Won't You Be Our T. Valentine?

February has some big things in store for us here at the shop. A handful of in-store performances, some awesome new stuff, and a giant box of killer used lps we've just got in promise to keep everyone on their toes during this, the shortest month of the year.

STORE EVENTS
*click thumbnail for larger version of poster*

BLACK VELVET EXPLOSION - FEB 11TH

If you've stopped by the shop lately, you've seen our amazing new tribute to our lord Conway, painted on black velvet by former local boy Chris Henry. February ArtsArcata we'll be hanging a whole slew of new black velvet paintings featuring celebrities like William Shatner, Dwight Yoakam, The baby from Eraserhead and more! Come enjoy the evening as we rock out to Alannah Myles on repeat.

WATER TOWER BUCKET BOYS vs ABE LINCOLN - FEB 12TH

They've wowed you at the barn dances and they strutted their stuff behind the crooked jades at the playhouse last month, this month see these fun-lovin' boys from Portland tear hell through the shop. With fake bears and stove top hats, they'll be playing an entire set of Abe Lincoln inspired tunes but don't say anything 'cuz we told 'em they were coming by for a free lunch. If'n you can't make the afternoon show, catch them later at HumBrews with Hillstomp for 10 bucks (9:30pm).

TANSY & TARWEED AND A STICK & A STONE - FEB 15TH.
Noted for her unique guitar style, Brenna plays original folk tunes involving guitar, cello, and piano. She recently helped form Tansy and Tarweed, a anarcha-folk doom jazz quartet based in Portland, OR. A Stick and A Stone has been described as having “elements such as classical instrumentation, punk-infused chamber tones, and supernatural vocals, teamed with multi-disciplinary performances."

GUYS ON GUITARS - FEB 23RD

Former Broken Hearts guitarist / solo musician Zak McLongstreet returns to town for a visit and will be playing an instore set alongside Colin Begell from Strix Vega and Phil of TLSNBE in a show we affectionately call, "gUys wIth gUItArs." We'll be starting things about 5 p.m. so stop by and grab some floor.


7COME11 at JAMBALAYA - FEB 4TH (DAMN)
A well wishing promoter dropped off a 45 of these guys for us at the store and after a four album long Conway Twitty session we threw it on to see what a song titled "dollar store" sounded like. What we got was a pleasant surprise in the form of bluesy guitar funky organ and on point drums, creating a vocal-less groove that reminded us a bit of artists like Quintron or Decheman and the Gardener. This self proclaimed "Hammond Organ Trio" just played the Jambalaya and before you weep too much at missing the show, they seem to hail from Santa Cruz so make sure you catch it next time, we know we'll be there.

THE TICKET FANDANGO

So we've had a metric shit ton of folks heading into the store wondering about where to buy their tickets. To these folks we'd like to say we're trying our best to bring in as many event tickets as we can with our new location but bear with us as we wait for the tickets roll in and in the coming weeks if you see some we're missing, please let us know. That being said, no we will not be selling tickets for the Animal Collective shows up here.

NEW FEBRUARY STUFF

CAVE SINGERS "No Witch" - FEB 22ND

So we got an early copy of the new cave singers album to peruse and from the moment we hit play we were sold. Horns, handclaps and an organ are just a few new things added to the same awesome equation the Cave Singers mapped out with Invitation Songs way back in 2007.

NEW MOGWAI "Hardcore will Never Die but You Will" - FEB 15TH

Mogwai have always seemed to have a much better sense of humor than most of their peers. While most of the bands that sound like them opt for either brooding, austere soundscapes or breathtakingly ethereal musical collages, the Scottish five-piece have a knack for poking fun at everything from the silliness of the genre they’re often lumped into to the stagnancy of much of today’s music by toying around with dynamics and silence to shake things up aurally. -Möhammad Choudhery

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW "Cervantine" - FEB 15TH

With each album this group seems to shed their history as indie rock gypsyphiles and secure their legacy as modern purveyors of a European musical legacy.

DAN MELCHIOR "Assemblage Blues" - FEB 15TH

Let's just be honest, we love Dan Melchior. We buy nearly everything this fuzz rocker has ever put out and we only say nearly because he seems to release a new 45 every month. This month shows another new lp and while we weren't able to offer you a sneak peak track, this description from the label just about sums it up.
"As Dan Melchior continues to kick the Medway gutbucket to the curb, he is also willfully absorbing all manner've underground cankerous crud along the way. For those endeared to wallet chains and crisp, cuffed jeans, this has been tantamount to heresy. But for thems what's embraced the sounds of "the new Dan," said aberrations are as welcome to caustic ears as a cold beer is to a set've parched lips. And while last year's Visionary Pangs LP (released with Das Menace on the S-S label) was a grower and a half, Assemblage Blues snuffs it as if it were no more'n a sneeze in the wind." "This here LP seemingly vibes from such left field Blighty heavies as Instant Automatons and L. Voag as well as the dark side of Alex Chilton (think Dusted in Memphis) and the 3:00 A.M. shudder of Prominent Disturbance. Within the canon of the Siltbreeze label, Melchior's magnificent malarkey on Assemblage Blues has secured him a spot somewhere between The Shadow Ring and Jim Shepard. The pone don't sizzle much hotter than there. And the sneezin' is nil."

SOMETHING FROM OUR PICKS BOARDS


--Matts' picks this week include a little something we found while making our giant Numero Group order last month, and truthfully we forgot about it to what with all the Syl Johnson, Mighty Mike and Brotherman on Cassette but forget all that right now and let me tell you about Johnny Lunchbreak. For less than two years, Johnny Luchbreak wowed the musical scene of Hartford Connecticut circa before disappearing into obscurity and leaving behind a small legacy of unreleased demos. Though they never recorded an album, this demo collection is an infectious garage/funk/blues/pop monster that has moments of Jefferson Airplane, Bill Fay and The Modern Lovers even though they were attempting a Stones/Bee Gees thing. All in all this is a story old as time: start out playing for fun, get serious, find success elusive, then call it quits in frustration when you realize that feeding your child is more important than playing bars in Vernon for pitchers of beer. CLICK HERE FOR A SAMPLE TRACK



--Adam's picks this month are a bit more contemporary. The Lions are the result of an impromptu 2006 recording session by members of Breakestra, Connie Price and the Keystones, Rhythm Roots All-Stars, Orgone, Sound Directions, Plant Life, Poetics and Macy Gray, at Orgone's Killion Studios, in Los Angeles. Released on the oh so loved Ubiquity Records, Jungle Struttin' is a collection of ten originals and one cover that has been hailed as "a modern old school reggae album."

	The Lions - jungle struttin' .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

COMIC BOOKS

UMBRELLA ACADEMY
A book so good, you'll hate yourself for enjoying it. The reason behind this self-loathing? The writing talent behind this amazing book is none of other than Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance. Just to wet your appetite, here's how it begins...
" It was the same year "Tusslin' Tom" Gurney knocked out the space-squid from Rigel X-9. It happened at 9:38 p.m. It came from an atomic flying elbow...forty three extraordinary children were born to mostly single women, who had shown no signs of pregnancy, in seemingly random locations around the world." Now how do you NOT want to read about that? With an amazing story, talking monkeys and layouts that have the feel of a Wes Anderson movie this book is an ever-lovin' steal at three bucks off the cover price!

A DOWNLOADABLE GIFT FOR YOU

WUDOS BAND
Two Staten Island giants collide in a mash up of mythical proportions. Created by Wu-affiliate Cloud Kicker Original and Emilio Sparks and produced by Tekst, of the Higher Concept (who have previously produced or engineered for members of the Wu), right now it only exists on the web and faded blankets along Canal St. but given the buzz around this release we should all keep our fingers crossed.
CLICK HERE

Don't forget the design contest ends this month, as well as the George Clinton picture lp raffle. Feel free to stop by to drop a valentine in the boxes taped to our desks... we have a sneaky feeling Henry's going to win.

keep diggin' those crates
--Matt n' Adam

How the hell is January almost over?

Garyfest 2011 day 24, a glorious day here at the shop as a whole slew of new orders roll through the door and some things we never thought would ever materialize! Between R. Crumb's "Hot Women" collection, Thee Vicars, Nigeria70, it's amazing we can even manage to throw things into the racks instead of our hold piles. What's our secret for keeping our racks and your racks stuffed? ordering more than one. Each new order we each make a tough choice of what one record to keep for our own collections and this week it's a tie between falling in love with your own choice and coveting thy neighbors'

MATT's PICK

Angola Soundtrack
"Angolan music is truly unique and stands on its own as a sound that can only be found in that part of the world...superbly melodic, highly danceable, hypnotic, raw, quintessentially beautiful - and totally addictive. From the nine Analog Africa releases thus far, 'Angola Soundtrack' has been the most difficult to create." --taken from the Analog Africa blog


ADAM's PICK


Mighty Mike Lenaburg
Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg chronicles Phoenix, Arizona’s off-”Funky Broadway” scene that happened while Dyke and his Blazers were setting national charts on fire in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. Covering Tejano psych, flute funk, both horny soul and horny kid soul, cackling R&B, deep ballads, and fist-fight doo-wop." --taken from the Numero Group website.

	Lon Rogers & the Soul Blenders - My Girl Is A Soul Girl .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

OTHER NEW TITLES
The Decemberists "The King is Dead"
Ebo Taylor "Love and Death"
Analog Africa "Afro Beat Airways"

COMING JANUARY 25TH
Iron & Wine "Kiss Each Other Clean"
Deerhoof "Vs Evil"
Carolina Chocolate Drops "Luminescent Orchestrii"
Monotonix "Not Yet"

COMING FEBRUARY 15TH
A Hawk & A Hacksaw "Cervantine"
Mogwai "Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will"

NUMERO EXPLOSION

Our giant order is in from Chicago and we spent the day building our Tower of Numero! and if the legends are correct, all 39 pieces combined build a tower of Babel to musical heaven. I know we're super excitable about everything we stock around here but we can't say this enough times, "there isn't a bad Numero Group release." Anything you buy from these guys is a hit as far as we're concerned, be it obscure Psych-Folk from 70's Illinois, the soundtrack to a never released blacksplotation movie or a label that died because their president ran off with the cash, it's more than a record it's a lesson in music history.

GRAPHIC NOVEL
(Although I'm usually reviewing our rack for the blog, this one is such a favorite of Adam's that I had to ask he write the review for Marvels, the graphic novel that got him reading comics again. --Matt)



Marvels
What goes through the mind of the average Joe when superhuman freaks smash the shit out of your city. Told from a humble reporters point of view, this story is full of real emotion, fear, hate, love and wonder. The type of things we would all experience if you were to look up in the sky and see The Human Torch(a man engulfed in flames) trading blows with Prince Namor (the ruler of the supposed mythical Atlanteans). Drawn by one of our favorite artists Alex Ross, this book ended a ten year comic drought for me, and is a must read for any comic nerd lapsed or otherwise.

(With a price tag of twenty bucks, we here at Missing Link think you should only have to pay 15...take that comic code.)

More to come in the next week or two, make sure to stop by the shop and snap up one of our new bumper stickers featuring our new slogan


keep diggin' those crates
--Matt n' Adam

2011: hitting the ground running.

SHOP NEWS
We're steadily unpacking everything in our new spot and finding boxes of records we've been meaning to put out, as well as show posters that will be for sale on our walls. Our thanks to everyone who came in for the in-store featuring Ms. Lana Rebel and friends, there will be many more to come. Our next in store will be Feb. 12th with the Water Tower Bucket Boys!

DESIGN CONTEST
Click below to view a larger version of our design contest flier with all the rules and regulations. Our judge and artistic director Lush Newton has talked us into extending the deadline until the end of February so get movin' and take your place as the designer of our latest sweatshirt!


RECORD CONTEST
Also extended into the month of February, our record raffle. For a fee of $4 get yourself a ticket and be entered to win a limited picture disk LP of George Clinton in Alpaca chaps! All proceeds go towards some serious medical bills and there's no limit to entry so feel free to stuff the box. Click below to view the lp in its glory!


PORTLANDIA
Adam happened upon this trailer the other day which begs the question, how do you know when your scene is over? January 21st "Saturday Night Live" cast member Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney/Wild Flag member Carrie Brownstein will bring you their take on the place everyone moves from Arcata to...for a few months. Watch the first episode now by clicking below and watching the first episode courtesy of HULU.


SONGS FROM OUR BRAIN
We decided to do something a bit different this month and focus on songs that have gotten lodged deep within our brain lately. Nothing's worse for your friends and family than being drug along for the ride during a case of brain itch, so we decided to share ours with you to give them some relief.

M.I.A. "Bad Girls"
Part of her new downloadable mix tape "Vicki Leekx," this track is Paper Planes 2.0. Featuring haunting bazaar synth and a pounding, syncopated beat, courtesy of Timbalands' protégé Danja, Mi.I.A. has delivered another track that furrows deep into your brain. As one reviewer encapsulated it, "the memorable semi-nonsensical phrases repeated until they become absurdly and transcendentally powerful," are what cement this and other M.I.A. hits' addictive nature. The rest of the album is admittedly a bit spotty, with few other moments standing up to this monster of a track but as local music nerd King Maxwell pointed out, you have to remember this is an east coast mix tape and a free one at that.


Panda Bear "You Can Count on Me"
Limited to a mere 3000 copies, it's a pretty sure bet most of us missed the new tracks put out this year by Animal Collective's own Panda Bear. So far four tracks have been released on two seven inches and after listening on repeat for days, our ears are already salivating for more. Some tracks have that classic Panda Bear sound that made such an instant hit but also there's a bit of something new in there as well, something that shows a positive evolution in this 33 year old musicians' solo work. Expect the full length out this April but until then, here's a taste.


Cazwell "All Over Your Face"
12 months of Cazwell still hasn't tarnished our love for this thong rockin' gay rapper from Massachusetts. Between releasing his own string of hits and producing Amanda Lapour's first album, it seems Cazwell hasn't found time to release his second full length, "Watch My Mouth," on LP just yet but the 12'' of our favorite track is still available if you hunt.

	Cazwell - All Over Your Face .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Michael Hurley Unholy Modal Rounders "Slurf Song"
After hearing a cover of this song during our in-store with Lana Rebel, it burned our ears until we finally tracked down where we'd heard it before. From an album recorded over the course of three days back in 1975, Peter Stampfel, Michael Hurley, Jeff Fredrick and a crew of others recorded a lighthearted bit of silly songcrafting that follows your every whistle.


GRAPHIC NOVEL

This month we're excited to highlight a series that's so good, we wish we could get alzheimers so we could read it again for the first time. The premise is this: characters from all our favorite bedtime stories flee their homelands, driven out by an evil oppressor, and wind up refugees, hidden in the heart of New York City. Volume one showcases hardboiled detective Bigby Wolf attempting to unravel the mystery of who killed Snow White's sister, Rose Red. Each of the first three storylines try and exemplify a different genre: the first is a murder mystery, the next a conspiracy thriller, and then a caper story. For nine years now the series has evolved and transformed characters and classic legends alike, producing numerous spin offs and winning 12 Eisner awards, all the while keeping me just as hooked as when I used to watch "Six Feet Under." Pick up any of the first four volumes at the shop, or get em all for ten bucks off the combined cover price!

NEW TITLES ARE A-COMIN'
Iron & Wine "Kiss Each Other Clean"
Coming out at the end of January, another release from Indie beard Sam Bean!
Tree By The River
Marisa Anderson "The Golden Hour"
We had a few folks from Mississippi records come by and check out our store over the holidays. We spoke of how much we enjoy their cassette comps. and were told, "if you like our re-releases, wait till you check out Marisa Anderson." Her new album, released this month on Mississippi, features 12 improvisations for guitar and lap steel.



That's all for now folks, stay tuned for updates on new releases, restocks of our year end favorites and a schedule of this year's ArtsArcata madness!
keep diggin' those crates.
--Matt n' Adam.

Enter The New Store

Well we opened the doors, and while we may not have all the nails hammered down but we do have a killer stock of records, cds and graphic novels to come out swinging. Don't forget us this holiday season, as you do the shopping for the music nerd on your list, we've got gift certificates, new Missing Link gear and a slew of sale items for this Festivus. First though, let's talk about some new stuff that just came in the doors this month.

The Extra Lens (John Darnielle & Franklin Bruno)

"For a band that’s been around, on and off, for almost 20 years, The Extra Lens has kept a pretty low profile. Then again, “low profile” is pretty much the best way to sum up Undercard, the band’s second full-length, and its first since 2002’s Martial Arts Weekend. Originally known as The Extra Glenns, the duo of The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle and Nothing Painted Blue’s Franklin Bruno sounds exactly like a mix of those two projects, but where Martial Arts was more of a slapdash, punk-folk affair, Undercard peddles in a more mature, assured—though no less skeletal—kind of songcraft. With an acoustic-plus-distortion-plus-piano approach that recalls Billy Bragg’s early work..." -Jason Heller (The Onion A/V Club).


Psychedelic Aliens "Psycho African Beat"

We've been waiting a looong time for this one to hit wax. Sometimes known as The Magic Aliens or just the Aliens, the three short years these amazing musicians were together produced eight of the funkiest afro-psych tracks of their time. It took Frank Gossner, of Voodoofunk.com, an amazing 4 years, 9 visits to Ghana, and dozens of newspaper advertisements to track all 24 minutes of this music and serve it up to the salivating record dork community. Full of fuzzed out guitar and farfisa, one of the awesome things we discovered about this LP is that it's just as fun on 33 as it is on 45!


South Memphis String Band "Home Sweet Home"

Luther Dickinson (from the North Mississippi Allstars), Alvin Youngblood Hart (the great modern bluesman) and Jimbo Mathus (of the Squirrel Nut Zippers), three talented musicians with a love for old time music, who've teamed up to create a trio of palpable proportions. They ve been called a regional rorots music supergroup by some reviewers but the alliance of Dickinson, Hart and Mathus is more like three good friends attempting to preserve and revive the great jugband/stringband traditions of the deep south.


Orgone "Cali Fever"

A new release from one of what we consider to be a majorly understated band of today. Hailing from the capital of Southern California, the members of Orgone have been up to Humboldt a handful of times now with less of a local response than we'd expect from such a killer funk band. With a lightning percussion section and the classic wah'd out guitar backing a strong female lead vocal, this band could turn a into a dancefloor. With their latest release, Cali Fever, the band expands into a more world beat feel, creating a sound similar to bands like The Daktaris or El Michels Affair.


UNCLE MATT's SOUL CORNER
A new section for the store is Uncle Matt's Soul Corner, where you'll find cd versions of the amazing soul that hasn't reached wax yet. We devote so much attention to our beloved wax (such as the few copies of Tear-Stained Soul we just found on LP), that we thought the CD-minded should get some of our love and affection too. This week, we're turning our attention to a release that costs a whopping 55 smackers for the vinyl-minded but costs your compact disk budget a mere dollars, "The Northern Soul Story Vol.4 - Wigan Casino."

A nightclub in Lancashire England, from 73-81 Wigan Casino was one of the premiere spots for northern soul music and was voted the World's Best Venue in 1978 by Billboard Magazine,beating New York's Studio 54. The Club closed December 6th 1981, the final night of Wigan Casino, the crowd refused to leave, so according to the DJ, to "break this spell of hysteria" he picked a 7" at random from his box and played that. This final Wigan Casino song became one of the most famous northern soul songs of all time, Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)".


MISSHAPEN BUT STILL COOL
Another of our new sections, these are cds that were to oddly sized to fit in the racks but still deserve all the attention their uniformally shaped brothers and sisters do. This month it's a killer lesson in music history from the guys at Honest Jons, Living is Hard: West African Music in Britain,927-29.

Made in London, these recordings were issued originally by the Zonophone record label. The first West African Zonophone recordings date from 1922, when the Reverend J. J. Ransome-Kuti — Fela’s grandfather — traveled from Nigeria to Britain, to record Christian hymns in Yoruba. The tracks on this release are all over the map, with guitar/vocal pieces, drum ensembles, bizarre growled vocal performances and large ensemble piece. The folks over at Honest Jons have worked hard to make this an album that musically portrays a snapshot in time, with as little left out as possible and we here at Missing Link tend to think they did a damn fine job. Not an album that will overtake you upon first listening, this is more like one of those musical history lessons that, over time, become some of your most treasures comp. gems. Click below for a sample.
George Williams Aingo - Akkuo Nu Banto

GRAPHIC NOVELS
With the new store, we're expanding our graphic novel section with alot more new and used stuff for the superhero inclined. This month's feature is Batman: Secrets, drawn and written by Mr. Sam Kieth. The artist behind some of the largest and most grizzled looking incarnations of Marvel heroes, as well as the highly successful book/tv show The Maxx, turns his attention to the Dark Knight and the Joker in dark story about childhood trauma and media exploitation.

When Joker convinces a parole board to let him back on the streets, he resumes his old life, only to have a confrontation with Batman misleadingly captured on film and sold to the tabloids. Making the most of this, the Joker attempts to turn the public on Batman with the help of his unconventional new sidekick. Written shortly after the Killing Joke, this has a concentration on the whole Joker/Batman, Holmes/Moriarty situation but focuses more on the two's confrontation of their inability to exist without the other to validate their own existence...woah, heavy.

NEW SWEATSHIRTS AND STICKERS
The new Missing Link sweatshirts are coming in this week! Featuring our brand spanking new address on the back, these zip up hoodies come in Black or Blue and have our logo on the back, drawn by Lush Newton (voted Humboldt County's Best Artist 2010)! Also coming soon are the new bumper stickers featuring the phrase "iBUYVINYL" for only a buck! Also, as we keep moving into our new home, expect to see wooly bigfoot socks, gnome socks, missing link slipmats and more!

DESIGN COMPETITION
As part of the celebration around our new store we're going to do a limited run of sweatshirts featuring designs from our favorite artists and we'd like to include you in on the deal too! If you have a Bigfoot/Record design that you want to hand in, we'll be taking online submissions until the end of January and announcing the winner February 1st. The lucky winner will walk away with a seventy-five dollar gift certificate to Missing Link, a special version of their artistic apparel and a hand picked gift from Adam and Matt.

PARLIAMENT lp AUCTION
Recently, a good customer of ours found herself injured and faced with some fun medical bills. Since we all know money doesn't grow on trees...yet, we here at the shop are doing a little something in the holiday spirit. Through the end of January we'll be holding a raffle to auction of a Parliament Motorbootyaffair picture LP. These little beauties are becoming harder and harder to find plus, let's face it, who doesn't need George Clinton in Alpaca chaps, water-skiing behind two dolphins? To enter, just buy a raffle ticket for 5.00 and drop it in the bucket with your name, number and email. All proceeds go towards this Arcatan's medical expenses, (for privacy sake we're not saying who but trust us we ain't lyin'). The first week in February we'll draw the winner out and post it on the blog, as well as call that person immediately. Out of town entries count as well, if you want to use paypal, so don't feel shy Jeff Myers or Mike Mannix.


That be all for now music lubbers, make sure to stop by and see our new digs, pet the cat and make goo-goo noises at Henry. So, until then,
Keep diggin' those crates
--Matt n Adam

Movin' Daze

We're Getting Some New Digs.

After two years in our beloved cubbyhole, we're excited and sad to announce that starting this December, you can visit Missing Link Records at our new location 1073 H St, between DTA and Pacific Paradise, as we undertake the mission of revamping one of Arcata's longtime oddities. If you lived here at any point in the last thirteen years you've probably peeked in the window of One Man's Treasure and wondered what the hell is he selling in there? Lording in the back of the dimly lit, seldom open interior like a character from some unreleased Tom Waits song, the owner would have endless debates about whether or not to sell you the item in your hand. Sometimes out loud, these deliberations more often then not seemed to be confined to his own head, nothing to break the silence but the mumblings of an interior monologue spilling over like coffee from an overfilled cup, as you backed slowly towards the door. To sum it up, we've got some big shoes to fill.

NEW STUFF IN STOCK


The Secret Sisters

So, if you actually pay attention to our blog you've already heard us mention the Secret Sisters already and if not, then scroll down and get some education before reading on...ready...ok. Produced by the man who put together the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, their pure, sweet tones were the sort that takes you back to artists like Patsy Cline, The Corn Sisters and the Carter Family. Personally, I had forgotten women even sounded like this anymore.



Radio Phnom Penh

"This brain-melting concoction of Radio transmissions is a combination of AM/FM samples from the airwaves of Phnom Penh. The older, classic Pop/Rock FM cuts are ALL re-mixed versions while the newer forms/other styles of Cambodian music collected here are not. All AM recordings are from the Original masters. Regardless of the debate between “original” and “re-mix”, this is the most diverse assortment of Cambodian musical treasures you’ve NEVER heard. Flowing from traditional to Modern, from rock and pop to folk and hybrid, all excerpts are as unique as the best of what’s been presented by other compilations of late. And it’s sequenced here in the spirit of how it was captured: as radio programming designed to immediately transport you into the heart of Cambodia’s Capital" (excerpt taken from Sublime Frequencies website).

Veal Kmao Khiev Kjey by Pan Ron

Dara Puspita

"Dara Puspita (Flower Girls) was arguably the world’s greatest all-female garage rock band. The reason you’ve probably never heard of them was that they came from Indonesia where they were extremely popular during the 1960s. Their career spanned from 1965 until 1973 including 3 years (1969-1971) living and touring in Europe. The four albums recorded by the original members between 1966 and 1968 (the material represented on this CD) is one of the great chapters of 1960s popular music history never to be reissued, let alone recognized beyond a few tuned-in souls and adventurous record collectors in the Western world" (excerpt taken from Sublime Frequencies website).


Pearls & Brass
so make fun of me for being behind the times if you want...I'll gladly take the heat for not knowing about this band before they got a chance to break up. Hailing from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, Pears & Brass has that power trio, stoner jam quality that reminded me of a cross between The Hitch and Radio Moscow. Even though they seem to have already called it quits, they still have two pretty rad albums you can jam out to.



END OF THE YEAR
With December right on the horizon it's time again for all music fanatics to start writing their end of the year best of's. We here at Missing Link are encouraging our shoppers to write their lists with links to the bands and send them up to this blog via the comments section. With any luck, we might all find one of those 2010 gems we missed but most likely we'll all find reasons to argue with the validity of each others' choices...either way it'll be fun.

JEFFERSON STATE OLD TIME REVUE

jefferson state festival is already shaping into a bigger hootenanny than last year's candlelit inception. With an incredible lineup confirmed, a local Viking brewing up our refreshments and the playhouse ready to let us loose yet again, the three heads of Jefferson State have begun putting together volunteer lists, railroad lanterns and plenty of baked goods. Here's a sneak peek at the lineup for this year.
Pokey Lafarge & The South City Three
Frank Fairfield
The Dust Busters
Water Tower Bucket Boys
Striped Pig Stringband
No-Good Redwood Ramblers
and MC/storyteller extraordinaire Jeff DeMark.

-- COMING JULY 2011 --

That's it for now kids, as always the music biz slows down in December as people start calculating end of the year favorites and the big guys start re-recording another Christmas album. That doesn't mean, however, that you can't find some of the best re-issues and re-releases sitting on our racks. Come in, sit down, and let us tell you about them.

Keep diggin those crates,
--Matt n' Adam.

Post Hardly Strictly Reports.

After spending the weekend immersed in music and sweaty hipster kids in furry hats, here's a little listing of some acts you may not know about yet as well as a report on some of the highlights from this year's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Those of you who have gone before know this is a huge weekend of free music that takes a certain amount of guerilla guile in order to make the most of. Yours truly was up at 6:30 each morning just to secure spots close to the stage for a show that didn't start until noon. Despite the throngs of people and poorly leashed dogs, Hardly Strictly offers folks a chance to be exposed to new music, as well as see musical legends that may not be with us in the years to come...if you can get past sharing your tarp with a family of five.

The Punch Brothers
Who knew that the Punch Brothers' true calling was as backup band for T-Bone Burnett? Backing up the great T-Bone Burnett, these guys worked on providing a driving backbone to everyone who took the stage, becoming the true stars of Hardly Strictly's friday night lineup. Backing up everyone from Elvis Costello doing 1920's rock & roll to a pair of giggling girls from Alabama covering Johny Cash, they even managed to let fly some scorching numbers of their own, all in the span of an hour and fifteen minutes. Leaving an entire meadow of people to process what they'd just seen.


Secret Sisters
The two giggling girls mentioned earlier were The Secret Sisters, a new act signed by Burnett on his label Beladroit Records. Sisters from Northern Alabama, Laura and Lydia Rogers possess pure, sweet voices and some serious talent bringing them out of the chapel and into the recording studio. Alongside Burnett, the Secret Sisters had their first single, a cover of Johnny Cash's "Big River," released on Jack White's Third Man Records. The Rogers' own grandfather and his brothers traveled as The Happy Valley Boys, and today the girls are the opening act for their father's bluegrass band. Produced by David Cobb, their album was recorded using only vintage equipment, to capture the girls' classic sound.


Carolina Chocolate Drops
If you shop with us or read our updates, you know we think pretty highly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Their tireless efforts to keep early American roots musci alive have given us some amazing records to listen to, as well as hope for the future of music. The three of them took the stage on Saturday, the main stage mind you, to a sea of people who had been told this was an act not to miss...and it was true. They played fiddles and jugs, they buckdanced, they brought out quills and bones and fife and drum, rolling through old tunes with an honest reverence matched with youthful exuberance and the aged Banjo stage crowd ate it up. The end of their set showed the wide range this group can draw from, flipping from their song Genuine Negro Jig (an original written by the Snowden Family), into a cover of Blu Cantrell's hit 'Em Up Style. Another wonderful thing was their merch, handmade tiny jugs, created by an American potter and though small, still playable wherever you might be.



Skip Gorman
Halfway into Saturday, the crowded masses had turned my mood sour. Unable to continue moving everywhere at the pace of a shuffling inmate, we retreated to the lonesome sounds of a man in leather chaps. Skip Gorman is an incredible fountain of knowledge on the subject of cowboy songs and trail ballads, a former Rounder Records recording artist, Gorman echoes the songs sung by countless cowhands with a true and steadfast emotion that fills the silence between songs.


Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys
What's that you say, you'd like a little something for the Jewish Cowboy in all of us? Well, as luck would have it we have something to fit your bill. Calling their music a mix of Klezmer and Bluegrass (also known on the internet as Jewgrass), this band was a surprise hit at the Porch stage. Watching them, you wonder why you've never seen a Barndance/Bar Mitzvah.


Holly Golightly & Lawyer Dave
One of those not-to-be-missed acts of the weekend, Holly Golightly is a musical legend. The often sour, always sassy former Headcoatee has definitely secured herself as a purveyor of porch inspired country and blues. Alongside Lawyer Dave, the multi-instrumental wizard, Holly's songs of broken hearts and empty bottles matched perfectly alongside Dave's dirty slide guitar and gravely southern drawl. Oddly enough, this was their first gig before opening for Railroad Earth at the Fillmore that night, and never before have I debated so hard about going to the Fillmore simply for an opener. But what brought these two to Hardly Strictly was their music's ability to reflect back to simpler times in a more rural America. When asked if she thought her music allowed her to escape the modern world, she replied, "I don't think I'm escaping it, I'm just ignoring it."


MarchFourth Marching Band
Who doesn't love the sound of a marching band? From the Hot 8 Brass Band to the Dirty Dozen, the idea of what a Marching Band is has broken clean out of the box. MarchFourth takes this even further, adding an electric bassist, stilt walkers and flag twirlers to the lineup to create an impressive and almost imposing mob. The name derives from the date of the band's creation, March 4, 2003, Fat Tuesday. Since then, they have performed with Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt, KISS, Blink 182, Galactic, The Neville Brothers, Antibalas and Pink Martini. What's best is that after playing their morning set, they worked their way into the crowd, performing impromptu sets for everyone who may not have shown up early enough to be properly blown away.



Sharon Jones
The high point of the festival, at least to yours truly, was undoubtedly Ms Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. I don't think I've ever seen a band who brought such an A game to a free show, especially after being on the road since April. When she danced everything from the Camel Walk to the Tighten Up, we shucked and moved. When she broke into "Mama don't like my man," we all broke out into tears and when she was told she had 10 more minutes she exclaimed, "looks like I got 15 more minutes y'all so let's speed this up." I don't think I'll ever miss another chance to see this phenomenally tight band in action. Below is a quick melange of songs from the night's performance...that's right, I said melange. (try not to cry when she starts the last song, I dare you).


Of course this is only a brief overview of an immense weekend but sometimes the cliff notes are enough eh? We'll be stocking a bunch of stuff from all of theses bands in case you might have found some new favorites while reading today, so stop on by. Also, next month will see some great Reggae and Afro-Jazz hit the racks as well as some great shows. Tune in on Oct. 12th starting at 10, to KHSU to hear Radio Moscow live on the air with Mike Sargeant!!!

Things are REALLY cookin' now for next year's JEFFERSON STATE OLD TIME REVUE set for July 2011 so keep checking this out for more updates. Just to give you a little thrill, check out one of the groups who are going to come old-time your doors clean off.


Till Next Time, Keep Diggin In Those Crates,
--Matt n Adam

New Stuff and Comin' Soons.

UPCOMING NIGHTS FOR OUTING

Lagos Roots Afrobeat Ensemble

This killer show is just around the corner! You've heard the word on the street, you've picked up the whispers in BRIO and you've seen the entry on our blog but jot down Sept. 24th in your i-whatever and tweet yourself a reminder that not only will DJ Mantease charm your pants right off with his heavy afro-lps but Lagos Roots will drive your pantless ass right to the dance floor. This killer ensemble features original members of Africa 70 and Sonny Okonous band, (we assure you, that's good). JAMBALAYA $10

Water Tower Bucket Boys

Coming to Six Rivers Brewery Sept. 24th & The Striped Pig Barndance Sept. 25th! It's your two chances to check out The Water Tower Bucket Boys, an amazing group of musicians hailing from Oregon and recently back from their UK tour. We've mentioned them in our blog before and we're tellin' ya now to mark your calender for a great, roots-y good time. SIX RIVERS BREWERY $? / ARCATA VETS HALL $7

Chris Potter's Underground

Redwood Jazz Alliance's Michael Eldridge warns all of you out there, miss this show and you'll be kicking yourself the next day. The Detroit Free Press calls him simply "the most compelling saxophonist of his generation." He's "[o]ne of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet," (says DownBeat Magazine). Underground, his quartet, has spent the last five years, injecting Potter's sensibility with 45cc's of funk. September 24th @ FULKERSON HALL $15, TIX ON SALE AT THE STORE.

NEW GOODIES

Been Here All My Days (selections from the George Mitchell Collection)

Once again, Mississippi Records brings forth the American blues and roots like Lazarus from the tomb. This collection highlight the best songs from a 45 collection that was limited to a mere 300 copies (one of which resides in Adam's "not for mortal hands" section of his records). Originally put out by the fabulous Bruce Watson (of Fat Possum Records), this box set offered heavy hitters like Furry Lewis, J.B. Lenoir, Buddy Moss, RL Burnside and Joe Callicot (just to name a few). Just some of the best bluesmen doing what the good lord intended. If you didn't have the cash to snap this up when it came out, Mississippi offers this abridges, slightly more affordable, version.

Black Angels "Phosphene Dream"

Ok Ok, quit asking for this on Lp my babies. After some diggin, it turns out our fair Angels have signed over to a newly re-vamped label run by the douche bag from SIRE records and the douche bag from the Orchard. In classic douche-baggery, this gatefold LP with download code, only got sent out in small shipments to the large distributors . We're making the smaller rounds to try and scare up some copies so rest assured, as soon as we get our dirty little fingers on them, you'll be the first to know. Until then, there's still the cd and it IS worth taking a listen to.


Meilleurs Souvenirs de La 1ere Biennale Artistique et Culturelle de La Jeunesse 1970

Another release from ole Mississippi Records, "Magical Mali music from the start of the 70s. – played by a haunting group who mix swirling guitars, languid rhythms, and some really offbeat horns...a refracted version of better-known African modes of the time" --Dusty Groove.

NEW FINDS


Lately we've been feeling like sending out the feelers for any new bands that might just strike our fancy. Now mind you, we're not getting tired of sitting on the re-issue couch, far from it. We consider it, an exploration to re-assure ourselves that within the pile of pitchfork-approved, NME-embraced, hipster beards, there still lies hope for the future of music...call us melodramatic.

Frankie Rose and The Outs "Candy"

The first of our new bands to check out is this New York based quartet, who just released a new album on Slumberland Records (which has put out albums in the past by bands like Stereolab and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart). Beneath a thick layer of echo beats the heart of a symphonic and psychedelic lion (damn, I should work for Bigalow Tea). Running a range from spacey and melodic to driving and orchestral, Spinner said it best, "What's not to love about Frankie Rose and the Outs? They smile big, wear little black dresses and remind us what the Cramps and Ramones saw in '50s and '60s pop music."


Archie Bronson Outfit "Coconut"

Another segment in our latest quest to discover new meat, Archie Bronson already had a hit with their 2006 album, Derdang Derdang, that somehow skipped our radar. A heavy hitting British power trio, their new album comes straight from UK based, Domino Records. Archie Bronson and the boys go a bit more New Order on this one, making for a driving collection of songs...perfect for driving.


Keepaway "Baby Style"

More Brooklyn based goodness, in the vein of Animal Collective or Duck Tales. An echo ridden tropical paradise for sunny mornings and house cleaning days. Suckling from the Brain Wilson teat as many of today's bands, Keepaway may not be something new but it is something fun to listen to.



Jeff The Brotherhood "Heavy Days"

Well we warned you that you'd be sorry if you missed the in-store with JTB. After rocking the walls of our tiny store, their newest album hasn't left our record player in over a week. A mix of Devo and Queens of the Stone Age, strummed through three guitar strings and amplified by two giant stacks. Just the thing for the last few remaining days of sunny weather around here, you can pick up the latest release (with online download) or their long out of print Suicide Squeeze 45 on glow in the dark vinyl, here at the store.


Till next time, keep diggin' in those crates.
--Matt n Adam