JEZZREEL Great Jah Jah (Wackies) cd 15.98
With limited info on the packaging we weren't able to tell right away when this was from. It had that really nice warm and not too polished sound of reggae's golden age, some nice dub elements that came to the forefront in the late 70's, but we were also sort of hoping this was actually new, so we'd have some nice reggae to get behind, unlike the usual slick sunsplash style of most modern reggae. But lo and behold we found out this is indeed a reissue from the early 80's. With a heavy roots sound and really nice vocal delivery it came as no surprise when we found out that Jezzreel's frontmen had spent many years in the background adding vocal harmonies for the likes of Sugar Minott. With all six songs coming in around the six minute mark they all start with strong vocals and some righteous praising of Jah before extending into some really tasty dubs.
MPEG Stream: "Sun Will Shine"
MPEG Stream: "Living In The Ghetto"

JGRZINICH Intimations (CMR) cd 16.98
Pronouncing this artist's moniker would undoubtably come out sounding like you had a mouthful of marbles; but in fact, John Grzinich (a slightly easier name to speak aloud) has applied the same logic that fellow musician Michael Northam used for his pseudonym, Mnortham. While Grzinich has been pretty active during the past eight of nine years collaborating with Seth Nehil and Northam, Intimations marks his debut solo outing. Like Nehil and Northam, Grzinich specializes in droning sound art, culled from conceptually driven performances that border on ritualized ceremony, and often involving particular situations for an environmental sound coupled with droning instrumentation. Here on Intimations, Grzinich began with a series of piano recordings, which get the laptop treatment and end up sounding more like long-string instruments as all of the hammering attack has been done away in favor of amorphous drones. Grzinich interjects those drones with a number of field recordings from Texas and Eastern Europe of cicadas, twittering birds, and the gentle lapping of the ocean, resulting in a mighty fine album that should appeal to fans of Francisco Lopez, Jonathan Coleclough, and mnortham.
MPEG Stream: "Kinetic Sense"
MPEG Stream: "Fluid Itinerancy"

JGRZINICH Rudiment Of Two (Edition Sonoro) cd 16.98
It's easy to get lost in the sounds from John Grizinich, as his slippery compositions for abstracted field recordings impart a stupifying hypnosis when listening to them. While we've had a couple of his solo discs, most of the work that we've encountered by John Grzinich has been through collaborations with the likes of Michael Northam and Seth Nehil. And even though both of those artists have a particular fondness for the drone, it seems as though Grzinich was responsible for directing those collaborations into the depths of sonorous hypnogogia. This was especially true for the impeccable Grzinich / Nehil album Gyre, and the same could be said for the Grzinich / Northam disc The Absurd Evidence. Yet, this sensibility becomes all the more obvious when Grizinich strikes out on his own, as is the case on his stellar 2007 album Rudiment Of Two.
Released by the British drone-artist Paul Bradley on his new Edition Sonoro imprint, Rudiment Of Two contains three lengthy tracks, which engage Grzinich's preferred strategy for vulcanizing field recordings into elegantly serpentine tonalities. Through revolving sets of fluctuating bellows and incrementally changing drones, Rudiment Of Two come across as a painterly take on BJ Nilsen or Jonathan Coleclough. Typical of Grzinich's sound is the trickle of rain on the album's massive 30 minute centerpiece, which activates a silvery auditory filigree amidst the reverberation and metallic vibrations. With the rattle of a heavy iron bell, the crackling textures begin to swarm into a full spectrum chorus of miniscule ticklings that eventually condenses into a bleary drone shot towards infinitude. A really fantastic album from an under-recognized artist.
MPEG Stream: "Pebbles and Star"
MPEG Stream: "Bounds and Magnitudes"

JGRZINICH / MNORTHAM The Absurd Evidence (Bobby J / Orogenetics) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For many years now, John Grzinich and Michael Northam have long been two of our favorite sound artists. While we had thought that we had uncovered the bulk of their respective back catalogues, we somehow managed to have missed this early collaboration between the two. Both Grzinich and Northam emerged into realm of audio research and sound experimentation from Austin, Texas which had been quite a nexus of activity thanks in part to ND, which was a magazine, label, and what might be considered a think tank for sound art. The Absurd Evidence appears to have been an album that they had completed while they were both still residing in Texas before the two ventured beyond American waters (Grzinich currently resides in Estonia and Northam has been last spotted in France). This was also released at the same time as another collaboration entitled The Stomach of the Sky which Staalplaat released about a decade ago, but it is a little odd that we would have let The Absurd Evidence slip under our radar since this was released by the Texan label Bobby J, who had also released the brilliant, outsider mope rock / dronescape albums by Twenty-Six and Thirty-Seven.
The Absurd Evidence is a magnificent construction of agitated objects, manipulated field recordings, and electrically charged minimalism, where the tactile crunch of rock, brick, and sand snap into focus against the unsettled ambience generated from magnetic field disturbances. Slowly motors being to be whir and grind in a symphony of urban detritus being coaxed to utterance. The entire proceedings allude to some arcane scientific discourse being unveiled in process only, without any hint as to the purpose or conclusion to the ongoing tactile rumble and drone. These strategies may be similar to what The Hafler Trio produced on Kill The King, but the results of The Absurd Evidence parallel what Loren Chasse was creating at the same time with his seminal project Id Battery. Other references could be found in Giancarlo Toniutti, Eric La Casa, Small Cruel Party, and Tarab.
It's quite possible that we ended up with the very last copies of The Absurd Evidence, so if you were at all like us in missing this tremendous record, do yourself the favor of picking this up. It's fucking amazing. If you do already have, well then you already know how good it is!
MPEG Stream: "Incubation"
MPEG Stream: "Through The Membrane"
MPEG Stream: "Permeate"

JGRZINICH / SETH NEHIL Confluence (Intransitive) cd 14.98
Just so you know, that is not a typo. John Grzinich has followed his occasional collaborator Michael Northam (aka Mnortham) in cramming his first initial onto his last name to obtain his public persona. And like Northam, Grzinich has developed a knack for concept-heavy procedures that manifest themselves into densely processed drones. "Confluence" is a collaborative album between Grzinich and Seth Nehil, who is another frequent partner for both Grzinich and Northam. This is sort of a sister album to their "Stria" album. Both pieces are electro-acoustic exercises that are meant to "study evolutionary patterns of sound dynamics through various methods of live generation and recorded mediums that focus on multiplications and groupings." In other words, they got a whole bunch of people in a room, handed them instruments with similar timbral qualities (i.e. clay pots and metal bowls), recorded these people making clamorous noise, and then rendered most of the gestural actions moot by blurring everything into a heavenly drone, somewhere between Francisco Lopez and Jonathan Coleclough. The second track "The Distant Edge" deviates slightly from the process with the intrusion of field recordings from an unknown demonstration in Belgrade. The only clues to the event that Grzinich and Nehil provide are in the form of a chorus of car horns blaring non-stop for 10 minutes, occasionally harmonizing into a strange polyphony like a battery of Egyptian reeds, but more often than not accumulating into an angry swarm not unlike Xenakis' "Persepolis." Altogether, "Confluence" is a fantastic record that actively pursues agitation and anxiety.
MPEG Stream: "Pneuma"
MPEG Stream: "The Distant Edge"

JIGEN Blood's Finality (Shiranui) cd 19.98
Release from the Japanese label Shiranui, which has developed a rather unique variant of drum & bass, which employs spastic asynchronous breakbeats accompanied with austere modernist jazz overtones of bowed metal, stand-up bass, and muted horns. Not at all dissimilar to the early Spymania releases by Squarepusher, though more dissonant and less groove-based.

JIGMASTAS Infectious (Landspeed) cd 16.98
DJ Spinna and MC Kriminul are together the duo Jigmastas, and they make a straight up deeply heavy style of hip hop with guests such as Sadat X from Brand Nubian and even Vernon Reid (Living Color) on guitar. This isn't strictly a super underground release since Spinna has worked with the likes of De La Soul and Mary J Blige, but nonetheless blink and you might miss this. Comes with a second limited edition disc of tracks featuring Eminem, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, etc.
RealAudio clip: "Vent"

JIM AND JENNIE AND THE PINETOPS Rivers Roll On By (Bloodshot) cd 14.98
If you like old tyme-y country and bluegrass music with lots of mandolin, you're in the company of these folks who clearly love the music that they themselves make and hold a deep reverence for their Americana forefathers and foremothers (foreparents?) such as Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens, the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs and the Carter Family. Jim Krewson, Jennie Benford and co. weave their own faithful rendition of the style on an equal split of traditional numbers, covers and originals on their third album Rivers Roll On By. Whether on lovely numbers like "Mt. St. Helens" or the heartier bootstompers such as "Quit Barking At Me", their strong, achingly earnest male and female voices (Jim and Jennie's, duh!) shine with a burnished glow.
MPEG Stream: "Mt. St. Helens"
MPEG Stream: "Quit Barking At Me"

JIM YOSHII PILE-UP Picks Us Apart (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
On their third cd release for Absolutely Kosher these five East Bay fellows take us in a new direction. On Picks Us Apart, they move further away from their earlier prominent Slint / Mogwai influences. They've replaced their past post-rock loud-quiet leanings with gentle pop song structures comprised of decidedly sweet sensitive boy vocals, strummy multi-layered guitars reminiscent of mid-to-late '80s The Cure. Although some might be a little disappointed that they've chosen a different path, others will surely find that the band are just as adept at crafting a solid pop tune as they are at weaving an atmospheric soundscape. In fact, it struck us that these days they've more aligned themselves with the charming indie pop likes of Pinback and Death Cab For Cutie.
MPEG Stream: "Heart My Home"
MPEG Stream: "Low Rent Horror"

JIM YOSHII PILE-UP, THE cdep 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Debut self-released album from local guys who're channelling the ghost of Slint. Emotional and epic and pretty. Also will appeal to fans of Codeine and Low.

JIM YOSHII PILE-UP, THE It's Winter Here (Absolutely Kosher) cd 12.98
Brimming with confidence and charm, it's the Jim Yoshii Pile-Up. These bay area boys have brought forth their first full-length of sensitive, lovely quiet-quiet-loud music that's leaps and bounds from their first release (the self-released self-titled ep from 1999). Polished, pretty, and appropriately titled - the album at times shimmers like frosty morning air and at others, glows like the welcome warmth of a hearth. Never ones to shy away from showing their appreciation of their faves Mogwai, the JYPU draw inspiration from and comparisons to those Glaswegians, as well as Slint and Low.

JIM YOSHII PILE-UP. THE Homemade Drugs (Absolutely Kosher) cd 12.98
"Homemade Drugs" finds Jim Yoshii Pile-Up leaving behind overt quiet/loud dynamics to focus mostly on the quiet. Less Slint-y angularity, more slowly building post-rock beauty, developed through delicate three-guitar interplay and liquidly gorgeous vocals. These days, you can have your emo-tional pop in an MTV-ready pretty boy package, but (pretty though they may be) Jim Yoshii come across as much more honest than all that. So honest, in fact, that it's almost wrong to listen in on these tales of intimacy and heartbreak. Their tendency to turn their backs to the audience when playing live seems appropriate; wearing your heart on your sleeve just isn't conducive to being in-your-face. But don't be fooled by all my talk of sensitivity. These boys can rock hard when they want to, as moments of "Homemade Drugs" prove before being subsumed by more subdued melodies- which I guess would reflect the presence of quiet/loud dynamics, wouldn't it? Still, the overall feeling of this album is firmly in the realm of the contemplative, personal and melancholy. Really, really nice.
RealAudio clip: "Distance"
RealAudio clip: "In Focus"
RealAudio clip: "A Deep Deep Lake"

JIMBO TROUT Catch Of The Day (Fishwrap) cd 11.98
Jimbo Trout is an active player in the Bay Area's healthy blue grass scene. Playing guitar, banjo, kazoo and singing tales with an old-time flare. Jimbo shows his fine taste by covering the likes of Leadbelly, The Carter Family, The Mississippi Sheiks, etc. His band adds fiddle, washboard, and mandolin and it's the record's instrumental tracks that we find ourselves most captivated by. Makes us wanna get out onto the docks, staring at the sea with a cold one in one hand, a reel and rod in the other...
MPEG Stream: "Rattletrap"
MPEG Stream: "Devilish Mary"

JIMBO TROUT & THE FISHPEOPLE Hillbilly Bebop-Boogie (Fishwrap) cd 11.98
Good ole' Jimbo Trout and his Fishpeople are doing a mighty fine job of keeping an old timey flame burning brightly here in the Bay Area, with their great mixture of bluegrass, bop, swing, backporch blues and more, all with a twang that's hard not to tap your toes and sway your hips to. This is the band you wish was playing at the farmers market or in your local town square, such good vibes and a wide array of instrumentation (guitar, banjo, fiddle, washboard, harmonica, clarinet, sax, piano, accordion, xylophone and pedal steel guitar.) While all of the players sound top notch, we have to say the fiddle playing on this record is pretty unbelievable! The album is packed with both traditional tunes nicely arranged by Jimbo as well as covers of folks like the Mississippi Mudsteppers, Jimmie Rogers, The Shelton Brothers, etc. Can't think of a better soundtrack to your next hoedown!
MPEG Stream: "Just Because"
MPEG Stream: "Train 45"

JIMMY CAKE Dublin Gone. Everybody Dead. (Pilatus) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Dubliners The Jimmy Cake return with record number two and we're happy to report it is even better than the first. Their debut "Brains" was a gorgeous, bittersweet collection of post rock epics, rhythmic and langorous, lush and dreamy, bringing to mind Mogwai, Godspeed and Arab Strap. "Dublin Gone. Everybody Dead." finds the lineup expanded, the sound even more lush and expansive, and probably most surprising/exciting, a new found aggressiveness that really highlights the band's mastery of mood and dynamics. Loping minor key rhythms build and build, layers of sorrowful strings and weepy accordion add density as riffs stretch out into droning epic jams. Gorgeous finger-picked guitars and free noise/jazz interludes add to the melee as the songs twist and turn and struggle for air, horns skronk, guitars feed back. Instrumental cinematic soundscapes writhe and heave, palpitate and pulsate, building into crescendos of staccato minor key blasts. Really intense and beautiful. Some weird mix of AQ faves Magyar Posse, Hwyl Nofio, Godpeed You Black Emperor, and the Tindersticks, but with a jagged edge that keeps the melancholia and gloominess sharp and prickly instead of dull and overwrought. So so good.
MPEG Stream: "The Width Of The Black"
MPEG Stream: "The Opposite Of Addiction"

JIMMY CAKE, THE Brains (Pilatus) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Aaaah, thought you'd heard all the post rock you could possibly need? Hold yer horses, 'cause up pops The Jimmy Cake with an albumful of very pleasingly pretty, and most importantly, original post-rock. This sizeable Irish ensemble spill lush washes of warm and beautiful chords all over taut and tight post rock rhythm section, weaving a lush soundscape with instruments uncommon to rock (clarinets, accordions, and trumpets) and guitars that alternate between dronecore wash and angular chopiness. The Jimmy Cake adeptly succeed in filling this sound with a hazy bittersweetness that occasionally delves into the morose melancholy of fellow Scotsmen like Mogwai and Arab Strap. Fans of Tristeza and the Temporary Residence label will not be disappointed!
RealAudio clip: "Ignite The Doom Carriage"
RealAudio clip: "Elevenses"

JIMMY CAKE, THE Spectre & Crown (Pilatus) cd 17.98
Hard to believe it's been 6 years since we last heard from Ireland's The Jimmy Cake. Back in 2002, we were heavily digging their second record, Dublin Gone. Everybody Dead., which found the band getting more and more aggressive. Their sound went from a drifty post rock to a dense blend of Godspeed, Magyar Posse, Explosions In The Sky, Salvatore, Hwyl Nofio, long sweeping epics, sweeping vistas of cinematic sound peppered with intense crescendos and stretches of free jazz freakout.
Six years later, the band has really mellowed out, harkening back to their debut, Brains, but with even more of an emphasis on the cinematic side of things. Utilizing an unlikely arsenal of instruments (at least for an ostensibly 'rock' band), clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, piano synths and accordion along with the usual guitar bass and drums, the band use the piano as the focal point, crafting swirling slow building epics, that really do sound like music pulled from some strange indie soundtrack. It's all instrumental too, so it's easy to hear bits of the Tindersticks, the Dirty 3, Arab Strap, in the Jimmy Cake's melancholy moodiness. The horns are used more for texture and drone out in dark harmonies, the guitars are spidery and minimal, the drums often a subtle shuffle, the gorgeous blend of strings and horns and accordions afford each track a distinct grandness that glows regally. Another definite reference point is the Rachel's, the sound is distinctly chamber music-esque, but set in a more post rock context. Think the Drift, old Tarentel, very evocative and strangely Eastern European in places, with some more experimental tracks of long shimmery dronemusic and drifting harmonics here and there, separating the more (almost) rocking tracks, as a whole creating the perfect imaginary soundtrack for a movie filled with dark moonlit nights, lonely strolls, cobblestone streets, rolling hills, grey skies, rain against windows, and brief bits of sunlight. Lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Red Tony"
MPEG Stream: "Jetta's Palace"

JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH, THE 16 Slabs of Funk (RCA) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heavy, heavy psychedelic acid funk with some Latin vibes, stuff that could have made Funkadelic proud, collected from the Jimmy Castor Bunch's earliest albums.
These 16 slabs of funk include almost all the really good songs (which is almost ALL of the songs) from the band's first 2 RCA albums ("It's Just Begun" and "Phase Two"), plus a few from their somewhat less awesome (actually quite weak) third and final RCA disc, the jazzy "Dimension III". Jimmy and the band bounced back and recorded many more funk classics after they left RCA, not letting disco get them down, and you can find those (and a few others from the earlier doo-wop phase of his career) on the "Everything Man" best of comp Rhino released a few years back, which only has a couple of the songs found here. There WAS a 2-on-1 import cd reissue of the first two of Castor's RCA LPs that we had a while ago, but we haven't been able to get it lately. I like the review I wrote of that disc a lot though, so why not quote some of it here:
"Blending fat funk guitar, '60s astrologically-obsessed psych rock, Hendrix worship (there's a weird tribute to Jimi here, a Purple Haze/Foxy Lady hybrid cover), as well as doo wop, soul and some sappy r&b...they don't make 'em like this anymore. "It's Just Begun" will send you back, way back, to the time of the "Troglodyte". The cave man theme recurs, with "Phase Two"'s "Luther The Anthropoid (Ape Man)"... Heavy acid funk stomp, silly sexual primal urge stuff to be sure, mixed with some lighter, more 'spiritually' oriented cuts. As we move into album no.2, there are definitely some really bad moments of love song cheese to interfere with your enjoyment of the BAAADDD moments of troglodyte funk, but on the whole this is deep and weird enough to be essential to the dedicated funkateer. For fans of early Kool & the Gang, Parliament, B.T. Express, that sort of thing, but the best stuff here's got a dosed and primordial edge unlike anything else excavated from the early '70s era."
This collection cuts out the worst of the "love song cheese" alluded to above (although the songs added from "Dimension III" aren't any better unfortunately) and so makes for, along with Rhino's "Everything Man" comp, a mandatory funk purchase. Not rare groove, but "everywhere groove" as it says in the liner notes.
RealAudio clip: "It's Just Begun"
RealAudio clip: "L.T.D. (Life, Truth & Death)"

JIMMY CASTOR BUNCH, THE It's Just Begun / Phase Two (Camden Deluxe) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hot damn! The first two albums by this oft-overlooked classic '70s funk band, finally reissued as a 2-on-1 UK import disc. Jimmy Castor, he's the guy that sued the Beastie Boys over that "Hey LeRoy!" sample. Blending fat funk guitar, '60s astrologically-obsessed psych rock, Hendrix worship (there's a weird tribute to Jimi here, a Purple Haze/Foxy Lady hybrid cover), as well as doo wop, soul and some sappy r&b...they don't make 'em like this anymore. "It's Just Begun" will send you back, way back, to the time of the "Troglodyte". The cave man theme recurs, with "Phase Two"'s "Luther The Anthropoid (Ape Man)"... Heavy acid funk stomp, silly sexual primal urge stuff to be sure, mixed with some lighter, more 'spiritually' oriented cuts. As we move into album no.2, there are definitely some really bad moments of love song cheese to interfere with your enjoyment of the BAAADDD moments of troglodyte funk, but on the whole this is deep and weird enough to be essential to the dedicated funkateer. (Those who wish to avoid any of the lame tracks are directed to the "Everything Man" best-of Jimmy Castor compilation on Rhino, which will provide the 'hits' as well as some swell disco cuts from later in his career.) For fans of early Kool & the Gang, Parliament, B.T. Express, that sort of thing, but the best stuff here's got a dosed and primordial edge unlike anything else excavated from the early '70s era.

JIMMY EAT WORLD Futures (Interscope) cd 14.98
The music of major label mainstream emo bands such as Jimmy Eat World has been scientifically formulated for maximum appeal -- sorta like a Cola or maybe Cheetos. Its target? Primarily teenagers everywhere. Reaching its sharp hooks out to both male and female listeners with fist-pumping angst anthemics and heartstring-pullin' sentiments respectively, these songs speak straight at the young adult. However some post-teens do fall into the crosshairs every so often... uh, like Andee! Lead singer Jim Adkins bares his heart in the most earnest fashion articulating hopeful crushes, shattering heartaches and unrequited love. Totally Hollywood teen movie soundtrack perfect.
MPEG Stream: "Just Tonight..."
MPEG Stream: "Futures"

JIRKU, THOMAS Go! Turn! Jump! Stop! (Klang Electronics) 12" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

JIRKU, TOMAS Bleak 1999 (No Type) cd 14.98

JIRKU, TOMAS Entropy (intr-version) cd 14.98
"Entropy" is a minor stumble for Tomas Jirku, whose previous outings (especially the "Immaterial" album for Subtractif / Alien8) had been some of the better recordings of clean, minimal techno along side Vladislav Delay, Chain Reaction, and Pole. Yet this album never stands beyond the formula of subdued shuffling rhythms, delicate clickery, and those ubiquitous swelling synth pads which sound like a digital cross between a ring modulator and a rhodes organ. On the plus side, the packaging with its sewn booklet is quite nice.
RealAudio clip: "Endothermic"

JIRKU, TOMAS Immaterial (Substractif) cd 14.98
Tomas Jirku's "Immaterial" makes no claims of innovation; however, this album stands way above the crowded field of electron engineers who have been peddling an increasingly mediocre and hollow form of minimalist techno. As in Jirku's previous recordings, "Immaterial" (released through Alien 8's new electronica imprint Substractif) owes a great debt to Pole and Vladislav Delay for the production of sedate techno rhythms with muted dub basslines. The differences between Jirku's work and that of his influences may ultimately remain inconsequential; however, he's smart enough to recognize how to make a pretty good record. Within the 4 lengthy tracks of "Immaterial," Jirku gives each cut a considerable amount of time to develop within repetitive phrases of Chain Reaction metallic ambience, before introducing the simple 4/4 beat. The rhythmic thump, while nothing aimed at the dancefloor, is enough to set up a quiet drama against the filtered drone sequences, making for a solid album for the armchair techno enthusiast.
RealAudio clip: "Meson"
RealAudio clip: "Baryon"

JIRKU, TOMAS Sequins (Force Inc.) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Tomas Jirku's "Sequins" is the second album from this techno reconstructionist. For the past year or so, he's been posting his work online to receive comments, criticism, and advice from anybody whose wanted to give it to him. While his first album, "Variants", kept to a techno minimalism a la Mika Vainio and Vladislav Delay, he's been listening to a few too many house heads who've insisted that he inject more "soul" into his work. But instead of soul, he put a rod up his ass.

JIRKU, TOMAS Variants (Alien8 Recordings) cd 14.98
Tomas Jirku's "Variants" involves an interesting additive/subtractive process whereby Jirku would post one of his minimalist techno pieces online at www.notype.com for a period of time, then replace it with a new composition based on previous experiments... sorta like an ongoing remix project of his own material. "Variants" is his first proper album, collecting the best pieces to date from this continuing series. Each of these post-techno excursions vary from track to track, falling at times near the moodiest minimal techno of Carl Craig, then at times sounding like Vladislav Delay's dubbed out Chain Reaction hypnosis. Jirku's finishing touches and general minimalism also recall the frigidity of Mika Vainio's brilliant album "Metri". All in all, an excellent first album.

JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN Real Life (Reveal) lp 14.98
Now on vinyl. Here's the cd review from a few lists back:
We've been hearing quite a lot of buzz and hype surrounding this New York outfit led by Joan Wasser, who has been playing music in one form or another since she was 8 years old. Along the way she's paid her dues playing in the Damnbuilders, and some lesser known bands in the '90s who featured some soon to be big name indie rockers like Mary Timony and Al Larson (Shudder To Think) and she has played violin for everyone from Antony & The Johnsons to Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed to the Scissor Sister and even Sheryl Crow. The combination of those folks' music gives a sort-of-snapshot as to what to expect from Joan As Policewoman. Sounding a little bit like a more sweeping and orchestral version of Feist, this is a record sure to have a wide appeal and with good reason. With a very likable voice and strong instrumentation this will for sure hit the spot for folks waiting god knows how long until Fiona Apple comes out with another record. Oh and keeping up his very busy guest appearance schedule, Antony (of Antony & The Johnsons) adds his always stunning voice to one track on Real Life as well. And the first batch of these we got comes with a bonus disc of b-sides which includes a Bowie cover and a song dedicated to Condoleezza Rice. Weird.
MPEG Stream: "Real Life"
MPEG Stream: "I Defy"

JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN To Survival (Chrysalis) cd 13.98

JOAN AS POLICEWOMAN Real Life (CLR) cd 14.98
We've been hearing quite a lot of buzz and hype surrounding this New York outfit led by Joan Wasser, who has been playing music in one form or another since she was 8 years old. Along the way she's paid her dues playing in the Damnbuilders, and some lesser known bands in the '90s who featured some soon to be big name indie rockers like Mary Timony and Al Larson (Shudder To Think) and she has played violin for everyone from Antony & The Johnsons to Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed to the Scissor Sister and even Sheryl Crow. The combination of those folks' music gives a sort-of-snapshot as to what to expect from Joan As Policewoman. Sounding a little bit like a more sweeping and orchestral version of Feist, this is a record sure to have a wide appeal and with good reason. With a very likable voice and strong instrumentation this will for sure hit the spot for folks waiting god knows how long until Fiona Apple comes out with another record. Oh and keeping up his very busy guest appearance schedule, Antony (of Antony & The Johnsons) adds his always stunning voice to one track on Real Life as well. And the first batch of these we got comes with a bonus disc of b-sides which includes a Bowie cover and a song dedicated to Condoleezza Rice. Weird.
MPEG Stream: "Real Life"
MPEG Stream: "I Defy"

JOAN OF ARC How Can Any Thing So Little Be Any More? (Jade Tree) cd 10.98
Well, once we got past the first few tracks (that included a mildly annoying song about fucking strangers and a recording of a child singing some '70s ballad) things settled into quite a nice spartan mellowness for this posthumous Joan of Arc EP. Seemingly randomly scattered acoustic guitar and piano melodies make friends with spacy drones and distortion. And throughout, the plaintive voice of Tim Kinsella meanders. Culled from tracks recorded during sessions for (but not included on) their final album The Gap.

JOAN OF ARC So Much Staying Alive And Lovelessness (Jade Tree) cd 13.98
Okay, so what's goin' on with Joan Of Arc? Shortly after the release of their last album The Gap a couple of years ago, they officially called it quits. Then less than a year later providing a little more closure, there was a posthumous cdep. It seems though that there's something in the water that makes Kinsella bros' bands come back to life. Case in point? Another of their early combos, The Owls were quickly ressurrected filling the postrock-y emo space vacated by JOA. Now, this new cd has surfaced. Yes, they're back -- sounding quite refreshed we might add, but much more subdued and controlled. The somewhat tedious jazzy noodling and intrusive experimentations on The Gap have been honed and better encorporated into the big picture. There's a nicely arranged interplay between the soft, emotive vocals, gently meandering keyboards and guitars. Pleasing, delicate post-rock. Welcome back JOA.
RealAudio clip: "Mean To March"

JOAN OF ARC The Gap (Jade Tree) cd 10.98
Gastr Del Sol meets Red House Painters, or maybe The Promise Ring. Either way, kinda pretentious and not quite intelligent enough to know when to stop the 'avant-garde' noodling. And, the record is named after The Gap.

JOAO, KARE 2 (Jester) cd 15.98
Second album (duh) from this Norwegian rock band led by a former Turbonegro roadie. We did like their first one, Sideman, quite a bit, but this one seems a bit too poppy and polished for us, this time out. It's just awkwardly balanced on the cusp of cool '80s retro (Hacienda-era Factory bands could be what they're going for) and maybe not so cool '80s retro (The Fixx?), with a definite nod to more modern radio-friendly fare of the Britpop persuasion. Spiritualized might be one comparison. So, the spacey, psychedelic elements we dug about the debut aren't totally gone, but it's hardly the Floyd/MBV/Spacemen Three styled trip we were hoping for based on the successes of Sideman. Check out the sound clips, though, if you liked the poppier parts of that album.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Don't"
MPEG Stream: "Too Soon, Too Fast"

JOAO, KARE Sideman (Jester) cd 14.98
Jester (the unclassifiable Norwegian record label run by frontman Garm of the formerly but no longer black metal band Ulver) has rapidly become one of our favorite labels, what with releases by When, Ulver, Arcturus, Rotoscope, Esperanza, Bogus Blimp, Single Unit, and Origami Galaktika -- we've liked 'em all, actually! So whenever Jester puts out something new, even if we've never heard of the artist before (which is often the case) we make sure to check it out. Thus we ordered a few of this album by Norwegian musician Kare Joao without knowing at all what to expect. Turns out it's a psychedelic rock record along the lines of Pink Floyd (or even the Beta Band), Spacemen Three, Pharoah Overlord, and My Bloody Valentine. We've since learned that Kare was a roadie and sometime singer for AQ dirty rock faves Turbonegro! Some guys from that band, along with Garm himself, play on this. As for the sound, we were immediately enthralled by the "Tomorrow Never Knows" vibe of the seven-minute-plus lead-off track "Captain Trips", full of heavy psych guitar wash, echoey seagull synth sounds, tripped out guitar effects, and, last but not least, repetitive, catchy hooks. The rest of the album continues in this vein, pretty much. There's one track that's a little heavy on the vocals with backing Beach Boys style "oooh ooohs", maybe it's their stab at a Stranglers (or Strokes!) kinda song but it doesn't work that well for us in comparison to the rest of the disc, which definitely gets a big thumbs up. Hmm, high time we made a Jester section in our bins!
RealAudio clip: "Captain Trips"
RealAudio clip: "Channel Five"

JOBRIATH Creatures Of The Night (Collector's Choice Music) cd 13.98
As you might expect from "the world's first openly gay rock star" (or make that would-be rock star), the music of seventies singer Jobraith is pretty darn glammy and campy, a blend of '70s hard rock histrionics and even more overtly showtune tendencies (Jobriath had performed on Broadway, actually, in the musical Hair, and was also a trained classical pianist), full of over-the-top pop and not-so-ambiguous sexuality.
He's part David Bowie (very much David Bowie!), part Marc Bolan, part Elton John, part Mick Jagger, even part Bee Gees (that high voice)... You can hear all that for yourself on these two new cd reissues of Jobraith's two Elektra albums, his notoriously overhyped self-titled debut from 1973 and its '74 follow-up, Creatures Of The Night. We'd gotten familiar with Jobraith via an earlier collection, Lonely Planet Boy, which featured songs selected from these two records, but it's nice to hear 'em in their entirety, and it turns out that comp missed out on a few of the many gems to be found among Jobraith's compositions.
Unfortunately the Jobriath story is a tragic one, his career fizzling after these two albums (both expensive flops), his brushes with fame always far-fetched and fleeting, Jobriath ultimately dying in obscurity, a victim of the AIDS epidemic, in 1983... though about ten years later, according the the story recounted in the liner notes, Morrissey tried to find Jobraith to take him on tour, unaware that he'd passed away long before.
So, while in retrospect there's for sure a patina of sadness over Jobraith's music, it's better tribute perhaps to Jobriath's memory to enjoy these albums in the fun, flamboyant spirit in which they were intended.
Both albums have their merits, we don't know if we could choose between 'em. The debut boasts the oh-so-Bowie "Space Clown", along with the piano-ballad bombast of "Be Still" (somewhere, this MUST have been a hit). You can party down to the proto-disco prog of "World Without End" or the funky "Earthling", and rock out to the fuzzy "Rock Of Ages" or the braggadocious "I'm A Man". There's also a bunch more piano-y crooner tunes on the softer side: "Inside", "Blow Away", and "Movie Queen", all quite good (the latter, quite, umm, gay as well).
Creatures Of The Street perhaps veers even further into campy, cabaret territory than the debut (or maybe it's just that "Dietrich/Fondyke" is so much that way) but also offers up a fair bit of rockin' and also just plain weirdness. At times we're reminded of Sparks, and one of the best tracks here is a folky, quirky, quite catchy number entitled "Scumbag"! Other standouts include melodramatic opener "Heartbeat" and the walk on the wild side that is "Street Corner Love". As with the debut, there's plenty of piano, plenty of orchestration, and plenty of drama... The image/identity conscious Jobriath was always striking poses, both on album covers and in his lyrics.
While the world wasn't ready for Jobriath back in the '70s (even though his music is oh-so-'70s), obviously we've come a long way since then. Jobriath's excesses can be forgiven (those of his management too) and his cult status can only grow, as his actual music is still quite a kick. Heck I was in a bar the other night and the DJ was playing "I'm A Man"! Good to have these both individually reissued on cd at last, with liner notes by Ritchie Unterberger (author of, among other things, the excellent Unknown Legends Of Rock n' Roll, which didn't include Jobriath but probably should have).
MPEG Stream: "Heartbeat"
MPEG Stream: "Scumbag"

JOBRIATH Lonely Planet Boy (Attack) cd 17.98

JOBRIATH s/t (Collector's Choice Music) cd 13.98
As you might expect from "the world's first openly gay rock star" (or make that would-be rock star), the music of seventies singer Jobriath is pretty darn glammy and campy, a blend of '70s hard rock histrionics and even more overtly showtune tendencies (Jobraith had performed on Broadway, actually, in the musical Hair, and was also a trained classical pianist), full of over-the-top pop and not-so-ambiguous sexuality.
He's part David Bowie (very much David Bowie!), part Marc Bolan, part Elton John, part Mick Jagger, even part Bee Gees (that high voice)... You can hear all that for yourself on these two new cd reissues of Jobriath's two Elektra albums, his notoriously overhyped self-titled debut from 1973 and its '74 follow-up, Creatures Of The Street. We'd gotten familiar with Jobriath via an earlier collection, Lonely Planet Boy, which featured songs selected from these two records, but it's nice to hear 'em in their entirety, and it turns out that comp missed out on a few of the many gems to be found among Jobriath's compositions.
Unfortunately the Jobriath story is a tragic one, his career fizzling after these two albums (both expensive flops), his brushes with fame always far-fetched and fleeting, Jobraith ultimately dying in obscurity, a victim of the AIDS epidemic, in 1983... though about ten years later, according the the story recounted in the liner notes, Morrissey tried to find Jobriath to take him on tour, unaware that he'd passed away long before.
So, while in retrospect there's for sure a patina of sadness over Jobraith's music, it's better tribute perhaps to Jobriath's memory to enjoy these albums in the fun, flamboyant spirit in which they were intended.
Both albums have their merits, we don't know if we could choose between 'em. The debut boasts the oh-so-Bowie "Space Clown", along with the piano-ballad bombast of "Be Still" (somewhere, this MUST have been a hit). You can party down to the proto-disco prog of "World Without End" or the funky "Earthling", and rock out to the fuzzy "Rock Of Ages" or the braggadocious "I'm A Man". There's also a bunch more piano-y crooner tunes on the softer side: "Inside", "Blow Away", and "Movie Queen", all quite good (the latter, quite, umm, gay as well).
Creatures Of The Street perhaps veers even further into campy, cabaret territory than the debut (or maybe it's just that "Dietrich/Fondyke" is so much that way) but also offers up a fair bit of rockin' and also just plain weirdness. At times we're reminded of Sparks, and one of the best tracks here is a folky, quirky, quite catchy number entitled "Scumbag"! Other standouts include melodramatic opener "Heartbeat" and the walk on the wild side that is "Street Corner Love". As with the debut, there's plenty of piano, plenty of orchestration, and plenty of drama... The image/identity conscious Jobriath was always striking poses, both on album covers and in his lyrics.
While the world wasn't ready for Jobriath back in the '70s (even though his music is oh-so-'70s), obviously we've come a long way since then. Jobraith's excesses can be forgiven (those of his management too) and his cult status can only grow, as his actual music is still quite a kick. Heck I was in a bar the other night and the DJ was playing "I'm A Man"! Good to have these both individually reissued on cd at last, with liner notes by Ritchie Unterberger (author of, among other things, the excellent Unknown Legends Of Rock n' Roll, which didn't include Jobraith but probably should have).
MPEG Stream: "I'm A Man"
MPEG Stream: "World Without End"
MPEG Stream: "Movie Queen"

JOCOY, JIM We're Desperate (powerHouse Books) book 28.00
Jim Jocoy's unnarrated book of photos, never published before this year, is an amazing collection of images captured in and during San Francisco and LA's fertile punk scene of '78-'80. Taken spontaneously at clubs, the images show youths dressed to the nines in all the leopard print, skinny jeans, and eyeliner you can handle. Aquarius is super proud to be hosting Jocoy's first San Francisco event celebrating the publication of his photos. Meanwhile, enjoy his book. Here's what others have said:
"Buildings crumble; social signifiers fissure and evaporate. This much is forever; art students simultaneously discovering perceived oppression and thrift-store shoppong. Maybe that's why We're Desperate packs such timeless reverb. As a student living in San Francisco in the late '70s, Jocoy reported from the front line of the burgeoning punk scene by training his eye on the fans. Using a camera purchased at a garage sale, Jocoy photographed scenesters posed against club walls, capturing their ripped nylons, pegged jeans, leather jackets, and vinyl anything. Bookended by an introduction by Marc Jacobs, who has repeatedly referenced the era's Converse-and-logo-tee aesthetic, and a tender elegy by Exene Cervenka, of L.A. punk band X fame. These are DIY Star Search episodes played to one hand clapping, lasting shots from a short runway." ‹V Magazine
"...the longer you look...the more you begin to see what it took to remake yourself as a freak, as a social idiot, as someone you weren't meant to be.... soon enough, you're seeing real people everywhere." ‹Greil Marcus' Real Life Rock Top 10, Salon.com

JODOROWSKY, ALEJANDRO The Films Of Alejandro Jodorowsky: Fando Y Lis, El Topo, The Holy Mountain (Anchor Bay) 4dvd/2cd 49.00
Visionary cult cinephiles get ready to drool! If you were as excited as we were about the recent reissue of Kenneth Anger's early films, then this incredibly packaged and affordable 4dvd+2cd box set of the early films of Chilean theatrical genius Alejandro Jodorowsky will surely make your head explode!!! Fando Y Lis! El Topo!!, HOLY MOUNTAIN!!!! Marvelously restored and beautifully remastered, there is so much amazing material here that has either never been available before, or only available previously as extremely hard to find poor quality transfers from mediocre prints.
AND there's more! This set also includes the absolutely killer SOUNDTRACKS to both El Topo and yes, Holy Mountain!!! The Holy Mountain Soundtrack has never been released before and it so totally kills, and why wouldn't it, Don Cherry is all over it! But more about that in a minute, there's also bonus features, interviews, deleted scenes, audio commentary, a documentary and a short film from 1957 that was presumed lost until it was found early last year.
So for those who may be unfamiliar with Jodorowsky's films, a bit of back story:
Born in Chile and struggling to become an actor, Jodorowsky became fed up with the idea of scripted theatre and moved to Paris to study mime. Working with the great mime, Marcel Marceau while at the same time influenced by the Surrealists, Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, Jean Cocteau's mythical fantasias, and the European Art House cinema of Fellini and Bunuel, Jodorowsky relocated to Mexico to form the theatre troupe, The Panic Movement, which would stage early happenings (involving lots of nudity and rotting food) and existentialist plays by Ionesco, Beckett and Fernando Arrabel. It was Arrabel's play, "Fando Y Lis" that would inspire him to move away from the theatre into cinema, but far from any structured or direct form of filmmaking. Jodorowsky wanted to re-interpret Arrabel's play by filming it completely from memory and in a remote and ruggedly extreme locale. Here he would bring together all the soul-baring psyche of experimental theatre, the role-playing excess of costumes, props and pageantry, the ritualistic entanglements of violence and beauty as catalysts of transformation, and most importantly the notion of existence as a journey through all kinds of personal and mystical revelations both sacred and profane. All of these qualities permeate each of the three films here.
Ok, you get the idea. So let's just break it down for you, what you get from this awesome box set:
--Fando Y Lis (1968): Jodorowsky's first full length black and white feature started riots at its premiere at the Acapulco Film Festival and was banned in Mexico due to its violent sexual imagery and ritualistic mocking of church beliefs. Based on Arrabel's play about a pair of dysfunctional lovers (one impotent, the other paralyzed) in a Fellini-esque quest for the spiritual city of Tar.
Extras on this disc include the 1994 French documentary, La Constellation which features interviews with Marcel Marceau, Peter Gabriel (who was inspired by El Topo, when he wrote The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway), and the French sci-fi illustrator, Moebius, who began working with Jodorowsky on the failed attempt to film Frank Herbert's Dune, which sparked Jodorowsky's interest in graphic novels.
--El Topo (1970): The bloody surreal western that spawned the Midnight Movie. Funded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, this film is like a Sergio Leone film on a serious dose of brown acid.
Extras include an interview with Jodorowsky about the Midnight Movie phenomenon.
--Holy Mountain (1973): The ultimate spiritual quest film. Jodorowsky takes us through every imaginable belief system only to completely shatter our preconceptions about spiritual enlightenment.
Extras include deleted scenes and commentary about Jodorowsky's continuing interest in the Tarot.
--La Cravate (1957): A 35 minute silent film in color based on Thomas Mann's The Transposed Heads about a girl who sells heads and the men who are her customers. This film was presumed lost until its discovery last year in someone's attic in Germany!
--El Topo Soundtrack: 18 tracks composed by Jodorowsky and John Barham inspired by both the soundtrack work of Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota. Full of flutes and droning horns, accordions and organs and twisted Mariachi styles.
--Holy Mountain Soundtrack: 24 tracks composed by Jodorowsky, Don Cherry and Ronald Frangipane. Ranging from spiritual free drones to acid rock to Moroccan desert jams to pensive marches to soft jazz and everywhere in between. There are even themes for each of the nine planetary characters. Such a wild, weird, and wonderful soundtrack and it alone is worth the price of admission.
Phew! So can you guess, that this is totally and absolutely recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "La Catedral De Los Puercos (The Pigs Monastery)"
MPEG Stream: "Vals Fantasma"
MPEG Stream: "Las Flores Nacen En El Barro (Flowers Born In the Mud)"
MPEG Stream: "Trance Mutation"
MPEG Stream: "Psychedelic Weapons"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Snakes"

JOHANNES, EERO s/t (Planet Mu) cd 14.98
That's right, we're not crazy. We knew we'd be hearing some more skweee soon. Skweee? That's the Scandinavian DIY funked-up, glitched-out instrumental electro subgenre that we got all addicted to when we discovered it last year. We raved about two rad skweee comps, the Museums Of Future Sound Vols. 1 and 2, released by the Swedish skweee-centric Flogsta Danshall label. And we figured we'd be hearing more, once word really got out.
Well, it's England's Planet Mu label who now takes the lead in getting down with the skweee, signing Eero Johannes for his debut album. Eero had a track on MoFS Vol. 2, which also appears here (re-recorded?): "Finnrexin". That one is killer, but there's lots more here besides that's cool too, from the nervous blip-blip-blippage of "HAL Manifesto" to the 8-bit-y video game funk of "Natt I Sparvagnen" to the utterly catchy "We Could Be Skweeeroes" (which we'd encountered before on the internet)...
Indeed, all 13 tracks on this eponymous disc find Eero droppin' the bass with some slammin', squelching fat beats, gettin' jiggy with it, yet somehow (mostly) stayin' chill and relaxed at the same time. He's got a knack for working catchy melodies into his tracks, however frantic they may be. While our preference in skweee leans towards the stuff that's most lo-fi damaged and fucked up, and Eero's music, whilst crunchy, is sorta on the somewhat more polished/produced side of skweee, we're digging it plenty, spinning it a lot in the store.
Heck, didn't we tell ya? This is just the beginning. Warp had better make a skweee signing soon too.
Best skweee album of the year, so far!
MPEG Stream: "Natt I Sparvagnen"
MPEG Stream: "Katt With 700 Watts"
MPEG Stream: "We Could Be Skweeeroes"

JOHANNES, EERO s/t (Planet Mu) 2lp 17.98
That's right, we're not crazy. We knew we'd be hearing some more skweee soon. Skweee? That's the Scandinavian DIY funked-up, glitched-out instrumental electro subgenre that we got all addicted to when we discovered it last year. We raved about two rad skweee comps, the Museums Of Future Sound Vols. 1 and 2, released by the Swedish skweee-centric Flogsta Danshall label. And we figured we'd be hearing more, once word really got out.
Well, it's England's Planet Mu label who now takes the lead in getting down with the skweee, signing Eero Johannes for his debut album. Eero had a track on MoFS Vol. 2, which also appears here (re-recorded?): "Finnrexin". That one is killer, but there's lots more here besides that's cool too, from the nervous blip-blip-blippage of "HAL Manifesto" to the 8-bit-y video game funk of "Natt I Sparvagnen" to the utterly catchy "We Could Be Skweeeroes" (which we'd encountered before on the internet)...
Indeed, all 13 tracks on this eponymous disc find Eero droppin' the bass with some slammin', squelching fat beats, gettin' jiggy with it, yet somehow (mostly) stayin' chill and relaxed at the same time. He's got a knack for working catchy melodies into his tracks, however frantic they may be. While our preference in skweee leans towards the stuff that's most lo-fi damaged and fucked up, and Eero's music, whilst crunchy, is sorta on the somewhat more polished/produced side of skweee, we're digging it plenty, spinning it a lot in the store.
Heck, didn't we tell ya? This is just the beginning. Warp had better make a skweee signing soon too.
Best skweee album of the year, so far!
MPEG Stream: "Natt I Sparvagnen"
MPEG Stream: "Katt With 700 Watts"
MPEG Stream: "We Could Be Skweeeroes"

JOHANNSSON, JOHANN Dis (The Worker's Institute) cd 14.98
After two stunning records of orchestral filmscores released by the stellar Touch Recors, Iceland's Johann Johannsson presents his score for the film Dis through The Worker's Institute (who also recently released the lovely debut disc from Amina, Sigur Ros' string section). There is a significant sonic difference between the work Johannsson did for Touch (e.g. a grandiose impressionism for large chamber ensembles augmented with electronics) and this album, which features an almost saccharine pop, '80s feel with repeating motifs and melodies, seemingly designed for particular scenes / emotional ambience within the movie. Johannsson's score for Dis is a fantastic simulation of a dreamy bubble-gum sentimentality, the sort evoked through many of John Hughes soundtracks; to top it off, the repeating motif throughout the Dis is deadringer for the Mickey & Sylvia track "Love Is Strange" which appeared on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. Seriously. As Johannsson envisioned this soundtrack to capture the zeitgeist of 21st Century Reykjavik, one has to wonder if Johannson is comparing Reykjavik to the Breakfast Club / Fast Times teenage American drama of twenty years ago?
MPEG Stream: "Bangkok Nordursins"
MPEG Stream: "10 Rokkstig"

JOHANNSSON, JOHANN Englaborn (Touch) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Founding member of the Kitchen Motors arts organization in Reykjavik, Johann Johannsson has been at the forefront of adventurous music in Iceland, performing with the Apparat Organ Ensemble and working with some of the more acclaimed Icelandic exports (i.e. members of Sigur Ros, Mum, Stilluppsteypa, Halfer Trio, etc.). "Englaborn" is the first album for Johannsson, who reconstructed this album from the score he wrote for the stage play by Havar Sigurjonsson. Johannsson stated that "The play is extremely violent and disturbing; and basically, when faced with the script, I decided to work against it as much as possible and just try to write the most beautiful music I could." While we do not have the benefit of witnessing the play itself or any images for that matter (beautiful Jon Wozencroft photographs of the sea grace the cover of this album), Johannsson invokes a profound sadness through his descending chord progressions for the Epos Spring Quartet which he augments with spartan use of percussion, electronics, piano, computerized voices, and harmonium. Where Sigur Ros has crafted grandiose operas of Icelandic melancholia, Johann Johannsson simplifies his scores into poignant short stories that nevertheless resonate with those emotions.
RealAudio clip: "Odi Et Amo"
RealAudio clip: "Eg Atti Graa Asku"
RealAudio clip: "ef Eg Hefdi Aldrei..."

JOHANNSSON, JOHANN Englaborn (4AD) cd 10.98
AN OLD FAVORITE NOW AVAILABLE FROM 4AD AT LOWER PRICE!!!
Founding member of the Kitchen Motors arts organization in Reykjavik, Johann Johannsson has been at the forefront of adventurous music in Iceland, performing with the Apparat Organ Ensemble and working with some of the more acclaimed Icelandic exports (i.e. members of Sigur Ros, Mum, Stilluppsteypa, Halfer Trio, etc.). Englaborn is the first album for Johannsson, who reconstructed this album from the score he wrote for the stage play by Havar Sigurjonsson. Johannsson stated that "The play is extremely violent and disturbing; and basically, when faced with the script, I decided to work against it as much as possible and just try to write the most beautiful music I could." While we do not have the benefit of witnessing the play itself or any images for that matter (beautiful Jon Wozencroft photographs of the sea grace the cover of this album), Johannsson invokes a profound sadness through his descending chord progressions for the Epos Spring Quartet which he augments with spartan use of percussion, electronics, piano, computerized voices, and harmonium. Where Sigur Ros has crafted grandiose operas of Icelandic melancholia, Johann Johannsson simplifies his scores into poignant short stories that nevertheless resonate with those emotions.
MPEG Stream: "Odi Et Amo"
MPEG Stream: "Eg Atti Graa Asku"
MPEG Stream: "ef Eg Hefdi Aldrei..."

JOHANNSSON, JOHANN Fordlandia (4AD) cd 13.98
Dunno what happened here, but Johann Johannsson totally blows it on Fordlandia. His previous records had tip-toed around the ideas of big Hollywood filmscores, exaggerating the emotional rigor to describe the banal, or composing quietly sad scores to counterpoint a hyperviolent play. But here, the Icelander goes for a full-on melodramatic orchestration, something that would make for the big crescendo on a Jerry Bruckheimer film. Amidst the massive string symphony, some Guitar Hero wannabe rockstar dons the role of The Edge with some tricked out delay appreggiation on his politely 'artful' riffs. Is this supposed to be ironic? Ugh.
MPEG Stream: "Fordlandia"

JOHANNSSON, JOHANN IBM 1401 : A User's Manual (4AD) cd 15.98
The Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson has now signed to 4AD, after a couple of mighty fine albums released through Touch; and 4AD is certainly the right outlet for this album, as Johannson's grandiose scores for orchestral arrangements, vocal chorales, and electronics enjoys the same weighty sentimentality heard in many a Dead Can Dance or This Mortal Coil album. Lush, cinematic, and utterly dramatic, this album curiously is not a soundtrack (although it has all of the repeating leitmotifs and syrupy pathos of a big budget Hollywood film of the tragic / romantic genre); rather Johannsson contextualizes all of these majestic, post-classical elements as a tribute to the IBM 1401, a state of the art computer from 1960. The computer came with a audio training manual from which he culled samples about the machine's maintenance. While some of the exchanges of Michael Nyman-esque orchestral phrases with the authoritarian vocals from the manual are quite interesting, the album is wholly saccharine in scope, rendering whatever nostalgia for technologies past as something of a quaint detour from the orchestral bombast.
MPEG Stream: "Part 2 - IBM 1403 Printer"
MPEG Stream: "Part 4 - IBM 729 II Magnetic Tape Unit"

JOHANNSSON, JOHANN Virdulegu Forsetar (Touch) 2cd 17.98
Johann Johannsson is fast becoming one of the bright lights in the already talent rich Icelandic underground music scene. Having helped found the Kitchen Motors arts organization in Reykjavik, Johannsson has also performed with the Apparat Organ Ensemble as well as members of Sigur Ros, Mum, Stilluppsteypa and more.
We raved about Johannsson's debut album Englaborn. But while this new release is sonically quite different, it retains many of the elements that we found so appealing on Englaborn. Virdulegu Forsetar is an hour long piece written for 11 brass players (trumpets, horns, tuba), percussion (Glockenspiel and bells), electronics, organs and piano.
Virdulegu is not as much of an all drone record as his debut, but most definitely still contains many drone-y parts and drone-like elements. A brooding, slow building, minor key, cinematic epic. Warm and lush, rich with harmonic overtones, and melodically very grandiose. The sounds here are very visual and definitely bring to mind vast expanses of land or space, whether it's the sun slowly rising over the desert, the moon peeeking from behind a planet, a slowly spiralling galaxy, and even the Olympics. Huh? Yep, the Olympics. The melodies and instrumentation are quite similar to the fanfares used during the opening ceremonies, or over montages of past Olympiads. It's a little distracting, but quite lovely nonetheless. And of course much darker and dronier than any of the music actually used for the Olympics. Each epic fanfare / flourish dissipates into a rumbling subterranean drone, where it hovers and slowly shifts until another fanfare surfaces in it's place, shines briefly, only to quickly sink back into the inky darkness. This would be the perfect music for the Drone Olympics that we plan on holding in 2006!
MPEG Stream: "Part One"

JOHANSON, CHRIS You Are There book 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What fits within a 4.25" x 7" x .25" space perfectly? SF artist Chris Johanson's glossy pink covered paperback book. It's positively bursting at the seams with his creations - many from his gallery installations. Pages of drawings and text printed on pink blue and yellow paper are interspersed with oddly sized foldouts and full color photos. His rough often blurrily inked depictions and commentary on local street life reveal a sea of often disembodied faces - homeless, business men, clowns - and a clutter of speech bubbles. Recent exhibits all over the place. Here's your chance to see what the hubub is all about.

JOHANSSON, JERRY Next Door Conversation (Kning Disk) cd 14.98
Sitar raga music from Sweden? Sure! On the Swedish label Kning Disk, who last brought us cds by Wolf Eyes and James Blackshaw -- so we'd expect just about anything (interesting) from them. Composer/arranger Jerry Johansson is a sitar player (who studied with sitar master Roop Verma, who was taught by Ravi Shankar). Here he presents his piece "Next Door Conversation", in two parts, 53 minutes total. His sitar is the lead instrument, and in traditional style he's accompanied by santour and tambura -- but also by a violin/violin/viola/cello string quartet from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra! Shades of Kronos, eh?
It's a dreamy, slowly unfolding, sitar n' strings soundscape, the Eastern twang of Johansson's sitar calmly contrasting with the more cinematic sweep of the string quartet, each recontextualizing the other. With sounds from the subcontinent and Swedish folk motifs both incorporated, this is a gorgeous East-West hybrid indeed, and crosses over other borders to somehow remind us of everything from Spaghetti Western soundtracks to Chinese orchestral music. Gosh, there's not much more to say other than, enjoy!
MPEG Stream: "Next Door Conversation Part I (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Next Door Conversation Part I (excerpt 2)"

JOHANSSON, SVEN-AKE Schlingerland / Dynamische Schwingungen (Atavistic / UMS) cd 14.98