B, ERIC & RAKIM Follow The Leader (Geffen) cd 12.98
Upon their release, Paid In Full (1987) and Follow The Leader (1988) were instant classics. Pioneering the recipe of simple beats, perfect samples (including a first use of James Brown) and powerful bad-ass rhyming with super smooth flow, EB&R led hip-hop into new territory and have since not quite been matched in their effortless style and effectiveness. If you've lost your cassette tape versions of these classic albums and didn't go for any earlier overly expensive reissues, here's your chance to get 'em pretty true to the original album with only a few new remixes.
MPEG Stream: "Follow The Leader"
MPEG Stream: "Never Scared"

B, ERIC & RAKIM Paid In Full (Island) cd 12.98
Upon their release, Paid In Full (1987) and Follow The Leader (1988) were instant classics. Pioneering the recipe of simple beats, perfect samples (including a first use of James Brown) and powerful bad-ass rhyming with super smooth flow, EB&R led hip-hop into new territory and have since not quite been matched in their effortless style and effectiveness. If you've lost your cassette tape versions of these classic albums and didn't go for any earlier overly expensive reissues, here's your chance to get 'em pretty true to the original album with only a few new remixes.
MPEG Stream: "I Ain't No Joke"
MPEG Stream: "Paid In Full"

B. MONIKER Station Identification cd-r 7.98
B. Moniker's "Station Identification" parallels the Cassetteboy album also recently reviewed, as a peurile form of People Like Us inspired plunderphonia / channel surfing electronica. This homebrewed concoction recontextualizes tons of non-placed media samples from a number of archetypal genres (i.e. mad scientists, kung-fu movies, gameshow hosts, televangelists, newscast pollsters, hyperbolic commercials, children's radio dramas, and quick tunings through the fm radio band) with a smug sense of irony. Far more reliant upon musical interludes than the never-ending barrage of vocal cut-ups on Cassetteboy, B. Moniker forces his dialogues into a melange of samples from Steinski-like hip-hop instrumentals, those sad post-rock grooves that punctuate the earnestness of "This American Life," and filtered Autechrish breakbeats, all topped off with whimsical casiotone melodies.
RealAudio clip: "KHZS 44.1 FM"
RealAudio clip: "KILR 99.9 FM"

B.BAPHOMET Einsplundaghn (Small Doses) cd-r 8.98
Okay doomlords and dronelords, it's been a while since we got something in this heavy and grim and bleak and doomic. Something so blackened and crushing, but also so dark and droney, so blissed out and blurry.
The mysterious B.Baphomet, utilizing a strange collection of sound making devices, including bass guitars, Moogs, FX, vocals, Rhodes, percussion, oscillators, seat creaking, vibraphone and of course "knocking something over", has concocted this haunting mysterious collection of blackdrones and downtuned ambient doom, of shimmering whispers and washed out electronic landscapes. Weirdly, two of the tracks here are credited to B.Baphomet, while two of them are credited to M. Colby, who IS B.Baphomet.
Regardless, the opener is for the doomlords, a near black metal crawl, huge guitar chords poured out like black tar, super processed vocals howl and growl, streaks of feedback and long stretches of crumbling rumble, like a black metal version of that Vulture Club record we love so much. This is ultra-ultra-megadoom, an impossibly thick wall of black buzz, of low end sludge, creeping and seeping, the vocals buried in the mix, crushing and pummeling, a slow motion sonic flaying. The track eventually morphs into something much more static, the guitars spread out into throbbing drone, layered with fuzzy synths, and tons of low end, occasionally peppered with barely audible vocals, strange short wave interference, damaged FX,13 minutes of utter and glorious aural punishment.
But from that point on, the other three tracks, are for the dronelords (and hell, by now most aQ customers should count themselves as both, doomlord and dronelord), something much more abstract and minimal, the second track, is a strange swirl of muted melodies, buried rhythms, swells of processed guitar, all smeared into a blurry glimmering dronescape. The third track is similarly minimal and drone-y but much more gritty, the various tones crumbly and distorted, crackle, hiss, whir wrapped around decaying sound, the track slipping from warm alien glow, to subterranean industrial grind, but always stretched into long drawn out alien sounding sonic expanses.
The final track is the prettiest of the bunch, a sort of lullaby, drifting bell like tones, glimmering chimes, muted delicate melodies, warm soft chords, all so soft and shimmery and so unlike the rest of the disc, especially the blackened opener.
SUPER LIMITED!! Only 111 copies! Each disc comes in a super swank hand screened brown on brown cardstock sleeve, with a printed red Japanese style obi, inside, a printed color insert, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

B.G. Checkmate (Cash Money) cd 16.98
Latest from the Bling Bling guy, with Cash Money guests Juvenile, etc.

B.O.S. O-Land (Angelika Kohlermann) cd 16.98
An Austrian band (we think) playing what they (or their label) like to call "slo-mo-kraut-progck". Hmm? Well what this is, is downtempo, bass-heavy post-rock with half-buried whispery female vox, all kinda creepy and emotionally portentous. The drummer's rhythms are plodding, head-nodding. There's lots of electronics filling out the sound, with both grand, dark synth washes and glitchy details. It's a late night cinematic sound, very moody, but maybe not quite as gripping as the vocalist wants it to be. It gets more interesting when they get heavier and freak out a bit instrumentally, adding clarinet, trumpet, violin, etc. to the mix.
MPEG Stream: "Uv"
MPEG Stream: "My Friend"

B.SON Black Shape Of Nexus (Vendetta) cd 17.98
A while back we listed a super limited lp from these German doomlords (we still have a couple left, but after those are gone, the vinyl version is gone gone gone), a record that completely and utterly kicked our asses. Now it's available on cd, and it includes not only the tracks from the lp, but also, their tracks from a recent vinyl only split with Crowskin, another German doom/drone/sludge combo we have yet to hear...
As for the sound of B.Son, well, by now, you must all realize how much we at aQ love us some ultra doom, some seriously sick slowness, you know, that doooooom, that is so glacial, that the songs begin to crumble and ooze into viscous black pools. We do. But sometimes we just want our doom to ROCK. Sounds contrary but it's been known to happen. Doom can be slow and low and still rock. Take B.Son for example. Whose particular brand of doomic energy is drawn from bands like Harvey Milk, Karp, The Melvins, godheadSilo, more a sort of downtuned propulsive sludge with doom elements, than pure doom. But goddamn if it isn't just as brutal and heck, doomy...
Thick ropy buzzbass, pounding destructo drums, throaty howls, grinding guitars, all lurching and swaying like some drugged and demented superrock doombeast, all filtered through a bit of grinding screamo and some buzzed out metallic blackness. There are moments of blisssed out post rockiness, and weird laid back grooves, stretched out near ambience and dense little mathy jams, but those moments just serve to keep the doomed sludge rock fury from becoming too much.
Produced by James Plotkin. The cd is packaged in a golden metal fold open cd box (much like the last Caacrinolas) with a full color, four panel, thick paper insert.
MPEG Stream: "IV"
MPEG Stream: "III"

B.SON Black Shape Of Nexus (Vendetta) lp 17.98
As much as we love us some ultra doom, some seriously sick slowness, you know, that doooooom, that is so glacial, that the songs begin to crumble and ooze into viscous black pools. We do. But sometimes we just want our doom to ROCK. Sounds contrary but it's been known to happen. Doom can be slow and low and still rock. Take B.Son for example. Whose particular brand of doomic energy is drawn from bands like Harvey Milk, Karp, The Melvins, godheadSilo, more a sort of downtuned propulsive sludge with doom elements, than pure doom. But goddamn if it isn't just as brutal and heck, doomy...
Thick ropy buzzbass, pounding destructo drums, throaty howls, grinding guitars, all lurching and swaying like some drugged and demented superrock doombeast, all filtered through a bit of grinding screamo and some buzzed out metallic blackness. 
There are moments of blisssed  out post rockiness, and weird laid back grooves, stretched out near ambience and dense little mathy jams, but those moments just serve to keep the doomed sludge rock fury from becoming too much. 
Produced by James Plotkin. Spiffy black and gold sleeves... This seems to already be out of print as well, so this batch could very well be the last we see of these...

B.T. EXPRESS The Best Of (Rhino) cd 15.98
Newly released 15-track collection of long-out-of-print stuff from this kick ass 70's funk band. Concentrating mainly on their first two lps, with such classic jams as "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" and "Give It What You Got". Fans of P-Funk, early Kool & The Gang, Jimmy Castor Bunch, etc., will surely dig!!

BABICZ, ROBERT Desert (Mille Plateaux) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BABICZ, ROBERT Momente (Mille Plateaux) 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 German experimental / electronica artist has taken to record rather 'warm' source material and manipulate the original sounds through a clinical editing process into rather hypnotic sequences. Momente is quite similar in feel to the best work of Oval (i.e. the 24 minute version of 'Diskont 94'). Recommended.

BABLICON In A Different City (Misra) cd 13.98
Somewhere between free jazz reeds, Savage Republic-ish percussion and Spaceheads-like electronics manipulation...this Chicago trio are a better bet than, say, the new Isotope 217. Of course that's not saying much. BUT, if you're interested in this simply because it boasts a member of Neutral Milk Hotel (not Jeff), be wary. Very wary.

BABLICON The Orange Tapered Moon (Misra) cd 13.98

BABY CARROT Play Every Day (Some Guy Down The Street) cd 9.98
High quality downer pop from local darlings Baby Carrot, who've been toiling away for several years now, and just may have made their best record yet. Play Every Day contains thoughtful indie-rocking on the order of Rex, Codeine, Karate, or Pavement. Inching towards epic and always dolefully melodic.
RealAudio clip: "Chinese Food + Donut"
RealAudio clip: "Forgot to Read"

BABY GRANDMOTHERS s/t (Subliminal Sounds) cd 16.98
This '60s Swedish psych trio is pretty obscure -- they only ever officially released one record, a 7" single that came out in Finland only -- but they haven't been forgotten 'cause the guys in this band eventually went on to play with such bigger, better-known acts as Mecki Mark Men and Kebnekajse. If you picked up that Psychedelic Phinland compilation we highlighted last list, you've heard "Being Is More Than Life" the B-side of their 7", it appears here too along with the A-side "Somebody Keeps Calling My Name" and several previously unreleased live recordings from the era (1967-'68), for a full hour of music in all.
The Baby Grandmothers really liked to jam, they had a thrice-weekly (Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays!) residency at the short-lived psychedelic Stockholm club FILIPS, where much of the live material found here was recorded -- there's a reproduction of a flier in the cd booklet advertising them appearing at FILIPS with AQ faves Parson Sound (oh for a time machine!). So if you dig mostly-instrumental electric guitar oriented psych improv, dosed with plenty of feedback and fuzz, there's plenty here to turn you on, from stoned moody meanderings to freaked out solo spasms. It's all rather raw and energetically alive.
The lengthy liner notes in the photo-illustrated 15-page cd booklet tell the whole Baby Grandmothers story, from their origins in a R&B combo called the T-Boones to gigs opening for Jimi Hendrix to their transformation into the Mark II line-up of the prog-psych act Mecki Mark Men and beyond.
FYI: the Encyclopedia Of Swedish Progressive Music also reviewed this list comes with a bonus cd containing another half-hour of unreleased live Baby Grandmothers recordings from FILIPS, different material than what's on this disc.
MPEG Stream: "Saint George's Dragon"
MPEG Stream: "Somebody Keeps Calling My Name"

BABY GRANDMOTHERS s/t (Subliminal Sounds) 2lp 34.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL.... and limited to 500 copies.
This '60s Swedish psych trio is pretty obscure -- they only ever officially released one record, a 7" single that came out in Finland only -- but they haven't been forgotten 'cause the guys in this band eventually went on to play with such bigger, better-known acts as Mecki Mark Men and Kebnekajse. If you picked up that Psychedelic Phinland compilation we highlighted a while back, you've heard "Being Is More Than Life" the B-side of their 7", it appears here too along with the A-side "Somebody Keeps Calling My Name" and several previously unreleased live recordings from the era (1967-'68), for a full hour of music in all.
The Baby Grandmothers really liked to jam, they had a thrice-weekly (Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays!) residency at the short-lived psychedelic Stockholm club FILIPS, where much of the live material found here was recorded -- there's a reproduction of a flier in the cd booklet advertising them appearing at FILIPS with AQ faves Parson Sound (oh for a time machine!). So if you dig mostly-instrumental electric guitar oriented psych improv, dosed with plenty of feedback and fuzz, there's plenty here to turn you on, from stoned moody meanderings to freaked out solo spasms. It's all rather raw and energetically alive. Gets played a lot in the store and we always are like, what's this? it's great.
MPEG Stream: "Saint George's Dragon"
MPEG Stream: "Somebody Keeps Calling My Name"

BABY HUEY STORY, THE The Living Legend (Water) cd 15.98
I've always wanted to hear this heavily-sampled, late '60s funk/soul rarity, and now here it is at last reissued on cd! Does it live up to its reputation? Well, first, for those who haven't heard of him, Baby Huey's "story" is a sad one. The soul singer from Chi Town known as James Thomas Ramey, aka Baby Huey, only made one album, unfortunately released posthumously. Drugs and obesity (he weighed somewhere near 400 pounds -- a big guy, with an Afro to match!) contributed to his death from a heart attack in 1970 at age 26. RIP Baby Huey. That's one reason that the original LP is such a collectable... and also because heck, it DOES boast some mighty funky grooves. Including three numbers by Curtis Mayfield (who also produced the album) plus a powerful cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Going To Come" and a flute-filled, funked-up instrumental version of "California Dreamin'" among other groovy gems. This is very 'of its era', for sure, which means it's got lotsa brassy horns, DJ-friendly drum breaks, lush arrangements, some slightly psychedelic touches...and great vocals. If you're into Mayfield and Otis Redding and other '60s soul/funk, chances are you'll dig this.
MPEG Stream: "A Change Is Going To Come"
MPEG Stream: "Hard Times"

BACHDENKEL Lemmings (Ork) cd 17.98
Several cool things about this newly reissued album, originally released in 1973 (recorded in 1970). First, it's called Lemmings. Who doesn't have a soft spot for those doomed little critters? And then there's the cover art, a black and white drawing depicting a flood of rather spooky looking lemmings, under a starry night sky, with an owl hovering ominously above... But most importantly, the music! The music on Lemmings makes it a bit of a cult classic in the annals of British prog rock. Darkly melancholic, super melodic and gentle, yet quite powerful too, as the guitarist occasionally lets loose with some really tasty, acid psych soloing... the warm vocals are another strong suit, both feeding into emotional epics, songs of alienation (as Lemmings is subtitled) and Eastern-influenced hippie philosophy.
Bachdenkel began as a Birmingham UK psych pop outfit called The U NO Who. They then changed their name to the much more you-don't-know-who Bachdenkel, and finding little success in England, hove off to France where they could really indulge themselves in going fully prog, though they never lost their knack for the '60s psych pop side of things, reminding us sometimes of AQ faves Kaleidoscope, with the heavier edge of a T2 or NSU.
Maybe 'cause they were based in France, and did their own unique untrendy thing, focussing on songs more than flash, they remained fairly obscure, but this album (the first of two, the second of which, Stalingrad, we've yet to hear) is nonetheless worthy of consideration as a prog masterpiece, up there with the much better known likes of early King Crimson.
Reissued by Ork, a division of Cherry Red, this disc is has been remastered by original producer Karel Beer, and features 3 bonus tracks including an unreleased single from 1969. Also, the cd booklet is stuffed with liner notes and photos detailing the whole Bachdenkel story.
MPEG Stream: "Translation"
MPEG Stream: "An Appointment With The Master"
MPEG Stream: "The Settlement Song"

BACHI DA PIETRA Non Io (Die Schachtel) cd 17.98
Dunno why, but we're suckers for sinister mumbling in Italian, accompanied by glitchy droning music... which brings us to this, another cd in Die Schachtel's "Zeit" series, which means original, interestin' Italian experimentalism in a nice embossed digipack, a la previous releases like A and Christa Pfangen. This time, it's a disc from a duo known as Bachi Da Pietra ("The Worms Of Stone" or something like that), who delve deep into what could be considered a form of avant-blues... no please don't run away, we really like this! The slow and sad "blues" here are so blown apart that it's more about a mood than anything that ol' Robert Johnson would recognize, though dealings with the Devil seem possible in both cases.
Bachi Da Pietra's music is damaged, dark, droning, doleful, doomed... almost like a depressed Italian Jandek playing in the style of Earth's Hex album...? Or Radian gone "wooden guitar"? Other comparisons could be made to Sinistri, and Larsen.
An ominous moodiness pervades, stark tension increasing, as insistent beats and acoustic guitar strum are deconstructed to accompany the whispery, lonely-sounding vocals (sung in Italian, with English translations provided in the cd booklet). The percussion and guitar playing both sometimes sound like splintering sticks, and you can practically hear the smoke curling up from the singer's inevitable cigarette.
MPEG Stream: "Casa Di Legno"
MPEG Stream: "Altri Guasti"
MPEG Stream: "Fisica Elementare"

BACHMANN, ERIC To The Races (Foreign Leisure) cd 13.98
Now, finally in stock on cd!
First things first, the sticker on the front of this cd says "debut solo record from Crooked Fingers' Eric Bachmann". Uhhh, we thought Crooked Fingers *was* Eric Bachmann's solo persona. What's up with that?! Now we've gotta say that everyone's got their own hang-ups, and for us with regards to Mr. Bachmann, they've been two-fold. We can't shake the stunning vocal resemblance between Bachmann and Neil Diamond (when we hear Bachmann we hear Diamond... not a bad thing, mind you!), and we can't help but yearn for his Archers Of Loaf days. Yeah we know, gotta let it go. This fine album does much to dismantle one if not both of those distractions though (pssst... with regards to the latter, we were pleased to report last list that Archers Of Loaf's Icky Mettle album just got reissued! yay!). Whether his music goes under the moniker Crooked Fingers or Eric Bachmann, it consistently steeps your ears with an overriding sense of weathered weariness and resignation. And yet on To The Races, his voice has acquired a surprising lightness (almost boyishness) to it not present on his previous recordings. His songs no longer seem slumped on a bar stool, but have taken to the outdoors with a broader scope and scale. There are actual glimmers of hope in these songs. That certainly seems to be the central distinction between Bachmann as Crooked Fingers and Bachmann as the official solo Eric Bachmann.
MPEG Stream: "Man O War "
MPEG Stream: "So Long Savannah"

BACHMANN, ERIC To The Races (Foreign Leisure) lp 12.98
First things first, the sticker on the front of this LP says "debut solo record from Crooked Fingers' Eric Bachmann". Uhhh, we thought Crooked Fingers *was* Eric Bachmann's solo persona. What's up with that?! Now we've gotta say that everyone's got their own hang-ups, and for us with regards to Mr. Bachmann, they've been two-fold. We can't shake the stunning vocal resemblance between Bachmann and Neil Diamond (when we hear Bachmann we hear Diamond... not a bad thing, mind you!), and we can't help but yearn for his Archers Of Loaf days. Yeah we know, gotta let it go. This fine album does much to dismantle one if not both of those distractions though (pssst... with regards to the latter, we're pleased to report that Archers Of Loaf's Icky Mettle album just got reissued! yay!). Whether his music goes under the moniker Crooked Fingers or Eric Bachmann, it consistently steeps your ears with an overriding sense of weathered weariness and resignation. And yet on To The Races, his voice has acquired a surprising lightness (almost boyishness) to it not present on his previous recordings. His songs no longer seem slumped on a bar stool, but have taken to the outdoors with a broader scope and scale. There are actual glimmers of hope in these songs. That certainly seems to be the central distinction between Bachmann as Crooked Fingers and Bachmann as the official solo Eric Bachmann. Note: the cd isn't here yet, just the vinyl version, but of course there will be a cd. Soon.
MPEG Stream: "Man O War "
MPEG Stream: "So Long Savannah"

BACHWIND Psychedelic Warlords Resin Their Bows (Spinefarm) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, MAINLY BECAUSE IT WAS AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE! HEE HEE! SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Space rock gone classical? Yes! It's a drugs and flutes thing you wouldn't understand. We got turned on to these guys by our friends in Circle. This band from Finland started as a standard-issue jamming stoner space rock outfit, doing the heavily effected, free form freakout thing. Not quite so damaged as countrymen Doktor Kettu or Avarus, but close. But, perhaps tiring of the more untrained approach, one long dark Arctic winter they spent woodshedding, studying up on their classical chops. And they also drafted in some drop-outs from the local conservatory of music to help out. Now they make their debut as Bachwind, doing, among other things, a monster magnetized adaptation (a very loose adaptation) of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier 1: Prelude & Fugue No. 2 (BWV 847) of 1738, with an instrumental lineup that includes both fuzz bass and viola, analog synth and harpsichord. It's Avarus meets Apocalyptica, basically. Recommended, of course.
MPEG Stream: "Well-Tempered Clavier 1: Prelude & Fugue No. 2"

BACK OFF CUPIDS s/t (Drunken Fish) cd 13.98
Back Off Cupids is the side-project of John Reis (Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt) having made these recordings from 1994 - 1996 off and on between RFTC tours / recordings. A wide variation of mostly instrumental pseudo-math-rock / post-punk stuff not far from Pavement or Polvo's earlier / more expressive songsmithery... thus much closer to Jehu than Rocket.

BACKDOOR MEN, THE Sodra Esplanaden #4 (Subliminal Sounds) cd 16.98
With all the retro-sixties rock coming out of Sweden (Dungen, The Hives, The Works), one could mistakenly think that Sweden was somehow a land that time forgot where the sixties never fell out of fashion. In fact the opposite was quite true for pioneering garage rockers The Backdoor Men and their contemporaries The Stomachmouths (big faves of ours, see AQ New Arrivals list #166). In 1980 when the group first formed, as The Pow, mod was hardly something understood by their fellow Swedes -- who preferred reggae, new wave or heavy metal -- and the sharply dressed outcasts were constantly derided or attacked. Their home town of Almhult has the claim to fame of being the site of the first Ikea store, if that's any indication of the culture the group was up against. In 1984 with the tiny mod scene splintering and otherwise deteriorating, the group changed their name to The Backdoor Men and cultivated a turbo-charged sound that fused the sounds of English punk with sixties garage. Along with a clear influence from the Rolling Stones, the band owed much to the music of the Sonics, the Chocolate Watch Band and the Music Machine (covers of the three bands are included with this anthology). In contrast to contemporaries the Stomachmouths, the music of the Backdoor Men is a great deal more jangly, with slower tempos and more noticeable shades of soul and R&B latent from their mod days. This reissue comes with a nicely printed 18 page booklet with a detailed bio on the band and archival photos.
MPEG Stream: "Out of My Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Inside Out, Upside Down"
MPEG Stream: "Magic Girl"

BACKSTABBERS INCORPORATED Kamikaze Missions (Trash Art!) cd 12.98
There aren't a whole lot of badass bands from New Hampshire. Hell, there aren't a whole lot of any kind of bands from New Hampshire. But if Backstabbers Incorporated are any indication of the kind of unrestrained metallic fury that lurks just below the surface of their seemingly placid New England home state, then we'll give New Hampshire a much wider berth in our future travels.
Furious downtuned metallic punk rock crossover, with grinding riffs, thrashing drums, throbbing low end, howled vocals, but all packed into incredibly chaotic and head spinning arrangements, with plenty of plodding doomy breakdowns, and full on near-noise blow outs. Super intense and emotional. Way too metal for most punk rockers, this is fucking brutal and heavy and utterly pummeling. Think old Neurosis, Converge, Drop Dead, SSD and the like. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "We Attack At Dusk"
MPEG Stream: "Voorhees, Krueger, Myers And Bush"
MPEG Stream: "Like Virgin Vinyl... In Bed"

BAD ACID Tab 6 dvd / cd-r / magazine 29.00
Okay drug rock freeks, space rock explorers, doomlords, sludge demons, prog obsessives, metal maniacs, stoner dudes, noise nerds, and basically most of the other folks who read this here aQ list, Bad Acid is the magazine for you. And calling Bad Acid a magazine is a bit of a misnomer. It's more of a multimedia spacemetaldoomprogsludgenoise experience. You think we're exaggerating? A seventy minute dvd, an ELEVEN HOUR mp3 audio disc, a nearly two hour long label sampler, AND a 60 page booklet/magazine packed with liner notes, articles and interviews.
Packed with SO many aQ favorites, but just as many new bands we'd never heard, a bunch who could very well turn into new favorites. We've barely scratched the surface, since if we spent 14 hours on each review, the list would be, oh, about 5 items long. But from what we've heard / seen / watched so far, this latest issue of Bad Acid is pretty essential.
The dvd first, a series of music videos, film excerpts and slide shows, we were mostly excited about the scenes from an Antonius Rex movie, Antonius Rex being the dude from JACULA!! Tripped out and satanic and appropriately what-the-fuck. Some killer live footage of doom mongers Ogre, a killer art gallery slide show from the Malleus artist collective, featuring an awesome soundtrack from Morkobot, a Northwinds video, and then some more obscure stuff, Manatees tour video, Wicked Minds video, King Suffy Generator video, Lento live footage and tons more. All woven together by some super creepy animated menus.
Then there's the cd-r, featuring 11 hours of mp3's from Moss, Danava, White Hills, Barbara, Hey Colossus, Orange Sunshine, Capricorns, Khlyst, Acid King, Heresi, Raw Radar War, Fire Witch, Taint, Orange Goblin, Shinjuku Thief, Litmus and those are just the bands we know and already dig. 57 bands total, 102 tracks, tons of new bands to check out and discover. Also included is a label sampler focusing on the Bone Structure cd-r label, whose releases run the gamut from raw black metal, to buzzing industrial noise, to black ambient to grinding industrial weirdness. We actually have some BS stuff on the way, to be reviewed on the list soon, but this is a killer way to check out tons of stuff on the label.
And then there's the actual magazine component, with notes on each of the bands on the cd-r, a feature on each of the bands on the dvd, tons of info about Bone Structure and the bands on the label, as well as interviews with Fire Witch, Taint, Orange Goblin, and probably most exciting of all Alan Dubin, formerly of Khanate, talking about his new band Gnaw, which features folks from Burning Witch, Thorr's Hammer, Atavist, Enos Slaughter and Ike Yard(!). Man, we can't wait to hear that.
All of the above packaged in a standard dvd style case, with killer cover art from the Malleus Rock Art Lab. A bit pricey due to the weak dollar and the expensive overseas shipping, but pretty well worth it.

BAD BOY MADE GOOD: THE REVIVAL OF GEORGE ANTHEIL'S 1924 BALLET MECHANIQUE A Film By Ron Frank And Paul D. Lehrman (EMF Media) 2dvd 55.00
One of the most infamous pieces of music of the twentieth century and a long time AQ favorite, is the Ballet Mechanique, composed by George Antheil, a piece composed for 16 synchronized player pianos, seven electric bells, a siren, two human played pianos, an array of percussion and three airplane propellors. The strange thing is it was never played or recorded or performed the way Antheil envisioned it. Due mostly to the fact that at the time of its composition it was essentially unplayable, as many of the elements in the piece would not even exist until after Antheil had died (MIDI, computers, etc.).
This documentary is a fascinating portrait of the composer's life, his revolutionary compositions, his 'bad boy' reputation, his time in Paris hanging out with Stravinsky, his circle of friends which included Hemingway, Picasso, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, but it's mostly the story of the Ballet Mechanique, and how, for the very first time, forty years after it was created, it was properly performed, with every element present, and a sound as close to Antheil's original vision as had ever been realized.
The sound of the piece, even on the cd version we had a few years back, is INSANE, cacophonous, wild, intense, freaked out and so impossibly intense, and the story of Antheil, and his journey to the place in his life where he could come up with such a visionary sound, and the actual piece itself with all of the components in place and a sound even bigger and weirder and wilder and even more strangely beautiful, is an absolute wonder to behold.
Two discs, the first features the documentary, the second disc contains the entire premiere performance of the original orchestration of the Ballet Mechanique, extended interviews with Antheil's friends featured in the film, and the 1925 Ballet Mechanique film, complete with the newly realized version of Antheil's score. Amazing!

BAD BRAINS Build A Nation (Oscilloscope) cd 14.98
We really didn't have very expectations for this one as most big time punk reunion records have been pretty dismal and depressing. But we're happy to report that this is not bad at all, in fact it's pretty damn good! With the original lineup together and Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys on production duties, Build A Nation was recorded like the good old days, right to tape. Of course nothing Bad Brains could do will ever replicate the fire and intensity of their legendary ROIR debut, but this is for sure better then any of their releases in the '90s. Going back to their roots the record finds a nice balance of punk rock songs and HR's love of roots reggae and offers up a much less metallic slant then their last several discs. You can tell that Adam Yauch put a lot of love and care into recording his heroes and he really was able to get a sound from the band that represents so much of the best parts of who they are. Any self-respecting punk/punk-lover knows that Bad Brains are one of the most important bands in the history of American Hardcore so it's very nice to hear a new record from them that kicks serious ass...
MPEG Stream: "Build A Nation"
MPEG Stream: "Jah Love"

BAD BRAINS I Against I (SST) cd 16.98

BAD BRAINS Live At CBGB 1982 (MVD Visuals) dvd 16.98
Bad Brains were (are?) arguably the greatest hardcore band of all time, and this collection of killer footage from three consecutive nights of shows way back in 1982 definitively demonstrate what a powerhouse they were. 1982 was indeed a good year for H.R. and the boys for sure, and by the looks of the crowd bounding all over the stage -at times it's hard pick out the actual band members -- they can do no wrong.
The dreads may still short at this stage, and yes, there are a few Rasta soliloquies here and there, but for the most part, the mosh level stays high. Frontman H.R. is always in command, staking out his little portion of the stage, and while axeman Dr. Know is still developing his craft, even back then, he was already blowing minds. And it sure is pretty weird to see the bald white kids skanking around to the stony-Jah riddums... But that's part of what made Bad Brains so bad ass. It's a very racially diverse crowd and everyone seems to be there to mosh or skank and not to fight or fuck shit up. Which is pretty cool.
The footage itself has a wonderful quality to it, especially for the era, the audio is good and it seems as though the video was compiled using the best songs from each of the three nights at CBGB. You can't go wrong with this, and we'd be hard pressed not to recommend this as CRUCIAL to your '80s hardcore video archive.

BAD BRAINS Quickness (SST) cd 12.98

BAD BRAINS Rock For Light (SST) cd 12.98

BAD DUDES s/t (Brain Burger) cd 14.98
Oh man, these Bad Dudes will for sure push all your smart alecky, manic prog, fuzzy synth, indie pop, angular art metal buttons and then some. Imagine the Champs, Upsilon Acrux, XRBXR, Zebulon Pike, Pinback, and Behold The Arctopus, in a dark alley, ready to rumble, armed only with synths, drum machines, gameboys, dayglo metal guitars, lots of zippers and wristbands, and of course vocoders. The resulting bloodshed sounds a bit like Rob Crow fronting Mr. Bungle, while they hold a new wave dance competition in the room next door. Wild and weird and fun and funny and a little bit confusing but in a good way!
MPEG Stream: "Megasquid"
MPEG Stream: "Xombie"
MPEG Stream: "Rum Siero"

BAD GRID The War On Huh? (Public) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The War On Huh? is the first full length from Bad Grid (aka Mark Nemeth and Paul Brown) and it's comprised of a baker's dozen lo-fi, electronic pop/rock songs laden with socio-political commentary on "Generals And CEOs", "Barbara Bush" and "Radical Republicans" with plenty of newsreel soundbites (unfortunately they've included a bunch of already way too over-played Bush clips). The vocals are delivered in a low, somewhat sullen speak-sing style reminiscent of Daniel Ash. As a result their statements in songs such as "Solution Song" and "Enjoy Your Life" occasionally come across as somewhat passive or defeatist rather than rallying. May seem a bit contradictory, but they get their message across -- raising awareness while keepin' things downbeat.
MPEG Stream: "Evidence Song"
MPEG Stream: "Enjoy Your Life"

BAD LIVERS Dust on the Bible (1/4 Stick) cd 13.98
Long out of print cassette-only release on CD for the first time! Not as punk as their other stuff, Dust on the Bible is decidedly gospel with fiddle, tuba, and accordion. Excellent.

BAD LIVERS Industry & Thrift (Sugar Hill) cd 15.98
Twangy fingerpickin' bluegrass punk rockers, this Austin duo play their own brand of hillbilly boogie, like the Squirrel Nut Zippers if they were country, not swing. Banjoriffic!

BAD NEWS s/t (Rampage/Rhino) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is one of the funniest records ever. Now, my coworkers might disagree, having been forced to hear this cd two and sometimes three times a day, but trust me.
The Young Ones was a wickedly funny confrontational sort of sketch comedy show in England, starring, a punk, a hippy, a new waver/square, and a business man. Really Funny.
After that show ended, 3/4 of the stars started the Comic Strip, another sketch comedy show. Bad News is from two episodes of the Comic Strip that focused on the Heavy Metal band Bad News.
This is like a foul mouthed mean spirited take on Spinal Tap. If you remember the Young Ones, I'm sure you can imagine what those guys, playing the world's shittiest heavy metal band would sound like.
Songs, interspersed with argument after argument after fist fight after failed attempt at making 'scary woodland sounds' after shouting match after argument. It is so relentless you can barely take it after an hour. Any one who is into Longmont Potion Castle or the Great Phone Calls record or Jon Wayne (the band) or Spinal Tap will love Bad News. Plus, if you can, rent the video, which is just as funny as the cd. You get to see Bad News actually perform at a British Metal festival, and get pelted with bottles and eventually beaten to a pulp, as well as all your favorite metal stars (Ozzy, Scorpions, Def Leppard, Lemmy) talking about how much Bad News suck. Soooooooo recommended.

BAD NEWS s/t (EMI) cd 12.98
Let's just go on the record and say, that British comedy is far superior to American comedy. Especially in the realm of the ultra-uncomfortable. Love Curb Your Enthusiasm? Just wait until you check out Peep Show. Can't get enough of the Office? Well the British original is way funnier, and WAY more brutal. And you haven't even begun to feel massive gloriously hilarious discomfort until you've seen Alan Partridge (review of the series DVD elsewhere on the AQ site).
But way back when, the Brits were already showing us a thing or too, with the utterly amazing, very DIY, and funny as fuck Young Ones, finding its way to American TV in the '80s... the tale of a hippy, a 'mod', a punk, and a creepy money obsessed shyster, all living in a run down house together, with a talking hamster, an insane landlord, and bands like the Damned or Madness showing up every week to rock out in the living room. After the Young Ones dissolved, the punk, the hippy and the mod went on to the long running meta-sketch comedy show The Comic Strip. Super smart and sharp, but not afraid of being really really dumb once in a while (but in a really smart way).
Hence we have Bad News. The worst heavy metal band you've never heard. Taking the whole Spinal Tap thing in a much more dismal, depressing, volatile and gut busting direction. Culled from two episodes of The Comic Strip, the disc captures all of their 'hits' as well as track after track after track of the band bickering and even physically abusing each other.
As if you couldn't tell already, this is one of the funniest records ever. EVER! And unlike lots of 'joke' musical projects, the songs are completely kick ass. In fact the song "Drink Till I Die" sounds like some lost Motorhead B-side. Hell, A-side even.
They do a painfully bad version of "Bohemian Rhapsody", a Christmas single, and a handful of amazing originals, like their theme song "Bad News" and the super kick ass "Warriors Of Ghengis Khan". But the songs, as good and as funny as they are, are merely musical interludes for the fighting that comes between. And the cool thing, is it's not just clips from the show, it's band meetings, aborted recording sessions (including an amazing bit where they spend forever trying to make 'scary woodland sounds', resulting in one of them moo-ing like a cow, and yet another fight ensues since 'cows are not scary or evil'), confrontations over who re-recorded whose parts, lots of screaming and yelling and tons of profanity. It's intense and brutal and so goddamn funny. It's so relentless you can barely take it after an hour. Any one who is into Longmont Potion Castle or the Great Phone Calls record or Jon Wayne (the band) or Spinal Tap will love Bad News. Plus, if you can, rent the video, which is just as funny as the cd. You get to see Bad News actually perform at a British Metal festival, and get pelted with bottles and eventually beaten to a pulp, as well as all your favorite metal stars (Ozzy, Scorpions, Def Leppard, Lemmy) talking about how much Bad News suck.
Soooooooo goddamn funny and amazing and essential.
MPEG Stream: "Drink Till I Die"
MPEG Stream: "Excalibur"
MPEG Stream: "Warriors Of Ghengis Khan"
MPEG Stream: "Bad Dreams"

BAD PLUS, THE Give (Columbia) cd 16.98
Hadn't heard too much about the Bad Plus other than the ususal "They're that weird jazz group that does weird covers." A bit of an oversimplification perhaps, but yeah, the Bad Plus are a weird jazz group, and they do indeed perform lots of unlikely covers. But beyond that, they are a super original, super fucked up, totally original, post-bop jazz weird-rock hybrid. Which makes them a bit hard to pin down. They are definitely too weird and 'rock' to appeal to jazz snobs, but they have some serious jazz chops, serious enough that it definitely alienates a lot of the jazz-phobic among us. Which is too bad, because they are simply amazing. Splattery percussion is all over the place, skittering delicately one moment, crashing and pounding the next, matched by deep, throbbing upright bass, and wild mayhemic piano. Their originals show a firm grasp of the classics, but their choice of covers demonstrates a band history rich in indie and hard rock. In the past they have covered Blondie, Nirvana and Aphex Twin. This time around they take on Ornette Coleman's "Street Woman", as well as the Pixies' "Velouria", which gets deconstructed into a persistent throbbing pulse (that folks in the store mistook for an upstairs neighbor stomping around) with the song's unmistakable melody stretched out into a classical fugue, that eventually gives way to a weirdly funky free-bop workout. But the album's finest moment may just be their verison of Sabbath's "Iron Man", in which an out of tune piano intro gives way to a sludgy, jazzy dirge, surprisingly heavy, and weirdly chaotic and confusional. Part way through they unexpectedly change from minor key to major key, turning that classic metal riff into some sort of strange fanfare, all pomp and bluster, at once totally unlike the original, but at the same time you can imagine, maybe in some other dimension, the major key version being THE version. And that's what makes the Bad Plus so good, their ability to trample all over sacred ground, be it rock, or jazz, or uncoverable covers, but to do it in such a way that we end up thinking the muddy trampled ground, footprints, dead flowers and all, is almost superior to the cherished original.
MPEG Stream: "1979 Semi-Finalist"
MPEG Stream: "Cheney Pinata"

BAD PLUS, THE Suspicious Activity? (Columbia) cd 17.98
It's really easy for a band to be overshadowed by its gimmick, be it crazy makeup, wacky song titles, insane pyrotechnics, setting your drums up backwards at the front of the stage or whatever. A band has to really have the songs and the sound to keep their chosen gimmick in check. With L.A.'s acoustic free jazz combo The Bad Plus, it's their choice of covers. I mean, what proper jazz band would dare tackle songs by Blondie, Nirvana, Aphex Twin, the Pixies and Black Sabbath? Well, none actually. And since the Bad Plus is not a proper jazz group it works out just fine. Piano, bass and drums, all acoustic. From dark and minor key smokey simmer, to chaotic, splattery post bop freakout, to almost Neu!-like krautrock workouts to lush expansive jazz flecked soundscapes, these guys somehow manage to sound totally traditional and utterly fucked up at the same time. The bizarre cover this time around is Vangelis' "(Theme From) Chariots Of Fire" which the Bad Plus smash into a million little free jazz pieces, stick back together seemingly haphazardly, using just the original melody as the glue, as sputtering spastic percussive squalls rain down on manic piano runs and rumbling throbbing basslines, while that impossibly unforgettable melody creeps and skips and slinks in between. If you had never heard the Vangelis original, you'd think it was just the catchiest, weirdest wildest most perfect slab of freaked out jazz ever. Thankfully the originals play just as well, densely layered, ultra complex, wildly playful and darkly melodic, veering all over the jazz spectrum as well as careening occasionally way outside the realms of anything remotely jazzlike. Booklet includes an exclusive original comic strip from David Rees (Get Your War On). And definitely catch 'em live if you can, supposedly they're even wilder and weirder and likely to whip out even more ridiculous covers!
MPEG Stream: "Prehensile Dream"
MPEG Stream: "(Theme From) Chariots Of Fire"

BAD RELIGION Process Of Belief (Epitaph) cd 15.98
Yet another one of Andee's guilty pleasures (hard to believe there can be so many). Bad Religion record number 341 or something, and while it's nowhere as good as 'Suffer' or 'Against The Grain' (both are completely amazing), the sound is still quite similar so there is a lot to like here. The only real change is much more melody, a bit less speed, and one of the most elaborate sleeves/cd booklets we have ever seen (especially for a 'punk' record).
RealAudio clip: "Supersonic"
RealAudio clip: "Prove It"

BAD RELIGION The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph) cd 14.98

BAD RELIGION The New America (Atlantic) cd 16.98
The newest offering from this 'intelligent' punk band. And while not their best record, certainly their best sounding (thanks to a sparkling and fairly creative Todd Rundgren production). They still remain head and shoulders above most pop punk bands. Catchy songs, hooks, and occasionally hyper-literate lyrics. It must suck to have helped define a genre, and then wake up one day, fifteen years later, opening for Blink 182. They deserve better.

BAD SECTOR + TOMMASO LISA Reset / Rebis Perferiche (Old Europa Cafe) cd / book / 3"cd 24.00

BAD SECTOR / CONTAGIOUS ORGASM Vacuum Pulse (Old Europa Cafe) cd 15.98
"Vacuum Pulse" is a collaborative effort between Japan's Contagious Orgasm and Italy's Bad Sector, both of whom have extensive catalogues of post-industrial rumblings. This was originally a cassette from Old Europa Cafe, who fortunately issued this again in a digital format with two extra collaborative tracks. Bad Sector's sound is typified by slow Wagnerian melodic progressions creeping out of tense John Duncan-esque data-crunched drones. Contagious Orgasm prefers to lace processed authoritative speech patterns with Eraserhead radiator sounds. Their collaborative efforts sounds a lot like a louder Main without as much bass and with a gilded aura surrounding all of the work.

BAD STATISTICS Static ((K-RAA-K)3) lp 13.98
One of our favorite new records of late, comes to us all the way from New Zealand, but via Belgium (where their label, long time AQ faves Kraak are based). A mysterious troupe called Bad Statistics, their debut a two song vinyl only EPIC. Equal parts droney noise rock, propulsive krautrock, and even some weird sort-of-doom. Drenched in swirls of chaotic FX and a blown out in-the-red recording, that manages to be fierce and murky at the same time.
Each track takes up a whole side and is given plenty of time to change shape and direction, sound and spirit, transforming gradually, but managing to remain hypnotic and blissed out. The A side, begins as a doomy plod, but with clean guitars instead of downtuned distorted ones, the drums spare, and all manner of weird demon-y vocals, a sort of post rocky crawl. Eventually, synths join the fray, and along with the drums, they lock into a looped cyclical groove, over which, still more strange vocals croon and moan. And we're talking REALLY strange, mewling moaning howling weirdness. The music sounds like some spaced out Tangerine Dream, the drums a constant pound way down in the mix, the synths pulsing and throbbing, the vocals though turn it into some damaged outsider space jam. At one point the synths drop out and the vocals go crazy, sounding like they're speaking in tongues, before the band kick back in, launching into a fierce Hawkwind style FX drenched psychrock outro that goes on forever.
The second track is even better, and one of our favorite songs of the year hands down. A gorgeously blown out dirge, the guitars so hot they crumble with every downbeat, the recording super distorted and raw, but the melody and the main riff are super gorgeous, catchy and minor key, the track relaxes briefly, spreading out into a glitchy ambient murmur, over which guitars shimmer, little bits of electronics flutter, and the bass holds it all together with a simple dreamy groove. Very krautrocky, and a bit like a more lo-fi noiserock Necks. The track shifts constantly over the next ten minutes or so, to weird doomy twang, with gorgeous majestic riffing, thick bass chords, and some shapeless falsetto vocals, then to a super distorted psychdrone freakout, replete with chiming guitar harmonics, and a pulsing throbbing rhythm buried beneath a layer of crunchy buzz, then to a sunbaked space jam, all open chords, simple drumming, more shapeless vox, and finally to a washed out krautrock dirge, peppered with bits of backwards percussion, garbled voices, reverse guitar, and jagged chunks of crumbling distortion, until the whole thing slowly burns to black.
Sorry to everyone without a turntable, but this just may be the blown out space psych doom kraut jam of the year!!
MPEG Stream: "Static One (Excerpt)"
MPEG Stream: "Static Two (Excerpt)"

BAD STREET BOY Bad Power (Pharma Rec) cd 15.98
The hyperbolic sonic aggresion of Panacea is set aside for this side project dedicated to riding the new electro wave. Angular old-school robobeats, as heard on the amazing Electro Non-Stop compilation of a few months back.

BAD TIMES s/t (Sympathy For the Record Industry) cd 14.98
This is Eric Oblivian (Oblivians), Jay Reatard (Reatards, Lost Sounds), and King Louie Bankston (Persuaders, King Louie One Man Band, Royal Pendletons). They got together to record an album of songs they had worked up in their individual "bad times" outside of their regular bands. All three met in New Orleans for one day of practice and one day of recording. Totally fuzzed out fucked up lo-fi madness. Punky and Stoogesy, a wild and chaotic messy party.
RealAudio clip: "Over You"
RealAudio clip: "Momma Told Me So"

BADABOOM GRAMAPHONE issue #4 magazine + cd 5.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Huge (176 page) book-like zine. This issue's theme: folk music. Thus, reviews of weird & wonderful "folk" albums from around the world. Plus, Jim O'Rourke interviewing the Royal Trux, an essay on Nico, an interview with The Ex, a talk with Samoth of black metallers Emperor (!) and lots of other weirdness. The free cd compilation it comes with includes exclusive tracks from Pearls Before Swine, Six Organs of Admittance, Simon Joyner, Spires of Oxford, Cannanes, Richard Davies, and many more. Wow! Highly recommended, as always.