ISIS Live IV - Selections 2001-2005 (Robotic Empire) 2lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We only got a handful of these, so odds are they will be gone quick, as the last volume disappeared in the blink of an eye. This long in the works vinyl version of the now out of print cd is finally available, but not for long
There was a time not so long ago, where the idea of mixing metal with post rock was a unique one. The thought of taking massive slabs of downtuned heaviness and mixing 'em up a bit with some moody rhythmic bits or some angstful angular bits was just a flight of fancy. A whole slew of metal bands influenced as much by Slint as Neurosis? Hardly. Well, here we are, 2008, and you pretty much can't turn around without bumping into a post rock metal band, or a metallic post rock band. Which is okay, cuz it's a sound we can definitely get behind, in fact we've been championing that sort of stuff for ages, maybe even before it had a name or was an actual musical movement. Isis were definitely one of the first of this new breed of metallic post rockers, and as such continue to hone their sound, push the boundaries and give all those young whippersnappers something to shoot for. The last proper full length was epic and majestic. A deft Neurosis / Godspeed hybrid. Expansive and majestic, but controlled and precise. Some folks have labeled it intellectual metal or something similar, but for us, it's just heavy, and complex, cinematic and gorgeous kick ass rock. In addition to proper releases, Isis have released a series of live recordings, capturing the band live, where, not only do they sound slightly heavier, and a little bit more loose (a good thing), they also stretch out, and let the songs breathe, let riffs repeat, add parts, even improvise, from dark moody drones to blown out space jams. It's awesome to hear a band at the top of their game, a band who seem to be all about control, let loose and just rock (or drone or shuffle or whatever). Live Selections 2001-2005 is the 4th live release so far, and collects material from 2001 through 2005, including on air radio performances, as well as live shows from the Troubadour, CBGB, the Middle East and more. Of all the live records, this is probably the loosest and weirdest. The songs sound great (of course) but the band takes way more chances, parts are twisted and stretched out, long parts turn into epic jams, there's even a lengthy improv / jam loosely inspired by Nirvana's "Endless Nameless". The songs sound fantastic, epic, soaring, heavy, brooding, beautiful, great recordings, amazing sound, essential for Isis fans for sure.
But the packaging, wow! Custom letterpressed gatefold jackets, really minimal and quite striking, we have the HONEY colored vinyl, a sort of translucent brown, limited to 524 copies, we only got about 10 of those, so act fast...
MPEG Stream: "Gentle Time"
MPEG Stream: "Glisten"
MPEG Stream: "Improv 1 / Endless, Nameless"

ISIS Panopticon (Ipecac) cd 17.98
Admittedly, when we first heard Isis, it was like we had discovered another Neurosis. The similarities were striking, the downtuned sludge, the massive riffs, the earth crushing epics. But there can be only one Neurosis, and Isis were quick to figure that out, gradually embracing melody and mathrock as much as metallic bombast. The result was a divine melding of Neurosis and Godspeed You Black Emperor. On Panopticon, Isis move even further from their crusty metallic forbears, becoming much more contemplative and measured, subtle and melodic. Roiling waves of minor key metal-crush do still bookend most of the tracks, but the emphasis is on dreamily seasick waltzing post rock intricacy. Minimal and massive, melancholy and and cinematic, you could definitely imagine that this is what it would sound like if a band like Tarentel decided to make a 'metal' record.
The tracks here are all epic and mesmerising, slow burning post rock workouts that build and build and build. Lots of clean vocals too, a definite Alice In Chains vibe here and there, which is not at all a bad thing. Many of the songs slowly devolve into Loop-like psychedelic jams, guitars to oblivion. And it's sonically divine. Isis still get lumped under the metal umbrella, but this sounds much more like a rock band, an experimental heavy rock band who just happen to like their guitars loud and who at the drop of a hat, can whip out a riff that destroys all comers!
MPEG Stream: "So Did We"
MPEG Stream: "Backlit"

ISIS + AEREOGRAMME In The Fishtank 14 (Konkurrent) cd 11.98
So what do you get when you take a band who specializes in grand and epic, super sweeping metallic post rock epics, and put them in a studio with another band who specializes in grand and epic, super sweeping metallic post rock epics? Yeah, it's sort of a trick question. The answer in case you weren't able to figure it out on your own, is: grand and epic, super sweeping metallic post rock epics! Not really a surprise then. But who cares really. If that's your cup of tea, then drink up, this will for sure hit the spot.
These two monsters of metallic post rock got together for the In The Fishtank series and whipped up these three songs, and if you're a fan of either band, you'll pretty much need this. The first track sounds a lot more like Aereogramme, brooding and slow building, loping minor key math rock, that shimmers and shuffles, eventually joined by soft vocals, while the drums get more and more affected and dubbed out. Track two is a lot heavier on the Isis, and we do mean heavier. A chugging juggernaut, slithery slow crawl, with reverbed vocals and chiming melodies, and huge howled choruses. The final track is back to the mellower side, slowly drifting guitar shimmer and droning ambience, soft swells of melody and drums way up in the mix, super dubbed out, the whole thing sounding like some sort of post rock dub version of a Sigur Ros B-side. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "Low Tide"
MPEG Stream: "Delial"

ISLAJA Blaze Mountain Recordings (Ecstatic Peace) cd 12.98
Islaja is pretty much our dreamdate... 'cause after all, doesn't the collective AQ personals ad state that we're really into Finnish forest freak folk? And gentle late night moodiness? And heartbreakingly beautiful, breathy vocals, sung in a language we don't understand? Droning yet melodic psychedelic soundscapes? Yep, we're swooning over here. We even think it's kinda cute that young miss Islaja (aka Merja Kokkonen) is flipping the bird on the album cover! But, we're a little jealous of the shirtless dude standing next to her, that must be her partner Jukka Raisanen, who along with Kokkonen herself plays the music heard here. We also have to contend with Thurston Moore (hey, he's a married man), who has stepped in to arrange Islaja's first domestic release on his Ecstatic Peace label, after three wonderful previous releases on the Finnish label Fonal that had us (and presumably Thurston) swooning when we all first heard 'em.
This new Islaja is just as good as any of those. Actually, Blaze Mountain Recordings is a live album, featuring versions of some songs originally found on Islaja's Fonal releases (like "Pete P" from Ulual Yyy), performed with perhaps even more intimate magic. This collection of songs is as dreamy and drowsy sounding as you'd expect, full of twilight melodies and chiming abstraction.... and sorta sounds like the Jewelled Antler folks on a dreamdate of their own with the lovely Islaja. Delicate and mopily relaxed, or sometimes dark and sinisterly nervous, always with the restraint of small sounds (some played on toy instruments?) that allow Islaja's singing (a bit Cat Power, a bit Bjork) to carry the day. Swoon swoon swoon, our hearts are yours Islaja.
MPEG Stream: "Emoa Ikava"
MPEG Stream: "Pete P"

ISLAJA Keraaminen (Fonal) cd 17.98
It's no secret we have a deep love of so many of the sounds that come from the Finnish underground, and Islaja is one of the most golden treasures to come from that magical region. It's been over three years since we've heard new material from her, but with artists of this quality, whose songs are so meticulously constructed, we totally understand and appreciate that it takes a good deal of time to create a new album. And man oh man was the wait worth it, as Keraaminen is her most bold, up front, crisp and riveting work to date. Her earlier songs were very much buried in layers of rustic dirt, muddied and mysterious, but with her mystical sounding voice cutting through the fog. But now she has reached a place where she is confident and assured enough to strip away the excess layers while maintaining such gorgeous and evocative atmospheres, and her voice sounds as powerful, and alluring as ever. While previous outings have found her being compared to Bjork, that comparison maybe seems more apt here, as on this record she is able to use her voice as such a strong instrument conveying such striking and mesmerizing emotions. And for people who haven't heard Islaja before but love folks as haunting and varied as Zola Jesus, Fever Ray, Beth Gibbons, Jane Birkin, Brigitte Fontaine, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, and Jarboe, we imagine you'll probably fall very much in love with the sounds on this record. We definitely have!
Recorded in locations all across the globe, in Helsinki, Berlin, Grand Popo, and Hong Kong, this is an album that transcends both geographical and musical borders. We've loved all her albums, and this one has grabbed us from our initial listen and we've been listening to it multiple times a day since it arrived, and this will probably be a record that pops up on several of our year end favorite lists too!
MPEG Stream: "Joku Toi Radion"
MPEG Stream: "Otakun Uhkaus"
MPEG Stream: "Ihmispuku"

ISLAJA Keraaminen (Fonal) lp 17.98
It's no secret we have a deep love of so many of the sounds that come from the Finnish underground, and Islaja is one of the most golden treasures to come from that magical region. It's been over three years since we've heard new material from her, but with artists of this quality, whose songs are so meticulously constructed, we totally understand and appreciate that it takes a good deal of time to create a new album. And man oh man was the wait worth it, as Keraaminen is her most bold, up front, crisp and riveting work to date. Her earlier songs were very much buried in layers of rustic dirt, muddied and mysterious, but with her mystical sounding voice cutting through the fog. But now she has reached a place where she is confident and assured enough to strip away the excess layers while maintaining such gorgeous and evocative atmospheres, and her voice sounds as powerful, and alluring as ever. While previous outings have found her being compared to Bjork, that comparison maybe seems more apt here, as on this record she is able to use her voice as such a strong instrument conveying such striking and mesmerizing emotions. And for people who haven't heard Islaja before but love folks as haunting and varied as Zola Jesus, Fever Ray, Beth Gibbons, Jane Birkin, Brigitte Fontaine, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, and Jarboe, we imagine you'll probably fall very much in love with the sounds on this record. We definitely have!
Recorded in locations all across the globe, in Helsinki, Berlin, Grand Popo, and Hong Kong, this is an album that transcends both geographical and musical borders. We've loved all her albums and this one has grabbed us from our initial listen and we've been listening to it multiple times a day since it arrived, and this will probably be a record that pops up on several of our year end favorite lists too!
MPEG Stream: "Joku Toi Radion"
MPEG Stream: "Otakun Uhkaus"
MPEG Stream: "Ihmispuku"

ISLAJA Meritie (Fonal) cd 17.98
I'd be reluctant to identify this as quote unquote Finnish Folk Music if there weren't a family of bands making a similarly spirited music in Finland these days. Such folks include Kemialliset Ystavat, Pekko Kappi, Avarus, Kiila, Keijo, Anaksimandros, Uton, Markus -- all living in different cities yet, like a family, sometimes meeting up for a holiday in a rustic cabin to join forces. Islaja is perhaps the most pastoral and lovely member of this family, her voice confidently evoking an underground wilderness of pine and birch, shadowy lakesides, twisting footpaths and mandalas in wool and moss. The instrumentation is sparse, delicate and full of shadows, melodic clouds shaped from accordion, plucked strings, mouth harp, horn, piano and purring electronic atmospheres. The playful mood and sensitivity of these songs brings only one other artist to mind...Brigitte Fontaine (especially the album Incendieâ and her other collaborations with Areski). It is worth mentioning too that the beauty of the Islaja's music, like many of her Finnish contemporaries, is fleshed out by the artist's own drawings of fantastical trees, beasts and runic patterns, completing Islaja's first release as a document of flourishing imagination. [That was a guest review by Jewelled Antler's Loren Chasse, who just returned from a trip to Finland, among other fantastical places.]
MPEG Stream: "Kristallipallosilmat"
MPEG Stream: "Hallot Ja Aanet"

ISLAJA Palaa Aurinkoon (Fonal) cd 17.98
Oooh, as if that recent Lau Nau cd on Locust wasn't enough (it wasn't -- fantastic female-fronted Finnish free-folk albums are few and far between and we'll take all we can get!!), then here's the brand new second album on Fonal from Islaja. Chances are if you're a dutiful AQ customer you're already hip to her, as we've been selling her debut album Meritie pretty steadily since it came out last summer. Sweetly haunting and gentle, Islaja's music represents the loveliest extreme of the aforementioned Finnish free-folk underground, her music not quite so freaky and fractured as that of countrymen/colleagues like Avarus and Kemialliset Ystavat. More dreamy than difficult, Islaja's music reminds us a bit of Greg Weeks' psychedelic folk outfit Espers...with her singing, also Brigitte Fontaine and maybe Tara Jane O'Neil. Her delicate vocals, whispering like a mother to a child, lilting and layered, backed with bells, accordion, acoustic guitar, melodica, samples, percussion, piano... So very nice.
MPEG Stream: "Larvat Saapuu"
MPEG Stream: "Rohkaisulaulu"

ISLAJA Ulual Yyy (Fonal) cd 17.98
On her first two records, Finland's Islaja completely swept us off our feet and delivered us to an enchanted world of mystery, warmly wrapped in delicate layers of a unique beauty that just doesn't come around that often. Definitely reminiscent of Brigitte Fontaine's experimental leanings or maybe what we imagine Bjork might sound like stuck deep in a Finnish forest.
With her latest outing Islaja has done it again! She's conjured up a handful of songs that immediately begin to melt into your consciousness the roots going deeper and deeper with every listen. With the subtle addition of horns and electronics to her already dense and seductive sound, Islaja shows once again what a unique vision she possesses. Imagine Patty Waters joining White Magic at a late-night seance... Ulual YYY is like sinking into some warm dreamy state, eyes clouded with wisps of smoke until everything becomes a hazy blur. You're not sure where you are or what to do, but you are absolutely sure there is no where else you would rather be than deep inside Ulual Yyy's alluring and mystifying world. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Pete P"
MPEG Stream: "Muukalais-Silma"
MPEG Stream: "Sydanten Ahmija"

ISLAJA Ulual Yyy (Fonal) lp 21.00
On her first two records, Finland's Islaja completely swept us off our feet and delivered us to an enchanted world of mystery, warmly wrapped in delicate layers of a unique beauty that just doesn't come around that often. Definitely reminiscent of Brigitte Fontaine's experimental leanings or maybe what we imagine Bjork might sound like stuck deep in a Finnish forest.
With her latest outing Islaja has done it again! She's conjured up a handful of songs that immediately begin to melt into your consciousness the roots going deeper and deeper with every listen. With the subtle addition of horns and electronics to her already dense and seductive sound, Islaja shows once again what a unique vision she possesses. Imagine Patty Waters joining White Magic at a late-night seance... Ulual YYY is like sinking into some warm dreamy state, eyes clouded with wisps of smoke until everything becomes a hazy blur. You're not sure where you are or what to do, but you are absolutely sure there is no where else you would rather be than deep inside Ulual Yyy's alluring and mystifying world. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Pete P"
MPEG Stream: "Muukalais-Silma"
MPEG Stream: "Sydanten Ahmija"

ISLAND Orakel (Vendlus) cd 13.98
It's been a while since we've heard from either Woburn House or Klabautamann, two German post rock / metal combos we dig big time, who both share various members, and count themselves as part of a loose musical collective. Some of those shared members also do time in another group called Island, who while hewing much closer to the sound of Klabautamann, mix in enough meandery post rock and minimal shimmer and skitter, that it's easy to make the Woburn House connection as well.
We've been meaning to list this for a while, as it came out last year, and is a collection of the band's first two demos, originally released in 2004 and 2005.
Island's sound is a bit tough to describe. Folks familiar with the two above mentioned bands might be able to suss it out generally, but Island are indeed a strange beast. Slipping from Opethy folk flecked epic metal, to dense convoluted math rock, to soft shimmery ambience, to lurching classic metal, to almost doom, each song here tends to stray into two or more of those sounds, but each definitely has a distinct mood.
Album opener "Journey Through The Jewel" sounds like classic melodic black metal, Opeth, Dissection, that sort of thing, with descending arpeggiated melodies, dense chugging riffs, and some fluttery folky breakdowns, where as the follow up "River Source", could almost be Polvo or Pitchblende if it weren't for the blackened vokills, the arrangement very nineties mathrock, with indie sounding melodies melded to cool arrangements and crunchy metallic riffing.
The record shifts fluidly from mathy to metal throughout, from hooky and almost poppy to convoluted and progressive, the vocals too, shift from clean croon to harsh howl, often pairing the harsh vocals with the more indie sounds and vice versa, the result is something that should definitely please fans of Woburn House and Klabautamann, as well as folks into the current crop of less grim, more poppy blackness, a la Amesoeurs, Alcest and the like.
MPEG Stream: "Journey Through The Jewel"
MPEG Stream: "River Source"
MPEG Stream: "Grund"

ISLANDS Return To The Sea (Equator) cd 14.98
Montreal's The Unicorns return from the dead as Islands, a little sadder, and perhaps a little wiser. Their sound is more grown up and less lo-fi than the quirky rambunctious pop of The Unicorns, but just as eccentric and humorous as witnessed on such songs as "Don't call me Whitney, Bobby", and the bizarre indie hip-hop of "Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone" featuring rhymes by Subtitle and Busdriver. More obsessed now with rebirth than death, the songs are longer, tighter and complex, full of hooks, melodies, and weird and innocent charm.
MPEG Stream: "Swans (Life After Death)"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby"

ISLANDS Return To The Sea (Equator) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Montreal's The Unicorns return from the dead as Islands, a little sadder, and perhaps a little wiser. Their sound is more grown up and less lo-fi than the quirky rambunctious pop of The Unicorns, but just as eccentric and humorous as witnessed on such songs as "Don't call me Whitney, Bobby", and the bizarre indie hip-hop of "Where There's a Will, There's a Whalebone" featuring rhymes by Subtitle and Busdriver. More obsessed now with rebirth than death, the songs are longer, tighter and complex, full of hooks, melodies, and weird and innocent charm.
MPEG Stream: "Swans (Life After Death)"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby"

ISOTOPE 217 Utonian Automatic (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
It happens so infrequently, it needs to be mentioned. A customer of ours rather enthusiastically purchased this Isotope 217 record, the day it arrived at Aquarius. Within an hour, he had heard the horrid sounds of these post-rock 'greats' mimicking Chuck Mangione and sold the album back to us. It's that good. Really.

ISOTOPE 217 Utonian Automatic (Thrill Jockey) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It happens so infrequently, it needs to be mentioned. A customer of ours rather enthusiastically purchased this Isotope 217 record, the day it arrived at Aquarius. Within an hour, he had heard the horrid sounds of these post-rock 'greats' mimicking Chuck Mangione and sold the album back to us. It's that good. Really.

ISS Forget About The Girl (Web Of Mimicry) cd 13.98
Tim Smolens of Mr. Bunglesque rockers Estradasphere fronts this 60's "boy band" inspired outfit. Most obviously taking their style from the vocal harmonisations of the Beach Boys -- oh who am I fooling, this sucks major ass and I cannot say one good thing about it. Save yourself the embarrasment of owning this piece of crap.
RealAudio clip: "Mari"

ITAVAYLA Itavalta (Verdura) cd 14.98
Finland's Itavayla (sorry, we left out what are most certainly crucial umlauts over each "a" in their name because otherwise our database software will convert 'em into gibberish on our website) are a Circle-related project, featuring Circle's lead guitarist Janne Westerlund, and definitely have that Circle vibe to 'em... but imagine the repetitive, hypno-rock jams of Circle as played by ZZ Top in their '80s and '90s synthed-out, techno-blues rock style! Not to make this sound more high concept than it is, but Itavayla could be said to be an "Electro-Boogie-rock" version of Circle. Yessir. Their first, self-titled, album (which we'll have in stock soon too, and review when we do) -really- fits that description. This one, though, is a bit more varied. Going track by track: you've got a spacey, synthy soundscape called "Kristalliyo" to start things off, kinda in the mold of Zombi. Then, getting much more raucous, the second track, "Hyperborea", is a droney driving Hawkwind w/ talk box boogie + horn section Funhouse freakout. Track three "..." is a chaotic, electronic interlude that sets you up for track four's distorted sci-fi blues and ambient noise/drone mix ("Future Representation") which features some of the album's only vocals (highly treated ones at that), followed by the irresistable laid back groove of "Children Of Tomorrow", track five, replete with synthetic buzz-fuzz, harp blowing, and robotic handclaps. That one Kerry and Andee thought sounded like something from the soundtrack to a hypothetical combination porno/heist movie! And finally, "Good Men Going Down", the sixth track, is a lumbering stomper that brings the album to a dark and sudden end.
Imagine, if you will, something that blends together such things as the Magnum P.I. and Miami Vice themes, Neil Young's Trans, Trans Am, Circle (of course), Kitaro, Salvatore, Ram Jam, ZZ Top, Jonathan Kane, Groundhogs, Neu!, '80s synth soundtracks, and more. Weird and cool and recommended.
By the way...amazing band illustration on the cd itself!
MPEG Stream: "Kristalliyo"
MPEG Stream: "Children Of Tomorrow"
MPEG Stream: "Hyperborea"

ITAVAYLA s/t (Rikos Records) cd 14.98
Last list we highlighted a newer album, entitled Itavalta, by this Finnish band, and now we've got their equally recommended debut, available on either cd or LP (with the vinyl lacking the bonus remix track found on the cd, though). This four-song (+ remix) debut of theirs is the real reason that Circle guitarist Janne Westerlund told us that Itavayla is the "boogie rock band" he plays in. On their second disc, they took off on some other tangents beyond the barroom boogie blues. But here, that's what it's all about, sort of. Not what you'd think, though, or maybe it is. Remember, these guys are from Finland (land of weirdness) and feature a member of Circle. And sound a lot like Circle as a result, although Janne joined Itavayla -after- this recording, so they didn't get the idea from him. Circle channeling ZZ Top, that is. And we're talking ZZ Top from the '80s on, after they embraced technology and got all computerized and robotic. Thus the progged up arsenal of Roland and Yamaha synthesizers listed here, the synth-drum sounds, and even the robot voices (on "Future Boogie"). And, the minimalist, cyclic structure of these loooong hypnotic tracks (in the Circle style that we love) of repetitive slide guitar riffs, shuffling drums and honking keys.
The first track, "Black Diamond Express" appears to be built around a sampled voice (that guy can't be Finnish!) from an old time blues recording or something. Itavayla provide the backing, blending past and future both, which leads to the organ-riffed, electro-boogie overload of the next track, "Tesco". And on it goes, mesmerizing sci-fi, space age boogie blues from Finland, reaching a tranced-out peak with the 13+ minute "Jesus Kristus". So, crack open a cold Miller beer (or the Finnish equivalent, whatever that is) and kick back to these Circular, futuristic gutbucket grooves!! Seriously, Allan can't stop listening to it. Recommended.
Oh, and by the way, one of the main dudes in Itavayla is Randy Barracuda of skweee fame!
MPEG Stream: "Tesco"
MPEG Stream: "Black Diamond Express"

ITAVAYLA s/t (Rikos Records) lp 14.98
Last list we highlighted a newer album, entitled Itavalta, by this Finnish band, and now we've got their equally recommended debut, available on either cd or LP (with the vinyl lacking the bonus remix track found on the cd, though). This four-song (+ remix) debut of theirs is the real reason that Circle guitarist Janne Westerlund told us that Itavayla is the "boogie rock band" he plays in. On their second disc, they took off on some other tangents beyond the barroom boogie blues. But here, that's what it's all about, sort of. Not what you'd think, though, or maybe it is. Remember, these guys are from Finland (land of weirdness) and feature a member of Circle. And sound a lot like Circle as a result, although Janne joined Itavayla -after- this recording, so they didn't get the idea from him. Circle channeling ZZ Top, that is. And we're talking ZZ Top from the '80s on, after they embraced technology and got all computerized and robotic. Thus the progged up arsenal of Roland and Yamaha synthesizers listed here, the synth-drum sounds, and even the robot voices (on "Future Boogie"). And, the minimalist, cyclic structure of these loooong hypnotic tracks (in the Circle style that we love) of repetitive slide guitar riffs, shuffling drums and honking keys.
The first track, "Black Diamond Express" appears to be built around a sampled voice (that guy can't be Finnish!) from an old time blues recording or something. Itavayla provide the backing, blending past and future both, which leads to the organ-riffed, electro-boogie overload of the next track, "Tesco". And on it goes, mesmerizing sci-fi, space age boogie blues from Finland, reaching a tranced-out peak with the 13+ minute "Jesus Kristus". So, crack open a cold Miller beer (or the Finnish equivalent, whatever that is) and kick back to these Circular, futuristic gutbucket grooves!! Seriously, Allan can't stop listening to it. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Tesco"
MPEG Stream: "Black Diamond Express"

ITHACA A Game For All Who Know (Acme Gramophone) cd 15.98

ITS ALL MEAT s/t (Hallucinations) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Canadian garage-psych from 1970, now in a legit cd reissue. Apparently a much sought-after collector fave.

IVY In The Clear (Nettwerk) cd 13.98
Ivy return with their fourth album -- perhaps their darkest and most composed work to date. It definitely stands in stark contrast to their jingle-jangle beginnings. Over the years, they've both refined and expanded their scope, but their pop heart still maintains a solid beat. With its sleek melding of the softer side of disco and the washy guitars and wispy female vocals of shoegazer, the gently rolling third track "Keep Moving" is very reminiscent of Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" (not a bad thing!), while other songs bring to mind Velocity Girl and Lush. Stick around for the final song "Feel So Free", a super pretty lulling duet with an uncharacteristically mellow-voiced Scott McCloud (ex-Girls Against Boys).
MPEG Stream: "Keep Moving"
MPEG Stream: "Feel So Free"

IVYTREE, THE The Sun Is The Lamp (Jewelled Antler) 3" 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.
The third of the first three entries in the series of 3"cd-r's from San Francisco's acclaimed Jewelled Antler collective of psychedelic/drone/avant/folks comes from The Ivytree, a solo project of one of the Jewelled Antler's chief protagonists, Glenn Donaldson (who can also be found in Thuja, The Blithe Sons, Knit Separates, The Birdtree, etc). Donaldson has publicly announced an affinity for creating different monikers to accompany the innumerable variations of his musical productions, so The Ivytree may be just one in a number of upcoming 'tree' projects from Donaldson. Certainly this little 18 minute cd-r has a lot in common with his previous 'tree disc, The Birdtree album, which has recently been reissued on the Last Visible Dog label and garnered high praise from us. Centered around a plaintive, elliptical finger-picking guitar technique which renders every note full of melancholia, "The Sun Is The Lamp" weaves in and out of harmonium drones, field recordings of birds, and Donaldson's evocative vocals. As strong as the best Richard Youngs projects that might be the closest comparison we can make, this is another fantastic recording from Jewelled Antler!
MPEG Stream: "The Withering Year"
MPEG Stream: "Lake Of Fire"

IVYTREE, THE Winged Leaves (Catsup Plate) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Welcome again to the idyllic, enigmatic folk realm of Jewelled Antler's Glenn Donaldson. The Ivytree is but one of his sonic guises (see also Blithe Sons, Skygreen Leopards, The Birdtree, Thuja). Often collaborating with his Jewelled Antler colleagues, this Ivytree release on Catsup Plate finds Glenn all by his lonesome, but of course there's no lack of all the (wonderful) ingredients you usually find on a Jewelled Antler / GD recording... field recordings, drones, lazy acoustic reveries, and his vocals, high and drifting, not to wake the sleepers but to find harmony in the clouds. Nature, as always, is a big element here, and it seems there's also a Biblical inspiration at the roots of the Ivytree (song titles include "Flood", "Book Of Job", "Churches" and "Clay Tablets"). Anyone already mood-pleased by Glenn's previous offerings, especially by the now-out-of-print Birdtree album or his duo with Donovan Quinn in Skygreen Leopards, will find the dozen songs and soundscapes here much to their liking. Lovely. And if you're new to JA/GD, as good a place to start as any!
Comes in a nice lil' brown cardboard digipack, with Glenn's magnificent, colorful, birdy collages on the cover, the disc itself, and also on a two-siced mini poster inside... I think he's making his music for these feathered, beaked, half-birds, half-men of his imagination and they're probably devoted fans likewise. Fortunately we get to hear it too.
MPEG Stream: "Winged Leaves"
MPEG Stream: "Emerald Green, Peacock Blue"

J CHURCH Altamont '99 (Au-Go-Go) cd 11.98
Rarities, B-sides, and other anomalies from SF's punk ensemble whose lovable Lance Hahn is slightly upset with "the fuckers who released this domestically."

J CHURCH Horror Of Life (No Idea) cd 13.98

J CHURCH Meaty, Beaty, Shitty Sounding (Honey Bear) cd 13.98
We've dearly missed our daily visits from J Church mainman Lance Hahn since he moved away from SF to Texas, but we're pleased as punch to see he's been keeping healthy and busy. Released on his label, Meaty, Beaty, Shitty is subtitled "Singles and shit from '96 to '00". So, where's the shit, Lance? The only thing wrong with this J Church cd singles retrospective is that our own Andee Connors is slighted by not being mentioned in the credits for his awesome playing and innovative contributions. -sniff- -sniff- Regardless, this very thorough collection exemplifies the hard work put in by J Church from 1996 through 2000 with varying levels of recording quality, guest appearances (vocals by Manda Rin of Bis and Kelly Green of PEE to name but two) and some awesome covers (not one, but five great ELO tunes, plus a song each by Seam and Neil Young -- and Kelly sings a song from "Grease"!). Pop punk goodness indeed.
RealAudio clip: "Tightrope"
RealAudio clip: "Telephone Line"

J CHURCH One Mississippi (Honest Don's) cd 13.98
Long awaited fifth full-length from these SF pop-punk stalwarts J Church. Prior to its release, there were rumours that this cd was possibly going to be a double album, but nope, they fit all 26 songs on one cd. This time around taking their time recording at Lucky Cat Studios, Lance, Adam and Jeff are taking it a bit more laidback -- leaving more room for the melodies to shine through. Whether this shift in pace is due to a very alarming health scare or new love, who knows? J Church are back and sounding fresh and in high spirits. Adding to the light springy air of this record are the sweet vocals of the lovely Kelly, formerly of SF's PEE. Particularly key tunes: "Anybody" and "The Track". Great stuff.

J CHURCH Palestine (Honey Bear) cd 13.98
The resilience, strength and determination of Lance Hahn of pop-punk vets J Church are unquestionable. He's soldiered forth in the face of much adversity - health problems and a fire that consumed his home and Honey Bear Records headquarters. This new collection follows their Meaty, Beaty, Shitty Sounding (2001) and their great One Mississippi (2000), but actually was intended as a follow-up to 1996's Drama Of Alienation which preceded One Mississippi. Still with me? Needless to say, JC's Lance Hahn is super prolific, a tireless songwriter and road warrior. This cd displays his honest, no-frills, capture-the-moment recording processes. It was recorded whenever and wherever worked for them - both budget and timewise. In fact, many of these recordings were done years ago, and due to a number of obstacles, are only now seeing their release. That said, there are some rough spots, unfixable flaws, and downright murky moments in these recordings, but fans of J Church know full well what the band's all about, and that's doing the best with what's at hand and maintaining a sense of immediacy. Lance's lyrics address both the personal and political. Thus, to further encourage the grassroots exchange of ideas, he also includes a suggested reading list along with the lyric sheet in the liner notes. That list includes works by Nagisa Oshima, Hans Richter, Paul Avrich among others.
RealAudio clip: "Star Of The Show"
RealAudio clip: "Not Proud Of The USA"

J CHURCH / STORM THE TOWER split (Honest Mike's Broken Rekkids) cd 14.98
Maybe it's just 'cause we miss our ol' pal Lance Hahn, ever since he moved off to Austin, TX a little while back, that reviewing this release by his melodic, energetic pop-punk band J Church just makes us all nostalgic, thinking about when we could count on seeing Lance almost everyday hanging out here at Aquarius. But of course we're happy he's happy over there in Texas, and we're also happy to report that J Church is as vital as ever. This split teams five tracks performed by Lance Hahn's new Texan J Church lineup with four cuts by another Austin-based band, Storm The Tower, who play a Black Flagish, vaguely metallic style of hardcore. Their side is no let down, while J Church's half adds five fine new songs to the vast J Church discography, ranging from galloping pop punk anthems to explorations in guitar noise texture. Opening track "Terror Or Love" we almost thought was '80s metal before Lance's distinctive, earnest, diy vocals kicked in on the chorus!
MPEG Stream: J CHURCH "Terror Or Love"
MPEG Stream: STORM THE TOWER "Feeding The Filth Eater"

J. K. & CO. Suddenly One Summer (Sundazed / Beatrocket) cd 12.98
Self-described by J.K. himself, Suddenly One Summer "was actually a spiritual realization through LSD." Certainly a dark psych album with hazy morose, Moby-Grape-style vocals that sound as if they're being uttered by a cosmic being somewhere beyond the next galaxy... or, in real life, a fifteen year old musical prodigy who journeyed from Vegas to Vancouver to make this album in 1968. J.K. was reportedly obsessed with the Beatles, and the record's got all your standard late '60s stylish accessories: sitar, a 30-second spaced out intro to "get you in the mood" as the acid kicks in, a sprinkle of backwards guitar, etc. Nice, if a bit underwhelming, given that we'd heard amazing things about this before actually hearing it. First time this album has been available since its release in '68.
RealAudio clip: "Little Children"
RealAudio clip: "The Times"

J.C. SATAN Hell Death Samba (Slovenly) cd 13.98
We flipped over this French/Italian fuzz/garage/noise pop combo after an aQ pal insisted we'd dig em. And dig em we did. So much so that we proclaimed "Odyssey Of Love" the opening track of their first record our jam of the year, and here it is months and months later an we find ourselves still blasting that jam regularly, along with the rest of the record.
And then out of nowhere came a brand new full length of J.C. Satan's peculiar brand of psychedelic noise pop, and if anything, this latest record cranks up the noise considerably, at least over the first few tracks, so the pop, while still most certainly present, is often buried beneath crumbling walls of guitar crunch, or strange sing song vox, or wild squalls of psychedelic freakout. Thick crunchy riffs, wild chaotic drumming, lots of jangle and soaring melody, the first half of the record fierce and frantic, the sort of thing that would have the crowd sweaty bouncing wildly, the sort of band that would be a perfect match for our own Oh Sees.
But as the record progresses, the noise seems to abate bit, revealing the jangle pop underneath, with the sound slipping from old school Modest Mouse to quirky Blonde Redhead, but their own twisted and slightly noisy take on both. Check out "Crystal Snake" with its weird slow build almost Sun City Girls sounding melodies all woven into some seriously heavy fuzzy garage rock crunch, or "Close To Me", all slithery jangle rock ballad, replete with crashing noisy chorus, or "Abandon" which takes the Beach Boys' dreamy surf pop and makes it even more dreamy, all hazy and druggy, or "In The Light", that sounds downright Beatles-esque, albeit a bit more warbly and lysergic.
The heavy buzzy noisy garage rock perfectly balanced by the more washed out and woozy dream pop, and yet another record from these guys (and gals) we can't seem to get enough of.
MPEG Stream: "Hell Death Samba"
MPEG Stream: "Dear Dark J."
MPEG Stream: "Heil Mary"
MPEG Stream: "Misunderstood"

J.C. SATAN Hell Death Samba (Slovenly) lp 13.98
We flipped over this French/Italian fuzz/garage/noise pop combo after an aQ pal insisted we'd dig em. And dig em we did. So much so that we proclaimed "Odyssey Of Love" the opening track of their first record our jam of the year, and here it is months and months later an we find ourselves still blasting that jam regularly, along with the rest of the record.
And then out of nowhere came a brand new full length of J.C. Satan's peculiar brand of psychedelic noise pop, and if anything, this latest record cranks up the noise considerably, at least over the first few tracks, so the pop, while still most certainly present, is often buried beneath crumbling walls of guitar crunch, or strange sing song vox, or wild squalls of psychedelic freakout. Thick crunchy riffs, wild chaotic drumming, lots of jangle and soaring melody, the first half of the record fierce and frantic, the sort of thing that would have the crowd sweaty bouncing wildly, the sort of band that would be a perfect match for our own Oh Sees.
But as the record progresses, the noise seems to abate bit, revealing the jangle pop underneath, with the sound slipping from old school Modest Mouse to quirky Blonde Redhead, but their own twisted and slightly noisy take on both. Check out "Crystal Snake" with its weird slow build almost Sun City Girls sounding melodies all woven into some seriously heavy fuzzy garage rock crunch, or "Close To Me", all slithery jangle rock ballad, replete with crashing noisy chorus, or "Abandon" which takes the Beach Boys' dreamy surf pop and makes it even more dreamy, all hazy and druggy, or "In The Light", that sounds downright Beatles-esque, albeit a bit more warbly and lysergic.
The heavy buzzy noisy garage rock perfectly balanced by the more washed out and woozy dream pop, and yet another record from these guys (and gals) we can't seem to get enough of.
MPEG Stream: "Hell Death Samba"
MPEG Stream: "Dear Dark J."
MPEG Stream: "Heil Mary"
MPEG Stream: "Misunderstood"

J.C. SATAN Sick Of Love (Slovenly Recordings) cd 13.98
Recommended to us by an aQ pal (thanks Hank!) as most likely being 'right up our alley', we were pretty excited to check out this French / Italian outfit, heck, they're called JC Satan, and the record cover is a pretty intense and bizarre painting of a masked man covered in blood and sores, surrounded by two topless demon women, one wearing a pentagram, the other with 666 carved on her belly, the trio standing between two big pillars of smoke, but the drawing is not 'metal scary', more cartoonish, which should have been our first hint that this 'Satan band was not at all metal, and instead, trafficked in something else entirely. That something else in this case is some fantastic fuzz poppy garage rock, a sound much more in like with Thee Oh Sees and the Fresh And Onlys and the like than anything remotely heavy or evil.
In fact the opening track "Odyssey Of Love" might be out new favorite garage pop jam, all big chiming reverby guitars, pounding echoey drums, Beach Boys-ish vox, sweet female background vocals, dreamy and hooky and washed out and hazy and a little bit druggy. But wait, the second track "Prehistoric Love" is just as good, more laid back and low slung, with some impossibly distorted guitars, that blown out, peaking production making everything that much more murky and muddy, but with a soaring chorus, kick ass drumming, and some rad howled female screams, this is some dark buzzy fuzzy garage rock bliss for sure.
"Your Place" gets all spaced out an minimal, like some lost lo-fi NZ drone pop gem, a smoldering garage rock ballad, all spidery melodies, and woozy, weary boy/girl harmonies, "Itaca" is also laid back and dreamily druggy, sounding like Mazzy Star via Dum Dum Girls, "The Day" gets things going again, with some Lyres like riffage, some knuckle dragging drum pound, and more of that meter pegging production, while "You Are Good" is another warped dirgey blast of sixties style reverb heavy garage-y groove, and so it goes, a dark and mysterious collection of deliriously druggy fuzzed out garage rock from this Euro crew, the sort of thing that should have the current crop of fuzz pop garage rockers anxiously checking their rearview mirrors...
Most definitely recommended for fans of Thee Oh Sees, Blasted Canyons, Ty Segall, Bare Wires, Davila 666, etc...
MPEG Stream: "Odyssey Of Love"
MPEG Stream: "Prehistoric Love"
MPEG Stream: "Your Place"
MPEG Stream: "The Day"

J.T.IV Cosmic Lightning (Galactic Zoo Disk / Drag City) lp+dvd 24.00

JACASZEK Glimmer (Ghostly International) cd 11.98
Norwegian label Miasmah has long been home to a stable of artists creating the sorts of sounds we can't ever seem to get enough of: dark, brooding, electronic flecked hauntological cinematic soundscapes, and late night mysterious classical infused dronemusic, artists like Elegi, Macus Fjellstrom, Gultskra Artikler, FNS, Kreng, Jasper TX, and of course Jacaszek, aka Polish electro-acoustic composer and soundscaper Michal Jacaszek, and while Jacaszek only made one record for Miasmah, it was such a perfect fit, that it was easy to imagine Jacaszek as emblematic of the label's sound. But here we are a few years later, and Jacaszek has already moved on to a new label, but thankfully taken that 'Miasmah' sound with him. And if anything, this new one is even more fully realized than Treny, which was already a unanimous aQ fave. And really how could it not be? Like Treny before it, Glimmer unfurls a ghostly world of blur and shadow, of hum and thrum and glitch and crackle. Operating in a darkened world not that far removed from the Caretaker or Philip Jeck or Demdike Stare, albeit with a bit more of a classical bent, Jacaszek conjures up haunting brooding soundworlds of lush shimmering strings, of echo drenched harpsichord, of woozy loops and hazy staticky record crackle, soft slow swells, that grow so distorted and intense, they slip easily into the red, transforming into something much more harrowing than the music of many of his sonic brethren. The sound threatening to collapse or explode, an urgent pulsing, nearly grinding buzz, that as quickly as it blossomed, seems to slip right back into languid expanses of soft focus drift. Horns and strings, acoustic guitars, all layered delicately into creaking faded stretched of hushed mesmer, an old timey chamber music, transmitted from the other side, much of the sound damaged and decayed as it crossed over, resulting in some darkly alien dronescaping, that slips easily from warped, looped murky moody ooze, to lush, almost pop flecked cinematic post classical drift, the sound at either end of that sonic spectrum flecked with bits of glitch, and audio detritus, the sound seeming to gradually fade and flake as the record spins, almost as if on the next play, it would sound even more washed out and hazy.
There are moments where the sound coalesce into something much more polished, and more traditionally musical, but even then, the music is underpinned by an ominous foreboding, wreathed in strange muted loops, and mysterious sonic fragments, as if being listened to through some sort of dusty old sonic veil, loveliness gradually darkening, shadows lengthening, melodies unwinding and growing subtly more menacing, the recording revealing more and more crackle, swirls of hiss like little dustdevils, all woven into some sort of otherworldly funereal threnody, dreamlike and lovely, but always on the verge of drawing the listener into the mysterious dark place from which these haunting sounds emanate...
MPEG Stream: "Goldengrove"
MPEG Stream: "Dare-Gale"
MPEG Stream: "Pod Swiatlo"
MPEG Stream: "Windhover"

JACASZEK Glimmer (Ghostly International) lp 17.98
Norwegian label Miasmah has long been home to a stable of artists creating the sorts of sounds we can't ever seem to get enough of: dark, brooding, electronic flecked hauntological cinematic soundscapes, and late night mysterious classical infused dronemusic, artists like Elegi, Macus Fjellstrom, Gultskra Artikler, FNS, Kreng, Jasper TX, and of course Jacaszek, aka Polish electro-acoustic composer and soundscaper Michal Jacaszek, and while Jacaszek only made one record for Miasmah, it was such a perfect fit, that it was easy to imagine Jacaszek as emblematic of the label's sound. But here we are a few years later, and Jacaszek has already moved on to a new label, but thankfully taken that 'Miasmah' sound with him. And if anything, this new one is even more fully realized than Treny, which was already a unanimous aQ fave. And really how could it not be? Like Treny before it, Glimmer unfurls a ghostly world of blur and shadow, of hum and thrum and glitch and crackle. Operating in a darkened world not that far removed from the Caretaker or Philip Jeck or Demdike Stare, albeit with a bit more of a classical bent, Jacaszek conjures up haunting brooding soundworlds of lush shimmering strings, of echo drenched harpsichord, of woozy loops and hazy staticky record crackle, soft slow swells, that grow so distorted and intense, they slip easily into the red, transforming into something much more harrowing than the music of many of his sonic brethren. The sound threatening to collapse or explode, an urgent pulsing, nearly grinding buzz, that as quickly as it blossomed, seems to slip right back into languid expanses of soft focus drift. Horns and strings, acoustic guitars, all layered delicately into creaking faded stretched of hushed mesmer, an old timey chamber music, transmitted from the other side, much of the sound damaged and decayed as it crossed over, resulting in some darkly alien dronescaping, that slips easily from warped, looped murky moody ooze, to lush, almost pop flecked cinematic post classical drift, the sound at either end of that sonic spectrum flecked with bits of glitch, and audio detritus, the sound seeming to gradually fade and flake as the record spins, almost as if on the next play, it would sound even more washed out and hazy.
There are moments where the sound coalesce into something much more polished, and more traditionally musical, but even then, the music is underpinned by an ominous foreboding, wreathed in strange muted loops, and mysterious sonic fragments, as if being listened to through some sort of dusty old sonic veil, loveliness gradually darkening, shadows lengthening, melodies unwinding and growing subtly more menacing, the recording revealing more and more crackle, swirls of hiss like little dustdevils, all woven into some sort of otherworldly funereal threnody, dreamlike and lovely, but always on the verge of drawing the listener into the mysterious dark place from which these haunting sounds emanate...
MPEG Stream: "Goldengrove"
MPEG Stream: "Dare-Gale"
MPEG Stream: "Pod Swiatlo"
MPEG Stream: "Windhover"

JACASZEK Treny (Miasmah) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ah, the Miasmah label, can they do no wrong? Not if darkly moody, cinematic soundscapes are your thing. It you like stuff on Type, for whom Miasmah's boss records as Svarte Greiner, you'll like Miasmah's releases too. Previously, this Norwegian label has brought us several dreamily eerie (or eerily dreamy?) discs by the likes of Elegi, Gultskra Artikler, and (highlighted just a few lists ago) the latest from Jasper TX. Now, Polish electro-acoustic composer Michal Jacaszek makes his Miasmah debut. His rustling electronics are melded with classical strings (cello and violin played by Ania Smiszek-Wesolowska and Stefan Wesolowski) and, crucially, the lovely vocals of Maja Sieminska, which seem inspired by the liturgical chant of medieval 'early music'.
It's all quite intimately lonesome, and somber, and very beautiful. Sieminska's ghostly, gossamer singing sighs amidst those mournful chamber strings, humming glitch and crackling drone, and occasional electronic "beats" that sound more like drops of water, slowly dripping from stalactites... as if you're in some vast dark cavern, Sieminska's siren voice drawing you ever deeper into the catacombs, entranced. One of our new favorite drifting-off-to-sleep records, its many shades of grey so, so very gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "Lament"
MPEG Stream: "Walc"

JACASZEK Treny (Miasmah) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!!
Ah, the Miasmah label, can they do no wrong? Not if darkly moody, cinematic soundscapes are your thing. It you like stuff on Type, for whom Miasmah's boss records as Svarte Greiner, you'll like Miasmah's releases too. Previously, this Norwegian label has brought us several dreamily eerie (or eerily dreamy?) discs by the likes of Elegi, Gultskra Artikler, and (highlighted just a few lists ago) the latest from Jasper TX. Now, Polish electro-acoustic composer Michal Jacaszek makes his Miasmah debut. His rustling electronics are melded with classical strings (cello and violin played by Ania Smiszek-Wesolowska and Stefan Wesolowski) and, crucially, the lovely vocals of Maja Sieminska, which seem inspired by the liturgical chant of medieval 'early music'.
It's all quite intimately lonesome, and somber, and very beautiful. Sieminska's ghostly, gossamer singing sighs amidst those mournful chamber strings, humming glitch and crackling drone, and occasional electronic "beats" that sound more like drops of water, slowly dripping from stalactites... as if you're in some vast dark cavern, Sieminska's siren voice drawing you ever deeper into the catacombs, entranced. One of our new favorite drifting-off-to-sleep records, its many shades of grey so, so very gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "Lament"
MPEG Stream: "Walc"

JACKIE O MOTHER FUCKER Freedom Land (Very Friendly) cd 17.98
There was a time where we were pretty obsessed with Jackie-O Motherfucker. They definitely put out some amazing material. Nice freeform jams that offered up sounds new and exciting. But it seems, that maybe, that time is past. Tedious instrumental passages and really horrible vocals, mixed weirdly too but not really in a good way. Not sure what happened, but whatever it is, we wish it hadn't. Definitely don't bother with this one, there are plenty of other amazing JOMF records still available.
MPEG Stream: "Devotion"
MPEG Stream: "Ghost Ride"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER Ballads Of The Revolution (Fire) cd 15.98
Your first impulse might be to assume that the title of JOMF's new record, Ballads Of The Revolution, was not meant to be taken literally, but in some weird way, these six tracks are indeed balladic, albeit in a distinctly Jackie-O style, opening with a traditional, and following that with a Lucky Dragons cover, before getting to the originals, but right out of the gate, the sound is drifty and dreamy, slide guitars slippery over warm reverbed twang, deep crooned vocals, brushed drums, all hazy and rainy afternoon sounding. The Lucky Dragons cover is all skittery percussion and muted bleated horns, as well as the soft honeyed vocals of Honey Owens aka Valet, now seemingly a full time Motherfucker. The song gets gradually more and more dense and clattery, eventually morphing into something distinctly noisy and chaotic and not at all ballad-like.
The four originals also veer away from ballad territory, but not entirely, the vocals in the first original are quite prominent, soaring in a cloud of soft reverb, over an almost krautlike groove, wrapped in a Spacemen 3 like haze, the following track, is all mumbled vox over spacey FX, and drum machine skitter, total druggy trip out drift, before another spacekraut jam that finds the band getting a little Hawkwindy, the vocals again heavily effected, drifting through space, while the band lock into a serious psychrock fuzz guitar groove, before finally finishing off with another sort-of-ballad, Appalachian guitar, simple lilting vocals, lovely female background vox, fuzzy minimal leads, very much like some lost seventies acid folk jam, gorgeous stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Nightingale"
MPEG Stream: "Dark Falcon"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER Fig. 5 (ATP) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another long out of print JOMF gem gets the deluxe reissue treatment. Here's our review from the first time around:
Jackie-O Motherfucker's sound is not the aggro fury the name might imply. Rather this Portland/New York/Baltimore ensemble prefers freeminded improvisational stylings that delve into the meandering Americana of Souled American, but with the psychedelic pastoral jazz freakouts of the No Neck Blues Band or the Sun City Girls. Through delicate plucks of banjo, melancholic slide guitars, and creaking violin, Jackie-O Motherfucker wanders through avant garde deconstructions of what could be folk standards -- "Amazing Grace" makes an appearance with only a single sax riff betraying its presence. So nice.
MPEG Stream: "Analogue Skillet"
MPEG Stream: "Native Einstein"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER Our Nakedness Was Our Picket Sign (Europe 2002) (Cast Exotic) 2cd 19.98
Finally available again!
Northwestern psychedelic space/free/avant rockers Jackie O Motherfucker return from a massive European tour and all we got was this lousy live double cd. Just kidding. It's hardly lousy. In fact, this may be one of our favorite JOMF recordings to date. Which makes sense, since live is where a large improvisatory ensemble can let loose and do what they do best. Improvise. Wander. Meander. Get lost. And explore. Mantra like, barely-there-vocals, guitars buzzing like sitars, subtle shuffling percussion, warm drones, occasional sputters and half melodies from the turntables, guitars and basses melt into the background, blending into the sonic foliage, while everything rustles and shimmers, breathes and stretches. Like free jazz filtered through a thick haze of painkillers and potsmoke. Lethargic, lugubrious, cinematic and at times almost nightmarish. Really nice! Includes a West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band cover, of all things...
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "3"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER The Cryin' Sea (Awesome Vistas) lp 14.98
Another super limited release from Portland (formerly SF) based artist Chris Johansen's Awesome Vistas label. We flew through the last two, the Oh Sees' Peanut Butter Oven EP and Linda Hagood's Pink Love Red Love (the Oh Sees is WAY gone, but we might have a few of the Hagood left), so we expect the new ones to fly out of here just as fast.
The Cryin' Sea is the latest from folk drone free noise collective Jackie-O Motherfucker, whose last disc Freedom Land was a bit of a flop around these parts. But thankfully The Cryin' Sea has not only righted that wrong, it also finds the band returning to more of a folk sound, at least on the opener. A loping meandering shuffle, with mumbled vocals, simple propulsive drumming, and spidery reverby guitar lines. A bit like a super stripped down No Neck, Jackie-O let the song unfurl lazily, allowing the track to morph into some super blissed out krautrock, which could easily have filled out the whole side but ends up ending way too soon. That's followed up by something a bit more abstract, an angular assemblage of buzzing metallic melodic fragments, bits of guitar twang spread out over sizzling tinkling percussion, muted voices, and distant shimmering drones, before the vocals return and the song gets a bit folky again. The side closer is a caustic slab of bedroom buzz, the guitars crunchy and buzzing, the vocals distorted and garbled, the drums a buried plod, a lilting, darkly pretty dirge.
As if that weren't enough, the B-side is a single side long song, the title track captured live in Finland, and sounding much more like 'classic' JoM: sputtery percussion, moaned abstract vocals, bits of turntable whir and mutated samples, eventually giving way to strummed guitar, simple motorik drum beat, and some gorgeous super stripped down krautrockiness, that over the course of the rest of the disc becomes looser and looser, more and more free, finishing off with a burst of soft cacophony. Really nice. And JoM now counts among its membership Nick Bindeman, the man behind bigtime aQ drone faves Tunnels (he may have been in JoM for a while, but we only just noticed).
As with all Awesome Vistas, cool cover art designed by Johnasen himself. Hand screened black green and purple images on SUPER thick old style lp sleeves, with a photocopied insert.
LIMITED TO 400 COPIES!!!

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER The Magick Fire Music (Ecstatic Peace) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
When this showed up at Aquarius, I made a stupid comment to a customer who was curious about this record. I said that Jackie-O Motherfucker were somewhat of a Tom Sawyer / Huck Finn communal project featuring a bunch of random No Neck Blues Band style "pipe fighting" and jazz improv. I did mention to him that I hadn't listened to it and was basing my opinion on the free-jazz / Americana-folk stylings of Jackie-O's previous outing "Fig. 5."
Now that I've actually cracked the duct-tape seal which encases the two records and immersed myself in the wonders of "The Magick Fire Music," I must gladly admit that I was very very wrong. There certainly is a rustic Tom Sawyer / Huck Finn aspect to the Portland ensemble's sound, but there is much less of the expected jazz element. Instead, Jackie-O Motherfucker has carved out a sound that is emotively quite similar to the post-rock melancholia of Godspeed / Sigur Ros but with none of their overly dramatic orchestrations.
The album opens with a buried collage of shortwave radio heterodyning and disconnected voices, but emphatically steps forward with a guitar duet between a saddened David Pajo-esque riff and an intertwining effects-laden chimed tone. After the clunky twang of Jew's harps on "Bone Saw," Jackie-O returns to the evocative, spacious, and cinematically Western riffs (especially on the breathtakingly melancholy "The Cage"), as an effective means of transcribing sound into a psychic landscape that is strangely similar to the aforementioned Godspeed. While Godspeed brackets their tight orchestrations around a social pessimism that eventually leads to cathartic enlightenment about how shitty the world is around us, Jackie-O Motherfucker settles back into a drugged stupor of oddly psychedelic grooves, something I prefer. A very, very good record!

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER U Sound Volume 2 (usoundarchive) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Run by Tom Greenwood and Josh Stevenson, both from Jackie-O Motherfucker, the U Sound series documents lost, hidden and forgotten musical history. Volume 2 features excerpts from two live Jackie-O Motherfucker shows in Portland and Vancouver back in 2000, showcasing the collective in both free-jazz freakout mode with constant saxophone squiggliness and non-rhythmic drum patter; as well as a couple of tracks of Appalachian folk scrambled into Parson Sound / Harvester druggy trances, the sound that made their recent "Liberation" album so engaging. Nicely recorded through a minidisc with binaural microphones and released as a CD-R.
RealAudio clip: "Charms Of The Viper (Live)"
RealAudio clip: "Ray-O-Graph (Live)"
RealAudio clip: "The Pigeon (Live)"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER U Sound Volume 3 (usoundarchive) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More live recordings from the Portland improv collective Jackie-O Motherfucker from 2001 from shows in Portland and Vancouver. This document opens with their often squiggly saxophone mellowing out into sultry almost snake charmers' slinkiness, fronting lots of vibraphones and random drum fills. Jackie-O continues through a couple of similar tracks until the rhythm section kicks into a laid back frontporch jig and the sax solo takes a backseat to tranced out ringing guitar chords. Again, nicely recorded through a minidisc with binaural microphones and released as a CD-R.
RealAudio clip: "Pray (Live)"
RealAudio clip: "She Cuts Heart Shapes (Live)"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER U Sound Volume 4 (usoundarchive) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Again, ESP-style revisionist jazz kicks off these two sets from Jackie-O Motherfucker from live shows in their native Portland and Seattle. Of all of the U Sound archives of Jackie-O live shows Volume 4 is the most free-jazz oriented, even their amazingly cinematic orchestration "The Pigeon" almost doesn't actualize itself because almost everybody's doin' their own thing. Again, nicely recorded through a minidisc with binaural microphones and released as a CD-R.
RealAudio clip: "Pigeon (Live)"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER Valley Of Fire (Textile) cd 15.98
Valley of Fire finds Jackie-O Motherfucker settling down a bit, and that's not a bad thing.
There have been more bands and more releases embracing the type of song-writing that K Records and Bloomington punx have been quietly working on for years than we could possibly try to count. Part of what's punk about it is that you really only need to know a few major-key progressions, maybe a major scale or two, and you're good to go. But sometimes it's nice to see more developed artists play with the tension between folk and the avant garde. So basically, this release seems to have increased focus on song-writing, less on noisy freak-outs or improvisation -- although here's still some, and a whole lot more vocals. Maybe this record is more for the uninitiated trying to get to the bottom of Jackie-O, or those hesitant to commit to some of their longer, stranger works. Still, somewhat hesitantly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "The Tree"
MPEG Stream: "We Are / Channel Zero"

JACKIE-O MOTHERFUCKER Wow / Magick Fire Music (ATP Recordings) 2cd 19.98
Finally back in print, although unfortunately at a slightly higher price. But it's still worth it! What a great record!
The one-two punch that proves Jackie O Motherfucker just might be capable of edging out their more hyped contemporaries, the No Neck Blues Band and Sunburned Hand Of The Man, in the bid to rule the world of US-underground-free-psych-folk-weirdness.
There certainly is a rustic Tom Sawyer / Huck Finn aspect to this Portland ensemble's sound, but there is much less of the expected jazz element. Instead, Jackie-O Motherfucker have carved out a sound that is emotively quite similar to the post-rock melancholia of Godspeed / Sigur Ros but with none of their overly dramatic orchestrations.
The album opens with a buried collage of heterodyning shortwave radio and disconnected voices, but emphatically steps forward with a guitar duet between a sad David Pajo-esque riff and an intertwining effects-laden chimed tone. After the clunky twang of Jew's harps on "Bone Saw," Jackie-O returns to the evocative, spacious, and cinematically Western riffs (especially on the breathtakingly melancholy "The Cage"), as an effective means of transcribing sound into a psychic landscape that is strangely similar to the aforementioned Godspeed. While Godspeed bracket their tight orchestrations around a social pessimism that eventually leads to cathartic enlightenment about how shitty the world is around us, Jackie-O Motherfucker shrug their shoulders and settle back into a drugged out, dreamy drawly musical stupor of oddly psychedelic grooves which somehow seems way more appealing.
MPEG Stream: "Bone Saw"
MPEG Stream: "The Cage"
MPEG Stream: "Jugband 2000"