Silk-screened posters. Signed & numbered!
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|  | Of Montreal
Aldhis Arboretum
SOUND SAVER. Of Monteal's follow-up album to "Coqolicot" is both challenging and catchy at the same time. As you listen to this, you’re not quite sure why these strange sounds make you tap your toes and bop your head so incessantly, but it does.
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| | Okkervil River
Black Sheep Boy
SOUND SAVER. Black Sheep Boy is Okkervil River's most ambitious and cinematic record yet. It is a love story that delights in linguistic games, and revels in sheer pop and lacerating rock and roll. For fans of Lou Reed, Big Star, and Neil Young.
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| | M83
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts (Domestic)
SOUND SAVER. M83 touches upon all genres, from electronica to pop to ambient. Their distinct sound emerged after just one album, and it was both modern and melancholic. The group makes machines seem human, by endowing them with a mysterious and innocent character, one that mirrors the personality of the two band members, Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau.
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 | My Bloody Valentine
Loveless
Kevin Shields' unequivocal masterpiece from 1991 perfected his mix of ethereal melodies and crushing, delerious noise. This album's perfection, after two painstaking years in the studio, sounded shoegazing's death-knell. Bands like this come along once.
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| Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth created a masterpiece of post-punk art-rock with the double album "Daydream Nation." Though the self-conscious sprawl of the album might appear self-indulgent on the surface, "Daydream Nation" is powered by a sustained vision, one that encapsulates all of the group's quirks and strengths. Alternating between tense, hypnotic instrumental passages and furious noise explosions, the music demonstrates a range of emotions and textures and, in many ways, it's hard not to listen to the record as one long piece of shifting dynamics. "Daydream Nation" demonstrates the extent to which noise and self-conscious avant-art can be incorporated into rock, and the results are nothing short of stunning.
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| The Flaming Lips
The Soft Bulletin
SOUND SAVER. "The Soft Bulletin" is a emotional, lushly symphonic pop masterpiece eons removed from the mind-warping noise of The Lips' past efforts. This could very well be the best album of the 1990's, and "Waitin' for Superman" the song of the century.
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| Built to Spill
Normal Years
SOUND SAVER. This collection strings together Built to Spill's loose ends: outtakes from each of the band's first two albums, three independently released singles, and two tracks recorded for compilations. A fine foreshadowing of these burgeoning legends.
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 | Danielson Famile
Fetch The Compass Kids
SOUND SAVER. "Fetch" was an early collaboration between the Famile and Steve Albini. It's a daring document full of groove and sympathy, peppered with messages to take more quiet time in life and to love often. A sonic gypsy-like parade of wonderment.
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| Mates of State
Team Boo
SOUND SAVER. Mates of State are the ultra-likeable, über-intriguing duo of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner. The couple is a non-stop touring presence whose live chemistry is genuinely magical. He sits behind the drum kit and sings, she plays a vintage Yamaha organ and sings.
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| Of Montreal
Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies: A Variety Of Whimsical Verse
SOUND SAVER. Of Montreal's fourth, and most ambitious, album features music fill with a wonderful madness. Strange interludes, a detective story, gentle love ballads, and avant pop tracks, all ending with an epic eighteen minute piano opus.
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| Mum
Yesterday was Dramatic, Today is OK (reissue)
SOUND SAVER. Along with Sigur Ros, fellow Icelanders Mum create experimental pop at its very finest. A truly beautiful album of eclectic melodies, electronic bleeps and beats, accordians, glockenspiels, synths and more. This is music for your imagination.
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| Broken Social Scene
You Forgot It in People
SOUND SAVER. Since the release of Feel Good Lost, Toronto music collective Broken Social Scene became a bit more collective, swelling from two members to ten (plus guests). As you'd expect with such a dramatic rise in membership, there's a lot more variety this time out. According to one of the members of this incarnation, trying to not "who did what" on this album would be almost an entire review in itself, as everyone took turns playing different instruments on different tracks and the whole thing was built from the ground up in a very collective fashion.
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| Butthole Surfers
Hairway To Steven
SOUND SAVER. The final album for the Surfers' legendary run on Touch and Go! Steven continues in the punk/psychedelic fusion vein of the past and explores a gentler, tuneful side. The lengthy opener "Jimi" is the album's high note, and is something of a tribute to Hendrix. The song titles themselves can't be found anywhere on the release -- instead, and quite notoriously, a series of cartoon drawings stand in for them. Some are fairly calm, but most show things like nude women displaying their butts and rabbits taking dumps on deer. Juvenile? Of course, but the Butthole Surfers never pretended to be nice and sweet. - All Music Guide
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| Sonic Youth
Koncertas Stan Brakhage
SOUND SAVER. The sixth edition of the SYR series is a live recording of the April 12, 2003 benefit concert held at and for The Anthology Film Archives, the international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of avant-garde and independent cinema. The event, celebrated the life and work of avant-garde film maker Stan Brakhage, featured Sonic Youth providing a 61-minute improvisation to Brakhage's silent films.
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| Guided by Voices
Bee Thousand
SOUND SAVER. The cult of indie rock thrives on the unexpected discovery, and in 1994 Guided by Voices was just the sort of musical phenomenon no one figured was still out there -- thirtysomething rock obsessives cranking out fractured guitar-driven pop tunes in a laundry room. Robert Pollard and his stable of beer buddies/backing musicians had been churning out stuff like Bee Thousand for years, but the album's surprise critical success marked the first time the group found a significant audience outside their scene.
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| Can
Future Days (reissue)
SOUND SAVER. Part of the essential series of reissues playable on SACD players. Remastered from the original tapes by the band with beefed up artwork including rare and unseen photos. Future Days was originally released in 1973 and featured the track "Moonshake."
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| Can
Monster Movie (reissue)
SOUND SAVER. Can's debut is the only full-length, proper release to feature original vocalist Malcolm Mooney, whose free-form ranting is matched by a raw, aggressive dynamic unlike anything else in the group's canon; driving, dissonant songs like the extraordinary "Father Cannot Yell" and "Outside My Door" even owe a rather surprising debt to psychedelia and garage rock. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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| Cabaret Voltaire
Red Mecca
SOUND SAVER. It isn't without reason that Red Mecca is often referred to as one of Cabaret Voltaire's most cohesive and brilliant records. And taken as a whole, the record contains all the characteristics that have made the Sheffield group such an influential entity when it comes to electronic music of the untethered, experimental variety that isn't afraid to shake its tail a little. - All Music Guide
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| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
From Here to Eternity
SOUND SAVER. Nick Cave launched his solo career in style with From Her to Eternity, an accomplished album mixing the frenzy and power of his Birthday Party days with a dank, moody atmosphere that showed he was not interested in simply continuing what the older group had done. . - All Music Guide
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| Wire
1985-1990: The A List
SOUND SAVER. 1985-1990: The A List is a fine 16-track compilation of the highlights from Wire's surprising and successful comeback. It bears some similarities to the sort of '80s college-radio synth/guitar pop being produced by the likes of New Order and the Cure, although it isn't as danceable, and it retains Wire's signature love of dissonance and pure sonic oddity. - All Music Guide
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| Max Richter
The Blue Notebooks
SOUND SAVER. Richter is a British-based, German-born pianist and composer. Following 2002's highly acclaimed "Memoryhouse" -- performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and released on the BBC's classical label, Late Junction -- "The Blue Notebooks" is his second solo album, a distinctive and adventurous work that is beautifully recorded and cinematic in scope. -AMG
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| mum
Summer Make Good
SOUND SAVER. Summer Make Good sees the band return with a bold and beautiful new album, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2002's acclaimed, Finally We Are No One. More cinematic than its predecessor, and undeniably darker in tone, Summer Make Good is as playful, narrative, and dynamic as it is melodic and emotive. Seamlessly blending live instrumentation and electronic/programmed elements, Múm produce a wealth of sonic texture, with instrumentation that includes melodica, glockenspiel, accordion, keyboards, trumpet, violin, bowed saw, pump organ, Chinese harp, and banjo.
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| The Magnetic Fields
The Wayward Bus | Distant Plastic Trees
SOUND SAVER. 1990's less-is-more DISTANT PLASTIC TREES is directly indebted to early-'80s minimalist-pop geniuses the Young Marble Giants, especially on the hypnotic "You Love To Fail" and the tremendously affecting "100,000 Fireflies," perhaps Merritt's most heartbreakingly beautiful song. By comparison, 1991's THE WAYWARD BUS is downright lush, combining Merritt's avowed love for Phil Spector, ABBA, and '60s French pop into keyboard-based two-minute pop classics like the Ronettes homage "When You Were My Baby" and the swinging "Suddenly There Is A Tidal Wave." Taken together, both albums are the perfect introduction to Stephin Merritt's magical pop world.
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| Ugly Casanova
Sharpen Your Teeth
SOUND SAVER. The highly anticipated first full-length from Modest Mouse singer/guitarist Isaac Brock. On "Sharpen Your Teeth," Mr. Brock is ably aided and abetted throughout by the enigmatic John Orth, as well as such luminaries as Tim Rutili of Califone/Red Red Meat and The Black Heart Procession's Pall Jenkins.
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| The Brian Jonestown Massacre
..And This Is Our Music
SOUND SAVER. Latest album from these psychedelic shoegazers delves into a strung-out mood, graced by touches of lo-fi and airy electronica. Includes these tracks: Introesque / Starcleaner / Geezers / I Never Told You / You Look Great When You're High / Here It Comes / When Jokers Attack / Prozac vs. Heroin / Prozac vs. Heroin Revisited / A New Low in Getting High / Some Things Go without Saying / Tchu'se / The Pregnancy Test.
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| Air
Moon Safari
SOUND SAVER. A cavalcade of analog synthesizers, organs, electric pianos, and processed voices populate "Moon Safari," a thoroughly appealing, otherworldly debut album from Air. This is soaring atmospherics and layers of sublime synths, straight from outer space.
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| Lightning Bolt
Ride the Skies
SOUND SAVER. Lightning Bolt has been hammering out molten riffs and searing volume since 1995. This album shows a refined attack and breakneck speeds. Essential listening for any noise-punk-rock fan who doesn't mind giving their ears a good old bleed.
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| Brian Eno
Here Come the Warm Jets (Reissue)
SOUND SAVER. In 1973, fed up with Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, Eno leapt into a solo career. History was made with this debut release. It's hard to overstate Brian Eno's influence on modern music. Climatic art-ambience never heard before and copied forever since.
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| Pinback
Pinback
SOUND SAVER. The debut album from A.B. Smith (ex-Three Mile Pilot) and Rob Crow (Heavy Vegetable, Thingy, Physics, Optiganally Yours). Ethereal pop harmonies with tranquil rhythms and beautifully hypnotic vocals. Every song has a tender melody that overwhelms your mood and defines your atmosphere.
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| The Misfits
Static Age
SOUND SAVER. Static Age shows that early on the Misfits' particular vision was strong enough to last over a full-vinyl set. Static Age barely cracks the half-hour mark, packing in 14 songs (plus a brief crackle of, naturally, static at the start and finish). Everyone in the band as they stood at the time just smokes; the recording quality is raw and strong, and those qualities which helped the Misfits stand out from the pack. -AMG
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| Seam
The Problem with Me
SOUND SAVER. When most people think of Chicago's classic indie rock heyday of the 90's, they think of Shellac, Tortoise, June of 44...but Seam should certainly be said in the same breath. This is as close to a perfect guitar album as they come. Awesome.
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| Evergreen
Evergreen
SOUND SAVER. REISSUE! Evergreen solidified in 1993 when Britt Walford (Slint, The Breeders, The For Carnation) joined on drums. A tight mix of percussive guitars, strolling, funky bass, and relentlessly catchy drumbeats escalated the drunken vocal sways of Sean McLoughlin to immeasurable heights. Equally inspired by Fugazi, Television, and The Stooges, Evergreen was a breath of fresh air that only Louisville folks were really ready to breathe.
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| Trans Am
Trans Am
SOUND SAVER. Trans Am's self-titled debut was labeled post-rock, but what you really had was prog rock meets 1985 Atari. These epic, spaced-out jams still give goosebumps. Guitar meets casio meets booming bass meets rock and roll heaven. A masterpiece.
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| A Minor Forest
Flemish Altruism (Constituent Parts 1993-1996)
SOUND SAVER. Fans of a particular Chicago sound -- the minimal, angular hardcore sound usually associated with Steve Albini, who produced half of the tracks on Flemish Altruism -- have a wonderful band in A Minor Forest. The songs collected on the album are sprawling and usually more laid-back than the sound implies, sometimes sounding like Shellac's more sparse work and sometimes slowing down to resemble the darker, bass-heavy offerings of Low ("Ed is 50"), but the band has the ability to explode into a full-scale hardcore sound. For those interested in song-based pop, this is not the right album, but anyone who can settle into a creepy crawl of heavy bass and off-kilter guitars will find this is an excellent work. - All Music Guide
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| Califone
Roomsound (reissue)
SOUND SAVER. This re-issue of Califone's debut full-length covers the same rustic, slightly ramshackle back forty that Tim Rutili has been ploughing since at least as far back as his previous band Red Red Meat. This time, the tilled bedrock unveils the most vividly colored, luring crop of songs Rutili has ever harvested. Roomsound is a hauntingly unique and distinctive record of crafted and sculpted beauty.
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| Smashing Pumpkins
Gish
SOUND SAVER. VINYL FORMAT. Nirvana gets all the credit, but Smashing Pumpkins were, dare we say, the better band in the early 90's. "Gish" is Billy Corgan and crew at their most raw. Get it just for the guitar riff on "Bury Me" alone. A vinyl essential.
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| Guided by Voices
The Best Of Guided By Voices: Human Amusements At Hourly Rates
SOUND SAVER. This 32-track greatest hits collection spans GBV's entire career from 1987-2003. Booklet includes info on the entire catalog. Released simultaneously with the "Hardcore UFOs" box set (which also contains this CD, but with a different sequence and different song versions), and the "Watch Me Jumpstart" DVD.
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| Pizzicato Five
Made In USA
SOUND SAVER. Although it's not billed as such, Pizzicato Five's stateside debut, Made in USA, is actually a compilation of tracks from their 15 or so albums. You need a taste for irreverent sampling and ironic deconstruction of lightweight pop idioms to dig this. But within that narrow field, Pizzicato Five are as good as it gets. They devise fare that's both funky and funny, made more human than most such projects by Maki Nomiya's fetching vocals. - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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| Les Savy Fav
Go Forth
SOUND SAVER. Attention!!! This 11 song creation was Les Savy Fav's third full-length since the band formed in 1996. The dynamic, art-punk brigade has created a cult-like following for their live shows and are renowned for their energy and atmosphere. "Go Forth" embodies the inner and outer struggles of this rock-foursome from Brooklyn, New York. The songs range from pulsing dance beats that verge on punk as in "Crawling can be Beautiful," to the haunting tales of the perilous German rave commute captured in "Disco Drive," to melancholy reminisces of a kidnapped youth.
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| Boards of Canada
Music Has the Right to Children
SOUND SAVER. "Music Has the Right to Children" is pure machine soul, reminiscent of some forgotten Japanese animation soundtrack or a rusting Commodore 64 just about to give up the ghost. It is also one of the best electronic releases of the past decade.
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| Bad Brains
Black Dots
SOUND SAVER. Nearly all the legendary early Bad Brains hits are here, including "Pay to Cum," "Don't Need It," "Regulator," "Banned in D.C.," "How Low Can a Punk Get?" and "Attitude," with a number of otherwise unheard or never-recorded elsewhere numbers. Absolutely necessary for Brains fans or anyone who appreciates the power of live, loud electric music. - All Music Guide
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| At the Drive-In
Relationship of Command
SOUND SAVER. Relationship Of Command explains how the band has earned such powerful allies. Its intense punk rock is a throwback to the kind of music that inspired the likes of the young Beasties, with a sound that recalls classic '80s post-punk, from Mission Of Burma to the Minutemen to Black Flag.
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| The Shins
Oh, Inverted World
SOUND SAVER. The first time we heard this album we thought, "where the hell did THIS come from?" The Shins debut was a breath of fresh air, pure pop that was neither sugar or cheese. Well before the Garden State Soundtrack, there was "Oh, Inverted World."
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| Velocity Girl
Copacetic
SOUND SAVER. Velocity Girl played picture perfect three-minute pop songs. Their sound was undeniably lo-fi, but the budget production would not deter their melodic anthems. Before Veruca Salt, Rainer Maria, and Mates of State, there was Velocity Girl.
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| Afghan Whigs
Up In It
SOUND SAVER. Set to a dense musical backing--led by Rick McCollum's searing guitar--the album is a collection of travelogues through the murky waters of singer Greg Dulli's twisted mind. The standout track is "I Know Your Little Secret," which opens on a plaintive note before using the cracked steps of Dulli's ravaged voice to build itself into an insistent and genuinely threatening piece of rock & roll. While Up In It, is perhaps not the most cohesive version of Dulli and Co.'s vision, it is a lot more emotionally credible than anything else previously associated with Sub Pop. The record is a clearly marked signpost in the Whigs' simultaneous trips to the bottom of the bottle and to the lowest possible plateau of relations between men and women.
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