I AM SPOONBENDER 'Blue Print' Poster (IAS) poster 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited edition large poster screenprinted on blueprint paper - so each is one-of-a-kind! Features the face of Crack: We Are Rock member Erin. Designed by Slang (who's responsible for a number of other stunning, highly covetted, non-paper posters for SF artists like Church Steps, Sounds Of The Barbary Coast, Kit Clayton, and O.S.T. go to: www.slanginternational.org).

I AM SPOONBENDER 'Telepathic Antiquity' Poster (2nd North American Tour, 2003) (IAS) poster 4.98
These limited edition posters were designed by IAS (imaginatively illustrated by Cup!) for their 2nd North American tour, 2003. 'Hair Is Real', indeed. Very few copies remain. 11"x17" heavy paperstock.

I AM SPOONBENDER 1" logo button (IAS) button 1.00
1" button: uniquely shiny chrome with black print of the band's head-bending-fork logo.

I AM SPOONBENDER 1" three forkmen button (IAS) button 1.00
1" button: uniquely shiny chrome with black print of the Teletwin logo.

I AM SPOONBENDER 1.25" Buy Hidden Persuaders button (IAS) button 2.00
A brand new IAS 1.25" button to go with their brand new album! Uniquely shiny chrome with black print of the 'magic/magnetic hand' image from the front cover of their Buy Hidden Persuaders limited edition album (based on a poster design by gig poster artist Lil Tuffy!).

I AM SPOONBENDER Buy Hidden Persuaders - Special Limited Edition (Mesmer Detector Ltd.) cd 13.98
By the time this is read, I Am Spoonbender will have played their first show in 3 years. A meticulously planned and extensively elaborate sonic and visual feast for the eyes and the ears. In honor of this rare and long overdue live performance, IAS have made a limited cd pressing of their latest full length album, which was previously only available as a cd-quality free download from their website. It too is meticulous and elaborate, sonically and visually!
From the beginning, IAS (featuring AQ's own Cup, it must be said) have always had their feet planted firmly outside the traditional trappings of what it means to be a band. Instead, they are more aligned with the tradition of performance art and ongoing dialogue, which sometimes takes the shape of albums and songs while other times is expressed through imagery, mirrors, card sets, film scores, and their psychedelic 1.1.1 alter-ego.
Buy Hidden Persuaders finds IAS in the unique position of being both avant-minded yet so immediate and musical. They are an all-encompassing group who can turn on a dime from artful tech-y prog ("ESPionage" and "Project Spellbinder") to unhinged contortions ("Chapped Lip Hypnotist") to evocative abstracted atmospherics (So, It Turns Out That Life Was A Movie They Saw?") to kaleidoscopic pop (the lovelorn "Three Folded Words", the vigorous puzzling "Love Of The Evolved" and the dreamy "Meeting Yourself: I'm You") to all of it all at once ("Dear Mirror - Who Are We Now?"). With conviction and agility, they craft a music so rife with futuristic undertones, personal reflections and oh so undeniable melodies. Elements of electronic prog greats Heldon and prime-time Gary Numan may still be integral threads in the IAS fabric, but the group's sound is entirely their own. Following their 3-song ep Shown Actual Size which favored more electronic sounding percussion, this album marks the return of sorts of vocalist and multi-instrumentist Dustin Donaldson's intricately geometric complexities on an acoustic drum set which were arguably the keystones of their early releases and which have drawn comparisons to Jaki Leibezeit and Bill Bruford. BHP (which is presented in three chapters or stages -- 1. You Have Been Suggested, 2. Penetrate To Deeper Levels, and 3. Slowly replaced In Mirrors) is the sound of a new propaganda created by examining the effects on the psyche of the onslaught of insidious images and ideas, the ones we are bombarded with on a daily basis. BHP fights fire with fire, or more specifically with a driving and rhythmic musical flame much like the trick candles on a birthday cake that refuse to ever go out. Inextinguishable, it will burn images and ideas into your mind until you're armed with new questions, and no simple answers. A contagious conflagration and confrontation in musical form.
Presented in a special lp-sized gatefold (with cover art based on a poster design by gig poster artist Lil Tuffy!), with their trademark immaculate packaging and filled with stream of consciousness text that further underscores their ongoing desire to create, illuminate and compel. Very limited pressing of 500 so don't blink...
MPEG Stream: "Which Brand Are You?"
MPEG Stream: "The Drug Companies Did A Good Job"
MPEG Stream: "ESPionage"

I AM SPOONBENDER limited edition 1.5" tour button (IAS) button 2.00
Limited edition 1.5" button: uniquely shiny chrome with black print of the phrase "I went to see I Am Spoonbender and all I got were memories."

I AM SPOONBENDER limited edition mirror (IAS) mirror 2.98
Back in stock! An unexpected I Am Spoonbender object for your multidimensional delight and reflection. It's a limited edition 2.25" circular mirror! These were formerly only available from the group at their performances and have been long long gone. However, to commemorate the release of their latest album Buy Hidden Persuaders which has mirror themes running throughout, IAS have made a fresh batch. We've got a small quantity here at aQ. The back is imprinted in black with their logo and the phrase "this is a 2 way mirror" (Who is on the other side? And where are they watching from?) on the same sleekly unique chrome finish as their 1" buttons. Perfectly stylin' and perfectly handy.

I AM SPOONBENDER Plastic Lips (Contact) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ultra-super-limited pressing of this Japanese import only available in the U.S. from us here at AQ. Features two songs: the A-side is a retitled "Replaced By Toys" from their first album "Sender/Receiver" now called "Plastic Lips" The exclusive B-side is an electro-op-pop cover of the wonderful Young Marble Giants' song "Searching For Mr. Right"! Note: if you're quick like a bunny you might even get one of the extra-ultra-super-limited number of these that were pressed on white vinyl. Definitely buy now or cry later.

I AM SPOONBENDER Sender / Receiver (Gold Standard Laboratories / Mint) cd 11.98
The debut album from the San Francisco avantgardists I Am Spoonbender is quite a brilliant fare, in which the telephone operates as metaphor to semiological, aural, and sidereal transmissions (Andee's interpretation: "They sing into phones"). But this object finds itself in need of repair, disrupting and re-interpreting the original signals of This Heat and Gary Numan into mutant grooves propelled by Dustin Donaldson's post-Jaki Leibezeit percussion and Brian Jackson's prog bass angularity. On top of all of this rhythmic disruption, Cup's delicate vocal / synth melodies fall somewhere in between the tropes of late '70s new wave and Nurse With Wound's Soliloquy For Lilith. Yeah, I already run the risk of making this review far more advanced than it really need be, so I say that this -- the aural equivalent of Avital Ronell's Telephone Book -- is one of my favorite records of the year. No shit.


MPEG Stream: "Replaced By Toys"
MPEG Stream: "Waking Dream Seance"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Knife Miss Fork "

I AM SPOONBENDER Sender / Receiver Picture Disc (Gold Standard Laboratories) lp 19.98
We have the scant few remaining copies of this now out-of-print vinyl release!! 'Twas the first and only time on vinyl, and in the form of a beautiful picture disc at that!
The only thing that is missing from this version of I Am Spoonbender's first full length is the epic final track "Mr. Knife Miss Fork". Unfortunately due to the time constraints of the vinyl format, the track simply would no fit. Nevertheless even without the final track, the debut album from the San Francisco avantgardists I Am Spoonbender is quite a brilliant fare, in which the telephone operates as metaphor to semiological, aural, and sidereal transmissions (Andee's interpretation: "They sing into phones."). But this object finds itself in need of repair, disrupting and re-interpreting the original signals of This Heat and Gary Numan into mutant grooves propelled by Dustin Donaldson's post-Jaki Leibezeit percussion and Brian Jackson's prog bass angularity. On top of all of this rhythmic disruption, Cup's delicate vocal / synth melodies fall somewhere in between the tropes of late '70s new wave and Nurse With Wound's Soliloquy For Lilith. Yeah, I already run the risk of making this review far more advanced than it really need be, so I say that this -- the aural equivalent of Avital Ronell's Telephone Book -- is one of my favorite records of the year. No shit. Limited pressing.
MPEG Stream: "Replaced By Toys"
MPEG Stream: "Waking Dream Seance"

I AM SPOONBENDER Shown Actual Size (Gold Standard Laboratories) cd ep 10.98
During the two years between I Am Spoonbender's Teletwin EP and the Shown Actual Size 3-song EP, electro-revivalism -- or perhaps better known as the stupid cliche 'electroclash' (who's fighting anyway?) -- has commerically peaked and artistically self-destructed. Once a succinct manifestation of perfectly machined rhythms and plastic passion with an android sheen (e.g. Kraftwerk / Adult.), electro-revivalism is now just a vapid stylistic coke dream of robot sex and perfectly coiffed hair. Indeed, occasionally-mistaken-for-electroclash I Am Spoonbender have developed a tight, very flashy live persona complete with choreographed lighting, op-art film references, and sharp stagewear. However, there is a difference: beneath their 'total environment' agenda, IAS remain dedicated to crafting a unique avant-pop homunculus out of the same overall creative mind-set as This Heat, Laurie Anderson, Throbbing Gristle and Gary Numan. Perhaps alternately stated, IAS strive to rock without guitars. Has being peripherally involved with 'electro' simply been a convenient vehicle for IAS to attain some of their goals -- art? popularity? world domination? all of the above??
That said, Shown Actual Size actually is the most straightforward sounding release from I Am Spoonbender. Acoustic drums are replaced this time by Dustin Donaldson playing an electronic drumkit. The usually predominantly instrumental songs are this time centered upon the vocal duets of Donaldson and Cup fronting punchy synthetic grooves and metronomic electrical sparks. These two voices bounce between fractured narratives that not only imply a humanistic optimism about extracting meaning out of miscommunication, but also a cautiousness towards the technologies which may be complicating the lives that they seek to improve. IAS are clearly NOT electroclash, as they value musicality over fashion. Hopefully, more material will soon follow these far too brief 13 minutes.
The album cover is a vintage '70s Hipgnosis piece, used here -- with enthusiastic permission -- from Storm Thorgerson, the man behind the design firm responsible for the images of many legendary album covers (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and tons more).
Mixed by Skinny Puppy's Ken Marshall with IAS.
Oh yeah, the bass guitar on Shown Actual Size is played by Dave Edwardson of Neurosis!

MPEG Stream: "I Went And Had My Knives Sharpened"
MPEG Stream: "Remover-Installer"
MPEG Stream: "Re-Dial Meant Remember"

I AM SPOONBENDER Shown Actual Size (Gold Standard Laboratories) 12" 9.98
During the two years between I Am Spoonbender's Teletwin EP and the Shown Actual Size 3-song EP, electro-revivalism -- or perhaps better known as the stupid cliche 'electroclash' (who's fighting anyway?) -- has commerically peaked and artistically self-destructed. Once a succinct manifestation of perfectly machined rhythms and plastic passion with an android sheen (e.g. Kraftwerk / Adult.), electro-revivalism is now just a vapid stylistic coke dream of robot sex and perfectly coiffed hair. Indeed, occasionally-mistaken-for-electroclash I Am Spoonbender have developed a tight, very flashy live persona complete with choreographed lighting, op-art film references, and sharp stagewear. However, there is a difference: beneath their 'total environment' agenda, IAS remain dedicated to crafting a unique avant-pop homunculus out of the same overall creative mind-set as This Heat, Laurie Anderson, Throbbing Gristle and Gary Numan. Perhaps alternately stated, IAS strive to rock without guitars. Has being peripherally involved with 'electro' simply been a convenient vehicle for IAS to attain some of their goals -- art? popularity? world domination? all of the above??
That said, Shown Actual Size actually is the most straightforward sounding release from I Am Spoonbender. Acoustic drums are replaced this time by Dustin Donaldson playing an electronic drumkit. The usually predominantly instrumental songs are this time centered upon the vocal duets of Donaldson and Cup fronting punchy synthetic grooves and metronomic electrical sparks. These two voices bounce between fractured narratives that not only imply a humanistic optimism about extracting meaning out of miscommunication, but also a cautiousness towards the technologies which may be complicating the lives that they seek to improve. IAS are clearly NOT electroclash, as they value musicality over fashion. Hopefully, more material will soon follow these far too brief 13 minutes.
The album cover is a vintage '70s Hipgnosis piece, used here -- with enthusiastic permission -- from Storm Thorgerson, the man behind the design firm responsible for the images of many legendary album covers (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and tons more).
Mixed by Skinny Puppy's Ken Marshall with IAS.
Oh yeah, the bass guitar on Shown Actual Size is played by Dave Edwardson of Neurosis!
MPEG Stream: "I Went And Had My Knives Sharpened"
MPEG Stream: "Remover-Installer"
MPEG Stream: "Re-Dial Meant Remember"

I AM SPOONBENDER Spoonbender Sleep Research Team: 'Hypnotic Trance Pamphlet' - Series 1 (Seismic Seance) card set 9.98
'you have been suggested': This is the 1st of 3 in a series of what I Am Spoonbender call 'Hypnotic Trance Pamphlets' -- sort of an 'Oblique Strategies' for the memetic engineering mindset. Ten 2" by 3" cards unique to each series, imprinted with an array of provocative IAS word/image concepts, thoughts and musings enclosed in a hand-numbered red vellum envelope. Tres sublime. Each edition will be limited to 333 copies. When I snap my fingers, you will not snooze on this...

I AM SPOONBENDER Spoonbender Sleep Research Team: 'Hypnotic Trance Pamphlet' - Series 2 (Seismic Seance) card set 9.98
This is the 2nd series of 'Hypnotic Trance Pamphlets' by the Spoonbender Sleep Research Team (the printed-word annex of I Am Spoonbender). Enclosed in each metallic anthracite-hued paper, die-cut envelope are ten 2" by 3" cards (unique to each series), imprinted with an array of provocative IAS word/image concepts, thoughts and musings. Think a sort of 'Oblique Strategies' for the memetic-engineering mindset, although this set has some sociomagico narrative-generating possibilities... mix 'em up! Tres sublime! As with the 1st (and forthcoming 3rd edition), these are limited to 333 hand-numbered copies. Hypnotico! Arouseo! Awakeup!

I AM SPOONBENDER sticker (IAS) sticker 0.50
2" high by 5"wide vinyl sticker with white band name and silver logo on matte black background.

I AM SPOONBENDER Teletwin (Mint) cd 11.98
After the tricky 3-sided-but-on-a-single-12" vinyl release, I Am Spoonbender offers the (one-sided) cd version of Teletwin.
This 41-minute ep starts with an altered version of "Stopwatch Static" (here titled "Clocks Grow Old" to expand the meaning of the original), one of the avant-pop numbers from their 1998 album Sender / Receiver which then fades into "Infinity Limiter", a Steve Reich-ian tune for synths, which has become a staple in the I Am Spoonbender live 'Dream Set'. "Where Do Words Go?" at first appears to be a pretty straightforward cover of Berlin's new wave classic "The Metro" -- but upon closer inspection you realize that it is a 'tele-twin' of sorts, with completely different lyrics exactly set to the original melody! This makes IAS' version an imposter -- passing for the orginal, but actually completely different. Lyrically and conceptually, this now places the song entirely within the IAS ethos (illusion / reality, etc). Furthermore, the song eventually detours into layers of melodic deconstructions and time signature shakeups which somehow all reconvene back into the original song structure for its finish. For "Frozen Dog Futurist", IAS generate Heldon-esque synths with an obsessive bassline matching the disorienting punch of Dustin Donaldson's live drumming. This decomposes into digital glitch manipulated organ drones which could easily have origins in the soundtrack to the classic, freaky film Carnival Of Souls. That is followed by "October Blurred By", a hypnotic rhythmic track of flanged bass repeating a complex anti-funk groove that could be mistaken for a Tones On Tail out-take! "They Don't Have Mirrors" continues the aural relay with a caustic electronic wash which gives way to a blast of percussive math cluster bombs topped by slippery bass distortion before breaking down into thick recordings of steam engine horns with backwards digital skittering... and then erupts back into the aforementioned structure.
For all of the plastic / new wave sheen that I Am Spoonbender applies to their songs, their structures may in fact be closer to This Heat or Funkstorung's experiments with fracturing electronica by shifting rhythmic elements in and out of atmospheric moods. Note: we have both the Canadian import version released on Mint Records which features extra-stylin' black jewelcase packaging as well as the domestic version released on Little Army Records.




MPEG Stream: "Clocks Grow Old"
MPEG Stream: "They Don't Have Mirrors"
MPEG Stream: "Frozen Dog Futurist"

I AM SPOONBENDER Teletwin (Little Army) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Please note: there are plans in the works for this record to be reissued as a picture disc. Stay tuned.
A tricky 3-sided vinyl release, that is, one side has two concurrent grooves -- allowing chance to dictate what you hear.
This 41-minute ep starts with an altered version of "Stopwatch Static" (here titled "Clocks Grow Old" to expand the meaning of the original), one of the avant-pop numbers from their 1998 album Sender / Receiver which fades into "Infinity Limiter", a Steve Reich-ian tune for synths,
which has become a staple in the I Am Spoonbender live 'Dream Set'. "Where Do Words Go?" at first appears to be a pretty straightforward cover of Berlin's new wave classic "The Metro" -- but upon closer inspection you realize that it is a 'tele-twin' of sorts, with completely different lyrics exactly set to the original melody! This makes IAS' version an imposter -- passing for the original, but actually completely different. Lyrically and conceptually, this now places the song entirely within the IAS ethos (Illusion / reality, etc). Furthermore, the song eventually detours into layers of melodic deconstructions and time signature shakeups which somehow reconvene back into the original song structure for its finish. For "Frozen Dog Futurist", IAS generate Heldon-esque synths with an obsessive bassline matching the disorienting punch of Dustin Donaldson's live drumming. This decomposes into digital glitch manipulated organ drones which could easily have origins in the soundtrack to the classic, freaky film Carnival Of Souls. That is followed by "October Blurred By", a hypnotic rhythmic track of flanged bass repeating a complex anti-funk groove that could be mistaken for a Tones On Tail out-take! "They Don't Have Mirrors" continues the aural relay with a caustic electronic wash which gives way to a blast of percussive math cluster bombs topped by slippery bass distortion before breaking down into thick recordings of steam engine horns with backwards digital skittering... and then erupts back into the aforementioned structure.
For all of the plastic / new wave sheen that I Am Spoonbender applies to their songs, their structures may in fatc be closer to This Heat or Funkstorung's experiments with fracturing electronica by shifting rhythmic elements in and out of atmospheric moods.
Released on the record label run by Chunklet Magazine's Henry Owings.

I AM SPOONBENDER T SHIRT Buy Hidden Persuaders t-shirt (IAS) t-shirt 13.98
A brand new I Am Spoonbender t-shirt design to go with their brand new album! Black 50/50 t-shirt with metallic silver and red print of the 'magic / magnetic hand' image from the front cover of the Buy Hidden Persuaders limited edition album (based on a poster design by gig poster artist Lil Tuffy!). Sizes: YL, S, M, L, XL. Please specify in the comments section of the order form which size shirt you want.

I AM SPOONBENDER T SHIRT glow-in-the-dark t-shirt (IAS) t-shirt 13.98
This black 50/50 t-shirt is graced by a white telephone handset design that glows in the dark! It's surrounded by thin red lines. Adult extra large only.

I AM SPOONBENDER T SHIRT logo t-shirt (IAS) t-shirt 12.98
Black 50/50 t-shirt with metallic silver print of the band's head-bending-fork logo. Various sizes available. Please inquire.

I AM SPOONBENDER T SHIRT telephone t-shirt (IAS) t-shirt 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Black 50/50 t-shirt with red telephone and white lines design. Large only.

I AM SPOONBENDER T SHIRT three forkmen t-shirt (IAS) t-shirt 12.98
Black 50/50 t-shirt with metallic silver print of the three forkmen from the Teletwin album. Various sizes available. Please inquire.

I AM SPOONBENDER W/ KID 606 AND SLAVES/PLEASURE FOREVER 'Telekinetic Disassembly' 2001 Show Poster (IAS) poster 4.98
These limited edition posters were designed by IAS for their first ever headlining show at SF's Great American Music Hall. Very few copies remain. 11"x17" cardstock.

I AM SPOONBENDER W/ MAN OR ASTRO-MAN? 'Inner Space Vs. Outer Space' (Noise Pop 2000 Poster) (IAS) poster 4.98
These limited edition posters were designed for IAS by Spacebase (aka Justin Wright, the man behind those recent Expo 70 cdrs!) for the Noise Pop 2000 show at the Great American Music Hall. Very few copies remain. 11"x17" cardstock.

I AM SPOONBENDER W/ PLEASURE FOREVER 'Ouija Board' Poster (1st North American Tour, 2001) (IAS) poster 4.98
These limited edition posters were designed by IAS to commemmorate their first U.S. tour back in the spring of 2001. Very few copies remain. We've heard reports that some clever folks have laminated theirs for use as table placemats! 11"x17" cardstock. Planchette not included.

I HATE MYSELF s/t (No Idea) cd 11.98

I ROBOT Et Cetera (Immigrant Sun) cd 14.98
The retrospective compilation of the short-lived NY hardcore band known as I Robot includes three previously unreleased tracks, as well as a couple of 7" cuts and a live performance on KXLU Radio. Most notable about the music here is the contrasting vocals of Matt Grande and Peter Bisso (now in Homesick For Space) - an acidic, shriek-yell assault much like that of The Locust in which any moment you expect to be hit in the eye by a projectile tonsil versus a considerably more gentle emo-boy approach. And the music is right there along with them alternating from moments of subdued, lulling guitar post rock to more imposingly raging walls of guitars.
RealAudio clip: "The Answer"
RealAudio clip: "He Who Cares Not Loses In The End"

I ROY Dread Bald Head (Jackpot) cd 14.98
1976 recordings of some classic toasting by I Roy. Produced by Bunny Lee and Recorded at King Tubby's studio.

I ROY Dread Bald Head (Jackpot) lp 12.98
1976 recordings of some classic toasting by I Roy. Produced by Bunny Lee and Recorded at King Tubby's studio.

I SAW IT ALL HAPPEN FROM BEGINNING TO END AND SOMETIMES I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW Life Everlasting, Amen. (Firework Editions) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Members of the hypnogogic nation state Elgaland-Vargland (one of whom is the UK Ambassador), I Saw It All Happen... present a field recording of a life support system in its relentless quest to keep the patient alive and in doing so becomes part of the patient's living flesh. As one could gather from watching any given episode from the daytime soaps on which somebody named Montana or Dakota would be in a coma for six weeks until their contracts expire, the life support machine emanates a hypnotic pumping of mechanical whirs and beeps. Packaged with grainy photos and text dropping innuendos of the patient's inevitable death, this is a conceptual listen to the end.

I SHALT BECOME In The Falling Snow (No Colours) cd 17.98
We listed this grim black gem earlier this year, but sold out almost immediately. Finally managed to get handful back in, so don't miss out again...
Yet another archival release from grim suicidal one man black metal outfit I Shalt Become, aka S. Holliman, who hails from Illinois of all grim places, and who, as far as we can tell, has been pretty much inactive for the last decade. This release was recorded way back in 1998 and was originally released as a demo credited to Birkenau, the name Holliman used before switching to I Shalt Become.
Like Wanderings before it, In The Falling Snow is a fantastic, and fantastically twisted chunk of sorrowful black misery. As doomy as it is black, heavily indebted to Burzum of course, but I Shalt Become shares much in common with other more modern practitioners of this sort of ultra grim, plodding midtempo blackness, Xasthur, Krohm, Nortt, Make A Change Kill Yourself, the riffs buzzing and crumbling, the temps loping and dirgey, the mood grim and dour, super atmospheric, not lo-fi necessarily, but murky and muddy and washed out sounding, dreary and drone-y, sweeping swaths of epic keyboard, and the vocals, an exhausted miserable sounding croak, as if most of the lifeforce has already drained away, not leaving enough vitriol to howl or shriek, just enough energy to barely get out these last words from a moldering old deathbed, the wasted, dead quality of the vocals perfectly matching the depressive mood of the music.
But even as miserable and despondent and depressive as these sounds are, they're also hauntingly and harrowingly beautiful, soaring strings, minor key melodies, super dramatic and ultra personal, everything weirdly soft focus and dreamlike, the buzz and plod blurred into gauzy dronemetal soundscapes, the double kick, a pulse buried beneath thick layers of billowing fuzz, the riffs looped and repeated into black buzzing mantras. Way recommended of course, for the miserable and the black hearted.
MPEG Stream: "Burning"
MPEG Stream: "In The Falling Snow"

I SHALT BECOME Wanderings (Moribund) cd 16.98
Originally released in 1996, this slab of suicidal blackness finally gets unearthed and resurrected by the doomed souls at Moribund. I Shalt Become inhabit a completely bleak and barren world of abject misery. A doomy minor key slow motion black metal miserabilism. There's Burzum worship, and then there's taking your Burzum worship to an even more anguished and desolate, wretched and forlorn extreme. Think Xasthur, Burzum, Krohm, Make A Change... Kill Yourself, but then imagine those bands even more despondent, more hopeless, recording with razor blade inches from exposed wrist. A gorgeously bleak and buzzy expanse of minor key arpeggiated guitars, draped like black cloth over thick swirls of monochrome buzz. Riffs are looped and repeated, melodies become murky mantras and the vocals are so distorted and buried in the mix they just sound like whispery squalls of static. So mournful and melancholy. Wanderings is often so slow and fuzzy, so dreamlike that it almost ceases being metal, and becomes some abstract experimental drone music, an ambient soundscape of reverb drenched guitars, a loping black doom waltz, so goddamn sad sounding and so so beautiful.
This reissue tacks on three bonus tracks, not quite as murky and lo-fi but just as tortured and tormented: Two Judas Iscariot covers and of course, an even more morose (is that were even possible?) version of Burzum's "En Ring Til AA Herske".
MPEG Stream: "Fragments"
MPEG Stream: "The Funeral Rain"
MPEG Stream: "Winter Lights"

I TEOREMI s/t (Akarma) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Bombastic '70s progressive rock proto-metal from Italy! I Teoremi were a quartet who really kicked out the jams hard, specializing in muscular, complex stuff that, amazingly enough, at its most extreme reminds us of the prog-punk of much more recent bands like Stinking Lizaveta, Breadwinner, and Ruins! Seriously. For 1972 (when this, their only album, was released), they're one of the heaviest and most spazz-tastic we've heard. Sure, you have to enjoy some grandiose vocals in the typical dramatic Italian prog style, but mostly this is about their instrumental ass-kicking. With its herky-jerky riffing and spiralling guitar patterns, "Il Dialogo d'un Pazzo" could be a song off of one of the first two albums by Greg Ginn's Gone for gosh shakes! This reissue on Arkarma, in one of their mini-lp style digipaks, includes two bonus tracks (which might not date from the same sessions). Everyone into early '70s hard prog and metal needs to hear this.
RealAudio clip: "Passi da Gigante"
RealAudio clip: "Il Dialogo d'un Pazzo"

I'M ALAN PARTRIDGE Series 1 (Warner / BBC America) 2dvd 34.00
A-haaaaaa! Laughing is fun... and healthful too! We're quite partial to a hearty belly laugh now and then. And if you share our sense of humor -- which we're pretty sure many of you do (test questions: did you love the original BBC series The Office more than the US version? Are you becoming dangerously obsessed with Peep Show, the UK's version of Curb Your Enthusiasm?!)-- then you'll be doing lots of it too while watching this dvd which has finally been released domestically!
Stateside awareness of Steve Coogan, the British comic madman of many less than savory personas, has certainly grown significantly in the past year, mostly due to his prominent appearances in hip movies such as Tristram Shandy and Marie Antoinette. That said, this is the one and only Coogan domestic release that truly matters... at least where Cup is concerned. This dvd showcases Coogan at his best, most wickedly funny, most uncomfortable. It's amazing how completely immersed he is in this character. The title is no lie! We're talking about a remarkably fully realized, deceptively complex, alternately despicable and pitiful, genuine wince'n'cringe individual. It oozes from his pores, revealing itself in every word and mannerism, both conscious and unconscious.
The fictional story in a nutshell: Once upon a time, Partridge was a former TV variety show host (his program was called "Knowing Me Knowing You" -- yes, he has a thing for ABBA which in itself equals more brownie points with Cup) and news show The Day Today's sports reporter, but is now a small town early bird radio show DJ living in a motor lodge, and desperately in pursuit of his former 'glory'. Partridge vacillates between helpless, awkward manchild and horseblinder-ed arrogant wanker. But one thing is for sure, all that he does, he does with absolute conviction and determination with his own (distorted to everyone but himself) sense of logic -- regardless of (and oblivious to) the degree to which he may be making an appalling, insensitive ass of himself. His interactions with others, namely the small staff at the Linton Travel Tavern and his dutiful P.A. Lynn, are nothing short of priceless. One of the brilliant-est things about this show is that there's not only plenty of the 'holy shit, that's hilarious!' kind of moments, but also the gradual cumulative squirm that we find somehow ever so perversely irresistible. This is razor sharp, brutally frank, but equally subtle television comedy as only the Brits can do, and they've been doing it for years! Hard to believe that this series originally aired back in '97.
Stateside comedies simply can't touch 'em (and really should stop trying!), and invariably end up coming off as forced, trying too hard for shock value, and ultimately missing all of the key nuances. Really, the only American shows that have come anywhere close to this delicious discomfort are maybe Curb Your Enthusiasm and the ahead-of-the-curve Larry Sanders Show, and the latter's release on dvd got stalled at Season One... yeesh. Actually for those of familiar with the The Office (UK) and The Larry Sanders Show, think of this as the missing link between the two. Oooh! (or should that be "Ewww!") Doesn't that sound good? C'mon now, get "up with a Partridge!"

I'M FROM BARCELONA Let Me Introduce My Friends (Virgin) cd 19.98
I'm From Barcelona is a pop music army, or at least a pop brigade. Sergeant Emmanuel Lundgren (on hiatus from his former band Valley Days) has teamed up with TWENTY EIGHT of his closest friends to, somewhat unexpectedly, bring you Let Me Introduce My Friends. Although all twenty-eight band members have appeared on stage at once (and a one-time show band they thought they would be), the album sounds a bit more like a tag team effort. Each individual song is not indicative of a band with so many members but a sum of its parts. The power chord guitar riffs reminiscent of the glory days of Kindercore Records, muted trumpets and xylophones present in some songs are replaced in others by banjos, keyboards and (possibly the only sign of such a large band in a single song) choiresque multi-person harmonies much like those of The Polyphonic Spree. Unfortunately, I'm From Barcelona may lose the battle in lyrical depth, but they win the war for creating an album that not only reminds listeners of giddy feelings often conjured up by new love or the first days of spring, but may be a nice soundtrack for these moments as well.
MPEG Stream: "Oversleeping"
MPEG Stream: "Jenny"

I'M NOT THERE (V/A) OST (Sony) 2cd 19.98
Here's the double disc soundtrack to the new movie about Bob Dylan which stars no less than six actors, including Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, and Richard Gere, ALL as Bob Dylan. Whoa. It's like Casino Royale. As a matter of fact, both the movie and the soundtrack are star studded to ridiculous proportions! Thirty four covers of Dylan songs performed by a mix of hip young things and venerable veterans such as Sonic Youth, Eddie Vedder, Calexico, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Tom Verlaine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, Antony & The Johnsons, John Doe, Stephen Malkmus, Iron & Wine, Richie Havens, Roger McGuinn, Los Lobos, Jeff Tweedy, The Black Keys, Mark Lanegan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Sufjan Stevens, The Hold Steady, Charlotte Gainsbourg and The Band! A perturbing thing we noticed about these renditions though is that it seems like many artists were trying to sound like Dylan... and strangely enough many ended up sounding like Neil Young instead! Weird.
MPEG Stream: SONIC YOUTH "I'm Not There"
MPEG Stream: CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG & CALEXICO "Just Like A Woman"

I.C.E. Apocalyptic End In White (Crash Music) cd 15.98
A few years ago, the UK metal magazine Terrorizer had an April issue that featured what we all imagined was the coolest black metal band EVER: Arktyk! From Alaska, all of their song titles were frosty and chilling tales of blizzard beasts and frozen wastelands. They all had crazy snowy names and the picture accompanying the article of course had the corpsepainted band posed in huge drifts of snow. How could we not become immediately obsessed? Well, we soon discovered that the band was made up and the article was an April Fool's Day joke. But here it is, several years later, and we're tempted to think we're being duped yet again. But the proof is right here in our hands. The new record from I.C.E, aka Imperial Crystalline Entombment. The cover art is a fantasy painting of four figures in white hooded cloaks, and white masks, wielding huge staves of ice, surrounded by icy demons. The band members are named Bleak, Mammoth, Blisserred, and of course, Icesickkill. And the song titles: "Cryogenic Communion", "Astral Frost Invocation", "Hypothermic Possesion", "Apocalyptic Blizzard Regime", "Convulsing Frigid Death" and on and on. Which is all quite appropriate when you finally throw it on and hear the demonic strains of a band bowing in worshipful reverence before Norwegian black metal masters Immortal, circa Blizzard Beasts which, if you're anything like us, is a very good thing. Buzzing, blurry, frosty and ultra grim black metal, with shrieking wails of demonic possesion, thrashing hyperspeed blast beats, and maniacal riffing. Pretty fucking great. And while I.C.E. may be from Maryland, their hearts are firmly packed in blackened Nordic Ice!
MPEG Stream: "Cryogenic Communion / Astral Frost Invocation"
MPEG Stream: "Onward Banshee Legions"

I/DEX Seqsextend (Nexsound) cd 8.98

IASOS Inter-Dimensional Music (EM Records) cd 23.00
New age. Pretty much the ultimate diss when you want to put down someone's musical taste. Or harsh on some band, or record. Tough to think of a more purely musical putdown. Sellout? Maybe. Poser? Definitely, but not necessarily musical. But New Age. Oof. Moms and Grandmas listen to new age. Yanni ferchrissakes! And with all the ambient music we love so much here at AQ, we're extra conscious of negative New Age connotations, cuz it's always a fine line between shimmery droney dreaminess and whooshy New Age schmaltz. But c'mon, trust us, trust the folks at EM Records, and take our word that if you're only ever gonna buy one unabashed actual New Age album (and Andee hasn't already forced you to get some George Winston or Kitaro), then this should absolutely be the one.
Iasos was born in Greece and moved to America when he was 4, began playing piano at 8, then flute at 10. In the late sixties, he began to hear a 'new' music in his head and moved to California to try and realize this "heavenly music". And finally in 1975, he did it! Iasos 'invented' new age music with the release of 1975's Inter-Dimensional Music Through IASOS, which has now been reissued by the fine folks at EM, and has stood the test of time pretty darn well.
It's all here, tinkling piano, swooshing synthesizers, running water sounds, bird calls, maudlin melodies, fluttering flutes, crickets chirping, lots of nature sounds, thunderstorms, strange sound effects, gentle keening drones, whirling sonic washes and sweet swirls of soft focus sound. Even the song titles: "The Bubble Massage", "Rainbow Canyon", "Crystal Petals", "Clouds Prayer", Libra Sunrise." Yep, this is definitely New Age, there's no two ways about it, but if you can look past that 'stigma', this record is actually quite beautiful. And mysterious. And delicately lovely. It has lots of elements that plenty of AQ faves share, strange production, lots of fuzzy airy drones, plenty of insect sounds, bird calls, all wrapped into sweet expanses of dreamy sound. In fact if we listed this as some super limited cd-r on some upstart microlabel in Tasmania, and it had some murky forest photo on the cover, we'd sell tons, and no one would be the wiser. It's easy to forget that the modern crop of drifting ambient experimentalists owe quite a bit to new age pioneers. And let's not forget about all the pretty cool bands who either WERE new age, became new age, or incorporated elements of new age into their sound: Popol Vuh, Ashra, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Deuter, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Vangelis.
But Inter-Dimensional Music, regardless of pedigree, or genre classification, is just a dang good record. A little cheesy in places maybe but so what, hasn't stopped us from listening to this practically every day!!
Like all EM releases, the packaging is amazing. But the Iasos has a truly striking cover, even by the already impossibly high EM Records standards. Metallic gold embossed printing on glossy white paper. the cover image a man's torso, emerging from a cloud, arm upraised holding a flute, which is being struck by lightning. Some of you may recognize the image as it was stolen for a record cover many years back by Canadian noiserock guitarmy Superconductor. And of course there's also gold and white obi, as well as a massive booklet full of liner notes (all in Japanese, sorry) and loads of photos. As with all EM releases, SO RECOMMENDED!!!!
MPEG Stream: " Libra Sunshine"
MPEG Stream: "Formentera Sunset Clouds"
MPEG Stream: "Lueena Coast"
MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Canyon"

IBARRA, SUSIE Flower After Flower (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Young and exciting downtown NYC scene drummer Ibarra, best known for her work alongside William Parker and Matthew Shipp in David S. Ware's group, presents her first recording as a leader, on John Zorn's Tzadik label. Asian traditional influences (she's Filipino-American) meet free jazz improv and experimental minimalism on "Flower After Flower". Featuring an fantastic and unusual lineup of musicians, with the clarinets of Chris Speed and Assif Tsahar, the trumpet of Wadada Leo Smith, and the drone accordion of new music legend Pauline Oliveros (among others in Ibarra's ensemble)!

IBARRA, SUSIE TRIO Songbird Suite (Tzadik) cd 15.98
Downtown NYC drummer Susie Ibarra presents her second disc on John Zorn's Tzadik label, a project featuring piano, violin, electronics, and percussion, with the celebrated electronic percussionist Ikue Mori as "special guest". Moody, cross-cultural avant-jazz of great beauty and oddity. There's jaunty, melodic passages as well as scary, rumbling ones. Very good, very Tzadik.
RealAudio clip: "Songbird Suite"
RealAudio clip: "Trance No. 1"

IBEX THRONE Total Inversion (Goatowarex) cd 14.98
Thfe second full-length from Utah's blackened beast known collectively as Ibex Throne. The Zodiac, Lord Dying, Mictlan, Desecrator and Judas Drexor Arawn have reassembled as the blasting buzzing black metal juggernaut that is Ibex Throne. A musical blast of pestilence and pure hatred for all things. An utter loathing for all belief systems as well as a constant striving for the absolute eradication of all humanity. A furious blasting burst of black buzz, with occasional stretches of Xasthur-ish moodiness, minor key chords fingerpicked over sheets of white hot black brutality. For the most part this is blown out blackness, a furious fast fist full of metal, blast beats and guitar buzz, demonic shrieks and screaming feedback all twisted into big metal nails that will seal the coffin that keeps the corpse of humanity below ground. Ibex Throne offers no sympathy, just hateful, blasphemous, nihilistic anti-trend Black hatred Metal!
Amazing cover art, full on high school binder rendering of winged demons eviscerating a naked woman on an upside down cross!
MPEG Stream: "Humanity Is Worthless"
MPEG Stream: "Insidious Wrath"

IBM The Oval Recording (Mego) lp + 7" 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So Mika Vainio and Ilpo Vaisanen have picked another mega-corporation to name a sound project after. The precedent was Panasonic who demanded that the Finns change their name, with Pan Sonic being the permutation of the offending moniker. Of course, Vainio & Vaisanen's argument here will be that IBM is nothing more than an acronym for Ilpo, Bruce, Mika (the Bruce being Bruce Gilbert from Wire), but they've appropriated the IBM corporate logo, thus abolishing any artistic propriety they may have in the matter... Sure this Mego release will certainly be such small pressing (it's vinyl only, too) as to not even show up on IBM's legal radar. But if this project continues and gets signed to Mute / Blast First, their name too will likely get altered. Personally, I'm hoping for MIB, but then Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will be on their case.
The self-naming crisis aside, the collaboration between Ilpo Vaisanen, Mika Vainio, and Bruce Gilbert is a triumphant one, but one that is far from the crystalline sounds that have dominated the Pan Sonic aesthetic. The turntable appears to be the original source for these recordings, for which the trio has forced locked grooves onto already mangled pieces of vinyl and then manipulated the resulting sounds through a variety of computer generated effects (lots of pitch shifting, flange, and digital-crunch distortion). "The Oval Recording" (another play with names as it was recorded in The Oval Mansion across from the Oval cricket arena in London) has nothing to do with the clean digital fragmentation of Oval - this is a dissonant rumbling album which rides a thick wall of industrial strength fuzz before diving into an Earth / Sunn like low end rumble. There's just as much Non and Otomo Yoshihide as there is Pita and Fennesz on the first.

ICE Bad Blood (In Bloom/Reprise) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A dark, illbient hip-hop with beats laden with sludge from the minds of Kevin Martin (God & Techno Animal & Bug), Justin Broadrick (Godflesh & Techno Animal), Dave Cochrane (God) and Lou Ciccotelli (God). A sort-of supergroup of angry white guys. Blixa of Neubauten adds desperate-for-air raspy vocals, DJ Vadim (also from Bug) does something on wax too ill to be called scratching, and Sensational's rap is from the other end of the sewer. For fans of Spectre and the other WordSound artists. This is a serious departure from previous Ice records. How something this "ill" ended up on Reprise, and why something this WordSound isn't on WordSound, is a mystery to us.

ICE BOUND MAJESTY A Tomb To Erect (Frequency Thirteen / Night Angels Serve) cd-r 7.98
We knew we were in for something special when we discovered the amazing Frequency Thirteen cd-r label (thanks to loyal AQ customer Andrew S. for turning us on to these guys). Bands with names like Ice Bound Majesty, Skultroll, Raperack, Black Vomit, Karaoke Vocal Eliminator. Each disc emblazoned with the label's mantra: TRUE SHEFFIELD BLACK PSYCHEDELIA. Which is pretty much the perfect description of this stuff. We might have also offered: grinding corrosive blackened hypnorock, or perhaps blacknoizemetal, or something similar, perhaps blackkrautnoizerock. Whatever you call it, this stuff is dark, and distorted, blown out and heavy as fuck, hypnotic, rhythmic, and seriously genius.
In the case of the geniusly named Ice Bound Majesty we might have to come up with an even more abstract descriptor, something like surreal free folk black metal ambient experimentalism, or epic melodic blackened folk flecked post rock. Actually, like all the best bands, these guys are pretty impossible to describe in a single sentence. The sound is heavy and distorted, blown out and of course black and psychedelic indeed, but IBM are seriously deranged, their songs are like sonic worlds unto themselves, weaving elaborate soundscapes, rhythmic and melodic, with keyboards, and flutes, fluttering flutes, harsh demonic rasps, simple riffing, warm thick black ambience, all woven into an incredibly intense and mind blowing space psych black noise fucked folk kraut rock jam.
The first track is the perfect example. Beginning with some Lustmordian dark ambience, that gives way to folky flute and distant shimmer, which is immediately crushed by a funeral doom plod, the tape speed fucked with so the riffs slow down mid-riff, adding to the tripped out vibe. The flute returns, drifting above the roiling blackness, distant chimes and muted harmonics surface too, then a killer clean guitar riff, and suddenly harsh shrieked vocals, the band sounding like it's about to launch into a frenzied grind, but instead, the sound sprawls out into a looped psych rock jam, with relentless double kick, and those harsh vocals, weird Western whistling, throbbing bass, it could go on forever and we'd be perfectly happy, but suddenly the doooooom returns, even more distorted and in-the-red and crumbling than before. The melancholy melody continues to drift in the background, until the band launches right back into that black kraut jam, this time, everything murky and bass heavy, finally leaving just that clean guitar riff to fade outŠ
How the fuck do you write a song like that, let alone play it? Just writing about it wore us out. The whole record is like that, chaotic, heavy, brutal, black, but strangely beautiful, mysterious and abstract, drifting in a shimmery haze one second, exploding into a black blast the next. Elsewhere the band do some sort of monklike chant over shuffling post rock grandeur, but even then, it quickly gets swallowed up by mechanical monster riffing, and processed evil vocals.
The title track, the 12 minute long "A Tomb To Erect" begins as a bleak, rumbling Wolf Eyes style abject expanse of glittering alien FX and slow slithery rumble, before the drums kick in, WAY distorted and blown out, pounding out a slow motion mathrock rhythm, while in the background, the drones get more and more intense, the track weaves from super hot, high end, to mumbly muddied low end, the drums remaining constant, pounding away relentlessly, until near the end, when a super catchy clean guitar riff joins the fray, and transforms what was sort of an abstract noise rock rhythm jam, into something super intense, emotional and cinematic. The bombastic booming distorted crashes exploding like land mines, spread out along the moody meandering melodic expanse of the songs newly found heart and soul.
Like we said, it's a bit hard to explain what these guys are doing, or even how, but all that means is it's something special, and something we can't stop listening to. Rare is the record as beautiful and mysterious as it is heavy and fucked up.
MPEG Stream: "Book Of Jalends"
MPEG Stream: "A Tomb To Erect"

ICE CUBE AmeriKKKa's MOST WANTED + Kill At Will ep (Priority) cd 14.98

ICE CUBE Greatest Hits (Priority) cd 17.98
What needs to be said? Everything Ice Cube touches turns to gold (or platinum). He makes gangsta rap sound not-so-tired, and even makes shit movies somewhat enjoyable to watch (Anaconda? Ghosts Of Mars?). But it's all about the voice, and the songs and no one can touch Cube. Huge bumpin beats and a wicked flow. All the essentials are here: 'Pushin' Weight', 'We Be Clubbin', 'You Can Do It', 'Jackin' For Beats' and tons more (including two new tracks). You should probably own all his records by now, but if you don't, do yourself a favor and at least pick this up.
RealAudio clip: "Pushin' Weight"
RealAudio clip: "$100 Dollar Bill Y'All"

ICE CUBE War & Peace Vol. 2 (The Peace Disc) (Priority) cd 17.98
The second disc in Ice Cube's loftily titled "War & Peace" two volume opus, this could also be known as the 'party' disc of the two. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but man does this record kick ass. Cube's production has come a long way since the NWA days, sounding a lot more like Dr. Dre today (in fact, track one, 'Hello' is a Dre/Cube collaboration that sounds as good as anything on the recent Dre record). Still mean as shit, but with wickedly catchy hooks, the "Peace" disc is chock full of amazing stuff besides the ubiquitous radio staple 'You Can Do It' (everybody sing along: 'I can do it, put your ass in to it'), in fact, it's probably some of the best Cube since "Amerikkka's Most Wanted": 'You Ain't Gotta Lie (Ta Kick It), with some funny (for once) guest vocals from Chris Rock, 'The Gutter Shit', absolutely slammin; in fact with the exception of the Bone Thugs ballad collaboration, this whole record is all huge sick beats, Cube's intense in your face delivery, and way funny lyrics (I mean, when did you ever think you'd hear Ice Cube rap about Pokemon?) If you haven't seen Cube's hilarious Friday films, rent 'em. If you have, expect this disc to be the the aural equivalent (what Friday and Next Friday were to Boyz In The Hood, "Peace" is to NWA and "Amerikkka's Most Wanted").
RealAudio clip: "You Can Do It"
RealAudio clip: "Hello"