V/A Commercial Ad Hoc (Illegal Art) cd 8.98
This is the third compilation from plunderphonic label Illegal Art. Where the first compilation ("Deconstructing Beck") featured artists using source material taken entirely from the music of Beck, and the second ("Extracted Celluloid") from film scores, this newest release takes radio and TV commercials to task. Maybe it's the nature of plunderphonia that makes the commercial such prime source material, or maybe it's that the artists on this disk just happened to be more succesful this time around, but this is far and away the best release from this label we've seen yet. Features tracks by Evolution Control Committee, Pimmon, Mr. Meridies, Big City Orchestra and much more.

V/A Compilation: Information (Imperial Records) cd 13.98
Auckland, NZ label compilation includes tracks from AQ faves Lovely Midget and Bruce Russell among others.

V/A Compiled cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Defining the Chain Reaction / Basic Channel sound to anyone not familiar with their specialized variant of techno is somewhat of a daunting task. Wholly self-referential. Intelligent in concept and execution, yet its functionality is located entirely within the physical. A perfection combination of Carl Craig's late-nite Detroit techno and Lee Perry production techniques of manipulation equalization and dubbing out tape hiss. With that said, an apt description has been offered unto us for the Chain Reaction sound: 'Heroin House.'
Aside from that, this is a collection of some of the best singles to date from Scion, Erosion, Continuous Mode, Substance, Vainqueur, Pelon, Monolake, ridis, and Porter Rick's absolutely monolithic "Port of Transition".

V/A Complete Death of Cool: The Best of The Death of Cool Parts 1 & 2 (Noodles Foundation) cd 15.98
Irony is the name of the game for the Noodles Foundation, the self-appointed "Stupidest Recording Organisation in the World." Judging from the monikers of some of the artists featured (like The Buttmasters and Anal Parade), it's likely that the members of the Noodles Foundation are not very serious about the electronica that they create. Sweaty electro-funk turns to automated gameshow themes then into audio collages of sampled burps and back to Gary Numanoid jingles. While the majority of the work is from Si Begg (under various pseudonyms), Mouse on Mars, Jamie Lidell, Neil Landstrumm, Super Collider, and Cabbage Head make appearances as well.

V/A Confuse Yr Idols: A Tribute To Sonic Youth (Narnack) cd 14.98
Why is it that 'tributes' inevitably involve straight-up mimicry and/or wacky genre switcheroos? That's the case with most of the renditions (by predominantly unfamiliar artists) on this Sonic Youth tribute. Fortunately there's a few notables who bring more to the table -- namely Steelpole Bathtub, Elf Power and Saicobab (aka Boredoms' Yoshimi).
MPEG Stream: "I Dreamed I Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Death Valley '69"

V/A Congotronics 2: Buzz 'N' Rumble From The Urb 'N' Jungle (Crammed) cd + dvd 16.98
You'd have to have been living under a rock for the last year to not know about Konono No1, but for those of you who have been, let's recap shall we? Konono No.1 formed over 20 years ago in Kinshasa (the capital of Zaire) and have been performing their own version of Bazombo trance music, incoporating into their sound, more out of necessity than any avant garde aspirations, home built amps and microphones, hand made instruments, all assembled from old car parts and batteries, pieces of wood and various found bits of scrap material. Performing in the city and thus forced to compete with the din of cars and people and city sound, they built their own PA and speaker system, making their sound much louder but also lending it a buzzing distorted sound that became as much a part of the music as the insturments themselves.
The main instrument though, and the one which defines their sound, is an amplified likembe, a sort of thumb piano, which when run through the homemade pickups and ramshackle PA speakers buzz and distort and the melodies end up sounding like some strange sixties psych fuzz guitar. So those distorted melodies atop a wild festive bed of tribal percussion, hand drums, whistles, call and response vocals, it's like African highlife music but infused with all manner of, well like the title suggests BUZZ and RUMBLE.
But it would be naive to think a band like Konono No.1 developed in a complete vacuum. And one would assume that the music scene in Kinshasa would at least in some ways be like any place else, with loads of bands, all playing together, swapping members, that sort of thing, and this record demonstrates that for sure. While Konono No.1 ended up being the worldwide ambassadors for the Kinshasa sound, they are most definitely just one of many groups creating an amazingly vibrant scene. In fact some of the groups on Congotronics 2 take some of our favorite parts of Konono's sound and take them even further!
All of the bands on Congotronics 2 sound at least similar, employing the same basic song structure and same basic instrumentation. Cyclical repetitive rhythms, bells and hand drums locked in dense pulsing frameworks, loose but definitely the backbone of the music, the vocals are festive and wild, a single voice joined by a chorus. Each track is typically one part, maybe two, repeated and repeated with subtle variations, being as that it is an offspring of trance music, this hypnotic quality definitely defining all of these bands, a buzzing looped joyful noise, the sort of music that makes people want to dance and sway and move, eyes closed, getting lost in the mesmerizing repetition.
All of the bands also seem to employ the electric likembe as well to different effect. Sobanza Mimanisia up the distortion, their thumb pianos practically growl, super percussive and blown-out, definitely the heaviest band of the bunch. Whereas the Kasai Allstars employ their likembes as a swirling delicate percussive background, not at all distorted, gentle, liliting and pretty, sounding the most like traditional high life music. The one way in which many of the bands differ from Konono is their use of guitars, the interplay between a distorted thumb piano and a distorted guitar can be beautifully dizzying.
While all the bands are different, those differences are subtle enough that this could very well be a record by a single, albeit quite varied band, almost as if Konono No.1 decided to expand and explore a little for record number two. If you loved Congotronics, then this will for sure hit the spot, and actually the more we listen the more we think this might be even better than the first one. Konono No.1 have a SOUND, and that sound is amazing and beautiful and practically perfect, but they truly traffic in trance music, every song a subtle variation of the song before, almost like they have ONE hour long song that just happens to be split into parts, which we love, like most droning repetitive music, if there was a way to have each track last for six hours we would, but by the same token, one has to be in the right frame of mind to bliss out and trance out. So while this collection is still most definitely trancey, it's a bit more varied, with more instrumentation (one group even incorporates accordion!) and thus ends up being a bit more engaging, especially to the casual listener.
And as if another disc of buzzing rumbling joyful trance music wasn't enough, there is also a DVD featuring live footage of 6 of the bands, including Konono (so for those of you who missed their recent visit to the US, here's your chance to see what you missed). Each band performs live, surrounded by throngs of families and children, often performing in houses, on street corners, people dancing, smiling, embracing, this is truly happy joyful music. And the footage is amazing, allowing us a glimpse not only of these amazing bands, their individually customized instrumentation, sardine cans, milk crates, springs, lengths of PVC pipe, hubcaps, film canisters, wooden boards, tin cans, thier costumed and face painted dancers, their dramatic introductions to performances, but also a look at the people, and the city, and the houses, and the streets of Kinshasa, and the culture that inspired such an amazing music.
MPEG Stream: SOBANZA MIMANISA "Kiwembo"
MPEG Stream: KISANZI CONGO "Soif Conjugale"
MPEG Stream: BASOKIN (FEAT. MI AMOR) "Mulume"

V/A Congotronics Box (Crammed Discs) 6lp box 177.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Holy moly! A handsome, hefty vinyl box set here from Crammed, and crammed it is with vinyl "Congotronics" treats, street jammin' bands from the Kinshasa scene. Here's what's in it exactly: AQ faves Konono No.1's Congotronics lp, the Congotronics 2/Buzz'n'Rumble From The Urb'n'Jungle compilation, Kasai All Stars' In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic lp, Staff Benda Bilili's Tres Tres Fort lp, and Konono No.1's latest, Assume Crash Position on double vinyl (none of which we've seen available on wax separately yet except for Congotronics 1), plus a bonus 7" with exclusive tracks from Kansai Allstars, one of which is a collaboration with Akron/Family, believe it or not!! There's also a 12"x12" booklet of photos, and last but not least a special Congotronics 2Gb USB drive, containing nine video clips, as well as mp3s of all the tracks on all five of the albums in the box set! Wow. And all the lps are 180 gram vinyl.
You can search elsewhere on our site for Konono if you want to learn more about the "Congotronics" sound and why they're such faves of ours, but we figure this box set is for folks who are already fans! We only have 1 in stock at the moment (of sending out this list), but if you want one, we'll get more next week when this one sells, so go ahead and order away!!
MPEG Stream: KONONO NO.1 " Lufuala Ndonga"
MPEG Stream: KONONO NO.1 "Masikulu"
MPEG Stream: STAFF BENDA BILILI "Sala Keba"
MPEG Stream: STAFF BENDA BILILI "Moto Moindo"
MPEG Stream: KONONO NO.1 "Wumbanzanga"
MPEG Stream: KONONO NO.1 "Thin Legs"

V/A Constant Elevation (Astralwerks) cd 15.98
This *excellent* hip hop comp was put together by Joseph Patel, one of the co-founders of the Solesides label, and also one of the guys responsible for the groundbreaking first volume of the Deep Concentration series released in 1997 that had Cut Chemist on it, plus Latyrx, Prince Paul etc. Patel is well aware of what's happening in our currently wank-heavy world where anyone and everyone claims to be a DJ; the press release reads: "The once spectacular potential of turntablists seems to have devolved into a theater of the mundane: turntable masturbation, scratching for scratching's sake. While DJs on the competitive circuit certainly flash their talents, song trumps sport any day." What he said!
So what we have here is eleven quality tracks, most of them certainly qualifying as high points for their makers, as well as being exclusives. El-P (Def Jux / Cannibal Ox) opens the album with a crazily catchy instrumental featuring an ebullient booty-shakin' chord progression plus lots of warm 'n scratchy vinyl crackle. This track is going to make me buy his album. Further on, Anti-Pop Consortium's typically manic case of attention deficit disorder never sounded this great. Peanut Butter Wolf likewise contributes one of the best pieces I've ever heard from the guy, and Freestyle Fellowship's track is hilarious. Other participants include This Kid Named Miles (Breakestra), Omid, Recloose, Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Z-Trip, legendary "Lessons"-creator Steinski, and more. There's a coupla duds, in my opinion, but all in all I'd say this is one of the best hip hop comps to come out of the underground in a long while.
RealAudio clip: EL-P "Day After the Day After"
RealAudio clip: ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM "Crab Lice"
RealAudio clip: STEINSKI "Vox Apostolica"
RealAudio clip: FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP "Crazy"

V/A Constant Elevation (Astralwerks) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now in on vinyl! here's our review from the cd version:
This *excellent* hip hop comp was put together by Joseph Patel, one of the co-founders of the Solesides label, and also one of the guys responsible for the groundbreaking first volume of the Deep Concentration series released in 1997 that had Cut Chemist on it, plus Latyrx, Prince Paul etc. Patel is well aware of what's happening in our currently wank-heavy world where anyone and everyone claims to be a DJ; the press release reads: "The once spectacular potential of turntablists seems to have devolved into a theater of the mundane: turntable masturbation, scratching for scratching's sake. While DJs on the competitive circuit certainly flash their talents, song trumps sport any day." What he said!
So what we have here is eleven quality tracks, most of them certainly qualifying as high points for their makers, as well as being exclusives. El-P (Def Jux / Cannibal Ox) opens the album with a crazily catchy instrumental featuring an ebullient booty-shakin' chord progression plus lots of warm 'n scratchy vinyl crackle. This track is going to make me buy his album. Further on, Anti-Pop Consortium's typically manic case of attention deficit disorder never sounded this great. Peanut Butter Wolf likewise contributes one of the best pieces I've ever heard from the guy, and Freestyle Fellowship's track is hilarious. Other participants include This Kid Named Miles (Breakestra), Omid, Recloose, Chief Xcel of Blackalicious, Z-Trip, legendary "Lessons"-creator Steinski, and more. There's a coupla duds, in my opinion, but all in all I'd say this is one of the best hip hop comps to come out of the underground in a long while.
RealAudio clip: EL-P "Day After the Day After"
RealAudio clip: ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM "Crab Lice"
RealAudio clip: STEINSKI "Vox Apostolica"
RealAudio clip: FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP "Crazy"

V/A Constant Friction: Collaborations 2 (Lo) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second compilation of remixes/collaborations/exquisite corpses/whatever from Lo Recordings. Mostly leftfield electronics sprinkled with avant-rock noodlings that feature Stereolab & Hairy Butter, Squarepusher & Richard Thomas, Persona & Warn Defever, Void & Twisted Science. The definite highlight is the gorgeous remix that Four Tet did of Rothko's "Rivers Become Oceans" (which appears to differ from the 12" remix earlier released, with the interlude of our favorite numbers station "Swedish Rhapsody"!).

V/A Constellation Music Until Now (Constellation) cd 6.98
Consider this to be the Cliff Notes for your Constellation Records class. Yes, this ten-song label sampler offers a glimpse of the varied artists' works previously released on the Montreal label (1997 through 2001). They are Do Make Say Think, Hangedup, Fly Pan Am, A Silver Mt. Zion, Sofa, Re:, Frankie Sparo, 1-Speed Bike, Sackville, and Exhaust. Label devotees, you probably already have all of the original releases from which these tracks came, but for those unfamiliar with the label or with the vibrant Montreal music community that extends far beyond the blanketing shadow of Godspeed You Black Emperor) this might be just the thing to get you hooked.
RealAudio clip: FRANKIE SPARO "Here Comes The Future"
RealAudio clip: DO MAKE SAY THINK "The Landlord Is Dead"

V/A Contaminated 3.0 (Relapse) 2cd 6.98
Two cds at a bargain price, it's death/grind label Relapse's 10 year anniversary "multi-death" compilation. Fifty-one tracks (!), including a handful of previously unreleased ones, from the whole Relapse roster, everyone from Nile to Neurosis, Amorphis to Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Dying Fetus to Dillinger Escape Plan. Certainly a cost-effective way of dabbling in the realms of death.

V/A Contemporary Guitar (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
Originally released in 1967, this is the pinnacle of guitar soli talent from the Takoma label including John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Max Ochs, Bukka White and Harry Taussig. The original cover had a more hippie folk design, but we're glad 4 Men with Beards went for the cooler space age cover art of the 1968 repress, re-imagining the antiquated notion of acoustic guitar as a modern tool of forward thinking progression. John Fahey and Robbie Basho have the longest tracks with exploratory meditations that capture an array of bucolic moods. But the pair of tracks each by little known but highly influential folk figures Max Ochs (brother of Phil) and Harry Taussig create a beautiful flow with stirring slow build ragas and wistful childlike reverie. Poised between the old world and the new, is delta bluesman Bukka White with an amazing blues dirge that ties both sides together. A definitive collection for all Takoma / solo guitar fans!

V/A Contre Tous (Dead Mind) cd 10.98
Sent to us by the fellas in Infidel Castro, this Dutch compilation features 3 new-to-us bands and two new tracks from the always impressive IC. Infidel Castro start things off with two tracks, the first, a spacious almost Melvins/Harvey Milk-ish sludge, with stretched out guitars and almost-pulled-apart beats, but with Mr. Roboto style vocals and lots of glitched out mayhem and high-end splatter, verging on new wave/electro at moments. The second is a weird and rumbling, claustrophobic soundscape, with chiming guitars and warm waves of sound, again augmented with some strange production glitchery. Next up are the Dead Husbands with a beeping, clicking sort of whimsical elctronica goofiness, kind of like an instrumental People Like Us. The oddly named Pidpi are also mostly electronic, but keep things a bit more serious, with fuzzed out rumbling drones, abrasive scraping, swarms of crunchy white noise, strange voices, and chopped up weirdness. And finally we have De Fabriek, who follow in the same sort of elctronic, chop and glitch, weird and almost goofy collages of hooting owls, ringing phones, throbbing pulses, scratching sandpaper rhythms, childrens voices, foreign cartoons, and squelchy synths, but finishing off with a super distorted, almost Laddio Bolocko style rhythmic jam. Pretty cool stuff.
MPEG Stream: INFIDEL? CASTRO "MSIGWTTH"
MPEG Stream: DEAD HUSBANDS "Waiting For The Revolution"
MPEG Stream: DE FABRIEK "Terug In De Hondenkoekjesfabriek"

V/A Cool As Ice: The Be Music Productions (LTM) cd 17.98

V/A Cool Beans #9 ("Uncool Beans") magazine+cd 5.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Matt Kelly's "Cool Beans" zine mutates into Uncool Beans this time around, with cover art depicting Beanie Baby As Roadkill (very nice). Interview with Mudhoney, PEE tour diary written by AQ's very own Andee Connors (who also writes a hilarious review of the Dynamo metalfest in Holland), The Worst Of San Francisco, more cabbie insider trivia, and a CD featuring 28 tracks from the likes of PEE, Mudhoney, Eric Gaffney (ex-Sebadoh), MK Ultra, 50 Million, etc.

V/A Cool Beans #10 magazine+cd 5.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

V/A Cool Beans #8 magazine+cd 5.95
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The "Traveling Issue". Look at that reasonable price! For this you get an interview with Andee's band A Minor Forest, Lee Ranaldo, Modest Mouse, plus a Fuck tour diary, a story by Aaron Cometbus. CD includes Ranaldo, Corduroy, Ex-Chittle, Carlos, A Minor Forest, and more.

V/A Copier.Coller (Quatermass) 2cd 19.98
Yet another electronica comp, and it's a double cd as usual. Can't argue with the Sub-Rosa related line-up though: Scanner, To Rococo Rot, Bump & Grind, David Shea, Rehberg & Bauer, DJ Olive, Kreidler, Vincent Hanni, Stock Hausen & Walkman. Runs the gamut, worth checking out.

V/A CORLEONE: 10 Years - Everything I Own Is Broken Or Bent (Corleone) dvd 14.98
As far as we're concerned, Providence artrock/noise rock label Corleone, never has to do anything ever again, just by merit of releasing Throne Of Blood's genius I Hope You Fail Miserably And Never Accomplish Anything Ever Again record. And before we get into this review, let's once again beseech those guys to reissue that Throne Of Blood. C'MON!!!!!
Okay then, well, it's been 10 years that these guys have been assaulting our ears, so it makes perfect sense that for their tenth anniversary they decide to destroy our eyes as well. And as should be common knowledge by now, Providence Rhode Island is not just a hotbed for music, it's also jam packed with visual artists and filmmakers, so this collection of videos for various Corleone bands is totally eye popping and amazing.
Did you dig the Paper Rad dvd on Load, then you'll probably dig this too. Super varied, from ultra pro shot films to hand made animations, to absolute WTF weirdness. Some highlights: the super eight video ritual for Bonedust, the perfect visual to go along with their hissy drone-y buzz, the gorgeous sepiatone washed out video for The Body, mostly them playing live, but lit weirdly and all washed out like some old filmstrip, the super gross live action / animation mix of Snake Apt's video, featuring lots of applesauce spitting, and blood and guts and gore, the goofy live action video for Lorna Doom's bad ass white boy rap, a live Black Pus show, which is basically just Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale rocking out on the kit, the super blown out experimental video for Night Wounds, awesome arty collage intercut with live action for Get Killed, rad weirdo home movies to accompany Uke Of Spaces Corners, an awesome video of Fang Island performing for a class full of little kids who dance wildly, so cute! And on and on and on. And it's also a good way to get acquainted with a bunch of the bands on Corleone, all of whom are pretty bad ass. A killer audio AND video mix tape that will blow out your ear drums and make your eyeballs melt!
Full color artwork, clear dvd case, MASSIVE thanks list, full color booklet with liner notes and video info.

V/A Corners Of The Mouth (Bubble Core) cd 12.98
Electronic music compilation benefiting something called "The School of Sound" that teaches the healing power of music... Contributors include Mouse on Mars, Seefeel, Scanner, Moby, Oval, E.A.R., The Dylan Group, Aube, and others.

V/A Cosmarama: Blow Your Cool 2 (Psychic Circle) cd 17.98
We're finding it tough to keep up with the output of Psychic Circle, all their awesome '60s/'70s psych/pop/beat compilation action is a bit overwhelming, from Phantom Guitars to Instro-Hipsters to Fairytales Can Come True, and it's all been pretty great. In large part 'cause most of these comps have been put together by record collector extraordinaire, Nick Salomon, previously known to us as the Bevis Frond guy. So, we've missed listing a few, but here's one of the very latest, one we had to review, 'cause it's the follow up to the fantastic Blow Your Cool. Remember that one? "20 Prog/Psych Assaults From The UK & Europe". Itself sorta the sequel to A Visit To the Spaceship Factory, which in turn was kinda the UK version of Psychic Circle's White Lace & Strange comp of American garage-psych heaviness. So, what has Salomon dug up to blow our cool with this time? A "cosmarama" of obscure sounds, from twenty bands we haven't heard of AT ALL (well, with just two or three exceptions). Fortunately they're all pretty rockin', and Mr. Saloman provides liner notes about each.
The bands: Distant Jim, Carriage Company, Kingdom, The Tower, Back Street Band, Big Wheel, Bismarck, CWT, Silence, Ginger Ale, Pussy (ex-Jersusalem), Tenderfoot Kids, Electric Food, Mr. Albert Show, The Petards, Castle Farm, The Pebbles, Corporal Gander's Fire Dog Parade (!), Chips, and Richard St. Clair & Forum.
There's some folky-proggy dreamy stuff here, and melodic popsike moments, but mostly these cuts are on the harder rockin', and totally groovy side of things, approaching proto-metal, even, when it comes to the efforts several of these acts... with plenty of jamming organs, acidic fuzz wah guitars, cowbell, and the occasional horn section (this is from back when having one was hip). Maybe it'll mean something to you that there's more than one song here with the word "Woman" in the title! Definitely we're reminded of the likes of Steppenwolf, Dust, Bloodrock, and Grand Funk at times. Black Sabbath no, not so much except on Pussy's "Feline Woman" which could almost be a re-write of the song "Evil Woman" originally by Crow, that Sabbath covered on the UK version of their debut album...
Another Psychic Circle winner. All we know is, if Nick Saloman were DJing at a bar anywhere near here, we'd be drinking there all night!
MPEG Stream: DISTANT JIM "Cosmarama"
MPEG Stream: BISMARCK "Shotgun Express"
MPEG Stream: SILENCE "Devil Woman"

V/A Cottage Cheese From The Lips Of Death (Compulsive) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Awesome cd reissue of this legendary compilation of seminal Texas 'hardcore' bands. Features the Butthole Surfers (whose track was recently included on their 'Humpty Dumpty L.S.D.' rarities collection), The Dicks, Watchtower, the Big Boys, D.R.I., Really Red, The Offenders, My Dolls, Not For Sale, Prenatal Lust, Stick Men With Rayguns, Hugh Beaumont Experience, Marching Plague and Bang Gang. Noisy, spazzy, fucked up and essential.
RealAudio clip: STICK MEN WITH RAY GUNS "Christian Rat Attack"
RealAudio clip: HUGH BEUMONT EXPERIENCE "Moo"
RealAudio clip: WATCHTOWER "Meltdown"
RealAudio clip: THE DICKS "Gilbeau"

V/A Counter Culture 04: Best of 2004 (Rough Trade) 2cd 24.00
Here's the second annual compilation of the selected staff faves over at the UK record shop, Rough Trade. In the liner notes, they make a point of specifying that the songs weren't chosen according to sales figures. No, these are forty-nine tunes that simply captured their fancy this past year, and the selection runs the absolute gamut. From Coil to Cryin' Shames to Cobra Killer to Cocorosie to Cornershop to Candi Staton to Coachwhips, from Wanda Jackson to Whitey to Whirlwind Heat, from Measles Mumps Rubella to Micah P. Hinson And The Gospel Of Progress to Magoo to Mara Carlyle to Mu, from Sunburned Hand Of The Man to Sons And Daughters to The Soviettes to Schwab to Sonic Youth, from Le Tigre to Liars, from Animal Party to Ambrose Tompkins to Alter Ego to Alan Glen, from Bloc Party to Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham to Brakes to Brooks to Beastellabeast, from Throbbing Gristle to Todd to Ten Minutes With My Dad, from Jolie Holland to Jad Fair... and there's plenty more, but you get the picture, doncha? So many familiar and not-so-familiar faces, it's like a cool mix tape made with loving care by your most obsessive music fan buddy.
MPEG Stream: PHILLIPS, BRITTA & DEAN WAREHAM "Your Baby (Can't Stand The Rain)"
MPEG Stream: COIL "Sex With Sun Ra"

V/A Cozmick Suckers Volume Black And White (Shitkatapult) cd 16.98
Marco Haas (aka Kompakt recording artist T. Raumschmiere), Sascha Ring (Apparat) and their Shitkatapult label strike back with the fifth installment in his Cozmick Suckers series of compilations of minimal electronic sounds from around the globe. Much like their contemporaries in Cologne, these Berlin producers similarly specialize in all that microscopic pulsing dancefloor filth with an addictive "schaffel" touch to superfluous ambient abstractions and clinical sine tone palpitations. Artists from the Shitkatapult roster (Rechenzentrum, Sami Koivikko, Fenin, Magnum38, as well as the aforementioned T. Raumschmiere and Apparat) are paired with newcomers Munit, Napoli Is Not Nepal and Zoy Winterstein and special guests like Kyborg, Chicago's Slicker and the wonderous sine drones of Steinbruechel. Fans of the Kompakt persuasion will love this.
RealAudio clip: FENIN "Yellow Dub"
RealAudio clip: STEINBRUECHEL "Red8.4-Index.2"
RealAudio clip: T. RAUMSCHMIERE "Anti"

V/A Crash! Bang! Boom! (Rhino ) cd 14.98

V/A Crazy Guys: Gems Of American Comedy (Sanctuary / Living Era) cd 11.98
I (Allan) have been waiting for this to come out for a while. The reason why is that a friend of mine used to have an old 7" record from the '50s (it was his dad's, actually) by the comedian Wally Cox, who was apparently once known as TV's Mr. Peepers, also a Hollywood Squares regular and (we recently discovered) the grandfather of Courtney Cox. The b-side of the single was a silly sort of yodelling song but the a-side is what always cracked us up, it's called "What A Crazy Guy (Dufo)" and it's a monologue about a character named Dufo who's always getting himself (or others) into trouble. Cox does the whole thing in an Italian-American accent, like he's from the Bronx, and his delivery is so deadpan that it's almost not comedy... certainly not punchline rimshot material. But we found it both weird and funny. We practically had the whole thing memorized, in fact. That was years ago, but recently I got to wondering if "What A Crazy Guy (Dufo)" or any other Wally Cox stuff was out on cd. Well, an internet search turned up this cd, not yet released at the time, that not only featured "What A Crazy Guy" but took its title from it. So I had to order it when it came out, and here it is! Dunno if all of you will find Wally's routine as funny as I did (and still do!) but even if you don't, there's plenty more on here to amuse. These twenty tracks are from the postwar era, spanning the years 1945-'53, and encompass classic vaudeville styled material (the disc leads off with a classic: Abbott and Costello's famous "Who's On First" routine -- if you haven't heard it in a while, it's still pretty funny) as well as more "modern" stuff like the beat/jazz humor of Steve Allen, and Stan Freberg's Dragnet spoof, for example. There's quite a few musical numbers, including an amazing bit of opera parody insanity from Spike Jones & His City Slickers. Musical yucks are also to be heard from Spike's competitors Red Ingle & His Natural Seven, as well as Bob Hope & Bing Crosby (with Doris Day), Jimmy Durante, Beatrice Kay, and Dusty Fletcher, amongst others. Then there's a bunch of what you might call "hick humour" on here as well, the best example of which might be "Deacon" Andy Griffith's "What It Was, Was Football", wherein a country bumpkin tells of attending, but not understanding, a football match. Other great names in comedy, like Jerry Lewis, Groucho Marx, and Victor Borge also appear. Certainly some of this shows its age, but really that's part of the charm. It's mostly still funny yet kinda quaint -- and sometimes not very PC, as with Buddy Hackett's unfortunate "The Chinese Waiter". But some of this stuff is so different from what you'd hear from a comedian today that it seems NEW. You're not quite sure you're even "getting" what's supposed to be funny about it (as opposed to what's unintentionally funny), which makes it seem weirder, which makes it funnier in the end... like the Wally Cox thing that lead me to this in the first place.
MPEG Stream: WALLY COX "What A Crazy Guy"
MPEG Stream: SPIKE JONES & HIS CITY SLICKERS "Pal-Yat-Chee"

V/A Creative Outlaws: US Underground 1962-1970 (Trikont) cd 16.98
Germany's Trikont label is responsible for some of our favoritest, weirdest comps, like Ho! Roady Music Of Vietnam, Beyond Istanbul, and that whole Flashbacks series of early 20th century Americana oddities. Here's another one, sort of a primer on what was cookin' in the psychedelic era of the hippies and the yippies in the United States of Amerikka, stuff that maybe (maybe) won't ever get used for a baby boomer beguiling car commercial... including tracks by Captain Beefheart, Blue Cheer, The Fugs, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Pearls Before Swine, The Stooges, Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Lothar & The Hand People, Tiny Tim, The Godz, Exuma, Kaleidoscope, Canned Heat, Chambers Brothers, Shel Silverstein, Tim Rose, Country Joe & The Fish, Grace Slick & The Great Society, The Holy Modal Rounders, Moondog, and the MC5. Yeah, chances are you have, or certainly have heard, a lot of these tracks already -- some are obvious, classic picks ("Summertime Blues", "1969", "Tiptoe Through The Tulips", "Kick Out The Jams", "Time Has Come Today" etc.) -- but it's still a righteous comp of significant tuneage that in fact, at the time, -was- in opposition to the "mainstream". And it's interesting to hear those better-known hits in context with some of their more obscure contemporaries, the "underground" documented here embracing protest folk, psychedelic soul, Woodstock hard rock, and even some (hopefully) satirical coffee house beat poetry, the latter from Shel Silverstein of "Where The Sidewalk Ends" fame! Lots of humor here, actually, whether due to the track in question being a novelty song (Tiny Tim!), or just 'cause of the hippie era datedness. So, while NOT the most bizarre Trikont comp ever, not a bad spin... and a good gift for your younger family and friends who have yet to be exposed to some of this. And when was the last time you heard Hendrix tearing apart the "Star Spangled Banner"? Still pretty powerful stuff.
MPEG Stream: LOTHAR AND THE HAND PEOPLE " Machines"
MPEG Stream: PEARLS BEFORE SWINE "Uncle John"
MPEG Stream: WEST COAST POP ART EXPERIMENTAL BAND "What If They Gave A War And No One Came"

V/A Creeping Dawn Vol. 3 (Students Of Decay) 4 x 3"cd-r box 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Students Of Decay, the label run by Alex Cobb aka Taiga Remains, seems unable to do anything wrong. Pretty much every release so far has been amazing, discs from Ghosting, Flash Lights, Jade Emperor, David Kirby, Heavy Winged, and of course a bunch of Taiga Remains discs, including the breathtaking Ribbons Of Dust series.
Creeping Dawn is another Students Of Decay series, one so limited, the first two volumes came and went without us even noticing. But we jumped on volume three, and grabbed as many copies as we could of the criminally limited pressing (50 COPIES!!). We got about a third of all the copies made, but these won't be around for long so don't dawdle or you'll be sorry.
A killer combo for sure, this quadruple 3" cd-r boxset collects a handful of luminaries from the underground free noise cd-r scene and gives each of em a disc to do with as they will. And the results are as good as we would have hoped.
The first disc teams up the Nether Dawn (aka PseudoArcana head honcho Antony Milton) with Little Skull, otherwise known as Dean Brown. The two incorporate guitars, violins, clarinets, tape loops, feedback and vocals into their slow abstract ambient crawl. Guitars drift like wisps of smoke, everything is slightly off kilter and warbly as if the tape machine was slightly busted, dreamy, indistinct melodies hover and drift away, very sun baked and druggy. Like Loren Mazzacan Connors recorded on an old 4-track after way too many bong hits. Gloriously laid back and spaced out.
The second disc features legendary Kiwi noisemaker Clayton Noone, who does his thing as CJA. Here, he takes his guitar, and wraps it in a thick layer of crumbling distortion, and proceeds to unfurl a dreamily lugubrious minor key jam, repetitive and hypnotic, a strummy folk bathed in fuzzy ambience. For track two, the guitar is supercharged and allowed to sort of sprawl out, into a thick pulsing layer of downtuned chug, sprinkled with little bits of random mechanical whir and little fragments of melody. The final track is another ultra murky stripped down jam, the guitar almost lost completely beneath the roiling surface, melodies getting all twisted up and tangled in the thick shards of guitar grrr.
The third disc features the group Pefkin, who we had never heard of before, but who fits perfectly in this set, with long drawn out wheezing drones, haunting minor key melodies, the opening track almost sounds like a Parisian cafe in the midst of some sort of sonic storm. Disc two adds some killer backwards melodies (we love anything backwards) and some percussive steel string buzz, the rest of the disc meanders from warbly drone to blissy abstract Appalachia and back again. We definitely need to hear more from these guys.
Finally, wrapping things up, is the ubiquitous duo of Bjerga / Iverson, who weight in with an epic 20 minute soundscape of speaker rattling low end, buzzing electronic glitch, thick fuzzy stretches of rumbling drone and muted melody, all whipped up into a glacial crawl, but rife with under-the-surface activity, plenty of weird little stuttery squiggles, layers of sound shifting and shimmering, all submerged beneath a rich resonant low end thrum.
Four discs, all of them kick ass, and all exclusive to this release.
Gorgeously packaged, each disc in a mini 3" jewel case, with full color artwork, housed in a little white box, with cool abstract green artwork affixed to the top, inside is an insert, with the liner notes, each one hand numbered. And again..
LIMITED TO 50 COPIES!!!! These will be gone in no time so if you want one, act fast...
MPEG Stream: NETHER DAWN AND LITTLE SKULL "A Dog's Hair Reverie"
MPEG Stream: CJA "Ich Lieb"
MPEG Stream: PEFKIN "The Other Room"
MPEG Stream: BJERGA / IVERSEN "Cosmic Recovery"

V/A Cris Et Chuchotements (Crier Dans Les Musees!) cd-r 8.98
French label Crier dans les Musˇes hits the ground running as it unleashes its first release, Cris et Chuchotements (in English, Cries and Whispers). On here, you can expect to find 14 tracks that range from hippie-psych freakouts to pure, brutal, fucked up noise chants. Although there are a few familiar names - White Rainbow, Valerio Cosi, and Aaron Martin among them - the comp offers a handful of less-known, more obscure artists. One of those projects is Enfer Boreal, the solo project of Crier dans les Musˇes! label owner Maxime Primault. Primault's space on the record is a faithful replication of the aesthetics of early industrial music, which means that if you like anything by SPK or Robert Rental you will be completely and totally pumped. Another notable presence is that of Ravi Padmanabha, whose music can be described as the bastard child of Hella and Sun Ra on both valium and acid. Still, the good ol' stand-bys on this record don't fail to deliver either. Valerio Cosi kicks things off with a Droney raga piece - "Music for Flying Carpets" - that could have been made any number of ways, with any number of pedals, but all we know is that it sounds perfect. This is like La Monte Young and Brian Eno sitting down and giving us a five minute snippet of some supra-celestial jam session, especially the Eno thing when you consider the title. Not too long ago we were jammin' that Aaron Martin and Machinefabriek collaboration. Well, Cris has just a little more Aaron Martin for you before his solo debut comes out, and this track convinces us that it will be worth the wait. Just imagine if Vangelis had been commissioned to write the Lone Wolf and Cub soundtrack with only a windchime and one synth. One of the greatest heights is when Black Forest/Black Sea invokes the spirit of the blackest Black metal with a piece that sounds like a room of PA speakers performing some pissed-off Satanic ritual. A solid release for a fledgling label, definitely recommended!
MPEG Stream: ENFER BOREAL "Enfer Boreal - "Plaaval""
MPEG Stream: BLACK FOREST / BLACK SEA "Black Forest / Black Sea - "Eyes Filled with Feathers""

V/A Crooked: The Movie/The Soundtrack (WordSound) cd+dvd 18.98
Skiz Fernando, the mastermind behind WordSound, the underground illbient hiphop label outta Crooklyn, NY (now relocated to Baltimore, actually), has written, produced, and directed a straight-to-dvd movie called Crooked. It stars our favorite laid-back, mumble-mouthed rapper with the Elmer Fudd laugh, the one and only Sensational, playing himself in a fictionalized version of the story of his pursuit of fame and fortune in a fucked up music industry. Various WordSound related artists make cameo appearances, including the Anti-Pop Consortium, Mr. Dead, and Scotty Hard (playing a plainclothes cop!). Open mics, drug deals, gunfights, vinyl-diggin', it's all here.
The double-disc digipack contains a dvd of "Crooked" and also a cd with the film's 21-track, 73 minute soundtrack, featuring Sensational, Anti-Pop Consortium, Spectre, Scotty Hard, Prince Paul, Unipod, Leon Lamont, Ish, Mad Luck & Robo, and Mentol Nomad. Dark, druggy, damaged, dubby hiphop in the freaky WordSound style is what you'll find here, and with the exception of Sensational's cuts, we're told all are exclusive to this soundtrack.
As for the dvd itself, well, you know how your parents taught you, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? Well, we're gonna try to apply that rule here, but we will just say it's a sometimes amusing, mainly tedius bonus to a pretty great WordSound compilation cd! The liner notes compare it to Space Is The Place, Wild Style, Rockers, and Ghost Dog! Definitely not. Although it's funny to see Sensational acting (and he's not bad), this would have been so much better if they would have just made a real documentary about the whole WordSound scene, rather than trying to make a fictional "movie". It's also possible that Skiz and Co. were so stoned when they edited it that they left stuff in they were supposed to take out, or vice versa...
But, it has its moments -- some of the best parts feature the horrified reactions of a snotty record store clerk and a sleazy label exec to Sensational's lo-fi rap stylings. And, WordSound headz will want to check it out anyway, along with the soundtrack.
Wordsound sold us this direct, apparently it's not available through their regular distribution channels, so it may prove to be a rather "limited" release.
RealAudio clip: SPECTRE "Bottom Feeder"
RealAudio clip: ISH "I Gonna Sell"
RealAudio clip: LEON LAMONT "Fear of Mermaids"
RealAudio clip: SENSATIONAL "Chunky Buds"

V/A Crooklyn Dub Consortium - Certified Dope, Vol. 1 (Word Sound) 2lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
WOW! Spectre, HIM, Sub Dub, Loop, We. Bass-heavy dub filtered through a politically awake hip hop lens -- Brooklyn's Word Sound is very happening scene in and of itself. Important.

V/A Crooklyn Dub Consortium Certified Dope Vols. 1 & 2 (Word Sound) cd 16.98
Going back to the beginnings of the "illbient" movement, the blissed out drus soaked dub sounds that this series has chronicled over the years, this double-cd reissue of the first two volumes traces the early years of the mostly Brooklyn folks who were influenced heavily by dub and who then started to create electronic music with much of the aesthetics and pathos of their dub mentors. Heavy on the bass, leaving some space and keeping things down and dirty was the common bond between artists like Sub Dub, Him, Spectre, and the only known name at that time Bill Laswell. Looking back at this era '91-'94 it's nice to see who still sounds fresh and interesting (the above mentioned for sure) and yeah there are a few tracks that didn't really age too well, but the good for sure outweighs the not so hot. Nice for those times when you wanna go to outer space as much as u wanna be in Jamaica. Oh and check out the diss in the liner notes to DJ Spooky for taking all the glory from a scene that actually had many others doing more innovative and interesting stuff then he was.
MPEG Stream: SUB DUB "Monuments On Earth"
MPEG Stream: HIM "Chemical Mix"
MPEG Stream: BILL LASWELL "Skulls of Broken Hill"

V/A Crooklyn Dub Consortium Volume 3 (WordSound) cd 13.98
Watch the bassbins! A devastating collection of illbient dub and ultra-twisted hip hop from the Wordsound crew: Spectre, Scarab, Bug, Slotek, Lovecraft Technologies (aka Prince Charming), etc.!!! Awesome.

V/A Crooklyn Dub Outernational Presents Certified Dope, vol. 4: Babylon's Burning (WordSound) cd 14.98
WordSound's Crooklyn crew is back with an other comp of dark, low-slung beats and breaks. Just like the previous volumes, this is the illest of the "illbient", perfect for pumping on the stereo as you cruise in your car, headlights off, through the urban streets at night, looking for trouble. (We're not really suggesting you to do that, we're just trying to paint a picture here.) Usual suspects on board this time include: Spectre, Twilight Circus, Prince Charming, Bill Laswell, DJ/Rupture, Scotty Hard, Roots Control, Zion Train and others.
MPEG Stream: BRAIN DAMAGE MEETS LAB "Ph neutre"
MPEG Stream: SPECTRE "Al Qaida (The Bass)"

V/A Cross Continental Record Raid Road Trip (B-Music) (Finders Keepers) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Over the last several years Finders Keepers / B-Music has mined and shared some of the most amazing sounds from the psychedelic past, bringing folks like Selda, Jean-Claude Vannier, The Yamasuki Singers and Susan Christie into heavy rotation in these parts. Record diggers will be so envious of what Andy Votel and his equally talented collection of record collecting friends (including Gruff Rhys, David Holmes, Cherrystones, Jazzman Gerald, etc) dug up for this comp of rare finds from all over the globe. Lots of fuzz, heavy psych, deep grooves, and tripped out delights from all across the globe. We were especially excited to finally get to hear a track by Indoor Life, the drugged out post-punk project of legendary San Francisco disco producer and Sylvester collaborator Patrick Cowley. Once again the Finders Keepers crew have mined some obscure psych gems that will be pleasing our ears for a long time to come!
MPEG Stream: CARMEN ANDALORO "Sulla Neve Con Te"
MPEG Stream: ZAFER DILEK "Yekte"
MPEG Stream: INDOOR LIFE "Archaeology"

V/A Crows Of The World (Last Visible Dog) 2cd 11.98
From the same folks who brought us that amazing Invisible Pyramid six-cd compilation of the free/drone/folk/cdr/etc. underground, comes another dose of the same, this time "just" a double cd (but apparently the first in a series?). The international array of artists include: The Free Players, The North Sea, Western Automatic, Ilya Monosov and Preston Swirnoff, Andrea Belfi, Paper Wings (Antony Milton and Anthony Guerra), Northern Cross (Geoff Mullens and Kris Lapke), Brasil & The Gallowbrothers Band, Sunken (Antony Milton again, and Stephen "Pumice" Neville), Kawaguchi Masami's New Rock Syndicate and Oaxacan. Everything from ritualistic rumbling drone ceremony from New Zealand to lumbering distorto Tokyo psych rock! It's all sorta dark and dreamy, there's plenty of instrumental mellow droning bliss and pensive folk guitar picking, mysterious field recordings and electronic shimmer.
You can pretty much trust that this would be gritty and gorgeous and evocative and everything you'd want a comp from these farflung, dusty corners of the "New Weird" to be. Immersion in the contents of these two discs ought to both relieve stress, and make you want to hear more from any and all of these folks...
MPEG Stream: THE NORTH SEA "Albino Deer Transmissions"
MPEG Stream: WESTERN AUTOMATIC "The Burlap Tundra"
MPEG Stream: MONOSOV/SWIRNOFF "The Sea Within"

V/A Crumb (Ryko) cd 14.98
Soundtrack to the film documentary about artist R. Crumb.

V/A Crunk'd (Koch) cd 13.98
Getting 'crunk' is apparently a favorite pastime of rappers and their fans in the southern portion of the United States. The term is probably derived from the words crazy and drunk, and now has come to be used to refer to a whole style of hip hop, one that's certainly all about unabashed hedonism. It's dance-oriented, bumpin' bouncin' club music. Wild, crowd-pleasing party anthems driven by kickin' drum machine rhythms, always with a catchy, repetitive vocal refrain, usually celebrating the joys of crunkdom. Decadent, and fun. (And like a lot of rap and pop music in general, perhaps less than socially responsible!) I can't pretend to be any sort of expert on Dirty South hip hop soundz, so I can't really tell you if this Crunk'd comp is a comprehensive survey or if they've left out some crucial cuts. But what I'm hearing is good stuff, and I have no doubts that these are bonafide crunk artists! This comp, selected by DJ Greg Street, features 14 tracks from the Yin Yang Twins, B.G., Soulja Slim, Lil' Flip, and members of the Three 6 Mafia, amongst others. Definitely a decent sampler, and a way to check out what might just be a whole new lifestyle for you...though you yourself don't have to get crunk to enjoy this music, much as you can be into stoner rock without getting stoned -- just ask straightedge Bongzilla fan Andee! So, grab this and get crunk!
MPEG Stream: NIC "Supa Crunk"
MPEG Stream: BG "Hottest Of The Hot"

V/A Crushing The Holy Trinity (Northern Heritage) 3cd 35.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This will most likely end up being the most essential, and due to its ultra limited status, soon to be most sought after, black metal artifact of 2005. Three discs, six bands, some you know, some you've never heard of, all completely killer. And unlike a normal compilation, each band on Crushing The Holy Trinity contributes 20-30 minutes of music instead of just a single five minute track. Three discs, titled appropriately enough, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, two bands to a disc. Most of you will probably need this just for the exclusive Deathspell Omega track, and rightfully so. A single 22 minute track (nearly as long as their recent full length!), epic and totally amazing, lots of moody post rock rhythms, grim black metal crush, and all sorts of damaged squiggly guitars, and unlikely riffs, strange arrangements and all the brilliantly un-black metal stuff that makes DSO's black metal so compelling. But the other five bands manage to hold their own, and then some! The other band on the Father disc with DSO is a band we had never heard of, Stabat Mater, whose lengthy single track is bleak and gorgeously depressive, a monstrous gutteral bellowing over a dreary melancholic doomscape, brutal blackened dooooom. Pretty darn good. Disc Son starts off with four tracks from Finnish BM outfit Musta Surma, another band new to us, who deliver buzzing blasts of harsh and brittle, true and grim sounding thrashy black metal. Then comes Clandestine Blaze, a band we are quite familar with, and who despite having never been reviewed on the AQ list, are one of our favortie BM outfits. Thick guitars, churning and crunchy, with minor key melodies atop them, a bit like Xasthur's Nocturnal Poisoning, all midtempo and hypnotic, with lots of strange ambient drones and creepy martial percussion. Really cool! The final disc, Holy Spirit, introduces us to two more bands we knew nothing about. First up, the curiously named Mgla, who definitely hit the spot for classic grim black metal, super buzzy and droney, very lo-fi, lots of thrashing rhythms and mosquito buzz riffage and demonic howls! The big surprise out of all these bands would definitely have to be Exordium, who completely kicked our asses tens seconds into their first song. Wow! Super white hot hyperdistorted buzz guitar, lightning fast blast beats, killer riffs, the whole thing blown out and recorded so hot the speakers can barely handle it!
The whole thing comes packaged in super nice, DVD sized cardboard sleeve, with a big booklet, two pages for each bands, with photos and liner notes.
SUPER LIMITED. We have a bunch of these in stock, and a bunch more on the way from Finland, but be prepared to be patient, and realize that we won't have these for long!!!
MPEG Stream: DEATHSPELL OMEGA "Diabolus Absconditus"

V/A Cryosphere (Glacial Movements) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
How can you not love a drone compilation whose tagline is "A musical journey that transports the listener into glacial and unexplored lands where icebergs collide and where everything is frozen?" If you're anything like us (and we think that you are) then the answer is YOU CAN'T!!! Can't NOT love it that is. This limited cd-r compilation is the first release on the Glacial Movements label, an entirely appropriate monicker if you hadn't figured that out for yourself. Some of the names are familiar, Troum, Aidan Baker, some aren't, Tho-So-Aa, Lightwave, Tuu, but they all explore similar barren landscapes of sound, some are frosty and desolate, some are more warm and dark, but this comp is an isolationist drone freak dream come true. Closing The Eternity (who recently released a 7" on Drone Records) start things off with a brooding and buzzing expanse of glistening dark ambience crafted from vibraphone, icewater sounds (!) and hundreds of bells and chimes. Those bells and chimes drift across wide stretches of rumbling shimmer, very evocative of some frozen wasteland. Northaunt are up next with a piece for processed piano, a whirring soundscape of fuzz and hiss and shhhhhhhhhhh, very warm and dreamy, a lot like a more ambient M83, super soft and billowy but with a slightly ominous undercurrent. Tho-So Aa's track is so quiet, it almost sounds like a field recording of a walk through some abandoned city, distant sounds drift in and out of earshot, subtle shuffles and various found sounds surface, about halfway through the music overtakes the natural ambience, deep cavernous rumbles, a softly beeping sonar like tone, all wrapped in delay and echo, like walking through a seaside town thick with nighttime fog. Lightwave chime in with a mix of electronics and "atmospherics" which ends up sounding like a drifting exploration of some murky undersea world, muted and darkly sparkling. Tuu give us seven minutes of slow shifting minimalism, a single note/tone that seems to twist and squirm until it breaks apart into glistening shards of high end shimmer. Next up is AQ faves Troum, with a 12 minute drift through some lost land, a soundscape rife with all sorts of non musical sounds, creaks and groans, clatter and thump, super dark and menacing, a little bit reminiscent of Nurse With Wound's Salt Marie Celeste, a similar feeling of drifting lost across the sea. Up next is another AQ fave Aidan Baker (Nadja, Arc, etc.) whose track is maybe the dreamiest and warmest on the comp. His track almost should have been last as it sounds like the clouds parting, the sun finally breaking through, after a long and harrowing journey through darkness, a rich swirl of dreamy drones and softly shifting melodies. But it's right back into the pit with Netherworld, an ultra minimal soundscape constructed from field recordings, old gates (!), synths and samples. Like traveling through some mysterious cave, no light, only sound and touch to guide you, so pretty, but so haunting. Finally a long slow trudge to the end of the disc from Oophoi, a wash of rich rumbling synths, a lonely sorrowful sound, rife with darkness and isolation. A glacial expanse of frozen sound.
Essential for the drone inclines among you as well as fans of all things dark and ambient.
MPEG Stream: NORTHAUNT "Crocker Land"
MPEG Stream: TROUM "Giascei"
MPEG Stream: AIDAN BAKER "Beneath The Ice"

V/A Cue's Hip Hop Shop (Dogday) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Cue's, a hip hop retail shop on Mission Street in Daly City, has released this comp featuring many of the most happening names in local (and national!) turntablism and rap, including: the X-Ecutioners' Rob Swift, Rasco, Kut Masta Kurt, Beat Junkies' Roc Raida, Mr Dibbs, and 3 of the Skratch Piklz.

V/A Cue's Hip Hop Shop (Dogday) 2lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Cue's, a hip hop retail shop on Mission Street in Daly City, has released this comp featuring many of the most happening names in local (and national!) turntablism and rap, including: the X-Ecutioners' Rob Swift, Rasco, Kut Masta Kurt, Beat Junkies' Roc Raida, Mr Dibbs, and 3 of the Skratch Piklz.

V/A Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up (Numero Group) cd 17.98
Wow. In the span of a couple years, the Numero Group label has become the most exciting reissue label around. From the haunting electronic samba Young Marble Giants worship of Antena, to the long lost soul of the Capsoul label, the missing funk of the Bandit label, the creepy country beauty of Fern Jones to the amazing Yellow Pills power pop combination. Makes us dizzy just thinking about it.
So here we have what might possibly be the first collection of funk-soul-calypso-reggae from Belize. And it's a rollicking joyous non stop party. The influence of American R&B and soul is everywhere, and of course, so is Jamaican reggae. But with any comp like this, it's not the influences, it's what you do with them. So the tracks here run the gamut from, super emotive soulful crooning over warm warbly organs and wavery horns, full on dubbed out reggae rave ups, down and dirty gritty funky workouts, reverb drenched fifties sounding rock and roll, total Shaft / theme from some seventies sitcom slap bass disco funk and on and on. All infused with the spirit of the city and the era in which they were created. Joyful and hopeful, fun and spirited and lively and just a total blast. We've been listening to this nonstop, and every time we play it in the store, somebody buys one!
MPEG Stream: LORD RHABURN "Disco Connection"
MPEG Stream: HARMONETTES "Can't Go Halfway"
MPEG Stream: JESUS ACOSTA & THE PROFESSIONALS "Guajida"

V/A Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up (Numero Group) 2lp 19.98
NOW ON VINYL!!! WITH 2 AWESOME BONUS TRACKS!!!
This is one of our favorite releases from a label that seemingly can do no wrong, and now it's on LP which we know is gonna make a lot of DJ types really happy!! Here's what we said about the popular cd version:
Wow. In the span of a couple years, the Numero Group label has become the most exciting reissue label around. From the haunting electronic samba Young Marble Giants worship of Antena, to the long lost soul of the Capsoul label, the missing funk of the Bandit label, the creepy country beauty of Fern Jones to the amazing Yellow Pills power pop combination. Makes us dizzy just thinking about it.
So here we have what might possibly be the first collection of funk-soul-calypso-reggae from Belize. And it's a rollicking joyous non stop party. The influence of American R&B and soul is everywhere, and of course, so is Jamaican reggae. But with any comp like this, it's not the influences, it's what you do with them. So the tracks here run the gamut from, super emotive soulful crooning over warm warbly organs and wavery horns, full on dubbed out reggae rave ups, down and dirty gritty funky workouts, reverb drenched fifties sounding rock and roll, total Shaft / theme from some seventies sitcom slap bass disco funk and on and on. All infused with the sprit of the city and the era in which they were created. Joyful and hopeful, fun and spirited and lively and just a total blast. We've been listening to this nonstop, and every time we play it in the store, somebody buys one!
MPEG Stream: LORD RHABURN "Disco Connection"
MPEG Stream: HARMONETTES "Can't Go Halfway"
MPEG Stream: JESUS ACOSTA & THE PROFESSIONALS "Guajida"

V/A Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay (Numero) cd 17.98
The Numero Group strike gold again with another great lost soul collection. This time it's the second in their Cult Cargo series. The first one, Belize Boil Up quickly became an AQ favorite. This time out they have extracted the sounds of Bahaman soul mostly around the early-mid '70s. Much Goombay music as it was called, captured the sound of the island with touches of Caribbean influence as well as the equally sun soaked golden Miami sound. All the tracks here are killers, with backbeats that would sound at home on Studio One and breaks that still sound so damn fresh now. Some of these bands were playing hotels and poolsides and backyards and that undeniable charm resonates throughout the collection. Some nods to the past for sure, soaking up the sweetness and warmth of doo-wop, but at the same time, these tunes begin to walk in funkier shoes, capturing that raw beautiful essence of how soul should sound. Dripping with warmth and sparkling with color, somewhere between doo-wop and funk, with the island's tropical warm wind keeping everything flowing and fresh!
MPEG Stream: CYRIL FERGUSON "Gonna Build A Nation"
MPEG Stream: SYLVIA HALL "Don't Touch That Thing"
MPEG Stream: WILLPOWER "People Won't Change"

V/A Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay (Numero) 2lp 19.98
The Numero Group strike gold again with another great lost soul collection. This time it's the second in their Cult Cargo series. The first one, Belize Boil Up quickly became an AQ favorite. This time out they have extracted the sounds of Bahaman soul mostly around the early-mid '70s. Much Goombay music as it was called, captured the sound of the island with touches of Caribbean influence as well as the equally sun soaked golden Miami sound. All the tracks here are killers, with backbeats that would sound at home on Studio One and breaks that still sound so damn fresh now. Some of these bands were playing hotels and poolsides and backyards and that undeniable charm resonates throughout the collection. Some nods to the past for sure, soaking up the sweetness and warmth of doo-wop, but at the same time, these tunes begin to walk in funkier shoes, capturing that raw beautiful essence of how soul should sound. Dripping with warmth and sparkling with color, somewhere between doo-wop and funk, with the island's tropical warm wind keeping everything flowing and fresh!
MPEG Stream: CYRIL FERGUSON "Gonna Build A Nation"
MPEG Stream: SYLVIA HALL "Don't Touch That Thing"
MPEG Stream: WILLPOWER "People Won't Change"

V/A Cult GS Complete Singles, The (Teichiku Records) cd 26.00
Not a new release, but a new arrival, at the recommendation of AQ's Jeff. This comp collects of singles tracks from the following mid-60s Japanese garage groups, in the "Group Sound" genre: The Napoleon, D'Swooner's, The Hi-Lo's, The Unicorns, The Gallopers, The Toys, The Eagles. 22 tracks in all, with reproductions of the original sleeves.

V/A Cut It Up Def: Miami Bass Jams (Cut It Up Def) cd 14.98

V/A Czech Assault (Relapse) cd 14.98
Besides being one of the best collections of metallic grind (or grinding metal) in a while, this compilation is also notable for having perhaps the largest collection of vocalists that grunt and growl in a remarkably bowel loosening, rib cage rattling almost inaudible (except maybe to dogs) subsonic slowed-down cookie monster gurgle. It really is amazing. Plus all of these bands are from the Czech Republic! Had no idea it was such a hotbed of metal/grind. Of the 5 bands represented, only one (Contrastic) fails to please, lacing their grind with some sort of Red Hot Chili Peppers neo-funk. Ugh. But the other four bands more than make up for it, with some of the most punishing metal we've heard in a while: blazing tempos, impossibly fast drumming, crushing downtuned guitars, and those aforementioned sick, growled vocals. Check out the sound samples and you'll be sold.
RealAudio clip: IMPERIAL FOETICIDE "Feature"
RealAudio clip: NEGLIGENT COLATTERAL COLLAPSE "Chain Reactions' Domino AKA Termic Firer"
RealAudio clip: INTERVALLE BIZARRE "Blood Psalm"
RealAudio clip: FLESHLESS "Defy The Fear"