ANATOMY OF HABIT s/t (black) (self-released) lp 15.98
There was a zine produced by power electronic antagonist Mark Solotroff, back in the mid-'90s, called Rape Of The Angels. In one issue, he wrote rather poignantly about two new projects which then were mostly unknown - Brainbombs and Bodychoke, describing them as two sides of the same abject-rock coin with one side aligned with the bacchanalia of the Stooges and the other the melancholy of Joy Division. At the time, Solotroff's principal outlet for his power electronics was Intrinsic Action, which was shameless in appropriating Whitehouse's ultra-violent posturing and searing noise. But since, Solotroff has ventured into a whole host of projects with various aesthetic differences, but all of which maintain an axis of grime, sleaze, transgression, and violence. Anatomy Of Habit is Solotroff's first venture into an outright 'rock' context, after the punishing electronics of Bloodyminded and the bleak coldwave of A Vague Disquiet; and here, it all comes back around to Brainbombs and Bodychoke (although more Bodychoke than Brainbombs) with Anatomy Of Habit. Formed around Solotroff, drummer Dylan Posa (Brise-Glase, Cheer Accident), Greg Ratjczak (Winters In Osaka), Kenny Rasmusen, and Blake Edwards (Vertonen), the band is a steamroller of huge Swans / Neurosis riffs chugging out of crawling rhythms, and lots of bad vibes. Both sides of the wax are sprawling numbers that hypnotically build out of interlocking guitar and bass that steadily builds towards a distorted, crushing climax with dextrous turns toward powerdrone sludge. Solotroff, with his years of barking like William Bennett, has turned into quite a deft vocalist with his baritone in perpetual motion amidst the roiling noise-rock, coming across more like a cross between Jaz Coleman and Michael Gira. Well worth checking out.

ANATOMY OF HABIT s/t (white) (self-released) lp 15.98
Anatomy Of Habit is the noise-rock ensemble revolving around the twisted mind of Mark Solotroff, Chicago's long standing power electronics king known for his numerous projects over the years including Bloodyminded and Intrinsic Action. Accompanying Solotroff is another noise icon, Blake Edwards (aka Vertonen), yet even with these two ear-shattering technicians on board, Anatomy Of Habit's impressive dynamics come from the far more traditional axis of drums, bass, guitar, and vocals, played by Dylan Posa (Cheer Accident, Brise-Glase), Greg Ratajczak (Winters In Osaka), and Kenny Rasmussen. "The Decade Plan" begins with a bright ellipsis of guitars that wouldn't be out of place on a slowcore jam from Codeine or Slint before the band launches into a super heavy riff, girded by metal-bashing percussion only to settle into a assaulting groove to further along Solotroff's tales of sex, violence, and their psychological implications. The brutal brooding continues on "After The Water" amplifying their smashed sound even further through the tranced-out, sludge riffs and subharmonic roar. Think Pelican, Isis, Bodychoke, and of course, Swans. Cut at 45 rpm, these two tracks are fucking massive!

ANCESTORS II (Youth Attack) 7" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We didn't think it was possible, but with their second record, Ancestors have managed to get louder, heavier, more distorted, noisier and weirdly enough groovier. Short and not at all sweet, a bunch of songs jammed onto a 7" (or a cassette if you swing that way), a relentless blown out blast of blackened ultra distorted metallic punk. Or black metal. More likely somewhere right in between.
Not to be confused with THE Ancestors, the stoner rock outfit, Ancestors have a rich punk rock pedigree (Charles Bronson anyone?) but since the old days the sound has moved way further into the black, think Bone Awl, Akitsa, Ash Pool, Malveillance, Zarach'Baal'Tharagh, that sort of relentless blackened crusty metalnoise, furious and frenetic, a wall of chaotic crush infused with blast beats and buzzing riffs. Record number two is so ferocious, it's a wonder it can remain musical, but it does, BIG time, in fact, it's weirdly way more musical than the first record, more melodic, with more of a groove, more slow parts, but that only makes them sound that much more fucked up and brutal.
Hissing white hot distorted fury, the riffs crumble and melt, the drums pound and thrash struggling not to get swallowed up by the churning blackness, and then the vocals, holy fuck, they are SICK, ultra distorted, processed, some sort of inhuman howl / shriek / gurgle, like Abruptum meets Popeye meets Merzbow, but sometimes so warped it almost sounds like it's not in fact a voice, but some sort of malfunctioning synth. Amidst all this blown out noise drenched damage, the guitars occasionally explode into awesome blasts of super technical and angular post punk squiggle, but all blackened up. There are also hooks and catchy melodies, and the songs slow down to offer up a CHUG, or a fragmented groove, before bursting back into action, overall, the whole record manages to sound way more polished and refined, without losing an ounce of vitriol.
The record even finishes off with a weirdly gorgeous bout of midtempo moodiness, but the band manage even with that, to make it sound abrasive and caustic and catchy as fuck.
Beautiful packaging, the 7" comes in a super abstract full color sleeve and insert, printed inner sleeve, very little in the way of information, pressed on thick white vinyl, LIMITED TO 333 COPIES!!! The tape is also limited, and features the same abstract full color artwork, and the same dearth of info...

ANCESTORS II (Tour De Garde) cassette 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We have ONE copy left of this otherwise out of print cassette...
We didn't think it was possible, but with their second record, Ancestors have managed to get louder, heavier, more distorted, noisier and weirdly enough groovier. Short and not at all sweet, a bunch of songs jammed onto a 7" (or a cassette if you swing that way), a relentless blown out blast of blackened ultra distorted metallic punk. Or black metal. More likely somewhere right in between.
Not to be confused with THE Ancestors, the stoner rock outfit, Ancestors have a rich punk rock pedigree (Charles Bronson anyone?) but since the old days the sound has moved way further into the black, think Bone Awl, Akitsa, Ash Pool, Malveillance, Zarach'Baal'Tharagh, that sort of relentless blackened crusty metalnoise, furious and frenetic, a wall of chaotic crush infused with blast beats and buzzing riffs. Record number two is so ferocious, it's a wonder it can remain musical, but it does, BIG time, in fact, it's weirdly way more musical than the first record, more melodic, with more of a groove, more slow parts, but that only makes them sound that much more fucked up and brutal.
Hissing white hot distorted fury, the riffs crumble and melt, the drums pound and thrash struggling not to get swallowed up by the churning blackness, and then the vocals, holy fuck, they are SICK, ultra distorted, processed, some sort of inhuman howl / shriek / gurgle, like Abruptum meets Popeye meets Merzbow, but sometimes so warped it almost sounds like it's not in fact a voice, but some sort of malfunctioning synth. Amidst all this blown out noise drenched damage, the guitars occasionally explode into awesome blasts of super technical and angular post punk squiggle, but all blackened up. There are alos hooks and catchy melodies, and the songs slow down to offer up a CHUG, or a fragmented groove, before bursting back into action, overall, the whole record manages to sound way more polished and refined, without losing an ounce of vitriol.
The record even finishes off with a weirdly gorgeous bout of midtempo moodiness, but the band manage even with that, to make it sound abrasive and caustic and catchy as fuck.
Beautiful packaging, the 7" comes in a super abstract full color sleeve and insert, printed inner sleeve, very little in the way of information, pressed on thick white vinyl, LIMITED TO 333 COPIES!!! The tape is also limited, and features the same abstract full color artwork, and the same dearth of info...

ANCESTORS In Dreams And Time (Tee Pee) cd 14.98
Latest from these LA psychedelic space-prog heavies, whose sounds has definitely gotten more polished and melodic, but thankfully no less heavy and druggy, and in fact, may have gotten even proggier. Which as far as we're concerned is never a bad thing.
The sound on In Dreams And Time is not that far removed from their last, Of Sound Mind: crushing riffs, bombastic drumming, crooned gruff vox, and LOTS of keyboards; swirling walls of sounds, massive production, intricate arrangements, dreamy angelic female vox, and of course looooong songs, with a sound that slips deftly from Neurosis like churn, to Voivod-y math metal, and from blissed out FX heavy Hawkwind style blowouts, to slow build majestic post rock epics a la Godspeed, with stops in between for haunting balladry, and full on planetarium lightshow psychedelia, all tangled up into a dizzying concoction that these guys definitely make all their own. The first thing we thought listening to this recently, was that it bears a bit of a resemblance to the new WAY less metal Baroness, but if anything, these guys might even do that sound better, not sacrificing any heaviness, but managing to push their sounds in all kinds of non-metal directions, the opener an organ heavy bit of mathy psych metal that is as melodic as it is heavy and dense, before slipping into some dark. dolorous piano driven minimalism, which quickly explodes into a weird bit of super heavy, but still melodic dirgery, the song swinging back and forth between the haunting hush and the soaring howl. Later the sound gets downright prog, swirls of organ, long stretches of shimmery space rock lope, clouds of effects, the melodies minor key and melancholic, but rife with blasts of furious riffery and near metallic heft.
The rest of the record seasaws between headbanging psychedelic prog metal and more melodic post metal heaviness, with "Running In Circles" finding the perfect middle ground, the vocal harmonies and soaring majestic melodies wreathed in some serious heaviness, which leads directly into the 19 minute closer, which is a killer psych rock headtrip, stretched way out, droney and druggy, super hypnotic, lush and textured, a little cinematic coda near the end, after nearly seventeen minutes of the kind of space-psych that fans of White Hills, the Heads, Lumerians, Mugstar, Assemble Head, Farflung, and the like should flip over.
MPEG Stream: "Whispers"
MPEG Stream: "Running In Circles"
MPEG Stream: "First Light"

ANCESTORS In Dreams And Time (Tee Pee) lp 21.00
Latest from these LA psychedelic space-prog heavies, whose sounds has definitely gotten more polished and melodic, but thankfully no less heavy and druggy, and in fact, may have gotten even proggier. Which as far as we're concerned is never a bad thing.
The sound on In Dreams And Time is not that far removed from their last, Of Sound Mind: crushing riffs, bombastic drumming, crooned gruff vox, and LOTS of keyboards; swirling walls of sounds, massive production, intricate arrangements, dreamy angelic female vox, and of course looooong songs, with a sound that slips deftly from Neurosis like churn, to Voivod-y math metal, and from blissed out FX heavy Hawkwind style blowouts, to slow build majestic post rock epics a la Godspeed, with stops in between for haunting balladry, and full on planetarium lightshow psychedelia, all tangled up into a dizzying concoction that these guys definitely make all their own. The first thing we thought listening to this recently, was that it bears a bit of a resemblance to the new WAY less metal Baroness, but if anything, these guys might even do that sound better, not sacrificing any heaviness, but managing to push their sounds in all kinds of non-metal directions, the opener an organ heavy bit of mathy psych metal that is as melodic as it is heavy and dense, before slipping into some dark. dolorous piano driven minimalism, which quickly explodes into a weird bit of super heavy, but still melodic dirgery, the song swinging back and forth between the haunting hush and the soaring howl. Later the sound gets downright prog, swirls of organ, long stretches of shimmery space rock lope, clouds of effects, the melodies minor key and melancholic, but rife with blasts of furious riffery and near metallic heft.
The rest of the record seasaws between headbanging psychedelic prog metal and more melodic post metal heaviness, with "Running In Circles" finding the perfect middle ground, the vocal harmonies and soaring majestic melodies wreathed in some serious heaviness, which leads directly into the 19 minute closer, which is a killer psych rock headtrip, stretched way out, droney and druggy, super hypnotic, lush and textured, a little cinematic coda near the end, after nearly seventeen minutes of the kind of space-psych that fans of White Hills, the Heads, Lumerians, Mugstar, Assemble Head, Farflung, and the like should flip over.
MPEG Stream: "Whispers"
MPEG Stream: "Running In Circles"
MPEG Stream: "First Light"

ANCESTORS Neptune With Fire (North Atlantic Sound / Tee Pee) cd 14.98
Not to be confused with the -other- Ancestors, the noise drenched, blackened lo-fi, blown out raw as fuck punk metal outfit, no, this is something all together more stoned and groovy, spaced out and ROCK.
Don't know too much about these guys other than they're a 5 piece from LA, and man can they riff with the best of 'em. Two looooong songs, one nearly 17 minutes, the other almost 22, each a sprawling stoner rock psychedelic groovescape. Think Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Hawkwind, Earthless, Dead Meadow, Acrimony, Los Natas. The songs are less proper songs, and more epic jams, the actual verses and chorus and vocals relegated to popping up here and there, while the majority of the song is spent rocking the fuck out, unfurling majestic sun baked soundscapes of riff and groove and killer leads EVERYWHERE. Occasionally, the songs bliss out, and get all tripped out and druggy, with soft Santana-y guitar squalls, and tons of effects, but those parts inevitably build and build until suddenly the song is back in full swing, the band lurching and lumbering and grooving relentlessly. This is the sort of jam band we can get behind, epic heaviness and endless riffery.
The second track is almost Melvins-y at the beginning, howled vocals over slow churning guitar grind, before slipping back into something way more sixties and psychedelic sounding. Like the super kick ass outro of every killer space rock song all stitched into one epic mega-jam. Near the end, the track blisses out and transforms into a loping moody dirge, with reverbed guitars and haunting female vocals way off in the distance, finally kicking back into gear for the last few minutes, a whirring minor key organ making the groove seem melancholy and strangely funereal.
Killer stuff for sure. Any one into heavy heavy post rock, stoner rock, riff heavy jams, sweet leads, or ANY or any of the above mentioned bands will most definitely dig this.
Housed in a sweet digipak with awesome artwork by Arik Moonhawk Roper!
MPEG Stream: "Orcus"
MPEG Stream: "Neptune With Fire"

ANCIENT SKY s/t (The Perpetual Motion Machine) lp 11.98

AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD So Divided (Interscope) cd 12.98
On their latest musical mission And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have come bearing a mixed bag o' unexpected accoutrements. There's a bit of (almost) everything including some retro pop, power pop, '70s glitter rock and roots rock. Clearly they've left their hungry, volatile post-punk years behind... y'know, back when they used to trash their gear. Now, we're honestly not pulling some indie rock snobbery here when we say that with each album since they signed to a major label, it has seemed the band have seemed a bit lost, grappling for an identity. On the other hand, it could be due to the numerous lineup changes. Or maybe they've known exactly what they've been doin' all along, and they're intentionally dodging classification. What do you think? The result though is music that sounds like a lot of other artists past and present. What comes to mind when we think of And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, is probably completely different from what you might be thinking of! Very befuddling. That said, in our opinion, this one works well as an enjoyable pop/rock melange... albeit not as specifically an AYWKUBTTOD album. The lead-off track is very earthy, almost-country rock. Then there's a bit of seemingly tabla inspired percussion on the third track. Further on in the album, there's some downright Elton John Yellow Brick Road flamboyance in the number titled "Life", followed by the very Sgt. Pepper-esque marching peppiness of "Eight Days Of Hell". The undercurrent throughout is a hazy, high powered rock that's steeped with boyish emotion but not 'emo' per se. Think: Superchunk's power pop energy with Swervedriver's uh, drive. Really good! Still, you'd never guess this was AYWKUBTTOD. We sure didn't.
MPEG Stream: "Life"
MPEG Stream: "Eight Days Of Hell"

AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD Source Tags & Codes (Interscope) cd 14.98
Following their absolutely dismal major label debut EP is this full length. We poke at it gingerly. Perhaps the EP was just a minor misguided faltering? Trying to appeal to a wider audience with tentative trials in emo-melodicism? I'd hoped they'd regained the firepower of "Madonna" or their self-titled debut (ah, 'twas such in-your-face rock thrashing and howling - yeah, it was a schtick, but it was one they did well) and feared they'd resigned themselves to a nosedive into supreme blanditude. Alas, although this album is a marked improvement on the EP, it's a pallid ghost of their former fiery selves. Sort of comes across as an uncomfortable, kinda confused Girls Against Boys meets Superchunk. While this new direction may win them some new fans, it just might alienate a greater number of their old ones. Disappointing.
RealAudio clip: "It Was There That I Saw You"
RealAudio clip: "Source Tags & Codes"

AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD Worlds Apart (Interscope) cd 14.98

ANDERSON, BRUCE Bresson (Petit Mal Music) 3" cd-r 5.98
A mighty fine collection of improvisorial acoustic guitar solos from Bruce Anderson of MX-80 fame. That said, Anderson's solo guitar work is miles away from the sharp, incessant cacophony of the mutant-punk of MX-80 from back in the day. It's more of a Loren Mazzacane Connors feel, but played on an acoustic guitar with classical tunings. Or perhaps as our regular customer Monte opined, "sounds like Derek Bailey, if he learned to play melodically." Yeah, that's it! Anyway, with the quiet, rather ascetic nature of these recordings, we're guessing that the reference in the title is to Robert Bresson, the new wave French film director. The dulcet plucks and slow deliberate pacing of Anderson's work would certainly make for a complementary soundtrack to any number of Bresson's films even with their noted lack of musical accompaniments. Lovely stuff, and limited to just 75 copies.
MPEG Stream: "Bresson"

ANDERSON, BRUCE No Visible Scars (Petit Mal) 3"cd-r 5.98
Bruce Anderson wandered into the store a few weeks ago, commenting in reference to Scott Walker's new Bish Bosch album that he would much rather experience subversion through beauty than something willfully ugly. While he's quite appreciative of Mr. Walker's art (in fact he has some amusing anecdotes about seeing him as a hired gun for some garage band touring the states back in his youth, wondering who that beautiful bassist with the booming voice was), the art of subversion through beauty is an apt description of where Anderson has taken his solo guitar work. Of course, Bruce Anderson was the frontman for the seminal Bay Area art-punk outfit MX-80, and this disc follows suit with the last couple of semi-improvised recordings that Anderson has graced us with. The angularity of MX-80 is here, but the tones he gets from his guitar are rounded and rich, suspended with a sustained drone that acts as a halo on his slowly paced plucks and strums. Sonically similar to Loren Mazzacane Connors, John Fahey, and Derek Bailey, and laced with a lovely, profound sadness. Limited to 75 copies.
MPEG Stream: "No Visible Scars"

ANDERSON, BRUCE The Inherent Beauty Of Hopelessness (self-released) cd 9.98
Bruce Anderson is best known as the guitarist / frontman for Bay Area seminal avant-punk band MX-80, whose records back in the early '80s situated themselves on the suitably angular Ralph Records - home to The Residents, Snake Finger, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Tuxedomoon, etc. This 2008 composition - possibly just released, possibly never distributed until now - is a long-form, multi-tracked acoustic guitar exploration. Upon first listen, Fahey, Loren Mazzacane Connors, and Tom Carter seem the obvious references for these lilting elliptical arrangements; but as the piece develops, Anderson is insistent on hitting purposefully sharp notes, which atonally register thanks to his panned stereo distribution of layered tracks. As result, The Inherent Beauty Of Hopelessness begins to mutate into a Jandekian aesthetic of warped raga-blues, as if the Jandek standard "European Jewel" found itself tempered and elongated into a quiet, 40-minute epic.
MPEG Stream: "The Inherent Beauty Of Hopelessness"

ANDERSON, LAURIE Big Science - 25th Anniversary Edition (Nonesuch) cd 15.98
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of this inimitable New York avant garde artist's landmark album, the fine folks at the Nonesuch label have remastered and reissued it... and it sounds as mysterious and beautiful as it did the first time around! The unforgettable eight minute long single "O Superman" made a surprise showing at number 2 on the U.K. pop charts back in 1981, and the album from which it came left its own indelible mark on many of us here.
The music and spoken word pieces that comprise the album were actually drawn from Anderson's expansive eight hour long performance art stage production United States Live (which was performed over the course of two evenings). Drawing on disparate elements and themes, commentaries and critiques about life in America, Anderson's Big Science is at once bold, imaginative and artful. Dryly humorous and chillingly bleak. Starkly minimal and deeply moving. Playful and cerebral. Thoughtful and thought provoking. Challenging and engaging.
Keep in mind, the short audio samples here really don't do the whole work justice. This album should be experienced in one complete distraction-free listening session. One of Cup's all time favorite albums, she recommends you stop what you are doing right now. Big Science beckons.
Oh yes, and we should mention that this special edition includes the haunting "O Superman" music video and a (unnecessary in our opinion) bonus track "Walk The Dog".
MPEG Stream: "From The Air"
MPEG Stream: "Big Science"

ANDERSON, LAURIE Homeland (Nonesuch) cd 24.00
A legend and pioneer in not only performance and video art but also in how to intertwine those arts with music in a mystifying, engaging, confusing, question-raising, mind-blowing way. We could go on and on about the people Laurie Anderson's work has had a huge influence on. Fever Ray, Tracy & The Plastics, Miranda July, Sadie Benning, Oneohtrix Point Never, Planningtorock, Bjork, Kathleen Hanna, Gang Gang Dance, etc. She really is one of the few people who has been successful in merging the worlds of performance art and music, with captivating and breathtaking results. Her 1982 debut, Big Science, remains for many of us as one of our favorite records of all time. Decades later, Homeland taps into a very similar approach to sound as that iconic album. It's a record that really encapsulates what Anderson does best which is to both provoke, confuse and create an overall feel that operates in a different dimension.
While Anderson is mostly first thought of as a performance artist and thinker, it should not be overlooked what an incredible violinist she is, not to mention composer, and pianist too, always getting such interesting sounds from her keyboard. And she has such a keen sense for bringing together a wide range of instrumentation and vocal deliveries to create such striking moods. On Homeland she enlists the amazing voices of Tuvan throat singers as well as a great cast of players including Eyvind Kang, John Zorn, Kieran Hebden, her husband Lou Reed, and Antony, who contributes the most ethereal vocals on one of the albums stand out moments, the song "Strange Perfumes".
Homeland is a meditation on American life over the last decade. It really creates this insular zone in which you get completely entranced by its sounds and words and lose touch with everything around you. It's best to listen to this really loud and when you are in a place to fully surrender and be completely present. It's not a throw-on-when-you're-hanging-out-with-friends-and-talking kind of record, but when you blast it on headphones the next time you're on an airplane or while sitting on a long bus/train ride you will be so thankful to have this record for the intense and beautiful spaces it transports you to. So awesome to know that some artists stay as great as they were when they first made their impact on culture and continue to challenge themselves and make such stunning work.
MPEG Stream: "Strange Perfumes"
MPEG Stream: "Transitory Life"
MPEG Stream: "Falling"

ANDERSON, MARISA Golden Hour (Mississippi) lp 11.98
**MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT**
We usually hate when reissue labels put out something contemporary, often it's some modern band that's making music in a similar vein, even more often it's a friend of the label, done out of obligation, and in both cases, most of the time, said release sticks out like a sore thumb. There are exceptions, and labels with great taste, can be trusted to make exceptions when they're called for. And Mississippi is definitely on of those labels we implicitly trust. In the past, they've peppered their mind blowing catalog of killer reissues with records by Spooky Dance Band (post Reeks And The Wrecks), PDX punk rockers Sad Horse, longtime aQ fave Mirah, and now a Portland based guitarist named Marisa Anderson.
Anderson plays guitar and lap steel, and offers up a dozen gorgeous tracks of her own particular brand of Appalachia, from the noisy, reverbed, chaotic and crunchy, almost psychedelic sounding "Drop Down", to the more traditionally folky "The Night Before Last", her playing is fluid and emotional, dexterous and original, channeling the spirits of the past (Fahey, Kottke, etc.) but infusing them with the spirit of today, and her own soul and feeling, and the results are indeed really quite nice. So lovely, sun dappled back porch guitar music, with the occasional foray into something a bit darker and stormier, WAY recommended. And you can now add Anderson to the elite roll call of Post-Fahey guitar gods (and now GODDESSES!) along side James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Richard Bishop, Ilyas Ahmed, Matt Baldwin, and the rest.

ANDERSON, MARISA The Golden Hour (self-released) cd 8.98
The Golden Hour originally came out on Mississippi Records, a fantastic disc of improvised solo guitar from a Portland based guitarist named Marisa Anderson. We dug it so much, we had her perform like at aQ a couple days ago, and WOW. Not only was she super cool, but seeing her play live was even more impressive, and got us newly obsessed with the record. And while she was here, she also left us some cds of The Golden Hour, which she released herself. And if for some reason you've yet to hear it, do yourself a favor and pick one up! You won't be sorry. Here's what we had to say about The Golden Hour when we first reviewed the lp (which is why the intro is about Mississippi, even though the cd is self released, but it's relevant, really!):
We usually hate when reissue labels put out something contemporary, often it's some modern band that's making music in a similar vein, even more often it's a friend of the label, done out of obligation, and in both cases, most of the time, said release sticks out like a sore thumb. There are exceptions, and labels with great taste, can be trusted to make exceptions when they're called for. And Mississippi is definitely one of those labels we implicitly trust. In the past, they've peppered their mind blowing catalog of killer reissues with records by Spooky Dance Band (post Reeks And The Wrecks), PDX punk rockers Sad Horse, longtime aQ fave Mirah, and now a Portland based guitarist named Marisa Anderson.
Anderson plays guitar and lap steel, and offers up a dozen gorgeous tracks of her own particular brand of Appalachia, from the noisy, reverbed, chaotic and crunchy, almost psychedelic sounding "Drop Down", to the more traditionally folky "The Night Before Last", her playing is fluid and emotional, dexterous and original, channeling the spirits of the past (Fahey, Kottke, etc.) but infusing them with the spirit of today, and her own soul and feeling, and the results are indeed really quite nice. So lovely, sun dappled back porch guitar music, with the occasional foray into something a bit darker and stormier, WAY recommended. And you can now add Anderson to the elite roll call of Post-Fahey guitar gods (and now GODDESSES!) along side James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Richard Bishop, Ilyas Ahmed, Matt Baldwin, and the rest.
RealAudio clip: "Drop Down"
MPEG Stream: "The Night Before Last"
MPEG Stream: "First Light"
MPEG Stream: "In The Valley Of The Sun"

ANDREW W.K. Close Calls With Brick Walls / Mother of Mankind (Steev Mike) 2cd 17.98

ANDREW W.K. Girls Own Juice (Bulb) cd ep 9.98
Pretty insanely catchy cock rock, super anthemic and dumb, as only the Bulb label (and now, we're told, Rick Rubin's American label!) can provide. Skull art on cover, tight pants, greasy hair, songtitles like "We Want Fun" and "Music or Die". Somewhere between the Ramones and Van Halen lies Andrew W.K., who we have to say is pretty sexy and 20 years old (http://andrewwk.com). If you can handle the slight cheese factor, this record is so fucking awesome. Windy's new favorite record to rock out to in the car .
RealAudio clip: "Girls Own Juice"

ANDREW W.K. I Get Wet (Mercury) cd 10.98
Finally available domestically and at a much friendlier price! Here's what we wrote about the import...
Ah, Andrew W.K... Hard rockin' heartthrob. Vice Magazine mascot. Crushworthy object of Windy's adoration and Andee's guilty 'rock' pleasure. Bloody-faced and beeyootiful. Andrew plays pretty insanely catchy cock rock: super anthemic, major key, kickass and dumb (in a good way). He lies somewhere between the Ramones, Rocket from the Crypt, and Van Halen. And yeah, all the sounds are variations on a theme -- he basically writes the same song over and over with the same three chords, but what a song! This will have you air guitaring all over the place and bouncing in your seat.
RealAudio clip: "Party Hard"
RealAudio clip: "Girls Own Love"

ANDREW W.K. The Wolf (Island) cd 14.98
The latest dose of super high energy power-chord-laden music has dropped from the sexy Andrew W.K.. If you haven't heard this guy before, try the soundclips -- it's ridiculous how anthemic, epic and positive such ultra-simple exhortations like "you're doing all right", "don't ever give up", "tear it up all night", "I love music", etc etc can be! It's kind of amazing that his message lies more with the positivity his music makes you *feel*, rather than lyrics that are about anything in particular (cos, um, they're not). More keyboard driven than previous efforts, this is a ridiculously fun listen, if a little dumb, er, in a good way. There's even a full-on lighters-aloft love ballad. Party.
MPEG Stream: "Long Live the Party"
MPEG Stream: "Really in Love"

ANDREWS, MICHAEL Hand On String (Elgin Park) cd + book 14.98
Wonderful! Hand On String is the solo debut album from this man-of-many-hats who composed the scores for the thinking teen's movie Donnie Darko (yes, he's the one responsible for the cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World") and Miranda July's acclaimed film Me And You And Everyone We Know as well as music for the beloved (but sadly defunct) TV series Freaks And Geeks. All signs certainly point to a reserved seat in AQ's favorites zone, and after a first spin of his first solo outing, we can say he doesn't disappoint. Although those film/tv soundtracks were definitely rife with 70s/80s/90s pop culture references, Hand On String steers clear of hip fads and ironic touchstones. This is a much more personal and timeless work that not only sets itself apart from Andrews' filmwork but also his other musical pursuits (namely in the Greyboy Allstars). Andrews' achingly sensitive vocal delivery has stirred comparisons to that of Elliott Smith, Robert Wyatt or Pink Floyd. Warm and gentle and slightly on the verge of collapse. Ah yes, very good.
Plus as an added treat, the digipak and accompanying paperback book come festooned with quirky watercolor paintings by Geoff McFetridge.
Psst, if you need more of Andrews' music, we've also just received the soundtrack cd to the abovementioned Miranda July film!
MPEG Stream: "See Me Plain"
MPEG Stream: "Sweeping, Cleaning And Organizing"

ANDROSACE Demo (self-released) cd-r 4.98
A friend of aQ has been travelling / living in China, and recently sent us some records by bands he discovered and dug and thought we would dig too. Elsewhere on this list you'll find the noisepop shitrock duo Pairs, who we've sort of flipped for, and then there's this, a demo from a group called Androsace, who while based in China, actually boast an international membership, with their co-ed ranks made up of musicians from China, as well as Italy and France, and their sound, well, the band actually describe it as 'minority grunge' (not sure whether they're joking or not), but it's maybe not that far off the mark, the music sinewy and yeah a bit grungy, the band's most distinctive feature being the female lead vocals, a sultry, witchy croon, that slips into a fierce raspy and abrasive wail, the guitars usually following suit, getting downright metallic, and yeah, grungy, we're reminded of groups like Dickless, and L7, although the band definitely have some punk rock / garage rock going on. But the grunge thing is undeniable, especially when they whip out the wah wah, and it's like some lost Sub Pop single from the nineties, which as far as we're concerned is most definitely a good thing. We also saw a review online that described them as sounding like a female fronted Motorhead, and while that sounds pretty appealing, not sure it's totally accurate, but once in a while it does come close, it is heavy, and metallic in places, and for sure noisy, and when the band erupt into grinding distorted punk, kick out the metal jams, we can see why they're one of the more hyped underground bands in China...
Packaged in nice homemade screened, folded brown paper sleeves, with all the song titles and other info written on each and every one by hand.
MPEG Stream: "Warm Pee"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Laughter"

ANDUIN Forever Waiting (SMTG Ltd) lp+cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Better known (or perhaps more realistically, not really known at all) as the man behind aQ faves Souvenir's Young America, Jonathan Lee steps out on his own, trading in his brooding harmonica flecked metallic post rock, for something a little less post rock, a lot less metallic, but no less brooding OR harmonica flecked. The thing with SYA that really set them apart from so many others in the ever expanding army of Neur-Isis clones, is that they approached their sound from a pretty unique direction, of all those bands they are definitely the least metal, instead infusing their sound with plenty of dusty Morricone-isms (due in no small part to the harmonica) and a desert-y almost soundtracky vibe akin to Scenic or Calexico. It's still dynamic and epic and sweeping, but with more
twang, more subtle shading, slide guitar, just more evocative in general.
The opening track of Lee's first solo foray starts out right away with harmonica, maybe the same harmonica as on the SYA record since the liner notes explain that those harmonica's are sampled, but the result is much the same, the instrumentation may be different, a slow whirling churn of textured low end, and buried muted melodies, but that mournful harmonica over the top brings it right back to some barren windswept street, the sky overhead clear, the sun beating down, everything cloaked in a layer of dust. This is drone music, or dark ambience, but Lee demonstrates his unique sonic approach expands well beyond his rock band.
The second track eschews the harmonica, but is no less cinematic, weird melodic fragments, drift on thick swells of low end, a strange melody is twisted and draped over the top, the track peppered with strange sounds, like buttons being pushed, or tapes being rewound, or splashing water, hard to say what, but it adds a strange haunting texture to the already mysterious soundscape. The harmonica returns one track later, and we're once again transported right back to that lonely stretch of desert. This time though, there is some skittery rhythm, and another layer of low end, all rubbery and warbly, shimmering beneath the surface. The rest of the record wanders similar paths, exploring equally haunting soundscapes, crumbling distorted guitar, smeared into a soft drone beneath a lilting minor key melody, lurching processed rhythms floating in stretches of hiss and shimmer, deeeeeeep bass rumbles and pulses, peppered with fragmented melodies, one track transforms into a sound not that far removed from the Souvenir's mothership, slow motion guitar grind, skittery drums, moaning distant melodies, all wound into a super tense slow burning epic.
Two tracks here feature guests, the first is a name most aQ customers are probably familiar with by now, Jasper TX, whose contribution is quite subtle, adding extra low end, introducing some subtle textural chop and shuffle, adding a bit of an Oval vibe to an already murky underwater drift, the other is another aQ fave, Xela, aka Type records head honcho John Twells, who does a serious number on his track, adding all manner of shortwave interference, warm smears of hiss and static, haunting disembodied vocals, thick distorted crumbling guitars, verging on a Nadja vibe partway through, before slipping back into the mesmerizing moodiness of the rest of the record. Definitely not a run of the mill drone, or ambient record. Anduin definitely puts about 90 percent of cd-r floorcore dronemusic to shame, this drone approached like songs instead of sounds, this is the sort of record that blossoms with more listens, headphones are mandatory, dig deeper, get lost, let the sounds swallow you whole, carry you off. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.
Packaged in a beautiful handscreened sleeve, and includes a cd as well (not a cd-r) for your iTunes or Discman.
MPEG Stream: "For Francis Bacon (Part 1)"
MPEG Stream: "For Francis Bacon (Part 2) ((Xela Mix))"

ANDY'S CAR CRASH Formes (Pandemonium) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pandemonium, home of AQ faves Hint, Double Nelson, and Guapo come through again with the curiously named Andy's Car Crash. Seriously fucked mix of musique concrete, jazz, noise and post rock. Lots of hypnotic rocking, lots of click and pop and buzz, lots of super intense weirdness. Recommended.

ANENZEPHALIA Noehaem (Tesco) cd 17.98
This is quite possibly one of the scariest records we have ever heard. It's occasionally pretty, occasionally noisy, but always haunting and pregnant with the possibility of tragedy. Not sure how or why this particular record evokes such a strong reaction, but this most recent record by German ambient noise terrorists Anenzephalia pushes all of those buttons. Feeling like you're being followed, sensing you're about to die, knowing that there is nothing you can do about anything...powerful stuff.
First there are rumbling strings, reverberating in vast expanses of near silence. Like a twentieth century classical score to a horror movie, Lustmord plays Ligeti, with a dark sweeping romanticism tempered by slight unease. Soon, we're subsumed by a dense field of distorted crackle, over a simple militaristic clunk, like a mysterious stranger trudging up a flight of rickety stairs, while a super distorted voice buried in the shortwave struggles desperately to reach across from the other side. The record continues on in a similar fashion, a hair raising, lugubrious crawl through massive washes of low end throb, surrounded by a cracking field of interference, wth random distant clanks and clatter, all coalescing into a barely discernable rhythmic pulse, that mesmerises and leads you deeper. This sounds like the soundtrack to the scariest haunted house ever, but unlike normal 'haunted house records', Noehaem would have the neighborhood children having coronaries, soiling themselves, and sent soon afterwards to asylums to live out the rest of their catatonic days. This is some dark and doomy, creepy and dreary, and gorgeously frightening stuff.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

ANENZEPHALIA s/t (Death Factory) cd 17.98

ANGEL Singles Collection 1 (Lilith) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "On & On"
MPEG Stream: "Rock And Rollers"
MPEG Stream: "Mirrors"

ANGEL Singles Collection 2 (Lilith) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "On The Rocks"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Leave Me Lonely"
MPEG Stream: "Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore"

ANGEL 'IN HEAVY SYRUP s/t (Subterranean Records) cd 12.98
Angel 'In Heavy Syrup were an all female Japanese psychedelic rock trio who flourished in the '90s, as you may know. We were always big fans, and a bunch of us here still consider ourselves lucky to have seen these girls live at the Kilowatt in SF, when they came over to play in the US one time in the mid '90s - an amazing show. The group released 4 albums, plus a "best of" compilation, but we had only ever reviewed their last one, IV, 'cause their other three albums proper pretty much predated our aQ list. And we thought they were all out of print, most of 'em having been released by the now sadly defunct Japanese label Alchemy. But, recently we discovered that one our suppliers still has copies - while they last - of the 1992 domestic US edition of Angel 'In Heavy Syrup's self-titled debut!!! Good news for any fan of the band who's been looking for it for years, but also good news for ANYONE who would enjoy some absolutely gorgeous, melodic and moody tripped out psych rock. It's a mix of dreamy balladry and all-out storms of distortodelic heaviness, breathy female vocals and swirling psych-guitar solos. The Angel 'In Heavy Syrup girls had their melancholic, timeless sound dialed in from the get-go, and there are two (uncredited) covers on here that help illuminate some of their vintage influences - the first a pretty one called "Why Don't You Take A Sight-Seeing Bus With Me?" written by Japanese folk chanteuse Morita Doji (familiar to fans of Angel 'In Heavy Syrup / Hijokaidan / Subvert Blaze side project Slap Happy Humphrey), the other being "Underground Railroad" by great US sixties garage psych act The Lollipop Shoppe (aka Fred Cole's band long before Dead Moon!).
This US version of Angel 'In Heavy Syrup's debut also comes with a lengthy bonus track not found on the original 1991 Japanese Alchemy edition, the nearly 12 minute epic "Crazy Blues", taken from Taste Of Wild West 3, an incredibly rare 1990 compilation that also featured the Boredoms, Omoide Hatoba, Solmania, Hijokaidan, Incapacitants, and UFO Or Die.
A highly recommended find, for sure! (Also - interesting to note how much more seemingly solid and sturdy both jewel cases and compact discs themselves were made 20 years ago, compared to nowadays.)
MPEG Stream: "S.G.E (Space Giant Eye)"
MPEG Stream: "Why Don't You Take A Sight-Seeing Bus With Me?"
MPEG Stream: "My Dream"

ANGEL EYES ...And For A Roof A Sky Full Of Stars (Underground Communique) cd ep 6.98
Another awesome sonic document from Angel Eyes, one of our favorite of the new breed of metallic post rock outfits, a la Pelican, Isis, Minsk, Conifer etc...
This latest two song ep, gives us more of what we loved about their debut Something To Do With Death, long (two tracks that sound like movements of a bigger whole, one 16+ minutes, the other 10 minutes) slow building epics, spacious and expansive, dark brooding drifts that grow into roiling crashing chaotic heaviness. Whereas a lot of these sorts of band seem to have begun drifting one way or the other, ditching much of the metal in favor of a more ambient dark post rock sound, or alternately ditching a lot of the atmospherics and getting more and more metal, these guys still manage to deftly combine the two. The slow builds are super intense, gorgeously shimmering, the guitars fuzzy blurs, the drums a distant shuffle, the heavy parts are HEAVY, the guitars churning and downtuned and distorted, the vocals an anguished metallic wail, but even when Angel Eyes are at their heaviest, their sound is still streaked with gorgeous melodies, and sweeping cinematic heft, like Neurosis scoring the denouement of some amazing epic adventure film, it's almost impossible to not envision huge walls of flame engulfing whole cities, or a skyline gradually collapsing, or a planet crumbling and drifting apart, so totally evocative and intense and moody and emotional, just the way it should be. And the slow parts are gorgeous, brooding and darkly dreamy, a bit of Morricone twang, a bit of Calexico, a bit of Scenic, Godspeed of course, the various spidery melodies seeming to transform and become entangled before our very eyes, like the soundtrack to a time lapse film of the end of the world.
The second 'movement' is the more intense, like a more metal Explosions In The Sky, only allowing the listener a few brief respites between soaring sonic dramatics, the guitars keening and wailing over shimmering fields of sizzling cymbals and dense squalls of tribal pound, the melodies haunting and emotional, all woven into the roiling metallic swirl, eventually fading into a droning whirring fade out...
Packaged in a cool fold over ecopak, all hand silkscreened, the lyrics printed on the inside.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"

ANGEL EYES Something To Do With Death (Underground Communique) cd 9.98
Angel Eyes are another band ready to make their mark in the blossoming post rock / sludge metal scene, and manage to do just that with Something To Do With Death, making -that- sound completely their own. So much so that upon hearing this disc we freaked out and immediately got in touch with the label and got a bunch of copies for the store. The general vibe is one we've come to love, the slow building brooding moodiness, a creeping post rock slow burn, minor key guitar, distant droney shimmer, simple martial percussion, building in intensity, the opening track could be Mogwai or Godspeed, with its understated majesty and about-to-explode urgency. Track two, the awesomely titled "By The Time He Was My Age, Orson Welles Had Made Citizen Kane", starts off with more loping post rockiness, but quickly lurches into some seriously fierce Neurosisy sludge, but within the roiling churning downtuned brutality, lurks plenty of mournful melody and subtle sonic shadings. Making this more than just heavy, more a an emotionally loaded ferocity. In fact each song is a expansive and beautifully convoluted journey, from massive pummel, to dreamy shuffle, to tribal ambience, to blown out guitarnoise and back again. So fucking good. Obviously, anyone who digs Isis, Pelican, Godspeed, Tides, Conifer, Minsk, Mouth Of The Architect, Rosetta, Minsk or any of the current crop of postrockmetal outfits NEEDS THIS NOW!
MPEG Stream: "Two Too Many"
MPEG Stream: "By The Time He Was My Age, Orson Welles Had Made Citizen Kane"

ANGEL EYES / A FINE BOAT, THAT COFFIN! split (Concub ine) lp 14.98
Bands should really label the side of their records. Especially if it's a split and the band they're sharing the split with has a somewhat similar sound. Similar to how bands that sound like SUNNO))) or Nadja should definitely label the speed a record is meant to be played at, since it often sounds equally good at both (or all three!) speeds.
So we were super psyched to finally get a new record from one of our favorite post rock metal combos, Angel Eyes, and we threw it on, and while it definitely sounded similar, it seemed like a lot had changed. The sound was a strange constantly shifting melange of loping metallic post rock, lurching caustic grind and skittery jazziness. We were pretty sure we had mistakenly put the other band's side on, when they shifted gears and kicked out some seriously epic blackened screamo-y Neur-Isis style jams, and then we weren't so sure. Eventually we did figure it out, especially once we laid our ears on the side long single track epic on the flipside, but we did decide that we did indeed dig this crazy band with the crazy name A Fine Boat, That Coffin!, who definitely take the post rock metal thing and tangle it all up with screamo and grind, although we could do without the bits of jazziness, thankfully those are brief. But for sure, heavy and chaotic and epic good stuff.
But flipping the record over, we suddenly felt right at home again (boy are we gonna feel dumb after all this if that side WAS in fact Angel Eyes), with a sound both warm and lush, heavy and crushing, brooding, pounding minor key melancholic slow building heaviness, epic and majestic, anguished howled vocals over super melodic metallic crush, monstrous and pummeling and almost orchestral at times, laced with cool expanses of shimmery, dreamlike low end guitar, streaks of glistening feedback, chiming bell like melodies, eventually slipping into a super minimal drift, all reverby and echoey, a woozy soft focus slowcore sprawl, that eventually builds and builds and explodes into a super epic emo metalpsych blow out finale. These guys are so good. One of the few bands, amidst the many who now practice this sort of thing, that should have the big boys shaking in their boots.
Cool gatefold sleeves, a bit confusing which band is on which side, but you'll figure it out, and both bands kick ass, but Angel Eyes' sidelong track is worth the price of admission. LIMITED of course, we got our copies direct from the band, their LAST copies, which means when we run out we'll have to get more from the label in Europe, so if that happens, please be patient while we wait for more to arrive from overseas, and needless to say (but since that's the way we roll we'll say it anyway) ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY RECOMMENDED!

ANGEL FACE Wolf City Blues (ApacheFilm / TransLoveEnergy) 3cd 49.00
Woah. Just when you thought all the "long lost" bands have already been unearthed, something like this comes along and knocks you flat on your ass. Most of us first read about Angel Face in a great article in Ugly Things a few issues back. Other than that and a piece on the band on Julian Cope's Head Heritage site, the only other meager info that we could find about these guys was in French. Which makes sense, as Angel Face were indeed French. The band's confusing history began in 1974 with the core lineup of the Regoli brothers, Pascal (bass) and Julian (guitar), as well as one Riton Angel Face on guitar. Their biggest inspiration is undoubtedly the Stooges, but unlike every other band to rip off Ann Arbor's finest, Angel Face were in fact swimming in the same primordial waters as their heroes. It makes sense to assume that these guys probably dug "L.A. Blues" and "We Will Fall" as much as any of the Stooges' tunes, because Angel Face clearly understood that "heavy" isn't just about volume and power chords (not that those aren't here in spades), but also about pure noise and total chaos. In addition to this, one can detect a considerable Hawkwind influence, as well as heavy doses of krautrock. While other bands at this time were more likely to incorporate the latest sounds of punk's first wave, Angel Face kept things sounding firmly pre-1977. The end results are pretty mindblowing, tense and aggressive pieces that lock into a groove and pound the hell out of it for the entirety of the song with guitars that sound like sonic flamethrowers. Trying to piece together a timeline here is quite difficult (the liner notes are in French), and the band never even released anything in their lifetime, so what you have here on the first disc are demos and live tracks from sometime between 1975 and 1978 (originally released in 1984 on lp as A Wild Odyssey), strung together to form one surprisingly cohesive whole. We're pretty sure the first tracks feature the singer named Eric Tendz, who was described by the other band members as nothing more than a disreputable Iggy clone. And yes, there will be no mistaking Iggy's influence, but Tendz delivers things so perfectly and frantically that we can't complain one bit. His vocals are often punctuated by shrill little shrieks which seem humanly impossible, and his drunk sounding delivery makes it impossible to tell what language he's singing in (though we think it's English). Other tracks on the first disc are comprised of live recordings which predate the Tendz songs, pieced together in a very Faust-ian way with the band's preferred vocalist Henri Flesh (again, we think). These songs are more loose and unhinged, no doubt due to the guitar prowess of Julian Regoli, whose early presence in the band kept things psychedelic to the highest order. There are also a few tracks that feature just Riton Angel Face and Pascal, on guitar/vocals and synth, respectively. While stripped to their bare essence, these songs come off as strangely powerful and complete sounding. One can only wonder what possibilities might have existed for this amazing band. Unfortunately, there was little working in their favor, and it is easy to imagine scores of idiot punk rockers not knowing what to make of a band of long haired guys with aviator sunglasses.
The story didn't end there, however, and in the '80s Angel Face reformed under the leadership of Riton and Pascal. The biggest change was the decision to add a female vocalist, Kim Nguyen. Truthfully, these songs are a bit of a letdown after the pure rock n' roll fury of the first disc, but mainly in comparison. The songs are pretty good, but just a little more straightforward, and the '80s production certainly doesn't help anything. Likewise, disc 3 is made up of some shoddily recorded live tracks and radio stuff from different eras. Some of this stuff appears to be from the first era and is quite good, but the songs don't benefit from the unfortunate sound quality.
So, you have no doubt noticed the hefty price tag on this beast, and we realize the above paragraph may hold some people back.... BUT we seriously can't recommend the stuff on disc 1 enough, for folks into the likes of Soggy (anther long lost French band of Stooges worshippers) and of course The Stooges themselves. Check out the first four sound clips to see what we mean, and just keep in mind only 1,000 of these were pressed up - and of the dozen we ordered, we've already sold 10 on account of "tweeting" about it, so right now we've got 2, yes TWO - and we may not be seeing them again any time soon...
MPEG Stream: "Wolf City Blues"
MPEG Stream: "12 1/2"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Road (Cut Up Songs)"
MPEG Stream: "I Don't Care"
MPEG Stream: "Secret Town"
MPEG Stream: "Precious Urban Nasty Kid"

ANGELA VALID This Book's On Fire (World In Winter) cd 14.98
Been wanting to list this Sheffield UK band's debut four-song ep for a while now, finally got a few in stock so here goes... Angela Valid (name of band, not a person) plays improv instrumentals, a skittery post-rock stitching together of all kinds of glitch and drone, whirring and clatter and feedback, dealt out with guitars, drums, electronics (synths, drum machines, effects...) and violin. Angela Valid's music is very textural, displaying both caution and conviction. We're reminded of the likes of This Heat. Tarentel. Sinistri. A (the Italian band A). Radian. Or, Tortoise + Wolf Eyes as someone else has suggested. At times it's like there's someone building something in the next room, or doing construction work upstairs, banging tools about. But at the same time there's constant jazzy rhythmics buried beneath it all as well. If you like this sort of stuff (we sure do) these four tracks are all very satisfying and leave us wanting to hear more...
MPEG Stream: "Terry's Incantation"
MPEG Stream: "Ocean Ceiling"

ANGELBLOOD Labia Minora (Captain Trip / Printed Matter, Inc.) cd 14.98
We have to admit that Angelblood intrigued us just a little bit more back when we thought they were actually a group made up of some Shaggs-like, weird teenage girls from Texas into paganism, making their own brand of fucked up psychedeli-metal, somewhere between Amon Duul and The Need. However, that was too good to be true. How would Japanese label Captain Trip ever have discovered them? As was later revealed, Angelblood actually have an (admittedly cool) hipster pedigree, featuring both NYC artist Rita Ackerman and No Neck Blues Band drummer David Nuss among others. And, on this, their third cd (kind of an mini-album, it has a 25 minute running time) they are joined by guitarist Mick Barr, the guy from Crom Tech and Orthrelm and others. His squiggly speed-metal guitar stylings are just another weird flavor stirred into Angelblood's dark brew, making them even more quirkily metal (and The Need-like) than before.
MPEG Stream: "Bellowed From Risen"
MPEG Stream: "Fire On The Mountain"

ANGELBLOOD Mambo Mange (Locust) lp 17.98
It's been a while since we've heard from mysterious tribal, psychedelic, what-the-fuck outsider metal outfit Angelblood. But they've returned, with a vinyl only blast of damaged metallic skree that sounds as fucked up and tripped out as ever.
When we first heard Angelblood, we assumed, because of their sound, and the fact that their record was a Japanese import, that they were some mysterious all girl Japanese metal troupe. We only later discovered that Angelblood was in fact Dave Nuss from the No Neck Blues Band and artist/musician Rita Ackerman. While some of the mystery was gone, it wasn't enough to stop us from diggin their crazy sound.
So now here we are years later, with a brand new missive from Angelblood, a stumbling, chaotic, drug addled, metallic transmission from some weird otherworld, that produces feral voiced majestic metal. Or whatever this stuff is. It's definitely metal, at least some of the time, although it spends a lot of time sprawled out in strange stumbling streaks of droning ambience, the vocals, a Yoko Ono-ish wail, washing over the shimmering dronescapes in the background.
The opener is a free rock psychedelic trip out, the guitar spending more time swirling and humming than actually riffing, the vocals mewling and howling, the guitars gradually becoming more and more riff-like, eventually launching into some eighties style metal riffing, but the metallic vibe is wrapped around an ethereal drift, and strange loping groove, that eventually falls to pieces, the vocals dancing wildly atop an avalanche of drums and crumbling guitars.
The second track is where things get heavy. As in heeeeavy man. A blown out proto metal riff looped hypnoticall beneath the wild banshee wails, and over the course of the track swinging from that metal riffing, to a more proggy rhythmic workout. Minus the vocals this could be some lost Italian hard rock classic, but the vocals turn it into some insane avant psychmental freakout.
Our favorite track is probably "Edward's Call", a damged off kilter take on power metal, with some killer grinding start stop riffage, freaky leads, super convoluted song structures and more wild unhinged vocalizing.
The whole record is so haunting and tripped out, heavy and cracked, catchy and insane. Imagine Hammers Of Misfortune if they got lost in some massive black forest, eventually went feral and were adopted by a tribe of Yeti's, the tribe's forest rituals eventually seeping into the metal psyches of the band. Years later, the bearded and filthy Hammers begin making sounds, a primal primitive forest metal band, the tales of their tribe told in wails and whoops and hollers, all over a stumbling metallic ritual. That's sort of what this sounds like. But not quiteÉ
Needless to say, this is essential listening for outsider metal freaks, and even prog nerds and weirdo krautrockers with a taste for the truly demented might be able to get into Angelblood's far out psychmetal damage. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Edward's Call"
MPEG Stream: "Bellowed From Risen"

ANGELBLOOD Masses Of The Daggers (Captain Trip) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the second album from NYC-based female rock trio Angelblood (featuring ultrachic artist Rita Ackermann and fashion designer Jess Holzworth). Musical styles on "Masses Of The Daggers" vary from riff-laden rockers (topped off with falsetto vocals ala The Need) to drunken piano ballads to blood curdling lo-fi doom rock. That's right, if you're at all familiar with their previous di.sc (also on Japanese psychedelic label Captain Trip), all the dark forest imagery and death metal fontography that threw you off suddenly makes sense now. Either Angelblood decided to live up to their cover art and band name/logo or they've really gotten into The Need, or both. Where their first disc attempted some sort of Amon Duul meets the Shaggs synthesis, this one is suddenly, brutally METAL: noisy and heavy and evil. Yet, the naive (?) psych charm of their debut, however, remains and is one of the many facets of Angelblood that we find so fascinating. Whatever the case, "Masses of the Daggers" is a pleasant surprise and is fucking awesome in its own right.
RealAudio clip: "Daggers"
RealAudio clip: "Rat-Tail"
RealAudio clip: "Terrorist Bang Bang"

ANGELBLOOD s/t (Captain Trip) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Angelblood, with their vaguely black metal name and packaging (the gothic logo/typeface, forest images), immediately confuse. They are actually an all-girl trio of primitive psych jammers from Texas! Seemingly inspired by Amon Duul I, Yahowah 13, and the No Neck Blues Band (well, the latter two have Captain Trip releases that are featured on this disc's obi!), it does make sense that the Japanese kraut/psych worshippers at Captain Trip HQ would want to put this out, although how Angelblood got hooked up with them is a story I'd like to hear (well, artist Rita Ackermann is a member of the trio, so maybe it was her connections that did it). Considered by Forced Exposure to be "easily the most vital non-reissue release from Captain Trip to date." Dunno about that, but this does have a Shaggs-on-acid sort of charm, as the label suggests.

ANGELS FROM HELL (OST) (Reel Time) cd 17.98

ANGELS OF LIGHT How I Loved You (Young God) cd 14.98
A few years back, Michael Gira dissolved the Swans, and effectively split his band's aesthetic in two, with the soiled ambient project Body Lovers / Body Haters on one side, and the orchestrated songs of Angels of Light on the other. "How I Loved You" is the second Angels of Light album and, as could be gathered from the title, is a collection of love songs. The album begins speaking of love with elation, as in "Evangeline," where Gira pleads to his object of desire with the wistful innocence of a school boy. The following "Untitled Love Song" is a strolling duet between Gira and ex-Pain Teen's singer Bliss Blood, both of whom seem uncharacteristically full of sweetness and light. With those being the most benevolent images of love that he has to offer, Gira then guides the album down a steep slope of sexual dependency, perverse lusts, and a gristled despair in which Gira's body continuously betrays his mind's wishes to never fuck again.
From here on, each track from "How I Loved You" begins with a simple languid melody that could easily be mistaken for anything from the recent Low record but steadily builds in complexity, driving into deeper, darker, and more intense realms.
RealAudio clip: "Evangeline"
RealAudio clip: "New City Of The Future"
RealAudio clip: "My Suicide"

ANGELS OF LIGHT How I Loved You (Important / Young God) lp 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Reissued on ultra limited vinyl! Here's what we had to say about the cd:
A few years back, Michael Gira dissolved the Swans, and effectively split his band's aesthetic in two, with the soiled ambient project Body Lovers / Body Haters on one side, and the orchestrated songs of Angels of Light on the other. "How I Loved You" is the second Angels of Light album and, as could be gathered from the title, is a collection of love songs. The album begins speaking of love with elation, as in "Evangeline," where Gira pleads to his object of desire with the wistful innocence of a school boy. The following "Untitled Love Song" is a strolling duet between Gira and ex-Pain Teen's singer Bliss Blood, both of whom seem uncharacteristically full of sweetness and light. With those being the most benevolent images of love that he has to offer, Gira then guides the album down a steep slope of sexual dependency, perverse lusts, and a gristled despair in which Gira's body continuously betrays his mind's wishes to never fuck again.
From there on, each track from "How I Loved You" begins with a simple languid melody that could easily be mistaken for anything from the recent Low record but steadily builds in complexity, driving into deeper, darker, and more intense realms. So nice!

ANGELS OF LIGHT New Mother (Young God) cd 14.98
Since the dissolution of the Swans, Michael Gira released two albums of haunting psychoacoustic music as The Body Lovers and The Body Haters... and apparently given up writing songs. Fortunately, this hiatus was merely temporary, as Gira delivers a new collection of acoustic songs as The Angels of Light. At times lush in orchestral swells of strings and vibraphone, at others angular and tense... quite good throughout.

ANGELS OF LIGHT New Mother (Broken Sparrow / Important) 2lp 28.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on vinyl! Right after the dissolution of Swans in 1997, Michael Gira released two albums of haunting psychoacoustic music as The Body Lovers and The Body Haters, and apparently gave up writing songs. Fortunately, this hiatus was merely temporary, as Gira delivers a new collection of acoustic guitar based songs as The Angels of Light. At times lush in orchestral swells of strings and vibraphone, at others angular and tense, New Mother is quite good indeed. Lovely reissued as double LP by Broken Sparrow in conjunction with Important Records and limited to 500 on black vinyl.

ANGELS OF LIGHT Sing "Other People" (Young God) cd 14.98
The fourth album from Michael Gira's Angels Of Light is the most easily digestible album that Gira has produced to date with pleasant folk-rock orchestrations built from Gira's simple acoustic guitar structures and unmistakably bold baritone delivery. Having heard that his protege Devendra Banhart has left Gira's Young God Records for greener pastures, it's hard not to hear a sense of bitterness in Gira's delivery of "The Kid Is Already Breaking;" similarly, most of songs tend to be portraits of specific people in Gira's life. In comparison, most of the songs that Gira wrote for the Swans dealt with the weighty metaphors of God, power, money, and sex, where as the songs of Other People are much more personal and fragile. Guest appearances from Gira's newly discovered acid-folk collective, Akron/Family.
MPEG Stream: "Lena's Song"
MPEG Stream: "The Kid Is Already Breaking"

ANGELS OF LIGHT We Are Him (Young God) cd 14.98
As harrowing and depressive yet magical and luminous as ever, Michael Gira returns with his fourth proper Angels Of Light record, We Are Him. Recorded with his buddies the Akron Family, the overall feeling of this record is hypnotic and repetitive... It's tough for us to write an objective review, we're basically really big Michael Gira fans and have dug most everything he's done. He always manages to get awesome musicians, and his records sound really great, always. That being said, We Are Him is definitely different from all his other releases, maybe a little more angular rhythmically speaking, a bit more prog, even jangly almost at times. One of our favorite elements of Gira's music is most definitely his lyrics. They have a kind of universal quality, dealing with more existential themes, and less of personal emotional type stuff, which is rare in the world of song-writing. Akron Family are amazing as well and their unique musical contributions have much to do with the unique sound of the record. Stark and a bit abstract, stripped down, but still lush, and of course haunting and beautiful. And just really fucking great. Another great album in a long line of great albums. If you liked the other Angels Of Light albums, you'll probably dig this one too. It's certainly a development, and there are lots of subtle differences, but it manages to maintain the eternal quality of all Gira's work. Yeah, it's really beautiful, there are awesome brass parts too, the lyrics rule, the textures are evocative, GREAT ALBUM! That's all we need to say.
MPEG Stream: "My Brother's Man"
MPEG Stream: "We Are Him"

ANGELS OF LIGHT & AKRON / FAMILY s/t (Young God) cd 14.98

ANGELS OF LIGHT, THE Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home (Young God) cd 14.98
With the third Angels Of Light album "Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home," Michael Gira has succeeded in severing the major ties to his former Swans, a band which admittedly underwent several distinct stylistic shifts in its 15 year lifespan. A few strands obviously remain, as Gira's voice is still central to his music, a proud and defiant baritone responding to the catastrophes of Gira's world, self-created or otherwise. Beyond his voice, fleeting reflections of the hypno-rock grooves of Swans' mid period albums "White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity" and "Love Of Life" manifest themselves in the self-described 'lonesome angry cowboy productions' of The Angels Of Light. As powerful and magnificent as the Swans were in the '80s and '90s, the suffocating abjection of those albums rendered them a climactic exaggeration of spectacle and theatricality. Don't get me wrong, "Filth" and "Children Of God" are still two of my most treasured (if that's the right word) albums. It's just that in Angels Of Light, Gira has eased up on some of the control tactics and allowed for his emotional core to speak unrestrained by the artistry of his productions. While continuing to express his aggression and rage, he has recognized the need to expose his weaknesses and his ignorance. For in those human traits, there is the possibility of profound beauty and tender wisdom. And I think it's fair to say that he's found an honest way of articulating those emotions on this album. At the same time, Gira allows for himself to take a backseat on occasion to the Angels Of Light, the band that he happens to be in. Throughout "Everything Is Good Here..." elliptical patterns of post-country / western motifs cycle and flutter with the motorik hypnosis of German krautrock. Another incredible, dignified release from M. Gira.
RealAudio clip: "All Souls' Rising"
RealAudio clip: "Nations"
RealAudio clip: "Rose Of Los Angeles"

ANIKA s/t (Stones Throw / Invada) cd 15.98
Here comes the sizzle! We have been totally seduced by this steamy, dubby delight of a record, which pairs the detached, sexy & haunting vocals of Anika with the production and musical mastermind of Geoff Barrow from Beak and Portishead. Together they make a perfect match in creating a hypnotic, sensual sound that invokes in the listener a dangerously dazed and drugged out state of mind. Anika's vocals are like Nico's, but paired with a stripped down post-punk sound. Or like Kim Gordon singing for The Slits. The music is so spot on in its classic minimalism transporting us right back to the early '80s, bands like ESG, Gang Of Four, and A Certain Ratio, but Anika and Barrow turn the sound into something much more detached, smoky and sensual. We also hear a hints of French cold-wave pioneers, like Ruth, and the way underrated dubbed out project of This Heat's Charles Bullen, Lifetones.
For all the records that have come out in the last couple years desperately trying to capture a cold wave, or now witch house sound, Anika stands well above that crowded scene as there is something so much more impactful and singular about her vision, that's just so entrancing and mesmerizing....
FYI, several of the tracks are interpretations of tunes by the likes of Yoko Ono, Bob Dylan, and Ray Davies!!
MPEG Stream: "Terry"
MPEG Stream: "I Go To Sleep"
MPEG Stream: "Sadness Hides The Sun"