REVEREND BIZARRE II: Crush The Insects (Season Of Mist / Spikefarm) cd 16.98
Reverend Bizarre is so worshipful of their obvious influences (Sabbath, St. Vitus, Cathedral, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Trouble, Sleep, Electric Wizard, etc.) that it might be easy to dismiss them as being just fans instead of the real thing... but we've got to say, there's something just so darn charming about how much these lads LOVE doom metal. It's infectious. And their songs are even ABOUT doom! Sloganeering for doom, that's their thing -- sing-along album opener "Doom Over The World" is a doom-lovers anthem basically. And they've chosen stage names guaranteed to amuse: Albert Witchfinder (vocals, bass), Peter Vicar (guitar), Earl of Void (drums). Yup, they've got some sort of extra-special, amateur fanboy appeal that makes you root for 'em. And they've worked so hard at living up to the standards of their heroes that they're not half bad, in fact, we're darn impressed. They come across like a hybrid of Saint Vitus and Cathedral, with dramatic, clean vocals definitely owing something to original Vitus singer Scott Reagers.
Their discs are always adorned with cryptic inscriptions like "Lohja Power" and "C.O.T.D" -- the latter standing for "Circle Of True Doom" something I think these guys invented, though I've seen it on other bands' cds. It also says "Apocalyptic Doom Metal" in big letters on the back cover of this one but when you first spin the disc, for the first few songs you'd think that "Party Time Doom Metal" or something like that would be a better motto since there's a definite headbanging catchiness to the first few tracks, the Rev. Bizarre boys rockin' out whilst dooming it up. As "into" doom and depression as they and their audience (you?) might be, the listener can't help but have their frown turned upside down when the band kicks into such rollicking, riffy, uptempo tunes as "The Devil Rides Out" and "Cromwell". It's heavy metal, and it's doom. But II: Crush The Insects ain't all fist-waving rockers. They do play slooooooow a lot of the time too. After the first three cuts, the album takes a turn into the realm of, well, apocalyptic doom metal, with track lengths in the double digits. Like the crawling epic "Slave Of Satan", which was apparently a number 2 HIT song in their native Finland!!! Hard to believe, as it's 13 and a half minutes long!! And that's the edited album cut, which is considerably shorter than the 21 minute single version!!! Torturously slow, anywhere else in the world it'd be a miracle if it made it into the Top 40 THOUSAND. The record continues in this vein, with some brief bursts of speed, through to the very last song, with the dumb/brilliant title of "Fucking Wizard".
MPEG Stream: "Cromwell"
MPEG Stream: "By This Axe I Rule!"

REVEREND BIZARRE III: So Long Suckers (Spikefarm) 2cd 21.00
The end is nigh! Heck here it is, at long last. The final tolling of the bell for Finnish apocalyptic doomsters Reverend Bizarre. Thus this album is titled So Long Suckers, and there's a sticker on the front that says: "Doom Metal Is Dead". What could be doomier than that? Funny how these guys, who started off as not much more than an enthusiastic fanboy tribute to their favorite doom metal acts, have now become almost one with the genre itself. Or at least their own, admittedly redundantly denoted, subgenre of "Apocalyptic Doom".
When we heard they were breaking up, that was a bummer, but we were eager to hear this promised swansong release. So, sad to see them go... but what a way TO go. A sprawling double cd, six slo-mo (like swimming in a moat filled with molasses) songs of super heavy repetitive riffage and lyrical lethargy, lasting over two hours total. Everything that we love about the bizarre Reverend sorta summed up right there. Spirited, eccentric and extreme, the sort of band that thinks nothing of writing 25+ minute long songs, like some sort of oppressive, epic, plodding prog, giving them all the more space to display their guitar blunt force trauma and deep voiced vocal drama... so massive and monotonous. Disc one starts off with the twenty nine minutes of "They Used Dark Forces / Teutonic Witch". Track two, "Sorrow", is a 25 minutes. Track three, "Funeral Summer", a mere 11:41... and that's the whole of disc one. There's a few shorter numbers on disc two (like the fuzz ripping instrumental "Kundalini Arisen"), but also another 25 minute bruiser (the majestic and martial "Anywhere Out Of This World"), which becomes psychedelically trance-inducing by the end, for us, almost like Om.
Of course, song length doesn't put the o's in yr dooooooooooom alone. Reverend Bizarre take their final shot here at the classic crush of heroes like Saint Vitus (also a big influence on their cleanly-crooning vocalist), Cathedral and of course Black Sabbath. The riffs they repeat forever and ever are forged from the heaviest of distorted tones, the overall atmosphere is one of weighty, weary, weirdness. This is one monolithic tombstone all right, an end to this band's 13-year career that itself seems rather endless while you're listening to it. Endless and eternal. Reverend Bizarre, R.I.P... and doom on!!
MPEG Stream: "Sorrow"
MPEG Stream: "Caesar Forever"

REVEREND BIZARRE Slave Of Satan (Spikefarm) cd ep 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Single from their new album Crush The Insects. Contains extended (20+ minute!) version of the album track. Aparently went to No. 2 in Finland. Huh? DOOOM!

REVEREND BIZARRE / KUOLEMA split (The Church Within Records) 7" 5.98
Rev B do a song called "Rotestilaulu", Kuolema reply with "Kaljaa Nuorille".

REVEREND BIZARRE / RATTO JA LEHTISALO split (Full Contact / Ektro) 12" 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ratto Ja Lehtisalo are a weird band. Made up of half of aQ faves Circle, their sound is less krautrock, and more like some weird hybrid of eighties new wave faves, Oingo Boingo, The Fixx, Sparks, Talking Heads, but then Circle are pretty weird themselves, flitting from murky propulsive hypnorock, to bombastic metal to atmospheric drone to eighties style New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and back again. And the side projects, too many to name here, but needless to say, they are all pretty far out.
This here is the latest from Ratto Ja Lehtisalo, and find the band, doing what they do best, confounding and confusing, and even more confounding and confusing is that they are teamed up with the mighty late great doomlords Reverend Bizarre!! Sure they're both from Finland, and yeah, RB's Albert Witchfinder got recent aQ Record Of The Week recipients Quest For Blood signed to Jussi from Circle's Ektro label, but sonically, the couldn't be more different, and yet, weirdly enough, they sound kind of cool back to back.
Anyway, Ratto Ja Lehtisalo start things off with some demented court jester music, sounding very twisted and Renn Faire, before slipping into some moody almost Circle-ish drama, a weird almost-krautrock, but way lighter and jazzier, with chanted vocals that sometimes sound like Queen, sometimes like Circle, the first thing that came to mind was Cluster mixed with Shadowfax, which sounds bad, we know, but is more, just sort of, strange, it's like the music to some insane production of seventies mime troupe Mummenschanz, the band lock into a very Circle-like jam, but soft and fuzzy and jazzy, but just like the Circle mothership, easy enough to get lost in and carried away by.
The flipside comes from Finnish doomsters Reverend Bizarre, who like Tupac, just seem to keep releasing records post mortem, but heck we're not complaining ONE BIT.
A new track composed over an improvised drum track, and it's obvious cuz the drums steal the show. Huge roiling guitars, throbbing doomy bass, and those vocals, deep and resonant and soaring. This is, my friends TRUE DOOM! The track lurches and sways, grooves and swings, sometimes slipping into seriously dense tangles of angular riffing and freaked out drumming, near the end the band launch into a blissed out psychedelic space rock drift that devolves into a bizarre coda all bellowed vocals and wild drums, and yep, a DRUM SOLO!! Before slipping back into the riff and dooming their way to the very end. As always. awesome.
A weird and wonderful, and did we say WEIRD, split of far out Finnish freakiness. Super limited. Pressed on thick swirled opaque white vinyl, with killer cover art by Albert Witchfinder.

REVEREND HORTON HEAT Lucky 7 (Artemis Records) cd 16.98
Warning. Listening to this crap may cause you to grow up to wear huge garish hawaiian shirts, beat your wife, get stupid tattoos and listen to the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Not recommended.

REVEREND HORTON HEAT Revival (Yep Roc) cd 14.98
Not surprisingly, the seemingly ageless and unchanging Reverend Horton Heat gets his brand new album goin' at a galloping psychobilly start. Not quite as blistering nor caustic as he used to be, but no less energetic. Of course, the best way to experience the Rev (and garage rockabilly bands in general) is in the unpredictable raucous live setting. On record, things just come across too clean and controlled. Well, you can sort of get a taste of both worlds with the first pressing of this disc 'cause it comes with a bonus dvd that features live footage and an interview too.
MPEG Stream: "This Happy Camper"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Your Pet Rock"

REVEREND HORTON HEAT Spend A Night In The Box (Time Bomb) cd 15.98
Everyone's favorite rockabilly Reverend returns. Song titles may contain the following words: "boogie," "woogie," "Jack," "Daniels," "whole," "lotta," and "daddy". Rockin'.

REVERIES, THE Live In Bologna (Rat-Drifting) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We just listed the brand new Reveries album recently, a disc of all Willie Nelson covers, so we decided we'd get a few more of this live disc in for the folks who may have missed out on this last time around.
Like some dusty old 78, left in the basement for 20 or 30 years, wet and warped, gritty and scratched up, thrown onto the ol' Victrola as is, and allowed to unfurl a warped and warbly, rickety detuned slow motion blues crawl. That's exactly what this latest disc from the Reveries sounds like. Recorded live in Italy in 2004, the Reveries, fronted by Eric Chenaux (who for those of you up on your nineties indie math rock, fronted Toronto's godlike Phleg Camp), magically create this sound from another time. But there's more to it than that, the sound is strangely damaged, alien even, and for good reason. The band employ a technique as bizarre as it is brilliant. Each player, in addition to wielding guitar, harmonica, bass, saw, nose-flute and thumb-reeds (!?), holds a tiny cell phone speaker IN THEIR MOUTHS!!! WHILE THEY PLAY!! OR EVEN SING!! So each of the instruments is sent first to the speaker in the mouth of another player, who much like a Jew's harp, is able to shape and warp the sound with the shape of his mouth. So you're hearing guitar come out of the bass players mouth, the bass coming out of the guitar player's mouth, the flute through another player's mouth, and on and on...
Then there's the singing, which all three members do, and as you might imagine, it's pretty difficult to sing with a speaker in your mouth, and a speaker cable trailing out of your mouth to an amp or a bandmate's mouth. The result is a mumbled and warbly, mush mouthed drawl, fuzzy falsettos, a garbled croon, often sounding like a toothless old Nina Simone, but just as often, like some strange buzzing growl, perfectly complimenting the band's detuned twang flecked scrawl.
It's almost like the Starfuckers playing Django Reinhardt at 16 rpm, with a countrified Derek Bailey on guitar. Cracking, wheezing and skeletal, a demented yet lovely underwater slow motion Western Swing, plenty of downtuned buzz, scraping and shuffling, whispering and whistling, seasick and gorgeously woozy. There are stretches of garbled instrumental chaos here and there, but the majority of the set is spent slithering and shimmering, meandering drunkenly through some strange sonic haze, an old timey radio broadcast, from some strange musical alternate reality, bits of classic blues and jazz muted and smeared pulled apart and tangled up into haunting and perplexing shapes. So gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "You've Changed"
MPEG Stream: "Gone With The Wind"

REVERIES, THE Matchmakers Volume 1: The Music Of Willie Nelson (Rat-Drifting) cd 14.98
The Reveries were indeed a revelation. A modern slow-mo, off-kilter, creaky rickety avant country combo, whose sound was a bleary blend of campfire twang, woozy slowcore, and most notably, a system by which each player holds a tiny speaker in their mouths while they play, with the various other players sending their sounds and signals into the mouths of the other players, letting the various musicians shape and twist and contort those sounds, often combining them with their own vocal parts.
The result was truly unique, haunting, mysterious, and gorgeously fractured. The last Reveries disc, was titled Plays The Music Of Sade. We weren't sure if that was some high concept thing, and it was in fact inspired by the Marquis De Sade, or if they were indeed covers of songs by the pop vocalist Sade (pronounced shar-day). It's perhaps a testament to the Reveries skill at reinvention that we were unable to realize that they were actually Sade covers (or it might speak to our being wholly unfamiliar with her body of work minus THAT song) Regardless, just like the record before, the Reveries created a wholly otherworld of moaning melodies, and creeping tempos, of strange voices, of detuned guitars, warbly basslines, shuffling percussion, all warped and funhouse mirrored by their circuitous journey from instrument to amp to speaker to mouth to microphone to recorder to compact disc.
On this first volume, in a proposed ongoing series, the Reveries tackle, as the title suggests, the music of country music icon Willie Nelson, and it's a pretty fine match. The first track is a surprise though, fairly rocking by Reveries standards, a rollicking version on "I Let My Mind Wander", with propulsive drumming, some serious riffing, and that strange whistle like melody that the band seems to lace each song with, a sort of falsetto croon. And the vocals as always are a sort of mush mouthed garble, due in no small part to the singe having to sing around the speaker in his mouth.
The rest of the record unfurls lazily, all creaking back porch blues, the guitars often drifting by in disembodied twangs, each arrangement spare and abstract and seemingly always on the verge of collapse, the drums shuffling and minimal holding it all barely together, but it's the melodies that make it immediately the Reveries, each one, each vocal line wavery and woozy, unfurled and filtered through a jew's harp like warble, keening whistle like tones tangled and ghostlike. Even the most recognizable songs, like "Crazy", become something totally and utterly different.
The overall sound is dark and drunken, mournful and mysterious, some tracks add harmonica, nose-flute, singing saw, and while those elements add to the lushness of the Reveries' sound, they're almost unnecessary, their core sound is so delicate and alien even at its most stripped down, so beautifully creepy, that all it ever takes to suck us in is that slow languorous twang, some warbly vocals, and a sweetly sad minor key melody...
MPEG Stream: "Any Arms Won't Do"
MPEG Stream: "Didn't Sleep A Wink Last Night"
MPEG Stream: "I Let My Mind Wander"

REVERIES, THE Play The Music Of Sade (Bennifer Edition) 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.
Past record of the week honorees the Reveries return with this super limited live cd-r, and while we're not always huge fans of live recordings, this one is worth it for two reasons, one, we've been dying for more Reveries, we can't get enough of their soporific warbly alien blues, and second, their sound is so strange and woozy, that the various crowd sounds, and the lo-fi recording, only add to their mysterious ambience.
The Reveries, for those of you who missed their AQ record of the week a while back, are a minimal blues trio, who take their somewhat standard instrumentation, guitar, bass, harmonica, musical saw, nose flute, and augment them with what the band calls 'mouth speakers', a tiny cell phone speaker, that each member holds in his mouth while they play, the various instruments being fed to the speaker in one of the other players' mouths, where the sound can then be altered by that player changing the shape of their mouth, or singing along to another instrument. The result is so gorgeous and so completely strange. The sound is off kilter and abstract, woozy and druggy, and totally beautiful. This live set finds the band augmented by a drummer, and various members playing stuff like streetsweeper bristle bass and thumb reeds, which only serves to give these songs a bit more propulsion, not quite as languorous as their last disc, a bit more 'rocking', with some simulated wah guitars (using their mouth speakers we figure) and more of a focus on the vocals, gorgeous mournful melodies, plaintive falsetto harmonies, all draped over the band's blurred bluescapes.
Folks who dig Bonny Prince Billy and Iron And WIne and the like should definitely check this out. It's that sort of modern blues twang, melancholy and melodic, but the Reveries, take that sound and twist it all up into something much stranger, and somehow much more moving.
SUPER LIMITED. Totally over the top packaging, a screen printed cardboard box, each one individually augmented by various glued on pieces of paper and art fragments, inside the box is stuffed with various inserts and found paper debris, flyers, newspapers, pictures cut out from magazines, and all manner of other strange visual detritus.
MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Two"

REVOLUTIONARIES At Channel 1: Dub Plate Specials (Jamaican) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the archives of Channel 1 recording studios in Jamaica comes another fine collection of dubs from circa 1976 featuring house band The Revolutionaries, featuring Sly & Robbie, Tommy McCook, and Skully. Really nice and minimal dubs, many of them stripped down to bass and echo laden percussion with only sparse bursts of melody. Some of the later tracks tend to have a little more melodic material in the way of saxophone, guitar and organ, but they're still quite nice. CD includes two tracks not available on the vinyl, sigh.
RealAudio clip: "Give Up The Bad Dub"
RealAudio clip: "Dub Forever"

REVOLUTIONARIES At Channel 1: Dub Plate Specials (Jamaican) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the archives of Channel 1 recording studios in Jamaica comes another fine collection of dubs from circa 1976 featuring house band The Revolutionaries, featuring Sly & Robbie, Tommy McCook, and Skully. Really nice and minimal dubs, many of them stripped down to bass and echo laden percussion with only sparse bursts of melody. Some of the later tracks tend to have a little more melodic material in the way of saxophone, guitar and organ, but they're still quite nice. CD includes two tracks not available on the vinyl, sigh.

REVOLUTIONARIES, THE Earthquake Dub (Hot Pot) cd 16.98
We definitely don't always know everything there is to know about dub (especially now that Byram, our dub expert, has left us), you know, the studios, the players, the history, but heck, we do know what we like, and what we like most is that spaced out, blissed out, reverb drenched dub, just dripping in delay, every snare hit skittering into infinity, all over huge warm throbbing basslines, with simple guitar melodies surfacing here and there before dipping back under the swirl of burbling bass and echoing rhythms. Barely any vocals, but when vocals do appear, they are immediately chopped up and sent spinning into a celestial echo chamber, along with those reverberating snare hits. Occasional horns too, even flutes, all warm and wrapped in a gauzy studio haze, lurking dreamily beneath the dubbed out skeleton of each song. So good! The Revolutionaries (featuring Sly Dunbar on drums) were the Channel One house band, and had played on just about every great reggae and dub record you can think of. For Earthquake Dub, Ossie Hibbert, arranger and session boss for Channel One and Joe Gibbs, manned the board, smearing those perfect reggae rhythms into gloriously dubbed out bliss! This is the first release on relatively new reggae / dub reissue label Hot Pot, and features liner notes as well as plenty of info on each track.
MPEG Stream: "Earthquake Dub"
MPEG Stream: "Rasta Foundation"

REVOLUTIONARIES, THE Reaction In Dub (Channel 1 ) lp 12.98

REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE Beyond The Boundary Of Time (Mutable Music) cd 15.98
There are very few contemporary jazz ensembles that get us excited, that remind us of the good ol' days, you know, Jazz Actuel, free jazz, REVOLUTIONARY JAZZ, so it should come as no surprise really, that one of the new bands that does do it for us, is made up of players from the old days, still making music as exciting, powerful and emotionally charged as ever.
Revolutionary Ensemble is Leroy Jenkins on violin, Sirone on bass, and Jerome Cooper on drums and a variety of other sound making devices, and Beyond The Boundary Of Time, captures the trio's 2005 final performance, live in Poland, recorded 2 years before Jenkins' death.
We've long been obsessed with Sirone, ever since the Chicago Art Ensemble days, one of the few players who could mesmerize and entrance us with an hour of solo bass, and he gets to do his thing here too, opening the set with 4 plus minutes of scrapes and drones and rumbles, until the song kicks in proper, and violin is such a strange non traditional jazz instrument, but Jenkins makes it sing, so melodic and haunting and mysterious, soaring over the strange rubbery basslines, and the abstract percussive skitter. The opening track gives us chills every time we hear it. The playing so lyrical and emotional, it's definitely jazz, but with elements of classical music, chamber music, intense, but also raw, and loose, and so free. Utterly beautiful. And that's just the first track.
The whole record is magical and mysterious, and sonically unique, Jenkins' violin and Sirone's bass are perfect foils, tangling and sparring, sometimes in perfect harmony, other times exploding into different directions, but the result is always the same, lush, expressive, otherworldly, some alien strain of jazz, that just seems to unfold and flower and splinter into all sorts of different shapes and sounds as the set progresses, seeing this in person must have been incredible, cuz recorded, it's pretty breathtaking.
The set ends with two lengthy improvisations, and the players go for it, the first, an endless avalanche of strange tones and layered skitter, lots of space, but also strange sonic molecules darting to and fro, the band occasionally locking into some serious droney dreaminess, but just as quickly breaking down into near chaos. The final track, lush and abstract, seriously melodic, until what sounds like some strange drum machine kicks in, and the track is transformed into some almost new wave free jazz freakout, fucking AWESOME.
Definitely one of the best performances from one of our favorite, and sadly now defunct, modern free jazz ensembles. Dedicated, as it should be, to the memory of Leroy Jenkins.
MPEG Stream: "Configuration"
MPEG Stream: "Usami"

REVOLUTIONARY ENSEMBLE Psyche (Mutable Music) cd 14.98
Reissue of this 1975 classic featuring the Art Ensemble Of Chicago's Sirone on bass, Jerome Cooper on drums and piano, and ensemble leader Leroy Jenkins on the very un-jazz violin and viola. Treading similar musical ground as the Art Ensemble and the A.A.C.M. this is abstract, and very free. And while it may be Jenkins' group, it's definitely Sirone's party. Sinewy fretless bass pervades every dark nook and cranny of the recording. Wandering and slithering under and over Jenkins' wild sawing and Cooper's splattery drumming. So cool and free. So free in fact that some of you folks who aren't all that psyched on jazz might even give this a shot. There's lots of drone and NNCK / SHOTM tribal clatter that might just change your mind about jazz. Maybe.
MPEG Stream: "Hu-man"

REVOLVING PAINT DREAM Flowers In The Sky: The Enigma of The Revolving Paint Dream (Rev-Ola) cd 15.98
Yes!! One of Creation Records' best and most mystifying bands finally gets the anthology treatment (Thanks Rev-ola!). Releasing only two records (Off To Heaven from 1987 and Mother Watch Me Burn, from 1989), and two singles (all compiled here), no other band on the Creation roster has been subject to such wild conspiracy theories, extreme denial, rumor and hearsay that have, uh, revolved around this group. And those seeking answers will definitely not find them here.
I (Scott) remember back in my high school days hanging out in the only British Import record store in Orange County (Hyde Park Records in North Irvine) and my friend picking up Off to Heaven with its cryptic liner notes about a late night telephone call and cab-ride to the studio, finding smashed instruments, pink swastikas on the wall and the smell of a bonfire full of clothing, guitars, recording tape and a note "We are invisible...we cannot see you". According to legend, the tapes of the band arrived out of the blue at Creation, with rumors of members (never identified) being seen in various parts of the world in inebriated states of mental recklessness, acid burnout, and inappropriate undress. Needless to say, My friend and I were intrigued. We took the record home and our young minds were blown. Fuzzy, and darkly druggy sixties-sounding psych pop with Phil Spectorish arrangements, jangly guitars, alternating male and female vocals, burning farfisas, backwards tape collages, noisy feedback, and of course tambourines! Yet the songs were performed in a manner that was beyond pastiche or merely a re-tread of the early eighties paisley underground sound. Ever hear of the story of the La's obsessively recording using machines with "sixties dust", to get that distinct vintage sound? Well, RVP sound like they injected that dust deep into their veins, ripped off the drum break from Tomorrow Never Knows, turned their amps all the way up then lit them on fire, walked into the sea, never to emerge. This is the band Brian Jonestown Massacre wish they were.
Of course I wore through my dubbed cassette, and not many I have talked to since had ever heard of them. Rumors have since circulated that Revolving Paint Dream was actually a secret side project of Andrew Innes from Primal Scream, and maybe members of the Pastels as well as Creation Label head, Alan McGee. But even Nicole Garcia who wrote the liner notes for this anthology was unable to get a straight answer on exactly who Revolving Paint Dream were. After affable interviews from all the major players of Creation Records for a French Radio Programme, she received nothing but closed doors and cease and desist letters from mysterious lawyers when she tried to follow up on questions about this enigmatic group. Were McGee and Innes still sticking to their elaborate hoax? Or was Garcia just playing along? Was it a hoax at all? Perhaps some mysteries are better unsolved. At least we have the music. Absolutely Recommended!!!
MPEG Stream: "In The Afternoon"
MPEG Stream: "Flowers In The Sky (long version)"
MPEG Stream: "Dune Buggy Attack Battalion"

REX 3 (Southern) cd 13.98
3rd full length from moody quartet is definitely a step forward, not as immediately catchy as their prior release but upon further listening reveals itself as beautiful, darker, more lush and textural.

REX 3 (Southern) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
3rd full length from moody quartet is definitely a step forward, not as immediately catchy as their prior release but upon further listening reveals itself as beautiful, darker, more lush and textural.

REX C (Southern) cd 11.98
Rex's truly wonderful achievement is what the Wilco record should have been, we rather cruelly proclaim. Emotional and epic, slow and dark with a bit of twang. Reminds us sometimes of a slow Meat Puppets, sometimes of a less angsty Palace Brothers. Made the best-of-1996 top picks lists of probably everyone who works here.

REX Waltz (Southern) cd 9.99

REYNOLDS, BEN Book of Beyond (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Remedy For The Sirs"
MPEG Stream: "In Yeek Stars"

REYNOLDS, BEN Earth & Space Magics (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've got some serious catching up to do. We can barely keep up with the flood of new releases, especially when there are loads of amazing microlabels putting out disc after disc after bloody brilliant disc. So it is with Antony Milton's PseudoArcana label, and this gorgeous disc from Ben Reynolds. Five tracks, 30 minutes, of ultra dense, super lush droned out bliss. Reynolds weaves massive washes of near static sound, like Sunroof! or Vibracathedral Orchestra but smoothed out and stretched out into even more blissful realms, slow flowing rivers of warm warble and thick chordal thrum. Part way through there is a brief and delicate folk interlude of fingerpicked steel string guitar and tinkling chimes, very Fahey-esque, but it quickly segues into perhaps the heaviest track on the disc, the nine minute "Howlers", another extended Ur-drone, but this time augmented by the previous track's chimes, and strange alien chirps that sound a bit like bird calls (Howlers?). Truly gorgeous stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Sunward Mooned The Moon"
MPEG Stream: "Original Emptiness"

REYNOLDS, BEN Music Is The Music Language (Ikuisuus) cd 8.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
A gorgeous mysterious slab of dreamy droniness that we listed a long time ago. Just found a stash of these, about 7 or 8 left, already out of print as far as we know so one last chance...
The last time we reviewed a Ben Reynolds disc was way back in 2005, and even then we were sort of lamenting our inability to keep up with the constant deluge of amazing cd-r's and the proliferation of cd-r microlabels. We're still trying, but it's fighting a losing battle.
And with Reynolds, we've fallen even further behind, this being only the second release we've managed to review out of the probably twenty or so we've missed, but what the hell, let's make the most of it. Thankfully this is a real cd not a cd-r, which is a god thing as this is way too good to only be heard by a handful of folks.
Reynolds weaves a magical lower case world of buzzing synths, strange percolating rhythms, disembodied psychedelic guitars, simple folky strum, and dense sheets of processed drone and whir. Occupying a sonic space somewhere between the freaky forest folkies and the spaced out droney drifters, Reynolds wanders freely back and forth often pausing with one foot in each, wrapping sweet little bundles of buzzing steel strings in tripped out sci-fi buzz and bleep, while conversely taking washed out smears of outerspace ambience and spreading them out beneath melancholy acoustic guitar melodies. Fans of all thing Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, PseudoArcana, Digitalis, Last Visible Dog and the like will absolutely want to get a hold of this....
MPEG Stream: "Swing + Maths"
MPEG Stream: "Mother Legato"
MPEG Stream: "Spacious Yowl"

REYNOLDS, BEN Outmospheric Arts Of The Outmosphere (Digitalis) cd 7.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
MPEG Stream: "Outmospheric Arts Of The Outmosphere"
MPEG Stream: "Cracks Swoon Moon"

REYNOLDS, MALVINA s/t (The Omni Recording Corporation) cd 17.98

REYNOLS ------- (Blackbean and Placenta / Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The metaphysical world created by Reynols spins on a different axis than the world that the rest of us know. Guided by self-negating guru Miguel Tomasin (who has Down's Syndrome) and actualized by Anla Courtis and Robeto Conzalo, Reynols has previously slowed their world down to a nervous crawl to investigate the Kirlian glow of tape hiss, on their ultra-minimalist masterpiece "Blank Tapes" (which found a perfect home on Bernhard Gunter's Trente Oiseaux label). "-------" finds the Reynolsian globe spinning backward in time with this blast of atavistic noise rock, reminiscent of the earliest work of the Swans, Virgin Prunes, or Skullflower. Reynols' desire to invoke the tumultousness of rock is not anger, fear, or a sadistic need to control, rather it is the ecstacy of pounding: the ability of rock to channel the most primal connections between the body and sound. Musically, "-------" moves though Miguel's skittering mondo beats and the slashing guitar noise of Anla and Robeto, who develop primitive two or three note melodies out of the screeching cacaphony.
Miguel's whimsical, incessant, and non-linear banter runs throughout these noise rock slabs of sound, making all together a strangely magical experience.
RealAudio clip: "--- --"

REYNOLS Barbatrulos (Freedom From ) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Reynols is an Argentinian trio that certainly doesn't do much to fit within the user-friendly conventions of stablized musical aesthetics. The focal point in Reynols is Miguel Tomasin, the lead singer / oracle of the group who suffers from Down's Syndrone; yet despite his affliction, Tomasin brings a festive quirkiness and deeply poetic insight to the process of creating music for Reynols. After conjuring a myriad of unusual ideas and mystical pronouncements, Tomasin works with the classically trained engineers Alan Courtis and Roberto Conlazo to realize his transcendental neologisms within a sonic context. Miguel wants to release an album of blank tapes, and Reynols manufactures such an album that despite the absurd source material is a breathtaking piece of dronology... or Miguel wants to compose a symphony for 10,000 chickens, and behold Reynols goes to a farm, records a bunch of chickens and produces an eerie David Lynchian drone.
For "Barbatrulos," Miguel and company have situated themselves as a minimalist heroin rock band, but their sound is far abstracted from the canons of romantic abjection like the Velvet Underground or Spaceman 3. Rather, their fuzzed-out dinscrape dirges are infused with something inexplicably affirmative. I makes no bones about the fact that I don't understand them, but Reynols is one of the few bands that makes me very happy.

REYNOLS Blank Tapes (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Allan asked our friendly Forced Exposure rep (known to some as Hrvatski, Keith to others) what seemed to be a reasonable question: "So is that Reynols cd any good?" Keith's deadpan response, "It's blank tapes." Allan, phrasing the question a little differently, "Well, what does it sound like?" Again the response over the phone, "It's really just blank tapes." A silence persisted from Allan who was baffled and trying to formulate the next question. Keith then responded, "Look we got a lot of these things, so take as many as you want!" making his pronouncement of the ridiculousness of this record as well as his desire to get rid of them.
But let's face it: Reynols isn't one guy. It's a band with three people, recording the sound of blank tapes. They are from Argentina. They previously made a recording of 10,000 chickens. And you know what, you can actually hear these blank tapes, with more going on then the average Trente Oiseaux record (i.e. Bernhard Gunter, Steve Roden, and Francisco Lopez). Furthermore, it's really great.
RealAudio clip: "blank tapes 3"

REYNOLS Deportation Symphony (Riot Season) 7" 9.98

REYNOLS Fire (Digital Narcis) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Fire! Fire! Fire!! Sorry, couldn't help it. This new disc, a mini-album of exactly 20 minutes in length, is what happens when the surreal Argentine experimental rock band Reynols starts playing with matches. It's just recordings of the sound of fire, processed into what in Reynols' universe might be another element entirely. Crackling, popping, flickering, droning, sizzling, insectoid mutter. They've done this sort of thing with blank tapes, grass growing, and 10,000 chickens -- so this fire concept is almost mundane in comparison. What's gotten into 'em? You know a band is weird when a recording of *just fire* seems too "normal" for them!! Anyway, it's nicely done, though the packaging is minimal to say the least: aside from the fire photo on the cd itself, there's no booklet or cover or anything, just a cd in a slimline jewelcase.
MPEG Stream: "Fire (excerpt)"

REYNOLS Jaz Ronco Japi Javas Vol 1 (Valuba Mafiforo) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Taking the CD-R production into their own hands, the Argentinian outrock ensemble Reynols has started releasing CD-Rs of their music in an attempt to pull themselves out of the downward spiral that is Argentina's faltering economy. Fortunately, their country's economic plight hasn't deterred Reynols' spirit, which is still centered upon the self-described prophecies of frontman Miguel Tomasin who happens to have Down's Syndrome. While the "Jaz Ronco Japi Javas" series finds Reynols materializing in their rock guise, the music is far less claustrophobic and bleak than the classic noise rock primitivism of "Barbatrulos" or "-------," rather it takes on a celebratory free noise / drone skree typically found on Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings. On a couple of the tracks in the series, Reynols presents themselves as a jazz ensemble with piano, stand-up bass, and sax, but of course with their own charmingly alien signature. As in all of the rock Reynols albums, Miguel does feature prominently and even shows a greater range of instrumentation in playing organs, guitar, flute, marimba, and "Andino Sax," alongside his staple instrument, the drums. And of course, Miguel sings with his pronounced vocal warble and slurred syllables. Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo and Alan "Anla" Coutis continue in their supporting role, producing some nice drone tracks and monochromatic noise guitar work.
RealAudio clip: "Fermo Mogal"
RealAudio clip: "Trilo Avesario"

REYNOLS Jaz Ronco Japi Javas Vol 2 (Valuba Mafiforo) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Taking the CD-R production into their own hands, the Argentinian outrock ensemble Reynols has started releasing CD-Rs of their music in an attempt to pull themselves out of the downward spiral that is Argentina's faltering economy. Fortunately, their country's economic plight hasn't deterred Reynols' spirit, which is still centered upon the self-described prophecies of frontman Miguel Tomasin who happens to have Down's Syndrome. While the "Jaz Ronco Japi Javas" series finds Reynols materializing in their rock guise, the music is far less claustrophobic and bleak than the classic noise rock primitivism of "Barbatrulos" or "-------," rather it takes on a celebratory free noise / drone skree typically found on Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings. On a couple of the tracks in the series, Reynols presents themselves as a jazz ensemble with piano, stand-up bass, and sax, but of course with their own charmingly alien signature. As in all of the rock Reynols albums, Miguel does feature prominently and even shows a greater range of instrumentation in playing organs, guitar, flute, marimba, and "Andino Sax," alongside his staple instrument, the drums. And of course, Miguel sings with his pronounced vocal warble and slurred syllables. Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo and Alan "Anla" Coutis continue in their supporting role, producing some nice drone tracks and monochromatic noise guitar work.
RealAudio clip: "Apoloca"
RealAudio clip: "Jaz Ronco Mentalimo 2"

REYNOLS Jaz Ronco Japi Javas Vol 3 (Valuba Mafiforo) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Taking the CD-R production into their own hands, the Argentinian outrock ensemble Reynols has started releasing CD-Rs of their music in an attempt to pull themselves out of the downward spiral that is Argentina's faltering economy. Fortunately, their country's economic plight hasn't deterred Reynols' spirit, which is still centered upon the self-described prophecies of frontman Miguel Tomasin who happens to have Down's Syndrome. While the "Jaz Ronco Japi Javas" series finds Reynols materializing in their rock guise, the music is far less claustrophobic and bleak than the classic noise rock primitivism of "Barbatrulos" or "-------," rather it takes on a celebratory free noise / drone skree typically found on Vibracathedral Orchestra recordings. On a couple of the tracks in the series, Reynols presents themselves as a jazz ensemble with piano, stand-up bass, and sax, but of course with their own charmingly alien signature. As in all of the rock Reynols albums, Miguel does feature prominently and even shows a greater range of instrumentation in playing organs, guitar, flute, marimba, and "Andino Sax," alongside his staple instrument, the drums. And of course, Miguel sings with his pronounced vocal warble and slurred syllables. Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo and Alan "Anla" Coutis continue in their supporting role, producing some nice drone tracks and monochromatic noise guitar work.
RealAudio clip: "Flatdas Sutan"
RealAudio clip: "Contle Mante"

REYNOLS Pacalirte Sorban Cumanos (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 10.98
Finally back in stock! We just discovered that this, one of our favorite Reynols records, was not in fact out of print (as we were mistakenly informed) so we ordered up a bunch for all of you who may not have gotten one way back in 2002 when we first reviewed it. Here's what we had to say about Pacalirte Sorban Cumanos:
For some reason, this 'real' cd Reynols disc is cheaper than many of the cd-r albums of theirs we listed not long ago. Maybe 'cause it's domestic, not an Argentine import? No matter what, you're always getting a deal, 'cause we're convinced that this Reynols stuff is in fact priceless. Now, there's essentially two types of Reynols records: the 'rock' albums (like "------" and the Reynols/No Reynols double cd) and the conceptual ones (like Blank Tapes and the 10,000 Chickens 7"). This new disc falls into the 'rock' camp, such as it is: damaged, monomaniacal drumming, psychedelic, noisy guitar jamming, and of course Reynols' frontman Miguel Tomasin's otherworldy, shamanistic vocals. Good stuff, in other words.
As the first track of this 50-minute journey begins, you're lost somewhere, in a tunnel or cavern. There's an ambient rumbling sound, and some haunting, echoed cries from Miguel. Then, with track two the distorted rock n' roll drone kicks in, all heavy-like, building in noisy intensity until track 3 interrupts the storm with a calmer, mantric mood, only to be interrupted itself with more fierce feedback guitar at the four and a half minute mark. Other songs feature Hare Krishna -worthy warbling chant, acoustic strum, and rattling hand percussion, as well as more of their primitive psych rock dementia. From simple, vocal-led tracks of trancey emptiness to guitar-based fuzzed-out chaos, the results are only enhanced by the raw, reverby production. Reynols is always strange, and strangely compelling, appealing to us in sort of the same way that much of the music of Keiji Haino does. Listening to Reynols isn't just about enjoying some weird songs, it's about taking a trip into their world and trying to see and hear things the way Miguel and his compatriots do. These are field recordings from inside their minds.
MPEG Stream: "Agrando Disa"
MPEG Stream: "7 apolca baluba"
MPEG Stream: "Trilo Pampeho"
MPEG Stream: "Camio Flatdas"

REYNOLS Polos Mosco (Freedom From / Polyamory) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With over 50 records under their belt (300 if you count all the ones that "don't exist"), Reynols has more to do with executing a concept than maintaining an aesthetic continuity, with previous wonders of aural conceptualism like "Blank Tapes" (a minimalist hour of blank tapes released on Trente Oiseaux). Fronted by Miguel Tomasin, the lead singer who claims he doesn't sing, and flanked by the sonic arsenal of Alan Courtis and Roberto Conlazo, Reynols presents an art-damaged rock album in "Polos Mosco." The songs from the album are structurally simple but dominated by an excess of vibrato reverb which warbles harmoniously with the garage-rock-meets-Sonic-Youth guitar attack as well as Tomasin's incantations. While AQ's Spanish is downright non-existent, it's probably safe to say that Tomasin is about as comprehensible as Jandek. With all of the oddball mythologies, Reynols may in fact turn out to be the Sun City Girls of the new millenium. Plus Allan and Andee think he sounds like Space Ghost's Brak!!

REYNOLS Pupola Ridos 192000 (Valuba Mafiforo) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Pupola Ridos 192000" is the CD-R that the Argentinian avant-rockers Reynols sold on their 2001 tour throughout the US and is now available to a broader audience through Reynols' own production house Valubamafiforo. Reynols has toured the US several times, and each time the frontman of the group Miguel Tomasin has declined to venture up to the US because of his belief that the United States does not exist. Nevertheless, Miguel does claim to channel his spirit to these non-existant territories to help fellow Reynols members Roberto "Moncho" Conlazo, Alan "Anla" Coutis, and "Pacu Conlazo" get through their performances.
Regardless, this disc does prominently feature Miguel singing his atonal warbling, spluttering along behind the drum kit while the rest of the band produces creepy dronework similar to their Pauline Oliveros collaboration and their more abrasively bleak noise-rock as heard on "Barbatrulos" or "-------."
RealAudio clip: "Ranja Manama"
RealAudio clip: "Pupola Ridos"
RealAudio clip: "Cuaplo Gason"

REYNOLS Rampotanza Grodo Rempelente (Locust) cd 14.98
In their "Met Life" series, Locust Records has commissioned experimental artists to produce a field recording of a dynamic aural evironment and then respond to that recording using any methods of their choosing. So, the Argentinian out-rock ensemble Reynols presents the sounds of city workers in Buenos Aires jackhammering a ditch in a busy city street. While Reynols could be implying that this field recording is an obtuse channelling from Minecxio -- that's the mythical alternate dimension that Reynols have cited as the source of their 'musical' ideas, which have included in the past a symphony for 10,000 chickens and an album comprised entirely of blank tape (which is anything but silent). However, Reynols' field recording of jackhammers seems pretty straight. Their "response" to this field recording is another matter altogether. With gritty guitar noise freakouts lurking in the distance, Reynols sets up a psych-fug throb of primal percussion, close-fisted organ arpeggiations, and bellowing trumpets, turning the pneumatic monotony of the jackhammer into an atypical, instrumental waltz of cosmic melodies and drunken rhythms.
MPEG Stream: "Rampotanza Ronil Grodorempelente"
MPEG Stream: "Rampotanza Ronil Grodo Rempelente: Response"

REYNOLS Sosina Arada Mica (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another AQ favorite that we thought was out of print, but we managed to get a handful more (albeit at a slightly higher price)
The weirder-than-thou Argentinian trio Reynols have made a lot of records. That much we can all agree on. Some are conceptual (Blank Tapes, ten thousand chickens, even a 'dematerialized' cd) some are more rock -- messed-up, primitive, psychedelic rock. And this is one of those. It's also two other things: one of the best Reynols we've heard (which, from us, is high praise 'cause we love Reynols) and unfortunately quite limited in availability. From track one, side one (ok, it's a cd so there's only one side, but with Reyols you never know, there could be an imaginary 2nd side) it's a blissful marriage of Miguel's gentle soul singing and a throbbing bed of percussion, heavy amp-drone and stabbing, soothing guitar-skronk. Detours (like the very 2nd track) are made into celebratory, shambling grooves, like Reynols are busking for 'change' in the way I'm writing this review. But most of Sosina Arada Mica could be a Reynolisan religious ceremony, totally spacey and effects-laden. The drone-quotient is high, and so are you.
MPEG Stream: "Claquer"
MPEG Stream: "Mentalimo"

REYNOLS / NO-REYNOLS Rovatino Surido Almericamo (Last Visible Dog) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This new cd-r release from the always-colorful (and bizarre) Argentinian band Reynols sports a full color cover, perhaps a first for the no-frills Last Visible Dog cd-r label. Recorded live at the Fusa Auditorium in Buenos Aires, September 20th 2001, this is half performed by Reynols (Miguel Tomasin, Moncho Conlazo, Anla Courtis, and Pacu Conlazo) and half by their near-doppelgangers No-Reynols (Juan Manuel Acevedo, No-Moncho Conlazo, No-Anla Courtis, and No-Pacu Conlazo). But whether being led by the whim of Miguel Tomasin or Juan Manuel Acevedo, these groups both fully inhabit a noisy, droney, damaged, beyond-psychedelic, not-really-rock primal stomp territory explored by few others. The disc starts off quite mysteriously and quietly, sounding like a echoey exotica-plus-feedback session, punctuated by distant applause and what might be the strains of some commercial Latin pop.
Are they on stage, in the jungle, or in a void? It's hard to tell. Soon, a stiff, insistent percussion frenzy builds, accompanied by indistinct drone guitar and nonsense vocal interjections. This rapidly grows into a full fledged shamanic incantation of whirling dervish, junk-rock intensity. Howling, grinding, blowing "music" that makes the perfect warm yet alienated background to the throaty, wailing crooning of Miguel (or is it Juan Manuel?). It's so wacked and yet lovely. This umpteenth Reynols document shows that they're indeed an Acid Mothers Temple for those truly moved by authentic weirdness and emotional expression that trumps psychedelic pastiche.
RealAudio clip: REYNOLS "Rovatino Surido Almericamo"
RealAudio clip: NO-REYNOLS "Papapapapa Pa"

REYNOLS / NO-REYNOLS s/t (Freedom From) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In keeping true to the uncanny laws of nature in the Reynolsian universe, No-Reynols came into creation because the world had slipped out of balance due to the invincible musical force that is Reynols. This is not to say that No-Reynols is the evil incarnation of Reynols or that No-Reynols is even the opposite of Reynols, but that the world hinges itself as interconnected series of counterbalances, and -- strange as it may sound -- too much Reynols may have been detrimental to the world as we know it. Thus, No-Reynols needed to exist. Just as Reynols draws its energy from the non-linear logic and mystical neologisms of Miguel Tomasin (who happens to have Down Syndrome), No-Reynols centers around the anti-agendas of Juan Miguel Acevedo (who also has Down Syndrome). Behind chugging guitars and skitteringly motorik 4/4 rhythms (think a really sloppy Neu!), Acevedo utters wavering vocal wails and monosyllabic chants that place his voice as a vehicle for additional tones and rhythms. There are obvious similarities between No-Reynols and Reynols in this primitive approach to musical content, yet the use of the voice is certainly a dividing point, with Tomasin in turn barking non-specific phrases in Spanish.
RealAudio clip: REYNOLS "N9 Colesio Americama"
RealAudio clip: REYNOLS "Amete Pulpo Un Groda"
RealAudio clip: NO REYNOLS "2"
RealAudio clip: NO REYNOLS "7"

REYNOLS / PAULINE OLIVEROS Pauline Oliveros In The Arms Of Reynols (Cream Garden ) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Within the Reynolsian post-rational pantheon, Pauline Oliveros holds the unique position of being the band's astral godmother. Oliveros has been in close contact with the Argentinian avant rockers since 1994 and only recently has their collaboration been documented, first as a super limited tape release, and now as this cd which is somewhat of a reworked version of that cassette release. Following the brilliant single-source-material manipulations found on "Blank Tapes" and "10,000 Chicken Symphony," Reynols reinterprets and recomposes recordings from Oliveros for just intonation accordion and voice. Reynols -- unlike most remix artists -- takes great care to add something that is distinctively of themselves without diluting the beautiful complexities of Oliveros' signature style. "Pauline Oliveros In The Arms Of Reynols" is a massive recording of the glacial swells of Oliveros' accordion which are matched with Reynols magically dark production -- adding distant (and somewhat threatening) bird choruses and glistening guitar distortion washes to the mix. This extended dronological investigation is broken near the end of the record by Reynols' Miguel Tomasin expounding his ideas about life and this recording. Even if our Spanish were better, his playful neologisms still would probably be beyond us, as our metal grasp of his idiosyncratic mythologies is somewhat limited. Nevertheless, this is an amazing document.
RealAudio clip: "We are still thinking about the title..."
RealAudio clip: "We are still thinking about the title?"

REZILLOS Can't Stand The Rezillos (Sire / Warner Bros.) cd 15.98
Subtitled, "The (Almost) Complete Rezillos" -- and this essential cd comp is just that, the Rezillo's awesome "Can't Stand..." debut plus tracks from their live album and single.

REZILLOS Can't Stand The Rezillos (Sire / Rhino) lp 14.98
Nice 180 gram Rhino vinyl reish of this 1978 poppy punky new wavey classic from Glaswegian rockers the Rezillos, which includes such energetic "hits" (in an alternate, much cooler universe, at any rate) as "Flying Saucer Attack", "(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures", "Bad Guy Reaction", "Top Of The Pops", and their hard hitting cover of early Fleetwood Mac garage stomper "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight". Though the Rezillos were one of Scotland's first Pistols-era punk bands, they liked their '60s stuff, doing some other '60s covers besides the Mac, also suitably punked up. Faye Fife's vocals provide some melodic balance to the more sneering-sounding, tougher male ones. Not that she doesn't sound tuff too. Super good tunes, good times, yeah!!
Don't just take it from us, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. has been quoted as saying that Can't Stand The Rezillos is the best album Sire ever put out. And that's saying a lot, since in just '78 alone Sire released albums by the Ramones, the Talking Heads, the Dead Boys, and the Flamin' Groovies, among many others...
MPEG Stream: "Flying Saucer Attack"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Wars"

RH BAND 122701 (HP Cycle) lp 13.98
Latest missive from these mysterious dronesters. This being probably their most spare, minimal work to date. Shimmering tones and barely-there ambience. Think an even more STRIPPED DOWN Stars Of The Lid. It's that subtle and ethereal. Notes hover almost motionless like wisps of smoke frozen in midair. Super minimal, totally mesmerising, lowercase drone. You can almost feel the air suck out of your ears when the record stops. Totally obscure reference: Remember in the movie Phantasm, there was a gateway to another world, and the gateway was two vibrating metal posts (like a tuning fork) that disrupted the time space continuum creating a portal to that other world. This record kind of sounds like that gateway! Good stuff.

RH BAND First Tone (Drunken Fish) cd 12.98
The second full album of improvised dronology very similar to AMM or the more acoustic oriented Zoviet France played with circuits, wires, analogue feedback, things bowed, 'McNaughton' (what/whoever that is...), delay units, smoke, and 'that fucking flute'.

RHAPSODY Power Of The Dragonflame (LMP) cd 14.98
Either you've been eagerly awaiting this new full-length album from Italy's best, most baroque, bombastic symphonic metal band since their last release (the "Rain Of A Thousand Flames" ep), or you could care less. Double bass drums, crazy keyboards and guitar, it's absurdly operatic metal to the max, from the Carmina Burana inspired opening to the epic, 19 minute closer "Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness". And it's a concept album, part IV (the final chapter ) of Rhapsody's "Algalord Chronicles", which you can read about in the thick, full color booklet -- there's even a map of the band's Middle Earth-like fantasy world.
They call what they do "Hollywood Metal" but that refers to a Hollywood that only makes blockbuster fantasy films about dragons and wizards...not surprisingly, Peter Jackson gets a mention in band leader Luca Turilli's thanks list!
If you want to take a chance on some ridiculous yet amazing metal, you could do no better than check this out!
RealAudio clip: "The March of the Swordmaster"
RealAudio clip: "When Demons Awake"
RealAudio clip: "Steelgods of the Last Apocalypse"

RHAPSODY Rain of a Thousand Flames (SPV) cd 14.98
These over-the-top, sword-swinging Italians return with not a new album but a 42-minute "ep" teaser for their upcoming 2002 full-length. As always, they've cranked out some utterly ridiculous yet wonderful symphonic fantasy metal. The thirteen minute track "Queen Of The Dark Horizons" pays tribute to their countrymen Goblin by quoting a part from Goblin's soundtrack to Dario Argento's Phenomena horror flick. Elsewhere, in the four-part, 22 minute epic "Rhymes of a Tragic Poem -- The Gothic Saga" Rhapsody employs an excerpt from a Dvorak symphony. But it's their own keyboard-laden, hyperspeed pomp prog metal stylings that make them the guilty pleasure they so surely are for several of us here at AQ. Rhapsody's obsession with Hollywood fantasy soundtracks pretty much defines the word "bombastic" in the realm of metal. Blind Guardian, Lost Horizon, Labyrinth, and others (all great) can try to compete, but nobody does it quite like Rhapsody.
While supplies last, we'll be stocking the digipack version of this disc, which folds out into a pop-up monster, and features a cd-rom video clip for the title track. The video is unbelievably cheesy, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
RealAudio clip: "The Poem's Evil Page"

RHAPSODY Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II (Magic Circle Music ) cd 16.98