EXPO '70 Black Ohms (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 16.98
As regular readers of the aQ list can no doubt attest to, we sure do love droning guitars. Whether downtuned and mostly motionless, or frenzied and buzzing, or blown out and shimmery, there's just something about the sound of those steel strings vibrating projected through massive walls of amplification. There's the primal primeval sound itself, the actual drone, a sound found everywhere in nature, then there's the power, the amplification, this transformed sound. The drone is most certainly linked to the machinations of life and the universe, we can only imagine, the Big Bang resulted in an aeons-long drone that hung over the nascent Earth, the sound of insects, the growls of beasts, the rumble of thunder, the white noise of the surf, all harnessed and sculpted into a more modern, more human experience of sound, into actual music. But the best drone music, with the most resonance, is the music that conflates the two. That creates a listening experience, wherein we find ourselves drifting off, sometimes to some man made universe, of songs and sounds and music, sometimes to someplace wholly other, where the music looses itself from the strictures of composition and arrangement, and is allowed to float freely, to drift. It's then, that the music maker becomes more than a musician, more than a rock band, almost more like and esoteric, ethereal wrangler of sound. The magic is creating music, that sounds like it wasn't 'created' at all, but instead, was discovered, unearthed, or if created, not from guitars and 4-tracks and drums, but from some strange energy, or some alternate universe, the sounds become glimpses into other worlds, or peeks into the music maker's soul. In creating these sorts of sounds, the listener is inexorably drawn in, and pulled quite willingly into a whole new dimension, where unlike the creator, who may have meticulously assembled the various elements, they are allowed to wander, and wonder, to float and drift and get lost, to allow the sounds to unleash emotions, to open up their mind, their hear, maybe in some cases even their soul.
As you might imagine, and we've mentioned it before, the drone is a mercurial beast, and one not wrangled easily. There are plenty of comers, who feel like once you've conjured the drone, it does the work for you, but such is not the case, as is proven time and time again, by sonic alchemists like Expo '70, whose take on the drone is less monochromatic, less one dimensional, whose dronemusic is infused with elements of krautrock, spacerock, postrock, but all woven into vast black expanses of sound.
Even more than past Expo '70 releases, Black Ohms manages to create some impossible world of sound, that is at once dark and sinister and foreboding, yet somehow dreamlike and serene, a collection of tracks woven into a seemingly continuous sonic drift, beginning with a deep, almost corrosive buzz, pulsing and undulating, shot through with streaks of melody, layered and textured, looped and hypnotic, heavy and dense and in its own minimal way, quite brutal, before giving way to something much more tranquil, a sea of glimmering, harmonics, and deep drifting tones, here the guitar is revealed as just that, a guitar, its abstract chords and minimal riffage, clipped and effected, draped in reverb and delay, and allowed to unfurl into softly propulsive rhythms, and spider web-like textures, again, infused with subtle melody, and blurred, burnished shadings.
The record wanders through miniature otherworlds of atonal melody, of machine like click and chitter, fifties computer bleeps and bloops, soft chiming jammy summer sun guitars, before returning to the deep, dark drone for a nearly 35 minute two part finale. The first part, a fifteen minute return to the sound of the album opener, the guitar again distorted and dark, not so much riffing as buzzing, a Niblockian soundscape of overtones and harmonics, a warm blackened bed for the ethereal melodic drift above, streaks of glimmering melody, soft stretches of wispy ambience, laced with an almost buried, looped guitar figure, all subtly rhythmic, a distant throb, like the pulse of some buried giant, muted and mysterious, but supporting the whole delicate structure.
The second, a 20 minute slow burn, a crystalline assemblage of barely there rhythms, deep layers of shimmering drone, this is the sound of a million dronemusic cd-r's fully realized, a smoldering chunk of minimal propulsion, rife with strange, tape speeds shift, but instead of jarring, it only manages to make the sound woozy, slightly alien, underwater, glimmering melodies, sparkling like black diamonds, fields of soft static like clouds of tiny insects, deep soft swells like the ebb and flow of some otherworldy tide.
Imagine the most minimal krautrock record you own, dubbed over and over and over onto the shittiest tapes possible, left in the sun, then played back on a car stereo, with only one woofer, but then render that in ear popping hi fi. The sound may seem murky and muted, but it is most definitely by design, there is nothing low fidelity about the sound of Expo '70, because within the meticulously and deftly obscured sound world, lurk all manner of sonic mysteries, each suspended in an impossibly beautiful blurred constellation of sound, which in turn is left to drift across a vast expanse of Black Ohms.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
MPEG Stream: "Lysergic Sunrise"
MPEG Stream: "Mind Echo Unit"

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ASBESTOSCAPE s/t (self released) cd-r 10.98
In the wake of Jesu, and about a million other shoegazey bliss-metal combos, it's a little surprising that Asbsestoscape is the first band to take that blown out dreamy heaviness to an entirely new place. Well okay, maybe not entirely, but this, the debut cd-r by this mysterious one man band is actually quite refreshing, and a handful of folks we trust are proclaiming this their record of the year. And we can see why. In a nutshell, imagine sweeping post rock epics, merged with crumbling distorted blissed out metalgaze, but now lace the whole thing with skittery programmed rhythms, bursts of stuttery jungle, stretches of shuffling downtempo grooves, it's pretty fucking great. And the sound, deconstructed, can result in two different equations, one: a metal band, a slow, fuzzy dreamy metal band, mixing in cool jungle rhythms, or two: an electronic outfit, jungle or drum and bass or whatever, incorporating guitars and post rocky melodies. Either way, the results are sublime.
But this juxtaposition, while cool, is not enough to sustain an entire record. Thankfully, Asbestoscape has a deft hand with composition too, the tracks here are dark and minor key, grand and majestic, epic and super dramatic. Instrumental of course, but never boring, the textures and melodies and rhythms more than enough to keep it interesting. It's easy to hear bits of Jesu, Mono, Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Nadja, but those sounds get their own unique twist, the deal sealed by flurries of spastic drum splatter, or mechanical minimal almost industrial rhythmic crunch. There are long slow building epics, the jangly guitars, shot through with high end streaks, underpinned by thick swells of muted heaviness, all held together by crystalline frameworks of programmed skitter, there are huge chugging metallic riffs gradually blurred into shimmering squalls of blissy buzz, some gorgeous slow burning dirges, that almost sound like a slowed down, prettier Godflesh (doing it almost better than Jesu), simple glistening stretches of stripped down post rock, wreathed in prismatic guitar jangle and a deep droney low end that sounds almost like strings, there's even a track that sounds like a post rock-ed chunk of dubstep. But it all works, and while in lesser hands the programmed rhythms could sound forced and gimmicky, they don't here, not only do they manage to sound organic, they also become an integral part of the Asbestoscape sound.
The more we listen to this, the more we dig it. And thankfully, as Jesu moves more and more toward M83's eighties retro revival, albeit heavier (a move we're not at all opposed to, btw) it seems like Asbestoscape are here to fill that void, in addition to offering up a new take on the post rock / metal sound that should have fans of any of the above mentioned bands freaking out big time.
MPEG Stream: "Arctic"
MPEG Stream: "Mono"
MPEG Stream: "Ashen"

BAKER, JOHN The John Baker Tapes, Volume 2 (Trunk) cd 16.98
Volume number Two of BBC Radiophonic workshop guru, John Baker's amazing recorded output. This time focusing on his jazz compositions, homemade electronic experiments and library music, most of it largely unheard. Less small themes and interludes than volume one, which also means less of what he made exclusively for the BBC. But that should not deter the BRW fanatics out there from picking this up. It's even stranger because it's so varied, covering his entire musical career from 1954 up until his death in 1985. Exhaustively culled from boxes and boxes of often unmarked tapes, there's homemade musique concrete pieces made early in his musical development, as well as his early recordings with a jazz combo. The jazz and library compositions (made for the Southern and Peer International organizations) are similar in form and sound to Basil Kirchin and Michael Garrick (two other Trunk luminaries), urgently spright and pastoral, sometimes soft and spacey. There is also soundtrack music for an early Ridley Scott short film, Boy on A Bicycle, and advert music, one of which we suspect the group Broadcast must have been very aware of ("Jazz Advert"). A great and essential companion to Volume One, and for anyone interested in early British electronic music.
MPEG Stream: "Requioso "
MPEG Stream: "Jazz Advert"
MPEG Stream: "Power Source "
MPEG Stream: "Pot's 'n'Pans"
MPEG Stream: "Piano Strokes"

BAUER, MATT The Island Moved In The Storm (La Societe Expeditionnaire) cd 13.98
As the temperature and leaves gradually fall into autumn, a fittingly dusky and haunting album from former Bay Area now New York based folk troubadour Mr. Matt Bauer has arrived! It's a devastating song cycle inspired by the story about the mysterious death of a girl (posthumously known as Tent Girl) which took place back in 1968 in Bauer's old stomping grounds in Kentucky. Absolutely heart-rending and beautifully realized, The Island Moved In The Storm is a wonderful progression from his 2006 Wasps And White Roses cdep. Unquestionably his best work to date! The artfully Spartan arrangements allow much room for his achingly withered voice and deeply affecting words to sink in. He was ably assisted by many musical luminaries: Elizabeth Dotson-Westphalen of St. Vincent, Alela Diane, and Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian to name a few. Fans of M. Ward, Jolie Holland, Sean Hayes and maybe even Calexico too, please take note immediately! This just may be your new favorite album and artist! Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Sheltering Dark"
MPEG Stream: "Florida Rain"

BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL Second Curved Earth Destroyer (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) 3cd-r 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The first Curved Earth Destroyer collected a handful of live Birchville performances, from all over the world, spanning enough years, that we were able to hear the gradual development of BCM, from more ethereal tripped out ambient drones, to something much more aggressive and almost metallic.
This second installment doesn't offer the same development, or such a wide breadth of sound. It's simply a collection of various stellar performances, culled from the last three years. Seven long sets, spread out over three discs, recorded all over, New Zealand, France, Australia, Hong Kong and a couple from the USA, some of the song titles sound familiar enough that they seem like variations of songs from other discs ("Dead Call Home Their Birds" instead of the other way around, "Gunpowder Church Of Satan", etc.) but it hardly matters, the sound of BCM is so gorgeous, so epic and organic, whether it's a glistening sheet of high end shimmer, or a corrosive slab of crumbling blistering crunch, the sounds are deftly stretched into expansive sonic vistas, some sun dappled and dreamy, others blackened and harrowing.
Disc 3 (no need to go in numerical order right?) features the above mentioned tracks, recorded in France and NZ, and finds BCM, aka Campbell Kneale, doing the epic Ur-drone, long tones held forever, layered and layered, both tracks washed out and shimmery, the second, almost orchestral, both completely mesmerizing, like an even more epic Sunroof!
Disc 2 begins with the 29 minute "Junkshop Rainbow Superserpent", a live collaboration with 1/3 Octave Band, the first half of the track, much more folky and abstract than usual, before building to a super dramatic crescendo of bowed metals and feeding back guitars, before unwinding into a field of bell like tones, and swooping backwards FX. Tripped out and haunting. The other two tracks, recorded in Hong Kong and NZ respectively, feature still more static ambience, the first like a cd-r minimal drone version of Arvo Part, glimmering, glistening, shimmering stretches of slow drifting sounds, soft overtones, gentle buried barely-there melodies, the second, much more lo-fi, lots of static and buzz and hiss and fuzz, but beneath it all lurk little warbly melodies, wheezing layers of whir and whisper, and a deep droning rumble.
Disc 1 is all USA, recorded in Rochester and Chicago, the Rochester track is nearly 25 minutes of slow building ambient clatter, blurred and smeared into long tones, a warm whirring drone over the top, all tangled up with low end melodies that creep in gradually, the percussive clatter transforming into a cloud of tinkling chimes wreathed by the increasingly corrosive buzz. The Chicago track is another wall of static buzz, this one spends its first half murky and muted, before blossoming into a flurry of whirling buzz and more distant tinkling chimes, before finally fading out into a super minimal lo-fi drift.
Packaged in that instantly recognizable CPSIP wallpaper style sleeve, with three inserts containing minimal liner notes for each disc, and of course SUPER LIMITED! We did get a bunch of these, but as always, these very well might be the last copies we can get, so grab one while you can...
MPEG Stream: "Dead Call Home Their Birds Live"
MPEG Stream: "Gunpowder Church Of Satan"

BIRUSHANAH Akai Yama (Level Plane) cd 10.98
We've got pretty much an AQ-fave shoo-in here, this strange Japanese band combining crusty, doooooomy heaviness with wyrd folk ritual, like Corrupted (with whom they have some membership connection) combined with Ghost. This 40 minute album, featuring three tracks (a two minute into and then two much longer pieces), starts by building up the ancient, Asian folky ambience, adorned with mysterious Scooby Doo meets Ol' Dirty Bastard kung fu mumble, all of it very much darkly psychedelic, before it gets HEAVY at about 5 minutes into the 20+ minute track two, Birushanah suddenly kicking out the lurching, kinetic riffs/rhythms along with much more wretched, raspy vokills in the Khanate vein. Tricky tribalistic percussion conspires with sinuous, strangled guitars, stopping and starting and coming down hard, on the bizarre bulk of this creepy and crushing album. One whose eerie eccentricities, rooted in traditional Japanese music, we figure should appeal to a lot of you who dug that Quest For Blood release we made Record Of The Week recently!
MPEG Stream: "Akai Yama [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Akai Yama [excerpt 2]"

BLACK ANGELS, THE Directions To See A Ghost (Light In The Attic) cd 13.98
They're never gonna be our favoritest band, but we can't help but like 'em a lot. Why not an absolute favorite? 'Cause these guys and gals from Austin, Texas, are maybe just a little bit too safe, too obviously derivative in their sound. But then why do we like 'em so much anyways? No, not because they have a song here called "Mission District", but 'cause their sound is one we love, one built on bands that ARE our faves: Spacemen 3, Loop, Joy Division, and of course the Velvet Underground, from whom they copped their name ("Black Angel's Death Song" being a track from Velvet Underground and Nico, and The Black Angels make the connection explicit by naming their publishing company Death Song). The Black Angels sure do a good job of synthesizing and celebrating their influences, creating throbbing, druggy, hypnotically repetitive spaced out psychedelic pop, full of fuzzy guitars and swirling sitars, heavy and jammy, moody and melodic too. With floating female vocals that remind us not only of Nico, but also a bit of Siouxie and the Banshees.
Directions To See A Ghost is this band's second album, the cd again packaged in a deluxe digipack, with a tactile, op-art cover design like their debut, Passover. And if you liked the music on that one, you'll like this too. What they lack in originality, they make up for in solid, sounds-like-something-we-already-know-and-love songwriting and soundmaking of the shoegazing variety. We'd especially recommend this to fans of Wooden Shjips, they definitely have something in common, a retro psych vibe with several shared inspirations. Though, the Shjips experiment more, while The Black Angels are content to emulate. That said, they do it well, and if you like what they like, this will be a satisfying listen indeed!
MPEG Stream: "You On The Run"
MPEG Stream: "Deer-Ree-Shee"

BLACK ANGELS, THE Directions To See A Ghost (Light In The Attic) 3lp 33.00
They're never gonna be our favoritest band, but we can't help but like 'em a lot. Why not an absolute favorite? 'Cause these guys and gals from Austin, Texas, are maybe just a little bit too safe, too obviously derivative in their sound. But then why do we like 'em so much anyways? No, not because they have a song here called "Mission District", but 'cause their sound is one we love, one built on bands that ARE our faves: Spacemen 3, Loop, Joy Division, and of course the Velvet Underground, from whom they copped their name ("Black Angel's Death Song" being a track from Velvet Underground and Nico, and The Black Angels make the connection explicit by naming their publishing company Death Song). The Black Angels sure do a good job of synthesizing and celebrating their influences, creating throbbing, druggy, hypnotically repetitive spaced out psychedelic pop, full of fuzzy guitars and swirling sitars, heavy and jammy, moody and melodic too. With floating female vocals that remind us not only of Nico, but also a bit of Siouxie and the Banshees.
Directions To See A Ghost is this band's second album, the cd again packaged in a deluxe digipack, with a tactile, op-art cover design like their debut, Passover. And if you liked the music on that one, you'll like this too. What they lack in originality, they make up for in solid, sounds-like-something-we-already-know-and-love songwriting and soundmaking of the shoegazing variety. We'd especially recommend this to fans of Wooden Shjips, they definitely have something in common, a retro psych vibe with several shared inspirations. Though, the Shjips experiment more, while The Black Angels are content to emulate. That said, they do it well, and if you like what they like, this will be a satisfying listen indeed!
MPEG Stream: "You On The Run"
MPEG Stream: "Deer-Ree-Shee"

BLACK BONED ANGEL Dashed Upon Stones (Battlecruiser) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've never seen Black Boned Angel Perform live, but judging from the photo on the insert of this disc, the band might owe SUNNO))) some royalties, as the image features one of the Black Boned Angels (yep, now there are three) in a monk like robe, wielding an axe, but also poised to strike a drum! But fuck it, robes were a part of rituals long before SUNNO))), and BBA have their own ritualistic thing going on. Especially considering someone is simultaneously playing guitar AND drums.
The trio of BBA, now featuring not only main man Campbell Kneale on guitar, drums and tapes, and James Kirk on guitar and "amprifier worshippo" (?), but also now Jules Desmond on bass guitar, offer up the first recorded evidence we've heard of the three piece BBA on this here super limited TOUR ONLY cd-r, we got all the copies the band had left after their Australian tour, so once these are gone, that's it.
One single track, 34 minutes, beginning with nine minutes of washed out staticky buzz. For a minute there (actually for 9 minutes) we thought this might be it. One long buzz. Which would be fine, we love that stuff, but right around the 10 minute mark, the band kick into a slow motion doomy plod, the guitars thick and viscous, the drums a simple occasional plod (dude is also playing guitar!), the trio lurch and lumber, a woozy, spaced out tar pit dirge, the guitars throbbing and crumbling, eventually, blurring into a nearly static whirl of low end sound, an industrial soundscape of muted clatter and textured buzz, smeared into a slowly decaying outro.
Again, this is CRAZY LIMITED, pretty sure it's OUT OF PRINT, and thus these are most likely, the last copies ever...
MPEG Stream: "Dashed Upon Stones"

BYETONE Death Of A Typographer (Raster-Noton) cd 17.98
It's been a while since Pan Sonic released anything new, with four years passing since their 2004 4cd boxset of crunched post-techno and electro-shock minimalism. And it's actually been even longer since we've heard anything from Raster-Noton's Byetone. That said, we didn't recall Byetone sounding so much like Pan Sonic. With the lack of Pan Sonic releases anywhere in sight, a Pan Sonic clone is as good as the real thing at this point. On Death Of A Typographer, Byetone lays down plenty of low-slung breakbeats for his caustic hiss of electricity coaxed into arpeggiated melodies (think Coh, also from the Raster-Noton camp) and disciplined basslines (again think Pan Sonic). All of the digital clicks, distortions, abrasions, and pixel-points which comprise the Raster-Noton glitch aesthetic are present, but Byetone (aka Olaf Bender) does not seem to force any of these tracks into one of the conceptual frameworks which may have hamstrung some of Alva Noto's concept-then-execution albums. As a result, Death Of A Typographer is an immediately compelling electronica record, and who the hell cares that it sounds so much like Pan Sonic?
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Star (Session)"
MPEG Stream: "Grand Style"

CROSSFACE / SCHNAUZER split (Cleveland Hardcore) 7" 6.98
How can you not love a band called Schnauzer? You can't. Not. Love them! We discovered a super fucked up looking cd in a bargain bin somewhere and bought it just cuz the band was called Schnauzer, and of course it was awesome and of course we were immediately obsessed. So here's a brand new disc from these miscreants, and just so you now what we're talking about here, the cover features a mugshot of some shifty looking dude with a wicked devillock, the songs are called "Total Lunatic" and "Blasted Beyond Belief", and here's a message for the listener in the liner notes: "Do NOT attempt top contact this band. Any efforts to do so will further agitate the members of Schnauzer. If you don't like us now, you CERTAINLY won't like us should we become angry. LEAVE US ALONE." Fuck yeah! And the sound? A furious pounding metallic hardcore, a howling vocalist that sounds a bit like Fozzy The Bear from the Muppets, filthy, cruty, blown out, heavy and MEAN as a Schnauzer!
It's a split with some Cleveland band called Crossface, who are cool, NY style hardcore, short pounding and brutal, two tracks, but it hardly matters really, it's ALL ABOUT SCHNAUZER!!!!!!!!

CRYSTAL STILTS s/t (Woodsist) cd 11.98
This is some great stripped down psychedelic garage post-punk, and we've been playing it over and over once in the shop once we finally checked it out. Turns out this was actually recorded a few years back but it fits so perfectly with some of the great releases of the last year, the way it channels the likes of Jesus & Mary Chain and Joy Division without sounding like a copycat at all. Filled with delicious reverb, smoky melodies and an overall aura of dark and cool that hits us so right. Like recent releases by Indian Jewelry, The Raveonettes, Jeremy Jay and Psychic Ills, this is a record that exudes such a seductive spell. Something so perfect about an ep from a band that is new to your ears, as all six of these songs are so great and never wear out their welcome. These New Yorkers are further proof that you can channel the ghosts of the past and still create something that sounds so present and alive. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Crippled Croon"
MPEG Stream: "The Sinking"
MPEG Stream: "Lights"

CRYSTAL STILTS s/t (Woodsist) lp 14.98
This is some great stripped down psychedelic garage post-punk, and we've been playing it over and over once in the shop once we finally checked it out. Turns out this was actually recorded a few years back but it fits so perfectly with some of the great releases of the last year, the way it channels the likes of Jesus & Mary Chain and Joy Division without sounding like a copycat at all. Filled with delicious reverb, smoky melodies and an overall aura of dark and cool that hits us so right. Like recent releases by Indian Jewelry, The Raveonettes, Jeremy Jay and Psychic Ills, this is a record that exudes such a seductive spell. Something so perfect about an ep from a band that is new to your ears, as all six of these songs are so great and never wear out their welcome. These New Yorkers are further proof that you can channel the ghosts of the past and still create something that sounds so present and alive. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Crippled Croon"
MPEG Stream: "The Sinking"
MPEG Stream: "Lights"

DEWAR, ANDREW RAFFO Six Lines Of Transformation (Porter) cd 14.98
Porter Records strikes again. And again and again and again and again... We've been overwhelmed with releases from this one-man-run label juggernaut, we might even have to hire another person just to keep up. But until that happens, we'll just have to pick our favorites, and do our best to get them reviewed and on the list. And with all the stuff Porter keeps digging up it really is difficult to pick favorites, but this one definitely hit the spot.
Two long form pieces, both composed by a youngish composer Andrew Raffo Dewar, the first, "Six Lines Of Transformation" is a sprawling drift of deep swells, soft trills, fluttering woodwinds, dizzying melodies, haunting percussion, and plenty of space. This is a swirling soft cloud of free jazz flutter, peppered with some strange music concrete, and some almost folky melodies. Nearly a half hour, beginning tranquil and a bit droney, with the various instruments, sliding down descending scales like musical rainfall, the piece gets more and more spare until the last movement when things get really strange, and players start huffing through the mouthpieces, bits of bizarre percussion surface, buzzing drones, really cool, and pretty strange for sure.
But it's the second piece that is worth the price of admission. The title says it all, "Music For Eight Bamboo Flutes", 40 minutes of layered woodwind drone, subtly shifting tones, a slowly unfurling melody spread out over the whole 40 minutes, what sounds like crickets in the background, as if it was performed and recorded outside (maybe it was?), the piece goes from soft and breathy to dense and densely layered, tons of overtones, soft fluttery high end, swirling clouds of drones and tones shifting and shimmering, swelling to intense crescendos, then drifting back down to a hushed whir, so very simple, yet richly textured, so primitive and primeval and mesmerizing and beautiful. Absolutely essential listening for the drone inclined, and jazzbos with a thing for far out, space-y and static sounds...
MPEG Stream: "Six Lines Of Transformation 1"
MPEG Stream: "Music For Eight Bamboo Flutes 1"

DON CABALLERO Punkgasm (Relapse) cd 14.98
You know these guys. A seminal outfit of the post rock ilk, one without whom... well let's just say there's a good reason they'll be namechecked in every Battles or Hella review we're or anyone else who knows what's what is gonna write. Pittsburgh's finest, the SCTV lovin' Don Cab, led by drummer extraordinaire Damon Che, are back with yet another lineup, and their second Relapse release (7th album overall if you count the singles comp). While the "metal" leanings of their 2006 Relapse debut World Class Listening Problem have been scaled back a bunch here, it's still another dazzling display of their trademark instrumental mathrock chops. Except, this time, it's not all instrumental! There's vocals on some (about a third) of these 14 tracks, and they're surprisingly melodious. (Maybe not so surprising if you've ever heard Che's other band, Thee Speaking Canaries, in which he sings and plays guitar.)
But don't worry, aside from the sometime singing, everything else is 100 percent Don Cab: Wise ass song title non sequiturs. Stop on a dime changes. Complex song structures. Unusual time signatures. Loud-soft dynamics. Proggy perplexity. And quite a lot of pretty parts too! Several tracks are much more harmonious than hectic, soundscapes with airy grooves and lulling, lovely vocals. But an album called Punkgasm can't be a total blissout, it's usually a bit busier. On most tracks, the guitars - sometimes bright and chiming, at other times heavy and distorted - mesh with precision into the spinning gears of Che's constantly percolating, plentiful percussion. Imagine a King Crimson "Projekt" gone indie rock, but better.
MPEG Stream: "Loudest Shop Vac In The World"
MPEG Stream: "Celestial Dusty Groove"
MPEG Stream: "Lord Krepelka"

DUCHESS SAYS Anthologie des 3 Perchoirs (Alien 8) cd 14.98
We're not sure what the deal is with this Canadian band, who they are, if they're folks from other bands, if they're part of some scene, but it hardly matters, the music of Duchess Says is totally fucked up and freaked out and AWESOME. Totally reminiscent of a bunch of other stuff we like, but stuff that shouldn't and probably doesn't actually fit together all that well, but here, those sounds are twisted and pounded until they do fit together. The result is a sort of mathy, new wave-y riot grrl disco prog. Or something.
The opener begins with some super disco drumming, and burbling space bass, but then launches into some fractured Melt Banana stop start mathgrind weirdness, in between these bursts of whatthefuck, the band employ rubbery bass, hushed wordless vocals, and whirling synths. The second track begins like a new wave "Tom Sawyer", with washed out synths, and simple rock drumming, peppered with bursts of super blown out bass buzz, a dirgey groove, that quickly transforms into a super propulsive dancefloor destroying groove, but still way to thick with distorted synths, fractured riffing, and angry grrrrl vocals. Elsewhere the band stretch out into some Liquid Liquid style jamz but those too eventually morph into furious frenzied blasts of metallic new wave. Folks who remember that Black Bug 7" from a while back, this almost sounds like the full length they should have (or maybe will) make. Or maybe imagine a slightly dancier VSS with a female vocalist, or a female Six Finger Satellite - they even cover 6FS's "Rabies (Baby's Got The)", this is just fucking awesome! These folks must be so amazing live. Heavy and funky and fuzzy and new wave and angular and mathy and metallic and punk rock and fucked up and fun. Quickly becoming one of our new favorite records...
MPEG Stream: "Tenen No Neu"
MPEG Stream: "Ccut Up"
MPEG Stream: "La Friche"

FUCKED UP Year of the Pig (Matador) cd ep 6.98
We always wanted to like Fucked up. C'mon, their called Fucked up! Plus the band members have names like Pink Eyes, 10,000 Marbles, and Mustard Gas. But when we got down to listening to them, they just sounded like regular old punk rock. Definitely cool, but nothing enough to warrant all that hype. If we wanted punk rock, we'd take Pissed Jeans before Fucked Up (both bands that were reviewed in the NY Times, with neither name deemed fit for publication, and thus each band got written up without their band names EVER being mentioned!), the vocalist too, had a definitely sort of Scissorfight howl that put us off a bit, but that all changed when we heard "Year Of The Pig". A nearly twenty minute piano laced jam, that features angelic female vocals, that aforementioned howl, simple shuffling drums, the whole thing erupting into some serious almost Killdozer-y noiserock jams, the whole thing surprisingly proggy, with tons of weird dynamics, warbly organ, freaked out drumming, strange arrangements, a long stretch of almost krautrocky garage rock groove, culminating in another noise drenched chaotic psychrock blowout. We're definitely gonna have to revisit their Hidden World full length now.
Formerly vinyl only, "Year Of The Pig", the cd version is packed with extra tracks, b-sides, and alternate edits of "Year Of The Pig", one for each region: US, UK and Japan. The B sides / extra tracks are much more punk rock, sort of how we remember Fucked Up sounding, but we're actually digging it more now. The vocals especially, a bit Lee Ving from Fear, a bit Killdozer, perfectly suited to Fucked Up's ramshackle punk rock frenzy. The edits are cool too, the Japanese one tending toward a more murky blurry blissy sound, the US and the UK leaning heavily on the female vocals, but each ending with a blast and a rrrooooaaar. We may weigh in on the full length eventually, but for even doubters like us, Fucked Up absolutely destroy with "Year Of The Pig".
MPEG Stream: "Year Of The Pig (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Year Of The Pig (excerpt 2)"

HARRY PUSSY Live In Austin (Sister Skull Rekkids) cd-r 11.98
Who doesn't love Harry Pussy? Actually probably a lot of folks, but don't count us among them. One of the finest noise rock bands ever, with a strange flair for infusing their racket with something special, not melody necessarily, or musicality, something more ineffable, and something much more abrasive and harsh. But heck, female fronted noise rock was a rarity back then (and still is sadly), and Adris Hoyos, was a whirling dervish of damaged drumming and freaked out vocalizations, and their sound was totally unique, a stumbling super distorted acid fried feedback drenched blow out, and this here disc captures the band at their best, live and out of control, on their last tour, live in Texas in 1998.
The music is amazing of course. Fucking heavy as shit, a maelstrom of drum chaos and super distorted guitars, the recording SO in the red, but the best part is probably Adris' crowd baiting, so much shit talking, calling the crowd a bunch of assholes who dress like jocks, but in the same breath trying to pimp shirts and records, usually met with a chorus of "FUCK YOU"s, before launching back into an explosion of fucked up glorious pounding noise rock.
LIMITED TO ONLY 100 COPIES, but beautifully packaged in a full color sleeve, with a cool printed insert.
MPEG Stream: "Live In Austin (excerpt)"

HI-GOD PEOPLE / ZOND split (Spanish Magic) lp 29.00
The problem with a split lp featuring two bands who are somewhat unfamiliar, when there is no specific info on the record labels or cut into the grooves on the vinyl, is deciding which band is which, going on number of track (here both bands have three), instrumentation (HGP list no instruments, Zond have a guy credited with skateboard, which seemed like it would be a dead giveaway but sadly we could hear no skateboard), but then, usually we decide fuck it. It doesn't really matter until you decide you need more by either / both bands, which unfortunately (or fortunately!) you probably will after listening to this twisted slab of sonic weirdness.
We'll tackle the B side cuz that's what we threw on first, and we'll assume that this is actually Zond, who we have never heard before, but are digging BIG TIME. Super distorted and blown out, sludgey dirgey noise rock, howled vocals barely audible over the din of downtuned riffage and in-the-red psychrock squalls, the drums a buried muffled pound, the whole thing a churning, grinding, gloriously filthy trudge. Maybe imagine a more Dead C-ish Brainbombs and you'd be close. That is until the extended final track, the eschews all the damaged outrock that came before, and offers up a stretched out expanse of buzzing shimmering ambient drone, not really tranquil, still a bit noisy, a little off kilter, the sounds bathed in distortion, wrapped in feedback, but stretched out into a weirdly hypnotic noisescape.
So working under the assumption, that the B side is Zond, then the A side must be Hi-God People, who we have heard once before on a split with none other than the Dead C, but the sound here is dramatically different, which is probably what threw us off in the first place. The first and longest track, is a sort of fractured free folk, detuned acoustic guitar twang, sitar like buzz, crooned atonal vocals, wreathed in shimmery effects, swirling clouds of wah wah guitar, strange bleepy bloopy ambience, it almost sounds like some sixties hippy jam, but completely fried and fractured. A more spaced out, free folk, No Neck, or maybe a Sunburned Hand / Avarus musical summit. Until the track slips into something a little different, unleashing more of a krautrock vibe, a subtle pulsing propulsive jam, underneath all of the twisted twang and abstract strum.
The second track is much more abstract, a tripped out buzzy dronescape with random clattery percussion, wheezing organs, swooping melodies, fluttery woodwinds, all very creepy and somewhat cinematic, finally finishing off with the brief closer, a gorgeous, hazy, druggy buzz drenched psych jam, that begs for a whole 'nother side for it to drift and unwind.
Good stuff, from both bands, whichever is which. Super limited of course, and housed in super swank hand screened sleeves!

HIGH MOUNTAIN TEMPEL The Glass Bead Game (Lotus House) cd 7.98
Part three in the ongoing series of limited cd-r explorations from mysterious drone combo High Mountain Tempel, and like the two before it, the band continue to delve into some murky sonic underworld, again presenting loooong songs, each separated by brief sonic interludes, this disc seems feature more actual vocals, the opening track features a processed voice, that sounds a bit like throat singing, or a Speak And Spell, intoning some arcane message, interwoven with long drawn out tones, and a thick ropy buzz, super dark and intense and atmospheric. Elsewhere sampled voices surface, there are bits of chanting here and there, all peppered throughout the disc. But even with the extra voices, the focus here is still on dark, lugubrious, extended dronescapes.
The sound of High Mountain Tempel is probably closest to Expo '70, as their various permutations of dronemusic seem to have a definite krautrock vibe, that gives the sound a sort of spaced out quality, and a subtle propulsion, but unlike Expo '70, HMT seem to have a distinct Eastern influence, much of the music is meditative and subtly dramatic, a bit soundtracky, and some of it sounds like it could be Japanese. Especially the way field recordings are incorporated into the sounds. Giving everything a definite texture, some of it sounding like it was perhaps recorded live in some hilltop temple. Which we would imagine is the idea.
Not sure what else to say actually. This is indeed fantastic, brooding and malefic, but also shimmery and dreamy, sonically it has much in common with the first two installments, so definitely check out those reviews to read more about their 'sound'.
Needless to say, fans of the drone and folks into the current crop of cd-r soundscapers will for sure dig this, but like the other HTM discs, this is more than simple drone music, this is ritualistic alchemical soundwork, one can almost imagine stumbling across a group of cloaked figures huddled around a fire in a forest clearing, tossing various powders into the flames, causing the fire to change color and cast beastlike shadows on the branches above, and this is the sound filtering through the forest like a black moonlit fog...
SUPER LIMITED of course, packaged beautifully in a foldover silkscreened sleeve, gold metallic on red on the outside, black on red on the inside.
MPEG Stream: "Humming In The Night's Skull"

HILL, MATT / DUANE PITRE / JUSTIN WRIGHT (EXPO '70) Live At The Pistol Social Club+ (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
***Expo '70 alert*** ***Expo '70 alert*** ***Expo '70 alert***
That's right, we're sounding that alert 'cause you might not know these names... suffice to say though that Justin Wright is better known (to AQ customers) as the guy behind Expo '70, whose new full-length cd Black Ohms happens to be our Record Of The Week this list. And Matt Hill is his touring partner, whom you've seen together with Wright if you caught 'em recently in SF at the Hemlock with Wooden Shjips, or elsewhere on tour. Also, their pal Duane Pitre is another guitar-wielding dronester with tendencies in line with the cosmic Expo '70 aesthetic. The prolific Expo '70 being an outfit we've continually championed as they constantly amaze us with their sooooo gorgeous, '70s krautrock inspired, spaced out instrumental drone musick.
There's four tracks here on this solid black cd-r. The seventeen minute long track one, finds Wright, Hill and Pitre playing together, droning out mightily, live at someplace called The Pistol Social Club. The credits have 'em all playing guitar, all responsible for "textures, drones", with Pitre also on "prepared percussion, disjointed lines" and Wright handling "melodic lines" as well. It starts as a hushed ambient soundscape, at once spacious and intimate, hesitantly melodic and repetitiously trancelike; raw, rough edges softened by gentle whirr, their guitars' volume gradually increasing, eventually building into a quite dense, distorted finale.
Then there's one track apiece from Hill, Pitre, and Wright. Hill's seven minute contribution is all acoustic guitar and field recordings, sparse pickings and pluckings, sounding like a broken music box, crank turned at half-speed, backwards, amidst nighttime insect buzz. Unidentifiable crackle, rustle, and hiss infuse the plinking proceedings, which could be a mellowed out Derek Bailey with Jewelled Antler production. Pitre's piece, "Motorized Music for Electric Guitar (live)" is what that says: a live performance, at a church in Brooklyn, with Pitre applying a "handheld high-speed rotary tool" to the strings of his electric guitar. The result is a twelve minute Niblockian drone divine, slow-building and shimmery. Wonderful. And then Wright bats cleanup, ending the disc with a live improv guitar piece featuring the use of two amps, and, we're told, a squeaky chair. It's ten and a half minutes of dreamy, subtle cosmic throb and drift, with sci-fi electronic FX whispering from outer space to swirl around this piece's glowing meditative center. So nice.
For Expo '70 fans and anyone into the guitar-drone-zone, this here's a varied four-part treat indeed!
MPEG Stream: HILL / PITRE / WRIGHT "Live At The Pistol Social Club April 29th, 2007"
MPEG Stream: DUANE PITRE "Motorized Music For Electric Guitar (live)"

HOLLOWAY, IAN A Lonely Place (Quiet World) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Earlier in 2008, we received a fantastic collaborative project from Darren Tate, Ian Holloway, and Banks Bailey. At the time, we were well acquainted with the work of Darren Tate, thanks to his ongoing British drone eccentricities as Monos and his former Ora project with Andrew Chalk, Colin Potter, and others; but Ian Holloway and Banks Bailey were two whose work we didn't know anything about. Thanks to a suggestion from a long time customer here at the shop, we looked into the solo projects from Mr. Holloway; and damn if that tip didn't pay off with this fantastic cd-r (with more to come from Holloway in the coming weeks!). Self-released in a tiny edition of 50 copies, A Lonely Place is a breathtaking composition for time-stop dronemusik, achieving a similar stasis and similar dark beauty as Andrew Chalk did on his masterpiece East Of The Sun. It's hard to say what Holloway used as a source material for the album -- maybe guitar, maybe long-thin wire constructions, maybe field recordings, or maybe not. Like plenty of dronemusik before, it's the production that guides Holloway's success, as his deft manipulation of acoustics and electronics generates smoke, fog, and mirrors through sound that result in this amazing piece of long-form drone-smear. There's billowing swells of deep architectural space. Kosmiche electronics, rasping gong tones stretched toward infinity, and subharmonic thrumb swaddled in soft focus reverb. Think Expo '70 gone ashen black or Aidan Baker's ambient work at his most somber. Altogether wonderful, altogether very limited.
MPEG Stream: "A Lonely Place (extract 1)"
MPEG Stream: "A Lonely Place (extracy 2)"

IRR. APP. (EXT.) Aspiring To An Empty Gesture Vol. 1 (Errata In Excelsis) cd-r 13.98
When M.S. Waldron is not gallivanting around the world in the touring ensemble of Nurse With Wound, this Californian audio alchemist has occasionally staged his own luminous and deranged performances as irr. app. (ext.). Waldron has been able to generate a very consistent catalogue of recordings whilst living in his humble abode in the Santa Cruz foothills, but the number of live performances from irr. app. (ext.) have been erratic (if not ecstatic) to say the least. Despite the paucity of irr. app. (ext.) gigs, Waldron has been able to wrangle plenty of talented folk into his maddening collection of sounds, including longtime irr. app. (ext.) associate R.K. Faulhaber, Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapleton, aQ's own Jim Haynes, the Scharpen brothers (John and Greg), and a few others who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Or maybe wrong time and wrong place, depending upon how you look at it.
An irr. app. (ext.) recording can be a curiosity of audio surrealism where a sense of dread or unease or comedy or beauty bleed through the cross pollination of many sounds within the digital workstation. However, the irr. app. (ext.) live performances are purposefully theatrical, full of bizarre props, instruments, costumes, films, and even culinary delicacies. Waldron and co. operate a series of contraptions that are always on the brink of falling apart, leaving the participants dangerously close to being stuck up on stage with a bunch of broken toys that don't do anything. Perhaps even more so than Nurse With Wound, irr. app. (ext.) seeks to recreate the absurdity of surrealist and dada theater from the early 20th century in a modern day context.
Aspiring To An Empty Gesture Vol. 1 documents the handful of irr. app. (ext.) performances in recent years with one of Waldron's live contributions for Nurse With Wound thrown in for good measure. The irr. app. (ext.) live sound veers from creaky audio collage from found objects clacking away like an ill-tempered frog chorus with bursts of noise and squiggled gestures for comic relief; but Waldron throws in an oddly minimal prog freakout, tossing back to one of his other big influences alongside NWW, that being King Crimson. Hence, you'll find a very low-tech skronk of mutant basslines, analogue synth squiggle, and scraped percussion. The NWW track is stellar, in part thanks to the deft production grafted onto the sounds by Colin Potter. Waldron wraps up the collection with a version of The Residents proto-synth-punk 'hit' "Smelly Tongues." While just a cd-r, we've been told this might not be a limited production; but then again, it might be and could disappear at any time.
As with all irr. app. (ext.) productions, this one comes highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Two Golden Microphones"
MPEG Stream: "Serenade For Narcoleptic Grave Robbers"
MPEG Stream: "Smelly Tongues"

ISIS Live IV - Selections 2001-2005 (Robotic Empire) 2lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We only got a handful of these, so odds are they will be gone quick, as the last volume disappeared in the blink of an eye. This long in the works vinyl version of the now out of print cd is finally available, but not for long
There was a time not so long ago, where the idea of mixing metal with post rock was a unique one. The thought of taking massive slabs of downtuned heaviness and mixing 'em up a bit with some moody rhythmic bits or some angstful angular bits was just a flight of fancy. A whole slew of metal bands influenced as much by Slint as Neurosis? Hardly. Well, here we are, 2008, and you pretty much can't turn around without bumping into a post rock metal band, or a metallic post rock band. Which is okay, cuz it's a sound we can definitely get behind, in fact we've been championing that sort of stuff for ages, maybe even before it had a name or was an actual musical movement. Isis were definitely one of the first of this new breed of metallic post rockers, and as such continue to hone their sound, push the boundaries and give all those young whippersnappers something to shoot for. The last proper full length was epic and majestic. A deft Neurosis / Godspeed hybrid. Expansive and majestic, but controlled and precise. Some folks have labeled it intellectual metal or something similar, but for us, it's just heavy, and complex, cinematic and gorgeous kick ass rock. In addition to proper releases, Isis have released a series of live recordings, capturing the band live, where, not only do they sound slightly heavier, and a little bit more loose (a good thing), they also stretch out, and let the songs breathe, let riffs repeat, add parts, even improvise, from dark moody drones to blown out space jams. It's awesome to hear a band at the top of their game, a band who seem to be all about control, let loose and just rock (or drone or shuffle or whatever). Live Selections 2001-2005 is the 4th live release so far, and collects material from 2001 through 2005, including on air radio performances, as well as live shows from the Troubadour, CBGB, the Middle East and more. Of all the live records, this is probably the loosest and weirdest. The songs sound great (of course) but the band takes way more chances, parts are twisted and stretched out, long parts turn into epic jams, there's even a lengthy improv / jam loosely inspired by Nirvana's "Endless Nameless". The songs sound fantastic, epic, soaring, heavy, brooding, beautiful, great recordings, amazing sound, essential for Isis fans for sure.
But the packaging, wow! Custom letterpressed gatefold jackets, really minimal and quite striking, we have the HONEY colored vinyl, a sort of translucent brown, limited to 524 copies, we only got about 10 of those, so act fast...
MPEG Stream: "Gentle Time"
MPEG Stream: "Glisten"
MPEG Stream: "Improv 1 / Endless, Nameless"

KAWABATA MAKOTO & MICHISHITA SHINSUKE Basement Echo (Important) cd 14.98
Attention Japanese psych fans!!! All bow and bear witness to the divine collaboration between two pillars of modern Japanese psych, Kawabata Makoto, temple lord of Acid Mothers Temple, and Michishita Shinsuke, frontman of LSD-march! Blown out, fuzzed out, and tripped out, this monumental collaboration delivers much of what you'd expect from these two long-haired masterminds, spastic improv, dueling electric guitar, unearthly walls of damaged freak-out. Recorded live in Sapporo, Japan, Basement Echo is completely unedited and improvised, a true documentation of, like, two generations of Japanese underground meeting for the first time!
MPEG Stream: "Good Morning Dragon"
MPEG Stream: "South Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Pink New York"

NEU! Neu! ( Gronland) cd 16.98
A few years back, we were ecstatic 'cause seminal krautrockers Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger had at long last (after an uncomfortable decade-plus of legal wrangling) patched up whatever their differences were, in order to allow their three classic '70s albums to be officially released on cd for the first time! Hallelujah! Unfortunately, those reissues on Astralwerks then went out of print, again. Argh. How are we supposed to do our job, recommending essential stuff like Neu!, when the record labels can't keep these albums available?? We've got Harmonia and Cluster but it's a shame not to have Neu!... Well thankfully, there's been a new Neu! reissue program on the Gronland label. And Neu!, Neu! 2, and Neu! 75 are back in print and back in stock, for a new generation (and those who missed out before) to enjoy.
For those of you not already Neu!-savvy, these are the guys responsible (along with Kraftwerk, with whom guitarist Rother and drummer Dinger once played - that's how they met, before splitting to form Neu!) for the "motorik" beat, the propulsive, autobahn-friendly, proto-punk electronics hybrid that has influenced countless bands. From big fans Bowie and Eno back in the seventies to the hundreds of postrock/electronica acts that namecheck them now, Neu! are gods. Negativland not only got their name from a Neu! song off the first album, but even the name of their label, Seeland, comes from a track off of 75. Indeed, some bands have built their entire careers on, uh, paying homage to Neu! (Michael Rother, quoted in Mojo magazine: "I went to a Stereolab concert once. Suddenly I had the impression I was listening to myself -- very strange!")
Neu! 1 (1971) is a stunning work of art, drifting back and forth between the stripped down minimal kraut-pop that they're most commonly associated with, to long, spacey and psychedelic forays with lapses into musique concrete like moments with lapping water, children and jackhammers. Their sound could be most closely compared to early Kraftwerk or Cluster. In fact, the track "Im Gluck" sounds an awful lot like both Kraftwerk's "Radioland" and, believe it or don't, the beginning preamble to Rush's "Xanadu." Whether these two had Neu! in mind when they worked these songs out remains to be proven, but it's nice to think of such dissimilar groups drawing from the same well.
MPEG Stream: "Im Gluck"
MPEG Stream: "Weissensee"
MPEG Stream: "Negativland"

NEU! Neu! 2 (Gronland) cd 16.98
Neu! 2 could possibly be considered the world's first "remix" album, as a good portion of it features "varispeed" versions of previously released Neu! material. They ran out of studio time/money, so the story goes, and after recording two songs for a single ended up making alternate versions by playing the record itself at 16 rpm and 78 rpm - you can even hear the needle drop and the record player bumped into - and doing similar remixes of tracks off of the first album with a cheap tape player. 2 wasn't considered the best Neu! album back in the day, but it actually stands test of time quite well (even better than 75) and boasts the acclaim of having had a track used on the soundtrack for the English dubbed version of "The Master Of The Flying Guillotine" (those who spent countless hours of their childhood watching Kung Fu Theater will know well the One Armed Boxer and his travails.)
MPEG Stream: "Fur Immer"
MPEG Stream: "Lila Engel "
MPEG Stream: "Super 16"

NEU! Neu! 75 (Gronland) cd 16.98
The critical status quo qualifies Neu! 75 as the best of their three albums, simply because it is the most musically adept and possesses the most studio polish. While we here at Aquarius are not going to deny that Neu! 75 isn't a great and pretty much required album, we disagree that this is their best work.
The two previous albums were infused with a bold spirit of experimentations that led to the mutable pace of the motorik grooves on "Negativland" (from Neu! 1), and the idiosyncratic "remixes" from Neu! 2. While Klaus Dinger's percussion remains unchanged from the first two releases, Michael Rother moves away from the risk-taking agendas from the first two albums, to a more commonplace rock schtick. Rother's guitars hold a greater range of dynamics with beautifully soaring Pink Floyd-esque harmonics to gritty aggro / glam rock power chords, but his insistance on singing much more maybe isn't a great idea... As previously mentioned, Neu! was a profound influence on David Bowie; thus, it is not a coincidence that Neu!'s "Hero" (from Neu! 75) predates Bowie's "Heroes" by a good two years!
MPEG Stream: "Hero"
MPEG Stream: "Emusik"

NUGENT, CIAN Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter (Incunabulum) cd 14.98
We first heard Cian Nugent on the recent volume of Tompkin Square's Imaginational Anthem series. For such a young newcomer (he's still a teenager!) to the ever crowded solo acoustic scene, his track was a highlight among the more seasoned performers like Steffen Basho-Jungens and R. Keenan Lawler. Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter documents a live performance (his fourth ever!) in Nugent's home town of Dublin, Ireland. Released on Jozef Van Wissem's Incunabulum imprint, the performance showcases the talent that has folks turning heads. Sweetly beautiful melodies that swing and swirl into complex and melancholic knots. Of course the Takoma influences are ever-present but they lean toward Leo Kottke rather than John Fahey in using early American song-form structures. Yet Nugent's playing also draws from Davy Graham's folk-blues raga style as well as Balkan gypsy rhythms that offer something slightly different than we've heard before. Something wonderously ineffable that we can't quite put our fingers on, but makes us ever curious to hear more.
MPEG Stream: "I Will Take The Top Of A Tall Cedar And Break Off A Tender Sprout"
MPEG Stream: "The Emerald Tablet"

OMIT Interceptor (Helen Scarsdale) 2cd 17.98
Omit is the longstanding project of New Zealand's finest electron technician Clinton Williams, who dropped out of high school close to two decades ago and holed himself up in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere New Zealand to wrangle with analogue synthesizers, 8-track tape decks, unruly drum machines, and a small army of effects pedals. There was a time in the '90s when Williams' output was ridiculously prolific, through countless cassettes in tiny editions and a handful of lathe-cut singles. His work caught the attention of the Dead C's Bruce Russell, who was so taken by Williams' work that he collaborated with the man as Dust/Omit and released a handful of discs through Russell's seminal Corpus Hermeticum imprint. Upon the release of the 1997 3cd boxset Quad, Williams' Omit project began to slow down tremendously. The quality of work had certainly continued, but the wealth of releases was considerably diminished. In 1999, there was Interior Desolation, brilliant with its squealing pigs adding to electronic claustrophobia. Then Anomalous released Rejector in 2002; and Helen Scarsdale had the honor of releasing the epochal darkness of Tracer (2005), and now the skeletal rhythmicist drones on Interceptor.
Working in isolation has lead Williams to develop a language which is entirely his own, yet exhibits a curious convergent evolution with many of the other greats in DIY electronics - most notably Chris Carter from his days in Throbbing Gristle, Mika Vainio and his early hyper-minimal phaseshifting experiments in post-techno, and the gaping proto-industrial paranoia of Klaus Schulze. His work is simultaneously ponderously huge and effortlessly simple, as his sounds hover along intertwining sweeps of synthetic ambience grafted to simple rhythmic structures. The saddest melodies in the world poke through Omit's cold and barren surfaces, accenting the isolationist tendencies already inherent in these sounds. Interceptor is a slight detour in the Omit aesthetic, and the detour was by design as Williams had ventured outside of his hometown of Blenheim in search of a job. But he also brought two suitcases of gear with him to continue his recording. The frustrations he felt in his failure to secure employment are matched in the bleak gestures found on Interceptor. Williams had stripped away much of the grandiose sweeps of ambience and shadow, leaving behind a life-support system grid of overlapping, phase-shifted blip and click. An undertow of hypnotic tonalities pulls those rhythms towards a crepuscular gloom, which as with all of Omit's work are effortless in their compositional appearance. Anybody, and we mean ANYBODY, who has a passing interest in electronic music - contemporary, historic, surreal, arcane, Warp-ish, Kompakt-ish, or otherwise - has got to do themselves a favor and investing the time into Omit. The rewards are infinite from this under recognized, autodidactic genius.
MPEG Stream: "LockNut Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "POD 4 Lander"
MPEG Stream: "Loop ReBounder"
MPEG Stream: "SkiMMEr"

OXBOW (FEAT. JUSTIN BROADRICK & STEPHEN O'MALLEY) Presents: Love's Holiday Orchestra: Supersonic 07 (Capsule) lp 14.98
We won't get into too much detail with this one, as we only got about 20 copies of this vinyl-only release direct from the band, and as far as we know this puppy is crazy limited and we most likely won't be able to get more.
Two different sides of longtime aQ faves Oxbow, recorded live at the Supersonic festival in 2007.
The A side features a handful of Oxbow tracks, all stripped down and acoustic - just acoustic guitar, and the wild feral mewling of frontman Eugene Robinson. And you would think that playing stripped down and acoustic would make it sound more mellow, less frenzied and intense, but it doesn't. In plenty of places, it's like the guitar isn't even there, it's definitely Eugene's show. A wild caterwaul that even somehow gets the crowd shouting along. Intense and emotional, darkly intimate, but still strangely sinister and explosive. Essential for sure for all Oxbow fanatics.
But it's the flipside that will probably make this disappear in no time. A side long jam, that begins much like the A side tracks, simple urgently strummed acoustic guitar, and those primal vocals, until the guests make their presence known, Stephen O'Malley from SUNNO))), and Justin Broadrick from Jesu / Godflesh, the bass player from God, and even a string quartet. When those folks join the fray, it sounds almost like you might imagine, the acoustic guitar and vocals, buried under moaning strings and sheets of soaring blissed out high end, streaks of glistening feedback, crumbling rumbling swells of downtuned amp melting grind, thick sheets of buzz and shimmer, all draped over the haunting acoustic Oxbow musical drama unfolding beneath. Pretty amazing. Here's hoping these guys stopped by a studio to capture more of this stuff. But until that happens, this will most likely be your only chance to hear Oxbow's twisted, frenzied, so called "Love's Holiday Orchestra".
Beautifully packaged in super thick black matte sleeves, with silver metallic printing, with an insert featuring photos of the evening's festivities, as well as Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner's recollection of the evening's festivities... which according to Eugene, leaves out the critical part where they left him for dead, knocked out and unconscious on the stage!

PRAM The Moving Frontier (Domino) cd 14.98
Feels like it's been forever since Pram came out with a record, and while The Moving Frontier has been floating around Europe for the last year, it's finally getting its domestic release here in the States. Luckily they made the wait well worth it, as this is Pram at their most lush, vivid and cinematic. Sitting somewhere right between the melodic and bubbly elements of Broadcast and Stereolab and the moody elegance of Portishead, Pram have crafted a record that is much more concerned with creating an overall mood and sensation than it is being a vehicle for pop singles. In many ways Rosie Cuckston's breathtaking vocals serve as another layer to the rich instrumentation that shapes the record. And in fact a big portion of this record is instrumental. We can't help but think of what kind of dreamy and darkly whimsical film this could be the perfect score for. At times it would be the perfect soundtrack for some incredible underground version of a James Bond film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, other times its shimmering beauty and soft swirling psychedelia could be the perfect score for some lost Czech New Wave film of the '60s. As suspenseful and hypnotic as it is sophisticated and gorgeous, this is one of Pram's finest moments!
MPEG Stream: "Salt & Sand"
MPEG Stream: "Moonminer"
MPEG Stream: "The Silk Road"

Q65 Nothing But Trouble (Rev-Ola) cd 16.98
Q: Do you love '60s psych/beat/garage stuff?
Q: Do you have any Q65 records?
If your answer to Q1 is Yes, and your answer to Q2 is No, then YOU MUST BUY THIS, NOW! It's that simple.
Q65 were Holland's version of the Rolling Stones, seriously just as good. They had the hair, they had the hooks, they had the attitude. Even though they somehow never got huge outside of their own small country. Other good comparisons would be to the Yardbirds, and especially the Pretty Things. If you like the Pretties, make sure you get hip to Q65, and here's just the ticket. This brand new compilation brings together 24 crucial cuts from the Q65, spanning their career from early 1966 singles and their magnificent debut album of killer R&B freakbeat entitled Revolution, to the even more mindblowingly psychedelic stuff they cut afterwards, up through '68. It's a true labor of love from Q65's fans at Rev-Ola, as you can tell from the fancy full-color, 22 page cd booklet, and you'll know why when you hear their songs. There's 24 good reasons here that the back cover blurb so accurately states: "You need this cd more than you need food"! From crunching garage fuzz stompers like "Cry In The Night", "Summer Thoughts In A Field Of Weed", and the Who-ish "I Got Nightmares" with its Bo Diddley beat to the much moodier, more melancholic vibes of the likes of "World Of Birds" and "Sour Wine"... wow, man. Feast on this.
They could easily compete with any of the British bluesrock acts of the era (witness their fine covers of "Spoonful", "I'm A Man", etc.), and also any of the most savage Nuggets action out there. When they tripped out in post-Sgt. Peppers agonized ecstasy, they were just as effective. With the tough but melodic vocals of Wim Bieler leading the charge, backed by the wailing axe of guitarist Frank Nuyens (responsible for the post-Q65 solo album Rainman, the reissue of which we highlighted here not long ago), Q65 were a raw, energetic, psychedelic force to be reckoned with. We recommend you reckon with them now if you haven't already.
MPEG Stream: "Cry In The Night"
MPEG Stream: "So High I've Been, So Down I Must Fall"
MPEG Stream: "I Was Young"

REPLACEMENTS, THE Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (Rhino) cd 17.98
What to say about the Replacements? Their history has been pretty well documented. By the end, they were everywhere, MTV, magazines, with a sound that had almost nothing in common with the records that made them the legends they so rightfully are. One guy died, one has gone on to a middling solo career, one is even in the current incarnation of Guns N' Roses. None of that means anything though when faced with the pure pop genius of their first 5 records, 4 of which just got reissued with tons of bonus tracks. We always just assumed that everyone loved the Replacements, cherished their beat up copy of Let It Be (Replacements not the Beatles), put "Answering Machine" on every mix tape, and the thought of writing about a band like that is pretty daunting. Definitely one of those instances where it seems like shouting "these guys rule!!!! Buy this now!!!" should suffice. And there's the fact that there are tons of kids listening to bands who ripped off bands who ripped off the Replacements and might not even know it.
Replacements fans are a pretty obsessive bunch, so we won't even bother talking in any depth about the bonus tracks, needless to say, beyond the usual alternate takes, there are some serious gems and a couple Holy Grail type tracks. But for folks new to the band, fuck the bonus tracks, the record themselves are practically perfect. Or at least perfectly imperfect. Anyone who ever saw the Replacements knows you had a fifty / fifty chance of seeing either the best show of your life, or the most insanely shitty show ever, and the records while not quite that haphazard, are just haphazard enough to keep that sort of excitement going. None of the tracks are perfect, the band is always loose, really loose, and the songs are always on the verge of total collapse, but the songs are catchy, and the lyrics are awesome, sometimes snotty and funny, other times poignant and bittersweet. In an age of genres, it's weird to listen to a band that is essentially their own genre. Beyond being just a rock band or a pop band, they are the Replacements and nearly 30 years on they still RULE.
Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash was their first proper full length, and is a corker. Definitely punk rock, but still infused with incredible hooks, catchy beyond belief, but super raw and frenetic, some of their best songs EVER: the kick ass rocker "Takin' A Ride", the furious punk rock jam of "Customer", the woozy "I Bought A Headache", the all time classic "Shiftless When Idle", The Husker Du worship of "Something To Du", the pop in punk's clothing of "Raised In The City", not a miss to be found, listen to the samples and you'll be hooked!
MPEG Stream: "Takin A Ride"
MPEG Stream: "Careless"
MPEG Stream: "Johnny's Gonna Die"
MPEG Stream: "Shiftless When Idle"

REPLACEMENTS, THE Stink (Rhino) cd 12.98
What to say about the Replacements? Their history has been pretty well documented. By the end, they were everywhere, MTV, magazines, with a sound that had almost nothing in common with the records that made them the legends they so rightfully are. One guy died, one has gone on to a middling solo career, one is even in the current incarnation of Guns N' Roses. None of that means anything though when faced with the pure pop genius of their first 5 records, 4 of which just got reissued with tons of bonus tracks. We always just assumed that everyone loved the Replacements, cherished their beat up copy of Let It Be (Replacements not the Beatles), put "Answering Machine" on every mix tape, and the thought of writing about a band like that is pretty daunting. Definitely one of those instances where it seems like shouting "these guys rule!!!! Buy this now!!!" should suffice. And there's the fact that there are tons of kids listening to bands who ripped off bands who ripped off the Replacements and might not even know it.
Replacements fans are a pretty obsessive bunch, so we won't even bother talking in any depth about the bonus tracks, needless to say, beyond the usual alternate takes, there are some serious gems and a couple Holy Grail type tracks. But for folks new to the band, fuck the bonus tracks, the record themselves are practically perfect. Or at least perfectly imperfect. Anyone who ever saw the Replacements knows you had a fifty / fifty chance of seeing either the best show of your life, or the most insanely shitty show ever, and the records while not quite that haphazard, are just haphazard enough to keep that sort of excitement going. None of the tracks are perfect, the band is always loose, really loose, and the songs are always on the verge of total collapse, but the songs are catchy, and the lyrics are awesome, sometimes snotty and funny, other times poignant and bittersweet. In an age of genres, it's weird to listen to a band that is essentially their own genre. Beyond being just a rock band or a pop band, they are the Replacements and nearly 30 years on they still RULE.
Stink came out right after Sorry Ma, and is just as punk rock, just as catchy, but a bit tighter. It begins with a recording of a house party being busted up by a cop before a quick count off and the band launches into "Kids Don't Follow", which is another all time Replacements classic. In fact, this is only an ep, but all 8 tracks totally rule. "Stuck In The Middle" has an incredible stop start chorus, and a hook to die for, "Dope Smokin' Moron" is almost a full on hardcore track, "Go" is practically a ballad, moody and melancholy, the first hint of what these guys might be capable of songwise, and the disc finishes off with yet another classic, "Gimme Noise", another killer chorus, and hooks galore. How many 'classics' is one band allowed to have? Get used to, it'll take a few more records before they stop kicking out stone cold classics like it ain't no thing...
MPEG Stream: "Kids Don't Follow"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck School"
MPEG Stream: "Stuck In The Middle"

REPLACEMENTS, THE Hootenanny (Rhino) cd 17.98
What to say about the Replacements? Their history has been pretty well documented. By the end, they were everywhere, MTV, magazines, with a sound that had almost nothing in common with the records that made them the legends they so rightfully are. One guy died, one has gone on to a middling solo career, one is even in the current incarnation of Guns N' Roses. None of that means anything though when faced with the pure pop genius of their first 5 records, 4 of which just got reissued with tons of bonus tracks. We always just assumed that everyone loved the Replacements, cherished their beat up copy of Let It Be (Replacements not the Beatles), put "Answering Machine" on every mix tape, and the thought of writing about a band like that is pretty daunting. Definitely one of those instances where it seems like shouting "these guys rule!!!! Buy this now!!!" should suffice. And there's the fact that there are tons of kids listening to bands who ripped off bands who ripped off the Replacements and might not even know it.
Replacements fans are a pretty obsessive bunch, so we won't even bother talking in any depth about the bonus tracks, needless to say, beyond the usual alternate takes, there are some serious gems and a couple Holy Grail type tracks. But for folks new to the band, fuck the bonus tracks, the record themselves are practically perfect. Or at least perfectly imperfect. Anyone who ever saw the Replacements knows you had a fifty / fifty chance of seeing either the best show of your life, or the most insanely shitty show ever, and the records while not quite that haphazard, are just haphazard enough to keep that sort of excitement going. None of the tracks are perfect, the band is always loose, really loose, and the songs are always on the verge of total collapse, but the songs are catchy, and the lyrics are awesome, sometimes snotty and funny, other times poignant and bittersweet. In an age of genres, it's weird to listen to a band that is essentially their own genre. Beyond being just a rock band or a pop band, they are the Replacements and nearly 30 years on they still RULE.
Hootenany is sort of the oddball of the Replacements' first few discs, and begins with the various band members swapping instruments for a falling apart blues jam, that does eventually do just that. The rest of the disc is split between frantic punk rockers, tripped out ballads, garage-y blues jams, and the usual pop flecked punk rock that defined their sound on Sorry, Ma. Standouts include the surfy "Buck Hill", the weird "Lovelines" with the lyrics being read from the personal ads of a Minneapolis paper, and the dreamy Westerberg solo jam "Within Your Reach", with it's effected guitar, primitive programmed drums, and plaintive vocals. Definitely not THE record to grab if you were looking for just one Replacements disc, but once you've immersed yourself in the rest of their records, you'll undoubtedly find this one essential too.
MPEG Stream: "Run It"
MPEG Stream: "Color Me Impressed"

REPLACEMENTS, THE Let it Be (Rhino) cd 17.98
What to say about the Replacements? Their history has been pretty well documented. By the end, they were everywhere, MTV, magazines, with a sound that had almost nothing in common with the records that made them the legends they so rightfully are. One guy died, one has gone on to a middling solo career, one is even in the current incarnation of Guns N' Roses. None of that means anything though when faced with the pure pop genius of their first 5 records, 4 of which just got reissued with tons of bonus tracks. We always just assumed that everyone loved the Replacements, cherished their beat up copy of Let It Be (Replacements not the Beatles), put "Answering Machine" on every mix tape, and the thought of writing about a band like that is pretty daunting. Definitely one of those instances where it seems like shouting "these guys rule!!!! Buy this now!!!" should suffice. And there's the fact that there are tons of kids listening to bands who ripped off bands who ripped off the Replacements and might not even know it.
Replacements fans are a pretty obsessive bunch, so we won't even bother talking in any depth about the bonus tracks, needless to say, beyond the usual alternate takes, there are some serious gems and a couple Holy Grail type tracks. But for folks new to the band, fuck the bonus tracks, the record themselves are practically perfect. Or at least perfectly imperfect. Anyone who ever saw the Replacements knows you had a fifty / fifty chance of seeing either the best show of your life, or the most insanely shitty show ever, and the records while not quite that haphazard, are just haphazard enough to keep that sort of excitement going. None of the tracks are perfect, the band is always loose, really loose, and the songs are always on the verge of total collapse, but the songs are catchy, and the lyrics are awesome, sometimes snotty and funny, other times poignant and bittersweet. In an age of genres, it's weird to listen to a band that is essentially their own genre. Beyond being just a rock band or a pop band, they are the Replacements and nearly 30 years on they still RULE.
Let It Be is THE ONE. If you had to pick a perfect, classic, all time essential indie rock record, or college rock record, or whatever you want to call it, it would be practically impossible to not pick Let It Be. The first record where the band finally merged their nascent pop genius with their chaotic rock chops. As Replacements fans, it's easy to declare every track a classic, and every record perfect, but Let It Be transcends any of that, even plenty of non fans find Let It Be irresistible, the songs here are amazing, simultaneously well crafted, tight as fuck, but still loose and wild. Opener "I Will Dare" sets the scene with its shuffley rhythm, wandering bassline, and killer main riff. Follow up "Favorite Thing" is just as good, another hook most bands would kill for, but these guys spit em out effortlessly. But Let It Be isn't all the 'new', 'more mature' Replacements, which the band prove with the next two tracks, the furious rocker "We're Coming Out" and the goofy "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out", which while sort of a joke song, is still fucking AWESOME. The record is filled out with more gems, a Kiss cover, but a couple of the tracks would go on to remain what some folks might consider their finest moments: the gorgeous acoustic lament "Unsatisfied", and the mindblowing "Answering Machine", a gorgeous heartbreaker, just vocals and guitar, the guitar part pretty intense and moving all on its own, but the vocals are so bittersweet. What a way to end a record, and a perennial mixtape essential.
MPEG Stream: "We're Coming Out"
MPEG Stream: "Unsatisfied"
MPEG Stream: "Answering Machine"

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT All Systems Go III (Vagrant) cd 12.98
Those of us who were huge RFTC fans (and there's quite of few of us at aQ) know that the band's output can be divided into two categories. There was the totally catchy, horn filled, hand clappers that should have really been all over the radio and MTV if there were any justice in the rock 'n' roll world. And then there was the way more raw, dirty, sleazy scorching garage punk side to the band that they usually reserved for their non-major label releases like Hot Charity and The State Of Art Is On Fire. It's this side of the band that always cuts right to our guts! No one could mix melody with blazing, sweat inducing soul inspired garage punk better then RFTC. This collection is that raw and undeniably charming side of RFTC. Pulled from demos they recorded on 8-track in their San Diego practice space from 1997-2000. Most of these songs have never been released before, and the few that were took a totally different more slick shape on the Interscope releases they appeared on, so it's so rad to get to hear those songs in a much more dirty and rocking form. And so many of these songs that were never released before blow away just about everything else rock bands of the time were putting out. A few years after these songs were recorded, bands like The Strokes and White Stripes would be hailed as "the return of rock" by the mainstream press and get all sorts of fame and fortune, but we always thought it was Rocket From The Crypt that really deserved to be the biggest rock band on the planet!
MPEG Stream: "Falling Down Stairs"
MPEG Stream: "When In Rome (Do The Jerk)"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Survivor"

RODRIGUEZ Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) cd 17.98
Pop quiz! Quick: who's the "street poet" singer with no first name*, son of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Detroit Michigan, whose debut album from 1970 sounded like a fuzz-soul-psych version of Bob Dylan and/or Donovan, and was an underground hit in South Africa of all places?? Duh, Rodriguez of course. It's about time his inexplicably obscure Cold Fact got the deluxe reissue treatment it deserves. Seriously, after listening to this for the first time, you'll feel like you just heard a bona fide '60s classic, and be amazed you had never heard these songs before. They ought to be all over "oldies" rock radio. It's ridiculous like that. Songs like "Sugar Man" and "I Wonder" seem like they should be fixtures of the baby boomer memory lane hit parade. It's so very of its era, "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues" is certainly a sixties song title, isn't it? Likewise "Rich Folks Hoax", "Hate Street Dialogue", and "Crucify Your Mind"... But, maybe he was just a little too freaky and right on, and (crucially) never got the right sort of record label support to become well known to the Woodstock Nation, though this album had some rather random, surprising success so far off in the Southern Hemisphere, in South Africa and Australia and New Zealand, which Rodriguez himself was unaware of for many years!
If left to his own devices, perhaps Rodriguez would have come off sounding a bit too much like Dylan. But Cold Fact was a "Theo-Coff" production, from the badass Motor City team of Mike Theodore and funk guitarist Dennis Coffey, and they helped accentuate the more underground and urban aspects of Rodriguez's sound. With his hip, Dylanesque poetry set amidst lush orchestration and gritty grooves, Rodriguez's Cold Fact is a super catchy, tripped out slice of street-level, soulful psychedelia, full of drug references and radical political critique. We alluded to "fuzz" above, but on the track "Only Good For Conversation" we mean FUZZ. That track's a stone(d) cold classic when it comes to heavy duty fuzz guitar crunch.
This reish comes in a nice digipack, with cover embossing and a big ol' cd booklet stuffed with text (liner notes, lyrics) and photos. One of the several cd booklet essays explains in part Rodriguez's unexpected appeal in South Africa - apparently, in that repressive society, it was due to the edgy, uncensored nature of his lyrics. "I Wonder", for instance, with its lines about "I wonder how many times you had sex / And I wonder do you know who'll be next" was considered so risque that if you were a teenager and wanted to be cool, you HAD to have this record. Apparently, many folks in South Africa thought of Rodriguez as being a star up there with the Beatles, and when they didn't hear more from him, all sorts of wild rumors spread that he'd died, been accidentally electrocuted, OD'd, or even committed suicide on stage! When, in fact, he simply had no idea how "big" he was in South Africa, and his recording career had stalled out elsewhere after his sophomore album, 1971's Coming From Reality (also soon to be reissued). Turns out he's still alive and well, today, and has actually gone to South African to pay arena (?!) shows in recent years.
In fact, when we've had album in the store before, it was only available on cd as an expensive import - from South Africa! So we're, again, super stoked that Light In The Attic put the effort in to do this long overdue, definitive domestic reissue.
*actually, his first name was Sixto, but he usually just went by Rodriguez.
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Man"
MPEG Stream: "Only Good For Conversation"
MPEG Stream: "Hate Street Dialogue"

SKATERS Physicalities Of The Sensibilities Of Ingrediential Strairways (Eclipse) lp 17.98
Physicalities Of The Sensibilities Of Ingrediential Strairways [sic] is the brand spankin' new release from modern psych high priests the Skaters. Long­awaited and VERY limited, this lysergic dose of hazy psychosis left us dazed and wanting more. Recorded by the band in Universal City, Mexico, this summons an unearthly brand of rhythmic psychedelia, the perfect soundtrack for your next out-of-body experience. Quite possibly the Skaters' most dim and eerie release, this one time, vinyl-only pressing is already sold out on the label's end, so pick it up while you still can!!

SKIN HORSE s/t (self released) cd-r 9.98
Local folks may have seen these guys tearing up stages around town. Although maybe tearing up isn't precisely what these guys do. They're much more of a brooding behemoth. But they're much more than that. Almost confusingly so (but in a good way!) Anyway, Skin Horse are a trio who traffic in long stretches of plodding doom, mathy jangle, and epic post rock, laced with haunting atmospherics and deep black ambience.
This 3 song cd-r is their debut, and each of the three tracks is totally different, and in some cases almost sound like different bands, but somehow, the tracks do manage to fit together, a little disjointedly, but still strangely cohesive.
The opener begins with a sheet of guitar noise under static and strange voices, soaring harmonics, and rumbling drones, when the band do finally kick in, it's a sort of slowcore, dronedoom hybrid. Plodding and downtuned and heavy, but weirdly melodic, the guitars heavy and abstract, the drums a caveman pound, vocals a harsh shriek, Khanate fans will be all over this, as will all ultradoomlords.
But only maybe until the second track, which begins with dark minor key guitar jangle, which erupts into some awesomely nineties sounding mathrock, all clean guitars, and convoluted arrangements, before locking into a spiraling freakout, all tribal rhythms, and squealing feedback, a stuttering riff and swirls of FX, launching immediately into the final track, another blast of angular clean guitar mathrock, but structure like doom, so the chords ring out, the drums crash, but there's tons of space, some super abstract arrangements, killer dynamics, all wrapped around a super intense main minor key melody, the kind of stuff we could listen to forever, before again, locking into an extended outro, a cool woozy chugging groove, that eventually gives way to a brief stretch of moody Slintish drift to finish off.
We've been inundated with post rock metal bands, or post metal or whatever, but Skin Horse are as far as we can remember the first band to fuse math rock with serious doom metal, and we're definitely up for hearing more.
Packaged in hand sewn, hand screened red or black pouches, LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Confined To Shadows"

SLEESTAK Mach 2 (Total Annihilation) cd 10.98
As we mentioned before, Man Is The Bastard, one of our favorite bands ever, are not very well represented on the aQ website, mostly due to the fact that their records, and in fact almost their whole career predates the list, which we will address one of these days, maybe as their back catalog slowly gets reissued. But their musical legacy lives on, most notably in recent Record Of The Week honorees Geronimo, as well as a whole mess of other post MITB combos: Bastard Noise, Unicorn, and this here, maybe our favorite of the bunch, Sleestak.
We recently listed a triple cd set called No Skull Left Unturned, which collected a bunch of rare and unreleased tracks from various Man Is The Bastard related groups, and if you remember, we raved about Sleestak there too, and now we finally managed to track down a source for the Sleestak full lengths (the band themselves in fact!) so here you go, the last Sleestak record before the various members went on to play in Drunk On Blood, Monte Carlo 76, Slowrider, Bastard Noise, Spastic Colon, Trogotronic, Unicorn and of course Geronimo.
And listening to this Sleestak stuff, it's easy to hear the roots of what would become Geronimo, in some places the sound is uncanny, it's like a more raw, lo-fi Geronimo, which means this stuff is fucking awesome. Might as well just quote a bit from the No Skull review, since it sums up Sleestak pretty well:
What a more mellow MITB might have sounded like, an ominous low slung brutality, bass heavy dirges, moody malevolence, more a sort of beautiful brutal post rock. A loping bass line wanders through a field of hiss and hum and buzz, spacious and spare, almost like a meaner more malevolent Low or Bohren. Slowcore peppered with bursts of twisted noise freakouts, and distant bits of shortwave squiggle, a very Slint-like vibe, with the guitar locking into super hypnotic loops, over lurching downtuned bass, drifting detuned melodic fragments, if someone didn't know better, they could definitely mistake this stuff for some super obscure Touch And Go or AmRep noiserock band, indeed!
"Atomic Clock" is a slow brooder, a low slung drums and bass drift, with distorted vocals, garbled and buried in the mix, streaked with fractured electronics, interrupted by brief bursts of chaotic crunch. "Faster Than A Sleeping Bullet" is total Geronimo, a grinding metallic riff, and a super minimal bit of percussion looped and locked for nearly 5 minutes. "When In Rome..." is bass heavy riffy noise rock, howled vocals over slithery post rockisms and angular riffage. "Dumb Luck" is another track that sounds like it was lifted and re-done as Geronimo, a simple drum line, beneath a hypnotic chunk of twisted electronics. "Dumb Luck Part Two" stretches it out into something much more post rocky, with plonked and plinked piano, the drums a bit more up in the mix, still flecked with insectoid buzz. Every track here is amazing. And at least half of 'em will have you thinking Geronimo, EVERYONE who bought that Geronimo record, or who dug that No Skull comp NEEDS this. But even those of you new to the whole MITB world, and who missed out on Geronimo, Sleestak stand up pretty well on their own, a dark and fucked up mysteriously brooding, ultra heavy and sludgey, rhythmic dronerock, and while we described Geronimo as Man Is The Bastard meets This Heat, that would also pretty much apply to Sleestak, but take that equation and mix in more MITB and a whole mess of noise rock.
WAY WAY WAY recommended.
Beautifully packaged in silkscreened matchbook style packaging, with a printed insert, all housed in a thick plastic sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Faster Than A Sleeping Bullet"
MPEG Stream: "Atomic Clock"
MPEG Stream: "When In Rome..."

STONE HARBOUR Emerges (Lion Productions) cd 16.98
Though it may not always seem like it, these are blessed times in which to live. That is, in regard to the cd reissue of various record collector "holy grails". Sooner or later, it seems like every highly coveted, whispered-about psych/folk/prog masterpiece gets a reissue - recently, for instance, records by Joakim Skogberg, Bobb Trimble, Moolah, and Cold Sun. Of course, these reissues often as not go right back out of print all too soon, but that's the way of the world. The point is, at least we get a chance at 'em. We mention this on the occasion of this cd reissue of the privately-pressed Stone Harbour LP from 1974, not to imply that it's of uniformly mindblowing, out of this world quality, no not quite, but still it's pretty good. And when it's bad, it's maybe even better, 'cause this basement hippie multi-instrumental duo from Youngstown, Ohio had the shambolic, stoned DIY thing down, this album achieving a primitive, fucked up brilliance despite (or because of) the hissy lo-fi homebrewed production and the musicians' lack of technical chops. Imagine Bobb Trimble jamming with George Brigman, perhaps after listening to records by Syd Barrett and Uriah Heep, and getting super wasted and emotional, that's what a bunch of this sorta sounds like... well we mention Uriah Heep 'cause they do, this album's typewritten thanks list specifically highlighting Heep's keyboardist Ken Hensley, definitely an inspiration for all the ornate spacey synth sounds zapping in and out of the songs here.
We'll admit, though while the holy grail hype is mostly right, Emerges IS a bit hit or miss. Not every Stone Harbour song is a brilliant gem. But when they hit, they hit! You could happily buy this for the haunting likes of "Grains Of Sand" and "Summer Magic Is Gone", alone. But there's plenty more besides. With lots of lovely lalalas, acoustic strum, and lysergic electronic effects, this is a weird, magical mix of melancholic murk (drifting soundscapes like "Thanitos") and more grunged-out, garagey rock n' rolling (on the likes of "Rock & Roll Puzzle"). Heck, they fully boogie it up on "Still Like That Rock & Roll" (one of the aforementioned misses, but not without its charms).
As usual, Lion provides a jam-packed cd booklet, with lyrics and pics and as much background info as they could dig up (Stone Harbour's Rick Ballas blessed this reissue, but declined to be interviewed for the liner notes). This disc also includes four additional bonus tracks, recorded in 1975, that fit in quite nicely with the album tracks, the highlight among 'em being "Witch To You", a song that sounds sooo much like a lo-fi, real-deal version of the doom-prog vibe AQ faves Witchcraft are conjuring today. Most likely, it's 'cause on that track, Stone Harbour were heavily influenced by both Black Sabbath and Roky Erickson, much like Witchcraft are too, albeit from the further remove of a couple extra decades.
What more to say? Psych fans, we've done our duty, please check out the long lost Stone Harbour and be amazed.
MPEG Stream: "Rock & Roll Puzzle"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Magic Is Gone"
MPEG Stream: "Witch To You"

TERRORIZER issue #173 magazine 9.99
AT LAST! The UK's Terrorizer is our favorite "mainstream" magazine devoted to all things metal (and otherwise "extreme"). We've been reading it religiously for years - Andee even has his own subscription - but had rarely been able to stock it at Aquarius, until now. Terrorizer's spotty US distribution had eluded us, and there were only a few book and magazine stores in town that ever had it. But, now we're hooked up and will be carrying it here regularly. Basically, it's The Wire magazine for all the cool, heavy stuff we like that The Wire (usually) ignores. It's big and glossy, 96 colorful pages, plus bonus sampler cd!
This issue, we get the reunited Carcass on the cover (can't wait to see 'em, they're playing in two weeks, several of us here already have our tickets!). Also this ish: Harvey Milk, Capricorns, Keep Of Kalessin, Cult Of Luna, Ascend, The Heads, Grave, Made Out Of Babies, Aborted, Brown Jenkins, Annihilation Time, The Endless Blockade, Amon Amarth, and tons more. You can see, it's a fairly eclectic array of extremity, certainly lots of things of AQ interest in there. Among the other features, there's an article on the burgeoning Greek power metal scene, and an "Invisible Jukebox" (oops, "Hard Of Hearing" is what they call it) session with Behemoth, and of course there's also a gazillion reviews too!
On the cd sampler ("Fear Candy #57), you'll find tracks to check out from Capricorns, Ogre, Blood Farmers, Aborted, Whitechapel, Waylander, Kalmah, Klimt 1918, Brown Jenkins, Daylight Dies, Repugnant Inebriation, Algazanth, Withered, Sotajumala, Deception, Arkangel, Insidious, and Soulfly.

TUSSLE Cream Cuts (Smalltown Supersound) cd 16.98
Tussle is an appropriate name for a group that has had as many line-up changes as it has records. With the addition of Tomo Yasuda (The Boy Explodes, Hey Willpower, Coconut) on bass stepping in for the departing Alexis Georgopoulos (Arp, The Alps), who in turned filled in on bass duties for the previously departing Andy Cabic (Vetiver), it looks like we're finally seeing a group beginning to gel. While their overall sound philosophy remains intact from album to album (highly percussive bass-driven disco rock), Cream Cuts shows the keyboard and synth tracks taking more of a lead role than on previous albums where before they mainly served as atmosphere. While still very bass and rhythm heavy, it has less of the post-punk disco references of Liquid Liquid and ESG and more of a trippier cosmic vibe of cinematic flourishes, spacier textures and idiosyncratic nuances that are a welcome development to this much loved local outfit. One small beef we must call out though is the tedious inclusion of what sounds like the band setting up in the middle of the record. Save it for the live shows, guys!
MPEG Stream: "Night Of The Hunter"
MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Claw"

V/A Cosmarama: Blow Your Cool 2 (Psychic Circle) cd 17.98
We're finding it tough to keep up with the output of Psychic Circle, all their awesome '60s/'70s psych/pop/beat compilation action is a bit overwhelming, from Phantom Guitars to Instro-Hipsters to Fairytales Can Come True, and it's all been pretty great. In large part 'cause most of these comps have been put together by record collector extraordinaire, Nick Salomon, previously known to us as the Bevis Frond guy. So, we've missed listing a few, but here's one of the very latest, one we had to review, 'cause it's the follow up to the fantastic Blow Your Cool. Remember that one? "20 Prog/Psych Assaults From The UK & Europe". Itself sorta the sequel to A Visit To the Spaceship Factory, which in turn was kinda the UK version of Psychic Circle's White Lace & Strange comp of American garage-psych heaviness. So, what has Salomon dug up to blow our cool with this time? A "cosmarama" of obscure sounds, from twenty bands we haven't heard of AT ALL (well, with just two or three exceptions). Fortunately they're all pretty rockin', and Mr. Saloman provides liner notes about each.
The bands: Distant Jim, Carriage Company, Kingdom, The Tower, Back Street Band, Big Wheel, Bismarck, CWT, Silence, Ginger Ale, Pussy (ex-Jersusalem), Tenderfoot Kids, Electric Food, Mr. Albert Show, The Petards, Castle Farm, The Pebbles, Corporal Gander's Fire Dog Parade (!), Chips, and Richard St. Clair & Forum.
There's some folky-proggy dreamy stuff here, and melodic popsike moments, but mostly these cuts are on the harder rockin', and totally groovy side of things, approaching proto-metal, even, when it comes to the efforts several of these acts... with plenty of jamming organs, acidic fuzz wah guitars, cowbell, and the occasional horn section (this is from back when having one was hip). Maybe it'll mean something to you that there's more than one song here with the word "Woman" in the title! Definitely we're reminded of the likes of Steppenwolf, Dust, Bloodrock, and Grand Funk at times. Black Sabbath no, not so much except on Pussy's "Feline Woman" which could almost be a re-write of the song "Evil Woman" originally by Crow, that Sabbath covered on the UK version of their debut album...
Another Psychic Circle winner. All we know is, if Nick Saloman were DJing at a bar anywhere near here, we'd be drinking there all night!
MPEG Stream: DISTANT JIM "Cosmarama"
MPEG Stream: BISMARCK "Shotgun Express"
MPEG Stream: SILENCE "Devil Woman"

V/A Swinging Mademoiselles Deux (Silva Screen) cd 16.98
It's impossible not to have a soft spot for the breezy, sassy and sensual sounds of '60s French Pop. We can never get enough, so it was an exciting day when the second volume of Swinging Mademoiselles came our way, as the first volume has become one of those records we've played in the store countless times over the years. With its focus on the lovely ladies who delivered infectious gems of Gallic pop in the '60s, volume deux brings the goods once again with songs that treat our ears to such saucy and sophisticated delights. We love how this collection has a nice selection of the more seductive side to sixties French Pop. Of course there are some total hip-shakers and party tracks on here but this collection is really so perfect for a long ride with the windows down, or lounging by the pool with refreshing libations or just laying in bed on a lazy Sunday morning with that someone special by your side. Filled with so many of the era's greats: Jacquelin Taieb, Cosette, Zouzou, Pussy Cat. Brigitte Bardot, Clea, etc. These were the people and sounds that would inspire some of the best pop music that would come decades later from folks like Stereolab, Belle & Sebastian, Broadcast, Saint Etienne and El Perro Del Mar. OoooLaaaLaaaa what a perfect end of summer treat!
MPEG Stream: JACQUELINE TAIEB "Le Printemps A Paris"
MPEG Stream: COSETTE "Les Cheveux Dans Les Yeux"
MPEG Stream: CLOTHILDE "Fallait Pas Ecraser Le Queu Du Chat"

V/A Trogotronic Compilation - Analog Audio Ordnance (Total Annihilation) cd 10.98
This comp is sort of an advertisement, a promotional item, which would normally turn us right off, but this disc killer, and it just so happens to be promoting a line of hand crafted 'caveman' effects, created by none other than Nelson from Man Is The Bastard, Sleestak and Geronimo. Wondering where those fucked up sounds were coming from? The damaged electronics on the Geronimo record? Well, most likely it was a Trogotronic device helping to create that racket. They look beautiful and sound even better. Check it out:
http://www.thumbprintpress.com/trogotronic.htm
So this here comp features a who's who of noise artists who apparently endorse Trogotronic. But you know what? Even if you had no clue what the hell Trogotronic was, this comp would still stomp your ass. Check out the lineup:
Geronimo, Unicorn, Sickness, Drunk On Blood, Mike Shiflet, Torso, Bastard Noise and more and more. The sleeve even lets you know which Trogotronic device was used in each specific track. We can't tell you how close we've come to blowing our paychecks on some of these noisemakers. But for now, we're happy to make do with this disc. First off, an unreleased Geronimo track, worth it right there. An awesomely creepy electronic krautrocky crawl, all crumbling and distorted, low end crunch beneath, squealing high end siren like skree. Sounds like an outtake from their full length, which it probably is, and which of course means it's awesome! Drunk On Blood, another Man Is The Bastard side project, offers up a symphony of electronic jackhammering, pounding and pulsing, almost musically, percussive and relentless, and weirdly listenable. The Sickness track is a heaving wall of analog fury, crumbling and crunchy, the Bastard Noise track is downright pretty, a sea of squelches and a distant beastlike howling, Torso unfurl some seriously creeped out hissy dronemusic, Unicorn offer up a weird symphony of shrieks and stumbling percussive clatter, Astrogenic Hallucinating spits out some fucked up, horror movie analog video game music, we could go on and on and on.
All the tracks here are pretty amazing, some textural and drone-y, others blown out and white hot, still others, rhythmic and abstract, at the very least, you'll probably listen to this like crazy and do some serious damage to your speakers, worst case though, you'll end up like us, freaking out and NEEDING some of these noisemakers for yourself, then you can do some REAL damage!
Beautifully packaged in a fold over, silkscreened sleeve.
MPEG Stream: DRUNK ON BLOOD "Flight Check"
MPEG Stream: GERONIMO "Hummingbird & Tarantula"
MPEG Stream: AUTISTATIC "Autistatic Vs. TR-Ogre Pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: SICKNESS "Days Of The Black Sun"

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF A Priori (Incunabulum) cd 14.98
We have become increasingly enamored with the recordings of Dutch renaissance and baroque lute player Jozef Van Wissem, whether it be through his solo output or through his many collaborations with guitarists Gary Lucas, Tetuzi Akiyama and most recently James Blackshaw (Brethren Of The Free Spirit). You wouldn't think that there would be such wide-ranging approaches to such an antique instrument, yet with each release, we're let into a new realm of sonic possibility. Sometimes it's classical deconstructions; using palindromes, mirroring, backwards compositions and cut-up techniques. Sometimes it's more Takoma-style fingerpicking and bottleneck playing. Or more avant, flinging sparse and reductive fragments of loosely connected tones into large voids of silence. Or augmented by subtle electronics and field recordings of airports and other public spaces. On his latest release A Priori, arguably his prettiest and most engaging to date, Van Wissem pushes forward the beauty of the melodic form but frames it in a stark restraint. Using a glacial pendulum-like progression and D minor tuning (the most melancholic of all tunings), Wissem establishes an up-down-up riff taking a pause between each turn before repeating, letting the tones ring out over the empty spaces. Occasionally he lets subtle nuances like an octave change or a bottleneck run appear, yet he takes great pains to avoid filling the space unnecessarily. With each song on A Priori, he explores this limitation to its outermost boundaries that connects each piece to the whole, forcing our headspace to slow down to this intensely meditative pace in order to experience its lovely tonal revelations. If Earth 2 was transcribed for renaissance lute, it might sound something like this. Liner notes by David Tibet of Current 93. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "How The Soul Has Arrived At Understanding Of Her Nothingness"
MPEG Stream: "De Anima"

VULCANS Star Trek (Trojan) cd 14.98
First things first, we know some folks have strong feelings both positive and negative for all things 'Star Trek'. So if you fall into either camp you might wanna disregard this band's name and the album's title completely! We found the music to reveal very little connection to Star Trek and/or Vulcans. In fact, we sensed very little overt sci-fi action here at all. Well aside from the song titles... and the galactic analog synth action that accompanies the reggae riddims. While the name choices did successfully grab out attention, we were subsequently a bit disappointed by this discovery, however, the music quickly won us over anew in surprisingly different ways! This album is sooo awesome and sooo perfect for baking in the (late) summer sun! Imagine this... what if Os Mutantes lived in Jamaica? And had a rendezvous with Perry & Kingsley, Joe Meek and an Arp 2600 synthesizer? Or how 'bout some kick-ass psychedelic prog dudes getting their reggae on while sipping fresh fruit cocktails? Got you hooked yet? Well, here's the skinny... The Vulcans were actually not a band in the traditional sense, although after hearing this cd we sure wish they were! As legend tells it, back in the early '70s some session musicians including Ken Elliot of UK prog-psych band Second Hand got together and recorded these songs. They group were dubbed The Vulcans by Trojan Records when the smart decision was made to release an album. We have to stress once again that despite what the title and band name suggest this is far from a novelty album. You can drift off, trip out or sink right into this generous serving of Vulcans tunes - there's two albums on one cd, 1972's Star Trek and perhaps slightly heavier and edgier Interstellar Reggae Drive (the latter originally released under the wacky moniker Colonel Elliot & The Lunatics). Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Journey Into Space"
MPEG Stream: "Shang Haied"
MPEG Stream: "Cosmic Bust"

WILDILDLIFE Live On WFMU (Crucial Blast) cd-r 8.98
While we were sad to see our coworker Matt leave us a while back, if it meant helping unleash the true force of the wild beast that is Wildildlife upon the world, then we're happy to have done our part.
As kick ass as their most recent full length was, playing live is where Wildildlife truly destroy, three mild mannered hairy dudes transformed into a fierce six legged, six armed, long haired, face melting, tripped out drug addled behemoth. And while their most recent tour was rife with drama, broken bones, stolen equipment and extortionist cabbies, the shows that did take place were the sort to not be soon forgotten. And while they were on the East Coast, they got to play live on the radio, on Brian Turner's show on WFMU, and this is the proof that it did indeed take place. Hard to imagine a band can kick up such a shitstorm with no crowd to react to, holed up in a little glass room, but Wilildlife bring it, hard.
They open with "Metal", from their full length, and manage to make it sound even more freaked out, the effected little girl vox have them channeling the Butthole Surfers even more than usual, the extended free-jam outro goes on for minutes, letting the band explore the outer reaches, before launching into another downtuned tribal workout. The sound is surprisingly clean, a few folks here like it even better than the record proper. Some of the songs are oldies, revamped and supercharged, some are altered versions of tracks from 6, those creepy high pitched vocals return throughout, and the band is on fire, the songs complex and convoluted but hooky and catchy as fuck, folks who bought the full length will for sure dig this. And if you've yet to discover the mysteries of Wildildlife, this is as good a place to start as anyŠ
Plus there's a pretty funny interview with the trio at the end...
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, in a cool full color, three panel oversized cover, featuring some pictures of the band on tour, including an awesome shot of Matt perusing porn in the van, as well as a band member's button that says it all: "Let's face it... I'm cute!"
MPEG Stream: "Metal"
MPEG Stream: "Grinder"

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ALIAS Resurgam (Anti) cd 14.98
Wow, not sure what we were expecting with this new Alias album, but it sure wasn't this - a remarkably grand, ebullient and shimmeringly pretty album! It's as though Flaming Lips decided hiphop was their next avenue of musical adventure. No, really! Also quite reminiscent of late '90s IDM (such as Oval or Plaid) or early '00s jazz-tinged pop-tronica (such as Four Tet or Ulrich Schnauss), Resurgam is a lush affair that's blissed out yet driving at the same time. Fans of all of the above will surely find much to dig into here!
MPEG Stream: "New To A Few"
MPEG Stream: "Death Watch"

ALIAS Resurgam (Anti) lp 14.98
Wow, not sure what we were expecting with this new Alias album, but it sure wasn't this - a remarkably grand, ebullient and shimmeringly pretty album! It's as though Flaming Lips decided hiphop was their next avenue of musical adventure. No, really! Also quite reminiscent of late '90s IDM (such as Oval or Plaid) or early '00s jazz-tinged pop-tronica (such as Four Tet or Ulrich Schnauss), Resurgam is a lush affair that's blissed out yet driving at the same time. Fans of all of the above will surely find much to dig into here!
MPEG Stream: "New To A Few"
MPEG Stream: "Death Watch"

ASUNDER Works Will Come Undone (Kreation) lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL!! Here's what we wrote about the original cd release on Profound Lore, which is now out of print:
Oakland's doooooooooooooooooooomiest, Asunder, return with their second full-length album. Just back from a tour of Japan with none other than cultish doom-crust behemoth Corrupted, Asunder further cement their doom bonafides with Works Will Come Undone, which features just two tracks, one of 'em ("Rite Of Finality") almost a full-length itself at 50 minutes duration! The other track ("A Famine") isn't quite so long - a mere 20 minutes. That's more than enough time for these guys and gal to squeeze in a few lugubrious riffs, even at the glacial pace with with they play their morose metallic funeral marches.
Asunder are all about atmosphere, allowing some really pretty and mellow parts into their crushingly heavy and depressed, slow-moving sound-world. The use of cello (played by Jackie Perez-Gratz, also of Amber Asylum) is one of Asunder's trademarks, and for giving an extra-mournful, classically elegant dimension to their doom it's hard to beat. The guitarists successfully venture to enter that sublime realm as well. Meanwhile the vocalist recalls the phlegmy throat of Forest Of Equilibrium era Cathedral frontman Lee Dorrian, mixing the rough with the smooth as it were...
For those unaware, we should also note the presence of former Weakling guitarist/vocalist John Gossard. What Weakling was to trance-inducingly epic Norwegian style black metal, Asunder is to trance-inducingly epic Finnish style doom metal!! Or maybe we should just say Oakland style, since this genre of doom has its roots all over, from Finland's Thergothon to Australia's Disembowelment and Long Island's Winter...
MPEG Stream: "A Famine"

BEAKS PLINTH Kai Kohola Leo (Gigante Sound) cd-r 6.98
Jared Blum is back with a new alter ego - Beaks Plinth! In case you didn't guess from the title, it is a Hawaiian themed project. That said, don't be expecting warm sandy beaches, luscious fruity concoctions and gently swaying palm trees. Nope, instead imagine yourself in the depths of a not-so-dormant island volcano, molten lava creeping forth and sizzling in the heady ocean mist!
It's like a tropical fever dream in which the shadows of giant tiki figures loom and ominous giant birds of prey menace and peck at you from above. It's a bit murky and mysterious with sounds smeared into dank cavernous echoes. In fact, we might suggest that the dozen foreboding soundscapes on Kai Kohola Leo meld quite nicely in between aQ faves Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste and Coelacanth's Glass Sponge. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Voices Of The Lagoon"
MPEG Stream: "The Stringer Bells"
MPEG Stream: "Wind Speak "

BLACK WIDOW Night Of The Raven (Heathen Skulls) cd 13.98
While we all wait patiently for a new slab of abstract heaviness to come our way from the lovely folks who comprise the Grey Daturas trio, we can spend a little time immersing ourselves in the dronier dirgier darker side of Rob MacManus, aka one third of the aforementioned Gray Daturas.
So far we've only heard from BW (not to be confused with the -other- black widow), on a pair of collaborations with fellow Aussie noisemaker Blarke Bayer, so this here is the first real chance we've had to hear what BW is really all about, and we're psyched to discover it's all about the massive slow motion downtuned heavy dirgedrone. Like old Earth, or Sunn 0))) that sort of drawn out guitar drone action, but MacManus give it his own twist, sometimes letting the guitar just ooze and sprawl like some sort of viscous blackness, other times, offering some weird angular disembodied steel string thrum, but still drifting on a sea of droning shimmer, and still other times, unfurling a grinding, crumbling super distorted slow motion riff. Whichever way the sound veers, it's always infused with some haunting abstract melodic element, that in some cases is quashed by the sheer heaviness, while in others, it manages to float to the surface, glimmering and shimmering, while the grind and throb is relegated to the background. Good stuff, and more essential listening for the guitardrone legions...
MPEG Stream: "Haxan"
MPEG Stream: "Dementia"

BROCAS HELM Into Battle (Eat Metal Records) picture disc 15.98
Now on picture disc vinyl!!
YES! It's about time this was reissued! A cult metal fave, this debut record from San Francisco underground true metal masters Brocas Helm was originally released on LP by a label called First Strike back in 1984. New generation of metal fans can hear why this band is mentioned alongside the legendary likes of Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road (if you're wondering who those bands are, well, just think Iron Maiden but way more obscure).
Into Battle is a proud and powerful album of hyperkinetic epicks. It's fantasy metal that pounds beers and gobbles acid and loves to rock and roll, weaving in psychedelic elements as well. The songs are about wizards and warriors, but also with lyrics actually about guitars and amplifiers too! Definitely inspired by the NWOBHM and also '70s hard rock like Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, and Riot, Brocas Helm's debut might have catapulted them to commerical success in the '80s metal world if only more people had ever heard it... though the San Francisco Bay Area was a hotbed of metal activity, with Metallica, Exodus, Testament, and many others breaking big, Brocas was perhaps just too eccentric and medieval to make it. Fortunately they never gave up, so the brave and bold can STILL go see these guys play and slay here in San Francisco now and then. They've released two other albums since Into Battle, those being 1988's Black Death and after a sixteen year wait, 2004's Defender Of The Crown! All are brilliant, with Into Battle being both essential for fans and the obvious place to start if you're new to the band. With their galloping tunes, heroic vocals and guitar shred, Brocas Helm are metal incarnate. If you like their spiritual brothers (nephews?) Slough Feg, you'll like Brocas Helm!!
MPEG Stream: "Ravenwreck"
MPEG Stream: "Into The Ithilstone"

BURNING STAR CORE Challenger (Hospital Productions) cd 13.98
This Record Of The Week from list #296 is now finally BACK IN STOCK! But these may be the last copies we'll be able to get.
The violin is probably the last instrument you think of when you think of underground cd-r noise drone music. Okay, maybe not the last, but it's pretty far down the list for sure. Yet Mr. C. Spencer Yeh has forged a career with his trusty violin, creating a sizable body of work, ranging from full on blown out noise assault, to breathless delicate beauty, to propulsive krautrock infused space rock, and various mixes of all three. We even Record Of The Week-ed his Operator Dead album a while back. But where that record was more of a group effort, this latest disc, Challenger, finds Yeh returning to his solo roots, getting a minimal amount of assistance on just a couple of tracks, but handling the bulk of the soundmaking himself. And while there is no list of instrumentation, we have to assume that violin is not the only instrument present. NOBODY is that good. But even so, Yeh is really really good, and with a violin and whatever else he has in his soundmaking arsenal, he has once again conceived something of great beauty and import, a collection of sounds, of SONGS, an album that is cohesive yet varied, personal and introspective, yet somehow epic and expansive. If anything, this new disc finds Yeh moving his BSC into the rarefied world of spaced out Krautrock. Neu!, Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, A.R. & The Machines, Brian Eno. Much in the same way aQ faves Expo '70, channel seventies space kraut, so does Yeh, but where Expo '70 create thick heavy spaced out dronescapes, the sounds on Challenger are much more melodic, and drifty, dreamy and mesmerizing. There is plenty of noise to be found, but it's doled out sparingly, melodies are sometimes halo-ed in buzz, or delicate rhythms wreathed in feedback, but it's always muted and minimal, allowing the melody and arrangement to shine, and shine they do, each track, a gorgeously repetitive stretch of space-y abstract groove, looped, but slowly shifting and changing shape, propulsive but subtly so.
The opening two track salvo is some of the most blissfully beautiful soft noise we've heard. In fact, even calling it noise might be doing it a disservice. The opener is a slow burning slab of minimal murmur, laced with soft tinkling chimes, an abstract ghostly melody over a softly pulsing drone, eventually augmented by some shimmery hiss and random sampled ambience, but instead of distracting, these sonic events, cars driving past, wind, tape hiss, they only add texture to the glimmering drift beneath.
The second track begins with a riff (played on a violin?) that is quickly wrapped up in corrosive swaths of warbly effected buzz, the two elements twisting around one another, creating a strange churning soundscape of stretched out space rock riffage and crumbling distorted drone, that manages to be absolutely riveting.
The next few tracks offer up some more experimental fare, brief chunks of ambient weirdness, one of plastic cup percussion, heavily reverbed, in a wide open stretch of distant whir and tangled electronics, another a symphony of processed vocals, looped and chopped into a hiccupping stuttering soundscape, eventually joined by soft shimmery chords and warm chordal buzz, yet another a collection of crinkles and crackles, like someone stepping on bubble wrap, balling up wrapping paper and a campfire, all draped over the sounds of children laughing and playing.
All before returning to the blissed out dronedrift of the opening few tracks. Reverbed jaw harp floats in a field of static hum and twinkling fragmented melody, deep tones are woven into gentle lilting melodies, symphonic snippets are looped and assembled into a slow building drone, underpinned by fuzzy droney melodies, totally stirring and epic, haunting and mysterious, a bit of Jeck mixed in with BSC's usual glorious buzz, maybe one of the most moving (and possibly one of the best) tracks we've ever heard from Yeh and his 'Core. The final track is an Avarus like coda, sheets of hiss like rainfall (might very well be), bits of percussive chime and clank, plenty of hiss and whir, over the top, a shimmering high end electric melody, that drifts and stutters dreamily, like some alien lullaby.
Absolutely stunning. And thus, entirely and unequivocally recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Challenger"
MPEG Stream: "Beauty Hunter"
MPEG Stream: "Hopelessly Devoted"

CHILDREN OF BODOM Bloodrunk (Spinefarm Records) cd 14.98
Children of Bodom are back yet again with more melodic thrash metal. For a second time, the band is joined by former Stone member and legendary Finnish guitarist Roope Latvala. The kids are continuing their move even further away from extreme metal, with an ever increasing keyboard presence, more prog, and catchy, straight-forward riffs. Still, there is that little bit of Death gleaming through. So, yeah, melodic-prog-thrash that remains heavily indebted to Chuck Schuldiner. Basically, if you're into exclusively kult black metal bands, or something else equally insular, then this isn't going to do it for you. But, you probably already know that. What we're saying is that this will fit nicely next to your copy of In Flames' Clayman or something of that nature, but probably not so well with your dubbed, internationally traded cassette of Von rehearsals - but if that exists and you have it, please let us know. However, if you, like many of us here at the store, grew up on metal and you can get into metal for the sake of metal, then turn it up.
MPEG Stream: "One Day You Will Cry"
MPEG Stream: "Done With Everything, Die for Nothing"

COURTIS / KIRITCHENKO / MOGLASS split (Nexsound / Carbon / Gold Soundz / Tibprod / 1000+1 Tilt) cd 11.98
Back in stock! We found a little stash of these hidden away! Might be the last copies...
An awesome three way collaboration, five way label split, with each artist using mainly sounds contributed by one of the other artists. The three include Andrey Kiritchenko who runs the Nexsound label, Ukrainian abstract drone folk combo the Moglass and Anla Courtis formerly of the mighty Reynols! A strange combination but it definitely works, with each artist twisting and turning the sounds of the others into something completely their own.
Kiritchenko uses sounds sourced from Anla Courtis, but also incorporates bandura, guitar, objects and field recordings. His first two tracks are thick glistening snarls of keening high end, ringing chimes, warm processed warble, grinding industrial whir, all coaxed gently from his super limited palette. His final track is our favorite, a super spare cavernous soundscape, constructed from swirling wind like whirls and muted white noise hiss. Over the top is a stumbling damaged, deconstructed guitar melody that scrapes and buzzes and rumbles. So good.
The Moglass also use mostly Anla Courtis sounds, introducing guitars, synth and vocals. And as you might imagine, they manage to turn those disparate sounds into dark dronelike dreamscapes of slow oceanic swells, thick buzzing rumble, and an occasional blast of super strange circusy psychedelic freak out, a dizzying collision of scraping strings, creepy falsetto vocals, moans and chants and all sorts of falling apart melodies.
Finally, Courtis gets the chance to return the favor, borrowing a little from both the Moglass and Kiritchenko. His first three tracks are assembled using ONLY sounds taken from the Moglass, the results vary, from murky shimmer, to glistening ambience, soft blissed out whir, to sparse skeletal industrial landscapes. The last two tracks again feature Courtis using only sounds borrowed from Kiritchenko, one ends up being a super pare abstract mechanical percussive shuffle, lots of creaks and clatter, sounding a bit like a rainforest, or some sort of giant shower, the final track is wash of fuzzy clang that sort of settles into a dense field of tightly woven chimes and tinkles, amidst a swirling sea of hiss and fuzz.
An amazing concept that actually produces some incredibly beautiful results!
MPEG Stream: ANDREY KIRITCHENKO "One"
MPEG Stream: MOGLASS "Four"
MPEG Stream: ANLA COURTIS "Nine"

CROOKED JADES Shining Darkness (Jade Note Music) cd 14.98
Feels like it's been ages since we've heard from local faves, The Crooked Jades, and just when we were about to file a missing persons report, in they walk with a brand spanking new release of the darkly tinged Americana that we've been craving. Shining Darkness has a more fleshed out sound than previous Jade releases covering a lot of ground from haunting Appalachian lullabies and fiery bluegrass dust-ups to dirgy British folk, full of sweet two part male and female harmonies, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and atmospheric harmonium. So nice!
MPEG Stream: "The Marrow of A Young Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Lost In The Woods"
MPEG Stream: "Shining Darkness"

FAUST / NURSE WITH WOUND Disconnected (Dirter) 2lp 42.00
Now on vinyl! The quintessential Krautrock projects - Faust, Can, Guru Guru, Amon Duul, and all things vaguely associated with Conny Plank - had been huge influences on Nurse With Wound's catalogue. So it goes without saying that when Steven Stapleton got the call that Faust wanted him to produce a record of theirs, he enthusiastically leapt at the chance. What he didn't expect was that Faust only passed on a series of sloppy studio improvisations to Stapleton with the instructions to make a Faust album out of them. We can imagine that Jim O'Rourke had been given a similarly loose framework when he was granted the opportunity to produce Rein back in 1995. Just as O'Rourke took those sounds and sculpted an album which was remarkable in its similarity to classic '70s era Faust (e.g. Faust Tapes, Faust IV, So Far, etc.), Stapleton with his trustworthy cohort Colin Potter at his side has crafted an excellent pastiche of that obtuse Faust sound of mutant psychedelia which guided the more experimental proponents of prog rock, industrial, post-punk, and post-rock. Disconnected is filled with dynamic tumbling percussive riffs, rolling acoustic guitar nestled into clouds of vibrating distortion, unsettled sweeping driftwork, and stoned basslines. In other words, Disconnected sounds like a fucking great Faust album.
MPEG Stream: "Lach Miss"
MPEG Stream: "Disconnected"
MPEG Stream: "Tu M'entends?"

FERRIS, D.X. 33 1/3 Series: Reign In blood (Continuum) book 10.95
We've only read the first half so far, but c'mon, it's Reign In Blood, one of the greatest thrash metal records ever. And music obsessives, you should already be reading this series, up close and intimate looks at not bands, but your favorite records, interviews with the bands, the fans, and all sorts of awesome behind the scenes drama!
Anyway, Reign In Blood is still an amazing record two decades later, and metal bands are still finding influence there, some WAY more than others.
This volume digs deep into maybe the most influential 29 minutes of metal EVER. Interviews with the bands, the producers, the engineers, the roadies, and most interestingly, the fans, a who's who of rock luminaries including: Tori Amos, Phil Anselmo, Page Hamilton of Helmet, Danzig, Jack Endino, Larry from Pelican, Angela from Arch Enemy, Kurt from Converge, Charlie from Anthrax, Sean from White Zombie, Matt from High On Fire, Gene Hoglan, rapper Ill Bill, Nergal from Behemoth, Buzz from the Melvins, Ripper Owens, Devin Townsend, Kat VonD, all the dudes from Mastodon, and tons more.
So far a super fun read, most of the series is, we've probably read about half of 'em, but as soon as we finish this review, first thing we do when we get home is to finish reading about REIGN IN BLOOD!

GAMA BOMB Citizen Brain (Earache) cd 16.98
Everything we've read about these Brits says thrash, thrash, thrash, and lists Nuclear Assault and Sodom as possible comparisons. Hmm, not untrue, but we're also hearing some weird, super-fun frat party version of early Slayer and Metallica. Lyrically, it's all beer and thrash. Yeah! Song titles like " Zombie Blood Nightmare," "Sentenced to Thrash," and "In the Court of General Zod" kinda say it all. Okay, maybe the most distinctive moment is on "Zombi Brew," on which they talk about "beer and brains." Yes, it's a zombie party where they're getting all "I love you, man!" and eyeballing people's brains. The band also encourages listeners to "put on your bullet belt, time to thrash like it's 1986." They're putting it out there. You're either into it, or you're not. But if you are, this is pretty fucking awesome! Includes bonus DVD while supplies last, haven't watched it yet, probably lots of gore and/or beer being spilled.
MPEG Stream: "Zombi Brew"
MPEG Stream: "Sentenced to Thrash"

GOAT FAMILY, THE All We Need (self-released) cd 11.98
Here's the follow-up to The Goat Family's lively debut album Unstopperable from a few years ago! Sounds like these seven fellas are still bustin' their britches with rambunctious energy and mighty fine pickin'! All We Need is jam-packed with sixteen old fashioned bluegrass and country tunes written and performed in both conventional and somewhat less conventional fashion by modern day folks fueled by ample jugs o' moonshine. Good times for sure!
MPEG Stream: "The Old Why And Why"
MPEG Stream: "Little Red Demons"

GORGOROTH True Norwegian Black Metal (Regain Records) cd 15.98
True Norwegian Black Metal is an interesting release on several levels. Okay, it features new vocalist Gaahl, as well as the guitarist (and oldest member) Infernus. In the time since this was recorded, the latter was kicked out of the band - but has started another band he insists is the real Gorgoroth - and they've been feuding ever since. Part of the fight involved Regain Records taking up the side of Infernus, and after which Gorgoroth's remaining members swore never to work with them again. But here it is! A live record on Regain, so we're wondering if this is just to fulfill any final obligations before band and label officially split. Did we say live? Well, live in Grieghallen Studio, that is. Oh, and Infernus re-recorded all of the bass guitar. That means this isn't so much a real live album as it is an album of previously recorded songs being played again by live people, during a new recording session. So what could possibly be gained by hearing this album? Well, if you're a huge Gorgoroth fan, this does give you a chance to hear Gaahl perform vocals on some songs that precede his entering the band. This also feels like some bizarre swansong from Infernus. The bottom of the thank you list just has his name, and as the list comes to a close he starts mentioning some weird names, such as: Leo Fender, Marcus Aurelius, and Mikhail Bulgakov. Sort of needlessly epic? Dude may be losing it. Anyway, this release is for fans only. If you're new to the band and want to find a good starting point, we'd probably point you to Under the Sign of Hell, which - incidentally - features more songs on this release than any other proper album. Tracks sampled below are from the following original releases: "Forces of Satan Storms" is from Twilight of the Idols, and "Unchain My Heart" surfaces first on Incipit Satan.
MPEG Stream: "Forces of Satan Storms"
RealAudio clip: "Unchain My Heart"

GREAT TYRANT, THE Candy Canes (Dada Drumming) 7"+cd-r 4.50
It's been ages since we've heard from Yeti, the killer bombastic space/psych/prog rock band from Texas. The Great Tyrant features two of the fomer Yetis and if anything is even more bombastic, but in a bit of a new direction. Yeti definitely had some musical drama going on, a hint of Goblin, but this new band takes it WAY farther, into something weirder, more gothic and WAY more dramatic, crooned vocals, lots of piano, bells and chimes, but wrapped around some off kilter metal, a sort of blackened circusy metal, blast beats over swirling dizzying melodies, the sound weirdly new wave-y and a bit punky, with synths and twisted textures, a very dense tripped out slab of doomy blackend space pop? Or something. It's hard to describe so that must be a good thing, definitely want to hear more from these guys. The swirled colored vinyl 7" comes with a cd-r featuring 3 extra tracks and A MAGMA COVER!!!

GURU GURU Hinten (Captain Trip) cd 27.00
What it is exactly that constitutes "Krautrock" is definitely up for debate. It seems often largely construed to be the insistent, motorik pulses of Neu! and Can. But to limit the genre to just that would be a mistake. Bands like Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel were also present, bringing some of the heaviest psychedlia ever recorded. Hinten is the former band's second album, and a classic. Free range guitars grazing on open, organic jams. It is more evidently structured than their debut, UFO, while still retaining an improvisational feel that is as playful as it is crushingly acidic. This is one of both Allan and Cameron's favorites within the genre. Halfway between killer rock riffs and complete psychedelic blow-out. Essential, though an expensive Japanese import in its current incarnation.
MPEG Stream: "Electric Junk"
MPEG Stream: "The Meaning of Meaning"

GURU GURU UFO (Captain Trip) cd 29.00
What it is exactly that constitutes Krautrock is definitely up for debate. It seems often largely construed to be the insistent, motorik pulses of Neu! and Can. But to limit the genre to just that would be a mistake. Bands like Guru Guru and Ash Ra Tempel were also present, bringing some of the heaviest psychedlia ever recorded. UFO is the former band's debut effort. Fans of heavy psych, German rock of the '70s, and free improv jams will consider this absolutely essential. And chances are, those fans already own this, or they simply haven't found a copy yet... here's the currently in print, Japanese mini-LP sleeve version. Repetitive, hypnotic, transcendent. And at the same time jarring. This is a fist full of mushrooms being shoved through the speakers. Embrace it.
MPEG Stream: "Stone In"
MPEG Stream: "Der LSD - Marsch"

HAMILTON, SAM + CHRIS O'CONNOR Tidal Dee's And Harboured Dum's (PseudoArcana) cd-r 14.98
We've had these for a while now, but are only getting around to listing it now. And unfortunately it's been so long we can't remember any of the details about who these guys are. Web searches have revealed very little as well, but as usual, it hardly matters once we get down to the sounds, which are awesome. A stumbling noiserock, light on the noise, a sort of loping, meandering postrock, the drums simple and spare, while all over the place electronics swoop and buzz, guitars clang and chime, a sort of slowcore crossed with some abstract electronic noise... Imagine a more post rock less machinelike Geronimo, or a prettier, WAY less chaotic Dead C, woozy and weary, and washed out, slow motion math rock dipped in glitch and skree and left to wander aimlessly. Really weird and atonal but pretty and subtly tripped out. There's definitely some Godspeed moments, and some distinctly Dead C sounds (or at least NZ noise rock sounds), but the way that they're arranged, it almost sounds like a normal everyday post rock band gradually and gloriously going haywire. Hard to explain, but this dusty little back room find is suddenly a new fave!
SUPER LIMITED and now discontinued and out of print. We only have a handful, so grab 'em while you can...
MPEG Stream: "Punky Rice Spirit"
MPEG Stream: "Swampy Animal People"

KISS Love Gun (Mercury / Casablanca) cd 10.98
Hopefully there's a bunch of you out there (at least 2 or 3), who have been eagerly waiting to read this Aquarius New Arrivals list mainly to find out which old KISS album Allan's gonna gush about now...
Last list, it was Destroyer. A classic. And before that, I talked up Dynasty and Music From The Elder, two rather more problematic yet still cool Kiss releases. This time, as you're already aware, I'm writing about 1977's Love Gun. Their 7th album overall. Released more or less in the midst of their pop culture superstardom (comic books, lunch pails, TV movies, platinum-shipping albums, record breaking concert attendance) it displays both their true rock n' roll charisma, and juvenile cheesiness too. This is entertainment, not high art, y'know? And furthermore, the thing is, despite Love Gun's Frank Frazetta styled cover painting, Kiss wasn't ever really a "heavy metal" band. They dabbled, and certainly had a hand in forging some of the tropes of the genre (corpsepaint, perhaps?), but first and foremost, Kiss was a moneymaking pop group on the hard rock side of things. So, while they DO have some heavy faves in their songbook, like ferinstance Love Gun's title track (which sounds a lot like W.A.S.P. later on, Blackie Lawless owing something to Paul Stanley in the vocal dep't.) you have to appreciate 'em for being, ultimately, a pop group, looking for hits how ever they could find 'em. And yet always, keeping it Kiss. Which means, sometimes corny, always catchy.
Uptempo opener "I Stole Your Love", shrieked by Paul Stanley, has an underlying high-energy urgency that maybe for a moment could remind one of the MC5 (Kiss must have been fans, cf. "Detroit Rock City"). Up next, "Christine Sixteen" is a bubblegum jailbait fantasy, the sort of subject matter that they leeringly specialize in so often. It's a Gene Simmons tune, as is the following one, "I Got Love For Sale" (hey, that's convenient, since mine just got stolen... hey wait a second). The album's first real surprise comes next, with the raw, rockin' "Shock Me", a number written and sung by Ace Frehley (actually the first ever time the guitarist did lead vocals on a Kiss album), his amateur-hour vox getting over on cheeky chutzpah alone - when he sings "Put on your black leather" you've gotta smile. Next, two Stanley tracks back to back, "Tomorrow and Tonight" and the aforementioned "Love Gun". Then drummer Peter "Beth" Criss, gets a tune in too, "Hooligan", this time neither a ballad nor a hit. Following that, there's two more from Simmons. "Almost Human" is a heavy groover that could only be sung so convincingly, with (extra-length) tongue-in-cheek, by someone of his demonic appearance and persona. And "Plaster Caster" finds Gene singing about what he knows best, groupies... Finally, "Then She Kissed Me" wraps things up with Paul Stanley at his campiest, doing a swoonsome cover of an old Phil Spector girl group tune (originally titled "Then He Kissed Me" when sung by The Crystals). Cheesy, but charming. And again, not altogether metal...
Kiss definitely delivers here, Love Gun firing many more hits than misses, nothing getting in the way of the (mostly) hard rock, (always) pop product. Keep It Simple Stupid apparently as much their motto as is alternate apocryphal acronym explanation Knights In Satan's Service.
MPEG Stream: "I Stole Your Love"
MPEG Stream: "Shock Me"
MPEG Stream: "Almost Human"

KLUSTER 1970 - 1971 (Water) 3cd 27.00
They used to be available separately (and maybe still are, as fancy expensive Japanese imports). But if you want one, you probably want 'em all: the first three (and only, until recently, with the advent of the Vulcano and Admira cds reviewed on list #294) lps of pioneering proto-Industrial krautrock from the trio of Moebius, Roedelius, and Conrad Schnitzler. The first two of whom went on to form Cluster with a C, whose career is one of the most significant in all of krautrock -and- electronic music (and whom we were proud to recently host a performance by at our store!). Meanwhile Schnitzler also made quite a name for himself as a solo electronic experimentalist too.
Together with producer Conny Plank, the trio recorded two proper studio albums, 1970's Klopfzeichen and 1971's Zwei-Osterei. Both of 'em dark and dismal soundscapes, improvised and abstract, with some sort of strange religious sermon (in German) over top of the first side of each.... apparently they cut a deal with some church or cult to pay for these records' release, and in return had to include the creepy God-talk! Which, since we don't understand much German, doesn't bother us too much. Eruption, a live recording from '71, has a similar vibe, but without the spoken word (and it's plenty spooky anyway). All of these were originally issued in incredibly small quantities (200-300 lps) and we doubt at the time that Kluster ever imagined this music would be in print, and revered, nearly 40 years later!
Packaged in a fat 3-disc jewel box, with cd booklet giving much more info than we've supplied here.
MPEG Stream: "Klopfzeichen Part One"
MPEG Stream: "Zwei-Osterei Part One"

KNIVES OV RESISTANCE Prisca Sapientia (Aurora Borealis) cd 14.98
Back in stock!
Latest release from the UK's Aurora Borealis label, responsible for the KTL double lp elsewhere on this list, as well as records from Moss, Ginnungagap, Wolfmangler, Guapo, the Grails, even Crebain!
Knives Ov Resistance are a European ensemble who weave dense soundscapes of blissed out ambience and abstract guitar shimmer, Channeling the spirit of Popol Vuh, Spacemen 3, Godspeed, Jackie O Motherfucker, and other like minded sonic explorationists.
A lush blend of field recordings, glistening guitars, rumbling drones, warbling turntables, all woven into drifting sun dappled sonic tapestries of sound. An ambient post rock drift, that flits and flutters amidst the sounds of children laughing, the lush din of the forest, chittering birds, the sound of leaves and water, a dense and thick backdrop, rife with turntabled fragments of sound, bits of opera, soaring strings, muted squiggles, slowed down ambience, warm whirs, mixed in with simple percussion, everything smeared into fuzzy blurs, all beneath an abstract summery folk, that glimmers and drifts, gradually changing shape and color, texture and timbre. Epic and expansive, yet subtle and simple. Some sort of abstract avant ambient folk perhaps... really really nice.
Fans of the above mentioned bands will definitely dig this, as well as fans of new weird America, modern free folk, and all things Jewelled Antler.
Packaged in a thick vinyl pouch, housed in a cool textured paper sleeve that folds out into a poster.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

LANER, BRAD Neighbor Singing (Hometapes) cd 14.98
Recently we've been getting caught up on a few releases that slipped under our radar! There's so much great music coming out all the time. try as we might, it's darn near impossible to keep and eye and ear on everything!
Brad Laner cruises down yet another musical avenue on this his self-titled solo debut. He got his
electronic itch scratched under the moniker Electric Company and prior to that he got his drone rock on in the awesome early '90s LA noise pop band Medicine. Now he's getting all cozy in a delirious psych pop dream. Very very retro '60s and Brian Wilsonesque, Neighbor Singing could easily be mistaken for a long lost Olivia Tremor Control album... an absolute treasure in our opinion!
MPEG Stream: "Find Out"
MPEG Stream: "Lovely World"

LAST OF THE BLACKSMITHS Young Family Song (Vanguard Squad) cd ep 11.98
You might recall The Last Of The Blacksmiths' fine self-titled debut back in 2006. Despite this Bay Area band's name, The Last Of The Blacksmiths prove they're in no danger of extinction. They've stood strong for over two years and now have a sophomore cdep under their belt. If you've a hankering for some slow creeping soulful Americana, Young Family Song is for you. The band's brooding bleary folk-rock melancholia will bring you down in the best possible way. Steeped in hard liquor and salty tears, these are songs of slurred speech and blurred vision that cast a heady spell that linger long after this short ep is over.
MPEG Stream: "Autumn Vacation"
MPEG Stream: "Giving Up"

MACHINEFABRIEK Vloed (Sentient Recognition Archive) cd-r 8.98
BACK IN STOCK! We though it was gone gone gone but managed to get a few from the label, but these are definitely the last ones:
As is the case with Aidan Baker and Nadja, it almost wouldn't seem like a proper aQ new arrivals list without the presence of Machinefabriek, aka Rutger Zuydervelt, so we're quite relieved to have both. Actually, all three. 
This latest Machinefabriek recording captures three live performances, all in Amsterdam, recorded between 2006 and 2008 all looooong, the shortest 16 minutes, the longest 22. 
All three performances find Machinefabriek in fine form, offering up thick billows of warm guitar shimmer, fluttery staticky ambience, and at one point some uncharacteristically heavy super distorted metallic guitar, but here, it's not so much metal as simply a mighty drone, thick and throbbing and super intense. There are long stretches of near silence and super minimal high end drone, glimmering slow building crescendos, squalls of distorted choral buzz, warm whirring metallic reverberations, shimmery almost new age and dense black dronemusik, all the stuff we love about Machinefabriek, BUT, and this is what makes this disc so good, is that live, while still being dynamic and subtle, Zuydervelt also proves to me way more intense and aggressive than on his recordings. And thus, we must recommend!
LIMITED TO 180 COPIES!
MPEG Stream: "06.07.2008 Bimhuis, Amsterdam"
MPEG Stream: "09.06.2006 Oude Kerk, Amsterdam"

MANSON, CHARLES Sings (ESP-Disk) cd 14.98
Back in print and back in stock!
Poor misunderstood Charlie Manson. Visionary, musician, troubadour, murderer. Wait, one of those things he is not. Murderer. That's right, let's not forget that Manson committed no murders himself, it was his 'Family' that did 'em. Which of course insured that these recordings would be both way more infamous than they would be otherwise, but at the same time would be poison to any one who agreed to release them. Recorded a couple years before the Tate-LaBianca murders, these recordings have a rich convoluted history: it was rumored that the intended victim of the murders was in fact a record producer that rejected this record, and every producer approached to release them later recieved death threats, and it was later proven that much more succesful musicians than Manson had been targeted for assasination! Phew. You'd never know it listening to this album. In fact, in a blind listening test, you'd be hard pressed to pick this out as the work of a soon to be incarcerated cult leader / mass murderer. Reverb drenched beatniky psychedelic freekfolk, sort of hippy and trippy but really pretty great. And Manson's voice is really nice, a little rough, a little raw, but warm and rich. The tracks range from gorgeous lilting dream folk to tripped out beatnik jams, to sixties psych rock, complete with bongos, acoustic guitar, strange clattery percussion, noodly electric leads, all with lots of delay and reverb giving the whole thing a rich shimmery vibe. Not all that surprising as Manson was BIG into music. Read any of the Brian Wilson / Beach Boys bios, and you'll find the Boys spending a great deal of time hanging with Manson, who seemed to always be a fixture at big Beach Boys bashes, and threw wild parties at his desert hideaway Spahn Ranch. And indie rockers have been obsessed with Manson Sings for years, always talking it up as a lost folk gem and sometimes even covering Manson's songs (the Lemonheads do a killer (sorry) version of "Home Is Where You're Happy").
Fans of the current crop of indie hippy forest folk, like Devendra, Feathers, Wooden Wand, Fursaxa and the like should realize, if they don't already, and whether they like it or not, that they have a freak folk father figure in the form of one Charles Manson...
MPEG Stream: "Look At Your Game Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Mechanical Man"
MPEG Stream: "Home Is Where You're Happy"

MHFS Driving To Rawene (PseudoArcana) 3"cd-r 12.98
Now that PseudoArcana is ceasing production on most of their back catalog, this is your last chance to pick this up. Last few copies in stock, never to be repressed.
We haven't heard from MHFS for ages, not since their now long out of print cd-r on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon. That release found these NZ noise makers kicking up a serious freerock fuss, with wild spacey synthesizer, crashing chaotic freakout and a bunch of whirring and bleeping and screeching. That very same record though finished up with a stretch of strummy soft shimmer, and that's pretty much where this 3" finds them again. Taking up right where they left off. They incidentally is in fact a he, one Mark Sadgrove, who is quite a fixture in the NZ music underground. In MHFS, Sadgrove utilizes homemade electronics, found sounds, field recordings, his own software, as well as the more traditional voice and guitar to create, subtle soundscapes, from very very minimal happenings a la Francisco Lopez, where we found ourselves reaching for the volume knob just to get a fleeting glimpse of the fuzzy details and barely these smears of soft sound, to rough crackly drones, waves of crumbling guitar distortion and buried in the haze mumbly vocals, all very sleepily sun drenched and beautifully blown out.
MPEG Stream: "Driving To Rawene 1"
MPEG Stream: "Driving To Rawene 2"

MON COUSIN BELGE Quelle Horreur (World Famous in San Francisco) cd 14.98
Over the last couple years San Francisco's Mon Cousin Belge have earned quite the reputation for their raucous, theatrical and dazzling live performances. And in a city that's got such a great history for campy, subversive and wonderfully queer art and music it's actually kind of sad to say that it's becoming more rare to find a really good charged and dazzling homo-rock band around these parts lately. Luckily Mon Cousin Belge have been filling that void quite nicely. With a sound equally influenced by glam-rock, torch songs and the sparkling seedy side of high octane pop, Quelle Horreur is an action packed flamboyant and proud album that fits perfectly in any record collection containing the soundtrack to Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Ziggy Stardust era Bowie, Sparks, B-52's and Nina Hagen. With song titles like "Tweaker Bitch", "Sodomy" and "Pigdog" and the trashy chops to back it all up, someone really needs to get this in the hands of John Cameron Mitchell and John Waters as this could be their new favorite band!
MPEG Stream: "Unicycle"
MPEG Stream: "Sodomy"
MPEG Stream: "The Crossing"

MONOTONIX Body Language (Drag City) cd 12.98
First off, go see these guys if you get the chance. It's a crazed rock spectacle, kinda like Japan's DMBQ but more dangerous, or at least shirtless. They live up to the hype you may have heard about their live performances, that's for sure. This guitar/drums/vocals trio from Israel are very, very rock n' roll, and they know how to put on a show. Probably everyone who's ever seen them has a good story, likely to include the drummer soloing whilst simultaneously crowd surfing, and the band's wiry, longhaired, mustachioed frontman (who looks like a cross between Iggy Pop and Doug Henning) energetically scampering about, spilling many, many audience members' beers (grabbing 'em with his teeth and tossing them back over his head, usually, at least if they're served in plastic cups). Allan's Monotonix show story even involves a goat!
But, the question remains, does any of that translate on record? Well this six song, 24 minute Drag City debut should answer that question. It reveals some depth to the riffy, hard and heavy, good times rock they dish out at their shows, with more melody and intricacy certainly (surprisingly). The title track, ferinstance, is almost prog pop! Yet, they don't stint on the fuzzy guitar and pounding drums we were expecting either, so if you play it loud, you might manage to spill a beer or two on yourself at home. If you just see 'em live, what you'll remember is how they played, not what they played. But spin this a few times, and some of these riffs may get stuck in your bangin' head. However, Monotonix live is a tough act to follow, which is their own damn fault, and so this still seems a bit secondary, like, they've gotta make records, if only to have something to sell on tour. But it is nice to see that they've put some effort into this aspect of the Monotonix experience too, instead of totally coasting on their live insanity.
MPEG Stream: "Body Language"
MPEG Stream: "No Metal"

MONTENEGRO, HUGO Mr. Groovy (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 16.98
Hugo Montenegro was one of many light composers of the space-age bachelor pad era that included Dick Hyman, Esquivel, Frank Comstock, Ferrante & Teicher and Ray Coniff. What set him apart from his contemporaries was a flair for restless frenetic rhythms, scatting vocalese, and groovy surfy spy themes like the soundtrack for such b-movie potboilers as The Lady In Cement and TV shows, The Wrecking Crew and The Ambushers. But his most literally electrifying moment came from his adoption of the Moog synthesizer for 1969's Moog Power, one of the best Moog records out there next to Gershon and Kingsley's In Sounds From Way Out.
Now, in typical anthologizing fashion, the generous folks at The Omni Recording Corporation who have brought us many a left-field pop eccentric such as Porter Wagoner, Biff Rose (also reviewed this list), Bruce Haack, Hoyt Axton, and Jim Blanchard & Misty Morgan set their targets on Montenegro's enormously varied output. Sometimes Omni's exhaustive anthologies can be, well, exhausting, offering almost too much work from a single person. The first half of Mr. Groovy is largely well-worn covers ("Classical Gas", "Happy Together", "Love is Blue" etc.), that are not quite as rewarding as the second half's awesome Moog pieces and spy themes. But the quantity versus quality complaint is a minor one when it comes to Omni's releases who most of the time deliver both in large numbers. Just don't dismiss this disc because you don't like the theme from "Hair". Grooovy!
MPEG Stream: "Moog Power"
MPEG Stream: "Theme For Three"
MPEG Stream: "Jungle Heat!"

MUTE SOCIALITE More Popular Than Presidents And Generals (Delphine Knormal Musik) cd 11.98
Mute Socialite are a new aural maelstrom featuring Bay Area avant music vets Moe! Staiano, Ava Mendoza, Alec Karim and Shayna Dunkleman. Don't even attempt to define this new group's sound by the words in their moniker. They are anything but mute, and we wouldn't consider theirs to be the most social of musics. It's like a sonic blow to the solar plexus that then proceeds to march on odd time signatures upon your fallen form. The dozen pieces deliver plenty of mighty post-punk churn, no wave spasm and math rock count-that-shit! At once fiercely precise and wildly chaotic. Blistering.
MPEG Stream: "Dirt Never Burns"
MPEG Stream: "A Quiet Execution"

MUTE SOCIALITE More Popular Than Presidents And Generals (Delphine Knormal Musik) lp 14.98
Mute Socialite are a new aural maelstrom featuring Bay Area avant music vets Moe! Staiano, Ava Mendoza, Alec Karim and Shayna Dunkleman. Don't even attempt to define this new group's sound by the words in their moniker. They are anything but mute, and we wouldn't consider theirs to be the most social of musics. It's like a sonic blow to the solar plexus that then proceeds to march on odd time signatures upon your fallen form. The dozen pieces deliver plenty of mighty post-punk churn, no wave spasm and math rock count-that-shit! At once fiercely precise and wildly chaotic. Blistering.
MPEG Stream: "Dirt Never Burns"
MPEG Stream: "A Quiet Execution"

NEST / TIM COSTER s/t (Gest) cd-r 9.98
Last year we reviewed a cd-r by the duo Nest, guitarist Andrew Scott and NZ noisemaker Nigel Wright, where they teamed up with fellow kiwi MHFS, but for this latest outing, the duo has teamed up with yet another New Zealander, Tim Coster, and the results are again sublime. But in a much different way than the last collaboration. Where that one was distorted and heavy and buzzy, this new one is much darker and more introspective, guitars and laptops blurred into warm whirring blurs, soft distorted pulses smoother out into soft swells, a dreamy dark tranquil drift, that continues that way for much of the track's 25 minutes, but right around the 17 minute mark, the guitars grow a bit restless, the sound a bit more corrosive, over the continuous low end flow, soars streaks of coruscating high end, shards of feedback, eventually shedding the low end completely, leaving the sharper guitar to riff weightlessly and slowly transform into a fuzzed out chunk of slow swirling murk, that unfurls until the track's end. Good stuff. Fans of the usual abstract free drone stuff will dig this heavily!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

OLD FOREST Tales Of The Sussex Weald; Part 1: The Legend Of The Devil's Dyke (D.T.M. Productions) 3"cd-r 13.98
Back in stock!!! Last copies!!!
We never thought the day would come, but the return of Old Forest is nigh!!! The first release from these UK black metal anti-legends in 7 years! Their first record, Into The Old Forest is an all time aQ weirdo black metal fave. And their second unreleased record, None More Black, was meant to finally see the light of day via tUMULt, but instead, will be released by the original label later this year. And when the world hears that one, well, Old Forest just may rightfully reclaim their crown as masters of genius fucked up grimness for sure.
The real surprise though is the band surfacing from whatever dark hellish abyss they retreated to nearly a decade ago. With a new full length in the works, but also this three part ep collection, focusing on the myths and legends of the Sussex countryside from which these guys hail.
Sonically very little has changed. The sound is still murky and buzzy, the guitars thick and blurred, plenty of keyboards, pummeling drums. Lots of atmosphere, and haunting ambience, the vocals a demonic croak, the songs ranging from blasting and black, to creepy midtempo dirge. Haunting baritone monklike chants drift in and out, field recordings of crickets and birds, wind and rustling branches, the songs are packed with super memorable riffs, sing songy "woooo, ooooh" sort of call and response vocals, double kick blasting away, even during some of the more mellow bits, the songs lurch and pound woozily, peppered with incredibly catchy and unlikely little keyboard figures, the band occasionally launching into some furious blasting, but just as often slipping back into a fuzzy dirge or midtempo pound.
And everything, no matter how true or grim, is infused with the cracked black sensibilities of Old Forest, much like countrymen Meads Of Asphodel (who may have one times shared members with Old Forest), not taking it too seriously, but at the same time taking it all deathly seriously. Dark and buzzy, spaced out and psychedelic, heavy and black, but also slightly cracked and definitely warped. And this is only part oneŠ
LIMITED TO ONLY 222 COPIES. Each packaged in a mini 3" jewel case, with super striking red and black artwork, and liner notes and lyrics.
MPEG Stream: "Cocks Crowing At Poynings"
MPEG Stream: "Chanctonbury King"

PARRENIN, EMMANUELLE Maison Rose (Lion) lp 30.00
Now, reissued on vinyl too!
Haunting and lovely avant-folk recording from French multi-instrumentalist Emmanuelle Parrenin. Recorded in 1977, Parrenin's fascination and adeptness with ancient traditional stringed instruments such as the harp, hurdy-gurdy, spinet, and dulcimer, gives a unique spin on her more forward thinking compositions. Often compared to Vashti Bunyan and Linda Perhacs due to her sweet multi-tracked vocals which accompany about half of the songs, we think the later recording date puts her more in line with Kay Hoffman's Floret Silva (another progressive folk masterpiece recorded the same year) or the kosmiche pastoral vibe of Popol Vuh due to the layered Celtic-inflected droning harmonies she evokes from her instruments. Beautiful and so recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Chibault et L'Arbre D'Or"
MPEG Stream: "Apres L'Ondee"

ROBINSON, EUGENE Fight (Hydra Head) 2cd 13.98
We figured since we were listing a new super limited live recording of Oxbow, one that resulted in Eugene unconscious onstage afterwards, that we oughta relist his book-on-tape (well, cd, but tape sounds better) where Eugene reads from his book, all about kicking ass and getting your ass kicked...
As you all should know by now, Eugene Robinson is the lead singer of Oxbow, a swamp-rock punk explosion of pure id in a musical context. Eugene's primal engery, which gets exorcised on stage most definitely and to a lesser extent on record, has also manifested itself in Robinson's parallel career as a mixed martial artist. That's right, as more than a few foolish hecklers at Oxbow shows have learned the hard way, Eugene is not a dude you want to mess with! Being both a brawler and an intellectual, Eugene has thought quite a bit about his pastime. A few years back, Eugene penned a column for the fight magazine Grappler about the art of getting his ass kicked by fighters much better than he; and he began working on a book about the oft misunderstood bloodsport-cum-artform known as mixed martial arts. The book in question is FIGHT: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Ass-Kicking But Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked For Asking, and it's something of a coffee table book with ample bloodsplattered photographs from the brief history of MMA as it has broached the mainstream of Western Culture (thanks to UFC in America and Pride in Japan).
This Fight 2cd finds Eugene reading various bits from that book. Eugene's words come across as a mixture of Harry Crews, Lydia Lunch and Quintin 'Rampage' Jackson, poetic in language, vitriolic with emotional drama, and arrogant with the boastfulness of first hand knowledge in ass-kicking. This spoken word set is a pretty entertaining listen, providing insight into Oxbow's music, the history of the UFC, Eugene's enthusiam for devil-in-the-ring / nice-guy-at-home fighters Kevin Randleman and Maurice Smith, and the fact or fiction world of prison fighting called "jail-house rock." Hey, did you know that Oxbow were up for a Grammy? Look it up! We love Oxbow. And we love Eugene. And for the record, he could totally kick all our asses, combined.
MPEG Stream: "Introdution Fighting: Why Not?"
MPEG Stream: "Let's Get It On"
MPEG Stream: "Jailhouse Rock & Banditry"

ROSE, BIFF s/t (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 16.98
While some of us here really love early Biff Rose records, we realize he's a very acquired taste. His jokey piano-bar delivery, quirky early musical theater-style arrangements, and Kermit the Frog-like voice (he also kind of sounds like Wayne Coyne from Flaming Lips) usually don't warm up to most people's ears right away. He definitely comes out of the same school of pop eccentrics as Mose Allison, Loudon Wainwright III, Randy Newman, The Neon Philharmonic, and Van Dyke Parks. But the thing is, when you have him on shuffle on your iPod, he'll always be that burst of warm surprise that makes you scramble for your iPod to figure out what the heck is playing. The ever-reliable The Omni Recording Corporation label has reissued this 1970 eponymous release. Not psych-folk as the label implies (or as we tend to think of it it), but the mood is much darker and somber than on any of Rose's previous records. Full of lush Van Dyke Parks-style orchestral arrangements and songs about heartbreak (he recorded this during a messy divorce), it contains our most favorite Biff Rose song, "The Captain", a haunting ode to epic loss with swirling strings and far off sleigh bells. This could easily be a touchstone for Joanna Newsom's Ys, as the mood and arrangements are similar, evoking an antique and quaint musical soundworld to touch on larger human themes of sadness and self-renewal.
If you're curious about Biff Rose, or like any of the aforementioned people above, this or Children of Light are the best ones to start with. So bittersweet!
MPEG Stream: "The Captain"
MPEG Stream: "Never Mind"

ROSENQVIST, DAG & RUTGER ZUYDERVELT (JASPER TX & MACHINEFABRIEK) Feberdrom (Odradek) 3"cd-r 11.98
Back in stock! Last copies...
It's been a while since these two have gotten together for some noisemaking. Not since the very popular around here Vintermusik (now sold out, sorry). But since then, both have been plenty busy, releasing a clutch of limited cd-r's as well as at least a proper full length or two. Most recently, the beautifully dark Black Sleep from Dag Rosenqvist, aka Jasper TX.
So how much has changed since these two last teamed up? Thankfully not too much. The two work well together, which makes perfect sense considering they travel similar sonic paths on their own, so here the two sort of blend their sonic palletes, and the result, as has been the case in the past is not the sum of the parts, but more a minimal distillation of their two sounds. Not as lush as one might imagine, but also not as spare and academic.
A gorgeous hushed minimalism, that is just spike enough to remain interesting and to keep just on this side of pure ambience, adding grit and texture and a sense of subtly ominous foreboding.
Beginning with a soft, fuzzy drone, all smeared with tape hiss, the track gradually gathers low end, deep swells rising ever so gently from the abyss, while some sort of high end sine waves separate themselves from the sound, becoming prickly layers hovering far above the warm drift. The two halves, the low and the high, continue to transform independently, both gathering static and crackle as well, eventually, the low end sprawls into a glacial chordal whir, slowly spreading in slow motion, while the high end has become a sort of skittery sonar, offering up strange pulses and keening high end tones, those tones slowing down gradually, becoming less sharp, lower in fact, while the main melody also begins to fade, both eventually fading to nothing almost simultaneously. Quite nice. Fans of either will definitely dig. As will folks into abstract minimalism and all manner of drones and microsounds.
Gorgeously packaged in a super complex folded origami sleeve, black spirographs and white text on green metallic paper. Super striking. And of course, super limited...

SHINDIG! Issue #6 (Sept-Oct 2008) magazine 9.98
We've been stocking this magazine for a little while now & thought we'd put it on our list this time so mailorder customers (or locals who didn't spot it already on the magazine rack here) could get a chance at it, if they're interested in the sixties-centric stuff that Shindig! specializes in. Published in the UK, this full-color bimonthly is kinda like Ugly Things done glossy like Mojo, covering "psych, garage, beat, powerpop, soul, folk...". They definitely dig into some obscurities of the era, but just not 30 pages deep they way they'd do in UT. This issue has Marc Bolan's folky, freaky Tyrannosaurus Rex on the cover. Inside, stuff about the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Move, The Youngbloods, Slade, and (yes!) AQ fave Aussie proto-metallers Buffalo, amongst others. Plus lots and lots of reviews and the other usual magazine things. And they reserve a smidgen of space for modern-day acts of the appropriately retro persuasion, too. 80+ A4 sized pages.

SIC ALPS US EZ (Siltbreeze) lp 14.98
Now On Vinyl!
Now that Iran seem to be dead. And the Church Steps are gone. And the Coach Whips are no more. Well, it's up to Sic Alps to keep the SF noise pop freak flag flying!
It always seemed that sonically, these guys belonged on Siltbreeze, and lo and behold, it has come to pass. For those who are new to Sic Alps, imagine a fractured noise drenched lo-fi garage pop, rife with blown out drums, simple detuned guitars, lazy drawled vocals, tons of reverb and distortion, all tangled up into some seriously catchy pop. Guided By Voices, Strapping Fieldhands, Pavement, but with plenty of hazy sixties psych, a killer lo-fi Phil Spector-ish wall of sound production, and a bit of corrosive noise and fractured amp buzz a la the Dead C. 
U.S. EZ leans way more toward the pop than the noise, many of the songs, eschewing any sort of noise or distortion completely, offering up instead, a sort of shimmery sixties soft pop, all jangly guitars, and reverbed background vocals, but elsewhere the band rocks pretty hard, channeling classic nineties slacker indie rock, through modern noise rock, via some fuzzy retro garage, the result as we mentioned before, often ends up sounding like a Beach Boys or Hollies record on Siltbreeze. Which should be recommendation enough. Dwyer from the Oh Sees says it's worth it just for the track "Gelly Roll Gum Drop"!!
MPEG Stream: "Gelly Roll Gum Drop"
MPEG Stream: "Massive Place"
MPEG Stream: "Bric Jaz"

TAIGA REMAINS Obelia (Barl Fire) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another lost recording from aQ faves Taiga Remains, one of two unearthed releases that have been lurking on the shelves but have somehow made it unreviewed until now.
This one came out on Barl Fire a while back, and since then the label has called it quits, so these are absolutely the very last copies, so act fast. It's too bad cd-r releases like this are so limited, when you think about the time and care and love that went into beautiful sounds like these, it seems almost criminal that they might only be heard by 50 or 100 people. And these are beautiful sounds, Taiga Remains, aka Alex Cobb, is as comfortable weaving haunting noisescapes as he is unfurling sweet minimal Appalachia, this one is begins as the latter, a spacious reverb drenched chunk of Fahey-esque soft strum, notes and chords drifting in a wide open expanse of reverby shimmer. So delicate and soft focus and lovely.
This is quickly followed up by a bout of extended buzz. A prickly electronic hum, the excited vibrations of steel strings rendered in a subtly undulating layer of insectoid whir, cloaking a deep rumbling drone and mysterious barely audible melodies. The closer is a 3 minute reprise of the opener, more delicate harmonics and fluttery strum, quivering like a dew dappled spider web spun across a sun dappled sonic glade. So so so nice.
Hopefully this will get reissued one of these days, but for now, a handful of you can feast on these lovely sounds.
MPEG Stream: "Absence-Frost"
MPEG Stream: "Shining Metal Spheres"

TAIGA REMAINS Under The Weather (Onomato) 3" cd-r 8.98
It's been a little while since we've heard from Taiga Remains, aka Alex Cobb, seems he's busy running the kick ass Students Of Decay label, but we've been doing some digging around and discovered a few Taiga titles lurking in the shadows. The first is this 3"cd-r, now long out of print, these are absolutely the last copies, released on Onomato, in a cool mini 3" jewel case, a single 17 minute song, a symphony of hiss, a wash of soft white noise draped over a swirl of dark drones, the reverberate and pulse beneath the staticky surface, eventually, as your ears become accustomed to the hiss, it sort of melts away and becomes another layer of drone, a warm billowy sonic halo, while the buried tones, spell out a slooooow drawn out melody, pretty intense when you realize this was recorded using just an acoustic guitar and some delay. Eventually much of the hiss does in fact melt away, leaving the buried tones revealed, as they begin to blossom into extended tones, muted high end, gently throbbing and pulsing hypnotically, eventually fading out completely.
As always super nice stuff. And again, LIMITED like crazy, OUT OF PRINT, these are the last copies ever...
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

TWINSISTERMOON Levels & Crossings (Digitalis) cd 14.98
Finally back in stock!
There seems to be a pattern these days with new bands, specifically the bands who exist in the cd-r underground. The scene is so small and the various labels and groups so closely linked, that it doesn't take much for a new group to blow up, a single well received cd-r on one label, often results in short order in releases on some or all of the various other cd-r labels of note. Sometimes it's frustrating, discovering a band, and then a month or two later discovering that they now have 5, or 10 or even 20 releases. But on the other hand, if it's a band you dig, why the hell not, we would never be ones to balk at more records by a band we love.
Anyway, such was the case with a band called Natural Snow Buildings, who released an insanely limited cd-r, in ridiculously fancy packaging. Practically no one got one, but those who did, raved like crazy, and thus, there are a whole mess of NSB releases about to drop (one elsewhere on this list actually). Not long after that release, half of that duo released his first record under the name Twinsistermoon, and pretty much the same thing happened. Insanely limited, only a few people got it, and word spread, and now TSM are also poised to release a handful of new records. Thankfully, Digitalis stepped in and snapped up that Twinsistermoon recording, and decided to reissue it, so more than a handful of people could hear it, and voila, here it is! Still probably too limited (only 500 copies), but at least briefly, we all have a chance to hear the gorgeous sounds of Twinsistermoon.
Mehdi Amaziane is one half of Natural Snow Buildings, and records on his own as Twinsistermoon. This disc was originally released as a limited run of 36 copies, which says something that it could still create such a stir. But it all makes sense when you finally hear it. This will be like manna from heaven for the dream-drone free noise cd-r set, the perfect mix of abstract folky songsmithery, and abstract raga like buzz, intense minimal tribalism, and shimmering soft focus strum. Even from the first track, imagine the cosmic Ur-drone of a group like Sunroof! intertwined with the fluttery forest folk of a group like Avarus, but then introduce soaring impossible high male vocals, often mistaken for a female, all woven into a buzzing brilliant sprawl. Peppered with bits of percussion, tinkling chimes, backwards guitars, almost Renn Faire like folk, those soaring vocals, hand drums, huge washes of vocal harmonies. Totally epic and expansive, cinematic and grand. And that's just the first track!
The record drifts dreamily from soft folky shimmer, to thick raga rituals. The vocal based songs are uncanny, Amaziane's voice is so high and clear, like Vashti Bunyan crossed with Cat power, the vocals rich and lustrous, emotional and intense, draped over fragments of strummed guitar, and muted percussion. Breathless and intimate, one moment, lush and epic the next, Amaziane could easily have made a record with just an acoustic guitar and his voice, instead, he chose to incorporate a much wider palette, creating gorgeous sweeping soundscapes, washed out drones, thick walls of crumbling distorted sound, steel string buzz would into long stretches of reverberation and shimmer, often erupting into dense tangles of buzz and pound, some tracks sound like a more lo-fi Loop, a sort of rambling forest-ified space rock, others are near static, channeling Sunroof! again as well as folks like Phill Niblock, but as much as we love dronemusic, and abstract buzzing ambience, it's Amaziane's voice that makes this disc so compelling. Anyone can whip up a good drone-y skree, although Twinsistermoon do it much better than most, keeping it musical rather than drone for drone's sake, but very few have a voice like that, and if they do, even fewer know how to use it. In Twinsistermoon, Amaziane transcends the idea of singer/songwriter, creating a gorgeously expansive and organic soundworld, equal parts free folk, abstract noise, minimal drone and hushed intimate songsmithery.
Packaged in a full color, matte finished 6 panel cardstock jacket, with super striking Aztec influence artwork by Amaziane. And again, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
MPEG Stream: "Winter Pamgri Epidemic"
MPEG Stream: "Soul-Fate"
MPEG Stream: "Scaffold"

WRATHFUL PLAGUE Bitter Forest Winds (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 9.98
Back in stock, this blackened unblack (confused? read on!) slab of fucked up freaked out buzz!
Latest release from the crazy prolific E.E.E. Recordings label, home to all things unblack, as in Christian black metal. We've gone into the whole unblack thing at great length in the past. While it may seem antithetical to most, a music that was founded and is defined by its very anti-Christian bent, being subverted and appropriated to glorify the Lord, but we'll leave all that stuff to the chatrooms and message boards, all we know is this unblack stuff sounds amazing! In the past we've raved about Glaciial, Light Shall Prevail, Agathothodion, Elgibbor, Flaskavsae, Offerblod and Njiqahdda, check any of those reviews for more on the whole unblack phenomenon, in the meantime, we'll investigate the grim buzzing soundworld of Wrathful Plague.
With a name like Wrathful Plague, and the fact that these guys are on E.E.E., you might assume that this is more unblack metal, but in fact, according to the label, the band is non-religious, not the first E.E.E. band to keep their convictions on the DL (Drommer is another), thankfully, they SOUND unblack, which by now has a definite sonic connotation. Unblack artists are definitely on the fucked and freaked out end of the BM spectrum, the sounds as much a part of their music as the songs, sure there's plenty of grim buzz, and furious blast beats and harsh hellish vocals, but all performed and recorded in such a way, that they end up smeared and blurred, murky and damaged, tape hiss offering up as much buzz as the guitars, the tone changing from muddy and muffled, to tinny and brittle, but it a way that only adds to the mood and atmosphere of the music.
Wrathful Plague, for all its claims of eschewing religion, at least in the context of their music, DOES in fact feature folks from all of the above mentioned bands, Light Shall Prevail, Glaciial, etc. so we imagine there is some pro-God action going on somewhere in there, but the more important thing is, that it -sounds- as awesomely fucked up as records by those other bands.
WP are not as mathy or complex and convoluted as a lot of E.E.E. bands, instead, they traffic in raw blasting fury, and in this case, the lo-fi recording enhances the bands washed out buzz in a big way. The guitars grind and swirl, but sound looped, often blurring into near static streaks of minor key sound, the drums, programmed it sounds like, are a chaotic framework, buried miles down in the mix, offering up another crackling layer of hiss, the vocals a distorted croak, the distortion alien sounding, and blown out, so at it's most furious, various overtones begin to surface and beat wildly against each other, creating strange subtle rhythmic variations and subtle distortions and causing the sound to become even more hazy and indistinct. A blurry blast that manages to be fierce and black and grim but also warm and dizzyingly droning and intensely hypnotic. Minus the few acoustic interludes, it's a mesmerizing chunk of relentless black drone hypno-metal. And if you can read the words "black drone hypno-metal" and not buy this record, that you are made of stronger stuff than us...
MPEG Stream: "Steersman Of The Gate"
MPEG Stream: "Castrate The Sodomites"

WRIGHT, NIGEL Flotter (Gest) cd-r 9.98
There are so many tiny cd-r labels, and so many releases, it's basically impossible to keep up. We do what we can, sort of pick and choose the best we can find, and one of our favorites is NZ guitarist Nigel Wright. Unlike the legions of overproducers out there, we've only managed three Wright releases in 3 years. This one makes it four, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Gauzy and hazy, woozy and washed out, dense and dreamlike. Fennesz, Jeck, Tim Hecker, Wright travels a similar sonic path, creating gorgeous sun dappled soundscapes of softly blurred melodies, of buried notes, his guitar not so much expelling notes and chords, as much as unfurling lush sonic tapestries, soft focus, bleary eyed beauty, peppered with clouds of crumbling distortion, shards of delay, streaks of muted whir, but all deftly incorporated into Wright's constantly shifting soundworld.
Somehow the world at large needs to discover what Wright is capable of. C'mon Touch, swoop in and snatch this man up and give him some resources to make the record we know he's capable of. If he can make records this pretty with a guitar and a 4-track, the mind boggles...
MPEG Stream: "Widths"
MPEG Stream: "Killing Time"

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V/A Total 9 (Kompakt) 2cd 17.98
We've been seeing a bunch or reviews, harshing on this, the latest in Kompakt's ongoing Total series, number 9, complaining that it's more of the same old, but hell, we love the same old Kompakt, it's the one modern techno label that has managed to sway the techno naysayers around here, and to our ears, this Total sounds just as good as any of the others. The Kompakt sound is so immediately recognizable yet on Total 9, the sounds are all over the place, it's the usual suspects, sure: Justus Kohncke, DJ Koze, Superpitcher, Thomas Fehlman, Jurgen Paape, Gui Boratto, Kaito, and a bunch more, but a few new names tossed in here and there. And the sound is glorious, less minimal than some past installments, and much more effusive, sun dappled, feel good... this could sound so good to us cuz some of the pop ambient vibe of Kompakt's other long running series might be seeping into these Total comps, but whatever, this stuff is fantastic, muted minimal beats, warm synths everywhere, bubbly loops, all woven and blurred and smeared into woozy beatscapes. Kaito's "Everlasting Dub" is one of our new favorite tracks, a gorgeous blend of Pop Ambience, modern dub, and minimal techno, SCSI-9's track is like dubstep gone Kompakt, the Gui Boratto is some awesome eighties style soundtrack techno, Superpitcher chops up some lady vocals and makes a loop that sounds like a calliope, over a soft skittery beat, Burger / Voigt do a sort of Kompakt post rock, all strummed acoustic guitars and swirling ambience, over a loping simple beat, DJ Koze employs some serious stereo panning to send your headphones spinning, we could go through track by track, but you probably already know you need this. Kompakt fans, Pop Ambient heads not averse to some beats, you'll want this for sure, and for folks thinking about getting into techno, or at least curious about modern minimal techno, this would most definitely be a great place to start.
MPEG Stream: JUSTUS KOHNCKE "No Thanks For The Add"
MPEG Stream: DJ KOZE "Zouzou"
MPEG Stream: SUPERPITCHER "Disko (You Don't Care)"
MPEG Stream: BURGER / VOIGT "Wand Aus Klang"

V/A Total 9 (Kompakt) 3lp 24.00
We've been seeing a bunch or reviews, harshing on this, the latest in Kompakt's ongoing Total series, number 9, complaining that it's more of the same old, but hell, we love the same old Kompakt, it's the one modern techno label that has managed to sway the techno naysayers around here, and to our ears, this Total sounds just as good as any of the others. The Kompakt sound is so immediately recognizable yet on Total 9, the sounds are all over the place, it's the usual suspects, sure: Justus Kohncke, DJ Koze, Superpitcher, Thomas Fehlman, Jurgen Paape, Gui Boratto, Kaito, and a bunch more, but a few new names tossed in here and there. And the sound is glorious, less minimal than some past installments, and much more effusive, sun dappled, feel good... this could sound so good to us cuz some of the pop ambient vibe of Kompakt's other long running series might be seeping into these Total comps, but whatever, this stuff is fantastic, muted minimal beats, warm synths everywhere, bubbly loops, all woven and blurred and smeared into woozy beatscapes. Kaito's "Everlasting Dub" is one of our new favorite tracks, a gorgeous blend of Pop Ambience, modern dub, and minimal techno, SCSI-9's track is like dubstep gone Kompakt, the Gui Boratto is some awesome eighties style soundtrack techno, Superpitcher chops up some lady vocals and makes a loop that sounds like a calliope, over a soft skittery beat, Burger / Voigt do a sort of Kompakt post rock, all strummed acoustic guitars and swirling ambience, over a loping simple beat, DJ Koze employs some serious stereo panning to send your headphones spinning, we could go through track by track, but you probably already know you need this. Kompakt fans, Pop Ambient heads not averse to some beats, you'll want this for sure, and for folks thinking about getting into techno, or at least curious about modern minimal techno, this would most definitely be a great place to start.
MPEG Stream: JUSTUS KOHNCKE "No Thanks For The Add"
MPEG Stream: DJ KOZE "Zouzou"
MPEG Stream: SUPERPITCHER "Disko (You Don't Care)"
MPEG Stream: BURGER / VOIGT "Wand Aus Klang"

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31 KNOTS "Worried Well" (Polyvinyl) cd/lp 14.98/14.98
AETHENOR "Betimes Black" (VHF) cd/lp 13.98/14.98
AGUAYO, MATIAS "Minimal" (Kompakt) cd ep 13.98
AURAL FIT "II" (PSF) cd 22.00
AXTON, HOYT "My Griffin Is Gone" (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 16.98
AZRAEL "Obdurate / Unto Death" (Moribund) cd 14.98
BAHIMIRON "Southern Nihilizm" (Moribund) cd 14.98
BIGELF "Cheat The Gallows" (Custard) cd 11.98
BOSTON SPACESHIPS "Brown Submarine" (Guided By Voices) cd 14.98
BURNING BRIDES "Anhedonia" (Cobraside) cd 14.98
CALEXICO "Carried To Dust" (Quarterstick) cd/lp 14.98/14.98
CAMPBELL, ISOBEL & MARK LANEGAN "Sunday At Devil Dirt" (V2) cd 25.00
COFFINS "Buried Death" (20 Buck Spin) cd 14.98
CYBOTRON "Implosion" (Aztec Music) cd 24.00
DAFT PUNK "Electroma" (Vice) dvd 24.00
DARKTHRONE "Frostland Tapes" (Peaceville) 3cd 27.00
DARNIELLE, JOHN "33 1/3 Series: Master Of Reality" (Continuum) book 10.98
DEATH VESSEL "Nothing Is Precious Enough For Us" (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
DEMOLITION HAMMER "Necrology: A Complete
DIGITAL LEATHER "Sorcerer" (Goner Records) cd 10.98
DIPLO "I Like Turtles" (Mad Greasy) cd 9.98
DISKJOKKE "Staying In" (Smalltown Supersound) cd 16.98
DR. DELAY "Eastern Block Party" (Highly Pneumatic Sound) cd 14.98
DRY RIB "Whose Last Trickle" (Hyped To Death) cd 12.98
DUNGEN "Satt Att Se" (Subliminal Sounds) 12" 16.98
DUSK & BLACKDOWN "Margins Music" (Keysound Recordings) cd 15.98
EATER "The Album + Singles Plus" (Anagram) 2cd 17.98
FALCONER "Among Beggars And Thieves" (Matal Blade) cd 14.98
FLAMING GROOVIES "Supersnazz" (Norton Records) lp 14.98
FREE POP ELECTRONIC CONCEPT, THE "A New Exciting Experience" (Vampisoul) cd/lp 23.00/25.00
FREEDOM'S CHILDREN "Astra" (Shadoks / Normal) cd 17.98
FREEDOM'S CHILDREN "Battle Hymn Of The Broken-Hearted Horde" (Shadoks / Normal) cd 17.98
FREEDOM'S CHILDREN "Galactic Vibes" (Shadoks / Normal) cd 17.98
GALLON DRUNK "Fire Music" (Sweet Nothing) cd 16.98
GAMMELSAETER, RUNHILD "Amplicon" (Utech) cd 16.98
GELBER KLANG ENSEMBLE "Farben Der Stille (Colours Of Silence)" (Cybele) cd 23.00
GIANT SAND "Provisions" (Yep Roc) cd 14.98
GODFLESH "Streetcleaner" (Kreation) lp 16.98
GOTO80 "Made On Internet" (Pinipung) cd 17.98
GRAE, JEAN "Jeanius" (Blacksmith) cd 14.98
GROWING "All The Way" (The Social Registry) cd
GZA "Pro Tools" (Babygrande) cd
HATCHET "Awaiting Evil" (Metal Blade) cd 13.98
HEALTH "Triceratops/Lost Time" (Lovepump) 12" 14.98
HEAVENSORE "Asmodai" (Utech) cd 16.98
HILL, ZACH "Astrological Straits" (Ipecac) cd/lp 16.98/22.00
HIROSHIGE, JOJO & MASONNA "The Last Destruction Noise: At Namba Bears, Osaka, 2007.12.29" (Alchemy) dvd-r 14.98
ICE CUBE "Raw Footage" (Lench Mob) cd 17.98
IDA "My Fair, My Dark EP" (Polyvinyl Record Co.) cd ep/12" 10.98/11.98
JANDREUS, PETER "The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Punk 1977-1987" (Premium) book 66.00
JEPSON, WARNER "Totentanz and Other Electronic Works, 1958 - 1973" (Melon Expander) cd 19.98
JUDAS PRIEST "Nostradamus" (Epic) 2cd 17.98
KANDING RAY "Automne Fold" (Raster-Noton) cd 17.98
KAWABATA MAKOTO "We Don't Know Where We Came From" (Important) lp 23.00
KEEP OF KALESSIN "Kolossus" (Nuclear Blast) cd + dvd 13.98
KELPE "Ex-Aquarium" (DC Recordings) cd 22.00
KORAY, ERKIN "Silinmeyen Hatiralar" (Turkuola) lp 33.00
KULTIVATOR "Barndomens Stigar" (Mellotronen) 2cd 28.00
LADYTRON "Velocifero" (Netwerk) cd/2lp 16.98/24.00
LILIENTAL "Liliental" (Brain) cd 21.00
LOPEZ, FRANCISCO "Technocalyps" (Alien8) cd 14.98
LOVE "False Start" (Universal) cd 16.98
LOVE "Out There" (Universal) cd 16.98
LUCKY DRAGONS "Dream Island Laughing Language" (Marriage) cd 17.98
MACHINEFABRIEK & STEPHEN VITIELLO "Box Music" (12K) cd 14.98
MANCO, BARIS "Dunden Begune" (Turkuola) lp 33.00
MANCO, BARIS "s/t" (Turkuola) lp 33.00
MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA "s/t" (Genes CD Co.) cd-r 14.98
MASTERS, MARC "No Wave" (Black Dog Publishing) book 29.95
MIGHTY DIAMONDS, THE "Right Time" (Virgin) cd 14.98
MIJ "Yodeling Astrologer" (ESP-Disk) cd 14.98
MIRAH "The Old Days Of Feeling" (Modern Radio Record Label) cd 11.98
MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECT "Quietly" (Translation Loss Records) cd 14.98
NISENNENMONDAI "Tori / Neji" (Smalltown Supersound) cd 16.98
OPETH "Watershed (Collector's Edition)" (Roadrunner) 2cd 23.00
OTOMO YOSHIHIDE "Core Anode" (Meena) cd 21.00
PARKER, WILLIAM "Double Sunrise Over Neptune" (Aum Fidelity) cd 14.98
PENTEMPLE "s/t" (Southern Lord) lp 16.98
PERFORMING FERRETS "No One Told Us" (Hyped To Death) cd 12.98
PINHAS, RICHARD / MERZBOW "Keio Line" (Dirter Promotions) lp 42.00
PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE SOUND "s/t" (Eclipse) lp 21.00
POCAHAUNTED "Island Diamonds" (Not Not Fun) cd 14.98
POMASSL "Spare Parts" (Raster-Noton) cd 17.98
PROSCRIPTOR "726" (Tarot Productions) cd 13.98
ROOT "Daemon Viam Invenient" (Shindy) cd 15.98
RUSSIAN CIRCLES "Station" (Suicide Squeeze) cd/lp 14.98/22.00
SCOTT, RAYMOND "Soothing Sounds for Baby Vol. 1" (Basta) cd 14.98
SCOTT, RAYMOND "Soothing Sounds for Baby Vol. 2" (Basta) cd 14.98
SCOTT, RAYMOND "Soothing Sounds for Baby Vol. 3" (Basta) cd 14.98
SI CARLO "Static on the Station" (Phonograph) 7" 4.98
SOLVENTS "Manresa Castle" (self released) cd-r 9.98
STOOGES, THE "Gimme Some Skin" (Get Back) cd/lp 17.98/16.98
TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS "Beirut Slump / Shut Up and Bleed" (Atavistic) cd 16.98
TOTH, JAMES JACKSON "Waiting In Vain" (Ryko) cd 14.98
UNEARTHLY TRANCE "Electrocution" (Relapse) cd 15.98
UNKLE "End Titles... Stories For Film" (Surrender All) cd 14.98
V/A "Dr. Boogie Presents Shim Sham Shimmy" (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98
V/A "Dubstep Allstars Vol. 6 (Mixed by Applebim)" (Tempa) cd 17.98
V/A "More Dirty Laundry: The Soul Of Black Country" (Trikont) cd 19.98
V/A "My Own Wolf: A New Approach To Ulver" (Cold Dimensions) 2cd 22.00
V/A "Singing For Life: Songs Of Hope, Healing, And HIV/AIDS In Uganda" (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA "Remixed" (Karmarouge) cd 17.98
WAGONER, PORTER "The Cold Hard Facts Of Life / Soul Of a Convict" (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 16.98
WALKMEN "You & Me" (Gigantic Music) cd 12.98
WAX POETICS ANTHOLOGY VOLUME 2 book 39.95
WEE "You Can Fly On My Aeroplane" (* (Asterik)) cd 14.98
WEED "s/t" (Revisited / Phillips) cd 17.98
WICKHAM-SMITH, SIMON "Love & Lamentation" (Pogus Productions) cd 14.98
WICKHAM-SMITH, SIMON & RICHARD YOUNGS "Veil (For Greg)" (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98
WILSON, BRIAN "That Lucky Old Sun" (Capitol) cd 16.98
WORKING FOR A NUCLEAR FREE CITY "s/t" (Melodic) cd
WOVEN HAND "Ten Stones" (Sounds Familyre) cd/cd /14.98
YAHOWHA 13 "Feather Of Wisdom" (Phoenix) lp 23.00
Z'EV VS PITA "Colchester Arts Centre" (Mego) cd 17.98

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ABOUT MAILORDER


Please place your order via our website.

[1] We will contact you to verify your order and let you know when it will be shipped. Please note that occasionally it may take a day or two for us to reply. We are not a faceless bunch of computers replying to your order -- we are human beings!

[2] If we are out of some of your items and we think we will get them within the same week, we can wait to ship. Or... If it's going to be more than a few days to complete your order, we will ship what we have and then will contact you as the remainders arrive.

[ note ] Due to the everchanging nature of the independent record business, we are not responsible for listed price changes (due to supplier price changes) and often cannot update our site fast enough to reflect these changes, but we will always try to let you know of any differences.


DOMESTIC SHIPPING :
--------------------------------
1-2 items $4.50 USPS Priority Mail
3+ items $6.50 UPS Ground

Further Explanation (Please Read!):
Within the USA, an order of 3 or more items will be shipped via UPS ground for a flat fee of $6.50. These packages are automatically insured and trackable.

However, if your package contains just 1 or 2 items, we will ship your order via USPS Priority Mail, and charge you $4.50 for shipping. These packages are NOT insured or trackable, sorry. So if you desire those safeguards, please request UPS delivery at the $6.50 rate. You must mention this in the comments field of our online order form.

Also, please note that UPS will not ship to PO Boxes. If you only have a PO Box, we can ship packages of 3+ items via US Postal Service and charge you by weight according to their rates. Special shipping needs (e.g. UPS Next Day) are also do-able, just ask.

Another important note: box sets DON'T (usually) count as one item. Sorry. A box set will generally bump you up into the "three or more items" category. Y'know, they're big. Boxes.


INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING :
-------------------------------- For foreign customers we ship via US AIRMAIL ("Letterpost"). Your price is based on the actual cost of shipping plus $1. You can check the US Postal Service international rate calculator: http://ircalc.usps.gov/. (Use the "Package, No Correspondence" category and see the price for "Letterpost". 1-3 cds is usually 1 pound.)


We highly recommend insurance for your international package, but it is very expensive! You can check the US Postal Service international rate calculator: http://ircalc.usps.gov/. (Use the "Package, No Correspondence" category and see the price for "Parcel Post". 1-3 cds is usually 1 pound.)


INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE :
-------------------------------- You are hereby forewarned that Aquarius is not responsible if your international package gets lost in the mail. Insurance is your only recourse if your records never show up. Since the terrible events of 9/11, mail service has been slow and undependable... and while we haven't experienced any *confirmed* permanently lost mail, insurance might provide some additional piece of mind in this time of upheaval. We strongly recommend it. But yes, it is very expensive. It's your choice. Again: Aquarius is not responsible for lost mail, so if you aren't willing to take a (slight but real) risk, please buy the insurance.

International insurance is very expensive! In fact often the insurance costs more than the value of your package, in which case it obviously does not make sense to insure it. You can check the US Postal Service international rate calculator: http://ircalc.usps.gov/. (Use the "Package, No Correspondence" category and see the price for "Parcel Post", which is the way insured packages are sent. 1-3 cds is usually 1 pound.)

For example: for a one-pound package worth $18 going to England, shipping without insurance is about $8. But with insurance, the shipping / insurance total is over $16!

It is your reponsibility to check the international rate calculator in order to determine whether or not you want international insurance. If you tell us you want international insurance, we will add it to your order no matter how much it costs!


PAYMENT :
-------------------------------- Payment is via credit card: Visa, MC, Discover, and Amex. Money orders are accepted only from customers within the USA. If you must pay by money order, you have to confirm the order with us through email or phone BEFORE you send any payment. We cannot take personal checks for mailorder, sorry!


QUESTION?
-------------------------------- Email the mailorder department: mailorder@aquariusrecords.org

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SOME SELECTED UPCOMING RELEASES

----} on the way to us now...
Electric Wizard / Reverend Bizarre split 12" on Rise Above
Khold "Hundre Ar Gammal" cd on Candlelight
Striborg "Foreboding Silence" cd on Displeased
Witchfinder General "Resurrected" cd on Buried In Time And Dust/Nuclear War Now!

----} September 9th
Mogwai "Batcat" 12" on Matador
Jesu "Why We Are Not Perfect" cdep on Hydra Head
Acid Mothers Temple "Journey Into The Cosmic Inferno" cd on Very Friendly
Jackie-O Motherfucker "Freedomland" cd on Very Friendly
Captain Beyond "Dawn Explosion" cd reissue on Friday Music
Portastatic "Some Small History" 2cd rarities collection on Merge

----} September 16th
Linda Perhacs "Parallelograms" cd reissue on Sunbeam

----} September 20th
Yoshi Wada "Off The Wall" cd reissue on EM Records

----} September 23rd
Mogwai "The Hawk Is Howling" cd/lp on Matador
Brightblack "Motion To Rejoin" cd/lp on Matador
Girl Talk "Feed the Animals" cd on Illegal Art
La Dusseldorf cd reissues on Water ("s/t", "Viva", and "Individuellos")
USAisamonster "Space Programs" cd on Load
Ovo "Croce Via" cd/lp on Load
Max Richter "23 Postcards In Full Colour" cd on Fat Cat
Serena-Maneesh "S-m Backwards" 2cd on Smalltown Supersound

----} September 30th
Group Inerane "Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger)" cd on Sublime Frequencies
Blood Ceremony "s/t" cd on Candlelight
Capricorns "River, Bear Your Bones" cd on Candlelight
Roots Manuva "Slime & Reason" cd/lp on Big Dada
Caina "Temporary Antennae" cd on Profound Lore
Akimbo "Jersey Shores" cd on Neurot
Eero Johannes "s/t" cd/lp on Planet Mu (skweee!!!)
Virus Syndicate "Sick Pay" cd on Planet Mu
Vivian Girls "s/t" cd/lp on In The Red
Tindersticks "Hungry Saw" cd on Constellation

----} also in September
Missy Elliott "Block Party" cd
Ironsword "Overlords Of Chaos" cd on Shadow Kingdom

----} October 7th
Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra "Secrets Of The Sun" cd reissue on Atavistic
These Arms Are Snakes "Tail Swallower And Dove" cd on Suicide Squeeze

----} October 14th
Dead C "Secret Earth" cd/lp on Ba Da Bing
Faxed Head "From Coalinga To Osaka: Live..." cd on Mimicry
v/a "1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground" lp on Sublime Frequencies
The Alps "III" cd/lp on Type
Book Of Black Earth "Feast" cd on 20 Buck Spin
Samothrace "Life's Trade" cd on 20 Buck Spin
Skull Defekts "Drone Drug" lp version on Actual Noise
Winterfylleth "Ghost Of Heritage" cd on Profound Lore

----} October 20th
Skepticism "Alloy" cd on Red Stream

----} October 28th
Hammers Of Misfortune "Fields/Church Of Broken Glass" 2cd on Profound Lore
Crystal Stilts "Alight Of Night" cd/lp on Slumberland
Der TPK (Teenage Panzerkorps) "Games For Slaves" lp on Siltbreeze
Adam Payne "Organ" cd/lp on Holy Mountain
Cobra Verde "Haven't Slept All Year" cd on Scat
Last Step "1961" Planet Mu
Red Snapper "Pale Blue Dot" cd on Lo
White/Light "Black Acts" cd on Smells Like
Larkin Grimm "Parplar" cd on Young God

----} November 11th
Helios "Caesura" cd/lp on Type
Peter Rehberg "Work For GV 2004-2008" cd on Editions Mego
Luomo "Convivial" cd on Huume
Circus Devils "Ataxia" cd/lp on Happy Jack
Free Blood "Singles" cd on DFA

----} November 18th
v/a "The Jewelled Antler Library" 4cd box set on Porter Records
La Otracina "Blood Moon Riders" cd/lp on Holy Mountain
MGR Y Destructo "Amigos De La Guitarra" cd/lp on Neurot
KK Null "Oxygen Flash" cd on Neurot

----} December 12th
B. Fleischmann "Angst Is Not A Weltanschauung!" cd/lp on Morr Music

----} also upcoming sooner or later or sooner or later
Ovens "s/t" cd on tUMULt
Diamatregon "Crossroad" cd on tUMULt
Amocoma "Go To Hell" cd on tUMULt
The Memories Attack "s/t" cd tUMULt
Conifer "Crown Fire" cd/2lp on Important
Tecumseh "Avalanch & Inundation" cd/lp on Important
Moha! "One Way Ticket To Candyland" cd/lp on Rune Grammofon
John Baker "The John Baker Tapes..." lp version on Trunk
Merzbow "Eucalypse" cd on Soleilmoon
Rosetta "Wake/Lift" vinyl version
Makoto Kawabata & Michishita Shinsuke "Basement Echo" cd on Important
Cold Sun "Dark Shadows" lp+10" reissue on World in Sound
Coh "Strings" 2cd on Raster-Noton
Necrofrost "Blackeon Lightharvest" cd
Mariana Topley-Bird w/ Dangermouse
Loren Chasse & Michael Mnortham "Otolth"
Anton Batagov "Passionate Desire To Be An Angel" cd on Long Arms Records
The Heads tba 2cd 'best of' on Leafhound
Gore reissues on Southern Lord
Black Boned Angel / Nadja collaboration cd/lp on 20 Buck Spin
Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg cd reissue on Light In The Attic
Serge Gainsbourg "Histoire de Melody Nelson" cd reissue on Light In The Attic
Serge Gainsbourg "L'homme à tête de chou" cd reissue on Light In The Attic
Scott Walker "'Til The Band Comes In" cd reissue on Water
Japancakes "If I Could See Dallas"
Walker Brothers "Take It Easy With The Walker Brothers" cd reissue on Water
Kath Bloom "Terror" cd on Chapter
Iro "Tamafuri" cd on PSF
Diza Star "Contact High Diza Star" cd on Fractal
DDAA "Action and Japanese Demonstration" cd reissue on Fractal
Wolfgang Voigt "Freiland - Klaviermusik" 12" on Profan
When "Are You Silent" cd on Jester
Stomu Yamash'ta cd reissues on Esoteric Recordings (including "Floating Music" & "Man From The East")
Hiroshi Nar with Nishinihon "s/t" cd on Lexicon Devil
Charalambides "Branches" cd on Wholly Other
Sean Smith "Eternal" cd on Ultra Hard Gel
Plastikman "Rine 06" cd on Rinse
Jonas Reinhardt "s/t" cd on Kranky
Deerhunter "Microcastle" cd/lp on Kranky
v/a "Eccentric Soul: The Young Disciples" cd on Numero Group
Silver Jews "Silver Jew" dvd on Drag City
The Howling Hex "Earth Junk" cd/lp on Drag City
David Grubbs "An Optomist Notes The Dusk" cd/lp on Drag City
La Dusseldorf "s/t" and "Viva" lp reissues on Four Men With Beards
Hototogisu "Pale Fatal Sister" 2lp on Important
Prurient "Cocaine Death" cd on Hospital
Risto "Live!" cd on Fonal
Boredoms "Voaltz/Relerer" remixes 12" on Common
Sperm "Shh!" lp reissue on Destijl
Jandek "Glasgow Sunday 2005" cd on Corwood

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THREE HUNDRED!!! WHOOOOO!!!!!

Ok, here's the special New Arrivals list #300 celebratory thing for those loyal aQ list acolytes who actually read this far! ... ta da, we're going to randomly award a $100 gift certificate to one of our customers. All you have to do to get in the running is email to store@aquariusrecords with "300 contest" in the subject line of your email, deadline for entries Friday Sept. 19th. Good luck!

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IAMINDUST 2008


FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3

Death of the West [San Francisco]

NOMMO OGO (Sf BAY AREA)

Forms of Things UNknown [San Francisco]

THOMAS DIMUZIO (San Francisco)

Asianova (TAoS, nEW mEXICO/SAN fRANCISCO)

Post Scriptvm [Brooklyn, NY]

AMBER ASYLUM (SAN FRANCISCO)

WINSTON TONG / LX RUDIS (SF Bay Area)

Free-Form Multi-Artist Collaborative Set


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

James Goode [San Francisco]

PARLOUR MUSIC COMMUNICATIONS (lOS aNGELES)

Ethos [Austin, TX]

Nux Vomica [San Francisco]

ILLUSION OF SAFETY (Spanning the Globe)

Voice of Eye [Taos, New Mexico]

KWISP (San Francisco)

Free-Form Multi-Artist Collaborative Set

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5

A.S. [SF Bay Area)

Bloodbox [Seattle]

Troum [Bremen, GERMANY]

AIDAN BAKER (Canada)

NADJA (CANADA)

Ure Thrall [San Francisco]

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NADJA tour!!!

Oct 3 @ tba w/ Troum & Tecumseh - Portland, Oregon
Oct 5 @ i.am.indust2008 festival (Aidan Baker + Nadja sets) - Oakland, California
Oct 6 @ Stork Club w/ Tecumseh & Maleficia - Oakland, California
Oct 7 @ Hemlock w/ Kris Force & Tecumseh - San Francisco, California
Oct 8 @ Relax Bar w/ Tecumseh - Los Angeles, California

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The Argus Lounge 3187 Mission (@ Valencia) San Francisco
Sat Sept 20th, 9pm, $5.00

Thomas Dimuzio http://www.thomasdimuzio.com/
Noel Von Harmonson http://www.sfweekly.com/2006-05-31/news/noel-s-noise/
Big Baby Tiger Tears http://www.myspace.com/bigbabytigertears
White Pee http://www.myspace.com/whitepee

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Lots of love from your devoted AQ staff

Andee Cup Jim AllanIrwinScottSallyAntaeusCameronFrankandJon