GELB, HOWE 'Sno Angel Like You (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
The Giant Sand frontman has certainly traversed great expanses of musical terrain in his quarter century of music making -- getting to some pretty varied 'out-there' places often within a single album -- but 'Sno Angel Like You finds him at what just may be his most stable and consistent to date. That's not to say there aren't surprises. A strange swamp blues guitar interlude halfway through the album is a good indication of that! While some of this album definitely falls within the realm of his unmistakable dusky desert folk, he's also encorporated ample soul and gospel influences. The gospel according to Howe Gelb? Indeed, most of the songs follow in the tradition of such venerable artists such as Leonard Cohen whose near spoken word vocals are often backed by wonderful female backing chorus. On 'Sno Angel Like You, Gelb is backed up by the Canadian choir Voices Of Praise, and that's not the only connection this album has with our neighbors to the north. It was recorded in Ottawa, ON, and Gelb's current drummer is Jeremy Gara who also drums with a group of Canucks known as The Arcade Fire. Howe Gelb's never been one to seek 'cool points', but you gotta admit he scores plenty here intentionally or not. Seven new songs along with a few from his Giant Sand library and a few that were written by his Giant Sand bandmate the late Rainer Ptacek. Wonderful!
MPEG Stream: "The Farm"
MPEG Stream: "Nail In The Sky"

GELB, HOWE 'Sno Angel Like You (Thrill Jockey) 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 Giant Sand frontman has certainly traversed great expanses of musical terrain in his quarter century of music making -- getting to some pretty varied 'out-there' places often within a single album -- but 'Sno Angel Like You finds him at what just may be his most stable and consistent to date. That's not to say there aren't surprises. A strange swamp blues guitar interlude halfway through the album is a good indication of that! While some of this album definitely falls within the realm of his unmistakable dusky desert folk, he's also encorporated ample soul and gospel influences. The gospel according to Howe Gelb? Indeed, most of the songs follow in the tradition of such venerable artists such as Leonard Cohen whose near spoken word vocals are often backed by wonderful female backing chorus. On 'Sno Angel Like You, Gelb is backed up by the Canadian choir Voices Of Praise, and that's not the only connection this album has with our neighbors to the north. It was recorded in Ottawa, ON, and Gelb's current drummer is Jeremy Gara who also drums with a group of Canucks known as The Arcade Fire. Howe Gelb's never been one to seek 'cool points', but you gotta admit he scores plenty here intentionally or not. Seven new songs along with a few from his Giant Sand library and a few that were written by his Giant Sand bandmate the late Rainer Ptacek. Wonderful!
MPEG Stream: "The Farm"
MPEG Stream: "Nail In The Sky"

GELB, HOWE Confluence (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
This is the second 'solo' record of dark, langorous desert soul from Giant Sand mainman Howe Gelb. As with the last Gelb solo record, it basically sounds like a super spare, stripped down Giant Sand record, which is definitely a good thing. Lazy and sparawling mini epics, with minimal piano, guitar and mumbled vocals and lots and lots of space. Fans of Calexico (obviously), Giant Sand, Friends of Dean Martinez and Scenic, will find a lot to love here.

GELB, HOWE Hisser (Ow Om/V2) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From out of nowhere comes this wonderful new record from the leader of Giant Sand (who also spawned Calexico). This is dark, melancholy, stripped-down angular country. Really beautiful. Kind of like a less goofy Giant Sand. Highly recommended.

GELB, HOWE Lull (Some Piano) (Ow Om) cd 14.98
Howe Gelb has such a distinctive body of work, from Giant Sand, whose sound ranged from rollicking desert rock, to twangy country dirges, to his solo records, that also ran the gamut, sometimes quirky country, noisy rock, or dark ballads. In fact Gelb's last proper solo record, Hisser, was one of my (Andee) favorite records. That one was all dark and languid and delicately beautiful. Lull takes that langour even further, with this record of solo piano.
Melancholy, very pretty and sentimental. Lots of space and reverb, due in part to the fact that each song was recorded on a different, borrowed piano, in different locations. In fact, that's part of why it's so cool. Some of the pianos he uses are out of tune, or have completely dead keys, that add weird little dynamics to each piece. My only complaints are some spoken word bits, and that some of the tracks veer dangerously close to sounding like the theme from some soap opera, but overall, quite lovely.
RealAudio clip: "See"
RealAudio clip: "You"

GELB, HOWE Ogle Some Piano (Owom) cd 14.98
This is the second piano-centric album from the ever-intriguing shape-shifting Mr. Howe Gelb, and we're more than delighted that he's chosen to share a little more of this side of his musical self. Among other guest players, he is once again joined by his Giant Sand/OP8 comrades Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico. Such great chemistry! Vocals are few and far between and when they do surface they are distant, hoarse and textural. Heavy melancholic horns are second in command to the piano. The woven somber, off-kilter atmospheres of haunted carnivals and smoky desert taverns place this branch of Gelb's body of work in closer company to Tom Waits.
MPEG Stream: "Spangle Bib Of Radiant Value"
MPEG Stream: "A Memento Was Slid In Between The Actual House Of Cards So As To Maybe Remain"

GELB, HOWE The Listener (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
You never know what to expect from Giant Sand's Howe Gelb, but if you are going to board his musical caravan, you gotta know you're in for quite a ride. Roaming the musical landscape freely, sometimes the unexpected turns he takes may leave you scratching your head. Definitely one to always follow his muse, and the results - although frequently quite puzzling - are seldom a disappointment. On the surface, many of the songs appear to be very "normal", skillfully executed smoky lounge or dinner jazz or desert twang, but allow the music to sink in a bit further and gradually those distinct Gelb nuances and eccentricities reveal themselves. They manifest as subtle details, a slightly tweaked vocal effect or texture creeping just under the surface. Like an image in a slightly distorted mirror, the music is ever-shifting (in style, tempo, instrumentation, mood), casting light into the shadows, twisting perceptions. Gelb's deeeep, sedated vocals only furthers the emotional and cerebral slip. Often very stream of consciousness, he veers off on tangents about Lou Reed (on "Felonious" and does a remarkably convincing Reed impression, we might add!), scoops lyrics from the song "Lean On Me" (on "B 4 U") and slips into an odd Hazlewood/Sinatra-esque mode (on "Torque"). Intriguing, inspiring and a listening pleasure.
RealAudio clip: "Felonious"
RealAudio clip: "Torque"

GELB, PHILIP Between / Waves (Sparkling Beatnik) cd 14.98

GELBER KLANG ENSEMBLE Farben Der Stille (Colours Of Silence) (Cybele) cd 23.00

GELLER, URI s/t (Forkbender) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Uri Geller, known for his telekinetic prowess that started to wreak havoc on the world's cutlery in the 1970s, may not be so well known for his musical output. And for good reason. He has created fervent admiration (Prince Charles, the Pope, President Clinton, Dustin Donaldson of I Am Spoonbender, Michael Jackson and George Harrison are all friends) with his charming persona and baffling mental abilities. Working with Del Newman (arranger for Paul Simon, Elton John, Paul McCartney) who composed half of the tracks and arranged, Geller's musical outing is nothing more than New Age poetry over sacharine 70s pop which recalls the Carpeters more than anything else. With Jim O'Rourke recent aesthetic mistake of "rediscovering" the 70s and the aural telekinesis of I Am Spoonbender, this may actually be more timely than you may think.

GELMETTI, VITTORIO Musiche Elettroniche (Nepless) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While the photo in the liner notes of an elderly Gelmetti sporting new wave gear is worth the price of admission, the amazing shortwave radio experiments and dronology-through-musique-concrete certainly make this an excellent recording. While AQ has postulated when a remix album of Irdial Disc's triumphant Conet Project will be constructed, this will certainly keep us happy until then. Lots of academic liner notes in German and English.

GENDAI SOKKYO s/t (PSF) cd 22.00

GENDREAU, MICHAEL 55 Pas De La Ligne Au No. 3 (23five) cd 14.98
Throughout the '80s and '90s, Michael Gendreau worked extensively in the East Bay avant-noise project Crawling With Tarts, often constructing surreal experiments with idiosyncratic pop-babble and tape collages of art-damaged noise. For Gendreau, the turntable became an ideal instrument for his explorations; and soon, he began working with the archaic technology of lathe cut, handcrafted vinyl. Often the results were bizarre, if sporadically successful recontextualizations of homemade instrumentation, radio noise, and anti-pop. Recently, it seems as though Gendreau has put Crawling With Tarts on an extended hiatus, due to his increasing attention into the field of vibrations diagnostics and consultation. This incredibly technical arena has lead him to researching the problems of acoustic noise vibrations upon highly sensitive pieces of optical equipment, which could present faulty analysis due to the tiny, but measurable effects of environmental noise (air conditioning ducts and heating vents in particular).
55 Pas De La Ligne Au No. 3 finds Gendreau bridging his current activities of acoustic diagnostics with his once prolific avant-turntable collages. It appears that Gendreau has hooked up a number of accelerometers -- technical devices used to detect, measure, and catalogue any number of vibrational frequencies -- to a series of battered record players spinning his handmade vinyl. Gendreau's accelerometers are so sensitive, that they pick up, not only the interaction between the needle and the record in question, but also the muffled whir of the thick rubber band stretching between the motor and the turntable plate. The results found on 55 Pas De La Ligne Au No. 3 are astounding, with eerie mechanical drones, minute needle crackle, and the occasional, but always unnerving upsurge of quiet voices floating though the din like the EVP sounds from The Ghost Orchid of purported recordings from beyond the grave. One of the best records of 2002, and now available once again!
MPEG Stream: "Two Worlds For Now"
MPEG Stream: "55 Pas De La Ligne Au No. 3"

GENDREAU, MICHAEL Vitoj (Auscultare) cd 12.98
It's been a while since we've heard any material from San Francisco sound researcher Michael Gendreau, althought he has certainly kept himself busy since his impeccable last release 55 Pas De La Ligne Au No. 3 which explored the innerworkings of old turntables. His day job as an acoustics technician takes him all over the world in order to analyse the low frequency impact of industrial machinery upon architectural structures and highly sensitive optical devices; the obvious benefit of this trade is that Gendreau's perception of the particular frequencies is incredibly refined. Gendreau put this skill into practice during the 2003 Activating The Medium Festival at SFMOMA where he found the resonant frequency of the McBean Theater and effectively rattled the entire building, much to the consternation of the head curators worried that their prized Philip Guston paintings might leap off the walls.
Vitoj is Gendreau's first album since that aforementioned 2002 release and features three distinctly different situations that Gendreau handles in very specific manners. The first piece is a real-time exploration of the micro-dynamics of air compressors. Amplified through the technical sensors he uses when studying infrasound vibrations, Gendreau's air compressor emits toxic hisses, metallic clanks, and electrical static that could easily be confused for the processed drones of the Hafler Trio or John Duncan. However, Gendreau does add a gleefully destructive side to his work, as he fully opens the valves of his air compressors on several occasions, unleashing a torrent of noise as dense and tumultous as Merzbow and Masonna. The second piece exhibits a much greater restraint to the point of rendering the buzzing whirls of a old Victrola to nearly inaudible levels. The final entry is a Lopezian field recording mutation of the din of an industrial landscape morphed into a nightmarish ambience. A mighty return for Mr. Gendreau!
RealAudio clip: "o2"
RealAudio clip: "T921 pt. 2"

GENE DEFCON Have A Good Time (K) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Number XCVI (that's #97!) in the K Records International Pop Underground Singles Series. You may be wondering just what is this Olympia supergroup's mission? One word "PARTY!" Yup, bounce and bop to these four hyper-pop tunes 'til that cream soda goes right up yer nose. Features members of Tight Bros, Bikini Kill, Mocket and the Bangs.

GENE DEFCON FEATURING THE GENETTES Liz (Lookout!) 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, I really don't wanna use the word "wacky" but the sleeve and liner notes to this record beg such a term. This self-proclaimed "Olympia's #1 Party Band!!!" boasts a line-up that includes Dr. Boogers, Coco Bozo, and Sabrina (the 30 year old witch). While that may produce groans from the party-pooper peanut gallery, don't let that dissuade you. If you're into the pop sounds of farfisa organ melodies and very boy vocals backed with girlie vocals, this is for you. Part of the Lookout! One Night Stand singles series.

GENE LOVES JEZEBEL Discover (Beggars Banquet) 2cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Kick"
MPEG Stream: "Desire"

GENE LOVES JEZEBEL Immigrant (Beggars Banquet) 2cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Shame"
MPEG Stream: "The Rhino Plasty"

GENE LOVES JEZEBEL Promise (Beggars Banquet) 2cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Upstairs"
MPEG Stream: "Bruises"

GENERAL B & HARRY TODDLER / RAEGAN Hip Hop Medley / Run Come (Killa) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Wait A Minute" (Ray J).

GENERAL B / RAEGAN My Fans / Couchie (Killa) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix.

GENERAL MAGIC Rechenkonig (Mego) cd 17.98
General Magic is the longstanding duo of Mego co-founders Andi Pieper and Ramon Bauer, who have embarked on "another mad digital journey through the circuits residing in both the Vienna and Berlin studios, as well as the Czech train in between." This is really more of digital fuck-up than a manipulation of digital fuck-ups. Not very inspired, but Mego-philes may find something of interest here.

GENERAL MUSIC The Kloster Days, Part Two (General Music Productions) cd ep 12.98
General Music are from Sweden, but sound straight from Chicago, IL. A Euro-post rock improv assemblage with a rocketship full of squiggly synth sounds and reverbed-out guitars... emerging with music you might imagine if Lali Puna hooked up with The Sea And Cake for a latenight jam. Four songs in all.
RealAudio clip: "Kidding Around"
RealAudio clip: "There For Thousands Of Years"

GENERAL SMILEY & PAPA MICHIGAN Rub-A-Dub Style (Heartbeat) cd 14.98

GENERAL SURGERY Left Hand Pathology (Listenable) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "If These Walls Could Talk"
MPEG Stream: "Ambulance Chaser"
MPEG Stream: "Arterial Spray Obsession"

GENERAL SURGERY / THE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINERS Split (Razorback) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GENESIS s/t (Guerssen) cd 23.00
No, not that Genesis. In fact several bands around the world in the '70s were named Genesis. This is the Colombian group who may just be running away with the title of Our Favorite Genesis! Founded by Humberto Monroy who was in another AQ favorite South American psych outfit, The Speakers, this is some breezy and beautiful psych-folk-rock with tasteful use of flutes, acoustic, electric and 12-string guitar and warm melt-in-your-ears vocals. With a pep and playfulness that hints at Tropicalia but with a much more laid back and sensual disposition, falling somewhere between the colorful psych-pop of Madrid's Agamenon and the dreamy acid-folk of Chile's Congregacion. For those that speak Spanish, the lyrics are very smart and impassioned, praising the farmers, the environment, natives and the lower classes. This was their 2nd album, originally released in 1974 and so very well standing the test of time. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Suenas, Quieres, Dices"
MPEG Stream: "Reconfortame"
MPEG Stream: "Manos De Hombre"

GENESIS Yakta Mama (Guerssen) cd 23.00
What an amazing time its been lately for anyone into '70s South American psych. For many of us here at AQ there was no region that delivered colorful psych-folk better then South America. Until recently so much of this amazing music remained unavailable but luckily the reissue craze has put the music of folks like Eduardo Mateo, Congregacion, Embrujo and Alceu Valenca into the limelight they all so deserve. A few lists back we gushed about the Columbian band Genesis and their great self titled record of breezy and mystical psych-folk-rock. Now we finally got our hands on another one, Yakta Mama which was originally released in 1975. And it's just as great if not even slightly more pleasing then that great self-titled offering.
These songs have truly stood the test of time, still glorious and lovely, letting us daydream in the subtle and majestic qualities of their melodies. In putting together these Genesis reissues, the Guerssen label found it impossible to track down any surviving members of the band. It's known that the leader and primary songwriter Humberto Monroy passed away many years ago after a heart attack, and while they for sure should have been one of the biggest names in all of Columbian music, most people there these days have no idea who they were. Here's hoping this reissue helps clue music lovers around the world into the simple beauty of a forgotten gem!
MPEG Stream: "Los Amantes Son Eternos"
MPEG Stream: "Canta Negro"
MPEG Stream: "Tu Y Tus Frutos"

GENGHIS BLUES (OST) (Six Degrees) cd 16.98
We had this before and sold many, but it was always difficult to re-stock 'cause it was being sold by the Tuva Foundation themselves, not a record label. But sad we are no more, because it's just been re-issued on San Francisco-based "world music" label Six Degrees (home of DJ Cheb I Sabbah and Bebel Gilberto!). For those of you new to this, Genghis Blues is the soundtrack to the fabulous documentary movie (of the same name). Blind San Francisco blues musician Paul Pena travels to Tuva (Central Asia) to compete in their national throat-singing competition, a skill in which he is entirely self-taught! A funny, touching movie, and of course blessed with some great music. Lots of blues, lots of throat singing and even throat singing blues, plus some Cuban son-esque tracks.
RealAudio clip: "Sunezin Yry"
RealAudio clip: "Kargyraa Moan "

GENGHIS TRON Board Up The House (Relapse) cd 14.98
It's generally a pretty bad idea to have a pun as a band name. Once in a while, if the band is pretty good, and you put some effort into it, eventually you can get used to it and forget it's a pun (Jucifer), sometimes you don't even realize it's a pun until you finally say it out loud (Vulture Club), sometimes it never gets any easier to say or type (Cream Abdul Babar), and once in a while, VERY rarely, it's actually a pun that makes sense, and suits the music, and thus is actually a perfect name for the band. That just so happens to be the case with Genghis Tron, who combine a punishing super complex grinding downtuned metallic onslaught (like a musical Genghis Khan) and tons of synths and video game sounds, and electronics and glitchery (like the video game Tron?), which is a chocolate-and-peanut-butter combo that is tough to beat.
We've always dug Genghis Tron, but something seems to have happened since the last record. The way we remember it, the old Genghis Tron wielded a non stop torrent of super spazzy buzzy synthgrind, we even described their sound as "synthcorespazzmetalfusion", but Board Up The House, while retaining plenty of spazz and buzz and grind, is a much more mysterious beast, much darker and dronier, with the gnarled blasts of hypergrind, peppered with awesome fuzzy synthy Gary Numan style new wave, all dour and moody, with crooned robotic vocals, tangled swaths of minor key synthdrone, Autechre like skitter, super spare minimal old school electro, some gorgeous washed out dreamy drift, and while some of those sounds end up tangled up with jagged shards of downtuned chug, or churning Neurosis-y sludge, or chaotic screamo freakouts, much of the time the band lets those sounds sprawl, creating gorgeous darkened soundscapes, very cinematic and epic, intense and majestic. It's like John Carpenter jamming with Pig Destroyer sometimes. Very few of the heavy songs make it to their ends without being awesomely complicated by the band's weirdo electronic proclivities, but somehow, instead of sounding like pointless genre hopping, or some infuriating ADD drive aggro rock band, the diverse parts are fused seamlessly, to the point where some soft synth shimmer couldn't sound more perfect than sandwiched between a wall of stumbling grind and a blast of hyperspeed Iron Maiden style guitar harmonies. And actually, the ratio of electronic weirdness and dark droned out synthscapes to full on mathgrind leans WAY more heavily toward the former this time around. And it definitely suits them.
The clincher is the 11 minute closer, "Relief", which is a gorgeous, post rocky dirge, all clean vocals and languorous riffing, the track builds to some serious chugging crescendos, and even offers up a few breathless skittery ambient interludes, but when the band lock into THE RIFF, the one they pound away at for the last 6 minutes, it's total drone-doom-kraut-groove nirvana, a loping seasick drum part, underpinning a slithery minor key riff, thick and relentless, glistening with harmonies, the various melodies slipping in and out of the churning groove, vocals and synths soaring in the background, another one of those parts we wish would go on for another 40 minutes, so much so that we've been driving everyone crazy by playing this track over and over and over.
Like we said above, we always dug this band, but even so we definitely weren't expecting a record this dense and epic and melodically mature. Fans of heavier stuff, of groups like Pelican, Conifer, Isis, Tides, Ice Bound Majesty, as well as dronerock combos like Pharaoh Overlord, Circle, Cave, might get WAY into this record, assuming they can dig some of the more manic freaked out stuff. And this just might be the disc to get Genghis Tron out of the synthspazzgrind ghetto. That is if they even want out.
WAY RECOMMENDED!!
MPEG Stream: "Board Up The House"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Teeth"
MPEG Stream: "Things Don't Look Good"

GENGHIS TRON Board Up The House Remixes Vol. 3 (Relapse) 12" 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GENGHIS TRON Board Up The House Remixes Vol. 5: Remixed By Nadja + Tim Hecker + Dudes You Can Trust (Crucial Blast / Relapse) 12" 11.98
Now this is the one we've been waiting for!! The final installment in the 5 part Genghis Tron remix 12" series. For some reason we only ever reviewed the Temporary Residence 12" (each was on a different label), but there were other volumes on Lovepump United, Relapse and Anticon. We're predicting (hoping for) an eventual cd compilation release, but for now, this is the GT remix record not to miss. Nadja. Tim Hecker. Not sure who Dudes You Can Trust are, but they had us at Nadja and Tim Hecker.
Hecker's mix obliterates the original, in fact, if we didn't already know it was a remix, we probably would assume it was a proper new TH track. All warm and washed out and glistening and gauzy and sun dappled and woozy and blissy and dreamy, organic and shimmery, it's the sound that everyone shoots for, but only Tim Hecker seems to have perfected. The fact that there's a Genghis Tron track in there somewhere only makes it even cooler.
Dudes You Can Trust, which we just learned is actually one of the Genghis Tron guys, most definitely have a Nadja / Jesu vibe happening, the original track is stripped down and then bathed in dense shimmer, until most of the extraneous sounds peel back, leaving just a super minimal rumbly buzz, over a looped drum fill, before slipping into a brief stretch of lo-fi Ariel Pink like FM radio drift, and then finally a bit of glitchy minimal electro (!). Weird, but cool.
Nadja's remix takes up the whole of side 2, the first half of which is all minimal and drifty, with muted electronic bloops and bleeps, subtle effects, all very abstract and ambient, barring some barely there glitchy skitter.
Eventually, bits of the original jam burst through, a pounding howling metallic crunch, that sounds like it could have been looped or processed, but there's no time to figure it out for sure, as it quickly blisses out again into a haunting swirling whoosh of blissed out almost new wave shimmer, draped delicately over the remnants of the original track. So cool.
Needless to say, essential. LIMITED as all of the volumes are, this one is pressed on wicked red and green splatter vinyl!

GENGHIS TRON Cloak Of Love (Crucial Blast) cd ep 10.98
Aaaargh, a band name only an Andee could love... yes, Genghis Tron does rank right up there with, ahem, Corn On Macabre and Cream Abdul Babar, don't ya think? Actually Allan likes the name too. At least, it made him wonder, what does this band sound like? Well, first here's what the label says, then we'll critique:
"The debut EP from Poughkeepsie-based trio GENGHIS TRON. Cloak of Love is a virulent pop mutation that seamlessly splatters acrobatic shred and machine gun blastbeats across soaring synth pop anthems and electronic melodies. Five tracks of absurd brutalia and electro pop glory."
And it's true, some of this does sound like M83 being attacked by Discordance Axis. Some foofy '80s ish electro-dance beat will start up, only to be obliterated by a thunderous shitstorm of aggro axe shrapnel. But although they do make a successful effort at trying something new, Genghis Tron don't really strike quite as even a balance between their blastbeats and synthpop melodies as the description on the disc's obi might lead you to believe. A "virulent pop mutation"? Well it definitely leans heavier on the metal than the pop. Clearly they're more schooled and skilled in the latter. The "pop" elements, if there really are any, come in the form of brief keyboard noodles and retro-techno grooves, but actually that's more about instrumentation rather than style or structure. Alright, we don't wanna get totally sticky about the technicalities, but geez, the aforementioned obi description sure did raise our expectations. But then again, we should have known all that was too good to be true. So let's enjoy Genghis Tron for what they are. Less a true synthesis of synth-pop and metallic blasting than a spazzy collision of the two with the metallic stuff definitely getting the upper hand, the metal secure in crash helmets and seatbelts while the pop gets thrown from the vehicle, crushed on the roadway. But it does make for a spectacular crash, something that fans of The Locust and Mr. Bungle and Knodel and Melt Banana and Schizoid and Agoraphobic Nosebleed and The Daughters oughtta find rubberneckingly riveting. Depending on how you feel about such (diverse) bands, by the time the not-quite-13 minutes of music here are over, you'll either be pressing play again with a big smile on your face, or already have left the room, plotting the destruction of whomever was playing it to annoy you.
MPEG Stream: "Rock Candy"
MPEG Stream: "Laser Bitch"

GENGHIS TRON Dead Mountain Mouth (Crucial Blast) cd 14.98
Genghis Tron might have a joke name, but their music comes across as serious business. Not played for laughs, anyway. They blenderize genres like electro pop, grindcore, techno, screamo, and heavy metal into a delicious smoothie packed with blasting "boosts" and nutritious noise. Their name is still silly, but also fairly descriptive. The power and might of metal meets the computer age of music making! It's 100mph headspinning mayhem and sorta new wavey '80s synth pop sensibilities in collision, one or both of 'em subverting the other, it's not clear. Those of us here into The Locust and An Albatross and Horse The Band and the like were all thumbs up for GT's hyperkinetic debut ep Cloak Of Love and are equally stoked on Dead Mountain Mouth, which spreads their love all over ten tracks, a whole half-hour plus of gonzoid synthcorespazzmetalfusion. Very cool.
Note too, they have a few tracks on one of our recent Records Of The Week, the Drummachinegun compilation!
MPEG Stream: "Dead Mountain Mouth"
MPEG Stream: "Greek Beds"

GENGHIS TRON Remixed (Temporary Residence) 12" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
First in a series of remix 12"s, each being released on a different label, each with a different collection of uber cool remixers, all tackling various songs from recent aQ highlight, Genghis Tron's Board Up The House. Off to a pretty good start with volume one, just check out the remixers: Justin Broadrick from Jesu, Steve Moore of Zombi, Eluvium and of course Mr. Rob Crow of Pinback and Heavy Vegetable.
First up is Steve Moore and as we might have expected (and hoped), he gets all Goblin / Heldon on our asses, transforming the original into some awesomely creepy and cheesy eighties soundtrack, all murky sci -fi synths and old school drum machine pulse, haunting and cinematic, definitely evokes all sorts of gruesome and scary images and ideas, why isn't this guy scoring movies??? This may be a GT remix, but boy it sure just sound like Zombi. Who's complaining?
Broadrick steps up next and takes a clunky chunky rhythm and chops it up a bit, loops it into a strange mechanized lurch, wrapping the whole thing in thick streaks of Jesu like fuzz, taking the vocals and drenching them in effects and burying them in the mix, adds in some soaring strings, streaks of feedback, and we're definitely in some metal bliss territory, the second half gets a bit heavier, much more doomy and ominous, but still quite shimmery and dreamlike.
On the flipside, Rob Crow tries his hand at a GT remix, and his ends up being the most schizophrenic of the bunch, mangling it into super strange shapes, stripping away all the metal guitars, adding acoustic strumming, only to flip it around and have it all come crashing back down, draping the vocals over some weird bloopy electronics, pulling up the drums, turning it all tribal, before letting it explode back into some face melting crunch. It's almost like they pumped Crow full of caffeine and let him loose in the control room where he proceeded to go nuts with the faders while they were mixing, but it sound pretty excellent.
Finally, GT transformed into deep shimmering dark ambience, fuzzy and gauzy and washed out and expansive, hushed melodic blur, over deep soft swells, eventually building to something a bit heavier and blissier, almost sounding more like a Jesu mix than the Jesu mix, or maybe more of a soft Sunroof! Either way, quite nice.
Pressed on cool grey and gold swirled vinyl, and SUPER DUPER LIMITED. We only got a fraction of the copies we ordered, so these will probably be gone soon.

GENOCIDE (NIPPON) Black Sanctuary (Shadow Kingdom) 2cd 15.98
Yes, the "(Nippon)" in their name means that these genocidal gents are from Japan. Also, they're from the '80s, and very VERY metal. Makes for a cool combo! We'd never heard of 'em until this deluxe reissue recently appeared, but don't doubt it's a cult classic, as we were immediately were struck by the awesome metal craziness of this band. They've got wild dual guitars, evil riffage, and most significantly, truly over the top vocals. INSANE vocals. Dynamic, dramatic high pitched wailings and demonic lower register declamations... Mercyful Fate fans will definitely enjoy this, the guy sounds like an unhinged student of King Diamond, also somewhat like Messiah from Candlemass, but possessed by sinister Japanese spirits, laughing and screaming.
Black Sanctuary was first released in 1988. Musically, the band play classically influenced trad metal (not quite thrash or speed, but sometimes fairly doomy), manic yet melodic, and pretty much hellishly heavy for that sort of thing, though there is one wimpy, almost new agey tune, an instrumental with acoustic guitars and weepy keyboards. What happened? Dunno but as soon as that's over they start killing again, so it's just a weird interlude (on a weird album)! If you picked up the Slauter Xstroyes reissues we listed recently, and are ready for some even more outrageous underground '80s metal with ridiculously expressive vocals, look no further.
It's a nicely done reissue, the cd booklet contains a band history (1979 through the present day!) as well as the lyrics, the English portions of which are exceedingly strange and cryptic, perhaps because of the translation, perhaps not. At the band's request, Shadow Kingdom has provided brand new cover art, but the original cover is also included on the back of the cd booklet, which we always appreciate (so you have the option of which to use, flipping it over if you want). And, there's a whole bonus disc included of demo tracks, different recordings from the album versions.
MPEG Stream: "Last Confusion"
MPEG Stream: "Living Legend"
MPEG Stream: "Doomsday [demo]"

GENRICH, AX The Best Of... (ATM/BMG) cd 18.98
The 'best of' Guru Guru's psychedelic Krautrock guitar legend Ax Genrich. Includes 2 previously unreleased *live* Guru Guru tracks, plus all of Ax's 1975 "Highdelberg" super session record, and 2 tracks from his 1994 and 1995 amazing solo records. Freak out!

GENTLE RAIN Moody (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Beatles covers and more done '70s synth-funk-soul-psych style.

GENTLE WAVES Swansong for You (Jeepster) cd 14.98
With Isobel from Belle & Sebastian, Gentle Waves is something you'll either avoid or drool over.

GENTLE WAVES, THE Falling From Grace (Jeepster) cd ep 8.98
The third cd release from former Belle & Sebastian-ian Isobel and co. opens with the title track of this EP sounding so familiar we'd swear it was a cover of an old ballad originaly sung by some French chanteuse a la Francoise Hardy. The only thing missing is a pretty la-la-la refrain. Breathless crooning, finger snaps, clarinet, double bass. Slow, pretty and destined for the next string of Volkswagon commercials.

GENTLE, JENNIFER AND KAWABATA MAKOTO The Wrong Cage (SillyBoy) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With the sheer number of releases coming from the Kawabata Makoto / Acid Mothers Temple camp, we tend to get a little jaded. But the fact remains that if any of these discs was presented to us as being by a new band, we'd be pretty excited. Such is the case with this one, which IS a new band that we're not familiar with -- an Italian psych/pop outfit with the odd name of Jennifer Gentle -- simply teaming up with hairy Japanese acid guitar guru Kawabata for a fine display of out-there instrumental interaction. Recorded live this past year, this disc includes Kawabata-added versions of two JG songs, both sprawling 12 and 14 minute long psych epics w/ guitars, keys, electronic effects, drums, and bass all over the place. Between these two tracks you get six or so minutes of Kawabata scraping and droning away solo at his Indian sarongi, a nice if eerie respite from the energetic electric Pipes of Pan rituals he enacts with the Jennifer Gentle people. A collaboration not to be overlooked by AMT fans, or anyone into heavy, claustrophobic freakout jams of almost occult power. Now we're really curious to hear JG's prior recordings, if any!
RealAudio clip: "Couple In Bed By A Green Flashing Light"

GENTLEKIN, THE s/t (self-released) cd 12.98
Introducing a new warm and sunshiney combo from SF pop veteran Jon Fellman and co. Gentlekin spin retro psychedelic 60s style pop with soft male vocals much like the Posies or Go-Betweens. Lots of sweet and yes, ever so gentle harmonies and jingle-jangle guitars. Particularly tempting confections are the very first and very last songs ("Fair Weather" and "Something Changes Here"). Delightful!
MPEG Stream: "Fair Weather"
MPEG Stream: "Something Changes Here"

GENTLEMANS PISTOLS s/t (Candlelight) cd 14.98
Blimey, this is our favorite pure heavy rock n' roll album in a month of Sundays, pretty much, well since the Birds Of Avalon debut a few lists back anyway. '70s stylings to the max, fully indebted to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and the MC5. And paying those debts with freshly minted $100 bills. (If only, in a perfect world these guys would be raking it in like Wolfmother.) Signed to the Rise Above label over in England, home to Electric Wizard and Witchcraft and sundry other sterling stoner/doom outfits, this British band is indeed kinda Witchcrafty, if Witchcraft were more single-mindedly concerned about kicking out the jams... like a more cock-rock Witchcraft perhaps. Certainly Gentlemans Pistols are as much convincingly "out of time" as those Swedes, a bellbottomed retro-rockin' good time that ought to get your head to banging with such should-be car stereo staples as "Just A Fraction", "Widow Maker", and the MC5-ish high energy "Out Of The Eye" amongst the ten equally rad tracks on offer here. Gentlemans Pistols win us over with confident melodic vox, an abundance of catchy riffs, and a bit of clever... what's up with the song title "Parking Banshee"? They're sly ones, these guys, even when displaying some slightly cheesy, lemon-squeezin' rawk and roll lyrics that we suspect are halfway tongue in cheek, on the track "Heavy Pettin'" in particular, which is a slower, bluesy number a la Zep's "Dazed And Confused"... Definitely an album for Pentagram and Leaf Hound and even Raging Slab fans... Recommended, rockers!!
MPEG Stream: "Just A Fraction"
MPEG Stream: "Out Of The Eye"
MPEG Stream: "Widow Maker"

GENTLEMANS PISTOLS s/t (Rise Above) lp 29.00
Now on vinyl! A bit pricey as it's an import, but a killer record so for vinyl freeks it's probably worth it.
Blimey, this is our favorite pure heavy rock n' roll album in a month of Sundays, pretty much, well since the Birds Of Avalon debut a few lists back anyway. '70s stylings to the max, fully indebted to the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and the MC5. And paying those debts with freshly minted $100 bills. (If only, in a perfect world these guys would be raking it in like Wolfmother.) Signed to the Rise Above label over in England, home to Electric Wizard and Witchcraft and sundry other sterling stoner/doom outfits, this British band is indeed kinda Witchcrafty, if Witchcraft were more single-mindedly concerned about kicking out the jams... like a more cock-rock Witchcraft perhaps. Certainly Gentlemans Pistols are as much convincingly "out of time" as those Swedes, a bellbottomed retro-rockin' good time that ought to get your head to banging with such should-be car stereo staples as "Just A Fraction", "Widow Maker", and the MC5-ish high energy "Out Of The Eye" amongst the ten equally rad tracks on offer here. Gentlemans Pistols win us over with confident melodic vox, an abundance of catchy riffs, and a bit of clever... what's up with the song title "Parking Banshee"? They're sly ones, these guys, even when displaying some slightly cheesy, lemon-squeezin' rawk and roll lyrics that we suspect are halfway tongue in cheek, on the track "Heavy Pettin'" in particular, which is a slower, bluesy number a la Zep's "Dazed And Confused"... Definitely an album for Pentagram and Leaf Hound and even Raging Slab fans... Recommended, rockers!!
MPEG Stream: "Just A Fraction"
MPEG Stream: "Out Of The Eye"
MPEG Stream: "Widow Maker"

GENTLEMANS PISTOLS The Lady (Rise Above) 7" 9.98

GENUINE ELECTRIC LATIN LOVE MACHINE Introducing The Neat Beat (Compulsive) cd 14.98
By now you're probably sick of hearing how much AQ adores DJ Jester -- the Filipino Fist, the Boca Burger Slingin' Travelling Turntablist. His bedroom turntablist debut River Walk Riots disc is still a bestseller here, a crazy and a super funky/funny ride through hip hop, classic rock, country, and just complete weirdness, where he incorporates samples of Richard Simmons, Iron Butterfly, the theme from S.W.A.T., Run DMC, Hank Williams, Black Sabbath, that Ofra Haza song, Aerosmith, James Brown... the list goes on.
Anyway, like Kid Koala did with Bullfrog, Jester has now released a disc with a band, Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine. It's loads of fun and a logical progression from the lo-fi River Walk Riots. Here the sound is much more hi-fi, the samples are fleshed out with upbeat and booty-shakin' rhythms, and the result is an honest to gosh party disc on the level of Milk Cult, Cat Five, and those Future Primitive live mixes. Yep it's that good. And I have to say the "Edgar" track with the sad sack Simpletext voice lamenting how lonely he is ("it sucks to be me") gets us every time! Very fun, worth a listen, say Windy and Andee.
RealAudio clip: "Hey That's My Truck"
RealAudio clip: "Looky Looky"
RealAudio clip: "Edgar"

GEORGE-EDWARDS GROUP, THE 38:38 (Galactic Zoo / Drag City) lp 16.98
We're always amazed that so much awesome and little known music from the sixties and seventies continues to be resurrected, and remain very worthy of its cult status. Case in point, this anachronistic synth-heavy psych gem from 1977 by the George-Edwards Group. While punk, disco, glam, bland FM radio, and heavy metal ruled the musical zeitgeist of the era, two multi-instrumentalist friends with a love of synthesizers, home-taping and melancholic spacey folk-pop made a mini-masterpiece in their Detroit, Michigan basement. Briefly mentioned in the Acid Archives book, it doesn't feel so much a late hippie-psych artifact, as it does a sublime and moody soft-rock epic that would have been huge on '70s AM radio in a parallel universe of our fantasies. Where instead of Bread, Chicago, and Seals & Croft, being played ad nauseum, music by Dreamies, Shuggie Otis, Fresh Maggots, Roger Rodier, Emmanuelle Parrenin, Collie Ryan, Biff Rose, Big Star, Scott Walker, Warlus, and of course, the George-Edwards Group would have scored our parallel universe childhood. Yet even that said though, 38:38 is much stranger than we can describe. Often the tracks with their multilayered Arp, Moog, and Mellotron drones and harmonies often sung in falsetto, sound like the less musically-damaged touchstones of what Ariel Pink recorded on his Doldrums album. And though the synthesizers are most prevalent, especially in sci-fi themed instrumental tracks like "Solar Flare" and "Magnetic Variation", other instrumentation like xylophones, autoharps, bells, piano and acoustic guitar play a big part in the compositions. One of our favorite tracks is "Floating Away", a druggy ballad with just acoustic guitar and what is purported to be recordings of ocean sounds, but sound like huge sheets of metal crashing in the background. Even the longest track, the instrumental "Hypertrain" is a kraut-y fuzzed electric guitar raga over drums that reminds a bit of Circle and Cave, while the second to the last track called "Some Fun" features maniacal laughter over a repetitive groove that adds an element of bad trip creepiness to the proceedings. One of the headiest records from the seventies we've heard in a while; those into druggy cyber-space folk-pop weirdness will be very satisfied with this. Solid!
Vinyl only, not sure if there's plans for a cd reissue too.

GEORGIE JAMES Places (Saddle Creek) cd 13.98
Something new on the label that brought us Bright Eyes, The Faint and Cursive! Georgie James is not a loner, it is the name of girl/boy duo John Davis and Laura Burhenn. The nearest comparison that we immediately thought of was: if Halifax boy band Sloan collaborated with Halifax girl band Jale this is what they'd sound like! Check out "Look Me Up" and the handclappy "Need Your Needs". Bright, buoyant, polished pop possibly inspired by The Kinks, Bread, The Raspberries and maybe the TV theme song from "WKRP". Sweet!
MPEG Stream: "Look Me Up"
MPEG Stream: "Need Your Needs"

GERALDINE FIBBERS Butch (Virgin) cd 15.98
Produced by Pell Mell's Steve Fisk, the new Fibbers record is heady mix of dark twang, screeching violin, and benefits especially from the experimental guitarwork of one of our favorite musicians, Nels Cline, who like Marc Ribot can go from improv skree to song-oriented work as displayed here, and still imbue his signature sound all over the record. Features one of the best covers of Can's "Yoo Doo Right" that we have ever heard.

GERBILS Are You Sleepy (Hidden Agenda etc.) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another fine Elephant 6 (Apples In Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power...) group. Their debut full length.