GIRTH Living In Truth (Hector Stentor) cd 9.98
FINALLY BACK IN STOCK!
Wow! This is one for all of you always seeking out the ultimate mathy heaviness. Girth are a guitar and drums duo from up Seattle way, and they dish out some seriously deranged, detailed, devastating instrumental mayhem here. There's a dozen songs on this 42 minute debut and they're all hella herky and jerky and heavy. Did we just say Hella? Well that'd be one comparison, along with Bozart and Breadwinner, though Girth are way more of a metal-riffed monster that those bands, something of which we totally approve. Girth's spazzy string-strangulation and amazing octopoidal drumming is balanced by their crushing low-end chunk and high-tension rocka rolla, and there's even some nice, calming interludes of post-rockish near melody. It's sorta like Crom-Tech or Orthrelm, but just a bit less maddening, more musical. At times this could be the Melvins, playing Black Flag's Process Of Weeding Out while on a caffine binge, throwing in some Entombed or Eyehategod riffs while they're at it. Or the Fucking Champs and Slayer as possessor demons doing battle for control of the same host body. The most important point is, that as hectic and heavy as this can be, it manages to be super listenable as well, something that we don't always get from the math core crowd. We like it. A lot. An impressive debut for sure, packaged with some suitably beautifully chaotic yet precise Stephen O'Malley designed graphics.
MPEG Stream: "Defaced By Her Unconscious"
MPEG Stream: "Discreet Rendezvous"
MPEG Stream: "Monopolizing The Pleasure Dome"

GIST, THE Embrace The Herd (Cherry Red) cd 17.98
Attention Young Marble Giants Fans!!
If you have worn out your copies of Colossal Youth from repeated listenings, and have always wanted to hear more from that group, this might just be the next best thing. Started as a side project by YMG main songwriter and guitarist, Stuart Moxham, The Gist's first single hit the shelves six weeks before YMG called it a day at the tail end of 1980. Taking time to stretch out from the rigid arrangement process of YMG, Moxham recorded the Gist's only album, Embrace The Herd, with a bit of help from his former bandmates, Alison Statton and Phil Moxham along with guest appearances by Epic Soundtracks, Viv Goldman and members of Essential Logic. Combining Eno-like fourth world instrumentals with an idiosyncratic approach to songwriting, Embrace The Herd is an engaging document of post-punk DIY creativity. Think a dancier and stranger YMG, yet not as loungey as Alison Statton's spin off group, Weekend. While perhaps not as seminal or as focused as Colossal Youth, The Gist sound remarkably refreshing and much less restrained. Plus it's nice to have some new-to-us sounds from this era to worm away in our ears. Includes four bonus tracks. Fans of Antenna, Marine Girls, The Slits, The Raincoats, and leftfield post-punk rhythms of all sorts will find lots to love here. So Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Love At First Site"
MPEG Stream: "Clean Bridges"
MPEG Stream: "Light Aircraft"

GIZMOS 1975-1977 Demos & Rehearsals (Gulcher) cd 13.98
Those of you who bought the last issue of the fantastic magazine (and AQ fave) Cimarron Weekend, will know all about the Gizmos (probably way too much). This is a collection of all the detritus (demos and such) from Indiana's legendary garage punk weirdos. Featuring rough versions of all their hits: 'Gimme Back My Foreskin', 'Human Garbage Disposal' and of course 'Pumpin' To Playboy'.

GLACIERS And The Sea Won The Battle (self-released) lp 14.98
The debut album from these Bay Area post rockers now repressed and available again, this time pressed on clear and blue swirled vinyl and limited to 220 copies. Here's what we had to say about And The Sea Won The Battle when we first reviewed it way back in 2010:
First proper full length (after a super limited cd-r), of gorgeously blissed out post rock from this Bay Area ensemble. Lush and textured, rhythmic and hypnotic, slow burning and sprawling, epic and super rocking, these guys take that nineties sound we love so much and make it their own, the songs smolder and pulse, before exploding into dense roiling Godspeed / Mogwai style blowouts. Meandering prettiness, gives way to loping mathy minimalism, chiming guitars, simple spare drumming, looped melodies, a slow build to near metallic crush, the bass throbbing, the guitars tangled up in psychedelic squalls, the drums muscled and propulsive. The sound moody and minor key, cinematic and soundtracky, brooding and intense, heavy and emotional and harrowing. If you dig stuff like Mogwai, Aereogramme, Mono, Pelican, Grails, Explosions In The Sky, Magyar Posse, Red Sparowes, Snowblood, that Temporary Residence instrumental rock sound, that heavy post POST rock, well, Glaciers does it as good if not better than most of your favorites. Not sure how these guys slipped under our radar, since they're from right here in the Bay Area, but it's time to right that wrong, RIGHT NOW.

GLANDS OF ETERNAL SECRETION Nosejob (Starlight Furniture Company) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Barbara Manning and Seymour Glass of Bananafish , plus Greg Freeman, various Thinking Fellers, Mayuko Hino, Conrad Capistran (legendary, humorous record buyer at InYourEar), World of Pooh, etc. Recordings of various birthday parties, live shows, kitchen appliances and backyards, spanning 1979 to 1994, are smoothed into an album that truly works as a seamless whole. Seymour has outdone himself this time. Highly recommended.

GLANDS OF ETERNAL SECRETION Nosejob (Starlight Furniture Company) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Barbara Manning and Seymour Glass of Bananafish , plus Greg Freeman, various Thinking Fellers, Mayuko Hino, Conrad Capistran (legendary, humorous record buyer at InYourEar), World of Pooh, etc. Recordings of various birthday parties, live shows, kitchen appliances and backyards, spanning 1979 to 1994, are smoothed into an album that truly works as a seamless whole. Seymour has outdone himself this time. Highly recommended.

GLANDS OF EXTERNAL SECRETION Reverse Atheism (Butte County Free Music Society) 2lp 27.00
Seymour Glass's Glands Of External Secretion comes from the weirdo surreal art-punk primordial goo that birthed the likes of the Sun City Girls, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Porest / Monopause, irr.app.(ext.), and Caroliner. The Glands loiter in the funhouse of culture, picking and choosing the most bizarre bits to appropriate into strange, nauseous collages and splattered songwriting, and as one could gather from the project's name, scatology is never far away. Reverse Atheism could hardly be called a treatise on anything, despite the multitude of religious, atheistic, and existential themes, as Glass hurls everything at his disposal against the wall with a hard splat and an oozing trail down to the floor. Everything gets treated with the same disregard and clownish pie-tossing attitude. Such was commonplace when Glass published the seminal magazine Bananafish, complete with nonsensical reviews that talked more about rhinoceros foot bacteria (for example) than the merits of some mediocre indie band.
Here on Reverse Atheism, there are reinterpretations of biblical tracts, old gospel hymns, and cult-spawn texts (from Elizabeth Clare Prophet and L. Ron Hubbard, no less) alongside punk-era tirades against God and religion - the latter include mutant covers of XTC's "Dear God," God's Gifts "No God," and The Birthday Party's "Mutiny In Heaven." Glass has long worked with the far more sensible singer-songwriter Barbara Manning, bringing her beautifully languid voice into the warbling, asynchronous, fucked-up loops of various plonks and deconstructed song. He's also employed help from Bruce Russell (Dead C), Alastair Galbraith, and Scott Simmons (Eat Skull) amongst lots of other guests and vagrants. In the calliope of tongue-in-cheek references, Glass uniformly slices apart everything - transcendence, salvation, the end of the world, conspiracy theories, mind control, Darwinism, and any pretty much everything in between. The result is more of a mess of entrails than anything cohesive; of course, that's the way Seymour Glass views the world. A compelling and convoluted album for sure.

GLASPER, IAN The Day The Country Died: A History Of Anarcho Punk 1980 - 1984 (Cherry Red) book 19.95
We only just started reading this but holy crap is it awesome. An in depth exploration of the UK anarcho punk scene. Which means, for those of you unclear on the concept, groups like Crass, Poison Girls, Flux Of Pink Indians, Rudimentary Peni, Icons Of Filth, Dirt, Subhumans, Conflict, Citizen Fish, Amebix, Chumbawamba (before they sold out!!), Zounds, The Mob, Kukl, Lack Of Knowledge, Disrupters, Flowers In The Dustbin, Antisect, Epileptics, Faction and more more more.
It's a little difficult for us to read this personally, as aQ pal Lance Hahn from J-Church was working on his own Anarcho-crust book when he passed away, but besides that, there's really no reason to not buy this, read up on all these amazing bands, and then buy all their records.
Covering the scene during the years 1980-1984, The Day The Country Died is packed with tons of photos, exclusive interviews, scene histories, discographies, we were 30 pages in when we got to Flux Of Pink Indians, maybe one of our favorite bands from that scene, and we had our Flux records out, reading and listening. And it's not just about the bands, and the records, it's the movement, the politics, pretty inspiring for sure.
Like we said, we only just started it, but we're digging this book BIG TIME, and apparently it's a companion to Glasper's other book, Burning Britain, so we'll probably have to track that one down too!

GLASS CANDY Beatbox (Italians Do It Better) cd 13.98
Johnny Jewel may not be a household name but his music has been on our stereo pretty much non stop for the last several month. The musical mind behind both Chromatics and Glass Candy, it's his sparkling touch that has helped make electronic pop sound exciting again. It's no mistake that Glass Candy had the leadoff track on the After Dark compilation that helped define one of the more exciting scenes to emerge in the last several years. Songs that make you want to dance in clouds as you get lost in that hazy intersection of new wave, spaced out disco and post-punk minimalism.
Much like Chromatics who underwent a very radical and rewarding shift in sound with their latest Night Drive, Jewel has brought that same aesthetic to Glass Candy with equally impressive results. Beatbox travels in such a nice way starting off with seriously sassy momentum on songs like "Beatific" that almost sounds like Lizzy Mercier Descloux covering a track from the first Madonna record and then the later part of the record travels in much moodier cosmic territory recalling French AQ faves Ruth with nods to the brilliant early production of Giorgio Moroder. Glass Candy rang in the new year with a performance here in SF on New Year's Eve and we can't think of much better company to party with. So good!
MPEG Stream: "Beatific"
MPEG Stream: "Candy Castle"

GLASS CANDY Beatbox (Italians Do It Better) lp+7" 14.98
NOW ON VINYL with a bonus 7" featuring two super hot unreleased tracks including the slow burner "The Gate" which is making us get up close and personal with Glass Candy all over again. Here's what we had to say about the full length when it first came out:
Johnny Jewel may not be a household name but his music has been on our stereo pretty much non stop for the last several month. The musical mind behind both Chromatics and Glass Candy, it's his sparkling touch that has helped make electronic pop sound exciting again. It's no mistake that Glass Candy had the leadoff track on the After Dark compilation that helped define one of the more exciting scenes to emerge in the last several years. Songs that make you want to dance in clouds as you get lost in that hazy intersection of new wave, spaced out disco and post-punk minimalism.
Much like Chromatics who underwent a very radical and rewarding shift in sound with their latest Night Drive, Jewel has brought that same aesthetic to Glass Candy with equally impressive results. Beatbox travels in such a nice way starting off with seriously sassy momentum on songs like "Beatific" that almost sounds like Lizzy Mercier Descloux covering a track from the first Madonna record and then the later part of the record travels in much moodier cosmic territory recalling French AQ faves Ruth with nods to the brilliant early production of Giorgio Moroder. Glass Candy rang in the new year with a performance here in SF on New Year's Eve and we can't think of much better company to party with. So good!
MPEG Stream: "Beatific"
MPEG Stream: "Candy Castle"

GLASS CANDY Bicicleta Emocional (Troubleman Unlimited) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Glass Candy follow up their Love Love Love album with this 2-song slice o' vinyl, and it's a hottie! The A-side hikes things up a notch with a great new GC original "Bicicleta Emocional" - perhaps one of their best songs to date even - and the B-side is a fiery cover of Roxy Music's "Re-Make / Re-Model".
Ida No whoops and howls affecting her best Debbie Harry "Heart Of Glass" sultriness. Meanwhile Johnny Jewel leans into his electric guitar showing some strategic restraint in the placement of his crunchy riffing. Ginger Peach keeps the propulsive beat and some unknown presence hammers away at a piano lending an added bristling tension to this Portland, OR group's already raw, minimal art-punk sound.
Note: this is the black vinyl Troubleman edition, not the special Spanish pressing which reportedly was pressed on pink vinyl and included a magnet and insert.

GLASS CANDY Deep Gems (Italians Do It Better) cd 13.98
While lots of B-side collections end up being mostly throwaway or forgettable tracks, we think we might be loving this collection of odds and ends from Glass Candy even MORE than their latest full length, Beat Box, which we already liked a lot. You can tell they must have been listening to lots of late-night cosmic disco and some great cold/synth-wave when they recorded these tracks as they really nail both of those sounds perfectly.
The combination of Johnny Jewell's great musical chops and Ida No's sizzling, sexy and detached vocal delivery is pretty much ideal. The sound of Deep Gems is pretty similar to Beat Box, even though these are all outtakes and B-sides, which makes it the perfect companion for folks already loving the album proper.
An unlikely contributor, Eyvind Kang, adds his violin and viola playing on a few tracks, but make no mistake this collection is all about slow burners and smoke filled late night dance floor grooves.
MPEG Stream: "Something Stirring In Space"
MPEG Stream: "Geto Boys"
MPEG Stream: "The Beat's Alive"

GLASS CANDY Demos - May 2004 (self-released) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hipster glam art punks from Portland, Glass Candy's Ida No (vocals) and Johnny Jewel (bass) never fail to stir things up. Now for a special limited time offer (i.e, this cd-r of brand new demos) they've upped the ante with the addition of a special guest... the illustrious Ms Jesse Eva (aka Jesse Trashed of The Vanishing) on saxophone. Because these are demos we could say that this is Glass Candy 'in the raw', but these six songs are not a whole lot rawer than their usual gritty, lo-fi releases! Ida swoons and squeals her vocals, Jesse's sax follows suit, while Johnny's bass makes friends with the drum machine. There's also glimpses of an increased almost ESG-ish funkiness. Definitely something to tide GC fans over 'til their new mini-lp comes out this fall, but get this while you can (i.e, NOW!) 'cause Jesse's movin' to Berlin really soon, and we're not sure when / if we'll be able to get more!
MPEG Stream: "Your Dream Lover's On Video"
MPEG Stream: "Nite Nurses"

GLASS CANDY Feeling Without Touching (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
Awesome new 12" from one of our favorite seductive late night dance floor duos. What makes this 12" extra cool is that it's not just one song and throwaway unessential different versions of the same track, instead the record features two brand new new totally melt worthy tracks, the stand out and weirdest one being "Covered In Bugs" which is a demented paranoid sensual freak out, complete with some sexy screaming from Ida No, and a wonderfully stretched out and hypnotic instrumental ending that gets locked in a smoked out hazy trance. And that ending is kind of a preview for what comes next on the scene-stealing flipside of this 12". "Shine Like Gold & Diamonds" an instrumental track that really shows off how damn talented Johnny Jewel is, the track is like some amazing version of someone like Oneohtrix Point Never covering an instrumental passage from a classic Kraftwerk track. The next two tracks are also mostly instrumental versions of two of the songs from the first side, but totally given a different feel and sound. Beyond suave and seductive. At over 26 minutes of music, this is a total must have for Glass Candy fans, and even those who might not always love the the vocals, as the majority of this wax is about Johnny Jewel's ability to capture such a specific vibe and feeling with the beats and music he creates. So good!

GLASS CANDY Geto Boys (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
Brand new super sizzling 12" from everyone's favorite sultry and sassy nu-disco duo Glass Candy. With two songs from the cd-only Deep Gems collection, "Geto Boys" and "Animal Imagination", each getting a side of wax for not only the original version, but in true '80s 12" fashion, each song is given multiple reworkings. You get the vocal/drums version of Geto Boys as well as the instrumental. And there is the "Soft Boundaries" version of "Animal Imagination" as well as the instrumental. And those instrumentals really serve to further demonstrate to how damn well Johnny Jewel uses his synths to create such icy and infectious moods and melodies. Always a great thing to have more Glass Candy on wax!

GLASS CANDY Iko Iko (Troubleman) cd ep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We have to admit that we sorta groaned when we saw that the hipper than hip Portland trio Glass Candy had gone and covered the already-covered-in-the-'80s hit "Iko Iko", but we gotta give 'em props for bringing something new to the song and making it their own. So, we say "cool!" Actually it sounds like they took a little more time and put a little more thought into all of these tracks than they have with most of their past recordings. Within the first few bars of their "Iko" it becomes evident that they're much less about making the immediate flash-pot spectacle this time around. They've also made a few shifts in overall musical direction, applying more funk influences and fewer no wave angularities. We might've also guessed this from the cover photo. Ida No has shed her electro-clash glam-shock stylings in favor of a more groomed, relatively au naturelle pose along the lines of '50s glamour girls, but surprisingly un-pin-up/cheesecake-y. A more grown-up Glass Candy seeking a potentially broader audience? Well, if you found their past appeal to have been their in-your-face sizzle and reckless fireworks, this new persona might take some getting used to. However, if taken on its own this EP is pretty darn fun. An added surprise: although the cd traycard lists only six tracks, you mysteriously get eight. Go figure!
MPEG Stream: "Iko "
MPEG Stream: "Sugar & Whitebread"

GLASS CANDY Iko Iko (Troubleman) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yup, you can now get your latest Glass Candy fix on vinyl! Here's what we said about the cd version: We have to admit that we sorta groaned when we saw that the hipper than hip Portland trio Glass Candy had gone and covered the already-covered-in-the-'80s hit "Iko Iko", but we gotta give 'em props for bringing something new to the song and making it their own. So, we say "cool!" Actually it sounds like they took a little more time and put a little more thought into all of these tracks than they have with most of their past recordings. Within the first few bars of their "Iko" it becomes evident that they're much less about making the immediate flash-pot spectacle this time around. They've also made a few shifts in overall musical direction, applying more funk influences and fewer no wave angularities. We might've also guessed this from the cover photo. Ida No has shed her electro-clash glam-shock stylings in favor of a more groomed, relatively au naturelle pose along the lines of '50s glamour girls, but surprisingly un-pin-up/cheesecake-y. A more grown-up Glass Candy seeking a potentially broader audience? Well, if you found their past appeal to have been their in-your-face sizzle and reckless fireworks, this new persona might take some getting used to. However, if taken on its own this EP is pretty darn fun.
MPEG Stream: "Iko "
MPEG Stream: "Sugar & Whitebread"

GLASS CANDY Life After Sundown (Troubleman ) 12" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's a special white label 12" of those Portland nu-no-waver hotties Glass Candy! It features three versions of the title track of their forthcoming album which should be quite a death disco treat if this one song is any indication. Along with the regular ol' album version you'll get them in acapella and instrumental mode -- the creation of which, we'd venture to say, took little to no artistic effort (just the energy it took the recording engineer to push a mute button!), but will provide all you DJs with ample additional material to extend your Glass Candy supa-sets! Limited pressing of 750.

GLASS CANDY Love Love Love (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Glass Candy's debut full length sounds not unlike a severely chemically altered collision between the Missing Persons (y'know, the '80s new wave group from L.A. responsible for "Destination Unknown", "Mental Hopscotch" and "Walking In L.A." with squeaky-voiced, hottie chanteuse Dale Bozzio) and Altered Images (remember them? the '80s British pop band with squeaky-voiced, cutie chanteuse Clare Grogan who were responsible for "Happy Birthday" and "See Those Eyes"). However, the music that backs GC vocalist Ida No (who, for the record, has a voice much richer, if no less affected, than the aforementioned ladies) is nothing like that of either of those groups whatsoever. Glass Candy (formerly Glass Candy & the Shattered Theater) push a dark, stripped-down aesthetic of big guitar, streamlined, insistent, pounding drums, and stylized vocals bathed in delay, with the occasional addition of heavy, A Certain Ratio-esque basslines and synths. At their hair-raising best, Glass Candy remind me of an unholy combo of Christian Death ("Romeo's Distress," "Jesus, Where's the Sugar" -- when Christian Death was good, they were amazing, OK?) and the Stooges. Before it was goth, it was death rock, and before that it was just punks wearing a lot of eye make-up-- and Glass Candy embody that tough, raw rock n' roll energy mixed with sexy, theatrical glamour perfectly. It's a tough task to fully capture the insane energy of their live shows (which are well known to be trainwrecks of throbbing, writhing dramatics) on record, but I think "Love Love Love" is up to the challenge. An impressive and satisfying debut that situates Glass Candy near the top of a current group of bands (including fellow Portlanders Get Hustle and Baltimore's Love Life) referencing the darker side of post-punk. Includes an appropriately intense, wrenching cover of the Screamers' "I Wanna Hurt."
RealAudio clip: "Nite Nurses"
RealAudio clip: "I Wanna Hurt"

GLASS CANDY Miss Broadway (Italians Do It Better) 12" 9.98
Following in the wake of the sizzling comp After Dark, which has quickly become a unanimous AQ favorite, comes this 12" featuring one of the Glass Candy tracks from that vintage disco inspired compilation. In true disco spirit the 12" comes in a seductive diecut sleeve with the single on the 'A' side and the instrumental version on the flipside, along with another instrumental cut. Glass Candy have never sounded better, we love the shift in their sound. Glass Candy have always been perfect for late night dance floor listening but now their sensuality and sexuality seem to be shining through in such a sleek and irresistible fashion.
MPEG Stream: "Miss Broadway"

GLASS CANDY & THE SHATTERED THEATRE Metal Gods 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two post-post-punk songs (one of them a Screamers cover!) from this new young trio from Portland, OR. Very seething and tense a la Suicide. Dark propulsive music. Fans of the GSL label / art-punk scene should definitely check this out.

GLASS CANDY & THE SHATTERED THEATRE Smashed Candy (Vermin Scum) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Working the kind of style panache that would make Rudi Gernreich beam with pride, it's Glass Candy And The Shattered Theatre from Portland, OR.
With two well-received 7"s under their belt, Ida No, Johnny Jewel and Avalon Kalin offer up a very raw live one-sided 12" of six songs. Includes a highly unstable rendition of Josie Cotton's "Johnny Are You Queer?" as heard in the movie "Valley Girl". Recorded live at Kimo's right here in SF. Please note: the sound quality is pretty blown out, but it does captures the edgy propulsive freak-out that is Glass Candy. As can be expected from a live performance, this is much more flailing and rocked out of control than the dark seething tension of the "Brittle Women" and "Metal God" singles.

GLASSER Mirrorage/Lindstrom Remix (Matador) 12" 14.98
It's no secret that we fell head over heels for Glasser's album Ring from last year, and it's left all of us with an impatient thirst to hear more. This new 12" remixed by Hans-Peter Lindstrom takes us to a space-side disco where Glasser melds moodiness and danciness with such great results. Lindstrom seems to key into the Laurie Anderson side of Glasser as the sounds sort of echo the awesome vibe of Big Science, but given a major modern update. Can't wait for a whole new set of songs from Glasser, but until then we'll be jamming this non-stop!

GLASSER Ring (True Panther Sounds) cd 14.98
We missed out on Glasser's debut ep which came out last year and quickly went out of print. But everyone we knew who heard it kept telling us we had to check out Glasser, and with the release of her first full length we can now officially proclaim ourselves bigtime fans, as this is proving to be one of the most satisfying, colorful, swirling and flowing pop records of the year. Glasser reminds us a lot of a more sparkling, bright and rhythmic version of Zola Jesus or Islaja. There is a tinge of darkness in her string tones and electronics but there is also so much life and moving energy in her songs which gives the record such an amazing fluidity. Instead of just mimicking Kate Bush, Bjork and Laurie Anderson, she instead takes cues from different elements of their brilliance in helping to create a sound that is both hypnotic and inviting. While she may soon be tagged under the new 'it' genre of 'witch-house' there is something much more singular and organic happening in these songs that can't be written off as any sort of passing fad. This is a record that we think will definitely stand the test of time.
MPEG Stream: "Home"
MPEG Stream: "Treasure Of We"
MPEG Stream: "Apply"

GLASSER Ring (True Panther Sounds) lp 15.98
We missed out on Glasser's debut ep which came out last year and quickly went out of print. But everyone we knew who heard it kept telling us we had to check out Glasser, and with the release of her first full length we can now officially proclaim ourselves bigtime fans, as this is proving to be one of the most satisfying, colorful, swirling and flowing pop records of the year. Glasser reminds us a lot of a more sparkling, bright and rhythmic version of Zola Jesus or Islaja. There is a tinge of darkness in her string tones and electronics but there is also so much life and moving energy in her songs which gives the record such an amazing fluidity. Instead of just mimicking Kate Bush, Bjork and Laurie Anderson, she instead takes cues from different elements of their brilliance in helping to create a sound that is both hypnotic and inviting. While she may soon be tagged under the new 'it' genre of 'witch-house' there is something much more singular and organic happening in these songs that can't be written off as any sort of passing fad. This is a record that we think will definitely stand the test of time.
MPEG Stream: "Home"
MPEG Stream: "Treasure Of We"
MPEG Stream: "Apply"

GLAXO BABIES, THE Dreams Interrupted : The Bewilderbeat Years 1978-1980 (Cherry Red) cd 16.98

GLAZE, BRIAN Green Living (World Famous In SF) cd 11.98
Even though he resides right here in the Bay Area we knew very little about this Brian Glaze character when we first got in this new release of his, but oh damn is that about to change, as this is becoming one of those records that we can't seem to stop listening to. Channeling so many eras of warped pop delight, Brian Glaze has made a record that's as fun as it is smart, and as catchy as it is fulfilling. There is for sure a similar aesthetic and delivery to some of our favorite warped popsmiths like John Maus and Ariel Pink, but Green Living totally has its own thing going on. '50s pop colliding with psychedelic rock that's soaked in new wave electronics. We hear a bit of what The Gris Gris might sound like if they began to pull from more varied influences. Psychedelic disco pop? Deconstructed multigenerational pop genius? We're not sure exactly what to call it but we know that we LOVE IT!
MPEG Stream: "Leader of the Band"
MPEG Stream: "Bad News"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Ashes"

GLAZE, BRIAN Green Living (World Famous In SF) lp 11.98
Even though he resides right here in the Bay Area we knew very little about this Brian Glaze character when we first got in this new release of his, but oh damn is that about to change, as this is becoming one of those records that we can't seem to stop listening to. Channeling so many eras of warped pop delight, Brian Glaze has made a record that's as fun as it is smart, and as catchy as it is fulfilling. There is for sure a similar aesthetic and delivery to some of our favorite warped popsmiths like John Maus and Ariel Pink, but Green Living totally has its own thing going on. '50s pop colliding with psychedelic rock that's soaked in new wave electronics. We hear a bit of what The Gris Gris might sound like if they began to pull from more varied influences. Psychedelic disco pop? Deconstructed multigenerational pop genius? We're not sure exactly what to call it but we know that we LOVE IT!
MPEG Stream: "Leader of the Band"
MPEG Stream: "Bad News"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Ashes"

GLISSANDRO 70 s/t (Constellation) cd 16.98
When you think of the Constellation label, warm bouncy and sunny aren't usually words that come to mind. Home to the whole Godspeed You Black Emperor family the label is most usually associated with monumental post rock with some dark flair. Glissandro 70 is a much welcome blast of washed out sunshine for the label. Incorporating blissed out melodies, tasteful lo-fi nods to world rhythms, and an overall cohesive laid back approach that quietly sucks you in. There is something about this record that sounds so totally refreshing. We listed the reissue of Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts elsewhere on this list as well and this can be added as a great example of a future generation getting so right the seeds planted by that influential recording. There's also an avant pop sensibility that will totally hit the spot for fans of Animal Collective's recent outings as well as Broken Social Scene at their most abstract. The sun has finally reappeared here in SF and this has been the perfect record to hang out with while we soak in the rays.
MPEG Stream: "Something"
MPEG Stream: "End West"

GLITTER PALS Unleash The Compassion (Lovepump United) cd 8.98
What do two guys from Genghis Tron do when they're not spewing metallic electronic grind pop whatthefuck? Well, they sort of do the same thing they always do. Sort of. But they do mix things up a bit by upping the pop ante, toning down the grind, and thus these Pals have come up with a NINE MINUTE burst of bubbly glistening, sludgy dirge pop that hits the spot in a similar way to the recent sludge pop of Torche. But this isn't sludgy or poppy as much as it's freaked out a furious, a poppier take on that sort of Locust / Horse The Band synthgrind. The thing that sets Glitter Pals apart for us, is a really demented use of clean harmony vocals, a moaning chanting weirdness, that Allan thought sounded like the sample from LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out". Weird and heavy and catchy and totally fucked. And you know from us that means HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
MPEG Stream: "Thunder Tights"
MPEG Stream: "Unleash The Compassion"

GLITTER WIZARD Hunting Gatherers (Captcha) lp 22.00
We thumbed up the spacey synthy glitter-glam garage retro not-really-metal of this SF band's Siltbreeze 7" a while back, but then somehow skipped over reviewing their subsequent full-length, and are even a little behind the times in getting to this new elope of theirs too, but that's ok 'cause the Glitter Wiz guys are also behind the times, or maybe way out futuristically in front, way out anyway, again using '60s and '70s rock inspirations like Deep Purple, Hawkwind, The Doors, Bloodrock, Black Widow, and Iron Butterfly to help formulate their super groovy, more wizardly-than-thou sound, one that's got lotsa synth, jamming electric organ, some flute and sax. Along with catchy riffs and amusing lyrics, often gleefully unserious ("I don't worship the Devil, the Devil worships me"). Our kind of entertainment!
There's one little hushed-folky-trippy-acoustic number, "Sunlit Wolves", but otherwise most of the trax are swaggering rockers, such as "Wizard Wagon" (about the singer's van, it would seem) which definitely has hit potential, in our world anyway. "Motorider" reminds us of both The Stooges and Steppenwolf, and when they get heavier on the 7+ minute "Space" it sorta sounds like an agitated Om with keyboards. Album-closer "Big Sur" also has that Om/Sleep vibe, due to the chant-like vox and slomo swinging plod. It's another long one, the longest here at close to 9 minutes, and so about half way through stops plodding and starts ripping and rollicking, reminding us more of early early Sabbath, like back when Sabbath covered Crow's "Evil Woman" on their first single. That said, though, mostly Glitter Wizard doesn't even seem all that heavy or metal or even proto-metal. They're retro-proto-proto-metal maybe? Definitely G. Wiz love their '60s sounds but do their own cool new thing with that, rather than going for some kind of Nuggets redux. For fans of Blood Ceremony (minus the female vox and much of the metal) and Danava and Mammatus when they do get heavy-ish.
Vinyl-only, goddamit. Maybe someday they'll realize that compact discs are more glittery and magical.
MPEG Stream: "Worship The Devil"
MPEG Stream: "Wizard Wagon"
MPEG Stream: "Big Sur"

GLITTER WIZARD 0 Black Lotus / Witches Limbo (Sans Escape) 7" 6.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Heard about this on Tom Lax's Siltblog, which is funny 'cause this band is from right here in our backyard, and are also not exactly shitgaze or whatever other noisy underground rock aesthetic we thought Siltbreeze was all about. Lax mentioned classic heavy psych/metal peeps for the ages like Deep Purple, Hawkwind, and Monster Magnet in his review and yep, all present and accounted for (if inebriated and high as fuck, no surprise) in GW's sound, to some extent. Super stoner retro rockin' here, well with retro sounds but not sounding like any actual old band that's for sure, A-side "Black Lotus" starts off all full of gobblin' space synth soundz, then begins pounding down the riffs like Sleep or something a bit later on, while on the flip, "Witch's Limbo", they keep on rockin', no not like Dokken but more like Danava (w/ all them synths) and Priestess and other current bands creating the past anew. Interestingly, the other tracks we've heard from 'em, on their MySpace, are way more overtly garagey punky, in a ? and the Mysterians, Lyres, mebbe even Stooges style, but here it seems they're heavy metalling it (the magazine and the music) a bit more. So, two cool tunes, and now we're put on notice to go see these glittering wizzes next time they play, we're especially curious to see if they get all glammed up live to go with their name. (AQ staffer Jon has seen 'em and sez they do!)

GLOVE, THE Blue Sunshine (Rhino) 2cd 25.00
Some musical pairings just make perfect sense. Case in point, Siouxsie And The Banshees' Steve Severin and The Cure's Robert Smith. Originally released in 1983, The Glove is getting the same reissue treatment as the early Cure albums which means there is an extra disc which in this case is where the magic is hidden. On the original release there were label/legality issues which kept Smith's voice from appearing on all except two tracks so a last minute singer was needed which ended up being Jeanette Landray, who was the girlfriend of The Banshees drummer Budgie. While her vocals kind of work, it's always been the kind of record that you always pictured with Smith's vintage vocals throughout. And this reissue makes that dream come true as the bonus disc is filled with demo versions on which Smith sings those very song making this reissue even more essential. Robert Smith in 1983 singing with Severin from The Banshees playing, what more could you want?
MPEG Stream: "Like An Animal (Vocal Demo)"
MPEG Stream: "A Blues In Drag (Alt Vocal Demo)"
MPEG Stream: "Sex Eye Make Up"

GLUCIFER Tender Is The Savage (Sub Pop) 2cd 12.98
Swedish shit-kickin' gasoline-fueled rock action, a la slightly-better known peers The Hellacopters. Biff Malibu (yep, they all have dumb pseudonyms) does his singing in a kinda Danzig kinda way, but the music is more like Motor City 70's proto-punk via grunge city. Bonus disc with video and some other songs.

GNAW This Face (Conspiracy) cd 16.98
Thee extreme / experimental / industrial metal scene has a potential new ruler here, with the doomic and disturbing debut of Gnaw. If you put this disc in your computer's iTunes, you'll see some joker has categorized their genre as "children's music". Ha, don't think so! Unless you want your kids to grow up to be like Alan Dubin, of OLD/Khanate infamy, who provides the blood curdling vokills here, ranging from throat-shredding yowls to creepy stage whispers. He's joined by former members of doomlords Burning Witch, psychfolk weirdos Enos Slaughter and cold, early '80s NYC post-punk Factory Records band Ike Yard (!) for this new project, which seems to take up where Dubin's previous bands left off, but in a direction much more deviant & eccentric.
The claustrophobic chaos of track one, "Haven Vault", ought to determine pretty quick if this is for you or not. Imagine a sped-up Khanate struggling through a windstorm, Dubin bawling wretchedly amidst the buzzing murk and the splatter of improv percussion... then distant, pretty piano notes fade in eerily, one by one... it's like Khanate meets Hazard meets Supersilent, in a nightmare. Extreme indeed, and all right with us! That leads to the next track, one that's calmer and more song-like, yet perhaps even more sinister-sounding, with Dubin's negative vibe lyrics more intelligible, everything backed by a springy-sprongy electronic rhythm. More of a tribal drumming pattern is exhibited on the deep rumble of the third song.
Each track seems to delve further and further into weirdness and woe, with drone and distortion and feedback given free range of the album. The jittery percussion effects a trance-like vibe at times, perhaps allowing Dubin's words deeper, subliminal access to your subconscious (uh oh). But as big fans of both OLD and Khanate, we're all for it, glad to now have Gnaw to push those same buttons, along with other ones we hadn't expected, like the way the singing on "Watcher" sounds almost like Eugene from Oxbow. Or how it sounds like maybe Dubin & Co. have been into some dubstep lately. Or how Gnaw's crunching head nodding heaviness is cracked like Humpty D. Yep, if you like some strange surprises in your grim glitchtronic avant-metal music, and moreover enjoy the varied vokill stylings of Mr. Dubin, you'll want Gnaw's Your Face at your place.
The Conspiracy label has released this on cd (digipack) and of course LIMITED EDITION gatefold vinyl of various colors (we've got any color you want, as long as it's black). They had to leave 2 tracks off the vinyl version, but it does come with a free mp3 download card so you can get the entire album on your computer.
MPEG Stream: "Haven Vault"
MPEG Stream: "Vacant"
MPEG Stream: "Shard"

GNAW This Face (Conspiracy) lp 15.98
Thee extreme / experimental / industrial metal scene has a potential new ruler here, with the doomic and disturbing debut of Gnaw. If you put this disc in your computer's iTunes, you'll see some joker has categorized their genre as "children's music". Ha, don't think so! Unless you want your kids to grow up to be like Alan Dubin, of OLD/Khanate infamy, who provides the blood curdling vokills here, ranging from throat-shredding yowls to creepy stage whispers. He's joined by former members of doomlords Burning Witch, psychfolk weirdos Enos Slaughter and cold, early '80s NYC post-punk Factory Records band Ike Yard (!) for this new project, which seems to take up where Dubin's previous bands left off, but in a direction much more deviant & eccentric.
The claustrophobic chaos of track one, "Haven Vault", ought to determine pretty quick if this is for you or not. Imagine a sped-up Khanate struggling through a windstorm, Dubin bawling wretchedly amidst the buzzing murk and the splatter of improv percussion... then distant, pretty piano notes fade in eerily, one by one... it's like Khanate meets Hazard meets Supersilent, in a nightmare. Extreme indeed, and all right with us! That leads to the next track, one that's calmer and more song-like, yet perhaps even more sinister-sounding, with Dubin's negative vibe lyrics more intelligible, everything backed by a springy-sprongy electronic rhythm. More of a tribal drumming pattern is exhibited on the deep rumble of the third song.
Each track seems to delve further and further into weirdness and woe, with drone and distortion and feedback given free range of the album. The jittery percussion effects a trance-like vibe at times, perhaps allowing Dubin's words deeper, subliminal access to your subconscious (uh oh). But as big fans of both OLD and Khanate, we're all for it, glad to now have Gnaw to push those same buttons, along with other ones we hadn't expected, like the way the singing on "Watcher" sounds almost like Eugene from Oxbow. Or how it sounds like maybe Dubin & Co. have been into some dubstep lately. Or how Gnaw's crunching head nodding heaviness is cracked like Humpty D. Yep, if you like some strange surprises in your grim glitchtronic avant-metal music, and moreover enjoy the varied vokill stylings of Mr. Dubin, you'll want Gnaw's Your Face at your place.
The Conspiracy label has released this on cd (digipack) and of course LIMITED EDITION gatefold vinyl of various colors (we've got any color you want, as long as it's black). They had to leave 2 tracks off the vinyl version, but it does come with a free mp3 download card so you can get the entire album on your computer.
MPEG Stream: "Haven Vault"
MPEG Stream: "Vacant"
MPEG Stream: "Shard"

GNIDROLOG In Spite Of Harry's Toe-Nail (Lady Eleanore) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Just got a handful of this obscure prog cd reissue so we thought we'd list it. Definitely one for anyone who's dug previous AQ prog recommendations. Actually the UK's Gnidrolog kinda combine a lot of our favorite over-the-top prog moves into one elpee. You'll hear some Magma, some Van Der Graaf...King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Shub Niggurath, Osanna...even some Comus. It's crazed and hectic and bombastic, with zany Zappa'd mathematical rock n' roll raveups (complete with harp blowin'), fitted out in extreme prog fashion with cello, sax, oboe, piano, and flute. (Let's not forget the flute!! that's where the Comus and Tull comparisions come in.) From pretty, rustic folk song to unhinged dramatic vocalizations to doomy rock chords and even some super-skronky guitar noise, this 1972 LP was definitely *out there* as far as progressive rock goes. In Spite Of Harry's Toe-Nail was their debut, but this cd version includes as bonus tracks alternate versions of two from their second album Lady Lake, including the epic Wishbone Ash-ish "I Could Never Be A Soldier".
MPEG Stream: "Long Live Man Dead"
MPEG Stream: "Snails"

GNIDROLOG In Spite Of Harry's Toe-Nail / Lady Lake (BGO Records) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two Gnidrolog albums on one disc!

GNIDROLOG Lady Lake (Si-Wan) cd 22.00

GNOD 5th Sun (Trensmat) 7" 8.98
One of two new singles on this week's list from UK label Trensmat, one by outsider abstract noisescapers Whirling Hall Of Knives, and this one, from UK psychedelic spacekraut collective Gnod, and as always, already sold out at the label, and thus the copies we got are most likely the only ones we'll ever see. Gnod offer up two tracks, the A side, a thick, super distorted dirge, all downtuned riffage wreathed in celestial shimmer, pounding death march drumming and soft swirls of ethereal synths, some serious heavy psychedelic space doom for sure, and easily the heaviest darkest thing we've heard from these guys yet, and it had us definitely wishing this was way longer than just a 7".
The flipside is the 'dub' of the A side, and basically douses the whole thing in delay and a murky lo-fi patina, the sounds a bit blurrier and more washed out, the snares dubbed out and sent careening into the ether, the track laced with more weird samples, the overall vibe surprisingly much more heavy, the guitars gristlier, the drums more industrial, and like the A side, we wish there was a 30 minute extended edit, cuz this is the sort of blissed out psychedelic industrial dubbed out heaviness we never want to end.
Pressed on clear orange vinyl, and includes a link to downloads of both tracks.
MPEG Stream: "5th Sun"

GNOD Chaudelande (Rocket) cd 17.98
Originally released as two separate, ultra limited vinyl volumes, this sprawling psychedelic opus has finally been combined onto epic psychedelic songsuite, all on one shiny aluminum disc - which gives us a chance to make it our Record Of The Week, which was impossible before.
Unlike Gnod's more experimental electronic Presents... Dwellings & Druss lp, which we reviewed recently, Chaudelande finds the band in full on kosmiche space-psych mode, the sort of thing fans of outfits like Carlton Melton, White Hills, The Heads, 3 Leafs and the like, will flip for, assuming those folks aren't already heavily into Gnod. Which many probably are, as we've raved about these UK psychedelic space rockers on past lists, and who we first discovered via a split with NY space rockers White Hills. Gnod would later go on to share a split with another aQ fave, Bong, as well as releasing a clutch of their own records, which as you might assume, had all the space/psych rock fans around here flipping their lids. Chaudelande, originally released in 2012 and split into two separate 12"s, is another heady concoction of heavy psych rock bliss, swaggery space rock crunch and shimmery lysergic sonic drift, the first three tracks, originally volume 1, are sprawling epics, the shortest a little over eight minutes, the longest originally taking up a whole side at 17+. Where on past records, Gnod did a lit of drifting and spaced out shimmering, the opening track here wastes no time, well, okay, a little time spent spaced out and ethereal, before exploding into some full on space rock stomp, equal parts Hawkwind, the Stooges, heck, even a little Monster Magnet, the drums are massive, pounding away, the guitars thick, and crumbling with distortion, swaggery and spacey and seriously psychedelic, everything wreathed in swirls of effects and swaths of blurred buzz, the vocals a reverbed yelp, the bass thick and slithery, the whole thing on the edge of slipping into full on freakout. Sort of mirroring the sonic shift White Hills displayed on their most recent record. The second track dials it back a bit, drifting into a more Moon Duo-ish territory, that sort of mesmerizingly cyclical propulsive space-kraut, but Gnod mix it up by adding some thick grinding bass buzz, and clouds of constantly shifting FX, not to mention layer upon layer of swirling guitar murk and celestial shimmer, and while it does go through several permutations, at its heart, it's a seriously heady slab of blissed out zoner psych.
But then the third track displays a whole different side of Gnod's sound, opening up with some fluttery folk, wreathed in field recordings of bird calls, and all manner of voices, as if it were some hippy commune fireside jam. The sound darkens considerably, a low slung bass line driving some skeletal rhythmic shuffle, the sound hazy and fuzzy and droned out, but peppered with bursts of incendiary guitar noise, wild squalls of psychedelic freakout, wheezing organs, eventually exploding into a pounding noise jam second half, that finds the sound cranked, all the pedals pushed to their limited, the whole thing held together by a raga like buzz, heady and heavy and gloriously noisily spaced out.
The second half of the cd, originally volume 2, begins very tranquilly, with some bells and chimes, a fluttering flute, bird song, and folky chanted vocals, all driven by a simple plodding rhythm, very old timey and ritualistic sounding, but then a few minutes in, the song gradually splinters into a murky, pounding punkish churn, that sounds almost industrial, like a space rockier version of Crash Worship, tribal drumming beneath chugging crumblingly distorted riffage, wrapped in keening synth drones, and pocked with yelped reverby vox, the vibe is very Circle-like, a sort of Neanderthal space-psych hypno-rock, that does eventually transform into something that sounds almost like death rock, or some sort of goth-psych, that shuffling almost disco-y rhythm, deep crooned vocals, slithery basslines, but all nearly obscured by sheets of wah wah-ed guitar noise, pretty goddamn weird, but also one of our favorite Gnod jams yet! The follow up track Entrance, is a similarly minded sprawl of psychedelic hypno-rock. churning, pulsing, pounding, the drumming much busier, but still seriously motorik, the sound growing gradually more intense and heavy and blown out, a sort of space-punk sprawl, and the sort of mesmerizingly tranced out psychedelic space jams that end way too soon, even after 10+ minutes.
And like the first volume, the second volume (and the collected compact disc version of Chaudelande) ends with an epic, previously sidelong mega-jam, this one the awesomely titled "Genocider", which begins with a full on "Hey Mickey" style drum beat, which is quickly buried under an avalanche of crumbling riffage and howled echo drenched megaphone vox, the song a mesmerizing space garage stomp, with the guitars growing ever more unhinged, spraying wild tangles of psych-freakout over everything, but then something strange happens, the guitars begin to recede, and the drums begin to become a bit dubby, the timbre shifting, the low end dissipating, with beats careening back and forth, the sound breaking down into a twisted brittle psych dub drum jam, before exploding right back into another stretch of roiling space stomp heaviness, that pounds on relentlessly, until crashing to a halt in a final squall of blown out noise-psych crunch. So awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Tron"
MPEG Stream: "The Vertical Dead"
MPEG Stream: "Entrance"
MPEG Stream: "Gender"

GNOD Chaudelande Volume 1 (Tamed Records) lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not one, but TWO new, extremely limited lps from UK psychedelic space rockers GNOD, who we've raved about on past lists, and who we first discovered via a split with NY space rockers White Hills. Gnod would later go on to share a split with another aQ fave, Bong, as well as releasing a clutch of their own records, which had space/psych rock fans around here flipping their lids. This new one is split into two parts, forming a two part set called Chaudelande, the first part spreading three tracks out over two sides, the shortest a little over eight minutes, the longest taking up a whole side at 17+. Where on past records, Gnod did a lit of drifting and spaced out shimmering, the opening track here wastes no time, well, okay, a little time spent spaced out and ethereal, before exploding into some full on space rock stomp, equal parts Hawkwind, the Stooges, heck, even a little Monster Magnet, the drums are massive, pounding away, the guitars thick, and crumbling with distortion, swaggery and spacey and seriously psychedelic, everything wreathed in swirls of effects and swaths of blurred buzz, the vocals a reverbed yelp, the bass thick and slithery, the whole thing on the edge of slipping into full on freakout. Sort of mirroring the sonic shift White Hills displayed on their most recent record. The second track dials it back a bit, drifting into a more Moon Duo-ish territory, that sort of mesmerizingly cyclical propulsive space-kraut, but Gnod mix it up by adding some thick grinding bass buzz, and clouds of constantly shifting FX, not to mention layer upon layer of swirling guitar murk and celestial shimmer, and while it does go through several permutations, at its heart, it's a seriously heady slab of blissed out zoner psych.
But then the sidelong flipside displays a whole different side to Gnod's sound, opening up with some fluttery folk, wreathed in field recordings of bird calls, and all manner of voices, as if it were some hippy commune fireside jam. The sound darkens considerably, a low slung bass line driving some skeletal rhythmic shuffle, the sound hazy and fuzzy and droned out, but peppered with bursts of incendiary guitar noise, wild squalls of psychedelic freakout, wheezing organs, eventually exploding into a pounding noise jam second half, that finds the sound cranked, all the pedals pushed to their limited, the whole thing held together by a raga like buzz, heady and heavy and gloriously noisily spaced out.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, pressed on white vinyl.

GNOD Chaudelande Volume 2 (Tamed Records) lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not one, but TWO new, extremely limited lps from UK psychedelic space rockers GNOD, who we've raved about on past lists, and who we first discovered via a split with NY space rockers White Hills. Gnod would later go on to share a split with another aQ fave, Bong, as well as releasing a clutch of their own records, which had space/psych rock fans around here flipping their lids. This new one is split into two parts, forming a two part set called Chaudelande. This, the second record, begins very tranquilly, with some bells and chimes, a fluttering flute, bird song, and folky chanted vocals, all driven by a simple plodding rhythm, very old timey and ritualistic sounding, but then a few minutes in, the song gradually splinters into a murky, pounding punkish churn, that sounds almost industrial, like a space rockier version of Crash Worship, tribal drumming beneath chugging crumblingly distorted riffage, wrapped in kenning synth drones, and pocked with yelped reverby vox, the vibe is very Circle-like, a sort of Neanderthal space-psych hypno-rock, that does eventually transform into something that sounds almost like death rock, or some sort of goth-psych, that shuffling almost disco-y rhythm, deep crooned vocals, slithery basslines, but all nearly obscured by sheets of wah wah-ed guitar noise, pretty goddamn weird, but also one of our favorite Gnod jams yet! The follow up track Entrance, is a similarly minded sprawl of psychedelic hypno-rock. churning, pulsing, pounding, the drumming much busier, but still seriously motorik, the sound growing gradually more intense and heavy and blow out, a sort of space-punk sprawl, and the sort of mesmerizingly tranced out psychedelic space jams that end way too soon, even after 10+ minutes.
And like the first volume, the whole of the second side of volume 2 is taken up by another massive spaced out epic, this one the awesomely titled "Genocider", which begins with a full on "Hey Mickey" style drum beat, which is quickly buried under an avalanche of crumbling riffage and howled echo drenched megaphone vox, the song a mesmerizing space garage stomp, with the guitars growing ever more unhinged, spraying wild tangles of psych-freakout over everything, but then something strange happens, the guitars begin to recede, and the drums begin to become a bit dubby, the timbre shifting, the low end dissipating, with beats careening back and forth, the sound breaking down into a twisted brittle psych dub drum jam, before exploding right back into another stretch of roiling space stomp heaviness, that pounds on relentlessly, until crashing to a halt in a final squall of blown out noise-psych crunch. Awesome.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, pressed on white vinyl.

GNOD Ingnodwetrust (Rocket) lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is only the second full length (we know of) from UK space rock psych drone collective Gnod, besides the recent cd-r/cassette The Crystal Pagoda we listed a while back. Most everything else we know about these guys comes from the various split and collaborative releases that came before. And that was all we really need to know, their list of collaborators reads like WE selected 'em: Bong, White Hills, Robedoor, that should be enough to give you an idea of where Gnod are coming from. But they definitely have their own twisted take on spaced out psychedelia, as is further evidenced here, on this two track lp. The first, a 20 minute epic titled "Tony's First Communion" opens with what sounds like a collision of zithers (band name?), which quickly gives way to a woozy low slung bass pulse, wreathed in distant chantlike vocals, and then in come the drums, and some swirling buzz, some croaking frogs (?), space-y FX, and the band are locked into a gorgeous head nodding hypno krautspace dirge, motorik and mesmerizing, the beat and the bassline stay solid, an anchor holding down all the chaos that surrounds them, lush tangled layers, buzz and fuzz and swirl and shimmer, creepy processed vocals, dubbed out effects, until a sudden break where the drums drop out, and howled vocals wrapped in distorted guitars swoop in, and remain as the groove restarts, adding to the tripped out weirdness. And so it goes, for 20 minutes, that main motorik spacekraut groove plodding relentlessly though a sky full of squeals and streaks, shards and squiggles, voices and instruments, samples and field recordings, all hurled heavenward and left to spin weightless in Gnod's orbit, adding all manner of twisted texture and melodic color to the already druggy and dreamy and supremely tranced out proceedings.
The shorter flipside, only 13 minutes, titled "Vatican" begins with big super distorted drums, that quickly drop out, leaving just swirling drones and muted electronics, reverbed voice transmissions and lush organ shimmer, until the drums drop again, big and blown out, reminding us a bit of a less manic Shit And Shine or Butthole Surfers, a tribal pound wreathed in glitch and hiss, a slo-mo spacerock dubstep, again the group locking tight into a groove, and letting it run out, while pelting it from all sides with thick jags of blackened buzz, or bleary streaks of Technicolor melody, twisted effects, shards of hiss and whir and hum, the voices even more reverbed and tripped out, but about halfway through, the song shifts to half time, and the sound becomes distinctly doomy, a space rock effects drenched dirge, the beat a caveman pound, the various sounds growing more and more intense, building to a gloriously glitched out, lumbering blown out space psych squall, the beat a lurching half time creep, the song plodding darkly until it finally crumbles and grinds to a halt.
So awesome. Fans of The Heads, White Hills, Shit And Shine, Bong, Carlton Melton, Robedoor, Teeth Of The Sea and all things rhythmic and psychedelic, krautrocky and spaced out, the line forms HERE.
MPEG Stream: "Tony's First Communion"
MPEG Stream: "Vatican"

GNOD The Crystal Pagoda (Sonic Meditations) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You can often tell a lot about a band by the other bands they share splits with. And considering the fact that Gnod have done split time with both psychedelic space rockers White Hills, and space psych doomlords Bong, it's pretty much a no brainer. And the fact that these guys can pretty much hold their own with both says it all. And actually, the sound of Gnod does fall somewhere right between Bong and White Hills, beginning super murky and minimal, doomy and slow, the guitars abstract and space-y, fluttery flutes laced over whirring low end, the sound builds quickly to something seriously explosive, the drums pounding, lots of bagpipe like horns offering up more layers of drones, mumbled vox, distortion and noise and effects piling up until the rhythmic almost krautlike groove is buried beneath a heaving churning pile of constantly shifting and swirling sound. Pretty stellar for sure.
The second track here, another 20 minute space doom jam, is much less expansive, instead, it's a solid chunk of hypno space rock, the drums and bass locked tight, weird vocals drift in and out, swirls of space-y FX swoop down from above, the surrounding ambience is ever changing, but the rhythm keeps the song grounded, a head nodding, drug addled non-stop mesmerizing groooooove, lysergic and psychedelic but pretty stripped down compared to that opening salvo. Good stuff for sure. Anyone into the current crop of space rock explorers (like Expo 70, too, whose limited edition cassette/cd-r label put this out) will no doubt dig this BIG TIME.
MPEG Stream: "The Crystal Pagoda"
MPEG Stream: "Tony's First Disco"

GNOD The Crystal Pagoda (Sonic Meditations) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You can often tell a lot about a band by the other bands they share splits with. And considering the fact that Gnod have done split time with both psychedelic space rockers White Hills, and space psych doomlords Bong, it's pretty much a no brainer. And the fact that these guys can pretty much hold their own with both says it all. And actually, the sound of Gnod does fall somewhere right between Bong and White Hills, beginning super murky and minimal, doomy and slow, the guitars abstract and space-y, fluttery flutes laced over whirring low end, the sound builds quickly to something seriously explosive, the drums pounding, lots of bagpipe like horns offering up more layers of drones, mumbled vox, distortion and noise and effects piling up until the rhythmic almost krautlike groove is buried beneath a heaving churning pile of constantly shifting and swirling sound. Pretty stellar for sure.
The second track here, another 20 minute space doom jam, is much less expansive, instead, it's a solid chunk of hypno space rock, the drums and bass locked tight, weird vocals drift in and out, swirls of space-y FX swoop down from above, the surrounding ambience is ever changing, but the rhythm keeps the song grounded, a head nodding, drug addled non-stop mesmerizing groooooove, lysergic and psychedelic but pretty stripped down compared to that opening salvo. Good stuff for sure. Anyone into the current crop of space rock explorers (like Expo 70, too, whose limited edition cassette/cd-r label put this out) will no doubt dig this BIG TIME.
MPEG Stream: "The Crystal Pagoda"
MPEG Stream: "Tony's First Disco"

GNOD / ROBEDOOR Bored Fortress Club (Not Not Fun) 7" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Not Not Fun label's Bored Fortress subscription split 7" series has been going on for a few years now, and is always killer, featuring a who's who of hip underground weirdo rock combos, not to mention some seriously fantastic packaging, and for whatever reason, this year, a handful of the previously subscription only singles have been made available to non subscribers, but not for long, as these babies are crazy limited.
UK dronedrugspace rockers Gnod unfurl a sprawling bit of effects heavy minimal space psych crawl, all super reverbed vocals, swirling echoey guitars, ultra minimal almost dubby drumming, the guitars a distorted murky muddy squall of tangled melody, drifting over the dirgey creep-like black clouds.
Robedoor lay down some grungy riffage, some big boomy drumming, and lock into some seriously drum heavy dirgery, with strange alien vocals, super saturated guitars, a crazy blown out sound, all barely obscuring some gloriously epic psychpop within, a psychpop that seems to emit glorious rays of sonic shimmer constantly on the verge of bursting from within the fantastically grimey, swirling murky muddy production.
Also, we have another Bored Fortress title, besides the ones we're listing now, the Infinite Body / No Age split 7", VERY few copies of that one, not enough to list, just ask if you want one and IF we still have some left, it could be yours!
MPEG Stream: GNOD "A Very Special Request"
MPEG Stream: ROBEDOOR "Solid State"

GO BACK SNOWBALL Calling Zero (Fading Captain) cd 15.98
Besides being yet another in the seemingly ceaseless stream of Robert Pollard's Fading Captain Series recording projects, the most notable thing about Go Back Snowball is the warm, glowing presence of Superchunk's Mac MacCaughan. Yup, this is a collaboration between these two tireless, great musical minds. Mr. MacCaughan wrote and performed all of the music, while Mr. Pollard wrote and performed all of the vocals. Imagine what it could possibly sound like and I'll bet you'd not be far off the mark.
RealAudio clip: "Red Hot Halos"
RealAudio clip: "Throat of Throats"

GO FIND, THE Miami (Morr Music) cd 15.98
Belgium's The Go Find craft atmospheric electronic laced pop rock propelled by a driving robotic beat and warmed by mainman Dieter Sermeus' sensitive male vocals. The ten songs on their debut album Miami alternately bring to mind the sounds of The Notwist, Postal Service and New Order or perhaps a more laidback version of The Faint. This new member of the Morr Music clan is settling in quite comfortably with his labelmates Lali Puna, Ms John Soda, Styrofoam et al.
MPEG Stream: "Over The Edge"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Quest"

GO GO GALAXION Great Attractor (Hectochrome) cd 9.98
This new SF band's debut is quite immediately reminiscent of the dreamy, swirling late '90s Brit rock bands like Spiritualized or The Church - all shimmering, spacy guitars with soft shoegazer male lead vocals. But Go Go Galaxion set themselves apart from those groups with an ever-present upbeat mood that's propelled along by some considerably West Coast sunny bouncy tempos and warm vocal harmonies - maybe placing them more in line with polished pop bands like Beulah or the Posies in that regard. Nice.
RealAudio clip: "Breathe"
RealAudio clip: "Living Space"