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"

AGALLOCH Ashes Against The Grain (The End) cd 12.98

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
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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.

AGENT RIBBONS And The Star Crossed Doppleganger (Seven Inch Project) 7" 5.98
Geez, if only we still had our Fisher Price record player, this opaque guacamole-green 7" would look so good spinnin' there in our bedroom this dark winter's eve. The music on this new Agent Ribbons record is as delightfully darling as that thought... except maybe carpet the floor with cushy moss, blanket the bed with a patchwork of gingham and string blossoming ivy from the nightstand. Oh and sprinkle the whole lot with twinkling pixie dust. Those who were charmed by this Sacramento duo's enchanted folk pop debut album On Time Travel And Romance last year won't wanna miss Ms Natalie and Ms Lauren's two new tunes. Plus they've found the perfect matching offkilter bewitching maven to do the cover art, Dame Darcy! Sure to tickle pink fans of Jolie Holland, Ditty Bops, Coco Rosie, and y'know what? We'd bet Agent Ribbons would be a favorite of Astrid Lindgren's irrepressible storybook heroine Pippi Longstocking too.
By the way, this is the first installment of the Seven Inch Project. Yup, it's a brand new series of very limited edition 7"s being released by some cool folks down in Long Beach, CA. Only 500 records of each edition will be pressed on hefty 70 gram colored vinyl, packaged in impressive sturdy gatefold sleeves, and hand-numbered. Truly a joy to hold and admire in your hands and in your ears. Oh and each one comes with an mp3 download passcode for all you newfangled types. So hop to it!

AGENT RIBBONS On Time Travel And Romance (self-released) cd 12.98
It's always nice when a little word of mouth proves fruitful! SF solo troubadour Garrett Pierce (whose own fine musical wares we've stocked a-plenty) recommended these female songstresses to us recently. Agent Ribbons are two gals Natalie Gordon and Lauren Hess who hail from Sacramento, CA. Their folk pop sound is very old tyme-y, down-home-y, with an almost impromptu feel. They sing quirky lyrics atop a Spartan backdrop of strummed electric guitars, accordion and drums. Very light, playful and girly. They name such other female artists as Mirah, Josephine Foster, Faun Fables, Mary Timony, Blossom Dearie, Jolie Holland, Ditty Bops and Dame Darcy as influences, and you can definitely hear it on On Time Travel And Romance. Highlights include the very Holland-y heartfelt "Call Me Margaret" and delightfully dipsy "Chelsea". Fun, warm and welcoming! We think fans of Rilo Kiley will take a shine to this too.
MPEG Stream: "Chelsea, Let's Go Join The Circus"
MPEG Stream: "Call Me Margaret"

AGENTS DEL FUTURO Mydrone (Dielectric) cd-r 11.98
Our pal Drucifer's Dielectric label has been laying low of late, for the most part... yet Drucifer did dig this debut recording from Agents Del Futuro enough to add it to the Dielectric discog as a limited edition cd-r packaged in a colorful, collaged, oversized, silkscreened folder! ADF (a one man band, that man being local Mission-dweller Jesse Clark, a painter and percussionist) makes improvisational use of all sorts of acoustic instruments and non-instruments (some of 'em include: bike wheel, Korg 770, squeaky door, doumbek, dried seed pods, Paiste 22" symphonic gong, Turkish tea cups, marimba, radio, echoplex, harmonium, sandpaper, bass, singing bowl, drum set, piano, tuned Nepalese gongs, voicemail, billiards...) along with electronic processing and tape looping of the sounds produced, to create the 17 tracks of Mydrone. Some of it is indeed droney, other parts almost poppy... there's lotsa noisiness, fractured beats, glitchtronic sampling, some singing... all of it together kinda broken down and damaged and unpredictable. A fun lo-fi stew of soundmaking weirdness, running the gamut from dreamy to jittery, that totally fits into the Dielectric roster alongside artists like Die Elektrischen, Karen Stackpole, Gerrit, the Dielectric Minimalist All-Stars, and Brian and Chris.
MPEG Stream: "Not Fucking Printz"
MPEG Stream: "Mydrone"

AGENTS OF ABHORRENCE Character Dissection (Numerical Thief) lp 15.98
This brutal blast of glorious grind from down under is finally available on vinyl. One sided, the other side etched and it looks AMAZING! All new art, gatefold sleeve. So killer.
Here's what we had to say about the cd when we first got it in:
Not sure what it is about the number 9 but it somehow figures heavily into the mythos of these mysterious grindlords from Australia. Their first release was a super limited 9". This latest disc, another blown out blast of pummeling technical grind, is 9 songs packed into 9 ultradense minutes. Hmmm. 9. 9. 9. Upside down is... 6. 6. 6. Ahem, anyway... As with all great grind, these guys pack more riffs and parts into 9 minutes than most bands can manage in an hour! 9 mini epics, each a dizzying squall of whirlwind riffs, shrieking vocals, chaotic drum splatter and a wall of low end that hits you like a block of concrete to the sternum. The guys in Whitehorse hipped us to these guys so you can get an idea of the sort of heaviness we're talking here. But where Whitehorse destroy with glacial malevolence, AoA annihilate with frenzied fury! Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Dead End"
MPEG Stream: "Heart(less)"
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalker"

AGENTS OF ABHORRENCE Character Dissection (Numerical Thief) 3" cd-r 11.98
BACK ROOM FIND! Last copies...
Not sure what it is about the number 9 but it somehow figures heavily into the mythos of these mysterious grindlords from Australia. Their first release was a super limited 9". This latest disc, another blown out blast of pummeling technical grind, is 9 songs packed into 9 ultradense minutes. Hmmm. 9. 9. 9. Upside down is... 6. 6. 6. Ahem, anyway... As with all great grind, these guys pack more riffs and parts into 9 minutes than most bands can manage in an hour! 9 mini epics, each a dizzying squall of whirlwind riffs, shrieking vocals, chaotic drum splatter and a wall of low end that hits you like a block of concrete to the sternum. The guys in Whitehorse hipped us to these guys so you can get an idea of the sort of heaviness we're talking here. But where Whitehorse destroy with glacial malevolence, AoA annihilate with frenzied fury! Awesome.
Cool little 3" cd-r packaged in a deluxe oversized slim DVD case, with full color insert.
MPEG Stream: "Dead End"
MPEG Stream: "Heart(less)"
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalker"

AGENTS OF ABHORRENCE Covert Lobotomy (Missing Link) 9" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
How can you not love a band called Agents of Abhorrence? Or a record called Covert Lobotomy? Well, with names like those you can probably guess what sort of business these agents get up to. A thrashing grinding buzz of epic proportions. Swarms of bombinating riffs and spastically thrashing drums, howled vocals and ultraprecise ultracomplex song structures. Massive and masterful grind! Pete from the mighty Whitehorse hipped us to these guys and he was right on the money. Clear vinyl packaged in a gorgeous cut-away sleeve, hard to describe but really, really cool looking. Beautiful and of course VERY LIMITED!!

AGENTS OF OBLIVION Agents of Oblivion (Rotten Records) cd 15.98
Dax Riggs and Mike Sanchez of the criminally overlooked Acid Bath (RIP) continue to rock with the metal of their former (and much loved) outfit tempered with Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie and slithery Iggy production. Plus the emotional intensity and murky melodicism of Jeff Buckley. Excellent! A runner-up for album of the week, actually. This proves that "classic rock" wasn't only made in the '70s. Music to drive your Camaro to.
RealAudio clip: "Endsmouth"
RealAudio clip: "Dead Girl"

AGF Delay On My Pillow (Mixer) 3" cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
On DelayOnMyPillow, AGF -- aka Antye Greie-Fuchs of Laub -- offers a digitized variation on the musique concrete tradition, in particular the psychological narratives described in Luc Ferrari's work. Just like Ferrari, Greie-Fuchs amplifies closely mic'd whispers to capture all of their lip-smacking and breathy intonation and positions those whispers right up against the speakers while tiny digital events and processed environmental recordings flutter in the background. She effectively creates an artificial stage for those vocalizations coupled with her own Bjorkish vocals, alternating between sounding charmingly intimate and downright creepy. Extending what cinematic allusions can be drawn from such a composition, Greie-Fuchs offers brief interludes of detached electro-funk, bip-hop, and post-techno acting as segues between the bulk of the work. A curious, modern-day reinterpretation of musique concrete.
MPEG Stream: "Delay On My Pillow"

AGF / DELAY Explode (AGF) cd 15.98

AGF.3 & SUE.C Mini Movies (Asphodel) cd+dvd 17.98
A conceptualist first and an electronicist second Antye Greie-Fuchs has developed a successful career mapping out the dullness of daily life. This was particularly true for her post-Laurie Anderson monotone recitation of dictionary definitions for 'code' over glitch-hopped electronica, found on her recording Language Is The Most. She and San Francisco's highly decorated multi-media artist Sue Costabile have been collaborating for some time now, performing mostly through the European sound-art festival circuit; and Mini Movies marks their first release together sprawling across a CD and appropriately a DVD. While smeared with brittle digital glitches, AGF and Sue C do little to hide their infatuation with R&B slowjam grooves. In turn they replace the narrative excesses of R&B lovesongs with topics as banal as possible: recipes, commuting, jetlag, e-mail, etc. Even when Sue C pines for the next time she can "get really fucked up," it's more of an afterthought as if there's nothing else of any real value to wish for. Composed and filmed in New York, San Francisco, London, and Berlin, Mini Movies acts as something of a fragemented travel diary between the two artists, communing with both artists' shared sensibility of everyday modernity.
MPEG Stream: "Marzipan"
MPEG Stream: "Exist Slow"

AGGREGATION Mind Odyssey (Erebus) cd 21.00

AGGROLITES, THE Dirty Reggae (Axe Records) cd 16.98
Adapting their name from their heroes The Aggrovators and the Crystalites, the Aggrolites are a California reggae band with a truly amazing knack for replicating the sounds of late sixties, early seventies Jamaican reggae. They're so good at reproducing a classic reggae sound that they were chosen as Prince Buster's backing band when Mr. Dread played at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in 2003. How they do it, we know not, but they can pull off a pre-Black Ark Lee Perry sound like no one else. Listen to "Burning Bush" and you have to wonder where that keyboard came from. Thankfully the Aggrolites aren't all about creating a convincing replica and while the guitar, bass, drums and organ all fit the bill, the vocals don't aim to imitate any Jamaican singer. Instead singer Jesse Wagner manages a scratchy, punk-rock-cum-blues vocal style more reminiscent of Los Lobos than anything else. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Hot Stop"
MPEG Stream: "Burning Bush"

AGGROLITES, THE Reggae Hit L.A. (Hellcat) cd 13.98
Although they look like an old Fat Wreckords or Epitaph dude punk band, The Aggrolites aren't what they appear to be. In fact, they're a band (yes from L.A.) whose heart pounds to a solid reggae beat. However, unlike the reggae influenced bands who've come before them (The Clash, Rancid, etc), The Aggrolites have immersed themselves completely in the genre, doing a remarkable job of recreating the classic early Jamaican reggae sounds. Along the way you can hear deep reverent bows to the likes of The Ethiopians, The Skatallites, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Alton Ellis, Toots & The Maytals among others. Adding more proof to the pudding, the quintet have performed as backing band for many greats such as Phyllis Dillon, Derrick Morgan, and Prince Buster as well as Tim Armstrong of Rancid and Madness. There's nothing aggro about this here album. Nope, all you get are breezy good times!
MPEG Stream: "Work It"
MPEG Stream: "Rhythm & Light"

AGGROVATORS MEETS THE REVOLUTIONARIES At Channel One: Instrumental (Striker Lee) cd 11.98
This isn't a new re-issue, it's been out for a while now, but we just picked it up. This is one of the best dub records I've heard in a long time. Very simple dub with patient and simple solo lines. In fact, this whole record is quite stripped down and compact -- maximum effect with minimum means. There is no recording date here, but it sounds as though it was recorded in the early seventies, evidenced by a complete lack of synth presence -- instead, good old organ and even way out of tune piano still fill the key spot. The melodic phrases are broken up nicely, sprinkled with spring reverb, tape delay and filled in with solo lines that avoid upstaging and never stray far from the austere fabric of the tunes. With the cast here it should probably not come as a surprize that this should be such a great record: Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook, Roland Alfonso, Skullie and more. Recorded at Channel One and at King Tubby's of course and produce by Bunny Lee. On the cover art tip, there's a nice drawing of three dred-locked rastas wielding machine guns and firing away in every direction.
RealAudio clip: "The Conqueror"
RealAudio clip: "Bionic Man"
RealAudio clip: "Special Brew"

AGGROVATORS MEETS THE REVOLUTIONARIES At Channel One: Instrumental (Striker Lee) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got vinyl in of this album that got reviewed in the last list, so I thought I'd post it again. Also, I thought I'd mention that the title had been misprinted in the last list, if that makes any difference, as "Aggrovatorsbionic" -- we honestly don't know how that happened. I think it has something to do with what looks like tea leaves that are stuck in between the keys on our iBook. This is one of the best dub records I've heard in a long time. Very simple dub with patient and simple solo lines. In fact, this whole record is quite stripped down and compact -- maximum effect with minimum means. There is no recording date here, but it sounds as though it was recorded in the early seventies, evidenced by a complete lack of synth presence -- instead, good old organ and even way out of tune piano still fill the key spot. The melodic phrases are broken up nicely, sprinkled with spring reverb, tape delay and filled in with solo lines that avoid upstaging and never stray far from the austere fabric of the tunes. With the cast here it should probably not come as a surprize that this should be such a great record: Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Jackie Mittoo, Tommy McCook, Roland Alfonso, Skullie and more. Recorded at Channel One and at King Tubby's of course and produce by Bunny Lee. The LP cover art here is a bit different, painted in full color, but this one still depicts another group of machine gun weilding rastas battling it out with some unknown enemy. On Jamaican vinyl, but we haven't had any complaints of warping or defects yet.

AGGROVATORS, THE Dubbing It Studio 1 Style (Jamaican) cd 14.98
It's now getting to the point where, not only can I pick out a new disc from the Jamaican Recordings label from 15 feet by their distinctive layouts, but I almost have a Pavlovian response when I see a new one. Because Jamaican recordings continues to prove that they're a label to be reckoned with. Not only do they consistenly pick out excellent and often rare tracks, but the recordings themselves are always of top notch fidelity. This collection of dubs by producer Bunny "Striker" Lee's session / super group The Aggrovators is no exception to the reputation that Jamaican is earning here at AQ. The tracks on this collection were originally recorded at Randy's Studio 17, Channel 1 and Dynamic Sounds and are all dubs of tracks that were Jamaican versions of American and U.K. soul and R&B. Being three times removed from the original song you'd be hard pressed to know what cover is being dubbed unless you pick out a clue from the periodic fade ins of the vocal tracks laden with reverb and delay.
RealAudio clip: "Not Just Another Dub"
RealAudio clip: "Live & Learn Dub"

AGGROVATORS, THE Kaya Dub (Attack) cd 21.00

AGGROVATORS, THE Kaya Dub (Attack) lp 21.00

AGITATED RADIO PILOT / THE NETHER DAWN split (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally released as a lathe cut in a couple of ultra limited pressings (and we're talking ULTRA, as in two pressings, 50 copies each) pressed by lathe legend Peter King, thus of course gone in the blink of an eye, this little gem is now available as a cd-r to appease all you digital only folks. It's also probably limited, but thankfully not nearly so.
A split record teaming up PseudoArcana head Milton and his Nether Dawn project with Irish one man band Agitated Radio Pilot. And it's a perfect match up, each bands' sound perfectly complimenting the other's.
Agitated Radio Pilot unfurls slow growing, wheezing melancholy melodies and warm warbly atmospheres, split into 4 tracks, it sounds more like one lengthy extended pastoral drift, a lazy wander beneath leafy trees and a burnt orange late afternoon sky, laid back and blissed out. Melancholy and gauzy. The muted buzz of guitars, warbly melodies, all very hazy and indistinct.
Nether Dawn (this time accompanied by fellow NZ noisemaker James Kirk) counter with their own brand of blurry haziness. Long drawn out drones, hushed whispered vocals, smeared buzz, distant washes of distorted guitar and muted rhythmic clatter. It sounds like pop songs stretched out and pulled apart into spare skeletal stretches of somnambulant sound. Like ARP, it's all very soft focus and dreamlike. So lovely.
MPEG Stream: AGITATED RADIO PILOT "Leading A Small Ghost Home By The Hand"
MPEG Stream: THE NETHER DAWN "Under Your Night"

AGITATED RADIO PILOT / THE NETHER DAWN split (Pseudo Arcana) lathe cut lp 28.00
Ultra limited latest release from the uber prolific Antony Milton and his always genius PseudoArcana label. This time it's an ultra limited lathe cut, created of course by the lathe cut master himself, Kiwi legend Peter King. Limited to 50 copies, the initial pressing of this lp disappeared in no time, but we managed to get a tiny handful of this, the second and final pressing, and it's a doozy. Packaged in a gorgeous hand screened/painted brown paper cover with a brown paper inner sleeve and housed in a resealable plastic jacket, and the record itself clear with printed inner labels, this split teams up label head Milton and his Nether Dawn project with Irish one man band Agitated Radio Pilot. And it's a perfect match up.
Agitated Radio Pilot unfurls slow growing, wheezing melancholy melodies and warm warbly atmospheres, split into 4 tracks, it sounds more like one lengthy extended pastoral drift, a lazy wander beneath leafy trees and a burnt orange late afternoon sky, laid back and blissed out. Melancholy and gauzy. The muted buzz of guitars, warbly melodies, all very hazy and indistinct.
Nether Dawn (this time accompanied by fellow NZ noisemaker James Kirk) counter with their own brand of blurry haziness. Long drawn out drones, hushed whispered vocals, smeared buzz, distant washes of distorted guitar and muted rhythmic clatter. It sounds like pop songs stretched out and pulled apart into spare skeletal stretches of somnambulant sound. Like ARP, it's all very soft focus and dreamlike. And remember, with lathe cuts, the more you play them, the more they degrade, and the sound gets even fuzzier and blurrier and more washed out. So after a bunch of plays this might sound even better! So lovely.
Second and final pressing of 50 copies, once these are gone, we won't bee able to get more.

AGITATION FREE 2nd (Revisited) cd 17.98
Here's two long time AQ Krautrock favorites - the first and second albums by Berlin band Agitation Free - that have been previously available as cds on the Spalax, and then on Garden Of Delights labels. But now krautrock reissuers Revisited have done even newer reissues, which is great 'cause we LOVE these records and we're glad of an excuse to list 'em again, especially since the previous edition has been unavailable for some time now. Also, Revisited has found some bonus tracks to include on each!!
The ethnic influence that so defined Agitation Free's debut is not as much a factor on 1973's Second - but both the West Coast style guitar jamming AND the way-out-there electronics experimentation really come to the fore. Again, mostly instrumental (one exception being the ominous, electronically treated reading of an Edgar Allen Poe poem that forms the last track, backed by gloomy Mellotron-led prog rock), psychedelic, trippy stuff, utterly gorgeous. Electronically created environmental sounds, wild and spacey synths, and relaxed, melodic guitar are all to be found here in abundance. Second was the second great album from this brilliant, often overlooked, Krautrock band. After Second they departed the scene with their excellent swansong live album, Last (not yet reissued by Revisited), though some other posthumous live/archival documents have subsequently been released as well.
The bonus track included here is "Laila '74", a nearly 8 minute live version of the album track(s).
MPEG Stream: "Dialogue And Random"
MPEG Stream: "Haunted Island"

AGITATION FREE Last (Spalax) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not too long ago we reviewed the recent reissues (on the Garden of Delights label) of the first two albums by this AQ-beloved krautrock band, an outfit up there with Pink Floyd, Ash Ra Tempel, Wishbone Ash, Can, Guru Guru, etc. in our book of cool '70s psych/prog.
Recorded live in 1973 and '74, and then originally released in '76, this is Agitation Free's third album (and, at the time, final album -- though there's been other posthumous live/archival releases since then). We thought since everybody likes their first two so much we ought to tell you about "Last"! Basically, if you liked the wide-open, psychedelic jamming guitars and electronic experimentation of Agitation Free's "Malesch" or "Second" you'll want to check this one out too. The three cosmic, spacey instrumental tracks here include a version of the lovely "Laila II" from their second album, and bits from their first. And track three, the VERY spacey, minimalist rock of "Looping IV" (which, at 23 minutes, covered the original LP's entire B-side), will lull you into a beatific trance just as well as anything by today's expert space/drone bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Landing, or Kinski...
RealAudio clip: "Soundpool"

AGITATION FREE Last (Revisited) cd 17.98
Not too long ago we reviewed the recent reissues (on the Revisited label) of the first two albums by this AQ-beloved krautrock band, an outfit up there with Pink Floyd, Ash Ra Tempel, Wishbone Ash, Can, Guru Guru, etc. in our book of cool '70s psych/prog.
Recorded live in 1973 and '74, thought not originally released until 1976, this is Agitation Free's third, and at the time, final album - though there's been several other posthumous live/archival releases since then. We thought since everybody likes their first two so much we ought to tell you (again) about this one too, now that it's also been giving the Revisited reissue treatment! Basically, if you liked the incredible wide-open, psychedelic jamming guitars and electronic experimentation of Agitation Free's Malesch or Second you'll want to check this one out too. The three cosmic, spacey instrumental tracks here include a version of the lovely "Laila II" from their second album, and bits from their first. And track three, the VERY spacey, minimalist rock of "Looping IV" (which, at 23 minutes, covered the original LP's entire B-side), will lull you into a beatific trance just as well as anything by today's expert space/drone bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Landing, or Kinski...or Expo '70, or Circle, or whomever. Recommended.
Oh, and this new digipacked edition includes an 11 minute bonus track, "Schwingspule"!
MPEG Stream: "Soundpool"
MPEG Stream: "Looping IV"
MPEG Stream: "Schwingspule"

AGITATION FREE Malesch (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's two long time AQ Krautrock favorites -- the first and second albums by Berlin band Agitation Free -- that have been previously available as cds on the Spalax label. But now Garden of Delights has done new reissues, which is great 'cause we love these records and we're glad of an excuse to list 'em, as we hadn't ever reviewed them before. And Garden of Delights is known for their thorough, high-quality productions. In the thick cd booklets, you get a band history essay (in English and German), collector's info on various vinyl pressings, photos, graphics, discography, and the obligatory Garden of Delights catalog (but that they've shrunk to 2 pages, to leave more room for all the Agitation Free material). Really nice. And the sound is great too of course. No bonus tracks, though, so if you've already got the Spalax versions, an upgrade to these will be mainly a visual/textual improvement.
They got their start as a hippie commune band, with ties to Guru Guru, Tangerine Dream, and Amon Duul. Their debut, "Malesch" (Arabic for "it doesn't matter, take it easy"), is a true cosmic Krautrock classic, blending the spacey psych of Pink Floyd and fellow krautrockers Ash Ra Tempel and Popul Vuh with a flair for Eastern "exoticism". Plus, in the intertwining guitars, you'll find some hints of the American West Coast psych sound (yes, even a little Grateful Dead -- but don't let that scare you off). The album was recorded in 1972 not long after the band was sent on a tour of the Middle East by the Goethe Institute, and incorporates field recordings (decades before the likes of Godspeed You Black Emperor!) from their trip: the bustle of Cairo streets, desert winds, calls to prayer, friendly airline pilots... These tapes are a key element of this record's appeal (along with their sheer talent for jamming and their synth and electronic experimentation). Oh, and some great Hammond organ sounds too. Basically, this is a fantastic album of mostly instrumental psych / drone / ethnic rock, that's generally mellow but powerful too. Whether to the Great Pyramids of Egypt (where the album cover was shot) or to inner space, "Malesch" portrays a true trip indeed. So recommended.
RealAudio clip: "You Play For Me Today"
RealAudio clip: "Ala tul"
RealAudio clip: "Pulse"
RealAudio clip: "Rucksturz"

AGITATION FREE Malesch (Revisited) cd 17.98
Here's two long time AQ Krautrock favorites - the first and second albums by Berlin band Agitation Free - that have been previously available as cds on the Spalax, and then on Garden Of Delights labels. But now krautrock reissuers Revisited have done even newer reissues, which is great 'cause we LOVE these records and we're glad of an excuse to list 'em again, especially since the previous edition has been unavailable for some time now. Also, Revisited has found some bonus tracks to include on each!!
So, for those unfamiliar with Agitation Free, here's the deal... They got their start as a hippie commune band, with ties to Guru Guru, Tangerine Dream, and Amon Duul. Their debut, Malesch (Arabic for "it doesn't matter, take it easy"), is a true cosmic Krautrock classic, blending the spacey psych of Pink Floyd and fellow krautrockers Ash Ra Tempel and Popul Vuh with a flair for Eastern "exoticism". Plus, in the intertwining guitars, you'll find some hints of the American West Coast psych sound (yes, even a little Grateful Dead -- but don't let that scare you off). The album was recorded in 1972 not long after the band was sent on a tour of the Middle East by the Goethe Institute, and incorporates field recordings (decades before the likes of Godspeed You Black Emperor!) from their trip: the bustle of Cairo streets, desert winds, calls to prayer, friendly airline pilots... These tapes are a key element of this record's appeal (along with their sheer talent for jamming and their synth and electronic experimentation). Oh, and some great Hammond organ sounds too. Basically, this is a fantastic album of mostly instrumental psych / drone / ethnic rock, that's generally mellow but powerful too. Whether to the Great Pyramids of Egypt (where the album cover was shot) or to inner space, "Malesch" portrays a true trip indeed. So recommended.
The bonus track here is a definite bonus: a 15 minute live cut from Munich in '72. And there's a Quicktime movie video bonus as well, the band at Sakkara in Egypt, near the pyramids! Making this krautrock essential, even more essential.
MPEG Stream: "Pulse"
MPEG Stream: "Rucksturz"

AGITATION FREE Second (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's two long time AQ Krautrock favorites -- the first and second albums by Berlin band Agitation Free -- that have been previously available as cds on the Spalax label. But now Garden of Delights has done new reissues, which is great 'cause we love these records and we're glad of an excuse to list 'em, as we hadn't ever reviewed them before. And Garden of Delights is known for their thorough, high-quality productions. In the thick cd booklets, you get a band history essay (in English and German), collector's info on various vinyl pressings, photos, graphics, discography, and the obligatory Garden of Delights catalog (but that they've shrunk to 2 pages, to leave more room for all the Agitation Free material). Really nice. And the sound is great too of course. No bonus tracks, though, so if you've already got the Spalax versions, an upgrade to these will be mainly a visual/textual improvement.
The ethnic influence that so defined Agitation Free's debut is not as much a factor on 1973's "Second" -- but both the West Coast style guitar jamming AND the way-out-there electronics experimentation really come to the fore. Again, mostly instrumental (one exception being the ominous, electronically treated reading of an Edgar Allen Poe poem that forms the last track, backed by gloomy Mellotron-led prog rock), psychedelic, trippy stuff, utterly gorgeous. Electronically created environmental sounds, wild and spacey synths, and relaxed, melodic guitar are all to be found here in abundance. "Second" was the second great album from this brilliant, often overlooked, Krautrock band. After "Second" they departed the scene with their excellent swansong live album, "Last" (not yet reissued by Garden of Delights, but still available on Spalax), though some other posthumous live/archival documents have subsequently been released.
RealAudio clip: "Laila, Part I"
RealAudio clip: "Dialogue And Random"
RealAudio clip: "Haunted Island"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED Agorapocalypse (Relapse) cd 17.98
Much like when the Butthole Surfers signed to a major label, who would have thought that a band with a name like Agoraphobic Nosebleed (and a sound like theirs for that matter!), would reach the point they're at now. For the longest time, Scott Hull kept Agoraphobic Nosebleed a dirty little secret, like the deformed child you keep locked in the basement, while focusing on his 'real' band Pig Destroyer (another bad ass band name), Agoraphobic Nosebleed a much spazzier and more drum machined grind proposition, which Pig Destroyer kept drifting more and more toward a somewhat more mainstream metal sound.
As much as we love PD (see the Natasha review elsewhere on this list) our bleeding blackened hearts always belonged to Agoraphobic Nosebleed, every record packed with 30 second long tracks, amazing artwork, insane song titled, a fully fucked and warped sense of humor, killer artwork, and let's not forget that amazing 100 song 3", what wasn't to love? They were just so twisted and heavy and brutal, their sound a lightning speed burst of grinding ultraviolence, 1000 mile an hour hyperspeed fury, complex, convoluted, stuttering, blown out sonic insanity.
So we've been waiting patiently for a new AnB record, it's been almost 3 years since the PCP Torpedo / ANBRX comp / remix record 2cd, and finally, lo and behold, the band resurface, with a new member (a lady no less, and not just ANY lady, the vocalist from ultra doom outfit Salome) and a new sound. We of course expected 30 or 40 songs, but there are only 13, and the sound is not so fast, not so unhinged, definitely still grind, but more a sort of fast core / power violence variant. At first we were a little disappointed with that, but the more we listen to this, the more the songs sink in, with slower tempos and longer track lengths, comes more melodies, more hooks, it's now a bit more about the songs, and THE RIFF, than just a twisted blown out blast of tangled grind. Not that we don't love us a twisted blown out blast of tangled grind, but between all the AnB records we already own, we have about 300 tracks of that, so this new record is pretty exciting. Still a drum machine, but the programming is wicked, it sounds almost like a real drummer (there's even a sort of drum!!), the guitars are still amazing, jagged and corrosive, the riffs much more like riffs instead of shards of guitar grind, lots of chug, and super almost technical squiggles, a bit of groove too, and some definite Greg Ginn-ish worship, the whole sound is still plenty gnarled and harsh and brutal, it's just that now you have time to get into the songs. There's some bits of plodding doominess, some long stretches of churning crunch, but for the most part this is a gloriously grinding chunk of damaged metallic chaos.
And be sure to check the negative track, that's right, rewind past the beginning, and there's a whole other secret track (well not secret, it's listed on the disc and there are lyrics in the booklet), and speaking of the booklet, it's jam packed with fucked up cartoony drawings of death and cocks and naked women and sex acts and drugs and snakes and gore (it is a grind record after all) as well as the band's twisted non-PC lyrics.
And while they last, the jewel-cased cds come packaged inside old school long boxes, the amazing cover art spread out over one of those big cardboard boxes cds used to come in back when they had to fit in bins stores previously were using for vinyl, but the extra dough is not just for the box, it also comes with pins, a poster and a bad ass embroidered patch. The vinyl has none of that stuff, but does have a huge full color booklet, and is housed in a sweet deluxe jacket.
MPEG Stream: "Agorapocalypse Now"
MPEG Stream: "Timelord One (Loneliness Of The Long Distance Drug Runner)"
MPEG Stream: "Dick To Mouth Resuscitation"
MPEG Stream: "Flamingo Snuff"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED Agorapocalypse (Relapse) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Much like when the Butthole Surfers signed to a major label, who would have thought that a band with a name like Agoraphobic Nosebleed (and a sound like theirs for that matter!), would reach the point they're at now. For the longest time, Scott Hull kept Agoraphobic Nosebleed a dirty little secret, like the deformed child you keep locked in the basement, while focusing on his 'real' band Pig Destroyer (another bad ass band name), Agoraphobic Nosebleed a much spazzier and more drum machined grind proposition, which Pig Destroyer kept drifting more and more toward a somewhat more mainstream metal sound.
As much as we love PD (see the Natasha review elsewhere on this list) our bleeding blackened hearts always belonged to Agoraphobic Nosebleed, every record packed with 30 second long tracks, amazing artwork, insane song titled, a fully fucked and warped sense of humor, killer artwork, and let's not forget that amazing 100 song 3", what wasn't to love? They were just so twisted and heavy and brutal, their sound a lightning speed burst of grinding ultraviolence, 1000 mile an hour hyperspeed fury, complex, convoluted, stuttering, blown out sonic insanity.
So we've been waiting patiently for a new AnB record, it's been almost 3 years since the PCP Torpedo / ANBRX comp / remix record 2cd, and finally, lo and behold, the band resurface, with a new member (a lady no less, and not just ANY lady, the vocalist from ultra doom outfit Salome) and a new sound. We of course expected 30 or 40 songs, but there are only 13, and the sound is not so fast, not so unhinged, definitely still grind, but more a sort of fast core / power violence variant. At first we were a little disappointed with that, but the more we listen to this, the more the songs sink in, with slower tempos and longer track lengths, comes more melodies, more hooks, it's now a bit more about the songs, and THE RIFF, than just a twisted blown out blast of tangled grind. Not that we don't love us a twisted blown out blast of tangled grind, but between all the AnB records we already own, we have about 300 tracks of that, so this new record is pretty exciting. Still a drum machine, but the programming is wicked, it sounds almost like a real drummer (there's even a sort of drum!!), the guitars are still amazing, jagged and corrosive, the riffs much more like riffs instead of shards of guitar grind, lots of chug, and super almost technical squiggles, a bit of groove too, and some definite Greg Ginn-ish worship, the whole sound is still plenty gnarled and harsh and brutal, it's just that now you have time to get into the songs. There's some bits of plodding doominess, some long stretches of churning crunch, but for the most part this is a gloriously grinding chunk of damaged metallic chaos.
And be sure to check the negative track, that's right, rewind past the beginning, and there's a whole other secret track (well not secret, it's listed on the disc and there are lyrics in the booklet), and speaking of the booklet, it's jam packed with fucked up cartoony drawings of death and cocks and naked women and sex acts and drugs and snakes and gore (it is a grind record after all) as well as the band's twisted non-PC lyrics.
And while they last, the jewel-cased cds come packaged inside old school long boxes, the amazing cover art spread out over one of those big cardboard boxes cds used to come in back when they had to fit in bins stores previously were using for vinyl, but the extra dough is not just for the box, it also comes with pins, a poster and a bad ass embroidered patch. The vinyl has none of that stuff, but does have a huge full color booklet, and is housed in a sweet deluxe jacket.
MPEG Stream: "Agorapocalypse Now"
MPEG Stream: "Timelord One (Loneliness Of The Long Distance Drug Runner)"
MPEG Stream: "Dick To Mouth Resuscitation"
MPEG Stream: "Flamingo Snuff"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED Altered States of America (Relapse) 3" cd 14.98
The grand return (albeit slight) of the masters of hyperspeed, crushing, gore-y metallic grind. We raved about their most recent full length Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope, hailing it as the best grind record of last year, which it was! So how does this new one stack up? Well, musically, it's got everything its predecessor had, drums like handfuls of ball bearings hurled at your windshield, guitars like electric carving knives hooked up to a car battery and used to saw your ears off and low end like a hot tar blanket wrapped around your head. But the concept rules on this one. 100 songs (the first being tracked -before- track one to accomodate the 99 song cd limit), the majority clocking in at or a little under 10 seconds, all on a 3" cd. Pretty cool. But the listenability of 4 second blasts of short sharp grinding carnage is maybe a bit debatable. And taking into consideration how unbelievably complex and convuluted AnB songs are, it seems like all 100 tracks could've been woven into 3 or 4 proper tracks. But where would the fun be in that?! And those of you who have been hankering for more of that sick, sick, fast as fuck, brutal blurred grinding metal that only a few bands can pull off (AnB, Pig Destroyer, etc.) and miss song titles like 'Children Blown To Bits By The Busload', 'When Taking A Shit Feels Sexy', 'Mosquito Holding Human Cattle Prod', 'Holiday Bowl Full Of Asshole' then look no further. The 100 song 3" grindcore ep of the year without a doubt!
MPEG Stream: "Spreading The Dis-Ease"
MPEG Stream: "4 Leeches (40,000 Leeches)"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED Bestial Machinery (discography vol. 1) (Relapse) 2cd 14.98
How can you not love a band called Agoraphobic Nosebleed? Especially when some of the members also do time in a group called Pig Destroyer? And when they spew forth a ear splitting, skull cleaving, gore drenched stew of hyperspeed buzz and grind, complete with impossibly fast drum machine blast beats, soul crushing downtuned riffage and insanely frenzied vocals. You can't. Not love them that is. And thus we do love these deranged grind freaks. So much so that we proudly proclaimed their Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope album one of the best grind records ever! And we were equally enamored of their 100 song 3" cd released not soon after. But this is the one we've been waiting for. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX TRACKS, two whole discs compiling everything they ever recorded before they signed to Relapse, which is a whole heck of a lot. Every long out of print seven inch, every impossible to find compilation track, even thirteen previously unreleaed tracks! All absolutely the most furious, most fucked up grind you'll ever hear, million mile an hour tempos, fifty parts per minute-long tracks, blurry and buzzy and thrashing and pummeling and mind meltingly complex, replete with bizarre ambient interludes, sludgy doom metal breakdowns, freaked out ultranoise, all scattered amidst prickly thorny squalls of glorious gut ripping grind! Gorgeously packaged with tons of liner notes, track listing, discography, as well as some impossibly Pushead-like artwork credited to someone who is NOT Pushead!
MPEG Stream: "5% Control"
MPEG Stream: "Prey For Death / Hollowpoint / Conform to...Death / Life Is Paing Profit Is The Motive"
MPEG Stream: "Victims As Dogs"
MPEG Stream: "Dead Above The Neck"
MPEG Stream: "10,000 Bullets "
MPEG Stream: "Centipede"
MPEG Stream: "Cut To Happy Hour"
MPEG Stream: "Military Scientist"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope (Relapse) cd 15.98
Second full length by this outfit led by Scott Hull (of Pig Destroyer and formerly of Anal Cunt). The distinction between Hull's other project Pig Destroyer and ANB (both are furious grind metal units) is maybe a little nebulous, but the most obvious differences are: ANB uses a drum machine instead of a live drummer, and their songs are way more varied and for the most part, WAY weirder. Totally inhuman, lightning speed hyper-blast beats, harsh and brutal guitar tone, insane riffing, and super distorted totally sick vocals. Most of the tracks are blazing fast and brutal as fuck, but occasionally they slow it down to a midtempo old school thrash attack (speaking of old school thrash, there's even a Nuclear Assault cover with Dan Lilker on bass/vox!). The production is really bizarre with lots of samples, weird electronic bits, and lots of digital fx and processing on the vocals and guitars. There's even a weird almost techno number that manages to be just as fearsome as the rest of the more metal tracks. All the production craziness and occasional electronic bits remind us a little of James Plotkin's WAY far out glitch-grind Atomsmasher album we dug so much. And the cover art courtesy of Hydra Head honcho and member of Isis, Aaron Turner, is also very cool. So far, "Frozen Corpse" is easily the best grindcore record this year, as far as Andee and Allan are concerned!
RealAudio clip: "Machine Gun"
RealAudio clip: "Dead Battery"
RealAudio clip: "Hungry Homeless Handjob"
RealAudio clip: "Bitch's Handbag Full Of Money"
RealAudio clip: "Unwashed Cock"
RealAudio clip: "Kill Theme For American Apeshit"
RealAudio clip: "Doctored Results"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED PCP Torpedo / ANBRX (Hydra Head) 2cd 14.98
"All records should be six minutes long!! I just listened to this whole record, and it was awesome!"
- Me (Andee) ranting when I threw this on the first time.
By now, it takes a whole lot for us to give a shit about a 'remix' record. Pretty strange that one of the first remix records in ages to totally kick our asses would come from grindlords Agoraphobic Nosebleed and avant post metal label Hydra Head. But remixes aside for the moment, metalheads and grindfreaks should be thanking their lucky stars that AnB's legendary PCP Torpedo 6" has finally been released on cd. All SIX minutes of it. One of the most perfect slabs of mechanized grind metal EVER. Dense, convoluted, heavy, ridiculous, scary, blazing fast, buzzing and snarling, short and sweet. PERFECT GRIND! So it would almost be worth it for PCP on cd alone (okay, maybe $15 for 6 minutes is a bit steep, but it's soooo good!). Thankfully, PCP's 6 minutes gets rounded out by an hour long bonus disc of remixes from folks like Justin Broadrick (Jesu, Godflesh, etc.), James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher), DJ Speedranch, Merzbow, Jansky Noise, Vinda Obmana, and a bunch more. From Plotkin's timestretched, ultradistorted industrial freakout mix, to the Godfleshy sludge and pummel of Broadrick's mix, to the skittery acid fried IDM Dev/Null mix, to Vinda Obmana's bleak wasted industrial soundscape mix, it's all totally weird and wonderful, most of it very very noisy. But what would you expect when the source material is the violent and vitriolic hate fueled fury of Agoraphobic Nosebleed?!
And then there's the packaging! HOLY SHIT. Totally deluxe double disc digipak, all in vivid yellows and reds and oranges, the front some sort of factory, with multicolored flames licking the sky as pills rain from the heavens. The inside is a dizzying blur of pills and capsules, each disc covered in tiny little flames, the six minute PCP disc a little black 3" cd embedded in a 5" plastic disc, all flickering little blue flames, the remix a 5" black disc with red flames, so completely and overwhelmingly gorgeous. Includes a black and white insert with all the liner notes and lyrics confusingly tucked amidst and within a litany of pharmecutical jargon, suggestions for dosages, various health warnings and lists of side effects. Awesome!
MPEG Stream: "Thanksgiving Day"
MPEG Stream: "Thinning The Herd"
MPEG Stream: "James Plotkin - Phantomsmasher Mix"
MPEG Stream: "Justin Broadrick - Flesh Of Jesu Mix"

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED/CONVERGE The Poacher Diaries (Relapse) cd 10.98
A.N.: Super fast, brutally heavy grind, courtesy of Scott Hull (ex- Anal Cunt) and a drum machine. Converge: East coast metal core, pounding and shrieking, ala Colesce. Excellent.

AGUAYO, MATIAS Are You Really Lost (Kompakt) cd 15.98

AGUAYO, MATIAS Ay Ay Ay (Kompakt) cd 15.98
Long gone are the days when you could pigeon hole or easily predict the sound of a release on Kompakt. While they made their name with their trademark releases of minimal techno and pop ambient gems, the label has proven to be a wide ranging force in innovative electronic music of all shapes, colors and styles. We had heard previous releases by Matias Aguayo as well as with his collective Closer Musik, but we either weren't paying close enough attention or he has totally upped his game because Ay Ay Ay is by far one of the most colorful, immediate and rewarding electronic records of the year! Imagine some amazing combination of the hypnotic repetitive beats of Ricardo Villalobos fused with the more dance minded stylings of folks like Swayzek and Herbert, topped off with a nice backdrop of Aguayo's Chilean South American roots and you have all the ingredients for total party record of the year!
But what makes Ay Ay Ay so great is that it's not at all a disposable party record, instead it's immaculately crafted so it's the kind of record that satisfies whether you listen to it alone on headphones and get lost in its sonic swirlings or if you blast it out loud with good folks around as you shake your stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Ay Ay Ay"
MPEG Stream: "Rollerskate"
MPEG Stream: "Koro Koro"

AGUAYO, MATIAS Ay Ay Ay (Kompakt) lp + cd 19.98
Long gone are the days when you could pigeon hole or easily predict the sound of a release on Kompakt. While they made their name with their trademark releases of minimal techno and pop ambient gems, the label has proven to be a wide ranging force in innovative electronic music of all shapes, colors and styles. We had heard previous releases by Matias Aguayo as well as with his collective Closer Musik, but we either weren't paying close enough attention or he has totally upped his game because Ay Ay Ay is by far one of the most colorful, immediate and rewarding electronic records of the year! Imagine some amazing combination of the hypnotic repetitive beats of Ricardo Villalobos fused with the more dance minded stylings of folks like Swayzek and Herbert, topped off with a nice backdrop of Aguayo's Chilean South American roots and you have all the ingredients for total party record of the year!
But what makes Ay Ay Ay so great is that it's not at all a disposable party record, instead it's immaculately crafted so it's the kind of record that satisfies whether you listen to it alone on headphones and get lost in its sonic swirlings or if you blast it out loud with good folks around as you shake your stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Ay Ay Ay"
MPEG Stream: "Rollerskate"
MPEG Stream: "Koro Koro"

AGUAYO, MATIAS Minimal (Kompakt) cd ep 13.98
Matias Aguayo is one half of what used to be Closer Musik, a minimalist goth-techno project on Cologne's Kompakt label. The Chilean-born Aguayo and his German "bandmate" Dirk Leyers split after one album, and both went on to other things. Leyers went even more minimal and more blissful. While Aguayo put out one of the weirdest releases to have been considered techno at all, his solo record Are You Really Lost? Well, this ep is the first we've heard from him since then. Once again, he brings back his signature bizarro mix of Latin beats, come hither vocals, and all manner of randomly sampled and sequenced whatever. Along with the single new track, there are two remixes, one from DJ Koze of International Pony and one from Markus Rossknecht. Koze produces a remix that could make friends with any number of Miami Vice meets French filter house jams. Pretty fun, really. On the other hand, Rossknecht's work is fairly run-of-the-mill minimal techno, which is fine but not particularly memorable. If nothing else, this is worth picking up to play the Koze track at your next cocktail party. Closer Musik fans, listen up! Good stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Minimal (DJ Koze Remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Minimal (Original Mix)"

AHAB The Call Of The Wretched Sea (Napalm) cd 16.98
While it may have been a bit of a misstep to release a metal record based on Moby Dick and with a big ol' whale on the cover in the long black shadow cast by Mastodon's Leviathan record, it would be even more of a mistake to pass up this Ahab record based solely on that. Obviously a lot of thought went into the sound and the artwork and the execution, and if anything, we actually like this record more than the Mastodon.
So if you can get past the whole Mastodon thing, you're in for some massive and fantastically epic slow motion doom. This German outfit is CLASSIC doom, well not quite like Sabbath and Candlemass, but not the filthy slow motion grungy grimey dirgey sludge sort of doom either, this is epic and majestic, slow and sorrowful, occasionally loping with bursts of wild kick drums, more often trudging along glacially, a funereally death march through the pouring rain, knee deep in black sonic murk, but with a surprising amount of dynamics, stops and starts, some super hooky riffs, mournful guitar melodies, massive downtuned chugs that sometime morph into mathy metal workouts. Vocals that rumble and groan, a huge guttural gurgle, the whole thing impossible heavy and aggressive, but strangely pretty. Definitely reminds us of old Cathedral, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, that sort of thing. Like classic heavy doom metal slowed waaaaay down and made somehow even heavier. As much as we love extreme doom, the slower and the sludgier the better, it's actually nice to hear some extremely dark depressive doom with some actual melodies, and some memorable riffs, heck even some songs. We'd forgotten how good stuff like this sounds. One of our favorite new TRUE DOOM records for sure.
MPEG Stream: "Below The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "The Pacific"