BORIS / TORCHE split (Hydra Head) 10" 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What more do you need to know? Two new songs, one from sludge pop masters Torche, and one from Japanese psychedelic post doom drone metallers Boris. The Torche track is of course incredible, taking their crushing downtuned pop and stretching it WAY out into a sprawling downtuned prog-pop, post-metal epic, with bursts of frenzied riffing, pounding drumming, weird almost industrial sounding percussion, constantly shifting tempos, slipping from weird doomed out feedback drenched crush, to Melvins-y lurch and lumber, to full on power-pop-in-metal's-clothing, to pounding relentless metallic chug. It's only 6 minutes but there's plenty of Torche-y goodness crammed into those 6 minutes...
The Boris track is twice the length, and takes its sweet time, a brooding slow build, all minimal skeletal guitars, and strange distant grinding ambient whirr, before exploding into a washed out woozy slowcore, that goes right into a full on black metal blast beat, accompanied by barely audible insectoid riffing, while over the top, dreamy sweet pop vocals are draped, making for just about the strangest juxtaposition ever. But it works, it's bizarre, and unexpected, but it sounds like some weird black metal / dream pop hybrid, and it sort of slips back and forth for the rest of the song, the blackened shoegaze side often bleeding into the lumbering slowcore side, the various elements constantly shifting, but that strange black metal pop thing making this really really rad. After a long stretch of shimmering ambient drift, the song shifts gears yet again, and the band get all sludge-y and doomy, their monstrous plod laced with both melody and bursts of grinding hissing noise, before blinking out as if the tape suddenly ran out.
Killer artwork from Hydra Head's Aaron Turner, and of course crazy crazy limited, we got a bunch of these, but are not sure if we'll be able to get more once they sell out, so get one while you can, and we apologize in advance if you can't...
BTW: This is the same Boris / Torche record that was released in Japan last year, only now getting a domestic release, same music, but new artwork! So if you plunked down for the expensive import, you already have this, and don't need another one, unless of course like most Boris fanatics you need multiple versions of the same release. But for everyone else, do not hesitate, this rules, and you most definitely NEED it!

BORIS VS. CHOUKOKU NO NIWA More Echoes, Touching Air Landscape (Inoxia) cd 15.98
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BACK IN PRINT! Now in super deluxe packaging, a cool metallic Japanese style mini gatefold. So nice!! More Echoes, Touching Air Landscape is a split release that came out a few years back between lesser known heavy underground Japanese outfit Choukoku no Niwa (tribal drum pounding, hypnotic distorted bass, and acid guitar freakouts like a heavier version of Yahowah 13 / Amon Duul style psychedelia) and now-huge psychedelic doomlords Boris (two monstrously long tracks of cyclical heaviosity, wah-wah distortion and rev-ed up stoner rock). We're still dying to hear more from Choukoku No Niwa (anybody know anything about anything else they did? this is *still* all we've ever seen by 'em, other than their current incarnation as the much less heavy Niwa). And Boris, well if you aren't already a massive fan of their blown out drone psych doom, you must not get out much. This is easily some of our favorite Boris music and CNN prove that they too are (were?) masters of the slow and low!
MPEG Stream: BORIS "Kanau Pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: CHOUKOKU NO NIWA "Fulurou"

BRAINWORLDS / EXPO 70 Abnormal Vergence (Hooker Vision) cassette 8.98
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Here's a nice pairing, featuring Expo 70, who needs no introduction to the aQ readership, and Brainworlds, an Atlanta based guitarist whose work at least here rivals that of Expo 70. Both of these long tracks are recordings from a night of cosmic meditation in 2010 at the seminal performance space Eyedrum in Atlanta. Brainworlds' deep guitar tones float weightlessly in a shimmering expanse from his hypnotic loops and evocative cosmic solo work outs that come across like some lost Ash Ra Tempel jam getting remixed by Troum at their most stratospheric. Really stunning work, and this would have been great to see live given the reverberant acoustics of Eyedrum. Justin Wright was in more of a cosmic mindset for that performance too. Wright's guitars take after some of Michael Rother's phrasing at the beginning of his set, locking into a darker heavier mantra as the performance moves forward with a pulsing rhythm and heavy chords reminiscent of Expo 70's masterful album Black Ohm. Classic drugged-out space drone bliss from both Brainworlds and Expo 70. We're pretty sure this is a 60 minute tape; it's damn long regardless... but it's limited too, just 100 copies released from the Hooker Vision imprint run in part by Rachel Evans of Motion Sickness of Time Travel.
MPEG Stream: BRAINWORLDS "Labyrinthitis"
MPEG Stream: EXPO 70 "Stepping Further Outside Petulance..."

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

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

BRIDEZ Rolling Stoned b/w Heart (World Famous In SF) 7" 5.98
Bridez front woman, and the cover star of this here 7" single, is none other then Liza Thorn, who was responsible for unleashing a thrilling and damaging whirlwind of fierce energy here in the Bay Area with her previous band So So Many White White Tigers. While Bridez is a much more song based endeavor, there is still that reckless energy and dirty quality to their songs that makes this such a fun, fiery and righteously sleazy debut. We hear healthy doses of Pussy Galore, early Hole and the early recordings of The Runaways. Bringing a much needed element of danger and drunken passion to fucked up rock n' roll. So good!

BRIGHT EYES Vinyl Box Set (Saddle Creek) 7lp 34.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
By the time you read this, adoring fans of Mr. Conor 'Bright Eyes' Oberst will undoubtably have already scooped up a copy (or two) of this seven record set.
If you count yourself among those legions, but are also a cardcarrying member of the slowpoke club then... guess what?! There's a seven record box set of Bright Eyes! It includes five of his albums (many of which have been out of print for some time) plus other rare goodies. Here's the lowdown: A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 (pressed on 2 lps, first time on vinyl!), Letting off the Happiness (with its original cover art and a Japanese import bonus song), the Every Day and Every Night ep, the excellent Fevers and Mirrors (remastered on 2 lps and including two Japanese import bonus songs), Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page (aka the four B.E. songs from Oh Holy Fools - The Music of Son, Ambulance and Bright Eyes plus two bonus songs). If you're not familiar with the woeful, trembling indie folk sounds of B.E. yet, this might not be the place to start (unless you're also a vinyl nut and an extreme completist to boot). Maybe first check out his most recent full length Lifted Or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground.

BRIGHT EYES / NEVA DINOVA One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels (Crank!) cd 10.98
When we first put this disc on for a spin, many here recognized the indie folk sound of Bright Eyes right away (without seeing the artists' and cd's names), but the vocals seemed unfamiliar. Either Conor Oberst has swiftly become a very mature, composed singer or someone else is handling some of the vocal duties. Well, to reassure those who adore Oberst's woebegone voice, it's the latter. Yup, hot on the heels of the Bright Eyes/Britt Daniel reissued split EP comes another Oberst pairing -- this time with fellow Omaha, Nebraskans Neva Dinova. You can certainly take the title as a tip-off that these two parties got together to drown their sorrows in wine and song. The six songs are warm and casual including bits of chitchat in the opening tune. On the non-Oberst-sung songs, things tend towards a lush, countrified Coldplay sound (check out the third song "Poison"). This may not win Bright Eyes many new admirers, but it surely should pique interest in Neva Dinova.
MPEG Stream: "Poison"
MPEG Stream: "Black Comedy"

BROKER/DEALER / ROLLMOTTLE split (Sentrall) 12" 8.98
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For those of you who've been itchin' for some more from SF's mellow, pretty electronicians Broker/Dealer or simply those of you in need of some electronic levity, here's a new and unusual B/D snippet. It's a Hall & Oates-tinged track called "Haulin' Oats". Actually this 12" is a bit silly all the way around as the flipside contains an equally Joe Jackson-flavored cut by Rollmottle that goes by the name "Steppin' Right On Out".

BROWN BUNNY, THE (OST) (Vincent Gallo) cd 16.98
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BUG, THE VS. ROOTSMAN / DJ/RUPTURE split (Tigerbeat6) cd 7.98

BUILT TO SPILL / MARINE RESEARCH split (K) 7" 3.99
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Wherein Built to Spill cover a Heavenly song ("By The Way"), and the ex-Heavenly people now known as Marine Research do a Built to Spill cover ("Sick & Wrong").

BURIAL / FOUR TET / THOM YORKE Ego (Text) 12" 13.98
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BURIAL HEX / SILVESTER ANFANG split (Aurora Borealis) 7" 6.98
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We got less than 20 of these, so we won't go into too much detail, since we could have done with at least twice that many, but c'mon, funeral folk weirdos Silvester Anfang and creeped out black ambient ritualist Burial Hex together on a 7", how amazing is that?! Unfortunately for all but about 20 of you, it is plenty amazing! But, it's LIMITED TO 500 copies (each one hand numbered), and already sold out, so if you want one, better be quick.
The Silvester Anfang side is gorgeous and dark and tribal and trippy, with a definite Morricone vibe, high end guitar squiggles way off in the distance, simple drumming, twangy guitars up front, some seriously super dramatic crescendos, but all the way through super raw and lo-fi, with a wild tangled second half that almost sounds space rock!
The Burial Hex side is a primitive and fractured lo-fi noise ritual, deep synthy rumbles, super distorted vocals, like a more doomy blackened Whitehouse if that makes any sense, vocals run through a bank of Merzbow-ish effects, the music a surprisingly gorgeous and minimal sprawl of deep rib cage rattling tones and low low low low buzz. Cool and creepy.

BURIAL HEX / ZOLA JESUS split (Aurora Borealis) lp 21.00
A new installment of "oppressive necro electronics" from Burial Hex, aka Clay Ruby, who when not whipping up these abject clouds of filthy black ambience, spends his time rocking out psychedelically in Jex Thoth, getting filthy metal in Wormsblood, and creating all manner of folky weirdness in Davenport (besides running the kick ass Skulls Of Heaven label).
But Burial Hex is so far removed from Ruby's other combos, they barely warrant mentioning. Burial Hex is the sound of some ancient black ritual, some sick sonik sorcery, where, guitars wind around electronics, and are all smeared into thick heaving slabs of doomdronedirge. The first of two tracks here however sounds bit different that what we're used to, introducing vocals, a howled feral wail, that ends up making this sound like some post industrial blackened Oxbow, minimal guitar strum, bursts of static, fragments of electronic skitter, creepy and atmospheric but super ethereal and hauntingly tense.
The second track returns to more familiar territory, a long sprawling slow motion doomscape, downtuned guitars draped over fractured electronics, bits of shuffling minimal percussion, warm whirring church organs, samples and found sounds, all very mysterious, subtly folky, damaged and abstract, and very very cinematic.
Never heard of Zola Jesus before, but they're a good match for Burial Hex, countering with their own sort of blackened soundscapery. A softly whirling cloud of glitched out electronics, disembodied vocals, almost choral sounding, swirling swooping effects, shards of new wave-y synth, eventually transforming into a nightmarish industrial creep, doused in more effects, all wrapped in thick billowy sheets of downtuned rumble, slipping from spaced out otherworldliness to grim, blackened, doom drenched dronemusick.
Pressed on super thick vinyl and housed in gorgeous matte sleeves, all the text printed in clear reflective ink.

BURMESE / 16 BITCH PILE UP Bored Fortress: Not Not Fun Seven Inch Series (Not Not Fun) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're more and more convinced that Burmese are San Francisco's greatest band. So fucking heavy, and so intensely aggressive, so totally unlike any other bands in the scene. Live they destroy, and somehow on record, their vitreous violence comes through loud and clear. For those new to Burmese, this is grinding low end ultra pummel, sludge and speed mixed into an impossible sonic stew, a little like Whitehouse crossed with Drop Dead, which makes no sense, but which is why Burmese are so fucking awesome. This set of songs was recorded live on WFMU and is so blown out. the recording so hot, that it's essentially just impenetrable walls of bass guitar growl, huge pounding sonic boom drums and inhuman shrieks. Scary stuff.
Teamed up with Burmese are 16 Bitch Pile Up, who traffic in abstract free noise, noxious clouds of ambient murk, with distant feral vocals and percussion that sounds like someone moving filing cabinets. Harsh and creepy, but what would you expect when one of the band members is credited with playing a bag of glass.
Part of Not Not Fun's Bored Fortress series of limited 7"s, packaged in a cool red and metallic gold silkscreened cover complete with little stick on pink leaves!

BURMESE / FISTULA split (Crucial Blast) cd 14.98
Never heard Fistula before, but they definitely prove themselves, at least on this here split, to be one of the few bands that can stand up to the ferocity and absolute fucking musical anvil to the skull that is Burmese. After two releases on our own Andee's tUMULt label, Burmese hook up with fellow noisemakers Fistula for an absolute sonic orgy of untold proportions of AQ pal Adam's Crucial Blast label. The ten Burmese tracks show them moving even further away from conventional grind / sludge into a world all their own, Whitehouse collides with Drop Dead, Throbbing Gristle with Masonna on lead vocals and Corrupted as back up band. This is pure fucking noise. Moments of grinding fury do peek through, as do little bursts of rhythmic mayhem and occasional electronic overload, but overall this is just two drummers and two bassists stuffing your head in a blender with a speaker at the bottom. Fistula respond with four slightly longer tracks of metallic crush. The first an abstract dirge with the lead vocals replaced by a hacking cough. Like an underground sludge "Sweet Leaf". But the other three tracks prove Fistula to be masters of the BIG RIFF. Supercharged drone / dirge metal, huge and galloping, pummelling and fucking MASSIVE.
MPEG Stream: BURMESE "Sweet Fucking Mouth / Livingwage"
MPEG Stream: BURMESE "Spill My Fuck"
MPEG Stream: FISTULA "Green Lung"

BURNT BY THE SUN / LUDDITE CLONE split (Ferret) cd 11.98
Man, there sure are more and more amazing grind bands these days. It's like all kids do these days is practice blast beats instead of doing their homework. But who's complaining? This is a split from two of grinds brightest pupils. Both are fast and furious, the production is top notch, and the songs from both bands are completely fucking brutal.

C-UTTER / DEAD PENI split (Blossoming Noise) lp 19.98

CALIBAN VS. HEAVEN SHALL BURN The Split Program II (Lifeforce) cd 13.98

CALIFORNIA RAISINS / CAVE split (Permanent) 10" 15.98
The return of Chicago's instrumental hypno-psych-kraut rock groovers Cave. Hot on the heels of the recent single/cd-r combo on Trensmat (now out of print, so don't ask) come two more stretched out jamz that manage to push all our buttons: repetitive, psychedelic, heavy, hypnotic... remember the track "Butthash" from the 7"? That we described thusly:
"A bouncy groover, with swirly synths, caffeinated rhythms, and buried vocals, a bit angular, a little new wave, equal parts krautrock, and spaced out shimmer, but all tangled up and kaleidoscopic."
Well, that was a 'mellowed out' remix of the first Cave track right here. So now take that description, add heavier guitars, all sorts of synths, howled distorted vocals, pounding drums, and wind it all up into a relentless killer groove that would do Circle or Pharaoh Overlord proud, kicking out the jams like Wooden Shjips on 45. The second track is more of the same, krauty and psychedelic, drums locked into a super tight rhythm, the guitars locked right in too, keyboards offering up all kinds of tripped out counterpoint, and more fuzzy effects drenched vocals soaring over the top, not so much singing as sort of howling along, the whole thing getting more and more fuzzy and distorted as the song progresses.
Cave share this 10" split with California Raisins, who may just have one of the WORST band names ever, but that doesn't stop them from kicking up a serious racket themselves. Hailing from Columbia, Missouri (where Cave called home before Chicago), California Raisins rock similar territory as Cave, the core of their sound a tightly wound guitar / synth hypnogroove, the difference being that CR are way more of a noisy, punky ROCK band, with much looser and wilder drums, and a vocalist whose wail is WAY up in the mix, his vocals heavily distorted and reverbed, turning what could have been a sort of psychedelic krautrock into more of a tripped out hypno garage stomp, plenty of Stooges-y swagger, Brainbombs-y pummel, but occasionally wrapped around super hypnotic krautrock style grooves or spread out over buzzy synth drenched crunch. Lo-fi and distorted and heavy and noisy and garage-y and a pretty good match for Cave's more looped sounding kraut psych grooves.
Packaged in hand screened silver and black sleeves (screened by the dudes in Cave) with a photocopied insert, and a cd (not a cd-r) featuring all the songs from the 10"!
MPEG Stream: CAVE "Butthash"
MPEG Stream: CALIFORNIA RAISINS "Down At The Flop House"

CAN Sacrilege (Mute) 2cd 15.98
Why mess with a good thing? Seminal krautrockers Can are downright inspiring, apparently, and short of adding four-on-floor-beats to make an insta-dance track, you be hardpressed to ruin a Can song. 15 classic tracks are remixed by the likes of Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, The Orb, A Guy Called Gerald, Pete Shelley, U.N.K.L.E., Bruce Gilbert and others. Some drum'n'bass, some weirdo techno noodling, and more than a few quite interesting interpretations. Double cd for the price of one.

CANINUS / HATEBEAK Wolfpig / Bird Seed Of Vengeance (Reptilian) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oh crap. It's here. It was indeed only a matter of time. A canine / avian metal meeting. Or something. On the one hand/paw/claw/side, there's Hatebeak, the grinding death metal juggernaut, fronted by lead vocalist Waldo, who just so happens to be a parrot! On the other, there's Caninus, a thuggy, metalic hardcore mosh pit bull of a band, fangs bared, leashes swinging, ummm, tails wagging. Yep, Caninus is fronted by tag team vocalists Budgie and Basil, both of whom happen to be pitbulls. If there was EVER a record made for AQ customers it's this one!!! Caninus is in full grind mode on this split, with spastic hyperspeed drum machines, buzzing lightning bolt guitars and Waldo's unmistakabe squawk. Caninus counters with some serious moshworthy metallic hardcore, bordering on death metal, with HUGE downtuned riffs, blasting drums, and a wicked array of snarls and growls and barks. And if there was ever any doubt, both bands ostensibly being joke bands, these guys are definitely true metalheads as the whole release is steeped in metal injokes. The Caninus cover art is Napalm Death's Scum album cover, except all of the people in the original are now dogs! The Hatebeak side is titled Bird Seeds Of Vengeance, named after the Nile album Black Seeds Of Vengeance, the cover depicting Hatebeak vocalist Waldo facing off against a bust of King Tut, the whole cover surrounded in Egyptian filligree. And then on the inside there is a photo of Waldo perched on what they purport to be the Spear Of Longinus, the actual spear that a Roman soldier used to stab Jesus in the side when he was on the cross! And then there's the Caninus lyrics, dense with metal / hardcore parody and written from the point of view of a dog (obviously)! Hatebeak declare "Avian Victory!" while Caninus proclaim "Go Vegan" as well as "Fuck You New York Post and New York Times" and in their thanks list give props to PETA, an animal shelter and even a pet supply store!! THE ANIMALS ARE NOW THE (METAL) MASTERS!!

CANYONS / TIGON / FOREIGN THEATERS Can't Have Nothin' Nice (Mayfly / Melotov / The Ghost Is Clear) lp 9.98
Got a handful of these three way split lps featuring some heavy rock outfits we hadn't heard before now, but are digging all three, pretty, ummÉ heavily. Four tracks from each, up first is Canyons who hail from Missouri, and who we had never heard before but who absolutely push all out mathmetalpunk buttons, reminding us a bit of local noise rockers Kowloon Walled City, but a bit more punky, their furious pound splintering into wild proggy mathiness as often as AmRep style head caving sonic swagger.
Tigon, who are from right here in the Bay Area, counter with their own brand of heaviness, much more murky and bass heavy, and way more wildly mathy, sounding almost like a super charged Nomeansno merged with a more lo-fi Unsane, furiously howled vox over the constantly shifting sonic churn below, occasionally slipping into something much more broody and stripped down, but those moments are balance by some seriously epic post rock infused metal majesty. The AmRep vibe is strong with these guys too. They also remind us a bit of Young Widows, which is most definitely not a bad thing.
And finally Foreign Theaters, who also hail from Missouri, round out the three way with their Melvins-y dirge rock, heavy hints of Black Flag, all woven into roiling brooding metallic punk, their songs much shorter, short sharp bursts of urgent heaviness, a noise drenched punk that occasionally slips into woozy slithery dirgery, but spends most of its time pounding and churning, the throat shredding vox wreathed in tangled droned out guitars that definitely make FT's punk more post punk and noise rock than punk proper, and we dig it!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, pressed on recycled black vinyl, and housed in a full color sleeve with a printed insert and a download coupon.
MPEG Stream: CANYONS "I'm Worthy All The Time"
MPEG Stream: TIGON "Dreadnaught"
MPEG Stream: FOREIGN THEATERS "Yinz Playin' Piss Feet"

CARDEW, CORNELIUS / DAVID BEDFORD Great Learning / Two Poems... (Deutsche Grammophon) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Both Cornelius Cardew and David Bedford were leading proponents of avant-garde composition in England during the '60s. Cardew's experimentation with graphical notation and a democratization of performance through improvisation were radical departures from the controlled strategies of his former mentor Karlheinz Stockhausen. His most successful realization of these ideas was the epic 7 hour composition "The Great Learning," a composition based on the set of Confucian texts of the same name which lays down a basic ethical and political code. This piece was actualized by his unprecendented Scratch Orchestra, an ensemble filled with professional and untrained musicians given simple instructions as well as the mandate to respond according to how the performance itself wanted to be performed, not by how the composer intended it to sound. "The Great Learning" comprised of 7 paragraphs, each with its own unique set of parameters. A few years back, we had offered a collection of recordings from "The Great Learning" published by the Cortical Foundation; yet, due to the continued medical situation that persists with Cortical Foundation's owner Gary Todd, that album has gone missing. However, this collection through Deutsche Grammophon includes 2 of the paragraphs (number 2 and number 7) from the same (and possibly only) session documented on the Cortical album. The recitation of these Confucian texts -- with Paragraph 2 as a tumultous drum and voice procession and Paragraph 7 as an angelic choir -- sounds very much like the perversions of Catholic liturgies from the black masses of the Satanic Church with an authoritative delivery, an almost Gnostic indecipherability, and a bleakly somber overtone. Cardew's intentions for using this text are to express the inherent human failings of attempting to live up to the most basic of moral codes. Despite his pairing the metaphor of failure with the distinctly sprirtual overtones in the work, Cardew may not be actually talking about spiritual collapse or the failure of religions. Rather, "The Great Learning" postulates that if there is a higher state to mankind, then it will be our goal to attempt to find a means to that state, even if that is an impossible goal. Later aligning himself with Maoism, Cardew's unwavering optimism for man's ability to escape the confines of oppression is most articulate within this outstanding composition.
That isn't to take anything away from David Bedford, who had been a member of Cardew's Scratch Orchestra. In his two beautiful vocal pieces, Bedford conveys a majestic impressionism of sound, drawing upon the poems of Kenneth Patchen. Where there is an undeniable tension and dischord within the Cardew pieces, there is a lightness and ephemeralism found within Bedford's. Altogether, the four pieces make for a very complementary pair of recordings.
RealAudio clip: CORNELIUS CARDEW "Paragraph 2"
RealAudio clip: DAVID BEDFORD "O Now The Drenched Land Wakes"

CARDINI, JENNIFER Feeling Strange (Kompakt) cd 15.98
Feeling Strange is a fluid mixed set from Parisian minimalist proponent Jennifer Cardini. Yes, the minimalist techno gestures abound, with plenty of bleeps, bloops, and acid squiggles grafted onto that insistent technotic pulse; but Ms. Cardini doesn't just adhere to the Detroit / Berlin axis of electronica with some very nice transitions into some Moroder-esque arpeggiating disco and leftfield electro-pop. Static, Maurizio, The Hacker, Reinhard Voigt, Apparat, and Luisine are but a few of the selections. Adorned with the Kompakt seal of approval.
MPEG Stream: STATIC "Sometimes I'm Sad For A Few Seconds"
MPEG Stream: REWORK "Love Love Love Yeah"

CARLTON MELTON / EMPTY SHAPES split (Mid-To -Late Records) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We sold tons of the last Carlton Melton full length, Pass It On. In fact we even sold a copy to J. Mascis who made it his top favorite record of 2009. No small feat, there! So the dudes are on a roll, and just before their first big tour, they release this awesome split with the equally heavy Empty Shapes from Delaware.
The Carlton Melton side is two tracks. The first, "Call and Response" is nearly side-loooong and begins with a heavy rumble of monolithic sludge eventually progressing into a slow wave of burnt-out blues riffage a la early Comets on Fire, that churns and steeps into a gnarly brew of molten fuzz. The closer, "Purer", is more cosmic and dreamy, built on a layer of percolating synth drones that give way to a more uplifting space rock jam trajectory.
This is the first we've heard from Empty Shapes, a 5 piece from Delaware, who contribute 3 tracks to their side. The first, "MLK" is a sprawling cloud of noise a la Bardo Pond, levitating around a repeating head-nodding riff with all kinds of instrumentation stretching the form and shape of the murky haze. "Hell of a Night" and "Lord" bring vocal elements into the works, but heavily effected and damaged, sometimes emotive yet incomprehensible channeling a primitive psych-blues through some New Zealandish free-rock space clutter!
Limited to just 300 on brown and white swirled vinyl! Dope!

CARLTON MELTON / MUGSTAR Company / Black Fountain (Trensmat) 7" 9.98
We've said it before, and we'll say it again, sometimes it feels like some records were just made specifically for aQ. And this is one of em. So thanks Trensmat, for picking two of our favorite bands, and putting them together on one record, with exclusive (and killer) tracks from both. SF's very own Carlton Melton, offer up a gorgeous bit of thick psychedelic haze called "Company", a serious slow burner, and maybe one of their heaviest yet, a simple stripped down beat anchoring thick undulating layers of blurred guitar buzz, shot through with warm spidery melodies, a brooding chunk of pulsing hypnotic sonic mesmer with a seriously blown out heavy heavy explosive finish. Be sure to download the bonus material (the link's on the sleeve) to get the epic nearly 12 minute long version, which is how this was meant to be heard, sprawling and druggy and EPIC. Too short for us even at twelve minutes. Also with the bonus download you get another track, "Death Whisper", which is another murky brooder, a hazy minimal lo-fi raga, which lopes and lumbers dreamily through fields of buzz and static and dreamy chordal swirl.
Former aQ Record Of The Week-ers Mugstar offer up another fantastically epic psychedelic space jam, thick driving buzzing bassline, dense busy drumming, shimmery guitar jangle, churning moody riffage, a sinisterly slow build, that manages to grow more tense and ominous and intense, without ever actually getting louder or exploding into a crashing cacophonous climax, instead, weaving a dense sprawl of churning psychedelic krautrock-style hypnorock that almost sounds like a more muscly Circle. And with the bonus download, you get a second track, the hushed minimal "Never (Part 1)", which is all sun dappled and dreamy, hushed and hazy, all soft swirls, skittery rhythms, whirring organs, definitely shades of Spacemen 3 or Loop, a sort of druggy blissed out spacepsych drift. So great.
Nice full color sleeves, and as mentioned above, a download with tons of bonus material, SUPER LIMITED of course. Already sold out at the label, which means these are the last copies we'll ever be able to get.
MPEG Stream: CARLTON MELTON "Company"
MPEG Stream: MUGSTAR "Black Fountain"

CARLTON MELTON / QUMRAN ORPHICS Split (Mid-To-Late Records) lp 14.98
Brand new split of heavy freakiness from one of our favorite local bands Carlton Melton teamed up here with new-to-us bizarre shamanistic cult collective Qumran Orphics.
The Melton side is two 10 minutes slabs, the first, "March Of The Cicadas", sounds exactly like the title implies, a slowmotion dirge over martial rhythms with buzzing electronic hisses and stratospheric guitar leads. The closer, "Murder Ridge" is a noirish Bardo Pond-like spiral of burning sonic embers and sustained decay.
The Qumran Orphics side is a stranger beast altogether. Recorded from a live set at the Blank Club in San Jose, Qumran Orphics is led by KFJC DJ Cy Thoth (host of the show Firebunker, that plays lots of our favorite metal and experimental sounds), backed by an array of simmering guitars and shifting droning electronics. Like a strange and unfurling Crowleian ritual, Cy Thoth croakingly intones bizarre utterances one might hear in an H.P. Lovecraft story. It's a wild and charged performance. Not sure where this project will go next, all info on the group is rather scant or cryptic, but we're definitely curious!
Super limited to 259 copies, pressed on smoked wood and blood colored swirl vinyl. These probably won't last long....

CARTER, TOM / SCORCES Beats For The Beast (Free Porcupine Society) cd 14.98

CASH, JOHNNY At San Quentin - Legacy Edition Box Set (Columbia) 2cd+1dvd 45.00

CASH, JOHNNY AND ROSCOE HOLCOMB Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest (Shanachie) dvd 16.98

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE / FOX PAUSE split (Stationary (Heart)) 7" 5.25
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just got these brand new Casiotone For The Painfully Alone 7" records straight from the man himself! It's a split 7" with his pal Sara Han aka Fox Pause. His side has three of his wonderfully doleful heartache tunes with his trademark deep boyish near-spoken delivery and his comparatively spritely percolating Casiotone rhythms and melodies.
Her side has four much more peppy twee songs. She sings in the opposite end of the octave range from him. High, sugary sweetness.

CASTANETS / OHIOAN / GHOST TO FALCO / DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER ftamar (Infinite Front) 7" 7.50
Well, this is a weird one! A four-way split of Portland bands with two of the bands playing at the same time on each side(?!) You have to pan hard right or left to hear each band alone. I guess it sort of makes sense when all the bands seem to traffic in a kind of ramshackle mumbly Americana with a bent towards the freaky. It just builds an added layer of bizarre disorientation to the proceedings when you play them at the same time. Pretty cool but super weird and really limited!

CATTLE DECAPITATION / ARMATRON / TICWAR 1 The Science of Crisis (Toyo ) cd 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Three-way split release, the second in this intentionally odd series on Toyo Records. SoCal grindsters Cattle Decaptitation start it off, followed by Nebraska spazzcore freaks Armatron. Finally, the disc is anchored with the approx. 20-minute long "Il Ritorno" from our very own Andee's new post- A Minor Forest band, here dubbed Ticwar 1 (making their first recorded appearance). After the fast/fun assaults of Cattle Decap. and Armatron, the Ticwar track seems (even more) glacially slow and immense. Their lengthy "Il Ritorno" composition touches upon lovely post-rock guitar strum, before lumbering into massive Sabbath / Monster Magnet inspired stoner rock riffing, the groove disrupted by Lesser-style digital glitch fuckery. Eventually it winds down into a gorgeous drone-coda. Experimental stoner rock? Post-metal? Can't wait to hear more (Andee? nudge, nudge). So, quite recommended.

CELESTIIAL / BLOOD OF THE BLACK OWL split (Worm Gear) lp 15.98
A high concept split lp from two aQ faves, two different bands, two different sounds, their bond being that of nature, both expressing their visions of the world around them, of their place, and our place amongst the living things that surround us, forests, plants, animals, insects, it's that natural force that infuses the music of both of these groups, and thus links them in such a way, that this shared 12" could almost be the work of a single entity.
The first side features a single extended track from naturalist doomlords Celestiial, their track of course begins with the sounds of birds, of water and wind, insects, a forest at dusk most likely, before from below, rises deep ominous swells, rumbling drones, distant moaning melodies, a deep dark ambience that soon gives way to a big blown out doom, but, a very spacious, spare, airy sort of doom, not heavy as much as abstract, spaced out, the guitars not crumbling and downtuned, more like chiming and ringing out, somehow weirdly processed to make them seem like they are being stretched out, moaning and then fading out, before exploding in another burst, the drums and percussion sounds industrial, the vocals howled and buried in the mix, everything strangely harmonized, sounding a bit alien, near the end the drums speed up into an almost blast beat, but the music gets more and more melodic, minor key swells keeping time with the beat, unfurling a mournful melody, until the music fades out and the track finishes as it began with deep drones and the sounds of the forest.
The flipside features a long three part track by Blood Of The Black Owl, who begin proceedings with a plodding, almost metallic dirge, but backed up by a haunting chiming high end jangle, as well as distant flute like melodies that sound distinctly Native American, the vocals howled and industrial sounding, a bit like Swans or Cop Shoot Cop. The second movement begins with birdsong, deep, slow rubbery dubbed out bass, soft ethereal reverbed vocals, very medieval sounding, until the track switches gears and transforms into something more post industrial sounding, a doomy plod but with haunting mysterious melodies. The side ends with a very tribal sort of ritualistic piece, all simple hand drums and shimmering lowend ambience, growled spoken word, very minimal and haunting, almost like some ancient rite, being captured on vinyl for the very first time.
Gorgeously packaged. Incredibly thick vinyl, thick sleeves, full color inserts, and most likely quite limited...

CEX / ELECTRIC COMPANY "$" vol. 2 (Tigerbeat6) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Number two in the $ series of Tigerbeat6 singles, this one's got Baltimore's Cex and Los Angeles' Electric Company. Don't know how limited, but I wouldn't wait on these hotcakes...

CHA CHA CABARET Chez Vous (K) cd 13.98
Greetings! Your hostess Miss Lady Hand Grenade is here with her Olympia, WA friends Nikki McClure, Miranda July, Old Tyme Relijun, and a crowd of others for a grand indie pop show time. If there's one thing you can always count on with the Oly folk, it's a barrel of fun: theme shows, puppetry and music with something to say.

CHAMPS, THE / THE TIGHT BROS. FROM WAY BACK WHEN (Ace-Fu) split 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CHANNEL ONE Maxfield Avenue Breakdown: Dubs & Instrumentals (Pressure Sounds) cd 16.98
Compilation of version sides recorded by Ernest & Jo Jo Hookim at their Channel One studio during its heyday (between 1974-79). Though not always known necessarily for the innovation in their own productions (an incredible exception here being the Natty A General version which features an insane solo of car horns), they were sought out by producers all over Jamaica due to their excellent (though modest) recording gear and their golden ears, and their sound was unmistakable. Though technically a compilation, Pressure Sounds has intentionally presented the album as though Channel One were the artist (which makes sense when you consider that once the vocals have been lifted and the song reworked completely, save for the rhythm track), that being the Hookim Brothers and whatever their studio band might have consisted of at the time. Some quite familiar names can be found laying the tracks here, including Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Ossie Hibbert, Tommy McCook and more.

CHASSE, LOREN / ADAM SONDERBERG + KATHERINE YOUNG Characters At Water Margin / Speech Acts (Compost And Height) 3"cd-r 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We got a very very very few of these. It is after all limited to a mere 50 copies. Chasse completists and Jewelled Antler obsessives, as well as fans of gorgeous abstract field recordings, it's a race to see who can grab one of these before they're gone.
Chasse's piece is 10 minutes long and begins with a burst of static, but as you might imagine, that's not static at all, it's more likely a field recording of wind in branches, or water traveling over a rocky stream bed. The sound soon fades, and then rest of the track is a constantly shifting soundscape of textures and timbres, many recognizable, many not, but all of them strangely musical. Such is the magic touch Chasse has with field recordings, an alchemist who with a handful of sticks and some pebbles can conjure up a beautiful world of earthy sound.
Sonderberg is a member of the Chicago based sound-project Haptic with Steven Hess; and his half with Katherine Young is not quite as serene as Chasse's, a sound field rife with squeaks and creaks and thumps and Geiger counter like clicks, the sound shifting from spare and skeletal to thick and hissy and almost distorted, all underpinned by a weird low end almost electronic sounding thrum.
Really nice, but as mentioned above, we have VERY FEW of these, it's almost out of print, and once they are gone, we will not be able to get more.
Cool packaging too. A 3" cd-r affixed to a small block of wood, wrapped in s sheet of clear plastic, attached on one side with little nails, and velcro on the other, the liner notes a sticker beneath the plastic, each one hand numbered, LIMITED TO 50 COPIES.
MPEG Stream: LOREN CHASSE "Characters At Water Margin"
MPEG Stream: ADAM SONDERBERG + KATHERINE YOUNG "Speech Acts"

CHICKS ON SPEED/DMX KREW Smash Metal (Go Records) 2x7 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A double seven inch from the DHR electronica realms of low IQ punk fury thrown onto 808s and powerbooks. Chicks on Speed follows Cobra Killer's alienated and blatant sampling in a new wave context... DMX Krew (the same who did those cheese-ball electro cuts for Rephlex???) cranks out the punk rock songs, literally.

CHURCH STEPS / GANG WIZARD split 7" 3.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This split release is between the wonderful SF-based, lo-fi melding of dreamy electronics and melancholic, sensitive boy strummery known as The Church Steps and the very mysterious group called Gang Wizard. A limited lathe-cut 7" pressing which - you may or may not know - is not the sturdiest of music formats. So we definitely recommend transferring the songs onto a more durable medium for extended listening enjoyment.

CICCIOLINA HOLOCAUST / SERMONIZER Albeit Albeit / Sibelius Spiders (Forced Nostalgia) lp 21.00
Enter Forced Nostalgia - a label mining the post-punk underground of dark electronics. Judging from this release and their upcoming programming for "a wayward selection of often unreleased, mostly unheard and overlooked material from tape music to industrial, from bossa-pop to proto-techno, and from drone to out and out analogue experimentation," Forced Nostalgia looks to be something wholly different from Vinyl-On-Demand, Minimal Wave, and Dark Entries. The bands here are two terminally obscure Italian industrial outfits who made these recordings in the early '80s with a clear aesthetic framework set forward by the Industrial Records model of Throbbing Gristle, SPK, Clock DVA, and Cabaret Voltaire. Cicciolina Holocaust's woozy cornet buried in the mix of murky rhythms and electronic arpeggiations certainly draw their inspiration from the early productions of Chris & Cosey (think Heartbeat and the collaborative single with John Duncan) and of course there's plenty of TG to be heard in the mix. There are a couple of exceptional minimal wave numbers with clockwork nocturnal techno modulations and super creepy windswept dronings, all of which have been expertly remastered and sound really amazing on this piece of vinyl. Sermonizer harkens from the same realm of spooky electronics, with weirdly plucked guitars working through tape-delay splutter which is more Illitch than TG. Cold radio detunings, dark meanderings of synth warble, and highly sexualized moans and groans flush out Sermonizer's contribution to the split. All of these tracks seem to have come from private cassettes handed out back in the day. This is an amazing find and whets our appetite for what else Forced Nostalgia will be offering in the years to come.

CINDYTALK / ROBERT HAMPSON Five Mountains Of Fire / Antarctica Ends Here (Editions Mego) 10" 16.98
Sure, Cindytalk's The Crackle Of My Soul for Mego was an interesting diversion into laptop electricity; but that album would have been way better off had Cindytalk's Gordon Sharp steered the album toward the direction of this split 10" with Robert Hampson. Cindytalk gravitates towards the dissonant drones of bowed cymbals, foggy electronics, skittered percussion, and growling guitars, which all enjoy much more of a recorded-in-a-concrete-bunker vibe with all of the sounds dripping with heavy reverb, giving the pieces the feel of Organum, Thuja, or RV Paintings. Pretty amazing stuff, in fact. The Robert Hampson piece seemed to have Cindytalk in mind when he composed it (even though it's dedicated to John Cale), as it's very reminiscent of the Cindytalk piano / ambient pieces from In This World. Hampson also doesn't rely upon the concrete juxtapositions of his Touch output, instead settling upon a drone from a harmonium to buttress a lilting series of repeating piano clusters that spiral around deep ringing bell tones and washes of hiss and static. Again, we think Hampson should be producing more music like this, which is probably the best piece he's done since the Main album Motion Pool.

CINERAMA Disco Volante (Manifesto) cd 17.98
I'm ashamed to admit that I completely missed Cinerama's wonderful first album when it came out a couple of years ago. I will not make the same mistake twice. No way! We will forgive them for using the same title as that of Mr. Bungle's very different (but very excellent) second album. And comparisons to Dave Gedge's other band the Wedding Present? Well, in my humble opinion this is equally if not more wonderful... and I'm a huge Wedding Present fan. Mr. Gedge sings with a much more melodic Merrit (that is, the less monotone side of Magnetic Fields' Stephin) style, than his more familiar Muppet-esque (hello, Grover?) tone. And Sally Murrell's sweet voice provides the pretty counterpart. Super polished dream pop like a swirling carousel in shades of Bacharach and Morricone. Flutes, strings, french horns. Oh, I just might swoon and weep. Quite fabulous.
RealAudio clip: "Lollobrigida"

CIRCLE / MARBLE SHEEP Live: Surface / Marble Zone 2 (Metamorphos) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Split cd from AQ faves Circle and Japan's Marble Sheep, recorded in 1996 (Circle) and 1989 (Marble Sheep) and released 1998. Circle contribute a stellar live set of their perfect cyclical drone rock including a haunting and breathtaking cover version of Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light". Marble Sheep pitch in 3 early tracks (2 live, one studio demo) of spacy psychedelic drone rock, more Ash Ra Tempel than Grateful Dead (the band they get compared to most these days). Essential for fans of Circle, Faust, Ash Ra Tempel and psych/krautrock in general. We've had these for a while but we've never had enough to list until now. But that doesn't mean we won't run out soon, so if you haven't picked this up already, don't dawdle!
RealAudio clip: CIRCLE "Brilliant Colours For Bright Ideas"
RealAudio clip: CIRCLE "I Saw the Light"
RealAudio clip: MARBLE SHEEP "Good Old Marble Sheep"

CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS / CROOKED NECKS Ruins Of Resurrection (Cocainacopia) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The return of weirdo Finnish black metal outsiders Circle Of Ouroborus, whose sound continues to mutate, and move well beyond the bounds of black metal. In fact, the opening track here sounds like some lost eighties minimal synth wave jam, with it's weezing keyboards, reverbed Teutonic percussion, and dual vocals, one crooned, the other spoken, all the folks who have been snapping up the vinyl reissues on Dark Entries might be surprised and converted to the way of CoO. The sound is super saturated and ultra distorted, in a way that makes it sound warm and whirling and washed out.
The follow up track is ostensibly more black metal, but it mostly just ups the tempo and wraps the guitars in a little blackened buzz, but the vocals are still cold and crooned, the sound fantastically murky, the crashing climaxes causing the sound to buckle and crumble, a propulsive bit of cold wave punkishness. The rest of CoO's half of this split follows suit, from brooding minimal crush, to loping meandery murk, the vocals atonal and bordering on Anton Maiden-ish at times, but just as often lush and gorgeously crooned, accompanied by a sound that while constantly distressed and distorted, veers from washed out brittle shimmer, to thick molasses-y mush, but always minor key and melancholy and moody, and just like all the other Circle of Ouroborus releases, twisted, and bafflingly brilliant.
Some of you probably remember the group Frail, who we described as sounding exactly like the Cure, just with harsh black metal vokills. Well Frail has transformed into Crooked Necks, and guess what? They still sound just like the Cure, new wave-y and jangly, a little dark wavey and goth poppy, the guitars chiming, the bass all Joy Divisiony, the drums propulsive and motorik, and of course the vocals, still harsh occasionally, but also, clean crooning here and there. The new sound is slightly more polished, still quite melodic, the perfect match for Circle Of Ouroborus's new more gothy cold wave-y sound. There are some heavier more black metal moments, but it's more like Lifelover style black metal pop than traditionally blasting and buzzing grimness, and the rest of Crooked Necks' sound could have been lifted straight off some goth rock / eighties new wave mix tape, The Cure, Echo And The Bunnymen, Icicle Works, if it wasn't for the vocals, these guys could be on Captured Tracks or Sacred Bones, and could be opening for Cold Cave or Blessure Grave, hell, maybe they still could be...
MPEG Stream: CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS "Ideals In Rust"
MPEG Stream: CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS "Rhythm Of The Spring"
MPEG Stream: CROOKED NECKS "Poisoning The Seed"
MPEG Stream: CROOKED NECKS "Time Of Disaster"

CIRCLE OF OUROBORUS / SOMNIVORE Golden Blood (Anima Arctica) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's been a good long while since we've heard from aQ faves Circle Of Ouroborus, a damaged outsider blackened folk flecked post metal combo who confound in creating gorgeously fractured ritualistic soundworlds.
This latest missive is one half of a split 12" with the equally mysterious Somnivore. When we last heard from CoO, they sounded a bit like a black metal version of Jandek or the Fall, but things have definitely changed, the sound is not so lo-fi, and the sonics are definitely much improved, but without losing any of their signature damaged weirdness.
Chant like vocals, very reminiscent of older Swans, drift over dark distorted spidery guitar lines, the drums, only occasional, dubbed out and also distorted, while in the background lurk slither little minor key melodies, before in swoops a swirl of clean detuned guitars, being strummed frantically black metal style, but instead of buzzing, the sound blurs and smears into a bleary eyed wash, crooned Jandekian vocals soaked in reverb clamber over the top, and the result is something more like some ost nineties Homestead band than a black metal band. But soon CoO kick into gear and offer up the first hints of anything remotely metallic, distorted drumming, buzzing black riffs, but again, less buzzing as much as muted and muddy, the vocals crooned and dramatic, veering into Urfaust territory. Eventually, the buzz fades to a fuzzy washed out drone, that shimmers and drifts before a clean riffy buzz re-emerges accompanied by more deep crooning vocals, emitting a sort of not very black, and not very metal black metal, that seems to be CoO's specialty. Difficult to describe for sure, but we can't seem to get enough.
Somnivore take up the flipside, the first half is all crystalline clean guitar, urgently strummed, strange whispered vocals, chimes and bells, subtle percussion. All very strident and apocalyptic, like a more ominous and creepy Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat. Effects everywhere, the track eventually devolving into a swirling morass of deep drones, shifting from hushed whirs to barely there shimmer, to throbbing rumble, eventually dissipating in a cloud of delicate glimmering hush. Nice!
Gorgeous full color cover, printed full color insert, with lyrics and liner notes, and LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!!!!

CITAY / CLOUDLAND CANYON Tugboat / Temperature's Rising (Intercoastal Artists) 7" 7.98
For the debut release of Kip Ulhorn's (of Cloudland Canyon) new label, Intercoastal Artists, two of our faves, Citay and Cloudland Canyon, both pay tribute to one of their seminal but less obvious influences, Galaxie 500, with two amazing interpretations.
Citay's take on "Tugboat" (also featured on their last full length, Dream Get Together) begins with what is perhaps a straight forward take until the end, where Citay's baroque dual guitar lines recast the warm glowing evocative sheen of the original into a whole new majestic light.
Cloudland Canyon's lovingly lysergic version of "Temperature's Rising" begins with what sounds like a Mellotron line from another song before the familiarity of the song abruptly jumps in and takes off. Being one of Galaxie 500's faster songs, the cover serves Cloudland Canyon well as a single, that is both exploratory and concise, allowing just enough room to allow some hypno-psych flourishes, but keeping the satisfaction of a good pop song well intact.
Very limited!!! We're not sure we'll be able to get more after we run out, so act fast. Each 7" includes a uniquely designed sleeve - no two are exactly alike. Look out for future 7" releases on this label from Pocahaunted/ Eden Express, Sun Circle, and The Alps!