BIZZY B Science EP Volumes III + IV (Planet Mu) cd 16.98
We've said it once, we'll say it again. Actually, we've probably said it a million times, but we'll STILL say it again. There are some sounds we just never get sick of. NEVER. The bombinating buzz of grim black metal is one, a drone-y relentless hypnotic swirl that never fails to lull us into a beautifully blackened state. And of course, super distorted, blown out ragga drum and bass is another (a la aQ faves The Bug). This here is a prime slab of that classic sound. Bizzy B was one of the most influential junglists of the early nineties having released his first blast of brutality in 1991. The stuff on this here ep is BRAND NEW, but you'd never know it from the sound, and is the follow up to Volumes I and II, released in '93 / '94. HUGE amen breaks, super complex and chaotic, crunchy synth stabs and lots of creepy ambience and found sounds. But it's all about the rhythm. We've joked that someone could just make a 24 hour loop of the amen break and we could lay there blissfully listening forever. The Amen break, for those of you who don't know, is a drum loop, THE drum loop, that was sped up and chopped up and basically become the primary building block for jungle and drum and bass. The loop is from the Winstons' track "Amen Brother", hence the name. And the original is the perfect shuffling stutter step funky beat, but once it's been tweaked and messed with and sped up and chopped up, it becomes a relentlessly convoluted, pounding and pummeling beat that we just never get tired of. There are a few snippets of cringeworthy diva style vocals, but skip those brief moments and you're left with a divine slab of darkcore jungle madness!
MPEG Stream: "Afraid Of The Dark"

BJORGULFFSON, HEIMIR / JONAS OHLSSON Fur Your Bears Only (Bottrop-Boy) cd 16.98

BJORGULFSSON, HEIMIR & JONAS OHLSSON Unspoken Word Tour (Brombron / Staalplaat) cd 15.98
Having recently left the obscurant electronica ensemble Stillupsteypa, Icelandic transplant Heimir Bjorgulfsson has wasted no time in starting up some new projects. This collaboration with Swedish installation artist Jonas Ohlsson was commissioned by Extrapool - an arts residency program which, in conjunction with Staalplaat, gives two likeminded artists unlimited access to a really nice recording studio for a week and publishes the results as a limited edition CD. While Bjorgulfsson's work is certainly a known quantity through his numerous solo projects and the AQ-endorsed Stilluppsteypa albums, Ohlsson has primarily been active in the Northern European gallery scene, executing willfully sloppy installations of consumerist excess, punk-as-fuck attitudes, and that post-ironic sentiment that's so fashionable in San Francisco galleries these days. That said, Ohlsson's resume cites some training in electro-acoustic compositions and he also seems to have a taste for Acid House. In their condensed studio session, Bjorgulffsson and Ohlsson have produced a surprisingly diverse album, splattering through fractured techno beats, at times strangulated into Matmos-esque noise-funk and others into the classic Sahko sound with frigid shards of electricity cascading down upon taut rhythms.
Most everything in the Brombron series has been quite good, and "Unspoken Word Tour" is no exception.
RealAudio clip: "20 People Gathering On My Field"
RealAudio clip: "Pyramids of Pure Pleasure"
RealAudio clip: "Old Panther"

BJORK Alarm Call (Polygram UK) video 41.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
9 versions of "Alarm Call", including ones by "Bjeck" (Beck), Matmos, Andy Bradfield and Mark Bell. Plus a video directed by Alexander McQueen, bad boy clothing designer.

BJORK Alarm Call (Polygram UK) 3cdsingle box 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
9 versions of "Alarm Call", including ones by "Bjeck" (Beck), Matmos, Andy Bradfield and Mark Bell. Plus a video directed by Alexander McQueen, bad boy clothing designer.

BJORK Alarm Call (Matmos Mixes) (Polygram UK) 12" 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While there are 4 remix singles of Bjork's "Alarm Call," the only one of any merit is from Matmos who deconstructs her vocals into snippets of vocoded utterances and breathy slurs. The heady downtempo electro breaks and squiggly sampling weirdness that one expects from the San Francisco duo dominate their two remixes. Beck (here cutely identified as "Bjeck") adds an exceptionally good carnivalesque mix on flipside.
The other 3 mixes which we do have in stock feature DJ Krust with his two brittle drum & bass reworkings on one of the singles, a dreadful single of handbag house courtesy of Alan Braxe and Ben Diamond, and the last single from LFO member Mark Bell, who coincidentally co-wrote the original song with Bjork.

BJORK Biophilia (Deluxe Edition) (Nonesuch) cd 17.98
Forget about the multimedia / iPad formats of this new album via which Bjork originally released Biophilia, all that app stuff just gets in the way, and clouds the fact that this is one of the most emotionally intense, dark, and rewarding albums Bjork has crafted yet. Biophilia continues display what a rare vision Bjork has, making her undisputedly one of the most imaginative and original musicians of our time. Filled with haunting organs, primitive electronics, majestic harps, delicate bells, and of course one of the most commanding and mystifying voices we've heard. It's a record that shares the intimacy of Vespertine, the dark intensity of Medulla, and the focus and power of Homogenic.
Much of Biophilia is filled with slower, brooding sounds. But the moments of ecstatic release that come on tracks like "Crystaline", "Mutual Core", and "Natura" are so perfectly paced, making us freak out and lose ourselves in the sound before returning to the heavy emotional essence of the rest of the record. When Bjork sings lines like 'craving miracles', you are reminded that she is one of the view artists who has the ability to truly create magic and miracles with her music. She continues to be steadfast in her vision and uncompromising approach to making music. These songs slowly crawl beneath your skin, recalling the best moments of records by Brigitte Fontaine and Robert Wyatt, yet so utterly modern, futuristic and timeless all at once. Brilliant!
MPEG Stream: "Crystalline"
MPEG Stream: "Mutual Core"
MPEG Stream: "Thunderbolt"
MPEG Stream: "Nattura"

BJORK Homogenic (Elektra) cd 16.98
Even weirder than her last record, with orchestrated stuff and more jazz/lounge crooning. Cover is a Photoshop masterpiece art-directed by Alexander McQueen that must be seen to be believed.

BJORK Hunter (Polygram UK) video 41.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
6 versions of Hunter spread over three cd singles, some featuring remixes by U-ziq and State of Bengal. Plus the absolutely great Funkstorung remix of "All if Full of Love", and the DJ Krust remix of "So Broken". We don't expect to be able to stock these again, and supplies are very limited.

BJORK Hunter (Polygram UK) 3cdsingle box 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
6 versions of Hunter spread over three cd singles, some featuring remixes by U-ziq and State of Bengal. Plus the absolutely great Funkstorung remix of "All if Full of Love", and the DJ Krust remix of "So Broken". We don't expect to be able to stock these again, and supplies are very limited.

BJORK Selmasongs: Music From The Motion Picture 'Dancer In The Dark' (Elektra) cd 16.98
Can Bjork do no wrong? Well, her record label certainly can, by making $19 the suggested list price for this new 35 minute long (mini) album! Fortunately we're able to offer it for a little less, although our suppliers will probably jack up the price once our initial supply runs out... However, Bjork (and past Bjork collaborator, producer Mark Bell) have come up with a nice little disc here, the soundtrack (or at least, songs from soundtrack) to the eagerly awaited 'round these parts, Cannes film festival award-winning, Bjork-starring film by Lars Von Trier. It's certainly very "soundtracky" at first listen, super orchestral and all, but there's some very interesting technoish weirdness to be found here too. It seems that Bjork and co. have been listening to the the Raster school of clicks and cuts electronica (along with the Art of Noise and, Jim thinks, Gilbert & Sullivan). "Surface noise" crackle (a la Pole and, well, Portishead) and crinkly rhythm programming mixes nicely with That Voice on the track "Scatterheart".
Yes, That Voice. When it comes down to it, even $19 wouldn't be too much to pay to hear this brilliant woman sing. We're hopeless Bjork fans, I guess, but "Selmasongs" is, as we expected, a joy, even if it isn't another "Homogenic". Can't wait for a real full-length Bjork album tho, one where she's free from the distractions of acting in a movie and constrained by cinematic convention / directorial needs. ...Oh, and we should mention that she duets with a few folks on this disc, among them Catherine Deneuve and Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

BJORK Telegram (Elektra) cd 12.98
This is REALLY good. Rerecorded reinterpretations of songs from Bjork's Homogenic album, plus one brand new song. The people involved include Mark Bell (of LFO), The Brodsky Quartet, Tricky, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie, Howie B., Dillinjah, and Talvin Singh. Ranges from dancefloor-ready techno to weird neoclassical sparseness to jungle. Wow!

BJORK & FUNKSTORUNG All Is Full Of Love (Fat Cat) cd 9.98
Funkstorung has previously made a name for themselves with a few singles for their Mask label (which could be seen as an anagram for Skam - who are certainly the origin for Funkstorung / Mask in terms of aesthetics). If you liked the last Autechre and Boards of Canada records, you shouldn't let this pass you by! Funkstorung fractures three different remixes from the last track from Bjork's Homogenic album that range from disjointed breakbeats to weird drum & bass.

BLACK BUG I Don't Like You / You A Grave (Avant!) 7" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Most female fronted, angry rock bands probably get tired of getting tagged Riot Grrl, especially since for all intents and purposes, Riot Grrl ceased to be relevant years ago, maybe even ceased to exist entirely. BUT, if anyone was hoping to spawn a revival, Black Bug would be the band to make it happen. The A side of this 7", "I Don't Like You" is a mother fucking ANTHEM. The main riff totally distorted and so in-the-red it threatens to just fall to pieces, but then the chorus kicks in, and another guitar, EVEN MORE distorted and heavy and high in the mix, lurches into action, and lays waste to EVERYTHING. The drums are a mere pitter pat when faced with such blown out riffage, but it doesn't even matter. The vocals, though, seal the deal, distorted, wrapped in effects, howled with haughty pissed intensity, as loud and corrosive as the guitars it snarls around. And the hook, shit, if you gussied it up and got rid of some of the guitars and re-recorded it in a real studio we're talking something like the Breeders' "Cannonball", but instead, as is, it's a fierce fucked up, filthy fucking ANTHEM!
Like the Raveonettes if they were 13 years old, obsessed with Turbonegro, and SO pissed at their shit for brains boyfriend. Or maybe Daisy Chainsaw, but with a singer who is less waifish and sexy, and more bad ass and scary as shit. Reminds us a bit of Monarch punk rock alter ego Rainbow Of Death.
The flipside is not quite the ANTHEM as the A side, but it still slays, processed synthy buzz, tons of effects, this one more groovy and almost dance-y, in a sort of robotic way, more sassy pissed girl vocals. It's not hard to imagine Black Bug waiting outside some dance club and then kicking the living shit out of Uffie. Hellz Yeah!!
Cool thick black and blue sleeve, pressed on coke bottle clear vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Like You"

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB 28 After (Lo) cd 14.98
Been just a little confused by this Lo Recordings release... and we're not the only ones. Ok, get this: a 1978 French disco single by the hitherto unknown Black Devil's Disco Club (perhaps, or was it titled Disco Club by an artist named Black Devil?) was reissued on 12" vinyl a couple years ago by the Rephlex label. 'Twas some pretty cool dance music for retro-minded folks, full of spacey electronics and bongo rhythms, the sort of thing that jaded DJs are always happy to dig up from the vinyl past. Now we get this album by the same artist... or is it? And is this new stuff, or old? Or a bit of both? (Most likely). Verrrrry mysterious. (Though we're sure that in certain circles all is obvious about this, not to us though.) Anyway, what really matters is, have we still got some pretty cool dance music for retro-minded folks? And the answer is yes. Super groooovy, what sound to us like sampled '70s Italo-disco synth beat stylings, full of analog sizzle. Goofily effected vox intrude amusingly as well, at times. It's a bit Giorgio Moroder, but more organic somehow. 6 tracks, 32 minutes, (maybe) 28 years in the making, and right on time, really.
The mystery of it all is heightened by the packaging -- an all black jewel case, with the credits ("written and produced by Bernard Fevre") and track titles printed only on the cardstock slipcover. Inside the jewelcase, in lieu of a cd booklet, you get a folded, 10" x 10" one-sided, black-and-white photo of Mssr. Fevre (presumably), taken back in '78? Dunno.
MPEG Stream: "The Devil In Us"
MPEG Stream: "I Regret The Flower Power"

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB Circus (Lo) cd 13.98
Hmm. We're pretty big fans of Bernard Fevre's earlier Black Devil Disco Club releases, but this new one is a bit of a departure. Rather than continue to mine/emulate his archive of '70s-recorded Italo-disco cosmic synth stuff, which was a motherlode of instrumental atmospheric grooviness, here he's recruited an impressive (and unlikely!) array of guest vocalists, including Nancy Sinatra, Jon Spencer, and Afrika Bambaataa, along with members of Yacht and The Horrors, and Fevre's compositions backing them up are suddenly in a much more current-sounding synth-pop dance music style. We can see people really digging this, of course, but not because of the things that previously attracted us to the Black Devil Disco Club. Give us his spacey "library music" any day. Well, some of this still evokes the likes of Morodoer and Kraftwerk for sure, but that's overshadowed by all the guest stars. Check out the sound samples is our advice.
MPEG Stream: "Fuzzy Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Distrust"
MPEG Stream: "Stay Insane"

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB Circus (Lo) lp 25.00
Hmm. We're pretty big fans of Bernard Fevre's earlier Black Devil Disco Club releases, but this new one is a bit of a departure. Rather than continue to mine/emulate his archive of '70s-recorded Italo-disco cosmic synth stuff, which was a motherlode of instrumental atmospheric grooviness, here he's recruited an impressive (and unlikely!) array of guest vocalists, including Nancy Sinatra, Jon Spencer, and Afrika Bambaataa, along with members of Yacht and The Horrors, and Fevre's compositions backing them up are suddenly in a much more current-sounding synth-pop dance music style. We can see people really digging this, of course, but not because of the things that previously attracted us to the Black Devil Disco Club. Give us his spacey "library music" any day. Well, some of this still evokes the likes of Morodoer and Kraftwerk for sure, but that's overshadowed by all the guest stars. Check out the sound samples is our advice.
MPEG Stream: "Fuzzy Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Distrust"
MPEG Stream: "Stay Insane"

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB Presents The Strange New World of Bernard Fevre (Lo Recordings) cd 14.98
Lo previously brought us the most excellent, very much of the retro moment Black Devil Disco Club disc entitled 28 After, which was (supposedly) an archival document of the late '70s Parisian answer to Italo-Disco and Giorgio Moroder. We say supposedly 'cause the whole BDDC thing is intentionally shrouded in mystery, and it's been postulated that the contents of that disc are probably partly old and partly new. It's conclusively the case, though, that the man behind BDDC, one Bernard Fevre, WAS indeed active making music in the '70s. And now under the BDDC name, Lo has re-released Fevre's 1975 "library music" album, The Strange World Of Bernard Fevre. Sort of, that is. Being BDDC, things aren't that straightforward. First off, note that this cd is titled The Strange NEW World of Bernard Fevre, and features obviously all-new cover art. Furthermore, some research reveals that 7 of the 14 tracks on here appeared on the authentic, original LP, but 7 didn't... likewise, an equal number of tracks from the 1975 record don't show up on this disc (we're disappointed not to get to hear the likes of "Hell Ride" ferinstance). But not THAT disappointed, since what we have here, whenever and wherever it's from, is pretty neat!!
Super groovy and super moody, these rhythmic instrumentals are laced with sinister synth, driven by tick-tock drum machines and thick bass lines. Eerie Goblin-y atmospheres meet the icy electro robotics of Kraftwerk. Or imagine John Carpenter gone disco. With plenty of entrancing, elegant melody to make this a good at home in the evening listen.
Regardless of whether all these tracks were composed/recorded at the same time (the ones not from the original Strange World Of Bernard Fevre could be outtakes from that LP, or other unreleased material from the era, OR they could have been produced on vintage analog equipment just yesterday, we don't know, and for that matter we're not really sure if everything has been remixed or rerecorded recently), they certainly all SOUND like they all belong together. Anyone into minimal wave, or Italo-disco, or that "So Young But So Cold" comp of French synthwerks circa '77-'82, that sort of thing, should find themselves getting all tingly over this. Furthermore, if the slinky tempos were sped up just a bit, and you did some choppy edits and/or dropped in some glitchery, you'd practically have skweee!
MPEG Stream: "Dali"
MPEG Stream: "Dangerous Mixture"
MPEG Stream: "Pendulum"

BLACK DEVIL DISCO CLUB Presents The Strange New World of Bernard Fevre (Lo Recordings) lp 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now On Vinyl!!!!
Lo previously brought us the most excellent, very much of the retro moment Black Devil Disco Club disc entitled 28 After, which was (supposedly) an archival document of the late '70s Parisian answer to Italo-Disco and Giorgio Moroder. We say supposedly 'cause the whole BDDC thing is intentionally shrouded in mystery, and it's been postulated that the contents of that disc are probably partly old and partly new. It's conclusively the case, though, that the man behind BDDC, one Bernard Fevre, WAS indeed active making music in the '70s. And now under the BDDC name, Lo has re-released Fevre's 1975 "library music" album, The Strange World Of Bernard Fevre. Sort of, that is. Being BDDC, things aren't that straightforward. First off, note that this cd is titled The Strange NEW World of Bernard Fevre, and features obviously all-new cover art. Furthermore, some research reveals that 7 of the 14 tracks on here appeared on the authentic, original LP, but 7 didn't... likewise, an equal number of tracks from the 1975 record don't show up on this disc (we're disappointed not to get to hear the likes of "Hell Ride" ferinstance). But not THAT disappointed, since what we have here, whenever and wherever it's from, is pretty neat!!
Super groovy and super moody, these rhythmic instrumentals are laced with sinister synth, driven by tick-tock drum machines and thick bass lines. Eerie Goblin-y atmospheres meet the icy electro robotics of Kraftwerk. Or imagine John Carpenter gone disco. With plenty of entrancing, elegant melody to make this a good at home in the evening listen.
Regardless of whether all these tracks were composed/recorded at the same time (the ones not from the original Strange World Of Bernard Fevre could be outtakes from that LP, or other unreleased material from the era, OR they could have been produced on vintage analog equipment just yesterday, we don't know, and for that matter we're not really sure if everything has been remixed or rerecorded recently), they certainly all SOUND like they all belong together. Anyone into minimal wave, or Italo-disco, or that "So Young But So Cold" comp of French synthwerks circa '77-'82, that sort of thing, should find themselves getting all tingly over this. Furthermore, if the slinky tempos were sped up just a bit, and you did some choppy edits and/or dropped in some glitchery, you'd practically have skweee!
MPEG Stream: "Dali"
MPEG Stream: "Dangerous Mixture"
MPEG Stream: "Pendulum"

BLACK DICE Mr. Impossible (Ribbon Music) cd 14.98
So, can you really call a song "Pinball Wizard", if it's not actually "Pinball Wizard"??? We guess you can, if you're Black Dice. They don't give a damn. Or maybe it IS a version of "Pinball Wizard", but so fucked up Black Dice style as to be unrecognizable. Whatever it is, it's the opening track on this new platter from Brooklyn weirdos Black Dice, the entire nine tracks of which represent another damaged dose of what we've previously referred to as their usual "sampled and collagey, beat driven electro-noise" shenanigans. Piled with broken beats, looped noises, distorted vocal blurts, farting synths, etc., their lysergic grooves sound kinda like a really woozy drugged out Pop Will Eat Itself making an album for the Boredoms' Super Roots series or something. All kinds of chaotic craziness, but weirdly catchy though!
MPEG Stream: "Pinball Wizard"
MPEG Stream: "The Jacker"
MPEG Stream: "Shithouse Drifter"

BLACK DICE Mr. Impossible (Ribbon Music) lp 19.98
So, can you really call a song "Pinball Wizard", if it's not actually "Pinball Wizard"??? We guess you can, if you're Black Dice. They don't give a damn. Or maybe it IS a version of "Pinball Wizard", but so fucked up Black Dice style as to be unrecognizable. Whatever it is, it's the opening track on this new platter from Brooklyn weirdos Black Dice, the entire nine tracks of which represent another damaged dose of what we've previously referred to as their usual "sampled and collagey, beat driven electro-noise" shenanigans. Piled with broken beats, looped noises, distorted vocal blurts, farting synths, etc., their lysergic grooves sound kinda like a really woozy drugged out Pop Will Eat Itself making an album for the Boredoms' Super Roots series or something. All kinds of chaotic craziness, but weirdly catchy though!
MPEG Stream: "Pinball Wizard"
MPEG Stream: "The Jacker"
MPEG Stream: "Shithouse Drifter"

BLACK LEOTARD FRONT Casual Friday (DFA) 12" 6.98

BLACK MATH Phantom Power (Permanent ) lp 16.98

BLACK METEORIC STAR Dominatron (DFA) 12" 8.98

BLACK METEORIC STAR Dreamcatcher (DFA) 12" 8.98

BLACK METEORIC STAR s/t (DFA) cd 14.98
We hadn't heard anything really about this new release on DFA but when we first put it on we immediately thought "this sort of sounds like a way more dancey version of a Gavin Russom & Delia Gonzalez record." And whattayaknow? After actually checking the liner notes, we discovered that this is indeed the work of one half of that duo, Gavin Russom.
Setting out to make a much more blatantly dancefloor-centric record, this finds Russom channeling the ghosts of Acid House and for sure the influence of his time spent in late night dance clubs while living in Berlin. While some of the record is very fast paced and strobe light ready, it's the more slow burning moments that really push the album into the stratosphere. Russom has such a way with those dark and drifty tones and melodies, so hypnotic and trancelike. No doubt that Russom is drawing from not only his love of dance music culture but also his other more eclectic influences like horror-prog (Goblin) and the repetition and motorik quality of classic krautrock. But make no mistake, this is for sure a full on techno record, and a damn good one! Some of these songs are so long and stretched out, providing the perfect soundtrack to some mind altering k-hole that can't be escaped.
MPEG Stream: "Death Tunnel"
MPEG Stream: "Dreamcatcher"
MPEG Stream: "Dawn"

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Born On A Day The Sun Didn't Rise (Record Store Day) (Graveface) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another Record Store Day artifact (thanks to everyone who came out for RSD!!!) that we managed to get enough of, so we'd have a few left after the big day, to share with the aQ faithful who don't have a local record store to call their own, or who just consider US their indie record shop.
A little taster of the upcoming Black Moth Super Rainbow full length. This 7" is limited to 500 copies, pressed on orange vinyl, and was whipped up just for Record Store Day. It features the awesomely titled jam "Born On A Day The Sun Didn't Rise" from the new album, which is everything we could have hoped for, all druggy and swirly and sun dappled and psychedelic. There are strings and warn whirring synths, and breathless dreamy vox, and lilting melodies, not super freaked out or spastic, although there are hits of swooping electronics and glitchy bits, but for the most part this is just some awesomely new wave flecked jangly futuristic psych pop.
The flipside offers up a drastically different demo version, that actually sounds more like Blackmoth, skittery drum machines, the main melody plucked out on a banjo, disembodied vocodered vocals, the strings pushed way up in the mix, much more of a hip hop / trip hop vibe, more effects and swooping swirling synths, really rad, and exclusive to this here 7".
Can NOT wait for the new record, but this will hold us over until then...

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Don't You Want To Be In A Cult (Mexican Summer) picture disc 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Warehouse find (at a supplier of ours). The last few copies we're gonna see of this, we just got 5, so act quick...
Another tasty and colorful slab of vinyl from BMSR. No one delivers warm, warped and fuzzy melodic electronic jams better then these guys. We've fallen deeply in love with their sound over the last few years and they have yet to disappoint. This picture disc offers two great new instrumental tracks that showcase their slower and more warped and warbly side. Still filled with such delicious hooks but we love that these longer tracks allow them to space out and get a little more cosmic and psychedelic. It's still unmistakably BMSR, their signature sound all oozy and melty and drippy and druggy and divine...
The picture disc comes with a coupon for a free download, but you can't beat listening to this on your turntable and watching the colored wax spin around and around as you get lost in their catchy orbit. Very limited so jump on this while you can!

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Drippers (70s Gymnastics) cd ep 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Black Moth Super Rainbow have made quite an impact in the last couple years with their crunchy and poppy take on analog electronic pop, a sound that falls so near the more playful side of Boards Of Canada, and has us imagining what it might sound like if Air covered Daft Punk, using busted up old equipment, the result would have to be oh so charming and satisfying.
Drippers is essentially a collection of outtakes and unreleased tracks, but this is no throwaway ep. In fact we've been playing this nonstop, loving how thick and distorted the sounds here are and marvelling at BMSR's ability to conjure up such catchy and washed out electronic pop delights. The fact that they got Mike Watt to play on one of our favorite tracks ("Black Yogurt") has us even more smitten. Complete with a scratch n' sniff cover, this is music that engages all the sensations and keeps us coming back for more and more.
(FYI, 10" vinyl version forthcoming...)
MPEG Stream: "Black Yogurt (Featuring Mike Watt)"
MPEG Stream: "We Are The Pagans (Dandelion Gum Outtake)"

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Drippers (70's Gymnastics) 10" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl! And it still has the scratch and sniff cover too!!!
Black Moth Super Rainbow have made quite an impact in the last couple years with their crunchy and poppy take on analog electronic pop, a sound that falls so near the more playful side of Boards Of Canada, and has us imagining what it might sound like if Air covered Daft Punk, using busted up old equipment, the result would have to be oh so charming and satisfying.
Drippers is essentially a collection of outtakes and unreleased tracks, but this is no throwaway ep. In fact we've been playing this nonstop, loving how thick and distorted the sounds here are and marvelling at BMSR's ability to conjure up such catchy and washed out electronic pop delights. The fact that they got Mike Watt to play on one of our favorite tracks ("Black Yogurt") has us even more smitten. This is music that engages all the sensations and keeps us coming back for more and more.
MPEG Stream: "Black Yogurt (Featuring Mike Watt)"
MPEG Stream: "We Are The Pagans (Dandelion Gum Outtake)"

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Start A People (Graveface) cd 12.98
Whoa, Graveface Records, take it easy! Who do you think you are? Droppin' not one but two Black Moth Super Rainbow albums in our laps at once? We're not complaining, but don't *you* think Start A People and Falling Through A Field are just a lot of tunes to digest and enjoy at once? That's forty one total -- yes, we counted!
Start A People is a reissue of their 2004 album and along with the sixteen original tracks comes a pair of bonus tracks. The good thing about having this much BMSR is that you can put the cd on, then go ahead and drift off into daydream land without worrying that you're gonna have to change discs anytime soon. We fell so in love with their latest album Dandylion Gum, so when we found out there was earlier BMSR stuff we were both excited yet a little skeptical, maybe there was a reason we hadn't heard those early recordings, maybe the band was just coming into it's own now. Luckily that was so not the case as these earlier recordings show that BMSR have been creating irresistible and fuzzy sounding electronic pop from the get go.
Like a much more playful and charming version of Air, listening to Start A People is like a psychedelic soundtrack to playing Candyland as a little kid. Filled with wonder, heavily processed vocals on some tracks and evoking all kinds of marvelous color. We keep falling deeper and deeper in love with Black Moth Super Rainbow!
MPEG Stream: "Snail Garden"
MPEG Stream: "Raspberry Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "I Am The Alphabet"

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW Zodiac Girls (Suicide Squeeze) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BLACK STROBE Burn Your Own Church (Play Louder ) cd 14.98
In recent years we've had a geyser of dance punk, dance pop and dance rock, but dance metal? Naw, not really. The record label's description of this French duo gave us cause to brace ourselves. Mentions of Norwegian black metal fascinations, song titles like "Brenn Di Ega Kjerke" (Norwegian to English translation: burn your own church), acid house, '80s synth pop and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless piqued our twisted interest. However, dance metal it's not. Although heavy axe wielding machismo and well-oiled flexing do factor in throughout the album, this is more akin to the fevered techno industrial stomp of Primal Scream. More metallic than metal per se. And making just as strong an impression are the gentler moments when they fall more in step with the suave dramatics of Jarvis Cocker and Pulp. They also borrow a bit of lewd swagger from garage rawk trashies like The Cramps, the glammy bloat of Gary Glitter and Sigue Sigue Sputnik and the over the top vocal intonations of Laibach. No, it's nothing really new, in fact a lot of this sounds absolutely dated, but it sure is fun and a bit silly in an Andrew W.K. kind of way... but French.
MPEG Stream: "Brenn Di Ega Kjerke"
MPEG Stream: "I'm A Man"

BLACK STROBE Burn Your Own Church (Play Louder ) lp 13.98
In recent years we've had a geyser of dance punk, dance pop and dance rock, but dance metal? Naw, not really. The record label's description of this French duo gave us cause to brace ourselves. Mentions of Norwegian black metal fascinations, song titles like "Brenn Di Ega Kjerke" (Norwegian to English translation: burn your own church), acid house, '80s synth pop and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless piqued our twisted interest. However, dance metal it's not. Although heavy axe wielding machismo and well-oiled flexing do factor in throughout the album, this is more akin to the fevered techno industrial stomp of Primal Scream. More metallic than metal per se. And making just as strong an impression are the gentler moments when they fall more in step with the suave dramatics of Jarvis Cocker and Pulp. They also borrow a bit of lewd swagger from garage rawk trashies like The Cramps, the glammy bloat of Gary Glitter and Sigue Sigue Sputnik and the over the top vocal intonations of Laibach. No, it's nothing really new, in fact a lot of this sounds absolutely dated, but it sure is fun and a bit silly in an Andrew W.K. kind of way... but French.
MPEG Stream: "Brenn Di Ega Kjerke"
MPEG Stream: "I'm A Man"

BLACK TO COMM Earth (De Stijl) cd 14.98
The latest from longtime aQ faves Black To Comm is a bit of a departure, a soundtrack for a Singaporean silent film (one that has been soundtracked by other artists in the past, including Oren Ambarchi among others), which was apparently recorded while Marc Richter, aka Black To Comm, was under sedation and on heavy pain killers recovering from an injury, which seemed appropriate considering the film itself was about slowness and decay, sleep and death, and while we have yet to see the film, the music on its own is quite striking. A dizzying collage of samples and electronics, singing bowls and singing saw, and some singing too, the result is heady and psychedelic, dark and droney, grim and gristly. The opening track drapes some woozy crooning over a shimmering dronescape laced with wheezing melodies, glitched out electronics and random rhythmic clatter. The follow up track is much more contemplative and spare, softly processed acoustic guitar, gently glitchy, hints of Oval and Ambarchi, swooping backwards effects, a crystalline psychedelic folk, drifting along side more of those hauntingly crooned vox, those vox getting deeper and more dramatic and weirder and weirder. The music seeming to detune alongside. From there, the soundtrack drifts dreamily, delicate piano floats serenely through soft clouds of static, over lush chordal swells, all hazy and crystalline, the vox a dark dreamy croon, a strange sort of almost Caretaker sounding ballad, before expanding into an almost Our Love Will Destroy The World sounding soft cacophony, swirling swaths of tinkling chimes and woozy loops, layered high end shimmer and lush soft focus thrum, the vocals this time drifting way down in the mix, and finally, the score finishes off with a gorgeous bit of druggy cabaret, gauzy and bleary and gently blurred into a softly churning driftscape, rife with strange animal sounds, buried rhythmic pulses, and dark delicate vocalizations, maybe our favorite track of the bunch.
Definitely a lot different than past B2C releases in some ways, especially the vocals, which for some here were a dealbreaker, but to most of us, it sounds a bit like Antony from Antony & The Johnsons singing over a strange swirl of dark electronics and abstract psychedelic loopscaping, a gorgeously haunting songsuite of dark electroballads blurred and smeared into something much more abstract and atmospheric, which we are digging quite a bit!
MPEG Stream: "Stickstoff II"
MPEG Stream: "Water"

BLACK TO COMM Fractal Hair Geometry (Dekorder) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A brand new record from this weirdo German drone combo (or maybe it's a one man band), and it's a doozy. We have been pretty into everything we've heard from BTC, so we were pretty excited to get out hands on this new one.
In the past, we, and other folks have compares Black To Comm to groups like Oval, Pimmon, Fennesz, Earth and Merzbow, but the truth is in fact much stranger, and much more difficult to describe. This is definitely drone music, but it's so mysterious sounding, not all low end rumbles or shimmering high end skree, instead, it's a seemingly haphazard assemblage of sounds and musical fragments, looped and processed and chopped up, then woven into looooong undulating dronescapes, that churn and shimmer and buzz and whir, but also twist themselves into strange shapes, offering up incidental melodic overtones and subtle rhythms. And the strange thing is the parts really don't matter so much, in that they are eventually transformed into something entirely new. It reminds us of an exhibit at the museum, where a voice would repeat a single word or phrase over and over, and you would try to pick out the word, but it was practically impossible, the looped speech immediately turned into something sonically mysterious and impenetrable. Fractal Hair Geometry is similar in that the source sounds are super varied, but within minutes, even seconds, the source becomes meaningless, instead it is simple an element in a swooning and swaying and woozily hypnotic whole. Chanted vocals, whirring organs, mysterious shimmers, squiggly melodies, buzzing Theremins, electronic glitches, analog synths, wheezing harmoniums, and those are just guesses, cuz just like that museum exhibit, it's difficult to tell what the source sounds are. We also didn't try that hard. It's like trying to peek under the table to see how a magician does a trick. We don't want to know. It's more fun to get lost in these mysterious sounds. One track even introduces a muted techno throb, and for a brief second it sounds like the weirdest record Kompakt never released. It's really hard to describe this stuff, which is probably why we like it so much, check out the sound samples, and hear for yourself!
MPEG Stream: "Negative Volumes"
MPEG Stream: "Orange Record"
MPEG Stream: "Play Eggchess 3"

BLACK TO COMM Fractal Hair Geometry (Dekorder) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A brand new record from this weirdo German drone combo (or maybe it's a one man band), and it's a doozy. We have been pretty into everything we've heard from BTC, so we were pretty excited to get out hands on this new one.
In the past, we, and other folks have compares Black To Comm to groups like Oval, Pimmon, Fennesz, Earth and Merzbow, but the truth is in fact much stranger, and much more difficult to describe. This is definitely drone music, but it's so mysterious sounding, not all low end rumbles or shimmering high end skree, instead, it's a seemingly haphazard assemblage of sounds and musical fragments, looped and processed and chopped up, then woven into looooong undulating dronescapes, that churn and shimmer and buzz and whir, but also twist themselves into strange shapes, offering up incidental melodic overtones and subtle rhythms. And the strange thing is the parts really don't matter so much, in that they are eventually transformed into something entirely new. It reminds us of an exhibit at the museum, where a voice would repeat a single word or phrase over and over, and you would try to pick out the word, but it was practically impossible, the looped speech immediately turned into something sonically mysterious and impenetrable. Fractal Hair Geometry is similar in that the source sounds are super varied, but within minutes, even seconds, the source becomes meaningless, instead it is simple an element in a swooning and swaying and woozily hypnotic whole. Chanted vocals, whirring organs, mysterious shimmers, squiggly melodies, buzzing Theremins, electronic glitches, analog synths, wheezing harmoniums, and those are just guesses, cuz just like that museum exhibit, it's difficult to tell what the source sounds are. We also didn't try that hard. It's like trying to peek under the table to see how a magician does a trick. We don't want to know. It's more fun to get lost in these mysterious sounds. One track even introduces a muted techno throb, and for a brief second it sounds like the weirdest record Kompakt never released. It's really hard to describe this stuff, which is probably why we like it so much, check out the sound samples, and hear for yourself!
MPEG Stream: "Negative Volumes"
MPEG Stream: "Orange Record"
MPEG Stream: "Play Eggchess 3"

BLACKDOWN Lata - Burial Remix (Keysound) 12" 11.98

BLAKE, JAMES s/t (Polydor / Universal Republic) cd 15.98
There never seems to be any shortage of hype going around the music world. These days more than ever. And all too often those being hyped so much in the blogosphere world just never really deliver the goods to warrant all the hoopla. But every now and then a record comes along that totally does deserve all that attention, such is the case with this amazing album by James Blake. Immediately it reminds us of some amazing combination of several of our favorite records ever. Radiohead's Kid A, Burial's Untrue, Arthur Russell's Calling Out Of Context, and Antony & The Johnsons if they made a record produced by Massive Attack and Swarms.
Warm rushes of dubstep inspired backbeats meet gospel like vocal delivery, often auto-tuned but in such a moody and satisfying way. One of our customers who was going through a hard day when we had this playing in the store, came up to the counter and said "This is massaging my mind in ways I needed so badly." We can totally see where he was coming from. This is the kind of record made for melting, floating, and coming down softly.
MPEG Stream: "Unluck"
MPEG Stream: "Limit To Your Love"
MPEG Stream: "I Mind"

BLAMSTRAIN Ensi (Merck) cd 14.98

BLANKETSHIP Summer Set (Gigante Sound) cd 11.98
Blanketship's second album starts off in a much more funky and trip-hop-y fashion than anything found on his previous cd Threeps, but it definitely doesn't stay put. This one-man band aka Jared Blum keeps things moving along, drawing from a plethora of inspirations and sound sources, but always keeping thoughts of pop in the back of his mind. Incorporating samples of psychedelia, jazz, earthen folk, field recordings, and world beat, he's pieced together each track on Summer Set, with some considerably more structured than others. Catchily groovy and playfully spirited.
MPEG Stream: "County Fare"
MPEG Stream: "Fuzzy"

BLANKETSHIP Threeps (G25 Productions) cd 11.98
This new cd from SF's one man band Blanketship compiles three of his cd-r and cassette eps (hence the title, get it?) from the last couple of years. In chronological order, they are: L'Homme Invisible, Captain Assure, and Willow Bend. However, the tracks -- 25 in all -- have been jumbled together into an all new running order. It flows very well, making for a delightful full length. Maybe we've gone a little bit nutty, but we thought she heard lil' kitties mewing throughout this cd (particularly on the track "Dwarfism"). Then again maybe it was all due to the fact that just moments earlier we were listening to the plentiful meowing on the Cats & Kittens cd. Nonetheless, this is not a bad thing! The sounds, whether they are indeed meows or not, totally complemented the overall soft 'n' soothing atmosphere. On each track, Blanketship craftily arranges a soundscape of electronic melodies, sampled sounds, programmed rhythms among other things resulting in an airy collage. Sometimes a bit ghostly, sometimes a bit '60s British mystery movie-esque, sometimes a bit like a kranky ol' videogame, quite often playful and novel. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "Dwarfism"
MPEG Stream: "Lackluster"

BLECHDOM, KEVIN And The Tempo Of Doom (Unbearable) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Stunning new two track single from one half of, duh, Blectum From Blechdom. Fluttering, wondrous instumental synth lullabies that evoke the electronic work of Raymond Scott, the player piano compositions of Conlon Nancarrow, and even traces of Kurt Weill, but with a contemporary Schematic twist. Make sense? Remember a time in life when electronic synthesizers were accessible to the public and everyone had this crazy idea of what the year 2000 was going to be like? We were gonna live on the moon and live in capsules and wear spacesuits, we were preparing for the FUTURE! Well, I'm actually too young to remember, but these songs make me think about that kind of exhilarating bewilderment. Yeah, it's kinda like that...

BLECHDOM, KEVIN Bitches Without Britches (Chicks on Speed) cd 15.98

BLECHDOM, KEVIN Eat My Heart Out (Chicks On Speed) cd 15.98
Kevin Blechdom's latest album comes in the form of a frantic electronic-rock opera-style extravaganza. In contrast to her past recordings that frequently teetered into juvenile booby-joke, one-trick-pony territory (also a problem we've had with the music of Chicks On Speed whose label released this cd), this comes across as considerably more mature and composed... but no less kooky. Uhh, but we should let you know that breasts (her own) do make an appearance on this album's cover photo. Also on prominent display here... musically, is her startlingly broad stylistic spectrum. She delves robustly into diva drama, beefy rock, singy-songy pop, distorted funk, electro-kitsch and beyond. Finally, a Blechdom album with tracks that bear repeat listens, and with a number of compositions that are worthy of the critical acclaim that has been bestowed upon her in the past. That said, this is still something of an acquired taste. Check out the audio clips to see if your palate welcomes the camp-o-phonic sounds of Ms Blechdom.
MPEG Stream: "Coming"
MPEG Stream: "Love You From The Heart"

BLECHDOM, KEVIN I Love Presets (Tigerbeat6) cd 9.98
During the brief hiatus that was once thought to be the demise of Blectum From Blechdom, each member went on to craft their own, distinct personalities. While Blevin tucked herself away to assemble the epic sonic explorations of "Talon Slalom", Kevin took to small stages around the world, presenting her Kurt-Weill-meets-karaoke-diva-performance-artist-as-portrayed-by-Mary-Katherine-Gallagher-gone-completely-mad to the masses willing to endure that highly engaging, albeit cringeworthy affair. "I Love Presets", unlike the beautifully awe-inspiring solo material on the instrumental "The Inside Story" or "And The Tempo Of Doom" eps, focuses on Kevin's "pop star" potential, with emphasis on vocal delivery and lyrical "wit". Songs tend to be personal, as displayed in her heart-wrenching cover of Tina Turner's "Private Dancer" or her much-too-informative reminiscence of a former relationship in "Mr. Miguel". The highlights, musically, are in the Kurt Weill / carnivalesque "Shelley Sho'nuff" and Kevin's response to gearhounding know-it-alls in "Talkin' Tech". Also included is the current Blectum standard, "Interspecies Love". This is pure kitsch, novel for a few listens, but sadly tires much too quickly...
RealAudio clip: "Interspecies Love"
RealAudio clip: "Shelley Sho'nuff"

BLECHDOM, KEVIN The Inside Story (Tigerbeat6) 3" cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Kevin Blechdom (of acclaimed Oakland duo Blectum From Blechdom) busts out her first solo recording, nine short, laconic lullabies (one of which, "Shooshee", is a variation of a Blectum From Blechdom track) composed entirely with software programs written by the artist herself. As with the music of Blectum From Blechdom, there exists an elegant balance of sinister creepiness and giddy playfulness. With "The Inside Story", Kevin sinks the dancefloor rhythms to subaquatic levels, flirting with the corporeal by way of digitalia, and recalling the early electronic experimentation of Raymond Scott (whose extraordinary 2cd collection "Manhattan Research" is a must have!). Although the sounds contained, to my knowledge, appear purely electronic and not sample based, this is electronic music you want to touch and pinch between your fingers and lick all over. Unfortunately, this disc is a brief twenty minutes, but certainly a fluid and sublime listen as a whole. Dreamy.
RealAudio clip: "ready4love"

BLECHDOM, KEVIN Your Butt E.P. (Dudini) cd ep 8.98
Someone has to say it, it might as well be us. C'mon!!! You studied music at Mills for fuck's sake!!! You were honored alongside RYOJI IKEDA and OVAL by the Ars Electronica, the biggest honor in digital music, beating out everybody ever featured in The Wire, EVERYBODY! But all you do is sing stupid songs, terribly off key, to retarded programmed nursery rhyme electronica, about boobs and butts and stuff only grade schoolers think is funny. Christ, this is depressing/embarrassing. But people (those Ars Electronica folks for one, and possibly Fred Frith who actually appears on this disc) seem to like the Blechdom thing, so maybe we're missing something. Some sample lyrics: "There's a boob-a-que in here, my tits are on fire / My ballpark boobs are about to explode." Ugh, well, whatever we might be missing doesn't sound like something we really want to get.

BLECTUM FROM BLECHDOM Badmusic & Buttprints (Dial) 10" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Blectum From Blechdom's mutant electronica has been coupled with the post-Aphex tricknology of Chris "O.S.T." Douglas for this super limited lathe cut 10" produced for Dial Records. One side is more rhythmically based, with algorithmic workouts of erratic shortwave bleeping situated above a mock house drum machine build. The other side is far more whimsical, entirely unconcerned with their audience's intellectual sensibilities. Kevin & Blevin Blectum present a vocal mimicry of tapes made by teenage girls as they sing along, completely off key, to their favourite boy bands, squealing with delight. Broken calliope melodies plink and plonk along with the embarassingly quaint vocals. Yup, the covers are actual buttprints by Kevin & Blevin... if you get lucky you might find one or two very long black hairs accompanying your buttprint. (Blevin Blectum claims this is not one of theirs but is the result of the detritus found in Mike Dial's house.)

BLECTUM FROM BLECHDOM De Snaunted Haus (Tigerbeat6) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Blectum From Blechdom keeps on getting better and weirder with each release. "De Snaunted Haus" is the fourth release this year for San Francisco's carnivalesque electro-shock / horror-techno duo. There honestly hasn't been much that sounds like Blectum From Blechdom, it's almost like somebody took a baseball bat to the head of Laurie Anderson and made her act, punch-drunk, in some really silly horror skits, scored on a Casio keyboard by somebody who has never listened to anything but Thinking Fellers albums at the wrong speed. Their warped electronica simulates child-like melodies as reflected through a funhouse mirror of distortion and exaggeration, and in-between these songs Blectum From Blechdom set up surreal skits that involve mad ducks, bloodied children, and the undead, all of which end in somebody screaming (nice touch). So we say: Blectoids, keep hammering away at Laurie Anderson's head with that baseball bat! If only.
RealAudio clip: "Son-Toe-Fury"
RealAudio clip: "Hotrodderdam"