DOKTOR KETTU I Really Like Diamonds (Super Metsa) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For those who've only just surfaced from the daze imposed upon them by the sonics of Doktor Kettu's previous three cd-rs, well the Doktor is back and your therapy can continue! For those new to Doktor Kettu, be aware that the Doktor's drug of choice involves hazy electric guitars and stumbling drums improvising organically, like some Fushit-Thuja hybrid, to make a punny and obscure reference. From Finland, the mysterious Doktor is a group that may or may not include members of AQ-faves Circle. What we do know is that so far DK discs have been the sole output of the Super Metsa cd-r label, partly run by Circle's Jussi Lehtisalo. All five cd-rs so far seem like installments from some massive on-going jam still happening right now in a dingy Finnish basement, or perhaps outdoors under the ever-dark winter sky. Their music is the murky drone of armored seagulls, flying over electric waves of distortion and hiss.
High Revolution features three long tracks, all in the lo-fi, low-key freakout mode we've come to expect. Lonely caverns are slowly filled with an unknown gas. Distant apes play with sticks and then pass out. Jurassic cries emerge from deep beneath rocks and stones. Moss talks to moss. In similar fashion, I Really Like Diamonds consists of but one track ("Severed Minds") stretching out for 43 minutes -- and don't ask why a one-track album has a different title than the track itself. Like a lot of things to do with this band, we have the feeling that it's a Finnish drug thing you wouldn't understand. Each disc limited to 100 copies, fyi.
MPEG Stream: "Severed Minds"

DOKTOR KETTU Kriegsphilosophie ( Super Metsa) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Super Metsa is the new cd-r label run by our Finnish friend Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle, Pharoah Overlord, Ektro label, etc.) and one of his pals. For their first batch of releases, they've hit us with three titles by the previously-unknown-to-us band Doktor Kettu, each cd-r in a limited edition of 100. Purposefully mysterious, we can't tell you anything about who's in Doktor Kettu, but we did find out that Kettu is Finnish for 'fox'.
Running about an hour and featuring two or three tracks apiece, all three are pretty great for those into this sort of thing. What sort of thing is that? Well, Jussi describes Doktor Kettu as being an "apocalyptic drone-free-psychedelic-low-fi-massacre..... three guitars, bass and drums" and they do indeed make some very *murky* (not just the production, as much as the music itelf) instrumental improv space rock with a high drone-quotient. Imagine a cross between Circle and Thuja, perhaps, if that could possibly mean anything to you. Doktor Kettu (with two MORE Super Metsa releases in the pipeline) may become Finland's answer to the USA's Sunburned Hand Of The Man, if Avarus doesn't object.

Super Metsa Doktor Kettu number three has got German titles, and three tracks. Imagine if you had neighbors who lived below you in a WWII bunker and all they did all day was listen to certain Fushitsusha albums, this is what you might hear through the floor. Muted a la some Zoviet France stuff. A hazy wash of sound. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Kopf Im Schnee"

DOKTOR KETTU Yksi Miekka Yksi Kirves ( Super Metsa) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Super Metsa is the new cd-r label run by our Finnish friend Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle, Pharoah Overlord, Ektro label, etc.) and one of his pals. For their first batch of releases, they've hit us with three titles by the previously-unknown-to-us band Doktor Kettu, each cd-r in a limited edition of 100. Purposefully mysterious, we can't tell you anything about who's in Doktor Kettu, but we did find out that Kettu is Finnish for 'fox'.
Running about an hour and featuring two or three tracks apiece, all three are pretty great for those into this sort of thing. What sort of thing is that? Well, Jussi describes Doktor Kettu as being an "apocalyptic drone-free-psychedelic-low-fi-massacre..... three guitars, bass and drums" and they do indeed make some very *murky* (not just the production, as much as the music itelf) instrumental improv space rock with a high drone-quotient. Imagine a cross between Circle and Thuja, perhaps, if that could possibly mean anything to you. Doktor Kettu (with two MORE Super Metsa releases in the pipeline) may become Finland's answer to the USA's Sunburned Hand Of The Man, if Avarus doesn't object.

All the titles are in Finnish for this debut. Despite the sword and axe and skull graphics, this isn't metal (it's metsa?). There's three tracks on this one, recorded on two different dates, live we'd assume. Slow, meandering, very stoned ambient psych jamming to the max. Pretty, gauzy clanking. It's got the damaged feel of some of Reynols' rock outings, but is even less straight-forward. Very little pounding, more round-about tinkering. Some energetic frenzy takes over during the last track, but it's a submerged frenzy, the whole track sounding lost in a steam tunnel somewheres.
MPEG Stream: "Satumaisen Kaunis Iltapaiva"

DOLDRUMS Acupuncture (Kranky) cd 13.98

DOLDRUMS Desk Trickery (Kranky) cd 13.98
A bit more varied than previous albums, this disc sees Doldrums taking their usual krautrock-inspired drone and adding more vocals than before, while making overt moves into indie-rock, free noise and avant jazz...

DOLDRUMS Feng Shui (VHF) cd 12.98
With prior releases on both the vhf and Kranky labels, this band certainly has some credentials in the indie/spacerock scene, able to drone with the best of them and also maintain interest with krautrock-derived rhythmic elements. That said, the gorgeous Feng Shui focuses primarily on the blissful, ambient side of the band (i.e. less rock more space). Very nice.

DOLEFUL LIONS, THE Song Cyclops Volume Two (Parasol) cd 14.98
Jonathan and Robert Scott aka The Doleful Lions only really sound doleful on a couple of songs here. For the better part of Song Cyclops Volume Two they unfurl warm breezy pop that's inflected with numerous incongruous stylistic elements -- very much in the Elephant Six Collective's tradition of crafting mid-fi tripped-out musical mosaics. Amid the generous serving of twenty two songs are five well-selected covers originally done by The Descendents, The Beach Boys, The Misfits, Close Lobsters and The Crystals. With their melted boyish vocals, shyly picked and strummed guitars, gentle bursts on hissy distortion and smattering of synths, the Brothers Scott might be likened to a bastard child of the Beach Boys and T-Rex. The eleventh song "Chinese Rockets", one of their originals, is a perfect example of this. Songs such as the seventeenth "Chrome Submarine" are sweetly woozy. Fans of Ariel Pink might find themselves equally tickled pink by these lads.
MPEG Stream: "Chinese Rockets"
MPEG Stream: "Chrome Submarine"

DOLLY ROCKER Hello, Dolly Rocker! cd 12.98
Fans of the recent Low / Dirty Three In the Fishtank collaborations should clamber and swoon to this new SF outfit. Sparse drumming and strumming, and lulling bass and strings share the space with the quietly emotive female vocals. Mellow and melancholic.

DOLPHY, ERIC Out To Lunch (Blue Note) cd 11.98

DOM Fackeln Im Sturm (Harvest) cd 9.98
Wolfgang Voigt's continuous output of techno runs the spectrum from body-hammerin' trance loaded with pop hooks to beautifully hypnotic droning laced with dubby spectral decay. Dom is one of his more club friendly monikers, with four pretty catchy acid-trance numbers (three of which are extensive variations on the same track) recalling his earlier Love Inc corkers.

DOM DRACUL Attack On The Crucified (Debemur Morti) cd 14.98
Back in stock!
A while back we reviewed a disc of utterly freaked out, super heavy and weird as fuck black metal from a band called Vacuum Era Gelid Atmosphere. We got this, the debut from Dom Dracul from the same place, but it couldn't sound any more different. Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. This is, after all, still a hatefully raw and furious slab of grim buzzing black metal. But where V.E.G.A. wrapped their black buzz in all sorts of sonic sickness and warped weirdness, Dom Dracul stick a little bit closer to the classic sound of old skool Norwegian black metal, some serious Darkthrone / Immortal / Ulver worship going on for sure, and some nods to Bathory as well, in fact they even do a Bathory cover!
We get so wrapped up sometimes in finding the weirdest most fucked up black metal EVER, that once in a while we forget how much we love the pure, raw, grim, cult sound of straight ahead, buzzing, black metal. After all, that's exactly the sound that lured us all over to the darkside in the first place. And still, whenever we throw on some Immortal or Satyricon or Emperor, it totally blows us away and reminds us why we love this stuff so much. Dom Dracul are proud bearers of that black flame, taking that instantly recognizable sound and giving it their own little twist. The result is certainly not groundbreaking, but fuck it, that's not what we're after here, eyes closed you'd be hard pressed to figure out this wasn't in fact a late nineties Scandinavian legend. Which is actually a good thing. Very good. Thick snarling blackened riffs thrash wildly over grim rhythmic blasts, a howled demonic voice, soaring and epic and so gloriously frosty, occasionally lurching into a loping midtempo Burzumic buzz, only to explode into a furious black blast moments later. Anyone itching for some classic grim blackness would do well to drink deep from the black blood of Dom Dracul.
MPEG Stream: "666 Drops Of Blood"
MPEG Stream: "Attack On The Crucified"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Presence"

DON CABALLERO 2 (Touch & Go) cd 14.98
These instrumental math rockers best album. Wait we said American Don was. Well this is too.

DON CABALLERO American Don (Touch & Go) cd 14.98
The fourth and finest album yet from popular math-rock mainstay Don Caballero. Certainly the instrumental trio have perfected the complicated urgency they're renowned for -- time-signature-defying drumming and bright shards of crackling guitar. And at this point, Don Cab are genuinely making music like no other, having progressed leaps and bounds on every album with no sign of slowing down. On "American Don", they strip all traces of their early metal riffage, instead building and deconstructing layers of beautiful chiming guitars backed with a sturdy rhythm section, sounding almost cleanly electronic at times. Softening the anger, brightening the guitar picking until its sunny bleats make us think even the jaded Don Cabs are smiling behind the complexity. Quite possibly the heaviest record ever made without distortion and definitely their most forward-thinking album to date, which means they will likely lose some fans but also gain some more.

RealAudio clip: "Fire Back About Your New Baby's Sex"
RealAudio clip: "Ones All Over the Place"

DON CABALLERO American Don (Touch & Go) 2lp 15.98
The fourth and finest album yet from popular math-rock mainstay Don Caballero. Certainly the instrumental trio have perfected the complicated urgency they're renowned for -- time-signature-defying drumming and bright shards of crackling guitar. And at this point, Don Cab are genuinely making music like no other, having progressed leaps and bounds on every album with no sign of slowing down. On "American Don", they strip all traces of their early metal riffage, instead building and deconstructing layers of beautiful chiming guitars backed with a sturdy rhythm section, sounding almost cleanly electronic at times. Softening the anger, brightening the guitar picking until its sunny bleats make us think even the jaded Don Cabs are smiling behind the complexity. Quite possibly the heaviest record ever made without distortion and definitely their most forward-thinking album to date, which means they will likely lose some fans but also gain some more.

DON CABALLERO Punkgasm (Relapse) cd 14.98
You know these guys. A seminal outfit of the post rock ilk, one without whom... well let's just say there's a good reason they'll be namechecked in every Battles or Hella review we're or anyone else who knows what's what is gonna write. Pittsburgh's finest, the SCTV lovin' Don Cab, led by drummer extraordinaire Damon Che, are back with yet another lineup, and their second Relapse release (7th album overall if you count the singles comp). While the "metal" leanings of their 2006 Relapse debut World Class Listening Problem have been scaled back a bunch here, it's still another dazzling display of their trademark instrumental mathrock chops. Except, this time, it's not all instrumental! There's vocals on some (about a third) of these 14 tracks, and they're surprisingly melodious. (Maybe not so surprising if you've ever heard Che's other band, Thee Speaking Canaries, in which he sings and plays guitar.)
But don't worry, aside from the sometime singing, everything else is 100 percent Don Cab: Wise ass song title non sequiturs. Stop on a dime changes. Complex song structures. Unusual time signatures. Loud-soft dynamics. Proggy perplexity. And quite a lot of pretty parts too! Several tracks are much more harmonious than hectic, soundscapes with airy grooves and lulling, lovely vocals. But an album called Punkgasm can't be a total blissout, it's usually a bit busier. On most tracks, the guitars - sometimes bright and chiming, at other times heavy and distorted - mesh with precision into the spinning gears of Che's constantly percolating, plentiful percussion. Imagine a King Crimson "Projekt" gone indie rock, but better.
MPEG Stream: "Loudest Shop Vac In The World"
MPEG Stream: "Celestial Dusty Groove"
MPEG Stream: "Lord Krepelka"

DON CABALLERO Punkgasm (Relapse) lp 24.00
NOW ALSO ON VINYL!
You know these guys. A seminal outfit of the post rock ilk, one without whom... well let's just say there's a good reason they'll be namechecked in every Battles or Hella review we're or anyone else who knows what's what is gonna write. Pittsburgh's finest, the SCTV lovin' Don Cab, led by drummer extraordinaire Damon Che, are back with yet another lineup, and their second Relapse release (7th album overall if you count the singles comp). While the "metal" leanings of their 2006 Relapse debut World Class Listening Problem have been scaled back a bunch here, it's still another dazzling display of their trademark instrumental mathrock chops. Except, this time, it's not all instrumental! There's vocals on some (about a third) of these 14 tracks, and they're surprisingly melodious. (Maybe not so surprising if you've ever heard Che's other band, Thee Speaking Canaries, in which he sings and plays guitar.)
But don't worry, aside from the sometime singing, everything else is 100 percent Don Cab: Wise ass song title non sequiturs. Stop on a dime changes. Complex song structures. Unusual time signatures. Loud-soft dynamics. Proggy perplexity. And quite a lot of pretty parts too! Several tracks are much more harmonious than hectic, soundscapes with airy grooves and lulling, lovely vocals. But an album called Punkgasm can't be a total blissout, it's usually a bit busier. On most tracks, the guitars - sometimes bright and chiming, at other times heavy and distorted - mesh with precision into the spinning gears of Che's constantly percolating, plentiful percussion. Imagine a King Crimson "Projekt" gone indie rock, but better.
MPEG Stream: "Loudest Shop Vac In The World"
MPEG Stream: "Celestial Dusty Groove"
MPEG Stream: "Lord Krepelka"

DON CABALLERO Singles Breaking Up Volume 1 (Touch & Go) cd 14.98

DON CABALLERO What Burns Never Returns (Touch & Go) cd 14.98
(The epitome of) instrumental math-rock, complex and playful. Their long-awaited third album.

DON CABALLERO What Burns Never Returns (Touch & Go) lp 14.98
(The epitome of) instrumental math-rock, complex and playful. Their long-awaited third album.

DON CABALLERO World Class Listening Problem (Relapse) cd 14.98
If you're a fan of virtuoso instrumental math-rock madness, look no further... there are two new releases on Relapse for you to nerd, we mean rock, out to! One is the long awaited fifth album from scene grandaddies Don Caballero (without whom...) and the other is from the more whippershapperish Dysrhythmia.
We're totally enjoying the new Don Cab, 'though the world has caught up with 'em -- wise ass instrumental math-rock is all the rage (these guys should get royalty checks from Hella, Chevreuil, Orthrelm, Behold The Arctopus, et al), and so this new album, their first in six years, can't have the same impact as their records did back in the mid-'90s. But lone remaining original member drummer Damon Che still has crazy chops and his all-new lineup does the Don Cab brand name justice, getting a bit more metal in the process perhaps ('cause they're on metal label Relapse now?).
And then for those whose heads want even more scrambling, Dysrhythmia's new one is also recommended. Their complex compositions are played energetically and octopoidally, and are maybe a bit more metallic than the Don Cab, though they do dabble in proggy, atmospheric passages here and there. Indeed, while both World Class Listening Problem and Barriers and Passages have plenty of the technical herky-jerk, they are also strangely relaxing. Not just the relaxation of sheer exhaustion when it's all over -- both records give the listener some welcome chances to chill while they're still playing as well.
MPEG Stream: "Mmmmm Acting, I Love Me Some Good Acting"
MPEG Stream: "And And And, He Lowered The Twin Down"

DON CABALLERO World Class Listening Problem (Relapse) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If you're a fan of virtuoso instrumental math-rock madness, look no further... there are two new releases on Relapse for you to nerd, we mean rock, out to! One is the long awaited fifth album from scene grandaddies Don Caballero (without whom...) and the other is from the more whippershapperish Dysrhythmia.
We're totally enjoying the new Don Cab, 'though the world has caught up with 'em -- wise ass instrumental math-rock is all the rage (these guys should get royalty checks from Hella, Chevreuil, Orthrelm, Behold The Arctopus, et al), and so this new album, their first in six years, can't have the same impact as their records did back in the mid-'90s. But lone remaining original member drummer Damon Che still has crazy chops and his all-new lineup does the Don Cab brand name justice, getting a bit more metal in the process perhaps ('cause they're on metal label Relapse now?).
And then for those whose heads want even more scrambling, Dysrhythmia's new one is also recommended. Their complex compositions are played energetically and octopoidally, and are maybe a bit more metallic than the Don Cab, though they do dabble in proggy, atmospheric passages here and there. Indeed, while both World Class Listening Problem and Barriers and Passages have plenty of the technical herky-jerk, they are also strangely relaxing. Not just the relaxation of sheer exhaustion when it's all over -- both records give the listener some welcome chances to chill while they're still playing as well.
MPEG Stream: "Mmmmm Acting, I Love Me Some Good Acting"
MPEG Stream: "And And And, He Lowered The Twin Down"

DON'T NEED YOU: THE HERSTORY OF RIOT GRRRL (Urban Cowgirl Productions) dvd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Obviously girls have been kicking butt for years in the indie rock arena, but back in the '90s the riot grrrl movement was a mighty feminist and activist force all its own. This dvd documents the true origins of Grrrl Power -- a wealth of empowerment, community and inspiration for gals around the globe. That said, keep in mind that it only really covers the American side of the movement. Notably absent are accounts about the overseas grrrl action from the likes of bands such as Huggy Bear. Nonetheless, very informative with tons of interviews, clips from zines, show flyers, photos, plus rare live footage of Bikini Kill and Bratmobile!

DONEDA, MICHEL / BENAT ACHIARY / KAZUE SAWAI Temps Couche (Victo) cd 14.98

DONELLY, TANYA Whiskey Range Ghost (4AD) cd 12.98
Good evening ladies and gentlemen! For tonight's entertainment we regret to inform you that Tori Amos couldn't make it... however Tanya Donelly has kindly agreed to take her place and sing a few numbers for us!... Alright, all kiddin' aside, but Ms Donelly's new solo album Whiskey Range Ghost does bear an uncanny resemblance to those of Ms Amos (maybe easing up slightly on the trademark Amos dramatic side of things). Barebones vocals accompanied by equally spartan piano, acoustic guitar and pedal steel. It's all very intimate and pretty balladry. Oh so different from her past Belly, Breeders, Throwing Muses and solo efforts, but oddly following a parallel path as her former bandmate Kirstin Hersh's recent solo album The Grotto.
MPEG Stream: "Divine Sweet Divine"
MPEG Stream: "My Life As A Ghost"

DONNA SUMMER The Irregular (Sonig) 12" 8.98

DONNA SUMMER AKA JASON FORREST This Need To Be Your Style (Irritant) cd 16.98
Finally available again!!!
No. This is not the disco diva Donna Summer. Far from it, this Donna Summer is the moniker for Brooklyn plunderphonician Jason Forrest, who has obliterated a variety of genres into an abrasive collage of jagged samples in much the same way that Wobbly did to hip hop on his epic "Wild Why" album. Prog rock, electroclash, '80s top 40 schlock, free jazz, hip-hop, metal, and much more has been run through a blender of arrhythmic drill 'n' bass breaks and digital disfiguration. With its spasmodic speed of clipped samples, "This Needs To Be Your Style" accelerates the need for attention deficit disorder that Kid 606 requires of his audience, as he is constantly switching up all of the samples just outside of any ability to recognize where the sample comes from. Thus, this album can be very difficult to listen to; however, once you can get through track 4 or so, the tracks become far more listenable. It's unclear whether this is due to Forrest actually making the tracks less irritating, or due to the logic of his constructions finally becoming apparant. Certainly worthwhile mash-ups for the very patient or the very caffeinated.
MPEG Stream: "Prog's Not Dead"
MPEG Stream: "Heels Over Head"

DONNA SUMMER VS. OVE-NAXX s/t (AD ADD AT / Very Friendly) cd 14.98
This is a double shot of splattery, spastic short attention span / ADD drill and bass / mash up mania from two of the noisiest around. Donna Summer (A DJ at WFMU by day) delivers a hard and heavy 6 tracks of junglized plunderphonia, incorporating cock rock, drum and bass and everything in between. Ove Naxx from Japan, ups the ante, setting his Pro Tools to stun, spitting out shards of jagged beats and samples sliced so thin you can see right through them. Brutal and pummeling, funny and not all that funky, these guys will tear you a new one while clearing the dancefloor in seconds flat!
MPEG Stream: DONNA SUMMER "Vibrations"
MPEG Stream: OVE NAXX "Jinginaki Punxxx!!!"

DONNA SUMMER VS. OVE-NAXX s/t (AD ADD AT / Very Friendly) lp 14.98
This is a double shot of splattery, spastic short attention span / ADD drill and bass / mash up mania from two of the noisiest around. Donna Summer (A DJ at WFMU by day) delivers a hard and heavy 6 tracks of junglized plunderphonia, incorporating cock rock, drum and bass and everything in between. Ove Naxx from Japan, ups the ante, setting his Pro Tools to stun, spitting out shards of jagged beats and samples sliced so thin you can see right through them. Brutal and pummeling, funny and not all that funky, these guys will tear you a new one while clearing the dancefloor in seconds flat!
MPEG Stream: DONNA SUMMER "Vibrations"
MPEG Stream: OVE NAXX "Jinginaki Punxxx!!!"

DONNAS American Teenage Rock 'N' Roll Machine (Lookout!) cd 12.98
Donnas C., F., A., and R. are here to rock for you, the title really says it all. South Bay girls, all still in their teens, with major attitude.

DONNAS Turn 21 (Lookout) cd 14.98
We are all graciously awaiting the release of "The Donnas Hit Menopause" when the age of the band will finally reach the current average age of their male fans. More kick ass, power pop/punk ala The Runaways/Ramones/Redd Kross etc...

DONNAS, THE Bitchin' (Purple Feather) cd 13.98
Yeah, the novelty factor with this band wore off long ago, hence they wisely ditched their Donna aliases, but the good times keep on rollin'! While their major label stint on Atlantic might've alienated a few of their devotees with its abundant mainstream slickness, The Donnas just might win 'em all back with the shiny-assed Bitchin'. These gals have proven that they're no slouches in the rock anthem riff department, and they definitely show their stuff here. The only place where they're still a bit lacking is in their tendency to always sing-right-along-with-the-riff. Nevertheless a super fun album that comes pretty close to the breathless exuberance of their early Lookout! albums.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Wait Up For Me"
MPEG Stream: "Love You Till It Hurts"

DONNAS, THE Bitchin' (Purple Feather) lp 16.98
Yeah, the novelty factor with this band wore off long ago, hence they wisely ditched their Donna aliases, but the good times keep on rollin'! While their major label stint on Atlantic might've alienated a few of their devotees with its abundant mainstream slickness, The Donnas just might win 'em all back with the shiny-assed Bitchin'. These gals have proven that they're no slouches in the rock anthem riff department, and they definitely show their stuff here. The only place where they're still a bit lacking is in their tendency to always sing-right-along-with-the-riff. Nevertheless a super fun album that comes pretty close to the breathless exuberance of their early Lookout! albums.
MPEG Stream: "Bitchin'"
MPEG Stream: "Love You Till It Hurts"

DONNAS, THE Gold Metal (Atlantic) cd 16.98
Here's The Donnas' follow-up to their kick-ass 2002 album Spend The Night (the second on a major label). Perhaps to further reinforce the impression that they mean business (i.e. record industry business), the ladies have cast aside the gimmick of their individual Donna aliases. It's true, this is the first Donnas album on which they're going by their real names! Unfortunately their music has never seemed so much in the hands of others. Clearly much of their defining bad girl attitude and freewheeling raw rawk sound (which formerly seemed sincerely of their own making) has been swept away by big budget slick production and stylists. Indeed, Gold Metal has nowhere near the wild teen reckless abandon of their first couple of records. It's still a good time, but a pretty coiffed version of their former deliciously devil-may-care selves. Granted they're not treading any new ground... this is rock'n'roll for chrissakes!... but they're hitting some predictable, cliched riffs and lyrics that without their Donna personas makes their music less distinct and engaging (think Veruca Salt). This certainly should bring them broader mainstream appeal, but it distances them farther and farther away from that which previously made the Donnas so beloved.
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Want To Know"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Break Me Down"

DONNAS, THE Spend The Night (Atlantic) cd 12.98
The girls are all grown up. This is their 5th release and first for a major label. And they just keep getting tighter and slicker and more rocking with each progressive record. Still sassy and sexy, the Donnas take their AC/DC and Kiss obsessions, mix in a little Runaways and a little Redd Kross and come up with some of the best punky poppy garage-y rock ever! Super heavy and '70s, fun and cute and tough, with perfect back up vocals and simple / funny lyrics sung in a way that's feminine and growly but not whiny or screechy. The lyrics cover all the perfect subjects: getting a boy to crawl with her to her Chevrolet, getting her girls to key your Mercedes, wanting you to take it off so she can have you on the floor, the popular guy wanting to get her high, etc. Just boys and cars and getting laid and never looking back. I know it's so slick and obvious, it could bug a lot of you, and I know there's really no surprises here, and its really cutey pie, but I'm all for it! Sexy, mean girls taking charge! Woo Hoo! The second disc is a DVD, which features the animated video for 'Do You Wanna Hit It' featuring lots and lots of pot smoking and hallucinating ensuring ZERO play on MTV, a documentary/behind the scenes look at the making of the record, and a bizarre segment with comedian Andy Dick interviewing the Donnas. Weird.
Easily the best Donnas record yet. Fans of Redd Kross, Kiss, pop punk and especially fans of all the new GARAGE-MANIA bands (i.e. Stokes, Vines, White Stripes and especially the Sahara Hot Nights) will dig this!
RealAudio clip: "It's On The Rocks"
RealAudio clip: "Take It Off"

DONNELLY, TANYA This Hungry Life (Eleven Thirty) cd 16.98
We've had a bright lil' burst of Throwing Muses related releases lately including a reissue of their excellent University album and an imminent solo album from Kristin Hersh. This one somehow slipped by our radar a few months back, and we're sincerely sorry it did because it is terrific! It's Tanya Donelly's fourth solo outing. This Hungry Life was recorded live over the course of two nights in an old hotel in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Apparently those two evenings were during a heatwave which appears to have compounded the dreamy delirium usually associated with both Donelly and Hersh's off kilter pop music. Much more feisty and energetic than her last solo release, 2004's stark, hushed Whiskey Tango Ghost. This maybe partly due to he's backed by an impressive lot -- her husband Dean Fisher (guitarist for The Juliana Hatfield Three), Rich Gilbert (guitar and pedal steel player for Frank Black & The Catholics), drummer Arthur Johnson (also of Come), violinist Joan Wasser (who's also played with Lou Reed and Antony & The Johnsons) and vocalist Bill Janowitz (of Buffalo Tom). As always, top notch, unmistakably Donelly, dizzying goodness.
MPEG Stream: "This Hungry Life"
MPEG Stream: "To The Lighthouse"

DONNER PARTY Complete Recordings 1987-1989 (Innerstate) 2cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally a reissue of the long lost lps from San francisco's unsung pop heroes, the Donner Party. Boasting future members of Quasi and the S.F. Seals, the Donner party, crafted perfect and absurdist little ditties, silly and fun, full of wide eyed innocence and mundane platitudes, and with hooks that could stop a train.
Championing that 80's college radio sound (R.E.M., Homestead Records, etc.) the Donners never seemed to get the attention afforded their peers. This two cd set compiles the first two lps, as well as an unreleased third lp, plus some live tracks to boot.
Some of the best jangley pop ever, for fans of Quasi, Built to Spill, Halo Benders, They Might Be giants. Worth it just for the song 'Boxfull of Bones', one of the most beautiful and heart breaking pop songs ever.

DONNIE DARKO (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) (Elgonix) cd 17.98
Easily one of, if not THE, best movies of 2001. Dark and beautiful and sad and haunting and creepy as fuck. Saw it right after Lynch's 'Mulholland Drive' and it was so much better. Next to 'Donnie Darko', 'Mulholland Drive' was like a hard up college kid's crappy student film. I can't believe that sort of faux-surrealism and those hokey special effects still have people freaking out about David Lynch. Anyway, 'Donnie Darko' is a gorgeously surreal, sort-of-horror film, sort-of-coming-of-age-film, with tender awkward teen romance, family tragedy, alienated youth, and with some time travel and a giant demon-faced bunny thrown in for good measure. So beautiful and tender, but genuinely frightening at the same time. And much of the mood is owed to the amazing score. A dark mix of rumbling drones and melancholy piano, wispy minor key song fragments, atonal musique concrete, and a totally soul stirring, heartbreaking, and eerie version of Tears For Fears' eighties classic 'Mad World' (you know the one: '...the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had...'). In fact most of the soundtrack (outside the score) is made up of songs by Tears For Fears, Joy Division and Echo And The Bunnymen, none of which, sadly, are included here. But the score and the reworked 'Mad World' are enough to make this a must own. Also includes an alternate mix of 'Mad World' with skittery lo-fi drum machine that actually works pretty well, giving it a sort of Portishead vibe. Like the movie, WAY recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Mad World "
RealAudio clip: "Gretchen Ross"
RealAudio clip: "Ensurance Trap"
RealAudio clip: "The Artifact and Living"

DONOVAN A Gift From A Flower To A Garden (Sony) cd 15.98

DOO RAG What We Do (De-something-or-other/Communion) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DOO RAG What We Do (De-something-or-other/Communion) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DOO-DOOETTES Think Space (Cortical Foundation) cd + 7" 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Cortical Foundation continues in its excavation of the screwball antics of the Los Angeles Free Music Society, which took anti-rock, noise, and free jazz to new room clearing limits. The Doo-Dooettes were lead by Dream Syndicate drummer Dennis Duck, and offered a free jazz soundtrack in "Think Space" to film on the Viking Space Probe in 1975, sounding very much like the No Neck Blues Band. But the highlight of this package is clearly the extra 7" - in which they offer two freaked out covers of Faust's "Picnic on a Frozen River". Limited edition of 700 copies.

DOO-DOOETTES / KEIJI HAINO / RICK POTTS Free Rock (PSF) cd 22.00
One of two very different new PSF releases from our favorite dark lord of Japanese psychedelic improv (Haino's "Mazu Wa Iro O Nakuso Ka" being the other, reviewed last list). This one's actually an archival release, recorded way back in 1981. As per the title, it's a "free rock" jam merging the talents of Haino with a bunch of dudes from pioneering weird-music collective the Los Angeles Free Music Society! With Haino and Rick Potts both on guitar, plus the Doo-Dooettes trio of Dennis Duck (drums), Fredrik Nilsen (bass), and Tom Recchion (on his home-made instruments the "mock cello" and "strungaphone"), this group really whips up a wild and woolly storm of avant-rock insanity. It's one single thirty-five minute long track which actually has its own title -- we'll repeat it here 'cause it's so evocative: "Blueprint For The Shimmering Quivers Of The Deep Purple Ultraviolet Tuning Fork". Pretty much says it all. You can definitely hear Haino's distinctive guitar in there, but the LAFMS guys hold their end up too. And as messy as it may at first seem, it does go somewhere musically. Verdict: Worth hearing for sure, if you're into alien noise-rock skree at all. An unusual entry in Haino's discography, like his Fushitsusha jamming with the Magic Band or something. Glad they dug this one out of the vaults...
NB. We're told (by a friend who reads Japanese) that Keiji Haino's liner notes for this describe how he visited Aquarius Records on a 1979 trip to San Francisco! He apparently bought a LAFMS LP here and that led him into contact with Potts et. al. and thus to the creation of this very recording. Cool.
RealAudio clip: "Blueprint For The Shimmering...."

DOODLES Nokori (Alchemy) cd 21.00
Ok, we imagine that some of you might be kind of skeptical about this band, seeing as they're called, ahem, Doodles. Not exactly an awe-inspiring, heavy-psych kinda moniker is it? And with a name like that, and because of the fact that it's an all-girl outfit, you might expect some kind of cutesy "chick band from Japan" (as someone we know who shall remain nameless put it). But this ain't no Puffy Ami Yumi. Or even Shonen Knife. And their music is quite a bit different from the (also great) but much more robustly silly mayhem unleashed by the other all-girl Japanese psych duo reviewed on this week's list, Afrirampo. No, Doodles are a more serious sort of band, despite the name. Far from silly or fluffy. More roughly hewn and melancholic. These ladies (Akiko Terashima on vocals/guitar/piano and Nao Shibata on drums/chorus) play plodding, haunted psych-rock, with storms of guitar distortion hovering on the horizon, and sweet, sad vocals quivering deeply soul-ward. Ringing, reverby chords, jagged strum, staggering drums. Japanese psych-scene fans will understand if we compare 'em to Angel' In Heavy Syrup, Shizuka, and Nagisa Ni Te. But for a (sort of) non-Japanese comparison, we think maybe Blonde Redhead would be a slight parallel. Uh, Blonde Redhead meets Codeine, maybe. They've also drawn comparisons to other punkish/naive Western acts like the Smashachords and Swell Maps. And then there's some Neil Young and VU too. They're definitely a band that we think should appeal to indie-rock lovin' AQ customers beyond just those with Japanocentric tastes! And the Japan-psych fans among you ought to be already into 'em, thanks to their appearance on first volume of Alchemy's great The Night Gallery: 21st Century Psychedelic Underground compilations. Also Akikio plays on the two Jojo Hiroshige discs we've recommended recently. And in fact this is their 2nd or 3rd album after one on Gyuune and at least one cd-r release before that, though it's the first we've managed to stock. But we'll definitely keep Doodles on our list of bands to watch out for more from in the future!
MPEG Stream: "track 2"
MPEG Stream: "track 6"

DOOM Total Doom (Peaceville) cd 14.98
Don't get too excited all you doom metallers out there. You know who we're talking about, those of you who salivate at the mere mention of the word doom. This is not doom in that sense, no slow motion stoner riffing, no wailing seventies vocals, no Sabbath worship here. This is the grind band that started it all. Twenty plus years ago! DOOM! Doom in the sense of how fucked the world is and how the pigs have it in for us and there's no future and we don't want to grow up and our parents generation have fucked everything up and fuck war and fuck you, that sort of doom. Buzzing, blasting grind reminisicent of early Earache records like Napalm Death's Scum, or Carcass's Symphonies Of Sickness, but sonically much closer to Discharge and Broken Bones and G.B.H. and Flux Of Pink Indians and the like. Two of Doom's early eighties lps on one cd! 37 tracks, averaging about 90 seconds each, of thrashing metallic punk rock chaos with ultra pissed lyrics and grunted/shouted vocals over a prickly bed of razor sharp riffing and pounding blast beats. So fucking good!
MPEG Stream: "Relief Pt. 2"
MPEG Stream: "Police Bastard"
MPEG Stream: "Diseased"

DOOMED NATION Issue 1.5 (Doomed Nation) dvd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Issue 1.5 of the infamous Doomed Nation dvd magazine, we only got 5 copies of this, already out of print according to the guy who makes these, so once these are gone they're gone for good.
Just like volume 2 (reviewed elsewhere on the AQ site) this is jam packed with tons of doom and sludge and all sorts of downtuned brutality. Just look at the bands: Sleep, Saint Vitus, Indian, 16, Buried At Sea, Sourvein, Hidden Hand, Jumbo's Killcrane, Meatjack, Rwake, Fistula, Terminal Lovers and more. Videos interspersed with clips from eighties teen movies, Godzilla movies, horror movies, super lo-tech, but totally killer!
Limited to 666 copies, each one hand numbered, pretty sure we can't get more, so act fast. Comes in a white dvd case, with killer blood splattered artwork, and all sorts of flyers and stickers inside!

DOOMED NATION Issue 2 (Doomed Nation) dvd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Relapse Contamination fest just plowed through town, so for a couple days, our store was jam packed with bell bottoms, greasy long hair, bizarre facial hair, tattoos, piercings, beards beards beards and of course lots of bands hawking all kinds of crazy tour shit. On tour with the bans was the guy responsible for the legendary Doomed Nation video magazine. We managed to get about 20 copies of the almost out of print volume 2 (limited to 999 copies, and 999 upside down IS 666 after all...) and it is fucking awesome! Doom freaks will already be diving for the buy button. And you should too if you hope to get your grimey mitts on one of these. Here's the lineup: SUNNO))), Ufomammut, Buried At Sea, Indian, Ramesses, Church Of Misery, Weedeater, Lair Of The Minotaur, Venomous Concept, and more.
And these aren't just live clips. Well, some are, but most are real videos, filmed with weird effects, interspersed with all manner of fucked up imagery, and all the videos are sort of strung together with tons of super gory horror movie clips, the whole thing is pretty lo-fi and ghetto, but really well done. Definitely essential for all you doomlords and doomladies, just look at the band list fer chrissakes!!
LIMITED TO 999 COPIES, not sure we can get more, so act fast. Comes in a clear dvd case, with killer blood splattered artwork, and all sorts of flyers and stickers inside!

DOOMED NATION Issue Three (Doomed Nation) dvd 5.98
Like we mentioned in the review of volume two, it's easy to tell when it's time for another Doomed Nation dvd. Suddenly the store is filled to overflowing with band dudes, and everywhere you look there's nothing but denim and leather, spikes and studs, tattoos and piercings, and acres and acres of facial hair....
Which is precisely what happened today, and thus when the pot smoke cleared, we had a heaping handful of dvds, volume three of the always amazing Doomed Nation series, featuring tons of amazing videos and live clips from the best of the doom underground. Loads of AQ faves, and a handful of bands we had never heard, or at least heard very little from, as well as a short attention span barrage of movie clips and snippets of TV shows filling up the spaces between the doom, and in keeping with the theme of the artwork, an old woodcut of a mass hanging, most of the clips are indeed of hangings, some funny, some gruesome, from horror movies and period dramas, all sliced and diced and shot rapid fire and scattershot all around massive slabs of bulldozing doom.
Up first, an amazing live clip of AQ faves Baroness (lots of beards, mostly shirtless) in full on blown out post rock mode, these guys are so amazing. We can never get enough. And from there on out it's a relentless river of doom, and other assorted heaviness, some archival footage of a shirtless (and pantsless) GG Allin, Black Tusk, who we've never heard before but who are appropriately sludgy and heavy, Facedowninshit, live totally tearing shit up, a super pro Goatwhore video, very dangerous for the epileptic and light sensitive, Raise The Red Lantern who are super awesome, with killer lights and the most active and chaotic stage presence of the bunch, Saint Vitus live, reunited in 2003 with Wino (we also have a dvd of the whole show for sale! See elsewhere on the list), Swarm Of The Lotus with a super intense and gorgeously gorey and creepy video (at least the parts without the band) and a singer who keeps his glasses on, which we always love, some awesome live footage of Grief, killer lo-fi live footage of the mighty Buzz-Oven practice space jams from Black Cobra intercut with, you guessed it, tons of snake footage, as well as clips from Indian (a strangely brief, bordering on non-existent blip of a performance), Rwake, Hawg Jaw, Asschapel, Hope And Suicide, Stereochrist and Mala Suerte!
LIMITED TO 2007 COPIES, each one hand numbered, packaged with super striking blood splattered cover art...

DOOMRIDERS VS. BORIS Long Hair And Tights (Daymare) 2lp 49.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
First in a super limited series of lp-only releases from everyone's favorite Japanese doom-drone-psych-rock overachievers Boris! For this limited double lp, they've teamed up with Boston's Doomriders, which just so happens to feature members of Converge, Old Man Gloom, There Were Wires and more...
These records capture live shows recorded back in 2006 when the two bands toured together. 
The Doomriders for those who don't know, are a straight up Motorheady rock and roll band, they even start their set with a bellowing roar: "We are the Doomriders from Boston, and WE PLAY ROCK AND ROLL!!!" And they do, pounding and simple, not thrashing or blasting just riff heavy big drum blasts of kick ass RAWK. The perfect sonic match up for the more rock side of Boris. 
The first track, though, on one of Boris' two lp sides had us fooled, a massive churning droned out low end sludge, the heaviest thing we've heard from them since Flood (not counting the Altar collab with SUNN) but after that it's back to the full blown, in the red, ultra distorted pedal to the metal blasting Pink-style wild psychedelic garage rock stomp that have become their modern sound. And it sounds great. Super saturated production, amazing sound, loud Loud LOUD!!! Obviously essential for all you Boris freeks...
And of course super elaborate packaging as always. Deluxe metallic gold gatefold, super thick stock, killer Screaming For Vengeance Judas Priest homage artwork, clear yellow vinyl...
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, half red, half yellow, the copies we have are yellow, and this is ALREADY SOLD OUT and selling for crazy $$$ on eBay. We tried to get 100 copies, and got less than half that. Needless to say these will be gone before you know it. ONE PER CUSTOMER. 

DOOMSWORD Let the Battle Commence (Dragonheart) cd 21.00
Did you know there were Vikings in Italy? Yep, these guys, who are back with an excellent new disc. They're just as obsessed with swords and glory, axes and honor as Manowar, but with a bit more of a serious historical slant (though that doesn't stop them from taking cool noms de guerre like Deathmaster and The Forger).
Let Battle Commence takes up where their last record, Resound The Horn, left off. It's a concept album of sorts, concerning itself with Danish King Ivar The Boneless's conquest of York on November 1st, 866 AD, apparently one of the few pagan triumphs over Christians, according to the band. With lyrics like "We shall fill the air with spears to turn black this Christian sun" and "Odin guide my sword!" you might think you know what side Doomsword is on. But, even then, other songs acknowledge the horror and loss of warfare, showing ambivalence by the victors in lines like "Of this land / Of glory, battle and death / All I recall is the look in the eyes of the dead" and "Woman I never saw / I am sorry if you can believe me / I killed your man in my last fight" (from "Deathbringer - Blood On My Hands").
Still, these are stirring heavy metal anthems that could certainly be used to lead men into battle. I can imagine the helicopter gunships in Apocalypse Now blaring Doomsword instead of Wagner, just as effectively.
MPEG Stream: "Heathen Assault"
MPEG Stream: "In The Battlefield"

DOOMSWORD My Name Will Live On (Dragonheart) cd 21.00
Cult Cult Cult. Doom Doom Doom. It's thee fourth album of HEAVY and EPIC war metal anthems from this (metaphorical) sword and axe wielding bunch, and maybe their best yet. Italy's pagan doomsters Doomsword (that's doom-sword not dooms-word, just to be clear) are a true metal outfit, with clean, manly vocals. The Viking tales of Bathory are the closest they come in comparison to the black metal realm...but they're NOT a bit like the fruity and fantastical power metal of countrymen Rhapsody either. No, this is for fans of underground olden metal acts like Solstice, Wotan, Candlemass, and former labelmates Slough Feg. Doom done heavy metal style, not sludgy-droney or stoner-Sabbathy, but epic.
Sure, with songs like "Days Of High Adventure", "Steel Of My Axe", and "Thundercult" you might expect some kind of D&D metal here. Well sorta, but as we've said before there's a serious slant to Doomsword's stuff, even if you'd be prone to thinking 'em silly. And their hymns to myth and might will stick with you, thanks to their morose melodies and sheer metallic chug. Mostly midtempo, sluggishly so, but with some storming numbers too. There's acoustic intros, catchy choruses, and (most importantly) many massive RIFFS. Stuff to awaken ancestral memories! Listeners will be unconsciously be girding their loins and preparing for battle. The unironic metal of Doomsword is "keeping it real" about stuff that went down over 1000 years ago, and doing so with much passion, intensity and skill. Classy and damn good. Cult Cult Cult. Doom Doom Doom.
MPEG Stream: "Death Of Ferdia"
MPEG Stream: "Claidheamh Solais (Sword Of Light)"