BLANKETSHIP Summer Set (Gigante Sound) cd 11.98
Blanketship's second album starts off in a much more funky and trip-hop-y fashion than anything found on his previous cd Threeps, but it definitely doesn't stay put. This one-man band aka Jared Blum keeps things moving along, drawing from a plethora of inspirations and sound sources, but always keeping thoughts of pop in the back of his mind. Incorporating samples of psychedelia, jazz, earthen folk, field recordings, and world beat, he's pieced together each track on Summer Set, with some considerably more structured than others. Catchily groovy and playfully spirited.
MPEG Stream: "County Fare"
MPEG Stream: "Fuzzy"

BLANKETSHIP Teen Sounds (Gigante Sound) cd-r 9.98
We've delighted to the many eclectic eccentric musical personas of the gents behind Bay Area indie label Gigante Sound (Dominic Cramp and Jared Blum) -- Qulfus, Borful Tang, Vulcanus 68, and Blanketship to name a few. Here's the latest from the latter with Mr. Blum at the helm. Teen Sounds is a jumbled, tumbled baker's dozen aural hijinksin' collages. Very strange and strangely varied, each is possessed with its own ample dose of the absurd. Much more dense and stewy that any of the previous Blanketship releases which were more breezy and exotica tinged. Quite reminiscent of Negativland, The Residents or John Oswald's Plunderphonics!
MPEG Stream: "Teen Sounds"
MPEG Stream: "Helpless Child"

BLANKETSHIP Threeps (G25 Productions) cd 11.98
This new cd from SF's one man band Blanketship compiles three of his cd-r and cassette eps (hence the title, get it?) from the last couple of years. In chronological order, they are: L'Homme Invisible, Captain Assure, and Willow Bend. However, the tracks -- 25 in all -- have been jumbled together into an all new running order. It flows very well, making for a delightful full length. Maybe we've gone a little bit nutty, but we thought she heard lil' kitties mewing throughout this cd (particularly on the track "Dwarfism"). Then again maybe it was all due to the fact that just moments earlier we were listening to the plentiful meowing on the Cats & Kittens cd. Nonetheless, this is not a bad thing! The sounds, whether they are indeed meows or not, totally complemented the overall soft 'n' soothing atmosphere. On each track, Blanketship craftily arranges a soundscape of electronic melodies, sampled sounds, programmed rhythms among other things resulting in an airy collage. Sometimes a bit ghostly, sometimes a bit '60s British mystery movie-esque, sometimes a bit like a kranky ol' videogame, quite often playful and novel. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "Dwarfism"
MPEG Stream: "Lackluster"

BLANKETSHIP AND THE DOLLSON FAMILY SINGERS Music With A Message (Gigante Sound) cd-r 9.98
Following up 2006's delightful Summer Set, Bay Area artist Blanketship returns with Music With A Message! This time he's got The Dollson Family Singers in tow for another aural collage of off-kilter, genre-jumpin' frolics. The one dozen hymns on Music With A Message chug along like a feel good wagon with a slightly wonky wheel rolling over hills and through towns with heads in the clouds, toes tapping and hugs aplenty. Sorta like Danielson Family taking Polyphonic Spree to Sunday School but not without a secret intoxicating visit to Bruce Haack and Perrey & Kingsley's exotica tiki lounge beforehand!
MPEG Stream: "Let Him Into Your Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Reach Up In The Sky"

BLASTED CANYONS s/t (Castle Face) lp 14.98
Ok, so they're called Blasted Canyons, the record is on John Dwyer's (Thee Oh Sees) Castle Face records, and has eye popping rainbow lazer psychedelic-smash cover art (courtesy Castle Face art dude William Keihn), one member of Blasted Canyons used to be in garage pop masters Bare Wires, so we were pretty much already sold, but then we threw it on, and well, we were definitely expecting some cool kick ass garage rock, but were totally unprepared for the tripped out psychedelic garage-prog synth-punk space-pop radness these guys and gal kick out.
The first track, awesomely titled "The Artist Formerly Known As Satan", should pretty much seal the deal, huge bombastic crashing distorted chords, almost metal sounding, but more like a fuzzy space rock dirge, swirling effects-drenched boy girl vocal harmonies that turn it it into some sort of twisted pop, pounding drums, druggy and dreamy, but heavy and fuzzy and catchy as hell, and when the track shifts gears, and they launch into some buzzy distorto garage pop crunch, with echo-y vocals, and woozy sweetly melodic background vox, not to mention some wicked melodic hooks, it's a total head banging hip swinging sonic bliss out, and then bam, it's right into that strangely epic and bombastic garage pop dirge which leads to one final buzzy blast. Might just be our jam of the year so far. Fuzzed out swaggery lowslung Stooges-y stomp fused to power pop jangle and lo-fi space-synth-prog, so good we can barely bring ourselves to listen to the rest of the record, but once we did...
The second track, "Blood On The Wall" is a synth driven chunk of angular garage-y new wave crunch, with a killer chorus, the howled distorto female vox and buzzing synth definitely reminding us of Black Bug, while "Consider Drowning" is a primo slab of surfy garage groove, with the vocals all deep and echoey reminding us of Crystal Stilts, but the chugging murky guitars, swirling spacey synth and pounding drums transforming it into something way more tripped out and primal. And so it goes, the whole record a wild ride through Oh Sees style sweat-soaked distorto-garage jangle pop, tripped out murkscapes of pulsing crumbling synths and pitch shifted vox, fuzzy classic post punk power pop laced with hazy oooh's and aaah's, noisy sci-fi-synth-wreathed punky pound, dirgey 4-tracked rhythmic experiments, wild, reverbed, feedback soaked girl group noise pop groove, twisted angular synth driven new wave, and finally finishing off with another bit of sonic weirdness, a perfect bookend for that opening blast of garage prog bombast, a swirling, dirgey, lysergic FX heavy synthswirl outro. So goddamn good. Record Of The Week for sure, but we're thinking maybe Record Of The Year too...!
Vinyl-only for now, here's hoping they'll also press up some cds soon as well...
MPEG Stream: "The Artist Formerly Known As Satan"
MPEG Stream: "Blood On The Wall"
MPEG Stream: "Consider Drowning"
MPEG Stream: "Death and a Half"

BLECHDOM, KEVIN And The Tempo Of Doom (Unbearable) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Stunning new two track single from one half of, duh, Blectum From Blechdom. Fluttering, wondrous instumental synth lullabies that evoke the electronic work of Raymond Scott, the player piano compositions of Conlon Nancarrow, and even traces of Kurt Weill, but with a contemporary Schematic twist. Make sense? Remember a time in life when electronic synthesizers were accessible to the public and everyone had this crazy idea of what the year 2000 was going to be like? We were gonna live on the moon and live in capsules and wear spacesuits, we were preparing for the FUTURE! Well, I'm actually too young to remember, but these songs make me think about that kind of exhilarating bewilderment. Yeah, it's kinda like that...

BLECHDOM, KEVIN Eat My Heart Out (Chicks On Speed) cd 15.98
Kevin Blechdom's latest album comes in the form of a frantic electronic-rock opera-style extravaganza. In contrast to her past recordings that frequently teetered into juvenile booby-joke, one-trick-pony territory (also a problem we've had with the music of Chicks On Speed whose label released this cd), this comes across as considerably more mature and composed... but no less kooky. Uhh, but we should let you know that breasts (her own) do make an appearance on this album's cover photo. Also on prominent display here... musically, is her startlingly broad stylistic spectrum. She delves robustly into diva drama, beefy rock, singy-songy pop, distorted funk, electro-kitsch and beyond. Finally, a Blechdom album with tracks that bear repeat listens, and with a number of compositions that are worthy of the critical acclaim that has been bestowed upon her in the past. That said, this is still something of an acquired taste. Check out the audio clips to see if your palate welcomes the camp-o-phonic sounds of Ms Blechdom.
MPEG Stream: "Coming"
MPEG Stream: "Love You From The Heart"

BLECTUM FROM BLECHDOM Fishin' In Front Of People: The Early Years (Phthalo) cd 14.98
We told it like it really is last time with our harsh-but-honest assessment of Kevin Blechdom's "Your Butt" ep...so there's no going back now. But perhaps this new disc from quite a few people's favorite female Oakland electronics and cabaret duo is deserving of a better fate. Or perhaps not. From the vaginal themed artwork to song titles like "Shithole" and "Toilet Trouble" this celebrates the side of BFB that we just don't appreciate, their not so much childlike as childish aesthetic... Of course, ample warning is given where it says on the sleeve that "this is a compilation of BFB's most drunken and messy live musical moments." Still, the resulting glitchy sound-world of computers gone bad features plenty of crunchy bleepy beats and drones, that, seemingly mechanical and random as they are, aren't unpleasant. But, when the duo start singing, that's when this slides from "kinda cool, kitschy instrumental electronica act" to "annoying, noisy joke band that's just not for us"... Again though, it can't be denied that BFB do indeed have their fans, and doubtless fans will want and need this disc, more power to 'em. We'll just agree to disagree, no hard feelings. Apparently, this is to be the last ever BFB release, but now have two separate full-fledged solo careers to, er, look forward to.
RealAudio clip: "Jump Jo Bones"
RealAudio clip: "Open Fly"

BLECTUM, BLEVIN Magic Maple (Praemedia) cd 10.98

BLITHE SONS Arm Of The Starfish (Family Vineyard) cd 14.98
You know how you can 'hear the sea' when you hold a conch shell up to your ear? Well imagine listening to a conch shell and hearing not just surf but also some gentle, haunting improvised psych-folk sounds inside there as well. That's what you get with this new Blithe Sons disc. Yes, Jewelled Antler drone minstrels Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson (1/2 of Thuja) return again with recordings from their travels to some of the more scenic, out of the way spots in the Bay Area. Did I say scenic? I mean sonic. The darkness of a dank old abandoned army bunker might not be the most picturesque sight 'round these parts, but the sounds Loren and Glenn conjure within its confines are a moody delight. Of course that bunker (and other sites these two visited) are near the quite picturesque Pacific, the ocean providing the seashore/undersea imagery and inspiration for Arm Of The Starfish. The hiss and hum of the Blithe Sons' field recordings of their own musical activities could be the sea in the distance... This cd is really lovely and droney and it makes me imagine that they have overloaded a ramshackle rowboat with their 'instruments' -- guitars, harmonium, bells, tape recorders, bits of driftwood, glassy pebbles, rusted metal, who knows? we're just guessing -- and floated out on an ancient lake, becalmed in the evening dusk, to sing softly as their boat slowly sinks and the sun sets.
MPEG Stream: "Sun Anenome"
MPEG Stream: "Foam"

BLITHE SONS Green Mansions (Jewelled Antler) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Blithe Sons are the duo of Loren Chasse and Glenn Donaldson, who last graced us with the lovely We Walk The Young Earth disc on Family Vineyard back in March. You know Loren and Glenn from Thuja and Franciscan Hobbies and much else as well. Now they're back with another Blithe Sons installment on their own Jewelled Antler cd-r label. And not only is it a great record in its own right, it's also a sort of present to us here at Aquarius, Loren and Glenn's way of celebrating Andee and Allan taking over the biz, as it's only gonna be sold here and we're burning the discs ourselves and reaping the profits -- it's sort of an AQ benefit disc, really. Thanks guys!!
As they tell it, the story of Green Mansions is thus: somehow (via a secret garden? a rabbit hole? a mystical waredrobe?) Loren and Glenn found themselves alone at an empty English manor house. Going out on the grounds of the estate, they set up various stringed instruments in the fields, strewing them with grains so as to attract woodland creatures to venture forth in the dusk to "play" the instruments. A nice story...and sure, yeah, Green Mansions does sound a bit like that! Magical, natural. Glenn's delicate, wispy vocals and the general folk-psych atmosphere remind us of Richard Youngs, and even Jandek a bit (in a good way). Warm warbly tape hiss, acoustic guitar, bell-like synth, harmonium, and field recordings amongst other sound sources are blended into beds of shimmering drones that make us imagine the pastel sounds of a child's mobile slowly twirling in the "heavens". Really really nice in other words, and we're not just saying that since it's "our" release. Seriously recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Patio Of The Cypresses"
MPEG Stream: "Place Of The Past"

BLITHE SONS, THE The Great Orthochromatic Wheel (Family Vineyard) lp 14.98
Lo, the Great Orthochromatic Wheel (?) dost turn! And with it, comes a happenstance that shall bring happiness to Jewelled Antler fanciers the world over: yes, a new album from the very special Blithe Sons duo, our friends Loren Chasse (Of, Ov, Thuja, Child Readers, etc. etc. ETC.) and Glenn Donaldson (Skygreen Leopards, Thuja, The Ivytree, Jex Thoth, etc., etc., ETC.). They'd been on a bit of an unofficial hiatus for far too long, taking a little 'time out' as it were, and we were both surprised and pleased to hear tell of not only this album's impending release but also to attend the 'reunion' show they did a couple months back, opening for Van Der Graaf's Peter Hammill at The Great American Music Hall here in SF. At that show they previewed some of what you'll hear here, and it's the usual Blithe Sons naturalistic improv-folk magick conjured from stones and branches well as actual instruments like acoustic guitar, harmonium and recorder. Field recordings suggest the hum of twilight grasses, a pleasant place to find Glenn's gentle Richard Youngish vocals whispering elegiacally o'er the drones and chimes of the Blithe Sons' abstract, organic, mutedly melodic soundworld.
And, they've woven some cover material into their own compositions/improvisations here, doing Jewelled Antlerized interpretations of ye olde progge songs by, we believe Genesis, and perhaps others... prog fans, listen close. Makes sense they'd play with P. Hammill!
There's no cd version of this LP, but it does come with a coupon to allow you to download mp3s of these tracks to your computer.

BLITHE SONS, THE We Walk The Young Earth (Family Vineyard) cd 14.98
These days, any band that uses improvisation with heavy doses of loose, opiated psychedelia, lazy comparisons will inevitably be drawn to the No Neck Blues Band. It has to be said that The Blithe Sons, who have warranted a number of such comparisons, sound ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like the No Neck Blues Band. And actually they are much better off because of it... The Blithe Sons, of course, are the Jewelled Antler Collective's most active members Loren Chasse (Thuja, Child Readers, Id Battery, Coelacanth, etc.) and Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Skygreen Leopards, Bird / Ivy / Olivetree, etc.), having literally embraced their philosophy that "making music should be a picnic." Thus, they've taken to hiking all across coastal California, recording their pastoral avant-folk songs and empathic minimalist actions in direct communion with the landscape around them. The two sites which are particular to the Sons' third album "We Walk The Young Earth" were a wooden bridge in San Gregorio and the concrete bunkers scattered throughout the Marin Headlands. The latter were sites that have played a large role in many of the textural amplifications that Chasse produced in Id Battery; however, Chasse doesn't return the Blithe Sons to the smoldering abrasions of Id Battery. Rather, "We Walked The Young Earth" turns their minimalist hymns and melancholic drones toward a space that is even quieter, more introspective than anything yet produced by the Jewelled Antler collective, as if they've become hypnotized by their own reverberating drones in the confines of the bunker. It's true that in these spaces, Chasse and Donaldson spend a considerable amount of time listening to the environment around them, and shaping sounds that are sympathetic to those spaces. That's something with which the No Neck Blues Band has never really ever succeeded, instead opting for more of a druggy improv stumble. A sleepy album for sure, "We Walk The Young Earth" is another gorgeous album from these perennial AQ staff favorites.
MPEG Stream: "The Book Of Names"
MPEG Stream: "Green Patterns"
MPEG Stream: "All Children's Faces Looking Upwards"

BLOCK, OLIVIA & KYLE BRUCKMANN Teem (Either/OAR) cd 13.98
It's unfortunate that we've not reviewed any of the material from electro-acoustic composer Olivia Block. She had begun making music in Austin in the early '90s, having started a guttural shoegaze project called The Marble Index, but shelved that project upon meeting Michael Northam, John Grzinich, and Seth Nehil. Those three had begun their explorations with field recordings, electrical vibration, found object ruminations, volatile drone, and organized decay, and it was this sensibility that inspired Block to leap into piles of rubble armed with little more than a contact microphone. While all four of these artists emerged from a similar aesthetic, each has wandered down his or her own path, with Block taking more of a musique concrete approach, often bringing in various instrumentalists to provide a particular timbre to accompany her tape machinations, not unlike the early Jim O'Rourke compositions Tamper, Scend, and Disengage. One of those chamber musicians who Block had employed was Kyle Bruckmann. The two had met in Chicago in the late '90s, with Bruckmann contributing to almost all of Block's compositions since 1999. Bruckmann, now based in San Francisco, has quite the career in the realms of avant-jazz / new music / classical-experimentation / whatnot. Despite their decade long collaboration, Teem marks their first proper collaborative body of work.
At the beginning of the record, a scrabbling of small metallic objects builds upon a spiralling drone from Bruckmann's circular breathing through the oboe, followed by a series of descending, purposefully off-kilter melodic phrases from that same oboe. As painterly as this piece is, the second track uses Bruckmann's circular breathing for a far more atonal, bruitist attack through a head-throbbing elongated blurt, that recalls those Hermann Nitsch symphonic noise assaults or Penderecki's scabrous crescendos. Block's sensibility speaks more on this track through the oblique noise attack and transitions into passages of concrete noises from various pre-industrial machines struggling to get started. Glowing drones of feedback hang upon a muffling passage of woodwind errata, eventually building through jittery abrasions again reprising that Nitsch-like howl.
MPEG Stream: "Teem 1"
MPEG Stream: "Teem 2"
MPEG Stream: "Teem 3"
MPEG Stream: "Teem 4"

BLOOD, SWEAT + VINYL: DIY IN THE 21ST CENTURY (The Scourge Productions) 2 x dvd box + sweatband + guitar pick + stickers + patch 42.00
It's a little bit difficult to know exactly what to say about this documentary, especially considering that both Andee and Allan are interviewed in it, but for lots of regular aQ list readers this one will be a no brainer. A five years in the making documentary about three of our (and filmmaker Kenneth Thomas') favorite labels, Neurot, Hydra Head and Constellation, the premise of the film being that these three labels represent a collective DIY spirit in independent music that is STILL alive and kicking. There are interviews with, music by, and live footage of Neurosis, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Pelican, Old Man Gloom, Isis, Jesu, Cave In, Shrinebuilder, A Storm Of Light, Oxbow, Grails, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Made Out Of Babies, Evangelista, Rosetta, Thrones, and more! And, all that's interspersed with interviews with Aaron Turner from Hydra Head (and Isis), Steve Von Till (Neurosis, Harvestman), Don and Ian who run Constellation, our very own Andee and Allan, as well as various members of all of the above bands, not to mention Pete who runs Vacation Vinyl in LA, and J Bennett (who writes for Decibel and Terrorizer, as well as plays guitar in new Neurot signing Ides Of Gemini, whose demo we reviewed recently), and lots more. And more than just a bunch of cool folks from bands we dig, everyone has a lot to say about the state of independent music, and the do it yourself ethic, as well as motivations behind playing in bands, starting labels, running record stores, of everything that contributes to the sort of musical community that makes this music so special, the fact that it's so much more than the music, it's the people, and the places, the labels and the stores and the venues and the fans (and the filmmakers!), all of which are crucial to creating the sort of musical community that this film celebrates.
The interviews are cool, some are serious, others are funny, and ours of course are embarrassing, the snippets of live sets kill (where else will you get to see Do Make Say Think play "Raining Blood?!), there's even footage of the late great Old Man Gloom, a long time aQ fave for sure, and it's all deftly edited into a fairly concise, fun to watch doc, that has lots to offer beyond just all the kick ass live footage.
Beyond the doc itself, this deluxe version includes a whole extra DVD of still more performance footage, all of it pretty incredible, featuring more live jams from Isis, Grails, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Jesu, Do Make Say Think, Made Out Of Babies, Neurosis, Evangelista, Isis + Tim Hecker (!), Oxbow, Cave In and Pelican.
Needless to say, totally and wholeheartedly recommended (and not just cuz we're in it)!!
This is the deluxe boxset version, which comes in a cool printed box, inside both DVDs in black on black textured paper printed sleeves, a full color booklet with liner notes, as well as tons of pix and info on each of the band, the booklet too with a textured black on black printed cover, as well as a set of stickers, a silkscreened patch, a guitar pick and a BS+V sweatband!

BLOODY HEADS Picking Up Your Pieces (self-released) cd 9.98
The opening song of this SF band's first cd finds them crunching out a rough'n'tumble garage pop with lots of snare drum that sounds a lot like Violent Femmes... but if Gordon Gano were replaced by more of a boyish crooner. The next track "Pipe Down!" does just that (bring things down a bit, that is!) as does the third song. These lower-key tunes which make up the better part of the album (and which gives you opportunity to catch hold of the lyrics), call to mind quirky storytellers such as Jonathan Richman, Microphones' Phil Elverum or Morrissey even. A promising indie pop debut!
MPEG Stream: "Lighter Than A Bullet"
MPEG Stream: "Picking Up Your Pieces"

BLUNT, DOUG HREAM Big Top (self-released) cd-r 12.98
The first Doug Blunt release, Gentle Persuasion, we made record of the week almost a year ago and people went totally nuts for it. And it's really not hard to see why. Blunt's mellow brand of lo-fi outsider funk is both catchy and rather odd. Sounding like a smoother, Caribbean-inflected Wesley Willis, made with simple keyboard loops, congas and Blunt's own acidy guitar solos. It also had a off-kilter timelessness to it, where we couldn't tell if it was recently recorded or made decades ago.
Doug Blunt came in the store the other day with this new (?) release, Big Top, an ep composed of three songs and three instrumental versions. Complete with cheap color-copied covers of a screen shot from the one video performance we have seen on Vimeo of him performing,"Gentle Persuasion" with an all female backing band (it's totally worth seeking out if you can find it!). While these are new songs, the backing tracks sound almost exactly the same as the tracks on Gentle Persuasion, but with stranger lyrics mostly about being under the stoned spell of sexy freak show women. But the songs are still catchy and crazy as ever, and we may like these new ones even better!
As always it's hard to tell what the real story with Doug Blunt is. Though a super nice guy, sometimes we get the sneaking suspicion he's pulling one over on us. Every time he drops off more cds, he always leaves with a slightly mocking chuckle, as if to say, "those crazy fools". Indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Big Top"
MPEG Stream: "Trek"

BLUNT, DOUG HREAM Gentle Persuasion (self-released) cd 12.98
Finally, repressed and back in stock on cd!!
It's pretty phenomenal that this record went from getting the suspicious side-eye when we first took it in on consignment, to becoming one of our favorite "WTF?" records of the year! When it first appeared, no one seemed to know where it came from (it had been brought in by Blunt himself, one day). And we weren't too sold on the cover, a generic photograph that looked like it was shot in the eighties, of this fellow Blunt, standing with a woman (a close friend of his, in a head to toe orange outfit that looks like it could have been prison garb, and who as it turns out, may no longer be alive) in front of a Mercedes parked in front of the mural on the side of the O'Farrell Theater on Polk street in San Francisco. Also, whenever there's a bunch of "ASCAP" logos plastered all over the front and back cover, our internal "uh-oh" meter goes way off.
So it just sat on our new arrivals shelf for a few weeks. But then a couple of folks (one of whom runs the Gloriette label, who have supplied us with some Ariel Pink and Nite Jewel records) started asking about it, because they had heard about this record, so we gave it a listen and were pretty surprised and rather blown away by what we were hearing. A lo-fi but breezy outsider funk, made with repetitive cheap-sounding keyboards loops and tones (the kind being currently exploited by Dam-Funk, Ariel Pink, and James Pants), strange metallic tropical guitar tones that sound more like steel drums and flute sounds than actual guitar, and sly, laid-back vocals and catchy, infectiously naive grooves that work their way into our heads and never let go. Everybody here ended up really really digging it.
We sold one copy immediately to someone in the store when playing it, and then when we tried to contact Blunt to get more copies, we discovered that somehow we'd neglected to get his contact info, d'oh! The cd had no contact information, and searches online only revealed that the title track, a raunchy but coded come-on to a sexy stranger, was included on a James Pants mix. This only piqued our interest further, as Blunt's skewed Caribbean inflected songs would obviously be simpatico with James Pants' more recent tropical themed output. We could also see folks into Ariel Pink and Dam-Funk getting WAY into this. So we thought maybe this record was a rare private press record from the eighties. It does seem to have a strange hard-to-pin-down-time-wise quality.
Thankfully, Blunt eventually came back in and we got more copies and found out that he had pressed vinyl copies too. He also told us that this record was recorded ten years ago in 2000, but that didn't diminish our new found love for this record's questionable mystery, as it still predates all of the artists mentioned above that it reminds us of, though we're pretty sure Blunt probably has never heard of any of them. It also has the left of center oddness of other outsider funk artists like Tonetta, or Wicked Witch, albeit way more toned down than either of those two. Not that it's completely off the wall weird, but it's one of those records that we went into with such hesitation and were pleasantly surprised that we then became totally enamored with its home-brewed charm.
The lp is 5 tracks, with extra shorter versions of the songs "Fly Guy" and "Gentle Persuasion" and comes housed in an old school white cut-out 12" sleeve. The cd version has two extra songs and instrumental versions of four of the tracks. Oh, and the vinyl has a gold star sticker that boldly proclaims "HIT!" We couldn't agree more!
MPEG Stream: "Fly Guy"
MPEG Stream: "Gentle Persuasion"
MPEG Stream: "Wiskey Man"

BLUNT, DOUG HREAM Gentle Persuasion (self-released) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's pretty phenomenal that this record went from getting the suspicious side-eye when we first took it in on consignment, to becoming one of our favorite "WTF?" records of the year! When it first appeared, no one seemed to know where it came from (it had been brought in by Blunt himself, one day). And we weren't too sold on the cover, a generic photograph that looked like it was shot in the eighties, of this fellow Blunt, standing with a woman (a close friend of his, in a head to toe orange outfit that looks like it could have been prison garb, and who as it turns out, may no longer be alive) in front of a Mercedes parked in front of the mural on the side of the O'Farrell Theater on Polk street in San Francisco. Also, whenever there's a bunch of "ASCAP" logos plastered all over the front and back cover, our internal "uh-oh" meter goes way off.
So it just sat on our new arrivals shelf for a few weeks. But then a couple of folks (one of whom runs the Gloriette label, who have supplied us with some Ariel Pink and Nite Jewel records) started asking about it, because they had heard about this record, so we gave it a listen and were pretty surprised and rather blown away by what we were hearing. A lo-fi but breezy outsider funk, made with repetitive cheap-sounding keyboards loops and tones (the kind being currently exploited by Dam-Funk, Ariel Pink, and James Pants), strange metallic tropical guitar tones that sound more like steel drums and flute sounds than actual guitar, and sly, laid-back vocals and catchy, infectiously naive grooves that work their way into our heads and never let go. Everybody here ended up really really digging it.
We sold one copy immediately to someone in the store when playing it, and then when we tried to contact Blunt to get more copies, we discovered that somehow we'd neglected to get his contact info, d'oh! The cd had no contact information, and searches online only revealed that the title track, a raunchy but coded come-on to a sexy stranger, was included on a James Pants mix. This only piqued our interest further, as Blunt's skewed Caribbean inflected songs would obviously be simpatico with James Pants' more recent tropical themed output. We could also see folks into Ariel Pink and Dam-Funk getting WAY into this. So we thought maybe this record was a rare private press record from the eighties. It does seem to have a strange hard-to-pin-down-time-wise quality.
Thankfully, Blunt eventually came back in and we got more copies and found out that he had pressed vinyl copies too. He also told us that this record was recorded ten years ago in 2000, but that didn't diminish our new found love for this record's questionable mystery, as it still predates all of the artists mentioned above that it reminds us of, though we're pretty sure Blunt probably has never heard of any of them. It also has the left of center oddness of other outsider funk artists like Tonetta, or Wicked Witch, albeit way more toned down than either of those two. Not that it's completely off the wall weird, but it's one of those records that we went into with such hesitation and were pleasantly surprised that we then became totally enamored with its home-brewed charm.
The lp is 5 tracks, with extra shorter versions of the songs "Fly Guy" and "Gentle Persuasion" and comes housed in an old school white cut-out 12" sleeve. The cd version has two extra songs and instrumental versions of four of the tracks. Oh, and the vinyl has a gold star sticker that boldly proclaims "HIT!" We couldn't agree more!
MPEG Stream: "Fly Guy"
MPEG Stream: "Gentle Persuasion"
MPEG Stream: "Wiskey Man"

BONE AWL Bog Bodies / Magnetism Of War (Goatowarex) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Man, this one sure has been a mess, apologies to all the folks who waited months and months, but this completely killer slab of raw primitive grim blackness is now FINALLY back in stock. We originally listed it ages ago, sold out, and then tried to order more, and suddenly everything went wrong, our first box of lps got lost, and it took forever to get in touch with the label to get more, they finally showed up out of the blue after almost 9 months, but they were missing sleeves and there weren't enough covers. So we finally got it all sorted out, and we have a bunch of these in stock, for sure for the very last time. Once we run out these are gone for good. In fact since these showed up, we haven't heard a peep from the label, even after repeated emails, so if you want one of these, and you really should, then grab it while you can, once these are gone, these are truly and finally gone for good.
Since we first discovered local primitive black metal outfit Bone Awl, on a tip from Leviathan's Wrest, we've been pretty much totally obsessed. As have most AQ customers considering how fast we fly through their limited cassette only releases.
So finally, two of those long out of print demos (so long out of print in fact that we never actually had ANY) reissued on super deluxe 180 gram vinyl. Two demos, one on each side. Bog Bodies on side A, originally released as a cassette in 2003, limited to 300 copies, now LONG out of print, and on side B, Magnetism Of War, originally released as a cassette in 2002, limited to 150 copies and also long out of print.
So this vinyl reissue, is also of course limited. Only 400 copies. Each sleeve is cut and paste style, to sort of keep with the aesthetic of the Bone Awl cassettes and as you can well imagine, this stuff is SICK SICK SICK. Bone Awl play super lo-fi black thrash, simple throbbing, furious and fucked up. Murky and primitive, just guitar and drums, manned by the brilliantly named duo of He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth! Simple riffs pounded into your skull, a crushing static black buzz, that is totally trancelike in its simplicity. Tape hiss wraps it's blackened tendrils around downtuned guitars, the drums a simple pounding framework, the vocals a guttural demonic howl. Actually, Bone Awl sound strangely like some sort of black metal Brainbombs, and we shouldn't have to tell you how goddamn good that sounds. As far as we know this is already out of print at the label. We have 25 or 30 copies, and once they are gone, they are GONE FOR GOOD.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES!!

BONE AWL By Ropes Through Dirt (Worship Him) cassette 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wrest from Leviathan had been bugging us forever to carry records by local black metal horde Bone Awl for ages. And we usually trust him when it comes to all things black, However there were a few problems, the first being that we always thought he was saying Bonall, or some other one word variation. The other problem was as far as we could tell they didn't really have any proper releases. Well, we finally managed to track down the guys in Bone Awl and discovered that they did indeed have a bunch or releases, they just happened to consist of several out of print 7"s and a couple cassettes. So we figured what the hell, cd-r's may be the cool cult format, but if that's the case, then it's time to head back to cassettes, the true underground format. So we managed to get a handful of Bone Awl's last two cassettes, and we're happy to report that they're both packed with minimal blackened thrash, 'goat metal' Wrest would probably call it, murky and primitive, simple riffing smeared into dense droney slabs of galloping black metal crush, from just a two piece band of guitar and drums (played by He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth!). But while the lineup is minimal the sound is still thick and snarlingly fierce. Imagine a stripped down Darkthrone (if you can): a single riff pounded mercilessly into submission, gruff gargly vocals buried in the mix, sloppy and raw recorded super hot and totally blown out. This is true underground black metal for sure. By Ropes Through Dirt is the older title and was limited to 500 copies. We have about ten copies and that's it, it's already out of print. Up To Something is the most recent, released last year, and is also limited to 500 copies, we have a bunch but they're going fast and will most likely be gone for good pretty soon.

BONE AWL Meaningless Leaning Mess (Nuclear War Now! Productions) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For the latest installment in their ongoing, all-analog blackened onslaught,Êlocal raw, primitive, black-thrash duo Bone Awl unleash another full length lp, the third by our count, not including a clutch of limited run cassette tapes and 7"s. And as always, it's another fantastically furious and filthy slab of relentlessly pounding buzz, hateful howl and sheer black force.Ê
For the uninitiated, Bone Awl are the duo ofÊHe Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth, just guitar and drums, but the two are a whirling dervish of harsh negative energy, not so much blasting and buzzing black metal style, as pounding and pulsing, a blown out D-beat style garage thrash pummel. Every track takes a single black riff, and pounds it into the ground, the guitar a swirling cloud of dark energy, the drums some sort of harnessed chaos, hewing closer to the abject blown out pound of the Brainbombs than perhaps any of their more metal forebears. No real blast beats to be found, instead the sound is a blackened punk rock, crusty and crumbling, on the verge of total collapse, barreling hellward with unstoppable momentum.
Pressed on super thickÊ180 gram vinyl, housed in a thick cardstock inner sleeve, printed with lyrics, and housed in a gorgeous black and white poster sleeve, that opens to be pretty massive. The whole thing tucked in a plastic jacket with a sticker affixed to the front. And as always, probably crazy limited...

BONE AWL So I Must Take From The Earth... ...And Make It My Own (Hospital Productions) 2x7" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While we struggle desperately to get the guys in Bone Awl to bring us more of their cassettes, and while we wait impatiently for the boxes of Bone Awl lps to finally show up after being lost in the postal system for going on three months now, at least we have these here 14 inches of brand new analog Bone Awl to tide us over.
Keeping true to their old school ethos (as in NO CDS!!) the band give us a brand new double 7", released on Hospital Productions (run by the man behind Prurient) and it's just what you might expect. And just what we can never seem to get enough of. Super raw, stripped down two piece black metal buzz. Harsh and hateful, buzzing and brutal, thrashing and totally trancelike. The duo of He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth whip up a frenzy of lo-fi blackened ultra violence, relentless and so sick. We described Bone Awl as sounding a bit like a black metal Brainbombs and that still holds true. Each track, a single riff, guitar and drums, pounded into your skull, over and over and over and over. Fucking awesome!
Probably limited but we got a bunch...

BORFUL TANG Herd And Unherd (Gigante Sound) cd-r 7.98
At long last, a new release from the elusive and mysterious Borful Tang (for his head scratching back history, please refer to our reviews for his Root cd and On The Back Of A Dying Beast 2cd-r). A mischievous sound collagist, he's like some peculiar sonic macrame'd synthesis of Negativland, John Oswald's Plunderphonics, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and the Sun City Girls / Sublime Frequencies camp... but he doesn't stop there! He then can match immersive wits with the best of the dronologists too. At times Herd And Unherded is languidly lulling, at others it's a barrel of percolating loopiness, while still at others sinisterly possessed. Mr. Tang is clearly something of an obsessive collector of sound sources. He's amassed a vaultful of tapes and vinyl - field recordings, video game soundtracks, religious AM radio broadcasts and other disembodied voices to name just a few. He consults with them, meticulously pares and processes 'em, and the pieces are then refashioned into something which is altogether new, yet haunted by the eclectic phantoms of the past. Add to this sonic palette an arsenal of a homemade electronic gadgets, and you have something festooned with mad scientist goggles and soldering goo. Go on, give your ears a wild feast to munch on. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Xevious"
MPEG Stream: "Herd And Unherd"

BORFUL TANG On The Back Of A Dying Beast (Gigante Sound) 2cd-r 9.98
First things first, please don't let the dvd-style case fool you! Contained within are not one but two cd-rs by the cryptic entity known as Borful Tang. If you need this mysterious being's back story, please refer to our review of his last release titled Root from a couple years ago.
As a brief recap though, legend has it that Borful Tang is not an earthly being, and its human conduit is Bay Area man-of-many-hats Dominic Cramp. On The Back Of A Dying Beast zeroes in on a select few of the key passages of the previous release (sadly tho' they don't include his previous churning NoMeansNo-isms), and explores them thoroughly -- fleshing out what was only glimpsed fleetingly on Root.
Disc One floods the air with effects-heavy layers of BBC Radiophonic style analog synth wanderings, sporadic android chatter and sludgy lumps of drone. Disc Two on the other hand is far more spare, hushed and calm even.
We suspect that with the consumption of the right, ahem, 'enhancing' substances this could really take you places. Quite the transportive listen. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Juggernaut Soliloquy"
MPEG Stream: "The Tides Of Land"

BORFUL TANG Root (Snurp) cd 9.98
Who or what is Borful Tang? Well, according to the website of the delightfully named Snurp (the folks who released this cd), the mysterious 'it' is a 'he', and outcast from a distant place and time. Legend has it that Borful Tang was a hill herder who moved hills with sound. Still with us? Okay then, if you'd like to discover his lengthy full story for yourself you can find it where we did, but in the meantime here we have his cd Root -- his wildly eclectic music apparently having been transmitted to us via the conduit known as Dominic Cramp -- quite a multi-faceted gent in his own right (also recording under the monikers of Qulfus, Amazing Colossal Man and Modular Set). Borful Tang's music is trippy, out there, and particularly in the early part of this album, very NoMeansNo-ish in its propulsive tech-y bass lines. Heck, the first track is titled "Borful Tang Loves NoMeansNo"! And we think NoMeansNo samples may be the secret. The latter tracks feature collaged computer voice conversations (sourced from what we guess were English speech lesson tapes) and burbly analog electronics. We'll bet quite a broad range of strange music lovers will dig this... if the names Plunderphonics, Negativland, NoMeansNo, BBC Radiophonic Workshop tickle your aural funnybone!
MPEG Stream: "Borful Tang Loves NoMeansNo"
MPEG Stream: "John And Mary In: "The Restaurant""

BOSSE-DE-NAGE s/t (The Flenser) cd 9.98
Hailing from right here in the Bay Area, this mysterious black metal horde recorded this, their debut, way back in 2007, and, except maybe for a few demo cassettes back then, it's only finally seeing the light of day now, which is a shame, cuz this utterly rules, some of the weirdest, coolest, most idiosyncratic black metal ever, a killer mix of Slint like post rock, grim true blackness, and blown out shoegazey drift, it's hard to imagine that most aQ metalheads wouldn't totally lose their shit over these guys, we sure did. And we know nothing about this band, who they are, where they're from exactly, why this record took 3+ years to come out, and how the fuck a band this cool and weird could remain so far and so long under the radar. Well, we're just glad this record is finally getting the attention it deserves. And that we an finally gush about this incredible, fucked up and far out slab of outsider blackness.
The record begins with the very Slintish "Marie", Spiderland guitars, simple spare drumming, lots of space, the only hint of blackness is the tortured vocals, draped over the song's skeletal framework, loping, hypnotic, mysterious, haunting, it's not until 2 minutes in that the blackness drops, frantic double kick, frenzied riffage, and the vocals, seriously tortured and anguished, but even then the minor key post rock vibe manages to still run through the rest of the track, and hell, the rest of the record. The track finishes off with a cool stretch of processed feedback, before launching into the second part of the 'Marie' suite, "Marie Pissed Upon The Count", a seriously frenzied black metal blowout, the vocals just incredible, emotional, not shrieked, more a guttural howl, the whole song manages to be almost a single extended blast, except for a brief respite part way through, where the band slips back into that Slinty lope, but just for a moment. And then there's the untitled third track, that is ridiculously melodic, hazy and shoegazey and washed out, still buzzy, but the melody is so weirdly sunshiney, and the song does eventually transform into something way more fierce and black, but that dreamy vibe infuses the whole track, a weird grim / glowing hybrid. And so it goes, the whole record is a constant sonic exploration, draping those sinister demonic vokills over pretty spidery guitar jangle, sending insectoid riffing into soaring swells of surprisingly major key melodies, injecting weird mathy almost progginess into long stretches of contemplative drift, while much of this sounds like classic Norwegian style blackness, lots of it sounds like some nineties math rock band, imagine a Don Cab / Darkthrone hybrid, or A Minor Forest crossed with Mutiilation, or some sort of Slint / Alcest / Burzum blend, the record lurches and swings from harsh heaviness to melodic lope and back again, finishing off with a long stretch of looped guitar and minimal drumming, that manages to be way more powerful and intense than a blown out black blast closer, which is precisely why this record is so special, and so fucking incredible. And even though technically this is from 2007, there's no way this isn't another black metal of the year contender...
MPEG Stream: "Marie"
MPEG Stream: "Marie Pisses Upon The Count"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

BOSSE-DE-NAGE s/t (II) (The Flenser) cd 9.98
Record number two from this mysterious Bay Area black metal horde, a group whose sound is as heavy on the Louisville math rock is it is on the black buzz, and on record number two, they stretch out even further, exploring their math/post rock tendencies in ways that were only hinted at on the first record. And as one might expect, the mix of black buzz and meandering post rockisms sounds much more organic this time around, where as the first time the separation between the two sounds was more jarring. The production is much improved too.
Just take the opening track, "Volume Two Chapter One", with its darkly dynamic opening, all start stop minor key minimalism, a melancholy minor key melody played out over a series of chords, left to ring out, the drums crashing in time, the only hint of the blackness to come is a howled vocals way way off in the distance, it's two minutes before this crashing moodiness segues fairly smoothly into some frantic blackened blasting, the drums not your typical blastbeat, instead offering up all manner of unlikely fills, the result a little off kilter, and a good balance to the otherwise more traditional back buzz guitar and shrieked vox. And then with about 2 minutes to go, the buzz seems to dissipate leaving just a churning, chuggy chunk of palm muted math rock, that sounds more like Don Cab than Darkthrone, pounding out the final minute in a tangle of mathy rhythms.
The post rockisms are much more subtle in "Marie In A Cage", which plays more like your standard buzzing blackness, but there are those wild chaotic drums, not to mention a killer part midsong where the band switch into a brief bit of proggy mathiness that KILLS, but it's brief and soon the band are galloping along again, never fully shedding that mathiness, but instead incorporating it into the black buzz. "The Lampless Hours" is another track that starts out sounding like some lost mid nineties Touch And Go record (minus the flurries of double kick drum), before launching into a stretch of 'proper' black metal. "The Death Posture" is a churning doomy plod, peppered with burst of blasting black metal, and again here, the band are much more subtle with their deployment of post and math rock elements, which ultimately makes for some truly idiosyncratic black metal. And finally, the record finishes off with the 11+ minute "Why Am I So Lovely? Because My Master Washes Me.", which again sounds on the surface traditionally blackened and buzzy, but the post rock undercurrent seems to seep through every chance it gets, finally shouldering the blackness out of the way at about the midway point for a stretch of gnarled mathiness, that manages to not sound out of place, instead, it's drawn in shades of black, that make it that much easier for the band to slip back into the furious buzz that finishes off the record, until the last minute when the recording seems to go haywire, everything blown out and distorted finishing off in a wild squall of Merzbowian white noise.
Definitely less post rocky than its predecessor, but again, the trade off is that the post rock element doesn't sound as much like a gimmick, instead sounding more an actual intrinsic part of BdN's sound, and while black metal dabblers may not be so inclined this time around (although they should be), true grim metalheads might just find their horizons being expanded, whether they realize it or not.
MPEG Stream: "Volume II Chapter I"
MPEG Stream: "Marie In A Cage"
MPEG Stream: "The Lampless Hours"

BOSSE-DE-NAGE s/t (II) (The Flenser) lp 14.98
Record number two from this mysterious Bay Area black metal horde, a group whose sound is as heavy on the Louisville math rock is it is on the black buzz, and on record number two, they stretch out even further, exploring their math/post rock tendencies in ways that were only hinted at on the first record. And as one might expect, the mix of black buzz and meandering post rockisms sounds much more organic this time around, where as the first time the separation between the two sounds was more jarring. The production is much improved too.
Just take the opening track, "Volume Two Chapter One", with its darkly dynamic opening, all start stop minor key minimalism, a melancholy minor key melody played out over a series of chords, left to ring out, the drums crashing in time, the only hint of the blackness to come is a howled vocals way way off in the distance, it's two minutes before this crashing moodiness segues fairly smoothly into some frantic blackened blasting, the drums not your typical blastbeat, instead offering up all manner of unlikely fills, the result a little off kilter, and a good balance to the otherwise more traditional back buzz guitar and shrieked vox. And then with about 2 minutes to go, the buzz seems to dissipate leaving just a churning, chuggy chunk of palm muted math rock, that sounds more like Don Cab than Darkthrone, pounding out the final minute in a tangle of mathy rhythms.
The post rockisms are much more subtle in "Marie In A Cage", which plays more like your standard buzzing blackness, but there are those wild chaotic drums, not to mention a killer part midsong where the band switch into a brief bit of proggy mathiness that KILLS, but it's brief and soon the band are galloping along again, never fully shedding that mathiness, but instead incorporating it into the black buzz. "The Lampless Hours" is another track that starts out sounding like some lost mid nineties Touch And Go record (minus the flurries of double kick drum), before launching into a stretch of 'proper' black metal. "The Death Posture" is a churning doomy plod, peppered with burst of blasting black metal, and again here, the band are much more subtle with their deployment of post and math rock elements, which ultimately makes for some truly idiosyncratic black metal. And finally, the record finishes off with the 11+ minute "Why Am I So Lovely? Because My Master Washes Me.", which again sounds on the surface traditionally blackened and buzzy, but the post rock undercurrent seems to seep through every chance it gets, finally shouldering the blackness out of the way at about the midway point for a stretch of gnarled mathiness, that manages to not sound out of place, instead, it's drawn in shades of black, that make it that much easier for the band to slip back into the furious buzz that finishes off the record, until the last minute when the recording seems to go haywire, everything blown out and distorted finishing off in a wild squall of Merzbowian white noise.
Definitely less post rocky than its predecessor, but again, the trade off is that the post rock element doesn't sound as much like a gimmick, instead sounding more an actual intrinsic part of BdN's sound, and while black metal dabblers may not be so inclined this time around (although they should be), true grim metalheads might just find their horizons being expanded, whether they realize it or not.
MPEG Stream: "Volume II Chapter I"
MPEG Stream: "Marie In A Cage"
MPEG Stream: "The Lampless Hours"

BOTANIST I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose From the Dead (tUMULt) 2cd 15.98
Hot on the heels of last week's listing of the new double cd release on tUMULt from Bay Area hypersonic one man black metal band Mastery, comes something even stranger. Yet another mysterious one man black metal horde (and another double disc), rising from the fertile SFBM underground. The scene that gave us Leviathan, Draugar, Crebain, Pale Chalice, Sutekh Hexen, Dead As Dreams, Dispirit, Horn Of Dagoth, Pandiscordian Necrogenesis, Amocoma, Elk, Necrite, Palace Of Worms, and more, has now spawned the oddly monikered Botanist, an odd moniker only until you realize that all the songs here are about plants and flowers, and all of the artwork following suit, old faded images of strange and wondrous flora and fauna, but that's not nearly the strangest thing about Botanist. Nope, the strangest thing would be the fact that there are NO guitars, and there is NO bass, just drums, vocals, and HAMMERED DULCIMER. That's right, eerie and esoteric, buzzing and baffling, drum and dulcimer driven black eco-terrorist black metal. And as strange as that may sound, the SOUND is even stranger, the dulcimer a particularly haunting and strangely melodic instrument, the typical black metal riffs replaced by maniacal dulcimer melodies, repeated motifs, flurries of cyclical notes, the sound buzzy and brutal in it's own way, with an almost old-timey feel to the sound, the drums mathy and intricate, often sounding strangely like a demonic drumline, the vocals a hellish raspy croak, but it's the dulcimer that drives the sound of Botanist, a distinctive metallic buzz that's eerily creepy and darkly cinematic, with many of these tracks sounding like they could be some alternate soundtrack for a lost seventies giallo or some super surreal art film.
The tracks are mostly short sharp blasts of metallic buzz, the dulcimer alternatingly offering up dense overtone-rich clouds of frenzied tangled melody, but just as often, unfurling stretches of haunting atonal shimmer, occasionally spacing way out, and weaving sprawling dreadscapes of minor key tension and slow build terror, the sound of the dulcimer so strange, sometimes evoking old pianos in ghost town saloons, other times impossibly melodic, with the songs on the verge of pure poppiness, or as poppy as something as twisted and confusional like this can be. The sound of Botanist is definitely black metal, in form, in structure, in intent, in spirit, even to a degree in sound, but it's also something wholly other, the relation between the rhythms and the melodic component of the dulcimer's haunting buzz and chiming metallic tone hard to quantify, and obviously even harder to accurately describe, then there's the dulcimer's traditional station as a folky Appalachian instrument, it all adds to the crazy, confusional appeal of Botanist's warped sonic world, one that manages to be both heavy and buzzy and blackened, but also haunting and hypnotic and strangely soundtracky, a swirling, hazy, chaotic sound, densely melodic, relentlessly rhythmic, fantastically fucked up and bafflingly brilliant.
The discs are housed in super swank full color mini-lp gatefold style Stoughton jackets, with a thick booklet of lyrics, the jacket and booklet both printed to look like an antique botanist's field journal. ENTER THE VERDANT REALM!!
MPEG Stream: "Dracocephalum"
MPEG Stream: "Invoke the Throne of Veltheimia"
MPEG Stream: "Helleborus Niger"
MPEG Stream: "Aldrovanda Ascendant"
MPEG Stream: "Convolvulus Althaeoides"
MPEG Stream: "Dioscoria"
MPEG Stream: "Megaskepasma"
MPEG Stream: "In the Hall of Chamaerops"

BOTHER, THE The Night Bleeds Gold (Three Ring Records) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Local indie combo The Bother make straightforward gentle indie pop with laidback emotive male vocals. Breezy and wistfully bittersweet tunes with a few nice moody embellishments -- an effected vocal, a textural sound sample, a slinky tremolo'd guitar, a flute -- for added atmosphere and loveliness. A bit reminiscent of early Beck and Pavement.
MPEG Stream: "Upon Low Tide"
MPEG Stream: "Our Nameless Glamour"

BOTTICELLIS Old Home Movies (Rocinante / Antenna Farm) lp 12.98
Such warm, woozy and punchy West Coast pop delivered spot on by this San Francisco band, whose songs are made for that Eternal Summer we all wish we could live in. Their sound reminding us of everyone from the breeziest side of The Kinks, the more at ease moments of The Strokes, a looser Vetiver, a more sun soaked Grizzly Bear, some of that early solo McCartney magic... In other words the Botticellis write some pretty damn great irresistible pop that we can imagine being blasted in the bedroom with the window open so everyone playing in the backyard could soak up these infectious sounds. Pressed on clear vinyl and sounding better and better each time we lay the needle in its grooves.

BOXCAR SAINTS Last Things (Grand Mal) cd 10.98
If you'd like to champion a local San Francisco artist and you're a fan of the gruffy janglings of Tom Waits, this is your ticket! Boxcar Saints sound very much in the vein of Waits, though perhaps a little smoother. Very pretty melodies!
MPEG Stream: "Stranger In God's House "
MPEG Stream: "Ain't Gonna Sleep"

BOYSKOUT Another Life (Three Ring) cd 12.98
Since her band's 2004 debut album School Of Etiquette (a particular aQ fave of that year), SF cool gal and headmistress of poppy post-post-punk grrrls Boyskout Leslie Satterfield has not only moved to NY and back, but she's also assembled an entirely new lineup! And we're happy to report that the music hasn't skipped a beat. Although Boyskout's sound is usually anchored by a mopey Smiths-ian moodiness driven by reeling guitar and keyboards and distinct breathy pout of Satterfield's vocals -- even more so on this album than on the last -- they do insert a warm sunbeam here and there. Take for example the softly snappy retro-pop of "Everybody Knew". It makes for a nice, unjarring shift on the band's modus operandi. The places where it seems this album loses its focus and falters just a bit are those when it seems the creative control and vocal duties were wrested from Satterfield's usually solid grip. A particularly noticeable slip in momentum comes at the cover of Kraftwerk's "The Model" -- ably executed but a bit flat in comparison to the rest of the songs' punch. A far more effective and downright spooky cover is their take on The Beatles' "Drive My Car" (oooh, spoiler: it's the album's closing track simply listed as "Track 12"). Nonetheless, Another Life is a terrific sophomore release. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Spotlight"
MPEG Stream: "Everybody Knew"
MPEG Stream: "Track 12"

BOYSKOUT School Of Etiquette (Alive) cd 14.98
Besides being just about the cutest band in the the Bay Area (although they've recently left SF for NY), Boyskout more importantly manage to meld elements of queer grrrl punk, new wave, pop and goth into super buzzy, catchy, hypnotic perfection.
Three distinct vocalists keep things really interesting: one a petulant pout of a voice, another closely resembles Siouxsie's dark, throaty sultriness, and the third is all Kim Gordon-ish whispery, and almost-spoken. So varied and cool. The music has the propulsive new wave simplicity of Interpol, the playful purr of the Cure, and the buzzy intensity of classic punk rock, with claustrophobic minor key melodies, crunchy punchy guitars, thick circus-y Gary Numan-ish synths, and super catchy hooks EVERYWHERE. The more we listen to this the more we love it! Includes one of the songs from their debut 7". The cd also contains a video for the track "Back To Bed", a spicy, saucy romp, reflecting the song's sexy lyrics, with the band making out with each other and rolling around in their underwear!
MPEG Stream: "Back To Bed"
MPEG Stream: "Secrets"

BOYSKOUT Secrets / Pictures From The Moon (Isota) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In anticipation of their debut full length which is due out in January (we've have been diggin' the advance copy they kindly dropped off a month ago), Bay Area foursome Boyskout offer up a two song vinyl appetizer of darkly edgy and emotive feist-pop in many ways quite reminiscent of equally kick-ass gals The Need. Well worth checkin' out!

BOYZ IV MEN Sweat (Turn Up Record Co.) lp 14.98
San Francisco boasts a great history of kick ass party bands who have the ability to get a warehouse full of sweaty folks lost in pulsating sounds. From Tussle, Numbers, Dynasty Handbag, The Vanishing, Harold Ray Live In Concert, Jonas Reinhardt (in their live incarnation) - SF bands have proven you can be fun and smart at the same time. Boyz IV Men follow in this great tradition as the torch carriers for sweaty dance floor jams done so totally right. Armed with analog synths and a minimal drumkit, they blast out electro jams that feel like a less precious Ratatat or a more DIY minded Justice or Simian Mobile Disco. We love how they maintain a raw and gritty sound in the midst of their all out body moving bangers. So damn good!
The lp comes with a coupon for a digital download of the album.
MPEG Stream: "Garbaggio"
MPEG Stream: "Up Girl, Thru Be Some Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Pump Fest"

BRAIN AND, THE s/t (Fuck It Tapes) cass 8.98

BRAINOIL Death Of This Dry Season (20 Buck Spin) lp 14.98

BRAN (ANOTHER PLIGHT OF MEDIC'S...) POS, THE Amantis Incongrue (Chitah! Chitah! Soundcrack) cd 11.98
Surrealistic solo artist The Bran (Another plight of medic's...) Pos, aka AQ-customer Jake Rodriguez (who helps to run & book the Clit Stop venue here in SF), has released what I think is his actual debut cd, after a variety of cd-r releases. Experimental to the core, in live performances Jake's a veritable Tasmanian Devil of insane vocal manipulations and electronic effects. Here, the vocals take a back seat (or can't be differentiated from the electronics!), it's pretty much all outer-space distortion and chaos-collage, like a Masonna intent on making 'weird' noises instead of painful ones. One track features his free improv duo Compomicro-Dexall. For fans of Mike Patton and other John Zorn-approved avant garde noise craziness. Good stuff. Comes packaged in one of those clear plastic clam-shell cases.

BRIAN AND CHRIS 3 (Dielectric) cd 12.98
Isn't it nice when friends become friends with other friends? We sorta get that feeling from this release, as local boys Brian Fraser and Chris Palmatier were AQ faves upon the release of their second album Vectors and now this new disc sees them joining the illustrious ranks of the Dielectric Recordings Empire run by *our* friends Drew and Stephanie... Better yet, B and C don't disappoint with 3, it's a fine disc of light and airy (Airy?) indie rock infused electronica (or electronica infused indie rock?), very creative and summery and mellow and pretty, with room for laptops and guitars and panpipes and random voice recordings and much studio-as-instrument-goings-on. We sell a lot of the likes of the Postal Service and The Books and Boards Of Canada and there's no reason this shouldn't go in the shopping basket with the rest of 'em. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Action Packed Vacation"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Rube"

BRIAN AND CHRIS Vectors (Megalon) cd 13.98
If Jim O'Rourke wasn't so afflicted with attention deficit disorder, if Boards of Canada weren't so s-l-o-w in making new records, if the Champs weren't on tour all the time -- maybe they all coulda gotten together and made a record as pretty as this one. Brian and Chris are a coolly eclectic local duo whose record is so fresh, gentle, accomplished and unhurried that it's taken us by surprise. When an album is this eclectic we are usually a little suspicious -- but Brian & Chris' "Vectors" album totally works. Bravo.
Starting with a shuffling bass groove layered over with atmospherics full of texture and grit, the record would at first seem to be yet more popular electronics in the vein of Mouse on Mars or Boards of Canada. But before you know it the electronics have been replaced by echoing acoustic blues guitar that's foregrounded right in your eardrum, while tinny jungle beats cavort way in the background, used more as texture than as booty movers. It's a nice combination you'd like to hear longer, but before long chiming, fingerpicked guitars accompany a lilting, ethereal female voice, soon to be followed by angular shards of art-post-rock very similar to Gastr del Sol (in a good way, not pretentious at all). And as if that weren't fun enough, by the end of the album the perfectly seamless segueways between the genre-bending tracks have placed you squarely in the middle of a Champs-style rock guitar workout. Wow. Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Jakarta International Airport"
RealAudio clip: "Pristina"
RealAudio clip: "Katzenjammer"

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Spacegirl And Other favorites (Candy Floss) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective (Tee Pee) 2cd 16.98
Since 1991, BJM has offered the public a rock soap opera of sorts. Sideburns, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll, yeah. Providing songs to do drugs to for over a decade now, BJM's label has brought forth a heavy 2 disc retrospective obviously to coincide with the Sundance-acclaimed documentary by Ondi Timoner, "Dig!" Could only a clueless megalomaniac warrant such shameless media attention? You decide. Regardless, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland bequeaths 44 tracks of steady, mid-tempo Notorious Byrd Brothers-meets-Ride/Stone Roses glassy-eyed sonic numbness, including some previously unreleased studio and live songs.
MPEG Stream: "All Around You (Intro)"
MPEG Stream: "Who?"

BRIDEZ Evilroad (self-released) cd-r 9.98
Sometimes you just gotta get down and dirty, sleazy and rocking, and we have to say it's been hard to find bands doing that sort of thing right these days. So thank the stars for Bridez, a San Francisco band who make sounds made reckless nights on the dancefloor, beer soaked chaos, reminding us that rock n roll is supposed to be trashy and wild and impassioned!
There is definitely a '90s vibe happening on Evilroad that reminds us of all those great records by bands like L7, Babes In Toyland, 7 Year Bitch, Hole, Mudhoney, The Gits, Royal Trux, etc. that we've recently been revisiting, reveling in how damn good they still are. For their debut full length Bridez teamed up with Greg Ashley of Gris Gris fame producing and he definitely brings his keen sense of melody and atmosphere to the Bridez' high energy infectious rock assault. While we're sure lead singer Liza Thorn is sick of the Courtney Love comparisons, there is no denying that her voice and energy conjures images of the Courtney we used to go crazy for circa Pretty On The Inside and Live Through This. But while she commands plenty of attention the rest of the band have some serious chops as well and a truly relentless spirit which helps make Bridez a full on band to take notice of.
While much of their reputation surrounds their reckless and chaotic live shows, it's awesome to hear that behind all the commotion and mayhem, this band has some seriously great songs running through their veins. So fucking good!
MPEG Stream: "Evil Road"
MPEG Stream: "Rolling Stoned"
MPEG Stream: "California"

BRIDEZ Rolling Stoned b/w Heart (World Famous In SF) 7" 5.98
Bridez front woman, and the cover star of this here 7" single, is none other then Liza Thorn, who was responsible for unleashing a thrilling and damaging whirlwind of fierce energy here in the Bay Area with her previous band So So Many White White Tigers. While Bridez is a much more song based endeavor, there is still that reckless energy and dirty quality to their songs that makes this such a fun, fiery and righteously sleazy debut. We hear healthy doses of Pussy Galore, early Hole and the early recordings of The Runaways. Bringing a much needed element of danger and drunken passion to fucked up rock n' roll. So good!

BRIGHT GREY WING, THE Facts & Figures (self-released) cd ep 6.98
We liked what we heard on the first few outings by The Bright Grey Wing, but with this record it feels like Jaime Borschuk has really come into her own. Such beautiful sketches of songs with no wasted moments and such tender and delicate delivery. Like the soft breeze of the Tenniscoats or Durutti Column with an undercurrent of twee influences and a soft touch similar to folks like Tara Jane O'Neil, Mirah, Rose Melberg, Eddie Marcon and Mary Timony. Such perfect sounds for an early morning or those times when you just want to get lost in a soft Summerbreeze. So nice.
MPEG Stream: "Abundance"
MPEG Stream: "A Curious Mystery"
MPEG Stream: "Slip & Slide"
MPEG Stream: "Inside Out"

BRIGHT GREY WING, THE Homecoming (Extra Small) cd 10.98
Here's the second full length from this lo-fi solo honey-sweet popster (aka Jaime Borschuk who is also in Plan To Pink). Last time, we noticed that occasionally some of the vocals drifted away from 'in tune'. Well, that's the case on Homecoming too -- it seems she's created her very own key to sing in and often a guitar seems to follow suit as well. The problem is actually more pronounced this time out 'cause the rest of the music that surrounds the vocals is much more polished than last time. Really, when she hits her mark it's like the warmest hug! This could've been a totally soft'n'cozy pop confection, but it falls short on a few occasions. Sort of like an unintentional Shaggs tribute band in its total wide-eyed earnestness. Includes a cover of Daniel Johnston's "Speeding Motorcycle".
MPEG Stream: "Island"
MPEG Stream: "Speeding Motorcycle"

BRIGHT GREY WING, THE I (Extra Small) cd 10.98
The Bright Grey Wing make music just like in the good ol' early '90s days in Olympia, WA when lo-fi twee pop and K Records were king. That is, heart-on-your-sleeve, cardigan sweater tunes with earnest sing-song gal vocals that do the hokey-pokey with the tuning fork every now and again. Seventeen (!) intimate, bare bones, bedroom-y songs ranging in length from a mere 21 seconds to three and half minutes. Ever so marshmallow soft 'n' sweet, I closes with a 32-second rendition of Jim Morrison's "The End".
MPEG Stream: "Good Luck"
MPEG Stream: "Song From Hope Film"

BRILLIANT COLORS Highly Evolved / Takes So Little (Captured Tracks) 7" 6.98
We've been loving everything we've heard from this fairly new Bay Area female trio but we were too slow to snag enough copies of their first 7" to list, but luckily we've got this great new single with two new brand new songs that are sure to show the world that these gals belong in the new league of great garage popsters like the Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Thee Oh Sees, etc. There is a really cool early '80s minimalist garage pop aesthetic to Brilliant Colors that reminds us a bit of Young Marble Giants, The Raincoats, the heyday of Flying Nun records or some song by an obscure band on a Messthetics compilation that you would want to play over and over. It's much smarter then run of the mill garage rock, but it's also smart enough not to let their brains get in the way of their simple stripped down songs that sound better and better each time we lay the needle in the groove.