LUCKY PIERRE Hypnogogia (Melodic) cd 15.98
Lucky Pierre is Aiden Moffat, the darkly salacious, hard boozing voice of Arab Strap, but this is not another outlet for the tales of questionable liaisons, jealousy and, well, fucking that make that band so compelling. Rather than rant, Moffat presents a blend of richly orchestrated cinematic instrumentals and warmly crackling vinyl samples backed up by electro and downtempo beats. The string- and wind-laden sound is incredibly full and lush, with an underpinning sense of melancholy. Like The Notwist, Lucky Pierre suceeds in bringing electronic elements into a dreamy analogue environment; this album might be enjoyed by fans of DJ Shadow or the last Kreidler album. If Arab Strap conjures images of drinking shitty beer in a dive bar where your ex is the bartender, Lucky Pierre is more like enjoying an opiate haze in a dim but well appointed victorian bedroom. Very pretty.
RealAudio clip: "Angels On Your Body"
RealAudio clip: "Shatterproof"

LUCKY PIERRE Hypnogogia (Melodic) lp 15.98
Lucky Pierre is Aiden Moffat, the darkly salacious, hard boozing voice of Arab Strap, but this is not another outlet for the tales of questionable liasons, jealousy and, well, fucking that make that band so compelling. Rather than rant, Moffat presents a blend of richly orchestrated cinematic instrumentals and warmly crackling vinyl samples backed up by electro and downtempo beats. The string- and wind-laden sound is incredibly full and lush, with an underpinning sense of melancholy. Like The Notwist, Lucky Pierre suceeds in bringing electronic elements into a dreamy analogue environment; this album might be enjoyed by fans of DJ Shadow or the last Kreidler album. If Arab Strap conjures images of drinking shitty beer in a dive bar where your ex is the bartender, Lucky Pierre is more like enjoying an opiate haze in a dim but well appointed victorian bedroom. Very pretty.

MELT BANANA 666 (Level Plane) 6" 3.98
SUPER LIMITED 6" (that's right 6", not 7"!!) from one of our favorite Japanese aggro-spazz-math-grind-pop bands. Don't dawdle, these are gonna go fast.

MORRICONE, ENNIO Il Mercenario (Gianni Dell'Orso) cd 16.98
This is the Ennio Morricone soundtrack to the 1968 film "Il Mercenario', a story about a Mexican General of the Revolution and his corrupt hired mercenary. Stereotypically spaghetti western stuff (lots of whoops and yee haws). Creepy whistling amidst dramatic reverb percussion and western acoustic guitar, interspersed with drunken rowdy songs sung in Spanish. There are some extremely beautiful and lonely guitar n' organ moments on this soundtrack, and it is at these times you can tell there is some sort of love story amidst all the fighting. The chorus with trumpet in the finale places this in ranks of other Morricone western greats like A Fistful of Dollars and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!
RealAudio clip: "Bamba Vivace"
RealAudio clip: "Il Mercenario"

NEGATIVLAND Death Sentences Of The Polished And Structurally Weak (Seeland) cd + book 22.00
This one's been in the works for so long I was sure it was only to be a pipe dream. Death Sentences is really two almost completely independent Negativland projects combined as one for release. The book, a collection of photographs of junk yard automobiles and their contents, is the brain child of Richard Lyons -- one of the founding members of the group and an on again, off again contributor in recent times. Lyons spent years visiting junkyards (remember he's the auto obsessed maniac behind the O.T.E. "Starting Line" show), digging through battered cars for tell-tale documents that might give insight into their former owners. Each page contains a scanned image of a letter, or other -- primarily hand written -- short memo overleafed with a photo of the now demolished car from which it was retrieved. All of this handsomely packaged within a sleeve mock-up of an accident report. The book is at once impossible to put down and difficult to trudge through. Not because it's poorly put together (on the contrary, like most Negativland releases, it's gorgeously laid out and beautifully packaged), but because the contents are so incredibly depressing. Several letters are apparently written from prison, or rehab, with the author's pledge that this time when they get out they'll straighten up and fly right. This contrasted with a demolished car, some from brutal accidents, windshields containing shattered buldges where the occupants once sat, reposed in a bleak and overcast auto graveyard in the Pacific Northwest (one of the most depressing areas of the U.S., for those unfamiliar with our messed up little country.) The disc, for its part, is a bit of a departure for Negativland. One might refer to this as their "instrumental" album, for while there are voice tapes processed and buried within the mix, there isn't a narrative driving the album like pretty much all of their albums have had in the last 10 years or so. In a way, Death Sentences brings Negativland back to the beginning of their career with their eponymous release of 1980. Which makes one wonder if the band, having become so bogged down in copyright this and fair use that, is either trying to reinvent themselves or if Death Sentences is in fact their swan song. Its success as an album is perhaps best judged by one's tolerance for freeform electronic improv. While there are moments of cohesion here, for the most part the disc sounds like someone crossfaded together all the improv segue sections from Negativland's live shows. In the end though, even if the CD isn't your cup of tea, the book more than carries its weight for the set. In that case you can view the inclusion of the disc as a free bonus to your purchase of the book.
RealAudio clip: "Pack It Up"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Fool Me"

NICOLAI, BRUNO 100,000 Dollari Per Ringo (Gianni Dell'Orso) cd 16.98
We all love Morricone's western soundtracks. Fistful Of Dollars, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, For A Few Dollars More. They are all so evocative and gorgeous, able to stand comfortably on their own removed from the films they are so inexorably linked to, which can't be said for most soundtracks. Don't know a whole lot about Bruno Nicolai, but either he owes a huge debt to Morricone, or Morricone has a secret influence....100,000 Dollari Per Ringo has all the sights and sounds and smells (well the sounds at least) we've come to expect from an Italian western soundtrack, soaring strings, lonely harmonica, whistles and gently strummed guitars, bellowing almost-operatic male vocals. But there's just something about this particular collection that moves me in a way no other Italian soundtrack has, Morricone or otherwise. I don't know about you, but I rarely listen to a whole soundtrack all the way through there are usually specific parts or songs that I want to hear. But with 100,00 Dollari, it flows so perfectly I end up listening to the whole thing all the time, sometimes forgetting what I'm listening to, and having to check, because it doesn't always sound like an 'Italian Western'. Which is part of what makes it so great. Vocal tracks, sleepy, dusky instrumentals, and roaring, bombastic epics all balanced and sequenced erfectly. It helps that the opening track, Ringo Come To Fight, is one of the greatest 'cowboy vocal songs' EVER with gorgeous sorrowful vocals and a gorgeous arrangement. And track two, Sfida Eroica, is THE most kick ass song ever. Seriously. Makes me want to leap out the window and join the shootout in progress across the street in the saloon, rescue my lady from the jail, leap on my horse and ride into the desert, not before I retrieve the sack of gold, my trusty sidekick and my dog Ringo. It's like the soundtrack equivalent of a song that makes you HAVE TO air guitar or air drum. And the rest of the soundtrack kicks holy ass as well. Morricone fans obviously need this, but there's stuff on here that would appeal to fans of Godspeed, Calexico, Lanterna and dreamy, twangy rock in general. Give it a try.
RealAudio clip: "Sfida Eroica"
RealAudio clip: "Ringo Come To Fight"
RealAudio clip: "Repressione Violenta"
RealAudio clip: "Tumulti"

PIMMON Secret Sleeping Birds (Sirr.e cords) cd 14.98
Paul Gough who records under the moniker Pimmon has been one of the more prolific exports from the Australian sound art community. His work deals specifically with sonic abstraction using the tools of the digital age to expand the practices of '60 academic composers such as Parmegiani's chaos-theory constructions or Xenakis' stochastic models. Yet Pimmon's work never comfortably sits in the space of modernist thinking towards 'art for art's sake;' there is a filmic theatricality and clever use of playful motifs that run throughout his work. This is particularly true for "XXXX" where little toy piano melodies spin in tandem with devilish air raid mantras whilst everything has been shattered under the hammer of digital signal processing. Such contradictory sounds, which run rampant through all of the Pimmon recordings, are not at all ironic, but speak of an acute understanding of metaphoric complexity. Pimmon's use of laptop trickery is quite unique, as it tends to focus on thick chunks of looping sound rather than the minutae of granular synthesis. If Autechre continues towards rhythmic antithesis, they'll probably end up where Pimmon started.
RealAudio clip: "Amarelo Palido, Quase Branco"
RealAudio clip: "Bird Cage Circus"

PTOLEMAIC TERRASCOPE Issue #32 mag + cd 11.98
Phil McMullen's famed Ptolemaic Terrascope is back with another big, shiny A4-sized issue, just in time for next week's Terrastock 5 shindig in Boston USA. Here at AQ, we were most excited about this issue 'cause it's got a six page interview with early '70s UK folk-psych geniuses Forest (done by Camera Obscura's Tony Dale)!! Wow. Maybe you remember Allan's review of the Forest double cd reissue we listed a few months back? What a neat surprise to get to read about this amazing, obscure band in the pages of PT. AND, just to crank our excitement level up to 11, the compact disc compilation that accompanies this issue of the Terrascope includes not one but two previously unreleased Forest songs, stuff that hasn't been heard by anyone for about thirty years!!! And they're great. Thank you Phil, thank you Tony, thank you Forest.
Elsewhere in this issue, you'll find features on the lofi Texas bedroom psych of Charalambides, former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki, Northwestern cosmic fuzz merchants Kinski, Elephant 6 popsters Apples In Stereo, indie-drone act Landing, too-twee-for-me folk psych of The Iditarod, '60s Bosstown psych band Ultimate Spinach, and more. And many of those acts and others also appear on the cd comp. And, like all good 'zines, after the interviews you get the reviews, of course. So, twelve bucks well spent I think.

RANDOM INC Walking In Jerusalem (Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
This is ostensibly a walk through Jeruselem as recorded by Random Inc. (who was a member of Autopoeises) and then processed/altered/fucked with by himself and a handful of guests including Tim Hecker, Electric Birds, the Rip-Off Artist, Ultra-Red and more. The results are pretty fantastic. I've listened to almost nothing else for the last few nights. This falls somewhere between AQ faves Stefan Mathieu and Oval, sort of gritty, buzzy, and hypnotic dreamscapes, but much darker and more cinematic, partly because of the recorded snippets of life/people/music in Jerusalem, but also because of the musical choices made by the contributors. This is a really dreary, somber, hypnotic, droning affair, with lots of buzz and click and hum and skitter. And the artists gentle touch with the original sound sources results in some totally breathtaking moments. I haven't dug a record this much since Oval's Diskont. Great stuff.
RealAudio clip: "Random_Inc. Entering Jerusalem (Coming From the West)"
RealAudio clip: "Random_Inc. Meets Tim Hecker In Musrara"
RealAudio clip: "Random_Inc. Entering Jerusalem (Coming From the East)"
RealAudio clip: "Random_Inc. Meets Electric Birds In Mamillah"

RAPTURE, THE House of Jealous Lovers (DFA) 12" 7.98
This single has been making DJs of all stripes cream their pants since it was released earlier this year. "House of Jealous Lovers" (as well as its Morgan Geist remix version, also on this DFA 12") has been showing up at house nights, electro clubs, and post-punk DJ sets by hipster british video artists. It's the kind of song that is equally irrisitable to art punkers, San Francisco disco divas, discriminating indie kids and Brooklyn fashion victims. No, that's absolutely not a criticism-- it's an illustration of how, like their best funk-punk predecessors, the Rapture bridge the gap between rock and dance music undergrounds. Basically, this single kicks all kinds of asses all over the dance floor, whether it be located in a sweaty club or in your bedroom.

ROYAL TRUX Hand of Glory (Drag City) cd 14.98
For all you Royal Trux fans, here is a thirteen year old recording of what was going to be their second record on Drag City. Neil and Jennifer decided to ditch this and came up instead with their classic/finest moment: Twin Infinitives. Here's what you missed. Noisy, crazy, and completely fucked up.
RealAudio clip: "Electric Boxing Show"
RealAudio clip: "Four Kings"

ROYAL TRUX Hand of Glory (Drag City) lp 14.98
For all you Royal Trux fans, here is a thirteen year old recording of what was going to be their second record on Drag City. Neil and Jennifer decided to ditch this and came up instead with their classic/finest moment: Twin Infinitives. Here's what you missed. Noisy, crazy, and completely fucked up.

SECTION 25 Always Now (Les Temps Modernes) cd 16.98
Of all of the Factory Records gloom merchants, Section 25 has never really garnered much critical success, yet they won over enough allies (notably Joy Division's Ian Curtis and Bernard Sumner) that they were able to last as a self-sustaining project well into the late-80s when they called it quits. Formed in Blackpool by brothers Larry and Vincent Cassidy in 1979, Section 25 was marked by skeletal instrumentation with various emotive patinas that began as post-punk grimness and steadily lightened to a glowing prototype of acid-house (complete with 303 percolations!). "Always Now" -- the group's debut recording released on Factory in 1981 -- falls under the latter camp of lead-colored, death-disco grooves propelled by a spry, if monochromatic rhythm section and jagged swatches of guitar drone. While many of the Factory bands (Crispy Ambulance, Names, Tunnelvision, The Wake, etc.) had been slagged as Joy Division clones, Section 25 admitted their allegiance to Public Image Limited's zenith, "Metal Box" (aka "Second Edition"), even though much of the material from their first EPs were recorded months before Lydon and crew went into the studio. The differences between PiL and SXXV (a nifty shorthand mentioned in their biography by James Nice) are of course noticeable; with Lydon still striving for Situationist revolt through great art and the Cassidy brothers attempting to emote the bleakness of Northern England by hollowing sound as a illusory shadow of music. In essence, Section 25's "Always Now" was an isolationist model for living. It was effective in its bleakness and brilliant in its poetry.
While the Soul Jazz compilation "In The Beginning, There Was Rhythm" offered a solid introduction into the groove-oriented punk of the late '70s / early '80s, its flaws were in its omissions. Fortunately, LTM has kept "Always Now" in print on CD (with tons of extra singles including the Ian Curtis-produced 'Girls Don't Count'), so history may in fact be kind to a band that deserved much better.
RealAudio clip: "Dirty Disco"
RealAudio clip: "Inside Out"
RealAudio clip: "Hit"
RealAudio clip: "New Horizon"
RealAudio clip: "Girls Don't Count"

SECTION 25 From The Hip (Les Temps Modernes) cd 16.98
To mention the terms "new wave" and "80s electro" these days will undoubtedly prompt images of Fisherspooner, Adult., The Faint, I Am Spoonbender and other bands with a flashy sense of style, undercurrents of anxiety, and an effectively punishing use of roboto-rhythms. Yet, these bands have fixated upon a specific strain of retro-garde historicism, which has the unintended result of disregarding other variations of what "new wave" and "80s electro" meant back in the day. Contrary to the impression that the electronic aftermath of punk was always abrasive, intense, and angular, there were dozens of bands which softened their once bleak image (perhaps due to commercial pressure or shifting artistic temperament). One such band was Section 25, whose preceeding albums "Always Now" and "The Key of Dreams" had been spartan productions of death disco born out of urban blight. "From The Hip" -- the band's third album -- was a considerable departure towards more commercial waters with fluffy if slightly moody synth driven pop matched by proto-twee male / female vocals. It may have been the band's biggest commercial success but clearly wasn't as adventurous as their earlier records. Rather this is more on par the idea of "new wave" and "80s electro" that would draw comparisons to Human League, Thompson Twins, Bronski Beat, and Erasure.
RealAudio clip: "Reflection"
RealAudio clip: "Program For Light"
RealAudio clip: "Looking From A Hilltop (Restructure)"

SENOR COCONUT Electrolatino (Emperor Norton) 12" 7.98
It's been awhile since we last heard from Uwe Schmidt's latin playboy alter ego Senor Coconut. Not at all surprising with all of his other personas and projects in the works - Atom Heart, Mambotur, Los Samplers, Geeez'n'Gosh, Roger Tubesound, Disk Orchestra, Midisport and the list goes on! But at long last, here's a small vinyl dose. No Kraftwerk covers here, these are three versions of his effervescent track "Electrolatino" (one of them a DJ Rodriguez remix). Nice.

SHINJUKU THIEF The Witch Haven (Dorobo) cd 14.98
While most of the imaginary filmscores follow Barry Adamson's approach: psychologically involved, noirish atmospheres with plenty of spy thriller references, Darrin Verhagen takes the imaginary filmscore to the realm of medieval epics for wizards, ghouls, and dragons. These dark post-classical compositions (which are entirely sampler based, rather than orchestrated) are reminiscent of the Cold Meat Industries aesthetic of bombastic Wagnerian elements and dark Industrial references to In Slaughter Natives. This marks the final installment to the Witch Trilogy after "The Witch Hammer" and "The Witch Hunter".
RealAudio clip: "Witches' Ladder"
RealAudio clip: "Spores Of Death"

SIR HEDGEHOG s/t (Lunasound) cd 14.98
Swedish metal/rock label Lunasound (who recently brought us UK heavies Gorilla) have wisely picked up Canadian stoner rockers Sir Hedgehog, reissuing their previously-self-released, self-titled cd with new art and an extra track, titled "Monster".
Here's what we said about the original version, which still holds true: Get ready for some glorious seventies-worshipping heavy rock via the debut cd from this oddly named Vancouver band. Not as overtly Sabbath-derived as fellow Canadian rockers Sheavy, but similarly excellent (and Sir Hedgehog's "Bitchlord" *does* sound like something from the Sabs), with a kick-ass vocalist somewhere up there in the Plant/Osbourne spectrum. They've got loads of supremely heavy riffs (more importantly, in the service of good songs) and are also capable of some fine spacey psychedelic detours. Better than most of the rest of today's "stoner rock" bands, for sure. Oh, *and* the album ends with an amazing hidden bonus track that combines covers of Blondie's "Call Me" and Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" (an idea Sir Hedgehog got from Chuck Eddy's book "Stairway to Hell"). They switch back and forth between the two seemingly separated-at-birth songs absolutely seamlessly -- brilliant.
RealAudio clip: " Magic Garden"
RealAudio clip: "Bitchlord"
RealAudio clip: "Monster"
RealAudio clip: "The Cleavage And The Clamp"

SOFT BOYS, THE Nextdoorland (Matador) cd 14.98
I have truly mixed feelings about the reunions of bands whose decades-past acheivements I hold in high esteem. On one hand, it's the only way I can share in the experience of seeing them live- and bands like Wire and Mission of Burma prove that that can be a rewarding experience. On the other hand, as soon as those bands channel their tour reunion energy into a studio album, my skepticism increases tenfold.
The Soft Boys had a very succesful and by all accounts excellent reunion tour, and here's the inevitable reunion album. Well. Let's keep in mind the fact that these fellows are responsible for truly brilliant albums like "Underwater Moonlight" and "A Can of Bees," that Robyn Hitchcock has released some very fine solo work, and be thankful. Diehard Hitchcock fans will undoubtably find something to appreciate in "Nextdoorland," which definitely isn't a terrible record, just a relatively non-essential one that most of us can safely pass over. This assesment may be a tad unfair-- the jangly pop found here might just need some "growing time"-- but I'm sticking to it for now.
RealAudio clip: "I Love Lucy"
RealAudio clip: "La Cherite"
RealAudio clip: "Unprotected Love"

SPROUT, TOBIN Sentimental Stations (Recordhead) cd 12.98
Pretty-pop from the non-Bob Pollard mainstay of Guided by Voices. A seven song teaser for his upacoming full length. Dreamy and lush and kind of eighties sounding but really good. Fans of GBV obviously need this!
RealAudio clip: "Secret Service"
RealAudio clip: "Branding Dennis"

STEREO TOTAL Musique Automatique (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
A new pressing of this Euro-pop swingin' shimmy-shake affair! From the very cosmopolitan Stereo Total, it's a lyrical cocktail shaker of French, German, English and... Turkish! Many moments that would make obscure, eccentric '60s lounge-y/ad jingle composer Charles Wilp leap to his feet in his astronaut suit. If you don't know this gent of whom I speak so highly, check out his awesome "Bunny" album. Anyways, back to Stereo Total, stylistically this seems less eclectic than their past albums, but no less ultra-pouty and playful. The second song, "L'Amour A 3" sounds like a cover, but I'm not sure of what. Perhaps you can recognize it? The middle of the album is a lively, thumping party unto itself particularly tracks 8 through 10 ("Forever 16", "Je Suis Une Poupee", and "Ich Weiss Nicht Mehr Genou). Also brings to mind the fearless and fabulous French duo Les Rita Mitsouko.
RealAudio clip: "L'Amour A 3"
RealAudio clip: "Je Suis Une Poupee"
RealAudio clip: "Nationale 7"

STICKMEN WITH RAYGUNS Some People Deserve To Suffer (Emperor Jones) cd 14.98
Killer reissue of the collected recordings of the -OTHER- legendary-drug-addled-shirtless-drunk-stumbling-rocking-LOUD-punk-as-fuck-Texas-combo (other than the Buttholes that is). And while the Stickmen have a lot in common with the Butthole Surfers (see above) their sound tends towards the noisy rocky end of the spectrum, rather than the tripped out space jam the Surfers were so fond of.
And you may recognise the name as the Stickmen were one of the standout bands on the recently reissued Texas punk comp. Cottage Cheese From The Lips Of Death. Been listening to this like crazy. So great! Fans of the Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, punk rock and early Homestead records, should really check this out.
RealAudio clip: "Christian Rat Attack"
RealAudio clip: "Gave City"
RealAudio clip: "What Am I?"

SUNN O))) 3: Flight Of The Behemoth (Southern Lord) 2lp 15.98
vinyl...We've got three of these

The third (duh) album from the lower-than-low doom duo of Stephen O'Malley (Burning Witch, Khanate) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake, ex-Engine Kid). SUNN O))), formed in tribute to defunct Sub Pop heavies Earth, never fails to warm our doom-drone lovin' hearts, even as SUNN's thick, sludgy wall of bass-heavy guitar distortion utterly numbs our bodies. We loved their last album "OO Void" so much that we were both eager to hear this new one, and a bit apprehensive 'cause we heard it had a bunch of remixes on it, which sometimes means throw-away BS. But as it turns out, not in this case, thankfully!
The first two tracks, totalling 22 minutes, constitute a new SUNN original, with dark waves of Earth-worthy droneriff rolling relentlessly ever onward. (Track one is called "Mocking Solemnity" and track two is called "Death Becomes You", but there's no discernable break between them, it'll really all one piece.)
Then come the two mixes, and the surprise is that they're even better than the SUNN-alone tracks!
Maybe that's 'cause they were produced by Masami Akita, aka the notorious Japanese noise artist Merzbow! His first mix (5 mins) drops some atonal piano into the dronezone of Sunn, while mix number 2 (13 mins) really goes for a grinding godhead experience. He really takes it to another level.
After the Merzbow tracks, "Flight" closes out with another original track called "F.W.T.B.T.", and it's another good 'un, featuring guests "Bootsy Kronos" on bass, and, uh, "Aspirin Feast" on drums. Drums!
Steve O'Malley did a great job with the album design, too, somehow emulating the graphics of Earth's "2" with nicely colored picture of a hunting dog, a shot of the SUNN boys looking like long haired, black clad twins, and -- get this -- what appears to be a certain rock star's Klonopin perscription from a Beverly Hills pharmacy!
Southern Lord recommends this to fans of Earth, Melvins, Thrones, Thomas Koner...and we do too!! Add to that list Boris, Corrupted, Fushitsusha, and Loop (the last two are SUNN fan Julian Cope's comparisons)... "Flight of the Behemoth" is truly a massive, rumbling, varied, experimental DRONEDOOM ESSENTIAL!
RealAudio clip: "O)))bow1"
RealAudio clip: "Mocking Solemnity"

SUTEKH Incest: Sutekh Live (Force Inc) cd 17.98
San Francisco's Sutekh straddles the ever increasing chasm between all night parties of the Bay Area's longstanding populist house scene and the SF avant-electronica community of Matmos, Kid 606, Lesser, OST, and the Blechdums. "Incest: Sutekh Live" is characteristic of his live Laptop Techno sets, with digitally factured, whirring samples bouncing within a taut and occasionally minimalist tech-house groove. Everything -- from the rhythms to the melodies and especially the basslines -- on this album has the strange appearance of being pitched up abnormally high. I guess that's why Force Inc can call this avant-garde.
RealAudio clip: "Incest 4"
RealAudio clip: "Incest 7"

TAAKE ...Bjoergvin... (Wounded Love) cd 14.98
Second album from these obscure, grim black metallers. While not well-known, we really dug their debut ("Nattestid....") as an extremely well-executed slice of true black metal in the classic tradition, and this disc offers more of Taake's majestic dark-forest hymns. The songwriting operates within genre norms, but with much interest and variety, employing raspy lead vocals, clean choruses, fast parts, slow parts, strong melodies, and diverse instrumentation. They make use of piano and even jaw harp! The "boing boing" of that in the album's third track may seem humorous, but is really unsettling.
Runic warriors of rock n' roll, Taake join the likes of Kvist, Khold, Nagelfar, Potentiam, and Keep of Kalessin in the ranks of AQ-fave black metal acts that lack the hype of the Emperors and Dimmu Borgirs of the world, but are equally worthy of your attention. So, this album gets a definite thumbs up from AQ's own runic warriors Allan and Andee. It's one they'd play for curious and open-minded non-black-metal fan friends. Meanwhile, black-metal otaku, get this while you wait for the new Satyricon.
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 2"
RealAudio clip: "track 3"

TEEN CTHULHU Ride The Blade (Rage Of Achilles) cd 10.98
Finally a full length from the mighty Teen Cthulhu. The northwest's answer to Cradle Of Filth, or Neurosis, or Pig Destroyer. Acually more like some Frankensteinian mix of all three. Relentless and pummelling sludge, filtered through some bombasic black metal and peppered with bits of grind. Teen Chtulhu manage to keep everything interesting by incorporating all sorts of non-metal elements (a bit like the new Isis), remnants from their indie/post rock past perhaps? Cool melodic breakdowns, bizarre un-black metal melodies, and just some really weird, interesting and quite unlikely parts.
RealAudio clip: "excerpt1"
RealAudio clip: "excerpt2"
RealAudio clip: "excerpt3"

THEMSELVES The No Music (Anticon) cd 14.98
Themselves is the renamed Them, a project of Doseone and Jel who also do time in the more well known cLOUDEAD. Them put out a record a couple of years back that we didn't list for some reason, but was one of the best post-hip-hop excursions into blissed out beat-oriented hip-hop flecked space rock. Or something. Hard to accurately describe what these cats do. Use cLOUDEAD and Anticon and Mush as a starting point, but then head way out. No, I mean WAAAAAY OUT! This is no longer hip-hop. It's gone beyond that. Kind of like the way the Boredoms are not 'rock'. This is epic and expansive; soundscapes of thick stuttery beats, washes of rumbling groove, creepy snatches of ghostly piano, disembodied voices and weird, WEIRD loops. And then there's the vocals. While it -is- rapping, it's gone beyond that too. A relentless, never ending, ultra nimble flow of whiny invective. Doseone's vocals are like a mix of whiny indie rock boy and Cypress Hill's B-Real. But they are all over the place, going from actual SINGING to ridiculously tongue twisting , head spinning rapping/scatting. Definitely for fans of Anticon and Shadow, but hip-hop-heads that aren't afraid to try some WEIRD stuff should definitely give this a listen.
RealAudio clip: "Track 1 "
RealAudio clip: "Track 3"
RealAudio clip: "Track 2"

THORAX WACH Die Euch Geht's Ja Noch Viel Zu Gut (Knack) lp 9.98
Had it not been for this LP re-issue, the obscure German project Thorax-Wach would have certainly disappeared forever, and been forever unknown to us. Thankfully, that didn't happen. That said, we still don't know about this group other than that we like 'em, and the basic biographical info that they were a Berlin-based duo who originally released "Die Euch Geht's Ja Noch Viel Zu Gut" as a cassette back in 1979. Everything else about the band is a mystery to us. Musically, they appeared to have been sympathetic with (if not comrades of) the Berlin punk community of 'destructive dilletantes' like Malaria!, Der Plan, Einstuerzende Neubauten, Sprung Aus Den Wolken, and especially Die Todliche Doris. Armed with two Korg synths and a chicken scratch guitar, Thorax-Wach build simple electronic arppegiations that alternate between abrasive Throbbing Gristle noise and sneering, synthetic noirish pop tunes matched with dueling German vocals about eating children, old people, the body, and German serial killers!! Much of the vocals play with pre-existing structures ("Happy Birthday" being of note) and take on much of Die Todliche Doris' dada / fluxist sense of the absurd. Definitely one for the retro-electro crowd. Vinyl only. Note: we got the half-dozen we have direct from the label, so they're relatively cheap. But when we run out, we'll have to get 'em from a distro, and the price will go up to $13.98 -- so, act fast!
RealAudio clip: "Tango Fontanello"
RealAudio clip: "Sagblost2"

UEH s/t (Acid Mothers Temple) 2cd 25.00
Acid Mothers Temple followers might already be aware of this obscure French five-piece instrumental psych-rock outfit, if only because of their inclusion on the Acid Mothers Temple Family Compliation "Do Whatever You Want" that we listed not so long ago. This double cd offering (a rare 'real' cd release on the Acid Mothers Temple label) takes off from the sound of the comp's Ueh track (which appears again here): slowly unfolding soundscapes featuring tear drops of melancholy, melodic guitar, deep, warm, almost Bohren-like bass tones, and a sparse, kinda-krautrock-ish rhythmic base laid down by their drummer, the single-named Frederic (who also had a solo track on that AMT Family Compilation, and his own disc on AMT, which we haven't heard). It's psychedelic, we suppose, but really more akin to post rock -- post rock that Temporary Residence Ltd. bands would envy, although Ueh pretty much stick to the quiet part of the usual post-rock loud-soft dynamics formula. Kinda like good old Tortoise. We could imagine this as a Kranky or Strange Audio Attractors House label release as well. Ueh's languid sunset drones and jazzy, vibesy details are really, really beautiful. In our reviews, we try not to quote press releases, but the description we were given of this uses many of the words we'd like to: dreamy, soft, mellow, film soundtracks... You get the picture. Great music for when you're not sure you want to listen to anything at all. Apparently, one disc (the first, louder, jazzier) features their composed songs, while the other disc (the second, quieter, without song titles) is all improvised, but you probably couldn't tell which was which if you had to guess! Limited to 500 copies by the way, of which we have only a few.
RealAudio clip: "Uezi"
RealAudio clip: "disc 2 track 1"
RealAudio clip: "disc 2 track 2"
RealAudio clip: "Escargot"

UGLY THINGS Issue #20 magazine 6.95
"Wild Sounds From Past Dimensions", indeed -- this thick tome (192 pages) of a magazine covers in great depth all sorts of psych, garage, proto-punk, etc. rock n' roll from decades past. Definitely one of our favorite magazines! Whether you're familiar with the subjects or not, their features, full of information and anecdotes, are always fascinating. This time, attention is paid to The Yardbirds, Love, Eater, Public Nuisance, The Treniers, The Misunderstood, and many more. Plus, "Food and Wine" editor Johan Kugelberg offers part 2 of his DIY 7" overview (required reading for those of you into Hyped To Death's Messthetics cd-r comp series) and, in the print reviews section, is sure to rile some tempers with his delightfully brutal rip on Sonic Youth and Steve Albini (in his review of Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life). Oh yeah, record reviews, there's lots of those too. A solid week's worth of reading there, I'd think. Mike Fornatale's reviews deserve special mention: #1 he's hilarious, #2 he makes you want to jump up and slap on whatever record he's writing about, his enthusiasm is so infectious. Kudos to editor/publisher Mike Stax and co. for once again demonstrating how good a music 'zine can be.

WOODBINE s/t (Domino) cd 14.98
Subdued, drowsy and so pretty! This is the music that bridges awake and asleep. The languid instrumentation flows along gracefully as the sparse percussion taps out a gentle rhythm, but Woodbine's all about the vocals - layers of whispers, murmurs and sighs. Actually you might recognize vocalist Susan Dillane from her recent appearance on the Dirty Vegas album, however, this is nothing like that group at all! In fact it often brought to mind the considerably more innocent pop of Adventures In Stereo's dreamalicious Monomania album. That said, Woodbine does occasionally veer into late night woozy, chemically altered trip hop territory. Surprisingly they've been around since '95 but this is their full length debut!
RealAudio clip: "Mound Of Venus"
RealAudio clip: "Been Where You Are"
RealAudio clip: "Wake Up Sleeping"

YORKSTON, JAMES AND THE ATHLETES Moving Up Country (Domino) cd 14.98
Scottish gent James Yorkston writes pretty, earthy, intelligent acoustic songs not unlike those of a rather subdued Robyn Hitchcock. Gently lulling and wistful, he and the Athletes' music is loosely woven from hushed vocals and strummed guitars, embellished by soft swells of piano, strings, and some very minimal percussion. An impressive debut.
RealAudio clip: "In Your Hands"
RealAudio clip: "I Know My Love"

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----* Compilations :
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V/A Document 03 - Diffuse (Dorobo) cd 14.98
"Diffuse" is a collection of work produced by the graduates from the Media Arts Department of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, under the guidance of noted Australian electro-glitch composer Philip Samartzis. It seems that Samartzis has clearly taught his students about a number of contemporary electronic manifestations of sound, but has impressed the neccessity for space and silence for sound to breath and move. Thus, none of his students have presented the claustrophobic assaults of noise culture, rather these are nano-technological movements that bridge the Raster / Ikeda purity of digital sound and the Surreal drama of French musique concrete. Artists include Troy Allan, Thembi Soddell, Andie Reynolds, Bruce Mowson, Camilla Hannan, G_S, James Celil, Sianna Lee, Phillip Pietruschka, 24k, and Haima. Heard of any of 'em? Neither have I, but hopefully they'll put out more work soon.
RealAudio clip: THEMBI SODDELL "Pnc"
RealAudio clip: ANDIE REYNOLDS "As"
RealAudio clip: G_S "Outside"

V/A Off Site (A Bruit Secret) 2cd 23.00
Last year, AQ-fave Japanese guitar experimentalist Taku Sugimoto put together a series of "Composed Music" concerts at a Tokyo venue called Off Site, featuring pieces written and performed by a who's who of the current Japanese underground jazz/noise/experimental/electronic scene. This disc collects some live recordings from those shows.
Disc one opens with Otomo Yoshihide's sixteen-piece "Portable Orchestra". It's the "home electronics equipment version" and that means the musicians, among them Taku Sugimoto, Sachiko M, Utah Kawasaki, Masahiro Uemura, Tetuzi Akiyama, and Otomo himself, are improvising with "instruments" like food mixers, electric drills, shavers, cel phones, gameboys, cameras! Avant-improv music for a [insert dept. store name].
Intriguing as presented here (unless you just can't stand that dentist drill sound!), but probably even better in person, watching these folks fool around with these gadgets and tools.
Moving on, the next three tracks are for a more traditional ensemble: an acoustic guitar trio, albeit one with so few notes being played (or even sounds being made) that the involvement of more than one guitarist seems almost superfluous. The rest of the disc, with pieces by Toshimaru Nakamura and Taku Sugimoto for solo saxophone and turntable/sinewaves, respectively, also feature quite a lot of silence, a hallmark of the oh-so-quiet and abstract "onkyo" style attributed to these musicians. The subtle drones and delicate (and not-so-delicate) noises of that final 30-minute turntable/sinewave track should be found to be especially beautiful and interesting by listeners with patience and the right mindset.
Disc two starts with Annette Krebs, Sachiko M, and Taku Sugimoto performing a piece for paper and contact mic, ripping and tearing. Other pieces involve radios, accordions, electric and acoustic guitars -- all very abstract and sparse, sometimes self-evidently pretty, mostly just mystifying. The idea here seems to be for there to be some odd juxtapostions of composer/performer/instrument -- there's even a track wherein Otomo Yoshihide plays a Sachiko M compostion on an acoustic guitar! (We'll assume, if you've read this far, you're familiar enough with these musicians to think that a bit unusual.)
RealAudio clip: YOSHIHIDE OTOMO'S PORTABLE ORCHESTRA "Portable Orchestra"

V/A Ragga Jungle Anthems Volume 1 (Greensleeves) cd 14.98
Yeah, you're right, these aren't new collections. In fact they're over six years old at this point. But imagine our surprise, johnny-come-latelys we are with these comps, when we picked them up for the store and discovered that we were already familiar with one of the tracks from a record of the week pick of a year ago. What I'm speaking of is DJ Rupture's inclusion of the Greensleeves (via Ridley Don) jungle remix of Barrington Levy's "Here I Come" on volume two. While Rupture did in fact add his own treatment to the mix, pitching it down drastically half way through, we were a little miffed that the mix -- which we thought was one of the best parts of the Gold Teeth Thief -- wasn't his own. Like the Trojan Jungle collections the two Ragga Jungle Anthem volumes are merely previously released tracks that have been remixed with breakbeat jungle rhythms, but where as the Trojan collections worked with classic reggae and ska material, the Ragga Jungle Anthem collections are all contemporary dancehall, which lends itself to such remixing. And sure the beats aren't new or groundbreaking, or even that original, but hell, it sounds SOOOOO GOOD. That classic jungle rhythm the got us in so into jungle in the first place. No tech step or hard step or dark core or whatever, just big dumb fun floor shaking wall rattling JUNGLE rhythms under some classic dancehall. You can't go wrong.
RealAudio clip: BOUNTY KILLER "Dead This Time"
RealAudio clip: NINJAMAN, BOUNTY KILLER, BEENIE MAN & NINJA FORD "Bad Boy Lick A New Shot"

V/A Ragga Jungle Anthems Volume 2 (Greensleeves) cd 14.98
Yeah, you're right, these aren't new collections. In fact they're over six years old at this point. But imagine our surprise, johnny-come-latelys we are with these comps, when we picked them up for the store and discovered that we were already familiar with one of the tracks from a record of the week pick of a year ago. What I'm speaking of is DJ Rupture's inclusion of the Greensleeves (via Ridley Don) jungle remix of Barrington Levy's "Here I Come" on volume two. While Rupture did in fact add his own treatment to the mix, pitching it down drastically half way through, we were a little miffed that the mix -- which we thought was one of the best parts of the Gold Teeth Thief -- wasn't his own. Like the Trojan Jungle collections the two Ragga Jungle Anthem volumes are merely previously released tracks that have been remixed with breakbeat jungle rhythms, but where as the Trojan collections worked with classic reggae and ska material, the Ragga Jungle Anthem collections are all contemporary dancehall, which lends itself to such remixing. And sure the beats aren't new or groundbreaking, or even that original, but hell, it sounds SOOOOO GOOD. That classic jungle rhythm the got us in so into jungle in the first place. No tech step or hard step or dark core or whatever. just big dumb fun floor shaking wall rattling JUNGLE rhythms under some classic dancehall. You can't go wrong.
RealAudio clip: BARRINGTON LEVY "Here I Come"
RealAudio clip: MEGA BANTON "Soundboy Killing"

V/A Trojan Calypso Box Set (Trojan) 3cd 15.98
Though most commonly associated with Trinidad, calypso was also a big hit throughout the Caribbean and even the U.K. The style grew out of a melange of influences including shango, kumina and European song. While displaying a happy face melodically, the underlying messages of much of the earliest songs -- Caribbean slaves were often forced to perform for their masters -- were excoriating criticisms of the slave owners. The lyrical acrobatics continued through the style's development through the 20th century, with double entendres being a requisite part of any master vocalist's cache of tricks. The Jamaican form of calypso, and its outgrowth mento, increased steadily in popularity with working class Jamaicans despite the almost complete blackout of radio and label interest in the music. This box set contains some of the best in the business -- Lord Kitchener, Count Lasher, Lord Creator, The Mighty Sparrow (from Trinidad and considered the king of calypso) and more -- along with some greats that are more familiar names in the later ska and rocksteady genres such as: Tommy McCook & the Supersonics, Phyllis Dillon, Derrick Harriott, The Maytals and more. The third disc in the set is a collection of recordings from the U.K. calypso scene and, ironically enough, are also the oldest dated cuts, recorded between 1956 and 1958. The first two discs in this collection are of West Indies calypso and their tracks were recorded primarily between 1960 and 1968, with a few tracks taken from the early seventies.
RealAudio clip: LORD CRISTO "Dumb Boy & The Parrot"
RealAudio clip: BALDHEAD GROWLER "The Sausage"
RealAudio clip: MCCOOK, TOMMY & THE SUPERSONICS "Get Me To The Church On Time"

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----* Also New In Stock, Reviews Coming Soon :
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ABDULLAH "Graveyard Poetry" (Meteor City) cd 13.98
AROVANE "Cycliph" (M+S Industries) 12" 9.98
BLACK NASA "s/t" (Tee Pee) cd 15.98
BLUM, EBERHARD "Berlin To Buffalo" (Electronic Music Foundation) cd 14.98
BONGZILLA "Gateway" (Relapse) cd 16.98
CLEAR LIGHT "s/t" (Collector's Choice Music) cd 14.98
CRADLE OF FILTH "Live Bait For The Dead" (Abracadaver) cd 24.00
EARLE, STEVE "Jerusalem" (Artemis) cd 16.98
ESTES BROTHERS "Transitions" (World In Sound) cd 16.98
EVE "Eve-Olution" (Universal) cd 17.98
FOOD "Veggie" (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
HATE ETERNAL "King Of All Kings" (Earache) cd 15.98
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND "5000 Spirits / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" (Collector's Choice Music) 2cd 21.00
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND "Changing Horses / I Looked Up" (Collector's Choice) 2cd 21.00
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND "Liquid Acrobat As Regards The Air" (Sepia Tone) cd 13.98
INCREDIBLE STRING BAND "s/t" (Sepia Tone) cd 13.98
INDIAN SOUNDSCAPES "s/t" (Soleilmoon) lp 14.98
INSTRUMENTS "Billions of Phonographs" (Orange Twin) cd 14.98
JIM YOSHII PILE-UP "Homemade Drugs" (Absolutely Korey) cd 13.98
JONES, MASON "Crystalline World of Memory" (Public Eyesore) cd-r 8.98
KAITO "Special Life" (Kompakt) cd 16.98
KARATE "Some Boots" (Southern) cd 14.98
KID 606 / STARS AS EYES "$ Vol. 9 split" (Tigerbeat6) 7" 5.98
KNOWN UNSOLDIER, THE (SAGE FRANCIS) "Sick of Waging War" (Sage Francis) cd 14.98
LANDING "Fade In / Fade Out" (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd ep 10.98
LANTERNA "Sands" (Badman) cd 13.98
MIXMASTER MIKE "Return Of The Cyklops" (Asphodel) cd 13.98
MORRICONE, ENNIO "Forza G" (Cinevox) cd 16.98
MOS DEF "We Are Hip Hop. Me. You. Everybody" (Sattan) 4cd 39.00
MR. LIF "I Phantom" (Definitive Jux) cd 15.98
MYRKSKOG "Superior Massacre" (Candlelight) cd 14.98
P:ANO "When It's Dark And It's Summer" (Hive-Fi / Zum Media) cd 11.98
RAPTURE "Songs For The Withering" (Spikefarm) cd 14.98
RIVULETS "Thank You Reykjavik" (Blue Sanct) cd 9.98
SCANNER "52 Spaces" (Bette) cd 15.98
SCANNER "Nemesis: Original Score For Random Dance Company" (Bette) cd 15.98
SCARFACE "The Fix" (Def Jam South) cd 17.98
SONIC YOUTH + I.C.P. + THE EX "In the Fish Tank" (Konkurrent) cd/lp 11.98/8.98
SOTOS "Platypus" (Cuneiform) cd 13.98
SOURVEIN "Will To Mangle" (Southern Lord) cd 13.98
SPOOKY, DJ W/ KILLAH PRIEST "Catechism" (Synchronic) cd/12" 13.98/10.98
SPRING HEEL JACK "Amassed" (Thirsty Ear) cd 16.98
SQUAREPUSHER "You Know Squarepusher" (Warp) 2cd/lp 19.98/22.00
SUTEKH / SAFETY SCISSORS "Presents..." (Kompakt / Onitor) lp 14.98
TAKEMURA, NOBUKAZU "Water's Suite" (Extreme) cd 14.98
TIETCHENS, ASMUS "Y-Menge" (Ritornell) cd 16.98
TIPSY "Remix Party!" (Asphodel) cd 13.98
V/A "Loud :: Quiet" (Boxmedia) 2cd 17.98
V/A "Twenty Years Of Dischord" (Dischord) 3cd 23.00
VADIM, D.J. "U.S.S.R. The Art of Listening" (Ninja Tune) cd 15.98
VON TILL, STEVE "If I Should Fall To The Field" (Neurot) cd 16.98
XENO VOLCANO & ELEKTRA STURMSCHNELL "Die Organik" (Hardpresse) cd 11.98
YAMAMOTO, SEIICHI "Crown of Fuzzy Groove" (P-Vine) cd 21.00
YOSHIHIDE, OTOMO "Music For DanceArt Hong Kong's 'Memory Disorder'" (Noise Asia / Sonic Factory) cd 15.98
YOSHIHIDE, OTOMO NEW JAZZ QUINTET "Live" (DIW) cd 21.00


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FLAVORPILL SHOUTOUT


Flavorpill is a weekly event-listing email that compiles a selection of events around the Bay Area, from live music to DJs to film to visual arts, etc. Non-annoying and always packed full of worthwhile info, the newsletters throw in the occasional mainstream bone, but in general it's a very discriminating mix of interesting hip hop, techno, indie rock listings, plus lots of literary events, the art openings you wish you'd attended but never hear about until afterwards, unusual film showings, etc. Highly recommended! If you subscribe, they will email you once a week with all the info -- I've already attended a coupla things based on Flavorpill's recommendation -- and hey, they were even kind enough to do a li'l feature on AQ a week ago or so.

http://sf.flavorpill.net


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BEYOND THE PALE 2002


AQ is once again proud to co-sponsor the Beyond the Pale music festival set to take place in November at the DNA Lounge, and to provide the between band disc jockeying. Allan just bought an iPod especially for the occasion! Tickets for *single day* events are available for $20 cash here at AQ -- you must come in person and pay *in cash*. Festival passes are available only via neurotrecordings.com and Ticketweb. Act fast; the shows are a sure sell out!

11.14 Thursday -- Low / The Living Jarboe / Scott Kelly / Steve Von Till

11.15 Friday -- Neurosis / Savage Republic / Pleasure Forever / Phantom Limbs

11.16 Saturday -- Neurosis / Steel Pole Bath Tub / Lotus Eaters / Tarantula Hawk

11.17 Sunday -- Robert Rich / E.A.R. / Stars Of The Lid / Tribes of Neurot


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THE FALL SHOW CANCELLED


Failing to have secured visas before booking their nationwide tour, The Fall have had to cancel the show at the Great American, so we won't be able to give away tickets. Sorry! http://www.visi.com/fall/


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ARBITRARILY SELECTED UPCOMING RELEASES:


----> almost here
Koji Asano "January Rainbow" cd on Solstice
v/a "Painted Black" cd on tUMULt
Leviathan "Verrater" 2cd on tUMULt
Iran "The Moon Boys" cd on tUMULt
Worms "Pelican Songs" cd on tUMULt

---> also sometime soon, but we don't know when exactly
Ohkami No Jikan "Mort Nuit" cd on Fractal
Musica Transonic "Hard Rock Transonic" cd on Fractal
Acid Mothers Temple "Univers Zen Oy De Zero A Zero" cd on Fractal
Oxbow "Let Me Be A Woman" cd-reissue with bonus tracks on Ruminance (France)

----> not sure what's going on with this
Antipop Consortium "Ghost Lawns" cdep/12" on Warp

---> October 8th
Nettle "Build A Fort, Set That On Fire" cd on theAgriculture label
Acid Mothers Temple "Electric Heavy Land" cd on Alien8
Apples In Stereo "Velocity of Sound" cd on Spinart
Jurassic Five "Power In Numbers" cd + dvd
Peaches "Teaches of Peaches" deluxe expanded double cd with bonus disc of remixes and videos on Beggars
Catherine Irwin of Freakwater "Cut Yourself a Switch" cd on Thrill Jockey
J Mascis + The Fog "Free So Free" cd on Ultimatum Music
Spiritual Beggars "On Fire" cd on Koch/Music For Nations
Incredible String Band "U" cd reissue on Collector's Choice
K "Goldfish" cd on Tigerstyle
King Crimson "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" cd on Sanctuary
The Fall "Totally Wired: The Rough Trade Compilation" 2cd on Sanctuary
Orchestra Baobab "Specialist In All Styles" cd
Charlie Feathers "Get With It" 2cd re-release on Revenant
v/a "Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs To Benefit The West Memphis Three" cd on Sanctuary

---> October 15th
El-P "Fantastic Damage - Instrumentals" (and "Remixes" on cd) 3lp/2cd on Def Jux
El-P "Fantastic Damage Remixes" 12" on Def Jex
Lesser / various artists "Massiv SIDplay Mix" cd on Tigerbeat6
Stars As Eyes "Enemy of Fun" cd/lp on Tigerbeat6
Aluminum Group "Happyness" cd/lp
v/a "Rough Trade Shops Rock'n'Roll 01" 2cd on Mute UK
Cave In "Tides Of Tomorrow" cdep/lp on Hydrahead
Botch "Anthology of Dead Ends" cdep/lp on Hydrahead
Amon Tobin "Out From Out Where" cd/2lp on Ninjatune
MC Paul Barman "Paullelujah!" cd/2lp
Jeff Buckley and Gary Lucas "Songs To No One 1991-1992" cd on Ryko
John Fahey "Best of 1959-1977" cd on Takoma
Casino Royale original soundtrack reissue on Varese Sarabande
Royksopp "Melody A.M." cd on Astralwerks
Yakuza "Way of the Dead" cd on Century Media

---> October 22nd
Foo Fighters "One By One" cd on RCA/Roswell (w/ bonus ltd. DVD)
I Am Spoonbender "Shown Actual Size" cdep/12" on GSL
Doug Martsch "Know You Know" vinyl version on UP
Painkiller "Live In Nagoya: Talisman" cd on Tzadik
Pavement "Slanted & Enchanted Luxe & Reduxe" 2cd reissue on Matador
Badly Drawn Boy "Have You Fed The Fish?" cd on Twisted Nerve/XL
Imperial Teen "Live At Maxwell's" cd on DCN
Santana "Shaman" cd on Arista
Donnas "Spend The Night" cd on Atlantic
Rocket From The Crypt "Live From Camp X Ray" cd
St. Etienne "Finisterre" cd on Beggars Banquet
Yukmouth "United Ghettos of America" cd
Jackyl "Relentless" cd

---> October 29th
Ruins "Tzomborgha" cd on Ipecac
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore "Black Earth" cd/2lp on Wonder
Add N To (X) "Loud Like Nature" cd/2lp on Mute
Devendra Banhart "Oh Me Oh My..." cd on Young God
Sheavy "Synchronized" cd on The Music Cartel
Sigur Ros "()" cd on MCA
Tori Amos "Scarlet's Walk" cd on Sony
Kid606 / Xanopticon "$ vol. 10" split 7" on Tigerbeat6
J Church "Palestine" cd on Honey Bear
Palestine/Coulter/Mathoul "Maximin" cd on Young God
Suicide "American Supreme" cd on Mute
Zion I "Cheeba Cheeba" 12" on Raptivism
Regurgitate "Hatefilled Vengeance" cd on Relapse
v/a "Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music, Vol. 2" cd on Gammon
v/a "Swedish Assault" cd on Relapse

---> also in October
Laddio Bolocko "The Life and Times of..." 2cd on No Quarter
Laddio Bolocko "Strange Warmings of..." limited 2xLP on No Quarter
Laddio Bolocko "As if in Real Time" limited LP on No Quarter
Eurock's "European Rock & The Second Culture" book
Sun City Girls "Dante's Disneyland Inferno" 3lp on Locust

---> November 5th
Thuja "Suns" cd on Emperor Jones
Neil Hamburger "Laugh Out Lord" cd on Drag City
Smog "Accumulation: None" cd/lp on Drag City
Out Hud "S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D." cd/lp on Kranky
Loscil "Submers" cd on Kranky
Fontanelle "Style Drift" cd/lp on Kranky
The Double U "White Night, Floating Anchor" cd on Emperor Jones

---> also in November
Pharaoh Overlord "2" CD/LP on No Quarter
Earth "Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars" LP on No Quarter

---> November 11th
Opeth "Deliverance" cd on Koch ("Damnation" cd to follow in March, 2003)

---> November 19th
Don Cherry "Orient" cd on Fruit Tree (Italy)
Don Cherry "Blue Lake" cd on Fruit Tree (Italy)

----> January 20th, 2003
Supersilent "6" cd on Rune Grammofon


Love,
Windy Cup Allan Andee Jim Byram Sadie and Marcy