ESSENTIAL LOGIC / Fanfare in the Garden (Kill Rock Stars)
Rough Trade's UK comp "Wanna Buy A Bridge" is certainly seeing its share of influence on today's bands, and with good reason. There were few snapshots of more forward-thinking punk bands than Rough Trade's 1979-81 roster: Cabaret Voltaire, Raincoats, Slits, Delta 5, Swell Maps etc. all trickled down to influence the Nirvanas and Pavements and Liars for better or worse. Some of these bands still languish in obscurity, though others like the Raincoats have found their discs reissued on big labels. Last year, Kill Rock Stars picked up the pace with the great Kleenex/Liliput reissue, and now we get a great 2CD anthology of the fabulous Essential Logic, formed in 1978 by X-Ray Spex saxophonist/castoff Lora Logic. Few UK groups defined an artful, totally-constructed from ground zero aesthetic that Lora and company projected, and this collection pulls together singles, their 1979 full LP, and even some 1997 reunion tracks that aren't too bad. Very glad to see the inclusion of "Born In Flames", as well, an amazing piece of music Lora did with Art and Language, a Red Crayola-related project. Rumor has it then Rough Trade vaults are being dipped into even more in the future, stay tuned.

DOKAKA / Dokaka (Dokaka)
Dokaka is a Japanese acapella artist who runs an extensive board at dokaka.s18.xrea.com, where you can download (like we did) tons of tracks featuring his versions of various Metallica, King Crimson, Stones and even Miles Davis tunes. In the great tradition of Anton Maiden, str8-edge Dischord band Jud Jud, and hell, even Todd Rundgren once, Dokaka recreates the music his own way (as well as the words) with the human voice, and his version of Slayer's "Angel of Death" is totally insane (it even synchs up with the actual Slayer version if you try like I did on the air!). He even does three Steely Dan covers!

A QUI AVEC GABRIEL / Utsuho (Tzadik)
A Qui Avec Gabriel is actually the name of this female Japanese accordian player, and this, her first record, is a strange and beautiful concept record about a journey through night (meeting some cats along the way, too). The sounds are reminiscent of Satie cloaked with an air of French romanticism, and equally mesmerising accompaniment (toys, violin, xyolophone), even joined by Keiji Haino on one track. Though the music is often quiet and minimal, a nice broad array of colors are painted throughout this disc. Excellent.

PHILIP SANDERSON / Reprint (Anomalous)
An odd and interesting remnant of the 1980's DIY cassette culture finding its way to CD: Sanderson (who was also half of the Storm Bugs), creates a trippy tapestry of gurgling primitive electronics and drifting voices in a raw, but appealing-to-the-subconscious kind of way. The legend has it that he initially submitted material to the UK label Cherry Red under the guise of being two women (Claire Thomas and Susan Vezey), hoping to "market" himself in an unusual way to grab the label's attention. It worked, and he (or rather "they") wound up on a compilation record, but the gig was quickly up when Philip was discovered to be pulling the wool. Reprint was originally a cassette under Claire & Susan's monicker, and regardless of what name is on it today it stands as a great marker on the home-brewed experimental/electronic timeline. Glad to see Anomalous brought this back to the surface.