BEE GEES Idea (Reprise) 2cd 25.00
Third times the charm for the Bee Gees, as we finally get around to reviewing the third double-disc remastered deluxe reissue in a series, this one of their 1968 third record, Idea. And it's not because this is our least favorite release, but quite the contrary, it's become the album we revisit the most frequently. Often letting it play in the store repeatedly through both stereo and mono versions.
A slight departure from the baroque arrangements and epic songwriting of 1st and Horizontal (but which they will return to in full form on 1969's Odessa), Idea focuses more on the band as an integrated rock combo rather than a harmony-pop group with accompaniment. The orchestra arrangements take a back seat in the mix, while the group utilizes a more upbeat hook-laden rocking sound in the vein of other seminal (and underrated at the time) albums of the era such as Something Else By The Kinks, The Notorious Byrd Brothers, and Headquarters by The Monkees (and influencing such later bands as Elf Power, Beachwood Sparks and Vetiver). Spotlighting electric guitar, 12-string acoustic, harmonicas and organ, as evidenced on the title track, "Kitty Can", "Indian Gin and Whisky Dry" and "Such A Shame", which stands out due to fact that it's the only song on the record not written by the Gibbs, but by then lead guitarist Vince Melouney.
But of course, this wouldn't be a classic Bee Gees album without some melancholic orchestral balladry which they were more known for, so we assume that is why opener, "Let There Be Love" with its piano and harp arpeggios, "I Started A Joke" and "I've Got To Get A Message To You" were pegged as the standout singles. All great songs surely, yet for us the lesser known songs are the real treats. Definitely one of the bands most underrated recordings and one which we hope this reissue will garner many new fans. Features both Stereo and Mono mixes and a bonus disc of alternate versions, unreleased tracks and even a couple of radio spots for Coca-Cola! Highly Recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Such A Shame"
MPEG Stream: "Idea"
MPEG Stream: "Kilburn Towers"

BEE GEES Odessa (Reprise) 3cd 45.00
Odessa, the Bee Gees' fourth proper full length, from 1969, found the band returning to the lush baroque pop of 1st and Horizontal, after the more rock combo styled Idea. For those of you who only know the Bee Gees from their later incarnation as THE disco group and their iconic Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, boy are you in for a surprise. Well before any of that happened, the three brothers Gibb were masters at crafting gorgeous orchestral pop songs - think the Beach Boys, the Zombies, the Beatles, and you'll get an idea of what we're talking about.
Having three brothers in the band meant HARMONIES, and indeed, the vocal harmonies are heavenly, as is each of the brothers' voices on their own, but those angelic voices are backed up by a crack band, and some incredible orchestration. Odessa was infamous for many reasons: disputes over which single to release caused Robin to quit the band briefly, the non-Gibb guitarist Vince Melouney quite the band, the record originally came in red flocked covers that had to be discontinued because they were too expensive and workers assembling the lps complained of allergic reactions, and most importantly, the sound shifted somewhat dramatically, with the sound returning to the lush, almost overwrought, over the top sound of the first two records, and ends up being super sprawling, incorporating all sorts of psychedelic vamps, and stripped down ballads into the usual collection of perfect orchestral pop gems.
The quasi-bummer about this reissue, is that it's been expanded to a whopping 3 discs, the first two exactly the same except one is all stereo mixes, and the second is all mono mixes, while the third is called Sketches For Odessa, which is exactly that, raw takes and demos, a cool glimpse into the process of making the record, but really, only the most obsessive fans will ever listen to the 2nd or 3rd discs, cuz all you really need is the record proper, but as this is currently the only way to get Odessa, we have to say, even though it's pricey, for lovers of classic pop, it's well worth it. PLUS, the reissue has been restored to its red flocked metallic gold lettered glory!
As with the other records, Odessa is packed with the most amazing pop songs, catchy and wistful, melancholy and dreamy, lots of acoustic guitars, soaring strings, harps, subtle horns, shuffling drums, chimes bells, at it's most lush, it's almost syrupy, but then a song later, it'll be just vocals and guitar. A bunch of the songs sound SUPER Beatles-y, with the vocals more raw, the drums more propulsive, the sound pretty rocking, but even those songs are laced with strings, and are transformed into something distinctly their own. This is definitely a complicated record. Released as a double album, later as a single, lots of fantastic songs (if you loved "Holiday", off of 1st, odds are you'll find lots to love here), some strange almost variety show sounding jams, and a few far out numbers, that prove the boys never shied away from experimenting or doing their own thing. Heck, we made 1st a Record Of The Week, we probably could have / should have done the same with Idea and Horizontal, so keep that in mind when we suggest, that in some ways, Odessa might be the best / weirdest / most underappreciated of the four. So yeah, obviously recommended. Big time.
MPEG Stream: "Odessa (City On The Black Sea)"
MPEG Stream: "You'll Never See My Face Again"
MPEG Stream: "Lamplight"
MPEG Stream: "First Of May"

BEE MASK Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Chris Madak is the man behind the Bee Mask, a project with several dozen cassette releases issued over the past couple of years. Madak should also be noted as the principle behind the exceptionally curated Deception Island tape label, which had the foresight to release Oneohtrix Point Never's Betrayed In The Octagon as well as a handful of killer Emeralds related side projects. That said, not much from Bee Mask's own discography has made it through here, with blister popping electrical noise and synth sequencing seeming to be par for the course. Yet through those circuit bent experiments, Bee Mask emerges fully evolved as a master synthesist of all things elekronische and kosmische circa 1975. Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico is a wonderfully varied album whose hallucinatory narratives speak to a purposeful and thoroughly intelligent design in its creation. Throughout you'll hear distinct references to the likes of Roland Kayn, Tangerine Dream (e.g. Electronic Meditations), Jean-Claude Eloy, Francoise Bayle, anything from Sky Records you could think of in the mid to late '70s, and even the more bombastic electronic interludes offered by Pink Floyd for that matter. The album opens in a more studied fashion through a sequence of carillion bell tones backmasked with a series of soft vocal grunts and gradually building set of electronic percolations, but all of this is engulfed in a tidal wave of polydactyl synth sequencing and brainfried electronic percolations only to morph again into a cavernous expanse of elongated tone and drone. The album's numerous detours and labyrinthine structures twist and devolve constantly across both sides of the record, delving into melodic phrasing in the electronic sequences only to shift deftly into plunging electrical vibrations of pulsing synth noise and delirious crescendos popping throughout.
The fact that John Elliott of Emeralds has brought this to vinyl after a release on Gift Tapes a while back should not go unnoticed. Spectrum Spools is his new imprint, released through Editions Mego, and this should be a label not to be missed. Certainly not this release, that's for sure.

BEE MASK Elegy For Beach Friday (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) cd 16.98
NOW ON CD!!!
Here stands the monumental sonic anthology, culled from the numerous cassettes and cd-rs that Chris Madak has released over the past decade or so, under the moniker Bee Mask. Like Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, Madak is single-minded in his retrogarde aesthetic for synthesized compositions based on a vintage 1970s' cosmology. But where many of the '70s synth revivalists have coyingly adopted a full-fledged new age aesthetic through effervescent prettiness and soft-focus ambient swirl, Bee Mask offers up his own dysptopic take on psychedelic electronics through a crucible of cracked circuits, tape splutter, infernal field recordings, and a hell of a lot of sustained synth drones oscillating into crescendos of dissonant thumming. The zoner tracks on Elegy For Beach Friday (and there are a number of them) never sit in the background seeking a sublimated hypnosis, rather Madak zooms in on the placid pools of sound to unveil intense percolations and swarming vibrations. There's a scientific rigor to his pieces that finds Bee Mask orbiting around the dense, alienating electronics from Matt Shoemaker, Rick Reed, and Bernard Parmigiani. But, Madak is also one to tease with the subtle swelling melodies that harken to the more emotive works from Omit and Emeralds. If his work shares anything with the retro electronic tapestries that are the forgotten soundtracks for a summer sunset, Madak would rather blind the audience with the intensity of the sun, complete with blisters on the skin and technological mishaps from sunspots. Brilliant!
MPEG Stream: "Deducted From Your Share In Paradise"
MPEG Stream: "Askion Kataskion Lix Tetrax Damnameneus Aision"
MPEG Stream: "Stop The Night"
MPEG Stream: "Scarlet Thread, Golden Cord"

BEE MASK Elegy For Beach Friday (Spectrum Spools) 2lp 27.00
BACK IN STOCK!!
Here stands the monumental gatefold double vinyl anthology, culled from the numerous cassettes and cd-rs that Chris Madak has released over the past decade or so, under the moniker Bee Mask. Like Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, Madak is single-minded in his retrogarde aesthetic for synthesized compositions based on a vintage 1970s' cosmology. But where many of the '70s synth revivalists have coyingly adopted a full-fledged new age aesthetic through effervescent prettiness and soft-focus ambient swirl, Bee Mask offers up his own dysptopic take on psychedelic electronics through a crucible of cracked circuits, tape splutter, infernal field recordings, and a hell of a lot of sustained synth drones oscillating into crescendos of dissonant thumming. The zoner tracks on Elegy For Beach Friday (and there are a number of them) never sit in the background seeking a sublimated hypnosis, rather Madak zooms in on the placid pools of sound to unveil intense percolations and swarming vibrations. There's a scientific rigor to his pieces that finds Bee Mask orbiting around the dense, alienating electronics from Matt Shoemaker, Rick Reed, and Bernard Parmigiani. But, Madak is also one to tease with the subtle swelling melodies that harken to the more emotive works from Omit and Emeralds. If his work shares anything with the retro electronic tapestries that are the forgotten soundtracks for a summer sunset, Madak would rather blind the audience with the intensity of the sun, complete with blisters on the skin and technological mishaps from sunspots. Brilliant!

BEEHIVE & THE BARRACUDAS Cock Ready (Strange Sounds) cd 11.98
Git ready for some gritty bluesy rawk'n'roll, kids! Beehive & The Barracudas' fourth full length, the follow-up to their darkly brooding In Dark Love, gets things back on the track of their more characteristic smokin' punchy garage action! This is a band with plenty of shit-disturbin' attitude as is more than evident in their album art (an explicit collaged shamble of assorted peni and Dubya), song titles and lyrics (such as "Fuck It Out", "Stupid Asshole" and "Hitler's Cock")... not to mention the way they deliver them -- suitably slurred, sneered and snarled. Nasty!
MPEG Stream: "Stupid Asshole"
MPEG Stream: "White Noise Suicide"

BEEHIVE & THE BARRACUDAS In Dark Love (Swami) cd 14.98
San Diego's Beehive And The Barracudas are back at it again, but this time they're taking a rather more subdued, smouldering and angular approach than on their previous two heart-pounding, ass-kicking albums. Still it's no less raw, and certainly no less immediate -- featuring a mix of live drums and old drum machines, dingy guitars and squidgy analog synths. And it's all topped off with some rad lanky boy / saucy girl vocals. The third song "Stuck On The Bus" echoes with a certain bluesy Television-ness, and the rest of the album definitely has that early '80s New York art rock grittiness. Think of this as the soundtrack to the after-party that just might follow a whiskey 'n' jet-fueled Beehive live frenzy.
MPEG Stream: "Stuck On The Bus"
MPEG Stream: "Changes"

BEEHIVE & THE BARRACUDAS In Dark Love (Swami) lp 10.98
San Diego's Beehive And The Barracudas are back at it again, but this time they're taking a rather more subdued, smouldering and angular approach than on their previous two heart-pounding, ass-kicking albums. Still it's no less raw, and certainly no less immediate -- featuring a mix of live drums and old drum machines, dingy guitars and squidgy analog synths. And it's all topped off with some rad lanky boy / saucy girl vocals. The third song "Stuck On The Bus" echoes with a certain bluesy Television-ness, and the rest of the album definitely has that early '80s New York art rock grittiness. Think of this as the soundtrack to the after-party that just might follow a whiskey 'n' jet-fueled Beehive live frenzy.

BEEHIVE AND THE BARRACUDAS 'Plastic Soul' With The White Apes (Swami) cd 12.98
San Diego superstars ND (Rocket From The Crypt) and Dirty/Dustin join Kerry from the Red Aunts and a ton of others to form Beehive and The Barracudas. Not unlike the high octane fire power of RFTC, but more garage-y and tough. Fans of the White Stripes or the Gories should check this out. Listening to it is like being at a really rad, turbulent party in the mid-90s. Just wait for the pushing and shoving to ensue. This is their second release, both on John Reis' kick ass new label Swami.
RealAudio clip: "Dirty Soughts"
RealAudio clip: "Real Blue Flame"

BEEHIVE AND THE BARRACUDAS Featuring The Insects (Flapping Jet) cd 13.98
This is the first release from this all star supergroup. Members of Rocket From The Crypt, Tanner, The Red Aunts, The Pee-Chees, and Last of the Juanitas... Oh, but don't think they sound like any of the above. As a matter of fact, it's a sweet blend of soul, synthy '80s (think: the Cars!), garage, lounge, and casiotone preset rhythm radness. The entire record is ridiculously dance-ready with its raw, driving, pounding rhythms, and attitude-laced vocals.
RealAudio clip: "Big Time Suicide"
RealAudio clip: "Featuring the Insects"
RealAudio clip: "Fall Of 85"

BEEM The Famous/Mouth Everest (Flogsta Danshall) 7" 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Skweee!!! See our Museum of Future Sound review for more explanation...

BEENIE MAN Live Or Die (Special Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Midwest Swing" (St. Lunatics).

BEENIE MAN Model Mi Gal (RMC) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another cool dance hall single from Jamaica, this time around the rhtyhm is "One Minute Man" (Missy Elliott). B-side, though supposedly containing a "Remix" of the aforementioned rhythm, has a version that is completely unrelated.

BEENIE MAN More Prayer (Club Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "What It Is" (Busta Rhymes).

BEENIE MAN Trend Setter (RMC) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Like a few of the newer hip hop dancehall remixes, this one utilizes a few different rhythms crossfaded in and out. The b-side says "version" on it, but -- surprize, surprize -- actually has the Elephant Man theme (using the melody to "Spiderman" of course.) Nice printing bonus on this single is a classic misspelling of Beenie Man as "Bennie Man".

BEEQUEEN A Touch of Brimstone (Korm Plastics) cd 16.98
"A Touch Of Brimstone" was intended to be the 10th anniversary release for the Dutch ambient / industrial duo Beequeen (Frans De Waard and Freek Kinkelaar), but the nature of Beequeen's extensive side projects delayed the anniversary by almost 4 years. Nevertheless, this album collects a number of (mostly) unreleased tracks from 1989 to 1995, with the one previously released track coming from their debut recording "Scala Destillans" which was issued in a whopping pressing of 250 copies. The Beequeen sound has been and probably will always be a synthesis of a number of pre-existing ideas. At this time, those references for Beequeen were the phasing ambience of Klaus Schultz and Brian Eno, the isolationist practices of Maeror Tri, the clinical feedback noise of early SPK, and the magickal psychedelia of the Legendary Pink Dots. Thus, soft drones, ghosts of songs, and distant drum machine pulsatsions structure Beequeen's ongoing activities.
RealAudio clip: "A Touch Of Brimstone"

BEEQUEEN Der Holzweg (Tantric Harmonies) 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 happens to be the fourth and most comprehensive edition of the best album from Beequeen, the ephemeral drone project spearheaded by Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. Der Holzweg was originally released by Anomalous Records back in 1993, housing the disc in a smartly designed wooden sleeve. At the same time, a tiny cassette edition made its way into the world. Many years, later a vinyl edition of the material was issued; and now the Russian imprint Tantric Harmonies has thankfully reissued this album once again, with all of bonus material found on the cassette and vinyl versions as well as three additional tracks from some contemporary seven inches. Whew! Beequeen's musical output is emblematic of the dreamy, soft focus ambience that emerged out of a post-industrial framework back in the early '90s. Zoviet France, Paul Schutze, O Yuki Conjugate, Christoph Heemann, and Cranioclast were some of the more obvious influences on Beequeen, whose backwards masked guitars and ambling tape loops flicker across grey, synthetic drones. It's very nice to see this back in print, one more time!
MPEG Stream: "Dead Hares"
MPEG Stream: "Chorok"

BEEQUEEN Gund (Plinky Plonk) cd 16.98
Beequeen is the duo of Freek Kinkelaar and Frans De Waard, whose name you might recognise from his other projects, Goem, Shifts, Kapotte Muziek and a bunch more. Can't say I have been all the taken with most of De Waard's projects, but for some reason Beequeen records always hit the spot. The sound of Beequeen has been anything but static, with two musically restless souls exploring all aspects of sound and recording, coming up with extremely varied results, most actually quite appealing, but Gund, a collection of old unreleased tracks finds Beequeen at what I think is their perfect sound, dreamy drony, hypnotic, minimal throbbing shimmerscapes of dark rumbles, ethereal wisps of high end incandescence, and subtly shifting, distant low end murmurs of rustle and thrum, that will most definitely tickle the cochlea of even the most discerning of drones fans, and of course folks who can't get enough Coleclough, Mirror, and the like. This collection assembles four tracks from a proposed 12" where all four tracks were to be cut at different speeds, 16, 33, 45, and 78 RPM (eventually scrapped due to the difficulty in pressing such a record) as well as two tracks from an aborted collaborative split with MSBR. Really beautiful stuff. Limited to 500!
MPEG Stream: "For Daniel In The Lion's Mouth"
MPEG Stream: "I'll Call You Claude"

BEEQUEEN Music For The Head Ballet (Infraction) cd 11.98

BEEQUEEN Ownliness (Infraction) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Beequeen is but one of the many sides to Frans De Waard - the Dutch vangardist who has also explored post-techno minimalism in Goem, blissful guitar drone work in Shifts, musique concrete in Kapotte Muziek, and about a half-dozen other smaller projects. As with all of those aforementioned projects, De Waard typically follows the lead of a 'trendy' line in experimental music -- PanSonic, Main, Pierre Henry, etc. For Beequeen, it's a little more vague, originally taking off from the Legendary Pink Dots (as De Waard met fellow Beequeen member Freek Kinkelaar out of their mutual admiration of Ka-Spel and Co.), but more recently picking up cues from the Temporary Residence aesthetic of quiet guitar led introspection and moody post-rock atmospheres espoused by Sonna and Tarentel. As with the majority of the De Waard projects, Beequeen mimics its influences remarkably well.
RealAudio clip: "My Wicked Wicked Ways"
RealAudio clip: "Beam Ends"

BEEQUEEN Sandancing (Important Records) cd 14.98
Frans De Waard and Freek Kinkelaar have been very active in the Dutch experimental sound community for well over two decades in far too many projects to count. Beequeen was one of those projects, having originally producing some lovely post-Eno driftwork ambient pieces; yet, over the past three album, De Waard and Kinkelaar have steadily pulled atmospheric songs and folk structures out of that ambience. Sandancing is the latest venture and really seems to be mining the same skeletal songwriting as Low had on Secret Name. It doesn't hurt that the two have recruited vocalist Olga Wallis to join their project, as she's got a voice eerily similar to Low's Mimi Parker.
MPEG Stream: "Breathe"
MPEG Stream: "The Honeythief"

BEEQUEEN The Bodyshop (Important) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Sad Sheep"
MPEG Stream: "The Dream-O-Phone"

BEETS, THE Don't Fit In My Head (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98

BEETS, THE Let The Poison Out (Hardly Art) cd 12.98
In past reviews of earlier Beets records, we found ourselves imagining them as the result of some sort of Thee Oh Sees / Shaggs sonic breeding experiment, a mix of naive primitivism and fuzzy reverby garage rock pound, and on this latest, not too much has changed, although the things that have, only serve to make these guys sound better than ever. The production is way less lo-fi, the more polished production perfectly complimenting the stripped down instrumentation, and the songs, still stripped down and minimal, sound somehow more fully fleshed out and way catchier (although subtly so). The vibe is also a bit darker and dronier, with a huge Velvets vibe, woozy and druggy and hypnotic, most of the songs with just one or two parts, repetitive and jangly, with the more upbeat jams sounding almost Beatles-esque, classic three chord jangle pop, over shuffling drums and peppered with some twisted atonal sort-if-solos (there's even some flute!!). For the most part though, this is just some perfectly dreamy, jangly, catchy, stoney and droney left field ramshackle folk pop bliss, that we just can't seem to stop listening to.
And like all of their other records, more of that immediately recognizable cartoon cover art depicting the theme of the record (all The Beets records have themes), this one about "letting the poison out of your system."
MPEG Stream: "You Don't Want Kids to Be Dead"
MPEG Stream: "Doing as I Do"
MPEG Stream: "Friends of Friends"

BEETS, THE Let The Poison Out (Hardly Art) lp 13.98
In past reviews of earlier Beets records, we found ourselves imagining them as the result of some sort of Thee Oh Sees / Shaggs sonic breeding experiment, a mix of naive primitivism and fuzzy reverby garage rock pound, and on this latest, not too much has changed, although the things that have, only serve to make these guys sound better than ever. The production is way less lo-fi, the more polished production perfectly complimenting the stripped down instrumentation, and the songs, still stripped down and minimal, sound somehow more fully fleshed out and way catchier (although subtly so). The vibe is also a bit darker and dronier, with a huge Velvets vibe, woozy and druggy and hypnotic, most of the songs with just one or two parts, repetitive and jangly, with the more upbeat jams sounding almost Beatles-esque, classic three chord jangle pop, over shuffling drums and peppered with some twisted atonal sort-if-solos (there's even some flute!!). For the most part though, this is just some perfectly dreamy, jangly, catchy, stoney and droney left field ramshackle folk pop bliss, that we just can't seem to stop listening to.
And like all of their other records, more of that immediately recognizable cartoon cover art depicting the theme of the record (all The Beets records have themes), this one about "letting the poison out of your system."
MPEG Stream: "You Don't Want Kids to Be Dead"
MPEG Stream: "Doing as I Do"
MPEG Stream: "Friends of Friends"

BEETS, THE Locomotion (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98

BEETS, THE Spit in the Face of People Who Don't Want To Be Cool (Captured Tracks) cd 12.98
Now available on cd!
Captured Tracks is turning into the go to label for rad and limited vinyl pressings (and cd's!) of some of the most interesting and offbeat damaged garage pop bands around. Recent releases from the label include records by Blank Dogs, Brilliant Colors, Dum Dum Girls, etc. The Beets fit perfectly with the label's aesthetic, these are some way lo-fi reverbed out rudimentary garage pop gems with a charming kind of innocence about them. We hear a kinship with Thee Oh Sees, especially circa Sucks Blood, as these tracks have that same kind of stoned and lacka-daze-ical quality. Imagine what it might sound like if Dwyer and company did a bunch of Shaggs covers and you'd pretty much have the Beets. There is something so refreshingly effortless and free flowing about this record. Maybe it's their name but we have dreams of seeing them play live in a friend's kitchen as we nibble on snacks and they use everything in the kitchen sink to create totally endearing lo-fi punk rock brilliance.
MPEG Stream: "Happy But On My Way"
MPEG Stream: "Go Away"
MPEG Stream: "My Bones My Flesh And Me"

BEETS, THE Spit in the Face of People Who Don't Want To Be Cool (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
Captured Tracks is turning into the go to label for rad and limited vinyl pressings of some of the most interesting and offbeat damaged garage pop bands around. Recent releases from the label include records by Blank Dogs, Brilliant Colors, Dum Dum Girls, etc. The Beets fit perfectly with the label's aesthetic, these are some way lo-fi reverbed out rudimentary garage pop gems with a charming kind of innocence about them. We hear a kinship with Thee Oh Sees, especially circa Sucks Blood, as these tracks have that same kind of stoned and lacka-daze-ical quality. Imagine what it might sound like if Dwyer and company did a bunch of Shaggs covers and you'd pretty much have the Beets. There is something so refreshingly effortless and free flowing about this record. Maybe it's their name but we have dreams of seeing them play live in a friend's kitchen as we nibble on snacks and they use everything in the kitchen sink to create totally endearing lo-fi punk rock brilliance.

BEETS, THE Stay Home (Captured Tracks) cd 13.98
There is something about knowing your sound and keeping your focus which is kind of crucial when you are a band playing very primitive ramshackle DIY folk/punk. The Beets know this so well, in fact right on the cover it says this is a collection of thirteen new songs about staying home. And many of the tracks are in fact about why the world can often make staying in your own room the only viable alternative. They keep all the subject matter very simple yet painfully honest. It's about relationships, regret, fear, longing...all delivered in a way stripped down lo-fi left-field garage pop sound. Following in the tradition of folks like Daniel Johnston, The Shaggs, Half Japanese, Beat Happening and Jonathan Richman, The Beets remind us that when done right, less can be so much more!
MPEG Stream: "Cold Lips"
MPEG Stream: "Floating"
MPEG Stream: "Young Girls"

BEETS, THE Stay Home (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
There is something about knowing your sound and keeping your focus which is kind of crucial when you are a band playing very primitive ramshackle DIY folk/punk. The Beets know this so well, in fact right on the cover it says this is a collection of thirteen new songs about staying home. And many of the tracks are in fact about why the world can often make staying in your own room the only viable alternative. They keep all the subject matter very simple yet painfully honest. It's about relationships, regret, fear, longing...all delivered in a way stripped down lo-fi left-field garage pop sound. Following in the tradition of folks like Daniel Johnston, The Shaggs, Half Japanese, Beat Happening and Jonathan Richman, The Beets remind us that when done right, less can be so much more!
MPEG Stream: "Cold Lips"
MPEG Stream: "Floating"
MPEG Stream: "Young Girls"

BEEZY Thoughts In Retro (Rinse) 2x12" 23.00

BEFORE, AFTER s/t (Monorail Trespassing) cassette 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Before, After is a collaboration between Mike Pollard (Pale Blue Sky, Treetops, the owner of Arbor Records), and Jon Borges (Pedestrian Deposit, Emaciator, the owner of Monorail Trespassing), the two working together bring to the table their mutual aesthetic appreciation for a world of post-noise dronescaping. In the cold oscillations of electrical hum and arcs of dual-tone ambience from all sorts of synths, pedals, and whatnot, it's easy to put these sounds in the orbit of Emeralds / Outer Space / Mist / etc.
Pollard and Borges affix a fluctuating halo of electricity to all of their subtle oscillations, and all of this voltage, wattage, and ampage is somewhat threatening, but presented at a relatively safe distance. Sort of like a live wire that's been dropped into a pool of water. The thrum and glow is seductive, but deadly to the touch. This isn't to say these tones are the stuff of death ambient engineers, more just to marvel at the amount of electricity that has been wrangled, harnessed, and turned inward to provide a radiance that's somewhat beautiful, as captured in emergent, ethereal fluctuations and accretive drones swarming into a series of Jeck / Basinski loops. Another exceptional tape from what has become the preeminent cassette label in the US.

BEHEAD THE PROPHET N.L.S.L. I Am That Great And Fiery Force (Outpunk) cd 11.98
Back in stock! This 1996 release by BTPNLSL -- featuring members of Mukilteo Fairies, Noggin and Tight Bros From Way Back When -- still rocks hard as fuck in 2004. An ear-splitting cacophony - 20+ short, fast bursts of frenetic hardcore (average song length being about 45 seconds) combined with a thick wall-of-noise punctuated by evil violin scree, and unlike much modern noise / metal / whatever, completely sans irony. This stuff rocks hard. Seriously hard. While their namesake may have been a Deicide song, their music comes from the '90s school of chaotic, complex punk / grind that has given birth to bands like Heroin, The Locust, Antioch Arrow, Clickitat Ikatowi, although the vocals are way less growly and demonic and more wildly gutteral stuck-pig squeal. Aside from having their own string section (in the form of the violinist from Northwestern free noise mavens Noggin) they also manage to pull off the best hardcore-and-saxophone combination ("Zero Zero Night Vision") since Siege's '84 dirge "Grim Reaper." Brutal and unrelenting like the best of them, yet smart too... underneath the neo-satanic stylings you can see their twisted Olympia-style humor (campy metal interludes lifted from Ted Nugent and "Heavy Metal Parking Lot") as well as lyrics with political themes and references to gay sex. Hardcore fans, noise-rock enthusiasts, metal warriors, homopunk faithfuls -- all will gratefully bow before the mighty Prophet!
MPEG Stream: "The Apocalypse Through Sound"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrifice On The Altar Of Convenience"
MPEG Stream: "Adam Faith"

BEHEAD THE PROPHET NO LORD SHALL LIVE/THRONES split 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Blue Oyster Cult covers from both bands!

BEHEMOTH Demigod (Century Media) cd 14.98

BEHEMOTH Demonica (Century Media) 2cd 30.00

MPEG Stream: "Summoning Of The Ancient Gods"
MPEG Stream: "Cursed Angel Of Doom"
MPEG Stream: "Transylvanian Forest"

BEHEMOTH Evangelion (Metal Blade) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Daimonos"
MPEG Stream: "Shemhamforash"
MPEG Stream: "Ov Fire And The Void"

BEHEMOTH Satanica (Avantgarde Music) cd 15.98
Amazing Polish black/death metal. Ultra heavy and brutal with twin guitar leads, really bizarre vocals and song structure, and all sorts of digital fuckery. Any band where the main man is credited with spiritual obsession, alchemic fantasies and star devouring(!) has got to be good.

BEHEMOTH Thelema.6 (Avantgarde Music) cd 16.98
State-of-the-art black/death metal from these Polish superstars (who're apparently considered sell outs to their own scene, 'cause they're not "true black metal" anymore, but whatever, they're great). Brutality, melody, blasphemy, weirdness. A fine follow-up to their breakthrough "Satanica" opus.

BEHEMOTH Zos Kia Cultus Here And Beyond (Avantgarde Music) cd 17.98
Satanic sci-fi metallic ritual enacted by a band led by a metalhead Brian Eno lookalike! The brutality and intensity (and weird, star-devouring vision) of Polish death/black metal masters Behemoth are unmatched. In the realm of extreme metal, they're a sure bet, and this lastest release only ups the ante. Fast n' furious, "Zos Kia Cultus" is a juggernaut ride through epic vistas, crammed with baroque detail. Are you (as you should be) a fan of the Mesopotamian majesty of mighty death metal kingpins Morbid Angel? Or their proteges Nile? And of the panache & extremity of black metal innovators Satyricon? Well you're probably a Behmoth fan then too! While supplies last, we've got the import digipak version w/ bonus cd-rom video track.
RealAudio clip: "Here And Beyond"

BEHEMOTHAUR Darkcrystal (200mg) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's funny that we mentioned the Dead C in describing the last blackened missive from the mysterious outfit known as Behemothaur, since we later discovered that there was in fact a definite New Zealand noise rock connection. Some very well know dudes from some very well known NZ outfits (well, at least around here) apparently spend their nights lurking in caves, and in dark woods, performing unholy blacknoise rituals, the latest of which is presented here in all it's filthy, hellish buzzing droning noisedrenched glory.
While Behmeothaur is presented as a sort of outsider black metal project, they really hew closer to good old noise rock, or some sort of post industrial freerock. The darker dronier tracks sound a lot like the various members musical day jobs, soundscapes of rumbles and whirs, shimmering and throbbing expanses of crumbling low end, the sound that has become ubiquitous among cd-r labels. That said, these guys do add some blackness, some serious grimnity, their own take on the abstract drone is appropriately dense and heavy.
Then there's the other side of the band, their more 'rock' side, more abstractly 'metal', and this is where the bands NZ noise lineage really shows. Huge grinding slabs of blown out, slightly blackened lurching noise rock, the guitars ugly filthy squalls, the bass a rib cage rattling throb, the drums blown out and chaotic, the entire sound so in the red, the production sounds like another instrument, the Dead C are of course an obvious comparison, so is Wolf Eyes, a massive crumbling noisy doomy dirge.
The band do spit out a brief blast of buzzing blackness near the end of the disc, but even then it's so doused in fuzz and hiss the fidelity is so low, that again it ends up sounding like some super obscure nineties noiserock outfit, albeit with some definite blackened tendencies.
Awesome stuff, just fair warning to black metallers to be prepared for some abstract noise, but the rest of you, who are into all that sort of cd-r style droning and bashing and buzzing, this will obviously, and summarily kick your ass.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES! Packaged in a cool oversized screenprinted cardstock sleeve, with creepy red ink blood splatters all over the front, inside a 12 page printed black and white booklet packed with creepy images and some liner notes.
MPEG Stream: "Deadchant I"
MPEG Stream: "Thenameofthesilenthorizon"

BEHEMOTHAUR Necroglacial Enema (Faunasabbatha) cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Found 6 more copies of this fantastically fucked up
noisy heavy blackened and chaotic cd-r. WAY out of print, these are most definitely the last copies...
In a world full of tiny labels, it takes a lot to stand out, whether it's some amazing and mysterious sounds or super unique and hand made packaging. And if anything RuralFaune as shined in both respects, a crazy collection of some of the weirdest noisemakers in the world, and some seriously amazing, and in many cases, fragrant, packaging. Hand printed, painted, folded, pasted, held together with string or wire, often filled with branches or flowers, scraps of paper, seeds or bits of plant matter, many of them very strong smelling, all of them amazing.
Well, Bruno, the man behind RuralFaune, was really getting into heavy music, and decided that maybe RuralFaune was not the place for such musics, so he started FaunSabbatha, a new label dedicated to heavy, creepy, dark music, metal, metallic, or just plain evil. Four new releases, each one outrageously limited, gorgeously hand packaged, and gone before you know it.
The first in the series comes from the very strangely named Behemothaur, and their even more strangely named record Necroglacial Enema. With a name like Necroglacial Enema, you might expect this to be a joke, some sort of goofy pisstake on black metal, but there's nothing finny about these three songs. All three are dense and heavy and noisy and chaotic. The opener, the shortest of the three, clocking in at 8+ minutes, is the noisiest of the bunch, the drums blown out and in the red like a rehearsal recording, the guitars moaning and keening, lots of crumbling low end and squealing feedback, there might be riffs but if so, they're hard to follow, instead it sounds more like some noise rock blow out. Dead C, Harry Pussy, locking into stumbling jams, hurling cymbals, blowing speakers, all maybe wreathed in just a bit of murky blackness.
The second track, clocking in at a whopping 21 minutes, is a strange looped guitarscape, coruscating angular chiming crunch, looped into grinding arcs of moaning guitar howl, like jagged shards of Keiji Haino blow outs hurled into an expense of noise rock sprawl, a furious roiling concoction of psychedelic skree and smoldering deconstructed riffage, that eventually gives way to a surprisingly serene stretch of murky whir.
The closer is another downtuned noise rock murk fest. This one WAY heavier on the low end sprawl, lots of crashing percussion, splattery snare, cymbal sizzle, all draped over a slow lava-like crawl of doomy riffage, and all of THAT, wrapped in thick swirls of crumbling distortion.
While this is definitely heavy, it seems like this stuff might be a bit abstract for most metalheads, but fans of stuff like Heavy Winged, White Heaven, Fushitsusha, Dead C and the like will most likely dig big time!
SUPER LIMITED. ONLY 73 COPIES!!!! Packaged in a full color, oversized jacket, with a full color insert, housed in a plastic sleeve, with two crossed twigs like nature's crossbones!
MPEG Stream: "Discombulated By Blasphemy"
MPEG Stream: "Necroglacial Enema"

BEHERIT Drawing Down The Moon (Candlelight) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The AQ-list has seen its share of cds from the grim Nordic corpsepainted hordes, has it not? Almost every list nowadays has some new cult attraction for those already into black metal, or who are willing to take a chance. But there's plenty of now-classic BM that we've never written about, 'cause it came out before our store stocked as much of the blackened stuff. So the occasional blast from the past, the reissue of a '90s BM must-have, is worth mentioning we think! Sure, you should get all the Marblebogs and Striborgs and Wolds and Emits and Lorns and Negative Planes, but you shouldn't miss out on their less obscure precursors, the Satyricons and Immortals and Abigors, and (to get to the point) Beherit, whose Drawing Down The Moon from 1993 is THE album to get from these Finnish black metal maniacs... it was their full-length debut after a bunch of demos and eps. (Later Beherit albums are cool too, but quite different, more like industrial/ambient solo albums from band leader Nuclear Holocausto.)
So simple and Satanic. Raw and underground. Plodding and droning. The spirit of Venom, Bathory and Hellhammer rendered even more fucked up and primitive and minimalistic by this bunch of sick Finns. It's not so much music, as it is the distorted, deviant belchings of Satan himself. If you don't 'get' Drawing Down The Moon, if songs like "Nocturnal Evil" and "Werewolf, Semen And Blood" don't speak to you... then, well, your mom is probably happy about that. But if you really want to understand the appeal of real deal black metal, all you need is this, some beer, and no friends. Except Satan.
Actually, listening to this now, we aren't surprised at all by the 'ambient' direction taken by the later Beherit incarnation. This is ambient too... ambient evil invocation. Even moreso than Abruptum.
MPEG Stream: "Nocturnal Evil"
MPEG Stream: "Sadomatic Rites"
MPEG Stream: "Werewolf, Semen And Blood"

BEHERIT Engram (Spinefarm) cd 15.98
If you asked us at the beginning of the year what records we were anticipating the most, we wouldn't have mentioned anything from Finnish black metal pioneers Beherit, simply because their rebirth was really the last thing we expected. Following the band's super blasphemous and chaotic odes to Satan in the early '90s, leader Nuclear Holocausto took over the reigns to become Beherit's sole member, steering the project into dark ambient waters with nary a trace of metal remaining, eventually pulling the plug altogether in 1995. But here we are with Engram in 2009, and the big question is, duh, what does it sound like? After a brief glitchy noise, you are confronted by an accented voice that proclaims, "Because. I just fucking hate this world," and then we're off into the hate filled world of Beherit that we know and love best. These guys could certainly show the younger generations a thing or two, as it becomes immediately clear that Beherit has returned as a furious and totally unrelenting black metal force that retains plenty of what made the original band so great, but with enough surprises to show that there is plenty left to say.
Joined by his longtime partner in crime Sodomatic Slaughter on the skins, as well as two new members, Nuclear Holocausto has created an album that serves Beherit's legacy quite well indeed. In terms of the actual fidelity, it would appear that Beherit has embraced modern recording technology, as they sound significantly beefier than on their earlier efforts, which essential as they are, generally sound a few steps below "piss poor". This album sounds burly as hell, with thick, super heavy riffs and classic black metal blasts, all topped off with Holocausto's croaking vocals and plenty of atmospheric synths adding an exciting and unexpected element to the songs. Like the classic Drawing Down The Moon album, Engram is full of weird, spaced out keyboards that, even today, put Beherit in a realm of their own. The way the keyboards go against the main riffs really bring things into psychedelic territories, and while there are plenty of super fast numbers here, some of our favorite moments are when the band take things down a notch, like on the monolithic 15 minute closer "Demon Advance", a doomy two chord juggernaut with strange oscillating noises and some of the most vile vocals we've heard in a while.
Engram seems to have metalheads across the globe divided, but Beherit were never really an easy band to pin down. Of course, the use of synthesizers will always be an area of controversy when it comes to metal, but Beherit have always taken a unique approach with their electronics, venturing into spacey realms that most black metal bands don't even know exist. If you're willing to spit in the face of orthodoxy, and if you like hellish riffs, awesome puking vocals, and powerful drumming, Engram should be an obvious choice. It's good to have them back.
MPEG Stream: "Axiom Heroine"
MPEG Stream: "Destroyer Of Thousand Worlds"
MPEG Stream: "Demon Advance"

BEHERIT Engram (Svart Records) lp 17.98
NOW ON VINYL!! Black metallers, bow down...
If you asked us at the beginning of the year what records we were anticipating the most, we wouldn't have mentioned anything from Finnish black metal pioneers Beherit, simply because their rebirth was really the last thing we expected. Following the band's super blasphemous and chaotic odes to Satan in the early '90s, leader Nuclear Holocausto took over the reigns to become Beherit's sole member, steering the project into dark ambient waters with nary a trace of metal remaining, eventually pulling the plug altogether in 1995. But here we are with Engram in 2009, and the big question is, duh, what does it sound like? After a brief glitchy noise, you are confronted by an accented voice that proclaims, "Because. I just fucking hate this world," and then we're off into the hate filled world of Beherit that we know and love best. These guys could certainly show the younger generations a thing or two, as it becomes immediately clear that Beherit has returned as a furious and totally unrelenting black metal force that retains plenty of what made the original band so great, but with enough surprises to show that there is plenty left to say.
Joined by his longtime partner in crime Sodomatic Slaughter on the skins, as well as two new members, Nuclear Holocausto has created an album that serves Beherit's legacy quite well indeed. In terms of the actual fidelity, it would appear that Beherit has embraced modern recording technology, as they sound significantly beefier than on their earlier efforts, which essential as they are, generally sound a few steps below "piss poor". This album sounds burly as hell, with thick, super heavy riffs and classic black metal blasts, all topped off with Holocausto's croaking vocals and plenty of atmospheric synths adding an exciting and unexpected element to the songs. Like the classic Drawing Down The Moon album, Engram is full of weird, spaced out keyboards that, even today, put Beherit in a realm of their own. The way the keyboards go against the main riffs really bring things into psychedelic territories, and while there are plenty of super fast numbers here, some of our favorite moments are when the band take things down a notch, like on the monolithic 15 minute closer "Demon Advance", a doomy two chord juggernaut with strange oscillating noises and some of the most vile vocals we've heard in a while.
Engram seems to have metalheads across the globe divided, but Beherit were never really an easy band to pin down. Of course, the use of synthesizers will always be an area of controversy when it comes to metal, but Beherit have always taken a unique approach with their electronics, venturing into spacey realms that most black metal bands don't even know exist. If you're willing to spit in the face of orthodoxy, and if you like hellish riffs, awesome puking vocals, and powerful drumming, Engram should be an obvious choice. It's good to have them back.
"Remastered DMM edition". Black vinyl. Gatefold sleeve. "The comeback album of the century" (it says on the sticker on the cover).
MPEG Stream: "Axiom Heroine"
MPEG Stream: "Destroyer Of Thousand Worlds"
MPEG Stream: "Demon Advance"

BEHERIT / ARCHGOAT split (ISO666) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BEHEXEN By The Blessing Of Satan (Woodcut) cd 16.98

BEHEXEN My Soul For His Glory (Moribund) cd 14.98
Time to right another wrong. Finnish black metal horde Behexen are woefully under represented on the aQ site. One listing, no review. Bah! That is not right. So here we have the latest blast of sickness from these legendary buzzing black legions, and they sound as fantastic as ever. We love Finnish black metal, nearly as much as we love French black metal, ditto with Norwegian, there's just something so unique about the sound of Finnish black buzz. Like most black metal, heavily indebted to the Scandinavian elite, but they Finns make that sound their own, Horna, Ajattara, Satanic Warmaster, Clandestine Blaze, Baptism, Beherit, Barathrum, Azaghal and of course Sargeist, two members of which also do time in Behexen.
The production is incredible: so heavy, the guitar so thick and dense; the riffs are amazing, buzzy and black but weirdly melodic, the band blast furiously one minute, slipping into a midtempo lope the next, the vocals a guttural howl, the arrangements cool and not at all typical, some bits of Khold-like groove here and there, deep clean vocals, almost chant-like, long drawn out sections of melancholy dirge that almost sounds like Katatonia, creepy haunting high end harmonics laced over blurred buzz beneath, all bookended by ultra sick, ultra grim blast and buzz.
"O.O.O." is the weirdest of the bunch, and maybe our favorite, with just guitar unfurling a depressive minor key melody, while a deep vocal mumbles and murmurs, and the sound of what could be a knife being sharpened surfaces throughout, but there are strange unlikely bits all over the record, making it weird enough to keep it interesting, but not so weird that it doesn't remain true and grim and KVLT.
MPEG Stream: "Let The Horror And Chaos Come"
MPEG Stream: "Born In The Serpent Of The Abyss"

BEHEXEN / HORNA split (Morbid Moon) cd 14.98

BEHEXEN / SATANIC WARMASTER split (Hammer Of Hate) cd 12.98