BUCKNER, RICHARD Our Blood (Merge) cd 14.98

BUCKNER, RICHARD Our Blood (Merge) lp 17.98

BUCKNER, RICHARD Since (MCA) cd 15.98
Third album from SF's own Rick Buckner, the man with the juicy velvet voice. Previous efforts' dark twang is even less evident here, where he tempers his melancholia with help from Syd Straw, Tortoise's John McEntire, David Grubbs, Dave Schramm, etc.

BUCKNER, RICHARD The Hill (Overcoat) cd 14.98
Ex-San Franciscan (and longtime AQ-favorite) Richard Buckner, he of the juicy, resonant, trembling voice that gets under your skin, traveled to Tucson, Arizona, to record this single track, 34-minute album with John Convertino and Joey Burns, better known as Calexico. It's a fresh, bright take on road music, filled with rollicking neo-americana twang and intense backwoods vocals, at once John-Prine-style folk and intensely personal Springsteen-style singer songwriter fare, but always recognizably Buckner. Lovely. Oh, we shouldn't forget the literary connection here: Buckner's songs are in part inspired by Edgar Lee Master's "Spoon River Anthology" (poetic epitaphs for folks from a fictional Illinois town).

BUCKNOR, SEGUN Poor Man Get No Brother (AfroStrut ) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
AfroStrut continues to mine the depths of Nigerian music history to demonstrate that all that came out of Lagos was not just Fela. Keyboardist Segun Bucknor, who had been included on the 'Nigeria 70' compilation, gets the spotlight with an entire disc of material recorded in the 70's. Like Fela, Segun had begun his recording career in the 60's playing in high life bands in Nigeria's fertile post-independance climate and by 1966 he began putting together his own bands. His first, The Soul Assembly, played mostly covers of American and British pop and no recordings apparently were made during this period. But towards the end of the sixties Nigerian groups were actively trying to separate themselves from the sounds of the west and create a new defining sound of Lagos. In 1968 Bucknor dropped "Soul" from his group's name and began forging his own sound. The tracks on this disc are all taken from recordings made between 1969 and 1975 by both "The Assembly" and the following incarnation "The Revolution". Unfortunately, comparisons to Fela are nearly unavoidable regardless of how much anyone else in the Lagos scene contributed to his sound. Like Fela, Bucknor's songs are founded on a persistent ostinato from the drums, bass and guitar over which, when there's no singing, either organ or saxophone can solo. Unlike Fela however, much of the tracks here extremely brief and average 3 and a half minutes, which Bucknor explains in the liner notes as being a requirement forced upon the musicians in the recording studio. So unfortunately, with the shorter songs you get a lot of arbitrary fade outs. It's a bit of a bummer because it seems to undermine the minimalist effect that works so well in a long song: holding the rhythm section to one pattern, only to switch it up ten minutes into the song. Despite all that the tracks on here are still quite nice and a few longer (between 9 and 12 minutes) tracks give you an idea of the way they might have been played live and not under such rigid studio constraints.
RealAudio clip: "Smoke"
RealAudio clip: "You Killing Me"

BUCKNOR, SEGUN Poor Man Get No Brother (AfroStrut ) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
AfroStrut continues to mine the depths of Nigerian music history to demonstrate that all that came out of Lagos was not just Fela. Keyboardist Segun Bucknor, who had been included on the 'Nigeria 70' compilation, gets the spotlight with an entire disc of material recorded in the 70's. Like Fela, Segun had begun his recording career in the 60's playing in high life bands in Nigeria's fertile post-independance climate and by 1966 he began putting together his own bands. His first, The Soul Assembly, played mostly covers of American and British pop and no recordings apparently were made during this period. But towards the end of the sixties Nigerian groups were actively trying to separate themselves from the sounds of the west and create a new defining sound of Lagos. In 1968 Bucknor dropped "Soul" from his group's name and began forging his own sound. The tracks on this disc are all taken from recordings made between 1969 and 1975 by both "The Assembly" and the following incarnation "The Revolution". Unfortunately, comparisons to Fela are nearly unavoidable regardless of how much anyone else in the Lagos scene contributed to his sound. Like Fela, Bucknor's songs are founded on a persistent ostinato from the drums, bass and guitar over which, when there's no singing, either organ or saxophone can solo. Unlike Fela however, much of the tracks here extremely brief and average 3 and a half minutes, which Bucknor explains in the liner notes as being a requirement forced upon the musicians in the recording studio. So unfortunately, with the shorter songs you get a lot of arbitrary fade outs. It's a bit of a bummer because it seems to undermine the minimalist effect that works so well in a long song: holding the rhythm section to one pattern, only to switch it up ten minutes into the song. Despite all that the tracks on here are still quite nice and a few longer (between 9 and 12 minutes) tracks give you an idea of the way they might have been played live and not under such rigid studio constraints.

BUCKSHOT BOYS: DEER HUNTING, BRITISH CULTURE & ROCK MUSIC COLLIDE AT ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES (Chunklet) dvd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Those Chunklet ne-er do wells have been at it again, but we're not at all surprised. We know very well that team leaders Henry Owings and Brian Teasley have always got some sort of mischief in the works (whether it be in the form of their infamous magazine, a radio podcast, a dvd or ???) with their worthy accomplices (many of them members of various notorious bands). Nope, we can't imagine them ever sitting on their hands like well-behaved young'uns. Their last video offering "Brother Versus Brother: Civil War Reenactment & Rock Music Collide At SXSW" featured their gleeful antics at South By Southwest 2004. This new one has the gang on a collision course with another music festival. Their destination? All Tomorrow's Parties in the U.K. Lead by two oddly familiar looking good ol' boys Chuck B. Weegan and D.J. Clancy, they aggressively offer to all within earshot (or in this case buckshot) a lesson in deer hunting and indie rock irony whether it's wanted or not. Interviewees include the Melvins, Mogwai, Neil Hamburger, Polar Goldie Cats, Ted Leo, Need New Body, Deerhoof and Spoon among others (some of them already hip to the goings-on, others clearly much less so). Not for the faint of heart nor for the easily annoyed.

BUDD, HAROLD Avalon Sutra (Samadhisound) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The last record we listened to by Harold Budd was his collaboration with Brian Eno from 1980, reissued late last year. To Eno's shimmering ambient soundtrack world, Budd added his maudlin, melodic, sometimes syrupy piano figures. Not sure what Budd has been up to these last 25 years, but here we are in 2005 and we find ourselves with a new Harold Budd record. While we're sure he has indeed been busy these last two and a half decades, this release sort of caught our attention for two reasons, it was released on David Sylvian's Samadhisound label, and it's two discs, with the second disc being a seventy minute reworking of one of the tracks on the first disc. We love that kind of stuff!
So we're happy to report that this is an absolutely glorious, dreamy otherworldly listen. Constructed mostly from piano, synthesizer, strings, saxophone, bass flute and minimal percussion (mostly chimes and bells), Avalon Sutra is a slow moving, somber and contemplative dream world, New Age ambience smeared into a drifting world of indistinct blurs. Melancholy piano lines drift beneath warm chordal swells and distant twinkling chimes. New Age might actually be the sticking point in the above description for a lot of folks, but when you get right down to it, this is indeed New Age music. It's soft and mellow and could definitely pass as massage or meditation music, but that said, it's also lush and tranquil and hypnotic, the perfect drifting off and drifting away music. The soundtrack to a series of images, floating by on the periphery, subtle, simple and smooth. Then there's disc two, an hour plus extended bliss out. Like William Basinski, Oval, the Necks and the Balanescu Quartet all smeared and stretched into a dreamy, gauzy, slowly shifting, hypnotically looped cycle of minor key melancholia. Co-produced by David Sylvian and Akira Rabelais (who also helped mix and perform it). So gorgeous. Even if the first disc borders on being too New Agey for you (which it shouldn't necessarily), the second disc is most definitely an essential chunk of moody, mesmerizing, tranced out instrumental ambience!
MPEG Stream: "Arabesque 3"
MPEG Stream: "Arabesque 2"
MPEG Stream: "As Long As I Can Hold My Breath"

BUDD, HAROLD In The Mist (Darla Records) cd 17.98
Forget about the Pop Ambient series, and other modern dreamy music makers, when it comes to simply stunning, calming and beautiful sounds it just doesn't get better than Harold Budd. Now 75 years old, and showing no signs of losing his immaculate touch, In The Mist is quickly becoming one of our favorite Budd records ever. This is how we like his music the best, just Budd and a piano, so stripped down and minimal, yet able to conjure up such a majestic and otherworldly soundworld. Slowly drifting and gliding with an ease and emotional warmth that allows you to tune out the noise of the outside world and return to a place of peaceful surrender. What makes Budd's music so special is that in any other hands the sounds would just be pleasant but not much more, but Budd has this amazing knack for masterful phrasing that injects soft melancholy and real bliss into his compositions.
It makes such great sense that in so many ways Harold Budd is an artist's music maker. We know so many great visual artists who play Budd's music in their studio as it really does give you a clean slate to work from, erasing the clutter and annoyances of everyday life and softly guiding you into places that are filled with spirit and soul. Beyond beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "The Foundry (For Mika Vainio)"
MPEG Stream: "Greek George"
MPEG Stream: "Haru Spring"
MPEG Stream: "The Art Of Mirrors (After Derek Jarman)"

BUDD, HAROLD Pavilion Of Dreams (Editions EG) cd 12.98
We've never listed this ambient, avante-garde masterpiece before and when we realized it was Harold Budd's 75th birthday last week, we figured it was the perfect time to honor the man, and the amazing dreamy sounds he has given us over the years.
While best known to some for his collaborations with Brian Eno, and Cocteau Twins, there is also the deep well to explore of his vast solo catalog. But for many, Pavilion Of Dreams originally released in 1978, ranks as one of his best, a perfect melding of 20th century composition and warm, weightless shimmery ambience, creating pieces fragile and prismatic, as if they were suspended in glistening, glimmering bubbles.
While piano is at the center of Pavilion Of Dreams, there is some of the most sensual and dreamy sax we've ever heard, played by Marion Brown, a wildly under-appreciated free jazz artist who played with everyone from John Coltrane to Anthony Braxton, as well as an extensive catalog of his own recordings that deserve to be explored.
The album opens with the 18 minute "Bismillahi 'Rrahmani 'Rrahim", a track that feels like a passage from one of Alice Coltrane's most majestic tracks taken to a new age inside a mystical castle looking over the ocean. Then there's the mezzo-soprano classical vocals of Lynda Richardson are featured in the second and third tracks of the album. Don't let them scare you away. Even if you are not usually a fan of opera or classical vocals, Budd uses them in such drifting and compelling ways. They would have been perfect for a chilling scene in a Stanley Kubrick film. The album closes with "Juno", one of the most perfect ambient daydreams of all time. We realized we've said the word 'dreamy' a ton of times in this review, and well the album is called Pavilion of Dreams, and even though the term dreamy is so often overused, this is a record that really does take you to another state of consciousness. We hear the influence of this recording on so many of our favorite artists like William Basinski, Circle (on Miljard), Colleen, Seefeel, Johan Johansson, Sigur Ros, The Knife, The Durutti Column, Michael Harrison, Koss, Klimek and more... Absolutely essential!
MPEG Stream: "Bismillahi 'Rrahmani 'Rrahim"
MPEG Stream: "Juno"
MPEG Stream: "Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord/Butterfly Sunday"

BUDD, HAROLD & BRIAN ENO The Pearl (Astralwerks) cd 15.98

BUDD, ROY Vigilante! Roy Budd Cult Film Soundtracks 1971-1977 (Discotheque) cd 19.98
We all know (or should know) Roy Budd for his amazing score to Michael Caine's classic Get Carter, with its haunting reverbed sitar theme and funky throbbing groove. But among his other 50 or so film scores were the cult classic Diamonds, Charles Bronson's The Stone Killer, and loads of others including a bunch of other awesome Michael Caine movies. This collection, put together by the gent who used to run Strut records, and thus knows his funky jazz from his jazzy funk, is chock full of amazing goodies. The Get Carter theme is included of course, but it's a remixed version as are a couple others, a little more acid jazz with much more dancefloor friendly beats. The rest of the Budd tracks however are left as they were. Practically perfect. Mission Impossible style orchestral stabs, jungle percussion, wah guitars, soaring strings, groovy psychedelic ballads, warm Hammond organs, epic disco-flecked funk workouts, Morricone-ish western motifs, dreamy lounge, wailing diva soul and lots of pure seventies goodness.
MPEG Stream: "Get Carter - Main Theme"
MPEG Stream: "The Stone Killer - Black Is Beautiful"

BUDOS BAND II (Daptone) cd 14.98
The follow up to their great debut from a couple years back does not disappoint AT ALL. More solid and lively instrumental funk informed by all the great sounds: Afrobeat, Ethiopiques and down home soul. Great to hear modern day players with such a fine ear for cranking out classic jams that capture the raw and impassioned spirit of vintage funk, and exciting that those modern funk folks still know how to find a groove and make it shine. Very inviting sounds and further proof that Daptone has their fingers on the pulse of riveting soul and funk done right.
RealAudio clip: "Chicago Falcon"
MPEG Stream: "Ride Or Die"

BUDOS BAND, THE III (Daptone) cd 15.98
There's never a question as to if a Budos Band release will sound good or not, they are one of THEE tightest and most masterful players of Afro-soul-funk around. And while their first two outings were totally great records, they have stepped up their game big time for number three. It's one thing to be talented musicians, it's another to create songs that have a really strong mood and presence, and that's exactly what Budos Band have done on III. It's a bit darker, wider in scope and just straight up ON FIRE! They've figured out how to take their inspiration from the music of Fela Kuti, James Brown, Sun Ra, Funkadelic, as well as hints of psychedelia from Turkey, Latin America and Africa, and bring it all together in such an infectious and surprisingly original sound. If you ever get a chance to see them live, go for it, cuz they always kill, and this new album is our favorite from them yet!
MPEG Stream: "Rites of The Ancients"
MPEG Stream: "River Serpentine"
MPEG Stream: "Nature's Wrath"

BUDOS BAND, THE III (Daptone) lp 17.98
NOW ON VINYL!
There's never a question as to if a Budos Band release will sound good or not, they are one of THEE tightest and most masterful players of Afro-soul-funk around. And while their first two outings were totally great records, they have stepped up their game big time for number three. It's one thing to be talented musicians, it's another to create songs that have a really strong mood and presence, and that's exactly what Budos Band have done on III. It's a bit darker, wider in scope and just straight up ON FIRE! They've figured out how to take their inspiration from the music of Fela Kuti, James Brown, Sun Ra, Funkadelic, as well as hints of psychedelia from Turkey, Latin America and Africa, and bring it all together in such an infectious and surprisingly original sound. If you ever get a chance to see them live, go for it, cuz they always kill, and this new album is our favorite from them yet!
MPEG Stream: "Rites of The Ancients"
MPEG Stream: "River Serpentine"
MPEG Stream: "Nature's Wrath"

BUDOS BAND, THE s/t (Daptone Records) cd 14.98
The Budos Band is another outfit spawned by Bushwick, Brooklyn's Daptone Records label, some sort of collective of fake ethno funkateers responsible for such undeniably groovy projects as The Daktaris and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. These guys LIVE and breathe authentic '60s greasy groove, so you know their take on "Afro-soul" is gonna cross all the i's and dot all the t's... not that it sounds nearly that uptight. Not uptight at all, but definitely tight! This large 11 piece band, plus guests, featuring members of the Dap-Kings, Antibalas and the Sugarman 3 among others, is the stuff of grass-skirted Lalo Schifrin dreams -- dynamic and colorful instrumentals with a loungey '60s/'70s feel. Lotsa horns, percussion, electric guitar and bass with groovy organ (and even some funky flute) make this something that people who like the more jazz/funk entries in the Ethiopiques series, or aforementioned Afro-pop revivalists Antibalas, should consider checkin' out.
MPEG Stream: "Up From The South"
MPEG Stream: "Eastbound"

BUDOS BAND, THE s/t (Daptone) lp 14.98
Now available on lp! The Budos Band is another outfit spawned by Bushwick, Brooklyn's Daptone Records label, some sort of collective of fake ethno funkateers responsible for such undeniably groovy projects as The Daktaris and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. These guys LIVE and breathe authentic '60s greasy groove, so you know their take on "Afro-soul" is gonna cross all the i's and dot all the t's... not that it sounds nearly that uptight. Not uptight at all, but definitely tight! This large 11 piece band, plus guests, featuring members of the Dap-Kings, Antibalas and the Sugarman 3 among others, is the stuff of grass-skirted Lalo Schifrin dreams -- dynamic and colorful instrumentals with a loungey '60s/'70s feel. Lotsa horns, percussion, electric guitar and bass with groovy organ (and even some funky flute) make this something that people who like the more jazz/funk entries in the Ethiopiques series, or aforementioned Afro-pop revivalists Antibalas, should consider checkin' out.
MPEG Stream: "Up From The South"
MPEG Stream: "Eastbound"

BUFF MEDWAYS, THE Medway Wheelers (Damaged Goods) cd 15.98

BUFFALO Average Rock n' Roller (Aztec) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BUFFALO Dead Forever (Aztec Music) cd 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Some of the AQ shoppin' stoner rock contingent certainly know Buffalo, an honest to gosh band of Australian proto-metal pioneers from the early '70s. 'Specially since we JUST last list raved about the Aztec label's newfangled reissues (digipacks, remastered, bonus tracks) of two of their other more Monster Magnet than Monster Magnet ever wuz albums, Volcanic Rock ('73) and Want You For Your Body ('74). As promised then, we also got this, the Aztec reissue of their prematurely tired-of-living debut from 1972, which you're also gonna want! Dead Forever (nice title, they had a knack for that) was originally released on Vertigo, and at the time Buffalo were probably tipped as an Aussie version of Vertigo best sellers Black Sabbath. Close, no cigar, but what they're smoking has its charms anyhoo. This album's a graveyard of grinding dirgey yeah-yeah-yeah rockers, the kind that demand (as the back cover literally does) you to "play this LOUD". You've got to 'cause this band's lurching riffs and electric psychedelic blues bashings need all the help they can get since producers back then didn't yet know exactly what real metal required (though this remastered edition is sounding heavier than the one we'd heard before). True, this has a few quiet, balladic numbers on it (not bad ones either) but will be 'specially valued for trudging lead-foot boogie blooze proto-DOOM like you get with the album-closing title track coffin-nail-hammerer, or their cover of Free's "I'm A Mover". For folks who also dig the similarly lost and wasted, stoned guitars and wailing vocals of such acts as Captain Beyond, Randy Holden, Juan de la Cruz, Toad, Leafhound, and Sir Lord Baltimore.
This reish has five bonus tracks, two from pre-Buffalo band Head's 1971 7" single, and three other non-album singles tracks from Buffalo circa '72, including a cover of Chuck Berry's "No Particular Place To Go".
MPEG Stream: "Leader"
MPEG Stream: "Pay My Dues"

BUFFALO Karma (Dias De Garage) cd 12.98
First off, this is the current, stoner rock Buffalo from Argentina, not the '70s stoner rock Buffalo from Australia. We reviewed this Buffalo's Temporada de Huracanes album a couple years ago, and also their more recent split with Astroqueen. Now they're back with an equally rockin', and equally Kyuss-y / Queens Of The Stone Age-y follow up. Yep, they might owe ol' Josh Homme a royalty check or two, but you can't fault 'em for doing what they do, really damn well. They've got big fuzzy guitars and big, desert rock melodies, that's for sure. Lots of moody / heavy dynamics. If you like their countrymen Los Natas, you should definitely give these guys a listen too. Imported on the slow boat from Argentina, so you gotta be patient if we run out...
MPEG Stream: "Una Casa"
MPEG Stream: "Karma"

BUFFALO Mother's Choice (Aztec) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BUFFALO Only Want You For Your Body (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We LOVE this band. You should love this band. How can you not, that is if you're lookin' for some proto-metal, psychedelic stoner '70s rawk action?? Buffalo is 100 percent the Real Deal. These Aussie rockers were basically what Monster Magnet (and all the other bands in the modern "stoner rock" scene) would have liked to be, doing it first and best back in the day. Once upon a time, we used to stock a 2-on-1 reissue of Buffalo's Volcanic Rock and Want You For Your Body albums (from '73 and '74, respectively) but that's been out of print for ages now. So we're super thrilled that the Aztec label from Down Under has brought Buffalo back into circulation, as part of a '70s reissue campaign featuring a bunch of other Aussie acts we're eager to check out, like Coloured Balls (reviews pending). Both of these Buffalo discs are authentically heavy '70s cock-rock from the band we've judged to be Australia's answer to, if not Black Sabbath, at least Grand Funk... no, better n' heavier than that. Sir Lord Baltimore, for sure. Did we say cock-rock? Hell, there's even a penis on the cover of Volcanic Rock! The lyrics are of the sort that amusingly confuse being sexist with being sexy (a la Spinal Tap), as in Want You's lead off track "I'm A Skirt Lifter, Not A Shirt Raiser", and they're delivered with much gusto and backed by some powerful guitar riffing that blows those stoner rock bands of today out of the (bong)water.
Volcanic Rock is unstoppable, definitely an aptly titled album. Music for rolling Mad Max style on the highways across the Australian outback. Bonus tracks include the single versions of crucial cuts "Sunrise (Come My Way)" and "Shylock". Want You For You Body is equally awesome, and features the powerful "Dune Messiah". Killer vocals on that one and you can't get much more '70s than a song about Frank Herbert's popular sci-fi classic, short of writing songs about Tolkien! Bonus tracks include a live version of "United Nations". And the fact that you can't get both albums on one disc anymore is made up for by the presence of the aforementioned bonus tracks on each cd, digital remastering, thick booklets, and generally nice presentation in digipacks.
So if you're a patron of our "proto-metal" section, into Blue Cheer and Bang and Leaf Hound and the like, you've gotta get Buffalo!!! Same deal if you're a fan of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Heavy Rocks style Boris, etc... Highly recommended.
[Also available, is the Aztec reish of Buffalo's debut Dead Forever, which we'll list next time!]
MPEG Stream: "I'm Coming On"
MPEG Stream: "Dune Messiah"

BUFFALO Temporada de Huracanes (Dias De Garage) cd 12.98
Another recent release from the same Argentinian stoner rock label that brought us that weird-ass Dragonauta album we highlighted on our last list. If the Dragonauta is somewhat akin to the more "progressive" direction taken by their fellow countrymen Los Natas on recent albums, then Buffalo hews closer to early Los Natas -- that is, they are heavily into the "desert rock" cult of Kyuss. Catchy, heavy, groovy stuff with some definite Josh Homme worship in the guitar dep't. But Kyuss isn't their only influence, as the first track "Gracias" makes clear -- it's a recording of someone fumbling with a cassette deck, playing snippets of classics by everyone from Sabbath to ZZ Top to the Misfits. But Buffalo come closer to Kyuss -- or actually, Homme's even more successful, post-Kyuss outfit Queens Of The Stone Age -- than anything else. And they're damn good too. Whatever they lack in originality they make up for in energy and attitude and musical talent. Not to mention that taking after QOTSA requires some measure of eccentricity -- spacey prog keyboards, musique concrete elements, and acoustic folk jams do get incorporated into their stoner rock ass-kickery as well. Good stuff! Includes live video Quicktime clips as well.
NB. not to be confused with the '70s Australian band Buffalo, though I'm surprised these guys weren't aware of those far-off forerunners to their sound.
MPEG Stream: "Rio Arriba"
MPEG Stream: "Pescando En La Marea"

BUFFALO Volcanic Rock (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We LOVE this band. You should love this band. How can you not, that is if you're lookin' for some proto-metal, psychedelic stoner '70s rawk action?? Buffalo is 100 percent the Real Deal. These Aussie rockers were basically what Monster Magnet (and all the other bands in the modern "stoner rock" scene) would have liked to be, doing it first and best back in the day. Once upon a time, we used to stock a 2-on-1 reissue of Buffalo's Volcanic Rock and Want You For Your Body albums (from '73 and '74, respectively) but that's been out of print for ages now. So we're super thrilled that the Aztec label from Down Under has brought Buffalo back into circulation, as part of a '70s reissue campaign featuring a bunch of other Aussie acts we're eager to check out, like Coloured Balls (reviews pending). Both of these Buffalo discs are authentically heavy '70s cock-rock from the band we've judged to be Australia's answer to, if not Black Sabbath, at least Grand Funk... no, better n' heavier than that. Sir Lord Baltimore, for sure. Did we say cock-rock? Hell, there's even a penis on the cover of Volcanic Rock! The lyrics are of the sort that amusingly confuse being sexist with being sexy (a la Spinal Tap), as in Want You's lead off track "I'm A Skirt Lifter, Not A Shirt Raiser", and they're delivered with much gusto and backed by some powerful guitar riffing that blows those stoner rock bands of today out of the (bong)water.
Volcanic Rock is unstoppable, definitely an aptly titled album. Music for rolling Mad Max style on the highways across the Australian outback. Bonus tracks include the single versions of crucial cuts "Sunrise (Come My Way)" and "Shylock". Want You For You Body is equally awesome, and features the powerful "Dune Messiah". Killer vocals on that one and you can't get much more '70s than a song about Frank Herbert's popular sci-fi classic, short of writing songs about Tolkien! Bonus tracks include a live version of "United Nations". And the fact that you can't get both albums on one disc anymore is made up for by the presence of the aforementioned bonus tracks on each cd, digital remastering, thick booklets, and generally nice presentation in digipacks.
So if you're a patron of our "proto-metal" section, into Blue Cheer and Bang and Leaf Hound and the like, you've gotta get Buffalo!!! Same deal if you're a fan of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Heavy Rocks style Boris, etc... Highly recommended.
[Also available, is the Aztec reish of Buffalo's debut Dead Forever, which we'll list next time!]
MPEG Stream: "Shylock"
MPEG Stream: "Freedom"

BUFFALO Volcanic Rock/Want You For Your Body (Second Battle) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Fans of the currently popular "stoner rock" contingent (Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet, Kyuss, that sort of thing) should definitely check out this 2-on-1 reissue of some authentic heavy '70s cock-rock, from Australia's answer to, if not Sabbath, at least Grand Funk...no, better than that. Did we say cock-rock? Hell, there's a penis on the cover. The lyrics are of the sort that confuse being sexist with being sexy, but are delivered with gusto and backed by some powerful riffing that could teach some 90's bands a thing or two for sure. If these dudes were around today, chances are they'd have a picture disc 10" out on Frank Kozik's Man's Ruin label...

BUFFALO 66 (SOUNDTRACK) (Will Records) cd 15.98
The original motion picture soundtrack to Vincent Gallo's wonderful movie, the music for which was written, composed, and performed by the multi-talented Gallo himself. Additional music by Yes (Gallo's favorite group of all time!), King Crimson, Stan Getz, Eddie Sauter, Nelson Riddle, and Vincent Gallo, Sr. (who really recorded the song that Ben Gazarra as the father sings in the movie!).

BUFFALO DAUGHTER I (Emperor Norton) cd 16.98
I never really got into Buffalo Daughter until I saw them live in, like, 1998 or something. And man, are they good live, and that's what has made me love their records. The band is two Japanese girls and a guy drummer who seems to change with each album. Anyway, when seen live, Buffalo Daughter's magic becomes clear -- they love Stereolab as much as they love Krautrock like Can and Neu!, as much as they love the weird bombasticism of fellow countrymen the Boredoms. Buffalo Daughter filters all that good stuff thru an art pop filter, coming up with a sound that is totally accessible and yet challenging and charmingly unpredictable. And they do it just on guitar, bass and drums, plus various judiciously-wielded electronics. Nothing unnecessary, nothing sweet, just kickbutt arty new rock. You never know where they're gonna take you next. I just love 'em. You will too. Get this fine new record or start with their best album 'New Rock'.
RealAudio clip: "Earth Punk Rockers"
RealAudio clip: "Ivory"
RealAudio clip: "Five Minutes"

BUFFALO DAUGHTER New Rock (Grand Royal) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanese female quartet mix power pop and funk and electronic noodling into a surprisingly appealing whole. Bonus points for throwing Gregg Turkington's "Great Phone Calls" pranks into the mix, barely there but so very there.

BUFFALO DAUGHTER New Rock (Grand Royal) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanese female quartet mix power pop and funk and electronic noodling into a surprisingly appealing whole. Bonus points for throwing Gregg Turkington's "Great Phone Calls" pranks into the mix, barely there but so very there.

BUFFALO DAUGHTER Sax, Drugs And Rock'n'roll (Grand Royal) 7" 3.98
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On this funky lil' 7", Buffalo Daughter bring us a live (and lively) recording from a show in Osaka. They've taken their wellknown song "Socks, Drugs And Rock'n'roll", and ditched the socks in favor of a little sax! Throw in some twisted vocoded vocals and the result is a fun, skronky sample of Buffalo Daughter live action. The b-side is a lovely sonic rendering of a jellyfish. Languid, dreamy, underwater/deepspace-y. A nice little release to tide us over 'til their next full length.

BUFFALO DAUGHTER Socks, Drugs, And Rock And Roll (Grand Royal) 12" 8.98
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Remixers include Alec Empire (very recognizable!), Stock, Hausen & Walkman, Money Mark, and U.N.K.L.E.

BUFFALO DAUGHTER Socks, Drugs, And Rock And Roll (Grand Royal) cdep 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Remixers include Alec Empire (very recognizable!), Stock, Hausen & Walkman, Money Mark, and U.N.K.L.E.

BUG Skeng (Hyperdub) 12" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BUG PEDALS, THE Sentuam / La De Da (self-released) 7" 2.98

BUG, THE Ganja (Ninja Tune) 12" 12.98

BUG, THE Ganja Baby (Acid Ranga) 7" 13.98
The second single in The Bug's (aka Kevin Martin, from God, Techno Animal, Ice, King Midas Sound, etc.) new Acid Ragga series/label, the first so limited, that we were never able to get enough of to list. And like that one, this is a killer, the sound fierce and furious, and like the name of the series lets on, this is indeed "acid ragga": big pulsing ragga beats, wreathed in a cloud of skittery snares, acid-y synth squelches, thick fuzzed out basslines, and on the A side, Daddy Freddy toasting over the top. Fans of the Bug will be in heaven, fierce and furious and funky as fuck.
The flipside offers up a similarly sonic template, wild swirls of insectoid snare fills, flitting constantly around that loping raga groove, more buzzy bass and super distorted synth squelch, Miss Red providing the vocals this time, her delivery, sassy and swaggery, a perfect match for the music underneath, both sides booming sound system killers, that we find ourselves listening to over and over, hankering for more more more!
Super swank packaging, yellow and blue printed silver reflective sleeves, pressed on yellow vinyl and if the first 7" is anything to go by, this one too is likely VERY LIMITED.

BUG, THE Gun Disease (Rephlex) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If you're already jonesing for some more Bug tracks, here's one more song for you. Well, a vocal and a dub, so almost two songs. This one features Cutty Ranks on the a-side. Yeah, it sucks that it's almost ten bucks for so little playtime, but then again it's a heavy fucking single; as good as any of the DJ Scud Ambush! 7"s.

BUG, THE Gun Disease (Rephlex) cd single 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If you're already jonesing for some more Bug tracks, here's one more song for you. Well, a vocal and a dub, so almost two songs. This one features Cutty Ranks on the a-side. Yeah, it sucks that it's almost ten bucks for so little playtime, but then again it's a heavy fucking single; as good as any of the DJ Scud Ambush! 7"s.
MPEG Stream: "Gun Disease"

BUG, THE Hardcore Lover (Acid Ragga) 7" 13.98
Third in this new 7" series of dancehall bangers from Kevin Martin aka The Bug, the A side of this one is a twisted mix of loping big beats and woozy tangled synths, sounding like some alien sound system, Warrior Queen toasting over the top, the end result like some playground double dutch jam, but cranked WAY up, and when the low end drops, it's some serious chest caving buzz and rumble punishment.
The flipside pulls from the same sonic palette, more squelchy sci-fi synths, this time though, the bass is slithery and fuzzed out, the vocals, all call and response, sing songy and swaggery and a little bit snarly too, courtesy of Miss Red, perfectly complimenting Martin's fierce digi-raga damage, which begins sort of dubbed out, but by the track's end has transformed into some dense digital skitter.
Pressed on bright yellow wax, housed in a super swank metallic silver and yellow sleeve, and if past 7"s in this series are any indication, these aren't gonna be around for long...

BUG, THE Infected (Ninja Tune) 2lp 17.98

MPEG Stream: "Catch A Fire"
MPEG Stream: "Poison Dart"

BUG, THE Infected (Ninja Tune) 2lp 17.98

MPEG Stream: "Catch A Fire"
MPEG Stream: "Poison Dart"

BUG, THE London Zoo (Ninja Tune) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hard to believe it's been 5 years since the last Bug full length. We were so obsessed with Pressure, it was exactly what we had been dreaming of, a disc of dancehall, but supercharged, the beats bigger, the toasting more tongue twisting and agile, the flows sick sick sick, the loops and music darker and more fucked up. Makes sense when you have a look at Kevin "The Bug" Martin's resume, having recorded as God, Ice, Techno Animal and Curse Of The Golden Vampire, so imagine classic dancehall filtered through all that cracked and noisy business. Fucking mind blowing. And it's not like Martin has been doing nothing since Pressure. There's been a steady flow of ep's and 12"s, singles and one-offs, but we were long overdue for another batch of damaged fractured fucked up and funky dancehall, and finally, here it is!
And it's so so good. Not quite as hard as Pressure, much more musical, but somehow all the better for it. The beats are still bangin', and the vocalists Martin has gathered are pretty top shelf: Tippa Irie, Ricky Ranking, Flowdan, Killa P, Warrior Queen, Spaceape and Roger Robinson. All of 'em on fire, and the tracks, total dancefloor destroyers, groovy, funky, a wild dancehall mashup, that stuttery beat in all its various permutations, simple looped Double Dutch repetition, skittery almost jungle, murky stripped down dubstep, pounding buzzing gabbery crunch, rubbery woozy shuffle, groovy late night minimal throb and several other variations.
It's hard to pick favorites, all the tracks are pretty amazing, although we're pretty partial to the songs featuring Ricky Ranking, the super hooky "Murder We", with it's growled buzzing verses, but then an insanely catchy chorus, with gorgeous vocals and lazer gun style FX, then there's the closer "Judgement" a sort of slow jam, but so washed out and fuzzy, menacing and sinister, complete with soulful breakdowns, which shift effortlessly into the growly buzz drenched verses (stick around too, after a few minutes of silence, there's a really beautiful outro). The Warrior Queen tracks are awesome too, especially "Poison Dart" with its school yard flow and rib cage rattling synth buzz, unfurling a weirdly catchy melody beneath pounding simple rhythms and WQ's wicked flow. "Fuckaz" with Spaceape is a pulsing throbbing groove, the vocals a sing songy flow, not nearly as murky and mean sounding as his collabs with Kode 9, and the opener "Angry" with Tippa Irie, is a super bouncy ragga jam, the beat so simple but so infectious, and the vocals again raspy and raw, perfectly balancing the wild bounce beneath. Hard to know what else to say. We're such suckers for dancehall, especially when it gets revved up a bit. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another 5 years.
MPEG Stream: "Angry ft. Tippa Irie"
MPEG Stream: "Murder We ft. Ricky Ranking"
MPEG Stream: "Fuckaz ft. Spaceape"

BUG, THE London Zoo (Ninja Tune) 3lp 45.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON THICK TRIPLE VINYL!!!
Hard to believe it's been 5 years since the last Bug full length. We were so obsessed with Pressure, it was exactly what we had been dreaming of, a disc of dancehall, but supercharged, the beats bigger, the toasting more tongue twisting and agile, the flows sick sick sick, the loops and music darker and more fucked up. Makes sense when you have a look at Kevin "The Bug" Martin's resume, having recorded as God, Ice, Techno Animal and Curse Of The Golden Vampire, so imagine classic dancehall filtered through all that cracked and noisy business. Fucking mind blowing. And it's not like Martin has been doing nothing since Pressure. There's been a steady flow of ep's and 12"s, singles and one-offs, but we were long overdue for another batch of damaged fractured fucked up and funky dancehall, and finally, here it is!
And it's so so good. Not quite as hard as Pressure, much more musical, but somehow all the better for it. The beats are still bangin', and the vocalists Martin has gathered are pretty top shelf: Tippa Irie, Ricky Ranking, Flowdan, Killa P, Warrior Queen, Spaceape and Roger Robinson. All of 'em on fire, and the tracks, total dancefloor destroyers, groovy, funky, a wild dancehall mashup, that stuttery beat in all its various permutations, simple looped Double Dutch repetition, skittery almost jungle, murky stripped down dubstep, pounding buzzing gabbery crunch, rubbery woozy shuffle, groovy late night minimal throb and several other variations.
It's hard to pick favorites, all the tracks are pretty amazing, although we're pretty partial to the songs featuring Ricky Ranking, the super hooky "Murder We", with it's growled buzzing verses, but then an insanely catchy chorus, with gorgeous vocals and lazer gun style FX, then there's the closer "Judgement" a sort of slow jam, but so washed out and fuzzy, menacing and sinister, complete with soulful breakdowns, which shift effortlessly into the growly buzz drenched verses (stick around too, after a few minutes of silence, there's a really beautiful outro). The Warrior Queen tracks are awesome too, especially "Poison Dart" with its school yard flow and rib cage rattling synth buzz, unfurling a weirdly catchy melody beneath pounding simple rhythms and WQ's wicked flow. "Fuckaz" with Spaceape is a pulsing throbbing groove, the vocals a sing songy flow, not nearly as murky and mean sounding as his collabs with Kode 9, and the opener "Angry" with Tippa Irie, is a super bouncy ragga jam, the beat so simple but so infectious, and the vocals again raspy and raw, perfectly balancing the wild bounce beneath. Hard to know what else to say. We're such suckers for dancehall, especially when it gets revved up a bit. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another 5 years.
MPEG Stream: "Angry ft. Tippa Irie"
MPEG Stream: "Murder We ft. Ricky Ranking"
MPEG Stream: "Fuckaz ft. Spaceape"

BUG, THE Poison Dart v. 1 (Ninja Tune) 12" 14.98

BUG, THE Poison Dart v. 2 (Ninja Tune) 12" 14.98

BUG, THE Pressure (Tigerbeat6) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We gotta hand it to Tigerbeat6 head honcho Miguel for giving this disc a domestic release and price. Released in the U.K. by Rephlex, "Pressure" is the second outing by Kevin Martin under the moniker of The Bug. While this guise may be a recent one for Mr. Martin, he's not a newcomer to the scene. You may already be familiar with his previous projects Techno Animal, Curse of the Golden Vampire, God and Ice (certainly not a curriculum vitae to be sneezed at). With The Bug though, Kevin attacks our lower intestinal tracts with some of the best hardcore dancehall we've heard in a long time. Residing somewhere between DJ Scud's pummelling gabber style Ambush! material and Timeblind's Three-Foot-Long Bong-Hit of a track "Rastabomba". It's exactly the dancehall cuts that what we here at Aquarius have been thirsting for. Whereas Scud's tracks, being instrumental, were totally insane over-the-top panacea style gabber, "Pressure" is primarily a true dancehall record, with toasting on every track. As such, Martin's rhythms tend to be stripped down more than Scud's. Which isn't to say they ain't hard. Under Wayne Lonesome's damaged toasting for "Fuck Y~Self" for instance is some busy as hell, noisy-assed rhythm that battles 10 rounds with Lonesome's growling. Along with Lonesome, toasters on this record include Daddy Freddy, Roger Robinson, Paul St. Hilaire, The Rootsman and more. A definite must for fans of Ward 21 and sundry other demented dancehall. Absolutely sick, absolutely essential!
MPEG Stream: "Beats, Bombs, Bass, Weapons"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck Y~Self"

BUG, THE Pressure (Rephlex) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Released on cd in the US on Kid606's Tigerbeat6 label (and reviewed on the last AQ list), we now finally have the import double lp version. "Pressure" is the second outing by Kevin Martin under the moniker of The Bug. While this guise may be a recent one for Mr. Martin, he's not a newcomer to the scene. You may already be familiar with his previous projects Techno Animal, Curse of the Golden Vampire, God and Ice (certainly not a curriculum vitae to be sneezed at). With The Bug though, Kevin attacks our lower intestinal tracts with some of the best hardcore dancehall we've heard in a long time. Residing somewhere between DJ Scud's pummelling gabber style Ambush! material and Timeblind's Three-Foot-Long Bong-Hit of a track "Rastabomba". It's exactly the dancehall cuts that what we here at Aquarius have been thirsting for. Whereas Scud's tracks, being instrumental, were totally insane over-the-top panacea style gabber, "Pressure" is primarily a true dancehall record, with toasting on every track. As such, Martin's rhythms tend to be stripped down more than Scud's. Which isn't to say they ain't hard. Under Wayne Lonesome's damaged toasting for "Fuck Y~Self" for instance is some busy as hell, noisy-assed rhythm that battles 10 rounds with Lonesome's growling. Along with Lonesome, toasters on this record include Daddy Freddy, Roger Robinson, Paul St. Hilaire, The Rootsman and more. A definite must for fans of Ward 21 and sundry other demented dancehall. Absolutely sick, absolutely essential!
MPEG Stream: "Beats, Bombs, Bass, Weapons"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck Y~Self"

BUG, THE Tapping The Conversation (WordSound) cd 11.98
There are so many amazing records, longtime aQ faves that sadly predate the aQ list, so thus never got reviewed, or often got a cursory one or two sentence write-up when we put it on the site some years later. We could probably do a hundred lists, just reviewing all the records we loved and raved about and sold in the store, before the aQ list got started. But, we often do try to go back pick some of our favorites, when we can get them, to revisit and relist, to hopefully expose them to a whole new audience. One old fave in particular that we just managed to get some copies of back in, after YEARS, is this, the debut from The Bug, one of the many projects of Kevin Martin (God, Techno Animal, etc.). But before it was strictly a Kevin Martin solo thing (eventually becoming his sort of modern hard ragga dancehall project), The Bug was in fact, at least on this disc, a quintet that featured Martin, along with most notably, DJ Vadim - and also Swiss reedsman Alex Buess from late great noise-jazz outfit 16-17!
This first Bug record was inspired by the '70s Gene Hackman thriller The Conversation, and according to the liner notes does NOT feature any samples, sonic or visual, from the movie. Is a dense, claustrophobic, paranoiac dub jam, that still sounds so good, and so vital all these years later. Longtime fans of WordSound, are already familiar with this sort of low slung illbient dub, all creepy crawly beats, buzzing burnt out blunted bass, the vibe dark and shadowy, sinister and ominous, but here, the minimal palette of later WordSound jams is greatly expanded, Buess' bass clarinet is the real star, adding melody and texture, a dark jazziness, often without really sounding like a horn at all. The tracks here are all dark, malevolent grooves, DJ Vadim adding weird crackle, as well as more texture, weaving mutated loops, constantly shifting layers, sheets of noise and murky sound effects, there's guitar too, but it seems to be mostly utilized to add texture, Martin overseeing the whole thing.
When this first came out, back in 1999 or thereabouts, we often fantasized about someone doing a modern remake of the Conversation, with this as the soundtrack, which on the one hand would have been kind of amazing, but on the other, a total travesty. As far as we're concerned (and we're guessing Martin would agree), the original movie is perfect, as was the original soundtrack by David Shire, and really Tapping The Conversation works just as well even without knowing its inspiration. So as an homage to one of the greatest movies of the seventies, it too is pretty much perfect.
MPEG Stream: "Harry's Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Invasion Of Privacy"
MPEG Stream: "Countdown To Elimination"
MPEG Stream: "Those Tapes Are Dangerous"

BUG, THE FEATURING WARRIOR QUEEN Aktion Pak (Rephlex) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A new Bug single and it's a doozy. Featuring the amazing (and new to us) Warrior Queen, who kicks so much ass that the tracks without her vocals seem wimpy and pale in comparison. So I guess it's good that most of the tracks on this ep do indeed feature her fierce toasting. Tack on a couple instrumentals / versions and a wicked final number featuring Ras B, and you've got a decent little chunk of bassbin rattling ragga brutality to hold us over 'til the next Bug full length. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Aktion Pak"
MPEG Stream: "Pain Yu A Ga Feel"