Unbelievable amount of New Arrivals today, many of them from the WMG family. Rather than doing an album-by-album play-by-play — which would take an epic amount of time — I’m gonna to do this mostly by genre and top-level artist, and let you guys fill in the blanks in the comments!

The Rock Picks:

Joy Division and New Order: I won’t dwell too long here, because I’ve said my piece in the reviews I wrote for the two Joy Divison records. Suffice it to say I think both Closer and Unknown Pleasures are perfect records. You can read me going bananas in the individual album reviews. New Order I like, if slightly less so. I love Power, Corruption and Lies and vary on the others (I’ve gotten through reviews of Movement, PCL and Low-Life — the rest will be trickled in over the course of the week).

The Smiths: Right now, all we have is the hits compilation — but what hits! A master class in pop songwriting (and newly remastered for this collection) Morrissey and Marr belong in the pantheon with McCartney and Lennon and McLennan and Forster. There is not a bad song on this collection, and if you’re unfamiliar, this is the place to start.

Dinosaur Jr: Dino Jr’s Warner years are dicey (there’s an Icon hub on the way), but I rep for Green Mind and Where You Been?. Pretty hard. Without A Sound had their first legitimate Alternative Nation Chart Hit (”Feel the Pain” — complete with golfing video!) but the drop was swift and steep thereafter.

Faith No More: The Real Thing and Angel Dust show up today, and both are untouchable.

Tori Amos: I can hear some of you snickering from here, but not so fast! Under the Pink is excellent, and will surprise some of you who think you don’t like Tori. With a creepy guest spot from then-boyfriend Trent Reznor on “Past the Mission,” Under the Pink is Tori’s certified goth-macabre record, loaded with great songs. Little Earthquakes is also somewhat unfuckwithable, as is Songs from the Choirgirl Hotel. You’re on your own after that.

Sam Phillips, Fan Dance: THIS RECORD IS EXCELLENT. Spare, haunting folk music topped with Phillips’ perfectly ruined voice. Highly, highly recommended.

Brian Wilson, Smile: Perhaps you know something about this? Wilson returned to the studio and completed legendary unfinished Beach Boys record — it’s pretty much a masterpiece. Let’s call it a middle-aged symphony to God.

Fountains of Wayne, Utopia Parkway: Power pop perfection, the high water mark for Adam Schlesinger, where every one of his formidable skills was firing at their peak.

Gallows, Grey Britain: Angry post-hardcore band throws down more bile on this excellent, and somewhat overlooked, follow-up to the (also excellent) Orchestra of Wolves. This one’s a grower — I dismissed it at first, but time (as it usually does) proved me the asshole.

Jim Carroll Band, Catholic Boy: THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO DIED, DIED! THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO DIED, DIED! THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO DIED, DIED! THEY WERE ALL MY FRIENDS — AND THEY DIED!

King’s X: I used to really love this band. That may be all I have to say about this. I’m putting Faith, Hope & Love By King’s X back on my iPod. We’ll see how that works out.

The R&B Picks:

Otis Redding: Dock of the Bay, Live in Europe and The Dictonary of Soul, all in today, all astonishing. “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” is maybe one of my favorite songs ever. And, good god, Live in Europe will blow your hair back. If you’re unfamiliar, your Otis education should start here.

Brandy, Afrodisiac: Say what you will, this record is great — mature, elegant, hypnotic in spots — I had this on constant repeat when it came out. The title track, especially, is a beautiful bit of computer love. I can’t wait to listen to this again later today.

Cassie, Cassie: Another excellent record — fans of odd, experimental, synth-heavy production, this one’s for you. Seriously. Her voice is tiny and lovely and it glides over the spare backing tracks perfectly. Whisper quiet and lovely: excellent modern pop.

The Hip-Hop Picks

Das EFX, Dead Serious: Oh my God how good is this record? Seriously, do yourself a favor, spend one credit on “Mic Checka.” Classic 90s hip-hop with that great, grainy production and mile-a-minute lyrics. I m-m-m-make the wonder twins de-ac-ti-vate.

Little Brother, The Minstrel Show: Contemporary classic of conscious hip-hop. I think I may be the only one in the dept who likes this but, hey, I like it.

Trick Daddy: I am very much a fan of Trick Daddy, and you may be, too. Talking Heads fans, take a listen to the song “Sugar” on Thug Matrimony and prepare for a little surprise.

International Picks:

Buena Vista Social Club: How have I still not seen this movie? The album that gave much-needed global exposure to the lively, vibrant conemporary Cuban music scene. It’s pretty much excellent.

Cateano Veloso, The Best of Caetano Veloso: The title doesn’t lie: stone classics from one of the inventors of Tropicalia.

Cham, Ghetto Story: Excellent modern reggae record recounting tough times in impoverished Jamaica. Will appeal to fans of old and new school (skews dancehall in places, very ‘digital-reggae’ in sound).

A smattering of interesting titles today that I’ll call out quickly here. Above that, tho, I wanted to announce that we’ve officially resuscitated the too-long-dormant 17 Dots Twitter account. Though it’s been sporadically operational for the last few months (thanks mostly to Alex), we’re going to try to be a little more ’round-the-clock about it. I’ve even overcome my paralyzing fear of social media to contribute. I sent my first tweet ever from last night’s NYC Tanya Morgan show.

I mention this because we’re starting a new feature on the 17Dots Twitter: Real-Time New Arrivals. Every morning, as we comb through the new arrivals, we’ll post any interesting finds to Twitter as we find ‘em.

We’ll still be posting the roundup here, too, starting right now:

Holly Miranda, The Magician’s Private Library: I love this thing, but I also loved This Mortal Coil, early Dead Can Dance and the first Lush record. And I have Lonely is An Eyesore on 2xLP. Yeah, I was a popular kid in high school. No big deal. Holly Miranda and Dave Sitek team up to make eerie, moody pop songs — that black & white cover is no joke. This is some stark ghost music right here.

Fang Island, Fand Island: p-clark rightly calls out the giddy debut from Fang Island. Bruising guitars, bratty vocals and lovely harmonies — trash-pop in the best possible way.

Charades, Revolucion Solar: Molly pointed this one out and I’m glad she did: playful, female-fronted indie pop recalls all that was right about Tiger Trap and Heavenly. I was sold from the first sample.

April Smith & the Great Picture Show, Songs for a Sinking Ship: I have a real soft spot for April Smith, though I wish she’d gone with a different album cover. These are the kinds of songs Fiona Apple would have written if she made music in the 1930s. Trivia: Smith wrote the song “Terrible Things” with the show Dexter in mind. If there is a Showtime Executive reading this: this song is perfect for a promo.

the Som Livre label: Well, this is gonna require some digging. Brazil’s mega-label Som Livre has blessed us with an odd cross-section of stuff, some of which sounds awesome, some of which sounds less so. Plus side: there is a band on this label called Brazilian Octopus. It almost doesn’t matter that they’re basically easy listening. Brazilian Octopus, man!

High on Fire, Snakes for the Divine: HIGH ON FIRE RETURN and not a moment too soon. Haven’t gotten to listen to this one yet, but samples sound satisfyingly brutal, even if the album cover looks like leftover Meat Loaf.

Jawbreaker, 4/30/96 and Etc: Gone-too-soon scrappers Jawbreaker bless us with two items from their catalog, with more to come in the future. The first is a document of their final live show, the latter an odds-n-ends comp, both of which a) make me nostalgic and 2) find Jawbreaker still head and shoulders above their rivals. God, I miss this band. Jawbreaker/Promise Ring Coachella 2012? MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Clem Snide, The Meat of Life: 7th album from Clem Snide. eMusic’s Peter Blackstock sez:

“Punched in the heart, in the throat, in the kneecaps too” is the opening line of The Meat Of Life — fair warning that Clem Snide’s seventh album will deal predominantly with various trials and tribulations of romantic relationships. Appropriately enough, three of the 13 tracks are named after specific women (“Denise,” “Anita,” “Song For Mary”), who may or may not have been real-life inspirations for Clem Snide songwriter Eef Barzelay. Elsewhere, the focus shifts from people to places: “I Got High” discusses goings-on in Normal, Illinois, and it’s immediately followed in the track-sequence by “Denver,” about yet another heartache in another faraway town. The common thread throughout is the band’s effortless indie-rock tunefulness; piano plays as much of a role as guitar in shaping Clem Snide’s sound, which gravitates toward moody spells and swells.

She & Him, “In the Sun”: New She & Him single. Not my thing, but that doesn’t much matter since it’s a whole lot of other people’s thing. This one sounds a little lusher than what I heard of the last one.

Efterklang, Magic Chairs: Latest from Efterklang. eMusic’s Andy Battaglia is all:

Efterklang is a Danish band that makes parade music for people who like French horns and Twin Peaks. Or maybe it’s a shifty post-rock outfit with a soft spot for high harmonies and orchestral drum rolls. Or maybe it’s a string group with a mind for all the things that can make decorous strings sound purposeful and raw. Or maybe… Maybe Efterklang is all of the above, with lots more left to sift through still. Parts of it sound as soft and doe-eyed as Sufjan Stevens, but then parts of it roil with some of the heat and friction of bands like Frightened Rabbit.

Bambu, …Paper Cuts…: No idea who this guy is, but this sounds like some extremely solid throwback rap. He’s got a great, bouncy flow, and the beats are spry enough to propel him from one syllable to the next. I’m having a hard time finding much hip-hop that resonates with me so far this year, but this one sounds like a keeper.

French Cowboy, (isn’t my bedroom): Man, I don’t know who the hell this is, but it sounds fascinating. Weirdo minimal pop, some of it with a small backing chorale. The songs pull weird sounds from all over the place, and the French Cowboy himself has got a basso profundo croon. I am wondering if this is the same French cowboy from Innerspace. Was he French? Are Jayson and I the only ones who saw Innerspace? THE WORLD DEMANDS ANSWERS.

The New Dress, Where Are Failures Are: I haven’t listened to this in full yet, but the samples seem OK: bratty, guitar-powered indiepop, guy/girl vocals, charming and ramshackle in that old-skool K Recs kinda way.

Shake Some Action, Fire and Ice: Nice, unassuming modest jangle-pop from a band called Shake Some Action. Warning: this does not sound like the Flamin’ Groovies — it sounds like older R.E.M., the dB’s and Aztec Camera. Which, come to think of it, for some of you might also be a warning.

Parenthetical Girls, Privilege, Pt. 1: First part of an EP song cycle that sounds perpetually 16, clumsy and shy — like so many music fans I know.

So Cow, Meaningless Friendly: Smartass Irish band sound like the Lucksmiths with muscles. And I used the Lucksmiths, because they’re the only other good band from Ireland. I am an idiot. The Lucksmiths are from Australia. There are no good bands from Ireland.

Quasi, American Gong: OK, first things first: has anyone else notice that Quasi’s masterpiece Featuring “Birds”, doesn’t seem to be available digitally? What’s up with that? Anyway: American Gong finds Sam & Janet pissed, which is exactly how I like ‘em. eMusic’s Chris Weingarten goes:

American Gong is a completely different Quasi — none of the demented piano-pop of When The Going Gets Dark or smeary indie-jangle of Hot Shit — this is their debut as a big, ugly, crunchy, old-time rock ’n’ roll band. Much, like Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods, R.E.M.’s Accelerate, or the entire Thermals catalog, this is the indie-rock version of wearing your old denim jacket, embracing the big dumb riffs you loved as a teen, but injecting them with an adult’s cynicism.

Butch Walker, I Liked it Better When You Had No Heart: New one from power pop tunesmith Butch Walker — dude knows his way around a melody, and his endless collaboration with Top 40 chart-toppers is further proof of his knack for a hook. His solo stuff is significantly less-varnished than his work with, say, Katy Perry, and would probably appeal to fans of Army/Navy and Sloan.

Alan Licht & Loren Conners, Into the Night Sky: Lovely new mood piece from sometime eMusic contributor Alan Licht sounds gorgeous and moody.

Relatively light day on the new release front – just a few things I want to shout out, so please feel free to call out some other titles in the comments!

PICK OF THE WEEK Yeasayer, ODD BLOOD: If you had told me even three months ago I would be raving about this record, I would have probably said something sarcastic. Well, turns out the joke’s on me: with their last record, Yeasayer seemed hellbent on writing the soundtrack to a zillion elvish fantasy films but, somewhere along the line, they went from just saying gnome to just saying Yaz. Big, flamboyant, synthed-out and dramatic, ODD BLOOD distills all the best elements of OMD, Scritti Politti and — most notably — Erasure into one ruthlessly earnest and relentlessly moving (both emotionally and physically) work. “I Remember” is the kind of heartsick 80s prom ballad John Hughes used to commission weekly. Highly recommended, even if you think you hate this band. Because I certainly thought that.

Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here: Latest from legendary poet/activist finds him branching out musically in fascinating ways — the biggest influence here is dubstep, and it suits his craggy tone perfectly. eMusic’s Jess Harvel sez:

I’m New Here plays freely with dubstep, hip-hop and even dancehall. The album’s bookends, “On Coming from a Broken Home” parts one and two, lift the spacey string section from Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights,” and the handclaps on “New York is Killing Me” owe an awful lot to certain Timbaland productions from earlier this decade. Gravitating toward music built out of loops is a natural progression for Scott-Heron, who’s always favored minimal arrangements. But I’m New Here is truly stark in places. “Where Did the Night Go” is all bass, a fearsome and distortion-fried booming, and the muted, distant sound of “Running” lends it harsh, staccato drums a mournful air.

Ben + Vesper, LuvInIdleness: Latest from experimental duo on Asthmatic Kitty sounds terrifically far-out, full of odd sounds, high-pitched vocals and unlikely melodies. Warped and wonderful.

Arsis, Starve for the Devil: The new record from Virgina death metal band Arsis was preceded by this extremely controversial, Spinal Tap-esque music video. I still don’t quite know how to process it (suffice it to say Arsis no longer scares me), but the album is just as relentless as ever.

Laura Gibson & Ethan Rose, Bridge Carols: I think this record is gorgeous — really amorphous, moving — almost ambient at times. eMusic’s Jon Dolan sez:

On this strange, alluring record, electronic composer Ethan Rose and singer-songwriter Laura Gibson intentionally set out to make each other uncomfortable. The album was recorded in a basement as well as various outdoor venues (a forest, a field and, if the title is in any sense literal, on/under a bridge); Gibson improvised vocals to suit Rose’s sound-paintings, Rose went home and shaped them into songs, neither knew exactly what the finished product would sound like.

The results: discomfiting! Gibson picks out tensile acoustic melodies and breathily mumbles things like “where have you gone my darkest star” over ambient orchestrations that roll by like cloud formations. “Sun” evokes shaky optimism to wind-chime accompaniment. On “Leaving, Believing” Gibson asks to “wear your shadow” over distant horns and oscillating burbles.

Kath Bloom, Thin Thin Line: Revered singer-songwriter Kath Bloom returns with a record of songs continuing her tradition of stirring, soft and slightly unsettling folk and blues-based music.

Pantha du Prince, Black Noise: Stirring ambient and electronic music from Rough Trade — eMusic’s Andy Battaglia sez:

Like his contemplative colleagues Superpitcher (star of the Kompakt Records stable) and Lawrence, Pantha du Prince favors blur over clarity and sullenness over speed. But that doesn’t mean his dance tracks aren’t clear or hurting for drive. Rather, tracks like the opener “Lay in a Shimmer” move all the more forcefully for the way they seem to lean back and spy their surroundings from a distance. Even the bells on Black Noise sound suspicious (and, indeed, there are a lot of bells, as well as numerous kinds of chimes and what sound like steel drums played underwater). The goth moodiness is so enveloping and holistic that a sudden guest vocal appearance by Animal Collective’s Panda Bear on “Stick to My Side” (beautiful though it is) sounds almost like an afterthought, or at least a little out of place on an album whose wordlessness works to communicate just as well on its own.

Meshuggah, Alive: Massive, monstrous live album from Meshuggah, recorded during the group’s last tour.

The Moon and Her Mother, s/t: The Moon and Her Mother is a one-man project from Chicago. The songs are lean and hooky and not entirely radio unfriendly, though there’s still enough here to appeal to people whose tastes skew indier.

SINGLES GOING STEADY:
For those of you inclined for the quick fix, today sees the arrival of the following new singles:

Jimi Hendrix, “Valleys of Neptune”: “Valleys of Neptune” is the song Hendrix was working on just before his untimely death. It’s never been officially released until now, but comes in advance of a full new Hendrix record, also called Valleys of Neptune, on 3/9.

The Besnard Lakes, “Albatross” (In advance of their new album on 3/9)

Best Coast, “Something in the Way” (In advance of probably a bunch more singles!)

Ill Ease, “The Whole Sha Bang” (In advance of…not sure! Re-workings of 2 classic oldies)

Man, Jayson wasn’t kidding about today being a big day. In amongst the marquee stuff that’s dropped in, I noticed a bunch (a slew even) of great and/or interesting records that I figured were worth running down here. Even still, I’m sure there’s stuff of note that I missed. Feel free to drop some science in the comments.

V/A, The Minimal Wave Tapes: Volume One: Is 2010 the year of coldwave? Between NYT Salem hype, Cold Cave, the Wierd Records party/scene and now this Stones Throw comp, it’s time to stop being CHILL and start getting COLD. Ugh. ANWYAYYYY, this is pretty great. RIYL: Linn drum-fueled, cheapo ’80s synth sounds. And dreary things.

Side note: Can someone explain to me the difference between coldwave and darkwave? Kthnx.

Hannu, Hintergarten: A great record from last spring. Here’s what I said in October:

Hannu’s Hintergarten is quickly becoming one of my favorite albums of the year. Like a more somber companion to Four Tet’s Rounds, it’s a kind of crackly downtempo electronic album with lots of vinyl pops and piano plinks and, well, space.

Really, really glad to see it on the site! Four Tet definitely on the mind today with this coming in and the new record being pretty legitimately awesome. Also tweeting first thoughts RE: There Is Love In You at 17 Dots Twitter.

Infinite Body, Carve Out The Face Of My God: Some lax Googling tells me that this is one guy (Kyle Parker) who used to record under the name Gator Surprise. Mmmk. This is an interesting take on ambient in that it sounds overdriven. It’s warm and enveloping, sure, but it has this harsh aura. An impressive collection in a (micro)genre where it’s very hard to define your own space.

V/A, The Real Sound Of Chicago: Holy cow are there a lot of regional obscuro comps. This one is from BBE/!K7 so you know it’s at least legit enough to give a whirl. Pretty expansive at 25 tracks, Real Sound focuses pretty much on maximalist disco. It’s a bit too… splashy for me? But definitely of note for disco dudes.

Beach Fossils, Daydream / Desert Sand: We’ve been loving this guy Dustin for awhile now; it’s exciting to finally get some material on the site. I know the whole beach-chill-glo-wave-fi thing has become a bit of a rubbernecking disaster, but this guy has tunes. Seriously. I really like the kind of minimal two guitar interplay. Very optimistic about the LP (also coming through Captured Tracks, sometime in ‘10 I hear).

Quail Lungs, Dumb Dadadum: Like Infinite Body, another artist on PPM, Dean from No Age’s label. Dumb is a pair of ramshackle, probably homemade songs. The A-side is completely falling apart — “Dumb Dadadum” sounds like it was recorded while stumbling home from a drunken night out. You know, slurred lead (and backing) vocals, occasional tamborine randomly showing up, yell-y pub-anthem chorus. The B is a more droning keyboard affair. It’s kind of a slight single, but it’s charmed me for some reason.

Ray Mang, Bullet Proof: NEW DFA, NEW DFA! [Insert Drudge siren] The B-side is probably the winner here — a slow-burning cosmic (overused I know, but it’s cosmic sounding!) disco number with some nice piano stabs.

In addition to the deluge of WMG and affiliated titles on the site yesterday, I wanted to call out a few indie releases well worth your time and credits!

Vijay Iyer Trio, Historicity: Unanimously chosen as one of the best jazz records of 2009 (but, sadly, arriving on the site too late to make our poll), Iyer & co. deliver a set of smart, restless piano jazz, the most intriguing of which is a spin through MIA’s “Galang” (!) “Smoke Stack” is another gem, giddy, restless piano lines and darting-all-over bass. Sounds great even to these untrained ears.

Laura Veirs, July Flame: Latest lovely outing from Oregon singer/songwriter Laura Veirs. This one really stuck with me: her voice reminds me of Kristen Hersh — smoky and oaky and mysterious. eMusic’s Melissa Maerz sez:

After seven albums of rootsy folk hymns carefully plucked on a nylon-string guitar, it’s about time the Portland singer-songwriter is finally getting recognized, just in time for her best album yet. Recorded in a barn, July Flame feels as organic as a Fair Trade coffee bean, with banjo, piano and guitar wicking together a woodsy, fresh-air sound. These are naked love songs, though they’re less boy-meets-girl than girl-falls-hard-for-the-world stories. Exulting in tiny moments of beauty, Veirs celebrates the firecracker-orange of a summer peach (“July Flame”), the rustle of snakes in the grass (“I Can See Your Tracks”), the sight of sap that drips like “blood trapped inside the maple tree / the sunlight trapped inside the wood” (“Make Something Good”).

Owen Pallett, Heartland: He used to be Final Fantasy, now he’s just Owen, but that hasn’t changed the nervous sprawl of his music one iota. Heartland features Pallett’s usual intricate orchestration in the support of prim and stately pop songs. Rich in little details, Pallett comes through with another weird winner.

Billy Bragg Reissues: In addition to Bragg’s Anti- record, Mr. Love & Justice, we’ve also got Billy’s whole back catalaog remastered and reissued with bonus tracks. Bragg is a songwriter without equal, and this is the perfect opportunity to explore his stubborn, singular work.

Cold War Kids, Cold War Kids at Fingerprints: Short, live EP from indie faves CWK.

Mike Hale & Mike Reed, s/t: I don’t know anything about this pair of Mikes, but this single is rustic and rich — fans of acoustic folk and country would be well advised to invest a pair of downloads in this one.

Anything else we missed?

So — quite a few new arrivals today, eh US members?

Over 10,000 albums, to be precise, a dizzying avalanche of stuff from the Warner Music Group. No matter your taste in music, there’s sure to be something here that appeals to you.

And it’s not just Warner titles that have arrived today — Epitaph and Anti- return to the fold today, too, bringing with them the latest albums by Neko Case and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. We’ve got great jazz by Brad Mehldau on the Nonesuch label (and to answer the question before you ask — there will be more Nonesuch titles to come) and wild-eyed metal masterpieces on Roadrunner. All of this comes to you with no change to your existing subscription and no price increase.

The catalog is so vast and wide-ranging, it’s hard to know where to start. Do you like jazz? Start with timeless classics by John Coltrane, or check out Kevin Whitehead’s excellent ‘Atlantic Jazz in the 60s‘ hub.

Classic rock is your game? How about Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere or Gram Parson’s defining document of alt-country, Grievous Angel? Or the Stooges‘ deluxe-edition of Funhouse? Or Never Mind the Bollocks…?

Or does your taste, like ours, run left of the dial? How about the new records from the Flaming Lips, Built to Spill and the Dead Weather? Or groundbreaking masterpieces from the Cure, the Replacements, Talking Heads and Depeche Mode? Or my favorite band (and everyone else’s favorite punching bag!) R.E.M.? Or the album that launched 1500 other albums, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless?

To help you navigate the deluge, we’ve put together a whole new battery of Six Degrees and eMusic Icons, and we’ve also assembled this handy “Just Arrived” page to bubble up the cream of the crop.

Update — the first batch — and there are more on the way:
Icons:
eMusic Icon: Aretha Franklin
eMusic Icon: the Ramones
eMusic Icon: the Cure
eMusic Icon: the Replacements
eMusic Icon: Depeche Mode
eMusic Icon: R.E.M.
eMusic Icon: Neil Young
eMusic Icon: Paul Simon
eMusic Icon: Talking Heads
eMusic Icon: Joni Mitchell

Six Degrees
Six Degrees of Depeche Mode’s Violator
Six Degrees of Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock”
Six Degrees of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless
Six Degrees of Jesus & Mary Chain’s Psychocandy
Six Degrees of Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis
Six Degrees of Gram Parsons’ Grievous Angel

So we’ve called out a few of our favorites, now it’s your turn. Any albums in this massive haul we need to spend some time with?

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.

Man, myth, badass — Fela Kuti was all of them and more. Even people who love him can’t deny some of his views were a bit, er, unconventional, but the power of the man’s music and the force and passion with which he stood up to a corrupt government — in the face of repeated beatings and imprisonment — are hard to deny. Fela was incredibly prolific, and he leaves behind a legacy that, simply put, redefined music. How many people in history invented an entire genre?

Fela’s catalog hit eMusic this week, and we put together this hub to help you get started. My favorite periods fall within the “Black President” and “Band on the Run” era. Both Richard Gehr and Jess Harvell did an excellent job contextualizing these records, and I highly recommend reading all of their writeups to get a sense for the situations that prompted these songs.

What surprised me the most the first time I heard Fela’s records was just how uncompromising they were. Fela was not fucking around — he names names and describes in detail the injustices against both him personally and all of Nigeria. The lyrics to “Zombie” are cutting, straight-up mocking the Nigerian army in one epic 12-minute taunt. And “Expensive Shit,” which recounts the notorious incident that had the Nigerian gov’t literally standing around waiting for Fela to go to the bathroom, cuts even deeper, reveling in the way Fela was able to pull one over on officials.

That Fela kept doing this, over and over, with such incredible focus and precision despite the actions the government took against him — actions that ultimately resulted in the brutal and heartbreaking death of Fela’s mother, activist Fumilyao Ransome-Kuti, is inspiring. This is a man who stood up to injustice, and fuck the personal cost.

He’s also incredibly contradictory — despite the fact that his own mother was a firebrand revolutionary, Fela’s views on women are, to put it mildly, considerably less than stellar. In fact, many of his cultural views in general were far from progressive. But for sheer audacity, nerve and unflagging adherence to social justice, you could hardly ask for a more inspiring figure.

We are able to offer the Fela titles below what would be considered “full album cost,” so take advantage and dive in today!

A crazy cross-section of titles today — the solo record from Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, neo-goth from Cold Cave, and the Jason Molina back catalog on sale. Let’s get to it!

Julian Casablancas, Phrazes for the Young: Ceci n’est pas un Julian! Solo record from main Stroke skews surprisingly synthy, but just as hooky as ever. eMusic’s Matt Fritch sums it up like so:

Phrazes For The Young begins with a carnivalesque keyboard swirl atop a classic Strokes guitar chug, and opener “Out Of The Blue” soon launches into the kind of soaring, laser-sharp Euro-pop and “Volare”-esque “whoa-oh-oh”s last heard on a Tilt-A-Whirl ride in 1987. Those who cried “Cars!” at the sound of synths steering the Strokes’ “12:51″ will have a lot more trainspotting to do with Phrazes, from the Flock Of Seagulls-evoking echo of “Left & Right And In The Dark” to the New Order-taking “11th Dimension.” It all amounts to an unexpected sugar rush that deftly removes the gritty, lo-fi taste of the Strokes without washing away Casablancas himself; he’s still half-apologizing for bad behavior (”The ones who I made pay were never the ones who deserved it/Those who helped me along the way, I slapped ‘em as I thanked ‘em”) and calling for cease-fires with embattled girlfriends (”4 Chords Of The Apocalypse”). With the woozily strummy “Ludlow St.,” he takes a walk on the mild side of his East Village digs, complaining that “faces are changing … yuppies invading.”

Molina and Johnson, Molina and Johnson: It would be kind of funny if this was, like, Art Molina and Louie Johnson, two dudes from Kansas. This is what you’re hoping: Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co. and Will Johnson of Centr-O-Matic team up to do what they do best: make us sad. And there ain’t a thing wrong with that. And as if that’s not enough, for one week only, the Jason Molina Catalog is ON SALE. Check out the marked-down titles here.

Of the collabo, eMusic’s Amanda Petrusich sez:

Recorded with their own cash in Argyle, Texas, Molina and Johnson can be genuinely heartbreaking (”Almost Let You In,” “Each Star Marks A Day”) or, on occasion, toe-curlingly spooky. On “All Gone, All Gone,” Johnson’s crackly Texas drawl — augmented by singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe’s plaintive guest vocals — is paired with a singing saw; the contrast between Johnson’s scratchy pipes and the saw’s warbling alternates between nightmarish and beautiful. Opener “Twenty Cycles to the Ground” is the most campfire-friendly track here, with Molina and Johnson’s voices melding comfortably over a few acoustic guitar strums and a bit of synthesizer. Because most of these cuts are so stripped down — guitar, maybe a bit of piano, vocals — the chemistry between Molina and Johnson is, by default, the focus of the project — and, happily, it’s undeniable.

Cold Cave, Love Comes Close: So I love the Cold Cave comp Cremations, but haven’t made up my mind about this yet. It’s pretty gothy, lots of grizzled guitars and low, low, low vocals. eMusic’s Andrew Parks sez:

A strange thing happened when an engineer — specifically, former DFA employee Eric Broucek — lifted the heavily-distorted outer layers of an early mix of “Love Comes Close”: Cold Cave founder/frontman Wesley Eisold realized he could sing. Not that he couldn’t hold a tune in his previous pair of post-hardcore bands, Give Up the Ghost and Some Girls. It’s just that they required a healthy amount of shouting, too, not anything that would allude to the pitch-dark pop tunes of, say, Nitzer Ebb and New Order. And now that Cold Cave’s shifted from the experimental solo singles of its Cremations compilation to a consistent power trio that includes Caralee McElroy (ex-Xiu Xiu) and noise demigod Prurient, Eisold is fully embracing his long dormant love of dance music for people who aren’t afraid of the dark.

Various Artists, Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968 – 81: If you don’t have this already, what in the world are you waiting for? Yet another amazing comp from the good people at Soundway. Having this label on eMusic was a dream for me since I started, and now that it’s here, we should all take advantage of the bounty. This compilation gives to the music of Ghana the same treatment that Nigeria Special gave Nigeria. Words cannot express how marvelous this is. And look at the track-to-credit ratio! Why don’t you have this already?

Brilliant Colors, Introducing: An in-house favorite. Cannot say enough good things about this band — think Raincoats, Delta 5, etc etc. Truly great stuff. eMusic’s Douglas Wolk sez:

Brilliant Colors’ sound of choice seems to appear on a 23-year cycle. In the early ’60s, that sound belonged to the young garage-girl groups, whose cavernous production and straining voices never quite hit the charts; in the mid-’80s, it mutated into the speedy, sloppy, melancholy U.K. indiepop proffered by bands like the Shop Assistants and the Rosehips, whose frontwomen cared more about charm than power or accuracy. And now, a new set of terse four-amp-busting-chord wonders and bam-bam-BAM-bam beats have turned up, this time on the debut album from singer/guitarist/songwriter Jess Scott’s Bay Area trio Brilliant Colors, who bluster through ten airy little stompers in slightly under 23 minutes.

DJ/rupture, Solar Life Raft: Latest from DJ/rupture caught us by surprised — formal review is on the way, but previews certainly make this sound like another worthy addition to his catalog. I cannot get over how prolific this dude is. Dubsteppy in spots, weird, ghostly samples floating around in electronic haze.

DOOM, Unexpected Guests: Compilation gathering up a cross-section of DOOM guest appearances. Not absolutely essential, but fans may want to check it out. eMusic’s Nate Patrin sez:

Unexpected Guests, assembled with the same seamless-transition segues and comic-book interludes as his best albums, exists for the sole purpose of highlighting those frequent times where DOOM played well with others. Some are familiar — a couple Dilla-produced tracks, the Ghostface team-up “Angels” (in its mostly drum-free pre-Born Like This mix) and Operation: Doomsday highlight “? (feat. Kurious)” are longtime fan favorites. But the one-offs, drop-ins and cameos collected here come from a long line of work that frequently saw DOOM popping up wherever he seemed to fit. Which was just about anywhere: this is DOOM at his most versatile.

Arrington De Dionyso, Malaikat Dan Singa: OK, I’m gonna throw this out there: if you like Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart there is no reason you wont like Arrington De Dionyso. For years I’ve felt Old Time Relijun was massively underrated — fans of the avant-garde, Arrington is your savior! Embrace him! Love him! Worship him! His solo work skews more “difficult” than the OTR stuff but, man, if you’re one of those people who, like, went as the Trout Mask Replica album cover for Halloween, you should DL this immediately.

The Mary-Onettes, Islands: This sounds awesome. Dour, stately, theatrical, synth-heavy British pop music (but it’s on Labrador, which means they’re probably Scandinavian). I’m really enjoying this — it sounds like a long cry on a rainy Saturday night.

Oh, don’t front. You know what I’m talking about.

King Khan & the BBQ Show, Invisible Girl: King Khan is not so much for me, but I know some people dig this, so here it is! On a semi-related note, you know what I’ve been getting really, into lately? Norton Records. The comps on this label are exemplary — fans of King Khan, make that your next stop!

Rickie Lee Jones, Balm in Gilead: Latest from Rickie Lee Jones traverses in her time-honored tradition of country and blues. Her voice sounds lovely here, and the songs are hushed and soothing.

The Chi-Lites, Original Brunswick Hit Recordings: Classic R&B and sweet soul from pioneers of the genre. Literally every song on here is a hit — “Have You Seen Her” is like proto-hip-hop and what else can be said about “Oh Girl” except that it’s a stone classic.

Her Space Holiday, The Astronauts Are Sleeping Vol. 1, The Astronauts Are Sleeping, Vol. 2: Man, I loved these records way back when. There’s a subgenre of black metal called “depressive black metal,” and so in that spirit, I’d dub this “depressive indie rock.” Slow, small, quiet, Bedhead-esque with glimmering filament guitar lines and hushed vocals. This guy completely lost me after these records, but this is super chilly and remote in the best possible way. I’m gonna drop a reference to the Prayer Chain’s Mercury, and the few of you who know what I’m talking about, that’s what this reminds me of.

Vitalic, Flashmob: Here to stay this time! Latest from Vitalic after a looooooong gap. eMusic’s Philip Sherburne sez:

Less widely feted than his countrymen Justice, Vitalic isn’t really paparazzi material, even on the hipster circuit. But he knows how to rile up his crowds, making Flash Mob a pretty spot-on title, evocative of the throbbing, strobing sea of bodies and cameras lapping up against the stage at his sweaty, adrenaline-charged performances. Vitalic’s not as bombastic as some of his peers in the so-called nu-electro scene. Yes, Flash Mob has plenty of full-bore moments, like the opening “See the Sea (Red),” lashed with overdriven synth leads and rock-inspired stomp, or the rave revival “Terminateur Benelux,” which explodes a vocal sample (from Moby’s “Go”) over a breathless disco gallop, cowbells and all, and fires up zig-zagging synth stabs in homage to the amphetamine glory of Belgian hardcore.

Gift of Gab, Escape 2 Mars: I’ve been hearing good things about the latest solo effort from Blackalicious member Gift of Gab. I’ve got a soft spot for this kind of hip-hop anyways, but what I’m hearing sounds pretty good — neo-R&B choruses, dry-as-sandpaper vocal delivery, outer space production… I’m looking forward to spending more time with this one.

Blockhead, The Music Scene: Latest from (in my opinion) underrated producer Blockhead finds him still trafficking in all the things that made him great: smoky soul samples, scuffed-up soundtrack music, weird choral interludes. This is dank, grimy instrumental music that some aging rapper should appropriate for a comeback.

CunninLynguists, Strange Journey Volume Two: So the name is terrible, but this is 100% not-bad old school style hip-hop, featuring guest appearances by E-40, Sean Price, Freddie Gibbs and many more.

Hypocrisy, A Taste of Extreme Divinity: Extreme indeed! Swedish black metallers are still badass, and their latest rivals their best work. Uncompromising, brutal death metal sure to satisfy fans of the genre.

Let the Night Roar, Let the Night Roar: MeteorCity kicks back into action with this fantastic slab of stoner metal. Massively detuned guitars, growled vocals and sludge, sludge, sludge. Fans of Earth, take note!

El Perro Del Mar, Love is Not Pop: The big news today is the new El Perro Del Mar. In celebration of this excellent new effort, the El Perro back catalog is, for a limited time, on sale in the US. Of the new record, we can’t say enough great things. Melissa Maerz conducted an interview with Sarah, and eMusic’s Barry Walters sez:

Love Is Not Pop is a break-up-to-make-up album packed with paradox. It begins with a warning. “We’ve been together for so long/I’ve gotta get smart,” she tells herself and her beloved. Assbring no longer seems on the verge of perpetual tears, but she’s just as expressive. On “Change of Heart,” she seems resigned, but her words trip her up. “We will never stop,” she chants. Does she mean that she and her partner will forever together endure, or that they’ll hurt each other for eternity? When the shuffling drums cut out and the wordless choral part comes in to suggest a heaven packed with overdubbed Sarahs it’s beautiful and disturbing — like a great Lou Reed song, without sounding a bit like him.

Sufjan Stevens, The BQE: He’s back! eMusic’s Dan Weiss writes:

The movement labeled “Dream Sequence in Sub Circumnavigation” sounds like a dream sequence, yeah, and the one with the word “linear” in the title has a fairly straightforward pace, with the staccato violins comprising an insistent bed for the myriad of winds to flutter and toil over, almost Steve Reich-like for a couple minutes….The BQE definitely has rewards for the pop audience — “Traffic Shock” is a zap-happy techno intermission with nods toward both classical and jazz.

Annie, Don’t Stop: Delayed second record from Annie finally gets a release. Barry Walters sez:

Her voice may be soft, but her lyrics prove her a discriminating gal who doesn’t mince words: “Let’s do it once or maybe twice/That’ll be enough,” she qualifies in “The Breakfast Song.” Knowing this kinda sass is like a lit match on gasoline to hit-and-run rockers, she shows no mercy on the fifth track, “I Don’t Like Your Band.” “It’s not you, it’s your tunes,” she quips. Reuniting with Anniemal conspirators Richard X and Timo Kaukolampi, the newly Berlin-based singer expands her musical range with the UK’s reigning pop production team Xenomania and British indie-rock knob-twiddler Paul Epworth. Encompassing rock-disco on “My Love Is Better” with grinding guitar riffs courtesy of Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, vintage Gallic gloom via “Marie Cherie,” and ‘60s girl-group shuffle on her bittersweet “Heaven and Hell,” Annie mixes genres and collaborators without coming across as somebody’s puppet.

Atlas Sound, Logos: New Atlas Sound! eMusic’s Caitlin Dewey writes:

Bradford Cox, the polarizing giant behind both Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, has made a point of mentioning his ‘60s girl group and doo-wop influences in virtually every interview he’s ever granted. But those big-haired, harmonizing inspirations have never been as apparent as they are on Logos, Cox’s effusive second effort as Atlas Sound. In Cox’s world, of course, “pop” is more of a starting point than an actual descriptor — his takes are woozier and grittier than the word might imply, as if all of his songs were being run through badly broken speakers.

Pylon, Chomp More: Reissue of classic Pylon album on DFA — this one is a must-have. eMusic’s Douglas Wolk writes:

The rhythm section of Michael Lachowski and Curtis Crowe generates the kind of imposing post-punk, post-disco lurch that bands in London, Manchester and New York were working out in those days too (if you were a party band in Athens, your audience had to be able to dance); singer Vanessa Ellison wanders wherever her train of thought leads her, spitting out letters and numbers or just whooping and growling; Randy Bewley tugs dissonant sound effects and spindly spaghetti-western melodies out of his guitar, playing for texture as much as for tune. You can hear how Bewley’s crabwise guitar parts (and Ellison’s willingness to favor her words’ sounds over linear meaning) affected R.E.M., another young Athens band who idolized Pylon and recorded a cover of “Crazy.” Still, it’d be more than a decade and a half before the kind of brash, brittle low-end bump that’s all over Chomp really came back into style in rock.

Spiral Stairs, The Real Feel: Scott Kannberg will not be slowed down by any Pavement reunion. Of his first proper solo outing, eMusic’s Sean Fennessey writes:

Ramshackle guitar highlighted by bendy psych solos, subgenre dabbling, typically inconclusive lyrics, and a surprisingly appealing howl. Opener “True Love” is the cascading piece de resistance here, a tumbling, sad-eyed jaunt that recalls Richard Thompson at his string-ripping best. The propulsive “Stolen Pills” is a burst of punk fury, “Maltese T” dabbles in peppy ’60s sunshine rock, and the pained, eight-minute “Blood Money” is as straight-faced and crushing a song as he’s written. “Sometimes I just don’t know what to do,” he laments. It’s not so easy owning the spotlight. This time, Kannberg does it with grace.

Leonard Cohen, Live at the Isle of Wight: Live LC from 1970, loaded with classic jams (though the fidelity sounds a little shaky to me, and Cohen sounds positively flat on “So Long Marianne”). An interesting timepiece to be sure.

White Denim, Fits: Awesomely all-over-the-place noise blooz from WD, that doesn’t feel too long at 2 discs. I love how noisy and confrontational these dudes are, and this one ratchets up the anarchy factor by a good distance.

Editors, In This Light and On This Evening: New one from Editors. eMusic’s Craig McLean writes:

While 2007’s An End Has A Start seemed professionally gloomy, this third album makes Interpol sound like Alvin And The Chipmunks. Here are nine lean tracks alchemized from fizzing electronics and thrumming guitars into black gold. This, in short, is a brilliant album: impassioned, heavy, important, tuneful, head-nodding and heart-exploding.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Summer of Fear: eMusic’s Jessica Suarez writes:

Now on Saddle Creek, and with TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone producing (Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor helmed his debut), MBAR’s expanded folk palate now references Bruce Springsteen (”Shake a Shot”), Reckoning-era R.E.M. (”Death By Dust”), and Tom Petty, whom MBAR corrects on the beautifully rendered “The 100th of March”: “The whole damn thing is the hardest part.” So it’s no surprise that Robinson’s stabs at redemption come off as halfhearted and somber as ever. On album-closer “Boat,” his nihilism cuts through Malone’s swaths of organ hums, cymbal rolls and reverb as he mumbles out “There’s nothing lost ’cause there’s nothing there.”

Various Artists, Gozalo, Vol. 3: More outstanding latin funk from the good people at VampiSoul. Add this one to your collection — another serving of sizzling R&B-styled jams.

Franke Rose, “Thee Only One”: New Slumberland single upholds the label’s reputation for reverb. This sounds good to me — big, clanging guitars and retiring female vocals. Worth a listen.

themselves, Crownsdown: Abstract hip-hoppers are back — clattering electronic production with mad speedy motormouthed rapping. Pretty odd and abstract — sci-fi-ish production, and I’m amazed at how fast that dude can run his trap.

Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen, Inspiration Information: Latest in the series pairs legendary drummer for Fela Kuti with Finnish saxophone player Jimi Tenor. The whole thing skews Afropop in a really good way — I was pleasantly surprised by this. eMusic’s Chris Nickson writes:

Put them together for five days, fuelled by whiskey, powered by the members of Tenor’s Kabu Kabu band, and the result is music whose blood pounds in Africa, but whose spirit wanders the whole world. There are deep forays into hip-hop on the appealingly lascivious “Against The Wall” and the overtly political “Path To Wisdom” (both with MC Allonymous), while roots reggae forms the backdrop for the lyrically weird “Selfish Gene” – and it hasn’t sounded so good since Sly and Robbie were in their prime.

Belphegor, Walpurgis Rites: Hexenwahn: Belphegor follow up the outstanding Bondage Goat Zombie with another searing slab of demonic black metal. I write:

This record fucking rules.

Lovvers, Go Go Go Girls: Ignore the double-consonant. I like this — noisy clanging garagey stuff, really messy and fucked up and underproduced.

Black Market Militia Presents: William Cooper: NY rap “supergroup” comprised of Killah Priest, Hell Razah and others serve up guest-filled platter of 90s throwback rap. Samples sound promising, and the lineup is surprisingly solid for fans of the old school. Curious to check this one out.

Camp Lo, Another Heist: Camp Lo never really fully clicked for me, but I know other people dig them. This sounds like their usual blend of R&B and funk-inspired production with loose and laid-back flow.