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                       o
                     o  )  Aquarius Records
                   o( )(   New Arrivals #141
                     o  )    12 July 2002
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CHERRY, DON Orient (BYG / Get Back) 2lp 21.00
I (Andee) had to push really hard for this to be record of the week as we seldom make LPs records of the week, since so many folks out there don't have record players (shame on you!!), but this is easily one of the most amazing records I have ever heard. We knew about this record but had never actually -heard- it (and rumour is that there is a cd version under a different title, but it supposedly sounds terrible) until now, with this new vinyl reissue. And we were just blown away. We were convinced that this could be the jazz record to cure Jim of his I-Hate-Jazz attitude (we'll let you know what happened with that -- umm, nope - Jim).
A gorgeous double lp in an amazing sleeve, depicting a little ant on the yolk of a big fried egg! Quite striking. Recorded in 1971, 'Orient' features 2 separate live performances with Cherry in two different trios, one with Han Bennink (drums, percussion, accordian, vocals) and Mocqui (tamboura) and the other with Johnny Diani (bass) and Okay Tamiz (drums, percussion). The track 'Orient' which takes up all of side one and half of side two, is the real gem here (although all four tracks are spectacular). 'Orient' starts off with minor key piano and subtle percussion, with mumbled, chant-like vocals, slowly building, rumbling clattery percussion, not all that different from what No Neck Blues Band seems to be working towards. Ten minutes in, the track explodes into a hyper-rhythmic free-jazz frenzy with wailing trumpet and completely mad silverware-drawer-down-the-steps drumming from Bennink. The chanting vocals return, this time, much higher in the mix turning it into a musical tug of war between a somber spiritual and a crazed drum circle free-for-all. The drums prevail, beating out a tribal rhythm, with drum kit and tamboura weaving a rich rhythmic framework, that slowly winds down to dark and dreamy melancholy piano and huge gong swells, with occasional percussive clatter in the background. Suddenly the trio slips into a classic jazz groove that is perfect, but also perfectly out of place. No need to worry, as the groove quickly dissipates into a free jazz supernova of squealing horns and chaotic drumming. Track two, named for Cherry's son, starts with loping and meandering, deep dark beats, with owl-ish flutes and ghost-like horns. Some percussive clatter and an almost Roland Kirk-like breathing/singing whips up a frenzied fervor over throbbing bass, skittery percussion and wild piano (at this point it's necessary to point out the fact that Cherry is handling piano/trumpet/flute single handedly!). The trio soon click into an almost Santana-ish groove with Cherry's soaring vocals following the piano. The track winds down with Cherry going crazy on BOTH the trumpet AND the piano! Track three 'Togetherness' displays some truly breathtaking free-jazz interplay from Cherry and drummer Okay Tamiz. Cherry alternates between pocket trumpet and flute, playing complicated and unlikey melodies over the thick pulsing bass and frenzied percussion (drum kit, but also bells and shakers and gongs!) eventually finishing off with more of that Santana-ish groove and wild, free vocals! The final track, 'Si Ta Ra Ma' is the weirdest of the bunch, again reminding us sonically of No Neck and other of the more modern drone/clatter ensembles. Guttural vocalisations that vacillate from droning almost-throat singing to what sounds like speaking in tongues, with muted horn sputter, droning low-end trumpet buzz, clapping and sorrowful chanting vocals. Over the course of the last ten minutes, the vocals gradually fade into the mix as the percussion (steel drums?) build and build while Cherry solos dreamily and mournfully until the end of the track. Amazing and essential and totally timeless. Reason enough to get your sorry ass a turntable!!!!
RealAudio clip: "Orient"
RealAudio clip: "Orient (Part 2)"
RealAudio clip: "Si Ta Ra Ma"
RealAudio clip: "Togetherness"

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DEAD C New Electric Music (Language Recordings Three) cd 15.98
Newest Dead C record released on their own Language Recordings label and expectations are HIGH since that last double Dead C cd was so amazing. We all went to see the Dead C live a few months ago, many of us for the first time, which is actually when we first discovered this new Dead C record, and to be honest we were WAAAAAY disappointed. Some didn't even stay for the whole set [although some did and actually dug the concert quite a bit!] Rambling, scattershot, clumsy percussion, noisy but not really all that inspired. Lots of aimless on stage wandering and interband discussions MID-SET!!! But you gotta cut them some slack, improvised music is really hit or miss, and relies as much on the audience's perception as it does the band's performance, and that's what makes it so exciting. So we weren't sure what to expect from the new record. A couple of folks had expressed their diappointment with 'New Electric Music', but we are happy to report, while it's a lot different than the self titled double cd, it's still a GREAT Dead C record. 'NEM' starts off with six minutes of burbling barely audible low end, pulsing and creeping, like a thick fog. Track two launches into a primitive rock and roll cave-stomp, simple propulsive drumming pins down whirls of white noise and chaotic rumble. The next two tracks veer more towards the traditional Dead C sound with track three a crumbling avalanche of guitar skronk and fluttery percussion, squalls of noise and waves of rumbling drone, and track 4 a sort of Jandek of the South Seas, with mumbled distant vocals over a loose free-twang framework. The final 30 minute track is gorgeous and if you ever had any doubts about the 'C being at the top of their game, this track should silence non believers. A rumbling, low end drone-scape with a metronomic burst of feedback that sets the whole thing into an hypnotic , almost-industrial rhythm. While in the background, electronics and unrecognizable guitar creaks and swells, rumble and soar and wrap the relentless one-beat rhythm in a coarse blanket of grit. As the track progresses, the background sounds intensify, threatening the rhythm but never quite overtaking it. So gorgeous. Probably one of the best things they've ever recorded. Dead C fans will not be disappointed and those unfamiliar could do worse than starting their education here!
RealAudio clip: "Repulsion"
RealAudio clip: "Killer "
RealAudio clip: "Hush"

GALLO, VINCENT Recordings Of Music For Film (Warp) cd 17.98
While writing a recent review about his favorite group King Crimson (!), Vincent Gallo allowed himself the indulgence of a viperous tangential rant against Harmony Korine: "When a mini-dwarf rich kid from Nashville like Harmony Korine flies first class and moves to New York City's Soho in his 'plush safe' apartment, running around town quoting Godard with lines like, 'Fuck the bourgeois', it's insincere, it's calculated, it's unoriginal, and it's the worst thing in the world, 'trendy'. He already knows that he and his boring girlfriend Connecticut Chloe Sevigny are going to be on the cover of 'The Face'. He knows he'll get his run at The Angelica and be hip in Japan. But no one will ever make an important film because they saw 'Gummo' or 'Donkey Boy'." (http://www.vincentgallo.com/writing/KingCrimson.html) The irony of such a statement is that many of Gallo's critics have uttered very similar attacks against him. In a lot of ways, Gallo brings it upon himself with the public display of a blunt persona that is crass, misogynistic, and brutally ugly. Yet amidst these horrible aspects of humanity, Gallo's facade cracks with wondrous displays of romantic dreams that sing the praises of 'pretty girls,' Genet-like love stories borne out of abjection, and the ephemeral magic of his musical constructions. How much of this dichotomy falls under the category of artistic calculation and how much of it is a hyper-dramatization of Gallo's polarization of human characteristics -- both positive and negative.
Of course, Vincent Gallo doesn't give a fuck what you or I may think about his art, as he's already convinced that's he a genius. I (Jim) enjoyed the grim artistry of "Buffalo 66" but was initially skeptical of his music, as a passing fancy for dilettante who somehow managed to convince Warp Records to sign him. Yet, in setting my pre-conceptions aside and actually listening to his previously published "When" (a bit of a sleeper hit among several of us here at Aquarius) and now "Recordings Of Music For Film," Vincent Gallo is a musician whose talent is not easy to dismiss as a cultural fluke. Like "When," his film scores to "Buffalo 66," "The Way It Is," "Downtown 81" and "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" are delicate, bittersweet wisps of song fragments, with ghostly guitar strumming that recalls late '80s Jandek, Gallo's Chet Baker-like voice, passing flourishes from a clarinet or a melodica, and very little else. What is most impressive is the consistency between all of these recordings despite the 15 years between "Buffalo 66" and "The Way It Is," whose scores make up the majority of this album. Regardless, it ends up being beautiful, no matter what opinion you may hold about Vincent Gallo.
RealAudio clip: "Her Smell Theme"
RealAudio clip: "The Girl Of Her Dreams"
RealAudio clip: "Six Laughs Once Happy"
RealAudio clip: "Lonely Boy"
RealAudio clip: "A Somewhere Place"

GOLD CHAINS Straight From Your Radio (Tigerbeat6) cd 9.98
Who rocks the parti? Local darling Gold Chains cracks the whip with five new dancefloor hotties giving a heads up to the Cologne and Berlin Schaffelfieber sound. Having travelled the world in his brief career as Gold Chains, Topher Lafata has absorbed the sounds of other lands to craft his own brand of electrosonic hiphop thunder. Following on his acclaimed debut for Orthlorng Musork, "Straight From Your Radio" is another brief encounter with the hard beat mystic nonmaterialistic witch doctor. Each track is very distinct from the next from the rubbery bass of the lead off track to the absurd cootchie song. So silly and repetitious, it lyrically reminded me of Snow's "The Informer" from '93. Continuing on, "Let's Make It" pumps out the big beats Sweet and Gary Glitter style. Y'know those thumpin' '70s enormo-party anthems! He even does a reworking of Samhain's "Human Pony Girl"! Come join the caravan...
RealAudio clip: "I Treat Your Cootchie Like A Maze"
RealAudio clip: "Let's Make It"
RealAudio clip: "Human Pony Girl"

GOLD CHAINS Straight From Your Radio (Tigerbeat6) 12" 9.98
Who rocks the parti? Local darling Gold Chains cracks the whip with five new dancefloor hotties giving a heads up to the Cologne and Berlin Schaffelfieber sound. Having travelled the world in his brief career as Gold Chains, Topher Lafata has absorbed the sounds of other lands to craft his own brand of electrosonic hiphop thunder. Following on his acclaimed debut for Orthlorng Musork, "Straight From Your Radio" is another brief encounter with the hard beat mystic nonmaterialistic witch doctor. Each track is very distinct from the next from the rubbery bass of the lead off track to the absurd cootchie song. So silly and repetitious, it lyrically reminded me of Snow's "The Informer" from '93. Continuing on, "Let's Make It" pumps out the big beats Sweet and Gary Glitter style. Y'know those thumpin' '70s enormo-party anthems! He even does a reworking of Samhain's "Human Pony Girl"! Come join the caravan...
RealAudio clip: "I Treat Your Cootchie Like A Maze"
RealAudio clip: "Let's Make It"
RealAudio clip: "Human Pony Girl"

HECKER, TIM My Love Is Rotten To The Core (Substractif) cd 10.98
This is either totally fucking stupid, or absolutely brilliant. Like a lot of records we love, it's really tough to tell sometimes. And we do love this record. The last Hecker record was one of our favorite post-Oval cd-manipulation/glitch record ever. Dense, thick soundscapes made up of damaged, manipulated and chopped up discs. 'My Love...' follows the same modus operandi, only this time all of the source material is Van Halen. That's right, Van Halen. Your first clue was the pen and ink sketch of David Lee Roth on the cd cover, your second clue is the Van Halen-lyric title 'My Love Is Rotten To The Core'. And of course if you know Van Halen, it's easy to pick out the riffs that surface in bits and pieces amidst all the stutter/shuffling/skipping/skittering. The record itself is gorgeous. Super dense, with the VH guitars lending themelves perfectly to being manipulated into thick slabs of SOUND, shifting ever so slightly, changing the ebullient VH party melodies into stretched out minor key dirges. The songs are separated by collages of VH interviews and radio snippets. We're tempted to dismiss this record as a silly gimmick, with all the clever allusions to Van Halen (without ever actually fessing up to stealing all the songs): the between song collages, the song titles and the cover art! It would've been way more intense and effective to just let the music speak for itself (like COH's metal album 'Iron') because the music, in Hecker's hands, becomes a wholly unique and original sound. But maybe Tim Hecker just really loves Van Halen and this is the best way he knows how to show it!! Either way, this is definitely one of the most fun and creative, and fucked glitch/drone/cut-up/plunderphonic records of the year.
RealAudio clip: "Introducing Carl Cocks"
RealAudio clip: "Sammy Loves Eddie Hates David"
RealAudio clip: "Hello Detroit"

KAWABATA MAKOTO & THE MOTHERS OF INVASION Hot Rattlesnakes (Paratactile) cd 16.98
Another two weeks have passed. Must mean it's time for another AQ-list. AND another Acid Mothers Temple record!! That's a slight exaggeration, but -only- slight, as the insanely prolific Makoto Kawabata (surpassed only by the stupidly prolific Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices) unleashes yet more music, this time with his power trio Mothers Of Invasion and their debut recording "Hot Rattlesnakes" (a reference to the only Zappa record Allan thinks you might want to own). Fans know what to expect and won't be disappointed. Track one is a thirty minute, freaked out psychedelic rock and roll jam. Bass and drums kicking out an endless groove while Kawabata goes to fuckin' town! Wailing and squealing and spraying gobs of freaked out Hendrix guitar all over the place. Endless guitar god nirvana. You know you love it! Track two is ten minutes of delayed and reverbed guitars warped into a hypnotic wash of warm guitar atmospherics and gently finger picked low end melodies. Subtle and quite nice. The closing 15 minutes is back to the jam, with an even more intense burst of psychedelic mayhem, phasers set to stun and flangers set to... well to FLANGE MOTHER FUCKER!!!!! The track blisses out for a moment while Kawabata wrings some emotion from his dying guitar, only to bring it back to life and exit in a blaze of guitar shredding, amp melting glory!
RealAudio clip: "Theme of Hot Rattlesnakes"
RealAudio clip: "Fripian Flipped Over Niffy Their King Of Frippery"
RealAudio clip: "French Sweet Suger House"

MATHIEU, STEPHAN Gigue (Fallt) cd 14.98
Why he records under the moniker Full Swing some of the time and his given name Stephan Mathieu on other occasions is a mystery, as the blueprint for all of his work remains a constant. Nevertheless, Mathieu is quickly becoming the most consistent electronica composer, often upstaging Christian Fennesz and Carsten Nicolai. Picking up where Mathieu left off on his exceptional Full Swing "Edits" album, "Gigue" is a live recording of his synthetic swells expanded out of digital minutae. His signature buzzing resonance drifts warmly out of digitized crackle and thick droning hiss. While such sounds had been common on the aforementioned "Edits" album, Mathieu pushes these sounds even further into a tumultuous wash of reverberant static, white noise and digital percolations, which stand out as quite intense for the typically sublime Mathieu. This crescendo of noise never strives for Merzbow, rather it presents the metaphor of the vast pressures and heat from deep sea hydrothermic vents where blackened plumes of scalding water blast upward amidst the frigid seawater at the bottom of the ocean. A short 30 minutes from this accomplished musician, but well worth every minute!
RealAudio clip: "Gigue"

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A CERTAIN RATIO B-Sides, Sessions and Rarities (Soul Jazz) 2x10" 19.98
Essentially this limited double 10" set collects all of the tracks that didn't make it on the ACR "Early" vinyl but were featured on the cd.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. New Geocentric World (Squealer) 2lp 17.98
Now available on vinyl with a bonus track (from a tour-only single) that was not included on the cd. The fourth official record from our favorite Japanese avant-hippy musical commune. Starting off with some heavy, throbbing electric psych jamming ("Psycho Buddha"), and then calming down into the folky drone-chant of "Space Age Ballad", this disc promises to be as varied and trippy as any of their past efforts. And indeed it is (more so, really, than their last cd, the relaxed "Troubadours From Another World"). The spacey "Universe of Romance" is followed by the noisily freaked out astro-stomp of "Occie Lady", and so forth. Exciting, eclectic, experimental acid-rock demonstrating that the secrets of the '70s cosmic krautrockers weren't lost, as Kawabata Makoto and Co. seem to have channelled them quite well.
RealAudio clip: "Psycho Buddha"
RealAudio clip: "Space Age Ballad"

AMERICAN ANALOG SET Updates (Tiger Style) cd ep 8.98
Well, one thing's for sure, American Analog Set sure like their crash cymbals loud... at least that's how it seems from the first track "Desert Eagle (All I Want For Christmas Mix)". Rattled me right outta my seat. Luckily that doesn't happen too often on this six-song EP. Packed with reworkings and remixes, it features two tracks by the band themselves (one a remix, one a cover of a Her Space Holiday song), two contributions from their seeming electronic counterparts Her Space Holiday (actually those particular tracks also sound like there was some input from The Faint camp too... hmmm). HSH first stretch an already glistening, mellow AmAnSet pop tune out into an even more laidback, shuffling number, then picking things up a bit with an almost funky groovin' remix. The last two tracks are the re-workings of Belgian's Styrofoam who gently break AmAnSet's melodies apart and apply their own light, sparkling electronics to the picture.
RealAudio clip: "Desert Eagle (All I Want For Christmas Mix)"
RealAudio clip: "Know By Heart (Her Space Holiday Mix)"
RealAudio clip: "The Postman (Styrofoam's Just Like The Nineties Never Happened Mix)"

ARCTURUS Aspera Hiems Symfonia / Constellation / And My Angel (Candlelight) 2cd 14.98
Two disc remastered reissue of this out of print cd as well as two out of print/super limited eps from one of our favorite black metal bands, before they got all 'weird'. This is Arcturus at their black metal prime, before they discovered techno and Mr. Bungle and circuses and rapping. Fast and majestic Nordic black metal more along the lines of Dimmu Borgir and the like with lots of keyboards, soaring baritone vocals (sounding remarkably like Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan and hinting at their future direction perhaps) inhuman shrieks, blazing double kick drumming as well as orchestral/melodic breaks. Totally melodic but still pretty brutal and fierce, and kinda "prog" too, but not nearly as prog as they ended up getting... A lot of you probably already have the original, but this double disc is remastered and includes the tracks from their 1991 7" and a 1994 promo only cd.
RealAudio clip: "To Thou Who Dwellest In The Night"
RealAudio clip: "Wintry Grey"

ARMATRON Mutation Programming (GSL) 7" 4.98
Lincoln, Nebraska. America's heartland. Corn Huskers. Saddle Creek (technically Omaha, but whatever). Now bear witness to the spastic grinding futurist attack of Armatron. Veterans of the Midwest hardcore-metal crossover scene, the newly expanded quartet has been slowly perfecting their brand of mutant electro pummel. Two basses, one drummer and an army of synths spit sonic venom in the vein of The Locust (as Armatron mastermind Lux had a short lived stint with said groop), though with a more powerful low end rumble. A long overdue followup to their split disc with Cattle Decapitation and Ticwar on Toyo's "The Science Of Crisis". Hopefully we haven't heard the last from these kids. More to come? Incredibly hilarious artwork by J. Vonwolf (also responsible for the Erase Errata cover art).

BEEQUEEN Ownliness (Infraction) cd 13.98
Beequeen is but one of the many sides to Frans De Waard - the Dutch vangardist who has also explored post-techno minimalism in Goem, blissful guitar drone work in Shifts, musique concrete in Kapotte Muziek, and about a half-dozen other smaller projects. As with all of those aforementioned projects, De Waard typically follows the lead of a 'trendy' line in experimental music -- PanSonic, Main, Pierre Henry, etc. For Beequeen, it's a little more vague, originally taking off from the Legendary Pink Dots (as De Waard met fellow Beequeen member Freek Kinkelaar out of their mutual admiration of Ka-Spel and Co.), but more recently picking up cues from the Temporary Residence aesthetic of quiet guitar led introspection and moody post-rock atmospheres espoused by Sonna and Tarentel. As with the majority of the De Waard projects, Beequeen mimics its influences remarkably well.
RealAudio clip: "My Wicked Wicked Ways"
RealAudio clip: "Beam Ends"

BENSON, BRENDAN Lapalco (Startime International) cd 15.98
Very Apples In Stereo / Silver Sun / Sloan jubilant pop with jangly guitar melodies, and perky vocal harmonies. Benson possesses a boyish voice with a lilt that reminded me a lot of Rufus Wainwright or Jason Faulkner. Nice.
RealAudio clip: "What "
RealAudio clip: "Tiny Spark"

BIS Plastique Nouveau (SpinArt) cd 12.98
You just might hear this on Wild 94.9, the Bay Area's dance station! Gentlemen, the transformation is complete. Bis are totally pumpin' out the dance tracks. Not a single glimmer of their past Scottish elfin indie pop selves. This album is even eons away from their Powerpuff Girls theme song. Sounding like they're shooting for a more mature audience, they've stripped away any of the sweet charm and energy of their past releases (particularly "Social Dancing" which successfully fused all of these key Bis elements). Alas, what we're left with is decent, if almost faceless, music. If you just wanna dance the night away in fluffy '80s discoland, this might be for you. Also features mixes by Adult., Tommie Sunshine and Ectomorph (Perhaps hoping to move a few more units, SpinArt Records threw the "electroclash" tag on the shrinkwrap. Argh!).
RealAudio clip: "Don't Let The Rain Come Down"
RealAudio clip: "Robotic (Adult. Almost Instrumental Mix)"

BLOSSOM TOES We Are Ever So Clean (Polydor Japan) cd 17.98
London, 1967: ground zero for the explosion of fab British pop psych rock bands, including many known today only to collectors -- among them, this bunch of mop tops, Blossom Toes. Here's a Japanese cd reissue of the first of their two albums. Their brand of psychedelic pop music was ornate, orchestrated, lush, and very British -- they songs called "Mrs. Murphy's Budgerigar" and "I'll Be Late For Tea" -- think Beatles, Zombies, Kinks, very early Bowie, with dashes of surreal Pythonesque zaniness ("The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog", "The Intrepid Balloonist's Handbook, Volume One", etc.). Indeed, they even played Captain Beefheart covers live! Produced by Swinging Sixties London scenester Giorgio Gomelski (their manager, who also managed the Yardbirds among other claims to fame). Note: "Packaged with the original artwork and lyrics (as opposed to the ugly-ass Heritage Entertainment version previously available)" sez Revolver.
RealAudio clip: "Look At Me I'm You"
RealAudio clip: "I'll Be Late For Tea"
RealAudio clip: "The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog"
RealAudio clip: "Love Is"
RealAudio clip: "What's It For"

BONARELLI, CLAUDIA Everything Happens Only a Certain Number of Times (Mitek) cd 14.98
It's such a formula. I'm finding it hard not to scoff. [1] ALBUM COVER: blurry photo of wall, stairwell or Eames chair (graphic designer friend happens to have a pair in living room). [2] MUSIC: endlessly repeating rhythms resembling depressed heartbeat, overlay arty record crackle. [3] INNER SLEEVE: not there to convey information; must be totally blank except for more blurry photos of horizons and shit. [4] LABEL: must be German or Austrian; if you release it on an American electronica label no one will pay attention to you. Et voila. Electronica-by-numbers.
RealAudio clip: "Commune"

CARDIACS Guns (Alphabet) cd 14.98
We first heard about the Cardiacs from our friend Jussi From Circle. He didn't really give us much to go on, just told us to find Cardiacs records. So when I (Andee) was in England last year I looked everywhere for Cardiacs records. No stores stocked them, no one had even heard of them. Rough Trade? Nope. Record And Video Exchange? Nope. So on a whim I went into Tower Records, and whhattayaknow, the Cardiacs had their own big ol' section. So I bought 4 of the 8 records they had in stock, without even knowing what they sounded like. The guy I was staying with was not at all impressed, telling me "Nobody likes the Cardiacs". But when I finally got down to listening to them, boy was I pleasantly surprised. Somehow not at all what I expected, but that only made me like it more. It's definitely pop, but it's not pop like you or I know it, it's freaked out, complex, super dynamic, totally catchy, weird vocals, drum machines, high pitched lead vocals, carnivalesque, bombastic kick ass sort-of-power-pop. It's really hard to describe. When I brought my copy to play for people in the store, every couple of minutes someone walked up wanting to buy whatever it was we were playing. So finally, we were able to get enough copies to list and let you all get your grubby litttle paws on this demented pop goodness. Think the Pixies meets the Sweet meets the Toy Dolls meets Uz Jsme Doma meets Queen meets the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack meets XTC but more punk rock, and more prog, or something like that. With totally unlikely but irresistible melodies, squiggly guitars, circus organs, the occasional children's choir (?), drumming that is so stuttery and precise it sounds like it must be a drum machine, burbly spaced out ambient keyboards, completely fucked lyrics and amazing vocals and harmonies. It's like power-pop-prog-ska (like Uz Jsme Doma sounded ska) punk craziness. Goes from manic and intense to throbbing and dreamy at the drop of a dime. I think this band was 'big' for a while in the UK which is why my hipster friends scoffed, but to be honest I can't understand why they're not still big, or big here too. Just a little too weird, methinks.
'Guns' is my favorite record of the bunch. Just listen to the sound sample for the song 'There's Good Cud'. One of the most perfect pop songs I've ever heard. Weird and damaged but totally catchy and fun. Sort of like the whole record. And the sample after that 'Wind And Rains Is Cold' shows the softer (but no less weird) side of the Cardiacs. Lilting pop loveliness wrapped in a warped rock framework. This record totally rules.
RealAudio clip: "There's Good Cud"
RealAudio clip: "Wind And Rains Is Cold"
RealAudio clip: "Spell With A Shell"

CARDIACS Songs For Ships And Irons (Alphabet) cd 14.98
We first heard about the Cardiacs from our friend Jussi From Circle. He didn't really give us much to go on, just told us to find Cardiacs records. So when I (Andee) was in England last year I looked everywhere for Cardiacs records. No stores stocked them, no one had even heard of them. Rough Trade? Nope. Record And Video Exchange? Nope. So on a whim I went into Tower Records, and whhattayaknow, the Cardiacs had their own big ol' section. So I bought 4 of the 8 records they had in stock, without even knowing what they sounded like. The guy I was staying with was not at all impressed, telling me "Nobody likes the Cardiacs". But when I finally got down to listening to them, boy was I pleasantly surprised. Somehow not at all what I expected, but that only made me like it more. It's definitely pop, but it's not pop like you or I know it, it's freaked out, complex, super dynamic, totally catchy, weird vocals, drum machines, high pitched lead vocals, carnivalesque, bombastic kick ass sort-of-power-pop. It's really hard to describe. When I brought my copy to play for people in the store, every couple of minutes someone walked up wanting to buy whatever it was we were playing. So finally, we were able to get enough copies to list and let you all get your grubby litttle paws on this demented pop goodness. Think the Pixies meets the Sweet meets the Toy Dolls meets Uz Jsme Doma meets Queen meets the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack meets XTC but more punk rock, and more prog, or something like that. With totally unlikely but irresistible melodies, squiggly guitars, circus organs, the occasional children's choir (?), drumming that is so stuttery and precise it sounds like it must be a drum machine, burbly spaced out ambient keyboards, completely fucked lyrics and amazing vocals and harmonies. It's like power-pop-prog-ska (like Uz Jsme Doma sounded ska) punk craziness. Goes from manic and intense to throbbing and dreamy at the drop of a dime. I think this band was 'big' for a while in the UK which is why my hipster friends scoffed, but to be honest I can't understand why they're not still big, or big here too. Just a little too weird, methinks.
This is my second favorite Cardiacs record ONLY because two of my favorite Cardiacs' songs are on 'Guns' (see other review). But it's easily as good as 'Guns' with its frenetic pop, completely mad vocals and brain-melting arrangements. I mean just listen to the sound samples!! You might as well buy both of them because this band is the fucked up, off-kilter, totally difficult and damaged pop band you've been looking for your whole life. I kid you not.
RealAudio clip: "Big Ship "
RealAudio clip: "Tarred And Feathered"
RealAudio clip: "Burn Your House Brown"

CHERRY VALENCE Riffin' (Estrus ) cd 14.98
This album comes directly after my glorifying / praising review of their 12" on Flapping Jet in list #140. I said this full length couldn't come fast enough and BAM! It's here. I feel the same as I did two weeks ago, if not more so. This recording is as tight and energetic as the 12". Vocals with that perfect amount of grit and soul, blazing electric guitars, and their full throttle double-barreled drum attack. It was recorded by the flawless Tim Green at Louder Studios here in SF. Rock'n'roll revivalists The Cherry Valence bringing the 70's right to your doorstep with rock riffage a la MC5, Stooges, and Kiss. Hot!
RealAudio clip: "Can't Get Enough"
RealAudio clip: "Riffin"
RealAudio clip: "World of Trouble"

CHROMATICS / MONITOR BATS split (GSL) 7" 4.98
So short! Four raw spurts of noise-alicious herky-jerk. We barely caught a glimpse of these two new members of the Gold Standard Laboratories clan . Certainly not the black sheeps in this family, they seat themselves quite comfortably in the recently vacated, overturned chairs of spaz-punks LeShok and XBXRX. So who are these mysterious newcomers? Well, arty postpunkers the Chromatics rose from the ashes of Seattle, WA's underappreciated The Vogue (and you might have also heard of another of their incarnations, The Soiled Doves). Like-minded Monitor Bats just happen to be the jazz-punk side project of blues-rockin' kids The Gossip. Word has it that a Chromatics full length is in the works, so keep those ears to the ground. Until then, you might just have to make do with this brief encounter.

CQ (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) (Emperor Norton) cd 17.98
Here it is, the soundtrack to Roman Coppola's much-hyped, hip-stylin' retro-future movie about the making of a retro-future movie that heartily scoops elements from hip-stylin' flicks of the '60s - most notably AQ fave Mario Bava's sublime Danger Diabolik (which has also been borrowed from by the likes of Fantomas and the Beastie Boys). French group Mellow provide the score resplendent with swoonsome soft numbers and frantic car chase tracks. As well, we're treated to a handful of '60s French pop shimmy-shakers by the likes of Claude Francois and Jacques Dutronc which round out the pleasing variety of sounds on this album. Mellow have drawn plenty of comparisons to fellow French suave duo Air, and yes, they do quite often (but not always) bear a striking resemblance. Not surprisingly sister Sofia Coppola enlisted the sonic assistance of Air for her film The Virgin Suicides, and both soundtracks are on the more-than-appropriate cosmopolitan pop label Emperor Norton. So if you like what you hear, you know where to go to find more.
RealAudio clip: "Codename Dragonfly"
RealAudio clip: "Ce Soir Je Vais Boire"
RealAudio clip: "Multithing"
RealAudio clip: "CQ Car Chase"

CRACK WE ARE ROCK Live In Africa (Kimosciotic) 7" 3.98
SF's Crack:WAR strike back with two new tracks of electro street hustle with slovenly vocalisations. No, they didn't tour Africa, but their fans sure act like animals at their live shows. Wild.

CRAW Bodies For Stontium 90 (Hydrahead) cd 14.98
Ten years on and Craw (remember them?) are still at it. Combining some of the best parts of the Dazzling Killmen, Bastro and Jesus Lizard and coming up with a bass heavy, groove laden, crushing metal onslaught. Equal parts metalcore and post rock, Craw spread out expansive rhythmic structures, with the bass and drums tightly wound together while guitars roar above and around, riffs weaving in and out, slowly building into walls of sludge-thick guitars. Craw's weak point has always been the vocals. So much so that a lot of people I know would probably cite Craw as one of their all time favorite bands, if it wasn't for those damn vocals. Well, the vocals are still a bit of a problem, but they are so much better than before. Not sure if the singer is singing better, or the vocals are more buried in the mix (more like both methinks) but whatever it is, makes this new Craw record go down way easier and means that this is WAY RECOMMENDED!
RealAudio clip: "Caught My Tell"
RealAudio clip: "Weedy Species"
RealAudio clip: "Sex"

CRIME IN CHOIR s/t (Omnibus) cd 13.98
A sticker on the shrinkwrap proclaims "founding members of At The Drive-In and Hella", but don't go buying it just because of that fact. Really now, this sounds very little like either band (well, maybe they lean towards a more subdued Hella... which sounds like quite a nice thing to me). This is a half dozen very well-executed post-rock instrumentals that are both pretty and driving. My ears perked up even more from the third track "Come Here, Raider" and on when the instrumentation and arrangements get a little more fleshed out. Check it out!
RealAudio clip: "Come Here, Raider"
RealAudio clip: "Worldwide CB"

CURTAINS, THE Fast Talks (Thin Wrist) lp 10.98
A beautifully rendered document of the early stages of this San Francisco trio. A posthumous release of sorts, considering the radical personnel changes since the recording of "Fast Talks". But alas, we can now enjoy the magic of what once was. Comparisons to Beefheart's Magic Band, The Shaggs or the reserved expansiveness of guitarists like Derek Bailey, Taku Sugimoto or Fred Frith certainly come to mind, though those likenesses are only fragments of the larger landscape. The duelling guitars of Chris Cohen and Trevor Shimizu weave into one another, not colliding or stepping on each others toes, but crafting a web in which the stumbling percussive rolls of drummer Jamie Peterson (ex-Saint Andre) are able to grasp onto. Peterson's unique style recalls the Magic Band's John "Drumbo" French, though with more reservation and a playful discretion. In fact most of the songs on "Fast Talks" are refreshing in their sheer simplicity and sense of discovery. You might be inclined to say "naive" upon first listen, as remnants of "outsider" artists such as The Shaggs can be traced through their arrangements, though these pieces are extremely well conceived, complex and strongly informed by restraint and the spaces in between. Several moments throughout the record even contain qualities which recall another SF avant-rock outfit -- Deerhoof -- whose guitarist John Dieterich, coincidentally, takes production controls here. Vinyl only, and gorgeously packaged as per the Thin Wrist standard of excellence.
RealAudio clip: "22nds"
RealAudio clip: "Athletes In The Stars"
RealAudio clip: "Dim Weeks"
RealAudio clip: "Slippers"

DACM Showroom Dummies (Mego) cd 16.98
"Showroom Dummies" is the latest performance piece developed by the Grenoble, France dance company Groupe DACM. The acclaimed organization is known for its maverick and unorthodox approach in their use of new media and radical experimentation. Don't know too much about the full story behind "Showroom Dummies", the images accompanying the Mego packaging bring to mind a macabre Vanessa Beecroft performance. In conceptual essence, it places characters -- based on icons of fiction Wanda Von Sacher-Masoch and Yvonne, Princess Of Burgundy -- in situations of submission and resistance, studying the fine line between desire and disgust. In their attempt to complement the confrontational nature within these themes of repulsion and erotism, Groupe DACM had employed the notoriously abrasive (and confrontational in his own right!) Peter Rehberg aka Pita. Unlike the full on scathing aural tornado prevalent in his solo recordings and with Ramon Bauer, Rehberg splices snippets of his aural shrapnel into rhythmic repetitive patterns of subtlety. Perhaps the involvement of Japanese musician Noriko Tujiko in early constructions of the pieces could explain the reserved intensity. However, this release does not credit her for any part of the production, though she is given an acknowledgement of gratitude. Having said that, Rehberg is still extremely effective in his own attempt to exploit the dichotomy of harshness within a docile and inviting arrangement, the pieces here subversively insert a sense of intemperance in a "safe" habitat. Somewhat suspicious of his intent in creating linear cosmopolitan "dance music" under the guise of performance art, some of these pieces could very well be mistaken for fluid dancefloor rhythm tracks, aesthetically resembling a chance meeting between Pan Sonic and Merzbow (like that hasn't happened before). At least one track is an obviously deconstructed trance techno track, pummeled out of its own melody into another dimension. Ultimately, Rehberg regurgitates these consummations into his own beast child. Frigid and austere, yet wholly engaging and seemingly harmless on its surface, "Showroom Dummies" lures you into its web only to chew you up and spit you back out. Lovely.
RealAudio clip: "04"
RealAudio clip: "07"
RealAudio clip: "09"
RealAudio clip: "11"

DEMPSEY s/t (Output Recordings Limited) cd 17.98
This double cd set looks like one of those sensitive singer-songwriter affairs that I admit I'm sort of a sucker for... that is, when it's well done. Unfortunately, Dempsey isn't well done. (Let's say it's medium rare.) I mean, all the elements are there to make this "the soundtrack album of the summer" (as a press clipping proclaims) -- tastefully programmed breakbeats and subtle samples mixed with guitar balladry, moody cello, smoky trumpet, and a Mick-Jagger-three-times-removed kind of lazy wannabe drawl -- and for all I know the folks in the UK are digging into this stuff (like it's filet mignon, heh.) Even the sleeve art is as predictable as the music, a closeup of an acoustic guitar, photos of desert landscapes, the sea, lightning -- stuff you see "on the road". But come on, the melodies aren't nearly as assured or memorable as they need to be in order for that sensitive singer-songwriter stance to ring true. The lyrics are amateurish (and I find the voice incredibly annoying). The entire thing feels a little bit manufactured, but maybe that's cos I've never been impressed with Brit powerhouse obvious-genre-mixing impresario Trevor Jackson, who co-wrote and produced "Sunset," the second disc here. Kieran Hebden of AQ-faves Fridge co-wrote and produced the first disc, called "Sunrise". The members of Fridge make up the band Dempsey. Oops, let's not forget the "main guy" Geoff Mcintyre. Mediocre.
RealAudio clip: "Big Time"
RealAudio clip: "Hippydream"

EMPIRE, ALEC Intelligence And Sacrifice (DHR) 2cd 22.00
With the demise of Atari Teenage Riot due to Carl Crack's untimely death, Digital Hardcore's mainman Alec Empire continues to preach / sing / scream to the hordes of disaffected electro-punk youth. On the first disc of this set, Empire's tactics remain consistent with the ATR output, as heavy duty punk explosions signified by the relentless samples of gated, grindcore riffs are punctuated by huge 909 throbbing drum kicks and stabs of searing white noise. Not surprisingly, "Intelligence And Sacrifice" finds Empire aligning himself more with the industrial / metal crossovers of Ministry and the guitar crunch attacks from the mid-'90s Wax Trax! clones. The second disc lands more in a disjointed acid breakbeat / micro-glitch realm, that is as good as anything Mille Plateaux / Ritornell has been releasing during the past few months. Quite effective, but neither of the two aesthetic sides of Alec Empire can be purported as entirely groundbreaking.
RealAudio clip: "Everything Starts With A Fuck"
RealAudio clip: "Intelligence And Sacrifice"
RealAudio clip: "Vault Things Of The Night"
RealAudio clip: "Silence And Burning Ice"

FLOOR s/t (No Idea) cd 12.98
One of our all time favorite sludge/metal/grind bands, who until now, had only released tracks on compilations and seven inches. Must be at least 7 or 8 years now that Floor have been contributing their downtuned dementia to the underground scene and they have managed to remain pretty unknown. Hopefully this full length will change that. And it really should, cause their sound has definitely changed with the times. Instead of wallowing in their underground-basement-split-seven-inch past and rehashing their slow motion grind (in the style of Cavity and Eyehategod), they've added LOTS of clean vocals and a surprising amount of melody, ending up with a sound somewhere between your favorite pop punk emo band, the Melvins, late period Fudge Tunnel, and Nirvana, but way, way heavier. Seriously. They've turned into a honest to goodness pop band, but a downtuned, amps-on-11, super-distorted, kick-in-the-guts pop band. Great production too with super distorted low end that makes their huge bursts of guitar sound like the end of the world! Way recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Scimitar"
RealAudio clip: "Return To Zero"
RealAudio clip: "Downed Star"

FOG Check Fraud (Ninja Tune) 12" 9.98
A nice 12" from Fog, the one man band from Minneapolis that sits expertly astride the line separating "rock" from "electronica". Gorgeous strummed guitar gives Check Fraud its texture, while numerous sonic interruptions, vocal snippets, and bloopy bleeps enhance it. Kid Koala provides a stunning remix of the piece, slowing it down and making the melody even more pretty and sweet. Very nice. Good for DJs. I'm going to spin this for sure.

GOGOGO AIRHEART Exitheuxa (GSL) cd 11.98
Sounds like the GoGoGoAirheart fellows have shifted their music making approach just a little for their fourth full length, focusing more on guitars and pop-structured songs and less on their more familiar extended dubby bass, post punk jams. In the process, they've relinquished a bit of the tension that made the music on both their self-titled and "Love My Life Hate My Friends" albums so immediate and absorbing. It's in those jams that the best of GGGAH surfaces. Likewise, live, they can be hit or miss, but when their improvs lock into a groove... Hoo boy, they are amazing -- especially when the fluid bass playing of A. Vyas is given room to move. The angstful howl'n'yelp of main vocalist Michael Vermilion is still very much in the vein of The Pop Group particularly on the longer numbers ("Here Comes Attack"), but quite often in the shorter punky songs his voice also takes on a nasality reminiscent of the Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley ("Sincerely P.S."). He's joined on vocal duties by Vyas and guitarist Benjamin White. Also thrown into the instrument mix are trumpet, piano, programmed drums, Moog synths and organ.
RealAudio clip: "Here Comes Attack"
RealAudio clip: "Sincerely P.S."
RealAudio clip: "When The Flesh Hits"
RealAudio clip: "Good Things"

GROWING Dry Drunk On Woman / Residual Effects Of Inertia II (Nail In The Coffin) 7" 3.50
Low level drones drenched in feedback and synth tones from the Olympia, WA duo known as Growing. Like a lo-fi Popol Vuh or midrange Earth, but with a dreamier edge via ambiguous vocalizations.

HEASLEY, TOM On The Sensations Of Tone (Innova) cd 14.98
You know how much I love flutes, so it would only stand to reason that I would also love tubas. What!? Makes perfect sense to me. Two of the most maligned instruments, the instruments that even band geeks made fun of. Well not any more!!! Flutes have already proven themselves (check out Osanna and a million other kick ass prog bands), now it's the tuba's turn to shine. And shine it does, although not in nearly as ostentatious a manner as the flute. Partially because tonally, the tuba is more well designed to rumble and drone than freak out. So Tom Heasly, who, we sadly know little about, takes his tuba, mixes in some throat singing, loops and digital processing, and comes up with this dreamy, willowy record of gentle swells and warm drones. Bordering occasionally on new age, Heasly manages to just barely steer clear of Windham Hill, adding some grit to the gentle soundscapes, making notes ring endlessly, as other notes join in and gently pulse along side. Washes of gauzy major key hum whirl in lazy rings around rumbling swells. Kind of like Stars Of The Lid without the guitars, or Gas without the beats or a Coleclough record with lots of tuba!!
RealAudio clip: "Thonis"

HOTOTOGISU, THE Floating Japanese Oof! Gardens Of The 21st Century (Rural Electrification Program) cd-r 13.98
Brand new double cd-r release from The Hototogisu, the occasional project of Sunroof!/Skullflower mainman Matthew Bower. Unlike previous Bower efforts (and the last Hototogisu cd-r) 'Floating Japanese Oof!' plays out like one massive 140 minute piece (regardless of how it's tracked). This is bliss out, drone music the way it was meant to be experienced, in massive mind expanding chunks. Shimmery clouds of ambient high end guitar drone and squiggly brain tickling twinkles, with pulsing low end, and distant clatter. Gorgeous, otherworldly and totally essential.
RealAudio clip: "Disc A Track 2"
RealAudio clip: "Disc B Track 1"
RealAudio clip: "Disc B Track 2"

IMPALED Mondo Medicale (Deathvomit / Necropolis) cd 12.98
Local gorecore heroes Impaled (Ludicra bassist Ross Sewage's *other* band) vomit forth another gnarly dose of their death metal medicine. It's definitely the cure for those wasting away from a lack of Carcass in their diets -- Carcass, y'know, being the UK grindcore greats who Impaled ape so well. Nothing wrong with that, we love Carcass as much as Impaled do. Well, maybe almost as much, 'cause we didn't actually start a band to try and emulate the razorsharp riffing and sickening lyrics of those Brits. But Impaled have other influences as well, to be fair: Italian splatter cinema and, um, shit. (We didn't say they were *wide-ranging* influences...) Anyway, this Impaled is a good 'un, go get it you death grind freaks!
RealAudio clip: "The Worms Crawl In"

INCANTATION Blasphemy (Necropolis) cd 12.98
Umpteenth album (first on Necropolis, though, after quite a few for Relapse) from these underground American death metal stalwarts. Incantation have always been one of Allan's (few) favorite death metal acts, because they understand that being heavy isn't always about unrelenting, monotonous blasting. Indeed, bands that play fast all the time often don't end up sounding very heavy at all. Incantation contrast their fast parts with slow, doomy parts too -- that really IS heavy. In addition, they're creative with their dissonant guitar riffs, reminding us just a bit of the avant-gardisms of another fave, Gorguts. Brutal, blasphemous (of course) stuff, with speedy, dense textures and awesomely dirgey breakdowns.
RealAudio clip: "The Fallen"

IRONSWORD s/t (Miskatonic) cd 13.98
More true metal from the cult Miskatonic label run by Rich Walker of UK doom metal masters Solstice (R.I.P.). Ironsword hail from Portugal, and, well, are a little hard to recommend. As much as we admire the spirit of heavy metal that they share with such bands as labelmates Twisted Tower Dire, this just sounds terrible. Poverty-stricken production, a drum machine for a drummer, and gruff, heavily accented English vocal wailing: it's not a pretty picture. But, perhaps you'll find that they fall into that so-bad-its-good catagory (a personal judgement for everyone). Their songs ARE anthemic, as powerful as the production will let them be, tirelessly energetic (thanks to the drum machine, in part), and completely devoted to the cause of true metal. Good at least for a laugh at your next beer-n-metal bash. Doubtless they have a cult following somewhere. As the liner notes say: thanks to "Rich Walker (for being crazy enough to sign us)." So ask yourself, metalhead, are *you* crazy enough to buy this?
RealAudio clip: "King Of All Kings"

KALACAKRA Crawling To Lhasa (Garden Of Delights) cd 17.98
The flood of compact disc reissues of obscure krautrock albums has been constant and overwhelming in recent years, but few discs are truly as cosmic and inspired as collector hype claims make them out to be. Usually an album's rarity is confused with "classic" status. But every once in a while, we get pleasantly blown away by an unexpected unknown. Kalacakra is one such album that deserves its mythical, mystical reputation (and $300 price tag on the collector's market). Reissued in 2001 (but not heard by us until more recently, due to the glut of such reissues alluded to above), Kalacakra's "Crawling To Lhasa" contains eight tracks of mantric acid-folk self-released in 1972 by the apparently drugged-out duo of Claus Rauschenbach ("guitars, kongas, percussions, vocals, harmonica, slentem") and Heinz Martin ("electr. guitars, flute, piano, vibraphon, schalmi, cello, violin, synthesizer"). Their strange, hippie sense of humor and obsession with the culture of Tibet (the name Kalacakra is the Tibetan term for "wheel of time") results in some fantastically nonsensical, eastern-influenced psychedelia (nonsensical? well, that "slentem" that Claus plays is in fact a non-existent, made-up instrument!). The album begins with the dark, hypnotic "Nearby Shiras", a song about a plague-ravaged town in olden Persia, which features some totally sinister and maniacal whispered German-language vocals, reminding us a bit even of Comus. As their crawl to Lhasa continues, Kalacakra venture into zones of lovely folk-strum and raga-rock as well, before the album wraps up with a a deranged and damaged blues stumble called "Tante Olga". Oh, then there's two "bonus" tracks, recorded by Heinz in 1993, that are perhaps best ignored: electronic "world music" unfortunately lacking the mystery and insanity of his 1972 output, inoffensive but an unnecessary addition to this reissue for sure. Claus, we're told, still lives (on social security) in Kalacakra's home town of Duisburg, but does no recording. Good for him.
Some folks we know (who often make music under the name Thuja) got so inspired upon hearing this disc that they determined to start their own hippie psych side project, to be called "The Ways Of God To Man", drawing upon Kalacakra as well as the similar sounds of Yahowah 13 and Maru Sankaku Shikaku and Faust's "Tapes" as influences. We'll let you know if they manage to actually record anything!
Garden of Delights did their usual thorough job with this reissue, which boasts a thick booklet full of liner notes (in German and English), reproductions of label art from the original LP *and* from bootleg versions, plus photos of Claus and Heinz looking about as weird and long-haired and hippie-ish as it's possible to get!
Albums like this make us worry about overlooking other hidden gems amid the multitude of kraut/psych/prog reissues that we're blessed/cursed with every month, so we'll do our best to try and check 'em all out, eventually...whew...
RealAudio clip: "Nearby Shiras"
RealAudio clip: "Raga No. 11"
RealAudio clip: "Tante Olga"

KENNELMUS Folkstone Prism (Sundazed) cd 11.98
Another fine reissue from fine reissue label Sundazed (who put this out in '99 -- so we're slow, sorry) of late sixties era psych rock. Kennelmus were from the Arizona desert and played a sunbaked style of almost surfy psychedelia, as documented on this, their sole LP release from 1971. Influenced by the Beach Boys, early Alice Cooper, and we'd have to assume some mind-expanding drugs, this is gorgeous stuff that's also weirdly unhinged as you'll discover as the album progresses. 'Indonesian instrumental '60s guitar pop band The Steps doing Morricone Western soundtrack music' (cool!) is the first thing we thought after hearing the initial three or four songs, but then as the tracks advance, more and more songs feature vocals, often silly, nasal ones...partially because of this, at times this reminds us of another strange band originally from Arizona, the Sun City Girls!
Kennelmus have their own, unique vibe, but you never know what to expect: there's the song "Mother Of My Children" with vocals that sound exactly like Lee Hazlewood, lotsa studio trickery and effects (backwards guitars galore), and then album-closer "The Raven" (yes, the famous Edgar Allen Poe poem set to music). Which explains the bird silhouette on the disc's fantastic purple cover. If you liked Sundazed more recent reissue of the Gandalf album we reviewed last list, this is way weirder but similarily lovely and obscure.
RealAudio clip: "I Don't Know"
RealAudio clip: "Dancing Doris"
RealAudio clip: "Black Sunshine"
RealAudio clip: "Think For Yourself"

KID 606 The Action Packed Mentallist Brings You the Fucking Jams (Violent Turd) 2lp 14.98
Now on LP:
I know we seem to be kind of hard on Kid606. We are. He's the artist du jour. He's on practically every electronica compilation that came out in the last two years, everyone wants to put his records out, everyone wants to remix him (or be remixed by him), and he seems to be better at 'borrowing' other people's material than he is at creating unique and distinctly 'Kid606' records. And while it's easy to be bugged by all that stuff, you have to remember, at least every once in a while, that he's really good at what he does. And what he does is fuck with other people's shit! And this record proves that he is still the master at fucking with other people's shit. This record is stupid, silly and occasionally gives you that 'I could do that' feeling, but man is it fun to listen to. And when you get right down to it, what more could you want from a record, than for it to make you crack up, just sitting there, unable to stifle the laughs 'cause this stuff is so great! I bet this record is going to drive dance floors wild. A gabber version of Eminem and D12's 'Purple Pills'? It's on here. A hardcore jungle version of Buggles 'Video Killed The Radio Star'? Check. A revved up version of the Bangles' 'Walk Like An Egyptian'? Yep. More fucked-with 'Get Ur Freak On' than you can shake a stick at? In spades. I bet Missy Elliott has an entire team of lawyers just to try and track the Kid down. He seems hellbent on personally destroying/remixing/fucking-with Miss Elliott's entire recorded output. Are we complaining? Hell, no! Bring it on. We've had it with all this boring beep and click. Bring on the big stupid beats, the chopped up vocals, the dance floor fillers. Take all our favorite songs (and least favorite songs), rev em up, chop em up and drive the kids wild. Why the hell not?!
RealAudio clip: "MP3 Killed The CD Star (Excerpt One)"
RealAudio clip: "MP3 Killed The CD Star (Excerpt two)"
RealAudio clip: "Kiddy Needs A New Pair Of Laptops"
RealAudio clip: "Never Underestimate The Value Of A Holler (Vipee-pee Mix)"

KONER, THOMAS Unerforschtes Gebiet (Die Stadt) lp 24.00
As an objet d'art, Thomas Koner's "Unerforschtes Gebiet" is almost perfectly executed from beginning concept to final product. The title translates from Koner's native German as "Unchartered Territory," a common theme for electronica's isolationist whose previous work has prompted metaphors of arctic desolation, astrophysical emptiness, and Zen-like nothingness. Inscribed upon one of the loveliest picture discs we've ever seen with images of antique seafaring maps of the Arctic Ocean / North Pole, Koner's "Unerforschtes Gebiet" is a very quiet composition that explores variations of low frequencies which crawl very slowly in and out of audibility amidst down-pitched cracklings and muted rumbles. It could be assumed that Koner has kept this album relatively quiet and has geared-down all the frequencies to give more presence to the surface noise inherent in all picture discs (which for better or for worse never sound as good as a thick slab of 220 gram vinyl). Koner has stated that this album has its origins from his experiments with the projections of a really dusty piece of blank 16mm film; thus, he's done his best to cover all the conceptual bases between the historical references to those old maps, the surface noise, and that dusty film. Of course, if you can't stand surface noise, by all means stay away and be content with the knowlegde that a slightly different CD version of this album will be published later on this year. But if you waffle on this one, I guarantee you will miss out as Die Stadt has manufactured a mere 700 copies!
RealAudio clip: "Unerforschtes Gebiet 1"
RealAudio clip: "Unerforschtes Gebiet 2"

KUWAYAMA/ KIJIMA 01.06.16 (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
A slight departure from the silence and drones that often-inaudible composer Bernhard Gunter's Trente Oiseaux label is known for, this disc by Japanese cello and violin duo Kuwayama Kiyoharu and Kijima Rina is a live acoustic improv set. Not exactly jazz improv, though! More of an avant-garde modern classical chamber improv thing, but minus the actual "chamber", 'cause the real twist is that "01.06.16" isn't just live, it's what you might term a "field recording" -- they recorded it outdoors, beside a highway at midnight! So you get the sound of passing cars and trucks, adding a whooshing, rumbling texture to the proceedings. We're not sure if they're really listening to the traffic and interactively improvising with those sounds -- although it seems that way at least some of the time -- but the ambient (and very present) pulsation of the highway noise makes a nice setting for the creaking, scrabbling, droning interplay of their strings. This type of thing is this duo's modus operandi, as we've also heard Mr. Kuwayama's and Ms. Kijima's previous, self-titled disc on GG Records which featured them improvising similarily in a warehouse and on the construction site of an expressway. Although we're still a bit surprised to find this on Trente Oiseaux -- being the label that released Reynols' "Blank Tapes", we'd have expected them to want even more highway and less violin and cello on this release...
RealAudio clip: "01.06.16 f"

LIGHTNING BOLT The Power Of Salad & Milkshakes (Load) dvd 16.98
Holy shit! The Bolt get a proper visual document for those of you who missed out on the live action! Or if you were there and couldn't see past the rabid flurry of sweat and flesh of the adrenalin charged audiences! Or if you did see everything and now you want to see yourself on film, you narcissistic bastard! Speaking of which, camera whore and AQ doorman John Dwyer makes his international film debut as himself and as Pink of Pink and Brown, he's all over this thing like flies on shit, relaxing in someone's backyard completely in costume or just bobbing along to the live action!! Anyway, the film takes us across America with one of the loudest bands on the planet. Join Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson as they whip unsuspecting crowds into disco frenzied mosh pits. Rarely does a band make the audience bang their heads *and* shake their booties -- these kids do it right. Watch indie rock nerds get knocked over as they're trapped in the Bolt's surprise attack from the back of the room, opposite the stage. See scenesters get ridiculously stupid as Gibson's 3800 watt tower scrapes earwax outta their pretty little heads! If you couldn't really get into their records (since their music certainly has a physical element which could only be imagined whether you've seen them or not), this will definitely knock you on your ass! Bonus features include two hilariously animated music videos, a remix video by Libythth, a gallery of Brian Chippendale's wonderfully screenprinted poster art and a humorous clip of the duo rehearsing and discussing the relevance of their art. Very well done.

LIGHTNING BOLT The Power Of Salad & Milkshakes (Load) vhs 16.98
Holy shit! The Bolt get a proper visual document for those of you who missed out on the live action! Or if you were there and couldn't see past the rabid flurry of sweat and flesh of the adrenalin charged audiences! Or if you did see everything and now you want to see yourself on film, you narcissistic bastard! Speaking of which, camera whore and AQ doorman John Dwyer makes his international film debut as himself and as Pink of Pink and Brown, he's all over this thing like flies on shit, relaxing in someone's backyard completely in costume or just bobbing along to the live action!! Anyway, the film takes us across America with one of the loudest bands on the planet. Join Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson as they whip unsuspecting crowds into disco frenzied mosh pits. Rarely does a band make the audience bang their heads *and* shake their booties -- these kids do it right. Watch indie rock nerds get knocked over as they're trapped in the Bolt's surprise attack from the back of the room, opposite the stage. See scenesters get ridiculously stupid as Gibson's 3800 watt tower scrapes earwax outta their pretty little heads! If you couldn't really get into their records (since their music certainly has a physical element which could only be imagined whether you've seen them or not), this will definitely knock you on your ass! Bonus features include two hilariously animated music videos, a remix video by Libythth, a gallery of Brian Chippendale's wonderfully screenprinted poster art and a humorous clip of the duo rehearsing and discussing the relevance of their art. Very well done.

LOEWENSTEIN, JASON At Sixes And Sevens (SubPop) cd 14.98
Best known as the bass player for Sebadoh (he also joined Will and Ned Oldham on Palace Music's "Viva Last Blues"), Jason Loewenstein sets out on his own with his first solo album. In Sebadoh, it was inevitable that his songwriting skills would be overshadowed by the irrepressible works of Barlow. Nevertheless, he did contribute an increasing number of songs on later albums. Unfortunately it seems what made those songs work more often than not was the presence of Barlow. Left to his own devices, Loewenstein veers into straight-up indie rock terrain full of loose and stringy electric guitars and trundling bass ("Circles"). There's driving numbers that fit well with the current crop of Hellacopters and Hives rock'n'roll ("Codes"), and strange grungey "heavy metal" guitars ("H/M"). The songs that seem to click here (like "Upstate") are the ones you soon realise sound just like Sebadoh crossed with Sonic Youth.
RealAudio clip: "Codes"
RealAudio clip: "Circles"
RealAudio clip: "Upstate"
RealAudio clip: "H/M"

MANTRONIX That's My Beat (Soul Jazz) cd 16.98
Compiled by legendary musician / producer / remixer Kurtis Mantronik, this is a collection of tracks from the late '70s and early '80s, all of which he considers not only super influential on his own work, but also typical of the groundbreaking dance / hip hop / electro / disco / house music being made in New York at this time. If you're a fan of ESG or any of the music on the two "Disco not Disco" comps, you're gonna love this too. It's a fantastic collection of tracks covering everyone from Art of Noise to Yellow Magic Orchestra, Visage, Yello and T-La Rock. More than easily standing up to today's scrutiny, none of the tracks sound dated in a bad way at all. Another great comp from Soul Jazz, the London store/label that brought us the In the Beginning There Was Rhythm comp, the 100-400% Dynamite collections, etc. Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: FUNKY 4 PLUS 1 "That's the Joint"
RealAudio clip: YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA "Computer Games"
RealAudio clip: VISAGE "Pleasure Boys"

MR. LIF Emergency Rations (Definitive Jux) cd ep 11.98
Boston's Mr. Lif releases an eight-track cdep, a concept album of sorts, wherein Lif the MC has supposedly been taken by government agents or something, presumably because his clearly-delivered message is so insurgent. The liner notes are even written by his compadre Akrobatik: "As one of Lif's closest friends, I know that he provided sociopolitical commentary in hopes that his listeners would discuss the issues brought forth..." Cannibal Ox's El-P lends his talents to two tracks. The cd comes with two videos you can play on your computer. It's good.
RealAudio clip: "Phantom / feat. El-P"
RealAudio clip: "Heavy Artillery"

MR. LIF Emergency Rations (Definitive Jux) lp 11.98
Boston's Mr. Lif releases an eight-track cdep, a concept album of sorts, wherein Lif the MC has supposedly been taken by government agents or something, presumably because his clearly-delivered message is so insurgent. The liner notes are even written by his compadre Akrobatik: "As one of Lif's closest friends, I know that he provided sociopolitical commentary in hopes that his listeners would discuss the issues brought forth..." Cannibal Ox's El-P lends his talents to two tracks. The cd comes with two videos you can play on your computer. It's good.

NARGAROTH Rasluka Part II (No Colours) cd ep 11.98
Talk about cult black metal! Nargaroth's Rasluka Part II (not sure what happened to Part I...) pretty much defines it. This four song, 25 minute ep is the latest blast of hate-filled mayhem from infamous German black metal maniac Kanwulf and his hordes.
Like all true black metal, this begins with a creepy intro track, featuring someone playing a recorder along to a bunch of morosely-quacking ducks, which then gives way to Naragoth's equally morose but much louder buzzing guitar/drum pound and vocal rasping, a la Burzum, Mayhem, Darkthrone. Nice n' evil like it should be. But despite the almost symphonic, ambient cascades of distortion in which their music is bathed, as well as Kanwulf & Co.'s questionable ideology, this is still at heart simply rock n' roll -- which goes some way to explaining why track four is preceded by sound samples discussing the drunken death of AC/DC's original singer Bon Scott!
RealAudio clip: "...Und Ich Sah Sonn' Nimmer Heben "

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Mass Romantic (Mint) lp 11.98
Now in on LP!!! And it's about damn time! The first pressing of this glorious pop album was gone in such a flash we barely caught a glimpse of it, but now we've got the AQ ultra fave pop album in splendid vinyl abundance with lyric sheet to boot! So go on! Sing your lil' hearts out!
In case you somehow missed our gushing about the cd version (or your memory's a bit foggy), here's what we had to say:
Amazing pop maestro Carl Newman (Zumpano, Superconductor) heads the star-studded cast of what is, to AQ's collective ears, simply THE BEST POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2000. When was the last time the AQ staff and our wildly differing tastes happened to *unanimously* agree on a single album's brilliance? Maybe Neutral Milk's second record? The Soft Bulletin or Conet Project? Suffice to say that this happens very rarely, and that's how good this New Pornographers record is. "Mass Romantic" is absolutely shiningly great power pop, with influences as wide-ranging as Big Star, the Zombies, Eno, the Beach Boys, Cheap Trick, and Built to Spill.
Not since, well, the last Zumpano record (or Silver Sun's debut) has a pop record emerged that's this powerful, kickass, well-crafted and totally complex. Really. Each of the twelve tracks is a fully realised pop creation unto itself. Intelligent, infectious, and uplifting, with truly flawless arrangements (the key to pop greatness).
In a sparkling non-country spin, the wonderful Neko Case lends her vocal gusto to complete the soaring FOUR-PART vocals on such gems as "Letter From An Occupant" not to mention the title track. And the four other members of the New Pornographers are super talents in their own right: Daniel Bejar (the enigmatic figure behind the very Nilsson-influenced combo known as Destroyer), John Collins (bassist/engineer for the Nardwuar the Human Serviette-lead freakos the Evaporators, garage-pop stalwarts Smugglers, and the rock army known as Superconductor), Kurt Dahle (drummer for Canadian college popsters Limblifter), and indie filmmaker Blaine Thurier.
Recommended for everyone -- even if you only buy one pop or rock record this year, this should be it.
RealAudio clip: "Letter From an Occupant"
RealAudio clip: "The Fake Headlines"
RealAudio clip: "The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism"
RealAudio clip: "To Wild Homes"

NIBLOCK, PHILL G2, 44+ / X2 (Moikai) cd 14.98
Seems like Jim O'Rourke keeps sticking his grubby little paws where they're not needed. Tortoise? Stereolab? Mirror? Sonic Youth? Phill Niblock?!?!?!? Good thing he doesn't think Aquarius is cool enough otherwise that bunny-suited dork would be ringing you up at the cash register!! Maybe that's a little mean, but it does seem, where hipness goes, O'Rourke will follow. And in this case, at least, we can't really complain since it means we are treated to one more amazing Phill Niblock record. Niblock who has been active for 20+ years, but had never recorded due to his distaste for the process and the resulting less-than-adequate and timeless document, has recently seen more and more of his work seeing the light of day thanks to better recording and a medium (cds) with more room for longer duration pieces. Niblock also runs the XL label that has been focusing on twentieth century composers specialising in extended drones. On G2, 44+/X2, Niblock has composed an extended piece for multi-tracked guitar. The first version features guitar samples from Rafael Toral, Robert Poss, Susan Stenger and David First. The second version features the same 24 track mix as the first version, but with Kevin Drumm, Lee Ranaldo, Robert Poss, Alan Licht and Thurston Moore adding 2 live parts each. The results are stunning. Version one warm and ALIVE, a swelling, throbbing, beating wall of thick guitars, feedback and chords, all layered into one massive otherworldy drone. The second version is quite similar, but even more dense, with the extra guitars adding more low end rumble and a dizzying array of ultra-subtle harmonics. When the record ends, it's like a vacuum in your skull. It almost physically hurts when the music stops, as if you were floating on a rich, thick bed of sound and suddenly it was yanked out from under you and you find yourself laying on the cold hard ground. Nothing to do but push play again, sit back and let the guitars lift you toward the sky. SO GOOD!!
RealAudio clip: "Guitar Too, For Four - Toral Version"

NUMBERS Life (Tigerbeat6) cd 12.98
Remember that band Xerobot that were around during the Midwest No Wave craze of the mid nineties? Numbers is ex-members of Xerobot, and everybody is gaga for No Wave in SF right now. Catchy punk rawk, chaotic choppy guitar, screamy/shouty boy/girl vox though distorted makeshift microphones -- it's all good, but the amateurish homemade synth bleeps and token Moog distract from the totally fierce guitarwork. Influences definitely include Gang of Four and Wire. Ten songs, nineteen and a half minutes. Tigerbeat6. Down with the scene.
RealAudio clip: "Prison Life"
RealAudio clip: "I'm Shy"

OASIS Heathen Chemistry (Epic) cd 16.98
If one is to believe those VH-1 "Behind The Music" specials, the brotherly disputes between Noel and Liam Gallagher are ancient history and both have been getting along splendidly in their relative sobriety. Yet, the music that their Oasis has been producing as of late is far from being "godlike" (to paraphrase Liam's coke-induced megalomania during "Wonderwall" era Oasis). As blasphemous as it may sound, Oasis' second album "What's The Story Morning Glory" is probably the best Beatles album that McCartney and Lennon didn't pen themselves. If you're going to commit an artistic felony, you should do it on the grandest of scales; and that's exactly what the Gallaghers did in their outright pilfering of the Beatles on that album.
It's possible that during the aftermath of that album, the numerous reconciliations, drug intervention programs, and general turmoil, Oasis started to feel guilty about their theft and have attempted to re-invent themselves as sounding 'unique.' "Heathen Chemistry" is the third album following "What's The Story Morning Glory" and it sounds exactly like you'd expect: recycled UK-beat / psych riffs, the twin vocal sneer from the brothers, and an upbeat pop sensibility crafted out of minor-keys. Yet without the thrill of the swindle, neither Liam nor Noel seem to rock with any enthusiasm. So, this album is pretty good, and will probably do well enough for them. But it's clear that Oasis won't be winning any new fans with this one.
RealAudio clip: "The Hindu Times"
RealAudio clip: "Born On A Different Cloud"

OPIATE While You Were Sleeping (April) cd 14.98
With pretty little electronic bells, pretty little electronic melodies, and pretty little electronic rhythms, Opiate has crafted a pretty little record in "While You Were Sleeping." Denmark's Thomas Knak (aka Opiate) has had the good fortune to work with such electronica luminaries as Bjork and Carsten Nicolai, with his own work falling squarely in between those two distinct aesthetics, bringing a wide-eyed and wondrous sense of melody to the clinical sterility of the Raster glitch 'n' pulse. "While You Were Sleeping" appears to be a collection of oddities, collaborations, and compilation tracks that Opiate produced during the past couple of years. If you never read the liner notes, you would probably never know that this was a compilation as Opiate's sound is so uniformly solid that an album of ephemera even sounds pretty good all the way through. Opiate's success hinges upon the interplay between stuttering, often oddly timed electronica rhythms and the perpetually minor-key melodies. For the most part, the album pulls off a moodiness similar to Boards of Canada's "Music Has The Right To Children" or Autechre's "Amber;" although Opiate's child-like lego-beats and melodic plinkiness can be a little overly cute. But that's never stopped the legions of Boards of Canada fans.
RealAudio clip: "Srain"
RealAudio clip: "Dromte Mig En Drom"

PEACE ORCHESTRA Reset (G-Stone / !K7) cd 18.98
OK, I admit it. No one here is a fan of Kruder and Dorfmeister, let's just leave it at that. If you can't say anything nice... then praise the side project instead. Really, though, one snowy evening in Lake Tahoe, stoned and well-fed, I did experience several moments of communion with the debut Peace Orchestra album, Peter Kruder's solo project, which is a well-executed piece of trip hop. This here Reset record is a remix album that IMO doesn't improve on the original, in fact the differing styles of the remixers make an already sufficiently cohesive statement into a mish mash. Can't we just leave well enough alone? Remixers include: DJ DSL, Gotan Project (whose leadoff remix is actually quite lovely, especially with the added bandoneon that makes for a very Morricone-style wistfulness), Zero dB, Guillaume boulard, Truby Trio, and more.
RealAudio clip: "The Man (El Hombre de la Pampa mix by Gotan Project)"

PIANO MAGIC Writers Without Homes (4ad) cd 22.00
Like the Ivo Watts-Russell / John Fryer productions as This Mortal Coil, Glen Johnson supports his endeavors in Piano Magic by surrounding himself with a constantly rotating crowd of talented guests. Where This Mortal Coil tipped the balance in their favor in covering pre-existing material (Syd Barrett, Alex Chilton, Tim Buckley, as well as other 4AD outfits like Modern English and Rema Rema), Piano Magic is firmly based upon the Johnson's ability to delegate and collaborate in order to compose new material. At his strongest on the Victorian-tinged album "Low Birth Weight," Johnson shaped his various collaborations into a cohesive, yet multi-faceted album dominated by an atmosphere of aristocratic sadness and dignified decay. Such moods have been the goal for Johnson ever since, but without the same success. This isn't to say that "Writers Without Homes" is a bad album, in fact it's quite good. But in comparison to its predecessor, this falls a little short.
With a few exceptions of bombastic percussion and theatrical vocalizations, Johnson crafts his bittersweet pop miniatures out of simple and quiet elements: a gently lulling piano, an unassuming acoustic guitar, and hushed / whispered vocals shrouded in the classic 4AD production of glistening bohemian miserablism. Johnson has rounded up an impressive roster of collaborators including '60s folk maven Vashti Bunyan, Simon Raymonde (ex-Cocteau Twins), Robert Lippok & Bernd Jestram of Tarwater, Robert Johnstone (Life Without Buildings), and plenty more.
RealAudio clip: "Crown of the Lost"
RealAudio clip: "Modern Jupiter"
RealAudio clip: "Already Ghosts"

PIXIES s/t (SpinArt) cd 13.98
What we had hoped to be a collection of previously unknown, unheard, and unreleased songs from the Pixies is not that at all. Essentially, this album features the remnant tracks from the demo tape (aka "The Purple Tape") that the Pixies sent to 4AD, who in turn picked 8 of the 17 demo tracks for the Pixies' debut "Come On Pilgrim." All of the songs (with the possible exception of "Rock A My Soul") have made their way onto later recordings, albeit with much better production. So there are the demo versions of "Broken Face," "Break My Body," "I'm Amazed" (all appearing on "Surfer Rosa"), "Here Comes Your Man" (making its way onto "Doolittle"), "Down To The Well" (landing on "Bossanova"), and "Subbacultcha" (later on "Trompe Le Monde") with "Build High" being a B-side track and the raucously howled version of "In Heaven" from David Lynch's "Eraserhead" which had been a BBC session and a live standard. It's a little disheartening to know that there's nothing new on this album, but would probably make die-hard fans happy. If you're new to the Pixies get "Surfer Rosa" or "Doolittle" instead, as those albums, filled with whores, mutilation, and obsessively catchy indie-rock cacophony, still rank as some of the best records ever.
RealAudio clip: "I'm Amazed (Demo)"
RealAudio clip: "In Heaven (Demo)"

POSTHUMAN s/t (Seed) cd 12.98
Sounding like Lesser circa "Welcome To The American Experience", but with a slightly more commercial bent, Posthuman take AQ favorites Lesser, Dark Noerd and the Tigerbeat 6 stable of noiseniks, add a little Boards Of Canada and mix in a heaping spoonful of mainstream techtronica ala Prodigy or KMFDM and come up with some cool, slightly dated, too weird for the dance floor, too dance-y for the weirdos. Out-there electronica.

POSTHUMAN s/t (Seed) lp 12.98
Sounding like Lesser circa "Welcome To The American Experience", but with a slightly more commercial bent, Posthuman take AQ favorites Lesser, Dark Noerd and the Tigerbeat 6 stable of noiseniks, add a little Boards Of Canada and mix in a heaping spoonful of mainstream techtronica ala Prodigy or KMFDM and come up with some cool, slightly dated, too weird for the dance floor, too dance-y for the weirdos. Out-there electronica.

PRIMORDIAL Storm Before Calm (Hammerheart) cd 14.98
Epic Irish black metal band's fourth album. Quality stuff, totally heavy and majestic (with a few acoustic detours) that fits in stylistically with the likes of Enslaved and Opeth and Emperor, and even reminds us a bit of Albion's kings of mythic doom metal, Solstice (with whom they share their producer, and a similar mood). Primordial's varied vocals (from clear, sometimes overwrought tones to wretched rasps), dynamic songwriting, thunderous drumming, and folkish melodies conjure up a world of ancient Irish metal fantasy, from storming battle scenes to ponderous, sad laments. We found their previous album "Spirit The Earth Aflame" (perhaps their masterpiece) to be more immediately thrilling, but this one's good too.
RealAudio clip: "Cast To The Pyre"
RealAudio clip: "Sons Of The Morrigan"

PROSCRIPTOR The Serpentine Has Risen (Dragon Flight ) cd 12.98
We've had this disc before, in a home-brewed version released by Sir Proscriptor McGovern himself (he's the drummer for the amazing Texas occult metal band Absu). That version was cheap (packaged in a paper sleeve, no jewel case), and is now gone. But now "The Serpentine Has Risen" rises again, getting a 'proper' release via the Dragon Flight label. So if you didn't pick up the original, now you can get this one for only a few bucks more -- likewise, you could get it again if you have the old version but would prefer a jewel case and more 'pro' packaging (but, the tracks are the same).
Here's some more info for those who aren't 100 percent Proscriptor-savvy: this is the follow-up to Proscriptor's first bizarre solo record "The Venus Bellona". As we said when listing the earlier version, those who have heard "The Venus Bellona" know that Proscriptor's solo stuff is hardly black metal, it's more like an experimental soundtrack to his personal magickal / historickal mythology. This disc follows suit. As the liner notes put it, in such a way as to give a sense of his aesthetick that our own description never could: "Not only has Proscriptor composed euphonic concoctions of oscillation experimentations, pre-to-post wave art musicology, and folklore prestige, but also has expressed his ancestral customs from Glenorchy District to the Prioma Materia of Thoth once again." And we challenge any music critics to dispute that! As with his main band, Proscriptor never steps out of character, everything is always mysterious and arcane (even his emails to us appeared to be translated from Latin!). Just a glance at this album's credits will confirm his dedication to such weirdness: guitars and basses are always referred to as "six-fold bows" and "four-fold bows", and we find Proscriptor and his conspirators credited with the likes of "blaze illuminations" and "infrequent voices that are unseen" as well as "unicursal hexagrams" and "symmetrical tartan designs". Of course, none of this would matter if the music wasn't equally odd and evocative, and it is. Apart from the very rock n' roll "Devil Woman" cover, that is (which is the one brief moment, as with the Flock of Seagulls cover on his previous disc, that tells you that perhaps this guy isn't ENTIRELY serious...but then again, maybe he IS and that's even scarier!!)...
RealAudio clip: "Tin Formulae"

PUNK PLANET #50 magazine 5.95
The Chicago issue. Mekons, underground hip hop crew Molemen, Homocore Chicago, Venus magazine, deathrow inmate Aaron Patterson, Tortoise, punk rock hot dog merchant Doug Sohn, low-income neighborhood organizer James Mumm, Bloodshot Records, The Dishes, DIY book your own big show.

REACHING QUIET. In The Shadow Of The Living Room (Mush) cd 14.98
Why? and Odd Nosdam from Anticon/Mush mainstays cLOUDEAD and Greenthink demonstrate that they do nothing but record 24 hours a day by releasing their 500th record under as many different names. And again cries of quality control are quashed by just how fucking great EVERYTHING they do is! Reaching Quiet is sort of more song based, with totally tweaked (but amazingly creative) production, bizarre samples, low-fi beats, hammond organs, -and- the kitchen sink all crafted into demented little pop song/hip hop tidbits with lots of strange vocalising, rapping, spoken word, melodic warbling and flat out wailing. Sometimes haunting and otherworldy, sometimes dark and dreary sometimes goofy and silly, but always really, really good.
RealAudio clip: "Your Fish"
RealAudio clip: "Mother You're Long Gone"
RealAudio clip: "She Ain't Gonna Call You Back"

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT Hot Charity (Swami) cd 14.98
I'd be surprised if any of you didn't know who Rocket From The Crypt was, but just in case, here's a quick synopsis. San Diego party rock band hits the big time with rollicking, super kick ass horn flecked power-pop-punk. Become the next big thing, but never actually become THE big thing. Soundwise, Andee thinks Andrew W.K. owes it ALL to Rocket, but whatever. This here cd is a cd reissue of two super out of print vinyl RFTC rarities, the doomed 'Hot Charity' lp and the 'Cut And Play 12". Both are not ordinary RFTC records as the liner notes describe in great detail, but the long and short of it is, 'Hot Charity' was recorded twice, with lots of major label moolah, and the 'Cut and Play' 12" was released after all of that disappointing major label bullshit and recorded punk rock style with Hot Snakes bassist and hot shit San Diego engineer Gar Wood. The 'Cut And Play' 12" was originally a 12" with the record stuck to the sleeve with a sticker so you had to...duh... cut it out to play it! These are two of my favorite RFTC records, but are not necessarily the -best- rocket records. But if you don't want to buy the lps for $70 on EBAY then this cd is the way to go!
RealAudio clip: "Pushed"
RealAudio clip: "Guilt Free"
RealAudio clip: "If The Bird Could Fly"
RealAudio clip: "Blood Robots"

RUINS Live In Guang Zhou - China (Noise Asia / Sonic Factory) cd 15.98
Yo, all fans of spazzed-out mathrock madness! Here's drummer/vocalist Tatsuya Yoshida and bassist/vocalist Sasaki Hisashi (joined by local guest vocalist Wong Lei on the one final improvisational track) captured live in full, frantic action on August 13th, 2000, and released on Hong Kong label Noise Asia which has also recently graced us with discs by Otomo Yoshihide and the Keiji Haino/Tatsuya Yoshida duo. The 19 tracks here mostly draw from Ruins' most recent albums, with nine songs from "Pallaschtom" and two from "Vrresto". Plus, there's a few new and/or impromptu tunes (with titles like "I Ate Yu Bing This Morning" and "Eating 7 Kinds Of Chang Fen Was Too Much") as well as some old favorites like "Hyderomastogroningem" and "Del Fanci Kant". Oh, and of course this also features their now obligatory insane progressive rock and classical music medleys (which are fun, but I always wonder if it's pandering for a band with Ruins' accomplishments to resort to what is basically gimmickery...what the hell though, such jaw-dropping entertainment can't be argued with). Nicely recorded, "Live In Guang Zhou - China" is a fine addition to the vast Ruins discography. We can't say it's essential (being their second -- or third, if you count the Enterruption cassette -- live record within less than two years) but it's darn good, and both fans and novices alike will find it suitably mind-boggling. If you ARE a novice, look elsewhere on our website for more info about Ruins, Japan's drum/bass heavy progcore dervishes.
RealAudio clip: "Shi Zai Guang Zhou"
RealAudio clip: "Gharaviss Perrdoh"

SHADOW, DJ The Private Press (MCA) lp 19.98
We finally got some copies of the vinyl version of the new Shadow album. Here's what Windy wrote about the cd a month ago:
DJ Shadow's second full length is finally here, and I do believe I (Windy) am the only AQ-er who likes it. Well, Jim thinks it's ok, but the general consensus 'twixt my colleagues is that the rest of the field has caught up to him, and he hasn't hitched up his britches to keep ahead of the herd. Hmm. I disagree. Certainly The Private Press is no Endtroducing (his acclaimed debut full length), but neither should it be. It's a lot more accessible and crowdpleasing than the debut, the layers aren't as impenetrably mysterious, and yeah, it requires less work to like it (i.e. not as challenging). But there's nuthin' wrong with that. He's keeping it interesting for himself. The Private Press is a likable, listenable (might we even say, at times lighthearted?) trip. It's got everything from the moody arpeggiated piano lines that're DJ Shadow's signature, soul divas, sad minor key laments, funny Cut Chemist / Kid Koala-style spoken bits, super epic percussive climaxes, and an all over hip hop flavor. And the heartbreakingly sincere audio letters that bracket the album are incredibly well chosen, framing the songs as an emotional musical narrative. *Very* well done.
And now for my co-workers to have their say:
We have to wonder, though, why he used that old "pure energy" sample. Why don't ya just throw in "I got the power!" too? Not to mention the overused tired, sad android voice (y'know just like the one Radiohead used).
RealAudio clip: "Fixed Income"
RealAudio clip: "Monosylabik"
RealAudio clip: "Giving Up The Ghost"
RealAudio clip: "Blood On The Motorway"

SHARROCK, SONNY Monkey - Pockie - Boo (Actuel / Sunspots) cd 16.98
Now available on CD for a limited time! The amazing Sonny Sharrock cranks out three lengthy tracks for the BYG/Actuel label, accompanied by his lovely shrieking wife Linda, bassist Bob Guerin, and drummer Jacques Thollot. "27th Day" is a seventeen minute free psych epic that begins with minimal abstraction (and Sharrock on a slide whistle!) and slowly builds into a massive freakout fireball. "Soon", written by Linda Sharrock, is another ferocious jam that doesn't let up for its eight heart-stopping minutes. Finally, the closing "Monkey-Pockie-Boo" is more abstract and mellowed out, with Sonny and Linda chanting back and forth in an indecipherable, unconventional vocal style. The combination of Sonny's guitar playing and the voice of wife Linda on tracks like "27th Day" and "Soon" (speculation here) could almost definitely be a major influence on Japan's free noise guitar god Keiji Haino. If not, the Sharrocks and Haino were certainly treading the same cosmic terrain. Very psychedelic at times, totally out there and so intensely exhilarating. Like most releases in the BYG/Actuel catalogue, recorded in the legendary Studio Sarawah in Paris, on June 22 of 1970. Very highly recommended to those seeking out the best in free improvisation and "fire music".
RealAudio clip: "27th Day"
RealAudio clip: "Soon"

SLAUTER XSTROYES Free the Beast (Monster) cd 12.98
More from this cult Illinois '80s metal combo. We reviewed their actual album reissue of 1985's "Winter Kill" nearby. This disc collects the previously unreleased tracks from the sessions for their aborted second album, 1987's "Free The Beast", along with some early demo material circa 1981-84. Get "Winter Kill" first, and if you want more of this band's very '80s over-the-top metal onslaught, then pick this up.
RealAudio clip: "Free The Beast"

SLAUTER XSTROYES Winter Kill (Monster) cd 12.98
Yeah, yeah, another obscure '80s cult metal band reissued. I'd heard about this group and how amazing they were supposed to be for a long time, but when I first got the cd reissue of their only album, 1985's "Winter Kill", it sounded just like I expected: high pitched vox, widdly guitar solos, Maiden-esque songwriting... cool, yeah, but nothing special. BUT, then I listened to it again. Something about this, some X-factor, makes it VERY special (or maybe it's just me). Rather than sounding like they're derivative of Maiden, Priest, and a host of mid-'80s Metal Blade bands, Slauter Xstroyes somehow do what they do so perfectly that THEY sound like the Platonic ideal of '80s true heavy metal, the template for every other band, the originators rather than imitators. Of course this isn't actually the case, yet a few listens into it, "Winter Kill" was having that effect: while it's on your stereo, it's the ultimate in metal. I bow down. Fans of the likes of Omen, Cirith Ungol, Warlord, Manilla Road, Attacker, and Brocas Helm should add this to their collections for sure. Classy, slightly eccentric, skilled, and -- the kicker -- full of actual emotion. Absurd as it sounds -- and the vocalist's squeals do sometimes sound absurd -- this metal is for real and meaningful. From the heavy droney keyboard intro, through the album's intervening moments of galloping attack, doomy riffing, and acoustic bliss, to the closing anthem "Mother, Mother Fucker" these guys rule. If you can listen to Spinal Tap for more than comedic value, as I can, you'll agree.
RealAudio clip: "Winter Kill"
RealAudio clip: "The Stage"
RealAudio clip: "Black Rose And Thorns"

SOUND COLLECTOR AUDIO REVIEW #2 magazine 2.95
Second issue of nice looking newsprint zine featuring thoughtful articles about records and artists that the reviewers actually WANT to write about and have something worthwhile to say. AQ-heartthrob Ian Christe writes about Necromandus, AQ-fave customers Bill Meyer and Jason Gross write about Kevin and Drumm and When, respectively. Au Pairs, The Faces, Wilco, Nikki Sudden, Rocket from the Crypt, Meredith monk, Koji Asano, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, Asmus Tietchens, that Mamma Mia! ABBA play that my mom's taking me to for my birthday (it's her third time), Jimmy Giuffre, and much more. Recommended.

SPRATLEYS JAPS Pony (All My Eve And Betty Martin Music) cd 14.98
We rave on and on elsewhere on this list about the Cardiacs, who are a damaged out-there pop-punk-prog beasty from the UK, described by me as "the Pixies meets the Sweet meets the Toy Dolls meets Uz Jme Doma meets Queen meets the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack meets XTC but more punk rock, and more prog". Sounds good huh? Well if that sounds good to you (and it should) then check out Spratleys Japs, a logical continuation soundwise of the mighty Cardiacs, with Ms. Spratley, sometime vocalist for the Cardiacs, taking center stage and Cardiacs mainman Tim Smith right there by her side! A little more stariaght forward structurally, the sound is still gorgeous and damaged, with keening high vocals (almost impossible to tell whether it's Smith or Spratley!) perfect hooks, lots of reverbed keyboards, lush harmonies but more space than on the Cardiacs records, lots of shimmer and buzz and stretched out spaces scattered between the dizzying chunks of perfect pop. You might as well buy this one too since I KNOW you're gonna buy both the Cardiacs records and you'll be kicking yourself if you don't!!
RealAudio clip: "Vessel "
RealAudio clip: "Fanny"
RealAudio clip: "pony"

SWEEP THE LEG JOHNNY Going Down Swingin' (Southern) cd 14.98
Talk about some fine cover art!! A watercolor silhouette of a warrior, carrying a bloody scythe and a shield on horseback. Nice. Chicago's finest post rock warriors return with another blast of complex, stop/start, loud/soft saxophone studded RAWK. Long songs. Complicated but melodic enough to be memorable and rocking enough to kick ass! Super tight and super fierce, after an almost break up, and some line-up changes a few years back, this band just keeps getting better and better. Fans of Hella, Don Caballero, A Minor Forest, Dianogah, Rumah Sakit and all that sort of stuff will very likely have a new favorite record!
RealAudio clip: "Sometimes My Balls Feel Like Tits"
RealAudio clip: "Only In a Rerun"

TARENTEL Fear Of Bridges (3 Lobed) cd ep 6.98
While strictly limited to the subscribers of the "Purposeful Availment" series, we have managed to get hold of a handful of this 6 song EP from the San Francisco ensemble Tarentel, which finds the group pushing even further away from the epic post / space rock that defined their "From Bone To Satellite" album. These days, Tarentel is far more content to build their barren, desert-like atmospheres out of those interwtining Slint-ish / Morricone guitar quotations, without ever having to crank up the volume. While their earlier incarnations of the quiet / LOUD dynamism mounted some furiously beautiful live shows, Tarentel's recent balancing act has been located between the traditional rock instrumentation of bass, guitars, and drums (although the drums haven't been of much use as of recent) and the Max/MSP digital tricks promoted by Fennesz, Stephan Mathieu, and Ekkehard Ehlers. "Fear Of Bridges" switches off with the spartan guitar interplay on one track and the laptop re-interpretations of Tarentel sounds into gossamer droning pieces spinning with digitally pointilistic details. If it's any indication where Tarentel is heading, guitarist Jefre Cantu has a couple of solo projects of his laptop work coming out soon and there's a Tarentel release on the electronica boutique label Bottrop-Boy also in the pipeline.
RealAudio clip: "2"
RealAudio clip: "5"

TRACHIOTOMY, MC W/ Love from Tahiti (Bulb) cd 14.98
The man they call MC Trachiotomy is a cohort of mad sonic scientist/organist Mr. Quintron from New Orleans. Certainly not to be confused with their ladyfriend and puppet wrangler Miss Pussycat! Such a mysterious, eccentric trio they make. You might've spotted them on Quintron's recent Drum Buddy tour. What is a Drum Buddy? Well, it's another Mr. Quintron invention, an amazing light beam triggered spinning instrument contraption thing that spews crazy drum beats and sounds, and it makes an appearance on this cd too! Anyways, back to the business at hand, "W/ Love From Tahiti" is Trachiotomy on his own, and yes, it was indeed recorded in Tahiti. You might find this cd in the hip hop section of many record shops, but we're not so sure if that's really the right place for him to be. His often incoherent mumbling sort of sounds like a cross between Tom Waits and Bill Cosby. This "rapping" is plopped over a jumble of shuffling beats (many I'm sure are courtesy of the aforementioned DB) and assorted samples. Quite haphazard and homespun, distorted and a bit murky. The sizeable sample of Steve Martin as Navin Johnson in the movie The Jerk on the track called "Valentine" (I think that's the title, but I can't really tell for sure 'cause the liner notes are in messy chicken scratch) perked up my ears, but that might be because it sticks out amid the tracks as a *somewhat* coherent voice. Note: there is a warning in the liner notes that states "this is 'THE' baby makin' music. NNUUUUUTTHIN' BUT SSLLOOOOWW JJJAAAAAAAAMMMMZZZZZ!" Hmmm, dunno 'bout that! But whether or not that's completely true, we do recommend proceeding with caution. Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be some pretty weird, swampy and a bit dirty stuff - especially the track called "Along Th' Coast" that's driven (ha ha! bad pun intended) by a play-by-play pitstop commentary of the changing of a Maserati's tires. Something's might be better experienced live and in the flesh. You might say "Yikes!" or you might say "Yum!"
RealAudio clip: "Along Th' Coast"
RealAudio clip: "Drop Th' Kids Off At The Pool"
RealAudio clip: "Valentine"

TWISTED TOWER DIRE The Isle Of Hydra (Miskatonic) cd 13.98
This Virginia band plays real heavy metal, '80s Iron Maiden style, like few others in the world today (Skullview, Metallucifer, Wolf, Sacred Steel, and their touring pals The Lord Weird Slough Feg are a few of 'em). Sure, "power metal" is all the rage in Europe, but this is just more underground and cult and non-commerical than bands like Hammerfall and Primal Fear.
Much better produced than their Miskatonic debut, this second TTD album soars with bald burly frontman Tony Taylor's Bruce Dickinson / Geoff Tate style vox, rips with the ace twin guitar attack of Scott Waldrop and Dave Boyd, and pounds with the rhythm section of Jim Murad (bass) and Marc Stauffer (drums). While TTD's songs are still a bit generic (titles like "Sign of the Storm" and "Battle Cry" tend to indicate as much), what do you really want from five guys in black leather and bullet belts? Some silly headbanging tuneage, and that's what you get. They're still young, maybe they'll develop more personality in the future. For now, they uphold the flame of metal more proudly than most (although we could do with more memorable riffs and less balladry). Besides, their cheesy fantasy cover art can't be beat (a painting of the band in medieval armor, hanging out with a big ol' dragon).
RealAudio clip: "The Isle Of Hydra"
RealAudio clip: "The Longing"

TYLER, CHARLES Eastern Man Alone (ESP) cd 14.98
Reissue of the second Charles Tyler recording for the seminal ESP Disk label in 1967 in which the former Ayler collaborator introduced a formative backing band consisting of solely a cellist and two bassists. "Eastern Man Alone", presents itself as a low end version of a string quartet backing a confidently mellow Tyler on alto. Really Nice.
RealAudio clip: "Eastern Man Alone"

TYLER, CHARLES Eastern Man Alone (ESP) lp 15.98
Reissue of the second Charles Tyler recording for the seminal ESP Disk label in 1967 in which the former Ayler collaborator introduced a formative backing band consisting of solely a cellist and two bassists. "Eastern Man Alone", presents itself as a low end version of a string quartet backing a confidently mellow Tyler on alto. Really Nice

UPLAND s/t (Jester) cd 14.98
Like Autechre and Squarepusher, Norway's mysterious Upland (a person? a duo? a group?) offers up the sort of instrumental electronica that in some ways could be seen as the avant-garde player piano music of the 21st century. Upland's densely clicking, stuttering, sputtering geiger-counter frenzies are manipulated into impossibly broken yet pleasing rhythms. These glitchy textures are backed by by ominous synth drone-tones and thick buzzes. Rather noir-ish and quite listenable.
Norway's always-interesting, and stylish, Jester label has provided this with a 16 page cd booklet with no text, just beautiful artwork: scratched up prints of a repeating moon-shape that's a good visual analog for this sort of abstract digital music. It's becoming more and more ridiculous that Jester's releases seemingly only gets distribution in the States via metal outlets, as they've quickly become one of our very favorite labels for electronic, experimental, and even pop (When) music. Most of Jester's releases have only tangental connections to the realm of metal, if any at all. Upland is a case in point. As we said, very much a la Autechre, not Abigor or Abruptum.
RealAudio clip: "Flex"
RealAudio clip: "Block"
RealAudio clip: "Carrier Down"

VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO, THE Deluxe Edition (Polydor) 2cd 28.00
Deluxe version of the Velvet Underground's debut album. If you've never heard this record, for heavens sake don't wait a moment longer. If you already are familiar with the album, here are some possible reasons to buy this version: Two discs, second of which is entirety of album in *mono* format, plus 4 songs from the album in their 7" versions. Also includes 5 songs from Nico's debut album Chelsea Girl which features the VU as backup band. Btw, I don't think these Nico tracks are on the VU boxset Peel Slowly & See.
It must be said, though, that unless you're some sort of intense audiophile, or a VU completist, I'm not sure why you'd need the mono version of the album. Handsome packaging features transparent slipcase, glossy digipak, and yes, a peelable banana!
RealAudio clip: NICO "Winter Song"
RealAudio clip: VELVET UNDERGROUND "Run Run Run (Mono)"

WALKING TIMEBOMBS, THE Sapsucker (Anomie Records) cd 9.98
Guitar (and sample) slinging Texan Scott Ayers's Walking Timebombs make a return to the fucked up industrial/goth/experimental rock of his previous outfit, the late great Pain Teens. The Walking Timebombs are not only a full-fledged guitar/bass/drums band now, they also got themselves a female singer a la Pain Teens. But while Scott's heavy duty guitar, loops, and samples haven't changed much from the Pain Teens days, new singer Sarah Evans is no Bliss Blood. Her singing is just too forced and affected, in that Alanis Morrisette style. Or like a female Layne Staley, even. Alanis Morrisette fronting the Pain Teens? Hmm. None of the danger of Blood, indeed a few tracks like "Good Thoughts" could maybe be played on modern rock radio. Ugh. What's with that? Pain Teens wrote some "pop" songs too ("RU486") but not like this. Still, some of this certainly does bring back memories of Pain Teens' heyday, and might get you dragging out your old "Stimulation Festival" or "Born In Blood" discs, 'cause while "Sapsucker" has its enjoyable moments, for this most part this new stuff is just too safe. The Pain Teens we remember had much more of an edge, this is just kinda hokey; the 'disturbing' bits just aren't convincing even when the music is fairly heavy. Of course, it's NOT the Pain Teens, so maybe we're not being fair. But Scott and Co. have to expect comparisons... so give it a listen yourself.
RealAudio clip: "Parasite"
RealAudio clip: "Fallen"

WEINBERG METHOD, THE ...of Non-Synthetic Electronic Rock (Normal ) cd 14.98
One of the most gleefully eccentric albums around right now is a re-issue from 1970! Fans of the bizarre genius of Bruce Haack and Raymond Scott gather 'round! Heck, you're undoubtedly already more than familiar with Mr. Fred Weinberg, but for those of us who missed it the first time around... Here's 18 tinkly twinky twisted compositions (including 7 bonus tracks) that would probably be deadringers for television theme songs and commercial jingles if they were being performed on a more - ahem! - traditional array of instruments, but such is not the case! The Weinberg Method involves the electronic manipulation and mutation of "natural" sounds (y'know, from the world around you: car horns honking, sirens squealing, toilets flushing, hearts beating, etc). These sounds are then inserted where those of the string, horn or percussion instruments would have been. Incredibly strange music indeed! We should also note that the liner notes suggest "this album be played at 33, 45 and 78 rpm." Kinda hard to do on a cd, but probably well worth the effort!
RealAudio clip: "A Child's Life"
RealAudio clip: "Animosity"
RealAudio clip: "Keen Machine"
RealAudio clip: "Ah, Ha!"

WEINBERG METHOD, THE ...of Non-Synthetic Electronic Rock (Normal ) lp 16.98
One of the most gleefully eccentric albums around right now is a re-issue from 1970! Fans of the bizarre genius of Bruce Haack and Raymond Scott gather 'round! Heck, you're undoubtedly already more than familiar with Mr. Fred Weinberg, but for those of us who missed it the first time around... Here's 18 tinkly twinky twisted compositions (including 7 bonus tracks) that would probably be deadringers for television theme songs and commercial jingles if they were being performed on a more - ahem! - traditional array of instruments, but such is not the case! The Weinberg Method involves the electronic manipulation and mutation of "natural" sounds (y'know, from the world around you: car horns honking, sirens squealing, toilets flushing, hearts beating, etc). These sounds are then inserted where those of the string, horn or percussion instruments would have been. Incredibly strange music indeed! We should also note that the liner notes suggest "this album be played at 33, 45 and 78 rpm." Kinda hard to do on a cd, but probably well worth the effort!
RealAudio clip: "A Child's Life"
RealAudio clip: "Animosity"
RealAudio clip: "Keen Machine"
RealAudio clip: "Ah, Ha!"

WELLS, BILL TRIO Also In White (Geographic) cd 16.98
Whoa! The Bill Wells Trio are pouring out some smooth, easy-listenin' jazz full of mellow piano, baritone sax, trumpet, and harmonica. It immediately transported me back to the highschool years. Y'know, the kind of dinner jazz performed by the school's senior ensemble at the year-end assembly that made the brass players' parents beam with pride and want to dance the night away? There's even a song called "Jab The Chemistry Teacher"! In indie circles, this may succeed in doing for soft jazz just what Rachel's did a few years back for chamber music. The lone track that differs in pace among the ten - much more antsy and perked up - is "New Ascending Staircase" (catch that Marcel Duchamp/Salvador Dali reference?). The guest list runs the music gamut, from avant-jazz multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Cooper (playing tuba on "Presentation Piece #1" and bass on "D.A.D.E.") to The Pastels' Stephen and Katrina (providing keyboards and vocals respectively on "D.A.D.E.").
RealAudio clip: "Presentation Piece #1"
RealAudio clip: "New Ascending Staircase"
RealAudio clip: "D.A.D.E."

WELLS, BILL TRIO Also In White (Geographic) lp 16.98
Whoa! The Bill Wells Trio are pouring out some smooth, easy-listenin' jazz full of mellow piano, baritone sax, trumpet, and harmonica. It immediately transported me back to the highschool years. Y'know, the kind of dinner jazz performed by the school's senior ensemble at the year-end assembly that made the brass players' parents beam with pride and want to dance the night away? There's even a song called "Jab The Chemistry Teacher"! In indie circles, this may succeed in doing for soft jazz just what Rachel's did a few years back for chamber music. The lone track that differs in pace among the ten - much more antsy and perked up - is "New Ascending Staircase" (catch that Marcel Duchamp/Salvador Dali reference?). The guest list runs the music gamut, from avant-jazz multi-instrumentalist Lindsay Cooper (playing tuba on "Presentation Piece #1" and bass on "D.A.D.E.") to The Pastels' Stephen and Katrina (providing keyboards and vocals respectively on "D.A.D.E.").
RealAudio clip: "Presentation Piece #1"
RealAudio clip: "New Ascending Staircase"
RealAudio clip: "D.A.D.E."

WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY The Emotional Rescue (Aesthetics) cd 13.98
Precision. Exactitude. Mechanization. These have been the traits of Windsor For The Derby's previous explorations into surgically tight post-rock minimalism. This is not entirely the case with their 4th full album "The Emotional Rescue," which finds the Austin / NY trio embracing the traditions of the singer/songwriter. Similarly, little of the agitated melancholia from the preceding "Difference And Repetition" can be heard on this relatively optimistic album. Guitarists / vocalists Dan Matz and Jason MacNeely intertwine arpeggiating guitar chords and back-porch fingerpicking in forming a diverse selection of songs ranging from elegantly fragile ballads to uncharacteristically punchy pop-grooves. The production on these songs has also noticeably changed, embracing a far more hazy and humid warmth than the chilliness of some of their earlier records. A pretty solid indie-rock album for fans of Papa M and early Bedhead.
RealAudio clip: "Now I Know The Sea"
RealAudio clip: "Emotional Rescue"
RealAudio clip: "Awkwardness"

WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY The Emotional Rescue (Aesthetics) lp 13.98
Precision. Exactitude. Mechanization. These have been the traits for Windsor For The Derby's previous explorations into surgically tight post-rock minimalism. This is not entirely the case for their 4th full album "The Emotional Rescue," which finds the Austin / NY trio embracing the traditions of the singer/songwriter. Similarly, little of the agitated melancholia from the preceeding "Difference And Repetition" can be heard on this relatively optimistic album. Guitarists / vocalists Dan Matz and Jason MacNeely intertwine arpeggiating guitar chords and back-porch fingerpicking in forming a diverse selection of songs ranging from elegantly fragile ballads to uncharacteristically punchy pop-grooves. The production on these songs has also noticably changed, embracing a far more hazy and humid warmth than the chilliness of some of their earlier records. A pretty solid indie-rock album for fans of Papa M and early Bedhead.

WIRE Read & Burn (Pink Flag) cd 12.98
Wire were never a band that tried to rock. If anything, the quartet of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Bruce Gilbert, and Robert Gotobed made their best music when they struggled to escape the trappings of punk rock they initially embraced on their debut 1977 album "Pink Flag." Their constant investigations into electronics, adventurous songwriting, and lyrical complexity resulted in several pinnacles in the history of punk with "Chairs Missing" and the willfully obtuse "154." The band then parted ways in the early '80s to pursue a huge number of side projects, only to reform as a mildly entertaining new-wave pop band in the mid-'80s that relied far too much upon cute lyrical surrealism and clever idiosyncracies. Wire would like for you to believe that the band split up, but there was the ill-fated Wir project with all members present except Gotobed. Regardless, "Read & Burn" is the result of Gotobed rejoining the band after a number of successful gigs in which the all four blasted out the classic tracks from those aformentioned early albums. It needs to be said that during the late '70s when Wire was making huge leaps towards experimental rock, the band was outwardly antagonistic towards live audience requests for their punk anthem "12xU." So their return to such numbers needs to be viewed with a certain degree of skepticism. Such is the case for the six songs on "Read & Burn," which finds Wire trying very hard to rock. This is pretty much straight forward monochord punk dating back to '70s, but with the production techniques of today with an emphasis on heavy low-end thuggishness and very cleanly defined distortion. The success of this album is wholly based upon how much the audience is willing to suspend their disbelief that "Read & Burn" doesn't sound like Graham Lewis and a generic Nu-Metal band trying to sound like old Wire. An entertaining experiment, but inherently flawed.
RealAudio clip: "I Don't Understand"
RealAudio clip: "The Agfers Of Kodack"

YEAH YEAH YEAHS s/t (Touch and Go) cd 10.98
The self released five-track ep by up and coming Brooklyn trio is now available on Touch and Go in both vinyl and cd formats. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are going to give the comparatively more famous White Stripes a run for their money. When she's not absolutely screaming, Karen O, the girl lead singer, wails with a strong gravelly voice and that trembly warble the Riot Grrl vocalists / Kim Gordon also make use of. The drums are admirably stripped down and freshly unpredictable, often leaving out downbeats to interesting effect, and the guitar is angular and sharp. Very similar appeal as White Stripes, so give it a listen. Yum.
RealAudio clip: "Bang"
RealAudio clip: "Our Time"

YEAH YEAH YEAHS s/t (Touch and Go) 12" 10.98
The self released five-track ep by up and coming Brooklyn trio is now available on Touch and Go in both vinyl and cd formats. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are going to give the comparatively more famous White Stripes a run for their money. When she's not absolutely screaming, Karen O, the girl lead singer, wails with a strong gravelly voice and that trembly warble the Riot Grrl vocalists / Kim Gordon also make use of. The drums are admirably stripped down and freshly unpredictable, often leaving out downbeats to interesting effect, and the guitar is angular and sharp. Very similar appeal as White Stripes, so give it a listen. Yum.

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----* Compilations :
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V/A Constant Elevation (Astralwerks) lp 17.98
Now in on vinyl! here's our review from the cd version:
This *excellent* hip hop comp was put together by Joseph Patel, one of the co-founders of the Solesides label, and also one of the guys responsible for the groundbreaking first volume of the Deep Concentration series released in 1997 that had Cut Chemist on it, plus Latyrx, Prince Paul etc. Patel is well aware of what's happening in our currently wank-heavy world where anyone and everyone claims to be a DJ; the press release reads: "The once spectacular potential of turntablists seems to have devolved into a theater of the mundane: turntable masturbation, scratching for scratching's sake. While DJs on the competitive circuit certainly flash their talents, song trumps sport any day." What he said!
So what we have here is eleven quality tracks, most of them certainly qualifying as high points for their makers, as well as being exclusives. El-P (Def Jux / Cannibal Ox) opens the album with a crazily catchy instrumental featuring an ebullient booty-shakin' chord progression plus lots of warm 'n scratchy vinyl crackle. This track is going to make me buy his album. Further on, Anti-Pop Consortium's typically manic case of attention deficit disorder never sounded this great. Peanut Butter Wolf likewise contributes one of the best pieces I've ever heard from the guy, and Freestyle Fellowship's track is hilarious. Other participants include This Kid Named Miles (Breakestra), Omid, Recloose, Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Z-Trip, legendary "Lessons"-creator Steinski, and more. There's a coupla duds, in my opinion, but all in all I'd say this is one of the best hip hop comps to come out of the underground in a long while.
RealAudio clip: EL-P "Day After the Day After"
RealAudio clip: ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM "Crab Lice"
RealAudio clip: STEINSKI "Vox Apostolica"
RealAudio clip: FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP "Crazy"

V/A Fight Club (Tigerbeat6) 12" 9.98
One on one showdown remixes from some of the top fighters in Tigerbeat6's roster. Kid 606 vs. Adrien75, Stars As Eyes vs. Lusine Icl, Cex vs. Com.a, Lesser vs. Kid606 (as heard on the Mensa Dance Squad disc), knifehandchop vs. Meccaknifehandchop (!) and Cex vs. gamers in exile. Dreamy mid-nineties Autechreish atmospherics on side A. In Your face raggadancehallmashup on the B side. Boys only? How about a girlfight!

V/A Luke Vibert's Further Nuggets (Lo) cd 15.98
More jacked up space funk and acid drenched future musik from the libraries of Chappell, Southern, iM, Bruton, Peer and Parry. For those unfamiliar, what has come to be known as library music is essentially commissioned music pieces -- usually instrumental (though there's the occasional ambiguous vocal harmonies, la-la-la's and what not) -- and archived for use as backing tracks in film and televison. As expected, some of the heavy hitters of documented library music are here: Roger Roger, Jack Arel, Georges Teperino, Eric Peters, Paul Bonneau, etc. Like Vibert's first volume, this collection rides all sorts of genres, though ultimately what holds everything together is tha funk. There's psychedelic orchestral funk ala Alain Goraguer's "La Planete Sauvage". Roger Davy's aptly titled "Crazy Flute Happy Guitar" fuses distorto hammond space organ with tripped out flute (all breathy and raw like Roland Kirk) and porno wah wah strumming and snazzy horn rawkus. Lots of Moog, tons of drum breaks, and loads and loads of sticky cheese. Big props to Lo for scavanging the choice cuts in the massive collections and making them available to us! A must for any self respecting sample happy musician -- breakbeats and exotica galore! For more space funk dementia, be sure to check out Luke Vibert's Nuggets volume one and Barry 7's Connectors (both on Lo), as well as the Music For Dancefloors collections on Strut!
RealAudio clip: RICHARD DEMAIRA "Studio 96"
RealAudio clip: ROGER DAVY "Crazy Flute Happy Guitar"
RealAudio clip: ROGER ROGER "Sound Industrial 15"

V/A Masonic. (Hymen Records) 2cd 12.98
The "Masonic." compilation celebrates five years of operation for the Germanic tekno / noirish IDM label with a bunch of mostly unreleased tracks from m2 (aka Panacea), Funkstorung, Scorn, Lilienthal, Venetian Snares, Somatic Responses, Lusine ICL, Bochum Welt, Neutral, Dead Hollywood Stars, Beefcake, Immanent, Gridlock, Xingu Hill, Substanz-T, Starfish Pool, Noosa Hedz, and tons more. Pretty much acts as the missing link between contemporary IDM and Skinny Puppy's lineage throughout the '80s.
RealAudio clip: NEUTRAL "Blue Paper"
RealAudio clip: FUNKSTORUNG "Beinh"
RealAudio clip: TRIFFIC PROJECT "Psalm 66"

V/A Scratch Attack Vol. 1 (Hip Hop Slam) cd 12.98
Scratch Attack was a monthly two hour radio show dedicated to the art of turntablism, and ran for one year until it unfortunately got booted off of KPFA in Berkeley. These tracks are culled from archives of the show, and feature both live on the air and pre-recorded stuff made especially for the show. Released by the inimitable Billy Jam, whose taste is impeccable, the collection isn't endlessly wanky (as many dj comps are, let's face it), but interesting and varied good listening. With DJ T-Rock, D-Styles, DJ Shortkut, 8-Ball, Quest (Live Human), Golden Chyld, even DJs from Netherlands, England and Ireland. Lots of spoken snippets from the radio shows, including poor Shortkut talking about how his records were stolen at an airport. Really fun, and a nice document of the groundbreaking radio show.
RealAudio clip: DJ T-ROCK "Skratch It and Change It"
RealAudio clip: GOLDEN CHYLD "Sir Golden Chyld Boulevard"

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----* Also New In Stock, Reviews Coming Soon :
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ANZELLOTTI, TEODORO "Leos Janacek" (Winter & Winter) cd 16.98
ATMOSPHERE "God Loves Ugly" (Fat Beats) cd 16.98
BREAD LOVE AND DREAMS "s/t" (Hugo-Montes) cd 17.98
DEATH BY CHOCOLATE "Zap The World" (Jet Set) cd 14.98
EXCLIPSECT "Point Of Focus" (Unit) cd 10.98
GLASS CANDY "Love on a Plate / Johnny are you Queer" (Troubleman) 7" 3.98
HANDSOME FAMILY "Live At Schuba's Tavern" (DCN) cd 16.98
HANO / HOPPER / SMITH "Glass Cage" (Paratactile) cd 16.98
HIRSCHE NICHT AUFS SOFA "Kuttel Im Frost" (Dom) cd 16.98
HIRSCHE NICHT AUFS SOFA "Melchior" (Dom) cd 16.98
HIRSCHE NICHT AUFS SOFA "The Book Of Dingenskirchen" (Dom) cd 16.98
HIRSCHE NICHT AUFS SOFA / MIESES GEGONGE "Abwassermusik" (Dom) cd 16.98
HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS, THE "The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders" (Water) cd 15.98
HURLEY, MICHAEL "Blueberry Wine: First Songs Of..." (Locust) cd 14.98
KANG, EYVIND "Live Low To The Earth, In The Iron" (Abduction) cd 13.98
MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT "Ethnocore 3: Vak" (Tamizdat) cd 14.98
MISSUS BEASTLY "s/t" (Garden Of Delights) cd 17.98
NARGAROTH "Black Metal Ist Krieg" (No Colours) cd 14.98
NARGAROTH "Hervstleyd" (No Colours) cd 14.98
NIGEL PEPPERCOCK "The New Way" (Life Is Abuse) cd/lp 10.98/8.98
ON FILLMORE "s/t" (Locust) cd 14.98
PITA "Get Down" (Mego) lp 14.98
POLMO POLPO "The Science of Breath" (Substractif) cd 14.98
PROM "Under The Same Stars" (Barsuk) cd 13.98
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS "By The Way" (Warner) cd 17.98
ROLLERBALL "Long Walk for Ice Cream" (Cochon Records) cd 14.98
SPOOKY, DJ "Optometry" (Thirsty Ear) cd 15.98
SPOON "Someone Something" (Merge) 7" 3.99
SPUNK "Den Overste Toppen Pa En Blamalt Flaggstang" (Rune Grammofon) cd 15.98
SSSD "Home" (Grob) cd 15.98
STRAPPING FIELDHANDS "Third Kingdom" (Omphalos) cd 15.98
SUNTANAMA, THE "s/t" (Drag City) cd 14.98
TABLA BEAT SCIENCE "Live In San Francisco At Stern Grove" (Axiom) cd 17.98
TSUNODA, TOSHIYA "Pieces Of Air" (Lucky Kitchen) cd 14.98
WARMDESK "The Pride Of The South Side" (Fallt) cd 14.98
YOKOTA & ROTHKO, SUSUMU "Waters Edge" (Lo) 12" 8.98
YOSHIHIDE, OTOMO "Music For DanceArt Hong Kong's 'Memory Disorder'" (Noise Asia / Sonic Factory) cd 15.98


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SELECTED UPCOMING RELEASES


---> July 16th
Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" cd on Warner
The Vines "Highly Evolved" cd on Capitol
Gorillaz "Space Monkeys vs. Gorillaz: Laika Come Home" cd
David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust: 30th Anniversary" cd w/ bonus disc reissue on Virgin
Calvin Johnson "What Was Me" cd/lp on K
Funkadelic Warner Bros. remasters
Chicago "Chicago Transit Authority" remastered cd on Rhino
Morcheeba "Charango" cd on Warner

---> July 23rd
v/a "Merge Presents: Survive And Advance v.1" cd on Merge budget sampler
Opeth "Blackwater Park" limited edition double cd reissue w/ bonus tracks and video
John Zorn "Filmworks XI: Under The Wing" cd on Tzadik
Jawbreaker "Etc." cd on Blackball
At The Gates "Slaughter Of The Soul (Special Edition)" cd reissue on Earache w/ bonus tracks
Public Enemy "Revolverlution" on Koch

---> July 30th
v/a "Konstantin Raudive - The Voices Of The Dead" cd on Sub Rosa [a la "Ghost Orchid"!]
Beth Orton "Day Breaker" cd
Bruce Springsteen "Rising" cd on Sony

---> August 6th
Meshuggah "Nothing" cd on Nuclear Blast
Sixteen Horsepower "Folklore" cd on Jetset
v/a "The Real Deal" comp on Bomb HipHop

---> August 13th
Coup "Steal This Double Album" cd reissue with bonus disc! on Foad
Incredible String Band "5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion/The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" 2cd reissue on Collector's Choice

---> August 20th
Spoon "Kill The Moonlight" cd on Merge
Mudhoney "Since We've Become Translucent" cd/lp on SubPop

---> August 27th
Sole "Salt On Everything" 12" on Anticon
Incredible String Band "s/t" reissue cd on Sepiatone
Incredible String Band "Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" reissue cd on Sepiatone
John Zorn "Filmworks XII: Three Documentaries" cd on Tzadik
Derek Bailey "Pieces For Guitar" cd on Tzadik (his earliest recordings, circa 1966!)
David Shea "Classical Works II" cd on Tzadik

---> September 3rd
Barry Adamson "The King of Nothing Hill" on Mute
Tarwater "Dwellers On The Threshold" cd on Mute

---> also in coming months
Queens of the Stone Age
Rammstein
Aimee Mann
The Roots
XTC
Opeth
Nile


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