MORDANT MUSIC SyMptoMs (Mordant 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.

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

MOTION Pictures (Motion) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So really what is the difference between Motion and Oval? You tell me, cuz I can't hear any difference. Twelve tracks of variously pitched glitch samples collaged into delicate structures that occasionally hint at something which could be a melody.

MOTION SICKNESS OF TIME TRAVEL A Marbled Youth (Old Frontiers) cassette 8.98
Geez, Rachel Evans is really developing into quite the electronic songstress. Over the past four years or so, her Motion Sickness Of Time Travel has grown from her exploratory bedroom synth-drones into impressionistically sparkling electronica born from the retro-futurism of Harmonia and Delia Derbyshire, with tinges of deconstructed electro, through the druggy, rounded basslines that gird a couple of her tracks on this new cassette on Old Frontiers. "Cut Away" sprinkles bright glissandos of kosmische synths on top of those strange basslines with Evans' wordless voice drifting through the mix in piles of reverb. "Rising" tonebends sad, little melodies amidst a burbling, step-sequencing, arpeggiated fizzings, and star-burst electric blossomings. "In Our Dreams" cycles in a satellite orbit with terse, deep-space bleeps echoing into a shimmering reflection pool of blue-green ambient wash, whose driftscape is wrapped in Evans dubbed-out / washed-out breathy vocalizations. So nice. Twenty-one minutes on this cassette, in a pressing of 100 copies.
MPEG Stream: "Cut Away"

MOTION SICKNESS OF TIME TRAVEL Oust (Sic Sic) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Our favorite queen of the cassette - Rachel Evans / Motion Sickness Of Time Travel returns! Oust is her most recent release, just released by the German imprint Sic Sic; and yet again, Evans unfurls a gorgeous collection of bleary-eyed electronic abstractions. This time she tilts in an austere direction, reducing the bubbling percolations in favor of oceanic undulations and woozily sung lullabies all dunked in the reverb pool. The opening track "Black Umbrella" pulls her breathy vocalizations to the foreground above her darkened Schnitzler-inspired syncopations. The second track "Row Of Peach Trees" (certainly an allusion to the native Georgian countryside) begins with a similar vibe through her cybernetic arpeggiations and taut filter sweeps, but over the five minute piece, Evans deftly transitions the austere electronics into a twinkling kosmische sound topped with one of those lovely tone-bent melodies that have become an occasional yet beguiling recurring motif in her work. Again she focuses on the vocalization toward the end of side one of this cassette, reprising those melodies found elsewhere. The second side of the tape waltzes around her bright swells all crystal clear, slow melodies that never sound as cloyingly sweet as some of the new age copyists as of late, but there's much more of a sparkling austerity going on here than at the beginning. Lovely as ever. Very limited stock as with all of the Motion Sickness tapes we get in! Just 100 were pressed.
MPEG Stream: "Black Umbrellas"
MPEG Stream: "Rows Of Peach Trees"
MPEG Stream: "The Secret Door"

MOTION SICKNESS OF TIME TRAVEL Penchant Mode (No Kings) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Probably, the most Conrad Schnitzler we've heard in Motion Sickness Of Time Travel, and you better believe that's a very good thing. The cosmic arpeggiations that Rachel Evans uses to drive the side long track "Initiation" are very dark and squelchy, with the propulsive, '70s cyborg vibe that Schnitzler brought to Ballet Stratique; but with her signature incorporation of a hushed, heavenly voice and solar-flare streams of long synth melodies, the track is very much her own and one of the better things we've heard from her! "Growing Things" is a much airier affair of effervescent electronics that flange through aquatically spluttering sequencing and slowly evolve into the backdrop for Evans' lullaby vocals. Both tracks were recorded on Halloween of 2012, with the first seeming very much in tune with the holiday and the latter being a Spartan response anticipating the grey winter skies of rural Georgia. Just 100 copies were printed of this one, and it's a 32 minute long tape. Don't expect this one to last be around for long.
MPEG Stream: "Initiation"

MOTION SICKNESS OF TIME TRAVEL s/t (Spectrum Spools) 2cd 23.00
NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! Double cd in fact.
Rachel Evans brings her humid, oozing synth explorations to Spectrum Spools, which has become quite the launching pad for a wide array of outsider electronics as curated through the judicious ear of Emeralds' John Elliott. The name of Evans' project is lifted from William S. Burroughs' novel The Soft Machine; and with her decentering, liminal drift of half-formed / half-dissolved constructions, she finds herself peering between the kudzu-encrusted fields of her native Lagrange, Georgia and the imagined soundscapes of a primordial Gondwanaland (time-travel for her seems to go backwards in time, not forwards). After close to a couple dozen releases (mostly in the micro-edition format), she's either gotten the doseage right on the Dramamine, or she's acclimated to the queasy side effects of jumping between time and space, as this eponymous record isn't nearly as woozy and narcotized as her previous work. "The Dream" starts out quite dark, with backward-masked slashes that parallel the thickets of razored noise from Current 93's early collage work; but she quickly escapes from these bad vibes into a lengthy daydream of shimmering ambience laced with bright, effervescent sequences and some rather Vangelis-like triumphant synth stabs. "The Center" spins around a latticework of crystalline sequences that blur into massive, oceanic pools of rippling sound, with her voice looped and smeared into an ethereal bliss. "Summer Of The Cat's Eye" is a mellow impressionist piece of synth jamminess akin to Tangerine Dream's wanderings across the keyboard. "One Perfect Moment" is very reverential of John Elliott's work in Emeralds and all of his solo projects, with a sequenced glissando streaming beneath the slow unfurling of bittersweet tonal chords and Evans' pleading vocal delivery. Easily, the most arresting track she's recorded to date, rounding out another fantastic album from Evans' Motion Sickness Of Time Travel.
MPEG Stream: "The Center"
MPEG Stream: "One Perfect Moment"

MOTION SICKNESS OF TIME TRAVEL s/t (Spectrum Spools) 2lp 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Rachel Evans brings her humid, oozing synth explorations to Spectrum Spools, which has become quite the launching pad for a wide array of outsider electronics as curated through the judicious ear of Emeralds' John Elliott. The name of Evans' project is lifted from William S. Burroughs' novel The Soft Machine; and with her decentering, liminal drift of half-formed / half-dissolved constructions, she finds herself peering between the kudzu-encrusted fields of her native Lagrange, Georgia and the imagined soundscapes of a primordial Gondwanaland (time-travel for her seems to go backwards in time, not forwards). After close to a couple dozen releases (mostly in the micro-edition format), she's either gotten the doseage right on the Dramamine, or she's acclimated to the queasy side effects of jumping between time and space, as this eponymous record isn't nearly as woozy and narcotized as her previous work. "The Dream" starts out quite dark, with backward-masked slashes that parallel the thickets of razored noise from Current 93's early collage work; but she quickly escapes from these bad vibes into a lengthy daydream of shimmering ambience laced with bright, effervescent sequences and some rather Vangelis-like triumphant synth stabs. "The Center" spins around a latticework of crystalline sequences that blur into massive, oceanic pools of rippling sound, with her voice looped and smeared into an ethereal bliss. "Summer Of The Cat's Eye" is a mellow impressionist piece of synth jamminess akin to Tangerine Dream's wanderings across the keyboard. "One Perfect Moment" is very reverential of John Elliott's work in Emeralds and all of his solo projects, with a sequenced glissando streaming beneath the slow unfurling of bittersweet tonal chords and Evans' pleading vocal delivery. Easily, the most arresting track she's recorded to date, rounding out another fantastic album from Evans' Motion Sickness Of Time Travel.
MPEG Stream: "The Center"
MPEG Stream: "One Perfect Moment"

MOTOR Hyper Machine (Dim Mak) cd 13.98
Even if they hadn't called their new album Hyper Machine, we expect we'd still have ended up using both those words in our review of this, the latest blast of high energy EBM mechanoid mayhem from the over the top (and somewhat tongue in cheek?) techno duo known as Motor. Formerly on the Mute label, they've jumped ship for this release, which actually came out in Europe last year on the Shitkatapult label, under original title Metal Machine, with different cover art and a slightly altered tracklisting (3 more cuts on this one), just to be confusing we suppose, though exposure to their music is disorienting enough, automatically locking your body into mechanical robot rhythms and assaulting your ears with all manner of distorted zips and zaps, bleeps and blaps, relentlessly punishing beats and varispeed, pitch-shifting dronefuzz, as if every single knob on all their gear is constantly being turned, up and up and up. Mostly instrumental, their sonics seem derived both from video games AND industrial strength grinding tools, like a Teutonic Tron soundtrack. Imagine skweee gone "Sprockets". That's kinda what this sounds like. Nothing subtle about it. Unapologetically techno. None more techno!! In one track, an ominous voice says, "What's that you say? You say you don't like techno? Well ain't that a bitch." Well, we don't like ALL techno, but there's something about Motor that really can't be denied. Join the party! And of course if you liked Klunk and Unhuman, the previous Motor discs on Mute, you'll like this one too for sure.
While some techno knowitalls will probably hate us for saying this, if you were gonna buy just one "techno" record this year (outside of those in the Pop Ambient style on the Kompakt label that we love love love), then Motor's Hyper Machine is IT.
MPEG Stream: "Kick It"
MPEG Stream: "Schism"
MPEG Stream: "Death Rave"

MOTOR Klunk (Mute) cd 16.98
Normally the way to get me (Allan) to listen to, let alone like, a record *isn't* to tell me that it's got elements of techno, acid house, and/or Hi-NRG dance music to it. Comparisons to various '80s industrial/club culture icons like Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb are also not terribly enticing, either. Yet this album, with its stark, stylish black and white (and red) graphics and suggestively Kraftwerkian name and title somehow drew me in, and guess what? I ended up really digging it! (No, not dancing to it, though I'm sure people will.) The dozen, almost entirely instrumental tracks on Motor's full-length debut may be a species of techno/house music, but they're sufficiently raw and ominously droning to appeal to me as a pure listening experience... the relentless 4/4 energy here is simply brutal, and this disc is thick and heavy with machine beats and super-distorted synths, the kind that sound like dive-bombing Stukkas! Sure, it's Sprocketsy but ballsy too, this trans-Atlantic duo (one guy from Minneapolis, another from Paris) making the perfect in-my-imagination Euro techno ideal of computer-jerked motorik electro grooves, tranced-out tones, and video game gibbering...
OK, gotta cut this review short as everyone else here is making fun of what I'm listening to, doing robotic dance moves and making raver glow stick comments, but I know they're all secretly enjoying this as well -- AND I think they're getting their work done faster and more efficiently, too!
(Note: this isn't to be confused with another, different electronic outfit also named Motor who hail from Russia.)
MPEG Stream: "Black Powder"
MPEG Stream: "King Of USA"

MOTOR Unhuman (Novamute) cd 15.98
Klunk, the debut from the Sprocketsy electronic duo Motor, was the unexpected dancefloor hit last year here -- that is if AQ had a dancefloor and if you asked Allan what the hit was. Unexpected especially since Allan's not known for his love of club music. Now Motor are back with a new album, Unhuman, and it's got the same distorted techno beat buzz and bleep goin' on, from the jittering funk that is "Bleep #1" to the sinister, more song-y "Night Drive" to the power tool robotics of "Flashback" (other evocative titles include "Drug Punk", "20 Volts Of Steel", and "Sikk"). There's obvious Detroit and Kraftwerk influences, and certainly lots of folks have regurgitated sounds like these since the '80s, but Motor have a special knack for this all right. It's the rigid, relentless, crunching beats, and the synth sizzle... going and going and going... in fact it's hard to write this review as I'm trancing out as I type thisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisis....
Fresh off tour (including a stint opening for industrial icons Nitzer Ebb), these guys are proud of their live, "punk" energy. It's stressed that Motor are a real band not purely the product of a computer or a DJ spinning stuff. As a result they've perhaps incorporated more melody (and vocals, sometimes scarily processed) into the mix this time 'round, but the more machine-like, brutal aspects of the debut haven't been disposed of either, so Allan says thumbs up on this one as well. Definitely get this if you liked their debut as much as he did.
MPEG Stream: "Flashback"
MPEG Stream: "Night Drive"

MOTORMARK Chrome Tape (DHR) cd 15.98

MOU, LIPS! Untree (Moar) cd 13.98
Mou, Lips! is the work of Andrea Gabriele formerly of the Italian project Tu m'; and here, Gabriele ventures into the digital headspace of pixel-point abstraction with smartly placed hints of a pop sweet tooth. His tone-bent digital errata and languid samples of intimately plucked classical guitar, blurting trumpets, maudlin French horns, and scratchy violins from old '78s return to some of the finer moments of post-pop electronica that Sonig and Mille Plateaux were championing many years ago. Untree is a quirky and playful album which lends itself to sounding like Terry Riley being redone by Lithops and / or Vladislav Delay.
MPEG Stream: "Non E Colpa Mia!"
MPEG Stream: "Untree"

MOUGHQUAL Sin-Sekai (Gooom) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MOULTON, TOM A Tom Moulton Mix (Soul Jazz) cd 23.00
Classic collection of legendary disco jams featuring producer Tom Moulton's golden touch with tracks by folks like Grace Jones, Isaac Hayes, Eddie Kendricks, BT Express, etc. Disco gold!

MOUNT FLORIDA Storm (Matador) 12" 9.98
Languid, slightly epic electronica from Scottish duo trying to attain the dramatic intensity of Massive Attack. Mixed results. Boy/girl vocals. Portishead vibe. On Matador!

MOUNT FLORIDA Storm (Matador) cdep 10.98
Languid, slightly epic electronica from Scottish duo trying to attain the dramatic intensity of Massive Attack. Mixed results. Boy/girl vocals. Portishead vibe. On Matador!

MOUNT FUJI DOOMJAZZ CORPORATION, THE Doomjazz Future Corpses! (Ad Noiseam) cd 17.98
Last year we reviewed a disc by the evocatively named Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, who we described as "equal parts DJ Shadow's Endtroducing, seventies horror movie soundtracks, late night jazz and super sluggish blown out trip hop" which is exactly what it sounded like. Long languid musical excursions through some dark rainy late night film noir wasteland, ghostly moaning horns, skittering minimal percussion, haunting strings, all tangled into super cinematic musical drama. Another band, who if there was any justice, would be the ones scoring big Hollywood thrillers instead of Danny Elfman...
Anyway, we recently learned that the Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble had an alter ego, a more metallic dark side, called, appropriately enough The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, we were pretty much sold after just hearing the name, so evocative of some mysterious 'star chamber', holed up in a secret underground bunker, tucked in some cave in the mountains, where mysterious hooded figures work alchemical magic creating mysterious and monstrous 'doomjazz'...
Supposedly, this Kilimanjaro offshoot was meant to sound a bit like SUNNO))) or Earth, albeit run through with bits of jazziness and smoke-y ambience. Well, it's not quite that heavy, but it is a bit, definitely heavier and darker and more ominous than the KDJE mothership, a sort of drone-y dark ambient drift, long stretches of low tones and distant horns, of rumbling guitars and thick washes of swirling low end. Actually it sounds more like Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble with all the jazz sucked out, leaving nothing but a blackened husk, a skeletal landscape of bleak blissed out shimmer, and slow creeping nightmare melodies. In some ways it sounds like a jazzier, more ambient, less primitive and ritualistic version of the Taj Mahal Travellers... A couple tracks do rev up to a full on SUNNO)))-y dirge, with the guitars threatening to engulf the dark ambience beneath it, but they never truly explode into actual sludge drenched doom, instead, they sort of drift darkly, roiling like a sky full of thick black clouds... It is most definitely doomy though, just not in the traditional sense, the sounds here are more Lustmord, Nordvargr, Bohren und Der Club Of Gore, Cold Meat Industries, with some more melancholy melody mixed in, disembodied reverbed guitar, the occasional almost-jazzy creep, it's more a sort of ambient slow core, wait a minute, "slowcore ambient doom" might be exactly the descriptor we were searching for.
Definitely recommended for fans of any of the above mentioned bands, or anyone into slowcore ambient doom!
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "5"
MPEG Stream: "8"

MOUNT KIMBIE Carbonated (Hot Flush) cd 14.98

MOUNT KIMBIE Crooks & Lovers (Hot Flush) cd 17.98
Equal parts J Dilla, Flying Lotus and Actress, the full length debut of London-based "post-dubstep" duo Mount Kimbie is easily our new favorite night time listens. With stoned soul edits, heavenly string washes, wonky ping pong rhythms, underwater electronic atmospherics and an off-kilter but hazy production, Crooks and Lovers is all about the post-club come down. Chill and subdued, often dreamy and strange but super immersive and narcotically propulsive. The kind of sound that wraps around you, compels you along into its strange slippery rhythms, before finally lulling you into a beautifully warped hypnogogic sleep state. Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Would Know"
MPEG Stream: "Before I Move Off"
MPEG Stream: "Carbonated"
MPEG Stream: "Mayor"

MOUNT KIMBIE Crooks & Lovers (Hot Flush) 2lp 23.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Equal parts J Dilla, Flying Lotus and Actress, the full length debut of London-based "post-dubstep" duo Mount Kimbie is easily our new favorite night time listens. With stoned soul edits, heavenly string washes, wonky ping pong rhythms, underwater electronic atmospherics and an off-kilter but hazy production, Crooks and Lovers is all about the post-club come down. Chill and subdued, often dreamy and strange but super immersive and narcotically propulsive. The kind of sound that wraps around you, compels you along into its strange slippery rhythms, before finally lulling you into a beautifully warped hypnogogic sleep state. Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Would Know"
MPEG Stream: "Before I Move Off"
MPEG Stream: "Carbonated"
MPEG Stream: "Mayor"

MOUNT VERNON ASTRAL TEMPLE Musick That Destroys Itself (Eskaton) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Working under his Mount Vernon Arts Lab guise, Drew Mulholland had the good fortune to perform alongside Coil at the Megalithomania festival in London, thoroughly impressing them with his drug addled electronic psychedelia, so much so that Coil offered to put out an album. Mulholland showed his appreciation by referencing Coil's legendary dabbling in occult magick in his choice of the slightly altered mystical moniker Mount Vernon Astral Temple as well as within the music itself, producing Musick That Destroys Itself as ritualist pieces centered around occult numerology, which as far as we can tell has something to do with the palindrome of the date February 2, 2002, and a purported 'time machine' which exists in the Brompton cemetary(!). If you've dug Coil's recent experiments with analog synths or the tripped out, ring modulator work-outs of Acid Mother's Temple, Mount Vernon Astral Temple's cosmic jams of dense electronic percolations and gaping reverberations will definitely be the perfect soundtrack for your next pagan ritual or secret ceremony! Strictly limited to 1000 copies.
MPEG Stream: "Warner's Reverie (excerpt)"

MOUNTAINS Choral (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp are the men behind these Mountains. The two met in Chicago in 1999 and now live in Brooklyn; yet despite their urban living, Mountains long for the great outdoors. The big sky of Montana. The thunderclouds of the Arizona high desert. The forests of upstate New York. In their effortless blur of elliptically strummed acoustic guitars and elegantly sculpted ambience, Mountains celebrate the natural world, as leaves, rain, dirt, and snow all seem to speak through their beautifully monochromatic compositions.
Choral happens to be Mountains third full album and their first for Thrill Jockey. It also stands as their best album to date and even surpasses the almost universally beloved Field Rituals solo album by Holtkamp on Type. The brightly rendered guitar which gilded Holtkamp's solo record features prominently in the mix for Choral, but it has been tempered with gaseous effects and post-shoegazing processes that swaddle the guitar chords with equally rich drones and electrified mist. Melodica, analog synth, piano, hand bells, something that sounds like a hurdy gurdy, even more guitar, and found object scrabbing a la Jewelled Antler make their way through the soft focus blur of the digital treatments, which give evidence for comparisons in equal measure to Fennesz and Cluster. As the shimmering tones of finger-picked guitars trickle out of the slow pulsing drone of the title track, Mountains conjure images of the bright orange sunlight saturating wind-blown leaves at sunset. Halos of light burst around each glistening layer of sound, but there is a bittersweet aura to many of the melodies that slip beyond their transcendent ambience, as if the summer sun they portray in their songs is soon to be lost to the blustery winds of Autumn and the cold nights of Winter. The maudlin atmospheres continue on the insistent acoustic guitar chords of "Telescope," a near perfect bliss-out instrumental, on through the broken-hearted bells and deep tonal flutter of "Melodica."
If there's any justice, this will be universally hailed as one of the best records of 2009. And for vinyl freeks: the lp version of Choral enjoys two additional tracks not found on the cd!
MPEG Stream: "Choral"
MPEG Stream: "Map Table "
MPEG Stream: "Melodica"

MOUNTAINS Choral (Thrill Jockey) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp are the men behind these Mountains. The two met in Chicago in 1999 and now live in Brooklyn; yet despite their urban living, Mountains long for the great outdoors. The big sky of Montana. The thunderclouds of the Arizona high desert. The forests of upstate New York. In their effortless blur of elliptically strummed acoustic guitars and elegantly sculpted ambience, Mountains celebrate the natural world, as leaves, rain, dirt, and snow all seem to speak through their beautifully monochromatic compositions.
Choral happens to be Mountains third full album and their first for Thrill Jockey. It also stands as their best album to date and even surpasses the almost universally beloved Field Rituals solo album by Holtkamp on Type. The brightly rendered guitar which gilded Holtkamp's solo record features prominently in the mix for Choral, but it has been tempered with gaseous effects and post-shoegazing processes that swaddle the guitar chords with equally rich drones and electrified mist. Melodica, analog synth, piano, hand bells, something that sounds like a hurdy gurdy, even more guitar, and found object scrabbing a la Jewelled Antler make their way through the soft focus blur of the digital treatments, which give evidence for comparisons in equal measure to Fennesz and Cluster. As the shimmering tones of finger-picked guitars trickle out of the slow pulsing drone of the title track, Mountains conjure images of the bright orange sunlight saturating wind-blown leaves at sunset. Halos of light burst around each glistening layer of sound, but there is a bittersweet aura to many of the melodies that slip beyond their transcendent ambience, as if the summer sun they portray in their songs is soon to be lost to the blustery winds of Autumn and the cold nights of Winter. The maudlin atmospheres continue on the insistent acoustic guitar chords of "Telescope," a near perfect bliss-out instrumental, on through the broken-hearted bells and deep tonal flutter of "Melodica."
If there's any justice, this will be universally hailed as one of the best records of 2009. And for vinyl freeks: the lp version of Choral enjoys two additional tracks not found on the cd!
MPEG Stream: "Choral"
MPEG Stream: "Map Table "
MPEG Stream: "Melodica"

MOUNTAINS Mountains Mountains (Catsup Plate Records) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This 4 track ep is unfortunately out of print, just a few weeks after getting released into the world. While this will undoubtedly cause consternation for many, the few who will be fortunate enough to grab this record will have a treasure in their hands. Mountains are the NYC duo of Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp, both of whom have a couple of solo recordings with Holtkamp's Field Studies album on Type being the most recent. The A side tracks most clearly reflect where Holtkamp took his solo work, with shimmering acoustic guitars spiralling in tricked out electronics that buzz, sing, chime, and fizzle into a minimalist patter of hallowed drone set against their elliptical finger picking. Very nice. But the B side pieces are where Mountains really shine. These two tracks had originally appeared on some micro-edition 3" cd-r thing that probably even disappeared even faster than this 12" will. Here, their guitars slowburn with the constant roar of post-shoegazing luminescence, set languid with a melachonic air. Belong would be a close reference, but there's a lot more sun-flecked shimmer than you get from Belong's narcotic wash. It's beautiful stuff, no matter how you look at it. Limited to 500, but these are the last copies we'll ever get...

MOUNTAINS s/t (Staartje) cd 14.98

MOUNTAINS Sewn (Apestaartje) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It took us a while to give this a listen as we didn't want the beauty of its pastoral green cover to let us down. Luckily when we finally gave this a listen we realized the sounds contained inside were just as rich and pretty. There is something so delicate and perfectly paced about this record. It unfolds at its own confident pace and when it ends you just kind of want to do it all over again. A duo from the east coast, Mountains so successfully merge acoustic instrumentation, electronics and field recordings to create a layered sound that is not only just totally beautiful but also feels as if there is something under it all that keeps you really interested and attached to every unfolding moment. With a tenderness that rivals Colleen and an aesthetic that reminds us of the shimmering beautiful side of Fennesz, "Sewn" is a record that totally rises above the pack of pastoral electronic tinged records we've seen come out in recent years (which is important, as the trend recently has to been drizzle a little electronic squiggle over generic pop or folk, suddenly transforming it into something AVANT!). To make this album Mountains traveled away from city life into upstate New York and recorded in remote areas of Connecticut, and in their travels they totally captured that feeling of water running through creeks, rain dropping on grass, and what it feels like to be away from it all, soaking up your surrounding and maybe even getting a few moments of total clarity. So nice!sd
MPEG Stream: "Sewn One"
MPEG Stream: "Below"

MOUSE ON MARS Actionist Respoke (Thrill Jockey) cd ep 8.98
Previewing German indie-electronica superstars Mouse On Mars' upcoming "Idiology" full-length (coming out April 17th) is this 3 track ep, which presents three versions of the song "Actionist Respoke": album version, MoM remix, and MoM with Herbert (Dr. Rockit) remix. Limited release, and only on cd.

MOUSE ON MARS Agit Itter It It (Thrill Jockey ) cd 10.98
A collection of unreleased oddities and remixes from the Cologne duo. Frustratingly, the cd version omits the live "Introduce" featured on the 7" which comes with the vinyl edition, and adds two tracks not featured on the vinyl! Argh! "Rustc" is a lovely, droney organ version (think Stereolab) of "Stammtick", from their "Diskdusk" EP. A great selection of unheard tracks, and stronger overall than the last lp, "Idiology".
RealAudio clip: "Milleader"

MOUSE ON MARS Autoditacker (Thrill Jockey) cd 13.98
German duo break out with another smart, minimalist electronic music album, not as heavy with their previous albums' electro influences as with the techno/house beats. But don't let any of those words scare you, this is some of the best of what's currently out there.

MOUSE ON MARS Autoditacker (Thrill Jockey) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
German duo break out with another smart, minimalist electronic music album, not as heavy with their previous albums' electro influences as with the techno/house beats. But don't let any of those words scare you, this is some of the best of what's currently out there.

MOUSE ON MARS Cache Coeur Naif (Thrill Jockey/Too Pure) 12" 7.98
Laetitia and Mary from Stereolab join these German pop-electronica guys for 2 songs. There are 4 pieces total on this domestic release, 2 more than on the Too Pure import.

MOUSE ON MARS Cache Coeur Naif (Thrill Jockey / Too Pure) cdep 7.98
Laetitia and Mary from Stereolab join these German pop-electronica guys for 2 songs. There are 4 pieces total on this domestic release, 2 more than on the Too Pure import.

MOUSE ON MARS Glam (JASRAC) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Japanese import of the once only lp... as with most Japanese imports, this does come with 3 bonus tracks! To those of you who bought the vinyl cos we told you there would be no cd, we apologize. This came as a surprise to us too.

MOUSE ON MARS Glam (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98

MOUSE ON MARS Glam (Thrill Jockey) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The soundtrack to a film that was never released, this is another great Mouse on Mars record featuring their murky, pulsing, layered brand of electronica that we all love here at AQ.

MOUSE ON MARS Iaora Tahiti (Too Pure/Beggars Banquet) cd 10.98
Finally, reissued domestically, this is Mouse on Mars' BEST ALBUM, so if you've never heard them before, we recommend you start here. "Iaora Tahiti" is full of melodic, incredibly catchy pop-like hooks dropped in the midst of joyful minimalist electronica. I cannot get over how smart these two guys are. For fans of Oval, Stereolab, Tortoise, and even The Cure. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Stereomission"
MPEG Stream: "Saturday Night Worldcup Fieber"

MOUSE ON MARS Idiology (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
Mouse On Mars' aesthetic may be far from punk rock, but they have employed punk's calculated rebellion against a canonical text, authority, or figurehead. Both "Idiology" and Matmos' recent album "A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure" mark a reactionary trend within electronica to dismiss the clean, cold digital sounds that have permeated the genre (see the "Clicks and Cuts" compilations on Mille Plateaux for umpteen examples of that all-pervasive style of crystalline glitch techno), in favor of taking baroque, ornamental sampled fragments and stretching them like a skin around a structure of house grooves. The use of harpsichords, violins, muted trumpets, slide guitar, and lots of vocoded singing aligns this new Mouse on Mars effort with the Matmos world of unconventional electronic instrumentation. As a result, "Idiology" is much more warm, vibrant, and dynamic than the glitch-tronica they are succesfully abandoning.
Mouse On Mars are still smart enough to keep this album from devolving into the vapid surface music of more mainstream acts like Thievery Corporation or Chemical Brothers. There's plenty of overt wackiness and happy-go-lucky clumsiness to make their best house grooves stumble with a charm that's hard to beat.
RealAudio clip: "Actionist Response"
RealAudio clip: "Catching Butterflies With Hands"