AAVIKKO Derek (Bad Vugum / Humppa) cd 14.98
A whole lot has changed since we first laid our ears on this glorious slab of cinematic Finnish casiocore way back in the twentieth century. At the time Derek, the debut full length from these Finnish freaks, was released, it was just about the weirdest and coolest thing we'd ever heard. And the last few years haven't changed that one bit! What has changed is the fact that now, the whole world, at least the underground music world, have their eyes squarely on Finland's fertile music scene. Eating up anything and everything, and it's all amazing! Circle, Kemialliset Ystavat, Avarus, Anaksimandros, Paavoharju and on and on and on. But before all these bands (except for Circle) Aavikko were busy creating impossibly catchy, Eastern tinged synthesizer scores for imaginary Westerns, or Bollywood movies, or whatever crazy Finnish movie could handle being accompanied by this maniacal music. Think of it this way, the fictional filmscores of Godspeed You Black Emperor or Barry Adamson are meant to be played at 33 rpm, to capture all of the scope, space, and time of their bleak sonic imagery, right? Well supposing that is indeed true, then Aavikko's utterly absurd and gloriously frolicsome music is some alternative universe version of those filmscores meant for 33, but played at 45. Or heck, 78!! Manic twin casios wiggle out catchy tunes that could easily have sprung from the mad mind of Martin Denny, had he been composing for 60's spy thrillers. Tomi Leppanen (Aavikko's human metronome, and currently the drummer for Circle AND Pharoah Overlord) propels the casio madness with pseudo disco syncopations and hyper-active breakbeats, while second hand synths weave surprisingly lush noir soundscapes, equal parts moody cocktaily jazz, propulsive spy thriller soundtrack muzak, spastic mechanical sounding krautrock and pretty much every musical stop in between. The surprising thing is that every song, no matter what strange twist or direction it takes, is wildly fun, unbearably catchy and weird as fuck. Full of hooks and unlikely sounds, funky grooves and hauntingly playful circus music, this record is one of the greatest warm and fuzzy, feel good, psychedelic groove lounge freakout records EVER! Aavikko's original label Bad Vugum coined the term maniacal monkey jazz for Aavikko, and we're not sure we could come up with anything better!
We can't tell you how psyched we are to have this back in stock. This is one of THE essential Finnish records, definitely one of our top five Finnish records EVER. This reissue is so long overdue as Derek has been out of print practically for freaking EVER! 7 or 8 years! Until now! Plus, this reissue includes two bonus tracks from the also long (and still!) out of print Aavikko cd ep. And who can argue with MORE Aavikko?!?!
MPEG Stream: "El Cebo"
MPEG Stream: "Galaktus"
MPEG Stream: "Ostsee"

AAVIKKO Finland Group Aavikko Meets Hit Singer Kabar (Muysic For Peoples) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finnish synth pop nuts Aavikko are back! Now available for a very limited time Aavikko have teamed up with Kabar, an alleged terrorist suspect. The group met up with Kabar apparently by chance when they found themselves detained together at the Las Vegas airport in 2002. Due to a freak mix up, Kabar was released with Aavikko when they passed their security clearance. A singer in his own, mysteriously unnamed country, Kabar joined Aavikko to record one song at a Las Vegas studio. This 7" contains that track, an instant Aavikko classic, and a "Spoken Word Story" (a retelling of the crazy circumstances that led to their meeting set to music). The track, "Eye of the Leopard" is the very definition of kick ass, third world keyboard rock. Erstwhile electro-punk posers take heed, "this is the real experimental shit!" Comes pressed on beautiful, incredibly thick and heavy blue vinyl. Super limited edition, we can't stress that enough.
MPEG Stream: "Eye of the Leopard"

AAVIKKO History Of Muysic (Muysic For Peoples) cd 14.98
At long last, back in stock!! Here's our review from list 207...
Fuck. That's always a great way to start any decent review here at Aquarius. Fuck Yeah! That's even better, and certainly more appropriate for a disc we've been lusting after for so long. Aavikko is one of those elusive bands that we never seem to be able to keep in stock long enough to escape becoming a mere legend and a fading memory. The problem seems to reside in a lifetime of poor distribution and lackluster label attention. But now Aquarius has secured a direct pipeline to the band in the hopes of rectifying this shortage. Aavikko, for those who've yet to experience their magic, are easily the reigning kings of "electronic instrumental rock" (their own genre?). Hailing from Finland -- that in and of itself should be a clue -- Aavikko have honed a lo-fi electro-punk sound that's oft imitated, but never equaled. Using only cheap electric organs (most notably the Yamaha PSS Home Organ), drums and archaic analog recording technology, Aavikko compose Slavic disco, garage surf punk with rumba beats and insanely catchy pop tunes that bring to mind soundtracks to 8-bit videogames of yesteryear. History Of Muysic is an impressive collection of both no longer available Aavikko classics and unreleased tracks dating back to the group's inception in 1995. The latter includes their first rehearsal demo, outtakes from the Derek! ep sessions and their theme for the Kumman Kaa TV series (which has become one of the most popular ring tones in Finland!), among others. In the long lost and now out of print category, we're most excited by the inclusion of the eight tracks from the first, self-titled Aavikko 7". These are a veritable holy grail of primitive electronic rock and expose imitators for the slick hi-fi hucksters they really are. Probably recorded direct to cassette, you can even hear the tape drag and occasional drop outs. Fellow lovers of Bjorn Olsson will be excited by this and all analog anomalies indelibly pitted into the digital realm. All under three minutes in length, the tracks on the eponymous debut are tight and gritty pop ditties, completely trimmed of fat: the words 'overproduced' and 'Avvikko' will never be found in the same sentence but for this one. Also included on this anthology is the entire Oriental Baby CD, their collaboration with Mono Pause "Of Stomping Men", an unreleased live recording off of the beloved WFMU in NJ, their contribution to the Team Yamaha compilation and last, but in no way least, their most recent single, for the first time on CD, the amazing Eye of the Leopard with Kabar. Really folks, do yourself a favor...
MPEG Stream: "Alas Volgaa"
MPEG Stream: "Seikkailu Villi"
MPEG Stream: "Eye of the Leopard"

AAVIKKO Multi Muysic (Hawaii Sounds / Spinefarm) cd 16.98
At last, we've gotten some import copies of the latest full-length from this beloved Finnish band! We'd heard rumors of its release for some time, so we were thrilled to finally track it down. At first listen, while the Casios and '80s video game noises are still in full effect, this album is much less frantic and frenetic than the Aavikko we remember -- which means, it's *still* fairly frantic and frenetic! But they're learned some new swanky, suave moves as well. Their old "maniacal monkey jazz" tag doesn't quite fit anymore (the maniacal part, anyway). Maybe they've mellowed into something sort of like a stranger, more disturbed Jimi Tenor? And much as we loved the kooky, chaotic sounds of their old Bad Vugum album "Derek", sometimes change is good and this is a smooth shift from one eccentric realm to another. Even slowed down a bit, they're still our favorite tripped-out instrumental lounge exotica group! Utter smile-inducing retro fun.
RealAudio clip: "New York - London - Siilinjarvi - Tokyo"
RealAudio clip: "Omavastuualue"

AAVIKKO Oriental Baby (Hawaii) cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Finnish Casio-pop band we so adore from their two discs on the Bad Vugum label return with this six-song ep (that we've finally tracked down import copies of). Consider this cd for your next party of circus freaks. With "Oriental Baby" as the soundtrack, it's guaranteed to go on into the very wee hours. A feverishly demented Denny-esque boogie session with no end. The neighbours downstairs will reduce their broom handle to sawdust as they pound away at their ceiling. Definitely music to put a gleeful yet puzzled grin on your face. Featuring occasional Circle percussionist Tomi Leppanen. Wonderfully disturbingly fun.
RealAudio clip: "Pelihelvetti"

AAVIKKO s/t (Bad Vugum) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Let's just say that the fictional filmscores of Godspeed You Black Emperor or Barry Adamson are meant to be played at 33 rpm, to capture all of the length, space, and time of their bleak work. With that absurd presupposition, Aavikko's music are those filmscores meant for 33, but played at 45. Manic twin casios wiggle out catchy tunes that could easily come from Martin Denny, if he had been composing for 60's spy thrillers. While T. Leppanen (Aavikko's human metronome) propels the casio madness with pseudo disco syncopations and hyper-active breakbeats. Bad Vugum has coined the term maniacal monkey jazz for Aavikko! Please note, we have carried their records from time to time, but always managed to sell out of them by the time this lists actually get sent out. So act fast, vigilant AQ customers!

ABBASI BROTHERS, THE Something Like Nostalgia (Dynamophone) cd 13.98
Another new addition to the steadily growing flock on the Bay Area's Dynamophone label (also see the new boxed 3" cdr by Curium on this list)!
The shimmering atmospheric piano dappled washes on their debut Something Like Nostalgia are a perfect fit. The Abbasi Brothers follow serenely in the formidable footsteps of granddaddies of ambient quietude Brian Eno and Philip Glass. Really really pretty.
MPEG Stream: "Kompa"
MPEG Stream: "Camera Flashes Blue"

ABBC Elevator Baby (Wabana) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A mere glimpse of things to come... this is a two song collaboration between the wonderful Calexico and Amor Belhom Duo, with whom they've toured and are now making an upcoming full length.

ABBC Gilbert / Butterfly Mouth (Easy Tiger) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Attention Calexico lovers! Here's another collaboration between them and the Amor Belhom Duo. You better hop on it though 'cause this one's limited to 1000. UK import pressing.

ABBC Tete a Tete (Wabana) cd 14.98
What happens when you combine equal parts Calexico and Amor Belhom Duo? A darker, sparser sound than either of the two groups. Raw, uneffected guitar, deep, rich strings and accordion, some french lyrics. We got a mere hint at the melancholic conspirings of these four men on their 7" entitled "Elevator Baby" which is also the lead off track on this album. And on the other end, closing the cd is a very lengthy, atmospheric, almost sinister track. The unsettling sounds of a hot arid eve in Arizona (where, by the way, this was recorded).
RealAudio clip: "La Valse des 24 Heures"
RealAudio clip: "Gilbert"

ABDULLAH Graveyard Poetry (Meteor City) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ohio stoner/doom/post-grunge metal band Abdullah return with their 2nd proper album, continuing (sort of, read on) their tradition of heavy Black Sabbathy guitars/riffs overlaid with melodic vocals, that kinda sound like those of Dax Riggs of Acid Bath/Agents of Oblivion/Deadboy and the Elephant Men. Songwise, Abdullah are a bit like a slightly doomier version of the late lamented Spirit Caravan (if you didn't hear, Spirit Caravan recently broke up -- but don't worry, Wino joined up with Victor Griffin in his band, Place of Skulls...dunno if that means Wino's a Christian now, but whatever...ok, back to the Abdullah review) but with some big twists this time out. Before we heard "Graveyard Poetry", we were a bit surprised to see that that Abdullah's European record label was comparing this release not only to doomsters like Trouble as we'd expect, but also to a bunch of obscure, traditional 80s metal acts, among them, local SF semi-legends Brocas Helm! Well, it's kinda true, at least on a few tracks anyway (like "Deprogrammed" and "They, The Tyrants"), wherein they leap from the moody, grungy doom style they established on their previous releases (and much of this one) into full-on rockin', quasi thrash metal territory. In this context, the vocals remind us a lot less of Dax Riggs and a lot more of the guy from Diamond Head!! I guess they've been listening to, if perhaps not Brocas Helm, at least some early Metallica and NWOBHM stuff!! Cool. A nice surprise. Although, while WE like the mixture, it might be a problem for some folks who will either dig the 60 percent doom content, or the 40 percent thrashin', but maybe not both.
RealAudio clip: "Black Helicopters"
RealAudio clip: "Deprogrammed"
RealAudio clip: "Secret Teachings Of Lost Ages"

ABDULLAH s/t (Meteor City) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ohio stoner/doom band, with grunge leanings. Maybe not as doomy as one might hope, 'cause the drummer/vocalists Ozzy-ish voice makes one wish for more Sabbath, less Soundgarden. Good tho.
Nice cd booklet art/design, kind of a surprise coming from the usually aesthetically-impaired Meteor City...

ABDULLAH / DRAGONAUTA split (Dias De Garage) cd 12.98
We last heard from Sabbathy stoner rockers Abdullah back in 2002, when the Ohio-based quintet released their second album, Graveyard Poetry. Now they've reappeared on this split release in the company of Argentinian weirdos Dragonauta, whose previous full-length Luciferatu was justly celebrated 'round these parts when it came out last year. Celebrated by those of us at AQ who like eccentric, proggy doom metal, that is! It's nice to hear something new from both bands, and although they take differing approaches to the stoner/doom style, they both have a love of Black Sabbath in common and also aren't afraid to be, well, a bit different (in very different ways, we should add).
Abdullah serve up six new tracks of moody, dynamic rock/metal with what we've described before as having somewhat of a "grunge" flavor. But Abdullah are much darker and heavier than the average Seattle band of the '90s... For fans of Down, CoC (circa Blind or Deliverance), Alice In Chains, and Acid Bath, we'd venture to say.
After the relatively mainstream and melodic Abdullah, Dragonauta seem even less "normal" than they already are (aren't?). They offer three new studio cuts and two live tracks, all of 'em being creaky, spreaky, riff-freaked workouts marked by fat psychedelic guitar noodle and raspy, strangulated Spanish-language vocals. From headbanging gallop to mellow jazz chords, Dragonauta take their compositions to various unexpected extremes, wild-eyed and drunkenly metallic at all times (except for when they're not). They're a bit like Los Natas but with even more of a 'we're crazy and we don't give a damn, let's play!' attitude. As far as we're concerned, they're the main reason to get this split, even though we like the Abdullah stuff ok too. But Dragonauta are just plumb loco and that really floats our boat in their moat.
MPEG Stream: ABDULLAH "Grey Sky Faith"
MPEG Stream: DRAGONAUTA "Revolucion Luciferiana"

ABE VIGODA Skeleton (Post Present Medium) cd 13.98
Over the last few years Abe Vigoda have been creating quite a stir as latest in a long line of spirited bands from Los Angeles who have taken the sweaty spirit of punk rock and injected their own twists and turns and warped pop sensibility. Up until this point the band was always mentioned in the same breath as their fellow Los Angelinos No Age, whom they share a similar aesthetic and home turf all-ages venue of choice, The Smell. (This record was also released on a newly formed label run by one of the members of No Age.) But boy do they deliver the goods on Skeleton, so much so that it's just a matter of time until everyone starts freaking out and giving them some of the same sort of mass attention that No Age have enjoyed over the last couple years.
This is some seriously caffeinated and super charged now-sound. Sort of like Feels era Animal Collective but with an extra dose of angular punk and a big bottle of Jolt cola to wash it all down. There is also a really nice and subtle tropical vibe within much of the record, reminding us a little of some of that early '80s post-punk out of Brazil we dig so much. There couldn't be a more perfect month then August for our ears to latch onto this record as Skeleton is the perfect album to blast over and over as we try to hold on to the summer for as long as we can.
MPEG Stream: "Lantern Heights"
MPEG Stream: "Hyacinth Grrls"
MPEG Stream: "Visi Rings"

ABE, KAORU Winter 1972 (PSF) cd 21.00
Free improv alto sax solos. For some folks, this is like having a brain-scrape without painkillers. But others will crawl within the sounds bleating from this guy's horn and bliss out. Here we have a cd reissue of one of thee rarest LPs in the discography of Japanese sax-blaster Kaoru Abe, a legendary, almost James Deanish icon of that nation's happening '70s free jazz scene, who made his recorded debut in 1970 but sadly died of a drug overdose before the decade was out, at age 29. Winter 1972 was originally a bootleg LP that came out in 1973 or '74 on Osaka's Sound Works label, and hasn't been offically reissued on cd until now, commemorating the 27th anniversary of Abe's premature passing.
In the past, we've reviewed some of Abe's reissued output in collaboration with free guitar great Masayuki Takayanagi, but he's got a lot of solo recordings too, and if you're interested in such things starting here would be a fine spot as any. Beautiful (to some) skree, so dark and emotional, sound and silence intensely entwined.
MPEG Stream: "No. 2"

ABERFELDY Young Forever (Rough Trade) cd 15.98
Really, what is it about Scotland that for years has fueled such a steady fountain of wonderful wispy folky pop (Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, The Delgados, Heavenly, etc)? Scones? Cock-a-leekie soup? Haggis? Whatever it is, it's cemented their corner of the market. Now along comes this new band o' Scots with their debut album that's gone and knocked the needle clear off of our twee-meter! Broken the darn thing, dagnabit! Seriously tho' if your sugar tolerance is anywhere near 'low', you should probably steer very very clear of Aberfeldy. Even folks around here who have brawny sweettooths (uh, sweetteeth?) have been having a hard time with it. But for those of you who can't get enough perfectly precious twee pop a la the above mentioned bands, well, then by all means, this just may well be the perfect fit!
MPEG Stream: "A Friend Like You"
MPEG Stream: "Something I Must Tell You"

ABIGAIL Forever Street Metal Bitch (Drakkar) cd 14.98

ABIGOR Channeling The Quintessence Of Satan (Napalm) cd 15.98
With an album title like that, you can't go wrong, can you? These Austrian black metal gods return with their upteenth effort of expertly wrought epic evil. In league with the likes of Emperor, as well as Satan and His Quintessence.

ABIGOR Fractal Possession (End All Life Productions) cd 15.98
The return of infamous Austrian black metal horde Abigor, after six years of near silence. The band broke up briefly in 2003, but reformed last year, with an almost entirely new lineup, but their sound continues pretty much right where their last full length Satanized left off. Abigor began life as grim epic buzz merchants, channeling the sound of classic Norwegian BM, but mixing it with raw primitivism and forest folkiness, all woven into a sound distinctly their own. Furious and chaotic, most songs blasting blurs of swirling blackness, peppered with confusional arrangements and epic flourishes. But on 2001's Satanized, the band changed direction, their sound becoming  more cold and clinical, more ultra technical and sci-fi, the same old buzz and blast but with a futuristic sheen...
Right out of the gate, Fractal Possession (even the title!) ups the future tech sci-fi blackness ante big time, after a brief industrial soundscape of space FX, and angular guitar, bits of metallic clatter and clang, electronic beats and weird snippets of dialogue, the band lurches into a crazy squiggly blast of super dynamic, tangled guitar squiggles and furious blast beats, like some strange Mick Barr / Orthrelm style guitarist got dropped into a stretch of futuristic black metal buzz. The band soon settles back into a more recognizable pattern of blasting fury and relentless hellish pound, but those angular shred guitars are still everywhere, soaring and slippery, serpentine squiggles in, around, over and under the various riffs and drum blasts. There are also all kinds of ultra brief interludes, short stretches of creepy ambience or some subtle folky strum, that barely have time to leave your speakers before the band buzz back into action, giving the whole sound a super seasick, start/stop ultra dynamic feel. The rest of the record follows a similar pattern, with some songs offering up gothy minor key melodies, Borknagar-like clean vocals, stretches of mathy blackened post rock, damaged chunks of bizarre effects drenched buzz, even some classic old school metal riffing here and there. It's a confusional combination for sure, but it works, it really sounds like it could be the black metal soundtrack to an Alfred Bester novel. Dramatic, mysterious, original, heavy, weird, plenty of awesome what-the-fuck moments, but some unbelievably kick ass riffing as well. Everything just oozing creepy alien otherworldly ambience...
If you can imagine some impossible (and improbable) crossbreeding experiment, where genes were taken from Emperor, Blut Aus Nord, Gorguts, Necrophagist, Orthrelm and Ved Buens Ende, then said genes were launched into space, where they were left to orbit some blackcloud shrouded planet, the genes gestating and mutating in the rays of an alien sun, returning to earth a hulking buzzing blasting blackened alien sonic space creature, only to find the humans gone, the landscape a burning post apocalyptic wasteland of destruction and death, fire and fury, and of course, gloriously dense and complex black metal buzz.
MPEG Stream: "Project Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Void Choir"
MPEG Stream: "Lair Of Infinite Desperation"

ABIGOR Fractal Possession (End All Life Productions) 2lp 18.98
Now available on lp, super heavy vinyl, deluxe gatefold jacket, with printed black and gold metallic inner sleeves, really really nice.
The return of infamous Austrian black metal horde Abigor, after six years of near silence. The band broke up briefly in 2003, but reformed last year, with an almost entirely new lineup, but their sound continues pretty much right where their last full length Satanized left off. Abigor began life as grim epic buzz merchants, channeling the sound of classic Norwegian BM, but mixing it with raw primitivism and forest folkiness, all woven into a sound distinctly their own. Furious and chaotic, most songs blasting blurs of swirling blackness, peppered with confusional arrangements and epic flourishes. But on 2001's Satanized, the band changed direction, their sound becoming  more cold and clinical, more ultra technical and sci-fi, the same old buzz and blast but with a futuristic sheen...
Right out of the gate, Fractal Possession (even the title!) ups the future tech sci-fi blackness ante big time, after a brief industrial soundscape of space FX, and angular guitar, bits of metallic clatter and clang, electronic beats and weird snippets of dialogue, the band lurches into a crazy squiggly blast of super dynamic, tangled guitar squiggles and furious blast beats, like some strange Mick Barr / Orthrelm style guitarist got dropped into a stretch of futuristic black metal buzz. The band soon settles back into a more recognizable pattern of blasting fury and relentless hellish pound, but those angular shred guitars are still everywhere, soaring and slippery, serpentine squiggles in, around, over and under the various riffs and drum blasts. There are also all kinds of ultra brief interludes, short stretches of creepy ambience or some subtle folky strum, that barely have time to leave your speakers before the band buzz back into action, giving the whole sound a super seasick, start/stop ultra dynamic feel. The rest of the record follows a similar pattern, with some songs offering up gothy minor key melodies, Borknagar-like clean vocals, stretches of mathy blackened post rock, damaged chunks of bizarre effects drenched buzz, even some classic old school metal riffing here and there. It's a confusional combination for sure, but it works, it really sounds like it could be the black metal soundtrack to an Alfred Bester novel. Dramatic, mysterious, original, heavy, weird, plenty of awesome what-the-fuck moments, but some unbelievably kick ass riffing as well. Everything just oozing creepy alien otherworldly ambience...
If you can imagine some impossible (and improbable) crossbreeding experiment, where genes were taken from Emperor, Blut Aus Nord, Gorguts, Necrophagist, Orthrelm and Ved Buens Ende, then said genes were launched into space, where they were left to orbit some blackcloud shrouded planet, the genes gestating and mutating in the rays of an alien sun, returning to earth a hulking buzzing blasting blackened alien sonic space creature, only to find the humans gone, the landscape a burning post apocalyptic wasteland of destruction and death, fire and fury, and of course, gloriously dense and complex black metal buzz.
MPEG Stream: "Project Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Void Choir"
MPEG Stream: "Lair Of Infinite Desperation"

ABIGOR In Memory... (Napalm) cdep 10.98
Prolific (and very "cult") black metal act Abigor from Austria return with a 5-song ep, featuring two cover tunes (of Kreator and Slayer, both originally recorded for appearances on those ubiquitious Dwell-label tribute comps) and three other rare tracks, one from the "With Us Or Against Us" compilation and the others rehearsal or rough-mix versions of old stuff. So, more a disc for Abigor completists, but as we said, they're a cult band, and this will whet fans' appetites for their upcoming "Satanized (A Journey Through Cosmic Infinity)" album due out in 2001.

ABIGOR Nachthymnen (From The Twilight Kingdom) (Napalm) cd 16.98
Third disc from this great folk/black metal band.

ABIGOR Satanized (A Journey Through Cosmic Infinity) (Napalm) cd 16.98
Time-tested, probably not mother-approved: veterans Abigor are the definition of true cult black metal. Hailing from Austria, one of the few non-Scandinavian European countries to really boast an "infamous" black metal scene, Abigor have now released umpteen cds of pure satanic metal madness, taking early Emperor's wall-of-sound approach as a template but experimenting with folk interludes (on some discs), Darkthrone/Frost style primitivism (on others), and more. This new album, though, really sees Abigor making strides into a new, science-fictional universe of advanced, evil metal that rocks. Yes, it's still trad black metal (not some cyber-industrial-electronica crossover like so many of their Nordic brethren now attempt) but it's almost got kind of a new, mathy, metal-core approach that sets it apart from its predecessors in the Abigor discography. Imagine careening drums, angular, No-Wavish guitar riffing (not as extreme as on Gorguts' crazy "Obscura", but in that realm at points), plus cosmic keyboard coloration a la Bal Sagoth or Limbonic Art (which on the song "Galaxies And Eons Decline" somehow reminds us of 007 theme music!). The chaotic song-structures imply that the Abigor guys have made Cryptopsy and Dillinger Escape Plan part of their listening diets, along with the usual keyboard-laden epic blasting black metal that represents their roots. As a result, this "journey through cosmic infinity" is indeed a surprising thrill-ride. This will be a contender for black metal disc of the year, for sure! Buy or die.
RealAudio clip: "Battlestar Abigor"
RealAudio clip: "Nocturnal Stardust"
RealAudio clip: "Galaxies And Eons Decline"

ABOMINABLE IRON SLOTH, THE s/t (Goodfellow) cd 15.98
Probably the best thing about Abominable Iron Sloth is they sound EXACTLY how a band called Abominable Iron Sloth should sound. Simple, plodding, groovy, down tuned, crushing and heavy heavy heavy. Stripped down blown out caveman riffs over pounding doom drum thud and super harsh shrieked vocals. Chugging and churning and completely crushingly mesmerizing. A mid tempo dirge metal owing much to folks like High On Fire, Karp, Melvins, Floor, Cavity, Crowbar and Eyehategod while giving it their own particular slothlike spin. Plus we're suckers for goofy song titles: "Hats Made Of Veal And That New Car Scent", "A Hot Pink Shell Of My Former Self", "Parasite Hilton And Other Flaws Inherent To Wealth" and of course "A Distant Pond From The Rivers Of Human Limelight."
Features ex-members of Dead And Gone metalcore legends Willhaven.
MPEG Stream: "Hats Made Of Veal And That New Car Scent"
MPEG Stream: "A Hot Pink Shell Of My Former Self"

ABORYM With No Human Intervention (Code 666) cd 14.98

ABOUT Bongo (Cock Rock Disco) cd 14.98

ABOVE THE ORANGE TREES / CHRISTIAN KIEFER The Inexplicable Falling (Mudita) cd 9.98
A split cd between Christian Kiefer and Jeff Pitcher's project Above the Orange Trees. Both musicians add to the canon of super sad singer songwriters: Jeff Pitcher's completely heartbroken songs are lushly melodic and quietly epic, bringing to mind Joel Phelps (ex-Silkworm) and Talk Talk; while Christian Kiefer's tracks are even more anguished than Pitcher's (if that's even possible), similar to the stillness of Low, the warm earthiness of Mark Kozelek, and the macabre twang of Songs:Ohia and Will Oldham/Palace. The artists also each contribute a cover of one of the others songs. Depressing in a good way.
RealAudio clip: ABOVE THE ORANGE TREES "Erendira"
RealAudio clip: CHRISTIAN KIEFER "With Fishes"

ABRAMS, DAN Stream (Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The latest offspring in Mille Plateaux's propagation of minimalist techno comes from Los Angeles graphic designer Dan Abrams, who continues the trend of elegeat glitch techno also heard from SND, Andreas Tilliander, Mikael Stavostrand, and Taylor Deupree.

ABRASION ENSEMBLE Music For The Same 500 People (Beta-Lectam Records) cd 14.98
The self-effacing title is an elaboration of a quote from the No Neck Blues Band's David Nuss, who stated that the first cd-r from the Abrasion Ensemble was "music for the same 50 people." Now the Abrasion Ensemble is thinking really big with that album's proper release with a run of 500 copies. Masterminded by Texas free-noise improvisationalist Rick Reed, the Abrasion Ensemble has a revolving door policy that has seen Mr. Nuss as well as members of Charalambides, Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast, and Brekekek koax koax passing through the Abrasion Ensemble. Reed describes the work of the Abrasion Ensemble as "pretty much anchored in waters that Organum or AMM would fish in as well." The Organum comparisons are definitely hard to hear, but AMM is right on the money, with overamplified cable buzz, mottled guitar haze, and playful pipe fightin' percussive textures.
RealAudio clip: "Quadrangle"

ABRAXASAXAPHONIC Smooth Jazz Vagina (NGWTT) cd 12.98
Arrington de Dionyso of Olympia, WA's Old Time Relijiun goes all freakout, solo saxophone skronk over smooth jazz radio. Hot.

ABRIL & MARCELLO GIOMBINI, ANTON GARCIA ...4..3..2..1...MORTE (GDM) cd 16.98
The soundtrack to this 'lost classic' soft core space movie is separated into 2 different movements, sort of. The tracks entitled 'Seli' of which there are 5, are cheesy and hippy shimmery vocal workouts ala many sixties/seventies low budget fantasy films. But the tracks entitled '4.3.2.1...Morte! (seq 1-10)" of which there are 10 (obviously) are the reasons to pick this up. Haunting (but still hippy) and chilling and spooky and goofy sounds of love and space and terror and romance and space again. Weird. Definitely not essential, but if you like this sort of thing, it's definitely a keeper.
RealAudio clip: "Seli (Main Title)"
RealAudio clip: "4.3.2.1...MORTE! (Seq.3)"

ABRIL & MARCELLO GIOMBINI, ANTON GARCIA ...4..3..2..1...MORTE (GDM) lp 14.98
The soundtrack to this 'lost classic' soft core space movie is separated into 2 different movements, sort of. The tracks entitled 'Seli' of which there are 5, are cheesy and hippy shimmery vocal workouts ala many sixties/seventies low budget fantasy films. But the tracks entitled '4.3.2.1...Morte! (seq 1-10)" of which there are 10 (obviously) are the reasons to pick this up. Haunting (but still hippy) and chilling and spooky and goofy sounds of love and space and terror and romance and space again. Weird. Definitely not essential, but if you like this sort of thing, it's definitely a keeper.

ABRUPTUM Casus Luciferi (Regain / Blooddawn) cd 14.98
Four tracks 39 minutes 21 seconds of EVIL. That's what this so-long-awaited-it's-unexpected cd from Swedish black metal improvisors Abruptum provides. And if Abruptum aren't already your favorite black metal band they sure should be. One member is a dwarf (or so we thought, he may just be really REALLY short). And past releases have included a whole record made up entirely of field recordings of band members whipping themselves and howling in agony! When they do get down to actual metal, it's of the grimmest, vilest variety. And since we were kind of under the assumption that Abruptum were no more, this sudden return is pretty darn exciting. So in keeping with Abruptum's confounding and perplexing history, this new release is definitely not "metal". Still evil of course, but sonically it's much more of an experimental dark ambient drone record. And a great one at that! Press play...a distant, martial drum cadence underpins dark droning feedback, grinding tortured low end, haunting minor key chords and distant melodies buried under slabs of distorted crunch. It's like a blackened mix of Total, Der Blutharsch, Lustmord and Corrupted, perhaps. Sweet female vocals soon (barely) emerge from the murk...a heavily reverbed chorale, chanting, with tolling bells, all buried under a thick grimy layer of grinding grit. Like a Merzbow / Dead Can Dance mashup. Soon the vocals fade into the mist as the grinding throbbing low end begins to pulse and loop and shimmer, distant explosions crack through the darkened skies, the echoes spreading out like ripples in a pond, creating hypnotic almost-rhythms, while underneath it all weird little looped melodies scurry about looking for shelter from the throbbing malevolence. Imagine Philip Jeck, in spikes and full corpse paint, set up in the middle of the forest beneath a full moon, with a hundred turntables, all black and moss covered, playing the warped and slowed down records of Troum, Dead Can Dance, William Basinski, Skullflower and all manner of rumbling drones...
MPEG Stream: "Casus Luciferi"
MPEG Stream: "Ex Inferno Inferiori"

ABRUPTUM Casus Luciferi (Picture Disc) (Regain) picture disc 14.98
Now available as a super limited picture disc!
Four tracks 39 minutes 21 seconds of EVIL. That's what this so-long-awaited-it's-unexpected cd from Swedish black metal improvisors Abruptum provides. And if Abrupt aren't already your favorite black metal band they sure should be. One member is a dwarf (or so we thought, he may just be really REALLY short). And past releases have included a whole record made up entirely of field recordings of band members whipping themselves and howling in agony! When they do get down to actual metal, it's of the grimmest, vilest variety. And since we were kind of under the assumption that Abrupt were no more, this sudden return is pretty darn exciting. So in keeping with Abruptum's confounding and perplexing history, this new release is definitely not "metal". Still evil of course, but sonically it's much more of an experimental dark ambient drone record. And a great one at that! Press play...a distant, martial drum cadence underpins dark droning feedback, grinding tortured low end, haunting minor key chords and distant melodies buried under slabs of distorted crunch. It's like a blackened mix of Total, Der Blutharsch, Lustmord and Corrupted, perhaps. Sweet female vocals soon (barely) emerge from the murk...a heavily reverbed chorale, chanting, with tolling bells, all buried under a thick grimy layer of grinding grit. Like a Merzbow / Dead Can Dance mashup. Soon the vocals fade into the mist as the grinding throbbing low end begins to pulse and loop and shimmer, distant explosions crack through the darkened skies, the echoes spreading out like ripples in a pond, creating hypnotic almost-rhythms, while underneath it all weird little looped melodies scurry about looking for shelter from the throbbing malevolence. Imagine Philip Jeck, in spikes and full corpse paint, set up in the middle of the forest beneath a full moon, with a hundred turntables, all black and moss covered, playing the warped and slowed down records of Troum, Dead Can Dance, William Basinski, Skullflower and all manner of rumbling drones...
MPEG Stream: "Casus Luciferi"
MPEG Stream: "Ex Inferno Inferiori"

ABRUPTUM De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet (Regain / Blooddawn) cd ep 8.98
Returning from a long absence, here's a three song ep from Sweden's infamous improv-black metal band Abruptum. None blacker! The first track, dating from way back in 1991, starts with gothic keyboards and has a lot of Satanic screaming, but with its gothic keyboard intro and straight-ahead drums, actually sounds like "normal" song-based black metal. But the 8+ minute track two is the reason to get this. This year 2000 recording is where Abruptum reveal themselves to be the Hijokaidan (to make a Japanoise reference) of black metal, a clanging bell heralding some supremely evil chaos that sounds closer to Merzbow (to make another) than Mayhem. Wrapping things up, track three's marching boots (doubtlessly sampled from some WWII movie) morph into a distorted industrial rhythm that terminates in a finale of soundtrack synths. It's all about the atmosphere, and Abruptum is indeed the blackest. 16 minutes of (mostly) unstructured metallic madness that only the truest will like or understand.
RealAudio clip: "Dodsapparaten"

ABRUPTUM Evil Genius (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
Ah Abruptum, how we've missed you. Nary a peep since 2004's killer black ambient masterpiece Casus Luciferi, which while an amazing gorgeously bleak slab of droning mystery, really barely scratched the surface, only hinting at the harsh, hateful, bizarre black metal beast Abruptum once was.
That's where Evil Genius comes in. And evil Genius is exactly what it is. A collection of old demos, it was originally released with an actual razor blade inside and a sticker instructing the listener to kill themselves. There were also loads of strange rumors surrounding the band, including the one about mainman It being a dwarf, who tortured himself in the studio, in order to capture true anguish. After all, Abruptum were, according to their own edict, "the pure audial essence of evil"... Who knows how much of that stuff was true (we like to think ALL of it), and ultimately it doesn't really matter, the proof is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding is a sludgy, filthy, crusty, primitive chunk of harsh, stumbling, lurching, distorted psychedelic black metal. Or maybe black doom would be more appropriate. There are no blast beats or blazing buzzing riffs, instead, Evil Genius is a confusional garbled outsider mess, but a glorious one, keyboards lurch in and out of the mix, usually atonal and off kilter, the drums plod and pound, tortured and strangled vocals howl and grunt, belching out strange black growls, tons of thick black ambience surround everything, seeping into every bit of music like some strange black mold, weird squeaks and groans, and all sorts of random sounds pepper the entire record, hard to say if they are footsteps or the cracks of a whip or creaking hinges, but they all sort of get sucked into Abruptum's dizzying blurry and buzzy soundworld. And guitars of course, lots of them, tuned way down, sometimes not tuned at all, occasionally spewing out some strange black shaped riff, but other times just buzzing or droning, roaring or squealing, often sounding less like a guitar than some sort of hellish demon speaking in tongues.
But as fucked up and bizarre as Evil Genius is, it's still eminently listenable, even catchy at times, almost pretty at others, but always, a totally baffling, fucked up and completely damaged way out black metal what-the-fuck blast of, well, EVIL GENIUS!!
All new artwork, with brand new liner notes from It, and while it's hard to tell for sure, we're led to believe that there is at least one extra track, as EG compiles the first two Abruptum demos ("s/t" and "The Satanist Tunes") as well as the "Evil" 7" and their track from the long out of print Tribute To Euronymous compilation cd (which we think is the bonus track).
So absolutely and utterly RECOMMENDED!!
MPEG Stream: "Honores Vultus Mutares Ex Aeris Campi"
MPEG Stream: "Icendio Fulminis Telis"
MPEG Stream: "Animum, Mentem Alcis Iuventutem Largitionibus, Hostes Ad Dimicandum, Commotis Exita Sacris Thyias"
MPEG Stream: "De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet"

ABRUPTUM Evil Genius (Southern Lord) lp 14.98
Now available on vinyl! With all new artwork. Killer black gloss on black matte, the Abruptum logo taking up the whole front cover, the straight razor and song titles on the back. With a super thick inside sleeve, with liner notes and awesome band photos. Besides all that, this is one of the most infamous slabs of audial evil EVER, finally available on vinyl...
Ah Abruptum, how we've missed you. Nary a peep since 2004's killer black ambient masterpiece Casus Luciferi, which while an amazing gorgeously bleak slab of droning mystery, really barely scratched the surface, only hinting at the harsh, hateful, bizarre black metal beast Abruptum once was.
That's where Evil Genius comes in. And evil Genius is exactly what it is. A collection of old demos, it was originally released with an actual razor blade inside and a sticker instructing the listener to kill themselves. There were also loads of strange rumors surrounding the band, including the one about mainman It being a dwarf, who tortured himself in the studio, in order to capture true anguish. After all, Abruptum were, according to their own edict, "the pure audial essence of evil"... Who knows how much of that stuff was true (we like to think ALL of it), and ultimately it doesn't really matter, the proof is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding is a sludgy, filthy, crusty, primitive chunk of harsh, stumbling, lurching, distorted psychedelic black metal. Or maybe black doom would be more appropriate. There are no blast beats or blazing buzzing riffs, instead, Evil Genius is a confusional garbled outsider mess, but a glorious one, keyboards lurch in and out of the mix, usually atonal and off kilter, the drums plod and pound, tortured and strangled vocals howl and grunt, belching out strange black growls, tons of thick black ambience surround everything, seeping into every bit of music like some strange black mold, weird squeaks and groans, and all sorts of random sounds pepper the entire record, hard to say if they are footsteps or the cracks of a whip or creaking hinges, but they all sort of get sucked into Abruptum's dizzying blurry and buzzy soundworld. And guitars of course, lots of them, tuned way down, sometimes not tuned at all, occasionally spewing out some strange black shaped riff, but other times just buzzing or droning, roaring or squealing, often sounding less like a guitar than some sort of hellish demon speaking in tongues.
But as fucked up and bizarre as Evil Genius is, it's still eminently listenable, even catchy at times, almost pretty at others, but always, a totally baffling, fucked up and completely damaged way out black metal what-the-fuck blast of, well, EVIL GENIUS!!
All new artwork, with brand new liner notes from It, and while it's hard to tell for sure, we're led to believe that there is at least one extra track, as EG compiles the first two Abruptum demos ("s/t" and "The Satanist Tunes") as well as the "Evil" 7" and their track from the long out of print Tribute To Euronymous compilation cd (which we think is the bonus track).
So absolutely and utterly RECOMMENDED!!
MPEG Stream: "Honores Vultus Mutares Ex Aeris Campi"
MPEG Stream: "Icendio Fulminis Telis"
MPEG Stream: "Animum, Mentem Alcis Iuventutem Largitionibus, Hostes Ad Dimicandum, Commotis Exita Sacris Thyias"
MPEG Stream: "De Profundis Mors Vas Cousumet"

ABRUPTUM In Umbra Malitiae Ambulato In Aeternum In Triumpho Tenebraum (Regain / Blooddawn) cd 14.98

ABSOLUT NULL PUNKT Absolute Magnitude (Blossoming Noise) cd 14.98
It's another outing from the reunited Absolut Null Punkt, the Japanese industrial-noise-electronic-improv duo of Seijiro Murayama (ex-Fushitsusha years and years ago), and KK Null of Zeni Geva fame. It's kinda weird that there's been so many (3) ANP albums released in the past couple of years and so few (0) new ZG. Too bad, we'd like some ZG too. But the ANP stuff is cool if you're in the mood for even noisier, less conventionally rockin' fare. It's not the riff-bludgeoning metallic math-rock heaviosity of the Zeni Geva juggernaut, it's more like Null's experimental solo efforts, the extreme electronics of those in live collision with chaotic pipe-fighting percussion... a distorted, dramatic deathmatch of drum pummel, electric pulses, distant cries, shrieking guitar and garbled FX. It's very three dimensional, noises coming from all directions, up close and far away. A very active and abstract soundscape. You get the idea that if you were to somehow enter into it, to dare to step on stage with ANP, you'd be running and dodging for cover, it'd be like being trapped on some hellish battlefield with artillery barrages and sniper fire all around. So much better to listen from the safety of your earphones (though that's not safe either if you turn it up too much!). Yet for all the darkness and mayhem, the three long tracks here (1 hour total) all have distinct identity and structure. There's memorable moments, in the way of zaps and beats. If you drew a line at Merzbow, this would be to the 'music' side of that line, maybe, with many fierce forays into the nomansland of noise.
MPEG Stream: "Absolute Magnitude 1"
MPEG Stream: "Absolute Magnitude 3"

ABSOLUT NULL PUNKT Live In Japan (Important) cd 11.98
Absolut Null (as in Kazuyuki K. Null, of Zeni Geva fame) Punkt hasn't made too many records, and the ones they made are long gone. There were a handful of hard-to-find cassettes, LPs, and one cd recorded between about '84 to '87, before Zeni Geva came into being. But now the original ANP duo of Null and Seijiro Murayama, who was also the original drummer for Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha, have reunited for a live tour and this resultant cd release, 15 years at least after their last performance together. As they did back in the '80s, ANP play a kind of Industrial improv, ofttimes as heavy but way more freeform and abstract than the metal-prog rock dished out by Zeni Geva. With Null manipulating his guitar and "nullsonic" electronics and Murayama playing "drums, metals, tubes" this is some crazy, rhythmic electronic mayhem. Comparing it to the only previous ANP document we've heard (1993's posthumous Ultrasonic Action cd) we can certainly hear how the modern 'glitch' sounds that have crept into Null's solo works have now become a part of ANP's sonic arsenal. The six live tracks (from just over four minutes to more than 21 minutes in length) recorded at clubs in Tokyo and Osaka last year found here are ultra noisy and chaotic, processed and 'decomposed' to the max. Definitely for fans of Null's harsher side. (Hey, Important Records, if your releases are so important, how about a jewel case or a digipak or something next time? This is just packaged in a cardboard sleeve that's no different from all the cheap promos we get sent...)
MPEG Stream: "track 3"
MPEG Stream: "track 4"

ABSOLUT NULL PUNKT Metacompound (Important) cd 14.98
Zeni Geva guitarist KK Null is back with two new cds on Important -- a new Absolute Null Punkt album, and another solo disc as well. (Hey where's the ZG releases, pal?)
After a 15 year hiatus, the '80s industrial improv duo of KK Null (electronics, electro-percussion, voice) and Seijiro Murayama (drums, tubes, voice) known as ANP got back together to do some shows, which resulted in a live album (Live In Japan, Important, 2004). Now they're at it again, going to Russia to record portions of these three tracks of hard-to-describe mayhem. It's another clanking, pipe-fighting, glitched-out, electronically damaged deluge of intense improv beats, drones, and spasms. Chaotic and claustrophobic, maybe even nightmarish. But cool if you've got any inclination towards Japan-noise stuff, amped up and rhythmic and sort of "rock".
And by the way, may we commend Important records for packaging this, and their other new KK title (Kosmista Noisea, also reviewed here), in normal jewel cases this time, rather than in the cheap-o cardboard sleeves that they used for the Live In Japan cd? Not only that, but they hired none other than SUNNO)))'s Stephen O'Malley to decorate these with his trademark fractured prismatic schematic artwork, in metallic inks on cool translucent vellum paper. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Metacompound 2GA"
MPEG Stream: "Metacompound C"

ABSTRACKT KEAL AGRAM Bad Thriller (Gooom) cd 15.98
Finally back in stock again!!
How does Gooom do it? Where do these bands come from? (I know, I know, France...) Release after release, they somehow dig up more and more amazingly breathtaking slabs of fuzzy, droney, poppy, rocking electronic weirdness. Bad Thriller is no different. The newest record from the bizarrely named Abstrackt Keal Agram is quite possibly our favorite Gooom release since the mighty M83. Like M83, AKA also dabble in fuzzed out My Bloody Valentine worship, skittery glitched out electronica, and murky creepy atmospherics. But where M83 are all glistening sparkling effervescence and warm pulsing throb, AKA are a much darker proposition, falling somewhere between the epic downer ambience of Godspeed, the shuffling glitch pop of the Notwist and the bastardized hip hop of some of the weirder Anticon artists. Drone-y and moody melancholia woven from spare acoustic guitars, heavy fuzzy electronic organs, squiggly synthesizers spitting out dizzying melodies, mumbly sadboy vocals, stuttering, a vast array of alien sounds and even more alien soundscapes and all sorts of unfunky drum programming and live drums. And it is most definitely about the rhythms. The whole record is an experiment in rhythmic juxtaposition. Warm languid indie rock or fuzzed out shoe-gazey bliss pop or dreamy epic instrumentals, all demarcated by beautifully damaged rhythms that shift from song to song, and sometimes even in the course of a single track, funky almost hip hop drums, stumbling, seemingly random rhythmic chaos, big booming simplicity or dense complex Autechre-ish programming. Sounds like it could be a mess but it all falls (im)perfectly into place. A gorgeously unlikely electronic indie pop dipped in a thick viscous druggy space fuzz. The biggest surprise though is track two, which is straight up hip hop! Somehow it fits though, a chaotic Anticon / Mush sort of number, with multiple whining whiteboy flows, chaotic funky bounce and lots of weird loops and samples. Turntables do surface occasionally throughout the rest of the record, as do some Anticon-ish moments, but in more of an ambient supporting role to the overall buzzing fuzzy murky sonic dreaminess. Once again, SO GOOD!
MPEG Stream: "Bad Thriller"
MPEG Stream: "Ghost Version (+ Atoms Family)"
MPEG Stream: "Riviere"

ABSTRACKT KEAL AGRAM Cluster Ville (Gooom) cd 15.98
The last AKA record was such a huge hit around these parts we figured we would go back a bit and track down their earlier album. And good thing we did 'cause it's pretty darn great. On Bad Thriller, AKA spun a sugary web of M83-ish shoegazey blisspop, with the occasional bit of glitchy electronica and out of left field hip hoppery. Well, here we are back a few years and AKA's penchant for hip hop is in full effect. And it definitely suits them. The record is a dark, head nodding assemblage of DJ Shadow-ish ambient groovescapes, and full on hip hop. But the hip hop is constructed from the Gooom sonic staples we should all be familiar with by now, blissed out slightly melancholic ambience, buzzy fuzzy summer-y day soundscapes, electronic birds singing, digital clouds drifting by, occasional DJ scratching. Think M83 meets Boards Of Canada with Del or Sensational rapping. A super dense and a rich sonic stew of trad hip hop, modern glitch pop, eighties shoe gaze, a truly weird concoction, but it works somehow. Might be too much rapping for some (those of you coming at it from the fuzz pop angle) but avant hip hop headz will be blown away and anyone who's been jonesing for a record that hits the same sweet spot Shadow's Endtroducing did, should definitely check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Del"
MPEG Stream: "Piece"
MPEG Stream: "Brouillard"

ABSU In The Eyes Of Ioldanach (Osmose) cdep 11.98
4-song ep from these crazy Texan black metallers, as a follow-up to their amazing "Third Storm Of Cythraul". Utterly raging, magickal-with-a-K thrash intensity infuses the likes of "Manannan" and "Never Blow Out The Eastern Candle", proving again that Absu are among the only Americans with the ability to both out-weird and out-metal their Northern European competitors. Can't wait for the next full-length.

ABSU Mythological Occult Metal 1991-2001 (Osmose Productions) 2cd 14.98
"The Gold Torques Of Ulaid", "Immortal Sorcery", "The Great Battle Moving From Ideal To Actual"? Are these chapters from a sanity-blasting tome of arcane magicks? Or lectures on mythic history or philosophy? Well, perhaps. But they're also song titles from this decade-spanning double cd collection of Absu tracks. Absu being one of our all time favorite black metal bands... if that's even an accurate description for them, 'cause there's a depth to what they do that seems like so much more than playing corpse-painted dress-up like so many black metal bands get away with. Absu, on the other hand, have definitely done their research. This Texan trio combines the evil old school speed/thrash attack of Slayer with Norwegian-style black metal mystery, adding a immense dose of magickal and mythical erudition and then taking things to a whole 'nother, never-breaking-character, Manowar-esque, Olde English speaking, are they serious or not?? level... They're a whole mindboggling package, a display of "total attention to detail" showmanship (or is it belief?) that utterly wows us, along with their raging musickal assault.
It should be noted that this new double cd is not a "best of". If it was, we'd say that even if you've never heard Absu before, you should check it out, 'cause they're one of the best "extreme" metal bands out there (and we mean "out there") and a "best of" would, therefore, be exceedingly good. Actually we'll say that anyway. But this is really a release for folks who are already fans of the band, 'cause it's a collection of rare tracks taken from various compilations and 7" eps. It also includes some live and otherwise previously unreleased material. So even if you have every Absu album, you don't have some of this. And you need it.
Disc one contains all the tracks from three hard-to-find (we don't have 'em!) 7" vinyl records -- Temples Of Offal, And Shineth Unto The Cold Cometh, and Hallstattian Swords -- plus their song from the the Gummo movie soundtrack, and more. It's all great stuff, from the solo soundtracky synth-scapes of the Hallstattian Swords tracks to the killer Mercyful Fateness of the alternate take of "Stone Of Destiny" from their most recent album, Tara.
Disc two is devoted to covers, live, and unreleased material. You get to hear Absuized versions of tracks by Mayhem (and krautrock's Conrad Schnitzler, since Absu's cover of "Deathcrush" includes the Schnitzler intro that Mayhem sampled on the original!), Possessed, Iron Maiden, and Destruction, most of which originally appeared on tribute comps to those respective artists. There's also four live cuts (worth it for the song intros alone!) and a couple unreleased rehearsal tracks. Again, all stuff any Absu fan can't live without. Just try, you'll die (someday, anyway). And you won't die as happy as you would if you'd had this.
MPEG Stream: "The Gold Torques Of Ulaid"
MPEG Stream: "The Winter Zephyr (...Within Kingdoms Of Mist) [live]"

ABSU Tara (Osmose) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Exhibit V" in the Absu discography of blackened occultic Texan thrash supremacy! This disc was a long time coming and well worth the wait. The trio of Sir Proscriptor McGovern (drums, vocals), Shaftiel (guitars), and Equitant Ifernain (bass) again assault your body and mind with their intense musickal and lyrickal magick. Imagine old Slayer on 78, with IQs of 200, and obsessed with the most arcane and obscure elements of world mythology. Thankfully the thick, beautifully illustrated cd booklet includes, in addition to the lyrics, a lexicon of Absu-referenced terms, touching on everything from Irish history to the Tarot to hexagrams of the Yi King. How many other cds do you have that inform you of Greek historian Diodorus Siculous' thoughts on various cultures' philosophies of immortality? Eh? As black metal goes, these guys are the absurd and intelligent gods of the genre, which they transcend anyway into avantgarde realms unknown to most mortals -- heck, with their magickal role-play they transcend music itself. The band Absu, as a concept, is its own art. Strain your neck and bend your brain!
RealAudio clip: "Four Crossed Wands (Spell 181)"

ABSU The Third Storm Of Cythraul (Osmose) cd 14.98

ABU-JAMAL, MUMIA 175 Progress Drive (Alternative Tentacles) cd 13.98
Hopefully all AQ-list readers are aware of the plight of Pennsylvania journalist and death row inmate Mumia Abu Jamal (sentenced to death for a cop killing that he may, or may not, have committed -- regardless, his trial was hardly fair, making him indeed a true American political prisoner). Alternative Tentacles have done their part to keep Mumia's words and cause in the public eye, this release being the latest to feature his prison radio essays. But it also features Mumia pieces from his pre-conviction radio days (including his interviews with Bob Marley, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Hugh Masekela, and others). It also features musical and spoken word contributions from hip hop luminaries like Chuck D, Dead Prez, Michael Franti, and others. In case you were wondering, "175 Progress Drive" is the address of Mumia's prison cell, from where he continues to fight the power and speak for the black (and non-black) underclass.

ABYSSINIANS Satta Dub (Taboo) cd 15.98

AC (ANIMAL COLLECTIVE) W/ VASHTI BUNYAN Prospect Hummer (Fat Cat) cd ep 9.98
Why those Animal Collective folks have chosen to go by just their initials A and C is beyond us. Don't they realize they're running the risk of being confused with our own Alison C. or Andee C., A.C. Newman or worse yet Anal Cunt!? Ah, but none of those peeps would be collaborating with Ms Bunyan... or would they? Hmmm. Anyhoo, ponderings aside, these four songs are hushed psych-folk jewels with clusters of group-sing gatherings, acoustic guitar, and harp. Sooo lovely. Fans of any/all involved will not be disappointed. The only thing unfortunate here is that sadly in this day and age the first thing that popped to our mind when we saw this ep's title was those horrendous enormo-vehicles. Not exactly the mental picture you want in your head when you're listening to Animal Collective and/or Vashti Bunyan... noooo!
MPEG Stream: "It's You"
MPEG Stream: "Prospect Hummer"