City Reign : "See What It's Worth" (via Car Boot Records/YouTube) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart : "Simple and Sure" (via Force Field PR/Soundcloud) SoftSpot : "King Porus" (via Force Field PR/ Noisey /Soundcloud) Bulbul : "Fire" (via Rarely Unable & Earsplit PR/Soundcloud) The Skull Defekts : "Awaking Dream (feat. Daniel Higgs of Lungfish )" (via Thrill Jockey Records/Vimeo) The Skull Defekts - Awaking Dream from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Damaged Bug Hubba Bubba Castle Face Records Released: 2.25.14 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The immensely talented and highly regarded flamenco guitarist, Paco de Lucía , passed away due to a heart attack at the age of 66. A comprehensive obituary and profile can be found here via BBC . Although I'd never completely acquainted myself with his catalogue, de Lucía's performance with Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin in Fridday Night in San Francisco has been a constant in my life, those acoustic guitars either amiably strummed or intricately plucked throughout its entirety.  The whole album plays like a conversation between friends, serious when it needs to be but prone to bouts of humor and joy.  It's an album I adore, so central to the good in my life that it's what I reach for when a vacation destination is on the horizon or when contentment and warmth has filled my evenings.  R.I.P., Paco de Lucía. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Warpaint s/t Rough Trade Released: 1.20.14 *Not sure I agree that my entire gender loses completely in life, but I am quite a fan of the new Warpaint LP. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Yesterday felt like the first sunny day to grace my small corner of the world in weeks.  So, my mood greatly improved by warm air and the radiating glow of sorely missed sunshine, I took a drive over to Siren Records and dropped a hefty sum on the following: Siren Records Doylestown, PA Sun Ra and His Solar-Myth Arkestra The Solar-Myth Approach Vol. 1 & 2 BYG Actuel Originally released: 1972 Reissued: 2014(?) Continuing with my Sun Ra streak, I found both volumes of The Solar-Myth Approach , which had been originally released in 1972 by the French label, BYG Actuel.  I'd intended on leaving the store with at least one Sun Ra album, following the planned raid on all those El Saturn reissues I'd discussed per my last visit to Siren.  Unfortunately, their inventory had been picked over pretty well, but these two albums caught my eye and it seemed foolish to buy an incomplete set.  I haven't listened to them yet, but they're 180gram pressings, nice gat...

Hey, everyone.  We're talking labels today.  In 2012, I reviewed the Fatherland EP by Mr. Dream and Weird Wild World by Sleepies , both of which were released by the Godmode label.  Specializing in post-punk and some of the more avant variations of R&B and EDM I've heard, Godmode, which is owned and run by former Pitchfork editor and current Mr. Dream drummer Nick Sylvester and Capitol Records A&R rep Talya Elitzer , recently released a new cassette compilation called, Common Interests Were Not Enough To Keep Us Together. Featuring new music from the label (plus a couple new tracks from Mr. Dream and Sleepies which were a plus for me), the comp provides a varied selection of sounds that range from club ( Shamir ) to vocal ( Soft Lit ) to experimental ( Yvette ), which ultimately affirms Godmode's place as a home for both very inviting to likely alienating performers. You can check out the comp here: Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Alterbeast : "Vile Remnants" (via Earsplit PR/ Decibel Magazine /Soundcloud) Ought : "The Weather Song" (via Rarely Unable/Soundcloud) Small Black : "Lines of Latitude (feat. Frankie Rose )" (via Jagjaguwar, Gorilla Vs. Bear /Soundcloud) Pink Mountaintops : "Ambulance City" (via Jagjaguwar/ Noisey /YouTube) The Afghan Whigs : "Algiers" (via Sub Pop/YouTube) Dum Dum Girls : "Too True To Be Good" (via Sub Pop/ V Magazine /YouTube) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Today, I received a couple of notices regarding some upcoming Kid Millions projects: The first is a collaborative effort with J. Spaceman ( Jason Pierce of Spiritualized ) that's being released on Record Store Day and the other is a new album from KM percussion project, Man Forever . The first announcement comes courtesy of Northern Spy Records. Hopefully we make Record Store Day fun. It's fun for us, for sure. We treat it as a chance to do something unique and of-the-moment — last year it was the Thurston Moore & Loren Connors collaboration (check out Bill Meyer 's review and a video ). This year we're presenting the first US performance by J. Spaceman and Kid Millions, two musicians for which we share a deep love and admiration. It's a heady record, part spaced-out drone vibes with Kid's drums bubbling under the surface and part hallucinatory jamming, free and ecstatic. This release is limited to 3000 copies - it's a 12" LP with a...

Toronto buzz grinders Odonis Odonis released a cover of the famous Johnny Cash tune, "Ring of Fire."  If you're at all familiar with the levels of noise that the members of Odonis Odonis normally explore, you may think that they dial it down to suitably honor the Man in Black .  Such is not the case as they attempt to inject the song with all the discordance they can generate.  You can give it a listen below. The link was provided by Force Field PR. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

We're a little more than two months away from this year's Record Store Day and today I received my first item on this year's wishlist: Deerhoof and Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog will be issuing a split 7" via Northern Spy Records. I'm hoping to have a stream to post at a later date. In the meantime, I have cover art and a small blurb courtesy of Northern Spy. "Long live Marc Ribot." - Greg Saunier "Long live Deerhoof!" - Marc Ribot A split 7" deserves a split write-up. So, I asked Deerhoof's Greg Saunier and Ceramic Dog's Marc Ribot to write something about this record. Turns out there's some mutual respect here. I guess it'd be weird if there wasn't. The Deerhoof track originally appeared as "Qui Dorm, Només Somia" on Deerhoof vs Evil . On this 7", Marc Ribot's guitar serves as the harmony in place of Satomi 's vocals. It's RAD. And the Ceramic Dog tune is one of their heav...

Sunn O))) & Ulver Terrestrials Southern Lord Released: 2.3.14 Stereokiller review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Megafauna : "Haunted Factory" (via Us-Them Group/ Noisey /Soundcloud) Woods : "Moving to the Left" (via Force Field PR/ Pitchfork /Soundcloud) Tacocat : "Crimson Wave" (via Hardly Art/ Noisey /YouTube) The Shrine : "Nothing Forever" (via Tee Pee Records/ Noisey /Soundcloud) Telepathy : "Cystine Knot" (via Devouter Records/Soundcloud) Qui : "Awkward Human Interest" (via Us-Them Group/YouTube) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Do you remember the moment the natural course of your mind had suddenly been disrupted by a piece of music?  For many, it was February 9th, 1964 as a well-known television show host introduced the most important band in the world to the thousands of enthusiastic American youth.  Two such youths were my Mom and Dad, and their love of this band would be passed to me.   Growing up a fairly introverted suburban kid interested in sci-fi, superheroes and art, my more vivid memories as a child involved a radio, an album, a cassette or a music video.  Before I understood that my head was being completely undone and rebuilt by much of what I'd listened to as I grew up, I'd become attached to my Dad's record collection, which was a long set of LPs that seemed to span the length of our third floor bedroom. I spent a lot of time up there, mostly listening to Beatles LPs while slowly being changed. My very beat up U.S. editions of A Hard Days Night and Beatles '65 . My...

...thank you. Happy 50th. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

We're still very early in 2014, but my wishlist seems to grow and grow as the days elapse.  High on that list is the upcoming new album from Bohren & Der Club Of Gore , Piano Nights .  Their albums tend to be very rich and remarkably cold brand of jazz, slow and beautiful in the same way that nighttime can be.  The band's 2002 release, Black Earth , was all I listened to for well over a month when I picked up a copy.  Really good winter album.  A video for the track, "Ganz Liese Kommt Die Nacht," has surfaced.  Give it a look and then peruse all the info which was provided by Rarely Unable.  Piano Nights will be available on February 11th on Ipecac Recordings.  BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE: PIANO NIGHTS RELEASE DATE INCOMING, LONDON LIVE DATE ANNOUNCED, PLUS VIDEO FOOTAGE REVEALED   VIEW THIS BEAUTIFUL VIDEO FOR "GANZ LIESE KOMMT DIE NACHT" http://youtu.be/yiBsJPEDJeg The sublime slowness which has propelled Bohren & Der...

El Ten Eleven : "Nova Scotia" (via Force Field PR/Soundcloud) Lauren Bousfield : "Cracknight" (via Kinsman and Meng PR/Vimeo   Lauren Bousfield - Cracknight from Lauren Bousfield on Vimeo . Yellow Ostrich : "Any Wonder" (via Force Field PR/ Esquire /Soundcloud) Blood Red Shoes : "Wretch (feat. Eoin Loveless and Ian Clement)" (via [PIAS]/Soundcloud) Odonis Odonis : "New Obsession" (via Force Field PR/ Stereogum /YouTube) D. Charles Speer & The Helix : "Wallwalker" (via Thrill Jockey Records/Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

And today's "what the fuck" moment goes to the new Pink Mountaintops single, "North Hollywood Microwaves." The side project of Black Mountain mastermind, Stephen McBean , Pink Mountaintops will have a new album out called Get Back on April 29th.  I reviewed the band's last album, Outside Love , for No Ripcord in 2009. So, the song... ... it's kind of erratic and No Wave -ish in a James Chance manner of speaking.  And, then there is the rapid onslaught of vulgarities conceived and spoken by Giant Drag 's Annie Hardy , who talks about man juice like it's the soup du jour in a foodie blog.  The press release has stated with what would seem a very convincing tone that this is "quite possibly the filthiest song in the Jagjaguwar catalog."  Listen for yourself and I would recommend headphones. The song, tour dates and other Pink Mountaintops info comes to you courtesy of Jagjaguwar.  Pink Mountaintops Returns With Get Bac...

(via Dangerous Minds ) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead