NADLER, MARISSA Australian Tour cd 2006 (Diagnosis...Don't!) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not only do the Grey Daturas kick up a serious noiserock ruckus, they also run their own cd-r label, the mysteriously titled Diagnosis... Don't! There are three new releases, and we managed to get a handful of each.
This is a super limited tour only cd-r from the sweet voiced folk chanteuse Marissa Nadler and features not only a handful of live tracks featuring Nadler accompanied by organ, but also features unreleased 4 track recordings, as well as outtakes from her two brilliant full lengths, Ballads Of Living And Dying and The Saga Of Mayflower May.
All the tracks here are gorgeous (of course), especially the live tracks, soft tangled steel string guitar and Nadler's dreamy vocals, all hovering above a thick soft wash of droning organ. The four track recordings are lovely too, extra lo-fi but thus super intimate, tape hiss and recording crackle making Nadler's already timeless music sound even more from some lost and mysterious past.
Super limited, already out of print, we got a bunch but they won't last. Packaged in cool handmade sleeves, a little hole in the textured paper cover through which another layer of colored paper is visible. Includes a photocopied insert as well.
MPEG Stream: "Flora Barone, Queen Of The Vaudeville Throne"
MPEG Stream: "Box Of Cedar"
MPEG Stream: "Famous Song"

NADLER, MARISSA Ballads Of The Living And Dying (Eclipse) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been loving this record for a while now and are only finally now getting around to reviewing it just in time for its release on cd (it was only on lp there for a while). This is a dark and langorous trip through a sonic world of bleak skies, neverending sorrow, lost love, death and dying and all sorts of somber miserablism. The music itself is lush and rich, a warm rainy soundscape of muted finger picked guitars, augmented by occasional banjo, eukele, and autoharp, all lashed together into a modern melding of classic Appalachia, psych folk and classic songcraft.
But it's Nadler's voice that is the most mesmerising part of Ballads Of The Dying, rich, velvety and throaty, completely captivating, and surprisingly reminiscent of Neko Case, but instead of the country wildcat Case, here's she's a rainsoaked and bedraggled innocent, seemingly beaten down but emanating an inner strength, a hidden power, that comes through in her powerful voice.
This is one of those records that seems pleasant enough on first listen, but as you dig deeper, the songs and stories unfold and you quickly find your self living and loving and crying and dying right along with Nadler and the characters she has populated her musical world with.THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "Fifty Five Falls"
MPEG Stream: "Hay Tantos Muertos"

NADLER, MARISSA Little Hells (Kemado) cd 13.98
The fourth record from Boston's most enchanting female songstress has left us breathless and almost at a loss for words! Ms Nadler really hits the nail on the head with this effortless marriage of hauntingly rich vocal cascades and captivating song writing. Quite the magnificent album, Little Hells features Nadler joined by a full band whose rhythmic weight anchors each song as her reverb-shrouded vocals drift into the dawning sky. If you've a penchant for lonely country charm with a gothic twist, and melancholic hymns possessed by a familiar nostalgia, this is soooo for you! Conjures visions of Victorian churches on golden plains at midnight, flickering shadows in hallways of rickety old barns. As far as production goes, we've never heard Nadler sound so dense and layered with such an array of instrumentation embracing the core slide guitar, bass and drums. And yet for all the gothic folk elements at the heart of this record, Little Hells is perhaps Nadler's poppiest release to date. Stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Loner"
MPEG Stream: "The Hole Is Wide"
MPEG Stream: "River of Dirt"

NADLER, MARISSA Little Hells (Kemado) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The fourth record from Boston's most enchanting female songstress has left us breathless and almost at a loss for words! Ms Nadler really hits the nail on the head with this effortless marriage of hauntingly rich vocal cascades and captivating song writing. Quite the magnificent album, Little Hells features Nadler joined by a full band whose rhythmic weight anchors each song as her reverb-shrouded vocals drift into the dawning sky. If you've a penchant for lonely country charm with a gothic twist, and melancholic hymns possessed by a familiar nostalgia, this is soooo for you! Conjures visions of Victorian churches on golden plains at midnight, flickering shadows in hallways of rickety old barns. As far as production goes, we've never heard Nadler sound so dense and layered with such an array of instrumentation embracing the core slide guitar, bass and drums. And yet for all the gothic folk elements at the heart of this record, Little Hells is perhaps Nadler's poppiest release to date. Stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Loner"
MPEG Stream: "The Hole Is Wide"
MPEG Stream: "River of Dirt"

NADLER, MARISSA Songs III: Bird On The Water (Peacefrog) cd 14.98
It feels like it's been awhile since we were graced with a proper new full length from Miss Nadler, and it's certainly welcome. Her haunting gothic folktales seem to get better and more fully realized with each release. Here, she is backed by a fuller sound courtesy of Philadelphia's Espers in full medieval chamber-folk mode making great use of reverberating Tibetan bells, harp and mandolin. But nothing overshadows her sophisticated fingerpicking and voice, which like an antiquated sparrow harkening from a time only experienced in past remembrances transports the listener through lovely gossamer shades of grey. The CD version includes a Leonard Cohen cover, a free sticker and a link to download 4 more unreleased tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Diamond Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Dying Breed"
MPEG Stream: "Bird on Your Grave"

NADLER, MARISSA The Saga Of Mayflower May (Eclipse) cd 14.98
To cry out "holy shit!" would probably be far too boorish and loud when speaking of this album, so instead we'll whisper an impassioned "my goodness!" Yes, this is another wonderful, deeply moving work from Ms Nadler! For those of you adored her last album Ballads Of The Dying even a fraction as much as we did (it was an AQ Record Of The Week back in December), you'll surely welcome this new one. As with its predecessor, The Saga Of Mayflower May is imbued with a sedate earthy beauty rooted in classic Appalachian folk songcraft. It's hard to believe this is a current release. It's strikingly so very out of step with the times in its earnest, clear tone seemingly untouched by modern hustle'n'bustle. In turn, Nadler's vocals bear a striking resemblance to those of Hope Sandoval, Neko Case and Vashti Bunyan. And much like those women, you can imagine her singing these songs aloud whether there's an audience present or not. The music flows from her -- singing just as much to and for herself. Although there is a palpable sorrowful weight to each of the songs, her performance still seems liltingly effortless like autumnal leaves drifting down from an elderly oak tree. From start to finish, this Saga is hauntingly gorgeous. The closing song "Horses And Their Kin" just might leave you in tears. Keep in mind, this is not the record to be playing while you're multi-taskin' and distracted. No, please do yourself and this album a well-deserved favor and set aside some quiet time (oh, at least about 35 minutes or so), and enjoy. Need we say more? Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Calico"
MPEG Stream: "Horses And Their Kin"

NAIMA, TONY & THE BITTERS Dismember (Tosom) cd 15.98
Hard to resist a record with a bloody teddy bear on the cover, its fuzzy arm torn off and laying in a pool of blood, bone and sinew and gristle exposed. The record simply titled Dismember. Even harder to resist when you realize it's actually a country band, covering songs by Swedish death metallers Dismember, and far from being a joke, it sounds amazing, grim and dark, twangy and catchy, the twang and shuffle offset by horns, which add a strange funeral vibe to the proceedings.Ê
Some of the song titles sound like they could very well actually be country songs, "I Saw Them Die", "In Death's Cold Embrace", "Dreaming In Red",Êbut others maybe not so much so: "Where Ironcrosses Grow", "Let The Napalm Rain"... The record begins with a brief whispery intro,Êhushed female vocals, crooning all intimate right in your ear, before the band launches into a rollicking campfire stomp, all minor key twang, shuffling percussion, warbly Hammond organ,Êinsistently strummed steel string guitar, and a world wearyÊwhiskey soaked drawl, culminating in aÊsoaring epic chorus with the repeated line "I tasted blood, now I want more". Sounds like it could be the Old '97's or Sixteen Horsepower. Even a little Decemberists. Elsewhere the band dip into truckstop honky tonk, old time folk, gorgeous languorous swampy blues, epic over the top super dramatic Godspeed bombast (that inexplicably gives way to a super strange electro country tinged new wave jam), Southern rock and shuffling rockabilly...
Our favorite track has to be the darkly doomy and twangy "In Death's Cold Embrace", with its loping rhythmic slither, it's mournful funereal horns, some seriously Woven Hand like vocals, a killer warbly trombone solo, the whole thing just steeped in gothic grandeur, even the lyrics, what little bits you can catch, add to the track's gorgeous creepiness.
It almost doesn't matter that these are covers, fans of Slim Cessna, Sixteen Horsepower and that sort of muddy woodsy gothic swamp blues will definitely dig, but it's sort of thrilling to realize these are bastardized death metal songs, and to realize that melodically, thematically and especially lyrically, country blues is not all that far removed from death metal...
MPEG Stream: "Of Fire"
MPEG Stream: "In Death's Cold Embrace"

NAWAHI, KING BENNIE Hawaiian String Virtuoso (Yazoo) cd 16.98
Though he was dubbed the "King of the Ukulele" and capitalized on that title throughout his career (touring extensively on the vaudeville circuit as a ukulele soloist), Bennie Nawahi was equally adept at guitar, steel guitar, mandolin and harmonica. In fact, it is his steel guitar playing that is a paramount focus on the 23 tracks found here. This cd is essentially a compilation of groups that featured Bennie as a musician or leader throughout the 20's and early 30's. Given the variety of ensembles presented here as well as Bennie's versatility with jazz, Hawaiian, ragtime, blues and country idioms the over-all tenor of this cd is of variegated unity. Recommended.

NELSON, WILLIE End Of Understanding (Fruit Tree) cd 15.98

NELSON, WILLIE Rainbow Connection (Island) cd 16.98
A fucking Muppets cover. How awesome is that? The only thing better would have been a Willie / Kermit duet. Willie Nelson is so cool.

NELSON, WILLIE Songbird (Lost Highway) cd 14.98

NELSON, WILLIE The Ghost (Masked Weasel) cd 14.98
In the liner notes for this new anthology of recordings by Willie Nelson, Kurt Wolff makes the apt point that Willie is loved by just about everyone. Not "everyone" as in every living person, but that people from myriad musical backgrounds and tastes tend to appreciate the cosmopolitan yet populist stylings of his singing and songwriting much more than his country contemporaries. As the bean counters and marketing execs might say, "he's got crossover appeal". Miles Davis was a big champion of Willie, and even though the man was alleged to have smoked a joint atop the White House during the Carter administration, he is still enjoyed by both "blue state" and "red state" types alike. His songwriting is simultaneously astutely profound and immediately appealing, as is strikingly evident in the first track on this disc "I Let My Mind Wander", with its quintessential country lyrics:

I let my mind wander,
And what did it do?
It just kept right on going,
Until it got back to you.
I let my mind wander.

Can't trust it one minute,
It's worse than a child.
Disobeys without conscience,
It's drivin' me wild,
When I let my mind wander.

But Nelson is also a master of melody and harmony and his songs are rife with jazz harmonies, blues progressions and even some South of the border swing (as on "Following Me Around"). An important caveat here is that his use of such esoteric, non-country, musical idioms is never forced, obvious, or self-conscious. Perhaps that's why such a broad swath of music lovers appreciate Willie. The 16 tracks -- mostly laid-back, leaning-over-the-bar tearjerkers -- here include both well known tracks and rarities taken from Nelson's career between the mid-sixties and mid-seventies. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "I Let My Mind Wander"
MPEG Stream: "I Just Don't Understand"

NEW AGE, THE All Around (RD) cd 23.00
One of the more heartbreaking stories of the mid to late sixties Northern California music scene also contains a newly discovered trove of beautiful raga folk that has rarely been heard before now. The New Age were a trio of musicians, namely Susan Graubard (who also played in The Habibiyya, which we raved about a few lists back - on an apologetic side note, we're sorry we mistakenly thought she was a guy) on flutes, viola and tamboura and singer and guitarist Patrick Kilroy whose haunting three octave voice and love for indigenous musical forms and instrumentation, namely the Indian raga, gave the trio a majestic Eastern spiritual quality with an Appalachian folk edge (they had all studied under Ali Akbar Khan). Playing numerous shows, with many famous players of the time in Big Sur, Los Gatos, Berkeley, New York, San Francisco and even at the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park, The New Age seemed destined to make a big impact on the West Coast folk scene. Yet, one album half-recorded with Elektra in New York (Light of Day) was never finished due to a falling out Kilroy had with the arranger. Even more tragically, these sessions they recorded with Warner Brothers (featuring Bruce Langhorne) were shelved when Kilroy suddenly took ill and died from Hodgkin's Disease at the end of 1967, before the album could be completed. Graubard, now a school teacher in Berkeley, saddened that The New Age never garnered even a footnote or mention in any written sixties musical history, held onto the tapes, in hopes of sometime releasing them. When Raymond Dumont of RD records heard lost tapes of Light of Day, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that more recordings existed and here we are. Great timing, too, that re-issues of The Habibiyya, Extradition, The Christ Tree, Malachi, Joakim Skogsberg along with The New Age are opening up a window into a little seen past where making music was as it should be, a human-spiritual-communal connection.
MPEG Stream: "Dance Around The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Bhairavi"
MPEG Stream: "All Around (Adagio)"

NEW AMSTERDAMS Para Toda Vida (Vagrant) cd 14.98
I spent a few moments (too many actually) pondering who the New Amsterdam's singer sounds like. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Then - p o o f ! - I remembered, "it IS the guy from Get Up Kids!" Anyway, two words for ya... "Emo Unplugged"! Get Up Kids for the beatnik set. Quite nice actually.
RealAudio clip: "Forever Leaving"

NEWMAN, HARRIS Non-Sequiturs (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 13.98

NIHIL PROJECT Plough Plays (Barl Fire) cd-r 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
The label is now defunct so we will never be able to get these again!
UK label Barl Fire has a darn near perfect record with kick ass releases from James Blackshaw, Rameses III, Robert Horton, Lamp Of The Universe, Floating World, United Bible Studies, The North Sea, Uton and more. Their focus seemingly on drone folk and free rock. Their last two releases however, this one, and the James Reid (reviewed elsewhere on this list) have begun to drift more toward straight ahead folk, or at least the sort of modern folk of New Weird America and similar minded hippies. Where as the James Reid channels the spirit of Nick Drake, the Nihil Project is more of a pagan ritual, a sort of Renaissance Wicker Man mystickal magickal folk. Sitars and zithers, tablas, harpischords, violins, along with more traditional acoustic guitars and flutes as well as some little more modern electronic flourishes. Crooning vocals, lilting melodies, occasionally dark and ominous, but just as often playful and festive. Definitely for fans of the Wicker Man, Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Forest, Comus, as well as the new breed of modern folk a la Devendra, Brightblack, Newsom and the like...
MPEG Stream: "Unquiet Grave / Twa Corbies"
MPEG Stream: "Weaving Wheat"

NILES, JOHN JACOB An Evening With (Empire) cd 13.98
This is the third John Jacob Niles reissue in as many months, and for a man who has an extensive back catalog, we are left wondering if we will be drowning in Niles reissues by the end of the year. Now that surely would be a death worthy of a Niles ballad! This is the second Tradition Label release of John Jacob Niles from 1959 (The first being the amazing, I Wonder as I Wander reviewed a few lists ago). The songs range in theme from songs of devotion and animal fables, to the fate of false-hearted lovers and gamblers. While in the past we have made comparisons of Niles high "mountain tenor" voice to neo-folkies Devendra and Anthony, that comparison really shines true here on songs like "The Cuckoo" and "The Seven Joys of Mary". Wonderful!
MPEG Stream: "The Black Dress"
MPEG Stream: "The Cuckoo"

NILES, JOHN JACOB My Precarious Life in The Public Domain (Rev-Ola) cd 15.98
More beautiful and spooky "mountain tenor" from the one and only John Jacob Niles. We highlighted another great disc of his music, The Tradition Years: I Wonder As I Wander, a few lists back. Originally released in 1941, My Precarious Life in the Public Domain culls songs from The Child Ballads, a nineteenth century compendium of over 300 ballads originating in England and Scotland, collected by Francis James Childs, a Harvard University math professor. Most of these ballads had made their way into American folk traditions virtually unchanged and unaware of their European origins. Despite the name, these songs are not for children: Murder, hanging, adultery, unrequited love and suicide are the prevailing themes delivered hauntingly and simply through dulcimer and Niles astonishing voice. Incredible!
MPEG Stream: "The Maid Freed from the Gallows"
MPEG Stream: "The Ballad of Barbary Ellen"

NILES, JOHN JACOB The Tradition Years: I Wonder As I Wander (Empire Musicwerks) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Rare American folk connoisseurs rejoice! Finally re-issued on CD are the long awaited Tradition label recordings of John Jacob Niles. If you saw the recent Dylan documentary by Martin Scorsese, you won't forget the clip of Niles singing Go Away From My Window. This is a CD of Carols and Love Songs recorded in 1957 (Rev-Ola will be re-issuing My Life in the Public Domain, ballads culled from older 78 rpm recordings later this month, which we'll list when we get it). Niles, old beyond his years, accompanied by handmade dulcimer, had an intense other-worldly fallen angel like voice that perfectly captures the hauntingly lonely and creepy hill country feel where the bulk of his catalog of songs originated. Niles, like Jean Ritchie, was a folk musicologist and performer from Kentucky who spent his time wandering through isolated American mountain communities collecting folk songs, or scraps of melodies and lyrics, embellishing them with his own inventive arrangements and often fleshing them out by writing additional verses. For example, his version of "Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair" has become the definitive arrangement for all versions following (from Nina Simone to Patty Waters), because while he loved the verse he disliked the original tune. This is why folk historians have had a famously difficult time classifying which songs in Niles repertoire are originals or reinventions of songs in the public domain. Some people may be turned off by Niles high-alto voice (At times he can look and sound like the evil preacher man in Poltergeist II), but don't let that hinder you from exploring the work of a true American folk original whose recordings have finally been made available to folks who cannot afford the hundreds of dollars his albums go for on eBay. Fans of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Antony & the Johnsons take note!
MPEG Stream: "Go Way from My Window"
MPEG Stream: "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair"

NO DEPRESSION #26 magazine 3.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore on the cover, plus Beachwood Sparks, Neko Case, Chris Cacavas, Camper van Beethoven, etc.

NO NECK BLUES BAND Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Names Will Never Hurt Me (Revenant) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It came as a bit of a surprise to realise that we've never listed the No Neck Blues Band before, especially considering how often we reference them in reviews, whenever we're trying to describe some sort of stumbling and stoned, improvised hippie tribal psychedelic free-folk. So after hearing about how all these bands sound like the NNBB, here's the real thing. Part of the reason they've yet to be listed is the relative obscurity and scarcity of their releases, often vinyl only, or self released (one of the cds that we've stocked in the past we had to buy directly from them at a show). So this is basically their only currently available release, and it comes courtesy of the late John Fahey's Revenant label. And somehow the NNBB seem to fit right in nestled comfortably between Fahey faves Charley Patton, the Bassholes, and Doc Boggs. The No Neck Blues Band practice a loose improvisational style somewhere between the weird free jazz of the sixties ESP-label artists and the rich American tradition of back-woods blues and back-porch folk. Of course, being that the NNBB are NYC based and have played/performed with Thurston Moore, Sabir Mateen and a host of other Manhattan hipsters, some of the whole East Village/downtown-scene vibe gets filtered into the mix. 'Sticks And Stones...' continues the NNBB's quest for transcendence, building epic spirituals from shuffling snares, mumbled and chanted vocals, rattles and chimes and assorted junkyard percussion, scraping strings, skronking horns, wheezing reeds, muted jazzy guitars and shamanistic ruminations muttered and whispered over and under the rich tapestry of drugged out sound. While the record is stretched out and rambling and very very free, they do lapse into some hypnotic grooves at times, bringing to mind Can, Neu, the Grateful Dead, Amon Duul and the like. But these tranquil interludes often end up exploding into pagan orgies of wild reeds and catfight-in-a-kitchen percussion, with the band speaking in tongues and testifying like possessed madmen. The No Neck Blues Band have somehow managed to be totally prolific and dangerously unique, but completely mysterious and underground at the same time. They are definitely one of the most creative and original bands in the US today, straddling the line between high brow avant-art-rock and rock-brut. So fucking good. The packaging is also quite interesting, a small square of plywood, branded with the NNBB logo on one side, and a cd tray attatched to the other, with a scalloped cd booklet under a piece of plastic all attatched with tiny triangles of velcro and with a paper label along all four edges. Quite cool.
RealAudio clip: "The Natural Bridge"
RealAudio clip: "Assignment Subud"
RealAudio clip: "Back To The OMind (I'd Rather Not Go)"

NO NECK BLUES BAND Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Names Will Never Hurt Me (Sound@one) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is a re-issue of a cd that was originally released a few years back on John Fahey's Revenant label. The original version was quite labor intensive in its physical production, involving wood-branding and plexiglass and velcro, and was therefore impossible to keep in print. Thankfully here at last is the new version, released on No Neck Blues Band's own Sound@one label, and while not as extravagant, it's still quite spiffy. And a fantastic record to boot. It came as a bit of a surprise to realise that we've hardly listed any No Neck Blues Band records, especially considering how often we reference them in reviews, whenever we're trying to describe some sort of stumbling and stoned, improvised hippie tribal psychedelic free-folk. So after hearing about how all these bands sound like the NNBB, here's the real thing. Part of the reason they've yet to be listed is the relative obscurity and scarcity of their releases, often vinyl only, or self released (one of the cds that we've stocked in the past we had to buy directly from them at a show). So this release, originally came courtesy of the late John Fahey's Revenant label. And somehow the NNBB seem to fit right in, nestled comfortably between Fahey faves Charley Patton, the Bassholes, and Dock Boggs. The No Neck Blues Band practice a loose improvisational style somewhere between the weird free jazz of the sixties ESP-label artists and the rich American tradition of back-woods blues and back-porch folk. Of course, being that the NNBB are NYC based and have played/performed with Thurston Moore, Sabir Mateen and a host of other Manhattan hipsters, some of the whole East Village/downtown-scene vibe gets filtered into the mix. 'Sticks And Stones...' continues the NNBB's quest for transcendence, building epic spirituals from shuffling snares, mumbled and chanted vocals, rattles and chimes and assorted junkyard percussion, scraping strings, skronking horns, wheezing reeds, muted jazzy guitars and shamanistic ruminations muttered and whispered over and under the rich tapestry of drugged out sound. While the record is stretched out and rambling and very very free, they do lapse into some hypnotic grooves at times, bringing to mind Can, Neu, the Grateful Dead, Amon Duul and the like. But these tranquil interludes often end up exploding into pagan orgies of wild reeds and catfight-in-a-kitchen percussion, with the band speaking in tongues and testifying like possessed madmen. The No Neck Blues Band have somehow managed to be totally prolific and dangerously unique, but completely mysterious and underground at the same time. They are definitely one of the most creative and original bands in the US today, straddling the line between high brow avant-art-rock and rock-brut. So fucking good.
RealAudio clip: "The Natural Bridge"
RealAudio clip: "Assignment Subud"
RealAudio clip: "Back To The OMind (I'd Rather Not Go)"

NOEL, LEYNA From The Mouth Of The Jar (self-released) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've seen some pretty elaborate and unique packaging come through the store over the years, but this delicate and exquisitely hand made affair by local songstress Leyna Noel is really in a league of its own. She hand made each sleeve which comes in antique linen that she sewed individually and stitched shut, inside the lyrics and liner notes are printed on ledger paper from 1945. So much love and work went into making these lovely looking cd's that we almost didn't want to have to cut one open to listen to it. But luckily this is one of those great cases where the labor and visual aesthetic perfectly captures the warm and intimate songs contained inside.
From The Mouth of The Jar opens with the richest sounding Hammond organ and then Leyna takes the mic and matches that wave of warmth with her strong and gorgeous voice. With rich instrumentation throughout provided by Leyna and a cast of her comrades including members of Viking Moses, this is music that really is a step above most of the recent singer songwriter/folk sounds, never forgetting that it takes spirit and passion to make a song soar, and Leyna's songs ooze with so much genuine soul. Her delivery and arrangements conjure images of kindred spirits like Joanna Newsom, Edith Frost, Mira Billote (White Magic) and Cat Power. A record that really is like someone sharing with you an honest and thoughtful part of themselves, a feeling for you to cherish as you walk by their side, your spirit warmed by the true comfort they exude. The amount of time and work it took to construct these is baffling and needless to say there is a very small run of them so grab one while you can!
MPEG Stream: "Yellow Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Speedboat Wake"
MPEG Stream: "Make Bright"

NOKTURNAL MORTUM NeChrist (The End) cd 13.98
Imagine the Charlie Daniels Band jammin' with Emperor. Or rather, playing at the same time in adjoining practice rooms -- out in the forest. The ancient forests of the Ukraine, to be precise. That's where Nokturnal Mortum hail from. This is their third album. You may remember the big fuss we made over the amazing Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra disc last year? Well, Mr. Varggoth is the main guy in this band Nokturnal Mortum. With "NeChrist", he and his comrades have created a unique sound, one that combines a raw, roaring black metal attack with the pipes and fiddles and "yee-haws" of folk/country music, Ukrainian style. And, to make us AQ-ers enjoy this EVEN MORE, all of a sudden all the music will stop and the middle part of a track will be occupied by the croaking of frogs! And you know we like frogs and the noises they make. Similarily, the final song on the disc is preceded by 78 short (3 sec.) tracks of twittering birdsounds and forest ambience. Therefore, if you play the disc in "shuffle" mode, you get lots of cut-up bird calls mixed with the occasional actual fantastic Nokturnal Mortum song! The unanimous AQ black metal pick of this lunar month!! Brilliant. Yee-haw! (Recommended.)
RealAudio clip: "The Funeral Wind Born In Oriana"

NOTHING, CHARLIE The Psychedelic Saxophone (No Label) lp 17.98

NUGENT, CIAN Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter (Incunabulum) cd 14.98
We first heard Cian Nugent on the recent volume of Tompkin Square's Imaginational Anthem series. For such a young newcomer (he's still a teenager!) to the ever crowded solo acoustic scene, his track was a highlight among the more seasoned performers like Steffen Basho-Jungens and R. Keenan Lawler. Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter documents a live performance (his fourth ever!) in Nugent's home town of Dublin, Ireland. Released on Jozef Van Wissem's Incunabulum imprint, the performance showcases the talent that has folks turning heads. Sweetly beautiful melodies that swing and swirl into complex and melancholic knots. Of course the Takoma influences are ever-present but they lean toward Leo Kottke rather than John Fahey in using early American song-form structures. Yet Nugent's playing also draws from Davy Graham's folk-blues raga style as well as Balkan gypsy rhythms that offer something slightly different than we've heard before. Something wonderously ineffable that we can't quite put our fingers on, but makes us ever curious to hear more.
MPEG Stream: "I Will Take The Top Of A Tall Cedar And Break Off A Tender Sprout"
MPEG Stream: "The Emerald Tablet"

NUGENT, CIAN Doubles (VHF) cd 13.98
We first heard from Cian Nugent on the Robbie Basho tribute We Are All One In The Sun, but hadn't heard much since, which makes sense seeing that as far as we can tell, this is the first readily available full length from this Irish guitarist. Who, as you might imagine, just from having taken part in that Basho tribute, whether you actually heard it or not, is another purveyor of modern Appalachia, carrying on the tradition of Fahey, Basho and Kottke, a la James Blackshaw, Ilyas Ahmed, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Marisa Anderson, and the 20 minute opening track here positions Nugent well within that pantheon, with his own take on the sound, dark, and tense, clear and crystalline, with lots of droning notes, subtle overtones, less melodic than many of his contemporaries and more textural, although as the track progresses, Nugent's fingerpicking becomes more elaborate, and a more traditional Appalachia surfaces within his dark droney tones, his sound dynamic and varied, lots of ebb and flow, and then close to the end, the sound seems to expand a hundredfold, with an out of nowhere swarm of layered drones, which add a whole other dimension to the piece.
The second track starts out similarly, albeit a bit more traditionally, until the band kicks in, yep, the band, a full band, drums, strings, horns, with Nugent taking on organ duty as well, the sound blossoming into something more than old timey Appalachia worship, the sound spare and sparse, again very dynamic, until about three minutes in, when the song seems to coalesce into a sort of Appalachia flecked chamber pop, but only for a few minutes, the song, also quite epic at 24+ minutes takes lots of twists and turns, slipping back into something more skeletal and darkly brooding, then dark and cacophonous, droney and softly psychedelic, then hushed and barely there, before a bit more chamber pop, with a slow build to something intense and slightly cacophonous, and then finally, a slow, lush, horn flecked steel string final movement. So lovely, fans of modern guitar music and classic "American primitive" (especially both) would do well to check this out.
MPEG Stream: "Peaks & Troughs"
MPEG Stream: "Sixes & Sevens"

O'NEIL, TARA JANE Wings, Strings, Meridians (Square Root Books / Yeti) book+cd 14.98
Wings, Strings, Meridians is the latest release of audio and visual art by aQ fave Tara Jane O'Neil. The book is filled with her paintings, photographs and drawings. In the back of the compact 6" square softcover is a cd -- her tenth solo album!
Open your (or someone dear's) eyes and ears to the wonders of TJO. The pages are filled with loose tangles of thin, rough black lines shaded in earthy hues blurred in spots as if by rain or tears. Sometimes stark, sometimes busy, the images are populated by furry and feathered critters, human figures and abstract forms. Likewise, her music is an impromptu comforter woven from thread bare dusky melodies. Pretty great!
MPEG Stream: "Pearl Into Sand (Live)"
MPEG Stream: "Blue Light Room (Discovery 4-Track)"

OBITS I Can't Lose / Military Madness (Record Store Day) (Sub Pop) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

OCHS, MAX Hooray For Another Day (Tompkins Square) cd 14.98
The sticker on the shrink-wrap for this Max Ochs cd says it all: Cousin of Phil Ochs. Poet. Schoolmate of John Fahey and Robbie Basho. Friend of Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. Social Activist. Takoma and Fonotone Guitarist. Composer of "Imaginational Anthem". That last one seems to bear the most weight as it exemplifies Ochs influence on the Tompkins Square label as they have named three volumes of solo guitar anthologies after his song. But he is also a kind of poster boy for the label that has spent much of the last few years digging through the cracks of the solo guitar genre to find those who should have been more renowned. Hopefully this collection, most of it newly recorded, will shine a brighter light on this semi-obscure figure. Inspired by deep eastern ragas and dense open blues forms, Ochs was more of a writer and performer than a studio musician, so he doesn't have as deep a discography as his contemporaries, John Fahey and Robbie Basho. But the recordings here are stellar and on a par with the best of the genre. There are also a few examples of his poetry, including one about his cousin, folksinger Phil Ochs, who succumbed to drugs and suicide way too young, adding a tinge of heartbreak to this amazing collection.
MPEG Stream: "Hooray For Another Day"
MPEG Stream: "Imaginational Anthem"
MPEG Stream: "Phil"

OCS (THEE OH SEES) s/t (tUMULt) 2cd 14.98
Who would have thought that the man behind the club destroying thud rock of now defunct Pink And Brown, the sweaty, hyper chaotic garage stomp of the also now defunt Coachwhips, the minimal metallic crush of the long buried Dig That Body Up It's Alive and the no longer with us hardcore faux-homo-house of Zeigenbock Kopf actually had a soft and sensitive acoustic-y side?? Well, he does, or did, and chose to drop all the above mentioned musical endeavors to focus all of his musical energy on the mysteriously monickered OCS (which would later eventually transform into the fuzzier garage poppier Thee Oh Sees!)
The ubiquitous John Dwyer, for it is he, offers up two discs of home recorded madness, culled from random tapes/performances from way back when, and damn if this isn't an unexpected surprise. Vascillating wildy between introspective, spaced out downer folk and gritty, hissing free noise crunch, OCS is a massive and unpredicatable ride through one man's damaged musical psyche.
Disc One, 34 Reasons Why Life Goes On Without You, or the "acoustic disc" as we like to call it, is made up mostly of solo guitar, recorded in random locations around San Francisco, so the gentle strumming and dexterous fingerpicking is often barely obscuring passing cars, slamming doors, hollered instructions to other players, and noisy housemates, adding another sonic layer to the already thick brew. Think: a seriously fucked up Fahey, armed with a four track, a casio, and an old beat up guitar. Think: an old Folkways 45 being played on a Fisher Price turntable and run through a bank of cheap effects. Gorgeous and shambolic, meandering and lovely, dark and unpredictable. The acoustic passages are constantly doing battle with an array of sonic intrusions, random snippets of found sound, bursts of angry buzz, tape drop out, random ambient happenings, malfunctioning casios, and distorted crooning. Mysteriously compelling.
Disc two, 18 Reasons To Love Your Hater To Death, or the "noise disc" as we like to call it, is a much more challenging affair, channelling the spirts of Borbetamagus, Skullflower, Albert Ayler, Throbbing Gristle and 100 years of NOISE into a shifting sonic noisescape of harsh squealing feedback, gorgeously gauzy and shimmery drones, ear piercing sine waves, distorted low end rumbles, huge washes of effected guitars, rhythmic pulses, darkly muted ambience, subtle barely-there melodies, inhuman vocalisations, massive Merzbow-ian walls of pummel, hyper minimal music concrete, alien lullabies and dreamy stretches of stygian gloom punctuated by bursts of hiss and hum. Intensely beautiful and challenging.
Ah, the many moods of John Dwyer, stepping outside the realm of costume rock and drunken sweaty swagger to lay bare a sensitive, if still sometimes quite noisy, soul.
MPEG Stream: "Reason 1 Why Life Goes On Without You"
MPEG Stream: "Reason 2 Why Life Goes On Without You"
MPEG Stream: "Reason 1 To Love Your Hater To Death"
MPEG Stream: "Reason 2 To Love Your Hater To Death"

OLAUSSON, JAKOB Morning & Sunrise (De Stijl) cd 14.98
Much has been made of Jakob Olausson being a beet farmer, heck even in our review of his last record, our whole review revolves around that somewhat salient fact, and while that is indeed an odd personal fact, it shouldn't distract attention from his formidable musical talent, record number two finds this Swedish outsider psychedelic folk troubadour crafting a fantastic record of hazy, washed out, psych folk that while remaining as idiosyncratic as his debut, has managed to up the production, and add a little polish, but it's all relative, the sound is still elegantly raw and warmly home brewed, the guitars rich and lustrous, Olausson weaving a lush backdrop for his smoldering psychedelic leads and his rough raspy croon, which reminds us quite a bit of aQ pal Cayce Lindner (R.I.P.) and his group Flying Canyon, the same sort of achingly plaintive countrified folk, a sort of acoustic slowcore, that creeps and drifts, everything wreathed in tape hiss, and swaddled in billows of echo and delay, the sound minimal, and stripped down, but at the same time, still impossibly lush, the various tracks obviously recorded at different times and on different equipment, some are loud and lustrous, others are more lo-fi and brittle, but all of them are hushed and dreamy and darkly divine.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Drown In Sorrows"
MPEG Stream: "Keep The Sky From Falling"
MPEG Stream: "Riding On The Wind"

OLAUSSON, JAKOB Morning & Sunrise (De Stijl) lp 19.98
Much has been made of Jakob Olausson being a beet farmer, heck even in our review of his last record, our whole review revolves around that somewhat salient fact, and while that is indeed an odd personal fact, it shouldn't distract attention from his formidable musical talent, record number two finds this Swedish outsider psychedelic folk troubadour crafting a fantastic record of hazy, washed out, psych folk that while remaining as idiosyncratic as his debut, has managed to up the production, and add a little polish, but it's all relative, the sound is still elegantly raw and warmly home brewed, the guitars rich and lustrous, Olausson weaving a lush backdrop for his smoldering psychedelic leads and his rough raspy croon, which reminds us quite a bit of aQ pal Cayce Lindner (R.I.P.) and his group Flying Canyon, the same sort of achingly plaintive countrified folk, a sort of acoustic slowcore, that creeps and drifts, everything wreathed in tape hiss, and swaddled in billows of echo and delay, the sound minimal, and stripped down, but at the same time, still impossibly lush, the various tracks obviously recorded at different times and on different equipment, some are loud and lustrous, others are more lo-fi and brittle, but all of them are hushed and dreamy and darkly divine.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Drown In Sorrows"
MPEG Stream: "Keep The Sky From Falling"
MPEG Stream: "Riding On The Wind"

OLD 97'S Alive & Wired (New West) 2cd 24.00
Those Old 97s have always kicked butt live -- ever on the verge of losing control of their musical pickup truck careening down those rural roads, narrowly missin' a chicken, clippin' a roadside mailbox, topplin' some jugs o' moonshine along the way (not that they nor we are condoning drinkin'n'drivin'!). And here's a great document of the band in all their unbound Texan glory! A whopping thirty songs! A rambunctious country rock delight! For fans of Uncle Tupelo, Bottle Rockets, the country moments of Mekons, and maybe even ol' Lynyrd Skynyrd too.
MPEG Stream: "Melt Show"
MPEG Stream: "The New Kid"

OLD 97'S Drag It Up (New West) cd 16.98
The Old 97's Too Far To Care was one of our favorite records ever. When that came out in 1997 there was a good chance that no matter when you came into the store, it would be blasting on the stereo. And why the hell not?! It was a perfect rollicking rambunctious blast of super hooky, super catchy No Depression pop. Every song on that record was a classic. But much to our horror, the band plunged into vapid MTV fodder before our very eyes. Putting out a handful of totally lame, faceless records, including an awful solo record from 97's frontman Rhett Miller. We kept waiting, and hoping, that they would bounce back and kick our asses again. Well, after years of waiting, they finally have. Pretty much. Drag It Up while not quite as good as Too Far To Care, is a vast improvement and a darn good record. Catchy and twangy, with wry lyrics and some wicked playing. We knew they had it in them. Our only complaints this time around are the recycled melodies, lots of these songs sound remarkable like old Old 97's tunes (which is maybe why suddenly they sound so good) and the weirdly muddy production. That said though, this is still a pretty darn good record, if only they hadn't set the bar so high.
MPEG Stream: "Won't Be Home"
MPEG Stream: "Moonlight"

OLD 97'S Fight Songs (Elektra) cd 12.98
Long awaited record from the country rockers that brought us the much loved Too Far To Care (yes, a year is a long wait for a follow-up to that great record, believe you me!). Perhaps not as immediate as Too Far, but still delightful, Fight Songs again shows the Old 97's making some of the best twang pop around!!

OLD 97'S Hitchhike To Rhome (Big Iron) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Alt-country faves' first full-length, a sometimes hard-to-find release on an small indie label. Fans of their more recent albums should pick this up, as you'll be treated to some of the Old 97's best songs (including some re-recorded for later albums, along with others exclusive to this). If you saw them play on their last tour, a bunch of live faves are culled from this record, like "If My Heart Was A Car".

OLD 97'S Too Far Too Care (Elektra) cd 15.98
When this came out in 1997 Andee and Byram played this at least three times a day. With hook laden, lyrically shrewd song-writing, the Old 97's are the only band of the "no depression" movement to capture the intensity of early Uncle Tupelo without losing the earnestness or twang. The first song alone, "Timebomb," will get stuck in your head forever. Plus, the final track on the album, a singularly kick-ass number, features a duet with Exene from X.

OLDHAM, WILL Black / Rich Music (Drag City) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

OLDHAM, WILL Guarapero / Lost Blues 2 (Palace/Drag City) cd 14.98
Old favorites and out of print rare stuff from Palace/Will Oldham. Includes the infamous "Big Balls" AC/DC cover and FIVE NEW SONGS. Guest musicians include Mick Turner and Jim White from Dirty Three, David Grubbs, etc.

OLDHAM, WILL Joya (Drag City) cd 12.98
LOVELY album showcases Will's growing talents as a real songwriter.

OLDHAM, WILL Joya (Drag City) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
LOVELY album showcases Will's growing talents as a real songwriter.

OLDHAM, WILL Little Joya (Drag City) cd 4.98

OLDHAM, WILL Ode Music (Drag City) cd 10.98
If the Faheyesque fingerpicking that Jim O'Rourke brought to alt.country/indie rock were made even more sparse and given an almost Windham Hill/Michael Hedges/slightly-Renaissance-Faire quality, you'd have the Will Oldham (Palace) instrumental album. This is soundtrack music for a short film based on The Ode to Billy Joe.

OLDHAM, WILL Ode Music (Drag City) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If the Faheyesque fingerpicking that Jim O'Rourke brought to alt.country/indie rock were made even more sparse and given an almost Windham Hill/Michael Hedges/slightly-Renaissance-Faire quality, you'd have the Will Oldham (Palace) instrumental album. This is soundtrack music for a short film based on The Ode to Billy Joe.

OLDHAM, WILL Seafarers Music (Drag City) cd ep 11.98
Four new instrumentals from Mr. Will "Bonnie Prince Billy/Palace/Palace Songs/Palace Bros/Palace Music" Oldham. The liner notes tell a brief tale of a ship owner and some sailors, but offer little else in the way of recording information or description. Very mysterious. After trawling the internet oceans, we discovered that these four songs were composed as soundtrack pieces for a documentary film by Jason Massot about four modern merchant seamen. Little did we know that if we'd simply looked more closely at the disc and read the small print, we could have found all of this out sans computer. Ah the modern age! Such short attention spans! All the more reason to take some time to immerse yourself in Oldham's somber, contemplative songs. Slowly creeping acoustic guitar and bass navigations that we -- having not yet seen the film -- can say do indeed evoke the gentle rocking of an old ship and the endless rippling of the waves. The most affecting and foreboding of the four is the final "Emmanuel".
MPEG Stream: "Emmanuel"

OLDHAM, WILL Seafarers Music (Drag City) 12" 9.98
Four new instrumentals from Mr. Will - Bonnie Prince Billy/Palace/Palace Songs/Palace Bros/Palace Music - Oldham. The liner notes tell a brief tale of a ship owner and some sailors, but offer little else in the way of recording information or description. Very mysterious. After trawling the internet oceans, we discovered that these four songs were composed as soundtrack pieces for a documentary film by Jason Massot about four modern merchant seamen. Little did we know that if we'd simply looked more closely at the disc and read the small print, we could have found all of this out sans computer. Ah the modern age! Such short attention spans! All the more reason to take some time to immerse yourself in Oldham's somber, contemplative songs. Slowly creeping acoustic guitar and bass navigations that we - having not yet seen the film - can say do indeed evoke the gentle rocking of an old ship and the endless rippling of the waves. The most affecting and foreboding of the four is the final "Emmanuel".
MPEG Stream: "Emmanuel"

OLDHAM, WILL Western Music (Acuarela/Ovni) cdep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
4 songs, none of which appear on the Drag City full length. Recorded up in Santa Rosa with members of the Dirty 3 and Albini behind the board.

OLIVER Standing Stone (Wooden Hill) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally released in 1974 to little acclaim, this is the first appearance on cd of Welsh guitarist Oliver's only album. Psych-blues guitar, like a solo Beefheart or something. BEAUTIFUL and highly recommended. Thanks to Aquarius-listmember Nik Carlson for turning us on to this back when it was only available as a $30 piece of collectible vinyl.

OLSON, MARK & GARY LOURIS Ready For The Flood (New West) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "The Rose Society"
MPEG Stream: "Bicycle"
MPEG Stream: "Turn Your Pretty Name Around"