ATARI TEENAGE RIOT 60 Second Wipe Out (DHR/Elektra) 2lp 12.98
For an outfit with such a strong ethos for sticking it to the man, Atari Teenage Riot's deal with Elektra is quite shocking. Upon listening to the first fruits of the deal, I have to wonder if the knowledge of the deal has heightened my criticality of Alec Empire or if his electronic blast beats have gotten tame with age none of the post-Rotterdam 240 bpm insanity...things tend to stay at a reasonable 140 or so, of fractured Amen breaks and straight up 808 techno grooves. The fury of the midrange has certainly been exaggerated by Nic Endo's matriculation into ATR, as her full on noise assaults do stand out. Also of note is the collaboration that Atari Teenage Riot has done with Kathleen Hanna ranting alongside ATR's three-prong vocal attack of Alec, Hanin Elias, and Carl Crack.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Burn, Berlin, Burn! (Grand Royal) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Collects tracks from their import albums, and makes for a great introduction to the exciting, incendiary world of Digital Hardcore.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Burn, Berlin, Burn! (Grand Royal) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Collects tracks from their import albums, and makes for a great introduction to the exciting, incendiary world of Digital Hardcore.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Deutschland Has Gotta Die! (Digital Hardcore/Grand Royal) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of 4 singles from Digital Hardcore Recordings, Germany's nastiest, most extreme hardcore techno label, issued here in tasty uninitiated-friendly 7" format by the Beastie's Grand Royal label. A cheap way to learn all about what the hell is going on.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Is This Hyperreal? (Dim Mak) cd 15.98

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Live at Brixton Academy 1999 (Digital Hardcore Recordings) cd 16.98
DHR qualifies this set as the ultimate noise concert ever performed in the history of music. While I wonder what Merzbow, Incapacitants, Boyd Rice, and My Bloody Valentine (the most devastating live performance I ever heard) have to say about this hyperbole, Atari Teenage Riot did manifest an extreme noise assault against themselves and their audience at the Brixton Academy in 1999, when they opened for Nine Inch Nails. Alec Empire's liner notes are laughably megalomaniacal about Atari Teenage Riot, implying that their "political" stance in part incited the WTO riots in Seattle. Umm, yeah.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Revolution Action (Digital Hardcore) 12" 9.98
New 4-track ep from Alec Empire & co. Features Nic Endo's first recordings with the band, adding a brutalist barrage of white noise to the already pummelling assault of post-Rotterdam hardcore, hellish drum n' bass breaks, and the three-pronged political vocal rants of Empire, Hanin Elias and Carl Crack.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Revolution Action (Digital Hardcore) cdep 9.98
New 4-track ep from Alec Empire & co. Features Nic Endo's first recordings with the band, adding a brutalist barrage of white noise to the already pummelling assault of post-Rotterdam hardcore, hellish drum n' bass breaks, and the three-pronged political vocal rants of Empire, Hanin Elias and Carl Crack.

ATARI TEENAGE RIOT / ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION (Damaged Goods) split 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New songs from ATR and AQ-favorites the Asian Dub Foundation, the hip-hop outfit's first appearance since 1995's brilliant full-length album.

ATAVIST Alchemic Resurrection (Rise Above) 10" 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Doom devotees, could we have your attention? We've got a handful of these remaining in stock, a 2-song 10" ep from English sludgelords (and frequent Nadja collaborators) Atavist, released earlier this year on vinyl only, limited to 333 copies. Actually it's really only one song, the downtuned dirge "Alchemic Resurrection", parts a and b, spread over both sides of this 10", nearly 15 minutes of misery.
It's so punishingly slow and heavy that it's pretty hard to tell if it's supposed to play on 33 or 45... they both sound good, and even at the faster speed it's pure sludge.
This comes on black wax speckled with sparkly flecks, like a star field or goldschlager or metallic dandruff.

ATAVIST II: Ruined (Profound Lore) cd 14.98
Oh, the misery! Vying with the likes of Moss and Marzuraan for the title of Sludge Lords of England, Atavist offer up their second full-length (hence the title), following a split with Nadja not long ago. But Atavist are a complex beast with a tortured soul that in some ways is really less about sludge than it is about sheer sadness, opting for beauty over brutality much of the time.
Drums echo. Acoustic guitars weep. And then the walls of doom-drone (droom?) riffage come closing in, crashing down. But although there's heaviness galore, with gruff vokills raging, the gentle side to Atavist is nakedly displayed here too. Tranquil, haunting, Atavist possess almost a campfire drone post rockishness that curdles Khanate-like when the heaviness is let loose. All seven tracks, together something of a continuous emotional breakdown, demonstrate definite extreme mood swings, all of 'em melancholy and majestic, some of 'em massively metal. Actually it's a six-part dirge, plus a bonus track at the end, appropriately enough a cover of "I Hate The Human Race" originally by Boston sludge merchants Grief.
For fans of both Mogwai and Asunder for sure. So good.
MPEG Stream: "II"
MPEG Stream: "VI"

ATAVIST II: Ruined (Aurora Borealis) 2lp 22.00
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!
Oh, the misery! Vying with the likes of Moss and Marzuraan for the title of Sludge Lords of England, Atavist offer up their second full-length (hence the title), following a split with Nadja not long ago. But Atavist are a complex beast with a tortured soul that in some ways is really less about sludge than it is about sheer sadness, opting for beauty over brutality much of the time.
Drums echo. Acoustic guitars weep. And then the walls of doom-drone (droom?) riffage come closing in, crashing down. But although there's heaviness galore, with gruff vokills raging, the gentle side to Atavist is nakedly displayed here too. Tranquil, haunting, Atavist possess almost a campfire drone post rockishness that curdles Khanate-like when the heaviness is let loose. All seven tracks, together something of a continuous emotional breakdown, demonstrate definite extreme mood swings, all of 'em melancholy and majestic, some of 'em massively metal. Actually it's a six-part dirge, plus a bonus track at the end, appropriately enough a cover of "I Hate The Human Race" originally by Boston sludge merchants Grief.
For fans of both Mogwai and Asunder for sure. So good.
MPEG Stream: "II"
MPEG Stream: "VI"

ATAVIST s/t (Invada) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sludge is like a drug. Those of us who are hooked, can never get enough. And the heavier or weirder it gets, the more we need every fix to be just a little bit slower, a little bit heavier, a little bit more fucked up and freaked out. This stuff is already pushing the limits of how slow and heavy it can go, you can only get so slow and heavy before notes and melody and any sort of tonal color disappear completely resulting in what is essentially a super dense drone (and lord knows we love those too!!) so most of the bands that have been supplying us with our sludge fix of late have pushed the limits of slow and heavy obviously, but have mostly managed to twist their particular take on the sludge and the doom and the drone into seriously creepy and contorted shapes.
Thus we have Atavist. On first listen, they seem to be trudging down the same black and glacial path as Khanate, plodding Neanderthal drums, crumbling downtuned grit caked guitar rumble, and of course super processed demonically gurgled growls and shrieks. A horrifying and harrowing slow motion journey through the blackest pits of hell for sure. That along would be enough to have us jonesing. But then Atavist mix in some super unlikely elements. First, they actually rock. Not the whole time, but sometimes, they slip into an actual stonery doomic riff, and the tempo picks up, not too much, more like moving from steamroller tempo to runaway dumptruck tempo, but it definitely rocks, heavily and furiously, but never strays from the sludge too long, always slowing back down like said dumptruck plunging into a stretch of road where the tar has melted into black quicksand. The other unlikely element is a certain strange melodic flair, which seems unlikely, but somehow fits perfectly nestled amongst the surrounding doom. From the dreamy, propulsive post rock buried within the first track, gorgeous minor key guitar arpeggios, and shuffling loping almost krautlike rhythms (sounding at moments like a more dirge-y Katatonia) to the delicate intro to the second track, a glistening framework of soft melancholy melody and subtle simple bass lines, all drifting in a swirl of ambient haze (complete with a super creepy sample from the movie Session 9). There are even some blasts of full on freenoise freakout.
But Atavist at their core, are sludge pure and not so simple. Mighty hellbeasts wielding impossibly heavy slabs of ultrasludge, hurling dense chunks of black sound, moving in slow motion, but laying waste to all who cower before them. Neverending Eyehategod-ish high end feedback, dirge-y superdistorted bass grooves slowed waaaaaay down, until they're almost just big muddy smears of low end, guitars so low they sound like they're being dragged behind a truck through a tarpit. Those of you who have been fiending for more Khanate, Eyehategod, Moss, Bunkur, Monarch or who just need your head dunked in hot tar and beaten with feeding back guitars once in a while, may have just found the perfect prescription for your deathdoomdronedirgesludge fix.
MPEG Stream: "31:38"
MPEG Stream: "20:11"

ATAVIST s/t (Invada) lp 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL! It's an import, probably not gonna be around too long...
Sludge is like a drug. Those of us who are hooked, can never get enough. And the heavier or weirder it gets, the more we need every fix to be just a little bit slower, a little bit heavier, a little bit more fucked up and freaked out. This stuff is already pushing the limits of how slow and heavy it can go, you can only get so slow and heavy before notes and melody and any sort of tonal color disappear completely resulting in what is essentially a super dense drone (and lord knows we love those too!!) so most of the bands that have been supplying us with our sludge fix of late have pushed the limits of slow and heavy obviously, but have mostly managed to twist their particular take on the sludge and the doom and the drone into seriously creepy and contorted shapes.
Thus we have Atavist. On first listen, they seem to be trudging down the same black and glacial path as Khanate, plodding Neanderthal drums, crumbling downtuned grit caked guitar rumble, and of course super processed demonically gurgled growls and shrieks. A horrifying and harrowing slow motion journey through the blackest pits of hell for sure. That along would be enough to have us jonesing. But then Atavist mix in some super unlikely elements. First, they actually rock. Not the whole time, but sometimes, they slip into an actual stonery doomic riff, and the tempo picks up, not too much, more like moving from steamroller tempo to runaway dumptruck tempo, but it definitely rocks, heavily and furiously, but never strays from the sludge too long, always slowing back down like said dumptruck plunging into a stretch of road where the tar has melted into black quicksand. The other unlikely element is a certain strange melodic flair, which seems unlikely, but somehow fits perfectly nestled amongst the surrounding doom. From the dreamy, propulsive post rock buried within the first track, gorgeous minor key guitar arpeggios, and shuffling loping almost krautlike rhythms (sounding at moments like a more dirge-y Katatonia) to the delicate intro to the second track, a glistening framework of soft melancholy melody and subtle simple bass lines, all drifting in a swirl of ambient haze (complete with a super creepy sample from the movie Session 9). There are even some blasts of full on freenoise freakout.
But Atavist at their core, are sludge pure and not so simple. Mighty hellbeasts wielding impossibly heavy slabs of ultrasludge, hurling dense chunks of black sound, moving in slow motion, but laying waste to all who cower before them. Neverending Eyehategod-ish high end feedback, dirge-y superdistorted bass grooves slowed waaaaaay down, until they're almost just big muddy smears of low end, guitars so low they sound like they're being dragged behind a truck through a tarpit. Those of you who have been fiending for more Khanate, Eyehategod, Moss, Bunkur, Monarch or who just need your head dunked in hot tar and beaten with feeding back guitars once in a while, may have just found the perfect prescription for your deathdoomdronedirgesludge fix.
MPEG Stream: "31:38"
MPEG Stream: "20:11"

ATAVIST / NADJA 12012291920 / 1414101 (Invada) cd 14.98
Not one, not two, but THREE Nadja releases this week! Two of them are collaborations, but still, how's a Nadja fan supposed to keep up? But as we've learned, it's well worth the effort, as each disc has been a bonafide killer, and this one is no different.
Teamed up with UK sludge doom quartet Atavist, this seems like the ultimate doom drone matchup, and thus you might expect that these two bands would bring out the heaviest and sludgiest in each other, when in fact, the exact opposite is the case.
Two nearly half hour tracks, each one meandering and blissful, darkly tranquil and really really pretty. The first is a slowcore / postrock drift, delicate guitar figures, looped over a slow shimmery dronescape, the backdrop constantly shifting, the guitar line spidery and minor key, repeating hypnotically above a constantly intensifying backdrop of drones and rumblings. Eventually the background noise overtakes the lonely guitar, but not in a sludgy bombastic way, more like a muted churning swirl, lots of billowy low end guitar, and drifting smoky ambience. Near the end, the guitars do thicken, and suddenly the dreaminess is mired in some serious sludge, shot though with distant keening psychguitar, but it doesn't last, and the sludge softens quickly into more whispery whir.
The second track is a wide open expanse of billowy dark ambience, lots of strange muted FX and pulsing krautrocky swirl. More in line with Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh than SUNNO))) or Earth. Eventually building into a moaning majestic wall of sound, like Sunroof! or Vibracathedral, but less skree and more rumble, huge slabs of crumbling guitar, beneath glistening melodic fragments and soft whirls of sound.
Droney and dreamy, divine and doomy and obviously essential.
MPEG Stream: "Twentyfour:sixteen"
MPEG Stream: "Twentynine:thirtyseven"

ATAVIST / NADJA 12012291920 / 1414101 (Kreation) lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Teamed up with UK sludge doom quartet Atavist, this seems like the ultimate doom drone matchup, and thus you might expect that these two bands would bring out the heaviest and sludgiest in each other, when in fact, the exact opposite is the case.
Two nearly half hour tracks, each one meandering and blissful, darkly tranquil and really really pretty. The first is a slowcore / postrock drift, delicate guitar figures, looped over a slow shimmery dronescape, the backdrop constantly shifting, the guitar line spidery and minor key, repeating hypnotically above a constantly intensifying backdrop of drones and rumblings. Eventually the background noise overtakes the lonely guitar, but not in a sludgy bombastic way, more like a muted churning swirl, lots of billowy low end guitar, and drifting smoky ambience. Near the end, the guitars do thicken, and suddenly the dreaminess is mired in some serious sludge, shot though with distant keening psychguitar, but it doesn't last, and the sludge softens quickly into more whispery whir.
The second track is a wide open expanse of billowy dark ambience, lots of strange muted FX and pulsing krautrocky swirl. More in line with Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh than SUNNO))) or Earth. Eventually building into a moaning majestic wall of sound, like Sunroof! or Vibracathedral, but less skree and more rumble, huge slabs of crumbling guitar, beneath glistening melodic fragments and soft whirls of sound.
Droney and dreamy, divine and doomy and obviously essential.
MPEG Stream: "Twentyfour:sixteen"
MPEG Stream: "Twentynine:thirtyseven"

ATAVIST / NADJA II - Points At Infinity (Profound Lore) cd 13.98
Phew. For a minute there we were worried we were gonna go to list without a Nadja or Aidan Baker disc. But fear not, we're safe! At least for two more weeks.
Team up number two from UK sludgecombo Atavist and doomdrone duo Nadja, and much like the last disc, which sort of threw us for a loop as we were expecting some serious sludgey bombast, the first of the two tracks here is all blissed out and dreamy, a churning 20+ minutes of downtuned minor key guitar shimmer, deep whirring bass rumble, locked into a looped cyclical meander, the various spidery melodies intertwined and loose, layered and abstract, stretched out over a deep blackened canvas of undulating sonic swells, darkly ominous but quite hypnotic and mesmerizing. But then comes the CRUSH. And it's massive, we only had to wait a record and a half for the metal payoff but it's a big one. Three guitars locked into a churning riff, the drums a massive pound, howled vocals buried in the mix, all the while a haunting high end drone seems to hover over the proceedings, woven into the chugging melee below. But this sudden explosion of poundage and riffery is short lived, after 6 or 7 minutes, the blissy downtuned metallic onslaught abates, leaving a swirling emptiness of distant percussion and soft fluttery feedback. The high end gradually transforms into lowend, and the track gets a bit SUNNO)))-y, deep slowed down riffs moving glacially under a blackened canopy shot through with glimmers and shimmers and muted sparkles, finally slipping back into a softly moaning drone, that drifts like smoke through a sky grey with ash.
Another droney, doomy, blissy and briefly metallic essential from these two masters of their mysterious dark art.
MPEG Stream: "Projective Plane"

ATCHLEY, KENNETH Fountains (Auscultare) cd 12.98
Kenneth Atchley is a little known composer with connections to the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music (a couple of performances and a composition that has appeared on Chris Brown's web 'hub'), yet his "Fountains" piece is miles above the digital splutter that Mills has been promoting in the name of indeterminant composition and computerized improvisation. Atchley based the 3 compositions of this album on the digital synthesized contact microphone recordings of simple fountains pouring water into 40 gallon steel trash cans. The first piece ("fountain_1999.20") is a fractured collage in which passages of those water fountains in various states of augmentation jump cut between each other after several minutes, sounding much more like a late '80s collage from the Hafler Trio than anything recently coming from Mills. "fountain_1998.3" takes an oversaturation approach by amplifying the sounds into dense distorting layers much in the same way as Francisco Lopez' intensely loud moments. His most recent composition "fountain_2001.5" is the weakest of the three, sounding most like the Mills penchant for recognizable granular synthesis filters and flanges, though this one is the most adventurous composition with cutting from the dramatic sustained noise passage immediately to quiet water drips.
Released on Randy Yau's immaculately designed Auscultare Records.
RealAudio clip: "Fountain_1999.20"
RealAudio clip: "Fountain_1998.3"

ATELECINE ...And Six Dark Hours Pass (Dais) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
At the beginning of December we made the latest aTelecine lp our Record Of The Week. A fantastic slab of twisted collaged industrial weirdness, blackened and warped and freaky and far out and weirdly beautiful. We sold tons, and were super psyched to discover that there was in fact a previous record, so we tried to order a bunch, but were only able to get a handful, so here it is, the debut lp from aTelecine, the avant industrial drone collage project of porn star Sasha Grey, and her band aTelecine, and like A Cassette Tape Culture, which we made our Record Of The Week, ...And Six Dark Hours Pass is just as dark and creepy and gorgeous and essential. Unfortunately, only a handful of folks will manage to get their hands on one of these. Anyone who loved the first one, is definitely gonna want this one too, layered samples, warped effects, disembodied voices, detuned guitars, dense rumbling drones, crumbling riffage, alien vocals, minimal murky percussion, hazy almost shoegazey drifts, hushed low end thrum, crackle and hiss and whir and hum and shimmer, stuttering looped rhythms, creepy gauzy driftscapes, all blurred and smeared and stretched and tangled into a psychedelic songsuite that melts before your very ears, the songs all oozing into one another, the melodies wrapping themselves around layered textures, the textures decaying and revealing hidden sonic treasures, those treasures blossoming into sounds way more sinister than expected and so it goes. Totally recommended. Even if you missed out on the first one, this stuff is so good. Regardless of the Sasha Grey hype/stigma, both of the aTelecine records are fantastic, grab one of these while you can. Sorry we couldn't get more...
MPEG Stream: "Very Small Friends"
MPEG Stream: "Sky Then Trees Then Birds Then Nothing"
MPEG Stream: "Sixth Pass"

ATELECINE A Cassette Tape Culture (Pendu Sound) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
LAST COPIES! Now OUT OF PRINT, except for this small handful. All the remaining copies have slightly damaged covers (mostly bent corners), hence the reduced price, vinyl is pristine, last chance to pick up one of these twisted beauties...
Most people probably know Sasha Grey for what she is most (in)famous for, and that would be for being a porn star. Even folks who don't know porn stars might still know Grey as an actress, who recently starred in Steven Soderbergh's film Girlfriend, and has been on HBO's Entourage, but few probably know her as a musician (although aQ customers might remember she sang on a Current 93 record!). And we're not talking cheesy club diva, a la Tracy Lords, crooning terribly over bad house music, no we're talking as a proper musician, one who apparently has been making music since she was a teenager (influenced by KMFDM and Throbbing Gristle), and whose current group aTelecine is some sort of blackened industrial avant drone sound collage thing, that would put most of the current crop of experimental musicians to shame. The label hypes Grey's music as being heavily indebted to groups like Nurse With Wound and Coil, and while we're tempted to think this is just the label trying to make the band seem 'cooler' and more authentic, it only takes a few minutes listening to aTelecine's new full length to realize, it's not all that unlikely. This stuff is dark, and corrosive, haunting and fierce, otherworldly and intense, a little bit industrial, a little ambient, a little witch house-y, a little black metal, doomy and new wavey and seriously dark, a dizzying churning cauldron of field recordings, samples, loops, electronics, distorted guitars, programmed beats, FX drenched vocals, throbbing basslines, plenty of glitch and clang and rumble and buzz.
If you're anything like us it'll just take a single song, the first one we heard (even though this is aTelecine's 3rd or 4th record), the super creepy, super intense "I Came, I Sat, I Departed", a lumbering blackened industrial creep, all downtuned chug, low slung slither, laced with some seriously fucked up and freaky hissed whispery vokills, the sound crunchy and glitchy, but super hypnotic. The song gets more and more chaotic, with anguished howls, more distortion, the song seeming to crumble before our ears into a hellish reverb drenched miasma. Terrifying and incredible.
The rest of the record stacks up pretty well too. "A Cassette Played" is all woozy low end and rumbling bass over snippets of crowd sound, a sort of collaged dark wavey drift, with some super minimal skittery Autechre style fractured beats, a sprawling expansive dronescape, laced with skitter, and ominous synth swells, strangely cinematic keyboards, the sound becoming almost John Carpenter-esque near the end, before slipping directly into "Chroeg Xen", which sounds like Steve Reich or Terry Riley as interpreted by the current crop of retro futurist sci fi new wavers. "Elijah's New Sun" is a fluttering field of hiss and static, of shortwave interference, buried synth pulses, strange processed vocals, and minimal synth melodies way off in the distance.
"It's All Write" is an avalanche of song fragments, woven into a woozy, series of melodic swells, streaks of buzz, bits of sampled voices, a minimal barely there beat, slowly unwinding like some out of focus sonic charnel house. "Kitchen Light" is a surprisingly lovely bloopy bleepy bit of spacey synthiness, while "Never Was A Dreamer (vox)" is a swirling synthy crawl, all whispered tangled voices, and layered shimmery drones. "She Is Beautiful" is another bit of sci fi synthery, which leads into the short closer "Some What Daft", a gorgeous creepy glitchscape, of muted melodies, fractured drones and alien squelches, all over a sort of krauty pulse, the sort of track that we would have loved to see go on way longer. Which is pretty much how we feel about almost every track here.
Sure, the fact that aTelecine is Sasha Grey's band is the hook, but it hardly matters really, besides bucking the convention of actresses turned terrible musician, or certainly porn star gone pointlessly mainstream, this stuff is incredible, dark and dense and extremely well crafted, occasionally playful and mysterious, but more often fucking chilling and intense, and definitely makes it plain for all to see, that if Grey ever did decide to give up her day job, as sad as that would be, at least we'd have more of this amazing music to look forward to.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "I Came I Sat I Departed"
MPEG Stream: "A Cassette Played"
MPEG Stream: "It's All Write"
MPEG Stream: "Some What Daft"

ATELEIA Formal Sleep (Xeric / Table Of The Elements) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Of Isthmus"
MPEG Stream: "Bridget Riley"

ATELEIA Nightly (Radium) cd ep 11.98
Quiet pieces inspired by Popol Vuh.

ATELEIA & BENJAMIN CURTIS Baghdad Batterie (Table Of The Elements) 12" 17.98
There's a new vinyl-only series from beloved experimental label Table Of The Elements. Each 12" is one sided with an etching on the other side. Artists involved and contributing exclusive material include Collections Of Colonies Of Bees, Belong and a handful of others. The first one we've got is from Ateleia and Benjamin Curtis, who, utilizing guitar, bass, electronics and computers, have whipped up a truly strange installment for the series, beginning of course with the guitar, which is the focus of the series, this duo have created a strange hybrid of modern minimal techno, and reverby eighties pop. Sounds like a bit of a mess, but the two sounds sound great together. Beginning with a skittery shuffly beat, some fuzzy synths, distorted guitars, chiming reverb heavy chords, all wound into something that sounds a bit like Big Country or The Smiths deconstructed by some Chain Reaction artist.
Weird looped rhythms, tribal drums, processed melodies, those hypnotic repetitive guitars soaring and ringing out, that's the best way we can describe it, like some sort of Pop Ambient eighties pop thing, equal parts Gas, U2 (just the guitar), Big Country, reminds us quite a bit of the recent very retro M83 record, but with a distinctly techno, muted 4 on the floor vibe. Pretty cool.
Pressed on clear vinyl, one side intricately etched, housed in a thick vinyl sleeve, and needless to say, WAY LIMITED!

ATHEIST Elements (Relapse) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Green"
MPEG Stream: "Water"

ATHEIST Piece Of Time (Relapse) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Piece Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "Unholy War"

ATHEIST Unquestionable Presence (Relapse) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Mother Man"
MPEG Stream: "Unquestionable Presence"

ATIVIN Interiors (Secretly Canadian) cd 13.98
Finally after a lengthy hiatus Ativin present the follow-up to their 1999 "Summing The Approach" ep. The post-rock angularities have been smoothed down and honed to a more subtle sound. The guitars build gradually and lock into gentle, almost hypnotic repetitions. Flowing and swelling in a subdued manner with like-minded soft vocals adding to the shadowy mood - especially on tracks such as the 7-minute long "When The Sky Turns Clear". Very nice post rock (but whoever writes their press releases should cut it out with all of the This Heat, Zeni Geva, Stars of the Lid comparisons - not appropriate at all!!!).
RealAudio clip: "When The Sky Turns Clear"

ATIVIN Night Mute (Secretly Canadian) cd 12.98
First things first, we'll forewarn you that we totally thought (and you might too) that this was an electro-clash album when we saw the cd's cover photo (band name-less and album title-less, it features an anonymous gal in Brooklyn-perfect denim short-shorts and blue suede knee-boots). But no! This is Ativin! Just when we all though the batteries had run dead in the math-rockers' calculators, out pops a new album from this band. Loud... quiet... loud... it doesn't really matter that it's 2004, Ativin are gonna post-rock you like it's 1992 (fyi: the year after the release of Slint's genre-defining Spiderland album). Granted it's something they do exceedingly well, but there's little that really distinguishes them from the pack... perhaps tenacity? It is definitely more aggressive (i.e, 'loud') than their last album, 2002's gently pensive Interiors. This album spurred us to muse that this band (as well as many other post-rock bands) has the chops to rather easily slip themselves into the metal section (Allan drew comparisons to the recent reviewed Switchblade album) -- if they'd relinquish their boyish indie-slouchin'.
MPEG Stream: "Night Terror"
MPEG Stream: "Sleep Well"

ATLAS MOTH, THE An Ache For The Distance (Profound Lore) cd 13.98
Latest batch of psychedelic sludge from this Chicago crew, their second album, but the first we've actually heard from these guys, and we have to say, we're digging this quite a bit. There seems to be something going on in Chicago, or something in the water as they say, with bands getting way weirder and more tripped out and psychedelic, the most obvious recent example has to be Nachtmystium's shift from grim blackness, to hazy black psych, similarly, we always thought these guys were much more doomy and sludgey and crusty, and perhaps at one point they were, but now they're conjuring something up much more in the spirit of groups like Kylesa or Rwake or other bands who have augmented their buzz and pound and howl with something much more experimental, melodic and psychedelic.
The Atlas Moth lay the foundation with big, downtuned riffs, a little stonery, way sludgey, plenty of classic metal going on too, the vibe very much like a smoldering post rockier Neurosis, but the riffs are spread out into strangely proggy arrangements, the band taking full advantage of their THREE guitar lineup with twisted serpentine harmonies that wrap themselves around everything. And the vocals are more like black metal shrieks, heavily effected vokills, that could sound out of place, but instead add a different element to the proceedings, but there's also lots of keyboards, some dramatic crooned clean vocals, even some trumpets, all woven into a sound that's epic and majestic, psychedelic and heavy, songs that unfurl gradually and slowly suck you in, not blasting or pounding or buzzing so much, but more sort of spaced out, and darkly dreamy, moody midtempo dirges that are totally mesmerizing.
Super striking Jesus Lizard Goat style artwork, with all manner of strange images projected onto a naked woman, like the music, very psychedelic.
MPEG Stream: "Coffin Varnish"
MPEG Stream: "Perpetual Generations"
MPEG Stream: "Holes In The Desert"

ATLAS SOUND Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky) cd 14.98
From his work with Deerhunter to his excellent solo project Atlas Sound to other various artistic projects, Bradford Cox has some serious creative consistency. It seems like part of that reliability is based on the fact that all of his work seems to be approaching the same types of emotions from slightly different angles. That's not to say the sonic spectrum he occupies is not varied, but there is the feeling that everything operates based on the same type of tension. Well, Atlas Sound's Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel is no different. In Deerhunter, the more upbeat '60s influenced indie pop and the glistening analog landscapes seem more distant from each other. Here, Cox seems to have fused the two into a more singular package, in a good way. All of the songs are in a similar range, but the presentation of various melodies is interesting enough for everything to stand alone. Ah, let's see, maybe those hungry for specific band comparisons can take faith in an impressive list. For instance: Jesus and Mary Chain, Seefeel, Ulrich Schnauss, Caribou, and ... White Rainbow and Valet, which is interesting. Why? Well, because Adam Forkner of White Rainbow and Honey Owens of Valet are two members of the Atlas Sound live band. Alongside the crew are also Brian Foote of Nudge (along with Ms. Owens), and someone we just don't know named Stephanie Macksey. But in company like that, we're sure she's done great stuff too! If you, like us, occasionally need to embark upon an interstellar journey into emotions both inspirational and bleak, look no further, here's your guide. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ativan"
MPEG Stream: "Winter Vacation"

ATLAS SOUND Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky) 2lp 16.98
Now available on vinyl!
From his work with Deerhunter to his excellent solo project Atlas Sound to other various artistic projects, Bradford Cox has some serious creative consistency. It seems like part of that reliability is based on the fact that all of his work seems to be approaching the same types of emotions from slightly different angles. That's not to say the sonic spectrum he occupies is not varied, but there is the feeling that everything operates based on the same type of tension. Well, Atlas Sound's Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel is no different. In Deerhunter, the more upbeat '60s influenced indie pop and the glistening analog landscapes seem more distant from each other. Here, Cox seems to have fused the two into a more singular package, in a good way. All of the songs are in a similar range, but the presentation of various melodies is interesting enough for everything to stand alone. Ah, let's see, maybe those hungry for specific band comparisons can take faith in an impressive list. For instance: Jesus and Mary Chain, Seefeel, Ulrich Schnauss, Caribou, and ... White Rainbow and Valet, which is interesting. Why? Well, because Adam Forkner of White Rainbow and Honey Owens of Valet are two members of the Atlas Sound live band. Alongside the crew are also Brian Foote of Nudge (along with Ms. Owens), and someone we just don't know named Stephanie Macksey. But in company like that, we're sure she's done great stuff too! If you, like us, occasionally need to embark upon an interstellar journey into emotions both inspirational and bleak, look no further, here's your guide. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ativan"
MPEG Stream: "Winter Vacation"

ATLAS SOUND Logos (Kranky) cd 14.98
With this new Atlas Sound release, it's getting harder to distinguish the dividing line between this project and Bradford Cox's main band, Deerhunter. With Atlas Sound's debut, it was obvious that the project was designed to be a more experimental testing ground for more introspective ideas that wouldn't fly so easily in Deerhunter. But after Deerhunter's epic double release last year and follow-up ep this year, expecting a big sway in a different direction from Atlas Sound is perhaps too much to expect. Not that there aren't good songs here, but we wish he pushed the experimental side further instead of keeping the songs in their signature hazy structures. The farthest out and best songs here are where he collaborates with Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) and Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab, though they sound more like great Panda Bear and Stereolab tracks than Atlas Sound songs. Overall, not a bad release, just not what we were hoping for.
MPEG Stream: "Walkabout (with Noah Lennox)"
MPEG Stream: "Sheila"
MPEG Stream: "Quick Canal (with Laetetia Sadier)"

ATLAS SOUND Logos (Kranky) lp 13.98
With this new Atlas Sound release, it's getting harder to distinguish the dividing line between this project and Bradford Cox's main band, Deerhunter. With Atlas Sound's debut, it was obvious that the project was designed to be a more experimental testing ground for more introspective ideas that wouldn't fly so easily in Deerhunter. But after Deerhunter's epic double release last year and follow-up ep this year, expecting a big sway in a different direction from Atlas Sound is perhaps too much to expect. Not that there aren't good songs here, but we wish he pushed the experimental side further instead of keeping the songs in their signature hazy structures. The farthest out and best songs here are where he collaborates with Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) and Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab, though they sound more like great Panda Bear and Stereolab tracks than Atlas Sound songs. Overall, not a bad release, just not what we were hoping for.
MPEG Stream: "Walkabout (with Noah Lennox)"
MPEG Stream: "Sheila"
MPEG Stream: "Quick Canal (with Laetetia Sadier)"

ATLAS SOUND Parallax (4AD) cd 14.98
With Bradford Cox seemingly concentrating on both equally these days, it's difficult to tell which is actually the 'side project', Deerhunter or Atlas Sound. Parallax is Cox's third solo outing as Atlas Sound and finds him continuing his quest for dream-pop glory. The two best tracks on his last album, Logos, were the songs where Panda Bear and Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) essentially stole the show. This time out besides a guest spot by MGMT's Andrew Vanwyngarden, the focus is for sure on Cox's voice and spacey song constructions. It's an album that doesn't explode out of the speakers, but the songs slowly unfold on repeated listens. A grower, not a shower for sure.
NOTE for mailorder customers, if you're considering ordering this on vinyl: Unfortunately this week's shipment from Matador/4AD/XL arrived today with one corner of every single piece of vinyl in the box slightly bent, argh. So, don't order this now if you're super anal about such things. We'll get replacements next week. Folks buying this in person in the shop, of course, can see for themselves if they mind the bent corner or not. Sorry!
MPEG Stream: "Amplifiers"
MPEG Stream: "The Shakes"
MPEG Stream: "Modern Aquatic Nightsongs"

ATLAS SOUND Parallax (4AD) lp 16.98
With Bradford Cox seemingly concentrating on both equally these days, it's difficult to tell which is actually the 'side project', Deerhunter or Atlas Sound. Parallax is Cox's third solo outing as Atlas Sound and finds him continuing his quest for dream-pop glory. The two best tracks on his last album, Logos, were the songs where Panda Bear and Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) essentially stole the show. This time out besides a guest spot by MGMT's Andrew Vanwyngarden, the focus is for sure on Cox's voice and spacey song constructions. It's an album that doesn't explode out of the speakers, but the songs slowly unfold on repeated listens. A grower, not a shower for sure.
NOTE for mailorder customers, if you're considering ordering this on vinyl: Unfortunately this week's shipment from Matador/4AD/XL arrived today with one corner of every single piece of vinyl in the box slightly bent, argh. So, don't order this now if you're super anal about such things. We'll get replacements next week. Folks buying this in person in the shop, of course, can see for themselves if they mind the bent corner or not. Sorry!
MPEG Stream: "Amplifiers"
MPEG Stream: "The Shakes"
MPEG Stream: "Modern Aquatic Nightsongs"

ATLAS SOUND Parallax / Oh Ricky (4AD) 7" 5.98
Two new gems from Atlas Sound (aka, Bradford Cox from Deerhunter). The A side, "Parallax" sounds like a song written in on the bridge of a ship lost at sea. Bittersweet melodies so tender they feel like they could unravel at any moment. The B side "Oh Ricky" is more hypnotic and dizzying, showing the versatility in sonic scope that Cox has developed over the years. We can't tell for sure but it almost sounds like thumb piano providing the core of the track, with disjointed layers of Cox's vocals. Both songs are awesome, and "Oh Ricky" is exclusive to this 7" and won't be on the immediately impending new album.

ATMAN Personal Forest (Drunken Fish) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This Polish psyche/folk band is kind of like Penguin Cafe Orchestra meets spacerock, and the music is created with woodwinds, jew's harp, Polish dulcimer, sitar, zither, and Tibetan liturgical instruments. Highly recommended, esp. for Terrascopishly-inclined folks.

ATMAN FEATURING ANNA NACHER Tradition (Drunken Fish) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

ATMOSPHERE Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP's (Rhymesayers) cd 16.98
If Company Flow are the scary guys in hip hop that stand on the street corner, take drugs, mutter to themselves, sleep in cardboard boxes, think they're from space, and generally freak everyone out, then Atmosphere are CF's goofy little brothers that everyone's worried will turn out just like CF, if they're not careful.
Musically, Atmosphere are much much smoother, like Del or maybe Gang Starr. Nice and smooth and really good, but missing all the grit and nastiness and mania that makes CF so fucking awesome.
But if Company Flow is too weird for you a lot of the time (or if you just like it smooth), give this a try.

ATMOSPHERE Seven's Travels (Epitaph) cd 16.98

ATMOSPHERE You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (Rhymesayers) cd 15.98

ATOM & HIS PACKAGE Redefining Music (Hopeless) cd 13.98
Newest record by everyone's favorite one man (and one machine!) band that sings exclusively about punk rock, and his friends, and the metric system and a bunch of other dorky crap! Yep. It's Atom and his Package. Not much has changed, except for some more metallic 'guitar work'. But if you loved the nerdy, ultra catchy, synth/punk rock of the last few AahP release, then you'll love this one. Plus he does 3 Mountain Goats covers!
Byram thinks it sounds like retarded They Might Be Giants. I think it sounds like Ween, if they were 15 years old, and listened to Slayer and straightedge. Either way, pretty funny, and pretty great. And some nifty Vermiform cover art.
RealAudio clip: "Going To Georgia"

ATOM & HIS PACKAGE Redefining Music (Hopeless) lp 9.98
Newest record by everyone's favorite one man (and one machine!) band that sings exclusively about punk rock, and his friends, and the metric system and a bunch of other dorky crap! Yep. It's Atom and his Package. Not much has changed, except for some more metallic 'guitar work'. But if you loved the nerdy, ultra catchy, synth/punk rock of the last few AahP release, then you'll love this one. Plus he does 3 Mountain Goats covers!
Byram thinks it sounds like retarded They Might Be Giants. I think it sounds like Ween, if they were 15 years old, and listened to Slayer and straightedge. Either way, pretty funny, and pretty great. And some nifty Vermiform cover art.

ATOM FEATURING TEA TIME XXX (Rather Interesting) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've all been keeping a watchful eye on Mr. Atom Heart lately. Watching bemusedly as his relocation to Chile prompted him to reinvent himself as Senor Coconut, and listening, as his techno turned to mambo, and his obsession with the indigenous music of his new home seeped into every facet of his music making. The first Senor Coconut record (out of print, it seems) was a glorious mix of Perez Prado style mambos and Squarepusherish drum programming. The Senor Coconut we listed on the last AQ list took a bizarre turn no one could have predicted, consisting of all Kraftwerk covers done Chilean style, all mambo and rhumba, barely a hint of his former Atom Heart remained. On "XXX", Atom hooks up with Chilean rapper Tea Time, for a wickedly clever record of X rated rapping (in Spanish of course) and convuluted hip hop, complete with plenty of turntablist trickery and hard disc scratching. And it's practically perfect; funny and catchy and smooth and super wicked. Tea Time's got a super smooth flow (sounding a bit like MC Solaar) and the music is just completely bizarre, lots of hiccuping loops, low end rumble, crazy scratching, and bizarre hard disc editing, making for probably one of our favorite (albeit quite odd) hip hop (Latin American glitch-rap?) records of the year, and it's easily the best Atom Heart...er...Senor Coconut record yet.
RealAudio clip: "Mis Chiquitas"

ATOM TM Liedgut (Raster-Norton) cd 17.98

ATOM TM Music Is Better Than Pussy (Rather Interesting) cd 21.00
There is a fine line between clever and peurile. Actually the line's not all that fine. Guess which side this falls on.
MPEG Stream: "Clicktrack"
MPEG Stream: " Suck My Groove"

ATOM TM Son Of A Glitch (Rather Interesting) cd 21.00
Regardless of which alter ego he's embodying at the time (Senor Coconut, Datacide, Midisport, Lisa Carbon, Disk Orchestra, etc.), virtually all of Uwe Schmidt's releases have some obvious, fully realized concept behind them. Knowing that, it makes his latest Atom TM album a somewhat befuddling listen. Son Of A Glitch squishes together a seemingly random assortment of distinctly Schmidt-y IDM glitch-squidge, sample-delic outbursts and dialogue snippets. Really, we could be missing something, but it seems like his most unfocused work to date -- sounding like a grab bag of recordings of him just messing around in the studio. Still, if this is Uwe Schmidt just fuckin' around, it's still miles more entertaining and well executed than a lot of releases by his contemporaries.
MPEG Stream: "MP3"
MPEG Stream: "Being Human Boring"

ATOMBOMBPOCKETKNIFE God Save The ABPK (Southern) cd 13.98
Proving that indie rock is still alive and kicking is this Chicago quartet. While other likeminded bands have faded from the college radio dial or reconfigured or changed musical directions, Atombombpocketknife (or ABPK for short) keep that catchy, mathy rock flag a-flying on this their third full length. They've been around since '98, but those years were also spent split between assorted day jobs (tour sound engineer for other bands, social worker, website boss) and side projects. With such full schedules it's a wonder they have time to hook up for music, and perhaps that's what's kept them from progressing. Don't be mistaken, they certainly do possess the solid chops to execute their rock mission, it's just not a very challenging one for themselves or their listeners. So although many of their songs are very much in a similar melodic, emotive, and slightly angular vein, they're probably not destined to don the indie rock crown recently vacated by the great Unwound. Which is unfortunate 'cause we catch glimpses of the skills and capabilities of rock victory, but overall they fall short and register ABPK as an also-ran.

ATOMIC 7 ... en Hillbilly Caliente (Mint) cd 14.98
Back in 2002 a fine instrumental cd appeared right around the time of year nearing the holiday season. 'Twas by the band Atomic 7, 'twas called Gowns By Edith Head, and 'twas a splendid, festive (yet not holiday specific) album packed with sparkling electric guitar magic courtesy of the sweet, bespectacled gent known as Brian Connelly (formerly of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet and occasional guitarist for Neko Case -- you can hear him on her latest live album, The Tigers Have Spoken). Well, this Toronto based trio have returned with another lively goodie! En Hillbilly Caliente's almost as big as the 19-song-long 'Gowns, clocking in at seventeen wittily titled songs. Connelly truly works wonders with his ol' six string crafting frantic gallopin' rockabilly and surf numbers, swayin' tiki lounge swooners and creepin' villain-in-the-shadows mood pieces. All with equal ease and enthusiasm. Such a fun listen! Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Bury My Foot At Wounded Mouth"
MPEG Stream: "Devil's Mittens"

ATOMIC 7 Gowns By Edith Head (Mint) cd 14.98
Aaah, how I've yearned for the magic of the Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet. Y'know the fab Torontonian trio behind the insanely catchy theme song to Kids In The Hall? Not to mention their three amazing albums in the early '90s that melded the raw sounds of surf and punk music with a truly absurd wit.
But wait, what's this I hear? Holy dewy drops of spring! This sounds remarkably like those Shadowy folks. Well, particularly that unmistakable, slinky yet blistering guitar of Mr. Brian Connelly. He's back with a new trio. A masterful guitarist with a wicked sense of humor, his sly quirks come through in each of these nineteen (!) songs. By the way, you might've also experienced his fine guitar stylings live and on record with AQ fave Ms Neko Case. Jumping genres with tireless finesse and flourish at the mere flick of guitar pick - campy tiki cocktail lounge, fiery rockabilly rave-ups, slowly smouldering western twang - Atomic 7 is where the good times are.
This will undoubtably make for a great holiday party album without all those darn season-specific lyrics. Super festive. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Her Sassy Kiss"
RealAudio clip: "Artistry In Nachos"