PEACE, THE Black Power (Groovie) lp 30.00
This is the first-ever reissue of the sole, rare-as-hell mid '70s LP by The Peace, an Afro-rock band that may or may-not have been made up of service members from the Zambian Air Force (and definitely included members of another obscure African rock band, The Witch), and holy crap it's a winner! Unlike the Nigerian bands of the same era that retained a more distinctly African sound (for more on that, check out Sound Way's phenomenal Nigeria Rock Special comp), Black Power is a full-on Western-styled psych-fuzz groover that rocks in a soulful, funky way from start to finish. It's American-sounding to the point that the only thing that truly gives this record away as being from Africa is the distinctly ESL-sounding vocal delivery. Pretty awesome. We can best describe it like this: imagine that weird band that sort of sounded like a ragtag version of the Allman Brothers that played at the county Apple Blossom Festival every year when you were a kid, somehow managing to get sent to Africa's Copperbelt region, absorbing the local culture, and then playing through smashed up amps at some mining town honky tonk. Loose and funky, kinda fuzzed and Hendrixy. With some lovely mellow, melodic moments, and harder rock riffing too.
We're constantly having our minds blown here at aQ by the steady stream of gems coming from African crate diggers, and this find is no exception!
PLEASE NOTE - We'd be remiss were we to leave out the following note from the label: "The sound for this album is not perfect at all. It's understandable that it's probably impossible to get a good condition copy of the original vinyl to remaster, as this is so so rare even to find in trashed condition. So it has remastered with a decent result in the most part of the album... but there are two songs that have some prominent noise."
MPEG Stream: "Black Power"
MPEG Stream: "I Have Got No Money"
MPEG Stream: "Peaceful Man"

PEACEPIPE John Uzonyi's Peacepipe (Shadoks Music) cd 14.98
At their best, Peacepipe peel out great '60s California biker psych-guitar jams that sound like a cross between Blue Cheer and Quicksilver Messenger Service, full of wah wah action, distortion, and massive sustain. They also remind us a bit of Japan's White Heaven. Unfortunately, there are just a few let-down tracks, where they let hippie cliche and ill-fated dabblings in pop get the best of them. So it's not all killer. But, if you're in the mood, there's a lot of good stuff here that's totally worthwhile. Recorded in Hollywood, California circa 1969, this record is very dated, but very cool -- and heavy (a la Iron Butterfly, not Slayer!). Led by guitarist John Uzonyi, the Peacepipe trio (also known as The Human Equation) highlights John's vocals and wild guitar, but drummer Gary Tsuruda and keyboardist Rick Abts get their licks in as well. Chalk another one up for the Shadoks label, who have included three bonus tracks (two from their 1968 single) that weren't included on the Peacepipe LP (first issued by Rockadelic in '95) on this cd reissue.
RealAudio clip: "Sea Of Nightmares"
RealAudio clip: "A Biker's Tune"
RealAudio clip: "The Day The War Has Ended"

PEACHES Fatherfucker (XL Recordings) cd 14.98
Lookie, here's Peaches' second album. Can she top the the disturbingly rauchy raps of her debut The Teaches Of Peaches? Well, first off, we've gotta hand it to her for the album cover, if not the title. Byram prefers to call this Amish And Proud or perhaps The C. Everett Koop record. As for the musical content, well we don't think Peaches fans will be disappointed! As to what those of us here who aren't Peaches fans (she's had a polarizing effect on the Aquarius staff) think, well, as the lead off track goes (and goes and goes) Peaches "don't give a fuck". So if she's "the kind of bitch you want to get with" then go to it. Rockin' rawer than '80s beat-box grooves and rawer than Lil' Kim rhymes, Fatherfucker is maybe what Pink would sound like if she really was punk like she poses. And as if to prove how punk Peaches is, this features a duet with none other than Iggy Pop, on the track "Kick It", and elsewhere she puts "Rock 'n' Roll" on her set list. Simple but effective, this album doesn't slack on Peaches' provocative sexual/gender stance while always rockin' the parti like Gold Chains. So if you can hang with song titles like "Shake Yer Dix" then you're only $14.98 away from a good time. The cd also includes some video for computers, if you dare.
MPEG Stream: "I'm The Kinda"
MPEG Stream: "Kick It"

PEACHES Fatherfucker (XL Recordings) lp 13.98
Lookie, here's Peaches' second album. Can she top the the disturbingly rauchy raps of her debut The Teaches Of Peaches? Well, first off, we've gotta hand it to her for the album cover, if not the title. Byram prefers to call this Amish And Proud or perhaps The C. Everett Koop record. As for the musical content, well we don't think Peaches fans will be disappointed! As to what those of us here who aren't Peaches fans (she's had a polarizing effect on the Aquarius staff) think, well, as the lead off track goes (and goes and goes) Peaches "don't give a fuck". So if she's "the kind of bitch you want to get with" then go to it. Rockin' rawer than '80s beat-box grooves and rawer than Lil' Kim rhymes, Fatherfucker is maybe what Pink would sound like if she really was punk like she poses. And as if to prove how punk Peaches is, this features a duet with none other than Iggy Pop, on the track "Kick It", and elsewhere she puts "Rock 'n' Roll" on her set list. Simple but effective, this album doesn't slack on Peaches' provocative sexual/gender stance while always rockin' the parti like Gold Chains. So if you can hang with song titles like "Shake Yer Dix" then you're only $14.98 away from a good time. The cd also includes some video for computers, if you dare.

PEACHES I Feel Cream (XL) cd 12.98
Oh dirty, sassy, strong Miss Peaches is back with another clutch of sweaty and sexy dancefloor jams. By this point you probably know where you stand with Peaches and those of us already in love with her mischievous and intoxicating sounds are finding lots to delight us on I Feel Cream. While not hugely different than past releases, Cream does have a slightly shinier production (courtesy of Simian Mobile Disco and Digitalism) and there are a few tracks where Peaches sings full on and proves to have a pretty good singing voice. But fear not, she still gets down and dirty and keeps most of the rhythms and beats primitive and stripped down. It's a perfect blend of the new sleeker Peaches with the more raw dancefloor roots of her great debut Teaches Of Peaches from almost a decade ago. We would rather hear this blasting over the airwaves than Lady Ga Ga anytime! While AQ staffers have been pretty split over the years on Peaches (she does tend to create a love or hate response) those of us who love her sound and what she does, what she stands for, and the music she makes, are feeling pretty damn good about I Feel Cream.
MPEG Stream: "Serpentine"
MPEG Stream: "Mommy Complex"
MPEG Stream: "Lose You"

PEACHES I Feel Cream (XL) lp 16.98
Oh dirty, sassy, strong Miss Peaches is back with another clutch of sweaty and sexy dancefloor jams. By this point you probably know where you stand with Peaches and those of us already in love with her mischievous and intoxicating sounds are finding lots to delight us on I Feel Cream. While not hugely different than past releases, Cream does have a slightly shinier production (courtesy of Simian Mobile Disco and Digitalism) and there are a few tracks where Peaches sings full on and proves to have a pretty good singing voice. But fear not, she still gets down and dirty and keeps most of the rhythms and beats primitive and stripped down. It's a perfect blend of the new sleeker Peaches with the more raw dancefloor roots of her great debut Teaches Of Peaches from almost a decade ago. We would rather hear this blasting over the airwaves than Lady Ga Ga anytime! While AQ staffers have been pretty split over the years on Peaches (she does tend to create a love or hate response) those of us who love her sound and what she does, what she stands for, and the music she makes, are feeling pretty damn good about I Feel Cream.
MPEG Stream: "Serpentine"
MPEG Stream: "Mommy Complex"
MPEG Stream: "Lose You"

PEACHES Impeach My Bush (XL) cd 13.98
First things first, we were pleased to see that fortunately Peaches has shorn her last album's copious facial hair, opting instead for a gold sequined head covering (tho' on the back cover we were dismayed to discover her spandex cameltoe in full bloom!). Not one to sit on the sidelines nor one to hold her tongue, she's juiced up her funky party pants and sidled herself up alongside the hip-electro-hop likes M.I.A. and Lady Sovereign. Now she strikes a balance between those gals and Le Tigre. She's broadened her vocal range with the extremes spanning from her trademark flat-line speak-sing and a more fiery Kathleen Hanna-style scream. Thick buzzin' synths and ball-crunchin' guitars surround her from start to finish. She's sure come quite a ways from her barebones pre-set button pushing debut Teaches Of Peaches. Still as lasciviously potty-mouthed fun as ever but with a heckuva lot more craft and oomph and guest stars too (Josh Homme, Feist and Joan Jett!).
MPEG Stream: "Fuck Or Kill"
MPEG Stream: "You Love It"

PEACHES Impeach My Bush (XL) 2lp 16.98
First things first, we were pleased to see that fortunately Peaches has shorn her last album's copious facial hair, opting instead for a gold sequined head covering (tho' on the back cover we were dismayed to discover her spandex cameltoe in full bloom!). Not one to sit on the sidelines nor one to hold her tongue, she's juiced up her funky party pants and sidled herself up alongside the hip-electro-hop likes M.I.A. and Lady Sovereign. Now she strikes a balance between those gals and Le Tigre. She's broadened her vocal range with the extremes spanning from her trademark flat-line speak-sing and a more fiery Kathleen Hanna-style scream. Thick buzzin' synths and ball-crunchin' guitars surround her from start to finish. She's sure come quite a ways from her barebones pre-set button pushing debut Teaches Of Peaches. Still as lasciviously potty-mouthed fun as ever but with a heckuva lot more craft and oomph and guest stars too (Josh Homme, Feist and Joan Jett!).
MPEG Stream: "Fuck Or Kill"
MPEG Stream: "You Love It"

PEACHES Set It Off (Kitty-Yo) cd ep 8.98
Raunchy freeze-dried lo-fi disco queen Peaches gets the teaches in house and accelerated funk, respectively, from Chick On Speed Tobi Neumann and Detroit's DJ Assault, reworking the title track from her Teaches of Peaches full length. Kid 606 Fucks The Pain Away, Spring Break style, armed with Eazy-E and hair farm riffage. I want my MTV!
RealAudio clip: "Fuck The Pain Away (Kid 606 Going Back To Bali Remix)"

PEACHES Set It Off (Kitty-Yo) 12" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Raunchy freeze-dried lo-fi disco queen Peaches gets the teaches in house and accelerated funk, respectively, from Chick On Speed Tobi Neumann and Detroit's DJ Assault, reworking the title track from her Teaches of Peaches full length. Kid 606 Fucks The Pain Away, Spring Break style, armed with Eazy-E and hair farm riffage. I want my MTV!
RealAudio clip: "Fuck The Pain Away (Kid 606 Going Back To Bali Remix)"

PEACHES Teaches of Peaches - Expanded (Kitty-Yo) 2cd 15.98
Expanded North American Edition. Includes an exclusive bonus disc with new tracks, remixes and enhanced videos!
Sure, Peaches is shallow ear candy, but we all need sugar sometimes. With songtitles like "Fuck the Pain Away" and "Lovertits," Peaches far surpasses Li'l Kim in raunchiness, and her cool vocal delivery is equal parts coked-out ice-queen, white girl trying out hip hop a la Debbie Harry, and fierce punk yowler on the level of PJ Harvey and Kathleen Hanna. The music is super simple freeze-dried disco / wannabe electro / digital hardcore complete with stark drum programming and disembodied armies of handclaps. The whole package is slightly tongue in cheek -- Peaches has got the Sandra Bernhard-style parody / pathetic reality thing down cold. Those who would spend their money on Chicks on Speed should really check this out instead. Peaches delivers.
RealAudio clip: "Fuck the Pain Away"
RealAudio clip: "Hot Rod"

PEACHES The Teaches of Peaches (Kitty-Yo) cd 15.98
You are hereby forewarned that five AQ staffers totally hate this record, while two others like it a lot. AQ fistfight!
We'd heard a lot from various customers recently about this female rapper with a disc on German indie-electronica label Kitty-Yo, so we finally had to order some in, and it's proved to be very controversial indeed.
Here's what the thumbs-downers have to say:
Yuck! Someone take that groovebox away from her, and wash her pottymouth out with soap. This is... really stupid and bad. Sheer aural annoyance. I could go on, but don't want to waste the space. File under: Chicks On Speed (no, actually it's worse than that).
And here's the other side of the coin:
Sure, Peaches is shallow ear candy, but we all need sugar sometime. With songtitles like "Fuck the Pain Away" and "Lovertits," Peaches far surpasses Li'l Kim in raunchiness, and her cool vocal delivery is equal parts coked-out ice-queen, white girl trying out hip hop a la Debbie Harry, and fierce punk yowler on the level of PJ Harvey and Kathleen Hanna. The music is super simple freeze-dried disco / wannabe electro / digital hardcore complete with stark drum programming and disembodied armies of handclaps. The whole package is slightly tongue in cheek -- Peaches has got the Sandra Bernhard-style parody / pathetic reality thing down cold. Those who would spend their money on Chicks on Speed should really check this out instead. Peaches delivers.
P.S. Interview between Le Tigre and Peaches at http://tvwww.webfreetv.com/de/de/de_national/culture_zone_de/musicrules/peach/.
RealAudio clip: "Fuck the Pain Away"
RealAudio clip: "Hot Rod"

PEACHES The Teaches of Peaches (Kitty-Yo) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on vinyl.

PEANUT BUTTER WOLF The Best Of... (Copasetik) cd 16.98

PEANUTS: THE ART OF CHARLES M. SCHULZ (Pantheon) book 30.00
Brand new book out covering the art of Charles M. Schulz of Peanuts fame. This is a GORGEOUS book! It was designed by star book graphics guy Chip Kidd, who was also responsible, among many other things, for the gorgeous packaging on the Chris Ware Acme Novelty Library book. The Schulz book is the same size and also features a cool dustjacket -- instead of a foldout poster like the Ware book, it's simply a little shorter than the book itself, so a strip of the b&w hardcover shows thru above the full color dustjacket. Oh so nice. And the contents are super interesting -- there's old postcards and scrapbook drawings and Peanuts dolls and toys. The older strips are often pictured not cleaned up and modernized, but were scanned in as is, with yellowing newsprint and wrinkles, and random pencil marks on them. Quite an artifact, this book!

PEARL HARBOR Something About The Chaparrals (Mexican Summer) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A flurry of releases from Mexican Summer, all limited, all gone before you know it, and all pretty dang good. Pearl Harbor offer up 4 songs of hazy, warbly girl pop, all crooned angelic vox and shimmery Cocteau Twins like guitars, dreamy and otherworldly, but plenty psychedelic and washed out, a bit reminiscent of a female Ariel Pink in some ways. Folks who dug Girls At Dawn, Dum Dum Girls, Grass Widow, Vivian Girls, will definitely feel right at home. But unlike a lot of those bands, PH channel a distinctly eighties vibe, the drums simple and machinelike, the guitars crystalline, and wreathed in soft effects, the melodies and harmonies reminding us of that era of MTV, synth pop, and new wave, with a slightly gothic tinge, woozy Joy Divisiony bass underpinning the chiming guitars, and glimmering tangled vocal lines, everything slightly blurred and indistinct, giving all the songs here a strange otherworldly feel, like you discovered some old broken radio that only picks up stations from 30 years ago, broadcasting lost synth pop from some alternate dimension. Trippy and psychedelic and really really cool.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each one hand numbered, each one with a download card too. Sorry tho that they're not so cheap, Mexican Summer just jacked up their prices...

PEARL JAM Riot Act (Sony) cd 17.98

PEARLS AND BRASS s/t (Doppelganger) cd 12.98
This one's for those of you who really dug The Indian Tower release by this Pennsylvanian power trio, reviewed here last list. That record was in fact their second album, after this self-titled debut from 2003, which was never widely distributed... it took the powerful indie rock hype machine called Drag City (just kidding) to clue us in to Pearls and Brass' existence. Digging the blend of '60s psychedelic blues rock worship and nimble mathiness that these guys dished out on their Drag City release (sometimes it's like a strange but unforced meeting of Cream or Cactus with Hella or The Fucking Champs, maybe) we went to see 'em play the other night, opening for The Champs as a matter of fact. Definitely impressive live, they ripped through a bunch of The Indian Tower and also did a song or two from this album, which they had with them for sale, so naturally we asked 'em to stop by the store on their way out of town the next day and sell us a few copies. The three guys pictured on the cover all have much longer hair now (and a bigger beard in the case of the drummer) and likewise The Indian Tower was definitely built on this album's foundation -- there's melodic acoustic moves, stoner blues, and plenty of kick ass hard rockin'. So if you enjoyed The Indian Tower you may well want one of these too! (Unless you're looking for the garagey Tim Green production job, as this one's a bit more conventionally polished, to match what's perhaps a slightly more typical "stoner rock" sound here, not quite as lost in time as The Indian Tower.)
MPEG Stream: "Highway Sermon"
MPEG Stream: "Stone Leaves"

PEARLS AND BRASS The Indian Tower (Drag City) cd 14.98
Pearls and Brass are a Nazareth, PA power trio, old schoolin' it for the rockers amongst ya. Apparently they've been doing this for, like, ten years now (this is their 2nd full-length) so it's not like they're jumping on some sort of stoner/garage bandwagon. Indeed, it sounds like they've been at it since 1969! This is definitely inspired by the likes of Cream, Mountain, GFR, um, maybe the original (Gary Moore) Skid Row, classic power trios like that from way back when. Which means if you dig current retro-rock combos like Dead Meadow or SF locals Parchman Farm and Genghis Khan, you need to add Pearls and Brass to that list.
Their songs are bouncy, riff happy numbers, stuffed with Iommi-ish solos, the guitar/bass/drums interplay rolling along a bumpy road, hinting also at the influence of more modern hyperkinetic postpunk/prog constructs like Hella. Mainly 'cause there's a lot of well practiced playing goin' on. But they keep a relaxed, stoner vibe happenin' in part 'cause of the lazy, laidback vocals that, well, sound to us a lot like Michael McDonald. Huh? It all works though. Truly, this rocks, choogles, boogies... all that good stuff... never letting up... well except that they also pull a page from Zep and get all folky and acoustic too on two cuts, though they end up sounding more like Devendra on those, really, also no bad thing. So we've gotta give this the thumbs up, we'd invite these dudes to play our backyard BBQ beerbash anytime (that is, if we had such events).
Also, a note for the irony-wary: at this point, is it even worth trying to parse the possibilities of ironic (or not) intent? I mean, this was recorded here in SF at Tim Green from The Fucking Champs Louder Studios, it's on hipster indie label Drag City, and the band presents themselves as backwoods, beer swilling burnouts. So you might wonder, are they? Whatever the case is, they're doing something right, the love of classic rock on all fronts here really can't be denied.
MPEG Stream: "No Stone"
MPEG Stream: "Pray For Sound"
MPEG Stream: "Away The Mirrors"

PEARLS AND BRASS The Indian Tower (Drag City) lp 14.98
Pearls and Brass are a Nazareth, PA power trio, old schoolin' it for the rockers amongst ya. Apparently they've been doing this for, like, ten years now (this is their 2nd full-length) so it's not like they're jumping on some sort of stoner/garage bandwagon. Indeed, it sounds like they've been at it since 1969! This is definitely inspired by the likes of Cream, Mountain, GFR, um, maybe the original (Gary Moore) Skid Row, classic power trios like that from way back when. Which means if you dig current retro-rock combos like Dead Meadow or SF locals Parchman Farm and Genghis Khan, you need to add Pearls and Brass to that list.
Their songs are bouncy, riff happy numbers, stuffed with Iommi-ish solos, the guitar/bass/drums interplay rolling along a bumpy road, hinting also at the influence of more modern hyperkinetic postpunk/prog constructs like Hella. Mainly 'cause there's a lot of well practiced playing goin' on. But they keep a relaxed, stoner vibe happenin' in part 'cause of the lazy, laidback vocals that, well, sound to us a lot like Michael McDonald. Huh? It all works though. Truly, this rocks, choogles, boogies... all that good stuff... never letting up... well except that they also pull a page from Zep and get all folky and acoustic too on two cuts, though they end up sounding more like Devendra on those, really, also no bad thing. So we've gotta give this the thumbs up, we'd invite these dudes to play our backyard BBQ beerbash anytime (that is, if we had such events).
Also, a note for the irony-wary: at this point, is it even worth trying to parse the possibilities of ironic (or not) intent? I mean, this was recorded here in SF at Tim Green from The Fucking Champs Louder Studios, it's on hipster indie label Drag City, and the band presents themselves as backwoods, beer swilling burnouts. So you might wonder, are they? Whatever the case is, they're doing something right, the love of classic rock on all fronts here really can't be denied.
MPEG Stream: "No Stone"
MPEG Stream: "Pray For Sound"
MPEG Stream: "Away The Mirrors"

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE Balaklava (Get Back) lp 14.98

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE Jewels Were The Stars (Water) 4cd 54.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Okay, I admit it. I blew it. I totally missed the boat on Pearls Before Swine. Hey, it happens. Not sure whether it was the whole sixties political folksinger thing, or the excessive secret-hippy adoration, or what, but I'm here to aplogise profusely, and to try to convince anyone else, who like me managed to overlook such a remarkably powerful and totally gorgeous body of work, to definitely have another look. Two records on ESP should have been the first clue that Pearls Before Swine needed some closer scrutiny to truly understand and realise how dark and fucked up and beautiful this stuff really was. The two ESP records are still available, but this 4 cd box (release a couple years ago, and yes, blew it then too!) seems like the perfect way to get (back) into it. Collecting the four pre-ESP records (These Things Too, The Use Of Ashes, City Of Gold, and ...Beautiful Lives You Could Live In), Jewels Were The Stars is an expansive, darkly sinister massive chunk of perfect acid tinged, super political psychedelic folk. Tom Rapp's sweet rich vocals, and his ever present lisp, sun dappled acoustic guitars and soaring strings, with fuzzy acid fried leads, all super lush and impeccably produced. Imagine the Zombies, dosed on acid, sent off to Vietnam, shot up a bit, brought back and forced to play in deep dark minor keys, turning little sunshine-y pop songs into deeply personal, dark and introspective, damged-psyche folk songs. The sound may be all Zombies and Byrds, but the SOUND is so much more complicated and intense and personal and important. This stuff is so essential, especially now in light of the recent folk resurgence. So everybody into Davandra Banhart, Faun Fables, Joanna Newsom and all that stuff needs to check this out. Unless you already have, and you're just all sitting there whispering to each other "I told you so." Which is fine. I can take it.
Amazing package, gorgeous box, huge booklet with liner notes by Byron Coley, Damon Krukowski (of Galaxie 500 and Damon And Naomi) and Masaki Batoh (of Ghost), Mitch Myers, as well as an extensive list of the songs and who performs on each one. Wow!
MPEG Stream: "Footnote"
MPEG Stream: "Sail Away"
MPEG Stream: "Look Into Her Eyes"

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE s/t (Get Back) lp 14.98
Italian label Get Back is producing vinyl reissues of selected titles from the legendary ESP label. The Pearls Before Swine issues may be of special interest to those folks (like myself) who heard Tom Rapp for the first time back in April 1997 at the Terrastock Festival.

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings (ESP-Disk) cd 17.98

MPEG Stream: "Another Time"
MPEG Stream: "Playmate"
MPEG Stream: "Translucent Carriages"

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE The Wizard of Is (Water) 2cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "Where Is Love"
MPEG Stream: "Butterflies"
MPEG Stream: "Love, You Are Not Alone"

PEARSON, DANNY The Oblivion Seeker (Frozen) cd 11.98
Gentle lilting SF roots rock weighted by a heavyheartedness is what this full length by Mr. Danny Pearson is all about. Joining him on one tune "Be Here Now" is Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon), and you might say that The Oblivion Seeker is very much in the same vein as Kozelek, as well as American Music Club. In fact, Pearson covers the Mark Eitzel penned tune "Vulture And Hyena", and Sun Kil Moon/AMC's Tim Mooney recorded the album. See, it's all connected! Oh yes, and lest we forget, Mr. Pearson also plays bass in AMC! And yet, we may also mention how akin to the lush earthy prettiness of The Czars this is too -- particularly on the songs graced by warming strings, Hammond organ, and ghostly harmonium, but even more so on the two which feature some very soft velvety female backing vocals that offer some light in Pearson's world weary atmosphere. Indeed it's this pair of songs along with the Kozelek-accompanied number mentioned above that are the highlights of this album. Very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Be Here Now"
MPEG Stream: "You Drank Some Darkness And Have Become Visible"

PECCATUM Amor Fati (Candlelight) cd 16.98
Second full-length from this operatic black metal outfit featuring guitarist/vocalist Ihsahn of black metal overlords Emperor and his wife Ihriel (plus her brother Lord PZ and drummer Per Eriksen)... They construct dark convoluted castles with spires of gothic female vox and electronic ambience, and foundations of labyrinthine metal rifferama. More ridiculous than sublime, to be sure, but fans of Emperor will no doubt appreciate this, perhaps even those who might not have gotten into Peccatum's debut (as this is a lot less heavy on Ihriel's vocals than past efforts). The new AND improved Peccatum, we should say.

PECCATUM Oh...My Regrets (Candlelight) cdep 14.98
New ep from this Emperor side-project. Ihsahn, his wife, and his brother in law, making more absurd operatic pomp metal.

PECCATUM Strangling From Within (Candlelight) cd 16.98
Ihsahn of Emperor, his wife and her brother collaborate on this ambitious attempt at grandiose black metal opera. Rather insane, once you get past the first quasi-lame track. Classical musical training in the service of Satan!

PEDAL s/t (Staubgold) cd 17.98

PEDESTRIAN Volume One: Unindian Songs (Anticon) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "O Hosanna"
MPEG Stream: "Lifelong Liquidation Sale"

PEDESTRIAN DEPOSIT Austere (Monorail Trespassing) cd 11.98
Pedestrian Deposit began as a full-throttle noise project back in 2000 by Jon Borges, then a high-school kid living in the Central Valley town of Tulare, California. For those of you not familiar with the geography of California, Tulare and the outlying areas do not instill the psychogeographical sense of wonder that The Starving Weirdos get from Humboldt County of that Jewelled Antler invoke from the Sonoma coastline. Nope, this is a depressed place in terms of culture, the economy, and opportunities beyond low-rent gangs and cheap drugs for the youth of Tulare. Borges had been clearly channeling much of his discomfort with his place through noise, occasionally interwoven with simple, downer melodies; and even as he's matured into his twenties and found a new home in Los Angeles, a steely fist operates behind the curtains of his relatively subdued constructs. Nowadays, Pedestrian Deposit is a duo with Borges joined by Shannon Kennedy on electronics and cello, while Borges' solo work is now expressed through the spectral drones-plus-noise of Emaciator.
Austere begins with a crackle of electrical static that bristles against a unsettled loop that collapses into a necrotic low-end hum, which seems intent on declaring that something ominous is afoot. For the next twenty minutes, Borges and Kennedy unravel lilting passages of post-Basinski loops pointing to a melancholy antiquity, hypnotic ambience full of shadow, smoke, and mirror, and gliding tones from Kennedy's cello. That sense of foreboding and dread which opened the album definitely subsides, and that's certainly by design as it only heightens the impact from the bursts of noise that crash through the mix at unexpected points through the latter half of the record. The album does explode for a blistering six or seven minutes by the end of the album in a power electronics fury, before fading into oblivion through a beguiling set of soft-focus loops. Quite nice.
MPEG Stream: "Impermanence"
MPEG Stream: "Trail"
MPEG Stream: "You Didn't Break Me"

PEDRO THE LION Control (Jade Tree) cd 13.98
College rock lives on. And David Bazan, Pedro The Lion's mainman has been at it for many a year now. Mopey boy vocals and fuzzy electric guitars that bring memories burbling back of the late '80s / early '90s college radio darlings like Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr. or Sebadoh or later '90s incarnations like Marcy Playground (remember their sorta-hit "Sex And Candy"?). Catchy and driving tunes, yes. The guitars also bring to mind Bob Mould's distinct, solid sound, but uh oh what's this? Sounds like he decided to update his sound with... the Cher vocal treatment. Groan. Y'know, I think I can still dig up my old "Green Mind", "Copper Blue" and "Birdbrain" albums. They're around here somewhere.
RealAudio clip: "Options"
RealAudio clip: "Rehearsal"

PEDRO THE LION Control (Jade Tree) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
College rock lives on. And David Bazan, Pedro The Lion's mainman has been at it for many a year now. Mopey boy vocals and fuzzy electric guitars that bring memories burbling back of the late '80s / early '90s college radio darlings like Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr. or Sebadoh or later '90s incarnations like Marcy Playground (remember their sorta-hit "Sex And Candy"?). Catchy and driving tunes, yes. The guitars also bring to mind Bob Mould's distinct, solid sound, but uh oh what's this? Sounds like he decided to update his sound with... the Cher vocal treatment. Groan. Y'know, I think I can still dig up my old "Green Mind", "Copper Blue" and "Birdbrain" albums. They're around here somewhere.

PEDRO THE LION It's Hard To Find A Friend (Jade Tree) cd 13.98
This is a re-release of PTL's debut full length which was first released in 1998, shortly after the 'reformation' of Pedro The Lion, having started as a 5 piece, broken up, and then reformed as just David Bazan all by his lonesome. Lonesome is right. Wistful sad boy indie rock, with earnest lyrics and dreamily melancholy sentiments. Go on, revisit those sensitive, brooding indie pop days. Sweet melodies, a bit rough around the edges, and quietly following the same path of Sebadoh.

PEDRO THE LION The Only Reason I Feel Secure (Jade Tree) cd 10.98
Eight slow, dreamy indie rock numbers by singer/songwriter David Bazan. Yes that's right, Pedro The Lion is a one-man band (after starting as a 5 piece, disbanding, and continuing on as a 1 piece!). This is a re-issue of his 2nd release originally released in 1999. This EP also contains 3 extra tracks that originally comprised Pedro's first single. Perfect music for cardigan weather. Sigh.
RealAudio clip: "Big Trucks"
RealAudio clip: "Criticism as Inspiration"

PEE Miracle Research Center Staff (Honey Bear) 7" 2.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Four songs from local favorite "grindpop" band, featuring AQ-staff member Andee Connors, who plays with his usual violent accuracy. The cover is Deco-style and gorgeous.

PEE Now, More Charm & More Tender (March) cd 12.98
Full-length from one of San Francisco's best-loved but now defunct bands, Pee, the pop punk quartet who do the dueling-boy-girl vocal thing so well, and whose drummer you may have seen behind our counter. That's peripatetic Andee, full o' charm, good vibes, and impeccable taste. The vinyl is perfectly clear.

PEE Now, More Charm & More Tender (March) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Full-length from one of San Francisco's best-loved bands, Pee, the pop punk quartet who do the dueling-boy-girl vocal thing so well, and whose drummer you may have seen behind the counter. That's peripatetic Andee, full o' charm, good vibes, and impeccable taste. The vinyl is perfectly clear.

PEE The Roaring Mechanism (Absolutely Kosher) cd 11.98
Peversely educational epithet? Peculiar entertaining emissions? Particularily egregious error? Puritianical ecstatic episode? Painful enlarged egg? Our own coworker Andee's band has released its second album of fragmented pop. AQ-friend Doug Orleans puts it best when he likens it to all the bridges (not the choruses, not the verses, the BRIDGES) from all your favorite pop songs strung together into a seamless whole. Excellent!

PEE The Roaring Mechanism (Absolutely Kosher) lp 8.98
Peversely educational epithet? Peculiar entertaining emissions? Particularily egregious error? Puritianical ecstatic episode? Painful enlarged egg? Our own coworker Andee's band has released its second album of fragmented pop. AQ-friend Doug Orleans puts it best when he likens it to all the bridges (not the choruses, not the verses, the BRIDGES) from all your favorite pop songs strung together into a seamless whole. Excellent!

PEEBLES, ANN I Can't Stand the Rain (Hi) cd 14.98

PEEBLES, ANN Part Time Love (Fat Possum / Hi Records) cd 13.98
Debut recording by soul queen Ann Peebles. The female counterpart to Al Green. Wicked!

PEECHEES Do the Math (Kill Rock Stars) cd 13.98

PEECHEES Do the Math (Kill Rock Stars) lp 10.98

PEEESSEYE (PSI) Artificially Retarded Soul Care Operators (Evolving Ear) cd 13.98
We actually bought one of these when we were in a shop in NYC, based entirely on the cool cover art. What is surprising is that the art is courtesy of one Mr. Stephen O'Malley. It's not surprising because it's cool, just that is looks so unlike the rest of his immediately recognizable work. A sort of angular, geometric, psychedelic Pippi Longstocking. Fucked up for sure, but totally appropriate to be adroning this latest record from PeeEssEye, or PSI or whatever (part of the reasoon it looks so different is it's actually a collaboration between O'Malley and PSI vocalist Fritz Welch). We initially expected some sort of metal, maybe something sludgy or doomy, but it's really not metallic at all. it's more of an abstract, sound collage noise record. Lots of sineaves, and swoops of white noise and fuzzed out static. There is metal present, but in the form of clanking clattery percussion. Or in the shape of some weird live performance, where the band seems to be spewing metallic shrapnel through a blown speaker. Super distorted and totally fucking bizarre. The rest of the record is a series of abstract soundscapes, from twinkling shimmer, to full on harsh noise. Definitely falls sonically somewhere between the Yellow Swans, the Skaters, Wolf Eyes and the like. Fans of any of that sort of brass knuckle to the skull goodness will dig this as will strong stomached iron eared dronesters. Comes in a cool mini gatefold style sleeve with badass O'Malley artwork!
MPEG Stream: "Bholier"
MPEG Stream: "Whiplash"

PEEESSEYE (PSI) Commuting Between The Surface & The Underworld (Evolving Ear) cd 11.98
We discovered the confusionally monickered Peeesseye or PSI or whatever, on one of our many record shopping trips, bought entirely because of the crazy cover art. And while it wasn't what we expected, it was pretty fucking weird and cool. So we got a bunch of the store and everybody seriously dug PSI's druggy abstract what-the-fuck free rock weirdness. So we were super psyched to discover a brand new record. But they managed to throw us for a loop again with Commuting Between The Surface & The Underworld, on which the band take a whole new direction, less noisy and purposefully obtuse and more folky and dreamy and sort of pretty. And while we really liked the last record, we're beginning to LOVE this one.
The opening is the first sign of PSI's strange new direction. A killer sort of folky Dead C buzz and strum, with damaged FX doused vocals, thick drones all over the place, distant moans and scrapes, but at the center of it all, a simple steel string strum and a warm wheezing wash of fuzzy shimmer. Like a clattery clangy Wicker Man style forest ritual, tribal and primitive, but run through some tweaked and damaged primitive effects box. No Neck and Sunburned Hand are definite reference points, but PSI is less clattery and rhythmic and more blissed out focused on a murky buzz drenched folk. Which is a huge turn around from their old, significantly noisier incarnation.
The whole record seems to follow a similar template. Some sort of minimal steel string guitar, strummed, picked, lazy and meandering, soft melancholy melodies unfurling sleepily, while all around these stretches of folk dreaminess swirl thick washes of grimey gritty distortion, fuzzed out psych rock guitar, dense swaths of rumble and whir,
as well as drifting clouds of percussive tinkle and shimmery shuffle. Definitely for all you fans of the current crop of abstract cd-r free folk troubadours.
The last track, a massive 20+ minutes of barely there ambience, and what sounds like a straight field recording, lets the band dip back into their obtuse bag of tricks with an endless stretch of street noise, random clatter, footsteps, what sounds like either a bawling child or a billy goat, bird song, and an electric razor. Like some surreptitiously captured day-in-the-life. Strangely hypnotic in it's own way, but a suitably random coda to the rest of the record's beautiful buzz.
MPEG Stream: "Oo-Ee-Oo"
MPEG Stream: "Ballad Of Fine Decay"

PEEESSEYE (PSI) Oo-Ee-Oo (Burnt Offering) (Evolving Ear) cd-r 8.98

MPEG Stream: "Oo-Ee-Oo (Burnt Offering)"

PEEESSEYE, THE Mayhem In The Mansion, Shivers In The Shack (Evolving Ear) cd 11.98
Fucked up far out sonic explorers Peeesseye (or PSI) return with a brand new disc that finds them sounding as weird and wacked as ever, and continuing to drift in the same direction as their last disc, Commuting Between The Surface & The Underworld. The first time we heard these guys, they were a much noisier proposition, spewing a caustic and fractured noise rock, that we liked quite a bit, but by record number two, they seemed to be exploring songs and melody more than noise and texture, their sound markedly prettier and folkier. On Mayhem In The Mansion, the band continue to drift through some strange folky forest, but being PSI, it's all glimpsed through some cracked funhouse mirror. A strummed acoustic guitar seems to root most of these songs, but that guitar is strewn upon skipping stuttering electronics, strangled yelps, random clatter and chaos, growled vocals, dense clouds of cymbal shimmer, stumbling tribal percussion, random bits of thump and rattle, distant moans and creaks, shimmering electric guitar melodies, furious squalls of static drenched psychnoise and lots and lots of effects.
It's definitely pretty and folky, but so completely out there. The prettiest parts somehow manage to get all tangled up with the obtuse angular bits, folky strum is smothered in buzz or bleep or both, but it works, it becomes some impossible artpop weirdness. A lot of this sounds like Avarus or No Neck, but more than anything it sounds sort of like Animal Collective, but with most of the hooks removed. Or better yet, like Animal Collective's deformed mutant twin brother. The one they keep locked in the basement. With just a busted up acoustic guitar, some effects with dying batteries and a 4track.
And shit, if that doesn't sound amazing, well, then we give up...
MPEG Stream: "Moon Vegetables"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Grass"

PEEPING TOM s/t (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Several years in the making and the ever so prolific Mike Patton has finally finished his Peeping Tom project. A record inspired by the 60's cult thriller of the same name, complete with really cool packaging. Patton sent tracks to a bunch of big name collaborators like Kool Keith, Bebel Gilberto, Amon Tobin, and Massive Attack. As well as enlisting folks like Dan The Automater, Dale Crover from Melvins, Kid Koala, Rahzel, Odd Nosdam, Jel, and even Norah Jones. The result is some of Patton's most accessible sounding songs in quite a while. We haven't heard his acrobatic voice sound like this since back in the 90's (you know back in his Faith No More days) and much of this record carry's that early 90's funk-electronic-hip-hop-rock hybrid. Cool.
MPEG Stream: "Five Seconds"
MPEG Stream: "Mojo"