GRUEL s/t (At War With False Noise) cd 13.98
Any band described as 'the Melvins playing King Crimson', well, how could you not want to hear that, assuming that were it true, you might have a new favorite band!! But, those sorts of descriptions are usually hyperbole, and while we love us some hyperbole, claims like that definitely bear some deeper digging.
That said, this stuff is pretty close to that Melvins meets KC claim, a sort of avant sludge, or prog-doom, or avant-prog-sludge. In addition to the Melvins and King Crimson, we're also thinking Harvey Milk, Dot [.], Moss, Swans, Black Shape Of Nexus, Blutch, Slomatics, and tUMULt's Like A Kind Of Matador, in fact, pretty sure that Gruel features the guitarist from LAKOM, and thus it has a similarly epic sludge prog feel. Four loooong songs, all clocking in at about 15 minutes, sprawling and epic and intricate, loads of parts, riffs, bombastic drumming, the sound slipping from classic sounding rock, to glacial sludge, to slo-mo ambient drift, to math metal churn, midtempo caveman pounds to frantic thrashing crush to super spare abstract ultra-mega-doom, to almost pretty shoegazey buzz to hushed barely there shimmer, the various parts laced with wild leads, mysterious percussion, children's voices, harsh hellish vox, bellowed yowls, weird field recordings, thick rib cage rattling low end, and a massive milk curdling guitar sound. So while it might not exactly be Melvins meets King Crimson, it's close enough, and most definitely plenty proggy and doomy and sludgey, and will no doubt hit the spot for fans of all the above mentioned bands, and all things slow and low, heavy and heady.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, packaged in a PVC sleeve, and wrapped in a full color sleeve that folds out into a big two sided full color poster!
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

GRUESOMES, THE Gruesomology 1985-89 (Sundazed) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Aaah, '60s garage rock will never die, shimmy-stomp revivalist bands will keep on resuscitating the sock hop each decade. Back in the '80s, Montreal, Quebec spawned some of the best trashy garage surf combos, and perhaps none more notable nor more cool than The Gruesomes. They sported some of the best uniform mushroomy, bowl-cut 'dos this side of the Ramones, and were graced with one of the best snotty voices around courtesy of frontman / personality Bobby Beaton. Well, you know what? They got back together a couple of years ago! Yup, fully fueled, engines revved and ready to roll with an album called Cave In! And now, perhaps to celebrate their return -- or just 'cause what with the current garage revival these guys deserve some props -- Sundazed has released a kick-ass retrospective compiling selections from Beaton and co's previous three obscure albums Tyrants Of Teen Trash, Gruesomania and Hey! plus an assortment of EPs, comp tracks and -- the staple of any self-respecting retro rock band -- some stellar cover versions, including a track originally performed by "The Way-Outs" in a Flintstones cartoon! Raw, fuzzed out electric guitars, a primal drum beat, a steady walking bassline, vocals snarled and shouted, and a heck of a lot of fun. Truly a garage rawk treasure.
MPEG Stream: "Way Down Below"

GRUMBLING FUR Alice (Latitudes) cd 14.98
We first heard about the awesomely named Grumbling Fur, via the fact that one of the members was none other than Jussi from Finnish hypnorockers Circle, and as with all of Jussi's many projects, we were excited to hear this one, especially since it also included Daniel O'Sullivan of Guapo (and more recently Ulver, Mothlite and Miasma & The Carousel of Headless Horses). Sadly, we so far have not been able to get copies of their debut full-length, so thus, no one here had actually yet heard Grumbling Fur.
Until now, 'cause this just showed up. This three song ep, the latest in the Latitudes series, finds the former quintet stripped down to just a duo, sans Jussi, it's just O'Sullivan and Alxeander Tucker, not sure if this more minimal lineup is permanent or just for the Latitudes sessions, and seeing as we have yet to hear the original lineup, we can't say how it compares, but we can say we dig it quite a bit.
At first blush it's a sort of folky baroque psychedelic pop, a mournful plink plonk bit of piano, over a layer of thick squelchy synth buzz and skeletal drumming, the vocals a dreamily dramatic croon, everything wreathed in streaks of squiggly effects, and some singing strings off in the background, hypnotic, and a little bit tranced out, with a distinctly drone-y element, a dark minimal bit of downer folk pop that also has a sort of Velvets vibe with its single part arrangement and druggy psychedelic mesmer, which gradually grows more manic near the end before disappearing in a cloud of swirling buzz and tripped out FX.
The second track follow suit, with the same general sound palette, but sounding more bombastic, a big lush almost orchestral pop sound, but rendered in greys and blacks, the skittery drumming, the minor key piano melodies, this time in a cloud of what sounds like manufactured field recordings, and the vocals all tangled up into a dizzying round, reminding us a bit of Cardinal in fact, but a much more minimal, druggy Cardinal to be sure.
The final track is an instrumental coda, all effects-drenched piano and shimmery synth swirls, the sunniest of the bunch, with just a slightly sinister streak, playful, melodic, and darkly dreamy.
Packaged as usual in that distinctive Latitudes packaging. the cd in a brown and white origami style sleeve, with a cool black embossed print on the front, and a full color insert inside with liner notes, the lp in a black and white sleeve, with the same insert. BOTH LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Wylderness Waiting"
MPEG Stream: "Solar Nights & Rainwater"

GRUMBLING FUR Alice (Latitudes) lp 19.98
We first heard about the awesomely named Grumbling Fur, via the fact that one of the members was none other than Jussi from Finnish hypnorockers Circle, and as with all of Jussi's many projects, we were excited to hear this one, especially since it also included Daniel O'Sullivan of Guapo (and more recently Ulver, Mothlite and Miasma & The Carousel of Headless Horses). Sadly, we so far have not been able to get copies of their debut full-length, so thus, no one here had actually yet heard Grumbling Fur.
Until now, 'cause this just showed up. This three song ep, the latest in the Latitudes series, finds the former quintet stripped down to just a duo, sans Jussi, it's just O'Sullivan and Alxeander Tucker, not sure if this more minimal lineup is permanent or just for the Latitudes sessions, and seeing as we have yet to hear the original lineup, we can't say how it compares, but we can say we dig it quite a bit.
At first blush it's a sort of folky baroque psychedelic pop, a mournful plink plonk bit of piano, over a layer of thick squelchy synth buzz and skeletal drumming, the vocals a dreamily dramatic croon, everything wreathed in streaks of squiggly effects, and some singing strings off in the background, hypnotic, and a little bit tranced out, with a distinctly drone-y element, a dark minimal bit of downer folk pop that also has a sort of Velvets vibe with its single part arrangement and druggy psychedelic mesmer, which gradually grows more manic near the end before disappearing in a cloud of swirling buzz and tripped out FX.
The second track follow suit, with the same general sound palette, but sounding more bombastic, a big lush almost orchestral pop sound, but rendered in greys and blacks, the skittery drumming, the minor key piano melodies, this time in a cloud of what sounds like manufactured field recordings, and the vocals all tangled up into a dizzying round, reminding us a bit of Cardinal in fact, but a much more minimal, druggy Cardinal to be sure.
The final track is an instrumental coda, all effects-drenched piano and shimmery synth swirls, the sunniest of the bunch, with just a slightly sinister streak, playful, melodic, and darkly dreamy.
Packaged as usual in that distinctive Latitudes packaging. the cd in a brown and white origami style sleeve, with a cool black embossed print on the front, and a full color insert inside with liner notes, the lp in a black and white sleeve, with the same insert. BOTH LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Wylderness Waiting"
MPEG Stream: "Solar Nights & Rainwater"

GRUNTRUCK Inside Yours / Push (Metal Mind Productions) 2cd 21.00
Okay, let's get it out of the way right up front. Yeah, we know, Gruntruck is a terrible name for a band, and yeah they do have a song called "Crucifunkin'" which is unfortunately, as the title might lead you to believe, a little bit funky. But be that as it may, these guys slayed, early nineties Seattle grunge, always underappreciated, but so heavy, and hooky, and groovy, channeling the same sort of sound as Skin Yard and Soundgarden, big downtuned riffage, wild scrabbly leads, and vocalist Ben McMillan's killer yowled vox. Need proof, just check out the sound sample for "Inside Yours", a track that we would definitely put near the top of our list of best grunge jams ever, with its woozy, druggy, slow build intro, and lurching lumbering, stop / start arrangement, slinky and sludgey, with some killer weirdly effected guitars, reminding us of Green River, the same sort of junkie blues grunge metal groove. And while that 's definitely our favorite jam here, there are plenty that are just as good.
Gruntruck played constantly with grunge legends like Screaming Trees, Alice In Chains (supposedly they opened for AiC more than any other band), not to mention touring with Pantera, and featured at least one of The Accused as a member, but for whatever reason, they sort of slipped through the cracks. Which makes no sense listening to this now. This double disc collection gathers up the group's two full lengths, 1990's Inside Yours and 1992's Push, with two bonus tracks. Inside Yours is the grungier of the two, definitely sounding like it could easily have ended up on Sub Pop, although it's maybe a tad more metal, with a sound that was definitely dangerously close to fellow grungers Skin Yard, while Push was a bit more commercial, probably reflecting all those shows with Alice In Chains, their sound definitely moving in that direction. Record label bullshit hastened the end of the original lineup, and while the band soldiered on, releasing another ep in 1996, and reuniting in 2000, it's these two records that should have made them as big as their grunge brethren. Super rocking, grunge-y hook filled heaviness that should most definitely hit the spot for fans of Skin Yard, Tad, Green River, Soundgarden, The Fluid, Afghan Whigs, Swallow, Love Battery, Nirvana, etc., who somehow missed out on these guys the first time around.
Packaged in a super fancy six panel double digipak, with two booklets, lyrics and liner notes.
MPEG Stream: "Inside Yours"
MPEG Stream: "Not A Lot To Save"
MPEG Stream: "Tribe"
MPEG Stream: "Machine Action"

GRUPA 220 Slike (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.

GUALBERTO A la Vida, al Dolor (Fonomusic) cd 23.00

GUAPO Black Oni (Ipecac) cd 17.98
You know how much we like instrumental underground UK prog masters Guapo here, right? Andee even put out one of their albums (2001's Great Sage, Equal Of Heaven) on his label tUMULt. Subsequently they released the massive Five Suns opus on Cuneiform. And now, their new release Black Oni is unleashed by Mike Patton's Ipecac label. And they've been going from strength to strength.
Like Japan's Ruins, the Guapo trio take a lot of inspiration from '70s prog, in particular the "zeuhl" stylings of the amazing French band Magma. But where the Ruins generally concentrate the Magma sound into a hectic hyper-blast, Guapo tend to stretch things out, spreading their prog-frenzy across (in this case) a forty-three minute, five part epic composition, not unlike the five part, forty-six minute title suite of Five Suns... that's their specialty it seems. Crazed drumming and complex bass lines coexist with spaced-out keyboards (including '70s prog stalwart the Mellotron), making Black Oni a combination of energetic prog mayhem and droning electronic darkness. For fans of Yeti, Tarantula Hawk, Circle and even The Necks... and of course anyone already into Guapo will love this new one. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "3"
MPEG Stream: "5"

GUAPO Black Oni (Hlava) lp 36.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl! Super deluxe import, gorgeous sleeve, in a weird black plastic wrapping and a black sticker. VERY LIMITED so act fast.
Here's our review of Black Oni when it first came out:
You know how much we like instrumental underground UK prog masters Guapo here, right? Andee even put out one of their albums (2001's Great Sage, Equal Of Heaven) on his label tUMULt. Subsequently they released the massive Five Suns opus on Cuneiform. And now, their new release Black Oni is unleashed by Mike Patton's Ipecac label. And they've been going from strength to strength.
Like Japan's Ruins, the Guapo trio take a lot of inspiration from '70s prog, in particular the "zeuhl" stylings of the amazing French band Magma. But where the Ruins generally concentrate the Magma sound into a hectic hyper-blast, Guapo tend to stretch things out, spreading their prog-frenzy across (in this case) a forty-three minute, five part epic composition, not unlike the five part, forty-six minute title suite of Five Suns... that's their specialty it seems. Crazed drumming and complex bass lines coexist with spaced-out keyboards (including '70s prog stalwart the Mellotron), making Black Oni a combination of energetic prog mayhem and droning electronic darkness. For fans of Yeti, Tarantula Hawk, Circle and even The Necks... and of course anyone already into Guapo will love this new one. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "3"
MPEG Stream: "5"

GUAPO Elixirs (Neurot) cd 14.98
Prog nutters? These guys are, definitely. And be prepared to go prog nuts yourself for this new release from AQ-faves Guapo. This British band is now on Neurosis' Neurot label, after releases for (among others) Mike Patton's Ipecac and our own Andee's tUMULt. We've been fans of 'em for a long time, obviously, and are in good company! This new one is everything we'd expect from Guapo: extended, mostly instrumental cinematic symphonics, dark and moody, played with the virtuosity and verve of their '70s prog rock ancestors. Heck, I (Allan) played a 15 minute track from this, "King Lindorm", on my prog / krautrock radio show last night, Klaus To The Edge (www.westaddradio.com/klaus), and it fit right in perfectly alongside the '70s likes of Cornucopia and Gnidrolog!! Droning strings. Eastern melodies. Bombastic battery. Elegant eeriness.
Yet at this point, Guapo have developed their own sound to a degree where you can't just tag them as a retro proposition. Creatively, they're bringing their old school prog rock inspirations into the 21st century, and have refined their approach to a point where they have as much in common with modern post rock soundscapers as they do with the eccentricities of hoary prog heroes Magma.
As always, the duo of Daniel O'Sullivan (Fender Rhodes, piano, bass, guitars, harmonium, modular synthesizers, autoharp, voice, electronics -- whew!) and David J. Smith (drumkit, percussion) are their own veritable prog rock orchestra, though they do have occasional help from guests, including vocalist Jarboe from the Swans on one song. That'd be "The Selenotrope", one of two tracks originally from Guapo's tour-only Twisted Stems cdep, both of which are included here, and which we previously described as sounding something like a horror movie soundtracks scored by The Necks. (To Guapo fans who happen to already have Twisted Stems, we say no worries, you'll still be getting well over 40 minutes of brand new music on Elixirs too.)
All this proggy goodness comes wrapped up in a snazzy black & white artwork, packaged in a jewelcase with cardstock slipcase.
MPEG Stream: "Jewelled Turtle"
MPEG Stream: "Arthur, Elise, and Frances"

GUAPO Five Suns (Cuneiform) cd 14.98
After a stunning release on our own Andee's tUMULt label a few years back, the UK's finest noise-skree-experimental rock duo, Guapo return as a trio (!) and with a brand new album that...[review pauses here while Andee wildly air drums along with Guapo's one man octopoidal percussionist Dave Smith, although I suppose it's not technically air drumming if Andee's in fact hitting Allan in lieu of actual drums, but we digress...]
While their last full length Great Sage, Equal Of Heaven was a frenetic Ruins-esque, bass and drums (and sometimes sax) workout, Five Suns takes the obvious instrumental prowess and prog potential present on the first record, and turns Guapo into the only modern prog combo that could possibly threaten Christian Vander's Magma throne. Hyperbole? Hardly. The centerpiece of Five Suns is the five part, 46 minute title track. So gorgeously grand, so compositionally daunting, so fucking good, words fail us. The addition of a full time keyboardist, as well as the introduction of guitars, has helped Guapo's skeletal prog jams flower into expansive instrumental epics. The record begins with a huge swell, a swirling squall of wild drumming and thick instrumental chaos, that glitches out as if the stereo is malfunctioning, before setting you down gently, ready to embark on a daunting but inspiring musical journey. Droning ambience and repetitive hypnotic rhythms give way to ultra complex, ultra precise riffery. Melodies are subtle but infectious, slowling unfolding over the course of ten, sometimes twenty minutes. Minor key thrum underpins careening hyper complex arrangements, tense and intense, hypnotic and just breathtaking in its scope. The Ruins is still a definite reference, but all sort of other influences inform Guapo's unique take on prog, the cyclical hypno-rock of Circle (and beyond that the rhythmic propulsive psych/drone of classic Krautrock), the blissed out skree of Skullflower and Sunroof! as well as post rock, free folk, metal and all sorts of other disparate sounds. All woven smoothly and uniquely into a cohesive whole. A fifty minute track, even in the best hands, can veer into overindulgence and pointless jammery, but every second of Five Suns is perfectly placed, and perfectly played -- but without losing its organic, free feel. The two extra tracks are separated from the vast "Five Suns" by a minute long track of silence to clear your aural palate, and prepare you for two shorter bursts of rhythmic, hypnotic, droning modern prog. Originally the Five Suns album was going to be just that, the 46 minute title track, and we were a little disappointed to learn that extra 'short' tracks were being added to make the record more, ahem, radio friendly. But now listening to it as a whole, it seems like it couldn't have been any other way. The two final tracks let us slowly unwind from the dizzying sonic journey that came before. This record is fucking massive. If there was any sort of justice in the world, Guapo would be spoken of in the hushed tones reserved for bands like Magma or King Crimson. As far as we're concerned, starting right now, they will be.
MPEG Stream: "Five Suns Pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: "Five Suns Pt. 2"
MPEG Stream: "Five Suns Pt. 3"

GUAPO Great Sage, Equal Of Heaven (tUMULt /Pandemonium) cd 11.98
Wow! UK noise-skree-experimental rock duo Guapo really took their prog-rock obessions to the limit on this, their 2001 masterpiece, Great Sage, Equal Of Heaven, their first and only for tUMULt, and for many their first exposure to Guapo, before they blew up, moving on to release equally amazing records on other labels such as Cuneiform, Ipecac, Aurora Borealis, Neurot and others.
Guapo have always littered their heavy hardcore avant-pummel with prog-rock references, specifically of the "zeuhl" variety -- they even had a 7" single entitled "Guapo vs. Magma". And their previous release was a live improv collaboration with Japanese beyond-prog madmen the Ruins. Now, with "Great Sage...", Guapo have made an intense, over-the-top all-instrumental prog masterpiece for the 21st century. From the truly bizarre cover and interior paintings to the mindboggling and completely fucked song structures to the sax blowouts of ex-Honkie Caroline Krabel to the lengthy DRUM SOLO that pops up in "Zero For Conduct" to the album-closing 16 minute epic "El Topo" whose heavosity rivals that of AQ-faves Tarantula Hawk, this disc is a must for all adventurous rock listeners ready for something that tops the progressive freakouts of the 1970s. Especially if you like the Ruins (their heavier, less spastic stuff especially) or Ruins' Magmoid side-project Koenjihyyakei, you should check this out!!
MPEG Stream: "Five Cornered Square"
MPEG Stream: "Sakura"
MPEG Stream: "Zero For Conduct"

GUAPO Hirohito (Pandemonium) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An amazing melange of noise, improv, electronics, prog, opera, samples, and turntables. A series of off kilter plunderphonic style noise operettas. Much less 'rock' and more weirdness than their other releases.

GUAPO History Of The Visitation (Cuneiform Records) cd+dvd 25.00
If you asked us (do it!) to recommend you a good modern day "prog rock" band, Guapo would be at the top of the list, which would be obvious if you've seen our many, many reviews of the fantastically proggy output of this long running British unit, who have released albums on such labels as Cuneiform, Ipecac, tUMULt, Neurot, and now Cuneiform again. Their all-instrumental excursions into the epic outer reaches of compositional complexity and dark moodiness certainly owe something to the '70s prog greats but don't really come off as "retro" the way, like, Astra does (though that's fine with us too). Also their inspirations aren't just the more popular groups like Yes and King Crimson, they're probably more informed by the likes of Magma and Univers Zero.
With History Of The Visitation, Guapo's first album since 2008, the band's current lineup - featuring founding member and drummer extraordinare David Smith, along with three other gents, some of whom have also played in Cardiacs and Chrome Hoof, on guitar, bass, and keyboards, PLUS bunch of guests on violin, oboe, bassoon, French horn and other fancy instruments - continue to indulge in the epic, cinematic, somewhat sinister sounds that we love 'em for. Case in point, the album's opening track, a five-part suite called "The Pilman Radiant", at over 26 minutes commandeering a good half of the disc, an entire vinyl side in fact, which does the long slow build up from sedate & somber, sorta 20th century classical hiss/drone atmospherics, to a lumbering melodiousness, to full-on jazzed-up soloing, getting pretty darn convoluted before it's over, making for a powerful prog statement all right. Whew. Could almost be a Stinking Lizaveta song, stretched to, like, ten times ordinary length, with keyboards and effective soundtracky bits added in. The remaining two tracks here (side two of the vinyl) make similar, but somewhat more concise statements. "Complex #7" is relatively brief and ambient at under 5 minutes, and then there's the over 11 minute "Tremors From The Future", the later being a repetitive, rhythmically complex hypno-prog jam with plenty of muscle.
As mentioned, Cuneiform has released this on both cd and vinyl. Both formats come with a bonus dvd, featuring live footage of Guapo on stage at two festivals - NEARfest 2006 in Pennsylvania and RIO 2007 in France, when Daniel O'Sullivan (of Aethenor, Miasma & The Carousel Of Headless Horses, Grumbling Fur, Ulver, etc.) was still in the band. That artists like Magma and Keith Emerson also appeared at those shows should tell you something.
The gatefold vinyl version is limited to 300 copies and includes a digital download.
MPEG Stream: "The Pilman Radiant (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "The Pilman Radiant (excerpt 2)"
MPEG Stream: "Tremors From The Future"

GUAPO History Of The Visitation (Cuneiform Records) lp+dvd 31.00
If you asked us (do it!) to recommend you a good modern day "prog rock" band, Guapo would be at the top of the list, which would be obvious if you've seen our many, many reviews of the fantastically proggy output of this long running British unit, who have released albums on such labels as Cuneiform, Ipecac, tUMULt, Neurot, and now Cuneiform again. Their all-instrumental excursions into the epic outer reaches of compositional complexity and dark moodiness certainly owe something to the '70s prog greats but don't really come off as "retro" the way, like, Astra does (though that's fine with us too). Also their inspirations aren't just the more popular groups like Yes and King Crimson, they're probably more informed by the likes of Magma and Univers Zero.
With History Of The Visitation, Guapo's first album since 2008, the band's current lineup - featuring founding member and drummer extraordinare David Smith, along with three other gents, some of whom have also played in Cardiacs and Chrome Hoof, on guitar, bass, and keyboards, PLUS bunch of guests on violin, oboe, bassoon, French horn and other fancy instruments - continue to indulge in the epic, cinematic, somewhat sinister sounds that we love 'em for. Case in point, the album's opening track, a five-part suite called "The Pilman Radiant", at over 26 minutes commandeering a good half of the disc, an entire vinyl side in fact, which does the long slow build up from sedate & somber, sorta 20th century classical hiss/drone atmospherics, to a lumbering melodiousness, to full-on jazzed-up soloing, getting pretty darn convoluted before it's over, making for a powerful prog statement all right. Whew. Could almost be a Stinking Lizaveta song, stretched to, like, ten times ordinary length, with keyboards and effective soundtracky bits added in. The remaining two tracks here (side two of the vinyl) make similar, but somewhat more concise statements. "Complex #7" is relatively brief and ambient at under 5 minutes, and then there's the over 11 minute "Tremors From The Future", the later being a repetitive, rhythmically complex hypno-prog jam with plenty of muscle.
As mentioned, Cuneiform has released this on both cd and vinyl. Both formats come with a bonus dvd, featuring live footage of Guapo on stage at two festivals - NEARfest 2006 in Pennsylvania and RIO 2007 in France, when Daniel O'Sullivan (of Aethenor, Miasma & The Carousel Of Headless Horses, Grumbling Fur, Ulver, etc.) was still in the band. That artists like Magma and Keith Emerson also appeared at those shows should tell you something.
The gatefold vinyl version is limited to 300 copies and includes a digital download.
MPEG Stream: "The Pilman Radiant (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "The Pilman Radiant (excerpt 2)"
MPEG Stream: "Tremors From The Future"

GUAPO Magma (Pandemonium) 7" 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A sort of backhanded tribute to french avant-prog collective Magma, this 7" finds Guapo headed in a more experimental direction; lots of sampling and turntables and noise mixed with their usual heaviosity. Cool hand made covers.

GUAPO Twisted Stems (Aurora Borealis) cd ep 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK! LAST COPIES! We'll still never be able to understand why the whole world isn't gaga for Guapo. Without a doubt one of the best, weirdest, and most inventive modern prog outfits there is. Everyone who digs Magma should definitely have some cd shelf space set aside for Guapo. Record after record of dense, tangled, catchy spacey, far out post rock prog brilliance. A record on Andee's tUMULt label, a release on Mike Patton's Ipecac label, tours with Circle and various other underground bigwigs. What's it gonna take? Well at least we know AQ customers are hip to Guapo's unique musical world, and with that in mind we managed to get a bunch of these super limited tour EPs, from Aurora Borealis, the same folks who put out the Grails 12", the Moss cd, the Fungal Hex double picture disc, the Crebain picture disc and the Moss / Wolfmangler split cd. And this Guapo cd ep somehow manages to fit just perfectly. Or imperfectly. Especially considering how weird this ep is, even by Guapo's already weird standards. Gone is pretty much any trace of musical bombast, which is what pretty much defines prog. Instead, this two part epic is a gorgeously slow and moody crawl, a slithering jazzy shimmer, with shuffling drum skitter and melancholy piano, slippery underwater bass that's murky and smoky and dreamily ominous. The second track picks up where the first one left off, gradually adding more elements, a distant wah guitar, some strange metallic percussion, creepy zither like melodies, the whole thing growing ever so slightly busier musically and getting creepier by the second, with the bass building into the driving force, a thick propulsive throb under a swirl of haunted house like jazz shuffle. Sounds a bit like what we might imagine a horror movie soundtrack by the Necks might sound like. Cool!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "The Heliotrope"

GUAPO WITH GUESTS RUINS & THE STOCK EXCHANGE Death Seed (Freeland Records) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The UK's purveyors of rock/improv spazzy heaviness known as Guapo (a guitar/drums duo) team up with some like minded friends, including the famed Japanese progfreaks Ruins, for some crazed jamming/spontaneous composition. Half the record features drummer Tatsuya Yoshida and bassist Hisashi Sasaki of Ruins, while the second half incorporates the double bass of John Edwards and the alto saxophone of Caroline Kraabel (ex-Honkies), who we hear has now joined Guapo full-time. The results are, as expected, on the noisy side. While "Death Seed" doesn't equal any Guapo or Ruins record proper, it's certainly a worthy investment for fans of these bands or similar noisecore sounds. Italian import.

GUAPO/OHARU (Pandemonium) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
G: Proggy post rock. O: Dazzling Killmen style precision math metal.

GUARANTEED KATCH In A Sumptuous Brown Gravy (Equation) lp 5.00
BACK IN STOCK, and crazy cheap...
This is a strange one, definitely not for everybody, but for those of you into freaked out, noisy, goofy, silly and stupid, whatthefuck weirdness, then Guaranteed Katch might hit the spot. Knowing that this stuff was recorded in Ohio with the guy from Sockeye, legendary fucked up lo-fi punk noise weirdos (who have a connection to aQ faves Breathilizor) should tell you enough about these "experimental noise rock" / "jazz core" to know whether to venture in, or run away screaming. Even we're not sure which to recommend. But that in itself, at least around here is its own sort of twisted recommendation.
Stumbling, noisy, chaotic, puerile, punky, jazzy, like the brain damaged little brother of Mr. Bungle, these guys mix and match, sludge and samba, noise and jazz, punk and pop, but this is not the Naked City sort of genre splicing, no, this is more a sort of ADD, kitchen sink, too much weed and a 4-track, channel surfing, ritalin overdosed, neighbor terrorizing, basement lo-fi noise punk jazzbo misfit metal, who-knows-what sort of dizzying DIY damage.
Not sure what else to say, be forewarned: only for the brave, or the ballsy, or the dim witted, preferably all three! And as with all Equation records, this one is packaged pretty sweetly, pressed on thick brown vinyl, with tons of inserts, a fancy full color jacket, bonus tracks not on the original cd releases, and LIMITED TO ONLY 333 COPIES, each one hand numbered.

GUDIBRALLAN T-Doja (Silence) cd 17.98
Deranged Swedish garage prog from the early seventies. Like a punkier version of Trad Gras Och Stenar, but much looser and less focused on repetitive mantra jams. T-Doja chronicles both of their rare lps Uti Var Hage from 1970 and Gudibrallan II from 1971. Far out!

GUDNADOTTIR, HILDUR Without Sinking (Touch) cd 16.98
Hildur Gudnadottir has such a way with the cello, able to create such utterly moving music that is filled with nuance and texture but that is also so deeply emotional. Hailing from Iceland, Gudnadottir's resume includes collaborations and partnerships with the likes of Pan Sonic, Mum, Sigur Ros, Angel, BJ Nilsen, etc. It's so nice to get to hear her take center stage, carefully crafting a sound that is about as moody and beautiful as music really gets. Perfect for those eternal gray days we are faced with so often in San Francisco, this is a record we put on when we just want to get lost in the fog and haze. There is very nice and subtle processing throughout the album as well, and here and there Gudnadottir tries her hand at the zither with stunning results. Johann Johansson adds organ on a few tracks as well, and fans of HIS best work as well as music by folks like Sylvain Chauveau, Philip Glass, Michael Cashmore, Joan Jeanrenaud and Colleen should for sure check this out. Truly elegant and intensely resonant. And thus highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Erupting Light"
MPEG Stream: "Overcast"
MPEG Stream: "Into Warmer Air"

GUERRERO, TOMMY Year Of The Monkey (Galaxia) cd ep 10.98
Tommy Guerrero broadens his already broad musical scope further on Year Of The Monkey. It's much more 'full band' sounding than we recall on past Guerrero releases. While it still drifts back into more late night languid clubland themes, it actually seemed quite reminiscent of a lot of Chicago style post-rock. Jason mentioned that he'd seen Guerrero perform with Tortoise a whiles back, and after hearing these five tracks, that doesn't seem at all out of character. In fact, it makes perfect sense. If you've a craving for a little something that's moody and subtly groovy, this might be the ticket. Equally suited for an evening of well-mixed cocktails, a latenight drive along the coastline or a night in with a thick deep read.
MPEG Stream: "Knives Fighting Guns"
MPEG Stream: "By Fist And Fury"

GUERRERO, TOMMY From The Soil To The Soul (Quannum) cd 14.98
Following this album's dainty piano intro we were hit with a big "Whoa!!" Heavier, groovier, funkier... that's Mr. Tommy Guerrero on From The Soil To The Soul. Sounds like he's taking a looser yet more aggressive approach. Y'know, just letting it flow. Diggin' in with some falsetto vocals and hotshit bass and Hammond lines. Whereas his previous albums have been lighter, more playful fare, this is harder hitting, very hard funk influenced a la Isaac Hayes or theme songs for gritty cop shows on tv back in the '70s like S.W.A.T. As usual he covers all the bases though, softening things up a bit for "Just Ain't Me", but then he hits us with the surprisin gly hard rockin' almost rap metal of "Let Me In Let Me Out". Mr. Guerrero's getting down to some serious business.
MPEG Stream: "The Under Dog"
MPEG Stream: "Salve"

GUIDED BY VOICES Alien Lanes (Matador) cd 10.98
Alien Lanes was the band's eighth full length released in March of 1995 (and twelve years into their GBV career! geez!). If their Bee Thousand album the previous year won the hearts of indie kids around the globe, this one sealed the deal in indelible ink. Lo-fi indie rock hugely indebted to the Beatles and Big Star that juggled shambling garage rawk psychedelics and odd bedroom 4-track recorded puppy love pop songs. The latter, as obtuse and cryptic as they may initially seem, still find their way and root themselves firmly into your heart and head. Messy, noisy and clumsy at time, but absolutely addictive and endearing in their untethered rock pop abandon. Alien Lanes' whopping 28 song track count and the songs' time lengths (ranging from a mere 18 seconds to just shy of three minutes) were a clear foreshadowing of the unbelievably prolific song output of Pollard, Sprout and co, as well as their ability to nail a sentiment in under a minute. Awesome!

GUIDED BY VOICES Alien Lanes (Matador) lp 15.98
An undisputed classic GBV album now reissued on vinyl!
Alien Lanes was the band's eighth full length originally released fourteen years ago in March of 1995 (and twelve years into their GBV career! Geez!). If their Bee Thousand album the previous year won the hearts of indie kids around the globe, this one sealed the deal in indelible ink. Lo-fi indie rock hugely indebted to the Beatles and Big Star that juggled shambling garage rawk psychedelics and odd bedroom 4-track recorded puppy love pop songs. The latter, as obtuse and cryptic as they may initially seem, still find their way and root themselves firmly into your heart and head. Messy, noisy and clumsy at time, but absolutely addictive and endearing in their untethered rock pop abandon. Alien Lanes' whopping 28 song track count and the songs' time lengths (ranging from a mere 18 seconds to just shy of three minutes) were a clear foreshadowing of the unbelievably prolific song output of Pollard, Sprout and Co., as well as their ability to nail a sentiment in under a minute. Awesome!

GUIDED BY VOICES Back To The Lake / Dig Through My Window (Fading Captain Series (#20)) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're not gonna bother trying to convince you one way or the other about a new Guided By Voices release. Let alone 4 releases. By this time, after 10+ albums and 50 side projects and thousands of songs, you probably know whether Pollard and Co.'s lo-fi Beatles / Kinks / classic Brit-pop filtered through American indie rock schtick is your cup of tea or not. If you're anything like me (Andee), you find yourself ready to dismiss every new GBV project with cries of 'Quality Control!' but ultimately find yourself digging almost everything Pollard comes up with. These four 7"s are no different. Each single's A side is a track from their forth coming full length, while the B sides are all exclusive to these here 7"s. And they're all pretty darn good, with a couple gems even ranking up with some of the best GBV songs ever. Vinyl only. And limited of course.

GUIDED BY VOICES Bee Thousand (Scat) cd 13.98
By 1994, Guided By Voices were on full length number SEVEN. Hundreds upon hundreds of songs, dozens of releases, almost all of them awesome! That's a pretty good record by anyones standards. And yet there would be more to come, nearly 10 more full lengths, solo records, singles, eps... But if forced to pick THEE record that best exemplifies what made Guided By Voices so special, it would have to be Bee Thousand. Originally released in 1994, their seventh long player, Bee Thousand perfectly captured both sides of GBV, the frustratingly experimental fragmentary side, with short 30 second bursts of pop brilliance that burnt out before making it out of the first verse, exhausting in under a minute, the sort of hook other bands would kill for and would most likely repeat 50 times in a song if they had come up with it, and classic pop songsmithery, with gorgeously hooky, jangly pop gems, cobbled together from bits of the Beatles and the Kinks and other pop stalwarts, all filtered through GBV frontman Bob Pollard's non-sequiter flecked lyrcal flights of fancy and a distinctly drunken desire to ROCK! It's impossible to describe exactly what makes this record so great. The songs sure, but also the way they are recorded, and the sequencing, and the way some songs are butted up right against each other, and some songs just cut off and trample all over the end of another songs. It's absolutely perfect. One of those rare records where the spaces between songs and the random bits of sonic detritus are jus as catchy as the songs themselves. Sort of like the way you would find yourself humming the drum fills in Nirvana songs, GBV records were a single dense collection of sounds and songs and parts and pauses and chunks of rock and pop assembled in a seemingly haphazzard arrangement, but on closer inspection, it couldn't be any other way, and most certainly couldn't be played by any other band. The first ten minutes of Bee Thousand is perhaps the finest opening salvo in musical history. "Hardcore UFO's", "Buzzards And Dreadful Crows", "Tractor Rape Chain", "The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory". A 1-2-3-4 punch! And while the record is basically solid, no filler to be found, there are a handful of POP CLASSICS scattered throughout: "Echoes Myron", "Goldstar For Robot Boy", "Awful Bliss", "I Am A Scientist" and more... This record is definitely one of the best indie rock records of all time. Fuck Slanted And Enchanted. Sure that's a great record, but it's irony-heavy and too cool. Bee Thousand is just a regular bunch of beer drinking yokels from Ohio who love pop music, love to rock and somehow struck gold. If you don't own this record, for fuck's sake GET IT!
MPEG Stream: "Hardcore UFO's"
MPEG Stream: "Buzzards And Dreadful Crows"
MPEG Stream: "Gold Star For Robot Boy"
MPEG Stream: "Awful Bliss"

GUIDED BY VOICES Bee Thousand (The Director's Cut) (Scat) 3lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Tenth anniversary 2lp release of this all time indie rock / pop classic. There were originally five different versions assembled and abandoned before the final version. A total of 65 songs were considered for the record before it was trimmed down to its current sequence. For this vinyl only reissue the first four sides recreate an early 2lp sequence originally titled Instructions to the Rusty Time Machine. Side five contains songs from the final version of Bee Thousand plus some unreleased tracks from other versions. Side six collects The Grand Hour And I Am A Scientist ep's, as well as a new version of "My Valuable Hunting Knife". 55 songs, 13 never been issued on vinyl, and 7 previously unreleased. Packaged in a deluxe gatefold sleeve! Here's more about the original cd which we also have in stock:
It's official. Guided By Voices are no more. But what a streak. Hundreds of songs, dozens of releases, almost all of them awesome! That's a pretty good record by anyones standards. But if forced to pick THE record that best exemplifies what made Guided By Voices so special, it would have to be Bee Thousand. Originally released in 1994, Bee Thousand perfectly captured both sides of GBV, the frustratingly experimental fragmentary side, with short 30 second bursts of pop brilliance that burnt out before making it out of the first verse, exhausting in under a minute, the sort of hook other bands would kill for and would most likely repeat 50 times in a song if they had come up with it, and classic pop songsmithery, with gorgeously hooky, jangly pop gems, cobbled together from bits of the Beatles and the Kinks and other pop stalwarts, all filtered through GBV frontman Bob Pollard's non-sequiter flecked lyrcal flights of fancy and a distinctly drunken desire to ROCK! It's impossible to describe exactly what makes this record so great. The songs sure, but also the way they are recorded, and the sequencing, and the way some songs are butted up right against each other, and some songs just cut off and trample all over the end of another songs. It's absolutely perfect. One of those rare records where the spaces between songs and the random bits of sonic detritus are jus as catchy as the songs themselves. Sort of like the way you would find yourself humming the drum fills in Nirvana songs, GBV records were a single dense collection of sounds and songs and parts and pauses and chunks of rock and pop assembled in a seemingly haphazzard arrangement, but on closer inspection, it couldn't be any other way, and most certainly couldn't be played by any other band. The first ten minutes of Bee Thousand is perhaps the finest opening salvo in musical history. "Hardcore UFO's", "Buzzards And Dreadful Crows", "Tractor Rape Chain", "The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory". A 1-2-3-4 punch! And while the record is basically solid, no filler to be found, there are a handful of POP CLASSICS scattered throughout: "Echoes Myron", "Goldstar For Robot Boy", "Awful Bliss", "I Am A Scientist" and more... This record is definitely one of the best indie rock records of all time. Fuck Slanted And Enchanted. Sure that's a great record, but it's irony-heavy and too cool. Bee Thousand is just a regular bunch of beer drinking yokels from Ohio who love pop music, love to rock and somehow struck gold. If you don't own this record, for fuck's sake GET IT!
MPEG Stream: "Hardcore UFO's"
MPEG Stream: "Buzzards And Dreadful Crows"
MPEG Stream: "Gold Star For Robot Boy"
MPEG Stream: "Awful Bliss"

GUIDED BY VOICES Bulldog Skin (Matador) cd 7.98
Four song ep from the "Mag Earwig" album with Bulldog Skin, The Singing Razorblade, Now To War (Electric Version) & Mannequin's Complaint (Wax Dummy Meltdown).

GUIDED BY VOICES Cheyenne / Visit This Place (Fading Captain Series (#21)) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're not gonna bother trying to convince you one way or the other about a new Guided By Voices release. Let alone 4 releases. By this time, after 10+ albums and 50 side projects and thousands of songs, you probably know whether Pollard and Co.'s lo-fi Beatles / Kinks / classic Brit-pop filtered through American indie rock schtick is your cup of tea or not. If you're anything like me (Andee), you find yourself ready to dismiss every new GBV project with cries of 'Quality Control!' but ultimately find yourself digging almost everything Pollard comes up with. These four 7"s are no different. Each single's A side is a track from their forth coming full length, while the B sides are all exclusive to these here 7"s. And they're all pretty darn good, with a couple gems even ranking up with some of the best GBV songs ever. Vinyl only. And limited of course.

GUIDED BY VOICES Chocolate Boy (Guided By Voices, Inc.) 7" 6.50

GUIDED BY VOICES Class Clown Spots A UFO (GBV Inc) cd 14.98
Maybe Robert Pollard just needed a break. Writing and recording literally THOUSANDS of songs can do that to a person. Although when Pollard disbanded Guided By Voices a few years back, he didn't really slow down in the interim, instead ended up making just as many records and writing just as many songs solo. But as much as we dug some of that stuff, and as much as GBV is Pollard's show, there was and is something magical about that band, about the chemistry between Pollard and Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, and all the others who sail with the USS GBV. And the evidence is plain to see. GBV's comeback album, Let's Go Eat The Factory, definitely proved there was still a spark, and that even if Pollard wrote most of the songs, these guys as a unit, were way better and making those songs come alive. So it's barely been a handful of months since that record came out, and apparently, there's another one scheduled for November, so GBV are back on track, and working their way back to the sort of release schedule that would kill most bands, but then GBV are most definitely not most bands, and really we're not complaining cuz Class Clown Spots a UFO is even better than Let's Go. Right from the first song, "He Rises! Our Union Bellboy", these guys sound as good as ever, the song impossibly catchy, the band ramshackle but still sorta tight, Pollard's voice in fine form, the lyrics ridiculous but perfect, and so it goes, song after song of classic sounding GBV pop, from the pounding crunch of the awesomely titled "Blue Babbleships Bay", to the woozy, string laden jangle pop of "Forever Until It Breaks", the handclappy power pop bounce of the title track with a really weird (but cool) a capella break (and the title of which we remember from one of those sprawling multiple disc GBV collections, where every track was by a different imaginary band), the dirgey swagger of "Hang Up And Try Again", hell, we could go track by track, but instead we'll just mention that we've only had this for a few days now, and already, just after a couple plays, we're finding these songs stuck in our heads like crazy. And some of the GBV of old is also present in the various super short jams (there's at least 7 or 8 songs that clock in at a minute or less), which as always, manage to be just as catchy, if not more so than their (slightly) longer counterparts.
This should definitely hold us over for a few months, at least until it's time for a whole 'nother set of songs. We already can't wait.
MPEG Stream: "He Rises! Our Union Bellboy"
MPEG Stream: "Blue Babbleships Bay"
MPEG Stream: "Class Clown Spots A UFO"
MPEG Stream: "Chain To The Moon"

GUIDED BY VOICES Class Clown Spots A UFO (GBV Inc) lp 15.98
Maybe Robert Pollard just needed a break. Writing and recording literally THOUSANDS of songs can do that to a person. Although when Pollard disbanded Guided By Voices a few years back, he didn't really slow down in the interim, instead ended up making just as many records and writing just as many songs solo. But as much as we dug some of that stuff, and as much as GBV is Pollard's show, there was and is something magical about that band, about the chemistry between Pollard and Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, and all the others who sail with the USS GBV. And the evidence is plain to see. GBV's comeback album, Let's Go Eat The Factory, definitely proved there was still a spark, and that even if Pollard wrote most of the songs, these guys as a unit, were way better and making those songs come alive. So it's barely been a handful of months since that record came out, and apparently, there's another one scheduled for November, so GBV are back on track, and working their way back to the sort of release schedule that would kill most bands, but then GBV are most definitely not most bands, and really we're not complaining cuz Class Clown Spots a UFO is even better than Let's Go. Right from the first song, "He Rises! Our Union Bellboy", these guys sound as good as ever, the song impossibly catchy, the band ramshackle but still sorta tight, Pollard's voice in fine form, the lyrics ridiculous but perfect, and so it goes, song after song of classic sounding GBV pop, from the pounding crunch of the awesomely titled "Blue Babbleships Bay", to the woozy, string laden jangle pop of "Forever Until It Breaks", the handclappy power pop bounce of the title track with a really weird (but cool) a capella break (and the title of which we remember from one of those sprawling multiple disc GBV collections, where every track was by a different imaginary band), the dirgey swagger of "Hang Up And Try Again", hell, we could go track by track, but instead we'll just mention that we've only had this for a few days now, and already, just after a couple plays, we're finding these songs stuck in our heads like crazy. And some of the GBV of old is also present in the various super short jams (there's at least 7 or 8 songs that clock in at a minute or less), which as always, manage to be just as catchy, if not more so than their (slightly) longer counterparts.
This should definitely hold us over for a few months, at least until it's time for a whole 'nother set of songs. We already can't wait.

GUIDED BY VOICES Do The Collapse (TVT) cd 15.98
Robert Pollard's quest for rock stardom takes another great stride forward by joining the ranks of Ric Ocasek produced groups; Bad Brains, Suicide, Weezer. Beside the extra notches in Ric and Robert's belts, this is a great sounding GBV record. Gone are the 30 song albums, gone are the 15-second pop gems and the unfinished fragments, and in their place are 16 pretty polished (for GBV) and pretty excellent pop songs.

GUIDED BY VOICES Do The Collapse (TVT) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Robert Pollard's quest for rock stardom takes another great stride forward by joining the ranks of Ric Ocasek produced groups; Bad Brains, Suicide, Weezer. Beside the extra notches in Ric and Robert's belts, this is a great sounding GBV record. Gone are the 30 song albums, gone are the 15-second pop gems and the unfinished fragments, and in their place are 16 pretty polished (for GBV) and pretty excellent pop songs.

GUIDED BY VOICES Down By The Racetrack (Guided By Voices Inc.) cd ep 5.98
As if three full lengths last year wasn't enough, everyone's favorite indie rock overachievers start off the new year with this brief blast of warped lo-fi pop gems, and a sound that finds the band seeming to move even further towards the classic GBV of old, and by that we mean warped, fractured, home brewed, experimental pop that really has no right being as catchy as it is, but even the most abstract track here manages to lodge itself permanently in your skull. From the boom box recorded acoustic ballad "It Travels Through Thin Hair", to the weird multi tracked monk-like background vocal on the buzzing brooder "Pictures Of The Man", replete with angular guitar and handclaps (!), from the dreamy string and vocal trifle that is "Amanda Grey" (that sounds a LOT like old Bee Gees), to the pounding piano and drum driven "Standing In A Puddle Of Flesh", with it's super dramatic vocals, and very loose structure, and from the lush, psychedelic swoon of "Copy Zero", to the bombastic fuzz drenched title track, every number here is as catchy as anything else Bob Pollard and company have produced in the last twenty years, and while a six song, ten minute ep might be mostly for fans, it also makes a pretty great introduction to one of the best, and weirdest, indie rock outfits of our generation.
MPEG Stream: "It Travels Faster Through Thin Hair"
MPEG Stream: "Pictures Of The Man"
MPEG Stream: "Down By The Racetrack"

GUIDED BY VOICES Down By The Racetrack (Guided By Voices Inc.) 7" 5.98
As if three full lengths last year wasn't enough, everyone's favorite indie rock overachievers start off the new year with this brief blast of warped lo-fi pop gems, and a sound that finds the band seeming to move even further towards the classic GBV of old, and by that we mean warped, fractured, home brewed, experimental pop that really has no right being as catchy as it is, but even the most abstract track here manages to lodge itself permanently in your skull. From the boom box recorded acoustic ballad "It Travels Through Thin Hair", to the weird multi tracked monk-like background vocal on the buzzing brooder "Pictures Of The Man", replete with angular guitar and handclaps (!), from the dreamy string and vocal trifle that is "Amanda Grey" (that sounds a LOT like old Bee Gees), to the pounding piano and drum driven "Standing In A Puddle Of Flesh", with it's super dramatic vocals, and very loose structure, and from the lush, psychedelic swoon of "Copy Zero", to the bombastic fuzz drenched title track, every number here is as catchy as anything else Bob Pollard and company have produced in the last twenty years, and while a six song, ten minute ep might be mostly for fans, it also makes a pretty great introduction to one of the best, and weirdest, indie rock outfits of our generation.
MPEG Stream: "It Travels Faster Through Thin Hair"
MPEG Stream: "Pictures Of The Man"
MPEG Stream: "Down By The Racetrack"

GUIDED BY VOICES Earthquake Glue (Matador) cd 14.98
Sure Robert Pollard is prolific, but somehow he wears it well. So much better than some of the other record-a-month bands, who shall remain nameless (ahem...acidmotherstemple..ahem). This is Guided By Voices' 15th or so full length record, and that's not including all of the various EP's, live records, side projects and related one-offs. And still, even after all of those releases, the ramshackle pop that Pollard and company seem to be able to pull from their sleeves like a magician's endless scarf, remains fresh and fun, catchy and so fun to listen to. Sure they've mellowed a bit, but c'mon, it's been almost 20 years or something. And while mellower they may be, there's still plenty of rollicking, drunken, off-kilter pop to go around. It's just tempered a bit more this time around by some moody and introspective slow burners. That said, there are no new surprises here, just another batch of great songs from Pollard and company. So folks who dug the last few GBV full lengths, Universal Truths and Cycles, Isolation Drills, Do The Collapse and the rest will just find they have even more GBV to love!
And let's not forget to mention Pollard's recent transformation into the indie rock Willy Wonka! Five copies of this first limited digipak CD (not LP) version of Earthquake Glue will contain a golden ticket, which will entitle the bearer to become the new singer of Guided By Voices! Haha. Just kidding. Not really. That would be amazing though. No, the owners of the golden tickets will receive a free copy of the forthcoming 5 CD / DVD box set Hardcore UFO's, which will contain their never before available on cd debut, the Watch Me Jumpstart documentary and tons more! So, good luck! ...maybe you should buy two of these to improve your chances of winning...
MPEG Stream: "My Kind Of Soldier"
MPEG Stream: "My Son, My Secretary, And My Country"
MPEG Stream: "I'll Replace You With Machines"

GUIDED BY VOICES Earthquake Glue (Matador) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sure Robert Pollard is prolific, but somehow he wears it well. So much better than some of the other record-a-month bands, who shall remain nameless (ahem...acidmotherstemple..ahem). This is Guided By Voices' 15th or so full length record, and that's not including all of the various EP's, live records, side projects and related one-offs. And still, even after all of those releases, the ramshackle pop that Pollard and company seem to be able to pull from their sleeves like a magician's endless scarf, remains fresh and fun, catchy and so fun to listen to. Sure they've mellowed a bit, but c'mon, it's been almost 20 years or something. And while mellower they may be, there's still plenty of rollicking, drunken, off-kilter pop to go around. It's just tempered a bit more this time around by some moody and introspective slow burners. That said, there are no new surprises here, just another batch of great songs from Pollard and company. So folks who dug the last few GBV full lengths, Universal Truths and Cycles, Isolation Drills, Do The Collapse and the rest will just find they have even more GBV to love!
And let's not forget to mention Pollard's recent transformation into the indie rock Willy Wonka! Five copies of this first limited digipak CD (not LP) version of Earthquake Glue will contain a golden ticket, which will entitle the bearer to become the new singer of Guided By Voices! Haha. Just kidding. Not really. That would be amazing though. No, the owners of the golden tickets will receive a free copy of the forthcoming 5 CD / DVD box set Hardcore UFO's, which will contain their never before available on cd debut, the Watch Me Jumpstart documentary and tons more! So, good luck! ...maybe you should buy two of these to improve your chances of winning...

GUIDED BY VOICES English Little League (Guided By Voices Incorprated) cd 14.98
We know, it seems ridiculous to be reviewing ANOTHER new Guided By Voices record, after three whole full lengths last year (or was it four?), and of course that's not counting solo records or side projects or who knows what else. But Robert Pollard seems to have a bottomless supply of songs, and we're talking good songs. For a man whose prolificity seemingly defies the concept of quality control, there's a surprising amount of quality to be found in the now perhaps thousands of songs he's recorded. It's a good thing too that GBV fans are crazy obsessives, but then they'd sort of have to be really, but we count ourselves among them, and with every new record, even when it's the fourth or fifth in 15 months, we find ourselves super excited, and when we throw it on, it's warm and comfortable, and it's a whole 'nother set of songs to dig into and become obsessed over. And it's not hard, the songs here like the last few are crazy catchy, still a little bit skewed and fucked up, some total perfect pop gems, others fuzzy off kilter rockers, and still others the musical ramblings of a madman surrounded by yes men, just lucky for us said madman seems to strike some sort of gold even when he seems to be veering into whatthefuck territory. We're beginning to think Pollard must have struck a deal at the crossroads, cuz for fuck's sake he's FIFTY FIVE years old, and he kicks the ass of pretty much any and every indie rocker you can think of. And even after maybe 20 solo records, and 20 GBV albums, and about a million other releases, he's still got a songwriting pen few can compete with, and only the foolish would even try.
No need to go into great detail about this new one. Fans, if you're like us, you're gonna want it, just like all three (four?) albums from 2012, and you're gonna love it. And like we mention in pretty much every GBV review, folks who STILL haven't figured out this GBV thing, buy Bee Thousand, or Alien Lanes, or Vampire On Titus, or all of those, and we guarantee, before long you'll be like us, equally obsessed with an embarrassment of warped pop gems, and a whole lot of catching up to do!
MPEG Stream: "Xeno Pariah"
MPEG Stream: "Know Me As Heavy"
MPEG Stream: "Islands (She Talks In Rainbows)"
MPEG Stream: "Trashcan Full Of Nails"
MPEG Stream: "Send To Celeste"

GUIDED BY VOICES English Little League (Guided By Voices Incorprated) lp 15.98
We know, it seems ridiculous to be reviewing ANOTHER new Guided By Voices record, after three whole full lengths last year (or was it four?), and of course that's not counting solo records or side projects or who knows what else. But Robert Pollard seems to have a bottomless supply of songs, and we're talking good songs. For a man whose prolificity seemingly defies the concept of quality control, there's a surprising amount of quality to be found in the now perhaps thousands of songs he's recorded. It's a good thing too that GBV fans are crazy obsessives, but then they'd sort of have to be really, but we count ourselves among them, and with every new record, even when it's the fourth or fifth in 15 months, we find ourselves super excited, and when we throw it on, it's warm and comfortable, and it's a whole 'nother set of songs to dig into and become obsessed over. And it's not hard, the songs here like the last few are crazy catchy, still a little bit skewed and fucked up, some total perfect pop gems, others fuzzy off kilter rockers, and still others the musical ramblings of a madman surrounded by yes men, just lucky for us said madman seems to strike some sort of gold even when he seems to be veering into whatthefuck territory. We're beginning to think Pollard must have struck a deal at the crossroads, cuz for fuck's sake he's FIFTY FIVE years old, and he kicks the ass of pretty much any and every indie rocker you can think of. And even after maybe 20 solo records, and 20 GBV albums, and about a million other releases, he's still got a songwriting pen few can compete with, and only the foolish would even try.
No need to go into great detail about this new one. Fans, if you're like us, you're gonna want it, just like all three (four?) albums from 2012, and you're gonna love it. And like we mention in pretty much every GBV review, folks who STILL haven't figured out this GBV thing, buy Bee Thousand, or Alien Lanes, or Vampire On Titus, or all of those, and we guarantee, before long you'll be like us, equally obsessed with an embarrassment of warped pop gems, and a whole lot of catching up to do!
MPEG Stream: "Xeno Pariah"
MPEG Stream: "Know Me As Heavy"
MPEG Stream: "Islands (She Talks In Rainbows)"
MPEG Stream: "Trashcan Full Of Nails"
MPEG Stream: "Send To Celeste"

GUIDED BY VOICES Everywhere With Helicopter / Action Speaks Volumes (Fading Captain Series (#22)) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're not gonna bother trying to convince you one way or the other about a new Guided By Voices release. Let alone 4 releases. By this time, after 10+ albums and 50 side projects and thousands of songs, you probably know whether Pollard and Co.'s lo-fi Beatles / Kinks / classic Brit-pop filtered through American indie rock schtick is your cup of tea or not. If you're anything like me (Andee), you find yourself ready to dismiss every new GBV project with cries of 'Quality Control!' but ultimately find yourself digging almost everything Pollard comes up with. These four 7"s are no different. Each single's A side is a track from their forth coming full length, while the B sides are all exclusive to these here 7"s. And they're all pretty darn good, with a couple gems even ranking up with some of the best GBV songs ever. Vinyl only. And limited of course.

GUIDED BY VOICES Get Out of My Stations (Siltbreeze) cd 10.98
This classic GBV rarity finally makes it onto cd. And it's about time. You can ask any Guided By Voices obsessive what his or her favorite release is, and I bet at least half of the time the answer would be Get Out Of My Stations. From the keening vocal-and-guitar melancholia of Scalding Creek to the twangy garage throb of Mobile to the bouncy perfect pop of Melted Pat to the swaying sweetness of Dusty Bushworms, this ep demonstrates everything about Guided By Voices that made us all fall in love with them. Somehow simultaneously REALLY lo-fi and perfectly lush and rich sounding. Lots of fucked up 4-track detritus only adds to the charm, which faded as their finesse in the studio grew. But back then, Pollard and company could weave perfect pop out of a sweaty basement, a busted 4-track, and a case of shitty beer. Relive the magic! Features four live bonus tracks not on the original ep.
MPEG Stream: "Scalding Creek"
MPEG Stream: "Melted Pat"

GUIDED BY VOICES Half Smiles Of The Decomposed (Matador) cd 14.98
Can it really be? Is it really true? The LAST Guided By Voices Record? Hard to believe but this is, at least according to GBV head honcho Robert Pollard, going to be the very last GBV record ever. Now before you freak out, know that Pollard will continue to record by himself, he just feels like he's too old to front a rock band, and he always promised himself that when he made a record good enough to be a final album, well then he'd pack it in. And apparently he thinks Half Smiles is that good. So is it? Well, it pretty much is. Especially if you've dug the last 3 or 4 or 5 albums, ever since GBV made the switch to recording in a real studio and aspiring toward some sort of sonic high fidelity. This is nowhere near the inspired short attention span indie rock brilliance of Bee Thousand (which is soon to get the deluxe-extra-track-vinyl reissue treatment) or Vampire On Titus. But why should it be? Or rather how could it be? That was years and years and about a million songs ago. No, Guided By Voices Mach 2 are just an amazing pop band, that write and play super catchy songs. Period. And that's most definitely enough. Fuzzy Beatles-esque melodies, rocking indie rock jangle, and Pollard's brilliantly obtuse and surreal lyrics. GBV are definitely slower and a lot more introspective, but they had been heading in that direction for a while now, and it's a sound that suits them well. I bought this immediately knowing I would love it, and I of course did. Completely! GBV are that sort of band, once you're hooked, you're hooked, and always will be. So it's truly sad to see them go. And while everybody may have joked about how many songs (too many?) Pollard had written, now aren't we all glad that he wrote as many as he did, since those songs are gonna have to last us forever!
MPEG Stream: "Everybody Thinks I'm A Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)"
MPEG Stream: "Sleep Over Jack"
MPEG Stream: "Girls Of Wild Strawberries"

GUIDED BY VOICES Half Smiles Of The Decomposed (Matador) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Can it really be? Is it really true? The LAST Guided By Voices Record? Hard to believe but this is, at least according to GBV head honcho Robert Pollard, going to be the very last GBV record ever. Now before you freak out, know that Pollard will continue to record by himself, he just feels like he's too old to front a rock band, and he always promised himself that when he made a record good enough to be a final album, well then he'd pack it in. And apparently he thinks Half Smiles is that good. So is it? Well, it pretty much is. Especially if you've dug the last 3 or 4 or 5 albums, ever since GBV made the switch to recording in a real studio and aspiring toward some sort of sonic high fidelity. This is nowhere near the inspired short attention span indie rock brilliance of Bee Thousand (which is soon to get the deluxe-extra-track-vinyl reissue treatment) or Vampire On Titus. But why should it be? Or rather how could it be? That was years and years and about a million songs ago. No, Guided By Voices Mach 2 are just an amazing pop band, that write and play super catchy songs. Period. And that's most definitely enough. Fuzzy Beatles-esque melodies, rocking indie rock jangle, and Pollard's brilliantly obtuse and surreal lyrics. GBV are definitely slower and a lot more introspective, but they had been heading in that direction for a while now, and it's a sound that suits them well. I bought this immediately knowing I would love it, and I of course did. Completely! GBV are that sort of band, once you're hooked, you're hooked, and always will be. So it's truly sad to see them go. And while everybody may have joked about how many songs (too many?) Pollard had written, now aren't we all glad that he wrote as many as he did, since those songs are gonna have to last us forever!
MPEG Stream: "Everybody Thinks I'm A Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)"
MPEG Stream: "Sleep Over Jack"
MPEG Stream: "Girls Of Wild Strawberries"

GUIDED BY VOICES Hardcore UFOs (Matador) 5cd + dvd 59.00
Figured that since we were listing the FINAL Guided By Voices album we'd relist the amazing Hardcore UFO's box that is at once a greatest hits, a rarities collection, a super introduction to the band and so much more. Check it out:
Not sure how much needs to be said about this monstrosity, Guided By Voices' THIRD BOXSET! That's if we're counting correctly. And even if we're not, HOLY CRAP! And that's on top of 40 albums and 800 singles and 3000 side projects. How do they do it? But the thing is, they do it. And do it well. Even after all that, they're still writing great songs! For some reason we never get tired of it. Fans will obviously need this. If you're new to Guided By Voices though, odds are you're not going to want to spend $50 to get acquainted, although it would be the perfect introduction, greatest hits, rarities and b-sides, live performances, a documentary. But then again that might be a bit overwhelming. As if a band with thousands of songs, many less than a minute long, wasn't overwhelming enough. Anyway, if you're curious, but feeling thrifty, you can pick up the greatest hits disc by itself elsewhere on this list. But for the more brave among you, let's dig a little deeper. Five cds, a DVD and an 80 page book with photos and liner notes and all sorts of extra stuff! Disc one is 32 of Guided By Voices greatest hits, for a more complete rundown on this see the review elsewhere on this list. Needless to say, it's chock full of that stumbling, rocking, jangly, lo-fi inhumanly catchy indie rock that GBV do so well. The second disc is a collection of out of print singles and B-sides and is quite a testament to GBV's pop acumen as it plays like an alternate greatest hits. A lot of the glaring omissions from the actual Greatest Hits show up here. Disc three is all unreleased recordings, including a handful of unfinished tracks, some so good you wonder why they never saw the light of day until now. Some not. The fourth disc is a collection of live recordings spanning the band's whole career, and demonstrating the band's knack for rocking out, and getting unbelievably drunk. Disc five is the first appearance on cd of GBV's 1986 debut Forever Since Breakfast. And finally, the DVD is the Watch Me Jumpstart documentary (that yours truly, Andee, has a line of dialogue in! Three words, see if you can find em!) which is really entertaining and funny. For the DVD reissue, they tacked on ALL of the bands music videos, some extra short films, and a bunch of live footage. Wow. It may seem overwhelming, but once you get your feet wet, you'll be up to your neck before you know it. And loving it.
MPEG Stream: "14 Cheerleader Coldfront"
MPEG Stream: "Bulldog Skin"
MPEG Stream: "Shocker In Gloomtown"

GUIDED BY VOICES Hold On Hope EP (TVT) cdep 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited edition 9-track cd single with one song from their recent "Do The Collapse" album and 8 others not found there!

GUIDED BY VOICES Human Amusement at Hourly Rates: The Best Of... (Matador) cd 10.98
Seems like it would be tough to pick 20 or so songs for a greatest hits album when the band in question has several thousand to choose from. But Pollard and company have done just that. So here we have an introduction to perhaps the world's most prolific pop band. And as with all greatest hits records, some of the song choices are questionable, and there are some definite glaring omissions, but for the most part, someone new to Guided By Voices would be hard pressed to not fall in love. Jangly and ramshackle, perfectly skewed lo-fi indie pop: like the British Invasion filtered through early eighties college rock, or the Beatles if they recorded for Homestead, or the Kinks if they had grown up in the midwest. A bit heavy on the newer stuff for my liking, which is not because those songs are necessarily bad because they're not. Let's face it, for having written thousands of songs GBV hits the mark more than most bands with a fraction of their recorded output. It's mostly disappointing because there's SO MUCH great older stuff that obviously got bumped for songs probably still fresh/relevant to the band. That said, this is a pretty perfect collection. But if you're already a fan, you might as well buy the Hardcore UFO's boxset since this disc is included and you most likely have all these songs anyway.
MPEG Stream: "A Salty Salute"
MPEG Stream: "Echos Myron"
MPEG Stream: "Surgical Focus"

GUIDED BY VOICES I Am a Tree (Matador) cd 7.98
Available only at stores who buy direct from Matador. The cd has 4 songs, the 7" has 3.