!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Louden Up Now (Touch & Go) cd 15.98
Everybody's favorite indie funk-dub party band returns with their second full length after almost 4 years of near silence (just an ep and a few other sporadic appearances). And they take up right where they left off. Fun and funky, silly and sexy, occasionally intense and aggressive, but always a big ol' sweaty stew of jangly wah guitars, dubbed out FX all over the place, tribal rhythms, slap bass, ska horns, hypnotic grooves, bizarre production and lots of vocals! That's right. Vocals. The boy vocals sound quite a bit like the Clash at their most dubbed out, while the female vocals are classic sounding disco diva. All this vocalising keeps the proceedings weird and unpredictable, and add some serious snarl to the party (with a mouth that Mom would want to wash out with soap!), while perfectly complimenting !!!'s super extended instrumental workouts that are equal parts funky seventies sitcom theme song, coked up Studio 54 dance mix, British punk dub, Prince-like nasty funk (complete with Prince like lyrics: "U might C U R there...") and groovy Neu like krautrock. Comes with a bonus disc that appears to be the 'bad words removed' clean edit version of the record.
MPEG Stream: "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Karazee"
MPEG Stream: "Pardon My Freedom"

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Me And Giuliani Down By the School Yard (A True Story) (Touch & Go) 12" 5.98
!!!'s new single is razor sharp, cold 'n icy dance music, 2 lengthy pieces that have all the brightness and vitality of Liquid Liquid's "White Lines" or other similar hybrids of punk and dance music happening in NYC in the early '80s -- ESG, maybe Arthur Russell. Maybe it makes sense that they left the laid back clime of California for the adrenaline energy of New York. Three of its eight members are on Outhud, and one is in LCD Soundsystem.
However, I don't think foregrounding a vocal line is a good idea. !!!'s instrumentation is just enough; the vocals distract from what the instruments are saying, when all I want to hear is what that addictively groovy guitar's chkk-chkk-chikka chkk-chkk-chikka is going to go, or where the joyous chord progressions will take me. Recommended!

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Me And Giuliani Down By the School Yard (A True Story) (Touch & Go) cd single 5.98
!!!'s new single is razor sharp, cold 'n icy dance music, 2 lengthy pieces that have all the brightness and vitality of Liquid Liquid's "White Lines" or other similar hybrids of punk and dance music happening in NYC in the early '80s -- ESG, maybe Arthur Russell. Maybe it makes sense that they left the laid back clime of California for the adrenaline energy of New York. Three of its eight members are on Outhud, and one is in LCD Soundsystem.
However, I don't think foregrounding a vocal line is a good idea. !!!'s instrumentation is just enough; the vocals distract from what the instruments are saying, when all I want to hear is what that addictively groovy guitar's chkk-chkk-chikka chkk-chkk-chikka is going to go, or where the joyous chord progressions will take me. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Me and Giuliani Down By the Schoolyard (a true story)"

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Myth Takes (Warp) cd 14.98
!!!'s latest makes us want to dj (or at least attend) a sweaty summer dance party so bad it hurts. Emulating the underlying mood of such parties, Myth Takes delivers without moderation. Drummer Gerard Fuchs provides a rapid heartbeat for the record by employing the open/closed hi-hat repetition you remember most from old 70's funk classics. Manic vocals that wax abrasive and wane falsetto paired with slap bass, clattering and hypnotic guitars, synths, and a whole lotta effects easily make Myth Takes the dance party record of the year. Accepting that college kegger dance-offs may merely be a not-so-distant memory for some of us, the Brooklyn based band's groove pounding third (full length) release has also proven to come in handy for ass-shakin' apartment cleaning and Aquarius order packing! Established !!! fans will certainly not be disappointed with Myth takes, and the Brooklyn based eight-piece is sure to recruit some new sweatband-rockin' blood with sex drenched hits like "Must Be The Moon."
MPEG Stream: "Myth Takes"
MPEG Stream: "Must Be The Moon"

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Myth Takes (Warp) lp 20.00
!!!'s latest makes us want to dj (or at least attend) a sweaty summer dance party so bad it hurts. Emulating the underlying mood of such parties, Myth Takes delivers without moderation. Drummer Gerard Fuchs provides a rapid heartbeat for the record by employing the open/closed hi-hat repetition you remember most from old 70's funk classics. Manic vocals that wax abrasive and wane falsetto paired with slap bass, clattering and hypnotic guitars, synths, and a whole lotta effects easily make Myth Takes the dance party record of the year. Accepting that college kegger dance-offs may merely be a not-so-distant memory for some of us, the Brooklyn based band's groove pounding third (full length) release has also proven to come in handy for ass-shakin' apartment cleaning and Aquarius order packing! Established !!! fans will certainly not be disappointed with Myth takes, and the Brooklyn based eight-piece is sure to recruit some new sweatband-rockin' blood with sex drenched hits like "Must Be The Moon."
MPEG Stream: "Myth Takes"
MPEG Stream: "Must Be The Moon"

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) s/t (Gold Standard Laboratories) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heads up, this is the highly anticipated full-length from current indie sensations !!! ("chik chik chik"). The band (composed of the guys from Sacramento's beloved Outhud as well as 3 or 4 other blokes) play a groove-addicted blend of (mostly) instrumental art-punk-funk that is so catchy and bouncy you will not believe it. Scene reports from all over the country have been afire with stories of !!! live shows wherein EVERYONE, including staid white emo boys, peels off their sweaty t-shirts to dance the night away. People who say they've NEVER danced at a show before simply could not restrain themselves in the face of !!!, who mix Gang of Four style angular guitar tension with the irresistible bass groove of Liquid Liquid, the fuzzy vocals of Joe Strummer (in fact it's sort of amazing and weird how often !!! sounds like "Casbah"-era Clash), and the kind of energy that just doesn't stop. There's only a couple of cringe-inducing moments (like when the singer goes "I learned a lot / from smoking pot / but I don't remember / what I forgot", but all in all this is a record that will have your hips moving wildly independent from the rest of yer body, like Byram's butt is doing right now... Go Byram go! (Then again, Byram has been known to shake his butt to Merzbow and Ryoji Ikeda, so maybe he's not the best litmus test of butt shaking music. Although our little dancing Santa in the window is certainly wagging his behind as we speak.)
RealAudio clip: "Intensify"
RealAudio clip: "Feel Good Hit of the Fall"

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) s/t (Gold Standard Laboratories) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heads up, this is the highly anticipated full-length from current indie sensations !!! ("chik chik chik"). The band (composed of the guys from Sacramento's beloved Outhud as well as 3 or 4 other blokes) play a groove-addicted blend of (mostly) instrumental art-punk-funk that is so catchy and bouncy you will not believe it. Scene reports from all over the country have been afire with stories of !!! live shows wherein EVERYONE, including staid white emo boys, peels off their sweaty t-shirts to dance the night away. People who say they've NEVER danced at a show before simply could not restrain themselves in the face of !!!, who mix Gang of Four style angular guitar tension with the irresistible bass groove of Liquid Liquid, the fuzzy vocals of Joe Strummer (in fact it's sort of amazing and weird how often !!! sounds like "Casbah"-era Clash), and the kind of energy that just doesn't stop. There's only a couple of cringe-inducing moments (like when the singer goes "I learned a lot / from smoking pot / but I don't remember / what I forgot", but all in all this is a record that will have your hips moving wildly independent from the rest of yer body, like Byram's butt is doing right now... Go Byram go! (Then again, Byram has been known to shake his butt to Merzbow and Ryoji Ikeda, so maybe he's not the best litmus test of butt shaking music. Although our little dancing Santa in the window is certainly wagging his behind as we speak.)

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Take Ecstacy With Me (Touch & Go) cd ep 5.98
No thank you. We'd rather do PCP with the James Gang. Or smoke drano with the Commodores. Or even drink Liquid Plumber and horse piss smoothies with Funkadelic. Or better yet, how 'bout we just listen to the original version by the Magnetic Fields and skip this all together...

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) Take Ecstacy With Me (Touch & Go) 12" 5.98
No thank you. We'd rather do PCP with the James Gang. Or smoke drano with the Commodores. Or even drink Liquid Plumber and horse piss smoothies with Funkadelic. Or better yet, how 'bout we just listen to the original version by the Magnetic Fields and skip this all together...

!!! (CHIK CHIK CHIK) / OUT HUD Lab Remix Series Vol.2 (Gold Standard Laboratories) cd ep 6.98
Finally available on cd! Here's what we had to say about the beloved vinyl version that originally came out in 2000:
"Very, very good instrumental 12" from two Sacramento bands (the latter is pronounced 'chik chik chik'), both of whom draw heavily from the chugga chugga guitars of Wire and the art / punk / funk of Liquid Liquid. Highly recommended! Windy cannot stop playing this in the store."
Indeed these two groups were received with feverish enthusiasm, leading the indie dance-punk trend of a few years back. This split ep (one second over 30 minutes long) features three Out Hud tracks and one lengthy number from !!! (one second shy of 12 minutes long).
MPEG Stream: OUT HUD "JGNE"
MPEG Stream: !!! "Instinct"

!CARLOS! Bigger Teeth (Headhunter/Cargo) cd 11.98
Local boys play smart and plucky noise pop.

!T.O.O.H.! (!TOTAL OBLITERATION OF HUMANITY!) Order And Punishment (Earache) cd 15.98
Tooh? Tee-oh-oh-ech!!? What's that? Oh, TOTAL OBLITERATION OF HUMANITY! Nice. Of course, they're one of those mean and blasting grindcore bands, and a really good one, on the weirder side of the genre -- or genres, in their case, since the Czech Republic's misanthropic !T.O.O.H.! tend to blenderize metal, punk, jazz, and other elements in their music.
We've actually been fans of these freaks for a long time, and were pleased to see 'em get a release on big time extreme metal label Earache, especially as we'd never been able to stock their cds regularly before, since they were all hard-to-come-by Middle European imports. Now we can get Order And Punishment anytime we want to spank all y'all with. And a sonic spanking it is, an utterly spastic spanking of technical death grind insanity. Ripping rollercoaster songcraft, full of widdly neo-classical guitar, vehement vocals in Czech (about what, we don't know), dizzying changes, and some valiantly thrashing riffs... it's really those "classic" metal elements that turn this into a headbanger's ball for us, and make Order And Punishment a worthy repeat listen. What a bunch of nutters.
MPEG Stream: "Abu-Hassan"
MPEG Stream: "Padaji, Piskaji"

(INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY Bigger Cages, Longer Chains (Epitaph) cd 9.98
Taking the catchy rock n' roll energy of bands like the Hives or Rocket From the Crypt and propelling it into political territory, this Swedish fivesome provides the dance soundtrack to a revolution. Sexy, soulful horn-tinged garage-punk with lyrics dedicated to fightin' capitalism, giving a voice to immigrants, and other radical topics-- free your ass, and perhaps your mind will follow the young Swedes' lead to the weighty philosphies of Guy Debord, Luis Althusser and others, as listed in the liner notes following each song. Does the lack of a revolutionary quality to the relatively straight-ahead music undermine their message, or is this an aural example of tactics such as the use of comics and cinema that the Situationists used in order to better spread their message to the masses? I'm not sure, but I still think the album's pretty hot.
RealAudio clip: "Bigger Cages, Longer Chains"
RealAudio clip: "Beautiful So Alone"

(R) Under The Cables, Into The Wind (Important) cd 14.98
Under The Cables, Into The Wind marks the second solo album for Fabrizio Modonese Polumbo, who hails from the eccentric Italian post-rock outfit Larsen. That said, Polumbo qualifies this as his first 'real' solo album, as he dismisses his earlier album Humps as little more than a collection of fragments, compilation tracks, commissioned works, and live sessions. Where Larsen creates a smoldering sound of hypnotic grooves and melodies intensified by slashing counterpoints, Polumbo's (r) exhibits a greater degree of experimentation with the studio itself as an instrument, building elusive, shadowy collages and swelling compositions from ringing chimes, bowed metals and thick walls of jet-engine noise. Yet, he hasn't entirely dropped the structure of the song on this album, as densely packed acoustic guitar chords buidling into orchestrations much like Swans' final album Sountracks For The Blind; at the same time, there's a thoroughly abstracted cover of Avril Lavigne's "I'm With U," which Polumbo is quick to point out was produced not for ironic purposes, but out of a fascination with the control mechanisms of pop music (e.g. Laibach's numerous covers of Beatles, Queen, Rolling Stones, Europe, etc.) and reinterprets it as a call for empathy for those who deserve it. Well done, sir.
MPEG Stream: "Shining Camels And Rising Anacondas"
MPEG Stream: "I'm With U"

(SMOG) Supper (Drag City) cd 14.98
A recent Smog show here in SF was, somewhat surprisingly, totally amazing. Instead of stark indifference and an uninspired performance, it was everything you could possibly want a Smog show to be-- intimate and immediate, with Bill Callahan in an approachable mood, bantering with the audience and even taking requests. Accompanied by just an electric guitar and a tamborine, he played some of his very best songs (oh man, "To Be Of Use" from "Red Apple Falls" breaks my heart every time I hear it!) in a fashion that managed to be both wrenchingly honest yet cheeky and good-humored (see: "Dress Sexy at my Funeral," definitely the highlight of "Dongs of Sevotion" and also of this particular Smog set). He also played "Bathysphere," and weirdly, he seemed to be playing a cover of Cat Power's cover of his song, turning the cello parts from his recorded version into intense vocalisations. It was great! Oh yeah, he's got a new record, too. A couple of the songs Callahan played live turn up on it. I liked them better in their stripped-down live versions. "Supper," at the very least, doesn't suck nearly as much as "Rain on Lens." In fact, it's actually very pleasant. He's still got the rock-band thing going, but there are more mellow-melancholy moments and the songwriting is a bit stronger. There's this one crazy free-folk song that's definitely my favorite thing about "Supper": softly frenzied textural drumming layered with multiple levels of almost droning guitar picking, banjo, and hypnotic group vocals repeating the same line again and again... really beautiful, like a little bit of Tower Recordings or something transported into a Smog song. The rest of the album gets very alt-country what with the lap steel slide guitar and Palace-y mock-religious folk country-- actually, "Supper" has a pretty Mountain-ep era Palace vibe, only with unfortunate detours into gross blues-rock. Honestly, though, I can always listen to Callahan's conversational baritone confessionals. Here, counterpoint to his wounded lone-wolf male perspective (see: review of "Accumulation: None") is provided by a female vocalist who's trying to do a powerfully sultry country chanteuse thing and not being overly succesfull at it (glad she's there anyway, keepin' the man-with-no-name cowboy heartbreaker tendencies in check, to a degree). Overall, not a bad Smog album, assuming you already have "Red Apple Falls," "Julius Caeser," "Wild Love," "Dongs of Sevotion," "Accumulation: None" and even "Knock Knock."
RealAudio clip: "Our Anniversary"
RealAudio clip: "Feather By Feather"
RealAudio clip: "Driving"

(SMOG) Supper (Drag City) lp 14.98
A recent Smog show here in SF was, somewhat surprisingly, totally amazing. Instead of stark indifference and an uninspired performance, it was everything you could possibly want a Smog show to be-- intimate and immediate, with Bill Callahan in an approachable mood, bantering with the audience and even taking requests. Accompanied by just an electric guitar and a tamborine, he played some of his very best songs (oh man, "To Be Of Use" from "Red Apple Falls" breaks my heart every time I hear it!) in a fashion that managed to be both wrenchingly honest yet cheeky and good-humored (see: "Dress Sexy at my Funeral," definitely the highlight of "Dongs of Sevotion" and also of this particular Smog set). He also played "Bathysphere," and weirdly, he seemed to be playing a cover of Cat Power's cover of his song, turning the cello parts from his recorded version into intense vocalisations. It was great! Oh yeah, he's got a new record, too. A couple of the songs Callahan played live turn up on it. I liked them better in their stripped-down live versions. "Supper," at the very least, doesn't suck nearly as much as "Rain on Lens." In fact, it's actually very pleasant. He's still got the rock-band thing going, but there are more mellow-melancholy moments and the songwriting is a bit stronger. There's this one crazy free-folk song that's definitely my favorite thing about "Supper": softly frenzied textural drumming layered with multiple levels of almost droning guitar picking, banjo, and hypnotic group vocals repeating the same line again and again... really beautiful, like a little bit of Tower Recordings or something transported into a Smog song. The rest of the album gets very alt-country what with the lap steel slide guitar and Palace-y mock-religious folk country-- actually, "Supper" has a pretty Mountain-ep era Palace vibe, only with unfortunate detours into gross blues-rock. Honestly, though, I can always listen to Callahan's conversational baritone confessionals. Here, counterpoint to his wounded lone-wolf male perspective (see: review of "Accumulation: None") is provided by a female vocalist who's trying to do a powerfully sultry country chanteuse thing and not being overly succesfull at it (glad she's there anyway, keepin' the man-with-no-name cowboy heartbreaker tendencies in check, to a degree). Overall, not a bad Smog album, assuming you already have "Red Apple Falls," "Julius Caeser," "Wild Love," "Dongs of Sevotion," "Accumulation: None" and even "Knock Knock."

+ / - (PLUS / MINUS) You Are Here (TeenBeat) cd 14.98
Originally a solo side project of Versus' guitarist James Balayut, Plus/Minus has swelled into a full blown trio with fellow Versus member Patrick Ramos and Chris Deaner hopping aboard. They present their full length follow-up to Holding Patterns, the blissful +/- five-song debut from earlier this year. You Are Here is for the most part quite an understated affair, but it's not without dynamic and stylistic range. Slightly jazzy, touching on almost all shades of Chicago postrock. The result? A finely blended sound that's reminiscent of a hybrid of Tortoise, The Sea And Cake and Versus too. Soft, often near-spoken male vocals, warm tendrils of tremoloed guitars, bendy groovy cyclical basslines, plenty of crash cymbal punctuations. That said, quite possibly their catchiest pop song to date -- the soaring guitar-driven "Trapped Under The Ice Floes" -- makes a welcome "redux" reappearance here (it was the second song on the EP).
MPEG Stream: "Ventriloquist"
MPEG Stream: "Trapped Under The Ice Floes (Redux)"

+ / - (PLUS / MINUS) Holding Patterns (TeenBeat) cd 9.98
On this 5-song ep, Plus / Minus waste no time in getting down to business, and that business is crafting glorious dream pop. However, they prove they can shift gears with nary a blink of the eye going from the considerably amped up power pop of the second song "Trapped Under Ice Floes" straight into the ultra soothing "Far Into The Fields". Very graceful and very nice. Can't wait for more!
MPEG Stream: "Trapped Under Ice Floes"
MPEG Stream: "Far Into The Fields"

+ / - (PLUS / MINUS) Let's Build A Fire (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
Let's Build A Fire is the kind of record you unfortunately don't hear much about these days. Not enough bells and whistle's perhaps. What makes the Brooklyn based trio so great is sort of subtle. Well played beautiful guitar riffs that blend perfectly with the gorgeously pitched soft vocals. Complicated, but not flashy drumming. Talented friends playing and harmonizing on a single track not for the novelty of a pedal steel or cello, but to complete the vision of a well rounded gentle pop song. Let's Build A Fire is reminiscent of a very definitive time in the history of indie music that had us glued to our headphones listening to the likes of Yo La Tengo, Superchunk, and Polvo (to name a few). It's the kind of album we definitely don't hear enough about these days.
MPEG Stream: "One Day You'll Be There"
MPEG Stream: "Leap Year"

+ / - (PLUS / MINUS) s/t (TeenBeat) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Very nice! The lovely, minimal vellum packaging offers very little in the way of liner notes and gives nary a hint of the sounds contained inside, but one thing we do know for sure is that this is the debut from +/- aka James Balayut and Patrick Ramos. And if those names sound familiar, well it just might be because they were two members of the fine NYC polished pop outfit Versus. Actually fans of said band might find this album a familiar friend as the overall sound flows quite closely to that of many songs from their last album, the subtly textured, varied and pretty "Hurrah". Mostly soft, warm and heartfelt vocals over lush instrumentation. Lazy day basslines, soothing organ drones, twinkling guitar melodies with a few bursts of My Bloody Valentine-esque feedback washes and an occasional playful, skitterish or blown-out programmed beat a la Cornelius. The warm boyish vocals reminded me of those of Elliott Smith, Sea & Cake and Mark Robinson. Standout tracks include "Beverly Road" and "Crestfallen". Check 'em out!
RealAudio clip: "Crestfallen"
RealAudio clip: "Beverly Road"

+/- (PLUS/MINUS) VS. BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS s/t (TeenBeat) cd 10.98
As the back cover informs us, "+/- covers BB and BB covers +/-". Seems simple enough, don't it? And if you're not familiar with these two bands you'd probably already guess just from the bands' names that this might be a rather odd pairing. So we thought. However, it's not as strange as we initially believed. Seems Blood Thirsty Butchers have gone through something of a transformation in the years since we last heard from them... it has been quite a while. If our memory serves correctly, they used to be a gritty indie hardcore band from Japan. As far as we know they're still from Japan, but they've mellowed considerably. They make dreamy post-rockish pop with angelic female and boyish vocals with a very occasional blast of gnarly guitar aggression. They're so much closer in sound to soft popsters +/- than we could ever have anticipated. Soooo, whatcha get is a pretty consistent half dozen delicious indie pop tunes with feverishly strummed Unrest-style jangly guitars. So at home on the Teenbeat record label.
MPEG Stream: +/- (PLUS/MINUS) "Banging The Drum"
MPEG Stream: BLOODTHIRSTY BUTCHERS "Waking Up Is Hard To Do"

120 DAYS s/t (Vice) cd 13.98
Of course black metal and soft pop aren't the only cool sounds coming outta Norway these days, but who'd guess there'd be something with such a German bent to it. 120 Days are the Norwegians of whom we speak. Four hip young fellows wearing the sizable influences of kraut rock geniuses (CAN, Neu!, Kraftwerk) and raw angsty post-punk terrors (Suicide and The Stooges) proudly on their sleeves. They take those lessons they've learned studying their masters' classic recordings and project 'em through a modern rock sheen and the result is strangely mesmerizing. Flitting from motorik jam to angular new wave and back again, often in the same song. Long blown out synthscapes and distant robotic pulses butted up against crazed dancefloor throb and jagged guitars... You can almost imagine some exclusive seventies German nightclub, tucked in the basement of some abandoned building, where every week, a crowd of tight panted, angular haircutted, garishly make-upped kids meet up with a bunch of long haired space rock burnouts, and stay up all night harmoniously dancing, getting high, making out and drifting off, all to the strains of 120 Days...
MPEG Stream: "Be Mine"
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalking"

14 ICED BEARS In The Beginning (Slumberland) cd 13.98
What with the Heavenly Vs Satan re-issue, the five Messthetics 70s/80s UK compilations and this 14 Iced Bears collection, it seems to be high time for a UK bubblegum punk/pop resurgence. So how 'bout hopping aboard this bouncy Brit buggy. "In The Beginning" compiles this mid-80s UK pop combo's first three singles as well as a handful of unreleased BBC session tracks, live recordings and demos. Capturing both their feisty and gentle sides. Released by prime purveyor of supreme dream pop confections Mike Shulman on his label Slumberland (home to recordings by such artists as the Aislers Set, the Lilys, and Lorelei). Fey indie psych-pop cousins of the Pastels, June Brides, and Housemartins. Oh and you just might recognize the bouncy "Balloon Song" from The Aislers Set's cover version on their album "The Last Match".
RealAudio clip: "Cut"
RealAudio clip: "The Balloon Song (Peel Session)"

15.60.75 (THE NUMBERS BAND) Jimmy Bell's Still In Town (Hearthan / Water) cd 12.98

16 / TODAY IS THE DAY Zodiac Dreaming (Trash Art) split cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Split cd between L.A.s legendary sludgesters 16 and the completely maniacal Today Is The Day. 16 (who you can check out at the Sight Sounds Liberties festival Jan 31 if you live in SF) have been around forever, and their sound hasn't changed a whole lot, but then, why fix what ain't broke?! Three tracks of bass heavy sludge rock, equal parts Jesus Lizard, the Melvins and Helmet. Dark and brooding and furious. Today Is The Day contribute two tracks, also heavy and furious, but pretty weird too, even for them. The first track starts out like vintage TITD, but soon breaks down into a piano driven dirge, ringing reverb and howling whisper/falsetto vocals, sounding remarkably like Devil Doll or old Alice Cooper. Very dramatic and intense. They finish off the cd with a brilliant/stupid take on Queens Of The Stone Age's also brilliant/stupid 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' with an incessant grinding metallic guitar riff, while the vocals consist of nothing but a recitation of drugs, from smack to cocaine to xanax to alcohol. Kinda dumb but well worth it for the other 4 tracks.
RealAudio clip: 16 "You're Not My Real Dad"
RealAudio clip: TODAY IS THE DAY "Invincible"

16-17 Early Recordings (Savage Land) 2cd 19.98
Long overdue reissue of the impossible to find early releases from Swiss extremist free jazz / outrock outfit 16-17! Because of using saxophone, 16-17 were always tagged as some kind of 'jazz' group, but if this was jazz, it was a kind of jazz no one had EVER imagined at the time, extreme and difficult listening for sure, like Borbetomagus filtered through the Swans or like a snake charmer high on PCP jamming with Prong's rhythm section. Or even a free jazz Whitehouse! 16-17 were a shrieking banshee, a pummeling behemoth, massive, ear shredding, primitive horn blasting freakout predating Zorn's extreme jazz (Painkiller et. al.) by at least seven years. This trio (saxophonist Alex Buess, drummer Knut Remond and guitarist Markus Kneubuhler) wove tight, tense grooves of pounding drums, pulsing thick ropy low end guitar throb, and atop it ,all Buess' wildly squealing, squirming, snarling sax. 16-17 sound was so intense and far out, and so much modern music can be heard in these tracks, Flying Luttenbachers, Laddio Bolocko, Aufgehoben No Process, Painkiller, a few years later and maybe Buess would be celebrating HIS 50th birthday with star studded NYC performances and multiple cd releases, but as it is, these guys remained a footnote, lurking on the periphery, making common cause with Kevin Martin's God and Alboth and the even the Digital Hardcore label, their legacy indisputable, modern music's debt unrepayable, so thanks to Savage Land we can all now genuflect before the Gods of ultra extreme hardcore free jazz post punk whatthefuck, hear where it all started, feel the same thrill folks must have felt stumbling into some dingy New York dive when 16-17 came over and toured with the Swans, and being fucking flattened by these guys.
Includes the first two albums, Self Titled (1986) and When All Else Fails (1989) as well as the ULTRA rare Hardkore & Buffbunker cassette (1984). Two discs wrapped in a cardboard slipcover. Transferred from the best available sources, digitally remastered by Weasel Walter (Flying Luttenbachers) and this is the very first time ANY of this music has been available on cd!
MPEG Stream: "Kat"
MPEG Stream: "Speech"
MPEG Stream: "Hardkore 1"

1900S, THE Cold And Kind (Parasol) cd 14.98
Not to be confused with another current young, numerically named band The 1990s who hail from Scotland, Chicago, IL's The 1900s actually sound more Scottish than those Glaswegians! Last year the half dozen songs on the band's Plume Delivery debut release had us delighted us with its lovely pop dreaminess, and we're happy to report that Cold And Kind picks right up where that ep left off. This full length of a dozen unabashed ice cream-y toothsome sweetheart tunes are still very much for fans of Scottish cozy popsters Belle & Sebastian, but we bet it'll also tickle the ears of fans of Stars, The Concretes, Kings Of Convenience, Peter Bjorn And John. Kind? Yessiree! Cold? No way! The 1900s will give you nothing but the warmest of fuzzy feelings!
MPEG Stream: "No Delay"
MPEG Stream: "When I Say Go"

1900S, THE Plume Delivery (Parasol) cd ep 10.98
Wonderful breezy pop very much in the vein of Belle And Sebastian that also reveals a moodier side. Dare we say that this 6-song ep by Chicago sextet The 1900s almost makes for a better B&S follow-up to Dear Catastrophe Waitress than The Life Pursuit! Yes, we do. Much like those Scots' last few lush albums, The 1900s' Plume Delivery comes fully decked out with organs, harpsichord, violin, keyboards, horns. Of course, that alone wouldn't mean much if the bountiful instrumental palette wasn't put to good use, but it certainly is. The 1900s incorporate it all seamlessly into such lovely melodies and glorious arrangements. But the super dreaminess comes from the vocal department, Caroline Donovan and Jeanine O'Toole's voices alternately remind us of Isobel Campbell and Laetitia Sadier, while mainman Edward Anderson's voice can easily be compared to Belle And Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch. If you dig the sounds of the abovementioned bands as well as The Delgados, Call And Response, Young & Sexy and Mates Of State, you might also take a shine to The 1900s. A super delight from start to finish!
MPEG Stream: "Bring The Good Boys Home"
MPEG Stream: "Whole Of The Law"

1929 Last But Not Leased (Siltbreeze) cd 13.98
This is some seriously fuzzy, muddy ass kicking ROCK. There's some sort of pedigree here (Brother JT and some other randomness) but it hardly prepares you for the rock and roll attack. This is basically all instrumental, 'classic' rock, but with some Fushitsusha style freakouts and some downright friendly melodies, swathed in feedback and tape hiss and all run through that lo-fi/low-brow Siltbreeze filter. Think Comets On Fire, Zen Guerilla, Musica Transonic, Van Halen, the MC5 all stripped down and fuzzed out, with nods to post rock, space rock, free rock and just a tiny hint of that Siltbreeze/noise-rock sheen. But mostly just ROCK!
MPEG Stream: "Webbed Toes"

20 MILES Keep It Coming (Epitaph) cd 14.98
Judah Bauer takes a break from his role as axe slinger with Jon Spencer to once again indulge his 20 Miles desire to channel the gaunt ghosts of the Stones. Not a great departure from his work in the Blues Explosion, this is just kinda average blues rock that can't decide whether to fire things up or bring it dooown, and as a result falls flat at both. The songs on Keep It Coming just sound like those of a lackluster bar band coming up short in distinct personality, genuine grit, and hard-livin' attitude... some of the key ingredients for prime rockin' blues tunes.
RealAudio clip: "Mend Your Heart"
RealAudio clip: "Late At Night"

20 MINUTE LOOP Decline of Day (Fortune Records) cd 11.98
The second release from this San Francisco pop group unveils a looser, much more confident presence with an added dash of pop bombast. Brings to mind a hybrid of REM and - as with their previous release - the Throwing Muses with its well-executed, slightly twisted melodies, slinky guitars, and varied tempos... not to mention the very Stipe-esque male and Hersh-ish female vocals. Gentle, slow prettiness sits comfortably next to the considerably more upbeat and energetic. Quite a solid sophomore effort that'll surely win them a sizable batch of new supporters.
RealAudio clip: "Jubilation"
RealAudio clip: "Elephant"

20 MINUTE LOOP s/t cd 9.98
If you were to combine the energy and raw emotion of P.J. Harvey or Ani Difranco, the pacing and melodic swoops of the Throwing Muses, and the boy/girl vocals of the late P.E.E., you just might find 20 Minute Loop in your ears. If this sounds pleasing, you should definitely check out the debut album from this Bay Area group.

20 MINUTE LOOP Yawn + House = Explosion (Fortune) cd 13.98
20 Minute Loop have made absolute leaps and bounds since their sophomore release back in 2001... heck, that album, Decline of Day, was already pretty damn good! For one thing they've polished their boy / girl vocals to an utter golden honeyed glow and lushed up the whole 20ML picture. Just check out the second song "Cora May"! A terrific pop tune! Indeed, this album does much to define their own sound from those who've influenced the band which in the past were much more apparent -- namely Throwing Muses and Breeders. Really, Yawn + House = Explosion should garner the band total 'college radio darling' status! Yay!
MPEG Stream: "Cora May"
MPEG Stream: "5 AM To 9 AM"

23 SKIDOO Coup / The Gospel Comes To New Guinea (Ronin) 12" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The seminal experimental funk outfit 23 Skidoo has finally re-released their mid-'80s single "Coup." Not long ago the Chemical Brothers sampled the funky rhythm on "Coup", but avoided giving 23 Skidoo any money by re-programming the rhythm digitally, which somehow exempted them from having to actually license the sample. Lame! (Obviously, I'm biased as I can't stand the Chemical Brothers *and* have never felt that 23 Skidoo received due credit for having created some of the most adventurous albums to come out of the '80s.)
23 Skidoo's music lies somewhere between the sonic experimentation found in the primitive electronics of early Industrial Culture (especially Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, and early Current 93) and the spartan New York funk of Liquid Liquid and ESG. 23 Skidoo themselves said it best when they defined their sound as "Urban Gamelan" (using this term to title one of their albums).
On this 12", the a-side "Coup" actually falls a little flat in relation to their preceding work, as the angular slap bass lines and punchy rhythmic stabs are far too obvious for 23 Skidoo's bizarre production. However, "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" finds the group at their finest with a simple dark bass line driving through complex percussion and a haunted trumpet floating in the distance. This puts contemporary postrock/electronica darlings like Fridge and Four Tet to shame! DJs, please pick this up.

23 SKIDOO Seven Songs (Ronin) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You may be familiar with hyperbole like "this is one of my favorite records" popping up throughout the our reviews and you may wonder if that declaration really means anything. Obviously, there are many of us who write this list with lots of opinions as to what "the best record ever" truly is. Yet, I (Jim) have tried to steer clear of hyperbole (well, most of the time), partially because my personal tastes have been known to change over time, but more importantly because nobody has made a record that is better than The Conet Project! Nevertheless, I am breaking my own self-imposed rule in stating that 23 Skidoo's "Seven Songs" is one of my favorite records ever. I feel confident in such an assessment since this record (which I first picked up seven or eight years ago) still kicks my ass almost a decade later!
While electronica darlings like Andrew Weatherall, The Chemical Brothers, and Gilles Peterson all proclaim "Coup" as the pinnacle of 23 Skidoo's catalogue, I boldly mutter "Hogwash! 'Seven Songs' is easily 23 Skidoo's best work!" 23 Skidoo recorded this album during a three day period in 1981 with production by "Tony, Terry, and David" (aka Genesis P-Orridge, Peter Christopherson, and Ken Thomas). With those three behind the mixing board, 23 Skidoo obviously enjoys a similiar spirit of sonic experimentation as invoked by the founders of Industrial Culture. Yet, 23 Skidoo also employs the death-disco of PiL, A Certain Ratio, and Gang of Four, often played on homemade junkyard instruments built to replicate Indonesian gamelan. This bizarre hybridization of styles has few if any parallels, but 23 Skidoo's eclecticism and experimentation are never so alien as to not also be funky, melodic, and infectiously catchy.
Just as Windy places Os Mutantes near the top of her musical pantheon, Andee proudly proclaims his infatuation with Hanoi Rocks, and Allan drools over all things Magma, I say that if you're at all like me, you won't be disappointed by 23 Skidoo's "Seven Songs"!
RealAudio clip: "IY"
RealAudio clip: "Porno Bass"
RealAudio clip: "Vegas el Bandito"

23 SKIDOO The Culling Is Coming (LTM) cd 17.98
Dating back to 1983, The Culling Is Coming was originally released on the L.A.Y.L.A.H. label, which also released some of the strongest work from Current 93, Coil, Laibach, and The Hafler Trio. This 23 Skidoo album stands as a notable detour from their martial rhythms fused with agitated, post-punk funk which found them lumped in with the likes of The Pop Group, Cabaret Voltaire, and Hula. One of those albums clearly based on the vinyl medium, The Culling Is Coming was split between two 23 minute sides featuring sprawling abstractions that were alternately meditative and aggressive. The first of which featured 23 Skidoo members / brothers Alex & Johnny Turnbull performing on the gamelan at the Dartington Music College, and then taking the results back into the studio to be put into a more coherent composition. While they cite the instrumentation as being Balinese, the first passage of this piece is clearly Javanese in nature with interlocking bells, kendangs, and gongs repeating a simple decending melody whilst the rhythmic structure varies in speed. Given the instrumentation, Balinese references do become evident later on; but at the same time also speak of Harry Partch's handmade percussive compositions. Over 23 minutes, this track gradually devolves into a dreamy collage of quietly resonating gongs. The second piece is a live recording at the WOMAD festival in 1982, which found Current 93's David Tibet making a guest appearance on the Tibetan trumpet. Defying the crowd who were expecting the disfigured funk found on Seven Songs, 23 Skidoo improvised around multiple tape loops, metallic percussion, and slabs of dissonant noise. The Culling Is Coming did enjoy a CD release over a decade ago, but LTM's re-issue features an equally long and confrontational track which was taken from the backing tapes that 23 Skidoo used during their 1982 tour with Cabaret Voltaire. Not for the faint of heart.
MPEG Stream: "G-2 Contemplation"
MPEG Stream: "Invocation"
MPEG Stream: "Move Back - Bite Harder"

23 SKIDOO The Gospel Comes To New Guinea (Ronin) cd 16.98
23 Skidoo's agenda throughout the early to mid '80s took a number of drastic turns, which are clearly manifest in "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea," a collection of rarities, compilation tracks, and singles dating back to that time period. The band presented throughout that time as a musical aggregate of rough-hewn disco, punk aggression, ghostly dub schizophonia, and a unique ethnomusicology of Afro-funk and Javanese gamelan. Their musical productions were tempered not only by a leftist radicalism against the '80s Tory politics, but also by a desire to destabilize the orientalist traditions of Victorian England which liberally appropriated from any number of former British colonies. As World Music entered the general consciousness as a smiley-happy repackaging of indigenous populations as noble savages making romantic music, 23 Skidoo plunged much deeper and darker into the realms of the sublime with their death disco grooves thickened by eerie backing tapes, dynamic percussion, and spidery guitars.
That said, their very first single "Ethics" (which is the finale to this compilation) shows the vast distances they travelled in order to get to their masterpiece, the "Seven Songs" album. It's a pleasant late '70s punk tune, obviously influenced by Buzzcocks, Fast Records productions, and "Boys Don't Cry" era Cure. But in less than a year, 23 Skidoo had ventured though skittering, dub influenced punked-disco found on the "Last Days" single to get to the ominous track "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea," built on a undulating menace from a relentless bassline that simply alternates between two notes, alongside haunting trumpet bleatings and a taut percussive groove worthy of comparisons to Fela Kuti or Tony Allen. The "Tearing Up The Plans" EP from 1982 is also included in its entirety, paralleling the sound on "The Gospel" with even greater emphasis on anxiety and dis-ease.
1984 proved to be a big turning point for 23 Skidoo as they released the "Coup" single, a track that found them firmly engaging a friendly funk that mirrored the '80s productions of Adrian Sherwood. It's funky, it's dumb, it was their biggest hit. After this, 23 Skidoo faltered pretty severely into a well polished drum machine 'n' sample sound that doesn't even come close to the brilliance of their earlier work. Fortunately, this compilation only has a couple of these mid-'80s disasters, and has enough fantastic tracks to warrant the price of admission, even if you have to skip a couple of the duds in the middle.
RealAudio clip: "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea"
RealAudio clip: "Gregouka"

23 SKIDOO Urban Gamelan (Ronin) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally released on LP back in 1984 on Illuminated Records, and only seeing a few seconds of shelf life as a cd re-issue in the early '90s, "Urban Gamelan" is the aptly named third album from 23 Skidoo, back again on cd! This British trio developed one of the most unique sounds to evolve from the UK's Industrial Culture -- which was self-consciously aware of its actions as critiques of control and power within Thatcherite society. Unlike Psychic TV and Coil who offered an aesthetic of extroverted abjection and vile transgressions (often to amazing results, mind you), 23 Skidoo embraced something like a bunker mentality, by preparing themselves with both body and mind for the possibility of a future attack, but more likely in defense of their own personal agendas. The group -- Fritz Catlin, Alex Turnbull, and Johnny Turnbull -- studied various martial arts along with the then little heard sounds of Indonesian gamelan. Unable to get a hold of a true gamelan (except for a Kendang), 23 Skidoo built their own out of scrap metal, kitchen wares, and water jugs. Their personal discipline from their martial arts training made for an easy transition in terms of mastering the fluid, yet complex rhythms that made for an excellent junkyard replication of true Indonesian gamelan.
"Urban Gamelan" finds 23 Skidoo addressing two distinct aesthetics, the first being their post-apocalyptic funk (which had been previously mapped out on their first album "Seven Songs") and the second emphatically pronouncing their faux-gamelan sound. The album in fact begins with a remix / reworking of their hit single "Coup," which has had the infamy of getting ripped off by the Chemical Brothers. Driven by counterpoints of bass and distant bursts of haunted trumpets, the first half of the album recalls some of Pop Group's dub fuckery, with an inclination for a more natural funk. 23 Skidoo then drops all of the electric instruments for an exhibition of their complete gamelan repetoire. If you ever thought that Einsturzende Neubauten or Test Dept. needed to get their groove on, then you definitely need to check out 23 Skidoo. The 23 Skidoo reissues may be some of the most important to come out this year. It will be well worth your while to check these out!!!
RealAudio clip: "F.U.G.I."
RealAudio clip: "Jalan Jalan"
RealAudio clip: "Language Dub"
RealAudio clip: "Urban Gamelan 1"

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE (SOUNDTRACK) (London) cd 26.00
This is the companion disc to the film "24 Hour Party People" which is a narrative telling of the Factory Records saga and the Manchester sound, and which premiered at Cannes. Most of you are probably already familiar with the signature sound of the era (and if you aren't then this is a nice sampler to jumpstart with), so we'll skip the basics to ask the questions we're all thinking: "Who the heck is going to play Ian Curtis? Is there going to be a Mark E. Smith impersonator?"
With 17 classic tracks from Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order, 808 State, Durutti Column, Buzzcocks, and more. Besides the tried and true (which have all been released before, but still sound amazing!), there's also one new song by New Order (it's the first soundclip below) and a ill-advised Moby mix of a live version of Joy Division's "New Dawn Fades" played by New Order, the Chili Peppers' John Frusciante and Smashing Munchkins' Billy Corgan. Pages and pages of liner notes written by Factory co-founder / Hacienda club co-owner Tony Wilson himself.
The website for the film is pretty interesting, lots of interviews and articles exclusive to the site: http://217.204.45.80/main.php.
RealAudio clip: NEW ORDER "Here To Stay"
RealAudio clip: JOY DIVISION "Love Will Tear Us Apart Again"
RealAudio clip: DURUTTI COLUMN "Otis"

27 Songs From The Edge Of The Wing (Release) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Delicate post-rockisms falling much closer to the Louisville sound (especially For Carnation) than the Chicago fusion sound. Comes in a gorgeous letter-pressed sleeve.

28TH DAY The Complete Recordings (Innerstate) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The '80s and a good portion of the '90s were, for a lot of people, all about indie rock. And 28th Day were right there laying down some of the most bright and lively tracks of the mid '80s, alongside other pioneers like REM and the Replacements, Beat Happening and the Rain Parade. Comprised of the effervescent Barbara Manning on bass, Cole Marquis (Snowmen) on guitar, and present day DIW label / magazine impressario Mike Cloward, 28th Day hailed from Chico, CA and this album contains all of their recordings plus 4 previously unreleased live tracks and 3 previously unreleased demos. Fans of Barbara Manning will find this amped-up, electrified indie rock a welcome addition to the sweeter, purer material found on her later recordings. Furious guitar strumming, a hint of paisley underground psychedelia... some have compared their sound to the British folk rockers Trees.
MPEG Stream: "Pages Turn"
MPEG Stream: "25 Pills"

2ND GEN Flicknives cd 14.98

3 HUR-EL Hurel Arsivi (World Psychedelia Ltd.) cd 17.98
The early nineties saw the big Krautrock revival, while more recently we've seen waves of interest in Swedish psychedelic folk reissues and Latin American garage rock of the sixties. But maybe now the next big old thing is '60s-'70s Middle Eastern psychedelic pop music. Really, soon we're gonna have to dedicate a bin here in the store for all the great (and popular) reissues that have been coming out lately, from the "Turkish Delights" and "Hava Narghile" compilations to albums by The Devil's Anvil and John Berberian's Rock East Ensemble, and most recently Erkin Koray's "Elektronik Turkuler".
Now, here's another one for that bin! It's apparently the second album from the three Hur-el brothers (Feridun, Onur, and Haldun), recorded between 1970 and 1975. A rare LP indeed, the original Diskotur pressing worth $1000+ today we're told. Dunno about that, but it's definitely worth eighteen bucks if you're into the undeniably kick-ass combination of traditional Turkish folk styles with the rock n' roll licks of the West. Middle Easternized rollicking pop rock with acid fuzz guitar and electric piano, plus Eastern ethnic percussion and stringed instruments, and emotive vocals in Turkish. Yup, 3 Hur-el play music that's been called "ethno-psychedelic" and "the heavy hashish sound"...real nice. One of the tracks here also appeared on the "Love Peace & Poetry: Asian Psychedelia" compilation. They also have a track on that "Hava Narghile" comp, but that was from an early single, not this album.
MPEG Stream: "Canim Kurban"
MPEG Stream: "Omur Biter Yol Bitmez"

3 HUR-EL s/t (World Psychedelia Ltd) cd 17.98
Turkish psych fans! Here's another one for ya. We've already given the thumbs up to the wonderful Hurel Arsivi album from the Hur-el brothers. Now we've got a cd reissue of their first album, a self-titled longplayer from 196-. It's just as 'exotic' as Hurel Arsivi, but less overtly rock n' roll, being even more ethnic in flavor -- though it's very far from a purely traditional Turkish music recording! There's definitely Western '60s rock influences, but don't expect much in the way of heavy guitar fuzz-fests. Rather, you'll groove to a infectious rhythmic feast with melodious singing that's rooted in 'old school' Middle Eastern music but has a cool sixties pop-era vibe as well.
The sonorous vocals (all in Turkish) are highlighted, backed by every hipster's 'oriental' beat fantasy. 3 Hur-el are equally effective when playing uptempo dances, or much slower, moodier numbers, so the whole disc's a treat.
MPEG Stream: "Ve Olum"
MPEG Stream: "Lazoglu"

3 INCHES OF BLOOD Fire Up The Blades (Roadrunner) cd 14.98
Right from the majestic, martial instrumental intro of "Through The Horned Gate" that begins this album, it's clear that the return of 3 Inches Of Blood is also the return of true, speedy, spikes n' leather metal in an updated '80s vein, hypercharged with aggressive modern metalcore technology. It's all about relentless shrieking, Maidenesque guitar frenzies, and song titles like "Night Marauders" and "Demon's Blade". Total galloping speed metal mayhem, and then some. It's like Judas Priest's Painkiller as performed by Converge!
Of course, 3 Inches Of Blood aren't the only band these days looking back to the glory days of the '80s for (ironic?) metal inspiration. But this Vancouver sextet is one of the best, most wholehearted, and surprisingly successful sales-wise (among North American bands anyway -- and this is way cooler than Dragonforce) and also have their own unique approach to this sound, which can be ascribed both to their hardcore heritage and to the presence of two vocalists (that's all they do!) in the band, doubling up on the mics, one a long-haired, raspy-but-melodic high-end falsetto specialist, the other short-haired one dealing in growlier throat abuse. And they kinda need two singers/screamers to compete with all the dual guitar fireworks going off around them.
Fire Up The Blades is a fine follow up to their breakthrough second album Advance and Vanquish, and is also already a definite headbanging AQ fave. We're into what seems to be an extra dose of, uh, rock n' roll riffage here -- there's some cowbell happenin' too. But it's still all pretty much rockin' at 150mph, pedal to the metal. This is one fierce, energetic album! For fans of everything from Accept to Children Of Bodom to Laaz Rockit to Darkest Hour to Lizzie Borden to Mastodon to Metal Church... gotta highlight this, as the FUN, fist-in-the-air quotient compared to some of the grim black metal we're always recommending is extremely high.
MPEG Stream: "The Great Hall Of Feasting"
MPEG Stream: "Trial Of Champions"

3 LEAFS Inward Sun (self-released) cd-r 4.98
If we didn't know better we might think this was some lost psychrock gem recently discovered, dug up and put on cd for the first time. With an infectious tribal groove running throughout and a seriously drugged out vibe these five jams definitely sound like they could be from some Amon Duul rehearsal recorded on a boombox in a dirty old German garage filled with dirt, mildew, mushrooms and lots of good weed. But truth be told these are actually new sounds from a local supergroup of sorts made up of members from Horn of Dagoth, Black Fiction, Tussle and Citay. The no frills cd-r packaging and raw recording are the perfect visual analog to 3 Leafs' primitive take on deep in the woods psychedelic rock.
MPEG Stream: "El Otro Lado del Cielo"
MPEG Stream: "Baile con Redman"

3/4HADBEENELIMINATED A Year Of The Aural Gauge Operation (Hapna) cd 16.98
Oooh. Breathtaking stuff here for those who like their music to have a hazy, vague, mysterious aura, and to combine delicate indie-rock "pop" elements (moody vocals, slow-motion melody) with more experimental, fragmented structures and textures... It's the work of a four-piece outfit from Italy, who immerse their murky, mostly instrumental post-rock electro-acoustic playing in droney field recordings, blurring the boundaries, with tree frogs or crickets, and what sounds like hissing, escaping gasses, and other noises that require some imagination to describe playing an important role alongside more obvious instruments like guitars and drums and turntables. There's a definite Jewelled Antler feel, that sort of organic, wandering-in-the-woods, letting-our-ears-find-the-way songmaking process, but with more palpable tension, bringing in a bit of the percussive skitteriness of fellow Italians and Hapna labelmates Sinistri/Starfuckers. We can compare this with lots of other things we love: Radian meets Richard Youngs? Kemialliset Ysatvat teamed up with Tape? Blithe Sons, Larsen, Sigur Ros, Village Of Savoogna, Dean Roberts... we're reminded in ways of all of 'em.
A truly gorgeous album that has the potential to appeal to a lot of different tastes, finding the wonderfully, naturally imperfect intersection of song and improv and field recording drone. This being their second release (first for Hapna, who've released this in the Swedish label's usual nice slim-sleeve packaging), we're going to have to track down their previous one... just as soon as A Year Of The Aural Gauge Operation's sheer dreaminess lets go its hold on our thoughts.
MPEG Stream: "Widower"
MPEG Stream: "In Every Tree A Heartache"
MPEG Stream: "Wave Bye Bye To The King"
MPEG Stream: "Loop Recorder In The Patient With Heart Disease"

3/4HADBEENELIMINATED Theology (Soleilmoon) cd 24.00
Italian avant outfit 3/4hadbeeneliminated offer up a new cd... it's a little pricey but that's 'cause they splurged on the packaging. We'll talk about that in a second, but first the music. If you've heard their previous work, like the Hapna release A Year Of The Aural Gauge Operation (an AQ Record Of The Week in 2005), you'll know to expect fractured and mysterious soundscapes, a densely textured drone-zone constructed from field recordings, record crackle, improvised acoustic instruments, radio static, fragments of piano melody, electronic treatments, whispered Italian voices, turntable scratchings, reel-to-reel tape manipulation, synthesizer sinewaves, scattered percussion, and more. That's a zone we LOVE to visit. There's two long tracks, lots to explore, all manner of curious creakings and cracklings, shifting rhythms and rumblings abounding within 3/4hadbeeneliminated's carefully crafted and/or improvised music. At times quiet and meditative, at others noisier and distorted, but always (to our ears) utterly gorgeous and compelling. Aligns quite nicely with the likes of the Jewelled Antler collective, the Finnish forest foraging of Kemialliset Ystavat, and of course others in the experimental underground Italian scene of which the members of 3/4hadbeeneliminated are a part.
As for the packaging, start with a plain cardboard box, a little over six inches square and one inch deep. Open it up and you'll find a slightly smaller hinged wooden box, each one hand-painted with wax paper decoration. Open that up and there's the cd, in a colorful fabric sleeve, with a paper insert listing the track titles (revealing each one to be a suite of sorts btw). Certainly nicer than the standard jewel case... though one slight drawback is that the cd itself is likely to be coated with a layer of dust from the wooden box, so you'll have to gently wipe it clean or you might find it skipping and glitching out (which would fit in with some of their musical methodology, actually). Indeed, this rustic, elaborate cottage industry packaging is certainly reflective of the rough-hewn, intricate mystery of their music, which deserves such unique treatment.
By the way, there's also an even more expensive new vinyl-only limited edition LP by these folks, a totally different album using these recordings as a basis for recomposition, called The Religious Experience, simultaneously released on Soleilmoon. We just a have a couple in stock right now but hopefully can get more and give it a review sometime soon, although simply we can say it's a nice companion to this...
MPEG Stream: "I Am Daughter"
MPEG Stream: "The Cradle"

31 KNOTS It Was High Time To Escape (54 40 Or Fight) cd 14.98
The new, 2nd album from this Portland (OR) trio sure has gotten under Allan's skin (in a good way). Is that because of the incessant, complex bass lines? The strident yet often lovely vocals? The classically-influenced details? The band's infectious prog-pop chutzpah? All that and more. Yes indeedy, 31 Knots play indie-pop with healthy helpings of prog. That's right, prog -- as in Yes for instance. The press we've seen on this plays up the Yes comparisons, and we'd have to agree, though there's much else going on as well as "Fragile" and "Close To The Edge" worship. Inspiration is drawn from the '80s as well as the '70s, as this possesses a New Wavish pop/punk energy that makes some of this sound like, say, Hot Hot Heat meets Yes. Other names to drop in a review of 31Knots might include: Circus Lupus, Convocation of, King Crimson (their "funkier" side), The Police, Modest Mouse, Party of Helicopters, and Gang Of Four. Maybe. What we're sure of is that 31 Knots are mathy yet catchy, way more compelling and poppy than most post and/or math rock outfits you can imagine. Their sinewy, elegant songwriting is backed up by impressive, precise playing, but, like the best proggers in the '70s, they don't let their obvious instrumental prowess get in the way of writing really good songs, ones with melodic content and emotional depth. There are *lots* of good songs on here -- it was hard to pick the two to make sound samples from! As mentioned above, this is their second album (introducing a new drummer, the guy from Dilute & Natural Dreamers). Somehow we missed their first album but we'll rectify that error asap!
MPEG Stream: "No Sound"
MPEG Stream: "That Which Has No Name"