Really enjoying the new album from Brant Bjork

As the weather starts to warm up it's always pleasing to the ears to have new material from Brant Bjork to spin. I'm certainly a big fan of the man's music so it's nice to hear him continue to improve as a musician. This time around with 'Gods & Goddesses' he has a new lineup of The Bros backing him up. Without having to be a one man band, it seems Brant has worked on his vocals. He really stretches out on this one, showing more range and variation than previous works - it's been a slow progression from the buried vocals on the legendary 'Jalamanta' album. Some wonderful playing by the new Bros as well, great tones and production.

New Arrivals

A massive order from All That Is Heavy arrived on Wednesday (with a nice hole in the shipping box thanks to the post office). Mostly new releases from Eagle Twin, Ararat, Yawning Sons, Brant Bjork, YOB, Causa Sui, Circle, and Fu Manchu. ATH included a couple of freebies, self-titled albums by Elder and Sardonis.

Catching Up

Been getting lots of new stuff this week, most recently orders in from Eclipse Records and All That's Heavy. Many new albums from this year in this batch. So far 2007 has been a fantastic year of releases. The list of new stuff:

CDs:

Acrimony - Tumuli Shroomaroom
Brant Bjork And The Bros - Somera Sól
Buried At Sea - Migration
Causa Sui - Free Ride
Nadja - Corrasion
Orange Goblin - Healing Through Fire

LPs:

Brant Bjork And The Bros - Somera Sól
Raccoo-oo-oon - Mythos Folkways Vol. 1
Wooden Wand/Hust Arbors - Split 7"
Hush Arbors/Voice Of The Seven Woods - Split 7"

Amoeba Music

No trip to San Francisco is complete without a trip to Amoeba Music. I could have spent all weekend in the store browsing the records, CDs and DVDs. Lou's Records is great, but the selection at Amoeba is unbelievable. I tried to buy mostly albums that were rare, that I couldn't at Lou's or those having a cheaper price than Lou's. Now to the long list, which was a deal considering many of those were cheap:

CDs:

Big Business - Head For The Shallow
Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum
KTL - KTL 2
Tetuzi Akiyama - Pre-Existence
Tom Waits - Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine
Tom Waits - The Black Rider

LPs:

Yawning Man - Pot Head (10")
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bayou Country
Causa Sui - Causa Sui (2LP)
Brant Bjork And The Bros - Saved By Magic (2LP)
Tool - Opaite
Tool - Undertow (2LP)

Yet another order from ATH

That's right, another order from the All That's Heavy webstore has arrived. After getting the new Brant Bjork album 'Tres Dias' in clear yellow wax, I decided to also get it on CD. As a bonus they threw in a promotional postcard signed by Brant. Not wanting to pay the high tax and shipping fees of Southern Lord mailorder nor make a trip down to the record store, I also ordered the new CD/DVD release from Earth titled 'Hibernaculum'. The DVD is a documentary on the band's last European tour and the CD features some remakes and a different mix of their track on the limited Sunn O)))/Earth split LP. I also bought the 10" split from Hypnos 69 and Monkey3. Unfortunately the Monkey3 side is the Ennio Morricone cover from their latest album. But there are two new tracks from Hypnos 69 which might be the last material they'll release since they are no longer a band.

Round Up

Since I was expecting a couple of orders to arrive and I planned on hitting up Lou's Records, I decided to do an end of the week round up of recently acquired records and CDs.

Middian - Age Eternal (CD)*
YOB - The Unreal Never Lived (CD)
A Silver Mt. Zion - Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward (CD)
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. - Myth Of The Love Electrique (CD)
Big Business - Here Come The Waterworks (CD)*
Blackfield - Blackfield II (CD)*
Do Make Say Think - Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead (CD)
Do Make Say Think - & Yet & Yet (CD)
Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn (CD)
Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust (CD)*
Ghost - In Stormy Night (CD)*
Orange Goblin - Thieving From The House Of God (CD)
Brant Bjork - Tres Dias (LP)*

* 2007 release

As noted there are quite a few albums from this year. So far this year has had a much better start than 2006 did. Some fine releases in the first 2 1/4 months that will surely make the best of 2007 more difficult.