AESOP ROCK Bazooka Tooth (Definitive Jux) cd 16.98
It's been a constant and strangely evolving battle, in one corner, Cannibal Ox, El-P, Mr. Lif and the whole Def Jux crew, while in the other, Dose One, Why, Jel and the ever expanding Anticon stable, all doing their best to bastardise, distort, destroy, and/or reinvent hip hop. And it's been a tough race to call, both camps have lots to offer, bizarre samples, damaged drum loops, and weird and warped flows, from the nasal high pitched whine of Dose One to the langorous drawl of Aesop Rock. And while maybe Anticon would win for straight up weirdness, Def Jux are definitely more likely to sway the hip hop masses over to the darkside, with their mutated take on classic hip hop.
The latest salvo comes in the form of Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth, a dense barrage of creepy crawly, lugubrious lo-fi hip hop weirdness, with stuttery, shuffling beats, dreamy eastern melodies and rhythmically machine-like scratching, the whole thing is swathed in a shimmery pot smoke haze like looking at the world through bongwater, everything distorted and dreamy, head nodding and hip swaying, with occasional spatters of crunchy drum and bass and skeletal junkyard funk, all anchored by Aesop's wordy worldly flow. Destroys most of the currently over-hyped avant/underground hip hop whatever (Atmosphere, Buck 65).
Plus how often do you hear a rapper use the word "alacrity"?! Not often enough!!
MPEG Stream: "NY Electric"
MPEG Stream: "We're Famous"

AESOP ROCK Bazooka Tooth (Definitive Jux) 3lp 19.98
It's been a constant and strangely evolving battle, in one corner, Cannibal Ox, El-P, Mr. Lif and the whole Def Jux crew, while in the other, Dose One, Why, Jel and the ever expanding Anticon stable, all doing their best to bastardise, distort, destroy, and/or reinvent hip hop. And it's been a tough race to call, both camps have lots to offer, bizarre samples, damaged drum loops, and weird and warped flows, from the nasal high pitched whine of Dose One to the langorous drawl of Aesop Rock. And while maybe Anticon would win for straight up weirdness, Def Jux are definitely more likely to sway the hip hop masses over to the darkside, with their mutated take on classic hip hop.
The latest salvo comes in the form of Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth, a dense barrage of creepy crawly, lugubrious lo-fi hip hop weirdness, with stuttery, shuffling beats, dreamy eastern melodies and rhythmically machine-like scratching, the whole thing is swathed in a shimmery pot smoke haze like looking at the world through bongwater, everything distorted and dreamy, head nodding and hip swaying, with occasional spatters of crunchy drum and bass and skeletal junkyard funk, all anchored by Aesop's wordy worldly flow. Destroys most of the currently over-hyped avant/underground hip hop whatever (Atmosphere, Buck 65).
Plus how often do you hear a rapper use the word "alacrity"?! Not often enough!!

AESOP ROCK Daylight (Definitive Jux) cd 10.98
So now I (Windy) am feeling really stupid for not paying enough attention to Aesop Rock's last full length Labor Days, because this new followup cdep is so great! The title track "Daylight" is seriously geting multiple repeat plays here in the AQ-back office (it's also on Labor Days, fyi). "Daylight" is melodic (something I miss a lot in hip hop) and sort of smartly epic without being overly dramatic like the JayZ record I was listening to this morning. Hit us over the head with your sappiness, why don't you, JayZ. Aesop Rock's flow is just incredibly tongue-twisting and learned and thoughtful... I can't even describe it. Here, just read some of "Daylight" while you're listening to the soundclips:
"Yo...put one up shackle me, not clean logic procreation
I did not invent the wheel I was the crooked spoke adjacent
While the triple sixers lassos keep angels roped in the basement
I walk the block with a halo and a stick poking your patience"
The remaining 6 tracks are similarly good. Blockhead provides most of the instrumental backup and man, I can't wait for a solo LP from this producer, he seems to have impeccable taste. One of the tracks is ever so timely -- "Nickel Plated Pockets" references "anthrax in the mailboxes and xanax in my tummy." Yeah, Aesop's got his finger on the zeitgeist. And there's a hidden track wherein he gives his full, real name, and proceeds to sincerely, poignantly thank four people who literally saved his life once. Another worthwhile title from the practically flawless Def Jux label.
RealAudio clip: "Daylight"
RealAudio clip: "Forest Crunk"
RealAudio clip: "Maintenance"

AESOP ROCK Daylight (Definitive Jux) 12" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So now I (Windy) am feeling really stupid for not paying enough attention to Aesop Rock's last full length Labor Days, because this new followup cdep is so great! The title track "Daylight" is seriously geting multiple repeat plays here in the AQ-back office (it's also on Labor Days, fyi). "Daylight" is melodic (something I miss a lot in hip hop) and sort of smartly epic without being overly dramatic like the JayZ record I was listening to this morning. Hit us over the head with your sappiness, why don't you, JayZ. Aesop Rock's flow is just incredibly tongue-twisting and learned and thoughtful... I can't even describe it. Here, just read some of "Daylight" while you're listening to the soundclips:
"Yo...put one up shackle me, not clean logic procreation
I did not invent the wheel I was the crooked spoke adjacent
While the triple sixers lassos keep angels roped in the basement
I walk the block with a halo and a stick poking your patience"
The remaining 6 tracks are similarly good. Blockhead provides most of the instrumental backup and man, I can't wait for a solo LP from this producer, he seems to have impeccable taste. One of the tracks is ever so timely -- "Nickel Plated Pockets" references "anthrax in the mailboxes and xanax in my tummy." Yeah, Aesop's got his finger on the zeitgeist. And there's a hidden track wherein he gives his full, real name, and proceeds to sincerely, poignantly thank four people who literally saved his life once. Another worthwhile title from the practically flawless Def Jux label.

AESOP ROCK Float (Mush) cd 14.98

AESOP ROCK Labor Days (Definitive Jux) cd 16.98
We asked beloved AQ-friend Alexis G to write this review, since he loves the record (and we think he's such a good writer too):
Since the demise, or rather, mutual split of pseudo-legendary hip-hoppers Company Flow, journalists and fans alike have been spittin' all manner of hyperbole in the direction of all associated with El P's Def Jux imprint. Maybe it's a way of giving the Flow, a group whose releases were largely ignored and hard to find until recently, belated props. But though the Hype Machine is admittedly in full effect - designating Def Jux as Hip-Hop's new saviors, and making those of us skeptical of hipster press idolatry, well... skeptical - both Cannibal Ox's recent The Cold Vein and Aesop Rock's Labor Days have convinced me that, in fact, such boasting may be dead on. First, the Music: you won't find the murky underwater-via-nitrous-and-coke vibe that has made The Cold Vein a staple on my phonograph lately; As the moral goes, Aesop's gots his own bag. And it's a decidedly cinematic one. Rock's man Blockhead delivers most of Labor Days' musical nourishment (along with a few contributions and scratches from Omega One) in the form of obscure soundtrack, rare groove and, bewildering as it may sound, classical music breaks. Chock full of string and brass sections, harp, glockenspiel, flutes and slinky bottom heavy bass lines, the filmscore mood that pervades most of the album should make fans of Automator, DJ Shadow, and Wu-Tang happy folk. As it should fans of Italian soundtracks, Lalo Schifrin and David Shire's The Taking of Pelham 123 (re: I'd love to see this guy's soundtrack collection). And The Words? Ace's flow is furious and frenetic. Actually, I can't really figure out when this guy finds time to breathe. Maybe he does that circular breathing shit. Seriously though, his rapping style is ceaseless, restless and full of slurred rhymin' and bangin'. After all, anyone whose mic rockin' skills have garnered comparisons to Kierkegaard deserves a listen, no? All said, this is a damn fine hip-hop album. Maybe a contender for hip-hop album of the year in my book. And an instrumentals version wouldn't be wrong either.
RealAudio clip: "Daylight"
RealAudio clip: "Flashfloor"
RealAudio clip: "Bent Life (with C-Rayz-Walz)"

AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT Embalmer Tapes (Dissected) (Old Europa Cafe) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As you probably well know by now, we here at AQ have long been fans of manipulated found sounds and field recordings -- dogs barking, ice melting, whatever -- either on their own, captured just as they were heard, or better yet, twisted and smeared into drones and soundscapes, reimagined as completely alien worlds of sound. And while the source material may not be obvious, just knowing where the sounds come from, can make the listening just that much more thrilling. And the creepier and more unlikely the source sound the better. And it sure doesn't get any creepier than this. Sure Matmos used the sounds of rhinoplasty and various other procedures to concoct their abstract electronica, but Aesthetic Meat Front used only the sounds of a corpse being embalmed for Embalmer Tapes. Every single sound, whether it's the casual whistling of the embalmer, the slow rumble of processed suction sounds or the clang of metal instruments dropped in bloody metal trays, each and every sound was captured deep in the sublevels of a funeral home, while an embalmer removed all the fluids from a corpse. Euuuw. But sonically, WOW!
Sometimes the sounds are instantly recognizable, the above mentioned whistling and clatter of surgical instruments, snippets of conversation heavy with the reverb of a small tiled room, small motorized pumps, footsteps, but more often, the sounds of suction, and the sounds of the machines pumping, are stretched out into warm whirring rumbles, or chopped up and reassembled into hissing blasts of fuzz and grrr. But mostly this is a weird warped world of drones, from dreamy and shimmery, to harsh and jagged, all imbued with the specter of mortality, life most fleeting, the great abyss, the sounds already sonically ominous and foreboding enough, but even more so on a psychological level, knowing the source of every sound, engendering a creepy dark ambient atmosphere thick with the heavy hanging shroud of death. So awesome.
SUPER LIMITED!!! WE GOT THE LAST 20 COPIES. ONCE THESE ARE GONE THEY ARE GONE FOR GOOD!
MPEG Stream: "Post Mortem Sludge"
MPEG Stream: "Sectional Injection (Is Necessary)"

AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT Temple Of Flesh (Old Europa Cafe) cd/cd-r/dvd-r 26.00
A while back we reviewed a record called Embalmer Tapes, from mysterious sonic terrorists Aesthetic Meat Front. That cd was a collection of processed sounds culled from the sounds of an actual embalming session, those sounds, scraping and suction and whatever other sorts of things go on during the process were collected and tweaked into a strange and haunting dronescape, and of course we sold out of them immediately (we actually got a handful back in if you missed out, see elsewhere on the site).
But the man behind AMF read our review and got in touch to see if we were interested in getting copies of a super limited releases celebrating the 10th anniversary of Aesthetic Meat Front. So here we have it, Temple Of Flesh a massive gathering of sights and sounds, a cd, a cd-r and a dvd-r, containing sounds and songs and sights and visuals, performances and rituals, all set to the glorious haunting soundscapes of Aesthetic Meat Front. This was limited to 180 copies world wide, we got 25 and we will NOT be able to get more.
So let's go one disc at a time. The first disc features the text from AMF's Temple Of Flesh ritual, translated into 12 languages, and then processed into a world of mysterious invocations and chants, industrial drones and dark ambience. A truly creepy, harrowing sonic journey, deep dark resonant smears of low end drift beneath martial drumming, and haunting chants, swirling snippets of sound, warbling and whirring, growled animalistic voices, bizarre ambient FX, jagged shards of industrial detritus, bursts of fuzzed out hiss and grinding slabs of rhythmic chaos, creepy chorales stretched into seasick soundscapes, disembodied voices drift and hover, snippets of found sound and conversation, all of these disparate elements woven into an epic, monstrous sonic tale of death destruction and mayhem, of blood and death and rebirth. So intense and strangely beautiful.
This limited edition version also includes a cd-r, that features tons of remixes as well as rare unreleased material. Also included is a dvd-r chronicling one of AMF's live rituals, an extensive modern primitive ritual featuring beautiful women in corsets, piercing, bloodletting, animal carcasses, suspensions, shaving, lots of blood and bodily fluids, very intense and graphic, all set to the creepy otherworldly dronescapes of Aesthetic Meat Front. Not for the squeamish or easily offended. As if that weren't enough, all three discs are packaged in a DVD style case, with full color covers, the bonus cd-r is housed in a hand numbered paper sleeve (numbered and decorated in blood!) as well as a handful of full color inserts, with photos from the rituals, text and assorted AMF related information.
SUPER LIMITED!!! Once these are gone they are gone for good....
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "3"
MPEG Stream: "4"

AETHENOR Deep In Ocean Sunk The Lamp Of Light (VHF) cd 13.98
What do you get when you cross SUNNO))), Swiss metallic post rockers Shora and UK proglords Guapo? At the very least we got your attention now don't we? Well, Aethenor is a collaboration between Stephen O'Malley (SUNNO))), Khanate, etc.) Daniel O'Sullivan from Guapo and Vincent De Roguin from Shora and sounds nothing like you might expect.
SUNNO))) might be the closest, but don't be expecting any crushing down tuned drones or slow moving sludge, instead Deep In Ocean Sunk The Lamp Of Light is a series of ambient explorations, slow moving sonic floes, very tidal sounding, thick washes of warm whir in a wide open soundscape of murky industrial percussion, and soft sonic wells, All three guys are credited, along with their usual instruments, with 'room', so as you might expect, these tracks are enormous sounding, spacious and grand, epic drifts through a dark landscape of creaking timbers and whirring wind. It's almost like a doomier version of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste. An old rickety ship, creaking and groaning as it traverses some haunted pass, replete with moaning demons and all manner of creepy sonic incursions. And that's just the first song! The second song, another lengthy moody crawl, is super minimal, very reminiscent of seventies kraut prog like Tangerine Dream or Popol Vuh, thick keyboards that churn and slowly shift, over a backdrop of percussive clatter and keening high end melody.
The last two tracks are both around 5 minutes but somehow embody the same sort of epic spaciousness. As a pair they are a bit like the musical version of one of those paintings that from one angle shows the portrait of a person, but from a slightly different angle shows the same person as they appear in death!
The first angle is all crumbling distorted organ and tinkling music box melody over an intricate web of tape hiss, record crackle and analog synth splutter, dreamy and dark, like some sort of late night lullaby. The other deathly angle sounds like the track before it but with all the life sucked out, the warm glow dimmed, leaving a gaunt shell, the fuzzy slowly decaying, desiccated skeletal remains of a pretty song. The final few minutes offer up a super creepy haunted house melodic coda, a weird minor key music box melody over a strangely mechanical hissing rumbling rhythm. So spooky! And so nice!!!
MPEG Stream: "Untiltled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untiltled 2"

AETHENOR Deep In Ocean Sunk The Lamp Of Light (VHF) lp 17.98
What do you get when you cross SUNNO))), Swiss metallic post rockers Shora and UK proglords Guapo? At the very least we got your attention now don't we? Well, Aethenor is a collaboration between Stephen O'Malley (SUNNO))), Khanate, etc.) Daniel O'Sullivan from Guapo and Vincent De Roguin from Shora and sounds nothing like you might expect.
SUNNO))) might be the closest, but don't be expecting any crushing down tuned drones or slow moving sludge, instead Deep In Ocean Sunk The Lamp Of Light is a series of ambient explorations, slow moving sonic floes, very tidal sounding, thick washes of warm whir in a wide open soundscape of murky industrial percussion, and soft sonic wells, All three guys are credited, along with their usual instruments, with 'room', so as you might expect, these tracks are enormous sounding, spacious and grand, epic drifts through a dark landscape of creaking timbers and whirring wind. It's almost like a doomier version of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste. An old rickety ship, creaking and groaning as it traverses some haunted pass, replete with moaning demons and all manner of creepy sonic incursions. And that's just the first song! The second song, another lengthy moody crawl, is super minimal, very reminiscent of seventies kraut prog like Tangerine Dream or Popol Vuh, thick keyboards that churn and slowly shift, over a backdrop of percussive clatter and keening high end melody.
The last two tracks are both around 5 minutes but somehow embody the same sort of epic spaciousness. As a pair they are a bit like the musical version of one of those paintings that from one angle shows the portrait of a person, but from a slightly different angle shows the same person as they appear in death!
The first angle is all crumbling distorted organ and tinkling music box melody over an intricate web of tape hiss, record crackle and analog synth splutter, dreamy and dark, like some sort of late night lullaby. The other deathly angle sounds like the track before it but with all the life sucked out, the warm glow dimmed, leaving a gaunt shell, the fuzzy slowly decaying, desiccated skeletal remains of a pretty song. The final few minutes offer up a super creepy haunted house melodic coda, a weird minor key music box melody over a strangely mechanical hissing rumbling rhythm. So spooky! And so nice!!!
MPEG Stream: "Untiltled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untiltled 2"

AF URSIN Murrille (La Icie Doree) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

AFCGT (A FRAMES + CLIMAX GOLDEN TWINS) s/t (Fire Breathing Turtle) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Holy shit, this is fucking great! And who would have ever thought that the A Frames and the Climax Golden Twins would make a record together? And who would have imagined that it would be this fucking awesome? It's all superlatives and all expletives in describing the first collaborative production from AFCGT. The A Frames had managed to raise some eyebrows here through their post-punk appropriations of early Wire and early Fall, but the vocals had always been something of a miss for them especially on the last Sub Pop album. But in working with the AQ-endorsed Climax Golden Twins who are a band accustomed to delivering exemplary instrumentals from literally every corner of the avant-rock landscape, the A Frames have the permission to shut the hell up and let the Climax Golden Twins dump the fucking kitchen sink all over A Frames rhythmic swagger. The album opens with a tumultuous blast of glue-huffing noise-rock, sort of like a fistfight between the Butthole Surfers and the Sun City Girls. Soon after, a series of bad-ass Birthday Party / Oxbow swamp rock riffs explode with spindly space-age gamelan leads; elsewhere, the No Wave ghosts of R.L. Crutchfield-era DNA emerge with of jagged chops across the guitar pick-ups, bloodied fingers and all. Fuck, it all sounds fucking great! It's a damn shame that this thing is only limited to 50 copies! That perhaps is our only complaint.
MPEG Stream: "New Punk"
MPEG Stream: "Old Spy"
MPEG Stream: "Thug"

AFFAIR, THE Yes Yes To You (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
New York quintet The Affair make some good ol' feisty power pop in which the robust female vocals of Ms Kali Holloway take center stage. Very much in the kickass traditions of Blondie, Ronnie Spector and Katrina And The Waves. Sounding like she's got one heckuva chip on her shoulder, we'd bet Holloway's not one to take things sittin' down... and neither will you when you give this a spin. You'll be up on your feet bounding around your living room. Loads of fun!
MPEG Stream: "Dead Letters"
MPEG Stream: "Left At The Party"

AFFLICTED MAN The Complete Recordings (Senseless Whale) 2cd 22.00
A while back we remember running across a bootleg-looking vinyl reissue of an LP called Get Stoned Ezy by some British band from the early '80s called High Speed and The Afflicted Man. This obscurity was supposed to be an unknown precursor to the blown-out psychedelic speed freaks sound of Japan's High Rise -- in other words, a holy grail of wah and fuzz. Tom Lax wrote a review of it on his Siltblog that said it sounded like Saint Vitus covering Les Rallizes Denudes! Can anything live up to that? Heck, if Get Stoned Ezy even just remotely came close to living up to its excellent title we'd be curious. Are you curious too?
Well that LP is long gone, but all the tracks from that and more are to be found on this new double cd collection of everything ever recorded by guitarist Steve Hall's DIY punk-psych outfit Afflicted Man (aka Afflicted, aka High Speed and The Afflicted Man). Ramshackle, lo-fi, outsider guitar blurt that reminds us of everything from The Heads to the Stooges to Human Instinct to Michael Yonkers to Zippo Zetterlink to Baby Grandmothers to Acid Mothers Temple and the Pink Ladies Blues. It's psychedelic hard rock done "Messthetics" style.
There's over two hours of music here. Disc one features Afflicted Man's three Bonk label 7" singles, and their The Afflicted Man's Musical Bag LP (which dates from "probably 1979"). The songs from the 7"s are all fairly rockin' punkers, while the Musical Bag LP is weirder and more damaged, with tracks like "Hippy Punk" and "Hippy Skin" (that's what these guys were?), the downer blues of "Glue Sniffing", and the krautrockish "Musically Insane", a track that's really a reinterpretation of their first single "I'm Afflicted", extended to eight minutes and buried amidst shimmering piano and freeform FX. It's what that song would sound like if it was covered by Moolah!
Disc two is where the really fuzz really hits the fan, comprising both the I'm Off Me 'ead LP (1981) and the aforementioned Get Stoned Ezy (1982). On both records, Hendrix and Hawkwind are obvious references, playfully roughed up by these punks n' skins. The three long tracks of Get Stoned Ezy, especially, take that hippy psych sound into a back alley and fuck it up, but all in good weird fun.
While this reish features interesting liner notes from an Aussie fan, we're not really told what happened to the Afflicted Mr. Hall after Get Stoned Ezy. At least he went out at the end of his highest and heaviest half-hour ever!
MPEG Stream: "Get Stoned Ezy"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Afflicted"
MPEG Stream: "Dustbins"
MPEG Stream: "Zip 'Ead"

AFFLUX Azier St. Martin-Sur-Mer Dieppe (Edition...) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Afflux is the musique concrete collaboration between Eric La Casa, Eric Cordier, and Jean Luc Guionnet, but these folks add a unique twist to the normal electro-acoustic tricks learned from INA-GRM (i.e. Pierre Henry, Luc Ferrari, Michel Chion, etc.). This trio employs "an on-site electroacoustic device" (my guess, a laptop) to allow them to improvise with the landscape, while simultaneously recording and filtering their source material (inclement weather, faulty drainage pipes, rising tides, the resonance from long stringed instruments, the communication from a maritime navigation post, etc.). Amidst the rustling textures and swooshing environmental din, Afflux uses nearly every trick in the musique concrete book (flanging, parabolic eq-filtering, granular synthesis, razor sharp editing, stereo field spatiality, etc.) For all of its austere recordings and pristine production techniques, "Azier St. Martin-Sur-Mer Dieppe" is more of a theatrical document, capturing just one of the residues from Afflux's perfomative activity and sounding more like one of Michel Chion's laborious constructions than a live documentation.
RealAudio clip: "Aizier 23 October 1998"
RealAudio clip: "Saint Martin-sur-mer 26 October 1998"

AFFLUX Bouquetot, Autoroute A13/ Paris, Gare de Lyon/ Port-Jerome, Raffinerie (Ground Fault) cd 11.98
Afflux is the seriously minded collective of French field recordists and concrete composers including Eric Cordier, Jean-Luc Guionnet, and Eric La Casa. Their goal is to construct gestural compositions by mixing and processing field recordings as they are occuring with a number of improvisational / spontaneous events, electronic filters, amplified steel strings, and broad stereo spatialization. The first Afflux album "Azier St. Martin-Sur-Mer Dieppe" was imbued with a nautical theme, and this one keeps true to the navigation / transportation themes, focusing on the A13 motorway in Bouquetot, a train platform in Paris, and a petroleum factory in Port-Jerome. In all instances, Afflux observes and re-interprets the border space between natural (rain and wind in particular) and man-made (cars rushing by on the highway or the grinding of a train's breaking mechanism) phenomenona. Within these spaces, Afflux describes some rather dramatic conflicts, or perhaps better stated, has contextualized the experiences to heighten the drama between these two forces. Within each of the three recording contexts, Afflux articulates such crescendos of activity; typified in the incremental screeching of metal from the train accompanying a nervous factory din and the spring-loaded rattle of those amplified steel strings. This is an impressive recording and well worth checking out, far beyond the gimmick value of the live / on-site production, however, valid that technique may be.
RealAudio clip: "Bouquetot, Autoroute A13"
RealAudio clip: "Paris, Gare de Lyon"

AFRAMES 2 (S-S) cd 13.98
Heads up for another wallop of very angular barebones post punk. Yes, Aframes wear their love of early 80s Wire, The Fall and/or Gang Of Four prominently on their sleeves, and they capture the sound and energy very well. Although you might guess their hometown to be San Diego or Providence where many likeminded bands are based, this trio is in fact from Seattle, WA. Deep, deadpan vocals much like those of Nick Forte (Rorschach, Computer Cougar, Beautiful Skin) brood and proclaim while the very front'n'center chunky, choppy guitars jab and saw atop the simmering rhythm section. At times in their music as well as their lyrics and song titles ("Ionic", "Archaeology", "Modula", etc), they bring science, sci-fi and rock together -- also calling to mind the less surfy, more art-damaged side of Man Or Astro-Man?. Note: this was originally released on vinyl earlier this year in a short-lived limited pressing of 1000.
MPEG Stream: "Nuclear"
MPEG Stream: "Electricity"

AFRAMES Black Forest (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
AFrames jump up to Sub Pop for their third full length. As on their previous releases, this is very raw post-punk clawed out with dirty fingernails, but perhaps leaning a bit less on their past Gang Of Four / Wire / The Fall worship. The lead vocals are of the sing-right-along-with-the-main-melody ilk, and the lyrics are fashioned into elementary school level rhyming couplets. They're delivered by a flat spoken-sung male voice that's very reminiscent once again of Nick Forte (of Rorschach, Beautiful Skin, Christmas Decorations, Computer Cougar), and actually this could very easily be mistaken for a Forte project. In addition to the vocals, it's got all the Forte tell-tale elements -- thick chug'n'churn electric guitars that sound like their strings have been slackened, plodding primal drumbeats, abrasive synthesizer blasts and an ample dose of distortion and dissonance. One difference is the occasional appearance of female vocals that serve to soften the masculine angular blows. At times this band also seems to have been influenced by the more song-y side of Neubauten, however they don't come anywhere close to achieving the total visceral immediacy of that seminal band. One thing tho' whereas the recordings are definitely no-frills, apparently they sure spared no cost in the packaging department, this cd comes in a really rad die-cut printed cardboard slipcover.
MPEG Stream: "Galena"
MPEG Stream: "Death Train"

AFRAMES Black Forest (Sub Pop) lp 13.98
AFrames jump up to Sub Pop for their third full length. As on their previous releases, this is very raw post-punk clawed out with dirty fingernails, but perhaps leaning a bit less on their past Gang Of Four / Wire / The Fall worship. The lead vocals are of the sing-right-along-with-the-main-melody ilk, and the lyrics are fashioned into elementary school level rhyming couplets. They're delivered by a flat spoken-sung male voice that's very reminiscent once again of Nick Forte (of Rorschach, Beautiful Skin, Christmas Decorations, Computer Cougar), and actually this could very easily be mistaken for a Forte project. In addition to the vocals, it's got all the Forte tell-tale elements -- thick chug'n'churn electric guitars that sound like their strings have been slackened, plodding primal drumbeats, abrasive synthesizer blasts and an ample dose of distortion and dissonance. One difference is the occasional appearance of female vocals that serve to soften the masculine angular blows. At times this band also seems to have been influenced by the more song-y side of Neubauten, however they don't come anywhere close to achieving the total visceral immediacy of that seminal band. One thing tho' whereas the recordings are definitely no-frills, apparently they sure spared no cost in the packaging department, this cd comes in a really rad die-cut printed cardboard slipcover.
MPEG Stream: "Galena"
MPEG Stream: "Death Train"

AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE Drastic Season (On-U Sound) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE Environmental Studies (On-U Sound) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of the best albums by Adrian Sherwood's African Head Charge, now re-issued on cd with a bonus CD-Rom track.

AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE My Life In A Hole In The Ground (On-U Sound) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE Off The Beaten Track (On-U Sound) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Probably one of the more experimental albums in Adrian Sherwood's African Head Charge dub releases. Lots of off kilter sampling from Albert Einstein to Frank Zappa blended in with straight up dub. Somehow it works. Comes with CD-Rom bonus track.

AFRICAN MUSIC MACHINE Black Water Gold (Fuel) cd 10.98
This is some seriously smoking vintage funk out of New Orleans from the early '70s. An 8-piece outfit, they were best known as the studio band for the Jewel / Paula Soul Power label, they backed up the likes of Fontella Bass, Little Johnny Taylor and Bobby Paterson. But even without a singer their music sounded exactly the way you want your funk to sound: raw, hot and gritty. While they never received the same acclaim as folks like The Meters or The J.B.'s this is still some top notch real-deal funk. The original vinyl of this release is pretty much impossible to find so this cd reissue is a welcome arrival for all soul and funk lovers.
MPEG Stream: "Black Water Gold"
MPEG Stream: "Tropical"

AFRIKA BAMBAATA, DJ Death Mix "2" (Paul Winley) cd 13.98
As influential and prolific as Afrika Bambaata is, it's always baffled us how damn hard it actually can be to get your hands on his music. Luckily we finally managed to get copies of this, a previously ultra rare mix that Bambaata whipped up back in the day. A 20+ minute continuous-mix made in the early '80s showing off his legendary chops and demonstrating loud and clear how he was able to dig into crates of records and create an instant party.
MPEG Stream: "Death Mix 2"

AFRIRAMPO A' (Acid Mothers Temple) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Osaka-based "ultra lunatic girl duo" who stepped in for Cotton Casino on the recent Acid Mothers Temple disc Minstrel In The Galaxy now have their own release on the AMT imprint. Afrirampo consist of Oni (vocals, guitar) and Pikacyu (vocals, drums) but it seems like there's waaay more people that just the two of them in the band. Maybe that's 'cause of all the crazy different kinds of vocals that spill out over everything here -- screaming, cookie monster grunts, shouted group chants, and chipmunk baby babble. All of which goes great with the band's music: totally energetic, catchy, bouncy, noisy, freaky stuff. If you're a musical Japanophile, you'll definitely hear a lot of early Boredoms / UFO Or Die / Melt Banana in this here album! Afrirampo's got the stomping spastic grooves, psychedelic sci-fi effects, chaotic catchiness, ethno-percussion, surfy rock n' roll licks...all that good stuff we love about old Boredoms. And the bizarro-nonsense level likewise seems pretty high. The disc ends with "Kunoichi", a throbbing 16 minute epic that builds from spaced-out insane asylum improv to crushing cosmic churn. Freakin' great. Just about what we'd expect from a band who not only hang with AMT, but also have jammed with Sonic Youth, Munehiro Narita of High Rise, Keiji Haino of Fushitsusha, and also pygmies in an African village where the duo spent several months last summer, or so we're told! Apparently this is an enhanced (with unreleased tracks and cd-rom materials) remastered reissue of what was once a cd-r release, recorded at some point early in the duo's career, which would be circa 2002. So we'll now definitely have to try and get a hold of more by this band!
MPEG Stream: "Dodododo"
MPEG Stream: "I Love You"

AFRIRAMPO Kore Ga Mayaku Da (Tzadik) cd 15.98
At last, an Afrirampo release that's not so hard to obtain, as the duo makes their domestic US debut on John Zorn's Tzadik label. John Zorn being the guy that first clued a lot of us in to the Boredoms, coincidentally enough. Well, whether deliberately or not, it would seem that the two girls from Osaka, Japan known as Afrirampo are channelling the chaos and confusion of early early Boredoms (who also hail from Osaka). If you miss the noisiness of the Boredoms circa Soul Discharge, you might have a nice flashback from this. There's lots of screaming and singing (the wild, wide variety of their vocals is one of Afrirampo's trademarks, along with the arty costumes that feature in their live presentations) and distorted guitar and crazed percussion and boundless energy here. Lots and lots of all that. It's all very dramatic and weird and doubtless annoying to some in the same way the Boredoms once were (some of US here at AQ actually can't stand to hear this when it's being played in the store). The very first track will let you know if you're up to their test or not: almost 12 minutes that range from raging Bore-punk to vocal baby babble to mean metal guitar riffage. If you dig that, the rest of the record will be right up your alley. And anyone who is already a fan won't be disappointed with this Tzadik disc either.
MPEG Stream: "I Did Are"
MPEG Stream: "Nakimushikemushi Good Bye!"

AFRO CUBAN ALL STARS A Toda Cuba le Gusta (Nonesuch) cd 17.98
A Buena Vista Social Club spinoff project. A group of Cuba's finest musicians, young and old (including a 6 piece horn section) got together to play and record for fun. Features some BVSC favorites, including Ibrahim Ferrer.

AFRO CUBAN ALL-STARS Distinto Diferente (World Circuit) cd 17.98
"The second All-Stars album features Havana's multi-generational big band embracing a more modern dance-oriented sound. Deploying a variety of styles, the extraordinary cast of over fifty musicians delivers a unique take on Cuban classics and Juan de Marcos' original compositions." Featuring Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzalez, Omar Portuondo, Barbarito Torres, 'Cachaito' Lopez and 'Guajiro' Mirabal. Includes a 44 page booklet in Spanish and English with gobs of full color photos. Excellent.

AFTER DINNER Paradise of Replica (Detector) cd 9.98
After Dinner was an '80s Japanese art rock band that featured the delicate and beautiful vocals of Haco (she of but one name). This 1989 album of theirs (originally a RecRec label LP) sees cd reissue in remastered form, and it is a true delight. Haco's vocals are matched by After Dinner's lovely music, avant chamber pop that is somewhat theatrical but always restrained (perhaps surprising given the thoughts of prog-rock overkill evoked by a list of the instrumentation used: harp, cello, flute, clarinet, glockenspiel, tung-saio, hichirki, oboe, piano, keys, tapes, bird sounds -- Haco herself is even credited with "volleyball" on one track!) The welcome reissue of this material (welcome especially to those of us who didn't discover it the first time around) is augmented by four additional tracks provided by an interesting international cast of remixers: Terre Thaemlitz, Ata Tak's Pascal Plantinga, Skist (Samm Bennett and Ito Haruna), and Joshua McKay of indie-ethno rockers Macha. This "Paradise of Remixes" can be considered bonus tracks in the best sense of the term: the original album stands fine without them, but they don't detract. All maintain continuity with what has gone before while updating AD's sound to the contemporary cutting edge of glitches and digital processing (for instance, the timestretching technique used by Thaemlitz to draw out one of Haco's utterances into a *timestopping* moment of vocal perfection), electronic approaches that bring to mind Haco's current work with Sachiko M and Michiyo Yagi avant-electronica trio Hoahio as well as Haco's recent solo disc "Happiness Proof". Well done!
RealAudio clip: "Kitchen Life I"
RealAudio clip: "Ironclad Mermaid"
RealAudio clip: "Paradaisu (Imada Kuufuku) [Terre Thaemlitz remix]"

AFX 2 Remixes by AFX cd ep 8.98
Richard D. James -- aka The Aphex Twin -- had reportedly gone into retirement after the sexually grotesque production "Windowlicker," emerging briefly with an oblique composition on the aptly titled "Or Some Computer Music Compilation." Fortunately, his plans of retirement will be put on hold with the release of his upcoming album "Drukqs" in the near future... Although in the meantime, James offers two remixes from the height of UK Acid House movement (808 State's "Flow Coma" and something by DJ Pierre) under his AFX moniker. James maintains the integrity of the manic proto-jungle breakbeats (then the 'ardcore sounds of XL Recordings of Prodigy and Altern 8) of the originals, as well as all of the Acid squiggles and electro-psychedelic effects. Yet he warps everything with lots of timestretching, vocoded deconstruction, and oddly timed starts-n-stops. While fans of Lesser and Kid 606 may find the teacher to be tame and conservative in comparison to his students, James is a production force to be reckoned with, and this makes for a worthy teaser for his upcoming album.
RealAudio clip: "Remix 1"
RealAudio clip: "Remix 2"

AFX 2 Remixes by AFX 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Richard D. James -- aka The Aphex Twin -- had reportedly gone into retirement after the sexually grotesque production "Windowlicker," emerging briefly with an oblique composition on the aptly titled "Or Some Computer Music Vol. 1." Fortunately, his plans of retirement will be put on hold with the release of his upcoming album "Drukqs" in the near future... Although in the meantime, James offers two remixes from the height of UK Acid House movement (808 State's "Flow Coma" and something by DJ Pierre) under his AFX moniker. James maintains the integrity of the manic proto-jungle breakbeats (then the 'ardcore sounds of XL Recordings of Prodigy and Altern 8) of the originals, as well as all of the Acid squiggles and electro-psychedelic effects. Yet he warps everything with lots of timestretching, vocoded deconstruction, and oddly timed starts-n-stops. While fans of Lesser and Kid 606 may find the teacher to be tame and conservative in comparison to his students, James is a production force to be reckoned with, and this makes for a worthy teaser for his upcoming album.

AFX Analogue Bubblebath 3 (Rephlex) cd 16.98
All in all Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) recorded four different parts to the Analogue Bubblebath series...however this is the one to have. Warped electronics and electro breakbeats.

AFX Analogue Bubblebath 4 (Rephlex) cd ep 9.98
Recently reissued, Analogue Bubblebath 4 originally appeared in 1994 under Richard D. James' acid damaged moniker AFX. This four track EP opens with a huge, rolling techno breakbeat whose machinist rigor bears similarities to James' rhythmic structure for the Aphex single "On" and the Polygon Window track "Quoth". Instead of one of his mad-scientist melodies, James merely plants an overblown scream to punctuate the fourth measure of his rhythmic pulse. Back in the day, there were plenty of technohedz who weren't too keen on this track for its overt bloodcurdling vibe; although in comparison to the recent horror IDM excesses of Venetian Snares, this is hardly sounds like a transgressive number anymore. Solid nonetheless. James flushes out the remainder of the EP with less bombastic pieces, more in keeping with the sound of the Richard D. James LP with deftly manufactured acid percolations over midtempo fractured breaks and plenty of bubbly ambience.
MPEG Stream: "Elephant Song"
MPEG Stream: "Sloth"

AFX Analogue Bubblebath 4 (Rephlex) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

AFX Chosen Lords (Rephlex) cd 15.98
It's actually been quite a while since Richard D. James has produced a a proper full length album, with the Aphex Twin double disc Drukqs being released five years ago, way back in 2001. In recent years, he's returned to his infatuation with acid techno and breakcore by releasing a series of Analord singles under the AFX moniker. Chosen Lords collects the best material from those 11 Analord singles and gives those tracks a slight trim to fit as much material on the CD as possible. No one is going to confuse anything on Chosen Lords with the repulsive electronica brutality of Aphex' "Come To Daddy" or the grotesque hip-hop bastardization of "Windowlicker", instead the tracks here harken to his earliest experiments with 303 melodic squiggliness and fidgety drum-machines struggling to keep together a constant rhythm amidst the rollicking breakbeats. James has long been an exceptional programmer; and even if there's nothing super innovative here, Chosen Lords is an absolute joy to listen to. Certainly on par with his Polygon Window and Selected Ambient Works Vol. 1 releases!
MPEG Stream: "Fenix Funk"
MPEG Stream: "PWSteal.Ldpinch.D"

AFX Hangable Auto Bulb (Warp) cd 13.98
Originally released as two EPs back in 1995 before his seminal Richard D. James LP and name change to Aphex Twin, Hangable Auto Bulb has long been a collectors' rarity, mentioned with hushed reverence amongst electronica types everywhere. When situated against contemporary breakcore / drill 'n' bass artist such as Plug, Mu-Ziq, and even his own Aphex releases, Hangable Auto Bulb holds its own quite well, with clincal tones shaped into wistful melodies on top of complex skittering breakbeats and stalking basslines. Yet in the huge leaps that have been made technologically since '95, whereby beats, samples, and the digital code itself have been imploded / exploded by Hrvatski, Otto Von Schirach, Lesser, and many other post-IDM artists, AFX's Hangable Auto Bulb appears sparse in its production and curiously nostalgic for a time when "Intelligent Dance Music" wasn't a thoroughly laughable concept.
MPEG Stream: "Children Talking"
MPEG Stream: "Hangable Auto Bulb"

AFX (APHEX TWIN) Smojphace ep (Rephlex) cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Richard James jumps into the dancehall fray, or jumps on the dancehall bandwagon, whichever you prefer. Either way, this single kicks serious ass. 'Run The Place Red' is a remix of a track from the amazing Bug record from a few lists past, and while James adds a bit more skitter and drill and rapidfire drum and bass, and does a little slice and dice, it would have fit perfectly on that Bug record. Dancehall just the way we like it, pounding and crushing and a little fucked up. The other two tracks are full-on speaker shredding noise. Weird and brutal and pretty tough to listen to. Definitely a quick fix for those of you who don't like how 'soft' and dynamic and un-Merzbow-like Merzbow has become lately. All three tracks are pretty darn great, but get it mostly for the dancehall track. Wicked.
MPEG Stream: "Run The Place Red (AFX mix, original by The Bug)"
MPEG Stream: "ktpa2"

AFX (APHEX TWIN) Smojphace ep (Rephlex) 12" 8.98
Richard James jumps into the dancehall fray, or jumps on the dancehall bandwagon, whichever you prefer. Either way, this single kicks serious ass. 'Run The Place Red' is a remix of a track from the amazing Bug record from a few lists past, and while James adds a bit more skitter and drill and rapidfire drum and bass, and does a little slice and dice, it would have fit perfectly on that Bug record. Dancehall just the way we like it, pounding and crushing and a little fucked up. The other two tracks are full-on speaker shredding noise. Weird and brutal and pretty tough to listen to. Definitely a quick fix for those of you who don't like how 'soft' and dynamic and un-Merzbow-like Merzbow has become lately. All three tracks are pretty darn great, but get it mostly for the dancehall track. Wicked.

AGA, ALEMU Ethiopiques Vol. 11 : The Harp of King David (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
We were pretty surprised to see an eleventh volume in the Ethiopiques series here, since we were all under the impression that the collection was slated to end at volume ten. Well, turns out we were wrong and we are happy to be wrong because 11 is an excellent disc in its own right. Of all the discs in the series, Ethiopiques 11 shares the closest resemblance to volumes 2 or 5, but only in that it's a complete departure musically from the rest -- 2 and 5 included. Ethiopiques 11 features Alemu Aga playing the beguena, a large lyre with ten paired tuned strings. The beguena is often called the "Harp of King David" because it is believed that David (as in David and Goliath) played a similar such instrument to accompany his psalms way back when. As would be expected, the beguena has always been closely tied with the church -- Coptic Orthodox -- and had a rich repertoire that was very nearly destroyed along with all the other great music and arts during the Stalinist period of Ethiopia's history which began in 1974. Twenty years later Alemu Aga (this album was recorded in 1994) and others were finally able to continue with the instrument's traditions and now, slowly, the beguena is being returned to its place in society.
As stated earlier, you won't find much similarity in the music here to the rest of the series. Consisting solely of Alemu's soft voice accompanied by the beguena songs have a mesmerising quality. The beguena's strings buzz and rattle as Alemu Aga sings both religious and secular songs in a low, smoky voice. If you skip through the tracks on the disc you might be fooled into thinking you're hearing the same track over and over again. Yet although the instrument's melodies are seemingly repetitive -- given its limited range and single tuning -- they form an interesting counterpoint to Aga's vocal lines.
RealAudio clip: "Tew Semagn Hagere"

AGAMENON Todos Rien De Mi (Guerssen Records) cd 21.00
Wow what a great lost discovery! Originally released in 1975, this Madrid psychedelic-pop outfit were making some of the most pleasing and colorful sounds in Spain during their all too short existence. Due to its limited release it never made its way to much of the rest of the world. Intense psych aficionados have treasured and always been on the lookout for this, their one and only release, but in order to be lucky enough to get a copy you had to be willing to shell out big bucks for one of the few copies that were still around. Luckily 30+ years later the world gets to hear what those in the know in Madrid in '75 got so excited about. With 8 songs in English and 2 en Espanol, Agamenon took a love of Sgt Peppers era Beatles, good time drugs, colorful melodies and enough quirk and charisma to make their songs jump out at you. From fuzzed out acid rock to sunny beaming psych-pop glory, this is one of those bands that deserves a place next to Os Mutantes and Love with their ability to create an album filled with so much vibrant energy, catchy hooks and a spirit that makes you want to lay in the greenest grass on the warmest day and roll around for hours.
MPEG Stream: "Todos Rien De Mi"
MPEG Stream: "Wooden Tears"

AGATA Spike (Tzadik) cd 16.98
What would you expect a solo album from the phenomenal guitar player for Japanese art-spazz-punks Melt Banana to sound like? Probably a diverse and demented exercise in guitar-based creativity...and that's what you get. Spike features 25 instrumental tracks, mostly miniatures ranging from mere seconds to a minute or two in length, though the disc ends with a ten minute live epic. It's a wild array of scraping drones and squealling chaos, sounding more like video game gunfire in parts than anything resembling conventional "guitar playing". Yet despite all the effects and electronics at play, there's for sure some guitar strings and fingers in there too. Although for the most part on the harsher side of the musical spectrum, this disc is not without beauty. If you're already a Melt Banana fan, you'll find this quite listenable and attention-span friendly. Imagine Fred Frith vs. Buckethead... Agata seems particularily fond of extreme stereo panning, so we'd recommend headphones if you're brave!
MPEG Stream: "Ice Diver"
MPEG Stream: "Pinger"
MPEG Stream: "Armillary Sphere"
MPEG Stream: "E C C O Feedback"

AGATHODAIMON Blacken the Angel (Nuclear Blast) cd 14.98
Majestic, gothic, vampiric black metal from Germany in the vein (open and bleeding) of Cradle of Filth.

AGATHODAIMON Serpent's Embrace (Nuclear Blast) cd 15.98

AGATHOTHODION Kan Guds Gjort (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 9.98
More UNBLACK metal from the seemingly infallible E.E.E. label, home to some of the most amazing black metal we've heard in ages, which all just so happens to be not so black, as in white, as in Christian! And we're not talking Stryper here, this stuff is as fierce and furious and fucked up and black as any of your Striborgs or Lugubrums. 
As far as we can tell, although we're not entirely sure, Agathothodion seems to be the work of the same man behind massive AQ faves Light Shall Prevail, who is also a member of Glaciial, an unblack metal supergroup, as well as the man who runs the E.E.E. label and seems to be single handedly spreading the unblack gospel. When does this man do anything but spew thick torrents of glorious black buzz?! Who cares as long as we're continually treated to music this gorgeously bleak and intense, this buzz-drenched and brutal, and even if it's not the same guy, whoever this mysterious black mystic is, the music he conjures up is both majestic and epic as well as dark and buzzing. 
Kan Guds Gjort is split into two looooooong tracks, one twenty minutes and one more than a half an hour, both sprawling and expansive, the perfect form for drone-y buzzy black metal, allowed to stretch out to trance-like proportions. Mostly midtempo, a loping relentless rhythm, the guitars buzzing and swirling, the riffs circular and hypnotically repetitive, the drums going from simple pound to furious blast, but as is often the case with E.E.E. bands it's the utterly distinctive vocals that make it, here it's a guttural growl, that howls in a truly creepy raspy way, buried in the mix, so it's just sort of a fuzzed out wash of distorted ggggrrrrrrrowl on top of the layers of buzz and hiss. The other cool thing is the songs work up to a fever pitch, and suddenly it's a super dramatic Godspeed style crescendo, but rendered in soaring sheets of buzzing blackness and dense tangles of thrashing drums and anguished wails. Here and there, the tracks smooth out into extended almost math rock jams, with jangly guitars buried under a wash of layered guitar, the drums simple and solid, those are the parts that are truly mesmerizing, a doomy depressive drone drenched blackened post rock that oozes into the more traditional blackness around it. 
As always super limited, we got a bunch but E.E.E. stuff flies out of here and we usually can't get any more...
MPEG Stream: "By The Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Man Born Blind"

AGATHOTHODION Traum Von Gott (E.E.E Recordings) cd-r 8.98
BACK IN STOCK!
We're beginning to think EEE is our new favorite black metal label. After last list's brilliant Light Shall Prevail, and now this disc from Agathothodion (with tons more still to review).
We're ready to convert! Convert? Oh yeah, we forgot to mention, this is WHITE metal, as in the opposite of black metal. Un-black metal. This is not satanic or hateful, instead it's hopeful and holy. But you'd never know it from listening. Agathothodion is bizarre and creepy and dark and, well, very very black sounding. And the thing is, while some of us have problems with religion being so dogmatic, this particular sonic representation of Christianity is anything but dogmatic. In fact it points out just how cookie cutter the majority of black metal really is. What we're getting at here, is this is some totally demented, freaked out, blissed out and drone-y, haunting and hypnotic ambient experimental black metal. They list their influences as GOD, JESUS CHRIST, Xasthur, Burzum, Leviathan, Isis, but they might as well have also listed Benighted Leams, Urfaust, Dead Reptile Shrine... you get what we're talking about. This stuff is fucking amazing! Traum Von Gott collects two long out of print eps, Stavkirke and Telos, and adds a bonus track)
So what the hell does it sound like?
A buzzing blackness that's spread out into a thick loping wash of blurry buzz, super dreamy, fuzzy warm midtempo black metal, soft swirls of midtempo trudge, totally hypnotic and drone-y, but it's the vocals that had us. Some sort of ancient sounding ghostlike falsetto croon. Drenched in reverb, not singing lyrics so much as just sort of moaning, and groaning. It almost sounds like the guy from Urfaust when he's 100 years old, his wheelchair pushed up to the mic, as a reedy disembodied voice drifts from his parched lips. Totally intense and creepy, definitely some of the most unique vocals we've heard. And while at first they sound completely bizarre, after a while, you really can't imagine the vocals sounding any other way. But that's not all that's strange about this band. They also break their song down into strange little post rock interludes with weird bloopy underwater bass, almost like a black metal Three Mile Pilot. But it really is the vocals, a nearly hysterical sounding completely chilling tortured cry spreading over the proceedings like a blood red fog. Almost like the sound you could imagine coming from behind a locked door in an insane asylum, that strange inmate who has been sitting in the corner for 20 years, mouth and eyes covered, but who continues to wail at all hours of the day.
Man, this is so great, pretty much all we've been listening to. We were all ready to proclaim the Light Shall Prevail record as our new favorite black metal record (the same guy behind that band too we think) but now we're not so sure. Might just be easier to begin singing the praises of white metal and proclaim EEE our new favorite label...
MPEG Stream: TRAUM VON GOTT "Endless Snowfall"
MPEG Stream: TRAUM VON GOTT "Deep Midwinter"
MPEG Stream: AGATHOTHODION "Parabole"
MPEG Stream: AGATHOTHODION "Telos"

AGD Echolokator (Antena Krzyku Unc.) cd 15.98

AGE OF SILENCE Acceleration (The End) cd 10.98

MPEG Stream: "The Green Office And The Dark Desk Drawer"
MPEG Stream: "The Flow At 09:30 AM"

AGENCEMENT Boxe Consonantique ( Pico) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Squeaking, scraping scraps of violin improv turned into musique concrete via magnetic tape and razorblade -- that's the specialty of Japan's Hideaki Shimada, aka Agencement. This disc contains two long, low-key, slowly unravelling tracks, one from '93 and the other from '99. Imagine the abstract avant-classical violin of someone like Malcolm Goldstein fractured further via tape splicing. This is apparently Agencement's fourth full-length release, although we've only ever seen his 1991 disc "Viosphere" (an old "Japanoise" favorite of ours, in fact). "Boxe Consonatique" may be considerably less dense and noisy than we remember "Viosphere" being, but is no less lovely.
RealAudio clip: "track two"

AGENT NOVA Stop Time (Punk In My Vitamins) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Agent Nova is the psychotic project of Dale from Milk Cult / Steelpole Bathtub. Just as far out as the Milk Cult's "Project M-13" album (which is an all time AQ favorite), though not quite as purposefully diverse. Possible quotes from the Mission Impossible themes and the Steve Miller Band are decontructed on lots of mutilating tape recorders and topped off with a constant stream of fuzz guitar licks. Good stuff.