MIST Glowing Net (Amethyst Sunset) 12" 14.98
More exceptional recordings broadcast from the house of Emeralds! Mist is the collaboration between Emeralds' John Elliott and Sam Goldberg, both employing a bunch of synthesizers for this sci-fi extravaganza. Like Emeralds (and all of the other John Elliott productions for that matter), Glowing Net locates itself at the tail end of the post-krautrock explorations of progressive electronics from the early '80s that quickly devolved into new age drivel and tepid incidental music. Much of that devolution of kosmische music into garbage came at the hands of too many portentous concepts and over-reaching metaphysical agendas, and while Elliott and Goldberg are tapping into a poetry of galactic expansiveness through their electronics, they never lose sight of the simple elegance of an arpeggiated melody, open-ended allusions, or a bittersweet reflectiveness that comes from the benefit of hindsight. The album opens with a plaintive aquatic percolation that slides into a tighter, focused lazerbeam of sequences on "Sky High" that at once speaks to fellow hypnotist Oneohtrix Point Never and the soaring work of J.D. Emmanuel. "Mist Stream" acquires something similar to Wolfgang Voigt's highly innovative ambient swoosh on the Gas album Pop, soaring above a low-ratcheted arpeggiation. Very impressive stuff, that could easily be extended into a 20 minute zoner jam, but Mist has condensed this down to an economic four minute track. While this album is cut at 45 rpm, we've resisted our normal urge to spin these at 33, since Mist got everything just right at this speed. No need to fuck with genius!
MPEG Stream: "A.M."
MPEG Stream: "Sky High"
MPEG Stream: "Soaring Yellow / Glowing Net"

MIST House (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) cd 16.98
NOW ON CD!!!
Since Emeralds released their impeccable album Does It Look Like I'm Here in 2010, the trio has set a very high bar for themselves, not only for the next Emeralds record (whenever that may surface) but also for all of the individual members' various side projects. For the most part, everything John Elliott, Mark McGuire, and Steve Hauschildt have produced by themselves has not strayed far from the Emeralds aesthetic of luminous, analogue electronics that harkens back to the progressive sounds of Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster, and early Tangerine Dream, and there have been some completely sublime moments that came close to Does It Look Like I'm Here. The Imaginary Softwoods double lp set was one such album, as was the McGuire solo lp Off In The Distance, and now we have this Mist album, released through John Elliott's Mego-manufactured imprint Spectrum Spools. Mist finds synth-wrangler Elliott working with fellow Cleveland native Sam Goldberg; the two had previously released a couple of lps of sparkling electronics on Arbor and Am. While those records were quite good, House is fucking great.
Out of a tightly interlocking set of synthetic percolations, the opening track "Twin Lanes" launches upward into satellite orbit with an effervescent burst of shimmering noises and one of Elliott's impeccable bass-melodies (think back to "Candyshop" on the aforementioned Emeralds album Does It Look Like I'm Here). "Mist House" is a radiant track of tonefloat purity and church organ hallowedness that eschews the early tracks' step sequencing and arpeggios, while keeping the same sparkling atmosphere. The transition from the fuzzy static laden percolations from "Dead Occasions" to the Kraftwerkian sequences of the mechanical track "Ovary Stunts" is particularly dramatic, especially given the polygon layers of sci-fi melodic wander on the latter track that gives Mist a very Oneohtrix Point Never feel. "P.M." rounds out the album with prolonged passages of hypnotic arpeggiations coated with interstellar space dust and girded with a sublime motorik churning of step sequenced bass synths. House is easily the best Mist record to date, and ranks up there amongst the many Emeralds related projects.
MPEG Stream: "Twin Lanes"
MPEG Stream: "I Can Still Hear Your Voice"
MPEG Stream: "Daydream"

MIST House (Spectrum Spools) lp 27.00
Since Emeralds released their impeccable album Does It Look Like I'm Here in 2010, the trio has set a very high bar for themselves, not only for the next Emeralds record (whenever that may surface) but also for all of the individual members' various side projects. For the most part, everything John Elliott, Mark McGuire, and Steve Hauschildt have produced by themselves has not strayed far from the Emeralds aesthetic of luminous, analogue electronics that harkens back to the progressive sounds of Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster, and early Tangerine Dream, and there have been some completely sublime moments that came close to Does It Look Like I'm Here. The Imaginary Softwoods double lp set was one such album, as was the McGuire solo lp Off In The Distance, and now we have this Mist 2lp, released through John Elliott's Mego-manufactured imprint Spectrum Spools. Mist finds synth-wrangler Elliott working with fellow Cleveland native Sam Goldberg; the two had previously released a couple of lps of sparkling electronics on Arbor and Am. While those records were quite good, House is fucking great.
Out of a tightly interlocking set of synthetic percolations, the opening track "Twin Lanes" launches upward into satellite orbit with an effervescent burst of shimmering noises and one of Elliott's impeccable bass-melodies (think back to "Candyshop" on the aforementioned Emeralds album Does It Look Like I'm Here). "Mist House" is a radiant track of tonefloat purity and church organ hallowedness that eschews the early tracks' step sequencing and arpeggios, while keeping the same sparkling atmosphere. The transition from the fuzzy static laden percolations from "Dead Occasions" to the Kraftwerkian sequences of the mechanical track "Ovary Stunts" is particularly dramatic, especially given the polygon layers of sci-fi melodic wander on the latter track that gives Mist a very Oneohtrix Point Never feel. The album's finale "P.M." fills up all of side D, with prolonged passages of hypnotic arpeggiations coated with interstellar space dust and girded with a sublime motorik churning of step sequenced bass synths. House is easily the best Mist lp to date, and ranks up there amongst the many Emeralds related projects.
MPEG Stream: "Twin Lanes"
MPEG Stream: "I Can Still Hear Your Voice"
MPEG Stream: "Daydream"

MIST s/t (Amethyst Sunset) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We thought these to be long gone, but a surprise restock of this Emeralds side-project reappeared a month or so after we originally pegged it as out of print. Do NOT expect this to remain in print for much longer!
Mist is the Ohio-centric retrograde electronics duo featuring John Elliott of Emeralds and Sam Goldberg, who runs the Pizza Night tape label. This is actually the third outing for Mist, as the two have mustered a couple of other cassettes, released earlier this year which disappeared before we even had the chance to grab any. Fortunately, we did manage to snag some of this LP on Amethyst Sunset. The Elliott / Goldberg authored electronics here don't veer too much from the Emeralds spaced-out electronics that reflect the best in the realm of late '70s / early '80s progressive electronics (e.g. the more abstracted moments from Kraftwerk and the Eno collaborations with Fripp and Cluster). It's not quite as dark or as melancholy as Emeralds and thus sounds like those sci-fi percolations that fellow knob-twiddler Oneohtrix Point Never and Pulse Emitter have rejuvenated in recent years. Certainly, these are elegant passages of arppegiating analogue electronics and heavily sequenced patterns that intertwine nicely into chiming, sparkling, bubbling zone-tripping. Recommended for sure!

MITGANG AUDIO, THE The View From Your New Home (Suction) cd 15.98
Soft breezy techno pop with wispy processed vocals that gives a hearty nod to Kraftwerk. If you recall the group Antarctica whose '81:03' double cd we were digging a couple of years ago, then you've probably got a close idea of the overall atmospheric territory that The Mitgang Audio also traverse. We've recently seen them lumped under the broad categorization of 'new wave' and there certainly are the basic ingredients present - high swooshing keyboard melodies, synthesized string sounds, thick bass lines, vocoded vocals, effervescent programmed 4/4 beats - that also got the aforementioned Antarctica compared to '80s groups such as New Order. Fans of the light dance-y pop sounds of Ladytron, Air or Future Bible Heroes may also wanna give The Mitgang Audio a spin. There's a point though where the group takes a bit of a detour, and that's halfway through the album at track 5 (aptly titled "The Escape"). It's somewhat more somber and soundtrack-y than the rest of the songs - actually there was suspicion that it was a cover of Diana Ross' "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)". Perhaps you can give 'er a listen and be the judge!
MPEG Stream: "Minor Causes"
MPEG Stream: "The Escape"

MOBY 18 (V2) cd 17.98
I'm sure Moby is a nice enough guy but come on, does he warrant the hype? Not really. He may bring in as many different guest vocalists as he likes, including a gospel choir, the harmonizing indie duo Azure Ray, MC Lyte, Sinead O'Connor, assorted soul divas etc, but his methods remain so formulaic: forefront the voices and behind them throw in as many predictable sounds as possible, including orchestral strings, dramatic keyboards, and really really really frickin' boring rhythm tracks. A six year old could poop out more interesting beats than Monsieur Moby. This is "electronica" dumbed down for maximum lowest common denominator appeal. Even the promising return of MC Lyte is ruined. This is the sort of unbelievably bad stuff that gets you on the cover of SPIN and the NY Times Magazine. Very disappointing!
RealAudio clip: "We Are All Made of Stars"
RealAudio clip: "Great Escape"

MOBY 18 B Sides + DVD (V2) cd + dvd 16.98

MOBY Hotel (V2) 2cd 16.98

MOBY Last Night (Mute Records) cd 13.98

MODEL 500 Starlight (Echospace) cd 16.98

MODELL, ROD Incense & Black Light (Plop) cd 17.98
We kinda went nuts for the recent Echospace record, The Coldest Season. So much so that we made it our record of the week. And judging by the response, most aQ customers dug it just as much as we did. Which makes sense really. A modern take on that old Chain Reaction sound we all love so much. Heroin House, or whatever you want to call it, muddy murky atmospheres wrapped around deep throbbing four on the floor pulses, smeared and blurred, the sound gloriously washed out and dreamlike. Super spaced out abstract dub, beats drifting in wide open expanses of FX and electronic glitch and shimmer. Dance music for those of us who loathe the dancefloor and instead lurk in the shadows. The rhythm is probably still gonna get you, but it's going to creep up on you slowly and wrap you in its inky black embrace, and pull you into the swirling fuzzy abyss.
Incense & Black Light is the new record from Rod Modell, one half of Echospace, and while everything we loved about the Echospace record is here in full effect, it's even noisier and buzzier and grittier, which can only mean we might even like it moreÉ
The opening track is super dense and heavy, a swirling cloud of crumbling distortion, a bassline that almost sounds like some muted metal riff, but completely abstracted and disembodied, a rhythm buried beneath layers of grit and grime, the track peppered with jagged blasts of glitch and hiss, the whole thing looped into something, that despite all of it's harshness and density, is almost groovy.
The second track begins with some Pole like dub throb, drifting on a layer of gristly hiss, those big echoey crunches pulsing and fading into the mist, beneath it all a throbbing bassline and some muted percussion, sounding like a rougher more raw Echospace. After that the record drifts into much less noisy territory, dipping its toes into some Kompakt like minimalism, still dubby and dreamy, but a bit more skittery, and not nearly as dark and dense. After three songs of gauzy late night Kompakt style minimal techno, the record dips back into the darkness, a slowly shifting smear of pixilated digital crunch, long blurred waves of prickly buzz, all woven into a gorgeously gauzy sheet of sound, that seems to billow in some midnight breeze, laced with crackles and hiss, almost completely devoid of any rhythm. Almost.
The next two tracks crank the dub factor, dialing back the noise a bit, but keeping the effects distorted and the beats crunchy, a sort of Kraftwerk groove pulled apart into some alien dub, hovering over a sea of whirring hum and buried buzz, the melody clipped and bouncing from beat to beat before fading into the roiling ambient murk.
Finally, the last two tracks finish things off, the way they started, with some sort of damaged dub, via Tim Hecker or Christian Fennesz, the second to last a gorgeous dubby driftscape, the beats barely holding together, the sound of lapping waves another layer of hiss and buzz, the whole dub drifting into its constituent parts, so druggy and dreamy and blissed out, while the last is glimmering shimmering effulgence, sun dappled sparkles stretched into slow whirring slabs of soft fuzzy thrum, like someone took a single measure of the blissiest Orb song, and stretched it out to 5 minutes, the chords pulled apart exposing the notes within, the notes pulled apart, crumbling to pieces, just blurry shadows, all woven into some slow slippery sonic stream, gauzy, buzzy, warm and dreamlike.
If you loved that Echospace record, but wondered what it would have sounded like if it was mixed by Fennesz, or recorded by Tim Hecker, or spun in a DJ set by Philip Jeck (and who among us didn't?), then this just might be exactly what you're looking for.
MPEG Stream: "Aloeswood"
MPEG Stream: "Hotel Chez Moi"
MPEG Stream: "Body Sonic"
MPEG Stream: "Morning Again"

MODELL, ROD Kettle Point (Echochord) 12" 11.98

MODERAT s/t (Bpitch Control) cd 15.98
What do you get when you put Modeselktor and Apparat together....Moderat! The debut collaboration between these German electronic heavyweights finds them joining forces to create some heavy duty electronic pleasures. Pulling from so many different elements of electronic music for their own special form of German techno that satisfies so nicely. There are a couple tracks with guest vocalists that we weren't digging too much, as they come off a bit forced and slick, but the majority of this record is chock full of sounds and beats for electronic heads to get down with.
MPEG Stream: "A New Error"
MPEG Stream: "Seamonkey"

MODESELEKTOR Boogybytes Vol.3 (Bpitch) cd 15.98

MODESELEKTOR Happy Birthday (BPitch) cd 16.98

MODESELEKTOR FEAT PUPPETMASTAZ The Dark Side Of The Sun (Bpitch) 12" 10.98

MODULATIONS Cinema for the Ear (OST) (Caipirihna) cd 14.98
Aside from the many problems which arose from the movie that accompanies this 'soundtrack', it should be noted that Metamkine - the brilliant musique concrete label from Paris - began a series called "Cinema for the Ear" about eight years ago. Unfortunately for Jerome (the man behind Metamkine), this movie did not even come close to acknowledging Metamkine and only gave namechecking references to Stockhausen and Cage.
As a compilation that documents the history of populist electronic music from the past 20 years, it hits on some important players but acts more as a canonizing agent than as a collection of 'fresh' sounds. The drum & bass representatives of Panacea, Aphrodite, and Goldie sound unimpressively dated, the one unifying problem for all of electronica with a few exceptions. Fortunately, two of those exceptions are present - Giorgio Moroder's production on the diva-disco classic Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" and "No UFOs" by Model 500, the track which spawned the Detroit sound of techno.
At best this is a mixed bag of tracks, and we certainly recommend that you check out the full albums by some of the artists present (i.e. Giorgio Moroder, Afrika Bambaataa, Model 500 / Juan Atkins, LFO, Derrick May, Panacea, Ryoji Ikeda, Coldcut, and To Rococo Rot...) and the singles from Metalheadz (cos Goldie's full length albums have been utter crap) and Aphrodite (ditto).

MOEBIUS Nurton (Blue Pole) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's so inspiring and sadly all too rare to find someone who was making challenging music that sounded ahead of their time decades ago, and who is STILL pushing themselves to creating music with the same adventure and scope. All too often, those who were at the forefront of creative musical invention end up settling down and creating safe and boring music as the years pass. Even many AQ psych/prog/kraut favorites end up going that route. For proof just take a listen to what folks like Franco Battiato or Tangerine Dream made decades into their careers. Luckily there are some exceptions to that downward spiral, and Dieter Moebius is a perfect example of how one can continue to make weird and wonderful music years and years after they first hit the scene. From his pioneering krautrock/kosmische work with Cluster and Harmonia as well as collaborations with Brian Eno, it would be very easy and well deserved for Moebius to just rest on his laurels. But even after those trailblazing years of the '70s he continued to make great albums into the 80's and still does today. Nurton, released in 2006, is his first solo outing in over seven years and it finds him as unpredictable and pleasing as ever. The sounds he creates take twists and turns that hold your attention fast, and he's always able to take you to a special spaced-out place full of wonder, bliss and intrigue. Crazy instrumental electronica to put the youngsters in the field to shame.
MPEG Stream: "Mahalmal"
MPEG Stream: "Warum?"
MPEG Stream: "Opaque"

MOEBIUS & BEERBOHM Double Cut (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Of all the various collaborations that krautrock maestro Moebius of Cluster fame has been involved in, we have to say this 1983 collaboration with Gerd Beerbohm might just be the most mind blowing of them all. Originally released on Sky, it's been out of print for ages, so we were so thrilled when we saw Bureau B was going to reissue it, as it's a record that foreshadowed so many sounds of the rhythmic underground that we would love for years to come.
The record opens with "Minimotion" a totally menacing and suspenseful track that sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the record. Like the darkest side of Goblin, or what John Carpenter would want to base the tension of an entire film around. The next two tracks "Hydrogen" and "Narkose" are stunning in how ahead of their time they sound, even now. It's like an otherworldly version of minimal techno, practically the blueprint for what the Chain Reaction crew would be creating more then a decade later. Like the sounds of a steam engine filtered through the lens of a horror movie, so mesmerizing and menacing. The record's final track is the epic 21 minute "Doppelschnitt" and really should be played as loud as possible and made as required listening for anyone making minimal techno or any sort of electronica really, as this shows you the hypnotic possibilities of this sound. No doubt folks like Villalabos, Monoton, Moritz Von Oswald, and Carl Craig got their ears on this album early on, as this record really laid out the ingredients for what would go down in Berlin and Detroit in the years to follow.
But what makes Double Cut so incredibly special is not just that it was ahead of its time, mastering a genre that hadn't even been invented yet, but that in its minimalism, they made a record that creates such a strong mood and has such a distinct overall sound. It's like being trapped in a completely distinctive outer dimension. It wouldn't surprise us if David Cronenberg was hip to this record while he was making Videodrome. It's not often you get to talk about records that completely set the stage for a whole movement of music making to come in its wake. This is one of those records, and we're so damn glad its back in the world where it belongs. A unanimous favorite for sure, as everyone here at the store is totally in love and in awe of Double Cut!
Not yet reissued on vinyl but we're told that will be coming soon, hopefully.
MPEG Stream: "Minimotion"
MPEG Stream: "Doppelschnitt"
MPEG Stream: "Hydrogen"

MOGLASS, THE Kogda Vse Zveri ZhiliKak Dobrye Sosedi (Nexsound) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For a land as huge as The Ukraine, the amount of exceptional music that makes it half way round the world to Aquairus is proportionally very small, especially when compared to how much we get in from New Zealand and Finland. Thus, we were quite intrigued by the prospects of the Russian ensemble The Moglass who prefer to qualify their music as 'personal folk' -- an anti-genre that is beyond the mutable definitions of post-rock, psychedelia, or space-rock. That said, The Moglass are not without precedents, as this trio (armed with guitars, bass, old Soviet synths, and tons of effects) realizes the pinnacles of Popul Vuh (particularly their Werner Herzog soundtracks) entirely through the haunted drones of guitar feedback. Periodically, they have included several radio transmissions all in Russian, so the exact meaning is unknown to us, but the urgency of some of those broadcasts speaks of traumatic events. These work very similar to Godspeed! You Black Emperor's found sound interludes (e.g. "the car's on fire, and there's no driver at the wheel..."), but the mysteriousness due to the language barrier works to enhance the overall mood of the drone rather than compartmentalize it into leftist rhetoric. Although it's a mere 30 minutes long, "Kogda Vse Zveri Zhili Kak Dobrye Sosedi" (which we learned from their website translates as When All the Animals Lived As Good Neighbours) is a remarkably strong album.
RealAudio clip: "A1"
RealAudio clip: "A3"

MOGWAI Kicking a Dead Pig/Fear Satan Remixes (Jetset) 2cd 13.98
We at AQ all agree that the last Mogwai album, Young Team is one of the best things we've come across in a while; they take the slow build, dynamics, and instrumental intensity of Slint and add crashing guitar lyricism. Reason to celebrate: My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, contributes a stunning sixteen-minute distortion-heavy brainmelter (so that's what he's been doing instead of giving us patiently drooling fans another MBV record). And if that isn't enough, there are also remixes by Mu-ziq, Alec Empire, Arab Strap (the Scottish duo whose murkiness calls to mind the Tindersticks more than anyone else), Third Eye Foundation, Kid Loco, and others. Very colorful vinyl.

MOGWAI Kicking a Dead Pig/Fear Satan Remixes (Jetset) 3lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We at AQ all agree that the last Mogwai album, Young Team is one of the best things we've come across in a while; they take the slow build, dynamics, and instrumental intensity of Slint and add crashing guitar lyricism. Reason to celebrate: My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, contributes a stunning sixteen-minute distortion-heavy brainmelter (so that's what he's been doing instead of giving us patiently drooling fans another MBV record). And if that isn't enough, there are also remixes by Mu-ziq, Alec Empire, Arab Strap (the Scottish duo whose murkiness calls to mind the Tindersticks more than anyone else), Third Eye Foundation, Kid Loco, and others. Very colorful vinyl.

MOHOLY-NAGY Like Mirage (Temporary Residence) cd 13.98
The former core trio of post rock combo Tarentel (Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Danny Paul Grody and Trevor Montgomery) have been on a roll lately, releasing tons of solo, side projects and collaborative efforts! Danny and Trevor are both in The Drift and synth duo Believer, which both have new releases out or coming soon. Danny has got a new solo album on Students of Decay that'll be here shortly. Trevor has been on the last two Date Palms records and released the Isidore Ducasse lp with Jefre, and Jefre has released recently a solo album on Type and a record with his other outfit, The Alps on Mexican Summer. Hardest working local musicians? Maybe so now that the three of them have reunited together in this new outfit, Moholy-Nagy (rhymes with mirage, hence the title of the album, Like Mirage). Named after the Bauhaus artist and professor whose photogram experiments and industrial design aesthetic have made him known as one of the fathers of Light Art, the band have made a gorgeous record of light-searching cosmic excursions utilizing synths, piano, pastoral guitar and drum machine. Dreamy and drifting but also focused and grounded, Like Mirage hones the strongest sensibilities of each member into something truly collaborative. And though cosmically charged music has been the modus operandi of all three members through most of their side and solo projects and labels, Like Mirage manages to sound completely distinctive from their other projects which is a strong indicator of the masterful musicianship each one brings to the table. Beautiful stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Tears Of The Prophet"
MPEG Stream: "Brute Neighbors"
MPEG Stream: "Sunday Brunch"

MOHOLY-NAGY Like Mirage (Temporary Residence) lp 15.98
The former core trio of post rock combo Tarentel (Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Danny Paul Grody and Trevor Montgomery) have been on a roll lately, releasing tons of solo, side projects and collaborative efforts! Danny and Trevor are both in The Drift and synth duo Believer, which both have new releases out or coming soon. Danny has got a new solo album on Students of Decay that'll be here shortly. Trevor has been on the last two Date Palms records and released the Isidore Ducasse lp with Jefre, and Jefre has released recently a solo album on Type and a record with his other outfit, The Alps on Mexican Summer. Hardest working local musicians? Maybe so now that the three of them have reunited together in this new outfit, Moholy-Nagy (rhymes with mirage, hence the title of the album, Like Mirage). Named after the Bauhaus artist and professor whose photogram experiments and industrial design aesthetic have made him known as one of the fathers of Light Art, the band have made a gorgeous record of light-searching cosmic excursions utilizing synths, piano, pastoral guitar and drum machine. Dreamy and drifting but also focused and grounded, Like Mirage hones the strongest sensibilities of each member into something truly collaborative. And though cosmically charged music has been the modus operandi of all three members through most of their side and solo projects and labels, Like Mirage manages to sound completely distinctive from their other projects which is a strong indicator of the masterful musicianship each one brings to the table. Beautiful stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Tears Of The Prophet"
MPEG Stream: "Brute Neighbors"
MPEG Stream: "Sunday Brunch"

MOMUS Folktronic (Le Grand Majestery) cd 14.98
The prolific, inventive, and cheekily clever Momus is at it again. The last time we heard from him was 1999's Stars Forever on which he performed songs of "patronage pop" (thirty patrons paid one thousand dollars each for the privilege of having a song written specifically about them). Now Momus presents Folktronic. Well, what are you expecting? His trademark fey Scot-boy crooning heavy on the baroque and melodrama but thrown into a hillbilly mountain goldrush-era scene? Well, sort of. Ever-inquisitive, Momus muses over the juxtaposition of the seemingly disparate worlds of folk and electronic to create as he calls it "plastic folk". Always a man with a crazy, novel idea brewing, back in October/November 2000, Momus held court at Folktronia his art installation in NY. It included opportunities for exhibition visitors to sing their own versions of these songs karaoke-style. And as usual he's included complete lyrics so you too can sing-a-long with Momus.
RealAudio clip: "Appalachia"
RealAudio clip: "Folk Me Amadeus"

MONEY MARK At the Little Tokyo Giant Robot Factory Studios (Giant Robot) 7"flexi 2.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've got some of the last few copies of the limited 7" flexi that was in selected copies of a recent issue of Giant Robot (note: not the brand new issue reveiwed elsewhere in this issue). It's 2 dollars and has 4 exclusive tracks recorded right at Giant Robot's studio.

MONEY MARK Change Is Coming (Emperor Norton) cd 16.98
Gotta say, I really liked Money Mark's first two full lengths. His instrumental debut "Mark's Keyboard Repair" and the more pop song-packed follow-up "Push The Button" were both fun and quirky. Well, this release sees The Mark returning to the solely instrumental realm. A slight disappointment for me. Simply put this is a well-executed, pleasant, easy-listenin' soundtrack. A nice laid-back listen filled with his usual funky grooviness, but lacking in heft or substance. Mind you this finds its home on Emperor Norton Records... not a label known for raising a ruckus.

MONEY MARK Change Is Coming (Emperor Norton) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Gotta say, I really liked Money Mark's first two full lengths. His instrumental debut "Mark's Keyboard Repair" and the more pop song-packed follow-up "Push The Button" were both fun and quirky. Well, this release sees The Mark returning to the solely instrumental realm. A slight disappointment for me. Simply put this is a well-executed, pleasant, easy-listenin' soundtrack. A nice laid-back listen filled with his usual funky grooviness, but lacking in heft or substance. Mind you this finds its home on Emperor Norton Records... not a label known for raising a ruckus.

MONEY MARK Demo? or Demolition? (Chocolate Industries) cd ep 11.98
Hurrah, Money Mark is finally back with a new six-song EP (his last full length was 2001's Change Is Coming)... and they're a pretty darn great half dozen we might add! The title suggests a new unpolished test-run versus a tearing down of something already established, but this album is really neither. His trademark easygoing funky soul pop blend hasn't faded a bit. Fans will be happy to hear that old familiar MM melodica wheeze and noodly organ coming through their speakers. Oh so charming, catchy and groovy, he makes it seem so easy! If there's anything different about today's MM, it might be that his vocals have grown more akin to those of the ever-boyish Elvis Costello. Which is definitely not a bad thing! Great warm, laidback tunes for that time of year when the gold of the summer sun moves on to the gold of the autumn leaves.
MPEG Stream: "Livid In A Madman's Hell"
MPEG Stream: "Break Open My Shell"

MONOLAKE Cinemascope (Monolake) cd 16.98
Former Chain Reaction mainstays (Chain Reaction is the label that is home to the murky dubbed out minimalist 'heroin house', the only house music anyone here at AQ can stand) Monolake left their former label behind, but you'd never know it, that Chain Reaction sound is still in full effect. On 'Cinemascope', Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles (aka Monolake) take their hazy, grimy house/dub sound and smooth it out a bit. The sound is still music to the ears of Pole / Vladislav Delay / Kit Clayton fans, but it's much dreamier and easy on the ears, a kind of post-apocalyptic chill-out music. Adventurous fans of stuff like Thievery Corp. and Kruder and Dorfmeister might want to give this a chance.
RealAudio clip: "Bicom"
RealAudio clip: "Ping"

MONOLAKE Gobi: The Desert EP (Monolake) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This German electronica duo (of Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles) stumbled a bit on their first post-Chain Reaction release, but their second is a return to form with this extended 35 minute track of granular synthesis, dubbed EQ, and slow ambient passages of soft pulsations and bubbling analogue sounds. If you liked Pole or the minimalist ambient of Kit Clayton, you'll be quite pleased by this one!

MONOLAKE Gravity (ml) cd 16.98
Robert Henke took his Monolake project away from the Chain Reaction label a few years ago, but his recordings still sound as if they would be right at home within the rigid structures of Chain Reaction's techno minimalism. "Gravity" is a sedate album of quick tempo techno beats and deep ambience that Henke unsettles with thunderous digital dub reverberations. Definitely reminiscent of Vladislav Delay and Pole. This album (which collects a handful of singles onto disc) is a solid if not entirely innovative entry into the realm of armchair techno.

MONOLAKE Hongkong (Remastered) (Monolake) cd 17.98
In the wake of Wolfgang Voigt's recent Gas reissue, it would be easy to overlook something as simple - yet essential - as Monolake's Hong Kong. It was originally released on Basic Channel's Chain Reaction label, and has long since been unavailable. The album was composed and recorded back when Monolake was a duo, after the two took a trip to, yes, Hong Kong. Incorporated within, between, and around the opiate propulsion you'd expect from a Chain Reaction release, various field recordings illustrate the specific "atmosphere and mood of this experience." While potentially sounding like a college homework assignment, this collection surprisingly manages to create a sense of purpose and cohesion greater than what one might expect. Fans of minimal techno, field recordings, or even drone, listen up! Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Macau"
MPEG Stream: "Mass Transit Railway"

MONOLAKE Interstate (Monolake) cd 16.98
Graduating from the Chain Reaction school of minimal electronica, Monolake have started their own label and transformed their bleak electronic pulses into a more driving propulsive techno.

MONOLAKE Momentum (EFA) cd 16.98
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MONOLAKE Plumbicon Versions (Imbalance Computer Music) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Rebreather Mix"
MPEG Stream: "Deadbeat Remix"

MONOLAKE Polaroid (Din) 12" 8.98
Whoa, Monolake does drum and bass? "Polaroid" is just that, with skitterish but mid-tempo Speed Garage breakbeats and hoovering basslines built out of Monolake's signature metallic synthesis. A bit uncharacteristic for a former Chain Reaction artist, but certainly not bad.

MONOLAKE Polygon_Cities (Imbalance Computer Music) cd 16.98
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We've always been way into Monolake, with their murky hazy "heroin house" sound, all muted four on the floor beats, but as if you were hearing them through the wall from next door. For the last few years though, the haze seems to have been clearing gradually revealing a whole new Monolake, each release a little more polished, a little more uptempo, a little more, well Kompakt. This definitely sounds like it belongs on Kompakt, which is in no way a bad thing. Well, it is maybe if you were still looking specifically for that murky Chain Reaction drugged out techno sound, but hell, we love Kompakt, and that slick thumping skittering Kompakt minimalism. So now we have Polygon_Cities, which is just that, a minimal pulsing slab of modern electronica, clipped beats, and shuffling IDM-ish rhythms, stark and spare, but with warm synth swells and brief flurries of crumbly distortion and bits of that dubbed out Pole sound we used to love so much. Super laid back and smooth, kinda like what we imagine you'd hear in some Eurotrash opium den resting up for your next undercover spy misssion, or maybe the music that plays in a sci-fi movie while you're having your retinas scanned by some beautiful cyborg.
MPEG Stream: "Pipeline"
MPEG Stream: "CCTV"

MONOLAKE Silence (Imbalance Computer Music) cd 17.98
It wouldn't be that far off to lump Robert Henke alongside Brian Eno as a pioneering force of electronic music. Eno's legacy through his impeccable glam-pop records of the '70s and into his ambient period is well documented; and there's plenty of ripples felt throughout the world from Henke's work both through his minimal techno variations and through his ongoing development of the Abelton Live software. Similarly, in discussing Henke (as with Eno) comes the topic of the superior quality of Henke's recordings. While his compositions are good, the sound those compositions achieve is always exquisite. His tones, textures, and rhythms are rich, silky, precise, and, like any self-respecting techno, coldly detached. As many of you know, these are not necessarily the values we seek here at aQuarius. If some kid in his bedroom can unleash a horrific fury of black metal that's ungodly expressive, we're gonna get really excited about that, especially if all of that rage, hate, and sorrow really translate through the murk, grime, and hiss. So, when it comes to a record like Monolake's Silence which sounds so good, we'll admit that we're less impressed by production skills on display and more by the impressive slippages between dubbed-n-chilled downer techno, dubstep bass rattling, gestures of arctic ambience, and well spatiallized use of clanging metallics, digital textures, and disembodied voices. Fantastic.
MPEG Stream: "Watching Clouds"
MPEG Stream: "Infinite Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Null Pointer"

MONOLAKE Silence (Imbalance Computer Music) 2lp 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Also, on vinyl! It wouldn't be that far off to lump Robert Henke alongside Brian Eno as a pioneering force of electronic music. Eno's legacy through his impeccable glam-pop records of the '70s and into his ambient period is well documented; and there's plenty of ripples felt throughout the world from Henke's work both through his minimal techno variations and through his ongoing development of the Abelton Live software. Similarly, in discussing Henke (as with Eno) comes the topic of the superior quality of Henke's recordings. While his compositions are good, the sound those compositions achieve is always exquisite. His tones, textures, and rhythms are rich, silky, precise, and, like any self-respecting techno, coldly detached. As many of you know, these are not necessarily the values we seek here at aQuarius. If some kid in his bedroom can unleash a horrific fury of black metal that's ungodly expressive, we're gonna get really excited about that, especially if all of that rage, hate, and sorrow really translate through the murk, grime, and hiss. So, when it comes to a record like Monolake's Silence which sounds so good, we'll admit that we're less impressed by production skills on display and more by the impressive slippages between dubbed-n-chilled downer techno, dubstep bass rattling, gestures of arctic ambience, and well spatiallized use of clanging metallics, digital textures, and disembodied voices. Fantastic.
MPEG Stream: "Watching Clouds"
MPEG Stream: "Infinite Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Null Pointer"

MONOS 360 Degrees (Anomalous) cd 14.98
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A few years back, Darren Tate dissolved his Ora project (which centered around Tate's collaborations with Andrew Chalk, Jonathan Coleclough, Colin Potter, and MNortham), and considered quitting making music altogether. Fortunately, the draw back to the droning manipulations of field recordings grew to strong for Tate to remain inactive; thus, he began the Monos recordings, which have so far netted two self-released CDrs and the "360 Degrees" album for Anomalous. Initially, Monos was simply the solo moniker for Tate, but for this album, he has employed the help of longtime collaborator Colin Potter at the engineering / processing helm. Beginning with field recordings of birdsongs from the English country side, cars rushing along an overpass, and watery floes, Monos blurs the edges of these everyday sounds with an arsenal of glistening reverberations. Certainly, if you're fond of that beautiful droning aesthetic of Ora, Mirror, or any of the Andrew Chalk productions, you'll certainly go for Monos... just pay no attention to the goofy artwork of a puffy Keane-eyed cat that is even sillier than the silliest David Tibet artwork for Current 93.
RealAudio clip: "Landscape"
RealAudio clip: "Clouds"

MONOTON Blau: Monotonprodukt 02 26y++ (Oral) cd 16.98
Konrad Becker released only a couple of albums in the early '80s under his moniker Monoton. The modest editions of his recordings relegated him to inevitable obscurity, until in 1996 The Wire published a list charting the "100 Records that set the world on fire (when no one was listening)," with Wire writer Biba Kopf citing the Monotonprodukt 07 20y++, second Monoton record, on that list. Released in 1980, Blau is the first album from Monoton, sparking curiosity as to what the other Monotonprodukt releases would have been with this album being Monotonprodukt 02 and the second album being Monotonprodukt 07. Where are the other 4? And when will we get to hear them?! Regardless, Becker's Monoton produced a hyper-bleak precursor of electronica, bridging the kosmische sounds of Cluster and Conrad Schnitzler with the more contemporary sounds of Pan Sonic and Coh. Slow motion rhythm boxes offer skeletal structures upon which Becker adds little more than minimalist synthetic percolations, metallic arppegiations, and Spartan bass tones, swirling in a black-hole dub production coldly anticipating what Pole would do some 20 years later. A very welcome reissue.
MPEG Stream: "Ein Wort"
MPEG Stream: "Dubwise"

MONOTON Monotonprodukt 07 20y++ (Oral) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're sure that there are more than a few modern music nerds out there who hang on every word printed in The Wire, so the inevitable reissue of anything by Monoton will no doubt thrill those avid Wire readers. Of course, not everyone keeps one eye on the Wire; so allow us to reiterate what that fine British rag had penned about Monoton nearly a decade ago. The Wire had published a list, entitled "100 Records that set the world on fire (when no one was listening)," which included plenty of Wire favorites (Derek Bailey, Faust, Fushitsusha, Nurse With Wound, Bernhard Gunter, etc.) as well as a handful of brilliant records which apparently nobody else had ever heard. Monoton's Monotoprodukt 07 found its way onto that list of 100 seminal albums, despite the fact that barely anyone actually owned copies of this self-released album of Germanic proto-electronica. Wire scribe Biba Kopf was one of those lucky few and certainly said it better than we could have that this album "is so alive with the pulses that triggered many electronicas to come, from techno through trance to Mego's creeping static, you could make a case for Konrad Becker's guruhood. Yet for all its prescient washed out tones, threadbare textures and minimalist rigour, it has the edge on much that followed. Adopting an imperious art stance towards mainstreams and margins alike, Becker cast a cold analytic eye over electronica's urfathers, picking up on Suicide's jittertronic urgency, if not their melodrama, and DAF's throbbing sequencers, but with the sex threat removed, which he patched into his own crackling circuits, hissing vistas and tumbling beatstreams."
Lo and behold, the good people at Oral in Canada (who also happen to be the same folks who curate the Mutek electronic music festival) were kind enough to reissue Monotonprodukt 07, complete with a beefed-up re-mastered sound, making for a very cool and highly recommended listen!
MPEG Stream: "Dancing & Singing"
MPEG Stream: "Fire"
MPEG Stream: "Root Of 1 = 1"

MONSTRE Sucre 3 (Alien8 Recordings) cd 12.98

MONTAG Are You A Friend? (Gooom ) cd 15.98
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MOOG (OST) (Hollywood) cd 17.98
Where would we be without the Moog synthesizer? Well, we'd be missing a whole lot of our favorite artists that's for sure. In fact Stereolab would just disappear in the blink of an eye. Thankfully, the Moog is still everywhere, and for years has shaped the sounds and songs of tons of our favorite bands. None of us have seen the movie yet (by filmmaker/musician Hans Fjellestad), but the soundtrack is a doozy! Featuring tracks from Stereolab (obviously), Jean-Jaques Perrey, Luke Vibert, Meat Beat Manifesto, Tortoise, Money Mark, The Album Leaf, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins and loads more. But it's the bonus disc that hits the spot and offers up some of our favoritest classic Moog moments: Emerson, Lake And Palmer, Gary Numan, Devo, New Order, They Might Be Giants and of course Yes!
MPEG Stream: STEREOLAB "Variation One"
MPEG Stream: TORTOISE "Beautiful Love"

MOORE, STEVE Fever Dream / 30,000 Feet Deep (Mexican Summer) 10" 19.98
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John Carpenter. Goblin. Eighties sci-fi soundtracks. If those words have you frothing at the mouth, then this is for you. Also consider the facts: 2 new songs by 1/2 of Zombi, synth wizard Steve Moore, pressed onto limited edition 10" vinyl by Brooklyn's Mexican Summer label. They made just 500 copies, we only got a dozen. 'Nuff said? Another chunk of gloriously grooving yet sinister instrumental electronic sci-fi spaceouts, that sound like they could have been lifted straight out of some late night, straight to video, lost Carpenter flick. It of course sounds quite a bit like Steve's band Zombi, and thus suggest the above mentioned soundtrack music, but could also (like some of Zombi's output too) find a spot in a stargazing "cosmic disco" DJ's set.
Soaring synths, pulsing rhythms, fuzzy synthesized bass, mournful minor key melodies, primitive programmed rhythms, dramatic and moody and mysterious, so totally evocative and dreamy, and a bit cheesy, but in a good way. Shades of Tangerine Dream, this is definitely at the crossroads of spacey sci fi synth music and new age drift, bloopy and bleepy, almost video game sounding at times, but more often like the mood music from Phantasm or Halloween, where the main character is driving along the dark roads, it's probably raining, and while it's not explicitly scary yet, darkness and danger lurk just up ahead.
Ethereal and washed out, minimal and even a bit cold wave, this is total cinematic sci-fi new age space prog dream synth bliss.
Gorgeous packaging, extra thick vinyl, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each one machine numbered...

MOORE, STEVE Zero-Point Field (L.I.E.S.) 12" 10.98
Almost like a teaser for the forthcoming Zombi full length, Escape Velocity, comes this killer two track 12" from one half of Zombi, Steve Moore, whose solo recordings are (thankfully) not all that far removed from the Zombi mothership.
It's easy to be dismissive at this point of this sound, cuz there are just soooo many folks doing it, sci-fi soundtracks, eighties straight to video B movies, John Carpenter, Goblin, but Zombi were there first, and still do it better than most, and hearing Moore's latest blast of cosmic disco sci-fi nu-age techno synthscapery it's easy to see why he and his two man crew inspired such a legion of similarly sonically obsessed sci-fi minions.
The title track here is a fantastic chunk of outer space sci-fi synth drift, the robotic pulse underscores sweeping swells of moody melody, pappered with occasional bits of percussive bloopery, the rhythms muted and minimal, the pulsing synths driving the proceedings more than the beats, but the beats are still there, adding texture, and eventually a skittery skeletal framework for Moore's cinematic synthesized cosmic drift.
The flipside begins all washed out and woozy, lush, layered synth swirls, a slow moving outer space shimmer, but soon, the synth low end begins to percolate right below the surface, not quite disrupting the new age vibe, but adding a bit of momentum and propulsion. Eventually the beat comes in, but it's not so much a beat, as a pulse, a single house-y kick drum, but the result is perfect, adding just the slightest bit of groove, allowing the rest of the track to swirl and whirl and drift, all hazy and dreamily druggy and spaced out, the sound building to a driving and dramatic crescendo, before slipping away in a soft hazy swirl of slow fading synth shimmer. So good!
Needless to say, absolutely required listening for fans of Umberto, Zombi, Xander Harris, John Carpenter, Goblin, Blizaro, Applehead, Gatekeeper, Expo 70, Roll The Dice, Nightsatan, Twins and all the rest. Packaged in a plain black disco style big hole 12"s sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Frigia"
MPEG Stream: "Zero-Point Field"

MORCHEEBA Charango (Reprise) cd 17.98

MORCHEEBA Fragments of Freedom (Sire) cd 15.98
New Morcheeba album. Trip hop hooray.