HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE The Locust Years (Cruz Del Sur) cd 14.98
People have been waiting a long time for this, the third opus from SF's own Hammers Of Misfortune, one of the most ambitious, audacious, bodacious, bombastic, maybe even slightly ludicrous bands in the metal realm...and metal this is, through and through, even as it pushes the envelope right over the edge into, I don't know, musical theater... 2003's The August Engine was pretty amazing, as was (our favorite) their year 2000 debut, The Bastard (released by Andee's tUMULt label we should note). The Locust Years has a lot to live up to.
And live it up they do here. Just check out the band photos for evidence of that (funnier if you know these folks). There's a shocking formal portrait on the back cover, everybody dressed up in tuxedos and evening gowns, hair pulled back. And then inside the cd booklet, you see 'em letting their hair down in a glammy, rock n' roll fantasy shot. It's nice to see that they don't take themselves too seriously, that should keep people guessing about this band. Not so pretentious as some might think, joking but no joke.
Quick intro first for those just tuning in/turning on to this band: Hammers is a rock-operatic heavy metal juggernaut with harmonizing lead guitars, pounding Hammond organ (new!), and majestic male and female vocal lines. The band features members of The Lord Weird Slough Feg past and present, and mainman John Cobbett is busy too with his other band black metallers Ludicra (new ep elsewhere on this list) plus he's been playing with the likes of Amber Asylum and even Jarboe of late... As you might imagine from all of this, Hammers is an especially eclectic mix of '70s prog, '80s metal, black metal (without the black metal vocals), classical music, avant-chamber-rock, Mary Poppinsy musical showtuneage, Opethian loud/soft, fast/slow dynamics...
Basically, everything (and more) that already earned mucho plaudits for the Hammers' first two albums is present here: the sweeping melodic grandeur, metallic excitement, complex arrangements, virtuoso playing, intelligent lyrics, many moods, and attention to idiosyncratic detail -- which is evident from the packaging, with its Thomas Woodruff cover painting and aforementioned photography, to the music, for instance the track "War Anthem" that features a whole hired drum line arranged by Hammers drummer Chewy. Or it's actually Chewy multitracking his own one man drum line. Either way, it's pretty darn Tusk!!
And lyrically, while it's not a storytelling narrative like The Bastard, it's somewhat more of a cohesive "concept album" than was August Engine... the concept being, near as we can tell, a very allegorical, cryptic protest against the awful person and policies of our president, George W. Bush!! Or at least that's what we get from lyrics like "Death - death to the infidels / sons of our servants shall serve and serve us well / and gifted with endless war / flags and fanatics forevermore" (from "War Anthem") or, "If people wonder at the suffering you cause / and your massive avarice has left them at a loss / if by chance they notice your bloody, snapping jaws / the blood upon your claws / your shifty eyes and laws / the nauseating flaws in all you've said / trot out the dead" (from "Trot Out The Dead") -- no that's not Satan they're singing about, not exactly. We're pretty sure that makes The Locust Years the world's first POLITICAL epic fantasy prog power metal album!!
Recommended of course.
MPEG Stream: "The Locust Years"
MPEG Stream: "We Are The Widows"
MPEG Stream: "War Anthem"

HAMMOND JR., ALBERT Yours To Keep (New Line Records) cd 14.98
Now available domestically (this album was actually released last year in the U.K. of Rough Trade, and a single was released on iTunes in September)! Includes two bonus tracks (covers of Guided By Voices' Postal Blowfish" and Buddy Holly's "Well... All Right").
Takin' a break from your very recognizable, very popular band to do a solo album comes with its own list of baggage requirements. Sure it's pretty much a given that the album is going to be met with an automatic built-in adoring audience. Most of said band's fans are simply gonna scoop it up without any hesitation. However, if you wanna: 1.) keep the favor of said fans; 2.) win legions of your own admirers; and 3.) not be totally chastised by critics, you've kinda got to do something completely different without sounding completely alienating. Don't know if all that concerns Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., but On Yours To Keep he is pretty much playin' safely by those rules. He's made a solid sweet'n'easy pop record filled with lots of his unmistakable jangleful guitars and an occasional horn. It sits in comfortably alongside recent albums by Money Mark and Sean Lennon. Most immediately evident are the pervading pop influences of Brian Wilson and the Beatles with a little Sound & Vision era Bowie and Uncle Tupelo-esque scruffy country rock rounding off Hammond's overall sound. For those looking for one, the sixth song "101" sounds the closest to Strokes territory, albeit gentler and prettier with better posture. Hammond's earnest, unshaven vocals are sort of a cross between Jeff Tweedy and Spoon's Britt Daniel. He's brought in a few ringers to ice the cake: the abovementioned Lennon as well as Ben Kweller, Fountains Of Wayne's Jody Porter, The Mooney Suzuki's Sammy Davis Jr., and his bandmates Julian Casablancas, Josh Lattanzi and Matt Romano.
MPEG Stream: "Cartoon Music For Superheroes"
MPEG Stream: "Well... All Right"

HAMMOND, JOHN Wicked Grin (Pointblank) cd 16.98
New album from white blues heavyweight John Hammond that consists solely of Tom Waits covers. If Tom Waits' own endorsement of Hammond as an artist -- "John has a blacksmith's strength and rhythm and the kind of soul and precision it takes to cut diamonds or to handle snakes" -- isn't enough for you, then maybe knowing that the album was produced by Mr. Waits himself would be persuasive. Featuring a backup band consisting of Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, Larry Taylor on bass, Stephen Hodges playing percussion, Augie Meyers on accordion and piano, and even Tom sitting in on guitar and "plucked piano" here and there, the sound of Tom Waits' best known songs have a much more smoothed out and "bluesy" quality that may suit some more than the unique abrasive eccentricity of Waits' own voice and arrangements. Personally I prefer to listen to Tom Waits' own versions of his songs, but it's a good effort anyhow.
RealAudio clip: "16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six"
RealAudio clip: "Shore Leave"

HAMPSON, ROBERT & STEVEN HESS s/t (Crouton) cd ep 11.98
After Robert Hampson dissolved the blackened psychedelic ensemble Loop, he quickly returned with the hypnotic, riff-heavy, drone spaces of Main. The template from the first few albums by Main (Hydra-Calm and Motion Pool, both of which are criminally out of print) still resonates loudly through the work of Black Boned Angel, Nadja, Troum, and even tricked-out digital sculptors such as Christian Fennesz and Tim Hecker. Yet after those albums, Hampson plunged into the realms of thoroughly obtuse electro-acoustics, culminating in a oblique whirlpool of a collaboration with Janek Schaeffer called Comae. Many have pined for Hampson to pick up the guitar again as an instrument for chugging propulsion; and for those of you with such a nostalgia for Hampson's early work, the collaboration with Steven Hess may not entirely float your boat. That said, this eponymous collaboration does exhibit a much greater reliance upon a skeletal structure of chiming loops (perhaps the closet things that Hampson will come to the early Main guitar work) and Harry Bertoia-esque vibrations coddled into a web of overlapping patterns. Hess and Hampson push the brief 19 minute composition up to a dense kaleidoscope of ring modulated tonalities and paranoiac drones. Quite nice indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Track Two"
MPEG Stream: "Track Three"

HAMPTON GREASE BAND Music To Eat (Legacy) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's going to be hard to do this one justice... We just got a few copies in of this actually out-of-print double cd. Cheap, too! The Hampton Grease Band released this, their debut and only album, in 1971, to almost universal disinterest and, even, active dislike. It was, famously, the second worst selling album in Columbia history. It might not have helped that Columbia's marketers, doubtless confused by the dadaistic hippy rock weirdness of the Hampton Grease Band, pitched it to stores as a comedy album. It certainly is funny -- funny ha ha and otherwise -- but it's as an avant-garde rock record that we recommend it. Imagine Zappa, Beefheart and a southern rock band all rolled into one absurd, palpitating, guitar-totin' ball. The end result: gorgeous, dissonant, textural guitar-based instrumentals that wouldn't sound out of place on the best Polvo record you've heard, plus the raving loony vocal 'stylings' of one Bruce Hampton (who has kept up his antics as the leader of Col. Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, which we definitely aren't recommending). He's untrained and maniacal and his screechy voice makes this sound at times like Sam Kinison fronting the Allman Brothers. An acquired taste, perhaps, we'll warn you -- it even took a few listens for Allan (the biggest, and maybe only, Hampton Grease Band fan here) to get into this originally. And he doesn't like Zappa, either. But annoyance soon gave way to enjoyment. There's definitely some stoopid stuff on here, but then there's the several extended (around 20 minutes long, three of 'em are) compositions/improvs in complex, interlocking time signatures and whatnot. Not normal rock, not jazz, certainly not jazzrock. Instrumentally, amazing. Lyrically, certainly odd -- Hampton often sang "found lyrics" from whatever text was at hand, like an encyclopedia entry about Halifax or the back of a can of spray paint. As it says in the cd booklet liner notes, the HGB were "an intensely musical group with an intensely non-musical singer".
Speaking of the liner notes, they're hilarious, full of great stories, like about the time the HGB was playing live, and their drummer suddenly stood up and froze in place, holding that pose for over an hour as the band finished their set without drums and most people left the venue! Somehow these gonzo guys got to open for the likes of Beefheart & the Magic Band, the Allmans, Country Joe & the Fish, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Alice Cooper -- and then somehow got signed to a brief, illfated stint on Columbia Records that produced this album.
Humor in music is a difficult thing. When these guys tried to be funny, it wasn't, but they didn't have to try to be weird, and it was. Surely some of you out there will want or need this! Lots more won't and that's fine too. We only have three, presently.
RealAudio clip: "Halifax"

HANATARASH 5 (Shock City/Polystar) cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Colorfully packaged, long-awaited album from Eye of the Boredoms infamous solo noise project. Unlike the violent noise and/or musical collage of prior Hanatarash recordings, 5 is one long whooshing track that sounds like a rocket blasting off, speeding up, entering hyperspace, slowing down, speeding up again, then spiralling off through another galaxy. Relentless and beautiful.

HANAYO Gift (Geist) cd 16.98
Now domestically priced: Japanese avant-chanteuse Hanayo (whom some will recall from her collaboration with German electronica hotboy Panacea) here presents another collaborative work, this time with a whole host of international electronic/experimental artists, including Terre Thaemlitz, Curd Duca, Merzbow, Patric Catani, Stilluppsteypa, Christophe de Babalon, and others. So it's a varied mix of digital hardcore, electronic pop, abstract noise, and everything in between, with Hanayo's little-girl voice holding forth over all, whether her collaborators provide atmosphere or chaos...nice.

HANCOCK, HERBIE Sextant (Columbia) cd 10.98
Finally available domestically in the US! Sextant, by what was known as Herbie & Mwandishiis an Afro-funk/fusion/ambient/electo/jazz recording from 1972. So far ahead of its time it ain't even funny; you will be amazed. So funky, so strange and so recommended!

HANCOCK, HERBIE Thrust (Columbia) cd 12.98
Finally available domestically in the US! Thrust is the 1974 follow-up to Headhunters. Deep, deep keyboard-heavy funk with grooves to ride 'til dawn. So far ahead of its time it ain't even funny; you will be amazed.

HANCOCK, HERBIE, RON CARTER, JONATHAN KLEIN, THAD JONES... Hear, O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz (Trunk) cd 16.98
Most likely you don't immediately connect Modern Jazz with Jewish Ritual, but this gorgeous reissue of a long lost private pressing of a 1968 Friday night service may have you rethinking those ideas. Written by Jonathan Klein, a then 17 year-old son of a Massachusetts Rabbi, who was asked to compose music for a service dealing with "Sects and Symbols Within Judaism". The music and service were so popular that the Synagogue incorporated the piece into every Friday night service, and Klein assembled a group to tour various New England Universities. For the debut performance in New York, Klein managed to get the finest New York Jazz musicians to perform his piece, including Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Grady Tate on drums, Jerome Richardson on flute and saxophone and Thad Jones on trumpet and flugelhorn with Antonia Lavanne and Phyllis Bryn-Julson on soprano and contralto voices respectively. Thankfully it was all recorded. Unlike the Christian Youth movement who used spiritually minded rock and folk music to sway new converts, the music for this service doesn't pander to youthful audiences. The music swings in unexpected ways for a religious ceremony but its full intent is an abstract spiritual openness. Even with the Hebrew recitations by Rabbi David Davis, the message is divine, universal and inspired. Rejoice!
MPEG Stream: "Matovu - Bor'chu"
MPEG Stream: "Sanctification"
MPEG Stream: "Kiddush"

HANDFUL OF DUST, A Spiritual Libertines (Crank Automotive) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bruce Russell of the Dead C and Alastair Galbraith's improvised noise project, 2 tracks previously unreleased, the rest from out-of-print 7"s and cassettes...

HANDFUL OF DUST, A Urbanpsychogeography Vol. 2 (Jerusalem) (Corpus Hermeticum) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Possibly also titled "Jerusalem: Street Of Graves"...this New Zealand experimental trio's new recording is far more structured than previous A Handful of Dust productions of scrape-drone-and-bang style free noise. Peter Stapleton has well infiltrated the band with his freewheelin' drum work that ebbs and flows with a controlling direction over Alastair Galbraith's violin shriek and the feedback of Bruce Russell (Dead C).

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL So, How's Your Girl? (Tommy Boy) cd 16.98
Here we have Dan the Automator (of Dr. Octagon fame) and Prince Paul (of De La Soul fame) hamming it up, as the proprietors of a fictional modeling school, wearing tuxedos, hanging with models, smoking cigars, riding in limos, and living the life. Dan assures us that it's all a big joke. But we're not so sure. One thing is for sure though, this record is no joke (except, of course, for the occasional skit, and the samples from Chris Eliott's 'Get a Life' sitcom, which is where the HBMS name came from). Awesome production, sick beats and a pretty amazing set of guests: Del, Cibo Matto, Mike D, Grand Puba, Sadat X, DJ Shadow, DJ Quest, Sean Lennon, Money Mark, Alec Empire, Kid Koala, Sensational, Paula Frazer (Tarnation), Josh Hayden (Spain) and more.

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL White People (Atlantic) cd 17.98
Handsome Boy Modelling School (aka Prince Paul and Dan the Automator) again offer up quite a cast on White People, their second album. De La Soul, Chester Bennington, Mike Patton, RZA, Mars Volta, Dres (Black Sheep), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Cat Power, Julee Cruise, Pharrell Williams, John Oates(!) and others contribute in unpredictable ways throughout the album. You'll even hear a testimonial by Father Guido Sarducci! Due to the light-hearted and jokey nature of much of this album, any lyrics about real issues are a bit hard to swallow with any legitimacy, but hey, who's counting. Let's PARTY!!!!!!!!! The songs involve a pop-music quality but only by way of its servitude to hip-hop. And of course, the production is as exemplary as would be expected by this duo. Released in conjunction to an amazing instrumental version of the album.
MPEG Stream: "If It Wasn't For You"
MPEG Stream: "Are You Down With It"

HANDSOME BOY MODELING SCHOOL White People (Instrumental) (Atlantic) cd 17.98
Personally, I think, on a very consistent level, the instrumental versions of most hip-hop records are absolutely amazing. In some cases, superceding the original tracks. Being the influential producers they are, Prince Paul and Dan the Automator (aka Handsome Boy Modelling School) have rightfully released an instrumental album version of their second full-lenth, White People. It rules. And it rules hard. Handsome's production shines here without the jokiness of the album's lyrics. I kind of even prefer these instrumentals over their music-celeb and lyric-driven counterparts but, hey, that's just me. Anyway, both versions of White People are totally great. So, the choice is yours!!
MPEG Stream: "If It Wasn't For You (Instrumental)"
MPEG Stream: "Are You Down With It (Instrumental)"

HANDSOME FAMILY In The Air (Carrot Top) cd 14.98
New album from Chicago based no depression country duo. Slow, contemplative ballads, rounded out with hollow body guitar, then steeped in smokey reverb and boomy bar room bass - the occasional guest vocal gives this cd an almost Sons of the Pioneers feel. The end result is a very authentic sounding country record (and it was all recorded on a G3... Go figure.) On Archer Prewitt's Carrot Top label.

HANDSOME FAMILY Live At Schuba's Tavern (DCN) cd 16.98
As the title states this is a live recording of the old country and bluegrass-y couple known as the Handsome Family (aka Brett and Rennie Sparks). This intimate show took place in Chicago (their hometown since '89) shortly before they relocated to New Mexico, and as such it's steeped in heartfelt sentiment. Plenty of warm, down to earth banter filled with kooky tales comes mainly from the mouth of Mrs. Sparks, while Mr. Sparks' singing thunders deep and thick with reverb like a voice from beyond set over an earthy, twangful backdrop. Very haunting. Having written some of the most beautiful, somber ballads of the last decade - some of which have been performed by a few of their friends like Sally Timms - the Handsome Family can take you directly from a hilarious story about magic balls to the absolute depths of dramatic despair. Note: If you're altogether new to this duo you might want to start with one of their great earlier studio albums such as In The Air or Through The Trees before proceeding to this live one.
RealAudio clip: "My Sister's Tiny Hands"
RealAudio clip: "The Sad Milkman "
RealAudio clip: "I Know You Are There"

HANDSOME FAMILY Singing Bones (Carrot Top) cd 14.98

HANDSOME FURS Plague Park (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Yet another new combo joins the rambunctious parade of young'uns wearin' their influences prominently on their sleeve. Think: Bright Eyes circa Digital Ash In A Digital Urn meets U2 circa "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Or The Alarm meets 16 Horsepower meets The Arcade Fire. That comparison actually hits much closer to home as one of the Handsome Furs happens to be Dan Boeckner who also happens to be a member of The Arcade Fire's buddies / soundalikes Wolf Parade who happen to also be on Sub Pop which might explain this album's appearance on that label. Oh connections, that's a no brainer easy sell! Anyways, Plague Park is all very 'now' sounding, world weary pop with an exhaustive emotiveness. Not poorly executed, but also not original in any big way. If you're simply looking for 'more' of the above... check it out!
MPEG Stream: "Sing! Captain"
MPEG Stream: "Dead + Rural"

HANDSOME FURS Plague Park (Sub Pop) lp 12.98
Yet another new combo joins the rambunctious parade of young'uns wearin' their influences prominently on their sleeve. Think: Bright Eyes circa Digital Ash In A Digital Urn meets U2 circa "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Or The Alarm meets 16 Horsepower meets The Arcade Fire. That comparison actually hits much closer to home as one of the Handsome Furs happens to be Dan Boeckner who also happens to be a member of The Arcade Fire's buddies / soundalikes Wolf Parade who happen to also be on Sub Pop which might explain this album's appearance on that label. Oh connections, that's a no brainer easy sell! Anyways, Plague Park is all very 'now' sounding, world weary pop with an exhaustive emotiveness. Not poorly executed, but also not original in any big way. If you're simply looking for 'more' of the above... check it out!
MPEG Stream: "Sing! Captain"
MPEG Stream: "Dead + Rural"

HANGAR 18 The Multi-Platinum Debut Album (Definitive Jux) cd 14.98

HANGEDUP Clatter For Control (Constellation) cd 15.98
Clatter For Control is the third potent full length by this unconventional viola and percussion duo from the Godspeed You Black Emperor clan. Their passionate, aggressive music once again easily draws comparisons to The Ex. From the first few measures of the very first track they charge forth from the crowd. Their fevered performance is made more so by the addition of electric bass played by Harris Newman (also of Hrsta and Sackville) and 'vocals' screamed into the viola's pickup -- truly generating enough imposing energy to knock the wind out of you. The eighth track "Fuck This Place" is as bluntly forceful as its title, ending with a blistering squall. When it ceases all that you're left with are a subdued scattering of percussion and solitary bowed notes. Taken separately each interlude is stunning, and when combined the effects are breathtaking. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Klang Klang"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck This Place"

HANGEDUP Kicker In Tow (Constellation) cd 14.98
Expanding immensely upon their self-titled debut in interesting ways is this Montreal instrumental duo (yes, they are comrades of Godspeed, Fly Pan Am et al). Hangedup create a storming industrial soundscape (note: definitely not "industrial" a la WaxTrax, Ministry or Front 242). Each song drills, thunders and spits fiery sparks in wonderfully stirring torrents. Flaring up and simmering darkly, they do so with the minimum of instruments - a lone viola and raw percussion. The distinct, furiously bowed strings once again are joined by the steady shuffling drums and chime-clank metallic percussion. Often bringing to mind the unparallelled fervor of The Ex, Kicker In Tow is an album of vitality and immediacy. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Kinetic Work"
RealAudio clip: "Losing Your Charm"

HANGEDUP s/t (Constellation) cd 14.98
A new addition to the Constellation Records family which as you may know includes such impressive abstract soundscapers as Godspeed You Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think and Fly Pan Am. Fellow-Montrealers Hanged Up travel in a very similar carriage. Spare, often metallic percussion and sinewy, on-the-verge-of-feedback strings are combined in dramatic, minimal improvisations. Viola swells and washes and repetitive rhythms come together, lock in, hesitate and drift apart. Recorded, mixed, and augmented by, you guessed it, GYBE guitarist Efrim.
RealAudio clip: "Bring Yr Scuba Gear"
RealAudio clip: "Powered By Steam"

HANK IV Third Person Shooter (Hook Or Crook) cd 13.98
Not to be confused with Hank III, aka Hank Williams the third, although there are bits of twang here and there, especially the first 10 second. But after that it's just blast after blast of scuzzy, sing along, snot-nosed garage rock stomp. Which makes sense when you consider that Hank IV is made up of equal parts Icky Boyfriends, Duh, Leather Uppers, Bum Kon and The Roofies.
Recorded right here in SF by Tim Green of the Champs, Hank IV kick out some serious sub-Stooges jams. Simple, bouncy, propulsive, grungy basement RAWK, with looping melodies over stripped down scuzzy stomps, peppered with chunks of angular riffing and gruff howled vocals. These guys must kill live!
MPEG Stream: "Melonhead"
MPEG Stream: "Oyster"
MPEG Stream: "Family Adam"

HANK IV Third Person Shooter (Hook Or Crook) lp + cd 13.98
Not to be confused with Hank III, aka Hank Williams the third, although there are bits of twang here and there, especially the first 10 second. But after that it's just blast after blast of scuzzy, sing along, snot-nosed garage rock stomp. Which makes sense when you consider that Hank IV is made up of equal parts Icky Boyfriends, Duh, Leather Uppers, Bum Kon and The Roofies.
Recorded right here in SF by Tim Green of the Champs, Hank IV kick out some serious sub-Stooges jams. Simple, bouncy, propulsive, grungy basement RAWK, with looping melodies over stripped down scuzzy stomps, peppered with chunks of angular riffing and gruff howled vocals. These guys must kill live!
MPEG Stream: "Melonhead"
MPEG Stream: "Oyster"
MPEG Stream: "Family Adam"

HANNA, KATHLEEN Julie Ruin (Kill Rock Stars) cd 11.98
Former member of now defunct Bikini Kill breaks out with her own solo album, wherein she makes all the music and vocals. New to her sound is an emphasis on loops and manufactured beats.

HANNIBAL PETERSON AND THE SUNRISE ORCHESTRA Children Of The Fire (Universal Sound) cd 21.00
A long overdue reissue of this lost jazz classic, originally self released in 1974. Hannibal Peterson isn't much of a household name, even among jazzheads, which is a bit odd considering he's played with Roland Kirk, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and loads more. And it's a shame because this record is something else! Beautiful and bizarre. Traditional sounding at times, but quite experimental at others. A lush and tripped out orchestral free jazz with swelling strings, wild and clattery tribal percussion, some killer drumming, all joyful and jubilant, until about halfway through, when the orchestra fades out leaving just the sounds of bombs dropping, wild repetitive piano and a mournful female vocalist wailing operatically, eventually the vocals fade leaving a dense instrumental bed of buzzing sitar, tinkling chimes, fluttering flute, completely tranquil and dreamlike. The nearly twenty minute "Aftermath" though is the sonic centerpiece of the record, the first half a skittering post bop free jazz workout, almost funky in parts, the second half, an elegiac dirge of throbbing bass, moaning cello, wailing trumpet and a sizzling percussive crescendo, with gorgeous plaintive vocal coda.
MPEG Stream: "Rhythm Ritual"
MPEG Stream: "Song Of Life"
MPEG Stream: "The Bombing"

HANNU Worms In My Piano (Osaka) cd 17.98
Oh, how we were hoping this record would actually sound like worms crawling around inside a piano. Besides being a super evocative image, it also would have been the easiest review EVER. "Hannu's Worms In My Piano actually sounds like worms inside a piano..." or whatever. And to be honest, there are a few moments, where maybe it doesn't quite sound like regular worms, but possibly some sort of effervescent alien glowworms slithering up and down gently vibrating strings, like beads of water on one of those weird water lamps your grandma had...
Speaking of your grandma, a lot of this is soft and shimmery, spacey and so relaxed and laid back, not entirely unlike  a more hip Lawrence Welk were he still alive and signed to Type or Carpark. This is most definitely easy listening. So so so so easy... Everything warm and soft, shimmering and glimmering and sparkling like stars in the night sky. Delicate melodies drifting from mysterious music boxes, little prismatic bubbles floating above some space aged ballroom, a tiny toy orchestra playing dreamy lullabies, a last dance on a moonlit dancefloor perched on the edge of a glistening galaxy, the world's slowest and dreamiest post rock band spinning dark drifting soft focus epics, that drift and dissipate like wisps of smoke. 
So dark and delicate and utterly lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Haapevesi"
MPEG Stream: "Junassa"
MPEG Stream: "Sumu"
MPEG Stream: "Suruista Suurin"

HANO, SHOJI 48 (Improvised Music From Japan) cd 17.98
The label that brought us that amazing, massive (and now out of print) Improvised Music From Japan 10-cd wooden boxed set, as well as the zine of the same name, isn't resting there. This solo effort from veteran free jazz drummer Shoji Hano is but one of their latest releases. Shoji Hano has played with the likes of Abe Kaoru, Peter Brotzmann, Toshinori Kondo, Keiji Haino, Derek Bailey, High Rise, Gary Smith, Hugh Hopper, and others -- a resume touching on the extremes of jazz and psychedelic rock. Here he gets pretty extreme all by himself, doing every drummer's dream, a 56 minute drum solo! Actually it's broken into two tracks, of 22 and 34 minutes apiece. He shakes, he rattles, he rolls. It's not exactly Moby Dick, but it's closer than you might think. The sheer scope, the length, of these tracks allow you to almost forget it's just drums you're hearing, it just becomes a sound pattern, constantly varied, energetic yet very controlled. It's like Hano is performing some personal percussive ritual. Cool...but you gotta like drums!!
MPEG Stream: "004"

HANO, SHOJI / GARY SMITH / ASAHITO NANJO s/t (Chronoscope) cd 18.98
British electric improv guitarist Smith (Mass, etc.), and Japanese psych rock bassist Nanjo (High Rise, Mainliner, Musica Transonic, etc.), team up with Japanese free jazz percussionist Shoji Hano (who's worked with Peter Brotzmann, Keiji Haino, & many others). Quite a barrage of beauty and terror results. Yeah, somewhere between jazz and psychedelic rock this is, for fans of both Mass and Musica Transonic for sure.

HANOI ROCKS All Those Wasted Years (Sanctuary) cd 14.98
I went on at great length last list about the late great Hanoi Rocks. So you know how much I love this band. Trashy, punky glam pop from Finland via the UK. An unholy mix of the NY Dolls, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, and the Clash. They effortlessly and perfectly embodied glam metal (bringing T-Rex and Mott the Hoople kicking and screaming into the 80s) and were (unfortunately) responsible for the hundreds of pale imitations, Poison, Motley Crue, Guns and Roses, et al, all falling far short of the mark (see the AQ site for a complete introduction to the joys of Hanoi Rocks).
I never got to see Hanoi Rocks live, but playing live was their thing and on stage they were explosive and totally inspiring. This is their only proper live album (which is taken from the video of the same name) and features roughed up versions of all their hits as well as extended versions of 'Taxi Driver', 'Under My Wheels' (an Alice Cooper cover!) and 'Train Kept-A-Rollin'. Like all their other records, ESSENTIAL.
RealAudio clip: "Taxi Driver"
RealAudio clip: "Under My Wheels"

HANOI ROCKS Back To Mystery City (Castle Music) cd 16.98
I'm beginning to feel like the guy at AQ that tries to convince you it's okay to like those bands that for some reason you are embarassed to like. But if that is my position, then so be it. We had a Hanoi Rocks greatest hits collection a while back, but like with most great bands, the hits aren't necessarily the best songs, and as with most great records, each works as an individual set of songs, that sustain a certain mood and energy for the duration of the record. Here's what I said last time about one of my favorite bands:
Hanoi Rocks, while inadvertently helping to spawn an entire generation of MTV glam rock, managed to create an amazing and varied body of work, from trashy garage stomps to perfect little pop songs. And even with a lot of high profile attention (their drummer was killed by Motley Crue's Vince Neil in a drunk driving accident, a hit with their cover of CCR's 'Up Around The Bend, having their entire catalog reissued on Guns and Roses' label at the height of G&R's popularity) they somehow managed to stay just enough underground to miss the superstardom they so deserved. Their sound was a mix of Stooges style garage rock, good old Beatle-esque pop, and a weird reggae/dub influence most obvious in their rhythm guitar parts and dubby drum lines (like the Clash, who supplied Hanoi Rocks with their replacement bass player when Sam Yaffa moved to America to play in Jetboy). But the bottom line is always the songs, and the songs are catchy as fuck. Trust me, Hanoi Rocks are so good -- don't be swayed by their tenuous connection to the eighties hair bands (even though singer Mike Monroe was way hotter than any of his glam rock contemporaries). And mark my words, I will have Allan singing their praises in no time, even if it kills me, or him.
This is Hanoi Rocks' third and maybe best record and things get decidedly weirder, with the bizarre (and aptly titled) intro 'Strange Boys Play Weird Openings', the rollicking and insane 'Mental Beat', the stumbling chaos of 'Tooting Bec Wreck', the ultra catchy Stooges-like 'Back To Mystery City' and just a non stop barrage of fucking great songs: 'Malibu Beach Nightmare', 'Until I Get You', 'Lick Summer Love', 'Sailing Down The Tears' and more.
RealAudio clip: "Back To Mystery City"
RealAudio clip: "Mental Beat"
RealAudio clip: "Tooting Bec Wreck"

HANOI ROCKS Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks (Castle Music) cd 16.98
I'm beginning to feel like the guy at AQ that tries to convince you it's okay to like those bands that for some reason you are embarassed to like. But if that is my position, then so be it. We had a Hanoi Rocks greatest hits collection a while back, but like with most great bands, the hits aren't necessarily the best songs, and as with most great records, each works as an individual set of songs, that sustain a certain mood and energy for the duration of the record. Here's what I said last time about one of my favorite bands:
Hanoi Rocks, while inadvertently helping to spawn an entire generation of MTV glam rock, managed to create an amazing and varied body of work, from trashy garage stomps to perfect little pop songs. And even with a lot of high profile attention (their drummer was killed by Motley Crue's Vince Neil in a drunk driving accident, a hit with their cover of CCR's 'Up Around The Bend, having their entire catalog reissued on Guns and Roses' label at the height of G&R's popularity) they somehow managed to stay just enough underground to miss the superstardom they so deserved. Their sound was a mix of Stooges style garage rock, good old Beatle-esque pop, and a weird reggae/dub influence most obvious in their rhythm guitar parts and dubby drum lines (like the Clash, who supplied Hanoi Rocks with their replacement bass player when Sam Yaffa moved to America to play in Jetboy). But the bottom line is always the songs, and the songs are catchy as fuck. Trust me, Hanoi Rocks are so good, don't be swayed by their tenuous connection to the eighties hair bands (even though singer Mike Monroe was way hotter than any of his glam rock contemporaries). And mark my words, I will have Allan singing their praises in no time, even if it kills me, or him. These reissues are remastered, have tons of photos and really great and extensive liner notes.
'Bangkok Shocks' was Hanoi Rocks debut and starts off with possibly two of their best songs, 'Tragedy', all chunky guitars and falsetto backup vocals, and 'Village Girl', probably my favorite Hanoi Rocks songs. A perfect pop song, ultra catchy chorus, unforgettable riff, and a weird dubby rhythm.
RealAudio clip: "Tragedy"
RealAudio clip: "Village Girl"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Never Leave Me"

HANOI ROCKS Decadent, Dangerous, Delicious (Castle) 2cd 18.98
"File under Sleaze/Junk." If you buy this you will make a very sad man very very happy. This purports to be a collection of "The Best of" Hanoi Rocks--but it's only 2 cds? How's that possible...?
Now that Allan is finished (for now) being a sarcastic bastard, i will once again defend one of my all time favorite bands.
Hanoi Rocks, while inadvertently helping to spawn an entire generation of MTV glam rock, managed to create an amazing and varied body of work, from trashy garage stomps to perfect little pop songs. And even with a lot of high profile attention (their drummer was killed by Motley Crue's Vince Neil in a drunk driving accident, a hit with their cover of CCR's 'Up Around The Bend, having their entire catalog reissued on Guns and Roses' label at the height of G&R's popularity) they somehow managed to stay just enough underground to miss the superstardom they so deserved. Their sound was a mix of Stooges style garage rock, good old Beatle-esque pop, and a weird reggae/dub influence most obvious in their rhythm guitar parts and dubby drum lines (like the Clash, who supplied Hanoi Rocks with their replacement bass player when Sam Yaffa moved to America to play in Jetboy). But the bottom line is always the songs, and the songs here are catchy as fuck, from the mournful piano driven 'Dead by Christmas', to the rollicking 'Problem Child', to the impossibly catchy 'Village Girl'. Trust me, this is so good, don't be swayed by their tenuous connection to the eighties hair bands. Although singer Mike Monroe was way hotter than any of his contemporaries. And mark my words, I will have Allan singing their praises in no time, even if it kills me, or him.

HANOI ROCKS Lean On Me (Sanctuary) cd 12.98
'Lean On Me' is a singles /rarities collection that was originally released in 1992 (shortly after the death of Razzle, and after an aborted attempt at Hanoi Rocks mk. 2 with the Clash's Terry Chimes failing to fill Razzle's shoes).
This one's mostly for the Hanoi completists, seeing as half the tracks are previously released. But it's awfully exciting to finally hear 7 unearthed, unreleased rarities, some of them outtakes from their last record and major label debut. 'Two Steps From The Move'. And as with all outtakes collections, some of the tracks should have maybe remained unreleased, but most of them are pretty great, and all of them are a welcome addition to the Hanoi Rocks canon, some of the most vibrant and under appreciated rock and roll of the last 25 years.
RealAudio clip: "Oriental Beat"
RealAudio clip: "Menaced By Nightengales"
RealAudio clip: "Fast Car"

HANOI ROCKS Oriental Beat (Sanctuary) cd 14.98
'Oriental Beat' is Hanoi Rocks' second record and the line up still featured their original drummer Gyp Casino (who would be replaced by Razzle a year later, and Razzle would of course be killed in an automobile accident with Vince Neil which would effectively end the band) and contains some of their best songs. While the ususal trashy blues/glam numbers were still present (Lightnin' Bar Blues, Oriental Beat) this is basically an ultra catchy pop record, maybe the poppiest record of the lot. 'Motorvatin' and 'Don't Follow Me' should have been all over the radio. Same with 'Teenangels Outsiders' and 'Sweet Home Suburbia'. Christ, they're all perfect. This whole record is chock full of catchy as fuck, glam-pop masterpieces. I feel like this may have been a lot of fans' least favorite, but if you're a pop kid, you should check this out.
RealAudio clip: "Motorvatin'"
RealAudio clip: "Don't Follow Me"
RealAudio clip: "Teenangels Outsiders"

HANOI ROCKS Self Destruction Blues (Castle Music) cd 16.98
I'm beginning to feel like the guy at AQ that tries to convince you it's okay to like those bands that for some reason you are embarassed to like. But if that is my position, then so be it. We had a Hanoi Rocks greatest hits collection a while back, but like with most great bands, the hits aren't necessarily the best songs, and as with most great records, each works as an individual set of songs, that sustain a certain mood and energy for the duration of the record. Here's what I said last time about one of my favorite bands:
Hanoi Rocks, while inadvertently helping to spawn an entire generation of MTV glam rock, managed to create an amazing and varied body of work, from trashy garage stomps to perfect little pop songs. And even with a lot of high profile attention (their drummer was killed by Motley Crue's Vince Neil in a drunk driving accident, a hit with their cover of CCR's 'Up Around The Bend, having their entire catalog reissued on Guns and Roses' label at the height of G&R's popularity) they somehow managed to stay just enough underground to miss the superstardom they so deserved. Their sound was a mix of Stooges style garage rock, good old Beatle-esque pop, and a weird reggae/dub influence most obvious in their rhythm guitar parts and dubby drum lines (like the Clash, who supplied Hanoi Rocks with their replacement bass player when Sam Yaffa moved to America to play in Jetboy). But the bottom line is always the songs, and the songs are catchy as fuck. Trust me, Hanoi Rocks are so good, don't be swayed by their tenuous connection to the eighties hair bands (even though singer Mike Monroe was way hotter than any of his glam rock contemporaries). And mark my words, I will have Allan singing their praises in no time, even if it kills me, or him.
'Self Destruction Blues' was a compilation of unreleased material released to give the band time to rehearse/write with new drummer Razzle. But even as an odds and ends collection, this is an amazingly tight collection. Features possibly their most famous song (and everyone's favorite live tune) 'Taxi Driver' as well as another unbeatable batch of trashy, catchy songs, including the hauntingly beautiful and mildly creepy 'Dead By Xmas' which seemd to hint at Razzle's premature death.
RealAudio clip: "Love's An Injection"
RealAudio clip: "Kill City"
RealAudio clip: "Dead By Xmas"

HANOI ROCKS Twelve Shots On The Rocks (Liquor And Poker Music) cd 15.98
I definitely had mixed emotions about the return of Hanoi Rocks, one of my favorite bands EVER. These sort of resurrections rarely end up being positive, with bands WAY behind their prime trying desparately to reclaim the fame and glory and postition in rock's hierarchy that was once theirs. It's not so rough with a band like Hanoi Rocks though, who never really received the acclaim they deserved. But then of course there's the fear that the world will catch on and LOVE the new record with no understanding of how great they once were. -sigh- Anyway, enough with my music nerdisms, I'm just glad there's a new Hanoi Rocks record, and while it's of course not as good as classic Hanoi Rocks, it's pretty darn kick ass, and way heavier than they ever sounded. The Stones and the New York Dolls and the Clash filtered through Guns And Roses and T-Rex, all bluesy guitars, harmonica solos, Mike Monroe's instantly recognizable vocals, sax solos (!), and some decently catchy songs. The most amazing part is how much they haven't changed in 2o years, which in this case is a good thing! But if you're new to Hanoi Rocks, start with Back To Mystery City or Oriental Beat or any of their original releases!
MPEG Stream: "Obscured"
MPEG Stream: "Bad News"

HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABINET Another Miserable Day (Ultra Eczema) lp 25.00
Brand new record from SF weirdos Hans Grusel's Krankenkabinet, who according to most reliable sources include members of SF underground rock institution Caroliner Rainbow. Which makes sense when you see them live. Caroliner would perform amidst wild hand made cardboard and foam landscapes, whereas Hans Grusel perform with huge wooden houses on their heads, like a suburban Residents.
This latest disc is a brain melting chunk of avant what-the-fuck dada-esque soundscaping, pulsing underwater rhythms, lots of kitcheny clatter (sounding at times like a pots and pans This Heat), dolphin sounds processed into creeped out soundscapes, bits of shouting and wheezing music boxes, tapespeed warble and confusional stretches of atonal sonic collage. Just a synapse frying blast of gurgle and grind and hiss and drone and crunch and creak, like someone dosed Nurse With Wound and let Stapleton and company wander in some abandoned music shop armed with hammers, microcassette recorders and huge wooden houses to wear on their heads. Weird and wonderfully damaged.
It's not so much like staring into a funhouse mirror, it's more like bashing your head against it over and over and over until it shatters and you can finally see and hear exactly what strange things exist on the other side.
Pressed on thick clear vinyl and housed in a HUGE 6 panel fold out poster sleeve, one side adorned with angry anthropomorphic houses, the inside, those same houses rendered in full color, given bodies, and allowed to roam and misbehave in an eyepopping, bad trip, small town landscape!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABINET Happy As Pitch (C.I.P.) cd 11.98
More bizarre, musical macrame from the peculiar German gent known as Hansel Urnst Grusel! Happy As Pitch could easily be retitled When Wind-Up Toys Go 'Wrong'. While there's probably not any actual toys involved in Hans Grusel's Krankenkabinet, the assortment of drunken plinkety plonks, itchy clickety clacks, disgruntled grindings and dizzying whooshes sure bring them to mind. Played out on such instruments as a Resonator Neuronium and a Steim Crackelbox as well as more conventional horns, strings 'n' woodwinds and a battalion of analog synthesizers, The Krankenkabinet's compositions are mostly kookily tweaked roamings, punctuated by an occasional more menacing moment. Guest players include Liz Allbee on trumpet and Graham Connah on Moog Source Solo.
MPEG Stream: "Comb Parade"
MPEG Stream: "Tea For Two"

HANSEN, AL Andy Warhol Attentat Sound (? Records) cd 22.00
Probably better known for his famous pop-star progeny (that's Beck Hansen to you), Al Hansen is one of the grandaddys of the Fluxus movement. This is a collage of 1986 recordings by the "New York City Audio/Visual Group." Figures like Gerard Malanga, Angus MacLise, Valerie Solanas, Warhol are called out and memorialized with absurb little cut-up poems.

HANSSON & KARLSSON s/t (Polydor) cd 22.00
The late '60s Swedish power duo of Bosse Hansson (Hammond organ) & Janne Karlsson (drums), though having slipped into relative obscurity, were once a legend -- and rightfully so. Not only did Jimi Hendrix seek them out when on tour in Europe, jamming with them and watching them play, but even covered one of their songs -- "Tax Free". Legend has it that Bosse Hansson, trained as a guitarist, forsook his instrument for the organ after seeing Jack McDuff play and was booking himself gigs with it after playing for merely three days! Listening to his playing, it's really hard to believe he wasn't trained as not just a pianist, but an organist. Hansson, using a double manual Hammond B-3 organ, is truly brilliant in his handling of the instrument; alternating chords and melody between both manuals, playing the bass line with the foot pedals and breathing life into the damn thing with swells and stop effects. Along with Karlsson's drumming they produce such a full sound it's difficult to imagine only two people are playing. Plus, the tunes they belt out are fucking kick ASS to boot. Rocking jams that, though obviously influenced by blues and jazz, are truly unique in the realm of organ rock. There's spontaneity and energy enough, but the two never lose their grip on the structure of their songs, never meander into gratuitous improv nonsense. Part of their ability to keep things tight while still vibrant is the way they rehearsed songs, by improvising in the studio until structures became apparent to the two and then building songs out of the results. This cd is a compilation gathered from Hansson & Karlsson's three albums and one single that they recorded between 1967 and 1969. The cd comes packaged with a 15 page interview with Hansson & Karlsson conducted in 1997. Certainly, if for no other reason, organ fans -- ie: Jimmy Smith et al -- MUST own this. Interested folks wanting to follow Hansson's career are directed to our review of his later "Lord of the Rings" solo album.
RealAudio clip: "Tax Free"
RealAudio clip: "I Love, You Love"

HANSSON, BO Music Inspired By Watership Down (Virgin) cd 16.98

HANSSON, BO The Lord of the Rings (Virgin / Silence) cd 17.98
There's so many reasons to love this record. Here's two: (1) it's about the Lord of the Rings! and (2) it's a beautiful, timeless album of psychedelic instrumental music worth listening to even if you don't know Gandalf from Frodo. So lovely. It's a big fave of most of us here at AQ. (Oh, a third reason would be that it was the first release on Sweden's Silence label, and sold quite well, helping them bring the world such essential psych as International Harvester and Algarnas Tradgard later on!)
Previously we've stocked the One Way label version of this, but now, no doubt thanks to the success of the LOTR movie, there's a newly remastered edition on Virgin that's got not only nicer packaging but also a previously unreleased bonus track! No information is given about that over eight minute long bonus track, but it's called "Early Sketches From Middle Earth" and sounds like a demo of themes later used on the album proper. This is what we wrote about the disc before:
Many of you already know and love Bjorn Olsson's atmospheric "Instrumentalmusik" cd which Omplatten released a couple years ago. What you may not know -- we didn't -- is that Olsson's album was essentially an homage to the work of fellow Swede, '70s prog/jazz/psych keyboardist Bo Hansson, and specifically his fantastic 1970 album "Sagan Om Ringen" or "The Lord of the Rings" (itself an homage to Tolkien's trilogy). Bo Hansson, together with a group of three other musicians -- percussion, saxophone & flute -- make the music. Bo plays organ along with guitar, bass and moog. The tracks, all instrumental, are lovely atmospheric numbers, reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, or similar kosmiche krautrock of the era. The album doesn't necessarily make you think of hobbits and orcs, there's no overt "fantasy/medieval" themes or anything (it's not like German pomp metal band Blind Guardian's version of the Silmarillion!). But it does capture the otherworldly, pastoral feel of Tolkien's work. Indeed, it would be appropriate to call this album magical...whether you're a Tolkien fan or not you should check it out! Recommended.
It's just too bad that Peter Jackson didn't use any of this music in his otherwise amazing LOTR film adaption! Now if only they'd reissue Hansson's "Watership Down" album as well...
RealAudio clip: "Leaving Shire"
RealAudio clip: "Lothlorien"

HAPPY DAYS Melancholic Memories (Midwinter) cd 14.98
Once again, we were sold before we heard even a single note. A super suicidal, ultra depressive, doomy black metal bedroom band calledŠ Happy Days. Yep, that's right. Happy Days. Funny because the music is anything but, but also because, for a band this grim, and this miserable, it seems strange to have a name that to some will no doubt evoke the Fonz and Potsie and Richie Cunningham.
But don't let the name throw you off, Happy Days are not a joke band, they are nothing if not serious. Serious about their utter abject musical misery, from the opening few seconds, a lugubrious loop of mournful reverbed piano, set amidst a deep shimmering sea of drones, and an emotional voice, intoning a tale of personal misery. Super dramatic and powerful, and so so so so miserable.
But that track only serves as an intro. "The BeginningŠ" starts with a simple guitar melody, which gives way to a spare melancholy strum, peppered with samples from Fight Club oddly enough, and although Brad Pitt is probably the last person you might expect to hear on a suicidal black metal record, removed from the context of the film, those spoken word passages are indeed bleak and perfectly suit the music. That voice intones: "Our Great Depression is our livesŠ" and then the guitar kicks in, recorded way too hot, the distortion crumbling, a furious fuzz, the drums also distorted, wound into a simple moody crawl, the vocals totally blown out and confusional, going from maniacal shriek, to caustic growl, to strange spoken word, in what seems to be both English and Norwegian, all over a gloriously loping minor key dirge.
The final three tracks, the bulk of the record, are all extended epics, ranging from 10 minutes to nearly 20. And all three offer up more gloriously dismal Burzumic buzz, the drums a doomy plod, the riffs, thick and crunchy, existing more as a nearly static white noise whirled blur, the sound and arrangement and production, woozy and seasick, the vocals over the top, sometimes so loud and hysterical they peg the meters and drown out the rest of the music, even the spoken word parts are super distorted and strangely blown out. The riffs, seems to speed up and slow down as well, almost like the tape speed is being subtly adjusted, which only adds to the haunting otherworldiness.
The sound is ultra raw, and definitely has that bedroom 4-track vibe, giving Happy Days a sound more personal and lo-fi than heavy, but the heaviness is still masterfully conveyed in the sound, the riffing, the super saturated production, the emotion. Miserable abject hateful, but weirdly melancholy and beautiful, a few subtle changes, and this could be a blissed out slow motion sadcore record, but as it is, it's anything but.
The final track is a cover of a song by Czech black metal band Trist, whose sound easily becomes Happy Days', the recording here even more damaged, the guitar so hot and in the red, that it seems to be crumbling to pieces, or the speakers seem to be overloading, making it sound almost electronic, a chopped and clipped distorted chunk of white hot buzz, laid over a framework of equally distorted drums, a lurching slow motion buzz drenched plod, the vocals at their most anguished and miserable. The sound so fractured, that over the course of the song's 10 minutes, it almost stops sounding like black metal, and more like some experimental blackened buzzscape.
Really nice packaging, extra thick cardstock booklet and tray card, spare images, all blacks and greys, it's a real cd too, NOT a cd-r, but still strangely limited to ONLY 300 COPIES!! So odds are once we run out these will be gone for good.
MPEG Stream: "Drowning Razorblades"
MPEG Stream: "The Beginning..."
MPEG Stream: "Neglect..."

HAPPY DRAGON-BAND, THE s/t (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another Radioactive reissued rarity, and possibly one of the best yet. Oooh, we've got a weird one here. Seriously. But very cool we think. Didn't know what to expect from the whimsical band name and front cover artwork, but it wouldn't have been *this* anyway! The first track, "3-D, Free" starts things off pretty freaky with spacey vocal effects and a lethargic reggae beat, with heartfelt lyrics, singing lines like "I saw police shooting rats". It's reprised later at the end of the album in an even more wigged out "electronic" version. This is definitely psychedelic rock music, but also very futuristic for its time (circa 1977-1978), hinting at new wave/punk. With track two, "Positive People", things get even more Devo. And it doesn't get any more normal as it goes. Capt. Beefheart also seems to be at this party... weird weird weird. But these folks have a knack for melody amist the madness.
The Happy Dragon-Band was the work of one Tommy "The Happy Dragon" Court, who had previously released a now almost as obscure album on Capitol in 1974 as Phantom's Divine Comedy. Never heard it but we're told it's very Doors-ish and mysterious. Loading up on the synths (some very John Carpenter synths) and electronic effects and employing the services of multiple musicans and vocalists besides himself, Tommy's idea of a comeback a few years later was this quite odd band/album/project. Huh? Well, this just might have been a bit ahead of its time... or something. Ultimately, though, it's very original and, to us now, pretty darn cool.
What other precedents can we cite, or comparisons can we make? Zappa? Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come? a seriously dosed Andrew Lloyd Webber? Early Alice Cooper? Late Comus? Zolar-X? The Dreamies? Perrey-Kingsley? A back-from-the-future Ariel Pink?? With sizzling electronics, spacey effects, madhouse vocal choruses, definite hooks, serious psychological/cosmic moods, constant pitchshifting in the vocal dept, and song titles like "Astro Phunk", "Inside The Pyramid" and "Disco American", maybe there are no easy comparisons... All ten tracks have their unique charms. A chaotic, confusing, eccentric and yet (im)possibly brilliant and quite enjoyable piece of work!
MPEG Stream: "3-D, Free"
MPEG Stream: "Positive People"
MPEG Stream: "In Flight"

HAPPY FLOWERS 20th Anniversary Live (Lost Frog) d-r 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Boy do we have a soft spot for Mr. Anus and Mr. Horribly Charred Infant. Otherwise known as the Happy Flowers. Most of you in your thirties (like most of us) grew up on classic college radio, loving everything on Merge, Homestead, Matador, Amphetamine Reptile, Touch And Go, Ajax, bands like Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, the Frogs, Bastro, Squirrel Bait, Killdozer and of course the HAPPY FLOWERS! for those of you who are either too young, or somehow missed out, the Happy Flowers were two guys who recorded totally improvised noise drenched records that explored the subtle nuances of being a kid, and all the pain that that entailed. The music was an ear blasting, exercise in chaotic noise, no riffs or melodies, just thick slabs of guitarnoise, feedback, and scabbling, scraping, squealing, while over the top, the duo screamed and shouted heartbreaking tales of toddler and teenage terror, "They Cleaned My Cut Out With A Wire Brush", "Mom And Dad Like The Baby More Than Me", "Charlie Got A Haircut", "More Mittens", "If This Gun Were Real (I Could Shoot You And Sleep In The Big Bed With Mommy)" and the legendary "Mom, I Gave The Cat Some Acid." Warped wailing brutality, an acquired taste for sure, but how could you not loved these guys. Totally giving the middle finger to the more 'typical' bands of the day, finding strange fans (James McNew of Yo La Tengo was a member at once point) and creating a truly infamous body of work. So, imagine how totally geeked we were to discover Mr Horribly Charred Infant was a mailorder customer of ours!!! We had a massive music nerd meltdown.
Anyway, back in 2004, Mr. Anus and Mr. HCI reunited for a 20th anniversary reuinion show, at the Tokyo Rose in Charlottesville, Virginia and before a small but appropriately worshipful crowd, they proceeded to totally and utterly destroy. Joined on stage by drummer Mike Malinin (from the Goo Goo Dolls, we kid you not!) the 2004 version of the Happy Flowers was a totally different beast (reflecting the later more refined hardcore side of the Flowers), songs that were just ear splitting smears of nasty noise, became pumelling hardcore jams, free noise freakouts got pinned down by the pounding drums and sheets of guitarnoise became actual riffs, and the band ripped through revamped versions of all their classics. They even revisit their unlikely version of Big Star's "Thirteen"! Who would of thought the Happy Flowers would ever try anything like that. But it works and totally kills. Well shot, the sound is great, the between song banter is a blast, makes me kick myself for missing it. Thankfully we managed to get a handful of these DVD-r's, released on Japanese label Lost Frog, and limited to only 100 copies, so act fast, or prepare to be very very disappointed. Insert and cover art by Mr. Anus.
Shhhhh... but rumour has it that our own Andee has been talking with Mr. Horribly Charred Infant about the possibility of some sort of Happy Flowers boxset, but that's all we're at liberty to say right now...

HAPPY MEAL Matarte (Pajaro Sound Foundation) cd 8.98
This is a MEAL! This punk ass band (and pals of ours) from the town of Watsonville, California are a bunch of snotty creeps with twisted visions of landlords on fire and yuppies being run through the wheat thresher! Their sound is part Public Image Limited (with dubbed out guitars, pounding percussion and general bad attitude) and part Big Black (angular, dark and more bad bad attitude). They hate rich people, they hate meansters, and they are annoying as fuck to see live. Happy Meal is fronted by twin brothers, known only as American Cream (guitar and vocals) and Harinjneesh Al Chone (bass and vocals). If you see them live, they will make fun of you!!! They also write amazing songs! The first track, after the rap station skit intro, is "Kathy". Has a catchier more riffradical song ever been written? You will have to buy this record to find out! The rest of the album is equally killer. Jagged but melodious guitar lines, throbbingly fucked up bass patterns and two little twerps screaming about making pipe bombs and selling weed to the cops. Watsonville's Most Wanted! Also, every cd is garnished with a hilarious comic street by bass-man Al Chone. Why? Happy Meal.
MPEG Stream: "Kathy"
MPEG Stream: "Cruelty-Free Solutions"

HAPSHASH AND THE COLOURED COAT s/t (Akarma) cd 13.98