[::::::     Aquarius Records     ::::::]
                [::::::     New Arrivals #144     ::::::]
                [::::::     23 August 2002     ::::::]

CASE, NEKO Blacklisted (Lady Pilot / Bloodshot) cd 15.98
Watch her legion of admirers increase tenfold with every passing moment! Will you join them/us? On this, her third full length, Neko Case's voice pours forth in such an untethered and unaffected manner, yet with such power and control. It's truly something to behold. Through seemingly endless touring since Furnace Room Lullaby (on her own, as well as with the New Pornographers) she's honed her voice into an incredibly dynamic instrument. She delivers old classics like "Runnin' Out of Fools" or "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)" with such ease and conviction so seamlessly amid her own splendid songs like "Deep Red Bells" and "I Wish I Was The Moon" as well as "Pretty Girls" from The Gift soundtrack. On much of Blacklisted, her delivery is not unlike that of a lone, world-weary torch singer. Quite simply, her performance is arresting - deeply dramatic and haunting. Perhaps this may be attributed, in part or in whole, to the fact that these days she's holding all the reins. She co-released this album on her own label Lady Pilot with Bloodshot Records, and produced and mixed it with Darryl Neudorf and Craig Schumacher. Also noteworthy is the absence of "and the Boyfriends" from her name, but she's by no means flying solo - although she did play a greater number of the instruments this time around (various guitars, saw, piano). Speaking of which, the accompanying music is a perfect, richly hued match that warmly envelops and lingers around her every word. She's surrounded by an impressive group of musical friends including Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico, Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, Kelly Hogan, Brian Connelly of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Dallas Good of the Sadies, John Rauhouse, Tom Ray, and Mary Margaret O'Hara. A stunning album that glistens and glows from start to finish. Highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Deep Red Bells"
RealAudio clip: "Pretty Girls"
RealAudio clip: "I Wish I Was The Moon"
RealAudio clip: "Look For Me (I'll Be Around)"

RUPTURE, DJ/ Minesweeper Suite (Tigerbeat6) cd 13.98
As promised, the new DJ Rupture set is here on Tigerbeat6 and it does not disappoint. As on his last release, Gold Teeth Thief, Rupture's strong points, and this can't be emphasized enough, are combined in his great taste in a variety of musics and his smMOOOOVve mixing skills. There's also nothing ironic about his choices of source material and, maybe more importantly, he is only too happy to oblige us with the names of the cuts that he's mixing (well, most of them, presumably the ones he got permission to use). So obliging is he, that he makes the point of including label names and even URLs where applicable. So if you're curious enough you can track down all the individual cuts for yourself (which is actually a fun task to perform because you can hear what Rupture has tweaked through pitch and EQ from the sources to achieve his goals.) Unlike Gold Teeth Thief, which starts off like a stick of dynamite, Minesweeper Suite -- as I suppose its name suggests -- catches one off-guard. It begins with a pleasant track from Nubian musician Mahmoud Fadl gradually mixed in with the smooth dub sounds of J-Boogie and the two slowly pitched up together until by six minutes into the CD, Rupture has got the tempo up to a grinding pulse with all manner of breakbeats, dancehall, arabic music and hip hop weaving seamlessly in and out of the mix. In all, Minesweeper Suite is a much more ambitious undertaking than Gold Teeth Thief in that the source material that Rupture pools together for this set seems to consitently come from a wide variety of music from around the globe. Where the "world music" filled second half of his Gold Teeth Thief set may have seemed the weaker part of that disc, here it seems Rupture has increased his skills enough to throw just about anything into the mix and have it sound as if it were meant to be completely natural. Among the music sampled are Foxy Brown, dancehall from Cutty Ranks, Sade, Nina Simone, Robert Flack, Dead Prez, Djivan Gasparyan, Kid606, Cex, DOnna Summer, Wax Poetic, Dat Politics, even Cul de Sac. Quite an experience.
RealAudio clip: "track 15 excerpt"
RealAudio clip: "track 3 excerpt"
RealAudio clip: "track 12 excerpt"
RealAudio clip: "track 20 excerpt"
RealAudio clip: "track 9 excerpt"

SPOON Kill The Moonlight (Merge) cd 14.98
Okay, you're all probably just as anxious about this release as we are here. And you're probably wondering, as we were here, "just how the fuck are they going to top Girls Can Tell?"It's a tough thing for any band to take that next step after releasing a -- dare I fucking say -- perfect record. It's twice as hard since everyone is expecting to be blown away from the first beat. So is it as good as the last? Hmmm... Well, it didn't punch anyone's lights out on the first, or second, beats. But after listening through a couple times, 4 out of 6 lovers of the last album feel that this album kicks ass. And while it doesn't have as much immediate impact, or as many sure-fire "hits" on it, that doesn't seem as important. It feels like they're trying something new and completely different. Well, as different as they can be while still retaining their Spoon-isms. A customer new to Spoon described this as the record that Elton John would've made if he had the White Stripes and the Strokes as his backup band. Which is to say it's got a lot of swagger and incandescent hooks, but it's not trendy or prefab in any way -- more like Squeeze with their sparkling, precise, stripped down pop songs. Fucking fantastic. Kill The Moonlight seems like a much more introspective record than Girls Can Tell, rife with a greater amount of studio experimentation and instrumentation. Daniels and crew tinker around with piano, mellotron, *human beat box*, and a great multitude of effects. Which isn't to say that this is an "experimental" record at all. Nor is it all unstructured "jams". No, it's a lean machine with nary an ounce of fat on its almost brief 38 minute run time.
RealAudio clip: "The Way We Get By"
RealAudio clip: "Something To Look Forward To"
RealAudio clip: "Jonathan Fisk"
RealAudio clip: "Someone Something"

SPOON Kill The Moonlight (Merge) lp 14.98
Okay, you're all probably just as anxious about this release as we are here. And you're probably wondering, as we were here, "just how the fuck are they going to top Girls Can Tell?"It's a tough thing for any band to take that next step after releasing a -- dare I fucking say -- perfect record. It's twice as hard since everyone is expecting to be blown away from the first beat. So is it as good as the last? Hmmm... Well, it didn't punch anyone's lights out on the first, or second, beats. But after listening through a couple times, 4 out of 6 lovers of the last album feel that this album kicks ass. And while it doesn't have as much immediate impact, or as many sure-fire "hits" on it, that doesn't seem as important. It feels like they're trying something new and completely different. Well, as different as they can be while still retaining their Spoon-isms. A customer new to Spoon described this as the record that Elton John would've made if he had the White Stripes and the Strokes as his backup band. Which is to say it's got a lot of swagger and incandescent hooks, but it's not trendy or prefab in any way -- more like Squeeze with their sparkling, precise, stripped down pop songs. Fucking fantastic. Kill The Moonlight seems like a much more introspective record than Girls Can Tell, rife with a greater amount of studio experimentation and instrumentation. Daniels and crew tinker around with piano, mellotron, *human beat box*, and a great multitude of effects. Which isn't to say that this is an "experimental" record at all. Nor is it all unstructured "jams". No, it's a lean machine with nary an ounce of fat on its almost brief 38 minute run time.

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COUP, THE Steal This Double Album (FOAD) 2cd 14.98
Finally reissued at the price of a single disc but with 2 previously unreleased songs and an extra disc containing a full live performance, this is Oakland hip hop duo The Coup's *brilliant*, totally essential Steal This Album. God, this 1998 record is so great. Not only is the music wonderful, like a stripped down, hip hop Parliament Funkadelic -- sometimes emotional and downtrodden, sometimes party jumpin', sometimes manic when Pam the Funkstress is scratchin', but always incredibly funky due to each track's repeating hook -- but Boots Riley's rapping just puts this album over the top. Boots is totally righteous, politically-aware/-active, advocates revolution as the way to fix our fucked up capitalist sociopolitical system (and when all else fails, a little pissing on G. Washington's grave), and conveys all this with stories (not sermons) whose lyrics are brimming with apt metaphors, sly puns, and pop culture references. For example, these lines from "The Shipment":
See you can't trust a big grip and a smile
And I slang rocks - but Palestinian style
Now there's a rumble in the jungle never mumble though I humble
Couple rappers took a tumble but my folks still want to rumble
Who's pimpin' your bundle? I'm _Fly_ like Seth Brundle
Even if the whole album wasn't great (which it is), it'd be worth picking up just for one song alone: arguably their masterpiece, "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night", which tells the tragedy of a boy whose mother prostitutes herself to support her pimp Jesus' drug habit; Jesus beats her to death and therefore when the boy grows up he shoots Jesus to death, but it's too late because Jesus' values have shaped the son into another misogynist monster. Boots' sketch of Jesus:
Philosophy that he spit stuck in my memory chips
And now he puttin' in a disk of Gladys Knight and the Pips
Then that shit starts to skip, he said, "Somebody musta scratch it"
Put the 40 to his lips and poured the contents down the hatchet
Well since my adolescense, cause of his pimp lessons
smack my woman in the dental just for askin' silly questions
Relationship reduction to either rock the box or suction
Ain't got no close potnahs, socially I cain't function
From the pen he would scribe, on how to survive:
"Don't be Microsoft, be Macintosh with a Hard Drive"
Get this album now, sez Windy! And see more Coup lyrics at http://www.OHHLA.com/YFA_coup.html
RealAudio clip: "The Shipment"
RealAudio clip: "Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night"
RealAudio clip: "Piss on your Grave"

COMETS ON FIRE Field Recordings From The Sun (Ba Da Bing!) cd 14.98
The first thing (the only thing?) you need to know about this Bay Area band is that "electric destruction fuzz guitar" is one of their instruments of choice. Wielded by Ethan Miller, and sometimes also by important Comets associate Ben Chasny of AQ fave acid-folk act Six Organs of Admittance, their "electric destruction fuzz guitar", with help from the band's fuzz bassist and sweaty drum maniac, puts Comets On Fire squarely into the psychedelic garage punk realm, shoulder to shoulder with the likes of 60's heavies Blue Cheer, and modern-day Japanese distortion fiends High Rise. Your friends from college will understand better if you compare Comets to Monster Magnet -- they channel the same sort of MC5-ish ass-kickin' and Hawkwind-like space-outin'. And if Ethan (and Ben's) acid wah guitar leads weren't enough, the Comets take things to a whole 'nother plane of noise with the Echoplex electronic tweakery of Noel Harmonson. His overdriven oscillations multiply the freak-out quotient beyond numerical calculation. And live, his spastic jerking and clapping will occupy your attention visually, at least until the guitarist wrangles his axe into a feedback frenzy jammed up against his amp.
But, there's another side to Comets On Fire, besides the distortion and the garagey riffs. Their loud freak-out elements are only part of an ecstatic musical continuum that also allows for the free jazz / ethnic massed bells and chant of track one, "Beneath The Ice Age". Two songs later, Six Organs guy Ben takes center stage, starting "The Unicorn" off with some improvised acoustic folk. Beautiful. Don't worry, though, 'cause soon enough the electric destruction fuzz guitar is back in action.
"Field Recordings From The Sun" totally rocks, is totally awesome, and is the excellent follow-up (that we'd been eagerly anticipating) to their self-titled, self-released vinyl-only debut reviewed here last year. We sell a lot of Acid Mothers Temple, we should sell as many of these guys! And if you're local, go see 'em, we're lucky they're here.
RealAudio clip: "Beneath The Ice Age"
RealAudio clip: "The Unicorn"
RealAudio clip: "The Black Poodle"

GATE The Wisher Table (Precious Metal) cd 14.98
Another record we've been trying to list for a while but we were never able to get enough... until now. This is the newest record from the Dead C's Michael Morley, and while it was only released recently on his own Precious Metal label, it was actually recorded back in 1997. Morley's Gate obviously shares many similarities to his full time 'rock' combo, but Gate is less about deconstructing rock and fee improvisation and more about skewed pop songs, dismantled and buried in murk and scree. Clattery percussion, buzzing guitars, squealing feeback, all form a tangly prickly web of noise for Morley to sing over, in his ultra-distorted mumble. Quite reminiscent of local boys Iran actually, with gorgeous melodies, hidden and tangled up in sheets of barbed wire guitar and throbbing, lo-fi percussive splatter. Think Ira from Yo La Tengo or Lou from Sebadoh fronting Harry Pussy or (duh) the Dead C. Easily the best Gate record since their 'pop' masterpiece 'The Dew Line' or their gorgeous noise record 'Golden' from a few years back.
RealAudio clip: "Center"
RealAudio clip: "Wail"
RealAudio clip: "Dark"

TROUM & YEN POX Mnemonic Induction (Malignant) cd 14.98
The German drone ensemble Troum and its predecessor Maeror Tri have been long-time favorites of Aquarius, never failing to deliver powerful recordings of bleak atmospheres densely folded upon fragile melodies. We are pleased to announce that Troum's collaboration with the American dark ambient duo Yen Pox is no exception. Both Troum and Yen Pox rely upon the metaphoric characteristics of the drone to evoke dream like states. Within their prediliction for gossamer melodies from guitars, lutes, accordion, and flutes all buried under many layers of reverb, delay, and other blurring effects, Troum's work fixates upon the language of dreams and hypnogogic states (even their name is an archaic German translation for dream), as something of a semiotic / transcendental escape route from the confines of earthbound reality. On the otherhand, Yen Pox relies upon the hauntings of nightmares to shape the contexts of their drones, often referencing the sci-fi paranoia of black holes or the Gothic invocations of unknown horrors found in the best Lustmord recordings.
On "Mnemonic Induction," the two outfits seemlessly merge their respective sounds into a sublime droning hybrid that thrives on billowing oxygenated washes and delicate melodies floating up from a continuously thundering low-end rumble. Consequently, this album is far darker than anything that Troum / MT has ever done, but provides a greater focus beyond the scope of death-obsessed imagery common within the Yen Pox dark ambience.
This album should not be missed.
RealAudio clip: "Mnemonic Induction 1"
RealAudio clip: "Mnemonic Induction 3"

NILE In Their Darkened Shrines (Relapse) cd 14.98
Nile, the death metal band obsessed with the grandeur, mystery and mythology of Ancient Egypt, are one of the biggest things in the underground metal world right now (underground meaning NOT Ozzfest or MTV friendly, but with Nile you could also use "underground" in an archeological sense!). This, their third Relapse album, has been hotly anticipated by thousands and thousands of fans worldwide. And not 'cause of the popularity of Hollywood's The Mummy or The Scorpion King. No, Nile owe their following quite deservedly to their own amazing and intense musicianship and atmospheric songwriting. If you were going to buy just one 'extreme' metal album this year, you could do much worse than getting "In Their Darkened Shrines". It's an album of brutal, unrelenting heaviness, utterly insane drumming, shredding solos, and headspinning dynamics -- you'll feel like you've been through a desert sandstorm when they're done -- that's impressively technical, AND majestic, with 'exotic' middle-eastern influenced melodies and textures galore (utilizing their usual guitars, and ethnic instruments, and samples). They're one of those bands -- and this is one of those albums -- that not only belong in every self-respecting metalhead's collection, but would be a good thing for ANY adventurous music lover with an interest in the loud and difficult and imaginative to investigate. While they're not as intentionally avant-garde and 'out there' as Sigh or Enslaved or Weakling or Arcturus, they are as incredible as musicians, and certainly 'out there' when compared to most other death or black metal acts, coming up with violent ten-minute neck-breaking epics worthy of Hollywood, but not the other way around.
Nile are now totally the kings -- er, pharoahs -- of speed/death metal, occupying the throne previously occupied by giants like Morbid Angel and Slayer (both of whom have dabbled in Egyptian imagery before). Very recommended.
RealAudio clip: "The Blessed Dead"
RealAudio clip: "Execration Text"
RealAudio clip: "Unas Slayer Of The Gods"
RealAudio clip: "Wind Of Horus"

RADIAN Rec.Extern (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
Buzz whir click crackle throb. Skittery drums, lovely drone. It's Glitch, but it's Rock. Post rock, anyway. It's the new disc from Radian, the computer-aided instrumental post rock trio from Vienna. Radian have previously released two cds -- a full-length and an ep -- on the Mego and/or Rhiz labels over the past few years. Now they show up with a new full-length on Chicago label Thrill Jockey, enlisting Tortoise's John McEntire on recording/mixing duties. Drummer Martin Brandlmayr lays down the fractured beats, bassist John Norman fills out the pulse, and synthesizer coloration is provided by Stefan Nemeth. And together they use computers to process their real-time playing. Hard disc edits, electronic effects, layered textures, done with a great sense of timing and placement. At times "Rec.Extern" is propulsive and rhythm-driven like a sci-fi This Heat or sliced-up Circle, at others it's atmospheric, the background radiation of a haunted laboratory, with the sounds of burbling beakers and hissing Bunsen burners quietly rising and fading. Sudden silences, sudden sounds. We like it when today's electronic artistes step out from behind their laptops to play real instruments, and Radian falls in line with the likes of Markus Schmickler's Pluramon project and Dean Roberts' "Plays The Grand Cinema" disc on Ritornell as electro-acoustic computers-meet-rock successes. We're also put in mind of the abstract sounds n' silences of Supersilent or Starfuckers (the latter who can be much more 'out' and abrasive than Radian), and recent Dead C. We certainly liked Radian's other releases, but "Rec.Extern" seems to be even better, there's just more to it. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Jet"
RealAudio clip: "Bioadapter"
RealAudio clip: "Etage 3 / Flur"
RealAudio clip: "Ulan"

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ALLEN, TONY Jealousy / Progress (Evolver) cd 16.98
Finally a domestic, single disc reissue of the first two albums Tony Allen released under his own name in 1975 and '77. Legendary drummer for Nigerian visionary Fela Kuti's band Afrika '70, Allen has often been called a co-founder of Afrobeat (along with Fela). In fact Allen's drum parts were often the only element that Fela did not pre-score. These records swing and stutter and groove and majorly kick ass, stretching themselves out often to 15 minutes or more (and you never want it to end anyway). In addition to the saxophones, trumpets, congas, bass, maracas, the extraordinary standout guitar work is very hooky to these western ears, which is mostly why I like it so much, especially on the song "Jealousy", and there are lots of drum solos, more than on the Fela records. Really great -- listen to the soundclip and know there's more where that came from. Essential to any Afrobeat collection, and also a great place to start!
RealAudio clip: "Jealousy"

AMALGAMATED SONS OF REST s/t (Galaxia) lp 8.98
On local / Santa Cruz-based label Galaxia comes this supergroup of sorts. Amalgamated Sons of Rest is Will Oldham of PALACE, Jason Molina of SONGS:OHIA, and Alasdair Roberts of APPENDIX OUT. These guys have basically written the book on broken-voiced, broken-hearted, hollow-eyed, lovely back porch indie twang. A one of a kind 5-song session. Nice. Vinyl is one sided with a marine-life themed etching. CD available Sept 10, 2002.

AMULET s/t (Monster Records) cd 12.98
Long-haired guitar rawk from the obscure Midwestern band known as Amulet, circa 1980. Reissued for your hessian pleasure by Monster Records, alongside the likes of Ultra, Full Moon, and Truth And Janey (all of whom we've previously listed). Amulet started off in '78 as a cover band doing stuff by ZZ Top, Van Halen, Hendrix, UFO and suchlike. Though a popular local concert draw, they still barely managed to save enough dough to record and self-release this album in 1980. No money for overdubs, so it's got that live feel, appropriate for their party hardy high power hard rock format. How much you're gonna like this kinda depends how you feel about lines like: "She was seventeen / young love machine" (from "Just Like A Woman"). Good times badass boogie rock wank fer shure. Actually, they had a heavier, more serious side too, with religious/philosophical themes ("Do You Live Again", "Life Is Living"). But don't look for a lot of sophistication and deep thoughts -- this mostly about groovy stuff like the unintentionally funny "Funk 'n' Punk" or "Radar Love" re-write "Person To Person". Fun and authentic.
RealAudio clip: "Sea Of Fear"

AROVANE Icol Diston (Din) cd 16.98
Icol Diston is a collection of the the first three 12"s from Berlin's Arovane, who in his brief career, has succeeded in recreating the melancholic IDM / electronica of Boards of Canada, Autechre, and Markant. Arovane is at his best when maintaining a repetitive flow of counterpointing minor-key melodies alongside sputtering breakbeats, but tends to lose focus when dropping the structures of his music in favor of floating ambience and fluttering basslines. Mastered entirely from the vinyl editions of these tracks "to preserve the original sound quality."
RealAudio clip: "parf"
RealAudio clip: "yua:e"

BEPLER, JONATHAN Cremaster 3 (Jonathan Bepler) 2cd 23.00
It's a shame "Cremaster 3" isn't slated to come to San Francisco anytime soon, although the final installment of Matthew Barney's massive film project of onanistic cryptography, baroque sexual fetishes, psycho-analytic allegories, and divergent narratives will return to New York in spring of 2003. So, there's not much to report about the film itself (since I've not seen it), although it has something to do with the history of Freemasons, the Guggenheim Museum, macho-minimalist Richard Serra hurling vaseline, a punk battle of the bands between Murphy's Law and Agnostic Front, video games, and multiple references to Chrysler (both the car and the building). Yet, we -can- announce the arrival of the "Cremaster 3" soundtrack composed by Jonathan Bepler (who scored the two preceding films "Cremaster 5" and "Cremaster 2.") Yes, the numerical sequencing of this series is supposed to be out of order, merely one of many convolutions of logic. As in "Cremaster 2," Bepler masterfully constructs his soundtrack out of pre-existing musical genres and recognizable codifications of sound. Gaelic bagpipes blurt a dissonant stream of polyphonic notes, theremins sadly pull a solitary croon from the ether, violins glide through sustained tones, lurid artnoir grooves further corrode Barry Adamson's dark application of be-bop, and the drones, oh the drones. Much like the Alan Splet score for David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and even some of the later Ligeti chorale pieces, Bepler dissolves all of these references into pools of droning sound which allow him to fluidly work in and out of the huge pastiche. As before, Bepler's work is totally amazing.
RealAudio clip: "Chrysler Chorale Overture"
RealAudio clip: "Initiate's Serenade"
RealAudio clip: "Crown's Overture"
RealAudio clip: "Rainbow Girls Idyll"

BIRDFLESH Night of the Ultimate Mosh (Razorback) cd 14.98
Totally silly yet utterly killer grind metal from Sweden, featuring somebody from Nasum. The trio of Achmed Abdulex, Moshbastard, and Smattro Ansjovis (guitar, bass, drums respectively) thrash out ditties with titles like "Night Of The Ultimate Mosh", "Coffinfucker" and "Bowelthrasher", with typical grind-gore themes of blood and violence. Yet when you read the lyrics you'll see they're not entirely serious. And they also do songs that are a bit more unusual, like "Catmouth", which goes: "I pick up my cat, hold it in my arms/I take a smell, of its mouth/it doesn't smell good - CATMOUTH!/it doesn't smell bad - CATMOUTH!" What? There's also a song about having crows in your nose. Huh?
Birdflesh also throw in a smattering of violin and clarinet for spice, again not typical of their genre. But on pure grindcore terms they're no slouches either, raging with the best of 'em. Get this and you've got twenty-two mosh-friendly tracks of 100 mph absurdo-grind to enjoy whilst you peruse the lyric sheet for more gems like "Catmouth". Kinda like Agoraphobic Nosebleed or Nasum with the humorous spirit of a Spazztic Blurr.
RealAudio clip: "Coffinfucker"
RealAudio clip: "Night Of The Ultimate Mosh"
RealAudio clip: "Bowelthrasher"
RealAudio clip: "Carmolesting Dead"
RealAudio clip: "Victim Of The Grind"

BJORGULFSSON, HEIMIR & JONAS OHLSSON Unspoken Word Tour (Brombron / Staalplaat) cd 15.98
Having recently left the obscurant electronica ensemble Stillupsteypa, Icelandic transplant Heimir Bjorgulfsson has wasted no time in starting up some new projects. This collaboration with Swedish installation artist Jonas Ohlsson was commissioned by Extrapool - an arts residency program which, in conjunction with Staalplaat, gives two likeminded artists unlimited access to a really nice recording studio for a week and publishes the results as a limited edition CD. While Bjorgulfsson's work is certainly a known quantity through his numerous solo projects and the AQ-endorsed Stilluppsteypa albums, Ohlsson has primarily been active in the Northern European gallery scene, executing willfully sloppy installations of consumerist excess, punk-as-fuck attitudes, and that post-ironic sentiment that's so fashionable in San Francisco galleries these days. That said, Ohlsson's resume cites some training in electro-acoustic compositions and he also seems to have a taste for Acid House. In their condensed studio session, Bjorgulffsson and Ohlsson have produced a surprisingly diverse album, splattering through fractured techno beats, at times strangulated into Matmos-esque noise-funk and others into the classic Sahko sound with frigid shards of electricity cascading down upon taut rhythms.
Most everything in the Brombron series has been quite good, and "Unspoken Word Tour" is no exception.
RealAudio clip: "20 People Gathering On My Field"
RealAudio clip: "Pyramids of Pure Pleasure"
RealAudio clip: "Old Panther"

BLACK SABBATH Past Lives (Sanctuary / Divine Recordings) 2cd 24.00
Forget about the Ozzfest reunion tours, this is live Black Sabbath (the BEST BAND EVER, sez Allan) from their '70s heyday, with the original, Ozzy-fronted line-up. Two discs worth of the heaviest of metal from the originators of the form. Super-exciting but for one thing: many Sabbath fans probably already have disc one, formerly known as the "Live At Last" album (recorded in 1973, released in 1980 against the band's wishes at the time -- 'cause they'd fired Ozzy and Ronnie James Dio was now their singer. Now, of course, they've got no problem with it). Still, one whole disc of previously (officially) unreleased live Sabbath is worth more than the 24 bucks this is going to cost you. And it comes with (while supplies of this handsome limited edition digipack version last) a poster and guitar pick, plus three bonus tracks too that aren't on the regular jewelcase edition.
Here's the track listing:
(Disc One) Tomorrow's Dream, Sweet Leaf, Killing Yourself To Live, Cornucopia, Snowblind, Children of the Grave, War Pigs, Wicked World, Paranoid, (Disc Two) Hand of Doom, Hole in the Sky*, Symptom of the Universe, Megalomania*, Iron Man*, Black Sabbath, N.I.B., Behind the Wall, Fairies Wear Boots. (Asterisks indicate bonus tracks only on this digipak verison.)
As a live band, Black Sabbath kill -- absolutely charismatic, energetic, and creative. And of course, HEAVY. Plus, you get to enjoy Ozzy's stage banter ("Are you high? Are you high? So am I!"), and variant, improvised lyrics/solos. In the middle of "Wicked World" on disc one, Tony Iommi gets a melodic, medieval solo, then they go into a jazz break, then jam on a whole 'nother riff, with Ozzy making up lyrics, that could have been a great song but never made it into the studio in this form, and then charge into "Supernaut", followed by a Bill Ward drum showcase, then back to "Wicked World"...
So, "Past Lives" is pretty incredible, from a musical standpoint. Of course, they could have included a lot more -- there's lots of pics from Sabbath's appearance at 1974's California Jam but as far as I can tell, no tracks from it. And where's "Blue Suede Shoes"??
Further complaints: although there's plenty of cool old pics of the Ozzy and the boys, and it's a nicely designed package, they should have gotten a Sabbath fan to proofread the liner notes (their third album is Master of Reality, not Masters of Reality, for instance -- and I think it's the Birmingham Town Hall they played at in 1972, not Burmingham Town Hall) but that's a quibble. What really does suck is that the tracks on disc two are given no specific dates and venues of recording -- it just says "recorded live at various locations & dates during the seventies". Lame! It seems from the track selection and Ozzy's between-songs comments that the majority of the second disc dates from around 1975, right before the release of their Sabotage album (they do "Megalomania"!!). Is this from the Philadelphia show recently bootlegged as a triple LP box set? Other songs are from their December 20th, 1970 show at the Olympia in Paris. I've got a bootleg of that and the tracks here certainly sound better than they do on the boot. Now, why the people who put this together didn't think we'd want to know where and when the tracks were from I can't imagine... But anyway, especially if you don't already have Live At Last and probably even if you do, this is an essential purchase for Sabbath fans.
RealAudio clip: "Snowblind"
RealAudio clip: "Hand Of Doom"
RealAudio clip: "Hole In The Sky"

BRAN FLAKES, THE Bounces! (Happi Tyme) cd 11.98
Seattle-based duo The Bran Flakes have put together another cherry of an album. Sonic plunderers who must have ridiculous amounts of thrift-store $1 records, The Bran Flakes painstakingly yet assuredly cut everything up -- macabre children's songs, sleigh bells, latin percussive rattles, afro cuban drumming, tooting horns, minor key strings, occasional drum 'n bass, bad disco, some goofy approximations of dub, wurlitzer organ, noir film samples, oompah oompah in the left channel, funky drummer-style breakbeat on the right -- and arrange everything into precise sonic juxtapositions, resulting in a very confident and enjoyable trip from beginning to end (in fact the end is a three minute long recitation of people's names, jesus how long did it take them to cut *that* stuff together?)
The album's highest point comes when they cut up (Terry Riley "You're Nogood"-style!) everyone's favorite muppets Kermit and Fozzie Bear singing "Movin' right along...". It's so frickin' wonderful and happy go lucky -- can't you just see 'em in the Studebaker? While most comparisons to fellow cut 'n pasters involve names like Wobbly and Negativland, I think the group will fit nicely right next to your Kid Koala tape, your People Like Us cd, and maybe even your 12" collection of solemn DJ Shadow, who uses the same tools -- vinyl -- but never cracks a smile, whereas The Bran Flakes are all about hilarity. Look at what moog pioneer Jean Jacques Perrey says about 'em:
"I enjoyed your record very much, it is so fresh, so cool, made for people who have a 'child soul' and at the same time perfectly elaborated harmonically and technically with some funny winks to other composers."
Recommended for the lighthearted!
RealAudio clip: "Good Times a Go Go"
RealAudio clip: "Autumn"
RealAudio clip: "If She Was a Spy"
RealAudio clip: "Bottom"

BRIGHT EYES Lifted Or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (Saddle Creek) cd 14.98
If you're partial to music that stirs from beyond the point of one's deepest melancholia - clawing at the walls in despair, drowning in a sea of tear-soaked handkerchiefs, clinging to the last sliver of hope... get the picture? - Nebraska's Bright Eyes may be for you. Primarily the work of Mr. Conor Oberst, B.E. already has an ever-growing flock of admirers for his previous two full lengths on which his frail warble of a voice threatened to collapse under the weight of his words. Much more fleshed out than on past recordings, B.E.'s lush musical backdrop on many songs seems to bolster Oberst (check out "False Advertising" or the absolutely beautiful "Nothing Gets Crossed Out" with its the sweet female vocal backups - heartbreaking!), and it's this support that seems to propel him forth as he weaves his earnest, raw, folky tales. It also serves to make the impact that much greater when the grand strings and horns are stripped away for the more minimal, acoustic moments ("Don't Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come"), not to mention how it expands the music's overall appeal. Tormented and introspective, the emotions flow from him in torrents almost beyond his control. Similar to, but still much more bare bones than the Microphones and less lyrically surreal than Neutral Milk Hotel, it also brings to mind Tom Waits or the Pogues in the carnivalesque or minstrel tones. I'd have to say my favorite songs here are the aforementioned "Nothing Gets...." and "From A Balance Beam". They're perhaps the most fully realized of the bunch, the latter was also the first song on the cdep that preceded the album. There's a hefty list of participants on this album filling out B.E.'s choirs, horn and string sections, and drum corps including folks from The Faint. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Nothing Gets Crossed Out"
RealAudio clip: "False Advertising"
RealAudio clip: "From A Balance Beam"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come"

BROTHER AH Move Ever Onward (Ikef) lp 14.98
We listed the cd version last time, now we have vinyl too! ... This is a long lost classic (originally released in 1975) from ex-Sun Ra band member Brother Ah, and features a 25 piece ensemble and a vast array of exotic instruments such as shakuhachi flute, gong, space beam (?!), koto, pan flute, french horn, sitar, kiti kup (?!), tabla, oboe, shawn (?!), as well as various vocalists chanting, singing, shouting, and pre-recorded nature sounds. Sound far out? Well, it is, even by Sun Ra standards. Starting out with an Eastern-tinged spaced out raga, with buzzing sitars and subtle percussion underneath spoken word, then to a dreamy flute-flecked jazz number with Ethel Merman-ish operatic vocals over the top, on to funky African percussion workouts to chanted almost liturgical sounding afro-jazz-pop....Weird but definitely cool. For VERY adventurous fans of afro-rock as well as fans of Sun Ra and that sort of out-there-jazz.
RealAudio clip: "Track one"

BROTHER AH Sound Awareness (Ikef) lp 14.98
We listed the cd version last time, now we have vinyl too! ... Ex-Sun Ra band member and musical visionary Brother Ah created a world even farther out than Sun Ra's if you can believe that. This early seventies classic features two extended numbers, the first a dreamy, spacy, psychedelic soundscape with heavily reverbed, chanted vocals, and heavily affected nature sounds. Dark and drone-y and completely overpowering. As tripped out as anything Acid Mothers Temple or any other modern psych band has attempted. The second, a spare, rhythmic, super free, clattery No Neck Blues Band-ish hippy jam, with thundering percussion, howling horns, and bells and chimes and hand drums that slowly develops into a throbbing, jazz rock revival complete with celebrated drummer Max Roach testifying to the glory of LOVE while an enthusiastic crowd cheers him on as gongs and shouts and thrumming bass lines get more and more feverish, climaxing in a furious eruption of wild percussion. Way, way out there. Not for the faint of heart, but definitely for fans of Sun Ra, No Neck Blues Band, and all sorts of out rock/free jazz.
RealAudio clip: "Introduction"
RealAudio clip: "Rap"

BUGSKULL & THE BIG WHITE CLOUD s/t (Scratch Recordings) cd 13.98
Bugskull records are always so pleasant. And since it's been three years since Sean Byrne's Portland-based project has released anything, this is a welcome record. Utilizing prettily chiming, repetitive organ lines, occasional metronomic drums, fuzzy wistful guitar, and woozy in 'n out synth phasings, they're like a Stereolab without the tension (or the constant pressure to innovate.) Thus the music is relaxed and seems to issue forth effortlessly. This is a very, very pretty album of easy, layered, warm blanketed layers. Sorta vintage-y sounding (old vocal snippets, record crackle, space-age whooshes) and very lulling. It won't blow you away and it ain't tryin' to; think, oh, Mouse on Mars or a simplified Harmonia if they were indie rock West Coasters and you're somewhere in the vicinity of Bugskull.
RealAudio clip: "--"
RealAudio clip: "Fair Are the Sails"

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND Magnetic Hands (Viper) cd 19.98
Though we've seen a fair amount of Beefheart rarities being released on CD in the last several years, not much of the Magic Band's live material has turned up yet. Much of this is due to licensing restraints, I'm sure, as none of the sets were ever legitimately recorded in the first place. That anyone even had the foresight to record the Captain and crew all the way back in 1972 is pretty impressive. This collection contains 18 tracks culled from 7 different shows, all in the U.K., dating as far back as '72 on up to 1980. Those concerned about fidelity should take note however that these tracks, even the more recent, were recorded with the most primitive of equipment and no amount of mastering could fix it. For those who could give a flying fuck about fidelity and are more interested in some live and raw renditions of their favorite Beefheart tunes, this would be a handsome addition to their collection as the various lineups (there are five different throughout) are all in top form on every track. Also included is a ten page booklet containing one man's well written personal account of Captain Beefheart's impact on him and the U.K., plus information on the individual tracks and the band's different line ups.
RealAudio clip: "Grow Fins"
RealAudio clip: "Kandy Korn"

CHARALAMBIDES Being As Is (Crucial Blast) cd-r 6.98
Our friend Adam who runs the super cool Crucial Blast label, has, for over 6 years now, been quietly (and not so quietly) putting out some of the coolest shit around. From crusty Finnish metal to droning electronica to sparse folk to brutal power electronics. This new series of cd-r's, limited to 100 copies and nicely packaged in oversized DVD cases will only be available via Aquarius records (unless you get them directly from Crucial Blast). So don't blow it...
AQ faves Charalambides contribute what has to be their quietest and most minimal collection of tunes yet. The sound takes their minimalist psych-folk a step further, exploring spaces as much as the notes that seperate them, with Christina Carter's fragile croon even more ghostlike and ethereal. She seems to be making sounds, more than singing, gentle and haunting, rich but delicate. Tom Carter's guitar is equally spare, with the notes spread out, and pucked tentatively, sounding like a Fahey record played at 5 r.p.m. Distant melodies drift lazily as stray notes wander off and get lost in the foggy ambience. Quiet, and quite gorgeous.
RealAudio clip: "One"
RealAudio clip: "Three"

COHRAN, PHILIP AND THE ARTISTIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE On The Beach (Aestuarium) cd 14.98
This is a second pressing of "On The Beach," compiling tracks from the late '60s output of Philip Cohran, one of the founders of Chicago's AACM and early member of Sun Ra's Arkestra. While Sun Ra looked toward outer space for inspiration, Phil Cohran (himself an astronomer and mathematician) and his ensemble found manifestations of cosmic spirituality here on earth. Mining different musical traditions such as jazz, rhythm & blues, european classical, "eastern" music, but most specifically reaching into elements of african experience and heritage, the ensemble builds complex rhythms around melodic elements usually provided by Cohran's "frankiphone", a georgeously buzzing bell-like electrified thumb piano of his own design.
On "Unity," which appeared on the excellent Oulele comp a couple years ago, the percussion-heavy groove is anchored by the steady droning of Cohran's violin uke (I presume another of Cohran's designs?). The results go beyond "jazz," even when adding modifiers like avant- or afro-. This is soul music on a higher plane. So beautiful and powerful, this work fits into a larger picture that includes the afro-centric work of John Coltrane, Art Ensemble of Chicago's free-funk explorations with Fontella Bass, and Fela Kuti's consciousness raising jams. Members of the Artistic Heritage Ensemble went on to play with the likes of Miles Davis and Earth, Wind & Fire.
The cd is lovingly packaged in a hand letterpressed sleeve and contains two more tracks than the vinyl version.
RealAudio clip: "Minstrel"
RealAudio clip: "Unity"

COHRAN, PHILIP AND THE ARTISTIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE On The Beach (Aestuarium) lp 9.98
This is a second pressing of "On The Beach," compiling tracks from the late '60s output of Philip Cohran, one of the founders of Chicago's AACM and early member of Sun Ra's Arkestra. While Sun Ra looked toward outer space for inspiration, Phil Cohran (himself an astronomer and mathematician) and his ensemble found manifestations of cosmic spirituality here on earth. Mining different musical traditions such as jazz, rhythm & blues, european classical, "eastern" music, but most specifically reaching into elements of african experience and heritage, the ensemble builds complex rhythms around melodic elements usually provided by Cohran's "frankiphone", a georgeously buzzing bell-like electrified thumb piano of his own design.
On "Unity," which appeared on the excellent Oulele comp a couple years ago, the percussion-heavy groove is anchored by the steady droning of Cohran's violin uke (I presume another of Cohran's designs?). The results go beyond "jazz," even when adding modifiers like avant- or afro-. This is soul music on a higher plane. So beautiful and powerful, this work fits into a larger picture that includes the afro-centric work of John Coltrane, Art Ensemble of Chicago's free-funk explorations with Fontella Bass, and Fela Kuti's consciousness raising jams. Members of the Artistic Heritage Ensemble went on to play with the likes of Miles Davis and Earth, Wind & Fire.
The cd is lovingly packaged in a hand letterpressed sleeve and contains two more tracks than the vinyl version.

COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Live (Opus) cd 21.00
Really excellent Czech prog rock from 1973. Collegium Musicum were an instrumental organ-bass-drums trio in the best classically-influenced tradition. In other words, E.L.P.!!! This live album (their best release) is full of extended, virtuoso soloing from all three members. Energetic, kinda heavy, sometimes happy, sometimes dark, great music. Full-on '70s prog with a nice Eastern-European vibe. And we love the cover shot! (Not new, but we got a couple and wanted to list it, along with the equally awesome Fermata disc, for the Iron Curtain prog freaks we know populate our mailing list!)
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 1"
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 2"
RealAudio clip: "Monument"

COLOPHON Spring (Dreams By Degrees) 10" 9.98
Having put their post-rock orchestrations on hold for the time being, the members of San Francisco's Tarentel have been exploring a number of divergent musical ideas. Guitarist Jefre Cantu has spent his sabbatical from the group exploring the arenas of digital abstraction in tinkering around with Max / MSP. Sometimes Cantu has been found working under the moniker Joshua Torres for more rhythmic pursuits and under Colophon for the atmospheric work. "Spring" - a 10" released on the promising Dreams By Degrees label - is the first recording that Cantu has done for either project, blurring spartan piano clusters and acoustic guitar samples from the other Tarentel guitarist Danny Grody. Following the lead of fellow dreamy code-slingers Ekkehard Ehlers and Stephan Mathieu, Cantu transforms his source material into a beautiful pixelated ambience haunted with residual melodies and distant rhythms. While this artful 10" is a very nice addition to anybody's collection of Ehlers and Mathieu, its scary to think about how good Tarentel will be if they manage to synthesize Cantu's newfound laptop abilities with Tarentel's rock expansiveness.
RealAudio clip: "Bouganvilla"
RealAudio clip: "Night Falls On 15th Street"

CURSOR MINER Explosive Piece of Mind (Lo Recordings) cd 15.98
This album from Cursor Miner (aka Robert Tubb) is a darn sonic rollercoaster ride. A super fun and eclectic album, it starts out with an ominous 40 second digital roar, then proceeds into a Beck-ish slouchy, loping fashion which mutates into more stuttery electronics and bumpity-bump programmed beats like Hrvatski or Kid 606. All chopped up, chunky and playful with a definite pop heart, it blends together acoustic guitars, rubbery blumps and bleeps, samples and processed vocals. Cool.
RealAudio clip: "Never Been Seen"
RealAudio clip: "U Want To Want"
RealAudio clip: "Battery Powered Joy"

CUSTER, BETH & THE JOE GOODE PERFORMANCE GROUP The Maverick Strain & Other Stories (Beth Custer) cd 13.98
Treasured local composer Beth Custer has self-released another collection of her clarinet-led music. Along with the clarinets Ms Custer also wields the piano and the keyboard sampler, and she sings. The Tin Hat Trio and the Club Foot Quintet (both groups also local gems) make appearances, as do several other folks. This is wide-open music with no attitude and plenty of originality. Silences and single-instrument passages that are evocative as much for what they don't say as for what they do. Gritty noir tangos that wouldn't be out of place in a Jim Jarmusch film. The (very occasional) vocal parts don't do much for me but I'm sure they were entirely appropriate in the context of the dance pieces these tracks were originally composed for: What the Body Knows, Take/Place, Undertaking Harry, and The Maverick Strain, all performed by the Joe Goode Performance Group. Nice.
RealAudio clip: "Hamlet"
RealAudio clip: "Tango"
RealAudio clip: "Tribal Duets"

DEERHOOF Reveille (Global Buddy) lp 13.98
Finally on vinyl in cool hand screened sleeves!!
Gosh. What can I say? This is absolutely the finest moment of Deerhoof's recorded output. At 34 minutes, there is absolutely no filler on Reveille: it is an astonishingly precise and accomplished half hour of some of the most challenging, interesting avant-rock we've heard in a long long time. Jeff loves this album so much he almost started a record label just to put it out! The local trio of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich and Greg Saunier are old school; you can hear in their music the lessons they learned from vintage Bay Area weirdos like the late great Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and Caroliner, and from the famously avant garde Mills College music program -- all of which have resulted in a great, eccentric band whose aesthetic is fully formed, mature and confident. Satomi's light, singsong vocal delivery (similar to Boredoms' Yoshimi, Blonde Redhead, Yoko Ono) careens from stereo left to stereo right, a dose of melody and almost j-pop sweetness that plays perfectly against the macabre repeating guitar lines and the great, unpredictable, muscular drumming. Sudden stops and starts punctuate eight minute songs against one minute collages of noisy audio squiggles. Much like the Thinking Fellers did, Deerhoof juxtaposes melodic passages against weighty, distorted guitar a la Sonic Youth; they rarely descend to all-too-easy verse/chorus/verse trad songwriting, yet amazingly enough the album is quite accessible. Experimental music that everyone can enjoy. Wonderful. This record is perfection.
RealAudio clip: "This Magnificent Bird Will Rise"
RealAudio clip: "Our Angel's Ululu"
RealAudio clip: "Frenzied Handsome, Hello!"
RealAudio clip: "Punch Buggy Valves"

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN WITH MIKE PATTON Irony Is A Dead Scene (Epitaph) cd 10.98
A new four-song ep from New Jersey's out-of-control mathcore metallers Dillinger Escape Plan, with Mike Patton (Bungle, Fantomas, Faith No More) as guest vocalist! With the unmistakable throat abuse and tuneful croon of Patton, this new Dillinger ep is a bit different from their previous recordings, which were some of the most extreme, complex metalcore efforts ever.
Irony sounds more like a blend of Slipknot (especially with the yappy, almost rap-like vocal cadences of Patton), Melt Banana (again, the 'yiyiyiyiyi yi yi' vocals and sharp dynamic bursts), and Faith No More (when Patton's vocals and the music take turn into more melodic, lush realms). It's still extreme and complex, just less so, which Dillinger fan Andee found a little disappointing, but others might disagree. (Allan's always been *impressed* with Dillinger, but finds 'em hard to listen to, believe it or not -- so this is in some ways an improvement, to him.) Whether you like "Irony" will have a lot to do with your taste for Patton's vox. There will probably be a lot more to like here for fans of Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, Melt Banana, Fantomas or Slipknot than those just looking for a new metallic grind fix. But it could be Dillinger's ticket to a wider audience, which is definitely a good thing!
Oddly enough, not released on Relapse (as with prior DEP discs) or through Patton's Ipecac imprint, but on big punk label Epitaph. Imagine, Tom Waits and Dillinger on the same label, that's getting weird!
RealAudio clip: "Hollywood Squares"
RealAudio clip: "Pig Latin"

DREAM IS DEAD, THE Letter of Resignation (What Else?) cd ep 9.98
This is the raging politi-punk / hardcore debut from Indianapolis' The Dream Is Dead. With their hoarse, full-tilt vocals and thick aggressive guitars, TDID are very much akin to bands like Born Against or Poison Idea. In fact, the ep's finale is a rad cover of P.I.'s "Just To Get Away". Features cover art by Shepard Fairey.
RealAudio clip: "The Great Recline"
RealAudio clip: "Just To Get Away"

ERASE ERRATA / NUMBERS split (Tigerbeat6) 3" cd ep 6.98
Two songs each from Erase Errata and Numbers on the mildly annoying 3" cd format (maybe I have an unhealthy attatchment to my record player, but these brief tunes would've fit beeyootifully on a 7"...) Numbers are great, and "Goin' Insane" and "Palo Alto" give you all the crunchy moog basslines and shouty, distorted boy/girl vocals you could ask for in a space so tight it's claustrophobic, but Erase Errata... damn, they are SUPER hot!
Strong, continuously inventive basslines & super tight drumming form the backbone, enhanced by guitar that provides jagged texture rather than structure. Then the vocals: commanding, Mark E. Smith style commentary that might, for a brief moment, turn into full, vibratoed song before turning back into a sharp, observatory talk/rant. Kick ass. The brevity, skimpy packaging, and questionable format may work against my ability to recommend that you shell out $6.98 for this release, but let me say that the songs from two of the Bay Area's finest definitely deliver.
RealAudio clip: NUMBERS "Goin' Insane"
RealAudio clip: ERASE ERRATA "Retreat, The Most Familiar, Extensive, I Bet!"

FARRAR, JAY ThirdShiftGrottoSlack (Artemis) cd ep 7.98
This five song EP from former Uncle Tupelo founder Jay Farrar is, well, okay. As in *just okay*, i.e. there's nothing that stands out as extraordinarily beautiful here -- none of the heartbreaking chord changes, the instantly hummable melodies, the abject naked emotion -- that made his previous quality work so memorable. Not even one great song to make the price of the disc worth it. It's a bummer; I mean he still plays a worthy, if slightly generic, brand of twangy Americana, but it isn't as vital or intense as before. So I say, if you're a fan, you'll probably want this, but if you're new to Farrar, Uncle Tupelo, or his post-Tupelo band Son Volt, then you should really start with any of the Uncle Tupelo records (Anodyne being my fave, but all are grrreat).
RealAudio clip: "Kind of Madness"

FERMATA Fermata/Piesen Z Hol (Bonton Music Slovakia) cd 21.00
The first two albums (from 1975 & '76) by this hot-rockin' instrumental Slovak prog/fusion band. Rippin' stuff, with heavy guitar/keys interplay. Complex, flashy, very '70s. If we saw a band like this play today we'd be all "we're not worthy"! (Not new, but we got a couple and wanted to list it, along with the equally awesome Collegium Musicium disc, for the Iron Curtain prog freaks we know populate our mailing list!)
RealAudio clip: "Rumunska Rapsodia"
RealAudio clip: "Piesen Z Hol"

FEVERDREAMS Essaouira (Crucial Blast) cd-r 6.98
Our friend Adam who runs the super cool Crucial Blast label, has, for over 6 years now, been quietly (and not so quietly) putting out some of the coolest shit around. From crusty Finnish metal to droning electronica to sparse folk to brutal power electronics. This new series of cd-r's, limited to 100 copies and nicely packaged in oversized DVD cases will only be available via Aquarius records (unless you get them directly from Crucial Blast). So don't blow it...
Feverdreams is dark and mysterious. A rumbling and shimmering miasma of soothing low end, staticky buzz, and occasional clatter and skree. Gorgeous slow building sound scapes with subtle non-repeating rhythms and with layers and layers of drone, whir, throb, and clang. This would be nightmare music if it wasn't so damn pretty.
RealAudio clip: "One "
RealAudio clip: "Two"
RealAudio clip: "Four"

FISCHERSPOONER #1 (Ministry Of Sound) cd 23.00
We had this album before, but it has been sadly temporarily out of print for some time. In the time between the album's initial release and this expensive import reissue some of us have grown quite fond of Fischerspooner, maybe even against our better judgement. If there's one thing that Fischerspooner excels in the most, it's self-promotion -- their disc's artwork consists primarily of fawning praise from the press (even adorning the inside tray, as if you might need some positive reinforcement after you've purchased it). I suppose they feel the need to stand out in the ever increasing throngs of retro-electro rock bands. Which is too bad, because as a band they're heads above the pack. Think Depeche Mode with gargantuan cojones and you're beginning to get the picture. On top of having mastered the aesthetics of the neo-electro genre, Fischerspooner are also consummate writers of pop gems. The third track "Emerge" has all the workings of a teeth gnashing dancefloor hit with its ever increasing tension and intensity topped by a delicious hook that appeals to the most base pop sensibility. If that's not enough, they've managed to pull off a cover of Wire's "The 15th" that's so fucking great some here would argue that it betters the original. Once you get over the fashionable performance / conceptual art pretensions of Fischerspooner, you'll find their music hard to resist. As a bonus consolation to this expensive reissue you get three new bonus tracks and some exclusive video footage.
RealAudio clip: "Emerge"
RealAudio clip: "The 15th"
RealAudio clip: "Natural Disaster"

FURSAXA s/t (Ecstatic Peace) lp 13.98
While I (Jim) have normally attempted to write reviews for Aquarius that are noticeably different from the reviews I've written for other outlets, I now state my failing in crafting some new syntax for this Fursaxa record, which I think is fantastic. So without further ado, here's what I wrote in The Wire #222.
"Tara Burke has earned major endorsement from Makoto Kawabata and Thurston Moore, who have been so impressed by the Philadelphian psych-out maven as to release a couple of recordings of her Fursaxa project on their respective labels. Following the 'Mandrake' CD-R on Kawabata's tiny imprint, this self-titled album published by Moore's Ecstatic Peace is an exceptional set of narcoleptic post-VU semi-rock haze. Working with a couple of her former comrades form the underappreciated Siltbreeze group Un, Burke has scored 19 sketches for monochord acoustic guitars, pedal treated Lowry organ and Farfisa loaded with a grainy texture of raw tape hiss and a general disregard for production cleanliness. She channels these stories like a Wiccan earth mother, with sounds emanating like disaffected recollections of various memories and previously hidden histories. She's not so much interested in telling us specific stories as evoking a psychic connectivity towards those past visions, which are beautifully nostalgic yet vaguely haunting. This album is as good as anything from the Jewelled Antler collective, No Neck Blues Band, and Jackie-O Motherfucker."
RealAudio clip: "Euclidian Geometry"
RealAudio clip: "Quinine Hill"
RealAudio clip: "Voltaire"

GOLDEN Apollo Stars (National Record Label) cd 14.98
A poem:
Great chops like the ones that these guys possess
Are plenty impressive, on this we'll attest...
But when used to make music like this, we proclaim:
"Funk groovin' on you ain't becoming. Abstain!"
Unless you're baked outta your mind and/or like Phish... avoid! This is a mish mash of styles that sure sound as though they were having a great time playing and following their muse, but whether or not that translates into something that's as pleasurable to listen to, is highly debatable. Me thinks your ears deserve better. There're many other skilled players out there making music that won't give you aural indigestion.
RealAudio clip: "Feel This Flow"
RealAudio clip: "Napenda Judy"

GORILLA s/t (Lunasound) cd 14.98
Gorilla, as befits their name, are a heavy power trio from the UK. The band photo in the cd booklet recalls the Melvins (the photo from their "Ozma" album, complete with female bass player and drummer in horizontally striped shirt, but minus the cat), but a better clue to this band's brand of heaviness is the back cover, which appears to be a homage to the back cover of Budge's "Squawk" (a high-contrast photo of the band sitting on a piece of heavy machinery). Yes, they really delve into the Seventies thing, to the point of having extensive liner notes detailing all their authentic, vintage equipment ("a '68 Gibson SG special with P-90 pickups run through an early '60s Vox AC-30" -- that sort of thing) which wouldn't mean much if they hadn't truly managed to capture that early '70s hard rock sound and vibe, which they did. And they can play. Their fuzz-laden heavy riff rock might not be original but of course it's not supposed to be. It's about kicking out the jams, brothers and sisters! The ten tracks here all pretty much live up to the title of track one, the self-descriptive "Good Time Rockin'" -- we also especially dig "She's Got A Car" with its sped up Blue Cheer riff and MC5/The Who '60s beat energy, along with the plodding, Sabbath-riffed "Acorn Brain", and the crushing, spaced-out "Iron Ball", among others. Fans of the likes of Monster Magnet, Nebula, and even maybe the White Stripes should consider adding these throwbacks' disc to your daily listening dosage.
RealAudio clip: "Roachend Salad"
RealAudio clip: "She's Got A Car"
RealAudio clip: "Acorn Brain"

GROUP 1850 Paradise Now (Free) cd 17.98
Not too legit lookin' cd reissue of the 1969 second album by Group 1850, a Dutch heavy psychedelic group featuring (in addition to the usual bass, drums, and guitars) some freaky flute and droning organ, plus effects-laden vocals in accented English. Spaced-out-there in the Floyd realms for sure. Their first album, 1968's "Agemo's Trip To Mother Earth" is considered a sixties psych concept album classic, and this ain't too shabby either. Songs like "Purple Sky" and "Hunger" are quite stoned-sounding, and probably sound even better if you are.
RealAudio clip: "Hunger"

HAZELWOOD, LEE For Every Solution There's a Problem (City Slang) cd 16.98
In conjunction with the release of "Total Lee! The Songs of Lee Hazelwood," "For Every Solution There's a Problem" presents a collection of previously unreleased songs, some in their rawer demo form and some fully fleshed out productions. There's some low key Hazelwood classics here, especially the oh-so-dark opener "Dirtnap Sories," the aaalmost country of "Buying Back," and a late but worthy entry into the Lee + Lady duet canon recorded in the 'nineties and featuring "Melissa," a singer whose last name is unremembered by the musicians and producers involved. There's some goofy moments ("Dolly Parton's Guitar"? Hmm..), but if you're a Lee lover, this is a nice collection. As with the tribute album, Lee comments on every track in the liner notes.
RealAudio clip: "dirtnap stories"
RealAudio clip: "dolly parton's guitar"

HEADLANDS BAND California (Headlands Band Music) cd 11.98
Headlands Band are a local quintet who play honest rock'n'roll without pretentions or airs, which makes 'em even more likable even if I didn't already appreciate their music. Well-written songs with that instantly classic traditional sound somewhere between Uncle Tupelo, Neil Young and Dieselhed. The poignant touches of lap steel remind me of Lambchop, and there's also cheerfully strummed mandolin & warbly organ on top of the guitars. The vocals are a slight weak point, sometimes sounding rather strained, and there's one kinda 'emo'-ish song that I try to program out, but other than that this is a solid debut very well-recorded and exectued. Surprisingly, I like this a lot more than the new Jay Farrar (ex-Uncle Tupelo) record, and that's sayin' something. For fans of all the abovementioned bands as well as Granfaloon Bus.
RealAudio clip: "Lonely"
RealAudio clip: "California"

JANDEK Blue Corpse (Corwood) cd 8.98
If there's a single Jandek record to own, I would strongly recommend this one. "The Blue Corpse" has long been my favorite album from this Texan recluse, and stands as a rare moment of clarity within his typically willful obliteration of blues and folk standards. While there has been no support to such claims from the tightly lipped Corwood Industries, I have to agree with the theory postulated by Seth Tisue (who runs a fantastic Jandek website at http://tisue.net/jandek/) that this album is the aftermath of the breakup between Jandek and the woman known as Nancy who was featured prominently on previous records. While the obvious fact that she never appears on later album lends itself to this theory, the lyrical content -- which is the least obtuse of all of the Jandek records -- is the strongest evidence to Tisue's claim. From 'Your Other Man,' Jandek morosely resigns himself to his fate as a jilted lover: "Well, I guess your mind's made up / Well, I guess there's not much left to do / Go on, see your other man / Walk up the stairs / That's where the stars are / Go on, see your other man." The recurring themes of religion, travelogues, and numbers found on other records have been put on hold for "The Blue Corpse" which constantly returns to citations of killing time, falling into the river, and pining for lost love. Jandek's naturally melacholic wisp of a voice mopes through each of these songs, presenting itself as an embodiment of his internal gloom. Of course, these could be allegorical fictions and metaphoric dramas. Musically, there is also a considerable change in the Jandek approach on "The Blue Corpse" as his solo guitar work is principally acoustic and actually follows recognizably folkish chord progressions. All in all, "The Blue Corpse" makes for a fantastic album.
RealAudio clip: "I Passed By The Building"
RealAudio clip: "Your Other Man"
RealAudio clip: "House Of The Rising Sun"

JANDEK Follow Your Footsteps (Corwood) cd 8.98
While there have been a number of theories floating around about Jandek, his identity, the unwavering continuity from album to album, the input from his collaborators, and the personal histories that seep through his recordings, the reclusive nature of the Texan known as Jandek (and possibly Sterling Smith) will always keep the truth relatively hidden. Nevertheless, a few facts about "Follow Your Footsteps" are certain: this is the 13th Jandek album, it was recorded in 1986, and the woman who has been referred to as "Nancy" makes another very brief vocal appearance and may have been Jandek's girlfriend.
While the last couple of recordings demonstrated a celebratory silliness (especially the odd vocal duet 'Governor Rhodes' on "Telegraph Melts"), Jandek's "Follow Your Footsteps" exhibits greater tendencies towards introspection and musical isolation. In the aforementioned "Telegraph Melts," Jandek punctuated his avant-folk strum and cracked vocal strain with the heavy plod of arrhythmic percussive stabs. Here on "Follow Your Footsteps," Jandek utilizes such drum signatures on only a few tracks; yet what is most striking about this album is the genuine blues stucturalism of the guitar chords. Melody, even if it's just two chords rhythmically strummed on an acoustic guitar, has become an important element in Jandek's oeuvre. Of course, the songs utter the mythologically oblique imagery of preachers, time, reality, and nature - all typical of Jandek's epistomological inquiries. It's a cold world where Jandek lives.
RealAudio clip: "Didn't Ask Why"
RealAudio clip: "Jaws Of Murmur"

JANDEK Modern Dances (Corwood) cd 8.98
In previously writing about "Follow Your Footstep," I had hinted at a progression of Jandek's music towards an isolationism and an introspection that would lead towards the theatrical bleakness found on "The Blue Corpse" (the album album that follows "Modern Dances"). Yet Jandek has never presented himself for easy interpretations, and "Modern Dances" is certainly not an easy record to listen to. Instead this albums showcase two sides to Jandek -- the comedically emphatic avant-blues from the "Jandek band" (with vocal appearances from the woman known as Nancy and the intrusion of percussive splutter which may be indicative of a third party) and the solitary arrangements for Jandek and his guitar. The former is a deliberate slop of off-kilter blues progressions, the aforementioned arrhythmic drums, and oblique duets between Jandek and Nancy (including an alternate version of 'You Painted Your Teeth' from "Telegraph Melts" called 'Painted My Teeth' -- reflecting the continous reworking of older material found in the numerous versions of 'European Jewel'). If Pussy Galore took themselves seriously instead of jokingly posturing through ill-tempered blues, it might have sounded something like this side of Jandek. The latter is what most people think of Jandek -- open chords aimlessly plucked and strummed while his fragile voice cracks in the construction of a painfully sad mood.
RealAudio clip: "Painted My Teeth"
RealAudio clip: "Nothing Is Better Than God"

KID 606 Why I Love Life (Tigerbeat6) cd ep 6.98
Veering sharply from his recent full length The Action Packed Mentallist Brings You the Fucking Jams, the Kid shows his sensitive side again, invoking the word "love" as he did on his similarly mellow, pretty PS I Love You record. Seven pieces in 20 minutes on a li'l 3" cd, this is LOVE-ly. The bulk of the music here is slow- to midtempo lulling electronica, stark and simple, reminding me a lot of early German experiments in electronica -- Cluster, Harmonia, all that post-Neu stuff that concerned itself with purity and beauty. There are delicate arpeggiations of clean, rounded notes, sad chord progressions, and warmly skipping records. Only one track makes use of the spinning-the-radio-on-the-dial-as-fast-as-you-can method of appropriation... and here it is used for its texture, not its abruptness. One electro-tinged piece, all stuttery and jerky, sounding more like Mouse on Mars than anything else. But the rest of the tracks here are pleasantly gentle and wistfully sweet. A very charming record. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Sad Motherfucker Part One"
RealAudio clip: "Something's Not Right"

LOCKWELD Metal Pieces (Crucial Blast) cd-r 6.98
Our friend Adam who runs the super cool Crucial Blast label, has, for over 6 years now, been quietly (and not so quietly) putting out some of the coolest shit around. From crusty Finnish metal to droning electronica to sparse folk to brutal power electronics. This new series of cd-r's, limited to 100 copies and nicely packaged in oversized DVD cases will only be available via Aquarius records (unless you get them directly from Crucial Blast). So don't blow it...
Lockweld should be a familiar name to industrial fans. This noisy sampling duo has been at it for years. For their Crucial Blast recording, Karen and Makita employ a mighty arsenal of synthesizers, samplers, vocals, electronics, machinery, tools, weapons(!) and fire(!). The sound is brutal and harsh. A thick wall of sound, white noise and pink noise with looped samples creating barely audible rhythms and the occasional melody being beaten bloody amid all the ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR. And since it's called "Metal Pieces", each cd comes with a little baggie of custom cut little metal pieces. Cool.
RealAudio clip: "We Can Not Return"
RealAudio clip: "Metal Pieces"
RealAudio clip: "With Best Regards, As Always"

LUGUBRUM / FINSTERNIS Split (Full Moon ) cd 15.98
Starting with an introductory minute of electronic drone distortion, the half of this split cd by Belgian black metallers Lugubrum, entitled "Al Ghemist" is, simply, awesome. Unlike most black metallers, Lugubrum aren't concerned with playing fast. But they do care about atmosphere. Slow, doomy, heavy, dirgey, dark, bleak atmosphere. The production is kinda lo-fi, but densely textured.
The opening noise piece leads into "Hunted Ordure", one of the best doom songs we've EVER heard. Buy it for this track alone and you'll be happy. Happily doomed. But the other Lugubrum tracks are good too. They do some faster stuff, but is still sounds like music from the bowels of the earth. The croaking vocals, fuzzed-out guitars, the weird non-standard rhythms, it's so nice. As they say, "Your discomfort and damaged speakers nourish Lugubrum eternally!!!"
Finsternis (also from Belgium?) aren't quite as odd an outfit. They play good old-fashioned necro black metal, excuse me, "alcoholic bonesaw metal" exclusively. You've heard the likes of them before. But their half of this split does provide some hateful blasting rock n' roll for those that dig this sort of primitive, grimy black metal.
Oh, thanks to AQ customer Roberto for pointing out to us that the old man on Lugubrum's "Al Ghemist" cover art appears to be holding a carrot. For some reason that didn't convince Roberto that this was amazing, but it only added to our love for Lugubrum.
RealAudio clip: LUGUBRUM "Hunted Ordure"
RealAudio clip: FINSTERNIS "Haunting Hellfury"

MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ Maher On Water (Geographic) cd ep 10.98
After the lengthy collection (Geographic's From A Summer To Another Summer) that introduced this Japanese band to Western audiences, here's a fifteen-minute quick listen from Tori Kudo's project Maher Shalal Hash Baz. Kudo wields recorder, sweetly-picked guitar and directs various "water"-y sounds made on percussive toys etc. Sing-song vocals, gentle clarinet, warm cello, purposeful organ all are used for maximum sweetly shambolic naive pop. This is released on Stephen Pastels' label, and the Pastels are an apt comparison in terms of sharing melodic styles and a stripped down, lo-fi indiepop aesthetic. Eccentric, playful, sweetly childlike. If you liked their From A Summer collection, this will please you too, and if you've never heard them before, this is a lower-priced way to do so.
RealAudio clip: "Good Morning"