DADDY'S CURSES s/t (Prophecy Connection) cd-r ep 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Aquarius Records is proud to present the newest in field recording fuckery: "Daddy's Curses". The disc is exactly as the title implies, a recording of someone's father cussing his brains out. Apparently, in 1987, an enterprising young son surreptitiously recorded his father as he attempted to repair a piano. For ten solid minutes the father lays out a steady stream of profanities ranging from the milquetoast Ned Flanders end of the spectrum to out and out Raymond & Peter nastiness. The combination of the two from one mouth is absolutely pant wetting at times, such as when our protagonist locks onto a repeated "Gosh Darn It!!" after having been laying out a heavy stream of "You Motherfucker" style potty mouth. For better or worse, the piano itself is never heard throughout the recording. The closest thing we get to hearing it are repeated strikes with what sounds like a hammer against maybe the piano's frame, eventually resulting in pieces of wood falling to the floor.
RealAudio clip: "Excerpt 1"
RealAudio clip: "Excerpt 2"

THUJA Ghost Plants (Emperor Jones) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're super-happy to herald the arrival of "Ghost Plants", the brand-new second album from San Francisco's Thuja! (That's pronounced "thoo-zhuh," by the way, and it's the genus name of the North American cedar tree.) We loved their debut cd "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones" (released on our own Andee's tUMULt label, in fact) and try not to miss their rare live performances, which in addition to their transcendental music also often incorporate video projections of trees, piles of branches, and other atmospheric, extra-musical additions. With "Ghost Plants", the four members of Thuja -- AQ-fave experimental sound artist Loren Chasse, pianist Rob Reger, and former members of ambient-psych rockers Mirza Stephen R. Smith and Glenn Donaldson -- have crafted another utterly lovely, improv instrumental masterpiece! In comparision to their first album, this disc seems darker and heavier, somehow more "rock" production-wise although Thuja are hardly a rock band. Thuja's music is very organic and "natural" sounding, with their quietly meandering, melodic guitar and piano explorations seeming set amidst wood, wind and water -- you can imagine a Thuja concert taking place on a darkened forest floor, with Chasse's crackling branches and stone rubbings.
At their most "rock" Thuja goes "kraut" with Chasse's drum-kit rhythms, and at their most "experimental ambient" the tinklings of percussion blend with ominous (yet pleasant) humming dronesc(r)apes of organ and bass and other things quite blissfully.
Whilst not exactly 'folky' you can still draw a connection between the woodland vistas of Thuja and the fractured folkpsych of Tower Recordings, or Finland's Kemialliset Ystavat (Thuja being more abstract than KY, who are more abstract than TR). We'd also cite the likes of Labradford, Richard Youngs/Simon Wickham-Smith, the
No Neck Blues Band, the Taj Mahal Travellers, Popol Vuh, Gunter Schickert, and :Zoviet*France: as fellow travellers in the psychedelic realms that Thuja carefully tread. This disc offers 13 untitled tracks in just under 40 minutes -- a very nice length indeed for an afternoon's reverie, perhaps one of the few improv-drone discs you'll find yourself hitting the "repeat" button on frequently. If you enjoy the solo work of Stephen R. Smith or L. Chasse (also of id battery and Coelacanth), or liked Mirza's drifting atmospheres, and haven't listened to Thuja yet, what are you waiting for? Everyone else, check ALL these guys stuff out, starting with this disc! So beautiful.
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 2"
RealAudio clip: "track 7"
RealAudio clip: "track 10"

CHASSE, L. Hedge Of Nerves (Anomalous) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oval, Disc, Autechre... Lots of folks like that digital glitch stuff -- we do too -- but how 'bout some analog 'glitch'? Good old fashioned record crackle! AQ friend and fave sound artist Loren Chasse's new solo release, his first for Anomalous, totally delves into the realm of crackle, from records and beyond. For details, we may as well quote directly from the label's press release (since our own Allan wrote it!):
"The work of sonic artist/investigator Loren Chasse (solo, Thuja, id Battery, Coelacanth and various manifestations of the 'Jewelled Antler collective') usually involves the documentation and manipulation of minute sound events (rubbings, scrapings, clickings) involving found objects and natural phenomena, emphasizing unexpected perspectives and connections. Even when performing in the psychedelic improv outfit Thuja, his 'instruments' primarily consist of contact mics, a mixer, some rocks and twigs, and his imagination. Loren's processed field recordings are fragile and full of strange beauty and feeling.
"Hedge of Nerves is dedicated to a friend of Loren's who dearly loves the sound of record crackle as it mingles with the music from a record's grooves. He also enjoys the sound of record crackle alone, as when an LP cycles on its run-out groove. Compact disc reissues of early 20th century ethnic music 78s, or Portishead, or Philip Jeck: if it's got that crackle, he likes it! So, this friend asked Loren to make him a recording of vinyl surface noise only, one that he could DJ with, mixing with non-crackly musical sources, to create virtual scratchy records. For this reason, the idea was to avoid any obvious looping, but to make a continuous, unbroken and organic field of crackle. Thus inspired, however, the project soon turned into more than that, as Loren decided that it was more interesting to emulate the sound and texture of record crackle using other sources. The resulting cd indeed begins by utilizing sounds from a scratchy old 78 rpm disc (one recorded by Loren's grandfather in the 1930s at NBC Radio) but also explores more 'elemental' crackling sounds derived from fire and wind and water, from rustling branches, waves, and sand. Hedge of Nerves is dynamic, moving from loud crinkly-crackly storming sound-swarms to the sounds of a wilderness quietly bristling. It's a mesmerizing expanse of hiss and drone, buzz and click, with hints of melody (from his grandfather's 78). The originating idea of surface noise is ever-present, but upon closer examination that 'surface' proves quite deep, something within which the listener will become submerged, blissful and fascinated. Hedge of Nerves is a masterpiece -- just ask Loren's grateful crackle-loving friend, who files it with the best of Philip Jeck, Jonathan Coleclough, M. Behrens, Troum, and other masters of detailed drone constructions."
As you might have guessed, that friend of Loren's is of course our own Allan...and he really does love this disc!! (And he did manage to use an advance version of this to DJ with at the Beyond The Pale festival last year -- it goes really well with Bo Hansson, actually.) Even if you're usually wary of some avantgarde academic "experimental" sterility, try this out anyway, it's warm and organic and inviting in a way many glitchy, noisy things are not, like a bonfire on a desolate, foggy sea-shore.
RealAudio clip: "track 2"
RealAudio clip: "track 4"

WIENER, OSWALD & HELMUT SCHOENER Team of Jeremy Roht: West Dawson, Yukon Territory (Suppose) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Right now I can almost hear the groans of the 60% of AQL readers that will think we are absolutely nuts in our enthusiasm for this recording. "First they try to convince me to buy a cd of some damn elephants banging on trash can lids and blowing on harmonicas and now they want me to buy this?" Okay, those of you who groaned can now move on to the next item on the list... Now that they're gone the remaining 40% can talk dog music. This disc is, in the simplest of terms, a recording of a Mr Jeremy Roht's sled dogs made on location in West Dawson, Yukon Territory, Canada. Like the Thai Elephant Orchestra, this project attempts to explore the possibilities of music produced by animals. Unlike the Thai Elephants the music these dogs were creating was being done regardless of human interference and, in most cases, in spite of it. When the two producers of this disc approached Mr Roht about making such a recording of his dogs, he was suspicious thinking that they were working for the plaintiffs (his neighbors) gathering evidence for a case against him. Fortunately they were just as excited about the notion of the dog music and set out capturing the dogs' spontaneous performances. What they probably didn't expect at the outset of their project was that the dogs themselves might not be so forthcoming in sharing their repertoire with outsiders. Turns out that dogs, unlike elephants, are generally quite shy about bursting out into song around humans. Undeterred, the cd's producers -- Oswald Wiener and Helmut Schoener -- went about devising an "Automatic Dog Music Recorder" to clandestinely capture the canine chorus anytime night and day. A photograph of the ingenious bark-activated device hanging from a birch tree appears on the back cover. Even better though is the hand drawn, exploded-view schematic of the A.D.M.R. in the accompanying booklet. The chorus of dogs definitely seems to have its lead vocalists and harmonizers and after a while one can hear the motifs of the leading parts being expressed in stretto as though in a fugue, but then also inverted and even, dare I say, in retrograde form. When we play this cd in the store people invariably chuckle at first, but many -- if they stick around long enough -- tend to agree that there's more going on here than just howling to be heard. We even got the professional advice from our friend Cowboy -- a Husky / Akita mix (and the dog of local customer Cayce who you may remember from Aquarius Video #9). When we put the disc on, Cowboy instantly perked up his ears and listened for about half a minute before chiming in with his own variation on the song's theme. I think it's important to point out that Cowboy didn't just immediately start howling, which would imply an autonomic response, but listened to the tune for a while to find the appropriate key and melodic accompaniment. It was also interesting to hear Cowboy's variation in how it differed in timbre from the pack, which had been singing together for years. Looks to me like Wiener & Schoener could put together a comparative series of recordings of dog musics from different packs around the globe.
RealAudio clip: "excerpt 1"
RealAudio clip: "excerpt 2"

LARSEN Rever (Young God) cd 13.98
The story of how this record came to be is almost impossible to believe, yet Michael Gira (Angels of Light / Swans) seems like a reliable enough source that it could in fact be true. Beginning sometime last year, Gira started receiving a series of arcane CD-Rs from the Italian collective / hermetic cult that simply labeled themselves as Larsen. The music within was a diverse collection of sounds that in Gira's words included "a whispered song, accompanied by a distant accordion, as if playing in the next room, or a drone of unknown origin, or a short burst of percussive chaos -- sometimes just a single sound or noise, a scraping sound, as if someone were slowly etching a piece of rusted metal with a blade of some sort, or the sound of saliva working in the mouth." The last package that he received did not include a CD-R, but a handsome amount of money, a plane ticket to Italy, and a request for his presence to produce an album for Larsen. Intrigued by the music he had heard up until then, Gira took Larsen up on their offer. Once in Italy, Gira was never allowed to see the band who had situated themselves in the recording studio behind a screen. He described their actions as often emerging as if part of some ceremonial rite, but the liturgical music for these rites have all of the trappings of a band who are far more interested in Sonic Youth than the archetypes of ceremonial musics. Hypnotic, interlocking math rock grooves pulse from forceful minor-key guitar chords, counterpointed with accordions, trumpet blurts, mechanical tape whirrings, tectonic rumbles, and other incredibly rich textural elements. The resulting album is a stunning collection of tense musical constructions that have been gilded with a fragile sadness, recalling the likes of recent Unwound, Blonde Redhead, Ulan Bator (another exceptional band produced by Michael Gira), and bits of This Heat and fellow weirdo Italians the Starfuckers.
The one qualm with the album is on how the record ends. It has been a longstanding belief of mine that Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation" should have ended with the graceful haze of "Hyperstation" and done away with the unnecessary exclamation of "Eliminator, Jr." Similarly, Larsen ends "Rever" badly, as a beautifully repetitive groove simply cuts out, making you wonder if California is returning to the days of rolling blackouts. If only every record had one thing wrong with it instead of eighty-eleven problems, and in spite of that one misgiving, this is one of the best records we have heard in quite a while.
RealAudio clip: "Akin"
RealAudio clip: "Finger Number 6"
RealAudio clip: "Impro 2"
RealAudio clip: "Maya"
RealAudio clip: "Radial"

V/A Park Avenue Hillbillies and West End Cowboys (Collector's Choice) cd 16.98
Awesome collection of 40's and 50's big band novelty songs. The sound ranges from the torch song vocals of Dorothy Shay, to the cheesy big band Lawrence Welk Orchestra sound of the Four Lads to the twangy redneck hick humor of Arthur Godfrey. We just threw it on, but we (Allan and Andee) ended up listening to the whole thing and cracking up more than once. A great listen and a perfect party record. Some names you might recognize, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, The Hoosier Hotshots, but most of the artists are unknown (at least to us) especially Dorothy Shay, who seems to be the 'star' of this record, and who is responsible for the best song on this compilation, 'Feudin' And Fightin', a hilarious (and catchy) tale of feudin' neighbors, featuring lyrics like: "Grandma, poor old Grandma, why'd they have to shoot poor Grandma" and "Daughter, baby daughter, poisoned all the neighbors chickens, daughter shouldn't ought'er, at least til she can run like the dickens, they hit her with a shovel" and "Let's give our daughter a pistol, now that she's four." Weird and fun. (But be warned, some of the material is a bit rough and doesn't seem as funny as we're supposed to assume it was in the '40s; check out the sound sample for 'Slap 'Er Down Again, Paw').
RealAudio clip: DOROTHY SHAY "Feudin' And Fightin'"
RealAudio clip: ARTHUR GODFREY "Slap 'Er Down Again, Paw"

PENTAGRAM Sub-Basement (Black Widow / Southern Lord) cd 14.98
There's been a lot of activity lately from these semi-legendary lords of doom, surprising coming from a band that's been around for about thirty years and has dwindled down to only two members! But (thankfully for all fans of dark, doomy heavy metal) founder/frontman Bobby Liebling and henchman/drummer/guitarist/bassist Joe Hasselvander have been busy bees, following up their well-received 1999 album "Review Your Choices" with this new slab of heaviosity. As with "Review", they mix newly penned songs (by Joe) with old, unrecorded '70s compositions by Bobby. This new disc might be even better than "Review", though, 'cause Bobby's vocals aren't as weirdly affected. "Sub-Basement" is a solid addition to the hallowed (and rapidly expanding) Pentagram catalog, filled with killer songs and atmosphere. They masterfully combine droning, monolithic moments of almost SUNN0))) like proportions with utterly rocking vintage '70s riffage. Although they're not Sabbath clones, they mine similar territory, fitting in as well with (former) contemporaries like Captain Beyond and Dust. But at this point, if you've listened to these guys enough, you can't say that they sound like anything other than themselves -- always an amazing achievement for any rock band! The Pentagram sound revolves around Bobby's unique voice/personality and eccentric songwriting choices that only could be made by folks fully centered in the heavy, psychedelic seventies. Let's hope they hang around for another 30 years! (Although, by the wretched looks of Bobby in some of the pictures in the booklet, that's not too likely!) Look out for another new Pentagram release coming soon on Relapse, an archival collection of early '70s demo recordings called "First Daze Here".
RealAudio clip: "Buzzsaw"
RealAudio clip: "Sub-Basement"
RealAudio clip: "Out Of Luck"

MAGICAL POWER MAKO Hapmoniym 1972-1975 (MIO Records) 5 cd box set 117.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We recognize that probably only people who've been looking for these five cds ever since they were first released in limited and expensive form in Japan almost ten years ago are likely to want to pay nearly $120 for this box set reissue, and they already know they want it and why, so we needn't go too far overboard with our description! But, in case you're curious, here's a little background info on this long-awaited re-release:
In 1993, Japanese label Mom & Dad promised to release fifteen discs chronicling the unreleased studio recordings of Tokyo psych legend Magical Power Mako, but were only able to produce the first five. Israel-based MIO has decided to take on the project and will release three box sets containing five discs each. The material that makes up Hapmoniym 1972-1975 was recorded while Mako was working on his second masterpiece for Polydor, "Super Record". Often compared to krautrock pioneers Faust, this collecton is an incredible assemblage of sound experiments, collage pieces, tape manipulations and astral folk-psychedelia so epic and so out, one might be so bold to state that Hapmoniym as a whole even surpasses the density and innovation of the mighty Faust Tapes. And he was only a wee sixteen years old on the earliest of these recordings! Andee is especially fond of disc two, the part where it sounds like Jimi Hendrix jamming with a meowing cat. Keiji Haino fans take note as he appears on disc one, on possibly his most spaced out psychedelic trip ever. We await the remaining two 5-disc volumes with curiousity and excitement (and, patience). We do, however, have to scold MIO for a slight problem with the packaging: the 5 discs are in slim cd5 cases inside a little red cardboard box, with a booklet as well. It looks handsome, but each disc has its own unnecessary obi that doesn't really fit anywhere in the package once opened, but that of course you can't throw away, either, if you're like us. Oh well. We also could have done with more English language text in the booklet, it's mostly the original Japanese liner notes.
RealAudio clip: "One"

HARVESTER Hemat (Silence) cd 17.98
Along with the Algarnas Tradgard and International Harvester cds we re-listed last time, we're also super happy to have a couple other Silence label reissues back in stock, after a lengthy absence. This one is another entry in the discography of one of our absolute favorite Swedish psychrock band "families" that began with the group Parson Sound. We've been into this ever since we first found what turned out to be a bootleg cd reish of this rare 1970 LP some years ago, which fortunately was soon followed by legit version on Silence, this one, complete with a bonus track (oddly enough, the title track) and extensive liner notes in English. Here again is a slightly modified version of what we said about this highly recommended album way back on list #120:
Perhaps you read about or bought the Terry Riley-influenced Parson Sound double cd we've raved so much about? Well, Harvester (after releasing another LP under the full name of International Harvester -- reviewed elsewhere on our site) was a future development of the Parson Sound band. And after Harvester, they became the semi-legendary Trad Gras Och Stenar (Trees, Grass and Stones). Though we think the absolute best stuff we've heard from these guys dates from their Parson Sound incarnation, this disc is pretty darn cool too. Hemat ("Homeward") has been described by someone in the know as "mastodon waltz-drone / acid soaked free jam psychedelia." Which is not only a pretty accurate description, but also a cool phrase to quote. The disc starts with a lovely mellow hippy-folk tune that matches the dreamy landscape painting on the album's cover. Then with track two things get heavier and more Parson Sound-like. The mastodon waltz has begun, as flutes trill and Swedish freaks chant. The disc progresses into ethnic-tinged free rock/jazz ("Nepal Boogie") and even an unrecognizably drugged-out downer version of "Everybody (Needs Somebody to Love)". Loose and stoned this disc most certainly is, forty-one minutes of almost-lost music drifting through the haze of time to trip you out today. Recommended -- and get International Harvester and all the other related albums too!!
MPEG Stream: "Nar Lingonen Mognar"
MPEG Stream: "Kristallen Den Fina"

INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER Sov Gott Rose-Marie (Silence) cd 17.98
Finally available again!! The late sixties Swedish musical aggregation that was Parson Sound / International Harvester / Harvester / Trad, Gras Och Stenar (really all one evolving band) was basically an example of the genre we've decided to call "international krautrock". Like a Scandinavian Amon Duul, these freaks tap into some decidedly cosmic psychedelic sounds, and aren't on some sunshiney '60s flowers and beads trip. No, their sound certainly acknowledges death and darkness. We've already raved about the Parson Sound collection released earlier this year. "Sov Gott Rose-Marie" ("Sleep Tight, Rose-Marie") was the next step for this group, recorded under their new name International Harvester (taken from the American heavy machinery company, but also intending a Harvester / Grim Reaper double-meaning, with International giving it a political bent). This album, released in 1969 on the Finnish label Love Records, now makes a long-awaited cd appearance on Silence (along with their follow-up under the shortened name Harvester). It's pretty fucking great. If you've heard and loved the Parson Sound like we did, just come and buy this now! It's got grinding cello, baying horns, hippie percussion, mesmerizing jams *and* sudden jarring juxtapositions, from total mellowness to the very heavy. International Harvester mix folk music (though not to the extent they did on their next album, "Hemat"), jazz, field recordings (singing birds, barking dogs), lullabies, and more into their mind-blowing stew of psychedelic "free rock", which is also full of Terry Riley / Eastern inspired repetition and drone. Lyrically, this is just as radical, not shying from religion and politics.
Silence has added an incredible, lengthy (24 minute!) bonus track called "Skordetider" ("Harvest Times") that the band originally intended for an album B-side but never used. It's hypnotic, powerful jam that could have fit well on that Parson Sound release. In other words: wow! Additionally, this cd features extensive liner notes documenting the group's history (the same essay is also found in Silence's reissue of the Harvester album, but with different photos). A perfect companion to that Parson Sound double cd, this is definitely one of the reissues of the year for us.
MPEG Stream: "Sov Gott Rose-Marie"
MPEG Stream: "There is No Other Place"
MPEG Stream: "Skordetider"

TRAD GRAS OCH STENAR s/t (Silence) cd 17.98
Along with the Algarnas Tradgard and International Harvester cds we re-listed last time, we're also super happy to have a couple other Silence label reissues back in stock, after a lengthy absence. This one is another entry in the discography of one of our absolute favorite Swedish psychrock band "families" that began with the group Parson Sound. The post-Harvester quartet Trad, Gras Och Stenar (Trees, Grass and Stones) was the most "rockist" outgrowth of the Parson Sound/International Harvester collective which you'll find celebrated elsewhere on our site. Indeed, this album starts with two covers of well-known rock tunes, one of the Dylan/Hendrix classic "All Along The Watchtower", followed by a version of "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" that is so depressed and wasted-sounding that it *really* sounds like they can't and won't get no satisfaction, ever! Pretty soon, though, they've given up on any Top of the Pops pretentions and are delving into twisted, waltzing, freak-psych compositions that draw more from traditional Swedish folk music than British/American rock n' roll (although the fuzz guitars remain). Some of the material here also recalls the minimalist throb of their earlier work in Parson Sound and International Harvester.
What Hrvatski said of the Harvester album applies to this as well: "Another piece to the incestuous little jigsaw that was the 1967-1972 Swedish druggist music school dropout sector." A jigsaw well worth spending some of your time with! And we'll add that if you ever get a chance to see these guys play -- they're still in action -- don't miss it. They've been to SF a couple times in recent years and blew us away. Still amazing, and really nice guys as well. If only we could be as cool as they are, when we're their age...
MPEG Stream: "All Along The Watchtower"
MPEG Stream: "Tegenborgsvalsen"

FURISUBI Three Armed Mary (Last Visible Dog) 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.
Furisubi is the experimental guitar drone/psych/noise project of Kris Lapke, on this release a one-man band playing guitar and (sometimes) drums. The two tracks found on this hour-long cd-r basically sound like Japanese distorto-psych rockers High Rise or Mainliner covering Black Sabbath. Actually, track two actually *is* a Black Sabbath cover -- maybe we should say 'interpretation' -- a nearly half-hour version of Vol. 4's "Snowblind"! Well, actually, perhaps inspired by Sabbath's own in-concert jams/medleys, he works "Snowblind" over for about 15 minutes, and then deviates into some other symptoms of the Sabs' universe, like "Paranoid" and what sounds like a super-sped up version of "Smoke On The Water" which isn't even a Sabbath song (though Sabbath HAS performed it) before returning to finish-up the world's most stretched-out version of "Snowblind".
That's all after the preceeding 30 minutes of the disc's first track, which borrows no Black Sabbath riffs but certainly could have! So, whether covering Sabbath or not, Lapke's modus operandi here is pretty much utter distorto guitar drone demolition, motorpsycho guitar in the Makoto Kawabata zone, but heavier, darker, dronier... yes!! Our kind of guitar hero. But he's obviously not a drummer, though, as his timekeeping skills are, shall we say, poor...but the fucked-up drumming gives this a bit more of a damaged charm anyway...and he bothers to drum only about half the time as well (so it's better than a live Electric Wizard show, who's drummer is notoriously drunk and incompetent). Lapke also allows the occasional ragged vocal to (barely) surface amid the howl of guitar and feedback, helping to place one in the flow of Sabbath tuneage. This is what "stoner rock" *should* sound like... There are other, more 'experimental' Furisubi releases, but we liked this 'rockier' one the best and so decided to feature it. Plus, who can argue with extended Sabbath-inspired jamming? We're glad of whatever possessed him to record this, in all its wonderfully blown-out and messed-up glory.
RealAudio clip: "Snowblind"

AUBE Timemind (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow! An exceptional release from Akifumi Nakajima aka Aube! While most recordings by this highly prolific artist utilize unique sound sources (water, fluorescent lamps, heartbeat, or most notoriously - an amplified Bible!), "Timemind" is a more rhythmic, one might say musical affair which involves the Firstman SQ-01 - a monophonic analogue sequence synthesizer produced in the early eighties. Psychedelic synthesizer trippiness in the vein of Klaus Schulze (the liner notes say "Timemind" is dedicated to him), Tangerine Dream, Terry Riley and Doctor Who! the second installment in Alchemy's incredibly awesome "Inner Mind" series of cosmic-psychedelica!
RealAudio clip: "Timemind/Bar 2. 1-A" III"

TANGERINE DREAM SYNDICATE III Violins for III Stooges (Alchemy) cd 21.00
Another in Alchemy's new Inner Mind Music series of spacey delights -- "Live at Alpha Centauri" it says on the inside. The Tangerine Dream Syndicate wears its influences proudly -- the band is made up of Tommy Conrad (cello, violin), Johnny Conrad (electronics, violin, voice), and DeeDee Conrad (bass, violin, voice). Yes, their names (and the album's title and the band name too) are a bit overt and silly but this is actually some really fine drone improv! Even though they'd like you to imagine that they're Tony Conrad's lost brothers, we suspect that beneath these assumed names you'd find some well-known Japanese underground noisicans. But they are indeed spiritual, musical brothers with the American violinist and his '60s Dream Syndicate colleagues, along with '70s German spacemeisters Tangerine Dream. It's a successful homage that makes for some mighty fine, late night drifting listening. It's just one track, nearly a full hour of high-end string drone, subsonic bass throb, and electronic swoosh. File in the "quite omnious yet strangely comforting" section of your cd collection.

FUSHITSUSHA Origin's Hesitation (PSF) cd 16.98
Keiji Haino and his psychedelic power trio Fushitsusha have long made some of Japan's heaviest, darkest, most fucked up sounds. They're a legendary "free rock" outfit, up there with the Dead C, Skullflower and few others. They're a unique band that with this new disc could be said to have gotten even "uniquer" (if only that wasn't such bad English).
At their last San Francisco show a few years back, Haino and Fushitsusha's drummer had an "epsiode" that resulted in, upon his return to Japan, the drummer's retirement from music! Rather than drafting in a new drummer, Haino and bassist Ozawa decided to remain a duo, with Haino taking over the drumming duties. This is the first recording by this new, unusual, reduced Fushitsusha line-up. Unusual because Haino's monstrous wall-of-feedback guitar was probably the reason most people listen to the band in the first place. Well too bad, meet the new, stripped-down, guitarless Fushitsusha!
Origin's Hesitation starts off with Haino in a maniacal percussion frenzy, as if he'd always wanted to be the drummer in Fushitsusha and is now just so excited to be behind the kit he can't help but try to play all the drums at once. But after the first track, he calms down a bit with the drumming, putting more of his energy into what must rank as some of his most dramatic, tortured vocals ever. And that's saying a lot. These cries and utterances are accompanied by sparse but deliberate drum and bass hits, using space and silence. Both Haino and Ozawa use live electronics to loop their instruments, but this is a lot more primitive sounding than most "sampler" utilizing music!
You might have to already be a fan of Haino/Fushitsusha to get into this -- at least, it's probably not the place for novices to start. Very anguished, very abstract. The heavy guitar sounds that linked Fushitsusha's past work to the rock music of Blue Cheer or Crazy Horse are of course gone, but this is still "heavy" in an emotional sense. And certainly "fucked up."
So, after reading all the above, you probably still want to know "is it any good?" Well, Andee of course hates it, as he does pretty much any release where Haino opens his mouth. Allan on the other hand thinks this is pretty cool, even though he does prefer Fushitsusha with guitar. But he likes contrary, counter-intuitive rock bands like US Maple and Starfuckers, which in some ways this echoes.
Handsomely packaged, as always with PSF Fushitsusha releases, with cd and booklet in a black paper mini-gatefold sleeve. Smells good!
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 4"

SLAUTER XSTROYES Winter Kill (Monster) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yeah, yeah, another obscure '80s cult metal band reissued. I'd heard about this group and how amazing they were supposed to be for a long time, but when I first got the cd reissue of their only album, 1985's "Winter Kill", it sounded just like I expected: high pitched vox, widdly guitar solos, Maiden-esque songwriting... cool, yeah, but nothing special. BUT, then I listened to it again. Something about this, some X-factor, makes it VERY special (or maybe it's just me). Rather than sounding like they're derivative of Maiden, Priest, and a host of mid-'80s Metal Blade bands, Slauter Xstroyes somehow do what they do so perfectly that THEY sound like the Platonic ideal of '80s true heavy metal, the template for every other band, the originators rather than imitators. Of course this isn't actually the case, yet a few listens into it, "Winter Kill" was having that effect: while it's on your stereo, it's the ultimate in metal. I bow down. Fans of the likes of Omen, Cirith Ungol, Warlord, Manilla Road, Attacker, and Brocas Helm should add this to their collections for sure. Classy, slightly eccentric, skilled, and -- the kicker -- full of actual emotion. Absurd as it sounds -- and the vocalist's squeals do sometimes sound absurd -- this metal is for real and meaningful. From the heavy droney keyboard intro, through the album's intervening moments of galloping attack, doomy riffing, and acoustic bliss, to the closing anthem "Mother, Mother Fucker" these guys rule. If you can listen to Spinal Tap for more than comedic value, as I can, you'll agree.
RealAudio clip: "Winter Kill"
RealAudio clip: "The Stage"
RealAudio clip: "Black Rose And Thorns"

ARZACHEL s/t (Akarma) cd 16.98
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Akarma does their mini-LP sleeve digipack reissue thing with this 1969 British psych gem -- "The definitive British psych album" says Nick Saloman of Bevis Frond, in fact -- and it's well worth checking out for fans of early Floyd, Cream, The Nice, and that T2 disc we reviewed a few lists back. Arzachel not only had a weird name, the band members had unlikely names (pseudonyms, actually) too. Meet guitarist Simeon Sasparella (aka Steve Hillage, later of Gong fame), drummer "Basil Dowling", faux-Kenyan bassist "Njerogi Gategaka", and organ player "Sam Lee-Uff", actually one Dave Stewart (not the Eurythmics guy) who is better known for being in progsters Egg later on.
The first half of this album features their poppier psych/garage numbers, including the lovely instrumental "Queen St. Gang", which seems to feature the "Hey Joe" bass line coupled with the melody from the theme to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly! The second half of the album indulges in extended heavy psych jams of the sort Arzachel specialized in playing at London's tripped out Middle Earth club. The acid blues of "Leg" sounds like an organ-led Cactus, while the howling, epic "Metempsychosis" is nearly seventeen minutes of primitive, pounding, distortion-filled psychedelia that could be mistaken for Amon Duul II. Good stuff! With their teenage enthusiasm and ambition, the Arzachel boys managed to wax a classic -- totally of their times in so many ways and yet unique and timeless as well. Doubtless Simeon, Basil, Njerogi, and Sam, with pseudonyms discarded, improved their musical skills in subsequent years, yet can anything from their later proggy careers really stand up to Arzachel?
RealAudio clip: "Garden Of Earthly Delights"
RealAudio clip: "Queen St. Gang"
RealAudio clip: "Clean Innocent Fun"

JUDAS PRIEST Sad Wings Of Destiny (Koch) cd 12.98
THE Judas Priest cd YOU MUST OWN. It's their second album, from 1976, and is one of the prototypical heavy metal albums of all time (along with earlier masterworks like "Paranoid" and "Machine Head" and later classics like "Killers" and "Master of Puppets"). When I (Allan) was in high school, I thought Priest sucked 'cause I'd only heard their commerical late '80s output like "Turbo" -- but someone played me a tape of some early Priest and I was blown away. They were heavy and psychedelic, not cheesy and leather-clad like latter-day Priest (not that there's anything wrong with that though). The majesty and drama of Queen, the doom-laden might of Sabbath, the speedy rockin' of Purple: Judas Priest blended all that into "Sad Wings", a cornerstone of heavy metal if there ever was one. This is one of those albums where pretty much every song is a classic: the epic "Victim of Changes", nightprowling rocker "The Ripper", "Genocide", "Island of Domination", more. Recommended! We're listing this 'cause of the recent reissues of some other Priest albums -- as long as we reviewed those, we figured we ought to also tell you about our all-time fave Priest disc too (the band doesn't own the rights to their first two albums, apparently, so this isn't in the same reissue series).
RealAudio clip: "Sad Wings of Destiny"
RealAudio clip: "Tyrant"

CYLOB Cut the Midrange, Drop The Bass (Rephlex) cd ep 8.98
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Cylob's new three-track single has caused a bit of a stir here at AQ. Not 'cause of the title track, a catchy electronic pop-dance ditty a little safer than similar efforts from Aphex and Squarepusher ("My Red Hot Car" comes to mind, but this is less edgy, more "retro"). Not 'cause of track two, "With This Ring". No, it's the third track, an electronic adaption of the traditional British sea shanty "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor", that's causing the fuss. Most of us here at AQ can't stand it (anymore), but Allan helplessly likes it and Windy likes to play it because there's always the chance that it will cause Allan to involuntarily dance a little jig. And seeing Allan's butt shaking is a sight to behold, let me tell you. Silly stuff, sure to drive even all of us insane eventually. But for the moment it's an AQ (if not UK) dance smash, following in the tradition of another Rephlex-released and Cylob-produced track, The Jones Machine's "I'm The Disco Dancing" from a few years back.
RealAudio clip: "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor"

HIGH RISE Live (Squealer) cd 14.98
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The unexpected domestic reissue of this classic PSF album of psychguitar overload from this Japanese combo. Another one of the essential High Rise documents.

ENSLAVED Monumension (Osmose) cd 16.98
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Ivar Bjornson, Grutle Kjellson, Dirge Rep and Richard Kronheim are Enslaved. We mention them individually because they and their band deserve to be household names, at least among Aquarius customers. Enslaved are definitely one of our absolute favorite Norwegian black metal acts. Indeed, I (Allan) would go so far as to say, forget Norwegian black metal -- Enslaved are one of the best rock bands in the world today, period! And "Monumension" is their new album, one so highly anticipated here at Aquarius that it's hard to write about. First, the fear: was it even possible? Was it realistic to expect that this band could possibly top their previous album, the Aquarius Record of the Week honoree (list #101) "Mardraum"? Is disappointment inevitable when hopes are so high? We were a-tremble upon first listen, let me tell you. Well, many listens later I'm glad to report that this new Enslaved effort lives up to its mighty predecessor(s). This release marks the 10th anniversary of Enslaved's unique brand of "Viking metal". But it seems like they're travelling not across the waves in longboats, but through the stars in astral bodies. That is, when they're not simply thrashing like more down-to-earth rock n' roll demons. What an amazing band. Spacey, intense, complex, primal, chaotic, beautiful...
Ok, enough hyperbole (for the moment). What's "Monumension" really like, and how *does* it compare exactly to "Mardraum"? Well, somebody had told us to expect that the new Enslaved would sound like Genesis, but that's definitely not the case. True, '70s prog rock a la Genesis (or, maybe more accurately, King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator) certainly flows in the blood of Grutle, Ivar and Co., along with the more ancient blood of their Norse ancestors. Opeth fans will hear the parallels. But are they truly warriors of modern prog? Not quite, as they are so much more. The first thing an Enslaved fan will notice is the surprising prevalence of death metal style vocals alongside the black metal rasps and Viking chants. Vocally, lyrically and musically, this is some seriously heavy stuff, and violent. But it all flows, sometimes into realms so tripped-out and Floyd-ishly psychedelic that you'll forget you're listening to "metal" at all. But then, the next song will start with a blood-quickening, bone-jarring riff to remind you. Like on "Mardraum", the band brilliantly weaves various metal/rock styles into pure Enslaved music, perhaps upping the "folk" aspect a bit (which balances those death metal elements nicely). There's even a bonus track by a related band called HOV (Trygve Mathiesen and a "tribal choir" which includes all the members of Enslaved) that's meant to evoke traditional Viking music -- although the band stresses that "Enslaved has never been about reproduction or literal interpretations. It is more of a quest for creating our own musical traditions and dimensions. The band is built upon the philosophy, magick and myths of the Vikings, not a desire to dress like they did during a historical period or to talk exactly like them. It is something deeper than a mere roleplay to please the outer eyes and ears." These efforts by Enslaved certainly have resulted in surreal, epic, timeless metal for the mind, body and soul.
So yes, these rune-obsessed geniuses, mere youngsters wise beyond their years, have created another utter masterpiece. And it's not just me -- everyone I've discussed this record with agrees that it's amazing. Arrrgh -- my fanboy ramblings can't even begin to do it justice. Emperor, Satyricon, Ulver are all great Norwegian black metal bands that in various ways and to various degress have also branched out into the beyond, but Enslaved are something else again.
RealAudio clip: "The Voices"
RealAudio clip: "Vision: Sphere of the Elements - A Monument Part II"
RealAudio clip: "The Cromlech Gate"
RealAudio clip: "Convoys To Nothingness"

MIRZA Last Clouds (Ba Da Bing!) cd 13.98
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It's strange how often instead of a proper album, a band's posthumous live/odd-n-ends release often ends up being my favorite (sez Allan), like A Minor Forest's "So, Were They In Some Sort of Fight", This Heat's "Made Available", Devo's "Hardcore Devo Vol. 1", half the stuff Faust ever released, and now Mirza's "Last Clouds" cd.
"Last Clouds" collects a bunch of early and unreleased material from the now-defunct San Francisco space-rock / drone-core ensemble Mirza (which was Glenn Donaldson, Brian Lucas, Steven R. Smith, and Mark Williams). Specifically, the disc includes the four tracks from Mirza's debut 12" inch (orginally released by Autopia in 1996) and seven previously unreleased tracks recorded from 1995-98 -- live improvisations from shows and rehearsals we think.
Glenn (who remains very active in the post-Mirza outfit Thuja, as well as other projects like The Knit Separates, Blithe Sons, Skygreen Leopards, etc.) describes these recordings as sounding like early Skullflower. And it's true that there's a psychedelic density of sound shared by both Mirza and Skullflower, but Mirza was prone to meander where Skullflower's structured moments were much more brutal and unrelenting than these sensitive boys could ever be -- although some of these tracks come mighty close! On these disc, Mirza plays around with various drugged-out psych-rock riffs that get incrementally heavier throughout each track, rhythmically emulating the best Krautrock grooves that doubtless occupied a lot of their listening. Inspired stuff, in all senses. This material will definitely come as a bit of a surprise to those who know Mirza from their more "ambient, bliss-out" styled stuff on the Darla label! Also fans of Thuja's gorgeous drone-jams, or Steven R. Smith's lovely solo releases, may be astonished at how noisy, loud, heavy and rocked-out some of this is, but we're sure they can dig it. More proof that Mirza and their whole extended musical family were/are something for us here in San Francisco to be quite proud of, in the realm of worldclass psychedelic drone improv rock. And look out for the brilliant new Thuja album "Ghost Plants" coming in January on the Emperor Jones label for further confirmation of this fact.
RealAudio clip: "West"
RealAudio clip: "Acts/Volcano of Birds"
RealAudio clip: "Nostalgia"

NAGISA NI TE Songs For A Simple Moment (Geographic) cd 17.98
"Songs For A Simple Moment" is an introduction to the musical world of Shinji Shibayama. Since 1992 Nagisa Ni Te has released four records of honest, fragile psychedelic folk. With ties to Maher Shalal Hash Baz, whose members have at one time or another collaborated with Nagisa Ni Te, this collection released via Stephen Pastel's Geographic label comes just in time, as the western world's interest in Japanese psychedelia, from the '60s and beyond, is at an all time high. Formerly of Kansai legends Idiot O'Clock and the Hallelujahs (who have three tracks included here), Shibayama has been a major figure in the Osaka psych underground. His small label Org has released a handsome amount of incredible records by Maher Shalal Hash Baz and Naoki Zushi of Hijokaidan, as well as his own Hallelujahs (reissue on PSF) and the first three Nagisa Ni Te lps (all of which have recently been reissued via P-Vine in Japan).
With a revolving host of guest musicians, the core of Nagisa Ni Te centers on Shibayama and his partner Masako Takeda. Drummer Ikuro Takahashi, most recently of Fushitsusha, had once been a major part of the lineup, but has recently, mysteriously retired from music altogether. But that's another story...
In the Japanese psych underground, there is a strange coexistence of feedback/noise and earnest, heartfelt acoustic folk. Nagisa Ni Te embrace both aspects and combine the two at times. Think a more naive version of Tim Buckley or Neil Young. And if you're at all familiar with the brittle psychedelia of Shizuka, or the primitive guitar feedback freakout of the obscure '70s psych gods Les Rallizes Dénudés, you will definitely want to venture forth. From the fragility and innocence of "Star" and "They" to the shattering, feedback drenched Rallizesesque live rendition of the twenty minute epic "The True Sun", this comes highly recommended as an introduction, and is a great companion to the growing output of Nagisa Ni Te! (Even if you're already a fan and have their Japanese import cds, you'll probably want this for the rare/unreleased/live tracks included.)
RealAudio clip: "They"
RealAudio clip: "The True Sun"

CRADLE OF FILTH Dusk And Her Embrace (Music For Nations) cd 16.98
"Litanies of damnation, death, and the darkly erotic" from Britain's biggest (and best?) black metal act, the notorious Cradle of Filth. Andee was already a fan of their previous discs, but this is the one that convinced Allan that CoF were pretty darn great. Totally over the top, storming black metal mixed with Hammer Horror theatrics. It's fast, complex, and brutal. Definitely extreme despite their "sell-out" reputation. The CoF disc to get, to start with, we all agree.

WISHBONE ASH s/t (MCA) cd 11.98
This is one of those classic rock '70s bands that I (Allan) had always heard of (their claim to fame was pioneering the twin guitar harmony thing, inspiring Thin Lizzy and later Iron Maiden) but had never heard... Nobody was like, "Dude! Wishbone Ash! You gotta hear 'em!". Still, I've been curious, and finally a copy of this album, Wishbone Ash's 1970 debut fell into my hands. And yep, it's pretty great. I've investigated further, and it might be that this was really their best album. It's like a combination of heavy British blues-rock a la Cream with harmony guitars that, yes, sound like Thin Lizzy (or The Champs). The vocals sound kinda like Greg Lake of King Crimson/ELP, but they do some vocal harmonies that sound more old-timey, Brit-folk style. It's not super heavy though it has its moments, it's definitely not metal, but it IS hard rock, with lengthy songs (including two that exceed ten minutes) featuring almost-Allmans-like guitar jamming. Great stuff, if you're like me and dig songs with titles like "Lady Whiskey" and "Queen of Torture". While not a discovery on par with finding out that Uriah Heep was actually pretty amazing (allow me -- "Dude! Uriah Heep! Go get 'Look At Yourself'!! The one with the mirror on the cover, you've seen it a thousand times. It's really great!") but I'm glad to now to be hip to Wishbone Ash, this album at least. Recommended to those into the '70s/stoner rock thing, who like guitars, and some mellowness and melody -- and harmonies too!
RealAudio clip: "Lady Wiskey"
RealAudio clip: "Errors Of My Ways"

JUDAS PRIEST Hell Bent For Leather (Columbia / Legacy) cd 12.98
More Priest remastered reissues! Their new album, "Demolition" turned out to be a big piece of crap but that makes these old reissues even more necessary, as a reminder of their former glories in the days of Halford, particularily in the '70s. 1978's "Hell Bent For Leather" (UK title: "Killing Machine") has been a classic album since the day it was released, and nothing's going to change that. This has their great Fleetwood Mac cover "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)", that inspired further cover versions by both the Melvins and The Need. Includes two bonus tracks: a live "Riding on the Wind" and an unreleased studio recording called "Fight For Your Life".

JUDAS PRIEST Stained Class (Columbia / Legacy) cd 12.98
Another Priest classic! If you're any sort of metalhead, you'll have this 1978 album in your collection. "Exciter", "Invader", "Beyond The Realms of Death", "Saints In Hell"...so many great songs. This disc is of course remastered and includes two bonus tracks, one live, one studio.

EARTH 2 (Special Low Frequency Version) (Sub Pop) cd 10.98
(For some reason we never listed this before, so rather than just adding it quietly to the website we thought we'd put it on our email, timely since we're also listing the reissue of Earth's "Sunn Amps..." cd.)
Earth. The band that launched a thousand drones. The band that started it all. The heaviest band ever (maybe). Earth was the singular vision of only-permanent-member Dylan Carlson, the long haired guy pictured on the back cover wearing the Morbid Angel longsleeve (whom you might remember from the Kurt & Courtney movie). For 1993's Earth 2, Dylan's guitar was joined by the bass of Dave Harwell, who is pictured holding a cup of coffee on the back cover (and who would go on to disappear completely).
All you kids who thrive on an unhealthy diet of the Corrupted, Boris (who even borrowed the Earth 2 tagline "Special Low Frequency Version" for the Southern Lord version of their "Absolutego" album), the Melvins, Thrones, and sludge like that, as well as you avant-art rockers who enjoy 'dronology' and stuff like Mirror and Jonathan Coleclough and even those of you who sit at home in front of your dream machines and wallow in the historical drones of Angus Maclise and Tony Conrad, need look no further than Earth 2 to experience the drone the way it was meant to be heard: huge downtuned guitars playing riffs so slow that each one lasts forever, LOW END that slides and lurches like a blackened glacier of fuzz and hiss, slow motion notes stretched so far that they become a single note washing over you like a sticky wave of tar and molasses, melodies that are indistinguishable because the notes are pulled so far apart they threaten to come apart completely. When we tell someone that a record is heavy, Earth 2 is the barometer by which all other supposedly 'heavy' music is measured. Even recent AQ faves Sunn 0))) are an Earth tribute band (they will even say as much) named for Earth's amp of choice. There are very few records that are 'classics', that stand the test of time, that remain as vital now, as when they originally came out, ten, twenty, or even thirty years earlier, that have influenced so many bands so much, or that have been unequalled, even with so many people trying so hard to be the heaviest or most extreme. The drug addled, accidental brilliance that is Earth 2, to this day remains a complete and utter classic.
MPEG Stream: "Seven Angels"
MPEG Stream: "Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine"
MPEG Stream: "Like Gold And Faceted"

KEMIALLISET YSTAVAT Suurempi Pieni Palatsi (Alice In Wonder) 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 hard to pronounce Kemialliset Ystavat play a mysterious, fucked up brand of psychedelic improv folk music -- fractured, fairytale sounds from the woods of Finland. Well, more likely a bedroom studio in Finland. But Kemialliset Ystavat seem like they belong in a forest, an old dark magical forest. This is their first full length cd, after several obscure and odd releases over the past few years (homemade cassettes, a one-sided LP for Fusetron, a 3" cd-r on Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers, a split 7" on Bad Vugum, etc.). Indeed, this disc actually consists of material originally released on a limited 7" last year, plus lots of bonus stuff.
It's primarily the work of one main band member, Jan Anderzen. He's helped by, among others, our friend Sami Sanpakkila (of Es, Kiila, Velvolino and Fonal Records). Maybe the closest comparison we could make would be to NYC's Tower Recordings. But Kemialliset Ystavat's damaged psych meanderings somehow capture an even more "authentic, exotic" mood of post-krautrock wonderment than that conjured by the New Yorkers, although we love them so.
After getting all those great sixties International Harvester, Trad Gras Och Stenar etc. reissues in, it's nice to know that their spirit of psychedelic exploration is still alive and well in Scandinavia, thirty years on!
RealAudio clip: "Hurja Taivas"
RealAudio clip: "Kuin Kaste Aamun"
RealAudio clip: "Nykyajan Tanssi"
RealAudio clip: "Katkennut Rauhanpiippu "

WHEN The Lobster Boys (Jester) cd 14.98
The band's name is When, but the question really is *What?* As in, what the hell is this? Totally amazing, for one thing, but beyond that...? One thing we can say about When is that we NEVER know what to expect from 'em. On this new album, the music is a totally catchy, sunshiney blend of ethno-sampledelic rhythmic groove that reminds us a lot of AQ-staff-and-customer fave Milk Cult, and yet it's also *exuberant* pop heavily influenced by the Beach Boys (complete with incredibly sweet vocal harmonies). Kind of like some brilliant collaboration between Olivia Tremor Control and Muslimgauze, or between XTC and Hungarian ethno-trance-technologist Laszlo Hortobagyi! Really! We realize that's a tall order... but When manages to shape its wide range of influences and samples so that the music *invokes* without seeming like theft -- it's a complete whole, not annoyingly schizophrenic, and its unpredictability is ever so fresh.
When is the brainchild of Norwegian musician/sampler artist Lars Pedersen; he's been at it since the early '80s (after quitting a new wave/Industrial band called Holy Toy) and has released 8+ albums that have ranged from ambient soundscapes to prog rock, yet have steadily grown more and more pop. When's previous full-length release, "Psychedelic Wunderbaum", dabbled in pop sounds, if you consider Carl Stalling cartoon music meets crazed electronica "pop"! But on The Lobster Boys, Lars really lets his Beatles / Beach Boys inspiration come to the fore. His British (not Norwegian) accented singing is placed into some far-from conventional settings -- over, say, an Ethiopiques sampled loop (really!), or over crazy wild drumming most pop songs never get to feature.
Lars and several friends handle sampling, organ, guitar, bass, xylophone, drums, vocals, melodica, viola, etc... all culminating in an utterly amazing final unlisted bonus track, 15+ minutes of trancey middle eastern samples and effects that build up into a distorted storm of loud electric guitar feedback skree, noisy and yet blissfully rhythmic throughout.
Lastly, we have to say: how weird is it that we can only get this album from heavy metal distributors? Because it's on the Norwegian label Jester, which is run by Garm from (former) black metal legends Ulver, some from the metal community have noticed the record, but we worry it may go under-recognized by other intrepid listeners (except for, of course, AQ and you!) Truly, we never imagined how much we'd come to love this decidedly non-metal, fantastic band.
(And if you want to catch up on When's previous work, we also stock "PW" and the When best of/rarities double cd compilation "The Unblessed World Of When: WriterCakeBox".)
RealAudio clip: "Flower Jam"
RealAudio clip: "Instant Flute"
RealAudio clip: "Cut"
RealAudio clip: "The Greatest Sorrow On Earth"
RealAudio clip: "(untitled)"

FREAK SCENE, THE / THE DEVIL'S ANVIL Psychedelic Psoul / Hard Rock From The Middle East (Collectables) cd 15.98
In light of recent events, we figured that this reissue of "Hard Rock From the Middle East" would make a great choice for record of the week...no, we don't mean 'cause of the current war, we mean because of the popularity of the "Turkish Delights" and "Hava Narghile" compilations 'round these parts. We've been super-into those collections of fuzzed-out '60s Middle Eastern psych-rock this year, as are quite a few of you, judging by their still-booming sales. So, when we recently discovered this 1998 cd that contains the reissued The Devil's Anvil album, it quickly became a favorite at AQ.
The cover art shows the band hangin' in the desert in front of the pyramids of Egypt -- but don't be fooled, they were actually mostly Arab-Americans, based in New York City. Still, their rock n' roll was as authentically "Middle Eastern" as their Turkish contemporaries. They could have held their own with the likes of Erkin Koray and Mogollar.
Ok, now we'd better explain about this particular cd (pay attention, it gets kinda confusing): Sony's Collectables has reissued two long-out-of-print 1967 albums by two totally different bands on *one* disc. The bands are tenuously connected through the friendship of The Freak Scene's Rusty Evans and Felix Pappalardi of The Devil's Anvil, as the two had played together four years previous. Okay, so maybe it's a bit of a stretch putting these two albums together on one disc. Whatever. The real treasure here is The Devil's Anvil album.
The Devil's Anvil got together in the happenin' mid sixties Greenwich Village scene, playing their Middle Eastern influenced music at folk cafes and rock clubs. Eventually they hooked up with classical musician-turned-rocker Felix Pappalardi (producer of Cream's "Disraeli Gears", later to play alongside Leslie West in Mountain). He began playing bass with the band and eventually scored the group a record deal. The resulting album was truly one-of-a-kind and would certainly made greater impact had it not been released on the very eve of the Arab-Israeli war in 1967. Thus, no New York radio stations would play it and unfortunately the album has remained an expensive collector's find until now.
The rock contained herein is absolutely kick ass, with bluesy and impassioned Arabic vocals, electric (or at least amplified) oud, bouzouki, tamboura, durbeki as well as the usual rock suspects of (fuzz!) guitar, bass and drums. The majority of the tracks here are either rock arrangements of traditional Middle Eastern and Greek numbers or original compositions, but a couple are actually straight traditional numbers with no western instruments at all. Plus there's an excellent Middle Eastern-esque rock arangement of "Misirlou" that's perhaps the best version ever recorded, IMHO. And the record ends with a Devil's Anvil original that kinda reminds us of one of the Beatles' more Eastern-influenced tunes. This is about as good as it gets. Even if the Freak Scene album doesn't interest you at all, this cd is still worth buying for The Devil's Anvil alone. Very, very highly recommended! Nay, ESSENTIAL.
(As for The Freak Scene -- you might guess from that band's name and album title, The Freak Scene were a bit of a psychedelic-era novelty, a studio project put together by producer/songwriter Evans for CBS Records. The record exploits all of the trippy tropes of the times, from Eastern-raga modes to LSD-inspired lyrics. It's no classic, but does include at least one truly great psych-pop track, the Nuggets-worthy "A Million Grains of Sand". The Freak Scene also indulges in dated but amusing free-form sound-collage experiments like "...When In The Course of Human Events (Draft Beer, Not Students)" which tries to make a statement about the whole sixties counterculture vibe. It's a mix of Pete Seeger, Laugh-In, an LSD party -- Vietnam-era pop culture hippie kitsch -- consider it a free bonus that comes with The Devil's Anvil album.)
RealAudio clip: THE DEVIL'S ANVIL "Wala Dai"
RealAudio clip: THE DEVIL'S ANVIL "Shisheler"
RealAudio clip: THE DEVIL'S ANVIL "Hala Laya"
RealAudio clip: THE DEVIL'S ANVIL "Basaha"
RealAudio clip: THE FREAK SCENE "Draft Beer, Not Students"
RealAudio clip: THE FREAK SCENE "A Million Grains of Sand"
RealAudio clip: THE FREAK SCENE "My Rainbow Life"

STINKING LIZAVETA III (Tolotta) cd 13.98
We've been waiting for this for a loooong time, the new, third (duh) album from one of our favorite bands, the amazing Philadelphian power trio Stinking Lizaveta. The first thing to say is that we like how the front cover shows band members seated in their barren inner-city Philly back yard, while the back cover has a slight variation on the same shot with each band member's pet dog perched on their respective laps...the dogs are indentified by name (Davis, Kira, and Shu Shu), and tracks 7-9 on the cd are named after the dogs! Very nice. They love their dogs.
For those who need to know more, let's give you the basics: This is ROCK. Goddamn. An instrumental trio of godly Les Paul guitar, hard-hitting mathrock drums, and virtuoso upright electric bass. It's not exactly metal, it's not jazz, but it's heavy and tight and blows away most other rock outfits on the planet, live especially. And "III", with somewhat fuller production than past efforts, reminds us that Stinking Liz kick ass in the studio too. Imagine Black Flag/Gone mixed with King Crimson, or AC/DC playing Mahavishnu instrumentals, or The Champs falling in love with each other, moving to the country, and practicing yoga. Those are woefully inadequate comparisons, of course, but that's cause this band is its own incredible thing. With "III", they've added some synth and violin to the mix -- and even some half-buried vocals on the very first song -- but primarily what you're going to hear is the basic guitar/bass/drums trio, simply cookin'. With gas. Fuckin' huge propane tanks of it, exploding left and right. Whoops, but then let's not forget the moments of delicate, Eastern-tinged post-rock bliss to be found here as well. Lizaveta's multi-genre rock synthesis results in a unique and varied album, from the tension-buildup of a slowburning track like "Tenuous" to the Frippian ambience of "Diana" to the psychedelic soulshiver of "Naked And Alone" with its doomy Black Sabbath bassline and Yanni's lengthy Fushitsusha style blues-psych guitar blowout. The brothers Papadopoulos (Yanni, guitar and Alexi, bass) and drummer Cheshire Agusta do all this and more, with sincerity, passion and might.
Joe Lally (Fugazi) released this on his label Tolotta, best known as the home of stoner rock heroes Spirit Caravan. I'd really like to see both SC and SL go on tour together, that would be something...
RealAudio clip: "The Sentence"
RealAudio clip: "Revelationary"
RealAudio clip: "The Hanged Man"
RealAudio clip: "Naked and Alone"

ANTHRAX Spreading The Disease (Megaforce) cd 10.98
We couldn't resist. What better time than now to list one of Allan and Andee's favorite metal records?
Metalheads argue a lot. Which band is heavier. Which singer was the best. Who painted what album cover. Which bands are true metal. And one argument that rages on (at least around here) is which Anthrax singer was/is the best. While Allan and I both agree that current Anthrax throat John Bush (former Armored Saint frontman) is a great vocalist, we also both agree that he isn't very good in Anthrax. Allan tends to lean toward Neil Turbin, who sang on the first two, more decidedly thrash albums, and those records definitely contain some of Anthrax's finest moments. But it was Joey Belladonna who took Anthrax to the next level. His super high pitched wail added some melody to their thrash and opened a lot of people's ears to heavy music. And 'Spreading The Disease' is definitely the best of the Belladonna-era, pre baggy shorts and post 'new yawk hawdcoah'. Super heavy and surprisingly catchy, this record has stood the test of time far better than most eighties metal. A speed metal classic, highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: "A.I.R"
RealAudio clip: "Armed and Dangerous"

SAINT VITUS Hallow's Victim / The Walking Dead (S.O.S.) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There were other great underground metal bands in the '80s who practiced what doom messiahs Black Sabbath preached: Trouble, Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram... But it was LA's Saint Vitus who took the Sabbath sound to even further extremes. They were heavier, slower, doomier than anyone else. Psychedelic, wasted, DOOM. This limited edition cd comprises their second full length LP and subsequent 12" ep, both originally released on seminal SoCal punk label SST. These garage doom metal masterpieces have never been available on compact disc before, and we were only able to get a few -- get 'em while you can. Transferred direct from vinyl, not master tapes, but you'll barely notice at the recommended playback volume (loud!) and with appropriate headbanging behavior. It's also well worth noting that "Hallow's Victim" and "The Walking Dead" both boast the vocal presence of Vitus' original singer, Scott Reagers. It's been a subject of some debate 'round here about who was the best Vitus vocalist, Reagers or his replacement, stoner rock "god" Scott "Wino" Weinrich (of The Obsessed and, now, Spirit Caravan). Andee opts for Wino, but Allan has always agreed with what it says in the liner notes here, which call Reagers "one of metal's greatest vocalists ever" and go on to say "contrary to popular belief, Vitus never sounded as spine-chilling without his incredible dramatic voice and astounding range." Amen.
RealAudio clip: "Mystic Lady"
RealAudio clip: "Prayer For The (M)asses"
RealAudio clip: "War Is Our Destiny"

METALUCIFER Heavy Metal Chainsaw (R.I.P) cd 14.98
You have to be pretty darn metal to get into this band, and that's as it should be: no poseurs allowed!! Metalucifer are Japanese metalheads (some from the cult black metal combo Sabbat) paying tribute to the glory days of '80s true metal, a la Maiden and Priest. This is their third album, following up to 1998's "Heavy Metal Drill" and 1996's "Heavy Metal Hunter" (what's next, Heavy Metal Hacksaw? Heavy Metal Pliers?). Brilliant, aren't they? And utterly ridiculous of course, something I doubt guitarist Elizabigore or bassist Geniezoluzifer would deny. In fact, they may be the MOST ridiculous tongue in cheek (yet kick ass) metal band ever. Get this: track four on here is called "My Way Is Heavy Metal" while on their previous disc they had an anthem entitled "Heavy Metal Is My Way". Wow. If you think that's stupid, I don't need to tell you not to buy this album. But if you think that's kinda rad, then, this is for you -- and it's not just for laffs either, 'cause they really do lay down the metal law fairly convincingly: screaming guitar leads, triumphant lyrics, pounding drums, majestic riffs, the works. A Thor for today. Over-the-top and awesome.
RealAudio clip: "Warriors Ride On The Chariots"
RealAudio clip: "Heavy Metal Samurai"

REYNOLS / NO-REYNOLS s/t (Freedom From) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In keeping true to the uncanny laws of nature in the Reynolsian universe, No-Reynols came into creation because the world had slipped out of balance due to the invincible musical force that is Reynols. This is not to say that No-Reynols is the evil incarnation of Reynols or that No-Reynols is even the opposite of Reynols, but that the world hinges itself as interconnected series of counterbalances, and -- strange as it may sound -- too much Reynols may have been detrimental to the world as we know it. Thus, No-Reynols needed to exist. Just as Reynols draws its energy from the non-linear logic and mystical neologisms of Miguel Tomasin (who happens to have Down Syndrome), No-Reynols centers around the anti-agendas of Juan Miguel Acevedo (who also has Down Syndrome). Behind chugging guitars and skitteringly motorik 4/4 rhythms (think a really sloppy Neu!), Acevedo utters wavering vocal wails and monosyllabic chants that place his voice as a vehicle for additional tones and rhythms. There are obvious similarities between No-Reynols and Reynols in this primitive approach to musical content, yet the use of the voice is certainly a dividing point, with Tomasin in turn barking non-specific phrases in Spanish.
RealAudio clip: REYNOLS "N9 Colesio Americama"
RealAudio clip: REYNOLS "Amete Pulpo Un Groda"
RealAudio clip: NO REYNOLS "2"
RealAudio clip: NO REYNOLS "7"

SKULLVIEW Consequences Of Failure (R.I.P.) cd 14.98
First of all, you've got to admire a mostly unknown American swords-and-sorcery metal band that follows an album called "Kings of the Universe" with one titled "Consequences of Failure"! That definitely demonstrates a sense of realism amid the fantasy and an ability to laugh at oneself... Power and might are a big theme in metal, but these metal warriors know when they're licked, and have the courage to admit it -- and fight on! Of course, in a just world, they'd be huge, 'cause this, their third disc, is a damn good power metal album. Right from the get-go you'd swear it was an lost '80s Maiden LP. Their secret weapon is vocalist "Earthquake" Quimby (yes, Quimby -- good thing he's got a nickname). He's got the leather lungs of a Dickinson or Halford. And Skullview backs him up with some seriously kick ass, galloping tunes, sounding like the last album any of them bought was "Powerslave" or "Painkiller", or maybe something by Manowar or Candlemass... These guys just love metal, and if you love metal, you'll love Skullview too, 'cause they actually deliver (they don't deal merely in the trappings of '80s metal glory, but they actually have the talent to write and play solid songs). Oh, for the Sabbath fans out there, we should mention the bonus track: a cover of "Digital Bitch"!
RealAudio clip: "Time For Violence"
RealAudio clip: "Seek The Old Man For Knowledge"
RealAudio clip: "Armed With An Axe"

WEEKS, GREG Awake Like Sleep (Ba Da Bing!) cd 14.98
This is record number three for Greg Weeks, and the one that's really finally gotten our attention. His previous disc on Ba Da Bing! was a stripped down, boy-and-his-guitar folky singer-songwriter kinda record, and while he is still essentially playing folk music, on "Awake Like Sleep" he has begun to experiment with electronics and synthesizers resulting in a sound completely alien but warm and familiar at the same time: a sort of lilting chamber folk with electro-baroque flourishes, reminiscent of sixties and seventies folk-rock bands from England. Indeed, he's been compared to AQ-faves Comus, and while we don't think his stuff really sounds like those pagan freaks, there is a certain parallel, maybe as if one of the Comus dudes went solo. Where Comus was all maniacal and relentless, Weeks imbues his music with tension and a more subtle mania, borne of sadness and loneliness. These emotions manifest themselves as haunting melodies, dreamy flutes, church organs, discordant keyboards, spooky theremins, distorted bass, and warbling melodies that sound as if they were being played on a broken old turntable. It's all under a gauzy cloud of antiquated synth sounds and gently plucked guitars, invoking an alone-in-an-old-dark-house-on-a-moor kind of melancholia. The lyrics are simple and emotional, delivered in a plaintive almost whispered tenor that occasionally slips into a damaged falsetto that is completely heartbreaking. The most surprising aspect of what is essentially a folk record, besides the use of electronics and synthesisers, is the occasional spaced out psychedelic jam, with booming Bonham beats and swirling acid leads which build to moments where the song threatens to burst wide open, positively seething with barely restrained fury, like a huge black storm cloud threatening to unleash its violent storm. "Awake Like Sleep" never really gets all that heavy, but it's still really "heavy", if you know what we mean. People into the current strain of lo-fi bedroom folk-damaged indie-pop (for instance, Tower Recordings, P.G. Six, Neutral Milk Hotel and other Elephant Six stuff, or even a less twee Magnetic Fields) should like this!
RealAudio clip: "Made"
RealAudio clip: "Past Four Corners"
RealAudio clip: "These Days"

COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Live (Opus) cd 21.00
Really excellent Czech prog rock from 1973. Collegium Musicum were an instrumental organ-bass-drums trio in the best classically-influenced tradition. In other words, E.L.P.!!! This live album (their best release) is full of extended, virtuoso soloing from all three members. Energetic, kinda heavy, sometimes happy, sometimes dark, great music. Full-on '70s prog with a nice Eastern-European vibe. And we love the cover shot! (Not new, but we got a couple and wanted to list it, along with the equally awesome Fermata disc, for the Iron Curtain prog freaks we know populate our mailing list!)
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 1"
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 2"
RealAudio clip: "Monument"

AMPS FOR CHRIST The Oak In the Ashes (Shrimper) cd 13.98
One of our favorite bands offers up another disc of their unique, unclassifiable sounds. This one really embraces a '60s hippie vibe, with occasional outbursts from their "power violence" past (AFC leader Barnes was the "noise guy" in California's seminal political-grind-crust band Man Is The Bastard). Electronically simulated Scottish bagpipes and the strains of other hand made, one of a kind instruments are blended in a tapestry of electric acid folk music. The instrumental passages are a wash of psychedelic electronics, while the delicate male vocals recall Nick Drake or early Meat Puppets. Unpredictable as always AFC is, "The Oak" also features female vocals in an exotic, faux-Middle Eastern mode, lo-fi dirge metal guitar freakout, horn-noodling free jazz improv, finally winds up with the nine minute carnival-noise abstraction of "Prepared Hammond For 5 Hands". Eclectic, but for the most part the focus of "The Oak" is the gorgeous folky songs, more-or-less layered with distortion and drone. Unfortunately we must give warning that there's several completely incongruous, godawful tracks of someone reciting bad beat poetry over too-loud drumming found here as well -- when listening to this, you should definitely make sure to program out tracks 4, 8, 11, 13, 16, 20, and 22 (which are short anyways, but they should have been shorter)! Regardless, skip them and this is a great 16-track AFC album, and thus recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Little Angel"
RealAudio clip: "Painter"
RealAudio clip: "As I Walked Out"

V/A Turkish Delights (Grey Past) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We are all quite excited about the cd release of Turkish Delights comp (though Byram's a bit irked 'cause he bought the original vinyl and now is faced with a cd version that adds 11 extra tracks!). In total, there's 26 tracks here, dating from 1965 to 1971, of some of the best garage psych that we've ever heard -- from Turkey or anywhere else for that matter. The Turkish rock scene appears to have begun in earnest in 1956 when the English instrumental group The Shadows made their impression on Turkish teens. Given that many people in Turkey didn't even speak English, it's pretty impressive how well they assimilated a completely foreign music and excelled in it better than most of their American and British counterparts. Some of the tracks like Mavi Isiklar's "Great Airplane Strike of 1967" (a Paul Revere & the Raiders cover) are spitting images of garage-psych from the occident, but others like Cem Karaca & Apaslar's "Suya Giden Alli Gelin" are unmistakably Eastern. It's these tracks, that combine the rock n' roll structure and instrumentation augmented with Turkish instruments, scales and singing that really kick ass. Those of you that have already picked up the excellent "Hava Narghile" compilation know what we mean, but what was great about that collection is exponentially better on this one! Get it.
Along with the new cd version, we now have more copies of the "Turkish Delights" LP (which was so hard to get when it first came out that we only ever had a handful and were never able to list it). 15 tracks on this baby instead of the 26 on the cd, but what you lose in bonus cuts you gain in, uh, vinyl. And the art looks better, we think.
RealAudio clip: CEM KARACA & APASLAR "Suya Giden Alli Gelin"
RealAudio clip: SELCUK ALAGOZ "Saklan Saklanabilirsen"
RealAudio clip: CAHIT OBEN "Halimem"

ASANO, KOJI The End Of August (Solstice) cd 16.98
Beautiful! This new release from prolific Barcelona-based Japanese experimental composer Koji Asano, number 22 (!) in his ongoing series of fascinating self-released recordings, is described by Asano as "a long lost memory of a once heard piano." Now, he has released several other gorgeous discs of ambient piano improv, but this one augments his melodic piano abstractions with what sounds like a layered, electronic collage of church bells ringing, backed with a mesmerizing insect buzz, capturing the humid, humming ambience of a late summer afternoon... Unlike some of Koji's other recent releases which were on the creepier, darker, noisier side of things, this is simply gorgeous. Melancholic, yes, but lovely too. Recommended. (Asano disc #23, "A Second Dam", is on the way, by the way.)
RealAudio clip: "The End of August (excerpt)"

DEVO Oh No It's Devo / Freedom Of Choice (Virgin) cd 15.98

SPAZZTIC BLURR s/t (Earache) cd 15.98
"Way beyond speed!! / Spazztic Blurr!!!! / There is no cure!! / For The Spazztic Blurr!! ... Let There Be Spazztic! -- Let there Be Blurr!"
Holy hell. We never thought that Earache would reissue this out of print record on cd! This 1988 LP of absurdist metal has been long sought after by Allan, 'cause he just loves the Spazztic Blurr song found on that classic Earache label "Grind Crusher" compilation. That song ("He-Nota-Home-Me-Marco") is found here along with 13 other examples of their brilliantly (?) mindless, stream of consciousness, dadaistic thrash songwriting. Ok, normally Allan doesn't approve of overtly silly joke bands. But these guys totally take their jokes into a shaggy dog realm of utter nonsequiturship. Lyrics about Burger King, boardgames, the Flintstones, the alphabet, hardcore punks and rappers...yes it's childish. But it's also 1988. And then there's the way they include descriptions of what's going on musically at each point in a song on the lyric sheet (some examples: "Distorted Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Distorted Guitar, Acoustic Guitar...", "Total Speed Metal Ending", "Weird Effect", "Surf Part", "Isn't It Neat How This Songs Jumps Right In?"). They were probably a huge influence on John Zorn! Kinda like Dead Milkmen meets the Suicidal Tendencies, for fans of Ludichrist, Lawnmower Deth, S.O.D., 7000 Dying Rats, that sort of thing.
RealAudio clip: "He-Nota-Home"
RealAudio clip: "Def Metal"
RealAudio clip: "Mexicalli"

CONFUSIONAL QUARTET s/t (Elica) cd 16.98
Finally back in stock, hopefully for longer than before! Last time we listed it (on AQ-L #109), we sold out super fast and weren't able to get any more until just last week!! Here are the nice things we said about this disc back then:
Not a new release, but we managed to get a few in stock for the moment, so we thought we'd list this. We got turned on to the Confusional Quartet (great name!) a while back because of a review our friend Tim Ellison wrote in his great 'zine Modern Rock (formerly Rock Mag!), and now it's a big favorite of a bunch of us here at AQ. As you may be aware, Italy in the '70s boasted a lot of excellent progressive rock bands. Following on that tradition, the Confusional Quartet, an Italian group who flourished in the very early '80s, play a unique brand of New Wave prog rock. Their mostly-instrumental compositions are quirky, catchy, and energetic. Complex yet poppy, this should appeal to folks into both Devo (who were fans!) and John Zorn, into both video-game and surf music, as they combine New Wave keyboards, No Wave guitars, and avant-garde concepts. Tim described this a lot better than that, unfortunately I don't have his 'zine in front of me at the moment to crib from! However, whenever this gets played in the store, we invariably have customers asking about it, and sometimes even buying a copy, so check out the real audio clips! This nicely digipak'd cd has 24 tracks compiling their entire recorded output circa 1980-81 (a self-titled LP, self-titled EP, and a flexi disc, plus a couple unreleased cuts). And, there's their really charming vintage d.i.y. video-clip for their version of "Volare" as a cd-rom bonus! Plus art, photos, and bilingual text in the cd-booklet. Exciting and fun, a real find.
RealAudio clip: "Bologna Rock"
RealAudio clip: "Pensione Elastica"
RealAudio clip: "Nebdo Zip"
RealAudio clip: "Volare"

POWERS COURT Nine Kinds Of Hell (Dragonheart) cd 21.00
Powers Court is a metal marvel from the USA, Illinois to be exact. They're a three piece, but while bassist Steve Murray and drummer Mike Evams handle their parts well, the beating metal heart of the band resides in the person of Danie Powers, guitarist and vocalist. She's beyond any argument one of the most talented women in metal, ever. Her singing is the first and most striking thing you'll notice about her band, as she's got a dramatic, versatile multi-octave voice that she puts to good use, sounding like a weird robot hybrid of Grace Slick and the most kick-ass of male metal vocalists, able to roam from underground deathmetal grunts up to King Diamondish cathedral spires. And if her vocal abilities weren't enough, she also plays a mean lead guitar (and a custom, bloodsplattered electric mandolin too!) and writes all her band's music. Oh, and programs their website. Wow. Already fan