RIGOR SARDONICOUS Principia Sardonica (Paragon) cd 12.98
There's been tons of good doom lately. Especially of the funeral death dirge type. You know, the reviews we usually start with the word dooooooooooooooooom. The more o's the slower and creepier it is. So we'd have to give this one about 10 o's, cuz man is this dark and dismal and glacier slow. This is straight up Skepticism / Thergothon worship. And we love it! Huge tarpit guitars, broadcast from the bottom of a fiery pit, so the sound is a throbbing muted hum, struggling to be heard through the damp stone walls of whatever keep you're holed up in. So overdriven that even at low volume it cause the speakers on our computer to practically melt. Simple pounding drums keep the doom from spilling into space and becoming shapeless rumpling drones. But Rigor Sardonicous have two things that set them apart from the doooooooooom (yes, ten o's) pack. First, the vocals. So gutteral and subhuman they sound like the growl of an angry mother bear defending her cubs. Or sort of like the recent Caninus record that featured pitbull dogs growling out the vocals. So impossibly low and rumbling and demonic. The second is "the most evil cymbal in the world." It must be the most evil cymbal. Why else would it be so much louder in the mix than anything else? Right. It must be because as the most evil cymbal, the best way to praise the Dark Lord, is to offer up a crash every few seconds. But wait, track three contains what can only be "the most evil gong in the world!" And again proper worship to the Dark Lord requires whacking a big ol' gong every few seconds. Definitely bizarre (too bizarre for some -- AQ pal and Stalin Claus mastermind Steven Schultz could not handle the evil cymbal!) but it all adds a certain weirdness that we can't seem to get enough of. So just imagine Benighted Leams mixed with Skepticism. And then of course include the "most evil cymbal in the world". Oh, and the "most evil gong". And on further listening there seems to be a "quite evil hi-hat" as well. Fucking awesome!
MPEG Stream: "In Autumn Twilight"
MPEG Stream: "The Dead"

RIGOR SARDONICOUS Risus Ex Mortus (Endless Desperation) cd-r 10.98
Ah, nothing like a glacially slooooooooow blast of ultra mega doooooooooooooom to calm the nerves, at least that's the way it seems to work around the mail order department for the boys (and girls!) who work back in "the Tombs" of AQ. Rigor Sardonicous - one of our all-time favorite "apocalyptic doom" bands - sent a package recently containing their latest CD, "Risus Ex Mortuus" along with some stickers and a hat...we all fought over the hat a bit, but Andee doesn't like to mess up his "drummer hair" and Jason already sports a bitchin' Rigor Sardonicous glow-in-the-dark print T-shirt, so Allan scored the new lid. Besides, we see him wearing that hunter's orange/camo cap a bit too often lately and - where were we - oh yeah - Risus Ex Mortuus!!!
Once again, Rigor Sardonicous is back, and on this CD we get a bunch of re-recorded versions of early tracks from long out-of-print releases, an unreleased track, and even a Kiss cover! You haven't heard "God Of Thunder" until you've heard it Rigor-ized, a thick syrupy sludge-y Sunn-y crawl, with the vocals belched out in impossible guttural grunts. The CD even somehow sports some beautiful "Rigor Sardonicous" Old English script printed on the UNDERSIDE of the CD - SICK !!!
Also back again is the signature drum machine (who has occupied the throne since 1991) and the return of 'the most evil cymbal in the world', tha clanged-out trash can lid of a cymbal that we have been totally obsessed with and completely transfixed by since we first heard RS. It's like nothing you've ever heard in the realms of dark murky doomy sludge-pyre music (except on the other RS records obviously). It is back and better (and louder) than ever - way out in front where it constantly rears its ugly head again and again, crashing forth with a clanging clattery crash, before quickly fading back into the sludge. Sounds like Sunn 0))) playing Moss covers at the bottom of a giant sewer pipe while someone drops metal garbage cans from above... a strange kind of beautiful.
Mr. drum machine also seems to be taking it up a notch rhythmically with more blast beats, faster and louder, while somehow not actually making the music sound any faster, just weirder and heavier. And there's no mistaking the downtuned, strings-so-slack-they-touch-the-floor, buzzed-out slow sludge rumbling roar coming from the guitar. Like the sound of low-flying aircraft "strumming" overhead power lines... And again those vocals, spread all over the proceedings like some viscous black paste, a subsonic curdle / gurgle that is hardly human. If you close your eyes, you can't help but picture some goo spewing giant lizard ready to consume you whole, or some creepy Hellraiser / Pinhead style hellbeast declaring your doooom. WE LOVE IT.
The AQ dark lords, sit upon their throne of skulls, surrounded by fire and burning flesh, demons swooping through the murky skies, the earth trembling, the ground littered with the dead, gazing cooly at the scorched landscape that stretches forever in all directions, before looking to the sky and letting out a blood curdling cry of "MORE EVIL CYMBAL !!!"
(The band claim that these are indeed actual cd's, although, we're pretty sure they're cd-r's, but who the hell cares, you can't go wrong for $10.98, and you can't print bitchin' olde English band logos on the playing side of a real cd... or can you?)
MPEG Stream: "Prooemium"
MPEG Stream: "Rigor Sardonicous"
MPEG Stream: "God Of Thunder"

RIGOR SARDONICOUS Vallis Ex Umbra De Mortuus (Paragon Records) cd 9.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
It's been a while, but it's time to haul out all those extra doom 'o's we've been saving for an occasion just like this. The return of ultra doomlords Rigor Sardonicous, they of the monstrous glacial downtuned crawl, the 'evil' cymbal (more on that in a second), the growled demonic vox, the lugubrious slow motion trudge, all that stuff we love, and all the stuff that can usually only be described by a whole handful of extra 'o's in doooooooooom.
But the opening track threw us for a bit of a loop. All weirdly folky, with chanted vocals, and fluttering flutes, some haunting almost Renn Faire court music, which quickly gives way to clean mournful minor key clean guitar, could this be the same Rigor Sardonicous? All doubts are wiped away moments later when the whole sound shifts down about a hundred octaves, the crumbling super distorted guitar spreads out like a black fog, the drums pounding, the cymbals still way up in the mix (beginning to think it's their trademark), and then the vocals. WOAH. Impossibly gurgly rumbles, like a frog croaking from the bottom of a tarpit, perfectly complimenting the band's murky plod. Weirdly the band does speed it up, but everything is so muddy and blurred that it almost makes no difference. You can hear what sounds like a little girl way off in the distance, as if she's locked in the dungeon of some great black beast. This is some awesomely creepy, heavy, and fucked up dooooooooooomy shit for sure.
If it's even possible, this is the most extreme Rigor record yet. The guitars more dense, heavier, even more downtuned, the vocals absolutely inhuman, it does almost sound like some super slow dooooom record, slowed down even more. And when the band do 'rock', they still out-doom most of their slow motion contemporaries.
Nothing else to say really. Been digging the most recent Moss, the Corrupted reissue? Still loving those Monarch records, the recent Trees disc? Fancy yourself a doomlord? Well strap on your armor, your headlamp, some industrial strength ear protection, and crawl headfirst into this black tarpit of sound, Rigor Sardonicous take even the heaviest and slowest sounds somewhere even slower and lower and so much doooooooooooooooooooooooomierŠ
MPEG Stream: "Silens Somnium"
MPEG Stream: "Incompertus Quod Anon"

RIGOR SARDONICOUS Vallis Ex Umbra De Mortuus (Paragon Records) lp 21.00
It's been a while, but it's time to haul out all those extra doom 'o's we've been saving for an occasion just like this. The return of ultra doomlords Rigor Sardonicous, they of the monstrous glacial downtuned crawl, the 'evil' cymbal (more on that in a second), the growled demonic vox, the lugubrious slow motion trudge, all that stuff we love, and all the stuff that can usually only be described by a whole handful of extra 'o's in doooooooooom.
But the opening track threw us for a bit of a loop. All weirdly folky, with chanted vocals, and fluttering flutes, some haunting almost Renn Faire court music, which quickly gives way to clean mournful minor key clean guitar, could this be the same Rigor Sardonicous? All doubts are wiped away moments later when the whole sound shifts down about a hundred octaves, the crumbling super distorted guitar spreads out like a black fog, the drums pounding, the cymbals still way up in the mix (beginning to think it's their trademark), and then the vocals. WOAH. Impossibly gurgly rumbles, like a frog croaking from the bottom of a tarpit, perfectly complimenting the band's murky plod. Weirdly the band does speed it up, but everything is so muddy and blurred that it almost makes no difference. You can hear what sounds like a little girl way off in the distance, as if she's locked in the dungeon of some great black beast. This is some awesomely creepy, heavy, and fucked up dooooooooooomy shit for sure.
If it's even possible, this is the most extreme Rigor record yet. The guitars more dense, heavier, even more downtuned, the vocals absolutely inhuman, it does almost sound like some super slow dooooom record, slowed down even more. And when the band do 'rock', they still out-doom most of their slow motion contemporaries.
Nothing else to say really. Been digging the most recent Moss, the Corrupted reissue? Still loving those Monarch records, the recent Trees disc? Fancy yourself a doomlord? Well strap on your armor, your headlamp, some industrial strength ear protection, and crawl headfirst into this black tarpit of sound, Rigor Sardonicous take even the heaviest and slowest sounds somewhere even slower and lower and so much doooooooooooooooooooooooomierŠ
MPEG Stream: "Silens Somnium"
MPEG Stream: "Incompertus Quod Anon"

RILES, ZAK s/t (Important) cd 14.98

RILEY, TERRY A Rainbow In Curved Air (Columbia) cd 12.98
We reviewed the vinyl reissue of this dreamy minimal classic last list, so we figured we might as well list the cd as well, so those sadly turntable deficient don't miss out on this classic...
A Rainbow In Curved Air is pretty much the ultimate in hypnotizing cosmic bliss out. Two long tracks in which Riley used electric organ, harpsichord, rockischord, dumbec, saxophone and tambourine, to create a sound in which his minimalist background served as a launching pad for him to really reach the outer limits of sound, a sound that is about as perfect as a soundtrack to sunrise we could ever imagine.
A Rainbow In Curved Sky was originally released in 1969, it was the first album Riley made for Columbia records and it's still so baffling and amazing to think there was a time when major labels would release such brilliant, noncommercial transcendent music like this. After doing some digging around we realized that one of the main reasons that Riley amazingly ended up on Columbia was because fellow electronic pioneer David Behrman had landed a job at the label, so he brought Riley into the land of Columbia and produced this amazing album.
Forty years after it's genesis, these are still sounds that make us stop in our tracks and suck us in, allowing us to get lost in the most amazing sonic daydreams one could imagine. A Rainbow In Curved Air has proven to be a model for several generations of cosmic music makers. It's safe to say that without this record there wouldn't be folks like Arp, Growing, Emeralds, White Rainbow, etc. Beyond recommended and totally essential!
MPEG Stream: "A Rainbow In Curved Air"
MPEG Stream: "Poppy Nogood & The Phantom Band"

RILEY, TERRY A Rainbow In Curved Air (Columbia) lp 17.98
The recent vinyl reissue of this totally essential Terry Riley album has given us the opportunity to finally review a record that holds a special place in many of our hearts. A Rainbow In Curved Air is pretty much the ultimate in hypnotizing cosmic bliss out. Two long tracks in which Riley used electric organ, harpsichord, rockischord, dumbec, saxophone and tambourine, to create a sound in which his minimalist background served as a launching pad for him to really reach the outer limits of sound, a sound that is about as perfect as a soundtrack to sunrise we could ever imagine.
A Rainbow In Curved Sky was originally released in 1969, it was the first album Riley made for Columbia records and it's still so baffling and amazing to think there was a time when major labels would release such brilliant, noncommercial transcendent music like this. After doing some digging around we realized that one of the main reasons that Riley amazingly ended up on Columbia was because fellow electronic pioneer David Behrman had landed a job at the label, so he brought Riley into the land of Columbia and produced this amazing album.
Forty years after it's genesis, these are still sounds that make us stop in our tracks and suck us in, allowing us to get lost in the most amazing sonic daydreams one could imagine. A Rainbow In Curved Air has proven to be a model for several generations of cosmic music makers. It's safe to say that without this record there wouldn't be folks like Arp, Growing, Emeralds, White Rainbow, etc. Beyond recommended and totally essential!
MPEG Stream: "A Rainbow In Curved Air"
MPEG Stream: "Poppy Nogood & The Phantom Band"

RILEY, TERRY Atlantis Nath (Sri Moonshine Music) cd 43.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've only got ONE of these limited edition pressings of Terry Riley's first release on his new label Sri Moonshine Studios. Perhaps you read the (positive) review in The Wire. Well, WE can't say it's all that good, but we can say it's nicely packaged and signed and numbered by the artist! You need to know more? It's a "74-minute seamless journey featuring voices, strings, synthesizer, piano and loops from India" and includes the final scene of Riley's opera "The Crucifixion of My Humble Self". There's got to be one Terry Riley fanatic out there who will want this, right? The less fanatic but still curious might wait for a normal, not-so-fancy, cheaper edition that may surface some day, or not.

RILEY, TERRY In C (CBS) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RILEY, TERRY In C (Atma) cd 15.98
Recent recording of Terry Riley's seminal work "In C." Because of its ambiguous instrumentation and relative ease of performance, "In C" has been performed and recorded in a multitude of varying arrangements in its 37 years of existence. In this version, "In C" is attacked with sitar, tabla, percusssion, voices (mostly extended technique, ie: growls) and orchestra. The performance was recorded live as part of a concert given by the Societe de Musique Contemporaine du Quebec (SMCQ) in 1997. Also included on this disc are two pieces by Quebecois composers Donald Steven (for flutes, clarinets, saxophones, viola, percussion, synthersizer and tape) and Michel-Georges Bregent (for voice, various ensembles, electroacoustic and environmental sounds.) Why these pieces are bundled together I know not, but suspect that the Canadian composers felt they wouldn't sell enough of their pieces unless they piggy-backed them onto a cd with a recording by a popular U.S. composer. Oh, and the liner notes are affixed on the back side of a zany fold out poster.

RILEY, TERRY In C (Wergo) cd 18.98
What with the near critical mass of "In C" renditions currently available at this point, every new addition to the pile must contain a better gimmick in their arrangement in order to stand out from the pack. This brand new version on Germany's Wergo label teams up a respected performance ensemble (European Music Project) with an electronic duo (Zignorii++) with the hopes of bridging the gap between the minimalism of academia with its bastard child, electronic dance music. 29 pages of well written liner notes (neatly interspersed with the 53 cells that make up Riley's score for In C) convincingly argue the importance of this work in the canon of European art music and minimalism's connection to the populist form of the modern club music. If only the execution was as seductive as the liner notes' rhetoric. The first few minutes are tolerable enough, competently performed by EMP, but as the "electronic" component begins to creep in, our stomachs begin to turn. Though the notes claim that the computer brain behind Zignorii++ has written his own sequencing software, he might as well be using an 808 to create his acid house synth noodlings. And yet, in the end, the performace fails not by the inclusion of an electronic (dance) music element, but in its tepid pussyfooting with the genre by merely tossing in some synth elements. Now if they had chosen to replace the obbligato piano pulse with a fat 4/4 beat tuned to a low C they would at least give us a reason to drop some X. But I guess that would have been a violation of the composer's specific, and already liberal, instructions.
RealAudio clip: "In C [excerpt 1]"
RealAudio clip: "In C [excerpt 2]"

RILEY, TERRY Les Yeux Fermes & Lifespan (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
The Terry Riley reissue campaign is in full effect and this week we were delighted to see his little heard seventies soundtracks, Les Yeux Fermes (Eyes Closed) from 1972 and Lifespan from 1974 arrive in our store (well, maybe Scott wasn't so delighted after shelling out $30 dollars for Lifespan on vinyl, just a couple of weeks ago). Le Yeux Fermes is comprised of two nearly twenty-minute pieces that are reminiscent of his early work on Reed Streams. The first is "Journey From A Death of a Friend" involving multiple organ and piano lines in counterpoint and the second is a more involved piece with delayed saxophone and organ counterpoints called "Happy Endings". The selections for Lifespan are six shorter pieces, which are a bit more diverse and melody oriented in their structures. "G Song" begins with an organ fugue repetition before the sax melody gives the piece more of a soundtrack theme, while "M.I.C.E.", short for Music In Curved Entrances, begins with a sustained organ and tabla drone before the melodic organ progressions kick into gear leading into the raga drones of "Slow Melody in Bhairavi" and the chanting Tangerine Dream-ish, "In The Summer". "The Oldtimer "is the most playful with an almost carnivalesque organ vamp, while "Delay" is just that, a slow burning organ drone with building and repeating organ lines that coalesce in a sea of pensive harmonics. We're surprised Riley hasn't done more soundtrack work. Listening to this makes us want to see the movies, especially Lifespan, which stars Klaus Kinski as a biochemist on a frantic search for the fountain of youth!
MPEG Stream: "Journey From The Death Of A Friend"
MPEG Stream: "M.I.C.E."
MPEG Stream: "The Oldtimer"

RILEY, TERRY Music For The Gift (Elysium Fields) cd 14.98
Elysium Fields has reissued this fine collection of Terry Riley pieces that was the kick off release of a fantastic string of reissues put out by the Cortical Foundation years ago. Here's what we said, way back when...
This release compiles four early tape-works from Terry Riley that are linked by their common usage of jazz passages, even as they deteriorate over the course of the disc. Beginning with "Music For The Gift" (1963), Riley works with Chet Baker who provides his signature downer jazz warbly horn and a painterly stand-up bass, which Riley in turn tosses into his tape-loop mechanisms for some pretty tremendous, hallucinatory drones and phasing patterns. Think of the manipulations of "You're No Good" but with jazz instead of R&B. "Birds Of Paradise" (1965) is a tape-manipulation piece which loops seemingly random tape segments of jazz horns (probably from those Baker sessions) with a phasing delay predating the work of Zoviet France. "The Mescalin Mix" is a murky Robert Ashley-esque collection of neurotic whispers. The finale of the disc is "Concert for Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders" which could easily be a No-Neck Blues Band pipe fight with an odd play-by-play narration of the concert. Certainly the current crop of drone artists can learn a thing or twelve from this collection of seminal recordings by the West Coast master of minimalism.
MPEG Stream: "Music For The Gift (part 3)"
MPEG Stream: "Birds Of Paradise (part 2)"
MPEG Stream: "The Mescalin Mix"

RILEY, TERRY Music For The Gift / Birds Of Paradise / Mescalin Mix (Cortical) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This compiles four works from Terry Riley that are linked by their common usage of jazz passages, even as they deteriorate over the course of the disc. Beginning with "Music For The Gift" (1963), Riley works with Chet Baker for a pretty straight meditative jazz composition for Baker's warbly horn and a painterly stand-up bass. "Birds Of Paradise" (1965) is a tape-manipulation piece which loops seemingly random tape segments of jazz horns (perhaps from the Baker sessions???) with a phasing delay predating the work of Zoviet France. "The Mescalin Mix" is a murky Robert Ashley-esque collection of neurotic whispers. The finale of the disc is "Concert for Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders" which could easily be a No-Neck Blues Band 'pipe fight' ('pipe fight' being a utilitarian term we've come up with for field recordings that sound..well..like a pipe fight) with an odd play-by-play narration of the concert. An awesome collection of seminal recordings.

RILEY, TERRY Olson III (Cortical Foundation) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Never before available. In 1967, students of the Nacka High School of Music in Stockholm performed this phase-shifting composition with Terry Riley accompanying on soprano saxophone. As much a pedgogical experiment as a performance, this recording is great moment in early minimalism--repetitive and hypnotic and slightly overwhelming orchestations that pulsate for a seeming eternity. Artwork by Riley and Bruce Conner. Liner notes by Folke Rabe.

RILEY, TERRY Poppy Nogood All Night Flight Vol. 1 (Cortical Foundation) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RILEY, TERRY Poppy Nogood And The Phantom Band - All Night Flight, SUNY Buffalo, New York, 22 March 1968 (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
At last reissued (again), this live performance of minimal pioneer Terry Riley's signature piece, "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band" from 1968. Using organ, saxaphone, and a "Time-Lag Accumulator" to create an echo effect (hence The Phantom Band), Riley's original performance was six hours long and lasted all night. Versions of this piece have appeared before on the B-side of A Rainbow in Curved Air and on the second disc of the Cortical Foundation's release of You're No Good (which we're hoping Elision Fields will also reissue!). This is a 40 minute edit of the original performance first released on Cortical Foundation in 1999. and we would gladly hear five hours more of this organic, lilting, and mesmerizing loveliness. Highly Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Modal"
MPEG Stream: "Fire"

RILEY, TERRY Reed Streams (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
An absolutely stellar reissue of Terry Riley's debut album from 1966, Reed Streams.
Containing two long pieces, "Untitled Organ" and "Dorian Reeds", we see the initial foundations of Riley's spiritualized minimalism that would culminate in the wide releases of A Rainbow in Curved Air and In C a few years later. "Untitled Organ" is a series of four- and eight-note patterns exchanged and interchanged in idiosyncratic modulations inevitably creating a third complex pattern. The effect is rigorous, repetitious and astounding for its lack of delay effects. "Dorian Reeds" makes use of more undulating and circular pulsations but this time is aided with tape echo to create a more time-altering effect. But the real treat of this reissue is the bonus track from 1970 of "In C (mantra)" performed by L'Infonie, a ragtag group of French-Canadian free players directed by Walter Boudreau. What L'Infonie adds to this piece is the use of propulsive percussion jettisoning this classic piece of conceptual music into a grooving krautrock tribal spree. Highly Recommended!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Dorian Reeds"
MPEG Stream: "In C (Mantra)"

RILEY, TERRY Reed Streams / In C (Mantra) (Cortical Foundation) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RILEY, TERRY Shri Camel (CBS) cd 12.98

RILEY, TERRY The Last Camel In Paris (Elision Fields) cd 14.98
Live, recorded for French radio in 1978, this archival album from minimalist composer Terry Riley is a gorgeous solo meditation for specially modified organ and plenty of delay, running about 54 minutes in length. It's not unlike Riley's classic Shri Camel record from around the same time - he says, "the musical materials of The Last Camel In Paris are second generational belonging to the family of Shri Camel while manifesting their own distinct shape and flavor". On Last Camel, Riley's gently piping organ tones and tinklings ceaselessly unfurl, slowly modulating, truly a lovely late night listen for anyone with an ear for Riley's special brand of New Agey, neo-classical, psychedelic minimalism. It's one long, continuous performance but has been conveniently broken into ten seamless tracks on this cd release "as a guide to compositional changes" in the piece, which does move into more and more intense, ever-repetitive realms as the disc progresses.
A most essential archival release for all Riley fans, despite the uninspiring album cover artwork (is that a solarized picture of a dream-catcher?). Inside the digipack, things look better, the foldout cd booklet having a black and white photo of the bald, bearded Riley in concert on one side, and liner notes (mostly in French, drat, though there is some text in English from Riley himself) on the other. Now, there's another Terry Riley reissue on this list, our Record Of The Week in fact, but don't fret, getting this along with Church Of Anthrax won't be too much of a good thing, just plenty of it!
MPEG Stream: "track 4"
MPEG Stream: "track 6"
MPEG Stream: "track 9"

RILEY, TERRY You're No Good (Cortical Foundation) 2cd 31.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The unanimous AQ staff favorite of the week. Disc one is totally stuck in our cd player...it's only about 20 minutes long, but it may as well be infinite, 'cause we just keep playing it over and over. Appropriate, because, as with much of the late '60s work of American minimalist composer Terry Riley's work, repetition (with subtle changes) is the modus operandi here. The original source song "You're No Good", a pop-latin-boogaloo number released by Harvey Averne in 1968 (he's not credited in the liner notes to this, strangely) is a great tune in its own right. But soon after the original song's release. Terry Riley got his hands on it and created what oughta become one of his all time classic tracks. Riley used pedal-driven tape-loops and the Moog to take the infectious "You're No Good" chorus to extreme, abstract, mesmerizing lengths. It's looped over and under itself, at first sounding completely normal and then imperceptibly gets weirder and weirder until it's so odd that the customers in the store start looking concerned and asking if the cd player is skipping. It stutters wonderfully! Sometimes the left and right channels are playing different parts of the song simultaneously, to eerily beautiful effect.
That the original song is so insanely catchy and hook-filled (it's a "Dancing in the Streets"-style pop number) definitely contributes to the accessibility and fun of the piece. Disco minimalism? Hell yeah. Apparently it was commissioned as theme song for what must have been a very avant-garde Philly dance club, the operator of which was a Terry Riley fan present at the concert documented on disc one... Brilliant.
By the way, the original Averne song can be found on the compilation Dusty Fingers Vol. 2, and we've added a clip of the original below for you to compare.
Disc 2 of this archival set is live material from one of Terry's Poppy Nogood All Night Concerts held in Philadelphia in the fall of 1967. The lovely drones produced by his soprano sax and "time-lag accumulator" must have kept the attendees happy and hypnotized in their sleeping bags 'til dawn, and now we can experience a cd's worth of it now at whatever time of day or night we choose. Nice.
RealAudio clip: TERRY RILEY "You're Nogood"
RealAudio clip: HARVEY AVERNE "You're No Good (note: this does NOT appear on the Riley record!)"

RILEY, TERRY & STEFANO SCODANIBBIO Diamond Fiddle Language (Wergo) cd 24.00

RILEY, TERRY (AS PERFORMED BY BANG ON A CAN) In C (Cantaloupe) cd 18.98
It's beginning to look as though the most popularly recorded composition of the new millennium is going to be Terry Riley's "In C". Why is this? At first I thought that maybe it was because just about anyone can play it. But then I asked myself, "why wouldn't more of La Monte Young's pieces be performed?" Okay, let's not go there or someone's feelings are gonna get hurt. Whatever it is, everyone from suburban 3rd graders to the Japanese psych-rock freak out band Acid Mothers Temple wants a piece of "In C". So, with as many diverse and fucked up versions of "In C" already out there why would you want to waste your hard earned cash on yet another -- overpriced -- version? I don't know, maybe you've got to have every version of "In C" that's been recorded so that you can do a super-heavy ultra-mix, pasting together all the hitherto available versions. C'mon, I know someone out there is crafty enough to come up with a crazy assed version that'll rip our pants out at the crotch. And who knows, if it's good enough maybe Tigerbeat6 will put it out. For what it's worth, the Bang On A Can version features such risque instrumentation as: cello, glockenspiel, vibraphone, bass, mandolin, saxophone, pipa, piano, violin, guitar, marimba and clarinet.

RILEY, TERRY / PIERRE MARIETAN Keyboard Study 2 / Initiative (Get Back) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two sidelong pieces recorded in 1969 and performed by Groupe d'Etude et Rèalisation Musicale of France, or simply the GERM Ensemble. Riley's "Keyboard Study 2" is a twenty-four minute minimalist exercise for two pianists (executed here by Gèrard Frèmy and Martine Joste). Due to substandard recording quality, this is not considered an "essential" Riley recording, but it is a beautiful and worthwhile document, nonetheless. Pierre Marietan, Swiss-born French avant composer, disciple of Boulez and Stockhausen and founder of GERM, offers an early composition for the emsemble. Repressed on hefty 180 gram vinyl with original artwork fully intact in a heavy gatefold sleeve. A rare non-jazz release in the mighty BYG / Actuel back catalogue!

RILEY, WINSTON Dancehall Techniques (Maximum Pressure) cd 17.98
As a founding member of the extremely successful group The Techniques, way back in 1962, Winston Riley probably could have retired at an early age. But, like many who'd started their careers under the production monopolies of Dodd and Reid, Riley eventually set out on his own to form his Techniques label. And while he never had a stable a fraction the size of Coxsone, he did have significant success. Most notable was his production of Ansel Collins' "Stalag 17" in 1973. Today the Stalag rhythm is one of the most heavily versioned rhythms on the island. But this collection doesn't cover either Riley's earlier work as a performer or producer. Instead, "Dancehall Techniques" compiles some of the producer's best work from the period between 1986 and 1991 -- the dawn of the digital era for Jamaica. 1985 saw the release of Wayne Smith's "Under Mi Sleng Teng" with revolutionarily minimal production by Prince Jammy -- the rhythm being no more than the stock Casio keyboard "reggae" rhythm. Like other producers, Winston Riley wasn't about to be left wallowing in the past. And while you won't hear the Sleng Teng rhythm used here, those who are ill disposed to listen to drum machine rhythms -- and a lot of rhythm recycling to boot -- might be advised to look elsewhere. The track that most all Aquarius customers are certain to be familiar with is Tenor Saw & Buju Banton's "Ring The Alarm Quick" -- itself a reworking of the Stalag rhythm. Also included on this comp are tracks from such household names as Super Cat, Michael Prophet, Cutty Ranks, Gregory Isaacs and Admiral Tibet.
MPEG Stream: DADDY LIZARD "A Fi Fly Out"
MPEG Stream: RED DRAGON "Yu Body Good"

RILO KILEY More Adventurous (Brute / Beaute) cd 14.98
The highly anticipated new album from Rilo Kiley doesn't disappoint! Don't know what happened since their last album but Ms Jenny Lewis' voice sounds so much more worldly and laissez faire this time around. And the group as a whole is exuding such charm and confidence as they execute punchy pop numbers (check out the excellent Cardigans-y "Portions For Foxes") and swoonworthy ballads (complete with grand string arrangements) with equal ease and polish. So much less cute than past releases, and remarkably more like '70s female singers such as... please don't take this the wrong way!... Crystal Gayle or Linda Ronstadt. Really, pretty darn great!
MPEG Stream: "Does He Love You?"
MPEG Stream: "Portions For Foxes"

RILO KILEY Under The Black Light (Warner) cd 13.98
Holy Wonder Bread, Batman! Rilo Kiley's new album is so unbelievably adult contemporary. Its title is somewhat misleading, if not downright incongruous. Don't know about you, but the thought of black lights makes us think of trippin' out at Doodle Arts in the wee hours or gettin' lost in the sweaty masses on the dancefloor. Well, Rilo Kiley's Black Light is more apropos for pondering the glowing bits of lint in your belly button or gazing adoringly at a dish of vanilla custard. On this their fourth (and first on a major label) album they seem to be aspiring for the heights of the classic rock heroes of the '70s such as Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles, but Lewis in particular has ended up more in line with Olivia Newton John circa "Have You Never Been Mellow" than Stevie Nicks. If you like your pop smooth, polished and pretty, Rilo Kiley's follow-up to 2004's More Adventurous will coat, soothe and relieve. A band you can take home to mom.
MPEG Stream: "Silver Lining"
MPEG Stream: "The Moneymaker"

RIMFROST A Frozen World Unknown (No Colours) cd 16.98
This band name may have elicited a few snickers around these parts, but there is nothing funny about Sweden's Rimfrost. Any and all smiles were quickly wiped from the offending faces once the play button was pushed. No record in recent memory has resulted in so much spontaneous headbanging amongst the AQ metalheads. While ostensibly a black metal band, the vibe and sound on A Frozen World Unknown is way more death metal, and while we're sometimes down on the death metal, none of us would hesitate to jump all over a kick ass slab of ultra brutal death metal. And goddamn if this isn't just that. This record is so amazing. Heavy and chuggy, fast and incredibly LOUD, the drums are insane, the riffing is incredible with plenty of pick squeals and downtuned buzz, but the songs are so totally catchy, and weirdly groovy. Super convoluted stop start arrangements, but not complex for complex sake, those parts actually make sense in the context of the rest of the song and somehow manage to be just as catchy as the rest of the track. Strangely epic and anthemic, a bit melodic, but ultimately just intense and furious and fucking awesome. Absolutely one of our favorite new metal records, death, black or otherwise...
MPEG Stream: "Freezing Inferno"
MPEG Stream: "At The Mighty Halls They'll Walk"

RIMFROST A Journey To The Greater End (No Colours) cd 13.98
More black brutality from No Colours records in Germany. Home to Nargaroth, Graveland, Wigrid and Woodtemple, so you know this is gonna be good, what you might not expect is that Rimfrost's A Journey is basically a super technical slab of brutal black death metal. Super fast tight triggered drums, downtuned but super compressed riffing, growled blackened death metal vocals, the whole thing super polished and ultra tight. We usually expect No Colours stuff to be buzzy and blurry and home recorded, sometimes stumbling, often midtempo, super personal blackness, so this was a huge surprise, but not a bad surprise at all, cuz we love this stuff just as much. Think Khold, Thorns, newer Satyricon, that sort of clinical black metal, but filtered through some early nineties death metal. Fierce and heavy, with lots of half time chug, killer pick squeals, pounding near doom, and c'mon, they're called Rimfrost!
MPEG Stream: "At The Mighty Halls They'll Walk"

RIMFROST Veraldar Nagli (Seasons Of Mist) cd 14.98
Rimfrost is either a totally grim and kvlt name for a black metal band, or a sort of goofy, possibly questionable one. These guys are from Sweden though, so odds are the rims there are indeed frosty. And the sound? Frosty as well. Super dense and heavy and punishing, a sort of Viking black metal but without all the folk, this is thrashing blackness of the highest order. Fans of classic Enslaved, old Immortal, you know, that classic Scandinavian sound, which is obviously what these guys are shooting for, and they pretty much nail it. No synths, no acoustic guitars (okay, well, maybe a few), no pretty fluttery interludes (only one, or two), instead, these guys pepper their blasting panzer attack with some super dynamic stop start arrangements, plenty of weirdly mathy bits, some incredibly drumming, the sound MASSIVE and so epic. Riffs gnarled and explosive, the rhythms galloping and relentless, blazing double kicks, the guitars chugging and crunchy, the vocals a demonic croak, the songs themselves, epic and majestic, the tempo often pounding and midtempo, but Rimfrost mix it up, exploding into a full on black frenzy here and there, or sometimes slowing down to a doomic lumber. There are melodies and hooks too, usually subtle, but sometimes brought to the fore for a moment of almost NWOBHM sounding radness, before blasting black into the (g)rim frost. Excellent.
MPEG Stream: "Veraldar"
MPEG Stream: "The Black Death"
MPEG Stream: "Void Of Time"

RIMPOCHE, BOKAR Sacred Chants & Tibetan Rituals From The Monestary Of Mirik (Sub Rosa) cd 15.98

RINALDI, RENATO Hoarse Frenzy (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98
Last Visible Dog likes to come up with some "who's that?" artists to release on their label, that's for sure. Of course, if you're super-familiar with the catalogs of such equally underground and avant garde labels as Fringes, Public Eyesore and Fusetron perhaps you have heard of Italian guitarist/experimentalist Renato Rinaldi. We confess we hadn't. But spending the 40 minutes that the single track found on this Hoarse Frenzy disc lasts with the music of Rinaldi is a fine way to make his acquaintance! Spacious and pretty "outdoor" acoustic guitar improv is mixed with intriguing field recording textures, gentle singing, and the sounds of harmonium, unplugged electric guitar, piano, dulcimer, organ, and even harmonics played by a guesting string trio. It all comes together in a nicely flowing, rough-hewn suite as imagined and constructed by Rinaldi. Sounds like something you'd hear from the Jewelled Antler or Hapna labels. Quite lovely and droney and mysterious!
MPEG Stream: "Hoarse Frenzy [excerpt]"

RIO EN MEDIO The Bride Of Dynamite (Gnomonsong) cd 13.98
Stunning debut from New Mexican born singer and ukelele player, Danielle Stech-Homsy or as she's known musically, Rio En Media. Released on Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's label Gnomonsong, it's easy to tell why Devendra pegged her as one of his favorite acts of 2006. With a voice like Sibylle Baier, The Bride of Dynamite is full of nineteenth century poetic romanticism with lyrics inspired by Paul Eluard, William Blake, John Ashbery and Freya Stark, the first western woman to travel the Arabian desert. Such wanderlust is shaded by a unique instrumentation of glockenspiels, bulba tarang (an instrument from Afghanistan), damaged electronic passages and the aforementioned ukelele. Siera Casady from Coco Rosie provides the back-up vocals while Vetiver's Andy Cabic, and Thom Monahan, who is the behind scenes sound wizard for many of Andy and Devendra's projects lend a hand on guitar and production work respectively Nice!
MPEG Stream: "You Can Stand"
MPEG Stream: "Friday"
MPEG Stream: "I See The Star"

RIOT Fire Down Under (Metal Blade) cd 16.98
Reissue of this 1981 American metal / hard rock all-time classic...you like classic metal? you don't have this? Buy it! Hooky and energetic with amazing vocals and guitarwork. The USA's answer to the best of the NWOBHM. One of those 'I envy you for getting to hear this for the first time just now' albums sez Allan.

RIOT Narita (Rock Candy) cd 17.98
Holy grail second album from one of the best American metal bands EVER (who never get their due). While we'd say 1981's Fire Down Under (their third) is THE one to get, if you were to get only one, once you've heard that you're gonna want to hear more. And so mucho kudos to Rock Candy for at long last providing the world with a cd reish of Narita, originally released on LP by Capitol in 1979. New York's Riot were what the NWOBHM would have sounded like if it would have happened in the USA instead of the UK. A supercharged, metallized step up from the American '70s hard rock of the mid-seventies (bands like Starz, KISS, Ted Nugent, ZZ Top), definitely melodic, but much more rippin'. And also way more ass-kicking and streetwise than most of the Sunset Strip style hair metal that the US offered up a few years later, though Riot surely were an influence on the best of that bunch. They still exist today, by the way, releasing records (big in Japan!) but lots different from back when, in part due to the fact that their original lead singer, the amazing Guy Speranza, RIP, is long gone from the lineup. That guy shoulda been a famous rock star, just listen to him here.
MPEG Stream: "Narita"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For The Taking"
MPEG Stream: "49er"

RIP OFF ARTIST Pet Sounds (Vertical Form) cd 16.98

RIP OFF ARTIST, THE Brain Salad Surgery (Hot Air) cd 14.98
Nope, not a single Emerson, Lake, & Palmer sample on the album. Didn't mean to get your hopes up, but The Rip Off Artist (aka Matt Haines) does pilfer from the rest of pop culture with reckless abandon, obliterating it within a cut 'n' paste / electronica mindset. This whimsical electro-glitch album has found a perfect home on Hot Air, alongside Stock, Hausen, and Walkman and People Like Us.

RIP OFF ARTIST, THE In Through The Out Door (Tigerbeat6) cd 10.98

RIP OFF ARTIST, THE Pump (Mille Plateaux) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Umpteenth record from Matt Haines and his first for Mille Plateaux. Super rigid algorithmic textures akin to the aesthetic of Schematic artists Phoenecia or Richie Devine. Skittering, frenetic rhythms whisk by your ears before you can actually process them, this music lingers in your head long after the disc has ended.

RIP-OFF ARTIST The Kids Are Alright (Quatermass) cd 16.98

RIPERTON, MINNIE Come To My Garden (Janus) cd 14.98
Perhaps best known for the seventies R&B hit and wedding song mainstay, "Loving You" (as well as being the mother of former SNL comedienne, Maya Rudolph), the late great Minnie Riperton was also the angelic voice behind one of Chicago's most underrated psych-soul groups, The Rotary Connection. Come To My Garden was Riperton's first solo outing after the break-up of that group, yet plays like the band's final effort. Released on Cadet records, a subsidiary of Chess, and arranged by the mighty Charles Stepney with The Ramsey Lewis Trio and Maurice White from Earth Wind and Fire as the back-up group, Come To My Garden is one of the most beautifully majestic chamber-soul records we've ever heard. Sampled heavily by the likes of Jurassic 5, Tribe Called Quest, The Orb, and 4hero amongst many others, there are plenty of amazing orchestral breaks of harps and strings and kettle drums plus of course, Riperton's jaw-dropping five octave vocal range. While the vibe is definitely vernal and heavenly, this is not the syrupy Minnie Riperton you find in most thrift store record bins. This is a solid classic from beginning to end. So tragic that this is so little known. Perhaps the finest hour from someone who was cut down before she got the chance to really flourish. Highly Recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Les Fleurs"
MPEG Stream: "Completeness"
MPEG Stream: "Memory Band"
MPEG Stream: "Expecting"

RIPERTON, MINNIE Petals: The Minnie Riperton Collection (Capital) 2cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wow, a very nice collection of the best of Minnie Riperton, who possessed one of THE most amazing voices in the history of rock and soul music -- hey, everyone from Stevie Wonder to Denzel Washington to George Benson will tell you that. (Denzel said he got thru the toughest time in his life by listening to her Perfect Angel album over and over again.) Her biggest hit "Lovin' You" amply demonstrated her astonishing (and perhaps unmatched since?) 5 1/2 octave vocal range and ability to hold notes for what seem like minutes.
Minnie grew up on Chicago's Southside, cut some tracks as "Andrea Davis", then was invited to join the multiracial psychedelic / rock / soul group Rotary Connection. Most people familiar with Rotary Connection back in the day say they should've been huge, and that if they had only gotten the exposure they deserved (such as a slot at Woodstock), they would've caught on like wildfire -- that's how good they were. Three Rotary Connection tracks are included here, a totally unrecognizable version of Otis Redding's "Respect", a Cream cover, and an unreal Middle Eastern-ish epic called "I Took a Ride (Caravan)" (see soundclips below).
When Minnie decided to make a series of solo albums, she left the psychedelic heaviness of Rotary Connection for a sound all her own -- part soul, part rock, always forefronting her incredible songbird-like voice. She did everything from stark Joni Mitchell covers to down home funky songs like "Reasons" (my favorite song of hers, ever, see soundclips below) to sweet bell-clear love songs penned by her and her husband by the duck pond in the idyllic little Florida backwater house they lived in for two years. Stevie Wonder was proud to produce the tracks, and she enjoyed several "hits" before her untimely death of breast cancer at the age of 31. She is sorely missed.
This 2-disc collection is ultra-handy because it collects Minnie's best tracks in one place, as well as showcasing previously unreleased demos and live tracks (and admittedly just a few duds). The liner notes are quite extensive and detailed, and the photos are... well, let's just say you'll be in love after seeing the photo of her with the overalls and the ice cream cone. Recommended!
RealAudio clip: MINNIE RIPERTON "Les Fleurs"
RealAudio clip: MINNIE RIPERTON "Reasons"
RealAudio clip: ROTARY CONNECTION "I Took a Ride (Caravan)"
RealAudio clip: MINNIE RIPERTON "You Gave Me Soul"

RIPTONES Buckshot (Bloodshot) cd 14.98

RISE FROM THE DEAD Early Days 1990-1993 (Time Bomb) cd 16.98

RISTO Aurinko Aurinko Plaa Plaa Plaa (Fonal) cd 17.98
Finland's Fonal label has brought us a lot of favorites, that's for sure -- Islaja, Kiila, Paavoharju, Shogun Kunitoki, and more. So of course we were quite curious about their latest release, from a band called Risto. Here's the informative blurb we were provided with that was supposed to describe what Risto's all about:
"Leevi & the Leavings in the city, Ville Leinonen in handcuffs, Kauko Royhka in self-pity, Kari Peitsamo as a smart person. Risto brings back that self-esteem, naivity and reality that died with Gosta Sundgvist. Have you already heard what they whisper around Tampere?"
Hmmm. Not being that hip nor Finnish nor both, that doesn't help a whole lot, does it? Well let's just give it a listen and see if we can figure out this Risto. Track one, "Rakkauden Rock" launches this album out of the gate with an uber-distorted rockin' basher, the band coming off as something like a Finnish language version of The Cramps!! Not what we expected exactly, but pretty cool. But then the raucous punkabilly of that song immediately gives way to the placid loveliness of "Auringon Prinsessa", all mellow and melodic. But with track three we're back to the energetic and uptempo... and track four, "Discopallo", is downright funky! But following that, the gentle "Pikkoravat" drifts back to mellow moodiness. What gives? We don't know. Crazy Finns is our default answer. The important thing is, we like it!! Risto veer from the noisy and punk to the sweet and lush, and it's all nice and catchy and weird and fun, songs influenced by no wave and doo wop and whatever else strikes their fancy, sounding like Aavikko's "monkey jazz" one moment, a lullaby the next. With all the lyrics in their native tongue, we can't tell you what the songs are actually about, but we're enjoying their spirited, schizophrenic music regardless. Another, atypical, fab Fonal release!
MPEG Stream: "Rakkauden Rock"
MPEG Stream: "Pikkoravat"
MPEG Stream: "Lampu Ja Lampu"

RISTO Sahkohairioon (Fonal) cd 17.98
Finland. Fonal. Two words that begin with F that tend to indicate music we might be interested in!
In our review of singer and keyboardist Risto Yliharsila and his namesake band's previous album for the Fonal label, Aurinko Aurniko Plaa Plaa Plaa, we mentioned how it was hard to figure 'em out, 'cause they veered song-to-song from, like, uptempo frantic psychobilly rockin' to lush lullaby-like pop... we basically said "crazy Finns, but we like it", natch! This new album is no less confusional, and also no less enjoyable. Of course, not knowing the language makes this seem all that more odd to us. Yet it's still something that we feel could end up being your favorite new (Finnish indie) pop album despite having no idea what the catchy song now stuck in your head is about.
A lot of the time this may give you the vague idea you're listening to some familiar classic rock album from the '70s, but translated into Finnish. Or, actually, more like selections from several albums, since it's all so eclectic and all over the place. There's burning blasts of guitar distortion, groovy organ, cinematic synths, sad piano ballads, garagey stomp... 10 songs in 33 minutes, that we'd imagine would appeal to fans of Sweden's Dungen, who also maybe like weirder Finnish stuff like Aavikko and Ratto Ja Lehtisalo.
MPEG Stream: "Elava Ihmisjumala"
MPEG Stream: "Ihmisen Kaltainen"
MPEG Stream: "Hiljaa, Hiljaa"

RITA J Artist Workshop (All Natural Inc.) cd 13.98
Awesome old school-influenced female hip-hop. Rita J has a flow and style that feels both confident, strong and full of soul. Guest spots from folks like Guilty Simpson, Black Spade and Cap D. Solid!
MPEG Stream: "Body Rock "
MPEG Stream: "Listen"
MPEG Stream: " The Warm Up"

RITCHIE, JEAN Ballads From Her Appalachian Family Tradition (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
We've been meaning to carry some Jean Ritchie for a long while. Our Appalachian folk cupboards seeming to be bone-dry bare without her exquisite interpretations of British traditional ballads of love, death and the supernatural filtered through the high lonesome rural-ness of the Kentucky mountains. Like fellow Kentuckian, John Jacob Niles, she was early on a noted student of musicology and folklore (as well as an amazing lap dulcimer player,) and keenly interested in the British roots of the songs she learned as a young girl. This anthology covers her interpretations of many of The Child Ballads, one of the first and most extensive catalogs of British traditional songs and their American variants put together in the late nineteenth century by Francis James Child, which includes songs with roots as far back as the thirteenth century, and deal with plenty of dark, gruesome and ghostly themes. Standouts on this anthology are Ritchie's version of one of our favorite morbid ballads, "Sweet William and Lady Margaret", also known just as "Lady Margaret" which was also featured on Karen Dalton's Green Rocky Road. So Beautiful!!!
MPEG Stream: "The Merry Golden Tree"
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Wiliam and Lady Margaret"
MPEG Stream: "The Unquiet Grave"

RITES OF CLEANSING Nemesis (Nightfog Productions) cassette 4.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mysterious ep of ritualistic black metal from this German duo. Sorath, "visionaire and heralder" and Aer, "moulder of ritual ambience", whip up a strange black metal brew, some tracks are long slow stretches of roiling ambience, which give way to harsh slow motion doomic dirge, howled vocals, and lurching tarpit riffage, before suddenly exploding into blasts of Nordic style buzz, with stumbling double kick drumming, insectoid riffing, and strangled cries, all tangled into a murky black swirl. Others, are raw bursts of pounding midtempo riffage, simple metallic stomps, grim and frosty. A weird blend of classic Norwegian style black metal Mayhem and a more necro primitive black blast that totally slays in its own murky muddied lo-fi way...