[ aquarius records new arrivals list #90 ]
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=========888888========= o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o { } { Aquarius Records } { New Arrivals #90 } { April 26, 2000 } { } o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o =========888888========= Hi Folks: Aquarius is happy to welcome beloved turntablist Kid Koala who will play instore on Thursday May 18, the day after his show at Bimbo's. 7pm. 3 or 4 turntables. If we get our shit together we'll even have a pinata filled with assorted Kid Koala goodies. In other instore news, we are excited to announce that Kaffe Matthews will be playing at AQ on Sunday May 14 at 4pm. Matthews is most known for her live sampling of events and places in real time -- she starts each show with no sounds and grabs from what's around her. She's performed in (and manipulated sounds from) galleries, concert halls, the outback, churches, tea rooms. Who knows what music she'll sculpt out of the ambient sounds of Aquarius Records? . She's collaborated with Christian Fennesz, Neotropic, Charles Hayward of This Heat, Pan-Sonic, and Alan Lamb. Various press clips: "Moment by full moment, it's a thrill from beginning to end." (-The Wire) "One of England's finest live sampling performers." "Over the past few years, she's released two striking cds whose unusually warm sensibility lifted them out of the pack of usual noisemakers." "This woman rocks. Incredibly too it's all being made from two hidden microphones somewhere around here and that wired up violin: and that laptop's memory was empty at the start. This is certainly worth checking out for something more than a night out." Aquarius is looking for a web designer to redesign our site. We want it as creative and interesting as possible, but also clean and pretty and super easy to navigate. *Must* know how to write html as well as design. Eventually we plan to offer sound files, shopping cart, yadda yadda -- so if you know how to do this stuff that's a plus. If you're interested, check out the current site (www.aquariusrecordSF.com), tell us a little about yourself and point us to examples of your best work. We'll pay in trade, or cash if you really prefer it. And this is mainly a one- or two-time only design -- basically we want to maintain the site ourselves. Please no flakes! 'Biggies' in this issue: Elliot Smith, Sleater Kinney, Built to Spill, Andre Williams, Broadcast, Raymond Scott, Kid Koala 10", DJ Krush, and much more. ----* ----* Records of the Week : ----* REGGIE & THE FULL EFFECT "Promotional Copy" (Vagrant) cd 13.98 I'm the first one around here to immediately dismiss a joke record, but this is no joke. Reggie and the Full Effect is a band with members of (amazingly enough) pop-punk heroes Get Up Kids AND metalcore-masters Coalesce. For real. Thus, this record's best moments come with the effortless MIX of crunching brutality and Weezer-worthy radio fare. The pop is first rate, with hooks and kick ass melodies. And the metal is metal: grinding and pounding. God knows how it works but it does. Humor + honest to gosh pop hooks + crazy surprises (sudden drum & bass breaks for instance) make this record the best and/or the funniest record we've heard in a while. A pretty successful pastiche of a variety of musical tastes: the aforementioned punk-pop and metal, plus a bunch of other genres brilliantly exploited with a Ween-like irreverence. You get turntable scratching and gangsta rap (the opening 'skit' makes Reggie the victim of a driveby shooting), bizarre but totally appealing '80s new wave love songs, faux-Crass faux-Euro polito-punk songs (the hilarious 'Dwarf Invasion'), and, on one track, even disco grooves MC'ed by a hillbilly calling for some weird linedance that could only have origins in Fresno. Totally absurd but, man, it works. You have to hear this record. Yup, a unanimous AQ staff favourite. CROMAGNON "Orgasm" (ESP-Disk/Calibre) cd 14.98 Yet another gem we somehow managed to miss, thankfully newly reissued to give us a second chance. (Well, not all of us missed it. Allan had the previously reissued version at one point, and got rid of it somehow. He just wasn't ready for it back then. Now he owns it again!) And a few of our customers have responded with the customary "Oh that record! I love that record. I've had that record for years." So for those of you, like us, managed to somehow miss it, we present to you Cromagnon. An anomaly, even on the always far out ESP label, Cromagnon was the result of two top 40 songwriters (accustomed to producing bubblegum pop) who seemed to have completely lost their minds. I mean they must have, to produce something as wacked as this record. Austin Grasmere, Brian Elliot, and their mysterious 'Connecticut Tribe' spewed forth 50 minutes of primitive dada-ist folk psych. Chanting, tribal percussion, short wave radio, maniacal, almost black metal vocals, hysterical laughter, bagpipes all coalesce into something ridiculous and amazing. Track one 'Caledonia' sounds like a strange hybrid of Comus and In Extremo, with bagpipes, jaw harp, crickets, raspy chants and teutonic percussion ('Caledonia' was even covered later by industrialists Test Department). Later on in the record is an alternate version of 'Caledonia' from the b-side of the original lp, slowed down to a third of the speed, producing an impenetratable swampy murk. 'Ritual Feast of The Libido' features a groaning and moaning vocal over whirring and rumbling machinery. Then comes 'Fantasy', where a faux Beach Boys intro almost convinces us that Grasmere and Elliot have returned to their bubblegum roots, that is until it devolves into a messy 7 minutes of garbled laughter and clattering percussion. Today this all still seems pretty damn crazy, so back in 1968 when it was recorded it must have really freaked people out, even despite the pervasive drug culture of the time... This is part of the new ESP reissue series on the Dutch label Calibre that come in beautiful slip covers and have restored artwork. So for those of you who aren't already veterans of the Cromagnon experience, and definitely for those of you who were blown away by the Comus, and for everyone who is in need of a new favorite fucked record, this is it. Now a unanimous AQ fave. THUJA "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones" (tUMULt Laboratories) cd 12.98 The newest release on our Andee's tUMULt label takes a trip to the sonic opium den of San Francisco's Thuja, a new band that consists of two former members of the hazy psychedelic outfit Mirza (Stephen R. Smith and Glenn Donaldson), pianist Rob Reger, and noted sound artist Loren Chasse (of Id Battery). Their debut release, "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones," drifts through passages of improvisations for washed out guitars, tinkling piano, drums, and a pile of stones & branches. Thuja's lovely sound embraces the same freely meandering lack of structure as the No Neck Blues Band but with the dark shimmering colors of Eyeless in Gaza or Dif Juz, harking back also to gentle krautrock a la Popul Vuh or something. As beautiful as the piece of marbled wood veneer that serves as the cover to this unique and gorgeous package. By the way, please don't suspect (if you do) that a form of nepotism or favoritism has anything to do with us selecting yet another tUMULt release for Album of the Week honors--honestly, it's rather the case that Andee's taste mirrors that of the store enough that we don't think he would release something on his label that wouldn't at least be considered for the AQ-List top spot! Really. ----* ----* Selected New Arrivals : ----* A SILVER MT. ZION "He Has Left Us Alone, But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms..." (Constellation) lp 12.98 Three members of Godspeed You Black Emperor sounding much like you'd think they would: delicate, dark instrumentals awash with mournful violin, epic drumming, radio broadcasts and lilting guitar. Though their sound is not always as full as Godspeed, A Silver Mt. Zion is EQUALLY beautiful. The fifth of the eight tracks, "13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed," in particular features a weeping guitar effect that is so lovely it's worth the price of the record. The gorgeous packaging also deserves a mention: bright red foilstamping on matte brown cardstock. So nice! AGENT NOVA "Stop Time" (Punk In My Vitamins) tape 5.98 Agent Nova is the psychotic project of Dale from Milk Cult / Steelpole Bathtub. Just as far out as the Milk Cult's "Project M-13" album (which is an all time AQ favorite), though not quite as purposefully diverse. Possible quotes from the Mission Impossible themes and the Steve Miller Band are decontructed on lots of mutilating tape recorders and topped off with a constant stream of fuzz guitar licks. Good stuff. ALMURO, ANDRE "Depli" (Elica) cd 16.98 "Depli" marks the first CD release of the little known French composer who had spent time working with Bernard Parmigiani at INA-GRM as well as in radio aproductions with Andre Breton and Jean Genet. "The three pieces on this album span a fourteen year period of Almur…'s recent musical production: 'Le TroisÏme Oeil' (1991) is a 28 minute dynamic and deceivingly cosmic piece for clashing and screeching electronic bodies... 'Terrae incognitae' (1978) is a 36 minute eerie and ritualistic tour-de-force for sixty-member chorus, recorded live at its animated and scandal-stirring premier in the Notre-Dame Church in Caen.'Boomerang, Prelude' (1979) is a dark and brooding 12 minute electronic composition also performed live surrounded by iron fences and road cones, big standing mattresses and a whole tree hanging upside down." ALP "At Home With Alp" (Soleilmoon) cd 14.98 Alp is the work of Roger Horberry also known for his participation in the ethno-ambient affairs of O Yuki Conjugate. Here, Horberry engages the far more ubiquitous sounds of boiling water, fax machines, furnaces, and other household items which emit teeny-tiny sounds lost in the excess noise of everyday life. After contact miking these objects, Horberry has amplified and processed the whirring drones into an extraterrestrial arena of reverberating washes with a particularly digital clarity. A solid deep listening project not far from Toy Bizarre or even some of the later Zoviet France recordings. AMAZEZINE! "#5" magazine+7" 8.98 Canadian zine printed in an edition of 1000 numbered copies. Interviews with Jim O'Rourke, Fly Pan Am, Loren Mazzacane Connors, '60s furntiture designer Verner Panton. Comes with a 7" featuring Loren Mazzacane Connors and Ci Dy. ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO "A Jackson In Your House/Message To Our Folks" (Charly/BYG/Actuel) cd 14.98 Part of Charly's fantastic reissue series of stuff from the French free jazz label BYG/Actuel. Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman and Malachi Favors, titans all, recorded live in Paris summer '69. Wild & peaceful. "Great black music" indeed. AUTOPOSIES "Live A Noir" (Ritonell / Mille Plateaux) cd 15.98 Autoposies live album was recorded during the Mille Plateaux tour that skittered across Europe in late 1999. The success of this album (in direct contrast to the rather boring debut) unwittingly calls into question the role of the 'artist' in front of his / her laptop. This record (and thus the live performance) could have simply been made by inputing abstract images into Metasynth (a program that translates visual files into sound files - perfect for manufacturing Ovalesque clickiness), while 'the artist' could be playing Tetris or downloading internet porn or walking off the stage to get a beer. Sure, Roland Barthes' 'Death of The Author' becomes an easy conceptual basis to justify such a live show, but so is 'I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I'll act like Markus Popp snapping my gum and looking bored." Maybe this rant is without merit, and maybe Autoposies had a kick ass live show. Maybe. And maybe Andee will get that helper monkey he wants so badly for the store. With all of this said, "Live A Noir" is an exceptional album of subatomic digital glitches and white hot crackle, turbulent sonic swells and terse glacial scrape. Fits just right with your Stilluppsteypa and Noto. BAILEY, DEREK / JAMAALADEEN TACUMA / CALVIN WESTON "Mirakle" (Tzadik) cd 16.98 Britsh free-improv guitar legend Derek Bailey (curmudgeonly, but adventurous in his collaborations) teams up with a rhythm section known for work with Ornette Coleman and James "Blood" Ulmer. So: a collision of skittering, abstract guitar skree and semi-abstract jazz funk of the "harmolodic" variety. Random, noisy, damaged grooviness. Pretty cool. BOYSETSFIRE "After The Eulogy" (Victory) cd 14.98 Hardcore emo stylings from Boysetsfire with nods to Hot Water Music or even Jawbreaker, but if the guy from Refused were singing. BRANDSTAL, KJETIL D. "Rogalands Lydigste + Gitar Fingling" (Metal Art Disco / Voices of Wonder) cd 14.98 This compiles two hard to find vinyl only records from the Norwegian experimentalist Kjetil D. Brandstal. With a freefloating agenda of subconsciously exploring sound (not far from Nurse With Wound's earliest sonic freakouts but with the sound of NZ freenoise artists), Brandstal giddily wallows in the muck of cable buzz, overblown 4-track recordings for organ & guitar, and feedback from malfucntioning amplifiers. All the while managing to elicit simple melodic passages. Difficult but enjoyable listening. BRIGHT EYES "A Collection of Songs Written And Recorded 1995 - 1997" (Saddle Creek) cd 12.98 The title tells the story here: Bright Eyes recordings spanning three years. Twenty songs in all. Varied in sound quality and style. Actually much more pop oriented than their more recent more acoustic folky releases. The highly amusing review printed on the cd itself reflects the latter side of the empassioned love them/hate them response this band seems to draw. BRINKMANN, ESTER "Totes Rennen" (Suppose) cd 18.98 Recording under the name of his dead sister, Thomas Brinkmann sets up a number of looping mechanical situtaions in which the grooves on shuffling techno singles are literally cut with a blade for the needle to fall into endless locked grooves. As these records are often played on altered turntables with twin tone arms, Brinkmann's rigid rhythms percolate and warble with a seasick motion that strangely sounds like Can's "Future Days". Blixa Bargeld makes an uncredited vocal appearance on the first track of the album. BROADCAST "The Noise People Make" (Tommy Boy) cd 14.98 Broadcast's second full album finds the chanteuse led group with the unlikely home of Tommy Boy in the States. "Umbrellas of Cherbourg", Stereolab, The Free Design, and The Cardigans are still the jumping off points for Broadcast although they are finally moving away from their not entirely unwarranted branding as Stereolab Jr. But unlike their predecessors, Broadcast avoids big pop hook catchiness in favor of pleasantly dark and dreamy music for meandering 60s films about jetsetters spying and falling in love and vactioning on the French coast. You know. BRUNO, FRANKLIN "Kiss Without Makeup" (Absolutely Kosher) cd 14.98 The indie-rock darling of loquacious eloquence turns from the smarty-pop of Nothing Painted Blue to the lounge stylings of the bittersweet crooner. BUCKLEY, TIM "Once I Was" (Fuel 2000) cd/lp 15.98/14.98 The great Tim Buckley live in 1968, singing "Dolphins" and others. Most tracks are from a couple of BBC sessions, plus there's a 12-minute version of "I Don't Need It To Rain" from a concert in Cophenhagen (discovered on a disintegrating reel-to-reel tape found in a box at his home). BUILT TO SPILL "Live" (Warner Bros) cd 15.98 Built To Spill's live album showcases pretty accurate performances of tracks from the last two major label albums as well as covers of Halo Benders, Love As Laughter, and Neil Young. It's a little scary how much Doug Martch can imitate Young's warbly voice and meandering guitar solos on the awesome and epic 20 minute "Cortez The Killer." CASCONE, KIM "blueCubism: Transcoded Audio Structures" (Digital Narcis) cd 17.98 The ubiquity of the remix album has infiltrated the heady realm of the microsonic blip. The remix album of Kim Cascone's "Blue Cube" album (originally on Raster, remixed for Digital Narcis) could be defined in terms of the viral recodification of data from a pure form into a mutatation, with remixes from electron engineers like Pita, *O, V/VM, Robert Henke, Taylor Deupree, John Hudak, Quest, Bochum Welt, Testu Inoue, Dumb Type, Terre Thaemlitz, and Nobukazu Takemura. Most remix albums fail with a broad lack of aesthetic / qualitative consistancy. In keeping a rather small palette to chose from and the uniform desire to maintain the miniscule bleeps of Cascone's original work, the featured artists have done one (and one only) remarkable thing on this remix album in bringing a degree of consistancy to the album. ’+ (CHECKSUM) "12345678" (Boskite) cd 10.98 Checksum is the collaboration between San Francisco leftfield indie mainstays Jeff Palmer (Granfaloon Bus, Sunny Day Real Estate) and Greg Freeman (Pell Mell, Virginia Dare, Lowdown Studios), taking spartan instrumentation not far from late period Talk Talk or the first Tortoise record to occasional lap top / dubby trickery. CHERRY, DON "Mu First Part/Mu Second Part" (Charly/BYG/Actuel) cd 14.98 The duo of Don Cherry (pocket trumpet, piano, indian flute, bamboo flute, voice, bells, percussion) and Ed Blackwell (drums, percussion, bells) doing some pretty incredible "pan-ethnic jazz outness" thing, two LPs all recorded in one day (August 22nd 1969) in Paris France. Thanks again to Charly for making these rare albums available again. CLOCKWORK "s/t" (s/r) cd 16.98 Portuguese trance-rockers Clockwork have done a remarkable job in mirroring the motorik pulse of the earliest Stereolab recordings. In hiring Rafael Toral (who may be Lisbon's answer to Lee Ranaldo) for production and additional instrumentation, the band packs a lot more of a sonic punch than the majority of Stereolab-wannabes (and even the recent rigor mortis heard on the last few Stereolab albums). COIL "Queens of The Circulating Library" (Eskaton / World Serpant) cd 19.98 The timeless electronic swoop of Coil's "Time Machines" repeats itself in the swelling warm drones of mostly analogue synthesis on "Queens of The Circulating Library." John Balance (without Peter Christopherson) had written a poem to be recited by Dorothy Lewis - the mother of Thighpaulsandra who aids in the breathy swells of sound. COLEMAN, ORNETTE "Dancing In Your Head" (A&M) cd 15.98 Reissued mid-'70s Ornette album, featuring an ensemble consisting of, among others, Bern Nix, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and the Master Musicians of Jajouka! Important music from a jazz pioneer. Includes a previously unreleased bonus track (an alternate take of "Midnight Sunrise). COMETBUS "#46" zine 2.00 Special issue devoted to interviews with the people who work at and patronize the Dead End Cafe. Nicely done. Lots of stories about the ins and outs of working at a sort-of values-led business. D-84 "Pirate Planets 3-16-99" (Phthalo) cd 13.98 PHTHALO 18. D84 is the work of local powerbook technician Blevin Blechtum (one half of Blechtum From Blechdom along with Kevin Blechdom... just to keep everything straight). For another non-CDr release from Phthalo (keep 'em comin' Dmitri!), D84 massproduces percolating electronic rhythmic inventions culled from lots of expressive sample manipulations. Layers of buzzing electrostatic droning flange nervously next to references to the stochatic electronics of academic circles (after all both Blechtum & Blechdom did go to Mills). Fans of Matmos are requested. ENGKILDE, AUGUST "Police Beat Box" (Cheap) cd 17.98 Cheap is a Viennese label that seems to have gotten sort of wacky evidenced by the electron purity of Robert Hood and Sil Electronics, and now August Engkilde's "Police Beat Box" extends Cheap's propensity for silliness, with this computer-manipulated mix of the brassy jazz laden rock of Engkilde's band Inner Urge and a Bollywood gangster movie. ETERNAL ELYSIUM "Spiritualized D" (Meteor City) cd 13.98 Easily a shoo-in for heavy metal/stoner rock album of the month! The long-awaited domestic debut by this cult Japanese band of longhaired 70's Black Sabbath freaks. Although they actually sound less like the Sabs than fellow Sabs-worshippers Trouble. Some other influences that come through the pot haze include the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (this disc includes their cover of "Innocent Exile" from Meteor City's Iron Maiden tribute), '70s Japanese heavy psych bands like Blues Creation and Flower Travellin' Band, Thin Lizzy, Saint Vitus, Kyuss, and other heavies. Meaning, in addition to sheer psychedelic doom riffage (a la another Japanese band, Church of Misery) they really can write *songs* in the classic sense--one listen to, arguably, the album's highlight, "Easy Goin'" and you'll know. We didn't think they made 'em like that anymore. And stay tuned for the 'bonus track', an unlisted 15 minutes of improv hippie folk drone in the tradition of Japan's Taj Mahal Travellers. Very recommended indeed!! EYELESS IN GAZA "Song Of The Beautiful Wanton" (Soleilmoon) cd 14.98 Eyeless In Gaza's troubadour songs could be of courtly loves or of the occultish mysticism found on the soundtrack to "The Wicker Man," and seeping with the dark rich production and theatrical vocals that wouldn't be out of place on any of This Mortal Coil's albums. FAHEY, JOHN "How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life" (Drag City) book 19.98 Wow. A whole book of "stories" from a man known not just for his inventive guitar prowess but for the, uh, imaginative liner notes he often provides his releases with. From true tales of an unusual musician's unusual life to possibly more fictional ancedotes, Fahey's style is a mixture of ranting and humor and surreal insight. In other words, a must-read! 191 pages, softbound. FATBOY SLIM "On the Floor at the Boutique" (Astralwerks/Skint) cd 16.98 "The definitive and official DJ mix-cd by Fatboy Slim, packed with 19 slammin', hands-in-the-air party anthems..." says the sticker affixed to this documentation of the last night of the famous Big Beat Boutique club. Good for dancing, but armchair listeners' interest will dwindle quickly. A bit antiseptic and predictable. In fact, if it's party music you want, the locally-produced Future Primitive discs, especially Z-Trip and Radar's live set, have much more integrity, wit and originality. But each to her own! FERRARI, LUC "Danses Organique" (Elica) cd 16.98 Luc Ferrari left the reptutable INA-GRM outfit in the early 70s to take his expressive electronic & musique concrete experiments to his own studio. 'Danse Organique' is one of the earliest pieces Ferrari made in his own studio. "This could be a 'strange meeting between two girls and a tape recorder' and is one of his most unorthodox, lively, and sensually charged pieces. Ferrari lent his tape recorder to two girls who are supposed to meet and start a relationship and then builds his imaginary folkloric music around their confidential dialogue... The resulting music has a groovy rhythmic quality in its surreal synthetic development and is outstandingly modern with its similarities to some very unacademic electroacoustic music. FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS "Hot Burritos!: Anthology 1969-1972" (A&M) 2cd 22.00 Remastered and reissued, this release collects pretty much all the essential material by this seminal post-Byrds California country rock band featuring Gram Parsons. Includes everything from their first three albums, "The Gilded Palace of Sin," "Burrito Deluxe," and "The Flying Burrito Brothers". In addition you get some later stuff and singles, and 2 songs from the live album "The Last of the Red Hot Burritos". Informative liner notes, photos (man, what outfits!), and credits round out the package. FOEHN "Hidden Camera Soundtrack" (Fat Cat) cd 14.98 With the third album from Bristol's Foehn, Fat Cat introduces their Splinter series and make another reason to delay releasing those cool split singles. Foehn's aesthetic has solidified into sound-noir, if you will, where dark passages of everyday ambience twist into 28 short cuts of ploddingly slow instrumental filmic jazz riffs. Not far from Barry Adamson in scope though far less narrative. FRIDGE / PLUXUS "Pluxusvsfridgevspluxus" (BT / Space) cd 6.98 A three track cd single featuring Fridge (showcasing a more electronic side of their acclaimed sound) and Pluxus (bringing to mind early Warp releases and Commodore 64 video games). FUEHLER ""s/t"" ((Ostinato Schallplatten/Amanita/ Dephine Knormal)) cd 14.98 Hey! Achtung! This lil' item was, along witht the first Death Cab For Cutie, "Album of the Month" back in August '99 (list #78) and we've been out of it almost ever since, due to major import distribution snafus. So if you missed it then, hurry up and get it now (we got a bunch but some are spoken for already). Instrumental 'post-rock' from Germany that, in a word, rules. Here is what we said about it last summer, using Don Caballero perhaps unfairly as a comparison: The relative ease with which this German band outshines the post-rock-fanboy holy-grail trio Don Caballero (keeping in mind that we really like Don Cab), makes one wish that the general indie rock audience at large was harder to please. Then perhaps more bands would try to expand on the Don Cab sound instead of incessantly aping it, and more records would sound as jaw droppingly brilliant as this one. In place of Damon Che's non stop avalanche of 'Moby Dick'isms and DonCab's metal-in-post-rock's-clothing is a complex sonic tapestry of hypnotic drones and cyclical riffs. Fuehler take the droning single note repetition of Tony Conrad, the scraping stones of Loren Chasse, the heavy prog of Voivod, the dynamics of Slint, and the slowly evolving Reich-ish rock of Circle, and fashion a music at once emotive and heavy, intellectual and kick ass. HIGHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCY / BIOSPHERE "Birmingham Frequencies" (Headphone) cd 16.98 Higher Intelligence Agency and Biosphere are two of the hold overs from the early 90s ambient / electronica scene which featured The Future Sound Of London, The Orb, and KLF, as the prime movers. This collaboration is a chill-out number with lots of windswept knobtwiddling, kaleidoscopic post-acid patterns, and occasional beats. IMMORTAL "Damned In Black" (Osmose) cd 16.98 The new Immortal has arrived, and while they last, we have the 'fancy' digipak version. (Someday we'll be seeing some sort of 'boxed' import version but who knows if that's worth the wait and the bucks.) True members of the Norwegian black metal elite, Abbath (not as in "please take..."!) on guitars and Popeye vox, big ol' drummer Horgh, and new guy Iscariah on bass, (with the sidelined Demonaz still writing lyrics) come back atcha a year after their groundbreaking "At The Heart of Winter", the disc that slowed down (a bit) the previously way FAAASSSTTT tempos characteristic of their speedy-demon classics "Battles In The North" and "Blizzard Beasts" and added more melody, more trad metal riffing, and mo' better production courtesy of Peter Tagtgren & his Abyss studio. "Damned In Black" follows the "Winter" blueprint, being kind of like a "At The Heart of Winter Part II" but without the amusing wanna-be WWF wrestler band photos that garnered so much attention/ridicule last time around. And while the title might suggest some sort of Satanic theme, the Immortal boys stick with their personal mythology of a frosty Northern dimension full of ice, wind, and cold. Immortal fans everywhere (even the ones here in San Francisco who got dissed by the band when they didn't show up to play and went to Mexico instead) should put on some mittens and enjoy this evil icecapade. INADA, KOZO "a[ ]" (Staalplaat) cd 12.98 With the hallucinatory translucent packaging (that is even more so with the bright red 20' to 2000 style disc enclosed) and the engraved cases, Kozo Inada has certainly done his job making his debut cd look really kick-ass. Musically, this follows the increasingly commonplace tropes of the digital glitch aesthetic with multiple tracks of phasing pure tone bleeps and artificial chirps. See also Noto or Ryoji Ikeda. INSECT NOISE IN STORED FOODSTUFFS "s/t" (Inra) cd 19.98 "Insect Noise In Stored Foodstuffs" appears to be an industrial document produced by the 5th International Working Conference On Stored-Product Protection. This cd presents the sound investigation of the French team of Bunsel and Andrieu who used sensitive microphones with narrow frequency responses made to detect and identify the sounds of insect larvae which may be inhabiting otherwise quiet containers of grains and cereals. A handful of examples of the sounds including the grain weevil, the Indian meal moth, and the Lesser mealworm are accompanied by a running narrative both explaining the techniques used and the identification of the insects. And in case you missed the first 30 minutes of the document, the kind people at the 5th International Working Conference On Stored-Product Protection repeat the program in French. Hey, if that Smithsonian / Folkways "Sounds of North American Frogs" rocked your world, wait til this little gem comes your way! JANDEK "Living In A Moon So Blue" (Corwood Industries) cd 8.98 "Living In A Moon So Blue" is the third album from Jandek, long out of print on vinyl. Corwood Industries (the megacorporation from the United State of Texas solely responsible for mysterious Jandek recordings - all 26 (???) of em) has been slowly reissuing these lost records on cd. Avant folk noodling that is so delicate it certainly cracks and fragments, as with the questionable mental stability of Jandek. Required outsider listening. KA-SPEL, EDWARD "Red Letters" (Cacciocavallo) cd 14.98 With the evidence clearly stated in Ka-Spel's solo projects, no one can doubt who wears the pants in the extended family of the Legendary Pink Dots. Edward Ka-Spel expands the downer psychedelic strum frosted with ample doom & gloom found on the "Hallway of the Gods" Pink Dots album into smoldering experimental if baroque arrangemnts maintaining his Syd Barrett vocal mimicry all the while. KATZ, MICKEY "Greatest Shticks" (Koch) cd 15.98 For songs like "Borscht Riders In The Sky" and "Yiddish Mule Train" look no further than this compilation of the best of the one and only Mickey Katz, "The King of Klezmer Comedy," who (obviously) specialized in comedic parodies of popular tunes back in the '50s. And of course you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy these songs. You may also remember Katz as the fella that inspired trumpeter Don Byron's popular tribute album a few years ago. KID KOALA "Emperor's Main Theme" (Ninjatune) 10" 9.99 Finally on vinyl, this is the first track from Kid Koala's famous "Scratchcratchratchatch" tape (that will never be officially released due to all the presumably expensive samples.) Video game samples, music from David Byrne's soundtrack to the Last Emperor, an unerring sense of melody rarely found with turntablists, plus 3 non album tracks (in fact none of these tracks are from Kid K's recent full length Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) -- this 10" has got it all. If you've never heard Koala before, this is the place to start. You will be super happy with it! KNODEL "The White Hole" (Spongebath) cd 13.98 Claiming Knodel as the geekier little brother of Trans Am wouldn't be far from the mark. Aside from being college chums and occasional tour mates, they also share an affinity for the casio keyboard - the electronerd / post-rock weapon of choice. Both owe quite a debt to Kraftwerk, but Knodel adds a distinct brand of silly theatricality mixing in more Devo and Depeche Mode than ZZ Top and Grand Funk Railroad. This *does* include the tracks from the short 11 minute cd-r that had been floating around for the past few years. Fun stuff. KRONOS QUARTET "Caravan" (Nonesuch) cd 16.98 The Kronos Quartet maps the world of sad nomadic musics from Yugoslavia, Portugal, India, Mexico, Romania, Iran, Lebanon, Argentina, and the semi-real land where Terry Riley is from (you know... California). Pleasant background music for white people who like to get drunk on sangria, then lie about how intoxicated they are, all the while dancing like a rhythmless idiot and talking on a cell phone to some poor sap who can't get them off the phone. KRUSH, DJ "Code4109" (RedInk/Sony) cd 15.98 Krush, Japan's best known (Stateside) DJ, presents a DJ set featuring cuts by himself, DJ Cam, The 45 King, Old World Disorder w/ Eminem, the Orchestra & Choir of Bulgarian Radio, Jazzanova, and many others...a nearly 70 minute mix of some of his favorite stuff. KUBISCH, CHRISTINA & FABRIZIO PLESSI "Two & Two" (Multhipla / Cramps) lp 14.98 "Two & Two" is the collaborative effort between German sound artist Christina Kubisch and Italian experimentalist Fabrizio Plessi. Basing their four pieces on the four prime elements - earth, fire, air, and water - Kubisch and Plessi each played a single instrument / object with a perpetual repetitive motion. The two had amplified the objects in a specific manner, to extract more unusual characteristics than sounds usually associated with voice, metronome, steel drum, ventilators and water jet. The resulting continuous sound streams have a beautiful organic quality not far from David Jackman's stunning arsenal of bowed metal in Organum. This is the original late 70s pressing from the Cramps Records offshoot. LOBDELL, STEPHEN WRAY "Automatic Writing By The Moon" (Holy Mountian) cd 13.98 First solo album in the burgeoning career of guitarist and Holy Mountain hero Stephen Wray Lobdell, best known for his work in the recent incarnation of seminal krautrockers Faust, as well as his bands The Davis Redford Triad and Sufi Mind Game. Oh, yeah, and he played on that weirdo Baseball Astrologer LP too. Like all those projects, this is as psychedelic as all get out, but not at all freaky, distorted and overdriven: rather, this is acoustic, folky instrumental stuff, including a beautiful cover of a tune by Chilean folkie Victor Jara as well as much cosmic improv. It's the combination of wondrous playing and studio overdubs and effects that play the tricks on your mind. Lovely & recommended. MACHA / BEDHEAD "Macha Love Bedhead" (JetSet) cd 9.99 These two great bands have joined forces to offer up a collection of songs that could gracefully slip into a loveseat with Yo La Tengo's new album. Pretty organ tones, marimba, zither, and maracas. Warm and lovely. And yes to top it all off, a sweet sensitive guy with a pushbutton phone covers Cher's smash hit "Believe". MAKERS, THE "Rock Star God" (Sub Pop) cd 14.98 With their newest record (a sort of stupid concept record), The Makers come across as much more glam than abusive, with lots of rhinestones, teased hair, and big Elton John sunglasses. Notorious in the past for getting themselves into a brawls with other bands and audience members, they seem to have redirected more of their energy and aggression into their style and music. Crank it up, flashy bad boys. MENCHE, DANIEL "Field Of Skin" (Soleilmoon) cd 14.98 The infernal sounds of low end rumbling, creaking pipes, and the variable noise of heat induced stress on metal continue to emanate from Daniel Menche's smoldering electroacoustic albums, yet here on "Field Of Skin," the source material is not from the furnace, and actually was culled from a Menche amplifying the sounds of his own body. With both sonic references to intense heat and to the flesh, Menche conjures some ghastly metaphors on this highly effective low end noise / drone album. MERLAK, ROBERT "Icepick Tracks" (Phthalo) cdr 13.98 PHTHALO 08. Robert Merlak's "Icepick Tracks" are an assortment of brutal industro.crunch.plod.thump.stomp.sledge.hammer.rip.tear.clang.boom.grind.electro nica powerbooking. Could be SPK? Could be V/Vm? Sure it could. MODERN ROCK MAGAZINE "#8" zine 2.00 More smart and thoughtful writing from Tim Ellsion with notable contribution from Alan Licht writing about the White Album. Tim puts the reviews into categories, like Rock, Old School, Post-Indi-Rock, and what he calls New Postmodernism (The Starlite Desperation, Gogogoairheart, etc). NOTO "Empty Garden" (Watari-Um Museum Tokyo) cdep 23.00 Using the same sort of cdep format as the 20' to 2000 series (with 3" of data housed within the clear confines of a normal 5" disc), "Empty Garden" was designed as a soundtrack to an installation of the same name. Noto uses his oscillators, laptop glitchery, and other gizmos to mimic the insect buzz / cricket chirp disrupting the silence of an empty garden. After establishing the metaphor of these sounds, Noto forces the erratic chirp / buzz into his trademarked patterns of repeating rhythms and signatures. Unfortunately short at 20 minutes in length, but nicely presented. OLIVEROS, PAULINE / ANDREW DEUTSCH "Springs" (Deep Listening) cd 14.98 Drone-fanciers alert! Pauline Oliveros (legendary Mills College-based electronic music pioneer, subterranean accordion-drone virtuoso) meets up with the electronic talents of one Andrew Deutsch for this lovely, organic drone-fest. The duo's accordion, modified television, bells, etc. make music to match the evocative song titles: "Water Birds", "Summer Bugs," "Candle Ice," and others. A nicely done package, each one with different found paper scraps inserted behind the jewel case tray (old letters, maps of England, watercolors). Over seventy minutes. OPTIGANALLY YOURS "Exclusively Talentmaker!" (Absolutely Kosher) cd 14.98 Optiganally Yours is the duo of Rob Crow (Thingy, Heavy Vegetable, Pinback) and Pea Hicks (the curator of the ludicrous Lucas & Friends album). Rob Crow's quirky and complex popcore vocal harmonies dreamily float behind Hicks' exotica devices; the Chilton Talentmaker, the Vako Orchetrston, and the Knickerbocker Bell Organ. No Optigans were used or destroyed in the making of this album. OUTHUD "The First Single of the New Millenium" (5RC) 7" 3.98 Two tracks from the instrumental angular dance/punk/funk outfit known as Outhud. Like their split 12" with !!!, this is very smart, low-key stuff for fans of 99 Records (Liquid Liquid, ESG). Recommended. PUNK PLANET "#37" magazine 3.50 J-Church's and Valencia Street regular Lance Hahn, several features on aspects of Crime & Justice in the year 2000, postcard designer Stella Mars, DIY winemaking, Sonny from Bottlenekk Distribution. As usual, an essential, finger-on-the-pulse read. PURKINJE SHIFT "Five For The Road... And One For The Ditch" (Samizdat) cd 10.98 With equal parts Don Caballero, Breadwinner, Shellac, and Turing Machine, The Purkinje Shift flexes their muscular heaviosity as an instrumental math-rock / power trio who has all the complexities down to a science and is a force to be reckoned with. Recommended. RAPOON ":D-Lem:" (Gracia-Territori Sonor) cd 14.98 :D-Lem: is a documentation of the live performance Rapoon (aka Robin Storey) gave during the 1999 LFM Festival in Barcelona, and is the closest that he has come to sounding like :Zoviet France: since Storey left the anonymous collective. This dark looping hypnodrone with post-industrial clatter that could easily fit on :ZF:'s "Mohnomishce" or "Just An Illusion" (titles that highlight the best work from :ZF:, just so you know). ROBERTS, DEAN "And The Black Moths Play The Grand Cinema" (Ritornell) cd 15.98 New Zealander Dean Roberts had made quite a name for himself with a handful of freeform Sonic Youth-esque albums in Thela and White-Winged Moth. Yet, he has shifted to the powerbook as his instrument of choice, turning guitars, piano, and viola into delicate crackling flows. Working with New York percussionist Tim Barnes, Roberts has created a fine album of eletro-acoustic abstraction not far from Fennesz or Oval. There's also a cover of Brian Eno's "Cindy Tells Me." ROBOT POWER "#17.5" zine 3.00 From the makers of Giant Robot, who had a surplus of items left over that didn't make it into Giant Robot #17. It's basically another issue of GR (call it issue #17.5), lower-fi with fewer ads and a design that's easier on the eyes. Byron Lee, the Chinese bass player from Rod Stewart's band, the girl who sat in a tub full of ramen, Kento from IQU, Margaret Cho, Dishwasher Pete, Ian Svenonius of Make Up. Thanks for metnioning AQ, Martin! ROWE, KEITH / G¥NTER M¥LLER / TAKU SUGIMOTO "World Turned Upside Down" (erstwhile records) cd 14.98 Really beautiful improv by Keith Rowe (AMM), G¥nter M¥ller and Taku Sugimoto recorded live at Les Infants Chavires in October 1999. All three musicians are masters of restraint and here create a delicate and rich world of sound, Rowe and M¥ller building the perfect context around Sugimoto's minimal guitar reflections. Recommended. SCOTT, RAYMOND "Manhattan Research Inc" (Basta) 2cd 27.00 The academic eggheads that congregate around the musical institutions of the globe have from time to time tried to bring elements of whimsical pop to the sonic weirdness of musique concrete and the electronic oscillators that have continued to gyrate since the 60s. For the most part, the experiments meshing pop & academic New Music have been pretty lame, but not those of Raymond Scott. "The Manhattan Research Inc" is a double cd which collects the "new plastic sounds and electronic abstractions" from Scott's idiosyncratic work from the 50's & 60's, which included space-age ditties for commercials and oddball electronic noodling. As weird as the 60's space electronics from Dick Hyman / Command Records, yet just as complex as Tod Dockstader or Vladislav Ussachevsky, but with Scott's previous work with Carl Stalling scoring cartoons, these recordings retain a solid grasp on the intrinsically catchy pop jingle. Top it all off with commercial voice-overs for detergent and chewing gum for a wonderful collection of electronic esoterica. It should also be noted that, if you didn't know any better, on first listen, there's a good chance you would mistake this for a Tape Beatles or Negativland record! SEAN NA NA "Dance 'Til Your Baby Is A Man" (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 10.98 This is the first full length from Sean Tillman, who you may remember from his sort of popular old band Calvin Crime. His solo stuff as Sean Na Na is a complete about face from Calvin Crime's arty punkiness. This is coy, clever Built To Spillian pop. He was on that split cd with Mary Lou Lord a few months back, and blew her away (granted no mean feat). Imagine a younger, more playful, whinier Built to Spill (the Dug Martcsh comparisons are unavoidable, high reedy voiced, lonely, whiney boy rock (éElisabeth)). Really cool. SHEPP, ARCHIE "Blase/Live At The Pan-African Festival" (Charly/BYG/Actuel) 2cd 26.00 Another in the BYG/Actuel reissue series, documenting American avant-garde jazz giants in exile (in France and Algeria) circa '69. Two discs, two albums here with the great tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp leading ensembles featuring the likes of Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, Philly Joe Jones, Sunny Murray, Alan Silva, and others. Several Algerian and Tuareg musicans make the scene as well (it's the Pan-African Festival after all). Bow down. SLEATER-KINNEY "All Hands On The Bad One" (Kill Rock Stars) cd 11.98 If you love Sleater-Kinney and think they can do no wrong, well, hurry on down and fight with the millions of like-minded souls who'll also be desperate to purchase a copy of this. If you're not already convinced, or are over them already, or always found their vocals grating, or for whatever reason aren't a fan...this won't change things I don't think. SLEATER-KINNEY "You're No Rock n' Roll Fun" (Kill Rock Stars) 7" 3.50 One song from Sleater K's new album, plus one track -collectors alert- not on the album ("Maracas"). SMITH, ELLIOTT "Figure 8" (Dreamworks) cd 13.98 Yes, the much-anticipated new full length release from Mr. Smith is here. Kicking off this album is an uptempo version of his song "Son of Sam" (quite a drastically different take on this tune from his quietly moving solo voice and guitar performance here in SF recently). Figure 8 continues on the winding path of highly polished and pleasing, ever-expanding pop grandeur that was very evident on his XO album. Track 5 entitled "Everything Means Nothing To Me" gives a nod to the Flaming Lips' "Soft Bulletin" with its blown-out percussion and grand string arrangements. Already overheard in AQ, "hey, this was playing in that restaurant we were in this morning!" You will be hearing this everywhere (if you aren't already!). SOUND COLLECTOR "issue #4" magazine 5.00 Yay! A new issue of one of our favorite 'zines. We just got it in, so we have yet to dig into its pages in depth, but looking through it I've already noted pieces on This Heat, U.S. Maple, Harry Partch, and Captain Beefheart that I want to read...plus what look to be intriguing features on Willie Winant, David S. Ware, Beulah and more. An interesting mix of avant-music and indie rock content contained within 95 graphically nice and user friendly pages. SPACE PONCH "The World Shopping With..." (Moikai) cd 14.98 Japanese synth-pop craziness compared to Perrey & Kingsley, Giorgio Moroder, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. And they're not kidding about the vocoder overload! Music for futuristic cartoon characters to party to. On Jim O'Rourke's always interesting Moikai label. SPACEMEN 3 "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To" (Space Age) cd 21.00 "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To" is one of the best titles ever given to an album, and at least for the heavy pharmaceutical users in Spacemen 3, it's certainly a fitting one. Recorded in the winter of 1985 / 86, the album is actually the most rock of all of the Spacemen 3 albums as their 13th Floor Elevators buzz meets the intensity of early Stooges. Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce felt that the versions of the songs found on "Taking Drugs" were better than those on the subsequent albums. While this sentiment is definitely felt here, it should be stated that this is one of the best psyche revival albums to come from the 80s. Available for the first time on cd and features tracks not found on any of the vinyl reissues. SPIRITUAL BEGGARS "Ad Astra" (Music For Nations) cd 19.98 The latest groove rock offering from ex-Carcass guitarist Michael Amott. No Carcass-y grind here, just swampy, grindy, bluesy stoner rock. But still heavy as fuck , with heaping helpings of Hammond organ ladled all over it. Import in a cool digipak! SUN RA "Solar Myth Approach vol. 1 & 2" (Charly/BYG/Actuel) 2cd 26.00 Another legendary item in the welcome BYG/Actuel reissue program, the one and only Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Orchestra (including, of course, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, June Tyson, and many others) play Ra's unique moog-flavored outer space big band jazz, truly out, truly psychedelic. 14 tracks, all Sun Ra compositions. TERRANOVA "Close The Door" (Copasetik) cd 17.98 Terranova's trip-hop grooviness (with guest appearances from Tricky and Rasco) is definitely for fans of Kruder & Dorfmeister. THOMAS, DAVID AND THE FOREIGNERS "Bay City" (Thirsty Ear) cd 14.98 David Thomas is one of the least likely rock icons, yet has retained such a status through his years as Crocus Behemoth in Pere Ubu. Outside the legendary art-rock band, Thomas has recorded some wild and wonderful solo records. "Bay City" is the latest solo album, with an almost Tom Waits clamour despite the sombre restrained quality to the artful tunes. THOU SHALT SUFFER "Somnium" (Candlelight) cd 17.98 Emperor guitarist/mastermind Ihsahn goes the sythestized-orchestra neo-classical route on this solo opus. Unlike his main band (or the former death-metal incarnation of the Thou Shalt Suffer project) there's no guitars. It's like the black metal of Emperor minus everything but the keyboards. And although he stumbles into "Peter and The Wolf" territory at times, there are moments of weird noise and chaos, where the lovely classical melodies are interrupted by electronic stutters and turntable fuckery! TZOTZILES "Psalms, Stories, and Music" (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98 Anthropologist Thierry Zeno has regularly visited the Tzotile communities in the high plateaus of the Chiapas state of Mexico. The Tzotile people are the last descendants of the Mayan culture and have retained a traditional life devoid of Hispanic influence. These recordings document the rapid recitations of Tzotile stories as well as the music for the Day of the Dead, the Transfer of Power, and sancitification rituals. The traditional Tzotile instrumentation includes handbuilt harps, little fiddles, and water pipes that mimic bird songs. V/A "12k 1008" (12k) cd 14.98 The second compilation from Taylor Deupree's label of electronic glitch sterility features the now standard line up of Richard Chartier, *O, Tetsu Inoue, Kim Cascone, and Goem, with some fresh blood from Komet, Surge, Miki Yui, and Shuttle 358. Can't really say how this varies from last week's collection of "inaudible tones and ear-itching stereo tactics," but if you're into that sort of thing, like we are... V/A "Beans & Rice / Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare" (Beta Bodega) cd 16.98 The Beta Bodega collective has issued this confusingly entitled compilation, officially called "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare" but our daft policy of qualifying titles as the biggest words on a cover will call this "Beans & Rice." Confusing titles and political agendas aside, this experimental electronica compilation features Jake Mandell, Takeshi Muto (Schematic), Datathief (Skam, V/VM), Goem, :leekon (Musik Aus Strom), and more taking on Cristian Vogel / Supercollider stylings of mutant house, dark UR / Skam electro grooviness, and microsonic squiggly laptoppery. V/A "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Soundtrack Album" (Epic) cd 15.98 Wu Tang's The RZA put together this popular disc with songs from the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's film Ghost Dog. Dark urban Hip hop R&B tracks mixed with "samurai code quotes" from the flick. Sunz of Man, Black Knights, Kool G Rap, Masta Killah, Jeru, Wu Tang Clan, The RZA himself and others appear. V/A "Jazzactuel" (Charly/BYG/Actuel) 3cd box 32.00 We have a few copies of this triple disc box set, which includes tracks from the other four BYG/Actuel reissues listed here (Sun Ra, Shepp, Don Cherry, and the Art Ensemble) as well as rare material by Sonny Sharrock, Musica Elettronica Viva, Gong (!), Alan Silva, Anthony Braxton, Burton Greene, Frank Wright, Andrew Cyrille, Dewey Redman, Steve Lacy, and more. Genuine lost free/psych jazz genius circa '69-'71, compiled & with notes by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley. We didn't get as many as we ordered and so will probably run out of 'em right away, but hope to get more in a week or two... V/A "Laton Compilation" (Laton) cd 17.98 Strangely antique, yet highly appealing, the Laton Compilation is a collection of hypnotechno from Vienna's unusual often irony laden school of electronica. With contributions Pomassl, Alois Huber, M. Soellner, Auralbino, Proof, A. Burger, and Fon, the compilation is surprisingly consistant in its sound, paralleling the monophunktraction of the Voigt brothers / Cologne sound but with more new wave sounds than deep house elements for something resembling early 90s Sheffield bleep techno (Tricky Disco, TGT, LFO, Altern 8). V/A "Lowercase" (Bremsstrahlung Recordings) 2cd 22.00 'Lowercasesound' is a term that was spawned by LA sound artist Steve Roden to define the microsonic work of close listening network of artists like Bernhard Gunter, Richard Chartier, and himself. This compilation is a lengthy double cd documentation of ultra quiet sound investigations from Roel Meelkop, Artificial Memory Trace, *0, Pimmon, Taylor Deupree, Oren Ambarchi + Matthew Thomas, Kid 606, Ios Smolders, the aforementioned artists, and a whole lot more. Along with the set of 5" x 5" cards which were designed by all of the artists, there's also an EXTRA double cd set (of the same material) that is to be given to "another curious listener." V/A "Voices In My Lunch Box" (Plug Research) cd 15.98 As the majority of abstract electronica / IDM is instrumental, Plug Research had commissioned a handful of artists to explore the voice in conjucntion with the electron twiddle. With tracks from Herbert, Phoenicia, Kit Clayton, Patrick Pulsinger, Ectomorph, and the rising star idiot-savant ironists Chicks on Speed, the compilation is a diverse mix of electron crackle sprinkled with house shuffle, with the additional vocals almost always ending up as Bjork impersonations. Originally this was released as a series of singles, now available on cd. V/A "VPRO's De Avonden: Crossing Border 1998" (Cycle) 2cd 16.98 Compilation of performances from the annual Crossing Border festival held in Holland. Adventurous radio station VPRO booked a stage, and this cd culls some of the best sets, with: Chris Knox, Lambchop, Songs:Ohia, Calexico, Kramer, Joost Visser, etc. V/A "You're Soaking In It ... The Sounds and Smells of Load Records" (Load) cd 3.98 A very affordable introduction to bands on and related to Load records. The 21 cut compilation features AQ favorites like Brainbombs, Men's Recovery Project and Olneyville Sound System. VIKING CROWN "Innocence From Hell" (Baphomet Recordings) cd 14.98 It turns out that Phil "Anton Crowley" Anselmo of Pantera's primitive black metal project Viking Crown wasn't just a one-off thing, because now in addition to the "Unorthodox Steps of Ritual" cdep of material recorded in '94 that was finally released last year, comes this, Viking Crown's newly recorded debut full-length. You may remember us raving about how incredibly fucked up and amazing the ep was. Well, this album is a bit more produced, a bit less fucked up, but still an admirable effort of evil musical intent. With Killjoy (from one of Phil's other, other bands, Necrophagia) on vocals, this is also more of a real 'band' effort, not just a lone, drunk Darkthrone maniac with a home studio. The raw, blasting black metal tracks segue into spooky drone-scapes, giving dimension to Phil's true black metal art...definitely superior to anything Pantera has released in recent years. WILLIAMS, ANDRE "The Black Godfather" (In The Red) cd 13.98 Bad-ass. That's the word Andre Williams' raunchy r&b rock n' roll soul conjures up. Yep, for an old guy, he's bad-ass. Hence all the would-be bad-ass young 'uns eager to help him out on this record, including Jon Spencer & his Blues Explosion, The Cheater Slicks, and The Dirtbombs, The Countdowns, and The Compulsive Gamblers. Plus, Steve Mackay of Stooges' "Funhouse" sax-mania fame makes an appearance. Also of note: nice No Limit/Cash Money rap album parody cover (y'know, that "Pen & Pixel" Photoshop style that every hip hop album cops). WIRE, THE "#194" magazine 7.50 Coil on the cover, plus Kid 606, Kim Cascone, Morton Subotnick (with a description of his instore at AQ!), users guide to Einsturzende Neubaten, a review of Jim deRogatis' biography of Lester Bangs, etc. WOLF COLONEL "Vikings of Mint" (K) cd 13.98 New from K Records. Music for summertime cruising with your highschool honey. A youthfully bombastic meltdown of power pop and hard rockin' guitar. A bit if Buffalo Tom, a bit of Big Star. 15 tunes in all make up one catchy good time. Rumour has it that live they are equal parts metal and standup comedy!? ZAMIR, DANNY "Satlah" (Tzadik) cd 15.98 Satlah are a young NYC jazz trio led by Israeli immigrant Danny Zamir, a 19-year old sax player and composer. Championed by Tzadik-boss John Zorn (whose alto sax appears on three tracks here) for obvious reasons: Satlah aren't far from the sort of "New Jewish Music" epitomized by Zorn's own, reknowned Masada quartet. Allan had the pleasure of seeing these guys play a free show in the bar at the Knitting Factory in New York not long ago and declares that this recording captures the intensity, beauty and playfulness that the trio demonstrated live. Mixing traditional Jewish motifs (and instrumentation) into a hard-blowing jazz power trio format with great success, Satlah are of course recommended to Masada fans... ZAMMUTO "Willscher" (Apartment B) cd 11.98 Apartment B (loose affiliates with Lucky Kitchen in the mutant corners of electronica) has given a proper release to this album from Nick Zammuto after its original release as a cdr. With a number of post-rock starting points (multiple bass harmonics, motorik pulse hypnosis, lust for 70s German electronics), Zammuto constructs a rhythmically bubbling sound by broadcasting these sounds through a construction of PVC pipes, and sampled the results for hard-disc editing. As if Fridge's percussive grooves and Noto's slow constructions of sine wave oscillation had a meeting of minds. Hrvatski endorsed. _______________________________________________________________________ I AM SPOONBENDER CONTEST RESULTS The Answers: 1. Uri Geller 2. 'The Metro' by Berlin 3. It's a fork! The Winners: 1. Dusty Starcastle 2. Jim Coursey Best (although not correct or even feasible) Dangerwear Elements as suggested by contest entrants: 1. Small umbrella inserted in lapel 2. Purple carnation secretly inserted in ass 3. One word: high waters! 4. Tear away tuxedo 5. Cheekbones 6. Continental (sans underthings) 7. "Canadian" 8. He has an ordinary looking straw sticking out of his breast pocket, from which he randomly sips at a bottomless reserve of milk. 9. Look closer, the potatoes are SEWN into his boxer shorts. 10. The Talking Pipe. 11. The Dangerwear Motto is conspicuous on his outer right sleeve: "My name is Christopher Reeves: I like to listen to Ska; I like to skank with my big head." _______________________________________________________________________ PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT Lenny Gonzalez - Stills from the upcoming film: Jackin' The Ball April 22, 2000 - July 22, 2000 Opening Reception: Wednesday, April 26th - 7:00PM - 9:00PM ----> YOU are invited! A continuing goal at Aquarius Records is to show the work of deserving artists who may have not had a chance to exhibit their work in a traditional gallery setting. This is often the case when presenting art that revolves around music as we do. Our upcoming photography exhibit features the work of local photographer Lenny Gonzalez. In the fall of 1998 Lenny Gonzalez was invited to tag along and shoot stills to be used in a documentary film in progress called Jackin' The Ball: the making of a soundseeker. The film aims to shed light on the roles that community, collaboration, and experimentation play in the development of 12 unique musicians. These musicians who exist in totally different ends of the musical spectrum, come to San Francisco on a dare to create music in a free-flowing collaborative free for all. Some of the subjects include Jim O' Rourke, members of June of 44 and Tortoise, Steve Turre, Tom Ze', Ron Carter, and the Broun Fellinis to name a few. Working both with the film crews and in one and one portrait situations, Gonzalez's curious, unobtrusive sensibilities has produced a body of work that speaks directly to the core qualities of these rare individuals. _______________________________________________________________________ CESAR CHAVEZ WALK This year's Cesar Chavez walk is to take place on Saturday, April 29. The walk is a fundraiser/celebration of the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, the founder of the United Farm Workers union. Money is being raised to develop a curriculum to teach about Chavez and the UFW in public schools and also to build an educational center at his gravesite. Since many AQ-customers are in the Mission or thereabouts and tend to be socially conscious, we're letting you know about this event. The meeting time is 11AM at Dolores Park. The walk is from 12-2, through the Mission and ends at Potrero and Cesar Chavez at Potrero del Sol Park. There will be food and music there from 2-5. All the info is at this website: http://www.ufw.org/cecwsf.html _______________________________________________________________________ UPCOMING RELEASES ----> May 2nd Trans Am - You Can Always Get What You Want /Singles comp (thrill-082 -cd only) Ween "White Pepper" Primal Scream "XTRMNTR" Cypress Hill "Skull & Bones" Kid 606 "The Soccergirl EP" on Car Park ----> May 9th Calexico "Hot Rail" cd/lp Rachel's/Matmos "Full on Night" lp/cd Jayhawks "Smile" Jeff Buckley "Mystery Whiteboy"-posthumous live material Looper "The Geometrid" Nick Cave "Secret Life of the Love Song" Tarwater "Animals, Suns & Atoms" ----> May 23rd Built to Spill-Live double LP with two extra tracks XTC "Wasp Star (Apple Venus vol. 2)" Pearl Jam "Binural" ----> May 29th Bright Eyes "Fevers and Mirrors" ----> also in May Sweep The Leg Johnny "Sto Cazzo!" on Southern Atombombpocketknife "Alphasounds" on Southern -----> June 6th The Murder City Devils "In Name And Blood" Steve Earle "Trancendental Blues" ----> June 13 Modest Mouse "The Moon and Antarctica" -----> June 20th Einstruzende Neubauten "Silence is Sexy" domestic Deftones "White Pony" ----> June 27th Oval - Ovalprocess (thrill-081 - lp/cd) __________________________________________________________________ ONLINE MAILORDER PROCEDURE See the Order Form _______________________________________________________________________ The Aquarius Records New Arrivals list has 3956 subscribers. If you like our list, please buy your records from Aquarius; we produce this list for you and it's a lot of work! * Aquarius Records --------------- * * 1055 Valencia Street * * San Francisco, CA * * 94110 USA * * tel 415.647.2272 * * fax 415.647.3447 * * store@aquariusrecords.org * * http://www.aquariusrecords.org * "A drunk gringa came up to Martin and me at a show in Boston. She had the Oh-the-Japanese-are-so-cool fetish bad (to which I usually answer, 'Yes, we are,' just to be an ass). She walked up and started speaking Japanese! Okay, it's not that bad, since stupid shit happens all the time, and for all we know, we could have looked like Hideo and Akira straight outta Sapporo, Hokkaido. Big-eyed, jet-lagged, and looking confused at our punk rock experience in Boston made us into fetish prey. But after she went through a couple lines, I recognized them: she was reciting Pizzicato Five lyrics of which she had no understanding! Maybe she thought we were so fresh from the sea that we would think it was funny or even cute. Maybe she hoped that we would find her hot since she could speak a word of 'our' language. But then the big bomb, as if there hadn't been enough already, her Asian guy-pal thing (who was off his leash) walked up and she said 'Hey I'm talking to these Japanese boys. You're Vietnamese... You're dirty...' And the dude just giggled, kissing her ass, and tasting the shit from her buttocks-- all the while smiling." --Eric Nakamura in Robot Power Love, Andee Allan Jim Windy Byram Elisabeth Cup