MCMILLEN, SHAWN DAVID Catfish (Emperor Jones) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.Some surprising new sounds from this Austin based soundsculpter. While Tompkins Square is finally releasing this on cd (the nice vinyl has been out a little longer courtesy of Emperor Jones) we had already jumped to a few conclusions before we even heard a note. And boy were we way off the mark. We had assumed McMillen to be another in a long line of finger picking appalachin style Fahey disiples, what with being on Tompkins Square and all, and while we can't deny there have been some great records in that style over the last few years we have to say we were strating to reach our saturation point. Folks like James Blackshaw have raised the bar so high that it's not enough to just sit there and strum a guitar and try to sound like Fahey or Basho. McMillen though, explores a more experimental approach to his playing which comes off sounding like a more subdued No Neck Blues Band at times, which was not only surprising but also incredible satisfying. We were also reminded of the wandering explorations of Loren Chasse and the more delicate side of the Jeweled Antler family.
Definitely worth checking out.
MPEG Stream: "Eat Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Quintanna's Head Dress"

MCMS 1997-2000 (Last Visible Dog) 3cd 16.98
Ever since we first heard the mysterious MCMS, sharing space with the equally mysterious Yermo on a cd-r released on Campbell Kneale's Celebrate Psi Phenomena cd-r label, we were hooked. Big time. Two absolutely stunning cd-r's followed. But as with most cd-r's they quickly went out of print and were seemingly lost forever. Well lucky for us, AQ pal Chris Moon who runs the Last Visible Dog label (and who just happens to be in MCMS) has stepped up and re-released on real cds both of those out of print discs, adding their half of the aforementioned split with Yermo as well as the tracks from their lathe cut lp on Eclipse (which was limited to 50 copies). Everything all in one convenient triple cd package. So what the hell does it sound like you ask? Imagine a weird, British style folk, loosely strummed acoustic guitars, warbly flute and urgently whispered vocals. Churning hyperdistorted guitars, random, 'free' percussion, sometimes just a simple plodding thud, all deteriorating into soft mumbly melodies and found sounds, mysterious and ambient. Dirty, gritty garage-y dirge/drone rock, Krautrock-ish rhythms filtered through a Dead C noiserock aesthetic that veers into noisy freakout territory, careening wildly from tuneless, Comus style pagan folk to chaotic free rock, to blissful dronescapes. A meandering soundscape of clatter and buzz, drone and thump, skree and whir, all very atmospheric. Moments of Sunroof! like lo-fi bliss disrupted by bursts of spastic percussive splatter and amp/instrument malfunction. Anyone into NZ noise rock (Dead C, Gate, etc), the current crop of free folk (Jewelled Antler, NNCK, Sunburned Hand, etc.) or just weird and wonderful, fucked up and noisy experimental free-folk-rock-noise-whatever definitely needs this. (Though, we wish Chris had come up with a different sort of package for these cds, he kept the cost down by eschewing a jewel box in favor of a three-pocket plastic sleeve, that's nice and slim but more or less ensures that all the discs will wind up with some minor cosmetic scratches on their playing surfaces. Nothing serious but still too bad.)
MPEG Stream: "Lemmy Kiliminster Getting Kicked Out Of Hawkind"
MPEG Stream: "MCMS Vs. Brain Damage"
MPEG Stream: "Prelude To The MCMS Album Of Love"
MPEG Stream: "Bruce Has Gone To The Great Bong In The Sky"

MCMS 3 (Last Visible Dog) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is dirge-y, dirty, grungy tribal FREEROCK. '3' starts off with churning hyperdistorted guitars, random, 'free' percussion, sometimes just a simple plodding thud, which all deteriorate into softly strummed guitars and found sounds, mysterious and ambient. The rest of the record is a meandering soundscape of clatter and buzz, drone and thump, skree and whir, all very atmospheric. Moments of Sunroof! like lo-fi bliss disrupted by bursts of spastic percussive splatter and amp/instrument malfunction.
RealAudio clip: "Lemmy Kiliminster Getting Kicked Out Of Hawkind"
RealAudio clip: "MCMS Vs. Brain Damage"

MCMS s/t (Last Visible Dog) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We totally loved the MCMS cd-r on Celebrate Psi Phenomena (a split with Yermo, now out of print), so we were pretty psyched for TWO new titles courtesy of our pals at Last Visible Dog. Starts off as weird, British style folk, loosely strummed acoustic guitars, warbly flute and urgently whispered vocals. This soon becomes a dirty, gritty garage-y dirge/drone rock workout. Krautrock-ish rhythms filtered through a Dead C noiserock aesthetic that veers into noisy freakout territory. The record continues on, careening wildly from tuneless, Comus style pagan folk to chaotic free rock, to blissful dronescapes. Good stuff.
RealAudio clip: "Prelude To The MCMS Album Of Love"
RealAudio clip: "Bruce Has Gone To The Gret Bong In The Sky"

MCNAIR, JAMIE Ocean Dictionaries (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another new name from Campbell Kneale's mighty Celebrate Psi Phenomenon label, and it's yet another winner. A hyperminimal dronescape of warm underwater tones, thick and slow moving, dreamy and surreal, muted melodies stretched into thick blankets of fuzzy warmth. The second half of the record sounds like a straight field recording, wind and footsteps and dogs barking and the faraway whir and hum of everyday life, lovely and serene.
RealAudio clip: "One"

MCNEAL & NILES Thrust (Chocolate Industries) cd 14.98
With all the DJs out there diggin' deep, trying to one-up one another with some unknown killer dancefloor fodder, some intriguing discoveries have been made, and as a result we've seen more and more rare funk LPs get reissued for all to enjoy. Such is the case with this record by Ohio-based funksters Machelle McNeal and Wilbur Niles, originally released to general obscurity in 1979. I'm sure it will sell many more copies now than then, with the Chocolate Industries stamp of approval. And such tracks as "Punk Funk" and "Hypertension" sure have a tight, crisp energy that still sounds fresh -- these guys could even teach the likes of The Rapture or Tussle a groove or two. Right out of the gate, we're reminded of something off of that that Shuggie Otis album... It's synthy, Mooged funk with a jazz-fusiony, disco-era gloss. If you like your funk raw, look elsewhere -- this is smoove but so so tight. It's definitely got that cheesy-but-hip TV show soundtrack vibe, you can imagine these tracks accompanying the action on some rad '70s police drama. Done up in nice new packaging (apparently the original private-press LP didn't have much in the way of graphics).
MPEG Stream: "Hypertension"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

MCNEAL & NILES Thrust (Chocolate Industries) lp 14.98
Now back again on Vinyl!
With all the DJs out there diggin' deep, trying to one-up one another with some unknown killer dancefloor fodder, some intriguing discoveries have been made, and as a result we've seen more and more rare funk LPs get reissued for all to enjoy. Such is the case with this record by Ohio-based funksters Machelle McNeal and Wilbur Niles, originally released to general obscurity in 1979. I'm sure it will sell many more copies now than then, with the Chocolate Industries stamp of approval. And such tracks as "Punk Funk" and "Hypertension" sure have a tight, crisp energy that still sounds fresh -- these guys could even teach the likes of The Rapture or Tussle a groove or two. Right out of the gate, we're reminded of something off of that that Shuggie Otis album... It's synthy, Mooged funk with a jazz-fusiony, disco-era gloss. If you like your funk raw, look elsewhere -- this is smoove but so so tight. It's definitely got that cheesy-but-hip TV show soundtrack vibe, you can imagine these tracks accompanying the action on some rad '70s police drama. Done up in nice new packaging (apparently the original private-press LP didn't have much in the way of graphics).
MPEG Stream: "Hypertension"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled"

MCPHEE, JOE Nation Time (Atavistic / Unheard Music) cd 14.98
1971 set from sax & trumpet player Joe McPhee & his group. Bad ass to say the least.

MCPHEE, JOE Trinity (Atavistic / Unheard Music) cd 14.98
1973 "blues inflected out-soul" date from saxophonist Joe McPhee and his trio (piano, drums), reissued for the first time, and with much improved sound from the original LP, we're told. Albert Ayler-dedicated jazz wildness.

MCPHEE, JOE Underground Railroad / Live At Holy Cross Monastery (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series) 2cd 17.98
Another fine Atavistic "Unheard Music Series" re-issue, this of the super-rare 1969 debut LP from freedom jazz trumpeter/saxophonist Joe McPhee who was last mentioned here thanks to his recent collaboration with Canadian dada noiseniks the Nihilist Spasm Band. It's coupled with a second disc filled with a hitherto unreleased live concert recording from '68. Both were recorded at the same New York monastery -- and while the sounds are doubtless quite spiritual in intent, the energy is sometimes far from quiet and contemplative! The '68 show features readings of tunes by Monk, McPhee, and members of McPhee's Contemporary Improvisational Ensemble, whereas the "Underground Railroad" LP, recorded with a smaller group, features only McPhee's compositions. Both are powerful, beautiful, and political with that '60s black power vibe. As always, some sort of award is due UMS curator John Corbett for bringing these sorts of classic free jazz artifacts to light.

MCPHEE, JOE & JOHN SNYDER Pieces of Light (Atavistic) cd 14.98

MCPHERSON, DONALD & TETZUI AKIYAMA Vinegar & Rum (Bo' Weavil) cd 17.98

MCSWEENEY'S #7 literary journal 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The format of a McSweeney's issue is always just as noteworthy as its contents. This time round Dave Eggers and co. have created an oldfashioned letterpressed hard cover which encloses eight separate little books by such hip writers as J.T. Leroy, Ann Cummins, Heidi Julavits, A.M. Homes, Courtney Eldridge, Allan Seager, Michael Chabon (an epilogue of sorts to Kavalier and Clay, with cover art by Chris Ware!), Kevin Brockmeier, and William T. Vollman (excerpt from an as-yet-unpublished study on violence, this case study takes place in Thailand). And it's all bound together by a jumbo rubber band. So nice.

MCSWEENEY'S 24 (McSweeney's) book 24.00

MCSWEENEY'S QUARTERLY CONCERN Issue 20 book 22.00
Every issue of McSweeney's Quarterly is a treat, not just the amazing writing, but the design as well, which is pretty much mindblowing every time. And this newest issue just might take the cake. Which is saying a lot since past issues have been packaged in cigar boxes, as multiple little booklets, with strange and elaborate covers, bizarre type setting, they'll try anything. The newest looks like a regular bound hardcover book, except for the psychedelic landscape on the cover that is both intricately colored and raised up and textured, like someone dropped some bizarre multi colored, tendrilled, angular -thing- on your book, where it quickly hardened into some sort of tripped out topographical map. Cool. And the text inside is just as gorgeous and fascinating. New fiction from Susan Steinberg, Kevin Moffit, Ben Jahn, Tony D'Souza, J. Erin Sweeney, Sarah Raymont, Jack Pendarvis, Roy Kesey, Anthony Schneider, Roderick White, Aaron Gwyn, Sam Miller and Corrina Vallianatos. Also lots of amazing original artwork. And inside the back cover is affixed a little printed booklet, the first chapter of a forthcoming McSweeney's novel. As always, not much else to say but WOW!

MCSWEENEY'S QUARTERLY CONCERN Number 13 (McSweeney's) book 24.00
For those of you who always have trouble with the big words and long stories, this is the McSweeney's for you. The thirteenth installment of McSweeney's always brilliant literary journal is ALL comics this time around. Well, not all, but mostly. Contributors include Lynda Barry, Mark Beyer, Chester Brown, Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Robert Crumb, Kim Dietch, Julie Doucet, Gilbert Hernandez, Jamie Hernandez, Ira Glass, Ben Katchor, Kaz, Chip Kidd, Archer Prewitt, Gary Panter, Charles Schultz, Seth, Art Spiegelman, Jim Woodring, Adrian Tomine, Richard Sala, Joe Matt, John Updike, John Porcellino, and more! Beautifully layed out as always and jam packed with comics and comic related pieces. A gorgeous cover as well, an old fashioned book cover like we used to have to wrap all our schoolbooks in, made from a Chris Ware designed Sunday comics page, with gold leaf style embellishments, and two mini comics tucked inside the front and back flyleafs. So cool!

MDK A Friend Is A Stranger You Haven't Met (Spymania) cd 16.98
British electronica maverick MDK starts "A Friend Is A Stranger You Haven't Met" on the evil side of things, with a digitally hacked collage of industrial strength thrash metal. Before you begin to think about Francisco Lopez or Alec Empire and their digital synthesis of metal, MDK makes a quick left turn into beautifully Oval-esque passages for laptop processed string samples. This trend of quick genre edits continues through hip hop, Mego noise, house grooves, etc... Fortunately, MDK has enough sense to retain a common thread to his work -- an undefined sentiment of sadness. This is an album that is strangely seductive, and superior to his previous full-length.

MEADS OF ASPHODEL, THE Damascus Steel (Supernal Music) cd 15.98
By this point, if you're at all familiar with Britain's weirdest black metal bunch The Meads Of Asphodel you know to expect the unexpected. You'll be unphased by breakbeat breakdowns, trumpet solos, and syrupy strings amidst Venom-inspired vocals and Cradle of Filth-worthy black metal bombast. And you already know there's gonna be spacerockin' Hawkwind guitar on here from an authentic old Hawkwind guitarist. Yet somehow we still suspect that at some point whilst listening to their new, third album Damascus Steel, even the most dedicated Meads fan will have a "what the fuck is this, what the fuck are they doing??" moment. And that's one big reason why you're a Meads fan after all! Maybe that point will be when they burst into a sarcastic version of Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful Life" with the lyrics altered so that vocalist Metatron is delivering lines like: "I see newborn graves / dirt dimmed with steam / open womb flesh / death and disease / and I think to myself, what a wonderful world," over that familiar melody, his gravelly voice really rather reminiscent of Satchmo's! Or maybe it will be at the very start of the album, when you're confronted with a sampled speech by George W. Bush. They don't manipulate his words with cut and paste tricks, either, he just says what he said. It's as if in the black metal competition to be the most EVIL they couldn't think of anything more effective than to incorporate our President into their band! Though, we suspect Bush is sampled for reasons of geopolitical commentary, as he's speaking about his views on the Middle East, a region that has long figured centrally into The Meads' peculiar musical and lyrical vision (this album's entitled Damascus Steel, remember).
There's a been a few metal bands with Middle Eastern obsessions -- Melechesh, Absu, Morbid Angel -- and maybe that's because of the ancient mysteries and mythology of man spawned from that land. Just the Biblical associations alone give it resonance for both the Christian and (in this case) the anti-Christian. Not to mention that it's the location today of so much suffering and strife. Warfare has always been a metal topic, terror too. So it's no wonder that metal bands would look to the Middle East for subject matter. But in the case of The Meads, we'd always assumed that it also had to do with the fact that, well, they like to wear medieval armor a la the Crusaders. Maybe that's how their interest first was stoked. But it's clear that they have something subversive to say about religion and politics and that flashpoint region of our world. Of course, Metatron's words (and song titles like the Bal-Sagoth worthy "Behold The Kindred Battle Carcasses Strewn Across The Bloodred Dunes Of Gilgamesh Mute In The Frenzied Clamour Of Death's Rolling Tongue And Ravenous Bursting Steel") take some deciphering, and it doesn't help that his band has set your head spinning with their bent blend of metal and psych and techno and ethnic music... In one song, for instance, blasting blasphemies segue into a groovy keyboard guest solo from Mirai of Japan's Sigh (one of the few bands in the world also so eccentric that they're naturally soulmates with the Meads blokes). And you'll think to yourself, what a wonderful Meads album!
MPEG Stream: "Satanic Black Nubian Pharaohs"
MPEG Stream: "The Gods Who Mock Us"
MPEG Stream: "Behold The Kindred Battle Carcasses Strewn Across The Bloodred Dunes Of Gilgamesh Mute In The Frenzied Clamour Of Death's Rolling Tongue And Ravenous Bursting Steel"

MEADS OF ASPHODEL, THE Exhuming The Grave Of Yeshua (Supernal) cd 15.98
We made this Record of the Week a couple months ago, then promptly ran out of 'em -- as did their label in England, who have now pressed more copies. So here it is again, in case you missed it before. The UK's amazing, eccentric Meads Of Asphodel are back with their second, long-awaited full-length. From the get-go, this had an inside line on becoming an AQ Record of the Week -- indeed, we were so excited about its impending release that even before any of our wholesale suppliers had imports of this in stock, Andee went ahead and mail-ordered two copies from England, one for himself and one as a Christmas gift for Allan! Now, we've managed to get copies for the store to share with all of you. What's so special about the Meads Of Asphodel, besides their unusual name? Well, if you've been a long-time AQ list reader/customer maybe you'll remember how much we liked their debut, The Excommunication of Christ. Well as good as that crackpot example of medieval metal was, this new one is even more esoteric and ridiculous and incredible. As AQ's coverage of the genre has demonstrated, black metal can be a lot of different things. In the Meads of Asphodel's case, it IS many different things, all at the same time! First off, apparently nobody told them that an ostensibly black metal band shouldn't write pop songs. Sure, they are really really heavy and decidedly grim, but Meads have a pop sensibility that can't be denied. The album's second track, "God Is Rome", will have you staring at your stereo as its gruff-voiced chugging brutality gives way to an acoustic guitar lick and subsequent pop hook that is more Nirvana than necro. Not to suggest that this isn't a massively metal album. It is. Their brand of metal is like Venom mixed with Bal-Sagoth: sparkling keyboards strewn over rough-hewn riffage and pounding drums. They're also quite psychedelic (drugs involved for sure), with weird changes and spacey synths. Landing rocketships in the Middle Ages, Meads make for a creditable space rock band. Indeed, these Hawkwind obsessives do a killer Hawkwind cover ("Utopia") with two actual Hawkwind members sitting in! Other guests on this album include Mirai from another AQ fave, Japan's Sigh, one of the only other "black metal" bands on the planet as far-out as the Meads, and Vincent Crowley, somewhat infamous as an underground death metal Satanist. His presence, however cartoonish, illustrates another important point about this record. As random and spicy a goulash their music is, Meads remain a steadfastly black metal band where it most counts: in their opposition to God and religion. Indeed, unlike the majority of black metal acts whose anti-Christian, anti-clerical, pro-Satan stance is indeed just that, a stance or pose, just to conform to the standard black metal aesthetic of being "evil", Meads of Asphodel seem to take this issue more seriously. What we mean is that their lyrics are more about WHY they don't believe in God, than about how cool that makes them. So it turns out that as tongue-in-cheek as so much about them seems (from the cover pics of the band in the guise of armored knights looking rather more hapless than intimidating, to such song titles as "On Graven Images I Glide Beyond The Monstrous Gates Of Pandemonium To Face The Baptised Warriors Of Yahweh In The Skull-littered Plain Of Esdraelon") they actually have a message, if you will. Delivered quite bizarrely and confusingly of course. And that's what we like best, the confounding mixture of the serious and the silly where irony is left in the dust, replaced by question marks and half-smiles, and gleeful enjoyment of some remarkable music. This album is definitely the sort of thing that we at AQ think will both satisfy open-minded metal fans and provide a varied enough dish for folks seeking something weird on the pop/spacerock/electronic side of things. Indeed, did we mention that the aforementioned lengthy song title belongs to a ten minute epick of When-like eclecticism, that brings in techno electronica, Middle Eastern music, and even some acid-jazz organ jamming -- utterly instrumental except for samples of an utterly blasphemous nature? This is indicative in many ways of their bizarro modus operandi. Appealing in so many ways to the extremes of what we might call the AQ-aesthetic, it would have been hard *not* to make this a Record Of The Week.
MPEG Stream: "God Is Rome"
MPEG Stream: "Guts For Sale"
MPEG Stream: "Sons Of Anak Rise"

MEADS OF ASPHODEL, THE In The Name Of God, Welcome To Planet Genocide (Firestorm) cd 11.98
We all knew the Meads Of Asphodel were a weird bunch. Every record was a baffling slab of confusional black metal, often laced with all manner of VERY non-black metal sounds and ideas. Well, no matter how weird we though they were in the past, they've totally outdone themselves this time. So much so that we would hesitate to even classify this as black metal.
There's a lot to be confused by here, from a bizarre collage of military speeches and snippets of random dialogue, to huge swelling synths, super dramatic and over the top, to strange synthesized spaghetti western jams, to not-all-that-metal blasts of propulsive spaced out rock and roll, with groovy Stooges-y riffing, simple pounding drumming, some serious guitar leads, and over the top some Motorhead gone black metal vocals... but that's not all. There are lots of lots of pianos, and soaring female vocals, blissed out stretches of space rock whoosh, some full on old school punk rock. And then there's the completely fucked final track, called "Aborted Stygian Foetus", a sort of industrial electronic metal jam, drum machines, heavy riffing, weird vocals, like some weird mix of Ministry and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. But it's not over. After about 20 minutes of silence you'll find the secret track, an intense and seriously silly and fucked up stretch of testifying, over a swirl of church organs, a heavily (British) accented 'preacher' gives a fiery sermon on how we are all wankers and how we are all full of shit. Woah.
The new sound could have something to do with the addition of a whole mess of new Meads: Alan Davey of Hawkwind, Mirai from Japanes metal weirdos Sigh, Lesion from Worms Of Sabnock, as well as some synth, trumpet, and not one but TWO female vocalists.
The more likely reason for this new direction should be obvious from the cover, all sepia toned, with a crucifix, and piles of dead bodies and that instantly recognizable Crass style text. Like maybe they were going for some sort of Flux Of Pink Indians / Crass / Rudimentary Peni sort of crust vibe!! Although on the inside they're still clad in their armor and chainmail and helmets...
So fucking weird.
MPEG Stream: "Psalm 364"
MPEG Stream: "My Beautiful Genocide"
MPEG Stream: "A Baptism In The Warm Piss Of Slaughtered Children"

MEADS OF ASPHODEL, THE Life Is Shit e.p. (Firestorm) 7" 9.98
More distinctly not very black metal weirdness from some of our favorite black metal weirdos. If you might remember back to the most recent Meads release, In The Name Of God, Welcome To Planet Genocide, we were all sort of knocked for a loop by the band's new direction. Or directions. From the very Crass like cut and paste political cover art, to the punky crust and other weirdness inside, these freaks had gone and outweirded even their own weird selves. So now we have the latest single, and it seems, at least for these three songs, the band have abandoned the black metal entirely. All covers. All classics. Stiff Little Fingers, The Ruts and The Stranglers. All done pretty straight, not black metallized or anything, just raw crusty pounding melodic old school punk rock. The Stiff Little Fingers cover is a jam, an awesome song so done straight it's still an awesome song, the vocals appropriately raspy, the guitars buzzing and the drums pounding. The Ruts cover features original Ruts guitarist Paul Fox and sounds as kick ass as the original. The only place things get extra weird is on the final track, the Stranglers cover, where the vocals are strangely processed and sound about as close to black metal as anything here, but then we've got Mirai from the band Sigh with insane blasts of crazy prog synths, and some new wave female background vocals. Sounds like a bit of a mess, and it sort of is, but it's also awesome and totally rocks in this amazingly unhinged way.
Meads fans who were thrown off by the lack of buzzing blackness will be even more confused by this triple shot. But if you're into metal and punk rock, you could do way worse than hearing these killer tunes revamped and twisted up a bit by the always brilliantly baffling Meads.
Cool old school black and white skull cover. All the records are hand numbered and signed on the label by all the band members. Probably limited too...

MEADS OF ASPHODEL, THE The Excommunication of Christ (Supernal) cd 15.98
A UK black metal troupe unlikely to become the next Cradle of Filth, if only because people are always scratching their heads and asking "What the heck are meads?"
Regardless of their prospects for wide success, *we've* been eagerly anticipating this release, ever since reading about The Meads in a Terrorizer article on unsigned British metal bands. A mysterious band with esoteric interests, inspired by the shamanic use of psychedelic drugs, and always clad in medieval armor, The Meads of Asphodel immediately intrigued us... and others too, as they've caused quite a buzz with their several demo releases. Now here's their compact disc debut, brought to us by the same label responsible for the ungodly Benighted Leams (THEE most ridiculous and fucked one-man black metal band EVER, remember?) as well as the most recent and also quite fucked Fleurety disc. That ratcheted up our anticipation another few notches. And we have to say that while as it turns out The Meads *aren't* quite as utterly strange as we were expecting, not as insane as Sigh or as ridiculous as fellow Brits Bal-Sagoth, they're still pretty strange, lacing their super-heavy doom-riffed black metal with "medieval" keyboard melodies that seem inspired by King Arthur by way of Return To Forever's "Romantic Warrior"... Silly and tongue-in-cheek they may be (one of the booklet photos depicts the band in full armor, lined up along a wall, apparently urinating), but they seem oddly serious too in the occult details of their lyrics and their elaborate presentation, thereby keeping us guessing. The list of guests who contributed to this disc also is indicative of their unusual approach to black metal: they get help from A.C. Wild of '80s Italian Venom-clones Bulldozer, ex-Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd Langton, vocalist Kobold of fellow UK black metallers Old Forest, and an electro-goth act called History of Guns...weird! The Meads of Asphodel come across as certainly smarter and more eccentric than your average black metal band. Heavy, catchy, and possibly crazed -- recommended!
RealAudio clip: "The Watchers Of Catal Huyuk"
RealAudio clip: "Falling With Lightning Rays Beamed..."

MEADS OF ASPHODEL, THE The Mill Hill Sessions (Godreah) cd 14.98
What happens when a band that's pretty darn strange as it is on their "proper" albums, goes and lets their hair down (and takes their helmets off) and does a limited-edition release documenting live-in-the-studio alternate versions of some of their songs alongside a previously unheard extended epic entitled "My Beautiful Genocide"? Well if you spin The Mill Hill Sessions by English black metal weirdos the Meads Of Asphodel you'll find out...suffice to say, anyone who was amused and/or amazed by their previous efforts will find this equally far out, or further even. Their spaced-out black metal blend of Venom and Hawkwind is as extreme and eccentric as ever here. Actual Hawkwind alumni Alan Davey and Huw Lloyd Langton are heard jamming alongside Meads band members Metatron, Urkkarmeel et. al. for these sessions, by the way! Intended for loyal fans, this cd isn't seeing wide distribution and we probably won't have it for very long...
First, you get six tracks originally recorded for a British metal radio show, including versions of tracks from their The Excommunication of Christ and Exhuming The Grave Of Yeshua albums, and their split ep with Mayhem. And they also do an unexpected cover of Sepultura's punkish "Refuse/Resist" as well! Then you get a second session, one long 20+ minute track that's described as a "work in progress", and it is quite a schizophrenic piece of work indeed, as absurd and insane as you'd expect. Stopping and starting with sloppy abandon, there's metal leads, many jangly acoustic parts, black metal blur, punk breaks (sounding like Stiff Little Fingers says Byram), jazzy interludes, all sorts of stuff thrown in, including vocalist Metatron's endless, half-whispered, half-growled poetic sermon/rant on the subject of...well you can try and figure it out.
Compared to your (ahem) "normal" Meads albums, these Mill Hill Sessions employ no studio trickery or extra keyboard overdubs...these tracks are more stripped-down and guitar-oriented. And since apparently they've never played a live show, this is the next best thing, although in the rehearsal space/studio (as pictured in the booklet) the band don't wear the medieval armor with which they are normally fitted out on their album covers and other photo shoots. Shocking! They do promise that their next release will see them back in their "helms and mail" however.
MPEG Stream: "A Healer Made God"
MPEG Stream: "My Beautiful Genocide"

MEANING OF LIFE, THE s/t (Narbin Deeber) cd-r 9.98
"The first thing is that time travel has been going on forever." The second thing is that, at Aquarius, this cd-r has been causing a bit of consternation as no one seems to know why they should be the one assigned to write about "the meaning of life". Yeah, real funny. What we DO know, according to what is written on the back cover, is that the recording captured here comes from a cassette mysteriously labeled "The Meaning of Life" which was found lying on a roadside and eventually passed along to the producer of this disc. The recording is of a very agitated man apparently talking on the phone. Whether he's actually talking on the phone is anyone's guess. He repeatedly gets so angry with whoever is on the other end that he works himself into a frenzy screaming "Shut UP!!!" repeatedly, his voice breaking up from his strained frustration. What is clear about this man is that he's not playing with a full deck of cards. None the less, the monologue is at once disturbing and entertaining. To top it off the recording is made not using an answering machine or anything else which might actually pick up whoever would be on the other end of the conversation, but with a microphone placed in the room with the caller. The added benefit from this method is that we're treated to the rumbling ambiance of a thunder storm. The equipment used is not the best, so at times it's hard to tell whether that is indeed a thunderstorm in the background or someone banging on a giant dumpster. Whatever the sound is, it gets so loud at times that it drowns out the man's ranting. So what is he talking about? Well, that's a fair question. However, it's hard enough to follow a spoken word disc in the store as it is, dealing with all of our daily tasks, but when the monologue is that of a raving lunatic, it's even more challenging. There are time traveling Android/Angels, including a Christ Android that will descend to the earth from the 12th planet. Plus there's also a great deal here about mind control, Stalin, and Donna Summer (ie: the devil). Our narrator, who has a superior knowledge of physics, puts it best perhaps when he tells his silent friend that he knows so much shit that if he "were to say it all at once to anybody they'd go fucking stark raving crazy at light speed." One theory is that the person on the other end of the line is actually the narrator himself in the past. The disc ends, oddly enough, with some random music snatches attributed to Donna Summer and then some short audio samples from the rant tagged on at the very end so that -- I suppose -- you can pull off your own Kathy McGinty or Arnold Schwarzenegger style prank calls.
"If I say the wrong thing over the phone I get a horrible Huey attack"
MPEG Stream: "CPU's of the 25th Century"
MPEG Stream: "12th Planet"

MEAT PUPPETS Golden Lies (Breaking/Atlantic) cd 16.98
Lamentations! This is terrible! Gone is the delightful twin guitar attack, the chiming harmonies and the sunbaked electric fingerpicking that made Meat Puppets so wonderful. Perhaps this is due to the fact that gone from the band's line-up is the distressingly tormented Cris Kirkwood. Brother Curt has assembled a new band and continued on. Unfortunately this new record has moments that made us cringe and wonder if they, like, had kids and were writing songs for them or something -- specifically the one with all the scary monster sounds and the unfunny, unentertaining, simply bad Beck-like "rapping". A great disappointment. Avoid.

MEAT PUPPETS Rise To Your Knees (Anodyne) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "New Leaf"
MPEG Stream: "Fly Like The Wind"

MECHA FIXES CLOCKS Orbiting With Screwdrivers (Alien8 Recordings) cd 14.98
Orbiting With Screwdrivers is comprised of seven austere soundscapes from this veteran aural experimentalist from Montreal, Quebec. Continuing on in the collaborative community spirit that has made that city's cativatingly diverse art and music so captivating, Mecha Fixes Clocks aka Michel F. Cote (we resisted the urge to concoct some clever punny statement about his moniker and time spent listing to this cd) crafted this 49 minute long album from hours upon hours of recorded material he received from over a dozen of his fellow French Canadian contributors some of which are already quite familiar to AQ such as Christof Migone and Martin Tetrault. Some tracks are so minimal, they're barely there save for a single strikes of a piano key or ghostly plucks of a stringed instrument left to linger in the air. Others offer more atmospheric 'presence' in the form of vaporous drones or high pitched prickly squeals. All of them evoke open, abandoned, unlit spaces. When played in the store, this received numerous enthusiastically curious queries. Check it out.
MPEG Stream: "Give My Regards To Time"
MPEG Stream: "Mecha's Dance"

MECKI MARK MEN Marathon (Universal) cd 24.00
3rd album from this Swedish psych act, recorded in Chicago in 1970. Lots of folks apparently LOVE this album but we thought it sounded like (bad) blues rock, too bad 'cause we liked the other MMM reissue that preceeded this one.

MECKI MARK MEN Running In The Summer Night (Universal) cd 26.00
I've been wanting to hear an album by these swingin' sixties Swedes for a long time, and at last one's been finally reissued on cd...yeah, I've been curious about 'em ever since I heard the fab Mecki Mark Men track found on the Cherrystones Rocks compilation we reviewed a while back...and also on account of how drumming for the Mecki Mark Men was the original gig of Thomas Mera Gartz before he ended up in AQ faves Parson Sound/International Harvester/Trad Gras Och Stenar! And not only that, but I also knew that the Mecki Mark Men had toured with Jimi Hendrix, and boasted a Hammond organ player who was said to have emulated Hendrix' showmanship on his own instrument (and, as you'll hear on this cd, also seemingly modelled his vocals after those of Hendrix). That's Mecki Bodemark we're talking about, the leader of Mecki Mark Men in their various incarnations. The band debuted with their first album in 1967 (which was released, oddly enough, in the USA in '68, where apparently they had some success, including coming over here to tour in 1970). Their second album came out in '69, featuring a new lineup (no Thomas Mera Gartz -- in fact the musicians on this album consisted of Mecki Bodemark plus members of another band entirely, the Baby Grandmothers). That's this album, Running In The Summer Night. And it's pretty cool platter of dramatic, psychedelic rock and R&B, some very trippy stuff but rockin' for sure. Lots of organ, lots of Hendrixy vocals, plenty of fuzz and some flute...quite a bit like what Swedish band Dungen is doing today in fact. Doubtless the Dungen dude has this album amongst others of its ilk in his collection... If not, I'm sure he's gonna go buy this reissue! In a nice digipack with photos/graphics and liner notes galore. Hopefully the band's other two albums will be reissued as well...
MPEG Stream: "Playing Child"
MPEG Stream: "Future On The Road"

MECKI MARK MEN s/t (Mellotronen / Universal) cd 23.00
The folks at the Mellotronen label (who brought us Solid Ground, Life, Charlie & Esdor and other Scandinavian 'progg' treats) told us we'd want to get a bunch of these and boy they were right! It's the long-awaited reissue of the eponymous 1967 debut album from Swedish swingin' sixties psych-pop combo the Mecki Mark Men... We've had Mellotronen's other couple of MMM reissues, especially liking Running In The Summer Night, but this is even better. It's got the original MMM lineup, featuring of course band leader Mecki Bodemark and also drummer Thomas Mera Gartz, later of International Harvester and Trad Gras Och Stenar. Definitely influenced by the heavy psychedelic excesses of Jimi Hendrix (with whom they toured, briefly), Mecki Mark Men also conjure a groovy hipster nightclub vibe, with Gartz's jazzy drumming, and Bodemark's woozy organ jamming. Woozy too are his wasted, druggy vox, which sound a bit like Hendrix too. There's also doses of buzzing sitar, shimmering vibraphone, flute, and some fat sax blat. It's a wild, wonderful blend of fuzzy freaky drone and finger snapping, toe tapping catchy pop songwriting, wrapped into one psychedelic, shambolic whole. There's just something indefinably genius about this. Recommended, definitely for fans of Baby Grandmothers and Hansson and Karlsson and today's retro Swedish psych-pop sensations Dungen as well. This reissue is remixed and remastered, presented in a digipack with four bonus tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Free"
MPEG Stream: "Scream"
MPEG Stream: "Get Up"

MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD Book of 11 (Masada) cd 16.98

MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD Combustication (Blue Note) 15.98
Newest from this popular jazz combo.

MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD Combustication Remix EP (Blue Note) cdep 11.98
The super-popular jazz organ trio get remixed by The Automator, Bill Laswell (of course), Guru, Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto), and a couple others.

MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD The Dropper (Blue Note) cd 15.98

MEEK, JOE I Hear A New World (special edition) (RPM) cd 16.98
Okay, so he was "the English Phil Spector". Whew, got that out of the way. In fact he's arguably one of THE most innovative, albeit the most obscure, producers *ever* (other candidates being Spector, Brian Wilson, Lee Perry, other votes welcome!). Though famous first and foremost for his hit with the Tornados' "Telstar" (the first English pop song to hit #1 on the charts in the U.S.), this tone deaf wunderkind had a penchant for the very strange and esoteric as well. It's been said that the man turned down the opportunity to have a first stab at recording The Beatles and David Bowie while counseling an aspiring band to axe front man Rod Stewart if they wanted to work with him. Bad judgements or refined tastes? Given much of the work Meek chose to produce in their stead one might quickly point the finger in the direction of bad judgement, but Meek's visionary "I Hear A New World" suggests that the man had an altogether sublime inspiration that was far ahead of its time.
Fascination with what life could possibly exist on the moon was the seed which drove Joe Meek to compose what could be considered the first "rock" concept album. He wanted to "create a picture in music of what could be up there in outer space." Quite a task. A task that required Meek to use every producing trick in his bag (a very, very big bag.) Take the foundation of an instrumental band, in this case Meek's The Blue Men -- a sort of Venturesy, Shadowsy, Les Paulsy kind of thing -- then squash the hell out of the drums with compression, throw delay and reverb around like a death battle with King Tubby, and add a potpourri of unusual instruments including the Clavioline (a super primitive pre-synthesizer) a purposefully out of tune tack piano, the occasional double speed vocals and you can almost hear Joe's New World. Top this off with the fact that Joe was attempting to create a stereo recording working only with primitive two track machines (not a huge multi-track facility) in his two room apartment recording studio and you know the man had to be a mad genius. (Certifiably mad, if the murder of his landlady and his suicide are any indication.)
This fine new edition of this *absolute*must*hear* album includes, along with all the original tracks, a 35 minute monologue by Joe Meek recorded in 1962 in which Meek gives a brief autobiography leading up to his residing at 538 Holloway Road, describes his studio and its contents: microphones, recording decks, etc and talks about his work. Quite a unique document. Also included on the disc is a film clip of Joe Meek in his studio talking about the music industry (and though the makers of this CD claim that you can only play the film on a PC, it seems to work fine on both Mac and PC.) Plus you get a nice fold out poster with Meek's original notes for each song on I.H.A.N.W. and a thorough telling of the story behind the album.
RealAudio clip: "The Bublight"
RealAudio clip: "Magnetic Field"

MEEK, JOE I Hear A New World (special edition) (RPM) lp 15.98
Now available on vinyl! Okay, so he was "the English Phil Spector". Whew, got that out of the way. In fact he's arguably one of THE most innovative, albeit the most obscure, producers *ever* (other candidates being Spector, Brian Wilson, Lee Perry, other votes welcome!). Though famous first and foremost for his hit with the Tornados' "Telstar" (the first English pop song to hit #1 on the charts in the U.S.), this tone deaf wunderkind had a penchant for the very strange and esoteric as well. It's been said that the man turned down the opportunity to have a first stab at recording The Beatles and David Bowie while counseling an aspiring band to axe front man Rod Stewart if they wanted to work with him. Bad judgements or refined tastes? Given much of the work Meek chose to produce in their stead one might quickly point the finger in the direction of bad judgement, but Meek's visionary "I Hear A New World" suggests that the man had an altogether sublime inspiration that was far ahead of its time.
Fascination with what life could possibly exist on the moon was the seed which drove Joe Meek to compose what could be considered the first "rock" concept album. He wanted to "create a picture in music of what could be up there in outer space." Quite a task. A task that required Meek to use every producing trick in his bag (a very, very big bag.) Take the foundation of an instrumental band, in this case Meek's The Blue Men -- a sort of Venturesy, Shadowsy, Les Paulsy kind of thing -- then squash the hell out of the drums with compression, throw delay and reverb around like a death battle with King Tubby, and add a potpourri of unusual instruments including the Clavioline (a super primitive pre-synthesizer) a purposefully out of tune tack piano, the occasional double speed vocals and you can almost hear Joe's New World. Top this off with the fact that Joe was attempting to create a stereo recording working only with primitive two track machines (not a huge multi-track facility) in his two room apartment recording studio and you know the man had to be a mad genius. (Certifiably mad, if the murder of his landlady and his suicide are any indication.)
RealAudio clip: "The Bublight"
RealAudio clip: "Magnetic Field"

MEEK, JOE (V/A) Work In Progress: The Triumph Sessions (RPM) cd 15.98
Particularly famous for the hit "Telstar," Joe Meek was Britain's homicidal/suicidal counterpart to Phil Spector... This disc features rare and previously unissued tracks (i.e. demos credited to the likes of The Fabulous Flee-Rakkers) produced by Meek circa 1960. Crazy.

MEELKOP, ROEL 7 Perceptions (Staalplaat) cd 17.98
It was stated in the one sheet that Roel Meelkop 'has been compared to Bernhard Gunter, (but) his work is... above all more audible" Hey, they stole our joke! Regardless, Meelkop presents shifting walls of granite sounds which are slowly grinding against each other leaving behind a residue which some may call musique concrete.

MEELKOP, ROEL + TOY BIZARRE 4 Pieces (Kaon) cd 17.98
The four pieces include one solo track from Meelkop (Goem, THU20), one collaborative piece, and two from Toy Bizarre. Both excel at environmentally based recordings with Meelkop tearing these sounds apart leaving their intrinsic silences behind and Toy Bizarre focusing more on the uncanny behaviour of his raw recordings. Their collaborative pieces narratively links the precedant (the Meelkop track) with the following Toy Bizarre track, as hard disc processing overlay and intercept the fractured sounds of each other to rather electronic means.

MEGADETH Killing Is My Business... (Remastered) (Loud) cd 15.98
Reissue of this seminal thrash band's finest moment (although Allan insists 'Rust In Peace' deserves that honor). 'Killing...' is heavy and fast and loud and catchy. Mustaine spent some time in Metallica and there was plenty of mudslinging from both sides as to who wrote which riff and who stole whose leads. Check out the tune 'Mechanix' and compare it to Metallica's 'Four Horsemen'. Same song, different lyrics, marginally different leads, you make the call. All makes for a good Behind The Music. Regardless of how big a tool Dave Mustaine is now, this record is an essential document of 80's West coast thrash metal (Metallica, Exodus, etc,). And the reissue seems worthwhile due to the inclusion of 3 previously unreleased demo tracks, and band members commenting on each song in the liner notes. If you don't have this already (why?!), now's the time.
RealAudio clip: "Mechanix"
RealAudio clip: "Killing is My Business....And Business is Good"

MEGADETH Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? (Capitol) cd 16.98
While Rust in Peace is arguably Megadeth's finest and most cohesive album, it is Peace Sells that is generally considered the best of their old-school 80s thrash releases, especially among the diehard fans who are the least forgiving. From the overt Satanism of "The Conjuring," and "Bad Omen" and the possibly Slayer-influenced graphic depiction of a serial killer's crimes in "Black Friday" to the oddly domestic infidelity of "Wake Up Dead" Peace SellsŠ contains Megadeth's darkest lyrical content. Plus you get their dubious cover of Willie Dixion's "I Ain't Superstitious" which I suppose is no less embarrassing than "These Boots" from the first album or "Anarchy in the U.K." on So Far, So Good, So What! The massive guitar crunch on "Devil's Island" and "Good Mourning/Black Friday" are archetypal 80s thrash -- classics of the era, and when you sit down and think that these tracks are nearly twenty years old, I'd say they hold up far better than most from the time. You may never need buy another metal album again after this one. I've personally had this record for over half of my natural born life and it's still just as good now as when I first bought it at 13. How many of the records you're buying now are you going to be able to say that about in 2018? Like the others in this reissue batch, remixed/remastered and includes alternate-mix bonus tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Wake Up Dead"
MPEG Stream: "Peace Sells"

MEGADETH Rust In Peace (Capitol) cd 15.98
During the summer of 1990, while enjoying a three month holiday in Oslo, Norway, I (Elliott) came across a magazine that would be of untold influence to my thirteen-year old ears -- the 1990 Metal Hammer "Thrash Spectacular". This would serve to be my introduction to an obsession with extreme bands that would consume an unhealthy amount of my time and interest throughout middle and high school -- bands such as Exodus, Sepultura, Pungent Stench, Testament, Sacred Reich, and on and on. But the centerpiece of the issue was four articles on what Metal Hammer referred to as the "Big Four" of thrash, namely: Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth.
And now we have a re-mastered re-issue of Megadeth's Rust in Peace, originally released coincidentally enough, within weeks of my return from the land of fjords. Why is this significant? Well, because with the very notable exception of Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, Rust in the Peace was arguably the last great album of the great '80s thrash bands. Sure most, if not all, of these bands continued to release albums up to the present, but really -- which of them would you seriously consider to be on par with their '80s predecessors? Exodus, Testament, Slayer, AnthraxŠit's like 1990 was an impenetrable divide that dictated, "No decent thrash may pass". And let's not even discuss the Black album. Anyway, the release of Rust in Peace heralded the end of an era, and did so with august aplomb, the group topping even their own previously great achievements. It was as if all bands of the ilk recognized that nothing more could be done within the confines of what was considered thrash. Thrash had, as they say, "jumped the shark".
But most importantly, Rust in Peace is simply a magnificent album, harkening back to a time when metal records were still collections of great songs. Every song on here is unique and there's not a bit of filler to be found. Take a look at the tracks: you get the MTV-friendly alien conspiracy hit single "Hangar 18"; the sheer aggression of "Take No Prisoners," one of their heaviest songs ever; the eerie occultism of "Five Magics"; the upbeat, almost poppy quality of "Poison Was The Cure"; the coke-sweating solipsism of "Lucretia"; the forlorn desolation of "Tornado Of Souls"; the austere drum and bass death march creepiness of "Dawn Patrol," (where you get to hear Dave's hilarious affected British accent) all book-ended by two of the finest thrash epics ever recorded -- the relentless juggernaut of an opener, "Holy WarsŠThe Punishment Due," and the apocalyptic groove of the closing title track. Rust in Peace also showcases the finest musicianship of their career, featuring the relentless guitar dueling between Mustaine and newly recruited Shrapnel recording artist Marty Friedman. Very rarely has such guitar-shop wankery been harnessed into such tastefully well-crafted songs -- the intro to "Holy Wars" alone is a must-hear. As for the vocals -- some have been at worst annoyed and at best amused by Dave's whining snarl but when you hear him scream "Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants" I think you'll agree his delivery is perfectly fitting.
Like Black Sabbath's Volume 4 or Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales or Iron Maiden's Killers, Rust in Peace is a milestone of metallic perfection and one which you are doing your metal collection a grave disservice to be without. If you have any genuine interest in metal, any whatsoever -- a single Century Media sampler in your collection, even -- you MUST own this record. Do yourself a favor, hear one of the absolute pinnacles of thrash. It was the last of its era, setting a standard that the genre as a whole would be unable to match again. And don't just take my word for it...Allan's backing me up on this one too: Rust In Peace is a metal essential. This reissue is remixed and remastered, with four bonus tracks (3 demos of album tracks featuring original 'Deth guitarist Chris Poland and the unfinished, unreleased "My Creation").
MPEG Stream: "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due"
MPEG Stream: "Tornado Of Souls"

MEGADETH Rust In Peace (Capitol) lp 22.00
Easily one of our top-metal-albums-of-all-time (especially in the Big Four/Bay Area thrash division), now (again) released on vinyl! Here's what former AQ mailorder staffer (and current medical student!) Elliott had to say about it when we listed a cd reissue of it a while back:
During the summer of 1990, while enjoying a three month holiday in Oslo, Norway, I came across a magazine that would be of untold influence to my thirteen-year old ears - the 1990 Metal Hammer "Thrash Spectacular". This would serve to be my introduction to an obsession with extreme bands that would consume an unhealthy amount of my time and interest throughout middle and high school -- bands such as Exodus, Sepultura, Pungent Stench, Testament, Sacred Reich, and on and on. But the centerpiece of the issue was four articles on what Metal Hammer referred to as the "Big Four" of thrash, namely: Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth.
And now we have a re-mastered re-issue of Megadeth's Rust in Peace, originally released coincidentally enough, within weeks of my return from the land of fjords. Why is this significant? Well, because with the very notable exception of Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, Rust in the Peace was arguably the last great album of the great '80s thrash bands. Sure most, if not all, of these bands continued to release albums up to the present, but really -- which of them would you seriously consider to be on par with their '80s predecessors? Exodus, Testament, Slayer, AnthraxŠit's like 1990 was an impenetrable divide that dictated, "No decent thrash may pass". And let's not even discuss the Black album. Anyway, the release of Rust in Peace heralded the end of an era, and did so with august aplomb, the group topping even their own previously great achievements. It was as if all bands of the ilk recognized that nothing more could be done within the confines of what was considered thrash. Thrash had, as they say, "jumped the shark".
But most importantly, Rust in Peace is simply a magnificent album, harkening back to a time when metal records were still collections of great songs. Every song on here is unique and there's not a bit of filler to be found. Take a look at the tracks: you get the MTV-friendly alien conspiracy hit single "Hangar 18"; the sheer aggression of "Take No Prisoners," one of their heaviest songs ever; the eerie occultism of "Five Magics"; the upbeat, almost poppy quality of "Poison Was The Cure"; the coke-sweating solipsism of "Lucretia"; the forlorn desolation of "Tornado Of Souls"; the austere drum and bass death march creepiness of "Dawn Patrol," (where you get to hear Dave's hilarious affected British accent) all book-ended by two of the finest thrash epics ever recorded -- the relentless juggernaut of an opener, "Holy WarsŠThe Punishment Due," and the apocalyptic groove of the closing title track. Rust in Peace also showcases the finest musicianship of their career, featuring the relentless guitar dueling between Mustaine and newly recruited Shrapnel recording artist Marty Friedman. Very rarely has such guitar-shop wankery been harnessed into such tastefully well-crafted songs -- the intro to "Holy Wars" alone is a must-hear. As for the vocals -- some have been at worst annoyed and at best amused by Dave's whining snarl but when you hear him scream "Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants" I think you'll agree his delivery is perfectly fitting.
Like Black Sabbath's Volume 4 or Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales or Iron Maiden's Killers, Rust in Peace is a milestone of metallic perfection and one which you are doing your metal collection a grave disservice to be without. If you have any genuine interest in metal, any whatsoever -- a single Century Media sampler in your collection, even -- you MUST own this record. Do yourself a favor, hear one of the absolute pinnacles of thrash. It was the last of its era, setting a standard that the genre as a whole would be unable to match again. And don't just take my word for it...Allan's backing me up on this one too: Rust In Peace is a metal essential.
MPEG Stream: "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due"
MPEG Stream: "Tornado Of Souls"

MEGADETH So Far, So Good... So What! (Capitol) cd 16.98
Ah the Mega-re-issues just keep on coming! As it stands, So Far, So GoodŠSo What! ranks as the least essential of the set, but definitely still an excellent album and a more than adequate selection if you're still hungry for more Megadeth after Rust in Peace and Peace Sells. On this, Megadeth's third overall album we have the excellent opening pair, the atomic instrumental "Into the Lungs of Hell" and then the massive riffing of "Set the World Afire," plus Megadeth's first two quasi-ballads, the surprisingly decent "Mary Jane" and "In My Darkest Hour". Fear not though, they're both still plenty heavy! Closer "Hook in Mouth" has another classic riff and plenty of classic Mustaine sneer. Plus you get their laughably bad rendition of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." What's not to like? Come on, go for the 'Deth triumvirate! Like the others in this reissue batch, remixed/remastered and includes alternate-mix bonus tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Into The Lungs Of Hell"
MPEG Stream: "Set The World Afire"

MEGAPUSS Surfing (Vapor) cd 15.98
Whenever we listen to this, we're somehow reminded of a line from The Simpsons where Marge Simpson's sister Selma in reference to a cheap slutty dress says: "This started out as a Halloween costume but soon worked its way into my regular rotation". Seems what began as a jokey one-off side-project between Devendra Banhart and Greg Rogove from Priestbird (formerly Tarantula A.D.) has taken up more time and attention than is probably warranted. From the weird "bro" energy of the cover to the childish references to penises, anal sex, and group masturbation peppered throughout, this is probably a project that perhaps should have stayed a joke. It sounds like their having a lot of fun and all, and it's not that there aren't good songs on here (Devendra's distinct pop sensibilities remain intact), but it seems like as a separate project, it doesn't know what it wants to be. It doesn't take enough risks musically for all of its crazy "fuck-all" posturing, and some of its attempts at humorous irreverence fall embarassingly flat (especially the song "A Gun On His Hip And A Rose On His Chest", where they cop the music from The Strangeloves, "I Want Candy", but replace the lyrics with "Fuck the Police, in the asshole. Fuck the Pope, in the asshole." ad nauseum). If you wanted a full album of all the sillier songs from Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, this might be for you. For the rest of us, we'll wait for Devendra's next record.
MPEG Stream: "Crop Circle Jerk '94"
MPEG Stream: "Theme From Hollywood"
MPEG Stream: "Another Mother"

MEGASUS s/t (Wild Power) lp 17.98
A name like Megasus can only mean one thing. METAL. That's right, pounding, thrashing, ass kicking head banging metal from Providence Rhode Island, which just so happens to feature Brian from Lightning Bolt on drums. But NOT Brian Chippendale, nope, that's bass player Brian (Gibson!) pounding the skins, and hot damn, he's a pretty sick drummer for being such an insane bass player.
For those of you out there that play Rock Band or Guitar Hero, odds are you've probably heard Megasus before, one of their tracks was a huge hit on one of those games, downloaded about a million times, but for us, Megasus came out of nowhere, and proceeded to pummel us into submission!
Shredding classic style heavy metal, with a definite punk rock flavor, reminding us a bit of bands like Karp, that sort of punked up metal vibe, although with Megasus it's mostly the vocals, for the most part this is some seriously TRUE metal. Wild soaring leads, guitar harmonies, relentless drum pound, lots of chugging riffage, proggy arrangements, some stretches of doominess, the vocals a distorted howl, but for the most part this is just some seriously kick ass metal radness!
And the packaging, we talk about amazing packaging all the time, but wow, does this take the cake, an full color eye popping outer gatefold jacket, some sort of bloody winged goat, the logo and song titles embossed and stamped with gold foil, printed inner sleeve, pressed on 180 gram blood red/black vinyl (like the old tUMULt Weakling lps), comes with a poster, and a sticker. As well as a full album download. Phew. Second pressing, LIMITED TO 200 COPIES. We got a very few of these, might be the last we see of these.

MEGAWEAPON Dropsouts (Zum) cd-r 4.98
Megaweapon is Mr. DJ George Chen (of Zum Magazine / indie music label right here in the Bay Area) and a few of his Oakland cohorts from Boxleitner and K.I.T. Together they're makin' 'tape music'. Dropsouts is a coarsely ground and blended 4-track recording of noise-alicious distorted scraping, looping and churning. A brief but notable track is the second - a scant thirty seven seconds of what sounds like a chat between two homemade foghorns. 25 minutes total. Limited 'pressing' of 75.
MPEG Stream: "track 2"
MPEG Stream: "track 5"

MEIZTER, K. Dark Matters (Old Europa Cafe) cd + 3"cd 23.00

MPEG Stream: "The Last Hurrah"
MPEG Stream: "Internal Features Of A Dead Body"
MPEG Stream: "Sidelights On The Life Of Death"

MEKONS Fear and Whiskey (Quarterstick) cd 14.98
With well over two dozen albums, singles, eps, and compilations to their name, Yorkshire's Mekons have been around so long you can divide their career into distinct stages. In my opinion, prime Mekons territory begins well into their timeline, with the release of 1985's Fear and Whiskey, which was the first time they added a li'l country twang to their ragged punk rock sound. This period would continue throughout the late '80s (meaning you should definitely also pick up their Rock 'n Roll and So Good It Hurts albums if you see 'em). With Jon Langford's whiskey-soaked voice, the tinny meandering guitar, sweet fiddle, foot-stomping drums, and a general drunken honky tonk vibe. So excellent! If you've never heard the band before, this is a fine place to start. Pogues fans will also *totally* appreciate this!
RealAudio clip: "Chivalry"
RealAudio clip: "Abernant 1984/85"

MEKONS I Have Been To Heaven And Back (Quarterstick) cd 13.98