A Potpourri of New Releases

The last few months has seen a surfeit of releases from artists that reside well outside the mainstream. Some of these albums are a bit obscure and a little work may be required to track them down, but all are guaranteed to prick up your ears.

The word "genius" is bandied about all too casually and frequently, but in the case of DJ Shadow it more than applies. His "Endtroducing" from 1996 was like nothing before or since – an album that stirred beats, beauty and chaos into a heavy chemical broth that emerged into a single unbreakable element. No other popular record, to my mind, better summarized the end of the last century than this haunting beauty. Since its release Shadow – a.k.a. Josh Davis – has been mixing for others, most notably James Lavelle's UNKLE project. He's also helped revive the career of '60s icon David Axelrod, whose self-titled release from last year is worth owning. But Shadow, with the assistance of Cut Chemist, has also quietly put out two CDs that, if you can find them, are absolute must-haves. "Brainfreeze" and "Product Placement" are party mixes supreme, with turntable squeaks and big phat beats from rare '70s soul-funk 45s. Apparently only 6,000 copies were pressed of each, so if you find one (best check eBay at this point), grab it.

If you're still in dance-floor mode but prefer something more modern, pick up Fila Brazilla's "Jump Leads." Mixmasters Dave McSherry and Steve Cobby's eighth is a variegated disc of spacey, lush and loopy interludes. On this one, the duo from Hull, England, has set out to dispel its downtempo image (2000's "Anotherlatenight" compilation was a perfect after-hours cocktail), and although a few of these tracks are chilled-out to the point of freezing, there are also quite a few booty-shakers.

Moving from da funk to blue mists of the soul is Fog's eponymous debut. Containing snippets of disembodied sounds and disturbing psychoses, this is the twisted work of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Broder, whose "little flashes and images" helps him to recall "things from childhood that I had blocked out." That said, it's uneasy listening (anti-lounge, perhaps?), as stark as it is striking.

If Fog has left you in a haze, then prop yourself under Half-Handed Cloud, a band – actually, a collective ringleadered by noisemaker John Ringhofer – that imagines Brian Wilson fronting the Residents. Loaded with whimsy and wit and titles like "Holy Pouch Shoe Guidance" and "Tanning Beds to Shine Your Love," "Learning About Your Scale" is 25 dazzlingly short tracks about the Almighty. God only knows what to make of it.

A little less devout but no less divine is Wonderlick's self-titled first, an "accidental" concept album that interweaves themes of family and mortality. Although the subject matter is weighty, the music itself is bright and airy, filled with sudden hooks and ornate arrangements. Childhood buds Jay Blumenfield and Tim Quirk began recording these tunes for no other reason than to please themselves. The result – an album that is affecting and heartfelt – should please anyone.

After several failed stabs at making her own kind of music, Louise Goffin, the progeny of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, has gotten it just about right. Her "Sometimes a Circle" is very much of the moment, sounding a little like Aimee Mann riding atop Sparklehorse. Filled with quirky stereophonic effects and a moody ambience, "Circle" has at its heart a skilled songwriter who knows how to project both pain and passion.

The Capitol Years – essentially one-man band Shari Halperin – takes its cue from the experimental late-period Beatles, making "Meet Yr Acres" an "Off-White Album" of sorts. The acid smog production deliberately skews the rich melodies, which creep up on you after successive listens. Like a geode, "Meet Yr Acres" is all rough and bumpy on the outside but is full of unexpected lights and colors within.

A more straightforward slab of rock can be found on Green Circles' "Get on the Outside of This." This Aussie foursome snaps and snarls like the '60s garage punks they so obviously admire. Singer Mark Gilbert could've easily fronted the Seeds or the Electric Prunes, and the band's get-up-and-go arrangements, although not exactly novel, will snare you with their exuberance. Who cares that the group makes no apologies about flaunting its influences. Hey, if the Strokes can rip off the sound and attitude of an entire era, the Green Circles can as well.

Speaking of garage punk and bygone eras, why not go to the source? Fuel 2000 has just issued "Absolutely the Best of the 13th Floor Elevators," and it's a fairly complete compendium of what's considered rock's first true psychedelic band. Roky Erickson howls his way through classics like "You're Going to Miss Me" and the epic "Slip Inside This House." The raw music throbs hypnotically and the lyrics are stoned mystical, beseeching you at one point to "leave your body behind." It's enough to give you a contact high.

Another '60s artifact (but in a very different vein) is a compilation containing two records from Galt MacDermot, who's best known for composing the musical "Hair." "Shapes of Rhythm" and "Woman Is Sweeter" (a soundtrack) are jazz-infected, piano-driven, funk-bottomed albums that recall early Herbie Hancock and Vince Guaraldi. This is joyous but unfortunately overlooked music that still deserves to be heard. Let their sunshine in.

On the subject of overlooked, one of the many all-but-forgotten '60s bands worth investigating is the Turtles. Rhino has made that job infinitely easier by releasing "Solid Zinc: The Turtles Anthology." What began as a West Coast surf combo known as the Crossfires eventually morphed into one of the most tuneful groups of its time. Led by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, the Turtles long wrestled with its image and for respectability, never quite achieving either. It's a shame that they were branded as lightweight, because this was a more than capable group, mastering folk-rock, pyschedelia and delicious pop. They had wit, intelligence and killer songs like "Happy Together," "Elenore" and "You Showed Me." They even put together a hilarious and not insubstantial concept album of sorts, "Present the Battle of the Bands." Listen to this Turtle trove and be swept away by the sumptuous tunes and radiant harmonies.

Eliot Wilder has his own Web site at www.eliotwilder.com. For information on how to obtain any of these albums, please contact him at his site.

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