ANDREW W.K. Close Calls With Brick Walls / Mother of Mankind (Steev Mike) 2cd 17.98

ANDREW W.K. Girls Own Juice (Bulb) cd ep 9.98
Pretty insanely catchy cock rock, super anthemic and dumb, as only the Bulb label (and now, we're told, Rick Rubin's American label!) can provide. Skull art on cover, tight pants, greasy hair, songtitles like "We Want Fun" and "Music or Die". Somewhere between the Ramones and Van Halen lies Andrew W.K., who we have to say is pretty sexy and 20 years old (http://andrewwk.com). If you can handle the slight cheese factor, this record is so fucking awesome. Windy's new favorite record to rock out to in the car .
RealAudio clip: "Girls Own Juice"

ANDREW W.K. I Get Wet (Mercury) cd 10.98
Finally available domestically and at a much friendlier price! Here's what we wrote about the import...
Ah, Andrew W.K... Hard rockin' heartthrob. Vice Magazine mascot. Crushworthy object of Windy's adoration and Andee's guilty 'rock' pleasure. Bloody-faced and beeyootiful. Andrew plays pretty insanely catchy cock rock: super anthemic, major key, kickass and dumb (in a good way). He lies somewhere between the Ramones, Rocket from the Crypt, and Van Halen. And yeah, all the sounds are variations on a theme -- he basically writes the same song over and over with the same three chords, but what a song! This will have you air guitaring all over the place and bouncing in your seat.
RealAudio clip: "Party Hard"
RealAudio clip: "Girls Own Love"

ANDREW W.K. The Wolf (Island) cd 14.98
The latest dose of super high energy power-chord-laden music has dropped from the sexy Andrew W.K.. If you haven't heard this guy before, try the soundclips -- it's ridiculous how anthemic, epic and positive such ultra-simple exhortations like "you're doing all right", "don't ever give up", "tear it up all night", "I love music", etc etc can be! It's kind of amazing that his message lies more with the positivity his music makes you *feel*, rather than lyrics that are about anything in particular (cos, um, they're not). More keyboard driven than previous efforts, this is a ridiculously fun listen, if a little dumb, er, in a good way. There's even a full-on lighters-aloft love ballad. Party.
MPEG Stream: "Long Live the Party"
MPEG Stream: "Really in Love"

ANDREWS, AMEN VS. SPAC HAND LUKE s/t (Rephlex) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "I Shot Killer Pussy"
MPEG Stream: "Screwface"
MPEG Stream: "Multiple Stab Wounds"

ANDREWS, MICHAEL Hand On String (Elgin Park) cd + book 14.98
Wonderful! Hand On String is the solo debut album from this man-of-many-hats who composed the scores for the thinking teen's movie Donnie Darko (yes, he's the one responsible for the cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World") and Miranda July's acclaimed film Me And You And Everyone We Know as well as music for the beloved (but sadly defunct) TV series Freaks And Geeks. All signs certainly point to a reserved seat in AQ's favorites zone, and after a first spin of his first solo outing, we can say he doesn't disappoint. Although those film/tv soundtracks were definitely rife with 70s/80s/90s pop culture references, Hand On String steers clear of hip fads and ironic touchstones. This is a much more personal and timeless work that not only sets itself apart from Andrews' filmwork but also his other musical pursuits (namely in the Greyboy Allstars). Andrews' achingly sensitive vocal delivery has stirred comparisons to that of Elliott Smith, Robert Wyatt or Pink Floyd. Warm and gentle and slightly on the verge of collapse. Ah yes, very good.
Plus as an added treat, the digipak and accompanying paperback book come festooned with quirky watercolor paintings by Geoff McFetridge.
Psst, if you need more of Andrews' music, we've also just received the soundtrack cd to the abovementioned Miranda July film!
MPEG Stream: "See Me Plain"
MPEG Stream: "Sweeping, Cleaning And Organizing"

ANDREWS, MICHAEL Me And You And Everyone We Know - Original Film Score (Everloving) cd 14.98
You loved the movie in the theater, now you can love the soundtrack in your car, living room or anywhere! Yup, here's the soundtrack to Miranda July's acclaimed film Me And You And Everyone We Know featuring a score composed by Michael Andrews (who also scored Donnie Darko and Freaks And Geeks!). Even without visual accompaniment it's a dreamily contemplative listen. Perfect if you're seeking something that will evoke a sense of calm in your surroundings. A spoken word piece by Ms July opens the proceedings, but from that point on it's primarily an instrumental work. Warm, smooth tones from a full spectrum of instruments drift, waft and float languidly for a spell, then dissipate. It's not until the sixth track that a human voice resurfaces. The mellow Cody Chesnutt sung "5 On A Joyride" could easily be mistaken for one of Money Mark's sensitive guy pop songs. After that, the soundtrack maintains the soothing pace with additional occasional verbal and non-verbal vocal interludes ("Peter And Sylvie" is particularly lovely!). Rounding off the album's sixteen tracks are a couple by Spiritualized (their very Jesus And Mary Chain-esque "Any Way That You Want Me") and Virginia Astley.
Psst, if you need more of Andrews' music, we've also just received his new solo album cd/book set Hand On String!
MPEG Stream: ANDREWS, MICHAEL "Peter And Sylvie"
MPEG Stream: CHESNUTT, CODY "5 On A Joyride"

ANDROID SISTERS, THE Best Of The Android Sisters (EM Records) cd 24.00
The robots are coming, indeed! And their latest invasion (released with much thanks and gratitude to our favorite record label of late, Japan's EM!) takes the form of this sexy electronic pop concept duo, The Android Sisters. Originally created by ZBS studios, a nonprofit audio production company from upstate New York whose purpose was to raise consciousness through media, namely via new-age-tinged sci-fi inspired radio plays, The Android Sisters began life in the early eighties as the house band in the radio series, Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe. Taking cues from Bruce Haack's electronic children's records from the '60s and '70s, The Sisters perform satirical "speak-songs" in a polyphonic monotone that goofily riff off of everything from Philip K. Dick inspired silliness ("Electronic Sheep") to Old McDonald ("Down On The Electronic Farm"). They soon developed their own cult following, so an album was released on Vanguard in 1984 called Songs of Electronic Despair. Using wonky keyboards, funky beats and spacey synthesizer passages, The Sisters frequent use of terrible puns and android-inspired humor didn't quite fit in with the wry detachment of the New Wave music of the time and has since been relegated to the realms of pop oddity, occasionally resurfacing as samples in trance, techno and hip-hop ("Ray-Dee-Oh", Sss-x Minus One"). But as radio-plays they are highly entertaining and engaging, silly and goofy for sure but as The Android Sisters themselves say, "Dumb is Fun! " Includes 48 page booklet with song lyrics and illustrations for each song.
MPEG Stream: "Invasion"
MPEG Stream: "Robots Are Coming"
MPEG Stream: "Dumb Is Fun"
MPEG Stream: "Sss-X Minus One"

ANDROMEDA Extensions Of The Wish (Century Media) cd 15.98
Swedish melodic death/prog metal, featuring the sort of over-the-top guitar and keyboard wizardry that makes people either love or hate the similarily-inclined Children of Bodom. The former (first) vocalist of Darkane does a bit more actual singing on here than he did in his previous band, although we'd have preferred an all-instrumental disc 'cause when these guys get into their instro jams, it gets pretty amazing.

ANDROMELOS s/t (Ektro) cd 14.98
*Acid Mothers Temple Alert!*
*Acid Mothers Temple Alert!*
*Acid Mothers Temple Alert!*
Also... it's a *Space Machine Alert!* as well.
Andromelos is a new Japanese psychedelic "supergroup" making their debut on the Ektro records label run by Jussi from Circle. It consists of guitarist Kawabata Makoto, drummer Okano Futoshi, and electronics wizard Yamazaki Maso. Kawabata is best known as the bearded high priest of the Acid Mothers Temple (and other bands like Mainliner, Musica Transonic, Nishinihon, Toho Sara, Seikazoku, etc. etc.). Sticksman Okano is/was a member of Nishinihon, Ghost, and Subvert Blaze. And in addition to being none other than notorious noisician Masonna, Yamazaki is also a member of Christine 23 Onna -- but more pertinent to his contribution to Andromelos, though, is his project Space Machine, which takes its inspiration from '70s cosmic analog synth masters like Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream. Early TD could certainly be a model for Andromelos, indeed. Freaky, waaay out spacey kosmiche kraut-lovin' soundscapes with percussive drive, gobs of electronic FX, ambient drift, and some wonderfully fried guitar fuzz. But if you're familiar with Acid Mothers Temple or Space Machine we probably could omit that description and you'd guess as much anyway! It sounds like just what you'd think, just like what you'd want. If we add that there's just two looooong tracks, totaling 72 minutes, you'll be even more in the ballpark with your imaginings of Andromelos' blasted and blissed out charms. The tracks are titled "Tea Breaks Are Under Attack From 2300000 Light Years" parts 1 and 2, and we've got to say, for once a title on a Kawabata album that really makes sense!! That totally IS what this sounds like. Well, give it a listen n' see if you agree...
MPEG Stream: "Tea Breaks Are Under Attack From 2300000 Light Years Part.1"
MPEG Stream: "Tea Breaks Are Under Attack From 2300000 Light Years Part.2"

ANDUIN Abandoned In Sleep (SMTG Limited) lp + cd 16.98
Full length number two from Jonathan Lee, a member of big time aQ faves Souvenir's Young America, and the man behind Anduin, after two killer collaborations, one with Svarte Greiner (that track is included here!), the other with Jasper TX, which should definitely give you an idea of the sort of sound to expect from Anduin.
Dark and dreamy and dolorous, Anduin creates warm swirling rhythmic ambience, dark drones, and haunting soundscapes. Abandoned In Sleep includes many contributors either via sample contribution or live collaboration, Jasper TX again, Gareth Davis, Stephen Vitiello, Xela and a handful of others, but there's no doubt that Lee is the sonic alchemist here, taking sounds and samples, live performances, and pre-recorded works, and molding them into darkly gorgeous soundworks. Field recordings drift in and out of soft clouds of hushed shimmer, thick slabs of deep rumble are laid atop strange percussive pulses, warm whirring low end drifts beneath subtle horns, minimal rhythms skitter around slowly collapsing buzzscapes, long slow tones stretch out into disembodied harmonies, all bathed in a lush golden chordal wash, the harmonica makes an appearance, and helps turn a track into something distinctly Morricone-esque, huge subterranean drones are laced with the sound of footsteps, and creaking doors, distant machinery, and finally, horns moan and bleat in a field of delicate drones and muted rhythmic pulses.
The vinyl includes a cd, that features all the songs on the lp proper as well as three extra tracks, including the live collaboration with Svarte Greiner, all deep blackened shimmer, soft swells of feedback, dark rumbling pulsations, bleak and austere, laced with shards of high end melody, and softly grinding whirs.
Apparently, Abandoned In Sleep took the better part of a year to create, and listening to it now we can safely say it was well worth it!
MPEG Stream: "The Equal Of God"
MPEG Stream: "Content Of A Black Box"
MPEG Stream: "Into Abandon"

ANDUIN Forever Waiting (SMTG Ltd) lp+cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Better known (or perhaps more realistically, not really known at all) as the man behind aQ faves Souvenir's Young America, Jonathan Lee steps out on his own, trading in his brooding harmonica flecked metallic post rock, for something a little less post rock, a lot less metallic, but no less brooding OR harmonica flecked. The thing with SYA that really set them apart from so many others in the ever expanding army of Neur-Isis clones, is that they approached their sound from a pretty unique direction, of all those bands they are definitely the least metal, instead infusing their sound with plenty of dusty Morricone-isms (due in no small part to the harmonica) and a desert-y almost soundtracky vibe akin to Scenic or Calexico. It's still dynamic and epic and sweeping, but with more
twang, more subtle shading, slide guitar, just more evocative in general.
The opening track of Lee's first solo foray starts out right away with harmonica, maybe the same harmonica as on the SYA record since the liner notes explain that those harmonica's are sampled, but the result is much the same, the instrumentation may be different, a slow whirling churn of textured low end, and buried muted melodies, but that mournful harmonica over the top brings it right back to some barren windswept street, the sky overhead clear, the sun beating down, everything cloaked in a layer of dust. This is drone music, or dark ambience, but Lee demonstrates his unique sonic approach expands well beyond his rock band.
The second track eschews the harmonica, but is no less cinematic, weird melodic fragments, drift on thick swells of low end, a strange melody is twisted and draped over the top, the track peppered with strange sounds, like buttons being pushed, or tapes being rewound, or splashing water, hard to say what, but it adds a strange haunting texture to the already mysterious soundscape. The harmonica returns one track later, and we're once again transported right back to that lonely stretch of desert. This time though, there is some skittery rhythm, and another layer of low end, all rubbery and warbly, shimmering beneath the surface. The rest of the record wanders similar paths, exploring equally haunting soundscapes, crumbling distorted guitar, smeared into a soft drone beneath a lilting minor key melody, lurching processed rhythms floating in stretches of hiss and shimmer, deeeeeeep bass rumbles and pulses, peppered with fragmented melodies, one track transforms into a sound not that far removed from the Souvenir's mothership, slow motion guitar grind, skittery drums, moaning distant melodies, all wound into a super tense slow burning epic.
Two tracks here feature guests, the first is a name most aQ customers are probably familiar with by now, Jasper TX, whose contribution is quite subtle, adding extra low end, introducing some subtle textural chop and shuffle, adding a bit of an Oval vibe to an already murky underwater drift, the other is another aQ fave, Xela, aka Type records head honcho John Twells, who does a serious number on his track, adding all manner of shortwave interference, warm smears of hiss and static, haunting disembodied vocals, thick distorted crumbling guitars, verging on a Nadja vibe partway through, before slipping back into the mesmerizing moodiness of the rest of the record. Definitely not a run of the mill drone, or ambient record. Anduin definitely puts about 90 percent of cd-r floorcore dronemusic to shame, this drone approached like songs instead of sounds, this is the sort of record that blossoms with more listens, headphones are mandatory, dig deeper, get lost, let the sounds swallow you whole, carry you off. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.
Packaged in a beautiful handscreened sleeve, and includes a cd as well (not a cd-r) for your iTunes or Discman.
MPEG Stream: "For Francis Bacon (Part 1)"
MPEG Stream: "For Francis Bacon (Part 2) ((Xela Mix))"

ANDUIN / JASPER TX The Bending Of Light (SMTG Limited) lp + cd 15.98
What a perfect record, two of our favorite crafters of elegant ambience together for the first time, weaving an entrancing sonic spell, a lush, slow burning, sprawling expanse of burnished soft focus dronemusic. Anduin, for those who don't already know, is the experimental ambient side project of Jonathan Lee who fronts aQ metallic post rock faves Souvenir's Young America, and of course Jasper TX, is the work of Dag Rosenqvist, whose sound is a gloriously murky drift, and whose debut I'll Be Long Gone Before My Light Reaches You we made a Record Of The Week way back in 2006, and we've loved everything we've heard from him since.
The two mesh perfectly together, impossible to tell where one ends and another begins, and the resulting sound manages to not tip too far in either direction, instead, the duo have crafted a sublime collection of dark mystery, from thick, humid rumbles, to swirling layered bliss, to sun dappled dreamlike drift, to hushed minimal shimmer, to sizzling raga like buzz, to washed out woozy Pop Ambience, every track on The Bending Of Light is ripe for immersion, thick slow shifting fields of sound that just beg to envelop, perfect for listeners to get lost in, to let go, and to drift off on soft sonic clouds, sinking deeper and deeper into these sprawling soundscapes of warm deeeeep melodic warmth and woozy, bleary ambient blur. So so so nice. Fans of all things drifty and droney will be enthralled and entranced.
Pressed on extra thick vinyl, housed in thick silkscreened cardstock jackets, also includes a cd (not a cd-r) with the same music, only digital.
MPEG Stream: "A Beam Of Light Bends Back Upon Itself..."
MPEG Stream: "Everything Disappears In A Tunnel Of Light..."

ANDY'S CAR CRASH Formes (Pandemonium) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pandemonium, home of AQ faves Hint, Double Nelson, and Guapo come through again with the curiously named Andy's Car Crash. Seriously fucked mix of musique concrete, jazz, noise and post rock. Lots of hypnotic rocking, lots of click and pop and buzz, lots of super intense weirdness. Recommended.

ANDY, HORACE Dance Hall Style (Wackies) cd 17.98
Six extended dancehall mixes of Horace Andy from 1982. This is an excellent collection of recordings and is highly recommendable to those who picked up -- and enjoyed -- the "Nice Up The Dance" comp we listed a little while back. Though the cuts aren't quite as lengthy as those on "Nice Up The Dance", most clocking in around 7 minutes, each has a good long dub bridge in the middle with lots of spring reverb drenched snare hits and delay drenched guitar & vocal bursts.
RealAudio clip: "Money Money"

ANDY, HORACE Dance Hall Style (Wackies) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Six extended dancehall mixes of Horace Andy from 1982. This is an excellent collection of recordings and is highly recommendable to those who picked up -- and enjoyed -- the "Nice Up The Dance" comp we listed a little while back. Though the cuts aren't quite as lengthy as those on "Nice Up The Dance", most clocking in around 7 minutes, each has a good long dub bridge in the middle with lots of spring reverb drenched snare hits and delay drenched guitar & vocal bursts.

ANDY, HORACE Dub Box: Rare Dubs 1973 - 1976 (Jamaican Recordings) cd 14.98
BACK IN PRINT! Not only is this collection of golden voice reggae icon Horace Andy one of our favorite dub records of all time, it just might be one of our favorite records PERIOD, dub or otherwise... We know that's one seriously bold statement but just listen to the sound clips and read these words and you might just be convinced.
For decades now Horace Andy has been making some of the most crucial, sizzling and seductive music we've ever heard. In more recent years he's been exposed to a whole new generation thanks to his work with folks like Massive Attack, who he totally stole the show from on their kick ass collaboration. So rare and rad for someone who continually makes quality and moving music for as many years as Horace Andy has to keep getting better, and pushing boundaries. This record finds Andy at his dubbiest and best. Recorded at all the great Jamaican studios like Channel 1 and King Tubby's with production by Bunny Lee and a band of bad ass and out of control heavyweights: Sly & Robby the rhythm section, Augustus Pablo on keyboards, Tommy McCook on Sax, Earl 'Chinna' Smith on guitar, that's so far beyond simply an all star ensemble. Together they help make a dubby, dreamy and tripped out backdrop of lush sound for Andy's gorgeous voice, and it all melts together so perfectly. This is one of those records we turn to on so many occasions. When we need to relax, calm down, get perspective, bliss out, recharge, check in with ourselves... a go to records that will always be there for you. Totally essential!
(And here's what we wrote about this when we first listed it back in 2002: Another excellent, albeit quite possibly not entirely authentic, collection of dubs from Jamaican Recordings (please see description of King Tubby's "Lost Treasures" also reviewed on this list for more on this.) Featuring Bunny Lee's house band the Aggrovators (in this case Sly & Robbie on drums and bass, Earl Smith on guitar, Winston Wright on organ, Augustus Pablo on keyboards, Tommy McCook on saxophone and Bobby Ellis on trumpet) the backing tracks on this album were recorded at Randy's, Channel 1, King Tubby's, and Harry J's between 197 and 1976. There are some excellent dubs of some great Horace Andy tracks including Skylarking, My Guiding Star (a Heptones original), Just Say Who, Love of A Woman, Money Money and more. Like all Jamaican Recordings releases the CD version includes bonus tracks not available on the vinyl.)
MPEG Stream: "Zion Dub"
MPEG Stream: "Dub Say How"
MPEG Stream: "Dub Angel"

ANDY, HORACE Dub Box: Rare Dubs 1973 - 1976 (Jamaican Recordings) lp 14.98
Another excellent, albeit quite possibly not entirely authentic, collection of dubs from Jamaican Recordings (please see description of King Tubby's "Lost Treasures" also reviewed on this list for more on this.) Featuring Bunny Lee's house band the Aggrovators (in this case Sly & Robbie on drums and bass, Earl Smith on guitar, Winston Wright on organ, Augustus Pablo on keyboards, Tommy McCook on saxophone and Bobby Ellis on trumpet) the backing tracks on this album were recorded at Randy's, Channel 1, King Tubby's, and Harry J's between 197 and 1976. There are some excellent dubs of some great Horace Andy tracks including Skylarking, My Guiding Star (a Heptones original), Just Say Who, Love of A Woman, Money Money and more. Like all Jamaican Recordings releases the CD version includes bonus tracks not available on the vinyl.

ANDY, HORACE Dub Larking / Dub Ah Fulfil (Jamaican) 10" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Plain white sleeve 10" from Jamaican Recordings' forthcoming full length collection of Horace Andy dubs. Dub Larking obviously is a dub of Skylarking, Dub Ah Fulfil is a rare dub of "Serious Thing" (and will only be available on the CD version of the full length when it's released in the near future.)

ANDY, HORACE In the Light + In the Light Dub (Blood & Fire) cd 16.98

ANDY, HORACE Living In The Flood (Melankolic) cd 15.98
After Massive Attack revived Horace Andy's career with his beautiful cameos on "Mezzanine," Horace Andy presents his first solo recordings in quite a long time (a decade or two?). Recorded with Clive Hunt at Tuff Gong in Kingston, Jamaica, "Living In The Flood" has a rather dry modern reggae sound, probably to emphasize Horace Andy's warbly, delicate voice which is a beautiful thing, but the music (often with sappy 80s anglo-jazz overtones) tends to detract from his overall ability.

ANDY, HORACE Natty Dread A Weh She Want (Trojan) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "If I Wasn't A Man"
MPEG Stream: "Freedom"

ANDY, HORACE Roots and Classics (Recall) 2cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Low priced double disc anthology of vocalist Horace Andy, apparently a part of a series of anthologies of Jamaican artists being released by Recall. Each collection comes with a fair amount of biographical notes on the artist and generally make good starting points if you don't have anything already. The one problem with the collection here of Horace Andy is that all the tracks, including his classics such as Skylarking, See A Man's Face and Love Is A Treasure are not the original versions. Instead they're really crappy late eighties or early nineties productions with shitty drum machines and MIDI instrumentation. I would advise against purchasing this collection and instead just pick up Andy's Skylarking or Dance Hall Style.
RealAudio clip: "Love Is A Treasure"

ANDY, HORACE Skylarking (Studio One) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not to be confused with the 1997 release of the same name on Massive Attack's Melankolic label (basically a best of that included some Massive Attack tracks.) Skylarking was Andy's first album, produced by Coxsone Dodd and released in 1972. Along with the popular title track "Skylarking", Andy sings numerous covers including Ken Boothe's very R&B-esque "Don't Cry Little Girl" (titled "Don't Go" on the disc here), Cat Stevens' "Where Do The Children Play?" and the Roger Whittaker favorite "Mammy Blue". Each song gets Horace Andy's beautiful tremolo-laden tenor croon and, backed by the Sound Dimension, there's really not a dud on the album. Though they kind of butchered the original artwork of this cd reissue by cropping the hell out of the original photo that graced the lp and making it so the album's title takes up 25% of the cover art, they make up for it I suppose by adding a couple bonus tracks not originally available on the lp: "Oh Youth Man" and "Night Owl". Another thing worth mentioning in case you pick this up, you'll notice that the bio of Horace Andy in the liner notes state him as being born in 1971. Though he was pretty young when he recorded these tracks, that would be an amazing feat at one year old. No, he was actually born in 1951 and recorded these cuts at 21.
RealAudio clip: "Where Do The Children Play?"
RealAudio clip: "Skylarking"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Cry Little Girl"

ANDY, HORACE / SOLID C., BOBBY D. & KOOL DROP Musical Episode / Wack Rap (Wackies / Dis-Joint) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A couple of excellent, albeit *completely* different, tracks extracted from the archives of Bronx's now legendary Wackies label & recording studio. The A-Side is a super sweet discomix of Horace Andy's "Musical Episode" from 1982. Clocking in at 6 minutes it's one of the nicest cuts I've heard come out of Wackies, replete with pounding kumina drumming even; so it's all the nicer that it's extra long. The B-Side is equally great, but such a polar opposite that it's amazing they grace the same slab. Legend has it, that this 1979 track was Lloyd Barnes' (a.k.a. Bullwackie) only attempt at breaking into hip hop. On it three kids, apparently young Jamaican emigrees to the U.S., give their all in true Sugarhill Gang form, doing their best to imitate the New York patois with their stream of consciousness lyrics which go on endlessly. What's better is that the version offered here was the B-Side to the original single, so about half way through it gets totally fucking dubbed out, with drums and bass dropping in and out, echo bounced off the vocals -- which sounds totally strange on frenetic hip hop delivery, as opposed to a slow reggae track -- and kooky electronic sounds. The total length of the track is almost 11 minutes, putting it up there as one of the longest hip hop tracks ever. For those without access to a turntable, fear not, these two tracks are a preview to a full length compilation being released by Dis-Joint.
RealAudio clip: HORACE ANDY "Musical Episode"
RealAudio clip: SOLID C. ET AL "Wack Rap"

ANENZEPHALIA Ephemeral Dawn (Tesco) cd 17.98
It's pretty difficult to avoid being forever obsessed with a band whose debut record we described as "quite possibly one of the scariest records we have ever heard." And we weren't kidding. We were barely even engaging in hyperbole. Noehaem by Anenzephalia is literally a collection of sounds as terrifying as is physically possible. The sonic representation of utter horror and hopelessness. But beautiful and entrancing in its absolute musical negativity. And thus we haven't avoided it, not in the least. We have remained obsessed. Waiting patiently for some new transmission from whatever hellish pit this band or person called Anenzephalia calls home. And finally our patience has been rewarded.
Not a new record, but archival recordings from 1992-1995, but just as gorgeously malevolent and hatefully dark as the records proper. For those of you who have yet to bear witness to the bleak abject sonic doom of Anenzephalia's Noehaem record, or either of the other two full lengths we've reviewed here in the past, the liner notes to Ephemeral Dawn should definitely set the tone:
Here the Dream Dies!
Dominated by obsession of power and lust, led by unwritten rules from clinical birth to clinical death.
Ask the epithet of God! It still is deception.
No ideology, no progress;
NO THING.
The world smothered in absurdity.
Then how about the booklet of photos, a crucifix, Sadam Hussein, a decomposed skull, a man being set on fire, the same crucifix invertedÉ as visually dark and creepy as the music inside.
And the music inside is indeed gloriously insidious. A world of crawling pitch black drones, of smeared slabs of grinding industrial whir, of disembodied voices, clouds of hiss, bits of warble and muted chimes, weird grit and abstract distortion, dense fields of clanging clattery machinery, machinelike rhythms, thick swarms of insect like static, robotic vocals, crumbling distorted melodies, murky black pools of delay drenched sound fragments, collaged voices and melodies, all churned into an unrecognizable black mass (pun intended), viscous and caustic, slow moving and glacialÉ
Black ambience is probably the neatest descriptor for the world Anenzephalia has conjured up from the dark, but in the act of conjuring these sonic spirits it becomes so much more than ambient music. There is some internal propulsion, sometimes rendered in actual beats, other times, in a subtle yet impossible to resist forward momentum, as if some dark force was dragging you to your doom.
A gorgeously dreary, and epically miserablist world of blackened industrial drones, muted martial beats, abstract shimmer and drift, corrosive grind and soft focus low end flutter, all woven into a divine end of the world threnody for the black hearted and soulless.
MPEG Stream: "Beneath The Shroud"
MPEG Stream: "Regime"
MPEG Stream: "Kachexie"

ANENZEPHALIA Live At Karlsruhe (Tesco) cd-r 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We described Anenzephalia's 2004 release Noehaem, as "quite possibly one of the scariest records we have ever heard", and it really was. Some sort of a imaginary soundtrack to a movie so scary no one could see it without dying of fright. Drones, and strings, and creaking ambience, some impossible mix of Ligeti and Lustmord. We'd been anxiously awaiting a new full length when we discovered this live cd-r. We ordered as many as we could, but only managed to get 10 copies. Which of course means these will be gone in a flash, but at least ten of you will get to partake in this dark and dangerous live action.
Live Anenzephalia is a much different beast. A much noisier beast. A glowing red eyed, hunchbacked black shape, hunkered down beneath a pile of electronics, unfurling coruscating clouds of noxious black fog and processed megaphone vocals. Streaks of white hot feedback, snippets of old speeches, grinding rhythmic distortion, disembodied voices, old folk songs, white noise, shortwave interference, buzzing glitched out electronics and super distorted buzz, all ground into one huge lumbering abstract blacknoisebeast.
Still pretty damn scary, but now extra noisy to boot!
Packaged in a weird shaped booklet, containing all kinds of creepy images, drawings and diagrams. Each disc is hand numbered on the cd.
SUPER LIMITED. ALREADY OUT OF PRINT. WE HAVE THE LAST 10 COPIES, SO ACT FAST...
MPEG Stream: "Life Penalty"
MPEG Stream: "Savak Chair"

ANENZEPHALIA Noehaem (Tesco) cd 17.98
This is quite possibly one of the scariest records we have ever heard. It's occasionally pretty, occasionally noisy, but always haunting and pregnant with the possibility of tragedy. Not sure how or why this particular record evokes such a strong reaction, but this most recent record by German ambient noise terrorists Anenzephalia pushes all of those buttons. Feeling like you're being followed, sensing you're about to die, knowing that there is nothing you can do about anything...powerful stuff.
First there are rumbling strings, reverberating in vast expanses of near silence. Like a twentieth century classical score to a horror movie, Lustmord plays Ligeti, with a dark sweeping romanticism tempered by slight unease. Soon, we're subsumed by a dense field of distorted crackle, over a simple militaristic clunk, like a mysterious stranger trudging up a flight of rickety stairs, while a super distorted voice buried in the shortwave struggles desperately to reach across from the other side. The record continues on in a similar fashion, a hair raising, lugubrious crawl through massive washes of low end throb, surrounded by a cracking field of interference, wth random distant clanks and clatter, all coalescing into a barely discernable rhythmic pulse, that mesmerises and leads you deeper. This sounds like the soundtrack to the scariest haunted house ever, but unlike normal 'haunted house records', Noehaem would have the neighborhood children having coronaries, soiling themselves, and sent soon afterwards to asylums to live out the rest of their catatonic days. This is some dark and doomy, creepy and dreary, and gorgeously frightening stuff.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

ANENZEPHALIA s/t (Death Factory) cd 17.98

ANEURYSM Quim (Slowleak) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Four song debut 12" from Oakland's DJ Aneurysm. Side one features dark, aggressive digital destruction that would be right at home beside your DHR and Ambush records. Side two is more dance-y and melodic, with distorto beats and (unfortunately outdated and cheesy) spoken voice samples.

ANGANTYR Kampen Fortsatter (Eisenwald Tonschmiede) cd 14.98
Finally back in stock! Originally released on the same label that has brought us some of the most crucial underground black metal of the last few years (Xasthur, Nortt, The One, Blodulv, etc.), now reissued as a super swank, letter-pressed digipak, the debut release from this amazing Danish outfit, who specialize in that sound we love so much: ultra grim, ultra frigid, buzzing mostly midtempo black metal, a la Graveland, Nargaroth, Woodtemple, with high end fuzz-drone distortion, mosquito-like minor key melodies, simple galloping drum beats and that from-hell, paint peeling death rasp, all smeared into a buzzing mesmerizing blackened blur. Makes Sense when you realize this is the same guy who is also in Make A Change... Kill Yourself and Holmgang. Totally hypnotic and drone-y. Halfway through there's a gorgeous ten minutes of muted, melodic ambience, as dreamy and subtly beautiful as any of our favorite drone records. Followed by a truly bizarre melodramatic piano driven ballad, that's interrupted sporadically by ultraviolent squalls of sandblasting black metal buzz. Weird. And quite cool!
MPEG Stream: "Portene Abnes"
MPEG Stream: "Intethedens Larm"
MPEG Stream: "I Der Knaeler I Ynk"

ANGANTYR Sejr (Det Germanske Folket) cd 14.98
Record number two from this amazing Danish black metal one man band, the one man being the same fellow responsible for Make A Change... Kill Yourself and Holmgang. Ultra grim, ultra frigid, buzzing mostly midtempo black metal, with high end fuzz-drone distortion, mosquito-like minor key melodies, simple galloping drum beats and that from-hell, paint peeling death rasp, all smeared into a buzzing mesmerizing blackened blur.
Fucking awesome! Comes in a swank full color digipak.
MPEG Stream: "Portene Abnes"
MPEG Stream: "Intethedens Larm"
MPEG Stream: "I Der Knaeler I Ynk"

ANGANTYR / NASHEIM split (Northern Silence) cd 14.98
Those unfamiliar with the Danish black metal band Angantyr, might be surprised to find out that the man responsible for Angantyr, is the very same man who sonically slit his wrists and bled out the brilliantly depressive Make A ChangeÉ Kill Yourself discs, as well as being the dark soul who conjures up the grim old school buzz of Holmgang.
And while our black and broken hearts may belong to Make A ChangeÉ Kill Yourself, out head banging, spike encrusted, grim kvlt souls bow before the buzzing black Lord Angantyr. Here, Angantyr forms a sinister sonic alliance with mysterious Swedish duo Nasheim, and the two offer up some seriously awesome blasting and frosty grimnessÉ
Angantyr offer up three tracks, nearly a half hour of classic Scandinavian style old school black metal, furious bursts of scalding blackness, as well as loping midtempo Burzumic dirges, massive swaths of washed out buzz, harsh howled vocals, mournful minor key melodies draped over spikey blackened crags, plenty of MACKY's miserablism finds its way into Angantyr's mysterious black world which is a very good thing. The final track is live, and super lo-fi, but ultra intense, thrashing and brutal, you can almost hear the sweat and blood, and fire and brimstone. So great.
Nasheim counter with a single 25 minute track, an epic journey through a buzzing black soundworld, beginning with simple swooning folky strum, the tranquility shattered by a black wall of sound, a thrashing buzzing burst of gnarled guitars, hyperspeed drumming, and strange strangled howls, before retreating once again to a gentle little sonic glade, which is immediately laid flat by a colossal riff and an avalanche of pounding drum crunch, which gives way to a killer extended blackpsych jam, sounding almost like Opeth, with arpeggiated acoustic guitar under a relentless buzz, a killer melodic lead, and a loping waltz-like tempo. The rest of the record veers back and forth between variations of both, lurching at one point into a strange, almost Amrep sounding part, before resuming its epic journey, all soaring majestic guitar harmonies and chaotic drumming, finishing off with a stretch of almost Viking sounding blackness. It's sort of hard to describe such a massive and sprawling slab of sound in such a small space, needless to say, the black and buzz obsessed will not be disappointed. So many parts, so many styles and various shades of black, all deftly arranged into a single symphony of depressive buzz.
MPEG Stream: ANGANTYR "Arngrims Haevn"
MPEG Stream: NASHEIM "Sovande Mjod Vill Jag Tomma"

ANGANTYR / NASHEIM split (Northern Silence) lp 25.00
We listed the cd version of this amazing black metal match up a while back, and now we have the super limited vinyl version. Ultra deluxe like most Northern Silence releases, and limited enough that we probably won't be able to get more once these are gone...
Those unfamiliar with the Danish black metal band Angantyr, might be surprised to find out that the man responsible for Angantyr, is the very same man who sonically slit his wrists and bled out the brilliantly depressive Make A ChangeÉ Kill Yourself discs, as well as being the dark soul who conjures up the grim old school buzz of Holmgang.
And while our black and broken hearts may belong to Make A ChangeÉ Kill Yourself, out head banging, spike encrusted, grim kvlt souls bow before the buzzing black Lord Angantyr. Here, Angantyr forms a sinister sonic alliance with mysterious Swedish duo Nasheim, and the two offer up some seriously awesome blasting and frosty grimnessÉ
Angantyr offer up three tracks, nearly a half hour of classic Scandinavian style old school black metal, furious bursts of scalding blackness, as well as loping midtempo Burzumic dirges, massive swaths of washed out buzz, harsh howled vocals, mournful minor key melodies draped over spikey blackened crags, plenty of MACKY's miserablism finds its way into Angantyr's mysterious black world which is a very good thing. The final track is live, and super lo-fi, but ultra intense, thrashing and brutal, you can almost hear the sweat and blood, and fire and brimstone. So great.
Nasheim counter with a single 25 minute track, an epic journey through a buzzing black soundworld, beginning with simple swooning folky strum, the tranquility shattered by a black wall of sound, a thrashing buzzing burst of gnarled guitars, hyperspeed drumming, and strange strangled howls, before retreating once again to a gentle little sonic glade, which is immediately laid flat by a colossal riff and an avalanche of pounding drum crunch, which gives way to a killer extended blackpsych jam, sounding almost like Opeth, with arpeggiated acoustic guitar under a relentless buzz, a killer melodic lead, and a loping waltz-like tempo. The rest of the record veers back and forth between variations of both, lurching at one point into a strange, almost Amrep sounding part, before resuming its epic journey, all soaring majestic guitar harmonies and chaotic drumming, finishing off with a stretch of almost Viking sounding blackness. It's sort of hard to describe such a massive and sprawling slab of sound in such a small space, needless to say, the black and buzz obsessed will not be disappointed. So many parts, so many styles and various shades of black, all deftly arranged into a single symphony of depressive buzz.
MPEG Stream: ANGANTYR "Arngrims Haevn"
MPEG Stream: NASHEIM "Sovande Mjod Vill Jag Tomma"

ANGBASE #4 magazine 3.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New issue of this wonderful little experimental/electronica 'zine out of Texas. Interviews and features this time include: Matmos (yay!), Carl Stone, Plastikman, Matthew Thomas, Thomas Brinkmann, Japan's Zero Gravity label, Germany's Kreisel label, heroin house, and lots more! There's even an essay by Terre Thaemlitz about his new Gary Numan piano interpretation project. A great issue, except maybe for the part where the editor calls AQ-faves The Champs awful crap. Except for that minor lapse in judgement, tho, this rules...

ANGEL 26000 (Editions Mego) cd 16.98
The intermittent project Angel might become something more prolific, now that Pan Sonic has decided to terminate its mission leaving Ilpo Vaisanen to pursue other matters. Since 2000, Vaisanen has collaborated with Dirk Dresselhaus of Schneider TM under the guise of Angel to produce a peculiar set of electro-acoustic abstractions, often finding them working with the avant-cellist Hildur Gudnadottir. On thie new album for Editions Mego, 26000, Angel can come across like an even more plodding and menacing Supersilent attempting to remove all of its jazz references, leaving weird squiggles and gestures within a cavernous dank reverberation offset by crystalline electronics and found object manipulation. Such events were not uncommon in the narcoleptic sound collages that Pan Sonic would wander into at the end of some of their records. Gudnadottir's cello (and something called a "halldorophone" that sends a controlled feedback loop into the strings of a modified cello) appears on the glacial finale of the album "Paradigm Shift" with isolationist passages and radiotone flicker. All of this is set in contrast with the monstrous form destruction of "Before The Rush" composed with the help of BJ Nilsen. Here, Angel takes up the sheer hellish miasma torch with an explosion of digital abuse bracketed by leaden seas of grey drones and all sorts of post-Tudor scabrous noises and nervous scratches.
MPEG Stream: "Before The Rush"
MPEG Stream: "In"
MPEG Stream: "Paradigm Shift"

ANGEL 26000 (Editions Mego) lp 21.00
The intermittent project Angel might become something more prolific, now that Pan Sonic has decided to terminate its mission leaving Ilpo Vaisanen to pursue other matters. Since 2000, Vaisanen has collaborated with Dirk Dresselhaus of Schneider TM under the guise of Angel to produce a peculiar set of electro-acoustic abstractions, often finding them working with the avant-cellist Hildur Gudnadottir. On thie new album for Editions Mego, 26000, Angel can come across like an even more plodding and menacing Supersilent attempting to remove all of its jazz references, leaving weird squiggles and gestures within a cavernous dank reverberation offset by crystalline electronics and found object manipulation. Such events were not uncommon in the narcoleptic sound collages that Pan Sonic would wander into at the end of some of their records. Gudnadottir's cello (and something called a "halldorophone" that sends a controlled feedback loop into the strings of a modified cello) appears on the glacial finale of the album "Paradigm Shift" with isolationist passages and radiotone flicker. All of this is set in contrast with the monstrous form destruction of "Before The Rush" composed with the help of BJ Nilsen. Here, Angel takes up the sheer hellish miasma torch with an explosion of digital abuse bracketed by leaden seas of grey drones and all sorts of post-Tudor scabrous noises and nervous scratches.
MPEG Stream: "Before The Rush"
MPEG Stream: "In"
MPEG Stream: "Paradigm Shift"

ANGEL Hedonism (Editions Mego) cd 17.98
Pan Sonic's Ilpo V. and partner in crime Dirk from Schneider TM return with another Angel-ic recording, their follow up to last year's excellent and epic Kalmukia, which we likened to both KTL and Earth circa Hex. This time around they're not quite so much in that digitaldoomdrone mood... There's still plenty of digital glitch and distortion, and the 20-minute "Mirrorworld" is a loud n' lovely, humming white noise dronewerk, as is the shorter and sparser "Unsymmetric Distance", for instance, but many of the 10 tracks on Hedonism indulge in electronic noise and clatter that's a lot more active and buzzing.
The broken rhythms, grinding textures, and piercing pulses of tracks like "Holding Loose" and "Dropping The Ego" contrast with the more contemplative nature-sounds field recordings heard in the mix towards the end of the album, for a much more varied listen than Kalmukia.
MPEG Stream: "Adrenaline Strike"
MPEG Stream: "Mirrorworld"
MPEG Stream: "Dropping The Ego "

ANGEL Kalmukia (Editions Mego) cd 17.98
Oooh, moody. Ilpo Vaisanen of Pan Sonic and Dirk Dresselhaus (aka Schneider TM) have recorded as Angel before, exploring the realms of noise and drone with discs on the Bip-Hop and Oral labels, bringing in guest cellist Hildur Guonadottir for the latter. Now they're officially a trio, and offer up a fantastic third album, released on Editions Mego, where this four part, hour long, totally epic album fits in nicely alongside the digitaldoomdrone likes of O'Malley and Rehberg's KTL.
Kalmukia opens with the evocative "Bones In The Sand" which definitely has a desert-y feel, the wide open spaces, barren badlands. Desolation. Dunno about you, but it had us immediately thinking Earth (Hex-era and after Earth), with cavernous slide guitar riffs echoing forth across the wastes...
The tremulous electric humming of the title track is next, nearly 20 quietly mysterious minutes long, graced with droning cello on the edge of feedback. The creepy loveliness continues on through "Effect Of Discovery", which builds up into a shimmering drone laced with metallic electronic whip-cracks and waverings. Full on distorted rumble is kept in reserve, hinted at throughout the thick buzzing beauty of album-closer "Aftermath: The Mutation", which is also filled with delicate percussive chimings and some of this album's most melodic moments.
Packaged all fancy-like in an oversized rectangular sleeve, this is definitely one that fans of the most abstract/ambient side of Southern Lord's output (Oren Ambarchi for instance) should appreciate, along with those into Pan Sonic, KTL, etc.
Satan was an angel, once, too.
MPEG Stream: "Bones In The Sand"
MPEG Stream: "Aftermath: The Mutation"

ANGEL Singles Collection 1 (Lilith) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "On & On"
MPEG Stream: "Rock And Rollers"
MPEG Stream: "Mirrors"

ANGEL Singles Collection 2 (Lilith) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "On The Rocks"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Leave Me Lonely"
MPEG Stream: "Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore"

ANGEL & HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR In Transmediale (Oral) cd 16.98
Angel is the work of Pan Sonic's Ilpo Vaisanen and Dirk Dresselhaus (aka Schneider TM); and Hildur Gudnadottir is an Icelandic cellist whose resume is dotted with numerous collaborative projects through the Reykjavik based arts collective Kitchen Motors. Back in 2004, the three musicians collaborated at the Club Transmediale in Berlin, sparking not only this album but also an ongoing collaboration between Pan Sonic and Gudnadottir. It's Gudnadottir's cello that takes the center stage on this guttural drone album of languorous acoustic scrapings and sustained monotone, with the two other gentlemen augmenting the cello drones with Kosmische electronic sweeps, nervous sinewave aggregates, and bellowing gasps of noise.
MPEG Stream: "In Transmediale (excerpt 1) "
MPEG Stream: "In Transmediale (excerpt 2) "

ANGEL 'IN HEAVY SYRUP IV (Monotremata Records) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yay! The welcome return of this great all-girl Japanese psych band. Now a power trio, Angel 'In Heavy Syrup still produce the beautiful, trippy sounds that made their previous three discs AQ-faves. Guitar-heavy psych rock, often evoking triumphant, epic soundtrack themes to Western movies, but with delicate, lovely vocals drifting into the mix. Hopefully this release means that the band will be coming to the States to play some shows again, sometime soon. Recommended.

ANGEL EYES ...And For A Roof A Sky Full Of Stars (Underground Communique) cd ep 6.98
Another awesome sonic document from Angel Eyes, one of our favorite of the new breed of metallic post rock outfits, a la Pelican, Isis, Minsk, Conifer etc...
This latest two song ep, gives us more of what we loved about their debut Something To Do With Death, long (two tracks that sound like movements of a bigger whole, one 16+ minutes, the other 10 minutes) slow building epics, spacious and expansive, dark brooding drifts that grow into roiling crashing chaotic heaviness. Whereas a lot of these sorts of band seem to have begun drifting one way or the other, ditching much of the metal in favor of a more ambient dark post rock sound, or alternately ditching a lot of the atmospherics and getting more and more metal, these guys still manage to deftly combine the two. The slow builds are super intense, gorgeously shimmering, the guitars fuzzy blurs, the drums a distant shuffle, the heavy parts are HEAVY, the guitars churning and downtuned and distorted, the vocals an anguished metallic wail, but even when Angel Eyes are at their heaviest, their sound is still streaked with gorgeous melodies, and sweeping cinematic heft, like Neurosis scoring the denouement of some amazing epic adventure film, it's almost impossible to not envision huge walls of flame engulfing whole cities, or a skyline gradually collapsing, or a planet crumbling and drifting apart, so totally evocative and intense and moody and emotional, just the way it should be. And the slow parts are gorgeous, brooding and darkly dreamy, a bit of Morricone twang, a bit of Calexico, a bit of Scenic, Godspeed of course, the various spidery melodies seeming to transform and become entangled before our very eyes, like the soundtrack to a time lapse film of the end of the world.
The second 'movement' is the more intense, like a more metal Explosions In The Sky, only allowing the listener a few brief respites between soaring sonic dramatics, the guitars keening and wailing over shimmering fields of sizzling cymbals and dense squalls of tribal pound, the melodies haunting and emotional, all woven into the roiling metallic swirl, eventually fading into a droning whirring fade out...
Packaged in a cool fold over ecopak, all hand silkscreened, the lyrics printed on the inside.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"

ANGEL EYES Something To Do With Death (Underground Communique) cd 9.98
Angel Eyes are another band ready to make their mark in the blossoming post rock / sludge metal scene, and manage to do just that with Something To Do With Death, making -that- sound completely their own. So much so that upon hearing this disc we freaked out and immediately got in touch with the label and got a bunch of copies for the store. The general vibe is one we've come to love, the slow building brooding moodiness, a creeping post rock slow burn, minor key guitar, distant droney shimmer, simple martial percussion, building in intensity, the opening track could be Mogwai or Godspeed, with its understated majesty and about-to-explode urgency. Track two, the awesomely titled "By The Time He Was My Age, Orson Welles Had Made Citizen Kane", starts off with more loping post rockiness, but quickly lurches into some seriously fierce Neurosisy sludge, but within the roiling churning downtuned brutality, lurks plenty of mournful melody and subtle sonic shadings. Making this more than just heavy, more a an emotionally loaded ferocity. In fact each song is a expansive and beautifully convoluted journey, from massive pummel, to dreamy shuffle, to tribal ambience, to blown out guitarnoise and back again. So fucking good. Obviously, anyone who digs Isis, Pelican, Godspeed, Tides, Conifer, Minsk, Mouth Of The Architect, Rosetta, Minsk or any of the current crop of postrockmetal outfits NEEDS THIS NOW!
MPEG Stream: "Two Too Many"
MPEG Stream: "By The Time He Was My Age, Orson Welles Had Made Citizen Kane"

ANGEL EYES / A FINE BOAT, THAT COFFIN! split (Concubine) lp 14.98
Bands should really label the side of their records. Especially if it's a split and the band they're sharing the split with has a somewhat similar sound. Similar to how bands that sound like SUNNO))) or Nadja should definitely label the speed a record is meant to be played at, since it often sounds equally good at both (or all three!) speeds.
So we were super psyched to finally get a new record from one of our favorite post rock metal combos, Angel Eyes, and we threw it on, and while it definitely sounded similar, it seemed like a lot had changed. The sound was a strange constantly shifting melange of loping metallic post rock, lurching caustic grind and skittery jazziness. We were pretty sure we had mistakenly put the other band's side on, when they shifted gears and kicked out some seriously epic blackened screamo-y Neur-Isis style jams, and then we weren't so sure. Eventually we did figure it out, especially once we laid our ears on the side long single track epic on the flipside, but we did decide that we did indeed dig this crazy band with the crazy name A Fine Boat, That Coffin!, who definitely take the post rock metal thing and tangle it all up with screamo and grind, although we could do without the bits of jazziness, thankfully those are brief. But for sure, heavy and chaotic and epic good stuff.
But flipping the record over, we suddenly felt right at home again (boy are we gonna feel dumb after all this if that side WAS in fact Angel Eyes), with a sound both warm and lush, heavy and crushing, brooding, pounding minor key melancholic slow building heaviness, epic and majestic, anguished howled vocals over super melodic metallic crush, monstrous and pummeling and almost orchestral at times, laced with cool expanses of shimmery, dreamlike low end guitar, streaks of glistening feedback, chiming bell like melodies, eventually slipping into a super minimal drift, all reverby and echoey, a woozy soft focus slowcore sprawl, that eventually builds and builds and explodes into a super epic emo metalpsych blow out finale. These guys are so good. One of the few bands, amidst the many who now practice this sort of thing, that should have the big boys shaking in their boots.
Cool gatefold sleeves, a bit confusing which band is on which side, but you'll figure it out, and both bands kick ass, but Angel Eyes' sidelong track is worth the price of admission. LIMITED of course, we got our copies direct from the band, their LAST copies, which means when we run out we'll have to get more from the label in Europe, so if that happens, please be patient while we wait for more to arrive from overseas, and needless to say (but since that's the way we roll we'll say it anyway) ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY RECOMMENDED!

ANGEL FACE Wolf City Blues (ApacheFilm / TransLoveEnergy) 3cd 49.00
Woah. Just when you thought all the "long lost" bands have already been unearthed, something like this comes along and knocks you flat on your ass. Most of us first read about Angel Face in a great article in Ugly Things a few issues back. Other than that and a piece on the band on Julian Cope's Head Heritage site, the only other meager info that we could find about these guys was in French. Which makes sense, as Angel Face were indeed French. The band's confusing history began in 1974 with the core lineup of the Regoli brothers, Pascal (bass) and Julian (guitar), as well as one Riton Angel Face on guitar. Their biggest inspiration is undoubtedly the Stooges, but unlike every other band to rip off Ann Arbor's finest, Angel Face were in fact swimming in the same primordial waters as their heroes. It makes sense to assume that these guys probably dug "L.A. Blues" and "We Will Fall" as much as any of the Stooges' tunes, because Angel Face clearly understood that "heavy" isn't just about volume and power chords (not that those aren't here in spades), but also about pure noise and total chaos. In addition to this, one can detect a considerable Hawkwind influence, as well as heavy doses of krautrock. While other bands at this time were more likely to incorporate the latest sounds of punk's first wave, Angel Face kept things sounding firmly pre-1977. The end results are pretty mindblowing, tense and aggressive pieces that lock into a groove and pound the hell out of it for the entirety of the song with guitars that sound like sonic flamethrowers. Trying to piece together a timeline here is quite difficult (the liner notes are in French), and the band never even released anything in their lifetime, so what you have here on the first disc are demos and live tracks from sometime between 1975 and 1978 (originally released in 1984 on lp as A Wild Odyssey), strung together to form one surprisingly cohesive whole. We're pretty sure the first tracks feature the singer named Eric Tendz, who was described by the other band members as nothing more than a disreputable Iggy clone. And yes, there will be no mistaking Iggy's influence, but Tendz delivers things so perfectly and frantically that we can't complain one bit. His vocals are often punctuated by shrill little shrieks which seem humanly impossible, and his drunk sounding delivery makes it impossible to tell what language he's singing in (though we think it's English). Other tracks on the first disc are comprised of live recordings which predate the Tendz songs, pieced together in a very Faust-ian way with the band's preferred vocalist Henri Flesh (again, we think). These songs are more loose and unhinged, no doubt due to the guitar prowess of Julian Regoli, whose early presence in the band kept things psychedelic to the highest order. There are also a few tracks that feature just Riton Angel Face and Pascal, on guitar/vocals and synth, respectively. While stripped to their bare essence, these songs come off as strangely powerful and complete sounding. One can only wonder what possibilities might have existed for this amazing band. Unfortunately, there was little working in their favor, and it is easy to imagine scores of idiot punk rockers not knowing what to make of a band of long haired guys with aviator sunglasses.
The story didn't end there, however, and in the '80s Angel Face reformed under the leadership of Riton and Pascal. The biggest change was the decision to add a female vocalist, Kim Nguyen. Truthfully, these songs are a bit of a letdown after the pure rock n' roll fury of the first disc, but mainly in comparison. The songs are pretty good, but just a little more straightforward, and the '80s production certainly doesn't help anything. Likewise, disc 3 is made up of some shoddily recorded live tracks and radio stuff from different eras. Some of this stuff appears to be from the first era and is quite good, but the songs don't benefit from the unfortunate sound quality.
So, you have no doubt noticed the hefty price tag on this beast, and we realize the above paragraph may hold some people back.... BUT we seriously can't recommend the stuff on disc 1 enough, for folks into the likes of Soggy (anther long lost French band of Stooges worshippers) and of course The Stooges themselves. Check out the first four sound clips to see what we mean, and just keep in mind only 1,000 of these were pressed up - and of the dozen we ordered, we've already sold 10 on account of "tweeting" about it, so right now we've got 2, yes TWO - and we may not be seeing them again any time soon...
MPEG Stream: "Wolf City Blues"
MPEG Stream: "12 1/2"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Road (Cut Up Songs)"
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Care"
MPEG Stream: "Secret Town"
MPEG Stream: "Precious Urban Nasty Kid"

ANGEL HAIR Pregnant With The Senior Class (Gravity) cd 9.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everything this band ever recorded, before they became the celebrated VSS.

ANGEL IN HEAVY SYRUP The Very Best Of... (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

ANGEL WITCH s/t - 25th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Castle) cd 10.98
I (Allan) have been trying to regularly review some classic old hard rock and metal albums, reissues of stuff that we as a responsible record store -should- have on our website. Some have gotten better customer responses than others. I did a whole bunch of KISS reviews and those were sorta hit or miss. And then a few lists ago I reviewed Def Leppard's debut, On Through The Night, to small avail. New Wave Of British Heavy Metal gem Loose N' Lethal by Savage did far better, perhaps 'cause its more obscure. But here's something, well let's put it this way: I know for sure that not everybody out there already has this album. So we should expect to sell quite a few of these, ok?
Like the two albums named above, this is a bona fide NWOBHM classic. And one perhaps more aligned with the Sabbathy doom/occult vibe that we so adore here at AQ, from bands both old and new. And this, their 1980 debut, is Angel Witch's finest platter. Believe me, we don't have room here to discuss the ups and (mostly) downs of Angel Witch's ill-fated on-and-off career after this album. Better to imagine that this disc (including all the bonus tracks of equal vintage) was all they ever did, and allow it to shine from its pedestal of NWOBHM perfection, just a brilliant concoction of heavy riffs, ripping solos, melodic vocals (with some badass shriekin' upon occasion), and dark, mystic atmospheres. It's catchy, too. They had a way with memorable, stick-in-your-head choruses - once you've heard the song "Angel Witch" itself, it's always gonna seem familiar, ferinstance.
Angel Witch, as an exemplar of the NWOBHM, are indeed very British, with quite the Hammer Horror vibe. We'd think so even if one of the bonus tracks wasn't an instrumental called "Dr. Phibes". Speaking of bonus tracks, this reissue, the "25th anniversary edition", not only sports a "nice price" but also features even more extras than earlier Castle pressings, bringing the total of tracks on the disc to 20. There's six tracks from 7" and 12" singles and the Metal For Muthas comp, several of which are gems equal to the best of those on the album proper, plus an additional four live BBC radio broadcast recordings!
Highly recommended to any headbanger worthy of the name, being a macabre NWOBHM essential in league with Diamond Head, early Iron Maiden, and Witchfinder General - indeed, we must say that any fan of WG should be aware of this 'witch as well!
MPEG Stream: "Angel Witch"
MPEG Stream: "Gorgon"
MPEG Stream: "Loser"