FREEDOM'S CHILDREN Astra (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
We've had different editions of this before, here's the latest, now reissued via Shadoks. Glad to have it back in our vintage psych section, where it has lots of friends.
Astra exhibits heavy psychedelic vibes from these '70s South African proggers, getting all, um, astral and spacey and downright spooky at times on this, their second album dating from 1971 (or maybe 1970?). A lost classic, this is, if you're a fan of Pink Floyd and/or cosmic Krautrock stuff of similar vintage. It's super trippy, with echoey vox singing weird conceptual lyrix over majestic acid rock meets church organ jams.
Shadoks has also just reissued FC's other two albums, Galactic Vibes (reviewed this list) and their debut Battle Hymn Of The Broken-Hearted Horde.
MPEG Stream: "The Homecoming"
MPEG Stream: "Tribal Fence"

FREEDOM'S CHILDREN Battle Hymn Of The Broken-Hearted Horde (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
Here's this South African psych band's 1968 concept album debut, also reissued. Great title, eh? Compared to the Floydian space rock and Zeppish hard rock of their other, later two albums Astra and Galactic Vibes, this one is more '60s beat, definitely post-Peppers psych pop sounding, sometimes folky and balladic, at others more bombastically progged, with groovy organ and some fuzz guitar. It's also laced with random weirdness like sound FX, a vintage Pepsi radio advert, and spoken word intros to each track delivered in a sort of South African/Scottish brogue. Pretty neat.
MPEG Stream: "Kafkaesque"
MPEG Stream: "Miss Wendy's Dancing Eyes Have Died"

FREEDOM'S CHILDREN Box Set (Shadoks Music) 3cd 60.00
All three albums from this South African '60s psych rock band in one handy box set. See elsehwere on our site for reviews of the individual records.

FREEDOM'S CHILDREN Galactic Vibes (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
Newly reissued, here's a superb slice of acid rock psych from South Africa, circa 1971. Shadoks have also reissued one from Freedom's Children we already loved, Astra (also on this list), and another one yet to be reviewed here, their debut Battle Hymn Of The Broken-Hearted Horde.
This was their third album, following Astra which had made them the #1 pop band in South Africa. Hmm, things were different back when! But if you were a hippy hearing this then, Galactic Vibes was definitely everything its title promised. Lots of spaced out guitars echoing over polyrhythmic percussion, certainly a multi-layered cosmic experience, peaking perhaps with a 16 minute extended live version of "The Homecoming" from the Astra album, complete with an epic drum solo. Elsewhere, there's the freaky blips and bloops of an experimental "electronic concerto", lovely Middle Eastern inflected, orchestrated balladry, moody pop bombast, and, maybe best of all, fuzzed out heavy stoner riffery!! Opener "Sea Horse" is one of album's bad ass proto-metal moments, in a Frijid Pink style, and on "That Did It" they rock out again, much like Led Zeppelin or Leaf Hound. Other parts of this album make 'em seem closer to a homegrown South African Pink Floyd. All in all, pretty damn cool for those of you for whom a druggy album title like Galactic Vibes has already piqued some interest.
No bonus tracks, but this does feature lengthy liner notes in tiny, tiny type, full of info.
MPEG Stream: "Sea Horse"
MPEG Stream: "1999"

FRESH & ONLYS Long Slow Dance (Mexican Summer) cd 10.98
This latest from these prolific San Francisco indie popsters is perhaps a bit less garagey and fuzzy than some of their past works. Long Slow Dance is an apt title, for Tim, Shayde, Kyle and Wymond's brand of dreamy indie jangle here, soaring from softly crooned heartache to powerful euphoria. In fact, "Euphoria" is the name of one of the songs.
It's a record full of folky lushness that reminds us a bit of Fleet Foxes for sure. So fans of both bands ought to dig this. Each song is strummed and sung to moody, catchy pop perfection, destined to get stuck on 'repeat' if you give it a chance.
Another stellar outing from the F&O boys!
MPEG Stream: "Yes Or No"
MPEG Stream: "Presence Of Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Alarm"

FRESH & ONLYS Long Slow Dance (Mexican Summer) lp 17.98
This latest from these prolific San Francisco indie popsters is perhaps a bit less garagey and fuzzy than some of their past works. Long Slow Dance is an apt title, for Tim, Shayde, Kyle and Wymond's brand of dreamy indie jangle here, soaring from softly crooned heartache to powerful euphoria. In fact, "Euphoria" is the name of one of the songs.
It's a record full of folky lushness that reminds us a bit of Fleet Foxes for sure. So fans of both bands ought to dig this. Each song is strummed and sung to moody, catchy pop perfection, destined to get stuck on 'repeat' if you give it a chance.
Another stellar outing from the F&O boys!
MPEG Stream: "Yes Or No"
MPEG Stream: "Presence Of Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Alarm"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Debut CD (Castle Face) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There is something so self assured about the Fresh & Onlys sound, that really makes them seem like wise old sages in a garage rock scene full of impressionable younguns and wannabe hipsters. Luckily these guys aren't burnt out folks at all, as the sounds they crank out are pretty damn fresh sounding, with enough muscle to hammer those pop chops home, with confidence and enough melody to keep things so entertaining and super rocking. While there are some similarities to label mates Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees, there is also an almost old school punk aesthetic a la Mission Of Burma at play in these songs as well as psychedelic undertones that help make the Fresh & Onlys the perfect soundtrack for a nice and drunk and slightly stoned sunny afternoon barbecue.
With a lineup that includes members of Skygreen Leopards, Black Fiction, and 3 Leafs you can hear the excitement in these short blasts of songs, as they are so much different in sound and scope than what most of these folks usually crank out.
MPEG Stream: "Feelings In My Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Imaginary Friends"
MPEG Stream: "Shattered Moon"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Debut LP (Castle Face) lp 11.98
We FINALLY got enough lps of this pop jam to list the vinyl:
There is something so self assured about the Fresh & Onlys sound, that really makes them seem like wise old sages in a garage rock scene full of impressionable younguns and wannabe hipsters. Luckily these guys aren't burnt out folks at all, as the sounds they crank out are pretty damn fresh sounding, with enough muscle to hammer those pop chops home, with confidence and enough melody to keep things so entertaining and super rocking. While there are some similarities to label mates Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees, there is also an almost old school punk aesthetic a la Mission Of Burma at play in these songs as well as psychedelic undertones that help make the Fresh & Onlys the perfect soundtrack for a nice and drunk and slightly stoned sunny afternoon barbecue.
With a lineup that includes members of Skygreen Leopards, Black Fiction, and 3 Leafs you can hear the excitement in these short blasts of songs as they are so much different in sound and scope then what most of these folks usually crank out.
MPEG Stream: "Feelings In My Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Imaginary Friends"
MPEG Stream: "Shattered Moon"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Grey-Eyed Girls (Woodsist) cd 13.98
By the time we had finally heard the Fresh & Onlys, there was already some sort of mania for them going on, that we found ourselves in the midst of, all their records were sold out, we couldn't get more, out of print 7"s were popping up on eBay, the sort of thing that we might expect to happen with super popular ultra hip bands, but this local band who only had a couple 7"s?? We were skeptical, until we heard 'em, then it all made sense. These guys rule. And rock. They have sort of fallen in with the new breed of noise pop lo-fi tweakers, but the Fresh & Onlys are way more about classic pop songs, their sound channeling vintage sixties pop, the early eighties LA sound, classic power pop, garage rock. The production is most definitely not lo-fi, the guitars are thick and loud and ring out, the bass throbs, the drums are simple and understated, the vocals are down in the mix, but not buried, there are plenty of harmonies, falsettos, cool little spidery guitar leads, the overall sound is just a tiny bit fuzzed out. We never noticed it before, but the band that we're most reminded of is the Leaving Trains, easily one of our favorite bands ever, criminally under appreciated for sure (Kill Tunes and Fuck are two all time stone cold classics). Tim Cohen's vocals are a dead ringer for the Leaving Trains' Falling James, and the sound too has that sort of punk rock morphed into fuzz pop sound. They also share lots of sonic elements with local pals Thee Oh Sees, that sort of washed out wall of sound classic Spector sound, plenty of fuzzy organs, strummed steel string guitars, reverby girl group back up vox, as well as some seriously garage guitar crunch all over the place. We dig BIGTIME!
MPEG Stream: "Black Coffin"
MPEG Stream: "Grey-Eyed Girl"
MPEG Stream: "No Second Guessing"
MPEG Stream: "What's His Shadow Still Doing Here?"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Grey-Eyed Girls (Woodsist) lp 14.98
By the time we had finally heard the Fresh & Onlys, there was already some sort of mania for them going on, that we found ourselves in the midst of, all their records were sold out, we couldn't get more, out of print 7"s were popping up on eBay, the sort of thing that we might expect to happen with super popular ultra hip bands, but this local band who only had a couple 7"s?? We were skeptical, until we heard 'em, then it all made sense. These guys rule. And rock. They have sort of fallen in with the new breed of noise pop lo-fi tweakers, but the Fresh & Onlys are way more about classic pop songs, their sound channeling vintage sixties pop, the early eighties LA sound, classic power pop, garage rock. The production is most definitely not lo-fi, the guitars are thick and loud and ring out, the bass throbs, the drums are simple and understated, the vocals are down in the mix, but not buried, there are plenty of harmonies, falsettos, cool little spidery guitar leads, the overall sound is just a tiny bit fuzzed out. We never noticed it before, but the band that we're most reminded of is the Leaving Trains, easily one of our favorite bands ever, criminally under appreciated for sure (Kill Tunes and Fuck are two all time stone cold classics). Tim Cohen's vocals are a dead ringer for the Leaving Trains' Falling James, and the sound too has that sort of punk rock morphed into fuzz pop sound. They also share lots of sonic elements with local pals Thee Oh Sees, that sort of washed out wall of sound classic Spector sound, plenty of fuzzy organs, strummed steel string guitars, reverby girl group back up vox, as well as some seriously garage guitar crunch all over the place. We dig BIGTIME!
MPEG Stream: "Black Coffin"
MPEG Stream: "Grey-Eyed Girl"
MPEG Stream: "No Second Guessing"
MPEG Stream: "What's His Shadow Still Doing Here?"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE I'll Tell You Everything & I Saw You Seeing Me (Dirty Knobby) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's easy to forget that The Fresh & Only's are a new band as the songs they've been cranking out have the self-assuredness of a band who's been around for decades. Two new cuts of their garage pop sprinkled with enough punk spirit and weirdo undertones to make their songs always piques our interest. We hear a really cool Joe Meek influence in the sound of "I Saw You Seeing Me" proving that just because these folks are zoning in on some pure garage pop delight they haven't forgotten how to infuse nice touches of their wide range of musical influences into the mix. Can't seem to keep Fresh & Only's vinyl in stock too long, they're already flying out the door, so better grab one of these while you can.

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Impending Doom (Agitated) 7" 9.98
What more can we say about these SF garage poppers that we haven't already? This here's another double shot of pretty much perfect pop music, less and less garage rock sounding with every release, conjuring up that perfect mix of a little bit 'now', fuzzy, reverby, crunchy, and a little bit 'then', lush harmonies, timeless hooks, wall of sound production, female back up vox... not to mention plenty of jangle and strum, ooohs and aaahs, and songs that stick in your head like crazy.
The A-side is all propulsive drumming, fuzzy organs, chiming guitars, some low slung Joy Divisiony basslines, and an almost new wave croon, dreamy falsetto back up vox, and of course everything wreathed in echo and soft focus effects, transforming classic sounding jangle pop into something slightly more swirly and psychedelic. The B-side is much more swaggery and groovy and surfy, with one of those riffs you know you've heard somewhere before, total old school classic Beatles-esque pop, weary heartfelt vocals, some tinkling xylophone style melodies, and the back up vox steal the show, wrapping the track in an irresistible almost ethereal sounding sixties girl group haze. So good. Any other band this prolific, close to 10 releases in less than 2 years, might be hitting some sort of saturation point, but with these guys, we still can't ever seem to get enough.

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Laughter is Contagious (Trouble in Mind) 7" 7.98
Another blast of fuzzed out garage pop from these SF noise poppers, this one short and sweet, two super hooky catchy jams, the first all old school garage rock (via the new breed of retro new wave pop garage weirdos), throbbing bass, tons of Farfisa organs way up in the mix, heavily reverbed vocals, a catchy chorus (and a pretty catchy verse as well), and a super twisted laughing vocal part.
The flipside is an Oh Sees style rocker, heavy on the fifties fuzz and the falsetto back up vox, all wound around a frantic beat, but with some cool unexpected angular atonal melodies. Probably pretty dang limited so don't dawdle, no idea how long these will last, which makes sense, a 7" is pretty much the perfect way to experience a band like the F&O's, little frenetic bursts of rocking pop perfection.
Comes with a download card too, so you can cram these jams onto your computer.

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Play August In My Mind (Captured Tracks) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Lately it seems that between Captured Tracks and Sacred Bones, there's some sort of label competition to see who can release the most stuff. It's definitely a close race, with both constantly churning out record after record, the weird thing is, it's pretty much all great. This latest one from SF's own Fresh & Onlys though, just might be the best yet. It's definitely the best F&O record so far, the songs, the vibe, the sound, the production. Everything that was hinted at on past records seems fully realized here. It's short, a 6 song 12" at 45 rpm, but it's plenty.
As always, the songs are ace, catchy and hooky, the guitars jangle and crunch, the vocals wrapped in reverb, the drumming propulsive, the bass fuzzy, but it's a lot darker and more minor key that past F&O records, it's also the lushest and loudest recording, which all contribute to making this the perfect F&O to end up on Captured Tracks.
While still jangly and poppy, it's also a little gloomy, a lot new wave, with buzzy Joy Divison bass, squalls of wild psychedelic guitar, plenty of ooooh's and aaaah's, tribal drumming, angular riffing, a perfect mix of sixties jangle, and cold/new wave gloom. The production is lush, but also weird, and tripped out, ethereal and gauzy, and this time around the sound reminds us not just of other likeminded contemporaries, but also of darker groups, like the Wipers, Abecedarians, Kommunity FK, that sort of thing, albeit filtered through the F&O's perfect pop jangle. It's heady and hypnotic, kick ass and catchy, but also haunting and moody and a bit murky. That and the fact that these might be the best songs Tim Cohen and company have written so far, make this a definite contender for year end best ofs, even though it's only April. WAY recommended.

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Play It Strange (In The Red) cd 13.98
Yet another fantastic new record from these SF garage poppers, they really crank em out, but hell, every record is jammed with fuzzy jangly crazy catchy perfect pop, so we're sure as heck not complaining. Especially with the band's recent trajectory, their sound getting darker and more melancholy, without losing any of its inherent fuzziness or hookiness. Like on their last record, Play August In My Mind, Play It Strange continues to nudge their core sound, a sort of classic sixties tinged garage/powerpop, all ooooh's and aaaah's and simple rhythms and lush organs and sweet harmonies and big guitars, into territories much more murky and not so nearly sunshiney, adding lots of melancholy minor key mystery, plenty of twang, brooding moodiness, reminding us of classic gloom rockers like the Wipers and Kommunity FK, but also of groups like the Leaving Trains or the Hoodoo Gurus, the result a fantastically moody dark retro jangle garage pop shot through with bits of more classic pop sounds, a la the Zombies, but on first listen this totally sounds like it could have come from LA circa 1985, like these guys could have been playing the Scream club with Tex & The Horseheads, Jesus And Mary Chain and the Abecedarians, plenty of post punk jangle mixed in with that sixties shimmer, the vocals deeper and more dramatic this time around, some of the songs sounding like old school sixties pop ballads, while others still brim with plenty of hazy reverb, crunchy guitar, woozy organ, tribal drumming and big hooks.
MPEG Stream: "Summer Of Love"
MPEG Stream: "Waterfall"
MPEG Stream: "Be My Hooker"
MPEG Stream: "Plague Of Frogs"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Play It Strange (In The Red) lp 13.98
Yet another fantastic new record from these SF garage poppers, they really crank em out, but hell, every record is jammed with fuzzy jangly crazy catchy perfect pop, so we're sure as heck not complaining. Especially with the band's recent trajectory, their sound getting darker and more melancholy, without losing any of its inherent fuzziness or hookiness. Like on their last record, Play August In My Mind, Play It Strange continues to nudge their core sound, a sort of classic sixties tinged garage/powerpop, all ooooh's and aaaah's and simple rhythms and lush organs and sweet harmonies and big guitars, into territories much more murky and not so nearly sunshiney, adding lots of melancholy minor key mystery, plenty of twang, brooding moodiness, reminding us of classic gloom rockers like the Wipers and Kommunity FK, but also of groups like the Leaving Trains or the Hoodoo Gurus, the result a fantastically moody dark retro jangle garage pop shot through with bits of more classic pop sounds, a la the Zombies, but on first listen this totally sounds like it could have come from LA circa 1985, like these guys could have been playing the Scream club with Tex & The Horseheads, Jesus And Mary Chain and the Abecedarians, plenty of post punk jangle mixed in with that sixties shimmer, the vocals deeper and more dramatic this time around, some of the songs sounding like old school sixties pop ballads, while others still brim with plenty of hazy reverb, crunchy guitar, woozy organ, tribal drumming and big hooks.
MPEG Stream: "Summer Of Love"
MPEG Stream: "Waterfall"
MPEG Stream: "Be My Hooker"
MPEG Stream: "Plague Of Frogs"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE s/t (Chuffed) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Lately some of our favorite San Francisco musical minds have also added record label mogul to their resumes. John Dwyer launched Castle Face records to start putting out Oh Sees records and of course he released that Ty Segall full length which we are so in love with. Also newly a record label head is Kelley Stoltz (responsible for recording the latest Oh Sees album, as well as crafting some of the finest pop songs your ears are likely to hear). Chuffed is the name of his new label and The Fresh & Onlys kick things off with a debut 7" that's sure to please garage rock fans and lo-fi pop enthusiasts. Many folks might have seen the band play live without even knowing it, as they were picked to be the backing band for the legendary performance in town recently by Rodriguez in support of the reissue of his amazing album Cold Fact. Loyal AQ list readers will also be familiar with Tim from the other bands he also plays in: 3 Leafs, Black Fiction and others. Makes perfect sense that they are about to tour with Thee Oh Sees and that their full length will be on Dwyer's label, as these four songs are chock full of fuzzy hooky and raw garage pop spirit.

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Second One To Know (Woodsist) 7" 6.98
What more do you need to know? A new Fresh & Onlys 7", which means two more slabs of perfect pop. Not as fucked up and lo-fi as most of their contemporaries, the Fresh & Onlys traffic more in a total classic pop, Beach Boys, Kinks, Raspberries, Shoes, Cheap Trick, Beatles, sure it's rough around the edges, there are some woozy effects, the sound is wee bit lo-fi, but you'd be hard pressed to find any underground combos making pop as pure and catchy as these guys.
The title track is a soaring chunk or nearly perfect power pop, with a chorus to die for, amazing harmonies, and a lush yet lo-fi sound. The flipside is a little bit more shuffly, with acoustic guitars, skittery percussion, a much less obvious hook, but one that definitely sounds like something sixties and British. Awesome. Another band who seem to be bringing back the heyday of the 7", not merely a dumping ground for leftovers, but instead a showcase for a band's best and most immediately appealing songs...

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Secret Walls EP (Sacred Bones) cd ep 13.98
Yet another new record from SF's own Fresh & Onlys, and another fantastic batch of moody, melancholy jangle pop, and while it's hard to know what else to say about these guys, what with them seeming to release a new record practically every month, the minute we get an earful of the latest record, all we wanna do is forget all that and get lost in the new set of songs, mainman Tim Cohen's reservoir of classic pop songs still seemingly bottomless. And with every record, we find ourselves proclaiming some song their best yet, or a new favorite, and hare to say it but we're about to do it again. The title track here is practically perfect, Cohen's deep reverby croon, laid atop a low slung post punk bassline, wrapped in chiming guitars, the production lush and polished, but still quirky, with huge swaths of sound dropping out to let a little guitar lick float all on its own, before the band launch right back in, bit and bombastic. Catchy and hook, broody and darkly dreamy.
The rest of the ep is just as good, the songs ranging from twangy organ driving strum (sounding a bit like Calexico actually), to hazy, melodic sixties dream pop shuffle, and from moody lilting garage-y jangle pop, to moody, murky, dark doleful dirge, the last song "Poison WIne" definitely one of our new F&O favorites, bombastic, lush and buzzy, the refrain a haunting descending minor key melody, the bass thick and fuzzy, the guitars crunchy, the vox weary and washed out, one of their darkest yet, and yeah, we know, but still, maybe one of their best. As always, recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Secret Walls"
MPEG Stream: "Keep Telling Everybody Lies"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Secret Walls EP (Sacred Bones) 12" 14.98
Yet another new record from SF's own Fresh & Onlys, and another fantastic batch of moody, melancholy jangle pop, and while it's hard to know what else to say about these guys, what with them seeming to release a new record practically every month, the minute we get an earful of the latest record, all we wanna do is forget all that and get lost in the new set of songs, mainman Tim Cohen's reservoir of classic pop songs still seemingly bottomless. And with every record, we find ourselves proclaiming some song their best yet, or a new favorite, and hare to say it but we're about to do it again. The title track here is practically perfect, Cohen's deep reverby croon, laid atop a low slung post punk bassline, wrapped in chiming guitars, the production lush and polished, but still quirky, with huge swaths of sound dropping out to let a little guitar lick float all on its own, before the band launch right back in, bit and bombastic. Catchy and hook, broody and darkly dreamy.
The rest of the ep is just as good, the songs ranging from twangy organ driving strum (sounding a bit like Calexico actually), to hazy, melodic sixties dream pop shuffle, and from moody lilting garage-y jangle pop, to moody, murky, dark doleful dirge, the last song "Poison WIne" definitely one of our new F&O favorites, bombastic, lush and buzzy, the refrain a haunting descending minor key melody, the bass thick and fuzzy, the guitars crunchy, the vox weary and washed out, one of their darkest yet, and yeah, we know, but still, maybe one of their best. As always, recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Secret Walls"
MPEG Stream: "Keep Telling Everybody Lies"

FRESH & ONLYS, THE Yes Or No (Mexican Summer) 7" 5.98
What else can we say about these local garage pop masters that we haven't already? Every record just gets better and better, and with a release rate that's starting to get Guided By Voices prolific, the quality of songs has not suffered one bit. And not only do the songs sound great, but the records do too, this one recorded in a proper studio and produced by Phil Manley of Trans Am.
The new sound suits the new songs too, hardly garage pop anymore really, just classic kick ass popsmithery, super hooky, the vocals way up front in the mix, all the instruments lush and layered, a classic power pop made modern, with gorgeous vocals from Tarnation's Paula Frazer. Somehow leaves us still wanting more more more!!

FRESH & ONLYS, THE / DAN MELCHIOR split (Volar) 7" 5.98
BACK IN PRINT!!!
Most folks will probably be grabbing this for the F+O's tracks, but we're pretty blown away by Dan Melchior, and his awesomely super distorted garage pop, like Elvis Costello, all jammed up and slathered in crumbling hiss and grit, the vocals delivered in a thick English accent, the drums blown out, effcts all over the place, everything buried beneath a patina of blurred buzz, but the songs themselves, total classic power pop, Costello, Nick Lowe, that sort of thing, opener "Daylight Robbery" is a definite contender for pop jam of the year, with a main hook / melody that will stick with you like crazy. And yeah, we know he's been making record for years, but somehow this is one of the first times we've heard him. We're definitely gonna do some digging into Melchior's back catalog. You probabaly will too after hearing this...
The Fresh & Onlys hold their own just fine thank you, with frantically strummed acoustic guitars, skiffly drums, reverbed vox, and two of their best songs yet, both channeling a sound similar to Melchior's, but with a bit more of an American nineties indie rock vibe, lo-fi, but weirdly lush, killer choruses, the sound warm and washed out, some cool sixties girl group back up vocals, the second track definitely getting all Spector-ish and reminding us quite a bit of Thee Oh Sees. Good stuff. And probably limited too...

FRESH MAGGOTS Hatched (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
We listed a different reissue of this great rare acid-folk album about a year ago... well guess what, now it's been retitled "Hatched" and reissued -again-, this time with seven bonus tracks instead of just two. And it looks better too. The bonus tracks include two non-album cuts from the band's lone single (which were on the previous edition) and five more live tracks from a newly-unearthed 1971 radio session! So, if you already have this on cd you can determine if you need this new version or not, but if you don't already have it, this is the one to get, obviously! Here's what we had to say about it before:
For those of you into acid folk from the early '70, we have another terrific find with FRESH MAGGOTS. This teenage British duo's only record, not surprisingly deemed a failure upon its release with such an unappealling name (though of course we think it's cool), came out in 1971. Which, as you may know, some here say could be one of the BEST years for this -or any- genre. Influenced by the likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and Pentangle, Fresh Maggots really don't sound as rock as the above outfits (partly due to lacking drums) but bring more to mind Forest, Tractor, or Tyrannosaurus Rex. There's lots of acoustic guitar folkiness here blended with fuzzed out fits of electric guitar. And there's a little tin whistle playing and triangle chiming going on, too! Melodic, pastoral, hearty, and highly recommended. This reissue, which the Fresh Maggots themselves had a hand in, includes extensive liner notes, and two [no, make that seven, now!] bonus tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Dole Song"
MPEG Stream: "Spring"

FRESH MAGGOTS Hatched (Sunbeam) 2lp 34.00
Now on vinyl! This great rare early '70s acid-folk album, originally self-titled, was retitled "Hatched" for its bonus-track-augmented reissue on cd not long ago, and now it's on 180-gram, gatefold virgin vinyl too, with the same seven bonus tracks included. Those bonus tracks include two non-album cuts from the band's lone single (which were on the previous edition) and five more live tracks from a newly-unearthed 1971 radio session!
This teenage British duo's only record, not surprisingly deemed a failure upon its release with such an unappealing name (though of course we think it's cool), came out in 1971. Which, as you may know, some here say could be one of the BEST years for this -or any- genre. Influenced by the likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and Pentangle, Fresh Maggots really don't sound as rock as the above outfits (partly due to lacking drums) but bring more to mind Forest, Tractor, or Tyrannosaurus Rex. There's lots of acoustic guitar folkiness here blended with fuzzed out fits of electric guitar. And there's a little tin whistle playing and triangle chiming going on, too! Melodic, pastoral, hearty, and highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Dole Song"
MPEG Stream: "Spring"

FRESH MAGGOTS s/t (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For those of you into acid folk from the early 70's, we have another terrific find with FRESH MAGGOTS. This teenage British duo's only record, not surprisingly deemed a failure upon its release with such an unappealling name (though of course we think it's cool), came out in 1971. Which, as you may know, some here say could be one of the BEST years for this -or any- genre. Influenced by the likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and Pentangle, Fresh Maggots really don't sound as rock as the above outfits (partly due to lacking drums) but bring more to mind Forest, Tractor, or Tyrannosaurus Rex. There's lots of acoustic guitar folkiness here blended with fuzzed out fits of electric guitar. And there's a little tin whistle playing and triangle chiming going on, too! Melodic, pastoral, hearty, and highly recommended. This reissue, which the Fresh Maggots themselves had a hand in, includes extensive liner notes, and two bonus tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Dole Song"
MPEG Stream: "Spring"

FRESH MAGGOTS s/t (Sunbeam Records) lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now, also, on vinyl. And not cheap. But hey, it's a cool record. Here's our review of the recent cd version, though we don't know if this numbered, limited to 1000 copies import vinyl edition has the bonus tracks or not:
For those of you into acid folk from the early 70's, we have another terrific find with FRESH MAGGOTS. This teenage British duo's only record, not surprisingly deemed a failure upon its release with such an unappealling name (though of course we think it's cool), came out in 1971. Which, as you may know, some here say could be one of the BEST years for this -or any- genre. Influenced by the likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and Pentangle, Fresh Maggots really don't sound as rock as the above outfits (partly due to lacking drums) but bring more to mind Forest, Tractor, or Tyrannosaurus Rex. There's lots of acoustic guitar folkiness here blended with fuzzed out fits of electric guitar. And there's a little tin whistle playing and triangle chiming going on, too! Melodic, pastoral, hearty, and highly recommended. This reissue, which the Fresh Maggots themselves had a hand in, includes extensive liner notes, and two bonus tracks.
MPEG Stream: "Dole Song"
MPEG Stream: "Spring"

FRIAR TUCK And His Psychedelic Guitar (Fallout) cd 16.98
We call a lot of things "psychedelic" these days... Comets On Fire, Boris, Silvester Anfang, Circle, Joanna Newsom, Residual Echoes, Acid Mothers Temple, Raccoo-oo-oon, Grey Daturas, Dark Fog, Devy B... all sorts of stuff. Psych this, psychedelic that. Loose use of the term for sure, though it gets the idea across, y'all know what we mean (right?). But once in a while it's worth remembering that "psychedelia" originally, once had a more specific, commercial, sometimes exploitative meaning in the pop culture, in re: a certain time and place. You bet your sweet bippy, that back in 1967, "psychedelic" was something like this album (now reissued on cd): Friar Tuck & His Psychedelic Guitar, featuring a cover photo of a bearded guy in a brown robe, with a Beatles haircut under his hood, crouched on a chair in front of a "trippy" colorful abstract painting. A product of the sunny LA pop scene, Friar Tuck was a gimmicky project mixing sumptuous orchestration with stinging guitar blurt, the distortion on composer/producer (and noted LA session cat, also a member of the Ceyleib People) Mike Deasy's axe being the closest thing here to the state of "psych" as currently understood. (Others from the backup band were also known as Goldenrod, an instro-grunt combo responsible for one fairly ahead of its time "heavy" album.) '60s buffs should also note that this album's lovely vocal harmonies were all arranged by none other than Curt "Millenium" Boettcher.
Side one had covers, sorta novelty songs including a version of frat-rock classic "Louie Louie" (here, "Louis Louis"), and Tommy Roe's goofy "Sweet Pea", both with vocals delivered in a laidback drawl, which weirdly enough kinda reminds us of the Black Monk Time Monks... hey what's with the '60s and monks anyway? But then on side two, it's all Deasy originals, equally orchestrated but a lot trippier and spaced-out, a flowers-and-beads rave-up in a style long gone. The whole thing exudes vintage charm, right down to the deep thoughts of the beat poetry included in the liner notes. This cd reish also includes four bonus tracks from singles by another Deasy band in a similar style, The Flower Pot.
MPEG Stream: "Sweet Pea"
MPEG Stream: "All Monked Up"

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (OST) (Universal) cd 15.98
Hey all you Explosions In The Sky fans!! Listing this 'cause it's in danger of being overlooked... Here's an album worthy of being simply an EITS release, not just a soundtrack for a movie (the packaging of which fails to offer them obvious credit even though it's their work). Just know that this is a little more filmic than their regular releases, and appropriately so. Very lovely indeed!
MPEG Stream: "From West Texas"
MPEG Stream: "Your Hand In Mine (w/ Strings)"

FRIDAY, GAVIN & DAVE BALL / THOMAS BRINKMANN / ALAN VEGA Ghostrider / Diamonds, Furcoats, Champagne / Puss On Tha Time Warp (Blast First Petite) 10" 15.98
The continued series of Suicide related 10"s from Blast First Petite offers three tracks here with Gavin Friday & Dave Ball, Thomas Brinkmann, and Alan Vega himself. The A-side is a thorough '80s throwback with former Virgin Prune frontman Gavin Friday paired with Soft Cell technician Dave Ball covering the classic Suicide tune "Ghostrider". A deft and faithful interpretation found here. Brinkmann's cover / remix of Suicide's "Diamonds, Furcoats, Champagne" had originally appeared on a 12" from 2006, engineered out of a one-note bassline topping a mid-tempo techno groove and sparkling washes of synths scattered from above. The arrangements share the Suicide spirit of cocaine-driven glitz set against an undercurrent of teeth-clinching paranoia, all of which are driven home with Vega's vocals. The Alan Vega track was also previously released from his 1999 album entitled 2007.

FRIDGE Early Output 1996-1998 (Temporary Residence Ltd.) cd 14.98
Fridge have been an all time aQ fave for more than a decade now, every record a joy to behold, their sound constantly evolving, but still so unique and all their own. But as much as we love pretty much everything we've heard, for some of us, the old stuff will always hold a special place in our hearts. The record Eph remains one of our favorites, an endlessly classic collection of post rocky electronica, but before Eph, the band released a clutch of killer singles and eps, which were even more raw and innovative and home brewed than Eph. This disc collects all those tracks, a glorious assemblage of infectious jams, of wild experiments, of dark brooding grooves, from fuzzy brooding wah wah flecked post rock jangle, to Funky Tortoise-y grooviness, from crunchy super distorted math rock rife with odd samples, to smoldering Stereolab-like modern krautrock, from abstract folky shimmer, to warbly lo-fi electro, from almost-jungle to blissed out late night smoke-y jazziness, it's all warm and smooth and raw and groovy and spacey and super catchy, and be sure to check your iTunes, the last handful of strange sonic fragments spell out the band name phonetically. Cool!
MPEG Stream: "EH4-800 Phase Shifter"
MPEG Stream: "Lojen"
MPEG Stream: "Zedex Ay Ti Wan"
MPEG Stream: "Astrozero"

FRIDGE Eph Reissue ( Temporary Residence Ltd.) 2cd 15.98
So beautiful!!! The London-based trio Fridge has finally wrested back the rights to their masterpiece Eph from the evil major label and have re-released it themselves in the UK, and for the first time in the US, on Temporary Residence. Windy's hands down #1 favorite album of 1999, Eph is a flawless effort from a band that had finally found their true and rightful sound (in my opinion their earlier releases were more exploratory and too influenced by other bands). I swear to god, on Eph, Fridge destroyed every other post rock band out there. A stunning combination of dark theatrical Morricone style melodies alongside electronic and organic instrumentation, Eph swells with emotion and tasteful skills, like other postrockers Tortoise, Village of Savoonga, and the sentimental side of the Aphex Twin. The music is instrumental, layered with guitars, backed by stunning drumming that leaves out a downbeat now and then to wonderful effect, and seriously melodic. Like Tortoise, the band is totally beloved by the electronica scene yet is resolutely rock in its instrumentation and live performances, with any electronics merely functioning as embellishments to the core sound. AQ-pal and fellow Eph fan Hrvatski said of the record "The timing is perfect for someone to concoct a millenium-lullaby out of old casio beats, organ drones, phased guitars, swell loopery, and random acoustic/electric machinery; these guys have done it. Positively, absolutely destined to be 'huge', if not I'm going into hiding, deep within the earth's crust until this whole thing blows over..." Definitely for fans of the abovementioned Tortoise, Village of Savoonga, and of course Four Tet, which is a solo project of Fridge member Kieran Hebden.
The reissue also contains a second bonus disc that brings back to life the out-of-print "Kinoshita Terasaka" single and the "Of" EP, plus two previously unreleased remixes by Matt Herbert (Dr Rockit) and Viennese electronicist Patrick Pulsinger.
You *must* hear this record. I don't usually use Andee's favorite final word in my reviews, but I have to here. ESSENTIAL.
RealAudio clip: "Ark"
RealAudio clip: "Transcience"
RealAudio clip: "Yttrium"

FRIDGE The Sun (Temporary Residence Ltd.) cd 14.98
A lot can happen in 6 years. That's how long it's been since the trio of Kieren Hebden, Adem Ihan and Sam Jeffers last released a record together. Since then 2/3 of the band have gone on to great success with their individual projects, Hebden with Four Tet and Ihan with Adem. As the '90s were coming to a close Fridge emerged as one of the shining examples of a band who totally knew how to bring all sorts of elements from various exciting musical movements (electronica, post-rock, hip-hop, etc.) into a totally cohesive, engaging and epic package. Six years later and they return sounding like no time has passed at all. The Sun sounds like Fridge stepped right out of the time machine, so for those who were hoping to hear that classic Fridge sound once again you will be very happy! While some of us hoped that maybe there would be lots of new twists and turns, there is no denying that they do what they do so damn well. This is like post-rock 101, so get your notebooks and pens out cause school is in session.
MPEG Stream: "Clocks"
MPEG Stream: "Eyelids"

FRIDGE The Sun (Temporary Residence Ltd.) lp 17.98
A lot can happen in 6 years. That's how long it's been since the trio of Kieren Hebden, Adem Ihan and Sam Jeffers last released a record together. Since then 2/3 of the band have gone on to great success with their individual projects, Hebden with Four Tet and Ihan with Adem. As the '90s were coming to a close Fridge emerged as one of the shining examples of a band who totally knew how to bring all sorts of elements from various exciting musical movements (electronica, post-rock, hip-hop, etc.) into a totally cohesive, engaging and epic package. Six years later and they return sounding like no time has passed at all. The Sun sounds like Fridge stepped right out of the time machine, so for those who were hoping to hear that classic Fridge sound once again you will be very happy! While some of us hoped that maybe there would be lots of new twists and turns, there is no denying that they do what they do so damn well. This is like post-rock 101, so get your notebooks and pens out cause school is in session.
MPEG Stream: "Clocks"
MPEG Stream: "Eyelids"

FRIEDBERGER, MATTHEW Napoleonette (Thrill Jockey) lp 11.98

FRIEDBERGER, MATTHEW Solos (Subscription LP Series) (Thrill Jockey) 8lp + box 40.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
PREORDER! PREORDER! PREORDER! PREORDER!
We're super excited to be one of the few stores to be selling preorders for this lp series from Matthew Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, who, starting in January of 2011, will be releasing an lp every two months, each one focusing on and created from a single instrument, the first (from which the sound sample below is taken) will focus on the piano. There will be six lps in the series, but subscribers will also get, along with the last album in the series, two bonus full-length albums featuring Matt and special guests. Subscribers will also get an old-style tip-on LP box with a hand mounted photo in which to house their lps. SUPER limited to just 700 copies worldwide. And, Solos will not be available digitally, or on compact disc in its complete form. Some of the lps might be available individually, but heck, $40 for 8 lps and a super fancy box, tough to beat. So Fiery Furnaces fans, line up here, and grab one of these before they're gone.
You'll be charged for the whole series, and will be notified as each lp is released and arrives at aQ. You'll still have to pay shipping for each individual lp, that's not included in the $40, but of course if you're a regular mailorder customer, we can just toss it in your current order. Otherwise we'll ship them out as they arrive...
MPEG Stream: "Shirley"

FRIEDBERGER, MATTHEW Winter Women / Holy Ghost Language School (859 Recordings) 2cd 21.00
Mr. Fiery Furnace goes it alone for this double (!) album. That's right, he's thrown his hat into the ring of prolificacy, joining the irrepressible songsmith likes of Robert Pollard, John Darnielle and Ryan Adams? The Winter Woman / Holy Ghost Language School combo is an undeniably immense and admirable undertaking, but apologies Brother Friedberger! On our first couple of listens to this album, we just couldn't help but feel like we were listening to a Fiery Furnaces album and hence we totally missed your sister's singing. That magical (and yes fiery) Friedberger spark initially seems somewhat muted (like it's running on half power... which it sort of is). That's a bit of a hurdle to overcome, but the elder Friedberger seems to have knowingly come prepared for it, bringing new elements into his palette of styles and sounds to distinguish his solo efforts from his band endeavors in more ways than just his sister's voice.
Through these two albums Friedberger reveals two distinct personas -- one as the yarn-spinning eccentric pop singer/songwriter (with whom we're already well acquainted by way of the 'Furnaces) and the other as a more adventurous less conventional artist. Winter Women showcases the former with some utterly addictive hook-laden treats (hmmm, imagine if Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted were born under a circus bigtop!), while Holy Ghost brings out Friedberger's inner curious carny juggler. He indulges his whim which beckons him through a wildly varied array of styles with brief stops in bluesy swamplands, murder mystery incidental music, antique puppet theater, incorporating a lot of Beatles-isms throughout. Indeed, the latter does serve as his musical catch-all, but with all of its winding tales and sonic twists'n'turns he doesn't let things get all willy-nilly. No, 'tho he tackles both the big and small, the elaborate and the simple, he maintains a consistent level of composition from start to finish.
Each album stands solidly on its own merits, and we wonder if the reason why he chose to release these two albums together was to ensure the audience's awareness of his multifacetedness. They leave no question, his uniquely tweaked songcraft talents are many.
MPEG Stream: "Up The River"
MPEG Stream: "Holy Ghost Language School"

FRIEND Inaccuracies & Omissions (Flying Nun) cd 16.98
Chris Knox has already conquered the pop world with his wonderful albums as a solo artist and with Tall Dwarfs. So where's his head nowadays? Deep inside his G4, apparently, and this from a man who I seem to remember once expressed luddite-like glee to me at his not having email yet. Gotta love 'im, sweet Mr Knox. Anyway, armed with ProTools, a grant and lots of time, Knox has made an experimental musique concrete album that's as enjoyable in its (relative to other highbrow concretists) lo-fi humbleness as it is interesting in its methods of construction. On one piece, for example, inspired by experimental pianist Conlon Nancarrow he arranged the 88 piano key notes into visual patterns pleasing to the eye, and only then listened to see if they sounded good. (They do.) Other tracks feature fellow sound artist John Hudak's recordings of insects sped up into whirring mechanisms, stadium field recordings mixed with plastic rakes into tinkling swirls, ancient unearthed '70s tape manipuations re-mucked about with, etc. A fine album, both sonically and in its unintimidating, "friend"-ly approachability. Read about its making yourself here; witty Chris Knox always says it best himself: http://flyingnun.co.nz/viewartist.cfm?artistID=473
MPEG Stream: "First Easy Piece"
MPEG Stream: "Insecticider"

FRIENDLY FIRES Pala (XL) cd 10.98

FRIENDLY FIRES Pala (XL) 2lp 14.98

FRIENDS FOREVER Killball (Load) cd 13.98
Some of you may have already experienced the live fury of Friends Forever without even realising it. Touring in their beat up old van, and with no actual shows booked, Friends Forever would pull up in front of venues, where other shows were happening, and perform IN THEIR VAN, with smoke and strobe lights and fireworks spillling out into the street, while the band members thrashed away inside, usually driving away as the cops pulled up to find out what the hell was going on. There was even a documentary made about them! So how does a band whose whole schtick is their unconventional live shows hold up on record? Not all that bad actually. Their sound definitely fits comfortably in with the current crop of retro, electro, new wavers, although their sound is way more lo-fi, and much more spazzy. Think a less manic Lightning Bolt, or Liquorball trying to sound electro. And while that is the core of their sound, Friends Forever veer all over the place, from retarded and noisy synth pop with painfully (and purposefully, I'm sure) inane lyrics, to pounding rumbling mid-tempo Lightning Bolt style spazz rock, to relentlessly propulsive fuzzed out jams, to weird almost-metal with xylophones, to Wolf Eyes-ish industrial freenoise freakouts to Tusk style marching band dirges, with warbly horns and stumbling militaristic rhythms. Freaked out and fucked up and almost as good as sitting on the curb outside a club and being barraged by smoke and lights and chaotic rock mayhem. Almost.
MPEG Stream: "Win"
MPEG Stream: "Linebacker Blitz"
MPEG Stream: "Charge!!!"

FRIENDS FOREVER Tidal Wave City ep (N.G.W.T.T.) cd 11.98
So you're standing outside a show, smoking a cigarette and waiting for the Boredoms or whoever to play. A white van drives up; the doors fling open and out comes an assault of pyrotechnics, flashing lights, and obliterating noise rock! Guys wrapped in lightbulbs pound on drums and guitars INSIDE the van. Then it's over, right before the cops show up, and you're wondering, "What the fuck was that?" That, kind readers, was Friends Forever. Whether in an anticipated or surprise encounter, outside a club or in a parking garage, they play from their own moblie venue, and totally DESTROY with their aggressive spectacle. There's even a documentary about them, apparently now playing on an independent film channel near you. Of course, the question with them and many other post-hardcore freak punk type bands who put on amazing live shows is "how exactly does that incredible energy and performative aspect translate to a record?" Well, the answer for this here Friends Forever record is, umm, pretty decently, though not superlatively. The record allows them to go beyond the high-speed angular pummelling that makes the live shows work. Although it does contain some of said pummelling rock, there are also slower tempos and mellower textures, including some soothing wave sounds a la Black Dice's "Beaches & Canyons," although "Tidal Wave City" never reaches the accomplished and sublime complexity of that record. Still, this is nice, and while Friends Forever truly cannot be appreciated in full without witnessing them live, this is an interesting insight into a different side of them. After all, there's no way they're gonna fit that piano in the van.
RealAudio clip: "The Great Humanizer"
RealAudio clip: "Lies & Propaganda"

FRIENDS OF DEAN MARTINEZ A Place In The Sun (Knitting Factory) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Very filmic instrumentals, most resembling a slowed down Pell Mell, or surf music on thorazine. Includes a lazy, lazy, oh-damn-it's-just-too-hot-out version of Gershwin's "Summertime" featuring almost out of place over-driven arena rock guitar.

FRIENDS OF DEAN MARTINEZ Live At Club 2 (Aero Recordings) cd 14.98
The folks at Aero Recordings have kindly reissued domestically this live disc which was originally released in Europe on Glitterhouse back in 2001. Three of these songs also appeared on the band's On The Shore doubledisc album in early 2003. In the live setting (or at least on this particular performance), Friends Of Dean Martinez are much more fiery and immediate than on their studio recordings (which are considerably more sprawling, drifting and contemplative). To be frank, there are occasions on Live At Club 2 where the trio simply rock! If you dig the dynamic twang of bands such as The Sadies or Calexico (Joey Burns and John Convertino were in an early incarnation of FODM and they wrote and co-wrote a few of the songs included here), do yourself a favor and check out Friends Of Dean Martinez (and vice versa for that matter). This is a great live document of a 2001 performance in Munich, Germany and features a terrific selection of songs that span the band's career up to that point.
MPEG Stream: "Cabeza De Mojado"
MPEG Stream: "Chunder"

FRIENDS OF DEAN MARTINEZ Lost Horizon (Aero Recordings) cd 15.98
Friends of Dean Martinez want you to just chill out... and gaze at this Lost Horizon. Instead of heading in the direction of a bar this eve, how about doin' a bit of lounging outside as the sun creeps down and as the band unwinds a steady strand of slow slinking bluesiness. FODM are well-skilled at creating sumptuous atmospheres, and this one's really gorgeous and mellow (with the exception of the seventh track "Hidden Out Of Sight" which is the album's most active and gritty). Some of it is very much along the lines of John Fahey's contemplative guitar abstractions on his Red Cross album, while other numbers bring to mind the glinting, droning warmth of Sweden's Bjorn Olsson. Actually this makes us feel like we're in a futuristic (like with Swedish neo-retro design) senior citizens' home. Not like in that it makes me feel old, just in that it makes me feel CHILL like in a "Visit Beautiful Florida" commercial for a Florida that is wayyyyy cooler than the real Florida is. We like it...though we like the live album a bit better....if we ever have an underwater or outerspace nightclub we're most definitely booking these guys.
MPEG Stream: "Landfall"
MPEG Stream: "All In The Golden Afternoon"

FRIENDS OF DEAN MARTINEZ On the Shore (Narnack) 2cd 22.00
Brooding, languid and very filmic. Like a meeting of Godspeed You Black Emperor, Ennio Morricone and Calexico at the end of a deserted dirt road somewhere in Arizona. Particularly, fans of the latter might also take a considerable shine to these Friends and it's no surprise 'cause John Convertino and Joey Burns were a part of an early incarnation of F.O.D.M. When they split to form their wonderful combo, remaining member Bill Elm continued on. The music on this double cd, the follow-up to their A Place In The Sun album from 2000, is much less lounge / surf inflected than previous recordings. Steel guitar slink over and through the shadowy rhythm section while mellotron and organ do their part to envelop the expansive proceedings. The first disc compiles songs from their albums Wichita Lineman and Live At Club 2 (a 2001 performance they did in Germany). Imagine a soundtrack to an old western directed by David Lynch... sound good? This is!
RealAudio clip: "Main Theme"
RealAudio clip: "Time's Not Your Friend"

FRIENDS OF DEAN MARTINEZ Random Harvest (Narnack) cd 15.98
Gorgeous! The follow-up to last year's On the Shore double cd, Random Harvest just may contain Bill Elm and co.'s most electrified work to date. Prominent electric guitars add much prickle and bristle to tracks such as "Ripcord" and "Dusk". Yet, the album is also graced by some of the band's most serenely beautiful moments transporting them even further from their former much more loungey surf sounds. Perhaps an oversimplified reference point for this album would be 'Calexico meets Godspeed You Black Emperor', but it truly fits and sets FODM is potent company. Haunting, atmospheric and beautiful. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ripcord"
MPEG Stream: "Lost Horizon"

FRIGHTENED RABBIT Liver! Lung! Fr! (Fat Cat) cd ep 10.98

FRIJID PINK s/t (Akarma) cd 16.98
Dude! It's about time we had some Frijid Pink here at the store! Just do a keyword search on our website for "Frijid Pink" and you'll find a small handful of references we've make to this somewhat unsung late '60s Detroit R&B infused hard rock combo, in the context of talking about some other psychedelic, "proto-metal" and stoner rock discs, among them AQ faves Flower Travellin' Band ('cause both bands did covers of "House Of The Rising Sun" -- in Frijid Pink's case it was their biggest, and pretty much only, hit.)
At last a nice new reish has come along, of FP's self-titled 1970 debut, where you'll find "House Of The Rising Sun" along with a bunch of other great, boogying bluesy garage psych tunes, played by a band partial to the fuzz (as in pedals, not police!) and possessed of a lead singer with powerful rawk pipes, Kelly Green The "Sunshine Of Your Love" styled fuzz monster "Crying Shame" is one standout (heard also on the Cherrystones Rocks comp a while back). "Tell Me Why" is another extreme fuzz attack. Frijid Pink has a gentle side too, there's some (charmingly dated?) hippy mellowness on here for sure. And when they're heavy, be aware it's more of the '60s variety than the '70s (more Vanilla Fudge than Black Sabbath!) but the aforementioned fuzz levels are up there with Sir Lord Baltimore and we'd certainly say that Frijid Pink deserve to be mentioned alongside them and also likes of the James Gang, Cactus, Iron Butterfly, and other proto-proto-metal contenders! And for sure they shouldn't be forgotten when considering the legacy of '60s Michigan rockers like the SRC, Amboy Dukes, and the MC5.
This Akarma reissue comes in an extremely pink digipack, and includes two bonus tracks.
Frijid Pink, yeah!
MPEG Stream: "Crying Shame"
MPEG Stream: "End Of The Line"

FRILLICI, BRICE The Sun Comes In Circles (38th Parallel Productions) cd-r 9.98
Early last year Mr. Frillici dropped off a disc for us to check out. We asked him to bring in a batch. We haven't seen or heard from him since then... until now. Here is the result of what apparently has been six years spent crafting, fine-tuning and fleshing out each song. The first couple of songs twinkle and sway gently along the dreamy lines of Dean Wareham and his band Luna. It'd be darn dandy if the whole album simply continued along that path, but suddenly at the third song he shifts dramatically taking us into some Beck-ish horn-laden funkiness. Then we noticed that there are nineteen songs on this album (!), and we anticipated that Frillici might have much more in store for us... and we were right! He fit in some mellow downtempo shufflin', a rockin' guitar noodly rave up to boot, an interstellar Flaming Lips-esque jaunt, some very very Brian Wilson-y grand pop, and some quirky King Missile style storytelling about a fella who ate his own finger (and that's only at the halfway point). An impressive debut filled with a startling array of pop adventures.
MPEG Stream: "That Astronaut"
MPEG Stream: "Ray's World"

FRIPP & ENO (No Pussyfooting) (DGM) 2cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What more could be said about these two Fripp & Eno records than we've already written in countless Expo '70, Growing and Aidan Baker reviews? That's because these records are pretty much ground zero for all of the dark dreamy drifty processed guitar / tape / synth drone that we can't ever seem to get enough of. Perhaps there are other earlier influential touchstones such as Tony Conrad and La Monte Young, perhaps Stockhausen and Terry Riley as well, but none seemed to have come so totally out of nowhere from two relatively mainstream players as these two records. Manuel Gottsching, Taj Mahal Travellers, and Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music all came a little later.
After every other Eno solo album and collaboration (from Cluster to David Byrne) has been reissued, we are lucky enough to finally see both of these classic releases newly 24-bit remastered by Fripp himself reissued on his DGM imprint. These have never sounded better! No Pussyfooting even contains an extra disc featuring both tracks in reverse and a 40 minute bonus track of "The Heavenly Music Corporation" recorded at half speed that we know all our customers into glacial doomy drone will want, nay, need to own! Even if you own this record already, you may just need to buy it again for the stellar extra material!
It's easy to take for granted nowadays the influence of Brian Eno as the "godfather of ambient music", but in 1973 before he had even released his first solo record, Here Come The Warm Jets, Robert Fripp and Brian Eno were mainly known for their previous roles in King Crimson and Roxy Music respectively. Then this mysterious record parenthetically titled (No Pussyfooting) appears with its cryptic cover, a sort of ultra-modernized take on a hermetic alchemical engraving depicting the two artists (Eno at his most androgynous) looking in opposite directions, sitting in a small mirrored room with no doors reading tarot cards on a mirrored table with what sort of looks like a line of coke (?), next to a mirrored guitar in a mirrored case in the corner, a translucent mannequin and an antique silver radiator behind them under glass shelves filled with old books. The back cover showing the same scene with both artists and tarot cards missing. With its two side-long awesomely titled tracks "The Heavenly Music Corporation" and "Swastika Girls", what kind of music would this be? Rock? Prog? Glam? No one probably would realize until they purchased it and brought it home, that it would be this organically cerebral deep listening experience of the highest order. It's kind of a downer that we have such easy access to information nowadays, because when this came out, it was a true mystery object, which added to its esoteric appeal. But it still is to an extent, as numerous listens over the years still never fail to captivate, or confound how exactly the sounds are being made. Apparently,utilizing a system later dubbed, Frippertronics, two reel to reel tape decks were used to allow audio elements to be added onto a continuing tape loop building up dense layers of sound that would slowly decay as it turned around the decks' playback head. On "The Heavenly Music Corporation" layers of deep synth drones are layered in phased washes with Fripp's unique bowed guitar sound ringing ascending solo lines on top that sometimes loop and sometimes don't. Eno wrings out what sounds like synth lines in counterpoint to Fripp's part in similar tones so that at times it gets harder to tell who is making what sound as the piece intensifies. "Swastika Girls" starts with high pitched cascades of processed piano like tones with scraping synth squelches looping in counterpoint, before low rising bass notes and Riley-ish piano repetitions appear. Then Fripp's searing guitar crash-lands into the mix almost disrupting the whole process, but somehow it all works. Much more distorted and dissonant than "The Heavenly Music Corporation", it doesn't take the process for granted that everything will sound harmonious but remains still somehow cohesive, though far from easy listening.
While the backward tracks are equally amazing, they highlight a different kind of listening experience altogether. The seams show a bit more, the entrance and exit of new sounds more abrupt, but still strangely alien. Their inclusion here came from out of the listening experience of their first (and probably only) complete UK radio broadcast in 1973 courtesy of the late John Peel. Because the tapes were stored "tail out" but played as though they were stored "front out", the broadcast played the music in reverse. When Eno called in to say the music was being played backwards, he was met with a "that's what they all say" response.
But the real bonus of this deluxe package is the 40 minute "half-speed version" of "The Heavenly Music Corporation". When there were 16 2/3 rpm options on early record players, a lot of young guitarists would use the speed to slow down 33 1/3 rpm records to learn and practice their favorite guitar lines. Here it makes the drones so deep and heavy, Fripp's guitar lines more crushing, the layers creep and slither sounding like it could be one of the weird drone cd-r's we sell tons of. If it was in a black sleeve with skulls on it, and was called Skulled Space Outrosphere or Radiant Black Blood, and sealed with wax or wrapped in twine, and was limited to 100 copies, we'd sell a million of em (well, okay... 100!!). Sooooooooooooo Recommended and Essential!
MPEG Stream: "The Heavenly Music Corporation"
MPEG Stream: "Swastika Girls (reversed)"
MPEG Stream: "The Heavenly Music Corporation (half-speed)"