FANTOMAS s/t (Ipecac) cd 17.98
The debut album from both Mike Patton's new band and new label. Vocalist and big time Zorn-o-phile Patton (of Mr. Bungle/Faith No More fame) has assembled a "supergroup" of sorts, featuring ex-Slayer drum god Dave Lombardo, Bungle's Trevor Dunn on bass and Melvins guitarist Buzz Osbourne. Together they make quite a racket in a nowave improv skree kinda mode. Is this a tribute to Japan's spastictastic Melt-Banana or a blatant rip-off? You decide... Actually, that's a little harsh. But lots of "regular" folks are going to hear this 'cause of the names involved and not realise the obvious inspiration, and credit should go where credit is due...

FANTOMAS Suspended Animation (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Animated, yes. Suspended, no -- except for the listener's disbelief, perhaps. Sheer carnivalesque carnage here, folks, just like you expect from these guys. After the relatively calm, droned-out ambience of their epic Delerium Cordia album from last year, for this release Fantomas now take us back to the Naked City/Melt-Banana inspired short sharp shock style they delivered on their self-titled debut in '99. There's 30 (!!!) tracks here, each one a violently freaked out, spastic collision of metal, electronics, cartoon music and avant-garde composition that likey adds another unexpected sonic ingredient to the mix. Utterly dizzying and complex, executed by pros. Seriously, you couldn't think of four guys more well-suited to the task: Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo, Buzz Osbourne and Trevor Dunn (past and present members of such notable noise-makers as Mr. Bungle, Melvins, Slayer, and Faith No More, as we're sure you're aware). I mean, they could have added John Zorn or Eye Yamataka or Brian Chippendale to the line-up but it would hardly be necessary, these four already have this stuff DOWN. And the brief Osbourne/Patton vocal duet in track ten is a special thrill. We're at a loss to provide much more in the way of description, it's something you just need to experience for yourself, if you're up for it. Definitely if you're into the genre of music that is ALL genres rolled into one, the Attention Defecit Disorder frenzies of Suspended Animation will provide utmost entertainment. And for the moment, we have the version of this that, for some reason we don't know but won't question, comes in limited-edition packaging incorporating a spiral-bound April 2004 calendar designed and illustrated by hip Japanese artist Yoshitmo Nara. Pretty cool! Too bad April is just about over. But it's not like you were gonna use it as a dayplanner anyway, just admire it for the art.
MPEG Stream: "04/09/05 Saturday"
MPEG Stream: "04/13/05 Wednesday"
MPEG Stream: "04/21/05 Thursday"

FANTOMAS The Director's Cut (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Bay Area supergroup comprised of Mike Patton (Mr Bungle, Faith No More), Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Buzz Osbourne (Melvins), and Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle, various avant jazz outfits). On this, their second album, they pay tribute to the film scores they've long fetishized. I admit it: I'm a soundtrack collector too; it's so *easy* to fetishize tangible artifacts from films you love so much. And these boys've got good taste: Henry Mancini (Experiment in Terror, Charade), Nino Rota (The Godfather), Bernard Herrmann (Cape Fear), John Barry (Vendetta), Ennio Morricone (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion), Christopher Komeda (Rosemary's Baby), etc etc.
While the band manages to leave some of the flavor of each original piece intact, their objective seems to have been to sort of Bungle-ize each track (you know, lots of Patton screaming, overwhelming drama and sinister atmospheres), although a nod should definitely go to Lombardo, who uses lots of flavorful percussison -- woodblocks, chimes, bells, clicks, clocks and clacks -- that enhances the "period" tone of several of the pieces. It's a fine record (heck, it's the only worthy Morricone cover I've ever heard), just be aware that in order to get *into* this record, it's more important that you're into the signature Patton/Bungle manic sound than being familiar with the films or the soundtracks themselves.
RealAudio clip: "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Morricone)"
RealAudio clip: "Rosemary's Baby (Komeda)"

FANTOMAS / MELT BANANA split (Unhip) 3" square shaped cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This most definitely has to be the shortest cd we've ever reviewed. And also the smallest. A tiny little two inches by two inches, square shaped cd, clocking in at a whopping two minutes and forty three seconds. Pretty ideal actually for this particular two band, two song match up. Mike Patton and his Fantomas group give us a 44 second Melt-Banana-ish, burst of cartoonish, buzzy, chaotic, short attention span cinematic grind, a brief flurry of staccato downtuned guitar chug and blasts of bizarre vocalization. Melt-Banana go all out timewise with almost two whole minutes of that squeaky, grind pop madness that is so immediately and recognizably Melt Banana. A confusional swirl of MB's usual mind melting ultra complex brutality, with a more than usual bit of melody and harmony intertwined with MB's impossibly dense and serpentine song structures, all chirped indecipherable vocals and rapid fire punk splatter. Short but sweet! Comes in a cool little cardboard sleeve with a tiny full color card affixed to each side.
SUPER LIMITED!! We got a handful of these, not entirely sure we can get more, so once these are gone there's a god chance we'll never be able to get more.
MPEG Stream: "Animali In Calore Surriscaldati Con Ipertermia Genitale"
MPEG Stream: "Cat In Red"

FANTOMAS / MELT BANANA split (Unhip) 5" record 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This most definitely has to be the shortest piece of vinyl we've ever reviewed. And quite possibley the smallest. A tiny little 5" chunk of vinyl, heck 2 inches smaller than a 7"!!, and clocking in at a whopping two minutes and forty three seconds. Pretty ideal actually for this particular two band, two song match up. Mike Patton and his Fantomas group give us a 44 second Melt-Banana-ish, burst of cartoonish, buzzy, chaotic, short attention span cinematic grind, a brief flurry of staccato downtuned guitar chug and blasts of bizarre vocalization. Melt-Banana go all out timewise with almost two whole minutes of that squeaky, grind pop madness that is so immediately and recognizably Melt Banana. A confusional swirl of MB's usual mind melting ultra complex brutality, with a more than usual bit of melody and harmony intertwined with MB's impossibly dense and serpentine song structures, all chirped indecipherable vocals and rapid fire punk splatter. Short but sweet! Comes in a cool little cardboard sleeve with a tiny full color card affixed to each side.
SUPER LIMITED!! We got a tiny handful of the vinyl, not entirely sure we can get more, so once these are gone there's a god chance we'll never be able to get more.
MPEG Stream: "Animali In Calore Surriscaldati Con Ipertermia Genitale"
MPEG Stream: "Cat In Red"

FAR BLACK FURLONG s/t (ICR) cd 17.98
Far Black Furlong is a Welsh ensemble of mystical folk minstrels, whose work straddles the realms of apocalyptic British folk (i.e. Current 93, Comus, the Wicker Man soundtrack, etc.) and the nocturnal, loosely sewn psychedelia of Fursaxa and the Blithe Sons. Their sound would be expected as Far Black Furlong's Richard Moult has previously collaborated with David Tibet and with their preceding album of narcotic folk tunes landing on the exceptional Barl Fire cd-r imprint. With this album, they've received the nod from Colin Potter, who has released this through his exceptional ICR label alongside the likes of Nurse With Wound, Ora, Monos, Jonathan Coleclough, etc. Here, oboes, flutes, ducilmers, and drifting guitar picking spiral around field recordings of twittering finches and the ominous crash of the ocean. Much of the melodic ambience through instrumental arrangements are the product of Far Black Furlong performing in the Welsh forests and barley fields during the long summer nights. Beautiful, shimmering, atmospheric, and maudlin.
MPEG Stream: "Three"
MPEG Stream: "Four"
MPEG Stream: "Six"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND "The Cave" Down To Earth (Phoenix) cd 17.98
They've done the FEFB's 2nd album Nipponjin, and 3rd album Parallel World, not to mention the sole record from pre-FEFB incarnation Far Out, so it's about time Phoenix also reissued the 1975 debut from these Japanese '70s space rock masters, led by the lost-worlds-obsessed Fumio Miyashita. In the Julian Cope Japrocksampler pantheon, this one ranks 41 out of 50, not quite as high as some of those others, but still in the thick of it. This debut demonstrates that even before Klaus Schulze took them under his wing as producer, they were doing just fine at making quite "kosmische" psych-synth symphonies all on their own. If you have any of the other FEFB related stuff you know what to expect!
Moogs and Mellotrons galore, in a more krautrock-than-thou Japanese heavy hippy blissout, melodic and meditative and massive, with much ritualistic-sounding vocal drama. Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues were other major Western influences, but the FAR EAST Family Band never let you forget that's where they're from. Some of the tracks here were afterwards radically re-mixed/re-recorded for Nipponjin (originally a Germany-only release, produced by Schulze) but not all of 'em.
The compact disc version comes in one of those cardboard "wallet" style digipacks, this one is especially cool though due to the die cutting of the front and back covers, through which you can see the clouds-and-sunset photos on the cd booklet, a nice touch! The vinyl version has the die cut covers too, presumably replicating the design of the original lp.
MPEG Stream: "Birds Flying To The Cave Down To The Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Wa, Wa"
MPEG Stream: "Saying To The Land"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND "The Cave" Down To Earth (Phoenix) lp 24.00
They've done the FEFB's 2nd album Nipponjin, and 3rd album Parallel World, not to mention the sole record from pre-FEFB incarnation Far Out, so it's about time Phoenix also reissued the 1975 debut from these Japanese '70s space rock masters, led by the lost-worlds-obsessed Fumio Miyashita. In the Julian Cope Japrocksampler pantheon, this one ranks 41 out of 50, not quite as high as some of those others, but still in the thick of it. This debut demonstrates that even before Klaus Schulze took them under his wing as producer, they were doing just fine at making quite "kosmische" psych-synth symphonies all on their own. If you have any of the other FEFB related stuff you know what to expect! Moogs and Mellotrons galore, in a more krautrock-than-thou Japanese heavy hippy blissout, melodic and meditative and massive, with much ritualistic-sounding vocal drama. Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues were other major Western influences, but the FAR EAST Family Band never let you forget that's where they're from. Some of the tracks here were afterwards radically re-mixed/re-recorded for Nipponjin (originally a Germany-only release, produced by Schulze) but not all of 'em.
The compact disc version comes in one of those cardboard "wallet" style digipacks, this one is especially cool though due to the die cutting of the front and back covers, through which you can see the clouds-and-sunset photos on the cd booklet, a nice touch! The vinyl version has the die cut covers too, presumably replicating the design of the original lp.
MPEG Stream: "Birds Flying To The Cave Down To The Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Wa, Wa"
MPEG Stream: "Saying To The Land"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Nipponjin (Phoenix) cd 17.98
The subtitle here, or perhaps it's their slogan, is "Join Our Mental Phase Sound". It's a good slogan, whatever it means, and if you wonder what "Mental Phase Sound" is, all you have to do is listen. Total Pink Floydian, Tangerine Dreamy synthesizer laden space travel from Japanese hippies with krautrock connections! The Far East Family Band, as their name definitely implies, was a '70s hippie Japanese psych/prog outfit, forerunners of the likes of Acid Mothers Temple. Once known as Far Out (they were!), they got even trippier in their Far East Family Band formation, which included future New Age artist Kitaro as a member. This album was their 2nd, originally released in 1975, and is a classic for sure (#14 in Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50). It was produced by krautrock legend Klaus Schulze by the way, for extra kosmische cred!!
Nipponjin is an electronic/organic/rock ritual, a symphonic ceremonial music, effortlessly fusing the spacey synths of the German krautrock scene with authentic Eastern mysticism in a way that probably made the European hippies jealous. Some tracks are propulsive, full of electronically effected drum beats, others more mellow and meditative, with the whooshing of synths... there's ethnic instrumental twang, heavy bluesy electric guitar noodling, stately rhythms, majestic vocal choirs, and it's all quite melodic too, making for memorable music that's a prog classic album for the ages, from Japan or anywhere else in the universe. Heck the side-long title track that opens the album qualifies all by itself.
This is the first time we've seen a non-Japanese-import (and thus non-ultra-expensive) cd reissue of this, so get it while you can. It's limited to 1000 numbered copies, packaged in a cardboard "wallet" sleeve like Phoenix did for Flower Travellin Band's Satori and other reissues.
MPEG Stream: "The Cave"
MPEG Stream: "Timeless"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Nipponjin (Phoenix) lp 24.00
This reissue is now available on vinyl!
The subtitle here, or perhaps it's their slogan, is "Join Our Mental Phase Sound". It's a good slogan, whatever it means, and if you wonder what "Mental Phase Sound" is, all you have to do is listen. Total Pink Floydian, Tangerine Dreamy synthesizer laden space travel from Japanese hippies with krautrock connections! The Far East Family Band, as their name definitely implies, was a '70s hippie Japanese psych/prog outfit, forerunners of the likes of Acid Mothers Temple. Once known as Far Out (they were!), they got even trippier in their Far East Family Band formation, which included future New Age artist Kitaro as a member. This album was their 2nd, originally released in 1975, and is a classic for sure (#14 in Julian Cope's Japrocksampler Top 50). It was produced by krautrock legend Klaus Schulze by the way, for extra kosmische cred!!
Nipponjin is an electronic/organic/rock ritual, a symphonic ceremonial music, effortlessly fusing the spacey synths of the German krautrock scene with authentic Eastern mysticism in a way that probably made the European hippies jealous. Some tracks are propulsive, full of electronically effected drum beats, others more mellow and meditative, with the whooshing of synths... there's ethnic instrumental twang, heavy bluesy electric guitar noodling, stately rhythms, majestic vocal choirs, and it's all quite melodic too, making for memorable music that's a prog classic album for the ages, from Japan or anywhere else in the universe. Heck the side-long title track that opens the album qualifies all by itself.
MPEG Stream: "The Cave"
MPEG Stream: "Timeless"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Parallel World (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Our '70s Japanese psychedelia section just keeps getting bigger and better, in part thanks to the UK reissue label Phoenix, who brought us Brast Burn last list, also recently Karuna Khyal, Far Out, and another Far East Family Band album, Nipponjin. That one was their second, from 1975, and if you liked it you'll like this, Parallel World being its 1976 follow up, boasting one of the most perfect cover paintings ever, showing the band sitting in a wooden boat, in space, flying through the colorful cosmos. (The guy with the headphones and shades is so cool!)
Once again produced by kosmiche electronics master Klaus Schulze (with Gunter Schickert as recording assistant), this proved to be the band's final album, but it's a fantastic one, that deserves honorary krautrock classic status even though the band are Japanese. It's certainly a space rock classic at any rate, beginning with "Metempsychosis", a trippy intro full of spooky synth squiggle and snip-snip-snip drumming that accelerates into a blissed out shimmer, a combo that they take to extended extremes on the next track, the 16 minutes of "Entering/Times", full of buzz and gurgle, propulsive rhythmic scatter-clatter, and grandiose prog moves... it sounds somewhere betwixt Acid Mothers Temple and Zombi, really!
Vocals make an appearance on "Kokoro", a mostly gentle, lovely sort of dreamy ballad, but one that also features some searing, soaring electric guitar action to bow down and worship. And THEN there's the title track, a suite, 30 minutes long! It's a doozy, encompassing funky wah guitars, thick synth fuzz, electronic tinkering tingling tinkling, even some dubbiness... At times it's urgently rhythmic, but that can give way to calm, spaced out drone, it's got parts that remind us of Can, parts that could be Funkadelic circa their most lysergic effort Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow, and parts that sound like Augustus Pablo. If every druggy hippy jam sounded like this, we'd be living in a Parallel World indeed!
Obligatory Japrocksampler chart position citation: Julian Cope put this at number FOUR in his top 50. We don't always agree with his rankings, but it's definitely worthy of being up there. And it's in Phoenix's usual "wallet" (whatever) packaging, limited to 1000 numbered copies.
MPEG Stream: "Kokoro"
MPEG Stream: "Parallel World"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Parallel World (Phoenix) lp 24.00
Now available on vinyl! (Gotta say, though, Phoenix coulda done a better job with the cover repro, looks kinda rough. Still, nice to have this classic on wax.)
Our '70s Japanese psychedelia section just keeps getting bigger and better, in part thanks to the UK reissue label Phoenix, who brought us Brast Burn last list, also recently Karuna Khyal, Far Out, and another Far East Family Band album, Nipponjin. That one was their second, from 1975, and if you liked it you'll like this, Parallel World being its 1976 follow up, boasting one of the most perfect cover paintings ever, showing the band sitting in a wooden boat, in space, flying through the colorful cosmos. (The guy with the headphones and shades is so cool!)
Once again produced by kosmiche electronics master Klaus Schulze (with Gunter Schickert as recording assistant), this proved to be the band's final album, but it's a fantastic one, that deserves honorary krautrock classic status even though the band are Japanese. It's certainly a space rock classic at any rate, beginning with "Metempsychosis", a trippy intro full of spooky synth squiggle and snip-snip-snip drumming that accelerates into a blissed out shimmer, a combo that they take to extended extremes on the next track, the 16 minutes of "Entering/Times", full of buzz and gurgle, propulsive rhythmic scatter-clatter, and grandiose prog moves... it sounds somewhere betwixt Acid Mothers Temple and Zombi, really!
Vocals make an appearance on "Kokoro", a mostly gentle, lovely sort of dreamy ballad, but one that also features some searing, soaring electric guitar action to bow down and worship. And THEN there's the title track, a suite, 30 minutes long! It's a doozy, encompassing funky wah guitars, thick synth fuzz, electronic tinkering tingling tinkling, even some dubbiness... At times it's urgently rhythmic, but that can give way to calm, spaced out drone, it's got parts that remind us of Can, parts that could be Funkadelic circa their most lysergic effort Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow, and parts that sound like Augustus Pablo. If every druggy hippy jam sounded like this, we'd be living in a Parallel World indeed!
Obligatory Japrocksampler chart position citation: Julian Cope put this at number FOUR in his top 50. We don't always agree with his rankings, but it's definitely worthy of being up there.
MPEG Stream: "Kokoro"
MPEG Stream: "Parallel World"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Tenkujin (Phoenix) cd 17.98
The wonderful flood of Japanese '70s psych rock reissues continues, something those folks who have yet to hear these previously hard-to-find gems (many "popularized" by megafan Julian Cope in his Japrocksampler book) can be quite glad of. The item under consideration here, a compact disc reissue of the final, 1977 release by hippie space travellers Far East Family Band, is another nifty one, though we'd probably recommend the other, earlier FEFB albums before this if you don't have those already. Fans looking to complete their collections, though, won't be disappointed - even though by this point keyboardist Kitaro had left the family / band (for eventual New Age stardom), on Tenkujin FEFB were still quite potent at making tripped out, synth-laden, New Age friendly psych. In other words still the kind of band where the same guy credited with operating a pile of synthesizers (Teisco 100F, Hillwood SY 1800, Combo, Basky, Rockyboard, Korg 700S, Mellotron, Yamaha, Solina String Ensemble) also plays the bamboo flute. And then there's all the guitars and other things as well that are part of their big wash of psychedelic sound.
The title track, with a driving, almost disco beat, and echoey, dubby FX, would fit in with a lot of late '70s kosmic krautrock, the Ashra, Michael Rother sort of stuff, heck it sound a bit like some bands today too, we're thinking Jonas Reinhardt and Maserati. Lots of burbling electronics and shimmering synth over propulsive percussion. FEFB's usual Pink Floydisms certainly come to the fore too, on the blissful, balladic likes of "Timeless Phase" and elsewhere... Make that blissful AND bombastic, the latter especially on the album-ending instrumental "Ascension".
Numbered, limited edition reissue in the usual Phoenix wallet sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Tenkujin"
MPEG Stream: "Timeless Phase"
MPEG Stream: "Ascension"

FAR EAST FAMILY BAND Tenkujin (Phoenix) lp 24.00
Also now reissued on (180 gram) vinyl!!!
The wonderful flood of Japanese '70s psych rock reissues continues, something those folks who have yet to hear these previously hard-to-find gems (many "popularized" by megafan Julian Cope in his Japrocksampler book) can be quite glad of. The item under consideration here, a compact disc reissue of the final, 1977 release by hippie space travellers Far East Family Band, is another nifty one, though we'd probably recommend the other, earlier FEFB albums before this if you don't have those already. Fans looking to complete their collections, though, won't be disappointed - even though by this point keyboardist Kitaro had left the family / band (for eventual New Age stardom), on Tenkujin FEFB were still quite potent at making tripped out, synth-laden, New Age friendly psych. In other words still the kind of band where the same guy credited with operating a pile of synthesizers (Teisco 100F, Hillwood SY 1800, Combo, Basky, Rockyboard, Korg 700S, Mellotron, Yamaha, Solina String Ensemble) also plays the bamboo flute. And then there's all the guitars and other things as well that are part of their big wash of psychedelic sound.
The title track, with a driving, almost disco beat, and echoey, dubby FX, would fit in with a lot of late '70s kosmic krautrock, the Ashra, Michael Rother sort of stuff, heck it sound a bit like some bands today too, we're thinking Jonas Reinhardt and Maserati. Lots of burbling electronics and shimmering synth over propulsive percussion. FEFB's usual Pink Floydisms certainly come to the fore too, on the blissful, balladic likes of "Timeless Phase" and elsewhere... Make that blissful AND bombastic, the latter especially on the album-ending instrumental "Ascension". Limited edition.
MPEG Stream: "Tenkujin"
MPEG Stream: "Timeless Phase"
MPEG Stream: "Ascension"

FAR OUT Nihonjin (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Japanese '70s psych alert! Grab yer Japrocksampler and look this one up, you want it!! (It's number eleven on Julian Cope's list of his top 50 Japanese psych faves.)
Having reissued the Far East Family Band's Nipponjin, we were hoping that Phoenix would turn their attentions to that band's original incarnation. They made one album as Far Out, and rarely has a band name been better chosen. Their 1973 lp is a stone classic, from that iconic white glove hanging on a clothes line in front of a blue background album cover to the two side long tracks of tripped out, heavy psychedelic music within. Well, Phoenix have granted our wish, which is awesome 'cause we've always wanted to list/review this album but previous cd reissues have been expensive and hard to come by.
Track one/side one, "Too Many People", eases the listener into things gently, with an echoing heartbeat pulse, some ambient Moog drone, and sad and mellow vocals, accompanied by delicately grooving guitar/bass... by the halfway point (8 minutes or so in) the track has gotten a lot more menacing, with plodding, heavier beats, thicker bass, adorned with "Eastern" sounding guitar licks and distorted acidic soloing. Yeah! 'Tis something that Flower Travellin' Band fans will find to their liking for sure! Towards the end of the song, when the vocals come back in, it's built up into a rather majestically progtastic piece of work that, when it all too suddenly ends, will leave you, the listener, wondering where your epic Nipponese longhaired fantasyland went, what's with all this boring, non-cosmic, not-so-grandiose reality you've so rudely been reacquainted with?
To fix that, at least temporarily, put the headphones back on, and cue up track two/side two, "Nihonjin", another similarly massive trip that can only be described as "far out"... this cut was later reworked a couple years later for the Far East Family Band's Nipponjin opus, though the original here is rawer, less Klaus Schulzified and symphonic.
Like we said, Cope had this up at #11, but for us it might nudge right into the top 10...
MPEG Stream: "Too Many People"
MPEG Stream: "Nihonjin"

FAR OUT Nihonjin (Phoenix) lp 24.00
ALSO NOW REISSUED ON VINYL!!
Japanese '70s psych alert! Grab yer Japrocksampler and look this one up, you want it!! (It's number eleven on Julian Cope's list of his top 50 Japanese psych faves.)
Having reissued the Far East Family Band's Nipponjin, we were hoping that Phoenix would turn their attentions to that band's original incarnation. They made one album as Far Out, and rarely has a band name been better chosen. Their 1973 lp is a stone classic, from that iconic white glove hanging on a clothes line in front of a blue background album cover to the two side long tracks of tripped out, heavy psychedelic music within. Well, Phoenix have granted our wish, which is awesome 'cause we've always wanted to list/review this album but previous cd reissues have been expensive and hard to come by.
Track one/side one, "Too Many People", eases the listener into things gently, with an echoing heartbeat pulse, some ambient Moog drone, and sad and mellow vocals, accompanied by delicately grooving guitar/bass... by the halfway point (8 minutes or so in) the track has gotten a lot more menacing, with plodding, heavier beats, thicker bass, adorned with "Eastern" sounding guitar licks and distorted acidic soloing. Yeah! 'Tis something that Flower Travellin' Band fans will find to their liking for sure! Towards the end of the song, when the vocals come back in, it's built up into a rather majestically progtastic piece of work that, when it all too suddenly ends, will leave you, the listener, wondering where your epic Nipponese longhaired fantasyland went, what's with all this boring, non-cosmic, not-so-grandiose reality you've so rudely been reacquainted with?
To fix that, at least temporarily, put the headphones back on, and cue up track two/side two, "Nihonjin", another similarly massive trip that can only be described as "far out"... this cut was later reworked a couple years later for the Far East Family Band's Nipponjin opus, though the original here is rawer, less Klaus Schulzified and symphonic.
Like we said, Cope had this up at #11, but for us it might nudge right into the top 10...
MPEG Stream: "Too Many People"
MPEG Stream: "Nihonjin"

FAR-OUT FANGTOOTH Pure & Disinterested (Siltbreeze) lp 15.98
We had never heard of these guys before, but were definitely pretty taken with the name, the sort that sets the bar pretty high in terms of the music living up to the band name, but these weirdo Philly psych rockers pull it off. Opening up with a cool creepy intro, all gamelan like melodies, buzzing metallic percussion, creepy piano, twisted sci-fi FX and crumbling distortion, before launching into a cool stretch of depressive gloom pop, all low slung basslines, simple motorik drumming, and melodic guitar jangle, before launching into something a bit more blown out, a psychedelic squall that is grounded by an oh so sweet guitar melody which holds it all together, and keeps it firmly rooted in pop, the vocals come in, all laid back and woozy, very Sonic Youth-y, and in fact, the whole sound is very nineties indie rock, we hear some Bardo Pond, some Swirlies, a soft cacophony of jangle and crunch, even some Dinosaur Jr, in the crunchy leads, opener "Hate" is definitely our new noise pop / post punk jam, the sort of thing you could almost imagine Eric's Trip whipping up. For all the obscure comparisons the label throws out (Cramps, Bauhaus, Blue Oyster Cult), some of which we definitely here, the sound seems to hew much closer to classic indie rock and nineties shoegaze, a druggy dreamy psychedelic rocking combo of Sonic Youth, Eric's Trip, The Swirlies, Bardo Pond, Dinosaur Jr along with a heaping helping of early Siltbreeze. We're pretty psyched on these new SB releases (check out the Kitchen's Floor elsewhere on this week's list), both of them feel like they were transported straight here through some crazy timewarp from Siltbreeze circa 1995! Except if they were from '95 they'd be on cd, which would be nice.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, vinyl-only. Comes with a download coupon too.
MPEG Stream: "Pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: "Hate"
MPEG Stream: "White Valley"

FAR-OUT FANGTOOTH Thorns (Hozac) 7" 6.50
We first heard this Philly garage psych combo via their debut lp on Siltbreeze, which was a killer, and Siltbreeze was definitely the perfect match, as is Hozac, the label that put out this brand new 7", the A side of which begins with a woozy, druggy sprawl of dirgey psychedelia, the feel very eighties Aussie, until the track explodes into a frenzy of guitar crunch and drum bombast, spaced out and heavy, a little bit Sonic Youthy for sure, a pounding garage psych freakout that we can't get enough of!
The B side starts out with some lo-fi noise pop garage punk swagger, crooned vox over an almost Gary Glitterish groove, a little glammy, with a killer main hook, before the final track an echo drenched super noisy garage rock pound, all sweat drenched, bloody nosed, fat lipped blow out. Awesome.
LIMITED TO 475 COPIES!!

FARAH Gay Boy (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
Hipster dance jams from the Johnny Jewel hit factory.

FARAH Law Of Life (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
More sultry late night space disco jams from Italians Do It Better. You might remember them forom their tracks on the After Dark comp.

FARFLUNG A Wound In Eternity (MeteorCity) cd 14.98
It a bit weird we've never listed any records by LA space rockers Farflung. They've been plugging away for almost 12 years, and A Wound In Eternity is in fact record number 12. At least one or two of us here have some old FF records in our collection, regardless, it's finally time to right this very wrong.
Self proclaimed the heaviest and trippiest FF record yet, A Wound In Eternity is indeed both trippy and heavy, due possibly to the recent addition of various new members, their sound as always borrows heavily from Hawkwind, Monster Magnet, Kyuss, the usual heavies, but with their own distinct twist, and listening to this now, we're feeling a definite glam vibe, a bit of garagey-stomp, really catchy and hooky, but just the tone and the arrangement is sort of reminiscent of classic seventies glam, albeit super charged and a bit more drugged up and spaced out. Which is probably why we hear so much Monster Magnet in FF's sound, they have a similar over the top glamrock meets space metal crunch.
Chunky riffs, propulsive rhythms, dramatic vocals, all wound up into a set-the-controls-for-the-heart-of-the-sun stoner psych space rock blowout. The tracks often burn slow, sometimes pounding away, other times drifting lazily through space, but most of them culminate in huge drone-y psychedelic freakout outros, everything wrapped in swirls of FX, the guitars blossoming like supernovas, the drums growing more and more chaotic. A few tracks have a definite Circle vibe going on too, the group locked into super mesmerizing looped hypnorock grooves, but even then, the band eventually looses themselves from gravity, drifting into the stratosphere, only to burn out in a blaze of blinding, deafening distorted effects drenched buzz...
The lp version is ultra deluxe, and while they last, we have the super limited edition cd version, that comes in a fancy mini-lp style gatefold sleeve, and includes the same two bonus tracks that are on the lp.
MPEG Stream: "Unborn Planet"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Drifting Wreck"
MPEG Stream: "Possession"

FARFLUNG A Wound In Eternity (MeteorCity) 2lp 22.00
It a bit weird we've never listed any records by LA space rockers Farflung. They've been plugging away for almost 12 years, and A Wound In Eternity is in fact record number 12. Several of us here have at least one or two old FF records in our collection, so it's finally time to right that very wrong.
Self proclaimed the heaviest and trippiest FF record yet, A Wound In Eternity is indeed both trippy and heavy, due possibly to the recent addition of various new members, their sound as always borrows heavily from Hawkwind, Monster Magnet, Kyuss, the usual heavies, but with their own distinct twist, and listening to this now, we're feeling a definite glam vibe, a bit of garagey-stomp, really catchy and hooky, but just the tone and the arrangement is sort of reminiscent of classic seventies glam, albeit super charged and a bit more drugged up and spaced out. Which is probably why we hear so much Monster Magnet in FF's sound, they have a similar over the top glamrock meets space metal crunch.
Chunky riffs, propulsive rhythms, dramatic vocals, all wound up into a set-the-controls-for-the-heart-of-the-sun stoner psych space rock blowout. The tracks often burn slow, sometimes pounding away, other times drifting lazily through space, but most of them culminate in huge drone-y psychedelic freakout outros, everything wrapped in swirls of FX, the guitars blossoming like supernovas, the drums growing more and more chaotic. A few tracks have a definite Circle vibe going on too, the group locked into super mesmerizing looped hypnorock grooves, but even then, the band eventually looses themselves from gravity, drifting into the stratosphere, only to burn out in a blaze of blinding, deafening distorted effects drenched buzz...
The lp version is super deluxe, and while they last, we have the super limited edition cd version, that comes in a super fancy mini-lp style gatefold sleeve, and includes the same two bonus tracks that are on the lp.
MPEG Stream: "Unborn Planet"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Drifting Wreck"
MPEG Stream: "Possession"

FARINA, GEOFF Already Told You (Southern) cd 8.98
The fellow from Karate has struck out on his own (yes, pun intended). Envision a two star hotel in the middle of nowhere with a cocktail lounge/restaurant whose vinyl banquettes are populated by senior citizens and families of four. There's no stage, no grand piano, just a gent named Geoff Farina sitting on a stool at a microphone with guitar in hand crooning gentle meandering ballads...
MPEG Stream: "Femmes Damnees"
MPEG Stream: "Already Told You"

FARINA, GEOFF Reverse Eclipse (Southern) cd 14.98
Leader of Karate releases a solo effort full of mournful musings and solo electric guitar.

FARM The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun (EM Records) cd 22.00
Ah, yes it's summertime! Warm sunshine and trips to the beach! And what's more summery than surf music? Lo and behold, our favorite label for obscure and amazing reissues, Japan's EM Records, has a special new series of five, count 'em, five reissues devoted to lost "surf" music treasures. The first two, by Farm and Peter Martin & Finch, are out now, with the others to follow in short order. We're pretty sure all of 'em are awesome.
And if you're familiar with the eccentricity of this label, you'll know that this "EM Under Water" series isn't going to be about, y'know, "regular" surf music of the Jan & Dean or Ventures variety, nope. These first two releases are both soundtracks to rad '70s surfing movies, and are fully psychedelic, with tripped out grooves, synth experiments, and heavy rock jamming all part of the mix.
This one's really fantastic. The music for the legendary 1970 Australian surf documentary The Innermost Limits Of Pure Fun was done by a hippy band called Farm from Santa Barbara who themselves were part of the SoCal surf scene. Their lead guitarist, Denny Aaberg, even wrote a novel about his surfing days called Big Wednesday that was eventually made into movie starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Gary Busey! Other members later on played with such bands as the Surf Punks in the '80s and the Beach Boys in the '90s... and weirder still, The Captain from Captain and Tennille is on here somewhere too. But this is like none of that, needless to say. Farm's sound was more of a special surf/soundtrack/psych hybrid...
There's plenty of glorious mellow jazzy groovers on here, with organ that reminds us a bit of Bo Hansson's stuff, as well tracks like the heavy electric blues of "Zan Ho Zay" and the gorgeous folky acoustic guitar intricacy of "Innerspace". Mostly instrumental, but for two charming vocal cuts, "Crumple Car" and "The Eater", this is surf-psych at its peak for sure. A lot of the record was constructed around live jams, including the soundtrack's finale, the 13 minute improv "Coming Of The Dawn", a track Farm recorded in real-time response to a projection of the film's most awe-inspiring "inside the pipe" sequence. The filmmaker had rigged up a waterproof camera contraption that he was able to strap to his back and use to shoot while riding his board, one of the innovative techniques that made it a groundbreaking surf movie. This soundtrack had to help too!
This reish, done in the usual thorough EM style, is packaged in a nice gatefold sleeve with a thick, fully illustrated booklet in English and Japanese and other bits of ephemera tipped in, and includes a QuickTime video clip on the cd of an interview with the band. As well, both this and also the soundtrack to Drouyn include liner notes by Aussie surf music expert Stephen J. McPharland (author of Waltzing The Plank: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Australian Surf Music 1963-2003).
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Shingles"
MPEG Stream: "Animal"
MPEG Stream: "Snake Charmer"

FARMACIA Crucial Sky In The Land Of Premonitions At Lorenzo's Weekend (Psych-O-Path) cd 14.98
We all agree here at AQ that this is a really amazing disc. We also all agree that it's tough to describe! Which is maybe why we didn't manage to review it right when it first appeared a few months back. But now we'll try, since we like it so much and want you know about it. Simply put (which is impossible), Farmacia from Argentina straddle the line between minimal dance music and rhythmic noise. Crucial Sky In The Land Of Premonitions At Lorenzo's Weekend (there, doesn't that title tell you all you need to know? no? uh, yeah, you're right) is the work of a trio who are making their OWN original music first and foremost, not something we hear everyday. There's an experimental, home-brewed, kit-bashed approach here that possesses some of the charming weirdness of Argentine AQ faves Reynols without sounding like them... much more user-friendly, these guys! It's a sort of playful industrial/electro music, part Throbbing Gristle, part Aphex Twin, part Mouse On Mars, part Ratatat. One track even reminds us of Itavayla, or Trans Am. There's bopping abstract noises, wordless vocals, distortion and drone and disco-friendly beats. Surprisingly beautiful, beautifully surprising. The three members are credited with the use of plenty of analog synths, samplers, computers... an array of ethnic flutes... eggs, noises, and "atmospheric crucial voices"... y'know, the usual stuff. And the results are, as we said, tough to describe. But we figure it's got a wide appeal, to fans of Kraftwerk and Cluster back in the '70s... to fans of Lindstrom yesterday. Totally recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Doctor Krupa"
MPEG Stream: "Estas Tecnicas"
MPEG Stream: "Que Se Le Va A Hacer"

FARNETI, MICHAEL Good Morning Kisses (Companion) lp 21.00
We can always count on local reissue label Companion Records to foster the kind of rare hidden musical gem that perhaps won't appeal to everyone, but will get a select group of enthusiasts very excited over the discovery of someone's sincerely unique, but often-times misguided musical vision. Companion's specialty has always been private press vanity records, such as the Louie Louie, Charlie Tweddle, Marc Mundy and New Creation records, and for their first foray into vinyl releases have given us two quite amazing but very different musical visionaries: the latent mope-psych of Stan Hubbs and the spirited orchestral lounge stylings of Michael Farneti.
Hailing from South Florida and recorded in 1976, Michael Farneti's Good Morning Kisses is a brilliant head-scratcher. Indeed, it seems Farneti is channeling Van Dyke Parks, The Neon Philharmonic, Harvey Sid Fisher and Scott Walker in his wide-eyed enthusiastic and sometimes melancholic songs about Movie Stars, ESP, New York Muggers and Georgia Peaches. Without a hint of irony, Farneti exudes a wonderfully naive charm with strange (and perhaps unintentionally humorous) lyrics and sometimes goofy songs (an example: "Shower, shower, shower until you smell like a flower" on the title track). While we admit we maybe use Ariel Pink's name as a comparison too much in our reviews, it does seem apropos here, because if Ariel Pink played piano in a Reno airport lounge in the seventies, it might sound a lot like Good Morning Kisses. It definitely has the falsetto harmonies, Theremin flourishes, and washed out orchestral yacht rock arrangements that can be heard on Doldrums. Though some songs may make you cringe ("Rock Candy Roll"), there are plenty of golden moments and for fans of unique musical visionaries like the ones we mentioned above, Good Morning Kisses has a lot to offer. Limited to 500 copies. Sweet!
MPEG Stream: "Nineteenth Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Movie Star"
MPEG Stream: "ESP Switch"
MPEG Stream: "In The Jungle"

FARQUHAR, JW The Formal Female (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
Woah. This is a weird one. A home-recorded psychedelic one-man-band "rock opera" from 1972, originally a rare privately pressed LP, now reissued on cd. Super freaky and moody and fuzzed out, with a messed-up "my woman done me wrong" vibe to it all. One JW Farquhar of Philadelphia sang and played all the instruments, though there are some other, presumably non-existent musicians credited on the sleeve... get a load of his supposed band, some of the best fake names ever: "Riffery Lowknut" on fender bass, "Slash Mullethead" on percussion, and "Callust Likfinker" on lead guitar! Steel Mammoth wishes they'd thought of those.
In the liner notes JW says that many of these songs "were written as an outcry against the materialistic nature of the woman during that time period". Maybe a little bit misogynistic? Well, apparently JW had just recently gone through a difficult divorce after having been married for 10 years, and was pretty down on women in general. Regardless of the merits of his bitter outlook, the bummed-out emotions expressed are certainly real. And feed into some genuinely twisted, trippy music.
The first two tracks, "The Formal Female" and "The Want Machine", are both multi-part suites, 11-12 minutes each. Groovy, laid back, lonely stuff, rife with FX and heavy doses of fuzz guitar (at one point, JW does to the traditional wedding march what Hendrix did to the "Star Spangled Banner"). "The Want Machine", with its funky guitar and guttural dialogue, almost sounds like the freakin' Jimmy Castor Bunch circa It's Just Begun, jivin' and acid-dosed (here, downer-dosed).
On "My Bundle Of Joy", JW's sad, melodic vocals are accompanied by what sounds like a primitive drum machine ticking away. It's really weird and lovely. Not sure what it reminds us of, maybe Vincent Gallo? Also, there's a good deal of woozy harmonica, or what could be Augustus Pablo style reggae melodica, all throughout the album. "Where Have You Been" and "Mansions" are equally odd and entrancing. Spacey, echoey, outsider rad dudeness! JW Farquhar is part George Brigman, part Dreamies, part Bobb Trimble, part Perry Leopold... like we said, a weird one. Not every Shadoks reissue is amazing, but sometimes when they find an obscure gem, like this, they really hit it out of the park, we're telling you. And as break-up records go, this one's unique.
MPEG Stream: "The Formal Female"
MPEG Stream: "The Want Machine"
MPEG Stream: "My Bundle Of Joy"

FARQUHAR, JW The Formal Female (Brainblobru) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Reissued recently by Shadoks on cd, now also available on vinyl!
Woah. This is a weird one. A home-recorded psychedelic one-man-band "rock opera" from 1972, originally a rare privately pressed LP, now reissued. Super freaky and moody and fuzzed out, with a messed-up "my woman done me wrong" vibe to it all. One JW Farquhar of Philadelphia sang and played all the instruments, though there are some other, presumably non-existent musicians credited on the sleeve... get a load of his supposed band, some of the best fake names ever: "Riffery Lowknut" on fender bass, "Slash Mullethead" on percussion, and "Callust Likfinker" on lead guitar! Steel Mammoth wishes they'd thought of those.
In the liner notes JW says that many of these songs "were written as an outcry against the materialistic nature of the woman during that time period". Maybe a little bit misogynistic? Well, apparently JW had just recently gone through a difficult divorce after having been married for 10 years, and was pretty down on women in general. Regardless of the merits of his bitter outlook, the bummed-out emotions expressed are certainly real. And feed into some genuinely twisted, trippy music.
The first two tracks, "The Formal Female" and "The Want Machine", are both multi-part suites, 11-12 minutes each. Groovy, laid back, lonely stuff, rife with FX and heavy doses of fuzz guitar (at one point, JW does to the traditional wedding march what Hendrix did to the "Star Spangled Banner"). "The Want Machine", with its funky guitar and guttural dialogue, almost sounds like the freakin' Jimmy Castor Bunch circa It's Just Begun, jivin' and acid-dosed (here, downer-dosed).
On "My Bundle Of Joy", JW's sad, melodic vocals are accompanied by what sounds like a primitive drum machine ticking away. It's really weird and lovely. Not sure what it reminds us of, maybe Vincent Gallo? Also, there's a good deal of woozy harmonica, or what could be Augustus Pablo style reggae melodica, all throughout the album. "Where Have You Been" and "Mansions" are equally odd and entrancing. Spacey, echoey, outsider rad dudeness! JW Farquhar is part George Brigman, part Dreamies, part Bobb Trimble, part Perry Leopold... like we said, a weird one. Not every Shadoks reissue [the cd reish is on Shadoks] is amazing, but sometimes when they find an obscure gem, like this, they really hit it out of the park, we're telling you. And as break-up records go, this one's unique.
MPEG Stream: "The Formal Female"
MPEG Stream: "The Want Machine"
MPEG Stream: "My Bundle Of Joy"

FARRAR, JAY Stone, Steel & Bright Lights (Artemis) cd 16.98
While his former Uncle Tupelo co-frontman Jeff Tweedy's country rock roots have sprouted into exploratory pop blossoms, Jay Farrar has nurtured and honed his own, keeping them closer to the country trellis both in his band Son Volt and goin' solo. We have been waitin' and waitin' for him to make an album as good as (if not better than) that of his old band's -- an album worthy of his remarkable voice -- but neither his previous albums, Terroir Blues and Sebastopol, nor his ThirdShiftGrottoSlack ep, have been quite able to capture that elusive magic. This being a live album filled mostly with songs from those three solo releases means we're probably not going to find our Farrar fix here. That said, some of the live renditions do outshine the album versions. And as always that voice is still so rough and gorgeous. Nineteen songs including two new ones and a closing double-whammy of Pink Floyd and Neil Young covers. Includes a bonus live dvd.
MPEG Stream: "Doesn't Have To Be This Way"
MPEG Stream: "6 String Belief"

FARRAR, JAY Terrior Blues (Act/Resist) cd 15.98
Even though Jay Farrar was the better songwriter in Uncle Tupelo, and had THE VOICE that defined their sound, all whiskey soaked and gravelly, he has been totally eclipsed post-Uncle Tupelo by his ex-band mate Jeff Tweedy and his band Wilco, who have been critical darlings since day one, and over the last year or two have managed to win over the public as well, selling tons of records and having the tale of their label swapping debacle and their subsequent artistic and commercial triumph told time and time again. And actually it makes a lot of sense, as Tweedy's songwriting really blossomed once he was on his own and out from under Farrar's formidable songwriting shadow. While Farrar's work in Son Volt and on his solo records has lacked the spark that made his work in UT so intense. And unfortunately that continues to be kinda true...
Now, the sound is there. It always has been. Drifting and plaintive and melancholy with that gruff gorgeous voice. Unfortunately, there are no songs. And that's the problem. If you can get it into your head that this is not a pop record of actual songs, but an extended assembly of sounds, then it may be more satisfying for you. Slippery slide guitars pick out warbly melodies, alongside thick rich acoustic guitars and warm reverberant cellos. And again, there's that voice. And this release boasts some interesting production as well as a six part suite of spacy, experimental instrumental interludes scattered throughout, but all that just doesn't quite make up for the lack of CATCHY songs. But like I said, it does *sound* SO GOOD. I just desperately want Farrar to knock one out of the park the way Tweedy did with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I know it'll happen. And I'm willing to wait, 'cause I know it'll be worth it.
MPEG Stream: "California"
MPEG Stream: "No Rolling Back"
MPEG Stream: "Hard Is The Fall"

FARRAR, JAY ThirdShiftGrottoSlack (Artemis) cd ep 7.98
This five song EP from former Uncle Tupelo founder Jay Farrar is, well, okay. As in *just okay*, i.e. there's nothing that stands out as extraordinarily beautiful here -- none of the heartbreaking chord changes, the instantly hummable melodies, the abject naked emotion -- that made his previous quality work so memorable. Not even one great song to make the price of the disc worth it. It's a bummer; I mean he still plays a worthy, if slightly generic, brand of twangy Americana, but it isn't as vital or intense as before. So I say, if you're a fan, you'll probably want this, but if you're new to Farrar, Uncle Tupelo, or his post-Tupelo band Son Volt, then you should really start with any of the Uncle Tupelo records (Anodyne being my fave, but all are grrreat).
RealAudio clip: "Kind of Madness"

FARTICUS Gesneden Vlees (self-released) cd-r 5.98
We were gonna try, but we just can't do it... we can't... First release from this local band, and it's a doozy, heavy as fuck, chaotic and unhinged with a wild maniacal frontwoman, but, and it's a big BUT (pun most certainly intended)... Farticus? Maybe the worst band name ever. And that's coming from a store who has always championed Cream Abdul Babar!! Come on guys, you're dooming yourself to a life of local band-dom, of being perpetually a joke band, no matter how kick ass you are. And trust us, we know, we have spent time in bands with terrible names, embarrassing names, even scatological names, but somehow none quite as bad as Farticus. Plus, embracing the name, by having your logo be a shitting woman, all your song titles puerile and scatological and goofy, it definitely makes it hard to get to the music, but once you do, holy shit, these four songs are intense and brutal, tons of low end, the guitars chugging and churning, occasionally getting all twisted and warped, evoking prime era Butthole Surfers, the drums pounding and chaotic, and the vocals, shit, a wild banshee screech, sounding like a Riot Grrl all grown up ready to kick your ass. Reminds us a bit of classic SF weirdo rockers, Tragic Mulatto, in fact, if you can imagine the Buttholes, Tragic Mulatto, but with Unsane guitars, that's what this is all about.
Apparently the live shows are insane, the vocalist mobbed by men AND women, all grinding their faces into her pelvis, the band obviously are totally capable of destroying, so it's definitely worth it to try and make it past all the non musical stuff, the name, the song titles, the artwork on the cd, cuz once you strap on the headphones and close your eyes, this stuff will pummel you gloriously and utterly. At least in your iTunes you can change the band name and song titles and just enjoy the music. Reservedly recommended. If these guys revamped their aesthetic, and of course changed their name, they would be unstoppable.
MPEG Stream: "Vaginal Holocaust"
MPEG Stream: "My Fishy Cooter"

FAST FORWARD s/t (Vermiform) cd 10.98
Fucked up lo-fi DHR style disco terrorism from Los Angeles, recorded by some dude from Le Shok. Supposedly someone in this group moonlights in Death Drug, who also shares said ex-member of Le Shok. Like a messy, less tweakedly cute, American version of Japan's Polysics. Atari Teenage Riot goes lo-fi pinball goth? Lame KKK artwork by the usually amazing Matt Brinkman of Load/Fort Thunder/Non fame.

FAST, THE The Best Of The Fast: 1976 - 1984 (Munster) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So damn punk! So shamefully obscure! It's the fearless Zone brothers aka The Fast! Cup heard about this band (who've caused much discombobulated head-scratching around here) from her good friend and fountain of the most obscure bits of information, Nardwuar The Human Serviette. Although The Fast did release a few singles and one album (produced by Ric Ocasek, no less!), their music's pretty impossible to find. Up until now you might've been fortunate to catch a rare glimpse of this NY band on a Hyped To Death collection, but the fine folks at Munster have come to your rescue with this fantastic compilation of twenty three songs. This cd is the extensively detailed sonic documentation of their electrifying eight year evolution-meltdown through garage, power pop, mod, glam, goth, metal, new wave and electronic dance! And it comes with graphic documentation too! The cd's booklet bursts with band history detailing their early stage antic mayhem (gogo girls dressed as nuns, giant lollipops, cheap guitar destruction, Cheerio showers and a mysterious event called the pencil solo?!), a gamut of fabulous wardrobe changes (badass skintight vinyl suits, pencil thin moustaches, zebra striped spandex, suspenders, bandanas, and elaborate makeup including a big black heart over one eye reportedly predating Paul Stanley's star), not to mention some coifs that put the current crop of jet black angular 'dos to shame. Plus there's a bunch of candid photos of the band cavorting with members of Blondie, The Cramps, The New York Dolls, The Ramones and Suicide to boot. All this from the group that would eventually morph into the astounding ultra-leather boys Man2Man who are a whole other amazing story. Really, this brief review simply can't do the Brothers Zone justice. So if you think you need more, I can tell you that there was an obsessively thorough story in Roctober Magazine a while back (issue #25). Oh and lest I forget, The Fast's music is simply a super good time! So very very recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Boys Will Be Boys"
MPEG Stream: "Moontan"

FASTBACKS ...And His Orchestra (PopLlama) cd 13.98
Quite possibly the best example of the pure power pop brilliance that is the Fastbacks. Three early releases from Seattle pop greats Kurt Bloch, Kim Warnick and Lulu Gargiulo on one cd. Not only do you get '... And His Orchestra' (which is pretty much the bestest from start to finish), but also 'Everyday Is Saturday' (with their cover of "Midnight Confessions"), and '...Play Five Of Their Favorites' (with one of their best "In America"). Spanning the years '81 to '86 (yes, they've been around for two decades now!), these songs positively burst with joyful hooks and harmonies. A wonderful racket of Kurt's electric guitar and Kim and Lulu's unmistakable dueling vocals. Fast, furious fun even twenty years later.

FASTBACKS New Mansions in Sound (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Contains an extra song not included on the cd version.

FASTBACKS New Mansions in Sound (Sub Pop) lp+7" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Contains an extra song not included on the cd version.

FASTBACKS The Day That Didn't Exist (Spin Art) cd 14.98
After countless albums jam-packed full of ultra excellent power pop on such labels as Seattle's Popllama and SubPop, the Fastbacks are back with yet another catchy gem, this time on Spin Art Records. Still maintaining the high quality hooks'n'harmonies, and youthful exuberance they've held for well over a decade, Kurt, Kim, Lulu, and Mike will rock you. Yes, they will.

FASTEST Astromancy (self-released) cd-r 9.98
The return of Fastest! Longtime readers of the list are by now no doubt familiar with this weirdo outsider one man band, whose sound seems to meld eighties video game music, midi synth guitar metal, almost hip hop style grooves, growled/crooned sort of metal vocals, into a twisted head spinning concoction that either has people freaking out and wanting every single release, or freaking out and wanting it to stop. Odds are this most recent record will be no less divisive. It's funny to see regular aQ customers come in and FREAK OUT that there's a new Fastest, a way more visceral reaction that lots of other more high profile (and yeah, less ridiculous) releases. But that should tell you something. Odds are, everyone out there who bought most/all of the other Fastest cd-r's, are gonna want this one too cuz it's another twisted whatthefuck batch of homebrewed midi-metal weirdness, just check out the opening track "Fantasy II", with its chugging churning almost metallic riffing, the weirdly catchy atonal main melody, the whispered/crooned vox, the stumbling stuttery programmed drums, the track displaying some surprising malevolence, slipping easily from Legend Of Zelda style cloying 8-bit synth swoon, to weird electronic guitar chug crunch, and then stripped down bass driven dirgery before a strange syncopated breakdown. It's genius, and ridiculous, and impossible to stop listening too, and if you're like us, you can never have enough Fastest.
The rest of the record is more of the same, churning dark synth heavy, drum machine driven musical drama, wild blast of Bollywood drumming, all tangled up with woozy synth melodies, thick rumbling distortion and weird blown out production, there's definitely an eighties vibe, but also an alien video game vibe too, heck there's even a seriously warped 'dance' number this time around too! This is the sort of thing people like James Ferraro are trying to conjure up, but this is the real deal, the genius inner workings of a truly and fantastically warped musical mind, and a sound that is truly unique, and unlike anything you've heard. EVER. Join us in our ridiculous fascination / obsession with the fucked up musical world of Fastest!
This is in fact record number EIGHT, counting the awesomely titled greatest hits collection Magicmancy, if you need any/all of the other ones just ask, a few are reviewed on the aQ site, including Theme, which was a Record Of The Week. So if you're up for some seriously whatthefuck sounds, it really doesn't get much more damaged and awesomely demented than this.
MPEG Stream: "Fantasy II"
MPEG Stream: "Alter Fate"
MPEG Stream: "Make It Real"
MPEG Stream: "Through Your Eyes (Vanessa's Secret Version)"

FASTEST Divine (self-released) cd-r 9.98

FASTEST Divine (self-released) cd-r 9.98

FASTEST Foresee (self-released) cd-r 9.98

FASTEST Into The Night (self-released) cd-r 9.98
Fastest's Theme, a Record Of The Week a few lists back, was a surprise hit around here (not a surprise for everyone though, some of us knew, few would be able to resist the twisted confusional home brewed madness that is Fastest), but we sold them like crazy, and in that review we mentioned Fastest also had a handful of other records, and got a bunch of reponses from folks wanting more.
So here you go, Into The Night, not sure where it falls in the Fastest catalog, which is now up to 8 or 10 releases, but it's another one of our favorites, second only to Theme, and like Theme, the sound here is pretty idiosyncratic and difficult to describe, warbly buzzying synths, stumbling weirdly programmed drums, that seem to explode into impossibly tangled rhythmic flurries, that is when they're not locked into some warped robotic groove, the melodies are twisted as well, moody and melancholy one second, then all sunshiney the next, like the music for the final screen on some old school video game, all 8 bit bleep and bloop, underpinned by weirdly bloopy low slung bass, and those chaotic beats. And did we mention the vocals, sort of sung/spoken, Allan here thinks it sounds like rapping, and likens Fastest to mush mouthed headphone rapper Sensational, but Fastest is much more strident, his vocals urgent and dramatic, often delivered in what sounds like a growled death metal grunt, but just as often whispered or crooned, the vocals locked tight with staccato rhythms, the ominous buzzing synths, the midi guitar melodies, slipping from epic and intense and almost heavy, to fuzzy and bouncy, but more often than not somewhere right in between. In some ways, Into The Night is a bit darker than Theme, and the spastic avalanche like drum programming sounds even more out of control, which is most definitely a good thing. For more on our obsession with Fastest, check out our review of Theme elsewhere on the aQ site, but if you've yet to check out the fractured and fantastically fucked up musical stylings of this one man band, this is as good a place to start as any, and who knows, you might find yourselves needing ALL of them. We did!
Like Theme, the packaging is awesome and over the top and a bit confusional. A custom (not real) barcode right on the front cover, a cool tray card that wraps up and around the edge, the Fastest logo all sharp and heavy metal looking, notes exclaiming "digital audio compact disc" and "state of the art phonorecord", the ASCAP publishing logo/info not less than FOUR times on the back cover, a shoutout to TDK, and of course, like Theme, a production credit for someone/something named Daemaeen Hephaestus Chastical. Oh, and a cool lazer etched discface! Needless to say (but we will anyway) CRAZY RECOMMENDED.
MPEG Stream: "Mnemonic Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Prevail"
MPEG Stream: "Effusive Feelings"
MPEG Stream: "Legend"

FASTEST Magicmancy (self-released) cd-r 9.98
We've noticed a lot of customers going a little Fastest crazy recently. Which doesn't surprise us. In fact, we were so nuts for Fastest, we made his Theme album our Record Of The Week one week. Although considering what Fastest actually sounds like, maybe we are a little surprised. It is, as we've explained in the past, some of the most fantastically twisted, and utterly polarizing music we've heard in ages. Like all the best art, there's no middle ground with Fastest. There are only two responses, the first, a baffled look on the face, and the thought that how could something like that exist and why would people want to listen to it. The second being, a baffled look on the face, and the thought that how could something like that exist and I MUST OWN EVERY SINGLE RECORD!!! And we're not exaggerating. While there may be a few folks out there who have indeed just bought one, maybe two, the majority of folks do indeed go nuts and order them ALL. This one might be designed more for you dabblers out there, as it's a sampler of sorts, featuring a couple tracks from each of the Fastest records, but we have to say, we've sold a bunch so far, and most to folks WHO ALREADY OWN ALL THE RECORDS!! Such is the power of Fastest. If by now, you're wondering what the heck we're on about, and haven't already checked out our Record Of The Week review for Theme, or or review of Into The Night, well, let us tell you all about the many joys of Fastest. This time it starts with the wonderfully redundant album title, MAGICMANCY, which yes, basically means 'magic magic', and this is indeed some magical musical magic. This one man bedroom band from the East Bay, seemingly armed with a guitar synth and a drum machine, creates some of the strangest music we've ever heard, it sometimes gets filed in the metal section, due in part to the very metal looking Fastest logo, but also because the vocals are a mysterious sort of black metal rasp, but the music is about as far from metal as it could get, Allan thinks it sounds like hip hop (no one else does), imagine warped synth melodies, sputtering stumbling rhythms, slipping from dark ominous creep, to sweetly melodic Legend Of Zelda style video game music, and back again, it's twisted, baffling and totally brilliant.
Check out opener "Blame", with it's wild free jazz blackened psych squall opening salvo which quickly gives way to some fuzzy synthy drift, the vocals here definitely almost rapped, the song constantly peppered with reprises of that opening squall, not to mention jagged shifts, from part to part, the sound buzzy and fuzzy, the vocals sounding very Lou Reed-ish here for sure. Then there's "Legend" with its pounded synth organ churn, it's mechanical drumming, dirgey and doomy, a little bit proggy, the grunted vocals all tangled up with the awesomely atonal synth buzz. "Foresee" offers up our favorite side of Fastest, wildly sputtery almost Indian sounding rhythms, haunting minor key melodies, the opening is dark and mysterious, but then it suddenly shifts into a fuzzy groove, again, constantly twisting and shifting, the sounds all over the place, often the song structured like changing channels, abrupt and off kilter. "Jetsound II" is one of our favorites, starting with the simulated rumble of jet sounds before slipping into a dreamy lilting little ditty that sounds like the final screen from some 8-bit video game, transformed into a sort of eighties soft rock ballad. We could go on, but by now you probably know if this is your cup of tea. For more about Fastest, and to feed what we can only imagine will blossom into a full blown obsession like it has in the rest of us, go check out the reviews of Theme and Into The Night elsewhere on the site. And for those who have resisted up until now, this might be the perfect way to ease your way in.
Brilliant and baffling. If you want all six of the other records too, just ask...
MPEG Stream: "Blame"
MPEG Stream: "Legend"
MPEG Stream: "Foresee"
MPEG Stream: "Jetsound II"

FASTEST Mnemonic Dreams (self-released) cd-r 9.98

FASTEST Phaeton (self-released) cd-r 9.98

FASTEST Phaeton (self-released) cd-r 9.98

FASTEST Theme (self-released) cd-r 9.98
It's been a boom in outsider music these last few weeks at AQ, first it was the random rediscovery of Doug Hream Blunt's Gentle Persuasion, a fantastic and fantastically strange disc of breezy lo-fi outsider funk, that was dropped off by the man himself and required quite a bit of reconnoitering to track him down to get more (a continuing saga). And now there's this. A mysterious disc by a one man band known simply as Fastest, a cd-r that just showed up here one day, and none of us can remember how or when. In the mail? Dropped off? Spontaneous generation? It was just here one day, and we were mesmerized from the second we laid eyes on it. The cover is a huge blue owl against a blue background. The band name Fastest is written in big green letters, in a sort of cartoonish metal font, and superimposed right on the cover is a big barcode. The whole thing printed out on a home laser printer. The tray card folds all the way up around the side so there's an extra panel visible through the clear tray that boldly proclaims: "digital audio compact disc - state of the art phonorecord." The tray card features the ASCAP logo (ASCAP is the company that determines musician royalties) no less than three times, the logo is superimposed again on the back in a little white square, and at the top, blue text explains that the record was "Produced by Daemaeen Hephaestus Chastical". We were almost afraid to throw it on, because we were convinced that there was no way the music could live up to the cryptic promise of the packaging. We were wrong.
The title track starts things off, and immediately you know this is like nothing you've ever heard... a flurry of lo-fi distorted programmed beats, that sound like they could have been lifted straight off that Vijaya Anand Dance Raja Dance Bollywood compilation on Luaka Bop from years back, but any resemblance to Bollywood ends there, as some strange atonal midi synth guitars swoop in, along with some woozy warbly bass, the strangely syncopated programmed beats sputtering wildly in the background, the song slipping into a moody drift, the vocals a strange ominously hushed whisper, that even remind us a bit of the slowed down mush mouthed rapping of Sensational, eventually there's a sort of chorus, the midi guitars buzzing, while a strange synth unfurls a twisted melody, and then there's the most brilliantly baffling break, a stop/start flurry of stuttering beats, and some more warped woozy melodies, eventually joined by a sort of midi guitar least, atonal and detuned, the whole thing sounding like it's melting before your ears, before finally returning to the 'chorus'. Holy shit. What just happened? What is this? How had we not heard this before? Very reminiscent in fact of those absurd midi guitar releases we raved about on lists past, all of them work of a single man, released under different names: Shevelreq, Xynfonica, Gluttony, Thursar. If you were as into those as we were, stop reading and buy this now. Everyone else, read on, and sink deeper into the glorious musical madness that is Fastest...
The first song is so perfect, and perfectly demented, we dared not go on. We just kept listening to that one song over and over and over. Heck we wanted it to be OUR theme song. But eventually we knew we had to go on, and somehow, Fastest managed to confuse us again. And again.
After some simulated jet engine sounds, "Jet Sound II" begins, but it's super melodic and all 8 bit sounding, and reminds us of music from The Legend Of Zelda, but those vocals, dark and ominous, weirdly offset the cheerful melodies and loping programmed rhythms. "Televise" begins with sample bells, and immediately returns us to The Legend Of Zelda, until the vocals come in, locked in tight with the main melody, making for some strange electronic lo-fi midi-pop mystery.
"While You're Here" might be our other favorite (if we were forced to pick), with it's haunting melody, over minor key distorted finger picked guitar, tinkling chimes, very cinematic, again like some dramatic moment in a video game, but definitely dark and haunting, but of course, the song slips right back into some Zelda-y minimal 8 bit balladry, replete with those slightly ominous gruff vocals.
"Million Lies" begins with some dramatic syncopated start/stop dynamics, before slipping into some pulsing electronic groove, but this time, the vocals are super distorted, and even more creepy, and the drums erupt into little flurries of rhythmic tangle.
And so it goes, the sound drifting from Bollywood flecked 8 bit video game soundtrack songsmithery, to eighties style midi driven synthwave, and some hard to describe stops in between, culminating in the final three tracks, maybe the darkest and heaviest of the bunch.
"Seasons Change" is all distorted bass, stereo panned so the buzz flits from ear to ear, the drums spastic and skittery, the vocals as grim and ominous as at any point, the melodies creepy and minor key, which leads right into "Alter Fate" all swirling synths and stuttery almost IDM sounding beats, the whole thing blurry and smeary, before slipping back into the dirgey synthy creep of the previous track, a sort of second movement, laced with more strange disembodied high end melodies over the tumbling drum fills and more gruff whispery vox, finally culminating in "The Wind", which begins with appropriately enough, swirling wind, distorted acoustic guitar, a gauzy patina of lo-fi buzz, before finally launching into a tense stretch of buzzing swirling electronic weirdness, the various chunks of low end fuzz and warped melodies, adding some serious pathos, growing ever more distorted and finally finishing in a blaze of super distorted programmed beats, chaotic and noisy and psychedelic, before winding down with more acoustic guitar.
Absolutely baffling and disturbing brilliantly, total genius outsider mystery music, this is the sort of thing groups like Gary War and Ariel Pink are striving for, but just can't ever quite reach. Fantastically idiosyncratic, highly personal, and completely warped and cracked and demented and literally unlike anything you've heard. It's not hard to imagine this finding its way onto one of those incredible strange music comps or one of those Songs In The Key Of Z collection, it's certainly divisive, it's definitely too much for some folks, so be warned, this is strange strange stuff. But folks around here have become a bit obsessed, and can't seem to get enough. Which is good, cuz there are at least THREE other cd-r's. If you decide you need those too, just ask...
MPEG Stream: "Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Televise"
MPEG Stream: "Million Lies"
MPEG Stream: "Seasons Change"

FASTWAY Trick Or Treat OST (Columbia) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**