CHINESE STARS, THE Listen To Your Left Brain (Three One G) cd 14.98
2nd full-length from this Providence outfit, featuring ex-Arabs on Radar and Six Finger Satellites, kickin' out the slightly spazzed dancerock. Cool kids layin' down the synth-laced late night beat, singing about "Drugs And Sunshine" (an anthemic lead-off track, that one), getting high and being in love/lust. If we squint while listening, the vocals somehow remind us of the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli, fronting Erase Errata, but not quite.
MPEG Stream: "Drugs And Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Cold Cold"

CHINESE STARS, THE Listen To Your Left Brain (Skin Graft) lp 14.98
2nd full-length from this Providence outfit, featuring ex-Arabs on Radar and Six Finger Satellites, kickin' out the slightly spazzed dancerock. Cool kids layin' down the synth-laced late night beat, singing about "Drugs And Sunshine" (an anthemic lead-off track, that one), getting high and being in love/lust. If we squint while listening, the vocals somehow remind us of the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli, fronting Erase Errata, but not quite.
MPEG Stream: "Drugs And Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Cold Cold"

CHINESE STARS, THE Turbo Mattress (Skin Graft) cd ep 14.98
#1 cool thing about this band: This debut cd ep of theirs is shaped kinda like a Chinese throwing star! The music is equally jagged and dangerous, totally angular and (intentionally) aggravating, art punk spazz in that currently happenin' Erase Errata neo-retro '80s new wave/no wave 'danceable' punk style. Whiny vocals, nervous energy, fucked up groove. More cool things: they have cowbell. They're made up of ex-members of Arab On Radar and Six Finger Satellite. And Load Records deemed them too annoying to sign, so they went with Skin Graft where they definitely belong. Seriously, this IS pretty cool. 5 songs, 14 minutes, great packaging.
MPEG Stream: "Arson Hotline"

CHIODOS Bone Palace Ballet (Equal Vision) cd 14.98

CHIODOS All's Well That Ends Well (Equal Vision) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Every time I sit down to review this record, I just can't seem to put into words what makes it so great. But as this is the last list of 2005, and this record is absolutely my favorite record of 2005, it seems like it can't be put off any longer. But it's true, I listen to this record every day, all the time. And even after months of non-stop listening I still can't get enough of it.
I'm a bit embarassed to say I first heard about Chiodos in some magazine touting them as a 'band to watch' or 'next big thing' or something. And rarely do I pay much attention to those sorts of things, but a few things definitely caught my eye. They were described as being really heavy, really ridiculously prog, a little emo, and with a vocalist who sounded quite a bit like a woman. And you know what, that's not really that far off the mark. Imagine the over the top prog of Coheed And Cambria and the proggy bombast of the Mars Volta, the angular art rock of a band like the Blood Brothers, some super intense Slayer style metal guitar, lots of piano and keyboards, ranging from delicate ballady bits to full on Cradle Of Filth style bombast, extremely emo lyrics, and a completely amazing vocalist who can go from a throat shredding howl to an impossibly high wail. Wrap all that stuff around super complex multi part epics chock full of killer riffs and unbelievable hooks, amazing drumming bizarre arrangements, and vocals that are just so completely are gloriously over the top. Some parts of this record are just SO massively punishingly crushing. Full on headbanging brutality. The opening riff to "The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined" would make any thrash metal band proud. Just check the sound sample.
This is also one of those records that has lots of THOSE parts, you know the kind, the parts that give you chills EVERY time you hear them, or make you use every ounce of self control to not wildly air guitar or drum madly on the steering wheel while you're driving. One of which just might be THE part, maybe the ULTIMATE part. Freaks me out every time I hear it. Makes me want to hear it over and over and over. Makes me wish I had written it, makes me wish I was in a band just so I could play it. Check out the sound sample for "Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek" and see if you can tell which part I mean. Shouldn't be too difficult. The fact is, this whole record kicks my ass that hard. Rare that a record can pull off being this heavy, this complex, this emo, this over the top all at the same time. Without devolving into something impossible and confusing. And it is wildy all over the map, sonically schizophrenic, but somehow every part just sounds completely perfect. The more I listen to it the more perfect it sounds. Anyway, not sure what else to say. It all comes down to the music, so a quick listen to the sound samples should tell you all you need to know, is this indeed the best record of the year, or is Andee full of shit? Well, just so you know, this IS the record of the year, and if for some crazy reason you don't agree, you're probably just mistaken. Or wrong.
MPEG Stream: "All Nereids Beware"
MPEG Stream: "Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek"
MPEG Stream: "The Words 'Best Friends' Become Redefined"
MPEG Stream: "Expired in Goreville"

CHIODOS All's Well That Ends Well (Equal Vision) cd + dvd 14.98
We'll take any excuse we can get to relist this, Andee's FAVORITE record of 2005. Some might shout "guilty pleasure" but there is no guilt involved. Not one single bit. Heavy and catchy and weird and so gloriously chaotic and freaked out. This reissue features three bonus tracks, two acoustic and one demo as well as a bonus disc with 5 live performances, some home movies and a music video. Even more reason to buy this if you didn't before:
Every time I sit down to review this record, I just can't seem to put into words what makes it so great. But as this is the last list of 2005, and this record is absolutely my favorite record of 2005, it seems like it can't be put off any longer. But it's true, I listen to this record every day, all the time. And even after months of non-stop listening I still can't get enough of it.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I first heard about Chiodos in some magazine touting them as a 'band to watch' or 'next big thing' or something. And rarely do I pay much attention to those sorts of things, but a few things definitely caught my eye. They were described as being really heavy, really ridiculously prog, a little emo, and with a vocalist who sounded quite a bit like a woman. And you know what, that's not really that far off the mark. Imagine the over the top prog of Coheed And Cambria and the proggy bombast of the Mars Volta, the angular art rock of a band like the Blood Brothers, some super intense Slayer style metal guitar, lots of piano and keyboards, ranging from delicate ballady bits to full on Cradle Of Filth style bombast, extremely emo lyrics, and a completely amazing vocalist who can go from a throat shredding howl to an impossibly high wail. Wrap all that stuff around super complex multi part epics chock full of killer riffs and unbelievable hooks, amazing drumming bizarre arrangements, and vocals that are just so completely are gloriously over the top. Some parts of this record are just SO massively punishingly crushing. Full on headbanging brutality. The opening riff to "The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined" would make any thrash metal band proud. Just check the sound sample.
This is also one of those records that has lots of THOSE parts, you know the kind, the parts that give you chills EVERY time you hear them, or make you use every ounce of self control to not wildly air guitar or drum madly on the steering wheel while you're driving. One of which just might be THE part, maybe the ULTIMATE part. Freaks me out every time I hear it. Makes me want to hear it over and over and over. Makes me wish I had written it, makes me wish I was in a band just so I could play it. Check out the sound sample for "Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek" and see if you can tell which part I mean. Shouldn't be too difficult. The fact is, this whole record kicks my ass that hard. Rare that a record can pull off being this heavy, this complex, this emo, this over the top all at the same time. Without devolving into something impossible and confusing. And it is wildly all over the map, sonically schizophrenic, but somehow every part just sounds completely perfect. The more I listen to it the more perfect it sounds. Anyway, not sure what else to say. It all comes down to the music, so a quick listen to the sound samples should tell you all you need to know, is this indeed the best record of the year, or is Andee full of shit? Well, just so you know, this IS the record of the year, and if for some crazy reason you don't agree, you're probably just mistaken. Or wrong.
MPEG Stream: "All Nereids Beware"
MPEG Stream: "Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek"
MPEG Stream: "The Words 'Best Friends' Become Redefined"
MPEG Stream: "Expired in Goreville"

CHION, MICHEL Requiem (Sub Rosa) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CHIPFARM s/t (God Mountain) cd 19.98
Back in stock, another God Mountain release that many feared was out of print. Chipfarm was a weird East-West collaboration that combined the talents of downtown NYC musicians Zeena Parkins (electric harp) and Elliot Sharp (electric guitar) with Japanese avant-rock acts Optical*8 and Melt-Banana! They appear in various combinations throughout the disc, never all at once though. We know there's got to be a few Melt-Banana fans out there still looking for this, for the tracks in which M-B participate.

CHISATO YAMADA Fantastic World (PSF) cd 22.00
(From recent Forced Exposure update penned by the solemn J. Johnson): PSF debut by Chisato Yamada, the godfather of Tsugaru Jamisen (the traditional three-stringed folk instrument from the north of Japan -- also played by Zorn hero Michihiro Sato). Here Yamada's amazingly vibrant, percussive attack and spirit power are featured in two avant settings. Two tracks recorded late last year feature Keiji Haino on guitar and percussion, amply fulfilling Kan Mikami's prediction that these two masters would create create a fuckin' immense music if they ever met. The other three tracks are a suite for contemporary flute/percussion trio and tsugaru-jamisen, composed by Ken'ei Sasamori, recorded in 1978 and promptly lost for the next 17 years. Yamada is a true out-on-the-edge innovator, and these classic recordings prove that his experimental leanings have a long history. Yamada's age (he's now in his sixties) has only served to increase his unique power and authority. An essential, and too little known voice!

CHOIR PRACTICE, THE s/t (Mint) cd 16.98
Ahhhh, here's one you can take home to mom. Heck, you could even play it at grandma's house too! The Choir Practice are ten Vancouverite voices raised in song. Their debut album on Mint Records sounds like equal parts highschool vocal class, The Free Design and maybe a bit of Langley Schools Music Project too. While there are indeed some luminaries of the city's indie music scene gussying up the roster -- namely choir leader Coco Culbertson (The Gay, A.C. Newman Band), Kurt Dahle (New Pornographers) and Larissa Loyva (P:ano) -- there are also some dulcet-piped members whose resumes do not boast anything of the tuneful sort. There's a fashion designer, a radio producer, a photographer, a filmmaker, and a florist even! We all know that Canadian songstresses and songsmiths have a history of abundant earnestness that can inadvertently dribble into syrup territory (maple-flavored?), and The Choir Practice are unabashedly miquetoast. But for the most part, their soft pop sleigh ride glides gracefully through the Rockies... as if the peaks were frosted with vanilla buttercream instead of snow. The group's sweet sense of naivete strikes notes of endearment rather than saccharine ickiness. Their debut album's highs soar up into the fluffy cloud laced baby blue sky ("Failsafe"). The few falterings however almost seem comical. Seriously, when you hear the lyrics to songs such as "Loose Lips" (yes, they "sink ships"), you can't believe they're singing with straight faces. Leaves you wondering if the lyricist has a serious irony addiction or what? Nonetheless if you like Lavender Diamond or perhaps are seeking a less energetic Polyphonic Spree, this is soooo for you!
MPEG Stream: "Failsafe"
MPEG Stream: "Loose Lips"

CHOMSKY, NOAM The New War On Terrorism (AK Press) cd 13.98
This is a recording of the speech Noam Chomsky gave at MIT one month after September 11th, dealing with the way that US foreign policy has contributed to terrorism in places like Turkey, the Middle East and Latin America. Chomsky clearly points out the absurdities of the American military action against Afghanistan as part of the "War on Terror," which has now morphed into an impending war on Iraq. While the situation in Afghanistan has dropped from the headlines (and even back pages for that matter), and this speech assumes some basic knowledge of US-led atrocities abroad and therefore takes on a bit of a preaching-to-the-choir tone, Chomsky provides some very interesting information on foreign policy matters (including many examples of the USA's total disregard for international law, even more examples of which, unfortunately, just may be cropping up in the near future). What's funny is that many of his examples are quoted from sources like the Wall Street Journal and Christian Science Monitor -- far from being an extreme voice, Chomsky simply reaches incredibly common-sense conclusions from readily available information, albeit information the power elite in our country happily ignore, comfortable in the knowledge that the American people will do the same. Scary stuff.

CHOP SHOP Oxide (23five) cd 14.98
LAST COPIES AVAILABLE!!! When we heard that one of our favorite noise albums was nearly out of print, we grabbed a bunch. If you've not gotten a hold of this album, this is probably your last chance! Here's what we said about it a while back...
Akita. Menche. Blankenship. Dilloway. These are the men of noise with discographies the size of small town phone books, proving their might in the international noise community by the sheer audaciousness of their output. But then again, you might really only need a single testament to stake your claim as one of the greatest noise musicians. Chop Shop has chosen the latter tactic, with Oxide being that sole document, after a relatively tiny back catalogue of cassette only releases, a couple of cd-rs, and two infamous 10"s. Both released through RRR, the first was the Steel Plate 2x10" that was literally bound to a steel plate; and the second was a split 10" with Small Cruel Party that was literally cut in half, making playback a dangerous proposition for the needle on your record player. Both of those releases have long been out of print; and despite the hushed respect that those 10"s demand, Chop Shop has kept a low profile. A very low profile. Hence, after a career that has spanned nearly two decades, Oxide is his first proper cd. And it's stunning.
The sole proprietor of Chop Shop is New York based noise technician Scott Konzelmann, whose audio demolition revolves around speaker constructions forged out of hammered plate metal and disfigured commercial grade pipes, which focus particular frequencies and resonant overtones into swarming orchestras of rust, noise, drone, and static. Tape has long been Konzelmann's medium of choice for recording; and like William Basinski before him, Konzelmann endures the self-disintegration of the medium whilst transcribing the sounds of Oxide digitally. Where Basinski's vocabulary of decay is all romance and melancholy, Konzelmann's is muscular and urgently present. Oxide offers a metallurgist's din where compressed air strikes hard steel and machine vibrations generate noxious resonant frequencies in neighboring vents. Konzelmann composes the old school way, with a razor blade and pieces of tape, generating jump cut edits alongside the self-generated debris from the magnetic literally falling apart. These grey, dead-tech drones thus rupture and explode along the faultlines of those edits, and Oxide emerges as a forceful, dynamic album without resorting to puerile shock tactics. This is a seriously great noise album for anybody with a passing interest in Broken Flag, Hansen Records, or early Hafler Trio.
MPEG Stream: "Oxide (extract 1) "
MPEG Stream: "Oxide (extract 2)"
MPEG Stream: "Oxide (extract 3)"

CHOPIN, HENRI Audiopoems (? Records) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Collection of this premier French soundpoem artist's work from 1956 to 1980, including stereo voice/breathing pieces and very cool stuttering electronics. Definitely for fans of the San Francisco Tape Music Center all-stars (Oliveros, Subotnick, Reich). Recommended.

CHORD Flora (Neurot) cd 14.98
Avid readers of our blog probably already got a taste of Chord, a high concept super group, who craft longform compositions, each one the sonic realization of a single chord. Some folks might remember the group Physics from San Diego, a group who did something similar, with a revolving lineup, at one time or another featuring most famous or semi famous San Diego rockers among their ranks, and who typically featured multiple guitarists, all playing a single chord, quite often a C chord.
The group Chord, featuring one member of Pelican along with several other Chicago area musicians, are bit more highbrow with their 'Chords'. This record displaying four of them: Am, Am7, E9 and Gmaj(flat 13). As we mentioned in our blog post too, for an April Fool's Day a while back we imagined the ultimate doomdrone record where Earth, Boris and SUNNO))) would each play one not of a chord, and that chord would be the release. Well, how prescient were we?
Here the players are each assigned a note but are allowed to do whatever they like with that note, octave, timbre, playing style, effects, the various players letting their notes drift and intertwine with the other notes, the resulting chord a lush, cloud of sound, constantly shifting and transforming, changing shape, slipping from hushed shimmer to corrosive buzz and back again, sometimes building to a Sunroof!-like wall of sound, other times, so minimal it seems to be just particles and fragments floating in an expanse of soft focus whirs and whispers. Some parts are simple and strummed and sound like a proper song, but those parts soon blossom into something much more layered and abstract. A Minor is our favorite chord, and the Am track here just completely fries the chord, a cacophonous chaotic wall of crumbling churning super distorted buzz and skree, blurred into an almost hypnotic slab of corrosive pulsing noise. It's all quite dramatic and epic, quite beautiful, stately at certain moments, almost chaotic and crumbling at others, anyone into Conrad, Cale, Maclise, Flynt and especially Branca and Chatham will definitely dig this. As well as guitardrone freaks who count Fear Falls Burning, RST, Seconds In Formaldehyde, Elm, Continuum and the like among their favorites.
MPEG Stream: "Gmaj (flat13)"
MPEG Stream: "Am"

CHORD Progression (Important) cd 14.98
The return of high concept ambient dronescapers Chord, a sort-of side project of post metal heavies Pelican. Chord, as their name implies, only ever play a single chord, each track a different one, this time around it's EbMaj9, Gm11 and D6. Sounds boring, but it really isn't, in fact probably most drone outfits play one chord their whole career, but this, this is something more, with each member contributing a note, the notes forming a chord, and all of them playing different instruments, different tempos and timbres, the guitars shimmer warmly, the piano (?), swirls and drifts in a sea of hazy reverb, there seems to be some burbling bass too, it's all woven into something lush and dreamy, hypnotic and mesmerizing.
When we reviewed the first Chord album, we pointed out that we had come up with the idea of a 'chord' band on our April Fool's list way back when, with SUNNO))), Earth and Boris each tackling one of the notes, to make a mighty E chord. We still like to think that's where they got the idea. We also mentioned the late great Physics, a San Diego supergroup who always played a C, long spaced out jams, with multiple guitar players, always C. But as we mentioned before, Chord is a much more thoughtful project, definitely on the nerdy side of the spectrum, I mean, they made a song called "EbMaj9", and the group is as much about concept for the players as it is about the sound, but whatever the inspiration, the resulting soundscapes play out like our favorite guitardrone records. Smoldering slow burning expanses of deep layered thrum, hazy, washed out drifts of abstract choral blur. Whereas the other record occasionally built into Sunroof!-worthy squalls, Progression seems to be much more minimal, hushed and restrained, the only deviation is near the end of the epic 40 minute "Gm11", where things get full on heavy, a crushing avalanche of crumbling, superdistorted, blur and buzz, before slipping into the final track, a surprising bit of twang flecked folkiness, wreathed in a hazy buzz, and underpinned by some FX shimmer, but otherwise, sun dappled and dreamy, and for the record, all in the chord of D6.
And speaking of single chords, the most recent Austerity Program, besides being an awesome record, did something similar, in that they only ever used one chord, for the whole record, the band was appalled that no one noticed, but it just goes to show you what someone can do with a single chord, making more with less, a concept that Chord also embody, especially considering their sound has most definitely blossomed into something much more than just a quirky concept. Really great. And WAY recommended for fans of Fear Falls Burning, Final, R.Y.N., Elm, RST, Vulture Club and other practitioners of guitardronedrift.
And just to make things totally confusing, the cd and the lp are TOTALLY different. Progressions is a single collection of songs spread out over both formats, so the record starts on the cd, and continues on the lp, the music on each exclusive to that format. So if you do want ALL of Progression, you have to buy both, although most folks would probably be fine with one or the other.
MPEG Stream: "EbMaj9 (Descent)"
MPEG Stream: "Gm11 (Pelagic)"

CHORD Progression (Important) 2lp 22.00
The return of high concept ambient dronescapers Chord, a sort-of side project of post metal heavies Pelican. Chord, as their name implies, only ever play a single chord, each track a different one, this time around it's EbMaj9, Gm11 and D6. Sounds boring, but it really isn't, in fact probably most drone outfits play one chord their whole career, but this, this is something more, with each member contributing a note, the notes forming a chord, and all of them playing different instruments, different tempos and timbres, the guitars shimmer warmly, the piano (?), swirls and drifts in a sea of hazy reverb, there seems to be some burbling bass too, it's all woven into something lush and dreamy, hypnotic and mesmerizing.
When we reviewed the first Chord album, we pointed out that we had come up with the idea of a 'chord' band on our April Fool's list way back when, with SUNNO))), Earth and Boris each tackling one of the notes, to make a mighty E chord. We still like to think that's where they got the idea. We also mentioned the late great Physics, a San Diego supergroup who always played a C, long spaced out jams, with multiple guitar players, always C. But as we mentioned before, Chord is a much more thoughtful project, definitely on the nerdy side of the spectrum, I mean, they made a song called "EbMaj9", and the group is as much about concept for the players as it is about the sound, but whatever the inspiration, the resulting soundscapes play out like our favorite guitardrone records. Smoldering slow burning expanses of deep layered thrum, hazy, washed out drifts of abstract choral blur. Whereas the other record occasionally built into Sunroof!-worthy squalls, Progression seems to be much more minimal, hushed and restrained, the only deviation is near the end of the epic 40 minute "Gm11", where things get full on heavy, a crushing avalanche of crumbling, superdistorted, blur and buzz, before slipping into the final track, a surprising bit of twang flecked folkiness, wreathed in a hazy buzz, and underpinned by some FX shimmer, but otherwise, sun dappled and dreamy, and for the record, all in the chord of D6.
And speaking of single chords, the most recent Austerity Program, besides being an awesome record, did something similar, in that they only ever used one chord, for the whole record, the band was appalled that no one noticed, but it just goes to show you what someone can do with a single chord, making more with less, a concept that Chord also embody, especially considering their sound has most definitely blossomed into something much more than just a quirky concept. Really great. And WAY recommended for fans of Fear Falls Burning, Final, R.Y.N., Elm, RST, Vulture Club and other practitioners of guitardronedrift.
And just to make things totally confusing, the cd and the lp are TOTALLY different. Progressions is a single collection of songs spread out over both formats, so the record starts on the cd, and continues on the lp, the music on each exclusive to that format. So if you do want ALL of Progression, you have to buy both, although most folks would probably be fine with one or the other.
MPEG Stream: "EbMaj9 (Descent)"
MPEG Stream: "Gm11 (Pelagic)"

CHORD FORT, THE Smile Louder / Regions Of Memory (3 Acre Floor / Paha Porvari) cd ep 5.98
You can just imagine a bunch of rambunctious childlike outsider artists and freak folk musicians deciding to get all their old sofa cushions and broken instruments and stuffed animals to build a big old Chord Fort in the corner of their practice space / crash pad. And this is sort of the musical equivalent. Jason Honea (who you might remember from Jewelled Antler outfits The Child Readers, the Franciscan Hobbies, as well as the Knit Separates and Teenage Panzercorps) teams up with a couple of other musical miscreants to build their very own Chord Fort, a super lo-fi Steve Reich-ish meditation, a slowly shifting keyboard figure, swathed in tape hiss and fuzzy sonic detritus. Totally mesmerizing, the melody only barely wavering, the fuzz and hiss becoming more and more agitated in the background. The track is titled "Smile Louder" and you can almost imagine hear a face trying to sustain a huge smile for the whole 8 minutes, his muscles twitching, the strain showing on his face, beads of sweat dripping into his eyes, the genuine toothy smile slowly becoming more of a sneer as the corners of his mouth begin to droop. It's a gorgeously tense minimalist exploration. "Smile Louder" is followed up by an ultra brief, one minute long, dreamy ambient coda, a warm whir beneath simple chimes, children's voices and a creepy music box melody.
Another gorgeously packaged cd-r -- full color cover, an amazing painting, printed inside as well, a folded over, textured paper insert, and the disc is professionally printed and quite striking.
Only 9 minutes long, but also only six bucks!
MPEG Stream: "Smile Louder"

CHRIS & COSEY Exotika (CTI) lp 21.00
While Exotika is the fourth and final volume of Chris & Cosey's reissue campaign, this is not the fourth record in their discography. That designation goes to the 1985 album Techno Primitiv, and while there might be some reason for this chronological anomaly, here we have the 1987 album Exotica. At this point in the history of Chris & Cosey, the two had been collecting a considerable amount of gear, expanding upon the voltage control Gristlising machines Chris built for Throbbing Gristle and working with a much more complex MIDI set-up alongside a bunch of Roland drum machines, bass sequencers, and the like (There's a long interview with Chris Carter geeking out over all the gear, for those who may want to know what he was using out of the box). All of this was certainly at the cutting edge of technology in 1987, but you get the sense that Chris & Cosey might have had too many ideas for the technology to handle. The punchy rhythms which drove a good number of their earlier records (and some of the TG tracks as well) move on Exotica at a downtempo electro pace, as if the speed of each tune needed to be slow enough for all of the MIDI gear to catch up to without crapping out. Regardless, Chris & Cosey work well with this slinky, disjointed electro pacing that's always punctuated with a whipcrack of the snare for a seductive, dominatrix vibe. "Dancing On Your Grave" is a particularly choice track, noted more for Cosey's uncharacteristic operatic style of singing which meant bellowing the lyrics instead of whispering them as a sultry spell. "BeatBeatBeat" finds Cosey purposefully clipping her words to match the stream of movie dialogue snippets, moans, screams, and howls that decorate all of the percolating electronics and minimal wave surface tension. The production on Exotica is particularly clean, even as they've polished up all of these early recordings for this vinyl remastering. Here, the duo are more in line with the British avant-pop constructions of He Said, Art Of Noise, and some of the more disjointed moments of New Order.

CHRIS & COSEY Heartbeat (CTI) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Throbbing Gristle ceased to exist (for the first time) in 1981, shortly after the transgressive industrialists performed in San Francisco in May of that year. TG were deft in their manipulation of media, ominously stating that "The Mission is terminated," with the 'mission' referring to their numerous stark proclamations against society at large conjoined with their adventurous manglings of noise, rhythm, and atonality. But there's another rather self-evident historical fact: that TG's Genesis P-Orridge broke up with fellow bandmate & long-term partner Cosey Fanny Tutti. Shortly thereafter, Cosey and fellow TG member Chris Carter struck out on their own (with a romantic partnership not far behind), and later on in 1981, Chris & Cosey released their first solo project, the minimal wave / synthpunk masterpiece Heartbeat. In TG, Carter's propensity for beguiling electronic melodies and disco rhythms could be heard on such classic tracks as "United" and "Hot On The Heels Of Love." Both of these were signature tracks for Carter's aesthetic, which espoused an economic proto-techno approach to drum machine rhythms and heavily sequenced electro pulse melodies. Such has been the template for Chris & Cosey's sound since.
"Put Yourself In Los Angeles" opens the album with a dizzying percolation of flanged electronics which snaps into a militant march of Cosey's gnashed guitars locked against barked samples of a lunatic radio host and insistent rhythms. At least on this track, it's easy to hear the influence that Chris & Cosey would have on the likes of Front 242, Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails. Other tracks such as the metronomic spiralling of "Voodoo" and the downright pastoral birdsounds of "Moorby" looked back to the Krautrock electronic meanderings of Cluster. "Just Like You" is one of Chris & Cosey's finest tracks, oozing with paranoia and dread throughout the slashed noises and found dialogue haunting the minimalist techno-horror sequencing and sustained minor-key melodies. The title track completes the album brilliantly by looking forward to any number of Detroit-inspired techno trax with double timed rhythms emerging out of maudlin, if cybernetic melodies and electronic-pop propulsive sequencing that really does act as a bridge between the realm of Kraftwerk and the British new wave that was bubbling up around Chris & Cosey back in the day. An absolute classic!
MPEG Stream: "Put Yourself In Los Angeles"
MPEG Stream: "Just Like You"
MPEG Stream: "Heartbeat"

CHRIS & COSEY Songs Of Love & Lust (CTI) lp 21.00
Album number three from the electronic pioneers Chris & Cosey is Songs Of Love & Lust, which originally came out on Rough Trade back in 1984. It was on this album that the signature sounds of Chris & Cosey really developed as something other than what they managed to produce in Throbbing Gristle. It may not be a surprise that this was also around the same time that the other former TG members began to really flourish in their own projects with Psychic TV's masterful Dreams Less Sweet and the epic Scatology record by Coil. Here, on Songs Of Love & Lust, Chris & Cosey were polishing their electro / minimal wave surfaces with hypnotic cascades of arpeggiating synths, plucky drum machinations, and outright majestic swells of electronic wash. A handful of these tracks clearly became anthemic floorfillers that inspired acid house in Chicago, EBM in Belgium, and the Detroit / Berlin axis of techno. "Walking Through Heaven" is one such track with its soaring sustained electronics counterpointing all of the scintillatingly brilliant sequencing. Chris Carter had long been a non-ironic fan of Abba, and yes, he was responsible for the cold-sex disco TG classic "Hot On The Heels Of Love" which essentially eviscerated the Abba structures of baroque disco down to a skeletal rhythm with an uncomfortably breathy sensuality thanks to Cosey's vocals. And the ghosts of "Hot On The Heels Of Love" and "United" (another stellar Carter engineered TG song) emerge within this album (e.g. "Love Cuts," "Chiron" and "Driving Blind"), although they are wholly detacted from the grand guignol commentaries of TG. Rather, Chris & Cosey spoke more of a cybernetic sensuality, embracing the technologies around them as a means of expressing, well songs of love and lust. This album has held up remarkably well, and is required listening for anybody who's been gobbling up anything on Dark Entries, Minimal Wave, Anna Logue, or Vinyl-on-Demand.

CHRIS & COSEY Trance (CTI) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second record released in 1982 from former Throbbing Gristle alumni Chris Carter and Cosey Fanny Tutti still mines the coldwave and industrial electro aesthetics of their debut, Heartbeat (reviewed elsewhere on this list). But it may be their least regarded record due to its more removed soundtrack feel, exploring supposed realms of medieval chants and non-Western religious music, buried as they are under stuffy rhythms, slithery washes and ambient death-disco permutations. Apparently the band and label, Rough Trade had a dispute over the retail price of the record (our original copy says in printed type along the bottom edge "Please Note: Mid-Priced Record") and moved to various other labels shortly after, so it's hard to say if Trance got any real promotion at all. That's not to say Trance is not a worthy album, but its murky combination of earthy propulsive synthesis and detached ritualism make it less instantly accessible than their debut. Trance works best as a connected suite of songs, than individual tracks, a lot like Demdike Stare's twisted soundscapes, which share Chris & Cosey's fascination with an arcane British-ness. Especially the final two tracks, "Until" and "The Gates of Ancient Cities", which are two of our favorite C&C tracks ever, partially because they offer a shimmer of light from what preceded them and make a beautiful pastoral move towards grace.

CHRISMA Chinese Restaurant (Medical Records) lp 19.98

CHRISMA Chinese Restaurant (Medical Records) lp 19.98

CHRISMA Hibernation (Medical Records) lp 19.98

CHRISMA Hibernation (Medical Records) lp 19.98

CHRIST ON PARADE Sounds Of Nature (Neurot) cd 10.98

MPEG Stream: "Drop Out"
MPEG Stream: "The Plague - Mirror Image"
MPEG Stream: "Thoughts Of War"

CHRISTA PFANGEN Watch Me Getting Back The End (Die Schachtel) cd 17.98
The Die Schachtel label's "Zeit" series devoted to current acts from the Italian avant-garde/indie-rock underground has a couple new releases out now -- discs by Christa Pfangen (reviewed here) and Angelo Petronella (which we'll try to get to next time). The Zeit series started off with the fabulous self-titled album by a band simply named A, hopefully you've checked that one out already (we highlighted it on list 248). This cd is almost just as good. Their fragmented, abstract electro-acoustics, and use of silence as well as sound, definitely puts Christa Pfangen in the same experimental ballpark as A, 3/4hadbeeneliminated, Giuseppe Ielasi, Stefano Pilia, Renato Rinaldi, Larsen, Sinistri/Starfuckers, and other artists from this happenin' scene. Playing "guitars, drums, voices, objects, electroacoustic devices", Christa Pfangen is in fact a duo, comprised of Andrea Belfi (who also has a new solo album out on Hapna by the way) and Mattia Coletti. These ladies have named their band Christa PFANGEN in some sort of odd tribute to Nico, whose real name was Christa PAFFGEN...but beyond that we don't think this has much to do with Nico or her music, though maybe there's some harmonium on here somewhere!
A tangle of nervous drumming and ambient drones, all staticky and stuttery, Watch Me Getting Back The End is both challenging and pretty... they've got a moody melodiousness to 'em not unlike 3/4hadbeeneliminated, or Jewelled Antler projects such as Thuja and the Blithe Sons. Certainly there's a lot here for even the not-so-experimental indie pop fan to mellow out to. String-born notes fall like leaves from a tree, melodies blow away in a gentle wind of drone, whispering voices caress the ear... so nice!
As with all Die Schachtel stuff, the packaging is super spiffy -- a digipak with embossed cover art.
MPEG Stream: "I'm Leaving"
MPEG Stream: "The Nail, The Eye"

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS Agony And Opium (20 Buck Spin) cd 10.98
First, a couple things, we doubt that these rockers are Christian, and the only lady in the band seems more like a "Ms." than a Mistress. But, yeah, that's a very metal sounding name ain't it?? Now, we know that '70s and '80s influenced heavy metal isn't everyone's cup of tea, but then neither is doomdronedirge or lo-fi garage pop or groovy porno soundtracks or lots of other things... and we wouldn't be being true to ourselves if we didn't make this a Record Of The Week! After all, some of us here have done nothing but listen to this non-stop since it showed up. Plus, maybe this IS your cup of tea and you wouldn't have known that if we didn't really push it.
For those of you who are into traditional metal sounds, like those of the NWOBHM (and thus know what NWOBHM stands for), Christian Mistress should be an immediate hit. Everyone else, well, if you're gonna get just ONE heavy metal record this year, it'd be pretty cool (for you) if it was this one.
The debut from Olympia's Christian Mistress, actually looks more crusty punk than heavy metal, and comes out on a label better known for doom and sludge than "True" heavy metal. Yet this is true all right. Not only boasting shredding twin guitars, but melodies and SONGS, and a singer, Christine Davis, who not only can sing but has a "VOICE". Sorry for the all caps, and quotes, but we're excited. What we mean is, she's got a voice that is unique and memorable, as well as being able to carry a tune. Pretty special in this day and age. We'd probably have to compare her, among female metal vocalists, to Kate De Lombaert from '80s Belgian band Acid, not that we expect everybody to know who that is... Davis could also appeal to fans of Hammers Of Misfortune, and Jex Thoth, though she doesn't sound like those female singers, her voice much more raw, deeper, with a slight rasp in fact. But sweet enough for us! It's powerful yet melancholic character goes well with her lyrics, serious ones about such subjects as love and (we think) addiction, she stays away from trite metal cliches. Meanwhile, musically, the band shows itself to be steeped in the "old ways", dedicated students of Judas Priest and early Iron Maiden, the NWOBHM, Metallica, Megadeth, etc... plugging into the timelessness of the best traditional metal, while still sounding fresh and vital. Exciting, and emotional.
Christian Mistress go for quality not quantity here, offering up six killer songs in just over 27 minutes. From opening track "Riding On The Edges" onwards, the listener is treated to sheer headbanging joy, adrenalized gallop, heavy riffs, spiralling spires of intertwined lead guitar, and both melody and energy in large doses. All six songs are excellent, with maybe "Desert Rose" especially standing out come chorus-time... and we'll mention how the last cut, "Omega Stone", starts off in gentle, acoustic mode, Davis singing quietly, wearily, for several minutes, building into some psychedelic soloing, before the band bursts into frenetic, triumphant, rapid riffing for the track's final moments. It's probably the song on this album that an audience would be most likely to raise their lighters for, and we mean that in a good way! And then as soon as it's over, we're already hitting play to hear the disc again once more, to get another Christian Mistress fix. Here, and elsewhere, they achieve a sense of drama without being at all corny. Instead, this disc comes off as classy, majestic, and inspired. And about as hooky as can be. We're always talking about how this or that black metal or ambient drone or whatever band is "actually" writing pop songs underneath all the buzz, distortion and/or screaming. Well, here's a band that's heavy and metal... and DEFINITELY writing pop songs, of the stick-in-your-head variety. Your head that's banging at the same time. Basically, the current crop of retro metallers (not to mention all indie rock bands, if we look at this from a metal-centric perspective) just got their asses handed to them by Christian Mistress. Old school, but original.
We're not the only ones freaking out over Christian Mistress. 20 Buck Spin, obviously. And, Fenriz loves 'em! In fact, we might have first heard of Christian Mistress 'cause the Darkthrone drummer mentioned them in an interview or something. And while we don't agree with Fenriz about all his many cult band crushes, he was right about these guys (and girl). Also, the other day we happened to be playing this in the presence of Mike Scalzi from Slough Feg, who volunteered that "this band is awesome"... and he usually doesn't like ANYTHING. So consider that quite an endorsement, for what it's worth... along with us making it Record Of The Week.
MPEG Stream: "Riding On The Edges"
MPEG Stream: "Desert Rose"
MPEG Stream: "Home In The Sun"

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS Agony And Opium (20 Buck Spin) lp 14.98
First, a couple things, we doubt that these rockers are Christian, and the only lady in the band seems more like a "Ms." than a Mistress. But, yeah, that's a very metal sounding name ain't it?? Now, we know that '70s and '80s influenced heavy metal isn't everyone's cup of tea, but then neither is doomdronedirge or lo-fi garage pop or groovy porno soundtracks or lots of other things... and we wouldn't be being true to ourselves if we didn't make this a Record Of The Week! After all, some of us here have done nothing but listen to this non-stop since it showed up. Plus, maybe this IS your cup of tea and you wouldn't have known that if we didn't really push it.
For those of you who are into traditional metal sounds, like those of the NWOBHM (and thus know what NWOBHM stands for), Christian Mistress should be an immediate hit. Everyone else, well, if you're gonna get just ONE heavy metal record this year, it'd be pretty cool (for you) if it was this one.
The debut from Olympia's Christian Mistress, actually looks more crusty punk than heavy metal, and comes out on a label better known for doom and sludge than "True" heavy metal. Yet this is true all right. Not only boasting shredding twin guitars, but melodies and SONGS, and a singer, Christine Davis, who not only can sing but has a "VOICE". Sorry for the all caps, and quotes, but we're excited. What we mean is, she's got a voice that is unique and memorable, as well as being able to carry a tune. Pretty special in this day and age. We'd probably have to compare her, among female metal vocalists, to Kate De Lombaert from '80s Belgian band Acid, not that we expect everybody to know who that is... Davis could also appeal to fans of Hammers Of Misfortune, and Jex Thoth, though she doesn't sound like those female singers, her voice much more raw, deeper, with a slight rasp in fact. But sweet enough for us! It's powerful yet melancholic character goes well with her lyrics, serious ones about such subjects as love and (we think) addiction, she stays away from trite metal cliches. Meanwhile, musically, the band shows itself to be steeped in the "old ways", dedicated students of Judas Priest and early Iron Maiden, the NWOBHM, Metallica, Megadeth, etc... plugging into the timelessness of the best traditional metal, while still sounding fresh and vital. Exciting, and emotional.
Christian Mistress go for quality not quantity here, offering up six killer songs in just over 27 minutes. From opening track "Riding On The Edges" onwards, the listener is treated to sheer headbanging joy, adrenalized gallop, heavy riffs, spiralling spires of intertwined lead guitar, and both melody and energy in large doses. All six songs are excellent, with maybe "Desert Rose" especially standing out come chorus-time... and we'll mention how the last cut, "Omega Stone", starts off in gentle, acoustic mode, Davis singing quietly, wearily, for several minutes, building into some psychedelic soloing, before the band bursts into frenetic, triumphant, rapid riffing for the track's final moments. It's probably the song on this album that an audience would be most likely to raise their lighters for, and we mean that in a good way! And then as soon as it's over, we're already hitting play to hear the disc again once more, to get another Christian Mistress fix. Here, and elsewhere, they achieve a sense of drama without being at all corny. Instead, this disc comes off as classy, majestic, and inspired. And about as hooky as can be. We're always talking about how this or that black metal or ambient drone or whatever band is "actually" writing pop songs underneath all the buzz, distortion and/or screaming. Well, here's a band that's heavy and metal... and DEFINITELY writing pop songs, of the stick-in-your-head variety. Your head that's banging at the same time. Basically, the current crop of retro metallers (not to mention all indie rock bands, if we look at this from a metal-centric perspective) just got their asses handed to them by Christian Mistress. Old school, but original.
We're not the only ones freaking out over Christian Mistress. 20 Buck Spin, obviously. And, Fenriz loves 'em! In fact, we might have first heard of Christian Mistress 'cause the Darkthrone drummer mentioned them in an interview or something. And while we don't agree with Fenriz about all his many cult band crushes, he was right about these guys (and girl). Also, the other day we happened to be playing this in the presence of Mike Scalzi from Slough Feg, who volunteered that "this band is awesome"... and he usually doesn't like ANYTHING. So consider that quite an endorsement, for what it's worth... along with us making it Record Of The Week.
MPEG Stream: "Riding On The Edges"
MPEG Stream: "Desert Rose"
MPEG Stream: "Home In The Sun"

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS Demos (Unseen Forces) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Four new songs - well actually four OLD songs, but new to us and probably new to you too - from the mighty Christian Mistress, whose debut on the 20 Buck Spin label was a very popular, very metal Record Of The Week here last year. Now illustrator/metalhead Dennis Dread's new label Unseen Forces has, for their very first release, reissued CM's original 2009 4-song demo tape on 12", 45rpm vinyl, in a limited edition of 350 copies, already sold out at the label. And we got just a tiny handful. The songs: "Poison Path", "Never Let Go", "Anoxic Living", "Black Out". All good examples of what makes these female-fronted, NWOBHM-infuenced retro-metal rippers so damn great.
Remixed, remastered for vinyl, with new cover art by vocalist Christine Davis, handscreened, with lyrics sheet.

CHRISTIE, SUSAN Paint A Lady (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 15.98
The latest jewel unearthed by the B-Music Collective for Finders Keepers is so obscure it was actually never released. Only a small number of privately pressed vanity copies were made of this 1970 Philly-based folk-beat head trip. Using Philly studio session musicians, Axelrod-style breaks, spaghetti-western guitar, A&M strings and the "legendary" production of John Hill, who is dubiously credited in the liner notes as the inventor of both Trip Hop and Heavy Metal for his production work with Margo Guryan and The Riders of the Mark (a heavy psych predecessor to Black Sabbath, supposedly?!). Don't know about that, but the trip hop mystique of Susan Christie is definitely apparent by the opening riff of the title track begging to be sampled a million times over if it hasn't already. But it isn't just the sample potential that makes this a worthy listen. Just about every song is full of hooks and unique arrangements and darkly-tinged songwriting. Check out the nine-minute centerpiece "Yesterday, Where's My Mind?" with its spoken recitations of a bad trip culminating in a damning freak-out, before slipping into a fuzzy downbeat rocker. Freak-folk indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Paint A Lady"
MPEG Stream: "Yesterday, Where's My Mind?"

CHRISTIE, SUSAN Paint A Lady (Finders Keepers) lp 28.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!!!!
Here's what we said about the CD:
The latest jewel unearthed by the B-Music Collective for Finders Keepers is so obscure it was actually never released. Only a small number of privately pressed vanity copies were made of this 1970 Philly-based folk-beat head trip. Using Philly studio session musicians, Axelrod-style breaks, spaghetti-western guitar, A&M strings and the "legendary" production of John Hill, who is dubiously credited in the liner notes as the inventor of both Trip Hop and Heavy Metal for his production work with Margo Guryan and The Riders of the Mark (a heavy psych predecessor to Black Sabbath, supposedly?!). Don't know about that, but the trip hop mystique of Susan Christie is definitely apparent by the opening riff of the title track begging to be sampled a million times over if it hasn't already. But it isn't just the sample potential that makes this a worthy listen. Just about every song is full of hooks and unique arrangements and darkly-tinged songwriting. Check out the nine-minute centerpiece "Yesterday, Where's My Mind?" with its spoken recitations of a bad trip culminating in a damning freak-out, before slipping into a fuzzy downbeat rocker. Freak-folk indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Paint A Lady"
MPEG Stream: "Yesterday, Where's My Mind?"

CHRISTINE 23 ONNA Acid Eater (MIDI Creative) cd 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of aQ's all-time steady-sellers is definitely the debut cd on Alchemy from Japanese super-psychedelic-space-synth instrumental groove outfit Christine 23 Onna, entitled Shiny Crystal Planet. It's been a big fave around here ever since we reviewed it on list #103 back in 2000. A duo featuring Maso Yamazaki (Masonna, Space Machine, Acid Eater) and Fusao Toda (Angel 'In Heavy Syrup), the wild analog electronics of Christine 23 Onna are a retro-delic delight. In 2002, as part of a special Maso Yamazaki "15th Anniversary Freakout Triplex" series (which also included a disc each from Masonna and Space Machine), Christine 23 Onna released their second album, Acid Eater (not to be confused with Maso's freakbeat garage band of the same name). It had ten new, energetic tracks with titles like "Acid Now!" and "Space Mondo Topless". We totally wanted to get some for the store, but had no luck at all finding import copies at any sort of reasonable wholesale price...
Well at long last we've finally got some -- and yeah, it's still pretty expensive. But that's Japanese imports for you. We trust that any fan of Shiny Crystal Planet cd would want this though, it's another monstrous onslaught of swirling '60s styled go-go disco and krautrocky kitsch, awash in FX, drenched in distortion, to the point that some of this is spaced-out enough to sound like Hawkwind and Klaus Schulze together playing funk at a LSD-party hosted by the Vampyros Lesbos and Austin Powers!! Or imagine taking tracks from one of the best old "library music" comps and running 'em all through a mad-scientist's laboratory full of synths! From fun and freaky dancefloor numbers to totally out there sci-fi soundtrackiness, we're lovin' this. Play it LOUD.
NB. We've also got the other two cds in the Freakout Triplex, and will be reviewing those soon too!
MPEG Stream: "Fantastico"
MPEG Stream: "Planet Unknown"
MPEG Stream: "Wild Private"

CHRISTINE 23 ONNA Shiny Crystal Planet (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Christine 23 Onna is a collaborative effort between Fusao Toda and Maso Yamazaki, better known as Masonna. While the presence of one of Japan's most frightening noisicians should be enough the scare away all of the too-hip-and-too-stoned kids who only care about 'rare grooves,' Christine 23 Onna's "Shiny Chrystal Planet" is actually a pretty damn funky record. Yeah, it's noisy, but in a swirling, synth-overload, super psychedelic way, not like Masonna's usual electronic scream-skree. And really uptempo breakbeats set the rhythmic backbone for some awesome trance-rock much like the latest grooves from their countrymen the Boredoms (a la "Super Are" and "Vision Creation Newsun)". The phase shifting fuzz guitar and cosmic space dusted synthesizers get jammy, but fortunately never too wanky. Those of you familiar with the '60s spy thrillers of Jerry Van Rooyen may recognize one of his tempestous songs covered by Christine 23 Onna (we think we do, anyways, although it's not credited as such...). Wild, spacey groov-adelia. All around great stuff! Amazing cover art recreating Ash Ra Temple's "New Age Of Earth"!
RealAudio clip: "Christine Hop #1"

CHRISTINE 23 ONNA Space Age Bachelor Pad Psychedelic Music (Insignificant) 12" 14.98
Fans of Japanese noise master Masonna might not be aware that he's fully into 70's cosmic rock music. This 12" is the proof, as "Maso" Yamazaki and friend pay homage to their krautrock faves of yore. There's even a track called "Space Hippie." Really great ambient/psych weirdness, and handsomely presented, from the colorful cover to the transparent blood-shot-cotton-candy colored vinyl, resplendent in a clear plastic sleeve.

CHRISTINE 23 ONNA Space Age Bachelor Pad Psychedelic Music (Insignificant) 12" 14.98
Fans of Japanese noise master Masonna might not be aware that he's fully into 70's cosmic rock music. This 12" is the proof, as "Maso" Yamazaki and friend pay homage to their krautrock faves of yore. There's even a track called "Space Hippie." Really great ambient/psych weirdness, and handsomely presented, from the colorful cover to the transparent blood-shot-cotton-candy colored vinyl, resplendent in a clear plastic sleeve.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS Communal Rust (Community Library) cd 16.98
Ok, so this has been passed around the store for a little while with a rotation of different people assigned to review it. Why the hesitation? It seems the folks around here who had no idea who Christmas Decorations are, took a look at the cover and thought it was perhaps another Christian psych-folk reissue from the seventies or some twee homey Americana and kept putting it below their priority list. And the folks around here who DID know who Christmas Decorations are, from their Kranky debut a few years ago, didn't like that album very much at all, mainly due to its atonal vocalizing over quirky electronica. Well, when we finally put this on, we were pleasantly surprised, if not out and out AMAZED at what we heard. First of all, there are thankfully no vocals, and while this is not the Christian folk or Americana record some of us thought it to be, there is a strain of, er rustic folkiness through the presence of slide guitar as it barely permeates through the murky minimal ambience of shifting electronics. It seems that Christmas Decorations have cleaned house since their debut, removing all the unnecessary elements of song-forms from their compositions, and reducing their sound to layers of decayed and drifting abstractions barely hinting at the melodies beneath them. Think the winter equivalent to Fennesz's Endless Summer. Like the sounds of oxidation on old and rotting wood, subtle and melancholy with the textures of wet dirt and leaves burbling under slowly melting ice. So beautiful! We think fans of Jasper TX and Machinefabriek and similar outfits of dreamy drift would dig this a lot. What a surprise!!
MPEG Stream: "Closer To the Carpet"
MPEG Stream: "Twig Harpoon"
MPEG Stream: "Aphid Text"

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS Far Flung Hum (Wodger) lp 17.98
Christmas Decorations are a tough band to pin down. Which just might be why we like them so much. In fact more and more with every record. Their latest, the vinyl only Far Flung Hum, might be the most confusing, the most difficult to describe, and consequently, very likely their best yet.
On their last record, they began to introduce a sort of folky twang into their soundscapes, nothing dramatic, but enough to give the proceedings a rustic vibe, to temper their electronics, helping to create a sound both modern and timeless, alien yet warm and familiar. FFH begins with a sort of disembodied alien folk, strings creak, instruments buzz and rumble, melodies are seemingly digitized and released to drift like pixilated clouds, in some places it sounds like a field recording of a hoedown on some ranch, frozen, then played back incredibly slow, allowing the listener to wander science fiction style amidst all these peoples and happenings that seem to be moving a hundred times slower than us. Drones buzz softly, bits of abstract percussion tinkle and chime, organs (or accordions?) wheeze and warble, there's a Finnish folk vibe for sure but with more twang, and somehow filtered through a much more modern, if slightly cracked approach. Some tracks have a distinct No Neck Blues Band or Sunburned Hand Of The Man feel, very tribal and jammy, but with the sounds of machines, and what sounds like folks laboring in the field, digging, water being bailed, it could all be manufactured, but it does sound like processed field recordings rendered musically. Deep resonant drones, insect like chitter, tons of ambient sound, almost as if all the recording had taken place on farms and in people's homes or on street corners, allowing all the various sounds of every day life to subtly blend into the music being made. And where the electronic aspect in the past sounded more, well, electronic, now the Decorations have mastered it so the bits of electronics and glitchery, sound less like some electronic band making weird sounds, and more like electronics are in fact some living thing, that just happens to occasionally flit by, its natural sounds and calls a part of the every day soundscape, which again helps make FFH sound so organic and alive.
Elsewhere the sounds dip back into tribal rumble, sounds are processed and released back into the wild to interact with natural sounds, there are long stretches of Morricone-ish cinematic ambience, deep growling swells, little flurries of electronics and fractured melodies, but all arranged into one constantly evolving soundworld, an ever shifting space the listener is forced to navigate, and is left to wander in freely, enjoying the sounds, returning to familiar areas, or better yet, getting completely and utterly lost.
Incredible packaging, and oversized gatefold matchbook style fold over sleeve, letter pressed on thick textured cardstock, with the inner sleeve sealed to the inside of the outer sleeve. Can't remember exactly HOW, but as you might well imagine, probably pretty dang limited.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS Model 91 (Kranky ) cd 14.98
Sometimes droll, atonal singing can work really well (think Beat Happening, Reynols or Magnetic Fields), but unfortunately not on the Christmas Decorations' debut album. Seriously, this is some painfully out of tune singing. It distracts from the rest of the music which taken without the vocals is quite pleasant, if somewhat underwhelming - moody chiming soundscapes comprised of some highly effected guitars, bass, melodica and sequencers. This comes as an enormous disappointment following Revolve the one and only album from the fantastic but crushingly short-lived band that was Beautiful Skin whose nucleus was Nick Forte and Ross Totino. There was an unquestionable musical chemistry between them that propelled their music beyond simplistic new wave references and the Wire / Gang Of Four / New Order worship of Forte's previous bands. This new group however does not draw such glowing praise, instead it truly bummed out a few of us.
RealAudio clip: "A Random Hill"
RealAudio clip: "Tables And Chair "

CHRISTOPHE HEEMANN Magnetic Tape Splicing lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Rumours have it that Christophe was clocked at over 500 splices per second for this record. Regardless of the truth to this, his brilliant cut-up collage done entirely on an old reel-to-reel sounds very similar to recent digital collages of Stock, Hausen, and Walkman!

CHROMA KEY Graveyard Mountain Home (InsideOut) cd 17.98
The following is taken from the Chroma Key website, but was in fact written by our own Andee Connors! ...
Graveyard Mountain Home is a filmic, expansive musical exploration from Kevin Moore AKA Chroma Key, founding member of progressive metal legends Dream Theater. Recorded in Istanbul, Turkey, where he now lives, this third release from Chroma Key is an entirely different musical beast than Moore's previous musical work, and -- created as an alternate audio track to a surreal educational film from the '50s -- the result of quite a unique approach to album making.
All three Chroma Key releases to date have been self-produced recorded in Moore's home studios, the location of which changes album to album. After leaving Dream Theater in 1996, Moore relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where much of the first album, 1998's Dead Air for Radios was written. 2000's You Go Now was written and recorded in Los Angeles, right before another move to Costa Rica, where Moore lived for 3 years. In Costa Rica he began writing and recording ideas for a new Chroma Key album, during the day producing a bi-weekly, activist, musical radio program for Radio for Peace International, a shortwave station based in San Jose. Last year Moore released a compilation of the program -- a mix of original music and politically volatile spoken word recordings -- as a downloadable album on chromakey.com as The Memory Hole 1.
Long distance Memory Hole collaborator (and fellow CalArts graduate) Theron Patterson was teaching film and doing his own radio show in Istanbul when he invited Moore to visit and collaborate on a show last year. Soon after, Moore relocated to Istanbul and the pair began collaborating on new material for the weekly radio show Music Lab. Moore was also commissioned to score Turkey's first horror film, and the resulting soundtrack Ghost Book was released by InsideOut earlier this year.
The experience of scoring a film inspired Moore to take a new approach to composing the next Chroma Key album. "Instead of just developing song ideas out of nowhere and trying to make them all relate somehow," he explains, "I thought I could find an old film that already had a particular mood and texture to it, and then let that film dictate the songs' themes and structures, and even the song lengths. I eventually found this gem called 'Age 13' in an online archive of public domain films."
One of the many "social guidance" films produced in the 50's and early 60's for schools and police departments, Age 13 proves the perfect subject for Moore's musical ministrations. It is a strangely surreal moral tale of a boy who loses his mother and is convinced that if he can repair the radio she always listened to, he will somehow be able to bring her back. The film is beautifully distressed, on fuzzy film stock, with all sorts of chemical degradation and staticky imperfections caused by aging and exposure. Like a grade school filmstrip or an unearthed home movie, Age 13 is a mysterious glimpse into another life and another time.
"The subject matter and the look of the film was really suited to the kind of music I usually find myself writing," recalls Moore, "and I knew as soon as I watched the opening scene -- which is a burial scene -- that I wanted to get under the surface of those images and play against them."
Moore slowed the film down to half speed, stripped away the sound and crafted an alternative audio track, which is Graveyard Mountain Home. The film's original dialogue and score occasionally bubble up through the songs, playing off and against them, and hinting at the unseen film's space and conflicts.
The Chroma Key accompanied version of the film is included as a DVD in the Special Edition of the CD release, and as a Quicktime file on the standard edition CD. Watching the hybrid version of the film, the songs alternately support, upset, and recast the accompanying scenes. Occasionally, character's dialogues are replaced with unlikely sources -- for example deep south AM radio samples (in Give Up) and a darkly comical Krishnamurti parody (in Human Love).
By design though, Graveyard Mountain Home is just as sonically compelling when removed from its visual element, a slowly seeping, darkly dramatic, series of epic musical vignettes: Sweet, sun-dappled vibraphone melodies over fuzzy, glitchy throbs; a dreamy, Tortoise-y post rock filtered through the Eastern rhythms of Muslimgauze and layered over a rumbling drone; ambient street sounds and muted minor key melodies obscure distant vocals, ethereal and indistinct; Sparklehorse-like melancholia, with tinny shortwave vocals and arid desert twang; displaced, lost and lonely voices, snatched from the ether, a warm jazzy shuffle, revisiting earlier sonic themes -- all a framework for Moore's world weary vocals.
In addition to writing with the film in mind, the album was also written to be played in front of an audience, and Chroma Key expect to stage an European and American tour for the first time this winter.

CHROMATICS In The City (Italians Do It Better) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With a new perfectly delivered sound, Chromatics have become a huge favorite here in aQ land over the last couple months as we've been playing their new album IV: Night Drive over and over and still not even getting close to burning out on its seductive and steamy sounds. This 12" contains one of their great selections from the scene defining After Dark compilation which will for sure find its way on to many 2007 best of lists. Along with that comes an extended mix, an instrumental version, the haunting vocal only mix and a hot take on Springsteen's "I'm On Fire." We're not sure if the Boss would approve, but we sure do!
MPEG Stream: "In The City"

CHROMATICS IV: Night Drive Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Deluxe) (Italians Do It Better) cd 13.98
REPRESSED!!! Now including the "lost side" of unreleased tracks featured on the recent deluxe vinyl version.
Ooooh Ahhhhh! This one has been sizzling in our ears pretty much on endless repeat since it showed up at the store. Chromatics have undergone a pretty radical change from their early herky-jerky no-wave inspired beginnings, as showcased on the amazing and scene defining After Dark comp that we recently listed, and are still so in love with. Chromatics now have a sound that is much more sensual, subdued and spaced out. And we have to say we are loving this new direction. I definitely suits them so much more naturally than their noisier punky past.
With a sound much more rooted in early drugged out disco and '80s Euro-pop, Night Drive is sparse and melancholic enough to reel in folks whose taste usually falls on the darker end of the spectrum yet with songs so damn sexy and enticing that those of us with dance and pop leanings are seduced by their sound as well. With Ruth Radalet's vocals sounding like they are being delivered in a dark room filled with fog and smoke, there is such an intoxicating late night vibe that Chromatics tap into which feels so vacant and so sexy in the best possible way. They take on the daunting task of covering Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and manage to make it their own, no small feat as that is a song with such deep meaning for so many of us. So damn good!
MPEG Stream: "Night Drive"
MPEG Stream: "The Killing Spree"
MPEG Stream: "Running Up That Hill"

CHROMATICS Night Drive (Deluxe) (Italians Do It Better) 2lp 14.98
So stoked that this awesome album by the Chromatics is available on vinyl now and with a whole side filled with unreleased tracks.
Ooooh Ahhhhh! This one has been sizzling in our ears pretty much on endless repeat since it showed up at the store. Chromatics have undergone a pretty radical change from their early herky-jerky no-wave inspired beginnings, as showcased on the amazing and scene defining After Dark comp that we recently listed, and are still so in love with. Chromatics now have a sound that is much more sensual, subdued and spaced out. And we have to say we are loving this new direction. I definitely suits them so much more naturally than their noisier punky past.
With a sound much more rooted in early drugged out disco and '80s Euro-pop, Night Drive is sparse and melancholic enough to reel in folks whose taste usually falls on the darker end of the spectrum yet with songs so damn sexy and enticing that those of us with dance and pop leanings are seduced by their sound as well. With Ruth Radalet's vocals sounding like they are being delivered in a dark room filled with fog and smoke, there is such an intoxicating late night vibe that Chromatics tap into which feels so vacant and so sexy in the best possible way. They take on the daunting task of covering Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and manage to make it their own, no small feat as that is a song with such deep meaning for so many of us. So damn good!
MPEG Stream: "Night Drive"
MPEG Stream: "The Killing Spree"
MPEG Stream: "Running Up That Hill"

CHROMATICS / MONITOR BATS split (GSL) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So short! Four raw spurts of noise-alicious herky-jerk. We barely caught a glimpse of these two new members of the Gold Standard Laboratories clan . Certainly not the black sheeps in this family, they seat themselves quite comfortably in the recently vacated, overturned chairs of spaz-punks LeShok and XBXRX. So who are these mysterious newcomers? Well, arty postpunkers the Chromatics rose from the ashes of Seattle, WA's underappreciated The Vogue (and you might have also heard of another of their incarnations, The Soiled Doves). Like-minded Monitor Bats just happen to be the jazz-punk side project of blues-rockin' kids The Gossip. Word has it that a Chromatics full length is in the works, so keep those ears to the ground. Until then, you might just have to make do with this brief encounter.

CHROME Alien Soundtracks (Noiseville) cd 16.98
Get out the tinfoil, draw the blinds, turn the television to static and brace yourself for the amphetamine-fueled paranoid mind-fuck of San Francisco's industrial wastoids, Chrome!
Their three seminal albums from the late seventies/early eighties, Alien Soundtracks, Half Machine Lip Moves, and 3rd From The Sun have thankfully been re-issued by the Noiseville label who have brought us stellar releases from Skullflower and Wicked King Wicker among others. Led by Damon Edge and Helios Creed, Chrome channeled The Stooges raw garage energy with Hawkwind's mindmelting space rock acid-psych and the electronic proto-art-punk of bands like Debris' and The Styrenes into a spazzy amalgam of sci-fi distortion, glam-punk chaos, and all manner of machine fuckery including television samples, bizarre tape manipulations and random fuzz-filled noise. Inspired by the future-shock visionary writings of J.G Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Chrome were cyber-punk before the term had even been popularized! In fact, they were one of those bands who became much more popular after their demise, when bands like The Butthole Surfers, Big Black and other Touch and Go bands started gaining notoriety in the mid-eighties college rock scene.
Alien Soundtracks from 1978 was Chrome's second album after the relatively straight forward rock of their debut The Visitation. But by then Helios Creed joined the band and Chrome's signature sound, centering on Creed's grinding pitch-shifting guitar attack and Edge's aggro drumming and damaged tape manipulations, were firmly in place. Supposedly recorded as a soundtrack for a live sex show, songs like, "Magnetic Dwarf Reptile" and "Slip It To The Android", display a sleazy suggestiveness with scuzzy rhythms and odd wailed crooning. While their fascination with science fiction's darker side (especially involving man-machine biologies and mind-controlling robots in a techno-industrial wasteland) manifested itself in vicious electronics and disturbing drones over the layers of buried vocals and speed-driven guitar riffage.
MPEG Stream: "Chromosome Damge"
MPEG Stream: "Pygmies In Zee Dark"
MPEG Stream: "Slip It To The Android"

CHROME Alien Soundtracks (Lilith) lp + cd 26.00
NOW, A VINYL REISSUE COMPLETE WITH A CD VERSION INCLUDED!
Get out the tinfoil, draw the blinds, turn the television to static and brace yourself for the amphetamine-fueled paranoid mind-fuck of San Francisco's industrial wasteoids, Chrome!
Led by Damon Edge and Helios Creed, Chrome channeled The Stooges raw garage energy with Hawkwind's mindmelting space rock acid-psych and the electronic proto-art-punk of bands like Debris' and The Styrenes into a spazzy amalgam of sci-fi distortion, glam-punk chaos, and all manner of machine fuckery including television samples, bizarre tape manipulations and random fuzz-filled noise. Inspired by the future-shock visionary writings of J.G Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Chrome were cyber-punk before the term had even been popularized! In fact, they were one of those bands who became much more popular after their demise, when bands like The Butthole Surfers, Big Black and other Touch and Go bands started gaining notoriety in the mid-eighties college rock scene.
Alien Soundtracks from 1978 was Chrome's second album after the relatively straight forward rock of their debut The Visitation. But by then Helios Creed joined the band and Chrome's signature sound, centering on Creed's grinding pitch-shifting guitar attack and Edge's aggro drumming and damaged tape manipulations, were firmly in place. Supposedly recorded as a soundtrack for a live sex show, songs like, "Magnetic Dwarf Reptile" and "Slip It To The Android", display a sleazy suggestiveness with scuzzy rhythms and odd wailed crooning. While their fascination with science fiction's darker side (especially involving man-machine biologies and mind-controlling robots in a techno-industrial wasteland) manifested itself in vicious electronics and disturbing drones over the layers of buried vocals and speed-driven guitar riffage.
MPEG Stream: "Chromosome Damge"
MPEG Stream: "Pygmies In Zee Dark"
MPEG Stream: "Slip It To The Android"

CHROME Half Machine Lip Moves (Noiseville) cd 16.98
Get out the tinfoil, draw the blinds, turn the television to static and brace yourself for the amphetamine-fueled paranoid mind-fuck of San Francisco's industrial wasteoids, Chrome!
Their three seminal albums from the late seventies/early eighties, Alien Soundtracks, Half Machine Lip Moves, and 3rd From The Sun have thankfully been re-issued by the Noiseville label who have brought us stellar releases from Skullflower and Wicked King Wicker among others. Led by Damon Edge and Helios Creed, Chrome channeled The Stooges raw garage energy with Hawkwind's mindmelting space rock acid-psych and the electronic proto-art-punk of bands like Debris' and The Styrenes into a spazzy amalgam of sci-fi distortion, glam-punk chaos, and all manner of machine fuckery including television samples, bizarre tape manipulations and random fuzz-filled noise. Inspired by the future-shock visionary writings of J.G Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Chrome were cyber-punk before the term had even been popularized! In fact, they were one of those bands who became much more popular after their demise, when bands like The Butthole Surfers, Big Black and other Touch and Go bands started gaining notoriety in the mid-eighties college rock scene.
Half Machine Lip Moves was the 1979 follow-up to Alien Soundtracks and it's definitely our favorite! The songwriting is completely fucked, with aggressively manic jump-cuts in and between songs. Sounding like the music analog machines would make if they just became sentient drug-taking monsters, the paranoid mind-control trip is full throttle, with nightmarish conspiratorial songs about the government and the media in cahoots with aliens to enslave the public ("TV As Eyes" "Zombie Warfare" and "You've Been Duplicated"). Rife with layers of sinister lo-fi electronic noises and television samples, over fast riff-heavy rhythm hooks and lysergic face-eating vocal effects. So awesomely damaged!! If you were to get only one Chrome album, this would be the one!
MPEG Stream: "TV As Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "You've Been Duplicated"
MPEG Stream: "Turned Around"

CHROME Half Machine Lip Moves (Lilith) lp + cd 26.00
NOW, A VINYL REISSUE COMPLETE WITH A CD VERSION INCLUDED!
Get out the tinfoil, draw the blinds, turn the television to static and brace yourself for the amphetamine-fueled paranoid mind-fuck of San Francisco's industrial wasteoids, Chrome! Led by Damon Edge and Helios Creed, Chrome channeled The Stooges raw garage energy with Hawkwind's mindmelting space rock acid-psych and the electronic proto-art-punk of bands like Debris' and The Styrenes into a spazzy amalgam of sci-fi distortion, glam-punk chaos, and all manner of machine fuckery including television samples, bizarre tape manipulations and random fuzz-filled noise. Inspired by the future-shock visionary writings of J.G Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Chrome were cyber-punk before the term had even been popularized! In fact, they were one of those bands who became much more popular after their demise, when bands like The Butthole Surfers, Big Black and other Touch and Go bands started gaining notoriety in the mid-eighties college rock scene.
Half Machine Lip Moves was the 1979 follow-up to Alien Soundtracks and it's definitely our favorite! The songwriting is completely fucked, with aggressively manic jump-cuts in and between songs. Sounding like the music analog machines would make if they just became sentient drug-taking monsters, the paranoid mind-control trip is full throttle, with nightmarish conspiratorial songs about the government and the media in cahoots with aliens to enslave the public ("TV As Eyes" "Zombie Warfare" and "You've Been Duplicated"). Rife with layers of sinister lo-fi electronic noises and television samples, over fast riff-heavy rhythm hooks and lysergic face-eating vocal effects. So awesomely damaged!! If you were to get only one Chrome album, this would be the one!
MPEG Stream: "TV As Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "You've Been Duplicated"
MPEG Stream: "Turned Around"

CHROME Retro Transmission (Cleopatra) cd 15.98
Helios Creed is back under the Chrome name with a new studio album. Is Chrome's sci-fi punk retro yet?