MARS VOLTA, THE Frances The Mute (Universal) cd 15.98
Uh oh. Here we are again, with the band that creates lovers or haters more than any other I know. Although, I have to say, personally I'm kind of on the fence about them! Jon Theodore is one of the most amazing drummers I've ever seen or heard. Their live show is absolutely entertaining, especially when joined by John Frusciante, who's contribution of a second incessant guitar solo seems to make their music make sense. As well, Omar and Cedric's pants are just so tight, it is unbelievable. Their Tremulant EP was shocking. It was this full-on indie-power-prog, like nothing I'd heard before. Their music went somewhere... and kept on going... though, I don't think I understood exactly "where". Their debut full-length, Deloused In The Comatorium (with its odd name and pretty terrible artwork) was still totally beyond me. Not truly prog, not truly indie-pop... someplace in between, with technical insanity, near-constant meter-changes and polyrhythm incessantry. A lot of people seemed to take MV as though they were a total mess of music: ornate, pompous, not at all worthy of any ounce of praise, let alone the millions of "extreme" fans all over the world.
Now, Frances The Mute, their second full-length, is monolithic at 77 minutes long. Despite that length, it seems to be a bit more digestible. I would certainly have something that felt like jet-lag if I had to listen to the whole thing in one sitting, but to dedicated fans, of which there are many, this will hardly be enough power-progtastic-indie-pop. And of course, MV still features Lars Ulrich's and my favorite drummer, Jon Theodore.
MPEG Stream: "The Widow"
MPEG Stream: "Cassandra Geminni: A. Tarantism"

MARS VOLTA, THE Francis the Mute b/w The Widow (Live) (GSL) 12" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hark, all ye kids and collectors! The B-side of this 12" single is a live version of The Mars Volta's heartfelt power-prog ballad "The Widow" recorded at LA's Wiltern Theater on May 6th, 2004. The album version can be heard on their latest release, Frances The Mute (which happens to also be the title of the A-side of this record), but you probably already knew that.

MARS VOLTA, THE Tremulant EP (GSL) cd ep 7.98
If you've been in search of some new and exciting sounds, you simply should not miss this introductory EP to The Mars Volta. Although this sextet will undoubtedly receive much attention for two of its members' past band (Omar and Cedric were the most recognizable members of At The Drive-In) not to mention the presence of Jon Theodore (of Golden and formerly of Royal Trux and Him) on drums, they fully deserve to be taken on their own ground.
The Mars Volta are determined *not* to take the path of least resistance by retracing the steps they've already trod. Instead, they're traversing a fresh, dynamic terrain. Crafting intricate, multi-layered songs with a definite *prog* angle. Shades of King Crimson and Yes (and U2 in the vocals, but it's not annoying at all). And they've got the chops to successfully execute their formidable mission. The vocals - so untethered, hoarse and fiery in ATDI - are here molded into an emotional falsetto that rings clear and strong with additional effected ones adding an air of alienation. The music is an amazing, intricate blend of ultra-tight drumming, deep bass, keyboards and guitar made even more potent and unsettling by carefully arranged, foreboding samples and electronics. Oh and in case I didn't make myself clear... They absolutely rock! If these three songs are any indication, they will be a force to be reckoned with. Blistering!
Please note: this is not to be confused with DeFacto (TMV members Omar, Cedric, Jeremy and Ikey's experimental dub side project).
RealAudio clip: "Eunuch Provocateur"
RealAudio clip: "Cut That City"

MARS VOLTA, THE Tremulant EP (GSL) lp 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If you've been in search of some new and exciting sounds, you simply should not miss this introductory EP to The Mars Volta. Although this sextet will undoubtedly receive much attention for two of its members' past band (Omar and Cedric were the most recognizable members of At The Drive-In) not to mention the presence of Jon Theodore (of Golden and formerly of Royal Trux and Him) on drums, they fully deserve to be taken on their own ground.
The Mars Volta are determined *not* to take the path of least resistance by retracing the steps they've already trod. Instead, they're traversing a fresh, dynamic terrain. Crafting intricate, multi-layered songs with a definite *prog* angle. Shades of King Crimson and Yes (and U2 in the vocals, but it's not annoying at all). And they've got the chops to successfully execute their formidable mission. The vocals - so untethered, hoarse and fiery in ATDI - are here molded into an emotional falsetto that rings clear and strong with additional effected ones adding an air of alienation. The music is an amazing, complex blend of ultra-tight drumming, deep bass, keyboards and guitar made even more potent and unsettling by carefully arranged, foreboding samples and electronics. Oh and in case I didn't make myself clear... They absolutely rock! If these three songs are any indication, they will be a force to be reckoned with. Blistering!
Please note: this is not to be confused with DeFacto (TMV members Omar, Cedric, Jeremy and Ikey's experimental dub side project).
RealAudio clip: "Eunuch Provocateur"
RealAudio clip: "Cut That City"

MARSFIELD (ANDREW CHALK, ETC.) The Towering Sky (Faraway Press) cd 24.00
Marsfield is a project featuring the premier UK drone artist Andrew Chalk along side Vikki Jackman, Robin Barnes, and Brendan Walls. This collective recorded The Towering Sky back in 2005, only to see if released some five years later. Given the gap in recording to release, we have to wonder what else Mr. Chalk has buried in the vaults of his Faraway Press that one day might see the light of day.
The recordings reflect the strategies of David Jackman, who had employed the talents of a much younger Andrew Chalk many many moons ago in his Organum ensemble. The Marsfield participants have all gathered various pieces of resonant metal (maybe a large piece of sheet metal, maybe a long stringed instrument, probably a gong or two, and definitely a singing bowl or four) and extracted sustained textures, prolonged scrapes, deep bellowings, and elegantly warbled tones in a large reverberant room. With all of the room noise with its spectral echoing, damp reflections, and incidental ambience, the Marsfield sessions sound as if they could have been recorded in some abandoned factory somewhere in the Northeast of England. The first Isolde record that Chalk and Barnes had constructed a few years back is not all that dissimilar to The Towering Sky, with the first half of this record appearing as shape-shiting ghosts of corroded, droning haze, and shifting into the latter half of the record pocked with distant plucks and small hand bells that dissolve into field recordings of English rain showers. As with all of the Faraway Press titles, this is beautifully packaged; and as with all Andrew Chalk releases, this is very highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Marsfield Cathedral"
MPEG Stream: "Marsfield Common"

MARSHMELLOW COAST Ing (Kindercore) cd 13.98
More elfin voices from the land of Kindercore Records. Very very mellow. No pun intended. Little tunes that meander around a bit with pretty harmonies and flourishes. Like frolicking aimlessly down a rambling path in the woods on a sunny afternoon pausing briefly for a dip in a creek or a bite of wild berries. Starring Julian Koster and Scott Spillane (Elephant 6 gadabouts) on musical saw and flugelhorn respectively.

MARTIAL CANTEREL Refuge Underneath (Wierd) cd 11.98
The minimal wave rolls on! Martial Canterel is the work of Sean McBride whose darkened electronic tunes have come to us by way of his work with Liz Wendelbo as Xeno & Oaklander; and this album actually predates the exceptional Saracen record from Xeno & Oaklander. That said, all of his productions could have come via some Belgian post-punk imprint circa 1982, so the exact timing of his records matters little. There's plenty of similarities between his solo work and his work in Xeno & Oaklander, meaning that if you loved that record, this will not disappoint. Recorded entirely on analogue sequencers, synthesizers, and drum machines and first released as a cassette (foreshadowing the current resurgence of tape releases by a couple of years!), Refuge Underground bristles with dark pulsing energy, snapped around whip-cracking drum programming, tinny metallic sequences, and seriously infectious melodic arppegiations (think the best of DAF, Dark Day, Nitzer Ebb, or Absolute Body Control). McBride's monotone somber delivery accentuates the moods set through his cold and sparse, synth-pop constructions. Another great recapitulation of the past-future from Wierd Records.
MPEG Stream: "Lips Not Listening"
MPEG Stream: "3 Ages"
MPEG Stream: "Two Before Four"

MARTIN DENNY Afro-Desia (Scamp) cd 14.98
Finally available on disc.

MARTIN DENNY Forbidden Island & Primitiva (Scamp/Caroline) cd 15.98
Both albums digitally remastered with added liner notes by Martin Denny himself.

MARTIN DUPONT Lost And Late... (Minimal Wave) lp 24.00
Here's another lost gem from Minimal Wave, the label that has been digging deep, very deep into the realms of post-punk and new wave to uncover many a release that might have been lost. For those who have procured plenty of terminal obscurities from such blogspots as Mutant Sounds, No Longer Forgotten Music, or Systems of Romance, some of the reissues on Minimal Wave may be familiar. But these are no grey area reissues. Minimal Wave has assured us that they have taken great care to procure the rights for each of these recordings!
Martin Dupont was a French new wave band with a brief run in the mid '80s, and according to Minimal Wave, the band had acquired something of a cult status in their homeland for their peculiar take on synth-pop. Amidst the catchy melodies and mechanoid drum machines, Martin Dupont alternated between the wailing, barking vocals of Alain Seghir and the ethereal voices of Catherine Loy and Brigitte Balain. Kraftwerk and Joy Division are the references that the band claimed as their own; but their sound resembles the crypto-weirdness of Fad Gadget complete with splatters of trumpet, disjointed left-field rhythms, and purposefully over the top theatrics care of Seghir.

MARTIN, AARON & MACHINEFABRIEK Cello Recycling / Cello Drowning (Type) cd ep 15.98
With all the limited 3" cd-r releases and full lengths, it's amazing Machinefabriek, aka Rutger Zuydervelt could find time to collaborate, but boy are we glad he did. Two pieces, each a collaboration with American multi instrumentalist Aaron Martin, who recorded a series of cello pieces, which Zuydervelt proceeded to chop up, process, reassemble and twist into gorgeous haunting new shapes. 
The first track, "Cello Recycling", finds Zuydervelt taking the various cello pieces and stretching them out, layering them, smearing them, blurring them, creating a warm, thick, humid slow burning landscape of droning sound. It begins as a minimal crawl, but as the track progresses, the sound takes on an epic quality, with submerged melodies coming to the surface, strange bits of rhythms and melodic fragments, creating a glacial wall of cinematic ambience, dark minor key swells, that undulate and pulse, always building and building, into a thick wash of metallic overtones, and crumbling distorted low end eventually becoming so buzzy and intense, it begins to sound like a much more mellow minimal SUNNO))), before quickly slipping back into more tranquil Stars Of The Lid like territory.
The second track, "Cello Drowning", takes the already manipulated piece, the epic Godspeed-filtered-through-doomdrone-low-end of "Cello Recycling", and literally drowns it in more sound, layers of noise and texture, thick swaths of FX, the sound of (appropriately) running water or rain, the rumbling low end reverberating and shimmering, but instead of making it louder and heavier, more noisy and brutal, it actually gets even more subdued, more washed out and indistinct, A very Tim Hecker-ish blurry smear of sound. Soft focus, gentle, tranquil and dreamy, until at the very end, the original sounds of the cello can just be barely glimpsed through the druggy sonic haze, unfurling into a slowly fading, sweetly melancholy coda.
As always, absolutely lovely. 
MPEG Stream: "Cello Recycling"
MPEG Stream: "Cello Drowning"

MARTIN, AARON & MACHINEFABRIEK Cello Recycling / Cello Drowning (Type) 10" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With all the limited 3" cd-r releases and full lengths, it's amazing Machinefabriek, aka Rutger Zuydervelt could find time to collaborate, but boy are we glad he did. Two pieces, each a collaboration with American multi instrumentalist Aaron Martin, who recorded a series of cello pieces, which Zuydervelt proceeded to chop up, process, reassemble and twist into gorgeous haunting new shapes. 
The first track, "Cello Recycling", finds Zuydervelt taking the various cello pieces and stretching them out, layering them, smearing them, blurring them, creating a warm, thick, humid slow burning landscape of droning sound. It begins as a minimal crawl, but as the track progresses, the sound takes on an epic quality, with submerged melodies coming to the surface, strange bits of rhythms and melodic fragments, creating a glacial wall of cinematic ambience, dark minor key swells, that undulate and pulse, always building and building, into a thick wash of metallic overtones, and crumbling distorted low end eventually becoming so buzzy and intense, it begins to sound like a much more mellow minimal SUNNO))), before quickly slipping back into more tranquil Stars Of The Lid like territory.
The second track, "Cello Drowning", takes the already manipulated piece, the epic Godspeed-filtered-through-doomdrone-low-end of "Cello Recycling", and literally drowns it in more sound, layers of noise and texture, thick swaths of FX, the sound of (appropriately) running water or rain, the rumbling low end reverberating and shimmering, but instead of making it louder and heavier, more noisy and brutal, it actually gets even more subdued, more washed out and indistinct, A very Tim Hecker-ish blurry smear of sound. Soft focus, gentle, tranquil and dreamy, until at the very end, the original sounds of the cello can just be barely glimpsed through the druggy sonic haze, unfurling into a slowly fading, sweetly melancholy coda.
As always, absolutely lovely. 
MPEG Stream: "Cello Recycling"
MPEG Stream: "Cello Drowning"

MARTIN, JIMMY Don't Cry To Me: Songs From The Film King Of Bluegrass (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
What's goin' on, Thrill Jockey throwing their hat into the bluegrass ring? Can't complain about sixteen great tracks from one of the founding fathers of bluegrass and one of the all time great tenor singers in country. Collected from recordings made between 1954 and 2001, Don't Cry To Me spans a huge chunk of Martin's still strong career. Along with tracks featuring his Sunny Mountain Boys (most of which feature the amazing banjo playing of J.D. Crowe) there's one track of Jimmy performing with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. Like all great bluegrass recordings, much of these tracks were recorded live at festivals or taken from radio transcriptions. And like other live bluegrass recordings these wouldn't be complete without including the corny between song humor that's pretty much a tradition in the business. A lot of classics are included here such as "John Henry", "Hit Parade of Love", "Poor Ellen Smith", "Free Born Man" and more.
MPEG Stream: "On And On"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Cry To Me"

MARTIN, JIMMY King of Bluegrass (Audium / Koch) cd 15.98
Great collection of recordings made by Jimmy Martin, one of the greatest bluegrass bandleaders. The tracks here span back to his earliest recordings fronting his own band in 1956 and stretch as recently as 1970. Jimmy started out as a guitarist and vocalist (tenor) for Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys in 1949, replacing Lester Flatt who left with Earl Scruggs to form their own group. Like Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin stayed with Bill Monroe just long enough to learn from him before cutting out on his own in 1954. The broad time span of recordings here captures the development of Jimmy Martin from a Monroe clone to genuine original.
RealAudio clip: "Hit Parade of Love"
RealAudio clip: "(I've Got My) Future On Ice"

MARTIN, PETER & FINCH Drouyn (EM Records) cd 21.00
Ah, yes it's summertime! Warm sunshine and trips to the beach! And what's more summery than surf music? Lo and behold, our favorite label for obscure and amazing reissues, Japan's EM Records, has a special new series of five, count 'em, five reissues devoted to lost "surf" music treasures. The first two, by Farm and Peter Martin & Finch, are out now, with the others to follow in short order. We're pretty sure all of 'em are awesome.
And if you're familiar with the eccentricity of this label, you'll know that this "EM Under Water" series isn't going to be about, y'know, "regular" surf music of the Jan & Dean or Ventures variety, nope. These first two releases are both soundtracks to rad '70s surfing movies, and are fully psychedelic, with tripped out grooves, synth experiments, and heavy rock jamming all part of the mix.
This album is the soundtrack to a cult 1974 documentary film entitled Drouyn, that followed champion Australian surfer Peter Drouyn (hmm, depending on how it's pronounced, Drouyn could be a bad name for a surfer!) on a globetrotting quest for the perfect wave, a journey that took him and his surfing pals to a variety of exotic locales -- as far afield as Africa and Japan -- over the course of the two years spent shooting the film. Filmmaker Bob Evans commissioned composer and classical guitarist Peter Finch to do the music, and also Sydney-based hard rockers Finch were brought in on the project as well. These songs and incidental music passages fully capture the lure of sun, sand and sea, as well as the sheer excitement of the wave-riding sport. You get orchestrated pop instrumentals, Eastern ethnic interludes, and even a laidback Beach Boyish cut ("Morning Comes The Sun") with harmony vocals. The contributions from Finch add a dose of fuzzed-out rock and roll energy as well, with their song "Roses" being a kick ass bit of hippy hard rock kitsch with lyrics that go: "Anyone can grow roses / but it takes a green thumb to grow grass" and "Everywhere you go you get busted by the fuzz / get out of the system, have a natural buzz". Peter Martin makes good use of the Finch boys on here, and also offers up arrangements for soulful horns, wigged out ARP synth, and strings... it flows wonderfully, sunny and melodic and mostly mellow. A summertime treat, like the Farm album it's own special thing, lovingly reissued by EM with all the bells and whistles.
MPEG Stream: "Sailaway"
MPEG Stream: "Cynthia"
MPEG Stream: "Morning Comes The Sun"

MARTIN, ROBERT Long Goodbye (Yik Yak) lp 14.98
We have no idea who Robert Martin is, or if he's played in other bands, or even where he's from. What we do know, is that Long Goodbye is a haunting mysterious collection of fractured outsider folk, that manages to be simultaneously lovely and fragile, twisted and fractured.
From the outset, it's easy to tell this is no ordinary neofolk or new weird America. It is weird however. And at least in some basic way folk music. Over a bed of muted soft strum, hovers a tortured dramatic croon, a sort of plaintive mewling, in some primitive slow motion battle with gnarled little chunks of electric guitar, a stumbling atonal tangle, that we've heard compared to Derek Bailey, although this is much less scrabbly and percussive, and way more melodic, but still similarly 'naive' sounding. Balancing the innocent tortured vocals perfectly. The voices are multitracked, and seem to slip in and our of tune with each other, which only gives the sound that much more of a demented edge.
Some of the tracks are way more lo-fi and washed out, and it's then that we hear Alastair Galbraith, but some tracks, are almost straight, the vocals pitched down and slightly less dramatic, the lyrics still twisted, and the guitar still erupting in little slow motion squalls. It's quite lovely, but very very strange. Imagine maybe a folkier Frog Eyes via the Sun City Girls. Or maybe a murkier muddier Antony And The Johnsons, but with stumbling guitar instead of dramatic piano.
Lovely and eerie, mysterious and unique, fans of fractured folk and loner bedroom pop will definitely find Martin's beautifully damaged sounds difficult to resist.

MARTINO, PAT We'll Be Together Again1 (Savoy Jazz) cd 13.98

MARTSCH, DOUG Now You Know (Warner Bros.) cd 16.98
Mmmmm. This album is perfect for the lazy autumn-yet-still-summery-sunshine days that we're enjoying here in SF. Methinks you'll find it welcome no matter what time of the year, though. Doug Martsch, leader of Boise's Built to Spill, one of the only bands we can think of that *always* delivers incandescently glowing, gorgeous albums, has made a great solo album. Mostly Martsch on a twangy steel-stringed acoustic guitar that gives it a sunbaked, folksy backporch feel, he's occasionally accompanied by cello, simple snare drumming, delicate bass. Compared to the gloriously filled-out sound of the BTS records, the sound here is much more stripped down, but even though all of these tracks would have been great as proper BTS rock songs, they are just fine -- in fact, exquisite -- performed this way. Same minor key melodies, plaintively-voiced lyrics, and super emotional guitar solos that just leave ones heart aching.
"There isn't a way of deciding / which half of life's less inviting. / Awake or a dream. / 'Cos both of them lead you to suffer. / You wade from one into the other / twice a day."
The album is quietly dedicated to the recently-passed Chris Takino, head of Up Records, who'd always released the BTS vinyl versions. Highly recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Offer"
RealAudio clip: "Dream"
RealAudio clip: "Instrumental"

MARTSCH, DOUG Now You Know (Warner Bros.) lp 10.98
Now on LP! Mmmmm. This album is perfect for the lazy autumn-yet-still-summery-sunshine days that we're enjoying here in SF. Methinks you'll find it welcome no matter what time of the year, though. Doug Martsch, leader of Boise's Built to Spill, one of the only bands we can think of that *always* delivers incandescently glowing, gorgeous albums, has made a great solo album. Mostly Martsch on a twangy steel-stringed acoustic guitar that gives it a sunbaked, folksy backporch feel, he's occasionally accompanied by cello, simple snare drumming, delicate bass. Compared to the gloriously filled-out sound of the BTS records, the sound here is much more stripped down, but even though all of these tracks would have been great as proper BTS rock songs, they are just fine -- in fact, exquisite -- performed this way. Same minor key melodies, plaintively-voiced lyrics, and super emotional guitar solos that just leave ones heart aching.
"There isn't a way of deciding / which half of life's less inviting. / Awake or a dream. / 'Cos both of them lead you to suffer. / You wade from one into the other / twice a day."
RealAudio clip: "Offer"
RealAudio clip: "Dream"
RealAudio clip: "Instrumental"

MARTYN Fabric 50 (Fabric) cd 17.98
Martyn was responsible for one of our favorite records of 2009, Great Lengths, which found him tweaking and turning dubstep into a completely different monster, infusing that distinctive sound with all the best aspects of so many sides of electronic music. So it's well deserved and fitting that he's in the captain's chair for the 50th installment of the legendary Fabric mix series, putting together a manic, uptempo 71+ minute mix of TOTAL BANGERS! No denying how seamless and flawless his mixing skills are as each track jets right into the next, and his taste for some of the most colorful and exuberant artists in the modern landscape of electronica couldn't be more satisfying. Zomby, Kode9, 2562, Joy Orbison, those are just some of the awesome artists who get the Martyn mix treatment. There are no lulls or sleepers in the mix, from start to finish this is total high octane dancefloor destroying energy. Martyn definitely focuses on the more bouncy, techno and pounding side of dubstep, but really what we love about Martyn is that he doesn't get lost or locked into narrow or restrictive electronic sub-genres, instead he's more concerned with moving bodies at a dizzying rate and he so totally succeeds with this killer mix!
MPEG Stream: "Zomby - Little Miss Naughty"
MPEG Stream: "Martyn - Friedrichstrasse"
MPEG Stream: "Joy Orbison - Brkln Clln"

MARTYN Great Lengths (3024) cd 16.98
We're constantly amazed how dubstep keeps getting tweaked and pushed outside its seemingly limited conventions. Individual touches and uniquely inventive flourishes, including nods to elements of dance music's recent past, keep getting added to the skeletal structure of cavernous bass and dark stripped down rhythms. Either by pushing the expansively deep dark edginess like Shackleton or Kode 9 or augmenting the rhythmic textures and movement for more dance floor-friendliness like Burial and Benga, we never get tired of it! Zomby was the last wunderkind we got excited over as he brought in a playful acid-house rave vibe to the standard skitters, creaks and froggy wubbles. Today, we're getting worked up over Dutch producer / DJ, Martyn, and his debut Great Lengths! Coming from the same fertile scene as 2562 (whose dark and amazing record, Aerial, we have yet to list!), Martyn has been at it since the genre's beginnings releasing a string of singles notable for their use of techno and drum and bass elements alongside and within dubstep's fledgling sounds. Great Lengths ups the ante even more by adding plenty of vibrant colors and textures: Warped hiphop, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, and hints of reggae pushing the rhythmic movement forward while the melodies retain dubstep's darker allure. This is a good crossover record for those new to the genre or for those looking for the next essential release in dubstep's expanding evolution! Definitely, one of our favorite records so far this year!
MPEG Stream: "The Only Choice"
MPEG Stream: "Right? Star!"
MPEG Stream: "These Words"
MPEG Stream: "Is This Insanity?"

MARTYN, JOHN Patterns In the Rain (Mooncrest) 2cd 23.00
Double cd studio and live collection from '70s British folk guitarist/singer John Martyn. Well, he's still around but it seems that this collects tracks from his '70s heyday. His stuff is really less folky than moody, mumbly lite rock, actually. Tim Buckleyish. The liner notes say a lot about Martyn and his career but fail to tell us much about the when/where of these tracks.

MARTYN, JOHN The Church With One Bell (Thirsty Ear) cd 15.98
Brand new album by legendary folk guitarist, who was beautifully critiqued in a recent cover article in The Wire. He was the first white artist ever signed to Island Records, has made records with Lee Scratch Perry, Phil Collins, and Burning Spear, and covers both Billie Holiday and Portishead on the new record. Steeping his guitar in acid, Martyn allows the foreign bodies of free jazz and the infinity of dub to invade folk's fragile aesthetics. We also have some recent early 1970s reissues for 12.98 each: Bless the Weather, Inside Out, and Solid Air.

MARU SANKAKU SHIKAKU s/t (Captain Trip) 3cd 34.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
English speakers may prefer to refer to this group simply as Circle Triangle Square (for their name is actually just those shapes, with no words English or Japanese). Yup, Tokyo's Captain Trip label has really dug up a weird obscurity here for fans of out-there Japanese psych like Taj Mahal Travellers (and, latterly, Acid Mothers Temple). We're also reminded of trippy krautrock stuff (Amon Duul) and other acoustic hippy jams of the era (Third Ear Band, Yahowah 13). This package contains three cds nestled into a colorfully collaged fold-out poster, each cd with two LP-side long tracks. (They self-released five albums in 1973, here's three of 'em, the other two are available on cd by mail order in Japan only, sorry!)
Liner notes (in English as well as Japanese) by leader Sakuro "Kant" Watanabe explain that his group travelled around Japan with tents and sleeping bags doing street performances in costumes and make-up. Meanwhile, along with releasing LPs, Watanabe also privately published underground magazines and played drums in another group called, in English, Social Ostracism. Other Maru Sankaku Shikaku members included a young Reck (later of Friction and Optical*8) and a fellow who also played the starring role in a local production of Hair!
It was apparently a very radical scene going on, in which these folks played a part. Watanabe speaks of his artistic efforts as being "tools for trips" and you'll believe it, particularily in light of this passage of free-association in his liner notes:
"Time, avant-garde, rock n' roll, vagabond, inhaling paint thinner, journey, beat, nihilism, underground, blues, hippie, Kohenji, genius, LSD, Shinjuku, yippie, painkiller, death, shoplifting, long hair, revolution, insanity, Kyoto, grass, hitchhiking, sex, commune, psychedelic, hashish, Zen, Asobi (playing or game), Satori (spiritual enlightenment), make-up, solitude, loneliness, anti-establishment, idiot, cool, rock festival, trip, Guru -- they were neighbors, part of us, and enemies sometimes."
These discs convey the vibe of a quiet, mysterious ritual, one which can build into a sudden frenzy, however. Seemingly random sounds coalesce into rhythm and structure. Vocals, sometimes quite wild, and percussion are the basis for their music, which appears to be entirely freeform and improvised, full of electronic blurts, whistles, bells, clapping, wah wah guitar stabs, plus many and various unidentifiable noises. There's even hints of a very primitive '70s Miles Davis/Sun Ra thing in this stew of sounds, but it's way out, way abstract, and certainly not jazzy or funky. It's either avant garde genius or babbling directionless indulgence, depending on how much into their mindset you can get.
And, it's very important to mention: there's SO MUCH beautiful cracky surface noise from the LPs (no digital clean-up here!) that it almost sounds like Maru Sankaku Shikaku is jamming with Philip Jeck! While perhaps not an intentional part of their music, it really adds to it, making this seem more ancient and secret and hidden and droney. Spiritual/artistic ancestors of the Sun City Girls, the No Neck Blues Band, Thuja, Hochenkeit, AMT, Boredoms, etc. Thus, definitely not for everybody!
RealAudio clip: "disc one, track 2"
RealAudio clip: "disc two, track 2"

MARUTANI, KOJI Pataphysics (Alluvial) cd 12.98
Koji Marutani, who also runs the Digital Narcis label, sets down meditative layers of field recordings and sound fragments, in an attempt to calmly mirror the randomness of memory. Satie like piano improvisations (though he's too cool to mention it's played on a Klavierchord), plunderphonic styled cut-ups of TV commericials and banal pop, and cold fusion pulses are intersperced with the fluid ambient passages.

MARY JANE GIRLS The Best Of (Motown) cd 12.98
Female Rick James proteges the Mary Jane Girls get the "20th Century Masters The Millenium Collection" best-of treatment with this disc, featuring hits like "In My House", "Candy Man", "All Night Long" and more, all digitally remastered (whatever) long versions. Sure it's super dated mid-'80s disco-funk-pop. But without the Mary Jane Girls, would we have today's girl groups like Destiny's Child? Well, yeah, we would. And Beyonce doesn't need no Rick James to write and produce. Still, some of us have fond memories of the Mary Jane Girls -- Jojo, Candi, Max, Cherri (and Cherri's replacement Corvette) and this anthology is sure to jog 'em.

MARZ Wir Sind Hier (Karaoke Kalk) cd 15.98
Marz is the work of Ekkehard Ehlers and Albrecht Kunze, although fans of Ehler's gorgeous digital aerosolization on his Plays album or his collaboration with Stefan Mathieu would be hard pressed to find aesthetic similarities between the two projects. According to the press release, this album of delicate if obtuse, post-70s AM radio pop continues "to fashion their inviting and seductive landscapes out of folk, pop and club influences: explicit, prodigal, subtly differentiated, but also displaying a greater desire to take risks than on Love Streams, so much so that only an idiot would chose [sic] not to tarry here a while." Um, if this sounds like a description of Jim O'Rourke's smarty-pop albums Insignificance or Eureka, that's because Marz adequately redresses the same quizzically alluring schmalztiness as heard on O'Rourke's aforementioned pop constructs.
MPEG Stream: "Marz Im Park"
MPEG Stream: "Tropige Trauben"

MARZURAAN Five Years Worth Of Fuck All (At War With False Noise) cd 14.98
Latest release from one of our favorite proponents of drone/doom/dirge, alongside folks like SUNNO))), Corrupted, Earth, Khanate, Boris, Eyehategod, etc. But as we've mentioned before, unlike many of those other bands, UK's Marzuraan always seemed to approach their sound with one eye on the sludge, the other on the pop. Imbuing even the heaviest and murkiest of dirges with crystalline shimmer, or subtle muted melody, or even buried hooks, without sacrificing any of their sheer power or skull caving heaviness.
This disc collects a whole mess of odds and ends, from live shows, to rehearsals, to practice space recordings, random jams, improvised grooves and awesome unlikely covers. And if anything give us a glimpse into the development of their sound, from primitive noise dirgescapers to full on heavy pop band and back again.
The opening track is a cover of "After Glow" by Loop, and Marzuraan covering Loop is only one step removed from Boris covering Swervedriver, meaning a fucking grungy shoegaze goth drone bliss out match made in heaven. And the band don't change it up too much, it sounds like it could be some lost live Loop recording. Dark and dreamy and groovy and intense, the guitars washed out, the drums propulsive and tribal, the vocals weary and lightly effected, helps that it's one of our favorite tunes already, but Marzuraan nail it.
The other unlikely cover is "Turned Inside Out" by the Rollins Band, recorded live in 2005. A dark roiling filthy groove, all tightly wound Greg Ginnish guitars, raspy wailed vocals, the guitars muddy and massive, the drums pummeling, the whole track a relentless lurching groove.
The comp is loosely in reverse order, starting now, and ending way back when, so track by track, the sound becomes more and more simple, moving away from the progressive drone pop and blown out shoegaze drone of recent recordings to something much more primitive and noisy.
There's "Moneybox" recorded live in 2006, an abstract noisescape that manages to shimmer and drift, eventually coalescing into a gorgeously doomy plod, the drums an occasional crunch, the guitars spread out in thick sheets of crumbling low end and fluttering feedback. Like a much prettier more washed out Khanate. Then there's "Bad Flange", another live track, from 2004, which finds the band drifting even further into pummeling glacial doom, slow slithery heaviness, spread out over a pounding spare beat, and fragmented melodies tangled up in the downtuned caveman riffage.
"Martian Deconstruction" spreads out a thick undulating guitarscape, like a supercharged Fear Falls Burning, the guitars smoldering and whit hot, the notes and chords pulled apart into crumbling cascades of crackly buzzing sound, wound up into warm melodic swells. "Earth 3" sounds just like you might imagine, thick guitars, unwinding lazily, over a plodding propulsive bass line, very skeletal and almost unfinished sounding, a dreamy sort of slowed down dronefuzz jam. The disc finished with the oldest Marzuraan track, "HARMed" from way back in 2002, and is a massive processed soundscape of tangled downtuned guitars, sheets of buzz and hiss, stuttering jabs of grinding fragmented riffage, deep resonant metallic shimmer, shrieking feedback smeared into soft high end whirs, a muddy, murky, super distorted melted guitar blur.
Amazing Thumbprint Press packaging. A six panel, thick cardstock sleeve, printed in black and clear gloss, super striking. The inside featuring a full Marzuraan discography.
MPEG Stream: "Afterglow"
MPEG Stream: "Muck Bucket"
MPEG Stream: "Martian Deconstruction (Drum Free Mix)"

MARZURAAN Solid State (Traqueto Records) cd 14.98
Chances are, you probably haven't heard of the UK's Marzuraan. But if Earth, SUNNO))), Khanate, Boris, Corrupted, Eyehategod and others of that ilk mean anything to you, then you will probably want to add Marzuraan to that illustrious list of low-end, slowed-down, heavy-as-hell heroes. This is the band's debut cd from last year, that we recently tracked down in enough quanity (we hope) to list. Marzuraan wear their influences on their sleeve -- quite literally, in fact, as this disc comes in a nice cardstock package that folds out into a cross, designed by none other than Stephen O'Malley of SUNNO))) and Khanate. And the band's name is derived, we're pretty sure, from song by James Plotkin of Khanate's old band, OLD. So, no surprise then (only expectant satisfaction) that this starts off (and continues) in doomy dirge mode, heavy and sludgey, definitely very Earth-like, but live-recorded at high volume for maximum murk and grit and distortion. The proceedings are mostly instrumental, although what sounds like the snarl of feeding zombies breaks out at least once, to terrifying effect. Could almost be a battle between the vocalists for Caninus and Hatebeak!
Mainly, though, these folks are all about crushing you with their droning ambient metal riffs, as helped along by the sparse plod of the drums, and the constant presence of feedback, feedback that reaches a pinnacle on the third track "Martian Dub". By the end of the disc, though, Marzuuran have also gotten into some really nice lo-fi, distorted post-rock psychedelia, that then freaks out into an improv frenzy at the finish... Five tracks, one full hour. The raw production really works for this (they're not quite the Doktor Kettu of doom-drone, but close). We'll certainly be on the lookout for a limited edition (of course! argh!) double LP from these guys which we're told is upcoming.
MPEG Stream: "Death Dirge Has Come"
MPEG Stream: "Reoccuring [sic] Nightmare"

MARZURAAN Solid Wood (Kult Ov Nihilow) lp 16.98
A brand new black hole slab of metallic tar from Marzuraan, part of the NWOSMDGS, aka the New Wave of Slow Motion Doom Grind Sludge!!! Taking their sonic influences from the holy trinity of Boris, SUNNO))) and Earth (specifically Earth 2) and taking their name (presumably) from pre-Khanate outfit OLD, the UK's Marzuraan deliver their own brand of doom drone. With a raw, very live sounding production, Solid Wood deviates a bit from the recent spate of sludge releases, as Solid Wood infuses its slow motion apocalyptic dirges with mournful melancholy melodies, warm washes of guitar, and a darn near post rock shuffle. A lot of Solid Wood sounds like a heavy metal Codeine, or a seriously beefed up and tuned down Low. Sure it's crushing and heavy as fuck, but it's also dreamy and blissy as it lopes lazily through a haze of thick guitar and dense sonic reverberations. Occasionally the crush outweighs all else. but more often than not, this is one of the dreamiest prettiest pummellings we've received in a long long time.
Exquisitely packaged (as wilth all things Kult Ov Nihilow) in a strange gatefold half-sleeve, with a striking silver ink on cardstock printed insert and a full color poster.

MARZURAAN / SINK split (Thrashwax) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The return of UK sludgelords Marzuraan, squaring off against the simply monickered Sink.
Those of you unfamiliar with the dark black sludge of Marzuraan would do well to become acquainted, especially if you have a taste for things like Moss, Bunkur, Boris, SUNNO))), Monument of Urns, Monarch and the like. This is maybe the best Marzuraan track yet. Speeding up their tarpit sludge just a smidge so they end up sounding here like Dutch hypnometallers Gore at 16 rpm. Fucking awesome. A whole record of this would instantly become our most listened to disc of the year, mark our words. The flipside is taken up by the noxious black noise of Sink, a swirling, sludgy wall of hissing fuzzed out blackened ultra noise, harsh and horrific, a good foil to the slow motion sludge drenched groove of the Marzuraan track.
Limited to 333 copies, half on clear vinyl (we got all clear vinyl!) comes with a big fold out poster, and packaged in a thick cardstock, striking two color screened sleeve!

MAS RAPIDO! Pity Party (Parasol) cd 15.98
Despite their moniker, Mas Rapido! aren't necessarily a speedy bunch. Were we anticipating some feverish punk popsters? Maybe so, but no, this veteran Seattle pop duo Donna Esposito and Frank Bednash (formerly known as Toothpaste 2000 and prior to that incarnation they were Cowboy And Spin Girl) take their own sweet time crafting toothsome, psych-tinged pop songs with a definite retro '60s feel. Much of their latest album Pity Party seems modeled after the top notch song craft of Big Star and Elephant Six which is a good thing in our books!
MPEG Stream: "Emily Lloyd"
MPEG Stream: "Girl Du Jour"

MASADA 50th Anniversary Volume 7 (Tzadik) cd 16.98

MASADA First Live 1993 (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Though an interesting and wonderful document of John Zorn's Ornette Coleman inspired quartet -- fabulously rendered by four of the most amazing performers in the Downtown scene -- we think Tzadik have outdone themselves with the obi strip comments this time around: "How many times do you get the chance to hear the initial meeting of a legendary band? This CD is just that. A diamond in the rough. The absolutely first time the original quartet Masada ever played the music that has made them one of the most exciting bands of modern Jewish music. It's all here -- the fireworks, the telepathic communication -- the Masada magic. Experience the same excitement the musicians felt when they realized the possibilities this very special evening at the old Knitting Factory back in 1993. It all started this night." Sounds like an advert for a major theme park or Vegas attraction. Despite these ridiculous self-applauding comments, this is a fine record by one of the hardest working and tastefully virtuosic jazz outfits of our time. And why is it that Joey Baron is always so damn happy? Maybe Tzadik should put out a video of just him performing. That'd be sweet.
RealAudio clip: "Zebdi"

MASADA Live At Tonic 1999 (Tzadik) dvd 27.00
Directed by Antonio Ferrara.

MASADA Live at Tonic 2001 (Tzadik) 2cd 22.00
It's becoming really hard to creatively describe records by John Zorn's Klezmer-bop ensemble Masada, especially considering this is record number twenty or something. Every record sounds quite similar, but by the same token, every record is absolutely fantastic. Recorded live at Tonic in New York City earlier this year, this is a 2 hour double cd document of a single show. Masada has to be one of the most intense, most emotional, and just straight up best modern jazz ensembles going. Zorn and his stellar group: Dave Douglas, Greg Cohen and Joey Baron, take understated percussion, hypnotic basslines and Douglas and Zorn's intertwined horns and weave dark and exotic epics. So beautiful.

MASADA Live In Sevilla 2000 (Tzadik) cd 15.98
The classic Masada lineup (Zorn, Douglas, Baron, Cohen) hits us with yet another recording. Yeah, if like us you're into Zorn's group and their trademark Ornette-meets-Klezmer jazz then you've probably got a shelf already groaning under the weight of their other releases, but that's no reason to pass up another, especially this one, 'cause it's super. Masada is really one of the best modern jazz combos going, and "Live In Sevilla" is proof enough (and a great starting-point for the Masada virgin). Includes a bad-ass drum solo from the godlike Joey Baron.

MASADA Sanhedrin (Tzadik) 2cd 34.00

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Alef (DIW) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The fifth avant-klezmer release from the New York version of Zorn's Masada. The 4th, you'll recall, is available only by sending in yr proofs-of-purchase gleaned from the first 3.

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Bar Kokhba (Tzadik) 2cd 29.00
Small ensembles of strings, keyboards, and clarinets playing klezmer/jazz tunes. This brief description must be augmented with the declaration that this is an ALL TIME AQUARIUS FAVE!!!

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Live in Jerusalem 1994 (Tzadik) 2cd 21.00
Another amazing 2cd collection of John Zorn's Masada, this time recorded live at the world famous Jerusalem Festival marking Masada's first visit to Israel. Dark and sublime klezmer mixed with the shrieking bombastic jazz Zorn is famous for. Excellent.

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Live In Taipei 1995 (Tzadik) 2cd 21.00
"An absolutely essential document of one of the world's most exciting working bands" says the obi. Well, if after a dozen-plus releases one can define this new one as "essential", I don't know - but it's true that Masada is an incredible band, and Masada fans will have to decide what's essential and what's not. Heck, all the Masada releases might well be essential!! For those just checking in, Masada is saxophonist Zorn's klezmer-meets-Ornette jazz combo, with trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer supreme Joey Baron, great players all. For the curious, this is also a good purchase.

MASADA (JOHN ZORN) Tet (Nine) (DIW) 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
John Zorn's series of avant-experimental klezmer quartet pieces. The usual suspects: Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass, and Joey Baron on drums.

MASAOKA, MIYA, TRIO Monk's Japanese Folk Song (Dizim) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Koto virtuoso Masaoka teams up with jazz greats Reggie Workman (bass) and Andrew Cyrille (drums) to explore tunes from (or inspired by) both Thelonious Monk & Japanese folk music.

MASCIS, J & FRIENDS Sing + Chant For Amma (Baked Goods) cd 15.98
Hey, what's that?! Bongos, tambourine, acoustic guitar... why, it sounds like a Dinosaur Jr campfire singalong out in the woods! Wait, they even brought a generator (or very long extension cord) to power the electric guitar amplifier. All joking aside, while we recognize and respect that Mascis wrote and recorded these songs with deep reverence for Amma (the living Indian saint Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi aka the hugging saint), it doesn't mean we have to like it. Many of us didn't. Let's just say, a little goes a long way. Imagine Cat Stevens possessing the body of a more nasally congested than usual Mascis. Whoa. All proceeds from this self-released album will go towards Amma's humanitarian relief projects. Yes, Mascis' heart is in the right place, but we're afraid his music sure isn't. And if there's any question, please allow us to clarify that we're being critical of
the craft, not the message nor the cause.
MPEG Stream: "Please Remember That I'm Here"
MPEG Stream: "Help Me AMMA"

MASCIS, J + THE FOG Free So Free (Ultimatum / Artemis) cd 14.98
With his signature layers of fuzzy guitar and his whiny pleading drawl (meant in the nicest way of course), J Mascis comes through yet again. Looks like this record is J all by his lonesome, multitracking his way to a full band. And doing it quite beautifully I might add. It's been so long since I listened to Dinosaur, that listening to this totally brought me back. This record definitely has that trademark Dinosaur sound. All charming, lush and sad, but in that weirdly optimistic way.
RealAudio clip: "Freedom"
RealAudio clip: "If That's How It's Gotta Be"

MASCIS, J. + THE FOG More Light (Ultimatum Music) cd 15.98
Oh my, Kevin "My Bloody Valentine" Shields has joined forces with J. Mascis. Why?! Well, maybe 'cause they knew they'd make a great album together. With Shields' production help (and the assistance of various others, like some vocals from GBV's Robert Pollard) "More Light' is easily J.'s best work in years, since the heyday of Dinosaur Jr. Yeah, the cover art and graphic design still has the look of any number of crappy '90s Dinosaur Jr. records, but ignore that for the moment and listen. Get set for loads of fantastic Mascis guitar soloing, Neil Young-style vocal drawl, and catchy songwriting (some echoes of Nirvana in that dept.). The final blowout guitar overload cut (with Kevin Shields stepping up to the plate as guest guitarist) is only the icing on the cake. If you've given up on Mr. Mascis, it's time to reconsider; this is a winner.

MASERATI Inventions For The New Season (Temporary Residence) cd 14.98
A simple check-list should help you to get an idea of what Maserati is all about: instrumental post-rock, released on the Temporary Residence Ltd. label, with a sports car name sorta like Trans Am... This album focuses a lot of psychedelic guitar distortion and krauty, rhythmic energy into eight sleek, speedy, and sometimes shoegazey tracks that sound like Frippertronics at the disco, or a coke-fuelled Circle/Tortoise/Zombi jam. It's a loud yet gentle ear-massage lit up by flashing, stroboscopic drumming. The drummer also plays in !!! and the Turing Machine, you could sorta see Maserati as a mix of those two bands, mathy propulsive post-rock with a bit of a groove-y, dance-y vibe. Portions of this could make a good Miami Vice soundtrack, like for a scene (filmed from a helicopter) of an exciting power-boat chase across a deep blue, beautiful, sunshiney sea. Also several of these tracks, Cup is convinced, could easily segue into a rendition of "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring... which is cool by us.
MPEG Stream: "Inventions"
MPEG Stream: "This Is A Sight We Had One Day From The High Mountain"

MASERATI Passages (Temporary Residence) cd 13.98
Rev it up! The Maserati boys are back with another compact disc installment of their instrumental, exceedingly rhythmic post rock, and unlike some bands who have run afoul of corporate intellectual property lawyers (Pansonic, Kleenex, Bipolaroid, etc.), they still haven't been sued by the manufacturers of the Italian sports car from whom they borrow their name (though perhaps it's also an obscure Ted Nugent lyrical reference? let's hope not). Probably the suits at the automaker Maserati's headquarters realize that this band's music is free, excellent advertising for their product!
This is definitely -driving- music, sometime a pleasant Sunday drive, sometimes a white knuckle ride over the speed limit, always propulsive, hypnotically repetitive, but dynamic as well. "Join Us, Mystic Sister" is a brief, ecstatic intro, that shines forth and then segues smoothly into "No More Sages", with its vaguely metallic, chucka-chucka guitars, motorik beats, and washes of shoegazery distortion. Other cuts venture further into purely kosmische, krautrock inspired territory, like the minimalist all-synth pulsations of "Thieves".
There's 8 tracks on this 40 minute disc, three of them remixes. However, all but two of the tracks previously appeared on limited edition, now out of print vinyl releases. The first four cuts are from Maserati's side of their 12" split with Zombi that we were never able to get enough of to list. And two of the remixes, by DFA's Tim Goldsworthy and !!!'s Justin Van Der Volgen, are from the Inventions Remixes 12". Both really dance it up, accentuating the cosmic disco vibe that Maserati already possess. The other remix, of a spacier take of this disc's "Monoliths", was done by Zombi's Steve Moore, and is exclusive to this release, as is album closer "Do You Hear The Nightbirds Calling You?". And if all that wasn't enough, this cd is further enhanced by the presence of two pretty cool Quicktime video clips. One's live, the other a cute, partly animated music video demonstrating Maserati's potential as workout music.
As always, VERY recommended for fans of Zombi, Trans Am, Circle, Salvatore, Tussle, Nisennenmondai, SF's own Jonas Reinhardt, and other likeminded coked up post rockers.
MPEG Stream: "No More Sages"
MPEG Stream: "Monoliths"

MASHAYEKHI, ALIREZA & ATA EBTEKAR (SOTE) Persian Electronic Music: Yesterday And Today (1966-2006) (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98