RODAN Rusty (Quarterstick) cd 14.98

RODAN Theophany: Book of Elevations (Day By Day) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RODEN, JEFFREY Seeds Of Happiness (New Albion) cd 16.98
This was sort of a sleeper hit around here, so we figured we oughta get a few more copies in and relist it for the folks who might have missed out on it first time around...
We've long been fans of sound artist Steve Roden, and his 'lowercase' sound explorations. His music is minimal and often flickering on the very edge of audibility. Beautiful and occasionally dangerously delicate. On a recent visit, he passed us a cd from Jeffrey Roden, who just so happens to be Steve's uncle, and who is also a musician, a bass player by trade, but just like his nephew, Roden is not content to work within the traditional confines of an instrument's sound, or a particular genre. Roden composes for and records solo bass, but unlike many solo instrumental records, Seeds Of Happiness is all about melody and texture, this is not noisy, or skronky, or 'difficult', the strings are not scraped, or bowed, the sound is not processed, the bass is played like a bass, the notes rich and reverberant, the melodies fluid and lovely, the arrangements languid and lush. Some tracks are super simple, almost like a bass line just plucked from some lost pop song, allowed to hover and drift out in the open, loosed from its traditional rock moorings. Other songs are dense and subtly complex, little flurries of notes, tangled melodies, all woven into a shimmering static backdrop, for a simple swooping melody to drape over the top. The mood is minor key and melancholy, but most of the songs here are infused with a rich warmth, the melodies not so much sad as they are wistful.Ê
A simply gorgeous, gorgeous lazy afternoon, rainy day assortment of dreamy drifting loveliness. So recommended.
MPEG Stream: "On Awakening"
MPEG Stream: "Stillness"
MPEG Stream: "Certainty"
MPEG Stream: "Clouds Like Choirs"

RODEN, STEVE ...I Listen To The Wind That Obliterates My Traces: Music In Vernacular Photographs 1880-1955 (Dust-To-Digital) 2cd + book 49.00
With the first track on this anthology being a recording of wind from a 1935 sound effects record, AQ beloved sound artist Steve Roden makes a very literal introduction to I Listen To The Wind That Obliterates My Traces. Released by Dust-To-Digital, this beautifully constructed hardback book filled with images both from and ephemeral to Roden's collection of 78s, as well as two discs worth of sounds from that antique vinyl. Yeah, the idea is pretty much the same as what the Climax Golden Twins presented via Dust-To-Digital on their also-awesome Victrola Favorites anthology a few years back; but Roden's collection trends more to the mid-part of the 20th Century and is focused on Americana (including a couple of Hawaiian tracks made before the islands were granted statehood). Following that crackled recording of the wailing wind from that sound effects record, is the unmistakable voice of John Jacob Niles, the 'mountain tenor' whose spooky falsetto and maudlin melodic wanderings predated Devendra Banhart by a good 60 years... Afterwards, there's plenty of bluesmen, blueswomen, gospel belters, Appalachian balladeers, and barbershop crooners, many of which seem quite world-weary in singing their tales of lust, money, and liquor (or the lack thereof). Some of the names are familiar to us (e.g. Clara Smith, Roy Smeck, Sol Hoopii), but there are plenty of anonymous recordings from home-cut discs as well. The arrangements for many of the songs tend to be very sparse, just voice and guitar is pretty much all you get on every track; and the album is dotted with tracks from antique sound effects records of birds, ice, and even "night noises!" For those of you aware of Roden's own compositions of understated field recordings, quiet ruminations on found objects, and soft looping techniques, this shouldn't be a big surprise.
The vintage photos inside this 184 page book are completely lovely, with all of their rumpled edges, ruddy patinas, and cracked surfaces, with some far more poignant - such as the shot of a bunch of violas suspended outside in the sun perhaps to allow a coat of shellac to dry. There's the silhouette of G.J. Jessup decked out in his one-man drum and bugle corps regalia, and the glum looking fellow with the unkempt mustache leaning against his Funnygraph contraption (sadly, there's no corresponding recording for either photograph). Pages and pages of interesting images to provoke curiosity and evoke reverie. Altogether, Roden has compiled over 150 photos and 51 tracks for this stunning document of sonic obsession from Dust-To-Digital! Hard to imagine NOT wanting this.
MPEG Stream: HMV WEATHER EFFECTS "Wind"
MPEG Stream: JOHN JACOB NILES "John Henry"
MPEG Stream: ANONYMOUS HOME RECORDING "Mandolin"
MPEG Stream: GENNETT SOUND EFFECTS "Rainfall And Thunder"
MPEG Stream: CLARA SMITH "My Good Fur Nuthin' Man"

RODEN, STEVE A Slow Moving Boat (In Between Noise) 3" cd 7.98
Here's a new lil' 3" treat from the always-interesting LA-based experimentalist Steve Roden. It offers a view of land through a ship's dirty window... three black marks on the glass evoke the 'noise' of worn film as Roden's voice falls below the waterline. This song, "A Slow Moving Boat", has come to life through several poetic transformations described in a short text on the cd sleeve. Taking field recordings he made of a ship's hull in Norway, Roden has used them as guide for his voice as he hummed along to the drone, then replaced the original field with a recording of bowed banjo. As with all of the 'concepts' that drive Roden's work, this one is absolutely gentle... a subjective way of framing and eliciting a creative gesture that, in this case, deftly makes its way back to a ship as a commissioned soundtrack for an FM Staten Island ferry broadcast. The voice on this 15 minute piece ebbs in and out of itself, Roden intoning beautifully at both a high and a low register while the banjo buzzes and flutters. Strangely, as hand-made and human as this music is, it seems to leave its maker behind as it blows out of reach of land...
MPEG Stream: "A Slow Moving Boat"

RODEN, STEVE Airforms (Line) cd 14.98
Steve Roden is the man who coined the term 'lowercase sound' to describe his own strategies in constructing a delicate minimalism out of very quiet sounds, subtle melodic phrases, and subtle looping structures. While many sound artists operate under the lowercase banner, Roden alongside Bernhard Gunter have long remained at the vangarde of this aesthetic and conceptual art form. With Gunter moving further and further down the path of improvisation, Roden's intuitive constructions of gossamer electrons are still as modest as ever, but have clearly developed into one of the strongest artistic statements in modern electronics.
Airforms was commissioned for an installation at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in 2004. Inspired by the spray concrete architectural forms of Wallace Neff who in turn drew inspiration from nautilus shells, Roden designed an installtion of concrete sprayed balloons as an homage to the Neff houses. While these objects -- which sort of looked like a Dr. Seuss variation on Eva Hess sculptures -- were not used to construct the accompanying musical score, they succeeded in communicating an empathic delicacy and sadness along with the music. For the CD release of Airforms, Roden reconstructed the sound elements for stereo listening. As beautiful as it is modest, the Airforms CD ripples with a slow procession of of abstracted pipe organ loops periodically scratched with distant crackle.
MPEG Stream: "Airforms"

RODEN, STEVE Chair (A Subscape Of Resonance) (Interior Sounds / New Plastic Music) 3"cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Steve Roden has self-released several 20 minute 3"cds on which he plucked, bowed, and rubbed a singular object with sporadic use of electronic manipulation. The chair that Steve uses on this recording was designed by Harry Bertoia (who made metal furniture as well as his sound sculptures). While the chair itself wasn't intended to make the gossamer tonalities that can be coaxed from Bertoia's sculptures, Roden intentionally mimics Bertoia's sounds and adds his own penchant for discreet melodic passages. Excellent stuff!

RODEN, STEVE Dark Over Light Earth (In Between Noise) cd 12.98
In Steve Roden's own words regarding this album which accompanied a Mark Rothko exhibition at the LA MOCA in 2006, "My intentions in placing a quiet 4 channel audio work in an alcove adjacent to Rothko's paintings, was not to create a soundtrack for his work; but to allow a viewer, or listener, to sense that the sound was connected to the paintings. Dark Over Light Earth exists as a separate artwork; but a connection to Rothko's 8 paintings remains, for it never could have been born without them. I initially made a list of every color in each of the 8 paintings, to generate a score. I recorded myself playing the score on harmonium and glockenspiel - the notes and their order pre-determined by my color notations; and the tempo, durations, and overall feel, improvised. Some of these recordings were then processed electronically with filters. I asked Jacob Danziger to listen to a recording of Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel on headphones and attempt to play along on violin. He then sent me the recordings of his performance. The composition was created by cutting up, layering, and re-organizing the recordings."
Jacob Danziger's languid violin feature prominently in Roden's composition, coming across very much like a scratchier variation of Feldman with some antiquated twinges of those fictional funerary violin pieces. Roden's additional chromatic swells and hypnotic patterns work very well against the violin; and all of this gets spun within Roden's wonderful revolving loops by the end of the record. A fitting and well-execute homage not only to Rothko but also to Feldman.
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 2"

RODEN, STEVE Ecstasy Shorewed Its Petals With The Full Peal Of The Bells (Ferns) 3" cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yes, that does in fact say "Shorewed" in the title, a mistake that escaped all of the parties involved in proofing the artwork for this delicate and beautiful composition by LA's sound artist Steve Roden. Alas, these things they happen. For a few years now, the French label has been commissioning shortened compositions for what has turned out to be an exceptional series of 3" singles. There's an immediate parallel one could make to Metamkine's long out of print Cinema Pour L'Oreille series from many years back, although Ferns has less of a theoretical strain coming from musique concrete and more of a haunted impressionism relying on the smoke and mirror strategies of the drone. Roden's work is an excellent compliment to those contributions from Giancarlo Toniutti, Joe Colley, and Matt Shoemaker. Ecstasy Shorewed Its Petals uses only a small hand bell as the source material, which is more than enough for Roden to cull a wide range of sounds. With ample uses of pitch shifting and his excellent use of two delay pedals (anyone with a Loop Station should take note of Roden's work to learn a thing or twelve), Roden lays down a hypnotic and slightly eerie set of phasing loops with golden hued tones. On top of this foundation, he gradually builds up softly rasping textures, the gentle tinkling of the bell unprocessed, reversed tape gasps of drone snippets, and a distant tapping which sounds more like water tumbling out of a pipe rather than a bell. Roden keeps the composition simple, revealing the wealth of his sounds and then quietly retreating to a silent conclusion. Very lovely stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Ecstasy Shorewed Its Petals With The Full Peal Of The Bells"

RODEN, STEVE Forms of Paper (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RODEN, STEVE Four Possible Landscapes (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
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Steve Roden's "Four Possible Landscapes" was initially presented as a conceptual challenge to Bernhard Gunter. Roden sent this piece to Gunter for consideration to be released on Gunter's Trente Oiseaux without explaining that this record was composed only using transformed elements from Gunter's delicate whisper of an album "Details Agrandis." While listening to "Four Possible Landscapes," I really can't hear any concrete references to Gunter's recordings, which certainly puts these two records into the now oddly anachronistic theoretical space of the simulacrum -- defined as 1. a network of semiological reflections and refractions which only point to references and never state meaning; 2. a buzz word that art theorists liberally slung around in the '80s, and more than a decade later may possibly be used to actually define something.
The mirroring that Roden applies to Gunter's work could be viewed as a brilliant haiku that gets the words rearranged into a sparse yet metaphorically loaded lullaby. The emphasis is thus placed on the major differences between these two 'lowercase' artists: Gunter with his Morton Feldman-esque approach to the decontextualized domestic sound, Roden with his beautifully delicate application of melody and rhythm. Roden composes "Four Possible Landscape" with repeating motifs of digital bell tones (which may have origins in a tiny moment of Gunter's sine-wave feedback) and distant tidal washes of static (which could be from anything). Where Roden succeeds is, of course not due to the conceptual endgame but rather because of compositional prowess.

RODEN, STEVE Lamp (within/without the skin) (Interior Sounds / New Plastic Music) 3"cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Each sound from this series of 3"cds is the result of manipulation of a singular object with occasional electronic trickery. Steve Roden has taken a metal ribbed bubble lamp built in 1952 to fashion 20 action packed minutes of stethoscopic deep rumbles, polyrhythmic plucks, and subtle drone exploration.

RODEN, STEVE Light Forms (Music For Light Bulbs And Churches) (Semishigure) cd 16.98

RODEN, STEVE Resonant Cities (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
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RODEN, STEVE Speak No More About the Leaves (SIRR.ecords) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Steve Roden's Speak No more About The Leaves has been Allan's favorite going-to-sleep record of the past little while, its whispery drones reminding him distantly of everything from a deconstructed Richard Youngs to a dessicated Bohren & Der Club of Gore. There's a bunch of academic concepts and references that went into the making of this record (discussed below) but that's less important than the fact that it sounds so nice. This lovely record deserved a lovely review, so we asked our pal Loren Chasse, friend and fan of LA experimentalist Steve Roden, to take a stab at it, as follows:
Steve Roden has been given shit by the soundart world for being "experimentally incorrect". Perhaps this is because the concepts behind Roden's work are never so "conceptual"â or self-important that they become the reason why the music is supposed to be interesting, good or enjoyable. Roden's conceptual practice seems to be more of a private strategy for going about his creative work -- for providing the compositional process with specific possibilities and limitiations -- than it is a purposeful means for earning validation from the experimental art/music world.
Take Speak No More About The Leaves...a sort of threeway meta-collaboration with composer Arnold Schoenberg and poet Stefan George in which Roden happens upon Schoenberg's use of George's verse for some lyrics to a piece of music titled "The book of the Hanging Gardens", transplants a cutting from this and cultivates a whole new life from it in his own work. The life of this record, indeed, comes so much from Roden's own mouth as he sings syllables taken from the original text and creates not so much a work of high fallutin' conceptual art as he does a beautiful song that might leave us wondering if Mr. Roden hasn't also been listening to Eyeless in Gaza somewhere along the way?
If you like the title of the record and appreciate the poetic impulses at its origins you're already on your way to liking the music. Roden's voice is extremely intimate as it sits in the edge of the speakers (seeming as if it might be coming out of the phone you forgot to hang up), chanting into the room as shining slivers of sound effervesce, chime and fall around it. It's a world you can't quite place, probably because you haven't been so small that you could ever fit inside the terrarium that contains it, yet you will intuit something comforting and familiar as you use this record as a sort of stethoscope for listening in on the processes of tiny lives taking root as old ones decay and all but disappear.
MPEG Stream: "Airria (Hanging Garden) second version"
MPEG Stream: "Speak No More About The Leaves "

RODEN, STEVE Three Roots Carved To Look Like Stones (Sonoris) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a 2003 release that we've never stocked before, from one of our favorite sound artists. Steve Roden built this album originally as the sound design for an installation back in 2000, with all of the sounds sourced from three musical instruments found in a Chinatown giftshop, including a toy wooden flute, an aluminum wind chime, and a paper accordion. Where so many musicians would take these instruments and render their sounds cute, cheeky, or ironic, Roden has always been an artist with a profound sensitivity for his source material; and he deftly extracts harmonically rich and emotionally resonant hues and tones from all of those instruments. The first piece, sourced from the wooden flute, elegantly weaves sustained wisping tones out of a deep, almost sinewave-sounding thrum of down-pitched low-end rumbling. The looping hypnosis of this track harkens to the pre-digital smears of flutes that Zoviet France created on such albums as Shouting At The Ground or Shadow Thief Of The Sun - in other words, haunting, sublime, and gorgeous. The second track is adopted from the aluminum wind chimes, collects an aggregate of variably pitched sounds of those chimes, with deep resonance, metallic textural scrapes, and chittery clicks coming into the mix. The pacing of this track is quintessentially Roden, deliberate and hypnotic, becoming all the more engrossing the further one engages with the track. The final composition is for the paper accordion, whose spare notes evolve into a beautiful elegy of lilting tones that overlap and loop with each other, upon sets of miniature abrasions and a thick set of low-drones, which must have been designed to simulate those on the first track. Like much of Roden's work, this is a lovely piece of introspective minimalism, slowly germinating into a beautiful ambience.
MPEG Stream: "8 Breaths Of Different Lengths"
MPEG Stream: "Hands Moving, Slowly"
MPEG Stream: "Air Chamber With 4 Holes"

RODEN, STEVE Transmissions (Voices Of Objects And Skies) (In Between Noise) cd 12.98
Scores for sound installations often have a way of not really translating when heard outside of the installation. Steve Roden is one of the few sound artists who has perfected the balancing act of creating a sublime sonic experience through his installation work which also translates equally as well on disc. Transmissions (Voices Of Objects And Skies) was originally commissioned by the Fresno Art Museum, and found Roden creating a metonymic environment that bridged childhood wonder with the rough technologies of tin-can telephones and daydreams of space travel and NASA. The installation itself was an 8 channel sound piece spread over 64 speakers which were all mounted within tin cans and suspended from the ceiling alongside countless other tin cans that housed low wattage colored light bulbs, creating a fantastic chandelier of muted light that was perfect for the delicate compositions. Roden states in the liner notes that the source material for the album was recordings of satellites by amateur astronomers from the 1960s through the 1980s; and through Roden's impeccable reductivist filtering and manipulation, he arrives at a slow-motion collage of electronic bleeps which might have more in common with a distantly flickering flute than anything electric in origin. Nevertheless, Roden turns these sounds into looping lullabies and subtle declinations of sound. It's one of the best pieces we've heard from Roden and is certainly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Transmissions (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Transmissions (excerpt 2)"

RODEN, STEVE View (jennjoy) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Steve Roden's "View" consists of four 'possible landscapes' as drone studies into the resonant frequencies of glass.
He collected a handful of samples from a window (sometimes closed, sometimes open - thus allowing the thick haze of city ambience to rush through) and revealed that the glass held beautiful tones distantly resembling slow moving flute passages or chimming bells rising out of miasmic washes. "View" ends up being similar in execution to the audible work of Francisco Lopez or more minimal Andrew Chalk pieces. This was initially presented as a sound installation at the jennjoygallery here in San Francisco, with the samples culled from the window overlooking Market Street.

RODGERS, JIMMIE First Sessions, 1927-1928 (Rounder) cd 16.98

RODIER, ROGER Upon Velveatur (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Wow! Yet another amazing re-issue from this exciting new reissue label Sunbeam. We haven't been this excited about a rediscovered psych-folk classic since Red Hash by Gary Higgins. Nobody knew what to expect from the cover photo of Rodier, (looking a lot like Geddy Lee) staring out at us from a hazy meadow with the strange enigmatic title: Upon Velveatur. But by the second song, we had immediately snatched up the only two copies. So we knew we had to get more and share this with the rest of you. Upon Velveatur is a dreamy French-Canadian psych-folk pop suite that varies from hushed mystical songs lushly orchestrated with strings and theremin to more rock-oriented numbers featuring stinging electric guitar. Lazy comparisons to Nick Drake are inevitable, and if we must go there, Upon Velveatur is closest to Bryter Later in terms of feel and production value. But Rodier can also sound like John Lennon with Cream as the band, Fleetwood Mac on backing vocals,and produced by Roger Nichols and his Small Circle of Friends all on one song! We get the feeling that maybe some folks like Neil Halstead were onto the sounds of Rodier as we were listening to some Mojave 3 and could totally hear Rodier's voice and stylings being transmitted by Mr. Halstead. Featuring bonus singles from an earlier psych folk project, Rodier-Gauthier, and liner notes from the man himself. Totally Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "My Spirit's Calling"
MPEG Stream: "The Key"
MPEG Stream: "While My Castle's Burning"

RODNEY, EARL Friends & Countrymen (EM Records) cd 21.00
Attention Steel Pan Fans! Japan's EM Records at your service, with the latest (fourth already) in their unusual series of obscure reissues featuring that trademark Trinidadian tuned percussion instrument, the steel pan (drum). If you've been with the series thus far, you'll want this one too for sure. Or, if you've never checked out any steel pan music, this wouldn't be a bad place to start, either. As the first ever solo album by a steel pan player from Trinidad, one who'd been the musical director for calypso superstars Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow, it had a duty to be groovy, and Earl Rodney's 1973 album Friends & Countrymen is nothing if not groovy, slinkily so on opening track "Juck Juck" ferinstance. Recorded in New York City by Rodney and group of fellow expatriates from the islands, this album is mostly instrumental, most definitely danceable, full of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, jazzy horns, funky '70s wah wah guitar, congas, whistles, and of course the lovely vibes-like sounds of the steel pans themselves.
As always with EM releases, this reissue is top notch, the cardboard gatefold sleeve containing a fold-out 12"x12" poster of the album's wild and colorful cover painting. Man, by the time EM is done with this Steel Pan Series of theirs, we're ALL gonna be steel pan fans, dammit. They will not take no for an answer.
MPEG Stream: "Juck Juck"
MPEG Stream: "Strife In The Village"

RODRIGUEZ Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) cd 17.98
Pop quiz! Quick: who's the "street poet" singer with no first name*, son of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Detroit Michigan, whose debut album from 1970 sounded like a fuzz-soul-psych version of Bob Dylan and/or Donovan, and was an underground hit in South Africa of all places?? Duh, Rodriguez of course. It's about time his inexplicably obscure Cold Fact got the deluxe reissue treatment it deserves. Seriously, after listening to this for the first time, you'll feel like you just heard a bona fide '60s classic, and be amazed you had never heard these songs before. They ought to be all over "oldies" rock radio. It's ridiculous like that. Songs like "Sugar Man" and "I Wonder" seem like they should be fixtures of the baby boomer memory lane hit parade. It's so very of its era, "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues" is certainly a sixties song title, isn't it? Likewise "Rich Folks Hoax", "Hate Street Dialogue", and "Crucify Your Mind"... But, maybe he was just a little too freaky and right on, and (crucially) never got the right sort of record label support to become well known to the Woodstock Nation, though this album had some rather random, surprising success so far off in the Southern Hemisphere, in South Africa and Australia and New Zealand, which Rodriguez himself was unaware of for many years!
If left to his own devices, perhaps Rodriguez would have come off sounding a bit too much like Dylan. But Cold Fact was a "Theo-Coff" production, from the badass Motor City team of Mike Theodore and funk guitarist Dennis Coffey, and they helped accentuate the more underground and urban aspects of Rodriguez's sound. With his hip, Dylanesque poetry set amidst lush orchestration and gritty grooves, Rodriguez's Cold Fact is a super catchy, tripped out slice of street-level, soulful psychedelia, full of drug references and radical political critique. We alluded to "fuzz" above, but on the track "Only Good For Conversation" we mean FUZZ. That track's a stone(d) cold classic when it comes to heavy duty fuzz guitar crunch.
This reish comes in a nice digipack, with cover embossing and a big ol' cd booklet stuffed with text (liner notes, lyrics) and photos. One of the several cd booklet essays explains in part Rodriguez's unexpected appeal in South Africa - apparently, in that repressive society, it was due to the edgy, uncensored nature of his lyrics. "I Wonder", for instance, with its lines about "I wonder how many times you had sex / And I wonder do you know who'll be next" was considered so risque that if you were a teenager and wanted to be cool, you HAD to have this record. Apparently, many folks in South Africa thought of Rodriguez as being a star up there with the Beatles, and when they didn't hear more from him, all sorts of wild rumors spread that he'd died, been accidentally electrocuted, OD'd, or even committed suicide on stage! When, in fact, he simply had no idea how "big" he was in South Africa, and his recording career had stalled out elsewhere after his sophomore album, 1971's Coming From Reality (also soon to be reissued). Turns out he's still alive and well, today, and has actually gone to South African to pay arena (?!) shows in recent years.
In fact, when we've had album in the store before, it was only available on cd as an expensive import - from South Africa! So we're, again, super stoked that Light In The Attic put the effort in to do this long overdue, definitive domestic reissue.
*actually, his first name was Sixto, but he usually just went by Rodriguez.
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Man"
MPEG Stream: "Only Good For Conversation"
MPEG Stream: "Hate Street Dialogue"

RODRIGUEZ Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) lp 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!! Sorry, it's expensive. But also limited to 1000 hand numbered copies, and we think already sold out at the label... Furthermore, it's on 180 gram vinyl, and also comes with a whole bonus 7" with the two tracks from his debut 1967 single, not found on the cd version! So, pretty deluxe. Here's what we said last time 'round when we highlighted that cd reissue also released by Light In The Attic:
Pop quiz! Quick: who's the "street poet" singer with no first name*, son of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Detroit Michigan, whose debut album from 1970 sounded like a fuzz-soul-psych version of Bob Dylan and/or Donovan, and was an underground hit in South Africa of all places?? Duh, Rodriguez of course. It's about time his inexplicably obscure Cold Fact got the deluxe reissue treatment it deserves. Seriously, after listening to this for the first time, you'll feel like you just heard a bona fide '60s classic, and be amazed you had never heard these songs before. They ought to be all over "oldies" rock radio. It's ridiculous like that. Songs like "Sugar Man" and "I Wonder" seem like they should be fixtures of the baby boomer memory lane hit parade. It's so very of its era, "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues" is certainly a sixties song title, isn't it? Likewise "Rich Folks Hoax", "Hate Street Dialogue", and "Crucify Your Mind"... But, maybe he was just a little too freaky and right on, and (crucially) never got the right sort of record label support to become well known to the Woodstock Nation, though this album had some rather random, surprising success so far off in the Southern Hemisphere, in South Africa and Australia and New Zealand, which Rodriguez himself was unaware of for many years!
If left to his own devices, perhaps Rodriguez would have come off sounding a bit too much like Dylan. But Cold Fact was a "Theo-Coff" production, from the badass Motor City team of Mike Theodore and funk guitarist Dennis Coffey, and they helped accentuate the more underground and urban aspects of Rodriguez's sound. With his hip, Dylanesque poetry set amidst lush orchestration and gritty grooves, Rodriguez's Cold Fact is a super catchy, tripped out slice of street-level, soulful psychedelia, full of drug references and radical political critique. We alluded to "fuzz" above, but on the track "Only Good For Conversation" we mean FUZZ. That track's a stone(d) cold classic when it comes to heavy duty fuzz guitar crunch.
This reish comes in a nice digipack, with cover embossing and a big ol' cd booklet stuffed with text (liner notes, lyrics) and photos. One of the several cd booklet essays explains in part Rodriguez's unexpected appeal in South Africa - apparently, in that repressive society, it was due to the edgy, uncensored nature of his lyrics. "I Wonder", for instance, with its lines about "I wonder how many times you had sex / And I wonder do you know who'll be next" was considered so risque that if you were a teenager and wanted to be cool, you HAD to have this record. Apparently, many folks in South Africa thought of Rodriguez as being a star up there with the Beatles, and when they didn't hear more from him, all sorts of wild rumors spread that he'd died, been accidentally electrocuted, OD'd, or even committed suicide on stage! When, in fact, he simply had no idea how "big" he was in South Africa, and his recording career had stalled out elsewhere after his sophomore album, 1971's Coming From Reality (also soon to be reissued). Turns out he's still alive and well, today, and has actually gone to South African to pay arena (?!) shows in recent years.
In fact, when we've had album in the store before, it was only available on cd as an expensive import - from South Africa! So we're, again, super stoked that Light In The Attic put the effort in to do this long overdue, definitive domestic reissue.
*actually, his first name was Sixto, but he usually just went by Rodriguez.
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Man"
MPEG Stream: "Only Good For Conversation"
MPEG Stream: "Hate Street Dialogue"

RODRIGUEZ Inner City Blues / I'm Gonna Live Till I Die (Light In The Attic) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RODRIGUEZ, ARSENIO Como Se Goza En El Barrio (Tumbao) cd 13.98
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Arsenio Rodriguez is one of the masters of the Tres Guitar - a guitar originating from a three string guitar of African Congolese origin. Completely blind since the age of six, Rodriguez started learning to play guitar in his teens. It was during a trip to New York in 1947 in an attempt to restore his sight that he had the opportunity to play with Machito's orchestra. He decided to return to New York in 1953 and while there, started his own group. These recordings were made that year and feature vocals by Rene Scull (who has a vibrato technique all his own) and Candido Antomattei. The size of the ensemble, though small, still has the energy and swing of a much bigger group.

RODRIGUEZ, ARSENIO Dundunbanza (Tumbao) cd 13.98
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Another great collection of recordings by Cuban tres guitarist Arsenio Rodriguez. "Dundunbanza", the title track of this collection is significant because it is a traditional Congolese song which Rodriguez - a Cuban of Congolese descent - adapted to his conjunto. Arsenio was the first Cuban musician to incorporate the conga into his group; a move that was quite controversial at the time, but which is now commonplace in Cuban music. The tracks here were recorded between 1946 & 1951 in Cuba.
RealAudio clip: "Dundunbanza"

RODRIGUEZ, ARSENIO Montuneando (Tumbao) cd 13.98
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Another collection of recordings from Cuban tres guitarist Arsenio Rodriguez. These were made in Cuba between 1946-1950 and feature much the same line up as on "Como Se Goza En El Barrio" - most notably Rene Scull on vocals. More and more I am impressed with Arsenio Rodriguez and his output. Unlike so much of the newer Cuban releases of the Buena Vista Social Club ilk that are being released which are so clean as to be aseptic, these contain a beautiful rawness which is incomparable. The tres guitar itself, which has 3 pairs of unison tuned strings, has an odd always-semi-out-of-tune quality to it which makes my hair stand on end. Add to that beautifully melodic and rhythmically syncopated solo lines exchanged between tres, piano and trumpet, top it off with Rene Scull's ridiculous vibrato singing (which I must admit, took a while for me to warm up to, but is well worth the warmin) and you've got some kick ass Cuban music. No collection of Cuban music should be without a disk by Arsenio Rodriguez.
RealAudio clip: "Dame un Cachito Pa'Huele"

RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ, OMAR Calibration (Is Pushing Luck And Key Too Far) (n20 Records) cd 13.98
Mars Volta fans! We're sure you're well acquainted with the name Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, aren't you? Well, your fave band's guitarist goes solo once again (this is his fifth solo release)... and gets all electronic and acid jazz-y in the process. Emphasis as usual is on the (fusion and free) jazz side of things, mind you! We've heard some call these tracks experimental soundscapes, but once you get past the first minute and twenty seconds we think better terms to use are improvs or jams. They are far more active and melodic than the former term implies. Furthermore, there is a definite open-weave feel to the proceedings, and all of Rodriguez-Lopez's musical influences (other artists such as Santana and Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as geographic regions Latin America) are palpable at every turn. If you dig those stretches when he totally goes off during a live MV set, then you'll probably get deep into these recordings. Lots of mad flourishes of percussion, guitar and synth noodling, some cool segments that you wish would develop into full-blown songs but instead abruptly stop and jump to something else, it's sort of like an audio sketchbook of his time spent in Amsterdam although you'll also feel like he jetsetted to other exotic locales during the recordings. It wasn't a solo mission by any means. You'll hear plenty of contributions from his MV comrades as well as six-string buddy John Frusciante and Money Mark too.
MPEG Stream: "El Monte Tai"
MPEG Stream: "Glosa Picaresca Wou Men"

ROEDELIUS Jardin Au Fou (Bureau B / Paragon) cd 17.98
The pastoral half of Cluster explores his penchant for French romanticism in this dazzling suite of spacious baroque minimalism from 1979. Produced with the assistance of Peter Baumann, Roedelius broadens his focus as a traditional composer and displays ample musicianship with an eclectic array of instrumentation: flutes cellos, pianos and harpsichords, steering away from the abstracting qualities of the sequencers and processors normally employed in his main group. There's a carnivalesque playfulness to the tracks here, suggesting carousels and waltzes, penny arcades, and street performers, but with a refined restraint that evades schmaltz. Like the perfect accompaniment to a Resnais film, each piece is a delightful handmade miniature strung together in a labyrinthian web. Liner notes by longtime friend Asmus Tietchens with six bonus tracks ONLY on the cd version, including three new songs, and three remixes from the album. Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Fou Fou"
MPEG Stream: "Rue Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "Cafe Central"

ROEDELIUS Jardin Au Fou (Bureau B / Paragon) lp 17.98
The pastoral half of Cluster explores his penchant for French romanticism in this dazzling suite of spacious baroque minimalism from 1979. Produced with the assistance of Peter Baumann, Roedelius broadens his focus as a traditional composer and displays ample musicianship with an eclectic array of instrumentation: flutes cellos, pianos and harpsichords, steering away from the abstracting qualities of the sequencers and processors normally employed in his main group. There's a carnivalesque playfulness to the tracks here, suggesting carousels and waltzes, penny arcades, and street performers, but with a refined restraint that evades schmaltz. Like the perfect accompaniment to a Resnais film, each piece is a delightful handmade miniature strung together in a labyrinthian web. Liner notes by longtime friend Asmus Tietchens with six bonus tracks ONLY on the cd version, including three new songs, and three remixes from the album. Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Fou Fou"
MPEG Stream: "Rue Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "Cafe Central"

ROEDELIUS Lustwandel (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Along with the beautiful compilation of seventies recordings from Roedelius' Selbstportrait series (Diary Of The Unforgotten), we also have this lovely reissue of his 1981 recording Lustwandel. This was Roedelius' third solo record between the chamber baroque miniatures of 1979's Jardin Au Fou and the airy open-ended pastoralism of Wenn Der Sudwind Weht, recorded the same year as this. The music on Lustwandel is a perfect segue between the two approaches, comprised largely of solo piano works with subtle textural nuances of ambient atmospherics and classical inflected melodies, that occasionally transition into works for strings as well as harpsichord. But there are also some strange turns here and there into a warm angularity of soft martial rhythms and ballet moods, as well as some medieval sounding short pieces with pipes and hand percussion. It's a slowly sauntering set that takes its time to move from parlor to forest in an almost pageant like procession. Quite Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Lustwandel"
MPEG Stream: "Drausen Worbei"
MPEG Stream: "Wilkommen"
MPEG Stream: "Langer Atem"

ROEDELIUS Lustwandel (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Along with the beautiful compilation of seventies recordings from Roedelius' Selbstportrait series (Diary Of The Unforgotten), we also have this lovely reissue of his 1981 recording Lustwandel. This was Roedelius' third solo record between the chamber baroque miniatures of 1979's Jardin Au Fou and the airy open-ended pastoralism of Wenn Der Sudwind Weht, recorded the same year as this. The music on Lustwandel is a perfect segue between the two approaches, comprised largely of solo piano works with subtle textural nuances of ambient atmospherics and classical inflected melodies, that occasionally transition into works for strings as well as harpsichord. But there are also some strange turns here and there into a warm angularity of soft martial rhythms and ballet moods, as well as some medieval sounding short pieces with pipes and hand percussion. It's a slowly sauntering set that takes its time to move from parlor to forest in an almost pageant like procession. Quite Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Lustwandel"
MPEG Stream: "Drausen Worbei"
MPEG Stream: "Wilkommen"
MPEG Stream: "Langer Atem"

ROEDELIUS Offene Turen (Nepenthe) cd 14.98
Offene Turen (Open Doors), Roedelius's little known fifth album from 1982 and issued on cd for the first time, is definitely not like the others. Often considered his "experimental" record, Roedelius completed it shortly after the last major Cluster record, Curiosum, and it sometimes seems as if he wanted to make a record through the eyes of his more taciturn partner, Moebius. While it doesn't quite have Moebius's way with mechanical musical calibrations, the vibe is more stark and atmospheric and the closest we've heard any of the Cluster clan come to sounding cinematically proggy in the vein of John Carpenter and Goblin. Lots of church organ sounds and bell tones with an occasional glimpse into Roedelius's classical romantic side, but less so than on other releases. Definitely one of the worthier weirder records in the Cluster canon, perhaps not the place to start with, but for fans who are looking for something more unusual, there's lots to love, from songs that are seriously spooky and almost Oneohtrix-like, to other tracks that are charmingly naive experiments with the newest (at the time) digital tech. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Abenteuerliche Begegnung"
MPEG Stream: "Mit offenem Visier"
MPEG Stream: "Spiegelung"

ROEDELIUS The Diary Of The Unforgotten: Selbstportrait VI (Bureau B) cd 17.98
What a great time this is, and how lucky we are to be living in it, as the back catalogs of both Cluster members, Moebius and Roedelius, have been getting the long overdue reissue campaign they so rightly deserve. So many gems to be found in both of their discographies, in fact, they're almost all gems.
The Diary Of The Unforgotten is a collection of musical sketches that Roedelius made between the years 1973-1978. It never saw release until 1990, and sadly that pressing came and went quickly, so most of us here had never heard these amazing tracks before.
Shimmering with dreamy atmosphere, melancholic and flowing with a soft grace, you can tell Brian Eno was so in tune with these same sounds, sounds which would eventually evolve into their future collaborations as well as on Eno's own records like Before & After Science and Another Green World. What's so miraculous about these tracks is that while they flow with such a golden ease, they were actually recorded in such a lo-fi manner. Roedelius would just let the tape roll and would not add any overdubs afterwards. Perhaps that's why the emotional quality of these songs hits us so strongly. Nine of the ten songs range in the three to five minute range and then there's the epic twenty four minute centerpiece "Hommage A Forst". While we could argue forever about which Roedelius or Cluster offshoot release is our favorite, right now The Diary Of The Unforgotten is making a pretty great case for that honor.
MPEG Stream: "Remember Those Days"
MPEG Stream: "Du"
MPEG Stream: "Hommage Ë Forst"
MPEG Stream: "Ausgeredet"

ROEDELIUS The Diary Of The Unforgotten: Selbstportrait VI (Bureau B) lp 17.98
What a great time this is, and how lucky we are to be living in it, as the back catalogs of both Cluster members, Moebius and Roedelius, have been getting the long overdue reissue campaign they so rightly deserve. So many gems to be found in both of their discographies, in fact, they're almost all gems.
The Diary Of The Unforgotten is a collection of musical sketches that Roedelius made between the years 1973-1978. It never saw release until 1990, and sadly that pressing came and went quickly, so most of us here had never heard these amazing tracks before.
Shimmering with dreamy atmosphere, melancholic and flowing with a soft grace, you can tell Brian Eno was so in tune with these same sounds, sounds which would eventually evolve into their future collaborations as well as on Eno's own records like Before & After Science and Another Green World. What's so miraculous about these tracks is that while they flow with such a golden ease, they were actually recorded in such a lo-fi manner. Roedelius would just let the tape roll and would not add any overdubs afterwards. Perhaps that's why the emotional quality of these songs hits us so strongly. Nine of the ten songs range in the three to five minute range and then there's the epic twenty four minute centerpiece "Hommage A Forst". While we could argue forever about which Roedelius or Cluster offshoot release is our favorite, right now The Diary Of The Unforgotten is making a pretty great case for that honor.
MPEG Stream: "Remember Those Days"
MPEG Stream: "Du"
MPEG Stream: "Hommage Ë Forst"
MPEG Stream: "Ausgeredet"

ROEDELIUS Wasser Im Wind (Bureau B) cd 17.98

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Now available on cd, after a recent vinyl reissue highlighted here too!
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Wenn Der Sudwind Weht"
MPEG Stream: "Mein Freud Farouk"
MPEG Stream: "Auf Leisen Sohlen"

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!

ROEDELIUS / SCHNITZLER Acon 2000/1 (Captain Trip) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Krautrock electronics legends and former collaborators in seminal proto-ambient-industrial act Kluster, Conrad Schnitzler (prolific solo artist, initial member of Tangerine Dream) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia, solo) get up to their old tricks for this hour-long set of experimental electronics recorded last year... Abstract, spacey stuff that could as easily be from the '70s as now. Japanese import, with cool looking, special op-art style cover.

ROEDELIUS, HANS JOACHIM / ERIC BONERZ / ALEC WAY / DAVID BICKLEY / ERIC MARLYN / FABIO CAPANNI American Steamboat (Space For Music) cd 11.98
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ROEDELIUS, HANS-JOACHIM Durch Die Wuste (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Now also reissued on cd! Durch Die Wuste was the first solo outing by Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia fame, and originally came out in 1978 on the always impeccable Sky label. Melding his tastes for classical composition, spaced out ambience, and electronic rock possibilities, this album found Roedelius simmering in warm rolling waves that just invite you to get lost and daydream in their subtly hypnotic pull. What's most amazing and compelling about this album is how organic it all sounds. Years before folks were really getting a grasp of how to intertwine traditional instrumentation with electronics, Roedelius was doing it masterfully. We're also so taken by the divine percussive quality that rises to the surfaces on lots of the album, especially the record's last two songs where Roedelius manages to play the drums himself and creates an amazing orbital groove that we could listen to forever. Durch Die Wuste manages to combine both his more dark and outsider tendencies with his ability to create the ultimate in shimmering cosmic bliss. We can't believe that some of us had never heard this record before, we are so beyond happy that it's been reissued as this stands up against any of Cluster's breathtaking moments. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Johanneslust"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Livingstone"
MPEG Stream: "Regenmacher"

ROEDELIUS, HANS-JOACHIM Durch Die Wuste (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Durch Die Wuste was the first solo outing by Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia fame, and originally came out in 1978 on the always impeccable Sky label. Melding his tastes for classical composition, spaced out ambience, and electronic rock possibilities, this album found Roedelius simmering in warm rolling waves that just invite you to get lost and daydream in their subtly hypnotic pull. What's most amazing and compelling about this album is how organic it all sounds. Years before folks were really getting a grasp of how to intertwine traditional instrumentation with electronics, Roedelius was doing it masterfully. We're also so taken by the divine percussive quality that rises to the surfaces on lots of the album, especially the record's last two songs where Roedelius manages to play the drums himself and creates an amazing orbital groove that we could listen to forever. Durch Die Wuste manages to combine both his more dark and outsider tendencies with his ability to create the ultimate in shimmering cosmic bliss. We can't believe that some of us had never heard this record before, we are so beyond happy that it's been reissued as this stands up against any of Cluster's breathtaking moments. Highly recommended! Oh and for those of you who need/prefer to have this on cd it will be reissued in that format in August!
MPEG Stream: "Johanneslust"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Livingstone"
MPEG Stream: "Regenmacher"

ROEDELIUS, HANS-JOACHIM & TIM STORY Inlandish (Gronland) cd 14.98
Most 74 year olds aren't still making vital music, let alone going on tours with their kraut/kosmische pioneering outfits Cluster and Harmonia, but then again Hans-Joachim Roedelius really does seem like one of a kind. Hot on the heels of his stunning performances here in the Bay Area with Cluster (including a never to be forgotten AQ instore!) Roedelius has quietly released a new collaborative album with Tim Story. And while the pairing of Roedelius with a Windham Hill alumni may make some AQ faithful squirm, we have to say that while this does fall on the very soft and pretty side of things it still remains very tasteful, and shimmers with a subtle beauty and a hazy gaze. Like some of the more calming and subdued outings by folks we love like Harold Budd, Max Richter and Brian Eno, Roedelius proves that even when he's in a soothing kind of mood he's able to transcend the mediocre new-age/massage parlor sound of other artists of a similar ilk, who forego subtly and lay the schmaltz on thick. We've been giving Klimek and the Pop Ambient series a break from being our go-to-sleep nighttime listening, and in their place, Inlandish has been the perfect soundtrack to guide us to a blissful dreamstate.
MPEG Stream: "As It Were"
MPEG Stream: "Ripple And Fade"

ROGEFELDT, PUGH Ja, da a da! (Metronome / Warner Sweden ) cd 19.98
Here's something definitely for fans (like us) of Sweden's Dungen -- you know, the retro-pop-sike wunderkind whose Ta Det Lugnt cd has been flying out the door here of late. Well, we're pretty sure that seventies Swedish psych-folk singer/songwriter Pugh Rogefeldt was a big influence on Dungen's Gustav Ejstes. We just got in this brand new import reissue of Pugh's 1969 classic debut, and quite a bit of it sure sounds a lot like what Dungen does, although overall it's somewhat folkier and more eccentric. Like the Dungen album, this is total ear candy for anyone into somewhat rustic psychedelic sixties pop. And oh yeah, Janne Karlsson of Hansson and Karlsson fame plays drums! And we should note that along with folks who like Dungen, DJ Shadow fans will also find this of interest, 'cause you ought to recognize the very first sounds you hear on this album as the (uncredited) intro to "Mutual Slump" from DJ Shadow's Endtroducing. One of those "so that's where that comes from!" moments, and more evidence of Shadow's excellent taste...
MPEG Stream: "Love, Love, Love"
MPEG Stream: "Har Kommer Natten"

ROGEFELDT, PUGH Pughish (Metronome / Warner Sweden) cd 19.98
For everybody who freaked out about Pugh Rogefeldt's 1968 Ja, da a da! album, the cd reissue of which we recently reviewed, we've now got the reissue of the 2nd Pugh album, Pughish, originally released in 1970. Dunno if DJ Shadow has ever sampled anything from this, but it's almost as good as Pugh's first (from which Shadow lifted a neat phrase for Endtroducing). Anyway, if you liked that other Pugh and want more, this is recommended. Weird and whimsical psych/folk/rock/prog sung in Swedish, full of fun and surprises. Again, an LP we bet Dungen's Gustav Ejstes has in his collection!
MPEG Stream: "Stinsen I Bro"
MPEG Stream: "Aindto"

ROGER TUBESOUND ENSEMBLE Plays Just Notes (Rather Interesting) cd 16.98
Another outing from Uwe Schmidt, that incredibly prolific electronicist best known as Atom Heart but also as Senor Coconut, Los Samplers, Atom and Tea Time, Midisport, Geez 'n Gosh, Lisa Carbon, Datacide, LB, Bund Deutscher Programmierer ... and more! This time the operative word is JAZZ. In the same way that Senor Coconut fused Kraftwerk with the mambo, The Roger Tubesound Ensemble is a fine excuse to play around with "jazz". It's all very lighthearted, playful and fun. While the first tune is a pretty much straightforward Esquivel-inspired number complete with girl vocalists, tinkling piano and jazz drums, the later tracks blend in the electronics that Atom just can't stay away from. He slyly creeps in some stereo separation effects, the jazz in one ear, drum 'n bass in the other. Sometimes the schizo effect is jarring and sudden, but eventually the music finds its own level as a honest to gosh hybrid percolating happily.
RealAudio clip: "Dear Lost Listener"
RealAudio clip: "Roger's Back"

ROGERS SISTERS, THE Invisible Deck (Too Pure) cd 13.98
We heart The Rogers Sisters! Their new album kicks so much serious butt we can hardly take it! Each of the ten songs packs the combined wallop of a fierce glare, a cigarette burn and a doubleshot of bourbon. The gritty crunch and smeared lipstick snarl of their guitars... The snotty sneer of their throaty (sort of a cross between Kim Deal and Kate Pierson) vocals... The bratty yet solid stomp of the drums... Sooo rad! This is bad boy/bad girl music that makes you wanna get up to no good too. Don't get us wrong, The Rogers Sisters ain't no possessed wild men of rawk a la Screamin' Jay Hawkins or The Monks, but they do have their own brand of prickly bluesy garagey electricity. Can't wait to see this trio live! We'd say more, but we're too busy rocking out. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Why Won't You"
MPEG Stream: "Emotion Control"

ROGERS SISTERS, THE Invisible Deck (Too Pure) lp 10.98
We heart The Rogers Sisters! Their new album kicks so much serious butt we can hardly take it! Each of the ten songs packs the combined wallop of a fierce glare, a cigarette burn and a doubleshot of bourbon. The gritty crunch and smeared lipstick snarl of their guitars... The snotty sneer of their throaty (sort of a cross between Kim Deal and Kate Pierson) vocals... The bratty yet solid stomp of the drums... Sooo rad! This is bad boy/bad girl music that makes you wanna get up to no good too. Don't get us wrong, The Rogers Sisters ain't no possessed wild men of rawk a la Screamin' Jay Hawkins or The Monks, but they do have their own brand of prickly bluesy garagey electricity. Can't wait to see this trio live! We'd say more, but we're too busy rocking out. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Why Won't You"
MPEG Stream: "Emotion Control"

ROGERS SISTERS, THE Three Fingers (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 11.98
If you're into the New York post-nowavedarkwavelectroclashp/funk scene that's been going for the past few years, YOU'LL LOVE The Rogers Sisters. The sisters Rogers and Miyuki Furtado kraft spare angular fashionistal neu-glam rock on their debut, Three Fingers. Just over 20 minutes long, their album is all in your face for just about all of it. Dueling angular vocals fight through the continual driving beats grasping for your attention. All the while, you know they look good, each chunk of hair placed in perfect position. Hottt!
MPEG Stream: "Freight Elevator"
MPEG Stream: "45 Prayers"

ROGERS, WAYNE Blues-Ul Alb (Twisted Village) lp 14.98