40 WATT SUN The Inside Room (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
The Inside Room is the debut from highly touted UK melodic doom outfit 40 Watt Sun, a group born from the dissolution of the late great Warning, both bands fronted by vocalist Patrick Walker, whose unique and passionate singing style pretty much defined Warning and continues to define his new band. Unlike most doom bands, who employ either an over the top near operatic wail, or conversely, some sort of demonic guttural gurgle, Walker actually sings, his voice emotional, but not ridiculously dramatic, he definitely sounds like a proper pop singer, who just so happened to start a doom band. Which will no doubt rub some troo doomlords the wrong way, but for the rest of us, it's pretty awesome. Definitely reminding us of Katatonia, the same sort of sweeping bombast, a similarly mournful melancholia, but that voice, it's really all about the voice, driving the songs, defining them, passionate and emotive, it helps that those vocals are supported by big booming drums, guitars so thick, and so distorted, the chords seem to crumble, occasionally wreathed in a sitar-like buzz. It's actually a little difficult to keep from imagining these songs sans distortion and drums, just say an acoustic guitar and vocals, these would be instantly transformed into some sort of heart rending ballads, but when coupled to some churning downtuned heaviness, the sound becomes a sort of glorious, emotional doom pop, or gloom pop, the pop element is definitely everywhere, and while the sound is definitely not that far removed from the sound of Warning, it is most definitely poppier, and Walker's vocals much improved, his delivery so heartfelt, like a soul laid bare, definitely transforms this from run of the mill doom, to something special. If there was ever an actual doom band that had the potential for some sort of crossover appeal, it would be these guys (there's a sort of Alice In Chains gone doom vibe going on that's actually pretty pleasing), with their keen melodic sense, and that voice. And while the track do occasionally get dynamic, with some cool stop/start arrangements, for the most part the music is languid and flows darkly, thick layered chords, a lush doomscape that perfectly meshes with Walker's gorgeous vox.
This is definitely WAY too melodic for the most extreme of ultradoomlords out there, but for anyone after some darkly melodic heaviness, this might just hit the spot! Domestic cd release and import vinyl available.
MPEG Stream: "Restless"
MPEG Stream: "Open My Eyes"

40 WATT SUN The Inside Room (Cyclone Empire ) 2lp 40.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Inside Room is the debut from highly touted UK melodic doom outfit 40 Watt Sun, a group born from the dissolution of the late great Warning, both bands fronted by vocalist Patrick Walker, whose unique and passionate singing style pretty much defined Warning and continues to define his new band. Unlike most doom bands, who employ either an over the top near operatic wail, or conversely, some sort of demonic guttural gurgle, Walker actually sings, his voice emotional, but not ridiculously dramatic, he definitely sounds like a proper pop singer, who just so happened to start a doom band. Which will no doubt rub some troo doomlords the wrong way, but for the rest of us, it's pretty awesome. Definitely reminding us of Katatonia, the same sort of sweeping bombast, a similarly mournful melancholia, but that voice, it's really all about the voice, driving the songs, defining them, passionate and emotive, it helps that those vocals are supported by big booming drums, guitars so thick, and so distorted, the chords seem to crumble, occasionally wreathed in a sitar-like buzz. It's actually a little difficult to keep from imagining these songs sans distortion and drums, just say an acoustic guitar and vocals, these would be instantly transformed into some sort of heart rending ballads, but when coupled to some churning downtuned heaviness, the sound becomes a sort of glorious, emotional doom pop, or gloom pop, the pop element is definitely everywhere, and while the sound is definitely not that far removed from the sound of Warning, it is most definitely poppier, and Walker's vocals much improved, his delivery so heartfelt, like a soul laid bare, definitely transforms this from run of the mill doom, to something special. If there was ever an actual doom band that had the potential for some sort of crossover appeal, it would be these guys (there's a sort of Alice In Chains gone doom vibe going on that's actually pretty pleasing), with their keen melodic sense, and that voice. And while the track do occasionally get dynamic, with some cool stop/start arrangements, for the most part the music is languid and flows darkly, thick layered chords, a lush doomscape that perfectly meshes with Walker's gorgeous vox.
This is definitely WAY too melodic for the most extreme of ultradoomlords out there, but for anyone after some darkly melodic heaviness, this might just hit the spot! Domestic cd release and import vinyl available.
MPEG Stream: "Restless"
MPEG Stream: "Open My Eyes"

400 BLOWS Angel's Trumpets and Devil's Trombones (GSL) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
No genuine angels nor devils are to be found in the ranks of 400 Blows nor is there anything remotely resembling a brass instrument. This L.A. trio is made up of mere mortals, three angry hardcore boys equipped with the punk rock basics. No superhuman strength, no kid gloves, but with just electric guitar, bass, drums and a mean set of vocal chords these guys churn out some ultra lean aggro sounds. In fact these eleven songs just might leave you more than a little bristly, bare fisted and bloody nosed.
MPEG Stream: "The Beauty Of Internal Darkness"
MPEG Stream: "Love You To Death"

400 BLOWS Black Rainbow (Tone Capsule) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Been hearing about this band for a while now. And I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. But this record pretty much erases all doubt from my mind. Crushing, pummelling low-fi math metal with lots of super complex arrangements, some serious riffage and some almost-catchy songs! Another band with the pointless guitar/drums/vocals/NO BASS lineup, but they manage to overcome the handicap of being a BASS-less heavy-rock band and whip up a minimal, spastic, sludgy and brutally lowend masterpiece.
RealAudio clip: "The Root of Our Nature"
RealAudio clip: "The World's Largest Miniature"
RealAudio clip: "The Long Wait For Nothing"
RealAudio clip: "The Wrong Song"

49TH PARALLEL s/t (Pacemaker) cd 15.98

4G Cloud (Erstwhile) 2cd 27.00
4G. The Four Gentleman Of The Guitar. Or maybe just Four Gentlemen. Or perhaps simply Four guitars. Or better yet, howabout just Four Guys. But however whatever you decide to make the 4 and the G stand for, just who are these four G's? All names that should be quite familiar to faithful readers of the AQ list: Keith Rowe (from AMM), Oren Ambarchi, Christian Fennesz and Toshimaru Nakamura. Hmmm, one of these fellas doesn't seem to fit. Maybe the one who performs with a no-input mixing board perhaps? Well, the 4G actually refers to these four performers who all started out as traditional guitarists before either taking their instrument in new directions or perhaps abandoning it completely, but applying many of the techniques and theories of the guitar to their new direction / instrument. So what we have here is a very unguitar guitar record. Made with guitars of course, but also plenty of electronics and laptops. A guitar-based record sans strums or licks or riffs or any recognizable guitar sounds at all. Instead Cloud is exactly what you would imagine a mix of these four artists would sound like. Fennesz's warm fuzzy clouds of disembodied guitar chords, reduced to drifing particles glinting in a late afternoon sun, Ambarchi's delicate melodicism smeared into gauzy drones, Nakamura supplys the high ends skree and the barely audible dog whistle drones, and Rowe gives us occasional scrapes and feedback squeals. All four of these distinct sounds manage blend perfectly into lengthy delicate dronescapes, with occasional sonic flares, but for the most part, just gorgeous, haunting drifting expanses of dark rumbles, warm static, and lots of floating abstract steel string effluvia. 4G performed four shows together, three of which are contained here, all quite long (20 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes) and all incredibly dense and deep, requiring close and repeated listening.
MPEG Stream: "Perfect Grass"

4MOD3 A Translation of Simplicity (Phthalo) 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.
One of the cd-r releases from Phthalo with an edition of 250, 4mod3 is the work of SF electronica genius Kit Clayton. Recorded in early 1999, "A Translation of Simpilicity" is a precursor to the neo-dub mastered on Clayton's albums for Scape. Setting up what could be an aquatic virtual sound arena, Clayton's highly processed glitches float to the surface with all of the erratic behaviour of air bubbles around reverberant sonar-dub tones and hypnotic downtempo rhythms. Brilliant as always.

5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T, THE (MUSIC BY FREDERICK HOLLANDER) OST (Film Score Monthly) 3cd 32.00
We've never been much for musicals. Sure Jesus Christ Superstar had its moments. So did Godspell. And Hair. Hell, some of us even saw Annie and Evita when we were kids. But musicals definitely just seem to rub us the wrong way. Overly dramatic and hammy, the songs cloying and annoyingly earwormy. But then there's this. A live action motion picture musical, conceived of, and written by, none other than Dr. Seuss! A twisted Technicolor fantasy, the story of a young boy who hated practicing the piano, and the evil piano teacher who kidnaps him, and 499 other children, to play his insidious tune on a custom built 5000 key piano, and who also kidnaps and brainwashes the boy's mother, only to be rescued (spoiler alert) by a friendly sympathetic plumber! The movie was a only a middling success when it was first released in 1953, as it turned out to be a bit too scary for children (it's practically psychedelic as well), and thus ended up a cult classic, with viewings playing out like Rocky Horror screenings, the crowd singing along and reciting the dialogue along with the characters. The interesting thing is, that much of the music composed for the film was cut from the final edit, and when we originally carried the single disc version of this soundtrack way back when, it was woefully incomplete. But this right here is as about as complete as it gets, delivering not only the soundtrack as it's heard in the film, but also alternate versions, composer sketches, preproduction material, instrumental orchestral tracks, and most excitingly of all, the soundtrack as it was originally conceived and composed, with all the original cues, songs, ballets, and more. It's fantastical and over the top: sumptuous '50s orchestral arrangements meet soaring swoonsome strings meet marching band numbers and of course there are the various numbers sung in loopy Dr. Seussian rhymes, it's pretty far out, a twisted Seussian musical, that even removed from the incredible visuals, still sounds so fantastic.
Originally, the movie was planned to be a vehicle for Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby (as the evil Dr. T and the plumber, respectively... how crazy would that have been?!), but they ended up casting relative unknowns, and the story itself was both an anti-Hitler allegory and an all encompassing anti authoritarian manifesto (focused specifically on the looming threat of the atomic bomb), but all of that stuff was very subtle, hidden underneath clever wordplay, a fantastical plot, and incredible costumes and sets. If you haven't seen it, you should, it's fun and funny and freaky, often compared to The Wizard Of Oz too, for its whole "It was all just a dream... Or was it???" premise, but all told, it's definitely the music that seals the deal, composed by Frederick Hollander, it's creative and inventive and playful and occasionally over the top, occasionally sweeping and dramatic, but always totally mesmerizing and catchy, whether goofy and fun and frolicky, or ominous and sinister.
First check out "Ten Happy Fingers", that's the song Dr. T plans on having his kidnapped children play on the giant piano, it's super catchy, and that melody resurfaces throughout, but quickly, the soundtrack shifts, and the orchestra begins to weave gorgeous soundscapes of shimmery strings, and moaning horns, classic soundtrack stuff for sure, epic and majestic and darkly moody, sweeping and soaring, lovely and dreamy and mysterious, there are ballads, "Many Questions" is all torch songy, "Hypnotic Chant" sounds like a classic movie musical duet, but just a little bit twisted, it is the part where Dr. T is hypnotizing the mother after all! Then there's Dr. T's "Do Re Mi" where he sings about his favorite note, which is of course ME. Probably the most famous song is "Dungeon Shlim Shlam" also known as "The Dungeon Ballet", which is one of the best parts of the movie, where all the NON piano players are sent to a dungeon to play, well "What other instruments are there??", so they end up playing all sorts of fantastical made up instruments. "The Dressing Song" is one of the wackier tracks, and the one with the most obviously Seussian lyrics, "Get Together Weather" is another track with Seuss heavy wordplay, and so it goes.
We could go track by track by track, but it's all just so good. Old timey for sure, but a lot of this stuff definitely sounds timeless. And the extras, WOW. The alternate versions are definitely worthwhile, and the liner notes go into extraordinary detail about just how they differ, and why there are multiple versions. And then there are the orchestral tracks, which are gorgeous, so lush and lovely and beautifully orchestrated, but it's the composer sketches and pre production material that we find ourselves listening to more than we expected, low fidelity recordings, very scratchy, but so lovely, just solo piano versions of the various tracks, which speaks to their timelessness, even sans orchestra and vocalists, these songs are incredible, and those skeletal versions definitely offer a unique glimpse into the process. And then of course, for folks who just want to listen to the songs EXACTLY the way they are in the movie, there is a soundtrack cut, with all the extras and cut songs and alternate versions removed, so it plays just like the film.
So incredible, and incredibly curated. A true labor of love. The liner notes are extensive and super interesting, the story of the composer, of the film, and most impressively, track by track notes about each song's placement, and inspiration, and what scene it accompanies in the film. Tons of photos and anecdotes and pretty much anything and everything you could ever want to know about what is quite possibly one of the most enchantingly dreamy AND disturbingly nightmarish kids' films ever. And most definitely one of our all time faves!
MPEG Stream: "Main Title (Original)"
MPEG Stream: "Dungeon Shlim Shlam"
MPEG Stream: "Cut to T./Dressing Song"
MPEG Stream: "Enter Dr. T / Hypnotic Chant"
MPEG Stream: "Ten Happy Fingers"
MPEG Stream: "New Lead-In to Get Together Weather/Get Together Weather"
MPEG Stream: "Freckle On A Pygmy"

5/5/2000 Reflektionen Musique (Post Replica) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A long look through a dark tunnel into the cloudy past of drone explorationists 5/5/2000, a duo made up of aQ pal Nathan Berliguette, formerly of tech grind outift Creation Is Crucifixion as well as the man responsible for bringing the glorious sounds of the Arboga Teenage Riot to these shores and our ears (and for that we he will never be forgiven, er... I mean forgotten) and Travis Ryan, frontman of gore soaked death metallers Cattle Decapitation and nominee for Sexiest Vegetarian In The World. But none of that really prepares you for the sound of 5/5/2000, named for a rare planetary alignment that was supposed to signal the coming of the Antichrist. Their sounds is not technical, not grind, not metal, instead, these three extended tracks explore different facets of the drone, from soft billowy tranquil ambience to soaring space like shimmer to creaking, corrosive machinelike whir to a thick whirl like the washed out fuzz of a million vacuum cleaners to the out of focus sepia toned drift of soft edged rumble and melancholy instrumental mumble. All three tracks are gorgeous, dense drones thick with swirling reverb, fuzzy tape hiss, and all manner of fragmented melodies and layer after layer of rich warm sound. While supplies last, you'll get the special limited edition version, limited to 100, hand numbered, packaged in an oversized sparkly silver, velcro sealed cardboard sleeve, with three pins affixed to the front. After those are gone it's back to the normal jewel case version...
MPEG Stream: "There Was Never A Moment When The End Of The World Was Not Real"
MPEG Stream: "Surface Of The Sun"

5/5/2000 / PIZURLAUN split (Dioxin City) cd 11.98
This is the perfect sort of split record. Two bands who have very little in common sonically, but who both completely destroy! The first track is 5/5/2000 which is AQ pal Nathan, formerly of grind metallers Creation Is Crucifixion, and Travis who is currently in Cattle Decapitation. That pedigree doesn't really prepare you for the epic 20 minute droning soundscape this duo whipped up live a few years back. Dreamy but sinister, creepy and hypnotic, with rumbling tones, short wave broadcasts, buried melodies, and throbbing pulses, all of which occasionally erupt into swirling sheets of noise. Drone-heads will love this. I actually thought it sounded like a more brutal and satanic Kitaro record. Which may sound dubious but is in fact a great thing! Trust me. The smattering of applause at the end just makes you grateful that such an intensely powerful performance is getting heard by more than the handful of folks that actually witnessed it. And of course none of this prepares you for the utter chaotic brutality of Pizurlaun. A hyper-distorted avant-grind juggernaut. Buzzing guitars careen from speaker to speaker, while various noises and rhythms, cut out, or stutter like a skipping cd and all sorts of really affected and bizarre production turns what would have been an amzing grind metal record anyway, into a splattery, grinding metallic masterpiece. And apparently the drums tracks were made by recording real live drums, and then having a non-drummer assemble them on a computer. Which only adds to the freaked out weirdness, and utter mayhem. Like a Locust tape, that you left in your back pocket for 6 months, accidentally washed, and then taped Suffocation over. Then played it back on a malfunctioning tape player. It's that fucked sounding. And that great.
MPEG Stream: 5/5/2000 "Noch Nie Trat Das Ende Der Welt..."
MPEG Stream: PIZURLAUN "Marvel Vs. Moulinex"
MPEG Stream: PIZURLAUN "Mammon Machine"

50 CENT Curtis (Shady) cd 15.98

50 CENT The Massacre (Shady) cd 15.98

50 FOOT WAVE Golden Ocean (BMG) cd 14.98
Here's the second fiery release from Kristin Hersh's rawked-up band 50 Foot Wave. Whereas the first was a six song ep, this is a full length (however please note that three of the eleven songs were plucked from the ep, the album's lead-off track "Long Painting", "Dog Days", and the ep's highlight "Clara Bow"). When we played this in the store, someone mistook it for L7. Does that give you some idea of what this sounds like? No? Well, how 'bout Hersh's screamed lyric "Shut the fuck up!"? Geeezus! While we wholly support 'gettin' it out' through your music, we're not sure if this style of hissy fit rock really suits Hersh's voice, and well... sometimes her feverish caterwauling just sounds like she's bringing up her lunch or a lung. Uh oh. To boot, Golden Ocean could really have done without the guitar noodly wank-offs that punctuate almost every song. Yikes. 50 Foot Wave were actually more effective on the ep format -- a quick sharp sock in the jaw versus a lengthy ear-tiring onslaught. They should've stuck with the original 50 Foot Wave plan of releasing an ep every few months. Ah well, this review will probably do little to dissuade her loyal fans (and may disgruntle a few), but this album will probably also do little to win her any new ones.
MPEG Stream: "Bone China"
MPEG Stream: "Pneuma"

50 FOOT WAVE s/t (Throwing Music) cd ep 7.98
Not one to rest on her solo and Throwing Muses laurels, Kristin Hersh move onwards with a new project called 50 Foot Wave. This is their fired-up debut EP. Sounds like Ms Hersh's been smokin' a few packs a day, her voice sounds like a grunged-out Stevie Nicks! Six frantically-paced garage rawk tunes driven by hoarsely sneered vocals, down'n'dirty gritty guitars, and a thumpin' raunchy rhythm section. They keep things at full throttle from start to finish. This is even more raw and feisty than her early 'Muses albums. Sort of disorienting at first, it may take old fans a few listens to get accustomed to her new direction.
MPEG Stream: "Bug"
MPEG Stream: "Clara Bow"

500 FT. OF PIPE Dope Deal (Beard of Stars) cd 14.98
Detroit's 500 Ft. Of Pipe are another new band of hard-rockin' hopefuls in the crowded stoner rock arena, and they are better than most. What with their Motor City pedigree, they align more with Stooges-fans Monster Magnet than with Kyuss (Kyuss being the most common template for young stoner rock bands to follow, y'know). There's (of course) a big drug fixation going on here -- witness song titles like "420 to Go", "Dope Deal", and "D.E.A." Loud, bass-heavy, rock action, with psychedelic balls enough to cover Donovan's "Sunshine Superman"! Allan's fave stoner rock disc of the year.
RealAudio clip: "Detroit City (Never Done Me No Good)"
RealAudio clip: "Wear It Out"

500 FT. OF PIPE The Electrifying Church Of The New Light (Beard Of Stars) cd 14.98

5000 FINGERS OF DR. T, THE OST (El / Cherry Red) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's been a spurt of awesome old film soundtracks for awesome old films coming through our door in the last while -- Daisies, Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders, Blood On Satan's Claw, Bedazzled, The Hindenberg, and now this one! The 5000 Fingers Of Dr. T! Not MR. T, mind you, as one customer thought! Hahaha, that would be a whole 'nother bizarre thing, wouldn't it? Nope, this is a children's movie musical from 1953, but it's one of the most enchantingest dream AND disturbingest nightmare kids' films ever. Makes total sense when you discover that the man behind it was noneother than Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss!!!).
Quite prim and tame by today's standards, but there's still some stretches that are downright disturbing and bizarre. For those unfamiliar with it, long story short, the tale centers around a young boy learning to play piano. As one might expect, the soundtrack is quite heavy on the tickling of ivories, but you'll also be swept up in sumptuous '50s orchestral and marching band numbers as well as parts of the storyline sung in loopy Dr. Seussian rhymes. Don't miss the "Elevator Song" and "Dressing Song Do-Me-Do Duds" (you might recall The Simpsons' Mr. Burns doing a rendition of that one!). A deliriously twee delight that's not just for kids.
MPEG Stream: "Ten Happy Fingers"
MPEG Stream: "We Are Victorious"

500MG Apocatastisis (Three Lobed Recordings) lp+cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Record number two from Michael Gibbons, of druggy space rockers Bardo Pond, another vinyl only release, as he continues to explore the more blissed out acoustic side of the whole ambient free floating space rock dream folk sound his main band has been such a crucial part of.
Side one of Apocatastisis almost plays out like some sort of sampler, each track, a facet of Gibbons' psych folk psyche, every one an homage to someone who informed his sound.
The opener is dark and minimal, disembodied bits of backwoods folk set amidst huge expanses of spacious ambience, bits of random sounds drift in the huge spaces between notes, the next track is a buzzing Eastern style raga, all dreamy and drawn out, the next simple muted chunk of folky strum and twang, the final track a full on blast of Henry Flynt style drone fiddle minimalism, keening and sawing relentlessly, emitting gorgeous wavery drones.
So if side A is a sampler, then side B demonstrates just what Gibbons can do, taking those influences and those sounds he loves and turning them into something distinctly his own. Two lengthy jams, the first begins with a thick sheet of fuzzy ambience, a muted noisy drone before drifting off leaving a simple mournful slide guitar, to unfurl super emotional melodies and weave a gorgeously folky dreamdrift. The second track is even more laid back, a back porch, lazy afternoon, rocking chair, just my guitar and the land as far as the eye can see, old timey, but sort of modern leaning Appalachian blues, melodic and melancholy, but with a strange twist at the end, the introduction of bizarre bits of spoken word, a man's voice drifting in and out amidst the slowly unwinding guitar melodies and distant buzz. Nice.
Apocatastisis is limited to 677 copies, but we managed to get a bunch of the SUPER LIMITED version, only 191 copies made (each hand numbered) which includes a bonus cd with an extra 15 minute track, and it's a corker!! Beginning with spidery steel string buzz over a thick wash of swirling shimmer, the guitar begins its slow thoughtful march, lazily meandering through all sorts of landscapes and backgrounds, little flutters of backwards guitar melody, dense clouds of spacey effects, crunchy slabs of crumbling distortion, the background continually shifting and transforming while the guitar remains simple and solid, sometimes getting a little distorted, buzzing a bit, but always settling back into its dreamy drift, weaving its way through a spaced out and abstract, gorgeously psychedelic soundscape.
MPEG Stream: "Apocatastisis (Bonus Disc)"

500MG Vertical Approach (Galactic Zoo Disk / Eclipse) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Won't go into *too* much detail here since, as with most of the Eclipse lps, this probably won't be around for long. Michael Gibbons of space-drug-rockers Bardo Pond strikes out on his own, and the results are sublime. From Fahey-esque Appalachia, to buzzing throbbing droning ragas, to pulsing wall of guitar ambience. Definitely essential for Bardo fans, as well as everyone who's been digging the whole Glenn Jones / Jack Rose / Six Organs modern day guitar pickin' avant-psych-folk-hippy scene.

51717 557 (self-released) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Is it a zip code? Nope. A padlock combination? We're not quite sure, but in the case of Bay Area artist 51717's also mysteriously numerically titled debut 557, the figures add up to seven atmospheric instrumental tracks of resonant bells, bassy shoves, prickly electronics and plucked strings. Ultra Spartan chiminess is gradually overtaken by more ominous cloudy distortions. Packaged in a handmade, hand-painted gold envelope.
MPEG Stream: "Utrecht"
MPEG Stream: "Leiden"

5IVE Hesperus (Tortuga) cd 14.98
The cover photo on this digipack release shows placid waters, probably some sheltered harbor near Boston, from whence this guitar-drums two-piece hail. The photo on the interior gatefold also depicts relatively calm seas. But the sonic waves that 5ive stir up are something else, bigger and meaner! 5ive's relentless and riff-repetitive, mostly-instrumental music is HEAVY all right. And thus, floats our boat, even as it tosses said boat about upon its stormy waves.
We've been waiting for some new 5ive for quite some time. This is their first full-length of new material in forever. 2006's Versus ep, featuring a couple remixes by Justin Broadrick (Jesu), only left us hankering for more... so we're glad to report that this new 5ive is finally here and it's got what we want. Thick n' distorted stoner rock meets post rock jams, full of loud soft dynamics for maximum sludgecore beauty and power. Tracks like "Heel" and "Big Sea" have plenty of rollicking psychedelic swing to 'em, after the pretty parts that set you up for the heavier hitting... and while the likes of "News II" gets up into the 12 minute range, even the shorter tunes here manage some epic, hypnotic heft. Fans of 5ive won't be disappointed, and if you haven't heard 'em before check this out if stuff like Pelican, Kinski, godheadsilo, Isis, Old Man Gloom, etc. is on your personal playlist.
MPEG Stream: "Gulls"
MPEG Stream: "Big Sea"

5IVE s/t (Tortuga) cd 13.98
Not to be confused with the identically named "ladband" we discovered while trying to look up info on this one on the internet -- no, this 5ive are no boyband, they're a Boston psychedelic-doom-core duo making their cd debut after releasing one amazingly heavy LP last year. Their label Tortuga is also the home of AQ-faves Old Man Gloom. Following in the prolific footsteps of OMG (and GnR for that matter), 5ive have not one but two simultaneous new releases. The self-titled one is actually just the cd version of the aforementioned LP. And it's a monster. Six long tracks of mostly-instrumental sludge heaviness. Their weighty distortion-dirge-demonics are in a league with Gore, Earth, Corrupted, Electric Wizard, and fellow Bostonians Warhorse. That hypnotic, heavy, and stoned! Follow-up full-length "The Telestic Disfracture" is similarly heavy, and adds not-entirely necessary guest vocals (from another Boston metalcore band, Milligram) on several tracks. Brutal. Again, the songs are long and droney, but with good use of quiet/loud dynamics for maximum punishment effect (and surprising beauty too). These discs would make that ladband go running for mommy!
RealAudio clip: "The Baron"

5IVE The Hemophiliac Dream (Tortuga) cd 10.98
Boston's 5ive (who may be changing their name to Continuum Research Project, as that's what the top obi on this li'l disc says -- I think the Euro boy band 5ive's lawyers might have something to do with that) unleash another super heavy and mesmerizing instrumental metallo-drone experience, consisting of the 23 minute track "Part I: The Hemophiliac Dream" and then "Part II", a quite worthwhile 14 minute remix done by the Jim O'Rourke of the avant-metal underground, James Plotkin (Phantomsmasher, Khanate, OLD, Joy Of Disease, Flux, Romance, Lotus Eaters, etc.), giving 5ive the computer/electronics treatment for some this-side-of-Merzbow-noisy (yet quite listenable), stereo-panning-gone-wild weirdness. A claustrophobic headphone trip. In sum, "The Hemophiliac Dream" is psychedelic, sludgy, and a little post-rock in places -- total beauty-in-heaviness stuff for fans of Boris, Acid Mothers Temple, Old Man Gloom, Melvins, Tarantula Hawk, Swans, Kyuss, all that. And Pink Floyd fans might recognize its origins...
RealAudio clip: "Part I: The Hemophiliac Dream"

5IVE The Telestic Disfracture (Tortuga) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not to be confused with the identically named "ladband" we discovered while trying to look up info on this one on the internet -- no, this 5ive are no boyband, they're a Boston psychedelic-doom-core duo making their cd debut after releasing one amazingly heavy LP last year. Their label Tortuga is also the home of AQ-faves Old Man Gloom. Following in the prolific footsteps of OMG (and GnR for that matter), 5ive have not one but two simultaneous new releases. The self-titled one is actually just the cd version of the aforementioned LP. And it's a monster. Six long tracks of mostly-instrumental sludge heaviness. Their weighty distortion-dirge-demonics are in a league with Gore, Earth, Corrupted, Electric Wizard, and fellow Bostonians Warhorse. That hypnotic, heavy, and stoned! Follow-up full-length "The Telestic Disfracture" is similarly heavy, and adds not-entirely necessary guest vocals (from another Boston metalcore band, Milligram) on several tracks. Brutal. Again, the songs are long and droney, but with good use of quiet/loud dynamics for maximum punishment effect (and surprising beauty too). These discs would make that ladband go running for mommy!
RealAudio clip: "Nitinol"
RealAudio clip: "Shark Dreams"

5IVE Versus (Tortuga) cd ep 10.98
It's been almost a year since we heard anything from instru-metal rockers 5ive, and even then it was just a weird remix thing with Kid 606. The last proper record they did was way back in 2002! So what the heck have those guys been up to for the last 4 years? Not recording a whole lot of new music that's for sure, as this new release is also a sort of remix ep. But we're not gonna complain. We've been dying for new material from this heavy as hell drums and guitar duo, so we'll take what we can get. And what you get here is 4 tracks, 25 minutes, of epic and spacious, almost cinematic doom bliss. Two 5ive tracks and two "remixes" of 5ive tracks by Justin Broadrick of Jesu. The opening track, one of the two remixes sounds like some metallicized Morricone / Goblin hybrid. Swirling sound fx, and a simple plodding rhythm. You can definitely hear some Jesu in there. The second track is WAY more classic 5ive, a groovy loping post rock workout, that builds and builds into huge lurching staggering stoner rock. Part way through everything sort of blisses-out into a keening tribal drum, guitar jangle drift, that slowly grows in intensity into a huge wall of massive churning guitar, which becomes a super tense stop start doom thing, before exploding back into full on metal groove. The second track "Soma" is the original from which the two Broadrick remixes are culled. A convoluted doomic dirge, grinding and slithering, thrashing and grooving, equal parts Dazzling Killmen, Isis, Lightning Bolt and Laddio Bolocko, a relentless chaotic dirge thrash, swirling and pounding, dense and ultra heavy. For the final track, Broadrick removes most of the heavy guitars, leaving just the simple clean guitar melody and a hypnotic looped drum line. Over that he drapes sheets of sonic shimmer and clouds of fuzzy ambience, an epic ambient plodding doom soundtrack to the end of the world, like a more metallic Mogwai / Brian Eno mashup. Totally gorgeous. But not enough!! Now we're completely jonesing for more 5ive AND more Jesu! C'MON! WE NEED IT!!!
MPEG Stream: "Reso-I"
MPEG Stream: "Soma Remix By J K Broadrick (Stage 2)"

5TH DIMENSION, THE The Magic Garden (Rev-Ola) cd 15.98
Of our many guilty pleasures around here, one which we have little opportunity to highlight is our mad love for sixties mainstream pop. Not the little known obscurities necessarily, but the big budget LA productions as performed by groups like Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, The Mamas and The Papas, The Turtles, The Association, Spanky and Our Gang, and The 5th Dimension. While they all had charted hits, they all performed at a time when the musical landscape was changing, and their charted successes gave them the ability to explore less industry-influenced album-oriented material. They all had that odd record, most likely their least successful, but at least one truly stands the test of time, and because of its lack of commercial familiarity, actually sounds the most fresh of the bunch. Case in point, this wonderful soft psych Jimmy Webb-penned song cycle from The 5th Dimension. Basically the soulful black counterpart to The Mamas and The Papas, The 5th Dimension and Jimmy Webb had such an initial breakout hit and such award-winning success with their debut album, "Up Up and Away", that Jimmy Webb was handed complete arrangement and total writing control for the groups follow-up record, The Magic Garden. With production by Bones Howe, who helmed albums by The Association and The Turtles, The Magic Garden could easily be called the best record the 5th Dimension released, even though it was far from successful. Webb, struggling with manic-depression and a bitter breakup, used the song cycle format to chart his fragmented relationship with love. Using soft psych-tinged orchestral arrangements (including sitars!), dreamy harmonies and surrealistic lyrics, the songs weave together intricately, yet belie a darker sentiment underneath all the flower child imagery. For example, the only minor hit on here, the upbeat, "Carpet Man", is about a man who lets the women in his life walk all over him, While "The Worst That Can Happen" is about a former lover getting married to someone else. The best song however is the heart-stabbing Isleys-meet Scott Walker dark orchestral funk ballad, "Requiem: 820 Latham" that is atypical of the 5th Dimension's normally sunny hits. Filled with amazing orchestral breaks that beg to be sampled, this record was recently revealed in a Nick Drake biography to be one of his favorite records to listen to (along with Love's Forever Changes, and Van Morrison's Astral Weeks) due to its stellar orchestral production. And a bonus here is that Rev-Ola took the liberty of moving the contractually obligated cover, The Beatles "Ticket to Ride" to the end of the song cycle from its original location in the middle. The Carpenters always had the better approach to that cover (dour and depressed) anyway, so it's just best to skip that track altogether. Other than that, this is one of those bittersweet gems that fans of sixties pop and production will love!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Dreams / Pax / Nepenthe"
MPEG Stream: "Carpet Man"
MPEG Stream: "Requiem: 820 Latham"

5TURNS25 Evolution of the Human Heart (Time Released Sound) cd-r 40.00
The latest ultra limited and lovingly handmade release from SF one man label Time Released Sound. And actually, calling TRS merely a label does not at all do justice to the things he puts out. In some ways it's almost more art than music. Sure we're a record store, so we get these and think, wow, this amazing record has the most incredible packaging. But taking a step back, it's easy to imagine just the opposite, the man behind TRS is an artist, and each new 'piece' just so happens to be accompanied by a soundtrack. Either way, it's pretty impossible to resist, and pretty much every music nerd we know, has gone nuts for this stuff, and a little bit obsessed with the label, so much so that we have standing orders for ANYTHING Time Released Sound puts out (just ask, we can add you to the list).
This latest release/art object comes courtesy of a duo from the Northeast US who call themselves 5Turns25, and who specialize in a sort of electronic flecked ambient folk, reminding us a bit at times of aQ beloved Rameses III, the same sort of pastoral drift, skeletal acoustic guitars, thick undulating drones, swirls of washed out shimmer, a sort of droney drifty Appalachia at times, something much more hushed and intimate at others, the sound lush and expansive, as capable of blossoming into a rich majestic epic as floating lazy through soft clouds of whir and thrum. Some of the tracks have a sort of Avarus vibe, not so clattery or free, but a kind of foresty folk. The guitar here is the main instrument, weaving gorgeous lilting melodies, swirls of chordal hum, all over a constantly shifting bed of muted industrial sounds, hushed FX and blurred dreamlike ambience. The band records in an old barn, and the music is thus peppered with sonic evidence of their location, creaks and groans woven right into the music. Crystalline and glimmering and so lovely, which is of course reflected in the insanely elaborate and impossibly meticulously crafted packaging. Where to begin?
The cd-r itself has a full color face, and is housed in a fabric sleeve, there are two inserts, printed on thick textured paper, with strange stickers affixed in various places to interact with the printed images, with art, and liner notes, a discography, there's also a hand worked / collaged notebook page with original art, each one unique. Affixed to the notebook page are a pair of mismatched clock hands, everything housed in an oversized vellum sleeve, printed and stamped, this one featuring an elaborately cut front panel, with the images of clocks punched out of a smoked white sheet of plastic, held to the vellum sleeve by a hand printed Japanese style obi. Phew! So wonderful, sonically and visually, worth every penny!
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, we have just 15, and that's all we'll be able to get!
MPEG Stream: "Beneath The Noise"
MPEG Stream: "Money In Hand"
MPEG Stream: "Snowy Future"

60 WATT KID s/t (Absolutely Kosher) cd 12.98
60 Watt Kid arm themselves with some krautrock and psychedelic inspirations among other things, and put them through the rough'n'tumble settings of indie rock. Heaps of effected guitars, oozy keyboards, loosely drummed rhythms, processed samples, and distorted hoot'n'holler vocals. Very trippily mix'n'match, and very much along the oddly angled slant of bands such as Oneida and Liars. Mid-album album they go through a brief personality change, coming back down to earth as they drift off on a wistful folksy number "North American Road". Later still, they morph into Sea And Cake-ish post-rockers for a spell. They strike us as a very antsy, but they always find their way back to their strange space-psych stew.
MPEG Stream: "Everyday There's Something Special (Hold On I Gotta Take This Call)"
MPEG Stream: "North American Road"

6666 (DJ 6666 FEAT. THE ILLEGAL) Death Breathing (DHR) cd 22.00

6666 (DJ 6666 FEAT. THE ILLEGAL) Death Breathing (DHR) 2lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

6BLOCC VS. R.A.W. Live At Various 7.5.08 (Various Bass PDX) 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.
Another bad ass live set, equal parts weirdo mash up, speaker rattling dubstep and dancehall, pounding old school jungle, abstract hip hop, all wound into an action packed hour long ass shaking, bass heavy, big beat blow out. Courtesy of our pals at Lo Dubs, who brought us the atmospheric dubstep of Clubroot, the bad ass Starkey mix from a while back, as well as a mess of killer 12"s. This live set is packed with tons of unreleased dubplates, mixed with a handful of classics. Dismiss the opening chunk of Rush's "Tom Sawyer", at least until it gets all tangled up with some rad jungle beats and we're off, Ice Cube, Ninja Man, Shabba Ranks, Cutty Ranks, Mobb Deep, Capleton, Dread Foxx, Pharoahe Monch and more, but even the tracks we recognize are all chopped up and slung over different beats, records are stuttered and stopped, rewound and played again, over a different beat, or a different vocal, classic hip hop gets all dubbed out, toasting, drill and bass, classic jungle, all wrapped around wild flows, the beats are big, the bass thick and wobbly, when the mix slips into dubstep, it's some of the heaviest sickest shit you've heard, skittery, stuttery and downright heavy, woven into old school dub, or pulled apart into super spaced out minimal pulses, wild and totally all over the map, but heavy on the bass, and the big beats, the dubstep and the DUB. Easily one of the coolest mixes we've heard lately. And CRAZY LIMITED, pressed up for a tour, we have a handful of copies, but odds are these will be the last ones we see...
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 3"

6MAJIK9 Loquidiom (Ruralfaune) cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's another band who have released about a million limited cd-r's, but this is the very first one we've managed to get for the store. Australian outfit 6Majik9, sound to us like they could be from Finland. We hear lots of Avarus and Anaksimandros, Uton, but we also hear some Dead C, and more importantly a bunch of stuff we're not sure we've actually heard before.
Short tracks, each a stumbling abstract free jam, sometimes noisy and intense, other times blissy and blown out. Brief bursts of wheezing clattery folk drenched in angular detuned guitar jut up against wild free jazz space rock freakouts, complete with FX drenched guitar squalls, wild octopoidal drumming and mumbled caveman vocals. Wild tribal free for all's peppered with skronky horns and distant clatter morph into ultra minimal found soundscapes, laced with bits of barely there percussion, and distant simple strummed melodies. Elsewhere, these guys unfurl huge murky expanses of drone-y whir, draped over dark piano figures and simple jazzy horns, or create dizzying demented almost cartoon music from processed vocals, pounded piano and swirls of dense effects.
The sounds are all over the place on first listen, but there is some skewed thread of sonic logic that runs through this whole disc, and while it might not be obvious what it is, or how it actually makes these disparate sounds all work together, it does. And we like it. A lot.
Packaged in a red textured sleeve with a fancy printed insert, tied to the sleeve with twine, and containing a bit of tree bark and a very fragrant pod of some sort. An easy way to make your AQ package smell like potpourri...
LIMITED TO 93 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "3"
MPEG Stream: "4"

7 YEAR RABBIT CYCLE Ache Horns (Free Porcupine Society) cd 14.98
A Bay Area super group of sorts featuring Rob Fisk (ex-Deerhoof, Badgerlore), Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Kelly Goodefisk (ex-Deerhoof), Ches Smith (superstar drummer, he's played with Tom Waits, John Zorn, Mr. Bungle, Nels Cline, Fred Frith, etc.) and George Chen (k.i.t., man about town). Ok now that we've got that out of the way on to the music. This is lovely and dark folk rock. You can for sure hear the remnants of the Deerhoof past that some of the members share, and a collective art-punk past that recalls moments of Saccharine Trust / the weirder side of SST, all delivered in a much more dusky, dusty woods kind of way. With one foot planted in improv free rock and another in darkwoods folk, 7 Year Rabbit Cycle hold tight to their punk roots with one hand while their other runs its fingers through dirt, leaves and soil.
MPEG Stream: "Puppies"
MPEG Stream: "Pirate"

7000 DYING RATS Season In Hell (He Who Corrupts) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "Altar Of Goat Skulls"
MPEG Stream: "Hack To Bits"
MPEG Stream: "Annihilator The Devastator"
MPEG Stream: "Horrible"
MPEG Stream: "We Had "Dying" In Our Name Way Before All Those Metalcore Cocksuckers Came Along"

7000 DYING RATS The Sound of No Hands Clapping (tUMULt) cd 11.98
It takes a lot of...well guts maybe, to be a fucking ultra-tight, super brutal grind metal powerhouse and to purposefully alienate/annoy a huge legion of possible fans by not taking your metal seriosly enough: by telling jokes, talking about cocks, mocking the sense-of-humourless metalheads you find yourself playing in front of, having skits, mixing in 80s hair metal, and synth pop and just being generally silly and goofy (but still totally killer musically, not just a "well, we can't play that well anyway" joke).
This is record number two from the Rats (following 'Fanning the Flames of Fire', a joint release between Caroline and Chicago's Up Jumps the Devil) and it's a doozy. Imagine the spazz inflicted genre hopping of Mr. Bungle, only more black metal and Venom, more Thin Lizzy, more comedy and more like your older hesh brother that's been working at the 7-11 since he dropped out of high school. The jokes are funny (kind of) and the music is punishing and furiously brutal (when it's not silly and moronic). With song titles like "Gary Drug Abusey", "Uncle Tom's of Finland", "Paper Thin Lizzy", "Straight Up Comedy Grind" and an 80's metal cover of the theme song to Beverly Hills 90210 (with a 90210 sample poking fun at fellow midwestern grinder Weasel Walter -- he of the Flying Luttenbachers, Lake of Dracula and Hatewave, among others), you might be inclined to pass off 7KDR as a novelty item -- but take out the comedic element, and you'd have a hellish, brutal metal record, better than most of their more serious minded contemporaries. I mean, if they dropped their comedy schtick and just played straight up grind/metal, they would be huge. Probably on Relapse, and selling thousands of records. But thanks to those guts, they're on tUMULt, and they're liable to sell a few less than that!!! Fans of Anal Cunt, Pig Destroyer, Drop Dead, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Dying Fetus, Bathtub Shitter, Fuck...I'm Dead, Mr. Bungle, Faxed Head and Neil Hamburger will love this.
MPEG Stream: "This Close"
MPEG Stream: "Uncle Tom's of Finland"
MPEG Stream: "A Rat's Ass (Judas Priestly)"
MPEG Stream: "Strippers on Ecstasy"
MPEG Stream: "Lair of Deadly Gigantic Scorpions"

731 Live On PBS 106.7 FM 06.12.2006 (Testsubject) cd 3.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
A seriously corrosive chunk of ultra blown out frenzied power violence from down under. Or as the sleeve proclaims over and over around the border "raw-grind-violence". And that's just what this is, violent, raw, and grind. Recorded live on the radio, 7 tracks, 12 minutes, of buzzing blown out riffage, churning chugging guitars, screeched shrieks, bellowed howls, furious octopoidal drumming, relentless blastbeats, pounding doomy plod, all wound up into a face melting explosion of power violence fury.
Fans of any of the recent crop of power violence warriors will definitely dig: Iron Lung, Endless Blockade, and it's always good to know the spirit of Crossed Out, MITB, Drop Dead, No Comment still burns bright worldwide.
Super limited cd-r, pretty sure it's out of print already, we only have a handful of copies...
MPEG Stream: "A Most Deafening Silence"
MPEG Stream: "Record Collector Dissctor"

764-HERO We're Solids (Up/Suicide Squeeze) cd 8.98
On tour with Modest Mouse, fellow Pacific Northwest pop heroes.

8 MILE (OST) (Interscope) cd 19.98
Here's the soundtrack to 8 mile, Em's new hit, semiautobiographical movie. I have yet to see it, but even our pickiest friends liked it and it made something crazy like 54 million the first weekend at the boxoffice. Eminem donated three new songs to this soundtrack, Lose Yourself is the first on the disc and is already all over the radio, a totally great song. He also produced much of the album, which includes Gang Starr, Jay-Z, Rakim, Nas, Xzibit, D12 and Macy Gray. Em's Shady Records signees 50 Cent and Obie Trice are featured throughout. Obie was on Eminem's song "Drips," from The Eminem Show album. 50 cent is a New York artist who Dr. Dre and Eminem co signed to their labels. He's been self promoting with mix tapes, and apparently has cred in NY. Eminem says he wrote these three songs through his character "Rabbit's" voice. Comes with Shady / Aftermath artist sampler.
RealAudio clip: EMINEM "Lose Yourself"
RealAudio clip: EMINEM/OBIE TRICE/ 50 CENT "Love Me"

8-BIT OPERATORS The Music Of Kraftwerk (Astralwerks) cd 14.98
8-bit tribute to Kraftwerk. Almost sounds TOO Kraftwerky if you know what we mean. How 'bout an 8-bit tribute to, uh, Amon Duul, now that would be interesting.

86 (THE BAND) True Life Songs and Picture (Fresh Corn) cd 10.98
86 is a local quartet who play a down home concoction of sweetly sincere male harmonies over a rollicking twangy rock backdrop, made with chiming strummed guitars and fingerpicked banjo. Eschewing pretentiousness, their lyrics instead celebrate the mundane aspects of a regular guy's life, and it's a nice combination, easy and fun. It's not as original or singular as the brilliant Dieselhed, another local band that features a similar combo of sounds, but it's pretty good nonetheless, perhaps like a cross between Dieselhed and the Old 97s.
RealAudio clip: "You are a Star"
RealAudio clip: "How to Get There"

90 DAY MEN (It(Is)It) Critical Band (Southern) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After a couple singles and a stellar EP, Chicago art-punks The 90 Day Men finally release their debut album. And it's chock full of jerky rhythms, lo-fi guitar screech and fake British accents. Judging from the cover art, it seems like they're going for the cute boy band aesthetic, but the recording is nothing short of awful and the dynamics of the songs suffer because of it. The songs are so good, but the recording is so distracting. See them live first.

90 DAY MEN Panda Park (Southern Records) cd 14.98
90 Day Men have been firmly rooted in the Chicago post-rock / math-rock scene since 1995. Always a bit more challenging than most of their scene brethren, you gotta give them props not only for choosing their own distinct path -- and with this album in particular venturing into wholly different territory for themselves -- but also for shaking up the indie rock status quo with their bold choices. Granted some of said choices might fall short of their marks or fall in the 'acquired taste' category, but when they do nail them, 90 Day Men can be quite something to behold. With Panda Park they've gone through a transformation of sorts into something akin to baroque space-rock characterized by dramatic cascading keyboards. Where the highs and lows are most notable are in the vocal performances. They start off with deeply soulful vocals that soar and swoop (although 90DM's lead vocalist is male, we initially thought the singing on the lead off track was by a female vocalist, but nothing has confirmed this), then there's the more easy-on-the-ears moody hushed male vocals (very Mark Lanegan / Steve Von Till) on "When Your Luck Runs Out" and a very Bowie-esque "Silver and Snow" (some here even likened it to Harvey Sid Fisher or an unwell Scott Walker). At times elaborate, strange, arty and dissonant.
MPEG Stream: "When Your Luck Runs Out"
MPEG Stream: "Silver And Snow"

9DW / BORIS Golden Dance Classics (Catune) cd 16.98
It's been a while since we've heard from Boris, mostly because they've seemingly been touring non stop for the last few years, but it looks like finally some new music is happening, including a forthcoming split with low end sludge popppers Torche, and this, another split with a Japanese band we've never heard of called 9DW, who as far as we can tell is sonically about as far removed from Boris as any band could be. A sort of eighties cosmic disco, like a way less edgier Justice maybe. More on those tracks in a second, since odds are most aQ customers will be all over this for the two brand new Boris tracks.
But be warned, not sure if it's a general shift in sound, or they were just trying to mix it up for this split, but this is Boris like you've never heard them. The first Boris track, "Tokyo Wonder Land", in a blind listening test, everyone here, when asked who they though it was, invariably said Ariel Pink, or John Maus, yep, a warbly warped blurry lo fi alien FM radio pop, with primitive drum machine, mumbled vocals, shimmery eighties production, whirring synths, jangly reverbed guitar, buzzy rubbery cop show basslines, super woozy and trippy and WAY druggy, there are even some falsetto 'oooh's. It only really gets Boris-y briefly in the middle with a wild tangle of super distorted psychedelic leads. Woah, What the fuck? Not sure what's going on, or what happened, but we are digging it BIG time, in fact, we might go so far as to say, this is one of our favorite Boris jams in ages, as is the second track here, "Akirame Flower", which finds Boris in full on washed out bleary eared nineties shoegaze mode, My Bloody Valentine, Bailter Space, fuzz guitar, weary vox, tons of delay and reverb and effects, all smeared and blurred into a gorgeous hazy 16 Candles / Dinosaur Jr / M83 soft focus, dream jam. Fuck. Awesome.
So what the heck are Boris doing with a band like 9DW? Can't say, and can't really say, how often we'll find ourselves listening to their two tracks, groovy, slightly jazzy, a little house-y, definitely eighties, not one guy, an actual band, sounds a bit like M83 if he were to do a techno record, stir in a little Justice stomp, some post rocky skittery, looped synths, and some total eighties MTV new romantic guitar jangle, a little Shadowfax and some worrisome funkiness...
But fuck it, Boris is why you're here, and if you're an adventurous Boris fan, who won't be disappointed by the lack of fuzzed out buzzy psych rock, then two Boris jams will kick your ass something good. Dying to hear if they continue on in this direction, and give the rest of the warbly new wave noise pop outsiders a run for their warped druggy money.
MPEG Stream: 9DW "Stingray"
MPEG Stream: BORIS "Tokyo Wonder Land"

9DW / BORIS Golden Dance Classics (Catune) lp 16.98
It's been a while since we've heard from Boris, mostly because they've seemingly been touring non stop for the last few years, but it looks like finally some new music is happening, including a forthcoming split with low end sludge popppers Torche, and this, another split with a Japanese band we've never heard of called 9DW, who as far as we can tell is sonically about as far removed from Boris as any band could be. A sort of eighties cosmic disco, like a way less edgier Justice maybe. More on those tracks in a second, since odds are most aQ customers will be all over this for the two brand new Boris tracks.
But be warned, not sure if it's a general shift in sound, or they were just trying to mix it up for this split, but this is Boris like you've never heard them. The first Boris track, "Tokyo Wonder Land", in a blind listening test, everyone here, when asked who they though it was, invariably said Ariel Pink, or John Maus, yep, a warbly warped blurry lo fi alien FM radio pop, with primitive drum machine, mumbled vocals, shimmery eighties production, whirring synths, jangly reverbed guitar, buzzy rubbery cop show basslines, super woozy and trippy and WAY druggy, there are even some falsetto 'oooh's. It only really gets Boris-y briefly in the middle with a wild tangle of super distorted psychedelic leads. Woah, What the fuck? Not sure what's going on, or what happened, but we are digging it BIG time, in fact, we might go so far as to say, this is one of our favorite Boris jams in ages, as is the second track here, "Akirame Flower", which finds Boris in full on washed out bleary eared nineties shoegaze mode, My Bloody Valentine, Bailter Space, fuzz guitar, weary vox, tons of delay and reverb and effects, all smeared and blurred into a gorgeous hazy 16 Candles / Dinosaur Jr / M83 soft focus, dream jam. Fuck. Awesome.
So what the heck are Boris doing with a band like 9DW? Can't say, and can't really say, how often we'll find ourselves listening to their two tracks, groovy, slightly jazzy, a little house-y, definitely eighties, not one guy, an actual band, sounds a bit like M83 if he were to do a techno record, stir in a little Justice stomp, some post rocky skittery, looped synths, and some total eighties MTV new romantic guitar jangle, a little Shadowfax and some worrisome funkiness...
But fuck it, Boris is why you're here, and if you're an adventurous Boris fan, who won't be disappointed by the lack of fuzzed out buzzy psych rock, then two Boris jams will kick your ass something good. Dying to hear if they continue on in this direction, and give the rest of the warbly new wave noise pop outsiders a run for their warped druggy money.
MPEG Stream: 9DW "Stingray"
MPEG Stream: BORIS "Tokyo Wonder Land"

9TH WARD MARCHING BAND Sneakin Up The Street (Rhinestone) lp 17.98

Ã+ (CHECKSUM) 12345678 (Boskite) cd 10.98
Checksum is the collaboration between San Francisco leftfield indie mainstays Jeff Palmer (Granfaloon Bus, Sunny Day Real Estate) and Greg Freeman (Pell Mell, Virginia Dare, Lowdown Studios), taking spartan instrumentation not far from late period Talk Talk or the first Tortoise record to occasional lap top / dubby trickery.

¯ + NOTO Mikro Makro (Raster Music) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Beautiful hyperminimal electronica between Ø (aka Mika Vainio, who is one third of Panasonic and runs the Sähkö label in Finland) doing glacial drones from his unique hand crafted tone generators, and Noto making abstract clicks and clacks much like Oval's skipping discs and gum smacking. Not to be missed!

¯ + NOTO Wohltemperiert (Raster-Noton) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While "Mikro Makro" gives the false impression that Mika Vainio (aka ¯ and half of Pan Sonic) and Carsten Nicolai (Noto) actually collaborated together for that album, "Wohltemperiert" is technically the first documented collaboration between these two figureheads of the minimalist electronica pulse. Mostly recorded in the winter of 1998 during an extended stay in New York, Vainio and Nicolai did not employ any of their own gear, instead using equipment provided by their friend Lary Seven.
While both artists have made previous works that openly explored the clean schematics of archetectural forms within a crystalline techno, they have mostly done away with the archetypes of purist techno on "Wohltemperiert." It's quite possible that Nicolai has subjugated himself underneath Vainio's recent predilections for much more private procedures of coaxing little accidents out of mis-configured analogue equipment and ill-grounded cables. Much like the preceding Vainio albums "Onko" and "Kajo," "Wohltemperiert" ripples with buzzing electrical drones, twin-tone melodic vibrations, the occasional glisten of a technotic pulse, and vast extended crackles, resulting in an album that is surprisingly dark for these two. Take away much of the death / abject imagry from the industrial masterpieces by MB or SPK, and you come close to the wintery bleak atmospheres found here.
"Wohltemperiert" is a welcome diversion from the Raster-Noton sound, which has been running the risk of self-parody and self-reflexivity as of recent.
RealAudio clip: "Mur"
RealAudio clip: "Mur Ruckkehr"
RealAudio clip: "Susssonor"

¿ (MIKA VAINIO) Kantamoinen (Sahko) cd 21.00
To be completely honest, this record was released well over a year ago; but for reasons not known to us, Kantamoinen has only now just been made available here in the US. Ø is the work of Mika Vainio, the Finnish electronic artist who hails from the techno-brutalist duo Pan Sonic and has produced some amazing solo records for Touch. It's been a very long time since Vainio has taken up the Ø moniker, best known for producing the seminal Metri album back in the mid-'90s. Where Metri was a minimalist techno masterpiece of phase shifting arpeggiations of fragile electric tones topping skeletal 808 rhythms, Kantamoinen is far closer to the albums Vainio recorded for Touch, where shivering swathes of arctic ambience and abstracted tone poems emerge from Vainio's sleepless fits of mad-scientist energy. Occasionally, Vainio grounds his plasma and gamma-ray experiments on slow-motion and very sparse electro rhythms, with little of the swagger and groove heard in the Pan Sonic drum machine attacks. Rather, the rhythm on Kantamoinen is a sleepy affair, barely holding the gravitational pull on his weightless electronics. If it weren't for all of those Touch releases in between Metri and this, Kantamoinen wouldn't make much sense at all; but in the context of Vainio's catalogue, Kantamoinen is another wonderful and weird piece of electronic music.
MPEG Stream: "Miekkakala"
MPEG Stream: "Monneista Viimeinen"

¿ (MIKA VAINIO) Metri (Sahko) cd 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Fortunately kept back in circulation with a little more regularity, this is the first (and perhaps best) album from Mika Vainio. As with his work in Pan Sonic, Vainio's techno minimalism holds a crystalline purity due to the use of several handbuilt random noise generators. Vainio situates these seemingly delicate high-end pulses within Steve Reich-esque phase shifting and then sets down rigid techno structure similar to early Plastikman or even the Profan sound of Wolfgang Voigt. Hypnotic techno achieving the drone supreme.