FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Anywhere (Hagakure) cd 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Before we launch into what's gonna be relatively long-winded review, let's just state up front that this has the best album cover EVER: the band themselves cruising down a rural highway on choppers wearing nothing but their birthday suits!! And this version sees the orginal gatefold recreated for the cd-era, mini-LP sleeve style. But if that's not enough to get you to buy this, read on...
Not long ago we gave a big thumbs up to the album "Satori", the masterpiece from Japanese '70s psych rockers the Flower Travellin' Band (note: we're still waiting to get more of those in stock, they're backordered at our distributor!). Now, however, we've got a brand new reissue of the Flower Travellin' Band's debut album, "Anywhere". It certainly doesn't scale the heights of "Satori" but it'll help you to understand how they got there. Along with a great take on "House Of The Rising Sun" (a nod to Frijid Pink?), this album also explicitly demonstrates, via covers, these Japanese freaks' radical recognition of the genius of two of their Western contemporaries, Black Sabbath and King Crimson. Like many other great artists, with humble beginnings Japan's Flower Travellin' Band cut their teeth on the material of their mentors. Though "Anywhere" -- released in 1970 -- is primarily a covers album, it's also quite a testament to both the band's veracity in their reproductions and their creativity in realigning the building blocks of rock & roll. Their cover of Black Sabbath's self-titled track was actually recorded in the same year as the original and their version of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" only a year after its release. And they aren't merely content to play only the "Schizoid Man" opening riff, like so many other bands that have attempted to cover it, but take on the entire piece in all its schizophrenic freaked out glory, getting waaay into the improv element of the mid-section. The same is true for "Black Sabbath" and you have to appreciate singer Joe's take on the unique Ozzy voice. The most interesting track on the record though has to be their attempt at straight-up blues rock -- while their "Louisiana Blues" starts and finishes almost pedestrianly enough on the "Minglewood Blues" riff by Gus Cannon (of Cannon's Jug Stompers) that was popularized in the rock scene by the likes of The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart, the interior of the song is a complete departure of sorts. Not only devoid of the original progression, it's not even "bluesy" at all. Here in the extended jam that makes up the meat of this musical sandwich, the Flower Travellin' Band's Eastern roots surface a bit. It's a precursor to the sound of their later albums "Satori" and "Made In Japan" (another great one which we'll be reviewing in the future if we can ever get any stock of it in quantity).
MPEG Stream: "Louisiana Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Black Sabbath"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Anywhere (Universal Japan) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
At long last, back in stock! The cd reissue of the 1970 debut album from AQ faves Flower Travellin' Band is still a Japanese import, but on a different label at a cheaper price (yay!), and is now housed in a regular jewelcase this time rather than a mini-lp styled sleeve. Before we launch into what's gonna be relatively long-winded review, let's just state up front that this has the best album cover EVER: the band themselves cruising down a rural highway on choppers wearing nothing but their birthday suits!! But if that's not enough to get you to buy this, read on...
As you may know, we've given a big thumbs up to the album Satori, the masterpiece from Japanese '70s psych rockers the Flower Travellin' Band [Satori is is also back in stock in a Japanese pressing, reviewed this list too].
Anywhere doesn't quite scale the heights of Satori but it'll help you to understand how they got there. Along with a great take on "House Of The Rising Sun" (a nod to Frijid Pink?), this album also explicitly demonstrates, via covers, these Japanese freaks' radical recognition of the genius of two of their Western contemporaries, Black Sabbath and King Crimson. Like many other great artists, with humble beginnings Japan's Flower Travellin' Band cut their teeth on the material of their mentors. Though Anywhere is primarily a covers album, it's also quite a testament to both the band's veracity in their reproductions and their creativity in realigning the building blocks of rock & roll. Their cover of Black Sabbath's self-titled track was actually recorded in the same year as the original and their version of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" only a year after its release. And they aren't merely content to play only the "Schizoid Man" opening riff, like so many other bands that have attempted to cover it, but take on the entire piece in all its schizophrenic freaked out glory, getting waaay into the improv element of the mid-section. The same is true for "Black Sabbath" and you have to appreciate singer Joe's take on the unique Ozzy voice. The most interesting track on the record though has to be their attempt at straight-up blues rock -- while their "Louisiana Blues" starts and finishes almost pedestrianly enough on the "Minglewood Blues" riff by Gus Cannon (of Cannon's Jug Stompers) that was popularized in the rock scene by the likes of The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart, the interior of the song is a complete departure of sorts. Not only devoid of the original progression, it's not even "bluesy" at all. Here in the extended jam that makes up the meat of this musical sandwich, the Flower Travellin' Band's Eastern roots surface a bit. It's a precursor to the sound of their later albums Satori and Made In Japan.
MPEG Stream: "Louisiana Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Black Sabbath"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Made In Japan (Warner Japan) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Flower Travellin' Band mania has gripped Byram and Allan and others of us here at AQ. After the success of our review of the reissues of their masterpiece Satori and their debut Anywhere, we feel we ought to keep going through the catalog of this stellar '70s Japanese heavy psych rock outfit. Those who couldn't get enough of FTB's Satori will be pleased to know that their follow-up, third release Made In Japan is nearly every bit as good. Singer Joe's voice still rings in the creepy falsetto style like Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls singing balls out heavy metal vocals. As with their previous album, "Made In Japan" continued to fuse the heavy rock of early (contemporary, to them) Sabbath with Eastern melodies. I guess they decided after their perfect rendition of "Black Sabbath" on their first record, that such was their calling. Then again, "Heaven And Hell", the penultimate track here, is as pure a channeling of Jimi Hendrix as anything. The mellow closing track "That's All", with its koto glissandi, parallels "Part V" on Satori and like that track, it's perhaps the most overtly Eastern in tone. But it's Joe's vocal line that really kicks ass. At the end of the chorus he adds a little cadenza to his howl, extending the vocal line just beyond where one's intuitively expecting a cadence. It works so fucking well, makes me stop whatever I'm doing to listen, that I wonder why more song writers don't pull that shit more often.
MPEG Stream: "Hiroshima"
MPEG Stream: "That's All"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Satori (Warner Japan) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is one of those albums that's neither new, nor even a recent reissue, but that we here at Aquarius decided, heck, let's list, it deserves it! (While this disc already appears on our website, it was never actually *listed* in any of our newsletters.) So while many might already know this album backwards and forwards, it has most certainly slipped through the cracks for too many others out there. Being a Japan-only import can't help. Allan wisely reordered some copies recently (when a customer special ordered it for themselves on-line) and Byram, unwittingly playing it in the store, found himself getting progressively more obsessed with the album (and the band)! It wasn't long before Jim and Marcy were also finding themselves hooked. Now almost any day you come into the store, you'll hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring.
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equalling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album. From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... but this (and the other two that are also available, look for reviews in future) will have to suffice for now. Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II"
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part III"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Satori (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A while back we listed this, just 'cause we happened to order a few in and some of the staff here who were previously unexposed to the wonders of the Flower Travellin Band, notably Byram, became obsessed with it (and them). It was a Japan-only import and we felt that while many might already know this album backwards and forwards, it had most certainly slipped through the cracks for too many others out there. So we listed it and got an overwhelming response. Now it's a constant seller here at AQ. And still to this day, almost any time you come into the store, you might well hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring. Now we're listing it again, on account of how it's just been reissued *again* at a much lower import price, this time by the British label Radioactive. They've included some art from the original LP that didn't appear on the previous Japanese cd edition, but there's no bonus tracks or anything else additional. If you don't already have it, here's our old review of it, so read on, and you might discover a new favorite:
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equalling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album. From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II"
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part III"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Satori (WEA Japan) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
ALL RIGHT! BACK IN STOCK!! An all-time AQ fave here, that we've been unable to get for much too long. At last, we've got a Japanese import which, while more expensive than the version on defunct UK label Radioactive, is much nicer lookin' and undoubtedly more legit. So if you missed it before, we absolutely recommend that you pick it up now! Here's our original enthused review of this classic:
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equaling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album. From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
That's what we said then, and we still mean it now -- to this day, almost any time you come into the store, you might well hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring. Well, especially now that it's back in stock. YEAH!!!
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II"
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part III"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Satori (Phoenix Records) cd 16.98
While they last, at long last, here's another reissue of this all-time AQ fave, hot on the heels of the Japrocksampler conveniently enough! This version is packaged in a cardstock gatefold and is (unfortunately) limited to 1000 numbered copies.
Here's what we said about Satori last time we had a cd edition in stock:
A while back we listed this, just 'cause we happened to order a few in and some of the staff here who were previously unexposed to the wonders of the Flower Travellin Band, notably Byram, became obsessed with it (and them). It was a Japan-only import and we felt that while many might already know this album backwards and forwards, it had most certainly slipped through the cracks for too many others out there. So we listed it and got an overwhelming response. Now it's a constant seller here at AQ. And still to this day, almost any time you come into the store, you might well hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring.
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equalling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album. From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II"
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part III"

FLOWER-CORSANO DUO The Four Aims (VHF) 2lp 17.98
NOW ON VINYL!
We were all ready to hate this, not cuz we don't dig the players, we love Michael Flower (Vibracathedral, Sunroof!) and Chris Corsano is a ruling drummer, it's just that for some reason we thought this was gonna be some of that new fangled indie free jazz, which always leaves us a bit cold. Not sure why, maybe it was the 'duo' thing. But then it's on VHF, home to much of our favorite dronemusic and outrock, and the instrumentation definitely looked like anything but free jazz: Japan banjo, tanpura, organ, melodica, cello and drums. So we figured, okay, what the heck, let's give it a try, and BAM, this totally knocked out socks off and our teeth in, at once exactly what we had hoped for, but something we never would have imagined, some impossible hybrid of frenetic chaotic drumming, and strange super distorted looped melodic mantras, like some impossible sonic hybrid of Mick Barr and Dan Higgs, or Orthrelm covering Zomes, tripped out and psychedelic, wild as fuck, but weirdly hypnotic and totally mesmerizing.
The opener is a mad blowout of wild melodies super distorted and all tangled up, like some strange sped up bagpipe, wound around Corsano's non stop drum workout, the banjo here ends up sounding like the guitars on Amps For Christ records, unfurling intense abstract runs of notes and fragmented melodies, sometimes locking into little trills, other times getting all wavery and woozy, the drums somehow remaining totally free but staying locked in with Flower's wild psych freakouts. It's so inherently chaotic and raw and primal and by all rights should be difficult to listen to, but after a few minutes, we find ourselves totally lost, and we never want it to end.
The follow up is more of a percussive free jam, reminding us of groups like Avarus and Anaksimandros and No Neck and Sunburned Hand, very free, but with the metallic shimmer spreading out over the warm low end whirs and the abstract gamelan like melodies. "The Drifter's Miracles" is the most obviously VHF of the batch, a long languorous slow burning ur-drone, all bowed stings and wheezing organ, very raga like, overtones shifting and beating against one another, bits or percussion clink and clank beneath the gloriously heaving sea of rich lustrous tones, this definitely could be a whole record, as it is, it's easily the most 'listenable' of the bunch.
"The Beginning Of The End" sounds like a field recording of some ritualistic musical performance, the sound muted and lo-fi, a sort of crazed dance, the drums a wild tribal patter, sometimes splatter, Flower again offering up dense tangles and billowing squiggles, there is definitely a free jazz element, but the duo manage to take the loose free drumming, and the manic looped sounding melodies and create a another, sort-of abstract, ultra free ur-drone, it's quite magical actually, the parts are so frenetic and tense and relentless, that it seems impossible that combining them would create something soothing and spiritual, but that's precisely what it does.
The closer, the nearly 18 minute "The Main Ingredient" is like a more jubilant, ebullient version of the record opener, the drums muted and minimal, still skittery and feral, but Flower's banjo weaving magical crystalline shapes in the air, melodies, notes, tones, harmonies, overtones, all shimmering and hovering and looping and stuttering and glistening, total Amps For Christ / Higgs / Orthrelm sun baked lysergic spiritual raga drone free jazz out-rock blowout. So completely heavy, and epic, and dreamlike, and tripped out, and intense and so so beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "I, Brute Force?"
MPEG Stream: "The Drifter's Miracles"
MPEG Stream: "The Main Ingredient"

FLUORESCENTS Exposure (Boori) cd 8.98
The Israeli band The Flourescents delve into retrogarde indie theatricality with a bombastic vocal delivery like Peter Murphy, with multiple attack fuzz guitars playing a Make Up style glam-rock revival.

FLUX Protoplasmic (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.
The new Old! Avant/ambient/ex-grindcore guitarist James Plotkin returns with the perfect, hypnotic, techno-pop experiment! (That's techno in the sense of "done with machines".) Vocalist Ruth Collins adds her quite good spoken word poetry (a la Lori Carson in the Golden Palominos), and production is handled by Mick Harris of Scorn fame. Highly recommended.

FLUX INFORMATION SCIENCES Private / Public (Young God) cd 13.98
Flux Information Sciences is a NYC band that arrived nearly two decades too late sounding not unlike Cop Shoot Cop or Michael Gira's first band Circus Mort -- dark, angular, sorta heavy art-rock with a 'clowns are scary' bent. They feature members of Gunga Din, and nostalgiacally found their way onto Gira's Young God Records.

FLY ASHTRAY Sawgrass Subligette (Dark Beloved Cloud) cd 13.98

FLY PAN AM s/t (Constellation) cd 13.98
Canada's Fly Pan Am shares the same label with AQ-and-everyone-else's-faves Godspeed You Black Emperor, and they also share a touring member of that band. Like a less majestic Godspeed, this is a very hypnotic array of looping post-indie guitar riffs, musique concrete fragments, and filmic grooves, all layered under a lite haze of static-y crackle. Lovely.

FLY PAN AM Sedatif En Frequences Et Sillons (Constellation) cd 10.98
Those Constellation kids up in Canada have a lot of ideas that don't have anything to do with the psychic desolation of Godspeed You Black Emperor. While some of these ideas are good ones, they run the risk of getting compared to Godspeed simply by association. Fly Pan Am is one of those Godspeed-related projects that really shouldn't be, or should keep their membership a mystery, so folks can enjoy this for what it is, with no disappointment. (I guess we're not helping out with that here, are we?). Anyway, "Sedatif En Frequences Et Sillons" is an enjoyable, lengthy three track ep of post rock / non-jazzy grooviness that sounds as if a band like Pell Mell or Tristeza were trying to mimic Public Image Limited's "Metal Box / Second Edition." Featuring remixes from their self-titled debut release.

FLY PAN AM, LE Ceux Qui Inventent N'ont Jamais Vecu(?) (Constellation) cd 14.98
Beginning in a more than minimal, airy fashion, Le Fly Pan Am's new album swiftly breaks into a clamorous funky groove. Their cyclical bass and guitar lines gradually give way to hypnotic woodblocky tic-toc rhythms and circuit crunching fuckery which then boils up into a frantic snowballing together. And that's just the second track. From there, these Quebecois lads take us through a brief claustrophobic drone into more rounds of driving krautrock repetition and considerably more gentle and loping post-post-rock jams. Sounding much more wanky and clanky in their sonic explorations of repetition than we remember from their self-titled debut and Sedatif En Frequences Et Sillons follow-up. It has been quite a while since those releases and it sounds as though they've taken their fair share of odd twists and turns in that time. Building up and tearing down their sounds, experimenting more with digital and music concrete elements, but still distinctly of that Constellation Records / Montreal, Quebec collective sound. I'm just not quite sure if it all works this time around.
RealAudio clip: "Rompre L'indifference De L'inexitable Avant Que..."
RealAudio clip: "La Vie Se Doit D'etre Vecue Ou Commencons A Vivre"

FLY PAN AM, LE Ceux Qui Inventent N'ont Jamais Vecu(?) (Constellation) lp 13.98
Beginning in a more than minimal, airy fashion, Le Fly Pan Am's new album swiftly breaks into a clamorous funky groove. Their cyclical bass and guitar lines gradually give way to hypnotic woodblocky tic-toc rhythms and circuit crunching fuckery which then boils up into a frantic snowballing together. And that's just the second track. From there, these Quebecois lads take us through a brief claustrophobic drone into more rounds of driving krautrock repetition and considerably more gentle and loping post-post-rock jams. Sounding much more wanky and clanky in their sonic explorations of repetition than we remember from their self-titled debut and Sedatif En Frequences Et Sillons follow-up. It has been quite a while since those releases and it sounds as though they've taken their fair share of odd twists and turns in that time. Building up and tearing down their sounds, experimenting more with digital and music concrete elements, but still distinctly of that Constellation Records / Montreal, Quebec collective sound. I'm just not quite sure if it all works this time around.

FLY PAN AM, LE N'ecoutez Pas (Constellation) cd 14.98
The title translates into English as "don't listen", but we'll be darned if we're going to let The Fly Pan Am tell us what to do with their newest album.
The second you press play on your cd player you'll notice something's different in FPA land (as is also reflected in their most vibrant and busy cover art to date) -- a departure of sorts from these French Canadians' well-trodden path of krautrock influenced jams. N'Ecoutez Pas is definitely on the more aggressive side of things with much seething raw rock energy, it pounds and gallops instead of grooves. When they appear, vocals come in the form of mutterings, textural whisperings and unhinged screaming (yes, screaming!). The calmer more familiar hypnotic, atmospheric moments as well as some nods to punchy retro pop ("Vos Reves Revers") do surface later in the album though. Mainman Roger Tellier-Craig (also guitarist for Godspeed You Black Emperor) has assembled another strong supporting cast for FPA's third full length excursion that includes AQ fave Tim Hecker. Pretty darn cool.
MPEG Stream: "Brulez Suivant, Suivante!"
MPEG Stream: "Vos Reves Revers"

FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS Hot Burritos!: Anthology 1969-1972 (A&M) 2cd 22.00
Remastered and reissued, this release collects pretty much all the essential material by this seminal post-Byrds California country rock band featuring Gram Parsons. Includes everything from their first three albums, "The Gilded Palace of Sin," "Burrito Deluxe," and "The Flying Burrito Brothers". In addition you get some later stuff and singles, and 2 songs from the live album "The Last of the Red Hot Burritos". Informative liner notes, photos (man, what outfits!), and credits round out the package.

FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS Sin City: The Very Best Of... (A&M) cd 17.98
The Flying Burrito Bros were formed in 1969 by Gram Parsons, dearly departed father of country rock whose legend is still growing ever larger as his influence continues to be felt. I could go on and on and on about what a genius Parsons was, but then this description would be pages long, and anyway Ben Fong-Torres already wrote a book about 'im (Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons, highly recommended).
After leaving The Byrds, with whom he recorded just a single perfect album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Parsons formed the Burritos with ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and other compatriots. Though the Burritos have released many records since their inception, the only ones that Gram appears on are the first two, both of which appear here in their entirety (the "Train Song" single is also included here, making Sin City more complete than the other best-of comp, Farther Along). While the second Burritos album was in progress, Parsons starting hanging with Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, who let him record the stunning version of "Wild Horses" found here. He drifted away from the band (or was asked to leave). In 1971 and '72 he released the two flawless solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel, that sealed his reputation as legend. By 1973 he was dead.
The two Burrito Brothers albums, then, are essential to any Parsons fan's collection, as well as fans of country rock, and "No Depression"-style alt.country in general. The combination of catchy melodies, rollicking good humor, joyous twang, and solid rock backbone make these records essential listening. Get this now!
RealAudio clip: "Sin City"
RealAudio clip: "Christine's Tune"
RealAudio clip: "Wild Horses"

FLYING LIZARDS, THE s/t (Microwerks) cd 12.98
Wow, we kind of forgot what a weird and wonderful record this is. We've always had a place for the Flying Lizards in our hearts, but their blaise post-punk dub covers of fifties and sixties songs always seemed to outshine their other interesting qualities. Led by avant-composer David Cunningham, with the help of David Toop, Vivien Goldman, Steve Beresford and the flat vocal delivery of Deborah Evans, The Flying Lizards got their break when Virgin released their first single in 1979, a purposely skewed and dispassionate version of Eddie Cohran's "Summertime Blues" and it became a minor hit. But it was their second single and more enduring cover of Barret Strong's "Money" with its clanging prepared piano and trap percussion that got them on the charts and signed for a full album deal. That song gets a little overplayed these days, but the long version has one of the best extended dub breakdowns of the period that just doesn't get played enough. But besides the two covers and the channeling of Dagmar Krause (Slapp Happy, Henry Cow, The Art Bears) in the goofy cover of Kurt Weil's "Der Song Von Mandelay" that opens the record, lies a much stranger record. Sure there is the punk disco of "Her Story", "TV" and the danceable experimentation of "Russia". But there also is the triptych of minimalist dub experiments in the tracks "Flood" "Trouble" and "Events During Flood" that take the record to a much darker place. Culminating with Vivien Goldman's hushed and strange "The Window", proving that although the band was a one hit wonder, they were no one trick pony. This reissue doesn't contain the bonus tracks of previous reissues, but does include the single edit of "Money". Here's hoping Microwerks will reissue their other two records, Fourth Wall and Top Ten as well! Great stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Money "
MPEG Stream: "Her Story"
MPEG Stream: "Russia"
MPEG Stream: "Events During Flood"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS Destroy All Music Revisited (Skin Graft) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Reissued Weasel Walter classic.

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS Trauma (ugExplode) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Trauma finds long time no wave free jazz attackers the Flying Luttenbachers doing their usual brutal best to channel the spirits of Brotzmann and Ayler and Takayanagi and the like. It's primal stuff originally recorded in 2001, newly reissued on cd for those that missed it the first time, and want a taste of that intensely improv Luttenbachers phase (before their more recent forays into tech guitar mutant metal prog scifi spasms). On this disc, squealing saxophone and rumbling bass vie with the frenzied percussive pummel of bandleader Weasel Walter, the whole screaming machinegunning shebang never really letting up (the eleven tracks on this nearly 70 minute disc are aptly titled "Trauma 1" through "Trauma 11").
Go to YouTube to watch this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PU4pVVM5wb4) brilliant video for a track from Trauma, depicting panic in the streets and the nightmarish effects of multiple nuclear blasts, for which the Luttenbacher's freeform blasting is the perfect soundtrack. The images, so scary in the '80s (they're all edited together from the TV movie The Day After, remember that?) hilariously, horrifically fit the music and vice versa. No more need be said by us, that should do the trick.
MPEG Stream: "Trauma 1"
MPEG Stream: "Trauma 2"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE ...The Truth Is A Fucking Lie... (Skin Graft) 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 notorious Weasel Walter and co. return with their seventh album of Chicago death-jazz spazz. This album features two almost diameterically opposed covers: "De Futura" by French prog giants Magma and "Black Perversion" by sub-cult black metal band Havohej, both fitting in nicely along with the Flying Luttenbachers' usual skree. Instrumentation on this disc includes mellotron, cello (played by Fred Lonberg-Holm) and 'abyssic guitar', in addition to the more ordindary drums, bass, saxophone, etc.

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Cataclysm (ugExplode) cd 13.98
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Holy crap. This is the Luttenbachers' fourteenth (we think) album release, the follow-up to 2004's The Void. Their instrumental insanity features as always drummer extraordinare Weasel Walter (Lake Of Dracula/Hatewave), this time assisted by these three equally high-level technicians: on guitars Ed Rodriguez (Gorge Trio/Colossamite/Iceburn) and Mick Barr (Ocrilim/Octis/Orthrelm/Crom Tech), and on bass Mike Green (Burmese). Together they're an unstoppable frenzied skronk attack, pulling stop-start ADD fretboard and percussive maneuvers off in their own blackened jazz sci-fi galaxy... It's like (heck, it is) metallic mathrockers practicing their scales, ensemble style, amidst a barrage of ominous dirge. The appropriate response at the end of each piece can only be "Whew!". If you haven't heard the Luttenbachers before (or only their earlier material with jazz horns and not so much electric guitar), but do like Mick Barr's various bands, you will like this -- Barr fans needn't hesitate!!
The song titles are ever so appropriate: "Demonic Velocities", "Insektoid Horror", "The Elimination Of Incompetence"... They are masters of their realm, that's for sure. And their special brand of heaviness is one that can go from a punishing rocker like "Interstellar War" into the relative calm and beauty of "Movement Four Of L'Ascension" (yes, an Olivier Messiaen cover).
By the way, despite the lack of lyrics, this is a concept album, just like their last few releases. Have you been following along, and learning the future fate of the Earth? No? Well don't say they didn't warn you...
MPEG Stream: "The Elimination Of Incompetence"
RealAudio clip: "Interstellar War"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Destroy All Music (Skin Graft) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now-on-cd reissue of vinyl from a few years back, this Chicago no-wave jazz improv combo makes an unholy racket worthy of their death/black metal heroes, but different. Featuring drummer Weasel Walter and reedsman Ken Vandermark (who replaced original Luttenbacher Hal Russell).

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Destructo Noise Explosion! Live At WNUR 2-6-92 (ugExplode) cd 12.98
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FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Gods of Chaos (Skin Graft) cd 13.98
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New one from the Chicago jazz-grind band that used to boast reedsmen Hal Russell and Ken Vandermark in their ranks, slimmed down to a trio led by drummer Weasel Walter (also of Lake of Dracula and Hatewave). They kind of go for a no-wave meets black metal image, and are probably equally influenced by the music of Albert Ayler and Norway's Immortal...

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Incarceration By Abstraction cd 12.98
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FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Infection And Decline (Troubleman Unlimited / UG Explode) cd 10.98
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The umpteenth (tenth, actually) long player from Weasel Walter's constantly mutating free jazz / black metal / no wave / prog monster. "Infection And Decline" is the first recording to document the latest incarnation of the now-stripped down trio featuring bassists Jonathan Hischke and Alex Perkolup. That's right: bass, bass and drums. Nothing else. Six dense, blistering tracks of sonic destructo-insanity -- including the massive sixteen minute version of the Luttenbachers' live staple, Magma's "De Futura". (It's a different version than on their "Truth Is A Fucking Lie" album, with the new lineup, natch). Sick.
RealAudio clip: "De Futura"
RealAudio clip: "The Elimination Of Incompetence"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Infection And Decline (Troubleman Unlimited / UG Explode) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The umpteenth (tenth, actually) long player from Weasel Walter's constantly mutating free jazz / black metal / no wave / prog monster. "Infection And Decline" is the first recording to document the latest incarnation of the now-stripped down trio featuring bassists Jonathan Hischke and Alex Perkolup. That's right: bass, bass and drums. Nothing else. Six dense, blistering tracks of sonic destructo-insanity -- including the massive sixteen minute version of the Luttenbachers' live staple, Magma's "De Futura". (It's a different version than on their "Truth Is A Fucking Lie" album, with the new lineup, natch). Sick.

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Systems Emerge From Complete Disorder (Trouble Man Unlimited) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More instro-avant-jazz-metal mayhem from recent Chicago-to-San Francisco transplant Weasel Walter & Co. Except, there's no Co. on this album, it's just the Wease. The concept here (we're told) is that the record is about "a horrible planetoid being [who] configures itself from atomic chaos". Cool. It's noisy, fusiony, and no-wavey. 45 minutes of this is either gonna be sheer punishment or pleasure, you probably already know where you stand on that. We're impressed, regardless. Especially by the 20 minute finale "Rise Of The Iridescent Behemoth"! Weasel works hard at this stuff and succeeds. Nerdy noisy prog rock for punks.
MPEG Stream: "Kkringg Beyond Nggggg"
MPEG Stream: "Thorned Lattice"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE Systems Emerge From Complete Disorder (Trouble Man Unlimited) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More instro-avant-jazz-metal mayhem from recent Chicago-to-San Francisco transplant Weasel Walter & Co. Except, there's no Co. on this album, it's just the Wease. The concept here (we're told) is that the record is about "a horrible planetoid being [who] configures itself from atomic chaos". Cool. It's noisy, fusiony, and no-wavey. 45 minutes of this is either gonna be sheer punishment or pleasure, you probably already know where you stand on that. We're impressed, regardless. Especially by the 20 minute finale "Rise Of The Iridescent Behemoth"! Weasel works hard at this stuff and succeeds. Nerdy noisy prog rock for punks.
MPEG Stream: "Kkringg Beyond Nggggg"
MPEG Stream: "Thorned Lattice"

FLYING LUTTENBACHERS, THE The Void (Troubleman / ugEXPLODE) cd 12.98
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As the Luttenbachers fly on and on into the void, they just get more and more metal, don't they? Now a Bay Area based trio (including one of the Mikes from Burmese on bass), they offer up their thirteenth album! This latest episode of Flying Luttenbacher insanity features nine tracks of feedback-filled, drum-blasting, chaotically complexified, metallic skree that can't be topped by almost anyone in the known universe -- heck parts of this even remind us a bit of Keiji Haino's Fushitsusha, which is a comparison we don't make too often. The Void is an all-instrumental tour-de-force that believe it or not could be the missing link between black metal and no-wave, surely band leader Weasel Walter's life's work. Track after track, each cut here builds and builds without much in the way of release, racheting tension to head-bursting levels. Judging from comments in the liner notes, perhaps this is Weasel's howling response to the Republican take-over of the United States. In any event, it's a serious dose of heavy, frenzied, jazz-damaged, post-rock, post-metal, mathy mayhem!
MPEG Stream: "The Void Part Five"
MPEG Stream: "Sword Of Atheism"

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Chorus (Drag City) cd 12.98
From the liner notes: "This album brings together some tracks originally used for our John Peel session, the Planet Records single and for our contribution to the Speed Kills compilation EP... These tracks make up an ongoing album idea begun before Further and finished some time after that LP. We hope they now make sense as a whole. This album marks the end of FSA phase one... When we return with phase two -- who knows where the wind blows..."

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Chorus (Drag City) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the liner notes: "This album brings together some tracks originally used for our John Peel session, the Planet Records single and for our contribution to the Speed Kills compilation EP... These tracks make up an ongoing album idea begun before Further and finished some time after that LP. We hope they now make sense as a whole. This album marks the end of FSA phase one... When we return with phase two -- who knows where the wind blows..."

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Further (Drag City) cd 14.98

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Mirror (Drag City) cd 14.98
When Third Eye Foundation first experimented with fusing drum & bass beats with guitar dissonance, it stood as the awkward realization of what one might imagine My Bloody Valentine's (as yet undocumented) drum & bass sound to be...
While Third Eye Foundation's sound has since developed into gritty drum & bass dirges, fellow Bristol space rockers Flying Saucer Attack have also taken up the drum & bass / bliss rock challenge, with a rather groovy yet wholly blissed-out result. While half the tracks from "Mirror" are injected with the hyperactive speed of jungle breaks, their breathy Nick Drake style pastoral folk songs are remain, and of course "Mirror" is still laden with sleepy guitar fuzz. Complete with colorful, psychedelic cover and gatefold art by Savage Pencil.

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Mirror (Drag City) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
When Third Eye Foundation first experimented with fusing drum & bass beats with guitar dissonance, it stood as the awkward realization of what one might imagine My Bloody Valentine's (as yet undocumented) drum & bass sound to be...
While Third Eye Foundation's sound has since developed into gritty drum & bass dirges, fellow Bristol space rockers Flying Saucer Attack have also taken up the drum & bass / bliss rock challenge, with a rather groovy yet wholly blissed-out result. While half the tracks from "Mirror" are injected with the hyperactive speed of jungle breaks, their breathy Nick Drake style pastoral folk songs are remain, and of course "Mirror" is still laden with sleepy guitar fuzz. Complete with colorful, psychedelic cover and gatefold art by Savage Pencil.

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK New Lands (Drag City) cd 14.98
While many of rock's deconstructionists have found themselves at the dead end of ambient, Flying Saucer Attack have veered from such a trajectory by reclaiming the "rural psychedelia" that made their first album so stunning. Big Phil Spector reverb drums demarcate the feedback that at times sound like the new Dead C album Tusk though from a less abject & more isolationist sensibility... Their best record in god knows how long.

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK New Lands (Drag City) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While many of rock's deconstructionists have found themselves at the dead end of ambient, Flying Saucer Attack have veered from such a trajectory by reclaiming the "rural psychedelia" that made their first album so stunning. Big Phil Spector reverb drums demarcate the feedback that at times sound like the new Dead C album Tusk though from a less abject & more isolationist sensibility... Their best record in god knows how long.

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK s/t (VHF) cd 13.98
Classic first full length recording.

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Sally Free and Easy (Drag City) cdep 7.98

FLYNT, HENRY & C.C. HENNIX Dharma / Warriors (Locust) cd 14.98
The well of Henry Flynt music never seems to dry up. Here, billed as Dharma Warriors, Flynt collaborates with C.C. Hennix on drums on two long guitar pieces recorded to boombox in Woodstock in 1983. Like a stripped down minimalist boogie version of Rhys Chatham or Glenn Branca, Flynt brings a lo-fi backwoods zen vibe to his raw and earthy modal jamming of repetitive riffs and fuzzy chords, while Hennix ties it together with his clattering scattershot drumming. Celestial indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Warriors of The Dharma"
MPEG Stream: "Mount Fuji On My Mind"

FLYNT, HENRY & NOVA'BILLY Nova' Billy (Locust) cd 14.98
Out of all the various iterations of Henry Flynt's huge and wildly varied recorded output, we weren't sure what to expect with this release, the previously unreleased 1975 recording of Flynt's avant-punk hillbilly boogie outfit Nova'Billy. Wildly ecstatic and rhythmic, full of left-field honky-tonk idioms but never wonky, Nova'Billy is probably one of Flynt's most joyously rocking outings that we've heard. Different than the Velvet's-by-way-of-the-Fugs recordings of his early band incarnation, The Insurrections, Nova' Billy is tighter and much better produced. Flynt's singing is minimal but well-used and less grating than we've heard on other recordings. His vocal delivery on "I Was A Creep" is more like the Rev. Fred Lane than the Jandek-style realms it can sometimes enter on releases like Raga Electric. A fine reissue and one that should live towards the top of Flynt's surprisingly massive discography!
MPEG Stream: "Conga"
MPEG Stream: "Amphetamine Rhapsody"
MPEG Stream: "I Was A Creep"
MPEG Stream: "Double Spindizzy"

FLYNT, HENRY & THE INSURECTIONS I Don't Wanna (Bo Weevil) lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Available on lp (but very limited!!)
Wow. It's strange, after never having ever heard of this guy before like, 2 years ago, now I've practically got a whole shelf full of Henry Flynt cds -- all terrific stuff recorded at least two decades back, but only recently seeing the light of day. And they keep coming. This new one dates from way back in 1966, and is billed as a youthful Flynt's NYC art-punk garage rock band. That made us a little apprehensive (we've never really been Fugs fans, and that's what we thought it might sound like), but actually this turned out to be totally amazing! Most of the other Flynt recordings that have come out feature his violin playing, in a kind of '60s minimalism meets Appalachian folk style. But with The Insurrections (with Walter de Maria on drums, later famous for his Lightning Field scupture in the New Mexican desert) Flynt plays guitar instead of fiddle. It's weird country bluesy drone protest rock as only an academic hillbilly Fluxus artist could conceive. The Velvets meet a jug band at an acid test? Not quite, but close. No mere historical document, this is revelatory stuff, not sounding thirty years old but timeless instead. And the recording quality of this rehearsal tape is more than adequate. Somewhere betwixt hoedown and raga, these nine tracks represent a divergent strain of beat music not commonly associated with 1966 (though, that was the year of Black Monk Time, which this doesn't sound like, though you can imagine Flynt woulda liked that Monks LP, and for sure he shared their opinion of Uncle Sam). Again, a dusty tape from the vaults that puts today's crop of avant-blues-improv shitkickers to shame, whoever they are. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Go Down"
MPEG Stream: "Dreams Away"

FNS s/t (Miasmah) cd 15.98
Another fantastic Miasmah release, this one from FNS, aka Fredrik Ness Sandoval, who besides playing in a whole bunch of Norwegian bands we've never heard of, has collaborated with members of Acid Mothers Temple, 1/3 Octave Band, the Cranes, Zeni Geva, and Marble Sheep, but here on his solo debut, Sandoval crafts a gorgeous expanse of minimal psychedelic folk, that reminds us both of local dronefolk duo Barn Owl, but also space kraut astral travelers Expo 70.
Imagine folk music transformed into druggy drifty dreamy space ragas, and you'll be getting close, acoustic guitars unfurl gorgeous trancelike stretches of almost Appalachia like strum, while all around, effects swirl, other guitars are layered and woven into the original guitar, creating fantastical stretches of psychedelic drift, of abstract dronekraut minimalism, all infused with a subtle pathos, even the sunshiniest of the tracks here, brood with a somber undercurrent. The record opener sets the stage perfectly, an acoustic guitars strums a melancholy chord progression, while another guitar churns and chugs, a rhythmic counterpoint to the woozy drift of the acoustic, this undulating space raga is laced with tinkling chimes, swooping backwards effects, all wreathed in a sort of otherworldly shimmer, and allowed to loop and repeat and mesmerize, growing subtly more intense and loud, but never fully letting loose, instead, eventually shedding all the extra guitars and strange production, leaving just the warm strummed acoustic, and little streaks of backwards swoop. We say it a lot, but Sandoval could have stretched that out to 40 or 50 minutes and we'd STILL be raving about it. And that applies to all the tracks here.
"Sappelur" is a smoldering blackened dirge, roiling clouds of processed buzz, muted feedback, lots of layered tones and lush chordal blur, a lovely blown out psychedelic haze that just throbs and pulses and drifts, right into "Wooden Leg", which returns to the folk of the album opener, but unlike that track, the progression here is much more subtle, it's nearly 2 or 3 minutes before a strange drone begins to surface, along with gorgeous angelic female vocals, soon male vocals join in as well, not singing so much as sort of crooning along, the result is a darker, more menacing take on classic seventies British acid folk.
"I Think She's Asleep" is more abstract, a gorgeous shimmery dreamscape, all layered tones, and pulled apart melodies, haunting and otherwordly, hushed and lovely, very reminiscent of folks like Machinefabriek and Jasper TX. "Dream" is surprisingly less dreamy, sounding instead like some strange sonic ritual, spidery guitars wrapped around twisted damaged electronics, while the vocals transform the sound into something almost liturgical, lots of reverb and echo, as if it were being performed in some massive black cathedral, the effects swirling and swooping, and pushing the sound into the realms of spacekrautdrone for sure.
Finally, the record closes with the epic 12 minute "Flaggermusvingers Vift I Dimmet", which again begins as a slowly unfurling lush sprawl of melancholy Appalachia, all minor key and mournful, while just below the surface, some thick blackened buzzing is birthed, and as the track progresses, it grows more and more caustic, roiling and churning, eventually nearly swallowing the Appalachia whole, transforming the sound into some washed out doomgaze, all woozy and swirly, the low end swells laced with tangled psychedelic melodies, before dropping out completely, leaving just a soft focus cloud of distant reverbed shimmer, a distant cosmic vibration, that seems to gradually fade, like the stars disappearing behind the clouds.
Dark and dreamy and druggy and so so gorgeous... For fans of Expo 70, Svarte Greiner, Barn Owl, Jacaszek, Nadja, Jasper TX, Machinefabriek, Fear Falls Burning and other purveyors of doomfolk, krautdrone, spacefolk and all sorts of abstract minimal guitarscapery...
MPEG Stream: "Silence To Say Hello"
MPEG Stream: "Flaggermusvingers Vift I Dimmet"
MPEG Stream: "Dream"
MPEG Stream: "I Think She's Asleep"

FNS s/t (Miasmah) lp 19.98
Another fantastic Miasmah release, this one from FNS, aka Fredrik Ness Sandoval, who besides playing in a whole bunch of Norwegian bands we've never heard of, has collaborated with members of Acid Mothers Temple, 1/3 Octave Band, the Cranes, Zeni Geva, and Marble Sheep, but here on his solo debut, Sandoval crafts a gorgeous expanse of minimal psychedelic folk, that reminds us both of local dronefolk duo Barn Owl, but also space kraut astral travelers Expo 70.
Imagine folk music transformed into druggy drifty dreamy space ragas, and you'll be getting close, acoustic guitars unfurl gorgeous trancelike stretches of almost Appalachia like strum, while all around, effects swirl, other guitars are layered and woven into the original guitar, creating fantastical stretches of psychedelic drift, of abstract dronekraut minimalism, all infused with a subtle pathos, even the sunshiniest of the tracks here, brood with a somber undercurrent. The record opener sets the stage perfectly, an acoustic guitars strums a melancholy chord progression, while another guitar churns and chugs, a rhythmic counterpoint to the woozy drift of the acoustic, this undulating space raga is laced with tinkling chimes, swooping backwards effects, all wreathed in a sort of otherworldly shimmer, and allowed to loop and repeat and mesmerize, growing subtly more intense and loud, but never fully letting loose, instead, eventually shedding all the extra guitars and strange production, leaving just the warm strummed acoustic, and little streaks of backwards swoop. We say it a lot, but Sandoval could have stretched that out to 40 or 50 minutes and we'd STILL be raving about it. And that applies to all the tracks here.
"Sappelur" is a smoldering blackened dirge, roiling clouds of processed buzz, muted feedback, lots of layered tones and lush chordal blur, a lovely blown out psychedelic haze that just throbs and pulses and drifts, right into "Wooden Leg", which returns to the folk of the album opener, but unlike that track, the progression here is much more subtle, it's nearly 2 or 3 minutes before a strange drone begins to surface, along with gorgeous angelic female vocals, soon male vocals join in as well, not singing so much as sort of crooning along, the result is a darker, more menacing take on classic seventies British acid folk.
"I Think She's Asleep" is more abstract, a gorgeous shimmery dreamscape, all layered tones, and pulled apart melodies, haunting and otherwordly, hushed and lovely, very reminiscent of folks like Machinefabriek and Jasper TX. "Dream" is surprisingly less dreamy, sounding instead like some strange sonic ritual, spidery guitars wrapped around twisted damaged electronics, while the vocals transform the sound into something almost liturgical, lots of reverb and echo, as if it were being performed in some massive black cathedral, the effects swirling and swooping, and pushing the sound into the realms of spacekrautdrone for sure.
Finally, the record closes with the epic 12 minute "Flaggermusvingers Vift I Dimmet", which again begins as a slowly unfurling lush sprawl of melancholy Appalachia, all minor key and mournful, while just below the surface, some thick blackened buzzing is birthed, and as the track progresses, it grows more and more caustic, roiling and churning, eventually nearly swallowing the Appalachia whole, transforming the sound into some washed out doomgaze, all woozy and swirly, the low end swells laced with tangled psychedelic melodies, before dropping out completely, leaving just a soft focus cloud of distant reverbed shimmer, a distant cosmic vibration, that seems to gradually fade, like the stars disappearing behind the clouds.
Dark and dreamy and druggy and so so gorgeous... For fans of Expo 70, Svarte Greiner, Barn Owl, Jacaszek, Nadja, Jasper TX, Machinefabriek, Fear Falls Burning and other purveyors of doomfolk, krautdrone, spacefolk and all sorts of abstract minimal guitarscapery...
MPEG Stream: "Silence To Say Hello"
MPEG Stream: "Flaggermusvingers Vift I Dimmet"
MPEG Stream: "Dream"
MPEG Stream: "I Think She's Asleep"

FOEHN Hidden Camera Soundtrack (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
With the third album from Bristol's Foehn, Fat Cat introduces their Splinter series and make another reason to delay releasing those cool split singles. Foehn's aesthetic has solidified into sound-noir, if you will, where dark passages of everyday ambience twist into 28 short cuts of ploddingly slow instrumental filmic jazz riffs. Not far from Barry Adamson in scope though far less narrative.

FOEHN Silent Light (Swarffinger Records UK) cd 16.98
Deb from Foehn had worked from time to time with Third Eye Foundation, providing some extra murk to the gritty drum & bass dirges, but has since moved on to release work on her own. "Silent Light" is her second full album, collecting 21 fragments of theatrical murkiness. As a whole the album is devoid of any structural coherency, but maintains a noirish similarity to Andrea Parker or Barry Adamson. It's the aural equivalent of being trapped in a maze of darkened alleys wandering past nearly broken boom boxes emiting squelches and fragments of Adamson or Parker,

FOETUS Love (Birdman) cd + dvd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Releasing his music under such names as Foetus, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, Foetus Interruptus,
Foetus Under Glass and perhaps the best one, You've Got Foetus On Your Breath, J. G. Thirlwell has proven himself to be one hell of a monstrous musical dynamo. Over a quarter century, with little or no fanfare, he's consistently and methodically laid his contemporaries to waste. This is his latest full length, titled Love. The visual simplicity of this, another of his trademark four-letter word album titles, stands in complete contrast to the unbelievably complex, wildly imaginative compositions contained within, however as is usually the case the chosen word (Nail, Blow, Gash, Flow, Hole to name a few others) can be interpreted and defined in oh so many many ways. Love is no exception. Often lazily compared to the likes of Skinny Puppy or Nine Inch Nails, let it be known, Foetus is another beast entirely. Thirlwell nails the soundtracks for your most terrifying, twisted dreams and beautiful, perverse nightmares effortlessly in the form of thunderously bombastic orchestrations. Epic.
Includes a dvd with early live footage, three videos one of which was directed by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, and some trailers for Adult Swim's Venture Bros TV show for which Thirlwell composed the theme song.
MPEG Stream: "Aladdin Reverse"
MPEG Stream: "Thrush"