MIKAMI, KAN 19 Years 2 Months 16th Night (PSF) 2cd 42.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This numbered, limited-edition double cd from PSF reissues the very first recorded performance by famed underground Japanese avant-folk singer and guitarist Kan Mikami, whom musical Japanophiles may know as a member of Vajra with Keiji Haino as well as for his extensive solo career. Recorded live at a radical Tokyo nightclub in 1970, this material was originally released on vinyl as a double LP in special fan-club edition of just 100 copies. Super rare today of course! And this new compact disc edition is limited to 777 copies, and is apparently already sold out at the label. We've only got a few, so act quick if you're a Mikami Kan fan. It's pretty great, and it's amazing that he's only 19 years old on here! The style of bleak, gripping angst-ridden folk songs showcased is what he's build his legend on, in a career that continues to this day (in fact, we just got a brand new Mikami recording in as well, entitled Bachi, that we'll try to get reviewed for next list). Perhaps this would be even more interesting if we understood Japanese (he doesn't sing in English, of course) but the emotions expressed need no translation. Unless you're made out of money, this is perhaps not the Mikami album we'd expect anybody to start with, but if you're already a fan you should consider splurging on this, it won't be long for this world. We can't resist quoting a bit of the our customer and PSF label translator Alan Cumming's blurb on this, as it really sets the scene:
"These are the very earliest recordings by surrealist folk legend Mikami, captured on tape in 1970 at the legendary Shibuya underground club and hangout, Station '70. The club used to host regular sessions by free-jazz heroes like Motoharu Yoshizawa and Kaoru Abe, while the cream of the city's avant-garde community rubbed shoulders with Japanese Red Army terrorists and Yukio Mishima's private army. Thrust into this ferment comes a nineteen year old police academy dropout from the far north of Japan, armed with nothing but his guitar and a satchel full of coruscating, carnal songs of anger, lust and hate."
MPEG Stream: "disc 1 track 2"
MPEG Stream: "disc 1 track 5"

MIKAMI, KAN 1979 (PSF) cd 22.00
The title is "1979", but this is actually brand new, a 2003 release from one of Japan's unique musical treasures, the avant-folk electric guitar troubadour Kan Mikami. Maybe you already know him from his many other PSF-label releases (this one makes it a dozen, we think) or from the Tokyo psych-improv trio Vajra where he plays and sings alongside Keiji Haino. What with the relative popularity of the last Vajra disc 'round these parts, we figured at least a few of you out there would be interested in Mikami's latest solo effort. As with his previous albums, this is full of strenuous electric guitar strum, dextrous string manipulation, and his trademark impassioned, eccentric, fully beauteous vocals. So many voices in one man. Mikami creates music with lots of space, lots of emotion. He's got a keen intelligence that transcends language -- though you should definitely check out the English translations of his lyrics included in the cd booklet, they're weird and wonderful. But even without the words, his languid, then violent guitar playing is interesting enough by itself. Making outsider, non-Western references to jazz and blues, his tangled guitar lines and swampy licks are the perfect accompaniment to his edge-of-the-void vocals.
MPEG Stream: "The Fascination Of A Big Sheep"

MIKAMI, KAN Bachi (Turtle's Dream / A Bruit Secret) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Subtitled, From Oak Village. Which is, presumably, in France, where this live performance from the legendary Japanese avant-folk singer Kan Mikami was recorded in 2003. Not sure if this is the one to start with if you're not already a fan, but those already obsessed with the man's harsh and harrowing hybrid of Japanese enka and fucked up blues quite possibly will want this in their collections. Guitar and voice stripped to the bone, with the final track being the highlight, adding some satisfying feedback from French guest guitarist Fabrice Eglin. And Alan Cummings provides English tranlations of Mikami's lyrics, a nice plus to this package.
MPEG Stream: "Negative"
MPEG Stream: "The Face Of The Three Million Yen Robber"

MIKAMI, KAN Barking Practice (PSF) cd 22.00

MIKAMI, KAN Hoi 1973 - 1992 (PSF) cd 21.00

MIKAMI, KAN Live In Kouch University 1972 (PSF) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MIKAMI, KAN Live Kolian 2006 (PSF) cd 22.00

MIKE & RICH Expert Knob Twiddlers (Rephlex) cd 18.98
Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. u-ziq, Jake Slazenger) and Richard James (a.k.a. Aphex Twin). English import.

MIKE & RICH Expert Knob Twiddlers (Rephlex) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mike Paradinas (a.k.a. u-ziq, Jake Slazenger) and Richard James (a.k.a. Aphex Twin). English import.

MIKE BOO Dunhill Drone Committee (Alpha Pup) cd 12.98

MIKE INK / BURGER INDUSTRIES Playing With Knives / Derby (Kompakt) 12" 10.98

MIKEY DREAD African Anthem Dubwise: The Mikey Dread Show (Dread At The Controls) cd 15.98
Mikey Dread is one of those cats from the history of Jamaican music that, while not as big a name as some, is about as responsible for bringing reggae to a greater world audience as anyone. In his early days Mikey Dread was a hero through his night job as the first DJ to broadcast reggae over the radio on JBC. He got the gig by convincing the station manager to let him start DJ'ing on the station (where he was working at the time) at 12am, when they normally would shut off the transmitter anyway. Due to some weird draconian regulation Mikey wasn't allowed to speak on his own show. Instead a woman with a sexy voice, who was an authorized radio personality, would do all the introductions and song disclosures. Apparently she wouldn't stay the entire length of his show (which went until 4:30 in the morning) so Mr. Dread would record his own jingles and sound effects to break up the monotony of just playing endless tracks. Eventually Mikey began working more and more with the likes of Lee Perry, King Tubby, Joe Gibbs and other heavy hitters on the island and began recording tracks with them as well. We're all familiar with the World War III album from 1981 (AQ list #143), but he also put together a collection of his own tracks that he recorded over the years edited together to play like one of his radio shows and called Dread At The Controls. This collection is the dub equivalent of that set and features exclusive mixes by and for Mikey Dread that were recorded at Channel One, Joe Gibbs', Treasure Isle, and King Tubby's. Interspersed throughout are some of Mikey's jingles and promos and mixed into the tracks themselves are all of his crazy sound effects. This is very much a crucial dub record to own, up there with Pick A Dub and the Impact All Stars albums. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Saturday Night Style"
MPEG Stream: "Resignation Dub"
MPEG Stream: "Pre Dawn Dub"

MIKEY DREAD African Anthem Dubwise: The Mikey Dread Show (Auralux) 2lp 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mikey Dread is one of those cats from the history of Jamaican music that, while not as big a name as some, is about as responsible for bringing reggae to a greater world audience as anyone. In his early days Mikey Dread was a hero through his night job as the first DJ to broadcast reggae over the radio on JBC. He got the gig by convincing the station manager to let him start DJ'ing on the station (where he was working at the time) at 12am, when they normally would shut off the transmitter anyway. Due to some weird draconian regulation Mikey wasn't allowed to speak on his own show. Instead a women with a sexy voice, who was an authorized radio personality, would do all the introductions and song disclosures. Apparently she wouldn't stay the entire length of his show (which went until 4:30 in the morning) so Mr. Dread would record his own jingles and sound effects to break up the monotony of just playing endless tracks. Eventually Mikey began working more and more with the likes of Lee Perry, King Tubby, Joe Gibbs and other heavy hitters on the island and began recording tracks with them as well. We're all familiar with the World War III album from 1981 (AQ list #143), but he also put together a collection of his own tracks that he recorded over the years edited together to play like one of his radio shows and called Dread At The Controls. This collection is the dub equivalent of that set and features exclusive mixes by and for Mikey Dread that were recorded at Channel One, Joe Gibbs', Treasure Isle, and King Tubby's. Interspersed throughout are some of Mikey's jingles and promos and mixed into the tracks themselves are all of his crazy sound effects. This is very much a crucial dub record to own, up there with Pick A Dub and the Impact All Stars albums. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Saturday Night Style"
MPEG Stream: "Resignation Dub"
MPEG Stream: "Pre Dawn Dub"

MIKEY DREAD Roots & Culture (Dread At The Controls) 10" 9.98

MIKEY DREAD World War III (Ernie B) cd 16.98
Our friends over at Ernie B proudly present Mikey Dread's 1981 seminal album World War III. Though Mikey Dread earned a reputation in the mid-seventies Jamaica for being the first DJ in Jamaica (on the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation station) to play exclusively Jamaican artists, his international renown was sealed in 1980 when he worked with British punk band The Clash on several singles and their triple lp opus Sandinista. Featuring the newly formed Roots Radics band as back up and recorded by Scientist, WWIII is arguably the zenith work for Mikey Dread. Their influence on his work is not nearly as evident as Mikey's was on the Clash, so you won't hear any punk and or rock stylngs here. However, Dread's unique buzzing, nasal voice pierces through the mix with his mesmerizing chants in a way that could almost be described as punk in his own distinctively Jamaican way. The album's production itself is a prime example of the best eighties reggae had to offer: an excellent live studio band -- with some ridiculous great bass tones -- augmented by a plethora of engineering tricks and effects -- including the ubiquitous eighties Star-Trek-like synth explosions -- from Scientist. Along with the original 9 tracks that made up the album Ernie B has included 6 bonus dub tracks from the session. This release is, how you say, crucial.
RealAudio clip: "The Jumping Master"
RealAudio clip: "Mental Slavery"
RealAudio clip: "DATC Masterpiece"

MIKEY DREAD World War III (Dread At The Controls) lp 14.98
Our friends over at Ernie B proudly present Mikey Dread's 1981 seminal album World War III. Though Mikey Dread earned a reputation in the mid-seventies Jamaica for being the first DJ in Jamaica (on the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation station) to play exclusively Jamaican artists, his international renown was sealed in 1980 when he worked with British punk band The Clash on several singles and their triple lp opus Sandinista. Featuring the newly formed Roots Radics band as back up and recorded by Scientist, WWIII is arguably the zenith work for Mikey Dread. Their influence on his work is not nearly as evident as Mikey's was on the Clash, so you won't hear any punk and or rock stylngs here. However, Dread's unique buzzing, nasal voice pierces through the mix with his mesmerizing chants in a way that could almost be described as punk in his own distinctively Jamaican way. The album's production itself is a prime example of the best eighties reggae had to offer: an excellent live studio band -- with some ridiculous great bass tones -- augmented by a plethora of engineering tricks and effects -- including the ubiquitous eighties Star-Trek-like synth explosions -- from Scientist. Along with the original 9 tracks that made up the album Ernie B has included 6 bonus dub tracks from the session. This release is, how you say, crucial.
RealAudio clip: "The Jumping Master"
RealAudio clip: "Mental Slavery"
RealAudio clip: "DATC Masterpiece"

MIKO Parade (Plop) cd 17.98
While our Japanese section at AQ is known for its loud & noisy disposition, we know that there's another side to the wonderful sounds coming out of Japan and this record by Miko is some of the best shoegaze dream pop we've heard from -anywhere- in ages!
Like an amazing combination of everything we loved about The Softies and the first couple records by Mum, Miko uses electronics with such a tender and warm touch while crafting songs that Tujiko Noriko might make if she was on Too Pure or Creation. Swirling melodies that can be both hypnotic and playful, daydream vocals that transport us into wide open blue skies with the most lovely and fluffy soft clouds to roll around in.
What makes Parade such a special record is that unlike so much other dreampop that tends to become a bit monotonous over a whole album, there is enough variety, and really well paced, well crafted songwriting here that the record manages to always be enthralling and intriguing yet never too busy, never distracting from the ultimate beauty of these songs. The album makes us wish we could astrally transport ourselves to the Japanese countryside, floating over rolling hills of lush green grass where Miko plays her breathtaking songs, as we lay on our backs staring into the sky, as the wind takes us wherever it wants. So beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Parade"
MPEG Stream: "Jagajaga"
MPEG Stream: "Rocket"

MIKROKNYTES s/t (Crank Automotive) cd 12.98
Analog synths galore! This Washington DC duo mix electronics and violin to make some kraut-friendly (Conrad Schnitzler comes to mind) electro drones, with moments of melody and beats...very nice!
RealAudio clip: "Sonerone"
RealAudio clip: "Sawg Warz"

MILANESE Adapt (Planet Mu) cd 10.98
Extend by Milanese was hands down one of our favorite records of last year. A confusingly brilliant mashup of grime, dubstep, hip hop, big beat and jungle. Beats massive and filthy, loops and samples weird and fucked up and so goddamn perfect. Complicated and weird enough for armchair listening, but funky and groovy enough to send dancefloors into paroxysms of pleasure.
We weren't even expecting a follow up this soon, but this ep showed up and knocked us on our asses. If anything it's even cooler and more convoluted than the full length. It is mostly remixes after all. "Mr. Good News" (a version of a track off the full length) is a loping dubstep shuffle, with wailing sirens, super blown out synth stabs, pounding rhythms, and some demonic toasting over the top. "Sight Beyond Sight (Hardvision Remix)" is some skittering buzzing jungle, all super drilled out beats, and stuttering chopped rhythms. "Mr Bad News (Clark Remix)" is an even filthier, and slightly junglized version of the same track from Extend. "Barry Dub" might be our favorite track on the disc, a lurching mechanical dubbed out groove, with thick basslines, simple ultradistorted drums, and some seriously creepy vocals, intoning "Murder him..." among other things. "So Malleable (Cold Mix)" spends its first half sort of drifting and shimmering, but then launches into some killer raga dancehall drum and bass, with ominous strings and super clipped rhythms. "Double Face" is killer, a buzzing electro jam, but has some questionable diva like vocals and house-y synths. Then "Dead Man Walking (DJ Distance Remix)" probably our favorite track from Extend gets the remix treatment. The differences are subtle, the backing tracks a bit more streamlined and stripped down, and the vocals wrapped in strange metallic FX. And finally, "Billy Electron (Venger Remix)" is an old school electro hip hop jam, with cool weird synth melodies, and some ultra blown out buzzing synths and some crazy monster toasting. This stuff is so awesome!
It may be an ep, and it may be mostly remixes, but we'll take all the Milanese we can get...
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Good News"
MPEG Stream: "Barry Dub"

MILANESE Adapt (Planet Mu) 12" 7.98
Extend by Milanese was hands down one of our favorite records of last year. A confusingly brilliant mashup of grime, dubstep, hip hop, big beat and jungle. Beats massive and filthy, loops and samples weird and fucked up and so goddamn perfect. Complicated and weird enough for armchair listening, but funky and groovy enough to send dancefloors into paroxysms of pleasure.
We weren't even expecting a follow up this soon, but this ep showed up and knocked us on our asses. If anything it's even cooler and more convoluted than the full length. It is mostly remixes after all. "Mr. Good News" (a version of a track off the full length) is a loping dubstep shuffle, with wailing sirens, super blown out synth stabs, pounding rhythms, and some demonic toasting over the top. "Sight Beyond Sight (Hardvision Remix)" is some skittering buzzing jungle, all super drilled out beats, and stuttering chopped rhythms. "Mr Bad News (Clark Remix)" is an even filthier, and slightly junglized version of the same track from Extend. "Barry Dub" might be our favorite track on the disc, a lurching mechanical dubbed out groove, with thick basslines, simple ultradistorted drums, and some seriously creepy vocals, intoning "Murder him..." among other things. "So Malleable (Cold Mix)" spends its first half sort of drifting and shimmering, but then launches into some killer raga dancehall drum and bass, with ominous strings and super clipped rhythms. "Double Face" is killer, a buzzing electro jam, but has some questionable diva like vocals and house-y synths. Then "Dead Man Walking (DJ Distance Remix)" probably our favorite track from Extend gets the remix treatment. The differences are subtle, the backing tracks a bit more streamlined and stripped down, and the vocals wrapped in strange metallic FX. And finally, "Billy Electron (Venger Remix)" is an old school electro hip hop jam, with cool weird synth melodies, and some ultra blown out buzzing synths and some crazy monster toasting. This stuff is so awesome!
It may be an ep, and it may be mostly remixes, but we'll take all the Milanese we can get...
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Good News"
MPEG Stream: "Barry Dub"

MILANESE Barry Dub 2007 (Planet Mu) 12" 7.98

MILANESE Extend (Planet Mu) cd 14.98
This is hands down our favorite new grime / dubstep / what-the-fuck big beat sort-of-dance record. It's so heavy and fucked up and groovy and weird. Some impossibly tangled up mess of Jungle and grime, hip hop and dub step, IDM and full on dub, all pulled apart and reassembled into this fucking super tripped out, big beat, Frankensteinian dancefloor destroyer.
Every track is some sort of super stripped down grimey dubbed out slab of skitter and stutter. HUGE crunchy beats stretched into lazy loping hiccupping grooves, almost like some killer jungle 12" played at 16 rpm. But with all the guts and organs yanked out leaving massive skeletal rhythmic beasts. There are all sorts of strange sound effects and random sonic flares all over the place. But judiciously applied, leaving the overall sound still spacious and spare. That instantly recognizable Star Trek warning klaxon gets chopped into weird melodies, bits of bleep and bloop, swoosh and shimmer, drift and hover between the pummeling thump and skitter.
Beneath it all, some unbelievably MASSIVE, fuzzed out super-dense low end crunch, supporting occasional disembodied ragga toasting that gets all tangled up in the crunchy grinding beats. At one point a sweet lilting female vocal drifts into the picture but is soon crushed under some black hole heavy bass fuzz and spears of digital speaker shred, all the while a killer loping beat keeping heads nodding and toes tapping. Milanese is like some DJ cast into the pit, damned to an eternity of spinning nothing but demented demonic slow motion jungle dub for all of the other cursed souls writhing spastically on blackened dancefloors all over hell. You know what they say about Hell and Satan and all the best bands and tunes and all that, well, we can only imagine the same applies to DJ's and electronic music, and if you ever needed absolute proof, Milanese rises from a black breach in the ocean floor spewing broken beats and belching black fire, all to a killer freaked out funky stuttery apocalyptic soundtrack. So recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Bad News"
MPEG Stream: "Dead Man Walking"
MPEG Stream: "Caramel Cognac"

MILANESE Extend (Planet Mu) 2lp 17.98
This is hands down our favorite new grime / dubstep / what-the-fuck big beat sort-of-dance record. It's so heavy and fucked up and groovy and weird. Some impossibly tangled up mess of Jungle and grime, hip hop and dub step, IDM and full on dub, all pulled apart and reassembled into this fucking super tripped out, big beat, Frankensteinian dancefloor destroyer.
Every track is some sort of super stripped down grimey dubbed out slab of skitter and stutter. HUGE crunchy beats stretched into lazy loping hiccupping grooves, almost like some killer jungle 12" played at 16 rpm. But with all the guts and organs yanked out leaving massive skeletal rhythmic beasts. There are all sorts of strange sound effects and random sonic flares all over the place. But judiciously applied, leaving the overall sound still spacious and spare. That instantly recognizable Star Trek warning klaxon gets chopped into weird melodies, bits of bleep and bloop, swoosh and shimmer, drift and hover between the pummeling thump and skitter.
Beneath it all, some unbelievably MASSIVE, fuzzed out super-dense low end crunch, supporting occasional disembodied ragga toasting that gets all tangled up in the crunchy grinding beats. At one point a sweet lilting female vocal drifts into the picture but is soon crushed under some black hole heavy bass fuzz and spears of digital speaker shred, all the while a killer loping beat keeping heads nodding and toes tapping. Milanese is like some DJ cast into the pit, damned to an eternity of spinning nothing but demented demonic slow motion jungle dub for all of the other cursed souls writhing spastically on blackened dancefloors all over hell. You know what they say about Hell and Satan and all the best bands and tunes and all that, well, we can only imagine the same applies to DJ's and electronic music, and if you ever needed absolute proof, Milanese rises from a black breach in the ocean floor spewing broken beats and belching black fire, all to a killer freaked out funky stuttery apocalyptic soundtrack. So recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Bad News"
MPEG Stream: "Dead Man Walking"
MPEG Stream: "Caramel Cognac"

MILANESE Lockout (Planet Mu) cd 14.98
Milanese's Extend record from back in 2006 instantly became an all time aQ favorite. A total headspinning mix of old school jungle, hip hop, ragga, grime and who knows what else. A massive block rocking, dancefloor destroying, speaker shaking dancemusic freakout. We still throw that one on all the time. Then came Adapt, which was remixes, and took Extend and twisted it up and freaked it out evern MORE. And now we have Lockout, which seems like a proper new full length, although it's jam packed with remixes and guests and multiple versions, but right out of the gate, we're totally sold. Big phat buzz synth basslines, swooping space FX, and some super tweaked helium vocals, until part way through when everything shifts, the beats flip backwards, the tempo drops to half time, and a new vocalist joins the fray, his lazy flow perfectly matching the woozy buzzy lope. The second track is more of the same, a sort of supercharged junly techno, with a dash of dubstep, and some tongu twisting rapping over the top, the whole thing peppered with weird distorted tracheaotomy croaks and warped computer vox. And it just gets weirder and weirder and better and better.
Skittery hiccupping beats wrapped around creepy looped little girl voices, huge chopped jagged shards of low end, warped stumbling big beats, some twisted Tracy Morgan like flows, clipped sirens, clouds of squelch and glitch, a bunch of awesome samples and fractured melodies, a definite Sensational / Dr. Octagon vibe all over the place, as well as a gritty sheen of buzzy grime, a couple tracks dip their toes into diva / radio hip-pop, but even those jams are plenty tweaked.
Another winner for sure, and another record from Milanese that manages to go way beyond dubstep or grime or techno or hip hop or whatever other label you can come up with that barely begins to cover whatever the fuck is going on here. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Baby Blue Remix Ft. RQM & Oliver Grimball"
MPEG Stream: "Disclosure Ft. Ben Sharpa"
MPEG Stream: "The End (Off Mix)"

MILANESE Lockout (Planet Mu) 2x12" 12.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Milanese's Extend record from back in 2006 instantly became an all time aQ favorite. A total headspinning mix of old school jungle, hip hop, ragga, grime and who knows what else. A massive block rocking, dancefloor destroying, speaker shaking dancemusic freakout. We still throw that one on all the time. Then came Adapt, which was remixes, and took Extend and twisted it up and freaked it out evern MORE. And now we have Lockout, which seems like a proper new full length, although it's jam packed with remixes and guests and multiple versions, but right out of the gate, we're totally sold. Big phat buzz synth basslines, swooping space FX, and some super tweaked helium vocals, until part way through when everything shifts, the beats flip backwards, the tempo drops to half time, and a new vocalist joins the fray, his lazy flow perfectly matching the woozy buzzy lope. The second track is more of the same, a sort of supercharged junly techno, with a dash of dubstep, and some tongu twisting rapping over the top, the whole thing peppered with weird distorted tracheaotomy croaks and warped computer vox. And it just gets weirder and weirder and better and better.
Skittery hiccupping beats wrapped around creepy looped little girl voices, huge chopped jagged shards of low end, warped stumbling big beats, some twisted Tracy Morgan like flows, clipped sirens, clouds of squelch and glitch, a bunch of awesome samples and fractured melodies, a definite Sensational / Dr. Octagon vibe all over the place, as well as a gritty sheen of buzzy grime, a couple tracks dip their toes into diva / radio hip-pop, but even those jams are plenty tweaked.
Another winner for sure, and another record from Milanese that manages to go way beyond dubstep or grime or techno or hip hop or whatever other label you can come up with that barely begins to cover whatever the fuck is going on here. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Baby Blue Remix Ft. RQM & Oliver Grimball"
MPEG Stream: "Disclosure Ft. Ben Sharpa"
MPEG Stream: "The End (Off Mix)"

MILANESE Peggy Flynn (Baked Goods) 12" 11.98

MILANESE VS. VIRUS SYNDICATE Dead Man Walking (Planet Mu) 12" 10.98
Holy shit! More incredible grimey dubstep weirdness, this time from the mysterious Milanese who we had never heard of before, but who have teamed up with the Virus Syndicate, maybe one of our favorite grime outfits ever (we raved about their full length a while back), who are the perfect match for Milanese's ultra creepy dubbed out bass-scapes. The A side features huge thick ominous washes of low end rib cage rattling bass drone, over a strangely brittle dubbed out hip hop beat, it ends up sounding like some demented electronic haunted house music. Over the top, Virus Syndicate spit some super aggressive lyrical flow, all growly and raspy.
The B side has to be one of the weirdest tracks ever, a sun baked flamenco guitar, accompanied by handclaps, underpin a confusing flow of multiple vocals, all sort of swirling and smearing and bumping into one another. There is some sort of rhyme and reason but it's so amazingly confusional, each voice sort of stumbling all over the others, really bizarre sounding. And mixed in are all sorts of weird vocal tics incorporated into the rhythms, sudden inhalations or exhalations, lip smacking, all floating around amidst bits of tinkling bells and electronic chimes. Another record that has us almost reconsidering our no dance policy!

MILDEW Flat On The Face (Heart & Crossbone) cd-r 6.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Found a handful of these stashed away, pretty sure this is out of print now, so these are probably the last copies EVER of this chunk of head spinning sonic weirdness...
Another cd-r release from Heart and Crossbone, the label that brought us records from Israeli blackened spazz rock duo Barbara and one man thrash-grind band Cadaver Eyes. This Mildew cd-r is a bit high concept. The idea is that you download a script and the piece will play at random predetermined starting points, making the songs a bit different every time. Or something like that. Cool, huh? Musically this is a lot different that anything we've yet heard from Heart and Crossbone. All electronic, spastic programmed drums, squelching synths, occasional sampled metal guitars, jagged pounding industrial rhythms, moaning minor key melodies, brief spurts of drill and bass, some full on metal riffing sliced and diced, martial percussion, some blissed out dubbiness. Really cool. Definitely for fans of Aphex Twin, stuff on Planet Mu, or any of the more out there electronic stuff on Ulver's Jester label.
MPEG Stream: "Flat On The Face 1"
MPEG Stream: "Flat On The Face 2"

MILE END LADIES STRING AUXILIARY, THE From Cells of Roughest Air (Bangor) cd 14.98
What do you get when three ladies from groups like Godspeed You Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion come together to form a "string auxiliary"? One intense and beautiful album, that's what! With cello, viola and violin employed with full force, this is a record that maintains a compelling tension from start to finish. Almost what you would imagine Rhys Chatham, Glenn Branca or Steve Reich would come up with if they were to use a string ensemble to score a lost Hitchcock film. Suspense filled sounds played with a piercing perfection. Kind of like a more forceful version of the Rachels' with the same elegant touch but a punchier disposition. This is totally recommended! Came out a while back (last year) but we only just mangaged to get some more in, it's a Canadian import. Not sure when/if we'll be able to get more when we run out...
MPEG Stream: "Sequences of a Warm Front"
MPEG Stream: "Thunderheads and Radar"

MILEMARKER Anaesthetic (Jade Tree) cd 13.98
Chapel Hill, NC post-hardcore, synth rockers Milemarker sound as though they really want to rage but fall short on firepower. For instance, the angstful, aggressive male and female voices seem to be grasping for the Atari Teenage Riot umph that's just out of their reach. Nevertheless when they step back a bit, details like piano lines and driving rhythms shine through. This actually brought to mind Computer Cougar (especially the male vocals), The VSS or more recently The Faint.

MILES DEVENS (IGNATZ) Atlantic Woman (Pacific City Sound Visions) 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.
Elsewhere on this week's list you'll find the first release from the Monopoly Child Star Searchers, a Skaters side project that we have been digging like crazy, it's also the first release on a new cd-r label run by Spencer from The Skaters called Pacific City Sound Visions, mostly to release his Monopoly Child Star Searchers cd-r's, seeing as 4 of the first 5 releases are in fact his own records, but the 5th is by some mysterious entity called Miles Devens, which we later discovered was in fact another moniker for the fellow behind aQ faves Ignatz, which made perfect sense when we threw this one. And thus, this is essentially a new Ignatz record, two tracks of alien Appalachia and haunting ambient buzz.
Two tracks, each over twenty minutes long, but each, split into movements, separate songs woven together. The opener begins with haunting glimmering high end shimmer, soft sweet melodies, a sea of sparkle and upper register effulgence, strings buzzing, the track shifts into a sing songy little lullaby, all hushed vocals and tiny melodic curlicues, which are soon overtaken by some deep raga like buzz, a shimmering metallic whir laced with murmured melodies, a woozy warbly sprawl, which shifts again, and becomes a muted campfire hoedown, more hushed vocals, little flurries of acoustic twang, eventually giving way to a super distorted, lo-fi ballad, with mumbled vocals, angular guitar, and lots of gauzy reverb and delay.
The second track begins super spare, a lonely acoustic guitar, lots of room reverb, a slow hushed drift, dreamy and haunting. The second part is all frenzied guitar squiggle, like sped up Applachia, some drawled effected vocals, which gives way to a murky cloudy dreamy dronefolk drift, soft stately melodies, in a dense field of effects, vocals wrapped in reverb and allowed to float and flutter, the low end rolling off until the sound is like some alien shortwave broadcast, all twang and strum, but all treble, fading into a gorgeously murky swampy slow motion electronic drone outro.
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"

MILES, WYMOND Earth Has Doors (Sacred Bones) 12" 13.98
Earth Has Doors is the first solo record from Fresh & Onlys guitarist Wymond Miles, and while in many respects it's sonically similar to the F&O's mothership, Miles paints a much darker musical picture, twangy and dirgey, heavily reverbed, a little bit swampy and gothic sounding, Miles' vocals are haunting, deep and dramatic, and while these songs are heavily rooted in Miles' study of eschatology, anthroposophy, and Gnostic and Hermetic symbolism, one might not necessarily hear that, even on close listening, although the sounds here are most definitely dark and mysterious, reminding us at times of Scott Walker, Woven Hand, Mark Lanegan, and other similarly dark spirited songsmiths. Miles' vocals do definitely also remind us of Fresh & Onlys frontman Tim Cohen, which makes sense, and sonically, Miles's first foray is again not that far removed from his main band, which of course means F&O's fans will definitely dig, as long as they're prepared for a bit more darkness than they're used to. But that said, Earth Has Doors is its own dark beast, with some strange production, sweeping strings, buzzing synths, proggy arrangements, tribal percussion, lots of buzz and drone, some thick spaced out effects, as well as some surprisingly catchy songs, all wreathed in a darkness that somehow only makes these songs that much more appealing. Great stuff!!
MPEG Stream: "Temples Of Magick"
MPEG Stream: "Earth Has Doors, Let Them Open"

MILGRAM Vierhundertfunzig Volt (Pandaemonium) cd 13.98
Another release from our new favorite French label, that last brought us the amazing new Hint album reviewed last time, as well as Guapo, Double Nelson (above), etc. More conventionally "post-rock" a la Don Cab, June of 44...Good stuff for fans of that style of loud, rhythmically challenging mathy stuff. Pandaemonium is almost single-handedly changing the unfairly prejudiced view that almost everyone holds of the French rock scene (Magma excepted of course).

MILIEU A Warm Wooden Hollow (Infraction) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MILIEU Beyond the Sea (Infraction) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "The Singsong Waters Of An Endless Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Vibrant Shores, Horizons"

MILK 'N' COOKIES s/t (RPM) cd 16.98

MILK (SCORE BY DANNY ELFMAN) OST (Decca) cd 16.98

MILK CHOPPER The Secret Life of Numbers cd 9.98
Super sunshine indie pop in a very Beulah meets Pavement-esque fashion... It's San Francisco's Milk Chopper! Breezy boyish harmonies abound with a subtle bit of twang and snippets of sound samples shuffled in here and there. Quite a pleasing pop debut.
RealAudio clip: "Rubber Balls"

MILK CULT Project M-13 (0 To 1) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow -- one of the rare AQ Unanimous Staff Favorites. Ex-members of ye olde local band Steelpole Bathtub have put together this AMAZING Milk Cult record. Sounding nothing like Steelpole whatsoever, this is an experimental melange of dance, rock, and lounge music that's so f***ing accessible and so kickass serious fun that we sell a copy almost every time we play this in the store. It features everything from throaty French singers to earth-trembling bass to random noises and disco, plus lovely wailing guitar soloes, exotica, bird calls, you name it. The recipients of a French arts grant, Milk Cult spent a month recording "traditional Corsican singers; Buddhist chanters; Algerian folk improvisors; French folkies; industrial noisicians; rockers; jazzbos; hip hop artists; spoken word artists; electronics experimenters; a thirty-piece African orchestra; a Conch player; all of whom played along with backing tracks prepared by Milk Cult but never with each other..." The entire thing is put together so well it is seamless, and we predict you will love it. Highest recommendations for a record that really shouldn't be overlooked.

MILK FROM CHELTENHAM Triptych of Poisoners (Alga Marghen) cd 17.98

MILK MUSIC Beyond Living (Perennial) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We had been hearing about this for ages, local pop heroes the Ovens had been RAVING about it, as well as a million blogs, hailing these guys as the second coming. Of what you ask? Husker Du? Dinosaur Jr? The Wipers? All three is more like it, these guys offer up six songs in 21 minutes of buzzing, grungy, slightly sludgy ultra heavy indie pop, that takes that classic punk / pop sound, and adds some Torche-like heft, the guitar impossibly thick and crunchy and fuzzy, the songs hooky as hell, the vibe sorta washed out and woozy, a little druggy and laid back, the perfect mix of nineties guitar rock, eighties punk rock, and modern post punk heaviness, super emotive about-to-crack vox, and the solos, total J Mascis guitar tone, short and simple, just sort of mirroring the vocal melody, and then right back into it. Stripped down and simple, every jam a goddamn anthem, total windows down, stereo cranked, feeling young again, summer jam bliss, and fuck, if a band like the Ovens, who write catchy pop songs like it ain't nothing, lose their minds over a band, proclaiming them THE BEST EVER, well, then, you know you better figure out what the fuck is up, and what the fuck is up, is that this just might be your new favorite band.
MPEG Stream: "Fertile Ground"
MPEG Stream: "Beyond Living"

MILK MUSIC Cruise Your Illusion (Fat Possum) cd 13.98
Milk Music's Beyond Living lp was the sort of record we could barely keep in stock. The band hyped to high heaven for ages before we actually heard them, but somehow, when we finally did get an earful, it more than lived up to all that hype, an explosive hybrid of classic nineties indie rock, fuzzed out noise pop, equal parts Dinosaur Jr, Husker Du, the Wipers, and fuck, pretty much every band we've loved from the last four decades. Fuzzy and hooky and heavy, jangly and crunchy, super melodic and crazy catchy. But still pretty goddamn punk. Which is why we were pretty surprised when we discovered their new record was on Fat Possum, home to the Black Keys among others. But then they were sort of primed for mainstream success anyway. And while we're definitely digging Cruise Your Illusion, the group's sound has changed a lot. At first blush, it's way less fierce and furious, more laid back and fuzzed out. The Dinosaur vibe is huge, right down to the guitar tone, fat and buzz drenched and blown out. Not to mention the fact that once we're 3 or 4 minutes into the record we're already in full on psychedelic guitar jam territory. But you know what? It suits them, and it still sound pretty great, you just have to prepare yourself for something a little less sweat soaked and headbangable, it's more that sort of bounce up and down, nod along nineties style college rock jangle, there's definitely a big shoegaze vibe going on too, with some of the songs boasting explosive tranced out riff heavy blissouts, but for every one of those ("Cruising With God") there's another shuffly jangly groover ("Crosstown Wanderer"). We're tempted to think these guys are actually engaged in a super high concept musical hoax, but if that's the case, why are some of these songs so goddamn great!
The vocals too, way higher in the mix than last time, wavery quavery keening about-to-break sad boy indie rock vocals, reminding us again of Dinosaur, but of course also early Soul Asylum (back when they were GREAT), and in fact, there's a huge Soul Asylum / Replacements / Husker Du feel to the whole record, which is most definitely not a bad thing. We'd be surprised if folks who dug Beyond Living didn't dig this too, but in some cases, it could be borderline too jangly and indie poppy. But for folks who love that era, and that sound, there's probably not a new band doing that old sound better than these guys.
MPEG Stream: "Caged Dogs Run Wild"
MPEG Stream: "Illegal And Free"
MPEG Stream: "Cruising With God"
MPEG Stream: "I've Got A Wild Feeling"
MPEG Stream: "Runaway"

MILK MUSIC Cruise Your Illusion (Milk Music) lp 16.98
NOW ALSO ON SELF-RELEASED VINYL! Fat Possum cd version listed last time, thusly:
Milk Music's Beyond Living lp was the sort of record we could barely keep in stock. The band hyped to high heaven for ages before we actually heard them, but somehow, when we finally did get an earful, it more than lived up to all that hype, an explosive hybrid of classic nineties indie rock, fuzzed out noise pop, equal parts Dinosaur Jr, Husker Du, the Wipers, and fuck, pretty much every band we've loved from the last four decades. Fuzzy and hooky and heavy, jangly and crunchy, super melodic and crazy catchy. But still pretty goddamn punk. Which is why we were pretty surprised when we discovered their new record was on Fat Possum, home to the Black Keys among others. But then they were sort of primed for mainstream success anyway. And while we're definitely digging Cruise Your Illusion, the group's sound has changed a lot. At first blush, it's way less fierce and furious, more laid back and fuzzed out. The Dinosaur vibe is huge, right down to the guitar tone, fat and buzz drenched and blown out. Not to mention the fact that once we're 3 or 4 minutes into the record we're already in full on psychedelic guitar jam territory. But you know what? It suits them, and it still sound pretty great, you just have to prepare yourself for something a little less sweat soaked and headbangable, it's more that sort of bounce up and down, nod along nineties style college rock jangle, there's definitely a big shoegaze vibe going on too, with some of the songs boasting explosive tranced out riff heavy blissouts, but for every one of those ("Cruising With God") there's another shuffly jangly groover ("Crosstown Wanderer"). We're tempted to think these guys are actually engaged in a super high concept musical hoax, but if that's the case, why are some of these songs so goddamn great!
The vocals too, way higher in the mix than last time, wavery quavery keening about-to-break sad boy indie rock vocals, reminding us again of Dinosaur, but of course also early Soul Asylum (back when they were GREAT), and in fact, there's a huge Soul Asylum / Replacements / Husker Du feel to the whole record, which is most definitely not a bad thing. We'd be surprised if folks who dug Beyond Living didn't dig this too, but in some cases, it could be borderline too jangly and indie poppy. But for folks who love that era, and that sound, there's probably not a new band doing that old sound better than these guys.
MPEG Stream: "Caged Dogs Run Wild"
MPEG Stream: "Illegal And Free"
MPEG Stream: "Cruising With God"
MPEG Stream: "I've Got A Wild Feeling"
MPEG Stream: "Runaway"

MILKWOOD TAPESTRY s/t (Gear Fab) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Debut album from 1969 sees itself reissued on disc. This NYC-based duo were popular for their tender ballads played out on classical and acoustic guitar and cello, with the added flourishes of maracas and harpsichord, and appropriately fey vocals. Will not only appeal to fans of the Incredible String Band, but also fans of Belle and Sebastian. An essential purchase only for those of you intrepid scholars of psychedelic esoterica.
RealAudio clip: "Wonderous Fairy Tale"
RealAudio clip: "Signs of the Invisible Chalk"

MILLENNIUM, THE Begin (Sundazed) lp 21.00

MILLENNIUM, THE Magic Time: The Millennium / Ballroom Recordings (Sundazed) cd 38.00
Here's an apparently much sought-after rarity now reissued (thanks again to the fine folks at Sundazed), that we have to confess we'd never heard of until now. But that's one of the great things about reissues, isn't it? And as reissues go, this one's a doozy: three discs of sugary, sunshiney psychedelic pop dating from 1965-1968, produced by the interrelated studio groups The Millennium, The Ballroom, Sagittarius, Summer's Children, and others (all creations of, among others, songwriter/producer Curt Boettcher, a man whose work we're told Brian Wilson was stunned by). Demos, singles, instrumentals, unreleased alternate takes, plus the full albums (Ballroom's "s/t" and The Millennium's "Begin") from these guys: it's all here. And it's all pretty great -- magical, even. Often dreamy. Well, sometimes goofy too (unfortunately reminding us of that "Drugsachusetts" Kroft Super Show parody sketch from Mr. Show!). Ok, if you're not in the mood, it'll make you vomit, but if song titles like "Dancing Dandelion", "Sunshine Today", "Milk And Honey", and "Karmic Dream Sequence" make you smile, then you'll want to have this for those special moments when today's Elephant 6 output just doesn't cut it. (And by that we mean to suggest that if you're a fan of Olivia Tremor Control or Apples in Stereo, you'll find so much to love here -- the music is as sweet as the Olivias but with a really good grit to it too.)
62 tracks total, that's almost 3 hours of material, all direct from the original analog tapes in Columbia's vaults. This massive reissue package, which includes extensive liner notes and many photos as well as those three compact discs of geniune genius '60s "Soft Pop" music, was assembled with the active cooperation of the original musicians.
RealAudio clip: THE BALLROOM "Love's Fatal Way"
RealAudio clip: THE MILLENNIUM "To Claudia On Thursday"
RealAudio clip: THE BALLROOM "Magic Time"

MILLER, ANDY 33 1/3 Series: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (Continuum) book 9.95
Finally got a new batch of these amazing books, tailor made for us music geeks. Super in depth examinations of some of our favorite records! The cool thing is that they're not just the same old rehashed stories about the bands or artists, and who they slept with and where they grew up (although we like those too!), instead they're about the creation of those specific albums. The writers go really deep into every facet of the creation. The writing is often quite dense and so informative. Like a Mojo article expanded a hundred fold! We wanted to give each one an in depth review, but they are all so good and they keep coming fast and furious so we figured we oughta just list em. Basically, if you love the record, you're definitely gonna want the book! Also got the Joe Pernice Meat Is Murder book back in stock as well as Andrew Hulktrans's book about Love's masterpiece Forever Changes. And if you're anything like the music geeks here, you're gonna want all of em! Future volumes include My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, Radiohead's OK Computer, Jethro Tull's Aqualung.

MILLER, JOHNNY Your Shining Path (Bickering Bray) cd-r 8.98
It's a sad story, but it continues to happen, someone sends us an amazing record, one what will no doubt blow our minds, one that we won't be able to help but want to share with all of you, one that begs to be reviewed and hyped to high heaven, but then that single amazing record, somehow slips through the cracks, ends up in a box, in a closet, on the floor, in a pile, and sadly, sometimes disappears forever, but thankfully, like it this case, miraculously makes its way back from the great beyond.
We were going through piles of cd-r's, from boxes that had been piling up, and we came across this mysterious disc, adorned with a strange bearded mystic, painted with a third eye, a triangle superimposed over his face, that photo affixed to a cool looking digipak, surrounded by a mandala of some sort, lots of pyramid imagery, a Japanese style obi, and some strings with bells attached. We threw it on, and BLAM, totally mesmerizing tripped out raga like trance, the opening track alone, the 17 minute title track we ended up playing over and over. Andee loved it so much he played it on his radio show, after which he seemingly randomly emailed a friend of his, to ask if he knew anything about said record. To which that friend responded "I SENT YOU THAT RECORD. TWO YEARS AGO!!!"
After enduring a bit of well deserved mockery, it was time to get down to business, and track some of these down for the store, and for YOU. Johnny Miller was a new name to us, but he played in a Chicago psych-kraut combo called Sadhu Sadhu, who we have yet to review on the list, but from whose ranks recent aQ Record Of The Weekers the Great Society Mind Destroyers were born. Miller though doesn't traffic in the same sort of blown out psychedelic heaviness as TGSMD, no all that shamanistic imagery was our first clue, but Miller is more about serious blissed out raga-drone, looped cyclical mesmer, heady ur-drone shimmer, and abstract free folk drift. The aforementioned title track is one of the greatest things we've ever heard, laying down a thick, slowly undulating sheet of high end shimmer, sounding like a dreamier more soft focus Sunroof!, underneath which, Miller lays down a mesmerizing latticework of melodies and rhythms, playful and looped, circular and cyclical, it adds a subtle bit of propulsion, to the otherwise seemingly weightless drift, he also adds soft swoops of backwards guitar, it's really utterly divine, and we say it a lot, but this is the sort of song that should probably go on forever, and we like to think does, somewhere.
But the cool thing about Miller's record is precisely that it does NOT just do that, instead, it's surprisingly varied, layering tinkling thumb piano melodies over wheezing harmoniums, wreathing simple steel string strum in clouds of simpler percussion and softly swirling tape hiss, unfurling spare, dreamlike Appalachian folk, bare and unadorned, simple and beautifully hushed, and unleashing some churning heavily distorted riffage beneath a glimmering sky of hypnotic looped electronics and buzzing synths, sounding like a fantastic hybrid of Zomes and Amps For Christ. The other epic here, a gorgeous 12 minute sprawl, does return to the sound of the opener, but adds some gorgeous crooned chantlike vocals, the result like some ancient spiritual ritual revved up and modernized, a buzz drenched blissed out mountain top raga.
LIMITED TO JUST 50 COPIES!! Each one in a hand numbered cardstock digipak, hand painted, silkscreened and stamped, with a Japanese style obi, a folded full color origami like insert, and a little string with bells hanging from the spine!
MPEG Stream: "Your Shining Path"
MPEG Stream: "Pt. 3 The Jeweled Vial"
MPEG Stream: "Casting A Stream Of Light On The Tongue Of God"

MILLER, LLOYD A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz (Jazzman) cd 17.98
We first heard Lloyd Miller on that amazing Spiritual Jazz compilation we reviewed recently, and while pretty much every track was a killer, Miller's "Gol-E Gandom" definitely stood out, beginning with a santur solo, that sounded like a sea of buzzing sitars, until the jazz kicked in, bopping bass, fluid piano, shuffling rhythms, somehow following the melody laid out by the opening santur solo. So magical. We were smitten and were dying to hear more. Luckily, Jazzman endeavored to put together this amazing collection of Miller's various recordings, which was no small feat, considering that even after a lifetime playing jazz, most of these songs were only available on super limited self released records, which made it into fewer hands, and ears, that would seem right considering the power and originality of Miller's music.
He grew up in America, but his father was transferred to Iran, so his family moved there when Miller was 19, and they lived there for 5 years. Then Miller finally moved to Europe, to pursue jazz, after all, Europe was where it was happening, he landed in Germany, later heading to Switzerland, all the while creating these amazing, and mostly unheard pieces, incorporating an incredible array of ethnic instruments with some seriously intense and inspired jazz.
While some of the tracks here sound like straight up jazz, flecked with bits of ethnic instrumentation, others are totally far out. "Le Grand Bidou" finds his group riffing on a single chord, while Miller inserts an Indian style tonic drone played on the micro organ, and the result is bizarre, the whole track twists and squirms and heaves, it's an odd fit, but fit it does, we can only imagine how freaked out purists must have been. and frustrated, considering the caliber of playing, but it's these twisted takes on standard jazz that makes this stuff so magical, and the fact that this was the late fifties / early sixties, it's a wonder Miller didn't become a sensation. This stuff is radical, revolutionary, considering how important the incorporation of African music and instruments into jazz became (Don Cherry, Art Ensemble), how is it that this wasn't equally if not more radical? A white kid from Utah, with impeccable jazz chops, playing all sorts of Turkish and Persian instruments, wrapping standard jazz tropes around Indian arrangements, kind of mindblowing even now.
The liner notes are super detailed, and Miller's life is fascinating, but it's really about the music, and as much as we dig jazz, and fancy ourselves, if not experts, at least super fans, we had NEVER heard Miller before that comp, and this stuff is so cool, and so unlike ANYTHING we've ever heard, from the instrumentation, to the arrangements, to modal systems, some of the tracks are Indian ragas transformed, others seem to eschew the jazz completely and sound like some mysterious magical world music, but it's where the two elements mesh where things get truly magical, tablas underpinning pianos, strange horns droning over upright bass and shuffling percussion, all woven deftly into a strain of jazz that is wholly unique and original. So fantastic, and so utterly and wholeheartedly recommended. Easily THE jazz reissue of the year, if not the decade!
MPEG Stream: "Gol-E Gandom"
MPEG Stream: "Gozel Guzler"
MPEG Stream: "Hue Wail"

MILLER, LLOYD & THE HELIOCENTRICS OST (Strut) cd 13.98
A while back we reviewed a collection from unsung jazz legend Lloyd Miller, called A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz, which was a huge hit around here. We had become obsessed with Miller after hearing a track from him on the amazing Spiritual Jazz compilation (the second volume of which is out now, check out the 'in stock not yet reviewed' section of this week's list!), and the collection only furthered that obsession. The songs on that comp represented a sampling of Miller's eclectic and lengthy career, the music a killer fusion of classic jazz, Indian style drones, Eastern melodies, Turkish and Persian folk music, it's heady nearly psychedelic stuff, experimental and far out, but still emotional and grounded in classic jazz. So we were super excited to discover this new record, and were under the impression that it was in fact another collection or some sort of reissue, but is actually a brand new record which finds Miller recording with a UK collective called the Heliocentrics, whose sound seems to be a sort of Sun Ra worshipping psychedelic spiritual jazz, a sound that meshes with Miller's perfectly, so much so, that even listening to this, it wasn't until we read more about the record that we realized it wasn't a collection of vintage recordings. Which definitely speaks to the performances here. A modern production is really the only thing that might mark this as modern, otherwise, Miller and the Heliocentrics unwind longform jazz epics that alternately brood and soar, rife with all manner of unlikely instrumentation, strange melodies surfacing here and there, fluttering flutes, haunting vibes, delicate piano, some incredible drumming, hints of the Eastern musics that so informed Miller's older work abound, with some of the tracks slipping into full on ragas, while others flit from darkly meditative to wild and skronky, a few tracks are redone versions of old Miller tunes, but the originals are just as good.
Some seriously beautiful modern spiritual jazz for sure. And apparently the Heliocentrics also made a record with Ethiopian jazz legend Mulatu Astatke, which we're definitely gonna have to track down now!
MPEG Stream: "Electricone"
MPEG Stream: "Nava"
MPEG Stream: "Sunda Sunset"