GERRARD, LISA & JEFF RONA A Thousand Roads (OST) (Wide Blue Sky) cd 15.98
More gorgeous worldly film score work from Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard! Following up her fine compositions for Whale Rider, Ms Gerrard joins Jeff Rona in scoring the soundtrack for A Thousand Roads. Needless to say, she's definitely found her (second?) calling. On its own without the film's visual accompaniment, the soundtrack's numerous diverse voices, woodwind and string arrangements and haunting drones make for a deeply moving 'of the earth' listening experience. Sure to please fans of her solo work as well as those of Dead Can Dance. Guests include John Trudell, R. Carlos Nakai, Ulali, Douglas Spotted Eagle, Primeaux & Mike.
MPEG Stream: "Coming To Barrow"
MPEG Stream: "A Healer's Life"

GERRARD, LISA / PATRICK CASSIDY Immortal Memory (4AD) cd 14.98
My goodness! When did Lisa Gerrard become Enya?
Just (sorta) kidding! Really though, there is a striking resemblance on Immortal Memory. Following her Whale Rider soundtrack, Ms Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) continues on her solo path of otherworldly aural elegance. Fans have undoubtedly already swooped in for their copy of this sumptuous, ethereal new collaboration with Irish composer Patrick Cassidy. Who'd like to wager that we'll be hearing her on the soundtrack to the next Peter Jackson film? Well, maybe the one after King Kong!
MPEG Stream: "Sailing To Byzantium"
MPEG Stream: "I Asked For Love"

GERRITT ...Sails The Seas Of Displacement (Dielectric) 12" 8.98
Some of you may know Gerritt as a noise musician, and some of you may know him as the guy behind the super cool Misanthropic Agenda label responsible for that amazing double disc of Merzbow remixes and the Merzbow Frog release. But here, on the latest orange 12" from our pal Drucifer's seemingly infallible Dielectric Records he is neither. While traces of his industiral noise side occasionally surface, this is a way more subtle and creepy beast. Percussive clatter sounding like pipe fights and rushing water, gurgling and bubbling, hissing static, and throbbing crunch are stretched and spread out over a dark and spare soundscape. Very haunting and disorienting. Creepy, squealing clanks and clunks, horroscapes of high-end creaks and indescribable knocks and bumps, coalesce into lugubrious non-rhythms, culminating in the epic final track that is more empty nothingness than anything requiring close listening and evoking dark musty hallways, lonely dirt paths, and all sorts of unspeakable darkness.

GERSCH, THE s/t (Tortuga Recordings) cd 12.98
A resurrected slab of blown out heaviness from this druggy sludgerock combo, featuring a current member of metallic post rock heavyweights Isis and the Red Sparowes. You won't hear much epic moodiness or brooding metal lope here though. Most folks compare the Gersch to bands like Sabbath, Sleep and Kyuss which is definitely fair, but if you ask us, we're hearing a whole lot more Amphetamine Reptile, like a total timewarp back to the good ol' Amrep days, you know, Halo Of Flies, the Cow Bullies, Lubricated Goat, Unsane, Surgery, Tar, Killdozer, the Cows, Boss Hog, Helmet, Vertigo, King Snake Roost and the rest...
What's weird is that the recording quality sounds genuinely old, almost as if it could have been recorded in the seventies, although the band sounds just a wee bit too metal to actually be from way back then. But the combination of Amrep style heaviness and that seventies production, makes for a deadly combo, and had us imagining the miraculous discovery of some lost tape from this weird band from 1971 called the Gersch, who were somehow channeling the spirit of Sabbath though a super chaotic metallic freaked out buzz. By now you should be able to tell whether this is your cup of tea or not. It most certainly is ours. A steaming hot cup of dense jagged guitars, convoluted mathy rhythms, chugging downtuned grooves, shouted and grunted vocals buried in the mix, massive slabs of rumbling low end, all stretched and twisted into churning, thrashing, pounding seventies-via-nineties metallic RAWK. Awesome!
MPEG Stream: "Listwish"
MPEG Stream: "Magnificent Desolation"
MPEG Stream: "Residue Three"

GERTY FARISH Tiny Band (Load) cd 9.99
It's as though Owen from Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and Alec Empire went through that teleport machine in The Fly and got fused body and soul. Insane, insistently catchy pop-punk ditties, with crack cocaine powered casiotones, overdriven guitars and vocals. This is the type of record that, when we play it in the store, people will invariably want to buy a copy or ask "Can you play this ______ cd?" (ie: "take this off") Highly recommended.

GESCOM ISS SA (Skam) cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With Autechre's "Draft 7.30" being such a dodgy proposition, we've approached the concurrent single from their alter-ego Gescom with considerable trepidation. While it once appeared that Gescom was the more experimental venue for Sean Booth and Rob Brown, the roles may have reversed as "Draft 7.30" is clearly the more obtuse of the two constructions. "SS SA" isn't that far off from the IDM / electronica patterns of disjointed breakbeats and shimmering melodies found on Autechre's "AE5," and fortunately doesn't suffer from any of the problems that "Draft 7.30" did. Not their finest moment, but certainly worth checking into, if not for the music than for the crazy finish-fetish artwork within of spiralling chrome-plated exhaust pipes.
MPEG Stream: "ISS SA"

GESCOM ISS SA (Skam) 12" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With Autechre's "Draft 7.30" being such a dodgy proposition, we've approached the concurrent single from their alter-ego Gescom with considerable trepidation. While it once appeared that Gescom was the more experimental venue for Sean Booth and Rob Brown, the roles may have reversed as "Draft 7.30" is clearly the more obtuse of the two constructions. "SS SA" isn't that far off from the IDM / electronica patterns of disjointed breakbeats and shimmering melodies found on Autechre's "AE5," and fortunately doesn't suffer from any of the problems that "Draft 7.30" did. Not their finest moment, but certainly worth checking into, if not for the music than for the crazy finish-fetish artwork within of spiralling chrome-plated exhaust pipes.

GESCOM Keynell (Skam) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Nowadays, Autechre invokes the Gescom moniker whenever the IDM duo wants to experiment outside of their well-defined Autechre sound as in their contribution the "Absolute Zero" compilation and their collage friendly MiniDisc only release. Yet during the beginning of Autechre's career, the difference between Gescom and Autechre recordings weren't as discernable. I'm pretty sure that Gescom was credited as "authoring" one of the tracks on the first Autechre album "Incunabula." Regardless, Gescom has released a handful of exceptional singles (mostly on the Skam label out of Manchester) that are certainly worthy of the reverence that often follow the Autechre albums. As those singles are really hard to find now or flatly out of print, the CD reissue of their third EP "Keynell" is a welcome arrival.
Skam has also sadly retained the annoying package that housed the vinyl with the re-issue of the cd, which is just a sleeve of plastic bubble wrap. Oh well, the music inside more than makes up for it. "Keynell 1" lumbers through chopped string samples, which form a surprisingly catchy piece of understated melody to match the steady tumble of a wooden eletro beat. While most Autechre / Gescom pieces contain signature elements that easily qualify them as being by Autechre or Gescom, "Keynell 1" holds remarkable similarities to fellow IDM forefather, Aphex Twin -- especially from the "On" ep or the Phillip Glass collaboration. "Keynell 2" is a return to the Autechre sound, with sputtering mechanical rhythms, cybernetic flanges, and subtle afterhour rave melodies that have been synchronized into an unlikely groove. The third track is one of the Mancunian duo's more minimalist pieces, with the infinite repetition of a filtered hip-hop beat laced with an elegant, yet melancholic synth melody. During the five years that have passed since Gescom released "Keynell," 'intelligent dance music' has run the risk of self-parody, in losing the intelligent element of its name by stupidly searching out overly complex rhythms (i.e. Richie Devine, Otto Von Schirach) or wallowing in the irony of being dorky (i.e. Cex). There was a time when IDM was a viable musical form, and "Keynell" is one that era's highlights.
RealAudio clip: "Keynell 1"
RealAudio clip: "Keynell 3"

GESCOM Mini Disc (Or) minidisc 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Gescom is better known as Autechre and has released this collection of fractured sounds, skittering noises, and disjointed beats on minidisc so that the listener can reassemble the order of the tracks to meet his or her own whims. This was ONLY released on mini disc and is located behind the counter.

GESCOM Motor 1-4 (Source) 12" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We have come across a few copies of this early single from Gescom (who is better known as Autechre). Gescom has always been the outlet for the more 'club friendly' sounds of Sean and Rob. This 1994 single is no exception... 303s noodle their way into straight up European electro and early-90s Warp style bleep techno.

GESSESSE, TLAHOUN Ethiopiques Vol. 17 (Buda Musique) cd 15.98
Okay, I know that the general consensus from people seems to be that the Mulatu Astatke disc (Ethiopiques #4) is the best in the Ethiopiques series. And yeah, it's a great disc. But to really experience the zenith of Ethiopian popular music from the golden era you really gotta have the vocals. The workouts these singers put their vocal chords through are as unbelievable as they are beautiful. Case in point is Tlahoun Gessesse. And we are thankfully blessed with a full CD of his passionately yodelled Ethiopian funk groove. Gesesse was the most popular Ethiopian singer of the times -- bigger than Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete or any other singers. So great was his vocal stature that he was dubbed "The Voice". Pretty much says it all. And well applied the title is; his vocal control is insane, wavering vibrato all over the place and melisma stacked upon melisma. To boot he's backed by the best in the business: the Body Guard Band, All Star Band, Exhibition Band and Army Band. The usual arrangements of guitar, bass, drums, percussion, horns, piano and incredibly strange organs play the most haunting accompaniment to Gessesse's impassioned vocals. And for what its worth, several of the tracks here were even arranged by Mulatu Astatke. Though Gessesse's career dates back to the fifties, the recordings included here are all from the early seventies. Included is a 30 page booklet with biographical notes, photos (including a two page spread of 45 jackets) and lyrics. This one comes highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Aykedashem Lebe"
MPEG Stream: "Sethed Seketelet"

GESTAPO 666 Black Gestapo Metal (Goatowarex) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GET CARTER (OST) (Castle) cd 24.00
An absolutely amazing movie and a really cool, albeit peculiar soundtrack, GET CARTER has been a holy grail of sorts, kind of like the Wicker Man. British dance artists (Stereolab among others) have been borrowing heavily from and flat out covering the theme from Get Carter for the last couple years, and the original has finally been reissued (but as an import only, unfortunately). It's a nice package with tons of liner notes and lots of photos from the film. The cd has way more stuff than we remember being in the movie, as well as lots of dialogue. It's an import, hence the steep price. The sound? Some cool sixties spy jazz, some loungey Bond-ish exotica, some hippyish folk rock. Plus, it comes with a poster!

GET HIM EAT HIM Geography Cones (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
We're not sure if the band Get Him Eat Him are actually carnivorous, but if their music is any indication, we can tell you that they do have an appreciation for sweet treats of the pop variety. Geography Cones is loaded up with dreamy boyish pop very much along the lines of Death Cab For Cutie and Pinback. In fact, the vocals bring to mind a more gaspy Benjamin Gibbard. Their new label home Absolutely Kosher has certainly become quite the trusted hub of brainy pop studiousness -- Wrens, Sparrow, Rob Crow and the abovementioned Pinback to name a few artists whose releases grace that label. For those of us who always crushed over the shy bookworm sitting in the front row versus the loudmouth rowdy bruiser or eye-catchin' jock Adonis in the back... catch our drift?
MPEG Stream: "The Celebration"
MPEG Stream: "Pardon My French"

GET KILLED No Substitutes (Corleone) 7" 3.50
A snotty young crew of Providence Rhode Island roughnecks, both male and female, kicking up a seriously intense racket. Aggro, over the top, grinding, post punk / punk rock. Angular guitars, furious drumming, like some long lost Amrep band brought back to life and given a serious hit of screamo, and dosed with a little metallic sludge.
Limited to 500 copies, on cotton candy pink vinyl, in cool hand cut sleeves.

GET UP KIDS Four Minute Mile (Doghouse) cd 13.98

GET UP KIDS Guilt Show (Vagrant) cd 14.98
We had heard rumours that this record was going to ROCK and would be the Get Up Kids' return to form, form in this case being the pop/emo masterpiece Something To Write Home About from a few years back. A record so kick ass, and so heavy, and so catchy that we still find ourselves listening to it all the time. Well, the good news is that compared to their last record, the Guilt Show does indeed rock. The bad news however is that while this may sort of rock, when you get right down to it, this is basically super polished, generic, glossy pop rock. Could be any one of millions of bands. Gone is all the angst and tension that made Something... so lyrically intense. Gone too are the amazing songs and crazy catchy hooks. The sound is immediately familiar, but just totally watered down. And thus, I'm sure we'll see this all over MTV. Good for them. If you're new to the Get Up Kids, then you'll find this to be a perfectly decent slab of bouncy pop rock, but for those of us who LOVED this band, it's hard to get over the disappointment of listening to an amazing band get less and less amazing with each record. Do yourself a favor and pick up Something To Write Home About to hear what this band is (was) truly capable of.
MPEG Stream: "The One You Want"
MPEG Stream: "Never Be Alone"

GET UP KIDS Guilt Show (Vagrant) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had heard rumours that this record was going to ROCK and would be the Get Up Kids' return to form, form in this case being the pop/emo masterpiece Something To Write Home About from a few years back. A record so kick ass, and so heavy, and so catchy that we still find ourselves listening to it all the time. Well, the good news is that compared to their last record, the Guilt Show does indeed rock. The bad news however is that while this may sort of rock, when you get right down to it, this is basically super polished, generic, glossy pop rock. Could be any one of millions of bands. Gone is all the angst and tension that made Something... so lyrically intense. Gone too are the amazing songs and crazy catchy hooks. The sound is immediately familiar, but just totally watered down. And thus, I'm sure we'll see this all over MTV. Good for them. If you're new to the Get Up Kids, then you'll find this to be a perfectly decent slab of bouncy pop rock, but for those of us who LOVED this band, it's hard to get over the disappointment of listening to an amazing band get less and less amazing with each record. Do yourself a favor and pick up Something To Write Home About to hear what this band is (was) truly capable of. On limited edition colored vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "The One You Want"
MPEG Stream: "Never Be Alone"

GET UP KIDS Live At Granada (Vagrant) cd 15.98

GET UP KIDS Red Letter Day & Woodson (Doghouse) cd 13.98

GET UP KIDS Something To Write Home About (Vagrant) cd 13.98
Probably one of the best emo-pop records ever! So kick ass and catchy, lyrically heartbreaking, dreamily hummable, completely rocking. Total driving across country, favorite mix tape, bouncing around all sweaty in the pit, pining for your far away love, everything-emo-should-be record!

GET UP KIDS / COALESCE (Second Nature) 7" 3.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now back in stock...Two bona fide indie sensations happen to be from Kansas City -- the grindpop stars Get Up Kids and grindcore stalwarts Coalesce. See them rock with two new songs.

GET UP KIDS, THE Eudora (Vagrant) cd 14.98
The current darlings of emo pop/punk scene have released this collection of odds 'n' out-of-print ends for anyone who hasn't been collecting since day one. Those of us addicted to melodic pop with punk energy and lots of sentimental boy feelings (just imagine 'em hunched up over a piano, wincing with the weight of the world) will already be familiar with Get Up Kids, the band that arguably does it the best (at least right now). Included are a bunch of covers, some of which are due to Get Up Kids constantly being invited to contribute tracks to various tribute albums: The Pixies, Motley Crue, The Cure, Bowie, New Order, Replacements, Coalesce, and Metroschifter. The remaining nine original tracks are culled from split 7"s, alternate takes, both their Sub Pop Singles Club songs, and the like. Accessible and fun.
RealAudio clip: "On With the Show"
RealAudio clip: "Burned Bridges"
RealAudio clip: "Close to Me"

GET UP KIDS, THE On A Wire (Vagrant) cd 14.98
The first thing you notice is that this record does -not- rock. Not at all. So already you're a little disappointed, because after all, the Get Up Kids did rock. The second thing you notice is how 'indie rock' this record sounds. And I mean like R.E.M-eighties-college-radio-indie-rock. And most of us kind of got tired of that sound years ago. Still with me? Good. 'Cause even after all that, this record manages to be really really good. But not at first. At first we were all sort of horrified. What happened. This is so...mellow. But the more I listen to it, the more I find these songs stuck in my head ALL the time. A whole different scenario than The Get Up Kids' last record, which was instantly catchy, so catchy in fact that we all played it incessantly until we were darn near sick of it. But this record didn't stick until listen #10 or #11. And by that time it was too late. This will definitely lose them some fans, I imagine. But maybe what we hear as 'indie rock' (the negative connotation) is just a band growing out of their underground rock ghetto. Or maybe they just suck now. But if you're like us and LOVED the last record, odds are you'll end up loving this one too.
RealAudio clip: "Overdue"
RealAudio clip: "Stay Gone"
RealAudio clip: "Fall From Grace"
RealAudio clip: "High As The Moon"

GET UP KIDS, THE On A Wire (Vagrant) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The first thing you notice is that this record does -not- rock. Not at all. So already you're a little disappointed, because after all, the Get Up Kids did rock. The second thing you notice is how 'indie rock' this record sounds. And I mean like R.E.M-eighties-college-radio-indie-rock. And most of us kind of got tired of that sound years ago. Still with me? Good. 'Cause even after all that, this record manages to be really really good. But not at first. At first we were all sort of horrified. What happened. This is so...mellow. But the more I listen to it, the more I find these songs stuck in my head ALL the time. A whole different scenario than The Get Up Kids' last record, which was instantly catchy, so catchy in fact that we all played it incessantly until we were darn near sick of it. But this record didn't stick until listen #10 or #11. And by that time it was too late. This will definitely lose them some fans I imgaine. But maybe what we hear as 'indie rock' (the negative connotation) is just a band growing out of their underground rock ghetto. Or maybe they just suck now. But if you're like us and LOVED the last record, odds are you'll end up loving this one too.

GETO BOYS We Can't Be Stopped - Screwed & Chopped-A-Lot (Rap-A-Lot) cd 17.98
Okay, there's no denying that We Can't Be Stopped is one of the all time classic rap records. From the cover photo, Bushwick Bill on a stretcher after being shot in the face, to the brutally realistic tales of gang violence, drugs and sex, to the weirdly poignant classic "Mind Playing Tricks On Me". Such a great record. So what happens if you take this classic and slow it waaaaayyyy doooowwwn. Well, it takes on a whole new vibe. DJ Screw (the originator of the screwed remix, essentially just slowing records down to a cough syrup like speed) may be gone, but his spirit lives on, as any number of remixers have taken to screwing and chopping classic albums. We Can't Be Stopped is still classic, but with its beats slowed to a lugubrious crawl, and the rapping turned into a slow motion slur, it's even creepier and more haunting than the original. Takes a while to get used to it (a bottle of cough syrup will definitely aid the process) but once you do, it's a dark, and dangerous (and very very slow) ride.
MPEG Stream: "We Can't Be Stopped"
MPEG Stream: "Mind Playing Tricks On Me"

GETZ, STAN / JOAO GILBERTO Getz / Gilberto (Verve) cd 16.98

GHASH Forest Of Perpetual Pains (Gungnir Productions) cassette 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With a name like Ghash, we kind of expected some sort of old school crusty punk, but this is some seriously unhinged and hateful buzzing blackness. Beginning with a weird ambient dronescape, complete with guttural growls and anguished wails, the band quickly stumbles into some of the strangest midtempo black metal we've heard in a while. Minus the drums, we'd be in serious Abruptum territory, simple riffs, repeated over and over, hovering in swirling fields of black ambience, with completely fucked up, reverb drenched, demented vocals, the sound is so abject and miserable, mournful and hopeless. The ultimate depressive suicidal blackness, but the drums... the drums change everything. Super simple and rigid, no fills, hardly any cymbals, just a never wavering machinelike midtempo beat. It's so relentless it sounds like it must be programmed, and the riffs are locked in perfectly with the drums, making it sound like this black buzz machine. A neverending loop of riff and drum beat, while over the top those vocals wail and howl, so doused in effects they sound like strange animals howling at the moon. Completely bizarre but totally mesmerizing. AWESOME.

GHAST / YOGA split (TDS / Choking Hazard) cd 11.98
Yoga is a pretty unlikely name for a black metal band. But then Yoga are a pretty unlikely sounding black metal band. So much so that we're not even sure they really are black metal. Or metal. But they are. Sort of.
The sound of Yoga takes the lo-fi practice space recordings of grimmest of the BM outfits, and combines it with the murky muddy noise drenched blur of bands like Wold. But then take it even further rendering their sound so muted and lo fidelity that even when they're blasting furiously, it still sounds like a busted music box or an old black metal 78. And then there's the fact that Yoga spend a good amount of their time not blasting blackly, but instead, crafting synth heavy Goblin style film music, all throbbing bass and buzzing synths, creepy minor key melodies and tons of haunting ambience. Those songs too are wreathed in a foggy night-on-the-moors sort of murk, which ties those songs closely to the more blackened ones.
The strange combination of grim and Goblin, the tripped out fucked up recording quality, the damaged arrangements, the looped hypnotic quality, turn Yoga into something totally out there, most likely way to abstract and psychedelic and deliriously lo-fi to appeal to folks  looking for grim buzzing blackness, but for the rest of you, if you can try to imagine some impossible mix of Philip Jeck, Wold, Goblin, the Skaters and some of the super weird EEE unblack bands, all produced by John Maus and Ariel Pink, then you will flip for this.
The other band on this split, Ghast, are also not at all typical black metal, although they are much more distinctly metal than Yoga. Their sound is a super spare, slow motion blackened doom, still plenty lo-fi, the drums murky and down in the mix, the guitars more of a distant moan, sometimes soaring to the forefront, before drifting off again, the vocals super distorted and effected and harsh. All around this plodding blackness, creepy drones soar and shimmer, wail and keen, offering up a mournful abstract backdrop for Ghast's miserablist blackdoom. There's also a live track, where Ghast's sound is transformed into a crumbling blown out blackened drone, sounding almost like a metal band playing from behind a brick wall, the whole thing captured using a mic in a bucket of dirty water. The result is pretty fantastic, only the drums are at all identifiable, and then just barely, all the other instruments have been transformed into a mesmerizingly damaged, murky, muddy, sludgey pulsing drone. Awesome.
We got these direct from the band, and got the last copies, so once we run out, we might not be able to get more...
MPEG Stream: GHAST "La Noche Del Terror Ciego"
MPEG Stream: YOGA "Deep With-in The Cave Of Sesame"
MPEG Stream: YOGA "Littlefoot"

GHAZALA, Q.R. Threnody To the New Victims of Hiroshima (Realization) cd 12.98
Finally back in stock, one of the AQ-staff's all time favorite drone recordings! This came out in '95, but we thought we'd list it anyway, after ordering a batch directly from the label 'cause we like it so much. Electronic instrument inventor Q.R. Ghazala (you may remember him from the instrument-inventor compilation "Gravikords, Whirligigs...") presents his "first insect symphony", performed on his "Vox Insecta" -- a synthesizer than specializes in simulating insect voices! The beautiful instrument (depicted on the cover, it looks like some sort of Art Deco stenographer's machine) may or may not always sound like a swarm of insects, but it certainly produces some gorgeous drones... Dark stuff, with keening higher-end tones supported by bass-y undulations. Creepy and beautiful. For fans of Tony Conrad and Lustmord and that sort of thing. So totally recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Lullaby"

GHOST Guru in the Echo (Now Sound) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's premier psych-folk outfit produces another amazing domestic 7". One song is from 1989; the other is from 1994, another version of a piece from the first record; said new recording sounds utterly fresh and rich and features a blazing, screeching guitar solo from White Heaven's Michio Kurihara.

GHOST Hypnotic Underworld (Drag City) cd 14.98
Hallelujah! Ghost are back! Since Drag City's simultaneous release of their Snuff Box Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet albums back in 1999, we hadn't heard hide nor hair of Japan's wonderful acid-folksters Ghost (unless you count their liason with Damon & Naomi). Indeed we'd begun to wonder what was up with Masaki Batoh, Michio Kurihara and crew -- we missed them! And in those four or five years, it seemed that fans of '70s inspired Japanese psychedelic music had switched their allegiance to the much more prolific Acid Mothers Temple camp led by Kawabata Makoto who emerged in the meantime. But we Ghost fans know that, as good as AMT can be, in the realm of cosmic communal Japanese hippy rock, there is no comparison. Ghost rule that particular hypnotic underworld. Depth, beauty, originality -- on all those counts they have it over AMT. Unlike the excessive pastiche of AMT, there's nothing tongue in cheek about Ghost. And as for quality control, well, you do the math.
So, needless to say, we were supremely excited to get this brand new Ghost album! The sun was sure 'tangging' the day this showed up. Word was that this might be Ghost's best album yet, and while we each have our favorites (mine's Lama Rabi Rabi, with their self-titled debut in close competition) this was immediately revealed as a contender. In short, it's freakin' great. Ghost explore some heavier, rockier, more prog-tastic directions in some of these songs, yet let their incomparable delicate psych-folk flow as well. Stirring guitar/drums workouts coexist with Batoh's fragile vocals and trembling sunshine melodies. And Terrascopic trainspotters will be interested to know that Ghost interpret songs by both Syd Barrett and the obscure '70s Dutch prog-rock act Earth & Fire, and make them completely their own. The album takes its name from the four-part, 25-minute suite that opens this disc, which ventures from lovely, hazy jazz-inflected jams to bombastic, utterly prog-rock flourishes complete with grandiose choirs. That alone is worth having waited four or five years for!
MPEG Stream: "Piper"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 2: Escaped And Lost Down In Medina"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 3: Aramaic Barbarous Dawn"

GHOST Hypnotic Underworld (Drag City) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hallelujah! Ghost are back! Since Drag City's simultaneous release of their Snuff Box Immanence and Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet albums back in 1999, we hadn't heard hide nor hair of Japan's wonderful acid-folksters Ghost (unless you count their liason with Damon & Naomi). Indeed we'd begun to wonder what was up with Masaki Batoh, Michio Kurihara and crew -- we missed them! And in those four or five years, it seemed that fans of '70s inspired Japanese psychedelic music had switched their allegiance to the much more prolific Acid Mothers Temple camp led by Kawabata Makoto who emerged in the meantime. But we Ghost fans know that, as good as AMT can be, in the realm of cosmic communal Japanese hippy rock, there is no comparison. Ghost rule that particular hypnotic underworld. Depth, beauty, originality -- on all those counts they have it over AMT. Unlike the excessive pastiche of AMT, there's nothing tongue in cheek about Ghost. And as for quality control, well, you do the math.
So, needless to say, we were supremely excited to get this brand new Ghost album! The sun was sure 'tangging' the day this showed up. Word was that this might be Ghost's best album yet, and while we each have our favorites (mine's Lama Rabi Rabi, with their self-titled debut in close competition) this was immediately revealed as a contender. In short, it's freakin' great. Ghost explore some heavier, rockier, more prog-tastic directions in some of these songs, yet let their incomparable delicate psych-folk flow as well. Stirring guitar/drums workouts coexist with Batoh's fragile vocals and trembling sunshine melodies. And Terrascopic trainspotters will be interested to know that Ghost interpret songs by both Syd Barrett and the obscure '70s Dutch prog-rock act Earth & Fire, and make them completely their own. The album takes its name from the four-part, 25-minute suite that opens this disc, which ventures from lovely, hazy jazz-inflected jams to bombastic, utterly prog-rock flourishes complete with grandiose choirs. That alone is worth having waited four or five years for!
MPEG Stream: "Piper"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 2: Escaped And Lost Down In Medina"
MPEG Stream: "HU pt. 3: Aramaic Barbarous Dawn"

GHOST In Stormy Nights (Drag City) cd 14.98
The follow-up to 2004's magnificent Hypnotic Underworld from Japanese communal psych vets Ghost is finally here! The heavy-prog moves of that album are still in evidence, as well as their perpetual penchant for otherworldly folk -- and, as well, on the nearly half-hour "Hemicyclic Anthelion", Ghost venture into the realm of what goes beyond mere prog to sound remarkably like avant-garde 20th century classical! Ghost are certainly an ambitious band, with talent to match. With the dark, abstract, droning vibes of "Hemicyclic Anthelion" hanging over the proceedings, In Stormy Nights proves to be, well, a dark and stormy album. Downright aggressive, even, are the trio of tracks that follow it in the middle of this disc.
True, In Stormy Nights starts placidly enough with "Motherly Bluster", classic Ghost style acid folk, Batoh's calm voice singing from some mystic plane of crosslegged bliss. But then, the aforementioned "Hemicyclic Anthelion" takes the stage -- literally, as this piece is apparently constructed from excerpts of live in-concert improvs, an electro-acoustic, slow-mo freakout that represents Ghost at their most out-there and experimental. Following that, it seems that Ghost have fallen to the Dark Side of the Force. Indeed, the ominous "Water Door Yellow Gate" actually reminds us a bit of the music from Star Wars (!), with martial drumming and majestic chant. "Gareki No Toshi" is noisier, with distorted vocals and suspense-film urgency. What's next? Something even more frightening -- a stirring cover of the song "Caledonia" by none other than cult ESP-label sixties psych-rock "tribe" Cromagnon!! Wow. Of all of Batoh & Co.'s various cover versions over the years (they've done songs by Syd Barrett, Pearls Before Swine, The Rolling Stones, and Earth & Fire, just to name ones we can think of right now) this has to be our favorite. Partially 'cause we'd never thought we'd hear a Cromagnon cover, partially 'cause it's such a great song, and partially 'cause Ghost do it so well, complete with bleating Celtic horn, black metallish vocal rasping, and swirling, droning, bellicose ambiance. For us, this penultimate track is the climax to the album, but Ghost provide a coda, "Grisaille" coming full circle back to the gentle balladry of "Motherly Bluster", the dark side having perhaps been vanquished... for now.
MPEG Stream: "Water Door Yellow Gate"
MPEG Stream: "Hemicyclic Anthelion"
MPEG Stream: "Caledonia"

GHOST In Stormy Nights (Drag City) lp 15.98
The follow-up to 2004's magnificent Hypnotic Underworld from Japanese communal psych vets Ghost is finally here! The heavy-prog moves of that album are still in evidence, as well as their perpetual penchant for otherworldly folk -- and, as well, on the nearly half-hour "Hemicyclic Anthelion", Ghost venture into the realm of what goes beyond mere prog to sound remarkably like avant-garde 20th century classical! Ghost are certainly an ambitious band, with talent to match. With the dark, abstract, droning vibes of "Hemicyclic Anthelion" hanging over the proceedings, In Stormy Nights proves to be, well, a dark and stormy album. Downright aggressive, even, are the trio of tracks that follow it in the middle of this disc.
True, In Stormy Nights starts placidly enough with "Motherly Bluster", classic Ghost style acid folk, Batoh's calm voice singing from some mystic plane of crosslegged bliss. But then, the aforementioned "Hemicyclic Anthelion" takes the stage -- literally, as this piece is apparently constructed from excerpts of live in-concert improvs, an electro-acoustic, slow-mo freakout that represents Ghost at their most out-there and experimental. Following that, it seems that Ghost have fallen to the Dark Side of the Force. Indeed, the ominous "Water Door Yellow Gate" actually reminds us a bit of the music from Star Wars (!), with martial drumming and majestic chant. "Gareki No Toshi" is noisier, with distorted vocals and suspense-film urgency. What's next? Something even more frightening -- a stirring cover of the song "Caledonia" by none other than cult ESP-label sixties psych-rock "tribe" Cromagnon!! Wow. Of all of Batoh & Co.'s various cover versions over the years (they've done songs by Syd Barrett, Pearls Before Swine, The Rolling Stones, and Earth & Fire, just to name ones we can think of right now) this has to be our favorite. Partially 'cause we'd never thought we'd hear a Cromagnon cover, partially 'cause it's such a great song, and partially 'cause Ghost do it so well, complete with bleating Celtic horn, black metallish vocal rasping, and swirling, droning, bellicose ambiance. For us, this penultimate track is the climax to the album, but Ghost provide a coda, "Grisaille" coming full circle back to the gentle balladry of "Motherly Bluster", the dark side having perhaps been vanquished... for now.
MPEG Stream: "Water Door Yellow Gate"
MPEG Stream: "Hemicyclic Anthelion"
MPEG Stream: "Caledonia"

GHOST Lama Rabi Rabi (Drag City) cd 14.98
Gatefold vinyl or cd, the domestic full-length debut for the psychedelic sounds of Japan's answer to Can. "Who Found A Lost Rose In The Warship?"

GHOST Lama Rabi Rabi (Drag City) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Gatefold vinyl or cd, the domestic full-length debut for the psychedelic sounds of Japan's answer to Can. "Who Found A Lost Rose In The Warship?"

GHOST Metamorphosis (Drag City) cd + dvd 17.98
Ghost and Drag City bring us this cd + dvd set, a quite fine, fan-o-centric release that will definitely excite the many folks devoted to these modern masters of Japanese psych! Indeed, one customer of ours, Brent from Chattanooga, already chimed in with a review (to save us some time and trouble he says), which goes something like this: "OK, first things first, for all of you Ghost freaks out there, there's no reason you will need to even read this review. Just order it now, cause it's great, it's songs that're not on anything else you've got, and it's, well, it's Ghost. One hour of folked-up improv music, from their early days, say late 80's. Plus not to mention the two hour DVD that spans they're entire career. But, if this is not enough, well read on. For all you fiends of the Finnish psych bands like Avarus and the rest, then this disc will please. Very krauty, droney, out there stuff that sounds like it was recorded in some dark forest in a remote part of Japan. Tribal, chants, moans, it's all here. Even the Jewelled Antler fans will love this stuff..." And that's pretty much our take on it too. (Thanks, Brent!)
We'll expand a bit on his review by saying that although at first glance the music cd is perhaps overshadowed by the novelty of the DVD that's got two hours of rare live video footage (of a band that not all that many people over here in the States have had the opportunity to see, after all), we think that it's the cd that's what you'll keep coming back to, after you've several viewings of the DVD of course. The cd is certainly not a *new* Ghost album or anything -- and is about as far from the professionally progged-out compositions of Ghost's well-liked, most recent album Hypnotic Underworld as you can get. These "Unreleased Ghost Tracks From the 1980s" see Ghost in sorta Sunburned Hand of The Man or NNCK territory (or the Finnish/Jewelled Antler realm as suggested by Brent), doing improvised fractured folk (a la first album outtake "Cow's Green Cosmic") and noisy free-jazz freak-outs (as on the half-hour minute track "Children Of The Earth"). Even without the dvd disc, we'd be recommending this, it's right up the AQ alley.
Meanwhile, the DVD assembles home video style footage of Ghost performances from the early days (all the way back to a solo Masaki Batoh protest "concert" in front of the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, back in 1984!!) up through 2004. The more recent footage (along with the menu graphics and box cover) reveal just how dangerously slick Ghost have gotten, while the earlier stuff has a charming amateur edge to it. In either case, a treat for Ghost fans -- though we wonder if a band that makes such otherworldly music (and is named Ghost, after all) risks losing some of their mystery by being documented visually like this... But fans can't really complain! Comes packaged with a booket containing notes and credits for everything you'll see and hear here.
MPEG Stream: "Hakkyou Dojin (1989 live)"
MPEG Stream: "Improvisation (1987 live)"

GHOST s/t (Drag City) cd 14.98

GHOST Second Time Around (Drag City) cd 14.98

GHOST Snuff Box Immanence (Drag City) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST Snuff Box Immanence (Drag City) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet (Drag City) cd 14.98
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST Tune In, Turn On, Free Tibet (Drag City) 2lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japan's Ghost bless us with not one, but two new albums of their psychedelic "heavy chamber folk" sounds! Of the two, "Snuff Box..." rocks a bit more, even indulging in a Rolling Stones cover. The beautifully silvery-packaged Tune In... is their album of protest songs. Folkier and longer than "Snuff Box..." and featuring a Pearls Before Swine cover. Lovely, haunting, melodic.

GHOST BRAMES OF THE CERF Static Aero (Leaf Trail) cd-r 12.98
From the Leaf Trail Label, run by the Bonecloud / Changeling folks, comes this brand new disc from the very strangely named French duo Ghost Brames Of The Cerf. Clues to the sound of Ghost Brames can be found in the fact that A. it's on Leaf Trail and that B. one half of the duo also does time in like minded sonic countrymen The Reggaee.
So yeah, we're talking, looooong tracks of super abstract drones, and disembodied free folk weirdness, and Ghost Brames give it their own spin, haunting similar sonic landscapes as Avarus and other Finnish folkies, as well as the abstract drift of their Leaf Trail label bosses.
Four tracks, all 10 minutes plus, the first, super minimal, distant melodies drifting in and out of earshot, in the foreground a hushed looped machine-like rhythm and a wheezing organ, but all of the various parts are whispered, the tape hiss nearly loud enough to overtake the music. Lovely but so so subtle and so abstract it could almost fade into nothingness at any moment. The second track is also minimal, but much more present, a tangle of keening high end, not sure if they're horns or strings or synths, but they glimmer and shimmer, like streaks of feedback, while below, detuned guitars strum and a non-rhythm is plonked out on wood blocks and cardboard boxes. That track segues directly into the third, where the drifting upper register smears are quickly overtaken by a wash of staticky thrum, smeared and blurred but fuzzy and dense, beneath it a strange sing song vocal surfaces, the track eventually building to an almost operatic climax.
The final track, takes the operatic frenzy of track three, and slathers it with buzzing guitar and fuzzed out loops, the vocals transformed into jagged melodic fragments beneath the almost doom like stasis of distorted guitar whir. Quite cool.
Packaged in oversized full color sleeves, with color printed inserts.
MPEG Stream: "Baakar Signs"
MPEG Stream: "The Waves Minds"

GHOST CLUB (Flying Nun) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Denise Roughan and David Mitchell of New Zealand's 3Ds.

GHOST ORCHID, THE An Introduction to EVP (Ash International (R.I.P.)) cd 14.98
FINALLY, this long out of print, all time unanimous AQ favorite gets re-pressed and is available once again!
The Conet Project from beyond the grave!?! Perhaps that's a good way of describing this baffling, terrifying, occasionally laughable, but always compelling album. It's been out of print for a very long time, and we're pleased to see The Ghost Orchid haunting our shelves once again!
To recap, The Ghost Orchid documents instances of something called "Electronic Voice Phenomenon," the paranormal appearance of strange voices (which at times sing and speak in multiple languages) on magnetic tape when there shouldn't be any voices there at all... Respected parapsychologists have postulated that these voices are those of dead people (i.e. ghosts) or possibly of extraterrestrial origin! Unlike The Conet Project, which cross referenced the audio tracks with written information, The Ghost Orchid presents these recordings with the audio commentary of one of several researchers (Nadia Fowler, Raymond Cass, and Lief Elggren -- the Swedish performance/audio artist and a part time collaborator with the Hafler Trio), explaining the findings. These recordings are the findings of a number of parapsychologists including Dr. Konstantine Raudive, Friedrich Jurgenson, and Raymond Cass.
While there is something wholly terrifying about these recordings, there is an absurd question about these ghostly voices that we have to ask: Why are the majority of these recordings in Latvian? At any rate, The Ghost Orchid manages to be both spooky and silly, and is definitely a fascinating listen from a pure sound perspective regardless of how disturbing and/or amusing you might find the alleged sound source itself. For non sequitur pop culture reference, the sample "You are sleeping, you do not want to believe" which concludes The Smith's "The Rubber Ring" hails from an old recording made by Raudive and can be found in its entirety here. Brilliant!
MPEG Stream: RAYMOND CASS "Out Of This World"
MPEG Stream: RAYMOND CASS "Burned With Force"
MPEG Stream: RAYMOND CASS "Carefully With Nerve Gas"
MPEG Stream: KONSTANTIN RAUDIVE "Breakthrough Side A"

GHOST ORCHIDS The King Is Dead (Princehouse Records) cd 12.98
Not only referencing a rare strain of flower, but also an AQ favorite collection of ghost voices, otherwise known as the Electronic Voice Phenomenon, the Ghost Orchids stand in direct contrast to the confrontational screamo-spazzcore of most of their San Francisco contemporaries, with their cold, detracted aesthetic of new wave electronics and goth theatricality. "The King Is Dead" is the Ghost Orchid's debut full length, having recorded the album at Seismic Seance studios. Much of the avant-pop plasticity which coats the Spoonbender aesthetic carries over into The Ghost Orchids' sound, although the Ghost Orchids have dropped all of the Factory label references of their "Architecture" EP in favor of the detached electro stares of contemporaries like Adult. but keeping truer to the '80s darkwave electronics of Clock DVA or Cassandra Complex with spartan, repetitive programming and hard EBM rhythms. Black eyeliner required.
MPEG Stream: "A New Bloodtype"
MPEG Stream: "Love Inversions"

GHOST TO FALCO Like This Forever (Below PDX) cd 12.98
Anyone remotely familiar with aQ knows we've long had a soft spot for earthy, psych-tinged music that weaves its way along beautiful shadowy paths through the dewy glimmers and murky sludge. Well, here's something new that fits the bill and has been pleasing many an ear around here! We actually put a call out to these Portland, OR folks back in October to send some of their music down the coast. A few months have passed and here we are finally with cds in hand, and we think it was worth the wait! Heck, in the short time we've had Like This Forever in stock, in-store play has already been stirring up many many queries with at least one purchased each time it's spun.
Stormy waves of electric guitar distortion and reedy woodwinds crash upon one another, then melt into clear smooth bell chimes. Horns and piano also enter the fray that ebbs and flows around mainman Eric Crespo's emotive vocals that have been compared to those of Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. As you listen you get a sense that Crespo and co. may have been raised on a balanced diet of Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac as well as Pavement and Slint. Yes, all the most nutritious and tastiest food groups! Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Hopeless Or Not"
MPEG Stream: "The End"

GHOST TO FALCO Like This Forever (Below PDX) lp 12.98
Anyone remotely familiar with aQ knows we've long had a soft spot for earthy, psych-tinged music that weaves its way along beautiful shadowy paths through the dewy glimmers and murky sludge. Well, here's something new that fits the bill and has been pleasing many an ear around here! We actually put a call out to these Portland, OR folks back in October to send some of their music down the coast. A few months have passed and here we are finally with cds in hand, and we think it was worth the wait! Heck, in the short time we've had Like This Forever in stock, in-store play has already been stirring up many many queries with at least one purchased each time it's spun.
Stormy waves of electric guitar distortion and reedy woodwinds crash upon one another, then melt into clear smooth bell chimes. Horns and piano also enter the fray that ebbs and flows around mainman Eric Crespo's emotive vocals that have been compared to those of Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. As you listen you get a sense that Crespo and co. may have been raised on a balanced diet of Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac as well as Pavement and Slint. Yes, all the most nutritious and tastiest food groups! Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Hopeless Or Not"
MPEG Stream: "The End"