NEWSOM, JOANNA Sprout And The Bean (Drag City) cd ep 5.98
Everybody who loves San Francisco fairytale folk singer/harpist Joanna Newsom raise your hands -- we know there's a lot of you out there! We want your attention 'cause this lil' cd is a special treat for fans. It's got one previously unreleased Newsom track "What We Have Known", plus "Sprout And The Bean" taken from her smash hit (well, 'round these parts it seems anyway) album The Milk-Eyed Mender! And, better yet even, this also includes a video for said track! Obviously, it's single for fans only, but we imagine quite a few you won't be able to resist...
MPEG Stream: "Sprout And The Bean"

NEWSOM, JOANNA The Milk-Eyed Mender (Drag City) cd 14.98
Imagine this scene... as the lights dim a lone figure creeps into the spotlight, it's Bjork! and she's singing the song "It's A Hard Knock Life" from the Broadway musical Annie. Not such a farfetched thought when you think of how much Bjork seems to love Broadway productions, but on The Milk-Eyed Mender it isn't Bjork in the spotlight, it's SF sweetheart Joanna Newsom. Indeed, her voice bears much more than a passing resemblance to that of the Icelandic deity. Its childlike qualities are matched by some equally childlike wonky keyboards in one track, and the general twee simplicity of her music overall. One customer of ours offered the following description of Newsom: "the lovechild of Bjork and the Incredible String Band's Robin Williamson, born in Moominland."
This is the big-time Drag City debut for Ms. Newsom, who's homemade cd-rs we've carried in the past (from which some of this material is drawn, re-recorded). We'll freely admit that her rather cutesy, affected sub-Bjork-ish vocal style may be an acquired taste; it seems that seeing her perform in person makes a big difference, as everyone we know who has attended one of Joanna's solo shows has been entranced and enthused. Heck I think some of 'em fell in love. And love it or hate it, this album really IS all about her singing -- her voice and lyrics -- backed pretty much only by the angelic pluck/strum of her harp. Harp? That's right, Newsom is a classical harpist, whom you may already have heard on the Nervous Cop disc with the drummers from Deerhoof and Hella. This is much different than that, of course. It's Newsom's own thing...simple, folky music, her little-girl vocal stylings, and otherworldly, fairytale persona... something we suspect a lot of people will end up liking, once (if?) attuned to it. After all, "true beauty is difficult but rewarding" says the same customer quoted above.
MPEG Stream: "Sprout And The Bean"
MPEG Stream: "Sadie"

NEWSOM, JOANNA The Milk-eyed Mender (Drag City) lp 15.98
Imagine this scene... as the lights dim a lone figure creeps into the spotlight, it's Bjork! and she's singing the song "It's A Hard Knock Life" from the Broadway musical Annie. Not such a farfetched thought when you think of how much Bjork seems to love Broadway productions, but on The Milk-Eyed Mender it isn't Bjork in the spotlight, it's SF sweetheart Joanna Newsom. Indeed, her voice bears much more than a passing resemblance to that of the Icelandic deity. Its childlike qualities are matched by some equally childlike wonky keyboards in one track, and the general twee simplicity of her music overall. One customer of ours offered the following description of Newsom: "the lovechild of Bjork and the Incredible String Band's Robin Williamson, born in Moominland."
This is the big-time Drag City debut for Ms. Newsom, who's homemade cd-rs we've carried in the past (from which some of this material is drawn, re-recorded). We'll freely admit that her rather cutesy, affected sub-Bjork-ish vocal style may be an acquired taste; it seems that seeing her perform in person makes a big difference, as everyone we know who has attended one of Joanna's solo shows has been entranced and enthused. Heck I think some of 'em fell in love. And love it or hate it, this album really IS all about her singing -- her voice and lyrics -- backed pretty much only by the angelic pluck/strum of her harp. Harp? That's right, Newsom is a classical harpist, whom you may already have heard on the Nervous Cop disc with the drummers from Deerhoof and Hella. This is much different than that, of course. It's Newsom's own thing...simple, folky music, her little-girl vocal stylings, and otherworldly, fairytale persona... something we suspect a lot of people will end up liking, once (if?) attuned to it. After all, "true beauty is difficult but rewarding" says the same customer quoted above.
MPEG Stream: "Sprout And The Bean"
MPEG Stream: "Sadie"

NEWSOM, JOANNA Yarn And Glue (self-released) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NEWSOM, JOANNA Ys (Drag City) cd 14.98
One of the most anticipated releases this year, Joanna Newsom's second full length Ys (fyi: apparently pronounced 'ease', not 'wise') probably needs no introduction. Before we all drown in the river of salivation, perhaps we should just ring the supper bell and holler, "Come 'n' get it!"
Have you been hearing the rather loud murmurs about how Joanna Newsom is telling all that -- contrary to all of the press portraits of her resembling an Appalachian woodland waif -- she is not simply a folk songstress? Us too, and well, on an initial couple of listens to Ys, it does seem to be true. Yes, she has reinvented herself, somewhat aggressively distancing herself from the young indie folk scene that she helped spawn. It appears all that lingers from The Milk-Eyed Mender is her trusty harp, though even it claims less of the spotlight. Ys most definitely shows much artistic growth and aspiration with a far broader creative scope and production sense. Really, if there's any question that Newsom (and her label Drag City) are goin' for the serious artiste cred, you need look no further than the big gun support and chaperoning courtesy of top shelf luminaries Van Dyke Parks, Steve Albini and Jim O'Rourke. Not unexpectedly, THEY do amazing work on this album. It's stunningly beautiful. With a supporting cast like that, Newsom was clearly afforded full freedom to focus on realizing her vision. But what is that vision? We're not being completely facetious when we suggest two words -- Kate Bush. Heck, she's certainly already captivated the imagination of a similarly obsessive adoring fanbase as Ms Bush's, and maybe just as many naysayers. The mere mention of either artist's name triggers immediate passionate love/hate reactions. Her overall presentation seems so directly inspired by the venerable artist's own eccentric dramatics that you'd almost expect her to break out into "Babooshka" at any moment! Speaking of which with regards to the vocal department, the Kate and Joanna fans around here have likened her pixie-esque singing on this album to Kate Bush as a child minstrel (mind you, the non-Kate and Joanna fans might rephrase that less kindly as Kate Bush as a squeeze toy). Regardless, this is quite the ambitious work. In each of the five lengthy tracks (the longest is 16 minutes!), she unveils her lyrics in theatrical, highly literary fashion. It's still the storybook stuff of romantic fairy tales and whimsical fables, but it's set far less in nature than the rural hued Milk Eyed Mender. It evokes fantastic jewel-toned interiors, stages, salons, tea rooms. At once, dainty and sumptuous. The album defies expectations in wonderful, enchanting ways.
MPEG Stream: "Emily "
MPEG Stream: "Cosmia"

NEWSOM, JOANNA Ys (Drag City) 2lp 21.00
One of the most anticipated releases this year, Joanna Newsom's second full length Ys (fyi: apparently pronounced 'ease', not 'wise') probably needs no introduction. Before we all drown in the river of salivation, perhaps we should just ring the supper bell and holler, "Come 'n' get it!"
Have you been hearing the rather loud murmurs about how Joanna Newsom is telling all that -- contrary to all of the press portraits of her resembling an Appalachian woodland waif -- she is not simply a folk songstress? Us too, and well, on an initial couple of listens to Ys, it does seem to be true. Yes, she has reinvented herself, somewhat aggressively distancing herself from the young indie folk scene that she helped spawn. It appears all that lingers from The Milk-Eyed Mender is her trusty harp, though even it claims less of the spotlight. Ys most definitely shows much artistic growth and aspiration with a far broader creative scope and production sense. Really, if there's any question that Newsom (and her label Drag City) is goin' for the serious artiste cred, you need look no further than the big gun support and chaperoning courtesy of top shelf luminaries Van Dyke Parks, Steve Albini and Jim O'Rourke. Not unexpectedly, THEY do amazing work on this album. It's stunningly beautiful. With a supporting cast like that, Newsom was clearly afforded full freedom to focus on realizing her vision. But what is that vision? We're not being completely facetious when we suggest two words -- Kate Bush. Heck, she's certainly already captivated the imagination of a similarly obsessive adoring fanbase as Ms Bush's, and maybe just as many naysayers. The mere mention of either artist's name triggers immediate passionate love/hate reactions. Her overall presentation seems so directly inspired by the venerable artist's own eccentric dramatics that you'd almost expect her to break out into "Babooshka" at any moment! Speaking of which with regards to the vocal department, the Kate and Joanna fans around here have likened her pixie-esque singing on this album to Kate Bush as a child minstrel (mind you, the non-Kate and Joanna fans might rephrase that less kindly as Kate Bush as a squeeze toy). Regardless, this is quite the ambitious work. In each of the five lengthy tracks (the longest is 16 minutes!), she unveils her lyrics in theatrical, highly literary fashion. It's still the storybook stuff of romantic fairy tales and whimsical fables, but it's set far less in nature than the rural hued Milk Eyed Mender. It evokes fantastic jewel-toned interiors, stages, salons, tea rooms. At once, dainty and sumptuous. The album defies expectations in wonderful, enchanting ways.
MPEG Stream: "Emily "
MPEG Stream: "Cosmia"

NGOZI FAMILY 45,000 Volts (No Smoke) cd 25.00
Man, have we been waiting for this! Why? Well, does Chrissy Zebby Tembo mean anything to you? The group that backed him up on his wonderful My Ancestors album from 1974 have a rare record of their own that's just been reissued, the electrifying indeed 45,000 Volts, and it's another killer document of Zambian heavy fuzz rock ("Zamrock"!) from the '70s! Founded by Paul Dobson Nyirongo, otherwise known as Paul Ngozi, a Hendrix-styled guitarist (he even did the trick of playing with his teeth), the Ngozi Family band released this winning album in 1977, and now that we've heard it, it goes right to the top of the selection of awesome garage fuzz rock from Africa in our collections, a small but ever growing category thanks to ruling reissues like this (we're also looking forward to Shadoks' impending cd edition of The Witch album, also from Zambia, next month, you should be too). And it's not so lo-fi as that Tembo disc, much better sound, though the production still sounds very "live", we think it's perfect, capturing both the thud and grace of the Ngozi Family's music.
There's ten tracks (including one bonus from a 7"), containing so much raw FUZZ! Burbling, sizzling, wah wah action. Along with wicked beats, soulful sincere vocals (some songs in English, others in a Zambian language, Nyanja perhaps), and groove that just won't quit. Most of the tracks are in a Western psych-rock style with distinct African influences, though a couple tracks near the end of the disc are much more like traditional Afrobeat, with hand percussion and mass chanting vocals. As far as the rock stuff goes, even when they kick back on the mellower, more sunshiney numbers there's still lotsa fuzz and snappy beats. And Ngozi actually translates to Danger in English, so you know that they don't neglect the harder and heavier fare on this album. Particularly proto-metal-ish is "Night Of Fear", with immensely fat riffing and echoed lyrics about graveyards and nightmares! Here and elsewhere we're reminded of Los Dug Dugs. Heck even a little Blue Cheer. And of course Ofege and Chrissy Zebby Tembo and others from Africa.
Timeless stuff, highly recommended. Tembo's My Ancestors, reissued on the same label, is already out of print on cd, and this reish is equally limited too, 500 copies only, so get it while you can. FYI there's also a vinyl version but our supplier is already out of those, at the moment anyway, if we're able to get more we'll list it then.
MPEG Stream: "Everything Is Over"
MPEG Stream: "Nizaka Panga Ngozi"
MPEG Stream: "Night Of Fear"

NGOZI, PAUL The Ghetto (Shadoks Music) cd 16.98
African garage fuzz fans listen up, we've got another nice "Zam-Rock" reissue here! Guitarist/vocalist Paul Ngozi (1949-1989), according to the adulatory liner notes in the cd booklet, was one of the Zambian music industry's biggest stars, at the forefront of the "Zam-Rock" phenomenon in the '70s. Those same notes explain he took the name 'Ngozi', which means danger, "because each time he took to the stage, people went crazy and it was all disaster"! Apparently he did the whole Hendrix routine of playing the guitar with his teeth, etc. We had heard of Ngozi before 'cause of previous reissues of his band the Ngozi Family's albums 45,000 Volts (1977) and My Ancestors (1974, with Chrissy Zebby Tembo). Both were KILLER, and so is this, a record originally released by a Kenyan label in 1976.
The Ghetto's nine tracks feature both hard-hitting riff rockers and more gently loping, lazy grooves. The singing is lovely & lilting some of the time, urgent & impassioned at others. The relatively lo-fi recording renders Ngozi's amped-up guitar fuzz kind of pleasantly 'soft' but still hella distorted. Lyrically, he tackles some heavy subjects here, like "Suicide", and starving children "In The Ghetto". It's spiritual too, with the song "Jesus Christ" being a most fuzzed out headbanger about Our Savior. Most of the songs are in English, but a few are in Ngozi's native tongue. If you've heard 45,000 Volts, or other Zam-Rock like The Witch and Rikki Ililonga, you pretty much know how rad this is already; it's got the fuzz, the funk, the African vibeÉ great stuff! Those liner notes also mention the titles of several other albums that Ngozi recorded, among them one called Heavy Metal (!) that we really hope gets reissued sometime too!
MPEG Stream: "Help Me"
MPEG Stream: "Who Will Know"
MPEG Stream: "Jesus Christ"

NIBIRU Caosgon (self-released) cd 15.98
You've probably never heard of Nibiru (this Nibiru anyway, though maybe you're deep into Sumerian mythology and/or Babylonian astronomy and are familiar with the term in other contexts!), but if you're at all a fan of throbbing, spaced-out sludge psych then please pay attention. Before writing this review, we put a tag on this in the store that just said "Ritualistic Occult Italian Doom" and that managed to sell a copy or two already, but more can be said about it. To elaborate, this is the debut full-length from an esoteric Italian trio who play totally-trance inducing, heavy rhythmic ritualistic stoner sludge. UFOmammut is an obvious reference point, Nibiru are equally fuzzed-out and head-nodding, but have some characteristics unique to themselves, notably their vocal stylings, which bring in an undercurrent of 'world music', the heavily effected vocals sounding like distorted muezzin wails, or even digitized Tuvan throat singing. The electronic treatment of the vocals kind of reminds us of the nefarious Auto-Tune, but instead of making 'em sound like Cher or Britney Spears, Nibiru's hypothetical version of Auto-Tune is set on 'guttural alien shaman' or something like that! The singing is thus oddly melodic, but also otherworldly. It's definitely distinctive and effective in creating their primal, droned-out, mesmeric, magickal mood. Helping with that too, are all the thick effects-laden guitar/synth/organ textures and lumbering, staggering layers of rhythmic pound. Right from the smoothed out grind of epic 18 minute opener "Invokation I: The Acid Skull", Nibiru never really let up, the listener transported into their mystic realm of dreamtime, doomic dervish sounds for the duration. Fans of such heaviness as Gnod, Bong, OM, Zoroaster, UFOmammut, Los Natas/Ararat, and Lord Of Doubts' Eastern/Buddhist ceremonial sprawl, would do well to investigate forthwith.
Compact disc limited to 300 copies.
MPEG Stream: "Invokation I: The Acid Skull"
MPEG Stream: "Smashanam, The Crematorium Ground Of Kalu"

NICE FACE Horizon Fires (Hozac) cd 10.98
Record number two from these creepy synthpop postpunks, and as much as we dug their last one, Immer Etwas, this one is giving their debut a run for its money. From the super haunted house-y psychedelic synth intro, all monklike chants and squiggly melodies over minor key synth pulsations, the sort of thing that could have been stretched out for another 3 or 4 minutes (heck 15 or 20!), but before you know it, the song proper kicks in, murky basement beats, crunchy guitars, angular melodies, yelped reverbed vox, all wreathed in plenty of synth buzz and echo drenched effects. Weirdly enough, the first thing we thought was that it sort of sounded like a way more lo-fi punk version of eighties big haired electroglam weirdos Sigue Sigue Sputnik, which is not a bad thing at all. The second track though changes gears dramatically, unfurling a sort of reverby drum machine driven psych-blooz dirge, all sinister swagger and twisted dark creep, sounding like some lost jam from some obscure eighties Aussie outfit. The rest of the record continues on in an appropriately unpredictable manner, flitting from garagey fuzz-rock pound, to gothy electro-punk weirdness, and from woozy psychedelic synth heavy gloom pop, to ultra lo-fi bedroom brewed almost glam sounding punk pop crunch. There's also shades of eighties new wave, stoner rock grooves, outsider industrial pound, and shuffling fifties style pop songsmithery, somehow all tangled up in NF's already tangled and twisted soundworld.
MPEG Stream: "Liaison"
MPEG Stream: "Shaman"
MPEG Stream: "Equipped"

NICE FACE Horizon Fires (Hozac) lp 14.98
Record number two from these creepy synthpop postpunks, and as much as we dug their last one, Immer Etwas, this one is giving their debut a run for its money. From the super haunted house-y psychedelic synth intro, all monklike chants and squiggly melodies over minor key synth pulsations, the sort of thing that could have been stretched out for another 3 or 4 minutes (heck 15 or 20!), but before you know it, the song proper kicks in, murky basement beats, crunchy guitars, angular melodies, yelped reverbed vox, all wreathed in plenty of synth buzz and echo drenched effects. Weirdly enough, the first thing we thought was that it sort of sounded like a way more lo-fi punk version of eighties big haired electroglam weirdos Sigue Sigue Sputnik, which is not a bad thing at all. The second track though changes gears dramatically, unfurling a sort of reverby drum machine driven psych-blooz dirge, all sinister swagger and twisted dark creep, sounding like some lost jam from some obscure eighties Aussie outfit. The rest of the record continues on in an appropriately unpredictable manner, flitting from garagey fuzz-rock pound, to gothy electro-punk weirdness, and from woozy psychedelic synth heavy gloom pop, to ultra lo-fi bedroom brewed almost glam sounding punk pop crunch. There's also shades of eighties new wave, stoner rock grooves, outsider industrial pound, and shuffling fifties style pop songsmithery, somehow all tangled up in NF's already tangled and twisted soundworld.
MPEG Stream: "Liaison"
MPEG Stream: "Shaman"
MPEG Stream: "Equipped"

NICE FACE Immer Etwas (Sacred Bones) cd 13.98
Seems like Sacred Bones can do no wrong. The last year they've given us records from Gary War, Blank Dogs, Zola Jesus, Cultural Decay, 13th Chime, Moon Duo, Carl Simmons, and Vermillion Sands, and now Nice Face, aka Ian Magee, who definitely fits right in with the current movement of lo-fi garage pop weirdness, a la Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Blank Dogs, etc, but Nice Face is a much more twisted affair. Not sure how we missed out on this guy until now, this is in fact a collection of previously released jams, originally released on three different labels, including two on Sacred Bones, hardly matters, what matters is we have em now, and they have been totally kicking our asses.
Falling somewhere between former aQ Record Of The Weekers Night Control AND former aQ Record Of The Weekers Blank Dogs, it seemed sort of inevitable that we would fall in love with Nice Face as well, short sharp blasts of crunchy, synth laced, home brewed, cold wave flecked garage pop, super catchy, but plenty twisted, and beyond the more contemporary influences, we hear plenty of classic power pop, old new wave, old school punk rock, all tweaked and twisted into this right here. We could go song by song and describe every one, they all rule, but we'll just pick out a few of our favorites which should definitely give you a feel for the weirdo damaged pop world of Nice Face.
"Decipher" is a haunting synth heavy instrumental, with a KILLER hook, the whole track swirly and subtly warped, that sounds like one of the best songs Blank Dogs never released. "I Want Your Damage" is a spacey pop gem, with super delayed vocals, and a Tesltars main melody, lots of effects, weird synth melodies, imagine if Joe Meek were alive today, this is the sort of thing he'd be whipping up in his apartment home studio. "A Minor Altercation" is classic eighties power pop and sounds like it was yanked right off one of those Yellow Pills comps, "A Gaping Gash" is like a lo-fi reimagining of that Depeche Mode / Gary Numan collaboration that never really happened. "Beater" is a blasting garage rock blow out, that does Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall one better, with fuzzy synths, another killer hook, gothy and new wave-y, not to mention the retarded, freaked out synth solo WAY up in the mix. "Had To Let You Know" is another total eighties new wave jam, minor key and mysterious, super reverbed and groovy, sounds almost like the Stooges filtered through Joy Division and Gary Numan. And on and on it goes. How does this guy do it. Every song is insanely catchy, but totally different than the one that came before it, and even though the songs are all over the map, and this is a collection of tracks from different releases, it totally flows, and plays perfectly, like somehow, it was meant to be what it is, a single perfect fucked up outsider pop record. So rad.
MPEG Stream: "Decipher"
MPEG Stream: "I Want Your Damage"
MPEG Stream: "A Minor Altercation"
MPEG Stream: "A Gaping Gash"
MPEG Stream: "Invective"

NICE FACE Immer Etwas (Sacred Bones) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Seems like Sacred Bones can do no wrong. The last year they've given us records from Gary War, Blank Dogs, Zola Jesus, Cultural Decay, 13th Chime, Moon Duo, Carl Simmons, and Vermillion Sands, and now Nice Face, aka Ian Magee, who definitely fits right in with the current movement of lo-fi garage pop weirdness, a la Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Blank Dogs, etc, but Nice Face is a much more twisted affair. Not sure how we missed out on this guy until now, this is in fact a collection of previously released jams, originally released on three different labels, including two on Sacred Bones, hardly matters, what matters is we have em now, and they have been totally kicking our asses.
Falling somewhere between former aQ Record Of The Weekers Night Control AND former aQ Record Of The Weekers Blank Dogs, it seemed sort of inevitable that we would fall in love with Nice Face as well, short sharp blasts of crunchy, synth laced, home brewed, cold wave flecked garage pop, super catchy, but plenty twisted, and beyond the more contemporary influences, we hear plenty of classic power pop, old new wave, old school punk rock, all tweaked and twisted into this right here. We could go song by song and describe every one, they all rule, but we'll just pick out a few of our favorites which should definitely give you a feel for the weirdo damaged pop world of Nice Face.
"Decipher" is a haunting synth heavy instrumental, with a KILLER hook, the whole track swirly and subtly warped, that sounds like one of the best songs Blank Dogs never released. "I Want Your Damage" is a spacey pop gem, with super delayed vocals, and a Tesltars main melody, lots of effects, weird synth melodies, imagine if Joe Meek were alive today, this is the sort of thing he'd be whipping up in his apartment home studio. "A Minor Altercation" is classic eighties power pop and sounds like it was yanked right off one of those Yellow Pills comps, "A Gaping Gash" is like a lo-fi reimagining of that Depeche Mode / Gary Numan collaboration that never really happened. "Beater" is a blasting garage rock blow out, that does Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall one better, with fuzzy synths, another killer hook, gothy and new wave-y, not to mention the retarded, freaked out synth solo WAY up in the mix. "Had To Let You Know" is another total eighties new wave jam, minor key and mysterious, super reverbed and groovy, sounds almost like the Stooges filtered through Joy Division and Gary Numan. And on and on it goes. How does this guy do it. Every song is insanely catchy, but totally different than the one that came before it, and even though the songs are all over the map, and this is a collection of tracks from different releases, it totally flows, and plays perfectly, like somehow, it was meant to be what it is, a single perfect fucked up outsider pop record. So rad.
MPEG Stream: "Decipher"
MPEG Stream: "I Want Your Damage"
MPEG Stream: "A Minor Altercation"
MPEG Stream: "A Gaping Gash"
MPEG Stream: "Invective"

NICELY, NICK Elegant Gaze: 1979-1986 (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
We had never heard of Nick Nicely before, but thanks to Captured Tracks we have a new psychedelic electro-pop obsession (did we have an old one?). Hard to explain exactly what NN sounds like, but there's definitely a sort of Gary Numan vibe, but wedded to a sort of classic pop, a la the Zombies or early Bee Gees, a sort of baroque classical pop futurism? The sound are lush, drum machine driven, with soaring strings, subtly processed vox, and gorgeous hooks, just check out the sound samples and you'll be hooked. Hard to imagine folks like Ariel Pink and John Maus wouldn't be totally obsessed with NN (in fact, we're tempted to think they were both heavily influenced).. It makes sense that this would end up on Captured Tracks, cuz it actually sounds like it could be some weird new retro popwave combo from Brooklyn, except for the fact, that this stuff is so genuine, and so genuinely quirky, whereas most modern bands can get the sound right, they can rarely back it up with songs. But NN is a master of both, total crazy catchy electro-pop / post-punk / minimal disco / psychedelic synth rock that sounds more and more like the bastard pop child of Gary Numan every time we listen to it. We even hear a little XTC, but NN manages to take all these disparate influences and sounds and creates his own perfect electro-psych-pop. Fuzzy, groovy, synthy, quirky, druggy, tripped out, hooky as hell and totally twisted, and just about the coolest thing we've heard in ages. A new (old) favorite!
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "3"
MPEG Stream: "4"

NICO Chelsea Girls (PolyGram) cd 12.98

NICO Chelsea Girls (4 Men With Beards) lp 15.98
Classic and most essential Nico Record.

NICO Chelsea Girls (4 Men With Beards) lp 19.98
Everyone who digs the downer dirge folk of the legendary Nico all have their favorite records. For many it's the intensely cinematic Desertshore, which just got the tribute treatment from members of Throbbing Gristle. For others it's the Marble Index, Nico's second record which was the first one that signaled a distinct artistic move away from collaborative arrangers. But for us, there will always be a special place in our hearts for Chelsea Girls, her first solo effort after The Velvet Underground & Nico album, but which also reads like that outfit's second outing as John Cale and Lou Reed both produced wrote and arranged songs along with her then lover at the time Jackson Browne. Perhaps her most accessible record, with timeless songs like "These Days" and "Little Sister", and of course, the long title track which effectively catalogs the last days of Warhol's Factory in all of its glamorous bummer ennui. The folk-rock is less dirgey and intense, but still cooly bittersweet and sublime with a melancholic pop beauty. Newly reissued on vinyl by those four bearded guys.

NICO Desertshore (Warner Archives (Reprise)) cd 12.98
Now in stock on cd! Not new, but there was a recent vinyl reissue that Marcy loved, so we figured we ought to list the cd version too. Here's what she said about the LP:
This is a send-shivers-up-your-spine record, and I mean that in a couple ways -- it all depends on where you stand opinion wise in regards to Nico's talent, in or out of the context of the Velvet Underground. I personally beleive that Nico is an artist of some great depth, as evidenced by this immeasurably cold and beautiful record from the ultimate ice queen. On "Desertshore," originally released in 1970, the primary instrumentation is Nico's harmonium, with additional backing from John Cale. The harmonium, Cale's viola, and Nico's distinctive voice blend to create multiple layers of incredibly dark, extended, buzzing drones. The overall picture is mysterious and bleak; it's not only my favorite Nico record, but also one of the best post-Velvets records by any former members.
RealAudio clip: "All That Is My Own"
RealAudio clip: "Janitor Of Lunacy"

NICO Desertshore (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
This is a send-shivers-up-your-spine record, and I mean that in a couple ways -- it all depends on where you stand opinion wise in regards to Nico's talent, in or out of the context of the Velvet Underground. I personally beleive that Nico is an artist of some depth, as evidenced by this immeasurably cold and beautiful record from the ultimate ice queen. On "Desertshore," originally released in 1970 and now repressed on vinyl by the good people at 4 Men With Beards, the primary instrumentation is Nico's harmonium, with additional backing from John Cale. The harmonium, Cale's viola, and Nico's distinctive voice blend to create multiple layers of incredibly dark, extended, buzzing drones. The overall picture is mysterious and bleak; it's not only my favorite Nico record, but also one of the best post-Velvets records by any former members.

NICO Marble Index (Elektra) cd 12.98

NICO The Marble Index (Sundazed) lp 21.00

NIG-HEIST (Drag City) 2cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Perhaps the less said, the better...reissued shock rock from '84, Black Flag compadres. Cd includes bonus live disc!

NIG-HEIST (Drag City) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Perhaps the less said, the better...reissued shock rock from '84, Black Flag compadres. Cd includes bonus live disc!

NIG-HEIST s/t (Drag City) lp + cd 17.98
Nig Heist was punk rock band fronted by Black Flag roadie and SST employee Mugger, a joke band formed specifically to open for Black Flag, with the sole intention of pissing people off, and by all reports, mission accomplished. Big time. Infamous live shows, ridiculous costumes, super antagonistic audience baiting stage banter, stupid songs, over the top sexist and misogynistic lyrics, basically everything Mugger and company could think of to rankle the punk rockers. That crew, typically drawn from members of Black Flag and various bands who happened to be opening for Black Flag, over the years included: Bill Stevenson, Dez Cadena, Chuck Biscuits, Greg Ginn, D. Boon, Tom Trocolli, Spot, and maybe hardest to believe, Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat/Fugazi.
The key to the group's 'sound' being that the members were called on to join Nig-Heist, and play whatever instrument they didn't actually normally play, which is part of why the songs sound a bit warped and warbly. Sonically, NH slip easily from jangly garage pop, sounding uncannily like the Leaving Trains, to Black Flag style gnarled punk rock, to skronky atonal jazz, to dirgey, downtuned heaviness, reminding us a bit of SST metalheads Saint Vitus, they also dabble in Misfits like sing along punk pop, and jokey cock rock that in places definitely sounds like aQ faves Bad News. Black Flagisms abound of course since the core of the band was in fact primarily members of Black Flag, but to dig this, you definitely have to be prepared for songs like "Hot Muff", "Tight Little Pussy", "Surfbroad", "Whore Pleaser" and the like. And yeah, it's silly and stupid and goofy, and the lyrics are cringeworthy (although they are of course meant to be), but fans of punk rock of that era, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Fear and all that, will find it tough not to love this stuff, and knowing how how nuts the crowds must have gotten back in the day, not knowing these guys were taking the piss, only makes it that much better.
Now reissued on vinyl, also includes a bonus live cd from Henry Rollins' private collection (ahem) and features artwork by Raymond Pettibon (of course).

NIGEL PEPPERCOCK The New Way (Life Is Abuse) cd 10.98
This silly local metal band, featuring members or ex-members of Fuckface, Dystopia and other Bay Area punk and grind outfits, shows us the way with their debut. Notorious for their (ironic?) usage of 1970's homoerotic imagery in flyers and now, on this release -- though that really doesn't relate to the music in particular. They call it sci-fi sex rock, and I guess that's a good (as any) description for their music. The guitars and drums are definitely in a hardcore or metal style, as are the screamy vox (with lotsa "fuck" and "whore" in the lyrics), but the pomp keyboards are as new wave as they are black metal. The songs are about things like drugs, robot girlfriends, and even "OJ's Wild Ride" (some topical humor kinda past its sell by date, there). Several are intended as parodies of various underground punk genres. Definitely kinda stupid, but lots of people like stupid stuff like this. Fun for fans of the Dwarves, the Accused, Antiseen, Crom, uh, and of course Rick the Desert Dick! (The star of several of the photos you'll find and enjoy in this cd package.)
RealAudio clip: "Cherry 2000"

NIGEL PEPPERCOCK The New Way (Life Is Abuse) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This silly local metal band, featuring members or ex-members of Fuckface, Dystopia and other Bay Area punk and grind outfits, shows us the way with their debut. Notorious for their (ironic?) usage of 1970's homoerotic imagery in flyers and now, on this release -- though that really doesn't relate to the music in particular. They call it sci-fi sex rock, and I guess that's a good (as any) description for their music. The guitars and drums are definitely in a hardcore or metal style, as are the screamy vox (with lotsa "fuck" and "whore" in the lyrics), but the pomp keyboards are as new wave as they are black metal. The songs are about things like drugs, robot girlfriends, and even "OJ's Wild Ride" (some topical humor kinda past its sell by date, there). Several are intended as parodies of various underground punk genres. Definitely kinda stupid, but lots of people like stupid stuff like this. Fun for fans of the Dwarves, the Accused, Antiseen, Crom, uh, and of course Rick the Desert Dick! (The star of several of the photos you'll find and enjoy in this cd package.)

NIGGAS WITH GUITARS Ethnic Frenzy (Digitalis) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NIGHT CONTROL Death Control (Kill Shaman) cd 9.98
A few months ago, a mysterious disc showed up in the mail. Or more accurately, discs. Four cd-r albums of fucked up fractured outsider pop. No information anywhere on the discs, or the packaging, other than the words Crystal Shards. Which seemed pretty perfect. That's exactly what that stuff sounded like. Jagged and fragmented and crystalline and shimmery and totally bizarre and beautiful. So of course, as is our way, we become a little obsessed, and decided we had to track more down, so we could share these sounds with the aQ faithfulÉ
But searches for Crystal Shards revealed almost nothing, and the label was sold out, and there were at that time no plans to make more Crystal Shards. SO we had all but given up, until the label got in touch, and mentioned plans to release a proper cd, collecting various tracks from the Crystal Shards cd-r's, and we were thrilled, anxiously waiting its arrival, knowing that it would have to be a Record Of The Week.
And so here it is, but strangely enough, the band is no longer called Crystal Shards. In fact, there is no mention anywhere of Crystal Shards, instead, the band (actually, the man) is now called Night Control, and this disc, Death Control, collects some of our favorite Shards from those previous discs, and weaves them into a perfectly imperfect album of minimal murkiness, moody shimmer and lo-fi pop, generously dappled with effects and feedback and distortion, hooks and jangle buried in buzz and hiss. Woozy, dizzy, druggy, tripped out, and catchy as fuck. Think Ariel Pink, Gary War, John Maus, Ty Segall, Wavves, Blank Dogs, Kurt Vile, Night Control definitely fits pretty comfortably amongst those lo-fi fractured pop denizens, but definitely brings his own vibe to the party, offering up something folkier and prettier, more classically poppy, even Beatles-esque at times, but still plenty murky and freaked out and fucked up, and deliriously off kilter. We also hear some Grifters in there as well, which is never a bad thing.
Where as a lot of those other bands seem willfully obscure, the weirdness in Night Control's music seems more like a natural byproduct. As if the creation of these hauntingly perfect little pop fragments, invariably resulted in the sonic cast offs that litter the record, be they sheets of gauzy buzz, or jagged slivers of feedback, the songs at their very core, are pure pop, but that core is protected by layer after layer of noise and hiss and shimmer. Yet unlike many artists who make their pop 'weird' by adding random crap on top, or record on the shittiest equipment possible, the two sides of Night Control's sound, the jangly pop, and the lo-fi buzz, seem to meld into something totally new, a sound that couldn't exist with both those elements. The guitars jangle and strum, but often explode into blow out leads, or super crunchy textures, the bas burbles below the surface, but it too can sometimes crumble into a cloud of swirling buzz, the drums are simple and spare, but hold the whole thing together, along with the lilting vocals, always wreathed in reverb and delay. Every song here is a gem. And every song manages to reference classic pop, while filtering it through the new fractured noisepop style. Sebadoh covering Tom Petty, Cheap Trick as envisioned by Strapping Fieldhands, or imagine the Beatles or Kinks, if they were growing up today, and released handmade cd-r's. There may be noise and distortion and grit and buzz and hiss, but this stuff is way too poppy to really appeal to the noiseniks, instead this takes the sort of lo-fi pop of early Pavement records and Shrimper cassettes, and re-imagines it as some sort of alternate reality top 40, not like the bizarre alien FM radio of Ariel Pink, but something much more earnest and heartfelt. Total sad boy, late night mix tape nirvana for sure.
Hard to pick favorites, as this is a sort of greatest hits, culled from a catalog that as far as we're concerned is ALL hits, but two of our favorites are "Two Hard", with its lilting jangle, rubbery underwater bass, and some incendiary lead guitars, weaving lush sun dappled textures over a sort of repetitive post rocky drift, and "No Making", a woozy, drifty torch song, the bass driving the song, the whole thing warped and warbly, the tape speed subtly shifting throughout, causing the whole song to subtly shift and twist and making it feel like your speakers are melting, and as if that weren't enough, then there's an awesome soaring bridge / chorus, with some incredible lush guitar harmonies that could go on forever (and you'll wish they would).
Hopefully some of the other Crystal Shards stuff will surface in one form or another, but for now, there's plenty here to get lost in, a fantastic and phantasmagorical document of blissed out hallucinatory outsider noise pop. ESSENTIAL!
MPEG Stream: "Good Looks"
MPEG Stream: "Two Hard"
MPEG Stream: "No Making"
MPEG Stream: "Star 131"
MPEG Stream: "East Side"
MPEG Stream: "Those Girls"

NIGHT CONTROL Life Control (Kill Shaman) cd 12.98
The origin myth of Night Control is almost as fascinating as their music, it was explained in great detail in our review of the first Night Control record from a while back, but in a nutshell, Night Control was at one time called Crystal Shards, and that band released a whole mess of super limited cd-r's, all amazing and tripped out and weirdly poppy, but before we could get our hands on any of those cd-r's, the band resurfaced with a new name, Night Control, and a new record, Death Control, which cherry picked all the best songs from those impossible to find cd-r's and voila, and all time aQ favorite, twisted, fractured outsider lo-fi pop, that managed to infuse hook filled classic sounding pop music, with all manner of rhythmic aberrations and sonic inconsistencies, transforming NC's music into something truly original and transcendent.
So here we have what could be considered to be the first proper NEW Night Control record, and thankfully, all of the weirdness is fully intact, and the songwriting has seemingly grown by leaps and bounds, without sacrificing a bit of fuckedupness. So, just like Death Control was, it's gotta be a Record Of The Week! Night Control's sound is still firmly positioned amongst the current crop of warped lysergic lo-fi popsters: Ariel Pink, Gary War, John Maus, Ty Segall, Wavves, Blank Dogs, Kurt Vile, etc., but there's just something about Night Control, that makes this music different. And special. Not better necessarily, although in some ways it definitely is, but just special, the songs are ramshackly, but fully formed, catchy as all get out, but laced with all manner of clatter, and squealing feedback, the vocals are generally buried, so sometimes the melody is more suggested than anything, but somehow all the woozy warped parts fall (im)perfectly into place, and yet again, Night Control has created a songsuite, that is at once warm and familiar, but also alien and abstract.
There's no denying the fact that these songs are tighter, and more rocking, and it definitely sounds more like a real band, than a bedroom project, the opener "CS" is heartbreakingly good, warm and woozy and lush, drum machine, loping piano driven melody, big rich guitars, and a main vocal line that is so dreamy and melancholic and definitely harkens back to classic sixties pop a la The Zombies, but the record immediately changes gears, and "There's A Chance" begins as a stumbling chaotic lurching kitchen sink pop workout, very New Zealand sounding actually, the drums are distorted and tangled, the vocals are processed and all wrapped up with streaks of high end and feedback, all under a blown out haze, making the song's poppiness all the more subtle. "Take Apart" is super rocking, with actual burly guitar riffing, pounding drums, even some squirrely almost-leads, but it's interspersed with some wheezing atonal organ, some detuned guitar squiggle, some surprisingly active rubbery basslines, and the whole thing is wrapped in a cloud of hiss and crumbling distortion. It's like a Joe Meek track gone haywire.
And so it goes, the whole record veers from perfect pop to deconstructed lo-fi pop flecked weirdness, drums get blown out, vocals slip way up in the mix in a reverbed Lou Reed like sung spoken croon, guitars warble, chords jangle, rhythms are flipped backwards, fragments of songs are looped and layered, some tracks skip and skitter, you can hear someone push the stop button on the tape player, the 'ka-chunk' becoming part of the song, vocals pile on top of one another creating big lush, dense harmonies, long stretches of barely there sound drift and shimmer, like a pop song muted and melted into shimmery sonic strings, new wave collides with new age, classic rock stumbles into power pop, drum machine driven skitter explodes into druggy garage rock, hazy riffs coalesce into crystalline space rock, and on and on and on. The final track might just be the most beautiful, a nearly 8 minute stretch of processed guitars, all delicately intertwined, looped and layered, melodies and overtones surfacing and then fading into the background, notes pulse and throb, creating sort-of-rhythms, a little pop ambience, a little abstract Appalachia, warm and lush, the perfect rainy day dreamdrift, and a fitting way to finish off this perfectly imperfect record. One of our new favorites for sure.
MPEG Stream: "CS"
MPEG Stream: "There's A Chance"
MPEG Stream: "Take Apart"
MPEG Stream: "Guitar"

NIGHT MARCHERS Allez Allez (Swami) cd 13.98
We loved the last Night Marchers record, See You In Magic. It perfectly pushed all of those Rocket From The Crypt buttons, which had remain sadly unpushed for years, while at the same time soothing the hurt we were experience due to the recent dissolution of the Hot Snakes, 3/4 of which made up the bulk of the Night Marchers including of course Mr. John Reis himself, he formerly of Rocket, and of course the late great Drive Like Jehu.
On record number two, very little has changed, but then very little needed to. The songs are just as driving and catchy, the vibe maybe even more RFTC-like this time around, slithery and swaggery, lots of crunch and stomp, howl and slither. It took a while for us to make it past the opener, "Tropical Depression", which we found ourselves listening to over and over and over, the perfect mix of Jehu, Hot Snakes and Rockets, and while initially, the rest of the record doesn't quite reach such great heights, repeated listens seem to prove otherwise, as every song here reveals itself as a dark, twisted, gem, and within the framework of the sound these guys have mastered, they mix it up big time, frantic shuffles (complete with harmonica), pounding groovers, loping poppers, stonery blooz jams, catchy call and response jangle (with horns!), after listening to this whole record a bunch of times, gets harder and harder to pick a favorite, needless to say fans of RFTC, Hot Snakes and even Jehu (and definitely all three), will dig this big time.
MPEG Stream: "Tropical Depression"
MPEG Stream: "Loud Dumb And Mean"
MPEG Stream: "Roll On"
MPEG Stream: "Fisting The Fan Base"

NIGHT MARCHERS Allez Allez (Swami) lp 13.98
NOW RELEASED ON VINYL!! We loved the last Night Marchers record, See You In Magic. It perfectly pushed all of those Rocket From The Crypt buttons, which had remain sadly unpushed for years, while at the same time soothing the hurt we were experience due to the recent dissolution of the Hot Snakes, 3/4 of which made up the bulk of the Night Marchers including of course Mr. John Reis himself, he formerly of Rocket, and of course the late great Drive Like Jehu.
On record number two, very little has changed, but then very little needed to. The songs are just as driving and catchy, the vibe maybe even more RFTC-like this time around, slithery and swaggery, lots of crunch and stomp, howl and slither. It took a while for us to make it past the opener, "Tropical Depression", which we found ourselves listening to over and over and over, the perfect mix of Jehu, Hot Snakes and Rockets, and while initially, the rest of the record doesn't quite reach such great heights, repeated listens seem to prove otherwise, as every song here reveals itself as a dark, twisted, gem, and within the framework of the sound these guys have mastered, they mix it up big time, frantic shuffles (complete with harmonica), pounding groovers, loping poppers, stonery blooz jams, catchy call and response jangle (with horns!), after listening to this whole record a bunch of times, gets harder and harder to pick a favorite, needless to say fans of RFTC, Hot Snakes and even Jehu (and definitely all three), will dig this big time.
MPEG Stream: "Tropical Depression"
MPEG Stream: "Loud Dumb And Mean"
MPEG Stream: "Roll On"
MPEG Stream: "Fisting The Fan Base"

NIGHT MARCHERS / MRS. MAGICIAN split (Swami) 7" 9.98
Another Record Store Day release we were super excited about, a split 7" between the Night Marchers, which is essentially Hot Snakes redux, with John Reis of Rocket From The Crypt and crew kicking up some super hooky Rocket style noise pop - including this little gem, which might be the poppiest thing we've heard from them yet, with lilting melodies, a bouncy rhythm, and hooks galore, a big chorus, and lots of "la-la-la" style vox, which sort of makes sense since they're sharing this split with San Diego pop combo Mrs. Magician, whose Strange Heaven record (released last year on Reis' Swami label) was easily our pop record of 2012, and MM's side of this here split is more of everything we loved about the full length, a little bit surfy, a little bit garage-y, the sound washed out and reverby, lots of chiming harmonics, fuzzy jangle, kinetic drumming, amazing vocal harmonies, the whole thing a insanely hooky blast of crazy catchy practically perfect garage pop, that has us hankering even more for a new full length.
As mentioned above, this was a Record Store Day release and thus was extremely limited - we do have a handful left, far fewer than we'd like though, and the last we'll see. White vinyl, with a thick printed full color insert.

NIGHT MARCHERS, THE See You In Magic (Vagrant / Swami) cd 14.98
It was a sad day when The Hot Snakes called it a day, after delivering three of the most impassioned and fiery rock albums of this decade. So we were super excited when we learned that 3/4 of the band had come back together (minus vocalist Rick Froberg) to form a new band called the Night Marchers. With John Reis taking lead vocal duties this really does sound and feel like a mix of the melodic qualities of Rocket From The Crypt and the more driving and charged elements of Hot Snakes. We can't stop listening to the first half of this record filled with burners that made us remember why we fell so hard in love with Reis in all of his incarnations in the first place (Drive Like Jehu, Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes, etc). While there are a couple slower middle of the road tracks towards the end that don't quite do it for us, when the songs are on fire, this is still one damn fine rock n' roll album not to be missed.
MPEG Stream: "In Dead Sleep (I Snore ZZZZ)"
MPEG Stream: "Total Bloodbath"

NIGHT SUN Mournin' (Second Battle) cd 24.00
Heck yeah, back in stock! KILLER RARE PROTO-METAL DOOM KRAUTROCK ALERT!!!!
We listed the 2010 vinyl reissue of this a little while ago, which was exciting. At the time, we had been told that the earlier compact disc version of this Teutonic proto-metal essential had gone out of print. But - apparently not. We just managed to score a few more! So, we're listing it again for those of you who'd like it on cd (in a digipak), grab it while you can.
Yet another amazing discovery in the realms of unheralded heaviness from the '70s. Krautrockers Night Sun released this, their only album, back in 1972, and probably the only heavier sounds produced on earth that year were produced by Black Sabbath (and, hopefully, some other as-yet-unknowns). Seriously. If anything is "proto-metal", this sure is. Deep Purple (the keyboards and high-pitched vox) meets Sabbath style DOOM guitars. These guys must have been gobbling both amphetamines and downers 'cause the disc goes to both extremes of doom-paced creepy crawls *and* manic prog-spazz riff, uh, mania. Produced by Conny Plank, with plenty of psychedelic phased-out atmosphere to go with the jarring riffage and crazy vox. '70s proto-metal to file alongside Jerusalem, Buffalo, Toad, Leafhound, Captain Beyond, Blues Creation, and early Pentagram. Definitely a crucial artifact of the "early heavy". Why Night Sun aren't huge cult heroes we don't know...
MPEG Stream: "Got A Bone Of My Own"
MPEG Stream: "Living With The Dying"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Shotgun"

NIGHT SUN Mournin' (Second Battle) lp 33.00
KILLER RARE PROTO-METAL DOOM KRAUTROCK ALERT!!!!
We haven't been able to get the cd version of this in years, but we were stoked to discover that a new 2010 vinyl version had been released... which also took us quite a while to get a hold of. But now we've got 'em, at least a few, though when they're gone we don't know when we'll be able to get more. So if proto-metal is your thing, especially on vinyl like it was originally, then act fast!
Here's more or less what we said about it back when we had the compact disc reish:
Yet another amazing discovery in the realms of unheralded heaviness from the '70s. Krautrockers Night Sun released this, their only album, back in 1972, and probably the only heavier sounds produced on earth that year were produced by Black Sabbath (and, hopefully, some other as-yet-unknowns). Seriously. If anything is "proto-metal", this sure is. Deep Purple (the keyboards and high-pitched vox) meets Sabbath style DOOM guitars. These guys must have been gobbling both amphetamines and downers 'cause the disc goes to both extremes of doom-paced creepy crawls *and* manic prog-spazz riff, uh, mania. Produced by Conny Plank, with plenty of psychedelic phased-out atmosphere to go with the jarring riffage and crazy vox. '70s proto-metal to file alongside Jerusalem, Buffalo, Toad, Leafhound, Captain Beyond, Blues Creation, and early Pentagram. Definitely a crucial artifact of the "early heavy". Why Night Sun aren't huge cult heroes we don't know...
MPEG Stream: "Got A Bone Of My Own"
MPEG Stream: "Living With The Dying"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Shotgun"

NIGHT WOUNDS Allergic To Heat (Corleone) cd 10.98
East Coast weirdo rock label Corleone gets a West Coast blood transfusion, but the results sound just as Providence damaged as anything actually raised and bred in Rhode Island. Best known around these parts as the label that brought us the rubber encased, supremely damaged metallic onslaught that was Throne Of Blood (and rest assured we have been hassling the label constantly for a repress), Corleone offer up this latest blast of off kilter propulsive noise rock drone jam groove that fits pretty cozily amidst their like minded but opposite coasted noisemaking brethren.
Night Wounds have all the right ingredients, angular scrape and skree guitar, chaotic but strangely funky drums, blown out bass, strangled almost new wave vocals, even a saxophone that manages to skronk and kick ass and not sound at all cheesy (which is quite a feat, apologies to Gerry Rafferty). The cool thing about Night Wounds is they almost sound like they could be some forward thinking no wave/new wave band from back in the day. A killer blend of Crispy Ambulance, James White And The Contortions (due mostly to the sax and the damaged jazz vibe), Pylon, and a handful of others whose names escape us right now. All tangled up with bursts of nineties style mathy complexity, stretched out hypnotic grooves, and squalls of noisy chaos.
Imagine if Factory Records had continued on, it's not difficult to imagine that Night Wounds might have embodied "The Factory Sound" circa 2007. A weirdly catchy, super groovy, damaged and demented, gloom infused tribal workout, alternatingly woozy and weird, freaky and funky, as likely to send the dancefloor into a herky jerky frenzy as it is to make the pit explode in a sloppy sweaty tangle of limbs.
MPEG Stream: "Allergic To Heat"
MPEG Stream: "Less Dead"

NIGHTSATAN Midnight Laser Warrior (Solina) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
They're from Finland. They're called Nightsatan. Their record is called Midnight Laser Warrior and features on its cover some helmeted ghoul with a knife, and a sawblade, and a bullet belt, and tons of spikes and studs on the leather jacket that barely obscures his rotting zombie flesh. They have song titles like "Four Eyed Cyclops", "Death Chess 2000", "Karelian Stairmaster (Evil Lucifer)". The record was mastered by two members of aQ faves Finnish hypnorockers Circle. We saw a YouTube clip of Nightsatan performing, where a certain member of the crowd got so worked up he decided to sing along, that person was none other than Albert Witchfinder of the mighty Reverend Bizarre (and The Puritan, among others). Their drummer is credited with player "Laserdrums". And most importantly, they play "LAZERMETAL". Which is in fact, not metal at all, nor even "NWOFHM", instead it's some sort of crazy, futuristic, electro prog, like Goblin or John Carpenter, or any of the current crop of Carpenter worshipping retro futurists (Majeure, Umberto, Zombi, Blizaro) but filtered through some ELP, or Yes, or even more obscure prog faves like Il Balleto Di Bronzo or the New Trolls. Sure the sound is synthy, and retro and electro and will no doubt appeal to those folks, but it's also twisted and proggy and FINNISH, which makes this something else entirely.
The cool thing about these guys, ONE of the cool things, is that they're a proper band, this isn't just a studio project, assembled at a desk with a computer, no these guys are a BAND, and there's tons of footage of them playing live, and most notably, they have a DRUMMER, who plays drums, electronic drums sure, but they give the sound a sweaty, urgent, human element missing from lots of similar stuff, not to mention, these songs are epic and complex and again PROGGY.
Opener "Four Eyed Cyclops" begins with a bit of Tangerine Dreamy synthiness, accompanied by some growled cookie monster vox, but it doesn't take long for the track to get going, with some awesome syncopated rumming, locked tight with the synths, then another buzzing bit of low end synth swoops in, and while it's not metal, we can definitely feel the same sort of power and energy and intensity. All the synths drop out, leaving just the buzzing low end one to unfurl a serious slithery riff, the drums come back in, and it's like some weird electronic electro-doom, the metal vibe, more in the vibe than the sound, but it's definitely weird and heavy and electronic, with lots of bent notes wound into electro leads. Awesome.
"Death Chess 2000" starts off with more buzzing low end synth riffage, some "Iron Man" style kick drum, before slipping into another bit of electro-doom, only to have everything suddenly speed up, and transform into a car chase Autobahn soundtrack that returns briefly to that opening electro doom, before stripping down to just minimal synth and a skeletal rhythm, and more of those weird raspy vox, finishing off in a blaze of swirl and buzz.
"Karelian Stairmaster (Evil Lucifer)" might be the proggiest of the bunch, another swirly Logan's Run sounding intro, all arpeggiated melodies underpinned by thick wheezing synth buzz, while the snare drum drives the rhythm, before blossoming into a hazy, futuristic soundscape (which more than one customer mistook for the Tron soundtrack! If only!), that warbles woozily, and eventually switches tempo and becomes the perfect score for some lost eighties VHS tape horror movie futuristic dystopian city montage. Throughout, the song offers up some strange detours, intense super dynamic stop/starts, with pounding drums, and some gorgeous woozy video game soundtrack balladry (which again has us thinking how much better these guys would have been for scoring Tron).
"Ninja Apocalypse" is creepy, and haunting, with the sound of fake rainfall, deep bass swells, and a main keyboard melody that would most definitely not be out of place in a Halloween or Friday The 13th movie, but like all the songs, the track continually shifts and transforms, minimal and hauntingly creepy one second, supper progged out and propulsive the next, soaring and majestic the next, and druggy and psychedelic the next. "Steel Diamond Part 4" (parts 1 and 2 are on the 7" reviewed elsewhere on this list, not sure where part 3 is though), is another electro prog workout, that features a super soundtracky main melody wreathed in layer after layer of synth buzz, the drums dense and intricate, the sound swirling and shimmering, evoking images of alien planets, of crashed starships, of subterranean lairs, of strange creatures chained up and walking into the depths, of the blackness of space, which leads right into the final track "Stars, Our Destination", which takes that space synth sci-fi sound even further out, pulsing and throbbing, the melodies tangled and intricate, hypnotic and totally mesmerizing, the sound dramatic and emotional and epic, and so totally cinematic, every track in fact here plays out like the music to some climactic scene from some lost eighties sci-fi adventure epic, with "Stars, Our Destination" being the perfect culmination, the drums less rhythmic, and more dynamic, pounding alongside the synths, the vocals more breathy exhalations, soon joined by thick rubbery low end pulses, everything growing more and more intense before fading into a swirling drift of warbly synths, swirling FX and whispered urgent voices. There's a short hidden track, another sort of Halloween gone electro synthwave, with a pulsing house-y beat, creepy raspy vocals, and a main melody that sounds like it had to be created for some horror movie, tense and intense, this final coda brooding and moody, but also propulsive and weirdly motorik, the perfect sci-fi, electro house, futuristic synth wave hypno krautrock finish to a pretty much perfect sci-fi, electro house, futuristic synth wave hypno krautrock record!
And all this talk of soundtrack and cinema is not just us, the artwork on the back cover, which features a modular synth, with the various patch bays altered to read as song titles, also includes various inputs for things like "Doom & Gloom", "Heavy Pounding" and maybe most tellingly "Extra Giallo". So good. Easily our favorite of this new batch of synthy soundtracky sci-fi sounds. There is vinyl, but it's not out yet, a few weeks still. And if you dig this, be sure and grab one of those 7"s too!!
MPEG Stream: "Four Eyed Cyclops"
MPEG Stream: "Death Chess 2000"
MPEG Stream: "Karelian Starmaster (Evil Lucifer)"
MPEG Stream: "Stars, Our Destination"

NIGHTSATAN Steel Diamond (Lipposen Levy Ja Kasetti) 7" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If you found your way here without reading about and most likely buying the full length Nightsatan record, best to take a second and go check out that review, we get WAY more in depth there about the band and their fantastic futuristic sounds. And if you already added the cd to your cart, and just need MORE, then heck, skip the rest of this, and throw one of these in your cart too.
But for those who need to know more. Nightsatan are from Finland, and play "Lazermetal" which is in fact less metal, and more futuristic soundtracky sci-fi synth wave prog.
"Steel Diamond" parts 1 and 2 make up the bulk of the 7" (part 4 is on the full length, no idea where part 3 is), and is a sprawling synthscape of fat, fuzz drenches electro future prog, swirling synths, propulsive electronic drums, sweeping arrangements, epic swells, the bass buzzy and blown out, all wound into some sort of electronic krautspacefunk soundtrack. There are some breakdowns and interludes that are so thick and heavy, the bass SO buzzy, that it almost does sound metal.
The second part of the "Steel Diamond" quadrilogy offers up a plodding super dramatic space opera lazer prog workout, wild tangles of synth leads, evoking the final march up to the castle, the final battle, knights versus aliens, the vibe is definitely doomy, but synth-doom, building to a wild proggy break, that gets all electro-metallic before slipping right back into that spaced out synthy futurism.
The other track here, "Space Revenger" (awesome title!), is a pounding Teutonic bit of synthy electro prog metal, but with all the metal guitars replaced by MORE SYNTHS, epic and dramatic and intense and cinematic, with some surprisingly crushing parts that remind us a bit of MIDI metal (those cheesy electronic versions of classic metal sounds, YouTube it) but cranked WAAAAAY UP!
The cover art here is cool too, the band in metal T's and studded wristbands, huge black shades, obscured by red lights, looking very metal, with a shiny silver sticker that says "Finland's No#1 Nightsatan - File Under LAZERMETAL", while the back boasts two different legends, one reads "No guitars played on this record", the other "DEATH TO FALSE LASERMETAL". Fuck Yeah. Pressed on LAZER-RED vinyl too...

NIGHTSTALKER Superfreak (MeteorCity) cd 11.98
The Greek answer to Monster Magnet! Seriously.

NIHITI Other People's Memories (Lo Bit Landscapes) lp 14.98
We know pretty much nothing about these guys, other than they're from New York, their live shows are tripped out and psychedelic-light heavy, and more importantly, they make some awesome electro synth-wave abstract downer pop. Equal parts, haunting Witch House-y brood, block rockin' beats, and lo-fi home brewed electronica, Nihiti meld simple skeletal beats to pulsing fuzzy melodies, letting the tracks lock and loop, before crumbling and decaying and gradually transforming into something way more abstract.
The record opens with "Vulture Mentality", which takes minimal high end guitar strum, loops it, and lets it drift beneath a thick throbbing wave of crunchy distorted guitar, all wound around a super skittery barely there beat, which eventually drops out, leaving just that haunting guitar refrain. Perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the record, mysterious, ominous, otherworldly, claustrophobic, the sound cinematic and soundtracky. "No Angel Came" takes some Coldplay like piano, loops it, adds some chugging fuzz guitar, some post rocky drums, and layers various melodies over the top, making the whole thing wonderfully woozy and off kilter. "Mighty Neon Fragment" is all twisted minimal pop, slightly atonal and detuned, wrapped around a simple stuttery beat, and pounded piano chords. "The Ringing In (The Sun Is Rung)" is about as close as these guys get to a pop song, swoonsome vocals over rubbery bass, and muddy muted melodies, sort of funky drumming and out of tune piano, everything panned super hard so different sounds come from different speakers...
But it's "Black Cars (A Sinistra)"that might be THEE jam here, with it's minimal electro pulse, its stuttery synthy rhythms, all over a spare skeletal groove, pulsing and pounding, like a super lo-fi, way more minimal Basement Jaxx or Chemical Brothers. And the rest of the record stacks up just as well. Tripped out, groovy, abstract, druggy, rhythmic, synthy and spacey...
We weren't sure what to think when we first laid our ears on this, but it's quickly becoming a new favorite. Anyone into Balam Acab, oOoOO, How To Dress Well, Salem, Water Borders, Von Haze, Fuck Buttons, Small Black, Washed Out and all that sort of electronic weirdness, check this out...
MPEG Stream: "Vulture Mentality"
MPEG Stream: "Black Cars (A Sinistra)"

NILSEN, TOVE Flash Caravan (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98
It certainly is nice to be constantly guessing what this label is going to be putting out, as the last two releases we got in from Rune Grammofon were the bleak musique concrete from Arne Nordheim and the weird avant jazz from Supersilent. Here, Rune Grammofon presents Tove Nilsen, a Swedish chanteuse who sounds quite similar to and who gets a lot out of her backing band to create some lovely acoustic grooves (also quite similar to Bjork).

NILSSON The Point! (Get On Down) lp 26.00

NILSSON, HARRY A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (Columbia) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**

NILSSON, HARRY Son Of Schmilsson (Columbia) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**

NINE BLACK ALPS Everything Is (Island) cd 11.98
So were you ever listening to Interpol, or Maximo Park, or Franz Ferdinand, or the Killers and just thought to yourself, "If only this band ROCKED a little bit harder. If they were just, you know, REALLY HEAVY"... well, then Nine Black Alps is for you. Sure they have the whole angular new wave guitars, the pusling groove, the killer hooks, but what they have that those other bands don't is guitars. We mean GUITARS. Big, loud, fuzzy distorted guitars. And real riffs. Er, that is RIFFS! Interpol or the Killers might make you want to dance around or bounce up and down or nod your head to the beat, but rarely do any of those sort of bands get your head banging and send you careening around your room in a wild rock frenzy of air guitar-ing or air drumming. Somebody (me maybe?) once described Nine Black Alps as a heavy metal Franz Ferdinand which isn't too far off the mark. We also hear a little Burning Brides, umm, actually the more we listen to this the more BB we hear. Which is definitely a good thing. Nine Black Alps are sort of like the perfect mix of neo darkwave electro new wave whatever-you-call-it and fuzzy grungy hard and heavy garage rock. Take all that angsty new wave and Joy Division worship, tight pants and angular haircuts, rough 'em up a bit, roll 'em in the dirt. smear the make-up a little, exchange some of that silk and sharkskin for some denim and leather, and then lock 'em in the garage with some Marshall stacks, some BIG drums, a handful of LSD and a bunch of weed! Fuck yeah!
MPEG Stream: "Get Your Guns"
MPEG Stream: "Cosmopolitan"
MPEG Stream: "Not Everyone"

NINE HORSES Snow Borne Sorrow (Samadhisound) cd 17.98
Nine Horses is a collaboration between David Sylvian, Steve Jansen (Sylvian's longtime musical partner in Japan, Rain Crow Tree, etc.), and Burnt Friedman. In contrast to Sylvian's universally applauded Blemish album which fluttered elegantly to Christian Fennesz' arctic pixelations, Sylvian and co. adopt a cinematic jazz-pop pose for Snow Borne Sorrow, the first effort for Nine Horses. Sylvian's romantic croon takes center stage in front of Nine Horses' spare arrangements for stand-up bass, chiming vibraphones, in-the-mood-for-love atmospheres, sporadic percussive skitter, and perfunctory noirish saxophone solos that pop up wheneven Sylvain steps away from the microphone. Snow Borne Sorrow also features guest appearances from Stina Nordenstam, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Arve Henriksen. In two words, synthetically silky.
MPEG Stream: "Wonderful World"
MPEG Stream: "The Banality of Evil"

NINE INCH NAILS Ghosts I-IV (Halo Twenty Six) cd 15.98
Like Radiohead before them, Nine Inch Nails decided to embrace the digital download delivery method as a preamble to the 'proper' CD release. In addition to a super cheap download price -- $5.00 for all of the material on 2 discs -- Trent Reznor also offered a hyper-commodity in the form of an overpackaged vinyl set costing something like $300.00 a pop. As novel as these forays into the brave new world of e-commerce are, it's just a shame that Nine Inch Nails made such a boring record. Sure, Trent Reznor has demonstrated some great taste in early Autechre and Coil, but his ability to manufacture an instrumental record like his influences is woefully lacking. Yes, Ghosts I-IV wants to be an ambitious double cd set of instrumentals; but the lock-step electronic loops, hackneyed sequencing circa 1991, and ambient smoke & shadow lack any real direction. At its best, Ghosts I-IV comes across like a more jet-black cyborg version of Labradford, but the languid guitar moments are few next to the tepid electronics. Maybe this is a post-modern throwback to the early '80s when post-punk and new-wave were experiments with what could be done through minimal equipment; but why not write a decent song? Considering that all of those recent compilations of French electro-punk from back in the day totally kick the ass of this sad-sack record, there's little point...
MPEG Stream: "Ghosts 1, Track 3"
MPEG Stream: "Ghosts 2, Track 1"

NINE INCH NAILS Year Zero (Interscope) cd 17.98
Holeeebuhgeezus! The opening of this new Nine Inch Nails album comes tearing out of your speaker like a torrent of mayhemic noise. After those few bars that effectively jar bowels, rattle nerves and reset clocks, Trent Reznor lays down some huge sounding, multilayered metallic modern rock. Despite the concept album's overriding aggressive machismo and dystopian machinations, the sixteen tracks can't escape Reznor's ever-present sensitive side and definite pop sensibilities. Sure it's all buzzing, thick and nasty, but at the same time it lays into some razor-sharp hooks. Sure to become a staple at industrial dance clubs across the nation, Year Zero is soooo much better than the last NIN album, the biteless [With_Teeth] from 2005.
MPEG Stream: "The Beginning Of The End"
MPEG Stream: "My Violent Heart"

NINE INCH NAILS [With_Teeth] (Nothing/Interscope) cd / dvd 17.98
Such a great title wasted on an album so lacking any bite. Groan, sorry, but how can you resist when it's served up on a platter like that?! So prepare yourself, you're probably gonna be reading a bunch of similar pun-infested NIN reviews.
Trent Reznor must've had a falling out with the old friendly wizard who guided him in the creation of his career defining brilliant album The Downward Spiral 'cause nothing he's done since has come anywhere near its stunning magic and potency. The most immediately noticeable difference on this, his first full album in five years, is the prominence of vocals. Yes, we were forewarned with prerelease interviews and press releases of this new focus, but we weren't quite prepared for Reznor actually *singing* this much. Frankly, next to his lyrics which do have a tendency to be cliche-ridden and nursery rhyme-y ("Will you bite the hand that feeds? Will you get up off your knees?"), his voice is his weakest instrument. It's great when he screams or whispers, but anything in between falls into uh-oh territory. That said, when his teeth-baring rage does surface (such as when he screams "Don't you fucking know what you are?!), it still seems somewhat forced and hollow. The fact that he says/screams/sings the word 'fuck' rather frequently offers little compensation. It's just a lazy substitute for actual fury. Furthermore, he recycles elements from Downward Spiral with far weaker results here (such as the 'stripping things down from an angry wall of guitars to a solitary piano' treatment -- even ending the album in said fashion). While Reznor has certainly crafted a great *sounding* album, he's done little to distinguish it from the rest of the pack. There's so many bands that sound like this these days. His past influence on other artists seems to have come full circle and collapsed in on itself. For instance, the thumpin' industrial dance-y fourth song "The Hand That Feeds" could easily be mistaken for something by The Faint, while at other points his delivery drips with faceless nu-metal emotiveness. Most puzzlingly though is the album's lead-off track "All The Love In The World" that veers off into a funkiness oddly resembling Fat Boy Slim's gospel-tinged "Praise You". Strange... and strangely disappointing.
MPEG Stream: "All The Love In The World"
MPEG Stream: "The Hand That Feeds"

NIOBE White Hats (Tomlab) cd 15.98
The Tomlab label keeps their recent spell of eclecticity going with this new addition to their roster. Meet German artist Niobe (aka Yvonne Cornelius)! She joins the varied likes of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, Tujiko Noriko, The Books, Rafael Toral and Final Fantasy. Heck, she's pretty darn varied all by her lonesome. On White Hats, she jumps around from one dark grooviness to another, be it RnB, bossanova, downtempo or soul. At times her warbly, woozy music almost sounds as though it's being played on a cranky antique, malfunctioning record player that randomly lurches in speed. Most of her vocals are heavily effected and processed, making for a somewhat disorienting, druggy feel, but when her voice comes through the haze relatively unadulterated, it gives off a richly smoldering tone much like Lhasa. Overall, the album possesses an intoxicating, strange sultriness in a David Lynch / Angelo Badalamenti sort of way -- alternating between dream and nightmare.
MPEG Stream: "Well And Wise"
MPEG Stream: "White Hats"