MOGWAI Kicking a Dead Pig/Fear Satan Remixes (Jetset) 2cd 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.

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.

MOHN s/t (Kompakt) cd 16.98
We're a bit crazy about Wolfgang Voigt around here, especially in his guise as Gas, whose small body of work perfectly embodies what we now have come to know as Pop Ambient, the four Gas records ranking as most aQ-ers FAVORITE electronic records ever, records which also managed to make almost every one we know, whether they liked 'techno' or not, OBSESSIVE about techno music, albeit a very specific, very un-techno sounding variant. And in fact the Kompakt label, which Voigt runs, has pretty much redefined minimal techno, and like Gas, helped convince techno haters, that they didn't in fact hate techno, they just hadn't heard the right techno.
Mohn is a new duo consisting of Voigt, and his long time collaborator Jorg Burger (The Modernist), who have recorded together in the past as Burger/Ink and Burger/Voigt, but where those records were more beat driven, and yeah, more techno, this Mohn record is something else altogether, a swirling heady mix of cinematic drones, of soundtracky ambience and haunting beat driven atmospheres, the beats here less dancefloor driven and more part of the duo's sonic palette, as they strive to conjure up some other futuristic soundworld that to our ears sounds like a mix of the dystopian future worlds of Blade Runner and Escape From New York, with the more clinical alternate futures of Logan's Run and Gattica, the record's opener setting the scene with a dense sprawling drone, woven together from deep pulsations, and crumbling distorted buzz, a blurred chordal shimmer smeared into a hazy ambience, that is at once darkly mysterious and hauntingly ominous,. The track is flecked with strange swooping electronics, and hushed barely there beats, slowly building to something majestic and sinister and downright menacing.
The vibe switches dramatically though as the second track introduces strange looped and layered almost operatic vocal snippets, over a skittery skeletal shuffle, and woozy blooping melodies, the first half nearly ambient, the second a twisted bit of super abstract ping ponging digidub, that again, is less about propulsion and groove that texture and timbre, and like that first track, it's evocative of some otherworld and similarly strangely cinematic. "Ambientot" begins as a sort of electronic slowcore, creeping and slithering, the main 'groove' wreathed in lush swirls of faux strings and swoonsome synths, that to these ears make this sound like it could be "Love Theme from Mohn", a hauntingly romantic shuffling drift, rife with strange melodies and mesmerizing (often backwards) effects. "Saturn" finds the duo drifting into Carpenter / Goblin territory, a sort of pulsing eighties VHS synthscape, which the duo quickly and deftly transform into something much more mysterious, deep doomy pulses, swirling swaths of fluttery effects, softly shimmery synths, the whole thing gradually transforming, sounding in fact a bit like an electronic/synth take on the brooding slowbuild jazz of the Necks.
The rest of the record continues to paint a sonic picture of this imaginary future, taking much more recognizable minimal electro-dub, and wreathing it in a woozy shuffling rhythm, and a thick fog of smeared synth and blurred FX, or unfurling lush gaseous expanses of hiss and hum, billowing dreamily over muted melodies, and ever shifting textures, wedding crackly buzz to Tangerine Dream like synthscapery, and wrapping it in a prismatic haze of softly roiling electronic percussion and sublimated effects. "Mohn" strangely enough might be the most 'techno' of the bunch, but even here, the sound is smeared into an almost aqueous dronescape, the beats seeming to hang weightless, drifting to and fro, as if driven by some strange tidal influence, all the while the background blossoming like a time lapse filmstrip, growing ever so much more washed out and ethereal, before finally finishing off with a dreamy, but strangely convoluted chunk of Pop Ambience, the sounds all hushed and hazy, dreamy and drifty, but the arrangement, stuttery and glitchy, the lurching stop/starts, giving the amorphous soundscape a strange sort of non-rhythm, which makes it all the more compelling, and strangely mesmerizing.
So gorgeous. Absolutely recommended for fans of all the Pop Ambient collections, as well as the Gas records, but really, anyone into dark electronic soundscapes and mysterious cinematic minimalism will easily fall under Mohn's spell.
MPEG Stream: "Einrauschen"
MPEG Stream: "Schwarzer Schwan"
MPEG Stream: "Wiegenlined"

MOHN s/t (Kompakt) 2lp 29.00
We're a bit crazy about Wolfgang Voigt around here, especially in his guise as Gas, whose small body of work perfectly embodies what we now have come to know as Pop Ambient, the four Gas records ranking as most aQ-ers FAVORITE electronic records ever, records which also managed to make almost every one we know, whether they liked 'techno' or not, OBSESSIVE about techno music, albeit a very specific, very un-techno sounding variant. And in fact the Kompakt label, which Voigt runs, has pretty much redefined minimal techno, and like Gas, helped convince techno haters, that they didn't in fact hate techno, they just hadn't heard the right techno.
Mohn is a new duo consisting of Voigt, and his long time collaborator Jorg Burger (The Modernist), who have recorded together in the past as Burger/Ink and Burger/Voigt, but where those records were more beat driven, and yeah, more techno, this Mohn record is something else altogether, a swirling heady mix of cinematic drones, of soundtracky ambience and haunting beat driven atmospheres, the beats here less dancefloor driven and more part of the duo's sonic palette, as they strive to conjure up some other futuristic soundworld that to our ears sounds like a mix of the dystopian future worlds of Blade Runner and Escape From New York, with the more clinical alternate futures of Logan's Run and Gattica, the record's opener setting the scene with a dense sprawling drone, woven together from deep pulsations, and crumbling distorted buzz, a blurred chordal shimmer smeared into a hazy ambience, that is at once darkly mysterious and hauntingly ominous,. The track is flecked with strange swooping electronics, and hushed barely there beats, slowly building to something majestic and sinister and downright menacing.
The vibe switches dramatically though as the second track introduces strange looped and layered almost operatic vocal snippets, over a skittery skeletal shuffle, and woozy blooping melodies, the first half nearly ambient, the second a twisted bit of super abstract ping ponging digidub, that again, is less about propulsion and groove that texture and timbre, and like that first track, it's evocative of some otherworld and similarly strangely cinematic. "Ambientot" begins as a sort of electronic slowcore, creeping and slithering, the main 'groove' wreathed in lush swirls of faux strings and swoonsome synths, that to these ears make this sound like it could be "Love Theme from Mohn", a hauntingly romantic shuffling drift, rife with strange melodies and mesmerizing (often backwards) effects. "Saturn" finds the duo drifting into Carpenter / Goblin territory, a sort of pulsing eighties VHS synthscape, which the duo quickly and deftly transform into something much more mysterious, deep doomy pulses, swirling swaths of fluttery effects, softly shimmery synths, the whole thing gradually transforming, sounding in fact a bit like an electronic/synth take on the brooding slowbuild jazz of the Necks.
The rest of the record continues to paint a sonic picture of this imaginary future, taking much more recognizable minimal electro-dub, and wreathing it in a woozy shuffling rhythm, and a thick fog of smeared synth and blurred FX, or unfurling lush gaseous expanses of hiss and hum, billowing dreamily over muted melodies, and ever shifting textures, wedding crackly buzz to Tangerine Dream like synthscapery, and wrapping it in a prismatic haze of softly roiling electronic percussion and sublimated effects. "Mohn" strangely enough might be the most 'techno' of the bunch, but even here, the sound is smeared into an almost aqueous dronescape, the beats seeming to hang weightless, drifting to and fro, as if driven by some strange tidal influence, all the while the background blossoming like a time lapse filmstrip, growing ever so much more washed out and ethereal, before finally finishing off with a dreamy, but strangely convoluted chunk of Pop Ambience, the sounds all hushed and hazy, dreamy and drifty, but the arrangement, stuttery and glitchy, the lurching stop/starts, giving the amorphous soundscape a strange sort of non-rhythm, which makes it all the more compelling, and strangely mesmerizing.
So gorgeous. Absolutely recommended for fans of all the Pop Ambient collections, as well as the Gas records, but really, anyone into dark electronic soundscapes and mysterious cinematic minimalism will easily fall under Mohn's spell.
MPEG Stream: "Einrauschen"
MPEG Stream: "Schwarzer Schwan"
MPEG Stream: "Wiegenlined"

MOHOLY-NAGY Like Mirage (Temporary Residence Ltd.) 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 Ltd.) 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
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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 Ghosts (Imbalance Computer Music) cd 16.98
Latest from this long running minimal techno outfit, aka sonic alchemist Robert Henke, and another fantastic excursion into a murky world of mysterious sound, minimal skeletal beats and crunchy, staticky ambience, dubby and this time around, surprisingly big-beat heavy. Long gone are the days of Monolake's 'heroin house' murk, the later releases by Henke displaying a lush sound palette, even at their darkest and moodiest, the sounds themselves are still glistening and prismatic, but Henke never shies away from employing sonic detritus as well, whether that means bursts of static, or sheets of crumbling distortion or clouds of white noise hiss. The title track gives us a glimpse of Monolake's new sound, which is seriously propulsive and downright funky, almost a little jungly, with a distinctive techstep vibe, but wreathed in crackle and crunch, making it sound a little Digital Hardcore as well, but Henke keeps things tight and controlled, so it never veers totally into any of those other realms, it remains mostly tightly coiled and minimal, but Henke also adds some creepy whispered vocodered vocals which add a whole other element.
The rest of the record is not nearly so block rocking (although a few tracks do come close), definitely hewing closer to Henke's more minimal roots, but within that sound, Henke definitely mixes it up, creating some serious headphone ear candy, a lush minimal liquid skitter one second, the beats seemingly made from the sound of marbles or various items rolling on a hard surface, some severe ultra pristine Raster Noton style click and crunch the next, although in both cases Henke definitely adds his own unique twist. There's one track where things get downright housey, complete with buried female vocals and weirdly reverbed handclaps, while elsewhere the sound does occasionally shift into strange buzz drenched metal percussed skitter grooves, or blisses out into gauzey, hazy almost Caretaker sounding ambience, or blossoms into warm whirling almost proggy synthscapes, or oozes into a hushed almost static black ambient rumble. Pretty fantastic stuff, but then, we've sort of come to expect that from Henke's Monolake.
MPEG Stream: "Ghosts"
MPEG Stream: "Taku"
MPEG Stream: "Afterglow"
MPEG Stream: "Hitting The Surface"

MONOLAKE Ghosts (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.
NOW ON VINYL!!
Latest from this long running minimal techno outfit, aka sonic alchemist Robert Henke, and another fantastic excursion into a murky world of mysterious sound, minimal skeletal beats and crunchy, staticky ambience, dubby and this time around, surprisingly big-beat heavy. Long gone are the days of Monolake's 'heroin house' murk, the later releases by Henke displaying a lush sound palette, even at their darkest and moodiest, the sounds themselves are still glistening and prismatic, but Henke never shies away from employing sonic detritus as well, whether that means bursts of static, or sheets of crumbling distortion or clouds of white noise hiss. The title track gives us a glimpse of Monolake's new sound, which is seriously propulsive and downright funky, almost a little jungly, with a distinctive techstep vibe, but wreathed in crackle and crunch, making it sound a little Digital Hardcore as well, but Henke keeps things tight and controlled, so it never veers totally into any of those other realms, it remains mostly tightly coiled and minimal, but Henke also adds some creepy whispered vocodered vocals which add a whole other element.
The rest of the record is not nearly so block rocking (although a few tracks do come close), definitely hewing closer to Henke's more minimal roots, but within that sound, Henke definitely mixes it up, creating some serious headphone ear candy, a lush minimal liquid skitter one second, the beats seemingly made from the sound of marbles or various items rolling on a hard surface, some severe ultra pristine Raster Noton style click and crunch the next, although in both cases Henke definitely adds his own unique twist. There's one track where things get downright housey, complete with buried female vocals and weirdly reverbed handclaps, while elsewhere the sound does occasionally shift into strange buzz drenched metal percussed skitter grooves, or blisses out into gauzey, hazy almost Caretaker sounding ambience, or blossoms into warm whirling almost proggy synthscapes, or oozes into a hushed almost static black ambient rumble. Pretty fantastic stuff, but then, we've sort of come to expect that from Henke's Monolake.
MPEG Stream: "Ghosts"
MPEG Stream: "Taku"
MPEG Stream: "Afterglow"
MPEG Stream: "Hitting The Surface"

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
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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
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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
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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
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

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

MONOLAKE Polaroid (Din) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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.
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
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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
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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 Fever Dream / 30,000 Feet Deep (Mexican Summer) 10" 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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 Light Echoes (Cuneiform) cd 16.98
Last list, we had Solar Maximum, the new one from Majeure, aka Zombi drummer A.E. Paterra. It was all kinds of cosmic synth new age disco-tinged bliss, naturally. And, as we mentioned then, there's also a new solo album from the OTHER half of the Zombi duo, Mr. Steve Moore. Here 'tis, Light Echoes, released on the venerable prog rock/new music label Cuneiform, which is kind of like when a modern '80s styled heavy metal band like In Solitude or Slough Feg gets signed to Metal Blade.
Moore is not to be outdone by Majeure, delivering the spacey, synthy, shimmering hypno-minimalism over six tracks, the last one ("Ancient Shorelines II") stretching out for nearly a half-hour...
Any fan of the more melodic and atmospheric side of Zombi (or Majeure), should find Moore's glowing and glimmering electronic pulsations here quite enjoyable.
This might be called Light Echoes, and it has its blissful moments for sure, but it's not all light and fluffy, not at all. "Aldebran Exchange" is super moody gloomy piece, leaning heavily on pitched-down drones. So, throughout, there's some shades of somber darkness to these echoes of light.
MPEG Stream: "Tyken's Rift"
MPEG Stream: "Light Echoes I"
MPEG Stream: "Aldebran Exchange "

MOORE, STEVE Zero-Point Field (L.I.E.S.) 12" 10.98
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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.

MORDANT MUSIC SyMptoMs (Mordant Music) cd 17.98
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MPEG Stream: "Pissing In Sinks"
MPEG Stream: "Belgian Blues"
MPEG Stream: "In Truth Is Wine"

MORDANT MUSIC SyMptoMs (Version) (Mordant Music) 10" 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Pissing In Sinks"
MPEG Stream: "Belgian Blues"
MPEG Stream: "In Truth Is Wine"

MORDANT MUSIC / SHACKLETON / VINDICATRIX Picking O'er The Bones (Mordant Music) cd 16.98
Not sure of what the connection is between aQ faves Shackleton, the Skull Disco label, and Mordant music really, they seem somehow interconnected, Shackleton having been a part of Mordant Music at some point maybe, doesn't really matter, all you need to know is that this disc collects all the Shackleton related releases from this era (the Mordant era?), all WAY out of print, and all seriously kick ass. In fact we've been trying to get these for ages, the first time we heard it we freaked out, proclaiming it the electronic music record of the year, or weirdo dubstap jam of the year, or some similar rave, and thus, needless to say, this disc blows us away. It has been out for a while, but we only just now managed to get enough to list. Which also means when we run out, we very ell may not be able to get more, so consider yourself warned.
So yeah, these tracks are dark and spacey, and dense and weirdly funky and groovy, the core of most of these tracks is definitely dubstep, moreso on the Shackleton tracks proper than the others. "Stalker" is spare and skeletal, with woozy synths, plenty of skittery rhythms, and some awesome rubbery squlechy bass wobble, easily a classic dubstep jam if there ever was one. "I Want To Eat You" takes the same sound and blisses it out a bit, adding a Middle Eastern tinge, channeling Muslimgauze through effects laden abstract dub. "El Din" and "El Din 2" offer up more of the same, exotic and mysterious, moody and minimal, shifting from Eastern shuffle to dark Chain Reactiony pulse and back again.
Then there are the Mordant Music tracks, which are way more techno sounding, more beat-y with chopped up melodies and soaring synths, some with thick throbbing bass warble, one with creepy electronic buzz woven into the sklittery shuffle, and then there's the record closer, "Marston Moor", a super noisy noise drenched creepfest, complete with shriekd black metal vocals buried in the mix, swirling and chaotic, with what sound like processed horns, would kill to hear a whole record of this stuff.
Finally there's two tracks from Vindicatrix, one a tripped out druggy FX-fest, vocals doused in delay and sent spinning into the ether, super minimal beats and rumbling low end buzz, a weird sort of post industrial glitchscape, while the second is a murky chunk of minimal techno dub, with haunting processed female vocals, creepy Goblin-y synths, all draped in a blurred grime-y eighties haze.
Require listening for fans of tripped out electronica, weird abstract dub(step) and damaged glitch beat minimalism.
MPEG Stream: SHACKLETON "Stalker"
MPEG Stream: SHACKLETON "I Want To Eat You"
MPEG Stream: MORDANT MUSIC "Hummdrumm"
MPEG Stream: VINDICATRIX "Private Places (RMX)"
MPEG Stream: MORDANT MUSIC "Marston Moor"

MORGENSTERN, BARBARA Fjorden (Monika) cd 16.98
Ms. Morgenstern is a German (and German-language) singer/songwriter in the indie-pop-electronica genre. While she lacks the extraordinary vocal abilities (or unique quirks) of, say, a Bjork, she has a nice, intimate voice and her music is warm and lovely: mellow electronic beats, sad guitar melodies, cinematic/romantic moods.
Many of the tracks on this, her second album, were produced by Stefan Betke (aka Pole), and several make use of his signature crackling "surface noise" technique (also a hallmark of Tarwater, whose Robert Lippok also appears on this disc, drumming on one track, which he co-wrote with Morgenstern)... For fans of, among other folks: Andrea Parker, Laub, Lali Puna, To Rococo Rot, and the other artists already namechecked above. Pleasant, nice.
RealAudio clip: "Tag Und Nacht"

MORI, IKUE Garden (Tzadik) cd 15.98
Her first collection of all-drum machine (+ effects and bamboo) compositions. Beautiful electronic beat-scapes.

MORI, IKUE Labyrinth (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Former no-wave (ex-DNA) drummer Ikue Mori has established a career in downtown NYC, performing solo and collaborating with others, as an improvisor with specially modified drum machines! This new Tzadik disc, though, sees her utilizing a laptop computer instead. The result is an album of tinkling, skittering, liquid, percussive electronica. Some of the tracks kinda sound like an army of clocks (from tiny watches to grandfather-sized) that's been recorded and then played backwards, at constantly shifting speeds. Revving motors and flowing streams also come to mind. Very active, very textural, mesmerizing.
RealAudio clip: "Pulse"

MORODER, GIORGIO From Here to Eternity (Oasis) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Incredible reissue from 1977 reminiscent of his production on Donna Summer's "I Feel Love." On his own, he still proves himself as a formidable producer laying down disco grooves that will take you to a place where you are always in polyester, dancing in the spotlight. Highly recommended.

MORRIS, CHRIS Blue Jam (Warp) cd 17.98
I have become completely obsessed with Chris Morris. He makes me sad. Sad that we don't have anyone nearly as funny in the United States.
He's been a staple of British radio / television for years now. And it seems like since day one, he's been trying to get himself blackballed. Or killed. His BBC program The Day Today, was a Today Show parody. Complete with a washed up, neurotic weatherman (the also amazing Steve Coogan), a narcissistic and completely cruel host (Morris), and a gorgeous and ice cold business reporting babe that spoke in complete gibberish. After The Day Today was cancelled, came Brass Eye, one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. This time a parody of evening news programs like 48 Hours or 60 Minutes, taking things even further. The goal of this show seemed to be to publically humiliate trusted government officials and public figures (quite successfully we should add) and contributed to Brass Eye's rather brief run. Then came Blue Jam, a totally surreal and unstructured radio show. featuring bizarre (and often offensive) free association / high (low) concept skits over music from a who's who of modern electronica / trip hop (Later turned into an even more unstructured television program called Jam. loosely adapted from the radio show). The Blue Jam cd is basically the best bits from the Blue Jam radio show, featuring Chris Morris and a few other folks, eating and killing and arguing and shitting off their limbs (?) over music from Labradford, Propellerheads, Amon Tobin, Funki Porcini, Herbaliser, Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Fila Brazillia, 9lazy9, Clifford Gilberto, Jimi Tenor, and more. Until we can get Brass Eye over here, Chris Morris comes to you only via Blue Jam, quite possibly the funniest headphone mindfuck ever.
RealAudio clip: "Blue Jam 05"
RealAudio clip: "Blue Jam 07"
RealAudio clip: "Blue Jam 12"
RealAudio clip: "Blue Jam 16"
RealAudio clip: "Blue Jam 20"

MORWELL UNLIMITED MEETS KING TUBBY Morpheus Special (Select Cuts) 12" 9.98
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12" from the second volume of Select Cuts From Blood & Fire featuring Kid Loco's contribution to the comp, plus a dub mix of his dub.

MOSKITOO Drape (12K) cd 14.98

MOSKITOO Remixes (12K) cd 8.98

MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO. Like A Duck To Water (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
Billed as the world's first all-synthesizer band, the trio of Dave Borden, Judy Borsher and Steve Drews were obscure '70s "electronica" pioneers. This cd reissues their second (and last) album, originally released in 1976. Influenced by repetitive minimalist composers like Riley, Reich and Glass, along with German synth ensembles like Cluster and Tangerine Dream (although these Americans' early work was contemporary with the beginning of the krautrock electronics scene). We were also reminded at times of Italian horror soundtrack artists Goblin's moodier moments. Then, there's a couple parts that could be said to sound like a "switched on version" of your local TV news show's theme music, but we enjoyed those too. Indeed, we were pleasantly surprised by this disc, 'cause we seem to recall that the previous MMPMC reissue on Cuneiform was kinda lame Perry & Kingsley style Moog "rock" -- whereas "Like A Duck To Water" is instead a really great, mellow, spacey synth record, featuring hypnotic, repetitive, shifting compositions, some of them ten to twenty minutes in length. Sure, you'd have to imagine that the folks involved probably "progressed" into full-on New Age music-making (that's only a speculation) in the '80s, but the music on this disc avoids that fate. Good stuff, great rainy day music. Includes 3 previously unreleased tracks, and a Quicktime movie for PC and Mac (except, it wouldn't play on any of our Macs, darn it).
RealAudio clip: "C-A-G-E Part II"
RealAudio clip: "All Set"
RealAudio clip: "Waterwheel"

MOTHER MALLARD'S PORTABLE MASTERPIECE CO. Music By David Borden (World Arbiter) cd 16.98
First time release of these 1976-77 recordings by Moog minimalism pioneer Dave Borden and his Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpice Company, oddly enough released on the World Arbiter label, from whence we got the great "Lost Sounds of the Tao" and "Roots of Gamelan" cds we've recently praised. I guess their notion of world music can encompass white Americans with synths as well!
Composer Borden's all-Moog ensemble drew upon his experiences as Bob Moog's "test pilot" in the late '60s, and acknowledged inspirations Philip Glass and Terry Riley. As demonstrated here, Mother Mallard was all about looooong tracks of repetitive, bubbling synths, pleasantly trancey and mesmerizing, with complex interlocking cyclic rhythmic layers like a futuristic (circa the '70s) take on Medieval cantos. The cover photo shows a whole choir onstage behind the long-haired Moog-operators, and indeed after many minutes of build-up, human voices join the electronics. Famed avant-garde singer Joan LaBarbra solos, backed by the Thomas Sokol Chorale. It sounds a bit Magma-like, actually, certainly religious -- the text comes from the Revelation of St. John the Divine. If you liked the Cuneiform reissue of this band's "Like A Duck To Water" or dig on the idea of Moogs n' minimalism, check this out.
MPEG Stream: "The Continuing Story of Counterpoint Part 3"

MOTION Dust (12K) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Well executed avant minimalist stuff from Motion, a one-man project whose 40 minutes of barely-there atmospherics bring to mind an early summer evening, near silence except for the sometimes-distant, sometimes-near whirr of metallic insects, organic buzzes, shimmering soft clicks, warm bass tones, lush as velvet. All at a pace slower than heartbeat. Like I said, barely there. In a good way. I'd recommend this to fans of Taylor Deupree's 12k label who released this record, and fans of the Raster Noton label.
RealAudio clip: "Lo.Jack"