BRAINSTORM Smile A While (Lion Productions) cd 14.98

BRAINTICKET Celestial Ocean (Cleopatra) lp 16.98

BRAINTICKET Cottonwoodhill (Lilith) lp + cd 29.00
Good grief, we've never listed this??? Every once in a while we realize when such an oversight has occurred. Thankfully, we've got this new vinyl reissue to review. This album, originally released in 1971 (that's right!), the debut from Swiss krautrockers (I think you can call 'em that) Brainticket, is simpy one of the freakiest, LSD-trip inspired slabs of groovy mu-sick ever. Up there with Funkadelic's Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow, even.
The first two tracks on side one, "Black Sand" and "Places Of Light", ease you into it, being laidback groovers laced with stabs of distortion... then the true "trip" begins, the utterly over the top, three-part "Brainticket", that starts on side one and spreads over all of side two, dense and propulsive and repetitive, with orgasmic female vocals and all kinds of intense psychedelic throb. It's the perfect soundtrack to goin' completely mad. In addition to wah-wah guitar, organ, flute, tabla, and sci-fi electronics, there's layers of musique concrete "samples", tapes of rainfall, clanging bells, clattering trains, cheering crowds, all sorts of chaotic noise panic...
Quite a overdose of LSD-enthusiasm, that even today still seems more likely to scare folks off from trying drugs than encourage 'em to do so. But then, who needs to actually drop acid when you can just listen to this? Fans of the likes of A.R. & Machines, Amon Duul II, Siloah, Tangerine Dream's Electronic Meditation, and other cosmic trips (as well as hippie kitsch) this is another one you need to get turned on to if you haven't already. Oh, and as a footnote, the drummer went on to play in proto-metallers Toad.
An old fave, maybe a bit more expensive than it needs to be, though to be fair this package does come with a cd version of the album as well, which is a nice touch. 180 gram vinyl, gatefold sleeve, which is nice too.
MPEG Stream: "Black Sand"
MPEG Stream: "Brainticket Part I"

BRAINWORLDS / EXPO 70 Abnormal Vergence (Hooker Vision) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a nice pairing, featuring Expo 70, who needs no introduction to the aQ readership, and Brainworlds, an Atlanta based guitarist whose work at least here rivals that of Expo 70. Both of these long tracks are recordings from a night of cosmic meditation in 2010 at the seminal performance space Eyedrum in Atlanta. Brainworlds' deep guitar tones float weightlessly in a shimmering expanse from his hypnotic loops and evocative cosmic solo work outs that come across like some lost Ash Ra Tempel jam getting remixed by Troum at their most stratospheric. Really stunning work, and this would have been great to see live given the reverberant acoustics of Eyedrum. Justin Wright was in more of a cosmic mindset for that performance too. Wright's guitars take after some of Michael Rother's phrasing at the beginning of his set, locking into a darker heavier mantra as the performance moves forward with a pulsing rhythm and heavy chords reminiscent of Expo 70's masterful album Black Ohm. Classic drugged-out space drone bliss from both Brainworlds and Expo 70. We're pretty sure this is a 60 minute tape; it's damn long regardless... but it's limited too, just 100 copies released from the Hooker Vision imprint run in part by Rachel Evans of Motion Sickness of Time Travel.
MPEG Stream: BRAINWORLDS "Labyrinthitis"
MPEG Stream: EXPO 70 "Stepping Further Outside Petulance..."

BRAK Brak Presents The Brak Album Starring Brak (Rhino) cd 15.98
Brak, the lovable and dim outer space villian featured on the Cartoon Network's brilliant "Space Ghost Coast To Coast" show, has his own album now (as the title makes plain). Despite the presence of showbiz pals like Freddie Prinze Jr., Grape Ape, and fellow interstellar creep Zorak, this album really does belong to Brak and his unique vocal stylings, not to mention lyrical content. Songs like "Magic Toenail" will bring a tear to your eye. We practically wrecked the car laughing, listening to this on the way to bowling league last night. Allan's never even seen the TV show (no cable!) but is now obsessed with this and the other Space Ghost compact discs!

BRAN (ANOTHER PLIGHT OF MEDIC'S...) POS, THE Amantis Incongrue (Chitah! Chitah! Soundcrack) cd 11.98
Surrealistic solo artist The Bran (Another plight of medic's...) Pos, aka AQ-customer Jake Rodriguez (who helps to run & book the Clit Stop venue here in SF), has released what I think is his actual debut cd, after a variety of cd-r releases. Experimental to the core, in live performances Jake's a veritable Tasmanian Devil of insane vocal manipulations and electronic effects. Here, the vocals take a back seat (or can't be differentiated from the electronics!), it's pretty much all outer-space distortion and chaos-collage, like a Masonna intent on making 'weird' noises instead of painful ones. One track features his free improv duo Compomicro-Dexall. For fans of Mike Patton and other John Zorn-approved avant garde noise craziness. Good stuff. Comes packaged in one of those clear plastic clam-shell cases.

BRAN FLAKES I Don't Have A Friend (Lomo ) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Aaah, the fountain overflows with a facetious flood of tweaked tunes from Mr. Mildred Pit and Mr. Otis F. Odder. Together they are the Bran Flakes from Seattle, WA. Giving a tip of the hat to Irwin Chusid (radio host and champion of musical eccentrics everywhere ---Raymond Scott to name but one), they plunder and paste melodic incongruities (what was that?! a tv show theme? and that?! a Nancy Sinatra song? Lawrence Welk? Mickey Mouse?), children's voices, broadcast announcements, frantic beats, and exotica flourishes together like a giant demented pinata. At once, fluffily silly, yet strangely menacing. Features a collaboration with our pal Wobbly. Fabulous fans of Bruce Haack, People Like Us, Quintron, and Negativland, take note.

BRAN FLAKES, THE Bounces! (Happi Tyme) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Seattle-based duo The Bran Flakes have put together another cherry of an album. Sonic plunderers who must have ridiculous amounts of thrift-store $1 records, The Bran Flakes painstakingly yet assuredly cut everything up -- macabre children's songs, sleigh bells, latin percussive rattles, afro cuban drumming, tooting horns, minor key strings, occasional drum 'n bass, bad disco, some goofy approximations of dub, wurlitzer organ, noir film samples, oompah oompah in the left channel, funky drummer-style breakbeat on the right -- and arrange everything into precise sonic juxtapositions, resulting in a very confident and enjoyable trip from beginning to end (in fact the end is a three minute long recitation of people's names, jesus how long did it take them to cut *that* stuff together?)
The album's highest point comes when they cut up (Terry Riley "You're Nogood"-style!) everyone's favorite muppets Kermit and Fozzie Bear singing "Movin' right along...". It's so frickin' wonderful and happy go lucky -- can't you just see 'em in the Studebaker? While most comparisons to fellow cut 'n pasters involve names like Wobbly and Negativland, I think the group will fit nicely right next to your Kid Koala tape, your People Like Us cd, and maybe even your 12" collection of solemn DJ Shadow, who uses the same tools -- vinyl -- but never cracks a smile, whereas The Bran Flakes are all about hilarity. Look at what moog pioneer Jean Jacques Perrey says about 'em:
"I enjoyed your record very much, it is so fresh, so cool, made for people who have a 'child soul' and at the same time perfectly elaborated harmonically and technically with some funny winks to other composers."
Recommended for the lighthearted!
RealAudio clip: "Good Times a Go Go"
RealAudio clip: "Autumn"
RealAudio clip: "If She Was a Spy"
RealAudio clip: "Bottom"

BRANCA, GLENN Indeterminate Activity Of Resultant Masses (Atavistic) cd 14.98
It's no secret we are huge Glenn Branca fans here at AQ. No one has found ways to create such dissonant beauty and mesmerizing power with guitars quite like Mr. Branca. The title piece here, performed in 1981 with 10 guitars and drums and timpani is one of the most impressive Branca pieces we have ever heard. Its inescapable tension wraps itself around your ears and while you feel it's grasp taking a hold of you, you don't really ever want it to end. With young devotees like Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore in the ensemble it's no wonder the piece sounds so perfect and received the long standing ovation it so deserved. But one man in attendance of this performance was not impressed. In fact he had lots to say about it, and nothing positive. That wouldn't be that big of a deal of course if that person wasn't John Cage!! In a clever twist of their long running rivalry and Cage's very public dismissal of Branca's work, Branca decided to follow the title piece on this reissue with a conversation that John Cage had with Wim Mertons about Branca's piece. In the conversation Cage speaks very eloquently as he always did, about his dislike for Branca's piece and his work in general. He goes as far to call the piece fascist, which then led to a very public and bitter tiff between two legends of forward thinking 20th century music. We have to admit that sometimes we actually like hearing Cage talk even more then we like listening to his music. As the rhythm of his voice and the depth of his intelligence is so damn pleasing to take in. While we wish Wim Mertons would have done a better job of defending Branca, we can't blame him for being a bit tongue tied and slow in the face of Cage's eloquent understated fury. We can imagine that if we ever had the opportunity to have a serious exchange of views about music with Cage we probably would have been crazy nervous and marble mouthed. The record ends with a late '80s piece by Branca called Harmonic Series Chords which is a really nice somber piece performed by the New York Chamber Sinfonia. Like two heavyweight champions exchanging blows we feel lucky to get to sit on the sidelines as Cage disses Branca, and Branca's music speaks so loudly for itself. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Indeterminate Activity Of Resultant Masses"
MPEG Stream: "So That Each Person Is In Charge Of Himself (john cage)"
MPEG Stream: "Harmonic Series Chords"

BRANCA, GLENN Lessons (Acute) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BRANCA, GLENN Symphony Nos. 8 & 10 - Live At The Kitchen (Atavistic) dvd 21.00
There's been quite a little resurgence of interest in the eighties downtown NY scene, specifically the guitar orchestras and proto-post rock of Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca. This DVD features two live performances recorded in 1995 with an unknown (at least to us) ensemble with Branca at the helm conducting. The music is fantastic, dark and propulsive. Repetitive and trance-like, with churning guitars and tribal drums. Sound remarkably similar to AQ favorites Circle or Salvatore. Visually, there's not a whole lot to see, although it is cool to hear what sounds like your basic rock band, but is in fact a large ensemble, with guitar players struggling to 'rock out' but stuck behind their music stands. The visuals do reflect the music quite nicely though, dark and brooding, with spare lighting and lots of empty space on the screen.

BRANCA, GLENN The Ascension (Acute) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I only ever knew Glenn Branca as "the guitar orchestra guy" responsible for assembling huge groups of guitarists (often well known rock guitarists), to perform huge, throbbing, hypnotic and repetitive compositions -- some for ten guitarists, fifty guitarists, even one hundred guitarists. The recent Rhys Chatham box, reviewed a few lists back, suggested that perhaps Branca's guitar orchestra concept was 'borrowed' from Chatham, as Branca had performed in many of Chatham's multiple guitar ensembles. But in much the same way that we were surprised by the rock-ness of the early Chatham material, this early recording from Branca and his four guitar/bass/drums outfit has much more in common with noisy post punk/post rock: Bastro, Bitch Magnet, Slint and the like, than Ligeti, Penderecki, Messiaen or any of the other names dropped in Lee Ranaldo's liner notes. Extended drony, atonal rhythmic explorations stretch on and on, building horror-movie-minor-key tension, building and building and building, before bursting into unrelenting rock rhythm/riffs. Lots of the more rock parts sound like an instrumental version of North Western punk rockers The Wipers, but with lots of odd dynamics ala Bastro or Slint and with the extended riff repetition of modern minimalism stretching the songs into droning, hypnotic master works. Throbbing and relentless, pounding and intricate, weaving back and forth between ferocious, unrelenting rock-action, and epic, complex geometric stop/start, hypno-minimalism.
MPEG Stream: "The Spectacular Commodity"
MPEG Stream: "Lesson No. 2"

BRAND, DOLLAR African Piano (ECM) cd 16.98

BRAND, MAX In Memoriam (Rhiz) 2cd 23.00
Born in 1896 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Max Brand lived throughout Europe before emmigrating to the US in 1946. A contemporary of Schoenberg, Berg, Weil and Kranek, Brand was one of the early pioneers of electronic music, but most of his works were destroyed or lost and he slipped into obscurity. (Or, he never existed and this disc is a clever hoax, just the kind of thing we like!) Disc One of this set is a primer of Max Brand's multi-faceted electronic works, including some bizarre commercials. Disc Two is a tribute to him by members of the new electronic scene in Vienna including: Pita, Pure, Fon, Curd Duca and others.

BRANDLMAYR, MARTIN / WERNER DAFELDECKER / STEFAN NEMETH / MARTIN SIEWERT Die Instabilitat der Symmetrie (Grob) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Vienna improv-glitch squad strikes again! From some of the same folks in the bands Radian and Trapist, including the duo responsible for the Too Beautiful To Burn disc on Erstwhile, Die InstabilitŠt der Symmetrie (The Instability of Symmetry) is another freakin' great disc of what we might call laboratory jazz. You know, improv music where the notes played on instruments are suspended over what sounds like crackling chemical reactions and Geiger counter clicks. These four live musicians (playing guitar, double bass, lap steel, synth, drums and percussion) interact with each other and their own electronic/computer processing, creating a beautiful low-key soundscape, full of ominous doomful droning and abstract minimal melody, like gathered stormclouds sending down glitchy streaks of rain... There's a quiet, haunting beauty to much of this, with circling tones and the rattle of bells, restrained percussion sketching broken grooves. It's lulling, but beware the sudden pulsing squall of static. Definitely recommended, specifically to all into the likes of the aforementioned Radian/Trapist, Starfuckers, Supersilent, and Spring Heel Jack's Blue Series recordings. And while a brief liner note from Siewert says something academically cryptic about this being a site-specific audiovisual project, the sound on this disc is completely sufficient for home listening enjoyment!
MPEG Stream: "Part 2"
MPEG Stream: "Part 5"

BRANDON LABELLE & STEVE RODEN Site of Sound (Errant Bodies Press) book & cd 18.98
Edited by West Coast sound artists Brandon LaBelle and Steve Roden, "Site of Sound" is a compendium of theoretical discourses within conceptually based sound art. Along with the rather dense and at times poetic texts, the book also features a cd of work by the authors. Featured both on cd and in print are Achim Wollscheid, Christina Kubisch, RLW, John Hudak, Toshiya Tsonuda, Christof Migone, Steve Peters, m/s, and others. Text only contributers include Loren Chasse, Giancarlo Toniuitti, CM von Hausswolff, Leif Elgrenn, David Dunn, etc.

BRANDSDAL, KJETIL D. Freedom--Waaaoh Waaoh (Corpus Hermeticum) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Of Norwegian decent, though a current resident of Northern Ireland, Kjetil D. Brandsdal constructs ominous lo-fi droning tape loops similar to a gritty variant of Omit accompanied by throbbing de-tuned bass and occasional post-VU strum. A very nice introduction / documentation on the perennially great Corpus Hermeticum!

BRANDSDAL, KJETIL D. Rogalands Lydigste + Gitar Fingling (Metal Art Disco / Voices of Wonder) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This compiles two hard to find vinyl only records from the Norwegian experimentalist Kjetil D. Brandsdal. With a freefloating agenda of subconsciously exploring sound (not far from Nurse With Wound's earliest sonic freakouts but with the sound of NZ freenoise artists), Brandsdal giddily wallows in the muck of cable buzz, overblown 4-track recordings for organ & guitar, and feedback from malfucntioning amplifiers. All the while managing to elicit simple melodic passages. Difficult but enjoyable listening.

BRANDSDAL, KJETIL D. s/t (Ecstatic Peace) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace presents the fourth album from the mysterious experimentalist Kjetil D. Brandstal who hails from Norway. Brandsdal's gritty lo-fi dinscapes for cracked guitar feedback drone and turntable damage (don't expect any Skratch Piklz wizardry, rather it sounds as though he's applying thick balls of dust to the needle to force skips and loops) appear devoid of structure, beginning, or end. Freefloating stuff along the same lines as Gate, Total/Skullflower, and No Neck Blues Band.

BRANDSTIFTER Rauschgiftengelloops (Gruenrekorder) cd-r 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We recently discovered this little label in Germany called Gruenrekorder, who specialize in "Phonography and Audio Art" which translates to field recordings, turntablism and audio installations, which definitely sounded right up our alley. We then discovered that they had 60 or 70 releases, probably more by the time of this review, most cd-r's and all incredibly limited, usually to 50 or less. Yikes. Had to do some quick thinking, so we picked two of the most promising sounding and got a bunch of those (a bunch meaning 25 copies, which is half of the pressing). So elsewhere on this list you'll find the other Gruenrekorder release, a field recording of bats (and you know our love of bats is second only to our love of frogs!), which somehow seems to perfectly balance this one right here, a live recording of a sound installation for turntables, records and... plastic angels.
The set up goes like this, a bunch of turntables, all set up on a small dais, each with a plastic angel spinning in the middle of the lp, and each angel with a weight hung between its wings, which shifts with each rotation, and causes various loops to alter, drift, shift, change duration, overlap, all the while, Brandstifter, the man responsible, crawls around moving the angels, replacing the records, changing speeds, the result is pretty magnificent, a looped hypnotic soundscape of operatic voices, fluttering flutes and fiddles, droning whirs, hiccupping song snippets, skipping stuttering rhythms, the vibe very festive, as most of the discs are choral, the voices locked into hypnotic mantras, the various cracks and skips adding percussive filigree. Some passages are epic and triumphant, voices soaring, while others are murky and mumbled, sounding like they could have been yanked from some mysterious Finnish free folk record or from some blurred Philip Jeck turntable landscape.
Haunting and eerie, like some damaged funhouse mirror holiday soundscape, Christmas carols twisted and gnarled, holiday favorites scratched up and looped, bits of opera looped into fuzzy repetitive seasick mantras, you can almost imagine some Tim Burton-ish mad scientist armed with a bunch of dusty scratched up records and weird old fashioned turntables and all those painted angels, hovering in a dark cobwebby corner of some old seventies mall, families and children steering clear of the crazy man in the corner and his murky muddy choral din. SO AWESOME!!!
Beautifully packaged, printed cd-r, full color sleeve, but again, LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!! So once these are gone, that's it...
MPEG Stream: "Rauschgiftengelloops (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Rauschgiftengelloops (excerpt 2)"

BRANKO Branko! (Kill Shaman) 7" 8.98
The cover of this Branko record, featuring a stylish long haired bell bottomed hippy posing in the middle of a street, with sunglasses and a cigarette, had us imagining that it must be some archival psych rock record from the sixties, and that the guy on the cover must be Branko. But in fact, Branko is a band from Sweden, and not from the sixties, but from NOW, although they sound very much like they're from the sixties, their sound a heavily reverbed surf rock, groovy garage pop, a la Link Wray or the Troggs, or the Ventures, but their sound is definitely modern, the guitars are impossibly fuzzy and blown out, all the instruments in fact are crazy distorted, it sounds like the whole record is crumbling as it comes cascading from the speakers, and the deeper you get into the 7" the more sort of punk it sounds, some serious surf punk for sure, laced with wild bouts of chaotic percussion, weird sci-fi samples, random voices speaking in strange languages, draped over the bands hypnotic grooves, with lots of the tracks sounding like revved up theme songs from lost sixties spy programs, or the ultimate soundtrack for the most bad assed chase scenes EVER. So great. Includes a download card too which includes an extra NINE track not on the 7"!!
MPEG Stream: "CCCP"
MPEG Stream: "Coche De Carreras"
MPEG Stream: "Gagarin"

BRASIL AND THE GALLOWBROTHERS BAND The Band Plays On, The Dunes Move On (Caught Me With My Eyes Closed) (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98
Polish "lounge-psych" on Last Visible Dog.

BRASSY Gettin' Wise (Wiija) cd 14.98
Yes, 'tis Brassy starring Jon "Blues Explosion" Spencer's kid sister Muffin back for a second full length - basically picking up the party right where Luscious Jackson left off back in 2000. Distinctly girl-powered, Gettin' Wise is filled with funky beats and samples, groovin' bass, punchy guitars with sassy, slightly snarky spoken-sung vocals that show glimpses of the raw bluesiness of her older brother and also bring to mind those of throaty Peaches or Solex -- much less foulmouthed and less quirky respectively though! Definitely not forging ahead into any unchartered territory, but granted, Brassy doesn't lay any claims to doing so. This is just plain feisty fun very well done. My only gripe would be that the fifth song "Feeling Sorry" veers a little too close to Smashmouth's "Walkin' On The Sun" for my taste. Fourteen tracks plus a bonus disc that contains three remixes and one additional song. Now get movin' and party down!
MPEG Stream: "1-0-0"
MPEG Stream: "Feeling Sorry"

BRASSY Got It Made (Wiija) cd 14.98
Graced by the presence of Jon Spencer's sister Muffin, Brassy pump out the tunes like an amped up 'n' funkier Luscious Jackson with lots of bum-bumpin' beats and squitchy-squitchy scratchin'. Certainly a welcome release for those who wept at the demise of the aforementioned LJ.

BRAST BURN Debon (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Just as we expected, and certainly hoped, the fact that the Phoenix label reissued the freaky '70s Japanese psych artifact by Karuna Khyal (their album Alomoni 1985, highlighted here a few lists ago) meant that Brast Burn and their lone album Debon from 1975 was sure to follow. And now here it its, another rare record originally released on the extremely underground Voice label, the work of a mysterious avant-psych entity that may or may not have shared more of less the same membership as Karuna Khyal. Very similar to that band's record, this one also consists of two sprawling side-long tracks, that seem designed to demonstrate that Japanese hippies can could play primal "krautrock" too. Both tracks situate fairly mellow grooves amidst droning, heavily effected weirdness, with vocal chanting, ceremonial hand percussion, acid rock guitar spew, raw flute soloing, tape manipulated field recordings, rumbling drums, buzzing electronics, Twilight Zone melodies, and other good stuff making significant appearances in the freeform stew... it's very "Eastern", quite insane, and totally enjoyable.
If you liked the Karuna Khyal, you'll like this too. Also any fan of Acid Mothers Temple, Ghost, or other modern day Japanese psych would be remiss not check this out, we'd be surprised if it wasn't to be found in Kawabata Makoto and Masaki Batoh's record collections. Furthermore, without even checking, we're pretty sure this is the sort of thing that must be on the famous Nurse With Wound "list"... ok, we looked, it's there! Of course. And speaking of lists, it's #26 on Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50, by the way (the Karuna Khyal was #19).
In the usual "wallet" style Phoenix cd packaging, limited to 1000 numbered copies.
MPEG Stream: "Debon 1"
MPEG Stream: "Debon 2"

BRAST BURN Debon (Phoenix) lp 24.00
Now reissued on vinyl! One of the two freaky '70s Japanese psych artifacts, the lone albums by the bands Brast Burn and Karuna Khyal, originally released on the extremely underground Voice label. Both rare records have been reissued on cd by Phoenix, now they're doing vinyl, starting with Brast Burn's 1975 lp Debon (we're assuming the Karuna Khyal record will follow).
Brast Burn was a mysterious avant-psych entity that may or may not have shared more of less the same membership as Karuna Khyal. Very similar to that band's record, this one, also consists of two sprawling side-long tracks, that seem designed to demonstrate that Japanese hippies can could play primal "krautrock" too. Both tracks situate fairly mellow grooves amidst droning, heavily effected weirdness, with vocal chanting, ceremonial hand percussion, acid rock guitar spew, raw flute soloing, tape manipulated field recordings, rumbling drums, buzzing electronics, Twilight Zone melodies, and other good stuff making significant appearances in the freeform stew... it's very "Eastern", quite insane, and totally enjoyable.
Obviously, if you liked the Karuna Khyal, you'll like this too. Also any fan of Acid Mothers Temple, Ghost, or other modern day Japanese psych would be remiss not check this out, we'd be surprised if it wasn't to be found in Kawabata Makoto and Masaki Batoh's record collections. Furthermore, without even checking, we're pretty sure this is the sort of thing that must be on the famous Nurse With Wound "list"... ok, we looked, it's there! Of course. And speaking of lists, it's #26 on Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50, by the way.
MPEG Stream: "Debon 1"
MPEG Stream: "Debon 2"

BRATMOBILE Girls Get Busy (Lookout!) cd 14.98
The first thing I noticed about this new Bratmobile album was the addition of keyboards to this punky trio's tried and true guitar, bass and drums lineup. This effectively changes their stripped down, riot grrrl sound quite a bit... for the better or for the worse? I've yet to decide. It sorta makes it all seem a bit more '60s garage girl band. But what I used to find so novel about them was their bare bones approach, which seems to have been lost here. It sounds like they are growing up before my very ears. About time! Even Allison's voice doesn't sound quite as shrill and annoying as it has in the past. Though she isn't doing anything new, she does sound a bit more composed, but unfortunately often that ends up translating as monotone and a little bit bored sounding. Good but not a particularly energized follow-up to 2000's "Ladies, Women and Girls", their feisty return to the punk rock scene.
RealAudio clip: "Shut Your Face"
RealAudio clip: "What's Wrong With You"
RealAudio clip: "Idiot Lover"

BRATMOBILE Ladies, Women and Girls (Lookout!) cd 14.98
Head's up! The riot grrrrrrandmas are back! More spunky punky female-empowering punk rock.

BRAVE IRENE s/t (Slumberland) cd 10.98
There's a whole new generation of indie rockers who missed out on a crucial era in indie rock history in the early nineties, K Records, the International Pop Underground, etc., and thus probably don't remember Tiger Trap, a short lived group that released a single record and a handful of singles before calling it quits after about a year. But TT had a lasting impact, and found a cult following, and made TT frontwoman Rose Melberg a bit of an indie rock icon. Along with Black Tambourine (whose complete discography was recently reissued and is reviewed elsewhere on the aQ site), Beat Happening, Heavenly, Tsunami, Mecca Normal and others, Tiger Trap were a group who represented the DIY indie rock spirit and helped empower women to start bands and labels. Melberg would go on to play in Go Sailor and the Softies, and has returned once again in Brave Irene, whose sound is not that far removed from her other bands, which is just fine with us, stripped down, soft focus jangly indie pop, Melberg's voice is in fine form, lots of dreamy harmonies, warm whirring organs, fuzzy guitars, propulsive rhythms, eight songs in 17 minutes, brief bursts of perfect pop, dreamy and hypnotic, a sound of which we never tire.
Absolutely for fans of any of the above mentioned bands, and the current crop of girl pop: Grass Widow, Dum Dum Girls, White Fence, Vivian Girls, Splinters, Girls At Dawn, Veronica Falls, Yellow Fever...
MPEG Stream: "No Fun"
MPEG Stream: "River To Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Tangled Line"

BRAVE IRENE s/t (Slumberland) lp 10.98
There's a whole new generation of indie rockers who missed out on a crucial era in indie rock history in the early nineties, K Records, the International Pop Underground, etc., and thus probably don't remember Tiger Trap, a short lived group that released a single record and a handful of singles before calling it quits after about a year. But TT had a lasting impact, and found a cult following, and made TT frontwoman Rose Melberg a bit of an indie rock icon. Along with Black Tambourine (whose complete discography was recently reissued and is reviewed elsewhere on the aQ site), Beat Happening, Heavenly, Tsunami, Mecca Normal and others, Tiger Trap were a group who represented the DIY indie rock spirit and helped empower women to start bands and labels. Melberg would go on to play in Go Sailor and the Softies, and has returned once again in Brave Irene, whose sound is not that far removed from her other bands, which is just fine with us, stripped down, soft focus jangly indie pop, Melberg's voice is in fine form, lots of dreamy harmonies, warm whirring organs, fuzzy guitars, propulsive rhythms, eight songs in 17 minutes, brief bursts of perfect pop, dreamy and hypnotic, a sound of which we never tire.
Absolutely for fans of any of the above mentioned bands, and the current crop of girl pop: Grass Widow, Dum Dum Girls, White Fence, Vivian Girls, Splinters, Girls At Dawn, Veronica Falls, Yellow Fever...
MPEG Stream: "No Fun"
MPEG Stream: "River To Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Tangled Line"

BRAXTON, ANTHONY 12 + 1tet (Victoriaville) (Victo) cd 15.98

BRAXTON, ANTHONY 3 Compositions Of New Jazz (Delmark ) cd 11.98

BRAXTON, ANTHONY Actuel Sessions (Fuel 2000) cd 12.98

RealAudio clip: "The Light On The Dalta"
RealAudio clip: "Simple Like"

BRAXTON, ANTHONY For Alto (Delmark) cd 16.98

BRAXTON, ANTHONY Quartet (GTM) 2006 (Important) 4cd 30.00

BRAXTON, ANTHONY s/t (BYG / Actuel) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The first of two Anthony Braxton albums released in the BYG/Actuel series. Recorded at the Studio Saravah in Paris on September 10, 1969, featuring Leo Smith (trumpet), Leroy Jenkins (violin) and Steve McCall (drums). Pressed on 180 gram vinyl, original artwork is restored on a beautiful gatefold sleeve, with pics of a movie-star handsome young Braxton. Vinyl only. (Oh, and it's not really self-titled, but we can't figure out a way to type Braxton's symbolic notation.)

BRAXTON, ANTHONY Saxophone Improvisation Series F (America) 2cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
WOW. And do we mean WOW!! Fifteen classic free jazz records from the late sixties / early seventies, long out of print, finally getting the ULTRA deluxe reissue treatment. Incredibly limited, these will probably be out of print before you know it.
Comes in a gorgeous diecut fullcover three panel sleeve, with new artwork, as well as a huge booklet with the original album sleeve notes, new liner notes in french and english as well as a bunch of cool photos. So nice!

BRAXTON, ANTHONY Solo Live At Gasthof Heidelberg Loppem 2005 (Kunsthalle Lophem) 4cd 60.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Completely mindblowing live 4 disc set from Anthony Braxton recorded in 2005. We got these direct from the label, only got 5 or 6 and once they are gone we won't be able to get more. they're a bit pricey, but the packaging is super nice, and it is 4 discs after all, of Braxton performing solo, running the sonic gamut from gorgeous and soulful to demented and ultra challenging.Ê
It's hard to know what to say really about Anthony Braxton and his music. Sure he's a genius, and yeah he's probably completely insane, he's collaborated with Wolf Eyes which is something very few jazz legends would probably do, but his music, no matter how confounding, or how delicate and lovely, is pretty much always totally and utterly mindblowing. But by now, most of you know all that. And if not, for chrissakes pick this set up and immerse yourself in 4 hours of dizzying brilliance.
Solo Live At Gasthof Heidelberg Loppem 2005 is aÊmassive 8 panel, 4 tray-ed digipak, with all the song titles rendered complex magic markered squiggles and little black arrows and numbers, each classified numerically as well. It's always been unclear the taxonomy Braxton uses to classify and catalogue his pieces, but it almost doesn't matter, it only adds to the magic and mystery, and it's all about the music anyway, and the music here is divine. Very low on the difficulty meter, most of the tracks here are lovely and lyrical, long drawn out notes, the sound lush and lustrous, the melodies alternatingly emotional and playful, dark and melancholy. This is absolutely essential for Braxton obsessives, but would also make a pretty nice introduction for folks who have yet to explore the Braxton and his expansive catalog. Way recommended either way.
MPEG Stream: "Candy"
MPEG Stream: "Comp No. 307a"
MPEG Stream: "Violets For My Furs"

BRAXTON, ANTHONY This Time (Actuel / Sunspots) cd 17.98

BRAXTON, ANTHONY Trio (Victoriaville) 2007 (Victo) cd 15.98
Saxophonist and composer (and professor) Anthony Braxton always blows our minds. Sometimes with his out-there jazz music. Sometimes just with his rather weird conceptual ideas. Of course, the two are closely related.
This album got us right from the cover picture. What the fuck is that thing he's playing? We've never seen a saxophone that big. It's gotta be like five feet long. And then there's an even bigger one (the mother?) sitting behind him. Wow.
On top of that, this disc, with Braxton's Diamond Curtain Wall Trio (sounds vaguely like some acid folk or "floorcore" band we'd be selling cd-rs or cassette tapes by), features Braxton not only playing oversized saxes but also doing live electronics via a laptop computer! Intriguing at the very least. So, of two recent Victo discs to come out of Braxton's performances at the 2007 Victoriaville new music festival (the other with a "12+1tet"), we've chosen to review this one. It's a single hour-long piece (""Composition 323c", the title being a drawing of a spiral intersected with a dashed line, joining a pink circle and a orange half-circle, with another dashed line branching off diagonally terminating in a blue circle, accompanied by the equation (40-B) with a vertical line and a Q under the 40... yeah that's way we love Braxton so much!).
Despite the size of the saxes, this starts off all quiet-like. Braxton's bleats and blurbles respectfully leaving space for the electric guitar of Mary Halvorson and the various horns (cornet, bugle, trombone, trumpets, etc.) played by Taylor Ho Bynum. Together they weave a tangled web of sound, sometimes calm, sometimes frantic, full of bumble-bee flights of horn blurt balanced between melody and out-and-out skree. The guitar and electronics add further cross-currents of texture, a vibrating sheen of drone sometimes surfacing as the band tiptoes around melodies. And when Braxton wants to blow in the bass frequencies, those bigass horns allow him to belch out a bowel-shaking rumble all right! You'd probably have to take a music theory and/or mystic philosophy class to figure out what's going on here and why, compositionally speaking, but even for casual fans of Braxton's eccentric jazz it's a varied hour to enjoy.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

BRAXTON, ANTHONY & SCOTT ROSENBERG Compositions / Improvisations 2000 (Barely Auditable) cd 14.98

BRAXTON, ANTHONY / MILFORD GRAVES / WILLIAM PARKER Beyond Quantum (Tzadik) cd 15.98

BRAXTON, ANTHONY W/ ALEX HORWITZ Four Compositions (Duets) 2000 (CIMP) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Imagine Neil Hamburger backed up by a drunk Albert Ayler. Imagine the worst comedian you've ever seen competing for your attention with an avant jazz musician in the same room. Imagine a 10 minute comedy sketch based on the assumption that DVD stands for digital -versatile- disc ("I mean, I imagine the DVD wearing a dress and singing a song or painting a picture" or something like that) all to the strains of atonal horns.
I mean, we're well aware that there's a healthy chunk of Aquarius customers that scan our lists specifically for things we describe as 'fucked' or 'ridiculous' or 'bizarre' or even just 'stupid'. Well, you're in for it now. You have been warned.
Anthony Braxton, much revered performer/composer/improviser, in yet another incomprehensible collaborative epiphany, has finally teamed up with...a stand up comedian. It's true. And of course, it wouldn't be true improvisation if the comedian weren't improvising as well, so what we're left with, is a series of skronks and squeals, and a series of witty (read: fucking stupid) riffs on newspaper headlines that are NOT FUNNY. REALLY NOT FUNNY.
I don't mean Neil Hamburger not funny, I mean plain old bad not funny...unbearably painful. So painful in fact that our own Andee qualifies this as a must own!!
RealAudio clip: "Composition No.281"

BRAZZAVILLE Welcome To... (Web Of Mimicry) cd 14.98

BREAKESTRA The Live Mix Part 2 (Stones Throw) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a cool concept, particularily if you could see 'em in person: a live funk covers band does the work of a hiphop dj. That is, they play a groovy medley of classic funk/soul breaks all segued together in a very dancable mix. On noted DJ Peanut Butter Wolf's label.

BREAKVISION ISSUE NO. 1 (Breakvision) dvd 26.00
Quite possibly the first breakdancing dvd ever made, this is a long-ass thing to watch, and at $26 it'd better be! So in that way you're getting your money's worth. Director Jivan Ivan, himself a b-boy, conducts lengthy interviews with the likes of Iron Monkey (who's wavin' a gun around while he talks), Reveal, Cros One, Kareem, Kmel, etc. The interviews are too long but really interesting and very genuine. The breakdancing footage is super varied, from a parking lot in Miami to various gymnasiums, concrete sidewalks, the Freestyle Seesion competition in San Diego, etc. I got dizzy watching so many amazing dancers, quickly learning their individual styles and signature moves. The tone of the whole thing is genuine and passionate, even the very short shoutouts provided by Q-bert, Z-trip, Grandwizard Theodore. As a dvd made by b-boys for b-boys, this is a nice effort. Looking forward to volume 2.

BREAST FED YAK Get Your Greasy Head Off The Sham (Birdman) cd 13.98
Hard to figure this one out. Ok, let's start with the line-up: Paul Lemos and Joe Papa of Controlled Bleeding infamy, plus the maniac drum stylings of Tatsuya Yoshida from the Ruins (!) on half the tracks!! Actually, Yoshida's presence here isn't *that* surprising, as he's an '80s guy no doubt into Industrial Culture scene at the time, and has guested on another recent Controlled Bleeding album. Plus the music on here in in keeping with the sillier, improv messing-around side of Yoshida's output. Lemos, Papa, and Yoshida are backed by a large band of horn players and others -- everything from clarinets to contact mics. Trombone, sax, trumpet, harmonica, violin, sitar, lots of absurd vocals, etc. All that gets thrown into the mix, mostly with a falling-down-the-stairs kind of sound. Babbling squawking chaos skronk jazz rock is what's going on here, yet while on the noisy side this is still kinda song-oriented. There's even recognizable if malformed covers of tunes by The Doors and Bo Diddley! All this is Residents or Sun City Girls-ish weirdness for weirdness' sake, no doubt. Probably *not* essential for Ruins and/or Controlled Bleeding fans, but some of you will like it. Watch out for the photo of Joe Papa as "Birdman Baby" inside the cd booklet, it's at least as disturbing as the music...
RealAudio clip: "Infant Mode"
RealAudio clip: "That Joey Rejection"

BREATHER RESIST Charmer (Jade Tree) cd 14.98

BREATHILIZOR Metal Dump Of Outer Space's Confusion Aka Hamburglar's Toast (100% Zero) 7" 4.50
These guys have to be the dumbest, most brilliantly demented and damaged metal band ever. Which we know, is saying a lot, cuz as a genre, you'd be hard pressed to find a more concentrated selection of dumbness and ridiculousness, but then there is Breathilizor, tangentially linked to Midwestern retardo punks Sockeye, these guys first came to our attention via a split single with the legendary, and legendarily silly Faxed Head, the Breathilizor side was basically an epic metal intro played over and over and over and over. Every time, just when you thought the song was about to kick in, they'd play the intro again. And again. Sounds annoying, and it sort of was, but it was also funny as fuck, and the thing was, the metal was AWESOME.
It didn't even occur to us that they might still be a band, but the man behind black metal weirdos Cloak Of Displacement decided to put us in touch with them and are we ever glad they did. Apparently, they've released an lp, and a clutch of cd-r's, but this here, is their latest, the ridiculously titled Metal Dump Of Outer Space's Confusion AKA Hamburglar's Toast. And it rules. And it's totally dumb.
Let us count the ways we love Breathilizor.
One: They change the spelling of their name seemingly arbitrarily from Breathilizor to Breathilizer and back again, whenever.
Two: Every song is called "Something OF Something Else". Every song. On every record. This time around it's "Creatures Of Prehistoric", "Pirate Ship Of U.F.O.", "Monster Of Loch Ness", Count Chocula Of Blood", "Demon Of Ice", "Ghost Of Cowboy", "Gnome Of Entrapment" and "SLC Of Death Metal".
Three: The music rules. They lay down some killer classic sounding metal, chugging hooky riffs, wild leads, pounding drums, somewhere between slowed down death metal and classic New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.
Four: That classic timeless metal is balanced by totally goofy insane and ridiculous vocals, a whiney nasally Venom-y voice that more speaks than sings, cramming way too many words into each line, and spitting out some of the most ridiculous shit ever. Tales of monsters and demons and space and aliens and basically anything they think of.
We could go on, but by now, you know if you need this or not. The dumb factor is through the roof, but goddamn it's funny, and the songs rule, and there are lyrics too so you can follow along, which only makes it that much funnier and stupidly brilliant.

BREATHILIZOR / DOKTOR BITCH Imperative Of The Electron Snake AKA Baffled By The Blood Moat (self-released) lp 10.98
Easily the world's most twisted outsider metal mashup. Damaged and demented aQ faves, Midwest metal militia Breathilizor (to read more about our undying love of Breathilizor, check out the review of their Metal Dump 7" elsewhere on the aQ website), teamed up here with the brilliantly monikered Doktor Bitch, who we know absolutely nothing about, but who somehow sound like Breathilizor's sick sonic soulmates.
Before we get to the music, we sometimes like to take in all the visuals, all the non musical elements that help set the scene, and in this case, what a scene. Let's take the Breathilizor side first. The cover art is incredible, super glossy and full color, some sort of zombie holiday elf, horned and fanged, eating the brain and chewing on the spind of a soon to be deceased metalhead, all beneath the album title: Imperative Of The Electron Snake AKA Baffled By The Blood Moat, and their awesome, super slick new logo. Inside, there are band photos, assembled in the shape of an upside down cross, some of the band wearing corpsepaint, some regular dudes, and much mayhem and destruction evident. There's also the legend: "Breathilizor is a nun's laughter. A nun's laughter is Breathilizor." Hmmm. And then there are the song titles, as we mentioned in the review of their 7", the songs follow a strict title code of "SOMETHING ---OF--- SOMETHING ELSE", so this time around, it's "Troll Of Spinal Chord's Destruction" (guess that's a troll on the cover), "Mountain Of Manson", "Stevie Nicks Of Goat Head Metal", "Virus Of Hollywood Sequel", "Infirmities Of Metal", "Albatross Of Gossamer", "Softball League Of Satan" and "Something Of Something Part VII". And we won't even get into the lyrics, needless to say, they are insane and brilliant.
On to the Doktor Bitch side, another glossy full color cover, this one featuring a brain fondling radioactive zombie, some Japanese characters in a square puddle of blood, and the band name in big 3D blood red letters. Inside over a photo of seamonsters beating each other with sticks, the band members are listed: Alozzamas, Necroponde and Pat Minotaur, as are the song titles: "Lavender Trainwreck", "Axial Rake/Radius Gash", "Have 'N A Relapse", "Vaguilla", "How Is That For Evil? (For Poopy)", "Super Fast Night Dump" and finally "You Chop My Head Off". There are liner notes to, most tellingly, thank you's sent out to "butt, eggs, ciggies and inmates".
So after all that, what the hell does it sound like? And why do both sides/halves seem like they could be the same band? Well, that's cuz some of the Breathilizors are also in Doktor Bitch! So for those not familiar with Breathilizor, imagine some sort of classic chugging metal, a dizzying mix of Venom and Slayer, all tangled up with elements of doom and sludge, but focused mostly on riff heavy super rocking, and blasting thrashing heaviness, then of course there are the lyrics, delivered in a strange nasally drawl, a sort of underground outsider metal version of Jello Biafra maybe, jamming tons of words into small spaces, spinning far out yarns, and tales of the impossible, and the unknowable and the downright evil! Doktor Bitch, somehow take the Breathilizor sound, and fuck it even further up, wrapping it in sonic murk, and transforming it it into a grinding punky metallic noise rock, plenty of chugging riffage, but those riffs often collapse into tangled gnarled squalls of churning blackened metalnoize, before eventually returning to the riff. The vocals are grunted and gurgly, the sound chaotic and loose and frenzied, laced with the occasional bit of lead guitar, but mostly heavy on the downtuned low end, a muddy, blackened sludge drenched riff rock to counter Breathilizor's by-comparison classic (albeit fucked up and fractured) metal sound.
Needless to say, if you like your heaviness damaged and demented and baffling and confusional and whatthefuck, then you just may have found you weirdo metal dream team match up.