ENCOMIAST Espera (H/S Recordings) cd 9.98
Back in stock! One of our favorite modern masters of the blissed out drone-y drift... Here's our review from before:
Another gorgeous collection of thick glistening drones from the man known as Encomiast. Whereas his Havens record that we listed a few months back was a more varied affair, dabbling in grinding industrial soundscapes, fuzzy ambient flutter and everything in between, Espera finds him in a more minimal, seemingly more subdued musical mood.
The tracks are still varied, but they are much more static, these are deep dark drones, the variations are subtle, each track is a slow shifting glacial sonic expanse, layered and dense, most of the tracks drift long darkly, all ominous low end, with some barely there streaks of upper register harmonics, a bit like an even more minimal SUNNO))) at times, but just as often referencing Chalk and Coleclough, even Organum, massive and thick, each stretch of sound a nearly static dirge. Gloriously bleak and dreamily dark and dreary. Essential listening for the drone obsessed for sure.
MPEG Stream: "Annel"
MPEG Stream: "Mechyn"
MPEG Stream: "Arthroscope"

ENCOMIAST Havens (Crucial Bliss) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Crucial Blast has supplied us with plenty of head melting, ear shredding pummel over the last few years, Skullflower, Genghis Tron, The Mass, the Goslings, but they have a soft side as well, not really 'soft' exactly, but a little bit more, well, blissful. Thus we have Crucial Bliss, a sublabel dedicated to more blissed out drones and dense dark ambience.
We had never heard Encomiast before, but this release most definitely has us kicking ourselves.
Beginning with some drifting flute passages, these forest flutters are soon consumed by a thick churning wall of white noise, before everything suddenly blissed out into a dense drone, rife with deep reverberations, and grinding industrial ambience. Where as most drone records fine a sound, and just let it drift on and on and on, the tracks on Havens never stop shifting, sounds morph into other sounds, murkiness becomes crystal clear, before slipping into lo-fi hiss again, metallic sounds soften, dreamy fluffy smears harden and become spikey and dangerous. It's always dreamy and droney and moody and gorgeous, but each track is so dense with subtle shadings and is an exhaustive journey through an endlessly shifting soundworld. Equal parts Andrew Chalk, Troum, My Bloody Valentine, Jonathan Coleclough and Wolf Eyes, the duo of Ross Hagen and Megan Garland weave programmed rhythms, field recordings, guitars, flute and vocals into completely immersive and endlessly fascinating soundscapes. Delicate and beautiful, but at the same time harsh and threatening.
Definitely one of our new favorite 'drone' records. Absolutely recommended.
SUPER LIMITED. Since we only just discovered this disc, it's close to being sold out at the label, we did get a whole bunch but we'd bet they won't be around for long.
Packaged in oversized, hand sewn full color sleeves with a cool fold over sort-of-obi. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "Lunaire"
MPEG Stream: "Jasli"

ENCOMIAST s/t (Lens) cd-r 7.98
Yet another disc from one of our favorite cd-r dronelords, Encomiast. Last heard from on the divine Bathed In Sunlight released on Crucial Bliss earlier this year, this disc is actually an archival recording from way back in 1999, gussied up in 2006, finally seeing the light of day right now.
Bathed In Sunlight was a big surprise as It featured more actual songs, with singing, acoustic guitars, even drums, we still dug it, but definitely nothing like the rest of the Encomiast catalog. This disc however returns us to the brooding slow motion dronescapes that made us dig Encomiast in the first place. Unclear what exactly the instrumentation is, but whatever the source, it's obscured enough that it really doesn't matter. The original sounds are offered up in streaks and blurs, whirs and rumbles, melody here is muted and subdued, this is not nearly as tranquil as some drone records, much of this is harrowing and ominous, sinister and downright scary, Lustmord, Wolf Eyes, you're not far off, some sort of post industrial sprawl, the rumble of distant machines, of subterranean engines, thunder filled skies, a world in ruins, painted in blacks and greys.
Later on in the record, strange percussion is introduced, a lurching distorted crunch, that gives the record some sort of strange propulsion, once again, trudging through an eerie wasteland, while all around strange sonic events occur, shining brightly and briefly before fading away.
"Concupere" is the record's nearly half hour centerpiece, an ultra minimal low end drift, shifting slowly beneath warm metallic swells, and haunting black ambience, eventually the track morphs into something much softer and dreamier, sounding almost angelic up against the bleak sonic sprawl that came before.
Incredibly dark, but also incredibly beautiful. Fans of the slow and low, of deep drones and of dark miserablism, this is your stop.
MPEG Stream: "Suborbit"
MPEG Stream: "Azazel"

ENCOMIAST Transit Bed (Gears Of Sand) cd-r 11.98
The problem with cd-r's, especially super limited editions, is that folks who are late to the party, usually through no fault of their own, end up missing out on so much amazing music. The other problem is that there really is no good reason for cd-r's to be limited, or to EVER go out of print. Because you can always make more! That was supposedly the whole draw of the cd-r, no need to press up 1000 or 2000 copies that may end up sitting forever in boxes in your house. Just make the discs as people order them. Sure, that doesn't play into the limited edition collector frenzy, and discs maybe seem more special if there are only 100 copies made. And sure we can understand wanting to move on and work on other projects, but as far as we're concerned, that shouldn't keep you from making more copies for folks who are dying to hear your music. After all, that's part of why we make music, for other people to hear, and enjoy. 
Anyway, the whole point of all this is, we've reviewed three different titles by Encomiast, all of them amazing, and unfortunately all of them no longer available. So now we've finally got a brand new disc, also a limited cd-r, that's just as gorgeous as any of those other now unavailable titles, we got a bunch but we have no idea how long they'll last, so if you're an Encomiast fan already you'll definitely want to grab one of these pronto, and if you've yet to experience the dark drifting beauty of Encomiast, well, then now here's your chance. And as the saying goes, you snooze, you lose...
Transit Bed is a glistening wide open expanse of interwoven low tones, spacious epic ambience, peppered with super reverbed percussion, and warm resonant swells. Besides the usual mysterious sounds, there are samples of a live performance, bits of flute and prepared piano, but those too are smeared into fuzzy indistinct shapes, left to float and flutter dreamlike amidst all manner of rumbles and whirs. Dark and dense, warm and so gorgeous. Highly highly recommended. And as always, it's highly recommended that you grab one of these sooner rather than later...
MPEG Stream: "Rains Pass By"
MPEG Stream: "Not The Time To Be Inarticulate"

ENCOMIAST Winter's End (Lens Records) cd 9.98
Finally managed to get more of these back in!!
Ever since we first listed Havens, a cd-r by one man free-noise/drone outfit Encomiast, folks around here just haven't been able to get enough. So we tracked down another older release, Espera, which flew out of here just as quick (we're not sure that one is still available or not btw), so we grabbed a handful of another old title, Winter's End....
So what is it exactly about Encomiast that has people all in a tizzy? A delirious blend of dark dreamy blackened drones and shimmering cinematic ambience, both deftly woven into long expanses of glacial, oceanic dreaminess. It's a crowded field for sure, anyone with a computer and a cd burner seems to have a label, or at least a drone record our, but there are a select few who are masters at sculpting sound, at creating music with depth and emotion. It's not as simple as notes sustained for the length of a disc. It's all about layer and texture and composition.
Winter's End, more than maybe anything else we've heard from Encomiast, is incredibly evocative and cinematic, in fact listening to this, it's hard not to imagine what images should be accompanying these sounds. From drifting fog banks of bleary fuzz and minimal shimmer, to haunting, string-like smears of minor key melody, rife with ominous longing and sublimated terror, to spacious expanses of murky thrum, hovering around drifting mysterious female vocals. From grinding buzz drenched blurs to abstract modern classical, this is music so visual and visceral, it's hard to just classify as 'drone music'. And it's equally hard not to think in terms of cinematic sound. This is the music of some mysterious journey, a lost kingdom, a tragic loss, impossible loves, restless spirits, an abandoned village, it's pretty remarkable that a single disc can invoke all of these thoughts and images, but Winter's End does. Definitely a new favorite...
MPEG Stream: "Io"
MPEG Stream: "Embrace:Betrayal"
MPEG Stream: "Without Fear Of Wind Or Vertigo"

ENCOMIAST / THE COPPER THIEVES 139 Nevada : Masked Mirror / Slam Your Doors In Golden Silence (Lens) 2cd-r 15.98
Latest from Encomiast, a long time aQ fave, whose expansive mysterious dark drones have never failed to blow us away, but this is not just a new album, it's a sprawling double disc concept record split between two separate groups, and recorded in one of the most haunted buildings in Colorado. The story behind this record revolves around the Belvedere Theater in Central City, Colorado, a group of musicians repeatedly visited with the idea of capturing EVP (aka electromagnetic voice phenomena), where else but an extremely haunted old theater would one be able to capture the voices of the dead, but alas, no such sounds were discovered or captured, BUT, the musicians did manage to record, and those recordings were reworked into the two discs found here. The first is by Encomiast, the second is by a group called The Copper Thieves, which is Encomiast along with members of Mandible Chatter. Both discs conjure up the dark spirit of that theater, each in its own way.
The Encomiast disc is downright frightening, all creaking moaning low end, deep ominous rumbles, all manner of tiny sounds drifting up out of the inky blackness, cold and sinister, abstract and ephemeral, the sounds of the theater's busted up old grand piano, smeared into blurred atonal clouds of clustered notes, the overtones drifting like lost specters, voices moan and bellow, the natural room sound as much an instrument as anything else, these deep dark drones totally evoke the spirit of that haunted space, headphone required, to truly get lost, and submerge yourself in these seemingly bottomless sounds.
The Copper Thieves disc is not nearly as minimal, but just as ominous and haunting, the piano again plays a big part, but the notes are distorted and blurred into a massive warm wall of softly crumbling sound, which gives way to a strange haunted house of thumps and creaks and glitches and disembodied voices, groaning layers of low end thrum, soft filed of overtones overlap chiming bells, pounded notes on the piano drift up from below like monstrous growls, the disc finishing of with long tones, that seem to glow, warm and almost sun dappled, as if capturing shafts of light, drawing delicate lines on the dusty floor, and illuminating the snowflake like motes drifting in the still air.
Both discs are fantastic, darkly evocative, and gorgeously droney, for fans of Lustmord, Andrew Chalk, Jonathan Coleclough, Troum, Organum and other droning denizens of the dark...
LIMITED TO ONLY 200 COPIES, a double cd-r housed in a textured cardboard box, hand stamped on the outside with two printed inserts featuring liner notes and photos.
MPEG Stream: ENCOMIAST "Freed From Time Yet Vulnerable To Air"
MPEG Stream: ENCOMIAST "A Nervous Light"
MPEG Stream: THE COPPER THIEVES "Something Shines Through"
MPEG Stream: THE COPPER THIEVES "Slam Your Doors"

ENCRYPTION Secrecy (Waerloga) cd 14.98

END II (ISO666) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yeah, there's a lot of black metal bands out there, guys running around in corpse paint, drawing indecipherable logos, and posing for photos with burning things. Why should you pay attention? 'Cause if you didn't, you might never know about some really really great bands, like this one, End, from Greece. Their black metal is, in a word, supreme. It's a fuzzed out frenzy of buzzing, blasting riffs and atmosphere, perfectly complimented by the disc's beautiful black and white and grey watercolor artwork. For fans of Weakling, Eikenskaden, Khold, Satyricon, and Burzum -- which means basically, if you like black metal, you want this! Actually, forget black metal for a second. If the idea of speaker-threatening fuzz-dirge loping from your stereo appeals to you, then you still want this. This second End record is as good as their first. Get it.
MPEG Stream: "Funeral Pyre"
MPEG Stream: "Defalcation of Psychopathia"

END s/t (ISO666) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Back in stock, suddenly, at long last, and for how long, who knows?
These Greek guys just aren't happy about being a part of the human race. The grim, blasting, uber-distorto black metal musick they make is evidence of that, without one even needing to read the lyrics to such songs as "Pitiless Paranormal Reek" and "Humanitarianism". Pure nihilistic poetry. And even if you, like me, like being human, we all sometimes feel a little bit of what these guys feel, right? Anyway, we're happy they feel the way they do if only 'cause of the great music that they make as a result. If you like the droning distortion of such great acts as Burzum, Weakling, and Eikenskaden you'll want to experience End for sure. But, their metal has moments of quiet, too, with good use of synth and acoustic guitar and even what must be field recordings or at least pseudo field recordings (from the forest, of the sky?). RecommENDed. Oh, and we also must applaud End's record label for the following statement: "NOTICE ISO666 Releases support CD-R copying. We encourage anyone that cant afford to buy our releases to burn a copy from a friend. Let the music be spread. We are against to all labels that lock their releases to prevent copying."
MPEG Stream: "Pitiless Paranormal Reek"
MPEG Stream: "Nails And Forests"

END s/t (Black Hate) lp 14.98
Finally available on vinyl, this classic slab of grim droning buzz from mysterious Greek black metal horde End. Limited to 500 copies, we could a handful, but they won't last long...
These Greek guys just aren't happy about being a part of the human race. The grim, blasting, uber-distorto black metal musick they make is evidence of that, without one even needing to read the lyrics to such songs as "Pitiless Paranormal Reek" and "Humanitarianism". Pure nihilistic poetry. And even if you, like us, like being human, we all sometimes feel a little bit of what these guys feel, right? Anyway, we're happy they feel the way they do if only 'cause of the amazing and beautifully depressive music that they make as a result. If you like the droning distortion of folks like Burzum, Weakling, and Eikenskaden you'll definitely want to experience End for sure. But, their metal has moments of quiet, too, with good use of synth and acoustic guitar and even what must be field recordings or at least pseudo field recordings (from the forest, of the sky?). RecommENDed!!
MPEG Stream: "Pitiless Paranormal Reek"
MPEG Stream: "Nails And Forests"

END The Sounds Of Disaster (Ipecac) cd 18.98

END, THE Elementary (Relapse) cd 14.98

END, THE Introspection (Decca) cd 21.00
Pre-Tucky Buzzard Swinging '60s psych-pop band, pretty great!

END, THE Within Dividia (Relapse) cd 12.98
Crazy Dillinger-esque metalcore.

ENDLESS BLIZZARD Remember Your Death (BlackMetal.Com) cd 13.98
We've long been fans of LA's retro black thrashers Lightning Swords Of Death, we'll get their record reviewed one of these days. But recently we've become even more obsessed with LSOD guitarist Roskva's other outfit, the much blacker and buzzier Endless Blizzard, who channel classic Norwegian style BM (we assume the Blizzard in their name is an homage to the original Blizzard Beasts, Immortal) through more traditional classic metal, with lots of prog going on as well, which you know we love. Heck, they even begin the record with their own interpretation of a classic Popol Vuh Track!
But at their heart (of winter), they are a blasting grim war metal beast, offering up epic majestic riffage, furious blasting beats, intricate melodies, killer hooks, and awesome shrieking vokills.
Most of the tracks are blackened juggernauts, roiling and relentless, but the record is peppered with unexpected sounds, the haunting liturgical organs of "Luciferian Crown" complete with soaring strings and mysterious chanted vocals, the looped medieval folk of "Under The Tranhelm", a totally mesmerizing stretch of mysterious buzz and moody melody, and the epic two part final track, "Buried Still Breathing / Remember Your Death", which begins with a whirring warbly organ, playing out a minor key melody, lots of wheeze and buzz, almost like some sort of bagpipe style raga, before shifting into a plodding doom drift, heavy on the buzzing synths, which shift into some deep minimal dronemusic, before acoustic guitars join in and allow the track to unwind dreamily.
But it's not just the weird bits that make this so good. The tracks, beyond being buzzy and heavy and complex, are also catchy as hell, blending classic eighties style metal with more modern black buzz, the riffs and melodies sticking in your head like crazy.
One of our new favorites BM records for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Arcane Dimension"
MPEG Stream: "Cultivated By Darkness"

ENDLESS BLIZZARD Remember Your Death (BlackMetal.Com) 2lp 15.98
We've long been fans of LA's retro black thrashers Lightning Swords Of Death, we'll get their record reviewed one of these days. But recently we've become even more obsessed with LSOD guitarist Roskva's other outfit, the much blacker and buzzier Endless Blizzard, who channel classic Norwegian style BM (we assume the Blizzard in their name is an homage to the original Blizzard Beasts, Immortal) through more traditional classic metal, with lots of prog going on as well, which you know we love. Heck, they even begin the record with their own interpretation of a classic Popol Vuh Track!
But at their heart (of winter), they are a blasting grim war metal beast, offering up epic majestic riffage, furious blasting beats, intricate melodies, killer hooks, and awesome shrieking vokills.
Most of the tracks are blackened juggernauts, roiling and relentless, but the record is peppered with unexpected sounds, the haunting liturgical organs of "Luciferian Crown" complete with soaring strings and mysterious chanted vocals, the looped medieval folk of "Under The Tranhelm", a totally mesmerizing stretch of mysterious buzz and moody melody, and the epic two part final track, "Buried Still Breathing / Remember Your Death", which begins with a whirring warbly organ, playing out a minor key melody, lots of wheeze and buzz, almost like some sort of bagpipe style raga, before shifting into a plodding doom drift, heavy on the buzzing synths, which shift into some deep minimal dronemusic, before acoustic guitars join in and allow the track to unwind dreamily.
But it's not just the weird bits that make this so good. The tracks, beyond being buzzy and heavy and complex, are also catchy as hell, blending classic eighties style metal with more modern black buzz, the riffs and melodies sticking in your head like crazy.
One of our new favorites BM records for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Arcane Dimension"
MPEG Stream: "Cultivated By Darkness"

ENDLESS BLOCKADE Primitive (20 Buck Spin) lp 14.98
Also now on vinyl!
The grindy political punk metal brigades have a new iron gang of northernmost killers in their ranks now! Toronto's The Endless Blockade brings 13 brutal tracks to the attack on their 20 Buck Spin debut (and 2nd full-length overall). If you liked the Iron Lung album we raved about earlier this year and want more of that brand of modern power violence brutality, a pissed off blend of hardcore, noise and sludge, look no further (in fact, the two bands recently shared a split 12").
Jello Biafra puts in a cameo vocal appearance on the title track, which is funnier than most Jello guest spots 'cause that song is all of 4 seconds long, Napalm Death style, and the lyrics in their entirety consist of: "The Endess Blockade!" (which Jello puts his unmistakable stamp upon).
MPEG Stream: "Angra Mainyu"
MPEG Stream: "Irrationalism Uberalles"
MPEG Stream: "Raised By Wolves"

ENDLESS BLOCKADE, THE Primitive (20 Buck Spin) cd 10.98
The grindy political punk metal brigades have a new iron gang of northernmost killers in their ranks now! Toronto's The Endless Blockade brings 13 brutal tracks to the attack on their 20 Buck Spin debut (and 2nd full-length overall). If you liked the Iron Lung album we raved about earlier this year and want more of that brand of modern power violence brutality, a pissed off blend of hardcore, noise and sludge, look no further (in fact, the two bands recently shared a split 12").
Jello Biafra puts in a cameo vocal appearance on the title track, which is funnier than most Jello guest spots 'cause that song is all of 4 seconds long, Napalm Death style, and the lyrics in their entirety consist of: "The Endess Blockade!" (which Jello puts his unmistakable stamp upon).
MPEG Stream: "Angra Mainyu"
MPEG Stream: "Irrationalism Uberalles"
MPEG Stream: "Raised By Wolves"

ENDLESS BOOGIE Focus Level (No Quarter) cd 14.98
Kinda too bad this didn't make it onto our list last week with the other Endlessess (Dismal Moan, Blizzard) found therein, woulda been funny, but this is a whole different thing anyhow as you can tell from the second half of their name. Endless Boogie (now that's a handle that will make 'em or break 'em!) are a NYC band featuring two dudes who work at Matador records (we think). Real famous record collector types or so we're told. Now doing their own brand of dumbo psych rock blurt, indeed boogying (they wasn't kiddin'!) and probably all too endlessly for some, in the spirit of their evident sixties/seventies heroes. They got de mojo too, it seems, rubbin' off all those elpees they been collectin'. Cool enuff stuff (though they ain't no Vermonster).
"Smoking Figs In The Yard", the first track, starts off with a spoken "get down have a real good time" intro done in a hokey, jokey (we hope) Beefheart/Billy Gibbons/Edgar Broughton sorta grunt. Ouch. Then they git to rockin'. It's sorta Monster Magnet, sorta Rolling Stones (well, the vocals are kinda Jagger). Meh. But then track two's hypnotic throb, and beerbellycrawlingkingsnake scat singing moves, make it more akin to a redneck version of Circle, or Pharaoh Overlord. Starting to like this better... Endless Boogie coming on like a wanky hybrid of somethin' Circular, with the likes of Drunk Horse or maybe Howlin' Rain.
When track 4, "Executive Focus" rolls around, it's guitar solo wah wah time (moreso even than earlier), stuff that any Comets On Fire, Wooden Shjips or Julian Cope fan can flash on and dig... Acid Mothers too. By the time this song was over, eleven heavy and a half minutes later, we'd been swayed. Endless Boogie is all right with us. And we think we've got the idea. Yep, soon enough, sure enough, track six "Steak Rock" is another repetitive throbber with weird caveman mumblin' Tourette's babble o'er top. Circle's Mika Ratto could speak in tongues with this guy, and they'd understand one another we're certain.
A little later, the album's eighth cut "Jammin' With Top Dollar" sounds like "Mississippi Queen" Mountain with more of that tweaked out-of-the-side-of-the-mouth bugeyed blues holler...
That's followed by the over sixteen glorious guitar-centric minutes of "Low Lifes", a moody, mesmerizing epic of stretched out six string psych action. And then, they rock out the 2:38 duration of the disc's final number "Move Back!". As for the tracks we didn't touch on, "Bad River", "Gimme The Awesome", "Coming Down The Stairs", you can more or less guess at descriptions from the above.
So, the verdict - this gets better n' better as it goes along, though we still find it tough to tolerate the vocals, which are a tongue in cheek tribute to ZZ Top we guess. Struth, if we didn't think the Endless Boogie guys were NYC hipsters taking the piss, we might cut 'em more slack on that. Like, if they were Finnish... but that's hardly fair. Still, the guitars are way cool (if'n you like geeetar), but vocals sorta sound like it's a joke. Yr mileage may vary. You do pretty much get what you'd expect from a band called Endless Boogie! Fans of Wooden Shjips, Itavayla, and of course ZZ Top should check it out.
MPEG Stream: "The Manly Vibe"
MPEG Stream: "Executive Focus"
MPEG Stream: "Jammin' With Top Dollar"

ENDLESS BOOGIE Focus Level (No Quarter) 2lp 17.98
Kinda too bad this didn't make it onto our list last week with the other Endlessess (Dismal Moan, Blizzard) found therein, woulda been funny, but this is a whole different thing anyhow as you can tell from the second half of their name. Endless Boogie (now that's a handle that will make 'em or break 'em!) are a NYC band featuring two dudes who work at Matador records (we think). Real famous record collector types or so we're told. Now doing their own brand of dumbo psych rock blurt, indeed boogying (they wasn't kiddin'!) and probably all too endlessly for some, in the spirit of their evident sixties/seventies heroes. They got de mojo too, it seems, rubbin' off all those elpees they been collectin'. Cool enuff stuff (though they ain't no Vermonster).
"Smoking Figs In The Yard", the first track, starts off with a spoken "get down have a real good time" intro done in a hokey, jokey (we hope) Beefheart/Billy Gibbons/Edgar Broughton sorta grunt. Ouch. Then they git to rockin'. It's sorta Monster Magnet, sorta Rolling Stones (well, the vocals are kinda Jagger). Meh. But then track two's hypnotic throb, and beerbellycrawlingkingsnake scat singing moves, make it more akin to a redneck version of Circle, or Pharaoh Overlord. Starting to like this better... Endless Boogie coming on like a wanky hybrid of somethin' Circular, with the likes of Drunk Horse or maybe Howlin' Rain.
When track 4, "Executive Focus" rolls around, it's guitar solo wah wah time (moreso even than earlier), stuff that any Comets On Fire, Wooden Shjips or Julian Cope fan can flash on and dig... Acid Mothers too. By the time this song was over, eleven heavy and a half minutes later, we'd been swayed. Endless Boogie is all right with us. And we think we've got the idea. Yep, soon enough, sure enough, track six "Steak Rock" is another repetitive throbber with weird caveman mumblin' Tourette's babble o'er top. Circle's Mika Ratto could speak in tongues with this guy, and they'd understand one another we're certain.
A little later, the album's eighth cut "Jammin' With Top Dollar" sounds like "Mississippi Queen" Mountain with more of that tweaked out-of-the-side-of-the-mouth bugeyed blues holler...
That's followed by the over sixteen glorious guitar-centric minutes of "Low Lifes", a moody, mesmerizing epic of stretched out six string psych action. And then, they rock out the 2:38 duration of the disc's final number "Move Back!". As for the tracks we didn't touch on, "Bad River", "Gimme The Awesome", "Coming Down The Stairs", you can more or less guess at descriptions from the above.
So, the verdict - this gets better n' better as it goes along, though we still find it tough to tolerate the vocals, which are a tongue in cheek tribute to ZZ Top we guess. Struth, if we didn't think the Endless Boogie guys were NYC hipsters taking the piss, we might cut 'em more slack on that. Like, if they were Finnish... but that's hardly fair. Still, the guitars are way cool (if'n you like geeetar), but vocals sorta sound like it's a joke. Yr mileage may vary. You do pretty much get what you'd expect from a band called Endless Boogie! Fans of Wooden Shjips, Itavayla, and of course ZZ Top should check it out.
NB. vinyl format has extra track, and is sequenced differently than the cd.
MPEG Stream: "The Manly Vibe"
MPEG Stream: "Executive Focus"
MPEG Stream: "Jammin' With Top Dollar"

ENDLESS DISMAL MOAN Lord of Nightmare (Black Metal) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Thirst For Pleasure"
MPEG Stream: "I.S.L.N.W.D."

ENDLESS DISMAL MOAN s/t (Blackmetal.com) cd 10.98

ENDLESS DISMAL MOAN (EDM) Ruin (BlackMetal.Com) cd 13.98
The second of two "Endless" black metal bands on this week's list. While the other Endless (Blizzard) channels the spirit of classic Norwegian blackness, this Endless (Dismal Moan), finds his inspiration somewhere much darker and way more fucked up. This is record number three from Japan's Endless Dismal Moan (aka EDM) and is another glorious blast of gnarled dissonance and off kilter metallic blackness. The work of a single entity, curiously named CHAOS9, EDM traffic in super repetitive trance like black metal, grinding buzzed out riffs, convoluted and obtuse, locked into mesmerizing loops, the tracks repetitive and hypnotic. The vocals are a maniacal shriek way down in the mix, the drums not always blasting, sometimes pounding out strange stuttery rhythms alongside the riffs, and it's all about the riffs, thick and massive and jagged, sometimes everything locks into super precise stop start dynamics, before exploding again into buzzing black chaos.
It's sort of hard to explain the sound of EDM, it's like the intro or a bridge of a traditional black metal track, all twisted up and stretched out into a whole song, super droney and woozy and tripped out and dizzyingly dense. There are a few brief respites, some Goblin-y horror movie keyboards, some creepy doomy almost industrial blackened crunch, bits of cinematic black ambience, a long loopscape of still more Italian horror movie style synths and weird machinelike rhythms, and the final track, a blissy almost shoegaze-y abstract drift, drums dense with reverb, the barely there melodies drifting in a sea of soft hiss and blurred muted buzz, which just barely balances the furious fractured blackness that makes up the rest of the record.
Yet another disc of essential fucked up blackened genius! TOTALLY recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ruin"
MPEG Stream: "JYUSO"
MPEG Stream: "I"

ENDLESS HUMILIATION My Wife Is Willing (Double Decker) lp 15.98
To a certain degree, Endless Humiliation sound pretty much exactly what a band called Endless Humiliation -should- sound like. The review we read described EH as a mix of Ildjarn and Hijokaidan, which was enough for us to track some of these down. And heck, that's not all that far off the mark.
A total face melting wall of blacknoise, a continuous blastbeat beneath a churning, ever shifting sea of harsh hissing buzz, blown out circuit blowing distortion, crumbling clouds of processed vocal chaos, thick sheets of feedback, this is definitely NOISE, but that damn drum beat, and we seem to hear riffs, whether they're there or not, this is the sort of thing that puts all those other noisy black metal bands to shame. For Endless Humiliation, noise is an instrument, with which they craft some virulent and abject black fury.
Blasting crusty D-beat style drumming, pounding away beneath a cloud of Merzbowian freakout, shrieking vox, guitars? Maybe, but if so, they've been melted down and poured over the speakers, the sound shifts dramatically and fantastically throughout, from gritty and lo-fi, to brittle and tinny, to thick and corrosive to muted and washed out to sharp and jagged, and those drums just keep pounding away, the whole record throbbing and churning and heaving, we hear Dead C, Prurient, Akitsa, Bone Awl, Malveillance, Hijokaidan, Incapacitants, lots and lots of blasting pounding rrrrrrooooooaaaaaaar. But amidst all this noisiness and brutality and mayhem, there are some seriously sublime moments, like halfway through side two, when the sounds all lock tight into this high end drone, the drums an insanely repetitive metronomic plod, the guitars or synths or whatever the fuck is making that racket coalesce into a near static sheet of high end buzz, the whole thing managing to somehow sound more than noisy, tense, intense and dramatic. Oh and noisy. Totally killer. Noisefreaks will need this for SURE. Metalheads who like their blasting and thrashing just dripping with blown out buzz, and spewing white hot gouts of in-the-red NOISE, well then this is for you too.
Wicked packaging, hand silkscreened on thick cardstock, super striking, inside and out, comes with one photocopied insert, and one full color insert. And pretty sure it's crazy limited too...

ENDO, KAZUMOTO While You Were Out (BOXmedia) cd 14.98
"While You Were Out" is a collection of the singles from Japanese noise artist Kazumoto Endo, who specializes in screeching noise tears, distorted lumbering rhythms, and digitally abused techno pop appropriations. Comparisons to Merzbow are quite apt.

ENDO, NIC Cold Metal Perfection (Geist) cd 15.98
Very impressive. Much less randomly aurally assaultive than her previous works. Atari Teenage Riot's Ms Endo has steadied her aim, and carefully selected her angles of attack. Not a constant barrage of pummelling abrasiveness, but instead more of a nightmarishly twisted soundscape. Feelings of suffocation by sound. As if some very malevolent, hostile forces are at work, whispering their plans to only you. At times, approaching a somewhat industrialized, sinister (Morton) Subotnick-ness. Recommended for adventurous ATR fans.
RealAudio clip: "One Night Domination"
RealAudio clip: "The Program And The Brides"
RealAudio clip: "Mask Identity"
RealAudio clip: "Neon Sunrise"

ENEMA SYRINGE Bogens Massage Institut (Ultra Eczema) lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As always, these Ultra Eczema lps are amazingly packaged, in gorgeously designed sleeves, pressed on nice thick vinyl, and limited to 400 copies, most of which are sold before we even realize they're out. So we only got a tiny handful of these (5-10 copies) so don't get your hopes up.
A selection of rare and unreleased tracks from these infamous Swedes. Recorded in the mid to late eighties, these tracks mix electronic experimentation with industrial pummel, abstract noise, sound collage, processed vocals, all tangled up into drummachined blasts of grinding squealing, squeaking, pounding fuzz drenched, super distorted freak out. Think a more newwaved Throbbing Gristle. Dance music for the one legged. A musical metal helmet strapped on and set to stun, ears bleeding and toes tapping. Bogens Massage Institut is a gloriously dense assemblage of thick and corrosive, but sort of surprisingly playful, alien sounds and noises.
Includes an insert with extensive liner notes and discography.

ENEMYMINE EP (k) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
EnemyMine is one guy from LOW and one guy from godheadSilo doing pretty much what you'd expect.

ENEMYMINE The Ice In Me (Up) cd 12.98

ENFORCER Into The Night (Heavy Artillery) cd 15.98
What are they enforcing? The law of metal, of course. We welcome the discipline. We almost overlooked this band 'cause we thought they were just another one in the current glut of generic retro-thrashers (many of whom make their home on the Heavy Artillery label). But we're glad we gave it a listen, 'cause Sweden's Enforcer turned out to be a nice surprise, more 'musical' than most and party hardy too. They're a young n' energetic band forging '80s-ish metal along the lines of NWOBHM stuff like Savage, Saxon and Diamond Head. We're also hearing echoes of Riot, Metal Church, early Megadeth, Exciter... No it's not that original, either, but that doesn't stop it from kicking ass (see also Bullet, and Wolf). It's just a good ol' old school rip fest. Speedy but also melodic, with high pitched shreiky (but not too shrieky) singing, shredding leads, and lots of catchy grooves - the bass lines are active and audible, galloping away Maiden style. Death and black and (now) thrash metal bands are a dime a dozen these days but it's impressive when kids kick out something like this, sounding like the real deal from the early eighties, though with better production! The disc is packed with neck wreckers and should have you headbanging and air guitaring with abandon. It's not epic or eccentric or doomy, but sometimes pedal to the metal spandex-clad rockin' is enough! You can buy your umpteenhundredth grim black metal album (we have, and counting...) but once in a while you want metal that's fun and exciting. And for that, Enforcer is just the thing... also check out the Heavy Metal Killers comp on Earache (also reviewed this list) which features a track from this Enforcer album among many other current true heavy metal up and comers.
MPEG Stream: "Black Angel"
MPEG Stream: "Mistress From Hell"

ENFORCER (BABY PANDA) Baby Panda (Unspeakable) cd 9.98
Paul Gonzenbach is the gent responsible for the guitar, vocals and piano in Bay Area band Jim Yoshii Pile Up. They've been on an indefinite hiatus for a while, so a couple of years ago he busted out on his own solo mission under the moniker Enforcer with this album called Baby Panda! However, there's another band with that same name who recently released a cd too - reviewed here last list, they're a Maideny metal band - hence, he's now making music as Baby Panda. Anyhoo, here's his solo debut album! It's a moody, slow paced indie rock beauty... in turn, it's a bit reminiscent of Seam, Built To Spill, Death Cab For Cutie, and yes, JYP. Earnest, sensitive, well crafted with subtle dynamics. Hopefully we'll get his more recent releases soon!
MPEG Stream: "What've You Been Up To?"
MPEG Stream: "Heko"

ENGKILDE, AUGUST Police Beat Box (Cheap) cd 17.98
Cheap is a Viennese label that seems to have gotten sort of wacky evidenced by the electron purity of Robert Hood and Sil Electronics, and now August Engkilde's "Police Beat Box" extends Cheap's propensity for silliness, with this computer-manipulated mix of the brassy jazz laden rock of Engkilde's band Inner Urge and a Bollywood gangster movie.

ENGLISH, DANNY Fully Loaded (Special Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Southern Hospitality" (Ludacris).

ENGLISH, LAWRENCE Kiri No Oto (Touch) cd 16.98
Kiri No Oto is the first album that Lawrence English has released for the venerable Touch Music. This after a number of releases through his own Room 40 imprint, which bridged environmental recordings and somber electronics with sublime results; but there's been little to indicate that he would generate something as stellar as Kiri No Oto. The Japanese title loosely translates as 'the sound of fog' or 'the sound of mist.' Both are applicable to the extended blur that this Australian sound-artist generates, with its miasma of soft-focus distortion arching into long-form compositions of minimalism. The album doesn't exactly erupt, as the sounds are more soothing in their softened textures; but English cuts into one of his grey-mass drones with little fanfare. English slowly glides his 'sound of fog' down to a muffled static, then brings up tectonic rumblings and kicks the overdrive in on his distortion box (or more likely, some patch on ye olde laptop) for one of those digital distorto-drones that Tim Hecker and Christian Fennesz have been sculpting over the past few years. And yes, we'll throw in an obligatory My Bloody Valentine reference, well because there are plenty of parts here which have the blissed out wash of the ambient interludes on Loveless. Given that similar dynamics appeared on one of the last great Touch albums - BJ Nilsen's The Short Night - it made us wonder if these gestures toward static-laden, shoegazing noise bursts dappling the almighty drone were a coincidence for Touch, or if Touch were handing out particular Max/MSP patches to accommodate this sound. It's probably the former; but the similarities to many of the other Touch artists is too great not to comment. As with all of the Touch releases, Jon Wozencroft delivers his perfect design with an overcast sea-side photograph to match the depth, mystery, serenity, and subtle darkness of this very impressive album.
MPEG Stream: "Organs Lost At Sea"
MPEG Stream: "White Spray"
MPEG Stream: "Allay"

ENGLISH, LAWRENCE Transit (Cajid) cd 15.98
The more one scratches the surface of Australian sound art, the more gems emerge from the search. We've uncovered a handful of artists whose work has slipped under the radar. Tim Catlin's drone guitar work is one example, Eamon Sprod's treated field recordings under the moniker Tarab would be another; we can now count Lawrence English amongst this bunch. Where those two aforementioned artists have connections to the RMIT program in Melbourne, English hails several hundred miles up the coast in Brisbane. There, he has produced a handful of processed soundfields on his Room40 imprint; and for his Transit album released on Cajid, English offers a concoction of electric minimalism pieced together from sources provided by a number of exceptional guest stars including DJ Olive, Robin Rimbaud, Philip Samartzis, and a handful of lesser known artists. Despite the diversity of voices on Transit, English is firmly in command of the album, digitally smearing each of his guests' source material into a spectral ambience dappled with field recordings and textural events. It's not too far off from Loren Chasse's Of recordings if it weren't for the noticable digital sheen; and at times, English hits on a similar bleak isolationism found in Thomas Koner's work. A mighty fine record.
MPEG Stream: "Oceanic Drift"
MPEG Stream: "That Was A Lucky One"
MPEG Stream: "Closing Frame"

ENGLISH, LAWRENCE / AI YAMAMOTO Plateau (Phono-Statique) cd 14.98
Lawrence English is another unsung hero of Australian underground experimental music. We've reviewed one of his discs in the past, a dreamy digital exploration of ghostlike ambience. Sort of a less organic Jewelled Antler. On this latest disc, English teams up with Japanese composer/sound artist Yamamoto to further explore the realms of processed field recordings and minimal electronics. And lord this is some truly sublime stuff. Fans of all things Fennesz, Coleclough, Chalk, Tim Hecker, Ambarchi and the like will find much to love. Dark droning dreaminess, not as digital or electronic as you might imagine. Incredibly deep and resonant, huge smears of glistening shimmer, subtle reverberations, an expansive world of totally mesmerizing drones. Soft colors shift and swirl, organs wheeze and stretch out into thick layers of textured sound, hard to know what more to say about this other than WOW. So totally and absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "Longing"
MPEG Stream: "A Silent Kouta"

ENIGK, JEREMY OK Bear (Lewis Hollow) cd 13.98
Jeremy Enigk has made some pretty remarkable records over the years, with his band Sunny Day Real Estate he pretty much created the EMO blueprint, one that would be copied by so many bands over the years, none of which could ever hope to evvoke the true emotion and melodicism of Enigk's songs. One of his best, and sadly most overlooked records was his first solo album, Return Of The Frog Queen, which found him once again drawing up blueprints, this time for orchestral and shimmering, immaculate songcraft realized into a sound that would later make folks like Arcade Fire, Rufus Wainwright, and The Decemberists household names. We've always had a HUGE soft spot for Enigk's voice and songs, but we have to admit his last few outings have left us a bit underwhelmed. Luckily, OK Bear finds him sounding better than ever. Not quite as precious or ambitious as that first breathtaking solo outing and not as full throttle and intense as Sunny Day Real Estate at their prime (though a few of these tracks definitely go there!), but for sure finding a really nice happy medium between those two worlds.
MPEG Stream: "Mind Idea"
MPEG Stream: "Sandwich Time"

ENIGK, JEREMY The Missing Link (567) cd 14.98
Many moons ago Jeremy Enigk was the singer for the beloved epic emo band Sunny Day Real Estate.
Man, that band had some great songs... nailed you right in the heart. Enigk's songwriting flame still burns brightly, but these days it comes in the form akin to a lone candle or hearth. His songs are filled with a lush earthiness, warming the traditional rock instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums with piano, strings and such. The beautiful setting embraces his unrelentingly desolate, emotionally charged lyrics. Pretty darn great!
A side note: You know when you hear someone's voice and it reminds you of someone else, but you just can't quite put your finger on it? Drives you crazy, and then hours or days later it dawns on you. That was the case with this album. Apologies to Mr. Enigk if he doesn't find this to be a flattering comment, but he really really sounds like Chris De Burgh. So is this The Missing Link... to the "Lady In Red"? Hmmmm.
MPEG Stream: "Oh John"
MPEG Stream: "Been Here Before"

ENKIDU Hasselt (Turtle's Dream) cd 17.98
Following their very well received Live At Showboat recording for Last Visible Dog, Mukai Chie and Yamamoto Sei-ichi have hooked up with French improviser and electro-acoustic wizard Eric Cordier for a project they've entitled Enkidu. Ms. Mukai has been wandering through the Toyko improv scene since the '70 performing with the PSF band Che-Shizu, whereas Yamamoto's illustrious career finds his guitar freakouts splattered throughout the Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba, and Rovo. Harkening back to the psychedelic, ur-drone mantras of the Taj Mahal Travellers, this trio offers a delirious set of improvisations out of Mukai's trademarked two-stringed violin and percussion, Yamamoto's guitar and flute, and Cordier's hurdy-gurdy and mess of electronics. Nick Cain accurately describes the resulting sounds as "swirling and head-spinningly noisy slow burn deep-sound drone-ragas." It takes a good 10 minutes or so for their improvisation to really take off from the incredibly quite introduction of Mukai's deliberate bowing upon her violin. Deep cavernous electronic tones rumble behind, Yamamoto's neck-wrangling of jagged flourishes and Mukai's vocal wailings. The trio constantly builds dense crescendos which in turn they abruptly halt in rough, herky-jerky gestures, only to reform into a new trajectory towards another crescendo, all the while unfolding into a magnificently complex drama.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 3"

ENO / MOEBIUS / ROEDELIUS After the Heat (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
Now on Vinyl!!
The combination of Brian Eno and Cluster proved to be a golden match. The sounds they delicately created together have been echoed again and again in the three decades since their collaborations. A feeling of both effortlessness and a total awareness of the space and sounds they were building radiates throughout the recording. You can hear the tinkering hands of Moebius and Roedelius giving elements of warped spaced out bliss. Eno approaching the songs in a magic space somewhere between Before & After Science and Another Green World. When his vocals appear they just begin to melt and dissolve into your ears. For sure the best backwards vocal delivery we've ever heard can be found on the track "Tzima N'arki". There is such a sublime feeling of melting on this record. These three knew how to meld warmth with an motherly feeling that takes you into golden horizons, mesmerizing twilight and an afterglow that you just want to surrender yourself to. Originally released in '78, once again 4 Men With Beards has done the fine service of bringing it back to a world that's more ready for these sounds then ever.
MPEG Stream: "Tzima N'arki"
MPEG Stream: "Foreign Affairs"

ENO / MOEBIUS / ROEDELIUS / PLANK Begegnung 1en (Water) cd 15.98

ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS After The Heat (Water) cd 15.98
The combination of Brian Eno and Cluster proved to be a golden match. The sounds they delicately created together have been echoed again and again in the three decades since their collaborations. A feeling of both effortlessness and a total awareness of the space and sounds they were building radiates throughout the recording. You can hear the tinkering hands of Moebius and Roedelius giving elements of warped spaced out bliss. Eno approaching the songs in a magic space somewhere between Before & After Science and Another Green World. When his vocals appear they just begin to melt and dissolve into your ears. For sure the best backwards vocal delivery we've ever heard can be found on the track "Tzima N'arki". There is such a sublime feeling of melting on this record. These three knew how to meld warmth with an motherly feeling that takes you into golden horizons, mesmerizing twilight and an afterglow that you just want to surrender yourself to. Originally released in '78, once again Water has done the fine service of bringing it back to a world that's more ready for these sounds then ever.
MPEG Stream: "Tzima N'arki"
MPEG Stream: "Foreign Affairs"

ENO, BRIAN Ambient 1: Music For Airports (Virgin / Astralwerks) cd 16.98
Perhaps the most renowned of Eno's ambient albums, Music For Airports, originally released in 1978, is a (or we should say *the*) seminal -ambient- work. The proof is over a quarter decade's worth of other artists (and some downright imitators) who've amassed an enormous collective body of work directly inspired by this one album. This is the O.G. of gorgeous shimmering atmospheric soundscapes. Truly sublime. While Eno's conceptual "hands off" compositional style is certainly one of the larger factors in his influencing other future ambient artists, the striking thing about this work that makes it so compelling is the way in which the pieces manage to impart a feeling of warmth despite the clinically mechanical way in which the pieces are played. And while the performance here is not executed by machines the impact of it carries on down, all the way to the Aphex Twin's zenith of robotic beauty, The Richard D. James album. The four pieces here (programmatically named "1/1", "2/1", "1/2" & "2/2" for their sequencing on the original LP) build one upon the next. The first is arranged entirely with electric and acoustic pianos (with some help from Robert Wyatt for this), the second a chorus of voices and the third and fourth pieces combination of those elements with additional synth help. The drifting and staggered arpeggios cascade in slow motion giving the pieces a shapeless consistency, somehow always moving forward while remaining frozen. A suitable antidote to muzak if there ever was one. If anything dates, or holds back the three latter pieces on this disc it's the now archaic synth patches. They can be charming, but I've never been able to listen to "2/2" without thinking immediately of Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance". Needless to say, this small downside can't spoil as great an album as this.
MPEG Stream: "1/1"
MPEG Stream: "2/2"

ENO, BRIAN Ambient 4: On Land (Virgin / Astralwerks) cd 16.98
While Plateaux of Mirror could be seen as the inspiration for a generation of new age musicians, On Land (released in 1982) is arguably a place card for a wellspring of darker ambient musicians forging soundtracks for non-existant films. Some, like the now obscure J. Grienke made careers out of this single album. Others, like Richard James on the Aphex Twin's excellent double cd Selected Ambient Works Volume 2, pay homage and move on. But hints of this dark collection of audio soundscapes can be heard from the likes of Biosphere, Deathprod, Andrew Chalk, Troum and even Village of Savoonga. The key elements involved are an elimination of melody and rhythm. As Eno puts it, quite well in fact, in the liner notes: "the landscape has ceased to be a backdrop for something else to happen in front of: instead everything that happens is part of the landscape. There is no longer a sharp distinction between foreground and background". A seminal work and a must have.
MPEG Stream: "The Lost Day"
MPEG Stream: "Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hills)"

ENO, BRIAN Another Day On Earth (Opal / Hannibal) cd 16.98
A new rock record from Brian Eno in 2005. After beginning with the uptempo "This", a tune surprizingly similar to the Cale duet "One Word" from the pair's 1990 album Wrong Way Up, the album is primarily filled with slow tempo songs of a pensive temperment and reminiscent of Eno's collaborations with guitar tech wiz and fellow producer Daniel Lanois. Not a bad return to rock for Mr. Eno, but there's something very Rip Van Winkle in the overall production of the album, like Brian's still hammering through the eighties and has just recently discovered Tears For Fears and Simple Minds.
MPEG Stream: "This"
MPEG Stream: "How Many Worlds"

ENO, BRIAN Another Green World (EG) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY. Now reissued on EMI!

ENO, BRIAN Another Green World (EMI) cd 16.98
We didn't review Another Green World with the other Eno reissues featured a couple weeks back 'cuz they turned out to have some weird defect, but that's been fixed now and so here you go: Unlike most of the recent reissues of classic albums, Brian Eno's aren't graced / padded with extra bells'n'whistles (outtakes, demo versions and the like) nor are there swollen booklets of liner notes, photos, glowing praise, etc. No, you get the albums as they were originally released -- albeit remastered and packaged in simple digipaks with plain clear plastic slipcovers -- and frankly, with albums as timeless and remarkable as these, that's enough! Each is an inspired and inspiring work, remaining vital and compelling even thirty years later. Needless to say, each is fully deserving of an honored place in any record collection.
What remains to be said about one of the all-time classic art-rock records? Here we find Brian Peter George St. John Le Baptiste De La Salle Eno (yes, that's his full name!) leaving behind the song structures of the preceding albums, and jumping straight into inventing the mood-driven, almost-snippits-but-too-composed-to-be-just-parts style of atmospheric 'songs'. A melding of his ambient sides with occasional vocals. "Sombre Reptiles", "I'll Come Running", "St. Elmo's Fire"... MAN, JUST TOO GOOD. If you've never heard this record, buy it and live with it for a few years. It'll getcha eventually... Really, just a flat-out model and inspiration for everything synthetic / experimental / art / punk / pop from Bowie's Low album to Talking Heads to I Am Spoonbender (Cup admits that IAS often uses a set of Eno's 'Oblique Strategies' cards during sessions, just like those mentioned in the liner notes to this essential release. FYI: they were a small black box containing a deck of cards imprinted with an assortment of open-to-interpretation statements... an oracle of sorts that you could refer to in times of creative blocks).
MPEG Stream: "St. Elmo's Fire"
MPEG Stream: "I'll Come Running"

ENO, BRIAN Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (EG) cd 13.98

ENO, BRIAN Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (Virgin) cd 16.98
The opportunity of a lifetime film score for Brian Eno: providing a soundtrack to the most, quite literally, other-worldy film footage ever shot. Eno was approached by ex-astronaut Al Reinert in the early eighties to put his ambient touch on a project that Reinert was working on documenting the apollo missions. Reinhert had sorted through 6,000,000 feet of NASA film footage shot by astronauts on those missions, picking out what he considered to be the best clips. To this he intended to add only the voices of the astronauts themselves -- both from interviews after the missions and from their transmissions to Houston during them -- and Eno's music. Though Eno's score was released in 1983, Reinert's film -- For All Mankind -- wasn't completed until 1989. Recorded just a year after his Ambient 4: On Land, the material here is quite similar. The compositions are far less conceptual than his earlier ambient works, yet the pieces here have an intuitive, textural and emotional feel without relying on -- for the most part -- melody. All but four tracks on this album use that same Eno M.O. of blurring the idea of "foreground and background", much like his previous release On Land. The guitar and bass, when the appear, are subverted from their original roles -- melodic lead, rhythm and harmony -- and instead are used for texture and atmosphere as much as the synths and electronics. The ambient tracks on Apollo have a foreboding and sublime quality -- appropriate enough for the vast eternity of space and the dessicated & bleak terrain of the moon. The four non-ambient tracks on this disc, all nestled together towards its end, are a bit of a departure from the rest of the album. "Always Returning" is probably the weakest link on the album, with its sentimental guitar part played by Daniel Lanois. Lanois however redeems himself with his pedal steel guitar playing on "Deep Blue Day", like a Sons Of The Pioneers tune, shot full of heroin and launched into the vacuum of space.
MPEG Stream: "Matta"
MPEG Stream: "An Ending (Ascent)"
MPEG Stream: "Deep Blue Day"

ENO, BRIAN Before And After Science (EMI) cd 16.98
Unlike most of the recent reissues of classic albums, Brian Eno's aren't graced / padded with extra bells'n'whistles (outtakes, demo versions and the like) nor are there swollen booklets of liner notes, photos, glowing praise, etc. No, you get the albums as they were originally released -- albeit remastered and packaged in simple digipaks with plain clear plastic slipcovers -- and frankly, with albums as timeless and remarkable as these, that's enough! Each is an inspired and inspiring work, remaining vital and compelling even thirty years later. Needless to say, each is fully deserving of an honored place in any record collection.
The last of Eno's 'song' records before he drifted off into wind-blown dronespace for good (or bad?). In many ways, this album could be thought of as a more pastoral and less baroque Another Green World, with plenty of experiments near the framework of rock music. It could be that this is exactly what is meant by 'experimental pop music' -- avant garde ideas reworked so as to appear as being something like 'regular music'. As usual, this release features appearances by interesting guests: Can's Jaki Liebezeit and German electronic pioneers Cluster.
MPEG Stream: "Energy Fools The Magician"
MPEG Stream: "Here He Comes"