JUNIOR PANTHERS s/t (Get Lost) cd 14.98
Sweet, sunny pop has the power to brighten a day! Those jangle'n'crunch guitars. Those mellow, uplifting vocal harmonies. Listening to this album sure stirred flashes of familiarity. While the Junior Panthers certainly brings to mind the beloved power pop beauty of Big Star or their disciples Velvet Crush, Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, there was something else that rang even closer to home. It wasn't until the thirteenth song began that I knew for certain that I'd heard this band (or some other incarnation of them) before. The song in question is "Defy Your Radio" (there's two versions of it, the second radio edit version doesn't appear numerically on the cd player counter, but rest assured it's there) and you may recall our enthusiastic review of it when it appeared on SF band The Damsels' debut release a little over a year ago. Yes, that band has transformed into the Junior Panthers. That song was a stand-out on that cdep, and it's definitely a highlight here as well. As for the rest of the album, there's eleven more songs filled with energetic pop smarts. A solid 'debut'!
RealAudio clip: "Defy Your Radio"
RealAudio clip: "California"

JUNIOR PANTHERS Sirens (self-released) cd 14.98
Sirens is a new limited edition cd from this fine Bay Area foursome! Our first encounter with Junior Panthers was back in 2002... no, not really all that long ago! Their band name was fitting, collegiate and energetic. Their self-titled debut album was a bright sunbeam of buoyant pop. The next we heard from them was their Derelicts cdep in 2006, and it seemed they were still destined for jangly indie pop darling status. Now just two years later, they're a whole 'nother band... still very good, but very different. Think: a lot less bounce, and more beefed up rock. Ultra drenched in reverby guitar effects, Sirens is far more shoegazerly and spacily psychedelic than past recordings seemingly inspired by equal parts My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Jesus & Mary Chain, Swervedriver and Polvo. Cool.
MPEG Stream: "Another Side"
MPEG Stream: "Solar Attraction"

JUNIOR PANTHERS. THE Derelicts (Get Lost) cd 7.98
It's been a very very long time, but the Bay Area's Junior Panthers have resurfaced with a new ep! With a new lineup, they've picked right up where they left off, dishing out their delicious indie pop nuggets. They stick with the basics, crunchy guitars, dreamy boy vocals and infectious hooks galore. What more could you ask for? Well, except for it to have been released during the summer months because it's ideal driving to the beach music. Hmmm, I guess it can just as easily warm and brighten an autumn or winter day now, can't it? Yes, indeedie!
MPEG Stream: "Pills"
MPEG Stream: "Paranormal"

JUNIOR SENIOR Hey Hey My My Yo Yo (Ryko) 2cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Simple Minds Do Simple Things"

JUNIP Fields (Mute) cd 14.98
We've always been big fans of Jose Gonzalez's soft touch sensual guitar playing and breezy songwriting, but with the latest from his full band Junip we think we've been hit with the most impacting and satisfying album he's created yet. The record is brimming with an immediacy that matches the intimacy that Gonzalez always excels in bringing to his songs. But with Junip, there is much more of a driving vibe and a wider range of sound that makes for such a satisfying listening experience. We hear nice touches of Arthur Russell-like innerworld melodies and nuanced delicate and unique elements within each song that remind us of the first couple Pinback records. There are even some awesome and tasteful hints of prog-pop that we've been digging so much. This has everything you want in a really smart and emotional pop record, the playing is impeccable and draws you in from the get-go, and Gonzalez's warm and woozy voice becomes the icing on the cake, total seduction! Fans of The Sea & Cake, Pinback, Kings Of Convenience, Elliott Smith, Iron & Wine, Arthur Russell, American Analog Set, make sure not to sleep on this, as this is becoming a major contender for one of our favorite records of the year!
MPEG Stream: "In Every Direction"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet & Bitter"
MPEG Stream: "Tide"

JUNIP Fields (Mute) lp 24.00
We've always been big fans of Jose Gonzalez's soft touch sensual guitar playing and breezy songwriting, but with the latest from his full band Junip we think we've been hit with the most impacting and satisfying album he's created yet. The record is brimming with an immediacy that matches the intimacy that Gonzalez always excels in bringing to his songs. But with Junip, there is much more of a driving vibe and a wider range of sound that makes for such a satisfying listening experience. We hear nice touches of Arthur Russell-like innerworld melodies and nuanced delicate and unique elements within each song that remind us of the first couple Pinback records. There are even some awesome and tasteful hints of prog-pop that we've been digging so much. This has everything you want in a really smart and emotional pop record, the playing is impeccable and draws you in from the get-go, and Gonzalez's warm and woozy voice becomes the icing on the cake, total seduction! Fans of The Sea & Cake, Pinback, Kings Of Convenience, Elliott Smith, Iron & Wine, Arthur Russell, American Analog Set, make sure not to sleep on this, as this is becoming a major contender for one of our favorite records of the year!
MPEG Stream: "In Every Direction"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet & Bitter"
MPEG Stream: "Tide"

JUNIPER TAR To The Trees (The Bus Stop) cd 11.98

JUNIUS Reports From The Threshold Of Death (Prosthetic) cd 14.98
We first heard Boston post metal heavies on a recent split with fellow post metallers Rosetta, and were surprised by just how UNmetal these guys were, they're still heavy, but more like Katatonia or 'Radiohead' era Cave In, bombastic and epic, majestic and yeah, heavy, but clean vocals, soaring and dramatic (right down to some hazy dreamy female backup vox), the songs proggy and sprawling, unfurling brooding dramatic slow build verses, that build to massive crushing choruses, but never getting fully metal, instead blossoming into some sort of epic doom pop, the sound is a bit mathy too, and weirdly enough, some of the tracks remind us of Three Mile Pilot, albeit a much more metallic version, but the phrasing and hypnotic rhythms definitely draw from the same sonic well. As we mentioned in the review of that split with Rosetta, we can definitely see that this stuff might be too poppy and wimpy for a lot of metalheads, in fact, these guys opened up for some metal show here recently, and were definitely not appreciated, but hell, get these guys on a tour with Katatonia or Opeth or Lifelover, and people would be losing their mind. And really, this stuff could and should be all over the radio, the songs are that good, the production massive, the sound incredible, just like Cave In, if there were any justice in the world, these guys would be huge. And honestly, we weren't totally sold on these guys, but after a handful of listens, we find ourselves a little bit obsessed, playing this record like crazy. So, recommended if you like your metal tempered with plenty of poppiness, or alternately if you can handle your pop music on the seriously heavy side. A new favorite for sure.
MPEG Stream: "Betray The Grave"
MPEG Stream: "All Shall Float"
MPEG Stream: "Dance On Blood"

JUNIUS + ROSETTA s/t (Translation Loss) cd 10.98
We've long been fans of progressive post metal combo Rosetta, every record is a super ambitious sprawling multi-part epic, that manages to do MORE than just cram a million parts into a twenty minute song. They are as adept at meaningful song construction as they are at shredding, and they manage to make their metal art crazy catchy to boot. Which is true here too, their half of this split cdep is a single ten minute track, but it's fantastic, opening with a long stretch of chiming guitars and muscly drumming, definitely post rock, then the bellowed vox come in, and the song begins to metallize, but they haven't really gotten into it yet, cuz a minute or so later, the song proper kicks in, and the already epic jam gets that much more epic and heavy and loud, the band unwinding a thick tangled chunk of psyche metal crush, slipping from mathy post rock to churning downtuned sludge and back again, before shedding the heavy and unfurling a moody, shuffling, shimmering post rock interlude, with chiming guitars and some killer intricate drumming, a slow build smolder as the band builds their way back up, eventually erupting into a wild proggy mathy freakout, some killer guitar playing intricate and a little bit shreddy over what is almost a continuous drum solo, the sound getting more and more blissy and blown out, until the final minute or two, a seriously dense and heavy as fuck stop/start chug fest, with more insane drumming. Holy shit do these guys slay. When we haven't listened to them for a while we tend to forget how incredible their records are. But we just listened to this one song about 4 times in a row.
Never heard Junius before, but these Boston heavies definitely have their own take on the whole post metal thing, their take being a way more melodic one, with the vocalist front and center, his voice soaring and clear, which gives the music, no matter how heavy the sounds in the background, a much more commercial feel, definitely reminding us of Cave In during their Radiohead period, which is not a bad thing at all, in fact, after hundreds of records of screeching and howling and yowling and grunting, it's kind of excellent to hear seriously heavy music paired with real vocals. And while much of the music here is heavy, the band do stretch out into a sort of progged out shoegazey metallic pop, the sound epic and emotional, perhaps a bit to wimpy for a certain segment of metalheads, but we're digging it a lot, and this one song definitely has us wanting to hear more.
Killer packaging too, a nice digipak, but with one of those 3" cds within a 5" cd, so the outer ring is clear plastic, with the printing on the top, done so that when you look at the underside of the disc, there's readable text underneath the disc art. So cool. Also includes a download coupon for extra exclusive songs!
MPEG Stream: JUNIUS "A Day Dark With Night"
MPEG Stream: ROSETTA "TMA-3"

JUNK GENIUS Junk Genius (Knitting Factory Works) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ex-Bay-Areans and/or veterans of Zorn's West Coast Masada quartet -- Ben Goldberg, Kenny Wollesen and John Schott -- plus Mr. Bungle's Trevor Dunn on bass.

JUNO OST (Rhino) cd 14.98
Haven't seen the movie yet, but we think Juno's soundtrack cd is like a really good mixtape from your closest pal! A variety of old and new faves that pushes all the right nostalgia buttons. It includes Mott The Hoople's "All The Young Dudes", Belle & Sebastian's "Expectations" and "Piazza, New York Catcher", The Kinks' "A Well Respected Man", Buddy Holly's Dearest", Velvet Underground's "Sticking With You", Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You", Cat Power covering the 1959 tune "Sea Of Love" (previously covered by The Honeydrippers), Sonic Youth doing The Carpenters' "Superstar", and a bunch by former Moldy Peach Kimya Dawson... who must be pretty stoked that the star of the film suggested that her character would be a fan, thus leading to Dawson's inclusion on this soundtrack and a big boost to her career.
MPEG Stream: MOLDY PEACHES "Anyone Else But You"
MPEG Stream: VELVET UNDERGROUND "Sticking With You"

JUNO & DISMEMBERMENT PLAN s/t (DeSoto) split cd ep 5.98
Two songs apiece from angular artrock punk bands Juno and Dismemberment Plan. Dismemberment Plan covers Jennifer Paige's "Crush," but the real gem on this EP is Juno's version of the DJ Shadow track "High Noon." How cool is it for a rock band (with relatively traditional instrumentation) to cover a song that is basically a turntablist collage of found sounds from super disparate sources? It is very cool.
RealAudio clip: "High Noon"
RealAudio clip: "The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich"

JUNZO, SUZUKI Pieces For Hidden Circles (Utech) cd 16.98

JUPITER SUNSET Back In The Sun (Magic Records) cd 15.98

JUPPALA KAAPIO Animalia Corolla (Omnimemento) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Faux-Finnish, droning freak-folk from a Japanese sound artist and a Swiss chanteuse!
Juppala Kaapio is comprised of Hitoshi & Carole Kojo, whose lysergically bright-eyed concoctions draw from plenty of arcane and archaic folkloric traditions, and emerge as a beguiling, playful form of abstracted psychedelia. We've mentioned before that the name of the project is in fact Finnish, translating as Juppala Dwarf. What, who, or where Juppala is, we don't really know; but the aesthetic which the couple evoke is definitely akin to those adventurous Finns responsible for Kemialliset Ystavat, Avarus, Islaja, and Kuupuu. Bells, flutes, hand percussion, cheap synths, violins, melodicas, vocal chants, and whatnot all go into the buzzing, wheezing thickets of sound that make up Juppala Kaapio's Animalia Corolla. With all of these instruments, the two create dense layerings of glistening textures and radiant drones that slip and slide around quite a bit, but always seem grounded in a fundamental harmonic tone that the two have plucked from the celestial spheres above. It's easy to situate these not only near those Finns, but also Taj Mahal Travellers at their most celebratory, LaMonte Young at his trippiest, and Fursaxa at her most narcotized. Really beautiful transcendent, modern-day ritualism!
We have here the art edition of Animalia Corolla, packaged in a neatly stitched felt sleeve and a screen-printed o-card to house the cd itself. This version is in an edition of ONLY 88 copies. We'll probably not be able to restock this, but we should have the regular version shortly.
MPEG Stream: "Moosfluh"
MPEG Stream: "Saturatus"

JUPPALA KAAPIO Rainbow Mask (Omnimemento) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A swarmingly beautiful, miasmic piece of psychedelic drone folk! Juppala Kaaplo is the husband & wife duo of Carole and Hitoshi Kojo, the latter of whom had released a number of spectacular drone-smear constructions under the moniker Spiracle. Minimalism is certainly a key component to the Juppala Kaaplo sound, but it's the kaleidoscopic trills that you'll get from Terry Riley rather than the steely suspension from Organum or Phill Niblock. Certainly, Spiracle's last affair - the daydreaming ambient record Ananta - was a much friendlier form of minimalism, but we were still not entirely expecting the shimmering, prism-shot psychedelia of this album. A hypnotizing mass immediately emerges from the lp with lengthy repetitions of Carole's vocal that is equal parts Liz Harris and Tara Burke, haunting the forest-dwelling drones from various bowed instruments that Hitoshi stacks into sinewy passages. Throughout, long breathy gasps of aerated noises push to the foreground alongside a revolving set of church organ trills and arpeggiations that faithfully play homage to Terry Riley's classic Rainbow In Curved Air. The second side is a slightly more somber affair with violin and piano gliding out of an aggregate drone from those two instruments. Like the A-side, it's a wonderful bliss-out number albeit sodden from a rainy night out in the Finnish wilderness. Limited to 450 copies and highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Mask"
MPEG Stream: "Masked Rainbow"

JUPPALA KAAPIO Sporing Promenade (Omnimemento) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Juppala Kaapio is a project with a Finnish name and Finnish credentials, but not a Finn amongst the lot. The parties responsible are the husband and wife duo of Carole and Hitoshi Kojo (the former Swiss and the latter Japanese by birth), but Hitoshi in particular has spent a fair amount of time in the Finnish hinterlands, and had made an appearance on the recent Kemialliset Ystavat album Ullakopalo. That said, Hitoshi has a small but impressive catalog of material recorded over the past decade under the moniker Spiracle. There, thick masses of texture piled on top of each other, creating thick drones with ghostly melodies flickering about, much like the archaic sounding recordings of Organum and the more compacted albums of Andrew Chalk. All of this culminated in the 2cd Ananta opus released back in 2009, and Hitoshi shifting his focus to the collaborative project Juppala Kaapio, whose name translates vaguely as the Juppala Dwarf. The two hint at the thickening drones of Spiracle, focusing more on a clattering, psychedelic ritualism that is more in keeping with all things Fonal - spluttering acoustic guitars, toy synths, Tony Conrad inspired viola drone, hand percussive tappings, prolonged flute tones, lots of bells, found forest objects, and vocalized mantras as if the personal soundtrack to a private ritual for wandering spirits who found themselves in a moss-covered cabin somewhere in the northern reaches of Finland basking in the midnight sun of an endless Arctic summer. Playful, fantastical, haunting, and thoroughly tripped out, Juppala Kaapio is highly recommended to any one keen on Jewelled Antler, Fursaxa, Taj-Mahal Travellers, Parson Sound, the freakiest end of the freak-folk spectrum, and of course the aforementioned Kemialliset Ystavat.
MPEG Stream: "Meganze Zaru"
MPEG Stream: "Souffle"
MPEG Stream: "Lamellations"
MPEG Stream: "Lunastus"

JURADO, DAMIEN And Now That I Am In Your Shadow (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98
Last year Mr. Jurado presented his full band melancholic splendor on On My Way To Absence. This year for his seventh full length he takes a different, more stripped down but no less evocative approach. For much of the album it's simply his overcast voice and his guitar which drift in and out of fog-like, heavy atmospheric drones. Every so often there'll be a glint of piano. Man, no one does desolation like Damien Jurado! Totally haunting and heartbreaking from start to finish (don't miss the last track "Montessano").
MPEG Stream: "Gas Station"
MPEG Stream: "Montessano"

JURADO, DAMIEN Ghost Of David (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
Damien Jurado has long labored a little to the left of the spotlight, quietly writing excruciatingly personal songs that are delivered with a poignant intensity few have matched. Think Springsteen's "Nebraska" -- yup, that's how good Jurado is. For example, the first song here, "Medication", is so heartrendingly sad yet so perfectly delivered that upon first listen both Andee and Windy burst into tears and had to go into Aquarius' back office to recover. Well... not really, but we were crying *inside*. Dusty songs, sunbaked by the side of the road or in the shade of a motel carport. So pretty.
RealAudio clip: "Medication"

JURADO, DAMIEN Just In Time For Something (Secretly Canadian) cd ep 9.98
Just a man and his guitar. This is a 5-song cdep of lo-fi live recordings of Damien Jurado. The liner notes specify that the tracks were recorded on salvaged 1/4" tape, but don't let the poor sound quality dissuade you. Mr. Jurado's quality songwriting shines through the muffled-ness. Super hushed and heartfelt.
MPEG Stream: "Motion Sickness"
MPEG Stream: "Engine Fire "

JURADO, DAMIEN On My Way To Absence (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98
Wonderful! Damien Jurado works his magic once again. Although make no bones about it, Jurado is wholly his own man, on this album, both his songs and his performances bring to mind other top notch singer/songwriters past and present. Perhaps an indication of a broadening of his scope, the fourth song "Lion Tamer" is strongly reminiscent of Lou Barlow's slouchy introspection, while later in the album "Northbound" captures the brittle lilt and beauty of Nick Drake, and the very next one titled "Icicle" bristles with the sullen angst of Interpol. On the closer "A Jealous Heart Is A Heavy Heart" Jurado almost out-Palaces Will Oldham. So, what is the common thread that ties all of these artists together? The ability to absolutely nail the breadth of a man's despairing emotions from the precarious and fragile to the near-suffocating and burdensome. A lush, gorgeous downer.
MPEG Stream: "Northbound"
MPEG Stream: "Icicle"

JURADO, DAMIEN On My Way To Absence (Secretly Canadian) lp 13.98
Also on vinyl... Wonderful! Damien Jurado works his magic once again. Although make no bones about it, Jurado is wholly his own man, on this album, both his songs and his performances bring to mind other top notch singer/songwriters past and present. Perhaps an indication of a broadening of his scope, the fourth song "Lion Tamer" is strongly reminiscent of Lou Barlow's slouchy introspection, while later in the album "Northbound" captures the brittle lilt and beauty of Nick Drake, and the very next one titled "Icicle" bristles with the sullen angst of Interpol. On the closer "A Jealous Heart Is A Heavy Heart" Jurado almost out-Palaces Will Oldham. So, what is the common thread that ties all of these artists together? The ability to absolutely nail the breadth of a man's despairing emotions from the precarious and fragile to the near-suffocating and burdensome. A lush, gorgeous downer.
MPEG Stream: "Northbound"
MPEG Stream: "Icicle"

JURADO, DAMIEN Postcards And Audio Letters (TNI) cd 13.98
Singer songwriter Damien Jurado is also apparently an avid scourer of thrift stores for audio curiosities. This CD contains audio cassette letters to family members and loved ones as well as an answering machine reocording of a couple's harrowing conversations concerning their breakup, their child and the police. In one instance, a man confesses his intense and longing love for a woman - him: "I just realized why I haven't been able to sleep at night, it's because I miss you so much." Her: "...that's nice." Brutal. A must for fans of Lucas And Friends, One of One and other found tape oddities. Comes with five handsomely printed postcards.

JURADO, DAMIEN Rehearsals for Departure (Sub Pop) cd 10.98
The first song on this album is instantly 'classic' singer songwriter stuff, so lovely that we were knocked over with surprise. Damien Jurado's beautiful second album is a dark and dreamy folk record with pop sensibilities, as opposed to his first record which was basically a pop record, his delicate warm voice perfectly complementing the sparse simple arrangements. Definitely for fans of Nick Drake, Dylan, Nanci Griffith, etc. One of Windy's current favorites.

JURADO, DAMIEN Where Shall You Take Me? (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98
I've always compared the amazing Damien Jurado with Red House Painters because he shares the same sadcore, downtrodden, introspective style and quiet certitude. But upon listening to his new album it strikes me that comparisons to Cat Power might also be in order here, as his voice reminds me of Chan Marshall's in its huskiness, a sort of restrained moan. And his unhurried, lots-going-on-but-you-cant-hear-it songwriting and delivery style are also similar to Ms Marshall. This album is so pretty and clear and sad that every time we play it instore, someone or two, or three, buys it. Give it a listen!
MPEG Stream: "Bad Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Amateur Night"

JURADO, DAMIEN AND GATHERED IN SONG I Break Chairs (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
Man, does this guy never disappoint? Damien Jurado has released three solo albums of sad, downtrodden rock songs delivered often on acoustic guitar, his plaintive voice throaty and intense. I've compared those solo albums to Springsteen's Nebraska before, both in earnestness and quality. Now, get ready for a bigger sound -- the rockin' Damien Jurado -- 'cos on this album he's got a four piece band and they're quite good! The slight twang and drivin'-down-the-highway energy to it reminds me *a lot* of Uncle Tupelo (y'know, the "alternative country" band that spawned Son Volt and Wilco). Yep, it's that epic and lovely and down to earth. There is a fair share of Jurado's quiet introspective stuff, but the real surprise and pleasure here is the rock.
RealAudio clip: "Paperwings"
RealAudio clip: "Neverending"

JURASSIC 5 Feedback (Interscope) cd 13.98
Jurassic 5 have cut a nice niche for themselves over the last decade or so for being a reliable source of feel good school yard sounding old skool hat tipping hip-hop. While they still haven't outdone their great debut 12" they've managed to put out some pretty good records each time out. Along with like-minded friends like Blackalicious Jurassic 5 helped launch an alternative to the gangsta-rap that so dominated most of mainstream rap in the mid-late 90's. Feedback finds J-5 doing what they've been doing (they aren't ones for big reinvention) over the years. PARTY!
MPEG Stream: "In The House"
MPEG Stream: "Where We At"

JURASSIC 5 Power In Numbers (Interscope) 2cd 17.98
Highly anticipated new album from SoCal's powerful hip hop crew -- Akil, Chali 2na, Zaakir(Soup), Marc 7, DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist, with guests Nelly Furtado, Kool Keith, and more -- who've grooved SF's Future Primitive Soundsessions many times, and man, are they good live. Righteousness is the name of J5's game, with uplifting verses and a general good time, standing-on-the-corner-rhyming-in-turn vibe. Same smooth groove, nothing hard about 'em. Super clearly enunciated vocals (almost disconcertingly so), FLUTE!, some rather predictable space-the-final-frontier style movie samples, head-knodding hooks. Not challenging in terms of instrumental complexity, nor adventurously creepy -- but they're not trying for that anyway. When Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark cut loose without the vocalists, they come up with a track like "Acetate Prophets", which incorporates motor sounds, scratching, Asian-sounding percussion, jazz guitar -- so good but it's a pity the track is left til last!
The second disc is for your computer or DVD player, and contains live performance footage, but the best material is of Chali 2na visiting his grandma for breakfast, or Cut Chemist showing off his word-for-word reenactment of a segment of Star Wars Episode 1, showing off his Star Wars action figures, and some incredible footage of Nu-Mark tapping out all sorts of percussive goodness on drumpads and the backstage food containers. Must be seen to be believed.
RealAudio clip: "If You Only Knew"
RealAudio clip: "High Fidelity"

JURASSIC 5 Quality Control (Interscope) cd 15.98
Los Angeles' best-loved old school singalong hip hop outfit breaks out with a new album on a major label. (let's hope they get paid, not screwed, what with the major label deal and the crazy low price) Jurassic 5 blend righteous, funny rhymes with Cut Chemist's bright turntablist tricks. Not heavy, not gangsta, not fronting... these are down home guys keeping a positive outlook for the future. You've seen them play the Future Primitive Soundsession shows so many times, now here's your chance to hear them while taking a shower or something.

JURASSIC 5 Quality Control (Interscope) 2lp 13.98
Los Angeles' best-loved old school singalong hip hop outfit breaks out with a new album on a major label. (let's hope they get paid, not screwed, what with the major label deal and the crazy low price) Jurassic 5 blend righteous, funny rhymes with Cut Chemist's bright turntablist tricks. Not heavy, not gangsta, not fronting... these are down home guys keeping a positive outlook for the future. You've seen them play the Future Primitive Soundsession shows so many times, now here's your chance to hear them while taking a shower or something.

JURASSIC 5 W.O.E. Is Me (Interscope) 12" 5.98
Two new songs plus various acapella and instrumental versions. Jurassic 5 signs themselves over to major labels and what do those creative boys do? They make music about it -- the WOE in the title stands for World Of Entertainment. Same sunny, vocals-led, sing-along hip hop that they've perfected.

JURGENSEN, FRIEDRICH From The Studio For Audioscopic Research (Ash International (R.I.P.)) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Friedrich Jurgensen's efforts in what he deemed Audioscopic Research is compiled here as the exquisite follow-up to AQ's Halloween fave "The Ghost Orchid." Both are collections of (alleged) recordings of examples of Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), which is a broad catagory of unusual interruptions by unknown voices onto magnetic tape or the radiowaves. Parapsychologists like Jurgensen, Raymond Cass, and Konstatine Raudive (the latter two were featured on the aforementioned "Ghost Orchid") claim that these voices may be from beyond the grave or may even have an extraterrestrial origin! While other researchers have devised intricate methods to focus these voices, Jurgensen claimed that his own telepathic tendencies could harness these voices, causing them to appear on radio or tape. All of Jurgensen's recordings feature voices speaking in German, Italian, Swedish, and (if that wasn't enough) polyglot--the intermingling of languages.
One of the criticisms of EVP investigation is that the listener/researcher may be forcing the syllabic utterances into the recognizable patterns of his/her own native tongue or within the confines of a narrative context. While no one is questioning the actual presence of these vocal sounds, the interpretations (of origin and/or translation) that accompany the recordings are far from solid. As I have no real working knowledge of any of the languages featured, an utterance from one of the tracks which was supposed to be in Italian or German came out as clear as day to me in English as "we have to leave." Does this debunk the possibility that these recordings are of alien/ghostly origins? No. Could it be an interesting anomaly within the context of analytical thought on the subject? Maybe. Could I be wrong? Quite possibly. Anyway, listened to purely as sound artifacts, Jurgensen's recordings are downright creepy, and highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Audioscopic01"
RealAudio clip: "Audioscopic09"
RealAudio clip: "Audioscopic22"

JUST-ICE Masterpiece (Traffic Entertainment Group / Fresh / Warlock) cd 16.98
Not sure what it is exactly, but just recently there seems to be a sudden onslaught of classic old school hip hop reissues, mind you we're not complaining, but it is a strange selection of 'classics' (Whodini, Sparky D, Kool Moe Dee, Unique & Dashan). One of our favorite of the bunch though is this, originally released in 1990, record number four from old school hardcore MC Just-Ice, one of the first hardcore rap MC's (whose hyphenated name always made us think of metal band Vio-lence), who has a pretty bad ass delivery, very reminiscent of Big Daddy Kane actually, and really seems like he must have been an influence for the character Charlie Murphy plays in CB4 (still some of the best hip hop parody ever, alongside Fear Of A Black Hat). And while Just-Ice definitely cut an imposing figure, buff and tattooed, with a gold grill and some serious attitude, much of this record's success is due to the music, which of course is provided by legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash, whose sound is absolute classic hip hop, minimal scratching, layered soul loops, snippets of horns, killer grooves, creepy ominous basslines, simple shuffling beats, a super distinctive sound that pretty much defined hip hop of that era, but few did it better that Grandmaster Flash, and when combined with Just-Ice's badass flow, it's pretty tough to beat.
MPEG Stream: "Get Into Something"
MPEG Stream: "The Ice Man Commeth"
MPEG Stream: "Slow, Low & Dope"

JUSTICE (cross) (Vice / Ed Banger) cd 14.98
Holy waters of Nazareth! There's still a faint ringing in our ears after listening to this debut disco-metal machine of an album, whose title is simply a cross, by the much talked about French duo, Justice, on the French electro imprint, Ed Banger Records. No electronic group has received as much hype and hysteria (mainly via internet music blogs and much remixed material by big name producers and DJs) in so little time as Justice, and Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay, the men of Justice, more than meet expectations with all barrels blazing dishing out 48 minutes of a near-perfect, sinister beats 'n' synths face-off. We must admit, with all the long drawn out hype and remixing of their first few singles within the last two years, "Waters of Nazareth" (more or less the jump start for Ed Banger Records all together), their smash collaboraton with Simian, "We Are Your Friends" (which you probably would have heard everywhere in Europe in 2006), and their more recent single "D.A.N.C.E.", the two slowly began to drift out of our interest, especially with the 18+ months it's taken "Waters of Nazareth" to make it from French 12" to worldwide CD. But of course after hearing the debut, we were sucked right back in.
The opener, "Genesis", takes the electro cake, with a super theatrical intro building up to mysteriously cranky synth lines, slicing, over-compressed drums, and frazzled disco trills, reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" but with a sonic twist. "Let There Be Light" is dirty disco pop with hints of Daft Punk-esque melodies and bass riffs. Justice thrill most when using old sputtering analogue synth sounds over momentous rhythms as in "Waters of Nazareth" and "Phantom" parts 1 and 2. "Stress" is a heavy beast of a track with it's chaotic string arrangements, backing sirens, and random abrasive sweeping glitch effects throughout the drums and bass. We ran like four red lights on our bike listening to this one (dangerous, kids don't try this at home). But there's an apparent balance within the album with sweeter numbers like "Valentine" with it's melodic electric piano, the popular recent single "D.A.N.C.E." voiced by the London Children's Choir, and the mashed-up funk of "New Jack" in which human voices are cut up and recycled into new arrangements.
As a whole, this album is filled with squelchy sound textures and wild arrogant dance patterns and rhythms.
In the last year everyone has been basically hoping Justice would release the equivalent to any of Daft Punk's epics, "Homework" or "Discovery", assuming Justice would emerge as the next big French electronic leaders. Though the comparisons to Daft Punk are inevitable, the album proves that Justice can stand on their own just fine without borrowing too much from their predecessor. Overall... a full on aural assault. A pulsing and shimmering piece of electronic music standing at the forefront of the current rock'n'rave collision.
MPEG Stream: "Genesis"
MPEG Stream: "Phantom"
MPEG Stream: "Waters Of Nazareth"

JUSTICE (cross) (Vice / Ed Banger) 2lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Holy waters of Nazareth! There's still a faint ringing in our ears after listening to this debut disco-metal machine of an album, whose title is simply a cross, by the much talked about French duo, Justice, on the French electro imprint, Ed Banger Records. No electronic group has received as much hype and hysteria (mainly via internet music blogs and much remixed material by big name producers and DJs) in so little time as Justice, and Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay, the men of Justice, more than meet expectations with all barrels blazing dishing out 48 minutes of a near-perfect, sinister beats 'n' synths face-off. We must admit, with all the long drawn out hype and remixing of their first few singles within the last two years, "Waters of Nazareth" (more or less the jump start for Ed Banger Records all together), their smash collaboraton with Simian, "We Are Your Friends" (which you probably would have heard everywhere in Europe in 2006), and their more recent single "D.A.N.C.E.", the two slowly began to drift out of our interest, especially with the 18+ months it's taken "Waters of Nazareth" to make it from French 12" to worldwide CD. But of course after hearing the debut, we were sucked right back in.
The opener, "Genesis", takes the electro cake, with a super theatrical intro building up to mysteriously cranky synth lines, slicing, over-compressed drums, and frazzled disco trills, reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" but with a sonic twist. "Let There Be Light" is dirty disco pop with hints of Daft Punk-esque melodies and bass riffs. Justice thrill most when using old sputtering analogue synth sounds over momentous rhythms as in "Waters of Nazareth" and "Phantom" parts 1 and 2. "Stress" is a heavy beast of a track with it's chaotic string arrangements, backing sirens, and random abrasive sweeping glitch effects throughout the drums and bass. We ran like four red lights on our bike listening to this one (dangerous, kids don't try this at home). But there's an apparent balance within the album with sweeter numbers like "Valentine" with it's melodic electric piano, the popular recent single "D.A.N.C.E." voiced by the London Children's Choir, and the mashed-up funk of "New Jack" in which human voices are cut up and recycled into new arrangements.
As a whole, this album is filled with squelchy sound textures and wild arrogant dance patterns and rhythms.
In the last year everyone has been basically hoping Justice would release the equivalent to any of Daft Punk's epics, "Homework" or "Discovery", assuming Justice would emerge as the next big French electronic leaders. Though the comparisons to Daft Punk are inevitable, the album proves that Justice can stand on their own just fine without borrowing too much from their predecessor. Overall... a full on aural assault. A pulsing and shimmering piece of electronic music standing at the forefront of the current rock'n'rave collision.
MPEG Stream: "Genesis"
MPEG Stream: "Phantom"
MPEG Stream: "Waters Of Nazareth"

JUSTICE Audio, Video, Disco (Vice) cd 14.98
Hot damn! No sophomore slump here, Justice return with a fucking cool follow up to their awesome debut from four years ago. Audio, Video, Disco finds the group pushing in a much proggier / poppier direction, in fact everytime we listen to this it sounds more and more like an amazing combination of Daft Punk and Rush, in the best possible way. A little less four on the floor and in your face than the debut, but with much better actual songwriting. In fact there are parts of this record that rival the ecstatic pop of folks we love like Cut Copy and Hot Chip, but instead of pulling from '80s pop bands for inspiration we get the feeling Justice has been listening to as much Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, and Queen as they have dance bangers since they released their debut. It serves them so well, as their sound now seems to have a more expansive reach, without losing the immediacy and intensity that made us first fall in love with them. There's even an awesome reference to the great CSNY song "Ohio" on here. But don't worry the record still packs a dynamite dance floor punch!
Super exciting to see a group who got tons of attention and popularity, not play it safe and make the same record twice but instead push themselves and come out with something different yet still totally rewarding.
MPEG Stream: "Canon"
MPEG Stream: "Horsepower"
MPEG Stream: "On'N'On"

JUSTICE DVNO (Ed Banger) 12" 13.98

JUTE GYTE Old Ways (Jeshimoth) cd-r 11.98
We should all be very grateful to the mailmen who serve aQ. Without them, the aQ list would be a very different beast. They come by almost every day, through sleet and rain if necessary. Usually bearing gifts of strange sounds transported from all corners of the globe. And often, some mysterious unmarked package will contain something special, a gorgeous ambient lp, or some obscure otherworldly folk record, or in many cases, some bizarre twisted chunk of black metal. And often those records will go on to be big time aQ faves, which is bound to be the case with this strange disc from a mysterious black metal horde called Jute Gyte, that just showed up one day in the mail.
The package we got was jammed with records by bands with names like Night Troll, Tremor Of The Black Manx, Pumpkin Buzzard, Testikill, but we were strangely drawn to this Jute Gyte record, weird name, cool oversized dvd style packaging, and once we threw it on we understood why. The description on the label's website introduces us to Jute Gyte with these words:
"A bipedal humanoid rat releases a sandpaper-throated screech as most of its internal organs exit through a huge hole in its furry back. Large and small intestines launch forth in whip-like arcs, briefly straightening into perfectly even ropy lines. A massive snail-demon explodes into fragments of confetti: red, green, blue."
And as weird as that reads, once you immerse yourself in the blown out crumbling ultra raw industrial tinged synth laden black metal of JG, maybe it'll make more sense. Then again, maybe not.
The guitar sound is so fierce and fucked up. Ultra distorted, super saturated and fuzz drenched, not so much chuggy or abrasive as massive and blown out, as if a tiny bit more of anything and the riffs would just crumble to pieces, the drums mechanical and machinelike, the vocals a demonic shriek, howling and anguished, everything wreathed in washed out synths and what sounds like a million layers of distortion. The melodies are super catchy, the sound is impossibly warm and lush, even though in every other way it seems harsh and heavy.
Things slow down here and there, the music transformed into a lurching industrial stomp, all gnarled guitars and new wave synths, almost like some crazy blackened Six Finger Satellite jam. There's a cool abstract mandolin interlude (apparently there's mandolin throughout the whole record too!), that's all super spare and skeletal, before a thick warped and warble synth comes in and obliterates the mandolin, leading directly into the second half of the record, the guitar comes back in and is again sop distorted and heavy, that it almost sounds like a synth, the chords ringing out crumble and distort and cause the speakers to nearly implode. Locked into a churning low end psychedelic blow out, the track just throbs and pulses, not so much metal or industrial as some sort of drone music unleashed, the various tones and notes expanding like miniature supernovas.
After a bout of woozy twisted detuned-guitar post rock drift with harsh vokills, burbling underwater synths, and tangled atonal melodies, like Khanate heard through a funhouse mirror, the record closes with another massive and epic dose of in-the-red blackdrone buzz, like Nadja, if they decided to throw in with the dark lord, another heaving wall of crumbling blackness, wrapped around a surprisingly catchy melody, the drums buried in the mix, just a distant throb, with a lurching stop start arrangement, like some sort of slowed down black metal math rock, but dripping with distortion and effects, infused with spaced out synths, and again on the verge of total implosion. And like the rest of the record, impossibly warm and fuzzy and melodic, while simultaneously being one of the most distorted and blown out things we've ever heard.
This isn't brand new, it's maybe a year old, but we only just discovered it, and figured it was something we had to share with the loyal aQ. Quickly becoming a new black metal favorite, just in time for our year end lists...
MPEG Stream: "Waves"
MPEG Stream: "Teeth"
MPEG Stream: "Round"

JUTOK, KANEKO Endless Ruins (PSF) cd 22.00
Dark, distorted solo guitar and voice from Tokyo psychedelic-scene veteran Kaneko Jutok (of Kousokuya), with bass and drums help on two tracks. It's blackness, sheer blackness. One for fans of Keiji Haino, no doubt (and his vocals are much easier to take than Haino's). Kaneko's ragged, emotional compositions/improvisations are heavy, beautiful, downer psych outpourings essential for fans of Fushitsusha, White Heaven, High Rise, etc. One local Japanese psych expert considers this nothing less than "a freaking atonal masterpiece" and we'd agree. Turn it up loud!
RealAudio clip: "The Everlasting Labyrinth"
RealAudio clip: "Longing For The Ray"

JUTOK, KANEKO AND TAKAHISA KIKUKAWA Wedged Night (Siwa) lp 18.98

JUV s/t (Miasmah) cd 16.98
The Miasmah label has been on fire lately! Without a doubt they have become one of the most consistently dependable labels releasing layered, dark, haunting, droned out mysterious sounds. This time around the label has gone back to the '90s to unearth some amazing sounds that somehow never managed to get a proper widespread release. It makes sense that this Norwegian band's moniker means 'abyss'. The music makes the listener feel like they are floating around the charred remains of a civilization that has been doomed, yet there is still something so paralyzing and beautiful about the void and desolation.
It's so impressive that this was recorded between 1996-1998, a decade before the outburst of so many drone based recordings that we have constantly freaked out over. With a sound that is so haunted, nuanced, layered, and so perfectly executed, taking in the more ambient and creepy side of black metal and doom drone luminaries like Burzum, SUNNO))) and Paysage D'Hiver, the soundscape imagination of Philip Jeck, and the minimalist intensity of Tony Conrad and Deathprod.
Like the soundtrack to a horror movie that isn't as much about shock and awe as it is about casting a very real spell that shimmers with isolation and a beautiful kind of despair. As with most things on Miasmah, so very recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Los"
MPEG Stream: "Stue"
MPEG Stream: "Forvarsel"

JUV s/t (Miasmah) 2lp 23.00
The Miasmah label has been on fire lately! Without a doubt they have become one of the most consistently dependable labels releasing layered, dark, haunting, droned out mysterious sounds. This time around the label has gone back to the '90s to unearth some amazing sounds that somehow never managed to get a proper widespread release. It makes sense that this Norwegian band's moniker means 'abyss'. The music makes the listener feel like they are floating around the charred remains of a civilization that has been doomed, yet there is still something so paralyzing and beautiful about the void and desolation.
It's so impressive that this was recorded between 1996-1998, a decade before the outburst of so many drone based recordings that we have constantly freaked out over. With a sound that is so haunted, nuanced, layered, and so perfectly executed, taking in the more ambient and creepy side of black metal and doom drone luminaries like Burzum, SUNNO))) and Paysage D'Hiver, the soundscape imagination of Philip Jeck, and the minimalist intensity of Tony Conrad and Deathprod.
Like the soundtrack to a horror movie that isn't as much about shock and awe as it is about casting a very real spell that shimmers with isolation and a beautiful kind of despair. As with most things on Miasmah, so very recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Los"
MPEG Stream: "Stue"
MPEG Stream: "Forvarsel"

JUVENILE Project English (Cash Money) cd 17.98
The reigning king of the Cash Money family returns. Some of you may remeber Juvenile from the puerile, but ridiculously catchy 'Back That Azz Up' from a year or two back. On first listen, 'Project English' is a little less obviously Cash Money unlike most of his label mates. The sound here is much more old school, with funky, simple beats and all sorts of weird samples and loops, to the point of almost sounding downright goofy, but kind of cute too. Also on display is a new improved delivery that displays shades of Chuck D. A good direction for the dangerously-close-to-being-played-out Cash Money sound.
RealAudio clip: "Intro - Lets Roll"