NALLE The Siren Wave (Locust) cd 14.98

NAMELOSERS Fabulous Sounds From Southern Sweden (Got To Hurry) cd 17.98

NANANG TATANG Muki (Tiger Style) cd 14.98
In Nanang Tatang, main members of Ida, Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell take their dreamy, soothing sound into the electronic realm. Although Muki starts off with a drifting ambience of the most delicate twinkling chimes and whirring digital vapors, as things progress the acoustic and electronic elements entwine effortlessly with Ida's familiar hushed female and male vocals taking center stage. Twelve songs crafted from a palette of feathery guitar strums, soft repetitive piano lines, warming organ, viola and harmonium drones, and occasional subtle programmed beats make for an altogether intimate, wistful affair. Check out "Oldest News" with its Elvis-Costello-on-a-super-drowsy-downer vocals as well as the dreamily meandering "The Fullness Of Time". Simply lovely. Certainly for fans of Ida, but also those of Julie Doiron, Mum and Low.
MPEG Stream: "Oldest News"
MPEG Stream: "The Fullness Of Time"

NAPALM DEATH Scum (Earache) cd + dvd 15.98
All the Jesu mania of late has definitely had us revisiting Godflesh, and digging the machinelike metallic bombast of all those records, the seeds of what would one day blossom into Jesu's blissy crush. But way before Godflesh, Mr. Justin Broadrick was wielding his axe in the mighty Napalm Death, whose Scum still ranks as one of the greatest heavy records of all time, and certainly one of, if not THE greatest grind record EVER. 
And since we've never listed it, and it just got reissued with a bonus dvd, we figured it was perfect timing. We'd like to assume that any lover of heavy music already owns Scum, if that's not the case something is seriously seriously wrong. But maybe you lost it, or lent it out, maybe you have a beat up old vinyl version and just need to upgrade, whatever it is, this is essential. Like the first few Carcass records (including Heartwork sez Andee!), this is intense, furious forward thinking heavy music. Short sharp bursts of ripping, pounding super political sort-of-lo-fi crusty metallic grind. At the time, nothing like it had been heard. Now, we're on the tail end of about a million mediocre grid bands, which makes it even more exciting to hear the original, the template used by pretty much every band since. And this stuff isn't just fast and heavy, it's weird as fuck too, the riffing is convoluted, weird midtempo chugs are paired with thrashing blast beats, some songs barely crack the 30 second mark, others are churning murky blasts that stretch all the way out to 3 minutes in some cases. The vocals a barked growl, the bass a throbbing blur, but it's the guitar, Broadrick's guitar, that roars and howls and chugs and grinds and defines the sound of Scum. Which, as far as we're concerned, is one of the greatest sounds we've ever heard.
This limited reissue includes a bonus dvd about the making of Scum, the early days of Napalm Death, Earache, and the scene and city that birthed the band. It's pretty interesting, lots of interviews, Dig from Earache, write Malcolm Dome, but mostly with drummer Mick Harris, who takes us to the band's old rehearsal space, now defunct venues, and talks all about those good ol' days. It's a bit of a bummer they couldn't rope Bullen or Broadrick into getting interviewed, and it's criminal that there is no awesome unearthed footage of the band back in the day, but even with those minor quibbles, it is a pretty cool extra, and it's definitely fascinating to learn more about the band and their roots. But dvd or no dvd, YOU MUST BUY SCUM NOW!!!
MPEG Stream: "Multinational Corporations"
MPEG Stream: "The Kill"
MPEG Stream: "Scum"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrificed"
MPEG Stream: "Human Garbage"
MPEG Stream: "Life?"
MPEG Stream: "Prison Without Walls"

NAPALM DEATH Scum (Earache) picture disc lp 15.98
All the Jesu mania of late has definitely had us revisiting Godflesh, and digging the machinelike metallic bombast of all those records, the seeds of what would one day blossom into Jesu's blissy crush. But way before Godflesh, Mr. Justin Broadrick was wielding his axe in the mighty Napalm Death, whose Scum still ranks as one of the greatest heavy records of all time, and certainly one of, if not THE greatest grind record EVER. 
And since we've never listed it, and it just got reissued with a bonus dvd, we figured it was perfect timing. We'd like to assume that any lover of heavy music already owns Scum, if that's not the case something is seriously seriously wrong. But maybe you lost it, or lent it out, maybe you have a beat up old vinyl version and just need to upgrade, whatever it is, this is essential. Like the first few Carcass records (including Heartwork sez Andee!), this is intense, furious forward thinking heavy music. Short sharp bursts of ripping, pounding super political sort-of-lo-fi crusty metallic grind. At the time, nothing like it had been heard. Now, we're on the tail end of about a million mediocre grid bands, which makes it even more exciting to hear the original, the template used by pretty much every band since. And this stuff isn't just fast and heavy, it's weird as fuck too, the riffing is convoluted, weird midtempo chugs are paired with thrashing blast beats, some songs barely crack the 30 second mark, others are churning murky blasts that stretch all the way out to 3 minutes in some cases. The vocals a barked growl, the bass a throbbing blur, but it's the guitar, Broadrick's guitar, that roars and howls and chugs and grinds and defines the sound of Scum. Which, as far as we're concerned, is one of the greatest sounds we've ever heard.
YOU MUST BUY SCUM NOW!!!
MPEG Stream: "Multinational Corporations"
MPEG Stream: "The Kill"
MPEG Stream: "Scum"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrificed"
MPEG Stream: "Human Garbage"
MPEG Stream: "Life?"
MPEG Stream: "Prison Without Walls"

NAPPYTIME JUNCTION s/t (360 Stereo Abuse) cd ep 9.98
First off, this is going to be a good review. Maybe even a great review. But first we have to talk about something. I was in New Jersey a while back, in a little rock club, out in the middle of nowhere, and there was a flyer on the wall looking for a lead guitar player. The requirements were simple: must be shredding, heavy, into Slayer and Morbid Angel and all things metal. The band was described as heavy and intense and brutal and they of course were serious and had gigs pending and a recording contract. THEN WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY CALLED "THE DANGEROUS DINGLEBERRIES"?! I kid you not. So why *these* local metallers decided to call themselves "Nappytime Junction" is beyond me. Especially since this record kills. Weird spacey, grindy metal. Huge fuzzy Kyuss guitars playing pounding Sabbathy riffs with howled and shrieked vocals, and the occasional thrashy bit and lots of hyperactive effects overloading the whole thing into stoned out trancey drones before it erupts again into chaotic punked out metal. So if you can, smoke a bong, swig some Jack, get high, jump around or whatever it is you do, and just try to forget that that crazy heavy shit you're banging your head to is called Nappytime Junction. Or better yet, embrace it and put that Nappytime patch right next to your Celtic Frost patch on your crusty old denim vest!
RealAudio clip: "Dinosaur Codpiece"

NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE / BEV DAVIES A 2007 Punk Rock Calendar (Nardwuar The Human Serviette / Mint) calendar 12.98
If you've been following the escapades of guerilla interviewer, garage rawk maestro, indie radio / TV personality and proud Canadian Nardwuar The Human Serviette, you already know that he mystifyingly gets himself into the most coveted and cursed of situations. And while in the heat of many moments he's had plenty of things seized and/or destroyed -- videotapes (Quiet Riot, Sebastian Bach, Tom Green), records (Sonic Youth), touque (Sebastian Bach) -- he's also been on the receiving end of some truly amazing stuff (a piece of art by and from David Lee Roth to name just one!). And for this calendar, he's gained an all access pass to the photo archives of legendary punk rock photographer Bev Davies. She was once hailed by Stiff Little Fingers as "The best photo taker in the whole world". Yup, the great championer of all things Canadian and old school punk (as well as innumerable other subjects of course) follows up his crowning achievement -- the stupendous Nardwuar The Human Serviette 'Doot Doola Doot Doot' double dvd -- with this cool document of the pre-'82 punk scene as shot through the shutter of Ms Davies. The 40 pages contain so much more than a 13-month calendar! There's an ongoing interview/commentary from Nardwuar and Davies with loads of hilarious 'back in the day' stories, extra photos, stickers... oh yeah, and the photos!! The Subhumans, Motorhead, Avengers, Black Flag, Adam and the Ants, D.O.A., Johnny Thunders, The Clash, Pointed Sticks, The Go-Gos, Dead Kennedys, Gang of Four, Ramones and Duff McKagen (eons before GNR and Velvet Revolver, back in his Fastbacks days)!

NARROWS, THE Alligator (Wantage / Tapes) cd 11.98
FINALLY, BACK IN STOCK!!!
There's something about Bellingham Washington. Not sure what it is. But bands from there seem to always be really really strange sounding. But strange in this completely undefinable way. It's like they have the same influences as the rest of us, listen to the same music, but when it comes time to get down and rock, what comes out is totally twisted and unique. There's the Reeks And Wrecks, whose twisted take on indie rock comes out sounding more like a New Orleans funeral march, and now the Narrows, who seem to be rooted in early nineties math rock / slowcore a la Codeine, Seam and stuff like that, but somehow the sound they produce is a chugging, metallic, emotionally supercharged blast of minimal minor key moodiness. Hard to explain just why this stuff resonates so intensely but it does. Could be that the band used to be faster, but a horrific tour accident/injury and months of songwriting on pain killers morphed them into this chugging super dynamic behemoth, or again, it could just be Bellingham. Seriously, this band is so good they actually got Andee to leave the house and go to a show! Ask anybody who knows Andee, that's a major accomplishment.
Alligator is a reissue of the Narrows' first two releases, Days Are Numbered from 2000, and Six Ten from 2001. Seven tracks, the shortest clocking in at a fairly substantial 7 minutes, the longest a massive 17 minutes. All the songs are total epics, with moody stretched out verses, mumbled vocals, loping rhythms, and fuzzed out melancholy melodies -- and then crushing pummeling pounding choruses, massive distorted slabs of heartbreaking intensity with wailed anguished vocals. This is the kind of stuff you wish you had back in your good old mixtape days to let that girl/guy know just how completely fucked up and miserable they made you feel. So fucking great.
MPEG Stream: "Does It Sting Your Eyes?"
MPEG Stream: "October's Problem"

NARROWS, THE Alligator (Wantage / Tapes) 2lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's something about Bellingham Washington. Not sure what it is. But bands from there seem to always be really really strange sounding. But strange in this completely undefinable way. It's like they have the same influences as the rest of us, listen to the same music, but when it comes time to get down and rock, what comes out is totally twisted and unique. There's the Reeks And Wrecks, whose twisted take on indie rock comes out sounding more like a New Orleans funeral march, and now the Narrows, who seem to be rooted in early nineties math rock / slowcore a la Codeine, Seam and stuff like that, but somehow the sound they produce is a chugging, metallic, emotionally supercharged blast of minimal minor key moodiness. Hard to explain just why this stuff resonates so intensely but it does. Could be that the band used to be faster, but a horrific tour accident/injury and months of songwriting on pain killers morphed them into this chugging super dynamic behemoth, or again, it could just be Bellingham. Seriously, this band is so good they actually got Andee to leave the house and go to a show! Ask anybody who knows Andee, that's a major accomplishment.
Alligator is a reissue of the Narrows' first two releases, Days Are Numbered from 2000, and Six Ten from 2001. Seven tracks, the shortest clocking in at a fairly substantial 7 minutes, the longest a massive 17 minutes. All the songs are total epics, with moody stretched out verses, mumbled vocals, loping rhythms, and fuzzed out melancholy melodies -- and then crushing pummelling pounding choruses, massive distorted slabs of heartbreaking intensity with wailed anguished vocals. This is the kind of stuff you wish you had back in your good old mixtape days to let that girl/guy know just how completely fucked up and miserable they made you feel. So fucking great.
The 2lp version comes in an amazing gatefold with a pop up alligator and liner notes!
MPEG Stream: "Does It Sting Your Eyes?"
MPEG Stream: "October's Problem"

NARROWS, THE Benjamin (Wantage USA) cd 12.98
BACK IN STOCK! This Record Of The Week from May, 2007 is still awesome and not in nearly enough folk's collections...
It's been ages since we've heard from Bellingham Washington's Narrows, whose last two (and only two) records, Alligator and The Skull At Life Size, were huge AQ favorites. Our Narrows obsession was solidified by a mindblowing show at the Hemlock where the band laid waste to all post rock past and present in a matter of 30 or 40 minutes, managing to rock so hard, even with the frontman / guitar player seated the whole time. A mix of lurching loping metallic bombast and lilting whispery post rock moodiness, not like the current crop of metallic post rockers though, no the Narrows were something much more unique... all the best parts of nineties mathrock, June Of 44, Slint, Rodan, but filtered through that weird Bellingham outsider vibe (also responsible for Reeks And The Wrecks) and lovingly wrapped in some serious skull crushing riffage. And of course songs. Killer songs. Moody and mournful, personal and emotional, and catchy as all get out.
We had sort of given up on the Narrows, we knew there was a record in the works, but they sort of seemed to drop off the musical map completely, until all of our fears were assuaged by the sudden appearance of this here brand new full length, that is somehow even better than their first two discs, heavier, prettier, weirder....
Beginning with the nine minute near perfect post rock epic "The Sasquatch", a sequence of big groaning downtuned riffage, huge pounding drums all wrapped around a strange insistent loping groove, with wailed super emo vocals, like a prettier Melvins almost, or a resurrected Engine Kid, some Unwound, a little bit of Sub Pop, a little Amrep. These super dynamic nine minutes might as well go on for 90 minutes as far as we're concerned.
The second track, the even longer "Last Of The Norsemen", is all slithery slowcore, with crooned sadboy vocals, spidery guitar melodies, shuffled drums, until the crashing chorus, a gorgeous minor key stop start lurch, along the same lines as Codeine's "Cave In", with burbling underwater bass added to the mix, and a convoluted mathy arrangement, before drifting back into the moody lope of the first few minutes, peppered with strange slippery guitar chords and unexpected dynamics, somehow totally off kilter and alien sounding, but super catchy and melodic and surprisingly pretty!
"Quellish" is up next with its serpentine distorted crunch and crashing blown out drumming, letting up here and there for some muted shuffle and croon, before the bombast is brought in again, a super emotional musical seesaw, that manages to subvert the tired loud-soft-loud-soft thing and turn it into something new and exciting sounding.
As if the deal wasn't already sealed for best post-math-whatever-rock / slowcore record ever already, they finish it off with the heartwrenching "Over and Out", a sort of damaged Pinback on horse tranquilizers mathy groove, with big booming Albini-ish drums, over blooping underwater bass, and slithery minor key distorted guitar melodies, and a super subtle hook to die for. The song has a wicked, super dramatic coda with crumbling distorted riffing, and super emotional leads, yeah LEADS, what self respecting post rock band can whip out the leads and bring you to your knees without sounding the least bit cheesy? Can't think of very many (or any really)... but The Narrows pull it off effortlessly. There's an "Over and Out" part two, but it's more sort of a coda, that now burned into your ears/heart/soul melody is pulled apart, wrapped in some twangy Morricone-ish guitar, some tinkling music box like keyboards, and allowed to unfurl lazily into the distance, becoming more and more abstract and indistinct, culminating in seven minutes of silence... Needless to say one of our favorite new records, pushing all our buttons, old math rock, new post rock, metal, pop, heavy, pretty, strange... Absolutely and utterly recommended (as is seeing these guys live if you get the chance)!
MPEG Stream: "The Sasquatch"
MPEG Stream: "Last Of The Norsemen"

NARROWS, THE Benjamin (Pool Or Pond / Wantage USA) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL! Last list's Record Of The Week, finally available on lp, and super limited.
It's been ages since we've heard from Bellingham Washington's Narrows, whose last two (and only two) records, Alligator and The Skull At Life Size, were huge AQ favorites. Our Narrows obsession was solidified by a mindblowing show at the Hemlock where the band laid waste to all post rock past and present in a matter of 30 or 40 minutes, managing to rock so hard, even with the frontman / guitar player seated the whole time. A mix of lurching loping metallic bombast and lilting whispery post rock moodiness, not like the current crop of metallic post rockers though, no the Narrows were something much more unique... all the best parts of nineties mathrock, June Of 44, Slint, Rodan, but filtered through that weird Bellingham outsider vibe (also responsible for Reeks And The Wrecks) and lovingly wrapped in some serious skull crushing riffage. And of course songs. Killer songs. Moody and mournful, personal and emotional, and catchy as all get out.
We had sort of given up on the Narrows, we knew there was a record in the works, but they sort of seemed to drop off the musical map completely, until all of our fears were assuaged by the sudden appearance of this here brand new full length, that is somehow even better than their first two discs, heavier, prettier, weirder....
Beginning with the nine minute near perfect post rock epic "The Sasquatch", a sequence of big groaning downtuned riffage, huge pounding drums all wrapped around a strange insistent loping groove, with wailed super emo vocals, like a prettier Melvins almost, or a resurrected Engine Kid, some Unwound, a little bit of Sub Pop, a little Amrep. These super dynamic nine minutes might as well go on for 90 minutes as far as we're concerned.
The second track, the even longer "Last Of The Norsemen", is all slithery slowcore, with crooned sadboy vocals, spidery guitar melodies, shuffled drums, until the crashing chorus, a gorgeous minor key stop start lurch, along the same lines as Codeine's "Cave In", with burbling underwater bass added to the mix, and a convoluted mathy arrangement, before drifting back into the moody lope of the first few minutes, peppered with strange slippery guitar chords and unexpected dynamics, somehow totally off kilter and alien sounding, but super catchy and melodic and surprisingly pretty!
"Quellish" is up next with its serpentine distorted crunch and crashing blown out drumming, letting up here and there for some muted shuffle and croon, before the bombast is brought in again, a super emotional musical seesaw, that manages to subvert the tired loud-soft-loud-soft thing and turn it into something new and exciting sounding.
As if the deal wasn't already sealed for best post-math-whatever-rock / slowcore record ever already, they finish it off with the heartwrenching "Over and Out", a sort of damaged Pinback on horse tranquilizers mathy groove, with big booming Albini-ish drums, over blooping underwater bass, and slithery minor key distorted guitar melodies, and a super subtle hook to die for. The song has a wicked, super dramatic coda with crumbling distorted riffing, and super emotional leads, yeah LEADS, what self respecting post rock band can whip out the leads and bring you to your knees without sounding the least bit cheesy? Can't think of very many (or any really)... but The Narrows pull it off effortlessly. There's an "Over and Out" part two, but it's more sort of a coda, that now burned into your ears/heart/soul melody is pulled apart, wrapped in some twangy Morricone-ish guitar, some tinkling music box like keyboards, and allowed to unfurl lazily into the distance, becoming more and more abstract and indistinct, culminating in seven minutes of silence... Needless to say one of our favorite new records, pushing all our buttons, old math rock, new post rock, metal, pop, heavy, pretty, strange... Absolutely and utterly recommended (as is seeing these guys live if you get the chance)!
MPEG Stream: "The Sasquatch"
MPEG Stream: "Last Of The Norsemen"

NARROWS, THE The Skull At Life Size (Wantage / Tapes) cd 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's something about Bellingham Washington. Not sure what it is. But bands from there seem to always be really really strange sounding. But strange in this completely undefinable way. It's like they have the same influences as the rest of us, listen to the same music, but when it comes time to get down and rock, what comes out is totally twisted and unique. There's the Reeks And Wrecks, whose twisted take on indie rock comes out sounding more like a New Orleans funeral march, and now the Narrows, who seem to be rooted in early nineties math rock / slowcore a la Codeine, Seam and stuff like that, but somehow the sound they produce is a chugging, metallic, emotionally supercharged blast of minimal minor key moodiness. Hard to explain just why this stuff resonates so intensely but it does. Could be that the band used to be faster, but a horrific tour accident/injury and months of songwriting on pain killers morphed them into this chugging super dynamic behemoth, or again, it could just be Bellingham. Seriously, this band is so good they actually got Andee to leave the house and go to a show! Ask anybody who knows Andee, that's a major accomplishment.
The Skull At Life Size is a massive thirty minute epic that live, is often stretched out even further to fill up the Narrows' entire set. A churning slow motion dirge, spare and hypnotic, dark and miserable. The bass and guitar float eerily through a haze of minor key overtones and above a sparse skeletal framework of simple drumming. Occasionally, the intensity builds into a massive wave of furious chaos, all crashing cymbals, roaring distorted guitar, and keening heartfelt wails belting out a ridiculously catchy (and unlikely) hook, before the whole thing dissipates and settles back down into its original lugubrious crawl. So completely amazing. The Narrows are one of those groups who can do so much with so little. Guitar, bass and drums, one or two parts, and the results are sublime. It's all about shadings and subtleties. A perfect economy of composition and performance. Minimal and perfect.
MPEG Stream: "The Skull At Life Size"

NARROWS, THE The Skull At Life Size (Wantage / Tapes) lp 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's something about Bellingham Washington. Not sure what it is. But bands from there seem to always be really really strange sounding. But strange in this completely undefinable way. It's like they have the same influences as the rest of us, listen to the same music, but when it comes time to get down and rock, what comes out is totally twisted and unique. There's the Reeks And Wrecks, whose twisted take on indie rock comes out sounding more like a New Orleans funeral march, and now the Narrows, who seem to be rooted in early nineties math rock / slowcore a la Codeine, Seam and stuff like that, but somehow the sound they produce is a chugging, metallic, emotionally supercharged blast of minimal minor key moodiness. Hard to explain just why this stuff resonates so intensely but it does. Could be that the band used to be faster, but a horrific tour accident/injury and months of songwriting on pain killers morphed them into this chugging super dynamic behemoth, or again, it could just be Bellingham. Seriously, this band is so good they actually got Andee to leave the house and go to a show! Ask anybody who knows Andee, that's a major accomplishment.
The Skull At Life Size is a massive thirty minute epic that live, is often stretched out even further to fill up the Narrows' entire set. A churning slow motion dirge, spare and hypnotic, dark and miserable. The bass and guitar float eerily through a haze of minor key overtones and above a sparse skeletal framework of simple drumming. Occasionally, the intensity builds into a massive wave of furious chaos, all crashing cymbals, roaring distorted guitar, and keening heartfelt wails belting out a ridiculously catchy (and unlikely) hook, before the whole thing dissipates and settles back down into its original lugubrious crawl. So completely amazing. The Narrows are one of those groups who can do so much with so little. Guitar, bass and drums, one or two parts, and the results are sublime. It's all about shadings and subtleties. A perfect economy of composition and performance. Minimal and perfect.
MPEG Stream: "The Skull At Life Size"

NASH, GRAHAM Songs For Beginners (Atlantic) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is not new, wasn't just reissued, but was just discovered. And sometimes the process of discovery with music, or movies or whatever, can be just as interesting and strange as the music itself. And sometimes that process enables you to discover music you might not give a second listen to otherwise, and lets you be more objective, lets you disregard your normal musical biases. Thus... we've never been that big into Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young. And yeah, before you email all in a tizzy, we've already gotten plenty of suggestions for CSN+Y records we NEED to hear, but for the most part we were just never really big fans. Consequently, we tended to ignore the various members' solo records (not counting Mr, Young of course) as well. 
We recently (re)discovered Terry Reid via the soundtrack to Rob Zombie's killer 'killer' flick The Devil's Rejects, which is already sort of a random way of getting turned on to an artist we had at least known about for ages. But there was something special about those specific tracks Zombie chose for the soundtrack. Further exploration of Terry Reid's various releases, revealed that those three tracks were all from the same album, Seed Of Memory, and while we love pretty much all the Terry Reid records, Seed Of Memory is by far our favorite. The dreamiest, the catchiest, the most country (and somewhat frustratingly, the most difficult to get). So what was it exactly that made that record so special? Well, and here's where it connects, it was produced by Graham Nash, who also played and contributed various parts and pieces. So, recently an aQ customer suggested we check out Songs For Beginners, which they told us was Nash's best solo record, and while we haven't heard enough of Nash's releases to say for sure, we can at least say we really really like it! A LOT!
To begin with Songs For Beginners was originally released in the mystical magical year of 1971, a year when pretty much every great record was released (at least according to Allan) from Black Sabbath to Flower Travellin Band to Van Der Graaf Generator to Comus and on and on. While Nash's record is obviously not as weird or heavy or psychedelic as any of those, it's still pretty fucking awesome. Sunny, sweet, singer songwriter soft rock dream pop. With a streak of dark melancholy moodiness. Think Billy Joel, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Bread, America, Donovan and even more esoteric folk folks like Bill Fay, Terry Reid, Fred Neil and the like.
Each track is a gorgeously simple folky pop gem, with harmony vocals, lilting melodies, gentle piano, lush strings, soaring lap steel, a little bit of twang, a little bit of swoonsome sweetness, all dreamily draped over minor key Beatlesque pop or soft shimmery folkpop ballads, While the sound is immediately recognizable, that ubiquitous seventies FM radio soft rock from our childhoods, it's just weird enough, and the songs are just so goddamn good, that it totally transcends the seventies schlock that surrounded it. And by now we've all been blessed with a healthy diet of modern psychedelic folk, bizarre Finnish forest folk, neo-Appalachia, folky droney pop weirdness, plenty of Six Organs and Current 93's and Vetivers and Banharts and Newsoms and Feathers and Wooden Wands that we can look back with wide eyes at the sort of folky pop that was the seed for the dense folky foliage we love rolling around in these days...
MPEG Stream: "I Used To Be King"
MPEG Stream: "Wounded Bird"
MPEG Stream: "Military Madness"

NASH, GRAHAM Wild Tales (Atlantic) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We listed the Graham Nash record Songs For Beginners a few weeks back, having only just heard it for the first time recently. Not soon after we decided to check out this one as well and were just as blown away. Our introduction to Graham Nash came not via Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but by the soundtrack to Rob Zombie's Devil's Rejects movie. You can read all about it in our review of Nash's Songs For Beginners record elsewhere on the AQ site. But in a nutshell, no, Graham Nash wasn't on the soundtrack, but Terry Reid was, and the three Terry Reid tracks on the soundtrack were taken from his best record, Seed Of Memory. And while all the Terry Reid records rule, Seed Of Memory is the most beautiful, the most country, the most haunting, due in no small part to Graham Nash's arrangement and production work, which, along with a recommendation from AQ pal Shayde, was enough to get us to check out some Nash records. Those in the know, tell us that Songs For Beginners and this one, Wild Tales are his best, and are both essential, and we'd have to agree.
Don't be expecting any far out weirdness. Nope this is just gorgeous, dreamy, sunny, singer songwriter soft rock, but with a definite dark, minor key and melancholy dreaminess running through it.
If you're familiar with the Devil's Rejects soundtrack, and for chrissakes you should be, any of these songs would have fit on there perfectly alongside tracks by the Allman Brothers, Terry Reid, the James Gang, Elvin Bishop, Joe Walsh and Lynrd Skynyrd. Perfect seventies FM radio rock, you can just imagine sitting in the backseat, on the way to Death Valley or the Grand Canyon with your folks, watching the desert fly by outside, just sort of daydreaming and drifting off. Sun dappled and windblown and sweetly fuzzy and totally evocative of lost childhood. Each song somehow carries the listener off to a world of starry skies, grassy fields, dusty roads, broken down cars, slow moving trains, long highways, all conveyed through a deft arrangement of soft jangling riffs, slippery lap steel, tinkling piano, Dylan-esque harmonica, totally dreamy harmonies, plenty of twang, but some serious rocking mixed in there too. The Eagles obviously comes to mind (as Nash's voice is often a dead ringer for Joe Walsh), as does Elton John, but it IS weird and dark enough to make us think of more esoteric folk troubadours as well.
But the bottom line is this is just a perfect pop record. The songs are totally catchy, sweetly melancholy, they sort of lope and drift, occasionally rocking out, but for the most part, Wild Tales is hot summer day, back porch, radio playing through the open window music. Or music for driving aimlessly along rainslicked streets, the radio on low, the streetlights casting strange shadows, driving all night, no particular place to go. There is a definite sadness about all of these songs, even when they're wrapped in the sunniest of pop. And a lot of it has to do with the idea of this as 'radio' music. Reminiscent of a time where the radio was where we went to hear new music, to be emotionally moved, to rock out, to listen to while parked and making out, to feel sad about a breakup or get pumped for a rock show, and because most of us experienced most of our radio listening in a car, the music seems to have evolved into a sound that inherently evokes feelings of displacement, travel, wandering and being lost as much as it does a loose and free rock and roll world of hooks and drums and guitars. The perfect soundtrack to any sort of journey, physical or metaphorical. Which is what makes Wild Tales so appealing. A musical look back, that sounds as fresh coming out of this computer, or your stereo at home as it did blasting out of the radio with the blown speakers in that crappy old car you got when you turned sixteen, just you and your friends driving around, windows down without a care in the world, thinking that there is no place in the world you'd rather be than right there. Nothing you'd rather be listening to. Than this.
MPEG Stream: "Wild Tales"
MPEG Stream: "Hey You (Looking At The Moon)"
MPEG Stream: "Grave Concern"

NASTASIA, NINA Blackened Air (Touch & Go) cd 14.98
The new album by critically acclaimed folk singer Nina Nastasia ia brimming with lush instrumentation and pretty Lilith Fair folk vocals. Didn't strike me as anything really special, but I know that some people would absolutely love it. Touching and pretty, it sounds a bit like Cat Power or Tara Jane O'Neill, but at times leans more AOR a la Sarah McLachlan and Natalie Merchant. This is her second full length release recorded by Steve Albini and her first on Touch & Go. She also is involved with All Tomorrow's Parties 2.0 in the U.K.
RealAudio clip: "I Go With Him"
RealAudio clip: "Run, All You....."

NASTASIA, NINA On Leaving (FatCat) cd 14.98
Nina Nastasia's latest album has arrived (a little while ago, actually) and it's pretty darn great. On Leaving's one dozen Spartan folk-pop arrangements of her strong, lilting voice with simple piano or guitar accompaniment are imbued with absolute heartfelt yearning. Check out the potent "Counting Up Your Bones". She really nails it. This darkly beautiful album is graced with intricate, suitably stark black'n'white paper-cut cover art. Fans of both Cat Power and Lisa Germano's more recent recordings should definitely lend an eye and an ear to Ms Nastasia and vice versa.
MPEG Stream: "Brad Haunts A Party"
MPEG Stream: "Counting Up Your Bones"

NATION OF ULYSSES The Embassy Tapes (Dischord) cd 11.98
What's this?! New N.O.U. on Dischord? Yes, it's true. These are 4-track recordings from back in '92 committed to tape at their Embassy. Be forewarned, the sound quality isn't perfect. As you probably know the members can now be heard in The Fucking Champs and The Make-Up, but back then the tightly-wound musical chemistry between these four young men was undeniable. The results were an awesome, furious collection of songs and a live show that kicked my ass... hard. Ten songs of volatile, untethered music.

NATIONAL, THE Boxer (Beggars Banquet) cd 9.98
Oh man are people freaking out over this one. Admittedly, we hadn't heard this record, but people kept coming in the store and asking for it so we decided to give it a go. With a name like The National and having seen pictures of the five well-dressed boys from Brooklyn, we half expected another bland '80s rock redux sound that has continued to get more and more popular over the last few years. It started out innocently enough with some good records from The Rapture, Interpol, Bloc Party etc. but it's gotten a little tired by now. We're guessing many agree with this assessment considering all of the hype surrounding The National's Boxer which might be a much needed variation on the theme started by the aforementioned bands and continued on and on and on and on and on by many others. Boxer contains a coupla songs that push the post-new wave cart, but most are slowed down considerably. Some songs border on Americana folk, while others see the band painting a perfect alt-rock picture pairing chugging rock with arranged orchestral strings, piano, and horns to compliment the beautifully baritone voice of lead singer Matt Berninger. Berninger's voice may be the selling point for many (as it was for some of us) and could easily be compared to Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits at times, with moments where not only the tone but bittersweet stream of consciousness lyrical style of Stephen Merritt come to mind. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised and highly recommend this record for fans of Magnetic Fields, Midlake, Antony and The Johnsons, Arab Strap or Deerhunter.
MPEG Stream: "Fake Empire"
MPEG Stream: "Ada"

NATURAL DREAMERS s/t (Frenetic) cd 13.98
Natural Dreamers is made up of Chris from Deerhoof and Curtains, John from Deerhoof and Gorge Trio, and Jay from Dilute. Their first release makes a lot of sense in terms of a sort of instrumental midway point between Curtains and Deerhoof, containing the open spaces and pauses of Curtains' minimal approach grafted onto the chunkier, fuller sound of two guitars. A French website enthused (via automatic translation): "One likes this small end of spring freshness, these small airs which do not pay a mine but which exploits the naturalness of people, without claim, where all is based on the listening of the other! Power, naturalness and emotion..." Ahh, naturalness, emotion and spring freshness indeed! A really nice, satisfying record from some very talented Bay Area players.
MPEG Stream: "The Singer"

NAUGHTIEST GIRL WAS A MONITOR, THE s/t (Vinyl On Demand) lp 26.00
The self-titled album by this lengthily and peculiarly named* obscure early '80s band has been reissued by Vinyl On Demand. If we were taking the label's name at face value, we'd wonder who has been demanding this vinyl. Heh Heh, just kidding.
Anyways, The Naughtiest Girl Was A Monitor were a group from Sheffield whose music sounds like Human League tangled in a knot with David Bowie. Or if you're lookin' for a contemporary reference point, you might wanna imagine Ariel Pink going full-on new wave! Off-kilter, breezy tunes filled with analog synthesizers, drum machines and strings too! Limited pressing of 600!
*FYI: their name is actually the title of an Enid Blyton book!

NAUTICAL ALMANAC Rooting For The Microbes (Load) cd 13.98
From reading the recent article in The Wire about this new Nautical Almanac record we weren't sure whether to expect some noisy free rock phenomenon, or a frustratingly average noise record. Sadly it's a little closer to the latter. Talk of "anti-knowledge" and "chance experiments" cannot disguise the fact that this is just a noise record. No different than that RRR cassette you ordered through the mail 10 years ago. Bragging about how one knows nothing about music and can't play any instruments and doesn't ever want to learn, is the sort of rhetoric that only works if the result somehow transcends the equation. But, unfortunately, this DOES in fact sound like two people who can't play and don't know what they're doing. A sloppy, noisy, chaotic mess. Ear piercing shrieks, super distorted howled vocal skree, kitchen sink clatter, and just all sorts of abrasive noxious noise. Could be impressive if the bar hadn't been set much higher by countless other noise records (even the earlier NA records had a bit more to offer). But as with any improvised music, it's hit or miss, that's part of the excitement and urgency. This just happens to sound a bit like a miss. One of those records that ineveitably has you scratching your head and wondering why YOU aren't in your basement making a horrible racket and getting written up in The Wire. Well, why aren't you!? Depending on how you answer that question, you might actually want to check this out.
MPEG Stream: "Mind Of Sharp Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Exterior Beaten"

NAVIGATOR Nostalgia (Swarf Finger) cd 6.98
Described by some as a "Sunday morning Mogwai", this group is closer in style to some of the quieter Kranky releases. Soon-to-be-impossible-to-find import.

NAVIGATOR Nostalgia (Swarf Finger) lp 16.98
Described by some as a "Sunday morning Mogwai", this group is closer in style to some of the quieter Kranky releases. Soon-to-be-impossible-to-find import.

NAVIGATOR Remixed (Amberley) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The first outing for Navigator since their stunning Nostalgie album from last year is a remix single of their bleak and gritty 'rock' minimalism. Both Third Eye Foundation and Fulcrum Overhaul extend the 4-track / analogue grit to their breakbeat experiments. It's sorta hard to say which speed its to be played at, and it doesn't really matter as this is a fucking great single.

NAZGUL, THE s/t (PsiFi) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A krautrock album supposedly issued in the 70s in a tiny editions of, like, 50 copies or something. The Nazgul cd is from 1975 and features 4 long tracks of droning ambience that's easily as good as any current space rock outfit could put together; i.e. Magnog, Labradford or anything else on Kranky. Bonus weirdness: the bandmembers are named Frodo, Gandalf, and Pippin.

NAZZ Open Our Eyes The Anthology (Sanctuary) 2cd 19.98

NDEGEOCELLO, MESHELL Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape (Maverick) cd 17.98

NEBULA Charged (Sub Pop) cd 15.98
Another new Nebula record. Definitely their best record although not a whole lot has changed. These ex-Fu Manchu folks play fuzzed out, drugged out, groovy stoner rock and play it well. And just because this is nothing new, doesn't mean it isn't still loads better than 90% of stoner rock. 'Cause it is.
RealAudio clip: "Do It Now"

NECKS, THE Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab (Fish Of Milk) 4cd 66.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK. Repressed, at at last. New higher price, alas. Windy's off in Vietnam and unable to contribute to our review of this, but she did leave the following simple and to the point note: "I LOVE this album."
We all do actually. Even jazz-phobic Jim has been caught blissing out to The Necks! And everyone we know seems to have at least one record by Australia's Necks, but why didn't any of them tell me how fricking great this stuff is?!?!? This is a new 4 cd set featuring 4 separate hour-long performances, and once you're familiar with their sound, you'll understand that 4 hours, in hour long chunks, is the perfect way to experience The Necks. It's sort of jazz but not exactly. Sort of 20th century classical, but not exactly. Imagine Charlemagne Palestine or Steve Reich composing for a jazz combo and you might be getting close. Or a more lively Bohren and Der Club of Gore, maybe, at times. Hypnotic shuffling jazz rhythms, skittery high hat and ride cymbals, build a skeletal foundation for throbbing monochromatic bass and chiming, cyclical piano. Repetitive, blissed out and totally hypnotic. Drummer Tony Buck we used to know from Peril and Kletka Red amongst other projects, but now we'll consider The Necks his primary claim to fame. Recommended.
RealAudio clip: "Homebush"

NECKS, THE Chemist (Recommended) cd 16.98
The Necks are one of those rare bands that we could literally listen to forever. Their sound is just so perfectly hypnotic and so well suited to extended listening. If they invented a new format, where a band could release say, a 24 hour long song, the Necks are the first band we would think of. In fact they actually have played a 24 hour show. We keep hoping it will get released, although the epic scope might be lost split up over 24 discs.
This here is the Necks 13th release in about 20 years. And for a band to stay true to their sound for that long, while remaining viable and listenable and exciting is testament to the Necks' unbelievable skill. For those new to the Necks, imagine a three piece jazz ensemble, bass, drums and piano (although, on Chemist, for the first time ever, guitar is introduced, played, oddly enough by drummer Tony Buck), who specialize in extended longform pieces. Ultra minimal, slowly shifting epics, a single riff, a single motif, repeated and looped and subtly colored over the span of ten minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes even 24 hours. Totally mesmerizing and hypnotic.
Chemist is the most rocking Necks record we can remember. At least the opening 20 minute track. The groove is much more upfront, driving, propulsive, like a stripped down jazzed up Can or Faust. Loping, groovy, mesmeric, small flurries of piano drift and flutter over a super solid bass and drums groove. In fact, this almost sounds like a jazzier version of Finnish drone rockers Circle. The same sort of endless riffing and perfectly propulsive rhythm. The second track is much more spare and straight up jazzy, a soft shimmery shuffle, the final track while not quite as aggressive as the opener, does have a similarly relentless rhythm that turns the jazzy drift into something almost 'rocking'. Hard to say if this is our favorite Necks record, as we pretty much love them all, but this is definitely the most aggressive and thus pushes a different set of buttons. Necks fans obviously need this. But some of you Circle / Salvatore fans who are up for something a little more dark and jazzy and moody might just dig this A LOT.
MPEG Stream: "Fatal"
MPEG Stream: "Buoyant"

NECKS, THE Drive By (ReR Megacorp) cd 16.98
Here at Aquarius, you might say that 2003 could have been called The Year Of The Necks. Sure, that sounds a bit funny, but what we mean is that this year is when everybody here either discovered or re-discovered this amazing band. We gave rave reviews to four of their older records, after falling in love with a four-cd live box of theirs back in December of last year. And judging from sales, a lot of you have gotten acquainted with The Necks this year as well, and liked 'em. This Aussie trio of piano (and/or organ), bass, and drums can't be easily catagorized: they're not exactly jazz, not ambient, not rock, not post-rock, not electronica...but they are some of the above, and more. Less too, 'cause what they do is so understated, and so specifically Necks.
So, what better way is there to celebrate The Year Of The Necks 'round these parts than to revel in the release of this brand new Necks opus, Drive By? And it's definitely the equal of any of The Necks' prodigious output, doing all the things we now expect from them...creating a mesmerizing, hypnotic musical trance-state over a lengthy playing time (in this case, one track, 60 minutes and seventeen gorgeous seconds long). Drive By is a pulsating wonder, steadily building over an hour, the drums becoming more active and restless but always "on", underpinning the constant throb of the bass. Drive By is bejewelled with bright tinkling piano, electronic effects, and other sonic elements, including what sound like crickets joining in around the 11 minute mark. 45+ minutes later, The Necks are still in the groove, channelling ancient rhythm into their extremely modern format. I'm beginning to think that the compact disc is too limiting for these guys. They need a DVD-audio release, so we can hear 'em play for seven hours straight!
So, what comparisons can we stretch to make? Some sort of NPR-ized Circle? A prettified Bohren? Steve Reich meets Miles Davis? Ah, hell with that. It's The Year Of The Necks. No comparisons necessary. Just check 'em out.
MPEG Stream: "Drive By (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Drive By (excerpt 2)"

NECKS, THE Hanging Garden (Fish Of Milk) cd 16.98
Toiling in relative obscurity since 1987, The Necks are an Australian trio who play a hard-to-categorize blend of jazz and rock that's "experimental" yet totally accessible. Hanging Garden (from 1999, but new to me!) is more active than their stunning four-disc set, titled Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab, which we recently reviewed. The Athenaeum portion of that set, in particular, I found to be quite reminiscent of Keith Jarrett's wintry bare compositions. On Hanging Garden, however, while still making use of their customary piano, drums and bass in a hypnotically repetitive, circular, subtly shifting manner, The Necks colors its palette with a heavy dose of Miles Davis circa his electric fusion mid 1970s phase. The electric organ has an undeniable groove to it, backed up by the throbbing bass, and the drums are positively manic -- shimmering, tinkling and adding texture in a marvelously understated manner. They make you wait over 20 minutes for the stately, elegant piano to kick in with its *gorgeous* melodic theme, but until it comes on you didn't even know you were waiting for it because the sonic foundation they laid is already so satisfying. You've *got* to hear this record. It goes on for one hour and, I (Windy) guarantee, you just don't get tired of it. Yep, that's how good this is.
MPEG Stream: "Hanging Garden excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "Hanging Garden excerpt 2"

NECKS, THE Mosquito / See Through (Recommended) 2cd 25.00
Sometimes it's a struggle to figure out what to write about a record, by a band, whose sound remains fundamentally unchanged from album to album. In many instances that would be reason enough to be patently unimpressed. But with a band like the Necks, 'change' is the last thing you want. Instead, you want their songs, and more specifically their sound, to stretch on and on and on into infinity. And we're getting close, with every release made up of one massive hour plus track. Mosquito / See Through is no different. Two discs, two tracks, an hour plus each! Gorgeous and epic, massive slowly shifting ambient jazzscapes. Drums, bass and piano circle each other warily, before finally engaging, slowly weaving and pulsing, swirling and skittering, until unexpectedly all three instruments are locked into an endlessly hypnotic groove, not like a GROOVE, but a dreamy, shuffling, on the verge of drifting into the ether sort of groove. Like Circle if you were able to slowly pull out sonic elements and distribute them spatially, creating some sort of droning ambient kraut-jazz, propulsive, but just barely, throbbing, but subtly so, ambient, but not ethereal. As always, totally brilliant!
MPEG Stream: "Mosquito"

NECRONOMICON Tips Zum AutomatesSelbstmord (Amber Soundroom) lp 36.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While we wait for the cd to be restocked (hopefully, soon, maybe today!), we just got a few copies of a new VINYL reissue of this krautrock classic. It's an import, expensive and limited of course, but you're probably never ever gonna find an original LP at any price...not sure if it has the bonus tracks that the cd had, but it does have the liner notes. And more importantly, it's in packaging that folds out into a giant cross, just like the original LP sleeve apparently did!! Wow. Here's a portion of our review of this album from when we listed the Garden Of Delights cd version:
A masterpiece of suicidal, political Krautrock heaviosity from 1972. NECRONOMICON. Freaky then, freaky now. Psychedelic hard rock that was about as 'extreme' as it got at the time...definitely if Terrorizer magazine had existed back then, these Germans would have made the cover. Not that this extreme by today's blackened metal standards, as there's enough pretty and melodic elements included amongst the fuzz riffage to satisfy the mellower hippie types in the Necronomicon freak-scene. And, they're no Black Sabbath. Still, pretty far gone for '72. The title: How To Kill Yourself. Now that's a bad trip. The very first track, the seven-minute "Prolog", almost makes the remainder of this album superflous, as it's a full, epic encapsulation Necronomicon's heavy prog excess. Theirs is an album replete with stinging acid guitar, heady Hammond organ, and monkish chanting. Ecclisastical choirs wail over trudging, yearning guitar and organ -- shades of Magma and J.A. Caesar. It's like Amon Duul II murdering Pink Floyd and riding their animated corpses all the way to hell. Again, not in any way metal, but what you might call Wagnerian garage-psych... Definitely an obscure but A-list kraut/psych album for those with occult tastes...
MPEG Stream: "Prolog"
MPEG Stream: "Requiem der Natur"

NECRONOMICON Tips Zum Selbstmord (Garden Of Delights) cd 21.00
At last, again, reissued: a masterpiece of suicidal, political Krautrock heaviosity from 1972. NECRONOMICON. Freaky then, freaky now. Psychedelic hard rock that was about as 'extreme' as it got at the time...definitely if Terrorizer magazine had existed back then, these Germans would have made the cover. Not that this extreme by today's blackened metal standards, as there's enough pretty and melodic elements included amongst the fuzz riffage to satisfy the mellower hippie types in the Necronomicon freak-scene. And, they're no Black Sabbath. Still, pretty far gone for '72. The title: How To Kill Yourself. Now that's a bad trip. The very first track, the seven-minute "Prolog", almost makes the remainder of this album superflous, as it's a full, epic encapsulation Necronomicon's heavy prog excess. Theirs is an album replete with stinging acid guitar, heady Hammond organ, and monkish chanting. Ecclisastical choirs wail over trudging, yearning guitar and organ -- shades of Magma and J.A. Caesar. It's like Amon Duul II murdering Pink Floyd and riding their animated corpses all the way to hell. Again, not in any way metal, but what you might call Wagnerian garage-psych. This was first reissued on cd some years ago by Little Wing of Refugees (with a different, generic cover). When we first got it in at Aquarius then, we were all ready to be disappointed 'cause what band ever lives up to an H.P. Lovecraft inspired name like Necronomicon? Well, Shub Niggurath did, and so do these guys. I've had a copy lurking in my cd collection for years now, and now am happy to replace it with this new edition, complete with four bonus tracks and the usual, deluxe Garden Of Delights packaging (a cd booklet thick enough to barely fit in the jewel case, full of text and full color graphics). Actually, come to think of it, who knows? With a '70s era psych import LP like this, we might have once stocked it REALLY long ago, way back in Aquarius' storied past, when it first came out on vinyl...well no, not this, the private press original was/is waaaay to rare. And too weird. Definitely an obscure but A-list kraut/psych album for those with occult tastes...
MPEG Stream: "Prolog"
MPEG Stream: "Requiem der Natur"

NECRONOMITRON s/t (Load) cd 14.98
Load strikes again! Amidst all the skronky arty punk costume rock bands indigenious to Rhode Island, Necronomitron rises above to play some actual honest-to-god METAL, and Providence's Load label was up to the task of bringing it to the indie-masses via this cd. Metal? Well, yeah, nasty, speedy, convoluted heaviness indeed. Besides their cool name, Necronomitron's got wretched chipmunk vocals, wheedily-wheedily guitar solos, frantic riff-mongering, and drumming that sounds like a panicked giant centipede barrelling down a particularily steep staircase. And lots of "parts". It's a bit like old Nuclear Assault or Voivod, with the treble cranked to eleven. Or imagine a Crom-Tech record that was truly heavy. Insane, punk, metal. The hectic tech-metal madness of songs like "Unscheduled Sunrise", "Incephalopod" and "Invading Assassin Is Dead" will dizzy and stupify you. After that excellent Usaisamonster record, another Load winner. Yay!
MPEG Stream: "Unscheduled Sunrise"
MPEG Stream: "Large Field Of Death"

NECROS, THE Tangled Up / Live Or Else (Restless) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Gun"
MPEG Stream: "Blizzard Of Glass"
MPEG Stream: "Big Chief"

NEDELLE From The Lion's Mouth (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
As was promised late last year when she and Thom (Moore of the Moore Brothers) released their Summerland album on Kill Rock Stars, here is her second solo album. Your initial impression might be that Nedelle's intimate, mostly acoustic songs are totally off the cuff -- a few barely reach the two minute mark -- but listen further and you'll discover that they're quite deceptively so. She's cozied them up with lush strings, a little whistlin' (on the sixth song "Our Little Selves") and sweet-sweet vocal harmonies. The highlight is perhaps the most fully developed tune of her repertoire, and it surfaces mid-album. The very lush Rufus Wainwright-esque "Oh No!" is a totally rollicking number, but surprisingly it not at all jarring amid the dreamy slower songs. A definite charmer!
MPEG Stream: "Tell Me A Story"
MPEG Stream: "Oh No!"

NEDELLE AND THOM Summerland (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
Miss Nedelle Torrisi has one of those sweetheart voices that rings with such an air of youth and innocence. Super pretty and soulful, and sorta like Tracy Thorn's pre-Everything But The Girl band, the breezy Marine Girls. She and bandmate/honey Thom Moore's debut album Summerland definitely harkens back a few decades. The album title's more than appropriate 'cause whenever their poppy tunes are playing it seems like it's that time of year -- all warm and bright, filled with good stuff like a pretty gingham sundress, an old wooden rowboat or a tall glass of bracing lemonade. If you dig this, you should also check out Nedelle's solo releases (she has another one due out next year) and Thom's recordings with his brother Greg as yes, the Moore Brothers!
MPEG Stream: "Sun In My Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Lullaby"

NEED MORE SOURCES Shed (Moteer) cd 15.98

NEED NEW BODY Need New Body (File 13) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Rising from the ashes of Philadelphia art-psych-rock combo Bent Leg Fatima comes this eccentric quintet who play a jumble of experimentations in free jazz and art rock. Sax, organ, drums and other random percussive instruments are tossed into the mix with no guitars in sight. Out of churning rhythmic jams and ramshackle, hoarse vocal songs sprout odd moments of minimal spoken word and tumbling, spartan percussion. Brought to mind elements of Captain Beefheart, Sun Ra, and Sun City Girls.
RealAudio clip: "Track 2"
RealAudio clip: "Track 6"

NEED NEW BODY UFO (File 13) cd 14.98

NEED NEW BODY Where's Black Ben? (5RC) cd 14.98
Are you tired of mundane, regurgitated, redundant music that seems to be the only thing available these days? Well, Need New Body is the radioactive answer to your woes of uninspirational musical blahdom.
They combine frenetic percussion using drums, handclapping and any type of instrument they can make or find with organ, keyboards, bass, banjo, sax and retarded lyricism that fluctuates from power-alto to a crunchy Carol Channing to off-key group harmonizing all throughout oft-changing time signatures. Ugh. I know it sounds like it wouldn't be good. BUT IT IS. This band is not like any other, and you gotta love them for it. The only other ensemble I could link them to would be Sun Ra's Arkestra, with whom they've played with recently. Their sound is a broken free-jazz that comes together to form different ideas here and there (i.e. the electronic-arcade house-party energy of "Who's This Dude? / Tet No Eyes / Do You Want To Party With Me / Medley", or the arty noisy kraut jam of "Badoosh + Seagull War = Die", or the Dead Milkman sillyness of "SO ST RX") Yes, this record is all over the place but in an engaging way, even if it makes you feel a little embarrassed at tiny moments. An album from NNB couldn't be anything else. These guys rule a strange and infinite gap between Styx, funk, free-jazz, Nintendo 64 music and psychotic banjo art-rock.
Where's Black Ben is the first new record from this band of Philadelphian phreaks in two years! And well, if you've seen this album in the store, you'll notice that the artwork is, um... not all that enticing garish and dayglo, but it sure catches the eye! Problematic artwork aside, these guys totally rule. For fans of Sun Ra & His Arkestra, Hella, Deerhoof and Dada-ism.
MPEG Stream: "Peruvidia"
MPEG Stream: "Abstract Dancers: Pearl Crusher / Medley"
MPEG Stream: "Eskimo"

NEED, THE Hi-Fi (Up) 10" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Olympia's The Need is someone named "Radio" and Rachel from Kicking Giant, this time with the addition of a DJ Zena who supplies scratching, plus Joe Preston (Melvins, Thrones, Earth) on bass and synths. Vinyl only. This is the follow-up release to their debut on Donna Dresch's Chainsaw Records.

NEED, THE s/t (Chainsaw) cd 13.98
Yes, we've got it! And you need it too. This is Radio and Rachel's first full length from '97. And yes, it kicks just as much ass as their second album "The Need Is Dead". With songs like "Pony 4 Honey" and "Rim Me Isabella", these two women mean business... and get down to it.

NEED, THE The Need Is Dead (Chainsaw) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Portland's The Need is not dead, this is their new album.
With previous collaborator Joe Preston (Thrones) adding bass and "squiggle pen" on a couple of tracks.

NEGATIVE SPACE Hard, Heavy, Mean & Evil (Vintage / Rockadrome) cd 12.98
Like the Poobah reviewed last list, here's another, though much moldier, oldie previously reissued by Monster Records, now made available again by Rockadrome. The Monster version had different art/graphics and was titled The Living Dead Years, but these are the same tracks. And since the main reason collectors are into Negative Space is probably because their 1970 private press album was called Hard, Heavy, Mean and Evil (aren't YOU intrigued?) it's a good idea for Rockadrome to use that title for this edition, which includes that very album plus bonus tracks from post-Negative Space act Snow and other related stuff.
Unfortunately, not much of this is actually all that hard, heavy, mean or evil. Unless you think garage psych covers of "Summertime" count (track two here, pretty laid back but for some sudden eruptions of fuzz guitar distortion). There's a song here with a title that would seem promising, "The Long Hair", but that one's actually way mellow. While this is still a cool underground artifact of grungy garage at the dawn of the seventies, let's just say Sabbath had nothing to fear from these guys. Negative Space at their heaviest are more like a scuzzy Steppenwolf. Rather than being proto metal, these guys were already sounding retro in 1970-71 (among the bonus tracks there's covers of "Light My Fire", "Purple Haze", "Johnny B. Goode", and also Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher", a hit for ol' Steppenwolf y'know).
The tracks that ARE heavy ("Calm Before The Storm" and "Forbidden Fruit" in particular) WILL get Blue Cheer fans excited. But the solo acoustic demos from NS leader Rob Russen tacked on at the very end of this disc might kill that buzz. Heck, we don't really mean to slag this, it IS cool for what it is. Just be aware, it's not exactly what the title and band name and wishful thinking might lead you to believe. It's certainly ultra distorted and wailin' at times, but only at times, otherwise just a bit bleak and moody. Their mean & evil, hard & heavy reputation probably had more to do with their live show. In the cd booklet (packed with lyrics and liner notes in thorough Rockadrome tradition) mention is made of a studio engineer asserting "how impossible it was to capture and contain the power and fury of Negative Space's music". Apparently so, since so much of this is not-so-hard hippie rock, with its own rough hewn charms however, plus ever-lurking fuzz blasts to tease those here only for the heavier fare.
MPEG Stream: "Isolated Ivory Tower"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Wall"
MPEG Stream: "Forbidden Fruit"

NEGATIVE TREND s/t (2.13.61) cd ep 5.98

NEGATIVLAND A Big 10-8 Place (Seeland) 2cd 15.98