tell it's there, muted murky riffs explode above Tessie Brunet's simple solid drumming as her sweet understated background vocals balance Riggs all out histrionics. The whole record continues to sway back and forth dizzily, between Riggs' two distinct musical personalities, his big, foot stomping guitar flailing rock Hyde, and his druggy gentle folky strum Jeckyl, both equally appealing. Still dark and druggy and warped for sure, but just accessible enough to give all those hippy rockers into the Black Crowes and the Black Keys and all day festivals something a little bit weirder and a little bit harder to stick in their ears!
MPEG Stream: "Stop, I'm Already Dead"
MPEG Stream: "No Rainbow"
MPEG Stream: "How Long The Night Was"

DEATH IN JUNE Brown Book (Nerus / Soleilmoon) 2cd / marble container / 4 patches 60.00
Holy shit! Not for the faint of heart, the easily offended, the soft eared, or empty pocketed, this 20th anniversary reissue of Death In June's controversial 1987 release Brown Book, is a stunner. A legendary slab of politically charged post industrial neo-folk. Remastered, with a bonus disc featuring 14 tracks, alternate versions, outtakes and rarities from other long out of print reissues.
But it's the packaging too, that pushes this over the top. A circular marble container carved with the DiJ Totenkopf skull, weighing in at almost two pounds, slip the cover off and inside is a brown velvet pouch, housing the two cds, atop those are circular cards with photos and liner notes and other text, remove everything and there's a little recess in the bottom of the container which holds 4 fabric patches. Wow.
We only have two of these, as they are pretty pricey, but we figured there was bound to be a Death In June fan or two out there who would flip for one of these...

DEFEVER, WARN I Want You To Live 100 Years (Lo Recordings) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
About two hundred miles north east of Chicago lies the town of Livonia, Michigan - the home of Warn (Warren) Defever (who you may have heard in such bands as His Name Is Alive and Princess Dragon Mom). While members of the Chicago "avantgarde" have been mimicking John Fahey of late, this Livonian takes on the tradition represented by the Anthology of American Folk Music box set by writing antiquated folk songs complete with really shitty production (which is ALL treble) and an excessive amount of fake surface noise to add to the "authenticity" of the record. While DeFever's songwriting on this isn't quite at the level reached by the best of HNIA's 'pop' songs, this is still quite quite an amusingly divergent take on the alt.country phenomenon.

DENNY, SANDY No More Sad Refrains: The Anthology (A&M) 2cd 25.00

DENVER, NATHANIEL DRAKE (AKA NATE) Wait, You're Not A Centaur (La Mano) book / cd 14.98
We love Nate Denver. And his Neck. How could we not? He's so cool and cute and funny and nice and he's one talented motherfucker. From wielding a string-ed stick in the free skronk noise merchants Total Shutdown, to his strummy folk warblings, to his fucked up metal obsessed weirdness, to his masterful vocalizing in the now defunct Dig That Body Up It's Alive, to his weird rambling white boy hip hop, to his amazing artwork and completely demented stories, hard to resist.
So here we have Nate's latest project, a book of short stories, 50x50 stories he calls 'em, which means 50 stories, each 50 words long, accompanied by 50 drawings. The stories are awesome. From wacked and surreal, to simple and poignant, from awww shucks to what the fuck. Sweet and sour, happy and sad, usually somehow both. Nate's gorgeous and mesmerizing mini elephant artwork is all over the place too, but let's give some props to Mr. Zak Sally, formerly of slowcore legends Low, now master of the La Mano publishing house, the man who helped layout, design and print this puppy, cuz it is one beautiful looking little tome. The pages are all rough edged, printed on gorgeous thick textured paper stock. The cover is a sort of irridescent grey, with a dizzying mini elephant design printed in metallic silver ink, with built in dust jacket, and more printed metallic elephants on the end papers. And all over the book there are really funny little testimonials from Mick Turner of The Dirty Three, Mark Whiteley, the editor of Slap Skateboarding magazine, MF Grimm and Tom Araya of Slayer ("I hate this book.") as well as an introduction by Adam Jones of Tool!
As if that weren't enough, also included is a brand new Nate Denver's Neck full length album, "Ghost Alarm", packed with Denver's sweet folky ramblings, seriously funky hip hop jams, his playful white boy flow in full effect (he teams up with MF Grimm on one track!!), lots of little random snippets, Nate as a child, a botched shout out from the GZA, a killer introduction with a bunch of super stars giving Nate a shout out (see if you can figure out who's who), and all sorts of other random sonic weirdness.
Absolutely fucking amazing, looking AND sounding. All Hail Nate Denver!! And his all powerful Neck!!
MPEG Stream: "Introducing"
MPEG Stream: "Mace"
MPEG Stream: "Agony (Featuring MF Grimm)"
MPEG Stream: "Ballad Of The Bullied Demons (Extended)"
MPEG Stream: "Who?"

DICKENS, HAZEL & ALICE GERRARD Hazel & Alice (Rounder) cd 16.98
Two country music grande dames, each absolutely wonderful on their own, join forces to make the kind of beautiful music that makes you ask yourself "am I worthy?"

DIESELHED Elephant Rest Home (Bongload) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Dieselhed's 4th album is a sweet collection of all of the slow songs and ballads that have become their well loved standards in their live sets, yet have not made their way onto tape until now! Their 'real life' catalog of straightforward, quotidian lyrics about life in Eureka, drunken mishaps on Alaskan fishing boats, lap dancing, etc... are perfectly complemented by twangy, melodic hooks and stunningly sublime harmonies worthy of comparisons to Louvin Brothers and Lennon-McCartney. One of Windy's all-time favorite bands.
RealAudio clip: "Trucker's Alibi"

DIESELHED Shallow Water Blackout (Amarillo) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE. SORRY
One of San Francisco's best bands breaks out with their 3rd full length, a little more twang and slow and a little less rock than their previous work but JUST AS GREAT. We can't stress enough how rewarding a close reading of Virgil and Zack's lyrics can be ("Is that paint, I can't tell / A white square where a picture fell"). And don't forget to wait for the last hidden track, "Yoga Instructor").

DIESELHED Tales of a Brown Dragon (Amarillo) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT, SORRY. PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT.
My favorite local band has come the closest to recreating the glory of their live shows! All the recent favorites are here: "Brown Dragon" (which everyone thinks is the "Station Wagon Song"), "Pizza Box," "Wedding Song," "John the Butcher Boy," "Snow Blind in the Liquor Store." Bonus: all the lyrics are printed on various casks and teapots. Guests include "Neckhead" (Bungle's Trey Spruance) and Ralph Carney. The lyrics to "Forklift Test," one of Dieselhed's more epic songs are so brilliantly mundane:

this guy at work he just bought
a revolutionary car part.
it's called the ionizer and it reverses the electrical charge
as the gas hits the carb.
well he tried to sell me one
even though i did not have a car.

DIFRANCO, ANI Swing Set (Righteous Babe) cdep 8.98
The album cut "Swing" plus 4 otherwise unreleased songs, including a live Woody Guthrie cover with help from Gillian Welch and others. Also studio versions of songs by Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan, as America's #1 alt-folkie gives props to her heroes of the past.

DIFRANCO, ANI To The Teeth (Righteous Babe) cd 16.98
Newest record from everyone's favorite folk rock heroine/ businesswoman/ entrepeneur. This time with special guests Maceo Parker and Prince (!).