AIAS A La Piscina (Captured Tracks) cd 13.98
While there is no shortage of rad girl group inspired garage pop coming out right now, Aias add some totally unique and spirited energy to the mix, definitely helping them stand out from the garage girl crowd: Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, Slumber Party, etc. Singing in their native Catalan, these three women from Spain show that it's still possible to breathe fresh life into a sound that's been around the block, a sound that can always sound so damn good when done so totally right. And Aias do it so right. With a naive charming quality that sounds a little like Shonen Knife covering the Ramones and The Ronettes, with every single song perfectly hitting the spot. The recording is so warm and minimal in the best way, like our favorite early recordings that came out on K, this is such a smart pop record that understands that stripping away the fat leaves you with just the good stuff. A new favorite pop record for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Tu Manes"
MPEG Stream: "Una Setmana Sencera"
MPEG Stream: "Moto"

AIAS A La Piscina (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
Now here on vinyl as well!!
While there is no shortage of rad girl group inspired garage pop coming out right now, Aias add some totally unique and spirited energy to the mix, definitely helping them stand out from the garage girl crowd: Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, Slumber Party, etc. Singing in their native Catalan, these three women from Spain show that it's still possible to breathe fresh life into a sound that's been around the block, a sound that can always sound so damn good when done so totally right. And Aias do it so right. With a naive charming quality that sounds a little like Shonen Knife covering the Ramones and The Ronettes, with every single song perfectly hitting the spot. The recording is so warm and minimal in the best way, like our favorite early recordings that came out on K, this is such a smart pop record that understands that stripping away the fat leaves you with just the good stuff. A new favorite pop record for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Tu Manes"
MPEG Stream: "Una Setmana Sencera"
MPEG Stream: "Moto"

AIDS WOLF Lovvers (Lovepump United) cd 11.98
It's hard not to love Aids Wolf. They've got a band name conceived to piss people off, nasty and offensive but also perfectly and almost brilliantly nonsensical. Then there's the eye poppingly garish cover art. Equal parts Black Dice style collage, outsider art, abstract modern design, with just a pinch of naked ladies (and men!). And then there's the music! They sound loud, and crazy, and completely confusing. Like some crazy performance featuring the Boredoms, Afrirampo, Spunk, Total Shutdown, Nautical Almanac and Wolf Eyes, all playing simultaneously, when suddenly someone sets off a bomb and blows the whole club to bits, the pieces are scraped up, broken teeth, shattered skulls, obliterated instruments, sizzling flesh, blood and gore and all manner of gruesome musical splatter, dumped into a huge pot, melted down and smeared all over a piece of wax and pressed up into this here record. A dizzyingly ear shredding, brain melting mix of shrieked vocals, stumbling no-wave, blasting free noise, crusty costume rock and club destroying temper tantrum spazz-outs. Goes down like a mouthful of rusty nails. Fans of any of the above mentioned bands, at least ones with strong stomachs and ears of steel, might find something to love. Maybe. So yeah, it might be hard not to love Aids Wolf, but we're doing a really good job so far.
MPEG Stream: "Spit Tastes Like Metal"
MPEG Stream: "Chinese Roulette"

AIDS WOLF / FUGUE split (Blood Of The Drash) 7" 5.98

AIHIYO Live (PSF) cd 22.00
This is the second and possibly last document of Keiji Haino's cover band, which mutates Japanese rock classics (as well as the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", and "Satisfaction" by the Stones) into free-floating garage. This Haino record is certainly the worst of his career... It's so bad that
you might be seeing my large collection of Fushitshusha / Haino records showing up in the used bin here at Aquarius really soon. Okay, I know that it's live and there is some "improvisation" that is going on here, but these are simplest blues based chords to ever be written, and Haino's band can't even figure out when to change chords. It's not hard to figure it out; the shittiest fraternity cover band could figure how to play a garage song - even after a few beers. And furthermore, Haino's voice is meant for the caterwaul and siren scream to accompany a furious guitar solo, not to limpwristedly sputter monosyllabic grunting over a blues band that would get booed off the stage anywhere else in America, but in San Francisco or New York, where a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals will be scratching their chins, chain-smoking Bebes, and sipping sludgy double espressos that have been cold for well over an hour and lost any flavor what-so-ever. When you listen to rock'n'roll, you should drink beer. Preferably, Pabst Blue Ribbon, but Schlitz or Olympia will do. Where was I... yeah this record sucks. I'm mad and Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska! [Note: Jim wrote this, not Allan or Jeff, who actually have big Keiji Haino collections, and beg to differ with Jim -- far from being the worst record of Haino's career, this in fact one of his best!! The cover of "Satisfaction" alone makes this worth the 21 bucks. Totally amazing, awesome album. Really. Or so WE think. And we drink PBR.]

AINIGMA Diluvium (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00
I'd like to thank whomever was working the counter at Rockit Scientist in NYC, one day when I happened to visit that very cool East Village record shop a couple years ago. 'Cause they happened to be spinning an LP reissue of this, the lone album by obscure krautrock act Ainigma. Never had heard of 'em before, but they made an impression, as I'm a sucker for all early heavy progressive '70s sounds. And for the time it was originally released (1973) these guys were pretty heavy, though it's definitely an low-budget, basement sort of underground production. Especially heavy is the 17 minute title track, which even includes about a minute and a half of drum solo! Shades of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"! Also as per Iron Butterfly, there's a LOT of organ on this album, swirling and chunking amid the wailing guitar and pounding drums. No surprise then that the REALLY big influence on these teenage Bavarian lads was Vincent Crane's Atomic Rooster, along with other organ-based heavies out of the UK back then like Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. But Ainigma's take on those sounds was definitely waaay fuzzed and garagey-punk, and also quite jammy, more instrumental than vocal oriented.
So ever since that day at Rockit Scientist I'd been hoping for a cd reissue to materialize, and now at last Garden Of Delights has done the job, giving it their usual swank treatment (two bonus tracks plus thick booklet w/ German and English liner notes, lyrics, band photos, and even pictures of -previous- reissues of this record!), nice!
MPEG Stream: "Diluvium"
MPEG Stream: "Prejudice"

AINOTAMENISHIS Live '418 (Holy Mountain) lp 14.98
You heard 'em on the recent Tokyo Flashback comp number six, now here's a full length document from this Japanese psych/punk combo. Do the math: out of print cd-r release x now on vinyl x on the ever-reliable Holy Mountain label = come 'n get it, Japanese psych fiends! Holy Mountain name drops Gaseneta and Velvet Underground as comparisons/influences. Somewhere in there for sure is the soul of the Ainotamenishis' rock abandon, like so many other heavy-duty Flashbackers we've been lucky to hear.

AIR 10,000 Hz Legend (Astralwerks) cd 15.98
The French Band (remember they informed us of this fact on the cover of their first album?) has returned. Whatever -- we've been very vocal in the past about our strong dislike for the puffy shallowness that is Air. My main argument was that their music made no musical sense -- they just seemed all moody style and no substance. And they still haven't got any depth, but... I think Air is finally starting to get better. I think they've taken enough bong hits and sort of seen the light and taken off the poseur fashion victim outfits, deciding to truly be their own goofy selves. This new album comes across as a pastiche of sunny pop tidbits, with songs sounding like the Beach Boys, Serge Gainsbourg, and Beta Band. There's stoopid flute, psychedelic guitar solos, propulsive Neu-derived rhythms, weird stuttering vocal glitches that sound like the cd player is skipping, and best of all, a Macintosh computer voice that says stuff like "I am spacing out with you. I will be your angel." It's pretty ridiculous and that's what makes it A-OK. As big hyped electronica albums go, this one is way better and more interesting than UNKLE, Chemical Bros, Gorillaz, Beck, etc. We really like this new Air album!!
RealAudio clip: "How Does It Make You Feel?"
RealAudio clip: "Electronic Performers"

AIR 10,000 Hz Legend (Astralwerks) 2lp 17.98
Now on LP! The French Band (remember they informed us of this fact on the cover of their first album?) has returned. Whatever -- we've been very vocal in the past about our strong dislike for the puffy shallowness that is Air. My main argument was that their music made no musical sense -- they just seemed all moody style and no substance. And they still haven't got any depth, but... I think Air is finally starting to get better. I think they've taken enough bong hits and sort of seen the light and taken off the poseur fashion victim outfits, deciding to truly be their own goofy selves. This new album comes across as a pastiche of sunny pop tidbits, with songs sounding like the Beach Boys, Serge Gainsbourg, and Beta Band. There's stoopid flute, psychedelic guitar solos, propulsive Neu-derived rhythms, weird stuttering vocal glitches that sound like the cd player is skipping, and best of all, a Macintosh computer voice that says stuff like "I am spacing out with you. I will be your angel." It's pretty ridiculous and that's what makes it A-OK. As big hyped electronica albums go, this one is way better and more interesting than UNKLE, Chemical Bros, Gorillaz, Beck, etc. We really like this new Air album!!
RealAudio clip: "How Does It Make You Feel?"
RealAudio clip: "Electronic Performers"

AIR Cherry Blossom Girl (Source) cd ep 9.98

AIR Everybody Hertz (Astralwerks) cd 9.98
Sounds like Air got some more folks drunk on their French designer cologne and hair tonic and coerced them to do some mingling and remixing. Most notable party goers: Adrian Sherwood (applying his trademark deep dubby stamp), Mr. Oizo and The Hacker (hello, New Order?). Includes five versions of their cut "Don't Be Light", two each of "How Does It Make You Feel" and "People In The City", as well as one previously unreleased track and a live video. Plentiful four-on-the-floor beats for beaucoup de derriere shaking. A cringeworthy chorus of love-you-down crooning alternates with a cold computer voice asking "how does it make you feel?"
RealAudio clip: "How Does It Make You Feel? (Adrian Sherwood Version)"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Be Light (The Hacker Remix) "

AIR Everybody Hertz (Source / Virgin France) 2lp 13.98
And here's the vinyl. We reviewed the cd version thusly: Sounds like Air got some more folks drunk on their French designer cologne and hair tonic and coerced them to do some mingling and remixing. Most notable party goers: Adrian Sherwood (applying his trademark deep dubby stamp), Mr. Oizo and The Hacker (hello, New Order?). Includes five versions of their cut "Don't Be Light", two each of "How Does It Make You Feel" and "People In The City", as well as one previously unreleased track and a live video. Plentiful four-on-the-floor beats for beaucoup de derriere shaking. A cringeworthy chorus of love-you-down crooning alternates with a cold computer voice asking "how does it make you feel?"
RealAudio clip: "How Does It Make You Feel? (Adrian Sherwood Version)"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Be Light (The Hacker Remix) "

AIR Late Night Tales (Thrive) cd 17.98
Many a time, late at night, while hanging out with friends or that some special someone, we've found ourselves turning to our Air records to provide the perfect post-party soundtrack. Deep coming down comfort for a perfect long ride home. So it makes perfect sense that Air would be the latest band creating their own perfect late night mix for the Late Night Tales series.
We have to admit, that previous releases in the series have left us a bit underwhelmed, with some of our favorite bands showing a real lack of creativity in their selections. But that all changes right now, with this Late Night Tales, as Air have indeed put together a PERFECT late night mix! It's that perfect combination of the totally obvious and the sort of obscure. Songs that demonstrate many of the band's other sonic sides not necessarily represented in their music. This is one of those mixes that forces you to continually see what the heck is playing, 'cuz whatever track is playing, it's kicking you ass. The pacing, the order, the mood, it's the perfect late bliss-out and drift-off. Melting melting melting in the best possible way. From the dreamy spaced out side of Black Sabbath to maybe the most stunning Lee Hazelwood song we've ever heard, a should-be classic from the Troggs, some impeccable mood music from Nino Rota, a bit of Japan that flows right into some Scott Walker, and lots more. Tan Dun and Cat Power, Robert Wyatt, The Cure, Minnie Riperton, The Band... So awesome. This collection definitely ranks up their with any of our favorite mixtapes. It's easy to get the feeling that the boys in Air made this mix just for you.
MPEG Stream: BLACK SABBATH "Planet Caravan"
MPEG Stream: LEE HAZLEWOOD "My Autumn's Done Come"
MPEG Stream: THE TROGGS "Cousin Jane"

AIR Love 2 (Astralwerks) cd 16.98
A few years ago when we saw Air play live we realized that these guys weren't just some studio creation, they are in fact totally a real live band! While they initially made their mark with Moon Safari, a record that became a sonic touchstone of the electronic music revolution of the '90s, over the ensuing decade plus, Air have continued to evolve, experiment and transform into incredible music makers, whose exquisitely varied tastes help push their sound way beyond 'electronica', a sound that manages to be lush and intoxicating, catchy and so damn satisfying.
With Love 2, Air continue to expand their sonic scope even further, introducing (or re-introducing) elements of prog, French pop, psych, soundtracks, library music, and even some slight hints of krautrock, all those disparate sounds seductively seeping into their music, their vintage gear infusing the sounds with a classic warmth and timeless vibe. They're like a modern day version of Franco Battiato or Lucio Battisti, the way they conjure up such rich and lush sounds that twist and turn deliciously. Or imagine a collaboration between Ennio Morricone and Serge Gainsbourg!!
Even folks who never though of themselves as big Air fans have been totally smitten by this record whenever we play it in the store.
MPEG Stream: "Tropical Disease"
MPEG Stream: "Sing Sang Sung"
MPEG Stream: "Do The Joy"

AIR Moon Safari (Source/Caroline) cd 16.98
Quite pleasing and well executed (if not very challenging) French electronic lounge music that sometimes sounds as simple and airy as a Beautiful South song, sometimes as smoky 'n' dense as Portishead. Bonus points for creative Jean Jacques Perrey sampling...and for giving him songwriting credit! But the best reason to own this album is one song! The awesome "Sexy Boy". Fat bloopy analog synth grooves propel it along in the most infectious fashion. Fluffy goodness!
MPEG Stream: "Sexy Boy"

AIR Moon Safari (Special Edition) (EMI) 2cd + dvd + book 25.00
Moon Safari is pretty much an undeniable classic by now. One of those records that sits in the collection of both casual music listeners and the more musically obsessed (i.e. folks like us!). At this point it's really easy to take this record for granted but it really still does hold it's weight. A seductive record that perfectly blends electronics with a smart and sexy pop sensibility. Channeling the rich history of French pop and infusing it with a very contemporary electronica sound this is one of those records of which we all have so many great memories. Celebrating the 10th (!) anniversary of its release, this deluxe package includes a disc of bonus tracks (remixes, live, etc.) as well as the dvd of their Mike Mills directed documentary "Eating, Sleeping, Waiting and Playing."
MPEG Stream: "La Femme D'Argent"
MPEG Stream: "Kelly Watch The Stars"
MPEG Stream: "Sexy Boy (Sex Kino Mix)"

AIR Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks) cd 17.98
While it's been over three years since Air's last record that doesn't mean they've been sitting around doing nothing. In fact just in the last year they made all the music for Charlotte Gainsbourg's great new record 5:55, curated one of the best Late Night Tales compilations, and one half of Air, J.B. Dunckel released his first solo record under the moniker Darkel. But yes like many of you, we've still been getting antsy for a proper new Air record. And here we have it and we have to say it does not disappoint. Pocket Symphony is Air at their moodiest, creating an impeccable atmosphere that flows perfectly from start to finish. There are some guest vocals appearances from Jarvis Cocker (Pulp fans rejoice!) and Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) but truly the strength of Pocket Symphony comes in the instrumentation and overall mood that only the guys in Air seem to be able to conjure up. In many ways this is their most somber recording since their score for The Virgin Suicides. A perfect come down record.
MPEG Stream: "Space Maker"
MPEG Stream: "One Hell Of A Party"
MPEG Stream: "Photograph"

AIR Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks) lp 22.00
Now on vinyl too!
While it's been over three years since Air's last record that doesn't mean they've been sitting around doing nothing. In fact just in the last year they made all the music for Charlotte Gainsbourg's great new record 5:55, curated one of the best Late Night Tales compilations, and one half of Air, J.B. Dunckel released his first solo record under the moniker Darkel. But yes like many of you, we've still been getting antsy for a proper new Air record. And here we have it and we have to say it does not disappoint. Pocket Symphony is Air at their moodiest, creating an impeccable atmosphere that flows perfectly from start to finish. There are some guest vocals appearances from Jarvis Cocker (Pulp fans rejoice!) and Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) but truly the strength of Pocket Symphony comes in the instrumentation and overall mood that only the guys in Air seem to be able to conjure up. In many ways this is their most somber recording since their score for The Virgin Suicides. A perfect come down record.
MPEG Stream: "Space Maker"
MPEG Stream: "One Hell Of A Party"
MPEG Stream: "Photograph"

AIR Sexy Boy (Source) cdep 5.98
French electronica sensations Air, with their big hit/best song in a radio edit and three exciting mixes...including one by Beck Hansen. Also, "Jeanne" with Francoise Hardy appears here.

AIR Surfing On A Rocket (Astralwerks) cd ep 8.98
Two album tracks "Surfing On A Rocket" and "Alpha Beta Gaga" from Air's most recent full length Talkie Walkie get put through the remix mill -- three mixes a piece by the likes of Juan MacLean (ex-Six Finger Satellite), Mark Ronson, Nomo Heroes, and Joakim. The stand-out is the first "A.B.G." mix on which Ronson gets all funky and hippity-hoppy with some help from Rhymefest. Pretty cool. Plus briefly interrupting the remix party is one brand new track the slow, smoooth swooner "Easy Going Woman".
MPEG Stream: "Easy Going Woman"
MPEG Stream: "Alpha Beta Gaga - Mark Ronson Vocal Mix (feat. Rhymefest)"

AIR Talkie Walkie (Virgin) cd 17.98
Wow, we've been blowing through these new Air cds so fast that it doesn't even seem like we need to bother to review it, it's like "here's that Air cd that you're already buying" would do. But, in case you're curious, the consensus here is that Talkie Walkie is really nice, not quite another Moon Safari thinks Allan, but Andee thinks otherwise. Gorgeously shimmery, reverbed piano and handclaps, sweet angelic vocals, lilting melodies, lush harmonies, and surprisingly catchy songs. If you didn't know this was Air, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was some new indie-rock / Elephant 6 / Notwist / psych-pop record. In fact the Notwist is an apt comparison, as is the Postal Service. Sweet indie rock fused with skittery electronica. And the results are so sublime. They even quote "I'm Not In Love" by 10CC in one song, complete with the heavy breathing! Remember the amazing music Air did for Sophia Coppola's Virgin Suicides. How the music managed to be as gauzy and sweetly innocent and emotionally charged as the film? Well, imagine that same sort of vibe but in a totally pop context! So good. Thankfully Air seem to have finally shed their loungy / exotica / kitsch for good in favor of this new, lush, much more satisfying sound. And I for one can't wait to hear more. This limited edition comes with a bonus DVD featuring a 35 minute live film with behind the scenes footage and other bonus stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Venus"
MPEG Stream: "Cherry Blossom Girl"

AIR Virgin Suicides (Astralwerks) cd 17.98
A new album from Air! And it comes in the form of a soundtrack for Sofia Coppola's film 'The Virgin Suicides'. Smoky sax, a scattering of spoken word, soaring musical swells, and cascading piano. Quietly groovy, but not without a frantic chase theme included in the mix (which Andee said sounds like black metal).

AIR + BARICCO City Reading (Astralwerks) cd 16.98
This grew out of a performance where Air provided instrumental backing for Allessandro Baricco reading from his novel, City. Baricco is a well-known contemporary Italian author, and City is about a young Mathematician with a vivid fantasy life.
Baricco reads his stories while Air play soothing, kind of creepy soundscapes. Baricco has a deep, lovely voice and the music of the Italian language makes this something strangely soothing to put on in the background. Dark and dreamy with lots of rumble and warm sonic blur, with field recordings of wind and chimes and all sort of other atmospheric ephemera. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Bird"
MPEG Stream: "Pat Cobhan Ride"
MPEG Stream: "Il Primo Giorno"

AIR CONDITIONING Dead Rails (Load ) cd 14.98
Dead Rails is the second full-length from Air Conditioning, now quite at home on Load after a debut disc on Level Plane. They're from the same Allentown, PA scene as Pissed Jeans, and even (much more, whoah) noisier than those guys! They also were on a 4-way split LP we listed last time, the Tiger Tongue Pussy Cactus: Terminal Fantasies For Malefic Youth on Hospital Productions. Regarding that, we said Air Conditioning sounded like a supercharged noise rock Tim Hecker, all blown out buzz and buried melodies, and this follows suit.
Air Conditioning combine vacuum cleaner guitars with industrial-strength drum pummel for a noise rock delight, stress on the noise. Sheets of feedback shriek accompany indecipherable angst ridden punk hollers, all subsumed far below a tsunami of rumbling distortion. Although Dead Rails has its quiet, dare we say pretty side too, on the more ambient droning likes of "I Run Low". But when on the disc's final, 16+ minute track, Air Conditioning ask us to "Accept Your Paralysis", they've probably also caused said paralysis with their amped to the max geetar STATIC and mind-numbing rhythmic throb. Here, their noise rock gets almost psychedelic, like one of them Japanese bands, maybe Up-Tight or LSD-march, veering into Hijokaidan territory!
MPEG Stream: "Where To Litter / Trash Burning"
MPEG Stream: "Accept Your Paralysis / Cephalexin"

AIR CONDITIONING / VEGAS MARTYRS / COUGHS / THE NEW FLESH Tiger Tongue Pussy Cactus: Terminal Fantasies For Malefic Youth (Hospital Productions) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An awesome 4 band pile up, the state of modern black noise, or blackened noise rock, or whatever the fuck you want to call it. This stuff is fierce and heavy and demented and so great. From the same label that brought us the primitive black metal of Malkuth (reviewed elsewhere on this list), the raw black fury of Bone Awl, those killer Akitsa reissues and a recent MB reissue, comes this killer 4 band anvil to the head. Up first is the Vegas Martyrs, featuring Hospital head honcho and Prurient mastermind Dom Fernow, and just like the recently reviewed lp, it's another gloriously blown out and beautiful slab of blackened pop flecked noise rock. In the red and on the verge of destroying your speakers, VM offer up a killer Maiden-like riff over super distorted drums, garbled FX drenched vocals, super hypnotic and repetitive, all wrapped up in a crumbling stereo killing production, finishing off with several minutes of glitchy grinding murky noise...
Up next is Air Conditioning, who sculpt their noise into something sorta pretty, huge swaths of blown out buzz over blurred buried melodies, layer upon layer upon layer, all shifting and shimmering, it almost sounds like a super charged noiserock Tim Hecker. Abrasive but surprisingly lovely. Up third is The New Flesh, show kick out the jams, ultra lo-fi style, a noisy practice space sounding garage rock sludge jam, all downtuned guitars, distorted trash can drums, and a weirdly deep voiced vocalist, who occasionally let's loose with a glass gargling screech. Dirgey, grimey, almost like some long lost Swans rehearsal tape. Finally, finishing things up are the Coughs, who weave some strange drone-y dirge with skronky sax and buzzy bass, fuzz guitar, all in short sharp bursts, creating a weirdly spacious plod, looped and cyclical, until the wild female vocals come in, and suddenly the Coughs sound like they're channeling old school Riot Grrl through new school noise. Out of nowhere comes a blast of spastic drum freakout before returning to that gorgeously relentless sludge-y pulse...
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES. Packaged in a thick black on green paper sleeve, printed inside and out, pressed on clear green vinyl.

AIR GUITAR NATION (Docurama Films) dvd 19.98
Air Guitar Nation is a very very entertaining documentary about the 2003 U.S. Air Guitar Championships which took place in New York. We'd like to see the winner team up with that Canadian air drumming gent we fondly know as Metallica Drummer.

AIR KING SOUND AutoPilot (Air King Sound) cd 5.98
Geoff Marx, Thomas Muer and Derek Greenberg are the brains behind this sound installation from '98. Just now in at Aquarius, it is constructed using three simultaneously playing cds. One containing found environmental sounds, one of beats and one of melodic and harmonic content. Each collection of sounds is fragmented and randomly mixed up by the shuffle mode of the cd players, thus creating a constantly changing sonic environment.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS Assistant to the Assistant (Parallelism) cd 12.98
Mr. Gerard Cosloy and Ms. Claire Pannell return with their third album of indie-skronk. If you and your best friend were really good at improvising on a processed guitar, an analogue synth and a drum kit after listening to DNA, Handful of Dust, and Fushitsusha, then yes, you too could be as good as Air Traffic Controllers... then again you too might be CEO of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS Existence Period (Parallelism) cd 13.98
Gerard Cosloy & Claire Pannell's improv-skronk guitar/bass duo returns with a new album, recorded live to minidisc in various downtown NYC locations. Two guest saxophonists feature on one song, but despite that the aforementioned "skronk" element has in fact been reduced a bit from previous outings--"Existence Period" seems a bit prettier than earlier Air Traffic Controllers discs. Very nice.

AIR WAVES Dungeon Dots (Underwater Peoples) cd 14.98
We loved this record before we even heard a note. C'mon, the band's called Air Waves, the record is called Dungeon Dots, and the cover photo is a bearded man and his baby, both sporting chainmail made out of what appears to be beer can pull tabs. How could we not be smitten? And even though we loved it already, when we finally heard the music inside, it wasn't at all what we expected, yet we still loved it. In fact, we might love it even more for precisely that reason. With all the music coming out these days, that relies so heavily on atmosphere and ambience, echo and delay and reverb and lo-fidelity and buzz and drone, not to take way from that stuff, it's stuff we most definitely love, but enough of those things and much can be forgiven in the way of songwriting and performance. So we were sort of expecting another chunk of eighties beholden lo-fi lysergic garage pop, but instead, we were greeted by big jangly, strummy, sunshiney, melancholic warm, swirling pretty much perfect pop music. Softly crashing, dreamily bombastic, the basslines woozy and warm, the guitars chiming and lush and layered, and the vocals, well, let's just say we got so used to boys singing super high, and sounding female, that we were surprised to discover that Air Waves was in fact a one woman band, her vocals plaintive and emotional, the perfect balance for the jangle and strum, the shuffle and shimmer. The songs striking a similarly delicate balance between wistful and melancholy, sunshiney and dreampoppy.
Opener "Knock Out" sealed the deal within seconds, simple jangle guitars, some sorta twangy melodies drifting around that main riff, the bass warm and liquid, the drums crashing and loud, but not overwhelming, and the vocals, immediate and intimate, weary and emotive, all wound up into the sort of jangle pop we just can stop listening to. "Bisous" is another favorite, that starts out all brooding and melancholy, the vocals so bittersweet, over hazy minor key chords, a ballady dirge, drifting and droney, and subtly sad, but slow building too, eventually bursting into a super propulsive stretch of distorted fuzz pop, rocking and rollicking, but still retaining the pathos of the intro.
And so it goes. We could definitely go song by song, and sure there's reverb and delay and echo, but it's used way more judiciously here, cuz really the songs don't need 'em, but they are subtly colored by the various effects, the chords and arrangements, the melodies and the vocal lines powerful enough to carry even the most barebones sound, but thankfully, Dungeon Dots is anything but, it manages to be lush and lustrous and layered, but still simple and minimal and pretty and hooky and catchy. And sneaking in just hours before the end of the year, which will most likely require an adjustment to our year end top ten, since this definitely is one of our favorite pop records of 2010. Anyone who dug recent aQ faves like Jaill, No Joy, Avi Buffalo, or who loves stuff on Captured Tracks and Sacred Bones, or who digs classic modern pop like the Shins, Built To Spill, Neutral Milk Hotel and all that amazing nineties indie rock that still sounds so great, odds are you're gonna love this too!
MPEG Stream: "Knock Out"
MPEG Stream: "Bisous"
MPEG Stream: "Humdrum"

AIR WAVES Dungeon Dots (Underwater Peoples) lp 17.98
We loved this record before we even heard a note. C'mon, the band's called Air Waves, the record is called Dungeon Dots, and the cover photo is a bearded man and his baby, both sporting chainmail made out of what appears to be beer can pull tabs. How could we not be smitten? And even though we loved it already, when we finally heard the music inside, it wasn't at all what we expected, yet we still loved it. In fact, we might love it even more for precisely that reason. With all the music coming out these days, that relies so heavily on atmosphere and ambience, echo and delay and reverb and lo-fidelity and buzz and drone, not to take way from that stuff, it's stuff we most definitely love, but enough of those things and much can be forgiven in the way of songwriting and performance. So we were sort of expecting another chunk of eighties beholden lo-fi lysergic garage pop, but instead, we were greeted by big jangly, strummy, sunshiney, melancholic warm, swirling pretty much perfect pop music. Softly crashing, dreamily bombastic, the basslines woozy and warm, the guitars chiming and lush and layered, and the vocals, well, let's just say we got so used to boys singing super high, and sounding female, that we were surprised to discover that Air Waves was in fact a one woman band, her vocals plaintive and emotional, the perfect balance for the jangle and strum, the shuffle and shimmer. The songs striking a similarly delicate balance between wistful and melancholy, sunshiney and dreampoppy.
Opener "Knock Out" sealed the deal within seconds, simple jangle guitars, some sorta twangy melodies drifting around that main riff, the bass warm and liquid, the drums crashing and loud, but not overwhelming, and the vocals, immediate and intimate, weary and emotive, all wound up into the sort of jangle pop we just can stop listening to. "Bisous" is another favorite, that starts out all brooding and melancholy, the vocals so bittersweet, over hazy minor key chords, a ballady dirge, drifting and droney, and subtly sad, but slow building too, eventually bursting into a super propulsive stretch of distorted fuzz pop, rocking and rollicking, but still retaining the pathos of the intro.
And so it goes. We could definitely go song by song, and sure there's reverb and delay and echo, but it's used way more judiciously here, cuz really the songs don't need 'em, but they are subtly colored by the various effects, the chords and arrangements, the melodies and the vocal lines powerful enough to carry even the most barebones sound, but thankfully, Dungeon Dots is anything but, it manages to be lush and lustrous and layered, but still simple and minimal and pretty and hooky and catchy. And sneaking in just hours before the end of the year, which will most likely require an adjustment to our year end top ten, since this definitely is one of our favorite pop records of 2010. Anyone who dug recent aQ faves like Jaill, No Joy, Avi Buffalo, or who loves stuff on Captured Tracks and Sacred Bones, or who digs classic modern pop like the Shins, Built To Spill, Neutral Milk Hotel and all that amazing nineties indie rock that still sounds so great, odds are you're gonna love this too!
MPEG Stream: "Knock Out"
MPEG Stream: "Bisous"
MPEG Stream: "Humdrum"

AIRAKSINEN, PEKKA Madam I'm Adam (Love Records) 2cd 24.00
Remember that Arktinen Hysteria compilation of '60s-'70s underground electronic/avant-garde music from far-off Finland? Pekka Airaksinen was one of the composers whose work made that comp such a great freaky blast of Arctic creativity. His career has stretched from the late sixties 'til today, from his membership in the notorious Finnish underground 'rock' outfit The Sperm to solo recordings now being released on his own cd-r imprint. This anthology makes a valiant effort to wrangle some of the best of Airaksinen's diverse and bizarre output onto one disc, and also includes a second disc of 'remixes' of his stuff by a surprising array of current sound makers, among them Nurse With Wound, Es, Simon Wickham-Smith, Mira Calix, and Curd Duca. From proto-Industrial noise to electronic beats to free jazz to massive drones, Airaksinen's work is interesting and always avant-garde. We'd actually have preferred that both discs be given over to his original recordings (how 'bout a reissue of the entire 1970 Sperm album Shh!?) rather than get the remixes, but we're not complaining, this is a cool comp and doubtless more will be forthcoming especially if the presence of the big-name remixers get folks to buy this who aren't already intrigued by the pioneering Finnish sonic weirdness on offer.
MPEG Stream: GHANDI-FREUD "Molybdene"
MPEG Stream: THE SPERM "Korvapoliklinikka Hesperia"

AIRAKSINEN, PEKKA (SPERM) One Point Music (O) lp 17.98
Longtime readers of the aQ list probably remember a strange lp by a group called Sperm, a mysterious collection from 1970 of experimental sound from the Finnish underground, the project of a man named Pekka Airaksinen, who under the moniker Sperm, created a series of haunting soundscapes, and 20th century tape music, experimental landscapes of wild skronk and skree, out-jazz, lots of drones and weird rhythms, that as we said at the time puts the modern noisemakers to shame.
Well this little artifact was just unearthed, or at least, finally reissued/released, a recording made by Airaksinen in 1972 as his Sperm project came to a close, shortly before he gave up music for a decade. And its proximity to the Sperm record timewise definitely reflects the sonically similar sound, an extension of sorts of the recently laid to rest Sperm, if anything the sounds here more intimate and reserved, less noisy, and more electronic, more rhythmic, with long stretches of barely there minimalism peppered with haunting electronics, disembodied melodies and murky percussive thumps.
Like the Sperm record, the sounds are all over the map, with some strange ineffable something linking them all together, mysterious mechanical rhythms that sound almost like some sort of primitive home brewed techno give way to droned out free folk reminiscent of countrymen Avarus and Anaksimandros, chaotic drumming and layered high end tones, which drifts into more of a moody futurescape, all swirling effects and muddy electronics. The flipside begins with a long stretch of warm subtle ambient drift, which splinters into some awesome, but awesomely maddening looped high end skree, before slipping into some strange cosmic crunch, and then finally some blissful spaced out drift.
Gorgeous, strange stuff, anyone who bought the Sperm record will probably want this, and all you Finnish weirdo music obsessives, this one is for YOU.

AIRPLANES ARE BETTER Power (ReSTART) cd ep 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here is a new ep from this power pop trio of twenty year olds from El Paso Tx. They sound like emo boy rock, ala Slint (only harder) Drive Like Jehu or June of 44. You know what im talking about. three songs. Full sounding and driving with dual vocals. produced by Jim Ward of At The Drive-In.
RealAudio clip: "Orange On Brown"
RealAudio clip: "You Look Left"

AIRPORT 5 Life Starts Here (Fading Captain Series) cd 15.98
Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout have assembled an album's worth of material that just as well could (should? would?) be GBV. This is the second full length from this recently reunited pair of extremely prolific songsmiths. As with other Guided By Voices projects, there are some wonderful gems of songs here, and some questionable stuff. They're so spotty.
RealAudio clip: "Yellow Wife #4"
RealAudio clip: "I Can't Freeze Anymore"

AIRPORT 5 Tower in the Fountain of Sparks (Fading Captain) cd 15.98
Mr Robert Pollard has been quite prolific as of late. This is #13 in the Fading Captain Series. All new material and the first full-length collaboration between Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout, since 1996's Guided By Voices 'Tonics And Twisted Chasers'. Of course fans of GBV are going to like this one.
RealAudio clip: "Burns Carpenter, Man of Science"

AIRPORT 5 / GUIDED BY VOICES Fading Captain Series #16: Selective Service (Luna Music) cd 12.98
Oh, those familiar voices and just as familiar chord changes of Bob Pollard and Tobin Sprout. In my opinion, the most successful tunes here are the more upbeat ones, the slower ones tend to somewhat trudge along. The title track I've fondly renamed "Hold Your Horses, I'm Tuning My Guitar". Yup, another episode in Mr. Pollard's ever-growing Fading Captain Series. For GBV die-hard completists only.
RealAudio clip: "Selective Service"
RealAudio clip: "Stifled Man Casino"

AIRWAY Beyond The Pink Live (Cortical Foundation) 2cd + 7" 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Of the three recent releases / discoveries from the Los Angeles Free Music Society through the Cortical Foundation, Airway's "Beyond The Pink" is the strongest, if not the most listenable. Joe Potts -- one of the more prominent players in the LAFMS -- began Airway as a plot "to subliminally program audiences behind the cover of a chaotic wall of sound." It may difficult to tell if Airway has succeeded in their subliminal programming, as I've not encountered any unusual cravings to overthrow the government or even to get a piece of fried chicken. But Airway does succeed in their wall of chaos at least on this live recording from a reunion performance of Airway on Valentine's Day 1998, with a thick noise attack that is propelled by a simple 4/4 beat and topped off with indecipherable hollers and trumpet blasts, sounding a lot a Marc Cunningham ensemble like Mars or Convulsion bastardizing a Glenn Branca guitar symphony. On that night, Potts was joined by Mike Kelley, John Duncan (who confided that it was a blast to play in Airway that night), Don Bolles, Dennis Duck, Fredrik Nilsen, and about a dozen other noisemakers. Only one of the CDs has music on it, with the other being a CD-rom with various visual ephemera and a video of the show in question. The 7" is sloppy archival recordings from the '70s and dictates the size of the well-designed, gatefold package. Limited to 700 copies.
RealAudio clip: "Beyond The Pink Live"

AIRWAY Live At Lace (Harbinger Sound) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

AISLERS SET How I Learned To Write Backwards (Suicide Squeeze) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hurrah! The much anticipated third album from our favorite world-weary pop angels has arrived! Very '60s Brill Building girl group style production but with less naive, sugarcoated lyrical sentiments. Sooooo sssplendid! Beautifully recorded, with layer upon layer of beautiful melodies and instrumentation. This band really does just get better and better. Their recordings have the hugeness and details reminiscent of Phil Spector or Joe Meek. And the use of reverb is flawless. The soft echoey lovely vocals just melt my heart and the songs are so individually rad that they stand on their own and apart from each other. This record is softer and sadder in some ways, perhaps their darkest work to date. Less poppy or optimistic than previous songs I've heard. I really can't take it off my stereo at home. Absolutely, totally and completely recommended!!!
RealAudio clip: "Catherine Says"
RealAudio clip: "Attracion Action Reaction"

AISLERS SET How I Learned To Write Backwards (Slumberland) lp 10.98
And hurrah again for the Aislers Set, as we now have their new full length on vinyl too! It's the highly anticipated third album from our favorite world-weary pop angels. Very '60s Brill Building girl group style production but with less naive, sugarcoated lyrical sentiments. Sooooo sssplendid! Beautifully recorded, with layer upon layer of beautiful melodies and instrumentation. This band really does just get better and better. Their recordings have the hugeness and details reminiscent of Phil Spector or Joe Meek. And the use of reverb is flawless. The soft echoey lovely vocals just melt my heart and the songs are so individually rad that they stand on their own and apart from each other. This record is softer and sadder in some ways, perhaps their darkest work to date. Less poppy or optimistic than previous songs I've heard. I really can't take it off my stereo at home. Absolutely, totally and completely recommended!!!
RealAudio clip: "Catherine Says"
RealAudio clip: "Attracion Action Reaction"

AISLERS SET Mission Bells (Suicide Squeeze) 12" 5.98
Hurrah! The beloved Aislers Set return with this 3-song 12". It contains two versions of the title song (sung in English and Spanish) as well as "I'm So Glad To See You Go". Super splendid pop once again from Amy, Wyatt, Yoshi, and Alicia. Slinky'n'jangly guitar, low-key organ, a vibrant horn section and the always welcome vocal pairing of Amy's unmistakable sweet, drowsy lilt and Wyatt's gentle, boyish charm. Sooo good. And this is just a little hint of what's to come in their third full length due in February - certainly cause for celebration. Can't wait!

AISLERS SET Terrible Things Happen (Slumberland) cd 12.98
This is the debut album from the highly anticipated new project from Amy of Henry's Dress/Go Sailor, Alicia of Poundsign, Wyatt Trackstar, and Yoshi of Scenic Vermont. And what a debut it is! There's certainly no shortage of fine songsmiths in this SF combo, and the resulting pop chemistry is pretty darn magical. Soft, pretty and a bit droll, but with ample bounce and feist when required. Superb indie pop gems that are not to be missed... really! You need this now... or bear the wrath of Sadie!
MPEG Stream: "California"
MPEG Stream: "Long Division"

AISLERS SET The Last Match (Slumberland) cd 13.98
Local popsters Aislers Set finally return with their second, super anticipated full length. Unabashed mod-pop fans of the Postcard Records / Belle & Sebastian / Zombies variety, the Aislers' first album Terrible Things Happen has been a steady bestseller at AQ ever since it came out 2 years ago. Look for the same to happen with The Last Match -- it's that toothsomely good and that insanely catchy. Warm, jangly with honest to goodness real songs. Belle and Sebastian are rumored to be big fans, and coincidentally enough, when we play this in the store some folks mistake the Aislers Set for B&S when Wyatt, not Amy, is singing.
MPEG Stream: "Balloon Song"
MPEG Stream: "The Red Door"

AISLERS SET The Red Door (Slumberland) 7" 3.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SF pop heroes return with a newly recorded version of "The Red Door", from last year's highly acclaimed LP "The Last Match". Also included are two new songs, a live cover of Girls At Our Best's "Warm Girls" and "Summers Reprise".

AISLERS SET / HOW split (Slumberland / 555) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A Henry's Dress reunion of sorts. Side A is more lovely pop from local favorites The Aislers Set, while the B side is from her ex-bandmate, now in How, engaging in a little blatant Who worship.

AISLERS SET / THE FAIRWAYS Yeh Yeh / The Rain Fell Down (Yakamashi Records-Chocolate Bars & Crashing Cars) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Split single from two beloved local groups doing the noisepop so well. The Aisler Set track is a version of the French pop classic. Lovely artwork and foldout poster by comic book artist Adrian Tomine of Optic Nerve fame.

AIX EM KLEMM s/t (Kranky) cd 14.98
One guy from Stars of the Lid, one guy from Labradford. Making lovely sounds together not unlike those of the aforementioned bands. Spacious. Soothing. Pretty. Kranky. (The label, not the feeling.) We like.

AJATTARA Apare (SpikeFarm) cd 15.98

AJATTARA Itse (Spikefarm) cd 15.98
Pounding Finnish black metal hell. Super heavy. But also simple and melodic, with swirling keyboard textures and vocals alternating between harsh screeching and clean sort-of-chanting. (Courtesy of the singer from Amorphis, apparently relishing this chance to get back to his primitive raw metal roots). Midtempo and relatively straight forward (sort of verse-chorus-verse), with BIG riffs and pounding rhythms (no blast beats here) reminiscent of Bathory or Venom, but with better production, and a dark, threatening vibe, thanks to all the minor key, horror movie keyboard embellishments. Pretty great stuff from Spikefarm, who have yet to fail us.
RealAudio clip: "Yhdeksas"
RealAudio clip: "Verivalta"