SIC ALPS Breadhead (Drag City) 7" 6.50
Two new singles from SF's own Sic Alps, aka Mike Donovan and company, and both sound kind like they could have come from the same session, even the artwork makes them seem like two parts of some sort of maxi double single. Hard to imagine most folks not wanting both, as they're both pretty great.
"Battery Townsley" starts off with the A side title track all urgently strummed acoustic guitar, cardboard box percussion, and thick reverby vocals, a seriously hooky melody, the sort Sic Alps seem to have a lock on, which leads right into the oddly titled "Cambridge Vagina", a kick ass distorted blast of fuzz drenched psychedelic jangle, that should have fans of The Oh Sees who haven't already discovered the joys of Sic Alps making up for lost time.
The "Breadhead" single offers up the title track, which is another primo slab of fuzzy, jammy jangle, plenty distorted and reverby, with that subtly folky undercurrent that all the Sic Alps seem to have, like some lost Dylan track cranked and super charged, which gives way to two short blasts of experimental psych, one a big guitar-ed heavily panned acoustic groover with whispered vox the other a super lo-fi wild rhythmic practice space jam, before finishing off with "Can't You See", a Wailers cover, that sounds like some lost classic sixties psych pop a la The Who or the Kinks, which makes sense as it features Matthew Melton from the Bare Wires playing bass, as well as Dwyer from Thee Oh Sees playing guitar and Ty Segall playing drums, a veritable SF garage rock supergroup. Needless to say, you should probably just buy both...

SIC ALPS Fool's Mag (Folding) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Whoo! Hoo! We finally got another last little handful of these babies back in stock!
Another little chunk of fractured noise pop from local popkid Sic Alps aka Mike Donovan. This is not super new, but odds are most folks never got their hands on it, as the label (Donovan, actually) sort of stopped making them for a while. So after a bit of nudging and cajoling, Fool's Mag is finally available again... for the first time, sort of. An ep length collection of that fuzzy washed out pop we've grown to love, and that only Sic Alps seems to kick out. Folks who dig stuff like Iran and Oh Sees, who haven't heard Sic Alps should really give it a chance, as they traffic in the same sort of hook filled noise drenched poppiness.
Short and sharp, warm muted distorted guitars, simple Pavement-y drumming, whiney sad boy vox, that occasionally slip into a strained falsetto, awesome buzzy sort-of-leads, lush harmonies, all buried in hiss and murk, the sound WAY lo-fi, but somehow the pop still shines through, hooks galore, melodies that will stick in your head like crazy, some of the best Sic Alps songs so far.
Not sure how long we'll have these, we did get a bunch, but you never know...

SIC ALPS How Does Vedley Gather? (Drag City) 7" 6.50
Latest single from Mike Donovan, aka local avant psychedelic garage pop one man band Sic Alps, and it might just be the weirdest one yet. The A side is a pretty pop song pulled apart and deconstructed and wedded to all sorts of blown out beats and experimental 4-trackery, super percussive and abstract, almost funky at points, with acoustic guitar strum, and sweet falsetto croon peppered with bursts of distorto drumming, and some wild production, this twisted arrangement hiding what seems to be a sweet hooky jangle pop gem, but it's hard to tell at times, with the sound flitting from strummy and sweet, to bombastic and chaotic, to angular and abstract. It's a pretty potent combination though.
The flipside almost sounds like an alternate version of the A side, or maybe a 'dub', the same fuzzy dream pop, all urgent strum and sweet croon, this time pocked with clouds of radio interference and more of those big booming distorted drums, but it's still not enough chaos and skree to disguise the perfect pop and its center. Nice!

SIC ALPS L. Mansion / Superlungs My Supergirl (Slumberland) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sic Alps just keep getting better and better. This new jam "L. Mansion" is definitely one of our favorites so far. Cool and stripped down, acoustic guitar and shuffling drums, a killer vocal line, lots of 'woooooo's, a rad reverbed piano 'solo', sounds like an acoustic version of some classic post punk / new wave jam from the eighties. The flipside is a cover, of Donovan's "Superlungs My Supergirl". We were pretty much convinced that Terry Reid's version was UNTOUCHABLE, and while Sic Alps' take on this classic doesn't quite measure up, it's still plenty bad ass, and they definitely give it their own flavor, super distorted lo-fi guitars, big booming drums, pounded piano, softly crooned vocals, some wild psych leads, plenty of feedback, and all wrapped in an awesomely buzzy wall of sound production.

SIC ALPS Napa Asylum (Drag City) cd 14.98
Another fantastic twisted slab of lo-fi psychedelic shitgaze noise pop from these SF rockers, formerly the duo of Mike Donovan and Matt Hartman, now expanded to a trio with the addition of former Comet On Fire Noel Harmonson, and while it's inevitable that bands get more polished, and their songs get better, and recording techniques improve, as we all know, that's not always a good thing. Thankfully in the case of Sic Alps, the new record manages to move leaps and bounds beyond their last one, with out losing any off the oddball ramshackle charm and on-the-verge of collapse songsmithery that made them so endearingly lovable in the first place.
The songs this time around are somehow more immediately catchy, the band ditching their purposefully obtuse fuck you vibe and some of their sonic spikiness, for a noisiness and looseness that seems more organic, less calculated, and somehow the songs seem the better for it. It helps that these songs are super catchy, maybe Donovan's best batch yet, the sort of songs that recorded in a big studio with a crack band could be total hits. Okay, maybe not, but for a lo-fi noiserock band on Drag City, this is sorta like Sic Alps' Slanted And Enchanted, the perfect blend of new more polished songwriting, and the old, don't give a fuck, whatever vibe.
The opening three track salvo is pretty untouchable though. "Jolly" is a brooding noise drenched ballad, all lumbering tempo, and ominous piano, laid beneath, weary vox, falsetto harmonies, and shuffling drumming, "Eat Happy" is all minimal acoustic strum, wreathed in jagged psychedelic noiseguitar, mumbled mush mouthed vocals, and a super poppy, almost GBV sort of classic Brit pop sounding chorus, with a crazy catchy stuttered vocal line, and finally, "Cement Surfboard" might be the dreamiest Sic Alps jam yet, lilting and super melodic, with some sweetly melodic singing, and a hazy harmony vocal driven chorus. And we could probably go on. Expand that three track salvo to four, or five, or ten. Things do get more chaotic and noisy, abstract and murky, but even at its loosest and most fucked up, Napa Asylum is pretty solidly pop, and no amount of fuckery can disguise that. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Jolly"
MPEG Stream: "Eat Happy"
MPEG Stream: "Cement Surfboard"
MPEG Stream: "Occult Display"

SIC ALPS Napa Asylum (Drag City) 2lp 22.00
Another fantastic twisted slab of lo-fi psychedelic shitgaze noise pop from these SF rockers, formerly the duo of Mike Donovan and Matt Hartman, now expanded to a trio with the addition of former Comet On Fire Noel Harmonson, and while it's inevitable that bands get more polished, and their songs get better, and recording techniques improve, as we all know, that's not always a good thing. Thankfully in the case of Sic Alps, the new record manages to move leaps and bounds beyond their last one, with out losing any off the oddball ramshackle charm and on-the-verge of collapse songsmithery that made them so endearingly lovable in the first place.
The songs this time around are somehow more immediately catchy, the band ditching their purposefully obtuse fuck you vibe and some of their sonic spikiness, for a noisiness and looseness that seems more organic, less calculated, and somehow the songs seem the better for it. It helps that these songs are super catchy, maybe Donovan's best batch yet, the sort of songs that recorded in a big studio with a crack band could be total hits. Okay, maybe not, but for a lo-fi noiserock band on Drag City, this is sorta like Sic Alps' Slanted And Enchanted, the perfect blend of new more polished songwriting, and the old, don't give a fuck, whatever vibe.
The opening three track salvo is pretty untouchable though. "Jolly" is a brooding noise drenched ballad, all lumbering tempo, and ominous piano, laid beneath, weary vox, falsetto harmonies, and shuffling drumming, "Eat Happy" is all minimal acoustic strum, wreathed in jagged psychedelic noiseguitar, mumbled mush mouthed vocals, and a super poppy, almost GBV sort of classic Brit pop sounding chorus, with a crazy catchy stuttered vocal line, and finally, "Cement Surfboard" might be the dreamiest Sic Alps jam yet, lilting and super melodic, with some sweetly melodic singing, and a hazy harmony vocal driven chorus. And we could probably go on. Expand that three track salvo to four, or five, or ten. Things do get more chaotic and noisy, abstract and murky, but even at its loosest and most fucked up, Napa Asylum is pretty solidly pop, and no amount of fuckery can disguise that. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Jolly"
MPEG Stream: "Eat Happy"
MPEG Stream: "Cement Surfboard"
MPEG Stream: "Occult Display"

SIC ALPS Pangea Globe (Drag City) 7" 6.50
Yet another slab of gorgeous echo drenched psych folk / noise pop from this local treasure, Mike Donovan unfurls another mini songsuite, beginning with some softly distorted, reverb soaked falsetto vox draped over simple stripped down steel string strum, like some lost sixties folk gem newly discovered, a hazy artifact from some lost time, the second track though is more rocking, loose and wild drumming, angular fuzz guitar, snarly and swaggery, with some killer psychedelic crunch, and a serious T-Rex vibe, before things get noisier, some lilting folkiness doused in distortion and feedback, underpinned by whirring organ, like some classic sixties pop nugget mostly obscured by clouds of noise and fuzz, before finally finishing things off with a loping dirge folk pound, driven by the death rattle of a creeping loose-stringed guitar, distant echoey drumming, druggy and swaggery and plenty spaced out and psychedelic!

SIC ALPS Pleasures And Treasures (Animal Disguise Recordings) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What manner of warble is this? Why, it's AQ pal Mike Donovan's local cave pop unit, Sic Alps, in what looks to be their debut full length that (thankfully!) for once is not uber-limited. Featuring members of Erase Errata and The Hospitals, Sic Alps brand of noise pop is akin to listening to a beat up Troggs 45 while robotripping. Subterranean beats, murky vocals, echo-y sheets of feedback and dirty shimmer mask the sublimest of pop songs, leaving us to suspect if the Coachwhips were played on 16 rpm, they might sound a lot like this. Love it!!
MPEG Stream: "Semi-Streets"
MPEG Stream: "Reconnectionland"

SIC ALPS Pleasures And Treasures (Animal Disguise Recordings) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What manner of warble is this? Why, it's AQ pal Mike Donovan's local cave pop unit, Sic Alps, in what looks to be their debut full length that (thankfully!) for once is not uber-limited. Featuring members of Erase Errata and The Hospitals, Sic Alps brand of noise pop is akin to listening to a beat up Troggs 45 while robotripping. Subterranean beats, murky vocals, echo-y sheets of feedback and dirty shimmer mask the sublimest of pop songs, leaving us to suspect if the Coachwhips were played on 16 rpm, they might sound a lot like this. Love it!!
MPEG Stream: "Semi-Streets"
MPEG Stream: "Reconnectionland"

SIC ALPS s/t (Drag City) cd 14.98
A new record from local psychedelic pop combo Sic Alps is always a cause for celebration around here, and their most recent self titled is no exception, apparently its the first Sic Alps record to be properly recorded, in a real recording studio and everything, and it sounds like it, within the first minute or two, the usual fragmented psychedelia has been wreathed in swirling strings, laced with moaning cellos, peppered with a blown out squall of heavily effected guitar, all that and vocal harmonies soaring over wild stumbling chaotic drumming, crunchy riffage, laconic laid back vox, it's still loose and ramshackle and often seemingly on the verge of collapse (it is Sic Alps after all), but it sounds SO GOOD. So lush and loud and like a real and proper band. And while a lot of bands who make that transition end up sounding not nearly as good, this new found 'polish' actually suits Sic Alps, they wear it well, and this record definitely could be the one that pushes them to the next level, it's not hard to imagine more mainstream folks who've been dabbling in groups like Howlin' Rain', going kinda nuts for this new Sic Alps. The second track, is bluesy and folky and psychedelic, and wouldn't sound at all out of place crammed between a Howlin' Rain track and say even a Chris Robinson Brotherhood jam, and we definitely mean that as a compliment.
But c'mon, a little polish is not gonna UN-tweak the perpetually thoroughly tweaked 'Alps. Just check out "Lazee Son", an acoustic folk ditty, but blown out, and recorded super in-the-red, the vocals wavery and delicate, the guitar buzzy and distorted, which leads right into "Polka Vat" which perfectly merges the twisted Alps of old with something much more ambitious and yeah, a little bit more accessible, we're hearing plenty of Big Star and T-Rex, and "Wake Up, It's Over II" sounds like it was born of Deep Purple's "Hush". "Drink Up!", is a woozy, stoned, chaotic free jam that coalesces into a stumbly downtuned dirge, "Moviehead" is another jam that sounds like some classic rock cover, that vibe was definitely present on past Sic Alps records, just to a lesser degree, but again, like the production, it definitely suits them, and hell, if it gets other people to check em out, and maybe dig deeper into their stellar back catalog, we're all for it.
The closer, "See You On The Slopes", is a dreamy piano ballad, all spare and sparse and reverby, and weirdly cinematic; we can't help but imagine this playing over the denouement of some super heart breaking indie art film, which is not a bad thing at all.
MPEG Stream: "Glyphs"
MPEG Stream: "God Bless Her, I Miss Her"
MPEG Stream: "Lazee Son"
MPEG Stream: "Polka Vat"

SIC ALPS s/t (Drag City) lp 17.98
A new record from local psychedelic pop combo Sic Alps is always a cause for celebration around here, and their most recent self titled is no exception, apparently its the first Sic Alps record to be properly recorded, in a real recording studio and everything, and it sounds like it, within the first minute or two, the usual fragmented psychedelia has been wreathed in swirling strings, laced with moaning cellos, peppered with a blown out squall of heavily effected guitar, all that and vocal harmonies soaring over wild stumbling chaotic drumming, crunchy riffage, laconic laid back vox, it's still loose and ramshackle and often seemingly on the verge of collapse (it is Sic Alps after all), but it sounds SO GOOD. So lush and loud and like a real and proper band. And while a lot of bands who make that transition end up sounding not nearly as good, this new found 'polish' actually suits Sic Alps, they wear it well, and this record definitely could be the one that pushes them to the next level, it's not hard to imagine more mainstream folks who've been dabbling in groups like Howlin' Rain', going kinda nuts for this new Sic Alps. The second track, is bluesy and folky and psychedelic, and wouldn't sound at all out of place crammed between a Howlin' Rain track and say even a Chris Robinson Brotherhood jam, and we definitely mean that as a compliment.
But c'mon, a little polish is not gonna UN-tweak the perpetually thoroughly tweaked 'Alps. Just check out "Lazee Son", an acoustic folk ditty, but blown out, and recorded super in-the-red, the vocals wavery and delicate, the guitar buzzy and distorted, which leads right into "Polka Vat" which perfectly merges the twisted Alps of old with something much more ambitious and yeah, a little bit more accessible, we're hearing plenty of Big Star and T-Rex, and "Wake Up, It's Over II" sounds like it was born of Deep Purple's "Hush". "Drink Up!", is a woozy, stoned, chaotic free jam that coalesces into a stumbly downtuned dirge, "Moviehead" is another jam that sounds like some classic rock cover, that vibe was definitely present on past Sic Alps records, just to a lesser degree, but again, like the production, it definitely suits them, and hell, if it gets other people to check em out, and maybe dig deeper into their stellar back catalog, we're all for it.
The closer, "See You On The Slopes", is a dreamy piano ballad, all spare and sparse and reverby, and weirdly cinematic; we can't help but imagine this playing over the denouement of some super heart breaking indie art film, which is not a bad thing at all.
MPEG Stream: "Glyphs"
MPEG Stream: "God Bless Her, I Miss Her"
MPEG Stream: "Lazee Son"
MPEG Stream: "Polka Vat"

SIC ALPS s/t (Folding) cassette 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a short cassette released by AQ pal Mike Donovan (Big Techno Werewolves, Nam, Sounds Of The Barbary Coast, The Ropers, Dial Records) of his current band Sic Alps whome you might recall from their split 7" with California Lightening (featuring members of Erase Errata)! As with most releases by the very DIY San Francisco fella Mr. Donovan, there is only going to be a very small homespun run of these made, so needless to say, don't snoooooze!
Pssst... we also have a small number of some other Folding cassette releases, all with hand made covers -- a short one from Death Sentence: Panda plus a compilation he compiled with artist Chris Johanson called SSSSSOSS2 and ones by Dark Yellow Swans (aka Yellow Swans) and NVH with Six Organs Of Admittance's Ben Chasny. Dust off yer cassette deck!

SIC ALPS s/t (Drag City) cassette 9.98
A new record from local psychedelic pop combo Sic Alps is always a cause for celebration around here, and their most recent self titled is no exception, apparently its the first Sic Alps record to be properly recorded, in a real recording studio and everything, and it sounds like it, within the first minute or two, the usual fragmented psychedelia has been wreathed in swirling strings, laced with moaning cellos, peppered with a blown out squall of heavily effected guitar, all that and vocal harmonies soaring over wild stumbling chaotic drumming, crunchy riffage, laconic laid back vox, it's still loose and ramshackle and often seemingly on the verge of collapse (it is Sic Alps after all), but it sounds SO GOOD. So lush and loud and like a real and proper band. And while a lot of bands who make that transition end up sounding not nearly as good, this new found 'polish' actually suits Sic Alps, they wear it well, and this record definitely could be the one that pushes them to the next level, it's not hard to imagine more mainstream folks who've been dabbling in groups like Howlin' Rain', going kinda nuts for this new Sic Alps. The second track, is bluesy and folky and psychedelic, and wouldn't sound at all out of place crammed between a Howlin' Rain track and say even a Chris Robinson Brotherhood jam, and we definitely mean that as a compliment.
But c'mon, a little polish is not gonna UN-tweak the perpetually thoroughly tweaked 'Alps. Just check out "Lazee Son", an acoustic folk ditty, but blown out, and recorded super in-the-red, the vocals wavery and delicate, the guitar buzzy and distorted, which leads right into "Polka Vat" which perfectly merges the twisted Alps of old with something much more ambitious and yeah, a little bit more accessible, we're hearing plenty of Big Star and T-Rex, and "Wake Up, It's Over II" sounds like it was born of Deep Purple's "Hush". "Drink Up!", is a woozy, stoned, chaotic free jam that coalesces into a stumbly downtuned dirge, "Moviehead" is another jam that sounds like some classic rock cover, that vibe was definitely present on past Sic Alps records, just to a lesser degree, but again, like the production, it definitely suits them, and hell, if it gets other people to check em out, and maybe dig deeper into their stellar back catalog, we're all for it.
The closer, "See You On The Slopes", is a dreamy piano ballad, all spare and sparse and reverby, and weirdly cinematic; we can't help but imagine this playing over the denouement of some super heart breaking indie art film, which is not a bad thing at all.
MPEG Stream: "Glyphs"
MPEG Stream: "God Bless Her, I Miss Her"
MPEG Stream: "Lazee Son"
MPEG Stream: "Polka Vat"

SIC ALPS Semi Streets (Skulltones) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More limited edition noisy guitar dissonance from SF's Sic Alps. Four gnarled songs including the title track which also appears on their most recent full length Pleasures And Treasures.
Limited to 300 hand numbered copies.

SIC ALPS Strawberry Guillotine 7" (Woodsist) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Fans of Sic Alps, your fave band is keeping their primal distorto-rock love flowin' with their latest 7"! Three new songs, the title track "Strawberry Guillotine" is a commentary on and a dedication to the Bay Area homeless. As with most Sic Alps releases we don't know for certain how long we'll have these in stock, so best to get 'em while you can (which is now)!

SIC ALPS U.S. EZ (Siltbreeze) cd 13.98
Now that Iran seem to be dead. And the Church Steps are gone. And the Coach Whips are no more. Well, it's up to Sic Alps to keep the SF noise pop freak flag flying!
It always seemed that sonically, these guys belonged on Siltbreeze, and lo and behold, it has come to pass. For those who are new to Sic Alps, imagine a fractured noise drenched lo-fi garage pop, rife with blown out drums, simple detuned guitars, lazy drawled vocals, tons of reverb and distortion, all tangled up into some seriously catchy pop. Guided By Voices, Strapping Fieldhands, Pavement, but with plenty of hazy sixties psych, a killer lo-fi Phil Spector-ish wall of sound production, and a bit of corrosive noise and fractured amp buzz a la the Dead C.
U.S. EZ leans way more toward the pop than the noise, many of the songs, eschewing any sort of noise or distortion completely, offering up instead, a sort of shimmery sixties soft pop, all jangly guitars, and reverbed background vocals, but elsewhere the band rocks pretty hard, channeling classic nineties slacker indie rock, through modern noise rock, via some fuzzy retro garage, the result as we mentioned before, often ends up sounding like a Beach Boys or Hollies record on Siltbreeze. Which should be recommendation enough. Dwyer from the Oh Sees says it's worth it just for the track "Gelly Roll Gum Drop"!!
MPEG Stream: "Gelly Roll Gum Drop"
MPEG Stream: "Massive Place"
MPEG Stream: "Bric Jaz"

SIC ALPS United (Important Records) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ultra ultra limited one sided 7"s from local noisepop faves Sic Alps. Pressed on clear blue vinyl, packaged in a plain white sleeve with a black and white sticker and NO information, this just might be the poppiest Sic Alps yet. Beginning with revving engines and super distorted drums, the track soon launches into some sunny jangly reverb drenched pop, all clean jangly guitars, summery sing songy vocals, a super catchy melody, classic old school Phil Spector style lo-fi production, it's almost a shame it's only one song. Like a noise rock Archies, or the Beach Boys recording for Siltbreeze. Good stuff. And, it's a Throbbing Gristle cover fyi!

SIC ALPS US EZ (Siltbreeze) lp 14.98
Now On Vinyl!
Now that Iran seem to be dead. And the Church Steps are gone. And the Coach Whips are no more. Well, it's up to Sic Alps to keep the SF noise pop freak flag flying!
It always seemed that sonically, these guys belonged on Siltbreeze, and lo and behold, it has come to pass. For those who are new to Sic Alps, imagine a fractured noise drenched lo-fi garage pop, rife with blown out drums, simple detuned guitars, lazy drawled vocals, tons of reverb and distortion, all tangled up into some seriously catchy pop. Guided By Voices, Strapping Fieldhands, Pavement, but with plenty of hazy sixties psych, a killer lo-fi Phil Spector-ish wall of sound production, and a bit of corrosive noise and fractured amp buzz a la the Dead C.
U.S. EZ leans way more toward the pop than the noise, many of the songs, eschewing any sort of noise or distortion completely, offering up instead, a sort of shimmery sixties soft pop, all jangly guitars, and reverbed background vocals, but elsewhere the band rocks pretty hard, channeling classic nineties slacker indie rock, through modern noise rock, via some fuzzy retro garage, the result as we mentioned before, often ends up sounding like a Beach Boys or Hollies record on Siltbreeze. Which should be recommendation enough. Dwyer from the Oh Sees says it's worth it just for the track "Gelly Roll Gum Drop"!!
MPEG Stream: "Gelly Roll Gum Drop"
MPEG Stream: "Massive Place"
MPEG Stream: "Bric Jaz"

SIC ALPS / CALIFORNIA LIGHTENING Four Virgins (City Records) 7" 3.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A super limited split single by two raw SF art-rock hotties! On special occasions half of Erase Errata (namely Jenny and Bianca) splinter off to form the dynamic duo California Lightening (no, not Lightning). And when Sic Alps convene they usually star Hospitals' Adam Stonehouse and Mike Donovan (of Big Techno Werewolves and Church Steps and a heap of other projects), but on this record the abovementioned Jenny (oh yeah, and she's also a member of Burmese!) and Flying Luttenbachers' Weasel Walter join in the S.A. fray too. The record sleeve features those participants, minus Mr. Walter, remaking the Lennon/Ono Two Virgins album cover photo. That in itself is an attention grabber, but then there's their music to keep you glued too. Sic Alps proclaim "I Am Grass" in their peculiar hazy, glazed-eye dissonant fashion and California Lightening offer up a churning menace in "Basement". Ultra limited pressing of 300 of which we've only got a handful, so either act now or whimper to yourself when they're all gone!

SIMONE, NINA Here Comes The Sun (4 Men With Beards) lp 19.98

SINGER, LIAM Our Secret Lies Beneath The Creek (Tell-All) cd 11.98
Wonderful! Mr. Liam Singer's second album is such a sumptuous affair! In the scale of production and composition, it's quite an impressive progression from his already mighty fine debut The Empty Heart Of The Chameleon which came out just last year. Evocative, earthy and at times quite bold and adventurous, this album pushes gently at the boundaries of popular music norms incorporating classical and operatic elements throughout. For instance, some folks may need to get a little acclimatized to the initially startling, spine-tingling operatic female vocals that punctuate the proceedings. They serve as quite an affecting counterpart to Singer's own softly poetic, boyish demeanor (which has drawn in-store comparisons to Elliott Smith) particularly on standout numbers such as "Travelogue - The Great Divide". However, where the spotlight shines brightest (and deservedly so) is on his intricate cascading piano passages. Most are delicately filigree'd and occasionally accompanied by trumpet, e-bowed guitar and very Spartan percussion, but we'd venture a guess that the syncopation/paradiddle workout in the eighth track "Left Ventricle/Tone Clusters" is a reverent reference to Steve Reich's Four Organs. Our Secret Lies Beneath The Creek exudes grace from the first note to the last. Yes, recommended.
MPEG Stream: "One Breath Out"
MPEG Stream: "Travelogue - The Great Divide"

SINGER, LIAM The Empty Heart Of The Chameleon (Tell-All ) cd 9.98
The Empty Heart Of The Chameleon is the debut from Liam Singer. His soft, faint vocals have already drawn comparisons by a few AQ customers to Elliott Smith, but his solo piano and theremin that take turns accompanying his voice create altogether different lonely moods and solitary atmospheres. As well, on occasion, Singer's voice is contrasted with more classically trained sounding female vocals that climb to dramatic, operatic heights. Everything is ultra hushed and delicate, brittle around the edges, in danger of vanishing or being crushed under the emotions they bear. Much like autumn leaves that fall slowly one by one, this music is spartan and contemplative, allowing an achingly sensitive vocal phrase or simple note sequence to linger in the air. Starkly beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "Between My Lips, Which Did Sing"
MPEG Stream: "Asthma / Rivets In Water"

SINGER, LIAM Twelve: A Series - F (Tell-All) 3" cd-r 2.98
What do you do when the rules are simply: compose a piece of music using only one note? Well, the folks at SF label Tell-All Records decided to explore the possibilities with a 3" cd-r series titled "Twelve". Each of the participants was assigned (or perhaps chose for themselves) one note of the 12-note scale. Here's one of the first two volumes released thus far, it's Liam Singer in 'F' (the other is Dave Zohrob's compositions in 'E').
He utilizes octave jumps, tempo changes and rhythmic shifts and syncopation to bring movement and shape to the lone note. The proceedings are punctuated by sparse percussion and vocal utterances (cues?). A lively beginning to this series.

SIPPY CUPS, THE Electric Storyland! (Snacker Disc) cd 14.98
Yay Sippy Cups! What started out as a few local rockers doing Syd Barrett and Who covers for kids a few years back has evolved into a full-blown kids entertainment juggernaut complete with sold-out choreographed live shows (involving a juggler!) and a whole new album of original songs. Electric Storyland is for parents who want to wean their kids off Barney-type treacle and nudge them into something weirder -- but not too weird. The album's songs are catchy and fun and have playful hints of psychedelia -- from '60s-sounding pop songs with suggestive/innocent titles ("Little Puffer" and "Magic Toast") to songs that reference Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips ("I Am a Robot)". Buy it for your sister's kids -- chances are this is the only album you, your sister and her kids might find some common ground on!
MPEG Stream: "Magic Toast"
MPEG Stream: "I Am A Robot"

SIX EYE COLUMBIA A Million Six cd 9.98
Strong songwriting dominates this debut release from the local rock group Six Eye Columbia. In addition to guitar and vocals, bandleader / all-around nice guy Josh Pollock also wields the banjo, xylophone, piano, and assorted toys. An array of guests offer pedal steel, cello, sax, trumpet etc. The effects-laden vocal delivery is similar to Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard -- tinny, staticky as if thru a bullhorn. Doleful male harmonies bring to mind Mark Eitzel's solo work, as does the simmering tension and midtempo pace throughout. Forlorn and depressing in a good way.
RealAudio clip: "Traitor Hygiene"
RealAudio clip: "Uranium Doll I"
RealAudio clip: "Joni Mitchell Songs"

SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Shelter From The Ash (Drag City) cd 14.98
The first two tracks on Shelter From The Ash pretty much illustrate the two complementary sides to Mr. Six Organs Ben Chasny's usual modus operandi. The first cut, "Alone With The Alone", is droning and dense, building into tripped out, fairly fierce electric guitar solo, while the second, "Strangled Road", is a much mellower, subdued folk-ish number, with hushed vocals and lonely guitar strum... Together, you've got a recipe for the morose, bleak beauty that this album cooks up, with songs sung about war, loss and survival amidst yearning instrumentals, including one dedicated to the Sun City Girls.
Shelter From The Ash is record number ten (at least!) from Six Organs of Admittance and it's another winner, much like its predecessors in having a basis in Chasny's facility with Faheyesque steel-string fingerpicking while heading off into the wilder reaches of heavy psych, and almost country-rockish moodiness. He's helped out here by members of Comets On Fire and Magick Markers, though it's the rough hewn, intimate hum and buzz of just Ben and his guitar that works the most magic for us.
MPEG Stream: "Coming To Get You"
MPEG Stream: "Alone With The Alone"

SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE Shelter From The Ash (Drag City) lp 15.98
The first two tracks on Shelter From The Ash pretty much illustrate the two complementary sides to Mr. Six Organs Ben Chasny's usual modus operandi. The first cut, "Alone With The Alone", is droning and dense, building into tripped out, fairly fierce electric guitar solo, while the second, "Strangled Road", is a much mellower, subdued folk-ish number, with hushed vocals and lonely guitar strum... Together, you've got a recipe for the morose, bleak beauty that this album cooks up, with songs sung about war, loss and survival amidst yearning instrumentals, including one dedicated to the Sun City Girls.
Shelter From The Ash is record number ten (at least!) from Six Organs of Admittance and it's another winner, much like its predecessors in having a basis in Chasny's facility with Faheyesque steel-string fingerpicking while heading off into the wilder reaches of heavy psych, and almost country-rockish moodiness. He's helped out here by members of Comets On Fire and Magick Markers, though it's the rough hewn, intimate hum and buzz of just Ben and his guitar that works the most magic for us.
MPEG Stream: "Coming To Get You"
MPEG Stream: "Alone With The Alone"

SIXTEENS Casio (Cochon) cd 10.98
Now here on cd! Here's What We Had To Say about the vinyl version a few years ago:
This 3 piece from Oakland CA play arty, chaotic, somewhat dark, noisy sort-of-punk-rock. The influence of electro, goth, darkwave, new wave and post-punk all do battle in a Sixteens song, and the outcome is inevitably a draw. Not surprisingly the trio are friends and musical allies of SF local scary ones The Vanishing, The Phantom Limbs, and Black Ice. Intense girl and boy vocals over hectic, deranged sludgy noise. 8 songs = 51 minutes.
MPEG Stream: "Community People"
MPEG Stream: "Bed Of Nails"

SIXX Sister Devil - Demo 1991 (Nuclear War Now!) cd 11.98
Bay area black metal masters Von were responsible for two of the most important USBM documents ever, the Satanic Blood and Blood Angel demos, considered by many to be the first US black metal record(s), and to this day, those records continue to inspire a legion of musical hordes, who strive to emulate that furious idiosyncratic raw that few can reproduce. What few people know, is that right after the release of those demos, the members of Von shifted their focus to another project, with a way different sound and vibe, called Sixx, which was anything but black metal, instead a dark, creepy, brooding, gothic deathrock, think Bauhaus, Christian Death, Specimen, all minor key spidery guitars, swirling dark ambience, pounding new wave drums, and of course, super dramatic crooned vocals.
It seems almost prescient, considering that this sound is enjoying a pretty serious resurgence these days: past Record Of The Weekers Soror Dolorosa, Hateful Abandon, Factums, Dial M For Murder, Cold Cave, Crystal Stilts, etc. But this demo, recorded in 1991, was as mentioned above, recorded hot on the heels of two of the most grim and raw, blasting black metal records ever! And while it may not directly inform the actual sound, it does speak to what a strange and special record the Sixx demo was and is. Chiming guitars and krauty rhythms, lots of reverb and delay, a dark brooding ambience, we hear lots of classic goth and darkwave and new wave, Kommunity FK, Human Drama, Tones On Tail, and the more we listen to it, the more the link between Sixx and Von crystallizes, both bands trafficked in simple stripped down songs, most with only one or two parts, vocals repetitive and mantric, in fact, in some ways, Sixx almost sounds like Von with all the distortion removed, right down to those classic Von goaty grunts. That said, just 'cause you like Von, doesn't necessarily mean you'll like Sixx, but if you dig that sound, and any of the above mentioned bands, then Sixx's Sister Devil might just be your lost reissue / rediscovered gem of the year.
MPEG Stream: "On The Dead"

SKATERS Gambling In Ohpa's Shadow (Pseudo Arcana) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SKATERS Pavilinous Miracles Of Circular Facet Dice (Chocolate Monk) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SKATERS Rippling Whispers (self-released) 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.

MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Two"

SKATERS / YELLOW SWANS Humming Lattice Flowers (JYRK) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another SUPER LIMITED cd-r from the Jyrk Collective (run by the guys in the Yellow Swans) who also just recently released the amazing (and also quite limited) Grey Daturas / Yellow Swans collaboration found elsewhere on this list. Unlike the GD / YS collaboration, this is a good old fashioned split, with each band offering up twenty minutes or so of their particular brand of skree. The Yellow Swans deliver a practically swoonsome drone, haunting and mysterious, with simple plodding percussion, occasional elctronic filigree and moody Eastern sounding guitar melodies. So nice. The Skaters take the noisier road, with a clangy clattery blown out soundscpae of distorted drones, buzzy fuzzy electronic whir and heavily affected disembodied vocalisations. Thickly layered and weirdly otherworldly.
And again, just to drive that point home, THIS IS VERY LIMITED. By the time you read this review, this cd-r will already be out of print. So if you want one act fast!
MPEG Stream: "One"

SKATERS, THE Palm Shaper (267 Lattajjaa) 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.

SKIN HORSE s/t (self-released) cd-r 9.98
We thought this debut from now defunct SF heavies Skin Horse was gone for good, but we managed to get a handful more from the band...
Local folks may have seen these guys tearing up stages around town. Although maybe tearing up isn't precisely what these guys do. They're much more of a brooding behemoth. But they're much more than that. Almost confusingly so (but in a good way!) Anyway, Skin Horse are a trio who traffic in long stretches of plodding doom, mathy jangle, and epic post rock, laced with haunting atmospherics and deep black ambience.
This 3 song cd-r is their debut, and each of the three tracks is totally different, and in some cases almost sound like different bands, but somehow, the tracks do manage to fit together, a little disjointedly, but still strangely cohesive.
The opener begins with a sheet of guitar noise under static and strange voices, soaring harmonics, and rumbling drones, when the band do finally kick in, it's a sort of slowcore, dronedoom hybrid. Plodding and downtuned and heavy, but weirdly melodic, the guitars heavy and abstract, the drums a caveman pound, vocals a harsh shriek, Khanate fans will be all over this, as will all ultradoomlords.
But only maybe until the second track, which begins with dark minor key guitar jangle, which erupts into some awesomely nineties sounding mathrock, all clean guitars, and convoluted arrangements, before locking into a spiraling freakout, all tribal rhythms, and squealing feedback, a stuttering riff and swirls of FX, launching immediately into the final track, another blast of angular clean guitar mathrock, but structure like doom, so the chords ring out, the drums crash, but there's tons of space, some super abstract arrangements, killer dynamics, all wrapped around a super intense main minor key melody, the kind of stuff we could listen to forever, before again, locking into an extended outro, a cool woozy chugging groove, that eventually gives way to a brief stretch of moody Slintish drift to finish off.
We've been inundated with post rock metal bands, or post metal or whatever, but Skin Horse are as far as we can remember the first band to fuse math rock with serious doom metal, and we're definitely up for hearing more.
Packaged in hand sewn, hand screened red or black pouches, LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Confined To Shadows"

SKIN HORSE / NANDA DEVI split (Apterran Recordings) cd 5.98
We thought this split from aQ faves Skin Horse was gone for good, but we managed to get a handful more from the band...
We'd been dying to hear more Skin Horse ever since their self released 3 song ep from last year, a killer mix of lurching black doom, mathy post rock, and epic dark ambience.
So here we have one new track (it's a long one though, nearly 14 minutes), and it definitely takes off right where the ep left off. Beginning with a dark brooding slowcore skitter, although it's laced with some super strange warbly downtuned tones, that make the whole thing sound a bit twisted and off kilter. The heaviness builds, as heaviness so often does, but here it just wraps itself around that initial post rocky guitar part instead of obliterating it completely, making for some seriously moody heaviness. Once things get going, the guitars are slathered on thick, and allowed to bow and bend the otherwise straight ahead jams into yet another warped groove, there do seem to be vocals, but they're buried way down in the murk.
About halfway through, Skin Horse shift gears and get super intense and aggro, going all mathy, offering up bursts of ultra tight rock, before splintering into some plodding ultra doom, the vocals a caustic wail, the guitars an oozing black buzz, the drums a massive plod, and just as you're getting into that slow motion groove, they shift gears again and bliss out, the guitars becoming nearly translucent, drifting over a sea of sizzling cymbals, weird bits of sampled preaching, dense grinding effects laden buzz, building to another mathy metallic frenzy, before almost dubbing out into a long, sprawling outro. Killer stuff, definitely need to see these guys pull this off live.
Skin Horse share this two song half hour split with a band called Nanda Devi, who we'd never heard before now, but who definitely seem like a good match for Skin Horse. Their 18 minute epic begins with layered sheets of noise, buried bits of melody and softly strummed guitars, which give way to some surprisingly melodic post rocking, the drums massive and LOUD, the guitars simple and stripped down, swirling and building into some metallic Godspeed territory, in come the howled Neurosisy vocals, but the cool thing is, the guitars are still not heavy or distorted, instead jangling and shimmering and singing and soaring, a good contrast with the raw gruff vocals and the wildly chaotic drumming. They too shift gears part way through, the drums getting all tribal, the guitars getting more angular, and beginning another slow build, until a second guitar swoops in adding all sorts of spaciness to the proceedings. Another bout of howled vocals, and the song unwinds in a flurry of tripped out spaced out swirling whirling epic heaviness. Bad ass. And BOTH bands here come WAY recommended.
MPEG Stream: SKIN HORSE "109"
MPEG Stream: NANDA DEVI "Lifelong Migration"

SKY PILOTS Enjoy A Day Off (Ghost Mansion) cd 14.98

SKY PILOTS s/t (Ghost Mansion) cd 8.98
Sky Pilots' self-titled debut release is packed with angstful male vocals, chunky guitars, and slabs of bass. This Bay Area trio's sound is very infused with the heavy raw Chicago Albini-isms, but with some Brooklyn hip styliness too. Cool stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Bridge Too Long"
MPEG Stream: "Hats Off To The Comeback"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS Disciples of California (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98
Wander again through the mystic meadows with these two lazy troubadours of the rustic psych folk revival. Glenn Donaldson and Donovan Quinn and friends are back with another installment (11 songs, 35 minutes) of the SGL's always sunshiney and melodious mellowness. The haze hasn't lifted, these boys are still sitting crosslegged and deep in the dandelions, drifting astrally across their own inner California state of mind, a cosmos of '60s dosed song-half-writing... by that we just mean that this and other SGL artifacts could all be One, though this IS way more song-based than other Jewelled Antler related projects. They gently strum and strum and mumble and sing of Sally Orchid and the Egyptian Circus and Silvery Branches, and love, always love, and this is certainly lovely... Imagine (imagination is what the SKG's and their lyrically cryptic concepts certainly stoke) the delivery of a Dylan afflicted with the Olivia Tremors, engaged in pastoral nature worship, on a California trip.
We should also note the bumper-sticker ready song title here: "Jesus Was Californian". WWJD? Eat organic avocados!
MPEG Stream: "Disciples Of California"
MPEG Stream: "Places West Of Shawapee"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS Gorgeous Johnny (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98
Yeah, we know this came out a coupla months ago, but we think it makes a perfect late summer into autumn kind of listen. Y'know, one that's best listened to amid the soft rustle of freshly falling leaves and the cooler evening breezes. The Skygreen Leopards' latest album Gorgeous Johnny is filled with a baker's dozen willowy psych-tinged folk pop numbers. Their pretty, slightly woozy melodies drift in and out of the shadows, making for an ever so comfortingly drowsy listen. Adding a bit more sweetness to the hazy warm concoction is the presence of The Papercuts' Jason Quever on bass, drums and piano. The band continues to follow surefootedly in the distinctly west coast countrified pop Americana tradition of The Byrds, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Grateful Dead. Definitely recommended if you dig contemporaries like Devendra Banhart, Fleet Foxes and Vetiver too.
MPEG Stream: "Margery"
MPEG Stream: "Paid By The Hour"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS Gorgeous Johnny (Jagjaguwar) lp 14.98
Yeah, we know this came out a coupla months ago, but we think it makes a perfect late summer into autumn kind of listen. Y'know, one that's best listened to amid the soft rustle of freshly falling leaves and the cooler evening breezes. The Skygreen Leopards' latest album Gorgeous Johnny is filled with a baker's dozen willowy psych-tinged folk pop numbers. Their pretty, slightly woozy melodies drift in and out of the shadows, making for an ever so comfortingly drowsy listen. Adding a bit more sweetness to the hazy warm concoction is the presence of The Papercuts' Jason Quever on bass, drums and piano. The band continues to follow surefootedly in the distinctly west coast countrified pop Americana tradition of The Byrds, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Grateful Dead. Definitely recommended if you dig contemporaries like Devendra Banhart, Fleet Foxes and Vetiver too.
MPEG Stream: "Margery"
MPEG Stream: "Paid By The Hour"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, THE Child God In The Garden Of Idols (Jagjaguwar) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Jewelled Antler circle of influence continues to grow as various bands and groups and indviduals of the Jewelled Antler ilk leave the JA nest and find themselves releasing records for different labels. The Skygreen Leopards, who occupy the poppier side of the JA spectrum, and who recently released a record on Soft Abuse, now find themselves on Jagjaguwar, with a brand new cd coming next month. But in the meantime, Jagjaguwar has released this super limited vinyl-only 12" to tide us all over. And like past Skygreen Leopards releases, it is indeed a gem. Sparkling avant folk collides with subtly psychedelic sort-of-pop, reverbed banjo and delicately strummed acoustic guitars, gorgeous breathy vocals, field recordings and all sorts of sonic filligree. Darkly delerious, sparkling and shimmery, and perfectly beautiful. VERY LIMITED so don't delay!

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, THE Jehovah Surrender (Jagjaguwar) cd ep 9.98
Here's another six songs of glistening folk-psych wonderment from what's probably the indie-rock poppiest of Jewelled Antler aligned combos currently going, The Skygreen Leopards. The 'Leps core duo of JA bigwig Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Ivytree, Blithe Sons, Franciscan Hobbies, Buried Civilizations, etc. etc.) and Donovan Quinn (Verdure) here turn in perhaps the most electric Skygreen set yet, with much jangling, buzzing guitar, sweet sweet vocals from both boys, solidly rickety drums and just plain fine, sorta '60s psych sounding songwriting, dosed with hazy, lazy melodies and mythic imagery.
Nature has its fresh breezes and warm sunshine, the Jewelled Antler collective has the Skygreen Leopards. Lovely, so lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Jehovah I Surrender"
MPEG Stream: "Julie-Anne, Patron Of Thieves"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, THE Life & Love In Sparrow's Meadow (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98
Of the very many, very special tines of the Jewelled Antler, it's the Skygreen Leopards perhaps who are best known for airy-fairy folk songcraft. The pastoral folk duo of Donovan Quinn (Verdure, Horticultural Compass) and Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Ivytree, Blithe Sons, Buried Civilizations, Franciscan Hobbies, Horticultural Compass, etc. etc.), with the occasional help of their "Skyband", have now brought us their third or so album proper (for which the LP-only and now-out-of-print Child God In The Garden Of Idols reviewed last list was but a hazy prelude). Listen in to these boys strumming and singing and lazing about in a sunny Sunday sound-world, grooving with the birds in the trees and the flowers in the fields, into which they've introduced flute and organ and, above all, their voices. Voices that are a little bit Richard Youngs, a little bit Ariel Pink... breathy and high and delicate. As suggested by the artwork -- one of Glenn's lovely nature-fantasia collages -- this is the words and music of fragile fluttering butterflies thinking deep thoughts, mystical thoughts...not that the quasi-religious themes of the lyrics are all that easy to decipher within the raw Jewelled Antler production aesthetic.
MPEG Stream: "Mother The Sun Makes Me Cry"
MPEG Stream: "Egyptian Rosemarie"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, THE Life & Love In Sparrow's Meadow (Jagjaguwar) lp 13.98
Of the very many, very special tines of the Jewelled Antler, it's the Skygreen Leopards perhaps who are best known for airy-fairy folk songcraft. The pastoral folk duo of Donovan Quinn (Verdure, Horticultural Compass) and Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Ivytree, Blithe Sons, Buried Civilizations, Franciscan Hobbies, Horticultural Compass, etc. etc.), with the occasional help of their "Skyband", have now brought us their third or so album proper (for which the LP-only and now-out-of-print Child God In The Garden Of Idols reviewed last list was but a hazy prelude). Listen in to these boys strumming and singing and lazing about in a sunny Sunday sound-world, grooving with the birds in the trees and the flowers in the fields, into which they've introduced flute and organ and, above all, their voices. Voices that are a little bit Richard Youngs, a little bit Ariel Pink... breathy and high and delicate. As suggested by the artwork -- one of Glenn's lovely nature-fantasia collages -- this is the words and music of fragile fluttering butterflies thinking deep thoughts, mystical thoughts...not that the quasi-religious themes of the lyrics are all that easy to decipher within the raw Jewelled Antler production aesthetic.
MPEG Stream: "Mother The Sun Makes Me Cry"
MPEG Stream: "Egyptian Rosemarie"

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, THE One Thousand Bird Ceremony (Soft Abuse) cd 13.98
We often wonder...can those Jewelled Antler guys do no wrong? Naw, so far, it seems not. Once you're hooked, you're hooked, and we can't help but sing the praises of pretty much all the releases to emanate from this inspired Bay Area "collective" of nature-loving, often-improvising, uber-prolific music-lovers, whether they be cd-r releases on their own Jewelled Antler imprint or one of the many spun-off to other like-minded labels. Like this one, on Soft Abuse. It's the second album from Skygreen Leopards, the duo of Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Mirza, The Birdtree, etc.) and Donovan Quinn (Verdure), and they sort of align with the other Jewelled Antler "pop/vocal" duos Blithe Sons (also with Donaldson) and Child Readers. But unlike those two, the Skygreen Leopards' songs are actually composed and rehearsed, less products of the moment than good ol' songcraft. Not that they went into any fancy studio to make this or anything, indeed the field recording that opens this disc situates the duo out in a pasture somewhere, seemingly serenading a bovine audience with their achingly lovely, loosely structured psych-folk-pop music. Gentle, whispy vocals sing songs with mythical lyrics, full of both melanchoic sadness and hope. Such song titles as "All Our Plagues Were Rainbows" and "Let Me Grow In Your Meadow" are good indications of what their music evokes. With a vast array of instrumentation (in common with most Jewelled Antler projects) including 6 & 12 string guitars, dulcimer, portable turntable, 5 string banjo, bouzouki, Hammond, chord organ, tamborines, mandolin, penny whistle, and echoplex, Glenn and Donovan conjure some quite beautiful nap-time music, sleepy and serene. Their songs should, obviously, be of great appeal to the whole Ptolemaic Terrascope/Broken Face crowd, with echoes of Elephant 6 (a little Olivia Tremor Control I'm hearing), early Tyrannosaurus Rex, Richard Youngs' folkier stuff. Resplendent in one of Glenn's crude but colourful collages, populated as always by mysterious bird-headed figures, One Thousand Bird Ceremony is an album that captures the la la las of fluffy clouds passing overhead, as the Skygreen Leopards say "Hello To All Your Rain" (track 7).
MPEG Stream: "Summer Alchemy"
MPEG Stream: "Walk With The Golden Cross"

SKYJUICE The Other Side (Ubiquity) 12" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Local producer and musician Dave Biegel of Bugs. This new 12" goes in an epic darkstep direction.

SLEEP ROBOT Panicgrass and Feverfew (Dynamophone) 3" cd-r box 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of our fave new Bay Area indie labels Dynamophone close out 2007 with a fresh batch of aural treats. They are four installments in their limited edition 3" cd-r ep Parcel series by the likes of Sleep Robot, Science Teacher, Lullaby League and Curium. Chances are if you've been paying attention to our recent aQ lists you're probably already as enchanted with this label's richly atmospheric hazily dreamy roster as we are, and will welcome these four into your music collection. This one features three new delicate drone tracks by Sleep Robot (aka Henry Clarke).
Don't delay though! Each release comes in a diminutive square cardboard box festooned with a full color cover art sticker, and is limited to 100 each. We only have a couple handfuls. Once they're gone, they're gone!
MPEG Stream: "Prayer Wheel"

SLEEPY BOY MOE s/t (self-released) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the debut cd-r from lone sludge-folk troubadour Sleepy Boy Moe from Oakland. There's so much murk and hiss on his lo-lo-fi recordings that they sound like they're coming off an old cassette tape that was retrieved from the bottom of the lake. But don't let that dissuade you. Peer through the haze and listen close. You'll hear what we've likened to the tweaked instability of Daniel Johnston sung through the sandy throat of Tom Waits.
MPEG Stream: "Nice Try, Nice Guy"
MPEG Stream: "Lucky Son"

SLEEPY SUN Embrace (ATP) cd 15.98
San Francisco psych lords (and lady) Sleepy Sun have been making quite a name for themselves as of late, and with the long waited arrival of their debut full length it's easy to understand why: Sleepy Sun simply rock. There is enough of what everyone loves about psychedelia - swirling guitars, melodic wandering basslines, all kinds of cool percussion, and vocals that seem to float hazily in the atmosphere - but there's just something about these guys that seems so natural and sincere, so much so that they are pretty much able to transcend the trappings of a genre that is overloaded with stale wannabes. Sleepy Sun recall everyone from Dead Meadow (in fact, we're pretty positive the song "Sleepy Son" features a riff Dead Meadow made use of a while back, not that we're complaining, it's a killer riff!) to Neil Young to Bardo Pond, without coming off as anything other than themselves. There's plenty of acoustic instrumentation, giving the album a nice folky vibe at times, rendered all the more powerful when the band launches into their fuzzed out stoner jams, and it's not unthinkable to assume that SLEEPy Sun may also be indebted to stoner gods Sleep, as the heavier excursions have no difficulty making their way to the riff filled land. That said, things never get to the point of discomfort for people who aren't into that kind of thing.
Embrace features 8 tracks, including the song "White Dove" from the 7" of the same name, as well as the two songs from the New Age/Lord 10" reviewed recently. The other songs follow a similarly stoned path, and the album flows really well with its clear production and celestial spaciousness. And it just SOUNDS so damn good - there's soaring dual guitars played by dudes who know how to expertly wrangle a wah wah pedal, the drums pound sufficiently but know just when to lay low, and then there's the beautiful, spectral harmonies, which lead to some of the strongest moments on Embrace. All the while, there is a serious understanding of how to groove, and the warm, super catchy basslines keep things moving perfectly.
It's interesting to see the reactions people have when we put this on. The sounds created by Sleepy Sun sound so familiar in some ways, but this album is like a breath of fresh air, and will no doubt win over all types of music fans with its dreaminess, its heaviness, and its classic sense of songcraft. If you've been digging Wooden Shjips, White Hills, or any other of today's best and brightest psych groups, then you have to check this out. With its mid-June arrival, Embrace makes for perfect summertime listening, especially here in San Francisco. Take that as you will...
MPEG Stream: "New Age"
MPEG Stream: "Sleepy Son"
MPEG Stream: "Snow Goddess"