Due Sept. 14 on Frenchkiss, the new platter from everyone's food-obsessed art-punks powers forth on full throttle.

By Stephen M. Deusner

"We still got our appetite! We still got our appetite!" Tim Harrington scream-sings on the first track on Root for Ruin, as if to remind you that Les Savy Fav are still hungry, still striving, still not taking your cheers and applause for granted. This is the group's fifth full-length, and it extends a period of such sustained quality and critical esteem that they're liable to be taken for granted even by their most ardent fans. [Er, you got that right. Case in point: today's half-hearted, gee-we-really-wanna-like-this-record, review of the album at Pitchfork. - Aggregator Ed.]

The band doesn't accept that fate lightly, deploying eleven full-throttle art-punk songs marked by Harrington's smart(-ass) lyrics and shaped by the spidery interplay between Seth Jabour and Andrew Reuland's guitars. Sure, "Appetites" and epic closer "Clear Spirits" probably sound better live, with a crowd singing and fists pumping along to their shouted choruses, but on record, Les Savy Fav generates a frenzied energy that pushes things along at a breakneck speed.

Even when they slow down, the band still packs a punch: "Sleepless in Silver Lake" waxes sentimental about a night in L.A., striking a peculiar balance between sincerity and irony.

"Harlem River Blues" is taken from the forthcoming album of the same name.

By Blurt Staff

As we've pointed out previously in this space, Justin Townes Earle - who'll be one of the featured artists in the upcoming print issue of BLURT, due next month - has a new album, Harlem River Blues, also due out next month (on Bloodshot). It's his third longplayer and follows last year's acclaimed, award-winning Midnight at the Movies. He cut it in Nashville (he recently moved to NYC) at the House of David studio, and it features guest  appearances from Jason Isbell, Bryn Davies (Patty Griffin,  Guy Clark), Calexico's Paul Niehaus and Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor.

If you want a sneak peek at the record, you've come to the right place. Have a free MP3 of the title track right here, and enjoy:

"Harlem River Blues"

You haven't danced until you've gone dancing at 2am in an underground Buenos Aires nightclub...

By Blurt Staff

In conjunction with contributor Lew Herman's article on Argentinian Cumbia "Mixing, Mashing, Sampling, Bastardizing" that we published today, we've got a pretty interesting gallery of photos to share with you, below. Enjoy!

(above and below) King Coya

Fauna

Chancha Via Circuito

Douster

Frikstailers

Largartijeando

El G (Grant)

Vila Diamante (Diego)

Grant & Diego at Zizek headquarters

Tremor (live at Niceto)

ZZK Tour Poster

"South America got it bad": must-own new compilation Cumbia Beat Vol. 1 from the Vampi Soul label takes a close look at some vital sounds of the past. Don't forget to check out our story on the contemporary Argentinian Cumbia scene, too.

By Carl Hanni

The plethora of re-issues and re-issue labels in the last 10 + years has made clear one truth that had previously been well known to record collectors, DJs and the musically adventurous but largely off the radar of the world at large: the explosion of rock & roll in the 1960s was truly world-wide, affecting virtually every corner of the planet. From Thai, Russian and Australian surf bands to Mexican, Cambodian and Turkish psychedelic acts, whatever spark The Beatles struck set off a conflagration that ignited youth culture in a universal flame. 

South America got it bad, with Brazil, Columbia, Argentina, Chile, and other countries instantly producing 100s (or more likely 1000) of acts mixing up garage rock and psychedelic music with their own local and regional music and whatever they were hearing on the radio from neighboring countries. Seemingly overnight thousands of kids grabbed electric guitars and Farfisa organs and jumped into the fray.

One such hybrid that came out of Peru, chicha, has been experiencing a well-deserved renaissance of recognition in a the last few years. The roots of chica go back to the 50s and the abundance of orchestras and combos that came out of Columbia and Peru, playing successive waves of mambo, guaguanco, merengue, cha cha cha and cumbia, eventually blending in Afro-Cuban grooves, ska and rocksteady from Jamaica, various other Carribbean blends and American soul, R&B, jazz and rock & roll. 

Although a couple of tracks on Cumbia Beat Vol. 1  date back to 1966, including Los Demonios de Corocochay's "La Chicera" (named after a local liquor, it gave the new music it's moniker), chica really took off in 1968 in an explosion of psychedelic clothes, hair and culture, and especially the wide and varied use of the electric guitar. The guitar - fuzzed out, wah wahed, reverbed, rapidly picked and strummed, ubiquitous - and the use of organ and other amplified instruments of rock & roll mixed and matched with all of the other available sounds of the era became the calling card of chicha. The guitars on Cumbia Beat Vol. 1 are a guitar lovers dream and fun to track the influences of, including the clean, precise picking of  jazz, the tremolo and reverb-drenched leads of surf music, the dirtier fuzz of garage rock and psychedelia, and the shimmering tones of African highlife. When mixed with the percussion heavy, surging rhythms of cumbia and regional Andean musics, chicha became an instant dance music phenomenon, picked up largely by the working classes in Peru, but also listened to across class and geographical boundaries. 

Vampi Soul's double CD, 25 track collection Cumbia Beat Vol 1 is a sexy, expansive companion to Barbes Records earlier Roots of Chicha CD from 2007. Featuring key tracks from chica acts like Los Destellos (featuring the pioneering chica guitar player Enrique Delgado Montes), Los Beta 5, Silvestre Montez y sus Guantanameros, Los Orientales de Paramonga, Manzinita y su Conjunto, Los Mirlos and several others, it's an impressive collection. Energetic, guitar driven rave-ups like "Guajira Sicodelica" by innovators Los Destellos, "Lobos al Escape" by Los Orientales de Paramonga and "La Jorobita" by Los Beta 5 will be real eye openers to anyone unfamiliar with amazing vitality of chicha. Los Beltons "Cumbia Pop" sounds like a Latin American Link Wray. The tastefully psychedelic freakout of "Lamento de un Galax" by Los Galax could only come from Peru, from chica. Every song is a ringer, there's no filler.  Of special note are Santiago Alfaro and Alfredo Villar's wonderful, comprehensive liner notes that puts chica in it's musical, cultural and political context. It's also beautifully packaged, with an eye-catching collection of band photos and album cover art and an appropriately psychedelic cover. 

You should listen closely. This is some of the most perfectly syncopated music ever produced, and there's incredible sophistication in the syncopation. It really gets its groove on. The twenty-five tracks here are some of the most joyous, positive music I've ever heard, and if some part of this music doesn't get some part of your body started you might have a problem. I hear there's more. 

Released this week by File Under: Music, Are You My Mother?,  by the New Pornographers/Immaculate Machine member, is as good as, and in some ways surpasses, the latest one from the NPs.

By Mike Shanley

Kathryn Calder never planned on recording a whole set of her own songs until very recently, but after years of playing with keyboards and handling lead or supporting vocals the New Pornographers and Immaculate Machine, it was only a matter of time before her surroundings would rub off on her. Members of the NPs pitch in throughout the album, as do members of Ladyhawk, but this is Calder's baby from start to finish and she's well equipped to handle the spotlight.

Are You My Mother? sounds like a collection of songs that have been gestating for a while, written at different periods of time. Each track sounds differs greatly from the previous one with regard to mood, tempo and instrumentation. Although they all could generally be considered as smart pop, Calder never sticks with one sound or formula. The two opening songs move slowly, but in different ways: "Slip Away" begins with just piano, voice and found percussion, gradually adding the rhythm section and volume until wakes itself up with a chorus of stunning "ooh"s; "Low" is a piano-driven waltz that stakes out its middle ground with a chorus of subdued female back-up singers (which include Neko Case). Right when it seems like Calder's m.o. might be understated atmosphere, she kicks up the tempo with a bright melody full of echoey heavy guitars that would fit in on one of Case's album ("Castor and Pollux"). Stripping things down, she later skips the drum kit in favor of percussion and the handclaps the five male back-up singers. It's most distinctive because the song, "If You Only Knew," continually turns the beat around and the clappers do not. Later on, a quiet acoustic guitar song (with birds chirping in the background) follows a four-on-the-floor rocker that would make Dan Bejar envious.

With regard to her other bandmates' influence, Calder often seems to have Carl Newman's skill at making a densely-packed tune sound effervescent and easy to digest. At least two songs deal with budding romance, which Calder discusses in rich metaphor about arrows that have nothing to do with cupids or with lines like "Take a look at my heart, you'll find the chambers are blown wide open." She even squeezes a surprising number of syllables into compact spaces in several songs. This combination makes Are You My Mother? as satisfying as this year's New Pornographers' album.

[Photo Credit: Andrew Schmidt]

Kurt Vile, GZA, DJ Kool Herc among those just added to the Sept. 3-5 event.

By Blurt Staff

Intriguingly, this year's All Tomorrow's Parties - New York hasn't sold out yet; clearly another sign of the struggling 2010 concert scene, which has brought scores of cancellations, scaled-back tours and a phenomenon known as "papering" (promoters giving away tickets just to get warm bodies into the venues and queued up at the concession stands). But you'd be a chump to miss out on ATP, and they've just announced some additions to the already impressive roster. Among them:

This year Syd Butler of Les Savy Fav is curating the comedy stage and he has chosen the following comedians so far for Friday September 3^rd: Hannibal Buress and Heather Lawless.

Joining the already eclectic mix for Sunday September 5th curated by Jim Jarmusch: GZA, Kurt Vile, T Model Ford, DJ Kool Herc and Ricky Powell Slideshow.

Full details and ticketing at the official site.

LINE-UP

Friday 3rd September - Don't Look Back:

IGGY & THE STOOGES perform Raw Power / SLEEP perform Holy Mountain / MUDHONEY perform Superfuzz Bigmuff + Early Singles / THE SCIENTISTS perform Blood Red River (first ever U.S. show!) / Comedy from HANNIBAL BURESS and HEATHER LAWLESS

Saturday 4th September - Curated by ATP:

SONIC YOUTH / EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY / THE BREEDERS / HALLOGALLO (Michael Rother and Friends present the Music of NEU!) / TORTOISE / FUCK BUTTONS / BARDO POND / BEAK> / FURSAXA / THE BOOKS / SHELLAC (HOUSE BAND) / PAPA M / SLEEPY SUN / TEXT OF LIGHT / APSE / AVI BUFFALO / SIAN ALICE GROUP

Sunday 5th September - Curated by Jim Jarmusch:

SUNN O))) + BORIS PRESENT ALTAR / HOPE SANDOVAL AND THE WARM INVENTIONS / RAEKWON / DUNGEN / GIRLS / FUCKED UP / WOODEN SHJIPS / THE BLACK ANGELS / THE GREENHORNES / VIVIAN GIRLS / WHITE HILLS / GZA / KURT VILE / T-MODEL FORD / DJ KOOL HERC / RICKY POWELL SLIDE SHOW

Strange Games and Funky Things coming in September.

By Blurt Staff

Easily the best mixtape we've heard around here in months is the forthcoming DJ Spinna/BBE Soundsystem-compiled continuous mix Strange Games and Funky Things Vol. 5. The two-CD set is the latest in the popular series from Britain's BBE label and is due Sept. 28.

The Strange Games... series which began in the summer of 1997, represents the blueprint for modern R&B and rap music. It joins the dots between 70s soul, 80s rare groove and 90s mass market hip hop. This compilation contains a wide variety of styles of tracks, from classic dance-floor fillers as well as lesser known delights. A more accessible diggers delight if you wish with an emphasis on quality track and not just songs worth having for a 2 second sample. Featuring a much more worldly selection than its predecessors - tracks by the multi platinum selling War to Sylvia ( Founder of Sugarhill Records) sit side by side with world music underground icons like C.K. Mann and Francisco Aguabella.

The full title is Stange Games and Funky Things Vol. 5: Smoking ‘70s Soul and Rare Grooves, and that should clue you in. Check out the tracklisting, below. The first disc is the mix, while the second contains most of  the original sides.

CD 1 mixed by DJ Spinna

01. Ned Doheny - Get It Up for Love
02. Sylvia - Sweet Stuff
03. The Ambassadors - I Ain't Got The Love (Of One Girl On My Mind)
04. Richard Evans feat. Linda Williams - Capricorn Rising
05. Starvue - Body Fusion
06. Sylvia St James - Motherland
07. The Soul Searchers - Ashley's Roachclip
08. Willie Hale - Groove On
09. Eddy Senay - Cameo
10. SSO - Faded Lady
11. Cal Tjader - Morning
12. Francisco Aguabella - Ramon's Desire
13. The Philly Armada Orchestra - For The Love Of Money
14. Family Tree feat. Sharon Brown - Family Tree
15. The Perfect Circle - The Hands Of Time
16. WAR - War Is Coming, War Is Coming
17. Hiroshi Fukumura - Hunt Up Wind
18. Wood Brass And Steel - Always There
19. C.K. Mann & His Carousel 7 - Asafo Beesuon / Obaa Yaa Aye Me Bone (Medley) Edit
2! 0. Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter
21. Bill Summers - Brazilian Skies

CD 2 unmixed

01. Ned Doheny - Get It Up for Love
02. Sylvia - Sweet Stuff
03. The Ambassadors - I Ain't Got The Love (Of One Girl On My Mind)
04. Richard Evans feat. Linda Williams - Capricorn Rising
05. Sylvia St James - Motherland
06. Eddy Senay - Cameo
07. Cal Tjader - Morning
08. Francisco Aguabella - Ramon's Desire
09. The Philly Armada Orchestra - For The Love Of Money
10. Family Tree feat. Sharon Brown - Family Tree
11. The Perfect Circle - The Hands Of Time
12. WAR - War Is Coming, War Is Coming
13. Hiroshi Fukumura - Hunt Up Wind
14. Wood Brass And Steel - Always There
15. C.K. Mann & His Carousel 7 - Asafo Beesuon / Obaa Yaa Aye Me Bone (Medley) Edit
16. Bill Summers - Brazilian Skies

On the Billboard charts pages, that is... Above, the band expresses their surprise and pleasure at the news.

By Fred Mills

It's a milestone for both Arcade Fire and the mighty little label that could, Merge Records: with 156,000 copies of The Suburbs sold last week, Billboard is reporting of last week's official SoundScan tally, Arcade Fire officially enters the Top 200 at #1. This comes just a day or so on the heels of the news that the band also debuted at #1 on the UK charts, selling 61,000 copies overseas. The previous album, Neon Bible, made it to number two on the Billboard charts.

Word initially started creeping out across the internet last night when Merge tweeted a congratulations to the band - clearly, the crown jewel in the venerable indie's stable of artists. Here's hoping they have that CD pressing plant working overtime to fill the reorders.

But what does this have to do with Taylor Swift, you ask? Plenty! While Swift is no stranger to the top of the charges, last week also saw her new digital single "Mine" debut at #1 after selling 297,000 downloads (and after only 4 full days of sales, according to Billboard, as she had to rush release the track in order to combat leaks).

The best part: Arcade Fire bumped off the previous week's #1 album, Nightmare by mook-rockers Avenged Sevenfold, while Swift's top placement meant that "Love the Way You Lie," by just-plain-mook Eminem, had to settle for the second spot. There is justice in the world.

Due this week from Anti-/Epitaph, the North Carolina ensemble's full-length fulfills all the promise of its debut EP and then some.

By Lee Zimmerman

Given their idyllic handle, and cover art that offers sepia renderings of rural environs, the presence of acoustic guitars, harpsichord, accordion and forlorn vocals comes as no surprise. Still, this loose conglomerate easily bests any lo-fi expectations by elevating this sophomore set into more sophisticated realms. Orchestration dominates the proceedings, and even renders two of these songs as chamber string symphonies.

However, unlike the ensemble's debut EP, Time Taunts Me# the new album makes better use of concise melodies and winsome arrangements, as demonstrated by the woozy strum accompanying "A Room Where Your Paintings Hang" and the dramatic, cinematic flourishes of "Walk Around the Lake."

Vocalist/guitarist/conceptual mastermind Ari Picker remains the presumed ringleader, but contributions are coaxed from multi-instrumentalist Emma Nadeau and guitarist Joah Tunnell, who, together with drummer Scott Carle, make this more of a band effort. The title track proves a stunning example of their symmetry, with Nadeau's soaring soprano wafting through the song's weary environs. Clearly, Lost in the Trees is a work in progress, but their evolution is rapidly advancing.

Latest class-A production from Tompkins Square: Bloody War: Songs 1924-1939; produced by Chris King of People Take Warning fame.

By Blurt Staff

Soldier's laments, heart-songs, and patriotic tunes have been an essential part of the American soundscape for many generations.  Most of these compositions, however, have been identified with the Vietnam war or with World War II.  This newly minted collection presents performances captured between 1924 and 1939 of songs originating from the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the "war to end all wars," the First World War.  These recordings were the folk foundation both of the common soldier's perspective of the battlefield and of the family and loved ones that were left behind.

'Bloody War' recreates the musical panorama of the early 20th century with songs of warfare that are humorous and tragic, sardonic and vivid.  Many of these songs have not been heard since they were originally issued in the 1920s and 1930s and are as relevant today as they were when they were first composed.  Highlights of this collection include the masterpiece "Dixie Division" by Fiddlin' John Carson, the legendary Atlanta, GA entertainer that was among the first rural performers to wax country music.  His idiosyncratic fiddling meshes together a paean for Southern soldiers that have fought in the American Civil War to the First World War, held together with a medley of "Dixie," "Swanee River," and "Yankee Doodle." Contemporary banjoist and singer, Wade Mainer, contributes the poignant "Not A Word Of That Be Said" a mere two years before the outbreak of World War II.

A deep diversity of artists & performances are to be found in this anthology: from the inspired street-singing of William & Versey Smith to the plaintive balladry of Buell Kazee and from the red hot breakdown of Earl Johnson to the mesmerizing guitar blues of Darby & Tarlton.  Produced by Christopher King and Josh Rosenthal, with art-design by Susan Archie and liner-notes by country music historian Tony Russell.  A portion of all proceeds from the sale of this album will be donated to Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA.org).

Tracks : 
001  Just As The Sun Went Down - Zeke Morris 
002  Bloody War - Jimmy Yates' Boll Weevils 
003  Faded Coat Of Blue - Buell Kazee 
004  Army Mule In No Man's Land - Coley Jones 
005  Rainbow Division - Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton 
006  Battleship Of Maine - Red Patterson's Piedmont Long Rollers 
007  Long Way To Tipperary - Frank Hutchison 
008  Dixie Division - Fiddlin' John Carson & His Virginia Reelers
009  That Old Vacant Chair - Dixon Brothers
010  Johnnie Get Your Gun - Earl Johnson & His Clodhoppers
011  Uncle Sam & The Kaiser - Ernest Stoneman 
012  He Is Coming To Us Dead - G.B. Grayson - Henry Whitter 
013  Captain Won't You Let Me Go Home - Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton 
014  Not A Word Of That Be Said - Wade Mainer & Sons of The Mountaineers
015  Everybody Help The Boys Come Home - William & Versey Smith