NJIQAHDDA Yrg Alms (Pagan Flames) cd 9.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
This awesome UNblack metal favorite finally back in stock!!
It's been a while since we've listed any UNblack metal, the twisted Christian variant of the more traditionally heathen black strain of metal that we hold so near and dear to our black withered hearts. But as longtime readers of the aQ list no doubt know by now, we LOVE unblack metal, not necessarily for the message (we don't love black metal for its message either), but instead, the sound of unblack metal is so far out, so far removed from the tired tropes of BM, not sure if it's divine inspiration, or just the particular group of unblack metallers we tend to be drawn to, but it seems like the unblack tends to be weirder and more warped than the black in most cases, and thus, we've found ourselves looking to the UNdark side for that which our musical soul yearns for.
This latest slab of abstract experimental UNblackness, comes courtesy of aQ faves Njiqahdda, which just so happens to be the work of the man behind a bunch of other aQ unblack faves including Light Shall Prevail, Agathothodion, Glaciial and others. Which already meant this was gonna be some seriously experimental, evocative buzzing brilliance. Which it is, we're happy to report, but much has changed, the sound here is much prettier, much more stripped down, with less of an emphasis on buzz and blast, and more on mood and texture, ambience and emotion.
The epic 15 minute opener, is all jangly clean guitar, and wild drumming, at least in the beginning, the song soon explodes into something much more black, but after the initial burst, it sort of smoothes out, and instead of being crushing and punishing, it's hypnotic and mesmerizing, there are still harsh vocals, but the buzz is smoothed out, and the melody is lilting and melancholic, not hard to imagine this song could be stripped down to a gorgeous hazy drone, without losing to much of it's actual form and structure. The follow up skips the buzz entirely, and offers up a bit of dreamy, slightly gothic indie jangle, a sort of sweetly minor key post rock, wrapped in a light haze of shimmery ambience.
The next two tracks look back to the opener, both lengthy drone drenched black metal jams, with that muted buzz, tangled guitar harmonies, and super catchy melodies, both, even at their heaviest, manage to remain poppy and melodic, that blend, and the push and pull between light and dark, is what makes those tracks so emotional and powerful.
The closing track is an extended dronescape of whirling haze, shimmering high end, and deep cavernous rumbles, it almost sounds like a field recording set to music, one can almost visualize, the epic forests, the moon reflecting off the water, the glimmer of starlight on the frost covered branches, quite beautiful, and a fitting finish to a strangely beautiful batch of buzzing washed out unblack post metal.
MPEG Stream: "Ingratuu Maate Lagentii"
MPEG Stream: "Sombre Fortu"
MPEG Stream: "Abyssii Iiortuu Liomaatiin"

NMPERIGN 44'33"/5 (Twisted Village) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Spare, cacophonous improv trio of trumpet, sax and percussion. From Boston, but with both downtown New York and downtown (?) Tokyo credentials.

NMS Imperial Letters Of Protection (Big Dada) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Chess With The Galaxies"
MPEG Stream: "Strike Back"

NO Moongoon (Drone Records) 7" 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Drone Records -- run by Stefan Knappe of Troum and Maeror Tri -- exclusively produces seven inches mostly by emerging artists who specialize in expressive drone work (hence the label name). While there is something to be said for Drone's dedication to unknown artists, the work that comes from the ongoing series tends to be some of the best work from each of the artists' respective catalogues. This definitely includes more familiar names such as Reynols (with their infamous '10,000 Chicken Symphony'), Francisco Lopez, Spear, and Osso Exotico; but also lesser known artists such as Klood and Tarkatak. Drone tends to make small runs of these singles (usually about 250 copies and with handmade covers) and they always go fast.
This is certainly one of the more curious 7"s from the Drone series, as No offers a series of vacant compositions for whispy synthetic trills, nervous vibrations offering the faintest shadow of a melody, and plinking piano reminiscent of Nurse With Wound's "A Missing Sense" or the Robert Ashley inspired tracks from "Automating Volume One." An interesting detour from this series that tends to center around the densely packed layers of dark guitar ambience from Knappe's Troum and Maeror Tri. Limited to 250 copies.

NO + TARKATAK s/t (Dach) 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.
Tarkatak really just needs to release a proper CD, as the project is clearly good enough to warrant putting out at least 500 copies or so. Yet, this collaboration between Tarkatak and No is another CD-R production, limited to 100 copies. Both Tarkatak and No are grim German post-industrial outfits, with Tarkatak following the Maeror Tri / Troum sound (which resulted producing a very nice single for Troum's Drone Records) and No taking more of a power electronic / death ambient approach. Two tracks of deep drones from timestretched field recordings by Tarkakat, two blistering John Duncan-esque noise cuts from No, and a remix of both artists by Tarkatak.

NO AGE Eraser (Sub Pop) 7" 3.98
It's no secret that we loved the full-length from LA's so-so-good punk noiseniks No Age, released on Fat Cat. But, it was just a collection of 7"s releases and we've been fiending for an actual album ever since! After all the hype -- albeit well-deserved -- and exposure, can they live up to our expectations? Well, this 7" is STILL not an album, but it is a taste of what should be in store. Side one is a brand spanking new track, full of all the same warmth and fun of Weirdo Rippers, but with a back porch style, knee slapping sing-a-long drive to it that makes us want to call our friends, meet up at the park, and run around like 14 year olds. Side two offers three songs. Kinda. It's three cover songs. What are they trying to do to us? No Age, you're a bunch of teases. Just put out a real record! We know you've got more songs! Ah, well, the covers include tracks by Nate Denver's Neck, The Urinals, and The Nerves. If you're a fan of fun, pick one up, and join us in vigil awaiting their Sub Pop album Nouns coming out soon (May 6th!). It better not be a covers record, but, anyway, this 7" is totally recommended.

NO AGE Everything In Between (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
Lots of bands these days have a really cool sound, tapping into other eras of music ('80s, punk, etc.), and are just very likable, but not many of them have a core and soul that you can really latch on to. No Age stand so far above the crowd in that respect as the music they create just bubbles over with so much pure conviction. From their beginnings they were a band who helped remind us that punk energy and spirit could still be channeled in really fresh and invigorating ways. And like all the truly great punk bands who matter, they make music that makes you sweat, yet gives you goosebumps at the same time. There is just something so fucking honest and immediate about their presence that you can't really put your finger on but you just feel with total trust and devotion.
Everything In Between, continues their streak of seriously on fire top notch releases. While it's only their second true album, the mark they have already made in the music scene is kind of incredible. They really are one of the last bands who have come up in the organic way that we think still really suits bands in the long run. They weren't just an overnight blog hype band who never played live and were already huge. But instead they really helped foster a true sense of (non-virtual) community in Los Angles, playing as many all-ages shows as possible and packing up the van and rocking tiny clubs and basements from coast to coast so many times. That work ethic and commitment really has deeply affected the music they make. They aren't about being super cool or the most lo-fi or weird band around, but instead you just know they are pouring every once of themselves into making music that they love and believe in so much. This album is kind of making us fall in love with them all over again. It's got the same kind of fast and addictive adrenaline rush as their past releases, but there is also more crunchy guitar and a really heartfelt and honest lyrical delivery that is making this one of those records that feels like someone got in your head and wrote songs that are anthems for both the greatest joys and deepest agonies of your life. So fucking great!
MPEG Stream: "Life Prowler"
MPEG Stream: "Fever Dreaming"
MPEG Stream: "Dusted"
MPEG Stream: "Depletion"

NO AGE Everything In Between (Sub Pop) 2lp 24.00
Lots of bands these days have a really cool sound, tapping into other eras of music ('80s, punk, etc.), and are just very likable, but not many of them have a core and soul that you can really latch on to. No Age stand so far above the crowd in that respect as the music they create just bubbles over with so much pure conviction. From their beginnings they were a band who helped remind us that punk energy and spirit could still be channeled in really fresh and invigorating ways. And like all the truly great punk bands who matter, they make music that makes you sweat, yet gives you goosebumps at the same time. There is just something so fucking honest and immediate about their presence that you can't really put your finger on but you just feel with total trust and devotion.
Everything In Between, continues their streak of seriously on fire top notch releases. While it's only their second true album, the mark they have already made in the music scene is kind of incredible. They really are one of the last bands who have come up in the organic way that we think still really suits bands in the long run. They weren't just an overnight blog hype band who never played live and were already huge. But instead they really helped foster a true sense of (non-virtual) community in Los Angles, playing as many all-ages shows as possible and packing up the van and rocking tiny clubs and basements from coast to coast so many times. That work ethic and commitment really has deeply affected the music they make. They aren't about being super cool or the most lo-fi or weird band around, but instead you just know they are pouring every once of themselves into making music that they love and believe in so much. This album is kind of making us fall in love with them all over again. It's got the same kind of fast and addictive adrenaline rush as their past releases, but there is also more crunchy guitar and a really heartfelt and honest lyrical delivery that is making this one of those records that feels like someone got in your head and wrote songs that are anthems for both the greatest joys and deepest agonies of your life. So fucking great!
MPEG Stream: "Life Prowler"
MPEG Stream: "Fever Dreaming"
MPEG Stream: "Dusted"
MPEG Stream: "Depletion"

NO AGE Glitter (Sub Pop) 7" 5.98
The always-on-fire LA duo are back with a new album on the horizon, and to get us all excited for it, we've got both a 2-song new 7" and a 3-song new 12" featuring the single "Glitter" which will be on the new album as well as some non-album tracks. (The B-sides on the 7" and 12" are different btw!)
These new songs find No Age continuing to evolve yet holding on to the core of their sound. Compared to their past releases these are mid-paced tracks but they're still infused with No Age's punk spirited energy and cool noisy and nuanced guitar. We're hearing some echoes of Mission Of Burma, The Feelies, and Rites Of Spring.... Can't wait for the full length but these slabs of wax will tide us over until then!

NO AGE Glitter (Sub Pop) 12" 9.98
The always-on-fire LA duo are back with a new album on the horizon, and to get us all excited for it, we've got both a 2-song new 7" and a 3-song new 12" featuring the single "Glitter" which will be on the new album as well as some non-album tracks. (The B-sides on the 7" and 12" are different btw!)
These new songs find No Age continuing to evolve yet holding on to the core of their sound. Compared to their past releases these are mid-paced tracks but they're still infused with No Age's punk spirited energy and cool noisy and nuanced guitar. We're hearing some echoes of Mission Of Burma, The Feelies, and Rites Of Spring.... Can't wait for the full length but these slabs of wax will tide us over until then!

NO AGE Losing Feeling EP (Sub Pop) 12" 13.98
No Age have always lovingly worn their influences (and their hearts) right there on their sleeves for all to see, and of those influences, we can't think of a band who has shaped No Age's sound more than Husker Du, so it was perfect that at a recent appearance here in San Francisco No Age were joined by Bob Mould during their encore to perform "New Day Rising"!
No Age's love of Husker Du continues to shine as this new 12" finds them balancing their washed out and more atmospheric tendencies along side all out HD-like burners, especially the record's standout closer "You're A Target". No Age are one of the few super hyped bands that truly deserve their success and popularity, breathing new life into a punk aesthetic and infusing their noisy chaotic rock with more atmospheric shoegaze-y elements. It's not surprising how many bands have formed in just the last couple of years who have been clearly influenced by No Age.
As always the packaging and art are totally great, and while this won't be coming out on cd, the record does come with a digital download.

NO AGE Nouns (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
We're all geeks here at Aquarius. There is no way around it. Japanese this, Finnish that, some grim black metal album recorded in a garbage can in the Norwegian woods, whatever. But we still really love getting a great pop/punk/shoegaze album. And if you can stomach the idea of saying that for once, "the hype" isn't completely unfounded, then No Age might just be your band. Now, as we plod through Spring, looking toward Summer, nothing is more important than a good warm weather soundtrack! Enter Nouns, No Age's first full-length release brought to us by Sub Pop. Well, Fat Cat compiled the duo's first handful of 7"s in a full-length format, entitled Weirdo Rippers, but this is their first complete album proper. As you may know or guess, Weirdo was a bit patchy, which worked in its favor, really. The start stop action propelled it more than might be expected. So, for this release one could only be curious: What the hell will a No Age record sound like, and what kind of flow will it have? The width and breadth of their sound remains just as large - one part sloppy '90s punk and one part My Bloody Valentine - but there is a greater sense of cohesion. The qualities and characteristics of the recording itself are more consistent too. Also, there is a noticeable increase in the number of guitar layers as well, which means some more complex melodies. There's even a guitar "solo" at one point. Do it. Now's the time. Put on the new No Age record, go in your closet, grab your Chuck Taylors, grab a Mountain Dew - or some other highly caffeinated beverage - and have a pre-Summer Summertime party. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Teen Creeps"
MPEG Stream: "Keechie"

NO AGE Nouns (Sub Pop) lp 14.98
We're all geeks here at Aquarius. There is no way around it. Japanese this, Finnish that, some grim black metal album recorded in a garbage can in the Norwegian woods, whatever. But we still really love getting a great pop/punk/shoegaze album. And if you can stomach the idea of saying that for once, "the hype" isn't completely unfounded, then No Age might just be your band. Now, as we plod through Spring, looking toward Summer, nothing is more important than a good warm weather soundtrack! Enter Nouns, No Age's first full-length release brought to us by Sub Pop. Well, Fat Cat compiled the duo's first handful of 7"s in a full-length format, entitled Weirdo Rippers, but this is their first complete album proper. As you may know or guess, Weirdo was a bit patchy, which worked in its favor, really. The start stop action propelled it more than might be expected. So, for this release one could only be curious: What the hell will a No Age record sound like, and what kind of flow will it have? The width and breadth of their sound remains just as large - one part sloppy '90s punk and one part My Bloody Valentine - but there is a greater sense of cohesion. The qualities and characteristics of the recording itself are more consistent too. Also, there is a noticeable increase in the number of guitar layers as well, which means some more complex melodies. There's even a guitar "solo" at one point. Do it. Now's the time. Put on the new No Age record, go in your closet, grab your Chuck Taylors, grab a Mountain Dew - or some other highly caffeinated beverage - and have a pre-Summer Summertime party. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Teen Creeps"
MPEG Stream: "Keechie"

NO AGE Sick People Are Safe (Deleted Art) lp 14.98

NO AGE Teen Creeps (Sub Pop) 7" 3.98

NO AGE Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
Remember why you fell in love with punk rock? The fearless spirit, the ethos, the sweat, the youthful energy, the conviction, the elation. Remember why you eventually got bored with punk rock? The predictability, the empty slogans, the forced posturing, the generic delivery. Well lucky for many of us past punkers, No Age are doing an amazing job of reminding us of a time when it felt like punk rock could save lives.
No Age (not to be confused with the nineties musical movement) are a duo from Los Angeles who have gained a cult-following for their totally engaging and sweat filled live shows. Wild performances on their home turf, at the tiny LA club The Smell, are legendary. They've also put out a handful of kick ass, but now impossible to find 7"s. But lucky for those of us who missed the boat on those 45's, Fat Cat has put them all together on this here cd. Now we know why people have been freaking out over this band.
Imagine a youthful exuberance that feels so pure and sincere by guys who love Black Flag and Fugazi as much as they do My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. In fact there's a lot about No Age that makes us think of prime-era Husker Du, all kinds of great lo-fi feedback and shoegaze moments infused with some serious punk rock spirit. Unpredictable and so immediate, for once the hype is totally right!
MPEG Stream: "Boy Void"
MPEG Stream: "I Wanna Sleep"
MPEG Stream: "Everybody's Down"

NO BALLS Problems That Will Solve Themselves (Diskad) 7" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Four more short sharp blasts of grinding, cyclical, mesmerizing, crusty, repetitive blown out, in the red hypnorock heaviness from No Balls, a minimally maximalist offshoot of the mighty Brainbombs, taking single parts, and locking them and looping them into (im)proper songs, pounding away relentlessly, total caveman headbanger post punk sludge rock, and some of the raddest shit we've ever heard. Obviously if you love the Brainbombs, you're probably gonna dig this too. The same gnarled filthy riffage, the same sort of Neanderthal drum pound, but No Balls are definitely their own demented beast, howled vocals buried in the mix, occasional damaged psychedelic guitar leads, the sound thick and dense and powerful, heavy and punk as fuck, but also weirdly metallic, and super trancelike, most songs a single riff, pounded out over and over, while all around it guitar lines tangle, the low end throbs and pulses, vocals yelp, this record is more songy than the rest of the Brainbombs catalog, but only just barely. Like old school Finnish punk rock, super charged and stripped down, furious and fierce and frantic, but dirgey and doomy and sludgey at the same time, a tangled superfuzz blowout, tightly wound, and unravelling before your ears, glorious ramshackle, totally loose and swaggery and druggy, but tight in that way only bands on the verge of total collapse are capable of. It's way too short, these are the kinds of songs that could go on forever, stretch any of these jams into double digits and you'd have some seriously transcendental ur-dirge drone bliss crust wave nirvana, but if you're like us, you'll find yourself playing this over and over and over and over anyway...
LIMITED TO 306 COPIES. In hand screened sleeves, each one hand numbered. We got a bunch, but most likely these are the last copies we'll ever get...

NO BALLS s/t (Release the Bats) lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
FINALLY! It's here, the first full length from NO BALLS. The new project from TWO of the Brainbombs, and it's just like the 7" (which is sadly now out of print): a noisier, more metal, more stripped down, more mesmerizingly hypnotic, even more fucked up and fractured and RAW, nearly instrumental Brainbombs which means this is fucking AMAZING!!!
If you love the Brainbombs, and how could you NOT, then you'll love this. Looped, motorik rhythms pound away relentlessly, through thick clouds of crumbling distortion, the recording super fucked up and in the red, with a super freaked out spatial thing going on, some of the drums seem to be blasting away right up front, while other drums sound off to the side, while the distorted guitars seem to seep into EVERYTHING, the result is head nodding (banging?) and totally dizzying. It's like these guys took unreleased Brainbombs jams and stripped them down to their bare essentials, then dipped them in a boiling cauldron of blown out distortion, hurling them into the void, picking out just a single riff from each track, and looping it, over and over and over, pounding away at that same riff FOREVER, total maximalist minimalism, like some impossible hybrid of Brainbombs, Gore, Black Flag and Lubricated Goat, hypnotic and mesmerizing, filthy and raw, metal AND punk, post everything noise rock, this shit is so fucked up and fierce.
Angular slashing riffage, buried super distorted vocals, but only here and there, some of that old dented BB trumpet bleat pops up every once in a while too, but those elements are practically swallowed whole by the churning black mass of sound that is No Balls, a gloriously sludgey and psychedelic kraut punk doom, mantra like, but also totally rocking, and simultaneously the best and the worst thing that's ever happened to your stereo. And your ears.
Totally ruling, utter sonic destruction, total musical bliss, filthy and fantastically and utterly recommended. Some of us are thinking... RECORD OF THE YEAR. Oh yeah...
The bad news is these are limited to only 300 copies, and once the batch we have is gone, we probably won't be able to get more. Super simple packaging, black on brown jackets, with that bunny image from the 7", plain white inner sleeve, pressed on nice thick vinyl... grab one before they're gone...

NO BALLS s/t (Permanent) lp 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 print and available again, the first full length of dense churning noise drenched crush from this twisted Brainbombs offshoot! Slighty different artwork, WAY cheaper, domestic release, still limited, 500 copies this time, but even so, these will most likely disappear pretty quick. Here's what we had to say about No Balls when we first reviewed the import version of this lp last year:
FINALLY! It's here, the first full length from NO BALLS. The new project from TWO of the Brainbombs, and it's just like the No Balls 7" we reviewed a while back (which is sadly now out of print): a noisier, more metal, more stripped down, more mesmerizingly hypnotic, even more fucked up and fractured and RAW, nearly instrumental Brainbombs which means this is fucking AMAZING!!!
If you love the Brainbombs, and how could you NOT, then you'll love this. Looped, motorik rhythms pound away relentlessly, through thick clouds of crumbling distortion, the recording super fucked up and in the red, with a super freaked out spatial thing going on, some of the drums seem to be blasting away right up front, while other drums sound off to the side, while the distorted guitars seem to seep into EVERYTHING, the result is head nodding (banging?) and totally dizzying. It's like these guys took unreleased Brainbombs jams and stripped them down to their bare essentials, then dipped them in a boiling cauldron of blown out distortion, hurling them into the void, picking out just a single riff from each track, and looping it, over and over and over, pounding away at that same riff FOREVER, total maximalist minimalism, like some impossible hybrid of Brainbombs, Gore, Black Flag and Lubricated Goat, hypnotic and mesmerizing, filthy and raw, metal AND punk, post everything noise rock, this shit is so fucked up and fierce.
Angular slashing riffage, buried super distorted vocals, but only here and there, some of that old dented BB trumpet bleat pops up every once in a while too, but those elements are practically swallowed whole by the churning black mass of sound that is No Balls, a gloriously sludgey and psychedelic kraut punk doom, mantra like, but also totally rocking, and simultaneously the best and the worst thing that's ever happened to your stereo. And your ears.
Totally ruling, utter sonic destruction, total musical bliss, filthy and fantastically and utterly recommended. Some of us are thinking... RECORD OF THE YEAR. Oh yeah...

NO BALLS (BRAINBOMBS) s/t (Diskad) 7" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Okay, c'mon, the band is called No Balls, it's one of the guys from the mother fucking Brainbombs, and he's doing some sort of damaged lo-fi super distorted, doomy, looped, hypnotic, lo-fi metallic krautpunk. What more do you need to know?!
All of the basic BB elements are present, except maybe the trumpet, or the vocals. Which means two blasts of all instrumental hypnofuzz dirgery. The A side is all downtuned and fuzzed out and Sabbathy and way doomy, with a killer main riff, the whole thing simple and stripped down and plodding, but with some awesome (and awesomely freaked out) strangled stumbling angular guitar counterpoint, some serious Black Flagged, Greg Ginn-ed six string super distorto gnarl. Noisy and chaotic and fragmented, while that main riff just goes gloriously on and on and on and on...
The B side offers up another locked and looped riff, this time lumbering along beneath a super distorted wall of crumbling sound, the rhythm motorik and sort of abstract, while over the top ANOTHER guitar, dense and downtuned unfurls a buzz drenched slow motion minor key melody, while very much like the A side, that original riff pounds away unwaveringly.
So awesome. Bummer that it's so limited, only 187 copies, we got almost a quarter of those, but they're already flying. Simple orange and blue hand numbered silkscreened covers, on thick orange vinyl with hand stamped labels.

NO COPPER The Beauty And Tragedy Of Ephemerality (self-released) cd-r 8.98
No Copper is the duo of Thaniel Ion Lee (Blood Escutcheon) and Douglas Lucas, who lay down a serious sprawl of abstract sonic ritualism, that is equal parts No Neck Blues Band, AMM and Organum, extended soundscapes of groaning industrial shimmer, of pipe fight like clatter, and bowed metal buzz, all drenched in echo and reverb as if it was recorded at the bottom of a cistern, the guitar emitting bleats of strangled buzz and percussive melodic shimmer, the sound slipping from spare and spacious to dense and chaotic, a super lo-fi modern minimalism, peppered with streaks of drone, and shards of crunch and clang.
The sound occasionally slips into a barely there hushed drift, but just as often locks into a sort of stumbling rhythm, or keening high end skree, the final track is the most 'musical' of the bunch, the sounds blurring into extended drones, building to a gloriously mesmerizing climax of thick undulating thrum, before slipping back into a weird spaced out field of plucks and scrapes, a super abstract coda to an already very abstract collection of freeform soundscaping.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "The Beauty And Tragedy Of Ephemerality"
MPEG Stream: "Comedy"

NO COPPER / TROPICAL TRASH split (self-released) cassette 5.00
Latest releases from blackened soundscaper Thaniel Ion Lee, who we first heard in his guise as Blood Escutcheon, who split a tape with black metal weirdos Cloak Of Displacement, and then released a cd-r (both sadly out of print). He then released a cool boxed cd-r called White (which we just got back in and you'll find listed elsewhere on this week's list), and is back again, now in a duo called No Copper, whose sounds is less droned out and blackened than Blood Escutcheon or his solo record, and more abstract, ritualistic soundscaping, inhabiting a soundworld more along the lines of say No Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand Of The Man or Avarus, long buzzing tones, pounding abstract drums, scrapes and creaks, lush layered drones, raw and lo-fi, minimal, but gorgeously thick and washed out, caustic in places, noisy in others, but all blurred and smeared into a dark landscape of echo drenched reverberations, melodic fragments, rhythmic experiments and black ambient shimmer, all flecked with bits of folky flutter and strange abstract sonic filigree. Fans of Lee's other projects will definitely dig.
The flipside is occupied by an outfit called Tropical Trash, who may or may not also be called the Coconut Crimewave Big Band, but who prove themselves worthy foils for No Copper, with a sound that pushed even further into avant rock territory, a sort of free jazz / avant noise, heavy rhythmic, twisted electronic freakout heavy rock crush (!), the group fusing pounding drums to clouds of swirling glitched out swoops and swirls, before launching into some seriously blown out heaviness, thick churning riffage, pounding drums, all peppered with some bleeping electronics, and a sheen of hazy buzzy soft focus noise, a killer slab of classic electronic flecked noise rock, that definitely has us wanting to hear more! The band soon return to scrabbling and abstract skitter, the rock crush ditched in favor of some experimental abstraction, which is bombarded over the course of the rest of their side with some seriously fierce drum damage,
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Housed in cool hand screened origami style cardstock boxes, each one hand numbered, with a printed insert.

NO DEPRESSION #26 magazine 3.95
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore on the cover, plus Beachwood Sparks, Neko Case, Chris Cacavas, Camper van Beethoven, etc.

NO DOCTORS Origins & Tectonics (self-released) lp+cd 15.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
2007 release by this weird band, now defunct. Sludgey noise RAWK plus jass plus... well folks have compared this to everything from Queens Of The Stone Age to Neil Diamond. Somehow we neglected to review these before. Whoops. 180 gram vinyl plus cd version included too.

NO DOCTORS T-Bone (Pts. 1+2) (Yik Yak) 7" 3.98
No sooner do the No Doctors show up in our fair city, that they begin to pelt us with sludgy slabs of glorious noise rock. What better way to make yourself at home in your new city and let the natives know you come in peace. T-Bone is two sides of classic rock meets noise rock meets jazz? Side A is a buzzing sludge-y groove beneath wild seventies RAWK guitar, and strange skronking horns, sounds a bit like an art rock / sludge rock Boston! Which is in fact a good thing!
Side B is some sort of post-rock-free-bop continuation of side one, sounding a bit like Jesus Lizard with a sax player and a classic rock fetish. Throbbing low end, simple propulsive drumming, and a relentlessly squawking sax. But then in comes the TALK BOX (!) which of course immediately brings back to mind good ol' seventies rock. Frampton's Comes Alive played by the Dazzling Killmen with James Chance? Weird, sure, but pretty fucking cool.
Very appetizing (or UN-appetizing, depending on your orientation) raw meat cover art!

NO DOUBT Everything In Time (B-Sides, Rarities, Remixes) (Interscope) cd 14.98

NO DOUBT The Singles 1992-2002 (Interscope) cd 15.98
What?! Aquarius picked a No Doubt release as a Record Of The Week? And it's a best-of type thing? What gives?
We're sure that's what a lot of you out there are thinking. Others, maybe, already are aware of what most 14-year old girls know - No Doubt actually are pretty great. Some songs of theirs anyway. Heck, even some of my 30+ year old friends into psych-folk and minimal electronic improv and black metal or whatnot will admit that No Doubt have some good songs. Which of course you'll find here, this being a singles collection after all! But it's the non-believers to whom this review is dedicated, those of you know don't know Gwen Stefani from ____________ [insert name of tennis pro or microorganism or something], and/or think that a 'best of' No Doubt is a concept not unlike a serious book devoted to the wit and wisdom of George W. Bush. So that's why we're recommending this brand new greatest hits type disc for you all. See, we're not trying to make you buy an actual No Doubt album, with all the filler that such top 40 products usually contain -- I don't have one of those either. But, after being around for like 17 years, they've got enough great singles to make one hell of an album, and this is it right here. You get the goodies from their last elpee Rock Steady (the irresistable "Hey Baby" produced by reggae legends Sly And Robbie, featuring the amazing Bounty Killer toasting over the break! and the just as catchy "Hella Good" produced by Nellee Hooper), plus of course their anthem "Just A Girl" from their star-making 1995 album Tragic Kingdom, Andee's favorite No Doubt song "Spiderwebs" with it's loping almost ballady verse and bouncing rollicking double time chorus, and their latest hit "It's My Life" (a Talk Talk cover! but re-done with fuzzed out bassbin rattling low end synth lines that make the song sound even better). And more, 15 tracks in all, many of them #1 hits. And for good reason. These songs fucking rule. If you can get past the aversion we all have to MTV fodder and Entertainment Weekly gossip and focus on just the music, No Doubt are pretty kick ass. So, even if you never thought you'd own a No Doubt album, or even an album by *any* band with a ska-punk background, just stop pretending and admit you like 'em and get this. You'll feel better (we did). And yes, there's the total teen heartache emotional button-pushing and an abundance of sleek candy apple pouts, but beneath the high gloss finish they've retained plenty of personality and a will of their own to make some damn infectious, well-crafted, smartly detailed pop songs. At the root of it all though, one of the best things about them is that they still burst with youthful exuberance, and this is more than evident in each of these singles. So c'mon, stop being snotty, you know you were secretly psyched when "Hey Baby" would come on in the supermarket, And if you were alone in the car, you know you cranked up "Hella Good" and sang along until the dude in the next car caught you. Oh. You didn't? Well you should! We do!
MPEG Stream: "Hey Baby"
MPEG Stream: "It's My Life"
MPEG Stream: "Spiderwebs"

NO FESTIVAL OF LIGHT Officina Gentium Vagina Nationum (Functional / Tesco) cd 15.98
Ignore the occultish references of this disc's meager liner notes, and look beyond the fact that the death-obsessed Tesco label released this, and you'll discover an unexpectedly fantastic release of textural digital-glitch manipulation from the Swedish outfit No Festival Of Light. Streaming electrons gurgle along only to stop to emit hypnotic pulses and swells before continuing in their crunchy gurgling. Fits in nicely with the artists on the Mille Plateaux 'Clicks & Cuts' compilation and in Raster/Noton's 20' to 2000 series.

NO FUNERAL Six Song Ep (Wands) lp 16.98
On the same label that brought us the recent lp from SF blackmetal/blacknoize merchants Sutekh Hexen, comes this crusty, blackened slab of raw, primitive, feral heaviness. And, as the title suggests, there are in fact six songs, but they all sorta bleed and ooze into each other, blown out and in the red, each track a skull shearing slab of blackened crust punk crunch, D-beat pound wedded to grisly grinding riffage, the drums distorted and weirdly industrial at times, sounding more like metal on metal (maybe Pussy Galore style) than a proper kit, and the vocals, holy shit, total throat shredding hellish howls, all wound up into relentless onslaught of grinding, blasting, buzzing brutality. And somehow, the band still manage to cram some melody into their constant blackened barrage, the result turning this sick black slab into something strangely catchy.
The vibe is definitely more blackened punk, then punky black metal, the difference is really maybe too minor to quibble over. Needless to say if you like your sounds raw and heavy, primitive and in-the-red, punked out and black as fuck, then this stuff should definitely hit the spot. Fans of Ancestors, Bone Awl, Akitsa, Ash Pool, Malveillance, Acephalix, Harassor, Endless Humiliation, Dishammer, Trap Them and the like should definitely check these guys out.
LIMITED TO 350 COPIES!!!

NO JOY Ghost Blonde (Mexican Summer) cd 13.98
These days noise pop bands are a dime a dozen. And we could count the number of shoegaze bands popping up on one hand, if that hand had about thousands fingers, and to be fair, it's a sound we love, and so in many cases, we can be less than discerning, we just love hearing those thick coruscating guitars, the soaring melodies, the lush walls of sound, spaced out and dreamy and fuzzy and buzzy and blissy. So what is it exactly that makes a band stand out from the pack? Songs, sure, you can't be a pop band of any stripe without songs. But it's more than that. Something ineffable. Songs sure, and the sound, of course, but just as importantly there are a handful of intangibles that all have to fall into place perfectly. Or at least perfectly IMperfectly. And more often than not, it's not something that can be created consciously. All a band can really do, is to follow their hearts, create the sound they hear in their heads, and try their best to realize that sound, to render that sound in all the glorious shades and colors and textures it needs to become more than just music, to transcend and become something magical, something special.
And that happens more than one might think, or expect, enough monkeys with typewriters as the saying goes, or in this case enough punk rock kids with guitars and a 4 track. Most recently it was the amazing record by Bay Area outfit Weekend, whose record captured everything we love about this sound, and now there's this, the debut full length from female fronted shoegaze noisepoppers No Joy, which moniker be damned, is about the most gloriously joyful record we've heard in ages.
In some ways, No Joy's Ghost Blonde is the perfect compliment to that Weekend record, a distinctly feminine variation of the same formula, the overall sound is more dreampoppy and hazy, the vocals ethereal and ephemeral and is the perfect counterpoint to the bands thick wall of sound, infusing clean guitar jangle, a distinctly nineties indie rock vibe, all wound into a pretty perfect chunk of pure pop JOY.
If you're anything like us, it should only take about the first 60 seconds of album opener "Mediumship" thick crunchy jangle guitar wrapped in a field of wild tangled feedback, the vocals drifty and pretty, and then when the song kicks in, we're totally transported, crunchy, fuzzy, hooky, heavy, shoegazey-y, plenty of ooooh's and aaaaah's, the sort of song you never want to end, and that you'll find yourself playing over and over and over. Which pretty much applies to every track here.
There are definitely some broodier moments, and some abstract psychedelic ambient drift, even some slightly atonal Sonic Youth inspired guitar tangle, but those elements are smoothly woven into the group's hazy, softly noisy, girl groupish, crunchy, jangly shoegazey dream pop bliss.
Definite contender for pop record of the year, and a record which will no doubt send lots of folks scrambling to redo their prematurely finished year end lists! Rightfully so!
MPEG Stream: "Mediumship"
MPEG Stream: "Heedless"
MPEG Stream: "Maggie Says I Love You"

NO JOY Ghost Blonde (Mexican Summer) lp 24.00
These days noise pop bands are a dime a dozen. And we could count the number of shoegaze bands popping up on one hand, if that hand had about thousands fingers, and to be fair, it's a sound we love, and so in many cases, we can be less than discerning, we just love hearing those thick coruscating guitars, the soaring melodies, the lush walls of sound, spaced out and dreamy and fuzzy and buzzy and blissy. So what is it exactly that makes a band stand out from the pack? Songs, sure, you can't be a pop band of any stripe without songs. But it's more than that. Something ineffable. Songs sure, and the sound, of course, but just as importantly there are a handful of intangibles that all have to fall into place perfectly. Or at least perfectly IMperfectly. And more often than not, it's not something that can be created consciously. All a band can really do, is to follow their hearts, create the sound they hear in their heads, and try their best to realize that sound, to render that sound in all the glorious shades and colors and textures it needs to become more than just music, to transcend and become something magical, something special.
And that happens more than one might think, or expect, enough monkeys with typewriters as the saying goes, or in this case enough punk rock kids with guitars and a 4 track. Most recently it was the amazing record by Bay Area outfit Weekend, whose record captured everything we love about this sound, and now there's this, the debut full length from female fronted shoegaze noisepoppers No Joy, which moniker be damned, is about the most gloriously joyful record we've heard in ages.
In some ways, No Joy's Ghost Blonde is the perfect compliment to that Weekend record, a distinctly feminine variation of the same formula, the overall sound is more dreampoppy and hazy, the vocals ethereal and ephemeral and is the perfect counterpoint to the bands thick wall of sound, infusing clean guitar jangle, a distinctly nineties indie rock vibe, all wound into a pretty perfect chunk of pure pop JOY.
If you're anything like us, it should only take about the first 60 seconds of album opener "Mediumship" thick crunchy jangle guitar wrapped in a field of wild tangled feedback, the vocals drifty and pretty, and then when the song kicks in, we're totally transported, crunchy, fuzzy, hooky, heavy, shoegazey-y, plenty of ooooh's and aaaaah's, the sort of song you never want to end, and that you'll find yourself playing over and over and over. Which pretty much applies to every track here.
There are definitely some broodier moments, and some abstract psychedelic ambient drift, even some slightly atonal Sonic Youth inspired guitar tangle, but those elements are smoothly woven into the group's hazy, softly noisy, girl groupish, crunchy, jangly shoegazey dream pop bliss.
Definite contender for pop record of the year, and a record which will no doubt send lots of folks scrambling to redo their prematurely finished year end lists! Rightfully so!
MPEG Stream: "Mediumship"
MPEG Stream: "Heedless"
MPEG Stream: "Maggie Says I Love You"

NO JOY Negaverse (Mexican Summer) 12" 15.98
We flipped for Ghost Blonde, the last full length from these shoegaze noisepoppers, the opening track of that record one of those rare jams that we found ourselves listening to multiple times a day. And while nothing on this new ep manages to be quite as catchy, pretty much every track here comes close, especially the opener "Junior", which has us thinking No Joy must have some sort of formula for creating the perfect album opener, cuz we've listened to this one 20 times already, and we've only had the record for a few days. And it's not that far removed from Ghost Blonde, crunchy fuzzy guitars, pounding drums, thick swirls of FX drenched riffage, gorgeous hazy female vocals, weird processed sounds and a thick layered production, it's only a little over two minutes but it's dense and dynamic and is pretty goddamn great.
Negaverse does seem to find the band experimenting a bit, it's not all jangly fuzzy noise pop or blissed out shoegaze, the band take weird almost programmed sounding lo-fi rhythms, wrap them in strange stuttering effects, and somehow craft all that into a gauzy bit of psychedelic pop, or they just pound away punkily, and spit out a fierce bit of fuzz drenched jangle, or they unfurl a super drugged out dirge that sounds like Jesus And Mary Chain at 16rpm, driven by drum machines and dense clouds of psychedelic guitar swirl, or they take a psych pop dirge, crank up the tempo, and dial all their effects up to 10 and let a motorik programmed beat drive a swirling heavily panned psych pop freakout, and somehow, they make all of that sound like perfect noise pop bliss.
LIMITED TO 750 COPIES! Each one hand numbered. Comes with a digital download too.
MPEG Stream: "Junior"
MPEG Stream: "VHFD"

NO JOY s/t (Mexican Summer) 7" 5.98
Two song blast from this rad new duo who tap into some shredding, grungy, post-punk shoegaze glory. There's a really cool late '80s Sonic Youth vibe to these songs too, recalling some of the awesome sprawling and rocking moments of SY records like Sister, Evol and Daydream Nation. We really like how these two songs if pushed one way or another could either be full on shoegaze or total post-punk rockers, but instead they are able to unite those worlds so beautifully. Claiming that a band is like a cross between My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth feels like both hyperbole and unfair to the band to ever live up to those epic influences, and to be honest there have been hundreds of bands who have tried and failed. But these two songs sound so damn refreshing and exude an element of cool that you just can't fake. We can't wait to hear more! And like most/all things on Mexican Summer this is limited so grab one now or see you on eBay later...

NO JOY Wait To Pleasure (Mexican Summer) cd 9.98
Finally, a new record from one of our favorite modern noise pop shoegaze outfits, No Joy, whose first two releases were both HUGE aQ faves, and it looks like this new one won't be any different. We'd like to say No Joy just keep getting better, but they were already pretty goddamn great in the first place, so we'll just say, this new one is just as good as both Ghost Blonde and Negaverse. All of the elements are still in place, huge blown out distorted fuzz guitars, swirling FX heavy atmospheres, dreamy ethereal angelic voices, we basically knew from song one here that there was no reason to resist, but then we wouldn't have wanted to anyway, the simply titled "E" is a monster, churning, soaring, epic and majestic, noisy and distorted and heavy, but somehow simultaneously dreamy and melodic and washed out and woozy, psychedelic and shimmery, we almost wish the track was 40 minutes long and the whole record was just that track. Eventually, the song gets swallowed up in a squall of distorto guitar that is so divine, even the outro noise jam we don't want to end.
But like the other records, No Joy strike a good balance between swirling tripped out shoegaze heaviness, and shimmery jangle pop, although we're happy to report that this time around, they seem to be leaning toward the heavy shoegaze psych side of their sound, with even the prettiest songs here rife with blasts of thick guitar chug, and clouds of lysergic psychedelic swirl. All that and hooks too, the songs' catchy cores wrapped in a protective layer of guitarnoise and gloriously crumbling distortion. Imagine the prettiest, jangliest girl pop you can, and just dip the whole thing in an ocean of buzz, and then roll it in fields of hum and thrum, and then supercharge it and send it careening into the heart of the sun, and that's essentially No Joy.
The new record is definitely more varied than past outings, with moments of gloom pop murk, some drum machine driven electro-pop, some swirly dubbiness, and all manner of variations on minimal twee pop and jangly shimmer, but all of those are woven together by the thick patina of buzz and swirl that seems to surround the whole record, and while nothing quite reaches the ferocity of the opener, there's plenty of noisiness lurking throughout this fantastic collection of fuzz pop bliss!!
Vinyl version includes a digital download!
MPEG Stream: "E"
MPEG Stream: "Hare Tarot Lies"
MPEG Stream: "Prodigy"
MPEG Stream: "Slug Night"

NO JOY Wait To Pleasure (Mexican Summer) lp 21.00
Finally, a new record from one of our favorite modern noise pop shoegaze outfits, No Joy, whose first two releases were both HUGE aQ faves, and it looks like this new one won't be any different. We'd like to say No Joy just keep getting better, but they were already pretty goddamn great in the first place, so we'll just say, this new one is just as good as both Ghost Blonde and Negaverse. All of the elements are still in place, huge blown out distorted fuzz guitars, swirling FX heavy atmospheres, dreamy ethereal angelic voices, we basically knew from song one here that there was no reason to resist, but then we wouldn't have wanted to anyway, the simply titled "E" is a monster, churning, soaring, epic and majestic, noisy and distorted and heavy, but somehow simultaneously dreamy and melodic and washed out and woozy, psychedelic and shimmery, we almost wish the track was 40 minutes long and the whole record was just that track. Eventually, the song gets swallowed up in a squall of distorto guitar that is so divine, even the outro noise jam we don't want to end.
But like the other records, No Joy strike a good balance between swirling tripped out shoegaze heaviness, and shimmery jangle pop, although we're happy to report that this time around, they seem to be leaning toward the heavy shoegaze psych side of their sound, with even the prettiest songs here rife with blasts of thick guitar chug, and clouds of lysergic psychedelic swirl. All that and hooks too, the songs' catchy cores wrapped in a protective layer of guitarnoise and gloriously crumbling distortion. Imagine the prettiest, jangliest girl pop you can, and just dip the whole thing in an ocean of buzz, and then roll it in fields of hum and thrum, and then supercharge it and send it careening into the heart of the sun, and that's essentially No Joy.
The new record is definitely more varied than past outings, with moments of gloom pop murk, some drum machine driven electro-pop, some swirly dubbiness, and all manner of variations on minimal twee pop and jangly shimmer, but all of those are woven together by the thick patina of buzz and swirl that seems to surround the whole record, and while nothing quite reaches the ferocity of the opener, there's plenty of noisiness lurking throughout this fantastic collection of fuzz pop bliss!!
Vinyl version includes a digital download!
MPEG Stream: "E"
MPEG Stream: "Hare Tarot Lies"
MPEG Stream: "Prodigy"
MPEG Stream: "Slug Night"

NO MEANS NO The Worldhood of the World (Alternative Tent.) cd 13.98

NO MOTIV Daylight Breaking (Vagrant) cd 14.98

NO MOTIV Diagram for Healing (Vagrant) cd 14.98
Latest in the new movement of punk rock bands turning into pop rock bands (ala the Get Up Kids, Into Another, Sensefield, Dashboard Confessional, everything on Vagrant). And don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. It's just funny how the kids now have their Get Up Kids patches nestled comfortably next to their Earth Crisis and Doom patches. Whatever. No Motiv have all the right ingredients, kick ass power pop, great riffs, great production, good singer, stupidly innocuous emo lyrics. But somehow they manage to just barely miss the mark. I mean, this -is- a good record (the first track is just awesome), the songs just seem a little one dimensional. On first listen we were touting them as the next great pop band, but on further listens, the songs all blended together and became less and less memorable (except that first track!). But if you're itching for a pop fix, and love the Get Up Kids, Reggie And The Full Effect, Green Day and the Descendants then this should hit the spot.
RealAudio clip: "Celebrate"
RealAudio clip: "Give Me Strength"
RealAudio clip: "Only You"

NO NECK BLUES BAND Aftypiclipse (Sound At One) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of our favorite free rock outfits returns, with a sort of homage to another one of our favorites. This live set from 2006's All Tomorrow's Parties festival finds the No Neck Blues Band offering a sonic hail to brethren in noise, Jazzfinger, or maybe not, who knows what goes on in those guys' heads, maybe they just they just thought writing "For Jazzfinger" on the cover looked cool. And if we try, maybe this NNCK set -does- sound a bit like Jazzfinger, but it also sort of sounds like NNCK. Either way, we're not complaining, since we weren't there, so we're feeling lucky just getting to hear this stuff.
Originally released as a super limited, and now out of print cd-r, the set has been all gussied up, resequenced and re-mastered and is a monster.
The A side seems to be one loooooong track, creaking and groaning and abstract, grinding slabs of low end growl, speaking-in-tongues vocals, random clatter and clank percussion, a foresty folky tribal primal free for all, but eventually the drums kick in, and the band lock into a murky stoned groove, a simple Can-like beat, and a rumbling bass throb, while the abstract skree above continues to swirl and stumble. Guitars moan and wail, detuned angular melodies unfurl drunkenly, vocals whisper and hiss, like it's some sort of disembodied hellish krautrock, which eventually coalesces into a gorgeous high end dronescape, sounding like a more lo-fi hippie Sunroof!, all that creaking and groaning and wailing woven into brilliant bolts of fiery psychedelia.
The flipside begins on more familiar NNCK territory, dense flurries of hypnotic percussion, chanted vocals, shakers and bells, tribal percussion, pizzicato strings, super intense and propulsive. That jam simmers down into a Grateful Dead meets Can groove, super abstract laid back blues, with the band finally living up to their name.
Eventually NNCK explode into a druggy expanse of FX drenched psychedelia space rock, that splinters into some aggro free jazz, and finally finishes off in a blaze of effulgent ur-drone glory.

NO NECK BLUES BAND At 6am We Become The Police (Locust) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Vinyl only soundtrack to the forthcoming No Neck Blues Band dvd, featuring we can only guess judging from the album cover, naked dudes and weird bits of machinery. But really, nothing about these guys should surprise us anymore. They've been following their own idiosyncratic trajectory from day one, and unlike most bands, they seem to grow further and further out with every new record. At 6am is another gloriously clattery, abstract rhythmic workout, tribal, primitive, feral, but spiritual and otherworldly. It's of course all about the drums, percussion, thumps,and pounds, and rattles and crunch, and clang and bang, but woven into long dark undulating dreamscapes, ominous and haunting and mysterious, lots of dark magic going on, creaking moaning guitars, bits of squeak and creak, streaks of feedback, disembodied voices. In fact, on listening to this, were more inclined to think the picture on the sleeve isn't from the movie, but is just a regular old No Neck performance. That's exactly how this sounds, like naked writhing bodies lit by flickering firelight, masked drummers, a strange symphony of shadow and light.
Elsewhere, long form low drones are introduces, fragmented chords, muted muffled voices, all smoothed out and blurred into stretches of dark ambient free folk shimmer, but always with a distinctly dangerous vibe, heavier on the shadow than the light, squalls of free jazz like percussive clatter lead into moaning choruses, Henry Flynt like fiddle freakouts. One of the tracks begins like a No Neck / Avarus forest drum jam, but slowly evolves into something almost space rocky, lots of effects, warbly guitar melodies, delay, drifting bits of tinkle and chime, fragments of African drumming that drift in and then fade out again, and then finally, the last track is a strangely lo-fi soundscape of brittle tones and abstract percussion, long shimmery high end drones, and muted old timey sounding ambience, until the band lock into a gorgeous outro, that sounds a bit like a gamelan, but all distorted and jazzy and atonal. Awesome as always! Definitely harkening back to the NNCK sound of old, in fact this stuff IS old, from the archives, ferinstance two of these tracks were recorded (but not used) for the soundtrack to 1997's Gummo, and Lord knows they would have been perfect, dark and creepy and abstract and twisted and gorgeous.

NO NECK BLUES BAND CINo 51 (Kelippah) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Got a tiny handful more of these in, last chance...
Another new lp from this avant rock free-psych collective, hot on the heels of their already out of print YTIU, which we reviewed a couple lists back. This is a continuation of sorts, culled from the same sessions, and while not quite as limited, definitely limited enough that once we run out we won't be able to get more. So won't go into too much detail about this one, needless to say, folks who bought YTIU are definitely gonna want this one too, and anyone who missed out on the first one still has a chance to nab one of these. Two sidelong tracks, the first one playing out more like a multipart songsuite, the sound swinging wildly, beginning with wheezing organs and buzzing guitars, loose, super abstract drumming, dirgey and atonal, flecked with sci-fi FX, tripped out and weirdly dubby, blossoming into a sort of looped mesmer, drifting through fields of glitch and static, the sound shifts and becomes a droned out Eastern style raga, buzzy and trance-y, before shifting once again, stripped way down, just gnarled melodies, and skeletal rhythms, mostly hi-hats over a dense smoldering cinematic drone, laced with murky percussion and a thick woozy low end.
The flipside feels more like a single track, starting out super spare, again very abstract, in the distance moaning strings, reverbed percussion, psychedelic guitar buzz, unfurling snake charmer melodies, about halfway through the sound seems to grow more detuned and deconstructed, beginning a slow build, the an explosive last few minutes, a surprisingly heavy space-psych freakout, that quickly becomes glitched out, as if the tape player was malfunctioning, that sort of Faxed Head, old worn tape, busted tape deck sort of weirdness, the sounds seeming to ooze and melt and gradually grind to a halt. Cool!
Super limited, these are the last copies we'll be able to get, the covers are hand painted with paste on artwork. The covers are all bent, due partially to them being handpainted we think, and thus, a few of the records are VERY slightly warped, it's barely noticeable, and doesn't effect playback at all as far as we can tell (then again, it's NNCK, so it always -sounds- warped), but these are the only copies we'll ever get, so if you're super anal, or the record collector nerd type, you might wanna pass...

NO NECK BLUES BAND Clomeim (Locust) cd 14.98
The label goes on and on about how this latest No Neck Blues Band record is a watershed moment, a defining release in their oeuvre, a new sound, a clarity of vision never heard before on past releases, but we have to say we simply don't agree. At this point NNCK are in a privileged position, one they most assuredly earned, a position of power for sure. They just do what they do, theirs a sound that borrows from many sources, but that is distilled into something utterly unique, so yeah, they do what they do, but they do it better than ANYONE else. Period. Maybe that's what the label was actually trying to say before they got bogged down in artspeak. Regardless, this is another fantastic NNCK missive, one that sprawls across lots of genres and sounds, but manages to stay together by force of will and the innate talent of the players who have been honing their craft in this setting, with these players for nearly 15 years. And it shows.
The record begins like the rock band equivalent of an orchestra tuning up, guitars twang and detune, percussion clanks and thumps, everything drifts aimlessly, but as the track progresses, the various pieces seem to slowly flow together, a female voices surfaces, and croons over the settling chaos beneath, eventually leaving the chaos to sort itself out, a bit like a more serene forest folk combo, accordions wheeze (or is that a harmonica), guitars shimmer and squiggle, the drummer offers up washes of cymbals and eventually a slow simple stripped down groove, and without even realizing it, the whole mood and sound has shifted, and we're in some twangy meandering moody krautrock slowjam, that builds gradually to a seriously psychedelic crescendo, before the next track explodes with a flurry of skronky horns and maniacal vocalizing (a la Yoko), and woozy slide guitar, that track eventually builds to a strange sort of jazz metal blowout, pounding drums, growled demonic vocals, the slide still slithering all over and those Yoko like vocals still going crazy, definitely the toughest track on the disc. But maybe the most interesting.
The rest of the disc slips seamlessly from slow burning outrock sprawl, to propulsive space rock groove, to super minimal scrape and thunk, to wah wah guitar drenched soft pop balladry, to glimmering abstract free jazz freakout, to super tripped out psych rock weirdness, to gorgeous swirling soft focus dronemusic, but the thing is, within those various sounds, NNCK, twist everything all up, adding all kinds of sonic detritus, haunting noises, mysterious rumbles, ghostly voices, droning buzz, swirling ambience, adding extra layers, uncomfortable harmonies, taking perfectly pretty melodies and pulling them apart, in lesser hands, the whole structure would crumble, but NNCK possess only greater hands, perfect to hold it all together, and shape and stretch and form those sounds into something distinctly and utterly No Neck.
MPEG Stream: "Silurist"
MPEG Stream: "The Coach House"
MPEG Stream: "Ministry Of Voices"

NO NECK BLUES BAND Clomeim (Locust) 2lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!
The label goes on and on about how this latest No Neck Blues Band record is a watershed moment, a defining release in their oeuvre, a new sound, a clarity of vision never heard before on past releases, but we have to say we simply don't agree. At this point NNCK are in a privileged position, one they most assuredly earned, a position of power for sure. They just do what they do, theirs a sound that borrows from many sources, but that is distilled into something utterly unique, so yeah, they do what they do, but they do it better than ANYONE else. Period. Maybe that's what the label was actually trying to say before they got bogged down in artspeak. Regardless, this is another fantastic NNCK missive, one that sprawls across lots of genres and sounds, but manages to stay together by force of will and the innate talent of the players who have been honing their craft in this setting, with these players for nearly 15 years. And it shows.
The record begins like the rock band equivalent of an orchestra tuning up, guitars twang and detune, percussion clanks and thumps, everything drifts aimlessly, but as the track progresses, the various pieces seem to slowly flow together, a female voices surfaces, and croons over the settling chaos beneath, eventually leaving the chaos to sort itself out, a bit like a more serene forest folk combo, accordions wheeze (or is that a harmonica), guitars shimmer and squiggle, the drummer offers up washes of cymbals and eventually a slow simple stripped down groove, and without even realizing it, the whole mood and sound has shifted, and we're in some twangy meandering moody krautrock slowjam, that builds gradually to a seriously psychedelic crescendo, before the next track explodes with a flurry of skronky horns and maniacal vocalizing (a la Yoko), and woozy slide guitar, that track eventually builds to a strange sort of jazz metal blowout, pounding drums, growled demonic vocals, the slide still slithering all over and those Yoko like vocals still going crazy, definitely the toughest track on the disc. But maybe the most interesting.
The rest of the disc slips seamlessly from slow burning outrock sprawl, to propulsive space rock groove, to super minimal scrape and thunk, to wah wah guitar drenched soft pop balladry, to glimmering abstract free jazz freakout, to super tripped out psych rock weirdness, to gorgeous swirling soft focus dronemusic, but the thing is, within those various sounds, NNCK, twist everything all up, adding all kinds of sonic detritus, haunting noises, mysterious rumbles, ghostly voices, droning buzz, swirling ambience, adding extra layers, uncomfortable harmonies, taking perfectly pretty melodies and pulling them apart, in lesser hands, the whole structure would crumble, but NNCK possess only greater hands, perfect to hold it all together, and shape and stretch and form those sounds into something distinctly and utterly No Neck.
MPEG Stream: "Silurist"
MPEG Stream: "The Coach House"
MPEG Stream: "Ministry Of Voices"

NO NECK BLUES BAND Dutch Money (Sound@One) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of three new NNCK releases, this is one of two new limited lps, released on the band's own label and packaged in beautifully hand assembled sleeves. Dutch Money is sparse and spare, extended washes of summery thrum forming warm limpid pools of sound under simple tribal rhythms, haunting flutes, and strange electronic transmissions from the ether. Dreamy and hypnotically static, organs warble, guitars stutter subtly, shakers offer some restrained rhythmic grit, and occasional Morricone-ish spaghetti western harmonicas, wheezing squeezeboxes and some hollow rattling that sounds strangely like Yahtzee dice add to the sonic swirl.

NO NECK BLUES BAND Ever Borneo (Seres / Sound@ One ) lp + 7" 31.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've noticed that in lots of our reviews we make reference to the No Neck Blues Band. Assuming, of course, everyone would know exactly what we were talking about. But then we discovered that we had only really reviewed two of their previous records, one with only a single sentence! Certainly, it seems, not enough to warrant so many comparisons. What neglect for a band to whom we constantly refer! But this dearth of reviews is mostly due to the scarcity and limited nature of most of their releases. Currently, there is only one double cd available, a reissue of a release from a few years back as well as a sort-of-bootleg lp. And now this new vinyl package.
For us at AQ, the name No Neck Blues Band has become synonymous with the sort of stumbling/free/improv/space/psych/drum-circle/hippy/tribal free jams that we love so much (Avarus, Kemialliset Ystevat, Anaksimandros, Thuja, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Jackie O Motherfucker, etc.). NNBB is a loose collective of hippies, shamans, musicians and hangers on that seem to be able to effortlessly conjure up wild, free and totally mesmerising jams reminiscent of the ESP Records roster, the thudding primitve, dirge-psych of German Oak, and the spaced out psychedelic krautrock of Amon Duul. In the past we described their sound as "loose & stumbling, trippy neo-kraut, free 'sort-of-jazz' improvised jams, drunken drones and hypnotic hums" and that sound hasn't changed too much. If anything it's gotten a little poppier, albeit in the loosest sense of the term, and a little more structured. But it's still some of the best transcendental, tribal, droning, rhythmic, hypnotic free sort-of-rock we've ever heard. NNBB have never been ones to skimp on packaging and this time around is no different: a thick slab of vinyl housed in a gorgeous, cloth bound lp sleeve (like an old hardcover book) with embossed text and pasted-on image on the cover. Also comes with a bonus 7" from a 'related' group called Mount Analog, although to my eras, the two songs on the 7" fit perfectly with the sounds on the lp. Also comes with two pages of NNBB rants. Curious and typically indecipherable.
A bit price-y for sure, but as with all NBBB releases, it's limited, will soon be out of print, and considering how little of their stuff is readily available, fans of all of the above mentioned bands as well as folks into all things tribal/hippy/pschedelic will be kicking themselves if they miss out.

NO NECK BLUES BAND First Kingdom of the Ghost (Sound@One) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of three new NNCK releases, this is one of two new limited lps, released on the band's own label and packaged in beautifully hand assembled sleeves. First Kingdom is all about rhythms, with percussion and drums driving these extended tracks. Starting off with a wild and wooly howl fest, all demonic wailing and tribal chanting, things quickly settle into more familiar NNCK territory, a dense miasma of rhythmic bliss, shimmering and pulsing, with rattles and shakers, clacks and clatter, rumble and skitter, all woven tightly into a head nodding, primitive drum jam. At one point the fog clears and a simple 4/4 beat emerges, a steady wooden clomp over Eastern guitar melodies and rumbly guitar thrum, sounding like Jewelled Antler recording for Kompakt or a some sort of ancient forest gnome techno.

NO NECK BLUES BAND Intonomancy (Sound@one) cd 13.98
It's been a surprisingly prolific and action packed few months for the otherwise NOT-prolific and as-underground-as-can-be No Neck Blues Band. Good for us. And them too I guess. First was the super elaborate and expensive Ever Borneo lp/7" we listed a few weeks back as well as a super limited live lp and the reissue of one of their old double cds. This week brings a reissue of their out of print Revenant cd and this here brand new full length. Phew. Must have run out of weed or something. What else could explain such productivity?! No Neck Blues Band, for those just tuning in, are a loose collective of East Coast noisemakers (whose members also do time in AQ faves Sunburned Hand Of The Man as well as AQ not-faves Suntanama) who are the ultimate in hippy-psych-trance-free-drone-folk. Taking liberally from classic Krautrock, seventies folk, free jazz, and noise rock, NNBB have a knack for turning all of these disparate elements into smooth and cohesive, rhythmic and hypnotic, and totally fucking gorgeous free-jams. This new record may just be their best yet. Dreamy and drone-y and completely mesmerising. Washed out tones stretch out over rickety frameworks of hand drums and simple percussion, bells and chimes, while guitars tentatively weave their way through the murk, leaving trails of wispy melody and shimmery thrum. Propulsive rhythms struggle under a dense fog of thick chords and moaning synthesizers while delicately strummed guitars flit from note to note, weaving a lush and soul soothing soundscape. Hippy tendencies are downplayed throughout, resulting in a way more cohesive, way more 'musical' offering than No Neck's usual hippy-trance-caveman-freakouts (which I love, don't get me wrong). Fans of classic and modern krautrock, Finnish psych-folk (Avarus, Kemialliset, etc.), Jewelled Antler, and all things drone and clatter should buy this NOW.
MPEG Stream: "Witch"
MPEG Stream: "Open That Grass Can"
MPEG Stream: "Flor Yet Slolemn"

NO NECK BLUES BAND Languid Red Marchetti (Planazaum) lp 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Awesome archival release from one of the most referenced bands on this here aQ list. Whenever we need to describe something abstract and clattery, stumbly and mysterious, percussive and otherworldly, rhythmic and fractured and psychedelic, we'll often invoke this long standing New York based free form sonic institution. And this disc is a definite reminder of why we were so immediately taken with this band when we first heard them close to 15 years ago.
Languid Red Marchetti was recorded in 1994, close to the birth of the band, and features a stripped down quartet, and the sound is raw, feral, super abstract, very percussive and atmospheric, all clang and clatter and scrape, buzz and rumble and skree, a cacophonous exploration of time and space, what sounds like disparate bursts of crunch and creak, woven into an almost lyrical expanse of sound. Sometimes hushed and sinister, other times angular and primitive, the record ebbs and flows, drifts gorgeously between two extremes, spending most if its time right in between, a lush jagged world of rhythm and sound, noise and texture.
Any one into NNBB will definitely be all over this, especially if you miss the No Neck of old, performing in squats, with busted up old gear, wrapped in old blankets, wreathed in shadows, dimly lit spaces, magical mystery conjured from the ether, every performance some sort of alchemical ritual, some ancient rite, like something you might stumble on in the forest, an ages old musical communion with nature, or the spirits, or the darkside, an abstract avant improv filtered through some grimy, fractured junkyard punk rock, totally transcendent.
A bit pricey, but NNCK records are almost more art than sound, as much visual and tactile as sonic, Languid Red Marchetti is no different. limited to just over 300 copies, housed in a printed full color inner sleeve, a gorgeous full color spot varnished jacket, includes a thick paper insert with some truly dense liner notes.

NO NECK BLUES BAND Letters From The Earth (Very Friendly) 2cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Loose & stumbling, trippy neo-kraut, free 'sort-of-jazz' improvised jams, drunken drones and hypnotic hums. Accidentally and occasionally breathtaking. Plus a good helping of pipe fight!
This is the reissue of the album originally issued on Ser/Sound@One.

NO NECK BLUES BAND Live At Ken's Electric Lake (Locust) 2cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.