BANHART, DEVENDRA Oh Me Oh My... (Mod Lang) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally available on vinyl! Here's what we said about the cd:
Devendra Banhart -- who appears to be living his life as an indie-rock gypsy touring with whomever and squatting wherever, including a stint wowing locals here in SF -- crafts his neo-folk songs with the primitive instrumentation of voice and acoustic guitar, spanning a vast spectrum of fragmented emotions through a manic-depressive persona that can be as beautifully charming as it can be terrifyingly devastating. Michael Gira, who released this album through his Young God label, accurately described Banhart's voice with its skewed vibrato and unnerving warble as somewhere in between the magical voices of Marc Bolan, Karen Dalton, Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Daniel Johnston, and Nick Drake; and fortunately, Banhart uses that voice to tell a wholly unique set of stories that hold a succinct poetry. Hastily stitched from bizarre stream of consciousness associations and absurdist conditional clauses, Banhart's lyrics expand the realm of possibility into psychosexual surrealism. On occasion, Banhart's tales are anthropomorphic love songs, wistfully dreaming of archaic steam ships and the state of Michigan (yes, he pines for Michigan) with all of sexual cravings and romantic nuances of a young boy first pierced by Cupid's arrow; yet on other occasion, Banhart gnashes his teeth with such existential confusion that the targets of his epithets are blurred by his bilious rage. Within Banhart's language, reality has been realized as a swollen mass of malformed emotions compounded by the urgency that resonates within his voice.
Upon listening to this album, I've had the recurring, sinking feeling either that Banhart is destined to star in an upcoming Harmony Korine film or that he will be dead in a few years as victim of an unspecified gruesome tragedy. As I've tried and failed to assign such distinctly odd critical-doomspeak within various arguments and generalized thesis about the perception of the separation between art and life, I mention it because Banhart -- unlike any artist whom I've come across -- has been able to provoke such controversial thoughts. Far from me to wish Banhart or anybody ill-will, but true manifestations of horror defy logic and are very rare indeed. And this, gentle reader, is the real deal.
If you recall, Andee began his review of the Woven Hand album (a recent AQ record of the week) with the bold statement: "I hate to gush, but gush I must, this is my record of the year. Done deal." As for me (Jim, along with Marcy and Windy), the debut from Devendra Banhart needs to be given serious consideration as a contender for record of the year 2002.
RealAudio clip: "Michigan State"
RealAudio clip: "Lend Me Your Teeth"
RealAudio clip: "Nice People"

BANHART, DEVENDRA Oh Me Oh My... (Young God) lp 14.98
Finally available on vinyl again!
Here is what we said about this all-time AQ favorite when it first hit our ears back in 2002:
Devendra Banhart -- who appears to be living his life as an indie-rock gypsy touring with whomever and squatting wherever, including a stint wowing locals here in SF -- crafts his neo-folk songs with the primitive instrumentation of voice and acoustic guitar, spanning a vast spectrum of fragmented emotions through a manic-depressive persona that can be as beautifully charming as it can be terrifyingly devastating. Michael Gira, who released this album through his Young God label, accurately described Banhart's voice with its skewed vibrato and unnerving warble as somewhere in between the magical voices of Marc Bolan, Karen Dalton, Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Daniel Johnston, and Nick Drake; and fortunately, Banhart uses that voice to tell a wholly unique set of stories that hold a succinct poetry. Hastily stitched from bizarre stream of consciousness associations and absurdist conditional clauses, Banhart's lyrics expand the realm of possibility into psychosexual surrealism. On occasion, Banhart's tales are anthropomorphic love songs, wistfully dreaming of archaic steam ships and the state of Michigan (yes, he pines for Michigan) with all of sexual cravings and romantic nuances of a young boy first pierced by Cupid's arrow; yet on other occasion, Banhart gnashes his teeth with such existential confusion that the targets of his epithets are blurred by his bilious rage. Within Banhart's language, reality has been realized as a swollen mass of malformed emotions compounded by the urgency that resonates within his voice. The debut from Devendra Banhart needs to be given serious consideration as a contender for record of the year 2002.
MPEG Stream: "Animals"
MPEG Stream: "Tell Me Something"
MPEG Stream: "Cosmos And Demos"

BANHART, DEVENDRA Rejoicing In The Hands & Nino Rojo (Young God) 2lp 17.98
Hola dear Devendra-adoring vinyl lovers! You no longer have to feel left out in the cold while others around you enjoy Mr. Banhart's music on cd because Young God has released his two most recent albums together (as they were meant to be!) as a double record set in a gatefold sleeve. If you're memory need refreshing, here's what we said about Rejoicing In The Hands album a little under a year ago:
Since the release of his evocative debut album Oh Me Oh My..., Devendra Banhart has deservedly catapulted to the status of an indie-rock icon. The critical acclaim for Banhart's work is based on the merits of his spectacular songwriting and uncanny ability to channel an incredible spectrum of emotional resonance. However, much of that success is also due to the hard work and dedication of Young God's bossman Michael Gira. The former Swan and current Angel Of Light has taken Banhart under his wing as his apprentice and has boldly asserted (and nurtured) Banhart's brilliance, majesty, and genius. His hard work has certainly paid off as almost every media outlet has sung Banhart's praises; but even so it was quite bizarre to hear Banhart's wavering croon on NPR's Morning Edition many moons ago.
Rejoicing In The Hands is Banhart's second proper album, following the short Black Babies UK EP which delved further into his piles of early 4-track recordings. For this new album, Gira took Banhart into a studio (which was located in an appropriately antique Southern home on the Georgia / Alabama border) and provided him with plenty of resources to flesh out his songs. In many ways, Rejoicing In The Hands follows the same strategy that Sub Pop employed for Iron & Wine's second album Our Endless Numbered Days: take one fantastic songwriter who made a great album of 4-track recordings, put him in the studio with some sympathetic musicians, and watch the magic happen. Thus, Rejoicing In The Hands has considerably more polish than its predecessor; and perhaps not surprisingly, the songs themselves are less dangerous, rabid, and self-consumed. Yet, the taming of Mr. Banhart is a relative process, as his work still invokes a mysticism of the unconscious through his complex metanyms and obtuse wordplay. His voice -- an eccentric hybrid of Marc Bolan, Karen Dalton, and Vashti Bunyan (who sings a duet alongside Banhart on this record!) -- continues to waver through stream of consciousness lyrics about his teeth, his beard, geographic love affairs, insects, Elvis, and other more likely subject matters like sex and death. Musically, these are delicate folk arrangements centered around his elliptical finger picking which is occasionally accompanied by some of Gira's fellow musicians from Angels of Light. All in all, Rejoicing In The Hands is a rousing success that will surely make Banhart the folk medium for his generation. Highly recommended.
And this is what we had to say about the cd version of Nino Rojo in September '04:
From the promise of a Banhartian Spring we find a Banhartian Autumn with a companion piece to Rejoicing In The Hands, Nino Rojo. This album, equally as stunning, features 16 songs assembled from 57 tracks recorded with Banhart mentor Michael Gira in Atlanta (see our review of Rejoicing for more info on the recording and production). Truly some of his most captivating and achingly beautiful songs to date with more elaborate finger-picked guitarwork and fleshed out backing vocals on songs such as the glistening "Owl Eyes" and the album closer "Electric Heart". One of our most favorite tracks, "At The Hop", is co-written by frequent Banhart collaborator Andy Cabic (Vetiver, Tussle). The enhancement of this enhanced-cd features a video for this song. Like its companion, Nino Rojo offers a Devendra Banhart with more polish, more freedom of movement and a little looser from the grip of self-awareness -- making for a more cohesive but no less eccentric and magical album.
These seem to be going fast, not sure how limited it is...
MPEG Stream: "Insect Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "At The Hop"

BANHART, DEVENDRA Rejoicing In The Hands (Young God) cd 14.98
Since the release of his evocative debut album Oh Me Oh My..., Devendra Banhart has deservedly catapulted to the status of an indie-rock icon. The critical acclaim for Banhart's work is based on the merits of his spectacular songwriting and uncanny ability to channel an incredible spectrum of emotional resonance. However, much of that success is also due to the hard work and dedication of Young God's bossman Michael Gira. The former Swan and current Angel Of Light has taken Banhart under his wing as his apprentice and has boldly asserted (and nurtured) Banhart's brilliance, majesty, and genius. His hard work has certainly paid off as almost every media outlet has sung Banhart's praises; but even so it was quite bizarre to hear Banhart's wavering croon on NPR's Morning Edition many moons ago.
Rejoicing In The Hands is Banhart's second proper album, following the short Black Babies UK EP which delved further into his piles of early 4-track recordings. For this new album, Gira took Banhart into a studio (which was located in an appropriately antique Southern home on the Georgia / Alabama border) and provided him with plenty of resources to flesh out his songs. In many ways, Rejoicing In The Hands follows the same strategy that Sub Pop employed for Iron & Wine's second album Our Endless Numbered Days: take one fantastic songwriter who made a great album of 4-track recordings, put him in the studio with some sympathetic musicians, and watch the magic happen. Thus, Rejoicing In The Hands has considerably more polish than its predecessor; and perhaps not surprisingly, the songs themselves are less dangerous, rabid, and self-consumed. Yet, the taming of Mr. Banhart is a relative process, as his work still invokes a mysticism of the unconscious through his complex metanyms and obtuse wordplay. His voice -- an eccentric hybrid of Marc Bolan, Karen Dalton, and Vashti Bunyan (who sings a duet alongside Banhart on this record!) -- continues to waver through stream of consciousness lyrics about his teeth, his beard, geographic love affairs, insects, Elvis, and other more likely subject matters like sex and death. Musically, these are delicate folk arrangements centered around his elliptical finger picking which is occasionally accompanied by some of Gira's fellow musicians from Angels of Light. All in all, Rejoicing In The Hands is a rousing success that will surely make Banhart the folk medium for his generation. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "A Sight To Behold"
MPEG Stream: "Poughkeepsie"
MPEG Stream: "Insect Eyes"

BANHART, DEVENDRA Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (XL) cd 14.98
Well, the folk may be less present, but the freak is still going strong as ever. And why shouldn't he be when he's the charmed breather of life into this strange Topanga Canyon cocktail party. No, Neil Young couldn't make it, neither could Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, or any of the usual suspects you might expect from ground zero of the west coast singer-songwriter renaissance in the seventies. Instead Devendra and cohorts with their ever-changing band names (Hairy Fairy, Navajo Gospel, White Rainbow Moccassin Woman, and lately The Spiritual Boner) have imported some remarkably far-flung musical touch-stones. From Vegas Elvis to Caetano Veloso to J.J. Cale. Throw in a little Byrds with a pinch of Led Zeppelin, add some Lover's Rock, some Post-Tropicalia, a bit of gender-bending, a taste of gospel and even a hint of Al Jolson mixed with Allan Sherman. It's a pretty daring concoction that, with a couple of notable exceptions (The treacly gospel choir of "Saved" and the cringe-inducing doo-wop of "Shabop Shalom"), works rather brilliantly. It's definitely a stretching-out record with Devendra bravely exploring more theatrical musical niches that would terrify most artists, and while at moments it can border on cheese, for the most part it's got some of the best songwriting, band performances and production that he's committed to wax (or plastic) so far. Deluxe edition features full color booklet of Devendra's lyrics, drawings and paintings. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Seahorse"
MPEG Stream: "Tonada Yanomaninista"
MPEG Stream: "Carmencita"
MPEG Stream: "The Other Woman"

BANHART, DEVENDRA Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (XL) lp 17.98
Now available on vinyl!
Well, the folk may be less present, but the freak is still going strong as ever. And why shouldn't he be when he's the charmed breather of life into this strange Topanga Canyon cocktail party. No, Neil Young couldn't make it, neither could Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, or any of the usual suspects you might expect from ground zero of the west coast singer-songwriter renaissance in the seventies. Instead Devendra and cohorts with their ever-changing band names (Hairy Fairy, Navajo Gospel, White Rainbow Moccassin Woman, and lately The Spiritual Boner) have imported some remarkably far-flung musical touch-stones. From Vegas Elvis to Caetano Veloso to J.J. Cale. Throw in a little Byrds with a pinch of Led Zeppelin, add some Lover's Rock, some Post-Tropicalia, a bit of gender-bending, a taste of gospel and even a hint of Al Jolson mixed with Allan Sherman. It's a pretty daring concoction that, with a couple of notable exceptions (The treacley gospel choir of "Saved" and the cringe-inducing doo-wop of "Shabop Shalom"), works rather brilliantly. It's definitely a stretching-out record with Devendra bravely exploring more theatrical musical niches that would terrify most artists, and while at moments it can border on cheese, for the most part it's got some of the best songwriting, band performances and production that he's committed to wax (or plastic) so far. Recommended! The vinyl also comes with a code for a free download, but alas no bonus material.
MPEG Stream: "Seahorse"
MPEG Stream: "Tonada Yanomaninista"
MPEG Stream: "Carmencita"
MPEG Stream: "The Other Woman"

BANHART, DEVENDRA The Black Babies (UK) (Young God) cd ep 9.98
We've been told that amidst the piles of four-track recordings that Devendra Banhart has made, there are over 100 songs yet to be released. All of the tracks from the critically acclaimed debut album "Oh Me Oh My..." (even NPR has been raving about it!) came from that wealth of material. Thus, it's somewhat disappointing that the "The Black Babies (UK)" ep -- so-called 'cause it was originally intended just for release in England -- only features 6 previously unheard offerings of his wonderfully bizarre folk songs and 2 tracks from the aforementioned "Oh Me Oh My..." album. Nonetheless, "The Black Babies" is a very welcome addition. Devendra's voice continues to belie his gender with a straining vibrato that sounds more like a crazed Billie Holiday, or more accurately like the '60s Village folk maven Karen Dalton. Overdubbing just his voice and his elliptical fingerpicking of an acoustic guitar through borrowed four-tracks, Devendra's songs work through their ability to communicate the extremes of emotion with so little to work with. It also doesn't hurt his cause that all of his material is swathed in the audio cobwebs of tape hiss, residual ambience, and purposefully unkempt production. In light of such lo-fi indie-rock offerings as The Mountain Goats and Sebadoh, none of this is new; although Devendra's subject matter seems far more magical and outlandish than the rumpled tragicomedies of those acts. While the highlights of "Oh Me Oh My..." were the bloodcurdling songs of pain and abjection, "The Black Babies (UK)" features more of his sort-of love songs, albeit, quite atypical love songs, in which Devendra pines for places like Maine, South Carolina, or Spain. This is some of the finest in magic realism.
MPEG Stream: "Surgery I Stole"
MPEG Stream: "Onward The Indian"

BANHART, DEVENDRA What Will We Be? (Warner Bros.) cd 17.98
By this point people seem to have really strong feelings one way or another about Devendra Banhart, ourselves included. We've been big fans of him from his first ultra personal other worldly creations and then as he transitioned his approach into a more fleshed out sound, and we really do appreciate the twists and turns his music has taken over the years and his willingness to play with different sounds and approaches, even when not entirely successful. Perhaps especially then!
Because the thing about Banhart's music is that for every slight slip up or overly feel-good goofy song that might make it on a record (and there are a couple here) there are so many intense and heartfelt, emotional and flat out incredible songs that help balance his uniquely skewed musical vision.
Despite all the hype and hoopla that's surrounded Banhart over the years, the truth is he might just be one of the best songwriters of the last decade. What Will We Be? fits very nicely alongside his recent outings Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain, with some all out rocking and even glam moments ("16th Street & Valencia Roxy Music", "Rats") as well as a handful of tropical excursions, but it's the more slow and dreamy songs that really remind us why we love this guy so much. What Will We Be? is a record that requires multiple listens, as there are golden tracks throughout, which only really seep through after multiple plays. The cd comes with a beautiful booklet with the lyrics to each songs along with Banhart's wonderful drawings.
MPEG Stream: "Brindo"
MPEG Stream: "Baby"
MPEG Stream: "16th & Valencia, Roxy Music"
MPEG Stream: "Last Song For B"

BANHART, DEVENDRA What Will We Be? (Warner Bros.) 2lp 33.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
By this point people seem to have really strong feelings one way or another about Devendra Banhart, ourselves included. We've been big fans of him from his first ultra personal other worldly creations and then as he transitioned his approach into a more fleshed out sound, and we really do appreciate the twists and turns his music has taken over the years and his willingness to play with different sounds and approaches, even when not entirely successful. Perhaps especially then!
Because the thing about Banhart's music is that for every slight slip up or overly feel-good goofy song that might make it on a record (and there are a couple here) there are so many intense and heartfelt, emotional and flat out incredible songs that help balance his uniquely skewed musical vision.
Despite all the hype and hoopla that's surrounded Banhart over the years, the truth is he might just be one of the best songwriters of the last decade. What Will We Be? fits very nicely alongside his recent outings Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain, with some all out rocking and even glam moments ("16th Street & Valencia Roxy Music", "Rats") as well as a handful of tropical excursions, but it's the more slow and dreamy songs that really remind us why we love this guy so much. What Will We Be? is a record that requires multiple listens, as there are golden tracks throughout, which only really seep through after multiple plays. The vinyl version comes with two extra songs not on the cd!
MPEG Stream: "Brindo"
MPEG Stream: "Baby"
MPEG Stream: "16th & Valencia, Roxy Music"
MPEG Stream: "Last Song For B"

BANHART, DEVENDRA / JANA HUNTER split (Troubleman Unlimited) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Only available on vinyl! This split LP with Jana Hunter features Devendra Banhart's first recordings without the spiritual guidance of Michael Gira since those very first home-recordings which comprised the Oh Me Oh My... album and the Black Babies UK ep, but Banhart's time with Gira certainly left an indelible mark on the former. Therefore it may or may not be surprising to find that unlike many of his earlier recordings on which Banhart struck a chord as a solitary untethered voice, his more recent material has embraced group choruses. In fact the final song on his side of this record seems to possess a unhinged giddiness along the lines of the Beach Boys' loopy sing-a-long rendition of the "Vegetables" tune on Smiley Smile. Banhart's no longer such a lone wolf, finding many kindred spirits in his travels -- such as Ms Jana Hunter with whom he shares this record. And perhaps it can be said that this sense of gathering is parallelled by the ever-increasing popularization of the avant-folk genre as a whole. Hunter and Banhart's music make for a great pairing of heart-baring, barebones compositions. At time her off-kilter voice is strikingly similar to his, creating an almost seamless transition from 'Side J.H." to "Side D.B.". Five songs apiece, and sure to please.

BANJO & SULLIVAN The Ultimate Collection (Universal) cd 11.98
This record is so great! We've been listening to this almost as much as the recent Devils' Rejects soundtrack. Which is sort of funny when you know the whole story. But more on that later in the review. This is a greatest hits of sorts from a mysterious honky tonk bluegrass band from the seventies called Banjo And Sullivan. Mysterious mostly because of their tragic story. According to the liner notes, Adam Banjo and Roy Sullivan were last seen at a dingey hotel called the Kahiki Palms, a brief stop over on their 1978 tour. The scene of a grisly murder, both Banjo and Sullivan's spouses and their roadie Jimmy Cracker were found brutally murdered there. Banjo And Sullivan were never heard from again and were presumed killed. The record itself however should not necessarily be sullied by those tragic events, as the music in this collection is totally fun and funny and kick ass. The lyrics are goofy for sure ("Dick Soup" is the honky tonk equivelent of a 'sausage party' apparently) but the music is so killer. Totally rambunctious, wild and wooly bluegrass, banjos and honky tonk piano, crazy lap steel, and there are hooks all over the place. This is like the perfect blend of classic old time bluegrass and more modern Bloodshoot stuff like The Old 97's -- tracks like "I'm At Home Getting Hammered, While She's Out Getting Nailed", "I'm Trying To Quit, But I Just Quit Trying", "Lord, Don't Let Me Die In A Cheap Motel" and even a killer cover of "Freebird".
The funny part is -- this band actually never even existed! Banjo And Sullivan, as well as their wives Wendy and Gloria and their roadie Jimmy are all characters in the recent Rob Zombie movie The Devil's Rejects! And all of them meet a seriously gruesome end. But how fucking cool is that? What ridiculous attention to detail! There's not even any Banjo And Sullivan music in the movie, but still, they went to all the trouble to record a whole record, and a great record at that! And then they released it through normal channels. In fact there's no mention anywhere on the package of the movie or Rob Zombie or anything. The only hint is in the liner notes, where it explains that they were the victims of a murderous gang called The Devil's Rejects! So by itself, this is a pretty cool, fun bluegrass record, but having seen the movie and knowing that this is just more elaborate back story for the film, makes this pretty darn amazing!
If you go to the Devil's Rejects website you can link to the Banjo And Sullivan website, check out the tour dates for that final tour in 1978, see photos and even see an old TV commercial for the record!!
MPEG Stream: "Dick Soup"
MPEG Stream: "I'm At Home Getting Hammered (While She's Out Getting Nailed)"
MPEG Stream: "Killer On The Lamb"

BANJO OR FREAKOUT s/t (RBR) cd 15.98
We weren't the only ones to choose to freakout (hee hee) when we first heard this band's prior vinyl only release. We sold a ton of those and it seemed lots of you also became bigtime fans of BoF's ability to bring new life to a '90s indie rock sensibility. BoF combine an atmospheric approach to recording with songs that showcase different sides to their aesthetic, from moody bittersweet pop nuggets, to daydream anthems, to classic indie rock slacker vibrations. We dig how they remind us of some of the '90s more unsung indie rock greats like 764-Hero and Red Stars Theory, as well as tapping into the warmth and immediacy of modern day bands like Grizzly Bear and The Dodos. If you're feeling burnt out after so many lo-fi, warbled garage pop records, this lush and full sounding indie pop will be seriously refreshing and will no doubt be just what you were hankering for...
MPEG Stream: "Dear Me"
MPEG Stream: "105"
RealAudio clip: "Fully Enjoy"

BANJO OR FREAKOUT s/t (RBR) lp 16.98
We weren't the only ones to choose to freakout (hee hee) when we first heard this band's prior vinyl only release. We sold a ton of those and it seemed lots of you also became bigtime fans of BoF's ability to bring new life to a '90s indie rock sensibility. BoF combine an atmospheric approach to recording with songs that showcase different sides to their aesthetic, from moody bittersweet pop nuggets, to daydream anthems, to classic indie rock slacker vibrations. We dig how they remind us of some of the '90s more unsung indie rock greats like 764-Hero and Red Stars Theory, as well as tapping into the warmth and immediacy of modern day bands like Grizzly Bear and The Dodos. If you're feeling burnt out after so many lo-fi, warbled garage pop records, this lush and full sounding indie pop will be seriously refreshing and will no doubt be just what you were hankering for...
MPEG Stream: "Dear Me"
MPEG Stream: "105"
RealAudio clip: "Fully Enjoy"

BANJO OR FREAKOUT Upside Down (Half Machine Records) lp 10.98
The funny thing about Banjo Or Freakout, is you'll find neither on their records. Okay, well maybe a -little- freakout. But mostly, BoFO traffic in some seriously buzzy, warm and warbly fuzz drenched indie folk noise pop, acoustic guitars, vocal harmonies, some almost programmed sounding drums, total power pop hooks, think Neutral Milk Hotel, the Comas, Apples In Stereo, but filtered through the new breed of pop deconstructionists like Ducktails, Thee Oh Sees and the like.
The A side is all jangle and buzz and croon and will totally hit the spot and fill that Neutral Milk Hotel shaped hole in your heart, the B side though is totally blown out, absolute woozy shoegazy bliss, everything looped and hypnotic and buried under a haze of guitars and buzzy effects. And then there's the trippy rhythmic closer, equal parts Avarus style tribal clatter and drum circle kraut jam and Animal Collective outsider pop bliss. This record rules. Need to hear more bad!!

BANKS, DARRELL Is Here! (Sepia Tone) cd 13.98
Darrell Banks was a great, if obscure, soul singer whose too-short career started in the mid '60s and ended abruptly with his death in 1970. In that time he sadly only released two albums and seven singles of beautiful soul music in the vein of groups on the Stax records roster. This Sepia Tone collection isn't super-lengthy, but it's still exciting to be exposed to good ol' soul that's new to you (me at least) just when you thought you'd heard it all.
RealAudio clip: "I've Got that Feelin'"
RealAudio clip: "I'm Gonna Hang My Head and Cry"

BANKS, LLOYD The Hunger For More (G Unit) cd + dvd 21.00

BANN Antiochia (Grief Foundation) cd ep 8.98
This is the first we've heard from German ambient doomlords Bann, and the first release on the fledgling Grief Foundation label (already a well respected UK metal distro) and we're pretty smitten. This is epic and heavy stuff, with a slightly medieval flair. Three looooooong songs, the first, beginning with what sounds like some creepy Carpenter / Goblin horror movie score, until the drums gradually fade in and we're in Skepticism style doom land, and then finally the guitars kick in and we're in the midst of some seriously crushing medieval doom, a plodding swinging lurching dirge, that quickly segues into an almost Renn Faire sounding bridge, complete with fluttering flutes and sweeping keyboard swells and an awesomely ridiculous spurt of classical strings before resuming its glacial plod. Halfway through the guitars fade out leaving a swirl of whispery synths, delicately plucked acoustic guitars, hushed vocals, strange sound effects, all drifting ominously, before that folky medieval crush crashes back in. Simultaneously lilting and lovely, buzzing and brutal.Ê
The second track begins with a roaring fire, looped snippets of conversation that become more and more frenzied, grandiose King's court keyboards, finally enveloped by a gorgeous melancholy riff, that trudges along, beneath a sprinkling of pointilist piano, another break partway through reveals rain and thunder, whipping winds and strange reverbed German voices, a creepy cinematic interlude, that quicklygives way to that same loping melancholy dirge, the piano just makingÊ it that much more emotional and dark. Very classic sounding, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, but with a demented medieval twist.Ê
The final track begins with melancholy folk guitar, warm swells of synthesized strings, soon joined by buzz drenched riffage, slow and droning, the whole track sounding quite a bit like classic Burzum, slowed down, and with weird witchy vocals and an epic Viking-style recurring melody, Gorgeously mournful and completely trance inducing.
Total epicÊmedieval ambient doom!!!
MPEG Stream: "Allerwachen"
MPEG Stream: "Aber Aus Der Asche Wird Ein Schwan Entstehen"

BANNER, DAVID Certified (Universal) cd 14.98

BANNISTER, BOB Dives & Lazarus (Twisted Village) cd 13.98
Here's an album of (sometimes radical) interpretations of traditional British and American folk songs, all done by Bob Bannister of Tono Bungay. Melancholy stuff beloved by fans of Shirley Collins and the like ("The Murder Of Maria Marten", "George Collins", "The Unquiet Grave", and others). His production and arrangements are both evocative and inventive, mixing the original words and melodies with violin drone, tape manipulation, electronics, and even distorted guitar feedback. The weak spot is Bannister's singing, he's just not a great singer -- but the feeling is there, and his music captures the mood perfectly. Amps For Christ meets John Fahey meets Slap Happy Humphrey meets the Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music? Er, something like that, if that means anything to you... Or, if you've heard the P.G. Six album we raved about on list #112, you'll have an idea of where this is coming from (no, it's not as good as P.G. Six, but shares a similar sound-approach, and is well worth checking out if you liked that album).
RealAudio clip: "Murder Of Maria Marten"
RealAudio clip: "A Miniature Rainbow"
RealAudio clip: "Dark Hollow"

BANNLUST Digital Tensions (Sabotage) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Grabbed this off of Jim's favorites shelf, this is what he had to say about it: "As Sabotage gets a criminally small amount of press, there will be virtually no hype for Bannlust...which is a fucking shame, as thousands of trainspotters will pass this up looking for that long gone Autechre album when they should be listening to this...as good if not better than recent Autechre and/or Skam recordings!!!"

BANNLUST/CHASM 10/9 (Fat Cat) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The fifth in the series of split singles of leftfield electronica from the fabulous Fat Cat label. Bannlust (whose Digital Tension album for Sabotage last year was a stunning surprise) presents three tracks that rival Autechre with their moody and hypnotic crunch of fractured dark electro. Chasm (a.k.a. Robert Hampson of Main/Loop) pares away the isolationist guitar drones in favour of disjointed beats generated through micro processing of concrete sounds.

BANNON, J. The Blood Of Thine Enemies (Deathwish) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Very first solo record from one Mr. J. Bannon, who most of you might know better as the frontman for the mighty Converge, as well as the head honcho of Deathwish Records. But don't let the whole Deathwish / Converge angle mislead you, Bannon also did time in a group called Supermachiner, a more abstract project exploring drones, and blissed out post rock and epic cinematic ambience, and while this 7" is a bit closer to Supermachiner than it is to Converge, it's actually very little like either.
A single track, beginning with a slow whispered shimmer, a simple throbbing distorted bass, very spare and spacious, pulsing amidst soft sonic swells, a creepy minor key melody, a soft dirge. Eventually the vocals come in, mirrored by plinking piano, underpinned by simple percussion, the vocals plaintive and melancholy, a mournful croon, the piano adding some instrumental gravitas, a slow slow slow build, only truly exploding near the very end, and even then it's not so much an explosion as a culmination, a sort of Godspeed like pinnacle, which quickly fades back into the record's opening shimmer. Very reminiscent of Low actually, a dark, dreamy, drifting, abstract slow core. A tempting teaser for the forth coming full length.
And most folks know that beyond playing in Converge, Bannon is also an amazing graphic designer, and that becomes plainly obvious when you see the over the top packaging. The records are pressed on various colors of vinyl, silver, gold, creme, it's a one sided 7", the flip side features a super intricate etching, a winged skull, flowers, and tiny text, all housed in a gorgeous screen printed card stock sleeve that folds together origami style. Each record also includes a download coupon so you can get these analog sounds on your digital player of choice.

BANTON, BUJU The Early Years (90-95) (Penthouse) cd 16.98

BANTON, BUJU & TENOR SAW Ring the Alarm Quick b/w Version (Techniques) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We picked up some copies of our favorite Dancehall track by Buju Banton. This is the same track that was featured on the 400% Dynamite compilation. The B-Side contains the dub version of the same track. We've ordered several, but we don't know how many more we can continue to get, so if you want one you should order sooner rather than later.

BANYAN (Cyber Octave) cd 14.98
Former Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins jams with Mike Watt (Minutemen), Nels Cline (Nels Cline Trio, Geraldine Fibbers), and a mysterious keyboardist, in an attempt to conjure the spirits of both Miles Davis and Igor Stravinsky (as the liner notes somewhat pretentiously imply). Now of course I'm thinking that Utah punk band Iceburn has already done that, but Nels is a wonderful guitarist and AQ has to pretty much recommend everything he's involved in. Basically this is a mostly instrumental, improv-funk romp. Recorded by the Dust Brothers by the way.

BAPTISM Morbid Wings Of Sathanas (Northern Heritage) cd 14.98

BAR KOKHBA Lucifer (Tzadik) cd 16.98

BARACLOUGH The Lampshade Is Not A Past Tense (The Tapeworm) cassette 7.98
Another weird one from The Tapeworm, a UK tape only label, who specialize in, well, it's hard to say what they specialize in. Past releases gave included tapes from Philip Jeck, Simon Fisher Turner, a recording of interviews with Derek Jarman, some amazing psych jazz from a group called the Van Patterson Quartet among other strange offerings. So considering all of those, this record from Baraclough, a London trio of abstract noisemakers, sounds right at home.
Described by the label as being made up of a "classically trained musician, a self taught musician and a non musician", the trio exist somewhere between abstract minimal drone music, and the sort of stumbling anti-folk of No Neck or Sunburned Hand, but doused in electronics and a healthy bit of Nurse With Wound style industrial noise. Simple delicate melodies and bursts of percussion, drift dreamily over a caustic sea of black buzz, roiling and crumbling in a cloud of blurred distortion, squalls of grinding electronic glitch throb and envelop hushed vocals, and splatters of minimal looped percussion, sometimes locking into an almost This Heat sounding mesmer, the sound slipping from rhythmic hypno-lurch to blown out crumbling murmur, to delicate shimmery smearscape.
Unlike much of what comes out on The Tapeworm, these guys are a going concern, with actual records on other labels, and after hearing this, odds are you're gonna want to track those down too.
LIMITED TO 250 COPIES!

BARAKA (LEROI JONES) & THE SUN RA MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA, AMIRI Black Mass (Sonboy Records) cd 15.98

BARAKA (LEROI JONES) & THE SUN RA MYTH-SCIENCE ARKESTRA, AMIRI Black Mass (Sonboy Records) cd 15.98

BARATHRUM Anno Aspera 2003 Years After Bastard's Birth (Spinefarm) cd 16.98

BARBARA A Blessing From The Angel Of Death (Heart & Crossbone) cd 12.98
Since we're reviewing the brand new record from Israel's Barbara, we figured we would get a handful of their first record, so all of you who missed out on this killer disc the first time around could have anther chance...
How could we resist? A band called Barbara. From Israel. On the cover, the name Barbara is written in ornate olde English, with the middle 'b' extending into a huge crucifix. The record is called A Blessing From The Angel Of Death! Song titles include "Heart Of Thorns", "Concrete Heaven", "Morbidity" and "Hotdog" (?). We knew before we even heard it that this was AQ through and through. Thankfully, the music was just as good as we had hoped. Noisy and raw, Blessing... was recorded live in Tel Aviv in 1999, and sounds like it. Overblown and a bit lo-fi, with super saturated vocals and crumbing guitar distortion, this is wild and chaotic and furiously intense. Imagine a black metal Hella, or the Ruins playing Darkthrone in a concrete bunker, or an even more damaged sounding Lightning Bolt. Just bass and drums, a super tight, uber distorted sludge-metal rhythmic chaos engine, spitting out relentless metallic mayhem, wild unpredictably spastic drumming, huge throbbing mud bass, and howled and shrieked vocals. Occasionally, the band stretches out into ambient post rock, doomy Khanate-isms, all syncopated bursts of musical bile, melodies hidden amidst prickly pounding riffage. And as with lots of live recordings, it's totally disconcerting to hear the barely there smattering of applause in the black hole vacuum of silence between each song. This is the sort of monstrous brutality that you imagine being played atop Valhalla, across a valley of cowering minions, bowed in reverent worship. Or at least in the corner of a sweaty, writhing, jam packed little club!
MPEG Stream: "Pest Control"
MPEG Stream: "Skinny"

BARBARA Peger (Heart & Crossbone) cd 11.98
Finally! A brand new record from Israel's Barbara. A band we fell in love with before we even heard them. Why? Well, they're called Barbara to start with, they're from Israel, Barbara is written in olde English with the first 'b' extending into a crucifix, and they're a bass and drums duo. We were completely sold before we even discovered how amazing they sounded. But with all that going for them, if they didn't rule, we would have seriously lost faith in the universe.
The sound on Peger is not all that far removed from their 1999 debut A Blessing From The Angel Of Death, the biggest difference being that where the first disc was a live record, this is recorded in a studio, so it sounds heavier, noisier and more intense. A sloppy, ultra loose doomy prog jam of the highest order. It's like a confusional mix of Godheadsilo, Hella, Burmese, Lightning Bolt and the Ruins, but dipped in molten metal and rolled around in filthy gritty grimy dooooom. The guitars buzz and moan, chugging and grinding, weaving elaborate layered fuzzscapes and jagged melodies, a seriously sludgy downtuned blast of sonic chaos, feedback and amp buzz everywhere, shrieked vocals and blown out rumbles... but it's the drums holding it all together, a relentless ultra complex pound, drums splattered everywhere and cymbals crashing all over the place, like someone was firing a machine gun into a room stuffed with old drum kits. But this isn't just noise rock, the songs are weirdly catchy, underneath all the throb and pummel, thrash and grind, lurk some killer hooks and some super memorable riffs. And interspersed throughout the record are washed out extended drones, long stretches of buzzing fuzzed out guitar, and rumbling low end, punctuated by occasional bursts of aggro drum crush. Some super abstract ambient doom, that always seems to collapse back into another blast of stumbling low end punishment. So good!
MPEG Stream: "Schnell"
MPEG Stream: "The Philosopher Under Pressure"
MPEG Stream: "Pray To Black"
MPEG Stream: "The Feedbacker"

BARBATOS War! Speed And Power (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.
Simple and primitive, sort-of-black, sort-of-thrash one man band from Japan (a guy from the band Abigal). Mid tempo and lo-fi, thrashy, noisy and almost punky. Think: a more metal Motorhead, or a less metal Impaled Nazarene. Catchy and a bit melodic with occasional blast beats, super fucked up crazy drumming and a murky eighties production. Cult.
RealAudio clip: "Poisoned Sake"
RealAudio clip: "Prophecy Of The Evening Star"
RealAudio clip: "G-Point"

BARBATOS / INCRIMINATED split (Nuclear War Now! Productions) 2x5" 8.98
Got a few more of these back in, an awesome split of raw primitive blackness and an amazing musical object in its own right...
Not only is this a killer split of evil black thrash, Japan's Barbatos and Finland's Incriminated, each offering up songs dealing with war and history, but it's a whole new format you've never seen before (really!), and is pretty damn out there. More on that in a second.
The music first. Barbatos from Japan, are amazing evil black thrashers, with a definite punk vibe, the guitars howling, the drums crashing, the spirit of Venom, Motorhead, but supercharged and blackened. The perfect match for Incriminated from Finland, who walk in the same bloodied footsteps as Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, a black thrash, furious and raw, primitive and black.
The Incriminated song is called "Blue Swastikas" but before you freak out, as the band states in their liner notes: "If you think Incriminated are nazis for dealing with historical topics, then you are nazi yourself!" Okay, so they're not Nazis and the song is about some classic WWII battle, maybe they could have come up with a different title since that stuff is a pretty sensitive subject in the black metal world, but whateverÉ
Both tracks rock furiously, heavy and primitive, buzzing and brutal. But, these aren't cds, nor are they vinyl eps. Instead they are one sided plastic discs, like cds, but each disc has record grooves pressed into the plastic. Designed to be played on record players, but due to the cd sized hole in the middle, it's tough to get it centered, and as far as we know they don't yet make an adapter for that. But it looks amazing, and everyone we show it to has to hold it and touch it and look at it to try to figure out how the heck you play something like this. Fans of raw black metal, as well as weird music, and weird packaging especially will definitely want to check this out.

BARBIERI QUARTET, GATO In Search Of The Mystery (ESP / Aretina) cd 14.98
A new wave of ESP reissues has finally arrived bringing a handful of obscure gems back into print.
This disc is the Gato Barbieri from the old days, 1967 to be exact, before he had softened up and mellowed out and was still a major player in the jazz avant garde. Dark and rumbling jazzscapes of bowed cello and skittering, slithering percussion and haunting reverbed pianos underscore wickedly inspired solos from session leader Barbieri. Unlikely melodies and furious harmolodic runs are peppered with intense screeching and soulful wailing. Truly inspired and still amazing even after almost 35 years!
RealAudio clip: "In Search Of The Mystery"

BARDO POND Archive 24 (aRCHIVE) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An awesome live recording from these psych rock astral travelers, this lengthy two track performance recorded live in the living room of a house somewhere in Philadelphia finds the Pond at their driftiest and dreamiest. The opening track is a 34 minute psychbliss epic, guitars swirl and shimmer, drifting lazily across a gauzy sun dappled sonic sky, violins float by occasionally as do snatches of fluttering flute, the background dense with chimes and distant bells, muted melodies and slow undulating waves of guitar groan and ambient rumble, colored here and there by some scrape and hiss, as well as voices and sounds from the partygoers seated around the band. It's a sloooooow build and when it finally does reach it's peak, it's not a blow out as much as a heavy drone. Totally mesmerizing and tranceworthy! The second track, clocking in at a much more brief 12 minutes or so, is an even more mellow affair, simple drifting acoustic guitar, hand drums, flutes and ethereal female vocals, while in the background, thick billowing clouds of distorted psychedelic guitar pulse and swell, like some mysterious sonic Northern lights. So nice. Hard to imagine these sounds emanating from a house in some suburb, unless that house suddenly became unmoored and began drifting through alternate universes, or through some unexplored corner of the galaxy. So perfect!
LIMITED TO 600 COPIES!! Two different covers, each one super striking, no need to ask for a specific cover, they'll be pulled at random, and you'll be pleased as punch either way!
MPEG Stream: "Amur"
MPEG Stream: "Walkingclouds"

BARDO POND Batholith (Three Lobed) lp + cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If we had to pick our favorite modern psych rock band, it might be tough. There are so many groups who have mastered the fine art of druggy soundscapes, tripped out space rock, and in-the-red avantpsych drone jams. But if push comes to shove, most of us would probably pick Bardo Pond.
Release after release, every single one of their records manages to push all our musical buttons, be it droney krautrockishness, damaged freaked out noise rock, trippy stoned drift, fluttering psych folk, heavy riffrock, or all of the above! These guys have mastered their craft, but remain unafraid to just wing it, jamming wildly, almost always resulting in something truly transcendent.
Batholith, while ostensibly an actual album, is in fact, a collection of some of Bardo's favorite songs that for whatever reason have never been released until now. Some live tracks, Peel sessions, and the opener "A Tune", that the band began their legendary Terrastock II set with, a laid back stoned groove, all warm washed out guitars and shuffling drums, until over the top, in swoop the Gibbons brothers, to tear it up, unfurling fiery sun baked leads over the top, wrapped around the vocals, a buried murmur, ghostly and gauzy, the whole track a glorious acid drenched, fuzzy buzzy drone-y jam.
In fact most of Batholith sounds like that, super hazy, lazy, drawn out, sprawling riffs, dreamy and definitely WAY druggy.
But that all changes about halfway through.
"Splint" begins as a post rocky meander, barely any guitars, just little trills and flourishes here and there, amidst a cloud of bass thrum and shuffling drums, which rev up about half way through into a dense churning wall of sound, crumbling and massive, before drifting back to the track's opening drift. "Slip Away" is total nineties shoegaze, somewhere between the Swirlies and Swervedriver, the vocals ethereal and dreamlike, the drums a driving pound, but guitars EVERYWHERE, thick and fuzzed out, layers upon layers, one guitar soaring above the rest, skywriting buzzing minor key melodies over the top, sometimes exploding into wahwah drenched squalls, other times just adding to the overall buzz.
The final track, the longest at 10 minutes, is all Eastern raga, with some steel string buzz that sounds a bit like a sitar, a loping sea sick main riff, a hypnotic pulse like drum beat, and again the guitars take over, snarling and growling and glowing, a super intense tangle of downtuned buzz, draped over the steady motorik jam beneath, until the band launch into space, and unload an incredibly fierce and furious space rock outro, the drums dense and complex, the bass thick and fuzzy, the guitars all wound up in a glorious psychdrone battle to the death.
Incredibly deluxe packaging. Heavy heavy gatefold. The record pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Included with the lp is a cd of the same music. LIMITED TO 1049 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "A Tune"
MPEG Stream: "Push Your Head"

BARDO POND Bufo Alvarius (Drunken Fish) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BARDO POND Bufo Alvarius (Fire) cd 15.98
One of our favorite records from this Philly drone / drug / psych ensemble, available again on lp, this time with a bonus track, and a cd version bundled with the lp...
Bufo Alvarius, originally released in 1995, was Bardo Pond's first, and some (us for example) might argue, still their best, completely tripped out, hazy sonic sedatives administered in the form of blown out space psych bliss, the guitars not so much riffing as expelling thick undulating sheets of warped fuzz, the drums, loose and propulsive, driving the songs, but not rigidily, the flute fluttering throughout, like melodic flecks floating in a swirling sonic sea of bongwater, the band do occasionally come together, and briefly sound like a super loose spaced out slowed down Stooges, but even then they stumble and meander, lurch and lumber, staggering druggily through clouds of spectrascopic sonic splutter, eventually exploding into full on effects drenched meltdown, managing to sound heavy and dense and trippy, but still totally dreamy and mesmerizing.
A few tracks get all jangly, and the band sound like Pavement covering Spacemen 3, while extremely high, the female vocals are doused in reverb and echo and delay, and they drift ghostlike through woozy whirling fields of tangled psychedelic guitar freakout, the whole band seemingly on the verge of total collapse, this record a document of a group teetering gloriously on the edge. When the band rock, they rock hard, and sound a bit like Loop, albeit a whole lot more loose, that same sort of psychedelic hypno-drug-rock, but in the hands of Bardo Pond, those moments never last, instead, what could be a driving super heavy rocker, tends again, to crumble, and collapse, into a stumbling druggy psych dirge of swirling sweet crooned female vox, pounding off kilter drumming, a tangled knot of corruscated guitar buzz, everything wrapped in a thick cloak of grimy, gritty fuzzed out whirr. It really doesn't get heavier, or trippier or more psychedelic than this. Take the nearly half hour track "Amen", a single track, but essentially an entire bonus record, a fantastically OUT ambient sprawl of impressionistic psychguitar, bleary free noise, and druggy dreamlike ambience, the sort of blown out abstraction most current bands couldn't pull off if their lives depended on it.
This recent reissue tacks on a bonus track, the groovy woozy jangly "Fixed", that begins all strummy and soft focus, before the drums kick in hard, the vocals serene and sweet, backed up by a wall of churning psychedelia, softy strummed clean guitar, and of course haunting spectral flute. So good.
Way recommended, easily one of our all time favorite modern psych records, and to all those folks into the new breed of psychedelic space rock: White Hills, the Heads, Gnod, Eternal Tapestry, Heavy Winged... You NEED this!
MPEG Stream: "Adhesive"
MPEG Stream: "Back Porch"
MPEG Stream: "On A Side Street"

BARDO POND Bufo Alvarius (Drunken Fish) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BARDO POND Bufo Alvarius (Fire) lp+cd 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of our favorite records from this Philly drone / drug / psych ensemble, available again on lp, this time with a bonus track, and a cd version bundled with the lp...
Bufo Alvarius, originally released in 1995, was Bardo Pond's first, and some (us for example) might argue, still their best, completely tripped out, hazy sonic sedatives administered in the form of blown out space psych bliss, the guitars not so much riffing as expelling thick undulating sheets of warped fuzz, the drums, loose and propulsive, driving the songs, but not rigidily, the flute fluttering throughout, like melodic flecks floating in a swirling sonic sea of bongwater, the band do occasionally come together, and briefly sound like a super loose spaced out slowed down Stooges, but even then they stumble and meander, lurch and lumber, staggering druggily through clouds of spectrascopic sonic splutter, eventually exploding into full on effects drenched meltdown, managing to sound heavy and dense and trippy, but still totally dreamy and mesmerizing.
A few tracks get all jangly, and the band sound like Pavement covering Spacemen 3, while extremely high, the female vocals are doused in reverb and echo and delay, and they drift ghostlike through woozy whirling fields of tangled psychedelic guitar freakout, the whole band seemingly on the verge of total collapse, this record a document of a group teetering gloriously on the edge. When the band rock, they rock hard, and sound a bit like Loop, albeit a whole lot more loose, that same sort of psychedelic hypno-drug-rock, but in the hands of Bardo Pond, those moments never last, instead, what could be a driving super heavy rocker, tends again, to crumble, and collapse, into a stumbling druggy psych dirge of swirling sweet crooned female vox, pounding off kilter drumming, a tangled knot of corruscated guitar buzz, everything wrapped in a thick cloak of grimy, gritty fuzzed out whirr. It really doesn't get heavier, or trippier or more psychedelic than this. Take the nearly half hour track "Amen", a single track, but essentially an entire bonus record, a fantastically OUT ambient sprawl of impressionistic psychguitar, bleary free noise, and druggy dreamlike ambience, the sort of blown out abstraction most current bands couldn't pull off if their lives depended on it.
This recent reissue tacks on a bonus track, the groovy woozy jangly "Fixed", that begins all strummy and soft focus, before the drums kick in hard, the vocals serene and sweet, backed up by a wall of churning psychedelia, softy strummed clean guitar, and of course haunting spectral flute. So good.
Way recommended, easily one of our all time favorite modern psych records, and to all those folks into the new breed of psychedelic space rock: White Hills, the Heads, Gnod, Eternal Tapestry, Heavy Winged... You NEED this!
MPEG Stream: "Adhesive"
MPEG Stream: "Back Porch"
MPEG Stream: "On A Side Street"

BARDO POND Cypher Documents I (Three Lobed Recordings) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What we have here is not exactly a new album from Philly's deeply stoned-sounding sonic spacefarers Bardo Pond, though it sort of is... This is part one of a planned series that will gather up the loose ends of BP's prolific recording career: tracks from singles, comps, etc. All BP-heads should be pleased! Cypher Documents I collects seven tracks that were previously only ever released as temporarily-available, mp3-of-the-month downloads on the band's website, except for one of 'em ("Living Testament") that also made it onto a Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine comp. And, the epic 31-minute "From The Sky" that appears here was only a five minute long edit in its original mp3 form. All these tracks date from the period between their 1999 Set and Setting album and 2001's Dilate. The disc begins with the slide-riffing, moaning, heavy-duty psych-out action of "Living Testament" and takes it from there, sometimes getting even heavier (the ominous "Slag"), sometimes quieter (the hushed "Nomad"), always sounding MEGA-STONED. The disc ends with the aforementioned "From The Sky" epic, preceeded by the nearly-as-epic 13-minute "Black Turban". Bardo Pond fans need this, also probably you want this if you're into the likes of Acid Mothers Temple, Kinski, Doktor Kettu, and the like (which means you're likely a Bardo Pond fan anyway, what are we saying?). Even though it's not a "real" album it's already one of our faves from this band.
MPEG Stream: "Living Testament"
MPEG Stream: "Slag"

BARDO POND Dilate (Matador) cd 14.98
A marked improvement from their last release -- the disappointing blues jam "Set & Setting" -- Bardo Pond's "Dilate" mopes through its thick psychedelic haze of washed out guitar and slow 'n' simple rhythms that aren't exactly memorable, but can't be forgotten after taking a really big hit on that multi-chambered water bong. The first couple of tracks have all of the slow-burning dark psych-rock intensity of recent Mogwai, and later on the buzzing guitars sound a lot like the Dirty Three. Isobel still sings way too much, sounding like Kim Gordon's recent drunken nonsense. But whether it's art rock or stoned wanking, it sounds pretty good (and I'm not even high!)
RealAudio clip: "Two Planes"

BARDO POND Dilate (Matador) 2lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A marked improvement from their last release -- the disappointing blues jam "Set & Setting" -- Bardo Pond's "Dilate" mopes through its thick psychedelic haze of washed out guitar and slow 'n' simple rhythms that aren't exactly memorable, but can't be forgotten after taking a really big hit on that multi-chambered water bong. The first couple of tracks have all of the slow-burning dark psyche-rock intensity of recent Mogwai, and later on the buzzing guitars sound a lot like the Dirty Three. Isobel still sings way too much, sounding like Kim Gordon's recent drunken nonsense. But whether it's art rock or stoned wanking, it sounds pretty good (and I'm not even high!)

BARDO POND Gazing At Shilla (Important) lp 17.98
No one does stoned and blissed out deep-in-the-forest jams better than Bardo Pond. For over fifteen years now this Philly outfit have been kicking out some of the most gorgeous organic spaced out rock EVER. Bardo Pond have so many different sides to their sound, from more song based tracks, to full on psychedelia, to dirgey space rock, and of course there's the sprawling tripped out and totally dreamy epic jams.
Gazing At Shilla finds the Pond in the latter mode, which is just fine as we can't get enough of that sound, when the band somehow bring earth and sky together in gloriously cataclysmic ways, allowing us to get so totally and fantastically lost in their sound. Recorded between 2003-2006, each side is a single, fantastic, sprawling twenty minute instrumental. "Eight - Thousanders" finds the band soaring and floating and gliding with such ease and fluidity. While "Kali" gets a little buzzier and darker, gritty space-y sonics transmitted from another dimension. Imagine if Roy Montgomery and Sonic Youth joined forces, or those special moments when Kawabata Makoto and his Acid Mothers Temple set their trajectory for cosmic spheres unknown. Ultimately though, it sounds like Bardo Pond (albeit only one of their many sides), a band who continue to grow, evolve and rule!
This the first of a new four part Bardo Pond related series of limited edition vinyl only releases on Important, we also just got the others in, one each by Bardo side projects Alasehir, Alumbrados, and Moon Phantoms - the latter a collaboration with Japan's Suishu No Fune!

BARDO POND Lapsed (Matador) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wonderful new album.

BARDO POND Lapsed (Matador) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wonderful new album.

BARDO POND On the Ellipse (ATP Recordings) cd 14.98
Time to get high. Philly psych-jam outfit Bardo Pond seems to be best appreciated with some THC intake. Or maybe not, we wouldn't know, that's just what we've been told. But certainly, for those of us who don't smoke that stuff, they're one of those bands that could be used as an aural substitute for such illicit substances. Either way, this is definitely stoner rock, of the heavy-lidded, droney, downer variety. Compared to their recent Matador label albums (Set And Setting, Dilate), this new one for ATP seems somewhat heavier and sludgier -- it's one that could be appreciated by those into the likes of Dead Meadow, Sleep or even Electric Wizard. Yet it's still downy soft, too, with folky, acoustic songs living among (or within) the massive electric-psych-guitar wash ones. Delicate female vocals from flautist Isobel drift o'er the mellowed out, doped up distortion. It's as airy as it is hairy. Loping, slumbrous, gentle, melancholic, blissful, hazy... What Sleep was to Black Sabbath's "Lord Of This World", much of this is to Sabbath's "Solitude". Bardo fans of course will like, and even if you haven't been that into Bardo Pond before, we'd say this is defintely one to check out. Maybe their best in a while. Real nice. Play loud.
MPEG Stream: "Night Of Frogs"
MPEG Stream: "Walking Clouds"

BARDO POND On the Ellipse (ATP Recordings) 2lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Perfect, now available on vinyl!
Time to get high. Philly psych-jam outfit Bardo Pond seems to be best appreciated with some THC intake. Or maybe not, we wouldn't know, that's just what we've been told. But certainly, for those of us who don't smoke that stuff, they're one of those bands that could be used as an aural substitute for such illicit substances. Either way, this is definitely stoner rock, of the heavy-lidded, droney, downer variety. Compared to their recent Matador label albums (Set And Setting, Dilate), this new one for ATP seems somewhat heavier and sludgier -- it's one that could be appreciated by those into the likes of Dead Meadow, Sleep or even Electric Wizard. Yet it's still downy soft, too, with folky, acoustic songs living among (or within) the massive electric-psych-guitar wash ones. Delicate female vocals from flautist Isobel drift o'er the mellowed out, doped up distortion. It's as airy as it is hairy. Loping, slumbrous, gentle, melancholic, blissful, hazy... What Sleep was to Black Sabbath's "Lord Of This World", much of this is to Sabbath's "Solitude". Bardo fans of course will like, and even if you haven't been that into Bardo Pond before, we'd say this is defintely one to check out. Maybe their best in a while. Real nice. Play loud.
MPEG Stream: "Night Of Frogs"
MPEG Stream: "Walking Clouds"