Used CD New Arrivals

Unknown Mortal Orchestra have officially signed to Fat Possum for their self-titled debut LP out in June. UMO was initially conceived by New Zealand native, Ruban, to release some tracks via a bandcamp page to promote his limited addition vinyl in 2010. He pieced a band together, with a skilled producer, Jake, on bass and a brilliant teenage drummer named Julian to fill out the band. They are based in Portland. In their short career they have made such an impression with their live show that you can catch them on tour this spring with the Smith Westerns, Portugal. The Man, and Yuck later this summer. They bring break-beats together with 70 s pop harmonies and minimal Krautrock rhythm section.

At the junction of jazz and breakbeat science, Amon Tobin is one of the undisputed masters. Instead of drawing on jazz samples and styles as a sort of prepackaged cultural signifier, he's engaged in the cross-fertilization and recontextualizing that many aspire to but not so many achieve. On this release, he casts his net farther afield--the smoky nightclub trumpets and sultry beats of 1998's Permutation are still present, but the hummingly intense electronics and roiling drums on tracks like "Rhino Jockey" leave the jazz references pretty far behind.-Bob Bannister, Amazon

12 great early tracks including the hib-tone single.

Long Beach garage kings Sublime rode the cresting wave of late-'80s/early-'90s Cali punk to a well-received 1996 major-label debut whose success was overshadowed by tragedy: frontman Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose just a month before its release. This 1994 album was their freshman indie outing and the record that largely secured their ticket to the majors. Instead of building on the energetic, if formulaic, punk-reggae fusion of their 1992 40 Oz. to Freedom (with its sometimes awkward, too-dumb-to-be-ironic lyrical bent), Robbin' displays a Nowell whose slow evolution as a songwriter is more than compensated by an eager plundering of old-school rap influences and ska beats. It's a record that moves the band beyond often-stultifying punk clichés to a true musical adventure whose buoyant sense of discovery is almost palpable, and one that proves that their '96 big-label breakthrough was no accident.

Something extraordinary is afoot in Albuquerque. The Shins' first big-time record, Oh, Inverted World, combines mysterious narratives with golden song structures, resulting in lavish and opulent indie pop. Touches of Neutral Milk Hotel's lyrical majesty and the nostalgic swirl of Echo and the Bunnymen abound. But the Shins' music--rich with acoustic guitars, flickering rhythms, and Casio-tone keyboards--is distinct and peculiar. Worry mixes with abstraction throughout, and while James Mercer sings, "You led no celibate life / No skirt while chemicals danced on your head / You stole the keys to this ride / And your fables are falling tonight," you may wonder if he's been routing through your fondest, most troubling memories. This vital album is easily among 2001's most distinguished recordings and one of the best Sub Pop releases to date.