HERSH, KRISTIN Sunny Border Blue (4AD) cd 14.98
Those who have continued to follow Hersh thru her lengthy career post-Throwing Muses will already know that the beautiful ferocity of the Muses is completely gone, replaced by a more delicate and mature take on songwriting (read: we have to pay attention to the lyrics now). While this new record is certainly accomplished, it's nonetheless a bit disappointing that the best song and performance on it is a Cat Stevens cover ("Trouble").
RealAudio clip: "Trouble"

HERSH, KRISTIN The Grotto (4AD) cd 14.98
Perhaps Kristin Hersh's most subdued and spartan work to date. Threadbare emotions are conveyed via fragile voice and a loosely woven shawl of hushed guitars, piano and strings. She's joined by the solid presence of Howe Gelb of Giant Sand and Squirrel Nut Zipper Andrew Bird. Very intimate and lovely. For more of Ms Hersh, check out the new Throwing Muses' release - yes, they're back together! - which came out right at the same time as this solo full length. It stands in stark contrast to this work (for one thing it's completely amped up as opposed to this being fully acoustic), and together they make for a wonderfully well-rounded and enveloping Hersh experience.
Psst... by the way, to save you from the puzzlesome search, we'll slip you the tip that The Grotto's song titles are printed on the digipak's spine. Cup finally spotted them after much scrutinizing.
RealAudio clip: "Sno Cat"
RealAudio clip: "Ether"

HESS, FELIX Air Pressure Fluctuations (Stadt Galerie) cd 16.98
For those list subscribers who picked up Scharpling & Wurster's hilarious "Chain Fights, Beer Busts, and Service with a Grin" cd of WFMU talk radio pranks from a few lists back, the high point was definitely when the 'music snob' condescendingly announced to the host that he had been listening to nothing but Air Mixes - compositions so pure as to have done away with all extraneous elements, like instruments, music, and sound, leaving behind recordings of pure silence. Felix Hess's "Air Pressure Fluctuations" may seem like one of those obnoxious Air Mixes, but rest assured it isn't. Although the recordings do consist of nothing but air. Read on.
For this document, Hess has recorded the fluctuations of air currents (which do generate sound, but in the inaudible infrasound end of the sonic spectrum) at 360 times the original speed, thus bringing these sounds up to audible levels. The gray wash of sound which comes from this process immediately sounds like a quiet spring rain, but Hess in his well written, but brief liner notes explains that these tiny sounds are the cumulative sound of a door being opened and closed throughout the day. A deep droning hum that occasionally comes to the ground is the amplification of standing waves from the distant Atlantic ocean, and the increased density of these sounds every 4 minutes is attributed to an urban population waking up and starting its day.
Yup, this is an Air Mix, but it's a damn good one, if sadly a mere 20 minutes long.
RealAudio clip: "Air Pressure Fluctuations"

HESSION, PAUL / ALAN WILKINSON / SIMON H. FELL Saint John's (Ecstatic Peace) cd 14.98

HEVOSET s/t (Dekorder) lp 16.98
Another missive from the wilds of foresty Finland, this time two of our favorites team up, we think, for maybe the first time ever. Jan Anderzen, he of Kemialliset Ystavat, Avarus, Islaja, Tomutonttu and Anaksimandros (phew!), and Hirvonen, he of the mighty and mysterious Uton (who have a new lp reviewed elsewhere on this list) together, as Hevoset.
Between the two of them, these guys have probably released 50 or 60 records all told. maybe even more, and they definitely have similar methodologies, but each has their own distinct take on music making, mixing folk and free noise and ambience and drone, so it makes sense that the two would be drawn to each other, and the results are quite fantastic, infusing elements of both artists' various groups into something new, yet oddly familiar.
The vibe here is definitely more drone-heavy, the tracks all seem rooted around various long tones, lots of layers, plenty of looped repetition. The opener begins with a scalding burst of grinding buzz and squealing feedback, what sounds like processed throat singing and strange keening high end tones, before slipping effortlessly into a murky lullaby, all muted plunks and shimmery whir, before wheezing high end melodies surface from below. The next track again roots itself in the drone, but this time, it's more washed out and dreamy, organs wheeze and whir, the melodies looping and overlapping, while over the top, a guitar feeds back and grinds out a strange burnished melody. A few tracks eschew the drone all together, instead, offering up strange tribal rituals, simple percussion, mewling wordless vocals, haunting abstract guitar groan and skree, others are super minimal stretches of shimmering tones, and woozy plucked strings, spread out into drifting amorphous soundscapes, while others sound like symphonies of scratched records, blurred and smeared into something much less distinct, but even those tracks take those disparate sounds and ground them in a loose drone framework, creating a surprisingly varied, but quite cohesive, and imminently mesmerizing collection of abstract drone divinity.
LIMITED TO ONLY 500 COPIES!!!

HEWHOCORRUPTS The Discographer (Forge Again) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Aaaaaarrrggghh!!! Total grindcore brutality here from these heavy Chicago-area punks. These guys originally formed when the guitarist of fellow Chicago-area power-violence kings Kung Fu Rick decided to give the drums a go, forming this band after playing for only a few months -- fairly mind-blowing once you hear his speed and intensity. This guy is seriously one of the fastest blasting drummers around. The band compliments him with a crushingly heavy sound, especially in the impossibly detuned bass riffs. The same smart-ass sense of humor evident in such neighboring bands as 7000 Dying Rats and Charles Bronson pervades just about every inch of what Hewhocorrupts does as well, from the lay-out to their (often nude) photos to such song titles as "I've Got Two Words for You and They Aren't Happy Birthday" and "I'll Give You a Candy Bar if You Get the Fuck Out of My Face" and "Young Boy Attacked By Bees (Boy Is Allergic To Bees)". This is a nearly complete discography (their self-titled LP on 625 Records is omitted for some reason) of early EPs, including their hilarious full-on assault on Metallica -- the "Master of Profits" EP with songs like "Sell 'Em All", "One Million Dollars", and "Ride the Limo", plus splits with Wilbur Cobb, Third Degree, Tusk (yes, the members-of-Pelican Tusk), Godstomper, Infestation of Ass, Don't Worry About It, comp tracks, live stuff, remixes, their first demo when they were called Optimus Prime and even a surprisingly faithful cover of "Welcome to the Jungle"! All in all, a must hear for fans of Pig Destroyer, Capitalist Casualties, any of the above hardcore bands and people who appreciate short fast funny bursts of controlled chaos.
MPEG Stream: "Master Of Profits"
MPEG Stream: "Young Boy Gets Cancer (After Smoking Your Ass)"

HEY COLOSSUS Happy Birthday (Riot Season) cd 16.98
London's heaviest, most hypnotic head-cavers, Hey Colossus, have found a home for their third album on the Riot Season label, who have previously brought us noize from the likes of Mainliner, Shit and Shine, and Aufgehoben. Heck, the label's logo features a trio of tanks, so of course Hey Colossus is a good match for their aesthetic. Being so brutally heavy and all, tank-like basically.
Happy Birthday (ironic title we guess, this is about as far from "Happy Birthday" the song as you can get) sees Hey Colossus doing what they do best: throbbing, distorted, kill 'em all action. Uber heavy, totally bad trip psychedelic. From the feedback intro of opening track "War Crows" and the rasping, ranting throat abuse that follows amidst pulsating, amped up electric murk, this Hey Colossus album destroys like a more rockin' version of Khanate... the Khanate comparison even more apropos on the next track, the more slowly thudding "Tight Collar". Part metal, part punk, part psych... what to call it? Ugly rawk doom drone maybe? With wailing Hawkwindy ampfriedification n' FX, heading into tortured dead zones of sheer nihilistic sludge, Hey Colossus fits in with such faves as Indian, Brainbombs, Unsane, Cadaver In Drag, godheadSilo, Pissed Jeans, Vincent Black Shadow, Cavity, Rusted Shut... and those other Riot Season acts mentioned at the beginning of this review. In other words, glorious stuff for those so inclined (like us!), pulling the listener who dares inexorably into its extreme vortex.
There's eight tracks here, 46+ minutes of the Hey Colossus experience, which threatens to run itself (and you) off the rails into total insanity as it rocks and rumbles on. Can't pick fave tracks really, they're all pretty badass, but the driving uptempo umph of the waveringly blown-out "Fire Up The Tambourine" is certainly quite wicked. Even more out there, "Permanent Vacation" parts 1 and 2 is full of bottom-of-the-abyss, buried alive vocals in a shitstorm of droning distortion... And how can we not like a track, especially a pounding, noisy, rhythmic near-13 minute epic, that's called "Overlord Rapture In Vines Part 2"?? It's the psycho-delic explosion that ends this album appropriately apocalyptically. Happy fuckin' birthday indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Tight Collar"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Up The Tambourines"

HEY COLOSSUS II (Jonson Family Records / Shifty Records) cd 14.98
Throbbing, fuzz-distorted, metallic, rhythmic HEAVINESS. Loud too, of course. That's the modus operandi of London, England's oddly named Hey Colossus. Bludgeoning, repetitive riffing, with lotsa wonderful noisiness and modicum of hidden post-rock prettiness, that can definitely put you into a dazed and confused, headbanging trance, the same way our Finnish faves Circle/Pharaoh Overlord can and so often do, right? Described somewhere by somebody as a mix of "Fudge Tunnel and Can" (yes, the grungy UK dirge metallers meet the classic krautrock masters), Hey Colossus themselves would probably admit to sounding more like the former, but legitimately reference such bands as Can and Neu! as influences, along with '80s hardcore and psychedelic stoner rock and more... So while it might be hard to hear beneath the THREE bulldozer guitars, and droning feedback, and cathartic, raw-throat screaming, but a krautrock-inspired 'pulse' is kicking your ass too!
If you don't remember Fudge Tunnel (a good band despite their dodgy name, rather like Hey Colossus) we'd also cite the likes of Zeni Geva, Melvins, Isis, godheadSilo, Shellac, Figure Of Merit, and the aforementioned Pharaoh Overlord as diverse batch of comparisons towards the primarily sludgey aspect of HC's sound.
MPEG Stream: "Raise The Flag (This Planet's Ours)"
MPEG Stream: "Take It"

HEY COLOSSUS Project: Death (Shifty / Jonson Family Records) cd 11.98
It's the return of British sludge bludgeoners Hey Colossus, whose prior releases, including a split LP with Japanese doomsters Dot [.], we've recommended. Rhythmic and rumbling, this band plays a heavy hybrid of noisy punk and post rock, clearly conversant with both the unlikely extremes of krautrock and death metal. On Project: Death, the influence of the latter results in parts of such tracks as "On The Pleasure Of Hating" for short stretches approaching the pummelling tranciness of the Boredoms' Super Roots 3 (to reference a reissue recently reviewed). Shouting vox and down-tuned guitars also put these guys in league with such not-metal-but-even-scarier acts as Burmese and Unsane, their grinding grooves awash with an almost psychedelic level of FX (someone in the band plays nothing but Korg Kaoss Pad, apparently!). Menacing, murky, massive, murderous.
MPEG Stream: "Do They Ever Return?"
MPEG Stream: "On The Pleasure Of Hating"

HEY COLOSSUS / DOT [.] split (Shifty) lp 14.98
We don't hear a lot from Japanese sludgelords Dot [.], which is a shame, cuz they could really give Boris and Corrupted a run for their money. In fact, now that Boris have become more of a proper 'rock' band, Dot [.] and Corrupted are pretty much the only two bands left carrying the slow motion Japanese doomdirge torch. But both bands seem to be on an entirely frustrating one record every couple years schedule. Thankfully, we've just discovered something to keep our doomdeathdronedirge hunger sated, a brand new Dot [.] track. Only a track? Fear not, it's a side long and heavy as fuck. Massive crumbling downtuned dirge. Pounding and lurching, a pummeling behemoth stumbling through black tar and thick sludge. With super tripped out affected vocals, a cookie monster growl, wrapped in delay and echo, so each growled lyric, goes spinning dublike off into the ether. Like Corrupted with King Tubby handling the vocal production. Pretty cool. This is the second or third time we've noticed some bits of dub finding their way into massive doom tracks. When is someone gonna just go for it, and record the first ever DOOMDUBSLUDGE record? We can hardly wait. Dot [.]'s partners for this low slung musical split are the UK's Hey Colossus, who bring their own slant to the whole sludgy downtuned rock thing. HC offer up a much more spacious and epic sounding concoction. A definite post rock influence infuses their crusty sludge. A sort of Boris via Mogwai by way of Slint, or something. Creeping grooves that build into thick waves of grinding downtuned riffage, with weird shouted vocals, thick with Hawkwind FX and sent drifting over HC's spiky psychedelic krautrock stoner sludge grooves. Pretty freaking awesome, and a darn near perfect foil for Dot [.]'s more traditionally sludgy sound.
Packaged in cool printed Rorschach design sleeves with a two color insert.

HEY MERCEDES Everynight Fire Works (Vagrant) cd 14.98
Hey Mercedes has almost everything down pat to be as good of an emo / power-pop band as the Get Up Kids, Jawbreaker, or Rival Schools, but it seems that Bob Nunna doesn't really love the girl he's singing to in all of his songs. He doesn't really want to take her out to dinner. He doesn't even want to hold her hand. He just wants to get into her pants. And that's the problem. To be really EMO you don't actually want to have any physical contact at all (outside of a little hand holding), just worshipful adoration from afar that in the best of cases (EMO wise at least) is unrequited!
RealAudio clip: "A-List Actress"

HEY WILLPOWER P.D.A. (Tomlab) cd 15.98
It's taken quite a while for local boys Hey Willpower to have their debut full length come out here in the states. But finally it has arrived, and the party jams are a plenty. The mastermind of Will Schwartz, also of Imperial Teen with most of the music and beats created by Tomo Yasuda from Tussle & Coconut. Hey Willpower have really perfected their live show over the years with impeccable and endearing dance moves and a stage presence that's as sassy as it is sincere. P.D.A. has a couple tracks re-recorded from their debut ep as well as nine brand new songs that tap into their feel good take at unadulterated dance minded pop that lands somewhere between the Junior Boys and Justin Timberlake.
MPEG Stream: "Hundredaire"
MPEG Stream: "In The Basement"

HEY WILLPOWER s/t (Cochon) cd ep 7.98
Hip party kids around town have been droolin' for this one for months! Yup, sliding in beside their old Stacy Q and Kylie records, it's the debut release from local candy electro partymeisters Will Schwartz (formerly of Imperial Teen) and Tomo Yasuda (formerly of The Boy Explodes). In response to those naysayers who've been expecting to find irony amid the cheese (we mean that nicely!), Schwartz has proclaimed emphatically that their '80s dance pop love is true... and yes, unlike many music-makin' kids these days whom you know weren't even born when that music was first made, Schwartz is indeed old enough to have experienced it first hand. These cats genuinely adore the most fluffiest and shiniest sounds -- ones that many folks perhaps would've preferred be kept in the past. They along with their pair of dancers have dusted them off and brought them back to their basement discotheque hideaway, along with their shiny rainbow patches and gold sequined skirt 'n' pumps set (except for Schwartz who's opted for the shirtless beefcake pose!). They've offered up just four songs to get the good times rolling, but they've loaded 'em up with fun fun fun! Actually that might be all you can take in one dose before succumbing to sugar-shock. HW partner in crime Yasuda has programmed up a remarkable replication of that decade's lip-glossy backing tracks, while Schwartz has come up with an avalanche of coy, naughty lyrical cliches such as those that pepper the giddy second track "Magic Window". "I play you like a baby grand, I feel you melting in my hands" and "I can make you scream, I'm better than a Krispy Kreme" and "Come to the party in my pants!" Oh my!
MPEG Stream: "Magic Window"
MPEG Stream: "Double Fantasy II"

HEYMAN, TOM Boarding House Rules (Innerstate Records) cd 14.98
If you live in San Francisco, you've probably seen Tom lending his remarkable pedal steel skills to a bevy of local country acts. Formerly of the band Go To Blazes, currently doing time in The Court and Spark, Tom finally releases a record on his own. He has already proven himself an amazing player, but this records shows him to be quite a songwriter, as well as a pretty great singer. Fans of the Court and Spark, Uncle Tupelo and all that should definitely check this out.

HI HOW ARE YOU? THE DEFINITIVE DANIEL JOHNSTON HANDBOOK book 18.00
Wow, a true Daniel Johnston fan's wet dream. The psychically frail, sensitive, talented artist/musician hailing from Texas has been a cult figure for years, and this book has got it all: from biographical info to full color drawings fom Daniel's sketchbooks, to an investigation into the mythological characters that populate his work, to song lyrics and more. Pretty damn comprehensive. Over 100 pages with 500 illustrations and photos. The book is also very well designed and nice to look at, not an amateur effort at all. By Tarssa Yazdani.

HI RED CENTER Architectural Failures (self-released) cd-r 7.98
While Architectural Failures may be the first release from Brooklyn, NY quartet Hi Red Center they have been making quite a footprint live, having played with the likes of Deerhoof, Cheval De Frise and USAISAMONSTER. Like these contemporaries, Hi Red Center are masters of wedding rock hooks with avant-jazz & prog structures/harmonies. Although only a mere four person line-up Hi Red Center creates a big and varied sound through their battery of instrumentation which includes guitar, trombone, vibes, drums, electronics and vocals.
MPEG Stream: "Red/Green"
MPEG Stream: "Oskar"

HI-FIVES Welcome to My Mind (Lookout) cd 13.98
Planet Pimp's Sven loves 'em and so does BAM. What does this tell you.

HI-FIVES Welcome to My Mind (Lookout) lp 10.98
Planet Pimp's Sven loves 'em and so does BAM. What does this tell you.

HI-GOD PEOPLE / ZOND split (Spanish Magic) lp 29.00
The problem with a split lp featuring two bands who are somewhat unfamiliar, when there is no specific info on the record labels or cut into the grooves on the vinyl, is deciding which band is which, going on number of track (here both bands have three), instrumentation (HGP list no instruments, Zond have a guy credited with skateboard, which seemed like it would be a dead giveaway but sadly we could hear no skateboard), but then, usually we decide fuck it. It doesn't really matter until you decide you need more by either / both bands, which unfortunately (or fortunately!) you probably will after listening to this twisted slab of sonic weirdness.
We'll tackle the B side cuz that's what we threw on first, and we'll assume that this is actually Zond, who we have never heard before, but are digging BIG TIME. Super distorted and blown out, sludgey dirgey noise rock, howled vocals barely audible over the din of downtuned riffage and in-the-red psychrock squalls, the drums a buried muffled pound, the whole thing a churning, grinding, gloriously filthy trudge. Maybe imagine a more Dead C-ish Brainbombs and you'd be close. That is until the extended final track, the eschews all the damaged outrock that came before, and offers up a stretched out expanse of buzzing shimmering ambient drone, not really tranquil, still a bit noisy, a little off kilter, the sounds bathed in distortion, wrapped in feedback, but stretched out into a weirdly hypnotic noisescape.
So working under the assumption, that the B side is Zond, then the A side must be Hi-God People, who we have heard once before on a split with none other than the Dead C, but the sound here is dramatically different, which is probably what threw us off in the first place. The first and longest track, is a sort of fractured free folk, detuned acoustic guitar twang, sitar like buzz, crooned atonal vocals, wreathed in shimmery effects, swirling clouds of wah wah guitar, strange bleepy bloopy ambience, it almost sounds like some sixties hippy jam, but completely fried and fractured. A more spaced out, free folk, No Neck, or maybe a Sunburned Hand / Avarus musical summit. Until the track slips into something a little different, unleashing more of a krautrock vibe, a subtle pulsing propulsive jam, underneath all of the twisted twang and abstract strum.
The second track is much more abstract, a tripped out buzzy dronescape with random clattery percussion, wheezing organs, swooping melodies, fluttery woodwinds, all very creepy and somewhat cinematic, finally finishing off with the brief closer, a gorgeous, hazy, druggy buzz drenched psych jam, that begs for a whole 'nother side for it to drift and unwind.
Good stuff, from both bands, whichever is which. Super limited of course, and housed in super swank hand screened sleeves!

HI-TEK Hi-Teknology (Rawkus) cd 15.98
Light and funky hip hop from Reflection Eternal producer Hi Tek. You might remeber the Taleb Kweli /Hi Tek record from a while back. Well, the sound is similar, but this time around he's got a bunch of guests on board: Common, Taleb Kweli, Mos Def, Jonell, Buckshot, Slum Village and more.
RealAudio clip: "Get Back Part 2"
RealAudio clip: "The Sun God"

HI-TEK Hi-Teknology (Rawkus) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Light and funky hip hop from Reflection Eternal producer Hi Tek. You might remeber the Taleb Kweli /Hi Tek record from a while back. Well, the sound is similar, but this time around he's got a bunch of guests on board: Common, Taleb Kweli, Mos Def, Jonell, Buckshot, Slum Village and more.

HI-TEK The Sun God (Rawkus) 12" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Featuring guests Common, Vinia Mojica, Talib Kweli and DCQ. Four versions of "The Sun God" and three of "Get Back Pt. 2".

HICKS, BILL Dangerous (Ryko) cd 16.98
Not a new release, but perhaps new to you! This disc is undoubtably already a fixture in the cd collections of anyone calling him/herself a Bill Hicks fan, but for anyone needing an introduction... buy this now! This performance contains some of his most astute and hilarious material (and some of his best voices too!). This was the first of a slew of posthumously released cds documenting Hicks' fierce, scathing stand-up performances (some were reissued, some had never before been unleashed on the unsuspecting cd-buying public). Others include Rant In E Minor, Arizona Bay, and Relentless. Aw heck, get 'em all 'cause although there is repeated material amongst the releases, he injects each performance with its own distinct fire and plants unique nuggets of wisdom and wit throughout. That said, as we've mentioned somewhat profusely in the past, the Bill Hicks Live: Satirist, Social Critic, Stand Up Comedian dvd is definitely a fantastic place to begin your Hicks indoctrination, but we're sure you'll be seeking more in a jiffy.
MPEG Stream: "Flying Saucer Tour"
MPEG Stream: "The Vision"

HICKS, BILL Live - Satirist, Social Critic, Stand-Up Comedian (RykoDisc) dvd 16.98
We've been sitting on this one for a couple weeks 'cause we wanted to be sure it got everyone's full attention. On the surface this may appear to be just another comedy dvd, but it's considerably more than that. It's a potent posthumous release and historical document of, for lack of better words, 'highlights' of the mighty Bill Hicks' career as a stand-up comedian.
Arguably, the bulk of the current crop of incisively insightful comedians are reduced to mere fluff when held up to the unforgiving fire of Hicks (who passed away in 1994 at the age of 32)... and make no bones about it, they fuckin' know it! Many (David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Dave Attell to name a few) bow their heads in deep reverence to the memory of this seriously groundbreaking individual, and others would do well to do the same. Much of their material comes directly from the provocative seeds this man sowed. Much of his material comes across as fresh and as relevant as it did over a decade ago. When you hear him speak of President Bush, it's startling to realize he's speaking of Bush 41 not Bush 43. He blazed his own trail in much the same unrestrained and unrelenting tradition as Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce or George Carlin. He was the archetype of a comedian's comedian. Not always funny nor entertaining per se, and not always giving the audience what they wanted... that wasn't the point. He had things to say. He raised and skewered topics -- often scathing and remarkably direct -- that other people (comedian or otherwise) would cower away from. Don't be mistaken though, when Hicks deemed it time to be 'funny', he laid to waste all in his presence. The title says it all. It's impossible and completely inaccurate to simply peg this man as a comedian. It can truly be said that he was one of the best in each category.
With the increased prominence of indie comedians -- particularly stand-up and sketch on television (Mr. Show, Insomniac, etc) -- over the past half decade, the time is more than ripe for this dvd which contains three of his 1991 performances (in Chicago, Montreal and London which for years have only been circulating in grainy vhs copies) plus a documentary. His diehard following has certainly grown over the years (heck, he was by no means unknown back in the day - he made numerous prominent tv appearances on shows such as David Letterman), but now with this dvd and the aforementioned individuals' giving props to him in their interviews, Hicks will hopefully receive the attention and respect long overdue.
This dvd includes one of Hicks' most moving and insightful segments -- his imagined editorial comment for a news broadcast: "Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves... Here's Tom with the weather."
Fucking brilliant. Seriously. Not to be missed!

HICKS, BILL Sane Man (Rykodisc) dvd 16.98
Fans of the late Bill Hicks will surely welcome this new dvd which features the first complete Hicks stand-up performance ever filmed -- the year was 1989, the place Austin, TX. In fact, you'll probably be well acquainted with most if not all of his material on Sane Man, but that said, there's still a bunch of bonus stuff that will surely pique the interest of even his most diehard fans (unseen footage, outtakes, etc). Keep in mind that, the sound and picture quality are far from pristine, but if you've seen the homespun VHS copies that have been circulating for years, you know that Hicks' fury and message burn right through the murk. If you've yet to familiarize yourself with this man's fierce, vitriolic wit and incredibly prescient and topical subject matter, you might wish to start your education with the Live - Satirist, Social Critic, Stand-Up Comedian dvd which we were raging about last year (please see our review, please see the dvd!), and then proceed to this. Nonetheless, truly amazing and empassioned.

HIDALGO, JUAN Tamaran (Gocce Di Sperma Per Dodici Pianoforti) (Get Back) lp 15.98
This composition for 12 prepared pianos sounds pretty much just like what you would expect, being heavy on the muted percussive thwap of objects stuffed in between all of the strings. Originally released on Cramps back in the '70s from this Spanish avant-garde composer.

HIDALGO, JUAN Una Voz (un etcetera) (Alga Marghen) lp 18.98
"Una Voz", written by Spanish conceptual artist Juan Hidalgo, read by Javier Martinez Cuadrado and recorded by Walter Marchetti (who also added some extra sounds by opening the windows during the reading during an evening in Madrid on September 1967). As Juan Hidalgo wrote for the liner notes: "I spent about 10 years reading, hearing and meditating, outside, around and inside Zen Buddhism. Una Voz, this repetitive vocal music, couldn't have been conceived without these circumstances. This 'metaphysic' work developed in the years I was living in Italy; first in Milan and then in Rome. Walter Marchetti and John Cage supported all this with their knowledge and friendship. The final result is a reflection on life, non-life, pain and pleasure". The text read by Cuadardo is entirely in Spanish and this vinyl-only edition also includes a booklet with the complete Spanish text and an English translation. Edition of 323 copies.

HIDDEN Alexisstar Morphalite (Baphomet) cd 11.98
We love our metal here at aQ. A LOT. But there a two distinct strains that tend to drive us wild. There is of course the ultra precise, super heavy, complex and punishing perfectly crafted metal. Be it black, or thrash, stoner or doom. But then there's its bastard offspring, its deformed sibling, the one kept locked in the cellar, the damaged, demented, completely bizarre, totally unhinged and utterly and beautifully impossibly fucked metal. Total outsider metal. It may be doom or sludge or black metal, but composed and played and recorded with total disregard for anything but the personal vison, no matter how skewed or off kilter. In the past we have worshipped before the likes of Benighted Leams, Urfaust, Striborg, Wold, Rehtaf Ruo, Spektr, Necrofrost, Furze and all of a similarly demented nature. And now we have Hidden. A sort of doom / thrash hybrid, pre-occupied with some impossibly ridiculous science (fiction), the record is called Aleisstar Morphalite, some of the song titles: "Hydrodynamic Physics", "Interplanetary Space Physics And Climatology", "Planets Of Metal", "The Search For Where Life May Have Existed", you get the drift. And their sound is equally as scientifically and musically obtuse. Buzzing downtuned thrash metal, lighting fast riffs buried WAY down in the mix, the gutteral inhuman vocals way UP in the mix, spitting out impossibly complicated lyrics, you can catch a word here and there, 'radiation' gets mentioned a lot, as does the 'universe', 'carbon dioxide' does too, each line containing just a few too many words to fit in the designated space, so it comes out all gargled and jumbled together, a bit like old Slayer actually at least in terms of cadence, the sound though is like nothing you've ever heard, a sort of deathmetalized alien shriek. Then there's the songs, the riffs and the song structures are super convoluted, lots of stops and starts, pauses where there will be no sound but a weird wheezing synthesizer, or some random droning rumble, creepy synths and almost Cradle Of Filth keyboards surface all over the record, sometimes in a thick sheet draped over everything, there are some weird trashcan sounding electronic cymbals that hover in weird spaces when the music sort of hiccups and skips a beat, sometimes just a haunting background, occasionally a black thrash attack will slowly peter out and turn into a strangley gorgeous melancholic doom dirge, but still peppered with haunting piano and all sorts of random sound effects and sonic weirdness, and of course the vocals slithering and shrieking out some strange alien scientific propaganda over the top. But weird and bizzare and damaged and demented are not enough (well, almost), there has to be songs, you know actually songs, riffs and hooks and parts that stick in your head. And well, as impossible as it may seem, this record is full of 'em. Completely and impossibly catchy parts. The first song in fact, "Interferometer", has to be the catchiest damaged-alien-doom-black-thrash-sci-fi song EVER! Even the weird double kick / warbly space synth battle part way through gets stuck in our heads. Holy crap! This record is so completely nuts, but so completely heavy and kick ass. These guys should totally have a crazy metal science show on PBS, where kids learn about gravity and time travel and wormholes, but each lecture is delivered as a sludgy buzzing convoluted blast of demented space metal! In our dreams!
MPEG Stream: "Interferometer"
MPEG Stream: "Hydrodynamic Physics"

HIDDEN Spectral Magnitude (Red Stream) cd 11.98

HIDDEN CAMERAS Mississauga Goddam (Rough Trade) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oh Canada! More and more wonderful music just keeps flowin' outta you, doesn't it? The Hidden Cameras have caused quite a stir just as much for their on-the-table queer politics as their pop eccentricities. This is the band's second full length and it's a pretty good place to get yourself acquainted. Mississauga Goddam is filled with some of the most uplifting songs around. We might even say that they rival the Polyphonic Spree for feel-good-ness! Super infectious, they make you wanna clap and sing along (that is, if you're not a total stick-in-the-mud!). Characterized by emotive, slightly quirky vocals (around these parts, the lead singer's delivery has been compared to a young Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Fleetwood Mac's Lindsay Buckingham and John Denver), strings flourishes, jangly guitars, glistening harp sweeps, bombastic percussion fills and of course some tambourine too, the band can do the unabashed bright and jubilant as well as the spartan slow and wistful with equal ease. Highlights of the former are the first, fifth, sixth and eighth songs (aka "Doot Doot Plot", "I Believe In The Good Of Life" "In The Union Of Wine" and "Bboy" respectively), whereas they totally shine in the latter department on the second, ninth and final songs ("Build The Bone", "We Oh We" and the title track). They're three pretty, lilting numbers that sound a lot like an indie pop "Rocky Mountain High". So, that makes for six songs from a total of eleven that we'd categorize as being immediately engaging. A pretty good starting point, don't ya think? And it seems that this charming album will only grow on ya more and more with each listen. Psst, Cup's listened to it at least once every day for the last week, and finds herself humming choruses during the day. As has already happened up in Canada, we suspect that these Hidden Cameras can't/won't stay hidden for long here in the States -- fortunately for grand indie folk pop fans everywhere, becoming a not-so-well-kept secret. Yay!
MPEG Stream: "Doot Doot Plot"
MPEG Stream: "Build The Bone"

HIDDEN CAMERAS The Arms Of His "Ill" - 4-Track Demos (Absolutely Kosher) cd 8.98
While they haven't quite exploded like their neighbors Arcade Fire, there is still no doubt that Hidden Cameras are one of the more fresh sounding indie-pop bands of the last several years. Their debut The Smell of Fear was an ambitious and totally successful offering of grand pop songs, layered production and smart arrangements. Their follow up Mississauga Goddam showed them to have staying power as the catchiness along with their smart and queer/sex-positive lyrics found them in top form again giving hints to what a less repressed Michael Stipe might have sounding like in his early R.E.M. days. This new e.p. which was previously only available as a 10" shows the stripped down side of the Hidden Cameras, 4 track demos from the last album which for some weird reason is sadly already out of print. Because the Hidden Cameras do use so much oomph and pizzazz in their production it is quite a different listen to hear these songs in a much more raw bare bones style. But what shows most is that they write really good songs which can flourish in all sorts of arrangements and recording qualities. While we were already itching for a new album from these guys this will have to hold us over in the meantime.
MPEG Stream: "Fear Is On"
MPEG Stream: "In The Union Of Wine"

HIDDEN CAMERAS, THE Awoo (Arts & Crafts) cd 15.98
Are you ready to bounce your head up and down and sway side to side and jump up and down and all around in your bedroom when you are all alone and the new Hidden Cameras is blasting from your stereo. Cause that's what we've been doing pretty much nonstop since Awoo has come out. The third full length from the glorious pop band from Toronto does not disappoint one bit. With an impeccable ability to write hooks that will stay in your head for days and weeks and months to come. This is pop music at its smartest and most delightful level of catchy bliss. While some recent reviews of this record have harped over the fact that the lyrics aren't as dirty or sexual as past releases we think those minds are missing the point. This was never a novelty band about a simple joke or dirty one-liner. Their queer politics are for sure still strong in their heart and more then almost anyone else they have an amazing ability to sing songs that both talk to the body and the heart. Taking some of the best parts of R.E.M and Belle & Sebastian, Hidden Cameras have carved a spot for themselves as one of the pop bands who most definitely matter!
MPEG Stream: "Awoo"
MPEG Stream: "Hump For Bending"

HIDDEN HAND, THE Divine Propaganda (Meteor City) cd 15.98
The much-loved Wino, grizzled underground doom-metal guitarist and vocalist extraordinaire, who first gained fame with the legendary bands The Obsessed and Saint Vitus and more recently fronted the popular Spirit Caravan (R.I.P.), is back, riding high in the saddle again in not one but two new bands.
OK, Place of Skulls isn't actually new (more on them in a sec) but The Hidden Hand is. Basically they're the continuation of Spirit Caravan by other means it seems. Wino recruited a new rhythm section -- one without overt substance abuse problems -- that really allows him to fire up his trademark heavy stoner rock into punkier, more aggro realms than before. They really kick ass with some complex instrumental stuff goin' on. Definitely further out on a limb musically than the Caravan. Lyrically, Wino indulges in a lot of ridiculous conspiracy-theory -- he's really gone off the deep end with post 9/11 paranoia. But his heart's in the right place, politically revolted with the Bush/Cheney/Ashcroft coup. It's redneck radical rock for X-files fans. Heavy riffs, heavy concepts, there's even a reading list.
Meanwhile, Wino also joined up with Place of Skulls, the band of ex-Pentagram guitarist Victor Griffin (whoo-hoo! supergroup!). Their first album Nailed came out last year on Southern Lord and we gave it a bit of mixed review, criticizing the vocals particularily. But they had potential, and now with Wino in the band they're much much better. It's a funny thing, actually, 'cause they already sounded a lot like Spirit Caravan or The Obsessed, but I guess they needed the talents of the man himself to really shine. His vocals help a lot. Victor still sings, too, but he's somehow better now thanks to Wino's example I guess! Dunno if they're still a Christian band, I'm not sure how Jesus fits into Wino's conspiracy theories... but he's certainly a 'spiritual' dude, so it works. Anyway, both Place Of Skulls and The Hidden Hand worthy successors to Wino's previous projects, with Place Of Skulls more straight-up doom metal for doom heads and The Hidden Hand harking back in ways to The Obsessed's DC punk roots, Bad Brains jazz fusion lurking in the grooves, though neither band would exist if not for Black Sabbath of course. And the Place Of Skulls album cover wouldn't exist if it weren't for Steppenwolf's "7"...
MPEG Stream: "Bellicose Rhetoric"
MPEG Stream: "Tranquility Base"

HIDDEN HAND, THE Mother Teacher Destroyer (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
Mother Teacher Destroyer is the second album of spiritually and politically radical heavy rock music to be revealed by The Hidden Hand, a trio lead by veteran guitarist/vocalist Scott "Wino" Weinrich (The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, Place Of Skulls, Probot). Wino's past tends to define him, but with The Hidden Hand there's been a bit of a fresh start. He's no longer treading water, in the moat of the doom castle. The Hidden Hand harks back to Wino's harDCore roots, the band's energetic, complex nature shaking off any residual doom/stoner stupor. Not that this isn't still psychedelic and doomy too (some of it sounds like early The Obsessed meets Pink Floyd), it's just got an aggro edge to it. Wino and crew are angry about the state of our nation, that's for sure -- "The Deprogramming Of Tom Delay" is an actual song title here! And while some of his ideas might be a little far out, his instincts are right-on.
MPEG Stream: "The Crossing"
MPEG Stream: "The Deprogramming Of Tom Delay"

HIDDEN HAND, THE The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote (Southern Lord) 2cd 15.98
Here's the moody, massive return of Scott "Wino" Weinrich's state-of-the-art progressive stoner rock power trio, their third full-length. Wino's gnarled croon and distinctive, fat guitar tone is at this point a national treasure (of the Doomed Nation that is), and The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote gives all of us fans another chance to bask in his dark glory. Bassist Bruce Falkinberg performs his share of vocal duties as well, belting out the lead on several songs with a sort of ragged Blackie Lawless rasp, sounding better than previous albums when we wondered why the heck Wino wasn't singing all the songs.
The Hidden Hand is sort of like an advanced version of Wino's previous outfit Spirit Caravan: more adventurous, more complex, more melodic. The songs here range from plodding psych to raging grunge, calling to mind Sabbath (of course), the Southern rock of Skynyrd, and (thus) Pepper-era Corrosion Of Conformity. The 46 year old Wino is definitely keeping one foot in the '70s here, as always... and the other in the 1700s, as apparently this album ("thinking man's" stoner rock for sure) has a semi-conceptual historical fiction storyline having to do with the made-up title character in post Revolutionary War America. It's all very cryptic of course, but we think perhaps reference is being made to the anti-tax Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s, that was squashed by President Washington. That would fit in with what we know to be Wino's suspicions about our Federal government today. Hmm, well while we take Wino's conspiratorial notions with a grain of salt, we are fully accepting of his powerful guitar riffs! And we never before thought that taking AP American History in high school would help us review a stoner rock record...
MPEG Stream: "Dark Horizons"
MPEG Stream: "Lightning Hill"

HIDDEN HAND, THE / WOOLY MAMMOTH split (Meteor City) cd 14.98
Ok, Wino/stoner rock fans. Time to decide how big a fan you really are. This split features two quite excellent new tracks from Wino's current outfit, The Hidden Hand. Like their debut album from last year, they have injected a greater dose of conspiracy theory and musical chops into the music of Wino's previous outfits Spirit Caravan and The Obsessed, resulting in what we might term "advanced stoner rock". Heavy in so many ways. Then there's also two tracks from newcomers Wooly Mammoth, another stoner rock outfit who play music that's kinda groovy and grungy and almost as heavy as The Hidden Hand. In addition, there's a bonus Meteor City label sampler disc, with unreleased/upcoming tracks from the likes of Atomic Bitchwax, Black Nasa, The Obsessed, Weedeater, Yob and others. So, here's the decision part. Are you into Wino enuff to pay $15 for two songs? And/or are you into stoner rock enough to pay $15 for the sampler and the two Wooly Mammoth tracks, along with the two Hidden Hand cuts? Time for some careful cost/benefit ratiocination. If it helps, remember that the sampler has an old Yob demo track on it from '99.
MPEG Stream: THE HIDDEN HAND "Welcome To Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: WOOLY MAMMOTH "Master Cut + Charisma"

HIEROGLYPHICS Full Circle (Hieroglyphics Imperium) cd 16.98

HIEROGLYPHICS Third Eye Vision (Hiero Imperium) cd 14.98
East Bay's Del tha Funkee Homosapien and crew return with some alternative hiphop.

HIGASHI, HIROSHI Solo (Eclipse / Galactic Zoo Disk) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another limited-edition, probably-already-gone, get-it-quick-we-can't-get-more slab of desirable and oh so psychedelic vinyl from the fine folks/freaks at Eclipse and Galactic Zoo Disk, who have here captured the guitar and synth wielding dancin' king of Acid Mothers Temple and Tsurabami fame in his full droned-out glory...A colorful sunburst of solo electronic lullabies for flying pigs and other Floydian frienz.

HIGGINS, GARY Red Hash (Drag City) cd 14.98
Earlier this year when we reviewed School Of The Flower, the latest from modern day acid folk hero Ben Chasny's Six Organs Of Admittance, we mentioned that Ben had become obsessed with the music of one Gary Higgins, an obscure '70s hippie singer/songwriter whose lone LP from 1973, Red Hash, had developed something of a cult following over the decades, not that all that many people had even ever heard OF it, let alone actually heard it. But those who had all spoke highly of its mystic beauty, mysterious aura, and so forth. Ben covered a Higgins song on School Of The Flower, and asked that if anyone knew of his whereabouts to let Drag City know. Apparently that paid off, 'cause now Drag City *has* managed to track down Mr. Higgins and properly reissue Red Hash on cd to enlighten all of us to its wonders. And we bet Ben is excited to now be labelmates with one of his heroes! (They've even performed together in recent months!)
Kicking off with the song that Six Organs' covered, "Thicker Than A Smokey", Red Hash immediately lives up to its reputation as a hidden treasure of psychedelic folk music, oft slow and sad and melancholically melodic. There's a lost and lonely vibe to a lot of this, with Gary's gentle singing and acoustic guitar backed by friends playing piano, cello, mandolin, flute and more. Together they weave eleven tracks of entrancing dope smoking folk music, drifting, sometimes dreary, but always oh so lovely. The freakiness is mainly in the lyrics, which can be quite interestingly cryptic and weird, often regarding the worried wandering and woes of a young man, while the music remains alluringly melodic and inwardly calm. Though, with a deeper voice and more urgent tone, the Beefheartian "Down On The Farm" stands out as more menacing (and humorous) than the rest.
This remastered Drag City reish is really nicely done, with a full-colour booklet of photos and lyrics. Two (lesser) bonus tracks are also included, "Last Great Sperm Whale" from 1975 and "Don't Ya Know" from sometime in the early '80s. But the album alone is a gem and shines just a bright now as it did briefly back in '73. By the way, one reason for its obscurity is that shortly after the LP's original release, Higgins was sent away to prison to do a two-year stretch on a pot bust... so it must be really nice for him to gain some belated recognition nowadays.
MPEG Stream: "Windy Child"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Sleep Avt Night"

HIGGINS, GARY Red Hash (Drag City) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Back in 2005, when we reviewed School Of The Flower, the latest from modern day acid folk hero Ben Chasny's Six Organs Of Admittance, we mentioned that Ben had become obsessed with the music of one Gary Higgins, an obscure '70s hippie singer/songwriter whose lone LP from 1973, Red Hash, had developed something of a cult following over the decades, not that all that many people had even ever heard OF it, let alone actually heard it. But those who had all spoke highly of its mystic beauty, mysterious aura, and so forth. Ben covered a Higgins song on School Of The Flower, and asked that if anyone knew of his whereabouts to let Drag City know. Apparently that paid off, 'cause now Drag City *has* managed to track down Mr. Higgins and properly reissue Red Hash on cd to enlighten all of us to its wonders. And we bet Ben is excited to now be labelmates with one of his heroes! (They've even performed together in recent months!)
Kicking off with the song that Six Organs' covered, "Thicker Than A Smokey", Red Hash immediately lives up to its reputation as a hidden treasure of psychedelic folk music, oft slow and sad and melancholically melodic. There's a lost and lonely vibe to a lot of this, with Gary's gentle singing and acoustic guitar backed by friends playing piano, cello, mandolin, flute and more. Together they weave eleven tracks of entrancing dope smoking folk music, drifting, sometimes dreary, but always oh so lovely. The freakiness is mainly in the lyrics, which can be quite interestingly cryptic and weird, often regarding the worried wandering and woes of a young man, while the music remains alluringly melodic and inwardly calm. Though, with a deeper voice and more urgent tone, the Beefheartian "Down On The Farm" stands out as more menacing (and humorous) than the rest. Two (lesser) bonus tracks are also included, "Last Great Sperm Whale" from 1975 and "Don't Ya Know" from sometime in the early '80s. But the album alone is a gem and shines just a bright now as it did briefly back in '73. By the way, one reason for its obscurity is that shortly after the LP's original release, Higgins was sent away to prison to do a two-year stretch on a pot bust... so it must be really nice for him to gain some belated recognition nowadays.
MPEG Stream: "Windy Child"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Sleep At Night"

HIGGS, DANIEL Armageddon Lullabye / Recitation (Endless Series) 10" lathe cut 33.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Amazing, and ultra limited, made to order, hand carved lathe cut from our favorite modern day musical shaman Dan Higgs, he of Lungfish and assorted amazing solo recordings. Two tracks, each exclusive to this disc, an ultra thick black lathe cut, with printed / hand written labels, and housed in a thick, old school green paper sleeve stamped with the label info and the tracks hand written on the sleeve. So gorgeous.
And the music is appropriately gorgeous as well. The A side is a long droney chunk of twisted Eastern raga tinged neo-Appalachia as only Higgs can do it. Tangled melodies, gnarled arrangements, droney and buzzy, haunting and minor key, the track always shifting from dreamy finger picked bliss to pulsing blown out raga to spaced out psychedelia, all on an acoustic guitar. So good.
The flipside is a "Recitation" by Mr. Higgs, and is a total mind blower. Obviously recorded on a handheld microcassette recorder, complete with the 'thunk' of the stop and record buttons, as well as lots of sibilance and background hiss. But the voice is immediately recognizable, and the words... confusingly brilliant, surreal, so evocative and vivid, sometimes beautiful and tender, sometimes horrific, and other times completely baffling, somehow as dreamy and easy to listen to as the guitar on the other side. But to understand it all, that's another story. Too much for mere mortals we're afraid, but so goddamn fascinating.
These are custom made to order, and are thus SUPER EXPENSIVE and SUPER LIMITED. We got a handful, we probably can get more when we run out, but it might take a while, so if you miss this first batch, be prepared to be patient...

HIGGS, DANIEL Magic Alphabet (Northern Liberties) cd 11.98
Back in stock, at long last. Lower price!
Daniel Higgs is the singer for the band Lungfish and is an absolute modern day shaman. (And solo artist, whose Ancestral Songs album was a recent AQ Record Of The Week.) His presence in person and on stage is absolutely mesmerizing. In another time he would have ruled the world, or been burned at the stake, or had his own cult. But instead, he has carved out a wholly unique musical niche. In Lungfish, his stream of consciousness vocals, add a distinctly spiritual quality to Lungfish's droning repetitive caveman krautrock jams. On this here solo record, Higgs weaves a buzzing melodic otherworld, all from the sounds of a single Jews Harp. Those of you not familiar with the instrument, it's a small loop of steel with a thin strip of metal in the middle. The player plucks the strip of steel making it vibrate, and uses the shape of their mouth and position of their lips to change the tone and timbre. Same sort of method for the the 'talk box'. The results here are divine, droning, alien buzzing rhythms, slowly shifting and stuttering, with strange overtones drifting and colliding, before slipping into vibrating harmony. Imagine a sitar run through a metal digeridoo, held up against your mouth so you could sort of 'vocalise' the notes. Weird and so wonderful.
MPEG Stream: "Holy Compartments"
MPEG Stream: "Listen, Dear One"
MPEG Stream: "Beyond Within"

HIGGS, DANIEL Plays The Mirror Of The Apocalypse And Other Songs (Open Mouth) cd 12.98
Way back when, years and years ago, before Mr. Daniel Higgs was a well established solo artist, and revered modern mystical musical troubadour, when he was still mostly known as the vocalist of Lungfish and offshoot the Pupils, we listed a super limited cassette containing some of the most amazing raga-drone guitar playing we had heard, and we knew then, that there was more to Higgs than just playing rock music. Every bit of that tape oozed with some cosmic light, as if he was using the guitar to travel between alternate universes and other worlds, the tales of those travels rendered in gorgeously warm and mysterious drone and buzz, strum and shimmer.
Higgs is one of the very few contemporary artists who we would absolutely consider a sort of modern day shaman. A musical alchemist, an artistic cypher, an abstract philosopher, a strangely charismatic, yet disarmingly humble master of any artistic endeavor he puts his mind to. For those new to the work of Daniel Higgs, he's a legendary (but now retired) tattoo artist, an incredible painter, whose paintings are at once hallucinatory and gorgeous (one painting adorns the cover of Leviathan's Tentacles Of Whorror record) and of course an incredible musician, whose sonic experiments range from the mesmeric riffrock of his band Lungfish, to an entire record of solo Jew's harp. But in addition to being an incredible lyricist, an amazing vocalist, and a master of the Jew's harp, Higgs is also a seriously mean guitar (and banjo) player, with a style and sound as familiar as it is totally alien. A gorgeous buzzing steel string drift through the cosmos. Lengthy droning ragas, that drift hypnotically from deconstructed Appalachia to John Cale like slow-shifting skree (joined on those tracks by violin), to moody melancholy crawls, to thick serpentine swirls of snake charmer melody and reverberating steel string shimmer. Raw and lo-fi for sure, but so darkly emotional, and dreamily hypnotic. This cd reissue reminded us of how smitten we were by the original tape release. It sounds just as powerful and intense as it did the first time we heard it. And even now, it continues to unfold more and more on each listen, gradually and subtly revealing mythical musical secrets and lost universal truths, and just like with the cassette, we're thinking seriously about grabbing a cd player, taking a ton of peyote, blasting this disc and laying in the thick grass, sprawled naked on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere, beneath a sparkling moonlit sky. In other words, WAY RECOMMENDED!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 3"

HIGGS, DANIEL Plays The Mirror Of The Apocalypse And Other Songs (Open Mouth) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Daniel Higgs, of Lungfish and the Pupils, is one of the very few contemporary artists who we would absolutely consider a sort of modern day shaman. A musical alchemist, an artistic cypher, an abstract philosopher, a strangely charismatic, yet disarmingly humble master of any artistic endeavor he puts his mind to. A legendary (but now retired) tattoo artist, an incredible painter, whose paintings are at once hallucinatory and gorgeous (one painting adorns the cover of Leviathan's Tentacles Of Whorror record) and of course an incredible musician, whose sonic experiments range from the mesmeric riffrock of his band Lungfish, to an entire record of solo Jew's harp. But in addition to being an incredible lyricist, an amazing vocalist, and a master of the Jew's harp, Higgs is also a seriously mean guitar player, with a style and sound as familiar as it is totally alien. A gorgeous buzzing steel string drift through the cosmos. Lengthy droning ragas, that drift hypnotically from deconstructed Appalachia to John Cale like slow-shifting skree (joined on those tracks by violin), to moody melancholy crawls, to thick serpentine swirls of snake charmer melody and reverberating steel string shimmer. Raw and lo-fi for sure, but so darkly emotional, and dreamily hypnotic. We've been listening to this non stop since we got it and it continues to unfold more and more on each listen, we're thinking seriously about grabbing a boombox, taking a ton of peyote, blasting this tape and laying in the thick grass, sprawled naked on a hilltop in the middle of nowhere, beneath a sparkling moonlit sky. In other words, WAY RECOMMENDED!
SUPER LIMITED of course. In spiffy, ultra cryptic packaging.

HIGGS, DANIEL "BELTESHAZZAR" Metempsychotic Memories (Holy Mountain) cd 14.98
We'd be happy if Daniel Higgs would put out a new album every month. Every week, even. His songs can be long (up to 14 minutes on this disc's "Love Abides") but eventually they do end and we always want more more more. Because they are totally entrancing, his raw "Appalachian raga" folk picking style wending and winding while he chants his mystic lyrics repetitively, warbling with the outsider intensity of a Charles Manson... a dramatic delivery that eccentrically enhances the weird wisdom of his words, worth absorbing for their imagery even when their import is not immediately understandable. Well though he's not THAT prolific we're happy to have this new disc on Holy Mountain already, following Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot on Thrill Jockey earlier this year.
Metempsychotic Melodies (whatever that means, it seems like a good title for this!!) starts off with a stark and skillful instrumental, "Universal Salutation", which we're told was "recorded aboard the Starship Weep-For-Lucifer". Again, we believe it, that somehow makes sense. That leads into the aforementioned "Love Abides", an extended mantra for voice and banjo (in fact, banjo is the main instrument throughout), wherein Higgs sings lines like "Love is the secret seam between waking and dream / love is a breath that bears a boundless scream" and offers up further thoughts from his personal gnosis of love, notions guaranteed to never be repeated in any other "love song" ever!! Such as: "Love, like a basilisk hatched in the nest of a dove / love's got a bible it hides in the folds of a cloud" and "Love is your name when your name has fallen away / love tends the last dawning of the last day"...
As if allowing an interlude to let all that sink in, the third track "Leontocephaline Rhapsody" is a loping, psychedelic instrumental, a gentle jam densely droning and alive with electricity. Then comes the fourth and final song, "All Cherished Things", another display of Higgs' druggy, fascinating poetry. "There's a pearl in your head / the head between your double-head / it's flashing blue and red - hear it sing". He goes on to touch upon some favored themes, Christ, Krishna, coitus, his own dead body, love... Lyrics like "The skull at the foot of the cross is my own" could be creepy, or pretentious, as could be Higgs' unique vocal stylings, but no, not as far as we're concerned. Ok, maybe it is a bit creepy. He's on a wavelength that works (for him -- maybe no one else could pull this off). If Higgs had a cult, we'd seriously consider joining it...truly a treasure of the US indie rock scene, and one of the realest deals in the "acid folk" underground. We'll be spinning this highly recommended album with ceremonial regularity as it takes its honored place in our collection of his music, and of course our anticipation of his next set of shamanic sermons remains high.
MPEG Stream: "All Cherished Things"
MPEG Stream: "Universal Salutation"
MPEG Stream: "Love Abides"

HIGGS, DANIEL "BELTESHAZZAR" Metempsychotic Memories (Holy Mountain) lp 14.98
We'd be happy if Daniel Higgs would put out a new album every month. Every week, even. His songs can be long (up to 14 minutes on this disc's "Love Abides") but eventually they do end and we always want more more more. Because they are totally entrancing, his raw "Appalachian raga" folk picking style wending and winding while he chants his mystic lyrics repetitively, warbling with the outsider intensity of a Charles Manson... a dramatic delivery that eccentrically enhances the weird wisdom of his words, worth absorbing for their imagery even when their import is not immediately understandable. Well though he's not THAT prolific we're happy to have this new disc on Holy Mountain already, following Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot on Thrill Jockey earlier this year.
Metempsychotic Melodies (whatever that means, it seems like a good title for this!!) starts off with a stark and skillful instrumental, "Universal Salutation", which we're told was "recorded aboard the Starship Weep-For-Lucifer". Again, we believe it, that somehow makes sense. That leads into the aforementioned "Love Abides", an extended mantra for voice and banjo (in fact, banjo is the main instrument throughout), wherein Higgs sings lines like "Love is the secret seam between waking and dream / love is a breath that bears a boundless scream" and offers up further thoughts from his personal gnosis of love, notions guaranteed to never be repeated in any other "love song" ever!! Such as: "Love, like a basilisk hatched in the nest of a dove / love's got a bible it hides in the folds of a cloud" and "Love is your name when your name has fallen away / love tends the last dawning of the last day"...
As if allowing an interlude to let all that sink in, the third track "Leontocephaline Rhapsody" is a loping, psychedelic instrumental, a gentle jam densely droning and alive with electricity. Then comes the fourth and final song, "All Cherished Things", another display of Higgs' druggy, fascinating poetry. "There's a pearl in your head / the head between your double-head / it's flashing blue and red - hear it sing". He goes on to touch upon some favored themes, Christ, Krishna, coitus, his own dead body, love... Lyrics like "The skull at the foot of the cross is my own" could be creepy, or pretentious, as could be Higgs' unique vocal stylings, but no, not as far as we're concerned. Ok, maybe it is a bit creepy. He's on a wavelength that works (for him -- maybe no one else could pull this off). If Higgs had a cult, we'd seriously consider joining it...truly a treasure of the US indie rock scene, and one of the realest deals in the "acid folk" underground. We'll be spinning this highly recommended album with ceremonial regularity as it takes its honored place in our collection of his music, and of course our anticipation of his next set of shamanic sermons remains high.
MPEG Stream: "All Cherished Things"
MPEG Stream: "Universal Salutation"
MPEG Stream: "Love Abides"

HIGGS, DANIEL (A.I.U.) Ancestral Songs (Holy Mountain) cd 15.98
Daniel Higgs is a very strange man. Or maybe we should say, Daniel (Arcus Incus Ululat) Higgs, Interdimensional Song-Seamstress, is a very strange man. His artwork is amazing and bizarre, Spock ears and eye-balled Christmas trees, emaciated figures riding strange hellish beasts, an amazing personal mythology represented as a menagerie of impossible and impossibly beautiful figures and beasts. His music seems to somehow embody the same mystery, a world that Higgs inhabits simultaneously to his presence in our own. That must be the only thing that can truly explain the man and his music. That he walks around, one foot in our world, of people places and things, the other in some kaleidoscopic world where sounds are tasted and sights are smelled, a synesthetic wonderland, that when translated and brought over to our plain of existence, appears distorted, twisted, haunting and hard to fathom. But at the same time imbued with some otherworldly warmth and a beauty that while alien, represents a higher state, maybe unreachable here. That is Higgs' gift. He is a traveler and a troubadour. He allows us to see visions, to hear musical mysteries. Through paintings, drawings, tattoos and especially music. From the moment we first heard his 'rock' band Lungfish we were smitten. Actually, the very first time we heard Lungfish was in a record store in another town, years ago. Our first thought was "What the hell is this?" But after several more songs, we were compelled to sheepishly approach the counter and ask the clerk what was playing. We bought it, and loved it. And maybe that's the magic of Higgs' music. It's esoteric and not always approachable. It takes some trust, a leap of faith, some sonic daring. But that faith is always repaid many times over. Outside of Lungfish, Higgs also plays in the Pupils along with his Lungfish bandmate Asa, a more intimate stripped down version of his rock band. The same cyclical riffs and chant like vocals, but all acoustic, and sparsely arranged. There is also his amazing sort-of Appalachian solo guitar work, and his very very strange solo Jew's harp recordings.
This disc is Higgs' first proper solo release and manages to tie up all his disparate sonic threads into one big gorgeous Gordian knot.
Several tracks sound like they could have come straight off the Pupils record. Simple, haunting acoustic guitar riffs, repeated and repeated until they becomes totally hypnotic, mantra like, with Higgs' gorgeous vocals over the top, a mix of old timey sea shanty and folk standard. The rest drift dreamily from sound to sound, like a sonic journey through the soul of the man. Gorgeous tangles of banjo or some banjo-like instrument drift amidst field recordings of birds (knowing Higgs it may have been actually recorded right there in the woods, although he has been known to travel with a portable recorder to capture whatever strikes his fancy) a steel string buzz, that wanders from near traditional sounding Appalachian twang to some sort of jaunty Celtic melody to brief melodic flurries, impossibly buzzy and blurry. Thick swaths of buzzing guitar swirl and squirm, doomy, melancholy melodies spread out over a machine like whir, sounding like a guitar being played like a bagpipe. While over the top drifts tiny tangles of steel string picking all drenched in strange FX and allowed to twist and distort, sounding almost the way a Jew's harp does when you change the shape of your mouth. And as if pre-ordained (which it most likely was), out comes the Jew's harp, but it sounds like no Jew's harp you've ever heard. Super brittle and distorted, like some sort of metallic marimba, or a Konono outtake broadcast via shortwave and played through a crappy transistor radio. A gorgeous buzzy abstract hoedown. Finally, the record winds up (most definitely not down) with a thick swirl of super lo-fi psych guitar freakout, the chords and notes bent and twisted, pitches slipping back and forth, overtones subtly shifting, notes colliding and exploding into little bursts of jagged buzz before settling back into a droning hypnotic thrum. Like some alien jig, if aliens had a practice space full of strangely tuned guitars and really loud amps with blown speakers. And again, it sounds like somehow Higgs figured out a way to hold the guitar up to his mouth and play it like a Jew's harp, the sounds changing shape as much as tone, a warm and fuzzed out smear of distorted buzz that washes over you, as does this whole sonic scripture, like a shower of rich wet soil and sparkling uncut diamonds.
MPEG Stream: "Living In The Kingdom Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Thy Chosen Bride"

HIGGS, DANIEL (A.I.U.) Ancestral Songs (Holy Mountain) lp 15.98
Daniel Higgs is a very strange man. Or maybe we should say, Daniel (Arcus Incus Ululat) Higgs, Interdimensional Song-Seamstress, is a very strange man. His artwork is amazing and bizarre, Spock ears and eye-balled Christmas trees, emaciated figures riding strange hellish beasts, an amazing personal mythology represented as a menagerie of impossible and impossibly beautiful figures and beasts. His music seems to somehow embody the same mystery, a world that Higgs inhabits simultaneously to his presence in our own. That must be the only thing that can truly explain the man and his music. That he walks around, one foot in our world, of people places and things, the other in some kaleidoscopic world where sounds are tasted and sights are smelled, a synesthetic wonderland, that when translated and brought over to our plain of existence, appears distorted, twisted, haunting and hard to fathom. But at the same time imbued with some otherworldly warmth and a beauty that while alien, represents a higher state, maybe unreachable here. That is Higgs' gift. He is a traveler and a troubadour. He allows us to see visions, to hear musical mysteries. Through paintings, drawings, tattoos and especially music. From the moment we first heard his 'rock' band Lungfish we were smitten. Actually, the very first time we heard Lungfish was in a record store in another town, years ago. Our first thought was "What the hell is this?" But after several more songs, we were compelled to sheepishly approach the counter and ask the clerk what was playing. We bought it, and loved it. And maybe that's the magic of Higgs' music. It's esoteric and not always approachable. It takes some trust, a leap of faith, some sonic daring. But that faith is always repaid many times over. Outside of Lungfish, Higgs also plays in the Pupils along with his Lungfish bandmate Asa, a more intimate stripped down version of his rock band. The same cyclical riffs and chant like vocals, but all acoustic, and sparsely arranged. There is also his amazing sort-of Appalachian solo guitar work, and his very very strange solo Jew's harp recordings.
This disc is Higgs' first proper solo release and manages to tie up all his disparate sonic threads into one big gorgeous Gordian knot.
Several tracks sound like they could have come straight off the Pupils record. Simple, haunting acoustic guitar riffs, repeated and repeated until they becomes totally hypnotic, mantra like, with Higgs' gorgeous vocals over the top, a mix of old timey sea shanty and folk standard. The rest drift dreamily from sound to sound, like a sonic journey through the soul of the man. Gorgeous tangles of banjo or some banjo-like instrument drift amidst field recordings of birds (knowing Higgs it may have been actually recorded right there in the woods, although he has been known to travel with a portable recorder to capture whatever strikes his fancy) a steel string buzz, that wanders from near traditional sounding Appalachian twang to some sort of jaunty Celtic melody to brief melodic flurries, impossibly buzzy and blurry. Thick swaths of buzzing guitar swirl and squirm, doomy, melancholy melodies spread out over a machine like whir, sounding like a guitar being played like a bagpipe. While over the top drifts tiny tangles of steel string picking all drenched in strange FX and allowed to twist and distort, sounding almost the way a Jew's harp does when you change the shape of your mouth. And as if pre-ordained (which it most likely was), out comes the Jew's harp, but it sounds like no Jew's harp you've ever heard. Super brittle and distorted, like some sort of metallic marimba, or a Konono outtake broadcast via shortwave and played through a crappy transistor radio. A gorgeous buzzy abstract hoedown. Finally, the record winds up (most definitely not down) with a thick swirl of super lo-fi psych guitar freakout, the chords and notes bent and twisted, pitches slipping back and forth, overtones subtly shifting, notes colliding and exploding into little bursts of jagged buzz before settling back into a droning hypnotic thrum. Like some alien jig, if aliens had a practice space full of strangely tuned guitars and really loud amps with blown speakers. And again, it sounds like somehow Higgs figured out a way to hold the guitar up to his mouth and play it like a Jew's harp, the sounds changing shape as much as tone, a warm and fuzzed out smear of distorted buzz that washes over you, as does this whole sonic scripture, like a shower of rich wet soil and sparkling uncut diamonds.
MPEG Stream: "Living In The Kingdom Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Thy Chosen Bride"

HIGGS, DANIEL A.I.U. Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot (Thrill Jockey) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The return of our favorite modern day shamen, Mr. Daniel Arcus Incus Ululat Higgs, maybe better known to some of you as Dan Higgs, the vocalist for the mighty Lungfish, or perhaps Higgs, the world renowned tattoo artist (now retired). A man who wears many hats: vocalist, painter, tattoo artist, poet, guitarist, master of the Jew's Harp, and who knows what else. We made Higgs' last full length Ancestral Songs record of the week last year, and since this one is just as good, if not better, we figured it deserved the same honor. 
Truly one of the few modern day troubadours, Higgs is a mysterious traveling man, he'll occasionally show up at the store, looking as dapper and disheveled as ever, with tales of various explorations or experiences. The last time he stopped by, he had a little hand held tape recorder, and he had just returned from India, where he spent the whole time recording street musicians and crowds and animals and anything else that struck his fancy. 
His music has the same quality, a sort of restless rootlessness, that is at once warm and familiar, but strangely alien and indescribable. On Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot, Higgs manages to weave all of his disparate sonic interests together into one seamless whole. Buzzing raga guitars, strange lo-fi field recordings, Jew's harp, all in varying states of fidelity, but the recording, the sound quality, the location and the background noise are as much a part of the music as the music itself. 
Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot begins with a burst of static, like a strong wind on a microphone, before Higgs' guitar begins to buzz like some snake charming ritual, an Eastern tinged Appalachia, a rustic raga, the string buzzing, lots of distortion and shifting overtones creating all sorts of glorious tonal color. Ragged and ramshackle but completely mesmerizing. The second track is a dizzying seasick assemblage of wheezing harmonium and pounded chimes, atonal melodies and streaks of feedback, eventually fading out and leaving just Higgs' guitar to buzz and shimmer, a sprawling sun balked stretch of gorgeously pastoral Appalachia. "Spectral Hues" is a stuttering collage of manipulated tones, using just the record and stop buttons on a tape player, a primitive swirl of tones, transformed into a haunting melody, each note separated by the weird swoop and bbbzzzzt of the button being depressed. The title track is Higgs in full on electric guitar mode, or at least what sounds like an electric guitar, wailing and howling chaotically, unfurling some sort of old time jig, before again fading into a 'nother steel string workout, this one distinctly Indian sounding, a dense tangled raga, the notes overlapping and the strings' buzz smearing the sounds into thick swaths of sonic blur. "Creation Moan" is another tripped out psychguitar freakout. A buzzing overdriven squall of tangled upper register skree and low end rumble, what sounds like some traditional folk song transformed into snarling, squirming, grinding crumbling distorted buzz. And finally the nine minute final track, a swirling ambient  drift, running water, some finger picked guitar, that suddenly winks out, leaving a wavering buzzscape, above which Higgs' Jew's Harp weaves haunting alien melodies, sometimes buzzing and reverberating, other times, speaking in tongues as Higgs sings into it. So haunting and unlike anything we've ever heard. Yet at the same time so strangely soothing, meditative and dreamlike.
It's always such a joy to step into Higgs' world, like traveling through the looking glass, or falling down the rabbit hole, and on the other side, in the mysterious world Higgs calls home, a world which we can only visit, and even in visiting, only see what hovers on the surface, we wander wide eyed and open eared, trying to take in everything we can before the record ends and we are pulled back into home, where we wait patiently for our next visit...
MPEG Stream: "Luminous Carcass Ornament"
MPEG Stream: "Cocoon On The Cross"
MPEG Stream: "Spectral Hues"