new arrivals: raphael saadiq and more

We may be heading into the time of year where the release schedule slows down, but there’s an insane amount of ‘hidden treasures’ hitting the site today, many of them compilations. I don’t wanna push our Hooray for Earth video interview too far down the page, so I hope you’ll join me after the jump to see the bounty that awaits you…

Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It: THIS RECORD IS AWESOME. Stop what you’re doing right now and sample this, especially if you’re a fan of Smokey Robinson or the classic sound of R&B. Seriously. I cannot endorse this record enough. Start with “100 Yard Dash.” You will not be disappointed.

Nada Surf, The Proximity Effect: This was a pleasant surprise! Second Nada Surf record, the one where they successfully shook off any stigma they may have accrued after the unlikely success of “Popular.” The songs here are smart and tuneful, and successfully established Nada Surf as a band for the ages.

Various Artits, A Damaged Christmas Gift to You: A play on the classic Phil Spector Christmas Record, this one finds the fantastic Damaged Goods crew — among them Holly Golightly, Billy Childish (of course), Helen Love and PolyStyrene(!!) doing versions of both Christmas classics and new songs they wrote for the occasion. The Headcoatees’ “Santa Claus” is triple-X rated. This whole album is a must for maximum holiday cheer.

Various Artists, In the Christmas Groove: Awesome compilation of funky, funky Christmas hits from years past. Fans of the Now Again comps like Cold Heat and Texas Thunder: you are gonna love this.

Archie Shepp, Blasé: I’m not sure why this is listed as being two albums in one, as it’s pretty visibly only Blasé. In any event: fans of avant-garde who haven’t already checked this out, it’s worth your time. Excellent avant-sax stuff from a true master.

Saigon, The Moral of the Story: So Saigon’s full-length is never coming out. I’ve reconciled myself to this. It’s been sitting on the shelf at Atlantic for years now. I remember drunkenly cornering an Atlantic employee at a release party for Paramore’s Riot! and asking them when the fuck they were going to put the Saigon record out. The response — and this, I think, is the prevailing logic these days, is that “as soon as he has a radio hit, we’ll put it out.” So they just kept adding shitty radio songs to the album in the hopes that one of them would catch on, I think. Well, they didn’t. So no Saigon record. Let’s now all savor the irony that the record is called The Greatest Story Never Told. In the meantime, here’s another Saigon mixtape. This one is pretty old, and while it’s not nearly as good as The Return of the Yardfather, it still has its moments.

Sixstarhotel, Tides and Tides: I have no idea who this band is, but they are seriously hitting my sweet spot. Track 4 especially — start with that one. I wanna say that I’m getting a bit of a Frightened Rabbit vibe, but it’s just a smidge more commercial. And Ptolemy: look at the cover! Beards! This one is worth a sample.

Various Artists, Back to Peru, Vol. 2: I’ve gone on at length before about how I feel like VampiSoul is quietly turning into a label to be reckoned with. This comp ups the ante: outstanding garage and R&B from Peru from 1964 – 74 — the whole thing shakes, rattles and rolls. Highly recommended. Think of it as a South American Nuggets.

Various Artists, Gilles Peterson Brazilika: British DJ assembles his favorite Brazilian songs into one fantastic comp. Fans of Tropicalia: this is a bounty.

Various Artists, Heavy Deep Funk: The title does not lie. This is great, gritty, grizzled R&B (some of it sounds like it was ripped straight from an old 45), fat, funky and irresistible. Comps like this trickle on to the site all the time, but this one is incredibly solid and well worth your time.

Various Artists, Now Hear This! Garage and Beat from the Norman Petty Vaults: Norman Petty’s studio in New Mexico was ground zero for legendary pop artists — among them Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly. Awesomely, though, he also recorded an endless string of also-rans, and its those wide-eyed wanna-bes who make up this grooving collection of grimy garage rock. A whole lot of fun!

Olafur Arnalds, Dyan 1909: Really lovely minimal piano music from Olof’s cousin. I think Olafur is amazing — his songs are spare and haunting. Do yourself a favor and also check out

Matisyahu, Light: New Matisyahu. eMusic’s Richard Gehr sez:

Light, Matisyahu’s third album, burns hard and bright from the outset. Both “Smash Lies” and the album’s highlight, “We Will Walk,” layer thick rock instrumentation over double- and triple-time rhymes describing, as the latter track puts it, how he’s “bound to the one and will not sway, found again his majesty record power radio play, climb and climb to outer space” (punctuation mine). Great stuff, no doubt thanks to the heavy professional hand of producer David Kahne (Fishbone, Sublime, Strokes).

Tricky, Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew: Man, I used to love Tricky. I wanna go out on a limb and say that those first two Tricky records had the exact-same game-changing/world-shaking impact that Burial is having right now. Which I guess means we can expect Burial to make a record with Anthony Keidis like 10 years from now? Anyway: this outing takes the vocals from the last Tricky record, Knowle West Boy, and lets the Florida-based production crew remix and rework them. The results are surprisingly chaotic and skull-breaking. We mean that as a compliment.

Depakote, It’s Not 94 Anymore: So the title is what grabbed me, and the music doesn’t disappoint. This is an instrumental record full of old-school boom-bap beats, the kind that should inspire budding MCs to ramble off a few freestyles.

Diversion Tactics, Careful on the Way Up: The rapping on this is pretty terrible, but the beats are fierce. Listening to it, I keep imagining what it might be like if they turned a proper MC loose on these productions. Worth a sample for that alone.

Sun Ra & His Solar Myth Arkestra, The Solar Myth Approach: Typically wigged-out Sun Ra, minimal and and tangled up. Worthy of note are the Moog-based outings like “Scene Three Took Four,” which is sci-fried to the core.

Singles & Otherwise

Princeton, “Shout it Out”: Well, this doesn’t sound a thing like I thought it would. Fans of Jens Lekman, your new favorite crooner has arrived.

Allo Darling, “The Polaroid Song”: Well, this sounds awesome. The A-side is light, brisk, bouncing, female-fronted indie-pop sure to impress fans of Belle & Sebastian. I don’t know anything about this band, but I certainly want to.