Aquarius Records: Search Results for Title: Bless You

Aquarius Records: Search Results for Title: Bless You

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IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion):
Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps "out of print/unavailable" notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock -- or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us -- please email our mailorder department for availability status -- or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

album cover COURT AND SPARK Bless You (Absolutely Kosher Records) cd 13.98
Record number two from local country rockers the Court And Spark takes the whispery desert twang of their debut on Andee's tUMULt label, and expands on it, creating a lush, dark and surprisingly varied masterpiece. That may seem a bit effusive, but these guys are so so good. It's unbelievable that they aren't huge and playing bills with Wilco or Ryan Adams or Jay Farrar -- people who I'd imagine they'd blow off the stage at this point. But with the release of 'Bless You' and on the heels of their debut 'Ventura Whites', it probably won't be long. 'Bless You' starts out with the sound of far away pianos and Tom Waits-ish junkyard percussion, all buried under a haze of reverb. Slowly, gently strummed guitars and ringing piano emerge from the gloom, as they launch into 'To See The Fires', probably their best song yet. The whole record is a mix of gloomy slow core country dirges like a countrified Codeine or Low, and rollicking country rock reminiscent of Uncle Tupelo or even the Eagles. The production is bizarre and experimental with all sorts of stereo panning, disembodied brushed snares, strange hums and whirs, extra percussion, and shimmering cymbals. And the musicianship is ace, especially with the permanent addition of Wendy Allen on angelic harmony vocals and Tom Heyman on lap steel. And it doesn't hurt that Gene Parsons of the Byrds plays on a bunch of the tracks as well. The vocals, which seemed to be what the Court and Spark were all about circa their first record, seem to have become more just a part of the whole sound, with MC Taylor's gruff gravelly growl smoothed out, and eased back in the mix a bit, giving their gorgeous twangscapes center stage. Practically perfect.
RealAudio clip: "Fade Out to Lttle Arrow"
RealAudio clip: "To See the Fires"

COURT AND SPARK Bless You (Absolutely Kosher Records) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Record number two from local country rockers the Court And Spark takes the whispery desert twang of their debut on Andee's tUMULt label, and expands on it, creating a lush, dark and surprisingly varied masterpiece. That may seem a bit effusive, but these guys are so so good. It's unbelievable that they aren't huge and playing bills with Wilco or Ryan Adams or Jay Farrar -- people who I'd imagine they'd blow off the stage at this point. But with the release of 'Bless You' and on the heels of their debut 'Ventura Whites', it probably won't be long. 'Bless You' starts out with the sound of far away pianos and Tom Waits-ish junkyard percussion, all buried under a haze of reverb. Slowly, gently strummed guitars and ringing piano emerge from the gloom, as they launch into 'To See The Fires', probably their best song yet. The whole record is a mix of gloomy slow core country dirges like a countrified Codeine or Low, and rollicking country rock reminiscent of Uncle Tupelo or even the Eagles. The production is bizarre and experimental with all sorts of stereo panning, disembodied brushed snares, strange hums and whirs, extra percussion, and shimmering cymbals. And the musicianship is ace, especially with the permanent addition of Wendy Allen on angelic harmony vocals and Tom Heyman on lap steel. And it doesn't hurt that Gene Parsons of the Byrds plays on a bunch of the tracks as well. The vocals, which seemed to be what the Court and Spark were all about circa their first record, seem to have become more just a part of the whole sound, with MC Taylor's gruff gravelly growl smoothed out, and eased back in the mix a bit, giving their gorgeous twangscapes center stage. Practically perfect.
RealAudio clip: "Fade Out to Lttle Arrow"
RealAudio clip: "To See the Fires"

EDISON ELECTRIC BAND Bless You Dr. Woodward (Water) cd 15.98

album cover INCA ORE Birthday Of Bless You (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest from this one woman dreambliss outfit, and it's a soft focus washed out doozy. It seems like Grouper and Inca Ore are constantly competing to see who can craft the dreamiest slab of disembodied pop, of ghostlike ambient shimmer, and with every release from each of them, we find ourselves proclaiming a winner, until the next disc shows up, and there's a new winner, and on and on and on.
But really, we're the big winners in this made up competition, as we can't get enough from either. Both utilize vocals as their main sound source, but both have spread their wings, incorporating more and more instrumentation, creating sprawling expanses of gorgeous blurred ambience. And part of the magic is that the sounds are often smeared to the point that it's difficult to tell what is voice and what is instrument.
This latest Inca Ore record is maybe her most song based yet, and it totally suits her. She has always been adept and creating atmospheres and textures, but her knack for hiding catchy melodies and soft pop gems amidst all the drift and murk is really coming through. The opener here is absolutely heartbreaking perfection. Minor key and washed out, with a vocal line, that distorts perfectly, adding unexpected texture, a hidden hook that lodges in your head, the vocals drifting on the glistening minimal soundscape in the background, when the vocals fade out, leaving just the music, it's so utterly sad and funeral, but still fuzzy and dreamy.
She covers Merle Haggard and makes the song totally her own. We could go song by song and describe the record in detail, but where's the mystery in that. The first song, and the description above should be enough to suck you in. But once you're in, let yourself go and drift off into Inca Ore's haunting hallowed soundworld.
Beautiful full color covers, printed 12"x12" inserts, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES! (Well, actually, some of the copies we have, which we got directly from Ms. Inca Ore herself, are from an earlier, self-released pressing. Same record, slightly different cover art. The copy you get will be randomly chosen.)

album cover LOCRIAN & MAMIFFER Bless Them That Curse You (Profound Lore) cd 13.98
Killer collaboration from these two aQ faves, both trafficking in a similarly ominous abstract minimalism, and who together have conjured up something pretty epic. The opening track begins as if to creep abjectly through some expanse of blackened thrum, but instead blossoms into something almost more Godspeed like, minimal propulsive drum pound, spare haunting piano melodies, distant vocals drifting ethereally over clouds of distorted buzz, and peppered with little bits of backwards effects. Haunting and heavy, epic and brooding, a cinematic sprawl that has one more surprise up its sleeve, the surprisingly heavy and metallic last couple minutes, buzzing guitars over monstrous drum pummel, transforming the sound into something even more epic and heavy.
Most of the rest of the record, seems to meld Locrian's penchant for distorted blackened dirgescapes and droned out psychedelia, to Mamiffer's stately haunting abstract chamber music, the tracks unfurling dark swirls of shimmering thrum and roiling, crumbling crunch, often smoothed into blissed out ambience, but just as often blurred and blackened into something much more corrosive and caustic, over which drift various tendrils of bleak melancholic piano melody, moaning whorls of bowed-string low end, sheets of gristly electronics and industrial clatter, as well as slow shifting clouds of smeared grey shimmer.
The record closes with a nearly 19 minute three part epic, which perfectly encapsulates the two groups' symbiotic collaboration, dark dolorous piano, ghostly angelic vox, over lush swells of chordal thrum, monk-like chants, spare acoustic guitar strum, which all disappears in a cloud of feedback drenched psychedelic guitar skree, before transforming into a stretch of FX heavy power electronics black-noise crunch, and then transforms again, into some sort of black doom trudge, gnarled super distorted guitar wrapped around booming almost jazzy drum damage, and a throat shredding metallic bellow, the result a glorious sprawl of minimal blackened industrial doom that eventually fades out to just a low level hum, and a slow, funereal, martial drum plod.
Gorgeous packaging too, both the vinyl and the cd in swank sleeves, with super striking artwork, the cassette version in a cd sized box, with a hand sewn booklet, and two stickers. The tape version limited to 200 copies...
MPEG Stream: "In Fulminic Blaze"
MPEG Stream: "Bless Them That Curse You"
MPEG Stream: "Corpus Luteum"

album cover LOCRIAN & MAMIFFER Bless Them That Curse You (Utech) 2lp 23.00
Killer collaboration from these two aQ faves, both trafficking in a similarly ominous abstract minimalism, and who together have conjured up something pretty epic. The opening track begins as if to creep abjectly through some expanse of blackened thrum, but instead blossoms into something almost more Godspeed like, minimal propulsive drum pound, spare haunting piano melodies, distant vocals drifting ethereally over clouds of distorted buzz, and peppered with little bits of backwards effects. Haunting and heavy, epic and brooding, a cinematic sprawl that has one more surprise up its sleeve, the surprisingly heavy and metallic last couple minutes, buzzing guitars over monstrous drum pummel, transforming the sound into something even more epic and heavy.
Most of the rest of the record, seems to meld Locrian's penchant for distorted blackened dirgescapes and droned out psychedelia, to Mamiffer's stately haunting abstract chamber music, the tracks unfurling dark swirls of shimmering thrum and roiling, crumbling crunch, often smoothed into blissed out ambience, but just as often blurred and blackened into something much more corrosive and caustic, over which drift various tendrils of bleak melancholic piano melody, moaning whorls of bowed-string low end, sheets of gristly electronics and industrial clatter, as well as slow shifting clouds of smeared grey shimmer.
The record closes with a nearly 19 minute three part epic, which perfectly encapsulates the two groups' symbiotic collaboration, dark dolorous piano, ghostly angelic vox, over lush swells of chordal thrum, monk-like chants, spare acoustic guitar strum, which all disappears in a cloud of feedback drenched psychedelic guitar skree, before transforming into a stretch of FX heavy power electronics black-noise crunch, and then transforms again, into some sort of black doom trudge, gnarled super distorted guitar wrapped around booming almost jazzy drum damage, and a throat shredding metallic bellow, the result a glorious sprawl of minimal blackened industrial doom that eventually fades out to just a low level hum, and a slow, funereal, martial drum plod.
Gorgeous packaging too, both the vinyl and the cd in swank sleeves, with super striking artwork, the cassette version in a cd sized box, with a hand sewn booklet, and two stickers. The tape version limited to 200 copies...
MPEG Stream: "In Fulminic Blaze"
MPEG Stream: "Bless Them That Curse You"
MPEG Stream: "Corpus Luteum"

album cover LOCRIAN & MAMIFFER Bless Them That Curse You (Sige / Land Of Decay) cassette 12.98
Killer collaboration from these two aQ faves, both trafficking in a similarly ominous abstract minimalism, and who together have conjured up something pretty epic. The opening track begins as if to creep abjectly through some expanse of blackened thrum, but instead blossoms into something almost more Godspeed like, minimal propulsive drum pound, spare haunting piano melodies, distant vocals drifting ethereally over clouds of distorted buzz, and peppered with little bits of backwards effects. Haunting and heavy, epic and brooding, a cinematic sprawl that has one more surprise up its sleeve, the surprisingly heavy and metallic last couple minutes, buzzing guitars over monstrous drum pummel, transforming the sound into something even more epic and heavy.
Most of the rest of the record, seems to meld Locrian's penchant for distorted blackened dirgescapes and droned out psychedelia, to Mamiffer's stately haunting abstract chamber music, the tracks unfurling dark swirls of shimmering thrum and roiling, crumbling crunch, often smoothed into blissed out ambience, but just as often blurred and blackened into something much more corrosive and caustic, over which drift various tendrils of bleak melancholic piano melody, moaning whorls of bowed-string low end, sheets of gristly electronics and industrial clatter, as well as slow shifting clouds of smeared grey shimmer.
The record closes with a nearly 19 minute three part epic, which perfectly encapsulates the two groups' symbiotic collaboration, dark dolorous piano, ghostly angelic vox, over lush swells of chordal thrum, monk-like chants, spare acoustic guitar strum, which all disappears in a cloud of feedback drenched psychedelic guitar skree, before transforming into a stretch of FX heavy power electronics black-noise crunch, and then transforms again, into some sort of black doom trudge, gnarled super distorted guitar wrapped around booming almost jazzy drum damage, and a throat shredding metallic bellow, the result a glorious sprawl of minimal blackened industrial doom that eventually fades out to just a low level hum, and a slow, funereal, martial drum plod.
Gorgeous packaging too, both the vinyl and the cd in swank sleeves, with super striking artwork, the cassette version in a cd sized box, with a hand sewn booklet, and two stickers. The tape version limited to 200 copies...
MPEG Stream: "In Fulminic Blaze"
MPEG Stream: "Bless Them That Curse You"
MPEG Stream: "Corpus Luteum"

album cover SHEDDING What God Doesn't Bless, You Won't Love; What You Don't Love, The Child Won't Know (Hometapes) cd 14.98
Any record that is an homage to Eric Dolphy and his (possibly imagined) interaction and fascination with birds is pretty much guaranteed to hit the spot.
But when said record is wrapped in some of the most striking cd artwork we've seen in ages, and is in fact a strange sort of jazz drone collage constructed from samples of Dolphy records, field recordings and some added percussion, well, it's almost like they came to us and asked us what sort of record we wanted to hear, and we told them "Let's see, drones for sure, some field recordings, and heck, why not include some Dolphy..."
The cover art is amazing. Like the illustrations for some childrens' book. A big eyed, horned, bat-bird-witch flying over a forest of angular trees, sitting in the clouds over a sea filled with ships manned by black headed rabbits with water pouring from their eyes, and spiriting away with a dry eyed black headed rabbit in his claws, while below, another rabbit fills a chalice with one eye, and the sea with the other. The artwork alone sets the bar pretty high. Dark and dreamy, playful but slightly ominous...
Thankfully, the music is also all of those things. And then some. The brief opening track is a tangle of bass clarinet, smeared into a deep expanse of low end shimmer, while above, melodies and melodic fragments drift and splinter. Very evocative of a cloudy day, wet streets and soft sheets of rain.
The second track introduces a simple motorik rhythm, that shuffles and skitters beneath a constant shifting drone woven from looped horns. Super hypnotic and dreamy. Almost like a stripped down, drone-y jazzy Pharaoh Overlord. As the drums peter out, the horns begin to bounce and dance, chirp and flutter, and suddenly the sky is clear and full of birds, or is it just Dolphy playing the sounds of birds?
The final track is an epic, clocking in at almost 20 minutes, Dolphy's horns surface here and there, but most of the track has them stretched and smoothed out into ultra minimal low end drifts, warm swells of muted melody, a totally mesmerizing abstract drift.
This is one of those records, that had we not known the story behind it, we probably wouldn't have necessarily made the Dolphy connection, or the bird connection for that matter, and actually the jazz element is subtle and quite minimal, but as a chunk of dreamy dark drone drift, it's really quite fantastic. And as far as we're concerned there can never be too much tribute paid to the late great Eric Dolphy!
MPEG Stream: "GB"
MPEG Stream: "W"

album cover SHEDDING What God Doesn't Bless, You Won't Love; What You Don't Love, The Child Won't Know (Hometapes) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl, with slightly different artwork, and super deluxe packaging. You thought the cd looked amazing, holy crap, the lp version is a serious eyeful. So gorgeous! (and another example of how much better record sleeves look than tiny little cd booklets). Pressed on super thick milky clear vinyl, in a full color sleeve, includes three 8"x8" full color inserts with liner notes on the other side, all housed in a thick, stickered PVC plastic sleeve. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!! And it's not just the art that is mindblowing, the music inside is just as weird and wonderful. Here's what we had to say about the cd when we first reviewed it a little while back:
Any record that is an homage to Eric Dolphy and his (possibly imagined) interaction and fascination with birds is pretty much guaranteed to hit the spot.
But when said record is wrapped in some of the most striking cd artwork we've seen in ages, and is in fact a strange sort of jazz drone collage constructed from samples of Dolphy records, field recordings and some added percussion, well, it's almost like they came to us and asked us what sort of record we wanted to hear, and we told them "Let's see, drones for sure, some field recordings, and heck, why not include some Dolphy..."
The cover art is amazing. Like the illustrations for some childrens' book. A big eyed, horned, bat-bird-witch flying over a forest of angular trees, sitting in the clouds over a sea filled with ships manned by black headed rabbits with water pouring from their eyes, and spiriting away with a dry eyed black headed rabbit in his claws, while below, another rabbit fills a chalice with one eye, and the sea with the other. The artwork alone sets the bar pretty high. Dark and dreamy, playful but slightly ominous...
Thankfully, the music is also all of those things. And then some. The brief opening track is a tangle of bass clarinet, smeared into a deep expanse of low end shimmer, while above, melodies and melodic fragments drift and splinter. Very evocative of a cloudy day, wet streets and soft sheets of rain.
The second track introduces a simple motorik rhythm, that shuffles and skitters beneath a constant shifting drone woven from looped horns. Super hypnotic and dreamy. Almost like a stripped down, drone-y jazzy Pharaoh Overlord. As the drums peter out, the horns begin to bounce and dance, chirp and flutter, and suddenly the sky is clear and full of birds, or is it just Dolphy playing the sounds of birds?
The final track is an epic, clocking in at almost 20 minutes, Dolphy's horns surface here and there, but most of the track has them stretched and smoothed out into ultra minimal low end drifts, warm swells of muted melody, a totally mesmerizing abstract drift.
This is one of those records, that had we not known the story behind it, we probably wouldn't have necessarily made the Dolphy connection, or the bird connection for that matter, and actually the jazz element is subtle and quite minimal, but as a chunk of dreamy dark drone drift, it's really quite fantastic. And as far as we're concerned there can never be too much tribute paid to the late great Eric Dolphy!
MPEG Stream: "GB"
MPEG Stream: "W"

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