ALBUM > Skinny Puppy "Mythmaker" (2007)

Returning after 2004's redefining and revolutionary "The Greater Wrong Of The Right" [Buy from iTunes] (an album that caused several bands included in the same breath as Skinny Puppy [MySpace Profile] to collectively marvel at their audacious reinvention of the Industrial music genre) the iconic Vancouver duo of Ogre (voice) and cEvin Key (synthesizers/electronics/percussion ) ably assisted by Mark Walk (and a host of others) return with "Mythmaker" - perhaps their most ambitious and adventurous album : As dark, twisted, beautiful and aggressive as ever, Skinny Puppy take the listener on a roller coaster ride through their unique aural onslaught of Industrial, Techno and Noise. Now even more contemporary and relevant, over 20 years into their existence Skinny Puppy prove they have more bite and continue to shine brighter than ever. "Mythmaker" comes presented in a digipak.

Available January 2007.

Young Love new album promotion

Young Love new EP promotion

ALBUM > Joanna Newsom "Ys"

Ys (IPA pronunciation: [i:s]) is the second album by Joanna Newsom. It is the follow up to The Milk-Eyed Mender and was released by Drag City on November 14, 2006 (see 2006 in music). The album shares a name with a mythical city in Brittany.

The album features a full orchestra on four out of five tracks, with arrangements by Van Dyke Parks, who also plays the accordion. Newsom's harp and vocals were recorded by Steve Albini and the orchestra was recorded by Tim Boyle. Newsom and Parks produced the album and it was mixed by Jim O'Rourke. The recording process was completely analog, the music mixed to tape and mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

Official Web Site (not available)

MySpace Profile (not available)

Wikipedia Card
Metacritic Card
Buy from iTunes

Bonus Link:

Read review in The Guardian here.

ALBUM > Beirut "The Gulag Orkestar"

"While it may sound like an entire Balkan gypsy orchestra playing modern songs as mournful ballads and upbeat marches, Beirut's first album, Gulag Orkestar, is largely the work of one 19-year-old Albuquerque native, Zach Condon, with assistance by Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw) and Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw). Horns, violins, cellos, ukuleles, mandolins, glockenspiels, drums, tambourines, congas, organs, pianos, clarinets and accordions (no guitars on this album!) all build and break the melodies under Condon's deep-voiced crooner vocals, swaying to the Eastern European beats like a drunken 12-member ensemble that has fallen in love with The Magnetic Fields, Talking Heads and Neutral Milk Hotel".

Web Site

MySpace Profile

Record Company

Buy from iTunes

Bonus Link:

Number 1 on Rought Trade Shop's 2006 Top 100!

ALBUM > Aluminium "Aluminium"

ALUMINIUM is an album of avant garde orchestral recordings of music written by Jack White of The White Stripes. It was recorded between August 2005 and February 2006 at Intimate Studios in Wapping (London), using a specially assembled orchestra comprising many of the UKs finest young classical musicians.

The album will be available exclusively through the Aluminium website as a numbered limited edition of 3,333 CDs and 999 LPs. The download format will not be limited, and will come with an electronic booklet.

Web Site
MySpace Profile
Record Company
Buy from iTunes