V/A Hava Narghile (Dionysus / Bacchus Archives) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK!! Been waiting to see more of this old fave for a long time, here they are again at last. If you don't have it, get it!! It's such a good disc, compiled by Gokhan Aya and AQ customer Jay Dobis (who kindly showed Allan around to every record shop on Istiklal street when Allan visited Istanbul last year, thanks Jay!). Here's what we said about it originally:
Similar to the [now out of print] Turkish Delights compilation is this great collection of vintage psychedelic rock music from Turkey. With 22 tracks, spanning the years 1966-1975, this collection is a great introduction to the fanatastic, long-lost Middle Eastern acid rock scene. These bands raved it up in Istanbul nighclubs, blending the Western garage-psych rock of the era with Turkish folk influences (electic fuzz saz!), bellydancing beats, and all manner of "exotic" flourishes. Of the 17 artists on here, only a few names were already known to us, mainly from that aforementioned Turkish Delights lp or as the Turkish entries on the fab Love Peace & Poetry: Asian Psychedelic Music compilation. Those would be the amazing Mogollar (two tracks), guitar hero Erkin Koray, Mavi Isiklar, and Baris Manco. And none of their tracks are duplicated between this comp and those other two [and there's no overlap with anything on the more recent Turkish Love, Peace & Poetry volume either]. Of the many cuts on here, everyone will have their own favorites, certainly there's many killer ones. Dionysus' Bacchus Archives imprint has done a colorful job with the packaging, illustrated with promo photos and 7" sleeves. And every track gets a good paragraph of information, so by listening and reading you'll become hip to the history of the whole Turkish psych happenin'. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: ERSEN "Sor Kendine"
MPEG Stream: MELIK FARUK SERDAR SAYGUN "Gurbet Acisci"
MPEG Stream: BARIS MANCO & KAYGISIZLAR "Trip (Fairground)"

V/A Truck Driver's Boogie: Big Rig Hits Vol. 1 (Diesel Only / Koch / Audium) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Presented by the Country Music Hall Of Fame, here's a great collection from what's one of Allan's favorite country western genres, the truck driving song! Songs about truckstop waitresses, black coffee, night runs, little white pills, and dangerous curves (of both the asphalt and female kind). Of course, these 20 tracks are far from a complete collection (what? no Red Sovine?) but this disc does cover many of the most seminal truckin' tunes over the 30 year span of 1939 to 1969, from the very first big rig hit "Truck Driver's Blues" (Cliff Brown & His Boys, 1939) to one of the first truck drivin' hillbilly boogie songs "Truck Driver's Boogie" (The Milo Twins, 1948) to the more somber "A Tombstone Every Mile" (Dick Curless, 1964) to Windy's best-loved trucking song, Red Simpson's "Roll, Truck, Roll" (1966), with its classic spoken word breakdown about his little boy drawing pictures of trucks all day at school... Over half the disc is drawn from the the truck driving song's commercial heyday in the Sixties. Hopefully though, a Volume 2 is in the works, covering the '70s and beyond.
RealAudio clip: DOYE O'DELL "Diesel Smoke (Dangerous Curves)"
RealAudio clip: DAVE DUDLEY "Six Days On The Road"
RealAudio clip: BOBBY BRADDOCK "Gear Bustin' Sort of a Feller"

MONSTER MAGNET s/t (Glitterhouse) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've had this before, but it's not always that easy to find. So while we have a few in stock we thought we'd list it. It's the very first aluminum slab of Satanic Drug psych-metal to come from the demented minds of Dave Wyndorf and Co., released on Germany's Glitterhouse label way back in 1990, including songs from their two even earlier and rarer 7" releases. A couple of the six tracks here were reprised on their Stateside debut Spine of God (and the track "Tractor" was reworked on their mainstream breakthrough disc Powertrip). But, even as sludgy and Stoogesy as Spine of God was, this disc is even rawer and heavier. The most primal Monster Magnet there is! Definitely a must for fans of their earlier, less polished/poppy stuff (which we also like). So, if you bow to the bull god, get this now before it's gone (again).

SUPERSILENT 5 (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
Another brilliant disc from this Norwegian "death-jazz" outfit! Bandmember and producer Helge Sten (aka Deathprod) took some 30 hours of material recorded live (direct to DAT) in various European locations (London, Oslo, Bologna) and edited it down to fit this cd. At first, "5" threatens to be a quieter, gentler Supersilent, as almost every track starts off with restrainted, ambient-jazz loveliness/loneliness like some sort of glacial Miles Davis... With Rune Grammofon now being distributed by ECM, we thought perhaps Supersilent were perhaps making a bid for ECM's semi-New Age market. But these are long tracks, and they often build into louder, scarier, more unsettling (yet still quite beautiful) realms. Witness the soundscape of heavy, doleful bass-buzz, electronic rumblings and intermittent percussion that track one (there's no titles) eventually reveals. Of course, Supersilent has always used space and (near)silence -- their sparse, abstract jazz-noise aesthetic being what's unique about them (although reminding us at AQ of the "rock concrete" of Italian improv-rockers the Starfuckers). So there *are* lots of mellow parts on here, indeed hauntingly mellow, and that's fine. We might consider this the "psychedelic" Supersilent album. Gorgeous.
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "track 3"

JUDAS PRIEST Screaming For Vengeance (Columbia) cd 12.98
Of the four newly reissued/remastered JP discs, this 1982 uber-classic and "British Steel" are the definite essentials. (Of course, there's eight others coming up in this welcome reissue program, just in time to light a fire under today's Priest to make their new disc "Demolition" live up to these old records). Fuck, this one's got "The Hellion/Electric Eye", the title track, "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and more...including, as with the other three, 2 unreleased bonus tracks (and this time, the studio track isn't so bad).

V/A Input 64 (Lado) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now in on LP! This is the sort of thing that Andee tells us Lesser would subject him to while driving the van when he went on tour with A Minor Forest (to the point that Andee would volunteer to drive, no matter how tired he was, just to avoid hearing it). Retro techno Commodore 64 video game music! Here's a bunch of these classic '80s eight-bit electronic toons compiled onto one handy cd. Now you can slip this into your stereo and flashback to such games as Boulder Dash, Bubble Bobble, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Turbo Outrun, Crazy Comets, The Last Ninja Wilderness (??), The Baby of Can Guru (???), and others. Oh, and it's got Allan's favorite, "Theme from Arkanoid"!! Probably sure to drive you (or at least your housemates) insane after a while, but that's never a reason not to buy a record! Definitely fun, crazy stuff -- despite the limitations of the Commodore 64 it's amazing how varied and catchy these tracks can be. And who knows, if you're like us this is remarkably similar to, and/or better than, current "electronica" music you already listen to! Comes with a 24 page booklet giving a detailed history of music programming for the C64, including biographies of the composers whose work is found on this disc and who now might get the recognition they deserve!
RealAudio clip: MARTIN GALWAY "Crazy Comets Main Theme"
RealAudio clip: CHRIS HUELSBECK "Magnetic Fields IV (As Used In Yie Ar Kung-Fu)"
RealAudio clip: ROB HUBBARD "BMX Kidz Title Theme"

IRON FIRE On The Edge (Noise) cd 16.98
Second album by this Danish heavy metal unit with a super dumb/generic name. Allan had dismissed them as yet another bunch of second rate Helloween/Hammerfall clones, but Andee gave 'em a chance and now both of us are fans, as we've discovered that there's more to this band than the usual double-bass-driven fantasy pop metal. Yeah, there IS that, but they've put an unusual '80s LA glam metal spin on things as well, from the vocalist's weird Axl Rose-isms to the bluesy harmonica blowing on several songs. Ok, maybe that sounds terrible, but the unlikely combination of Euro power metal and Sunset Strip cockrock makes these guys a unique and pretty cool find in our estimation. Totally recommended, but only to those who haven't given up reading this review already in disgust...
RealAudio clip: "Prince Of Agony"

MCGINTY, KATHY s/t (Hamburger Records) cd 11.98
BACK IN STOCK! If you missed out on this all-time AQ "comedy" fave before, now's your chance... here's what we said about it when it was first reissued on cd back in 2001, and we made it Record Of The Week:
FINALLY! We've been waiting ages for this to get reissued and the wait is now over! Easily one of the funniest, weirdest, most fucked up records ever. As I'm writing this, everyone else here is laughing hysterically while this plays in the store. In fact, I'm having trouble concentrating or even typing with this playing. It is so goddamn funny. But also kind of creepy and totally bizarre. But mostly very very funny! Originally released as a cd-r, later bootlegged by an unscrupulous LA record label, Kathy McGinty is now available as a professionally pressed cd (no longer a cd-r) with new liner notes and bonus material not included on the original cd-r release!! Here's what we had to say about the original:
You ever have that problem where you're in an internet sex chat room, and you make a date with some pervy girl for a phone sex session, and then when you call her up it's actually some jerk with a sampler loaded with a sexy female voice telling you things like "Taco Bell is sooo good?" Well if you did, chances are you're one of the crank call victims on this extremely funny and fucked up cd. We guarantee, if you hear this stuff you'll die laughing (unless you're a total prude, of course). It's really unbelievable how pathetic the guys are who attempt to carry on a phone sex chat with "Kathy McGinty", who is pretty obviously a recorded voice triggered by someone's Yamaha SU10 sampler. They don't seem to mind that she sounds like she's talking to them over a CB radio, or that most of what she says is absurd and nonsensical, like a random sound collage from a porno movie. Her Taco bell comment just gets a moan of agreement from the hapless caller.
A few of the callers figure it out, and then it gets even more pathetic as they continue to masturbate, being such geeks that they're turned on by the technical details of the joke (one guy asks, excitedly, about if the sampler is triggered by keyboard or mouse). But most of the guys are so clueless and horny that they're completely unfazed by Kathy's bizarre comments ("I think you might be racist", "I want to have your retarded babies", "I've got a pickle in my ass", "You know I'm only 12?", "I sell used cars", "Check out my hairy balls", "I'm all fucked up from huffing Scotch Guard", "I think I might be having a miscarriage") and limited vocabulary (she says "Yesssss!" the same way every time), or her deafeningly noisy, Merzbow-level obviously-looped screams of orgasmic ecstasy. We could go on, but we don't want to reveal too much. Just get this, it's the best crank call disc we've heard in a long time. You'll be playing it for everyone you know, except maybe your mom. Absurdly funny.
MPEG Stream: "Very Large Hands"
MPEG Stream: "OK, This Is A Recording"
MPEG Stream: "This Is Damien"
MPEG Stream: "I Look Like A Cock"
MPEG Stream: "How Many Fingers?"

MAMMOTH VOLUME A Single Book of Songs (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
The latest (third) and greatest album from this impressive Swedish stoner rock band, one that does more than most to avoid the nu-grunge "Kyuss-clone" tag, and really comes into their own on this disc. Sure, thanks to their big sound and pop sensibility, they do bear some resemblance at times to post-Kyuss hitmakers Queens of the Stone Age, but they also take inspiration from '70s prog-rock (good, early "Heart of the Sunrise" era Yes, anyone?), which takes full-flight on album centerpiece "What Actually Happened In Antioch? (Including A Myraid of Sounds)". It's not everyday stoner rock that finds a use for keyboards and even flute, amidst the kick ass riffage! Basically, what fellow Swedes Opeth have done melding '70s prog to black metal, these guys have done vis-a-vis stoner rock. Definitely their best record yet, offering a bounty of creative, intelligent hard rock, that's catchy and plenty heavy. Recommended!! (Now why isn't this on gatefold double vinyl the way god intended??)
RealAudio clip: "To Gloria"
RealAudio clip: "What Happened In Antioch?"
RealAudio clip: "Out-take/Noara Dance"

ABIGOR Satanized (A Journey Through Cosmic Infinity) (Napalm) cd 16.98
Time-tested, probably not mother-approved: veterans Abigor are the definition of true cult black metal. Hailing from Austria, one of the few non-Scandinavian European countries to really boast an "infamous" black metal scene, Abigor have now released umpteen cds of pure satanic metal madness, taking early Emperor's wall-of-sound approach as a template but experimenting with folk interludes (on some discs), Darkthrone/Frost style primitivism (on others), and more. This new album, though, really sees Abigor making strides into a new, science-fictional universe of advanced, evil metal that rocks. Yes, it's still trad black metal (not some cyber-industrial-electronica crossover like so many of their Nordic brethren now attempt) but it's almost got kind of a new, mathy, metal-core approach that sets it apart from its predecessors in the Abigor discography. Imagine careening drums, angular, No-Wavish guitar riffing (not as extreme as on Gorguts' crazy "Obscura", but in that realm at points), plus cosmic keyboard coloration a la Bal Sagoth or Limbonic Art (which on the song "Galaxies And Eons Decline" somehow reminds us of 007 theme music!). The chaotic song-structures imply that the Abigor guys have made Cryptopsy and Dillinger Escape Plan part of their listening diets, along with the usual keyboard-laden epic blasting black metal that represents their roots. As a result, this "journey through cosmic infinity" is indeed a surprising thrill-ride. This will be a contender for black metal disc of the year, for sure! Buy or die.
RealAudio clip: "Battlestar Abigor"
RealAudio clip: "Nocturnal Stardust"
RealAudio clip: "Galaxies And Eons Decline"

HOLLENTHON Domus Mundi (Napalm) cd 14.98
This disc (Hollenthon's debut) actually came out last year, but we thought we ought to list it since it was an unfairly overlooked "sleeper" deserving of your attention, and also now we're excited by the prospect of an upcoming second Hollenthon album and should list this one first. Anyway, the deal here is that Hollenthon is the new epic black metal project of Austrian multi-instrumental metaller Martin Schirenc (who plays guitars bass and keyboards, and shares vocal duties with his wife Elena). With the addition of a drummer, that's Hollenthon. It's VERY different from Martin's previous band, the infamous grind outfit Pungent Stench! Imagine (if you will) galloping heavy metal, with folk-based melodies, black metal vocal retchings, and lots of ancient and non-western vocal and instrumental samples/influences. For instance, at points it sounds like they're got Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a bagpiper, and the Rammstein rhythm section all together in the studio with them! Unique and weird, to say the least. We'd say they have something to offer to fans of everything from In Extremo to Thin Lizzy, from Vagtazo Halottkemek to Abigor, from Mithotyn to Carnival In Coal. Quite brilliant!
RealAudio clip: "Homage - Magni Nominis Umbra"
RealAudio clip: "Lure - Pallida Mors"

SHIPP STRING TRIO, MATTHEW Expansion, Power, Release (Hat Hut) cd 16.98
Fucking gorgeous new album from pianist Shipp, who almost never disappoints. Moody, classical-inspired jazz that also makes use of the talents of Mat Maneri (violin) and uber-bassist William Parker. From lyrical and melancholy to nervous and energetic, this spans a range of emotions that would make it an appropriate (if avant) soundtrack to a Hitchcock film...
RealAudio clip: "Functional Form"

OUT OF FOCUS Four Letter Monday Afternoon (Kuckuck) 2cd 28.00
Not to be confused with Focus, of "Hocus Pocus" fame! This sprawling krautrock classic was actually reissued on cd some time ago, but we only have been able to get 'em in stock recently, and thought we should list it since it's so darn good. Out Of Focus were a German rock/psych/jazz/fusion outfit that made three albums (four counting a posthumous release) back in the early '70s. A band with radical political issues and avantgarde tendencies, their style was at times heavy, with full-on organ/guitar jams, at times mellow and folky...and always with lots of flute! (You've gotta love flutes, though, to get into this.) Krautrock fans who like Gila, My Solid Ground, Agitation Free, Nosferatu, McChurch Soundroom, Dies Irae, and other "heavy" obscurities from the pages of Crack in the Cosmic Egg should check these guys out if you haven't already!
On this, their third album (1972), the band expanded to include a large brass section (saxes, trumpet). Appropriately, disc one starts off dramatically with a massive, bombastic horn-riff onslaught that stretches into a hypnotic seventeen minute jam (titled "L.S.B.") that sounds something like an imaginary Terry Riley take on the music from Hawaii 5-0. Indeed, much of this album has a "late-night TV band on drugs playing repetitive minimalism" vibe, if you can imagine that. There's definitely a nod to prime Soft Machine in Out of Focus' rock/jazz fusion as well. But, there's more: calmer, creepier ballads, searing psychedelic guitar attacks, baroque flute noodling... only in the '70s I guess!
The vocals, when present, range from eastern-influenced meditative chants to wild nonsensical scatting to (when there's actual words) crazy drug-damaged lyrics like "...sometimes when you're playing flute/and the tones are surrounding you/and the pale face underneath your boots/is tumbling through your rooms" (I *think* that's what he's singing) delivered in a melancholy croon, or (later in the same song) the menacing refrain of "...three years of your life, or seven fingers". It's almost as weird as fellow krautrockers Paternoster (look for that recent review from list #111 elsewhere on our website).
Disc two indulges even further in psychedelic jazz jam excess, being a spacy 48-minute, three-part composition/improvisation called "Huchen 55" that originally spanned two whole album sides. Again, flutes to the fore! We've been fans of Out of Focus' other two albums ("s/t" and "Wake Up", also usually in stock, $16.98 each) for a while, but were especially stoked to finally acquire this set -- it lived up to all our hopes for it and then some.
RealAudio clip: "L.S.B."
RealAudio clip: "Where Have You Been"

MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO. Like A Duck To Water (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
Billed as the world's first all-synthesizer band, the trio of Dave Borden, Judy Borsher and Steve Drews were obscure '70s "electronica" pioneers. This cd reissues their second (and last) album, originally released in 1976. Influenced by repetitive minimalist composers like Riley, Reich and Glass, along with German synth ensembles like Cluster and Tangerine Dream (although these Americans' early work was contemporary with the beginning of the krautrock electronics scene). We were also reminded at times of Italian horror soundtrack artists Goblin's moodier moments. Then, there's a couple parts that could be said to sound like a "switched on version" of your local TV news show's theme music, but we enjoyed those too. Indeed, we were pleasantly surprised by this disc, 'cause we seem to recall that the previous MMPMC reissue on Cuneiform was kinda lame Perry & Kingsley style Moog "rock" -- whereas "Like A Duck To Water" is instead a really great, mellow, spacey synth record, featuring hypnotic, repetitive, shifting compositions, some of them ten to twenty minutes in length. Sure, you'd have to imagine that the folks involved probably "progressed" into full-on New Age music-making (that's only a speculation) in the '80s, but the music on this disc avoids that fate. Good stuff, great rainy day music. Includes 3 previously unreleased tracks, and a Quicktime movie for PC and Mac (except, it wouldn't play on any of our Macs, darn it).
RealAudio clip: "C-A-G-E Part II"
RealAudio clip: "All Set"
RealAudio clip: "Waterwheel"

ZENI GEVA 10,000 Light Years (Neurot Recordings) cd 14.98
Here's one to play loud! The first new album from Japanese heavyweights Zeni Geva in six years (their last being 1995's "Freedom Bondage" on Alternative Tentacles), their ninth-ish disc overall (more if you count tapes and splits etc.), is out now on Neurosis' Neurot label. Zeni Geva mastermind KK Null takes a break from his solo ambient/electronics projects to return to his roots: crushingly heavy metallic avant-rock, rooted in the Swans (and more proggy stuff too). Recorded by Steve Albini (who has collaborated with Zeni Geva many times before), this has a very Albini/Chicago vibe, sounding at times not unlike something like Dazzling Killmen. "10,000 Light Years" is mostly instrumental (although don't despair, there's still moments when you'll get to hear Null chant stuff like "Auto-Fuck!" in his gruff growl) with lots of quiet/loud dynamics, dissonant chords, and shifting song structures. It's perhaps Zeni Geva's most "post-rock" (prog rock?) record yet. And, they're still terrifyingly heavy, more brutal and metal than most "real" metal bands. Punishing, cathartic math-metal from the masters (the lineup this time: Null on guitar/vox, Tabata on guitar, and Fuji on drums).
RealAudio clip: "10,000 Light Years"
RealAudio clip: "Tyrannycide"

PHARAOH OVERLORD #1 (Ektro) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
At last, back in stock (although supplies are limited)! Here's our review of the debut Pharaoh Overlord album, from way back on list 113...
The other day a mail order customer called up and ordered Finnish post-rockers Circle's tUMULt release "Andexelt" (soon to be repressed BTW), and also "Ciudad de Brahman" by Argentinean stoner-rock outfit Natas. I immediately suggested that he also get a copy of this debut cd by Pharaoh Overlord, which, being the "stoner rock" project of Circle's Jussi Lehtisalo, is pretty much a perfect cross between the hypnotic riff-repetition and rhythmic pulse of Circle and the super heavy stoner vibe of Kyuss-worshippers Natas! Jussi describes this project (which also includes the guitarist from Bad Vugum band Sweetheart) as being "Hypno-improv-stoner-rock from Finland (file under Psychedelic)" and we'd have to agree, that's the honest truth. It's VERY psychedelic in the most head-noddinest of ways, really not that far removed from the heavier Circle output, but with more of a stoner sensibility that should definitely appeal to fans of Kyuss and the like. The jams on here also hark back to '70s greats like Pink Floyd and Ash Ra Tempel. It's all instrumental, all mesmerizing, totally great. Everytime we play it in the store people ask what it is, it's that good. Definitely if you're already a sucker for anything Circle (like us!) you'll want it, and stoner/space rock fans should also be very very happy with this disc. Oh, and yes, it's called Pharaoh Overlord, how cool is that?
MPEG Stream: "Landslide Non Stop"
MPEG Stream: "Mystery Shopper"

POTENTIAM Balsyn (Avantgarde Music) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Iceland's third most popular band after Bjork and Sigur Ros! But they don't sound a whole lot like either of those artists, as Potentiam aren't pop or electronic, but a black metal band! Now, this isn't a new release, but it's a favorite of ours and we've never listed it before, so we recently got a bunch in to try to turn some of you Icelandic-music lovin' folks on to. Actually, come to think of it, they *do* sound just a little bit like Sigur Ros, as both bands share a similar penchant for bombastic cinematic soundscapes. There's even trumpet on Potentiam's fantastic gloom-pop instrumental "Alfablod", which really does remind us of some of the stuff from Sigur Ros' "Ny Batteri" ep. In the AQ-universe, it's Potentiam that should be the big hit! They also delve into eerie experimental soundscapey stuff (the album-closing "Flames of Potentiam" sounds like they burned a church just for the recording), but the balance of "Balsyn" is grim, dark, epic Viking metal in the mode of Satyricon or Enslaved (and no, we certainly can't find any Sigur Ros parallels there, although as many scribes would have us believe, the land/sea scapes of Iceland are probably an influence on both bands' music). A great, overlooked black metal record with (as the record label name suggests) avantgarde leanings. Recommended!!
RealAudio clip: "Latum Oss Bidja"
RealAudio clip: "Alfablod"
RealAudio clip: "Sorcery"
RealAudio clip: "Flames of Potentiam"

MORRICONE, ENNIO L'Attentato (Dagored) cd 14.98
Il Maestro Morricone's score to a 1972 French/Italian political thriller movie starring Roy Scheider and Jean Seberg, although not having seen the film I would have thought it was some sort of Dario Argento horror/occult flick, based on the music. True, there's some typically cinematic/romantic interludes between the "suspense" parts, but many of the tracks employ a scary Tony Conrad-worthy string drone, which on track five ("Sinfonia Per L'Attentato") acts as a backdrop to ominous, syncopated Goblin-style minimal "funk" vamping, resulting in something that sounds almost like AQ-fave post/krautrockers Kammerflimmer Kollektief playing music from "Psycho".... Dramatic and intense, indeed. LP is 180 gram vinyl, gatefold cover.
RealAudio clip: "Sinfonia Per L'Attentato"

P.G. SIX Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (Amish) cd 14.98
Anyone into the magical vibe of late '60s/early '70s British psych folk must get this, the absolutely lovely solo debut from multi-instrumentalist and Tower Recordings founding member Pat Gubler. Together with percussionist/producer Tim Barnes, he's taken a few years to put together this album, one that combines an old-timey Brit-folk influence (there's even an Anne Briggs cover on here, she being a UK folksinger active in the early '70s) with rural American roots music and more contemporary bedroom 4-track indie-rock experimentation. It's a beautiful, melancholic, timeless slice of avant-indie-folk-psych that has garnered (and deserves) comparisons to the work of the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, John Fahey, even Neutral Milk Hotel...and of course Tower Recordings. Really nice!! (It's Allan's new favorite disc.) On the same label that last brought us the equally timeless (but '70s inspired) krautrock of Metabolismus.
RealAudio clip: "The Divine Invasion"
RealAudio clip: "The fallen leaves that jewel the ground"
RealAudio clip: "When I Was A Young Man"
RealAudio clip: "The Shepherd"

PINK FLOYD Meddle (Capital) cd 16.98
This 1971 recording is probably everyone at AQ's favorite post-Barrett Floyd album, and the one for Mogwai fans to get!

RAGING SLAB s/t (Spitfire) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's about fucking time! This is one of the best and most overlooked hard rock/metal records of the past 15 years, a big fave of Andee and Allan here at AQ. Its obscurity might have something do with the fact that that they were, as frontman Greg Strzempka posits in the liner notes, always in the wrong place at the wrong time, as was demonstrated by his "starting a BOOGIE band in NYC in 1984." Now, if this record had come out a year or two ago, when the stoner rock boom was taking off, people would be losing their shit. But back in 1989 things were different. Sure, a few videos made it onto MTV, but none of their later records lived up to the promise of this one, their self-titled third album and major label debut. The cover pictures the band looking more rodeo than rock, posing leaning up against a semi, in cowboy hats, cowboy boots and tasseled leather chaps -- an image that leads to them often being described as Metallica meets Lynyrd Skynyrd. Which, while not exactly accurate, does give you a rough idea of what they're going for. This record has it all. It's a jump on the bed, air guitar, monster rock album! Heavy groove rock riffs, Strzempka's raggedy drawl and insane lyrics, kick ass drumming, and maybe their most unique and valuable asset, the bottleneck slide of guitarist Elyse Steinman.
But the bottom line is always the songs. And Raging Slab, at least on this record, has SONGS coming out their ass. Unforgettable hooks and sing-along choruses. So catchy and fun (and funny) without being stupidly ironic. Bizarre lyrics that are sung so forcefully and with such emotion that you find yourself singing along full force: "GET OFF MY JOLLIES!!!!" or "I can bust a gut on Heebie Jeebies and holy rollers poppin wheelies", or "Just try and shave my wooly bully, I'll use the fur as fuel for folly." In fact all the lyrics are almost nonsensical but oddly satisfying and completely compelling (especially when you're in full on air-guitar, or 'air lead vocalist' mode). This should have been the "Nevermind" of groovy boogie stoner hard rock, but the money and success and fame somehow didn't happen. But now with this reissue, folks have another chance to catch on to this slab of truly unique, Southern-fried metal-rock nirvana.
RealAudio clip: "Don't Dog Me"
RealAudio clip: "Get Off My Jollies"

CAACRINOLAS A Thousand Cries Has The Night cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Members of German avant-jazz outfit Bretzel Killing Machine take their interest in horror films/music a step further by forming this two-man experimental BLACK METAL band! Yes, B.K.M. leader (and solo electronics artist) Bjoern Eichstaedt has finally delivered his his long-promised (threatened?) Caacrinolas project. Keyboardist/vocalist Bjoern, together with guitarist/bassist Larry Luer, and a drum machine, have made a very cult sounding 24-minute cd-r demo ep, numbered and limited to 100 copies. It's just one track (the title song "A Thousand Cries Has The Night") and the truth is, if this is a representative twenty-four minutes of that night, then it has a lot MORE than a 1000 cries, 'cause the screaming on here is voluminous and disturbing. Starting off with Goblin-style horror keyboards and drony atmospherics and then moving into Burzum style riffery and throat-shredding screaming backed by drum machine mayhem, this is pretty scary from the get-go. Then we move into doomy broken-guitar explorations, almost like Esoteric scoring a horror flick. The song continues to take many twists and turns, all dark and droney ones of course.
It's definitely something for fans of Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra, Abruptum, Nokturnal Mortum, Potentiam, and similar avant-ambient-black-metal trips. Excellent! We look forward to their next recording, which we're told is already underway, entitled "Satan et les légions fantastiques tourmentant le Crucifié"...
RealAudio clip: "A Thousand Cries Has The Night (excerpt 1)"
RealAudio clip: "A Thousand Cries Has The Night (excerpt 2)"

U.S. MAPLE Acre Thrills (Drag City) cd 14.98
Hallelujah! US Maple return with "Acre Thrills". And such a wonderful return it is. Their last release "Talker" (produced by Michael Gira) was so sparse and subdued it was barely audible, but this one's turned up a few notches. Me, I love anticipating the stumbling -- but far from clumsy -- explosions of Al Johnson, Mark Shippy, and company. How these gents write, record and perform their music is a magnificent mind-boggler. A seeming haphazard mess of gimpy sonic bumps and bruises with the ghost of Captain Beefheart lurking about. Track 7 (with it's Link Wray-ish chicken scratch guitar line) will surely bring out the retarded epileptic chicken in all of us. With cover art that resembles a sharpie-marker-tagged baby blue bathroom tile, this really brightened Cup's day! ...And Allan's too, who'd like to add that if you've been following the amazing and (for lack of a better word) fucked career of the Maple, "Acre Thrills" will indeed be a thrill, as the band perhaps know that they'd reached the pinnacle of abstraction with their previous disc "Talker" -- so, while not returning to (avant)rocking-out like they did on their debut "Long Hair In Three Stages", they do endeavor to craft something more recognizably close to what ordinary folks would consider "songs" on here. Heck, lead whisperer/barker Al Johnson even comes close to some indie-rock standard *singing* at points! But it's still all very abstract and fucked, unmistakably US Maple, with all their unique quirks and counter-intuitive approaches to rock/pop. In short, a great new record from a very special band!
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 6"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 7"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 10"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 11"

NITSCH, HERMANN Das 6-Tage-Speil (Day 3 "Day of Dionysus") pt.1 (Cortical Foundation) 3cd 43.00
Packaged in a deluxe gatefold LP sleeve with a handful of gory-but-beautiful, blood-drenched photographs overprinted with shimmering transparent lettering, this triple cd is a partial documentation of the third day of Hermann Nitsch's epic six day performance. Already, the highly dedicated and apparently well-funded Cortical Foundation has presented a huge amount of material from Day Five (a picture disc and an 8cd box set) and some material from Day Six.
Unlike previous releases of Nitsch's musical works where visual evidence of his "actions" (for which his music provides the soundtrack) appear only as album cover art, this time we get a CD-Rom with video of portions of Day 3's activities (the usual Nitsch spectacle of people stomping tomatoes, disembowling butchered pigs, crucifying naked participants, and pouring lots and lots of blood over everything). But regardless of whether that sort of thing interests you, the two audio cds in the set provide what we have come to expect from Hermann Nitsch's orchestrations: tense, swelling masses of atonal strings, the performers told to play loud, and then to play even louder. The major difference in these scores is in how Nitsch arranges the breakdowns of these swells. On one of the discs, Nitsch inserts some festive Polka tunes between his signature walls of sound; on the other, Nitsch required a drummer to back up the drones with stumbling, haphazard beats. His truncated fills and erratic rhythms making it into something almost "free jazz", if anything this dark and droney could be so described. You get the impression that this drummer is slipping and sliding off his drum stool because of all of the blood, and randomly striking his drums on the way down. In conjunction with the ominous, building strings and horns this creates a sound not at all unlike recent AQ fave Crystal Fist. As with almost everything we've heard from Nitsch, droning and mesmerising and magnificent.
RealAudio clip: "Day Of Dionysius 3pm"
RealAudio clip: "Day Of Dionysius 10am"

PARSON SOUND s/t (Subliminal Sounds) 2cd 34.00
Before we actually listened to this reissue, we didn't expect too much from these fairly obscure Swedish psychedelic underground rockers, having never heard them before, and knowing only that they were an earlier incarnation of another Swedish hippy rock outfit (Träd, Gräs och Stenar) whose much-hyped live album failed to impress us when it was issued on cd several years ago by this same label. So how was it that this band could deserve a double cd collection? Well, they do. Man, were we wrong! These guys were great! [Something also borne out by the more recent reissues of Harvester, International Harvester, and the actual Träd, Gräs och Stenar studio album, all of which are worth getting too.] This is a completely astounding collection of dark shimmering drones and super heavy tranced out minimal psych-rock recorded in 1967 and '68. At times freaky and chaotic, but most often hypnotically locked into stoned grooves, this is some of the best heavy psych we've ever heard. Their shifting instrumentation (the list includes guitar, bass, drums, organ, double-bass, electric-cello, flute, cowbell, saxophone, hand drums, acoustic guitar, tape recorder, and...seance? huh?) is employed in both intricate and extended studio recordings and totally primal and euphoric live performances over the course of these two discs. Parson Sound crafted music that, while reminiscient of the Taj Mahal Travellers, Terry Riley, Flower Travelling Band and the like, is almost wholly their own. If you were told that this was a new, 2001 recording you'd think that it must be some Japanese Acid Mothers Temple style psych-rock supergroup, or Bardo Pond on some hitherto unknown variety of really really good drugs...wow! Yet again we are amazed at the musical treasures hidden in the not-so-ancient past, and greatful to the fans and labels that dig 'em up for reissues like this one. And Subliminal Sounds does it right, packaging these archival recordings with detailed liner notes, and evocative art and photos -- although the music is all that's needed to make you wish you'd been born old and Swedish enough to have been at one of the free-rock happenings documented here!
RealAudio clip: "Tio Minuter"
RealAudio clip: "From Tunis To India In Fullmoon (On Testosterone)"
RealAudio clip: "India (Slight Return)"
RealAudio clip: "A Glimpse Inside The Glyptotec-66"

GUAPO Great Sage, Equal Of Heaven (tUMULt /Pandemonium) cd 13.98
Wow! UK noise-skree-experimental rock duo Guapo really take their prog-rock obessions to the limit on this new album, a joint release between France's Pandemonium label (home to AQ-faves Hint as well) and our own Andee's tUMULt label. Guapo have always littered their heavy hardcore avant-pummel with prog-rock references, specifically of the "zeuhl" variety -- they even had a 7" single entitled "Guapo vs. Magma". And their previous release was a live improv collaboration with Japanese beyond-prog madmen the Ruins. Now, with "Great Sage...", Guapo have made an intense, over-the-top all-instrumental prog masterpiece for the 21st century. From the truly bizarre cover and interior paintings to the mindboggling and completely fucked song structures to the sax blowouts of ex-Honkie Caroline Krabel to the lengthy DRUM SOLO that pops up in "Zero For Conduct" to the album-closing 16 minute epic "El Topo" whose heavosity rivals that of AQ-faves Tarantula Hawk, this disc is a must for all adventurous rock listeners ready for something that tops the progressive freakouts of the 1970s. Especially if you like the Ruins (their heavier, less spastic stuff especially) or Ruins' Magmoid side-project Koenjihyyakei, you should check this out!!
RealAudio clip: "Five Cornered Square"
RealAudio clip: "Sakura"

BEACH BOYS Smiley Smile / Wild Honey cd 16.98
Yes, the elusive (but not as elusive as Smile, the legendary unreleased/unfinished Brian Wilson masterpiece that this was released in the stead of) Smiley Smile album most notably contains the summertime anthem "Good Vibrations", but it's actually the second song entitled "Vegetables" that's worth the price of admission alone. An absurd ode to their absolute veggie love featuring some sonic embellishment -- read: chewing -- from none other than Paul McCartney. Add "She's Goin' Bald" to the equation and is there any question what mad pop scientists the Beach Boys were? I've never understood the fuss over "Smile" Now, throw in another whole album, namely "Wild Honey", plus six bonus tracks and woo-hooo... you need this!

FALCONER s/t (Metal Blade) cd 15.98
Mithotyn, AQ's fave "Viking" black metallers after Enslaved, are sadly gone. Their last album, the magnificent (and silly) "Gathered Round The Oaken Table" was the perfect epic Norse sing-a-long disc, merging blackened-folk-metal riffing with cleanly-sung vocal hooks for some of the funnest, heaviest Viking fantasy toonage we've yet heard. But, their record label (Invasion) went under, and we haven't even been able to stock that now unavailable album for many months now. Sad. But, not all is lost. Mithoyn is dead, but long live Falconer! Guitarist and main composer Stefan Weinerhall, together with another ex-Mithotyn man on drums, have recruited a very capable non-black metal vocalist for this new project. The result is something that they're obviously been striving towards for years: Viking-tinged '80s-style power metal, with only echoes of Weinerhall & Co.'s black metal past. The music is easily as heavy as that of their previous band, but with 100% melodic, soaring vocals (not unlike ex-Candlemass singer Messiah's lower register efforts). And the songwriting is even catchier, more "rock n' roll" -- like a combination of Mithotyn and, say, Maiden or Riot. Waaaay better than most current Euro power-metal troupes, 'cause it's actually POWERFUL. Medieval, folky passages, guitar heroics, majestic singing, righteous metal riffery: for this sort of thing nowadays, you can't go wrong with Falconer. Recommended. (And, we still have Mithotyn's 2nd album, "King Of The Distant Forest", which comes from a darker, blacker point in their career, but is equally brilliant.)
RealAudio clip: "Upon The Grave Of Guilt"
RealAudio clip: "Heresy In Disguise"

KICK AXE Vices (Sony) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is definitely one of my favorite metal records from the '80s (and now Allan's too even though he hadn't heard it until a few years ago). And one of the few that has actually held up pretty well, all things considered. Sure it's cheesy, I mean, c'mon, there's a song called 'Heavy Metal Shuffle'! But it's so good! Catchy and heavy and weird. Dark and atmospheric, tribal and heavy. And pretty bizarre sounding for eighties 'hair metal', although it IS definitely hair metal. But it's Canadian, and it's got a classic '70s arena rock vibe more than a glam Sunset Strip aesthetic. From the insane 'vice guy' cover painting to the weird animal sounds /soundtracky segues between songs to the crazy heavy metal scatting (better than it sounds!) this record is just awesome. Remastered and reissued with an extra track (that was originally only on the cassette). Essential. Seriously.
RealAudio clip: "Cause For Alarm"
RealAudio clip: "Dreamin' About You"
RealAudio clip: "Stay On Top"
RealAudio clip: "Heavy Metal Shuffle"

CRIPPLE BASTARDS Misantropo A Senso Unico (Deaf American) cd 11.98
The misanthropic Italian grindcore legends, the one and only Cripple Bastards, return with a brand-new full-length (no, not another singles collection!) on former Brutal Truth drummer Rich Hoak's Deaf American imprint. Giulio the Bastard, Alberto the Crippler, and the rest of the band continue their career of negative, brutal, political grind, as always spitting out short blasts of fast, noisy punk metal with secret prog-rock leanings, recorded raw and lo-fi on shitty equipment (but sounding fantastic). There's either 16 or 109 songs on here, depending on how you count the final track "94 x Flashback di Massacro" which is a re-recording of an old 94-track demo tape!
RealAudio clip: "Misantropo A Senso Unico"

HARVEY MILK The Pleaser (Reproductive) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Got a few more copies of this final Harvey Milk album from '97. It's very different from their tUMULt release (the cd reissue of the '95 "Goodwill And Courtesy..." LP) which was super-heavy dronemetal to outdo the Melvins, but "The Pleaser" is still a great ROCK record. The Harvey Milk guys let their '70s rock 'n roll ZZ Top fantasy take full flight on this, their swansong, and the result is a kick ass hard rock experience with nods to Top and Zep and Kiss and all the rest. It's still heavy as hell, with a few dirgey moments worthy of "Courtesy", but mainly this is about rockin' riffs and guitar solos and the sentiments expressed in sweaty songs like "Get It Up & Get It On" and "Rock & Roll Party Tonite". Kinda like current San Francisco rock sensations Drunkhorse, in fact. So check it out if you're into that sort of thing!

V/A Input 64 (Lado) cd 15.98
This is the sort of thing that Andee tells us Lesser would subject him to while driving the van when he went on tour with A Minor Forest (to the point that Andee would volunteer to drive, no matter how tired he was, just to avoid hearing it). Retro techno Commodore 64 video game music! Here's a bunch of these classic '80s eight-bit electronic toons compiled onto one handy cd. Now you can slip this into your stereo and flashback to such games as Boulder Dash, Bubble Bobble, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Turbo Outrun, Crazy Comets, The Last Ninja Wilderness (??), The Baby of Can Guru (???), and others. Oh, and it's got Allan's favorite, "Theme from Arkanoid"!! Probably sure to drive you (or at least your housemates) insane after a while, but that's never a reason not to buy a record! Definitely fun, crazy stuff -- despite the limitations of the Commodore 64 it's amazing how varied and catchy these tracks can be. And who knows, if you're like us this is remarkably similar to, and/or better than, current "electronica" music you already listen to! Comes with a 24 page booklet giving a detailed history of music programming for the C64, including biographies of the composers whose work is found on this disc and who now might get the recognition they deserve!
RealAudio clip: MARTIN GALWAY "Crazy Comets Main Theme"
RealAudio clip: CHRIS HUELSBECK "Magnetic Fields IV (As Used In Yie Ar Kung-Fu)"
RealAudio clip: ROB HUBBARD "BMX Kidz Title Theme"

OTIS, SHUGGIE Inspiration Information (Luaka Bop) cd 13.98
David Byrne's Luaka Bop label decided to follow up the Os Mutantes "best of" collection which was volume one of their "World Psychedelic Classics" series with this disc of by long-forgotten seventies singer/songwriter Shuggie Otis. Thus those of us who had never really heard him before were curious -- this had better be good! And while Byrne's back-cover blurb likening this album to "D'Angelo meets DJ Shadow" seems like a stretch, "Inspiration Information" is certainly a great record, fantastic to have back in print (it was originally released in 1974, when Otis was but 22 years old!). Fellow back-cover-blurbist Sean "High Llamas" O'Hagan says "It's total eclecticism...This is an album that I play for people, and it always gets an extraordinary reaction." Doubtless, as the music of Shuggie (son of R&B star Johnny) Otis isn't dated at all, and makes for a trippy, soulful listen, suitable both for Sunday mornings and late Saturday nights... This lost masterpiece features sweet vocals (kinda like Curtis Mayfield), spartan funk, melancholic instrumentals, Pong-era "techno" beats, eclectic grooves, and psychedelic moves worthy of a more obscure, experimental version of Stevie Wonder or Sly Stone. I guess it must be Shuggie's pioneering use of primitive drum machines and his studio-as-instrument, one-man-band collage of sounds that inspired Byrne's DJ Shadow comparison. This songwriting approach works well on the classic "Strawberry Letter 23", psych-pop sequing into Terry Riley-ish minimalism (this song was a hit later in the '70s for The Brothers Johnson). By the way, that cut and two other tunes included here are not actually from "Inspiration Information" but are taken from Shuggie's 1971 debut LP "Freedom Flight". Byrne & Co. decided to add 'em to this reissue, making this disc even more of a necessity (although why that album doesn't also get a reissue, I don't know). We're just shocked that Otis (on the strength of this disc, truly a musical visionary, one who even turned down a guitar gig with the Rolling Stones at the time of this album's original release!) isn't better known -- it's a sad story that this album didn't do well and was indeed the swansong of his short career, as to this day he's never made another album.
RealAudio clip: "Inspiration Information"
RealAudio clip: "XL-30"
RealAudio clip: "Strawberry Letter 23"
RealAudio clip: "Sweet Thang"

KATATONIA Last Fair Deal Gone Down (Peaceville) cd 16.98
After making the recent domestic release of their "Tonight's Decision" opus our "record of the week" on the last AQ-L, we are now very happy to present this BRAND NEW album from these Swedish gods of melancholy. Genius heavy downer pop that will appeal to everyone from Katatonia's core audience of doom-death metal freaks to Jeff Buckley fans to goths to alt. rockers with a clue. Like its predecessor, "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" continues their trademark sound of hypnotically-catchy, psychedelic, melancholic rock, still reminding us of Pink Floyd, Red House Painters, The Cure, and, of course, Katatonia's ever-heavy doom/death metal roots. There's no Jeff Buckley cover (or covers of anybody else) this time, but this new album does seem more varied than "Tonight's Decision", and perhaps more daring and dangerous. There's the inimitable Katatonia brand gloom-pop of "Teargas", the trip-hop/electronica beats that surface on "We Must Bury You", the delicacy of "Sweet Nurse" and the somewhat Tool-like vocal/guitar parts of "Clean Today". Katatonia's mastery of the mixture of melody and heaviness is worthy of fellow AQ-faves Opeth and Agents of Oblivion. This import (no word yet on any domestic release) comes packaged in a handsome, four-way folding digipak. The sticker on the front goes so far as to say "Probably the best Peaceville album -- ever!!" and while we'd have to say that Darkthrone and Pentagram might have some arguments with that, the statement is not idle hyperbole. Recommended! If you dug "TD" you know you're going to want this!
RealAudio clip: "Teargas"
RealAudio clip: "I Transpire"
RealAudio clip: "Passing Bird"

BROCAS HELM Blood Machine / Skullfucker (Gargoyle) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
At long last, two new tracks on wax from these San Francisco metal legends! If you're into '80s metal, you need to know about Brocas Helm. Their first album came out in '84, their second in '88, and we're still waiting for their third! But, despite their glacially slow pace of releases, this new single now exists. Melodic, rough edged vocals, lots and lots of guitar, bass and drums, killing riffs and utter old school rock and roll heavy metal attitude; think Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Riot, and Bay Area thrash, all twisted into Brocas Helm's unique fantasy metal concoction. Perhaps only to the taste of the discerning few, but if you're one of them, be proud. I am. BROCAS HELM RULES!! Fans of Slough Feg and Manilla Road, in particular, should pick this up. Limited to a 1000 and going fast (yeah, that seems absurd, but really: it came out last month and they've already sold through half of them, to die-hard metal fans and collectors around the world). Clear red vinyl.

ROACHPOWDER Viejo Diablo (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Swedish 'Southern' groovy stoner metal. Who would've thought that something this southern fried and stoned sounding could come out of Scandinavia? Huge crushing riffs, ultra catchy hooks, and an amazing Phil Anselmo (Pantera/Down) sound-alike vocalist (that is, like Phil when he's actually singing, not when he's sounding stupid). Incredible.

OPETH Blackwater Park (Koch) cd 16.98
Forgive the disgusting image, but a huge puddle of drool began spreading across the world when fans found out that a new Opeth opus was soon to be released. As anyone who witnessed the band's amazing performance at last year's Milwaukee Metal fest knows (what, you weren't there? Andee and Allan were, and Opeth was half the reason they flew to Milwaukee!) Opeth fans are a dedicated lot, and deservedly so: Opeth are GODS. The Swedish gods of progressive death/black metal, that is. And by progessive, yes, we mean full on '70s style prog-rock, mixed with the heaviest, most crushing metal attack you can imagine. The many many local SF fans of Weakling should be aware: this band was one of the big influences on Weakling's trance-inducing compositions. Opeth's songs can be equally epic and hypnotic, but of course incorporate a wider, dare we say lovlier array of musical elements. In Opeth's arsenal, there's vocals both growled and clean, acoustic guitar, an incredible sense of dynamics, and inspired melodicism. Blackwater Park (inexplicably named after an obscure krautrock boogie band? we can't figure it out) follows their awesome Still Life album, making for the fifth entry in the Opeth pantheon. While it would be hard to be much better than that album (and that's what we thought about Still Life's predecessor, My Arms Your Hearse too), Opeth continue to perfect perfection, I guess. While the nine-minute plus song lengths found here don't push past earlier excesses, Blackwater Park does see Opeth progressing into even more, uh, progressive areas. Being Pink Floyd fans, they even got Steve Wilson of UK young Floyd proggers Porcupine Tree to produce! So, the mellow parts are mellower, the metal parts cleaner and more precise. If you've never heard them before, we might suggest starting with their more psychedelically murky masterpiece My Arms Your Hearse, but Blackwater Park should also be on your list. Pure art from the masters. All that drool was justified.
RealAudio clip: "The Leper Affinity"
RealAudio clip: "Harvest"
RealAudio clip: "The Funeral Portrait"

AHMED, MAHMOUD Ethiopiques Vol. 7 : Ere Mela Mela (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
One of the best in an amazing series!!! This reissue of Ere Mela Mela (previously on Crammed I think) is an essential purchase if you dig the grooves of the James Brown of Ethiopia, the amazing Mahmoud Ahmed.
MPEG Stream: "Ere Mela Mela"
MPEG Stream: "Metche New"

TOMITA, YANN An Adventure Of Inevitable Chance (Audio Science Laboratory) cd 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now, if you read our list regularly, or look at the tags on the cds in the store, you know that we at AQ tend to use the word "ridiculous" (in a good way) quite a lot. And we're also partial to the, again positively-meant, term "fucked". We use these words a lot. So when something as totally ridiculous and fucked as this Yann Tomita "double cd" comes our way, we realize that maybe we were using those words altogether too lightly before. Really. This disc is expensive, and we don't have very many of them, but those of you like us who are into the RIDICULOUSLY FUCKED may find they have to have this. Get cracking. Or, you may want to know more...
Yann Tomita's "An Adventure Of Inevitable Chance" is either a genius work of audio pastiche or a complete put on (or both). To begin with, the album opens with an academic-sounding lecture telling us that Tomita's music is a completely synthetic re-creation of a number of established genres. Yet the musical examples illustrating these genres do not match up. For example, their idea of "Acid Rock" is a banal karaoke lounge tune, and "Country" is represented by what seems to be an excerpt from Sun Ra's "Space Is The Place"! Also, this is supposed to be a live concert from 1993 (with no overdubs, we're told), but...is it? Certainly it would be an amazing, disorienting one, as this disc moves track-by-track through propulsive early-Kraftwerk electronics, simple violin plucking augmented by analog delays, Carl Stalling / Martin Denny exotica, Cornelius-esque whimsy-rock, Barney Miller / Night Court TV show theme style jazzfunk, radio tunings and sputterings, and late '80s cheesy electric dub! Oh, two of the tracks are John Cage pieces, including a not-quite silent version of 4'33"... It's all so unexpected and unfathomable, while often being amazingly quirky and catchy. Tomita claims that his work has influenced countless musicians, DJs, journalists, and fans alike. Some of you may recognize his name from his remix on the Boredoms' Super Roots 8! For those of us who have just encounted his work for the first time here, he claims that he has "influenced you subliminally as well." In the booklets (there's two) you'll find much more to puzzle over (like the catalog of other Tomita releases, including a 7" record with a doughnut on top of it, and a 12" with an ashtray in the shape of a miniature steel drum...there are photos). Oh, in possibly the most brilliantly ridiculously fucked move EVER, this disc is actually packaged as a double cd -- but one of the discs (entitled "Heart Beat") is made of cardboard! (Thus making it unplayable for those of us with *normal* cd players). Odd is an understatement. We're thinking now that if we've judged our customers right, odds are we'll have to try and order more of these pronto...
RealAudio clip: "Information From Audio Science Laboratory"
RealAudio clip: "Synthesis For Arp 2600 & EMS Synthi A (excerpt 1)"
RealAudio clip: "Music For Marcell Duchamp - Violin For Live Electronics"
RealAudio clip: "Live Cut Up - Radio Music For Inevitable Chance "
RealAudio clip: "When Cherry Blossoms Are Blown In The Wind"
RealAudio clip: "Synthesis For Arp 2600 & EMS Synthi A (excerpt 2)"

OVERHANG PARTY Otherside of (Pataphysique) 2cd+7" 43.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This underground Tokyo psych rock ensemble presents an extensive and expensive but freakin' great live document, recorded at shows from '95 to '99, including two tracks from their 1999 US tour that for some reason they couldn't fit on either of the two cds in the package but had to press on 7" vinyl, also included! Limited, numbered, all that. We only have a couple and when they're gone, we're pretty sure they're really gone for good. Overhang Party is a guitar duo augmented with guests like Tokyo underground superstar psych guitarist Michio Kurihara (ex-White Heaven, now of Ghost) and former Fushitsusha drummer Ikurou Takahashi. They produce gorgeous psychedelic guitar freakout storms to match those from your most stoned Neil Young fantasy. Fans of that sort of thing, and those already into the PSF-documented "Tokyo Flashback" scene (High Rise, Fushistusha, Marble Sheep, Shizuka, etc.) should serious consider lightening their wallets for this item! First come, first served.

CLINE, NELS TRIO Silencer (Enja) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Allan's favorite Nels Cline album! Yeah, it's on Enja, it's got lots of lovely jazz on it, but there's also some noisy stuff too.

COLTRANE, JOHN Interstellar Space (Impulse) cd 16.98
One of Coltrane's last recordings, a brilliant, out-there duet with drummer Rashied Ali. Essential free jazz.

PUBLIC ENEMY Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam) cd 11.98
The *other* classic PE album, from 1990.

PUBLIC ENEMY It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (Def Jam) cd 11.98
THE classic PE album. Best album of 1988? Probably.

PUBLIC ENEMY Yo! Bum Rush the Show (Def Jam) cd 12.98
Rick Rubin-produced 1987 debut from everyone's favorite rappers Public Enemy.

STINKING LIZAVETA ...Hopelessness And Shame (Compulsiv) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Their first album, f'n amazing drums/standup 'lectric bass/geetar instrumental action. Post rock, metal, jazz, hardcore -- these terms don't matter, it's Stinking Lizaveta from Philadelphia and they rule. One of the best live bands I've ever seen (sez Allan). They've done two AQ instores, two of the best. If you like Gone, King Crim, AC/DC, Mahavishnu, The Champs, Don Cab, etc. get with the program and get anything and everything by Stinking Liz.

WALKER, SCOTT Scott (Fontana) cd 16.98
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed.
While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4. Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Although comprised mostly of covers, Walker already began to show strong songwriting skills on his first solo record, Scott, especially with "Montague Terrace (In Blue)" where he describes unsavory neighbors in his tenement flat, one as a "bloated belching figure", and another "whose thighs are full of tales to tell of nights she's known". But it's "My Death", one of three Brel covers that is the album's centerpiece. Later covered by David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase, Walker's version features such hypnotic orchestration, serpentine guitar passages and swelling stabbing strings that it almost feels like we're being brought to the threshold of death on a cloud of poisonous perfume.
Overall, a fine selection of songs that show his range of performance and promise for the records to come.
MPEG Stream: "Montague Terrace (In Blue)"
MPEG Stream: "My Death"
MPEG Stream: "Such A Small Love"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 2 (Fontana) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed.
While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 2 is one of our favorites, not that it's necessarily different from the others but the choice of songs flows perfectly together. In fact the first side of Scott 2 is pure pop vocal perfection, beginning with the Brel cover "Jackie", whose enthusiastically fast delivery is mind-boggling (You-tube this!). Then the bitter torch of "Best of Both Worlds", the Tim Hardin cover, "Black Sheep Boy", the original "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg" about a man escaping from the claustrophobia of domestic life into a tragic fantasy. "Next" is next, one of Brel's most visceral and theatrical tunes about the dehumanizing experience of a military coming of age, which is then followed by Walker's companion sequel "Girls From The Streets" told by the same character as a man resigned to a life of bitterness and depravity. Yet the centerpiece is the fantasia "Plastic Palace People, which begins side 2. A dizzying dualistic fairy tale about a boy's embrace of his youthful innocence and a girl mourning the loss of hers. This kills!
MPEG Stream: "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg"
MPEG Stream: "Next"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Palace People"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 3 (Fontana) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed.
While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 3 has the best cover of the bunch. The others are pretty straight ahead portraits, but 3 is a close up of an eye with vibrantly purple eyelashes. Inside the pupil we see a melancholy Walker, which is apt, as Scott 3 is the most melancholy of the four records. The tempo is slower and apart from the Brel inspired original, "We Came Through" and the quirky acoustic tribute to Cryogenics of "30th Century Man" (featured on the soundtrack to Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic"), most of the tracks on Scott 3 are ballads to the ghosts of romance. Definitely a rainy day record, and probably not the best place to start for newbies.
MPEG Stream: "It's Raining Today"
MPEG Stream: "We Came Through"
MPEG Stream: "30th Century Man"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 4 (Fontana) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed. While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 4 is definitely the most unique of the four. It's all original compositions for one thing, but also the arrangements are more upbeat, and while the orchestral elements are there, folk, rock and country elements of guitar and drums appear more than ever before. Still eccentric songwriting abounds. The opener, "The Seventh Seal", a flamenco pop tribute to the Bergman film of the same name about a medieval knight's chess game with Death is full of the pomp we love in Scott Walkers music. And while there are no Brel covers on 4, his influence can be heard on centerpiece "The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)", as well as "Hero of the War". A sequel of sorts to "Plastic Palace People" on Scott 2 can be seen in "Boy Child", one of the most beautifully arranged ballads, while the strings in "The World's Strongest Man" brings tears every time. Yet, weirder still, the final three songs take a strange turn into lush country pop with slide guitar, and back-up vocals (for the first time!) that allude to the direction Walker persued unsuccessfully through the seventies. Still very Stellar!
MPEG Stream: "The Seventh Seal"
MPEG Stream: "World's Strongest Man"
MPEG Stream: "The Old Man's Back Again"