V/A Powerslaves: An Elektro Tribute To Iron Maiden (Angelmaker) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Well, I suppose it had to happen. Or did it? And boy were we torn. On the one hand we really don't want to support this kind of thing. Electro versions of Iron Maiden songs?? But on the other hand, before even hearing it, we knew that we were gonna have to order a ton of 'em, and that we would ALL have to buy one. And as if to seal the deal, we threw it on the stereo the minute we got it, and within 15 seconds a customer was already at the counter telling us they NEEDED whatever we were playing. And our guess is that you're gonna need one too. I mean c'mon ELECTRO versions of IRON MAIDEN songs!! And the timing couldn't be more appropriate with the recent tragic passing of Anton Maiden, the original powerslave, who sang tunelessly over MIDI versions of Iron Maiden songs downloaded from his computer (which some of us liked even more than his singing...). And basically, this is just Anton Maiden with a way bigger budget. Which is a good thing. All those timeless riffs we love and adore played by fuzzed out analog synths and turned into buzzy alien melodies, the throbbing, unmistakable basslines of Steve Harris become burping squelches and rumbling pulses, and of course those dual lead guitar harmonies are transformed into wild squeaky squiggles. Does it work? Hard to say. It does sound great though. Funny and wild and fun and silly. We'd think they were taking the piss, but the liner notes take great pains to explain that the album 'was conceived with the greatest respect' and by having each artist pick their favorite Maiden song and album, often not the track they performed. There are a few familiar names here, Legowelt and Kitbuilders, but most of these artists are new to us (some other names: Captain Ahab, Rude 66, Maxx Klaxon, Ra-X, Imatran Voima, Luke Eargoggle...). The best track has to be Hidari / Platzgumer's Number Of The Beast, which starts so fucked up it's almost impossible to tell what song it is, and the drum programming is so fucked that the rhythm ends up being a damaged and stuttery mess of clicks and crunches. The vocals start out super vocoded and distorted, sounding quite alien / monsterlike, until the clean vocals kick in, and then the melody is sung weirdly, tuneless-y and strangely familiar a la Anton Maiden. Whatever reservations we had were definitely quelled once we heard this whole comp. How could they not be? And it's approved by original Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno himself. A fitting record of the week and for us, a fitting "moment of silence" for Anton Maiden. R.I.P.
MPEG Stream: HIDARI / PLATZGUMER "Number Of The Beast"
MPEG Stream: ACID JUNKIES "Wrathchild"
MPEG Stream: MR. VELCRO FASTENER "The Trooper"

V/A Radio Galaxia (B-Music / Finders Keepers) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another special release for this year's Record Store Day, that we managed to get enough of to list and review for all the aQ peeps who weren't able to visit the shop in person.
By now most regular readers of the aQ list are well aware of just how much we love Andy Votel's B-Music label, the dizzyingly eclectic home of recordings from Jean-Claude Vannier, Selda, Mustafa Ozkent, Sarolta Zalatnay, as well as purveyors of all things Turkish psych, lost disco, weirdo proto metal, lost soundtracks, Pakistani film music, Hungarian psych prog and more more more.
We raved about the Pomegranates comp recently, as well as The BYG Deal collection, also, the Sound Of Wonder, Well Hung, if there's one thing these guys do better than anyone, it's make mixtapes, transformed into head spinning, ear tickling compilations, so it should come as no surprise that their Record Store Day sampler is another killer mix. And instead of just being ONLY a handful of tracks you can get on other releases (although some in fact are), it focuses on harder to find B-Music gems, whether from WAY out of print records, or not yet released jams.
Beginning with a killer chunk of slice and dice space synth disco from weirdo French mad scientist Jean-Pierre Massiera, the record flits from sound to sound, from country to country, from era to era, but somehow still manages to flow. Persian psych pop slips right into some gritty synth funk, which leads right into some woozy, tripped out Asian psych, finishing off with some awesome Italo fuzzfunk, wild and trippy and druggy and awesome.
The flipside begins with some warped easy listening which is transformed into some seriously far out skittery fuzzy outsider funk, followed by some "synth bass stoner funk", then a Curved Air cover, taken from the Absolute Belter comp reviewed elsewhere on this week's list, sequing into some exotic soaring string driven dancefloor Bollywood style groove, before finishing off with a bit of Welsh Rare Beat.
Awesome stuff. An absolutely killer mix, and maybe the ultimate party platter of the year. LIMITED too, we probably won't be able to get more of these, so best to snag one while they last...

V/A Resurrection (Second Coming) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Subtitled, "The Amplified Side Of Heavenly Grooves". This ain't your momma's gospel music. Nope, this collection brings together some bizarre, funny, and downright groovy '60s/'70s tunes by/for Jesus-loving hipsters. Everything from garage rock to folk to lounge-jazz, and more, including some hilarious spoken word from the "Sunworshippers" (Jesus Freaks up in Eureka, CA). Then there's John Ylvisaker's demented "A Gay Cliche", a song so bad yet so good that it sounds like it belongs on "The Beat Of The Traps". Pat Boone and Dick Hyman also make appearances. Righteous. MOJO writer Will Hodgkinson makes a good point in the liner notes: "I've always maintained that the finest psychedelia is created by people who have only imagined what drugs are like rather than experience them first hand, so who better to make groovy acid rock than Christians?"
RealAudio clip: "A Gay Cliche"
RealAudio clip: "Know They're You"
RealAudio clip: "The Sunworshippers Speak"

V/A Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chanteys (Anti) cd 17.98
Who doesn't love pirates? Y'know the eye-patched, peg-legged, sword-totin' ones in storybooks and movies? Mind you of course, out on the real high seas they're a whole 'nother subject, but within the relatively safe confines of a leatherbound hardcover or a multi-screen cineplex... well, shucks! Anyway, this double cd set is most definitely pirate-themed, and while it's not technically a soundtrack album for Pirates Of The Caribbean 2, Rogue's Gallery was produced by that film's leading man Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski and Hal Willner (the man also behind the recent Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man soundtrack). Think of it more as a companion work, and a big one at that. This compilation is a whopping 43 songs in total -- all of them olden day seafaring songs as interpreted by modern day artists. Many of them are performed in unexpectedly strange and entertaining fashion, such as the opening track by Baby Gramps who sounds like a drunken Tuvan throat singer! The list of participants is quite astounding, it includes Van Dyke Parks, Nick Cave, Richard Thompson, Lucinda Williams, David Thomas, Lou Reed (very staid), Stan Ridgway, Jarvis Cocker (an awesome number that builds to a frenzied stormy climax!), Bill Frisell, Loudon Wainwright III, Rufus Wainwright, Kate McGarrigle, Gavin Friday, Bryan Ferry with Antony (injecting the comp with a little melodramatic flair), Mary Margaret O'Hara (a surprise appearance by this mysterious, captivating Canadian artist and sister of actress Catherine O'Hara!), Jolie Holland, Akron/Family, White Magic, John C. Reilly (!), a couple of guys named Sting and Bono too, and more! We won't make you walk the plank for this one, but we will politely attest to the fact that this is indeed for the most part a jolly good listen!
MPEG Stream: WAINWRIGHT, RUFUS AND KATE MCGARRIGLE "Lowlands Away"
MPEG Stream: COCKER, JARVIS "A Drop Of Nelson's Blood"
MPEG Stream: FERRY, BRYAN W/ ANTONY "Lowland Low"

V/A Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture [2002] (Rough Trade / Mute) 2cd 23.00
The term "counter-culture" seems to be Rough Trade's catch-all tag for this extremely eclectic compilation. This two disc set features a total of 41 tracks from around the world - many familiar artists (Bright Eyes, the Breeders, ESG, Bis, Johnny Dowd, Melt Banana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cabaret Voltaire, Mountain Goats, Tom Waits, Prefuse 73, Tracy And The Plastics, Glass Candy And The Shattered Theatre, James Yorkston, Dempsey, The Bug Vs The Rootsman, Joy Zipper, Langley Schools Music Project) as well as many you may not yet be familiar with (Rubicks, The Be Good Tanyas, Trash Money, Akufen, Baxter Dury, The Bug Vs The Rootsman, My Robot Friend, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Crossover, The Books and Pink Grease). A genuine musical cornucopia!
RealAudio clip: RUBICKS "Midas"
RealAudio clip: TRASH MONEY "You Lied Satan"
RealAudio clip: THE BE GOOD TANYAS "Broken Telephone"

V/A Saturday Morning: Cartoon's Greatest Hits (MCA) cd 14.98
Wait a minute, it's subtitled "Alternative Rock for Cartoon Lovers: Make It a Part of Your Unbalanced Breakfast." And they want to *sell* records with that? I don't know. The only worthwhile piece on it, IMHO, is the Butthole's doing "Underdog," but whatever. I read all the Nancy Drew and Anne Of Green Gables books instead of watching cartoons and now must bravely face the holes in my popcult education. Other pieces people've been oohing & aahing over include Liz Phair (with Material Issue!) doing the Banana Splits theme, Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donnelly (Belly) covering "Josie & the Pussycats."

V/A Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks (Lava/Atlantic) cd 14.98
It had to happen -- but too bad Atlantic felt the need to slap a cease-and-desist order on the indie label (can't recall its name) that had the idea first -- nonetheless this is a surprisingly good compilation, notable mostly for the Deluxx Folk Implosion's impersonation of a very whinyass Bill ("Yeah and *then* I hafta *hope* they make me into a *Law*") and Chavez! Yup, never thought I'd say that about Chavez but there you are: they contribute the liveliest, most creative track on the album, reminds us of "A Day in the Life."

V/A Sex Sleaze and Soul (Nice Treat) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Attention all fans of cheesy camp, kitsch, martial arts, blaxploitation, etc! Here's a humungous collection of movie trailers and music tracks from B-movies such as Thunderfist, Naughty Stewardesses, Black Gunn, The Gay Deceivers, Human Tornado, Fists Of Fury, Bare Knuckles, Switchblade Sister and oh yes, lest we forget... The Bummer! Music mostly takes a backseat to the highly entertaining announcements, and also despite the potency of the title, the saucy cover art (nude women with nipples blacked out by stars) and the proclamation on the traycard that this is "The Sexiest, Sleaziest & Most Soulful Motion Picture Collection Ever" and "Adults Only Erotic Soul", we should note that it's all pretty tame by today's standards... yet no less fun! A walloping forty-one tracks in all.
MPEG Stream: "Naughty Stewardesses"
MPEG Stream: "Switchblade Sister: Hold It Whitey"

V/A Sex Sleaze and Soul (Nice Treat) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Attention all fans of cheesy camp, kitsch, martial arts, blaxploitation, etc! Here's a humungous collection of movie trailers and music tracks from B-movies such as Thunderfist, Naughty Stewardesses, Black Gunn, The Gay Deceivers, Human Tornado, Fists Of Fury, Bare Knuckles, Switchblade Sister and oh yes, lest we forget... The Bummer! Music mostly takes a backseat to the highly entertaining announcements, and also despite the potency of the title, the saucy cover art (nude women with nipples blacked out by stars) and the proclamation on the traycard that this is "The Sexiest, Sleaziest & Most Soulful Motion Picture Collection Ever" and "Adults Only Erotic Soul", we should note that it's all pretty tame by today's standards... yet no less fun! A walloping forty-one tracks in all.
RealAudio clip: "Naughty Stewardesses"
RealAudio clip: "Switchblade Sister: Hold It Whitey"

V/A SID Chip Sounds: The Music Of The Commodore 64 (Robot Elephant Records) cd 17.98
Folks who've visited aQuarius in person no doubt have noticed the little mini arcade going on, we have Tron, Joust, Ghosts & Goblins and Rastan, and if we had more room, you can bet there'd be more. And along with our love of classic arcade games comes a nostalgia and extreme appreciation for the video game music that soundtracked so much our our childhood. Glorious symphonies in 8-bit sound, from goofy and playful bloops and bleeps to haunting and ominous buzzing soundscapes (we'd posit that Rastan has some of the best music EVER, and not just video game music), even removed from the context of the game, those songs and sounds displayed an amazing creativity, doing so much with so little, this impossibly limited sonic palette birthing an impossibly kaleidoscopic array of sounds. We've reviewed a handful of 8-bit recordings in the past, there being a bit of a resurgence in chip-tunes, folks making new music out of modded chips from vintage video games, heck we've even gone so far as ONE-bit sounds, becoming a bit obsessed with the compositions of one bit composer Tristan Perich. But this new collection holds a special place in our hearts, as some of us here at aQ, long before everyone had a personal computer in their house (and in their phone!), were the proud owners of what was once cutting edge personal computing technology, the Commodore 64! Complete with CASSETTE TAPE DRIVE!! It seems laughable now, but the C64 definitely inspired a cult of nerds, one that remains strangely obsessed to this day. Which brings us to SID Chip Sounds, which is in fact, a collection of music from classic Commodore 64 games, and for the 8-bit and C64 obsessed out there, this is totally essential, a handful of classics, and a bunch of weird games we'd never heard of, but all the sounds so fun and cool, the sounds driving and hypnotic, goofy and even psychedelic, and so weirdly prescient of the current fascination with lo-fi sounds and experimental electronics. In fact much of this could totally pass for some modern cd-r releasing bedroom electronics tinkerer. But that said, so much of this stuff is just so masterfully composed and created, again, conjuring up lush landscapes and intricately melodic passages, from an incredibly limited palette. Dig deep into this comp, and you'll hear tracks that sound like video game krautrock, spaced out 8-bit cosmic disco, and some swirly new agey ambience, even one that sorta sounds like Deep Purple, but all delivered via a fantastically antiquated lo-bit delivery system, and with a sound that manages to be nostalgic, but in its own weird way sort of timeless! Composers include Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, Ben Daglish, and more, doing themes for such games as Last Ninja, Gauntlet 3, Glider Rider, Commando, and Arkanoid, among others.
MPEG Stream: BEN DAGLISH "Last Ninja (Wastelands)"
MPEG Stream: DAVID WHITTAKER "Glider Rider"
MPEG Stream: TIM FOLLIN & GEOFF FOLLIN "Gauntlet 3 (1)"
MPEG Stream: JEROEN TEL "Cybernoid 2"
MPEG Stream: ROB HUBBARD "Commando"

V/A SID Chip Sounds: The Music Of The Commodore 64 (Robot Elephant Records) 2lp 31.00
Sweet, now on vinyl too!
Folks who've visited aQuarius in person no doubt have noticed the little mini arcade going on, we have Tron, Joust, Ghosts & Goblins and Rastan, and if we had more room, you can bet there'd be more. And along with our love of classic arcade games comes a nostalgia and extreme appreciation for the video game music that soundtracked so much our our childhood. Glorious symphonies in 8-bit sound, from goofy and playful bloops and bleeps to haunting and ominous buzzing soundscapes (we'd posit that Rastan has some of the best music EVER, and not just video game music), even removed from the context of the game, those songs and sounds displayed an amazing creativity, doing so much with so little, this impossibly limited sonic palette birthing an impossibly kaleidoscopic array of sounds. We've reviewed a handful of 8-bit recordings in the past, there being a bit of a resurgence in chip-tunes, folks making new music out of modded chips from vintage video games, heck we've even gone so far as ONE-bit sounds, becoming a bit obsessed with the compositions of one bit composer Tristan Perich. But this new collection holds a special place in our hearts, as some of us here at aQ, long before everyone had a personal computer in their house (and in their phone!), were the proud owners of what was once cutting edge personal computing technology, the Commodore 64! Complete with CASSETTE TAPE DRIVE!! It seems laughable now, but the C64 definitely inspired a cult of nerds, one that remains strangely obsessed to this day. Which brings us to SID Chip Sounds, which is in fact, a collection of music from classic Commodore 64 games, and for the 8-bit and C64 obsessed out there, this is totally essential, a handful of classics, and a bunch of weird games we'd never heard of, but all the sounds so fun and cool, the sounds driving and hypnotic, goofy and even psychedelic, and so weirdly prescient of the current fascination with lo-fi sounds and experimental electronics. In fact much of this could totally pass for some modern cd-r releasing bedroom electronics tinkerer. But that said, so much of this stuff is just so masterfully composed and created, again, conjuring up lush landscapes and intricately melodic passages, from an incredibly limited palette. Dig deep into this comp, and you'll hear tracks that sound like video game krautrock, spaced out 8-bit cosmic disco, and some swirly new agey ambience, even one that sorta sounds like Deep Purple, but all delivered via a fantastically antiquated lo-bit delivery system, and with a sound that manages to be nostalgic, but in its own weird way sort of timeless! Composers include Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, Ben Daglish, and more, doing themes for such games as Last Ninja, Gauntlet 3, Glider Rider, Commando, and Arkanoid, among others.
MPEG Stream: BEN DAGLISH "Last Ninja (Wastelands)"
MPEG Stream: DAVID WHITTAKER "Glider Rider"
MPEG Stream: TIM FOLLIN & GEOFF FOLLIN "Gauntlet 3 (1)"
MPEG Stream: JEROEN TEL "Cybernoid 2"
MPEG Stream: ROB HUBBARD "Commando"

V/A Soft Sounds For Gentle People 2 (Pet Records) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

V/A Songs For Nao (Chapter Music) cd 17.98
This children's album is completely by bands from Japan, but was oddly released by an Australian label (apparently someone at the label lived in Japan). On the surface a lot of Japanese pop music can be heard as being appropriate for kids, but often if you listen a little closer, you'll find a darker more mature core. Not the case here. Well, at least as far as we can tell (not being fluent in Japanese) this seems like it'd be great for kids. Might even get them singing in Japanese! Not only are there playtime-ready springy-sproingy lollipop delights as well as drowsier numbers perfect for gettin' ready for naptime, but they also don't completely coddle the child, including a couple of heavier, more rocking tunes. The first song is by a band who take their name from a Shaggs song, yup, My Pal Foot Foot! And it sounds as if they got one of those gals to come play wobbly trumpet on this tune. Actually the trumpet seems to be the continuous element on this comp. It pops up frequently. Another observation, Elliott noticed that the tenth song ("Temperature Of Windowsill" by Nikaidoh Kazumi) has a section that closely resembles The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". Hmm, that didn't make us too happy, but the final song "Telen Pa Wu" by Tenniscoats had us all giggling with glee. Give the audio sample a listen and see for yourself!
MPEG Stream: MY PAL FOOT FOOT "Here Is Very"
MPEG Stream: TENNISCOATS "Telen Pa Wu"

V/A Songs In The Key Of Z Volume 2 (Gammon) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heads up! Irwin Chusid has unleashed another collection of what is sooo aptly described on the traycard as "ear-tingling outrephonics". Vibrant, electrifying, and yes often bizarre feats of sonic tunesmanship are contained within each of these seventeen tracks. If you've read the book and/or heard the first volume you probably have some idea of what to expect with this second compilation, but what's impossible to anticipate is the diversity of this unheard, absolutely earnest and untethered music. An acquired taste? Yes... many actually, but very rewardingly so. Andee took a particular liking to Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend's "You're Out Of The Computer", while all of our ears were left a-tingling by the sounds of Shooby Taylor and The Space Lady. Who else will you hear? Thoth, Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker, Dick Kent, B.J. Snowden, Luie Luie, and many more. Please consider yourself forewarned: some may make you giggle, some may make you uncomfortable, some may make you cringe. Others may be uplifting, inspiring or disturbing. Some may as Alvin Dahn's song simply states "drive [you] mad". While it can certainly be said that Volume One was a hard act to follow, Chusid has unearthed and assembled an exceptional selection of perhaps even more obscure oddities.
RealAudio clip: BINGO GAZINGO & MY ROBOT FRIEND "You're Out Of The Computer"
RealAudio clip: THE SPACE LADY "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night"

V/A Songs In The Key Of Z: Volume 1 & 2 (Cherry Red) 2cd 16.98
Back in print, both volumes of classic outsider music weirdness as compiled by WFMU's Irwin Chusid, now together in one package as a double cd!
It could be the product of a genetic disaster, alien abduction, drug excess, the lack of proper medication, or nothing easily quantifiable. Regardless of the cause, outsider art is dominated by a artistic compulsion / obsession so strong as to defy any lack of training or ability or good sense. Irwin Chusid's compilation Songs In The Key Of Z (Vol. 1) is a absurdist journey into the obtuse songwriting from The Shaggs, Daniel Johnston, Wesley Willis, Joe Meek (whose legendary tone-deafness couldn't be more self-evident as on the demo to "Telstar"), Captain Beefheart, Shooby Taylor, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Tiny Tim, Luie Luie, Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson, the ever lovable Jandek, and many more. Funny how so many of those names seem so well-known now!
Digging further into the vaults of what he aptly describes as "ear-tingling outrephonics", Chusid also managed a second volume in the Key Of Z. Vibrant, electrifying, and yes often bizarre feats of sonic tunesmanship are contained within each of Volume 2's seventeen tracks. You probably have some idea of what to expect with this second compilation, but what's impossible to anticipate is the diversity of this unheard, absolutely earnest and untethered music. An acquired taste? Yes... many actually, but very rewardingly so. Andee took a particular liking to Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend's "You're Out Of The Computer", while all of our ears were left a-tingling by the sounds of Shooby Taylor and The Space Lady. Who else will you hear? Former SF local Thoth, Congress-Woman Malinda Jackson Parker, Dick Kent, B.J. Snowden, Luie Luie, and many more. Please consider yourself forewarned: some may make you giggle, some may make you uncomfortable, some may make you cringe. Others may be uplifting, inspiring or disturbing. Some may as Alvin Dahn's song simply states "drive [you] mad". While it can certainly be said that Volume One was a hard act to follow, Chusid unearthed and assembled an exceptional selection of perhaps even more obscure oddities on Volume Two, and they're both quite recommended, together on this handy reissue.
MPEG Stream: WESELY WILLIS "Rock'n'Roll McDonalds"
MPEG Stream: JOE MEEK "Telstar (Rough Demo)"
MPEG Stream: CONGRESS-WOMAN MALINDA JACKSON "Cousin Mosquito #1"
MPEG Stream: BINGO GAZINGO & MY ROBOT FRIEND "You're Out Of The Computer"

V/A Sprechen Sie Pop? (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Whether from Poland, American, Hungary, the UK, or France, there was a moment in time in the '60s and '70s when everyone making pop music was hoping to have a big hit in Germany. So even if they had NO idea what they were singing, they went into the studio hoping to tap into the lucrative German market and make it big auf Deutsch. Luckily so many of these tracks were also some of the most sophisticated, sassy and snappy pop songs being recorded in any language, or at least that's what this disc makes us think.
This comp brings together some of the totally shining moments in German-language pop from across the globe like France Gall, Barbara, Sandie Shaw, Paul Anka, Antoine, Kati Kovacs, AQ Hungarian favorites Illes, and a bunch more, amazing examples of some of the most fun and infectious pop for which fans of ye-ye delights and those In-Kraut sound collections will fall hard, for sure.
There's a similar compilation we received recently, called Parlez Vous Pop?, that's essentially the French equivalent of this collection. Unfortunately, other than a couple tracks, that comp was much more suited for coffee house background music, but THIS ONE we can enthusiastically recommend!!
MPEG Stream: KATJA HOLLŠNDER "Er Heisst Peter"
MPEG Stream: ILLŽS "Hier Stand Die Sonne Hoch"
MPEG Stream: DIE SKALDEN "Du Hast Mich Lieb"

V/A Street And Gangland Rhythms: Beats And Improvisations From Six Boys In Trouble (Smithsonian Folkways) lp 16.98
Wow, what an amazing artifact! Smithsonian Folkways have just reissued this 1959 release of urban folk song recordings made by six 11 and 12 year-old youths from the Harlem projects. With only bongos and bottles to beat out percussive rhythms, the kids make rhyming songs, chants, and stories that relate to their experiences of rough street life and how they cope with them. An argument can be made that these recordings are the nascent beginnings of what would later become rap, but the song's basic forms sound much more rooted in early blues, call and response rhymes, and tribal African rhythms, in that they still have the feeling of being tied to an older tradition of folk music. That they are being made by kids with such exuberance and charm in the face of real hardship make these recordings truly special.

V/A Teen Dance Music From China And Malaysia (Thrift Score) cd 14.98
FINALLY RE-PRESSED after years of being out of print! An all time AQ favorite available again!
Fans of The Steps, Ho: Roady Music From Vietnam and fans of instrumental exotica weirdness take note. We are happy to have chanced upon this brand new collection of gems from the cracks of music history. According to the notes on the back of the case, the thrift-store-scouring curator of this collection was blessed with an extreme case of "right place at the right time" syndrome and spotted an entire collection of records from China and South East Asia which had been dropped off in grocery bags only an hour earlier. Wisely seizing the opportunity, our protagonist picked up every last one and took them home to sift through the motherlode at his leisure. The 18 tracks on this disc represent the best, by our guide's judgement, songs in the collection. The cuts are all instrumental (most vocals being mono-syllabic choruses -- read: "oohs" and "ahhs") with the exception of the The Chipmunks-meet-the-Ventures styled "Chella-La" by The Stylers and an off kilter rendition of Prince Buster's "Enjoy Yourself". The tracks range from the very western sounding to the more overtly Asian in melody and all of them are soaked in guitar -- both of the fuzzed out and spaciously reverb drenched variety -- oddball organs, drums, bongos, vibes, bass, etc... You get the idea. There are several tracks of popular film arrangements including For A Few Dollars More, a medley of James Bond Themes and a go-go version of Bridge Over The River Kwai. But there are plenty of less obvious sources quoted including a psychedelic mambo which even features a yelp Perez Prado would be proud to call his own, some very Martin Denny-esque arrangements, as well as some very Ventures or Shadows (depending which you feel more worthy of the credit) like numbers. This one comes highly recommended.
RealAudio clip: TACIT BLESSING "(indecipherable)"
RealAudio clip: STYLERS, THE "Chella-La"
RealAudio clip: STYLERS, THE "Themes From James Bond"

V/A Thai Beat A Go-Go Volume 1 (Subliminal Sounds) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the label that brought us Dungen, Parson Sound and Abner Jay comes a crazy collection of Thai Go-Go. We're still reeling from the double whammy of the two volume Cambodian Rocks releases and the excellent Cambodian Cassette Archives and now this. Though to be fair to the latter, this release might not necessarily cater to all the same fans. The music here is more likely to appeal to fans of obscure 60's pop and garage than say, fans of off kilter pop influenced Thai music. In fact, much of what's on this disc would be difficult to place within any particular country, let alone region of the world through listening alone. Apparently the musicians here were first and foremost concerned with reproducing an accurate replica (there are many overt copies included here) of popular American music of the day. This was, after all, during the Vietnam war and plenty of American servicemen were stationed in Thailand and American music was being broadcast far and wide for their benefit. That said, there are still plenty of great rocking vocal and instrumental tracks here and a few nutty renditions of classics. Of note is The Son Of P.M.'s version of the "James Bond Theme", which gets a little spicing up with Thai drums and The Cat's "Meow" or Louise Kennedy's "Poo Yai Lee", either of which would have been an excellent addition to the Ultra Chicks compilations. There's also a version of Hank Williams' "Kaw Liga" with augmented Native American drumming and a super upbeat bridge, and Johnny Guitar's "Klongyao", probably the best representation of Thai-Western pop hybrid on the collection. Definitely stick this one out to the end when you pick it up though, as it seems heavily weighted with the best tracks in the second half.
MPEG Stream: THE VIKING BAND "Phom Rak Khoon Tching Tching"
MPEG Stream: JOHNNY'S GUITAR "Klongyao"
MPEG Stream: PAIBOON "Yom Pha Barn Norn Pahwaa"

V/A Thai Beat A Go-Go Volume 3 (Subliminal Sounds) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's beginning to appear as though Subliminal Sounds' well of amazing undiscovered Thai Beat music might be bottomless! We were a bit surprised when they managed to pull off a second excellent collection of Thai bubblegum psych tunes from yesteryear, but now a *third*?? "Is it just as good", you ask? Well, heck yeah, it is! It doesn't seem as though they culled the best for the first, or even the second, collection. This third volume may in fact be the best -- though it's hard to choose. This one has about the same ratio of purely weird and inimitably Thai "pop" to off-kilter covers of your favorites from the golden era of rock (including "Hang On Sloopy" and another Elvis number "Heartbreak Hotel"), but add into that mix a great deal of seventies funk & disco and even some Santana-esque rock, all with a Thai twist and lots of fun. But the real gems on this collection are two tracks -- "Thai Boxing" and "Siamese Boxing" -- by Jiraphand Ong-Ard which nearly bookend the anthology and completely fill their own void of strange rock. Both tracks pay homage to Muay Thai boxing and raam muay -- the traditional music that accompanies boxing events. The music of raam muay features a Thai reed instrument that sounds like a kazoo run through a Marshall amp. Both the tracks use this music as an odd bridge mixed in to them -- almost arbitrarily -- in such a way that they sound bi-polar. In addition to all the cool music on this collection is album's cover, which looks as though it were taken from a 70's Thai B-grade horror film. A "scary" looking dude in blue slacks, red sweater, and dracula fangs is lightly held back (or is he dancing with?) two sexy Thai girls wearing matching green skirts and white knee high boots. WOW! is our reaction to that, and the whole disc as well!
MPEG Stream: JIRAPHAND ONG-ARD "Thai Boxing"
MPEG Stream: SUPAPHORN "Lua Chan See"
MPEG Stream: FLASH "Where Is the Love?"

V/A The B-Music Of Jean Rollin (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 16.98
Another Finders Keepers / B-Music treat here, folks! A collection of kooky, creepy, very cool music from the films (many of them about vampires, and many of THOSE about sexy lesbian vampires!) by French underground auteur Jean Rollin, circa 1968-1979. The late Rollin has been proclaimed the "father of European Horrortica". On the freaky fringes of free jazz and psych rock, the tracks found here are the perfect accompaniment to the director's sexy, surreal cinematic phantasmagorias. And unless we're much mistaken, we recognize one of the tracks here, Acanthus' theme to "Le Frisson Des Vampires", as having been surreptitiously covered in heavier fashion by drugged-out doomlords (and horrotica fans) Electric Wizard on their Witchcult Today album!
Another one of note is Pierre Raph's aptly-titled "Gilda & Gunshots", a track of consisting of excited percussion, jazzy bass and pretty trumpet, overlaid with whipcrack-like gun shots, girlish whimpers and cries. It could almost be some noir-jazz experiment by the Boredoms. What the heck was happening in the film scene this scored, we don't know...
We could go on describing this track by track, but there are 31 cuts in all on this disc! With great titles like "Abstract Procession", "Bizarre Cult 2", "Crotch Batterie", "Crimson Gates", and "Violent Library", these vary widely and weirdly, encompassing spooky theremin-like tones, chamber music drones, somber choirs, flute-laced grooves, melodic reveries, arrhythmic interludes, all sorts of stuff. It's a real cornucopia of suspenseful strangeness and freeform avant-rockin'. Composers/performers responsible include the aforementioned Acanthus and Pierre Raph, along with many more by Phillipe D'Aram, Yvon Gerault, Francois Tusques and others. Much of this is previously unreleased. And of course Finders Keepers provides plentiful, fully illustrated liner notes in the cd booklet.
By the way, we also have a couple copies each of the soundtracks to Rollin's films Requiem Por Un Vampire (1972, composed by Pierre Raph) and Fascination (1979, Phillipe D'Aram) on import 10" vinyl, reissued by Finders Keepers as well (key tracks from which appear on this cd collection, naturally).
MPEG Stream: ACANTHUS "Le Frisson Des Vampires"
MPEG Stream: PIERRE RAPH "Gilda & Gunshots"
MPEG Stream: ACANTHUS "La Chateau"
MPEG Stream: PIERRE RAPH "Jade Lake"
MPEG Stream: YVON GERAULT "Blue Quadrant"

V/A The Bottle Let Me Down (Bloodshot) cd 14.98
Those frisky, fine folks at Bloodshot Records sure aren't the kind to leave anybody out in the cold. The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is this CHILDREN'S album! They've even enlisted the help of non-Bloodshoters like Neko Case's pal and fellow Corn Sister Carolyn Mark to join in the tykes' merriment. Much in the way of storytelling and singalongs abound. I know firsthand that while hanging out with your favorite baby, toddler or child, the music that they usually have, and sadly are programmed to like, sucks. It could drive a well-meaning mom or caregiver nuts! Disney and 'We Sing Silly Songs' and such. This release is a pleasant change in that it is fun for kids and easy to listen to for adults (psst... another choice pick in the kids' category is They Might Be Giants' "No!" from earlier this year). Robbie Fulks' "Godfrey" ("the sickly unemployed amateur children's magician"!) is worth the price in chuckles alone. Plus I think it is our duty as musically tasteful people to introduce our children to music that doesn't suck from early on. Right?
RealAudio clip: ROBBIE FULKS "Godfrey"
RealAudio clip: TRAILER BRIDE "Lullaby"

V/A The Free Design: The Now Sound Redesigned (Light In The Attic) cd 13.98
A lot of the makers of today's sweet indie-pop and a lot of the crate-digging DJs and producers of contemporary hip hop both seem to share an appreciation for the late '60s familial singing groop known as the Free Design, if this compilation is anything to go by -- featuring as it does the likes of Madlib, Super Furry Animals, Caribou, Styrofoam, Peanut Butter Wolf, Mellow, and many others (including members of Mars Volta and Belle & Sebastian) all giving props to these soft pop cult faves. A sweet tooth for this sort of stuff is universal, I guess. The Free Design's beautiful harmonies, lush orchestration, and dayglo lyrical content have lead us to describe 'em before as being like "The Carpenters on ecstasy, or a less cynical Stereolab unplugged." And guess what? One track on this tribute indeed features Stereolab teamed up with The High Llamas.
Bringing together all the tracks from the three-part series of vinyl 12" remix eps released earlier this year by Light In The Attic, some of the cuts here are remixes, others are re-interpretations (covers), and some are not quite classifiable hybrids. They say Redesigns, some might say plunderings. You'll hear snippets of actual Free Design tracks, as well as bits that we don't think have anything to do with the Free Design at all (like, why does track seven consist of a sample of dialogue from the zombies-on-motorcycles movie Psychomania??). It's all over the place stylistically, from the rapping of Murs on the Danger Mouse's track to vocalist Sarah Shannon and Styrofoam's great pop-electronica version of "I Found Love" (our favorite Free Design song, by the way) to the scratch attack of Kid Koala to the psychedelia mined by Nobody...but through it all shines the sunshiney pop of the four members of the Dedrick family that made up the Free Design -- sometimes brightly, sometimes casting shadows.
MPEG Stream: STYROFOAM & SHARAH SHANNON "I Found Love"
MPEG Stream: KID KOALA & DYNOMITE D. "An Elegy"

V/A The In-Kraut (Marina) cd 16.98
Subtitled: "Hip shaking grooves from Germany 1966-1974". Hence the "kraut" in the title -- nothing to do with the "krautrock" of Can/Faust/Amon Duul/etc., though. Nope, this very entertaining collection of twenty obscure cuts culled from rare soundtracks, singles, and library music sources is all about swingin' stuff for lounge pad hipsters, with a Teutonic twist. It starts off with the Marlene Dietrichish "From Here On It Got Rough" by Hildergard Knef, which could be a campy cabaret classic, and then ventures on into red light district funk, stoned jungle soul, and big band psychedelia, a lot of it performed by middle aged German jazz and pop musicans cashing in on the younger generation's trends. The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra even does a cool cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", believe it or not (never thought I'd really enjoy hearing that particular song again so much). And there's definitely a spirit of the age, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor on display, from Kuno & The Marihuana Brass's "Marihuana Mantra" to Vivi Bach and Dietmar Schonherr's "Molotow Coctail Party". And (applause, please) the compilers have provided a cd booklet full of detailed notes on each track, full color cover pictures of the original records, and bad puns like the title ("kraut-pleasers").
MPEG Stream: HEIDI BRUHL "Berlin"
MPEG Stream: VIVI VACH & DIETMAR SCHONHERR "Molotow Coctail Party"

V/A The In-Kraut (Marina) 2lp 17.98
Now in stock on vinyl as well!
Subtitled: "Hip shaking grooves from Germany 1966-1974". Hence the "kraut" in the title -- nothing to do with the "krautrock" of Can/Faust/Amon Duul/etc., though. Nope, this very entertaining collection of twenty obscure cuts culled from rare soundtracks, singles, and library music sources is all about swingin' stuff for lounge pad hipsters, with a Teutonic twist. It starts off with the Marlene Dietrichish "From Here On It Got Rough" by Hildergard Knef, which could be a campy cabaret classic, and then ventures on into red light district funk, stoned jungle soul, and big band psychedelia, a lot of it performed by middle aged German jazz and pop musicans cashing in on the younger generation's trends. The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra even does a cool cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", believe it or not (never thought I'd really enjoy hearing that particular song again so much). And there's definitely a spirit of the age, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor on display, from Kuno & The Marihuana Brass's "Marihuana Mantra" to Vivi Bach and Dietmar Schonherr's "Molotow Coctail Party".
MPEG Stream: HEIDI BRUHL "Berlin"
MPEG Stream: VIVI VACH & DIETMAR SCHONHERR "Molotow Coctail Party"

V/A The Sound Of Ascension: Audio Kool-Aid From The 70's Most Eccentric Cults & Communes (Blue Cult Records) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Could there be a more aQuarius record? A compilation of recordings by various cults, including Ya Ho Wa 13, the Manson Family, the Aum Shinrikyo (we had a 7" by them a while back), the Hare Krishnas, as well as a bunch of others we had never heard of. But that's just the beginning. These recordings were supposedly recovered from beneath a compost heap behind the house of Peggy Luciene, who, during her life had followed a bunch of those cults and who eventually went missing. Assumed dead and buried, some assume she ascended or transformed, depending on which cult you believe. The truth is, this disc is part of an art project, which involves the fictional life and death of Peggy Luciene, the cults she was involved in, the people she knew...it's pretty immersive. The cd features a hidden track, that is the audio of the art project, a sort of guided tour through the Mission and Dolores Park, you can also listen on a walkman radio, tuned to 107.9. We've yet to do the actual walkthrough, but listening to the disc, we can almost visualize the various buildings and spots the mother and daughter visit over the course of the 17 minutes. It's pretty awesome. A huge project, beautifully realized, from the audio to the concept. And then there's the comp.
Even without all that art angles, we would have flipped for this comp. Some awesome rarities, with each group / cult getting a little paragraph description. There's the awesome "Mechanical Man" by Charles Manson and the Family, some awesome outsider folk, with some very creepy lyrics, plus you can hear various other family members talking and laughing in the background. Then there's some awesome psychedelic rock courtesy of Father Yod and -his- family. But what about the Shiva Lillas, who we had never heard of? There track is a creepy piano ballad, with a child speaking over the top. Followed by Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo, whose folky hippy jam is pretty groovy, could be any seventies folkie, but of course these guys were obsessed with doomsday!
The Hare Krishnas offer up an Indian influenced chant / raga, that again, if it was on some weird world comp, folks would be freaking out. The People's Temple, led by Jim Jones (although Jones wasn't part of the band as far as we know) deliver a joyous gospel celebration, while the All Saved Freak Band unfurl some gorgeously lush freaky Christian folk. Up next is Sun Ra, whose Interstellar Arkestra commune is about the uncultiest of these cults, but heck, Sun Ra is pretty inspirational, and if any one could convince us to sit in a field naked and wait for aliens it would definitely be him. The Bugotak Project is more modern, and do a sort of metallized throat singing rock, pretty trippy and far out, and would also probably be a big hit around here if it was some weird cd-r from who knows where, and finally, the Breatharian Institute Of America, whose members aspire to a state of ascension where they can exist without consuming food, their musical contribution is a creepy recitation over a sea of chimes and bells, really haunting, and super intense.
A killer comp for sure, seemingly custom made for all you freaky folks into far out sounds and underground weirdness, an obsession with cults probably helps too, and the fact that it's all tangled up with the imagined life of a lost directionless young woman who spent her life looking for meaning in these sounds and with these groups, only makes it that much cooler. Definitely recommended, and for folks in the Bay Area, you should definitely lose yourself in the piece, throw some headphones on, and wander through another time and another world, right here in the Mission.
Beautifully packaged, full color cover, with pictures and notes for each group / artist / cult, as well as liner notes pertaining to the art project.
MPEG Stream: THE MANSON FAMILY "Mechanical Man"
MPEG Stream: THE SHIVA LILLAS "The Mystery"
MPEG Stream: AUM SHINRIKYO "Superior Commune"
MPEG Stream: THE PEOPLE'S TEMPLE "Something Got A Hold On Me"

V/A Things Go Better With Coke: Sixties Coca-Cola Commercials 1965-69 cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pretty amazing collection of Coke commercials from the 60s featuring some amazing big names offering their take on the familiar soft drink jingle. Features the Bee Gees, the Moody Blues, the , Troggs, Tom Jones, Marvin Gaye, Roy Orbison, the Box Tops, Nancy Sinatra, Vanilla Fudge, Jan and Dean, Neil Diamond, the Supremes, and a bunch more!

V/A Top 40 Radio's Swingin' Soft Drink Spots of the 60s Vol 1 (1964-1965) (X-Static) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The best way to describe these Top 40 Swingin' Soft Drink compilations is to imagine them as a part of the Sun City Girls' Sublime Frequencies series of radio broadcast collages. We've had Radio Java, Radio Morocco, Radio Palestine, and most recently Radio India. So just imagine these as being Radio USA. Or more specifically, Radio USA 1960's. Or even more specifically Radio USA 1960's Soft Drinks! Because when you think about the appeal of those Sublime Frequencies collections, a lot it has to do with the fact that those are sounds and songs that most people have never been exposed to. Definitely beautiful, but also mysterious and puzzling. But you can imagine a person living in India would wonder what the big deal was, this record of music taped off of their radio? So discounting the USA's depressingly persuasive influence on the whole world, imagine someone residing elsewhere in the world, again not already innundated with American sights and sounds, discovering this collection, and hearing this dense collage of cheesy DJ patter, sweetly melodic morning music, commercials, news breaks, traffic reports, and most importantly an endless series of songs extolling the virtues of our national drink, SODA POP!! We carried a compilation of Coca Cola jingles a few years back, which was just an endless series of alternate versions of the same "Things Go Better With Coke" song, all sung by different stars, in their own inimitable style. It's just amazing how many stars were shilling for the soft drink companies (actually, it's not all that different now is it?) A lot of those tracks are included here as well as tons more. Whol loves coke you ask? How about the Bee Gees, the Moody Blues, the Troggs, Tom Jones, Marvin Gaye, Roy Orbison, the Box Tops, Nancy Sinatra, Vanilla Fudge, the Four Seasons, Jay and the Americans, Petula Clark, the Supremes, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Jan and Dean, Lesley Gore, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Tom Jones, the Coasters, the Drifters, the Shirelles and a bunch more, as well as loads of random jingles and songs for lesser know or completely unknown sodas. The best part of these collections though, is that it's not just the song, you get a big ol' chunk of radio on either side of the commercial, whether it be breaking news that Liza Minelli was admitted to rehab, or the Beatles forced to sing a made up on the spot song for some random radio station, or pop songs of the moment (that moment being 1964-1967) or whatever seemingly normal radio station jibber jabber seems to always be going on. Taken out of context though, this stuff is totally alien and not a little bit insane sounding, and is most definitely an amazing sonic and cultural artifact. And thank God that Coke song is a catchy one, 'cause over the course of two volumes (and four cds) you get to hear it about a gazillion times!
MPEG Stream: "Swingin' Soft Drink Spots of the 60s Vol 1"

V/A Top 40 Radio's Swingin' Soft Drink Spots of the 60s Vol 2 (1966-1967) (X-Static) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The best way to describe these Top 40 Swingin' Soft Drink compilations is to imagine them as a part of the Sun City Girls' Sublime Frequencies series of radio broadcast collages. We've had Radio Java, Radio Morocco, Radio Palestine, and most recently Radio India. So just imagine these as being Radio USA. Or more specifically, Radio USA 1960's. Or even more specifically Radio USA 1960's Soft Drinks! Because when you think about the appeal of those Sublime Frequencies collections, a lot it has to do with the fact that those are sounds and songs that most people have never been exposed to. Definitely beautiful, but also mysterious and puzzling. But you can imagine a person living in India would wonder what the big deal was, this record of music taped off of their radio? So discounting the USA's depressingly persuasive influence on the whole world, imagine someone residing elsewhere in the world, again not already innundated with American sights and sounds, discovering this collection, and hearing this dense collage of cheesy DJ patter, sweetly melodic morning music, commercials, news breaks, traffic reports, and most importantly an endless series of songs extolling the virtues of our national drink, SODA POP!! We carried a compilation of Coca Cola jingles a few years back, which was just an endless series of alternate versions of the same "Things Go Better With Coke" song, all sung by different stars, in their own inimitable style. It's just amazing how many stars were shilling for the soft drink companies (actually, it's not all that different now is it?) A lot of those tracks are included here as well as tons more. Whol loves coke you ask? How about the Bee Gees, the Moody Blues, the Troggs, Tom Jones, Marvin Gaye, Roy Orbison, the Box Tops, Nancy Sinatra, Vanilla Fudge, the Four Seasons, Jay and the Americans, Petula Clark, the Supremes, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Jan and Dean, Lesley Gore, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Tom Jones, the Coasters, the Drifters, the Shirelles and a bunch more, as well as loads of random jingles and songs for lesser know or completely unknown sodas. The best part of these collections though, is that it's not just the song, you get a big ol' chunk of radio on either side of the commercial, whether it be breaking news that Liza Minelli was admitted to rehab, or the Beatles forced to sing a made up on the spot song for some random radio station, or pop songs of the moment (that moment being 1964-1967) or whatever seemingly normal radio station jibber jabber seems to always be going on. Taken out of context though, this stuff is totally alien and not a little bit insane sounding, and is most definitely an amazing sonic and cultural artifact. And thank God that Coke song is a catchy one, 'cause over the course of two volumes (and four cds) you get to hear it about a gazillion times!
MPEG Stream: "Swingin' Soft Drink Spots of the 60s Vol 2"

V/A Tribute To Robert Moog (Creme Records) cd 17.98
Electro tribute to the late, legendary synth inventor, without whom, etc.

V/A Ultra Chicks Vol. 6 cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally, the next volume in the amazing Ultra Chicks series. More fabulous FRENCH girl groups doing cool and sexy Sixties pop. As usual, this is super limited, of dubious legality (definitely a bootleg) and totally recommended. Don't delay though, not sure how long we can keep these in stock!
RealAudio clip: VAN DE BURGHT, REGGY "Eenzaam Op't Leidseplein"
RealAudio clip: CASELLI, CATERINE "Sono Qui Con Voi"

V/A Waves In the Ether: the Magical World of the Theremin (Rev-Ola) cd 14.98

V/A Wigwam, Cowboys, Roter Kreis (All Score Media) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The third and final (?) installment of soundtrack music from East Germany's notorious Indianerfilmen. The film genre was popular in the sixties through the seventies and consisted of the basic American Western film turned upside down -- with the Native Americans as the heroes battling the evil colonial Europeans. Great concept, albeit surreal execution since all the actors in these films were German (in dark makeup) and the terrain is all Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland. **As an aside, local AQ customers can now rent these films on video (with subtitles) across the street from us at Lost Weekend Video. Everyone else should bug their local video store to pick them up, if just for kicks.** Musically, "Wigwam, Cowboys, Roter Kreis" is the most successful collection in the series. The bulk of the tracks here are taken from four films, the scores for which are all equally off kilter in their influences. The score for the film Tecumseh sounds akin to Isaac Hayes' Shaft but augmented by faux-native flutes and motifs. Then there's the bizarre Apachen which boldly attempts a "Latin" feel with it's marimba, flute, trumpet trios backed by orchestra, percussion and even wah-wah guitar. The odd jaw-harp percussion duet "Todesrennen" from the film Blutsbruder is without compare. And, of course, no Indianerfilmen collection would be complete without at least one Morricone homage, and included on this disc are a few tracks from the film Severino which lifts the theme to Once Upon A Time In The West with only the slightest in melodic adjustments. As a bonus there are a few vocal songs including an alternate version of "Love Your Brother" (which was featured on the first Wigwam collection) and a couple other Gram Parsons-on-the-Eastern-bloc cuts. Liner notes covering the composers and the film genre in general are included in both German and English.
RealAudio clip: FISCHER, GUNTHER "Reiter-Duell (from Tecumseh)"
RealAudio clip: HOSALLA, DIETER "Die Plaza (from Apachen)"
RealAudio clip: SASSE, ERNST "Todesrennen (from Blutsbruder)"

V/A (FELIX KUBIN) Historische Aufnahmen (Gagarin Records) lp 38.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is one of those records that is either one of THEE most amazing and bizarre collections of random and far out archival sounds and recordings, or it's one of the most meticulously assembled sonic hoaxes EVER. And as it usually is with records like this, it almost doesn't matter. If it IS real, well then WOW. How some of these recordings exist, and have never been heard, hard to fathom. If it's all fake, then WOW again. Gorgeously presented, the liner notes detailed and super informative, complete with archival photos, and all presented in a jacket that looks like one of those classic collections of library music. BUT. This was compiled by weirdo outsider musician Felix Kubin (whose career retrospective compilation cd we raved about recently), which makes us think this is just the kind of thing he would think up, and actually create. Plus, some of these recordings are so impossibly bizarre, and some of the sounds are so weird, and often don't sound at all like what they purport to be.
So let's dig in. A recording of a demonstration record, demonstrating a mechanical automatic speech apparatus, lots of talking in German, then the actual demos, a weird mechanical series of tones, meant to be vowel sounds, the first step in a machine that will emulate human voice. Next is a lost recording of a Finnish telephone exchange from 1938, that sounds more like some strangely musical bit of dronemusic, all reverby and woozy and washed out, haunting and soundscapey. Up next is some music from a Norwegian Whaling Festival, in 1948, a surprisingly high fidelity blast of what could be Avarus, a cacophony of crowd sounds, voices, clanging metal, all nearly drowning out the skronk of various horns. Then there's a recording from a fraudulent attempt to raise money for a new '16 track tape' (twice as good as the 8 track that was so popular at the time, 1967), a recording of what we presume to be the factory where they make the tapes, all industrial whirs, voices, clanks and rumbles, the tape having remained unheard due to the fact that it was an obsolete format.
Up next, a supposedly early piece by David Tudor, possibly his first, a stretch of near silence punctuated by bits of crunch and glitch, weird warped tape sounds, it could be Tudor, hard to say. Then comes a hydrophone recording of a project to record plankton, capturing the plant's electronic impulses and converting them into sound, this recording however is from the cockpit of a submarine, so everything is murky and muddy, voices and underwater warble, quite an awesome recording, genuine or not. The side ends with what might be the most bizarre track of them all, a recording of a man performing with barnyard animals in the UK, a part of variety shows that were apparently quite popular at the time, the man beats a drum, his rumbling voice soon joined in by mooing cows, oinking pigs, meowing cats and clattery horse hooves percussion.
The second side doesn't get any less far out, beginning with what is meant to be a recording of a Pygmy hunting ritual, recorded in 1934 in Africa, and again, it sounds almost like some modern lysergic forest folk weirdness, super distorted, lots of percussion, wailed voices, super dense and chaotic, definitely raw and primitive sounding, but definitely suspect. Then comes another demonstration recording, this one from Oskar Sala, who created the soundscapes for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, here he demonstrates the Volkstrautonium for the infamous Joseph Goebbels of the Third Reich. Then there's an early early 'remix', created in 1965 from wax cylinder recordings of Persian foot soldiers in 1921. Next up, a found reel to reel tape, that came with a player, and was discovered to contain what is purportedly a recording of a Situationist project to construct a non authoritarian kindergarten "aimed to engender a spirit of subversion in children", and is essentially a recording of a man and a child, interrupted by various strange sounds. Then comes an unknown tape recording "presented here as a curiosity", a twisted blast of mysterious voices and garbled analog electronics, a technical experiment perhaps, we'll never know. And finally, an untitled player piano composition by Hans Henny Jahnn, a "playwright, novelist, organ builder, music publisher and polymath", and his masterpiece was apparently about a man who tried to notate the grain of birchwood into musical notation, and it seems Jahnn tried to do the same in real life, using birchwood grain as a blueprint for musical notation. Wow.
Incredible. And incredibly strange. A fantastic, and fantastical listen for sure. Everything here so bizarre and baffling, and in most cases almost TOO bizarre and baffling. But like we said, it hardly matters, regardless of their provenance, this is an amazing document of some truly wondrous sounds, recordings that if not genuine, are at least genuinely freaky and fascinating. And, unfortunately, we have but a handful.

V/A (NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE AND THE EVAPORATORS) Nardwuar The Human Serviette And The Evaporators Present... Busy Doing Nothing (Nardwuar / Mint) lp+calendar 17.98
If you love old school punk, indie pop, garage rawk, fun, AND you need help keeping track of your days/months/years (at least from May 2012 through to December 2014), then this is for you. Huh?! Please stick with us, it'll all make sense soon....
The inimitable Nardwuar The Human Serviette returns to the recorded realm, once more with his buddy Andrew W.K. in tow, along with a crowd of other musical pals. A lifelong championer of music's unsung heroes (mostly those with Canadian roots), a feverish pursuer of interviews with entertainment figures large and small, and a tireless digger-upper of the most obscure trivia morsels about said interview subjects, Nardwuar's latest musical offering is just as obsessive. It's a compilation which featured his own band The Evaporators (whose line-up currently stars bassist Stephen Hamm formerly of the infamous mid-'80s Vancouver punk band Slow and the New Pornographers' John Collins on lead guitar), Mr. W.K., Franz Ferdinand, Kate Nash, Sage Francis, The Cribs, Fuad & The Feztones (aka the latest Montreal outfit by Bobby Beaton and John Davis of the mighty Gruesomes with The Stills' Dave Hamelin and Liam O'Neil), and more. The baker's dozen selection is a split between originals by The Evaporators; the assorted UK, US and Canadian guests covering Canadian indie tunes originally by Pointed Sticks, Cub (Cup's first band!), The Dishrags, and rockabilly truck driver (!) Doug Rutledge; and yes, a brief interview clip (because it just wouldn't be a Nardwuar release without one, would it?). The Evaps sound beefier and better than ever. Although their songwriting still has a true unpolished garage rawk heart, the higher-fi production on this record suit them well. They sound huge compared to past releases, which is particularly appropriate on a couple of their songs here - namely, the title track (which, by the way, is not a cover of the Bing Crosby song of the same name) and the fists-in-the-air-smile-on-your-face anthemics of "I Hate Being Late When I'm Early". By now you might've caught wind of the latter, a wild'n'woolly duet with Andrew W.K. (especially if you attended SXSW last month where they played four shows, one with W.K. guesting on organ). It's a full-blown bombastic power pop song with totally silly lyrics (would you expect anything else from W.K. and Nardwuar?) and Sweet-esque vocals in the chorus that you can't help but sing along to. All in all, Busy Doing Nothing is a frantically paced gleeful collection of tunes sure to get you primed and ready for summertime.
But wait, there's still more fun packed into this release because Nardwuar The Serviette is a generous soul who always loves to dish out bonus gifts even if it isn't Christmas time or your birthday. Included with the vinyl is a 40-page calendar (yup, you heard right, forty, this ain't an ordinary twelve month deal!) filled with vintage black and white punk rock photos (from waaay back in the day circa '70s and early '80s!) by veteran punk rock photographer Bev Davies. She's snapped a plethora of awesome candid rock pics over the years, and she and Nardwuar dug through her enormous archive to select a choice few for this release. There are shots of The Cramps, PiL, The Cure, New Order, The Minutemen, Joan Jett, Girlschool, The Adolescents, Pointed Sticks, Iggy Pop, The Slits, Gun Club, U2, extras on the movie set of "Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains", and James Brown. Wha'?! Yeah, that last one might seem a bit incongruous, but then again, he might've been more punk than any of the others, eh?
A super rad colored vinyl co-release by Nardwuar and Mint Records with handlettering completely designed and drawn by Cup!
MPEG Stream: EVAPORATORS WITH ANDREW W.K. "I Hate Being Late When I'm Early"
MPEG Stream: EVAPORATORS "Hot Dog High"

VAMPIRES OF DARTMOORE, THE Dracula's Music Cabinet (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 15.98
It's pretty obvious why the folks at B-music (like DJs Andy Votel and Dom Thomas) dig these particular collectible exploito obscurities so much, and why they're so excited to be reissuing 'em in their new "Germanic Miner" series dedicated to "krautsider music"! What could be more B-musical than these two faux soundtracks concocted in the late sixties by a couple of creative German producers, operating at the weird, wacked out intersection of kitschy library music and freaky krautrock? One's a slice of slinky, sorta-scary "horrotica", the other a spaced out sci-fi fest for the Barbarella set. Both are delirious, demented party-pleasers.
The Vampires Of Dartmoore and their Dracula's Music Cabinet conjures a sexy frightmare of hip swinging, bloodsucking sounds. "Mord Im Ohio Express (Murder In The Ohio Express)" seems kinda surfy, but mostly this is about groovy porno lounge music, with smoky horns and jazzy percussion, interwoven with screams and creepy sound effects, moaning and groaning, dogs barking and something going boing boing boing... It's a very NON-academic application of musique concrete technique, noises worked into the songs, such as the rumbling explosions that punctuate "Eine Handvoll Nitro (A Handful Of Nitro)". The mix is fairly chaotic, stuff fading in and out, levels up and down. If this WAS a movie soundtrack, it would have been a pretty crazy movie. Tracks reference Hitchcock, Dr. Caligari, and Frankenstein's monster. And sex. Definitely sex.
Equally bizarre, if less R-rated, is the Science Fiction Dance Party. Again, it's groovy, jazzy, sometimes fuzzy "instro-hipster" style stuff, laced with loads of goofy outer space sound effects and rocketship radio drama theatrics. It sounds like music for a cocktail party and/or acid test on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. You can imagine Robbie the Robot getting down to this. Distorted alien and/or computer voices abound, song titles include "Visitors Of A.D. 2022", "The Whistling Astronaut", and "Hit Parade In The Light Year 25" (which doesn't even make sense, don't they know that light years are a measure of distance?). As well as whistling, there's some screams here too, as spacemen are presumably being zapped with rayguns, but the music remains jaunty. Even the song "Death Rays Out Of The Universe" is inexplicably upbeat. So, it's all very silly, but a lot of fun.
Both albums feature bonus tracks (2 previously unreleased "Petting Party" jams on Vampires, 4 extra tracks on Science Fiction that come back to earth to delve into disco and Eastern exotica instead). The slipcased cds of these are now domestic releases (we waited instead of getting the expensive imports) but the LP versions remain imports.
MPEG Stream: "Crime And Horror"
MPEG Stream: "Mord Im Ohio Express (Murder In The Ohio Express)"
MPEG Stream: "Tanz Der Vampires (Dance Of The Vampires)"

VAMPIRES OF DARTMOORE, THE Dracula's Music Cabinet (Finders Keepers) lp 27.00
Also available on (import only) vinyl!
It's pretty obvious why the folks at B-music (like DJs Andy Votel and Dom Thomas) dig these particular collectible exploito obscurities so much, and why they're so excited to be reissuing 'em in their new "Germanic Miner" series dedicated to "krautsider music"! What could be more B-musical than these two faux soundtracks concocted in the late sixties by a couple of creative German producers, operating at the weird, wacked out intersection of kitschy library music and freaky krautrock? One's a slice of slinky, sorta-scary "horrotica", the other a spaced out sci-fi fest for the Barbarella set. Both are delirious, demented party-pleasers.
The Vampires Of Dartmoore and their Dracula's Music Cabinet conjures a sexy frightmare of hip swinging, bloodsucking sounds. "Mord Im Ohio Express (Murder In The Ohio Express)" seems kinda surfy, but mostly this is about groovy porno lounge music, with smoky horns and jazzy percussion, interwoven with screams and creepy sound effects, moaning and groaning, dogs barking and something going boing boing boing... It's a very NON-academic application of musique concrete technique, noises worked into the songs, such as the rumbling explosions that punctuate "Eine Handvoll Nitro (A Handful Of Nitro)". The mix is fairly chaotic, stuff fading in and out, levels up and down. If this WAS a movie soundtrack, it would have been a pretty crazy movie. Tracks reference Hitchcock, Dr. Caligari, and Frankenstein's monster. And sex. Definitely sex.
Equally bizarre, if less R-rated, is the Science Fiction Dance Party. Again, it's groovy, jazzy, sometimes fuzzy "instro-hipster" style stuff, laced with loads of goofy outer space sound effects and rocketship radio drama theatrics. It sounds like music for a cocktail party and/or acid test on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. You can imagine Robbie the Robot getting down to this. Distorted alien and/or computer voices abound, song titles include "Visitors Of A.D. 2022", "The Whistling Astronaut", and "Hit Parade In The Light Year 25" (which doesn't even make sense, don't they know that light years are a measure of distance?). As well as whistling, there's some screams here too, as spacemen are presumably being zapped with rayguns, but the music remains jaunty. Even the song "Death Rays Out Of The Universe" is inexplicably upbeat. So, it's all very silly, but a lot of fun.
Both albums feature bonus tracks (2 previously unreleased "Petting Party" jams on Vampires, 4 extra tracks on Science Fiction that come back to earth to delve into disco and Eastern exotica instead). The slipcased cds of these are now domestic releases (we waited instead of getting the expensive imports) but the LP versions remain imports.
MPEG Stream: "Crime And Horror"
MPEG Stream: "Mord Im Ohio Express (Murder In The Ohio Express)"
MPEG Stream: "Tanz Der Vampires (Dance Of The Vampires)"

VAMPIROS LESBOS Sexadelic Dance Party (Motel Records) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

VAMPYROS LESBOS (OST) (Crippled Dick Hot Wax) cd 16.98
Yeah! Back in print and we're thrilled about that. The new reissue has 3 bonus tracks on cd and 5 bonus tracks on the oh so nice double gatefold vinyl edition. Even if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing any of the over 150 Jess Franco's 'horrotica' films from which these songs come from that shouldn't stop you from jumping into this delicious offering of red light sleazy cheesy psych-light instrumental treats. Composed by Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab in 1969 these songs ooze with a playful sexuality that you have to be pretty lifeless not to enjoy. The packaging is exquisite as well with amazing stills from the Franco films and really nice text that gives a background of where these sounds and his films were coming from. Next time you have some people over to your place, turn down the lights, light some candles, put this on the stereo and who knows where the night might take you!
MPEG Stream: "Droge CX 9"
MPEG Stream: "Kamasutra"

VAMPYROS LESBOS (OST) (Crippled Dick Hot Wax) 2lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on vinyl!
Yeah! Back in print and we're thrilled about that. The new reissue has 3 bonus tracks on cd and 5 bonus tracks on the oh so nice double gatefold vinyl edition. Even if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing any of the over 150 Jess Franco's 'horrotica' films from which these songs come from that shouldn't stop you from jumping into this delicious offering of red light sleazy cheesy psych-light instrumental treats. Composed by Manfred Hubler and Siegfried Schwab in 1969 these songs ooze with a playful sexuality that you have to be pretty lifeless not to enjoy. The packaging is exquisite as well with amazing stills from the Franco films and really nice text that gives a background of where these sounds and his films were coming from. Next time you have some people over to your place, turn down the lights, light some candles, put this on the stereo and who knows where the night might take you!
MPEG Stream: "Droge CX 9"
MPEG Stream: "Kamasutra"

VAMPYROS LESBOS SEXADELIC DANCE PARTY (Motel) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Music from 3 original soundtracks to Jess Franco films, he being the Spanish director of more than 150 features released during the '60s and '70s. "...More so than any other filmmaker Franco was singularly responsible for wedding the thrills of cinematic sex and horror into a third *frisson*, which could be described as 'horrotica.' In Franco's universe, the viewer never encounters joyous sex; there is always some dark element of guilt or pain or emotional dislocation involved, and most of the erotic acts he depicts are dramatized in concert with the spectre of death." (--Tim Lucas) Oh, and the music -- nothing like Goblin or Suspiria here; it's actually very fun, sometimes upbeat & ironically so, I would think, not having seen any of Franco's films; judging by its sound, the music probably provided a cheesy counterpart to the horrotica.

VAN PEEBLES, MELVIN What The .... You Mean I Can't Sing?! (Water) cd 15.98
First Jack Palance, now Melvin Van Peebles...the what's Water label trying to do?? Flood the 'exotica' market with reissues of records that maybe should never have been made in the first place, upsetting the kitsch levels of the universe. But hey, you gotta like Melvin. Sweet Sweetback, y'know?

VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA, THE Onionoise (Transacoustic Research / Monkey) cd 16.98
THE BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR of music made entirely with vegetables. Well, almost entirely. This extremely healthy twelve person ensemble's raison d'etre is indeed the use of instruments constructed from vegetables... they've designed carrot flutes, celery bongos, and something called the cucumberophone! We've been fans for a long time, but some of you might not be familiar with the Vegetable Orchestra, it's been a while since their last proper album (this is their third, or fourth if you count a remix disc). Years and years ago, back in 2003 when they were more formally known as the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra ('cause that's where they're from), we made one of their early albums a Record Of The Week. That's long out of print now, so we're pretty excited that the Vegetable Orchestra has at last sprouted a new disc. Even Andee here at AQ, who is infamous for NOT liking vegetables, loves the Vegetable Orchestra (finally, a decent use for vegetables, he thinks... yeah he'll listen to vegetables, just doesn't like to eat 'em).
The VO has definitely kept perfecting their techniques and exploring new possibilities of vegetable-based sounds, this album displays a lot of variety (and not garden variety, even though it belongs in a garden). There's the tracks that sound like minimal electronica... also poppier ones, and darker, ambient soundscapery... also some thumping techno beets, er, beats, and onionoisy outbursts. In the past they've done some covers, Kraftwerk among 'em, but these 12 tracks are all homegrown tunes. Rhythmic and textural, not only is the MUSIC enjoyable, but there's the added enjoyment of the intriguing way it puts your imagination to work, trying to conceive of what possible manipulation of what possible vegetables could possibly result in these sounds??? It's amazing, there are tracks here that manage to remind us of everything from Pan Sonic to Konono No.1 to Matmos to the big salad we had for lunch yesterday. And listening to these organic, "crunchy" sounds, some of the time it would be easy to think this really belongs in our field recordings section. The rhythmic pitter patter of rattling legumes, or the snapping, rustling of celery stalks (we're guessing?) can sound like rain, or surf... other veggies mimic the sound of our faves, frogs! And the blowing of horns carved from root vegetables (again, we're making assumptions) can sound like larger mammals, or fog horns.
Some of the tracks are calm, others rambunctious, all interesting. It's groovy, and experimental. Track ten, a short one entitled "Krautrock", gets positively NOISY, loud, distorted, industrial, as if the latter-day Faust took over the vegetable instruments.
Look, going full circle here, it wouldn't matter WHAT their instruments were made of, vegetable animal or mineral, if the resulting sounds and songs weren't good. These are. Creative, curious, even kinda catchy. The nutritional benefits are just a bonus.
Now that they've got this new disc out, we really hope they come play here in the States. Would love to see 'em live. They could do a tour of farmer's markets!
Comes in a nice digipak with poster. Recommended!!! (As part of a balanced diet... c'mon, Andee!)
MPEG Stream: "Scoville"
MPEG Stream: "Nightshades"
MPEG Stream: "Transplants"
MPEG Stream: "Regen"

VEX'D Cloud Seed (Planet Mu) cd 14.98
Cloud Seed marks the first appearance of Vex'd on the aQ list which makes no sense at all. Of all the outsider dubstep going on, of which there's more than you might think, but still not nearly enough, Vex'd might just be the coolest, and most compelling, at least amongst folks IN the actual dubstep scene. The core elements are still present, THAT skittery beat, the fuzzy warbly basslines, but beyond that, Vex'd drags the dubstep tropes through the sonic mud, and comes out the other side with something totally original and twisted, and with only a passing resemblance to dubstep proper.
From spare and skeletal do dense and dark, Vex'd's sound manages to be simultaneously lush and rough and raw, the recordings themselves as much a part of the sound, if anything, deconstructing the sound into weird ambience, and dark textural soundscapes, occasionally coalescing into something more dubsteppy.
The opener is super dubbed out, ultra minimal, lots of space, tons of reverb, with Warrior Queen's toasted vox laid over streaks of fuzz bass, loping clanky rhythm, almost like some sort of double dutch jam, but slowed waaaaay down.
But that's followed by some abstract experimental ambience. Hazy and washed out, very Tim Hecker-ish, but laced with some strange grinding skitter, lush string swells, and clipped sampled crunch.
"Heart Space" is maybe the most commercial of the bunch, like a dubstep Portishead, with some sultry female vocals, some awesome warbly bass, all tangled up into a druggy psychedelic dubby drift. But it's all a stumbling druggy descent into madness after that, from the ominous trancelike skitter of "Out of the Hills" to the blurred softly glitchy dreamdrone shimmer of "Out of the Hills", to the super grime-y blown out bass churn of "Slug Trawl Depths", to the warped cosmic hip hop bass heavy dub of "Disposition" with some awesome lugubrious vocals, dipping into Kode9 territory.
The comes the remixes, which are just as good as any of the tracks proper, Plaid's "Bar Kimura" is all swoonsome and swirly and skittery, with a subtle bit of dubstep bass, bleary eyed and sun dappled, with weird crooned vox, "Killing Floor" is the heaviest dubstep jam here, the bass fucking fierce and sharp, the beats jagged, about as hard as it gets, the Distance track "Fallen" gets reworked into something a bit more spaced out, with some serious bass warble, and some fragmented melody. Then there are two sort of classical mixes, one "Suite For Piano & Electronics", is all deeeeeeep drones, rumbling thrum, peppered with streaks of high end, fragments of melody, but overall dark and grim and intense, while Prokofiev's "String Quartet No.2" gets reworked into a stuttery string-ed lurch, super strange and very Timbaland-like, you can almost imagine some weirdo rapping over the top, with lots of grinding strings, and stop / starts.
Finally the record finishes off with two thick, almost doomy dubby dirges. The first layers a simple beat over a thick blackened rumble, an ominous minor key melody, deep thick swells, like a dubby Jesu almost, and then comes record closer "Nails", a creepy, thick swath of industrial crunch and buzz, big pounding beats, cinematic melodies, the bass thick and intense, finishing off with a killer collaged burst of sliced and diced death metal all tangled up with grinding pummeling industrial dub.
So awesome. And while this is definitely the best Vex'd record yet, and well deserving of Record Of The Week honors, this also maybe makes up for somehow not listing any of the other awesome Vex'd records. Another record to add to your aQ dancefloor destroying DJ kit!
MPEG Stream: "Take Time Out (Ft. Warrior Queen)"
MPEG Stream: "Disposition (Ft. Jest)"
MPEG Stream: "Killing Floor (Mah Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Sutring Quartete No. 2 (Vex'd Remix - Original By Gabriel Prokofiev)"
MPEG Stream: "Oceans"

VIENNA VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA Automate (Extraplatte) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
I hate vegetables. Always have. I haven't eaten a vegetable other than corn since I was a kid. My mom tried everything. Disguising them. Frying em. Drenching them in stew. Making me stay at the table until I ate them all. Telling me I wouldn't grow up big and strong if I didn't eat them. Withholding desert. Nothing worked. But had I known vegetables were so, well, musical, things just might have been different. I probably still wouldn't have eaten them, but I sure as hell would have played music on them!
This is one of the weirdest wildest discs we've ever heard. And it's pretty difficult to believe that all the sounds on this record are produced or played on actual vegetables (slightly modified for playability of course). The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, is in fact a small-ish ensemble, that customizes vegetables, and then composes scores to be played on those very same vegetables. That's right, composed! All of the music is composed and notated just like regular musical scores, except in this case they are scored for radisynth (radish), digiginger (ginger), vegital synthesizer (?), soundseeds (?) and all sorts of customized carrots, tomatoes, peppers and some completely unrecognizable vegetables. But what does it sound like you ask? Not how you might think actually. This is the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra's second release, and as stated in the liner notes, their goal was to produce electronic music using entirely organic means, and the results are pretty spot on. Lots of clicking, and hollow thumping, resulting in a complex Raster-Noton style minimal techno rhythm which is the framework for most of the record. Sort of swaying between super clinical electronic minimalism and sort of jammy hippy tribalism. Gurgling, inhuman vocalisations occasionally accompany the almost static, slowly shifting rhythms, as does the sound of burbling liquids, shimmery ambient hum, and occasional super distorted ultra processed screams. The end result is a pulsing throbbing Chain Reaction heroin house minimalism that is totally mesmerising and hypnotic. They even manage to do a couple covers: fellow Austrians, Radian, giving that group's electronic/post rock hybrid a little shot of vitamin B, and a fairly abstract version of Kraftwerk's Radioactivity. Allan really wanted me to mention their (food) processing and of course their 'beets' and how they can't be 'beet', but I wisely choose not to. Fans of all things glitch, Raster-Noton, minimal techno and even the hippy jams of NNCK and Sunburned Hand Of The Man will be begging for seconds.
MPEG Stream: "Asp"
MPEG Stream: "Stoik"
MPEG Stream: "Radioaktivitat"

VIENNA VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA Gemise (Extraplatte) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's funny that the one person at AQ who can't stand vegetables is the one who keeps reviewing the records made with them. But I, Andee, love listening to them, just as long as I don't have to eat 'em! We listed Automate, the newest record by the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra on the last AQ list, and folks were so into it we thought we really ought to get the first one as well. For those who aren't familiar with this group, The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra is a small ensemble that customises vegetables, and then composes and notates music to be played on them. Just vegetables. Pretty neat. Unlike the clinical minimalism of Automate, where the Orchestra were attempting to simulate modern electronic music, Gemise is much more playful and exuberant and improvy with circus-y whistles and kazoo like humming, wild thumping, and skittery rattles, and all made with just vegetables! The vegetables are accompanied on some of the tracks by human voices, gurgling and whooping, hooting and squeaking like wild bird calls, mimicking the whistling vegetables. Most of those tracks build and build into frenzied climaxes, whirling chaotic rituals of pagan vegetable wildness. Like a vegetarian Wicker Man or something. The rest of the tracks hint at the minimal rhythmic direction of the second record, with rumbling didgerdoo like reverberations, simple thudding frameworks of hollow thwacks and solid knocks, and keening high end trills that swoop and swell, screech and squeal. But the focus here definitely seems to be on the novelty and fun of the whole experience. The liner notes even mention that all of the instruments are recycled and made into a soup for the audience to enjoy a second time! And the spine of the jewel case comes filled with beans so you can rattle right along with the record. And we also got a bunch more of Automate (see AQ list #169), for those who missed out on that one.
MPEG Stream: "Dithlaka"
MPEG Stream: "Ogludschda"
MPEG Stream: "Rezept"

VULCANS Star Trek (Trojan) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
First things first, we know some folks have strong feelings both positive and negative for all things 'Star Trek'. So if you fall into either camp you might wanna disregard this band's name and the album's title completely! We found the music to reveal very little connection to Star Trek and/or Vulcans. In fact, we sensed very little overt sci-fi action here at all. Well aside from the song titles... and the galactic analog synth action that accompanies the reggae riddims. While the name choices did successfully grab out attention, we were subsequently a bit disappointed by this discovery, however, the music quickly won us over anew in surprisingly different ways! This album is sooo awesome and sooo perfect for baking in the (late) summer sun! Imagine this... what if Os Mutantes lived in Jamaica? And had a rendezvous with Perry & Kingsley, Joe Meek and an Arp 2600 synthesizer? Or how 'bout some kick-ass psychedelic prog dudes getting their reggae on while sipping fresh fruit cocktails? Got you hooked yet? Well, here's the skinny... The Vulcans were actually not a band in the traditional sense, although after hearing this cd we sure wish they were! As legend tells it, back in the early '70s some session musicians including Ken Elliot of UK prog-psych band Second Hand got together and recorded these songs. They group were dubbed The Vulcans by Trojan Records when the smart decision was made to release an album. We have to stress once again that despite what the title and band name suggest this is far from a novelty album. You can drift off, trip out or sink right into this generous serving of Vulcans tunes - there's two albums on one cd, 1972's Star Trek and perhaps slightly heavier and edgier Interstellar Reggae Drive (the latter originally released under the wacky moniker Colonel Elliot & The Lunatics). Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Journey Into Space"
MPEG Stream: "Shang Haied"
MPEG Stream: "Cosmic Bust"

WALKER, JEFF UND DIE FLUFFERS Welcome To Carcass Cuntry (Fractured Transmitter) cd 17.98
Oh how the mighty have fallen. We were secretly psyched for this, a country solo record from ex-Carcass guitarist Jeff Walker. How cool would that be, Carcass country!! But the actual end product is not quite what we had hoped. In fact it's sort of embarrassing. The arrangements are pretty cool, a bunch of countrified covers of badass classic tunes, rock, country, whatever, but Walker is just not a very good vocalist. In fact we might go so far as to say he is really really bad. And since it's the vocals that are front and center, a lot of this is a bit tough to stomach. We almost wish he had sung these Carcass-style, a harsh raspy shriek over acoustic guitars and fiddle would have been pretty dang weird. But alas... Carcass freaks might just need to own this cuz it's Walker, but not sure who else we could recommend this to.
Killer Cherry Poptart cover art though, if you're into that...
MPEG Stream: "The Man Comes Around"
MPEG Stream: "I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)"
MPEG Stream: "Rocky Mountaiin High"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott (4 Men With Beards) lp 17.98
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wondrous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed. Finally reissued on vinyl, the way they were meant to be heard, we have fallen in love all over again. While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4. For those not blessed with record players, the cd versions are also available.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (nee: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theater of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Although comprised mostly of covers, Walker already began to show strong songwriting skills on his first solo record, Scott, especially with "Montague Terrace (In Blue)" where he describes unsavory neighbors in his tenement flat, one as a "bloated belching figure", and another "whose thighs are full of tales to tell of nights she's known". But it's "My Death", one of three Brel covers that is the album's centerpiece. Later covered by David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase, Walker's version features such hypnotic orchestration, serpentine guitar passages and swelling stabbing strings that it almost feels like we're being brought to the threshold of death on a cloud of poisonous perfume.
Overall, a fine selection of songs that show his range of performance and promise for the records to come.
MPEG Stream: "Montague Terrace (In Blue)"
MPEG Stream: "My Death"
MPEG Stream: "Such A Small Love"

WALKER, SCOTT Scott 2 (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
Whether you are enamored of them or perplexed by them, there is nothing quite like Scott Walker's suite of solo records from the late sixties. Exquisitely produced with dizzyingly lush orchestrations to emphasize full pop dramatic effect, they are also literally dripping with visual and visceral lyricism, filled with vile and wonderous characters and sung in Walker's deeply mellifluent and over-the-top croon. Tortured torch songs, incendiary victory songs, pop fantasias, ghostly ballads, and folk pop are eccentrically intermixed through dynamic interpretations of popular songs, and as the records progress, uniquely original compositions. Each one a perfect piece on its own, yet as a whole suite offers a dazzling entry into an incomparably visual sound world like a rich confection that begs to be slowly consumed. Finally reissued on vinyl, the way they were meant to be heard, we have fallen in love all over again. While we wholeheartedly recommend all four, for those looking for a good starting point, our favorites as whole records are Scott 2 and Scott 4. For those not blessed with record players, the cd versions are also available.
Recorded after the breakup of the Walker Brothers in 1967, the American born British resident Scott Walker (ne: Noel Scott Engel), embarked on these solo efforts to explore his fascination with European musical, literary, and theatrical forms: The creepy wonderment of classical composer Saint-Saens, The French Symbolist literature of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the political theatre of Brecht and Weill, the stark existentialism of Bergman, the theatrical whimsy of Anthony Newley, and most of all, the celebrated street urchin poetry of Flemish singer-songwriter, Jacques Brel, of whom Walker covers nine English versions of his songs throughout.
Seemingly out of step with his time, these records must have been too serious for the youthful psychedelic era, yet too odd for the older pop-vocal market. The first three enjoyed minimal success, enough to get a short-lived TV show, but the fourth (and one of the best) was a commercial flop (probably due to his attempt to release it under his given name; it was later changed to Scott 4). Yet, over the years, these records have developed an increasingly avid cult following, enough of one for Walker to come out of his reclusiveness and occasionally record a new album. Though what he's on about now makes these first solo albums seem like a ride at Disneyland, you have to respect an artist who explores his vision relentlessly and never looks back. Yet, as fans, we will always come back to these first four records, which amazingly have withstood the test of time and should be canonized amongst the most highly influential records ever! High Art or High Camp? Generous heapings of both, please.
Scott 2 is one of our favorites, not that it's necessarily different from the others but the choice of songs flows perfectly together. In fact the first side of Scott 2 is pure pop vocal perfection, beginning with the Brel cover "Jackie", whose enthusiastically fast delivery is mind-boggling (Youtube this!). Then the bitter torch of "Best of Both Worlds", the Tim Hardin cover, "Black Sheep Boy", the original "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg" about a man escaping from the claustrophobia of domestic life into a tragic fantasy. "Next" is next, one of Brel's most visceral and theatrical tunes about the dehumanizing experience of a military coming of age, which is then followed by Walker's companion sequel "Girls From The Streets" told by the same character as a man resigned to a life of bitterness and depravity. Yet the centerpiece is the fantasia "Plastic Palace People", which begins side 2. A dizzying dualistic fairy tale about a boy's embrace of his youthful innocence and a girl mourning the loss of hers. This kills!
MPEG Stream: "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg"
MPEG Stream: "Next"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Palace People"