AQUARIUS T SHIRT Special Limited Artists Edition #1: Justin Bartlett (Size: 2XL) T-Shirt 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! The first in a series of super limited, artist designed aQ T-Shirts, featuring original art by some of our favorite artists, who just so happen to be loyal aQ customers as well! Each one will be super special, totally unique, and will only be available for a limited time, as we're only making a finite amount of each.
The first shirt design is by aQ pal and infamous killustrator Justin Bartlett, whose style many of you no doubt will recognize. He's done tons of drawings for Oaken Throne black metal magazine, as well as record covers for grim groups like SUNNO))), Moss, Nadja, Pentemple and loads more. His style is incredible, super detailed, pen and ink with tons of stippling, lots of skulls and guts and demons and various crusty oozing offal. For aQ he's designed a super creepy and super evil mother and child, heads in bags, their rotten innards spilling out, skulls on spikes, and "Aquarius Records" carved into the stone archway in the background. It looks amazing, and will for sure get some eyes a popping as you wander through the grocery store or sit in church (heaven forbid).
The back features a small aQ logo up near the collar, the shirts are white on black, they are Hanes heavyweight T's, 100% preshrunk cotton, and we have sizes all the way from Youth Large (for kids and little ladies) all the way up to XXL (for the big guys).
We will only be selling these for a couple months, so don't miss out. Once they are gone, they won't be reprinted. EVER.
Future aQ Artist Edition T's will include designs by Savage Pencil, Stephen O'Malley, Aaron Turner and more more more!!!

AQUARIUS T SHIRT Special Limited Artists Edition #1: Justin Bartlett (Size: Extra Large) T-Shirt 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! The first in a series of super limited, artist designed aQ T-Shirts, featuring original art by some of our favorite artists, who just so happen to be loyal aQ customers as well! Each one will be super special, totally unique, and will only be available for a limited time, as we're only making a finite amount of each.
The first shirt design is by aQ pal and infamous killustrator Justin Bartlett, whose style many of you no doubt will recognize. He's done tons of drawings for Oaken Throne black metal magazine, as well as record covers for grim groups like SUNNO))), Moss, Nadja, Pentemple and loads more. His style is incredible, super detailed, pen and ink with tons of stippling, lots of skulls and guts and demons and various crusty oozing offal. For aQ he's designed a super creepy and super evil mother and child, heads in bags, their rotten innards spilling out, skulls on spikes, and "Aquarius Records" carved into the stone archway in the background. It looks amazing, and will for sure get some eyes a popping as you wander through the grocery store or sit in church (heaven forbid).
The back features a small aQ logo up near the collar, the shirts are white on black, they are Hanes heavyweight T's, 100% preshrunk cotton, and we have sizes all the way from Youth Large (for kids and little ladies) all the way up to XXL (for the big guys).
We will only be selling these for a couple months, so don't miss out. Once they are gone, they won't be reprinted. EVER.
Future aQ Artist Edition T's will include designs by Savage Pencil, Stephen O'Malley, Aaron Turner and more more more!!!

AQUARIUS T SHIRT Special Limited Artists Edition #1: Justin Bartlett (Size: Large) T-Shirt 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! The first in a series of super limited, artist designed aQ T-Shirts, featuring original art by some of our favorite artists, who just so happen to be loyal aQ customers as well! Each one will be super special, totally unique, and will only be available for a limited time, as we're only making a finite amount of each.
The first shirt design is by aQ pal and infamous killustrator Justin Bartlett, whose style many of you no doubt will recognize. He's done tons of drawings for Oaken Throne black metal magazine, as well as record covers for grim groups like SUNNO))), Moss, Nadja, Pentemple and loads more. His style is incredible, super detailed, pen and ink with tons of stippling, lots of skulls and guts and demons and various crusty oozing offal. For aQ he's designed a super creepy and super evil mother and child, heads in bags, their rotten innards spilling out, skulls on spikes, and "Aquarius Records" carved into the stone archway in the background. It looks amazing, and will for sure get some eyes a popping as you wander through the grocery store or sit in church (heaven forbid).
The back features a small aQ logo up near the collar, the shirts are white on black, they are Hanes heavyweight T's, 100% preshrunk cotton, and we have sizes all the way from Youth Large (for kids and little ladies) all the way up to XXL (for the big guys).
We will only be selling these for a couple months, so don't miss out. Once they are gone, they won't be reprinted. EVER.
Future aQ Artist Edition T's will include designs by Savage Pencil, Stephen O'Malley, Aaron Turner and more more more!!!

AQUARIUS T SHIRT Special Limited Artists Edition #1: Justin Bartlett (Size: Medium) T-Shirt 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! The first in a series of super limited, artist designed aQ T-Shirts, featuring original art by some of our favorite artists, who just so happen to be loyal aQ customers as well! Each one will be super special, totally unique, and will only be available for a limited time, as we're only making a finite amount of each.
The first shirt design is by aQ pal and infamous killustrator Justin Bartlett, whose style many of you no doubt will recognize. He's done tons of drawings for Oaken Throne black metal magazine, as well as record covers for grim groups like SUNNO))), Moss, Nadja, Pentemple and loads more. His style is incredible, super detailed, pen and ink with tons of stippling, lots of skulls and guts and demons and various crusty oozing offal. For aQ he's designed a super creepy and super evil mother and child, heads in bags, their rotten innards spilling out, skulls on spikes, and "Aquarius Records" carved into the stone archway in the background. It looks amazing, and will for sure get some eyes a popping as you wander through the grocery store or sit in church (heaven forbid).
The back features a small aQ logo up near the collar, the shirts are white on black, they are Hanes heavyweight T's, 100% preshrunk cotton, and we have sizes all the way from Youth Large (for kids and little ladies) all the way up to XXL (for the big guys).
We will only be selling these for a couple months, so don't miss out. Once they are gone, they won't be reprinted. EVER.
Future aQ Artist Edition T's will include designs by Savage Pencil, Stephen O'Malley, Aaron Turner and more more more!!!

AQUARIUS T SHIRT Special Limited Artists Edition #1: Justin Bartlett (Size: Small) T-Shirt 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! The first in a series of super limited, artist designed aQ T-Shirts, featuring original art by some of our favorite artists, who just so happen to be loyal aQ customers as well! Each one will be super special, totally unique, and will only be available for a limited time, as we're only making a finite amount of each.
The first shirt design is by aQ pal and infamous killustrator Justin Bartlett, whose style many of you no doubt will recognize. He's done tons of drawings for Oaken Throne black metal magazine, as well as record covers for grim groups like SUNNO))), Moss, Nadja, Pentemple and loads more. His style is incredible, super detailed, pen and ink with tons of stippling, lots of skulls and guts and demons and various crusty oozing offal. For aQ he's designed a super creepy and super evil mother and child, heads in bags, their rotten innards spilling out, skulls on spikes, and "Aquarius Records" carved into the stone archway in the background. It looks amazing, and will for sure get some eyes a popping as you wander through the grocery store or sit in church (heaven forbid).
The back features a small aQ logo up near the collar, the shirts are white on black, they are Hanes heavyweight T's, 100% preshrunk cotton, and we have sizes all the way from Youth Large (for kids and little ladies) all the way up to XXL (for the big guys).
We will only be selling these for a couple months, so don't miss out. Once they are gone, they won't be reprinted. EVER.
Future aQ Artist Edition T's will include designs by Savage Pencil, Stephen O'Malley, Aaron Turner and more more more!!!

AQUARIUS T SHIRT Special Limited Artists Edition #1: Justin Bartlett (Size: Youth Large) T-Shirt 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! The first in a series of super limited, artist designed aQ T-Shirts, featuring original art by some of our favorite artists, who just so happen to be loyal aQ customers as well! Each one will be super special, totally unique, and will only be available for a limited time, as we're only making a finite amount of each.
The first shirt design is by aQ pal and infamous killustrator Justin Bartlett, whose style many of you no doubt will recognize. He's done tons of drawings for Oaken Throne black metal magazine, as well as record covers for grim groups like SUNNO))), Moss, Nadja, Pentemple and loads more. His style is incredible, super detailed, pen and ink with tons of stippling, lots of skulls and guts and demons and various crusty oozing offal. For aQ he's designed a super creepy and super evil mother and child, heads in bags, their rotten innards spilling out, skulls on spikes, and "Aquarius Records" carved into the stone archway in the background. It looks amazing, and will for sure get some eyes a popping as you wander through the grocery store or sit in church (heaven forbid).
The back features a small aQ logo up near the collar, the shirts are white on black, they are Hanes heavyweight T's, 100% preshrunk cotton, and we have sizes all the way from Youth Large (for kids and little ladies) all the way up to XXL (for the big guys).
We will only be selling these for a couple months, so don't miss out. Once they are gone, they won't be reprinted. EVER.
Future aQ Artist Edition T's will include designs by Savage Pencil, Stephen O'Malley, Aaron Turner and more more more!!!

CALE, JOHN Paris 1919 (Warner Bros.) cd 12.98
We've been meaning to list this for a long time. One of those special records that so many past and present aQ employees hold close to their hearts. This is John Cale's orchestral pop masterpiece! Last list we made his collaboration with Terry Riley one of our records of the week and while this is a different beast all together it definitely shows what a wide range of musical genius Cale had going on during the early '70s. Paris 1919 is most certainly a pop record, but not just any kind of pop record. This is one that immediately transports you to the lavish and lush fantastical worlds these songs take place. Backed by a band featuring members of Little Feat as well as the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, Cale was able to create songs that somehow are as delicate and understated as they are glowing and baroque.
It's a record that always makes us want to wander along pastoral hillsides filled with the greenest grass, a cup of delicious hot tea in our hands as we twirl and daydream through the afternoon. Cale's voice has never sounded better, and it's for sure his most emotive and sensitive statement ever put to tape. It's amazing how many newer bands we love that for sure had to be influenced so strongly by this record. Just listen to The Hidden Cameras, Kelly Stoltz, Jens Lekman, Beck or Belle & Sebastian and you can hear the legacy of Paris 1919 in their songs. Total pop perfection!
MPEG Stream: "Paris 1919"
MPEG Stream: "The Endless Plain Of Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "Hanky Panky Nohow [Drone Mix] "

AMON DUUL II Yeti (Revisited) cd 17.98
It's been reissued again and again, as well is should 'cause this is one of the best albums EVER everyone at AQ agrees and should always be in print, and you should even own more than one copy it's that good. For some reason, the rights to this album (and ADII's others as well) seem to constantly be in flux from one label to the next -- this time it's in the care of an outfit called Revisited Records, who have put it in a digipack almost identical to its previous incarnation on Repertoire, but sadly without the two bonus tracks from singles that that one had.
Anyway, maybe you're wondering what the heck the big deal is with Yeti, so here's our review we wrote last time it got reissued:
The absolute hardest albums to write about are those we hold in the highest esteem and though we have an aversion to the general notion of a "desert island selection", this Amon Duul II disc is one of those albums that we could see as an definite inclusion on a short list of "must have" rock records! 1970's Yeti is the second album of Amon Duul II, succeeding Phallus Dei, and captures these krautrockers at their zenith. The album opens with the four movement opus "Soap Shop Rock", an amazing 13+ minute track that encompasses the gamut of psychedelia. It begins as an uptempo number with driving bass and drums in which vocals, guitars and amplified fiddles swirl around in a multitude of melodic variations in counterpoint before breaking down into one of the most kick ass tempo changes ever performed in rock; a heavy dirge that never fails to knock my knee caps loose, and it's got a guitar line that certainly must have been held in immense reverence by Kramer at some formative point in his career. The song doesn't settle down there, but continues in its focused meanderings for another ten minutes, retaining enough of an anchor of its beginnings to give it coherence as a unified whole. The rest of the album is equally amazing, touching everything from blasted proto-punk psych ("Archangels Thunderbird" and "Eye-Shaking King") to spacey drone improv (the fifteen minutes of "Yeti Talks To Yogi" and "Sandoz In The Rain"). Essential krautrock. In fact, one of the best records EVER.
It's one of those albums, like First Utterance by Comus and Satori by Flower Travellin' Band, that when it's playing, we think, why listen to anything else again??
MPEG Stream: "Soap Shop Rock - Halluzination Guillotine"
MPEG Stream: "Archangels Thunderbird"
MPEG Stream: "Soap Shop Rock - Flesh-Coloured Anti-Aircraft Alarm Clock"

AMON DUUL II Yeti (Revisited) 2lp 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yes, now reissued on vinyl!!! It's been reissued on cd again and again, as well is should 'cause this is one of the best albums EVER everyone at AQ agrees, and should always be in print, and you should even own more than one copy it's that good. This is the first vinyl reissue we've seen though, released by the same outfit that did the most recent cd digipack reish. Four sides of Yeti's genius, in a gatefold sleeve bearing that iconic krautrock cover image of Shrat with his scythe.
Anyway, maybe you're wondering what the heck the big deal is with Yeti, so here's our review we wrote the last time it got reissued:
The absolute hardest albums to write about are those we hold in the highest esteem and though we have an aversion to the general notion of a "desert island selection", this Amon Duul II disc is one of those albums that we could see as an definite inclusion on a short list of "must have" rock records! 1970's Yeti is the second album of Amon Duul II, succeeding Phallus Dei, and captures these krautrockers at their zenith. The album opens with the four movement opus "Soap Shop Rock", an amazing 13+ minute track that encompasses the gamut of psychedelia. It begins as an uptempo number with driving bass and drums in which vocals, guitars and amplified fiddles swirl around in a multitude of melodic variations in counterpoint before breaking down into one of the most kick ass tempo changes ever performed in rock; a heavy dirge that never fails to knock my knee caps loose, and it's got a guitar line that certainly must have been held in immense reverence by Kramer at some formative point in his career. The song doesn't settle down there, but continues in its focused meanderings for another ten minutes, retaining enough of an anchor of its beginnings to give it coherence as a unified whole. The rest of the album is equally amazing, touching everything from blasted proto-punk psych ("Archangels Thunderbird" and "Eye-Shaking King") to spacey drone improv (the fifteen minutes of "Yeti Talks To Yogi" and "Sandoz In The Rain"). Essential krautrock. In fact, one of the best records EVER.
It's one of those albums, like First Utterance by Comus and Satori by Flower Travellin' Band, that when it's playing, we think, why listen to anything else again??
MPEG Stream: "Soap Shop Rock - Halluzination Guillotine"
MPEG Stream: "Archangels Thunderbird"
MPEG Stream: "Soap Shop Rock - Flesh-Coloured Anti-Aircraft Alarm Clock"

RASEN KAIDAN Fushigi Na Tokoro (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Back in stock!! Always something interesting being dug up by those Alchemy archeologists! This archival release from a Kyoto-based band called Rasen Kaidan ("Spiral Staircase" I believe) is a very moody and lo-fi, contemporaneous Japanese take on the UK post-punk sound of the early early '80s, a la Joy Division, Comsat Angels, and The Fall, maybe. Also of note, this trio included guitarist Jojo Hiroshige, who was soon to form seminal Japanese noise act Hijokaidan (and also went on to found the Alchemy label).
What you'll hear from Rasen Kaidan here are recordings from two live performances, dating from 1979 and 1980. The 1979 tracks are more witchy and gloomy, with plodding bass and female vocals. The first cut from '79 actually makes us think of a sedated Bardo Pond slogging through a droned-out "Iron Man"! We're reminded of some old NZ stuff like Dadamah as well. The 1980 material makes a switch to male vocals, getting more into that post-punk thing, but still with a weird, almost mystical atmosphere. Murky, raw, psychedelic new wave art punk, yeah!!
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 9"

TUCKY BUZZARD Time Will Be Your Doctor: Rare Recordings 1971-1972 (Castle / Sanctuary) 2cd 21.00
This early '70s hard rock band's claim to fame may have been that they were proteges of manager / producer Bill Wyman (whom you might know as the bass player from a band called the Rolling Stones). But that's not the reason we were interested in hearing this double-cd Tucky Buzzard set -- it was 'cause of that name of theirs, Tucky Buzzard. Tucky Buzzard! We just like saying it.
Turns out that with a name like Tucky Buzzard you can't go wrong. That is, if you like a mixture of '70s proto-metal a la Led Zeppelin, '60s pop-psych, symphonic prog, and Southern style barroom boogie! Which of course we do, when it's all done with the panache of a Tucky Buzzard.
Time Will Be Your Doctor's two discs contain Tucky Buzzard's first three (of five) albums in their entirety. There's ten tracks from 1971's eponymous debut, nine cuts from their 2nd album Warm Slash (also 1971), and the five tracks (including the lengthy, proggy suite of the title track, performed with the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra) from 1972's Coming On Again, the rarest of Tucky Buzzard LPs as it was recorded and released only in Spain, where these Brits had been popular since their days in a '60s psych outfit called The End.
They also drew some notice in the USA, where they toured opening for Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. Doubtless their burly boogie grooves and most metallic Led Zeppish material -- full-tilt riffy rockers with high wailing Plant-like vox -- went over best in front of those crowds (such as many of the tracks from Warm Slash, like "Heartbreaker", "Fill You In", "Mistreatin' Woman" and "Burnin'"). But all three albums also have their share of moody melodiousness and sunny '60s pop-psych stylings too. The song that gives this set its name, "Time Will Be Your Doctor", the lead-off track on their first album, is a wonderful slice of poppy, polished, pastoral vocal-harmony-rich grooviness. Another standout track, from Coming On Again, is "You're All Alone", a trembling beauty that could be from a Colin Blunstone (Zombies) solo album.
They went on through the mid-seventies to record another two albums that we haven't yet heard. But, despite the patronage of Rolling Stone Wyman, Tucky Buzzard never became much of a "buzz" band apparently. Nor did they achieve the cult stoner-status of the equally Zep-influenced, legendary Leaf Hound, for instance. But if you like Leaf Hound, or other early '70s "heavy" acts that also have a lighter side, you should check out this nicely done collection! Tucky Buzzard!
MPEG Stream: "Time Will Be Your Doctor"
MPEG Stream: "Heartbreaker"
MPEG Stream: "You're All Alone"

AQUARIUS BUTTONS 2 x 1" buttons 1.00
Hey, we just got another batch of AQ buttons made up...
Spread the word! Show the world your true aQ colors! COOL COOL COOL aQ buttons, now in 5 different vibrant color combinations. 4 new color combos (blue on pink, red on black, dark blue on blue, and yellowish green on dark green) and a popular one we had previously (brown on yellow).
TWO FOR $1!!! Colors are random, but buy enough and you'll be guaranteed to get 'em all! And of course all feature our spiffy James Gang style logo!! So stylish!

CLIENTELE, THE Strange Geometry (Merge) cd 13.98
Go ahead slip this new Clientele album right in next to your Big Star and Go-Betweens albums. Strange Geometry fits like a glove, don't it? These Londoners continue merrily along on their gentle retro pop path, and that's a very good thing for them to do. Check out the mistily wistful "My Own Face Inside The Trees". Geez, band leader Alasdair Maclean has such a charming voice and great taste in art to boot... the cover features one of surrealist Paul Delvaux's train paintings from 1963! Darkly beautiful just like the music.
MPEG Stream: "Since K Got Over Me"
MPEG Stream: "My Own Face Inside The Trees"

FOREST s/t (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The time is definitely right for this ('though, *any* time would be right for this since it's such a great album). The whole acid-folk revival of which we're sure you're aware -- heck we've done our part to plug albums by Six Organs Of Admittance, Skygreen Leopards, Espers, P.G. Six, Tower Recordings, and the like -- of course owes a lot to the genuine old timey hippie British acoustic psychedelic folk scene back in the '60s and '70s. Originators like the Incredible String Band and Tyrannosaurus Rex and Fairport Convention... and Forest. Who were never a famous band, but definitely cult favorites. And AQ favorites. So we're happy that at long last this is back in stock. Actually when we reviewed this before, it was with Forest's second album Full Circle as a double cd two-fer. But now it's been re-re-issued as it's own cd (with Full Circle to follow later on), remastered at Abbey Road where it was originally recorded back in 1969, with the participation of former Forest-er Martin Welham. And no longer being packaged as two-fer means the wonderfully pagan cover art gets the whole front of the cd booklet instead of appearing thumbnail-sized!
Forest were a trio of hippie musicians (Martin, Dez, and Adrian) from the town of Walesby in Lincolnshire. All three of 'em are responsible for the quite excellent male vocals that help make their albums the amazing lost treasures they are, along with their strong songwriting, and their adept and varied instrumental backing (mostly acoustic, with guitars, harmonium, mandolin, pipes, cello, electric harpsichord, organ, percussion, etc.). Their vocal harmonies recall the folkish stuff on those great early Wishbone Ash albums. Their songs and lyrics are rural, pastoral, lovely -- with titles (we're gonna mention tracks from both of their albums here) like "A Glade Somewhere", "Rain Is On My Balcony", "Bluebell Dance", "Lovemaker's Ways" -- and darker too ("The Midnight Hanging Of A Runaway Serf", "Famine Song", "Graveyard"). But, while 'folky,' this is by no means trad folk; they are down with prog rock moves that remind us as much of Pink Floyd as the Incredible String Band. They can be sunshiney and twee a la Tyrannosaurus Rex, but also have a pagan, dark aspect as we said, coming pretty close to Comus territory at times (with the song "Fading Light", for one). Yep, 'folky' but not folk -- the ruined castles and fairy folk that inhabit the forests and fields of Forest's world exist, shadow-like, in the present day (well, Forest's England of thirty years ago), so it's not surprising when a song like "Hawk The Hawker" has kind of a Lou Reed/VU vibe, for instance. Their music is informed by the ancient British ballads, but you can tell that Martin, Dez, and Adrian were three young long hairs sleeping in a van, no matter how idyllic their songs sometimes sound.
This reissue boast new liner notes and photos, but also still includes John Peel's original liner notes from the first album -- they're quite silly, but accurate at least in his closing comment "It would be nice for the Forest if you purchased these results of their lives and labours -- but nicer still for you." Definitely one of those "this is SO good why didn't these guys get famous??!" listens. We look forward to bringing you the reissue of their other, equally essential album Full Circle (1970) when it too gets reissued, and we also hear that vinyl is in the works. Plus, we've heard from Martin Welham himself that not only are there plans for the release of some vintage live Forest recordings on another UK label hopefully sometime in the next year, he also has a *new* band called The Story who'll be putting out a record soon, and also doing a split LP with none other than Santa Cruz folksters Whysp this summer. So lots of excitement for Forest fans for sure -- get this and become one.
MPEG Stream: "A Glade Somewhere"
MPEG Stream: "Fading Light"
MPEG Stream: "Do You Want Some Smoke?"

FRANCISCAN HOBBIES, THE Walls Are Stuck (Music Fellowship) cd 14.98
Jewelled Antler picnic-party The Franciscan Hobbies are certainly the biggest and vaguest, most free-form collective in the "collective". The Hobbies' albums are where Thujans and Muons and Blithe Sons and Skygreen Leopards and Child Readers and Buried Civilizations and all of 'em go to let it hang loose...or looser than usual. Even moreso than the other "bands" found under the umbrella of the San Francisco experimental-improv-folk-psych Jewelled Antler family, The Franciscan Hobbies have a indeterminate, open-ended membership, and make suitably organic, sprawling, abstract music... much of it quite as lovely as anything in the Jewelled Antler canon: dark and dreamy, with noise-textures and fragmented melodies played on acoustic and electric instruments both drifting in and out of these pieces like nature-sounds in the forest, in a manner perhaps akin to their Finnish brethren and sistren (?) Kemialliset Ystavat and Avarus and Uton. This new Hobbies cd, their fourth disc, was recorded over the past three years in various places with various persons participating -- among those persons, members of all the aforementioned groups. And AQ's own Allan even shows up singing on "Goat With The Dolphin Face", recorded in a wooden teepee on a beach up in Point Reyes. (Not that you can tell that it's him...or in a teepee.) And that's also got nothing to do with why we're going to tell you that this is highly recommended, particularily to those of you for whom the more abstract edges of the Jewelled Antler thing appeal. Intimate, hushed and full of quiet clankings and fragile drones...meandering, mesmerizing guitar-plucked lullabies...bowed strings and rustling sticks...indistinct vocalizations...all carefully edited and mixed by Glenn Donaldson (the track "Satan Crystals" by Loren Chasse). So nice.
MPEG Stream: "Elijah The Stone"
MPEG Stream: "Asmodeus"

BURIED CIVILIZATIONS, THE Tunnels To Other Chambers (267 Lattajja / Jewelled Antler) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Allan's D&D sensibilities were most pleased with the name and title of this new Jewelled Antler cd-r! Tunnels To Other Chambers is the debut of a new project from the JA camp, featuring the duo of Kerry McLaughlin (Franciscan Hobbies) and the ubiquitous Glenn Donaldson (FH, Thuja, Skygreen Leopards, The Ivytree, Teenage Panzerkorps, etc.). Guesting on a few tracks you'll also find Rob Reger (Thuja) and Christine Boepple (Skygreen Leopards Skyband). These guys do indeed have a knack for titles to match their evocative folk-psych-improv music. No review is really needed if we cite such track names as "Gallery Of Ancient Birds", "Ghosts In The Tunnel", "Moss Banjo" or "Vacation Route For Emperors". I mean, sounds good already, right? And it does for sure sound good if you're attuned to the sort of spacious, abstract sound-delving these folks do so well. It's wonderfully fragile, sleepy, and melodic. Droning harmonium, bowed strings...electronic detritus...plucked acoustic guitar...simple, ritual percussion...tinkling bells...and occasional frail whispery vocals. It's like listening in to some mellow krautrock being played on an Applachian back porch, or to monkish ceremonies from the lost Plateau of Leng, or perhaps a somnolent subterranean hobbit-hole jamboree. In other words, so nice!! Definitely get this is you like Jewelled Anter stuff like The Birdtree and Hala Strana. Also we could reference Espers, Amon Duul, Tower Recordings, Harvester, Algarnas Tradgrad, Siloah...
MPEG Stream: "As Cold As The Clay"
MPEG Stream: "Moss Banjo"

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI 2 The Doldrums / Vital Pink (Carpark) cd 14.98
Few records in recent memory have provoked such a breach of unanimity here at Aquarius. Some of us (Andee, Byram) are the naysayers who feel that the artist's eccentricities ring rather hollow -- i.e, fucking around rather than genuinely fucked up. Meanwhile Jim and Allan lean towards the positive on this one. (Aw heck they'll come right out and admit it: they like the Ariel Pink.) And it hasn't helped (or has it?) that several of our friends have come out as big Ariel Pink supporters. You know how that is. Either you want to jump on the bandwagon (Allan?) or you want to be the contradictory one (Andee?). So if you come into the store and ask somebody here about this record, you'll surely get an impassioned opinion, but who knows on what side it will be.
So what's the deal with Ariel Pink anyway? perhaps you're now wondering. Well he's this young dude from LA and he makes lo-fi fucked up pop music, his heavily effected falsetto vocal stylings drifting out from damaged electronics and naive guitar fumblings. The Animal Collective heard a demo and fell in love with it (you see, Ariel Pink is a love or hate propostion, we think) and had to release this new album on their label Paw Tracks. It kinda sounds like fey '80s Brit-pop, all melodic and swoony, being broadcast via a static-y radio signal, for that far-away, timelost vibe. And then, even more weirdly, there's an element of '70s soul/R&B too! A strange mix...visiting the Fall's dubby adventures...or channelling an adolescent Bowie...and catchy as all get out. Beneath all the orchestral samples and looped beats and layered vocals and generally warped warbliness of this, lies some solid songwriting. Yessir, what might seem at first listen like home-taped half-assedness reveals depth and feeling and...we'll even say talent. Reveals to those of us that like it, that is. So what did it take for Jim and Allan to get into this? Well our Jewelled Antler buddies Loren and Glenn helped to convince us, 'cause they're fans...and also, Allan went and saw Ariel Pink live at the Hemlock a few weeks ago, and though it was a technically disastrous show, it was also one of those completely enjoyable, amusing, so-bad-it's-good experiences. Charismatic chaos. The show seemed to prove that AP is the real deal, not a poser but a genuine, authentically fucked up (drug-addled?) musical wonder. So now the album has grown on Allan quite a bit. And you know what? Even Andee is now admitting that Ariel Pink is at least "stupidly charming."
MPEG Stream: "Among Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Think Twice (Love)"

CLIENTELE Ariadne EP (Acuarela) cd ep 11.98
This new Clientele EP drifts effortlessly into shore on gently shimmering guitars, then lingers for eight soothing minutes on a misty organ drone track aptly named "The Sea Inside A Shell". Sooo pretty. A hushed piano number follows, and then the EP's lone vocal song closes out the proceedings on a more familiar Clientele note. Each of the five soft'n'dreamy songs was inspired by Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico's Ariadne paintings.
MPEG Stream: "Impossible"
MPEG Stream: "The Sea Inside A Shell"

FRANCISCAN HOBBIES, THE At The World's End (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Franciscan Hobbies are one of the more anarchistic manifestations of the Jewelled Antler 'collective', The Hobbies themselves being a free-form, free-wheeling group of variable membership that turns idyllic nature excursions into documents of magical, improv folk psych. At The World's End comes by way of New Zealand cd-r label PseudoArcana, and this time around The Hobbies include 3 of the 4 members of Thuja, plus a bunch of their friends, including Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards), Greg Bianchini (The Muons), and Cole Palme (Factrix). However, whoever's present on this recording isn't all that important, as they meld into a very relaxed communal music-making clan. Furthermore, discussion of instruments and techniques would seemingly convey less of a sense of what the Hobbies sound like than more poetic allusions to damp moss and dry leaves. Imagine napping in the undergrowth of a forest, dreaming drones and fractured melodies. Theirs is a drifting, indirect music, more hints and haunts than songs per se. And, we ask, how can you not love a record with a track entitled "The Unicorn Murders"??
MPEG Stream: "The Black Chimes "
MPEG Stream: "Seekers In Darkness"

FRANCISCAN HOBBIES, THE Masks & Meanings (Soft Abuse) cd 10.98
Courtesy of new Florida-based label Soft Abuse, "Masks And Meanings" is the first full-length "real" cd from San Francisco's wonderfully dreamy improvisors The Franciscan Hobbies, following the "Caterpillars Of The Oak Beauty" cd-r on their own Jewelled Antler label. Featuring members of Thuja (Loren Chasse, Glenn Donaldson, Rob Reger) and others, including Greg Bianchini from SF folk troubadours The Muons, you can perhaps guess what this sounds like. Somewhere between the psychedelic forest drones of Thuja and the folkiness of Glenn and Loren's Blithe Sons project. Abstract, droney, relaxing. Gently plucked guitar strings, rattling and rustling noises of indeterminate origin, very organic and natural sounding. Field recordings and non-instrument sound making fill sonic spaces alongside what might be mellow kraut/hippy jams on guitars and percussion, if they weren't so damaged and sparse and loosely structured. It's music, like sunlight, filtering down through the leafy branches of the forest canopy, into a grassy nest the Hobbies have burrowed out and furnished with antiques. Afternoon light, and shadowed darkness and dust. Indeed, like most of the J.A. projects, The Hobbies often record out-of-doors, in meadows in Golden Gate Park for instance. They came up with their name, actually, from a piece of wood they randomly found on the site of one of their recording sessions, upon which the words "Franciscan Hobbies" were printed. Their music's mysterious yet oddly whimsical vibe is carried through the collage artwork and song titles ("Wasp Embodiment", "Plough Drawn By Toads"). Very nice. That some tracks end with abrupt edits would be about our only complaint... Definitely for fans of Tower Recordings, Kemialliset Ystavat, the whole Jewelled Antler "collective" and suchlike. You know who you are/what this is.
MPEG Stream: "A Preordained Sequence"
MPEG Stream: "The Matchless Phenomenon"

FRANCISCAN HOBBIES, THE Caterpillars Of The Oak Beauty (Jewelled Antler) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY. IF YOU WANT TO PUT IT OUT AS A REAL CD, PLEASE CONTACT JEWELLED ANTLER!
Ah, the Jewelled Antler 'collective'! The Franciscan Hobbies is yet another facet of the same opiated psych-improv collective that has evolved into a number of projects including Thuja, The Blithe Sons, The Birdtree, The Skygreen Leopards, The Child Readers, The Knit Separates, etc. Usual suspects Glenn Donaldson, Rob Reger, Loren Chasse, and Jason Honea all appear on this -- perhaps the largest and loosest of the Jewelled Antler projects -- alongside relative newcomers to the collective: Greg Bianchini (of SF folksters The Muons), Kerry McLaughlin, Buffy Vice Sick, Dylan Brock, Christine Boepple, and Aquarius' own Dungeon Master Jeremiah Allan Horrocks (singing into an electronic toy while lying on his back somewhere in Golden Gate Park one sunny day, he tells us, but bets you won't be able to pick that out while listening to this). In working with such a large citizenship, The Franciscan Hobbies wisely eschews structure, favoring the psych-improv equivalent of front porch noodling that ends up sounding like a more sedate version of Birchville Cat Motel, the Vibracathedral Orchestra, or the hillbilly minimalism of Henry Flynt. Yet the druggy, murky atmosphere that dominates so much of Thuja's recordings takes a backstage to the quiet sound of semi-strummed, semi-plucked banjos, ouds, guitars, and occasional Tom Waits-esque tossin' junk in the kitchen sink percussion. Beautiful and mysterious, "Caterpillars Of The Oak Beauty" makes for another very nice cd-r release from Jewelled Antler!
RealAudio clip: "The Secret Forces"
RealAudio clip: "Festival Of Sticks And Grasses"

GANDALF s/t (Sundazed) cd 13.98
Tolkien fans, be warned -- this sixties psych pop group from New Jersey was only hastily dubbed "Gandalf" mere weeks before their debut was recorded in 1967. As Mike "Ugly Things" Stax' liner notes say (with perhaps some unnecessary scorn for the inhabitants of Middle Earth): "The group's name is actually a misnomer; although full of magic, the Gandalf record is thankfully free of wizards and hobbits." Previous to their Gandalf incarnation, the band was called the Rahgoos, named, believe it or not, after the Ragu brand of spaghetti sauce! (The liner notes again: "What was needed was a new, more 'with it' name." So they chose Ragu? What?) Whatever the name, though, the band's lone LP, now reissued by Sundazed, is pretty darn great, with gentle, melancholy singing, hypnotic piano and Hammond B3, and plenty of psychedelic tape echo courtesy of a piece of equipment (the Binson Echorec) that the band had acquired soon before the recording sessions and used to great effect, ahem.
Gandalf is especially known (to those in the know, that is, who speak of them in hushed whispers we'd imagine) for their amazing, dark, psychedelic version of the old standard "Golden Earrings" with which they open the disc. Along with that cover, they also interpret several songs by Tim Hardin as well as Eden Ahbez's famed "Nature Boy". But they had a fine songwriter in the band as well, Peter Sando, and his "Can You Travel In The Dark Alone" equals the spooky effect they achieved with "Golden Earrings", while Sando's album-closing "I Watch The Moon" rocks out a bit more with some tasty fuzz guitar -- which you'll also hear in their "Nature Boy", for one!
As long lost, forgotten '60s psych gems go, this is the real deal, not baseless hype based merely on how much some ponytailed psych collector was willing to pay for an original vinyl copy. Sundazed gets our thanks once again!
RealAudio clip: "Golden Earrings"
RealAudio clip: "Hang On To A Dream"
RealAudio clip: "Can You Travel In the Dark Alone"
RealAudio clip: "Nature Boy"

CLIENTELE Suburban Light (Merge) cd 14.98
Clientele, a London area trio, play dreamy, lo fi, Brit pop that is reminicent of The Zombies, Nick Drake, The Go Betweens, and The Byrds. Suburban Light has an atmospheric '60s quality throughout but the songs vary enough from each other to keep ones interest.
RealAudio clip: "We Could Walk Together"
RealAudio clip: "(I Want You) More Than Ever"

P.G. SIX Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites (Amish) cd 14.98
Anyone into the magical vibe of late '60s/early '70s British psych folk must get this, the absolutely lovely solo debut from multi-instrumentalist and Tower Recordings founding member Pat Gubler. Together with percussionist/producer Tim Barnes, he's taken a few years to put together this album, one that combines an old-timey Brit-folk influence (there's even an Anne Briggs cover on here, she being a UK folksinger active in the early '70s) with rural American roots music and more contemporary bedroom 4-track indie-rock experimentation. It's a beautiful, melancholic, timeless slice of avant-indie-folk-psych that has garnered (and deserves) comparisons to the work of the Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, John Fahey, even Neutral Milk Hotel...and of course Tower Recordings. Really nice!! (It's Allan's new favorite disc.) On the same label that last brought us the equally timeless (but '70s inspired) krautrock of Metabolismus.
RealAudio clip: "The Divine Invasion"
RealAudio clip: "The fallen leaves that jewel the ground"
RealAudio clip: "When I Was A Young Man"
RealAudio clip: "The Shepherd"

PATERNOSTER s/t (Green Tree) cd 15.98
This has been a longtime favorite around these parts but was always impossible to keep in stock. So finally we get a chance to relist it for everybody who may have blinked and missed it the first time around. Now reissued in a spiffy digipak and at a significantly lower price!
One of the saddest records ever made. Prime krautrock (from Austria), circa 1972, what goths would have listened too had there been goths back then. Complete with full-blown psychedelic guitar freakouts, coupled with somber church-like organ and a vocalist who sounds on the verge of tears throughout the album. Oh so sad. Here's the lyrics from their song "Blind Children": 'Rotten eyeballs feet between/Hanging down the cheese machine/Hew it strew it do it too/Say it slay it just to do/Try to call yourself on the phone/Surely you are not at home/Sweep the swept floor once again/Stab yourself and feel the pain/Then stand and watch the speed/Clean your eyeballs wash your feet/Listen and repeat'. Or from "Stop These Lines": 'Morning peace dusty air/Clean your teeth comb your hair/Dressed in clothes you always wear/Go to work I won't be there/Lunchtime snackbar eating chips/Ketchup's running down your lips/Deadeyed waiters selling bibs/Which you have to fix with clips/Sitting waiting find an end/Meaningless with no comment/Is this life in your own hand/People are like grains of sand/Pick up streets and pull down skylines/Ravish women blast the mines/Burn the whiskies spill the wines/Find beginnings stop these lines'.
A most melancholic, wonderful record, and it's too bad that it's the sort of thing usually relegated to the prog/psych collectors' corner (y'know, because of the distribution and press that this sort of reissue gets). More people (people without ponytails and huge record collections) should get to hear this. So, even though it's not a really new reissue at all, we ordered a bunch to turn people on to. It's an odd, but excellent, hidden treasure!
MPEG Stream: "Realization"
MPEG Stream: "Stop These Lines"
MPEG Stream: "Blind Children"
MPEG Stream: "The Pope Is Wrong"

PRETTY THINGS S.F. Sorrow (Snapper) cd 13.98
Finally, an inexpensive reissue of this classic Beatles-inspired psych-pop album from 1968, and it even includes four bonus cuts. A long-time AQ-favorite. Covered by Barbara Manning, so you know it must be good.