MCBRIDE, BRIAN The Effective Disconnect (Kranky) cd 14.98
Brian McBride, for those who don't know, is one half of beloved slowcore drone drift soundscapers Stars Of The Lid, and based on the reviews on the aQuarius website, you might assume they were one of our all time favorite bands, and well, you would most definitely be correct. If there was indeed an official aQ pantheon, Stars Of The Lid would absolutely be included, their records, spanning the last two decades now, have without fail been absolutely breathtaking works of sublime ambient brilliance, from raw blurred 4 track shimmer, to the more orchestral and composed later releases, we can't think of a SOTL record that we didn't love.
The Effective Disorder is a score McBride recorded for a documentary film called Vanishing Of The Bees, and in the liner notes, McBride explains that he tried his best to compose music that was hopeful, striving to capture in music the "gloriousness of the bees", but that the result was more in keeping with his past works, pieces that tended toward the melancholy and lamentable, that dark and haunting and sweetly sorrowful. And we're not complaining one bit!
The Effective Disorder plays out like it could very well have been a new Stars Of The Lid records, lush and orchestrated, but still intimate and emotional. Separated into suites, the opening two parter mixes the muted sitar-like buzz of old SOTL soundscapes, with soaring strings, swirling streaks of minor key melody, and lots of space, the sounds unfurled in glacial swells, gorgeous harmonies left to gradually fade and drift into nothingness.
"Girl Nap" is about as close as The Effective Disorder comes to sunshiney, but even then it's just barely, sun dappled shimmer dissipates in a haze of hushed soft focus blur, peppered with far away reverbed piano, "Several Tries (In An Unelevated Style)" is another assemblage of longform tones, lushly layered, the overtones adding color and movement, "Supposed Essay On The Piano (B Major Piano Adagietto)" adds horns, the mournful brass moans giving the already sorrowful sound a funereal cast, but shot though with warm hints of hope.
The three part "Toil Theme" is brooding and ominous, haunting and delicate, another dreamscape of minor key swells, while "Beekeepers Vs Warfare Chemicals" drapes tinkling chimes over streaks of stings, and warm sun dappled melodies, the track gradually transforming into something much darker and depressive.
The brief closer, "Chamber Minuet" is the perfect coda, a brief recapitulation of the rest of the score, and of the two sides of McBride's composing style, beginning with a rough bit of low fidelity drift, gauzy and hushed, before it blossoms into a more traditional sounding string quartet, dramatic and majestic, only to slip right back into the opening ominous minimal drift. So lovely and captivating.
The music perhaps darker than the film makers intended, but for the purposes of pure listening, removed from the visuals, Stars Of The Lid fans will not be disappointed, nor will fans of dark brooding ambience.
MPEG Stream: "Melodrames Telegraphies (In B Major 7th) Part 1"
MPEG Stream: "Girl Nap"
MPEG Stream: "Several Tries (In An Elevated Style)"
MPEG Stream: "Beekeepers Vs Warfare Chemicals"

MCBRIDE, BRIAN The Effective Disconnect (Kranky) lp 14.98
Brian McBride, for those who don't know, is one half of beloved slowcore drone drift soundscapers Stars Of The Lid, and based on the reviews on the aQuarius website, you might assume they were one of our all time favorite bands, and well, you would most definitely be correct. If there was indeed an official aQ pantheon, Stars Of The Lid would absolutely be included, their records, spanning the last two decades now, have without fail been absolutely breathtaking works of sublime ambient brilliance, from raw blurred 4 track shimmer, to the more orchestral and composed later releases, we can't think of a SOTL record that we didn't love.
The Effective Disorder is a score McBride recorded for a documentary film called Vanishing Of The Bees, and in the liner notes, McBride explains that he tried his best to compose music that was hopeful, striving to capture in music the "gloriousness of the bees", but that the result was more in keeping with his past works, pieces that tended toward the melancholy and lamentable, that dark and haunting and sweetly sorrowful. And we're not complaining one bit!
The Effective Disorder plays out like it could very well have been a new Stars Of The Lid records, lush and orchestrated, but still intimate and emotional. Separated into suites, the opening two parter mixes the muted sitar-like buzz of old SOTL soundscapes, with soaring strings, swirling streaks of minor key melody, and lots of space, the sounds unfurled in glacial swells, gorgeous harmonies left to gradually fade and drift into nothingness.
"Girl Nap" is about as close as The Effective Disorder comes to sunshiney, but even then it's just barely, sun dappled shimmer dissipates in a haze of hushed soft focus blur, peppered with far away reverbed piano, "Several Tries (In An Unelevated Style)" is another assemblage of longform tones, lushly layered, the overtones adding color and movement, "Supposed Essay On The Piano (B Major Piano Adagietto)" adds horns, the mournful brass moans giving the already sorrowful sound a funereal cast, but shot though with warm hints of hope.
The three part "Toil Theme" is brooding and ominous, haunting and delicate, another dreamscape of minor key swells, while "Beekeepers Vs Warfare Chemicals" drapes tinkling chimes over streaks of stings, and warm sun dappled melodies, the track gradually transforming into something much darker and depressive.
The brief closer, "Chamber Minuet" is the perfect coda, a brief recapitulation of the rest of the score, and of the two sides of McBride's composing style, beginning with a rough bit of low fidelity drift, gauzy and hushed, before it blossoms into a more traditional sounding string quartet, dramatic and majestic, only to slip right back into the opening ominous minimal drift. So lovely and captivating.
The music perhaps darker than the film makers intended, but for the purposes of pure listening, removed from the visuals, Stars Of The Lid fans will not be disappointed, nor will fans of dark brooding ambience.
MPEG Stream: "Melodrames Telegraphies (In B Major 7th) Part 1"
MPEG Stream: "Girl Nap"
MPEG Stream: "Several Tries (In An Elevated Style)"
MPEG Stream: "Beekeepers Vs Warfare Chemicals"

MCBRIDE, BRIAN When The Detail Lost Its Freedom (Kranky) cd 14.98
Brian McBride is one half of AQ faves Stars Of The Lid, a group who specialized in somnambulent moonlit guitarscapes, dark and gorgeously lugubrious, and who more recently have begun to explore more lush and epic musical vistas. Some of our favorite late night dreamy drones have come from those Stars, so it's no surprise that McBride's first proper solo outing is just as mysterious and compelling. A lush series of swoonsome smears, warm chordal swells stretched into slow burning minor key sagas, minor key but still strangely hopeful sounding, sun dappled with the first rays of morning light after an endless night of darkness and despair. Each piece on When The Detail Lost Its Freedom is delicately assembled from minimal violins, gentle piano, moaning trumpets, haunting western guitar, drifting disembodied vocals, and warm reverb, all swirled into indistinct shapes, like opening your eyes first thing in the morning, a hazy blurry dreamlike world, so serene and peaceful. At times, it almost sounds like the most minimal of post rock, but slowed down to a drumless crawl, the occasional vocals definitely remind us of Low, a darkly romantic slowcore, but wherever McBride takes these songs, we're never far from slipping back into a doleful drift of melancholy moods and slow shifting shimmers. It's sort of like staring into a thick cloudy swirl of sound, dense and drifting, with the occasional melody or voice slowly emerging and taking shape before flickering and fading out, dissolving into the swells of surrounding sound. So lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Overture (For Other Halfs)"
MPEG Stream: "A Gathering To Lead Me When You're Gone"

MCCANN, SEAN Changes Are Staying (DNT) lp 12.98
After releasing dozens of tapes and tons of limited releases, Sean McCann delivers his gorgeous vinyl debut on local SF label, DNT. If Sean McCann is a new name to your list of weirdo dronesters, you better get hip quick, McCann is one of the most prolific ambient artists of recent years, and has delivered countless offerings of violin based, long-tone beauty on almost every home-spun tape label around. And even though "Chances Are Staying" is McCann's first attempt at vinyl glory, he's no newcomer to the soft-drifting world of string-based soundscaping.
What really draws us into McCann's music is his signature, ever-changing kaleidoscopic whirl, sounds and notes constantly shifting and swirling over crumbling layers of noise and grit, never a boring moment in an ocean of crashing color and melodic smear, so propelling yet immersive and entrancing. There's a refined quality to McCann's music that definitely reminds us of stuff on the Kompakt label, but that precision is offset by a weirdo playfulness that leaves each track unpredictable and completely fluid. It also reminds us of early Not Not Fun releases or maybe Ducktails. "Labyrinth" opens with a gauzy melodic passage, distant bells and chimes echo into a rhythmic lull, synthy washes and a deep low-end pulse guide you deeper into a gorgeous ambient headspace. Dry passages of violin stretch across the echoing beauty below, a buzzing drone builds into an epic flurry until suddenly the track is over and you're itching for more! "County Heirlooms" is another favorite, drum and bass set the rhythmic pulse as soaring strings and bellowing horns become tangled in a mess of field recordings, drones, and weirdo noise, so nice and quite unlike anything we've heard before. Somehow pleasant and very very strange all at once, like someone manipulating a Pharoah Sanders tape while a krautrock rhythm section rehearses next door.
So Rad! Super unique and super limited to 400 hand number copies, we got these straight from the label, pretty sure it'll be out of print in no time, so pick one up!

MCCANN, SEAN Flutter Oasis (Digitalis) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another crazy limited cassette release. This one from a name we'd never heard before, Sean McCann, but judging from this tape, we'll definitely want to be hearing more.
The sound is super distorted and in-the-red, lo-fi and warbly, like it was recorded on some old thrift store tape on a busted up tape recorder, the guitar being the focal point, but rendered in numerous un-guitar-like sounds and setting, simple strums are distorted to the point of complete collapse, strange effects make the tape sound like it's skipping, vocals howl and croon, everything super washed out.
Some tracks are warm and whirring and warbly, almost old timey sounding, everything shimmery and dreamlike, circus like melodies, kitchen sink percussion, and a soft focus patina of fuzz and buzz and whir, the tape continually slowing to a crawl, or skipping and hiccupping like the stop and record buttons getting pushed, others are dense and chaotic, but with the same sort of sun dappled summer dreaminess, the distortion and the tape drop outs as much, if not more of, a part of the sound than the actual instruments.
Noisy, but that sort of soft noise, dreamy, but not sleepy, instead a sort of druggy bleary eyed drift, think lo-fi folk or pop, via Merzbow, filtered through Philip Jeck and Tim Hecker, recorded by Faxed Head, and played back on a Dictaphone with dying batteries plugged into a massive P.A. with blown speakers. So cool.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!! In beautiful silk screened sleeves, with a printed insert, each tape hand numbered.

MCCANN, SEAN Wind In Their Way (Monorail Trespassing) cassette 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
San Franciscan Sean McCann has produced a ton of material running the gamut between splattery feral pop, crusty noise, and dreamy droneworks; and despite our neighborly geographies, we've only managed to get a hold of a few of his recordings, most of which tend toward the micro-edition side of things. The fine folks at Foxy Digitalis have been showering this guy with praise; and now we can see why on this great cassette from the increasingly essential cassette label Monorail Trespassing. Wind In Their Way begins with a sweeping atmosphere of elongated drone, smoke, and shadow with an elegant violin emoting sad, sad melodies all bathed in reverb, looped back into those background sounds, and muddled nicely into the mix. Here, McCann seems to be paralleling what fellow Bay Area stringed conjurer Darwinsbitch had mustered on her impressive Ore album released earlier in 2009. This same direction continues on the second side of the album, with more shimmering tones that probably have their origins from a guitar, producing majestic swells of ambience not nearly as dark as those by Troum but just as ethereal, with those gauzy, flickering ghosts of sound woven in and out. Peter Wright and Machinefabriek even come to mind on this lovely, lovely, lovely piece. Limited to 125 copies!

MCCARTHY The Best of Mccarthy: That's All Very Well But... (Cherry Red) cd 16.98
Tim Gane before he met Laetitia and formed Stereolab.

MCCARTHY, DAWN & BONNY BILLY Wai Notes (Sea Note) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wai notes is essentially the raw and super stripped down version of The Letting Go, the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album from 2006, compiled from the demos of that album. On that record he teamed up with Dawn McCarthy from Faun Fables who added back up vocals that sounded both sweet and haunting. But we have to say that these bedroom recordings do these songs more justice then the fully produced version that ended up being the album. We love hearing Will Oldham's classic voice as it's captured so intense and raw right onto what sounds like a 4-track cassette. It's the sparse and chilling side of Oldham's songs that made us fall in love with him all those years back. And we love the tape hiss that crackles so slightly throughout the recording adding such a scrumptious layer of warmth to the cozy and intimate words being sung alongside very minimal and bare acoustic guitar all accented by McCarthy's other worldly back-up's. So simple and stunning! Very limited so you know what that means....
MPEG Stream: "Then The Letting Go"
MPEG Stream: "Wai"

MCCARTNEY, PAUL McCartney (MPL / Hear Music) 2cd 21.00

MCCARTNEY, PAUL AND WINGS Band on the Run: 25th Anniversary Edition (Capitol) 2cd box 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You might have thought you'd never see a Paul McCartney record here at Aquarius, but you'd be very wrong. Hey, we carry Kix, Chicago, and John Prine, too, and if you think we're old fogeys for doing so, grow up! We've always said that a real music fan loves all kinds of music as long as it's good, and boy is this album killer (and, like, duh, the Beatles were really awesome too). It took the long lost Peruvian psychedelic group We All Together (themselves the subject of some great recent reissues) to really wake us up to McCartney again. From the epic Lennon-esque "Let Me Roll It" to the title track, "Band on the Run" features amazing songwriting and delivery, and it's beloved by all here at AQ. For the price of one disc you get a deluxe box with two cds within. The second disc "relives the period when the album was made and includes the voices of Paul and linda McCartney, Dustin Hoffman and the celebrities who appear on the cover. Running in excess of 50 minutes, the programme also includes previously unreleased version of some Band on the Run tracks."

MCCOMBS, CASS PREfection (Monitor) cd 14.98
On his sophomore outing PREfection, Mr. Cass McCombs proves he's no run of the mill singer/songwriter. Imagine the quirky pop of Robyn Hitchcock crossed with the swoonsome elegance of Rufus Wainwright and laced with the British melancholia of Morrissey, but then drench it all in cavernous cathedral reverb a la Neko Case or My Morning Jacket. Sound good to you? He's sure got quite a knack for crafting seemingly straightforward songs that your ears will like, but he's got a few tricks up his sleeve to boot. Check out the peppy retro British pop stylings (complete with organ!) of the second song, "Subtraction". It's a great kickstart-your-morning kind of tune, not unlike a gentler version of Iggy's "Lust For Life". The next number "Multiple Suns" is quite a bit darker and more brooding, but still wholly engaging. He saves his most unconventional track for last, "All Your Dreams May Come True". For the first few minutes it's a straightforward sensitive pop song but it eventually dissolves into a lengthy soundscape.
MPEG Stream: "Subtraction"
MPEG Stream: "All Your Dreams May Come True"

MCCOMBS, CASS Wit's End (Domino) cd 14.98
Nice songwriting and sensual execution by Cass Mccombs on this outing.
MPEG Stream: "County Line"
MPEG Stream: "Saturday Song"
MPEG Stream: "Hermit's Cave"

MCCOMBS, CASS Wit's End (Domino) lp 22.00
Nice songwriting and sensual execution by Cass Mccombs on this outing.
MPEG Stream: "County Line"
MPEG Stream: "Saturday Song"
MPEG Stream: "Hermit's Cave"

MCCOOK, TOMMY Blazing Horns / Tenor In Roots (Blood & Fire) cd 16.98

MCCOOK, TOMMY AND THE SUPERSONIC Top Secret (Beatville) cd 14.98

MCCULLOCH, BRUCE Drunk Baby Project (Drunk Baby) cd 16.98
Here it is, the second cd from this Kid In The Hall! If you were fortunate to see him on his one-man tour or check out his first cd Shame Based Man, then you know you're in for some of the blackest, most absurd humor. Frequently it's much more so than any of the stuff he did on the series. Some of the tales - addressing all the usual subjects, y'know, sex, religion, aliens and Bob Seger - he conveys in his unmistakable half-sung, over the top rock/blues delivery, on others it's in his supreme deadpan, while on another, well... let's just say you'll be hearing from a voice that sounds a lot like KITH fave Gavin. The music backing him comes courtesy of Craig Northey who also did the soundtrack for their movie Brain Candy and Brian Connelly of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet (who wrote and performed the tv series' theme song) and more recently of Neko Case And Her Boyfriends. An in-store listen triggered many a groan specifically directed at the backing music, but taken together with the words it all makes perfect sense. There's a definite unsettling quality about it, but not in the way you might think. Composing a very eclectic array of tunes, these two follow McCulloch's twisted path quite closely and effectively, but it often falls in the super slick and radio-friendly department. On its own, you too might find it a bit painful to listen to, but maybe the discomfort's intentional... to make the listener squirm and cringe even little bit more. Listening to Bruce McCulloch is not always a belly laugh funny experience, it can be an amazingly dark, heartbreaking bullseye bummer. Such is the role of the comedian. Yes, it's funny 'cause it's true.
RealAudio clip: "Aliens"
RealAudio clip: "Never Trust"
RealAudio clip: "Sucra Poppa"

MCDANIELS, EUGENE Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse (Atlantic) lp 14.98
An off-kilter hard-hitting soul masterpiece, Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse was the cap to a strange topsy turvy career. Starting off in the early sixties with suave soul-pop hits like "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" and "Tower of Strength", McDaniels became more successful as a song-writer than a singer, with his songs taking on a more conscious and political vibe. While he did write the RnB hit, "Feel Like Making Love" for Roberta Flack, he also wrote the heavy groover, "Compared To What" for Les McCann and Eddie Harris which became a hit for the black protest movement. Signing to the Atlantic Label in the seventies, McDaniels' recorded two of the perhaps most uncompromising political soul records, Outlaw in 1970 and Headless Heroes in 1971. Of the two, Headless Heroes is the one we keep coming back to, because what makes it most unique is its unusual form. Combining elements of jazz, funk, and rare groove, with some acid-psych and folk thrown into the mix, the result is a heady and allegorical rallying cry against social injustice through a veil of nightmarish imagery and narcotic sounds. While not a hit upon its initial release, it has grown in influence over the years especially in the nineties, when much of this record was sampled in hip-hop circles. Much tougher in form than similarly themed records by Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, McDaniels' records were harder to market because of their rather scathing views of powerless humanity on the brink of depravity. This is really what's going on!
MPEG Stream: "Jagger The Dagger"
MPEG Stream: "Supermarket Blues"

MCDANIELS, EUGENE Outlaw (Water) cd 14.98

MCDONALD, STEVEN GROUP This Is Not A Rebellion (Five Foot Two) cd ep 8.98
Sounds like Ol' McDonald's taken a turn away from his former feisty power pop self into a more straight-up rock guise. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. There are glimpses on this EP of the McDonald brothers' trademark vocal harmonies and non-stop kick-ass catchiness. It's hard not to draw comparisons to their past glories, especially considering that (as Redd Kross) they'd cornered the market on shining, well-crafted pop back in the late '80s / early '90s. You'd hope that some of that quality would've inevitably surfaced in other subsequent musical endeavors. However, it's been many moons since then, and it seems all that remains are those few faint glimmers. The magical chemistry is gone and these songs seem somewhat lackluster and a bit clunky. Maybe it was his bro' Jeff who wielded the mightier songwriting pen? To find out what he's been up to, check out his band Ze Malibu Kidz.

MCDOWELL, FRED Alan Lomax Recordings (Mississippi) lp 14.98
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT** **MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
What else needs to be said about Mississippi Fred McDowell really, a legendary blues icon for sure, whose music is not rare really or difficult to come by, but we imagine part of the purpose of these Mississippi reissues is to introduce a whole new generation to these artists and sounds, and to make them available on vinyl. These recordings are the very first McDowell ever made, recorded at his home, a farm north of Como, Mississippi, in 1959 by the legendary field recordist Alan Lomax, and demonstrate McDowell's unique guitar playing (with a homemade bottleneck slide) and distinctive voice. Minimalist and powerful, raw and deeply moving, McDowell would become well known for being covered by The Rolling Stones and playing at the Newport Jazz festival in 1964, but it's these early tracks that display the true magic of his music. Essential blues!
Housed in nice thick sleeves, and includes an insert with liner notes.

MCDOWELL, FRED s/t (Mississippi) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
MISSISSIPPI ALERT!!!!!!!!
This reissue of Fred McDowell's 1966 second lp for the Arhoolie label is arguably one of the Mississippi delta bluesman's best outings. Discovered in the late fifties by Alan Lomax, McDowell has become since then and until his death in 1972, one of the more famous practitioners of the delta blues tradition. His most well known song, "You Got To Move", included here, was famously covered by the Rolling Stones, and his world-weary voice that ranges from drawling mumble to intense emphatic howls comes from a deep but humble spiritual core. Though he honed his craft at fish fries and dances, many of his songs were laments and spirituals about trying evils, redemption, and longing for love. Here on some tracks he is accompanied by close friends, Eli Green on second guitar, and his wife Anne on second voice. The track "I Wish I Was In Heaven Sittin' Down" was recorded with the Hunter's Chapel Spiritual Singers, whom Fred performed with often on Sunday Mornings. A fine and essential addition to the Mississippi Records catalog and your Mississippi Records collection!

MCDOWELL, FRED & FURRY LEWIS When I Lay My Burden Down (Sutro Park) lp 16.98
Sutro Park continues to reissue some of the most vital blues sounds ever recorded with this amazing split featuring legends Fred McDowell and Furry Lewis. Anyone paying attention to the aQ site these last few years will have already seen and hopefully heard something from these two masters. The material here was recorded in the late 1960s after some of the original bluesmen began receiving belated and enthusiastic praise from new generations during the folk revival. Each set features intimate performances captured in the comfort of McDowell's and Lewis' homes in Como, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee respectively. Despite being in their 60s, both men crank out the classic, hardhitting blues they built their reputations on. Presented in a classy replica sleeve from the Biograph original, this one comes highly recommended as always.

MCDOWELL, MISSISSIPPI FRED Live at the Mayfair Hotel (Infinite Zero/Warner) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE. SORRY
Reissued by Henry Rollins' (major) label. Tried and true bluesman who named one of his albums I do not play no rock & roll. White underground rockers love getting verbal whupped like that. Makes 'em feel less guilty. Discuss.

MCDUFF, BROTHER JACK Gin & Orange (Dusty Groove) cd 14.98

MCFALL, CHRISTOPHER The City Of Almost (Sourdine) cd 14.98
Vacant lots. Empty storefronts. Warehouses pocked with shattered windows, rusted walls, and pigeon shit. These are haunts for Christopher McFall when he collects field recordings in and around his hometown of Kansas City. The area where McFall has a studio is one of the rundown areas of town, that once was a thriving nexus of commerce and culture, but for the most part has crumbled under neglect; and The City Of Almost is a well constructed album that wholly embody the grit, decay, murk, and dust of those crumbling spaces. His processed recordings amplify the melancholy of the space through his ominous looping techniques and the atmospheres of malaise which hang upon elongated drones raked with wind-swept textures and numerous passages of scraped objects distressed by the elements over the years. These moments of The City Of Almost do recall some of the earlier dystopic works from John Grzinich, Michael Northam, and the non Jewelled Antler sounds of Loren Chasse; but McFall furthers the theatrical and allegorical sense of neglect through a fortunate discovery of an stash of musty old records and a barely functioning turntable during his wanderings. Thus, the scratchiness of dust upon the needle and ghostly hints of a forgotten melody also work their way into McFall's work, with references to Philip Jeck being noted even as McFall slows everything down way further than Jeck ever did to match the turgid pacing of the album. We've heard a few pieces from McFall over the years, and this one is the strongest to date.
MPEG Stream: "Slow Containment"
MPEG Stream: "Requiem For Troost (Home)"
MPEG Stream: "All Parts Contained"

MCGARRIGLE, KATE & ANNA Matapedia (Hannibal) cd 15.98
Lovely record by these folk-singing sisters (and NPR darlings).

MCGINTY, KATHY s/t (Hamburger Records) cd 11.98
BACK IN STOCK! If you missed out on this all-time AQ "comedy" fave before, now's your chance... here's what we said about it when it was first reissued on cd back in 2001, and we made it Record Of The Week:
FINALLY! We've been waiting ages for this to get reissued and the wait is now over! Easily one of the funniest, weirdest, most fucked up records ever. As we're writing this, everyone else here is laughing hysterically while this plays in the store. In fact, we're having trouble concentrating or even typing with this playing. It is so goddamn funny. But also kind of creepy and totally bizarre. But mostly very very funny! Originally released as a cd-r, later bootlegged by an unscrupulous LA record label, Kathy McGinty is now available as a professionally pressed cd (no longer a cd-r) with new liner notes and bonus material not included on the original cd-r release!! Here's what we had to say about the original:
You ever have that problem where you're in an internet sex chat room, and you make a date with some pervy girl for a phone sex session, and then when you call her up it's actually some jerk with a sampler loaded with a sexy female voice telling you things like "Taco Bell is sooo good?" Well if you did, chances are you're one of the crank call victims on this extremely funny and fucked up cd. We guarantee, if you hear this stuff you'll die laughing (unless you're a total prude, of course). It's really unbelievable how pathetic the guys are who attempt to carry on a phone sex chat with "Kathy McGinty", who is pretty obviously a recorded voice triggered by someone's sampler. They don't seem to mind that she sounds like she's talking to them over a CB radio, or that most of what she says is absurd and nonsensical, like a random sound collage from a porno movie. Her Taco bell comment just gets a moan of agreement from the hapless caller.
A few of the callers figure it out, and then it gets even more pathetic as they continue to masturbate, being such geeks that they're turned on by the technical details of the joke (one guy asks, excitedly, about if the sampler is triggered by keyboard or mouse). But most of the guys are so clueless and horny that they're completely unfazed by Kathy's bizarre comments ("I think you might be racist", "I want to have your retarded babies", "I've got a pickle in my ass", "You know I'm only 12?", "I sell used cars", "Check out my hairy balls", "I'm all fucked up from huffing Scotch Guard", "I think I might be having a miscarriage") and limited vocabulary (she says "Yesssss!" the same way every time), or her deafeningly noisy, Merzbow-level obviously-looped screams of orgasmic ecstasy. We could go on, but we don't want to reveal too much. Just get this, it's the best crank call disc we've heard in a long time. You'll be playing it for everyone you know, except maybe your mom. Absurdly funny.
MPEG Stream: "Very Large Hands"
MPEG Stream: "OK, This Is A Recording"
MPEG Stream: "This Is Damien"
MPEG Stream: "I Look Like A Cock"
MPEG Stream: "How Many Fingers?"

MCGINTY, KATHY s/t (Hamburger Records) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY. REAL CD VERSION W/ BONUS TRACKS COMING SOON, HOWEVER!!
You ever have that problem where you're in an internet sex chat room, and you make a date with some pervy girl for a phone sex session, and then when you call her up it's actually some jerk with a sampler loaded with a sexy female voice telling you things like "Taco Bell is sooo good?" Well if you did, chances are you're one of the crank call victims on this extremely funny and fucked up cd-r. We guarantee, if you hear this stuff you'll die laughing (unless you're a total prude, of course). It's really unbelievable how pathetic the guys are who attempt to carry on a phone sex chat with "Kathy McGinty", who is pretty obviously a recorded voice triggered by someone's Yamaha SU10 sampler. They don't seem to mind that she sounds like she's talking to them over a CB radio, or that most of what she says is absurd and nonsensical, like a random sound collage from a porno movie. Her Taco bell comment just gets a moan of agreement from the hapless caller.
A few of the callers figure it out, and then it gets even more pathetic as they continue to masturbate, being such geeks that they're turned on by the technical details of the joke (one guy asks, excitedly, about if the sampler is triggered by keyboard or mouse). But most of the guys are so clueless and horny that they're completely unfazed by Kathy's bizarre comments ("I think you might be racist", "I want to have your retarded babies", "I've got a pickle in my ass") and limited vocabulary (she says "Yesssss!" the same way every time), or her deafeningly noisy, Merzbow-level obviously-looped screams of orgasmic ecstasy. We could go on, but we don't want to reveal too much. Just get this, it's the best crank call disc we've heard in a long time. You'll be playing it for everyone you know, except maybe your mom. Absurdly funny.
RealAudio clip: "I'm Jamming It In Deep, Baby"
RealAudio clip: "I'm Not A Child Molestor, But I'll Fuck You"

MCGONIGAL, MIKE 33 1/3 Series: Loveless (Continuum) book 9.95

MCGRATH AND THE KILLING MY LOBSTER ORCHESTRA, COLIN Allegro con Chutzpah (Killing My Lobster) cd 9.98
New cd from local orchestra/comedy troupe accompianists. The music here is actually quite good, heavy on the Klezmer, playful and energetic.

MCGREEVY, STEPHEN P. Auroral Chorus II: The Music of the Magnetosphere (SPM) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Back in stock! Last copies!
It's was a happy day at Aquarius when we heard about this release! American radio hobbyist Stephen P. McGreevy has dedicated himself to the documentation of earth's magnetosphere by using home built VLF radio receivers (whose schematics are readily available from McGreevy's website).
On Auroral Chorus II -- his second release after the acclaimed but sadly out of print Electric Enigma double cd set for Conet Project label Irdial -- McGreevy turns his charmingly enthused attention to the VLF phenomenon associated with the Aurora Borealis (aka the Northern Lights). Along with low buzzing hisses and crackles (not unlike those heard on records by hard disc editors like Fennesz and Pimmon), McGreevy's recievers have also picked up some beautiful choruses in which the magnetosphere resonates in beautiful wavering tones and whistling risers.
Furthermore, McGreevy shows off his technical savvy with some stereo recordings -- with two VLF receivers with antennae along the north / south axis and along the east / west axis!
As far as found sounds, McGreevy's VLF recordings are some of the more alien, yet most beautiful that we've ever encountered. So, if you missed "Electric Enigma" you now again have the chance to investigate these amazing sounds courtesy of McGreevy's fascinating obsession.
MPEG Stream: "track 7"
MPEG Stream: "track 10"

MCGREEVY, STEPHEN P. Electric Enigma (Irdial) 2cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the same label that brought us the truly disturbing Conet Project comes Stephen P. McGreevy's VLF recordings. With a knowledge of basic radio telescopics, a few choice geographical / atmospheric anomalies, and a good ear, McGreevy records the earth's electromagnetic signature generated through such phenomenon as the Alaskan Northern Lights. Delicate whistles streak over loud crackles, that bring to mind Id Battery's fascination with recorded fire, or John Duncan's shortwave radio experiments. Word of caution, one of our faithful customers complained that this created rather deleterious psychosomatic effects.

MCGREGOR, DION Dion McGregor Dreams Again (Tzadik) cd 16.98
How long would last if your roommate screamed his dreams out loud every night? Would you have the foresight to capture these disturbances on tape? Lucky for us back in the 1960's Dion McGregor's roommate stuck it out long enough to provide us with this aural document of one man's nocturnal pain and pleasure. Dion's dreams range from queeny dress up parties to drooling descriptions of large breasted women and cunnilingus contests. Equally disturbing as it is riveting.

MCGREGOR, DION The Further Somniloquies Of... (Torpor Vigil Industries) cd 15.98
Everybody's favorite sleeptalker is back and we're really fucking excited! Dreams Again, the previous release on Tzadik, is one of our most loved and consistently selling "spoken word" CDs, and with reason. Most of us who talk in our sleep tend to say maybe a couple words or phrases at best, often mumbled so quietly that it's hard to even catch the words they're saying -- if you even happen to be awake and close enough to hear it. Well imagine someone that regularly, throughout his entire life, recited entire dreams in a clear voice. And imagine every one of those dreams being the most ridiculous and surreal dreams imaginable. That's Dion McGregor. The story goes that in 1961 Dion McGregor -- a born again freeloader, chronic couch-surfer and quasi-successful song writer -- was discovered to be a verbose sleeptalker by the friend whose house he was currently crashing at. The friend, a director of porn films, attempted to jot down the dreams, but McGregor's speech was just too fast. With some mild coercion (free rent must have been involved) a mutual friend and song writer, Michael Barr, agreed to allow McGregor to sleep at his apartment in return for being allowed to record his dreams. Barr set up a microphone at the head of Dion's bed and for seven years recorded everything he could. Apparently Dion's vocalizations tended to begin just before waking in the morning, so there was a bit of predictability they could count on. Playing the tapes to the right people at the right time eventually resulted in an LP released on Decca in 1964 entitled the Dream World of Dion McGregor (and in 1999 Tzadik released a cd of additional material also recorded by Barr). While there must be enough tapes of McGregor's ramblings to cover several more volumes (Barr claims to have recorded upwards of 500 dreams), we'll have to settle for these 80 more minutes for the time being. Listening to these bizarre tales it's hard to believe that these are coming from a man who's genuinely asleep. The way McGregor recites them sounds almost conversational, describing the events he's undergoing. At the same time Mcgregor is both the director of his dreams: telling us to all get ready for the scavenger hunt (reciting off a myriad of strange objects that must be located), but also a participant: confessing to us that he'll never be able to locate said objects in such short time. And, it must be added, he almost invariably ends each transmission with horrified screaming. No matter how mild or whimsical a dream may be when it starts, it always seems to end in either tragedy or just plain shrieking madness. But the theory that McGregor made up and performed these monologues, fully conscious, is even harder to imagine. He would have had to have been quite a writer and a performer to achieve such results, and to allow it to remain archived in obscuity for eternity. No matter, even if these were faked they still add up to an impressive collection of the most fucked up, hilarious and down right amazing monologues this side of Kenneth Patchen. An absolute must for all lovers of the more disturbing aspects of the human psyche!
MPEG Stream: "The Scavenger Hunt"
MPEG Stream: "It's All Over Evelyn"

MCGUIRE, MARK A Young Person's Guide To Mark McGuire (Editions Mego) 2cd 23.00
As many of you probably know, Mark McGuire is the guitarist from Emeralds and has been recording boatloads of tapes and cd-rs both within Emeralds and of the solo variety. Many of these had been released in tiny editions of less than 100 copies, few of which probably travel beyond the Cuyahoga county lines and even fewer manage to end up west of the Rockies. It's been said that these small editions act as something of a musical diary for McGuire, but each of his recordings had been so fully realized that it's hard not to think of him as some ridiculous prodigy channeling the best lazer 'n' crystal Krautrock vibe from Manuel Gottsching, Achim Reichel, and Gunter Schickert.
A Young Person's Guide To Mark McGuire is the much-needed retrospective of a good chunk of those limited edition releases, offering further proof of McGuire's prodigy status. From the opening track on the first disc - 2008's "Dream Team" - all of the hallmarks of McGuire's soaring guitar techniques are present. This track is more in keeping with his 2010 Living With Yourself album on Editions Mego with its sorta-shoegazed blur of skyward gazing drones, that's almost jaunty in comparison to the melancholy that oozes from Emeralds. That's not to say that McGuire doesn't get moody elsewhere on this album ("Flight" and "The Path Lined With Colorful Stones" are excellent examples of this facet to his work). While McGuire is pretty keen on working through countless variations on layered melody and arpeggiated hypnosis, the breaks from that modus operandi are certainly intriguing. Take the Phillip Jeck like collage of operatic vocals and orchestral flares amidst a sea of low-end vibration on "Ghosts Around A Tree," and then there's the Vini Reilly / John Fahey interplay through the elliptically fingerpicked acoustic number "Sun Shining Through The Open Barn Door," that's about as aptly named as you could get.
A stunning anthology for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Dream Team"
MPEG Stream: "Flight "
MPEG Stream: "Sun Shining Through The Open Barn Door"
MPEG Stream: "Inside Where It's Warm"

MCGUIRE, MARK Get Lost (Editions Mego) cd 16.98
It's gonna be interesting to hear what Emeralds will sound like on their follow-up to the 2010 album Does It Look Like I'm Here? Since that album, two of the three members - John Elliott and Mark McGuire - have been super prolific in their own projects, all of which seem to be eschewing the post-noise melancholy which streamed through Emeralds' melodies of intertwined kosmische synth arpeggiation and stratospheric guitar loopings. Elliott's numerous solo and side projects have found him entertaining a new age ethos more and more, complete with a cosmically induced alter-ego. So far the music's still good for Elliott, but there could be some warning signs that he could take a nose-dive in the worst possible way. At least, his Spectrum Spools imprint seems to be keeping an edgier sensibility (especially those Bee Mask albums). Mark McGuire's own work has been one of a perpetually-stoned-in-summertime time-loop, where his brightly ringing guitar wraps itself into layered patterns upon which he builds cinematically charged ambient-pop crescendos. His album Living With Yourself certainly built from this template, and McGuire proves just how versatile that template can be on Get Lost. There's plenty of effervescent synths which noodle and blorp through rippling echo patterns, which takeover McGuire's proceedings on the aptly named "Firefly Constellations" but McGuire is at his best when employing guitar and loop station as on the urgent chime of "Another Dead End" furthered by Vini Reilly like flourishes that burst into an expressive solo mirroring something from early Guru Guru. The rest of the tracks settle into a warm groove as if bathed in late-summer sunlight, including the vocal number "Alma" which certainly looks to Animal Collective in its quadruple-tracked vocals but with an ear for Eno's melodies instead of Brian Wilson's. McGuire has never failed in delivering something lovely, and that's the case with Get Lost.
MPEG Stream: "Alma"
MPEG Stream: "Another Dead End"
MPEG Stream: "Firefly Constellations"

MCGUIRE, MARK Get Lost (Editions Mego) lp 22.00
It's gonna be interesting to hear what Emeralds will sound like on their follow-up to the 2010 album Does It Look Like I'm Here? Since that album, two of the three members - John Elliott and Mark McGuire - have been super prolific in their own projects, all of which seem to be eschewing the post-noise melancholy which streamed through Emeralds' melodies of intertwined kosmische synth arpeggiation and stratospheric guitar loopings. Elliott's numerous solo and side projects have found him entertaining a new age ethos more and more, complete with a cosmically induced alter-ego. So far the music's still good for Elliott, but there could be some warning signs that he could take a nose-dive in the worst possible way. At least, his Spectrum Spools imprint seems to be keeping an edgier sensibility (especially those Bee Mask albums). Mark McGuire's own work has been one of a perpetually-stoned-in-summertime time-loop, where his brightly ringing guitar wraps itself into layered patterns upon which he builds cinematically charged ambient-pop crescendos. His album Living With Yourself certainly built from this template, and McGuire proves just how versatile that template can be on Get Lost. There's plenty of effervescent synths which noodle and blorp through rippling echo patterns, which takeover McGuire's proceedings on the aptly named "Firefly Constellations" but McGuire is at his best when employing guitar and loop station as on the urgent chime of "Another Dead End" furthered by Vini Reilly like flourishes that burst into an expressive solo mirroring something from early Guru Guru. The rest of the tracks settle into a warm groove as if bathed in late-summer sunlight, including the vocal number "Alma" which certainly looks to Animal Collective in its quadruple-tracked vocals but with an ear for Eno's melodies instead of Brian Wilson's. McGuire has never failed in delivering something lovely, and that's the case with Get Lost.
MPEG Stream: "Alma"
MPEG Stream: "Another Dead End"
MPEG Stream: "Firefly Constellations"

MCGUIRE, MARK Invisible World (Cylindrical Habitat Modules) cassette 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The guitarist from Emeralds explores his psychedelic side on Invisible World. There's always been a kosmische aesthetic in the music of Emeralds, brought on by the spiraling interplay between synth and guitar, whose rapid fire arppeggios blur into trippy drones. Much of those same strategies are employed here on Invisible World, with McGuire channelling Michael Rother from Neu! 75. Some of the loops that McGuire lays down are a bit heavier than what you might find in Emeralds; but then he'll switch things up for something infinitely warmer and more summery, almost like Ducktails or something off an early Ariel Pink record. Recorded direct to tape, with all the hiss and roughness of the recording left as is. And as with all of the Emeralds related tape releases, this one is super limited. So limited in fact that it's already sold out from the label. These are the last and only copies we'll have, so act fast...

MCGUIRE, MARK Living With Yourself (Editions Mego) cd 16.98
NOW ON CD!!
Despite a solo discography that tallies well above 30 titles, Mark McGuire has quipped that Living With Yourself is, in his mind, his 'first' album, because it was the first album to emerge as a properly replicated cd and slab of vinyl without originally getting released first as a micro-edition tape or cd-r. Fair enough. McGuire is also the principle guitarist for Emeralds, who also has a discography with a boatload of releases; the man specializes in sustained flares of kosmische guitar arpeggiations recalling Manuel Gottsching and Achim Reichel. In both Emeralds and his solo work, he's at his best when his guitar seems to effortlessly transmit bittersweet, counterpoint melodies within his arching dronerock compositions. It takes Living With Yourself awhile to get to those epiphanous moments, after McGuire churns through a Takoma inspired acoustic guitar workout situated alongside home recordings of some family gathering with a cassette deck recording the affair. By the time, McGuire arrives at "Clouds Rolling In" a distant melancholy settles upon his Durutti Column like guitar lines that skitter in circles to build his impressionist atmosphere. Similarly moody tracks lead up through the album's conclusion, a straight-up, instrumental-rock number with his stratospheric guitar riffs buttressed by a drummer, edging much more into the cinematic Explosions In The Sky territory. Certainly not what we were expecting, but could this be the lead in for McGuire to start scoring movie soundtracks?

MCGUIRE, MARK Living With Yourself (Editions Mego) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Despite a solo discography that tallies well above 30 titles, Mark McGuire has quipped that Living With Yourself is, in his mind, his 'first' album, because it was the first album to emerge as a properly replicated cd and slab of vinyl without originally getting released first as a micro-edition tape or cd-r. Fair enough. McGuire is also the principle guitarist for Emeralds, who also has a discography with a boatload of releases; the man specializes in sustained flares of kosmische guitar arpeggiations recalling Manuel Gottsching and Achim Reichel. In both Emeralds and his solo work, he's at his best when his guitar seems to effortlessly transmit bittersweet, counterpoint melodies within his arching dronerock compositions. It takes Living With Yourself awhile to get to those epiphanous moments, after McGuire churns through a Takoma inspired acoustic guitar workout situated alongside home recordings of some family gathering with a cassette deck recording the affair. By the time, McGuire arrives at "Clouds Rolling In" a distant melancholy settles upon his Durutti Column like guitar lines that skitter in circles to build his impressionist atmosphere. Similarly moody tracks lead up through the album's conclusion, a straight-up, instrumental-rock number with his stratospheric guitar riffs buttressed by a drummer, edging much more into the cinematic Explosions In The Sky territory. Certainly not what we were expecting, but could this be the lead in for McGuire to start scoring movie soundtracks?

MCGUIRE, MARK Off In The Distance (Cylindrical Habitat Modules) lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yes, it's another solo album from Emeralds' guitarist Mark McGuire, and yes, it's totally awesome. Off In The Distance was originally a cassette that came out briefly back in 2008, but had been so beloved by the dudes who put out the tape that vinyl became a necessity. And it's a perfect format for McGuire's kosmische zoner jams, with all his continued allusions to Ash Ra Tempel, Gunter Schickert, Michael Rother, Popul Vuh, and Achim Reichel that stretch into grand movements of psychedelic melancholy. Slow-motion, aquatic bubblings of analog synths percolate upon an undulating bed of guitar drones muffling the growls from a distortion box. All the while, McGuire layers his signature elliptical guitar arpeggiated melodies that snap into locked grooves only to mutate effortlessly into doubles and triples of themselves, resulting in the passages of spaceship lift-off on a exploratory mission towards the heart of glowing nebulae. Towards the end of the first side, McGuire transitions into a particularly maudlin riff of intertwined and overlaid guitars, making some of us here think back to that incredible Dreamies album of symphonic psychedelic mope. Off In The Distance strikes that balance found in so much of the Emeralds / McGuire axis of music making, that of the inner-cosmonaut in pursuit of transcendence and/or tranquilization on one hand, and on the other, he channels something profoundly sad as McGuire's aware that such pursuits can only be fleeting at best. Undoubtedly beautiful stuff from McGuire. Limited to 500 copies.

MCGUIRE, MARK Things Fall Apart (Wagon) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Much like on his recent solo acoustic radio session lp, on Things Fall Apart, Emeralds member Mark McGuire once again ditches the effects (mostly), going it alone, sans his synthesizer compatriots, with just some hazy guitar strum, looped hypnotic melody, and away we go...
...Into some sort of ethereal washed out dreamscape of elliptical guitar figures, interwoven and overlapping, mesmerizing and hypnotic, slowly shifting, a gorgeous new age krautdrone drift, crystalline and delicate, it's a slow build, but eventually, the tracks grow more fierce, darker, and more dense, with some fuzzy psychedelic guitars adding extra buzz and filigree, ratcheting up the space rock vibe, but never letting loose completely.
Contemplative, sun-dappled tranquility is the order of the day here. Or rather the order of the cool breezy sun-setting Summery eve. Some aQ folks were hearing some Jerry Garcia, in his Zabriske Point solo guitar mode, others some krauty shimmery smoothness a la Michael Rother, both are equally applicable, Things Fall Apart is a soft focus prismatic drift of fluttery krautfolk and subtle spaced out avant Appalachia, broadcast through a gauzey veil of ephemeral shimmer. Lovely. And of course, EXTREMELY LIMITED.
MPEG Stream: "Things Fall Apart"
MPEG Stream: "Inside Where It's Warm"

MCGUIRE, MARK Tidings / Amethyst Waves (Weird Forest) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Previously listed on vinyl, now finally available on cd, another fantastic release from Mark McGuire, a member of psych synth drone aQ faves Emeralds, this a cd reissue of two loooong out of print cassettes, consisting of four long tracks, of processed and looped guitarmusic, a gloriously kosmiche hypnotic and repetitive space rock kraut drone, beginning with an odd, somewhat out of place sample, but as soon as the guitars kick in we're immediately transported to some strange other world of crystals and prisms, the sonic sunlight unfurling glorious sheets of color, stuttery looped tangles of spidery guitar gives way to thick swells of crumbling corrosive fuzz, warm and lush and billowy, a wall of metalgaze blur that soon shifts back into a dizzying swirl of looped and layered melodies, that shifts and undulates and morphs from muted blissful smears to straight up folky strum.
The second track is another gorgeous loopscape, chiming guitar harmonics, and short sharp bursts of static, simple subtle melodies underneath, almost poppy sounding, until it collapses into a soft swirling tangle of layered synths and dizzying serpentine melodies, only to again to return to something much more traditionally strummy, a simple moody guitar figure layered over electronic chitter that sounds a bit like crickets in the fading afternoon light.
Track three beings with flurry of chiming high end guitars, like fireflies, they swirl and flit, the almost-melodies constantly in motion, the sound growing ever more lush and complex and dense, so hypnotic, loop after loop laid atop the loops that came before, a lovely slow build, that eventually joins the twinkling looped melodies with subtle guitar strum, and washed out string-like swells, the whole thing growing more and more hazy and distorted and metallic, dissipating in a lovely tangle of decaying loops.
Finally, the record ends with some heavily delayed and looped minimal guitars, muffled and muted, chiming and percussive, very Reich / Riley sounding, again blossoming into lush latticeworks of overlapping melodies and overtones, it's not until near the end that the guitars begin to become effected, the guitars seemingly transforming into synths, a buzzy, fuzzy, but still fantastically mesmerizing finale.
MPEG Stream: "A Matter Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "The Passing Of The Road Chief"

MCGUIRE, MARK Tidings / Amethyst Waves (Weird Forest) 2lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of two 'new' releases from Mark McGuire, a member of psych synth drone aQ faves Emeralds (and there's actually a new Emeralds on this list too, Record Of The Week!!), this one, an lp reissue of two loooong out of print cassettes (cd version coming soon), consists of four long tracks, of processed and looped guitarmusic, a gloriously kosmiche hypnotic and repetitive space rock kraut drone, beginning with an odd, somewhat out of place sample, but as soon as the guitars kick in we're immediately transported to some strange other world of crystals and prisms, the sonic sunlight unfurling glorious sheets of color, stuttery looped tangles of spidery guitar gives way to thick swells of crumbling corrosive fuzz, warm and lush and billowy, a wall of metalgaze blur that soon shifts back into a dizzying swirl of looped and layered melodies, that shifts and undulates and morphs from muted blissful smears to straight up folky strum.
The second track is another gorgeous loopscape, chiming guitar harmonics, and short sharp bursts of static, simple subtle melodies underneath, almost poppy sounding, until it collapses into a soft swirling tangle of layered synths and dizzying serpentine melodies, only to again to return to something much more traditionally strummy, a simple moody guitar figure layered over electronic chitter that sounds a bit like crickets in the fading afternoon light.
Track three beings with flurry of chiming high end guitars, like fireflies, they swirl and flit, the almost-melodies constantly in motion, the sound growing ever more lush and complex and dense, so hypnotic, loop after loop laid atop the loops that came before, a lovely slow build, that eventually joins the twinkling looped melodies with subtle guitar strum, and washed out string-like swells, the whole thing growing more and more hazy and distorted and metallic, dissipating in a lovely tangle of decaying loops.
Finally, the record ends with some heavily delayed and looped minimal guitars, muffled and muted, chiming and percussive, very Reich / Riley sounding, again blossoming into lush latticeworks of overlapping melodies and overtones, it's not until near the end that the guitars begin to become effected, the guitars seemingly transforming into synths, a buzzy, fuzzy, but still fantastically mesmerizing finale.
Pressed on nice thick vinyl, housed in super deluxe Stoughton tip-on sleeves, and LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "A Matter Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "The Passing Of The Road Chief"

MCGUIRE, MARK VDSQ - Solo Acoustic Volume Two (Vin Du Select Qualitite) lp 21.00
There are those who might have doubts about an ACOUSTIC guitar record from cosmic zoner Mark McGuire, who has been honing his Achim Reichel / Gunter Schickert guitar arpeggiations in the soon to be legendary trio Emeralds. You might say to yourself, when has Emeralds ever used an acoustic guitar? Can he really play without tons of tripped out effects? Is he good enough without a battery of synths supporting him? Any and all doubts should be dispelled in listening to this record. Yeah, this is really pretty special. McGuire offers five lengthy pieces of psychedelic folk via an acoustic guitar, probably buttressed by a loop station on a few passages during these pieces. The brightly rendered guitar chiming from McGuire's acoustic guitar noticeably detours from the rounded tonal arcs of Emeralds psych-drone workouts; but the rhythmic locomotive aspects from some of the later Emeralds recordings are prominent throughout this album. The nearly sidelong "Burning Leaves" centers upon a rich and warmly clad elliptical strum that spins in a duet around some lovely melodic notes dotting about. As hypnotic as the piece is, it's also downright playful. Other tracks like "At First Sight" and especially "Second Thoughts" have much more of a downer, maudlin vibe that spills through the almost raga hypnosis of McGuire's fingerpicking. Great stuff that would certainly appeal to fans of James Blackshaw, Six Organs, and maybe even Vini Riley. Dare it be said, but had this been released sometime in 1970, this would probably have landed on Takoma!

MCHUGH, JONATHAN & MARK WASTELL Hydriotaphia (Confront) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
London's Mark Wastell has been privy to some rather unexpected (and unexpectedly great!) collaborations in recent years. Best known for his work with various quiet, AMM-inspired improvisers from the New London Silence community, he's turned recently to working with electronic musicians with a proclivity for tension, intensity, and blackened soundfields. There's the rather impressive Oceans Of Blood & Blood project that Wastell has instigated with Skull Defekts' Joachim Nordwall, and now there's this duet with Jonathan McHugh. A sound designer of the same name has worked on the Saw series of movies, but we're pretty sure these are not the same character even if there is some rather psychoacoustically challenging noises to be found on Hydrotaphia. With Wastell on his 32" gong that he's been using for many years now and McHugh on an Arp synth, the two begin to coax a series of low-end rumbles very much on par with the Deathprod / early Thomas Koner constructions, with McHugh gradually injecting small squiggles of electrical fizzes that eventually coalesce into a pure high-end tone that will certainly clear out any earwax if you happen to be listening on headphones. This rather bracing duality of low-end rumbles and high frequencies subsides after about ten minutes leaving more of those enveloping, icy surfaces of gong resonance. McHugh dials in a growling drone towards the end of the 45 minute composition, building into a gnarled set of tempestuous, electronic noise with a bleak feel that lends much more to the Dilloway / Michigan axis of American noisemongering. Quite impressive!
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

MCKELVEY, COLLIN Canti For Paul Kos (Land & Sea) 7" 9.98
We've always love musicians who make music out of ice, so we were super intrigued by this 7". The latest from Land and Sea, the Oakland-based imprint that publishes small run books and records from visual and sound artists, this is a beautifully minimal sound piece by artist and sound engineer, Colin McKelvey. Taking his inspiration from a famous conceptual sculpture from 1970 by Bay Area artist Paul Kos called Sound of Ice Melting, where Kos placed eight microphones around a large ice block to amplify the sound of its melting. Originally composed by McKelvey as a long-form composition called "Composition for Synthesizer, Voice and Ice", this 7" is two versions of various "canti" (a poetic division, or significant excerpt) from the original composition, a studio edit and a live edit that was performed at the Berkeley Art Museum in conjunction with a show that featured the Paul Kos sculpture. The piece is about space as much as it's about sound and the atmosphere involving the modular synth in varied frequencies along with the slow rumble of ice create a reverent but slowly destabilizing mood. The live edit has more of an echoing atmosphere given the reverberating properties of the architecture in which it was performed. Fans of the Touch label and experimental composers like Alvin Curran will find lots to love here. Beautifully packaged in an embossed white paper sleeve on clear vinyl with inserts including notes on the piece and an essay on the ambiguities of ephemeral sound. Limited to 100 copies, we have 5, we may be able to get more, but no guarantees, so you know what that means!

MCLAUGHLIN, JOHN My Goal's Beyond (Knit Classics) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MCLEAN, BARTON AND PRISCILLA Electronic Landscapes (EM Records) cd 23.00
Back in print, back in stock!
More pioneering electronic music unearthed by Japan's EM Records (previous releases include discs by Barton Smith, David Rosenboom, and Noah Creshevsky). This time, it's Barton and Priscilla McLean. A husband and wife team, but no Sonny and Cher here!! This duo performed live as the "McLean Mix", and were responsible for a bunch of sought-after Folkways LPs in their time, including 1979's "Electro-Symphonic Landscapes" (all the tracks from which are found here). The cover of this cd is an adaptation of the cover of that LP, the artwork actually being the graphical score for Barton's "Song Of The Nahuatl" (it's interesting to note that while the McLeans worked together, they didn't collaborate compositionally it seems -- half the tracks here are by the Mr. and half by the Mrs.). The McLeans got their start together in electronic composition in academia, at the University of Indiana, South Bend, 'round about 1973, when the Music Department there brought in a huge EMS Synthi-100 synthesizer and Synthi-256 sequencer. Hours of tape-splicing creativity would ensue! That mega-synthesizer was later repossessed (!) so the McLeans turned to musique concrete techniques (bouncing steak knives on violin strings, metal bars on piano strings, that sort of thing) to source their sounds, combined with the output of what electronic equipment they were able to access. Much of this disc, tracks dating back to 1975, feature this sort of laborious processing of sound. And the results are fantastic! Reminds us a bit of the classic Forbidden Planet soundtrack by Louis and Bebe Barron, another husband and wife team who preceded the McLeans in the annals of electronic music... In addition to the vintage '70s stuff here, there's a couple tracks of some newer material from the digital age... which holds up quite well, actually! Keening drones, mysterious pulses, psychedelic bleepage -- yep, way better than Sonny n' Cher!
EM has graciously provided both English and Japanese liner notes, so the 22 page cd booklet makes good reading for anyone curious about the McLeans' musical methodology, as well as providing cool graphics and intriguing photos to ponder.
MPEG Stream: PRISCILLA MCLEAN "Voices Of The Invisible"
MPEG Stream: BARTON MCLEAN "Song Of The Nahuatl"

MCLUSKY The Difference Between Me And You Is That I'm Not On Fire (Too Pure) cd 13.98