ANGELS OF LIGHT, THE Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home (Young God) cd 14.98
With the third Angels Of Light album "Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home," Michael Gira has succeeded in severing the major ties to his former Swans, a band which admittedly underwent several distinct stylistic shifts in its 15 year lifespan. A few strands obviously remain, as Gira's voice is still central to his music, a proud and defiant baritone responding to the catastrophes of Gira's world, self-created or otherwise. Beyond his voice, fleeting reflections of the hypno-rock grooves of Swans' mid period albums "White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity" and "Love Of Life" manifest themselves in the self-described 'lonesome angry cowboy productions' of The Angels Of Light. As powerful and magnificent as the Swans were in the '80s and '90s, the suffocating abjection of those albums rendered them a climactic exaggeration of spectacle and theatricality. Don't get me wrong, "Filth" and "Children Of God" are still two of my most treasured (if that's the right word) albums. It's just that in Angels Of Light, Gira has eased up on some of the control tactics and allowed for his emotional core to speak unrestrained by the artistry of his productions. While continuing to express his aggression and rage, he has recognized the need to expose his weaknesses and his ignorance. For in those human traits, there is the possibility of profound beauty and tender wisdom. And I think it's fair to say that he's found an honest way of articulating those emotions on this album. At the same time, Gira allows for himself to take a backseat on occasion to the Angels Of Light, the band that he happens to be in. Throughout "Everything Is Good Here..." elliptical patterns of post-country / western motifs cycle and flutter with the motorik hypnosis of German krautrock. Another incredible, dignified release from M. Gira.
RealAudio clip: "All Souls' Rising"
RealAudio clip: "Nations"
RealAudio clip: "Rose Of Los Angeles"

----*
----* Highlights :
----*

LIGHTNING BOLT Wonderful Rainbow (Load) cd 13.98
Delightfully distorted and happily hectic, everyone's favorite Rhode Island bass/drums duo, the incredible Lightning Bolt, strike again with "Wonderful Rainbow", inflicting more of their maddeningly mathy, colorfully chaotic, utterly infectious, riotously weird, stripped-down and amped-up rawk on the world! Sounds a lot like the previous Lightning Bolt opus "Ride The Skies" -- they still love that "Frere Jacques" progression -- and thus should not disappoint their legions of fans. Not much more to say, really -- if you like them already, or Hella, or Ruins, we're pretty sure you'll dig this. Old old Bolt fans should be aware, they have NOT gone back to the totally wrecked recording quality of their earliest efforts, a criticism (of sorts) that some also leveled against "Ride The Skies", but I think the dextrous spazz vs. sheer noise balance here is just right.
RealAudio clip: "2 Towers"
RealAudio clip: "Duel"

LIGHTNING BOLT Wonderful Rainbow (Load) lp 10.98
Delightfully distorted and happily hectic, everyone's favorite Rhode Island bass/drums duo, the incredible Lightning Bolt, strike again with "Wonderful Rainbow", inflicting more of their maddeningly mathy, colorfully chaotic, utterly infectious, riotously weird, stripped-down and amped-up rawk on the world! Sounds a lot like the previous Lightning Bolt opus "Ride The Skies" -- they still love that "Frere Jacques" progression -- and thus should not disappoint their legions of fans. Not much more to say, really -- if you like them already, or Hella, or Ruins, we're pretty sure you'll dig this. Old old Bolt fans should be aware, they have NOT gone back to the totally wrecked recording quality of their earliest efforts, a criticism (of sorts) that some also leveled against "Ride The Skies", but I think the dextrous spazz vs. sheer noise balance here is just right.

SONIC YOUTH (ETC.) Demon Lover (Original Soundtrack) (Virgin France) cd 19.98
We here at Aquarius have not been boycotting the French. I myself have been making an effort to drink nothing but Evian and Champagne while eating baguettes covered in brie and reading Foucault and Sartre while watching Gerard Depardieu films and singing Frere Jacques. Another good way to support the French is by listening to this here imported soundtrack to the newest Olivier Assayas film (he's best known for Irma Vep, an inquiry into the state of contemporary French cinema starring Maggie Cheung and Nouvelle-Vague veteran Jean-Pierre Leaud) which consists primarily of original music by Sonic Youth. Sonic Youth are obviously French sympathizers, as they have played with subversive gallic chanteuse Brigitte Fontaine and covered Plastic Bertrand's "Ca Plane Pour Moi." Didn't much care for either the last Sonic Youth album proper or the recent "In The Fishtank" improv collaboration with I.C.P. and the Ex, but this is nice. Treading a path somewhere in between their song-oriented albums and noisier improvisations, not unlike the SYR record with Jim O'Rourke, Invito Al Cielo, or the little feedbacky instrumental moments in between singing on their poppier songs taken and stretched out into languorous, occasionally dark full length instrumentals (Kim Gordon does lend vocals to the first track). Some of the prettiest Sonic Youth instrumentals I've heard for sure, very mellow and pleasant, even post-rocky but with a gentle, layered touch. The more abstract, "difficult" pieces come together in waves of soothing, textural drone accented by softly clattering percussion. The addition of very slick (and very marketable, I guess) songs by Goldfrapp, Death In Vegas, Dub Squad, and Soulfly at the very end serve to break down the mood established by SY's subtle (but, comparatively, raw) washes of sound-- I'd recommend tuning out after track 8.
RealAudio clip: "Teknikal Illprovisation"
RealAudio clip: "Move Away"

V/A You Can Never Go Fast Enough (Plain) cd 14.98
Now here's a nice idea for a tribute, and so lovingly executed to boot. Berkeley resident Filippo Salvadori so loved the cult film Two Lane Blacktop that he had always searched out the soundtrack to this "definitive road movie", only to find one had never been released. So this man of gumption put together his own, commissioning brand new songs from Sonic Youth (gorgeous, echoey soundscape), Will Oldham & Alan Licht, Calexico, Alvarius B, Steffan Basho Junghans, Mark Eitzel & Marc Capelle (doing a totally outta left field throbbing electronic thing), Giant Sand, Charalambides, Roy Montgomery (avec drum machine!) and more. He also got busy licensing previously released tracks from classic solo guitarist Sandy Bull, Village Voice crit faves Wilco, high lonesome Roscoe Holcomb, Leadbelly, and Cat Power (doing "I Can't Get No Satisfaction").
The only low point is the Oldham / Licht track which is weighed down with a sadly unevocative spoken narrative. But the rest of this comp is quite good -- ranging from dusty instrumentals to walls of gentle noise.
RealAudio clip: SANDY BULL "Little Maggie"
RealAudio clip: GIANT SAND "Vanishing Point"

V/A You Can Never Go Fast Enough (Plain) 2lp 15.98
Now here's a nice idea for a tribute, and so lovingly executed to boot. Berkeley resident Filippo Salvadori so loved the cult film Two Lane Blacktop that he had always searched out the soundtrack to this "definitive road movie", only to find one had never been released. So this man of gumption put together his own, commissioning brand new songs from Sonic Youth (gorgeous, echoey soundscape), Will Oldham & Alan Licht, Calexico, Alvarius B, Steffan Basho Junghans, Mark Eitzel & Marc Capelle (doing a totally outta left field throbbing electronic thing), Giant Sand, Charalambides, Roy Montgomery (avec drum machine!) and more. He also got busy licensing previously released tracks from classic solo guitarist Sandy Bull, Village Voice crit faves Wilco, high lonesome Roscoe Holcomb, Leadbelly, and Cat Power (doing "I Can't Get No Satisfaction").
The only low point is the Oldham / Licht track which is weighed down with a sadly unevocative spoken narrative. But the rest of this comp is quite good -- ranging from dusty instrumentals to walls of gentle noise.

NOTWIST, THE Neon Golden (City Slang) cd 13.98
Finally available domestically, at a lower preice and with three bonus tracks!! If you're a regular AQ customer you already know that we're all huge fans of Village of Savoonga, the darkest and most dramatically experimental of the many musical outfits hailing from the loose collective of musicians based in Bavaria, Germany. Another group from this incredibly fertile scene, The Notwist started out as a punk band but have gotten better and more different with each release (reflecting the Acher brothers' growing musical smarts and proficiency), culminating in this nice rock album. But not just any indie rock, this music is wistful, lyrical, softly flowing music that's *extremely* well executed, no filler, and brings in all kinds of non-rock elements -- in sort of the same way that the Beta Band does -- *casually*, not making a big deal out of it. Cos electronic keyboards and programming and stuff (courtesy Martin Gretschmann of the solo electronic act Console) are merely one facet of The Notwist's sound, which also includes very catchy minor key hooks, attractively textural cracklings and wooden clop clops, plucked strings (cello?), machine made gurgles and squishies, even out-of-place (-but-not-really) breakbeats that actually work.
In addition to the guy from Console, The Notwist personnel includes the abovementioned Acher brothers Micha (Village of Savoonga, Tied+Tickled Trio) and Markus (VoS, T+TT, Lali Puna).
Highly recommended! This is a grower.
RealAudio clip: "One Step Inside Doesn't Mean You Understand"
RealAudio clip: "Consequence"

WOVEN HAND s/t (Soundsfamilyre) cd 14.98
Now available domestically, at a slightly lower price and on a slightly more 'God-fearing' label, the Danielson Familie's Soundsfamilyre label.
Here's what we said about the import:
I hate to gush, but gush I must. This is my (Andee's) RECORD OF THE YEAR. Done deal. It doesn't matter what happens for the rest of the year. Kurt Kobain could come back from the grave and record a new Nirvana record. Laddio Bollocko could get back together. Earth reunion. It doesn't matter. This is it. THE ONE. It's magical, dark, mysterious, sinister, gorgeous and moves me like very few records do. But I digress.
Woven Hand is David Eugene Edwards from Sixteen Horsepower's solo project. If you're anything like me, you're always wondering why people have solo projects that sound just like their 'actual' band, and often not nearly as good. But fear not. While Edwards' Woven Hand is similar in many ways to 16HP, it takes things in a direction even darker, dreamier, creepier, and more religious (more on that later) ending up sounding EVEN BETTER than 16HP. Hard to believe, especially if you loved 16HP's 'Folklore' that we made record of the week a few weeks back as much as we did! Woven Hand is like a Cormac McCarthy novel put to music. "Blood Meridian" arranged for rock band. "All The Pretty Horses" sung by wandering minstrels. Desolate and dreary, violent and cathartic, but not obviously so, more like a creeping seeping sickness, death and destruction and human sin as it swallows souls and destroys lives. The instrumentation is similar to 16HP, a dark and dreamy gypsy swamp-folk, but more lush, with thicker, richer atmospheres, and murky, almost impenetrable instrumental backdrops, underpinning Edwards' tales of redemption and forgiveness, sorrow and apocalypse. The lyrics are way more blatantly religious, biblically themed, and aimed at touching our souls. Which for some reason doesn't bother me as much as you think it would. The words are poetic and symbolic, simple and timeless, just beautiful stories and poems, like much of the Bible. Removed from the Christian tradition (thousands of years of hypocrisy and murder and keeping people from thinking for themselves), Edwards' biblical testifying almost has me bowing prostrate hoping to appease a stern but ultimately forgiving God. It helps that Edwards delivers these parables in a rich, throaty rasp, a gorgeous gruff tenor, like a mix of Mark Lanegan, Chris Grigoroff (Souled American) and Nick Cave, that sounds like it has the power to make men sob and women swoon. It all comes together, sound and fury, voice and instrument, in a rich tapestry of fear and hope and death and the cycle of life and desperate dreams of an afterlife. It's rare to really hear music so powerful and so evocative that it manages to become more than just 'rock music' or 'that pretty cool band.' This record brings me to the verge of tears, makes me shiver...I feel it in my brain and in my heart and in my soul. Seriously. This is what music should be to me. Intense and emotional and heartfelt and brutally powerful. There's a creepy crawly version of Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine' that manages to be even better than the original, due in no small part to the dark, funereal treatment it gets from Woven Hand, that under the right circumstances (or wrong circumstances) could crush me into a weeping, sobbing heap, with my heart broken into a thousand pieces. I wish all music could do that...
RealAudio clip: "The Good Hand"
RealAudio clip: "My Russia"
RealAudio clip: "Blue Pail Fever"
RealAudio clip: "Ain't No Sunshine"

----*
----* Selected New Arrivals :
----*

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARADISE U.F.O. Magical Power From Mars Volume 3 (Important) cd ep 10.98
Ok then, here's the final volume of the Magical Power From Mars series from everybody's favorite uber-prolific space-psych masters Acid Mothers Temple. And like we say every time, but after so many releases, you would expect the quality to suffer, but it doesn't and this is as good as any other AMT release and if you love them or already have the first two volumes, you will obviously need this. We still have issues with the execution of the series: less than 20 minutes per disc (meaning all three volumes would fit on one disc) at $11 a pop, the same cover and disc artwork on all three volumes, etc...read more ranting about that in the review of volume two. But what does this volume sound like? Well, to be honest, this is our least favorite of the three, it's not bad really, just sounds sort of tossed off, a twenty minute ambient space-scape of swooshing, bleeping, blooping, analog-synthesisers-set-on-dreamy-spaciness, almost new-age, Hawkwind-intro-stretched-as-far-as-it-will-go effervescence. Nice, but just nice. And for you slowpokes we still have a few copies of volume 2 left. Like all three volumes, limited to 1000 copies!
RealAudio clip: "Cosmic Funky Dolly"

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O. Troubadours From Another Heavenly World (Eclipse) 2lp 22.00
One of Japanese hippy rock impresario Makoto Kawabata's more blissful exercises now makes the all-so-appropriate jump from compact disc to vinyl. As with Eclipse's vinyl version of AMT's "Pataphysical Freak Out MU!!", we're faced with bonus material, the title track in fact. Plus the record is pressed on 180 gram vinyl, and it's in a swank gatefold package. Deluxe in other words.
Here's what we had to say about the original cd version of this album, released on PSF in 2000:
The night before recording this album Father Moo (aka Kawabata Makoto) took his handmaidens and lackeys on a lysergic excursion of metaphysical proportions. We'll spare you the details of the trip (as most acid recollections have little literary worth). Nevertheless, "Troubadours From Another Heavenly World" is the result of said trip, leaving the Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO nursing a collective hangover resulting from too little sleep and too many chemicals. With sore muscles that have never been sore before, they vaguely recall making an album of lugubrious psych rock, like a really good Bardo Pond record, that oozes out thick walls of mellow cosmic jams and half conscious female vocals. Certainly not as incendiary and crazy as some previous Acid Mothers Temple recordings, but this provides some worthy psychedelic exploration nonetheless.
RealAudio clip: "She Is A Rainbow In Curved Air"

ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO Vrioon (Raster-Noton) cd 14.98
Let me just mention the crucial facts up front. It has been said that "Vrioon" is all out of print and Raster-Noton is not going to be repressing this record any time soon. Thus we will not be able to get any more than what limited stock we have at the moment. Don't say we didn't warn you.
"Vrioon" is a collaboration between Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto (of Yellow Magic Orchestra) in which Sakamoto provided source material of impressionistic piano pieces to Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto), who blurred many of the edges into a beautiful ambience and added clusters of slow-moving rhythms. It's very simple and very effective and very beautiful... and soon, very out of print. If we could have got more, this would have likely been a 'record of the week' pick -- it's the kind of thing we instantly sell whenever it's playing on the store stereo.
RealAudio clip: "Uoon 1"
RealAudio clip: "Noon"

ARBETE OCH FRITID s/t (Music Network) cd 16.98
International Harvester, Algarnas Tradgard, Trad Gras Och Stenar, Kebnekajse. If those names mean anything to you then you're probably like us -- a big fan of Sweden's answer to krautrock, the Svenska psych-prog-folk bands of the seventies. There's been a veritable smorgasbord of cd reissues of awesome if obscure classic LPs by these and other '70s Swedish outfits over the past couple of years, and now comes this, a cd version of the third (we think, but maybe it's the fourth?) album by this legendary group, Arbete & Fritid, from 1973. Like Harvester and Kebnekajse especially, you'll hear plenty of traditional Scandinavian traditional folk music mixed up with a kinda Velvet Underground rock style in A&F. They've been described as sounding like the "Third Ear Band meets Terry Riley" and that's pretty accurate, especially on the last track here, a 20 minute drone-jam called "Ostpusten-Vastpusten" that's probably worth the $17 this costs alone. That's actually a bonus cut, taken from the Arbete & Fritid side of a 1972 split LP with some other band we've yet to hear. While that's the highlight, the rest of this disc is mighty fine too, the only problem perhaps being how their diverse interest in folk, politics, repetitive minimalism, and experimental jazz doesn't always lead to them maintaining a consistent vibe. During one song you'll be transported to the a cold farmhouse in the Swedish wilderness filled with rustic hippies sawing on violins, but then on the next you're in a basement radical jazz club pondering urban issues after a streetfight with the Man. In a way though that's kinda cool. Tea party waltzes and heavy fuzz jams, they're all here. Had we heard A&F before those other bands mentioned above, it's quite likely that they'd be the measure by which we'd judge the rest, as apparently they were a seminal influence on the scene -- in fact, members of the Parson Sound/Trad Gras Och Stenar axis later joined A&F after this particular album. Hopefully then this is only the first of a slew of A&F reissues!
RealAudio clip: "Ganglat Efter Lejsme Per Larsson, Malung"
RealAudio clip: "Petrokemi Det Kan Man Inte Bada I"

ARCANE CANDY Issue #2 magazine 2.99
It's about time we got a second installment of Gary Davis' avant-garde music fanzine Arcane Candy. His Keiji Haino and Tokyo psych obsession continues to be evident, and likeminded souls (us!) will be happy to read the reviews of *EVERY* PSF label release ever (done with help from PSF English language liason Alan Cummings, who is also interviewed, along with PSF label head honcho Hideo Ikeezumi, in lengthy sidebar format beside the cd reviews)!! There's also an update of Gary's overview of Keiji Haino's recorded works, obligatory reviews of other non Keiji/PSF records, and more. The more includes two other major pieces: a Harry Partch feature and an very entertaining in-depth interview with former Germs drummer, record collector extraordinaire and general freakazoid Don Bolles. Good stuff. Japanophiles in particular will find the PSF info fascinating...and anyone who bought the Les Rallize Denudes 2cd that we had in stock here oh so briefly a few weeks back will be happy to learn that at PSF's Modern Music store in Tokyo, the original double cd-r version of that used to be priced at $800!!
Oh, here's some Factsheet Five style 'zine specs: 63 pages on newsprint, full magazine size dimensions.

BASINSKI, WILLIAM The River (Raster-Noton) 2cd 15.98
This is another in the recent spate of releases chronicling William Basinski's experiments with short wave radio. This 2 disc set, 90 minutes in length to reflect two sides of a cassette tape, is a 2 part piece recorded in 1983 using shortwave radio and primitive tape loops. Fans of Phillip Jeck should pick this up immediately. It's got that sepia toned, gorgeous, hazy old victrola sound, with lots of rough edges, staticky fuzz and warm hum. The tape loops are mostly Muzak, slowed down and stretched out into creepy and hypnotic melodies, under and over shifiting shortwave. Supposedly this was Basinski's attempt to emulate the warm dreamy sounds of the Mellotron, a vintage synthesiser that utilises short loops of tape. And in some ways he has succeeded, creating a weirdly lush, gauze-y, droney soundscape all culled from random shortwave transmissions. So nice!
RealAudio clip: "The River Part 1 (excerpt)"

BLACK TWIG PICKERS Soon One Morning (VHF) cd 13.98
Second full length from Virginia backwoods trio who play old timey music heavy on the fiddle. Serious barnstorming party music. Cello and homemade baritone banjo make appearances. Any fan of those Revenant releases that have done so well here at AQ (Dock Boggs, Charley Patton, Charlie Feathers, Stanley Brothers) will like these guys.
RealAudio clip: "John Brown's Dream"
RealAudio clip: "This War is Killing Me"

BLOOD BROTHERS Burn, Piano Island, Burn (Second Nature) lp 13.98
The Blood Brothers are from Seattle and play a sort of hardcore/avant garde punk. This is the vinyl version of their major label debut, which comes out on March 18th. This is some crazy, rad, chaotic stuff. Their live shows are said to change ones life. Judging by this release, they are another example of a band signing to a major label yet retaining their dignity, style and control. I (Sadie) totally love this band, they know the history of punk and proudly deconstruct and destroy whats been done over and over. So good.

BLOOD BROTHERS Rumors Laid Waste (Luckyhorse Industries) cd 10.98
Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney, taking turns at the mic with guitarist Cody Votolato, drummer Mark Gajadhar, bassist Morgan Henderson are the Blood Brothers. BB joined forces in 1997 in Seattle, while still in high school. They've been dubed the next big thing, and got some crazy budget to record their forthcoming major label release. We wish them luck. We would love to live in a world where The Blood Brothers were REALLY the next big thing. Arty nervous energetic hardcore, and even though that isn't always my thing, I still love this band. They play the familiar qualities of punk loud craziness but in their own fucked up distorted way. This is a compilation of all their previous 7"s.
RealAudio clip: "Gagged In A Casket"
RealAudio clip: "Rumors Laid Waste"

BLUES GOBLINS s/t (Off Records) cd 14.98
Sam Coomes of the fabulous Quasi takes a detour from his usual fuzzy pop stylings into totally raw, psychedelic blues-iness!! Somewhat startling and strange as it begins, but stick with it 'cause it proves to be an altogether engaging listen. Yelp'n'howl vocals. Trashy but totally tight drumming. Churning, bristly guitars. A little swamp / hillbilly, a little T-Rex-ish, a little bit of Quasi-ness (you can catch glimpses of their trademark organ sounds in fab songs like "Born To Die") and closing the album is a lengthy, reeling, jazzy free-for-all. Very very cool and super right-on recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Born To Die"
RealAudio clip: "I've Been Treated Wrong"

CALEXICO Aerocalexico (Our Soil, Our Strength) cd 14.98
Attention all Calexico fans! We're pleased as punch to be one of only two shops in the whole world to have not one but two splendid self-released Calexico discs which are otherwise only available at their shows or on their website. However, please note: we've got very limited quantities of these, so hop to it! Both make fine companions to the band's albums proper.
This is their 2001 collection of recordings which took place in a number of locales - at home in Tucson, in the Wavelab studio also in their hometown, in Nashville, TN, and live on the KPRO Radio in Amsterdam. It should actually be subtitled "Family and Friends" as it features exactly that! The Burns brothers, Mia Convertino, Howe and Sofie Gelb, Doug McCombs among many others. A whopping twenty three tracks in all that make for a remarkably cohesive 56 minutes of music! Included are a stirring cover of Nick Drake's "Clothes Of Sand", an instrumental of Goldfrapp's "Humano", as well as a handful of traditionals "Bees And The Flies", "All The Pretty Horses" and "6 White Horses". Recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Clothes Of Sand"
RealAudio clip: "Bees And The Flies"

CALEXICO Scraping (Our Soil, Our Strength) cd 14.98
Attention all Calexico fans! We're pleased as punch to be one of only two shops in the whole world to have not one but two splendid self-released Calexico discs which are otherwise only available at their shows or on their website. However, please note: we've got very limited quantities of these, so hop to it! Both make fine companions to the band's albums proper.
Never failing to amaze and enthrall, these fellows' live concerts are simply not to be missed. For those who have witnessed their performances, you know exactly what we mean. For those who haven't, what are you waiting for? But in the meantime, here's your opportunity to experience the next best thing. Unlike many live albums that are plagued by poor sound quality and extraneous noise, this cd as well as 2001's Aerocalexico capture the magic and vitality of Calexico beautifully. Crisp recordings, much adoring but not intrusive audience response, and oh yes, the songs! So many favorites like "Sonic Wind" and from The Hot Rail, "The Ride Pt. 2" and "Stray" from The Black Light, a reworking of "Paper Route" from their first album Spoke, an extended rendition of "Crystal Frontier" plus a version of "Lost In Space" (which they originally did with Lisa Germano in OP8). All but three of the thirteen songs were recorded live right here in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall in January of 2002. the others were from the Roskilde Festival in Denmark and at the Temple Of Music & Art in their hometown Tucson, AZ. 69 minutes.
RealAudio clip: "Lost in Space"
RealAudio clip: "Crystal Frontier"

CANTRELL, LAURA When The Rose Blooms Again (Diesel Only) cd 15.98
Hailing from Nashville and currently in NYC, chanteuse Laura Cantrell possesses a voice that's bell-clear, as clean and fresh as a glass of milk. Her second album is crisp, simple, classic country (with touches of bluegrass and folk) along the lines of Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, even a little Freakwater, and especially Nanci Griffith. No fake twang, very sincere. Singalong-able, catchy, touching. It makes me wanna go to a thrift shop immediately to buy one of those cotton flower print thrift store dresses I wore back in the late '80s. Languid pedal steel, jangling mandolin, and lots of acoustic guitars. Unfortunately the best songs on the record weren't written by her, but that's ok. You could say the same about goddesses Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith. Give the soundclips a try -- fantastic! Windy likes this a lot.
RealAudio clip: "All the Same to You"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Break the Heart"

CHANCE, JAMES Irresistible Impulse (Tiger Style) 4cd 42.00
A very timely release in light of the last few years' acute rash of no-wave revivalism. Actually it would've been good to see it even sooner! This box set arrives to shine a spotlight on one of the major players in the NYC no-wave scene back in the late '70s and early '80s. The man in question? James Chance (aka James White). The four cds compile his rare, out of print and unreleased skronky sax-laden white boy funk/jazz/rock tracks along with his four albums including the awesome, rare Buy This. Actually, four discs is really quite a bit of Mr. Chance - sure to thrill his most ardent of fans! But for the rest of us, perhaps a more welcome and more wallet-friendly release would've simply been that of the aforementioned album. Ask yourself, can you afford to contort yourself this time?

CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE OST (Def Jam) cd 17.98
This movie's theme song by DMX is so catchy and tough and mean. I (Sadie) would buy this cd for that song alone, that is if you haven't seen the commercial so many times you're sick to death of it. The second song on the cd is by Eminem, who I swear I try to give the benefit of the doubt more than anyone else, In fact, I'm even kinda obsessed with him, but Christ. This song sounds like a parody of himself: totally flat, monotonous and still women hating (issues much, Em?). So booooring. "Go to sleep bitch die mother fucker die why are you still alive, die you nameless bitch". Ha ha, so funny...I guess. And sadly the rest goes kinda goes down hill from there. Relitively dull and nondescript hip hop. But maybe worth it for that DMX track!
RealAudio clip: DMX "Gon' Give It To Ya"
RealAudio clip: EMINEM "Go To Sleep"

DEAR NORA / MATES OF STATE Split (Polyvinyl) 7" 3.98
Dear Nora is the moniker under which Ms Katy Davison performs her sweet lullaby tunes, and she's got the absolute perfect voice for it. Here it's just her and her 8-track in her kitchen doing a cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" (although when it started we could've sworn it was "Scarborough Fair"). On the flipside of this baby blue record are pop sweetheart twosome Mates Of State doing their version of Jackson Browne's "These Days". With Jason handling the lead vocals, it's given an almost John Denver-y feel. So there you have it - a lil' SF split 7" to give you the warmest of fuzzies.

DELGADOS Hate (Mantra/ Beggars Group) lp 10.98
Now on LP! Quite possibly the sweetest spin your record player's had in a long time. The Scots certainly have a magic touch when it comes to creating absolute pop splendor. Just think of artists like Belle And Sebastian, Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap, not to mention supergroup The Reindeer Section... and then there's this band! You might recall Windy and Cup both gushing over the Delgados' last album The Great Eastern a couple of years back. Oh my! Well, we're happy to report that with this, their fourth full length, they've picked up right where they left off. That is, continuing to finely craft their splendid compositions full of a swirling carousel of strings, woodwinds and horns, honey-sweet male and female lead vocals, and an angelic choral accompaniment. Plus they've done so once again with the notable presence of Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Sparklehorse, Mercury Rev) in the producer's seat. Such a wonderful combination it is! Making for an even grander big picture than they created together on the super lush Great Eastern. Clouds of shimmering cymbal crashes punctuate the glorious, dramatic atmosphere, definitely revealing that distinct Fridmann touch. Wistful, lulling melodies are introduced in the most spartan of settings -- a lone voice and guitar -- but soon build to epic proportions. And the lyrics? Ah yes, quite capable of stirring heartswelling sighs and misty eyes from the coldest of men with their crushingly bittersweet imagery (lyrics are included in the cd booklet). If you've even a glimmer of affection for glorious orchestral pop, the Delgados are for you! Luminous and lovely and so very recommended.
Note: Includes a video for their song "Coming In From The Cold" and two bonus tracks not on the Mantra UK pressing.
RealAudio clip: "Coming In From The Cold"
RealAudio clip: "Favours"
RealAudio clip: "If This Is A Plan"

DELTA SONG One Year To Sea (self-released) cd-r 5.98
SF group Delta Song make a pleasing mellow racket on their seven song cd-r. Their music is primarily draped around a jazzy post-rock framework - much like San Diego's Tristeza or any number of Chicago combos - however what sets them apart are their distinct warbled folky male vocals. Maybe not for everyone, in-store play has drawn both very warm and chilly response to the singing. Wanna decide for yourself? Check out "Exorcist IV" (which also stands apart from the other six, in that it sounds as though it was recorded in a school classroom). All in all, a very well executed and promising debut.
RealAudio clip: "Hearing Carry Over"
RealAudio clip: "Exorcist IV"

DRESSY BESSY Little Music Singles 1997-2002 (Kindercore) cd 14.98
The Elephant 6 collective keeps on truckin', and here's one particular E6 troop's compilation of sugar pop singles - just in case you missed them the first time around! Lots and lots of harmonious sweetie-pie gal vocals over fuzzy-crunch guitars. Immediately hum-along-able, sunshiny indie pop blossoms just in time for spring.
RealAudio clip: "Instead"
RealAudio clip: "All The Right Reasons"

EASY STAR ALL-STARS Dub Side Of The Moon (Easy Star) cd 14.98
So is it a novelty record? Mmmm... Yes. As the title implies, "Dub Side of the Moon" is in fact a reggae rendition of Pink Floyd's seminal concept album. True to the original though, the Easy Star All-Stars have recreated the record in its entirety -- segues, back up diva vocals and all. If nothing else the All-Stars at least warrant an E for effort. And maybe a bit more. The production is excellent, not cheesy in the slightest. The rhythm section is top notch, and they use several classic Jamaican rhythms -- a lot of Sly & Robbie's Rockers variants here. Actually most of the musical transliterations are successful in their way -- much of Gilmore's guitar solos are replaced by horns and melodica, which works much better for reggae anyhoo. If anything it is some of the staccato vocal deliveries that sell the version short. The one exception to this is Ranking Joe's toasting over "Time" which is great. Kind of wish they'd just let him toast over the entire album. And in case anyone out there was wondering whether this version is Wizard Of Oz compatible, there are easy to follow instructions included to insure proper synchronization with the video.
RealAudio clip: "Speak To Me"
RealAudio clip: "Time"

ENTRANCE The Kingdom of Heaven Must Be Taken By Storm! (Tiger Style) cd 14.98
Entrance is the solo project of 21 year old Guy Blakeslee, who has also played bass for Baltimore's Convocation Of... Though this stuff is not much like that band's proggy post-punk, that's presumably why he landed on the same record label as that band. Also maybe 'cause he's performed with Will Oldham and Cat Power, and done a split 7" with Papa M... Anyway, Entrance could be better compared to Guy's friend and touring partner, the wonderful Devendra Banhart (you've all got his album, we know!). Playing solo with just an acoustic guitar and his voice, and maybe a tambourine or somesuch, Guy sounds a bit like Syd Barrett and looks a bit like Marc Bolan. As he proved here not long ago when he played an instore with Devendra, Guy can project his music quite well with no help from amplifiers or microphones! This disc is much in the same spirit as that instore. Rambling lovely string tangle, dramatic late-night laments, violent strumming, and vocal outpourings building on the folk-rock vibes of mystic fellows of decades past. The disc features mostly originals (apparently never played the same way twice, thanks to Entrance's loose, in-the-moment aesthetic and reliance on enthusiasm rather than training technique-wise) but also some suitable covers by blues/folk forebears Skip James ("I'm So Glad") and Bob Dylan ("Tommy Thumb's Summertime Blues"). Basically, Entrance is somewhere between the eccentric folk troubadour vibe of pal Devendra Banhart and the more aggro attitude of the White Stripes' damaged, stomping garage rock n' roll... if you can imagine them in the person of one fuzzy haired guy with an acoustic guitar, which is a stretch. At any rate both are historically minded and inspired, if you know what I mean, making for some timeless music that's immediately understandable.
RealAudio clip: "Valium Blues"
RealAudio clip: "The Night Was Dark"

FOREST s/t (ISO666) cd 14.98
Ok, this is a black metal band, but non-metallers into the improv-drone sounds of the Jewelled Antler collective, Richard Youngs/Simon Wickham-Smith and the like should keep reading!
Not to be confused with the other Forest we've raved about (the psychedelic British folk band from thirty years ago), *this* Forest is a Russian black metal outfit, and a pretty good one belonging to the raw, primitive, corpse-painted end of the genre. The first four tracks on here consist of blasting, frozen Darkthrone worship, keeping alive the cult spirit that so few bands today still possess -- maybe because those tracks were actually recorded in 1996. Malevolent, majestic pagan metal full of Burzumic mayhem. Fans of this vein of true, trancey black metal darkness will be pleased. And if that was all that was on this disc we'd think it was cool. But then comes the fifth and final track, a surprise twenty-minute opus called "Winter Howl" taken from a 1994 rehearsal tape. Suddenly Forest isn't so obviously black metal at all, they've entered a psych-drone realm that's more akin to the aforementioned Jewelled Antler stuff (Thuja, The Birdtree, etc) or Taj Mahal Travellers or Reynols or Amon Duul's krautrock jams, still as forest-y and primitive as the preceding metal songs though. A wavering whispy wordless vocal winds over a bed of lost, primal percussion and haunting washes of mild feedback. Simple melody lines on guitar wander through the increasing haze, with deeper vocals providing additional layers of drone. If you really heard this in a forest you'd be mesmerized and scared, but it's really nice and pretty (in a damaged way) when heard at home...pretty to us anyway, dunno if Kaldrad and Dagorath meant it to be so! The vocals, until they get a little more metal-ly, totally remind us of the bliss-out singing by British folk experimentalist Richard Youngs or Jewelled Antler's pop soul Jason Honea. If Finnish avant-forest-folk folks like Avarus and Kemialliset Ystavat or the Jewelled Antler collective decided to make black metal, this is what's we'd imagine it would sound like! (Actually, there IS an upcoming black metal-inspired release from Jewelled Antler, a 3" cd-r by a group they call Tomes, but Tomes takes an even more subtle approach than "Winter Howl"...look for that here at AQ soon!) Meanwhile, on the black metal side, fans of Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra, Caacrinolas, Potentiam, and other weird ones should dig this track, along with Forest's other more typical black metal sounds. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Enburnst The Christians"
RealAudio clip: "Winter Howl"

GLASS CANDY Love Love Love (Troubleman) cd 12.98
Glass Candy's debut full length sounds not unlike a severely chemically altered collision between the Missing Persons (y'know, the '80s new wave group from L.A. responsible for "Destination Unknown", "Mental Hopscotch" and "Walking In L.A." with squeaky-voiced, hottie chanteuse Dale Bozzio) and Altered Images (remember them? the '80s British pop band with squeaky-voiced, cutie chanteuse Clare Grogan who were responsible for "Happy Birthday" and "See Those Eyes"). However, the music that backs GC vocalist Ida No (who, for the record, has a voice much richer, if no less affected, than the aforementioned ladies) is nothing like that of either of those groups whatsoever. Glass Candy (formerly Glass Candy & the Shattered Theater) push a dark, stripped-down aesthetic of big guitar, streamlined, insistent, pounding drums, and stylized vocals bathed in delay, with the occasional addition of heavy, A Certain Ratio-esque basslines and synths. At their hair-raising best, Glass Candy remind me of an unholy combo of Christian Death ("Romeo's Distress," "Jesus, Where's the Sugar" -- when Christian Death was good, they were amazing, OK?) and the Stooges. Before it was goth, it was death rock, and before that it was just punks wearing a lot of eye make-up-- and Glass Candy embody that tough, raw rock n' roll energy mixed with sexy, theatrical glamour perfectly. It's a tough task to fully capture the insane energy of their live shows (which are well known to be trainwrecks of throbbing, writhing dramatics) on record, but I think "Love Love Love" is to the challenge. An impressive and satisfying debut that situates Glass Candy near the top of a current group of bands (including fellow Portlanders Get Hustle and Baltimore's Love Life) referencing the darker side of post-punk. Includes an appropriately intense, wrenching cover of the Screamers' "I Wanna Hurt."
RealAudio clip: "Nite Nurses"
RealAudio clip: "I Wanna Hurt"

HAFLER TRIO Whistling About Chickens (Fire, Inc.) 2cd 19.98
True to his extensive catalog of techgnostic experiments between the 'values' of information and sound, Andrew McKenzie -- the sole member of The Hafler Trio -- offers another conundrum which fuses sound, word, and context into a massive knot of post-rational thought. Musically speaking, McKenzie has reduced all of the erratic jumpcuts and jarring juxtapositions that dominated his early albums down to a refined aesthetic of tone flutter. Controlled feedback oscillations are the primary material for "Whistling About Chickens"; however, McKenzie's use of feedback bears little resemblance to the no-input sampler / mixing board work of Sachiko M or Toshimaru Nakamura. Instead, McKenzie has resampled, filtered, processed, and composed feedback in such a way as to imply that these sounds are the impressions of something much greater, something which has to be closely investigated in order to discover its nature. It has to be said that there has always been the possibility that this 'something' is actually nothing and McKenzie has been playing with the aesthetics of simulation to such an extent as to mimic impressions of that which does not exist. Considering that the title of this album comes from the aphorism "talking about music is like whistling about chickens," there is a certain absurdity and futility in attempting to examine the Hafler Trio's work. This album is no different, but McKenzie has done such an incredible job at composing these sounds into a sublime, beautiful piece of minimalism that the conceptual frustrations are rendered obsolete.
RealAudio clip: "Flying Into The Mouth"
RealAudio clip: "One Other Vantage Point"

HAINO, KEIJI 'C'est Parfait' Endoctrine Tu Tombes La Tete La Premiere (Turtles' Dream) cd 17.98
Graced with an amazing black & white (mostly black) cover photo of a spectral, luminous Keiji Haino reading a book, this has got a French title 'cause it's released on a French label, Turtles' Dream, apparently a sub-division of the A Bruit Secret label that's known for releases in the Japanese "onkyo" genre...well, Haino is of course Japanese too but this is far from the zen-like silence of onkyo stuff! Improv-psych master Keiji Haino kicks out the jams here not with his usual apocalyptic guitar playing (what he's best known for) but with "rhythm machine" and his own unique vocal stylings. Dunno what "rhythm machine" means tech-wise exactly, some sort of drum machine it seems, plus what sounds like a real cymbal being hit. My Keiji Haino fan friends and myself are now convinced that the man could play *anything* (a kazoo, a rainstick, a bug-zapper?) and still sound like himself -- that is, amazing. He certainly expands the assumed area of expression of the drum machine with this album, making even Ikue Mori sound tame. The recording or production itself is an important part of that, it really is *present*, the drum hits sounding like they're smacking you in the forehead. This is presumably a live recording, but the vocals are somehow overdubbed/multitracked/looped and layered, at moments building with the drum machine's frenzy into insane mayhem as if multiple Hainos were wrestling one another, while in other sections of this piece (for it is one long, 45 minute track) being strangely beautiful, just unearthly haunting cries, with no beats beneath. Definitely an intense listen, Haino taking to mechanical extremes his percussion obsession of late (other indications of this obsession: that he took over the drum stool in his band Fushitsusha, and recently released an amazing live video of solo percussion-only performance...)
RealAudio clip: "C'est Parfait (excerpt)"

HERSH, KRISTIN The Grotto (4AD) cd 14.98
Perhaps Kristin Hersh's most subdued and spartan work to date. Threadbare emotions are conveyed via fragile voice and a loosely woven shawl of hushed guitars, piano and strings. She's joined by the solid presence of Howe Gelb of Giant Sand and Squirrel Nut Zipper Andrew Bird. Very intimate and lovely. For more of Ms Hersh, check out the new Throwing Muses' release - yes, they're back together! - which came out right at the same time as this solo full length. It stands in stark contrast to this work (for one thing it's completely amped up as opposed to this being fully acoustic), and together they make for a wonderfully well-rounded and enveloping Hersh experience.
Psst... by the way, to save you from the puzzlesome search, we'll slip you the tip that The Grotto's song titles are printed on the digipak's spine. Cup finally spotted them after much scrutinizing.
RealAudio clip: "Sno Cat"
RealAudio clip: "Ether"

IF THOUSANDS Yellowstone (Chairkickers Music) cd 14.98
If Thousands are a duo from Duluth, Minnesota who abandoned their previous areas of musical and instrumental experience (voice and bass, respectively) in order to take a more "naive" approach to music making. The resulting instrumentation (moog, theremin, samplers, digital & analog loops, circuit benders, children's keyboards, shortwave, electric razor, "miscellaneous noise," as well as the more pedestrian guitar, drums, and vocals) is employed to create dreamy, cinematic, primarily instrumental (hushed vocals make an appearance or two) washes of sound not unlike Windy & Carl or Landing, evocative of the wide open landscapes around that famous national park for which the album is named. Appropriately, they have worked closely with experimental documentary filmmaker Travis Wilkerson, contributing the score to "An Injury To One," about the lynching of a Wobbly organizer in Butte, Montana. Also appropriate to the spare, lovely sound is Yellowstone's release on Chairkickers Music, the label run by Low's Alan Sparhawk, who also recorded the record in a church in Duluth. Like Low, If Thousands' icy sound incorporates roundabout Joy Division influences, with tribute paid via a cover (Isolation). Really nice stuff.
RealAudio clip: "Radio Is Fine"
RealAudio clip: "Age Of Violence"

ISIS Oceanic (Escape Artist) 2lp 15.98
Now on NICE double vinyl. Here's what we had to say about the cd:
Aaron Turner has had his hand in many of AQ's favorite metalcore albums, whether releasing them through his Hydrahead imprint (Neurosis, Sunn, Cave In, Coalesce, Atomsmasher / Phantomsmasher, etc.) or doing artwork for them (Agoraphobic Nosebleed) or making the music himself on 'em through his continuously impressive projects Isis and Old Man Gloom. Isis' second album "Oceanic" is quite possibly the strongest work to date for Turner. That is quite a feat considering how great those Old Man Gloom albums were. Where Turner shaped Old Man Gloom into an uncompromising drone 'n' grind outfit that speculated upon the sci-fi themes of alien-monkey hybrids, Isis is a bit more straightforward in tightening up the complex orchestrations of Neurosis with a whip-smart pop sensibility. Don't let the 'pop' of Isis fool you; "Oceanic" is a brutal album of dynamic metalcore that sculpts its propulsion by intertwining huge chugging riffs and counterpointed rhythms into the band's already massive percussive pummel. Isis' use of those grinding riffs is so hypnotic through its monochromatic distortion that when the band works up to a chord change (which can take 3 or 4 minutes to get to), it becomes a catastrophic pop hook as the New Pornographers, Get Up Kids, or Pinback but just super fuckin' heavy and aggressively dramatic. As the album unfolds, an emo vein to Isis becomes apparant, in part due to the reliance upon urgent minor keys and Turner's scream-against-the-void-or-maybe-just-my-parents vocals filled with rage and angst. Isis have also employed the talents of Maria Christopher of the Relapse post-rock band 27 on one the album's later tracks "Weight", where her breathtaking vocal mantra is the perfect harmonious complement to Isis' crushing dissonance. This track matches the only other well-executed arrangement we've heard for female vocals in a metalcore song found on From Autumn To Ashes' "Too Bad You're Beautiful." Yeah, this one totally rules.
RealAudio clip: "The Beginning and The End"
RealAudio clip: "False Light"
RealAudio clip: "Weight"
RealAudio clip: "Hym"

JAZZKAMMER Pancakes (Smalltown Supersound) cd 15.98
Jazzkammer is the Norwegian duo of Lasse Marhaug and John Hegre, typically resorting to the Voice Crack / Yoshihide-like avant-turntable collages disfigured by computer generated noise attacks. "Pancakes" is a detour down the 12K_ Line aesthetic with sub-audible, pristine low-frequencies spiked with crisp, high-end sinewave. Headphones required.
RealAudio clip: "Random Lung"

KOMEDA, KRZYSZTOF Roman Polanski's Cul de Sac (Original Soundtrack) (Harkit Records) cd 16.98
If you're familiar with the film, each of the seven jazzy tracks on this cd will certainly bring their respective scenes vividly to mind - whether it be the light lounge piano of "Radio Two" or the darker horn-filled final track. Polish composer and musician Krzysztof Komeda worked together with director Roman Polanski on many of his early films. He was responsible for the soundtracks to such notable films as Cul De Sac, Knife In The Water, and just prior to his untimely death at the age of 38, Rosemary's Baby. Komeda's works are a prime example of just how powerful and effective a film's soundtrack can be. Subtle, precise and highly influential.
RealAudio clip: "Radio Two"
RealAudio clip: "Cul De Sac"

KONER, THOMAS Zyklop (Mille Plateaux) 2cd 19.98
For all of the successful albums that Thomas Koner has produced and been a part of, it was inevitable that he'd release a dud. "Zyklop" -- a double disc featuring radio plays, incidental music for installations, and live performances -- will never be remembered as Koner's finest moment. Many of the tracks have this feel of being "Imaginary Sound Design." Not dissimilar to the Imaginary Film Score, these pieces sound as if they had been lifted directly from an unidentifiable film, having two distinctly different layers of sound. The first being the ambient sounds, voices, and everything that matches up with the action seen through the camera, and the framing mechanisms of synthetic atmosphere which underscores a set of pre-determined moods that the director uses to develop context and atmosphere. The sporadic narration of French and German texts are clearly anomalous to Koner's previous albums, and without the film, installation, or live performance, these voices simply don't work very well. Koner's much better at establishing meaning through the unspoken languages of the isolationist drone. Futhermore, entire passages from his masterful album "Daikan" have been regurgitated onto "Zyklop." As Koner's work explicitly asks for careful listening, why would you think you could get away with releasing the same material twice?
RealAudio clip: "Zyklop"
RealAudio clip: "Une Topographie Sonore: Col De Vence"

LOST HORIZON A Flame To The Ground Beneath (Music For Nations) cd 16.98
Nope, nothing to do with the 1930's book/movie about Shangri La. This Lost Horizon is a different sort of paradise, one for fans of over-the-top European power metal. A troupe of buff Swedes in body paint and capes, galloping musically across the galaxy, with soaring vocals, shredding lead guitar, and sci-fi keyboard coloration. This is their second full-length, which sees two new band members, Equilibrian Epicurius (responsible for "string romanticism...translation for mortals: guitars") and Perspicacious Protector (playing the "soulhealing euphoria generators...translation for mortals: synthesizers"), joining the crew of Transcendental Protagonist, Preternatural Transmorgifyer, Ethereal Magnanimus, and Cosmic Antagonist. These comic-book names might sound tongue in cheek, but we think these guys are actually pretty serious in their view of heavy metal music as being a ruling, spiritual force in the universe. Certainly they're channeling something beyond most mortals... And, there's even a song -- eleven minutes long -- about the movie Highlander, of course called "Highlander (The One)"!
Cheesy in *such* a good way. Even more melodic (and a bit mellower) than their debut, this definitely gets thumbs up from Andee and Allan, and Cup's a fan of their names/conceptualization/packaging. It's a transdimensional revelation (translation for mortals: pure ridiculous power metal genius).
RealAudio clip: "Lost In The Depths Of Me"

MACLISE, ANGUS Astral Collapse (Quakebasket) cd 14.98
There has been something of an Angus MacLise revival going on in the past couple of years, stemming from the discovery of many archival Maclise recordings by Tony Conrad. In the '60s, MacLise had been a instrumental figure in the inception of LaMonte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music as well as the first incarnation of The Velvet Underground, before infamously departing after learning that they would get paid for a gig. Anyway, he thought VU was too structured. A creative wanderlust led him out of those pursuits, working with dozens of composers, poets, film-makers, artists, etc. and travelling all across the globe in pursuit of hermetic wisdoms and Buddhist teachings. "Astral Collapse" collects 6 tracks from the MacLise archives, offering a variety of instrumentation including organ, bongos, piano, autoharp, cembalum, bells, an Arp synthesizer, field recordings, voice, and plenty of effects. As heard on previous recordings, MacLise transforms everything into shimmering, intoxicated trances of amorphous sound. As talented as MacLise may have been as a poet, I can't say that the spoken word entries on "Astral Collapse" are all that successful; however, the haunting arpeggiated organ on "6th Face Of The Angel" and the dreamy, sonic shape-shifting of "Cloud Watching" more than make up for the incongruities of psychedelic drones topped with an earnest recitation of Buddhist mysticism.
RealAudio clip: "6th Face Of The Angel"
RealAudio clip: "Cloud Watching"

MACLISE, ANGUS Astral Collapse (Quakebasket) lp 14.98
There has been something of an Angus MacLise revival going on in the past couple of years, stemming from the discovery of many archival Maclise recordings by Tony Conrad. In the '60s, MacLise had been a instrumental figure in the inception of LaMonte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music as well as the first incarnation of The Velvet Underground, before infamously departing after learning that they would get paid for a gig. Anyway, he thought VU was too structured. A creative wanderlust led him out of those pursuits, working with dozens of composers, poets, film-makers, artists, etc. and travelling all across the globe in pursuit of hermetic wisdoms and Buddhist teachings. "Astral Collapse" collects 6 tracks from the MacLise archives, offering a variety of instrumentation including organ, bongos, piano, autoharp, cembalum, bells, an Arp synthesizer, field recordings, voice, and plenty of effects. As heard on previous recordings, MacLise transforms everything into shimmering, intoxicated trances of amorphous sound. As talented as MacLise may have been as a poet, I can't say that the spoken word entries on "Astral Collapse" are all that successful; however, the haunting arpeggiated organ on "6th Face Of The Angel" and the dreamy, sonic shape-shifting of "Cloud Watching" more than make up for the incongruities of psychedelic drones topped with an earnest recitation of Buddhist mysticism.

MANILLA ROAD Mark of the Beast (Monster Records) cd 13.98
Two 'new' releases from the USA's most cult '80s era true/power/heavy/epic metal band. We've lauded them before, as being a uber-eccentric low-budget take on Maiden and Manowar, with hints of '70s prog, precursor to the likes of The Lord Weird Slough Feg and near-contemporaries Brocas Helm. Like Brocas, Manilla Road are still around. With a revised line-up, "Spiral Castle" is their 13th album in a 27 year career. A lot more melodic than their year 2001 comeback disc "Atlantis Rising", this really sounds like classic Manilla Road of old, complete even with their Edgar Allen Poe fixation (his story "Shadow" inspires a track here) and Mark "The Shark" Shelton's distinctive guitar and vocals. Cool!
"Mark of the Beast" also sounds like old Manilla Road -- 'cause it's actually an unreleased album from 1981, originally titled "Dreams of Eschaton". The band didn't like the recordings at the time and shelved them, but bootleg tapes have circulated among the Manilla Road faithful for years. Now Monster Records have persuaded Shelton & Co. that it's time to give the album a proper release at last. Boasting cover art from Thin Lizzy cover artist Jim Fitzpatrick, "Mark of the Beast" is a worthy addition to the Road's official catalog, though not their heaviest -- it's a doomy but kinda mellow and psychedelic album of epic, sad melodicism and majesty. Like all Manilla Road, this doesn't fit any generic metal template...some of this reminds us of Rush's early songs, and there's even a proto-Current 93 narration thing happening on one track too!
RealAudio clip: "Avatar"

MANILLA ROAD Spiral Castle (Iron Glory) cd 14.98
Two 'new' releases from the USA's most cult '80s era true/power/heavy/epic metal band. We've lauded them before, as being a uber-eccentric low-budget take on Maiden and Manowar, with hints of '70s prog, precursor to the likes of The Lord Weird Slough Feg and near-contemporaries Brocas Helm. Like Brocas, Manilla Road are still around. With a revised line-up, "Spiral Castle" is their 13th album in a 27 year career. A lot more melodic than their year 2001 comeback disc "Atlantis Rising", this really sounds like classic Manilla Road of old, complete even with their Edgar Allen Poe fixation (his story "Shadow" inspires a track here) and Mark "The Shark" Shelton's distinctive guitar and vocals. Cool!
"Mark of the Beast" also sounds like old Manilla Road -- 'cause it's actually an unreleased album from 1981, originally titled "Dreams of Eschaton". The band didn't like the recordings at the time and shelved them, but bootleg tapes have circulated among the Manilla Road faithful for years. Now Monster Records have persuaded Shelton & Co. that it's time to give the album a proper release at last. Boasting cover art from Thin Lizzy cover artist Jim Fitzpatrick, "Mark of the Beast" is a worthy addition to the Road's official catalog, though not their heaviest -- it's a doomy but kinda mellow and psychedelic album of epic, sad melodicism and majesty. Like all Manilla Road, this doesn't fit any generic metal template...some of this reminds us of Rush's early songs, and there's even a proto-Current 93 narration thing happening on one track too!
RealAudio clip: "Spiral Castle"

MARR, JOHNNY AND THE HEATERS Boomslang (Artist Direct) cd 16.98
Upon first sight of this cd, we were taken aback by the odd identicalness of the band members' mouths. Byram proclaimed that they looked like seagulls flying off in the distance - thin inky curving lines - and they absolutely do. But enough about their petulant embouchures, this album marks not only the debut of Johnny Marr's new band but also of his premiere as a lead vocalist and frontman. As well, all but one of the songs are credited to Marr as the sole songwriter. The lone exception is "Inbetweens" which was co-written with bandmates bassist Alonzo Bevan (ex-Kula Shakur), guitarist Adam Grey and drummer Zac Starkey (who is indeed Ringo's son). Generally this is standard Brit rock fare (think watered down Stone Roses or Oasis) made notable only by the presence of Marr's name on it. Unfortunately the one thing we all hoped would be the highlight and defining factor of Boomslang is all in all absent - that is, Marr's guitar playing. Alas!
RealAudio clip: "The Last Ride"
RealAudio clip: "Inbetweens"

MICROSTORIA Invisible Architecture #3 (Audiosphere) cd 16.98
Despite the title's implication, Microstoria actually presents the fourth in the "Invisible Architecture" series from Audioglobe, packaged obnoxiously in the oversized 'super jewel cases' alongside the work of Janek Schaefer, the duo of Christian Fennesz & Miko Vainio, and a turntable excursion from Jeck / Tetreault / Yoshihide. The collaboration between Jan St. Werner (Mouse On Mars) and Markus Popp (Oval), Microstoria improvises with purely electronic sound to build tone-bent half melodies and plinky-plonk abstractions. Recorded live at Kaaitheaterstudio in Brussels during the summer of 2000, "Invisible Architecture #3" does not stray far from the successes of their previous albums "SND" or "Model 3,Step 2."
RealAudio clip: "Quit Not Save"

MINISTRY Animositisomina (Sanctuary) cd 17.98
The first Ministry album since 1999's disappointing Dark Side Of The Spoon is certainly cause for fans' celebration as it marks Al Jourgensen's return to prime form. Following years of albums that sounded like pallid imitations made by Ministry wannabes, Animositisomina sounds like the Ministry of old. Pummeling, aggressive, malevolent and huge. You may be asking (as many around here have already) why you'd want / need any more Ministry records if you already own the classics such as Land Of Rape And Honey and The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste. Well, good question... but there are definitely plenty of fresh new ideas brewing in the Jourgensen camp and a kick-ass group of players to execute the mission including longtime bandmates Paul Barker, Louis Svitek, Skrew mainman Adam Grossman and drummer Rey Washam formerly of Scratch Acid who alone elevates and propels this album immensely. Ten tracks in all including a cover of Magazine's "The Light Pours Out Of Me".
RealAudio clip: "The Light Pours Out Of Me"
RealAudio clip: "Animosity"

MONTALBA, GEORGES Pipe Organ Favorites / Fantasy In Pipe Organ And Percussion (Hit Thing) cd 15.98
Unfortunately, we can't play this disc in the store too often because Andee expects to be taken out for pizza and Jim starts having these creepy ice skating flashbacks from his childhood. But for those of you out there who love big organs, and I *know* you're out there, you're guaranteed to feel the swell of these pipes down in your loins when you crank this one up. Originally released in 1957 and 1958, the two albums on this disc are classics in the pipe organ genre. They were both produced by 101 Strings creator Dick Miller, who was apparently always keeping his sights on the bleeding edge of hipness. What's more is that Georges Montalba was nothing more than a pseudonym. The real man behind the organ here was Bob Hunter, a man who already had an immensely successful career as a concert pianist and arranger. While this may not seem all that odd -- plenty of people in show business use pseudonyms -- the persona of Georges Montalba was made ever more mysterious by two additional circumstances. The first was that Mr. Hunter, for some reason, never told anyone about his being Mr. Montalba with the exception of an audience attending a 1964 performance by "Montalba" in which he revealed his true identity. The second was the exploitation of Montalba's true identity by none other than the Church of Satan's longtime leader Anton La Vey. La Vey apparently milked a Church of Satan follower's suspicion that he was in fact Montalba. It wasn't too difficult to fabricate a story to fit since he had -- prior to acquiring his day job as Satan's spokesman -- been a successful theater organist in the San Francisco bay area. The whole gruesome (well, not really gruesome, but very interesting none the less) story is related in detail by both reissue producer Toby Dammit and Anton La Vey's own daughter Zeena Schreck (who disputes her father's claim) in the liner notes. Listening to this disc, it comes as no surprise that one might become convinced that Mr. Church of Satan himself was behind the pedals. The playing by Hunter of the huge Robert-Morton Pipe Organ (to which was affixed an additional complement of a Deagan vibraphone and a set of orchestral chimes) is truly possessed. Not to disparage Mr. La Vey or his followers, but upon closer listening you can tell that the caliber of playing is a notch above Mr. Satan's. On these two Hi-Fi Mono recordings Hunter performs the works of Saint-Saens, Khatchaturian, Rimsky-Korsakov, Manuel de Falla, Wagner, Sousa, Grieg and more (including a couple original compositions) with all the ferocity of Swedish progster Bo Hansson (see Hansson & Karlsson). Take this one home and crank it up 'til your neighbors' ears bleed.
RealAudio clip: "Ritual Fire Dance"
RealAudio clip: "Anitra's Dance"

MR. AIRPLANE MAN Moanin' (Sympathy For The Record Industry) cd 13.98
Mr. Airplane Man are a Boston female duo playing Howling Wolf covers and songs with rad Bo Diddleyesqe back beats. Fucked up punk/ blues, reminiscent of the Gories, which coming from me (Sadie) is an enormous compliment. They formed in 1995, playing on the streets for rent using a battery powered amp and 5 gallon bucket for a drum. It's said that these two ladies' mutual love of Howlin' Wolf is what brought them together, his songs being where they got their band name and the name of this record. This is not fuzzed out chaotic garage like The Bad Times cd from the last list. It is old style Delta back woods blues but it's smooth in an amazing rockin' way. Recorded in Detroit by Jim Diamond (who is affiliated with other Detroit greats like the Dirtbombs and the White Stripes), and was mixed by Doug Easley and Greg "Oblivian" Cartwright. So recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Like That"
RealAudio clip: "Not Living At All"

MUKAI CHIE & YAMAMOTO SEICHI Live at Showboat February 25, 2000 with Lamones Young (Last Visible Dog) cd 11.98
Ms. Mukai and her Chinese er-hu (a bowed, 2 stringed instrument) have been a part of the underground Tokyo improv psych scene since the '70s playing in the PSF "dream-psych" band Che-Shizu, while Osaka's Seichi Yamamoto is known to most AQ customers as the gonzo guitarist for Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba, Rovo and more. This live document, another real cd on the moving-away-from-cdrs label Last Visible Dog, sees the two of 'em teaming up for two long duets of late-night atmospheric rumble and squeak. It's totally dark in the Keiji Haino drone mode, or like Taj Mahal Travellers, all abstract and drifty, cries echoing out in a black, empty space. Real nice in other words. Plus there's a third, thirty-minute track where the Mukai/Yamamoto duo are joined by an all-star Japanese drone trio with the humorous name of Lamones Young (yes, their idea is 'what if Lamont Young played Ramones songs', though that's not necessarily what they sound like). Cellist Fukuoka Rinki, drummer Kosakai Fumio, and bassist Nagakubo Ryuichi (variously, members or former members of Incapacitants, CCCC, G-un, Overhang Party, etc.) add even more scraping, sawing drone to the proceedings, while Yamamoto's guitar and Mukai's voice, percussion and er-hu continue to generate sheer alienated psychedelic beauty as per their duo tracks.
NB. if you liked the Tangerine Dream Syndicate cd we had a while back from the Alchemy Label, be aware that the Lamones Young were essentially an early version of that band. The liner notes by Tokyo psych expert Alan Cummings provide further info...
RealAudio clip: "...with Lamones Young"

MURCOF Martes (Leaf) cd 15.98
The Nortec Collective have succeeded in convincing the masses (including Chris Blackwell of Island Records and all of the arts editors at NPR) that an idiosyncratic, cute fusion of traditional Mexican music (such as the tambora flares for tuba and accordion ballads) and club-friendly, big-beat rhythms would be a good idea. I have not been convinced, holding the ill-tempered opinion that they are electronica's version of The Gypsy Kings, or at least that they've allowed themselves to be marketed as such. Thus, it came as surprise that Murcof is a pseudonym for Fernando Corono, who is one of the members of the Nortec Collective. While the appropriating force is still at work in Murcof, it's handled with a considerable greater sense of gracefulness than the archetypal Nortec sound. Furthermore, it's Morton Feldman and Arvo Part that Corono is sampling, and not North Mexican folk music. Looping evocative motifs from those minimalist composers into elegant patterns, Corono adds very simple Chain Reaction heroin house grooves to create a very pleasant, very polite sound that runs through the Martes record. The result is a melancholic electronica album that complements Boards of Canada, without resorting to mimickry.
RealAudio clip: "Maiz"
RealAudio clip: "Meronia"

MUSLIMGAUZE Uzbekistani Bizarre And Souk (Important) cd 14.98
Another posthumous release from Muslimgauze, "Uzbekistani Bizarre And Souk" is a caustic album of Arabic percussion contorted to fit into disjointed breakbeats and hypnotic electronic grooves. Originally released as a DAT (yes, a DAT only release!) from Staalplaat about 10 years ago, this disc also features a couple of selections from "Islamaphobia" an comes in a beautifully letter-pressed packagaing. Limited to 1000 copies.
RealAudio clip: "Rouge Amin Fraction"
RealAudio clip: "The Iranian Who Found Allah"

PAPA M One (Drag City) cd ep 5.98
First in a series of cd singles from Dave Pajo, who you know not only as Papa M but as founding member of Slint, collaborator with Will Oldham, and member of Billy Corgan's new group Zwan. All three songs were recorded on the fly on the road, and are lovely and pretty and not at all throwaway. The first features wistful harmonica and hushed vocals that remind me of Nick Drake. The second track has this aching violin that approaches Dirty-Three-style proportions in terms of poignancy and tension. And the third is a Reverend Gary Davis cover, I mean really what more could you want?
RealAudio clip: "Beloved Woman"

PETIT MAL A Sense Of Closure (Zenflesh) cd 11.98
Petit Mal is the work of Berkeley musician Jim Kaiser, who improvises through a post-Industrial context to arrive at deep hypnotic ambience marred by vocal samples, broken effects, and metallic scrapings. Dark murky drones dominate "A Sense Of Closure," often recalling the densely processed sounds of Troum or Cranioclast. Yet Kaiser is often much looser in his compositions than either of those references, allowing for distortion, misfirings, and analogue errors to accumulate within the overlapping washes of sound. "A Sense Of Closure" is at its best when Kaiser picks up an acoustic guitar to splutter textured strumming not unlike the groundswell of damaged avant-folk (i.e. Neil Campbell, Avarus, Dead Raven Choir, etc.) within the omnipresent dark ambience.
RealAudio clip: "Submergence"
RealAudio clip: "Retreat To Arcana"

PRISONER [FILE #2] (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) OST (Silva) cd 16.98
The Prisoner -- the cult '60s TV show that's really one of the best TV shows EVER, taking the spy genre into areas dealing symbolically with issues of free will and man's role in society -- now has spawned three volumes of soundtrack music on cd, proving that beyond the classic series theme song, the show also utilized a bunch of cool original compositions and library music pieces (their Prisoner titles and original library titles given here, so we know that "Spinning Car" from the show was originally a library track called "Psychedelia", for instance) as well, and all were important to the impact of the series. With snippets of dialogue from the show thrown in to additionally evoke the Prisoner's surreal world of paranoia and philosophy, these discs are going to be hard for fans to resist. We listed volume one recently (on AQL #154) -- so you can refer to that review, and your local video store, for further background on the Prisoner phenomenon.
File #2 features music and dialogue from the episodes Free For All, The General, Many Happy Returns, Dance of the Dead, Checkmate, Hammer Into Anvil, A Change Of Mind.
File #3 covers Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, The Girl Who Was Death, Once Upon A Time, and the famously bizarre series conclusion Fall Out (though the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", an integral part of the soundtrack to that episode, isn't included here -- but you know it pretty well anyway). Each volume also includes the main title theme, and a booklet with lots of photos and Prisoner related information.
RealAudio clip: "Number 6 Gets Beaten "
RealAudio clip: "Tower Attack"

PRISONER [FILE #3] (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) OST (Silva) cd 16.98
The Prisoner -- the cult '60s TV show that's really one of the best TV shows EVER, taking the spy genre into areas dealing symbolically with issues of free will and man's role in society -- now has spawned three volumes of soundtrack music on cd, proving that beyond the classic series theme song, the show also utilized a bunch of cool original compositions and library music pieces (their Prisoner titles and original library titles given here, so we know that "Spinning Car" from the show was originally a library track called "Psychedelia", for instance) as well, and all were important to the impact of the series. With snippets of dialogue from the show thrown in to additionally evoke the Prisoner's surreal world of paranoia and philosophy, these discs are going to be hard for fans to resist. We listed volume one recently (on AQL #154) -- so you can refer to that review, and your local video store, for further background on the Prisoner phenomenon.
File #2 features music and dialogue from the episodes Free For All, The General, Many Happy Returns, Dance of the Dead, Checkmate, Hammer Into Anvil, A Change Of Mind.
File #3 covers Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, The Girl Who Was Death, Once Upon A Time, and the famously bizarre series conclusion Fall Out (though the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", an integral part of the soundtrack to that episode, isn't included here -- but you know it pretty well anyway). Each volume also includes the main title theme, and a booklet with lots of photos and Prisoner related information.
RealAudio clip: "Record Store"

RYE COALITION Jersey Girls (Tiger Style) cd ep 8.98
This is high energy 70's, ironic, arena rock, heavily influenced by Kiss, Grandfunk Railroad, MC5, Cheap Trick and especially AC/DC. They have toured with The Fucking Champs and Drunk Horse, which is so appropriete given the tight muscianship, crazy riffin', silly irony, and love of all things 70's rock. Some songs vary from the formentioned style sounding remarkably like the Jesus Lizard, which I didn't like nearly as much, but all in all an energetic and tight lil' record.
RealAudio clip: "Communication Breakdance"
RealAudio clip: "Snow Job"

SIXTEENS s/t lp 9.98
This 3 piece from Oakland CA play arty, chaotic somewhat dark noisy sort-of-punk-rock. Friends and musical allies of SF local scary ones The Vanishing, The Phantom Limbs, and Black Ice. Intense girl and boy vocals over confused, deranged sludgy noise.

SLAUGHTER RULE, THE (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) (Bloodshot) cd 14.98
This very well done soundtrack to the indie film The Slaughter Rule features the veritable cream of the alt.country crop, almost all AQ favorites. Jay Farrar of the late great Uncle Tupelo / Son Volt is the glue here, contributing eleven glowingly pretty dusty instrumentals taken straight from his original score. This stuff is so much better than his recent solo work and would be worth the price of the disc alone, not to mention all the other bands on this. Go Jay!
Contributing NEW songs are Freakwater, Vic Chesnutt (a great scratchy version of "Rank Stranger"), Blood Oranges, and Pernice Brothers. Also included are the previously released songs by Neko Case ("Porchlight" from her Furnace Room Lullaby album) and Ryan Adams ("To Be Young" from his Heartbreaker album), Jimmie Dale Gilmore, etc.
Works well as a continuous listen -- definitely worth your time and money.
RealAudio clip: JAY FARRAR "Gather"
RealAudio clip: SPEEDY WEST AND JIMMY BRYANT "West of Samoa"

SONGS : OHIA Magnolia Electric Co. (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98
Even though Jason Molina's songwriting seems endlessly weighted by deep melancholia, there still remain glimmers of hope in his music, and this is perhaps even more so the case on this new album. Yes, once again comparisons can easily be drawn to Will Oldham or classic Neil Young, however from the first song of this album, it's clear there's something else/more going on. Definitely as passionate as ever, but fully fleshed out and a bit more rocked up than 2002's Didn't It Rain. Magnolia Electric Co. features a full ten person band (including Jennie from the bluegrass group Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops) performing Molina's songs. Plus he stepped away from the microphone and enlisted a number of different vocalists to sing the lead on a number of songs. The results are quite splendid. It was all captured live on tape by Steve Albini.
Also keep your eyes/ears peeled for the companion album of sorts, the much more minimal solo vinyl-only release called Pyramid Electric Co.
RealAudio clip: "Farewell Transmission"
RealAudio clip: "Peoria Lunch Box Blues"

SPENCE, JOSEPH Happy All the Time (Water) cd 14.98
2nd time reissued on CD, this was the amazing Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence's second album. Originally recorded in 1964, where this album excels over the first (recorded for Smithsonian Folkways in 1958) is that the producers had the prescience to load up with some great field recording gear. Important given that the dynamic range that Mr. Spence can coax out of his guitar is astounding. Though his repertoire consists almost entirely of traditional hymns and folk tunes that most all of us are familiar with, his renditions are hardly recognizable. Spence has a maniacally insane picking / plucking / slapping guitar style that would make Jaco Pastorius and Pete Seeger bow their heads in awe. To boot, Spence's singing, err... mumbling style is too lovable to resist. It's almost like hearing Captain Beefheart with his mouth wired shut. A cult classic!
RealAudio clip: "Bimini Gal"
RealAudio clip: "How I Love Jesus"

TARANTULA HAWK Desert Solitaire cd-r 9.98
AQ's favorite instrumental psychedelic space-rock prog-keyboard crust-metal outfit, San Diego's terrific Tarantula Hawk, has produced two great full-length albums (both of 'em self-titled), one on Life Is Abuse and this year's Neurot labels release. But, of course, fans like us want more. So, thankfully, there's also these two live, not-quite-tour-only cd-r releases, of which we've managed to acquire a few. TH's grind-drone music is a great live experience, dense and dark, and while you'd have to have a IMMENSE stereo system to replicate the loudness and power of their shows, it's still good home listening even at more moderate volume.
"Desert Solitaire" documents a show in August of 2000 at something, a festival I guess, called the One Gathering in San Diego's Madre Grande Sanctuary. 80 minutes, one track! Fuckin' epic and eerie. Godspeed You Black Emperor needs to get schooled by these three guys.
The title of the other cd-r, "Live At KFJC 07.15.01" is rather self-explanatory. Basically, last July the Hawk (space-)rocked the hell out of the studio of one of our favorite Bay Area college radio stations for 32 minutes. Both discs sound great, dynamic and heavy.
RealAudio clip: "Desert Solitaire (excerpt)"

TARANTULA HAWK Live At KFJC 07.15.01 cd-r 9.98
AQ's favorite instrumental psychedelic space-rock prog-keyboard crust-metal outfit, San Diego's terrific Tarantula Hawk, has produced two great full-length albums (both of 'em self-titled), one on Life Is Abuse and this year's Neurot labels release. But, of course, fans like us want more. So, thankfully, there's also these two live, not-quite-tour-only cd-r releases, of which we've managed to acquire a few. TH's grind-drone music is a great live experience, dense and dark, and while you'd have to have an IMMENSE stereo system to replicate the loudness and power of their shows, it's still good home listening even at more moderate volume.
"Desert Solitaire" documents a show in August of 2000 at something, a festival I guess, called the One Gathering in San Diego's Madre Grande Sanctuary. 80 minutes, one track! Fuckin' epic and eerie. Godspeed You Black Emperor needs to get schooled by these three guys.
The title of the other cd-r, "Live At KFJC 07.15.01" is rather self-explanatory. Basically, last July the Hawk (space-)rocked the hell out of the studio of one of our favorite Bay Area college radio stations for 32 minutes. Both discs sound great, dynamic and heavy.
RealAudio clip: "Live At KFJC"

THERMALS More Parts Per Million (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
Everybody who's been worshiping at the altar of the Strokes for the last year will be facing some serious theological choices with this, the debut from the Pacific Northwest's Thermals. A buzzing blast of white knuckle pop in punk rock's clothing. The Thermals sound like the Strokes cranked on crystal meth and recorded on a boom box in a sweaty smelly basement. The lazy jaded stoned jangle of the current crop of New York hipsters is rolled in dirt and piss and whiskey and handed a beat up old guitar. Thirteen songs, most barely reaching the two minute mark, of blasting fuzz and ramshackle rooooaaaaarrr with a whiny, snotty vocalist climbing all over your table and spilling drinks in your lap. Or think Guided By Voices if their drug of choice was speed instead of Pabst Blue Ribbon and their influences were the Stooges and the Feederz instead of the Beatles and 80's/90's college rock. So great!
RealAudio clip: "No Culture Icons"
RealAudio clip: "Goddamn The Light"
RealAudio clip: "It's Trivia"

THROWING MUSES s/t (4AD) cd 14.98
Yay, the welcome return of the Throwing Muses! It's been over five years since they disbanded shortly after the release of their eighth full length, Limbo. We're happy to report that from the sounds of this, they're back up and running without skipping a beat. There's something so warm and comforting about the fuzzy crunch of their guitars and Hersh's distinct lilting voice. This album is no exception. In fact, it even recalls the vim and vigor of early Throwing Muses, but with more refined songcraft. For a counterbalance to this TM electric guitar pep and simply more of Ms Hersh in general, check out her beautiful acoustic solo album which was concurrently released with this group effort.
RealAudio clip: "Mercury"
RealAudio clip: "Epiphany"

TRETTIOARIGA KRIGET s/t cd 17.98
When Byram heard this, his first reaction was: Allan, dude, this has you written all over it! And it's true, *both* of AQ's resident prog-heads (proudly, Allan and Andee) are way into this band and this album -- that's why we ordered a few from overseas to share with our likeminded customers. On this, their 1974 debut album, Trettioariga Kriget (aka Thirty Years War) dish out jazzed-up but also kinda heavy '70s prog rock from Sweden, boasting some over-the-top falsetto vocals worthy of Amon Duul II's Renate Knaup or the guy from Flower Travellin' Band. Mathy, King Crimson-esque hard rock, that's also (in context of this sort of thing) quite catchy, actually. Vocal hooks coexist with the math jazz rock instrumental display and noisy skronk. Recommended, especially if you're among the many (?) AQ customers happy with our prior obscure prog suggestions (Il Balletto di Bronzo, Osanna, etc.)
RealAudio clip: "Kaledoniska Orogenesen"
RealAudio clip: "Fjarilsttityder"

WHITMAN, KEITH FULLERTON Dartmouth Street Underpass (Locust Music) cd 14.98
Keith Fullerton Whitman gets the honors of launching a new series of manipulated field recordings to be released by Locust Music. Keeping to the theme of the series in which one raw recording is paired with a processed 'response,' Whitman (who has also recorded as Hrvatski) offers an evironmental recording from a tunnel near a subway station in Boston. He explains that glass walls line the tunnel which provide an unusual acoustic situation which accentuates a naturally occurring reverb. Along with screeching breaks of the subway and the occasional dialogue from passersby, Whitman captures an eerie buzzing, possibly from halogen street lights. Despite the thick reverb, some of the voices are a little distracting from the phenomenology intrinsic to that space. Altogether a great field recording.
For the processed response, Whitman pulls a sample from that buzzing and amplifies it into irridescent mass of electric field disturbances. In subtly shifting all of the parameters, Whitman unravels a lovely piece of Minimalism.
RealAudio clip: "Dartmouth Street Underpass"
RealAudio clip: "Dartmouth Street Reply"

ZWAN Mary Star of the Sea (Reprise) 2cd 19.98
Zwan is the supergroup that Billy Corgan put together after the inevitable dissolution of the Smashing Pumpkins. The biggest surprise to us was that the line-up included indie-rock stalwarts Dave Pajo (Slint, Tortoise, Papa M, etc.) and Matt Sweeney (of Matador's former signees Chavez and one of Andee's all time favorite bands Skunk), whose albums were the antithesis to the overblown production that has polished all of the Smashing Pumpkins albums into MTV fodder throughout the '90s. Quite simply there's little in the music of Zwan that stands above Corgan's sensibilities which obviously carry over from the Smashing Pumpkins. So Slint and Chavez fans shouldn't get all that excited about Zwan. The only difference that Pumpkins fans will notice is the manifestation of Corgan's newfound optimistic world view in the form of more uptempo numbers, less caustic distortion, and a friendlier quality to the songwriting.
RealAudio clip: "Settle Down"
RealAudio clip: "Endless Summer"

----*
----* Compilations :
----*

V/A Ethiopiques Vol. 12: Konso Music And Songs (Buda Musique) cd 16.98
Like volumes 2, 5, and 11, Ethiopiques 12 is a collection apart from the fuzzed out groove music of Amha and Kaifa records which make up much of the material in the series. This volume features the various traditional musics found in the Konso province in the Southeastern part of Ethiopia. Choruses, flute solos, and songs accompanied by various lutes and bells. Comes with 31 pages of liner notes in French and English.
RealAudio clip: TEDESSE DEYASA "Wattatra"
RealAudio clip: KAHANO "Hoppa"
RealAudio clip: CHOIR "Kirba Yoqaa"

V/A Impact! (Universal Sound / Soul Jazz) cd 17.98
Universal/Soul Jazz release of recordings from the influential second string father/son production team of Vincent and Clive Chin. Vincent was responsible for starting the labels Randy's and Impact in the late sixties and, with his son, subsequently started their own recording studio -- Randy's Recording Studio 17 -- which was so successful that other producers on the island often used it as well. This compilation gathers together 15 of the best reggae soul and funk tracks the pair produced between 1969 and 1975. Allan particularly likes the Skin Flesh And Bones' instrumental version of the BT Express's funk classic "Do It Til You're Satisfied". Booklet includes a several page interview with Clive Chin conducted in 2002 and several archival photos.
RealAudio clip: SKIN, FLESH & BONES "Do It Til You're Satisfied"
RealAudio clip: MITTOO, JACKIE "30-60-90"
RealAudio clip: RANDY'S ALL STARS "Guns In The Ghetto"

V/A Impact! (Universal Sound / Soul Jazz) 2lp 19.98
Universal/Soul Jazz release of recordings from the influential second string father/son production team of Vincent and Clive Chin. Vincent was responsible for starting the labels Randy's and Impact in the late sixties and, with his son, subsequently started their own recording studio -- Randy's Recording Studio 17 -- which was so successful that other producers on the island often used it as well. This compilation gathers together 15 of the best reggae soul and funk tracks the pair produced between 1969 and 1975. Allan particularly likes the Skin Flesh And Bones' instrumental version of the BT Express's funk classic "Do It Til You're Satisfied". Booklet includes a several page interview with Clive Chin conducted in 2002 and several archival photos.

V/A Love, Peace & Poetry: Brazilian Psychedelic Music (Q.D.K. / Normal) lp 16.98
Now available on vinyl! Spanning 1969 to 1978, the newest volume of Love, Peace & Poetry brings to light totally rare gems from the Brazilian psychedelic rock movement. While we may all be relatively familiar with the giants of the Tropicalia scene -- Os Mutantes (Windy's favorite band ever), Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, etc -- this comp features far more obscure groups whose albums are sought-after treasures in the underground psych LP collecting community (you know who you are!). But less obsessive folk now too have the opportunity to enjoy these obscurities! Springing from the creatively fertile ground of an at the time politically oppressive society, this is a fantastic collection of songs ranging from sunny Beatles-esque, Byrds-y jangle pop to other harder stuff more explicitly influenced by the Doors, Hendrix, and other fuzzed out acidheads. Highlights include the latter type of thing from Modulo 1000, a track from Brazilian psych crown jewel Lula Cortes e Ze Ramalho, the Zep-worthy hard rock groove (with a touch of proto-new wave in one guitar break) of Terco, and a track by Spectrum (whose utterly brilliant film soundtrack album "Geracao Bendita" album has been reissued in its entirety, due for review soon in an upcoming New Arrivals list, although you can come buy it now if you want!). Some tracks pay allegiance to Tropicalia, others are straight-up freak rock, and all are pretty cool.
As with all the Love, Peace and Poetry comps, this is highly recommended not only because it's good listening, but also because it's damn hard to find full lengths from most of these groups, not 'til someone reissues 'em! The liner notes are again by our pal Stan Denski, cover art is again a cheesecake blond go go girl courtesy famed photog Bunny Yeager.

V/A Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture [2002] (Rough Trade / Mute) 2cd 19.98
The term "counter-culture" seems to be Rough Trade's catch-all tag for this extremely eclectic compilation. This two disc set features a total of 41 tracks from around the world - many familiar artists (Bright Eyes, the Breeders, ESG, Bis, Johnny Dowd, Melt Banana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cabaret Voltaire, Mountain Goats, Tom Waits, Prefuse 73, Tracy And The Plastics, Glass Candy And The Shattered Theatre, James Yorkston, Dempsey, The Bug Vs The Rootsman, Joy Zipper, Langley Schools Music Project) as well as many you may not yet be familiar with (Rubicks, The Be Good Tanyas, Trash Money, Akufen, Baxter Dury, The Bug Vs The Rootsman, My Robot Friend, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Crossover, The Books and Pink Grease). A genuine musical cornucopia!
RealAudio clip: RUBICKS "Midas"
RealAudio clip: TRASH MONEY "You Lied Satan"
RealAudio clip: THE BE GOOD TANYAS "Broken Telephone"

V/A (Sic) The Broklyn Beats 7" Series (Broklyn Beats) cd 13.98
This comp collects all those super limited, super fierce 7" released on the Broklyn Beats label over the last year or so. Features tracks from AQ fave DJ/Rupture, Godspeed side project 1-Speed Bike, as well as Doily, Criterion, Rotator, Broklyn Beast, I-Sound, and Donna Summer. All over the place and all of it great, from pummeling speaker shredding dancehall to sliced and diced collage-noise to big beats and beyond.
RealAudio clip: DJ /RUPTURE "Rumbo Babylon"
RealAudio clip: 1-SPEED BIKE "I'm A Pretzel On A Stealth Mission To Kill The President"
RealAudio clip: DONNA SUMMER "Popxplosion"

V/A Smalltown Supersampler (Smalltown Supersound) cd 13.98
Smalltown Supersound is a Norwegian label that defines itself by the artists on the label and not through a unifying aesthetic; yet, they've decided to release a sampler of all of their artists, from the minimalistic and pulsing sounds of Elektro Nova/Electro Nova, to the melancholic beauty of Continental Fruit, to the abstract electronics of Lasse Marhaug, to Jazzkammer's glitch electronica, to Kim Hiorthoy's wonderful and warm mixture of the organic and the electronic, and to the slow, beautiful and hypnotic sound of Monopot.

----*
----* Nonesuch Explorer Titles! :
----*

V/A Bali: Gamelan & Kecak (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
This disc, originally released in 1989, is sort of a sequel to the "Golden Rain" title we listed last time. This one, also recorded by David Lewiston, was made on his first return to Bali in over 20 years. The changes that the island had undergone since his previous visit were somewhat of a shock (rampant tourism, noisy motorbikes everywhere, urban chaos) to Lewiston, who had previously been able to set up and record without so much as a thought to extraneous noise. This time round Lewiston rented out a local friend's art gallery and adjoining badminton court for most of these sessions in order to overcome the noise issue. And, for better or worse, he even went so far as to have the musicians rearrange their instruments in order to get a better stereo recording. What is really nice about this recording, hi-fidelity aside, is that it is a nice broad overview of some of the gamelan styles (and non-gamelan to boot) in Bali. The first track is a 12 minute recording of the opening parade of the Bali Arts Festival in 1987. Everyone loves a parade, and this one is no exception. You get to hear six different ensembles as they march past the recordist. This is followed by another recording of Gong Kebyar (that's the recording that required all the rearranging of the instruments), a recording of Balinese jew's-harp, and a really bizarre recording played on reedy instruments made from palm bark accompanied by percussion. Also included is a recording of gamelan salunding, which is an ancient Balinese gamelan made of iron. It sounds completely different than any other Balinese gamelan (almost like an ill-tuned gamelan), partly due to its being made of iron, but it's also a rather small ensemble with some of the most beautiful melodies in Balinese gamelan. The award for most eerie track has to go to Sadh Budaya Gamelan Gong Suling performing a piece for Semar Pegulingan entirely on flutes (with the addition of a few rhythmic instruments for structural purposes.) There's also an excerpt of Gender Wayang, which is the musical accompaniment to shadow play in Bali (see also the full disc also just reissued of this.) Plus another brief excerpt of Kecak and closed with one more Kebyar track. All on one disc!
RealAudio clip: GENGGONG BATUR SARI, BATUAN "Lagu Kodok"
RealAudio clip: GAMELAN SALUNDING, TENGANAN "Gending Sekar Gadung"
RealAudio clip: SADHA BUDAYA GAMELAN GONG SULING "Tabuh Teluh"

V/A Bali: Music For The Shadow Play (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
This recording, made by Robert E. Brown in 1970, is a condensed version of the music (gender wayang) that usually accompanies Balinese shadow play (wayang kulit) performances. Normally lasting four hours (instead of the Javanese marathon of nine) the music here is some of that which one would most commonly hear during the unfolding of a play. Aside from the time differences between Javanese and Balinese shadow play, the next most striking difference is that the Balinese variant uses only four instruments (a few gongs and drums, which accentuate fight scenes, etc. are not included on this recording) instead of the complement of a full gamelan. The instruments are two pairs of gender (pronounced with a hard, not a soft "g"), one pair tuned an octave higher than the other. The gender has ten thin bronze keys suspended by strings over bamboo resonating tubes. Additionally, each pair of gender is tuned a small interval apart such that the same note played on both instruments simultaneously will produce a shimmering tone much like in Balinese gamelan. Each musician uses two wooded mallets in playing the gender, the part played in the right hand usually being the kotekan (intricate interlocking melodic part) and the left hand generally playing a slower, supportive role. Gender wayang is generally recognized as Balinese music at its most advanced and refined. Pioneering ethnomusicologist and Balinese music enthusiast Colin McPhee referred to gender wayang as the "perfect expression" of Balinese music. Along with the difficult kotekan parts, the players must also manage to dampen the keys of the instrument with the pads of their hands as they play the following note so the notes don't blend into one another. The timbre of the instruments is a bit like an unholy tack piano. The polyphony is quite remarkable to behold, and on this recording is quite distinctly captured, with one pair of gender to your left and one pair to your right.
RealAudio clip: GENDER WAYANG FROM TENGES KANYINAN, PLIATAN, BALI "Rebong"
RealAudio clip: GENDER WAYANG FROM TENGES KANYINAN, PLIATAN, BALI "Mesem"

V/A Java: Court Gamelan, Volume III (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
Like the first "Court Gamelan" disc, his collection of recordings comes from Yogyakarta, this time from the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, the major court in Yogya. Originally the editor of the Court Gamelan series, Robert E. Brown, intended for their to be four albums altogether, with each disc representing one of the two courts of Yogya and and of Solo, but the fourth disc has yet to be released. This recording represents the Yogya style in its most "conservative" form as the greater court experienced much less influence from the Solonese style that the court at Paku Alaman (volume 1) did. The most striking difference between this and the previous is the very loud style of playing that is typical of classic Yogya gamelan. The tracks featured hear are divided into the pieces which feature the robust playing of the louder instruments -- large metallophones (bonang, demung and saron) -- and those that showcase the softer instruments -- rebab (two stringed fiddle), suling (flute), male and female singers, gender (metallophone with small, flat keys suspended with strings over resonators and played with padded mallets) and celampung (plucked zither). Basically the two forms are mutually exclusive given that the sheer volume of the combined loud instruments effectively drowns out any quieter instruments from being heard. The contrasting transitions between loud and soft sections can be stunning, as in "Gendhing Lung Gadhung". The piece begins with a raucous procession of loud instruments played so hard you can hear the keys buzzing as they vibrate against the pins that bind them to their wooden casings. Then, suddenly the loud instruments part like storm clouds to reveal the softer instruments and vocalists. The haunting melody sung by the vocal chorus of men and women is made eerier by the varying interpretations of their parts -- so that vocal entries and cadences are staggered. This disc presents a variety of traditional and ceremonial pieces associated specifically to this court and is appropriately book ended by a piece (Gendhing Prabu Mataram) which would accompany the sultan's entrance and one (Gendhing Tedhak Saking) for his departure. Also included a wonderful 26 minute suite (itself a reduction of a two hour event) for dance, Golek Lambangsari and two shorter pieces: "Gendhing Sumyar" and "Gendhing Rangu-rangu".
RealAudio clip: GAMELAN OF KRATON YOGYAKARTA "Gendhing Sumyar"
RealAudio clip: GAMELAN OF KRATON YOGYAKARTA "Gendhing Rangu-rangu"

V/A Java: The Jasmine Isle: Gamelan Music (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
Originally released in 1969, "The Jasmine Isle" is a collection of several short pieces for gamelan interspersed with one likewise brief piece of solo gender and two of solo gambang. Not the best in the series, this one is still interesting for its inclusion of the solo recordings from both the gender and gambang, which -- despite their being two of the more subtle and refined components within the gamelan are pretty much masked by the din of the other instruments on the other recordings of Javanese gamelan in this series. The Javanese gender, with its thin bronze keys suspended by strings over metal resonators and played with padded mallets, has a strikingly different sound than the Balinese variant. The attack of the sounding notes is so soft and the sustain so long that the instrument sounds almost like an early Italian pipe organ. Like the Balinese gender, the technique is very difficult and requires simultaneous playing and damping of the keys with the pads of both hands to reduce the overlapping of tones. The gambang is a wooden instrument much like a xylophone or marimba which is also played with a pair of padded mallets. On this recording, the two gambang pieces are solo variants of two pieces also played by the entire gamelan of this disc. The pieces for gamelan here are a mix of Sundanese (West Java), Solonese (Surakarta) and Yogyanese styles.
RealAudio clip: ANONYMOUS "Pangkur (solo gender)"
RealAudio clip: ANONYMOUS "Bendrong"
RealAudio clip: ANONYMOUS "Bendrong (solo gambang)"

V/A Tahiti: The Gauguin Years: Songs And Dances (Nonesuch) cd 12.98
The second and only other disc in the Explorer series to feature the music of the South Pacific focuses on Tahiti. While -- unlike the previous South Pacific disc -- there are hulas on this collection, the author of the liner notes aims to inform that the music of Tahiti is not so much about love and easy living as the stereotypes would have everyone believe, but about war and death and a history of war and death that goes back centuries. Before the Europeans came with their diseases (not to mention their "god" and tourism) to control the island's overpopulation problems, the islanders themselves used to stage battles periodically when population problems became overwhelming. This is part of the wonderfully biting liner notes that are included with this collection. The music is just plain wonderful though, and without knowing what the people are singing about (and unfortunately the documentation for each song is lacking) you would think that all the songs are about love and easy lifestyles, fast European sports cars and scantily clad beautiful young women (see album cover.) About half of the tracks here are choruses, mostly mixed choruses of men and women, another 25% are hula or other guitar / ukulele songs and the other 25% are either a capella voice or percussion and then there's one lonesome nose flute track aptly titled "I Am Alone" (at least I think it's a nose flute.) Recorded in 1968 by Jane Sarnoff.
RealAudio clip: ANONYMOUS "Let Us Tell The Story"
RealAudio clip: ANONYMOUS "Bamboo Drums And Dance Of Summer"
RealAudio clip: ANONYMOUS "Sing Then, Dance Then"

----*
----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed :
----*

If you want to order one of these, just cut and paste the info into the comments area on the order form, or just email mailorder@aquariusrecords.org.

50 CENT "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" (Shady / Aftermath / Interscope) cd 17.98
AC/DC "Back In Black (remastered)" (Epic) cd 17.98
ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM "Antipop vs Matthew Shipp" (Thirsty Ear) cd 16.98
ATOM & HIS PACKAGE "Attention! Blah Blah Blah." (Hopeless) cd 13.98
AVARUS "III" (HP Cycle) lp 13.98
BARNES / KAJIWARA / ROSENFELD "A Water's Wake" (Locust) cd 14.98
BASHO-JUNGHANS, STEFFEN "Rivers And Bridges" (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 13.98
BRAXTON, ANTHONY "This Time" (Actuel / Sunspots) cd 17.98
BRINKMANN, THOMAS "Tina" (Max.E) 12" 9.98
BROKESCH, SUSANNE "So Easy" (Disko B) cd 14.98
BUG, THE VS. ROOTSMAN / DJ/RUPTURE "split" (Tigerbeat 6) cd 7.98
CAROLINER "Wine Can't Do It, Wife Won't Do" 2lp 14.98
COM.A "Shot Of Love" (Tigerbeat 6) cd 13.98
CONRAD, TONY "Fantastic Glissando" (Table Of The Elements) lp 16.98
COURSIL, JACQUES UNIT "Way Ahead" (Actuel / Sunspots) cd 17.98
CURRENT 93 "The Seashore Rears To Oblivion" (Durtro) cd 18.98
CURSIVE "The Ugly Organ" (Saddle Creek) cd 13.98
DALEK VS VELMA (Namskei) 12" 11.98
DATSUNS, THE "s/t" (V2) cd + dvd 12.98
DURY, BAXTER "Len Parrot's Memorial Lift" (Rough Trade) cd 14.98
ETURIVI "Ylhaisten Kastien Kelvottomat Jalkelaiset" (Verdura) cd 14.98
F/I "Why Not Now?... Alan!" (Lexicon) cd 14.98
FERRARI, LUC "Tautologos And Other Early Electronic Works" (EMF Media) cd 14.98
FINDLAY, SZAM "Die Hautfabrik" (Resonant) cd 16.98
FOLK IMPLOSION "New Folk Implosion" (iMusic) cd 11.98
FUNKI PORCINI "Fast Asleep" (Ninja Tune) 2cd 18.98
GETO BOYS "Greatest Hits Screwed And Chopped" (Rap-A-Lot) cd 17.98
GO-BETWEENS, THE "Bright Yellow, Bright Orange" (Jetset) cd 15.98
GOLDEN DAWN "Masquerade" (Napalm) cd 14.98
GOLDEN DAWN "The Art Of Dreaming" (Napalm) cd 14.98
GRAVELAND "Carpathian Wolves +4" (No Colours) cd 14.98
GUDIBRALLAN "T-Doja" (Silence) cd 14.98
HAFLER TRIO "The Monument When We Blow the Flour From Our Tongues" (Crouton Music) 10" 16.98
HAFLER TRIO, THE "Cleave: 9 Great Openings" (Nextera) cd 17.98
HOLMES, DAVID "Presents The Free Association" (13 Amp) cd/2lp 17.98/17.98
HWYL NOFIO "Hymnal" (HWYL) cd 14.98
JACOBS, HENRY "Radio Programme No. 1: Henry Jacobs' Music And Folklore" (Locust) cd 14.98
JELINEK, JAN AVEC THE EXPOSURES "La Nouvelle Pauvrete" (Scape) cd 16.98
KID LOCO "Another Late Night" (Treacle) cd 16.98
KNIFEHANDCHOP "Bling The Noize" (Irritant) cd 15.98
KOPERNIK "s/t" (Eastern Development) cd 13.98
L'INFONIE "Vol. 333" (Tir Groupe / Mucho Gusto) 2cd 21.00
LANGFORD, J AND THE SADIES "Mayors of The Moon" (Bloodshot) cd 13.98
LIAISONS DANGEREUSES "s/t" (Hit Thing) cd 15.98
MAJESTICONS, THE "Beauty Party" (Big Dada) cd 17.98
MINDFLAYER "Take Your Skin Off" (Bulb) cd 14.98
MINUS 5 "Down With Wilco" (YepRoc) cd 15.98
MONSTA ISLAND CZARS (M.I.T.) "Escape From Monsta Island" (Metal Face) cd 14.98
MURS "The End Of The Beginning" (Definitive Jux) cd 17.98
MUSLIMGAUZE "Maroon" (Staalplaat) cd 16.98
NECKS, THE "Aether" (ReR Megacorp) cd 14.98
NOWOTTNY, MARIANNE "Illusions of the Sun" (Camera Obscura) cd 16.98
OKURA, MASAHIKO / UTAH KAWASAKI / TETUZI AKIYAMA "bject" (Hibari Music) cd 17.98
PEANUT BUTTER WOLF "Badmeaningood Volume 3" (Whoa Music) cd 16.98
PELICAN "Untitled" (Hydra Head) cd ep 8.98
PUNY HUMANS "No One Will Ever Understand Our Genious" (http://www.harmful.org) cd 9.98
RAL PARTHA VOGELBACHER "Kite Vs. Obelisk" (Megalon) cd 12.98
RED THREAD, THE "After The Last" (Badman) cd 13.98
REPEAT "Pool" cd 17.98
RODEN, STEVE "Resonant Cities" (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
SAMARTZIS, PHILIP "Mort aux Vaches" (Staalplaat) cd 16.98
SCOTT, RAYMOND "Kodachrome" (Basta) cd 19.98
SCOTT, RAYMOND QUINTETTE, THE "Microphone Music" (Basta) 2cd 19.98
SOGAR "Apikal Blend" (12K) cd 14.98
SPARO, FRANKIE "Welcome Crummy Mystics" (Constellation) cd 14.98
SPECTRE "Psychic Wars" (Wordsound) cd 13.98
SPIETH, JOACHIM "Ich" (Kompakt) 12" 9.98
SPROUT, TOBIN "Lost Planets & Phantom Voices" (Recordhead) cd 15.98
TROUM "Darve Sh" (Beta-lactam Ring) 10" 14.98
TURBONEGRO "Apocalypse Dudes" (Burning Heart) cd 13.98
TURBONEGRO "Ass Cobra" (Burning Heart) cd 13.98
V/A "Bulb Singles #1" (Bulb) cd 14.98
V/A "Essential Asian Flavas" (Outcaste) cd 16.98
V/A "Mahagita: Harp and Vocal Music of Burma" (Smithsonian / Folkways) cd 16.98
V/A "Mind Expanders Volume 2" (Grey Past / Waterpipe Records) picture disc lp 25.00
V/A "Pull Up The Paisley Covers: A Psychedelic Omnibus" (Aether) cd 14.98
V/A "Sonig.ilation" (Sonig) cd 14.98
V/A "Texas Funk" (Jazzman) cd 16.98
V/A "Trojan Reggae Sisters Box" (Trojan) 3cd 16.98
V/A "Who Will Buy (These Wonderful Evils)" (Dolores / Virgin Sweden) 2cd 28.00
VENETIAN SNARES "Find Candace" (Hymen) cd/12" 15.98/9.98
VOIVOD "s/t" (Chophouse / Surfdog) cd 14.98
VUE "Babies Are For Petting" (RCA) cd ep 7.98
XIU XIU "A Promise" (5RC) cd 14.98
ZA FRUMI "Legends Act 1" (Waerloga) cd 12.98
ZEIGENBOCK KOPF "Nocturnal Submissions" (Tigerbeat 6) cd ep 10.98
ZION I "Deep Water Slang V 2.0" (Raptivism) cd 14.98



_______________________________________________________________________
NEW AQ ART EXHIBIT


M.S. WALDRON : IMMOLATING WITHOUT OXYGEN
a decade of unseen attempts

Aquarius Records, 1055 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110
March 24, 2003 - June 30, 2003
Opening Reception: Thursday March 27, 2003 - 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Images: http://aquariusrecords.org/exhibits/mswaldron.html

-----

Immolating Without Oxygen is a selection of pieces (primarily drawings and mixed media assemblage, with a smattering of paintings) generated over the last 10 years, almost none of which have been publicly displayed, and including nine recently-completed and never-before-seen objects of an embarrassingly three-dimensional nature, created specifically for this exhibit. An infantile pre-occupation with particular forms and procedures throughout this period of time, and the increasing willingness to allow them to direct outcomes, may or may not be evident.

"Most of the initial ideas appear spontaneously, and then are horribly disfigured by constant errors and miscalculations. Ultimately, the materials themselves determine the end result," expostulates M.W. without moving his lips. "I don't really understand it all that well."

M.S. Waldron was born in Toronto at the donkey-end of 1969. Through no fault of his own he was relocated to California in 1980, and has been confused ever since. In addition to his attempts at visual work, he has an audio project unwisely named "irr. app. (ext.)" , with 8 records completed so far, as well as past and ongoing collaborative projectsÊwith Nurse With Wound, Christoph Heemann, Stilluppsteypa and Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson. He is also a founding member of The Onieromantic Ambiguity Collective, a writing group active since 1998.



_______________________________________________________________________
IRR. APP. (EXT.) PUBLIC PERFORMANCE


Dear Citizen,

This message is to inform you that the first irr. app. (ext.) public performance will be taking place on March 22nd at the Temescal Arts Center in Oakland, California (511 48th street at Telegraph). Irr. app. (ext.) has maintained an excruciatingly marginal public presence for several years now, and this is the first attempt to display the full shame of it's existence before a living audience. The performance will be a pointless combination of both visual and musical performance, location recordings culled from various locations in the U.S. and Ireland, arachnid baiting, object distribution and non-linear line dancing. Also featured are the voices (pre-recorded) of AnneAnneLoriAnne Chambers, Windy Chien, Diana Rogerson and Django Stapleton. The venue is fairly small, but it is still anticipated that almost nobody will show up. Witness a public debacle of breathtaking proportions all by yourself! $5 admission (just to cover expenses). In evidence will be: the audio-mixing and sandwich-making skills Richard Karl Faulhaber; the limber mouthparts and scorpion-wrangling talents of John Scharpen; the fancy footwork and all-consuming rage of Gregory Scharpen; and the gloomy, suffocating, hope-destroying presence of M. S. Waldron.

On a related note, also in mid-March will be the opening of an exhibit of the artwork of M.S. Waldron (the first in over 10 years) by the estimable ensemble at Aquarius Records in San Francisco (1055 Valencia Street). The exhibit will feature enough work from across the last decade (and a few reproductions of pieces in overseas collections) to make you nearly gag with astonishment. Plus: nine recently-completed and never-before-seen objects of an embarrassingly three-dimensional nature will be dangled from tired walls for your heartless scrutiny. The exhibit should be running for a couple of months, or until everyone gets tired of having to look at it.



_______________________________________________________________________
BENEFIT FOR SWEET RELIEF MUSICIANS FUND


Sweet Relief is an organization which provides financial assistance to musicians in need who have no health insurance or traditional support system. Their website is http://www.sweetrelief.org/about.html


VIRGINIA DARE
---------------------- Mary O'Neil's songs feature haunting, fiercely confessional, deja-vu invoking imagery accompanied by her auto harp and the "wiggly" guitar of her husband Brad Johnson. Greg Freeman plays bass. He's famous.

BERMUDA TRIANGLE SERVICE
---------------------- Cynthia Wigginton and Adam McCauley have been in many, many popular local bands (Doubters, Little My, Bedlam Rovers, Warm Wires) but this is Cynthia's first band as the main songwriter and vocalist and their first band together. (They are also creative geniuses who once sent me a painted coconut in the mail.) Their sound could be described as moody/surfy/tropicalia. BTS also includes Robert Malta, a founder of North Bay 90's idols Paw Paw Blowtorch.

FALSA BAIANA
---------------------- Bossa nova in the Astrid Gilberto/Gal Costa/Elis Regina style, sung by the incredibly swingin Beth McKenna, and played by great musicians including her husband Rick Kvoriak of the Beatcombers, 10 Foot Five, and Shitty Shitty Band Band. Phil Hereso of Little Fuzzy plays drums, BTS's Adan McCauley plays percussion, Jeff Swartz, also of SSBB, will be playing keyboards with a broken arm and Mister Bernie Jungle (Warm Wires, Lipsey Mountain String Band) will be helping out on bass. Thanks Bernie!

*PLEASE NOTE: Virginia Dare is playing the middle slot, as it's a school night. The order will be Falsa Baiana, Virginia Dare, Bermuda Triangle Service.*

Sunday, March 16th, 2003
The Make Out Room (3225 22nd St.) 415 647 2888

The cover is sliding scale, $7 to $20 , and if you pay $12 or more, you get a free silk screened poster designed by the aforementioned Brad Johnson. It's really nice. Here's his website. http://www.jbradleyjohnson.com/



_______________________________________________________________________
AQUARIUS CO-SPONSORS FILM PROGRAMS


San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival -- March 6-16, 2003

MUSIC VIDEO ASIA : shorts progam (81min)
---------------------- Tue March 11, 9:30pm, AMC Kabuki 8 Theaters, San Francisco
A collection of twenty Asian music videos, from the Taiwanese hip-hop underground to PakistanÕs sufi-rock scene, MUSIC VIDEO ASIA provides a look at ground-breaking sounds from Tokyo to Karachi, and a fascinating exploration of Asian pop and sub-cultures. Videos include: Brain Failure (China), MC Hot Dog (Taiwan), Polysics (Japan), Puffy Ami Yumi (Japan), Wolfgang (Philippines). Tickets only at: www.ticketweb.com


DIRECTIONS IN SOUND: NOTES FROM THE ASIAN AMERICAN UNDERGROUND
---------------------- Friday, March 7, 9pm, Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco
Punk Rock Showcase:
From Monument To Masses
Piano Drag
Pete the Genius
Monumental Divide
Skyflakes

SOUTH ASIAN ELECTRONICA AND THE HIP HOP UNDERGROUND
---------------------- Saturday, March 8, 8:30pm, StudioZ.tv, San Francisco
Mutiny (NYC)
Dhamaal
Derrick D
Mike Nice
Awww Damn
Ren
Doc Fu

SOUTH ASIAN ELECTRONICA AND THE HIP HOP UNDERGROUND
---------------------- Saturday, March 15, 9pm, Agenda Cellar, San Jose
Triple Threat DJs (Vin Roc, Apollo, Shortkut)
Derrick D
Mike Nice
Fuse One
Butter B

For more details and tickets: www.naatanet.org/festival



_______________________________________________________________________
UPCOMING RELEASES


----} probably real soon but can't say when
Green Laughter 3" cd-r on Jewelled Antler
Tomes "The Dreadful Gift" 3" cd-r on Jewelled Antler
Sonic Youth / Erase Errata "Buddy Series v1.1" expensive split 7" on Narnack
Blush cd on Glitterhouse (16 HP/Woven Hand soundtrack sideproject)
Los Natas "Toba-Trance" cd on Ektro

----} delayed...
Numbers "Death Remixes Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2" 12"/cd on Tigerbeat6

----} March 11th
Califone "Quicksand/Cradlesnakes" cd/lp on Thrill Jockey
Howe Gelb "Listener" cd/lp on Thrill Jockey
Kid Koala "Nufonia Must Fall" book w/cd on Ninja Tune
Albert Ayler "Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe" cd reissue
Melvins "26 Songs" cd on Ipecac
Ani DiFranco "Evolve" cd on Righteous Babe
Soft Pink Truth (Drew Daniels of Matmos) "Do You Party?" cd
Mira Calix "Skimskitta" cd on Warp
Killer Mike "Monster" cd
Red Hot Chili Peppers remasters!

----} March 18th
Deerhoof "Apple O" cd on Kill Rock Stars
Smog "Supper" cd on Drag City
The Lord Weird Slough Feg "Traveller" cd on Dragonheart
Cave In "Antenna" cd + dvd on RCA
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks "Pig Lib" cd/lp on Matador
DJ Spooky "Dubometry" cd
M. Ward "Transfiguration of Vincent" cd on Merge

----} March 25th
Aphex Twin "26 Mixes For Cash" 2cd on Warp
Dump "A Grown-Ass Man" cd on Shrimper
Portishead "Alien" cd on Mercury
Numbers "Eh-Uh!" cd on Troubleman
Vic Chesnutt "Silver Lake" cd
Tim Hecker "Presents Radio Amor" cd/2lp
Emperor "Scattered Ashes: Decade of Emperial Wrath" 2cd best of on Candlelight
v/a "Best of the Return of the DJ" cd on Bomb HipHop
Carpathian Forest "Defending The Throne of Evil" cd on Season of Mist
v/a "Return of the Fight Club" 12" on Tigerbeat6
Yasunao Tone "s/t" cd on Asphodel
T-Love "Long Way Back" cd

----} maybe also in March
Sunn0)))) "White 1" cd on Southern Lord
Enslaved "Below The Lights" cd (also, a DVD called "Live Retaliation" is coming out too, soon)
SubArachnoid Space "Also Rising" cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
Marduk "World Funeral" full-length on Regain
Pere Ubu "The Shape Of Things" cd (live '76)

----} April 1st
The White Stripes "Elephant" cd on V2
Agoraphobic Nosebleed "Altered States of America" 3"cd on Relapse
Godflesh "Messiah" cd on Relapse

----} April 8th
Yo La Tengo "Summer Sun" cd/lp on Matador
Adult. "Anxiety Always" cd/2lp on Ersatz Audio
Autechre "Draft 7.30" cd/2lp on Warp
Portastatic "The Summer Of The Shark" cd on Merge
Set Fire To Flames "Telegraphs in Negative/Mouths Trapped in Static" cd on Alien8
Yoshimi and Yuka "Flower With No Color" cd on Ipecac
Stereolab "ABC Music...The Radio One Sessions" 2cd domestic release on Koch
The Bug "Pressure" cd on Tigerbeat6
Peter Brotzmann Group "More Nipples" cd on Atavistic
DJ Scud "Ambush" cd/2lp
Nobukazu Takemura "Songbook" cd/lp on Bubble Core
Tommy Guerrero "Soul Food Taqueria" cd/lp
Cryptopsy "None So Live" cd on Century Media

----} April 22nd
Opeth "Damnation" cd on Koch
Blithe Sons "We Walk The Young Earth" cd on Family Vineyard
Arab Strap "Monday at the Hug & Pint" cd/lp
v/a "Classic Old-Time Music" cd on Smithsonian Folkways
John Zorn "Chimeras" cd on Tzadik
Sigur Ros "Untitled 1" 10"/3"cd/dvd on Fat Cat
Pole "45/45" cdep/12" on Mute
Kaoru Abe "Last Recording 1978.8.29" cd on DIW
Adachi Tomomi Royal Chorus "Yo" cd on Tzadik (New Japan Series)
Evan Dando "Baby I'm Bored" cd on Bar None

----} April 29th
Wire "Send" cd on Pink Flag

----} in May
New Pornographers "The Electric Version" cd/lp on Matador (May 6th to be precise!)
Belle & Sebastian dvd on Matador
Surface of Eceon tba cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
Joe Pernice "Yours, Mine and Ours" cd on Ashmont
The Vanishing "Songs for Psychotic Children" cd/lp on GSL

----} in June
Dead Meadow TBA cd/2lp on Matador
The Locust tba cd on Anit/Epitaph
Cocteau Twins domestic cd remastered reissues on 4AD

----} also in the future...
Circle tba cd on Ektro
Circle "Alotus" cd on Klangbad
Ektroverde "Ukkossalama" 2cd on Ektro
Pharaoh Overlord "2" CD/LP on No Quarter
Damo Suzuki & Cul de Sac tba 2cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
P.G. Six "The Well of Memory" cd on Amish
Six Organs of Admittance tba cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
Chik Chik Chik (!!!) tba cd on T&G
Circle "Taantalums" picture disc LP (and, eventually, cd w/bonus tracks) on tUMULt
Coelecanth "The Glass Sponge"
Cul de Sac "The Strangler's Wife" OST cd on Strange Attractors Audio House
Dan Matz (Windsor for the Derby / Birdwatcher) "Carry Me Over" on Amish
Gossip tba cd/lp on KRS
Masayoshi Urabe & Gary Smith "s/t" cd on Paratactile
Mass "Mixed Media" cd on Paratactile
Oval tba cd/lp on Thrill Jockey
Solar Anus "Skull Alcoholic: The Complete Solar Anus" 2cd on tUMULt
Superchunk tba singles comp cd on Merge
Tortoise tba cd/lp on Thrill Jockey
Troum "Sigqan" cd on Desolation House
Ufomammut tba cd on TMC
Halana magazine issue number 5!



_______________________________________________________________________




Chrissie Hynde: "I'd say [Tim Buckley]'s in my top five singers of all time.
He's still sort of an unsung hero. And I met Jeff, who was a sweetheart."

Pamela des Barres: "What an awful familial tragedy." [Jeff Buckley drowned in 1997.]

Hynde: "Tragedy, yeah, but they had a good run while they were here."

des Barres: "Too brief."

Hynde: "On the other hand, they could have been here for 60 years and
done fuck all. I look on the bright side."

--- Bust, Spring 2003.


NO WAR FOR OIL.




Windy Byram Cup Allan Jim Andee Marcy and Sadie