LASWELL, BILL Oscillations (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98
Yet another drum & bass novice tries his hand. This time it's Mr Laswell with help from DJ Ninj (also heard on recent Derek Bailey album) and it is actually quite good (surprising given recent Laswell mediocrities).

LASWELL, BILL Oscillations (Sub Rosa) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yet another drum & bass novice tries his hand. This time it's Mr Laswell with help from DJ Ninj (also heard on recent Derek Bailey album) and it is actually quite good (surprising given recent Laswell mediocrities).

LASWELL, BILL Oscillations Remixes (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98
Laswell's execllent drum 'n' bass "Oscillations" foray gets revamped by the likes of Vedic, Nico, Atom Heart (particularly great track, that one), Japan's Bisk, Belgium's DJ Grazhoppa, Endemic Void, Soul Static Sound, the ubiquitous Scanner, and even Ui.

LASWELL, BILL Sacred System: Chapter Two (Roir/Reachout) cd 15.98
Features Nicky Skopelitis, Graham Haynes and Bill Buchen. Sitar and tablas intersect with dub bass, processed flugelhorn and traps; and without colliding, playfully whirl around each laying down a tapestry of deep grooves and bissed-out ambience.

LASWELL, BILL Silent Recoil (Low) cd 15.98
"[This album] is a solid introduction to the Laswell sound and the Low label as a whole. For those unfamiliar with Las' work...A quick rundown is probably impossible; suffice to say his work with electronic music has largely dealt with lush, hyperrealistic environmental ambient and crisp, loping dub reggae. Silent Recoil brings these two elements into close proximity for its first two tracks, with echoey, slightly metallic drum loops and Laswell's seamless basslines pounding against dense, textures-deep tapestries of high res ambiance... This is groove music for home consumption; preferably quite loud and with few distractions. The third track, however, is a beast of an entirely different nature, and could almost carry the album even if the other two tracks were crap. An epic 25-plus minutes in length, "Undercurrent (Endless Light In The Nameless Land)" is the sort of chilly, richly-hued, dripping stalactite ambient that made Outer Dark and Outland such brilliant records. The elements are all familiar--nightmarish moans, field recordings, sparse synth passages, random bits of percussion--but as in all quality Laswell productions their combination here is novel, creating mood-based dynamics where perhaps melody or rhythm would be, bringing texture and a particular orientation toward sound to the forefront rather than the more easily grasped strategies of the album's first half-hour. Heads looking for pretty melodies or easily digested hooks won't find much of use hear, but then Laswell has never positioned himself as a particularly easy listen, and it would appear with Low (if Silent Recoil is any indication) that that, at least, hasn't changed." -- Loquacious Sean Cooper

LASWELL, BILL & PETE NAMLOOK Psychonavigation 2 (Fax) cd 15.98

LASWELL, BILL / MILES DAVIS Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974 (Columbia) cd 16.98
A "reconstruction and mix translation" by Laswell, long awaited and hotly debated...and rumoured to be quickly pulled, due to some disputes over rights...

LATARTARA, JOHN & KHRISTIAN WEEKS With For Intoned (Sachimay) cd 13.98
Drone-obsessive experiments from new music composers John Latartara and Khristain Weeks use repeating sonic figures from Tibetal bowls, string quartet, flute, and tape manipulation of differing lengths to create cyclical repetitions.

LATCHO DROM (OST) (Caroline) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

LATE BP HELIUM Amok (Orange Twin) cd 14.98
A new combo on Jeff Mangum's label Orange Twin Recordings. Much like their likeminded predecessors from the Mangum-led Elephant 6 music collective (Olivia Tremor Control and their many offshoots), Late BP Helium won't be pigeonholed into any single genre category. They've a sound that's very hard to pin down, cavorting in the carnivalesque, the horn skronkin' funky, the psychedelic, the experimental and the playfully poppy. Sometimes reminiscent of Lloyd Cole, OTC, The Jam and/or a Rachel's-y chamber string ensemble even. Is that diverse enough for you? If you dig music that doesn't linger in one place for longer than one song, the flighty Late BP Helium might be just the band for you.
MPEG Stream: "Candy For Everyone"
MPEG Stream: "Reminder To Self"

LATE YOUNG Nativity (Laughing Cops Unlimited) cd-r 3.98
Tantric no wave. If you can dig on the hypnotic and disturbing qualities of groups like Swans, or maybe a Godflesh with live drumming, you're getting close. Late Young isn't about one specific moment, the whole consumes itself. You've really got to enjoy the dark, suspended animation and become immersed within the dynamics of an aural onslaught. At the end, with a healthy session of reflection, you may feel closer to understanding, or coming to peace with what you've just experienced. It doesn't need any obvious, gimme hooks or sing-a-longs. It's more about creating an environment, teasing it up to it's maximum potential, then annihilating it. Picture Thom Wilson (who produced both TSOL and Christian Death) and New York no wave group Mars undergoing some animalistic transmogrification alongside His Hero Is Gone. Just fucking brutal, dark, repetitive, spiritual. This disc contains four tracks, each of which is an effects-soaked, fist full of mushroom nightmares. These particular recordings were born "out of sessions probing the helter skelter limits at the altar of guitar perversion, tom heavy foundation, and worship of holy reverb." Let go, sit back, and be consumed.
MPEG Stream: "Suez Canal"
MPEG Stream: "Monochrome"

LATEDUSTER Easy Pieces (Merck) cd 13.98

LATEDUSTER Five Easy Pieces (Firetrunk) cd ep 12.98
Lateduster are a pleasingly lowkey, soothing combo from Minneapolis, and guess what? We've got not one, but two cds by them in stock - this right here is their new five song ep. Neither release veers too far from their path of mellowness, if anything, these newer tracks are a bit more active and at times tread on more solid ground than those that came before. Five Easy Pieces shows Lateduster shifting gears somewhat, trading in the soft washes and sparse twang of their self-titled debut for a more sinewy electric guitar sound and a definite overall jazzy feel. Features members of Fog - Andrew Broder and Martin Dosh.
MPEG Stream: "Shaker/Flicker"
MPEG Stream: "A Gallon Of Hope"

LATEDUSTER s/t (Firetrunk) cd 12.98
One of two Lateduster cds that we have in stock right now! This is officially their full length debut, but it's actually a collection of two new songs and six remastered ones which were originally released on two previous eps. Are we making things more confusing than necessary? Let's make things a bit more straightforward then and say that this Minneapolis trio have made some lovely pastoral soundscapes - soothing lengthy ones that allow you to sink in for a good five to ten minutes. They done so by skillfully blending together drifting waves of spartan lanky guitars, sampled beats, gently grooving bass, shuffling percussion, and electronic hiss and sputter - locking in with each other for a spell, then dispersing into the mist. Features members of Fog - Andrew Broder and Martin Dosh. Very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Leave It On"
MPEG Stream: "Watermelancholy"

LATIN PLAYBOYS Dose (Atlantic) cd 15.98
Newest offering from the still odd pairing of David Hidalgo and Louie Perez from Los Lobos and hotshot producers Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom that resulted in their breathtaking 1994 debut. Dose continues in the same vein, but sacrifices song for sound, eschewing the more 'pop' sensiblities of the first record, in favor of a dark, sound effect laden, oddly produced barrio soundscape.

LATYRX The Album (Quannum Projects) cd 14.98
This amazing album was originally issued in 1997 but it sounds so incredibly fresh even today -- I readily admit that I didn't recognize its true brilliance until now. Most of the members of the now-famous Solesides crew pitched in on this self-titled debut statement from Latyrx (MCs Lateef and Lyrics Born), including DJ Shadow who produces four stunning tracks, Chief Xcel, and Blackalicious. The two MCs often let their rhymes flow forth right on top of each other, a cool textural effect is produced, as if the production efforts weren't interesting sounding enough -- overall you're hearing Mo'Wax-style groove, smart samples, and advanced apocalyptic scariness that today's El-P and Cannibal Ox have perfected. Recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Latyrx"
RealAudio clip: "Burnt Pride"

LAU NAU Kuutarha (Locust) cd 14.98
Ahh, Finland. We've said that before. Now perhaps people in Finland think about California the way we think about Finland. But of course they'd be wrong. We don't have any analog to Moomins trolling about in our forests. Whereas our fantasies about that far-off land are quite accurate. At least, judging by the ongoing gurgle of cd-rs and tapes and cds and such flowing from their fertile "free-folk" underground, from Kemialliset Ystavat to Avarus to Kiila. And recordings like Lau Nau's Kuutarha just make our fantasies of Finland more and more vivid and otherworldly. Lau Nau is Laura Naukkarinen and a few friends. She's a very lovely singer, a member of Kiila, Paivansade, and Anaksimandros. Here her melodic Finnish-language vocals are set to droneily folkish backing, making for quitely distorted lullabies. Finnophiles will agree that this could also definitely be compared to Islaja, but perhaps rawer, more broken down and abstract. And to make a Finland-California comparison, well, this could basically be a Finnish version of Jewelled Antler's Franciscan Hobbies, with Laura Naukkarien's vocals. So very very nice. (Hmm, which came first? Jewelled Antler or the these Finnish forest folk folks? Doesn't matter, it's the zeitgeist we guess!)
For some reason, we like to look at the list of instruments and non-instruments used on records like these, maybe you do to, so here goes: acoustic bass, bass recorder, five-stringed kantele, acoustic guitar, tenor recorder, violin, bamboo flute, colorful juice glasses, mortar, mandolin, witch laugh megaphone, baby's rattle, bike bells, banjo, cowbells, electric guitar, organ, willow whistle, tablas, percussion, cymbals, comb, beer cans, tamboura...
MPEG Stream: "Jos Mimulla Olis"
MPEG Stream: "Kuula"

LAU NAU Kuutarha (Locust) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on vinyl, limited to 500 and just about gone we're told.... Ahh, Finland. We've said that before. Now perhaps people in Finland think about California the way we think about Finland. But of course they'd be wrong. We don't have any analog to Moomins trolling about in our forests. Whereas our fantasies about that far-off land are quite accurate. At least, judging by the ongoing gurgle of cd-rs and tapes and cds and such flowing from their fertile "free-folk" underground, from Kemialliset Ystavat to Avarus to Kiila. And recordings like Lau Nau's Kuutarha just make our fantasies of Finland more and more vivid and otherworldly. Lau Nau is Laura Naukkarinen and a few friends. She's a very lovely singer, a member of Kiila, Paivansade, and Anaksimandros. Here her melodic Finnish-language vocals are set to droneily folkish backing, making for quitely distorted lullabies. Finnophiles will agree that this could also definitely be compared to Islaja, but perhaps rawer, more broken down and abstract. And to make a Finland-California comparison, well, this could basically be a Finnish version of Jewelled Antler's Franciscan Hobbies, with Laura Naukkarien's vocals. So very very nice. (Hmm, which came first? Jewelled Antler or the these Finnish forest folk folks? Doesn't matter, it's the zeitgeist we guess!)
For some reason, we like to look at the list of instruments and non-instruments used on records like these, maybe you do to, so here goes: acoustic bass, bass recorder, five-stringed kantele, acoustic guitar, tenor recorder, violin, bamboo flute, colorful juice glasses, mortar, mandolin, witch laugh megaphone, baby's rattle, bike bells, banjo, cowbells, electric guitar, organ, willow whistle, tablas, percussion, cymbals, comb, beer cans, tamboura...
MPEG Stream: "Jos Mimulla Olis"
MPEG Stream: "Kuula"

LAU NAU Nukkuu (Locust) cd 14.98
Lau Nau's Nukuu walks an incredibly fine line between the expansive forms and consistent density and texture of drone music, while also hiding within that density many structural shifts more akin to folk music. Watching her music vibrate between these two poles is the main attraction on this record, but remarkably, she finds an incredible amount of detail and freedom to explore between them. The songs often anchor in centrifugal clusters of tone and texture, looping and feasting on themselves, while occasionally a lyrical vocal passage, or a particularly noteworthy electronic or acoustic phrase will emerge to a more singular position in the mix. Other songs however, are less roiling and give the listener the opportunity to bask in the delicacy and winsome precision in Lau's voice, sometimes creaky and childlike, other times whispered and ghostly. Lau's decisions regarding the modalities and textures of her instrumentation, as well as the cadences of her lyrics, sung in Suomi, all reflect Finland's liminal position between the influences of Europe and Asia. That said, given her lo-fi recording approach at times, she can sound eerily similar to some of the '78s we've been graced with in the past year from Dust-to-Digital's Victrola Favorites and Black Mirror collections. The obvious comparisons to Islaja and Kuupuu, her collaborators in Hertta Lussu Assa, yields Lau a more innocent, gentle, and dare we say motherly distinction, as opposed to the bewitching dark humor of the other two. Without indulging her biography too much, it is worth noting Lau gave birth to a son in the interim since her last album. Apparently much of the record was written while her child was sleeping, and so too it is titled, "sleeps." Naturally it follows that there are a few lullabies in the mix, but there is also a keen sense of independence, as though these songs are about digesting much more than motherhood, a feet in itself. Like another Scandinavian luminary on this list, El Perro Del Mar, Lau butts up against an almost hymnal like intimacy at times, though her work is naturally more feral, and less controlled and crystalline. Fans of all things Finnish will obviously be pleased, but those who've enjoyed Natural Snow Buildings, acts from the Dronevolk compilation, and even Valet will also find themselves gently coaxed into a similar but challenging musical terrain. All told, atmospheric and entrancing, subtle and intelligent, composed and vulnerable, Nukuu comes highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Lue Kartalta"
MPEG Stream: "Painovoimaa, Valoa"

LAU NAU Nukkuu (Locust) lp 21.00
Lau Nau's Nukuu walks an incredibly fine line between the expansive forms and consistent density and texture of drone music, while also hiding within that density many structural shifts more akin to folk music. Watching her music vibrate between these two poles is the main attraction on this record, but remarkably, she finds an incredible amount of detail and freedom to explore between them. The songs often anchor in centrifugal clusters of tone and texture, looping and feasting on themselves, while occasionally a lyrical vocal passage, or a particularly noteworthy electronic or acoustic phrase will emerge to a more singular position in the mix. Other songs however, are less roiling and give the listener the opportunity to bask in the delicacy and winsome precision in Lau's voice, sometimes creaky and childlike, other times whispered and ghostly. Lau's decisions regarding the modalities and textures of her instrumentation, as well as the cadences of her lyrics, sung in Suomi, all reflect Finland's liminal position between the influences of Europe and Asia. That said, given her lo-fi recording approach at times, she can sound eerily similar to some of the '78s we've been graced with in the past year from Dust-to-Digital's Victrola Favorites and Black Mirror collections. The obvious comparisons to Islaja and Kuupuu, her collaborators in Hertta Lussu Assa, yields Lau a more innocent, gentle, and dare we say motherly distinction, as opposed to the bewitching dark humor of the other two. Without indulging her biography too much, it is worth noting Lau gave birth to a son in the interim since her last album. Apparently much of the record was written while her child was sleeping, and so too it is titled, "sleeps." Naturally it follows that there are a few lullabies in the mix, but there is also a keen sense of independence, as though these songs are about digesting much more than motherhood, a feet in itself. Like another Scandinavian luminary on this list, El Perro Del Mar, Lau butts up against an almost hymnal like intimacy at times, though her work is naturally more feral, and less controlled and crystalline. Fans of all things Finnish will obviously be pleased, but those who've enjoyed Natural Snow Buildings, acts from the Dronevolk compilation, and even Valet will also find themselves gently coaxed into a similar but challenging musical terrain. All told, atmospheric and entrancing, subtle and intelligent, composed and vulnerable, Nukuu comes highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Lue Kartalta"
MPEG Stream: "Painovoimaa, Valoa"

LAUB Filesharing (Kitty-Yo) cd 15.98
Once again fans of Bjork, Lamb, and Portishead will find a kindred spirit in Berlin duo Laub who add their own experimental twists to those female fronted, melodramatic swansingers. Laub (comprised of Antye Greie-Fuchs and Jotka) produce sparse, crisp beats, with subdued, spiralling electronic melodies and cascading veils of glitched abstractions, that nonetheless maintain a strong pop sensibility. Antye secretly unfolds all of her German lyrics (which have been translated into English on a PDF file on the CD-Rom element of the program) through her breathy, effected voice, which adds to the antiseptic feel found within the electronic beatscapes.
RealAudio clip: "Temporaries"

LAUB Intuition (Kitty Yo) cd 15.98
Maybe we've become a bit tired of the ubiquitous "obligatory remix album" but in this case Laub's particularly alien reinterpretation of the Portishead / Lamb school of electronica kinda makes us not mind. The surprise to this remix album is its continuity (which is almost always missing on all remix albums) despite having such a diverse cast of remixers as Coldcut, Pole, Richard Thomas, Schneider TM, Clifford Gilberto, Gonzales, Full Swing, Rechenzentrum, Mathias Schaffhauser, Phoneheads, and Blond.

LAUB Unter Anderen Bedingungen Als Liebe (Kitty-Yo) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Even more so than their previous album, Laub's electronica is the fusion of Lamb and Bjork. On Kitty-Yo, home to To Rococo Rot.

LAUDANUM Coronation (20 Buck Spin) cd 10.98
All you really need to know about these Oakland sludge/doom merchants is what is being played, and what bands the various members hail from. So, howabout Graves At Sea, Brainoil and Pig Heart Transplant for a heavy low ended pedigree? And what exactly is employed to create this gloriously grim racket? "Overdriven string corrosion, ambient texture and documentation", "battering ram and subsonic transmissions", "low end frequency discharge, vocal disruption and auditory experimentation" and of course "battery acid, bellows and blasphemy". So yeah, you know where these crushers are coming from. Crushing, punishing doom infused sludge, laced with thick black drones and buzzing abject industrial ambience, all blurred into a massive heaving blackened brutal sonic beast.
Beginning with some sort of alien soundscape, until huge sheets of white noise take over, you're not sure if you hear the sounds of a guitar or maybe just overwhelming electronic wind-like sounds, all strange and buzzing and creepy.
Finally, weird little bits of abstract keyboard buzz and drift before the band kicks in. And WHAM, super heavy and sludgey, like black tar heroin, but also Eyehategod groovy; Khanate vokills that almost exude a black metal vibe. Lots of negative space to make things tense and uncomfortable. A second singer bellows in his best Neurosis voice, the perfect foil for the other more high pitched yowl, all tangled up with a cool, but weirdly sour guitar lick, giving the track a much more twisted vibe.
The record slips from crushing doom, to dense blackened rumble and back again, inserting angelic choral vocals, strange blurred electronics, super intense subsonic feedback, the bass thick and gritty and dirty, the sound here, when the band is rocking, is not at all that far removed from Burning Witch or Zoroaster, but the band pepper their sludgy crush with gorgeous black drone interludes, which makes this more of an EP, only one of epic doom-ic proportions, which renders it an EP that just so happens to stretch out to 50 minutes. Bad ass.
MPEG Stream: "Invoke"
MPEG Stream: "Wooden Horse"
MPEG Stream: "Apotheosis"

LAUDANUM Coronation (Life Is Abuse) lp 19.98
Now on Vinyl!
All you really need to know about these Oakland sludge/doom merchants is what is being played, and what bands the various members hail from. So, how about Graves At Sea, Brainoil and Pig Heart Transplant for a heavy low ended pedigree? And what exactly is employed to create this gloriously grim racket? "Overdriven string corrosion, ambient texture and documentation", "battering ram and subsonic transmissions", "low end frequency discharge, vocal disruption and auditory experimentation" and of course "battery acid, bellows and blasphemy". So yeah, you know where these crushers are coming from. Crushing, punishing doom infused sludge, laced with thick black drones and buzzing abject industrial ambience, all blurred into a massive heaving blackened brutal sonic beast.
Beginning with some sort of alien soundscape, until huge sheets of white noise take over, you're not sure if you hear the sounds of a guitar or maybe just overwhelming electronic wind-like sounds, all strange and buzzing and creepy.
Finally, weird little bits of abstract keyboard buzz and drift before the band kicks in. And WHAM, super heavy and sludgey, like black tar heroin, but also Eyehategod groovy; Khanate vokills that almost exude a black metal vibe. Lots of negative space to make things tense and uncomfortable. A second singer bellows in his best Neurosis voice, the perfect foil for the other more high pitched yowl, all tangled up with a cool, but weirdly sour guitar lick, giving the track a much more twisted vibe.
The record slips from crushing doom, to dense blackened rumble and back again, inserting angelic choral vocals, strange blurred electronics, super intense subsonic feedback, the bass thick and gritty and dirty, the sound here, when the band is rocking, is not at all that far removed from Burning Witch or Zoroaster, but the band pepper their sludgy crush with gorgeous black drone interludes, which makes this more of an EP, only one of epic doom-ic proportions, which renders it an EP that just so happens to stretch out to 50 minutes. Bad ass.
MPEG Stream: "Invoke"
MPEG Stream: "Wooden Horse"
MPEG Stream: "Apotheosis"

LAUGHINGSTOCK Underskin (self-released) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
They say (i.e, the band's own reference points): Radiohead, Tindersticks and Nick Drake. We thought: Talk Talk and Chris Isaak. What seems to be the common ground with all of these artists we've singled out is that regardless of genre and instrumentation each has crafted their own deeply emotive and richly evocative music. So what does this say about Laughingstock? Well, that they do indeed have a knack for making sleek dramatic songs. Multi-layered lilting, oft-melancholic male vocals, distant textural sounds (a rainstick perhaps?), atmospheric droning strings, languid chapman stick, acoustic and programmed percussion all come together to make for some ambitious, lushly intricate slightly mysterious songs.
MPEG Stream: "Fast (Strange Euphoria)"
MPEG Stream: "Slow On Fast"

LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT The Most Pollo (Qbico) lp 21.00
Another mysterious transmission from some haunted forest deep in the wilds of Finland (featuring special guest, AQ fave Lau Nau). And it's everything we've come to love about our deep listening wanders through the deep dark woods. An abstract stroll through a barely there sound world, nothing but creaks and shuffles, breathing, footsteps, instrument buzz, electronic hum and random clatter. Eventually a wheezing horn makes it presence known, and is soon joined by chiming bells and muted percussion. Slowly, the sounds grow and build in volume and intensity, eventually coalescing into a massive Sunroof! like skree, replete with flurries of bells and percussion, swirling swooshing FX like wild stormy winds and mumbled distant drums. And that's just side 1. Side 2 skips around a bit from caveman freejazz with spazzy hand drums, muted percussion, grunted vocals and jazzy skronk, to an ambient symphony of creaking and keening high end very reminiscent of John Cale, to a weird buzzing raga like Eastern groove with the only discernible rhythm to be found, a droney stumbling stagger. Very cool.
Pressed on thick vinyl and packaged in a full color sleeve with killer yarn monster cover art!

LAUREL HALO Hour Logic (Hippos In Tanks) 12" 12.98
Record number two from this new wave dreamgaze ambient electro wave songstress, and just like the first one it's a dizzying blend of synthed out electro, dark witch house-y creep and shoegazey 4AD style dream pop, all woven into a gorgeous, groovy bit of electronic skitter and stutter, but unlike the first record, this one seems to be mostly instrumental, the only real vocals seem to be sampled, and then processed and manipulated, conjuring up the same sort of murky abstract soul as Burial or How To Dress Well, but here, that's wedded to something much more upbeat and propulsive, record opener is serious groover, all hazy layered vocal samples, skittery big beats, and wooshy synths, not to mention some buzzy basslines and washed out shoegazey ambience. The second track does have vocals, but it's more like she's using her voice to make layers of sound, long tones held forever and wreathed in echo and delay, while beats careen undeneath, and all around shimmery melodies whirl and swirl, it's the one song here that most resembles the first record, channeling a little Zola Jesus, Tamaryn, etc.
Track three, "Head" starts out all glitchy and minimal, before exploding in a psychedelic squall, only to dissipate leaving a super minimal, skeletal heroin house pulse, while "Speed Of Rain" is the most polished and new wavey, heavy on the swirly dreamy 4AD shimmer, only to quickly give way to the 9 minute title track, which is low slung and ominous, taking some of that Goblin / Carpenter soundtrack sound and fusing it to something much more groovy and druggy and later night, and then finally there's the closer, "Strength In Free Space", which is the dreamiest of the bunch, another vocal driven song, but even more then the other one, this one's all hazy and gauzy and washed out and dreamy, like a much less lo-fi dancefloor friendly Grouper, which is most certainly not a bad thing.
MPEG Stream: "Aquifer"
MPEG Stream: "Constant Index"

LAUREL HALO King Felix (Hippos In Tanks) 12" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yet another addition to the ever expanding ambient dreamgaze electro-wave songstress scene, which is a genre we just made up, but one that does sort of actually exist, if not in name, certainly in sound, modern musicians channeling the spirit of early 4AD, eighties and nineties dance music, Kate Bush, Siouxsie, and similarly shoegazey/gothic electronic pop, into something swirling and ethereal and space-y and groovy and rhythmic and well, like a more MODERN gothic shoegazey electro pop. Ladies like Zola Jesus, Tamaryn, Glasser, and the like, now joined by Laurel Halo, a one woman newwavedreamgaze band from NYC by way of Michigan, Halo channels an abstract, danceable and slightly witchy mutant form of electronica, a little bit of the outsider home brewed R&B of How To Dress Well, a little of the witch house sound of her pals Balam Acab, a little synthy new wave drift a la another of her pals Oneohtrix Point Never, but all filtered through the Cocteau Twins, and Kate Bush, and classic decades-ago MTV, and transformed into a delicate, crystalline, but still seriously propulsive and groovy bit of drifty, floaty, washed out echo drenched eighties style electronic pop, but with plenty of that modern futuristic retro sheen, that has the club kids all in a tizzy.
MPEG Stream: "Supersymmetry"
MPEG Stream: "Metal Confection"

LAVAGNINO, ANGELO Gamma 1 Quadrilogy (Dagored) cd 16.98
"60s Italian Cinematic Science Fiction Classic Freaky Sounds" is the subtitle here, truly. Never heard of Angelo Lavagnino or his sci-fi Gamma 1 Quadrilogy before but now we'd love to see these four made-for-TV films, from circa '66-'67: I Diafanoidi Vengono Da Marte (which, the liner notes inform us, is referenced in an Allen Ginsburg poem, believe it or not!), I Criminali Della Galassi, Il Pianeta Errante, and La Morte Viene Dal Pianete Aytin. Films which were known in English, respectively, as War Of The Planets, Wild Wild Planet, War Between The Planets, and Snow Devils -- which, while not literal translations of the Italian titles, should still give you an idea of what sort of action must have been unfolding on the screen. Space operas and alien invasions, that sort of thing, super dramatic and colorful. Of the 31 tracks, almost 70 minutes here, there's a few cuts in the groovy "Easy Tempo" style, but mostly a lot of atmospheric, spooky tracks evoking bug-eyed sci-fi menace. Very cool indeed. Italian soundtracks from the '60s, that's rich ore to mine... and this collection represents a particularily good find.
MPEG Stream: "Diafanoidi"
MPEG Stream: "Amebe Cosmiche"
MPEG Stream: "I Diavoli Dello Spazio"

LAVELLE, BRIAN & RICHARD YOUNGS Radios (Freek) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Guitar/casio mayhem from 2 British freeks.

LAVENDER DIAMOND Imagine Our Love (Matador) cd 13.98
So Lavender Diamond have finally released their much buzzed-about Matador debut, and anyone familiar with said buzz has probably heard the words, "precious" and "winsome" too many times to keep count. While those words do describe frontwoman Becky Stark's particular vocal charms, a gauzy theatrical mix of Linda Ronstadt, Julee Cruise and Margo Timmons from the Cowboy Junkies, they don't accurately quantify the listening experience of this particular record which is sunny and wide-eyed in a seventies soft rock way without becoming as cloying as one would expect from such superlatives. We enjoyed their first EP, and have been waiting for what seems forever for this to appear. While it's a perfectly solid record, it falls just shy of being great. The band thankfully grounds Stark's soaring vocal delivery, but we wish that with such wealth of musicianship from Jeff Rosenberg (Lumen, Young People etc.) Ron Rege Jr. (The Swirlies) and Steve Gregoropolis (W.A.C.O.), they were given more room to expand on their strengths. But this is understandably Stark's show, which initially began in Providence as an indie operetta and has been developing through acclaimed live performances up to this current incarnation. They've definitely carved a niche for themselves that has avoided the pitfalls of freak-folk to be a more pliant pastiche of seventies alt country folk pop. Quite lovely indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Like An Arrow"
MPEG Stream: "When You Wake For Certain"

LAVENDER DIAMOND Imagine Our Love (Matador) lp 14.98
So Lavender Diamond have finally released their much buzzed-about Matador debut, and anyone familiar with said buzz has probably heard the words, "precious" and "winsome" too many times to keep count. While those words do describe frontwoman Becky Stark's particular vocal charms, a gauzy theatrical mix of Linda Ronstadt, Julee Cruise and Margo Timmons from the Cowboy Junkies, they don't accurately quantify the listening experience of this particular record which is sunny and wide-eyed in a seventies soft rock way without becoming as cloying as one would expect from such superlatives. We enjoyed their first EP, and have been waiting for what seems forever for this to appear. While it's a perfectly solid record, it falls just shy of being great. The band thankfully grounds Stark's soaring vocal delivery, but we wish that with such wealth of musicianship from Jeff Rosenberg (Lumen, Young People etc.) Ron Rege Jr. (The Swirlies) and Steve Gregoropolis (W.A.C.O.), they were given more room to expand on their strengths. But this is understandably Stark's show, which initially began in Providence as an indie operetta and has been developing through acclaimed live performances up to this current incarnation. They've definitely carved a niche for themselves that has avoided the pitfalls of freak-folk to be a more pliant pastiche of seventies alt country folk pop. Quite lovely indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Like An Arrow"
MPEG Stream: "When You Wake For Certain"

LAVENDER DIAMOND The Cavalry Of Light (L.D.P.) cd 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Each time we hear that AQ pal Jeff Rosenberg has a new music project we secretly fantasize that it'll continue to push the 'out-there' dissonant envelope as many of his past outfits have (the ever-expansive Tarentel, spazz-rock duo Pink & Brown, hypnotic art-folk trio Young People, and earthy instrumental duo Lumen to name a few), and shine the spotlight more on his considerable guitar talents. But even though each of his subsequent groups have definitely kept us on our toes, each one taking a new unpredictable Rosenberg direction, quite often the unassuming gent opts to humbly play the solid, no-frills support role. Such is the case with Lavender Diamond, a timorous folk pop combo who present themselves in Lawrence Welk-worthy attire, black suits and taffeta gowns, and in which Becky Stark's gentle'n'mild vocals take centerstage while Rosenberg, Steve Gregoropoulos and well known visual artist Ron Rege Jr back her up on guitar, piano and drums respectively. Maybe this is what all those jaded hipsters need these days... some wide-eyed, earnest songs of unabashed innocence. Sure seems so, 'cause folks have been gobbling this up like crazy already. You can even easily imagine the quartet doing a great cover of Coven's "One Tin Soldier" or perhaps something by The Carpenters! As for Jeff's guitar magic, alas, we'll just have to continue crossing our fingers that he'll unfurl it again someday. But for now we can happily soak in the sunny subdued country folk of The Cavalry Of Light.
MPEG Stream: "You Broke My Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Please"

LAVENDER DIAMOND The Cavalry Of Light (Matador) cd 4.98
This out of print self-released folk pop gem, originally reviewed way back in 2005, has been picked up, gussied up and re-released by the kind folks at Matador and is finally available again!
Each time we hear that AQ pal Jeff Rosenberg has a new music project we secretly fantasize that it'll continue to push the 'out-there' dissonant envelope as many of his past outfits have (the ever-expansive Tarentel, spazz-rock duo Pink & Brown, hypnotic art-folk trio Young People, and earthy instrumental duo Lumen to name a few), and shine the spotlight more on his considerable guitar talents. But even though each of his subsequent groups have definitely kept us on our toes, each one taking a new unpredictable Rosenberg direction, quite often the unassuming gent opts to humbly play the solid, no-frills support role. Such is the case with Lavender Diamond, a timorous folk pop combo who present themselves in Lawrence Welk-worthy attire, black suits and taffeta gowns, and in which Becky Stark's gentle'n'mild vocals take centerstage while Rosenberg, Steve Gregoropoulos and well known visual artist Ron Rege Jr back her up on guitar, piano and drums respectively. Maybe this is what all those jaded hipsters need these days... some wide-eyed, earnest songs of unabashed innocence. Sure seems so, 'cause folks have been gobbling this up like crazy already. You can even easily imagine the quartet doing a great cover of Coven's "One Tin Soldier" or perhaps something by The Carpenters! As for Jeff's guitar magic, alas, we'll just have to continue crossing our fingers that he'll unfurl it again someday. But for now we can happily soak in the sunny subdued country folk of The Cavalry Of Light.
MPEG Stream: "You Broke My Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Please"

LAVENDER DIAMOND The Cavalry Of Light (Matador) 12" 9.98
This out of print self-released folk pop gem, originally reviewed way back in 2005, has been picked up, gussied up and re-released by the kind folks at Matador and is finally available again!
Each time we hear that AQ pal Jeff Rosenberg has a new music project we secretly fantasize that it'll continue to push the 'out-there' dissonant envelope as many of his past outfits have (the ever-expansive Tarentel, spazz-rock duo Pink & Brown, hypnotic art-folk trio Young People, and earthy instrumental duo Lumen to name a few), and shine the spotlight more on his considerable guitar talents. But even though each of his subsequent groups have definitely kept us on our toes, each one taking a new unpredictable Rosenberg direction, quite often the unassuming gent opts to humbly play the solid, no-frills support role. Such is the case with Lavender Diamond, a timorous folk pop combo who present themselves in Lawrence Welk-worthy attire, black suits and taffeta gowns, and in which Becky Stark's gentle'n'mild vocals take centerstage while Rosenberg, Steve Gregoropoulos and well known visual artist Ron Rege Jr back her up on guitar, piano and drums respectively. Maybe this is what all those jaded hipsters need these days... some wide-eyed, earnest songs of unabashed innocence. Sure seems so, 'cause folks have been gobbling this up like crazy already. You can even easily imagine the quartet doing a great cover of Coven's "One Tin Soldier" or perhaps something by The Carpenters! As for Jeff's guitar magic, alas, we'll just have to continue crossing our fingers that he'll unfurl it again someday. But for now we can happily soak in the sunny subdued country folk of The Cavalry Of Light.
MPEG Stream: "You Broke My Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Please"

LAVENDER DIAMOND / QUEENS OF SHEEBA split (Cold Sweat) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Aaah, a Devendra Banhart sighting! While in Europe back in 2004, this neo-folk troubadour recorded with the band known as Queens Of Sheba. This lil' record features one of the resulting songs of that session -- "It's A Christmas Time Celebration". Yes, we are well aware that it is already the middle of January, but who are we to squelch a little belated holiday themed music? The flipside is the elegantly attired "Impossible Occurances" by LA's dream-folk combo Lavender Diamond. Artwork by Ron Rege. Limited pressing of 2500.

LAVETTE, BETTY I've Got My Own Hell To Raise (Anti) cd 14.98
Something so nice about the tradition of soul singers covering songs by an impressively wide array of artists, and usually with such strong conviction and charisma. In the '70s Tina Turner had this amazing ability to transform Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin songs and make them her own. Aretha could always breath new life into old songs too. Now, enter the amazing voice of Bettye LaVette. A survivor of the Detroit soul scene of the 1960's, she never really had any huge hits but that never stopped her from carrying on and using her strong powerful voice to make a handful of soulful records over the last several decades. On this outing she tackles songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams, Johnny Cash, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, etc. In using stripped down instrumentation or even entirely acapella (as on her stunning version of Sinead O'Connor's "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"), LaVette finds the grit and guts of every song she covers. We love the times when her voice sounds a lot like that other Betty we love so much (Betty Davis!), and just like Davis when words come out of LaVette's mouth they hit you hard, with passion and presence.
MPEG Stream: "Joy"
MPEG Stream: "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"

LAVETTE, BETTYE Tell Me A Lie (Reel Music) cd 14.98

LAVETTE, BETTYE The Scene Of The Crime (Anti) cd 15.98
An icon of the Northern Soul scene, Bettye Lavette has been making music since she was a teenager in the early '60s. Much like Candi Staton, her career has taken many twists and turns over the decades. Many had thought she had vanished until she hit the scene again a few years back with her debut on Anti, a covers record called I've Got My Own Hell To Raise that most definitely demonstrated her dynamic range and undying musical passion. The Scene of The Crime finds her recruiting gritty Southern rockers the Drive By Truckers as her backup band along with legendary Spooner Oldham on Wurlitzer and piano. It's a bleak and raw outing that's as much blues and gospel as it is soul and country. There's an undercurrent of sorrow and despair much like Staton's most recent album, His Hands. After all these years, Lavette's honest delivery and strong presence are still very much intact.
MPEG Stream: "Somebody Pick Up My Pieces"
MPEG Stream: "Jealousy"

LAVEY, ANTON Satan Takes a Holiday (Amarillo) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Anton, founder of the Church of Satan, is a virtuosic thereminist and makes most of this cd's music on a big old organ in one take, which, when you hear all the different layers of sounds, is pretty impressive.

LAWLER, R. KEENAN Music For the Bluegrass States (Xeric) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "That Train Has Already Left The Station"
MPEG Stream: "Wall Climbing Spirit"

LAWRENCE, TOM Water Beetles Of Pollardstown Fen (Gruenrekorder) cd 17.98
If you haven't already decided to buy this just 'cause of the title (which is indeed indicative of what this is - field recordings of water beetles!!!), we suppose we should provide something of a review. Though, if you're like us, there's not much more you need to know besides that it's WATER BEETLES - and a release on the great German sound-art label Gruenrekorder...
The liner notes in the cd booklet here begin with a very apt quote from composer David Dunn: "All of the sound we hear is only a fraction of all the vibrating going on in our universe". And while it's probably good that we can't hear it all, all the time (boy that would be noisy) it's also cool once in a while to experience some of the sounds that we're usually missing out on. In this case, a sonic glimpse of another, secret world, what it would sound like if you lived in a marsh, and got your ears up close underwater next to some talkative, chit-chattering insects... which, interestingly, is a lot like some stuff in our experimental/drone section. Turns out the water beetles of Pollardstown Fen make mesmeric mad-scientist "music" that would fit in with the clicks and cuts on Raster-Noton! Abstract, ambient, but not exactly beatless - there's rhythmic pulses to the seeming electronic transmissions from these beetles. From track to track it's quite varied, these tracks teeming with all manner of bleepings and burblings, chirpings and cracklings... constantly changing, constantly fascinating, the noises these waterbugs make with their microscopic mating "cries" is AMAZING. Buzzing drones, sferic-like swoops, sawing sounds, gurgling grind, morphing and modulating in pitch... And it's not just them, there's other sounds found in their aquatic environment - did you know that photosynthesizing plants made sounds?
The ten tracks here, all recorded at locations within the Pollardstown Fen, an ancient alkaline marsh in County Kildare, Ireland, might somehow suggest mechanical sources, but are all indeed natural and organic (the liner notes take pains to specifically state that there's no electrical interference to be heard here, nor were any mechanical devices in operation upon the Fen at the time of these recordings). And yes, though we are quite happy to let our imaginations make the most of these recordings without any further information, for the curious the cd booklet does contain detailed notes, getting all technical and scientific about both the recordings and the insects in question, which should convince any skeptics suspicious about the actual origin of these sounds! Let's quote an example here, the description of track ten, just to give you the full flavor of the text, and also some idea of what you're in for, when you listen:
"This recording is a protracted performance given by a single waterbug (Water Scorpion) in heightened antagonistic stance. The hydrophone has been positioned about one inch from the insect. The insect stridulated in this way for approximately nine hours. In the background the communicative songs of the wider ecosystem can be heard. Towards the end of the recording an interesting oscillation technique takes place."
On that track, they only let that antagonistic waterbug go on for just about 13 minutes, but the whole disc itself is well over an hour and always interesting, and for us ultimately meditative.
If you liked another recent waterbug cd we listed (yes, we've had more than one!), Thomas Tilly's hydrophonic field recordings from a castle moat in France, this is maybe even more "immersive" and pleasantly evocative of its watery natural world... Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Seven Springs"
MPEG Stream: "Moore's Well"
MPEG Stream: "Hawkfields"

LAY, JOSH Asphyxiation Worship (Black Horizons) 7" 8.98
Everybody except a tiny handful of folks missed out on that Josh Lay cd-r on the last list, sold out in a flash, but for those of you who missed out, here's a brand new 7" from Mr. Lay, drummer for aQ faves Cadaver In Drag. But of course the sound here is a bit different than the cd-r. The first side begins with a noisy drone, but soft noise, an undulating layer of deep gurgly rumble and highend whir that gradually grows thicker and more ominous, until it explodes into a blast of chaotic blackness, a weird abstract black ambience with howled demonic vokills, a bit like a black metal track with the guitars and drums removed, haunting and evil and black, but more a sort of blackdrone. The flipside is all drone however, never exploding into any sort of evil blackness, instead opting to lurk in shades of grey, slithering and shimmering and whirring.
Super fancy trifold gold ink on thick black cardstock sleeve, and LIMITED TO 350 COPIES!

LAY, JOSH Poison Drinker (Sentient Recognition Archive) cd-r 9.98
LAST COPIES!!!
We totally blew through these the first time around, selling out before most folks got a chance to snag one, well here's another chance, another super limited pressing, we got a whole bunch but odds are these will fly out of here lickety split again!
This just might be our favorite new 'noise' record. The key to that statement being those little marks around the word noise. This is most definitely noisy. But it's not pure noise. It's textural. It's droney. Somehow it's weirdly melodic too. Hard to explain, it's a big ol' massive slab of grinding guitar drone, laced with shards of static, and streaks of high end skree, the low end undulates and pulses, creating a distinct, but super subtle melody, a dense rumbling support for all the high end weirdness happening o'er the top.Ê
Josh Lay for those who may not know, is in fact the drummer for fucked up avant noise doom combo Cadaver In Drag, and this here is what happens when you let THAT kind of drummer make his own record. Not sure what he's using, guitar, synth, 4-track, shortwave radio, effects. We like to think the cover of the cd is an actual photo of the recording taking place, a beat up old console turntable, two old blown speakers, a cow skull, a half drunk bottle of booze, and an upside down cross. Cuz, c'mon, put all that stuff together, it would have to sound a little something like this, At least we'd hope so.Ê
Two tracks, the first, the title track is the above mentioned 'noise', a gloriously heavy blown out crumbling damaged stretch of coruscating sound, weird that something so obviously harsh could be so listenable, but it really is. At one point some creepy horn comes in, maybe it's a synth, but it sounds like a horn, it blats for a second, then just lays down and forms another layer of buzz, tones warble and wail, almost like some radio shack built siren, and gets all tangled up in that thick viscous buzz. We literally can't stop listening to it. So much so, that it's only right now, that we actually made it to the second track, which is kick ass also, but much more subdued, a weird stuttery loop, locked into an endless rhythm, while beneath, the same deep ominous low end from the opening track buzzed and reverberates, as the track progresses, more and more sounds enter the mix, a microscopic symphony of beeps and buzzes, squeaks and squiggles, all just adding to the general dreamy noise drenched din. AWESOME!
MPEG Stream: "Poison Drinker"

LAY, JOSH True Mask (Small Doses) cd 13.98
It all started with Poison Drinker, Josh Lay's last full length, a noise record that managed to be both noisy and melodic, harsh and pummeling, but also weirdly listenable, and kinda pretty. We're pretty particular when it comes to noise records, so for that record to kick our asses so hard, something special was definitely going on, which was confirmed with the super limited Worm Terrain cassette. Now we've got Lay's first proper cd full length, and while definitely still noisy, it's even more removed from traditional 'noise music'. Sure there are several serious bursts of harsh grinding NOISE, but here, those parts almost sound more black metal, with distorted hellish vox, over swirling sheets of sound. But those moments are actually few and far between. The first half of the title track is all synthy and sci-fi, droney and abstract, a looped electronic soundscape that eventually does splinter into some blackened noise, but the second track pulls the sound back from the edge, weird angular riffs buried beneath a sea of glitches and trills, that riff is the anchor of the song, chugging away relentlessly beneath a endlessly churning and ever shifting field of glitched out hiss, and some more of those sinister vokills.
But as the record progresses, it gets less and less noisy, and more and more abstract and a tiny bit prettier. Track three is a high end sprawl of looped glistening skree and throbbing rhythmic bass pulses, minimal vokillizing, a swirling sea of streaked trebly blur, and then the final track, which is perhaps still technically noisy, but that noise is blunted, muted, dulled, like some churning blackened sonic sea, a throbbing industrial dronescape, a little Wolf Eyes, but way less abject, and weirdly a little bit warmer sounding, still ominous and buzzy, but again, strangely soothing and almost serene.
MPEG Stream: "Behind The Mask"
MPEG Stream: "Human Skin"

LAY, JOSH Worm Terrain (Husk) cassette 5.98
We all went pretty nuts for Josh Lay's Poison Drinker, a glorious slab of decaying black noise, but not like SKKKKKRGGHHH noise, no this was something much more nuanced, still harsh and grim, but layered and tripped out and psychedelic and damaged and demented and buzzy and droney, THAT kind of noise. A follow up 7" offered more of the same, but with some added blackness, even some fucked up evil vokill action. Besides creating all this sonic sickery, he also plays drums for the mighty Cadaver In Drag. Needless to say, we figured we oughta track down anything we could get our hands on by this guy. There's a new full length cd coming soon, but until then, we have this limited cassette to tide us over. Well at least a few of us. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, they're almost gone, we got the last little handful, so if you want one of these, gotta be quick. And believe us, you DO want one of these.
Thick, grinding, crumbling dronescapes, textured and layered, thick and constantly changing shape and sound and timbre, buried melodies, throbbing muted rhythms, the various strands occasionally coalescing into something almost metallic, sometimes splintering into jagged shards of pulsing low end buzz. Streaks of skree stretch across the sky, a delicate sonic latticework in the background, while up front, an oozing, whirring black cloud of muted crunch, and smeared chaotic shimmer are fused into a heaving expanse of suffocating doomdrone sickness. Warm and woozy and noisy and intense and epic, and like everything else we've heard from Lay, fucking awesome.
Again, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. We have maybe 8 left. Blue tapes, full color J-cards, each one hand numbered.

LAZARUS Like Trees We Grow Up To Be Satellites (Temporary Residence) 2cd 14.98
This is the second solo album of lilting autumnal folk from Trevor Montgomery (formerly of Tarentel). His soft, ragged vocals and gently fingerpicked acoustic guitar are smoothed and warmed by glistening piano and strings. With each subsequent song the heavy heartedness grows and grows. The cycle of aching woe is emphasized by the endless feeling recurrence of certain melodic motifs that surface throughout the album lending it a very hypnotic vibe (although some might interpret this more as repetition or even redundancy?).
Note: As an added bonus there's a whole second cd titled Demos For The Backwards America, but y'know what? The differences seem really pretty slight between the demos and 'finished' tracks. Heck the the disc artwork is very very similar too (making it very easy to confuse one with the other). So this almost seems like a cd that comes with a duplicate disc.
MPEG Stream: "The Walking Sonnet"
MPEG Stream: "This American Dream"

LAZARUS Songs For An Unborn Sun (Temporary Residence Ltd.) cd 14.98
Gorgeous album! Lazarus is Trevor Montgomery (ex-Tarentel), the lanky, gravel-voiced troubadour of sadness who has here laid down some of the most poignant and heartfelt vocal and acoustic guitar tracks ever. And the album would be lovely left at that, but then to make it even better, Trevor asked Marty Anderson from the amazing local group Dilute to embellish the music: the results are quietly stunning. Marty adds his own barely-there creaky treble vocals -- he sounds like a wrinkled crone following creepily on Montgomery's every step (in a good way) -- and tiny dots of electric guitar squiggles. A singer songwriter record with fascinating audible touches that make it both hauntingly bittersweet and yet refreshingly cleansing. Another winner from the Temporary Residence label.
MPEG Stream: "Poets the Liars"
MPEG Stream: "Ocean (Burn the Highways)"

LAZARUS Trickster (St. Ives) lp 13.98
This is not new, but we never listed it before and we've always been fans of Trevor Montgomery's (Tarentel, The Drift, Believer) solo downer folk-blues project Lazarus, and seeing that he had a stash left of these, we jumped at the chance to share this beauty with you.
Trickster from 2009 is the third album from Lazarus and it's just as beautiful and heart-wrenching as the previous ones. Like a folkier Nick Cave, Trevor's baritone gothic blues-tinged croon is more refined but no less weary. Backed by simple lyrical guitar, organ, bells and shimmering electro-acoustic tones, the well-written songs display a despairing majesty that show glimmers of hope and redemption.
Limited to 300 copies on swirly smoke or blood colored vinyl, each cover uniquely hand-painted. Trevor has significantly less than 300 left so we don't know how long these will stick around. Highly Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Lord I Know Because I Told You To Go Away"
MPEG Stream: "Real Fun"
MPEG Stream: "I Will Let You Live"