K-GROUP / OMIT Storage (Fusetron) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Both K-Group and Omit have been longtime Aquarius favorites from the New Zealand experimental noise scene; but unfortunately, they've been pretty quiet in their respective outputs during the past couple of years. K-Group is the solo project for Paul Toohey, who has also worked in the (defunct?) Surface Of The Earth, both of which centered around low-frequency tectonic drones coaxed from abused amplifiers. Clinton Williams has taken up the Omit moniker for his creepy, tape loop compositions loaded with bleak sci-fi / psychotic imagery. This collaboration between Williams and Toohey is actually their second, if you count a 7" which came out ages ago. In running Williams' battery of analogue synths through Toohey's cabinets, they've constructed an eerie album of deep rumblings that are on par with anything that Coleclough, Koner, or Troum have managed to release. As the K-Group / Omit drones ripple with a gritty amplifier buzz often lacking in the driftwork of those aforementioned artists, "Storage" pulses with a subterrenean heaviness, pushing this closer towards the Earth / Sunn 0))) terrain. A really wonderful album!!!
RealAudio clip: "Enurn"
RealAudio clip: "Equipment Rack"
RealAudio clip: "Format"

K-RAD Deli Mood Spot (Someoddpilot) cd 14.98
The opening track for "Deli Mood Spot" is so misleading and uncharacteristic of the rest of the album that I have to question K-Rad's decision for including it on the album. K-Rad is a Chicago trio specializing in an IDM techno centered around low-sampling rate grit and faux-acid squiggliness often heard on Patrick Pulsinger's productions for Cheap Records, yet the album seductively begins with a down-tempo, trip-hop number straight outta Mo' Wax circa 1996, complete with blunted breaks, Steinski inspired samples, and DJ Shadow funk recontextualizations. Both that opening cut and the rest of the album are well-executed but certainly do not work as a paired dyptic of well-established aesthetics.
RealAudio clip: "103BR18"
RealAudio clip: "177JIF"

K. Goldfish (Tigerstyle) cd 13.98
Taking a step away from the fragile, quiet, slow/sadcore sounds of her last album as well as those of her band Ida, Karla Schickele's performance on this her second solo full length is much less restrained, subdued and delicate. Honest, intimate and bittersweet, she seems to pour her heart into each of these songs. The acoustic instrumentation is once again lovely and barebones - perhaps even more spartan so than on her debut - providing a subtle backing to her voice. Very reminiscent of the early '90s Olympia / DC folky pop scene (Lois, Mecca Normal, Spinanes, etc). Nice!
RealAudio clip: "Ballad"
RealAudio clip: "More Than Wanted"

K. New Problems (Tiger Style) cd 14.98
The first solo album from Karla Schickele of Ida is a lovely, gentle affair. Full of hushed, intimate acoustic recordings embellished with a delicate, almost imperceptible, misty texture. Soft, spartan string and piano instrumentation allow her voice and words to shine through. Very much in the same vein as Low (with whom she recently shared a split cd), or Elliott Smith. Fans of the slower moments of the Spinanes or That Dog (which a customer actually mistook this for) might tingle to k. as well.
RealAudio clip: "Poor Dumb Bird"
RealAudio clip: "Knoxville"

K. / LOW split (Tiger Style) cd ep 9.98
A lovely split release between Low and Karla Schickele of Ida (and formerly of Babe the Blue Ox and Beekeeper). As expected, this is a slow, quiet dreamy gathering of like-minded souls. Tara Jane O'Neil adds drums and organ on the k. tracks. Mr. Warn Defever recorded the Low tracks and remixed one by k.

K. / LOW split (Tiger Style) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A lovely split release between Low and Karla Schickele of Ida (and formerly of Babe the Blue Ox and Beekeeper). As expected, this is a slow, quiet dreamy gathering of like-minded souls. Tara Jane O'Neil adds drums and organ on the k. tracks. Mr. Warn Defever recorded the Low tracks and remixed one by k.

K.C. ACCIDENTAL Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills (Noise Factory) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
K.C. Accidental is centered around the compositional talents of Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin, the latter is also a member of the out-rock ensemble Do Make Say Think. For the debut album, the duo has employed a wealth of talent (trombones, strings, accordions, organs along with guitar, bass, drums) to augment their lush instrumental orchestrations. "Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills" ranks up there with some of the more successful dramatically inclined atmospheres, on par with Rachel's, Tarentel, Mogwai, and Godspeed You Black Emperor. Really good!

K.O., DJ For Wearing A Phone W/Q- (K Records) cd 12.98
A mix cd along the lines of K7's "DJ Kicks" series by dj K.O. of ICU (now IQU) and with ultra-minimal cover art (plain jewel case.) Contains tracks by: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Plone, Andre Estermann, AEMIC, Michael Fakesch, Illianthal, Red Snapper, Boom Boom Satellites, One True Parker, Hexer, Jon Forte vs. London Electricity, BOB Sound System, Palm Skin Productions, E.V.A., and Aphex Twin.

KA-SPEL, EDWARD Red Letters (Cacciocavallo) cd 14.98
With the evidence clearly stated in Ka-Spel's solo projects, no one can doubt who wears the pants in the extended family of the Legendary Pink Dots. Edward Ka-Spel expands the downer psychedelic strum frosted with ample doom & gloom found on the "Hallway of the Gods" Pink Dots album into smoldering experimental if baroque arrangemnts maintaining his Syd Barrett vocal mimicry all the while.

KAADA AND PATTON Romances (Ipecac) cd 15.98

KACIREK, SVEN Palmin Sessions (Pingipung) cd 17.98

KADANE, MATT AND BUBBA Music From The Film Hell House (Pleximusic) cd 10.98
First things first, have you seen the film? It's an unsettling documentary about the planning and production of a "hell house" in Texas, a Halloween haunted house with ulterior sermonizing motives. That said, this soundtrack may certainly be enjoyed without viewing the film... particularly if you're a fan of Bedhead and The New Year. Followers of said groups are undoubtably already aware that the music was composed by band members (and brothers) Matt and Bubba Kadane. Much of the music is indeed of the drowsy drifting meditative variety for which those groups are well-known, Haunting gentle string plucking, melting bass tones, faintly ominous drones fill the air for most of the brief eighteen minutes.
MPEG Stream: "Speaking In Tongues"
MPEG Stream: "Harvest"

KADET Seismic (Tektonic Shift) cd 12.98
Listening to this new release from SF solo IDM/electronicist Kadet is an almost multi-sensory experience. A plethora of wonderfully itchy glitches, thick tenuous throbs and metallic percussive gasps probe your ears. Some sounds actually made my teeth buzz as if I'd chomped down on some aluminum foil - an impressive feat unto itself. The latter tracks gradually sink into a much more deeply fluid abyss - like the echo-y sensation of slowly drifting to the bottom a pool. Fans of the newest stuff from Phoenecia and Nic Endo might take a shine to Kadet.
RealAudio clip: "Sphere"
RealAudio clip: "Ursula"

KADET Thin Air (Current / Tektonic Shift) cd 12.98
Here is Ms Kadet Kuhne's follow-up to Seismic, her fine IDM album from 2001. Since then she's relocated to LA, but she hasn't made any radical departures in her music. That's a good thing 'cause her past endeavors have been pretty darn great, wholly enveloping listens. Now, whether the "thin air" of the title is in reference to that which you might "vanish into" or that which you find at high altitudes, we do not know. But we can say that regardless, the title suits this album well. Some of her sounds can be fleeting and ghostly, while the more severe and imposing ones may leave listeners a wee bit out of sorts or short of breath. Characterized by swishy, cricket-y textures, gentle cloudy drones and rounded deep bass thuds, This Air is a considerably more subdued ambient affair overall than its kinetic, glitchy predecessor. Also, although these sounds were originally part of Sensorium, her audiovisual installation collaboration with Reto Schmid/testrun which showed in Switzerland, LA and here in SF, Thin Air may be best listened to on headphones in isolation. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "Mind Meld"
MPEG Stream: "Chromosoak"

KADURA From The Depths Of The Other Space (Charnel Music) cd 11.98
From Osaka, Japan: Eastern psych-trance space rock. A treat for fans of Ghost and other mind-expanding PSF-label bands. Really nice, especially when leader Atsushi Kobayashi is playing his zurna (double-reed horn).

KAGEL, MAURICIO Pan String Quartets I, II, III (WDR) cd 14.98

KAGEL, MAURICIO Playback Play (WDR) cd 16.98

KAHN, JASON Vanishing Point (23five Incorporated) cd 14.98
Strange that we, of all people, didn't realize this before - the Jason Kahn who has been producing extraordinary minimalist compositions and beautifully subtle sound installations in recent years is the same Jason Kahn who had stints as the drummer for mid-'80s, SST bands Trotsky Icepick, The Leaving Trains (one of Andee's all time faves!), and Universal Congress Of. Believe it! Around 1990, Kahn moved to Europe, dropping out of the US art-punk / post-hardcore scene and effortlessly transitioning into the avant-garde improv community in Zurich. He soon began experimenting with feedback systems resonating within the architecture of his drum kit, discovering a vocabulary of noises that have become the building blocks for his current body of work. A man of numerous collaborations (Gunter Muller, Ralph Steinbruchel, Asher, Steve Roden, Kevin Drumm, Jon Mueller, Toshimaru Nakamura, etc.), solo Jason Kahn records don't happen ever so often; and this one on 23five is exquisite!
On Vanishing Point, Kahn's techniques shift a little bit from the feedback bouncing around the innards of his drum kit to a series of colored noises generated from his custom built, patch-bay synth. The album reveals itself as a subtle and hypnotic elegy for rattling metals, timbral vibration, gossamer static, hissing field recordings, and those aforementioned softened noises. Soon into the piece, Kahn introduces a flickered ghost of melody whose luminous tones manifest ever so slightly against his contrails of noise. The upper register hiss and statics of these layered noises slowly drop in pitch and frequency over the duration of the piece, revealing subharmonic rumblings and an oceanic current that tugs at the agitated textures of Kahn's surface noises. This glacial, minimalist shift renders Vanishing Point elegant and meditative.
For those familiar with the 23five catalogue, this fits snugly next to those awesome records on 23five from Jean-Francois Laporte and Tim Catlin; and for those who are not, the calm surfaces of Kevin Drumm, the crackled surface noise of Loren Chasse's Hedge Of Nerves, the spectral reflections from Alan Lamb's wire recordings, and even the placid side of Taiga Remains could be jumping off points into this excellent album.
MPEG Stream: "Extract 1"
MPEG Stream: "Extract 2"

KAHN, JASON & ASHER Vista (And/OAR) cd 13.98
This is a pairing that we didn't expect; and without a doubt, we didn't expect it to be so good. Jason Kahn is an American ex-pat living in Switzerland, having made a smooth transition from the percussive ends of improv into a drone heavy minimalism that often derives from the resonant frequencies of snares and floor toms. Earlier in 2008, Kahn delivered a transcendent live set at the San Francisco Art Institute with little more than an amplifier, a drum head, and some basic electronics. Asher Thal-Nir has impressed us with his ultra-quiet renderings of whispered field recordings and gauzy atmospherics, on par with some of the best work from Bernhard Gunter (what ever happened to that guy, anyway?). The album begins with rasping din of soft metals like aluminum or copper rattling against each other. For those familiar with Kahn's work, this tactile acoustic noise sounds just like one of his feedback systems transmitted through his drum kit; however, the sources for this album are all field recordings. Asher provided the environmental sounds from the back alleys of Boston, with ventilators, heating units, and other motors that ceaselessly rumble in the urban landscape. Kahn picked the far more pastoral sounds of Lake Zurich. It's almost as if Asher decided upon sounds better suited to Kahn's aesthetic and Kahn to Asher's sensibility. In any case, the huge rumble of subharmonics from Asher's industrial field recordings becomes this leaden cloud that weighs very heavily upon the recording. The fastidious production work between these two subtly shifts the clamorous frequencies into singing overtones, resembling a Ligetti chorale at times or a Pandit Pran Nath harmonium drone at another. But by the end of the record, the thick drone collapses into a vibrating black hole with ripples of negative energy fading into the soft patter of those lakeside field recordings. Definitely for fans of Phill Niblock, John Duncan's drone work, and Kevin Drumm's Imperial Distortion. Very fucking cool.
MPEG Stream: "Vista (extract 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Vista (extract 2)"

KAHVAS JUTE Wide Open (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
Aussie prog reissued.

KAIA Lady Man (Mr. Lady) cd 12.98
She of the angel voice and lyrics that bite, it's Kaia from Team Dresch with another solo record of realness. This beats Jewel and Mary Lou Lord into the ground and leaves them writhing in the knowledge of their total inferiority.

KAIA Lady Man (Mr. Lady) lp 7.98
She of the angel voice and lyrics that bite, it's Kaia from Team Dresch with another solo record of realness. This beats Jewel and Mary Lou Lord into the ground and leaves them writhing in the knowledge of their total inferiority.

KAILASH s/t (Paradigms) cd 12.98
Latest in the ongoing series of lovingly packaged, super limited releases from UK label Paradigms, who ostensibly are a metal label, but whose releases are sonically all over the map, the gothic chamber music of Amber Asylum, the buzzing blackness of Utlagr and Throne Of Katarsis, the blessed out dream done of the Angelic Process, the psychedelic space folk of Plants, the grinding cinematic noise of Gnaw Their Tongues, the black ambient of Wraiths, the metallic post prog rock of Woburn House, the ultra doooooom of Hjarnidaudi and we could go on and on.
And we most likely will as Paradigms shows no sign of slowing down. Two new releases this time around, a disc of dreamy wispy neo-classical ambience from a group called Aythis, and this here slab of progged out bombastic post black metal from Italian horde Kailash.
Equal parts Slint-y black swoon, Opeth like metallic prog, Don Cab like mathy chaos, and plenty of folky strum and doomy lurch.
The tracks are long and proggy, lots of parts, the guitars swinging wildly from finger picked folky flutter, to furious black buzz, grinding out jagged angular riffs one minute, unfurling lilting minor key melodies the next. The drums though hold it all together, incredible fills, blasting double bass, convoluted tangles of odd time signatures, occasionally growled demonic vox, but it's all about the music, even were it instrumental, these songs would be plenty dense and busy, varied and complex to keep your head spinning (and most likely banging).
The label drops names like Ved Buens Ende, Fleurty, Death, Opeth, Emperor, Agolloch and Ulver, and certainly, folks who dig any / all of those bands will certainly be into what Kailash are doing, but to our ears much of this seems a lot mathier, way more dense and complex, and some of the time it really does sound like a black metal Don Cab, but then there's the saxophone (!), never the best idea really in almost any sort of music (outside jazz) and weirdly enough, Kailash drop in some smoky sax here and there, changing the vibe completely, turning it into some sort of blackened Gerry Rafferty jam, but fear not, a burst of furious mathy proggy heaviness is usually right around the corner...
Limited to 750 copies, packaged in a mini lp style sleeve wrapped in a hand stamped brown paper outer sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "The Sleepers"
MPEG Stream: "Wind Under The Door"

KAIN The Blue Guerrilla (Juggernaut) lp 11.98

KAISER / HSU DUO 25 June 2008 (self-released) 3" cd-r 5.98
With a bicycle wheel, a reel-to-reel tape machine, and a few bits of electronics, Jim Kaiser has been a stalwart in the Bay Area improv / experimental community, having worked in French Radio (with Bruce Anderson of MX80), NF Orchest, and Thomas Carnacki's ensemble. But one of his more prolific collaborations has been with Angela Hsu, who's a classically trained violinist who pushes her instrument with tone-bending effects and improvisational techniques. For all of their performances over many years, we're pretty sure that this is their first released recording. Despite the date-as-title alluding to this being a live recording, this is actually a studio production, albeit one that was recorded straight to tape, or more likely to hard drive. During this session, Hsu's violin offers up descending plinks that cascade in a delay ridden tumble, sounding like crumbled bits from some undisclosed orchestral score. Beneath this, there is a grey dinscape constructed from Kaiser's bowed bike wheel and a muddled hiss from the tape machine. It could be a field recording of some sort, playing through the corroded heads of that reel-to-reel, but it's so obfuscated as to be a thick cloud of Philip Jeck dust warbling with varispeed jolts alongside scattered noises and caterwauling screeches, ripping in an agitated field of delay patterns. Limited to something like 25 copies. Don't expect these around for long!
MPEG Stream: "25 June 2008"

KAISER / HSU DUO Alternate Soundtrack To The Last Theft (self-released) 3" cd-r 5.98
The Last Theft is a 1987 short film by the Czech stop-motion animator Jiri Barta, whose sensibility is not far from that of Jan Svankmejer. East Bay improvisers Jim Kaiser and Angela Hsu took up the challenge of working with this baroquely dark fairy tale of a short, using their signature instrumentation for reel-to-reel tape, bicycle wheel, violin, and a few choice effects pedals. Where their collaborations are typically clustered around squiggles and screeches from bowing the bike wheel and scraping against the violin, this 'alternate soundtrack' is considerably moodier and spun around the a warbling industrial-strength drone axis. Long-form bellows and primeval discordant textures weave a growling, ominous atmospheres rich with opium smoke laced with asbestos dust, altogether sounding not all that far from the classic works by Organum or Taj Mahal Travellers. It should also be noted that Spoonbender 1.1.1. scored a very different piece to a condensed version of the film!
MPEG Stream: "Alternate Soundtrack To The Last Theft"

KAISER CHIEFS Employment (Universal) cd 10.98
Okay folks, let's just state what has become increasingly obvious... if you're over the age of twenty seven, you're probably not hearing a lot of new music these days that doesn't sound like [fill in the blank]. So we've sorta gotta accept that 'good music' is gonna be that which is probably somewhat lacking in the originality department but done exceptionally well. Case in point, Kaiser Chiefs. Expect that name to be shoved down your throat in the next few months beyond Franz Ferdinand proportions. Yeah, just like F.F. they're on a major label and hence have the big bucks and suits makin' sure you know who they are, but also just like F.F. they've got the chops and hooks to back up the hype... and yes, what they do is very much like F.F., Killers, Futureheads, Maximo Park, et al -- y-know, late 80s/early 90s-inspired catchy-as-fuck choruses, woozy synth keyboards, sinewy guitars, punchy drumming, hammered piano keys, cocky lead vocals and falsetto na-na-na-na backing vocals -- but with more of the lanky bombast of Pulp, more of the sneering bite of The Clash (especially on the first single "I Predict A Riot" and the fourth song "Na Na Na Na Naa"... yes, it's really called that!) and yeah even a bit of Adam & The Ants too (check out the tenth song "Time Honoured Tradition")! I'm sure some folks will be trying to turn up their noses at this, but it's pretty hard to resist. Aw heck, kids who were born the year that this kind of music first became popular will probably think Employment is groundbreaking, but for those of us...uhhh, older folks, it's gonna simply be a gosh dang dandy summertime album! So get a jump on it.
MPEG Stream: "I Predict A Riot"
MPEG Stream: "Time Honoured Tradition"

KAISER CHIEFS Off With Their Heads (Universal / Motown) cd 12.98

KAISER, HENRY, & WADADA LEO SMITH Yo Miles! (Shanachie) 2cd 19.98
Kaiser and Smith join together to pay tribute to Miles Davis' electric '73-'75 period, joined by The Rova Sax Quartet, Nels Cline, Elliot Sharp, John Medeski, Lukas Ligeti, Oluyemi Thomas and many others...

KAITO Everlasting (Kompakt) 12" 9.98
Certainly much more dancefloor friendly than the recent output from Kompakt, Kaito's "Everlasting" features a laid back shuffling tech-house groove flushed out by low slung basslines and constantly syncopating Carl Craig like synth pads.

KAITO Hundred Million Love Years (Kompakt) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Natural Source"
MPEG Stream: "Hundred Million Light Years"

KAITO Hundred Million Love Years (Kompakt) lp 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Natural Source"
MPEG Stream: "Hundred Million Light Years"

KAITO Special Life (Kompakt) cd 17.98
Get your dancin' shoes polished up and ready to go 'cause Kaito (aka Japanese producer Hiroshi Watanabe) has offered up over 75 minutes of sleek and sharply executed trance-meets-house grooves. There's all-out thumpin' bass rumpshakers to total gonna-love-you-downtempo numbers and a super spacy atmospheric closing track mysteriously called "Awakening (Beatlesstrumental)". This is his first full length, but please note, it compiles his three previous 12"s with a few new tracks.
RealAudio clip: "Breaking The Star"
RealAudio clip: "Awakening (Beatlesstrumental)"

KALACAKRA Crawling To Lhasa (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00
The flood of compact disc reissues of obscure krautrock albums has been constant and overwhelming in recent years, but few discs are truly as cosmic and inspired as collector hype claims make them out to be. Usually an album's rarity is confused with "classic" status. But every once in a while, we get pleasantly blown away by an unexpected unknown. Kalacakra is one such album that deserves its mythical, mystical reputation (and $300 price tag on the collector's market). Reissued in 2001 (but not heard by us until more recently, due to the glut of such reissues alluded to above), Kalacakra's "Crawling To Lhasa" contains eight tracks of mantric acid-folk self-released in 1972 by the apparently drugged-out duo of Claus Rauschenbach ("guitars, kongas, percussions, vocals, harmonica, slentem") and Heinz Martin ("electr. guitars, flute, piano, vibraphon, schalmi, cello, violin, synthesizer"). Their strange, hippie sense of humor and obsession with the culture of Tibet (the name Kalacakra is the Tibetan term for "wheel of time") results in some fantastically nonsensical, eastern-influenced psychedelia (nonsensical? well, that "slentem" that Claus plays is in fact a non-existent, made-up instrument!). The album begins with the dark, hypnotic "Nearby Shiras", a song about a plague-ravaged town in olden Persia, which features some totally sinister and maniacal whispered German-language vocals, reminding us a bit even of Comus. As their crawl to Lhasa continues, Kalacakra venture into zones of lovely folk-strum and raga-rock as well, before the album wraps up with a deranged and damaged blues stumble called "Tante Olga". Oh, then there's two "bonus" tracks, recorded by Heinz in 1993, that are perhaps best ignored: electronic "world music" unfortunately lacking the mystery and insanity of his 1972 output, inoffensive but an unnecessary addition to this reissue for sure. Claus, we're told, still lives (on social security) in Kalacakra's home town of Duisburg, but does no recording. Good for him.
Some folks we know (who often make music under the name Thuja) got so inspired upon hearing this disc that they determined to start their own hippie psych side project, to be called "The Ways Of God To Man", drawing upon Kalacakra as well as the similar sounds of Yahowah 13 and Maru Sankaku Shikaku and Faust's "Tapes" as influences. We'll let you know if they manage to actually record anything!
Garden of Delights did their usual thorough job with this reissue, which boasts a thick booklet full of liner notes (in German and English), reproductions of label art from the original LP *and* from bootleg versions, plus photos of Claus and Heinz looking about as weird and long-haired and hippie-ish as it's possible to get!
Albums like this make us worry about overlooking other hidden gems amid the multitude of kraut/psych/prog reissues that we're blessed/cursed with every month, so we'll do our best to try and check 'em all out, eventually...whew...
RealAudio clip: "Nearby Shiras"
RealAudio clip: "Raga No. 11"
RealAudio clip: "Tante Olga"

KALAS s/t (Tee Pee) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Monuments To Ruins"
MPEG Stream: "Frozen Sun"

KALEIDOSCOPE #4 magazine 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're always on the lookout for new weird music magazines, and we're fairly sure this might be our new favorite. To begin with, it's put out by one of the guys in weirdo black metal outfit Circle Of Ouroborus. Plus just have a gander at the contents, loads of AQ faves and a few bands we have yet to hear, but definitely sound promising. Blissy black metallers Amesoeurs and Amesoeurs offshoot Alcest, Finland's Ride For Revenge, Japanese metallic black ritualists Arkha Sva, Swedish suicidal black doomsters Hypothermia, Irish black metal cult Primordial, German black metal warriors Secrets Of The Moon, pagan folk legends Current 93, Australian one man metal horde Grippiud and Italian blackdeath warkult Blasphemophagher. As if that weren't enough, a bunch of record reviews, tons of cool photos, and every page is decorated in the margins with that cool pencil art that adorns all the Circle Of Ouroborus discs. Awesome!

KALEIDOSCOPE #5 magazine 10.98
Latest issue of this kick ass metal mag from long time aQ favorites, black metal geniuses (maniacs?) Circle Of Ouroborus, who, when not crafting twisted damaged folk flecked stumbling blackened buzz, put together a seriously excellent 'zine, covering a super varied selection of very AQ worthy outfits.
Number 5 features NY based primitive black metallers Ash Pool, Japanese doomsters Coffins, Danish doom combo Sol, legendary Norwegian black metallers Trelldom, German blackened death metallers Drowned, death metal legends Incantation, stoner doom trio Ramesses. And even some new-to-us stuff: Australian black thrashers Denouncement Pyre, and four super obscure black death doom bands with only demos to their names: Arvet from Finland, Ignivomous from Australia, Exorcism (we're not sure where they're from) and another Finnish band Profetus.
In addition to all that stuff, there's a bunch of reviews, as well as a killer primer on Finnish black metal, and each page has a cool hand drawn border with demons and flames and upside down crosses, skeletons, and in addition to all the various band photos, there are tons of creepy hand drawn illustrations.

KALEIDOSCOPE Faintly Blowing (Repertoire) cd 19.98
Although, sadly, we haven't been able to get copies of the first Kaleidoscope album on cd of late (the one entitled Tangerine Dream, not to be confused with the krautrock band of that name), we are very happy to now have copies of this perfectly twee UK psych pop combo's recently reissued second album, 1969's Faintly Blowing! And it comes in a nice digipack with six bonus tracks! Now if only we had some tea and crumpets we'd be all supercalifragilistic. Ahem.
Kaleidoscope were one of the best unsung post-Peppers British psych-pop acts. This one carries on from their first (a solid AQ fave) with more of the same delightful dreamy oh-so-melodic and lysergically lyricized pop psyke, some of the best ever in our humble opinion. Orchestrated, emotive, shoulda-been-hits abound, along with some way-out psychedelic experimentation. The Kaleidoscope story continued into the proggy '70s with a name change to Fairfield Parlour but Faintly Blowing was really their last colourful hurrah of dainty dandy '60s poppiness.
MPEG Stream: "Faintly Blowing"
MPEG Stream: "Snap Dragon"

KALEIDOSCOPE Tangerine Dream (Repertoire) cd 22.00
Whoo-hoo! At last this AQ fave is back in stock, repressed in a nice new digipack edition. Here's how we raved about it when we first reviewed it a few years ago:
Not a new release -- nor even a new reissue -- but we just manage to get some and wanted to list it 'cause it's something that several of us here have been listening to a lot lately! This Kaleidoscope were a sixties British pop psych band (not to be confused with the various other Kaleidoscopes of the era from the US and Mexico) and we believe these guys might in fact have been THE ULTIMATE psychedelic pop band ever. This album (also not to be confused with the famous Krautrock/soundtrack outfit with the same name as the album's title) is just incredible. Gorgeous vocals, killer melodies, lush orchestrations, and, especially, beautifully baroque psych-speak lyrics that put "Strawberry Fields Forever" to shame -- with lines like "Battalions in baby blue are bursting beige balloons / the water pistols are all filled with lemonade / the jester and the goldfish have joined minds above the moon / oh please kiss the flowers and you too will be safe / oh swing and sway..."
It's very British, twee and dreamy, being that perfect blend of sunshine and melancholy so many psych pop bands of the era were striving for. The Kaleidoscope did it best right here. I mean, if you like the Zombies and the Hollies and heck the Olivia Tremor Control you should know about these gents too. Indee, the original 1967 album's final track (followed here by six bonus tracks), "The Sky Children", might be THE ULTIMATE pop-psych track on this ultimate pop-psych record. (Hey a little hyperbole never hurt anybody.) It's an eight-minute epic, with a thrilling vocal hook on endless repeat, and amazing lyrics continually pouring forth the whole time. Truly awe-some, if you're attuned to the vibe.
MPEG Stream: "Dive Into Yesterday"
MPEG Stream: "Flight From Ashiya"
MPEG Stream: "The Sky Children"

KALENDAREV, YURI Sound Sculptures (Die Schachtel) cd 27.00

KALEVALA People No Names / Boogie Jungle (Walhalla) cd 21.00
The Kalevala is the Finnish national mythological epic, and thus no surprise this '70s prog/boogie band hails from Finland. Yes that's right, we said prog/boogie. And Finland. Wonder if Itavayla are fans? There's two LPs reissued here on this single cd, the band's 1972 debut People No Names, and their 1975 follow-up Boogie Jungle. Of the two, well, you can maybe guess which is the best...
People No Names is simply a crazed hard rockin' prog behemoth, kicking ass and taking names (no names?). The nine-minute title track doesn't hold back the rapid-fire changes, the ripping guitars, the jazzy grooves, the weirdly gruff vocals...it's wild stuff!! The other cuts here veer from instrumental shred to folky melodiousness to heavy psychedelic jamming, oftentimes all at once! Not for those with no tolerance for wackiness, though. The countryish hoedown "Tamed Indians" will see to that...
Record number two, which appeared three years later, after the band broke up and reformed with a new line-up (including a new vocalist), is a bit more of an ordinary, less-prog, more Jimi Hendrix-y affair. Still wacky though. And, of course, they've gone BOOGIE big time. Some will find this just too ridiculous but we're having wonderful nostalgic flashbacks to a '70s rock n' roll Finland we never actually experienced.
Interesting note: Liner notes that reveal the band's original name was Vietnam, which didn't fly with concert promoters at the time, hence the change...
Another note: one annoyance is that Walhalla did that annoying thing labels so often do when they put out 2-on-1 cds, trying to cram both album's covers on one panel of the cd booklet rather than giving each cover a panel. Pet peeve #294,391.
MPEG Stream: "People No Names"
MPEG Stream: "Lady With The Veil"
MPEG Stream: "Mind The Fly Hunter"

KALINICH, STEPHEN JOHN A World Of Peace Must Come (Light In The Attic) cd 14.98
One would usually never align The Beach Boys with early freak folk, but then this strange and lovely oddity suddenly emerges out of nowhere and all kinds of links can be made. Stephen John Kalinich was (and still is) a poet and songwriter who with the help of Lindsey Buckingham in a project called Zarathurstra and Thelibus cut a demo of "Leaves of Grass" inspired by the Walt Whitman poem. Moving to LA in the mid-sixties, he met the Wilson brothers and based on the strength of the demo was signed as the first artist on their newly formed Brother Records imprint. He co-wrote songs mainly with Dennis such as "Little Bird" and "Be Still" from the Friends album (one of our Beach Boys favorites) as well as songs from the recently reissued "Pacific Ocean Blue". "A World Of Peace Must Come" was to be his debut release. Recorded by Brian Wilson at Brian's house in 1969, the tapes were immediately lost and never heard from since... until now. The production is not what you might expect from Brian Wilson, instead these are beautiful lo-fi recordings of beat-like impressionistic poetry and song, backed by simple arrangements of acoustic guitars, field recordings and tablas, with bits of dialogue between Brian and Stephen interspersed. One can't help but be reminded of the Jewelled Antler collective's foresty acoustics when listening to tracks like "The Deer, The Elk, The Raven". Or the gentle spoken word psych of Bobby Brown. Like Eden Ahbez was to Nat King Cole, Kalinich was a strange visionary figure in the Wilson's lives, and this is a fascinating document of their relationship, and an interesting curio of The Beach Boys in their peak era. Now if someone would only reissue that American Spring album........
MPEG Stream: "The Deer, The Elk, The Raven"
MPEG Stream: "Be Still"
MPEG Stream: "America, I Know You"
MPEG Stream: "Leaves Of Grass"

KALLIKAK FAMILY May 23rd 2007 (Tell-All) cd 9.98
As the Kallikak Family's debut album opens mournful drones seep forth slowly. The track is titled "Organ Tuning / Surgery", and indeed that is what it sounds like. The tones lull themselves in and out of different ranges. Eventually the somber atmosphere is gently stirred by the surfacing of shimmery aquatic vibrations and vocal samples in the title track. These in turn give way to peals from distant chapel bells. Although the album's title is seemingly a date in the not so distant future, the sounds contained within evoke a sense of fleeting memories from the past. Airy and contemplative and yes, recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Organ Tuning / Surgery"
MPEG Stream: "May 23rd 2007"
MPEG Stream: "Bells In Bergamo"

KALMA, ARIEL Le Temps Des Moissons (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 17.98
We raved over the earlier reissue of minimalist composer Ariel Kalma's 1978 epic Osmose. So much so we made it a Record of the Week! Now Beta-Lactam Ring has reissued Kalma's 1975 debut Les Temps des Moissons (Time of The Harvest), a foray into electronic ragas using saxophone (lots of sax), ethnic instruments, effects and all manners of electronic filters. Less proto-new age sounding than Osmose, Les Temps takes cues from Terry Riley's Poppy NoGood explorations with saxophone and time delay and expands on them with krautier influences using kalimbas, flutes and wah-wah effects into a metaphysical tapestry of free music. Fans of Riley, early Kraftwerk and Joakim Skogsberg will find lots to love here!
MPEG Stream: "Bakafrica"
MPEG Stream: "Fast Road To Nowhere"

KALMA, ARIEL Osmose (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 14.98
There's something truly magical about music in nature. And we don't mean the music we find in nature, although more often than not, that natural music is far more interesting and beautiful then anything we humans can conjure up. No, we're talking about playing music -with- nature, -in-nature. The act of collaborating with something so big, so grand, so overwhelmingly complex, that sometimes just the mere act of creating sounds away from the studio or stage, just being outside in nature with your music, can seem truly divine. And as listeners, there is something thrilling about man and nature working together to make music. From the primitive forest black metal blast of Ulver recording Nattens Madrigal in the Norwegian woods, to the Jewelled Antler collective communing with nature, allowing wind and rain and sticks and stones to play as important a part in their music as they themselves, to the rain soaked ritual of Koukiji Kougezan's Live [11th] Final Hyakusenmansyuuraku, a near ambient performance for flute and sitar, with the falling rain, and thus nature, the focal point of the ritual / performance. So lovely, and vital, the music seems so much more whole, so much more alive, all intertwined with the elements.
Osmose was originally released in 1978 and found minimalist composer Ariel Kalma using all manner of keyboards, saxophone, harmonium, delays, effects, even circular breathing, to compose gorgeously minimal, softly spacey slow drifting ambient soundscapes, which were then mixed with the sounds of the rainforest (recorded by Richard Tinti). But unlike new age meditational music, this wasn't just music layered on top of random bits of field recordings, Kalma actually composed and mixed, edited and arranged his compositions to work with and within the sounds of the rainforest. Abstract melodies and warm chordal swirls, simple tribal war drums, perfectly blended with the calls of crickets and frogs and cicadas, the falling rain, birdsongs, flies, and all the sounds of the jungle forest. It sounds almost as if, while walking through the forest, you'd be just as likely to stumble across a bunch of analog synthesizers basking in a sunny glade or a wheezing harmonium perched in low hanging branches as you would frogs gathered by the edge of the stream. Sounds strange, but that's how interconnected the natural sounds are with Kalma's compositions. The distant animal calls sometimes form primitive loops, while Kalma paints them with warm soft smears of sound, extended drones and dreamy drifty ambience. Simple rhythms repeat while the sounds of the forest drift lazily by, everything sun dappled or rain soaked, It's almost like a pop ambient record recorded deep in the forest primeval. Or stumbling upon some ancient burial ground and discovering traces of some long gone krautrock jam, which over time had somehow sunk deep into the earth, or floated off into the sky, leaving nothing but memories, a handful of bones, sonic echoes of its former self. Sounds like ghosts, drifting like spirits through the leaves of the trees, floating weightless above the wet leaves and rich soil. Warm and fuzzy, dreamy and blissed out, so completely lovely and quite possibly our new favorite record to drift off to...
Includes three bonus tracks recorded at the same time as the original lp, but unreleased until now, as well as a booklet of liner notes detailing the lives of both Ariel Kalma and Richard Tinti, as well as the genesis of Osmose.
MPEG Stream: "Saxo Planetariel"
MPEG Stream: "Message 18.10.77"

KALMAH They Will Return (Century Media) cd 14.98
Yet another amazing band from the metal mecca of Finland. Bearing no small sonic resemblance to their countrymen and AQ faves Children Of Bodom, Kalmah take the melodic death metal of In Flames and Dark Tranquility, add ridiculously shredding guitar leads and fleet fingered keyboards and end up with a melodic metal masterpiece. Pounding double kick drums underpin the raging riffs, but melodies abound with Iron Maidenish harmony guitars and super melodic guitar/keyboard solos. My housemate who is a sucker for all things melodic death metal heard this and immediately said 'This is the best record ever.' While he says that about LOTS of records, you still get the idea. While the way-up-in-the-mix keyboards might deter some of you 'true' metalheads, the metal is more than heavy enough to balance it out. Includes a Megadeth cover too!
RealAudio clip: "Hollow Heart"
RealAudio clip: "Swamphell"

KAMINUMADA YOHJI 2nd Album (Ebisu Records) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Obscure, modern-day Japanese psychedelic rock band, kind of like Ghost but perhaps folkier and poppier. With traditional Japanese elements as well. Nice.

KAMMERER, MARGARETH To Be an Animal of Real Flesh (Charizma) cd 15.98

KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF Absencen (Staubgold) cd 15.98
Another outing of hazy, jazz-dappled beauty from this instrumental German collective, I mean, kollektief, who are long-time AQ faves. Burbling drones, noirish atmospheres, electronic beats, lush melody, sampling and improv all combine on this gorgeous fifth album of theirs, Absencen. They've been compared (by us and others) to everyone from Fridge to Mum to AMM to Miles Davis... we're not gonna add any new names to that illustrious list for this review, rather we'd like to make the point that not only do they deserve such comparisons, Kammerflimmer now have pretty much established themselves as a standard for others to be compared against -- anyone who makes lovely, densely woven, textural soundscapey instrumentals that fall somewhere betwixt post-rock, jazz and electronica should be glad to be told they sound a bit like the Kammerflimmer Kollektief!
MPEG Stream: "Lichterloh"
MPEG Stream: "Equilibrium"