Dear People,

Updates, updates, and more updates. We had a call for contributors a couple weeks ago and we have decided to just keep this an ongoing thing since we have wised up and realized that there are new people discovering us each week. Makes no sense to ask for help every once and a while. We love all the input we have been getting thus far and believe us, it comes to great relief to manage content for once instead of forcing our brains to come up with it. In regard to podcasts we have had a lot of requests to provide some commentary or introductions and while that sounds like fun we just do not have the time. We might be able to do something of this nature when the summer ends by combining Relative Love and Relative Live, also if we figure a way to sell ad mentions or something. Running multiple podcasts seems to be a time robber, and running this store needs a fair amount of attention. We will probably get to updating the Relative Love podcast tomorrow. We went to the movies to see Miami Vice - it was dy-no-mite! If you are a fan of Michael Mann and his intense combination of storytelling and camera angles/movement then you must go. The biggest complaint we have read so far was that the dialogue was barely above the murmur level so we were slightly nervous going in because we believe ourselves to be going somewhat deaf from all the live music we endure, anyhow the dialogue is fine - we heard and understood everything. Some have said the music could be stronger as it lacked in the synth dept but the only thing we disliked was the Linkin Park in the beginning and the awful rendition of "In The Air Tonight" during the closing credits. Mogwai plays during the entire resolution sequence of the film! This movie is fantastic - it is so classy that there are no opening credits and in the first 5 min they use a Nina Simone remix from Felix Da Housecat. Go see this. Also Woody Allen's Scoop is playing at the Naro this week. Check it out as well. We saw a trailer for Running With Scissors - looks hilarious. Music on the horizon - My Morning Jacket (double live cd), TV on The Radio (domestic version to include 2 remixes), Lady Sovereign (bumped up a week early since people be hungry), Grizzly Bear (real version available in Sept), The Shins (what direction will they go?), The Rapture (they went out and got smooth on us), The Big Sleep (record of the year?), Yo La Tengo (the title of their new record slays me), Whitest Boy Alive (Erlend Oye's new band), Joanna Newsome (November release - wait it out people). Enough for now - see you next week.

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RELATIVE LOVE

The weekly podcast from your favorite record store.

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Omo Obokun: The Afrobeat Chronicles Vol. 2

Release Date: 08/01/06
Label: Domino Recordings
CD: $19.98
LP: $19.98

The second part of Funsho Ogundipe's Afrobeat Chronicles. His band Ayetoro, is based in London with another setup in Lagos, where he is backed by different musicians. Funsho has diligently carved out his own sound, with a strong nod to Fela and Tony Allen's Afrobeat rhythms, but with a laid-back jazz element to his songwriting.

Every new album from singer/songwriter/guitarist Ani DiFranco gives listeners a reason to get excited about music all over again, and her latest collection of songs Is no exception; 13 tracks featturing her signature blend of poetry, politics, and dazzling musicianship. Recorded primarily in her home studio in pre-Katrina New Orleans with bassist Todd Sickafoos, Reprive is the clearest demonstration yet of Anis talens as a producer, crafting an overall sound as clear, precise and succinct as her lyrics have always been.

On his second release for Brushfire Records, the Philly boy offers up a series of soul drenched tracks pouring out blues infused hip hop.

Original versions of songs featured on "Revisited" as performed by the man himself. These recordings from '58 - '84 serve as a great introduction to his unique artistry. It includes "Je t'aime" with Jane Birkin and "Bonnie And Clyde" with Bridget Bardot.

Wu-Tangs Inspectah Deck is the legendary swordswinger from the Killa Hill Projects of Shaolin aka Staten Island. He is one of the fiercest warriors the Wu-Tang has ever known and always makes the most use of his mic time. Known for spot-blowing appearances on all of the Wu-Tangs discography as well as epic collaborations with Gangstarr and Pete Rock, Deck has earned a spot in the Hip Hop Hall of Fame with this new banger Resident Patient. This album, complete with lethal lyricism from his new affiliates House Gang and features from Wu-Tang pioneers RZA, U-God, Carlton Fisk, and Cilvarings make this a must have for any collector or Hip Hop aficionado.

...African Dreams and the Piccadilly High Life. "This is the fourth volume in our series celebrating the music of black London, staying for now with the first waves of modern immigration from Africa and the West Indies. After devoting a third installment to the accomplishments of the late Nigerian genius Ambrose Campbell, Honest Jon's resumes an open-house policy, suited to musicians whose lives and artistic ambitions carried them all over the world: calypso and kwela are back, and highlife and bebop, with a little rock n' roll, a 'mambo indio,' a shango hymn, and a cha-cha-cha for bellydancing jazzbos. A lake in a Johannesburg zoo pops up next to a Chinese on the Harrow Road. Astronauts and prostitutes mingle with landlords and Test cricketers, sex with streetfighting and doing a runner. The music is presented alongside very rare artist photographs by Val Wilmer, and detailed notes.

Justus League member Median brings it with a strong release called Path to Relief Revisted. The album includes eight great songs and two exclusive bonus tracks produced by the one and only 9th Wonder. The CD features Phonte of Little Brother and additional production from Eccentric and Khrysis. Another quality release from the Justus League camp out of North Carolina.

Their untamed guitar assault and uninhibited energy draws inspiration from the attitude of 70's punk, 80's new wave and the swagger of vintage Sunset Strip rock.

Towers Of London spit attitude. They hit the stage like Motley Crue mashed up with the Sex Pistols. They have big time stamped all over them, and its backed up with stomping slices of glam punk action.

This album brings together artists from the international scene to interpret English adaptations of various songs by Serge Gainsbourg. Features 15 total tracks from the likes of Franz Ferdinand with Jane Birkin, Portishead, Michael Stipe, Jarvis Cocker & Kid Loco, The Kills, Cat Power with Karen Elson, Tricky, Marc Almond with Trash Palace and more.

VAUX is a 6-piece band out of Denver, Colorado. They have been playing together since 1998 under various band names but became full time as VAUX in 2002. They have toured the USA numerous times with various bands in support previous releases. Beyond Virtue is a harmonious dichotomy. It's at times a loud, but soothing album. It's violent, but also incredibly beautiful. The songs on Beyond Virtue move you and then, suddenly, stop you in your steps. But no matter what, they always demand a reaction.

Shot over two years and in seven countries, the feature-length documentary Whiskey on a Sunday is an intimate portrait of Flogging Molly. The film tracks the group of musicians from their bar-band roots to their current success, including footage of the band in the studio, on tour, at home and at their sold-out homecoming performance at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.

Whiskey on a Sunday is an "in-the-pocket" experience with the candid and charismatic Flogging Molly family, set to the driving beat of their thunderous live performances. Brought together through unlikely happenstance and bound by an intense passion and heartfelt belief in what they do, the seven members and their associates provide a good look at how things can be done against the grain. Bucking tradition, industry naysayers and inflexible business models, front man Dave King and crew illustrate their own formula for success: believing in oneself, refusing to be pigeonholed, and rising from humble beginnings to fulfill a dream.

Genre/Style: Punk / Drunk

In 2004 Franti and his team traveled to the core of the red zoned war torn neighborhoods of Baghdad the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with his guitar video cameras and the intent to experience first hand the human cost of war. Out of this journey he created a compelling documentary and a searing reflective album of original songs. Yell Fire is his most compelling engaged collection of songs fired by a fury at the injustice of war and a rediscovery of the love and community that supports those doing the fighting.With massive grooves and soaring choruses Franti and Spearhead have produced an album to inspire and ignite.

Jeff Tweedy might carry the name recognition, but the rest of his band-on-the-side carries the mail on the fourth release from this Midwest all-star group. Though the Wilco leader teams with the Jayhawks' Gary Louris on a pair of nimble pop songs--the elegantly strummed "Listen Joe" and Kinks cover "Strangers"--it's Louris who's clearly at the head of the class with self-assured vocals ("Another Fine Day," "Think About Yourself"), lush harmonies ("Long Time Ago") and those unmistakable guitar leads ("Frying Pan Eyes"). Soul Asylum guitarist Dan Murphy's obligatory rocker "Hurricane" is a high point, as is the album's lead track "You Make It Easy," which has Kraig Johnson warbling over a thumping piano lead and chunky fuzz guitar. But most welcome among the 15 songs are two contributions from Louris's fellow Jayhawk Marc Perlman: the refreshing "Corvette" and "Cure for This," a '60s-speckled pop song sung by Muni Loco, the wife of producer Paco Loco and the first female to grace a recording by Golden Smog. --Scott Holter

Anyone who appreciates pop that thumbs its nose at formula should consider tuning in. On "Begin to Hope",she broadens her palette with electic guitar,drum machines and seductive electronic loops, finding new canvases for her provocative vocal style. Hope for pop has arrived with Regina Spektor.

Some writers and fans have taken to calling this album Kid B, the (obvious) implication that it's the companion piece to Radiohead's masterpiece of electronic rock. And while The Eraser does compare favorably to that work, it's no longer ahead of its time, just simply of its time. We can't all be visionaries all the time, however, and it's understandable that Yorke wants to play with his computer more than he gets to with his rock and roll band. Looped bubbly bloops, sleight drones, and curious bleeps complement Yorke's distinctive vocals throughout. The album at times sounds like demo versions, as if they were an update of the way Pete Townshend used to do solo versions of all his songs for the Who. It's tough not to expect the rest of the band to come in and "complete" a particular song. But once you get used to the fact that this isn't going to happen, the album reveals itself as a delightful, occasionally brave work that's as playful as it is melancholic. --Mike McGonigal

Out now is the most important book you’ll read all year — Ian Svenonius’ The Psychic Soviet. If you’re interested in rock and roll, the changing world of culture and fashion, the class system, the top 40, a people’s history of recent world history and anything else that might be implied by this, you’ve gotta check this book out! The far-ranging gaze of Svenonius takes in all these topics and more in an inventive set of nineteen essays and prose pieces that are at once revelatory and hilarious. You’ll gasp as Svenonius outlines the relationships between coffee drinking and imperialism in “The Bloody Latte”; you’ll nod in agreement with the exposure of Hollywood’s latest misogynist trend in “Mordor Dearest.” And so on. The book is a seemingly bottomless well of resource for understanding the layers of complexity (and dare we say it? Conspiracy!) that drive our modern world. That so deep of a tome should be so portable is yet another aspect of it’s genius — because The Psychic Soviet is less than six inches tall by four inches wide. This allows it to be carried everywhere with little obstruction. And the cover, a pink soft-plastic shell with embossed lettering, will attract inquiring eyes (and the minds that drive them) everywhere it’s flashed

Genre/Style: History / Politics / Current Events

Music enthusiasts may consider Gore, the first book from Black Dice-- an extension of their highly visual melange of sound, performance, and art-- a fifth album, but it's something else entirely. The band grew out of the infamous Providence art and noise scene in the late 1990s, and has since drawn acclaim in New York and worldwide. Their longtime friend, photographer Jason Frank Rothenberg, has documented their work for some time. His images, often reworked and collaged by the band to illustrate their tastes and sensibilities, form the foundation of the book. In collaborating on Gore, the band's creative process parallel its musical one, each member making use of different skills in individual contributions that inform and build on one another. The resulting mix of found images, photographs, collages, and altered documentation explores the full integration of their creative processes and offers a glimpse into daily life in the genesis of their sonic persona.

Street date is August 8, but we got it in early!!

"O'Shenandoah, Mighty Death Will Find Me" marks the beginning of SPARROWS SWARM AND SING's output for their new home at MAGIC BULLET RECORDS. Spanning over an hour in total playing time, "O'Shenandoah..." puts forth a dynamic piece of aural devastation spanning three epic movements. Dual drum kits, violins, cellos, xylophones, and haunted guitars serve merely as a foundation for an other-worldly sound and an evocative human emotional experience that begs obsessive listening. In the spring of 2006, the band set the stage by performing/previewing selections from the album before a shocked and stunned capacity crowd at MACROCK, completely stealing the entire conference by all accounts. With the release of "O'Shenandoah..." one season later, SPARROWS SWARM AND SING sends notice that there's truly a new sheriff in town.

Street date is August 8th, but we got it in early!!

Windmills By The Ocean is the title of a recently unearthed recording from August 2003, the sole output of Boston natives Mike Davis, Dave Dunbar, Brooke Gillespie, Bryant Clifford Meyer and Thos Niles. Since the project’s beginning and end, the creators have moved on to form such bands as 27, ANODYNE, ISIS, and RED SPAROWES, but the relevancy of this intense recording can be most appreciated now, three years after it’s conception. The variety and depth to this (mostly) instrumental music documentation reaches far beyond those of any mere side-project, and the heavy-music genres are in dire need of something refreshing. These rock-based songs incorporate so many elements of “drone” the group could almost reside next to their celestial forefathers SUNN and EARTH, except with more melody… and drums. However, the usage of keyboard and electronic elements alongside several guitars make the album more comparable to Sigur Ros than Black Sabbath, but without compromising any of the heavy metal elements the members have become most-known for. The additional usage of improvisation and mild repetition allows the listener to relax into a slow headbang across five songs that each surpass the six-minute mark. But what makes this album most impressive is the triumphant, anthemic feel to it, especially considering the group never even made it to the live setting. An important period of musical evolution is captured here, and Robotic Empire is proud to present it to you

Limited to only 1,000 copies, this DVD captures Pelican's Chicago performance from June 11th, 2003. We only got in a couple and we won't be able to get these back in, so don't delay.

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TUES AUGUST 01, 2006

The Coral Sea | site & sound
Paul Michel | site & sound
Beautiful Uncertainty | site & sound

Time: 8pm
Tickets: $5 adv / $7 day of show
Relative Card: 50 points

you try to sleep alone .

The Coral Sea is coming. See that picture on the left. That is all I'm going to say. The next words are from The Franze. Some of the deep dark guitar tones make me wonder if they didn’t get lost on the way to Kent’s Isola album and end up in the hands of The Coral Sea. There you have it. Come out. Paul Michel is like that chess playing troubador that sings upward to the Gods of Iowa about faith and misdirection. If you dont know what that means he has sound samples on his website. And locals Beautiful Uncertainty aka Tiny Bodies Big Voices will be singing front porch ballads to your heart's content. May want to grab dance partner.

WED AUGUST 02, 2006

Extra Blue Kind | site & sound
Graboids | site & sound
Dark Tundra | site & sound

Time: 8pm
Tickets: $5 adv / $7 day of show

my donuts are heavy .

We are pulling the Extra Blue Kind in for some head spinning foot tapping good times. Their sounds reminds me of The Walkmen but they have knack for sounding more like storytellers than boys pouring their hearts out. It's got the psyche pop of the Byrds but its not exactly retro. It's charming. Now the Graboids is a whole different story. It's ambient black metal and you may think why the hell would you put these on the same bill. Well when you put ambient in front of anything that means it can go on any bill. Mesmerizing and deadly heavy. The bill is rounded out with Dark Tundra the experimental jazz project from Steven and David of Kamikaze Shake. It has Doomsday written all over it. See you there.

FRI AUGUST 04, 2006

J DiMenna | site & sound
Knifework | site & sound
Harlan | site & sound
These United States | site & sound

Time: 8pm
Tickets: $5 adv | $7 day of show
Relative Card: 50 points

golden slumber v golden arches  .

This will be one of the most beautiful nights in hand-made music we have had all summer. Include spring in that too because it is going to be righteous. J. DiMenna is crafting music of the warm pop nature and sounds more beautiful than ever with his debut recording Awkward buildings. These United States are a Wilco-esque band but with a more progressive bluegrass feel. Not like String Cheese but good like String Cheese. Harlan used to be called The Still Beat and are coming from Baton Rouge - they are putting out some sass rock with focus on the sound and not the attitude. Knifework is the dirt and the grit in your down home hand built rocking chair. They are from Richmond.

SAT AUGUST 05, 2006

SPECIAL BREAKROOM - 2 Year Anniversary

DJ Ill-Literate with the Disciples Collective and Derick 32zero

*Get here before 8 to see artist Berk Gibbs create new work on stage as we open his exhibition in the gallery.

Time: 8pm
Tickets: $5
Relative Card: 50 points

cold chillin .

This is a not to miss event in hip hop history. Think that statement is proposterous? Well you need to come to find out because you never know what will be written about in the history books until it is written. We got Berk Gibbs opening his street art exhibition in the gallery and actually making art live on stage. We have the U.G.L.Y. Peoples in the house, the Disciples Collective Funk Band, and DJ Ill Literate spinning the 1s and 2s for 757s premiere b-boys/girls. Seriously get off your lazy boy and spin on your sexy toy!

SUN AUGUST 06, 2006

The Very Hush Hush | site & sound
Math The Band | site & sound
Oppenheimer | site & sound
Bad Flirt | site & sound

Time: 8 pm
Tickets: $5 adv | $7 day of show
Relative Card: 50 points

the art of schematics .

We are very excited to bring this show to the Relative table. We especially love artists that make experimental music accessible which seems something of a paradox but rather than fight it we share it. You can read our review of the Very Hush Hush record HERE. Also on this fantastic show is Oppenheimer, Math The Band, and Bad Flirt. The lush electronic goodness that makes you either feel dancetastic or fall into your sheets for an afternoon nap. Has anyone heard the new James Figurine record -it's good! If you are fan then you should get your butt to Relative on this night. Plus add some waves of synthesizers and more dreams.

MON AUGUST 07, 2006

Nat Baldwin | site & sound
Seductive Sprigs | site & sound
Andrew Vladeck | site & sound
Fecal Food | site & sound
Think Tank | site & sound


Time: 8 pm
Tickets: $5 adv / $7 door
Relative Card: 50 points

viva la olden days .

Okay so you missed the Dirty Projectors show - now is your chance to redeem yourself. Nat Baldwin plays with them but this is his solo project where he plays the stand-up bass. It is fantastic. Seductive Sprigs will not be playing but one of the guys from Seductive will be performing under his solo project Extra Life. I think you can go to the myspace page to get a feel for it. Andrew Vladeck is a Neil Youngish type guy who rocks his banjo. His music is interesting and we will be running a profile on this guy in a hot minute because he is an artist to watch. Fecal Food is the thing you cant describe why you like but it is the raspy yell and Think Tank are the locals who make sure the people come out.

TUES AUGUST 08, 2006

Trainwreck Riders | site & sound
Abiyoyos | site & sound
Tulsa | site & sound

Time: 8 pm
Tickets: $5 adv / $7 day of show
Relative Card: 50 points

my pita was not split .

this is our once a month krust punk fest. I spell krust this way because Krusty the clown in the ultimate punk mascot. These guys all have worthy names that belong in your 7 inch collection so do yourself a favor and come out to gain an exquisite look at the future of our country. We will shout DIY til we die and we have not won til civilization comes crashing down. And yes they all have myspace so be sure to check them out so you know which bands to step outside and smoke a cig to.

AUG 5 thru AUG 22 | 2006

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