BURMESE Monkeys Tear Man To Shreds, Man Never Forgives Ape, Man Destroys Environment (tUMULt) cd 13.98
If you live in San Francisco, you may have seen these local ne'er do wells playing live, with set times ranging from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, and often covered in blood, writhing on the floor in a heap of destroyed instruments, charging wildly through the crowd, smashing tables and chairs (and playing with other club destroyers the Black Dice and Arab on Radar). So you'd be forgiven for expecting a messy sloppy record that is nothing without the live show. But boy, would you be wrong. Burmese's first record is a dense, ultra heavy, super low end (they have 2 basses and no guitar after all) crushing and pummelling onslaught.
The opening track is is an intense free noise explosion of rumbles, feedback, and spastic drumming. The next 20 tracks take the grind of Drop Dead, drop it a few octaves, and add some seriously fucked arrangements. The last track is an epic drone ala EARTH: waves of subsonics weave in and out of malfunctioning electronics until the whole thing dissolves into a wash of turntables and instrument hum (you might recognise some of the turntable noise at the end, it's a bit of the last A Minor Forest recording, which Burmese recorded over!). Somewhere between DROP DEAD and EARTH, this is some of the craziest, heaviest, noisiest low end grind/sludge we've heard in a while. And as you might have expected, released on our very own Andee's tUMULt label.
RealAudio clip: "Monkeys Tear Man to Shreds"
RealAudio clip: "Leverage"
RealAudio clip: "WWWIII"

BURMESE Monkeys Tear Man To Shreds, Man Never Forgives Ape, Man Destroys Environment (Enterruption) lp 10.98
Originally released on tUMULt way back in 2000, this primal slab of dual bassed downtuned sonic mayhem, may still rank as one of the heaviest, most vitriolic chunks of sound this city ever produced. A prime slab of chaotic grind, laced with Whitehouse like noise, and bursts of metallic fury, not to mention a black hole entropy that found most songs falling apart into long stretches of broken amp feedback or crushed drum kit clatter.
So this record is finally available on vinyl, BUT, these are not the same recordings. The same songs yes, but recorded in their practice space just before the album proper was recorded, so while it's still heavy and furious and freaked out, it's also even more raw and blown out and most definitely damaged. Also included is a killer cover of Black Flag's "I've Heard It Before', even fiercer and more fucked up than the original (we sacrilegiously proclaim!) originally released on the band's now long out of print Treaties Of Greed And Filth 7".
As with all things Enterruption, the packaging is gorgeous and over the top. The sleeve is silkscreened, with all of the visual elements from the cd packaging represented (the dead elephant, the leafless etc.) The inside of the sleeve is printed with various live band shots, the vinyl is THICK and pressed on red wax, housed in a thick inner sleeve, printed with song titles and liner notes, also included are various show flyers from back in the day, reproduced on nice thick heavy cardstock. LIMITED TO ONLY 500 COPIES!!! Here's our (slightly altered) review of the cd when it first came out in 2000. And while these are different recordings, this description is still pretty apt, just add your own "harsher"s and "noisier"s and "more blown out"s here and there and it'll be perfect.
If you lived in San Francisco, circa 2000 you may have seen these local ne'er do wells playing live (this incarnation at least), with set times ranging from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, often covered in blood, writhing on the floor in a heap of destroyed instruments, charging wildly through the crowd, smashing tables and chairs (and playing with other club destroyers the Black Dice and Arab on Radar). So you'd be forgiven for expecting a messy sloppy record that is nothing without the live show. But boy, would you be wrong. Burmese's debut is a dense, ultra heavy, super low end (they have 2 basses and no guitar after all) crushing and pummeling onslaught.
The opening track is an intense free noise explosion of rumbles, feedback, and spastic drumming. The next 20 tracks take the grind of Drop Dead, drop it a few octaves, and add some seriously fucked arrangements. The last track is an epic drone ala EARTH: waves of subsonics weave in and out of malfunctioning electronics until the whole thing dissolves into a wash of turntables and instrument hum. Somewhere between DROP DEAD and EARTH circa Earth 2, this is some of the craziest, heaviest, noisiest low end grind/sludge we've heard in forever.
Again, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!! So get it while you can...

BURMESE White (Planaria) cd 13.98
It had to happen. Local sludge/grind combo Burmese, with a maximum-pummel line up of 2 bassists and 2 drummers, and two amazingly brutal records on our very own Andee's tUMULt label, and who spend most of their time channelling the spirit of '80s UK noise-shock pioneers Whitehouse anyway, decided to indulge their peculiar obsession, by recording an entire record of Whitehouse songs, run through the Burmese ringer. The result? An ear shredding, throat slitting, hateful, misanthropic skree, equal parts Merzbow, Drop Dead, Whitehouse and white noise, garbled ultra-distorted inhuman vocals, spewing hate and bile, over a musical bed of shrieking feedback, buzzing instruments, and very little actual 'playing', like a Twilight Zone episode where the musical instruments rebel against their masters by making the most un-musical sounds they can muster. Truly brutal, difficult, warped and wondrous.
MPEG Stream: "[Track 1]"
MPEG Stream: "[Track 5]"

BURMESE White (NTR) lp 14.98
FINALLY AVAILABLE ON VINYL!!
New artwork. White ink on gorgeous textured white paper, white vinyl, white labels.
LIMITED TO 300. Each lp hand numbered (includes of the seven tracks that were on the cd)
It had to happen. Local sludge/grind combo Burmese, with a maximum-pummel line up of 2 bassists and 2 drummers, and two amazingly brutal records on our very own Andee's tUMULt label, and who spend most of their time channelling the spirit of '80s UK noise-shock pioneers Whitehouse anyway, decided to indulge their peculiar obsession, by recording an entire record of Whitehouse songs, run through the Burmese ringer. The result? An ear shredding, throat slitting, hateful, misanthropic skree, equal parts Merzbow, Drop Dead, Whitehouse and white noise, garbled ultra-distorted inhuman vocals, spewing hate and bile, over a musical bed of shrieking feedback, buzzing instruments, and very little actual 'playing', like a Twilight Zone episode where the musical instruments rebel against their masters by making the most un-musical sounds they can muster. Truly brutal, difficult, warped and wondrous.
MPEG Stream: "[Track 1]"
MPEG Stream: "[Track 5]"

BURMESE / 16 BITCH PILE UP Bored Fortress: Not Not Fun Seven Inch Series (Not Not Fun) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're more and more convinced that Burmese are San Francisco's greatest band. So fucking heavy, and so intensely aggressive, so totally unlike any other bands in the scene. Live they destroy, and somehow on record, their vitreous violence comes through loud and clear. For those new to Burmese, this is grinding low end ultra pummel, sludge and speed mixed into an impossible sonic stew, a little like Whitehouse crossed with Drop Dead, which makes no sense, but which is why Burmese are so fucking awesome. This set of songs was recorded live on WFMU and is so blown out. the recording so hot, that it's essentially just impenetrable walls of bass guitar growl, huge pounding sonic boom drums and inhuman shrieks. Scary stuff.
Teamed up with Burmese are 16 Bitch Pile Up, who traffic in abstract free noise, noxious clouds of ambient murk, with distant feral vocals and percussion that sounds like someone moving filing cabinets. Harsh and creepy, but what would you expect when one of the band members is credited with playing a bag of glass.
Part of Not Not Fun's Bored Fortress series of limited 7"s, packaged in a cool red and metallic gold silkscreened cover complete with little stick on pink leaves!

BURMESE / FISTULA split (Crucial Blast) cd 14.98
Never heard Fistula before, but they definitely prove themselves, at least on this here split, to be one of the few bands that can stand up to the ferocity and absolute fucking musical anvil to the skull that is Burmese. After two releases on our own Andee's tUMULt label, Burmese hook up with fellow noisemakers Fistula for an absolute sonic orgy of untold proportions of AQ pal Adam's Crucial Blast label. The ten Burmese tracks show them moving even further away from conventional grind / sludge into a world all their own, Whitehouse collides with Drop Dead, Throbbing Gristle with Masonna on lead vocals and Corrupted as back up band. This is pure fucking noise. Moments of grinding fury do peek through, as do little bursts of rhythmic mayhem and occasional electronic overload, but overall this is just two drummers and two bassists stuffing your head in a blender with a speaker at the bottom. Fistula respond with four slightly longer tracks of metallic crush. The first an abstract dirge with the lead vocals replaced by a hacking cough. Like an underground sludge "Sweet Leaf". But the other three tracks prove Fistula to be masters of the BIG RIFF. Supercharged drone / dirge metal, huge and galloping, pummelling and fucking MASSIVE.
MPEG Stream: BURMESE "Sweet Fucking Mouth / Livingwage"
MPEG Stream: BURMESE "Spill My Fuck"
MPEG Stream: FISTULA "Green Lung"

BUSUCHAN Defrag My Heart (Spam) cd 8.98
Another bizarre project from our favorite local Hello Kitty maniac and metal maven, the one and only (thank god) Steven Schultz. You may know him from such amazing/ridiculous projects as Stalin Claus Superstar! (y'know, the 4cd rock opera box set), or his "I Forgot To Get A Rap Name!" rap album, or the "History Of Vats" disc that started all this genre-splicing home-recording madness way back when. His new effort, monikered Busuchan, is along the lines of "Vats" or much of "Stalin Claus": insanely accomplished musically, insanely retarded humoristically (witness such song titles as "Jesse Jackson Wants His Forehead Back" and "Bitch, I Stole Your Man, Ho!"). Although, like "Vats" (but not the opera), Steve does this all himself -- drums, guitar solos, electronics, vocals, artwork, silly liner notes, everything. Wow. Imagine a one-man Mr. Bungle, but more metal and with (even) more annoying vocals. This cd is graced by a photo of the man himself decked out oh so convincingly as a coy Japanese schoolgirl. (Possibly the most disturbing picture we've seen lately, and we spend a lot of time on the internet!) But we must tip our hats to Mr. Schultz. Dragging in and desecrating everything from doo wop to electronica to black metal, this is completely spazzy, twisted and strange -- and unfortunately catchy enough to get stuck in your head. This made some people laugh, made others roll their eyes, and still others... uncomfortable. Stop looking at my ass, indeed! Steve Schultz fans (ohmigod it's true, he probably does have fans, indeed, deserves 'em) line up now!
RealAudio clip: "Terpsechlorean Splendor Of Careening Trilobites"
RealAudio clip: "Looking All Deformed Like Cindy Crawford"
RealAudio clip: "Scrotum Symphony"

CAESURA More Specific, Less Pacific (54 40' or Fight!) cd 9.98
In spite of being a 'post-rock' band, this local trio actually knows how to rock. Both live and on this new cd, they're quite impressive, intense and precise...but also not super original. Everything they do sounds kinda like it could be something by Circus Lupus, Shellac, or every other post-rock band on the screamier side of things...maybe a little Bastro, a little Fugazi too. And perhaps the brief Latin hand percussion break halfway through the disc is their nod to Tortoise or Gastr del Sol? So, great if that's your scene and you're not really looking for something new (that is, you want more of what you like, rather than something else). Perhaps these guys should go into temporary retirement for twenty years, and then emerge right about when there's (likely to be) a retro-post-rock revival in 2022, they'd kick everyone's asses then. In the here-and-now, though, they're still really good.
RealAudio clip: "For Staged Encore"
RealAudio clip: "Trap Door"

CAKE Comfort Eagle (Columbia / Sony) cd 16.98
These local favorites, that for painfully obvious reasons, have made it big (-ish). The worst song on this cd is the hit on MTV. With embarrassing lyrics, funky, kooky riffs, and gratuitous poppy bullshit, this release was unbearable for me to listen to. Yuck.

CAKE Fashion Nugget (Capricorn/Mercury) cd 12.98
As seen on MTV.

CALCULATORS, THE Circuit Breaking Silence / Simplicity & Style (Princehouse) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Curious what some of those boys from The Rapture were up to prior to hookin' up with the DFA production team and hittin' the dancefloor? Here's your answer! The Calculators' Circuit Breaking Silence cd and Simplicity & Style 10" have both been out of print for a few years now, but have just been reissued together on one disc by uber hip'n'cool SF label Princehouse Records!
Here's what we had to say about them back then... first the cd:
Popular but now sadly defunct SF synth-wave quartet easily recognized by their white belts and ties. Quite frankly this band rocked with a hearty dose of thick Roland Juno 60 and Moog synth lines. Half this album was recorded by Helios Creed at Half Machine Studios.
and as for the 10":
The now-defunct Calculators certainly fired up quite a new wave frenzy in their short life. Thick analog synth lines do battle with distorted guitars. This medium sized piece of vinyl features four prime examples of youthful SF synth rock.
MPEG Stream: "Worthless In A World Of Wires"
MPEG Stream: "Electricity"

CALL AND RESPONSE s/t (Emperor Norton Records) cd 13.98
Seem familiar? The very recent debut album from SF sunny pop group Call And Response is released anew on a different label. That's right they've made the move from Kindercore to Emperor Norton. And this release gets a spiffing up of sorts. New artwork, reworked tunes, rearranged song order and two extra songs! Now what did we say about this album back in AQ List #109?...
The debut album that's been building this Bay Area group quite a hefty buzz around town. And if plentiful pop pleasures with sunshine-y harmonies are your thing, you'll be buzzing madly as well. Although photos have presented them as sorta Elastica-esque ---all black-clad, raven-haired and lanky--- they are in fact much more a perky combination of Free Design, Stereolab and Beach Boys. But y'know I could have sworn I even heard hints of the Byrds doin' "Hey Mr Tambourine Man" in their song "Colors". Lots of la-la-las and ba-ba-bas. Recorded in Atlanta by The Sunshine Fix/ex-Olivia Tremor Control's Bill Doss.
So there you have it. I'd like to add that the C.A.R. rhythm section busts out some easygoing groovy boogieness (check out new song "All Night Long").
RealAudio clip: "All Night Long"
RealAudio clip: "When The Lights Are Out"

CALLING ALL MONSTERS The Traps That Work Best (Turn) cd 11.98
This new album from Calling All Monsters immediately seemed familiar to us here at AQ, and not just because one of the band members is dear Matthew Troy formerly of the raucous yet sweet Bay Area popsters and AQ pals Trackstar (for whom he was one of the two chief songwriters). Although the album gets things rolling with a surprisingly aggressive number that recalled the fist-pumpin' pop punk of Rancid and NOFX (not a bad thing AT ALL!), that bravado soon gives way to the sounds that seem more characteristic of Troy, leaning more towards early to mid nineties Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth. The Traps That Work Best makes for a logical progression and development from the fuzzy, feisty songs he wrote for Trackstar's last album Lion Destroyed The Whole World (2002). So nice.
MPEG Stream: "We Are: Special Forces"
MPEG Stream: "The Uneasy Life"

CAMPILONGO, JIM, & THE TEN GALLON CATS Loose (Blue Hen) cd 14.98
Definitely one of San Francisco's musical treasures, here's the country/jazz guitar master and band, with instrumentals inspired by robots, Pee Wee Herman, and the alien autopsy, along with versions of "Harlem Nocturne" and "Mr. Sandman"...wonderful. Fans of Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant will be happy (the pedal steel player is amazing!), and I could see folks into the likes of Man or Astroman? also digging this.

CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE Phantom Harp (Root Strata) 3" 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.
A brand new, brief and lovely missive from Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, frontman of Tarentel, member of The Alps, The Holy See, Two Suns, head honcho of the Root Strata label and a pretty handy drone alchemist on his own, this little 3" is no different.
Utilizing a borrowed autoharp and a handful of electronics, Phantom Harp is all glistening glimmering solar flares, shimmering sunlight filtered through green fields sparkling with dewdrops, a gorgeous soft focus glacial drift, an otherworldly, slowed down Appalachia, the chords slowly drifting apart, notes carried skyward like leaves on a summer breeze, sleep, bleary eyed dreaminess, which all gives way to a washed out, lugubrious lowercase smear of fluttering drones, and creeping moonlit fog, hushed and dreamy, an oceanic seascape of twinkling muted melody and near static shimmer. All arranged into a single twenty minute track, multiple movements woven into an epic organic constantly evolving sonic dreamscape. Gorgeous.
Packaged in a beautiful black on black fold over thick paper sleeve, inside a 3" cd in a tiny plastic jacket, and a printed insert.
LIMITED TO ONLY 100 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "The Phantom Harp (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "The Phantom Harp (excerpt 2)"

CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE Shining Skull Breath (Students Of Decay) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another super limited sonic transmission from right here in the Bay Area, from AQ fave Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, the man behind Tarentel, and the Root Strata label. Those familiar with Cantu-Ledesma's music, knows that he usually speakers in hushed whispers, breathy and breathless, soft sonic shimmers allowed to drift like billowy clouds into your ears. But here, CL is no longer whispering, instead he's breathing fire, his guitar a newly minted incendiary device. A sonic flame thrower, each track a layered assemblage of thick peals of sound, glowing tongues of distorted flame. A sonic assault more similar to Total or Sunroof! Than CL's usual output. Makes sense that the first song is dedicated to Pete Swanson of the Yellow Swans (who also mastered it).
But all of this talk of fire and flame shouldn't scare you off, there is still plenty of delicate beauty to be had, it's just wrapped in thick sheets of sonic napalm, the guitar effulgent and glowing white hot, the chords washed out and the distortion crumbling. Melodies are jagged and dripping with hissy buzz, each track a glacial guitarscape turning your speakers to ash.
There are a few tracks, almost half of the 8 here, that drift in a soporific haze, and hew closer to CL's usual aesthetic, but here, they sound less like individual pieces, and more like interludes, brief moments of tranquility, a chance to catch your breath, let your ears heal, allow time for your speakers to re-solidify, before launching the next buzzing crumbling divinely distorted salvo of gorgeous blown out guitar bliss.
Fans of stuff like Nadja, the Yellow Swans, Tim Hecker, the Angelic Process, Fear Falls Burning, will be quite pleased with Cantu-Ledesma's visit to the sonic dark side.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Packaged in full color cardboard sleeves, with printed inserts.
MPEG Stream: "Distant Star (For Pete Swanson)"
MPEG Stream: "Shining Skull Breath"

CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE The Garden Of Forking Paths (Spekk) cd 17.98
After a couple of super limited cd-r's and tapes, a release or two as Colophon, and a bunch as records as a member of the Alps and Tarentel, The Garden Of Forking Paths is Cantu-Ledesma's first proper full length, and it's a doozy. A subtle and immersive sound that belies the huge array of instruments used. Electric guitars, acoustic guitars, gong, sruti box, harmonium, singing bowl, cassette, microcassette, reel to reel tape machine, electronics, sound booster and ride cymbal, with help on one track with percussion, tapes and electronics. Somehow, all of those bits and baubles are melted down into a gorgeously lush, yet minimal series of slow crawls, deep rich drones, each adorned with subtle variations and bits of sonic color.
The multitude of tape machines used in the creation of this record gives the proceedings a raw, fuzzy analog vibe that definitely hits our Jeck-Hecker-Basinski spot. Fuzzy and indistinct, thick smeared sonic drifts, that occasionally glow with some sort of diffused inner light, but for the most part, slither darkly through the shadowy corners of your speakers. Here and there, some of the sound will spill from your speakers like black ink, shiny and shimmery, staining you ears with a mysterious darkness. The final track is the only track where you can hear the guitar, a mumbling buzzy melody buried way down in the mix, creeping through a moonlit landscape of shimmering warble and distant barely-there hum. A gorgeously murky minimal world of slow moving tape, vibrating metal, creaking buzz, whirling whispers and abstract dreamy drift.
Packaged in a cool, sleek oversized digipak style folder.
MPEG Stream: "Aberration Of Starlight"
MPEG Stream: "Bay Of Pearls"
MPEG Stream: "Feast Of Pentecost"

CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE & PAUL CLIPSON Corridors (Root Strata) dvd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Second dvd collaboration from film maker Paul Clipson and Root Strata / Tarentel head honcho Jefre Cantu-Ledesma. Another gorgeous and sonically blissed out tag team, Clipson's films this time around, again on Super-8, shot entirely in NYC, impressionistic shots of cityscapes, rolling hills, the texture of water, sun dappled evening skies, many of the shots textural, extreme close ups, patterns as much as images and shapes, sunspots, shadows, reflections, very active, the world flying past out the window of a train, power lines and bridges slipping out of eyeshot, setting suns and colored clouds, so lovely and dreamy.
Cantu-Ledesma offers up the perfect soundtrack, music culled from the same sessions that produced the huge aQ fave Shining Skull Breath, so even folks who don't care about the dvd, will want this for the sounds, which are thick and dense, whirring dronescapes, textured and layered, slipping from minimal shimmer to buzzing roar and back again, very much active, the intensity and propulsion of the sounds perfectly matching the motion of the visuals, in some cases, seemingly slowing it down, the drone dragging the landscape flashing by into sudden focus before letting it go again.
Either of these elements would be fantastic on their own, we can only imagine seeing these films projected against the side of a building, or on a huge movie screen, and these sounds would kill broadcast through some massive PA, the thick roiling drones washing over us, filling our ears with grit and grime, but together they work even better, even just viewed on the tiny screen of our computer, sonically and visually evoking all sorts of deep feelings and lost memories, of places never visited, of better times, of lost loves and of a past that keeps slipping further and further away. So lovely.
Packaged in an folded up origami style vellum sleeve with a printed insert. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES! Already sold out at the label so these are the last copies EVER!

CANTU-LEDESMA, JEFRE & PAUL CLIPSON The Phantom Harp (Root Strata) dvd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In the age of YouTube and MySpace, the idea of the music video has changed dramatically since the days of MTV (or at least the days when MTV actually played videos). In the past, only bands on major labels could make a video, often hiring a real director and dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, plenty of bands have videos before they even have a record out. Super 8, digital video, Final Cut Pro, anyone can put together their own video and have it look as good if not better than the classic videos of old.
Old news maybe, but the thing is, most bands seems to use the video as simply a promotional tactic, or an excuse to fuck around and film it. Instead of, dare we say, ART. In the underground though, it's not at all uncommon for like minded musicians and filmmakers to join forces. In fact, with the advent of live performances featuring laptops and other sedimentary sound making devices (when is someone gonna make a laptop guitar, so left out laptoppers can windmill and leap about with the rest of the band?), often it's the accompanying films that are way more compelling. Often, a show is touted as some band performing "with films by so and so", but in fact, more often than not, it plays out more like seeing a film, that just so happens to feature live accompaniment by some band.
Few labels have really taken advantage of this new technology as much as Root Strata, who have quietly and steadily been releasing a series of super limited dvd-r's, each featuring new compositions by a small handful of artists, coupled with original films. The results have been pretty sublime, the films tending toward the abstract and impressionistic, the music following suit. When watching / listening to these, it's hard not to imagine laying on the floor, propped up on cushions, lights low, the film being projected on a huge blank wall, the band hunkered over their instruments in the corner, which makes sense as that's most likely how these films/sounds were conceived. 
So we have two new super limited dvd-r releases, one from Zelienople and one from Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and Paul Clipson, both limited to 100 copies, both already out of print, so these are the only copies we'll ever get. 
This is the third collaboration between filmmaker Paul Clipson and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, who also plays in Tarentel, and runs Root Strata with his partner Maxwell Croy. 
The Phantom Harp, as the title might lead you to believe, is in fact a reworking of the piece of the same name, originally released as a 3" cd-r and now out of print. Not only has the piece been reworked, but no it is accompanied by Clipson's gorgeous abstract images. The Phantom Harp is a super minimal sun dappled stretch of glimmering shimmering dreaminess, soft notes float like leaves in the summer sun, smears of high end wreath each note in glimmering sonic haloes, the pace is glacial, the melodies stretched out over minutes instead of seconds, a little ambient, a little new age, a little free drone, all deftly blurred into one smoldering sonic dreamscape. The visuals are super striking, and manage to fit perfectly with the sounds, all black and white, images of rain slicked streets, sun shining through the treetops, car headlights at night, images sometimes overexposed, blurred, superimposed, but mostly left to just play out, cityscapes, buildings, people rushing to and fro, light reflecting on water, shapes and textures, walls, grills, neon signs, restaurants, a soft, a dreamy faded super-8 travelogue. So nice.
Packaged in printed, folded papers sleeves, and again, LIMITED TO ONLY 100 COPIES, and already out of print.

CAPITOL YEARS Dance Away The Terror (Park The Van) cd 13.98
Slip this new Capitol Years album up alongside the latest one from the Pernice Brothers, and you'll have the yummiest soft pop double scoop. Really, the two go together perfectly. Their lilting vocal harmonies and chiming guitars recall the splendor of Big Star and The Raspberries. Despite the album's title which might lead you to expect an electric dancefloor packer like Radio 4 or The Rapture, these eleven polished reverb-drenched songs will prolly have you swaying gently in the autumn leaves instead. Take it nice and easy. Soooooo good.
MPEG Stream: "Revolutions"
MPEG Stream: "It's Not Okay"

CAPRICORNS Go The Distance (Banazan) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hurray, it's a new album from this Bay Area duo! Ever since Kirsten Capricorn brought in their debut cd In The Zone last February it's been a very consistent seller, and this sophomore effort seems primed to follow suit. Filled with bittersweet odes to sweethearts and heartaches, it's still keeping with their beloved lo-fi '80s Casiotone preprogrammed drumbeats and arpeggiated peppiness. Their vocals are much more self-assured and expressive this time around, but still within the same range as Corin Tucker's emotive warble. On a couple of songs though you might also find them a bit reminiscent of the GoGo's Belinda Carlisle too. Super fun and high spirited!
MPEG Stream: "Prisoner Of Love"
MPEG Stream: "Everywhere I Go"

CAPTAIN FATASS s/t (Pipe City Nights) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CAPTAIN FATASS Sweet Migrations (Pipe City Nights) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Captain Fatass, who have been playing around town for some time now, finally recorded and released a full length album so that now there's no need to wait for their upcoming shows to listen to them. Musically they draw a lot from the musical well of SF's rock history, sounding at times a like a less uptight Camper Van Beethoven, Dieselhed (when they rock out) and even early Thinking Fellers (but with better musicianship skills.)
RealAudio clip: "Lake Charles"

CAPTURED BY ROBOTS Captured Alive! (Robotic Resistance) cd + dvd 16.98
Listening to Captured Alive! in a musical sense is nearly impossible. That is of course if you haven't actually witnessed for yourself the incredible live performance of Captured By Robots. Luckily for all, the performance that took place right here at San Francisco's Bottom Of The Hill is not only found on the cd, but you may witness it for yourself in digital video form on the accompanying dvd. Probably the most entertaining and elaborate one-man-band ever.

CARLTON MELTON Live In Point Arena, CA (self-released) cd-r 9.98
If you got the chance to record and play music in a Geodesic Dome off the coast of Northern California, wouldn't you form a band just for the occasion? Well that's the modus operandi of this strangely monikered band made up of former members of Zen Guerilla and friends, who ventured up to Point Arena (an area rife with Utopian minded dwellings including the Sea Ranch) for this once in a lifetime opportunity. But don't expect this to sound like Zen Guerilla's trashy MC5-inspired garage R&B, instead Carlton Melton experiment with a sound more sonically befitting to the dome's acoustic resonance, Space Rock! Equally krauty, droney, and at times cosmically ramshackle, Carlton Melton channel White Hills, Wooden Shjips, Cave, bits of Kinski, Steve Hillage, and of course the less proto-metal leanings of Hawkwind with dual guitars, bass and organ hypnotically riffing through the domed stratosphere. Trippy and Limited!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Happy Song"
MPEG Stream: "Fucking Funky Shit"
MPEG Stream: "Legion of Dome"

CARNEY, RALPH This is! (BlackBeauty) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Welcome to the wonderfully eccentric world of SF's Ralph Carney - such an amazingly skilled musician able to jump genres and instruments at the witty wink of an eye and blends them together at whim. He's worked with an astounding array of artists, some of which include Tom Waits, Marc Ribot, the B52's, Bill Laswell, and William Burroughs. Plus, if you were one of the many who packed into AQ a few months ago to catch the Jonathan Richman in-store you would've also been entertained by Carney's accompaniment. Carney's music is as far from run-of-the mill as you can get, and his oft-bizarre aural trips might not be for everyone. Some might even find it all to be a bit overwhelming and disorienting at first, but that's the splendor of his work. He's so adept at completely transporting the listener to... somewhere else! You're never quite sure where he's led you nor where you're off to next! The record label makes reference to Roland Kirk and Capt. Beefheart and these are certainly right on the mark, but we'd also add the Residents, the Lonesome Organist and the criminally unsung, fellow-SF genius Graham Connah to the list of those dextrously imaginative akin. Just nine seconds shy of a full hour.
MPEG Stream: "Man Don't Come"
MPEG Stream: "Heckraiser"

CARNEYBALL JOHNSON s/t (Akron Cracker) cd 11.98
You might say that the illustrious, seemingly tireless Ralph Carney is sorta the musical equivalent of a colorful traveling circus... uh, carney! Such a remarkably chameleon-like multi-instrumentalist / entertainer both on his own in the spotlight and in collaboration or support of others (Tom Waits, Jonathan Richman, B-52s, Marc Ribot, Beth Custer, Bill Laswell, Tipsy, Victoria Williams, Drizzoletto, Jim White, and Oranj Symphonette, to name just a few of the folks he's played with over the years)! Ever on the go, you just never know what he's gonna pull out of his hat or his bag of tricks or his magical wardrobe next. But you can pretty much bet that it'll be a little (or maybe more than a little) bit tweaked with an unorthodox yet seamless blend of styles (Dixieland, prog, bluegrass, lounge, pop or any fashion of jazz -- you name it!), and that the chops (musical that is, not his mutton chop sideburns!) will be bulletproof. Such is the case with this, the debut cd by his latest mostly instrumental project he formed with Kimo Ball, Scott Johnson and Allen Whitman (fyi: they also released a live cd-r last year which we also have in stock). Their horns, woodwinds, guitars, piano, percussion and sporadic vocals come together, become pals and have a rollicking coloring fest, shading both neatly inside and more rambunctiously outside of each track's lines. For a particular highlight, check out the third number "Interstellar Low-ways / Watusa". Great stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Interstellar Low-ways / Watusa"
MPEG Stream: "(off)White Room"

CAROLINER An 1800s Affectuant in 'An Instrumental Revue' cd-r 5.50

CAROLINER An 1800s Affectuant In An Instrumental Revue (Dolor Del Estamago) cd-r 4.50

CAROLINER Rings On The Awkward Shadow - Sides 3 & 4 (Dolor Del Estamago) cd-r 4.50

CAROLINER Wine Can't Do It, Wife Won't Do 2lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CAROLINER RAINBOW OPEN WOUND CHORALE Rise of the Common Woodpile cd 8.98

CARRIER Home Movies cd-r ep 5.98
Seven tracks of absolutely positively soothing music. Very pretty and a bit wistful; full of reverb drenched, lilting guitar arpeggios. 'Home Movies' could very well have been issued on Temporary Residence or Kranky. Hop aboard the ambient post-rock hovercraft and drift along to the sounds of Carrier.
RealAudio clip: "Sunday Afternoon @ 12 fps"
RealAudio clip: "Skyline"

CARS GET CRUSHED Blue and West (Goldenrod) cd 9.98
SF local faves, now on cd.

CARTA The Glass Bottom Boat (Resonant) cd 9.98
Carta is the coming together of two music vets, Alexander Kort (also of Subtle) and Jared Matt Greenberg (also of Charles Atlas). The duo make post rock music of the pretty kind, incorporating a bit of shoegazer dreaminess and folky earthiness in there too. While they're not breaking any new ground, they do the tried and true quite well.
The Glass Bottom Boat is their first release, an instrumental album for the most part, the one exception is the album's lengthy title track which is graced with some lilting female vocals. It's a bit of a surprising appearance late in the mostly mellow proceedings as is the sudden burst of dissonance in that very same track. For fans of Hood, Eluvium, Tristeza and Kammerflimmer Kollektief.
MPEG Stream: "Kavan"
MPEG Stream: "Burning Bridges"

CARTER, TOM Phantom Lung / Temescal Blues (Anthem Records Inc.) 7" 5.98
Carter, who as you may or may not know is one half of psych folk dronesters Charalambides, has been stepping out quite a bit lately, this super limited one sided 7" the latest evidence of that. Two tracks, that sort of melt into one, a barely there ambient drift far away electric guitar moans float above a vast spare backdrop of hiss and whir and ambient noise. The guitars build into a thick murky wash of pitch shifted riffing, warbly seasick melodies, crumbling slabs of high end that drifts and crackles as if it were being transmitted via shortwave. Creepy but hauntingly pretty.
Limited to 211 copies, we only got a handful. Packaged in a hand stamped, hand stitched, embossed textured paper sleeve. A one sided 7" each copy hand numbered on the actual vinyl!

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE (Trainbridge Recordings) 7" 2.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Owen of fanzine has crafted a debut single with Casio, drum machine, and sweetly doleful vocals -- all of which combine to remind us of more (relatively) famous mopes like Sentridoh and Peter Jefferies. Recommended.

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE logo t-shirt (self-released) tshirt 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mr. C.F.T.P.A. himself Owen Ashworth just brought these new snazzy t-shirts in! Two color combos: navy blue with silver print of his hand-drawn logo, and baby blue with red print. Assorted sizes. Stock varies depending on whether Owen's in town or on the road, so please ask for size availability.

CAT FIVE On The Rise (self-released) 12" 14.98

very very limited pressing of 300!

CATALPA BOYS s/t (self-released) cd-r 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY. ... are brothers Jake and Josh Housh. Jake can also be heard in the band Moviola, while Josh can also be heard in Our Lady Of The Highway. They took some time out from their respective bands to get together for a little acoustic family gathering. The result? A baker's dozen of rough-hewn gentle twang tunes full of brotherly love. Very homespun, earthy and warm which extends to the packaging too - a delicately hand-printed white cardboard jacket. Oh and they thank their folks and family in the liner notes too. Awww! Note: as of February 2004, this album has been repackaged and re-released on cd by Anyday Records. Hurrah!
MPEG Stream: "Cat Autry"
MPEG Stream: "Money in The Bank"

CATALYST + LATEDUSTER Plain Old Andrea, With A Gun (Firetrunk) dvd 12.98
You may be familiar with the pastoral jazz-twang sounds of Minneapolis band Lateduster (whose roster features Andrew Broder and Martin Dosh of Fog) from their impressive Five Easy Pieces cdep or self-titled full length we have here at AQ, but did you know they also composed music for a dance performance choreographed by Ms Emily Johnson? 'Tis true. Their aural accompaniment to the Catalyst troupe's presentation of "Plain Old Andrea, With A Gun" shows a somewhat darker, more tense and gritty side to the group. Very fitting for the volatile, unsettling visual proceedings. The dvd includes two versions of the performance, a behind the scenes documentary and some highlights from "Lateduster - Live At The Walker".

CATFIVE American Military Operations (self-released) 7" 5.98
In 2001 East Bay's Catfive released a good record filled with unlikely samples -- Fela-style afrofunk, Brazilian batucada, lounge, moments of dub, scratching that sounds like a twisted harmonica -- that worked so well atop a mix of beats and groove. The new 7" is somewhat timely -- a pro-peace, anti-war message -- but as such is maybe a little too predictable, featuring samples of Bush I and II, other politicians, journalists, Elvis, etc. Negativland is funnier, but Catfive's hearts are certainly in the right place. The B-side is a cool gimmick, though. It plays backward -- i.e. the needle starts in the middle and works its way outwards. It's a bunch of cartoon / old movie / tv samples with a similar political bent as side A, but without added music. On transparent red vinyl.

CEDAR, LILY Sleeper (Extra Small) cd 10.98
Lily Cedar's debut album is comprised of nine pastel-hued tunes -- sweet and pretty like a bouquet of buttercream icing roses. From the fuzzy-soft female singing to the thoughtful guitar strumming, everything is ultra light and wistful with an air of daydreamy innocence. Very much in the K Records / Olympia, WA lo-fi pop camp.
MPEG Stream: "Water In July"
MPEG Stream: "Troubled Sleep"

CHAMPS, THE III (Frenetic) cd 11.98
San Francisco's Champs (or C4AM95 as they prefer to be called for silly legal reasons) are an amazing two guitars and drums no bass, sometimes three guitars no drums, very rarely any vocals, trio that on this their debut album crank out over seventy minutes of catchy, complex, mostly instrumental metal in indie/math-rock clothing. Kind of like the indie-prog of Don Caballero or Breadwinner, with touches of Trans Am (the bombast and occasional "techno electronica" interlude) ...and healthy helpings of Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Metallica, Carcass, Motley Crue, Priest, etc. I could go on. Mesmerizing live, they're on tour now but will be back soon so I hope y'all went to their shows. For what it's worth, there's a former member of Nation of Ulysses in their ranks. Rec-o-f'n-mended.

CHAMPS, THE / THE TIGHT BROS. FROM WAY BACK WHEN (Ace-Fu) split 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CHAN, JEFF Winds Shifting (Asian Improv Records) cd 14.98
Trio led by tenor saxophonist Chan, with Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle we must note) and Elliot Humberto Kavee. Great jazz.

CHARLES ATLAS Felt Cover (Static Caravan) cd 16.98
Local guy Charles Wyatt along with Matt Greenberg returns with a second Charles Atlas full length, this time released on the dependable Static Caravan label. Looped haunting guitar, lulling stereo-separated pulses, softly-uttered melodies, plus some minor-key atmospherics that're very "post-rock" in their wistfulness. A very quiet album where not a lot happens but that's how it was meant to be, I think -- just right for falling asleep to.
RealAudio clip: "Valdivia"

CHARLES ATLAS Social Studies: An Introduction To Charles Atlas (Howells Transmitter) cd-r 6.98
Only available here at aQ! Even if you're already well-acquainted with Charles Atlas (the band, not the bodybuilder!), you won't want to miss this 'introduction'. It's an absolutely lovely summer-melting-into-fall sort of album. Breezy but not lightweight, drifting melodic tendrils of horn, piano and organ are accented by chiming vibes. Despite the gentle chill of melancholia, the whole proceeding is warmed by lots of reverb and warbled by lots of tremolo. Sure to appeal to fans of Sea & Cake and High Llamas!
MPEG Stream: "Antiphon"
MPEG Stream: "The Snow Before Us"

CHARLES ATLAS Worsted Night (Ochre) cd 16.98
A fine new album from local darlings Charles Atlas, on UK's Ochre label who've released music by similarly dreamy outfits Windy & Carl, Fuxa, Magnetophone, Kawabata Makoto, A.M.P., etc. This is organic instrumental blissout music -- warm and human -- consisting mainly of heartbreakingly pretty arpeggiated piano and guitar chords whose gentle notes articulate themselves separately yet are moodily sustained for many seconds, a sonic tactic we've also heard wielded by Boards of Canada, but Charles Atlas is more sad and emotional. Reminds me of Sonna, Pan American, David Kilgour, and Tarentel, although Charles Atlas sets itself apart using gorgeous flourishes on warbly musical saw, quiet tinklings, female oohs and ahhs, cool trumpet, hollow ticktock clicks (a la Young Marble Giants). The chords are minor key and tension-filled yet still pastoral and hushed -- a very pleasant combination that prevents the album from becoming boring or sickly sweet. Very restrained, mature and introspective. Had enough of Boards of Canada? Give Charles Atlas' fresh take a try. Beautiful.
RealAudio clip: "Sun with Teeth"
RealAudio clip: "Antiphon"

CHARLES, MATTY Lonesome Lull (Ruby) 7" 3.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Local boy Matty Charles' first 7" won't, or shouldn't, be his last. Beautiful, heart rending songs sung with a voice at times silky and others gravelly. Some of the best country to come out in a while.