What I Got at the Post Office Today by Chuck P

All of our DJs receive hundreds of CDs a month to consider for airplay. In this regular feature, KCRW DJ Chuck Pcatalogues his musical bounty from the Post Office each week.

Nursing your Coachella hangover? You’re not alone. A friend I spoke to yesterday greeted me with a scraggly, “OHHHH GOD… WHAT TIME IS IT?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was nearly 2p. Hope you got the day off, buddy!

The vinyl, the pretty and the ugly… at the post office.

1) The Vinyl = Extra Classic “Congo Rebel” 7″ – Great band featuring, Adrianne Verhoeven, who as “Dri” who released a gorgeous album a few years back. According to their press release, they take their cue from the dub master, Lee “Scratch” Perry, creating something authentic and unique. They’ve kindly included a cdr of the tracks, and a couple more, for those of us who like some megabytes with their plastic. It’s a race for 7″ of the week between this one and the Wild Flag 7″ from Record Store Day. I don’t care who wins. They’re both awesome.

2) The Pretty = new cd’s from Atmosphere & Michael J’. Epstein – The Epstein cd is the one housed in a DVD sized sleeve. Kinda looks like a book. Neato! The Atmosphere cd is housed in a soft sleeve that resembles a frame. Actually, it is a frame. The back even folds out so you can perch it on your desktop, but if you don’t like the “baby fist” on the cover, maybe put a picture of your mom or your cat in there. I can give you a picture of my cat if you need one.

3) The Ugly = two new cd’s from Alps & True Widow – Sure, ugly describes the minimal promo packaging, but it’s also a description of the music…in a good way. These are the kind of visceral sounds that balance out all the cute pop music I hear everyday. Alps is messy atmospheric music designed to agitate with beautiful sounds and True Widow was described as equal parts My Bloody Valentine and Black Sabbath, which is actually pretty accurate. The labels that released these two albums, Kemado and sister label Mexican Summer, have released some of my favorite music this year, including the new Puro Instinct album, “Headbangers In Ecstasy.”

Honorable mentions are a Superchunk remaster/reissue, new Panda Bear, Times New Viking and a great digital promo of the new soundtrack to the iPad video game, “Sword & Sworcery,” by Jim Guthrie who used to be in thebands, Islands & Royal City. Never got into a video game soundtrack before, so I’m eager to do more research in that format.

Hear most of this and so much more tonight.

Cheers,

Chuck P.