AYSHAY Warn U (Triangle) 12" 14.98
Now availabe on vinyl!
The two most recent records put out by ultra hip experimental electronic label Triangle, finds that label continuing to push well past the 'witch house' genre ghetto that birthed them. To be fair, the first few proper releases on Triangle, Holy Other, Clams Casino, and Balam Acab, were already a sort of POST witch house strain anyway, with some of the WH tropes retained, but with those groups upping the production big time, and ditching much of the lo-fi drag that defined the best witch house, and in the process, inventing a new electronica. One of those recent releases was from SF electro weirdos Water Borders, a dizzying slab of Coil worshipping electronic what the fuck genius, and then there's this, the debut from Ayshay, which also incorporates a bit of Coil into the proceedings, but there seem to be no beats at all, at least initially, channeling some sort of Cocteau Twins ethereal drift, with some processed throat singing style vocals as a bass, the only beat a buried pulse, it's pretty compelling, and darkly haunting, and beautiful for sure. The second track offers up more of the same, channeling Grouper and stripping away all that low fidelity murk and instead creating a lush layered symphony of voices, subtly twisted and tweaked, another spectral vocal bliss out, and in fact, the third track is more of the same, it's like a three part vocal song suite that acts as a sort of introduction to the final 12 minute "Nguzunguzu Megamix", which is in fact the first track with beats, and while we may have been expecting some sort of skittery drag, or murky muted low end throb, it actually plays more like some lost Muslimgauze remix, all skittery Eastern percussion, multiple drums and rhythms all tangled up, some hand claps, some serious low end, all over those ethereal vox from the first few tracks, the sound constantly shifting, the beat growing more and more block rockin as the track progresses until it finally blossoms into some almost jungle near the end, the stutter and skitter (and some BIG bass booms), perfectly woven into that strange shimmery swirl of ghostly vox. And it's those last few minutes that are the sort of warped and weird, beat heavy mystery secret weapon that some cool DJ will unleash from his sonic arsenal at just the right time and just destroy the dancefloor.
MPEG Stream: "Warn-U"
MPEG Stream: "Nguzunguzu Megamix"

Ã+ (CHECKSUM) 12345678 (Boskite) cd 10.98
Checksum is the collaboration between San Francisco leftfield indie mainstays Jeff Palmer (Granfaloon Bus, Sunny Day Real Estate) and Greg Freeman (Pell Mell, Virginia Dare, Lowdown Studios), taking spartan instrumentation not far from late period Talk Talk or the first Tortoise record to occasional lap top / dubby trickery.

B. MONIKER Station Identification cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
B. Moniker's "Station Identification" parallels the Cassetteboy album also recently reviewed, as a peurile form of People Like Us inspired plunderphonia / channel surfing electronica. This homebrewed concoction recontextualizes tons of non-placed media samples from a number of archetypal genres (i.e. mad scientists, kung-fu movies, gameshow hosts, televangelists, newscast pollsters, hyperbolic commercials, children's radio dramas, and quick tunings through the fm radio band) with a smug sense of irony. Far more reliant upon musical interludes than the never-ending barrage of vocal cut-ups on Cassetteboy, B. Moniker forces his dialogues into a melange of samples from Steinski-like hip-hop instrumentals, those sad post-rock grooves that punctuate the earnestness of "This American Life," and filtered Autechrish breakbeats, all topped off with whimsical casiotone melodies.
RealAudio clip: "KHZS 44.1 FM"
RealAudio clip: "KILR 99.9 FM"

B.O.S. O-Land (Angelika Kohlermann) cd 16.98
An Austrian band (we think) playing what they (or their label) like to call "slo-mo-kraut-progck". Hmm? Well what this is, is downtempo, bass-heavy post-rock with half-buried whispery female vox, all kinda creepy and emotionally portentous. The drummer's rhythms are plodding, head-nodding. There's lots of electronics filling out the sound, with both grand, dark synth washes and glitchy details. It's a late night cinematic sound, very moody, but maybe not quite as gripping as the vocalist wants it to be. It gets more interesting when they get heavier and freak out a bit instrumentally, adding clarinet, trumpet, violin, etc. to the mix.
MPEG Stream: "Uv"
MPEG Stream: "My Friend"

B12 Last Days Of Silence (B12) cd 21.00

BABICZ, ROBERT A Cheerful Temper (Systematic) cd 16.98

BABICZ, ROBERT Desert (Mille Plateaux) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BABICZ, ROBERT Momente (Mille Plateaux) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This German experimental / electronica artist has taken to record rather 'warm' source material and manipulate the original sounds through a clinical editing process into rather hypnotic sequences. Momente is quite similar in feel to the best work of Oval (i.e. the 24 minute version of 'Diskont 94'). Recommended.

BABYLON DISCO Viva Life (D-Trash) cd 10.98

BAD STREET BOY Bad Power (Pharma Rec) cd 15.98
The hyperbolic sonic aggresion of Panacea is set aside for this side project dedicated to riding the new electro wave. Angular old-school robobeats, as heard on the amazing Electro Non-Stop compilation of a few months back.

BADAWI Safe (Asphodel) cd 14.98
Some of you might be familiar with Raz Mesinai from his work with the illbient/ambient dub project Sub Dub. If so you know that he has this great ability to get to eerie places in the music he creates. Growing up in Jerusalem he spent many of his formative years around Bedouins and really really latching onto their musical stylings. Then studying with dervish sheik Murshid Hassan he became a master of Middle Eastern drumming excelling in the playing of everything from bendir to zarb to darbukka. Meanwhile, he also studied extensively with folk musician and Hasidic rabbi Harov Shlomo Carlebach. All this background info really sets the stage for this outing as Badawai. The underlying tension in his homeland is no doubt a constant fuel for his music. Taking from both Palestinian and Jewish traditions he creates songs that are loaded with suspense and sizzle under the surface. With an amazing ensemble including Eyvind Kang, Marc Ribot and Mark Feldman the result is darn near flawless. It might just be a matter of moments before Mesani is snagged by a big film studio because we can't think of anyone better suited to score films filled with drama, mystery, suspense and horror. Wow.
MPEG Stream: "Etheric Uprise"
MPEG Stream: "Safe"

BADLY DRAWN BOY The Hour of the Bewilderbeast (XL/Twisted Nerve) cd 10.98
Now released domestically!...When we first heard the Badly Drawn Boy, we couldn't believe our ears. Who was this guy? He was like a Britpop Beck; sort of Beck-like voice, twisted pop sensibilities, beautifully Sentridoh-style home recording, and songs that kill. Well, we still don't exactly know who he is, except for the fact that he's the Mercury Prize winner, but at least now there's more than two impossible to find eps. Surprisingly, for his first full length, BDB has abandoned the lo-fi bedroom sound, and lots of his Beck-isms and created a lush, hyper-produced pop masterpiece. Somewhere between Elliott Smith, Radiohead, and Beck. Right off the bat, the first song is a spare arrangement for strings and oboes and cornets. In fact the whole record is dotted with swelling string parts, horns, accordions, bleeps and bloops and super creative production. This is a weird and beautiful (albeit commercial, compared to his earlier recordings and remixes) record, definitely for fans of Beck, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Quasi, Built to Spill, etc. Imagine Beck or Elliott Smith, if they grew up in England, listening to Radiohead and Oasis, and cut their teeth doing remixes for a who's who of British pop/dance groups, and put a record out on MoWax. It's kind of like that, but not exactly. But it *is* totally great.
RealAudio clip: "The Shining"
RealAudio clip: "Once Around the Block"

BADLY DRAWN BOY The Hour of the Bewilderbeast (XL/Twisted Nerve) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited pressing on vinyl! When we first heard the Badly Drawn Boy, we couldn't believe our ears. Who was this guy? He was like a Britpop Beck; sort of Beck-like voice, twisted pop sensibilities, beautifully Sentridoh-style home recording, and songs that kill. Well, we still don't exactly know who he is, but at least now there's more than two impossible to find eps. This too was a little difficult to get (check out the price) but it was worth it. Surprisingly, for his first full length, BDB has abandoned the lo-fi bedroom sound, and lots of his Beck-isms and created a lush, hyper-produced pop masterpiece. Somewhere between Elliott Smith, Radiohead, and Beck. Right off the bat, the first song is a spare arrangement for strings and oboes and cornets. In fact the whole record is dotted with swelling string parts, horns, accordions, bleeps and bloops and super creative production. This is a weird and beautiful (albeit commercial, compared to his earlier recordings and remixes) record, definitely for fans of Beck, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Quasi, Built to Spill, etc. Imagine Beck or Elliott Smith, if they grew up in England, listening to Radiohead and Oasis, and cut their teeth doing remixes for a who's who of British pop/dance groups, and put a record out on MoWax. It's kind of like that, but not exactly. But it *is* totally great.

BADMARSH & SHRI Signs (Outcaste) cd 16.98
Following up their 1998 disc "Dancing Drums", here's a second album of "Indian electronica" that again sees DJ and producer Badmarsh teaming up with multi-instrumentalist Shri (bass, tabla, flute...). On the UK Outcaste label, for fans of that "Untouchable Outcaste Beats" sound.

BAILEY, DEREK Guitar, Drums 'n' Bass (Avant) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Back in stock and at a much more reasonable price thanks to the new domestic distribution of Zorn's Japanese Avant label... Again, this is the critically-disputed love-it-or-hate-it record featuring British guitar improv legend Bailey "dueting" with DJ Ninj (who some might recall contributed the beats to Buckethead's jungle disc). Probably -- heck, definitely -- a record that will appeal much more to Bailey fans than jungle buffs.

BAKER, AIDAN Pure Drone (Beta-Lactam Ring ) lp 21.00
STILL A HANDFUL OF THESE LEFT! Get 'em while you can...
The first installment in a new series on Beta-Lactam Ring called the Drone Compendium series, curated by none other than Mr. Aidan Baker, he of mighty dronedoomdirge duo Nadja, and as is befitting his status as curator, the first installment is in fact a Baker record, entitled Pure Drone, and the record delivers precisely what the title promises. Recorded live in 2010, the A side, while pure drone, is definitely more than a single tone, or a simple bit of minimal hum. Instead, the sound is lush and layered, a sprawling, smoldering expanse of dreamlike drift, a soft focus slow build, rife with subtle melodies that gradually reveal themselves, beneath subtly shifting textures, laced with streaks of high end and pulsing almost-rhythms and shimmering overtones. The B side is a bit more subdued, a little more minimal, but still lush and lovely, the tonal colorations surfacing in the second half, after a long dark droney bit of hypnotic thrum, the sounds seeming to blossom, the light up, it sounds like watching a star appear from behind a planet as the orbits shift, that sort of fundamental, monumental sonic power, the melodies glimmering and glittering in the alien starlight, so gorgeous.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES, packaged in super swank heavy jackets!

BAKER, JOHN The John Baker Tapes (Trunk) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If 79 tracks over two volumes was a little too much to digest of John Baker's strange and jazzy electronique miniatures, than this vinyl version might be just the thing for you, as it condenses the most interesting 25 tracks from both volumes.
Delia Derbyshire may embody the otherworldly beauty and mystique behind the sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, but John Baker was its alchemical heart. Who else could take a simple tone from air being blown over a bottle and make it into a warm and electrifying panorama of melodious sound? In this LP, we find TV adverts, library pieces, jazzy soundtracks, radiophonic pieces and home recordings as well as an interview on how he made the sounds contained here, and his broadcast obituary. Baker had a knack for melody, and often imbued his mechanically made recordings with a warmth and playfulness that his more mathematically-inclined contemporaries lacked. The jazz and library compositions (made for the Southern and Peer International organizations) are similar in form and sound to Basil Kirchin and Michael Garrick (two other Trunk luminaries), urgently spright and pastoral, sometimes soft and spacey. Yet he could also establish veils of mystery and drawn out suspense in his carefully composed themes. Our favorite in particular is "Jazz Advert" a track we suspect Broadcast or Stereolab must have been very aware of. However, Baker's real talent is brevity. With most of the tracks contained here lasting under a minute, he evokes a complex and engaging sound world that is perfectly encapsulated within its miniscule timeframe.
Covering his entire musical career from 1954 up until his death in 1985, and exhaustively culled from boxes and boxes of often unmarked tapes, this is a great and essential purchase for anyone interested in early British electronic music.
MPEG Stream: "Codename"
MPEG Stream: "Vendetta: The Sugar Man"
MPEG Stream: "Jazz Advert"
MPEG Stream: "Piano Strokes"

BAKER, JOHN The John Baker Tapes, Volume 1 (Trunk) cd 16.98
Delia Derbyshire may embody the otherworldly beauty and mystique behind the sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, but John Baker was its alchemical heart. Who else could take a simple tone from air being blown over a bottle and make it into a warm and electrifying panorama of melodious sound? This is the first of two volumes of rare and unreleased pieces from the heyday of the BBC; this one covering the years 1963-1969. In it we find TV adverts, library pieces, jazzy soundtracks, radiophonic pieces and home recordings as well as interviews on how he made the sounds contained here. Baker had a knack for melody, and often imbibed his mechanically made recordings with a warmth and playfulness that his more mathematically inclined contemporaries lacked. Yet he could also establish veils of mystery and drawn out suspense in his carefully composed themes. But Baker's real talent is brevity. With most of the 49(!) tracks contained here lasting under a minute, he evokes a complex and engaging sound world that is perfectly encapsulated within its minute long timeframe. Baker is the first of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers to get such a retrospective overview. Hopefully this means we'll see more individual overviews from this important laboratory of recorded sound very soon.
MPEG Stream: "Big Ben News Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Codename"
MPEG Stream: "John Baker Interview"
MPEG Stream: "Tom Tom (Theme)"
MPEG Stream: "Vendetta: The Sugar Man"

BAKER, JOHN The John Baker Tapes, Volume 2 (Trunk) cd 16.98
Volume number Two of BBC Radiophonic workshop guru, John Baker's amazing recorded output. This time focusing on his jazz compositions, homemade electronic experiments and library music, most of it largely unheard. Less small themes and interludes than volume one, which also means less of what he made exclusively for the BBC. But that should not deter the BRW fanatics out there from picking this up. It's even stranger because it's so varied, covering his entire musical career from 1954 up until his death in 1985. Exhaustively culled from boxes and boxes of often unmarked tapes, there's homemade musique concrete pieces made early in his musical development, as well as his early recordings with a jazz combo. The jazz and library compositions (made for the Southern and Peer International organizations) are similar in form and sound to Basil Kirchin and Michael Garrick (two other Trunk luminaries), urgently spright and pastoral, sometimes soft and spacey. There is also soundtrack music for an early Ridley Scott short film, Boy on A Bicycle, and advert music, one of which we suspect the group Broadcast must have been very aware of ("Jazz Advert"). A great and essential companion to Volume One, and for anyone interested in early British electronic music.
MPEG Stream: "Requioso "
MPEG Stream: "Jazz Advert"
MPEG Stream: "Power Source "
MPEG Stream: "Pot's 'n'Pans"
MPEG Stream: "Piano Strokes"

BALAM ACAB See Birds (Tri Angle) cd ep 11.98
REPRESSED, BACK IN STOCK!!
Another 'witch house' luminary gets their first proper (non cd-r or download) release in the form of this gorgeous 5 song ep. For those who have somehow missed out on the whole witch house thing, it's sort of hard to describe, a new self proclaimed genre that seems to mix electronic music with dark creepy samples, everything slowed down and murky and witchy, ethereal vocals, distorted production, there's already a serious backlash because of the ridiculous witch house hype, which is pretty funny, considering probably all but the very hippest folks have barely even heard any witch house.
We reviewed the debut 12" from oOoOO a while back (all the witch house bands tend to have names that borrow heavily from the zapf dingbats font and the special keys on your keyboard), a fantastically dreamy chunk of electronic ghostly minimal dream pop, we also made Salem's King Night our Record of the Week, with its bombastic shoegaze bliss meets chopped and screwed Southern style crunk, but Balam Acab definitely tends toward the former, the two part title track a fuzzy, almost dubsteppy bit of gently glitchy gauziness, angelic vocals, wreathed in reverb, drifting over swirling industrial loops and shimmering synths, the second part totally blissed out and otherworldly, the beats spare and skeletal, the vocals floating on clouds of whirling effects and blurred melody, while in between, basslines buzz ominously, beats careen in slow motion, voices loop and hover, melodies fragment and drift apart, the sound like some eighties MTV pop slowed way down and dipped in drugs and left in the afternoon sun to warm, fuzzy streaks of sound wrapped around stuttery glacial beats, "Big Boy" offering up a hook on par with "See Birds", while "Dream Out" sounds like a warped Kate Bush record playing at 16rpm, while kids play video games in the next room.
Awesome stuff. And we could care less really if the hipster intelligentsia has decided witch house is dead, cuz we're definitely dying to hear more...
MPEG Stream: "See Birds"

BALAM ACAB See Birds (Tri Angle) 12" 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another 'witch house' luminary gets their first proper (non cd-r or download) release in the form of this gorgeous 5 song ep. For those who have somehow missed out on the whole witch house thing, it's sort of hard to describe, a new self proclaimed genre that seems to mix electronic music with dark creepy samples, everything slowed down and murky and witchy, ethereal vocals, distorted production, there's already a serious backlash because of the ridiculous witch house hype, which is pretty funny, considering probably all but the very hippest folks have barely even heard any witch house.
We reviewed the debut 12" from oOoOO a few lists back (all the witch house bands tend to have names that borrow heavily from the zapf dingbats font and the special keys on your keyboard), a fantastically dreamy chunk of electronic ghostly minimal dream pop, we also made Salem's King Night our Record of the Week, with its bombastic shoegaze bliss meets chopped and screwed Southern style crunk, but Balam Acab definitely tends toward the former, the two part title track a fuzzy, almost dubsteppy bit of gently glitchy gauziness, angelic vocals, wreathed in reverb, drifting over swirling industrial loops and shimmering synths, the second part totally blissed out and otherworldly, the beats spare and skeletal, the vocals floating on clouds of whirling effects and blurred melody, while in between, basslines buzz ominously, beats careen in slow motion, voices loop and hover, melodies fragment and drift apart, the sound like some eighties MTV pop slowed way down and dipped in drugs and left in the afternoon sun to warm, fuzzy streaks of sound wrapped around stuttery glacial beats, "Big Boy" offering up a hook on par with "See Birds", while "Dream Out" sounds like a warped Kate Bush record playing at 16rpm, while kids play video games in the next room.
Awesome stuff. And we could care less really if the hipster intelligentsia has decided witch house is dead, cuz we're definitely dying to hear more...
MPEG Stream: "See Birds"

BALAM ACAB Wander / Wonder (Triangle) cd 16.98
Pretty much every one at aQ loved that first Balam Acab ep, especially the track "See Birds", a song and sound that managed to at once define the already maligned genre 'witch house' and move beyond any sort of genre specific strictures, a dark dolorous drift, a slowed down RnB pop that managed to mesmerize and transport, that vocal line so distinctive, the strangely stuttery rhythm, it was pure magic for sure. And while there's maybe nothing quite approaching the mainstream-baiting hookiness of "See Birds", Wander/Wonder does have much to offer, and on repeated listens, many of the tracks most definitely approach the electronic pop mastery of "See Birds".
Take opener "Welcome", which begins with a stretch of burbling underwater sounds, a theme that seems to define much of Balam Acab's sound, a sense of submergence, but this opening track just drifts and shimmers, that burbling underpinned by a barely there sonic pulse, and then BAM, the beat bursts in, and it's not at all what you might have expected, a strange reverbed fragment, and with it comes a haunting bit of operatic vocalizing, the sound so haunting and mysterious and otherworldly, and the track just creeps along ominously, the vibe very cinematic, the sound super spare and abstract, and the perfect launching point for a record of what is essentially radical modern minimal electronica, the following track starts out again with a hushed bit of shimmer, before blossoming into a woozy bit of slo-mo soul, sped up vox somehow slowed down and melded to some blurred shuffle and skitter. "Motion" turns Pop Ambient shimmer into a hazy stretch of melting radio pop, while, "Expect" adds low end synth buzz, to shimmering strings, angelic vox, and more water sounds, for something dreamlike and ethereal. "Await" is a barely there underwater lullaby, with more sped up vocals, wistful piano melodies, and still more water sounds, and finally, "Fragile Hope" transforms dripping water and whispered breaths into the rhythm for a smoldering bass heavy ballad, that sounds like a slightly tweaked version of something that you could hear on the radio, some sweetly soulful slow motion soul. So good. And while not quite as dark and witch house-y as the See Birds ep, for folks into the new breed of warped RnB and slowsoul, as well as fans of How To Dress Well, Hype Williams, Soft Metals, D'eon and the like, this could be your new favorite record...
MPEG Stream: "Welcome"
MPEG Stream: "Apart"
MPEG Stream: "Motion"

BALAM ACAB Wander / Wonder (Triangle) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pretty much every one at aQ loved that first Balam Acab ep, especially the track "See Birds", a song and sound that managed to at once define the already maligned genre 'witch house' and move beyond any sort of genre specific strictures, a dark dolorous drift, a slowed down RnB pop that managed to mesmerize and transport, that vocal line so distinctive, the strangely stuttery rhythm, it was pure magic for sure. And while there's maybe nothing quite approaching the mainstream-baiting hookiness of "See Birds", Wander/Wonder does have much to offer, and on repeated listens, many of the tracks most definitely approach the electronic pop mastery of "See Birds".
Take opener "Welcome", which begins with a stretch of burbling underwater sounds, a theme that seems to define much of Balam Acab's sound, a sense of submergence, but this opening track just drifts and shimmers, that burbling underpinned by a barely there sonic pulse, and then BAM, the beat bursts in, and it's not at all what you might have expected, a strange reverbed fragment, and with it comes a haunting bit of operatic vocalizing, the sound so haunting and mysterious and otherworldly, and the track just creeps along ominously, the vibe very cinematic, the sound super spare and abstract, and the perfect launching point for a record of what is essentially radical modern minimal electronica, the following track starts out again with a hushed bit of shimmer, before blossoming into a woozy bit of slo-mo soul, sped up vox somehow slowed down and melded to some blurred shuffle and skitter. "Motion" turns Pop Ambient shimmer into a hazy stretch of melting radio pop, while, "Expect" adds low end synth buzz, to shimmering strings, angelic vox, and more water sounds, for something dreamlike and ethereal. "Await" is a barely there underwater lullaby, with more sped up vocals, wistful piano melodies, and still more water sounds, and finally, "Fragile Hope" transforms dripping water and whispered breaths into the rhythm for a smoldering bass heavy ballad, that sounds like a slightly tweaked version of something that you could hear on the radio, some sweetly soulful slow motion soul. So good. And while not quite as dark and witch house-y as the See Birds ep, for folks into the new breed of warped RnB and slowsoul, as well as fans of How To Dress Well, Hype Williams, Soft Metals, D'eon and the like, this could be your new favorite record...
MPEG Stream: "Welcome"
MPEG Stream: "Apart"
MPEG Stream: "Motion"

BANNLUST Digital Tensions (Sabotage) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Grabbed this off of Jim's favorites shelf, this is what he had to say about it: "As Sabotage gets a criminally small amount of press, there will be virtually no hype for Bannlust...which is a fucking shame, as thousands of trainspotters will pass this up looking for that long gone Autechre album when they should be listening to this...as good if not better than recent Autechre and/or Skam recordings!!!"

BANNLUST/CHASM 10/9 (Fat Cat) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The fifth in the series of split singles of leftfield electronica from the fabulous Fat Cat label. Bannlust (whose Digital Tension album for Sabotage last year was a stunning surprise) presents three tracks that rival Autechre with their moody and hypnotic crunch of fractured dark electro. Chasm (a.k.a. Robert Hampson of Main/Loop) pares away the isolationist guitar drones in favour of disjointed beats generated through micro processing of concrete sounds.

BARETTA Velvet Brick (Emanate) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Be not mistaken, there's certainly no Robert Blake here, nor any sign of his bird. What we have is the soundtrack for those nights when you just wanna kick back and chill. Got it? Slow to mid tempo grooves for when you feel like spinning something new along the lines of Thievery Corp or Kruder & Dorfmeister.

BARETTA Velvet Brick (Emanate) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Be not mistaken, there's certainly no Robert Blake here, nor any sign of his bird. What we have is the soundtrack for those nights when you just wanna kick back and chill. Got it? Slow to mid tempo grooves for when you feel like spinning something new along the lines of Thievery Corp or Kruder & Dorfmeister.

BARRACUDA, RANDY s/t (Flogsta Dancehall) lp 27.00
SKWEEE!

BARRACUDA, RANDY & MESAK Black Vaseline (Harmonia) 12" 16.98
Skweee!

BASEMENT JAXX Crazy Itch Radio (XL ) cd 14.98
Y'know how sometimes a lil' itch can drive you totally nuts, downright crazy! We can assure you that Basement Jaxx's Crazy Itch Radio will not have the same effect. Sure it tingles and tickles, but in the way that might make you wanna get up 'n' shake yer moneymaker. Hmmph, did we just say that?! Anyhoo, this is a bubbly candy-coated dance club party record that goes splendidly well with the new one by Los Amigos Invisibles. These folks just wanna have a good time... won't you join 'em?
MPEG Stream: "Run 4 Cover"
MPEG Stream: "Hush Boy"

BASEMENT JAXX Crazy Itch Radio (XL ) lp 16.98
Y'know how sometimes a lil' itch can drive you totally nuts, downright crazy! We can assure you that Basement Jaxx's Crazy Itch Radio will not have the same effect. Sure it tingles and tickles, but in the way that might make you wanna get up 'n' shake yer moneymaker. Hmmph, did we just say that?! Anyhoo, this is a bubbly candy-coated dance club party record that goes splendidly well with the new one by Los Amigos Invisibles. These folks just wanna have a good time... won't you join 'em?
MPEG Stream: "Run 4 Cover"
MPEG Stream: "Hush Boy"

BASEMENT JAXX Rooty (Astralwerks) cd 15.98
Second album from this popular dance/club act. We like the ape on the cover.

BASEMENT JAXX Scars (XL) cd 15.98
When it comes to modern day dance music it just doesn't get a whole lot more colorful, joyful and F.U.N. then the Basement Jaxx. What's always set them apart from so many of their peers is that while most good dance minded outfits tend to rely so heavily on retro influences, Basement Jazz, who for sure have absorbed the best in dance music of the last few decades from disco to house, electro and hip-hop, instead take those sounds and warp and personalize and modernize, creating their own distinct vision and sound. Scars is ranking right next to Rooty, one of our other favorite Basement Jazz jams, so full of such infectious songs that not only totally make you shake it, but they also have a really nice wide range of emotions and an incredibly lush sonic palette, with guest vocalists like Yoko Ono, Sam Sparro, Santogold, Kelis, Yo Majesty, etc. bringing their own distinct flavor to the mix. Scars is the kind of record that will get you moving AND get stuck in your head, we've already listened to it so many times and it's holding up so well on repeated listens. Who knows when Daft Punk will ever release a new album, but until then, the other major titan in modern dance brilliance will keep our bootys shaking!
MPEG Stream: "Raindrops"
MPEG Stream: "Feelings Gone"
MPEG Stream: "Day Of The Sunflowers (We March On) featuring Yoko Ono"

BASS COMMUNION Loss (Soleilmoon Recordings) cd+dvd 17.98
Loss is an apt title in describing a sensibility that we find super compelling in music, each list tends to have at least one example of a record that taps into the ideas behind the nostalgic loss of memory and the triggers that cause those memories to flood back into consciousness. For an example, have a gander at the introductory paragraph of the review of Tim Hecker's Harmony In Ultraviolet. Bass Communion's Loss, while not exactly aesthetically sympathetic to Mr. Hecker's pixel smear masterpiece, shares the sensorial drama of residual sounds evoking things past. Steven Wilson, the sole proprietor of Bass Communion, has commented that Loss is an extension of the ideas he previously investigated on Ghosts On Magnetic Tape, which related to the parapsychological research into the Electronic Voice Phenomena, whereby voices (presumably from beyond the grave) break through mediated sound in order to communicate with the living. Of course, that record complete with its spectral droning clouds of sound went over quite well here at Aquarius; and its follow-up does not dissapoint. Sourced from reverb saturated piano, old 78 RPM records, and supposedly a vibraphone, Wilson offers yet another compelling perspective upon the nature of memory and loss through a spartan and occassionally grim unveiling of drones and low-end piano notes.
Included in both 5.1 (as heard on the DVD component of this twin set), and as a regular CD.
MPEG Stream: "Part One"
MPEG Stream: "Part Two"

BASS COMMUNION VS MUSLIMGAUZE s/t (Soleilmoon) cd 16.98
Steven Wilson may be known best from Porcupine Tree, although he has also been quite prolific as Bass Communion producing a whole slew of darkly tinged ambient records for the past decade or so. Back in 1996, Wilson began corresponding with Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze, at first merely to share his enthusiasm over the Muslimgauze album Blue Mosque. Without expecting anything, Wilson sent a set of recordings to Jones whose urge to improve upon the recordings was too great for him to deny; hence, a few days later, Wilson received several hours of recordings with his musics radically transformed into the fiery Arabic electronica that had been the signature for Muslimgauze for countless records. Thus began a collaborative process, whereby Wilson would mould the Muslimgauze sounds into something to his liking, only to have Jones reject those mixes in favor of his own. The Muslimgauze ethos is still the dominant force here, with a ghostly dark ambient lingering in the distance the only remnants of Wilson's contributions. The recordings that comprise this CD had been released previously as a long CD EP / short album (depending on who you ask) and a CD single; both of those discs had been out of print for sometime now, so it's nice to be able to hear this stuff again!
MPEG Stream: "Three"
MPEG Stream: "Six"

BASTARD NOISE The Analysis of Self-Destruction (Alien8 Recordings) cd 13.98

BASTIEN, PIERRE Mecanoid (Rephlex) cd 17.98
We loved the last Pierre Bastien record, which consisted of broken down old children's turntables rigged to play simple loops while Bastien played along on a muted trumpet. Those rigged turntables have given way to even greater flights of mechanical fancy, that's right...ROBOTS. For 'Mecanoid' Bastien has constructed various robots that play different instruments, again constructing simple loops which he then accompanies. The 'robots' play castanets, marimba, tamborine, steel drum, casiotone, piano, plus tons more and of course turntables. While Bastien accompanies the loops on bass, organ, prepared trumpet, cornet, electric piano, buzz-trumpet and more. But the sound doesn't necessarily give away its robotic roots. 'Mecanoid' sounds like simple stripped down electronica with a sort of late-night-rainy-dark-alley-Tom-Waits kind of vibe. Sort of Boards of Canada with less equipment, or Boards Of Canada if they were 8 years old instead of 30. Makes me think of electonica made from scratch, with no drum machines, no samplers, just a bunch of crap in the garage, a tool box and a four track. Dark and melancholic and loping and hypnotic. With simple minor key melodies played over slowly fluctuating loops, creating completely alien soundtrack music. Would be perfect for some David Lynch film. Creepy but not depressing, just sort of sad and dreamy. One of my new favorite late night records.
RealAudio clip: "Damn Mad"
RealAudio clip: "Revolt Lover"
RealAudio clip: "No Eon"

BASTIEN, PIERRE Mecanoid (Rephlex) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We loved the last Pierre Bastien record, which consisted of broken down old children's turntables rigged to play simple loops while Bastien played along on a muted trumpet. Those rigged turntables have given way to even greater flights of mechanical fancy, that's right...ROBOTS. For 'Mecanoid' Bastien has constructed various robots that play different instruments, again constructing simple loops which he then accompanies. The 'robots' play castanets, marimba, tamborine, steel drum, casiotone, piano, plus tons more and of course turntables. While Bastien accompanies the loops on bass, organ, prepared trumpet, cornet, electric piano, buzz-trumpet and more. But the sound doesn't necessarily give away its robotic roots. 'Mecanoid' sounds like simple stripped down electronica with a sort of late-night-rainy-dark-alley-Tom-Waits kind of vibe. Sort of Boards of Canada with less equipment, or Boards Of Canada if they were 8 years old instead of 30. Makes me think of electonica made from scratch, with no drum machines, no samplers, just a bunch of crap in the garage, a tool box and a four track. Dark and melancholic and loping and hypnotic. With simple minor key melodies played over slowly fluctuating loops, creating completely alien soundtrack music. Would be perfect for some David Lynch film. Creepy but not depressing, just sort of sad and dreamy. One of my new favorite late night records.

BATHS Cerulean (Anticon) cd 14.98
We actually thought this was going to be the SF band Baths we've been hearing so much about but turns out there is actually a Baths from LA who are way different but totally awesome as well (the San Francisco Baths are changing their name and we're anxious to hear a record from them one of these days too). This Baths is a one man warped electro-hip-hop artist out of Los Angeles who fits so perfectly on Anticon. This is a record that really does sound like the natural progression for the label and its sound really needed and deserved. Approaching left field pop with the same kind of vision that folks like Black Moth Super Rainbow/Tobacco have, infusing hip-hop production and beats into a much more nuanced and Technicolor soaked melodicism. Crazy to think this guy is only 21, as the music he makes sounds so assured flows so flawlessly. Armed with J Dilla like beats and Neon Indian sounding production, this is totally hitting the spot right now!!
MPEG Stream: "Maximalist"
MPEG Stream: "Hall"
MPEG Stream: "Apologetic Shoulder Blades"

BATTLES EP C / EP B (Warp) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two of the three killer Battles eps (C and B) on a single import cd (note: both eps are still available separately) from this far out post Don Cab post Helmet post-prog-jazz-mathrock-whatthefuck-supergroup! Here's what we had to say about the two eps when we first reviewed them a while back:
EP C:
This is one pedigreed post-rock combo here! Battles consists of Ian Williams (Don Caballero, Storm And Stress), Tyondai Braxton (son of jazz genius Anthony and solo artist in his own right), John Stanier (Helmet, Tomahawk) and Dave Konopka (Lynx). These gents have joined forces to tangle their guitar strings, various drum implements, and electronic gadgetry into a big knot that might seem loose but is probably really tight if you were to try and unravel it. And while their compositions might be 'difficult', listening to this is not. Battles sounds like a post rock band (a la Don Cab or Lynx) playing the music of Conlon Nancarrow on Raymond Scott's Manhattan Research equipment. Or Gershon Kingsley making math rock. Weird, complex, delightful.
EP B:
Battles seems to have a thing for EPs. Well, why not? Might be the best format for their brand of attention-span sapping math rock. And you do get a full half-hour here, filled out with these five tracks of advanced instrumental action. This band -- featuring (ahem, selling points here) Ian Williams from Don Caballero/Storm And Stress, Tyondai "Son of Anthony" Braxton, John Stanier of Helmet/Tomahawk and Lynx's Dave Konopka -- are pros at making impressively complicated yet undeniably enjoyable post-rock music, as lively as it is listenable (which we mean in a good way). Often hectic but never harsh. It's as if these guys are taking King Crimson's early '80s comeback classic Discipline and giving it a fractured, abstract and electronic makeover. Venturing into totally deconstructed Starfuckers-ish territory, the twelve minute "BTTLS" might be the highlight, or at least the most abstract track on here by far... but the whole B EP is a fine dose of Battles for their quickly growing legion of fans.
MPEG Stream: "Hi/Lo"
MPEG Stream: "Ipt2"
MPEG Stream: "Dance"

BEANFIELD Human Patterns (Compost) cd 17.98
The "next big thing?" Well, to us, this seems to be somewhat banal post-rock / electronica jazz fusion. Still, fans of recent discs by Kruder & Dorfmeister, Squarepusher and Tortoise may well enjoy "Human Patterns".

BEBEY, FRANCIS African Electronic Music 1975-1982 (Born Bad) cd 16.98
When we first heard a track from this album a few months ago, our immediate reaction was A) wow, we really had better find a way to get it for the store and B) if and when we do, it'll probably have to be a Record Of The Week. And that was just from hearing ONE song. Fortunately, we did manage to get some of these imports, and the rest of the record only confirmed and amplified our first impression. Record Of The Week it is! (Actually, some of us here, like Andee, were already Bebey fans from way back, but for others of us, gosh, what an introduction...)
As you know, we've certainly seen a bunch of great groovy African reissues lately (in fact, there's a couple others elsewhere on this week's list). But this collection of the late Cameroonian composer & writer Francis Bebey's music is rather unique, to say the least. And it's got something in common with another cool item we're reviewing this week, the vintage "electronic soul" compilation Personal Space. As the title indicates, the focus here is on the especially electronic side of his discography, from the era when multi-instrumentalist Bebey experimented with the latest gear - tape recorders, keyboards, drum machines - to record his own music at home in Paris, making for delightfully dancey, avant-garde Afropop.
The track we had heard was the first one here, "New Track", an over 8 minute long number that starts off with tinkling thumb piano before blaring synth stabs, burbling keys, and ticking drum machine rhythms kick in... pretty soon, the song has become dense with loops and layers, repeating vocals about bananas and potatoes and politics creating a kind of cheerfully confusing mantra. It's as fresh and charming and mesmeric and groovy today as it was when Bebey recorded it in back in '82.
Though this would pretty much be worth it just for that memorable song alone, the rest of this 14-track collection is full of further futuristic Afrofunk highlights. Meaning, more blurting synthesized horns, head bopping basslines, thumping electronic beats augmented by hand percussion, and laidback vocals - some spoken, some sung, in various languages (Duala, French and English). Bebey's talent on classical guitar is also evident. It's quite an amazing mix altogether; 'makossa' music from Cameroon meets "Blow Your Head" style Moog outbursts (as on the woozy instrumental track "Super Jingle", with its skronky synth shiver set amidst hypnotic percussive pulsations). Sometimes the mood gets emotive in other ways, Bebey bringing the beats down and singing sadly in a soft, ragged voice... Here we will go out on a limb, and make a wild hypothetical rock crit "cross between this and that" equation, of Konono No.1 + Arthur Russell, whattya think?
Basically, this is as cool as anything you could imagine something called "African Electronic Music 1975-1982" might possibly sound like! And maybe even cooler than that.
Packaged with liner notes in both English and French.
MPEG Stream: "New Track"
MPEG Stream: "La Condition Masculine"
MPEG Stream: "Pygmy Love Song"
MPEG Stream: "Savanah Georgia"

BEBEY, FRANCIS African Electronic Music 1975-1982 (Born Bad) 2lp 29.00
When we first heard a track from this album a few months ago, our immediate reaction was A) wow, we really had better find a way to get it for the store and B) if and when we do, it'll probably have to be a Record Of The Week. And that was just from hearing ONE song. Fortunately, we did manage to get some of these imports, and the rest of the record only confirmed and amplified our first impression. Record Of The Week it is! (Actually, some of us here, like Andee, were already Bebey fans from way back, but for others of us, gosh, what an introduction...)
As you know, we've certainly seen a bunch of great groovy African reissues lately (in fact, there's a couple others elsewhere on this week's list). But this collection of the late Cameroonian composer & writer Francis Bebey's music is rather unique, to say the least. And it's got something in common with another cool item we're reviewing this week, the vintage "electronic soul" compilation Personal Space. As the title indicates, the focus here is on the especially electronic side of his discography, from the era when multi-instrumentalist Bebey experimented with the latest gear - tape recorders, keyboards, drum machines - to record his own music at home in Paris, making for delightfully dancey, avant-garde Afropop.
The track we had heard was the first one here, "New Track", an over 8 minute long number that starts off with tinkling thumb piano before blaring synth stabs, burbling keys, and ticking drum machine rhythms kick in... pretty soon, the song has become dense with loops and layers, repeating vocals about bananas and potatoes and politics creating a kind of cheerfully confusing mantra. It's as fresh and charming and mesmeric and groovy today as it was when Bebey recorded it in back in '82.
Though this would pretty much be worth it just for that memorable song alone, the rest of this 14-track collection is full of further futuristic Afrofunk highlights. Meaning, more blurting synthesized horns, head bopping basslines, thumping electronic beats augmented by hand percussion, and laidback vocals - some spoken, some sung, in various languages (Duala, French and English). Bebey's talent on classical guitar is also evident. It's quite an amazing mix altogether; 'makossa' music from Cameroon meets "Blow Your Head" style Moog outbursts (as on the woozy instrumental track "Super Jingle", with its skronky synth shiver set amidst hypnotic percussive pulsations). Sometimes the mood gets emotive in other ways, Bebey bringing the beats down and singing sadly in a soft, ragged voice... Here we will go out on a limb, and make a wild hypothetical rock crit "cross between this and that" equation, of Konono No.1 + Arthur Russell, whattya think?
Basically, this is as cool as anything you could imagine something called "African Electronic Music 1975-1982" might possibly sound like! And maybe even cooler than that.
Packaged with liner notes in both English and French.
MPEG Stream: "New Track"
MPEG Stream: "La Condition Masculine"
MPEG Stream: "Pygmy Love Song"
MPEG Stream: "Savanah Georgia"

BECK Guerolito (Remixes) (Interscope) cd 14.98
With his most recent album Guero which recalled his early Odelay funky finery, Sir Beck certainly gave the remixers lots of easy-goin' groovy stuff to work with, and the results from the likes of Air, El-P among others do complement and compliment the originals quite well. Don't be expecting anything here to blow your mind though, it all pretty much sticks to Remixing 101, but much like its source album, its own pleasingly sun'n'weed-baked laidback shufflin' funkiness just might grow on you.
MPEG Stream: "Ghost Range (E-Pro)"
MPEG Stream: "Que Onda Guero"

BEE MASK Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Chris Madak is the man behind the Bee Mask, a project with several dozen cassette releases issued over the past couple of years. Madak should also be noted as the principle behind the exceptionally curated Deception Island tape label, which had the foresight to release Oneohtrix Point Never's Betrayed In The Octagon as well as a handful of killer Emeralds related side projects. That said, not much from Bee Mask's own discography has made it through here, with blister popping electrical noise and synth sequencing seeming to be par for the course. Yet through those circuit bent experiments, Bee Mask emerges fully evolved as a master synthesist of all things elekronische and kosmische circa 1975. Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico is a wonderfully varied album whose hallucinatory narratives speak to a purposeful and thoroughly intelligent design in its creation. Throughout you'll hear distinct references to the likes of Roland Kayn, Tangerine Dream (e.g. Electronic Meditations), Jean-Claude Eloy, Francoise Bayle, anything from Sky Records you could think of in the mid to late '70s, and even the more bombastic electronic interludes offered by Pink Floyd for that matter. The album opens in a more studied fashion through a sequence of carillion bell tones backmasked with a series of soft vocal grunts and gradually building set of electronic percolations, but all of this is engulfed in a tidal wave of polydactyl synth sequencing and brainfried electronic percolations only to morph again into a cavernous expanse of elongated tone and drone. The album's numerous detours and labyrinthine structures twist and devolve constantly across both sides of the record, delving into melodic phrasing in the electronic sequences only to shift deftly into plunging electrical vibrations of pulsing synth noise and delirious crescendos popping throughout.
The fact that John Elliott of Emeralds has brought this to vinyl after a release on Gift Tapes a while back should not go unnoticed. Spectrum Spools is his new imprint, released through Editions Mego, and this should be a label not to be missed. Certainly not this release, that's for sure.

BEE MASK Elegy For Beach Friday (Spectrum Spools) 2lp 27.00
BACK IN STOCK!!
Here stands the monumental gatefold double vinyl anthology, culled from the numerous cassettes and cd-rs that Chris Madak has released over the past decade or so, under the moniker Bee Mask. Like Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, Madak is single-minded in his retrogarde aesthetic for synthesized compositions based on a vintage 1970s' cosmology. But where many of the '70s synth revivalists have coyingly adopted a full-fledged new age aesthetic through effervescent prettiness and soft-focus ambient swirl, Bee Mask offers up his own dysptopic take on psychedelic electronics through a crucible of cracked circuits, tape splutter, infernal field recordings, and a hell of a lot of sustained synth drones oscillating into crescendos of dissonant thumming. The zoner tracks on Elegy For Beach Friday (and there are a number of them) never sit in the background seeking a sublimated hypnosis, rather Madak zooms in on the placid pools of sound to unveil intense percolations and swarming vibrations. There's a scientific rigor to his pieces that finds Bee Mask orbiting around the dense, alienating electronics from Matt Shoemaker, Rick Reed, and Bernard Parmigiani. But, Madak is also one to tease with the subtle swelling melodies that harken to the more emotive works from Omit and Emeralds. If his work shares anything with the retro electronic tapestries that are the forgotten soundtracks for a summer sunset, Madak would rather blind the audience with the intensity of the sun, complete with blisters on the skin and technological mishaps from sunspots. Brilliant!

BEEM The Famous/Mouth Everest (Flogsta Danshall) 7" 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Skweee!!! See our Museum of Future Sound review for more explanation...

BEEZY Thoughts In Retro (Rinse) 2x12" 23.00

BEIGE Ein Konigreich Fur Eine Handgranate (Nonplace) cd 15.98
If it hasn't happened already, Beige is likely to receive accolades from somebody like ArtForum or some other dinosaur institution desperately seeking a connection with what's 'hip' by claiming allegiance with electronica. Beige makes electronica that should be talked about and not heard; it's funky but only as a representation of funk. There's absolutely no soul, no sensuality... just ones and zeros that try to fool you into thinking that it's funky to have a sample of a wah-wah guitar or a Timbaland break. This is music to get your groove on while debating the principles of the Frankfurt School of Post-Modern thought.
RealAudio clip: "What Hat"

BEIGE I Don't Either (Leaf) cd 17.98
Fun, quirky, electronica from Germany ala the Mike and Rich album.