BEST COAST Crazy For You (Mexican Summer) cd 13.98
It's finally here, the debut from Cali sunshine retro poppers Best Coast, and as much as all the internet hype might make you want to think otherwise, it's just as good as they all say. The seven inches we've heard definitely already had us hankering for a full length, and as much as we dug those singles, the band has benefited big time from some serious production upgrade, the sound on Crazy For you finally realizes their potential. All the comparisons to Spector's wall of sound and sixties girl groups, now totally make even more sense, the sound here is totally timeless, fuzzy and reverby, like a treasure trove of rare sixties 7"s, but at the same time lush and lustrous and subtly modern, the guitars warm and liquid, and the vocals, wow, Bethany Cosentino manages to channel every torch singer and chanteuse that she was ever inspired by, her voice rich and smokey and passionate, every line sung with such conviction, the songs melancholic and wistful, a heartbroken longing infusing the sad songs, a pure unfettered joy, and enthusiasm for all the little things, sunshine, love, friendship, oozing from the happy ones, the drums simple and propulsive, the background vocals soft focus clouds of oooohs and aaaahs, Bobb Bruno's understated guitar parts sealing the deal, mirroring the vocal melodies but occasionally spiralling off into soft psychedelic swirls, and the songs, the songs are so good, catchy and fun, and dreamy and heartfelt, and like the sound, totally timeless, opener "Boyfriend" is an instant classic, the melody utterly beguiling, the perfect encapsulation of what Best Coast do so well, right down to Bruno's minimal leads, which perfectly compliment Cosentino's harmonies, the soaring chorus, and the simple propulsive rhythm that drives the song. "The title track is another practically perfect summer pop gem, more jangly and driving, like a sixties girl group jam as interpreted by vintage Unrest, more oooh and ahhhs, and plenty more hooks. The whole record is overflowing with perfect pop, with summery vibes, everything you could possibly want from a feel good pop record. And while they last, we have the version that tacks on the bonus track "When I'm With You", the closest thing the band has to a 'hit', a woozy, soporific intro, quickly exploding into a gloriously infectious pound, the main melody so awesome, and the chorus, a stone cold killer, the harmonies, the arrangement, the fuzzy guitars, the drums, everything. Perfect. Yeah okay, we totally love this record. Like crazy, and we're pretty sure you will too.
MPEG Stream: "Boyfriend"
MPEG Stream: "Crazy For You"
MPEG Stream: "The End"
MPEG Stream: "When I'm With You"

WAVVES King Of The Beach (Fat Possum) cd 13.98
The bands that you really end up loving and having life long relationships with are often the bands who you follow through all their incarnations, from their most primitive and noisy to when they flesh out and refine their sound, removing all the extraneous layers and creating something seemingly far removed from that first chunk of raw sound, but in reality, to you, it's just another side of that amazing artist. And it's the bands who you love in all their various sonic shadings and with all the twists and turns that become the ones who are the soundtracks to our lives. Guided By Voices, Pavement, Jawbreaker, all bands who we have loved from their sloppiest and most raw incarnations to their most poppy and catchy outings.
Wavves seem to be on the way to joining that elite crew. After unleashing two smoking records of way blown out garage pop burners, Nathan Williams has returned with a much more refined, up front and catchy gem of a pop record. As much as we loved the sound and aesthetic of the first two Wavves records we knew that the reason it struck such a chord with us was because we could tell this was a kid who had the gift of writing memorable and catchy pop songs, no matter how obscured those songs were by fuzz and crunch.
King Of The Beach ditches most of the blown out distortion and trades it in for even more colorful hooks, addictive melodies and songs that will be stuck in our heads for the rest of the summer and beyond. It's not like it's all totally slick or overproduced, in fact there is a really cool washed out sound that glides through much of the record, but instead of it being about going all into the red, it flows more freely, creating a perfect beachside vibe of an album. Williams is still singing about boredom, girls, the betrayal of friends, being a fuck up, etc., all long standing ingredients for some of the best mischievous pop of all time.
It hit us the other day why we love this record. It reminds us so much of so many of our favorite bands who injected punk spirit into such memorable pop songs. Bands like The Descendents, Screeching Weasel and Lifetime, who represented the great possibility of pop-punk. There is that same kind of impassioned, snotty, smart and spirited side to King Of The Beach that's been making us jump up and down in pure wide eyed grinning joy when we listen to it blasting as loud as it can.
The record also offers up the most varied collection yet of Williams' recordings, songs that evoke '50s girl groups, hand clapping head shaking ecstasy and stoned and whirling garage pop ravers. Start to finish this is an undeniably great pop record. Total contender for record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "King Of The Beach"
MPEG Stream: "Post Acid"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Say Goodbye"

NOVELLER Desert Fires (Saffron Records) cd 13.98
This one is going to be a major contender for drifty/dreamy/droney record of the year! We really have loved everything we've heard (and seen!) from Sarah Lipstate (she is a great filmmaker as well as a blissed out drone music maker). And each release of hers seems to soar just a little higher and reach new levels of daydream hazy washed out perfection. Desert Fires might just be our favorite outing yet from her, as it drifts and drips with a drugged out disposition that wanders through the outer realms yet flows so totally serenely. It reminds us a bit of the more spaced out and glacial outings by Kawabata Makoto, Steven R. Smith and Roy Montgomery. It's remarkable the way she's able to use her guitar to create such an ethereal and tripped out ambience, similar to the sound and feel that folks like Tim Hecker and Emeralds create in their soundscapes. It's a record that makes you want to close your eyes and just get lost in its soft focus and hypnotizing waves of sound forever. Utterly beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Almost Alright"
MPEG Stream: "Kites Calm Desert Fires"
MPEG Stream: "Toothnest (for Chris Habib)"

FRANK (JUST FRANK) The Brutal Wave (Wierd) lp 14.98
Wierd Records (home of Xeno & Oaklander, Martial Canterel, Led Er Est, and those great vinyl compilations) presents another fine reconstitution of '80s darkwave or, for the purposes of the French duo Frank (Just Frank), "Vague Froide Moderne". Well actually, they're half French, with one of the boys growing up in New Jersey before transplanting to Paris. Synths, guitar, bass, and drum machines are applied to the skeletal, if lush arrangements of Frank (Just Frank), with the lyrics mostly being handled in French. Much of the songs take their cues from The Cure's bassist Simon Gallup who, especially on Faith and Seventeen Seconds, guided those songs through his bouncy goth basslines. As such, the guitars for Frank (Just Frank) mostly chime and jangle while the the basslines lead the tunes, whose detached emotions are furthered through the atmospheric synths and pleading vocals. The Brutal Wave? Hmm. A bit of a stretch as a title for this album which is far more sanguine than the title suggests. Nevertheless, Frank (Just Frank) deliver what is expected of Wierd these days, with allusions to the likes of B-Movie, For Against, Eleven Pond, OMD, Siglo XX, and of course, The Cure. We like.
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Itagaki"
MPEG Stream: "Jalousie"
MPEG Stream: "Ride of a Lifetime"

GLITTERBUG Privilege (c.sides) 2cd 19.98
After a bit of a dry spell, in terms of electronic records that had us freaking out, it's been pretty much nonstop freakouts for the last little while. Pantha Du Prince's Black Noise record, the reissue of his This Bliss and Diamond Daze albums, all three records minimal and skittery, bleary and chilled out, moody and synthy and drone-y, occasionally pulsing and throbbing, a little groovy, a little pop ambient, a little techno, all wound into an ever evolving world of mysterious and magical electronic sound. Then came Actress, the new record Splazsh, not to mention his earlier Hazyville, again, both dancing on the edges of electronica, pushing the boundaries, skittery minimalism, weird playful collages, looped and hypnotic, chopped and recontextualized vocals, glitch and squelch and ambient shimmer, as well as twisted beats. And that's not even mentioning other electronica faves like T++, Vex'd, Klimek, Thomas Fehlman, Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, but the reason we mention Actress and Pantha Du Prince, is that the music of Glitterbug seems to exist in a similar sonic continuum, melding washed out dreamlike ambient shimmer, with stripped down minimal post techno, pulsing kosmische krautrock with more earthbound stutter and skitter, and while this is in fact record number two from Glitterbug, aka Till Rohmann, a German DJ / producer / artist, we're already pretty smitten, as we imagine you might be too, especially if like us, you've been listening to the above records as much as we have.
A sprawling double disc, recorded in the studio and on tour, with field recordings from various tour stops incorporated into some of the tracks, sometimes as just another unrecognizable sample, adding rhythm and texture, but other times it's more obvious, the sounds of life and the world, only further adding energy and emotion to an already organic electronic sound. The record begins with a warm softly pulsing expanse of glimmering synths, a subtle melody, looped and hypnotic, laced with shimmering melodic counterpoint, all hazy and sun dappled and dreamlike, peppered with bits of piano, the perfect blend of abstract kosmische krautdrone and pop ambience. The second track introduces some drums, which sound real, and a bit jazzy, before a more obviously electronic beat joins in, then some thick warbly buzz, some deep low end rumble, some chiming melodies, and we're off, propulsive and mesmerizing, washed out and softly psychedelic, but super chilled out and warm and luxurious and lush. The next track slips right back into more cosmic synth space bliss, reverbed tones ring out, overlapping, layered, underpinned by awesome intense slabs of low end, more felt than heard, the result is almost like a more stripped down, more electronic Expo 70, spacey and abstract, but with some subtle momentum, less driving and more drifting, but so dreamy and divine, another track that could have filled up the whole rest of the record and we would have been perfectly happy, and there are plenty of tracks like that on these two discs.
And so it goes, for the next two hours, Glitterbug's sound slipping seamlessly from pulsing minimal skitter, to murky muted throb, to ethereal glimmering drift, to hushed crystalline shimmer, to abstract drone flecked house music, to dark, almost dirge-y Carpenter style synthscapes, more often than not, those various sounds bleeding into one another, overlapping, intertwining, the sounds lush and lustrous, rich and organic, the rhythms spare and skeletal, sometimes delicate, other times dense and dark, but always fantastic and futuristic, blissed out and beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "Lionheart"
MPEG Stream: "Swirl"
MPEG Stream: "Blue Rifts"
MPEG Stream: "Wide & Near"

TERJE, TODD Remaster of The Universe (Permanent Vacation) 2cd 22.00
Hands down the best mix collection we've heard in ages. Something about those Norwegians, damn do they know their way around space disco. We've already loved what we've heard by folks like Lindstrom and Prins Thomas, but Todd Terje's ability to create seamless mixes and imaginative edits and remixes has made him one of our favorites from that fertile scene. Remaster Of The Universe finally gives a nice big document to the amazing work Terje has been doing over the last few years. The first disc is his continuous mix of tracks by folks like Chaz Jankel, Gichy Dan, M, Jose Gonzales, etc. while the second disc is a collection of individual remixes and versions he's created for some of the same folks on the first disc as well as Antena, Lindstrom, Studio, Shit Robot, and more.
Terje really is a master at creating mixes that roll with such a shimmering vibration. He's able to respect the original tracks he uses yet totally infuse them with a new energy and a signature sound that is unmistakably his own. We like how that as seamless and smooth as he can be he's also not afraid to get really weird and left-of-center in his approach and song selection. Crossing eras and genres like the best kind of DJ's can, Terje has got us all moving and gliding to these dancefloor gems.
MPEG Stream: GITCHY DAN "On A Day Like This (Terje edit)"
MPEG Stream: ANTENA "Camino Del Sol (Todd Terje Remix)"
MPEG Stream: CHAZ JANKEL "Glad To Know You (Todd Terje edit)"
MPEG Stream: JOSé GONZáLEZ "Killing For Love (Todd Terje Brokeback Mix)"

CRYSTAL CASTLES Crystal Castles (Fiction / Universal Motown) 2lp 19.98
Now on Vinyl!
One of the trends that we've noticed in the last several years with many of our favorite music makers is that it's seemingly become about releasing as MUCH as you can as OFTEN as you can. And while it's awesome to get so much new music from bands you like, there is still something to be said for really taking your time and crafting fully realized albums that may take a few years to wait for. At the rate that everyone is putting out releases, we almost just figured that Crystal Castles had somehow vanished or had broken up since we haven't heard a peep from them since their infectious debut from a couple years ago.
Luckily they are indeed back and sounding perhaps even more focused, frantic, infectious and engaging than on their debut. (Though would it have killed them to have spent just a few more minutes and come up with an album title? Having two self-titled discs is a bit confusing!) Equal parts '80s flashback, electro-pop with cold wave persuasions, primitive electronics, post-punk spazzy convulsions (the first track would have sounded right at home on one of our favorite spazzcore records by folks like The Locust, The VSS, or Clikatat Ikatowi), and catchy pop prowess. This is one of those records that really does appeal to so many different musical ears, and just about all of us at AQ can't stop listening to it. While it's not too unusual for Andee and Allan to come running up to the front of the store to see what's playing, this time it was Cup, whose desk is the furthest from the front, who had to make a beeline to the speakers to find out who it was covering '80s Canadian glammy new wavers Platinum Blonde! And the fact that Crystal Castles even chose one of the lesser hits of theirs to cover, not to mention that singer Alice Glass hadn't even been born yet when the original was released, just proves this duo has done their homework over the years and are now WAY ahead of the pack!
Like The Knife lending a helping hand to lead Adult. back to greatness, or Caribou, Hot Chip, Goldfrapp, Chromatics, M83 and The Junior Boys all somehow poisoned by a much darker goth-like magic potion. Even those of us who are usually a little shy when it comes to beat orientated music are totally digging this as there is something much more weird and nuanced happening than on lots of other electro-pop records that come our way. It's super fun but not dumb, varied but not erratic, gets out-there but not alienating, sexy but not a put on. Bottom line, it's a fucking awesome record!
MPEG Stream: "Celestica"
MPEG Stream: "Not In Love"
MPEG Stream: "Year Of Silence"
MPEG Stream: "I Am Made Of Chalk"

M.I.A. Maya (331 / XL) cd 12.98
For all that's made of M.I.A.'s politics and persona, it's important not to forget that what makes her music so fucking special is how it taps into such a purely physical sensation. Her last album Kala was an absolute game changer. The kind of record that reshaped everything around it. You could almost use her name as a genre, as so many folks were inspired by it and after her debut, we began hearing so many people try their hand at the M.I.A. sound. From Santogold, Gang Gang Dance, Rainbow Arabia, Rye Rye, Bonde Do Role, Thunderheist, Buraka Som Sistema, and on and on. Her influence crossed so many cultural lines and on so many fronts, not just her sound but also her fashion, imagery and overall aesthetic. And it's easy to see why, there is something so dynamic, urgent, spirited and alive about what M.I.A. is doing.
It's so hard to follow up a record that was as close to perfect as we think an album can be, but god damn she has found a way to maybe do it. Maya blasts right out of the gate and makes it clear its going to be an uncompromising, visceral and frenetic ride. With great collaborating producers like Diplo, Switch and Blaqstarr back on board as well as bringing in dubstep sensation Rusko as well as Sleigh Bells guitar shredder Derek E. Miller. But much like Bjork, M.I.A. is a master of curating and surrounding herself with super talented producers and players, yet taking all the pieces of those elements and crafting them into something much bigger and more fully realized. The record is paced so perfectly, after an onslaught of charged, dirty and sweaty tracks she offers fresh breaths through some catchier pop minded jams and then its right back into the line of fire. Maya, is both the most angry and tender of the albums she is made so far. Because while its filled with so many unrelenting politically fueled anthems it also finds M.I.A. singing about the courage of falling in love and getting weighed down by gravity, which shows us the range she is capable of and will continue to explore.
It seems certain folks love to build people up only to knock them down. In recent months M.I.A was torn to pieces in a tacky/petty feature in the New York Times and many of the same blogs and online music critic establishments who championed her in the first place, and who are now taking cheap shots at her, personally and musically. But all that is meaningless. Truth is, M.I.A. continues to be an absolute force of nature. Creating music that really can and does unite so many different kinds of people and makes you sweat in ways that feels empowering and full of purpose. She has taken the spirit of punk, hip-hop and dance music to make a sound that is so singular and spectacular. Maya is another striking achievement from one of the most important, outspoken and brave artists of our generation.
MPEG Stream: "Born Free"
MPEG Stream: "Steppin Up"
MPEG Stream: "Lovalot"
MPEG Stream: "It Takes A Muscle"

FRANK (JUST FRANK) The Brutal Wave (Wierd) cd 11.98
Wierd Records (home of Xeno & Oaklander, Martial Canterel, Led Er Est, and those great vinyl compilations) presents another fine reconstitution of '80s darkwave or, for the purposes of the French duo Frank (Just Frank), "Vague Froide Moderne". Well actually, they're half French, with one of the boys growing up in New Jersey before transplanting to Paris. Synths, guitar, bass, and drum machines are applied to the skeletal, if lush arrangements of Frank (Just Frank), with the lyrics mostly being handled in French. Much of the songs take their cues from The Cure's bassist Simon Gallup who, especially on Faith and Seventeen Seconds, guided those songs through his bouncy goth basslines. As such, the guitars for Frank (Just Frank) mostly chime and jangle while the the basslines lead the tunes, whose detached emotions are furthered through the atmospheric synths and pleading vocals. The Brutal Wave? Hmm. A bit of a stretch as a title for this album which is far more sanguine than the title suggests. Nevertheless, Frank (Just Frank) deliver what is expected of Wierd these days, with allusions to the likes of B-Movie, For Against, Eleven Pond, OMD, Siglo XX, and of course, The Cure. We like.
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Itagaki"
MPEG Stream: "Jalousie"
MPEG Stream: "Ride of a Lifetime"

BORGES, LO s/t (Water) cd 15.98
We first heard Lo Borges as singer and songwriter on the mighty Clube Da Esquina, Milton Nascimento's 1972 epic double record, we listed awhile back. That record has been a consistently steady seller since we listed it, and with good reason, it's incredible! But while Nascimento and Borges actually collaborated together on much of it, it's mostly regarded as a Nascimento record. So it's great to see Lo Borge's self titled debut solo album from the same year finally reissued by the Water label, to shine a much deserved spotlight on this underrated artist. And we have to say, it's equally as incredible and essential as Clube De Esquina, Eduardo Mateo's Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame, Caetano Veloso's Transa, or Gilberto Gil's Cerebro Electronico! With a nod to the cover art, those are big shoes indeed!
Recorded when he was just entering his twenties, the scope of artistry on display seems to be by someone so much more experienced. Not only is Borges at the top of his game as a singer and songwriter, but the arrangements and musicianship are just as dazzling. Most of the songs barely squeak over the two minute mark, but he packs so many ideas into a song without losing its central focus and at the same time giving everything lots of space. Here and there a string section drops in and out, a flurry of baroque piano, soaring flutes, a jazzy organ swell, searing electric guitar, hints of electronic psychedelic washes. At times romantic and mysterious, other times more urgent with rhythms picking up and slowing down in tempo to evoke a wide range of emotive qualities. This is a record we'll probably be playing all summer long. We can't recommend it enough!
MPEG Stream: "Voce Fica Melhor Assim"
MPEG Stream: "Como O Machado"
MPEG Stream: "Nao Se Apague Esta Noite"
MPEG Stream: "Aos Baroes"

SINGH, CHARANJIT Synthesizing: Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat (Bombay Connection) cd 17.98
Now available on compact disc!!! The vinyl version was limited or something (perhaps being repressed), but now that this is on cd, and we've got plenty, we can make it Record Of The Week! As it should be, since it gets played here at least several times a day.
This is so absolutely brilliant and bonkers, that when we first heard it, we thought it must be fake, some modern day Rephlex artist putting everyone on, taking the piss, with a "raga-techno" album supposedly from the early '80s. But, no joke, this is the real thing! In 1982, Charanjit Singh, a famous Bollywood composer (he was featured on Sublime Frequencies amazing Bollywood Steel Guitar compilation), had a plan to translate ancient traditional Indian classical ragas to the synthesizer. Using the very synths that would later define Acid House (Rolands TB-303 and TR-808!), Singh unwittingly created a proto-acid masterpiece, before the techno genre ever existed. Since only a hundred or less copies were made originally, this release was mostly a rumor since its creation. We vaguely remember Drew Daniel from Matmos talking about it on Pitchfork, a couple of years back, saying someone should reissue it, but we weren't ready for how incredible and ahead of its time it sounds. Imagine if Kraftwerk (or even Oneohtrix Point Never) started composing music for a Bollywood Rave. Or imagine a more raga-inspired take on another proto-acid classic, Manuel Gottsching's epic E2-E4. While the "disco" rhythms are fast and frenetic and don't really vary that much between tracks (they're not really disco beats per se, but more akin to acid's trancey bounce), the synth flourishes and squelches of the raga over the top are soaring and floaty, making the tracks deliriously hypnotic. Capturing acid house's lysergic transcendence but with an outsider's economy that refuses to date it specifically to the era. We guarantee there is not another release quite like this one in your collection. Highest Recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Raga Bhairav"
MPEG Stream: "Raga Madhuvanti"

SNYDER, DOUG AND BOB THOMPSON Daily Dance (Lion) cd 14.98
Woah! We've got the return of a way, way, way, WAY OUT electric guitar and drums duo document here, an improv maelstrom of uber DISTORTION freakout action that proves there's nothing new under the sun, 'cause this was cranked out by two long haired American hippies back in the early Seventies. In the annals of underground noise, they deserve a special place. This is proto everything! Mick Barr, No Wave, Ascension, Rhys Chatham, Glen Branca, Sonic Youth, High Rise, The Blue Humans, Dead C, Harry Pussy, Lightning Bolt, D!O!D!O!D!, even the Rangda we listed a couple weeks ago... heck, we're hearing all of that here. Wow. A total feedback and bashing attack, but not negative in attitude or anti-musical at all. In fact, it's presented with a lot of positive hippy-dippy charm ("listen for the time when the drums play themselves - when the spirits in the drums themselves are dancing" - that's a quote from drummer Bob Thompson found on the '98 release, and the title Daily Dance comes from the writings of Ken Kesey of Merry Prankster/Acid Test fame). Yet, it makes one of their own influences - The Stooges - seem square in comparison. These two go further in channeling spiritual free jazz a la Coltrane and Sanders into a stripped down, amped up primal "psych rock" context, it's hard to think of many earlier examples of such out-rock exploration. And it was also totally DIY punk too - of course, no label back then, or now for that matter, would have seen much commercial potential in this volume-dealing duo's pioneering skronk fest!
Daily Dance was recorded in 1972, and subsequently released as a private press lp in '73 via Carla Bley's New Music Distribution Service. It was reviewed favorably by Creem magazine in '77 (you can see, this didn't get all that much attention when it first came out, but has grown in cult status over the years), with Doug Snyder's guitar squall indeed compared to James Williamson of The Stooges. Snyder also cited the Velvet Underground and Sonny Sharrock as his guitar influences... Japan's Masayuki Takayangi was probably unknown to Snyder at the time but we bet he'd have been into him too, though the Daily Dance duo definitely are more ROCK than they are jazz. Or at least, they manage to combine rock and jazz without coming close to "fusion", not that there's anything wrong with fusion, good fusion anyway, but there's lots of bad fusion and this ain't either.
Now it's been reissued on cd for the second time (the previous edition, from '98, is long out of print) and on vinyl as well, making it available to a new generation of improv noise rock freaks. [Vinyl? Yes, unfortunately we're out of stock on the vinyl right at the moment, but will get it back in soon, so please let us know if you want a copy in that format.] Pretty neat to hear music "like this" being made for what might have been the very first time, certainly Snyder and Thompson were "pushing the envelope" as they knew it then, advancing into territory not entirely mapped out by things they'd already heard. And even if it wasn't from '72, anyone who likes loud, full-on freakout, rhythmic skree, and droney noisy textures will be variously entertained, whether it be by the moody, mystic feedback and percussive shimmer that closes out the epic title track, or the dense rumble of "Teenage Emergency" at the end of the disc that makes us think of Sharrock playing some sort of static surf music...
Lion Productions, in association with Cantor Records (responsible for the vinyl reissue mentioned above), has done this up nicely, in a fancy Japanese-looking miniature lp style paste-on sleeve, complete with obi. Remastered from the original tapes, and packaged with a 20 page booklet with liner notes and photos. Nice! FYI, this compact disc edition also includes a previously unreleased two-minute bonus track, "Unseen, Unheard", that was left off the both the original and reissued vinyl for reasons of space (and it's not on the previous cd version either).
MPEG Stream: "Daily Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Hit And Run"
MPEG Stream: "Teenage Emergency"

V/A Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa (Honest Jon's) cd 17.98
With the abundance of amazing comps and reissues of lost gems from all over Africa in the 1970s, it can get easy to forget that there is the here and now, and that there is equally damaged, brilliant, fucked up and contagious sounds being made throughout the globe RIGHT NOW! Don't get us wrong we love all the reissues of '70s psych glory that's being dug up and rediscovered all over the world, including so much from Africa, but damn it's so refreshing and invigorating to get a set of brand new sounds from across the globe being created at this very moment that grabs a hold of our imagination in such exciting ways. Shangaan is a new form of dance music coming out of Soweto that merges the sounds of traditional mbira (thumb piano) music with hyperactive synthesizers. It really is like nothing we've heard before. Call and response glory wrapped in 180 bpm craziness!
In some ways this feels like the spazzy cousin to the great Congotronics compilation from a few years ago, as that also showcased a new form of charged and body moving sounds coming out of Africa. But this is even more dance minded. You have to make sure you go online to YouTube and check out the actual dances that are performed to this music, so spirited, full of a new folklore and such a psychedelic aura. The sound of the songs is kind of like some early Nintendo game getting hijacked by Omar Souleyman armed with a karaoke machine and a troupe of boys, girls, men and women all ready to move on their feet as fast and furiously as possible. There are parts of the music that sound like Fever Ray played on the wrong speed, or what we imagine M.I.A. would blast at an afterparty. Forget about the World Cup, this may be the most mind blowing cultural phenomenon going down in South Africa that we are lucky enough to get to hear and appreciate NOW. Beyond recommended!
MPEG Stream: TSHETSHA BOYS "Nwampfundla"
MPEG Stream: TIYISELANI VOMASEVE "Vanghoma"
MPEG Stream: ZINJA HLUNGWANI "N'wagezani"
MPEG Stream: NKATA MAWEWE "Khulumani"

CHEMICAL BROTHERS Further (Astralwerks) cd 16.98
It's not often that a group you have never been into, and maybe even actively disliked, makes something that totally blows you away. Well it's happened! None of us at AQ have ever been Chemical Brothers fans, we always found them so forced, contrived, and too much like the glossy stadium rock version of electronic music. But damn we are forgetting about that past right now, as Further is one of the most explosive, dynamic and epic electronic records of the year. Maybe their day in the mainstream limelight is done and they could make the record they always wanted to or maybe they just evolved, refined their taste and got so much better. Either way, we LOVE it!
Further is a blast of fuzzy and spaced out electronics filled with a driving force and such a rich sense of melody. In fact the first few times we played this in the store everyone working came up front to see what M83 record it was, as it has that really dynamic and engaging scope of sound. It's also reminding us of some cool combination of the cosmic odysseys of Etienne Jaumet mixed with the catchy hooks of Ratatat.
While their past releases relied so heavily on the influx of guest appearances, this record finds them sticking to a unified vision that doesn't depend on outside star power and have thus finally found a way to reach the stars and outer galaxies of sound all on their own, with such stunning results. Who says you can't get better, to teach old dogs new techno tricks? We never would of thought we'd say this, but the Chemical Brothers have made one of our favorite electronic records of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Snow "
MPEG Stream: "Escape Velocity"
MPEG Stream: "Swoon"

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER Returnal (Editions Mego) cd 16.98
FINALLY ALSO AVAILABLE ON CD!! Here's what we said about the vinyl version a couple weeks back:
With the opening squall of electrical noise on his latest Oneohtrix Point Never album, Daniel Lopatin must have been paying homage to Mego's history of digital cacophony, with the likes of Kevin Drumm, Florian Hecker, and Zbigniew Karkowski all abusing binary code through their releases on the label. Of course, Lopatin's signature sound is a throwback to the bygone era of education films about the wonders of chemistry and the drama of the space program with their cheesy, blooping soundtracks, so an homage to Mego is not entirely out of character from a conceptual point of view. Beyond this assaulting track, the elastic surfaces and geometric patterns which have become the hallmark of Oneohtrix Point Never work their magic on Returnal. On the title track with its staccato synthesis, Lopatin tricks his voice out through a couple of pitchshifters, rendering it very much in line with what Karin Dreijer Andersson has done in The Knife and Fever Ray. This isn't the first time he's sung on a track, as he did entertain some robotic vocals on one of those KGB Man cassettes from 2009. He follows this with a series of tracks overlapping cathode-ray drones, algorithmic shapeshifting, and pools of synthetic android tears all of which revolve into curving compositions that split the difference between pastoral new age drool puddling and progressive electronics with a nod to atonal cybernetics. Like Emeralds, who have also signed to Editions Mego, Oneohtrix Point Never has been on quite a roll, and Returnal lives up to all the hype.
MPEG Stream: "Describing Bodies"
MPEG Stream: "Returnal"
MPEG Stream: "Where Does Time Go"

SANDWITCHES, THE Duck, Duck, Goose! (Empty Cellar / Secret Seven) 12" 9.98
Over the last year The Sandwitches debut lp, How To Make Ambient Sadcake proved to be a record with major legs. As we still have a hard time keeping it in stock as it sells out just about every week as people get turned on to what a unique and intimate sound these ladies have carved out. These brand new songs show that The Sandwitches are only getting better, with a set of songs filled with such warmth and a haunting glow. We hear hints of Karen Dalton, Vashti Bunyan, Christine McVie, Pentangle, Sybille Baier as well as contemporary artists like Tara Jane O'Neil, Jana Hunter, Marissa Nadler, Rio En Medio, Beach House, Tiny Vipers and Metallic Falcons. Or what it might sound like if Mimi from Low and Georgia from Yo La Tengo did lonely dark tinged covers of Red House Painters songs. The record has this timeless sound that makes us think of crawling up to the attic of our weird/cool aunt's house and finding an unmarked dusty record that we put on play as it turns to dusk outside and we flip through boxes of old photographs and torn out journal entries. Recorded & produced by Wymond Miles from The Fresh & Onlys, this ep really raises the bar for their sound. One of the most warm, eerie, yet comforting collection of songs we've heard all year. Stamped on one-sided vinyl and limited to 500 copies. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Stardust"
MPEG Stream: "Rock Of Gibraltar"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Mine"

DARK DAY Window (Dark Entries) lp 19.98
So cool! And cold wavey. A wonderfully produced piece of vinyl to replace those crappy downloads which have been bouncing around the internet for the past five or six years. Dark Day was the project spearheaded by R.L. Crutchfield, who first worked with Arto Lindsay and Ikue Mori in the earliest incarnation of the seminal No Wave band DNA in the mid '70s. By 1979, Crutchfield was striking out on his own as Dark Day; and at first, this band was an intentional reversal of roles within the trad-rock band with two women playing guitars and drums and a man behind the keyboards. The ladies for that incarnation were Nancy Arlen of Mars and Nina Canal of Ut; and they managed a few gigs and one hell of a great single - "Hands In The Dark" - which appeared many years later on a Soul Jazz No Wave compilation and has been covered spectacularly by the Chromatics. Canal and Arlen weren't terribly interested in continuing in the project, leaving Crutchfield to find likeminded folks with whom to work. The second (and last) Dark Day record was recorded in 1982, with Crutchfield going into the studio with a bunch of cheap electronics and toy synthesizers with Bill Sack to flesh out the accompaniments on similar instruments. Their interlocking arpeggiations are punctuated with blooping electronics that are equal parts Trio and Kraftwerk with an underlying dread to the spiralling songs that detoured from Kraftwerk's utopian vision of man-machine hybrids and down a paranoid vision of man being at the mercy of his machines, no matter how innocent their intent. Dark Day's songs are insistent and catchy despite their utterly simple structures. "Metal Benders" and "Danger / Dance" are probably the closest thing to being 'hits' on the album as weird / anti-romantic variations of Young Marble Giants with whip crack rhythms and spectral pre-X-Files electronic whistling melodies. Coming out of the NYC No Wave scene helped craft Dark Day into a something other than neo-Romantic post-punk outfit with electronics. This was a wholly unique band, who never got the attention that many of their contemporaries. Kudos to Dark Entries once again on a splendid reissue!
MPEG Stream: "Window"
MPEG Stream: "The Metal Benders"
MPEG Stream: "Danger/Dancer "
MPEG Stream: "Don't Bother"

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI Before Today (4AD) cd 14.98
What a long strange trip it's been for Ariel Pink. Going from total outsider weirdo pop secret to the man pretty much single handedly responsible for inspiring a legion of like minded left-field pop peddlers like Kurt Vile, John Maus, Gary War, Blank Dogs, Wavves, Ducktails, Brian Glaze, Night Control, Neon Indian, and on and on.
Now finally, after all these years, AP's finally enjoying the respect and attention he deserves, and he's been rewarded with his first big time and widely distributed release, on 4AD, of all labels!! Anyone who has seen him and The Haunted Graffiti play lately know that while there is still a total weird and warbly vibe to their sound, they are a much more song based outfit, and way more straightforward than their way more fractured and fucked up earlier sound. Not to fear though, Before Today is not some glossy makeover of the Ariel Pink we all know and love, but it is for sure the most coherent, produced and focused album he's created. From glam-like '70s rockers, to yacht rock on acid, to super colorful fuzzy pop bliss, this is a record that explores so many different sonic territories.
It's also, by far, the 'breeziest' record he's made, the sounds often has us feeling like we're swirling in pink tinged clouds while a '70s soft-rock radio soundtrack bleeds into something a bit more subversive, and all the while, candy coated cereal comes raining down from the skies. AP's been at it for about a decade now, way beyond the lifespan of most 'bands', carving out his completely singular idiosyncratic voice, and it really makes sense, that more and more people are embracing his twisted sound, and showering him with the love and praise he's been getting from folks like us for years...
(By the way, there is vinyl of this too, we ran out and when we tried to restock, the label was temporarily out... might have something to do with the fact that one of the lps we did get, turned out to have a Christina Aguilera record inside it, not the AP one! Almost seems like something AP would do on purpose... we'll keep you posted.)
MPEG Stream: "L'estat"
MPEG Stream: "Round And Round"
MPEG Stream: "Revolution's A Lie"
MPEG Stream: "Reminiscences"

KONONO NO.1 Assume Crash Position (Crammed Discs) cd 16.98
From the very first notes of Assume Crash Position, we're immediately transported right back to Kinshasa in the Congo, a bustling town square, people going about their business, cars zooming past, children playing and shouting, people sitting at tables on the sidewalk drinking, eating, catching up, birds perched in the trees, chirping, just a regular bustling African city, except maybe for a certain group of musicians, creating their own soundtrack to daily life, conjuring up a gorgeous, rhythmic, hypnotic and strangely psychedelic racket, equal parts classic African folk music, High Life, and junkyard percussion. The musicians are wielding a strange array of hand built instruments, there's lots of rusted metal, car batteries, old cracked loudspeakers, various drums, and most notably, some fantastic looking, and even more fantastic sounding amplified thumb pianos. By now, regular readers of the aQ list most likely know we're talking about the truly amazing Konono No.1, quite possibly one of our favorite African ensembles ever, past or present. When we first hear them a few years ago, we were blown away, the super distorted thumb pianos spitting out clouds of rapid fire chiming notes, tangled melodies, all locked into super hypnotic drum driven grooves, call and response vocals, simultaneously festive and danceable, dark and mysterious, raw and feral, primitive and DIY, lush and melodic and like nothing we had ever heard before.
When we first threw on Assume Crash Position, our first thought, was that very little had changed, and to a certain degree that's true, all of the above mentioned elements are still present, the wild thumb pianos, still the focal point, their sound curious but so warm and sweetly melodic, the call and response vocals, the tribal percussion, the groovy rhythms, but from the first track it IS in fact evident that some things have changed. That opening track, "Wumbanzanga", is far more melodic, far more pretty and almost more like some of the other traditional African music we've heard in the past, with great female vocals, the vibe super festive, but those thumb piano melodies definitely add a distinctly Konono vibe. Then the next track, "Thin Legs" explodes in a frenzy of whistles and tribal drumming and vocals, that's it, but it too manages to be super melodic and totally effusively celebratory.
It's not until "Mama Na Bana" which opens with that Konono style stop start THRUMP THRUMP THRUMP, where the whole group locks in, before launching into classic Konono, it's really hard to describe, but those fuzzy buzzing metallic melodies wrapped around the repetitive rhythms and the super emotional vocals, the whole rest of the record is classic, albeit a bit more polished and melodic, Konono junkyard Congotronics...
Some of the highlights this time around include "Makembe", with its buzzing melodies, crooned vocals, and the sounds of kids playing and birds chirping, before there's a BIG crash, apparently the sound of a concrete wall collapsing, a wall the vocalist was moments earlier leaning against, and then the band launches into one of the best jams on the disc. Or the gorgeous closing lullaby of "Nakobala Lisusu Te", with muted thumb pianos, super tangled melodies, and a sweet soulful croon, so dreamy and blissful, the perfect way to unwind after a wild, sweaty, funky, groovy, Congotronic workout.
The packaging is cool too, with tons of photos of the local scrap yard / junkyard, where the band gather up most of the material they use to build their instruments, not to mention a shot of that collapsed wall that crumbled mid-song. As with past Konono's, utterly and absolutely wholeheartedly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Wumbanzanga"
MPEG Stream: "Thin Legs"
MPEG Stream: "Mama Na Bana"
MPEG Stream: "Makembe"

SWIRE, BEN From Here To There (Preservation) cd 16.98
Utterly gorgeous and meticulously crafted sounds infused with warmth and a glimmering, strangely tender vibe. Almost like a more melodic Jasper TX or Machinefabriek, Ben Swire intertwines traditional instruments with field recordings and electronics to create a totally seamless sound that has been the soundtrack to constant drifting, dazed daydreaming.
While Swire resides right here in San Francisco, it actually makes a lot of sense that this was released by the great Australian label Preservation, who have proven to have such immaculate taste in soft focus underground sounds (Eddie Marcon, Caethua, Aaron Martin, etc.). But we also think he would be a perfect fit for the roster of Root Strata, as his music really taps into a similarly perfect hazy, delicate, droney yet melodic sensibility. We hear hints of so many artists that we love like Philip Jeck, Es, The Fun Years, Part Timer, Mountains, as well as a more organic interpretation of early recordings by folks like Mum, Opiate and Markus Archer. While we are reminded of all those great artists, there is something so striking about Swire's soft touch, understated and assured with some pleasant surprises of a slightly darker nature, subtly tense and ominous, which unfold in the later half of the record. But for sure this the perfect soundtrack for staring out the window on long road trips as the scenery washes by and your mind floats away in a million different directions. So beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Propel"
MPEG Stream: "Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Far Removed"
MPEG Stream: "Forever"

DURUTTI COLUMN LC (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
There are those certain records for all of us that just change things when they enter your world. For a few of us here, this 1981 album by Durutti Column is one of those records. An album that showed that music could be sparse and majestic at the same time. D.I.Y., yet and grandiose in how it evokes emotion, memory, longing and desire. The work of Vini Reilly, Durutti Column emerged out of Factory Records yet their sound was something completely of its own world. Merging impeccable guitar playing with subtle drum machines, soft vocals and a golden warmth that makes this one of those albums that makes you melt everytime you put it on.
Pastoral and blissful, LC is filled with both perfect restraint and full on flowing beauty. You can hear how traces of the more blissed out side of Krautrock influenced him, merging that with the stripped down emotional quality of British folk and placing it into a very modern moment. While not an obscure band by any measure, we are still blown away though by how many people who would love Durutti Column have never heard them. And with the reissue of their first two lp's we hope that so many of those folks finally do. We could go on and on listing folks whose music we love and who have undoubtedly been influenced by Durutti Column, and this record in particular: Felt, Fuqugi, Danny Paul Grody, Colleen, James Blackshaw, Ducktails, Fennesz, Manuel, A.R. Kane, My Bloody Valentine, and on and on. One of our favorite records of all time, so if you didn't have this before, now's the time!

MCGUIRE, MARK Things Fall Apart (Wagon) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Much like on his recent solo acoustic radio session lp, on Things Fall Apart, Emeralds member Mark McGuire once again ditches the effects (mostly), going it alone, sans his synthesizer compatriots, with just some hazy guitar strum, looped hypnotic melody, and away we go...
...Into some sort of ethereal washed out dreamscape of elliptical guitar figures, interwoven and overlapping, mesmerizing and hypnotic, slowly shifting, a gorgeous new age krautdrone drift, crystalline and delicate, it's a slow build, but eventually, the tracks grow more fierce, darker, and more dense, with some fuzzy psychedelic guitars adding extra buzz and filigree, ratcheting up the space rock vibe, but never letting loose completely.
Contemplative, sun-dappled tranquility is the order of the day here. Or rather the order of the cool breezy sun-setting Summery eve. Some aQ folks were hearing some Jerry Garcia, in his Zabriske Point solo guitar mode, others some krauty shimmery smoothness a la Michael Rother, both are equally applicable, Things Fall Apart is a soft focus prismatic drift of fluttery krautfolk and subtle spaced out avant Appalachia, broadcast through a gauzey veil of ephemeral shimmer. Lovely. And of course, EXTREMELY LIMITED.
MPEG Stream: "Things Fall Apart"
MPEG Stream: "Inside Where It's Warm"

FNS s/t (Miasmah) cd 15.98
Another fantastic Miasmah release, this one from FNS, aka Fredrik Ness Sandoval, who besides playing in a whole bunch of Norwegian bands we've never heard of, has collaborated with members of Acid Mothers Temple, 1/3 Octave Band, the Cranes, Zeni Geva, and Marble Sheep, but here on his solo debut, Sandoval crafts a gorgeous expanse of minimal psychedelic folk, that reminds us both of local dronefolk duo Barn Owl, but also space kraut astral travelers Expo 70.
Imagine folk music transformed into druggy drifty dreamy space ragas, and you'll be getting close, acoustic guitars unfurl gorgeous trancelike stretches of almost Appalachia like strum, while all around, effects swirl, other guitars are layered and woven into the original guitar, creating fantastical stretches of psychedelic drift, of abstract dronekraut minimalism, all infused with a subtle pathos, even the sunshiniest of the tracks here, brood with a somber undercurrent. The record opener sets the stage perfectly, an acoustic guitars strums a melancholy chord progression, while another guitar churns and chugs, a rhythmic counterpoint to the woozy drift of the acoustic, this undulating space raga is laced with tinkling chimes, swooping backwards effects, all wreathed in a sort of otherworldly shimmer, and allowed to loop and repeat and mesmerize, growing subtly more intense and loud, but never fully letting loose, instead, eventually shedding all the extra guitars and strange production, leaving just the warm strummed acoustic, and little streaks of backwards swoop. We say it a lot, but Sandoval could have stretched that out to 40 or 50 minutes and we'd STILL be raving about it. And that applies to all the tracks here.
"Sappelur" is a smoldering blackened dirge, roiling clouds of processed buzz, muted feedback, lots of layered tones and lush chordal blur, a lovely blown out psychedelic haze that just throbs and pulses and drifts, right into "Wooden Leg", which returns to the folk of the album opener, but unlike that track, the progression here is much more subtle, it's nearly 2 or 3 minutes before a strange drone begins to surface, along with gorgeous angelic female vocals, soon male vocals join in as well, not singing so much as sort of crooning along, the result is a darker, more menacing take on classic seventies British acid folk.
"I Think She's Asleep" is more abstract, a gorgeous shimmery dreamscape, all layered tones, and pulled apart melodies, haunting and otherwordly, hushed and lovely, very reminiscent of folks like Machinefabriek and Jasper TX. "Dream" is surprisingly less dreamy, sounding instead like some strange sonic ritual, spidery guitars wrapped around twisted damaged electronics, while the vocals transform the sound into something almost liturgical, lots of reverb and echo, as if it were being performed in some massive black cathedral, the effects swirling and swooping, and pushing the sound into the realms of spacekrautdrone for sure.
Finally, the record closes with the epic 12 minute "Flaggermusvingers Vift I Dimmet", which again begins as a slowly unfurling lush sprawl of melancholy Appalachia, all minor key and mournful, while just below the surface, some thick blackened buzzing is birthed, and as the track progresses, it grows more and more caustic, roiling and churning, eventually nearly swallowing the Appalachia whole, transforming the sound into some washed out doomgaze, all woozy and swirly, the low end swells laced with tangled psychedelic melodies, before dropping out completely, leaving just a soft focus cloud of distant reverbed shimmer, a distant cosmic vibration, that seems to gradually fade, like the stars disappearing behind the clouds.
Dark and dreamy and druggy and so so gorgeous... For fans of Expo 70, Svarte Greiner, Barn Owl, Jacaszek, Nadja, Jasper TX, Machinefabriek, Fear Falls Burning and other purveyors of doomfolk, krautdrone, spacefolk and all sorts of abstract minimal guitarscapery...
MPEG Stream: "Silence To Say Hello"
MPEG Stream: "Flaggermusvingers Vift I Dimmet"
MPEG Stream: "Dream"
MPEG Stream: "I Think She's Asleep"

ROEDELIUS The Diary Of The Unforgotten: Selbstportrait VI (Bureau) cd 17.98
What a great time this is, and how lucky we are to be living in it, as the back catalogs of both Cluster members, Moebius and Roedelius, have been getting the long overdue reissue campaign they so rightly deserve. So many gems to be found in both of their discographies, in fact, they're almost all gems.
The Diary Of The Unforgotten is a collection of musical sketches that Roedelius made between the years 1973-1978. It never saw release until 1990, and sadly that pressing came and went quickly, so most of us here had never heard these amazing tracks before.
Shimmering with dreamy atmosphere, melancholic and flowing with a soft grace, you can tell Brian Eno was so in tune with these same sounds, sounds which would eventually evolve into their future collaborations as well as on Eno's own records like Before & After Science and Another Green World. What's so miraculous about these tracks is that while they flow with such a golden ease, they were actually recorded in such a lo-fi manner. Roedelius would just let the tape roll and would not add any overdubs afterwards. Perhaps that's why the emotional quality of these songs hits us so strongly. Nine of the ten songs range in the three to five minute range and then there's the epic twenty four minute centerpiece "Hommage A Forst". While we could argue forever about which Roedelius or Cluster offshoot release is our favorite, right now The Diary Of The Unforgotten is making a pretty great case for that honor.
MPEG Stream: "Remember Those Days"
MPEG Stream: "Du"
MPEG Stream: "Hommage À Forst"
MPEG Stream: "Ausgeredet"

MCGUIRE, MARK Tidings / Amethyst Waves (Weird Forest) 2lp 29.00
One of two 'new' releases from Mark McGuire, a member of psych synth drone aQ faves Emeralds (and there's actually a new Emeralds on this list too, Record Of The Week!!), this one, an lp reissue of two loooong out of print cassettes (cd version coming soon), consists of four long tracks, of processed and looped guitarmusic, a gloriously kosmiche hypnotic and repetitive space rock kraut drone, beginning with an odd, somewhat out of place sample, but as soon as the guitars kick in we're immediately transported to some strange other world of crystals and prisms, the sonic sunlight unfurling glorious sheets of color, stuttery looped tangles of spidery guitar gives way to thick swells of crumbling corrosive fuzz, warm and lush and billowy, a wall of metalgaze blur that soon shifts back into a dizzying swirl of looped and layered melodies, that shifts and undulates and morphs from muted blissful smears to straight up folky strum.
The second track is another gorgeous loopscape, chiming guitar harmonics, and short sharp bursts of static, simple subtle melodies underneath, almost poppy sounding, until it collapses into a soft swirling tangle of layered synths and dizzying serpentine melodies, only to again to return to something much more traditionally strummy, a simple moody guitar figure layered over electronic chitter that sounds a bit like crickets in the fading afternoon light.
Track three beings with flurry of chiming high end guitars, like fireflies, they swirl and flit, the almost-melodies constantly in motion, the sound growing ever more lush and complex and dense, so hypnotic, loop after loop laid atop the loops that came before, a lovely slow build, that eventually joins the twinkling looped melodies with subtle guitar strum, and washed out string-like swells, the whole thing growing more and more hazy and distorted and metallic, dissipating in a lovely tangle of decaying loops.
Finally, the record ends with some heavily delayed and looped minimal guitars, muffled and muted, chiming and percussive, very Reich / Riley sounding, again blossoming into lush latticeworks of overlapping melodies and overtones, it's not until near the end that the guitars begin to become effected, the guitars seemingly transforming into synths, a buzzy, fuzzy, but still fantastically mesmerizing finale.
Pressed on nice thick vinyl, housed in super deluxe Stoughton tip-on sleeves, and LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "A Matter Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "The Passing Of The Road Chief"

VILE, KURT Square Shells (Matador) 12" 10.98
Latest from this singer / songwriter psych folk troubadour, a seven song ep, originally released as a free download, now available as a super limited 12", and perfectly showcases Vile's sonic breadth, beginning with some stripped down folkiness, rife with Beach Boys melodies, but delivered in a lazy drawl, the whole thing underpinned by some muted synth squiggles and electronic drones. Super catchy, but also raw and rough and intimate. Which sort of describes Vile no matter what sound he's conjuring up. And on it goes from there.
Like on past records, Square Shells blends subtle psychedelia with bedroom folk and jangly indie pop, adding some druggy ambience, swirling spaced out effects, simple minimal drum machines, the result is a little shoegazey, a little twangy, with plenty of buzz and shimmer, and long stretches of instrumental ambient dronescapery, songs like "Losing Momentum (For Jim Jarmusch)" unfurl gorgeous swells of blissed out slowcore, reminding us of Roy Montgomery, or an even more minimal Spacemen 3, or maybe a soporific non propulsive Wooden Shjips, the sounds blurred and smeared into gauzy dreamscapes, all beneath a glimmering crystalline latticework of spidery guitar. "The Finder" is similarly spaced out and prismatic, a muted buzzscape, darkly psychedelic, and sweetly contemplative, hypnotic and mesmerizing, steel string buzz nestled amidst warm organ wheeze. While in between these chunks of gorgeous abstract minimalism Vile offers up some more traditional songcraft, mostly just acoustic guitar and voice, sometimes crooning over reverb drenched Appalachia, other times delivering almost traditional folk songs, finishing off with "Hey, Now I'm Movin", a Dylan-y jam, with stream of consciousness lyrics, simple strumming, even harmonica, and lots of 'yeah yeah yeah's, but Vile sends that 'classic' folk drifting through a hazy cloud of soft focus ambience, giving the whole track a druggy otherworldly feel, the perfect finish to this intimate, dreamlike ep...
MPEG Stream: "Ocean City"
MPEG Stream: "Invisibility: Nonexistent"
MPEG Stream: "Losing Momentum (For Jim Jarmusch)"

BELL GARDENS Hangups Need Company (Failed Better) 12" 11.98
Anyone responsible for helping make such stunning sounds over the years with Stars Of The Lid definitely demands our undivided attention with any other related project or band. So when we heard that Brian McBride of Stars Of The Lid had a new band with Kenneth Gibson of Furry Things, we knew we needed to check it out. With a large ensemble backing them up, the two have crafted an immaculate orchestral pop record, that sounds nothing like any of their previous bands, but proving that McBride is a master of creating such beautiful and moving sounds no matter what shape or genre he is working with. Imagine the dreamiest version of The Byrds, the emotional impact of Elliott Smith, the most seductive elements of the Beach Boys, the shoegaze country vibes of Mojave 3, and you start to get an idea of the warm sounds that make up this beautiful debut.
Understated yet totally lush and full of soft sweeping melody. There doesn't seem to be a lot of press or hype surrounding this, but under the radar, Bell Gardens have crafted six of the most satisfying songs of the year!

CRYSTAL CASTLES Crystal Castles (Universal Motown) cd 13.98
One of the trends that we've noticed in the last several years with many of our favorite music makers is that it's seemingly become about releasing as MUCH as you can as OFTEN as you can. And while it's awesome to get so much new music from bands you like, there is still something to be said for really taking your time and crafting fully realized albums that may take a few years to wait for. At the rate that everyone is putting out releases, we almost just figured that Crystal Castles had somehow vanished or had broken up since we haven't heard a peep from them since their infectious debut from a couple years ago.
Luckily they are indeed back and sounding perhaps even more focused, frantic, infectious and engaging than on their debut. (Though would it have killed them to have spent just a few more minutes and come up with an album title? Having two self-titled discs is a bit confusing!) Equal parts '80s flashback, electro-pop with cold wave persuasions, primitive electronics, post-punk spazzy convulsions (the first track would have sounded right at home on one of our favorite spazzcore records by folks like The Locust, The VSS, or Clikatat Ikatowi), and catchy pop prowess. This is one of those records that really does appeal to so many different musical ears, and just about all of us at AQ can't stop listening to it. While it's not too unusual for Andee and Allan to come running up to the front of the store to see what's playing, this time it was Cup, whose desk is the furthest from the front, who had to make a beeline to the speakers to find out who it was covering '80s Canadian glammy new wavers Platinum Blonde! And the fact that Crystal Castles even chose one of the lesser hits of theirs to cover, not to mention that singer Alice Glass hadn't even been born yet when the original was released, just proves this duo has done their homework over the years and are now WAY ahead of the pack!
Like The Knife lending a helping hand to lead Adult. back to greatness, or Caribou, Hot Chip, Goldfrapp, Chromatics, M83 and The Junior Boys all somehow poisoned by a much darker goth-like magic potion. Even those of us who are usually a little shy when it comes to beat orientated music are totally digging this as there is something much more weird and nuanced happening than on lots of other electro-pop records that come our way. It's super fun but not dumb, varied but not erratic, gets out-there but not alienating, sexy but not a put on. Bottom line, it's a fucking awesome record!
MPEG Stream: "Celestica"
MPEG Stream: "Not In Love"
MPEG Stream: "Year Of Silence"
MPEG Stream: "I Am Made Of Chalk"

FOREIGN CINEMA Non-Synchronous Sound (Parallax Sounds) cd ep 5.98
You can probably imagine that we get lots of bands sending and dropping off their cd's for us to check out. As painstaking and time consuming as it can be, we really do try to listen to every single thing that ends up in our hands, even though it sometimes takes us forever to do so. But damn we've been reminded why all that listening is worth while, as buried deep in a stack of cd's to check out from months ago laid this absolute shoegaze gem from a local San Francisco duo who deserve to get some major attention with this stunning ep.
Reminding us in equal parts of Slowdive and The Cure circa Faith, these are songs to get lost to, bathing the listener in a perfect seductive daze. We've got to say we've become big fans of ep's as of late, a format that requires the musician make the most of every single moment, as the four songs/twenty minutes of music on Non-Synchronous Sound are all absolutely hypnotic and satisfying. Reminding us of the heyday of Sara records or a more shoegazey Pains of Being Pure At Heart joining forces with a less rock minded and more blissed out Crystal Stilts.
Slumberland, Matador, 4AD, Captured Tracks, if we were your A&R reps we would be begging you to sign this duo, as this is a band who deserves to get their music out to a way wider audience. Totally stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Ice Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Arbitrary Map Mode"
MPEG Stream: "Lovers And Killers"

MANNING, MARC Here's A Breaking Sound (self-released) cd-r 9.98
Totally moving, ominous and breathtaking sounds from this San Francisco artist who uses his voice, guitars, delay, and feedback to create wonderfully mysterious, haunting and beautiful music. Imagine a stripped down version of Earth joining forces with a Grouper, all dazed and dreamy and stately, and you start to get an idea of the soundworld Manning is exploring here. And it's not just a simple take on any one genre, not straight drone, or noise, or pop, or post-rock or goth, or doom, yet it combines elements of all of those to create something unlike most of the sounds being created by the new wave of underground bedroom lo-fi music makers.
Here's A Breaking Sound also has this awesome vibe and atmosphere that sounds a little like some of our favorite Swans records playing at a WAY slower speed or perhaps bands like Low and Codeine swathed in gobs of fuzz and distortion. We also can't help but hear bits of Hala Strana, Christina Carter's Bastard Wing project, and Tom Carter music stripped down bare bones, fused with elements or a much more primitive Loren Mazzacane Conners. There is this sprawling loner country vibe that runs through the record in such an amazing way. Like Flying Saucer Attack wandering all alone through the desert and setting up one amp in the middle of nowhere to play these mesmerizing songs to the earth and sky and spirits.
There is also a warmth and sense of song that is so much missing in many similar minded projects. What makes Here's A Breaking Sound really stand out is that you really do feel an emotional response to the songs. They don't hit you over the head or try to impress you with their extremity, but instead they understand the power of starkness and subtlety, a potent musical mood that brings evokes such darkly rustic daydreams. Highly recommended!
Each cover is hand drawn and we're not sure how many of these he made so better to act fast on this one.
MPEG Stream: "Black Days"
MPEG Stream: "Hospital Earthquaks"
MPEG Stream: "Bones"

MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE Totem Two (Important) cd 14.98
Sometimes seeing a band play live in the flesh surpasses the experience on record, but other times, there's the danger of diminishing whatever mystique they've created for themselves, which remains safe when one listens at home with just the music (and record sleeve artwork) for one's imagination feed upon. Seeing a bunch of dudes in jeans and baseball hats up on stage making musician faces and fiddling with gear has bummed us out a bit about bands we've liked before, when we wanted gods and monsters and supermen.
And the ominously, exotically evocative music of the Master Musicians Of Bukkake, along with their colorful album cover imagery, provides a LOT of mystique to live up to (despite their irreverent/gross/jokey monicker). So when Allan here got the chance to see 'em recently at the Roadburn Festival in Holland, he was full of anticipation, but also a bit trepidatious about it. Turns out he had nothing to worry about. Do go see the Master Musicians Of Bukkake if you get the chance, their mystique will remain intact, never fear! Led by a dramatic robed figure wearing a wooden demon mask, the rest of the large ensemble wore white sombrero-like hats, their faces shrouded in black netting, and rocked out like dervishes, looking like they stepped out of scene in a Jodorowsky movie. One of most memorable performances at Roadburn for sure (and despite being, ah, so different from a lot of the other bands, they got a great response).
Witnessing that definitely got Allan excited about this impending new album, Totem Two. Plus we loved Totem One. The sequel raises the Master Musicians' mystic monolith still higher to the heavens. Once again to describe their sound, we could use the usual shorthand of the Sun City Girls meet latter-day Earth (which has some basis in this band's hybrid heavy drone exotica as well as their actual membership / friendship connections to those two legendary Seattle outfits). Other references: Ghost, Grails, Acid Mothers Temple, Secret Chiefs, Tangerine Dream! Thus, Totem Two has certainly been getting played a lot in the store, the MMoB's particular/pecuilar synthesis of sounds appealing to all of us here. Psychedelic, pretty, sinister, cinematic, steeped in ancient, Third World folk music and mythology... they're a mysterious moody mix of a lot of stuff we love, electronic drone filtered through faux-ethno ceremony, part SUNNO))), part Sublime Frequencies! Also, we're almost surprised this isn't on Ipecac, they ought to be Mike Patton's favorite band, in some ways bringing to life Mike Patton's Ennio Morricone compilation Crime & Dissonance (which was actually compiled by Alan Bishop, who of course is one of the Sun City Girls, and a mentor of / inspiration for / occasional collaborator with these guys).
The album begins with what sounds like a ghost train a-comin'... field recordings and tinkling percussion, hushed drone and the far-off foggy bellowings of Tibetan horns... you know you're in for a far ranging journey, off the beaten track. Gorgeous lonely flute dominates the second song, floating o'er a ritual processional, like Djivan Gasparyan sitting in on a sombre Amon Duul or International Harvester jam... the middle of the album brings in more buzzing synths, majestic and melancholic, getting spacey like Klaus Schulze, playing sentimental cinematic themes, dark and melodic.... The distortion ramps up briefly as a segue into the album's final eleven minute piece, a calm and psychedelic epic like Six Organs with extra synth squiggle... Beautiful! Almost makes us think of Japan's Far East Family Band from the '70s, that one. That's just a short surface summary, you could fall into this album's depths though, and come back changed, as if from a dream/drug quest...
Both cd and lp formats, like Totem One, feature feverish psychedelic jungle Seldon Hunt artwork, the vinyl version also comes wrapped in an obi.
MPEG Stream: "Bardo Chonyid / Master Of All Visible Shapes"
MPEG Stream: "Perde Kaldirma"
MPEG Stream: "The Heresy Of Origen"

EFFI BRIEST Rhizomes (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98
A gang of totally talented women from Brooklyn making some intense and engaging off kilter psych post-punk that's been thrilling us big time via this new Sacred Bones release. We love how Effi Briest bring worlds of post-punk, krautrock, garage goth, and psychedelia into a propulsive whole that is so charged and hypnotizing. It's always a good sign when you can't immediately start rattling off other bands a record reminds you of, as there is something very honest and unique about the songs on Rhizomes. We do think of some of those awesome amalgamations that are fun to dream up. Like Erase Errata doing early Siouxsie & The Banshees covers, or White Magic shedding their folkish leanings and diving full throttle into psychedelic overload, Gang Gang Dance and Zola Jesus joining their mystical powers or Au Pairs and The Raincoats risen from the ashes but sounding a bit weirder and more rhythmic, or even a more intense version of those awesome Helium records that Ash Bowie from Polvo played on, or heck, maybe what early Wire might have sounded like with a young Patti Smith on vocals.
At a time when so many new records are so loyal to the one sound or style they are trying to capture it's so fucking cool to come across a band that is bringing together many great influences and undoubtedly have great taste (they are named after a great Fassbinder film after all) but for the most part are really bringing something fresh, immediate and unique to the table. One of those records that draws you into its world more and more with each listen. And we have to say we are totally and utterly hooked!
MPEG Stream: "Rhizomes"
MPEG Stream: "Cousins"
MPEG Stream: "Nights"

EIGHTIES LADIES Ladies Of The Eighties (Universal Sound) cd 21.00
Out of all the great rare-groove productions Roy Ayers did for other artists, Ramp, Ethel Beatty, Bobbi Humphrey, and Sylvia Striplin, the sole 1980 full length by Eighties Ladies may be the most sought after cult boogie classic. Their most well-known single, the monster jam, "Turned On To You", has been featured on so many DJ mixes and has been sampled rather heavily over the past couple of decades that for a long time, we thought that the track was their only output. Of course we're proven wrong by this hefty reissue. Hefty in the sense of the mean boogie (Rick James plays in the backing band!) and sass these five ladies bring to the groove, marrying Sylvester's sensual disco to Bettie Davis's harder-edged empowered funk. What the reissue lacks in backstory, more than makes up in eight fine jazz-laden funkified gems. These Eighties Ladies could have been better named, they were the template for all the eighties r&b/funk girl groups to come: Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Mary-Jane Girls, The Flirts and Klymaxx. Listen in and get schooled!
MPEG Stream: "Turned On To You"
MPEG Stream: "Ladies Of The Eighties"
MPEG Stream: "He Is Mine Forever"

HEDZOLEH SOUNDS s/t (Soundway) cd 15.98
One of two great Afrobeat finds this week, unearthed by the awesome Soundway label (see the Sweet Talks review elsewhere on this list too). Hedzoleh Sounds were (and still are!) one of the most original "Afro" bands from the early seventies in Ghana, combining West African highlife with funk and western rock sounds. Famously recruited by jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela ("Grazing In The Grass") as his backing band after a recommendation from Fela Kuti for Maskela's 1973 Afro-jazz rarity "Introducing Hedzoleh Sounds" (which we're hoping will also get a reissue!), this self-titled release from 1972 is even rarer, documenting the band from their beginning singles and their stint as the house band at the Napolean Club. Known later in years as stalwart performers of more traditional sounds and horn-fueled highlife, this self-titled release not heard for over forty years is more remarkable for its lack of the horn section that later defined them. Making it a more lean, stripped down excursion, heavy on swinging funk rhythms and gorgeous sweet vocal harmonies. Killer!
MPEG Stream: "Kaa Ye Oyai"
MPEG Stream: "Hedzoleh!"

J-ROCC J-Rocc V. J-Man (Jazzman) cd 17.98
Over the last several years Jazzman has become one of our favorite labels, reissuing some of the richest deep grooves and finest obscure soul and spiritual jazz, stuff that never got the due it deserved in its day (Nathan Davis, Lloyd Miller, regional funk burners from Florida, the Carolinas, and more!), as well as putting out new sounds from modern day spiritual funk makers like The Natural Yogurt Band.
So there's no doubt that the music in the Jazzman vaults would be a crate digger and DJ's Shangri-la. That's exactly what J-Rocc got to do on this totally smoking, flowing and immaculate mix. Digging deep into those Jazzman archives, J-Rocc has created a nonstop soulfunk jazzjam that exquisitely brings the worlds of deep soul, spiritual jazz, funk and beyond into a seamless mix that keeps the tempo up but always holds on to the underlying core and soul of the songs. You can tell how much love and respect J-Rocc has for the artists he's bringing new life to, this is not one of those cheesy and offensive Verve remix like projects. J-Rocc proves that if you do have the skill, true love and respect for sounds of the past, you can inject a new energy into them without making them some flavor of the day, all 'hip' and 'modern' and ready for a slick Volvo commercial. J-Rocc has been around the block, with roots reaching back to the '80s Hip-Hop/Boogie scene and then his seminal work in The Beat Junkies as one of the pioneers of turntableism along side folks like Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Z-Trip and Q-Bert.
This is one of those mixes that anyone who has DJed just has to drop their jaw in appreciation and envy as this is a master showing how it's done. And whether you're a DJ or just want a stream of amazing sounds blasting through your speakers when you want the energy to be high, and soak up sounds full of soul then it just doesn't get any better than this!
MPEG Stream: "90% Of Me Is You (Vanessa Kendrick)"
MPEG Stream: "Milk Break"
MPEG Stream: "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter (NIna Simone)"
MPEG Stream: "Just Take Your Time (Innersouls)"

SEGALL, TY Melted (Goner) cd 13.98
While Ty Segall may be as prolific as they come when it comes to 7"s, splits, and collaborations, a new one seemingly coming out monthly, weekly even, faster then we can keep up with, there's still something so special, thought out, and so damn satisfying about Segall's full-length albums proper.
Especially this new one. No longer can you just reduce a summarization of his music as 'way blown out lo-fi garage radness.' Although that's definitely some of it, but Segall has begun to widen his scope in such thrilling ways. Melted finds his sound more punchy, a dizzying mix of psychedelic, pop, surf, gritty rhythm & blues, punk rock, in fact the album opener is a perfect example, it begins all fey and jangly, but then the guitar kicks in, surprisingly heavy and crunchy, swaggery and sorta bad ass, big loud drums, and then suddenly, a super tripped out squiggly synth solo! The second track too, begins all acoustic guitar, until in comes a groovy walking bassline, and it's total sixties jangle pop that finishes off in a flurry of fluttery flutes....
From the very beginning of the record, the whole thing takes such awesome twists and turns, getting all tweaked and super far out right when you might expect straight ahead jangle, and getting all poppy and heartfelt, right when it sounds like it was gonna explode into chaotic whatthefuckness. Alongside influences like The Gories, Thee Headcoats, and The Sonics, you can even hear some Led Zeppelin, albeit stripped of its excess and indulgence and boiled down to its primitive and riveting core, kind of what it felt like when we heard The White Stripes for the first time. Not reinventing the wheel for sure, but instead pressing the pedal to the metal and spinning all four wheels in a frenzy of unfettered creativity, OWNING these sounds, making totally original music out of borrowed bits, and blowing away so many of the bands around him in the process. Along with that intensity, Segall has a crazy knack for incredible hooks, deep rooted melodies, crafting perfect pop all wrapped up in fiery, fierce rocking crunch.
"Girlfriend" may just be song of the year! It's impossible not to listen to it over and over from the beginning with Ty growling and then it bursting into one of the most catchy, sweat inducing, body shaking songs ever, the sort of jam you would want to put on every mix tape you make. As always, Segall writes and plays just about every note of music himself on the album, but there are some nice moments where his friends lend a helping hand, like John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees laying down some FLUTE on "Caesar", and Mike Donovan from Sic Alps adding vox, as well as some guitar on a couple tracks, including the absurd blown out brilliance of the simple yet so totally addictive "Mike D's Coke". And on tracks like "Imaginary Person" it's like this awesome blend of early Adam & The Ants crossed with The Misfits for an all out sonic showdown.
Segall has a found a way to bring together primitive and powerful stripped down Bo Diddley-like energy and a very honest and sincere emotional undercurrent in his songs that convinces us that once this latest lo-fi garage revival dies down, Segall will still be making engaging, moving and truthful sounds. He is for real!
MPEG Stream: "Finger"
MPEG Stream: "Ceasar"
MPEG Stream: "Girlfriend"
MPEG Stream: "Mike D's Coke"

MCGUIRE, MARK Tidings / Amethyst Waves (Weird Forest) cd 13.98
Previously listed on vinyl, now finally available on cd, another fantastic release from Mark McGuire, a member of psych synth drone aQ faves Emeralds, this a cd reissue of two loooong out of print cassettes, consisting of four long tracks, of processed and looped guitarmusic, a gloriously kosmiche hypnotic and repetitive space rock kraut drone, beginning with an odd, somewhat out of place sample, but as soon as the guitars kick in we're immediately transported to some strange other world of crystals and prisms, the sonic sunlight unfurling glorious sheets of color, stuttery looped tangles of spidery guitar gives way to thick swells of crumbling corrosive fuzz, warm and lush and billowy, a wall of metalgaze blur that soon shifts back into a dizzying swirl of looped and layered melodies, that shifts and undulates and morphs from muted blissful smears to straight up folky strum.
The second track is another gorgeous loopscape, chiming guitar harmonics, and short sharp bursts of static, simple subtle melodies underneath, almost poppy sounding, until it collapses into a soft swirling tangle of layered synths and dizzying serpentine melodies, only to again to return to something much more traditionally strummy, a simple moody guitar figure layered over electronic chitter that sounds a bit like crickets in the fading afternoon light.
Track three beings with flurry of chiming high end guitars, like fireflies, they swirl and flit, the almost-melodies constantly in motion, the sound growing ever more lush and complex and dense, so hypnotic, loop after loop laid atop the loops that came before, a lovely slow build, that eventually joins the twinkling looped melodies with subtle guitar strum, and washed out string-like swells, the whole thing growing more and more hazy and distorted and metallic, dissipating in a lovely tangle of decaying loops.
Finally, the record ends with some heavily delayed and looped minimal guitars, muffled and muted, chiming and percussive, very Reich / Riley sounding, again blossoming into lush latticeworks of overlapping melodies and overtones, it's not until near the end that the guitars begin to become effected, the guitars seemingly transforming into synths, a buzzy, fuzzy, but still fantastically mesmerizing finale.
MPEG Stream: "A Matter Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "The Passing Of The Road Chief"

GORDON, EDWARD LARRY Celestial Vibration (Universal Sound) cd 21.00
For the past couple of years, we've really been digging the recent unearthing of little known private press new age music whether it be Collie Ryan, William Eaton or Iasos. Lately we've been especially excited about this reissue from Universal Sound, of Edward Larry Gordon's 1978 debut. Gordon, or Laraaji, as he is otherwise known, creates long-form trance-inducing compositions using electronically enhanced zithers, auto-harps, kalimbas and other acoustic instruments that shimmer and radiate in beautifully meditative pulses. This record comprised of two thirty minute tracks, "All Pervading" and "Bethelehem" gained little notice upon its initial release, but thankfully it caught the attention of Brian Eno who subsequently produced his follow-up Days of Radiance for the EG Editions Ambient series in 1980 to wider acclaim. You can tell that Gordon was much inspired by earlier progenitors of cosmic music from Sun Ra to John and Alice Coltrane. You can especially hear the harp-like shimmer of Alice Coltrane in his treatments of the open tuned zither that he plays while in a complete meditative state. Really gorgeous stuff!
MPEG Stream: "All Pervading"
MPEG Stream: "Bethlehem"

GORDON, EDWARD LARRY Celestial Vibration (Universal Sound) lp 23.00
For the past couple of years, we've really been digging the recent unearthing of little known private press new age music whether it be Collie Ryan, William Eaton or Iasos. Lately we've been especially excited about this reissue from Universal Sound, of Edward Larry Gordon's 1978 debut. Gordon, or Laraaji, as he is otherwise known, creates long-form trance-inducing compositions using electronically enhanced zithers, auto-harps, kalimbas and other acoustic instruments that shimmer and radiate in beautifully meditative pulses. This record comprised of two thirty minute tracks, "All Pervading" and "Bethelehem" gained little notice upon its initial release, but thankfully it caught the attention of Brian Eno who subsequently produced his follow-up Days of Radiance for the EG Editions Ambient series in 1980 to wider acclaim. You can tell that Gordon was much inspired by earlier progenitors of cosmic music from Sun Ra to John and Alice Coltrane. You can especially hear the harp-like shimmer of Alice Coltrane in his treatments of the open tuned zither that he plays while in a complete meditative state. Really gorgeous stuff!
MPEG Stream: "All Pervading"
MPEG Stream: "Bethlehem"

GRAHAM, KENNY & HIS SATELLITES Moondog And Suncat Suites (Trunk) cd 16.98
If you were ever curious to hear how Moondog might have sounded had he been recorded by Joe Meek, then here is your chance! Trunk records rescues this exquisite rarity from complete obscurity that displays the early influence of The Viking of 6th St. on a group of Britain's finest jazz players. Recorded in 1956, and engineered by a young Joe Meek, the underrated alto saxophonist Kenny Graham assembled a band of amazing session players, including Stan Tracey, Phil Seamen, Danny Moss, and Ivor Slaney (who recorded the horror soundtracks Terror and Prey we reviewed awhile back, though he is here in less horrific mode), as well as the evocative vocals of singer Yolanda to record this two part tribute. The first part, The Moondog Suite, covers ten of Moondog's early compositions, five short percussive pieces and five longer songs including "Utsu, "Chant", "Fog On The Hudson" and Lullaby". The six pieces in the "Suncat Suite" (Suncat, get it?) are all originals inspired by Moondog's pieces. These range from short eastern influenced numbers to more complex compositions of mesmerizing exotica, sometimes swinging, and at other times more moody. The production for both is sharp. The percussion zings, the vibes crisply resonate and the horns and woodwinds sound impeccable. Trunk scores again with this amazing reissue.
MPEG Stream: "Chant "
MPEG Stream: "Utsu"
MPEG Stream: "Tropical Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Sunday"

ROSKA s/t (Rinse) cd 17.98
One of the coolest things about the dubstep scene in the last couple years is how many different, new and exciting directions that sound has been stretched and twisted and expanded into. There has been everything from rave-step to tech-step to dark-step and even drone-step!
Roska use dubstep as an undercurrent to their totally upbeat, dancey and housey soulful sound. Sitting somewhere pretty exciting between the all out party sounds of Zomby and the more soulful and hypnotic elements of Burial. Or imagine any of our dubstep favorites infusing a touch of Lil' Louis and C+C Music Factory energy into their grooves (and we mean that in a good way!). Not sure if this will be dubbed house-step but we got to say it's a pretty awesome and refreshing sound. While so much dubstep has a very menacing, tough, ultra ominous bent, we love the feminine and R&B fueled perspective that Roska brings to the sound, all the while still having incredible beat making skills that can't be denied. In some of the more squeeching and swirling tracks we even think of what would happen if Mouse On Mars dipped their toes into the world of dubstep. A few tracks feature vocals including "I Need Love" which is one of the best, hypnotic dance tracks we've heard in ages. We think this is one of those records that not only dubstep fans will enjoy but a whole lot of other folks into the more soulful and free side of dance music as well. So damn good!
MPEG Stream: "I Need Love : Featuring Anesha"
MPEG Stream: "Time Stamp"
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow Is Today"

SUN ARAW On Patrol (Not Not Fun) cd 14.98
Latest cloud of smoked out dub psych damage from this one man band, a massive sprawling album, every song bleeding into the next, one epic druggy abstract sonic trip. The Sun Araw sound keeps drifting further and further out, and in the process, approaching something that sounds a bit like reggae, but filtered through a cracked Not Not Fun filter, and a bank of busted amps and malfunctioning effects pedals. Oh and pot smoke. Lots and lots of pot smoke.
Woozy, warbly, prismatic, sun baked (and just plain baked), stripped down, dubbed out, inner space drift. Wah Wah guitars hover over skeletal rhythms, reverb and delay coats everything in earshot, disembodied chantlike vox are draped over SA's twisted mutant lo-fi dub. The record drifts into some warped murk, still peppered with plenty of upstroke reggae guitar jangle, but wrapped in wheezing keyboards and some super distorted fuzz bass.
The second record begins all ethereal and new age, some hushed glimmering ambient drift, near static, before launching into some dubby krautrock, muted and muddy and minimal, flurries of keyboard tangle spray notes at the relentless motorik pulse, still more abstract vox and lots of gorgeously spidery guitars, all tangled up into minor key melodies that seem to fade into the background, the whole record sort of hazy and ghostly, while somehow remaining krauty and dubby. The sidelong final side strips everything away, or piles it all on, blurring and smearing and winding everything into a dense layered drift, looped and hypnotic and psychedelic, that wouldn't sound out of place on a Monopoly Child Star Searchers record. Rad stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Ma Holo"
MPEG Stream: "The Stakeout"
MPEG Stream: "Deep Cover"

GAYE, MARVIN I Want You (Rareties Edition) (Universal) cd 13.98

OH SEES, THEE Warm Slime (In The Red) cd 13.98
More awesome fuzzy distorted sixties style garage rock from Mr. John Dwyer and his Oh Sees, the first full length, full band effort after Dog Poison, the record on which Dwyer played all the instruments himself. It's easy to forget just how great Thee Oh Sees are, and what a great songwriter Dwyer really is, after all the sweaty chaotic live shows, non stop touring, record after record, but holy shit are these tracks killer. Especially the 13+ minute title track that opens up the record, beginning with two minutes of classic super catchy Oh Sees, super distorted guitars, a cool stuttery rhythm, reverb all over the place, howled echoed vox, and lots and lots of 'ooooooh's, surely plenty for a song, but "Warm Slime" has way more to offer with its next 10 or so minutes, a cool extended breakdown with a loping drum beat, some sixties girl group sounding vocals, jagged bursts of vocal / guitar crunch, super trancey and hypnotic, in the style of classic sixties funk and soul breakdowns, where live, probably the band is introduced, or there's some interaction with the crowd, but on the record, it's just a chance for the band to spread out and lock into a super minimal groove, and see just what they can do with it.
The other six tracks are mostly just what we've come to expect (and want) from Dwyer and company. Fuzzy echo drenched sweat soaked garage pop, loads of buzz and howl and crunch, kick ass drumming, lots of hooks, more oooh's and aaah's, but there are a couple surprises, most notably the fuzzed out, super distorted drone rock dirge of "Flash Bats", a hazy sprawling motorik druggy groove that finds the Oh Sees getting all Shjips style, which most definitely suits them, big time. As always awesome. And if like us, you're STILL hankering for more, it's always good to know that it probably won't be all that long before the next record drops. We'll be ready.
MPEG Stream: "Warm Slime"
MPEG Stream: "I Was Denied"
MPEG Stream: "Everything Went Black"

BUMBLEBEE UNLIMITED Sting Like A Bee (RCA) lp 12.98
This late '70s, all-time disco classic and longtime crate diggers' obsession has been pretty impossible to find for years and years. Luckily it's finally been reissued on wax and what a great thing too, cuz this is one unique and outrageously fun record.
Bumblebee Unlimited were a studio project conceived by legendary producers Gregory Carmichael (Phreek, Inner Life) and Patrick Adams (Musiq, Universal Robot Band, as well as producing countless classics, check out the Master Of The Masterpiece records that compile so many of the amazing songs he helped create). With Bumblebee Unlimited they made this awesome high energy bee-minded record highlighted by the infectious nearly nine minute lead off track "I Got A Big Bee". With sped up vocals, the song in any other hands would have just been a novelty, but with the gorgeous arrangements and rich grooves, it still remains a total dance floor classic. This record has so many of dance music's greatest hands all over it, besides Adams and Carmichael, it was also recorded at the legendary Blank Studios with Bob Blank controlling the board.
Sting Like A Bee is all uptempo disco burners with those sped up vocals giving it a dizzying edge and moments on the record also foreshadow the sounds of the House scene that would blow up a few years later. Kind of like if the Jackson Five in the mid '70s got high on amyl nitrate and let all their inhibitions run free and wild. A must have for disco lovers!

DARA PUSPITA 1966-1968 (Sublime Frequencies) cd 16.98
We first heard about this Indonesian sixties all girl garage group when three of their records were reissued on Chicago label PlusTapes, we all went nuts for them, as did you, we couldn't keep them in stock, but sadly they were crazy limited. Even at the time, and even on tape, we wanted to make one or all of them Records Of The Week, but they disappeared before we had a chance. But now Sublime Frequencies swoops in and saves the day, reissuing on a compact disc all three of the Dara Puspita's records proper (all the stuff on the cassettes, and then some!). But what's so great about these ladies? Read on....
Dara Puspita (Flower Girls in English) were Indonesia's most successful girl group in the sixties, and one of the few -actual- bands, who played their own instruments as opposed to just singing with all male backing bands. Even though rock and roll was banned at the time, with some bands being jailed for performing rock music live (Koes Bersaudara in particular, whose Sublime Frequencies disc we reviewed a few lists back - Dara Puspita and Koes Bersaudara had very similar histories, their careers often directly influenced by each other, the whole story to be found in the copious liner notes). Dara Puspita took their influence from that banned rock music, borrowing liberally from the Rolling Stones, The Beatles (whose songs they were warned by the authority to not perform, the very songs that got Koes Bersaudara jailed!) and the like, but giving it their own twist.
Performing a mix of covers and originals, these ladies were legendary for their wild live shows, but they really shine on record, with a totally distinctive and keen pop sensibility, gorgeous lilting vocals, an awesome rhythm section and some really excellent guitar playing. Dara Puspita weren't avant garde or super far out, not really heavy or psychedelic, instead they were just a kick ass pop group, an awesome garagey rock and roll band, catchy and fun, super energetic and with a distinctly unique vibe that makes this sound so special. Just listen to the sound samples. You'll be hooked in no time.
Lavish packaging, a full color six panel digipak, with tons of photos, a huge booklet of liner notes, with the story of the band, of the recording, more about the state of Indonesia at the time, the producer and more more more. So great!!
MPEG Stream: "Lonely Street"
MPEG Stream: "Bertamasja"
MPEG Stream: "Mari Mari"
MPEG Stream: "Minggu Jang Lalu"
MPEG Stream: "A Go-Go"
MPEG Stream: "To Love Somebody"
MPEG Stream: "Aku Tetap"

LALI PUNA Our Inventions (Morr) cd 15.98
Markus Asher had once been quite a prolific producer of avant poptones, beginning way back when with the underappreciated Village Of Savoonga and moving onto the arcing indietronica brilliance of The Notwist whose zenith occurred with Neon Golden back in 2002. Lali Puna was an Asher project that ran concurrent to both Savoonga and Notwist, with often sublime impressionist songs matching the breathy vocals of Valerie Trebeljahr with percolating electronics wrapped around twee pop ballads. Our Inventions is the first album by Lali Puna in quite a long time. Six years since the last proper record. Five since a collection of B-sides and remixes. Not much has changed for Lali Puna. The band settles upon polite, slightly melancholy melodies that flicker upon delicate rhythms built out of clockwork sequences and restrained tappings on the drumkit. Delicate as always.
MPEG Stream: "Remember"
MPEG Stream: "Our Inventions"

ALPS, THE Le Voyage (Type) cd 15.98
Full length number four from these Bay Area kosmische krautfolk visionaries, the sound on Le Voyage (aka IV) the perfect extension of the soundworld they created on 2008's III, and perhaps their most fully realized record thus far, as the band have developed from lo-fi drone and ramshackle free folk, abstract Appalachia and dreamy dronemusic, to something much more measured and sonically subtle, still consisting of many of the same basic elements, yet somehow more haunting and delicate, and occasionally exploring heavier more rhythmic territory.
Part of this new expanded sound is the fact that the core trio, our very own Scott Hewicker (Troll), Alexis Georgopoulos (Arp, formerly of Tussle) and Jefre Cantu (Tarentel, Colophon, J.C. Ledesma), is augmented by some serious guests, who contribute tamboura, pedal steel, bass guitar and field recordings to the already impressive (and occasionally baffling) list of sonic implements: palm guitar, 12 string acoustic guitar, Moogerfooger delay, mountain drums, electric clouds, Mini Moog synthesizer, falling piano, symphony space, radiophonic synthesizer, parabolic guitar, memory man, desert guitar, melted glass guitar and more.
But don't let the bizarre instrumentation mislead, the sound here is definitely abstract and 'out there', but perhaps not as much as that list might lead you to believe. Those instruments, subtly wielded, result in something dreamy and divine, rhythmic, propulsive, and totally mesmerizing.
The record begins with some crystalline Appalachian guitar, warm and sun dappled, underpinned by upper register shimmers, bits of piano, super minimal percussion, and some gorgeous pedal steel that gives the track a sweeping, wide open space vibe, the musical equivalent of laying in knee high grass, watching the clouds drift by in a cobalt blue sky. After a brief bit of jumbled psychedelic samplage, voices, horn fanfares, explosions, dinner party strings, applause, running water and random swirling FX drenched, the band get seriously krauty, with some stripped down tribal drumming, muted squalls of wah guitar, definitely dark and brooding, but as the track progresses, and various instruments join the fray, loping bass, steel string strum, all manner of melody, the track begins to glow, a smoldering almost space rock sounding work out, that sets its sights for the heart of the sun, but instead settles back to earth in a brief stretch of piano flecked drone, before launching into the next track, a dreamy slice of classic sounding psychedelic pop, all spare drumming, and chiming acoustic guitar, not to mention some rubbery basslines and more delicate piano, the second half of the track decidedly less propulsive and more washed out rainy day contemplative.
After another brief respite, soundtracked by a warped collage of shortwave buzz, reverbed horns, electronic glitches, swirls of hiss and grit and a brief flurry of marital snares, "Saturno Contro" commences, a lazy, lugubrious bit of dour acoustic dreampop, laced with tinkling chimes, moaning strings, softly cinematic and quite lovely.
Which leads into the records closing salvo, a three track, 20 minute fugue, that is the record's climax for sure, beginning with "Black Mountain", a piano laced buzzing raga, a gorgeous sprawling slow burn, that builds to something slightly more rhythmic, a sort of brooding chamber folk, bookended by field recordings of crickets, as if the track was merely the soundtrack for an early evening stroll through the forest. The title track is up next, a lush, loping chunk of hypnorock slowcore krautdrone drift, the drums simple and skeletal, the other instruments subtly urgent, the tone tense and intense, like the final few minutes of some space rock epic, stripped way down, slowed way down and stretched way out, still psychedelic and space-y, but more earthbound, the sound of night and day viewed in time lapse, flowers opening to the sun, and then folding back up to shut out the dark, the shadows rushing across the ground, the sky and ever shifting prismatic expanse, dark and emotional and gorgeous, eventually fading into the buzzing final track, another hazy druggy raga, thick layered buzz wrapped around a simple propulsive bassline, the song building bit time, the drums crashing, the various tones and sounds seeming to blossom like miniature supernovas, the various elements bleeding into one another, a lush cloud of swirling buzzing bliss, that could go on forever, but instead, crumbles into a fractured dubby outro before blinking out completely.
A perfectly realized hybrid of krautrock, new age, raga, Appalachia, dronefolk, an ever shifting expanse of cinematic sound, a pop music redefined and reinterpreted as something much more esoteric, hauntingly beautiful, and darkly mysterious.
MPEG Stream: "Drop In"
MPEG Stream: "Crossing The Sands"
MPEG Stream: "Le Voyage"
MPEG Stream: "Telepathe"

SOULEYMAN, OMAR Jazeera Nights: Folk And Pop Sounds Of Syria (Sublime Frequencies) cd 16.98
We'll admit, we're a sucker for Sublime Frequencies, they've yet to release a record that didn't totally blow our minds. Which says as much about SF's curating as it does about the unheard music worldwide. Treasures everywhere, amazing and passionate and personal and far out sounds, being made in homes and yards, on street corners, in bars, at picnics and parties, not conceived for public consumption, meant for a small audience, and often for a specific purpose, getting a glimpse into these magical musical moments is what Sublime Frequencies is all about, and we feel lucky to get to experience these sounds.
This is the third record from Omar Souleyman on Sublime Frequencies, and just might be the best one yet, which is saying A LOT. A collection of live recordings culled from nearly 15 years worth of cassettes, these tracks are incredible, energetic, passionate, so full of life, effusive and emotional, funky and celebratory, and to Western ears, seriously far out. There's almost a wild Bollywood vibe (even though this is from the Middle East, not India), in the vocals, and the rhythms, and with the crazy tangled synthesizer melodies, the propulsive drumming, and Souleyman's distorted, wailed vocal delivery, it all sounds just so perfect, even listening to this music on record, it sounds sweaty and exhausting and cathartic, it's easy to imagine a big crowd of people dancing and bouncing along, freed from all cares and concerns letting the music just carry them away.
Like all Sublime Frequencies releases, the liner notes offer up so much information, on Souleyman, his life, the history of Syria, on Syrian folk music, etc, but even without all that info, if it's just about the music, these are some of the most amazing sounds you'll ever hear. Frantic Eastern melodies, frenetic percussion, analog synths wound around Souleyman's vocals, this is party music, dance music, but not like party or dance music the way we normally think about it. The music of Souleyman is transcendent, spiritual, psychedelic, transformative, a folk pop known as Dabke, rarely heard in the West, perhaps not at all if it wasn't for Sublime Frequencies, and we'd imagine these sounds might be overwhelming for casual world music listeners, it is after all wild and frantic and relentless, the melodies complex and twisted and tangled, there are some moments that verge on folky for sure, the final track is a gorgeous haunting lament, just vocals and buzzing synthesizers, but barring that track, even on the folkier jams, those strange synths, the unique melodies, the repetitive tranced out rhythms, those all transform Souleyman's folk into something much more, and in most cases, it's not long before the band explodes into yet another super intense sweat soaked psychedelic Syrian folk pop workout. So great!
MPEG Stream: "Hafer Gabrak Bidi (I Will Dig Your Grave With My Hands)"
MPEG Stream: "Ala Il Hanash Madgouga (The Bedouin Tattoo)"
MPEG Stream: "Hot Il Khanjar Bi Gleibi (Stab My Heart)"
MPEG Stream: "Kell Il Banat Inkhatban (All The Girls Are Engaged)"

WALLS s/t (Kompakt) cd 15.98
The hazy and washed out cover art caught our eye but the sounds that came pouring out of the speakers is what won us over right away. Shoegaze blissed out electronics that seem to float in the clouds but also have a keen sense of melody. Walls definitely remind us a lot of that cool Morr music compilation of Slowdive covers that came out years ago, as it really does sound like our dreamy electronic based favorites tapping into the mesmerizing world of shoegaze greats like Slowdive, or the more celestial moments of Flying Saucer Attack's masterpiece Further.
Blissy blurry guitars and smeared murky vox buried in the mix on a few tracks, it all makes for such a perfect sun soaked sound. These songs swirl and flow with such ease yet it never turns into wallpaper as there is an understanding of creating actual songs and nice moments of subtle tension that give the record a rounded and utterly satisfying feel. Like an even more blissed out Infinite Body or our favorite outings by Ulrich Schnauss, or even what could happen if Panda Bear let go of his Beach Boys leanings and set his sights to a more soaring shimmery sound. This is turning into a major candidate for dreamiest record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Burnt Sienna"
MPEG Stream: "Soft Cover People"
MPEG Stream: "Austerlitz Wide Open"

WHITE FENCE s/t ( Woodsist) cd 13.98
Totally awesome breezy lo-fi garage pop from Los Angeles, that we just can't seem to get enough of. While many of WF's lo-fi counterparts these days are all about fuzz and feedback, White Fence is so much more about infectious songs and deep running melody. Like some lost early recording of Chris Knox covering The Kinks or The Zombies, or imagine The Art Museums if they were a little more washed out and blurred and blissy. Also reminds us a bit of a more focused Ariel Pink, as WF are able to tap into such golden pop tones yet give them a nice warped and lysergic twist. While it's for sure going to get lumped in with a lot of our favorite recent garage pop faves like The Fresh & Onlys, Woods, Hanoi James, etc., there is something very timeless about the songs White Fence create. They could just as easily be lost nuggets from some obscure pastoral psych band out of the UK in the late '60s as it could be a Cherry Red band from the Paisley underground in the '80s, or a young Robert Pollard merging with the Elephant Six collective. For sure a strong outsider pop sound, with hints of Syd Barrett and Bobb Trimble. Bottom line is that this is top quality songwriting delivered in such a satisfying way. So damn good!
Don't think that Make-A-Mess pressed a ton of the vinyl so better act fast. But fear not, there's a cd on Woodsist too.
MPEG Stream: "Sara Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Baxter Corner"
MPEG Stream: "Tildas"
MPEG Stream: "Destroy Everything"

WAINWRIGHT, RUFUS All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu (Decca) cd 16.98
It's been about three years since Rufus Wainwright released a proper album, but the wait seems to have been worth it, with possibly his most emotionally engaging and honest record yet.
Way stripped down, the entire album is just Rufus and piano. There is a stark and poetic nature to these songs that find him being a bit less snarky and clever than in the past instead opting for something more bare, mournful and sincere. We have always loved Wainwright's records, and are always in awe of his grandiose arrangements, but it's so cool how even with just his voice and piano he is still able to create such elaborate and interesting songs. We're also struck with what an amazing pianist he is, his playing both sparse and dizzying, lush and intricate, subtle and melodic. At times it's almost like this amazing version of piano virtuoso Lubomyr Melnyk joined by Scott Walker or Leonard Cohen. It's always a good sign when you can't think of many contemporary peers an artist has, showing how unique and singular their vision is. Besides maybe Antony & The Johnsons and Fiona Apple (by the way where are you Fiona, we miss you!!!) we can't think of many modern folks who have the same kind of talent and ability to create such dynamic and emotional songs.
And while on past efforts, there was usually always a song or two that try to get all rock and always seem a bit forced and out of place, on this album with only him and piano, there is no room for rock n' roll posturing, as he really zones in to what is at the core of his songwriting. Emotional, dramatic and richly crafted songs that have the power to leave you frozen in your tracks as you sit stunned and moved by these songs' bold and devastating honesty.
MPEG Stream: "True Loves"
MPEG Stream: "Les Feux D'Artifice T'Appellent"
MPEG Stream: "Martha"

VELOSO, CAETANO Zii E Zie (Nonesuch) cd 17.98
There is John Coltrane's saxophone playing, Miles Davis on the trumpet, Jimi Hendrix on the guitar, Harry Partch's instrumental inventions, Erik Satie's piano compositions, all people who were undoubtedly masters of their craft, and right next to all those geniuses is the voice and songwriting of Caetano Veloso!
Now entering his sixth decade of releasing records and sounding as relevant and remarkable as ever. So crazy to think what a journey through life and music this man has had, being one of the forefathers of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil in the '60s, and then having to flee to London in exile for his heroic and uncompromising political resistance, all the while still finding a way to create such beautiful and meaningful music. We can't really think of anyone else who has made awesome records in every decade from the '60s to the present. Think of his musical peers still around from that era, when's the last time an entire album of new material from folks like Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Donovan or Van Dyke Parks actually blew you away? On the other hand Caetano continues to make music that is as challenging and creative as it is seductive and enchanting. His last album, 2006's Ce was one of the most charged, rocking and colorful records released that year. With Zii E Zie some of that same upbeat and rocking feel is still present, but there is also a lot of the more classic, sensual and hypnotizing side to Veloso's music making, as well of course as that voice, a croon that could melt even the most frozen of hearts.
Some of us had the chance to see him live just a week ago, and on the Ce tour, and they were two of the most sincere, engaging and electric shows we've seen in so long. Just goes to prove that you can age with grace and remain as brilliant and crucial as you were as a teenager, as long as you never lose touch with the spirit that has moved you, ever since the beginning. Thank the stars for souls like Caetano Veloso. He's made another wonderful album and continues to prove that he's an international treasure, using music in every possible way for all the right reasons. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Perdeu"
MPEG Stream: "Base De Guantanamo"
MPEG Stream: "Por Quem?"
MPEG Stream: "A Cor Amarela"

MGMT Congratulations (Columbia) cd 16.98
For as much hype, attention and press these guys get we have to admit not many of us at the store even heard their debut. We caught a song here and there and we could tell it was fun catchy stuff but we weren't quite sure what all the fuss was about. With their new album we decided to dig in a bit and damn are we glad we did. Because at the end of the day, and all the fashion spreads, magazine covers, teenage adornment, blog hype, it all doesn't matter if the music doesn't hold up. And with Congratulations, MGMT have shown they are a band that can back up their good looks and youthful energy with totally awesome music!
While much had been made about how 'weird' this album was supposed to be compared to their debut, it might be 'weird' for people who are only used to top 40 music, but to us it sounds like delicious breezy psych pop. So awesome how they tap into a really cool Elephant Six vibe, reminding us of some of our favorite records from Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, and Apples In Stereo. The album truly is just that, an album. From start to finish they have created a work that flows with such ease and isn't about standout singles, but instead really is about the entire experience of listening to the record from start to finish. With Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3) enlisted to produce the record they knew where to go for just the right touch, a distinctly psychedelic feel that references more of The Beatles psych tendencies than lots of the modern psych peddlers. We also think a lot about one of favorite underrated bands of the past, Beachwood Sparks, as the sounds on Congratulations remind us a lot of some of our favorite BS jams. There is something so genuine sounding and less forced then we somehow were expecting in this record. If we would have received this as some random band's cd-r, we would all be freaking out about what an amazing pop discovery we just made. So just because they are on a huge label and get tons of hype and press, don't write this record off, it deserves your ears because it's really fucking good!
The first batch of the cds comes with a scratch off cover, a weird coin and a 32 page booklet. The first pressing of the lps also comes with a scratch off cover, and is pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
MPEG Stream: "It's Working"
MPEG Stream: "I Found A Whistle"
MPEG Stream: "Flash Delirium"

CARIBOU Swim (Merge) cd 14.98
Even dating back to the days when he was known as Manitoba, Dan Snaith's music has always been constantly evolving, changing and growing. He's never made the same record twice, and with the latest outing under his Caribou moniker he's probably made the most drastic stylistic change yet, and with the absolute greatest results!
Swim is a much more dance minded record then his last fine outing, Andorra, which was all about psych pop bliss. He's switched things up, using the same rich coloration that always marks his sound but bringing in new and different influences. This time out it sounds like he's been spending a great deal of time with many of the wonderful Arthur Russell releases, and with as we suspect Russell as his guide, has truly understood how to merge the worlds of avant pop and dance floor freedom. With an almost house-like sound done so totally right, he's made one of the most urgent, immediate and enjoyable records of the year. Think Arthur Russell reconstructed by Four Tet, Hot Chip, Junior Boys, and The Whitest Boy Alive and you start to get an idea of the overall sound of Swim. But what has always put Snaith ahead of the pack is that even though he tends to explore different sounds and styles, he always has a knack for writing great songs. It's never style over substance. What makes Caribou so awesome is that he's equally invested in his continual reinvention and explorations of different sounds as much as he is in crafting fucking great songs. Record of the year contender for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Odessa"
MPEG Stream: "Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Bowls"

IKONIKA Contact, Love, Want, Have (Hyperdub) cd 17.98
We were pretty into the Ikonika tracks we'd heard, especially on that kick ass Hyperdub comp. And we were pretty thrilled to discover that Ikonika was in fact a woman, a rarity in the dubstep boy's club for sure, and while many of us lean toward the harder and heavier, darker and deeper, in dance music, there are definitely some exceptions, the party music of Zomby being one, and Ikonika being another, her music is definitely dubstep, but it's weirdly retro, definitely reminding us of 8-bit video game music, and at the same time sort of futuristic, but that cheesy sci-fi future imagined by any thousands of late night straight to video movies. Apparently she used to be a drummer in a post hardcore band too, not sure that's relevant, but it's definitely cool!
A dizzying hybrid of spaced out dubbed out minimal electronica and old school synth pop, a little hip hop too, synths all over the place, sometimes glimmery and shimmery, other times ominous and foreboding and a bit Carpenter-ish, creating a weirdly lush backdrop for Ikonika's retro futurist beats, from skeletal skitter, to groovy stutter, to total eighties new wave MTV, to fuzzy funky groove, to pulsing house-y thump, the beats and synths constantly tangling, often locking into cool synchronous rhythm, but just as often colliding wildly in total chaotic video game dance floor mayhem. All the tracks here rule, our favorites are the ones that sound either like Commodore 64 jams, music from some bootleg Japanese Dance Dance Revolution knockoff, or the credits from some ridiculous eighties teen horror film, which thankfully is most of 'em.
MPEG Stream: "Ikonklast (Insert Coin)"
MPEG Stream: "Idiot"
MPEG Stream: "R.E.S.O.L."
MPEG Stream: "They Are Losing The War"

THOMAS, PRINS s/t (Full Pupp) cd 17.98
As much as we dig the collaborations between Lindstrom and Prins Thomas, we're beginning to think we might like these two Norwegians even more on their own, separately. With his latest solo outing, Prins Thomas has reminded us how masterful he is at creating glacial and spacious dance beats infused with waves of blissed out krautdisco. More so than on his collaborations with Lindstrom, Thomas demonstrates that he has a really nice range of sounds in his arsenal, with subtle hints of prog, psych and krautrock all mixed into a blend of his unique electronica. Lots of this record makes us think of some amazing remixed version of the cosmic kraut classic recording by Riechmann, or how Jonas Reinhardt might sound if they really allowed their more flowing and dance-y side to run wild. You can tell that Prins Thomas has a deep love of groups like Neu, Harmonia and The Phantom Band as much as he does of the space disco stylings of Giorgio Moroder, Patrick Cowley and Cerrone.
So many epic and nuanced tracks here, with one of the standouts being "Wendy Not Walter", you have to love the nod to Wendy/Walter Carlos. Further proof that Prins Thomas is not only a student of great electronic music but also one of its best creators these days!
MPEG Stream: "Wendy Not Walter"
MPEG Stream: "Ørkenvandring"
MPEG Stream: "Sauerkraut"

ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER A Pact Between Strangers (Gneiss Things) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So, Gneiss Things made a small batch of discs for this Oneohtrix Point Never album back at the end of 2008, probably not anticipating that OPN would become something of a big deal via his cyborg meditation music. A Pact Between Strangers was the second recording for OPN, predated only by the Betrayed In The Octagon album, which first came out as a cassette on Deception Island and later got released on LP through No Fun. By now, most everything that Dan Lopatin has released as Oneohtrix Point Never has gone out of print; so Gneiss Things wisely decided to make another run down to Kinkos, run off some more color copies of the artwork, and press up another batch of discs. But it will inevitably be a small window of time in which we'll be offering these discs.
That said, A Pact Between Strangers is not all that dissimilar to the long sprawling sci-fi tracks of Betrayed In The Octagon with shimmering synth patterns gliding along those day-glo lazer tones without much use of the sequenced arpeggiations that Lopatin had featured so prominently on Zones Without People or the KGB Man material.
Limited as fuck, and just as recommended.
MPEG Stream: "The Pretender"
MPEG Stream: "A Pact Between Strangers"
MPEG Stream: "When I Get Back From New York"

JONES, SHARON & THE DAP-KINGS I Learned The Hard Way (Daptone) cd 15.98
There is no stronger authentic soul voice in the present day then Sharon Jones. She is the real deal, a woman who's voice and presence is completely timeless, as it would have been right at home in the golden era of soul. Making her records even that much better is that her band, The Dap-Kings are by far one of the tightest, most skilled, and tasteful makers of soulful sounds around. Anyone who has seen them live knows that it almost seems like they could play the songs with their eyes closed and play every note spot on, they are just that damn talented. But you almost forget about that aspect because it's kind of impossible not to get swept up by the voice and power of Sharon Jones. Her voice takes you to another place, another era, yet it's no put on, no gimmick, no mere retro act. She is living proof that true soul can and will live on forever. I Learned The Hard Way is another wonderful achievement in an already great string of records. These songs are so damn sensual, intoxicating, smoky and groovy. Anyone of these songs could be mistaken for the best track on one of the Eccentric Soul compilations from the '60s and '70s that we all freak out about. Filled with more slow burners but there are a couple full on stompers, all filled with a fire that smolders just under the surface. So damn good and totally recommended!
MPEG Stream: "The Game Gets Old"
MPEG Stream: "I Learned The Hard Way"
MPEG Stream: "Better Things"

BADU, ERYKAH New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh (Universal Motown) cd 16.98
Erykah Badu is one of those singular artists who is able to create such a devotional and personal relationship with her listeners. Where New Amerykah Pt. 1 had a fiery political undertone, New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh, is much more personal and relationship minded. But no matter what Erykah's songs are about, there is always a sense of authenticity and integrity that runs so strongly through them. In many ways this is the closest in sound and theme to her breathtaking debut Baduizm, as it shares a similar slow melting groove and such rich instrumentation that you just don't come by on many contemporary soul records. The amazing thing about Erykah Badu is how she is both so modern, futuristic yet an integral link to the history of powerful and spiritual soul. She doesn't rehash, or mimic, instead she's created a sound and style that is so totally her own.
New Amerykah Pt. 2 is as seductive as it is psychedelic. You can tell she has a deep love of pioneers like Ramp, The Rotary Connection, and Dorothy Ashby, but she has learned from her deep love of true hip-hop how to take from her influences yet create something totally new and unique out of it. There is no one like Erykah Badu around, she has proven she is a musical visionary, and her live shows only further prove that she is the real deal, capable of creating magic with her music that hits the soul in such deep and true ways. She also stands out in the way she is still very committed to the artform of the album. From start to finish this is a record that takes you on a journey that you want to revisit over and over again. The thing that makes Erykah Badu albums so remarkable is how they slowly seep into your subconscious. They are never about the latest trends or a quick fun ride, instead they are the kind of records you turn to at those crucial moments of your life and become a narrative that becomes as much a part of your journey as it is hers. These are songs that empower, comfort and challenge. Once again Erykah Badu has proven to be one of the strongest and most unique musical voices of our time!
MPEG Stream: "Window Seat"
MPEG Stream: "Love"
MPEG Stream: "20 Feet Tall"

BADU, ERYKAH New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh (Universal Motown) lp 16.98
ALSO ON VINYL!!
Erykah Badu is one of those singular artists who is able to create such a devotional and personal relationship with her listeners. Where New Amerykah Pt. 1 had a fiery political undertone, New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh, is much more personal and relationship minded. But no matter what Erykah's songs are about, there is always a sense of authenticity and integrity that runs so strongly through them. In many ways this is the closest in sound and theme to her breathtaking debut Baduizm, as it shares a similar slow melting groove and such rich instrumentation that you just don't come by on many contemporary soul records. The amazing thing about Erykah Badu is how she is both so modern, futuristic yet an integral link to the history of powerful and spiritual soul. She doesn't rehash, or mimic, instead she's created a sound and style that is so totally her own.
New Amerykah Pt. 2 is as seductive as it is psychedelic. You can tell she has a deep love of pioneers like Ramp, The Rotary Connection, and Dorothy Ashby, but she has learned from her deep love of true hip-hop how to take from her influences yet create something totally new and unique out of it. There is no one like Erykah Badu around, she has proven she is a musical visionary, and her live shows only further prove that she is the real deal, capable of creating magic with her music that hits the soul in such deep and true ways. She also stands out in the way she is still very committed to the artform of the album. From start to finish this is a record that takes you on a journey that you want to revisit over and over again. The thing that makes Erykah Badu albums so remarkable is how they slowly seep into your subconscious. They are never about the latest trends or a quick fun ride, instead they are the kind of records you turn to at those crucial moments of your life and become a narrative that becomes as much a part of your journey as it is hers. These are songs that empower, comfort and challenge. Once again Erykah Badu has proven to be one of the strongest and most unique musical voices of our time!
MPEG Stream: "Window Seat"
MPEG Stream: "Love"
MPEG Stream: "20 Feet Tall"

FONTAINE, BRIGITTE & ARESKI L'Incendie (BYG Records) lp 14.98
Issued once again on vinyl, it's great to see this beautiful record available once more. Released in 1974, L'Incendie is an amazing collection of avant-folk French pop songs. Not as difficult as some of her other recordings, the songs here are rather simple and short, with spare arrangements of guitar and percussion, with occasional electric guitars and other studio effects coming into play. Both Fontaine and Areski sing together and the blend of their voices work the best here than on other recordings they did together. Fans of Emmanuelle Parrenin, the recent Francoise Hardy cd we reviewed, La Question, or Nico's more pop-folk moments should definitely check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Ragilia"
MPEG Stream: "L'engourdie"

MINKS Funeral Song (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98
One of the catchiest slabs of vinyl we've heard yet from the crazily prolific and pretty much always awesome Captured Tracks camp. With nice undertones of a warbly and disjointed demeanor along the lines of Blank Dogs, but taken in a more sleek and shoegazey direction. It's got this awesome hint of past C86 glory while infusing darker elements into those swirling and seductive hooks. Kind of like The Cure's mid/late '80s sound trimmed of its fat and recorded on a four track, or Ride at their most focused and infectious. What's so exciting about the Minks is that these two songs prove they know how to write totally infectious and melodic songs that evoke that perfect kind of hazy and blurred emotion. It's not just nailing a style and aesthetic, as these two songs are just so damn good, so good that we've been flipping it over and over playing it more times in a row then is probably healthy. But when a band starts making us obsessive we know that's a pretty great sign. We're super excited to hear more, and this is a fucking awesome introduction!

VIVIAN GIRLS My Love Will Follow Me / He's Gone (Wild World) 7" 5.98
Two awesome non album tracks from the always great Vivian Girls. This slab of wax finds them embracing wall of sound girl group glory in full force. Not the more rocking side that shows up in many of their songs, instead this is the wonderful woozy and warm side of the band. The A-side could be some lost Phil Spector treasure and the B-side might even steal the show. It's a cover of "He's Gone" by '50s girl group The Chantels, which they perform with help from their buddy Kyle Thomas (Happy Birthday, Feathers, Witch, King Tuff) playing guitar, and we gotta say they totally kill it, keeping it as warm and intoxicating as the original. One of those 7"s that really makes you wish you could put a quarter in the jukebox as you sit at the counter of a diner sipping on your milkshake and enjoying the simple pleasures in life. So awesome!

KID 606 Songs About Fucking Steve Albini (Important) cd 14.98
Along with folks like J. Lesser and Matmos, Kid 606 has been one of the key figures in bringing the world of techno and electronica to a more punk minded listenership. And over the years the music of Kid 606 has taken many twists and turns, never one to shy from diversity and eclecticism he's put out everything from hardcore four on the floor techno to drill n' bass to ambient blissed out dreamscapes.
We have to admit we haven't always been the biggest fans of all his releases, but he's hit us with enough moments of total musical bliss and magic that we make sure to at least check out every new release he puts out. And while we weren't in love with the last few, we are beyond BLOWN AWAY with what he's created on this deliciously smart-ass-titled new outing. In fact there is something to be said for how smart ass the title and back cover artwork on this record is, because for as clever and mindfucking as Kid 606 can be, it's sometimes the problem with his music. Fortunately he's gotten the snarkiness out of his system via the non musical aspects of this record, and allowed the sounds within to just totally flourish in immaculately crafted, wide ranging electronic sounds.
The albums opener, is almost like some amazing lost kosmiche kraut gem, tones that are so rich, patient and inviting. We were immediately reminded of some of our favorite Kid 606 releases from the past that get overlooked as they show off the non techno side of his musical leanings and are more about creating rich atmospheres with true emotion. Records like The Soccer Girl EP, PS I Love You, PS I Love Me, and the utterly beautiful Resilience. As the record unfolds, Kid 606 still shows that he can draw from a wide range of electronic palettes but it never veers into techno land, instead it reminds us of those glorious days when IDM actually meant something. Those records by Oval, Aphex Twin, Matmos, Autechre, that made so many of us embrace a form of music we had for so long no relationship with.
But this isn't just some kind of IDM rehash, Kid 606 also shows that he can soar, drone and bliss out with the best of them. As there are so many amazing moments on this record that you could think was coming from AQ favorites like Emeralds, Tim Hecker or Oneohtrix Point Never. He also works in some influences of some of our favorite 20th century minimalist composers like Terry Riley and Steve Reich, especially on one of the album's hypnotizing standout tracks "Periled Emu God". And fear not, for those who like a bit of dissonance with their electronica, the Kid still interweaves some more challenging sounds into these tracks, yet manages to do so in a way that creates something larger and organic instead of just being difficult for the sake of being difficult. While there are brief moments with an almost Mego vibe (mostly just on the album's closer) the record while touching on many shades of electronica has an overall unique viewpoint that just sound so so perfect. This is the kind of electronica we haven't been able to find lately. Sure we love dubstep, space disco and drone, but we've been craving the kind of innovation and nuanced composition that so many of our favorite electronic albums of a prior age intoxicated us with. Somehow channeling both the best of electronica's past and creating a vision of its future at the same time, Kid 606 has proven that someone who has created something you love in the past, is surely capable of doing it again. Totally stunning!
MPEG Stream: "DIm Ego Prelude"
MPEG Stream: "Periled Emu God"
MPEG Stream: "Lou Reed Gimped"
MPEG Stream: "Die Rumpled Ego"

SOFT MOON, THE Breathe The Fire (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98
Damn, it's getting hard to keep up with Captured Tracks. Every time we blink it seems they have put out a new record of some sort. But keeping up pays off, because they have a pretty amazing record when it comes to fucking great releases. Before we even heard The Soft Moon, we heard so many of our customers in the store asking when we were getting it in. And we can see what all the anticipation and excitement was about as this is for sure one of the finest slabs of wax yet to be released on Captured Tracks. Minimal, driving and sensual post punk. Almost like a sexier Moon Duo, as it shares a similar repetitive and drugged out psychedelic post-Suicide/Spacemen 3 aesthetic, but much more sleek and song based. Makes it even cooler that its all the work of one guy from right here in San Francisco. For sure he fits well in the world of folks like Blank Dogs, Cosmetics, and Pearl Harbor. You can hear that he must have a love for everything from Tones On Tail to Suicide to Slowdive as these two songs melt as much as they slowly burn with such pleasing fire. Fucking great!

WILLENBRING, WES Close, But Not Too Close (Hidden Shoal) cd-r 11.98
It's been a while since we've heard from Australian label Hidden Shoal, and just as long since we've heard from SF sound sculptor and dreamdronedrift composer Wes Willenbring, but now that we're all reunited, we can go ahead and gush over yet another fantastic Hidden Shoal release, and another gorgeous disc of ethereal ambience from Mr. Willenbring.
Willenbring is an accomplished pianist and guitarist, and those instruments form the basis of these songs, in some places that's obvious, but in others, the piano and the guitar, or any semblance of either, are blurred, or smeared, or pixelated into hazy clouds of sound, of softly shifting streaks of crystalline shimmer, the guitar often transformed into a buried pulse, the piano into soft focus flurries of barely there melody, at its most diffused and abstract, this is total bleary eyed starlight pop ambience, the sort of hushed orchestral drift that would appeal to fans of other sonic abstractionists like Stars Of The Lid or Tim Hecker or Fennesz. But Willenbring doesn't rely entirely on effects or processing, much of the music here is darkly delicate chamber music, shimmering strings, over pointillist piano, buzzing steel strings unfurling melancholic melodies in slow motion, one note at a time, a sound that's lush and haunting, cinematic and subtly epic.
Totally sublime moody minimalism, a late night moonlit, slip-into-the-ether sort of dreamdrift dronemusic, equal parts gauzy abstraction and languid whispery post rock drift, that is as divine as it is dreamy.
MPEG Stream: "I'm Looking Forward To Your Funeral"
MPEG Stream: "Oh, Most"
MPEG Stream: "The Anti-Social Aesthetic"

DUM DUM GIRLS I Will Be (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
We fell in love with the Dum Dum Girls at first listen, back when we heard their self titled 12" from a year ago, it was this awesome blown out girl group inspired garage pop that just totally satisfied. With their/her jump to Sub Pop they have cleaned up their sound a bit, but oh my god we think it's totally for the best. When it comes down to it, the songs have to stand up for themselves. You can pour all the reverb and lo-fi glory on top of your music but if that's all you got it's going to get old and tired pretty quick. Luckily that's not all Dum Dum Girls are about. I Will Be shows that what they are about is totally heartfelt, addictive and impactful songs. But don't worry, it's not like its gotten all slick or smoothed out, it's still totally immediate, rocking, punchy, sassy and also so sincere.
Dee Dee (who as it turns out is pretty much the fiery force behind Dum Dum Girls) recorded all these songs at home and then sent them to the legendary producer and hit maker Richard Gottehrer, whose resume is pretty damn drool worthy. In the '60s he wrote totally amazing songs that have become party of our cultural landscape like "I Want Candy" and "My Boyfriend's Back", and in the '70s he went on to produce the debut records by both Blondie and The Go-Go's as well as being a cofounder of Sire records (home of The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Dead Boys, etc.). So awesome to see how this collaboration turned out so damn perfect. Gottehrer knew it wasn't his job to sugarcoat or generically polish the Dum Dum Girls songs, but instead he did use his wisdom to help them jump out with so much vibrancy and color.
While his contribution can't be overlooked, it's still all about Dee Dee's songs and charisma. Whether she's totally rocking out, or melting hearts with her cover of Sonny & Cher's "Baby Don't Go", there's an authenticity and unhinged passion that can't be denied. She's also so smart and economic about her songs, no fat, no wasted notes, just the good stuff. The album is over before you know it but it works out just fine because all you're going to want to do is play it right over again. This one is going to be a strong candidate for record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Jail La La"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Don't Go"
MPEG Stream: "It Only Takes One Night"

HUNX AND HIS PUNX Gay Singles (True Panther Sounds) cd 13.98
Yay! Now on cd, this previously vinyl-only collection from last year, here's what we wrote about that, then:
As hard as we tried, we were never able to get in all the 7" singles that Hunx & His Punx released on labels like Bachelor, Shattered House, True Panther and Bubbledum, since Hunx began recording with his Punx while his other band Gravy Train! was on an indefinite hiatus. So we were so psyched to find that True Panther was compiling all those 7"s on a single lp, and since they're are all pretty much already out of print, so this might be your only chance to get all those tracks. Appropriately titled Gay Singles, the cover features an eye popping close up of a zebra stripe jockey clad crotch.
Hot on the heels of a long tour he's just embarked on supporting Jay Reatard, we're so excited that Hunx & His Punx gets to spread his amazingly flamboyant and sexy spirit and pure garage pop and punk perfection to a wider audience. A total student/lover of all things popular culture, Seth Bogart (aka Hunx) has become such a master of infusing his songs with playful and seductive themes, crafting killer pop jams, displaying plenty of tongue in cheek lyrics and a whole lot of skin, yet this is not just some kind of joke rock, as there is a really great understanding of true pop music, girl group sound and power pop and Ramones style punk rock. So damn catchy and loaded with innuendo and sex appeal that's sure to create a party anywhere and anytime these punx perform (or even just get blasted on your boombox!). So damn fun!
MPEG Stream: "You Don't Like Rock N Roll"
MPEG Stream: "Cruising"
MPEG Stream: "Teardrops On My Telephone"

WHITE FENCE s/t (Make A Mess) lp 14.98
Totally awesome breezy lo-fi garage pop from Los Angeles, that we just can't seem to get enough of. While many of WF's lo-fi counterparts these days are all about fuzz and feedback, White Fence is so much more about infectious songs and deep running melody. Like some lost early recording of Chris Knox covering The Kinks or The Zombies, or imagine The Art Museums if they were a little more washed out and blurred and blissy. Also reminds us a bit of a more focused Ariel Pink, as WF are able to tap into such golden pop tones yet give them a nice warped and lysergic twist. While it's for sure going to get lumped in with a lot of our favorite recent garage pop faves like The Fresh & Onlys, Woods, Hanoi James, etc., there is something very timeless about the songs White Fence create. They could just as easily be lost nuggets from some obscure pastoral psych band out of the UK in the late '60s as it could be a Cherry Red band from the Paisley underground in the '80s, or a young Robert Pollard merging with the Elephant Six collective. For sure a strong outsider pop sound, with hints of Syd Barrett and Bobb Trimble. Bottom line is that this is top quality songwriting delivered in such a satisfying way. So damn good!
Don't think that Make-A-Mess pressed a ton of the vinyl so better act fast. But fear not, there's a cd on Woodsist too.
MPEG Stream: "Sara Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Baxter Corner"
MPEG Stream: "Tildas"
MPEG Stream: "Destroy Everything"

FEHLMANN, THOMAS Gute Luft (Kompakt) cd 15.98
We had no idea that Thomas Fehlmann had been making music for more than 30 years, beginning with his time in the band Palais Schaumburg moving on to his work in Detroit/Berlin techno group 3MB (with Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald), finally playing in the Orb to this day, as well as tons of solo records, quite impressive for sure, but this one, this is something else, selections from a score Fehlmann did for a film called 24H Berlin, which is the longest documentary film in history, a full 24 hours long, the filmmakers employed 80 cameras, and followed various Berliners over a 24 hour period, documenting a day in the life in Berlin. It's hard to even fathom trying to compose 24 hours of music, thankfully, Fehlmann shared those duties with another composer, so he probably needed to only come up with 12 hours worth of music, but still, incredible.
And the sounds here are of course gorgeous, that Kompakt sound we love so much, a lush mix of old school techno, modern Berlin dub, and washed out dreamlike pop ambience, if you didn't know this was a soundtrack, you might just assume this was a regular Fehlmann release, which for listening purposes it might as well be. After some cool, late night skitter and thump, the record blossoms into some truly lovely dronemusic, prismatic and crystalline, before slipping back into some clipped stuttery dub and we're off.
The whole record is very warm, and soothing, dreamy, melodic, from the hushed pulse of "Speeding", definitely evocative of late night drives, to the almost Kraftwerk sounding "In The Wind II", lilting and lovely, but underpinned by a busy bit of warbly bass, to the hazy ethereal blurscape of "Von Oben", that eventually transforms into some minimal ambient techno, to the lush and warmly melodic closer "Schieben", which musically sounds like a time lapse photo of a city growing dark as the sun slips beneath the horizon, reminds us of Tim Hecker or Fennesz, so gorgeous.
The songs are balanced pretty evenly between beats and ambience, the two elements constantly blurring into one another, the result being a lush, easy flowing, drifting, dolorous electronic dreamscape.
MPEG Stream: "Alles, Immer"
MPEG Stream: "Falling Into Your Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Wasser Im Fluss"
MPEG Stream: "Schwerelos"

BIRD AND THE BEE, THE Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates (Blue Note) cd 16.98
There's no shame in our game when we tell you that pretty much every single one of us here at AQ are huge Hall & Oates fans. Not even in some ironic way, we just think there is no denying how damn good, suave and catchy their songs were and are. In fact our own Andee and his pal Jay Lesser even spent some time trying to get their H+O cover band Rich Girl going (although to be fair, much of it had to do with the then current swarthy state of Jay's facial hair, which in Andee's eyes made him a dead ringer for John Oates, but we digress...). In so many ways the music of Hall & Oats is more relevant then ever these days, with a whole new generation of sensitive boys channeling blue eyed soul and swoonsome dance beats (Junior Boys, Washed Out, Hot Chip, Neon Indian, Postal Service, etc.). So it was only a matter of time that someone cashed in on how damn great their songs were and made an entire record of covers. The Bird And The Bee have stepped up and tackled all the biggest and best Hall & Oates hits. "One On One", "Private Eyes", "Rich Girl", "Sara Smile", "Maneater", they're all here. All the songs that have seeped into your subconscious on one level or another, whether you wanted them to or not. But why would you not?
As their moniker would imply The Bird And The Bee are a duo who keep things very easy and breezy. The kind of group who has major NPR and KCRW affiliations. Some of us here think they make a great match for these Hall & Oates tunes, letting the songs shine through without ruining them with any forced gimmicks or sonic shtick. Very laid back and simple covers that also display moments where the band are able to really make these songs their own. Sort of.
Since so many of us are huge Hall & Oates fans,we did listen to this with very skeptical and critical ears and it's true some of us aren't feeling it as much as others. Lets just say those folks are humming along, sure, but not finding this to be any sort of an improvement on the originals. But if you can use a little light, carefree and smooth interpretations of Hall & Oates classics (sung by a girl, by the way) in your life then this does the trick mighty fine.
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Go For That"
MPEG Stream: "Sara Smile"
MPEG Stream: "Private Eyes"

GOLDFRAPP Head First (Mute) cd 14.98
A very welcome return to form for Goldfrapp. Sometimes it's best to know what you do best and just take it to its highest level of excellence. And what Goldfrapp do best is create total modern day disco delights that flow with such ease and pleasure. We hadn't been too crazy about their last couple outings which found them trying to veer in a more folk and rock based sound, but Head First is making us fall in love with them all over again. Songs that take off high to the sky and float in clouds of smoke with such an infectious glow. The first time we played this in the store one of our customers nailed it, saying "It's like the best part of the '80s with better production." And for sure there is a very nice '80s feeling on Head First, with so many folks going back to the detached and cold side of '80s glory, it's really nice to hear the more colorful and pure fun side of '80s dance glory updated in such a wonderful way. Listening to Head First makes you feel like you are dancing in the ending credits of Fame, or amidst all sorts of beautiful people in a fantastical club with Xanadu being projected onto the sparkling dancefloor while Giorgio Moroder is on the decks, the confluence of all these sights and sounds sweeping you away. Welcome back Goldfrapp!
MPEG Stream: "Rocket"
MPEG Stream: "I Wanna Life"
MPEG Stream: "Dreaming"

JAWBREAKER Unfun (Blackball) cd 13.98
There are those bands from your youth that you liked, some that you loved, and then those special few that managed strike a nerve, to get inside your psyche and speak right to you in a way that almost nothing else could. For many of us, Jawbreaker were that band! They were a group you would become obsessed with, get tattoos of their logo, memorize their lyrics, drive hundreds of miles just to see them if they didn't play in your hometown. Makes us feel old, but this is the 20th anniversary of their amazing debut, Unfun, which came out in 1990 and was the soundtrack to ours and so many others coming of age. Punchy, catchy, and fast yet filled with so much raw emotion and personal conviction. While they played a lot at places like Gilman Street and were associated with the now made-famous-by-Green-Day East Bay punk scene, there was something much more vital and real in Jawbreaker's music than in so many of their contemporaries. Their music was for people who loved the sweat, energy and passion of punk but also hated the rigid/forced and contrived politics and fashion that the music was so often aligned with. This was a new voice. While other bands were singing copycat tired played out songs about smashing the state, Jawbreaker were writing songs about real moments in life that we could all relate to. It was the soundtrack to the house party you felt awkward at, the first encounter with that person you had a crush on, the solitary moments when you found yourself walking aimlessly with a zine in your back pocket and duct tape holding your shoes together as you tried to figure out what was coming next in your life.
Unfun was smart pop-punk, not the Warped Tour/Epitaph brand that would soon sweep over the nation. It was born from the influences of '80s bands like Husker Du, The Replacements and Rites Of Spring. They truly were going against the punk rock grain at the time which was ruled by very narrow minded scene politics and silly posturing. With lyrics like 'Sorry we're not hard enough to piss your parents off', they were actively distancing themselves while critiquing the clique/silly nature of the scene they were thrown into, yet they embodied so many of the real reasons why people fall in love with punk rock in the first place. While the sound was definitely quite different, their music had the same kind of integrity and passion as Fugazi. They meant every single note, every single word. And for sure the words are such a big part of Jawbreaker's legacy. Front man Blake Schwarzenback was like the J.D. Salinger of the '90s punk/indie rock generation. He had an insight and ability to really nail so many truths about interpersonal relationships, daily life, and constant struggles with the mundane, as well as crises of spirit, of love and loss. Yet the music never let the lyrics overpower, as the band was such a triumphant and kick ass and tightly connected unit.
Putting this on all these years later, not only do a flood of emotions and memories hit us, but it still sounds so fucking good and relevant! Since Jawbreaker were so true to their own vision (even if it meant that the punk police of the time thought they were too soft or didn't have the right haircuts) they were able to create a music with so much true soul and such an undying spirit that it still holds up so strongly to this day. An absolute all time classic and favorite!
This remastered reissue also includes some bonus tracks from the Whack & Bite ep, which are great too, but it hardly matters, as the record is pretty much perfect as it is.
MPEG Stream: "Want"
MPEG Stream: "Softcore"
MPEG Stream: "Busy"
MPEG Stream: "Lawn"

BEST COAST Sun Was High (So Was I) (Art Fag) 7" 8.98
We've been trying to get a hold of any Best Coast records, but damn has it been near impossible. With a handful of very limited 7"s under their belts the excitement and deserved buzz about this West coast duo featuring Bethany Cosentino (Pocahaunted) and Bobb Bruno (The For Carnation, Polar Goldie Cats, Goliath Bird Eater) seems based entirely around the fact that these noiseniks make completely infectious pop music that is unlike any of their past bands. But rightfully so, cuz this stuff is fantastic!
Luckily a small number of this great 7" has finally been repressed so we can finally review it and gush about what perfect sun soaked breezy and infectious girl group inspired garage pop this duo whip up (and be sure to check out the new cd ep elsewhere on this week's list!). "Sun Was High (So Was I)" is one of those totally made for 7" songs as you can't help but want to play that side over and over. A laid back washed out anthem, like a DIY stripped down Go-Go's. The B-side features "So Gone" which has an awesome dreamy and fuzzy vibe reminiscent of The Breeders, and the record is rounded out with an awesome cover of Lesley Gore's "That's The Way Boys Are" which is bubble gum girl group perfection filtered through a golden Southern California haze. So good! Grab it while we've still got 'em!

WETDOG Frauhaus! (Captured Tracks) cd 13.98
Hell yeah! We knew just a short time ago when we heard their 7" on Captured Tracks, that these females from the UK were going to be a band we were gonna end up digging BIG TIME. With a full length hot on the heels of that 7", we are indeed digging this like crazy, as Frauhaus! is some totally immediate and addicting off-kilter post punk. Taking their love of greats like the Raincoats and The Slits and infusing so much of their own energy, vision and charisma into the songs giving them a very unique sound. In so many ways they feel like the perfect band to carry the torch for the great Erase Errata who sadly seem to have broken up (though we would be thrilled if that wasn't the case!). Herky jerky rhythms, songs that cut out all the fat, yet are full of such melodicism and incredible songwriting chops, something that so many groups who usually pull from similar sources of inspiration seem to be lacking. In fact there are some totally rad moments here that make us think of a scrappy DIY version of The Breeders or a way punkier Electrelane.
It's been so cool to play this record and then figure out what would be so perfect to play afterwards, as you can go in so many directions. We've rocked Chin Chin, Kleenex/Liliput and early Bow Wow Wow right after playing Wetdog and it seems to keep the same energy and spirit going pretty much perfectly. Short but sweet these fourteen tracks clock in at just under a half hour, but every single moment is filled with such energy and exhilaration!
MPEG Stream: "Lower Leg"
MPEG Stream: "Round Vox"
MPEG Stream: "Tidy Up Your Bedroom"

WETDOG Frauhaus! (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL!
Hell yeah! We knew just a short time ago when we heard their 7" on Captured Tracks, that these females from the UK were going to be a band we were gonna end up digging BIG TIME. With a full length hot on the heels of that 7", we are indeed digging this like crazy, as Frauhaus! is some totally immediate and addicting off-kilter post punk. Taking their love of greats like the Raincoats and The Slits and infusing so much of their own energy, vision and charisma into the songs giving them a very unique sound. In so many ways they feel like the perfect band to carry the torch for the great Erase Errata who sadly seem to have broken up (though we would be thrilled if that wasn't the case!). Herky jerky rhythms, songs that cut out all the fat, yet are full of such melodicism and incredible songwriting chops, something that so many groups who usually pull from similar sources of inspiration seem to be lacking. In fact there are some totally rad moments here that make us think of a scrappy DIY version of The Breeders or a way punkier Electrelane.
It's been so cool to play this record and then figure out what would be so perfect to play afterwards, as you can go in so many directions. We've rocked Chin Chin, Kleenex/Liliput and early Bow Wow Wow right after playing Wetdog and it seems to keep the same energy and spirit going pretty much perfectly. Short but sweet these fourteen tracks clock in at just under a half hour, but every single moment is filled with such energy and exhilaration!
MPEG Stream: "Lower Leg"
MPEG Stream: "Round Vox"
MPEG Stream: "Tidy Up Your Bedroom"

ZOLA JESUS Stridulum (Sacred Bones) cd ep 11.98
This is one of those reviews that's both so exciting yet daunting to write. Trying to describe in mere words how a record has totally taken over our ears and left us in awe of its power, intensity, not to mention its incredible sound. We have always loved what we've heard from Zola Jesus in the past. But something has changed and the bar has been raised seriously high with this new ep. Without a doubt, one of the most mesmerizing and entrancing records we've heard all year. Zola Jesus has left behind the layers, noisiness and muddled sound of her past efforts and found her way to something much more clear, emotional, epic, haunting and so precisely focused.
There is definitely something to be said for quality control. The six songs on Stridulum are all practically perfect, not a wasted note, not a throw away line, each and every one has already seemed to seep into our subconscious, to get stuck in our head, and to resonate at such a deep level. With a sound like classic '80s Siouxsie revamped for the oughts, dark and ominous with soaring and strong vocal that leave no room for doubt. She means every single note, every single word, every single sentiment , that she expresses with such undying spirit on this record.
In lots of ways this transition to a new more focused and intense sound reminds us a lot of the leap that John Maus made when he released Love Is Real. While his past outings were eccentric, cool and weird, Love Is Real felt like a statement, a totally unique vision that had the ability to capture your attention right away and keep you coming back for more. That's what Stridulum is like, Zola Jesus demonstrates that her music doesn't rely on some sort of noise / FX aesthetic or trendy sound (lo-fi, washed out, layered drones, etc.) but that she is an artist with a truly unique and special vision. Don't get us wrong, we loved her past records and we love so much of the music that has come out in the last few years that is aligned with many of the aforementioned musical trends but there comes a time when you want to hear something that really feels like it has weight, strength and something true to say. More songs than sound, more music, than art.
There is no other way to say it, we have been totally intoxicated by this record. It's under our skin, on the tip of our tongues. It's made its way into our heads and every part of our body. It's both so physically moving and emotionally present. We also think its one of those records that could appeal to so many different folks. People who dig all sorts of sounds: Kate Bush, Fever Ray, Chromatics, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Bat For Lashes, Nico, PJ Harvey, The Creatures, Diamanda Galas, John Maus, Joy Division, Blessure Grave, Jarboe, Bjork, White Magic, Cold Cave, Bauhaus, Patti Smith, etc. With Stridulum, Zola Jesus has really carved out her own unique niche, positioning herself as one of the most interesting, original and exciting music makers in the underground these days. What makes it even more impressive is that she is barely twenty one years old and somehow manages to find time to go to school when not creating these sublime sounds. We're almost scared (in a good way) of what her future holds. This is the sound of someone truly coming into their own and owning their moment with such fierce clarity and hypnotic power. Absolutely stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Trust Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Stand"
MPEG Stream: "Manifest Destiny"

BHATTACHARYA, DEBASHISH O Shakuntala! (Riverboat) cd 16.98
We've been waiting for this one for a while. The first time we heard the masterful playing of Debashish Bhattacharya was on his majestic and mind blowing Calcutta Slide Guitar album, a record which became an absolutely treasured all time favorite around here. Not only a master of Indian slide guitar, Bhattacharya also has the ability to infuse his playing with such truly transcendent emotion. It was a record that really felt like some magical amalgamation of Ravi Shankar and John Fahey. It's been several years since that release, but we had hoped something new might be on the horizon, as he performed live in San Francisco last year, a show that totally left us spellbound. It also made so much sense that when we looked around the audience, it was filled with so many of the Bay Area's best drone and bliss-out minded musicians, it was a little like seeing the teacher school his pupils.
O Shakuntala! is just as sublime and enchanting as Calcutta Slide Guitar was. This time out Bhattacharya merges two very classic Indian music traditions, Kanatic music from the South and Hindustani music from the North. But what makes his playing so special is that whether you have a rich knowledge of Indian music or are a total novice it doesn't matter at all, as he is able to cut through to the music's core and create an intimacy and intensity through his playing that is really the closest to absolute pure beauty we've heard in recorded form. Patient, slowly evolving, and with such innovation which most certainly elevates Bhattacharya to some entirely other level, a master among masters. He's backed by three percussionists on O Shakuntala!, including his brother on tabla, who completely blew us away when we saw them perform live. Some amazing genes that family must have!
The only negative thing we have to say about this disc has nothing to with the music, but there is no denying the cover art is pretty bad. Makes it seem like it must be some cheesy fusion record you would get at a store that sells incense and mood rings. But luckily it doesn't reflect the totally entrancing and stunning sounds inside. Highest of recommendations!
MPEG Stream: "Megha Re"
MPEG Stream: "Baarish!"
MPEG Stream: "Priyatameshu"

EPMD Strictly Business (Priority) cd 14.98
Not to sound all old and grumpy, but they really don't make perfect hip-hop albums like they used to. Yeah, there is still some great hip-hop going on but so much of it seems to be 'single' based and not so much about a tight coherent album from start to finish. But man there was a golden era of hip-hop glory when groups like Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, The Beastie Boys, and Boogie Down Productions were making such fucking amazing jams, the sort of records you could listen to from start to finish over and over again. One of the most madly respected groups from that era is EPMD. We couldn't be more stoked that this Long Island duo's classic 1988 album Strictly Business has been reissued. It really is one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. There is something so immediately unique and recognizable about Eric Sermon and Parrish Smith's laid back yet totally intelligent, playful and infectious rapping skills and their use of such awesome samples and beats. One of the things that made this era of hip-hop so damn great was that the source material that they were sampling, chopping and making beats from was drawn from so many of the amazing warm soul records from the '60s & '70s. Zapp, Kool & The Gang, James Brown, George Clinton, they knew how to take from those greats and make something totally brand new which was the bread and butter of the EPMD sound.
What also makes Strictly Business such an all-time classic and different from so many of today's hip-hop albums is that there is absolutely NO FILLER. No stupid skits, no throw away tracks, every single one of the 10 songs totally kills and never overstays its welcome. It was so awesome when this reissue came into the store and just about everyone working here freaked out and we must have played it like ten times in just the first couple days, never realizing before we all shared such a feverish love for EPMD.
While it's a bit annoying that this remastered reissue has a big 'Snoop Dogg Approved' banner on the cover, his name bigger than anything else, we guess we don't mind too much if his endorsement helps a whole new generation get into the greatness of EPMD.
MPEG Stream: "Strictly Business"
MPEG Stream: "You Gots To Chill"
MPEG Stream: "It's My Thing"

KOSS Ancient Rain (Mule Electronic) cd 16.98
As much as we love so much of the noisier and heavier psychedelic sounds that come out of the Japanese underground, we have to say lately it's been some of the more blissed out and dreamy records from Japan that have been moving us the most. Folks like Fuqugi, Painting Petals On Planet Ghost, and Eddie Marcon have shown us that just as so many Japanese bands have mastered blown out psychedelic madness, others know how to conjure an equally entrancing sound, but replacing the all out assault with a gorgeously tranquil and languid state of sound.
We loved what we heard last from Koss, his 2008 outing Four Worlds Converge As One, but we're even more entranced and deliriously lost at sea with Ancient Rain. Such tender and delicate movements of sound, that maintain an element of melodicism while still capturing an overall mood and ambience. For sure in line with the great Pop Ambient sounds out of the Kompakt camp, like Gas and early Klimek, as well as the more washed out and ethereal sides of Fennesz, Murcof, Jan Jelinek, The Fun Years and Colleen.
Majestic and flowing, evoking deep sleep, dark drifts, set to the sounds of the waves on an ocean. Tapping into a feeling of lightness and ease with subtle undertones of something a bit darker bubbling just below the surface, Koss creates a sound that throughout the entirety of Ancient Rain manages to feel so honest and organic, lush, rich, and otherworldly, a soundtrack to the perfect daydream...
MPEG Stream: "Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Ancient Rain"
MPEG Stream: "Beauty"

V/A Nigeria Special: Volume 2 - Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76 (Soundway) cd 16.98
Soundway has been building quite the amazing catalog with their brilliant Nigeria Special series. A collection of sounds that truly demonstrates that there is an endless wealth of amazing music made in Nigeria during the 1970's. This is volume two in the Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues series and somehow it manages to meet or even beat the excellence of the first outing. What makes the collection so cool is how while still sharing a similar sound and pedigree, there is so much diversity in the sounds and instrumentation. Worth it all alone is the mind blowing track by Twins Seven, complete with otherworldly vibraphones and entrancing call and response vocals. We love how these comps turn us on to specific artists that then send us off on crazy hunts to try to find more songs and records by those artists. But then, that's exactly what a great mix is meant to do.
As a whole, Nigeria Special: Volume 2 has such a perfect sunshiny, laid back yet triumphant spirit. It's been our go-to record on Sunday afternoons when people are relaxing on a beautiful day, visiting the store, carefree after a leisurely stroll though the Mission, and the second we throw this on, we always see people casually swaying and tapping their feet as they make their away around the store, and they inevitably ask what's playing so they can grab a copy and hold on to that unbeatable feeling for the rest of the day, and for every weekend to come...
MPEG Stream: TWINS SEVEN "Totobiroko"
MPEG Stream: OPOTOPO "Agboho"
MPEG Stream: JAMES ETAMOBE & HIS ALL WEATHER BAND "Agboyabakpa"

MOON DUO Killing Time EP (Sacred Bones) cd 13.98
FINALLY AVAILABLE ON CD! Here's what we said when we reviewed the now out of print vinyl 12" version:
All right! Moon Duo returns with another hazed out transmission from some lost dimension (otherwise known as San Francisco), this one courtesy of the always cool Sacred Bones label. The duo (obviously) features Ripley Johnson from local heroes Wooden Shjips, and their sound is not too far removed from Ripley's main band, maybe a little more ethereal and not quite as overtly "rocking", but definitely following a similar path of hypnotic, fuzzy repetition that we can't get enough of.
Moon Duo are capable of creating powerful songs from very little and they obviously understand the power of simplicity. Each of the four songs on this ep utilize the same hypnotic drum machine groove, altered to various pitches and speeds to accommodate each individual song. The result is like a mechanical heartbeat, throbbing relentlessly with krauty precision, and almost serving as some sort of chain to link each of the songs together. The record begins with "Killing Time", which sounds a bit like a Joy Division part looped forever as the soft, distorted vocals lurk beneath melodic guitars and fuzzy background static. With its buzzing organ and controlled feedback, "Speed" rocks a bit like Suicide augmented by shrieking guitar pulses and, uh, harmonica? Maybe. The cool thing here is how sounds blend together in a cyclone of warm, pulsating analog goodness. At times you are unaware of what you're hearing, and even though it gets noisy and overblown, the results are always catchy and super melodic.
Side 2 begins with "Dead West", which has a cool underwater feel. The song fucks with your perception of time and place, as it could have been recorded 40 years ago or 40 years from now. Sonically, it is a bit reminiscent of fellow California space travelers Sun Araw with its percussive guitar strumming and shimmering psychedelic feel, as a little keyboard melody stands at the center of things while the rest of the sounds oscillate all over the place. "Ripples" gives off a Spacemen 3 vibe as the drumbeat is slowed significantly. The guitars have a nice bit of twang to them, and the sounds once again appear to get caught in some sort of musical whirlpool as they merge together before a cool fadeout.
Picking up where the last ep left off, Killing Time finds Moon Duo descending even deeper into a state of super rhythmic, dreamy psychedelia. Just the way we like it.
MPEG Stream: "Killing Time"
MPEG Stream: "Ripples"

WITHERS, BILL +'Justments (Reel Music) cd 14.98
Issued on cd for the first time since its original 1974 release, soul singer Bill Withers' final record for the Sussex label, +'Justments finally sees the light of day. It's a record that bears the weight of the world on its shoulders, recorded at a time when both his personal and professional relationships were falling apart. Fatigued from touring and fighting against label pressures to become more of a high-production showman, Withers created a more introspective and often melancholic soul folk record closer in spirit to Terry Callier than to Marvin Gaye. It's both been lauded as one of the major lost soul records of the seventies and dismissed as a critical disappointment, as it didn't have any of the winning singles previous releases had such as "Ain't No Sunshine", "Lean On Me" or "Use Me". And it pretty much sounded the death knell for the Sussex label that folded shortly after its release, which probably meant it didn't get as much promotion as his other releases did. It's a shame too, because as a whole, it's a really great record. Even though it's proven just to be as polarizing here in the store with some of us loving it and some of us hating it, though those of us who do love it are arguably bigger fans of soul, disco, and R&B than those who don't. Granted, it is a record that focuses on softer and bittersweet soul qualities rather than funk and groove, but it never ever gets treacley. So this may not be the heavy-hitter soul crossover record you are looking for, but for those who like to venture into classic soul's more obscure corners, this one yields plenty of rewards. A great rainy day record!
MPEG Stream: "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh"
MPEG Stream: "You"
MPEG Stream: "Green Grass"

EL DIN, HAMZA Al Oud (Vanguard) cd 13.98
We couldn't be more stoked that Egyptian legend Hamza El Din's first two records have finally been made available to us on cd. His music has had such a lasting impact on such a wide range of artists. You can hear hints of his exquisite playing in the work of everyone from Sandy Bull (who he lived with for a bit while in the states) and John Fahey, to The Grateful Dead (who toured Egypt thanks to his help), to Ali Farka Toure, Tinariwen, James Blackshaw, Debashish Bhattacharya, etc. The way he used his oud to make such resonating and soulful sounds transcends language, culture or geography. Even with his soulful vocals, it doesn't matter if you don't understand the words because it's the rich emotional tone of his voice that taps into something greater then letters, words or language.
Al Oud was his second album, released in 1965, billed as a record of instrumental and vocal music from Nubia. What haunting yet majestic and soul piercing sounds. No doubt about it, El Din belongs in that special class of transcendent musicians like Alice Coltrane, Ali Farka Toure, Ravi Shankar, and Ali Akbar Khan. Totally essential!
MPEG Stream: "Childhood"
MPEG Stream: "Grandfathers' Stories"
MPEG Stream: "The Fortune Teller"

EL DIN, HAMZA Music Of Nubia (Vanguard) cd 13.98
We couldn't be more stoked that Egyptian legend Hamza El Din's first two records have finally been made available to us on cd. His music has had such a lasting impact on such a wide range of artists. You can hear hints of his exquisite playing in the work of everyone from Sandy Bull (who he lived with for a bit while in the states) and John Fahey, to The Grateful Dead (who toured Egypt thanks to his help), to Ali Farka Toure, Tinariwen, James Blackshaw, Debashish Bhattacharya, etc. The way he used his oud to make such resonating and soulful sounds transcends language, culture or geography. Even with his soulful vocals, it doesn't matter if you don't understand the words because it's the rich emotional tone of his voice that taps into something greater then letters, words or language.
Music Of Nubia was El Din's debut album, released in 1964, this really was one of the first records from Africa to breakthrough and find a wider audience in the western world, and for great reason! What haunting yet majestic and soul piercing sounds! No doubt about it, El Din belongs in that special class of transcendent musicians like Alice Coltrane, Ali Farka Toure, Ravi Shankar, and Ali Akbar Khan. Totally essential!
MPEG Stream: "Fegir Nedan (Call To Worship)"
MPEG Stream: "Aiga Denos Ailanga (Give Back My Heart)"
MPEG Stream: "Shahadag Og (Believe)"

LOWE, ROBERT & ROSE LAZAR Eclipses (Thrill Jockey) lp 15.98
Collaboration number two from Robert Lowe (of Lichens) and visual artist Rose Lazar. The first was a small bound book of artwork, that came with a 3" cd featuring Lowe's gorgeous hazy soundscapes created with just voice and effects, while the book was filled with Lazar's mysterious multi colored geometric artwork.
This latest release once again features music by Lowe, but this time, he's using a series of monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers to create burbling, shimming, blissed out synthkrautdronemusik, that seems to perfectly reflect the prismatic textural artwork on the sleeve (more on that in a second).
Opening track "Crayon Gym" is total Klaus Schulze / Tangerine Dream / Neu! krautworship, pulsing and throbbing, rhythmic and hypnotic, while the next track "Fantomoj De La Vitro Domo", is way more Carpenter / Goblin style creep, haunting minor key melodies, moody swirling ambience, with some swooping sweeping effects, but still mesmerizing and a bit psychedelic. The whole record is an ever evolving, sun dappled and starlit sprawl of slow shifting synth textures, dipping into krautrock, new age, free drone, and blurring them into a dreamlike expanse of lush and psychedelic krautsynth shimmer.
The record comes housed in a massive 6 panel, two sided, 36" x 12" fold out sleeve, adorned with artwork from both Lowe and Lazar, strange tangled bits of pen and ink, weeping clouds, mysterious caves, smeared rainbows, and piles of diamonds.

TOURE, ALI FARKA & TOUMANI DIABATE Ali And Toumani (World Circut / Nonesuch) cd 17.98
What a moving set of songs! Ali Farka Toure recorded this record shortly before he passed away, along with the immensely talented and soulful kora master Toumani Diabate. There is a mournful and graceful feeling to this record for sure, Ali Farka knew he was near the end of his life and these songs are filled with such patient, beautiful, and trance inducing sounds. Toure's classic guitar stylings touch on such tender and raw emotions while Diabate adds a warm bed of sound to flesh it all out, yet there is a stark and stripped down approach to these songs that really makes them that much more powerful. With such intricate, delicate and purposeful playing, along with Toure's emotional presence felt so strongly throughout the record, you are reminded what true blues really sounds like. Diabate has the special gift of being capable of making music that is totally therapuetic and healing and soothing, and that matched with Toure laying down his last songs to tape, makes this such a moving, entrancing and completely beautiful album. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Ruby"
MPEG Stream: "Sabu Yerkoy"
MPEG Stream: "Samba Geladio"

NEWSOM, JOANNA Have One On Me (Drag City) 3cd 22.00
Less immediate than her striking debut Milk Eyed Mender and not as epic sounding as her last album Ys, the new triple album from Joanna Newsom finds her as visionary, intimate and extraordinary as ever! She has earned and deserved the right to require her listeners to luxuriate in her sounds, to have the patience and to focus their full attention on her record while listening. This isn't the sort of record you just casually throw on in a room full of people and quickly make a judgment about, it's a nuanced, dense and meticulously crafted sprawling work that requires a little dedication. It's the kind of record that when played in the store, its hard to focus on and really become immersed in, but once we brought it home with us and listened in the solitude of our bedrooms and in our wanderings through the city, especially on headphones, the songs began to blossom and expand and move us in such thrilling ways.
While she will always be known for her extraordinary harp playing, Have One On Me shows her integrating the harp more seamlessly with other instrumentation. There's plenty of piano and moments of sweeping soundscapery and commanding drums, but not to fear, the majestic harp still shines through. While initial reviews we've read of the record keep throwing around Joni Mitchell comparisons, we don't feel that at all; instead we do feel a HUGE Kate Bush influence at work, much, much more so than any of her previous releases. The way in which the songs are crafted in such an intimate manner, and the surprise moments of a song when an eruption of sound comes when least expected. Being that many of us here at AQ are huge Kate Bush admirers we love seeing someone follow in her footsteps with equal intelligence, sophisticated word play and deep running emotion.
In a day and age when our culture is more ADD than ever and we are constantly scrambling for instant gratification, it's so refreshing and rewarding to encounter a collection of songs that requires patience, and one's full attention, that fulfills and enriches and offers so much, with more secrets and musical nuances revealed with every spin, a glorious reward in sound, given to only those pure of heart and open of ear. Another striking achievement from one of the most talented songwriters of our generation!
Well, ok, we should mention that there's a few grumpy nay-sayers here at AQ, who think maybe it's just a bit TOO much Kate Bush, lacking some originality there, but then again, some of those folks were never that into Newsom in the first place, but do in fact like Kate Bush, so they ought to count their blessings 'cause they're gonna be hearing this playing in the store A LOT.
MPEG Stream: "Easy"
MPEG Stream: "Have One On Me"
MPEG Stream: "In California"
MPEG Stream: "Go Long"
MPEG Stream: "Soft As Chalk"
MPEG Stream: "Ribbon Bows"

V/A Black Man's Cry: The Inspiration Of Fela Kuti (Now Again) cd 19.98
No doubt about it, the legacy and inspiration of Fela Kuti's music ranks right up their with The Beatles and James Brown in terms of how much of an impact and lasting impression it has left on music of future generations. Without Fela there wouldn't have been Afro-beat as we know it. And luckily so many of the musicians he has influenced produce sounds with the same kind of fire, intensity and rhythm that he laid the blueprints for. This awesome compilation brings together the best of Fela's disciples from many areas on the globe including Nigeria, Columbia, Ghana, Trinidad, New York, and more.
This is exactly how we like our Afro-beat, raw, super charged and full of uncompromising power. It's impossible not to move to these rich groove filled burners. What's extra awesome and exciting is that most of these artists are new to our ears, besides Daktaris, the Whitefield Brothers,and Bola Johnson we really hadn't heard of many of these folks and damn they are all blowing us away! Lever Brothers, Gay Flamingoes, Lisandro Meza, Segun Bucknoh, Phirpo Y Sus Caribes....now we want to get our hands on all of their stuff! Most of the tracks on here are previously unreleased and while the cd is packaged lovingly in a small hardcover book with photos and liner notes, the vinyl is packaged in a totally amazing over the top box set with the music divvied up over four 10" records with a 24 page book packed with the same amazing photos and liner notes. So on fire and so highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: LISANDRO MEZA "Shacalao"
MPEG Stream: LEVER BROTHERS GAY FLAMINGOES "Egbi Mi O/Black Man's Cry (Medley)"
MPEG Stream: PHIRPO Y SUS CARIBES "Comencemos"
MPEG Stream: JERRY HANSEN "Adebo"

ISAACS, GREGORY Slum In Dub (African Museum) cd 14.98
We love our dub hard and heavy and full of deep deep vibrations. Every few months it seems we're rediscovering an amazing dub record that had somehow slipped under the radar and are only now becoming total obsessions. That's precisely the case with this mind blowing full on dub joint by Gregory Isaacs recorded in Jamaica at King Tubby's studio in 1978. While Isaacs is usually most associated with and respected for his amazing singing skills, and for pioneering the whole lovers rock movement, Slum In Dub shows a completely different side of Isaacs' sound. This is a full on instrumental minded, way seductive dub record for sure. Very minimal singing, instead only small hints of Isaacs' voice which bleed into the mix occasionally, and one or two songs where the vocals appear a bit more pronounced, creating a truly singular dub exploration that stands as further evidence of just how on fire he was during this era, no matter what direction and style he experimented with. Smart as he was, he enlisted the legendary Prince Jammy to mix the album, giving it the timeless and intoxicating feel that we're totally addicted to now, thirty two years after its initial release.
We could see modern day left-field dub lovers like Tussle, Excepter, Sun Araw, and the whole Dubstep scene freaking out about this record, or probably already listing it as an all-time favorite and major source of inspiration. Better late than never on this one, cuz as much as we can't believe we are just hearing this now, it almost doesn't matter considering how thrilled we are to have found a new favorite dub jam!
MPEG Stream: "Public Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Reform Institution"
MPEG Stream: "Leaving"

PANTHA DU PRINCE Black Noise (Rough Trade) cd 14.98
We first heard Pantha Du Prince last year on his excellent 12" The Splendour, and we knew we had most definitely discovered a new (to us!) important force in the word of electronica. With the release of his third full length, he seals the deal, demonstrating for sure, with every song, that he's absolutely one of the most interesting, nuanced and unique modern electronic musicians today.
Bringing such warmth and emotion to his meticulously crafted songs, we're reminded a bit of early Four Tet and the first Mum record. Delicate, and brimming with layers of warm shimmer. There are a couple tracks which feature guests, including Panda Bear on vocals for one track, but to be honest we don't think Pantha Du Prince really needs vocals at all, as his songs are already so expansive, so complete, immaculately constructed, and so so evocative, allowing the listener to process the sounds in a wide range of ways. The vocal tracks are definitely nice, and do add a bit of a pop element, but its the rest of the album that really strikes such a strong chord with us. We're always so impressed when someone is able to bring such rich nuance and mood to purely instrumental music (electronic or otherwise) and Pantha Du Prince does it so well. It's also appealing that there's really not a quick electronic sub-genre to put him in, it's not dubstep, space disco, techno, etc. In some ways it reminds us a bit of that special moment in the late '90s when folks like Four Tet, Mum, Opiate, B. Fleishmann first surfaced, adding that emotional warmth to an electronic world which had been so cold for so long. We've been listening to this on constant repeat and the more we listen the deeper we get into loving what Pantha Du Prince is all about. Definite contender for electronic record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "The Splendour"
MPEG Stream: "Im Bann"
MPEG Stream: "Behind The Stars"

V/A Bob Blank - The Blank Generation - Blank Tapes 1975-1987 (Strut) cd 16.98
Bob Blank is one of the most unsung heroes in the history of the vibrant New York music scene of the '70s and '80s. He had such a wide ranging, amazing and colorful sound, and a massive (if under appreciated) influence like so many of the best musical minds of that era (Larry Levan, Arthur Russell, August Darnell). While his roots were for sure deep in the disco scene he had the kind of left of center disposition that allowed him to work on so many different kind of projects and with so many different, and often unexpected artists. Strut has put together a really loving collection of many of the great songs Blank helped bring to life by everyone from Lydia Lunch to Sun Ra, Lola (Arthur Russell) to Gladys Knight and more. While there is an undeniable level of funk and freespirit running through all these songs, they do all demonstrate the breadth of sound Blank was able to bring to records recorded in his legendary Blank Tapes studio located in the heart of Chelsea. Surely essential for folks who loved the recent Ze: 30 collection or the Mutant Disco and Disco Not Disco comps from the past few years. We're beyond stoked that Strut has put this collection together, not only to bring light to the amazing work that Blank created but simply as compilation, this record is just jam packed with so many super pleasing songs.
MPEG Stream: DEBBY BLACKWELL "Once You Got Me Going"
MPEG Stream: SUN RA "Where Pathways Meet (Unreleased Acetate Mix)"
MPEG Stream: AURAL EXCITERS "Emile (Night Rate)"

ART MUSEUMS Rough Frame (Woodsist) cd 13.98
Sometimes it's easy to take the musicians who live in our city for granted. We see them around all the time, lots of them shop in the store, so the mystique and mystery that you usually have with bands from far away doesn't really exist. So when we found out that our pal Glenn Donaldson (Skygreen Leopards, Thuja, Blithe Sons) and Joseph Alper (Skygreen Leopards, Whysp) had begun a new off-kilter pop project we were thinking, "cool we're sure it's going to be good", but holy fuck, once we actually put it on we realized it was GREAT! And if we didn't know the folks involved it's the kind of listening experience that would have sent us right to the Internet to Google all the names of the players involved, to figure out who the hell these guys were, and even more importantly, what year this weird pop record was actually from!!
Art Museums use primitive 4-track recording techniques with equally rudimentary drum machines which serve as the perfect tools for their totally endearing, catchy yet understated songs that sounds so innocent and carefree and definitely harken back to the classic C86 days.... For sure looking to The Television Personalities and such as HUGE influences, but borrowing and paying homage to their pop forebears in such an incredibly fresh and vibrant way. These are the kind of songs that just keep growing on you and getting further and further under your skin on repeated listens. Like the best Chris Knox songs or if The Shins went way lo-fi and covered early Guided By Voices. Or Belle and Sebastian getting their XTC on, in like a lone lazy afternoon. Art Museums have created that rare recording, a pop album that is smart and rewarding yet also just so damn fun to listen to. An absolute must have!
MPEG Stream: "We Can't Handle It"
MPEG Stream: "Rough Frame"
MPEG Stream: "So Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore"

JAUMET, ETIENNE Night Music (Domino) lp 23.00
We love it when something unexpected, unknown, and essentially totally off our radar shows up and then completely blows us away! Which is exactly what happened with this chunk of epic cosmic psychedelic space-out by French artist Etienne Jaumet. By the looks of his photo on the cover we first thought this was going to be some sort of smarty pants singer songwriter, Jarvis Cocker sort of thing, but talk about about how you shouldn't judge a book by its cover! Instead, Night Music is one of the most satisfying and fully realized analog synth driven discs we've heard in ages. Imagine Goblin and Kraftwerk gliding through cosmic space, as the record's opening 20+ minute track really does evoke some sort of interstellar autobahn, the listener whirling through the stars and sky, Night Music a deep rich and nuanced soundtrack for that late night cosmic excursion. We also think about some of our fave modern psych-space rockers, like try to imagine Expo 70 remixed by Jonas Reinhardt, or Arp channeling Franco Battiato or Subway stretched way out into a sonic stratosphere pioneered by Conrad Schnitzler and Klaus Schulze. Folks who dug the Altres record we listed last time should definitely dig this too. We'd also bet the Black Devil Disco folks and both Zombi and Zomby lovers will find loads to love on Night Music. Oddly enough when we starting doing some digging to find out more about Jaumet we discovered he was in a group called Zombie Zombie (not however, related to the above Zomby/i's).
You can tell that Jaumet also has a deep love of cosmic free-jazz as he introduces subtle saxophone on parts of the record with perfectly understated results, bringing to mind Herbie Hancock's Sextant album for sure, and also Sun Ra as reimagined by Four Tet, particularly on that epic opener "For Falling Asleep" - the very next track sure says "wake up", though, bringing in more of a techno thump to the proceedings, but still staying wonderfully spaced out. Pretty much every time we play this in the store either a customer or one of us who works here asks if this is a reissue of some long lost kosmiche gem, maybe from Germany in the 1970s. In fact we found out that Jaumet based the sequencing of the record on many of those same amazing cosmic psych records from the '70s, where first side of the vinyl is one long track and the other side is filled with shorter tracks. Jaumet also has such an obvious understanding of composition, especially how to stretch tracks out without letting them overstay their welcome, and thus Night Music is just long enough to totally transport us to another dimension, yet focused enough to stay listenable and sonically complex the entire time.
Something which only makes us love this record even more was the discovery that long time AQ favorite, '70s French folk-psychstress Emmanuelle Parrenin adds her voice as texture on a couple tracks (sounding very Yoko Ono, at times) as well as playing harp and hurdy gurdy. Furthermore, the mix was "directed and imagined" by none other than Carl Craig and you can totally tell, as the whole record flows with such a lush layered sound and driving pulse that is both immediately satisfying and utterly hypnotic!
MPEG Stream: "For Falling Asleep"
MPEG Stream: "At The Crack Of Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Mental Vortex"

YELLOW FEVER s/t (Wild World) lp 13.98
Many of the sounds coming out of the recent surge of girl group inspired bands that we've been digging have been more on the garage and lo-fi rocking side of things, but Yellow Fever are mining that same sort of girl group glory with a more direct song based approach with totally stunning results. We hear echoes of the Young Marble Giants and their disciples, like Klang or Quixotic, albeit slightly more twee. We'd imagine that if Calvin Johnson heard this he would sign YF to K in a heartbeat, the music these gals conjure up definitely has many of the same endearing qualities of some of our favorite K records over the years.
Get Grass Widow and Girls At Dawn out of the fuzzy dirty garage, and bring them upstairs to the warm and comfy living room and you're getting an idea of where Yellow Fever are coming from. The songs are really compact and stripped down. Like Kim Deal and Julie Doiron doing extra minimal Aislers Set covers. Yellow Fever are amongst an awesome new breed of bands from Austin, Texas who are starting to get wider attention (weird that they weren't included on the new Matador compilation, Casual Victim Pile featuring a bunch of other bands from Austin). But it does make perfect sense that it's their friends the Vivian Girls who have released this on their own record label, Wild World, they for sure share a similar spirit and plenty of musical reference points, even though they approach their sounds from slightly different angels.
This is totally hitting the spot!
MPEG Stream: "Ratcatcher"
MPEG Stream: "Donald"
MPEG Stream: "Hellfire"

CHERRY, DON Brown Rice (A&M / Jazz Heritage) cd 17.98
We don't believe this is a new reissue, but it's one of our favorite jazz records ever, a real classic, and this is the first time we've been able to get a bunch to list. Perhaps it's even our most favorite Don Cherry album, which is saying a lot since there are so many of his records we love (this is the third we've made a Record of the Week) and there's been much spirited discussion around here between this one and Orient, a former record of the week from, egad, eight years ago! But hell, they're both really amazing so if you dug Orient, or the collaboration with Latif Khan we made Record of the Week a year ago, you'll definitely want to get this, and if you have no Don Cherry in your collection, you might as well start right here. Why we've never been able to list this before is a huge mystery, but let's just make up for lost time and tell you why this is so great.
Released in 1975 on the A&M label, Brown Rice is just 4 songs clocking at about 39 minutes. It's as focussed as Orient was sprawling, mining the same African, Indian, and Arabic influences, but in much tighter and dynamic, almost rock-oriented arrangements. Penetratingly deep on a spiritual level but also engaging and propulsive in its accessibility, Brown Rice is a record that gets right to the point the second the opening electric piano riff and female wordless singing of the title track begin. With wah'd out guitars and electric bongos building up into a groove, this is Cherry at his funkiest with ghostly trumpet shrieks off in the background, vocalised rhythm syncopations and Charlie Haden's underscoring bass swirling around Cherry's whispered chanting. "Malkauns", the longest track at 14 minutes lays down a lackadaisical vibe with tamboura and bass slowly unfolding a wide ground for Cherry's plaintive trumpet to eventually arrive and build up momentum with Billy Higgins' drumming pushing the proceedings upward and outward, eventually floating down back to earth. The third track "Chenrezig" begins deep and solemn with bass rumbles, chimes and Cherry's low and shaman-like vocals sometimes delving into Tuvan throat level buzz and whispering, augmented by high piano tones and lilting trumpet trills before the energy unleashes, not so much in a blind fury as it is a concentrated and feverish ritual extraction of sound. The final track, "Degi-Degi" brings us back to the driving rhythms and grooves of "Brown Rice", with Cherry's whispered chants and some of his brightest and most lyrical trumpet playing really feeling the space.
We can't help but wonder how much of Cherry's soundtrack work for the film Holy Mountain had an influence on his direction for this record, as Brown Rice is that rare hybrid of jazz, rock and film score, one we could easily see visualized on film. In the same line as Bitches Brew, Herbie Hancock's Sextant, or the recent Love Cry Want reissue, but also with the same sort of deep spiritual core we treasure so much in records by Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. Essential!
MPEG Stream: "Brown Rice"
MPEG Stream: "Malkauns"

FUQUGI Gransofa + Nightingale (Plop) cd 17.98
Sometimes we need to hear the kind of music that just lets us float away. Away from our stress, problems, thoughts, anxiety, etc. Fuqugi have made the perfect record for those times, when you just need to be lifted off, freed to drift and daydream, with a breeze of sound that feels like it's drifting down from the sky and lifting you up to hover in soft comforting clouds.
Hailing from southern Japan, Fuqugi is the work of Daiki Sakae, who uses his guitar with elegance and patience, to create majestic sounds that conjure images of soft waves, gray skies and and that special moment in-between being awake and asleep. At times running his guitar through delay and layers of effects but always with such a tender touch. We're reminded a lot of early Durutti Column as well as Robin Guthrie and the moods created by Harold Budd. In fact Gransofa + Nightingale reminds us quite a bit of the amazing collaboration that Budd and Guthrie created on their score to the excellent film, Mysterious Skin. These songs have such an amazing languid quality, never beating you over the head with an emotion yet always slowly taking you to such comforting and mournful states of being. We also hear a kindred spirit evoked by Fuqugi's sounds in the new solo outing by Danny Paul Grody, as they both conjure up such a blissed out state, infused with a patience and restraint that pays off in the form of an ever shifting cloud of hushed dreamlike sound. If Kompakt were ever to make a Pop Ambient record dedicated to folks who use guitar more then electronics then we think Fuqugi could be the star of that album. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Dandelion"
MPEG Stream: "Nightingale"
MPEG Stream: "Narcosis"

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Now available on cd, after a recent vinyl reissue highlighted here too!
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Wenn Der Sudwind Weht"
MPEG Stream: "Mein Freud Farouk"
MPEG Stream: "Auf Leisen Sohlen"

TAPE & BILL WELLS Fugue (Immune) 12" 16.98
Vinyl only release of an ultra dreamy collaboration between Swedish daydream instrumentalists Tape and the seemingly always collaborating Bill Wells, who has worked with a long list of bands we love including, The Pastels, Isobel Campbell, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, and loads more. The meeting of worlds between Tape and Wells is so perfect. Tape have long mastered the ability to create such lush and varied sounds yet maintain a lovely level of understatement. Wells does such a nice job of keeping his piano, Fender Rhodes and melodica as restrained as possible, perfectly blending with the gorgeous dreamlike accompaniment. The four songs on Fugue unravel with such sparse yet evocative and moving energy. Tapping into such longing feelings of melancholy and memory. Like some of our favorite classic Eno/Budd collaborations this is beyond perfect for those chilly mornings or rainy nights when all you want to do is stay inside and drift away into some sonic warmth. So nice!

HARDY, FRANCOISE La Question (Virgin) cd 11.98
Prepare yourself to to melt! This is one of our all time favorite records. Dripping with sensual seduction and a slow burn that always whisks us away, up into the clouds in such a stunning lush and wonderful way. La Question displays a side of Francoise Hardy that is often overlooked. While she is best known for the super fun and catchy ye-ye hits she delivered in the '60s, it's records like La Question (1971) that really show off the enchanting presence and mysterious qualities that truly make her one of the most enigmatic songstresses of all time.
With very stripped down yet haunting arrangements created by the mysterious artist only known as Tuca who also plays some seriously mesmerizing guitar on the record, its of course the breathy warm and ethereal vocals of Hardy that take the songs into another dimension. This is one of those records that truly takes a hold of you from start to finish. Causing goosebumps, hair standing on end, feelings of longing, desire and seduction, all with such stunning class.
La Question is the blueprint for so many of today's warm and woozy and dazed and dreamy music makers. It's a record that foreshadows the sounds of folks like Beach House, El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees, Tenniscoats, Air, Sebastien Tellier, Devendra Banhart, Tara Jane O'Neil, American Analog Set, Isobel Campbell, Brightblack Morning Light, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Samara Lubelski. One of the most breathtaking and beautiful records of all time perhaps, and beyond recommended!
MPEG Stream: "La Question"
MPEG Stream: "Le Martien"
MPEG Stream: "Chanson D'o"

HANCOCK, HERBIE Sextant (Columbia) cd 6.98
No doubt about it, this total gem and often overlooked left field outing by Herbie Hancock, recorded in 1972, is one of those records that belongs in the COSMIC HALL OF FAME! Lightyears ahead of its time, it's a record that mixed electronics, synthesizers, Afro-funk, prog, spiritual jazz, free-bop and more, as it charted territories that had rarely been explored at that point, and that still sound so otherworldly and divine all these years later.
Sextant is a record that undoubtedly has had a major influence on so many of our favorite music makers of today, like Matmos, Four Tet, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Flying Lotus, Etienne Jaumet, Gavin Russom, Robert A. A. Lowe, Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance etc. In fact when we were blasting this in the store the other day, one of us who hadn't heard this before (gasp!) came up front asking if this was a new Oneohtrix Point Never! It's that spaced out, mystifying and alien-sound-channeling.
Tapping into the atmospheres and stratospheres that Miles Davis drifted through on Bitches Brew but taking it even further out, Sextant is truly one of the most tripped out and transcendent recordings of all time. Three long tracks (about 40 minutes all together) of pure psychedelic mind melting "fusion" innovation. You could definitely imagine this was Magma, Goblin or even (especially) Sun Ra. Somehow it's managed to remain below the radar of so many music lovers, we're always so excited to see people freak out when they hear this for the first time. And for some reason its now priced crazy cheap (it's not new after all, we just realized we had never listed it!), so if you don't own it, this is a an absolute MUST own and hell, you might as well get a couple to give to friends that you want to blow away with these far our cosmic sounds!
MPEG Stream: "Rain Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Hidden Shadows"
MPEG Stream: "Hornets"

PENGUIN CAFE ORCHESTRA Music From The Penguin Cafe (Virgin) cd 15.98
This recently re-mastered 1976 debut album from the deliberately obscurant and unclassifiable Penguin Cafe Orchestra has always been one of our favorites. Led by the classically trained multi-instrumentalist and composer Simon Jeffes, who frustrated with the limitations and rigor of traditional classical music and inspired by the freeing structures of ethnographic folk music and minimalist aesthetics, created a surreal hybrid of sorts. Forming a chamber ensemble of various players performing with strings, electric piano guitar, ukulele and spinet, this first PCO album is actually compiled from 3 years of recording with different variations of the ensemble under different names (ZOPF, Penguin Cafe Quartet, etc.) that would eventually become the Penguin Cafe Orchestra proper. Neither truly classical nor truly ethnographic in any telltale way, the music has the dreamlike quality of a Jorge Luis Borges short story involving a nonexistent far-flung island colony and the intriguing presence of a foreign visitor who shouldn't be there. Yet, it's highly listenable, oddly structured at times, and sometimes deeply melancholic (the 12 minute "The Sound of Someone You Love Who Is Going Away and Doesn't Matter" is one of the most beautifully sad and amazing compositions we've heard). Originally released on Brian Eno's Obscure imprint, The PCO had several worthy releases, before Jeffes died in 1997 of a brain tumor. Luckily, his son Arthur has taken over the reins and has not only overseen the re-mastering and reissuing of the PCO back catalogue, but has been touring with a new incarnation of the group as well!
MPEG Stream: "From The Colonies"
MPEG Stream: "The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and It Doesn't Matter"
MPEG Stream: "Chartered Flight"

COSMETICS Soft Skin (Captured Tracks) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This new duo from Vancouver have us totally hooked, with just these two killer tracks, their debut on Captured Tracks. Rare is the band that can pull that off.
These two songs are dripping with a chic and sensual haze that we can't get enough of. Lo-fi synths, woozy lysergic vocals, and a stripped down DIY aesthetic that makes the Cosmetics' sonic silver clouds sound that much better. It's like they took the most rudimentary elements of early Gina X, Grace Jones, Eurythmics and Ruth, stripped away the gloss and shiny big production and brought it all into a seedy basement in the wee hours of the morning after a drug fueled wild night. In lots of ways its like a less glossy and more smoldery version of the Italians Do It Better groups (Chromatics, Glass Candy, etc.). Fans of all things minimal wave will definitely want to check this out!
Everything about this 7" works perfectly. Their name, the silver chromatic cover, all the visuals complement the two hypnotizing slow burners inside. We've been playing this over and over in the shop nonstop. We have a hunch that probably won't change any time soon. A sizzling debut for sure!

JAUMET, ETIENNE Night Music (Domino) cd 14.98
We love it when something unexpected, unknown, and essentially totally off our radar shows up and then completely blows us away! Which is exactly what happened with this chunk of epic cosmic psychedelic space-out by French artist Etienne Jaumet. By the looks of his photo on the cover we first thought this was going to be some sort of smarty pants singer songwriter, Jarvis Cocker sort of thing, but talk about about how you shouldn't judge a book by its cover! Instead, Night Music is one of the most satisfying and fully realized analog synth driven discs we've heard in ages. Imagine Goblin and Kraftwerk gliding through cosmic space, as the record's opening 20+ minute track really does evoke some sort of interstellar autobahn, the listener whirling through the stars and sky, Night Music a deep rich and nuanced soundtrack for that late night cosmic excursion. We also think about some of our fave modern psych-space rockers, like try to imagine Expo 70 remixed by Jonas Reinhardt, or Arp channeling Franco Battiato or Subway stretched way out into a sonic stratosphere pioneered by Conrad Schnitzler and Klaus Schulze. Folks who dug the Altres record we listed last time should definitely dig this too. We'd also bet the Black Devil Disco folks and both Zombi and Zomby lovers will find loads to love on Night Music. Oddly enough when we starting doing some digging to find out more about Jaumet we discovered he was in a group called Zombie Zombie (not however, related to the above Zomby/i's).
You can tell that Jaumet also has a deep love of cosmic free-jazz as he introduces subtle saxophone on parts of the record with perfectly understated results, bringing to mind Herbie Hancock's Sextant album for sure, and also Sun Ra as reimagined by Four Tet, particularly on that epic opener "For Falling Asleep" - the very next track sure says "wake up", though, bringing in more of a techno thump to the proceedings, but still staying wonderfully spaced out. Pretty much every time we play this in the store either a customer or one of us who works here asks if this is a reissue of some long lost kosmiche gem, maybe from Germany in the 1970s. In fact we found out that Jaumet based the sequencing of the record on many of those same amazing cosmic psych records from the '70s, where first side of the vinyl is one long track and the other side is filled with shorter tracks. Jaumet also has such an obvious understanding of composition, especially how to stretch tracks out without letting them overstay their welcome, and thus Night Music is just long enough to totally transport us to another dimension, yet focused enough to stay listenable and sonically complex the entire time.
Something which only makes us love this record even more was the discovery that long time AQ favorite, '70s French folk-psychstress Emmanuelle Parrenin adds her voice as texture on a couple tracks (sounding very Yoko Ono, at times) as well as playing harp and hurdy gurdy. Furthermore, the mix was "directed and imagined" by none other than Carl Craig and you can totally tell, as the whole record flows with such a lush layered sound and driving pulse that is both immediately satisfying and utterly hypnotic!
MPEG Stream: "For Falling Asleep"
MPEG Stream: "At The Crack Of Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Mental Vortex"

MAGNETIC FIELDS, THE Realism (Nonesuch) lp 21.00
Also on vinyl...
Nobody makes misery and endless longing sound better then Stephin Merritt. As it's been raining nonstop in San Francisco we've been eagerly awaiting this new Magnetic Fields album since pretty much nothing sounds better when it's gray and grim outside, than the beautifully morose pop that Merritt and his comrades create.
Realism is very much the counterpoint to the last Magnetic Fields album, Distortion, which was all plugged in, in the red, filled with fuzz, a sonic nod to the Jesus & Mary Chain. Realism goes in the opposite direction. Made completely with acoustic instruments, this is their 'baroque folk' album. In many ways it has much of the same kind of sound and style found on 69 Love Songs, the masterpiece which catapulted Magnetic Fields from indie sweethearts to full on cultural icons. Merritt is no doubt one of the best songwriters of this generation, both in the memorable lyrics he writes and the nuanced arrangements he creates. Like all great songwriters Merritt is able to create in a wide variety of styles. In the past he's made electronic pop, fuzzy lo-fi rock, ukulele stompers, and shoegaze like dreaminess. And when you see The Magnetic Fields play live its so awesome because they often change the arrangements and styles of their songs, like when they toured for Distortion they actually played all those loud rocking songs all hushed and acoustic!
Realism is another reminder that no matter what style, aesthetic or theme Merritt choses to work within he's always able to emerge with memorable and moving songs that will have remain emotionally and sonically relevant for so many years to come.
MPEG Stream: "You Must Be Out Of Your Mind"
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Know What To Say"
MPEG Stream: "Walk A Lonely Road"

SPACEMEN 3 The Perfect Prescription (Fire Records) cd 15.98
Nice, now we have these essential albums available on cd too!
For some people, it's Playing With Fire. For others, probably most, it's The Perfect Prescription, Spacemen 3's ultimate statement and the record where everything was working together in absolute harmony. The record cover itself seems to completely capture the essence of Spacemen 3, with Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce holding their guitars, eyes closed, no doubt concentrating deeply on the contents of their minds. It seems fair to call this their pinnacle, as things would become increasingly more split between the group's mainmen from this point on. The Perfect Prescription is one of those rare albums that is completely beyond criticism. Don't even try. Beginning in classic Spacemen 3 style with "Take Me To The Other Side", the album subsequently incorporates a wide array of influences and styles, from soul to gospel to country, making it clear that, even though they did it better than anyone else, there was far more to this band than just walls of fuzzed out drones. Even with this diversity, everything on the album belongs to Spacemen 3 - especially their cover of the Red Crayola's "Transparent Radiation" - and they were able to harness all their powers into something which is, yeah, pretty fuckin' definitive. We could go on forever, but we won't.
MPEG Stream: "Take Me To The Other Side"
MPEG Stream: "Walkin' With Jesus"
MPEG Stream: "Feel So Good"

GIRLS Laura / Oh Boy (True Panther) 7" 5.50
One of things we love most about local boys Girls, is their celebration and appreciation of THE SONG, and specifically THE SINGLE. They first caught our attention with the life affirming single Hellhole Ratrace, and after the release of their amazing full length here's another killer single, with a brand new song as the B-side. This time out "Laura" from the album gets singled out, which is great cuz we already loved that song, so it was the B-side we were anxious to hear and "Oh Boy" is one of the dreamiest, warm and warbly Girls songs yet! Like My Bloody Valentine doing a '60s heartache girl group broken hearted lament.
It continues to blow our mind that every time we hear a new song from Girls it makes us fall in love with them all over again. It's just a few days away from Valentines Day when Girls will be playing here and we can't think of a better band to celebrate hearts on sleeves and broken hearts that still beat brightly than an evening with Girls.
While usually we wouldn't say a pressing of one thousand 7"s is all that limited, with the massive popularity of these Girls in the last year odds are these are sure to disappear pretty quick.

GAINSBOURG, CHARLOTTE IRM (Because / Elektra) cd 14.98
The daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, recording an album written and produced by Beck. The sum of those parts makes for some pretty irresistible and seductive sounds. Of course it's not fair to identify Charlotte Gainsbourg just by her famous parents, as she has established herself as a multitalented force over the years, as a model, a singer and an actress. Her performances in films such as Michel Gondry's The Science Of Sleep, Todd Hayne's I'm Not There, and most recently the latest disturbing offering from Lars Von Trier, Antichrist, has definitely demonstrated the range and intensity that Gainsbourg is capable of bringing as an actress. We won't go too much into it, but if you haven't seen Antichrist, its one of the most intense and disturbing performances we've ever seen on the big screen. We mention all these acting roles because Gainsbourg's role in music in so many ways is as a vessel. Transporting someone else's vision and production and making it her own.
On her last album 5:55, she teamed up with Air who wrote and produced, the end result dreamy and blissed out sensuality. It somehow makes perfect sense that now Beck has taken the reins, as he no doubt been strongly influenced by Charlotte's lineage, as much of his music, stylistic breadth, and fashion choices over the years are undeniably heavily influenced by the legacy of Serge Gainsbourg.
While Beck's trademark sound can be heard quite prominently throughout the record, especially on the tracks on which his vocals dominate, it's the more languid and moody tracks that shine, where Gainsbourg really takes center stage and makes the record her own. There is something both dark and soothing about her aura and vocal delivery. With full and lush arrangements as a bed for her entrancing voice, Gainsbourg once again proves she is an enigmatic chanteuse who has carved out an identity that is all her own.
MPEG Stream: "IRM"
MPEG Stream: "Le Chat Du Café Des Artistes"
MPEG Stream: "Heaven Can Wait"
MPEG Stream: "Voyage"

V/A The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume 1 (Stones Throw / Minimal Wave) cd 14.98
Ooooh, so awesome! If you're familiar with Minimal Wave already, or if you're not, this is the thing to get.
The Minimal Wave label and website have been tremendous resources for discovering the hidden gems of synth punk, cold wave, Neue Deutsche Welle, and any of the darker strains of new wave that all blossomed throughout the early to mid '80s. While the label has released full album reissues (vinyl-only) from a number of forgotten men and women of the trade, the two comps that Minimal Wave has issued over the years - the Lost Tapes (documenting European artists) and the Found Tapes (culling from North America) - were absolutely stunning, without a dud amongst the many collected tracks. Unfortunately, those two comps were quite expensive and quite hard to come by. So when Minimal Wave and Stones Throw came together to release this comp, our initial reaction (and that of a few others walking in the shop) was that this compilation fused those Lost & Found Tapes together. Well, we were wrong as this highlights not only some of the best tracks from those compilations, but also the best tracks from the Minimal Wave reissue library, plus a few rare gems not readily available anywhere else.
The Belgian outfit Linear Movement (which later morphed into A Split Second) opens the compilation with a very cold dance number of disaffectedly cold Italo-disco rhythms and female vocals that would fit in with any given Johnny Jewel production for Italians Do It Better (e.g. Chromatics, Glass Candy, Desire, etc.). Crash Course In Science's "Flying Turns" re-emerged first on the Found Tapes and then on the totally awesome Vinyl On Demand anthology; and is an immediately catchy if darkly unique number of dot-dot-dash electro and spiky rhythms closer in spirit to the Units or Nervous Gender. Oppenheimer Analysis reprises a very Gary Numanoid track from their eponymous record which Minimal Wave reissued a while back. The Mark Lane track "Who's Really Listening" is another insistent proto-techno number of synthetic micro-blips driving handclap drum rhythms and Lane's Ultravox-ish vocals. Tara Cross was one of the few women tinkering around with electronics, and produced some beguiling arrhythmic structures with staccato synth punches and her drawn out vocal ambience. Turquoise Days may have been the only New Wave export of the Channel Islands, pulling out some jangling dissonance from their guitars to match the Modern English synth melodies. Minimal Wave reprises the Lost Tapes with a great track from Bene Gesserit, a project of bleakly alienated progressive electronics from Alain Neff who ran the Insane Music label. The Esplendor Geometrico track is curiously playful for a project that centered so much on dangerously mechanoid industrial grinding. Das Ding's "Reassurance Ritual" was designed for the dancefloor with a constant revolution of drum machine programming around tightly wound synth melody repetitions. Cryptic theatrics from the Martin Dupont ensemble appear on "Just Because" sounding a lot like a Fad Gadget B-side. And if the Deux track "Game & Performance" sounds familiar, it's because you've heard it on the BIPPP compilation which Ed Banger re-released a while back. The compilation is fleshed out with the best death disco groove that Das Kabinette ever mustered on their single "The Cabinet" which did come out on a Minimal Wave lp a while back.
Fantastic!!!!!
FYI there IS a vinyl version of this comp too, but of our various suppliers only one got copies, and they were shorted, so we only got a tiny tiny handful, not enough to list (by the time you read this, they'll probably be gone, but you can always ask). Hopefully though we'll get more somehow in the near future...
MPEG Stream: CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE "Flying Turns"
MPEG Stream: MARK LANE "Who's Really Listening"
MPEG Stream: DAS DING "Reassurance Ritual"
MPEG Stream: DAS KABINETTE "The Cabinet"

DESANTO, SUGAR PIE Go Go Power: The Complete Chess Singles 1961-1966 (Kent Soul) cd 24.00
While labels like The Numero Group and Soul Jazz have done a great job of unearthing so much amazing soul that slipped under the radar back in the day, there is still so much true golden soul to be mined. Of course there are the amazing songs here and there that some groups and folks created back in the day that have been included on compilations of lost soul, but then there are also artists who have entire legacies of amazing recordings and while they were not totally obscure, they just never got the full on fame & recognition they so rightfully deserved. Folks like Irma Thomas, Carla Thomas, Betty Everett, Betty Harris, etc. Sugar Pie DeSanto deserves a special place on that list as well. These are all people that with luck treating them a little different would be held in the same limelight as Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, etc. Sugar Pie, who has lived most of her life right here in the Bay Area is truly a living legend. This collection of her Chess singles from 1961-'66 is filled with pure hip-shaking soul drenched rompers that burn with flare and sass. There is a strength and conviction in her delivery that makes her songs as deep hitting as they are fun and toe-tapping. This is full on sock-hop style dance floor burners, that you could imagine The Rolling Stones listening to at the time and getting inspiration and ideas from. So damn sassy, as she sings it like she means it. There are even a few duets with Etta James, and thinking of those two strong powerful women in the same recording booth gives us chills!
Sugar Pie Desanto has had such an amazing life with many ups and downs. She was a singer and touring member in the Johnny Otis Review as well as the James Brown revue. Her own live shows are something of magical legend, as folks who were lucky enough to see her back in the '60s still brag about what a mind blowing performance she put on. Just a few years ago her Oakland home was destroyed in a terrible fire, claiming the life of her husband. There were some benefit concerts in the Bay Area to help her during this difficult time and we're also hoping that this collection of her music helps with those burdens as well and more importantly shares her amazing music with a whole new set of ears. Awesome!
MPEG Stream: "Go Go Power"
MPEG Stream: "Do I Make Myself Clear"
MPEG Stream: "Mama Didn't Raise No Fools"

PANTS, JAMES Seven Seals (Stones Throw) cd 15.98
It's apparent from Seven Seals that James Pants is one artist that does not want be pigeonholed. We already got a glimpse into his all-but-the-kitchen-sink approach towards cosmic funk on his Stones Throw debut, Welcome. But on Seven Seals, he takes us to a whole other universe, one where Vangelis gets high with Bauhaus and George Clinton while listening to Hawkwind. Seriously! And the weird thing is that it shouldn't work but it does! Pants is definitely exploring the gothier sides of new wave here with deep dour vocals but with an eye towards a dark retro-futurism and cosmic pop turbulence in the synth and rhythm treatments. Imagine Dam-Funk, Cold Cave and Neon Indian mashed together and broadcast out to a desolate planet where the atmosphere is really heavy and everything is silver, streamlined and egg-shaped and on the verge of being blown apart by cosmic forces. This is their soundtrack.
MPEG Stream: "A Chip In The Hand"
MPEG Stream: "Wormhole"
MPEG Stream: "Sky Warning"

CITAY Dream Get Together (Dead Oceans) cd 14.98
It's been a couple years since Citay's great sophomore outing Little Kingdom, and since then the band has experienced significant lineup changes which included the loss of former guitarist Jesse Reiner who left to concentrate on his awesome new band Jonas Reinhardt. Luckily Citay mastermind Ezra Feinberg was able to get some bigtime heavy hitters to become part of this new incarnation of Citay including virtuoso guitarist Sean Smith and the multitalented and super-prolific Josh Pollock (3 Leafs, Auricle, etc.), joining the already present guitar powerhouse that is Tim Green, who was the original cohort of Feinberg when Citay was first born.
So while this is in some ways a more beefed up and full sounding Citay, the elements that made us fall in love with them in the first place still shine so bright. Their ability to create songs that feel epic yet never indulgent. The way they are able to inhabit so many worlds at once while never feeling disjointed. Citay truly are a gateway band. They can lead you to heavier psychedelia, they can show you the intricacy and dreaminess of West Coast pop, they can take you to the woods, the sky, the forest, and the backyard yet every turn they take feels so right and true to their own unique vision.
Dream Get Together has a rushing current of lush and full sounds that makes you want to blast it so loud and just get swept up in its sound. Long passages without vocals that let their wide arrange of instrumentation take center stage and then Feinberg's wonderful expansive vocal delivery adds another layer of depth to the experience. Meryl Press and Thaliah Harbour add their beautiful voices throughout, maintaining that awesome balance of masculine/feminine that has been such a refreshing aspect of Citay's sound. There is also a really nice guest vocal by Merril Garbus of Tune-Yards. Citay really have carved out such an instantly recognizable and unique sound that is so much all their own. We could tell you that Dream Get Together kind of sounds like Heart hijacked by Robert Fripp and Dungen, but the truth is Citay continue to create music that has its feet in so many musical worlds that the sound they've created is undeniably deep and exists entirely in their own wonderful world. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Careful With That Hat"
MPEG Stream: "Dream Get Together"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror Kisses"

V/A Good God! Born Again Funk (Numero Group) cd 16.98
You know music is beyond powerful and soulful when it can be all about faith in something you don't personally believe in, yet you can't stop listening to it! The sentiment, passion and energy put into the music transcends any one specific belief and becomes more about the music and its ability to truly tap into raw spirit and deep conviction.
Such is the case for the amazing gospel jams compiled once again by the always dependable Numero Group, in their second volume of gospel burners that we think might even outshine their first installment from a few years back. These are the reeeeal deal, unfiltered sounds that were blasting in black churches in the 1960's. Informed by the soul and deep funk of popular secular music, folks took that inspiration into their churches to create sweaty, impassioned deep grooved fiery and catchy songs that spoke of their deep running spirituality and beliefs. And it's just impossible not to get swept up in the spirit of these songs. Musically it's just some of the most solid, groove filled and exquisitely performed soul music we've ever heard. The equivalent of getting to hear Aretha Franklin or James Brown let it all hang out in the house of the Lord. Most of the tracks here come from Chicago, whose long history of spiritual soul is reaffirmed once again.
While most of us here are everything from Atheists to Buddhists to Jewish to Quaker to Agnostic to worshipers of nature and sometimes even Satan (got to represent out black metal tendencies) we all can't help but testify to the righteous sounds in this collection. For the duration of the eighteen songs on Good God! Born Again Funk, we are all devout believers! Vinyl version coming in a few weeks, by the way...
MPEG Stream: T.L. BARRETT & YOUTH FOR CHRIST CHOIR "Life A Ship"
MPEG Stream: THE INSPIRATIONAL GOSPEL SINGERS "The Same Thing It Took"
MPEG Stream: SENSATIONAL FIVE "Coming On Strong"

YELLOW FEVER s/t (Wild World) cd 11.98
Many of the sounds coming out of the recent surge of girl group inspired bands that we've been digging have been more on the garage and lo-fi rocking side of things, but Yellow Fever are mining that same sort of girl group glory with a more direct song based approach with totally stunning results. We hear echoes of the Young Marble Giants and their disciples, like Klang or Quixotic, albeit slightly more twee. We'd imagine that if Calvin Johnson heard this he would sign YF to K in a heartbeat, the music these gals conjure up definitely has many of the same endearing qualities of some of our favorite K records over the years.
Get Grass Widow and Girls At Dawn out of the fuzzy dirty garage, and bring them upstairs to the warm and comfy living room and you're getting an idea of where Yellow Fever are coming from. The songs are really compact and stripped down. Like Kim Deal and Julie Doiron doing extra minimal Aislers Set covers. Yellow Fever are amongst an awesome new breed of bands from Austin, Texas who are starting to get wider attention (weird that they weren't included on the new Matador compilation, Casual Victim Pile featuring a bunch of other bands from Austin). But it does make perfect sense that it's their friends the Vivian Girls who have released this on their own record label, Wild World, they for sure share a similar spirit and plenty of musical reference points, even though they approach their sounds from slightly different angels.
This is totally hitting the spot!
MPEG Stream: "Ratcatcher"
MPEG Stream: "Donald"
MPEG Stream: "Hellfire"

BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream (Sub Pop) cd+dvd 15.98
Swoon....sigh....melt! That's all we want to do when we listen to the newest album by this Baltimore duo who we've been in love with since their debut ep from way back when. The follow up to their great full length Devotion, this is a record we and so many others have been highly anticipating and it's so nice to start the new year with an album that is already ruling our stereos and will no doubt end up on many of our year end favorite lists.
Teen Dream is quite simply, exquisite and elegant. The golden warmth and soft waves of comfort and longing BH are able to express through their songs makes them truly one of the most special bands around. There is a timelessness and sense of authenticity that rings so true within their songs. This is the music you put on when you've had your heart broken or you just discovered new love or when you are laying in bed with that special someone and its time to just bliss out, lost in a daze without saying a word. Teen Dream is the soundtrack for thinking of a close friend who is in a far away place, it's a sonic refuge, when you need somewhere safe to drift and daydream all of your troubles away.
We have a feeling that this record is about to get an avalanche of press and attention but it couldn't be more deserved. This is hands down one of the most majestic and moving records to come out in a very long time. Nothing feels forced, no songs are throwaways, start to finish Teen Dream sounds practically perfect, a classic that will no doubt remain a classic regardless of shifting sounds and tastes.
As an added bonus Teen Dream also comes with a dvd, containing a video for every single song on the album created by different directors. We haven't even gotten around to watching it yet cuz for now all we want to do is listen to the album over and over again, letting ourselves get lost in the glistening images it evokes in our own subconscious. Breathtaking!
MPEG Stream: "Norway"
MPEG Stream: "Used to Be"
MPEG Stream: "Better Times"

SMITH WESTERNS s/t (HoZac Records) cd 12.98
We'll be the first to admit that sometimes our customers are quicker than us to be turned on to the newest coolest sounds. We hadn't heard the Smith Westerns but a few of our regular customers kept gushing about them and told has we had to check it out. And we're so glad they did. While there has been no shortage of lo-fi garage pop in the last couple years, Smith Westerns have their own endearing and charming take on that kind of fuzzy bubblegum garage pop we can never seem to get enough of. While they hail from Chicago, these guys would be so at home right here in the Bay Area as they share a similar spirit and aesthetic with folks like Hunx & His Punx, Girls, Thee Oh Sees, Nobunny, Personal & The Pizza's, etc. In fact we just found out they will be playing a Valentines Day show here in San Francisco with the above mentioned Girls and Hunx & His Punx. So perfect!! We love how Smith Westerns bring in a wide range of influences, from T. Rex to girl groups, to create songs that are fleshed out and lushly lo-fi while bursting with bright eyed excitement. So fucking cool!
MPEG Stream: "Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Gimme Some Time"
MPEG Stream: "Diamond Boys"

GRODY, DANNY PAUL Fountain (Root Strata) cd 12.98
First proper solo record from this core member of SF post rockers Tarentel, as well as the mastermind behind another post rock combo we dig, the even dreamier The Drift.
Fountain is simply fantastic, a subtle and varied affair, that dips into various sounds and moods, with acoustic and electric guitars as the main instrumentation, although the guitars are augmented by melodica, keyboard, bow, voice, and of course, rain.
The sounds here are delicate and crystalline, lush and warm, dreamy and sun dappled, deftly fingerpicked abstract Appalachia, gives way to melancholic folk, chamber music drifts into thick layered dronemusic, hushed one second, exuberant and joyful the next, a gorgeous, ever shifting songsuite, that definitely harkens back to classic seventies folk music, but is infused with the more abstract home brewed abstract bedroom dronemusic of today, as well as nods to the post rock that informs so much of the music Grody plays.
Totally blissful and dreamy, from the hushed opener, simply strummed guitars, and slow shifting overtones, to the spare finger picked beauty of "Well Wisher", that gradually blossoms into a sunshiney bit of glimmery instrumental dream pop, to the pop ambient haze of "Covered Mirrors", to the sprawling "Eve", a gorgeous folk flecked steel string work out, interrupted part way by a gorgeous cloud of lush shimmering whir, to the dark, muted, blurred guitarscape that makes up the record's closer "Finding Time", notes suspended in space, tones drawn out into extended humming soft focus drones, little melodic fragments chiming in the distance, all moving glacially through a sepia toned haze. So so lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Four Years"
MPEG Stream: "Route 1"
MPEG Stream: "Hungry / Haunted"

COHRAN, PHIL AND THE ARTISTIC HERITAGE ENSEMBLE The Spanish Suite (Katalyst) cd 12.98
We love Philip Cohran, and while he doesn't get the same level of attention and widespread adoration as folks like Pharaoh Sanders, Rashan Roland Kirk, or Alice Coltrane, there is no doubt his music belongs in that special elite class of spiritual jazz geniuses, as his records are filled with such deep vibrations and such endless creativity.
In the past we have gushed over the reissues of his albums On The Beach and The Malcolm X Memorial, two records that truly transcend stiff and narrow definitions of genre, as we've seen many jazz-shy folks get swept away by those amazing sounds!
The Spanish Suite was never released before, so this is the first time most folks have gotten to hear it, a long form piece composed and created in the late '60s by Cohran and his collective of amazing Chicago musicians, many of whom have super impressive musical resumes, from Sun Ra to the great early incarnation of Earth Wind & Fire. The Spanish Suite demonstrates an effortless infusion of Latin elements into deep African grooves of forward thinking jazz, executed with total perfection. A little like Miles Davis' masterpiece Sketches Of Spain stretched out and taken to some outer dimension. Patience is a virtue with this piece as it starts out nice and somewhat traditional sounding for the first little while until it morphs into some contemplative and expansive spiritual jazz exploration, the sort of thing that Cohran has definitely mastered. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "The Spanish Suite (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "The Spanish Suite (excerpt 2)"
MPEG Stream: "The Spanish Suite (excerpt 3)"

LINDSTROM & CHRISTABELLE Real Life Is No Cool (Feedelity / Smalltown Supersound) cd 16.98
Lindstrom has been a major player in the last several years, offering up and ushering in a movement of modern disco inspired space-surfing jams. He's proven to be unafraid of switching things up, working in different settings and collaborating, as he has with folks like Prins Thomas and even The Boredoms. For his latest outing he's teamed up with a vocalist called Christabelle who has shown up from time to time on some of his earlier recordings, but this time the record centered around her vocals and the two have created an album of ten distinct songs that owe as much to disco queens like Grace Jones and Donna Summer as they do to soul/funk icons like Prince and Vanity 6, not to mention a big healthy does of vintage Italo-disco.
This is one of those records that when played has most folks assuming it's some amazing obscure early 80's disco-treasure. It's got that vintage cloudy and sequined sound yet it doesn't come off like some cheap and easy throwback. One of Lindstrom's greatest strengths is his ability to create such infectious grooves, and we tend to be more drawn to his tighter song based productions than his grandiose epic waves of sound like much of Where You Go I Go Too.
Christabelle and Lindstrom sound so perfect and perfectly balanced together. One never seems to dominate the other. The songs allow for passages that are total trademark Lindstrom, yet Christabelle's vocals lend a lightness and breeze that allows these songs to travel with an ease and freeness that past Lindstrom records were not quite able to reach. Sonically similar to what the folks in the Italians Do It Better/Johnny Jewel camp (Glass Candy, Desire, Chromatics, etc.) have been doing, yet somehow this comes off as a bit less self conscious and flows so smoothly and easily...
MPEG Stream: "Lovesick"
MPEG Stream: "Keep It Up"
MPEG Stream: "Let's Practise"

GIRLS AT DAWN, THE s/t (Captured Tracks) 12" 13.98
As we all make our 2009 favorite lists, we started thinking about what label released the most rad music and Captured Tracks would be pretty hard to beat with their amazing onslaught of killer releases this year, from folks like Blank Dogs, Brilliant Colors, Roman Soldiers, Dum Dum Girls, Gary War, Grass Widow, Woods, Thee Oh Sees, The Mayfair Set... God damn! They put out more amazing records in one year then many labels do in a decade! So it's so fitting that in the final days of 2009 we get one more slab of wax from Captured Tracks that we can't seem to stop listening to.
The Girls At Dawn for sure fit into the Captured Tracks aesthetic and would sound right at home on a bill with any of the above mentioned bands, yet they totally have their own unique charm that has made us so smitten with them. The way they infuse a haunting girl group element into their raw garage pop is totally hitting the spot. Makes us think of Grass Widow teaming up with The Sandwitches or a more lo-fi Slumber Party, or maybe Slant 6 / Quixotic doing Phil Spector and Thee Headoatees covers. In other words this is fucking great!

BASINSKI, WILLIAM Vivian & Ondine (2062) cd 14.98
By now, if you're a regular reader of the aQ list, you no doubt know all about William Basinski, and the Disintegration Loops that introduced us to his music. And if you're anything like us, you were immediately smitten by his gorgeous slowly decaying dronescapes. The power of a simple loop, played over and over, in various states of decay, hearing the sounds literally crumble before your very ears, like getting a glimpse inside music, behind the notes, within the chords, observing the magnetic particles as they drop like flakes of soot after a fire, music transformed into inert object, and the glorious sound of that transition, from light to dark, life to death, sound to silence.
Basinski's music is rife with meaning, representational for sure, but can easily be appreciated from a purely sonic standpoint, the sounds, his loops, are blurred and indistinct and so lovely, washed out, hazy, sepia toned, they sound like they were snatched from another time, lifted from an audial scrapbook, the sounds curled up at the edges, lightly blackened, the images contained within smeared and unclear, beneath a patina of age, the chemicals reacting over time, changing the color, the texture, the emotion even, of each of those sounds.
Vivian & Ondine is a more recent work, but sounds like it could have come from the same treasure trove that produced the Disintegration Loops, dreamlike and otherworldly, hushed, intimate, and so beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "Vivian & Ondine (excerpt)"

ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO DE COTONOU Echos Hypnotiques: 1969-1979 (Analog Africa) 2lp 27.00
NOW ON VINYL!!
We nearly wore out our copies of the first volume of singles and jams from the amazing Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, a previously little known but highly prolific Afro-beat group from the tiny western Africa country of Benin. Now they're one of our top favorite groups! The Analog Africa label was practically founded on their discovery and other groups who recorded for the Albarika Store Label and its elusive producer, Adissa Seidou. That discovery yielded enormous riches. Over 500 tracks from this legendary group in its many incarnations were unearthed, nearly half were recorded for the Albarika Store Label and this collection focuses on that period. The previous volume was a collection of singles from smaller labels that the band made on the sly while Seidou was out of town. All lo-fi recordings often only using one microphone for the singer as well as the band. The recordings on this collection were made with higher quality recording equipment, and while the songs here have less of that urgent funk made by a band on the run, they are much more composed, varied and altogether stranger. Some of this is in fact seriously nuts! Lots of fuzzed out and wah'd guitar, layers of distorted percussion, horns and spacey organs. Though there are tracks that continue the Voudon funk vibe of the first volume, tracks like "Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me" bring some head-boppin' Go-Go garage stomp, while tracks like "Gan Tche Kpo" are mind-melting Afro-psych. Others have more Latin flavor similar in vibe to Konono No.1's infectious dance rhythms, which makes sense as the OPRDC are one of the featured groups on the latest Honest Jon's comp, Africa Boogaloo (reviewed elsewhere on this list) that traces the influence of Latin rhythms on West Africa. The Analog Africa Label has yet to disappoint, and if you liked any of the labels other releases, or are new to this group/label, right here is a fine place to start!!
MPEG Stream: "Azon De Ma Gnin Kpevi"
MPEG Stream: "Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me"
MPEG Stream: "Gan Tche Kpo"
MPEG Stream: "Mede Ma Gnin Messe"

KING MIDAS SOUND Waiting For You (Hyperdub) cd 21.00
We were a little hesitant to check this out at first, even though we've loved all the tracks we've heard on various comps, because for some reason it was described as dark dubstep with "spoken word vocals". Spoken word? Ugh. Thankfully, one person's spoken word is another's woozy warbly mumbly crooning, 'spoken word' not in the crappy poetry slam sense, but as in brooding smoldering, slow motion toasting, totally reminiscent of classic Tricky, especially Nearly God, the music too, all hazy, and druggy and somnambulant, the beats, cough syrupy, gorgeous late night, rain soaked, glacial tarpit slow jam ballads. Totally dubbed out and minimal, the production hazy and gauzy and softly psychedelic. There's a new Massive Attack out this week too, and it's not bad, but listening to this, all we can think is this is how we wish Massive Attack sounded now.
Every track is a bleary eyed, druggy drift through warped, slow melting downtempo dubscapes, the rhythms, clipped and skittery, horns moaning in the background, wheezing keyboards, clouds of record crackle, the vocals, both male and female, wreathed in reverb and echo, draped over the slowly undulating grooves, sultry and sexy, so darkly languorous, murky and mysterious, the beats thick and dense and heavy, all wrapped in a laid back and lysergic, grimly psychedelic atmosphere, which makes sense considering the man behind the King Midas Sound is none other than Kevin Martin, aka The Bug!
WAY RECOMMENDED!
MPEG Stream: "Cool Out"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For You"
MPEG Stream: "Meltdown"

FEVER RAY s/t (Deluxe Edition) (Mute) 2cd + dvd 21.00

MPEG Stream: "If I Had A Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Now's The Only Time I Know"
MPEG Stream: "Been Here Before"
MPEG Stream: "Seven (Live In Lulea)"

Q & A Tumbling Cubes / Trap Door (DFA) 12" 8.98
The last few years have been pretty damn great for electronic and dance minded sounds. Folks like The Field, Gui Boratto, Hercules & Love Affair, Zomby and Subway have blown us away with their fresh approach and different shades of dance floor glory. But at the same time so much of what has been coming out really does subscribe to an instantly recognizable reference point. Whether it's retro space disco, brooding dubstep, or minimal techno, there's been so much undeniably exciting music that still doesn't really bring any new vision to the table.
With their debut 12", Q & A prove to be a duo who for sure have their own unique groove going, and it's a groove we can't get enough of! Seamlessly mixing their love of kraut, disco, minimal-funk, hacienda clouds of ecstasy, prog, Detroit techno, and dub, Quinn Luke (The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Coppa, Bing Ji Ling) and Alexis Georgopoulos (Arp, The Alps) have truly created one of the most enjoyable and memorable slabs of dance music this year. These two long tracks sound great on first listen, but the fact that we keep playing them over and over and only get more into them each time is a testament to the fact that it's possible to make groove filled dance jams that also have substance.
Alexis was one of the founding members of Tussle and you can for sure hear some of that signature Liquid Liquid inspired sound in the midst of these songs but in a much more fleshed out and flowing style. While this is their debut outing you just might have heard them before as they briefly were recording and remixing under the moniker Expanding Head Band, and had one of the standout tracks on that bad ass Milky Disco 2 compilation. One of the hottest 12"s of the year without a doubt!

SEGALL, TY & MIKAL CRONIN Reverse Shark Attack (Kill Shaman) lp 14.98
No doubt about it, Ty Segall is really one of our favorite garage rockers around. We're lucky enough to get to see him play all the time and the incredible sweat and energy of his live shows manages to seep its way into his recordings as pretty much every slab of wax he's released has delivered way raw fucked up garage rock at its absolute best!
Teamed up with his pal Mikal Cronin, the two take things to even more of a blasted and fractured state of garage mayhem with Reverse Shark Attack, tons of moments that remind us of the amazing thrashing garage pop scorch of the great Japanese band Acid Eater or some dream universe where Syd Barrett got to jam out Brainbombs covers. In fact they do an amazing cover of the Barrett era Pink Floyd gem "Take Up The Stethoscope And Walk" - it was so rad when we played this in the store for the first time and an enthusiastic customer screamed out "Who is doing some serious fucking justice to the spirit of Syd Barrett right now!?" and we totally understand where that impassioned and immediate reaction comes from! Segall continues to tap into the kind of music making that truly grabs a hold of your body to give you a totally enthralling pure and raw physical experience. We had heard an awesome 7" these two did together earlier in the year that sadly we weren't able to get our hands on, and it seems that Cronin really encourages Segall to go more into the outer limits of sound than on his own and we have to say we really love it! And we pretty much love any and all of what Ty does whether it's the amazing pop hooks he's capable of creating in his great songs on his proper solo albums or when he totally just goes way free and enters a total garage freak-out state that goes way beyond fuzz, like the tracks on Reverse Shark Attack. So rad!

MILLER, LLOYD A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz (Jazzman) cd 17.98
We first heard Lloyd Miller on that amazing Spiritual Jazz compilation we reviewed recently, and while pretty much every track was a killer, Miller's "Gol-E Gandom" definitely stood out, beginning with a santur solo, that sounded like a sea of buzzing sitars, until the jazz kicked in, bopping bass, fluid piano, shuffling rhythms, somehow following the melody laid out by the opening santur solo. So magical. We were smitten and were dying to hear more. Luckily, Jazzman endeavored to put together this amazing collection of Miller's various recordings, which was no small feat, considering that even after a lifetime playing jazz, most of these songs were only available on super limited self released records, which made it into fewer hands, and ears, that would seem right considering the power and originality of Miller's music.
He grew up in America, but his father was transferred to Iran, so his family moved there when Miller was 19, and they lived there for 5 years. Then Miller finally moved to Europe, to pursue jazz, after all, Europe was where it was happening, he landed in Germany, later heading to Switzerland, all the while creating these amazing, and mostly unheard pieces, incorporating an incredible array of ethnic instruments with some seriously intense and inspired jazz.
While some of the tracks here sound like straight up jazz, flecked with bits of ethnic instrumentation, others are totally far out. "Le Grand Bidou" finds his group riffing on a single chord, while Miller inserts an Indian style tonic drone played on the micro organ, and the result is bizarre, the whole track twists and squirms and heaves, it's an odd fit, but fit it does, we can only imagine how freaked out purists must have been. and frustrated, considering the caliber of playing, but it's these twisted takes on standard jazz that makes this stuff so magical, and the fact that this was the late fifties / early sixties, it's a wonder Miller didn't become a sensation. This stuff is radical, revolutionary, considering how important the incorporation of African music and instruments into jazz became (Don Cherry, Art Ensemble), how is it that this wasn't equally if not more radical? A white kid from Utah, with impeccable jazz chops, playing all sorts of Turkish and Persian instruments, wrapping standard jazz tropes around Indian arrangements, kind of mindblowing even now.
The liner notes are super detailed, and Miller's life is fascinating, but it's really about the music, and as much as we dig jazz, and fancy ourselves, if not experts, at least super fans, we had NEVER heard Miller before that comp, and this stuff is so cool, and so unlike ANYTHING we've ever heard, from the instrumentation, to the arrangements, to modal systems, some of the tracks are Indian ragas transformed, others seem to eschew the jazz completely and sound like some mysterious magical world music, but it's where the two elements mesh where things get truly magical, tablas underpinning pianos, strange horns droning over upright bass and shuffling percussion, all woven deftly into a strain of jazz that is wholly unique and original. So fantastic, and so utterly and wholeheartedly recommended. Easily THE jazz reissue of the year, if not the decade!
MPEG Stream: "Gol-E Gandom"
MPEG Stream: "Gozel Guzler"
MPEG Stream: "Hue Wail"

V/A Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanian Blues (Sound Way) 5lp-box 55.00
After wonderfully tackling the amazing sounds of 1970's Nigeria in their stellar Nigeria Special series, the folks at Sound Way now have applied their refined crate digging skills to the sounds of Ghana, assembling an amazing collection of tracks from 1968-1981. It took almost a decade to painstakingly track down the 37 tracks that make up this double disc and damn all that work was so worth it! We have always been huge fans of so many of the sounds that have come out of West Africa, and this comp is only fueling that fire even more. We can honestly say we had not heard of just about any of the artists here but they have all grabbed our attention as every track on this collection has something special going on, whether it's the hypnotic guitar playing, or the unique emotive vocal delivery, we find ourselves madly scrambling to see what track is playing to find out who the artist is so we can try to track down anything else by them. While not quite as outwardly flashy as some of their Nigerian counterparts, the songs on Ghana Special unfold with a distinct richness in songcraft and so many totally beautiful psychedelic and entrancing moments.
Once again Sound Way demonstrate that they not only have impeccable taste but that they also understand how to make compilations that flow, and feel like proper albums from start to finish instead of just a haphazard collection of tracks.
The double-disc cd set also comes with a 44-page booklet of photos and liner notes, including a history of this amazing musical era. School is in session and we're in the front row taking notes cause this shit is just so damn good! The vinyl version comes in a monstrous box, the songs spread out over 5lp's, and includes two bonus tracks not available on the cd!
School is in session and we're in the front row taking notes cause this shit is just so damn good!
MPEG Stream: T.O. JAZZ "Owuo Adaadaa Me"
MPEG Stream: HEDZOLEH SOUNDZ "Omusus Da Fe M'musu"
MPEG Stream: BIG BEATS "Mi Nsumboo Bo Donn"
MPEG Stream: OSCAR SULLEY'S NZELE SOUNDZ "Bukom"

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF Ex Patris (Important) lp 22.00
A few of us were very lucky to catch Jozef Van Wissem's recent AQ instore where he played his new 13 Course Swan Neck Baroque Lute, a super long and intricately exquisite variation of the lute we've never seen before, that he wielded mightily, rocking out heavy metal guitar style, and also played whilst walking around the store like a medieval troubadour (check our blog for pictures!). While unfortunately it wasn't our best attended instore, Van Wissem played like it was, and we were graciously rewarded with an intimate and beautifully hypnotizing performance. NEXT time, don't miss him!
And that is what you will find with his latest (vinyl-only) release on Important, Ex Patris. On vinyl only (for now at least), Ex Patris (The Fathers) gives us four new tracks of gorgeous plucked string majesty. Building upon his repertoire of mirrored palindromic compositions, he focuses this release on layered and repeating melodies rather than sparse reductions of past releases. At times, we wonder if he might be using overdubs, something we haven't noticed before in his recordings or if it is just that his new lute offers more depth and range than the ones he used in the past. Hard to tell, but oh so easy to become seduced by its magnificent spell!

MOEBIUS Tonspuren (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Moebius's first solo album from 1983 is also one of our favorites of the post-Cluster universe. We first heard this when it was recently reissued on cd via the Japanese import label Captain Trip (along with Zero Set and Rastakraut Pasta), but it was much too expensive to list. Thankfully, the Bureau B label has come to the rescue and we're able to share this gem with you.
Moebius has always been the more elusive and ornery of the Cluster duo. By 1983, Roedelius already had 5 solo albums under his belt, but Moebius always seemed to prefer working with groups or one-off projects, where he could entertain his curious sonic predilections against the grain of other performers. Surprisingly for his first actual solo release, he turns in an intriguing and engaging pop record. Not "Pop" in the commercial sense, but Tonspuren is surprisingly big on melodic but idiosyncratic precise miniatures with songs sounding like they were made by tiny but giddy machines.
Yet unlike Roedelius, Moebius allows no willful excursion or baroque tangent to intervene with the concise construction of his compositions, keeping them reduced to as essential compositions as possible, though much warmer and more fluid than, say, the compositions on Cluster's Curiosum (reviewed elsewhere on this list). Tellingly, this was made at the height of German New Wave, and one wonders how much of that may have played an influence. If you liked Cluster's Zuckerzeit, then check this out! Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Contramio"
MPEG Stream: "Rattenwiesel"
MPEG Stream: "Sinister"

MOONDOG H'art Songs (Kopf / Roof Music) cd 17.98
There are so so many sides of Moondog, and so many and incredibly varied sounds he's created throughout his long and eccentric life of music making. From inventing his own instruments to performing on street corners to incorporating field recordings into his songs, to collaborating with the London Philharmonic, the list goes on and on. While Moondog is mostly lauded for the sounds he created with his wide range of instruments, it's the sound of his voice in the songs he sang sprinkled throughout his catalog that have always left us in such awe, generating both bewilderment and delight. Originally released on LP in Germany in 1978, H'art Songs is an awesome disc of Moondog vocal tracks, a few of which we had heard on other collections and were already in love with, as well as a bunch that are brand new to our ears. With piano and his own percussion as the musical backdrop, it's Moondogs's totally unique and intimate vocal delivery and word play that makes these songs so weirdly enchanting. Playful and poetic while also emotional and personal. Just like everything else Moondog created in his life, these songs do feel like they are from a different world. So strange and so damn good. This is a must have for Moondog fans!
MPEG Stream: "I'm This I'm That"
MPEG Stream: "I'm In The World"
MPEG Stream: "Enough About Human Rights"
MPEG Stream: "Pigmy Pig"

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!

ASTATKE, MULATU New York - Addis- London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975 (Strut) cd 14.98
If there was an actual way to measure the warmth of music, the sounds Mulatu Astatke created in the '60s and '70s would be at the top of the thermometer, his incredible and rich Ethio-Jazz sounds drifting right from the speakers and melting into your ears, permeating every cell of your body. Strut strike gold once again, coming up a killer collection of some of Astatke's finest material, recorded between 1965-1975.
After leaving Ethiopia as a teen, Astatke studied music in different parts of the globe and it's wonderful to hear how he subtly infused those various outside influences into his classic Ethiopian groove based sound. Some of the tracks here will stand out as being the classic Astatke tracks we are all familiar with, culled as they are from the amazing Ethiopiques 4 collection, but Strut digs deeper as well, exploring some of the lesser known songs and sides, many of which show an awesome Afro-Latin jazz influence, as well as some tracks that find Astatke teaming up with vocalists like Muluken Melesse and Menelik Wossenatchew.
Astatke really does belong in that divine elite class of musicians like John Coltrane, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Shankar, John Fahey, Duke Ellington, Moondog, etc. - the sounds he creates are universal in their appeal. Infused with so much soul and emotional warmth, these are sounds that transcends genre or geography, plain and simple, this is amazing music!
MPEG Stream: "Shagu"
MPEG Stream: "Emnete"
MPEG Stream: "Wubit"
MPEG Stream: "Kasalefkut Hulu"

CANT / ARTHUR RUSSELL Ghosts / Come To Life (Terrible) 7" 8.98
The debut release on what looks to be a new awesome label called Terrible run by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear fame. This is the debut of Taylor's new solo project Cant and he pairs it up here with a previously unreleased Arthur Russell track!!! Makes so much sense as Taylor was one of the people responsible for putting together and producing last year's collection of songs displaying the more song based and folk/country side of Arthur Russell, Love Is Overtaking Me. And no doubt Russell's legacy has had a huge impact on the sound of Grizzly Bear over the years.
The Cant song is so good! Dare we say it, but it could definitely compete with all of the great songs on Grizzly Bear's super awesome Veckatimest, it doesn't stray too much from the Grizzly Bear sound but gets even more reverby and haunting and melodic.
The Arthur Russell track is quite sonically similar to the tracks on Love Is Overtaking Me, with its rustic twang, but it's infused with the more layered and textured aspects of Russell's sound which means shiver and chill inducing bliss. Needless to say this is a must have!

AGUAYO, MATIAS Ay Ay Ay (Kompakt) lp + cd 19.98
Long gone are the days when you could pigeon hole or easily predict the sound of a release on Kompakt. While they made their name with their trademark releases of minimal techno and pop ambient gems, the label has proven to be a wide ranging force in innovative electronic music of all shapes, colors and styles. We had heard previous releases by Matias Aguayo as well as with his collective Closer Musik, but we either weren't paying close enough attention or he has totally upped his game because Ay Ay Ay is by far one of the most colorful, immediate and rewarding electronic records of the year! Imagine some amazing combination of the hypnotic repetitive beats of Ricardo Villalobos fused with the more dance minded stylings of folks like Swayzek and Herbert, topped off with a nice backdrop of Aguayo's Chilean South American roots and you have all the ingredients for total party record of the year!
But what makes Ay Ay Ay so great is that it's not at all a disposable party record, instead it's immaculately crafted so it's the kind of record that satisfies whether you listen to it alone on headphones and get lost in its sonic swirlings or if you blast it out loud with good folks around as you shake your stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Ay Ay Ay"
MPEG Stream: "Rollerskate"
MPEG Stream: "Koro Koro"

V/A Freedom Rhythm & Sound: Revolutionary Jazz & The Civil Rights Movement 1963-82 (Soul Jazz) 2cd 25.00
Another incredible collection from Soul Jazz, this one focusing on jazz from the sixties, seventies and early eighties and how that music, and the lives of the performers intersected with the civil rights movement.
As jazz developed and radicalized in the sixties, African American artists began to rebel against the stereotypical image and role of the jazz musician, reimagining their music, the sounds, looking to Africa for inspiration, turning their back in the mainstream, and approaching their music more as art than entertainment, resulting in some of the most revolutionary music made in America, and producing all manner of musical hybrids as well as all sorts of musical and cultural organizations. The booklet is super informative, and will most likely have you wanting to read and learn more. And the music here perfectly captures all the energy, confusion, turmoil, pain, suffering, anger, despair, sadness, hopefulness and joy of the era. Lots of familiar faces: Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Joe McPhee, Gato Barbieri, Philip Cohran, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Joe Henderson, but also tons of amazing groups we'd never heard before. And the sounds are all over the map, straight up post bop jazz, wild skronky free jazz, groovy Shaft style jazz funk jams, wah wah guitars, soulful vox, intense tribal drum workouts, smokey late night grooves, some spoken word, some jazz almost verging on dub, lots of African influences for sure, in the instrumentation, the chant like vocals, the arrangements, some amazing flute action, some seriously intense and unique sounds and songs, and we're now on the hunt for records by most of the artists we heard here for the first time, which is always the sign of a great compilation, and this is most certainly a great compilation.
Gorgeous packaging, with a massive booklet packed with tons of photos and extensive liner notes... a great companion to the rad coffee table book of album cover art Soul Jazz also released under this title, reviewed last list.
MPEG Stream: OLIVER LAKE / NTU "Africa"
MPEG Stream: STEVE COLSON & THE UNITY TROUPE "Lateen"
MPEG Stream: JOE HENDERSON "Foregone Conclusion"
MPEG Stream: PHEEROAN AK LAFF "3 In 1"
MPEG Stream: RALPH THOMAS "Big Spliff"

WASHED OUT Life Of Leisure (Mexican Summer) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's been ages since we've seen folks freaking out and getting so excited about a record months before it was even released. But that's exactly what happened with this 12" by Washed Out. And while we tend to be a bit skeptical of blog-hype we have to say we whole heartedly agree with all the excitement surrounding Washed Out, because they/he do deliver, and what they deliver is some fantastic and infectious terminally chill pop.
The name Washed Out suits the sound so perfectly as the six songs on Life Of Leisure really do sound like some amazing washed out version of New Order, or Ariel Pink if he wore all white and cranked out a bunch of covers of Hacienda classics. Much like the Neon Indian record we recently raved about, Washed Out operates in that same realm of faded 80's nostalgia, and Ernest Greene's vocals are so casually seductive and smooth. Kind of like the male equivalent to the slow burning bedroom jams of Nite Jewel or a way stoned Cut Copy.
One of our customers said this was like the ultimate make out jam or post-sex chill out record and we can't really argue with that. Unless you were one of the lucky few to grab one of the crazy limited cassettes this is probably the first chance to get a physical copy of Washed Out songs and all six of the tracks on here are totally great (not a bummer in the bunch) and it also comes with a digital download. These might not last long so you know what to do......

BARWICK, JULIANNA Florine (self-released) cd 7.98
Want to get lost in hazy, shimmering sounds that would sound perfect in the pristine church of 4AD worship? Sounds pretty great right, well, the sounds of Julianna Barwick deliver just that. With her looped ethereal vocals she creates such hypnotizing sounds that really evoke a more tripped out Lisa Gerard (Dead Can Dance) or Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), a sound that is totally perfect for the crisp and cold days we've been experiencing as of late, each track a gorgeous soundtrack for bundled up evening strolls when you can see your breath in the air. Barwick has been crafting her own multi-layered, hazy and hypnotic sounds for several years now, in fact her self released debut, Sanguine, from over three years ago was a big favorite here in town at our local radio station KUSF and we're happy to have gotten that in as well which we'll most likely be gushing about on a future list. In fact that record came out just shortly after Grouper's wonderful debut Way Their Crept and the two definitely share a swirling and surreal sonic spirit.
MPEG Stream: "Anjos"
MPEG Stream: "Choose"
MPEG Stream: "Sunlight , Heaven"

BARWICK, JULIANNA Sanguine (self-released) cd 12.98
Julianna Barwick makes the kind of music that totally transports us into that sort of hazy spaced out daydream we wish would stretch out into infinity. Using just her voice and assorted manipulated loops, Barwick creates an hypnotic environment of sound that conjures up images of standing all alone in a huge cathedral, lit with washed out light filtered through ornate glass windows, reflecting off silver and gold sculptures. There is something so totally otherworldly and church-gone-cosmic to the sounds on Sanguine, like floating in a pristine sky, high on codeine as you swirl amongst fallen angels and mysterious creatures. Self released back in 2006, we are so happy to finally get this in the store as it really is one of the most mesmerizing and beautiful records to come out in the last several years. Because of the lack of its distribution the first time around, Sanguine didn't get the attention it deserved, which is too bad, because it most likely would have enjoyed the same sort of praise and popularity that groups like Grouper have so rightfully received, creating sounds from a similar template. And while the Grouper comparisons are inevitable, there really is something unique and singular about the way Barwick channels the most psychedelic and ethereal 4AD inspiration into a totally DIY hypnotic state of sound. Blissed out to perfection!
MPEG Stream: "Unt5"
MPEG Stream: "Sanguine"
MPEG Stream: "Unt8"

NIRVANA Live At Reading (DGC) cd 15.98
Nirvana were always a pretty iffy proposition live. Always sloppy and chaotic, sometimes inspiringly so, other times not so much. It wasn't always clear whether it was a drug thing, or a disdain for playing live, or being sick of the music business, but for all of the perfect pop and classic heaviness to be found on their records, live, things often devolved into total mayhem, often gloriously so. Fucking up songs, destroying drum kits, mixing in random covers, letting songs just sort of stumble to a halt, or more famously, changing the lyrics, singing in a deep baritone and hamming it up when forced to lipsync on TV, or not playing the hit the TV people were expecting, instead playing one of the super noisy thrashers. All part of what made Nirvana so cool, and so fun to watch. We had the records if we wanted to hear those songs, we'd much rather see the trainwreck that often occurred live.
This show, for all it's fucked-up-ness and weird goings on, was anything BUT a trainwreck. Widely considered to be one of the best live recordings of the band, hearing this again, all polished up definitely drives that point home. Lots of stuff from both Bleach and Nevermind, the band sound incredible, the recording does too, and even Kurt's vocals are pretty together, the crowd goes apeshit between songs, and rightfully so, witnessing a band totally hitting their stride, and for a band prone to falling apart live, just utterly destroying.
For folks who don't necessarily watch music videos, the cd should be plenty, but we'd have to recommend getting the dvd too, as there was some crazy shit going on (Kurt being rolled on stage in a wheelchair wearing a hospital gown), hilarious between song banter, some equipment destruction and other stuff worth seeing, that was edited out of the recording for the proper release.
Essential for Nirvana fans, and if you need some convincing as to the merits of Nirvana, check out some of the other reviews elsewhere on the aQ website, and we'll do our very best to convince you that Nirvana were indeed one of the best bands EVER.
MPEG Stream: "Breed"
MPEG Stream: "Drain You"
MPEG Stream: "Aneurysm"

V/A Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges 1968-1974 (Now-Again) 2lp 21.00
As elemental to psychedelic music of the sixties and seventies as fuzz-fueled freakouts and surreal mystical lyricism, was the dirge! Those slow and heavy head-nodding anthems of bittersweet self-reflection often replete with powerful descending chord progressions and moody and soulful angst-laden vocal crooning.
The amazing folks at the Now-Again label (who usually focus on the funk side of the psychedelic equation) have assembled quite a tour-de-force with these rare heavy-hitters from around the globe, including long-time aQ favorites as well as plenty of new discoveries. Here's the line-up: Top Drawer (Kentucky), Sensational Saints (Cleveland, OH), East of Underground (USA via Germany), D.R. Hooker (New Haven, CT), Shin Jung Hyun & The Men (Korea), T. Zchiew & The Johnny (Thailand), The Strangers (Nigeria), Damon (Los Angeles, CA), Ellison (Montreal), Morly Grey (Cleveland, OH), Shadrack Chameleon (Dakota City, IA), Ofege (Nigeria), Ana Y Jaime (Columbia), Kourosh Yaghmaei (Iran), and Baby Grandmothers (Sweden)! Focusing not only on the rare, but also the rather unconventional modes of the ballad, this compilation doesn't just cover heavy psych territory, but also crosses currents with gospel, soul and downbeat international funk by obscure artists who sought after their own kind of sound. Just in time for those cold winter months, this is perfect fireside listening. In fact, it's the perfect, sad and beautiful companion to the energetic exuberance of that Psych Funk 101 compilation, we raved about a couple of lists ago. Meaning, it's a total must-have!
The cd comes with a beautiful booklet of album covers and notes about each band.
MPEG Stream: TOP DRAWER "Song of A Sinner"
MPEG Stream: D.R. HOOKER "Forge Your OWn Chains"
MPEG Stream: THE STRANGERS "Two To Make A Pair"
MPEG Stream: DAMON "Don't You Feel Me"
MPEG Stream: MORLY GREY "Who Can I Say You Are?"

V/A Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanian Blues (Soundway) 2cd + book 25.00
After wonderfully tackling the amazing sounds of 1970's Nigeria in their stellar Nigeria Special series, the folks at Sound Way now have applied their refined crate digging skills to the sounds of Ghana, assembling an amazing collection of tracks from 1968-1981. It took almost a decade to painstakingly track down the 37 tracks that make up this double disc and damn all that work was so worth it! We have always been huge fans of so many of the sounds that have come out of West Africa, and this comp is only fueling that fire even more. We can honestly say we had not heard of just about any of the artists here but they have all grabbed our attention as every track on this collection has something special going on, whether it's the hypnotic guitar playing, or the unique emotive vocal delivery, we find ourselves madly scrambling to see what track is playing to find out who the artist is so we can try to track down anything else by them. While not quite as outwardly flashy as some of their Nigerian counterparts, the songs on Ghana Special unfold with a distinct richness in songcraft and so many totally beautiful psychedelic and entrancing moments.
Once again Sound Way demonstrate that they not only have impeccable taste but that they also understand how to make compilations that flow, and feel like proper albums from start to finish instead of just a haphazard collection of tracks.
The double-disc cd set also comes with a 44-page booklet of photos and liner notes, including a history of this amazing musical era. School is in session and we're in the front row taking notes cause this shit is just so damn good! FYI there's also vinyl version comes in a monstrous box, the songs spread out over 5lp's, and includes two bonus tracks not available on the cd, but we happen to be out of it today, maybe we'll get a couple more in next week...
School is in session and we're in the front row taking notes cause this shit is just so damn good!
MPEG Stream: T.O. JAZZ "Owuo Adaadaa Me"
MPEG Stream: HEDZOLEH SOUNDZ "Omusus Da Fe M'musu"
MPEG Stream: BIG BEATS "Mi Nsumboo Bo Donn"
MPEG Stream: OSCAR SULLEY'S NZELE SOUNDZ "Bukom"

V/A Forge Your Own Chains: Heavy Psychedelic Ballads and Dirges 1968-1974 (Now-Again) cd 17.98
As elemental to psychedelic music of the sixties and seventies as fuzz-fueled freakouts and surreal mystical lyricism, was the dirge! Those slow and heavy head-nodding anthems of bittersweet self-reflection often replete with powerful descending chord progressions and moody and soulful angst-laden vocal crooning.
The amazing folks at the Now-Again label (who usually focus on the funk side of the psychedelic equation) have assembled quite a tour-de-force with these rare heavy-hitters from around the globe, including long-time aQ favorites as well as plenty of new discoveries. Here's the line-up: Top Drawer (Kentucky), Sensational Saints (Cleveland, OH), East of Underground (USA via Germany), D.R. Hooker (New Haven, CT), Shin Jung Hyun & The Men (Korea), T. Zchiew & The Johnny (Thailand), The Strangers (Nigeria), Damon (Los Angeles, CA), Ellison (Montreal), Morly Grey (Cleveland, OH), Shadrack Chameleon (Dakota City, IA), Ofege (Nigeria), Ana Y Jaime (Columbia), Kourosh Yaghmaei (Iran), and Baby Grandmothers (Sweden)! Focusing not only on the rare, but also the rather unconventional modes of the ballad, this compilation doesn't just cover heavy psych territory, but also crosses currents with gospel, soul and downbeat international funk by obscure artists who sought after their own kind of sound. Just in time for those cold winter months, this is perfect fireside listening. In fact, it's the perfect, sad and beautiful companion to the energetic exuberance of that Psych Funk 101 compilation, we raved about a couple of lists ago. Meaning, it's a total must-have!
The cd comes with a beautiful booklet of album covers and notes about each band.
MPEG Stream: TOP DRAWER "Song of A Sinner"
MPEG Stream: D.R. HOOKER "Forge Your Own Chains"
MPEG Stream: THE STRANGERS "Two To Make A Pair"
MPEG Stream: DAMON "Don't You Feel Me"
MPEG Stream: MORLY GREY "Who Can I Say You Are?"

ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO DE COTONOU Echos Hypnotiques: 1969-1979 (Analog Africa) cd 24.00
We nearly wore out our copies of the first volume of singles and jams from the amazing Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou, a previously little known but highly prolific Afro-beat group from the tiny western Africa country of Benin. Now they're one of our top favorite groups! The Analog Africa label was practically founded on their discovery and other groups who recorded for the Albarika Store Label and its elusive producer, Adissa Seidou. That discovery yielded enormous riches. Over 500 tracks from this legendary group in its many incarnations were unearthed, nearly half were recorded for the Albarika Store Label and this collection focuses on that period. The previous volume was a collection of singles from smaller labels that the band made on the sly while Seidou was out of town. All lo-fi recordings often only using one microphone for the singer as well as the band. The recordings on this collection were made with higher quality recording equipment, and while the songs here have less of that urgent funk made by a band on the run, they are much more composed, varied and altogether stranger. Some of this is in fact seriously nuts! Lots of fuzzed out and wah'd guitar, layers of distorted percussion, horns and spacey organs. Though there are tracks that continue the Voudon funk vibe of the first volume, tracks like "Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me" bring some head-boppin' Go-Go garage stomp, while tracks like "Gan Tche Kpo" are mind-melting Afro-psych. Others have more Latin flavor similar in vibe to Konono No.1's infectious dance rhythms, which makes sense as the OPRDC are one of the featured groups on the latest Honest Jon's comp, Africa Boogaloo (reviewed elsewhere on this list) that traces the influence of Latin rhythms on West Africa. The Analog Africa Label has yet to disappoint, and if you liked any of the labels other releases, or are new to this group/label, right here is a fine place to start!!
MPEG Stream: "Azon De Ma Gnin Kpevi"
MPEG Stream: "Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me"
MPEG Stream: "Gan Tche Kpo"
MPEG Stream: "Mede Ma Gnin Messe"

MORRISSEY Swords (Polydor) cd 13.98
Something happened to Morrissey when he moved to Los Angeles. It allowed him a new beginning of sorts. For the first time in his career he had dropped out of the limelight, he went almost seven years without releasing a record and for the first time since the beginning of The Smiths he really became a true underdog, and cult figure, gaining a revival of fans who maybe weren't around for the first, Smiths wave of Morrissey mania. When he finally returned with a new record, 2004's You Are The Quarry it really did feel like the triumphant second act to an already dramatic and amazing career. His two records since then have maintained that momentum and Swords collects many of the B-sides and non-album tracks from this era.
Many of us who are Morrissey fanatics had grabbed some of the import 7"s that some of these songs come from, which are arguably as strong as any of his album tracks. There's also tons on tracks, not even the most tenacious fans around here were ever able to get their hands on, and all of it has the urgent punch and full sound that his defined his music over the last few albums, which rank up there with some of his best stuff. So many others who once possessed such golden voices really lose it as they grow older, but it's remarkable how intact and spot on Morrissey's vocal delivery has remained. And his songwriting remains utterly clever, strong minded, emotional, political, self deprecating and moving. We really can't think of any of his peers from those early '80s days who have remained so vital in creating great music all these years later.
MPEG Stream: "It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small"
MPEG Stream: "If You Dont Like Me, Dont Look At Me"
MPEG Stream: "Shame Is The Name"

MORRISSEY Swords (Polydor) 2lp 29.00
NOW ON VINYL!!
Something happened to Morrissey when he moved to Los Angeles. It allowed him a new beginning of sorts. For the first time in his career he had dropped out of the limelight, he went almost seven years without releasing a record and for the first time since the beginning of The Smiths he really became a true underdog, and cult figure, gaining a revival of fans who maybe weren't around for the first, Smiths wave of Morrissey mania. When he finally returned with a new record, 2004's You Are The Quarry it really did feel like the triumphant second act to an already dramatic and amazing career. His two records since then have maintained that momentum and Swords collects many of the B-sides and non-album tracks from this era.
Many of us who are Morrissey fanatics had grabbed some of the import 7"s that some of these songs come from, which are arguably as strong as any of his album tracks. There's also tons on tracks, not even the most tenacious fans around here were ever able to get their hands on, and all of it has the urgent punch and full sound that his defined his music over the last few albums, which rank up there with some of his best stuff. So many others who once possessed such golden voices really lose it as they grow older, but it's remarkable how intact and spot on Morrissey's vocal delivery has remained. And his songwriting remains utterly clever, strong minded, emotional, political, self deprecating and moving. We really can't think of any of his peers from those early '80s days who have remained so vital in creating great music all these years later.
MPEG Stream: "It's Hard To Walk Tall When You're Small"
MPEG Stream: "If You Dont Like Me, Dont Look At Me"
MPEG Stream: "Shame Is The Name"

NIRVANA Bleach (Deluxe Edition) (Sub Pop) cd 15.98
Really, what needs to be said about Nirvana's Bleach? Nothing probably. But also everything. Most of the folks here probably rank Bleach as their favorite Nirvana record, and some of us might even include Bleach in our best of all time list as well (c'mon, we know you keep one too, even if it's just in your head). And listening to this again today, it's shocking out great it sounds, not at all dated, better than 90 percent of the music coming out today, and it cost like $600 to record. EVERY song here is a goddamn classic, equal parts punk rock, pop, sludge, grunge, '60s garage, everything perfect, the vocals raspy and raw, the drumming killer, the guitar parts weird and wonderful, thick and heavy and grimy and so utterly catchy. Half the bands around today wouldn't even exist if it weren't for this record, hell, the musical landscape would be WAY different if it weren't for Nirvana, sure we grew up listening to Bleach, but we can only imagine discovering this record today, it would blow your fucking mind. How could a band on their first time out create a record that would basically reinvent rock for a new generation. Odds are most folks probably have this, and some of you are probably big ol' Nirvana geeks like us and will need to buy it again, for the improved sound, the killer packaging, the bonus live show tacked on the end, but if for some crazy reason you've yet to hear this, drop everything, don't buy another record until you take this one home and immerse yourself in its utter rock genius. Listen to the sound samples, and either be reminded how good this record is, or discover your new favorite band and let your life be changed, the way ours were when we first heard this 20 years ago.
The bonus tracks are from a live show recorded in Portland back in 1990, and it sounds amazing. Admittedly, Nirvana live were a dodgy proposition, or at least Kurt was, often singing weirdly or not at all, fucking up songs on purpose, or sometimes not on purpose, but this set is wicked tight, and loud and heavy, the vocals are pretty much perfect, they do some killer covers, some rad non-Bleach songs, and a few songs that would show up on future record, but it's cool to hear with this lineup, live all rough and ragged. And yeah, the new packaging is pretty badass too, no new liner notes but tons of photos and flyers and stuff, the perfect companion to the Live At Reading set which was also just released, and which we'll probably review on the next list.
MPEG Stream: "Blew"
MPEG Stream: "Floyd The Barber"
MPEG Stream: "About A Girl"
MPEG Stream: "Negative Creep"

AGUAYO, MATIAS Ay Ay Ay (Kompakt) cd 15.98
Long gone are the days when you could pigeon hole or easily predict the sound of a release on Kompakt. While they made their name with their trademark releases of minimal techno and pop ambient gems, the label has proven to be a wide ranging force in innovative electronic music of all shapes, colors and styles. We had heard previous releases by Matias Aguayo as well as with his collective Closer Musik, but we either weren't paying close enough attention or he has totally upped his game because Ay Ay Ay is by far one of the most colorful, immediate and rewarding electronic records of the year! Imagine some amazing combination of the hypnotic repetitive beats of Ricardo Villalobos fused with the more dance minded stylings of folks like Swayzek and Herbert, topped off with a nice backdrop of Aguayo's Chilean South American roots and you have all the ingredients for total party record of the year!
But what makes Ay Ay Ay so great is that it's not at all a disposable party record, instead it's immaculately crafted so it's the kind of record that satisfies whether you listen to it alone on headphones and get lost in its sonic swirlings or if you blast it out loud with good folks around as you shake your stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Ay Ay Ay"
MPEG Stream: "Rollerskate"
MPEG Stream: "Koro Koro"

CAETHUA The Long Afternoon Of Earth (Preservation) 2cd 19.98
It's the moment that reminds us why we still love doing all the work it takes to run AQ. The moment when you put on a record by an artist you have never heard before and are immediately transported to another dimension, all senses completely heightened as you realize that you are hearing for the first time what will be sounds and songs that you will be playing over and over for years to come.
This is the moment that occurred the first time we put on this album by Caethua. We knew that the label it was on Preservation, had given us some tender and dreamy releases in the past, especially the great bliss out Japanese band Eddie Marcon, but other then that we had nothing to go on. But the moment we pressed play, that sensation hit harder than it has in so long. With its sparse and haunting arrangements and daydream inducing vocals this is one of those records that we thought could only exist in our imaginations. You know that fun 'what if' game you play to invent the perfect record. What if Machinefabriek and Jasper TX merged forces with Beach House??!! And for once one of those too good to be true imaginary concoctions has totally come to life!!!
Caethua really manage to meld so many of our favorite worlds. That feeling of being somewhere between waking and sleeping worlds, faded and melting layers of sound creating the perfect bed for the irresistible vocal delivery, the magical soft force behind Caethua, Clare Hubbard.
The Long Afternoon Of Earth is spread out over two discs, bursting at the seams with the layered and haunting elements of her sound. Like if Vincent Gallo and Mira Cook jammed together with disintegrating Chet Baker records woven into the mix. There are also songs with a more straightforward approach that evoke a modern day Karen Dalton or Shirley Collins, if teamed up with the Tenniscoats, maybe. Makes sense that Hubbard is from Maine as these would be the perfect sounds to keep you warm and safe and protected when the world around you turns so frosty and dark. Absolutely stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Lament"
MPEG Stream: "The Old Ones Go First"
MPEG Stream: "In A Garden Barely Looked At"

LITTLE DRAGON Machine Dreams (Peacefrog) cd 16.98
We have been hearing about Little Dragon for quite a while now as lots of folks around here had seen them live and been blown away and kept urging us to check out their stuff and to see what an amazing presence their Swedish-Japanese singer has. Unfortunately, most of LD's releases where hard-to-track-down imports up 'til now, but luckily with the release of this newest album Machine Dreams we get to hear why all our friends were so excited about Little Dragon.
Machine Dreams is completely refreshing, bright and colorful electro-pop that eschews all the detached and cold cliches that so many in the scene rely on, opting instead for elements of soul, house, downtempo, and an overall warmth and sincerity of sound that really makes LD stick out.
Imagine a more uptempo and cheery Fever Ray, or if Lali Puna stopped navel gazing and reached their hands and hearts to the sky, or if Matthew Herbert got to produce a record for Gwen Guthrie! We hear wonderful hints of LD's influences too, everything from Massive Attack to Pizzicato Five, yet they manage to really shine with their own identity, displaying a really great range, from uptempo catchy dancefloor moments to more drowsy, sultry bittwersweet slow burners. We are feeling this so much!
MPEG Stream: "A New"
MPEG Stream: "Swimming"
MPEG Stream: "Never Never"

COWLEY, PATRICK & JORGE SOCARRAS Catholic (Macro) cd 17.98
While the late great Patrick Cowley is best known for his amazing disco and hi-NRG production for folks like Sylvester and the Megatone label he started, very much like his east coast counterpart Arthur Russell Cowley wore many different musical hats. It hasn't been until the recent unearthing of literally hundreds of reels of tape from his archives that the world is getting a glimpse of all the way-ahead-of-its-time synth/electronic music he was madly creating before and during his reign as San Francisco's most respected disco maestro.
In the late '70s Cowley appeared on a record by his friend Jorge Socarras' band, the way left-field post-punk group Indoor Life (one of their great tracks was recently featured on the Finders Keepers comp, Cross Continental Record Raid Road Trip). During those same years the two were also collaborating on a project together which sadly never got released, which turned out to be Catholic, and is the first record to get unearthed from those deep vaults of Cowley's that have only just begun to be explored.
Recorded between 1976-1979, Cowley and Socarras really found a way to create charged synth-wave/post-punk that was very much in line with what other forward minded San Francisco folks like The Units and Tuxedomoon were making. With Cowley handling the bulk of the instrumentation (synth, guitar, bass, drums, drum machines, etc.) and Socarras delivering dramatic and ice cold vocals falling somewhere between Gary Numan and Public Image Ltd. Catholic displays lots of range, from more slow burning grooves to full throttle attacks, New Romantic leanings to proto-Industrial crunch. It's cool to hear what people think is actually playing when we have this on, we've heard everything from Foetus to Ultravox to Cabaret Voltaire. We can't wait to hear so much more of the amazing music that Cowley created in his much too short of life (he passed away in 1982, one of the earliest casualties of the AIDS epidemic) but luckily for all of us he left an incredible musical legacy that will live on forever!
MPEG Stream: "Robot Children (Do You Love Your)"
MPEG Stream: "You Laugh At My Face"
MPEG Stream: "Hurdy Gurdy Man"

SCOTT, SIMON Navigare (Miasmah) cd 15.98
Ah, Miasmah! After the likes of Elegi, Jacazek, and Kreng, we're pretty much automatically interested in any new release on Norway's Miasmah label. Like this one. Add in some bits of trivia, like that Scott was once the drummer for shoegazers Slowdive, and that this disc features a guest cameo from another Miasmah artist we love, Jasper TX, and we're already pretty intrigued. We also weren't at all surprised, but certainly pleased, by the gentle swells of ambient sonics that seep sleepily from the speakers when one hits play. The first two tracks, "Introduction Of Cambridge" and "Under Crumbling Skies", are blissfully replete with quiet hum and shimmering textures, forming into and out of drifting diaphanous melodies, blurry and melancholic. Some sparse, slowed down drum skitter adds a touch of Bohren to the proceedings in the first track, while the second employs a glorious chorus of angelic drones, that graces one's ears again and again throughout the disc.
Then, suddenly upping the volume, the third track "Flood Inn" seemingly enters into a subterranean realm full of soft fuzzy distortion. Quasi-industrially rhythmic, with a distant tolling bell heard amidst the crackle, this is ambience of the heavier (but not harsh) variety, almost like something from a Nadja or Jesu album.
Having given warning of a more sinister side, the disc continues on, with seven tracks more, being a beautiful blend of dreaminess, drone and distortion. There are almost pop songs hidden here, with buried rhythms and barely-there vocals (in one instance contributed by 12K's Sanae Yamasaki, aka Moskitoo), electronic treatments rendering the sound sources (guitar, sitar, violin, cello, flute, field recordings, voice, ???) all one lush, hushed, beautifully bleary, gorgeous warm bath of song-like drone...
It's a moodier, shoegazier take on Pop Ambient perhaps, certainly something that fans of Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Final, Jasper TX, and of course those other Miasmah wonders should check out!
MPEG Stream: "Introduction Of Cambridge"
MPEG Stream: "Flood Inn"
MPEG Stream: "Ashma"

DAM-FUNK Toeachizown (Stones Throw) 2cd 15.98
Funk - It's a tricky thing. In the wrong hands it can be some of our least favorite music in the world (think cheesy bass slapping bro's in dorky outfits, you know that scene) but the few who really possess TRUE FUNK can move us like no others.
Of course there is the old school pantheon of funk pioneers like Parliament-Funkadelic, The JB's, The Gap Band, The B.T. Express, Cameo, Betty Davis, Rick James, Zapp, Con Funk Shun, and Prince, but when it comes to modern day funk it's really rare to get the real deal. Folks either be faking the funk so hard it hurts, or they rely so heavily on being retro copy cats that they don't really bring any new flavor to the funk legacy they so want to be a part of. Which brings us to Dam-Funk, who has most definitely got the true funk special spirit running through his veins. We had heard his amazing mixes over the last couple years and knew the guy had talent but it wasn't until this proper full length of his own songs that we totally realized just how damn special and full of the real funk this man is.
While of course taking inspiration from many of the above mentioned funk pioneers, Dam-Funk is no mere retro act, as he knows that one of the major defining forces of true funk is how it should always be injected with a sense of very modern/future minded vision that's always a bit left of center. While folks like Outkast, Sa-Ra, and Gnarls Barkley have gotten close to entering that realm, Dam-Funk really lives, breathes and exudes the true funk aesthetic. He's able to bring in his futuristic electronic stylings informed by everyone from Kraftwerk to Cybotron/Model 500 and inject such natural soul into his beats and grooves.
Everything about this record kills, all the elements come together so perfectly, the production, the vocals, the actual songwriting, it's all there and it all just oozes real funk! There's also a second all instrumental disc, which helps keep Dam-Funk's amazing party of a record going on and on and on and we STILL really can't get enough. No joke, every single time we've played this in the store someone has bought a copy, and even if you're a bit funk-shy we think you should give this a chance! Funk jam of the year contender for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Let's Take Off (Far Away)"
MPEG Stream: "Burn Straight Thru U"
MPEG Stream: "Searchin' 4 Funk's Future"
MPEG Stream: "Rollin'"

EL PERRO DEL MAR Love Is Not Pop (The Control Group) cd 14.98
We've been smitten with El Perro Del Mar ever since her enchanting debut a few years ago, and with each release it feels like we fall in love all over again. Last year's outing, From The Valley To The Stars, was one of the most underrated releases of the year in our opinion, with its completely elegant and bittersweet pop crafted and delivered with such subtle and satisfying results.
The latest from this dazzling Swedish chanteuse finds her in absolute top form with swirling pop melodies, haunting and sultry vocal delivery and songs that are so immaculately crafted yet still flow with such perfect ease. With every EPDM (not to be confused with EPMD!) record, she manages to create a sound that is very much her own while mixing it up enough so that every record really has its own identity. On Love Is Not Pop we are hearing the first hints of a Kate Bush influence on her songs as some of the tracks here, especially "L Is For Love" sound like they could be the perfect B-side to a track on Hounds Of Love. With a few of us here in aQ land way beyond obsessed with the sounds of Kate Bush it's been making us love El Perro Del Mar all the more! She continues to make records that are beautiful and darkly melodic and moody yet don't pander to the lowest common denominator. It would be all to easy for EPDM to keep her songs so simple and straight forward to cash in on the coffee house crowd, but there is a deeper integrity and range of emotions conveyed in El Perro Del Mar's songs which is what makes her one of our favorite songstresses of today. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Gotta Get Smart"
MPEG Stream: "L Is for Love"
MPEG Stream: "It Is Something (To Have Wept)"

YOUNGS, RICHARD Under Stellar Stream (Jagjaguwar) lp 16.98
Also now here on vinyl!
We talk a lot about music that puts us in a spell, or drones that elevate us to some hypnotic state of mind, but what's much even more rare, is to achieve one of those states, while also tapping into something more personal and immediate and intimate and haunting. Richard Youngs is a sonic shamen, conuring up musical rituals that never fail to entrance and ensorcell us, we've raved about so many of his records in the past and his newest outing is definitely another winner, and is striking such a deep chord with us. His use of vocal repetition transforms these songs into otherworldly mantras, that we find ourselves NEEDING to listen to on a daily basis. With hazy instrumentation and hypnotic loops as the musical bed, Under Stellar Stream sounds like a magical collaboration between Robert Wyatt and William Basinski, as Youngs manages to merge a deep emotional impact with shimmery, softly nuanced dreaminess.
Listening to Under Stellar Stream evokes the sensation of watching an incredibly intense and beautiful film. Understated and emotional piano fluttering delicately, the sound restrained, yet expansive, the last two tracks if stripped of the vocals would sound right at home on an Andrew Chalk record. While Youngs definitely has a large devoted following we really think folks who might not have heard his records, but love the more haunting side of folks like Bonnie Prince Billy and Smog, might find muc to love in the mysterious sound world of Richard Youngs. So fitting that the day we got this it was pouring outside as these are sounds so perfect for grey skies and rainfall, just standing beneath the bruised sky letting the raindrops fall where they may. Totally moving and gorgeous!
MPEG Stream: "All Day Monday And Tuesday"
MPEG Stream: "The Bells Of Spring"
MPEG Stream: "Broke Up By Night"

NEON INDIAN Psychic Chasms (Lefse) cd 14.98
There's a lot of '80s inspired indie pop coming out these days, and sometimes it's really run of the mill pop, doused in distortion and lo-fi weirdness simply to sound like the other hip-at-the-moment popsmiths (Ariel Pink, Ty Segall, Kurt Vile, etc.). And that can be ok. But, when a new band's delivery sounds natural and not so contrived, when the music is rife with subtle unique elements, creating a sound that is not easily removable from the song, then we are ALL ears.
Such is the case with Neon Indian, who have a sonic vibe similar to current blog phenomenon and Mexican Summer buzz maker Washed Out, among others, with their ability to take the colorful and catchy side of '80s electro-tinged pop and bring in a slightly warped yet totally contagious and psychedelic sound palette that taps into a parallel universe where Ariel Pink stole Daft Punk beats and stripped them down a bit to make the kind of swirling effortless sounding pop that's just pretty damn impossible to resist. The lush, skillful production gives these songs such a nice timeless feel, while it definitely is a record that speaks to this moment in time in its reflection and reassembling of pop's past, their sample of Todd Rudgren's "Izzat Love" in one of their songs is proof that Neon Indian mastermind Alan Palamo has a good understanding of the kind of pop production that pulls from varied sources to create such a satisfying, and unique sound. This one is proving to be one of our favorite fall jams of '09! Lots of other folks favorite too, and with good reason!
MPEG Stream: "Should Have Done Acid With You"
MPEG Stream: "Deadbeat Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Mind, Drips"
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Chasms"

NEON INDIAN Psychic Chasms (Lefse) lp 14.98
NOW ON VINYL!!!!
There's a lot of '80s inspired indie pop coming out these days, and sometimes it's really run of the mill pop, doused in distortion and lo-fi weirdness simply to sound like the other hip-at-the-moment popsmiths (Ariel Pink, Ty Segall, Kurt Vile, etc.). And that can be ok. But, when a new band's delivery sounds natural and not so contrived, when the music is rife with subtle unique elements, creating a sound that is not easily removable from the song, then we are ALL ears.
Such is the case with Neon Indian, who have a sonic vibe similar to current blog phenomenon and Mexican Summer buzz maker Washed Out, among others, with their ability to take the colorful and catchy side of '80s electro-tinged pop and bring in a slightly warped yet totally contagious and psychedelic sound palette that taps into a parallel universe where Ariel Pink stole Daft Punk beats and stripped them down a bit to make the kind of swirling effortless sounding pop that's just pretty damn impossible to resist. The lush, skillful production gives these songs such a nice timeless feel, while it definitely is a record that speaks to this moment in time in its reflection and reassembling of pop's past, their sample of Todd Rudgren's "Izzat Love" in one of their songs is proof that Neon Indian mastermind Alan Palamo has a good understanding of the kind of pop production that pulls from varied sources to create such a satisfying, and unique sound. This one is proving to be one of our favorite fall jams of '09! Lots of other folks favorite too, and with good reason!
MPEG Stream: "Should Have Done Acid With You"
MPEG Stream: "Deadbeat Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Mind, Drips"
MPEG Stream: "Psychic Chasms"

T & K Mucho Swash (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
It's always an exciting day at aQ when a new Italians Do It Better 12" comes in as that label is really at top of its game, releasing some of the best and most suave sounding dance jams over the last few years (Glass Candy, Chromatics, Nite Jewel, Desire, Twisted Wires, etc.).
While most of the stuff they've put out has a very Moroder-esque disco vibe, it's awesome to hear something on a different side of the dance equation this time out. T & K is the collaboration between DJ Kaos and Tiago, who mine gold from the heyday of the Chicago house scene and prove that it wasn't just the early days of disco that had the ingredients for melty and sexy dancefloor grooves. The sounds of classic house from America make its way into the ears (and sound) of these two European producers who hail from Germany and Portugal, and who for sure add a nice touch of their own, that totally silky and seductive side of Euro dance music that really makes this an Italians Do It Better release, retaining the label's high standards of sexy soundmaking, yet offering a much needed different taking off point for reaching that state of smoke filled dance floor bliss. So good!

YOUNGS, RICHARD Under Stellar Stream (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98
We talk a lot about music that puts us in a spell, or drones that elevate us to some hypnotic state of mind, but what's much even more rare, is to achieve one of those states, while also tapping into something more personal and immediate and intimate and haunting. Richard Youngs is a sonic shamen, conjuring up musical rituals that never fail to entrance and ensorcell us, we've raved about so many of his records in the past and his newest outing is definitely another winner, and is striking such a deep chord with us. His use of vocal repetition transforms these songs into otherworldly mantras, that we find ourselves NEEDING to listen to on a daily basis. With hazy instrumentation and hypnotic loops as the musical bed, Under Stellar Stream sounds like a magical collaboration between Robert Wyatt and William Basinski, as Youngs manages to merge a deep emotional impact with shimmery, softly nuanced dreaminess.
Listening to Under Stellar Stream evokes the sensation of watching an incredibly intense and beautiful film. Understated and emotional piano fluttering delicately, the sound restrained, yet expansive, the last two tracks if stripped of the vocals would sound right at home on an Andrew Chalk record. While Youngs definitely has a large devoted following we really think folks who might not have heard his records, but love the more haunting side of folks like Bonnie Prince Billy and Smog, might find much to love in the mysterious sound world of Richard Youngs. So fitting that the day we got this it was pouring outside as these are sounds so perfect for grey skies and rainfall, just standing beneath the bruised sky letting the raindrops fall where they may. Totally moving and gorgeous!
MPEG Stream: "All Day Monday And Tuesday"
MPEG Stream: "The Bells Of Spring"
MPEG Stream: "Broke Up By Night"

V/A Can You Dig It? The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films (Soul Jazz) 2cd + book 23.00
Yes, we can dig it! Soul Jazz hits the jackpot once again with this completely amazing collection of songs from Blaxploitation films during the golden era of 1968-1975. There are a million reasons why this collection is so fucking great. But one critical way, in which this comp has become a defining collection of the sound and culture, is that most collections of Blaxploitation music up to this point only really focused on the camp and kitsch aspects of the movement, when really it was about so much more: true independence, total empowerment, bold political statements, reclamation of culture, off the hook fashion, and music with such real and deep soul, which provided the perfect soundtrack to these revolutionary films.
Can You Dig It? does a great job of mixing many amazing ultra obscure tracks some more well known jams, balancing the joy of discovery with the stone cold fact that no matter how many times you hear something from Curtis Mayfield's Superfly it always sounds so damn good. But of course this being Soul Jazz, they dig WAAAAAAY deeper, giving us truly stunning and burning tracks from the likes of Willie Hutch, Martha Reeves, Dennis Coffey, Solomon Burke & Gene Page, Don Julian, Johnny Pate, as well as tracks that somehow slipped under the radar from bigger name folks like James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes.
The sequencing and variety and richness in sound is so compelling and wonderfully varied. So often when this is playing for a while in the store people will ask "Is this still that comp?" and when we say yes they shake their heads in astonishment and usually have to get one right away. In fact right after the amazing Yo La Tengo instore performance last weekend, we put this on and all three members of the band at different times came up to us needing to know what it was and of course they bought one right away. Finally someone has done justice to the music of this movement and era, and our ears are in total heaven!
The double-cd version comes with an out-of-control informative and visually pleasing 100 page book as well as awesome postcards and stickers. The vinyl versions are split into two volumes and while it's awesome to have these songs on vinyl, the bummer is that the vinyl format doesn't come with the amazing 100 page booklet...
MPEG Stream: WILLIE HUTCH "Brother's Gonna Work It Out"
MPEG Stream: MARVIN GAYE "T Plays It Cool"
MPEG Stream: DENNIS COFFEY "Black Belt Jones"
MPEG Stream: JAMES BROWN "Make It Good To Yourself"
MPEG Stream: GORDEN STAPLES "Strung Out"
MPEG Stream: EDWIN STARR "Easin' In"

PYLON Chomp More (DFA) cd 14.98
Yes! Pylon's second and last record (with the original line-up) from 1983 has finally got the same expanded and remastered reissue treatment that their first record received from the hip folks at DFA. It's been a bittersweet couple of years for Pylon, emerging from years of relative obscurity, reuniting for a tour and seeing their records released once again to a legion of new fans, but sad because guitarist and founding member, Randall Bewley passed away suddenly this year. While never as popular as their Athens, GA contemporaries, R.E.M, and the B-52's, Pylon's post-punk influence has remained sturdy and can be heard in many bands from the Riot Grrl era to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Pylon's distinct guitar angularity, propulsive dance rhythms and lead singer, Vanessa Hay's seductive growl whipped audiences into a frenzy in the late seventies and early eighties and finally the original version of "Crazy" can be heard for the amazing spitfire track it is. R.E.M.'s more famous cover version just doesn't compete. Way Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Beep"
MPEG Stream: "Crazy"
MPEG Stream: "No Clocks"

FLAMING LIPS Embryonic (Warner Bros) cd 14.98
Okay, we love the Flaming Lips. We have for ages. We recently revisited In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Oh My Gawd!, Telepathic Surgery, and Hear It Is, and we were struck by just how awesome those records still sound, and how amazingly and brilliantly fucked up that band was, and basically still are. Every record, we were just waiting, dying to see what the band would do next, what kind of skewed pop brilliance they would cook up, or what sort of deafening noise weirdness they might smother perfect pop songs with. Live was even better. One of their early shows here, involved more Christmas lights than we had ever seen, then there was the whole Zaireeka unmixed 4cd set meant to be played simultaneously. Who would have thought that a band like that would achieve mainstream success. Who would headline Lollapalooza, Treasure Island, that they would be the kind of band your PARENTS WOULD LIKE. But they did, and we were cool with it. The Soft Bulletin was a genius record, and with the release of that record, they moved up and on. And everything they got they deserved and THEN SOME. But then a weird thing happened, they stopped experimenting so much. Sure they had strings, and unique production techniques, and live they had the big plastic ball and people in furry suits, but the records began to run together and sound the same. Still great, and by modern pop standards, plenty strange, but by FLAMING LIPS standards, they were getting closer and closer to becoming one of those bands that required the word 'old' when describing them as a band you dug. "Yeah, I was pretty into OLD Flaming Lips".
So we weren't all that hopeful about this new record, even when we heard rumblings of how weird it was, we figured it was just mainstream pop weird, not Flaming Lips weird. But whattayaknow? It is weird. FLAMING LIPS WEIRD! And wonderful, and twisted, still poppy and sort of catchy, but way more NOT. In some ways, it seems like commercial suicide. A band that popular, purposefully making a record, that most normal festival goers would NEVER blast in their SUV on the way to Whole Foods. But fuck it, if anyone can pull it off, and come out the other side smelling like roses, it's the Lips. Listening to Embryonic, it's exciting to think about these obtuse fractured jams blasting through the same PA as Kanye or Lady GaGa. And obtuse and fractured they are. Tripped out, druggy, psychedelic, rhythmic and layered. effects everywhere, sounds careening all over the stereo field, vocals distorted, guitars twisted and mangled, chiming and screaming and buzzing, the vocals more mantra like than ever. Sure it's not like the old OLD record, but hell c'mon, these guys are in their 40s and 50s, and their making some seriously challenging freaky avant space rock drone pop what-the-fuck.
But don't get us wrong, there's plenty of prettiness, lovely melodies, lilting vocals, warm whirring instrumentation, but it's surrounded on all sides, by strange samples, fuzzed out bass lines, warbly synths, long stretches of staticky drift, super distorted drums, wild psychedelic guitar freakouts, it's the kind of record, that will most likely deter plenty of casual listeners, but those who dig deep. let the sounds wash over them, who get lost with the band, in whatever fucked up mysterious world music like this exists in, well, then, those folks are the chosen ones, and will discover something magical, melodic and fucking genius.
MPEG Stream: "The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Aquarius Sabotage"
MPEG Stream: "Powerless"
MPEG Stream: "Worm Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Watching The Planets"

RAVEONETTES, THE In And Out Of Control (Vice) cd 14.98
Sometimes we joke that a review really could be one line and describe the music perfectly and succinctly. If we were to try that with the latest from The Raveonettes it would read: If you like great pop you will love this record! But of course, where's the fun in that?? We've definitely never been accused for being at a loss for words when it comes to records we love, so here comes some total gushing!
Last year The Raveonettes revealed a much more raw and fuzzy side to their sound making one of the best Jesus & Mary Chain influenced records in a sea of falling-way-short wannabes. Under all of the fuzz and distortion, it was still clear that The Raveonettes are first and foremost great songwriters who know how to create the kind of hooks and melodies that stay stuck in your head for ages. With In And Out Of Control, the fuzz and feedback have been dialed back, but those golden pop chops are flexed with even greater potency as they take their love of girl groups, and that true knack for conjuring timeless cool pop, creating their own special sound, with such ease and confidence, a sizzling sultry shimmery pop that we can't get enough of. It's kind of puzzling to us why this band hasn't gotten even more popular, cuz in our book The Raveonettes have definitely reached a total apex in creating some of the best modern pop we've heard in ages!
MPEG Stream: "Bang!"
MPEG Stream: "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)"
MPEG Stream: "Breaking Into Cars"

SANDOVAL, HOPE & THE WARM INVENTIONS Bavarian Fruit Bread (Nettwerk) cd 13.98
Last list out we made Hope Sandoval's first record in over eight years our Record Of The Week. That record was in fact the follow up to this, her first full length after the dissolution of Mazzy Star, who clearly were one of the most important and influential bands of the '90s. Sadly this record had been out of print for years, but with the release of her breathtaking new record, Bavarian Fruit Bread has finally been reissued and that's beyond good news, as this is pretty much the pinnacle for hazy, dazed out and dreamy songsmithery, a suite of sound that both lulls and caresses, transporting you to a place that is somewhere between the clouds, the fog and that half awake/half asleep hypnogogic state. In fact we know a few people who have had some really amazing/healing moments with this record during a period of infirmity and under heavy medication, the perfect soundtrack, as if it were designed to play over and over and give such hazy relief, a glorious sonic painkiller, musical codeine, the kind of record that takes you to a beautifully numb and comforting place. We also plenty of folks who cite this as their absolute go to 'make-out' record, which makes perfect sense, as every note is permeated by a smoky sensuality that truly is intoxicating. If you missed this the first time around we can't stress enough what a stunning and achingly beautiful record this is. An absolute must have!
MPEG Stream: "Suzanne"
MPEG Stream: "Feeling of Gaze"
MPEG Stream: "Butterfly Mornings"

AIR Love 2 (Astralwerks) cd 16.98
A few years ago when we saw Air play live we realized that these guys weren't just some studio creation, they are in fact totally a real live band! While they initially made their mark with Moon Safari, a record that became a sonic touchstone of the electronic music revolution of the '90s, over the ensuing decade plus, Air have continued to evolve, experiment and transform into incredible music makers, whose exquisitely varied tastes help push their sound way beyond 'electronica', a sound that manages to be lush and intoxicating, catchy and so damn satisfying.
With Love 2, Air continue to expand their sonic scope even further, introducing (or re-introducing) elements of prog, French pop, psych, soundtracks, library music, and even some slight hints of krautrock, all those disparate sounds seductively seeping into their music, their vintage gear infusing the sounds with a classic warmth and timeless vibe. They're like a modern day version of Franco Battiato or Lucio Battisti, the way they conjure up such rich and lush sounds that twist and turn deliciously. Or imagine a collaboration between Ennio Morricone and Serge Gainsbourg!!
Even folks who never though of themselves as big Air fans have been totally smitten by this record whenever we play it in the store.
MPEG Stream: "Tropical Disease"
MPEG Stream: "Sing Sang Sung"
MPEG Stream: "Do The Joy"

BUILT TO SPILL There Is No Enemy (Warner Bros.) cd 14.98
Built To Spill manage to pack more memorable guitar licks and irresistible melodies into a single song than most bands manage in their whole career. There Is No Enemy, the latest from these long time aQ faves, is overflowing with that amazing and instantly recognizable Built To Spill sound: twangy, swirly, expansive and super rocking. Doug Marstch's voice is the perfect foil for his amazing indie rock guitar heroics, as it drifts, soars, howls and emotes. BTS are really a band who have not made a single bad record, they are in it for the long haul and they bring a presence to each of their records that manages to make each new outing unique and special. It's kind of awesome that they have never let their music be used in films (as far as we know), as it seems like it would be kind of like cheating for a filmmaker since Built To Spill's songs have such a filmic quality all on their their own. They tap into the human experience in such an honest and nuanced way, always blurring the lines of emotions and perspectives. their songs are never just happy, or sad, or angry, but instead, are a combination of all those things, sounds and songs rife with memories, disappointments, dreams, regrets and hope. It's crazy to think how so many of us have really grown up with Doug Marstch, discovering him in pre-BTS juggernaut Treepeople, and enjoying the genesis of Built To Spill together, when some of us were just teenagers, and later continuing to listen and get so much from the music of BTS all these years later. Martsch really is like the Neil Young of our generation, there is always a phrase, an epic guitar moment, a moving sentiment, a moment of true emotional intensity that sinks deep into your subconscious, in pretty much every Built To Spill song.
There Is No Enemy only gets better, more complex and impactful as the album goes on. Some of the best songs are towards the end of the album, unlike so many other bands who cram their one or two great songs right in the front, and pack the rest with filler, Built To Spill continue to make a career out of crafting one great song after another. We've found ourselves listening to this from beginning to end on headphones as we go through our daily lives, moving from one destination to another, because as always Built To Spill really is the perfect soundtrack to our lives. And once again they've made a totally great record!
MPEG Stream: "Aisle 13"
MPEG Stream: "Things Fall Apart"
MPEG Stream: "Done"

GOSSIP Music For Men (Columbia) cd 10.98
We know that usually people want to keep their favorite bands a bit of a secret, always fearing what would happen if they exploded and became huge and mainstream. But when it comes to the Gossip we really do hope and wish they become HUGE like on the radio/MTV/blasted in malls/bedrooms of teenagers across the globe huge... because they are a band whose message, energy and spirit is so needed in this world. They are the sound of triumph, the relentless spirit of the underdog and outcasts. A reminder that gender roles and traditional views of beauty need to constantly be challenged and their songs have given so many the courage and inspiration to keep on going at the darkest of times. For their major label, Rick Rubin produced debut they have seriously gone for it, and we love the results! Picking up where their great last album Standing In The Way Of Control left off, but for sure adding more electronics, pop and dance elements to their already fiery and rocking sonic disposition.
There really isn't a more charismatic, powerful and soulful frontman or woman around who can top the Gossip's Beth Ditto for dynamic presence and a voice that speaks right to the soul. She is like some amazing amalgamation of Joan Jett, Dolly Parton, Peaches, Kathleen Hannah, Mama Cass, Madonna, Aretha Franklin Missy Elliott, Corin Tucker, and Big Mama Thorton. And while the Gossip are not quite yet the biggest band in the world they are a lot bigger then anyone would have expected back when their first record on Kill Rock Stars was released, after the band members escaped the extreme religious right and homophobic surrounding of their hometown in Arkansas and took the inspiration of the Riot Grrl scene and fled to Olympia, WA in hopes of a better life. It's impossible to quantify the number of people who have been moved and impacted by their music (including several current and past AQ employees). The charged, clean and immediate production on Music For Men suits them very well, as they have always been a band that is about songs that pack a punch and keep you coming back for more and more. How cool it is that instead of airbrushed typical icons (Brittany, Christina, Jessica, etc) kids can hear sounds and read interviews with a large and in charge, queer and proud woman who like all of us, has had her ups and down yet continues to always believe in herself and give hope to all those who hear her songs. An inspiring and potentially crossover record for a band whose presence in the world continues to fill us with powerful positive energy and an undying spirit!
MPEG Stream: "Dimestsore Diamond"
MPEG Stream: "Love Long Distance"
MPEG Stream: "8th Wonder"

GOSSIP Music For Men (Columbia) 2lp 23.00
We know that usually people want to keep their favorite bands a bit of a secret, always fearing what would happen if they exploded and became huge and mainstream. But when it comes to the Gossip we really do hope and wish they become HUGE like on the radio/MTV/blasted in malls/bedrooms of teenagers across the globe huge... because they are a band whose message, energy and spirit is so needed in this world. They are the sound of triumph, the relentless spirit of the underdog and outcasts. A reminder that gender roles and traditional views of beauty need to constantly be challenged and their songs have given so many the courage and inspiration to keep on going at the darkest of times. For their major label, Rick Rubin produced debut they have seriously gone for it, and we love the results! Picking up where their great last album Standing In The Way Of Control left off, but for sure adding more electronics, pop and dance elements to their already fiery and rocking sonic disposition.
There really isn't a more charismatic, powerful and soulful frontman or woman around who can top the Gossip's Beth Ditto for dynamic presence and a voice that speaks right to the soul. She is like some amazing amalgamation of Joan Jett, Dolly Parton, Peaches, Kathleen Hannah, Mama Cass, Madonna, Aretha Franklin Missy Elliott, Corin Tucker, and Big Mama Thorton. And while the Gossip are not quite yet the biggest band in the world they are a lot bigger then anyone would have expected back when their first record on Kill Rock Stars was released, after the band members escaped the extreme religious right and homophobic surrounding of their hometown in Arkansas and took the inspiration of the Riot Grrl scene and fled to Olympia, WA in hopes of a better life. It's impossible to quantify the number of people who have been moved and impacted by their music (including several current and past AQ employees). The charged, clean and immediate production on Music For Men suits them very well, as they have always been a band that is about songs that pack a punch and keep you coming back for more and more. How cool it is that instead of airbrushed typical icons (Brittany, Christina, Jessica, etc) kids can hear sounds and read interviews with a large and in charge, queer and proud woman who like all of us, has had her ups and down yet continues to always believe in herself and give hope to all those who hear her songs. An inspiring and potentially crossover record for a band whose presence in the world continues to fill us with powerful positive energy and an undying spirit!
MPEG Stream: "Dimestsore Diamond"
MPEG Stream: "Love Long Distance"
MPEG Stream: "8th Wonder"

NEW ORDER Power, Corruption and Lies (Rhino) lp 28.00
You know how every band today wants to sound like they're from 1983. Well this is what the best of 1983 really sounded like and it's a record that has stood the test of time with flying colors. In our humble opinion one of the best pop records of all time!

HIDDEN CAMERAS Origin: Orphans (Arts & Crafts) cd 14.98
Listed the vinyl last time, now the cds are back in, yay. We've been so excited for this one, because when it comes to smart, infectious records that you listen to over and over and memorize every lyric and melody, it doesn't get much better or more rewarding then the Hidden Cameras. Origin: Orphans finds the band with a new level of confidence and definitely displays shows the range they've developed from their trademark peppy and catchy anthem like zingers to more subdued and brooding mopers that unfold with a richness that gives the record a weight and gravitas that we've really been appreciating, borne of song writing and arrangements that are the most fully realized of their career. We're always reminded of John Cale's brilliant album Paris 1919 when we listen to the Hidden Cameras as they tap into the same kind of swirling and infectious melody, which manage to be both sophisticated and so damn pleasing. We also hear nice hints of Arthur Russell, Paul Simon (in a good way!), Magnetic Fields, and Robert Wyatt when he was a young buck back in the day. With all the success Grizzly Bear has received this year, we hope Hidden Cameras get some of that same recognition because they've crafted another of the best pop albums of the year!
MPEG Stream: "In The NA"
MPEG Stream: "Do I Belong?"
MPEG Stream: "The Little Bit"

MOON DUO Killing Time EP (Sacred Bones) 12" 14.98
This has been out of print for a while on vinyl, we just recently listed the cd version, and then suddenly voila, the vinyl is back in print, but for how long, nobody knows, which of course means if you still need the vinyl, grab one quick, while it lasts...
All right! Moon Duo returns with another hazed out transmission from some lost dimension (otherwise known as San Francisco), this one courtesy of the always cool Sacred Bones label. The duo (obviously) features Ripley Johnson from local heroes Wooden Shjips, and their sound is not too far removed from Ripley's main band, maybe a little more ethereal and not quite as overtly "rocking", but definitely following a similar path of hypnotic, fuzzy repetition that we can't get enough of.
Moon Duo are capable of creating powerful songs from very little and they obviously understand the power of simplicity. Each of the four songs on this ep utilize the same hypnotic drum machine groove, altered to various pitches and speeds to accommodate each individual song. The result is like a mechanical heartbeat, throbbing relentlessly with krauty precision, and almost serving as some sort of chain to link each of the songs together. The record begins with "Killing Time", which sounds a bit like a Joy Division part looped forever as the soft, distorted vocals lurk beneath melodic guitars and fuzzy background static. With its buzzing organ and controlled feedback, "Speed" rocks a bit like Suicide augmented by shrieking guitar pulses and, uh, harmonica? Maybe. The cool thing here is how sounds blend together in a cyclone of warm, pulsating analog goodness. At times you are unaware of what you're hearing, and even though it gets noisy and overblown, the results are always catchy and super melodic.
Side 2 begins with "Dead West", which has a cool underwater feel. The song fucks with your perception of time and place, as it could have been recorded 40 years ago or 40 years from now. Sonically, it is a bit reminiscent of fellow California space travelers Sun Araw with its percussive guitar strumming and shimmering psychedelic feel, as a little keyboard melody stands at the center of things while the rest of the sounds oscillate all over the place. "Ripples" gives off a Spacemen 3 vibe as the drumbeat is slowed significantly. The guitars have a nice bit of twang to them, and the sounds once again appear to get caught in some sort of musical whirlpool as they merge together before a cool fadeout.
Picking up where the last ep left off, Killing Time finds Moon Duo descending even deeper into a state of super rhythmic, dreamy psychedelia. Just the way we like it.

VILE, KURT Childish Prodigy (Matador) cd 13.98
Riding high on the success of a string of releases, Kurt Vile seems poised to break into the spotlight with his Matador debut, Childish Prodigy. It's hard to imagine that not happening, because this stuff is just so great, recalling at various times everyone from Neil Young to the Stooges to shoegazing giants like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. At the end of the day, however, you could say this sounds like, well, Kurt Vile! The guy masterfully breathes life into sounds others have done and overdone by emphasizing what you love about this kind of thing and avoiding the pitfalls of getting lumped into a specific genre. It's pretty rootsy stuff, but everything is strong enough to avoid being pigeonholed, and while certain elements could be categorized as "retro" or "lo-fi", we would prefer to call it "classic" or "timeless". Kurt Vile is clearly someone who understands the importance of production; instead of half assing things on a cassette 8-track, these songs are not only well written, but recorded with a great attention to detail, making them awesome for late night headphone listening. The sounds are hazy and swirling with the perfect amount of grit, and really Childish Prodigy sounds like it could have been recorded any time within the last 30 years or so. But guess what? It's 2009, and Kurt Vile has ARRIVED.
The album begins with a re-recorded version of "Hunchback", lifting elements from the song "Freeway" off Constant Hitmaker, with some slight chord changes. The song flows with a nice lazy groove, like the Stooges after a couple bongloads, adding some distorted vocals to compliment the perfectly dirty analog sound. Kurt's folkier side is demonstrated on the following track, "Dead Alive", with fingerpicked electric guitar and some badass vocals up in the forefront as a fuzzy analog hiss rides steady in the background. "Overnight Religion" is a nice surprise, with an incessant drum machine beat carrying the song forward for over 7 minutes as the instruments lock in perfectly. "Monkey" is a melodic, slow burning rocker that successfully merges upbeat psych pop with a sound that incorporates elements from folk and shoegaze. And yeah, the guitars sound killer. The album flows really well, and certain melodic themes appear and reappear in different songs, helping to tie everything together perfectly.
It's been a great year for Kurt Vile, and one can only imagine that things will get even better for him now. We can't wait to see where this guy heads next!
MPEG Stream: "Hunchback"
MPEG Stream: "Dead Alive"
MPEG Stream: "Overnite Religion"

HUNX & HIS PUNX Gay Singles (True Panther) lp 11.98
As hard as we tried, we were never able to get in all the 7" singles that Hunx & His Punx released on labels like Bachelor, Shattered House, True Panther and Bubbledum, since Hunx began recording with his Punx while his other band Gravy Train! was on an indefinite hiatus. So we were so psyched to find that True Panther was compiling all those 7"s on a single lp, and since they're are all pretty much already out of print, so this might be your only chance to get all those tracks. Appropriately titled Gay Singles, the cover features an eye popping close up of a zebra stripe jockey clad crotch.
Hot on the heels of a long tour he's just embarked on supporting Jay Reatard, we're so excited that Hunx & His Punx gets to spread his amazingly flamboyant and sexy spirit and pure garage pop and punk perfection to a wider audience. A total student/lover of all things popular culture, Seth Bogart (aka Hunx) has become such a master of infusing his songs with playful and seductive themes, crafting killer pop jams, displaying plenty of tongue in cheek lyrics and a whole lot of skin, yet this is not just some kind of joke rock, as there is a really great understanding of true pop music, girl group sound and power pop and Ramones style punk rock. So damn catchy and loaded with innuendo and sex appeal that's sure to create a party anywhere and anytime these punx perform (or even just get blasted on your boombox!). So damn fun!

NEW DAWN, THE There's A New Dawn (Jackpot) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sometimes the timing of certain 'lost classic' reissues is too perfect, giving us a glimpse of the seeds of sounds to come, a prequel to certain musical trends that are gaining so much momentum in the here and now. Such is the case with this great, lost, lonesome psych classic from the Pacific Northwest, which was originally released in 1970. We're not sure if he's heard it or not, as this has been a really tough one to track down until recently, but man do we hear plenty of Kurt Vile in these old recording! With a fuzzy and faded vibe, The New Dawn crafted breezy yet dirgy pop songs that sound like some awesome combination of Lee Hazlewood, The Sonics, Roy Orbison, George Brigman, The Byrds, and the Velvet Underground. We can't get enough of the warm organ, haunting vocals, hypnotic percussion, just all the right sonic elements that really do evoke some desolate street at night, wet from a recent downpour and the flickering reflection of the moon on the shimmery black of the slick asphalt. So mesmerizing and intoxicating, we're beyond stoked this album is getting its beyond deserved moment!
Besides the obvious influence on Kurt Vile we could see so many other current AQ favorites being super into these sounds...Beach House, Silver Pines, Broadcast, Thee Oh Sees (circa Sucks Blood), The Beets, The Soundcarriers, Gary War, Sic Alps, as well as folks from the '80s and '90s that we love like Rain Parade, The Telescopes, Beachwood Sparks, Dream Syndicate, etc. Forty years after it was originally released There's A New Dawn is still completely captivating!
MPEG Stream: "(There's A) New Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Hear Me Cryin'"
MPEG Stream: "We Need Each Other"

V/A The Roots Of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru (Barbes) cd 16.98
Last year we freaked out about an awesome reissue of Chicha jams by the legendary Peruvian group Juaneco Y Su Combo. So we were beyond thrilled to discover this collection featuring the best of the sounds of Chicha that came bursting out of Peru from the late '60s to the late '70s. Juaneco Y Su Combo are featured here of course, with a few tracks from that disc we love, but what's amazing is that lots of the other groups are just as good, if not even better, and that's saying a whole lot!
It's such an irresistible sound, infused with elements of Andean melodies, Cuban gujiras and plenty of surfy and psychedelic rock tinges. The songs here are filled with so much mood and spirit and will definitely appeal to such a wide range of music lovers, from those who dig weird and wonderful world music a la Sublime Frequencies, to those who dig the more classic psych pop sounds of the Nuggets compilations. These are songs that sizzle and crackle with so much flavor. We could also see rare groove folks getting super excited about some of these sounds and we wouldn't be surprised if samples of them made their way onto some Madlib record in the future.
This actually came out -before- that great Juaneco Su Combo disc so if you loved that one, you gotta make sure to grab this one too, so you can get turned on to other Chicha greats like Los Mirlos, Las Hijos Del Sol, and Los Destellos (who do a Beethoven track in amazing chicha fashion!).
It's always so awesome to blast this in the store, everyone starts tapping their feet and all frowns turn upside down as it's pretty near impossible to be dour or stoic while these songs are playing, and radiating so much colorful fun. So damn good!
MPEG Stream: LOS MIRLOS "Sonido Amazonico"
MPEG Stream: JUANECO Y SU COMBO "Vacilando con Ayahuesca"
MPEG Stream: LAS HIJAS DEL SOL "Linda Muñequita"

CAVE, NICK & WARREN ELLIS White Lunar (Mute) 2cd 16.98
When Nick Cave started playing piano full time on the Bad Seeds' records, a lot of people wondered at the softer direction Mr. Cave was headed. Though he has redeemed himself in the eyes of his more rocking fans with the Grinderman band (and with his increased skill at the keys), there is an eerie beauty to the almost entirely instrumental piano-and-violin tracks on White Lunar. This 2cd set contains music from numerous films, including The Proposition, The Road, and two rare documentaries scored by Mr. Cave and longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, violinist for the Bad Seeds and The Dirty Three. The melodies from these haunting tracks will stay with you, and even people who aren't fans of Nick Cave will appreciate them.
MPEG Stream: "What Must Be Done"
MPEG Stream: "Martha's Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Gun Thing"

SANDOVAL, HOPE & THE WARM INVENTIONS Through The Devil Softly (Nettwerk) cd 13.98
Before Cat Power, Beach House, Grouper, Edith Frost, Christina Carter, Valet, Marissa Nadler, Tara Jane O'Neil, El Perro Del Mar, Isobel Campbell, Brightblack Morning Light, etc.... there was Hope Sandoval.
Beginning with her work in seminal and influential slowcore dream pop legends Mazzy Star, Sandoval's trademark dazed and hazy vocals have inspired countless other bands and performers, her gorgeous languid purr and the dark swirling sounds surrounding it were no doubt an intoxicating influence, and as fantastic as so many of those Mazzy acolytes are, there is just something so magical, otherworldly and trance inducing about the original. After Mazzy Star called it quits, Sandoval released both an ep and a full length under her own name, that full length, Bavarian Fruit Bread, was easily as dreamy, seductive and enchanting as anything that Mazzy Star had ever created.
It's been over 8 years since that album came out and we've heard very little from the elusive and mysterious chanteuse (other than rumors of a proposed Codeine reunion, with Sandoval on vocals, how amazing would that have been!!). She lives right here in the Bay Area, and performs now and again, sometimes with like minded music makers, sometimes on her own, she even made an appearance a while back on Vetiver's great debut record. Now finally, almost a decade since her last proper record, we have this completely chilling and utterly beautiful record, that proves it was well worth the wait, the record at once immediate and intimate, but also with the feel of something meticulously crafted over many long dark nights.
Immaculate, lush, warm, melancholy, seductive, sensual, sexy, smoky... words only begin to scratch the surface when describing the intensity and emotion, the depth and and delicate beauty of Through The Devil Softly.
The music here is again, a perfect match for Sandoval's gorgeous vocals, dark and lush and seductive and hypnotic, which comes as no surprise since her band The Warm inventions is comprised of some incredible players, including her main musical coconspirator, Colin O Ciosoig of My Bloody Valentine, who co-wrote several of the songs as well as being the Inventions' drummer.
Through The Devil Softly is a record that even on first listen sounds timeless, and ageless, a record that will no doubt seep into your heart, and soul, and play on and on, a constant companion, a musical balm that will soothe and comfort, ease you when you are uneasy, wrap you in warmth as you dream the day away, and lift you into the air as millions of memories, thoughts and desires infuse your body and mind. Simply breathtaking!
MPEG Stream: "For The Rest Of Your Life"
MPEG Stream: "Fall Aside"
MPEG Stream: "Blanchard"
MPEG Stream: "Thinking Like That"

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Signal Morning (Cloud Recordings) cd 14.98
Holy shit! Some things are just worth the wait, even when the wait is almost an entire decade! It was over eight years ago that Will Cullen Hart put out a record as Circulatory System after the dissolution of his legendary Elephant Six flagship outfit Olivia Tremor Control. And ever since we've been waiting for more...
Signal Morning is a dazzling, fucked up pop record that ranks near the top of anything to come out of the great Elephant Six movement. With a bunch of E6 folks playing on the record including the ever elusive Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel fame drumming on some tracks. It's fuzzy, layered, crackling, and then bursting with such dynamic melodies and a triumphant spirit that's as warped as it is colorful and chaotic. It's easy to forget that Hart and the Elephant Six folks were doing fractured multilayered glorious pop way before Animal Collective were even a band.
Signal Morning is just such a charged and monumental sounding record, you can tell that Hart poured every ounce of himself into every single moment of the record. Kind of cool that this is coming out right around the same time all The Beatles reissues have been released as Hart was one of the folks to best realize how to take The Beatles sound into entirely new sonic realms, adding enough layers and undercurrents of weirdness to make something all his own out of that holy grail of pop. There is some serious fuzz and distortion going on amidst all the glorious pop music, in fact a customer who was in the store the first time we played this thought we were playing some great lost pop tinged This Heat record. Maybe (maybe) even better than Olivia Tremor Control's finest moment Dusk At Cubist Castle, and that's saying a hell of a lot! This one's gonna be a contender for record of the year, so damn great!
MPEG Stream: "Woodpecker Greeting Worker Ant"
MPEG Stream: "Blasting Through"
MPEG Stream: "Particle Parades"
MPEG Stream: "Rocks and Stones"

BASEMENT JAXX Scars (XL) cd 15.98
When it comes to modern day dance music it just doesn't get a whole lot more colorful, joyful and F.U.N. then the Basement Jaxx. What's always set them apart from so many of their peers is that while most good dance minded outfits tend to rely so heavily on retro influences, Basement Jazz, who for sure have absorbed the best in dance music of the last few decades from disco to house, electro and hip-hop, instead take those sounds and warp and personalize and modernize, creating their own distinct vision and sound. Scars is ranking right next to Rooty, one of our other favorite Basement Jazz jams, so full of such infectious songs that not only totally make you shake it, but they also have a really nice wide range of emotions and an incredibly lush sonic palette, with guest vocalists like Yoko Ono, Sam Sparro, Santogold, Kelis, Yo Majesty, etc. bringing their own distinct flavor to the mix. Scars is the kind of record that will get you moving AND get stuck in your head, we've already listened to it so many times and it's holding up so well on repeated listens. Who knows when Daft Punk will ever release a new album, but until then, the other major titan in modern dance brilliance will keep our bootys shaking!
MPEG Stream: "Raindrops"
MPEG Stream: "Feelings Gone"
MPEG Stream: "Day Of The Sunflowers (We March On) featuring Yoko Ono"

V/A Psych Funk 101: A Global Psychedelic Funk Curriculum (World Psychedelic Funk Classics) cd 16.98
Looking at the cover of this comp, what catches our eye? Well, of course the words PSYCH and FUNK in big electric pink letters. Pretty much had us right there, we're easy like that. But then the fine print on the sticker on the front adds an extra tingle of excitement: "None of these tracks have ever been reissued"! So what we have here is a survey course on some obscure shit, an international collection of freaky, fuzzy, funky jams from the golden years, circa 1968-1975 or so, mostly from groups we'd never heard of before. The ones did know were a good sign, being super groovy and decidedly eccentric. (Though we do have to point out that at least a few of the cuts here actually have been reissued before, that's how we knew 'em!). Here's the lineup: Hunsu Ozkartal Orkestrasi (Turkey), Kukumbas (Nigeria), Mulatu Astatke feat. Belaynesh Wubante and Assegedetch Asfaw (Ethiopia), Kim Sun (South Korea), Petalouda (Greece), Mehr Pooya (Iran), Staff Carpenborg and The Electric Corona (West Germany), The Group (Italy), Armando Sciascia (Italy), Wadih Essafi (Lebanon), Omar Khorshid (Egypt), Metin H. Alatli (Turkey), George Garanian with The Melodiya Jazz Ensemble (Russia), and Eskaton (France). 14 tracks in all, all of 'em b to the a to the d to the ass. Get ready for plenty of percolating percussion, infectious bass lines, analog synth buzz, chicken scratch guitar, greasy organ, drugged out FX, and in many cases Middle Eastern or African or other 'exotic' ethnic elements as appropriate to their nation of origin. Highlights are almost impossible to pick. All the African stuff is killer (Ethiopiques fans take note), so are the Turkish tracks (you want weird? check out how the Metin H. Alatli cut somehow segues from Richard Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith music to stoned cocktail bellydance improv!!), so is everything else. We dig how eerieness and jazziness are combined on "The Feed-back" by The Group (aka Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, featuring Ennio Morricone), and also Armando Sciascia's suspenseful "Circuito Chiuso" is pretty eerie too. Both are from Italy, where it seems that it's hard NOT to sound like you're scoring a phantasmagoric horror flick a la Goblin. Also, we love love love the grandiose extended electro-funk from Magmoid progsters Eskaton that closes out the disc. But why keep writing about this, you know you need it - unless your record collection already includes all these rarities, and there's no way it does.
Lovingly compiled with the help of DJs like Cut Chemist and Stone's Throw's Egon, Psych Funk 101 is truly a lesson in, well, a variety of awesome vintage funkiness, in the tradition of other cool comps like Prog Is Not A Four Letter Word, Obsession, Trap Door, and the Afro-centric Love's A Real Thing. Housed in a handsome digipack, it boasts a thick, 36 page booklet featuring a two-page spread on each track, with full color repro of the original LP or 45 sleeve from whence the cut originated, along with a page of text giving more info than you'd expect.
FYI this also came out on vinyl, but was gone so fast, we don't have any to list. However, we are told it is being repressed, soon we hope...
MPEG Stream: PETALOUDA "What You Can Do In Your Life"
MPEG Stream: OMAR KHORSHID "Rakset El Fadaa"
MPEG Stream: ESKATON "Dagon"

OM God Is Good (Drag City) cd 14.98
Here it is, the first post-Chris Hakius Om studio record. And there sure has been a lot of whining. "How could Al Cisneros continue when half the group (Om being a duo) left?" "The new guy doesn't hit as hard," "It's on Drag City," blah blah blah. Fuck all that. If people cannot understand that music should be about progression and taking new risks, then they should stick to the old records and leave it at that. That said, there will be no mistaking this for anyone other than Om. The template hasn't changed drastically, but new drummer Emil Amos (who also pounds the skins for Grails and has a kick ass project of his own, Holy Sons) has certainly brought something new and fresh to the table. His drumming is more meditative, less pounding than Hakius' style and at times a little, ahem, "jazzy", and it honestly suits the direction Om had been heading in perfectly. And when the band does kick into its trademark fuzzed out monolithic jams, the changes come off as more dynamic and drastic. So, if you loved what Om has done before, chances are God Is Good will not disappoint.
The album kicks off with "Thebes," a 19 minute monster that begins life as a subdued sitar drone. The band jams it out for a while with clean bass and focused drumming, and of course, Al's amazing and totally out there stoner lyrics, before switching gears into the musical theme they have been exploring since, uh, Variations On A Theme. The best part is how it recalls the foundation from which Om was born while still showing the progression they have made since Amos' arrival. And it's fucking perfect. With Steve Albini once again at the recording console, you can safely bet that it sounds incredible, spacious yet controlled, with every nuance of Om's minimal but super amplified approach coming out nice and clear. Following an epic fadeout comes the second song, "Meditation Is The Practice Of Death", which i