My last record store treks of 2013... The Vinyl Closet North Wales, PA Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO The Day Before the Sky Fell in American — 9/10/01 Galactic Zoo/ Eclipse Records Released: 2004 This one is out of print.  I'd been eying up the CD version of Acid Mothers ' The Day Before the Sky Fell in America — 9/10/01 for some time, but just never pulled the trigger for one reason or another, usually because there was something else I was more desperate to grab or because the sticker price was just a bit too high.  The LP was sitting in the JUST ADDED bins at The Vinyl Closet and, seconds after walking through the door, I picked it up.  Being that it was the only album I purchased that day, I was done my record shopping after being in the store for less than a minute.  The album itself is a live recording of an in-store performance the members of Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO had done the day before 9/11....

Poison Idea reissues in 2012!  A lot of Poison Idea material has been unavailable for some time, so Southern Lord's attention is not only warranted but very much appreciated. All info comes courtesy of Earsplit PR. POISON IDEA: Southern Lord To Reissue Seminal Titles From Hardcore Punk Legends   Southern Lord Recordings are proud to be officially re-releasing several incredible, seminal titles from Portland, Oregon's explosive punk/hardcore kings, POISON IDEA in 2012! Southern Lord will be releasing CD versions of several POISON IDEA reissues that TKO Records are currently re-releasing on vinyl. All of the material is being re-mastered by Jack Control ( World Burns to Death ) and each release includes new, extensive liner notes as well as never before seen photos and previously unreleased bonus material. This POISON IDEA reissue series kicks off January 31st, with the re-release of Darby Crash Rides Again: The Early Years . Boasting twenty-nine tracks from the band...

I was very excited to finally score an opportunity to see 1991: The Year Punk Broke, which is now reissued on DVD in a 20th anniversary package.  This concert film featuring Sonic Youth and a still obscure Nirvana had been out of print for a long time.   Check out issue #11 of Kicking Against The Pricks. 1991: The Year Punk Broke (20th Anniversary Edition) Dave Markey We Got Power Films Originally Released: 1992 Reissued: 2011   Kicking Against The Pricks review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

It’s possible that I had maybe five readers when I first discussed Beauty Pill ’s The Cigarette Girl From The Future EP way back in 2007 . Upon hearing the song on my much loved Harmony In My Head , and finding out that the EP, out on Dischord, was out of print, I managed to find a copy through GEMM.COM . It has since become one of my favorite EPs of all time. I’m spotlighting it today because Dischord has come into some physical copies and I feel I would be doing the band, and yourselves, a complete disservice by not mentioning this. It’s a great five song collection from a very underrated band and the title track... Well, you can sample its brilliance below. Head on over to Dischord and order it before it's no longer available. Find more artists like Beauty Pill at Myspace Music Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Label-hopping, broken promises:  They've been dicking around with this reissue enough!  Queens Of The Stone Age have finally invested themselves and Rekords Rekords into a partnership with Domino Records and, with that, comes a stream of QOTSA's first album.  Enjoy . Keep in mind that, while you're there, it's likely you'll be prompted to pre-order the reissue.  Please do :  It's been out-of-print way too long. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Ever heard of a guy named, Stephen Friedland ? If you have, then you know the story behind Brute Force , which was the name Friedland used to record his 1967 album, I, Brute Force — Confections Of Love . This album is being reissued in October by Bar-None Records , having been out of print for over forty years. I’ve never heard the album, but it is a highly regarded, apparently underrated and obviously obscure thanks to its lack of circulation. The big point of interest with the album, though, is “The King Of Fuh,” which is being included in the I, Brute Force reissue as a bonus track. “The King Of Fuh” caught the attention of John Lennon and George Harrison , both of whom issued the song as a single in 1969 via Apple Records. Capitol and EMI refused to distribute the single thanks to Frieland’s tale of the “Fuh King,” so 2,000 copies were released independently by Apple as “Apple 8.” Needless to say, the track is obscure, but I did find a YouTube clip of the single and its B-si...

Via Speakeasy PR: REKORDS REKORDS TO RELEASE THREE TITLES THIS FALL: ALAIN JOHANNES, MINI MANSIONS AND WIDELY ANTICIPATED QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE REISSUE LOS ANGELES, Aug. 30 -- Joshua Homme 's Rekords Rekords, through a partnership with Ipecac Recordings, will release three albums this fall: Alain Johannes ' Spark (Oct. 5), Mini Mansions self-titled debut (Nov. 2) and a reissue of Queens of The Stone Age 's self-titled debut with three additional songs (Nov. 26). An artist-driven label, Rekords Rekords' newly formed affiliation with Ipecac Recordings actually dates back to 2003 when Homme's ongoing Desert Sessions series released an installment on Ipecac, re-connecting Homme with longtime friends and Ipecac co-owners Mike Patton and Greg Werckman . “Reports on the death of the record label have been greatly exaggerated," said Werckman. "Record labels like Rekords Rekords and artists like Joshua Homme continue to wage an assault on mediocrity an...

It's possible that I've been riding Southern Lord 's jock a little too fanatically, but 2010's been a good year for the label. Goatsnake 's Flower Of Disease , for instance, has finally been reissued after being out of circulation for 8 or 9 years and it sounds great. From Earsplit PR: Southern Lord Recordings is proud to re-unleash the long out-of-print GOATSNAKE album Flower Of Disease ! The third official release from the almighty GOATSNAKE, this slick, thunderous eight-song slab of doom was initially released in 2000 on the now defunct Man's Ruin label, with Southern Lord handling the vinyl release. After lying dormant without an official pressing of the album in over eight years, the 'Lord now officially brings the album back to the masses on both CD and LP formats. Recorded at Hollywood's Grand Master Studios, and engineered by Nick Raskulinecz ( Danzig, Foo Fighters, Probot, Alice In Chains ), Flower Of Disease showcased GOATSNAKE elevatin...

Since it’s come to light that cocaine and alcohol led him to die too young, Jay Reatard ’s legacy does don an asterisk whose footnote reads, “Wasted talent.” Drugs, alcohol and their combination leading to an early demise is nothing new in rock n’ roll, but I do find it interesting that the most talented or noteworthy musicians to openly partake of this poison typically have the weakest constitutions. Nikki Sixx , on the other hand, can be clinically dead and come back to life like a rehab Messiah. Are rock stars just better at tolerating chemicals than musicians? Just a thought... Anyway, as I’ve been exploring Reatard’s back catalog to some extent, I found the 1+1=Nothing 7” via his ‘99 -’05 outlet, Lost Sounds . Way out-of-print, having been issued in 2000 by Empty Records , 1+1=Nothing is a synth-blackened noise album, its eerie title track something that caught my ear as I was surfing the ‘net one night in search of, coincidentally, nothing. “Memphis Is Dead” is on its B-si...

Public Guilt is re-releasing ZU ’s out of print The Way of the Animal Powers . “Tom Araya Is Our Elvis” is a melting clash of guitar play, low bass rhythm and free form jazz brass that crawls and frightens. It’s like watching your imminent demise take its time getting to you. ”Tom Araya Is Our Elvis " From Earsplit PR : Over their 10+ year career, ZU's modus operandi of straddling and abusing musical genre's has lead them to release over 15 albums unique releases. Their improvisational/experimental blend of metal, math, no-wave, noise and punk caused John Zorn to describe their sound as "a powerful and expressive music that totally blows away what most bands do these days". On The Way of the Animal Powers , the Rome-based sax/drums/bass trio is joined by Chicago-based avant cellist Fred Lomberg-Holm , to create a intricate and aggressive album, rich with improvisation. The interplay between the quartet and its' attention to tone and texture is except...

Insound purchase: DNA DNA On DNA No More Records Released: 2008 No More Records had released this compilation on CD in 2004. Possibly feeling the choke from the current CD marketplace, as if the band’s obscurity wasn’t enough to keep sales modest, DNA On DNA was released on vinyl late last year with live CBGB performances and some other gems that didn't make the CD. Admittedly, DNA is one of the most irritating bands that ever plugged in, but to hear Arto Lindsay violently scrubbing away at his six-string in an attempt to perform an instrumental, an anti-instrumental; you understand why DNA is so essential. With arrhythmic, syncopated shrieking-word pieces, to me, DNA is the most defiant band from the No Wave era, Arto No Wave’s Les Nessmann a threat to conventional song structure and rhythm having NO jazz chops or real musical ability. DNA was a band that didn’t really have a place to influence anything, but they did. Ask Thurston Moore. Insound purchase: Sonic Youth The Et...

I'm exhausted. As much as I have pending, it's easy to get a little burnt out and I apologize for having lapsed on the update end. The hours in the day bestowed me lately have required effort and attention elsewhere in terms of work and home. As of now, I have about four or five reviews in the works, an upcoming interview and an all day event that I'm going to attempt to cover. The next couple weeks will see what I hope will be a wealth of mentally stimulating and entertaining material that all will love, cherish and adore thusly leading yours truly to eventual superstardom and an influx of dolla, dolla bills, y'all. And while I’m dreaming, cancel American Idol , put an end to present-day R&B and make The Jonas Brothers disappear forever. While the new releases continually require attention of an analytic nature, lately I've been seeking out older albums that I can just listen to. And, though I really haven't had much time to devote to listening eithe...

Flipper Generic Flipper Sex Bomb Baby Gone Fishin’ Public Flipper Limited Live 1980-1985 Water - CD Release 4 Men With Beards - Vinyl Release Releases: 12.9.08 - CD Release; 3.09 – Vinyl Release After a couple years of searching and finding laughably unaffordable results for out-of-print Flipper CDs, I was thrilled to find out that reissues have finally been realized. I remember hearing Rick Rubin ’s name attached to the project maybe two years ago, but I guess that just wasn’t in the cards. Maybe he got sidelined by Metallica ’s recent attempt at relevance. Who knows? Flipper’s Myspace page had this to say: ”Finally, after way too many years out of print, The Classic Flipper Albums, originally released in the 1980s, will be re-released on vinyl by Four Men With Beards, and on CD by Water, both imprints under the Runt label. Generic Flipper , Gone Fishin' , Public Flipper Limited , and Sex Bomb Baby , will begin hitting stores in the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan, on De...

These Are Powers Taro Tarot EP Hoss Records (out of print, being reissued by Dead Oceans , 10.17.08) Originally released: 4.1.08 Rating: 8.5 out of 10 These Are Powers released two albums on Hoss Records earlier this year: Terrific Seasons and the Taro Tarot EP . Both these albums are being reissued as the band has signed with the Dead Oceans label, so neither are available at this time unless you want to find a copy on E-Bay or see what they’re going for over on Gemm.com . I can’t speak of the LP, but I can tell you that the Taro Tarot EP will be worth the wait. These Are Powers, a trio comprised of ex- Liars Pat Noecker , Anna Barie and Bill Salas (who otherwise makes wikkee-wikkee scratch beats under the name Brenmar ), is a well-oiled and precise machinelike force of No Wave cacophony and Industrial demolition. Taro Tarot offers up six tracks that encompass atmospheric drum-circle testimonial (“All Night Service”), undulating and thick beasts of low end burden (“Chipping...

I'm still listening. I just haven't been able to write it all down lately. The past month or so, I've been a painting and patching fool, readying the nursery for the newborn. Naturally, there's nothing my stereo hasn't been pushing through its speakers over the countless hours I've spent in a fumy haze while thinking a lot about nothing in particular, or thinking very little at all and just letting the sounds carry me through the task at hand. The Dead Kennedys' Plastic Surgery Disasters , one of those relics from a discontented teenagehood, shuffled into place at one point and inspired a fluid stream of nostalgia followed by internal debate. It was on a cold morning while walking across Pickering Field to the bus stop when I first heard DK as they pummeled their way through a somewhat sloppy version of David Allen Coe 's "Take This Job and Shove It." A kid at school had lent me a dubbed cassette. Further adding to the audible drawbacks wi...

To Whom It May Interest, Yet another exciting account of records bought. Enjoy. Amazon Purchases: Entrance Prayer Of Death Tee Pee Records Released 11.14.06 There is something amazing about the song, “Silence On A Crowded Train.” When I first caught this song, I was more or less transfixed and unable to concentrate on anything else. High intensity bass line blues and wah guitar are driven into the heavens with Paz Lenchantin ’s ( A Perfect Circle , Zwan , Queens Of The Stone Age ) violin and Guy Blakeslee ’s vocals. From start to finish, Prayer Of Death , is a sonic acid soaked dream, dripping with psychedelic strings and pensive meditations about our mortality. Amazing record. Please run out and find a copy. Various Artists Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 4 CD Boxed Set Rhino Re-mastered, reassembled & re-released 9.15.98 You find that certain people painstakingly do what they can to preserve history. One such individual is Lenny Kaye ...