HOWLIN' MAGIC The Dreaming (Lal Lal Lal) cd 16.98
Santa cruz via Finland blown out blues noise action, back in stock again!
Record number two from Howlin' Magic, and it's all about more howlin', more magic too if you're as enchanted by this brand of blown-out blooze as we are. Lo-fi and lovin' it. Is this the first non-Finnish release on the Lal Lal Lal label? Well Howlin' Magic fits right in with the usual Finnish weirdness even though they're just from just down Santa Cruz way, and by they we mean he, 'cause Howlin' Magic is a one man band. Imagine ol' Hasil Adkins playing stuff that sounds more like old Comets On Fire. Such insane all-instrumental shambolic stomp, with a mystic sci-fi hippieish vibe reflected in such song titles as "Voltron", "Quantum", and "The Universe Is Love". As with the first album from Howlin' Magic (not to be confused with Howlin' Rain, by the way!), this is for those who love psychedelic geetar excess, a la everything from Acid Mothers Temple to Michael Yonkers... freakin' recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Thanaton III"
MPEG Stream: "Mac And Bloo"
MPEG Stream: "Lord Jagannath"

HOWLIN' RAIN Magnificent Fiend (Birdman / Def American) cd 12.98
Not as good as the first one, and we weren't too wild about that one either. We prefer Ethan in Comets On Fire, but maybe that's just us...

HOWLIN' RAIN s/t (Birdman) cd 14.98
It would seem that the idea behind Howlin Rain, featuring members of Comets On Fire (guitarist/vocalist Ethan Miller) and Sunburned Hand Of The Man (drummer John Moloney), is to be a total California-style hippy throwback rural rock n' roll band, like from the late '60s or early '70s. Think Creedence, Quicksilver, Crazy Horse, and The Dead. They do a pretty good job of it -- these sprawling songs are all full of strummin' sunshine and scented smoke and even some swingin' saxophone. Ethan's raggedy whiskey voice (very Rod Stewart, actually) sounds just perfect for this, whilst the band choogles authentically. Or gets mellow, very mellow.
But don't worry, just when you think maybe they're just getting a little bit -too- laid back and melodic, Ethan will unleash some truly fucked, utterly obliterating noisy psych guitar to remind you that he's the dude from Comets On Fire after all. Those fuzzy guitar freakouts are really what makes this work for us, actually, and keeps this from being, uh, just an underground Black Crowes. We're reminded (to make a reference probably not too many folks will be familiar with, sorry) of Slap Happy Humphrey, the Japanese band that combined acoustic '70s folk with blasts of Japanoise guitar mayhem courtesty Jojo Hiroshige of Hijokaidan. This isn't -that- extreme but it's the same general idea, as also applied by Japanese psych acts like Nagisa Ni Te and Shizuka. Howlin indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Calling Lightening With A Scythe"
MPEG Stream: "The Hanging Heart"

HOWLIN' RAIN The Russian Wilds (American Recordings) cd 13.98

HOWLING HEX 1-2-3 (Drag City) cd 14.98
This here's an album for folks who dig swampy music that's fucked up, off its ass, played by and for folks who're sooooooo hiiigh. Actually this sounds as though Neil Michael Hagerty with electric guitar and broken drum machine in hand has finally smoked himself retarded. In fact, it's easy to imagine that the title is an indication of the limits of his counting capabilities these days. Really, these recordings seem excessively unravelled even by Hagerty's standards. For one thing, the volume levels of the vocals and instruments are all willy-nilly (too loud guitar atop barely audible vocals and vice versa). Personally we dug the You Can't Beat Tomorrow album far more than this one. It was fucked-up and weird in a good way. That album only just came out in November which makes us think that maybe Hagerty should've let this one brew (or stew?) a bit longer.
MPEG Stream: "If You Can't Tell The Difference, Why Pay Less?"
MPEG Stream: "Where's The Party At , Peaches And Cream? (It's Been A While) "

HOWLING HEX All-Night Fox (Drag City) cd 14.98
Yeah! Howling Hex is the new gig for Mr. Neil Michael Hagerty (formerly of ye old greats Pussy Galore and Royal Trux). A great band name most befitting his usual bad boy yowl, don't ya think? Heck, he thought was a perfect album title back in 2003, why not reuse it?! As per the Hagerty norm, this is a murky garage-y rawk affair, but the man's presence aside, it's the ladies (or maybe it's just a single lady... we really can't tell 'cause unfortunately the backing vocals are uncredited) who take center stage in Howling Hex... and they are awesome! The mysterious female vocals have that old sassy yet womanly quality you might associate with the likes of Nancy Sinatra or Shirley Bassey, and they're the perfect foil for Hagerty's vocals which here are boyish and wheezy. All-Night Fox? Alright!!!
MPEG Stream: "Instilled With Mem'ry"
MPEG Stream: "Pair Back Up Mass With"

HOWLING HEX Nightclub Version Of The Eternal (Drag City) cd 14.98
(Deep radio announcer's voice) Neil... Michael... Hagerty... in what is quite possibly his most melodically straight-forward album to date! Gasp! Shock! Oh my! While his last couple of Howling Hex releases have left us with the mental image of the former Royal Truxer fumbling to press the 'record' button while being completely baked out of his mind -- those were some seriously rad, fucked-up records! -- Nightclub Version Of The Eternal comes across as almost completely sober... which actually makes it even more bizarre in the whole scheme of Hagerty's trademark off-kilter swampy bluesy cheez-tinged tunes. Keepin' us all on our toes. Recommended for fans of the poppier, sunnier side of Royal Trux!
MPEG Stream: "Hammer And Bluebird"
MPEG Stream: "This Planet Sweet"

HOWLING HEX XI (Drag City) cd 14.98

HOWLING HEX, THE You Can't Beat Tomorrow (Drag City) cd + dvd 14.98
Not one to rest on his rump, Mr. Neil Michael Hagerty (yeah, y'know him... ex of Pussy Galore and Royal Trux) delivers a second Howling Hex album in 2005! You Can't Beat Tomorrow picks up right where All-Night Fox left off back in February in its all-out freewheelin' strangeness. Aha, a pattern? One was released a month from the beginning of the year and the other one released a month from the year's end with a dvd. Are we scrutinizing trivialities? Makin' a mountain outta a molehill? 'Kay, we'll just move along to the music then, shall we? First things first, if you dug All-Night Fox, this ain't anything like that. Perhaps, it's the influence of his You Can't Beat Tomorrow backing band o' Texans, the very rootsy Theater Fire? Perhaps, it's just a result of Hagerty tryin' another 'something new' as he is wont to do. Unfortunately, he ditched the female vocals that made All-Night Fox so right-on, but if you're a Hagerty fan you'll find plenty to love in his newest rough-hewn eccentricity-laden path. Still bluesy, still rockin', but with more of a moonshine-drenched swampy hillbilly feel. Hmmm, it almost veers into quirksome Quintron or Ween (circa Pure Guava) cheezy territory with its weeny electric guitar lines, rudimentary drumming, funky basslines, woozied-up horns and murky vocals.
The dvd features The Howling Variety Show by noneother than Neil Michael Hagerty. It's a just-over-half-an-hour, haphazard and decidedly lo-fi program of music, animation and sketches (!), and is apparently a pilot episode... so there very well might be more where that came from.
Far be for us to tell you what to do, but we'd strongly suggest lightin' up a big fatty prior to hitting 'play'. With or without 'refreshments', it's an all-around entertaining hoot!
MPEG Stream: "Cobra Heart"
MPEG Stream: "You Can't Beat Tomorrow"

HOWLING WOLF ORCHESTRA Speedtraps For The Bee Kingdom (Rockathon Records) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Number 9 in the 'Fading Captain' series of Bob Pollard / Guided By Voices related projects. And what more do you need to know? Well, okay, this one is actually a little weirder than your normal Pollard / GBV fare: a rickety framework of spaced out ambience, rhythmic sort-of-retarded drumming and general lo-fi randomness, all supporting some pretty cool not exactly GBV sounding pop songs.

HOYRY-KONE Huono Parturi (Ad Perpetuam Memorium) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of the absolute standout tracks on the recent "Slave To The Power" double cd Iron Maiden covers collection was the version of "The Trooper" by an obscure Finnish chamber-rock combo called Hoyry-Kone. It was certainly the weirdest inclusion on the comp, as they were the only band to pay tribute to Maiden with trombone, cello and saxophone! We'd never heard of them before, but resolved to find out more. Now we've tracked down this reissue of their second album, from 1997. Hopefully their upcoming third album won't take 'em too much longer, 'cause this one is pretty great! They play an eclectic sort of progressive rock, starting the disc off with a lulling, beautiful, quasi-religious six-minute mostly-vocal piece that suggests Nordic folk influences, before erupting into a hard-hitting classical rock attack that combines Naked City-style dynamics with "Eleanor Rigby" strings. From there, we hear echoes of everything from prog greats King Crimson and Area to cabaret music and even a little metal riffing (hence their interest in Maiden I guess)... For fans of Uz Jsme Doma, Samala Mammas Manna, Borknagar, Bondage Fruit, Arcturus, and other international exemplars of complex, melodic, progressive, and (last-but-not-least) *bizarre* rock. Recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Laahustaja"

HOYSTON, JENNY Isle Of (Latitudes / Southern) cd 14.98
Last year one of our favorite records was one of those limited edition Latitudes eps from Paradise Island. Sadly that great ep is now out of print but luckily Jenny Hoyston, who is Paradise Island, and a member of the great Erase Errata has unleashed her first full length solo recording, sonically similar, just now under her own name.
Isle Of is everything we've come to love about Jenny's music. It's eccentric, impassioned and so fully engaging. From anthemic blood rushers like "Spell D-O-G" and "Bring Back Art" to twangy numbers like "Even In This Day And Age" and "Send The Angels" to the Mary Timony/Helium like "Novelist" to late-night burners like "Ruff Ruff/Rainbow City," Isle Of is a record filled with unpredictability but with a common thread of honest delivery and colorful expression. While most people treading such wide ground would most likely trip up at some point, Jenny is able to get all those sounds and songs to make perfect sense. Her range and great taste comes shining through brightly, bringing the same kind of intensity that she's perfected in Erase Errata, yet without any of the usual band boundaries.... We love the free and loose sounding Jenny, singing any kind of song she wants, and doing so with a conviction and flare that's impossible not to fall for. Liberating, exciting and totally infectious. Isle Of is highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Spell D-O-G"
MPEG Stream: "Novelist"
MPEG Stream: "Break Apart, Reattach"

HOYSTON, JENNY AND WILLIAM WHITMORE Hallways Of Always (Southern) cd 11.98
As if she's not already plenty busy with Erase Errata and Paradise Island, Ms Jenny Hoyston has joined forces with William Elliot Whitmore. Not sure if this is a one-off, but we sure hope not 'cause they make such a great duo, and this six song ep ends all too soon! Their voices compliment each other wonderfully as they weave their earthy tales in true country folk tradition. Yes, we could go on and on lavishing praise, but how 'bout we just cut to the chase and give this a hearty "Recommended!"
MPEG Stream: "Feast Of A Thousand Beasts"
MPEG Stream: "Marrow"

HRSTA Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes (Constellation) cd 15.98
Ominous, heavy and despairing, Hrsta's third album really reminded us of the most recent Carla Bozulich album Evangelista on which she collaborated with many of the Godspeed You Black Emperor kindred spirits. It definitely solidifies their position as a mighty stand-out amongst the many Godspeed branches. Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes opens with a deep wheeze of an accordion that almost imperceptibly melds with main man Mike Moya's distinct guitar work that glides like a theremin in and around heavy-lidded drones from harmonium and organ. Loosely structured despairing vocal passages vanish into absolutely beautiful glistening drone scapes out of which acoustic guitar and voice re-emerge. Wonderful.
MPEG Stream: "Beau Village"
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow Winter Comes"

HRSTA Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes (Constellation) lp 15.98
Ominous, heavy and despairing, Hrsta's third album really reminded us of the most recent Carla Bozulich album Evangelista on which she collaborated with many of the Godspeed You Black Emperor kindred spirits. It definitely solidifies their position as a mighty stand-out amongst the many Godspeed branches. Ghosts Will Come And Kiss Our Eyes opens with a deep wheeze of an accordion that almost imperceptibly melds with main man Mike Moya's distinct guitar work that glides like a theremin in and around heavy-lidded drones from harmonium and organ. Loosely structured despairing vocal passages vanish into absolutely beautiful glistening drone scapes out of which acoustic guitar and voice re-emerge. Wonderful.
MPEG Stream: "Beau Village"
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow Winter Comes"

HRSTA L'Eclat Du Ciel Etait Insoutenable (Fancy) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Is your Godspeed You Black Emperor antenna tingling? Yup, this is yet another project from the fertile Montreal scene, featuring Mike Moya, a GSYBE! founding member. He's also in Set Fire To Flames and Molasses. Hrsta (say "Hursh-tah") is his solo debut, featuring vocals, guitar and a lot of background creepiness. His dark and mournful vocal moments bring to mind Nico with the Velvet Underground or a drugged out Violent Femmes doing Leonard Cohen songs!
RealAudio clip: "Lime Kiln"

HRSTA Stem Stem In Electro (Constellation) cd 14.98
Hrsta is the project of Godspeed You Black Emperor co-founding member Mike Moya (also of Set Fire To Flames and Molasses). he's assembled a full band for this, the follow-up to his first solo album L'Eclat Du Ciel Etait Insoutenable, and it's a beauty. The first song draws back the heavy curtain on a darkened stage with a droning chorus of shadowy faceless chanted vocals which immediately drew comparisons to the Italian ensemble Larsen's fine album Rever which was an AQ Record Of The Week a couple of years ago. In fact, we'd venture a guess that much like that mysterious group, Hrsta also draw deep inspiration from Swans and Michael Gira. Weighted by an immense emotional gravity, Moya's music is a heady, hypnotic force -- half dream, half nightmare. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "...And We Climb"
MPEG Stream: "Une Infinite De Trous En Forme D'Hommes"

HRSTA Stem Stem In Electro (Constellation) lp 16.98
Now on vinyl. Hrsta is the project of Godspeed You Black Emperor co-founding member Mike Moya (also of Set Fire To Flames and Molasses). he's assembled a full band for this, the follow-up to his first solo album L'Eclat Du Ciel Etait Insoutenable, and it's a beauty. The first song draws back the heavy curtain on a darkened stage with a droning chorus of shadowy faceless chanted vocals which immediately drew comparisons to the Italian ensemble Larsen's fine album Rever which was an AQ Record Of The Week a couple of years ago. In fact, we'd venture a guess that much like that mysterious group, Hrsta also draw deep inspiration from Swans and Michael Gira. Weighted by an immense emotional gravity, Moya's music is a heady, hypnotic force -- half dream, half nightmare. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "...And We Climb"
MPEG Stream: "Une Infinite De Trous En Forme D'Hommes"

HRVATSKI / SIGHTINGS split (Ache Records) 7" 5.98

HTRK Eat Yr Heart / Sweetheart (Ghostly International) 12" 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

HTRK Marry Me Tonight (Blast First Petite) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
When was the last time anyone made a Sisters Of Mercy reference and meant it as a wholehearted compliment? Well, that's definitely the case for HTRK (pronounced Haterock, FYI) as this Melbourne trio adopts a bleaker than black stance through their psychosexual dirges. With slinky Goth basslines, ghostly coldwave electronics, and skeletal slow-mo drum machine pulses, HTRK's arrangements mirror those that the Sisters Of Mercy produced for The Reptile House EP (which found them at their slowest, creepiest, and most anti-pop). But instead of Andrew Eldritch and his affected baritone, the singer for HTRK is Jonnine Clementine Standish whose comatose droning is seductive and compelling in its own right. She adopts the roles as the co-dependent, the broken-hearted, the addicted, the master, the servant, and the lonely, all delivered in Lydia Lunch's "I Fell In Love With A Ghost" dispassionate, zombified mantra. On the track "Rent Boy", Standish breaks out of that montone delivery, bellowing this dark ballad that comes across more like PJ Harvey than before. We have to wonder if the title is a reference to the These Immortal Souls track "Marry Me," penned by the former Birthday Party guitarist Roland S. Howard who happens to have produced this record and has sprinkled his narcotized swamp rock guitar throughout. No matter if it is or if it isn't, Howard's voodoo production for HTRK certainly gives them that Birthday Party feel. Great, very dark stuff for sure!
MPEG Stream: "Ha"
MPEG Stream: "Rent Boy"
MPEG Stream: "Fascinator"

HTRK Nostalgia (Fire) cd 15.98
Once known as the Hate Rock Trio, this Australian-born / London-based ensemble shortened their name down to HTRK (which the band still insists on pronouncing Hate Rock). Unfortunately, in the spring of 2010, the bassist Sean Stewart committed suicide. The remaining members - Jonnine Standish and Nigel Lee-Yang - look to continue making music, although that may seem a difficult proposition given that Stewart's low-slung basslines really drove HTRK's doom and dirge songwriting approach. The Birthday Party, Sisters Of Mercy, and PJ Harvey came together within HTRK's very impressive 2009 album Marry Me Tonight, produced by Roland S. Howard who really emphasized the skeletal, haunted aspect of HTRK's sound. That's quite different from what you'll hear on their 2007 debut Nostalgia, which still had a very strong Birthday Party sound especially with Stewart's recapitulation of Tracy Pew basslines, but the band has buried Standish's exhausted / exasperated vocals, Lee-Yang's swampy guitars, and the minimalist electronic programming in a huge bath of reverb. The spectral morass of all of the reverb really casts as a abjectly narcotic to the feel of these songs. Where on Marry Me Tonight which pushed Standish's vocals to the foreground to dramatic effect, she's lurking around the corners of these songs, howling and yelping deep into the night. It should be noted that a couple of songs from Nostalgia do reappear on Marry Me Tonight, although the difference in production really does change the the outcome. "Look What's Been Done" has become "Ha". "Look At That Girl" reappeared as "Rent Boy" and "I'm All Broke Up" turned into "Disco." Really fantastic.
MPEG Stream: "Look What's Been Done"
MPEG Stream: "Look At Her"
MPEG Stream: "I'm All Broke Up"

HTRK Work (Work, Work) (Ghostly International) cd 12.98
It's a bleak world for HTRK, as tragedy and death has surrounded this outfit which has only been around for a couple of years. In 2010, the band's bassist Sean Stewart committed suicide and the producer of their haunted album Marry Me Tonight, Rowland S. Howard died of cancer a year earlier. All of these elements make a connection to The Birthday Party almost inevitable, especially given their historical mirroring in relocation from Melbourne to Berlin and the manifestation of the id through a very raw sound. But where The Birthday Party was an expression of violence, HTRK are in constant search of desire, occasionally finding it only to have it frustratingly fizzle out before anything ecstatic can be achieved. As a result, HTRK's sensual bleariness is in an emotional feedback loop that never can spiral beyond the longing for sex, love, a relationship, etc, without anything ever attained. HTRK's existential portraits of being trapped by one's own desires are in direct opposition to the hedonism found in most electronica. Here on Work (Work, Work), the band parallels some of the horror-affected reverberation of the flash-in-the-pan Witch House crowd; but instead of drawing on unremembered memories of the forgotten '80s, HTRK has profound pain to draw upon... and they want their audience to feel that too.
The band had been shifting their sound even before Stewart's death, with a greater reliance on electronics and subharmonic tones girding the spindly guitar work from Nigel Yang and the self-composed breathiness of Jonnine Standish. They were moving away from the rock trio and towards a miasma of voice, guitar, bass, and electronics with boundaries between these sounds far more permeable. The closest references to HTRK's sound would be Ike Yard and Dome, although HTRK are much more interested in building tension with their teasing melodicism through their droning electronics. The first track on the album features a weird collage that Stewart had made of late nite TV sex ads in Berlin amidst slow-motion sighs caught in a half-melodic drone and crawling drum machine pulse. "Eat Yr Heart" ramps a quarter-speed Giorgio Moroder sequence above heroin paced rhythm with Jonnine crooning a sultry melody counterpointed by breathy exhalations. Sexually charged yes, but more of a downward spiral into dejection rather than release. "Poison" is more in keeping with the bass and guitar structures found on Marry Me Tonight, with Sean Stewart's bass clearly present next to the twilight flickering drone-riffs from Yang. "Body Double" overhauls Suicide's classic sound of metallic synth / drum interplay with undulating melodies that stretch into a magnificent coda of cascading melancholy for what amounts to a masterful album. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ice Eyes Eis"
MPEG Stream: "Eat Yr Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Poison"
MPEG Stream: "Body Double"

HTRK Work (Work, Work) (Ghostly International) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's a bleak world for HTRK, as tragedy and death has surrounded this outfit which has only been around for a couple of years. In 2010, the band's bassist Sean Stewart committed suicide and the producer of their haunted album Marry Me Tonight, Rowland S. Howard died of cancer a year earlier. All of these elements make a connection to The Birthday Party almost inevitable, especially given their historical mirroring in relocation from Melbourne to Berlin and the manifestation of the id through a very raw sound. But where The Birthday Party was an expression of violence, HTRK are in constant search of desire, occasionally finding it only to have it frustratingly fizzle out before anything ecstatic can be achieved. As a result, HTRK's sensual bleariness is in an emotional feedback loop that never can spiral beyond the longing for sex, love, a relationship, etc, without anything ever attained. HTRK's existential portraits of being trapped by one's own desires are in direct opposition to the hedonism found in most electronica. Here on Work (Work, Work), the band parallels some of the horror-affected reverberation of the flash-in-the-pan Witch House crowd; but instead of drawing on unremembered memories of the forgotten '80s, HTRK has profound pain to draw upon... and they want their audience to feel that too.
The band had been shifting their sound even before Stewart's death, with a greater reliance on electronics and subharmonic tones girding the spindly guitar work from Nigel Yang and the self-composed breathiness of Jonnine Standish. They were moving away from the rock trio and towards a miasma of voice, guitar, bass, and electronics with boundaries between these sounds far more permeable. The closest references to HTRK's sound would be Ike Yard and Dome, although HTRK are much more interested in building tension with their teasing melodicism through their droning electronics. The first track on the album features a weird collage that Stewart had made of late nite TV sex ads in Berlin amidst slow-motion sighs caught in a half-melodic drone and crawling drum machine pulse. "Eat Yr Heart" ramps a quarter-speed Giorgio Moroder sequence above heroin paced rhythm with Jonnine crooning a sultry melody counterpointed by breathy exhalations. Sexually charged yes, but more of a downward spiral into dejection rather than release. "Poison" is more in keeping with the bass and guitar structures found on Marry Me Tonight, with Sean Stewart's bass clearly present next to the twilight flickering drone-riffs from Yang. "Body Double" overhauls Suicide's classic sound of metallic synth / drum interplay with undulating melodies that stretch into a magnificent coda of cascading melancholy for what amounts to a masterful album. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Ice Eyes Eis"
MPEG Stream: "Eat Yr Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Poison"
MPEG Stream: "Body Double"

HUBBS, STAN Crystal (Companion / Gloriette) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We can always count on local reissue label Companion Records to foster the kind of rare hidden musical gem that perhaps won't appeal to everyone, but will get a select group of enthusiasts very excited over the discovery of someone's sincerely unique, but oftentimes misguided musical vision. Companion's specialty has always been cd reissues of vintage private press vanity releases, such as the Luie Luie, Charlie Tweddle, Marc Mundy, and New Creation records, and for their first foray into vinyl, have given us two quite amazing but very different musical visionaries: the spirited orchestral lounge stylings of Michael Farneti (reviewed elsewhere on this list) and the latent stoner mope-psych of Stan Hubbs.
Released in collaboration with Gloriette Records (Nite Jewel, Ariel Pink, and Puro Instinct), Stan Hubbs' 1982 recording Crystal is more out of its time than ahead of it. Recorded in his rural Sonoma County living room, it seems like the band almost can't decide if they're latent hippie stoner boogie-folk, eighties shred-guitar rock or progressively disaffected mope wave, which makes for an unusually intriguing sound that is hard to pin down. Hubb's vocals sometimes sung in a near monotone with female singer Kriss O'Neil can sound as much like a downer Fleetwood Mac as it can resemble some of today's gloomy pop found in Beach Fossils or Crystal Ships. But it's Larry Doyle's kitchen sink electric guitar approach that makes it really out of sync in an amazing way. Using lots of psychedelic effects and sounding like he's eager to show off his shredding licks to anyone who comes along, Doyle shows just barely enough restraint not to overstep the hazy vibe the singers and keyboards are laying down. Imagine if Simply Saucer did a cover of America's "Tin Man", and you'll sort of get the idea. But this is regionalism at its best, taking lots of big musical ideas from different popular styles and making something completely home-brewed, a bit oft-kilter and super genuine. Limited to 500 copies, comes with a full reproduction of the 16 page booklet of lyrics and drawings that came with the original release. Hot Damn!
MPEG Stream: "Joe and Gina"
MPEG Stream: "Let's Go On Back To Camp"
MPEG Stream: "Golden Rose"
MPEG Stream: "Seems Like It's A Rich Man's World"

HUDSON MOHAWKE Butter (Warp) cd 16.98
For fans of Dam-Funk , Flying Lotus and James Pants. Neo-Electro funk with lots of cheesy eighties synth patches and wobbly beats!

HUDSON, JEFF & JANE Flesh (Captured Tracks / Dark Entries) cd 13.98
The husband and wife duo Jeff & Jane Hudson started out in art-punk outfit The Rentals (not to be a confused with the Weezer side-project of the same name from the '90s). There were a couple of Rentals singles, one of which landed on Beggars Banquet in 1979, before the band broke-up. The Hudsons relocated to New York from Boston, and shifted towards synths, drum machines, and electronics in their collaborative project. Their first ep - World Trade - was released in 1981 through the seminal No Wave Lust/Unlust label alongside Mars, Dark Day, Martin Rev, Lydia Lunch, Z'ev, etc., and the Hudsons had made the rounds of all the punk spaces at the time, opening for Suicide on at least one occasion. Flesh was their second album, one that they recorded at home and released themselves in 1982. There is an insularity to this album that asks something of a chicken and an egg question. Was their self-financing the result of an expressive solipsism, or vice versa?
Regardless, Flesh is a record that didn't have many contemporaries in New York, although if they hailed from San Francisco, the Residents, Snakefinger, and the Psyclones would have all been kindred spirits. Jane and Jeff wrote darkly carnivalesque, post-punk numbers through early Roland synths and drum machines, accompanying bass, guitar, vocals, and a lot of warbling effects. Their flanging, weird sound grafted onto the chicken scratch guitars certainly looks forward to what Blank Dogs would do some 30 years later. So it's no surprise that Blank Dogs' label Captured Tracks would be one of the two two labels releasing this reissue, which comes with a ton of bonus material, including the aforementioned World Trade ep, the "No Club" single, and the punchy art-punk dance number "Special World," originally released as a single in 1983 before the Hudsons transitions from music to video art. Great stuff!
MPEG Stream: "G.S. III"
MPEG Stream: "Pound, Pound"
MPEG Stream: "Special World"

HUDSON, JEFF & JANE Flesh (Captured Tracks / Dark Entries) 2lp 19.98
The husband and wife duo Jeff & Jane Hudson started out in art-punk outfit The Rentals (not to be a confused with the Weezer side-project of the same name from the '90s). There were a couple of Rentals singles, one of which landed on Beggars Banquet in 1979, before the band broke-up. The Hudsons relocated to New York from Boston, and shifted towards synths, drum machines, and electronics in their collaborative project. Their first ep - World Trade - was released in 1981 through the seminal No Wave Lust/Unlust label alongside Mars, Dark Day, Martin Rev, Lydia Lunch, Z'ev, etc., and the Hudsons had made the rounds of all the punk spaces at the time, opening for Suicide on at least one occasion. Flesh was their second album, one that they recorded at home and released themselves in 1982. There is an insularity to this album that asks something of a chicken and an egg question. Was their self-financing the result of an expressive solipsism, or vice versa?
Regardless, Flesh is a record that didn't have many contemporaries in New York, although if they hailed from San Francisco, the Residents, Snakefinger, and the Psyclones would have all been kindred spirits. Jane and Jeff wrote darkly carnivalesque, post-punk numbers through early Roland synths and drum machines, accompanying bass, guitar, vocals, and a lot of warbling effects. Their flanging, weird sound grafted onto the chicken scratch guitars certainly looks forward to what Blank Dogs would do some 30 years later. So it's no surprise that Blank Dogs' label Captured Tracks would be one of the two two labels releasing this reissue, which comes with a ton of bonus material, including the aforementioned World Trade ep, the "No Club" single, and the punchy art-punk dance number "Special World," originally released as a single in 1983 before the Hudsons transitions from music to video art. Great stuff!
MPEG Stream: "G.S. III"
MPEG Stream: "Pound, Pound"
MPEG Stream: "Special World"

HUGUENOTS, THE s/t (Hydra Head) cd 14.98

HUKKELBERG, HANNE Rykestrasse 68 (Propeller) cd 15.98
Norwegian singer-songwriter Hanne Hukkelberg's debut, Little Things, was an enchanting collection of delicate instrumentation, fluttering vocals, and sophisticated songwriting. It took more than a few of us here at aQ by surprise and became something of a sleeper hit for lazy sun-drenched afternoons. The same sensibilities that made Little Things so successful are evident on Rykestrasse 68: vocals pushed to the front of the mix, dry, personal and sultry while a kaleidoscope of drips, drops, bells and whistles flutters in the background. However, the darker mood and sense of melancholy on this record make it more suitable for grey days and rain-streaked windows than its sunnier predecessor.
The obvious points of comparison are, of course, artists like Bjork, Feist and Tujiko Noriko -- powerhouse singers who blend fractured acoustic sounds, electronic flourishes and sophisticated songwriting; however, Rykestrasse 68 stands on its own as a beautiful work from a tremendously talented artist who manages to achieve a really engaging combination of naivete and a deliberate, self-aware intellectualism. It's a winning blend, evident in the mix between the toy instruments and found sounds that lend the record a certain childlike quality and the darkness and drama to that comes out in its best moments (take her cover of The Pixies' "Break My Body," for example).
This, much like her previous, will undoubtedly fly beneath the radar, as it falls into that awkward middle ground between something you'd read about in The Wire and cafe-friendly pop. However, give this one a chance and it'll undoubtedly become the perfect soundtrack to some quiet, melancholy moment in your life. Simply gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "Berlin"
MPEG Stream: "The Pirate"

HULL Beyond The Lightless Sky (The End) cd 9.98
We've been meaning to review this for a while now, record number two from the East Coast post-hardcore sludge pop combo Hull, whose first record positioned them alongside aQ faves Torche, with that sort of extreme heaviness fused to extreme poppiness thing, but on the new record the band have had a serious sonic makeover. The opening track alone, after a brief bit of sludginess, explodes into a furious blasting metalpunk blowout, with shrieked vox, buzzing guitars, slipping into chugging almost-breakdowns, before exploding into a roiling bit of lumbering doom, the guitars super distorted, the band lurching through some cool stop/starts, peppered with wild double kick drumming, and some psychedelic guitar shred, before shifting gears and locking into a super blown out mathy churn, before slipping right back into a strange sort of sing along punk dirge, and heck, the song is 11+ minutes so the band go all out, jamming wildly and flitting from sound to sound, managing to string it all together into something cohesive, and pretty massively crushing.
The rest of the record is just as varied, with the second track getting all spacey and droney, never really metal more a sort of acoustic guitar driven dirge, big drums wedded to some almost Appalachian style buzz, swampy and bluesy, but still dark and heavy, before the title track finds the band launching right back into some bellowed, downtuned heaviness, all angular guitars, and pounding drums, the poppiness of their first record still finding its way into their sound, but more subtly, with this new sound being much more about texture and mood, riffing and metallic pound, but it definitely suits them, in fact in some ways, while this new sound is still beholden to many that came before, it's a much more original sound, and one they've definitely made their own, and one we're still exploring after repeated listens. Epic and varied, sludgey and thrashy, melodic and mysterious, and most definitely psychedelic, this is the kind of record that should hit the spot for heavy music obsessives of all stripes. WAY recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Earth From Water"
MPEG Stream: "Just A Trace Of Early Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Beyond The Lightless Sky"

HULL, SCOTT Requiem (Relapse) cd 15.98

HUMAN BEAST, THE Volume One (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Heavy-ish prog/psych power trio action outta Edinburgh, Scotland circa 1969, here's the sole album by this obscure but well-regarded band. This is its first fully official cd reissue, done with the help of the band members themselves, and boasts a 16 page booklet full of vintage photos, lyrics and reminiscences. This moody Beast was apparently much heavier in live performance than on this comparatively tame studio recording (a common problem for bands back then, lamented in the liner notes by bassist Ed Jones, who claims that only about 45 seconds of the record really reflects their earbleeding live sound). Even then, Volume One isn't without, well, volume. And power. Explosive electric guitar breaks and urgent rhythms, alternating with plodding and poetic dreamscapes. Wah-wah'd chicka chicka chicka guitar with Eastern-inflected melodies wending around and around. The first song is called "Mystic Man" and indeed the entirety of The Human Beast's album evokes a mystic, almost creepy feeling, accentuated by cryptic lyrics, lines like "We celebrate the feel of human meat" and "Mind escapes you, flies to freedom / Leaves your hollow gargoyle kingdom". There's certainly a special weirdness to The Human Beast, a peculiar, pagan freakiness. Their cover of The Incredible String Band's "Maybe Someday" fits right in. Very effective.
And while the production never lets them get quite as Beastly as they wanted to be, for 1969 this is still pretty badass. These guys probably never heard Randy Holden's Population II, but they probably would have liked it. And they'd certainly heard their share of Jimi Hendrix and Iron Butterfly... While more '60s psych than '70s proto-metal (at their heaviest here, closer to Cream than Sabbath), we'd certainly rank 'em in alongside the likes of High Tide, Sam Gopal, NSU, The Dark, Arzachel, and Andromeda...
MPEG Stream: "Appearance Is Everything, Style Is A Way Of Living"
MPEG Stream: "Maybe Someday"
MPEG Stream: "Reality Presented As An Alternative"

HUMAN BEAST, THE Volume One (Sunbeam) lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now also reissued on vinyl...
Heavy-ish prog/psych power trio action outta Edinburgh, Scotland circa 1969, here's the sole album by this obscure but well-regarded band. This is its first fully official reissue, done with the help of the band members themselves. This moody Beast was apparently much heavier in live performance than on this comparatively tame studio recording (a common problem for bands back then, lamented in the liner notes by bassist Ed Jones, who claims that only about 45 seconds of the record really reflects their earbleeding live sound). Even then, Volume One isn't without, well, volume. And power. Explosive electric guitar breaks and urgent rhythms, alternating with plodding and poetic dreamscapes. Wah-wah'd chicka chicka chicka guitar with Eastern-inflected melodies wending around and around. The first song is called "Mystic Man" and indeed the entirety of The Human Beast's album evokes a mystic, almost creepy feeling, accentuated by cryptic lyrics, lines like "We celebrate the feel of human meat" and "Mind escapes you, flies to freedom / Leaves your hollow gargoyle kingdom". There's certainly a special weirdness to The Human Beast, a peculiar, pagan freakiness. Their cover of The Incredible String Band's "Maybe Someday" fits right in. Very effective.
And while the production never lets them get quite as Beastly as they wanted to be, for 1969 this is still pretty badass. These guys probably never heard Randy Holden's Population II, but they probably would have liked it. And they'd certainly heard their share of Jimi Hendrix and Iron Butterfly... While more '60s psych than '70s proto-metal (at their heaviest here, closer to Cream than Sabbath), we'd certainly rank 'em in alongside the likes of High Tide, Sam Gopal, NSU, The Dark, Arzachel, and Andromeda...
MPEG Stream: "Appearance Is Everything, Style Is A Way Of Living"
MPEG Stream: "Maybe Someday"
MPEG Stream: "Reality Presented As An Alternative"

HUMAN BEING Live At The Zodiak - Berlin 1968 (Nepenthe) cd 14.98
Krautrock and weird music fans all around the world MUST being living right, to earn up the good karma required for something this cool and unexpected and downright uber-historic to drop into our laps. A previously unreleased, live concert recording from a pre-Cluster (and pre-Kluster) krautrock ensemble featuring Hans-Joachim Roedelius, from way back in 1968. Wow. Who knew? Maybe not even Roedelius, who apparently not long ago just received a tape of this in the mail from an "anonymous donor", someone who'd lugged recording equipment to the underground (literally) music club Zodiak several decades earlier and captured this show, then filed it away like a sonic time capsule of late '60s Berlin freakdom, i.e. Human Being, an amorphous collective of (mostly) non-musicians, a sort of "noise orchestra" that found a home at the Zodiak (a club co-organized by Roedelius's comrade Conrad Schnitzler), touring also all the way to Morocco we're told, but never releasing a record... until now!
This rare document consists of one lengthy track, 56 and a half minutes long, of utter loud "early industrial" featuring guitar, organ, drums, saxophone, cello... and tons and tons of electronic FX, lots of echo and delay, feedback and tape loops, and what sounds like shortwave radio static... proving that there's nothing new under the sun, once again, THIS WAS DONE OVER 40 YEARS AGO FOLKS! Sounds like something we'd be selling on a cd-r from some floorcore noise-drone outfit nowadays!
20th century avant garde meets the anarchic spirit of the freeform psychedelic rock scene, with murky droning pulsations and percussive clatter building building into an insistent heavy throb by the end of the piece. It's abstract out-there stuff indeed, difficult to describe (the deep foghorn like rumbles remind us of Yoshi Wada's Earth Horns, if that helps). But you should experience it for yourself, especially if you're into the more droned out, free improv, experimental side of krautrock (or of anything)!
Given that it's cool this is available at all, we really shouldn't complain about anything, but we will say the digipack doesn't look quite the way we'd like it to... the cover illustration and cd booklet frankly seem a bit cheesy to us, in fact we almost ignored this as a result when we first saw it (don't judge a book by its cover, all right all right) just 'cause, well, it's too modern generic computery designy lookin', those fonts, that art, yuck. But, the text of the extensive liner notes is informative anyway, and besides it's really the music that STILL matters, 40+ years on from when Human Being originally hit the scene, now thanks to this release more than just an obscure footnote to the career of the very much still musically active (in Cluster, solo, and other collaborations) Hans-Joachim Roedelius.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

HUMAN BELL s/t (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
Underrated gem of a record from this band that features Nathan Bell of Lungfish fame. Think recent Earth, Grails, Gary Lucas, a more restrained Explosions In The Sky, and the expansive desolate side of Ennio Morricone. This one slipped under the radar but damn is it great!
MPEG Stream: "A Change In Fortunes"
MPEG Stream: "Hanging From the Rafters"

HUMAN EYE 4: Into The Unknown (Goner) cd 13.98
The return of these noise rock sci-fi garage glam blooz punk weirdos, fronted by Timmy Vulgar, formerly of aQ faves Timmy's Organism and frontman of the Clone Defects. But in Human Eye, Vulgar and his cohorts whip up a dizzying collection of warped, whatthefuck, outsider psychedelic space rock garage punk, or something like that, it's heavy, spacey, garagey, bloozey, definitely psychedelic, and definitely kinda punk, all swaggery and groovy, the sound slipping from Stoogesy stomp to Hawkwind style space out, and from organ driven garage rock vamps to brooding almost echo drenched fuzz pop, there are organs whirring all over the place, the drumming is wild and chaotic, everything wreathed in wah wah guitar, with pounding piano, and clouds of FX. The vibe is definitely glammy, and there's all sorts of weirdness going on, bloops and bleeps, analog synths, blorping bass, Human Eye coming off like some alien glam rock combo, and in many way reminding us of the Lee Harvey Oswald Band, the same sort of irreverence coupled with crazy catchy songs, anthemic and hooky as hell. But it's noisy and grimy and sorta slithery and dark too, the sound is dense and dangerous, laced with extreme poppiness, but that poppiness often underpinned by a shadowy sonic malevolence. But just as often, the shrug off the darkness completely and kick out some impossibly poppy jam, or disregard any sort of musical gravity and go careening into the stratosphere, all blissed out and prismatically druggy!
MPEG Stream: "Gettin' Mean"
MPEG Stream: "Alligator Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Immortal Soldier"
MPEG Stream: "Faces In The Shadows"

HUMAN EYE 4: Into The Unknown (Goner) lp 16.98
The return of these noise rock sci-fi garage glam blooz punk weirdos, fronted by Timmy Vulgar, formerly of aQ faves Timmy's Organism and frontman of the Clone Defects. But in Human Eye, Vulgar and his cohorts whip up a dizzying collection of warped, whatthefuck, outsider psychedelic space rock garage punk, or something like that, it's heavy, spacey, garagey, bloozey, definitely psychedelic, and definitely kinda punk, all swaggery and groovy, the sound slipping from Stoogesy stomp to Hawkwind style space out, and from organ driven garage rock vamps to brooding almost echo drenched fuzz pop, there are organs whirring all over the place, the drumming is wild and chaotic, everything wreathed in wah wah guitar, with pounding piano, and clouds of FX. The vibe is definitely glammy, and there's all sorts of weirdness going on, bloops and bleeps, analog synths, blorping bass, Human Eye coming off like some alien glam rock combo, and in many way reminding us of the Lee Harvey Oswald Band, the same sort of irreverence coupled with crazy catchy songs, anthemic and hooky as hell. But it's noisy and grimy and sorta slithery and dark too, the sound is dense and dangerous, laced with extreme poppiness, but that poppiness often underpinned by a shadowy sonic malevolence. But just as often, the shrug off the darkness completely and kick out some impossibly poppy jam, or disregard any sort of musical gravity and go careening into the stratosphere, all blissed out and prismatically druggy!
MPEG Stream: "Gettin' Mean"
MPEG Stream: "Alligator Dance"
MPEG Stream: "Immortal Soldier"
MPEG Stream: "Faces In The Shadows"

HUMAN EYE They Came From The Sky (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98
Remember the "blurry noise-rock-space-garage distorto rock off kilter groove damaged glam trash blooz" of the weirdly named Timmy's Organism that we listed a while back? A twisted slab of schizophrenic warped what-the-fuck from Michigan, the product of a very disturbed musical mind, one belonging to a fella named Timmy Vulgar (who fronted the Clone Defects once upon a time). Well Timmy is back, this time with a band in tow, that would be Human Eye, and they take the twisted sound of Timmy's Organism, and rev it up, giving it the full band treatment, creating a riff heavy chunk of psychedelic spaced out drug drenched outsider noise rock, that manages to be riffy, hooky, heavy, and occasionally totally and completely fractured and fucked.
Take the awesomely titled "Brain Zip (Kickin' Back In The Electric Chair)", which begins all synth laden garage rock space buzz stomp, with snarly swaggery vox, and some of THEE most distorted guitars ever, totally blown out, and all twisted up, the various sounds somehow restrained and molded into some seriously tripped out post Stooges / pre Hawkwind space garage weirdness, until the guitar solo comes in, WAY up in the mix, and SUPER distorted, a wild melodic squiggle that relegates the rest of the song to a hushed background buzz. "Impregnate The Martian Queen Pt 2" is a glammy stomp, with Butthole Surfers style processed vox, not to mention a weird watery splash sound that seems to wreathe all of the sounds, there are even bongos and some acoustic guitars, like Ziggy Stardust on a SERIOUSLY bad (or good?) trip. "Junkyard Heart" somehow channels both Van Halen AND Monster Magnet, through a short sharp blast of drum heavy uber distorted effects drenched garage dirge crush. And so it goes, song after song of twisted fractured fucked up confusional new wave / space rock / glam garage / psych punk weirdness that we're digging more and more with every listen.
MPEG Stream: "Alien Creeps"
MPEG Stream: "Brain Zip (Kickin' Back In The Electric Chair)"
MPEG Stream: "Impregnate The Martian Queen Pt 2"

HUMAN EYE They Came From The Sky (Sacred Bones) lp 21.00
Remember the "blurry noise-rock-space-garage distorto rock off kilter groove damaged glam trash blooz" of the weirdly named Timmy's Organism that we listed a while back? A twisted slab of schizophrenic warped what-the-fuck from Michigan, the product of a very disturbed musical mind, one belonging to a fella named Timmy Vulgar (who fronted the Clone Defects once upon a time). Well Timmy is back, this time with a band in tow, that would be Human Eye, and they take the twisted sound of Timmy's Organism, and rev it up, giving it the full band treatment, creating a riff heavy chunk of psychedelic spaced out drug drenched outsider noise rock, that manages to be riffy, hooky, heavy, and occasionally totally and completely fractured and fucked.
Take the awesomely titled "Brain Zip (Kickin' Back In The Electric Chair)", which begins all synth laden garage rock space buzz stomp, with snarly swaggery vox, and some of THEE most distorted guitars ever, totally blown out, and all twisted up, the various sounds somehow restrained and molded into some seriously tripped out post Stooges / pre Hawkwind space garage weirdness, until the guitar solo comes in, WAY up in the mix, and SUPER distorted, a wild melodic squiggle that relegates the rest of the song to a hushed background buzz. "Impregnate The Martian Queen Pt 2" is a glammy stomp, with Butthole Surfers style processed vox, not to mention a weird watery splash sound that seems to wreathe all of the sounds, there are even bongos and some acoustic guitars, like Ziggy Stardust on a SERIOUSLY bad (or good?) trip. "Junkyard Heart" somehow channels both Van Halen AND Monster Magnet, through a short sharp blast of drum heavy uber distorted effects drenched garage dirge crush. And so it goes, song after song of twisted fractured fucked up confusional new wave / space rock / glam garage / psych punk weirdness that we're digging more and more with every listen.
MPEG Stream: "Alien Creeps"
MPEG Stream: "Brain Zip (Kickin' Back In The Electric Chair)"
MPEG Stream: "Impregnate The Martian Queen Pt 2"

HUMAN FLESH Pretending To Be Pseudo Code (Plinkity Plonk) cd 15.98
More minimal wave weirdness from the archives of Alain Neffe, who was responsible for the huge archive of Insane Music tapes which were released back in '80s with all sorts of death disco rhythms, caterwauling electronics, and Cronenberg allusions to sex, death, and the demise of modern culture. Earlier in 2012, we discovered Neffe's recordings as Cortex, with cooing French female vocals and cosmically baroque electronic ambience. Given how much we (and quite a number of you as well!) were smitten by the sidereal radiophonic explorations of Cortex, which we went so far as to make a Record Of The Week, we've found yet another of Neffe's early projects - Human Flesh. Throughout the '80s, this was pretty much a solo project of his, although the entire Insane Music catalogue finds Neffe working with a small cadre of vocalists and electronic tinkerers. Pseudo Code was another of Neffe's projects, featuring Guy-Marc Hinant (who later founded Sub Rosa Records) and Xavier S; and this trio was quite active recording and performing from 1979 to about 1983.
One day in 1982, Neffe had set up the studio for a session of Pseudo Code recordings, waiting for Guy-Marc and Xavier to show up. Instead, a friend from a distant Belgian town arrived at the studio unannounced. This fellow was named Guy de Bievre, and the two decided to use the all of the settings on the synths, sequencers, and drum machines originally for the Pseudo Code sessions to create something for Neffe's Human Flesh project. The Pseudo Code sound was much more dialed into the Cabaret Voltaire ethos of electronics with minimalist sequencing and plodding rhythms that inspired dread and horror. Neffe and Bievre add expressivist blooping electronics, scattered guitar distortion, and some punk-poet barking to the rhythmic sequences, that could almost be a Richard Pinhas & Chris Carter duet from that same period, if such as thing could be imagined. A single track of snaking electronic rhythms, splattered with cold melodies, haunted blurting noises, and those occasional vocals that all come together as a fine piece of industrial mesmerism. Limited to 300 copies!
MPEG Stream: "Playing With Another Guy (extract 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Playing With Another Guy (extract 2)"

HUMAN INSTINCT Burning Up Years (Sunbeam) lp 24.00

HUMAN INSTINCT Kiwi Psych Heads : Singles 1966-1971 (Groovie) lp 32.00

HUMAN INSTINCT Pins In It (Sunbeam) 2lp 34.00

HUMAN INSTINCT Stoned Guitar (Vintage / Rockadrome) cd 12.98
So as soon as we dove into the extensive liner notes of this seriously awesome reissue of New Zealand's heaviest (and only??) psych band Human Instinct, we realized that despite their failed commercial success, these dudes were really way ahead of their time. After relocating to the UK in the late sixties and undergoing a handful of line-up changes, Human Instinct hit the local bar circuit with an original formula of heavy ripping psych played at blistering, amp melting volumes. Inspired by Hendrix and other dudes pushing the limits of the newly evolved electric guitar, Human Instinct developed a sound that was completely unique and possibly influential on the heavy bands that followed. While we wouldn't exactly call this stuff proto-metal, more like heavy psych, it definitely was a major step in reaching the heavy blackened riffage that bands like Sabbath and Pentagram would later perfect. That said, the album definitely has songs worth listening to over and over and over, buuuuuut there are a few tracks ya might just want to skip over. Oh and did we mention these dudes were known for having a lead singer who ALSO plays drums standing up!!?? Yes its true, Maurice Greer not only has a wicked sweet voice, but his drumming style is truly unique!!
Track number one kicks things off with an awesome version of Dennis Wilson's "Black Sally". Definitely a track you can headbang to, it's easy to hear how their slow grooving heaviness could one day become the essence of doom. Needless to say, these guys were way ahead of their time, I mean according to the liner notes, they starting playing together in '58!! Crazy! "The Jugg-A-Jugg Song", our second favorite track on Stoned Guitar, starts off with a wall of psychedelic fury, blaring, amp frying guitar, rampant drum chaos, destroying eardrums and anything else that stands in the way! So good!! "Midnight Sun" follows with stoney (obviously), repetitive riffs layered with atmospheric fuzz solos that seem to launch into the sky, really kraut-like and hypnotic, not unlike Parson Sound or Wooden Shjips, sorta.
So this is basically the complete package, four bonus tracks, killer liner notes with photos and basically the entire history of this underappreciated heavy psych gem! Stoned Guitar is fried out, in-the-red type blues perfection for fans of the recently reviewed Jerusalem, Bedemon, or even Flower Travelin' Band. We even hear some similarities to new psychedelic jammers Magic Lantern or Eternal Tapestry too. Take our advice and don't miss out on this super influential piece of psych glory!! And maybe Rockadrome/Vintage will follow up with reissues of the other two Human Instinct albums, we used to have all three as imports but they've been AWOL lately.
MPEG Stream: "Black Sally"
MPEG Stream: "Midnight Sun"

HUMAN INSTINCT Stoned Guitar (Sunbeam) 2lp 34.00
NOW REISSUED ON VINYL!! Here's what we wrote about the cd version we listed a couple years back:
So as soon as we dove into the extensive liner notes of this seriously awesome reissue of New Zealand's heaviest (and only??) psych band Human Instinct, we realized that despite their failed commercial success, these dudes were really way ahead of their time. After relocating to the UK in the late sixties and undergoing a handful of line-up changes, Human Instinct hit the local bar circuit with an original formula of heavy ripping psych played at blistering, amp melting volumes. Inspired by Hendrix and other dudes pushing the limits of the newly evolved electric guitar, Human Instinct developed a sound that was completely unique and possibly influential on the heavy bands that followed. While we wouldn't exactly call this stuff proto-metal, more like heavy psych, it definitely was a major step in reaching the heavy blackened riffage that bands like Sabbath and Pentagram would later perfect. That said, the album definitely has songs worth listening to over and over and over, buuuuuut there are a few tracks ya might just want to skip over. Oh and did we mention these dudes were known for having a lead singer who ALSO plays drums standing up!!?? Yes its true, Maurice Greer not only has a wicked sweet voice, but his drumming style is truly unique!!
Track number one kicks things off with an awesome version of Dennis Wilson's "Black Sally". Definitely a track you can headbang to, it's easy to hear how their slow grooving heaviness could one day become the essence of doom. Needless to say, these guys were way ahead of their time, I mean according to the liner notes, they starting playing together in '58!! Crazy! "The Jugg-A-Jugg Song", our second favorite track on Stoned Guitar, starts off with a wall of psychedelic fury, blaring, amp frying guitar, rampant drum chaos, destroying eardrums and anything else that stands in the way! So good!! "Midnight Sun" follows with stoney (obviously), repetitive riffs layered with atmospheric fuzz solos that seem to launch into the sky, really kraut-like and hypnotic, not unlike Parson Sound or Wooden Shjips, sorta.
Stoned Guitar is fried out, in-the-red type blues perfection for fans of the recently reviewed Jerusalem, Bedemon, or even Flower Travelin' Band. We even hear some similarities to new psychedelic jammers Magic Lantern or Eternal Tapestry too. Take our advice and don't miss out on this super influential piece of psych glory! FYI, also in stock but not yet reviewed, vinyl reissues of Human Instinct's other two albums, Pins In It and Burning Up Years.
MPEG Stream: "Black Sally"
MPEG Stream: "Midnight Sun"

HUMAN LEAGUE Dare / Love And Dancing (Caroline) cd 16.98
The transformation of Human League from electronic experimentalists with punk affinity to the advocates of new wave fashion of style over substance was completed through the third album "Dare." Yup, this was the defining album which broke them as legitimate pop stars through the mega-single "Don't You Want Me;" however, there's no sense of adventure or daring on this album beyond their angular haircuts and androgynous appearance. This CD reissue also features 8 instrumental tracks from "Dare" that were released as the "Love And Dancing" EP.
MPEG Stream: "Don't You Want Me"

HUMAN LEAGUE Golden Hour Of The Future (Black Melody) cd 21.00
BACK IN PRINT!!! Perhaps you've heard the quiet rumbling accolades for The Human League's early non-synthpop recordings. Up until now, only mere glimpses were available via their Reproduction album from 1979 and to a lesser degree 1980's Travelogue. Well, here's a UK import of twenty previously unreleased songs that predate their '80s glory. They were compiled from the label's own collection of bootlegs as well as from restored master tapes that have been locked away in the group's studio for over two decades. In those days ('77 to '79) they were also known as The Future. Decidedly un-pop, this Human League was an altogether different entity back then with a line-up that included Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh (who went on to form Heaven 17). Actually many of these works were performed by only these two gents. It was they rather than Philip Oakey who pretty much ran the early Future / Human League show. They constructed much more abstract and exploratory soundscapes with a heavier, graver mood than the later Oakey-fronted fluff that would bring the group fame (i.e, the weak songwriting, thin synth sounds, and off-key vocals of "Fascination").
Odd, yet effectively frail falsetto and deep spoken vocals converse over the low viscous electronic marches and swooping spaced-out analog synthesizer excursions with no drums or guitars. It actually would be quite at home accompanying the art-wave film Liquid Sky or on a bill with the Residents. Truly, much of this sounds quite fresh and adventurous today. All except one track were produced by Ware and Marsh. Note: the sound quality does vary from track to track, however this compilation still stands up as a revealing and intriguing document of this group's early works. Much more impressive and much less dated than both Heaven 17 and later Human League combined. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "4JG"
MPEG Stream: "Year Of The Jet Packs"

HUMAN LEAGUE Reproduction (Caroline) cd 16.98
"Reproduction" was the first proper album for the first incarnation of Human League, which was comprised of vocalist Philip Oakey, and electronic wizards Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. Much like Kraftwerk, Human League took great care to play with the notions that all electronic music was cold and soulless but filtered through the lens of punk. At times, these tracks offer clinical rhythms and primitive electronic monotony; but at others, the trio would develop cascading melodies from shards of crystalline tones. "Reproduction" does feature Oakey's unmistakable baritone crooning throughout, which hits a low-point on the dodgy cover of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," but for the most part is well matched for the grim electronic marches found throughout the rest of the album.
However, "The Dignity of Labour 1-4" is the true gem on this CD reissue. An instrumental EP which was produced after their first single "Being Boiled" and preceding the "Reproductions" album, "The Dignity Of Labour 1-4" is an amazing piece of proto-electronica paralleling much of the syncopated electronics produced by Chris Carter for Throbbing Gristle and later as Chris & Cosey. These four lengthy cuts are easily some of the best work that Human League ever did, if very very far removed from the chart-topping synth pop of "Keep Feeling Fascination" or "Don't You Want Me." Also featured on this CD reissue are the studio banter housed on a flexi disc for "The Dignity of Labour 1-4" and both cuts from their Fast Product single "Being Boiled" which was prominently featured on the "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" and on the Girls on Top mashup with TLC.
MPEG Stream: "Circus Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Dignity Of Labour 1"
MPEG Stream: "Dignity Of Labour 2"

HUMAN LEAGUE Travelogue (Caroline) cd 16.98
"Travelogue" which was the second album from Human League released back in 1980 found the group moving much closer to a friendlier pop sensibility, although occasionally showing sparks of brilliance through darkened science fiction references. Philip Oakey's vocals had clearly taken center stage to Human League's production, offering cabaret mannerisms and theatrical panache to the electronic production. A redux of "Being Boiled" is also featured on "Travelogue," but the synth horns and polished production don't add anything to the original. After these sessions, the band split due to artistic differences with Oakey maintaining the Human League moniker and Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh formed Heaven 17, a band which ironically developed into another synth-pop chart topper like Oakey's Human League.
MPEG Stream: "The Black Hit Of Space"
MPEG Stream: "Life Kills"