BARLOW, LOU Emoh (Merge) cd 14.98
Aaaaah Mr. Barlow, few songwriters (indie rock or otherwise) can tug a heartstring quite like you! Nobody does the romantic mope with such slouchy bespectacled ease. After years of profuse recording under a mountain of different monikers (heck, we always knew it was dear Lou behind the veils of Sebadoh, Sentridoh, Folk Implosion, etc!), he's finally released an album under just his name. Aptly titled Emoh, it's graced with some of his most achingly pretty songs since the "Brand New Love" and "Soul And Fire" good ol' days -- songs to which you just wanna bundle up in a wooly cardigan and get all cozy. Oh and we can't forget to mention that he's included a sweet rendition of Ratt's hit "Round-n-Round" that made Andee and Allan immediately think of Tenacious D.
MPEG Stream: "Legendary"
MPEG Stream: "Round-n-Round"

BARLOW, LOU Goodnight Unknown (Merge) cd 14.98
On a sticker affixed to the cd's shrinkwrap, Lou B. proclaims this to be "A cross between Folk Implosion and Sebadoh. To my ears, anyway."
And yeah, we guess that is pretty much what this is... although we sorta though it sounded like a someone *trying* to sound like a cross between Folk Implosion and Sebadoh. Not the man himself. A bit strange, yes? And it gets stranger, the third song "Too Much Freedom" sounds like it's constantly on the verge of becoming REM's "Man On The Moon". WTF? We've always had a special place in our hearts for the slouchy heartstring pluckin' goodness of Mr. Barlow, but this album sadly left us cold and wondering if he's been hanging around with fellow indie rock vet, the hot/cold Mr. Pollard. Y'know, when he's 'on', he's in a league all his own, but when he's not, you've just gotta steer clear! For diehards only!
MPEG Stream: "Too Much Freedom"
MPEG Stream: "The Right"

BARLOW, LOU Goodnight Unknown (Merge) lp 16.98
On a sticker affixed to the cd's shrinkwrap, Lou B. proclaims this to be "A cross between Folk Implosion and Sebadoh. To my ears, anyway."
And yeah, we guess that is pretty much what this is... although we sorta though it sounded like a someone *trying* to sound like a cross between Folk Implosion and Sebadoh. Not the man himself. A bit strange, yes? And it gets stranger, the third song "Too Much Freedom" sounds like it's constantly on the verge of becoming REM's "Man On The Moon". WTF? We've always had a special place in our hearts for the slouchy heartstring pluckin' goodness of Mr. Barlow, but this album sadly left us cold and wondering if he's been hanging around with fellow indie rock vet, the hot/cold Mr. Pollard. Y'know, when he's 'on', he's in a league all his own, but when he's not, you've just gotta steer clear! For diehards only!
MPEG Stream: "Too Much Freedom"
MPEG Stream: "The Right"

BARN BURNER Bangers II: Scum Of The Earth (Metal Blade) cd 14.98
Now sure how we missed out on these guys, they're called Barn Burner, their first record as called Bangers, and had an amazingly goofy cover, and song titles like "Holy Smokes", "Beer Today Bong Tomorrow" and "Wizard Island", maybe we figured it would just be some stupid joke metal thing, but then for whatever reason we threw it on and were BLOWN AWAY. Heavy, riffy, hooky as fuck, with REAL singing, killer guitar harmonies, classic rock, meets classic metal, meets Southern rock meets stoner metal, with amazing songs, with crazy catchy choruses, bad ass riffs and shredding leads. As much as we love us some black buzz or dirgey sludge, it's easy to forget how much we love metal that ROCKS. And these guys rock. HARD.
So here we have record number two from Barn Burner (and we can definitely get the first one for you, just ask), appropriately titled Bangers II: Scum Of The Earth, with yet another even more ridiculous cover, more killer song titles, like "Dark Side Of The Barn", "Keg Stand And Deliver", "Quest For The Cube", and "Skid Marks The Spot", and yeah, a whole 'nother batch of shredding, rocking heaviness, killer riffs and wild solos, the sort of shit they just don't make anymore, and yeah, sure it may ultimately be beer drinking party metal, but sonically this stuff KILLS, easily one of our new favorite metal bands, we've been listening to both records nonstop, but this new one, is rapidly becoming a contender for metal record of the year. Hell yeah.
MPEG Stream: "Scum Of The Earth"
MPEG Stream: "Dark Side Of The Barn"
MPEG Stream: "Gate Creeper"

BARN OWL Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
Ancestral Star is the latest batch of brooding, epic, twang flecked darkness from this local duo (now trio with the seemingly permanent addition of a drummer), their first for Thrill Jockey, and easily their most fully realized record yet, and while we were expecting it to maybe be their heaviest, based on the last few releases and the duo's individual solo recordings, it seems the band have dialed back the crunch, opting more for moodiness and atmosphere. The group's development from hushed psychedelic droners to brooding epic soundscapers has been a gradual and natural one, which is most likely what accounts for the seamless melding of whispery psychedelic ambience and lumbering doom-ed country drift.
The record opens up with a wild squall of superdistorted guitar buzz and howling feedback, a slowly unfurling melody, the notes crumbling and blown out, it had us expecting some serious crush right off the bat, but instead, the thick peals of smoldering psychdrone give way to some smokey Morricone-ish drift, haunting and abstract, the drums giving the sound a definite slowcore vibe, vocals hovering way off in the distance, more about adding texture than delivering lyrics.
After a brief twangscape, another spare skeletal bit of haunting countrydoomdrift, the band launch into the 10+ minute title track, a gauzy bit of slow building dronemusic, lushly layered, gradually expanding like a timelapse film of a supernova, a slowly blossoming burst of white hot buzz, expanding in every direction, a massive cloud of roiling distorted sound, that begins to fade almost immediately eventually becoming another stretch of hushed haunting ambience.
The rest of the record is rich with short sonic vignettes, a brief bit of echo drenched Appalachia, a heavily reverbed stretch of lush droney piano, a gorgeous bit of desert-y drift, all brooding twang and sitar like buzz, even some wheezing harmonium and choral like chants, these short form soundscapes separating the record's other two lengthy soundscapes, the first "Flatlands" begins all singing strings, and droned out vocals, lots of layers, and incredible overtones, the sounds constantly shifting, so dark and dramatic rife with some sort of melodic inner glow that infuses the rest of the sounds, the drone eventually fading out, leaving a bit of distorted twang, to gradually unravel to song's end. and then there's the closer, the nearly 7 minute "Light From The Mesa" another sprawling bit of dark dronemusic, washed out and whirring, the band's murky twang buried beneath the muted drift, everything wreathed in an ethereal haze, the drone finally dissipating leaving more spidery western twang, this time with percussion that sound like the clink of spurs on the wooden floor of the saloon, until those spidery guitars blossom into thick warm waves of chordal hum, backed up by soaring falsetto vocals, a gorgeous dirge to lead Barn Owl out of the valley, the record winding down as they disappear into the distance.
Yet another gorgeous collection of darkly epic doomfolk dronedrift dreaminess.
The cd version comes in a 4 panel mini lp style gatefold sleeve, the lp comes in a full color gatefold jacket and includes a download coupon as well.
MPEG Stream: "Visions In Dust"
MPEG Stream: "Ancestral Star"
MPEG Stream: "Light From The Mesa"

BARN OWL Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey) lp 15.98
Vinyl repressed, and back in stock!!
Ancestral Star is the latest batch of brooding, epic, twang flecked darkness from this local duo (now trio with the seemingly permanent addition of a drummer), their first for Thrill Jockey, and easily their most fully realized record yet, and while we were expecting it to maybe be their heaviest, based on the last few releases and the duo's individual solo recordings, it seems the band have dialed back the crunch, opting more for moodiness and atmosphere. The group's development from hushed psychedelic droners to brooding epic soundscapers has been a gradual and natural one, which is most likely what accounts for the seamless melding of whispery psychedelic ambience and lumbering doom-ed country drift.
The record opens up with a wild squall of superdistorted guitar buzz and howling feedback, a slowly unfurling melody, the notes crumbling and blown out, it had us expecting some serious crush right off the bat, but instead, the thick peals of smoldering psychdrone give way to some smokey Morricone-ish drift, haunting and abstract, the drums giving the sound a definite slowcore vibe, vocals hovering way off in the distance, more about adding texture than delivering lyrics.
After a brief twangscape, another spare skeletal bit of haunting countrydoomdrift, the band launch into the 10+ minute title track, a gauzy bit of slow building dronemusic, lushly layered, gradually expanding like a timelapse film of a supernova, a slowly blossoming burst of white hot buzz, expanding in every direction, a massive cloud of roiling distorted sound, that begins to fade almost immediately eventually becoming another stretch of hushed haunting ambience.
The rest of the record is rich with short sonic vignettes, a brief bit of echo drenched Appalachia, a heavily reverbed stretch of lush droney piano, a gorgeous bit of desert-y drift, all brooding twang and sitar like buzz, even some wheezing harmonium and choral like chants, these short form soundscapes separating the record's other two lengthy soundscapes, the first "Flatlands" begins all singing strings, and droned out vocals, lots of layers, and incredible overtones, the sounds constantly shifting, so dark and dramatic rife with some sort of melodic inner glow that infuses the rest of the sounds, the drone eventually fading out, leaving a bit of distorted twang, to gradually unravel to song's end. and then there's the closer, the nearly 7 minute "Light From The Mesa" another sprawling bit of dark dronemusic, washed out and whirring, the band's murky twang buried beneath the muted drift, everything wreathed in an ethereal haze, the drone finally dissipating leaving more spidery western twang, this time with percussion that sound like the clink of spurs on the wooden floor of the saloon, until those spidery guitars blossom into thick warm waves of chordal hum, backed up by soaring falsetto vocals, a gorgeous dirge to lead Barn Owl out of the valley, the record winding down as they disappear into the distance.
Yet another gorgeous collection of darkly epic doomfolk dronedrift dreaminess.
MPEG Stream: "Visions In Dust"
MPEG Stream: "Ancestral Star"
MPEG Stream: "Light From The Mesa"

BARN OWL From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light (Digitalis) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We sold out of the deluxe version of the new Barn Owl lickety split, so now we have the regular version, much cheaper, the only difference is it doesn't come with the live cassette, same packaging, same two bonus tracks, just tapeless and cheaper!!!!
Here's our review from before:
Finally, From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light, originally released as an lp on Not Not Fun, now long out of print, is available again as a cd. And to make it worth your while, or bum out the folks who already bought the lp, there are indeed TWO extra tracks!!
Not only have Barn Owl become one of our favorite musical projects right here in SF, but they are now serious contenders to the throne of best purveyors of deep and emotional and soul satisfying drone music anywhere in the world. While just about everything they've released up to this point has been way too limited and thus are now all sadly out of print, this record included, we finally have a cd version, that while still limited will at least reach a lot more ears than previous releases. These sounds deserve to be heard by anyone with an appreciation for all things droney, stoney and drifty, all done so totally right.
While drone-folk bands have become a somewhat common entity in the last couple years, it's actually rare to discover one whose music exudes soul and spirited passion. From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light finds Barn Owl striking a perfect balance between sparkling sonics and commanding doom. Imagine Sleep/OM running in the mud with sticks and stones and then meeting up with Windy & Carl, Bardo Pond and Tom Carter. The songs are filled with deep and slowly swirling grooves. We just keep listening to this record over and over and over, every listen revealing something new, layers peeling back, revealing subtle melodies, and hidden textures, each song shifting and transforming before our very ears. There is much reward in patient listening to the music of Barn Owl. Their sound entrances and enthralls, but without letting go the melodies, or forgoing actual songwriting, these are not just chunks of droning sound, these are songs, dark, haunting, lovely mysterious songs.
Beautiful silkscreened cardstock sleeves, the two extra songs more of same, divine and otherworldly twang flecked doom folk drift, And as if we even needed to tell you, absolutely and wholeheartedly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Voice Of The Other"
MPEG Stream: "Lotus Cloud"
MPEG Stream: "The White Mountain Filled With Light"

BARN OWL From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light (Not Not Fun) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
2008 album repressed on vinyl once again, and back in stock, we'll see how long they last this time...
Not only have Barn Owl become one of our favorite musical projects right here in SF, but they are now serious contenders to the throne of best purveyors of deep hitting and soul satisfying drone anywhere in the world. While just about everything they've released up to this point has been way too limited and thus are now all sadly out of print, they finally have a release that while still limited will at least get to reach a lot more ears then anything they've put out so far. These are sounds that deserve to be heard by anyone with an appreciation for all things droney, stoney and drifty, done so totally right.
While drone-folk bands have become a somewhat common entity in the last couple years, it's actually rare when you hear one that you really feel true soul and spirited passion from. From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light finds Barn Owl striking a perfect balance between sparkling sonics and commanding doom. Imagine Sleep/OM running in the mud with sticks and stones and then meeting up with Windy & Carl, Bardo Pond and Tom Carter. The lp format suits the duo so well, as their songs are filled with deep and slowly swirling grooves. We just listened to one side over and over and over before we even moved on to the second side with which we then did the same. There is both patience and payoff in Barn Owl's sound. Music that makes you want to close your eyes because you know you are entranced by artists that know so well what they are doing. While they pressed up way more lps than anything else they've released (and this is the second pressing!), it's all relative, meaning these LP's are still limited and are most likely not going to be around too long
Highly recommended, but act fast!

BARN OWL From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light (Digitalis) cd + cassette 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally, From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light, originally released as an lp on Not Not Fun, now long out of print, is available again as a cd. And to make it worth your while, or bum out the folks who already bought the lp, there are indeed TWO extra tracks!! And as if that weren't enough, while they last (which will NOT be long), we have the super limited version, which comes with a bonus cassette (much like the OF record we reviewed a while back), and that contains a live set recorded earlier this year. We only got about 30 of these, so once these are gone, unless you specifically request otherwise, you'll get the normal cd version (sans tape).
Not only have Barn Owl become one of our favorite musical projects right here in SF, but they are now serious contenders to the throne of best purveyors of deep and emotional and soul satisfying drone music anywhere in the world. While just about everything they've released up to this point has been way too limited and thus are now all sadly out of print, this record included, we finally have a cd version, that while still limited will at least reach a lot more ears than previous releases. These sounds deserve to be heard by anyone with an appreciation for all things droney, stoney and drifty, all done so totally right.
While drone-folk bands have become a somewhat common entity in the last couple years, it's actually rare to discover one whose music exudes soul and spirited passion. From Our Mouths A Perpetual Light finds Barn Owl striking a perfect balance between sparkling sonics and commanding doom. Imagine Sleep/OM running in the mud with sticks and stones and then meeting up with Windy & Carl, Bardo Pond and Tom Carter. The songs are filled with deep and slowly swirling grooves. We just keep listening to this record over and over and over, every listen revealing something new, layers peeling back, revealing subtle melodies, and hidden textures, each song shifting and transforming before our very ears. There is much reward in patient listening to the music of Barn Owl. Their sound entrances and enthralls, but without letting go the melodies, or forgoing actual songwriting, these are not just chunks of droning sound, these are songs, dark, haunting, lovely mysterious songs.
Beautiful silkscreened cardstock sleeves, the two extra songs more of same, divine and otherworldly twang flecked doom folk drift, And as if we even needed to tell you, absolutely and wholeheartedly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Voice Of The Other"
MPEG Stream: "Lotus Cloud"
MPEG Stream: "The White Mountain Filled With Light"

BARN OWL Smoke Loom Ceremony (Blackestrainbow) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Barn Owl have become quite the talk of the psych/drone/folk scene in the last year and for very good reason. The duo have released some great limited edition cd-r's on Digitalis and on their own, and their intense and trance inducing live shows have reeled in many believers, including us! Tapping into ritual drone and spiritual psychedelia this two song cassette recorded at a festival in Echo Park a few months ago is further proof that this is one of the most promising bands roaming the underground at the moment. While there are no shortage of psych drone acts these days, there is something so concrete and real about the sounds Barn Owl conjure up. Kind of like if newer Earth was less spaghetti western and more engaged in exploring LaMonte Young's dreamhouse. There is a patience and subtlety in Barn Owl's music that is way beyond their young years. They use guitars, drums, banjo, harmonium and voice to travel upwards to some magical place filled with dust, dirt and delight. This one is super limited too, so it'll be gone in the blink of an eye.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

BARN OWL The Conjurer (Root Strata) cd 12.98
Back in print! We had thought this one was gone for good, but then Root Strata found a cache of mysteriously mislaid copies. So get 'em (again) while you can...
Barn Owl, the local duo of Jon Porras (aka Elm) and Evan Caminiti (aka Higuma), have always tread a similar path to later era Earth, a sort of blackened twang, Morricone by way of the Melvins, slow motion soundscapes as evocative and slow burning as they are epic and heavy, dark and delicate. With the addition of a drummer, Barn Owl move even closer to their sonic brethren creating a gorgeous songsuite of Western tinged, slow motion psychedelia, dark, dolorous, warm and haunting, heavily reverbed, a sort of dark skeletal doom, rife with warm chordal clusters, gauzy clouds of muted feedback, and epic expanses of effected guitars that sound almost choral.
The mood is both warm and inviting, haunting and tense, emotional and intense. The various bits of steel string guitar are draped over dense swells of roiling downtuned drone, everything wreathed in streaks of high end shimmer, all blurred into a burnished black guitar blur, washed out and hazy, yet surprisingly lush and heavy. The second half of the record gets a bit more Appalachian, with delicate finger picked guitars drifting over deep layered drones, stately melodies unfurling like the black tendrils of smoke from a recently extinguished candle, or the fuzzy fog of late afternoon, painted deep blues and reds by the fading daylight. The record builds to a soaring finale, that revisits that choral sound, and infuses it with an hypnotic ur-drone vibe, like some glorious hybrid of Sunroof! and Arvo Part. Hypnotic and transcendent.
MPEG Stream: "Into The Red Horizon"
MPEG Stream: "Across The Deserts Of Ash"

BARN OWL V (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
We recently got to see Barn Owl perform at the Thrill Jockey 15th anniversary celebration, alongside Wooden Shjips, Liturgy, Eternal Tapestry, Man Forever and Trans Am, and as always, they were amazing, performing in the shadows below a constantly shifting wall of visuals, dark swirling psychedelic visions, that seemed to mirror the sounds the group were conjuring from their instruments, guitars as always, but this time the guitars seemed to play second fiddle (sorry) to their banks of synths, and tables full of gear. As we've mentioned on recent records, the duo seem to have been consciously moving away from guitars, and toward a more predominantly synth based sound, being keenly aware, that they were running the risk of making the same record over and over again. Not that we'd complain, their dusky sort of twang flecked ambient creep was and is a beautiful listen, but the expanded sonic palette, and all those synths, gave the band a much more expansive sound, and instead of just treading the same ground, only with synths instead of guitars, Barn Owl actually set out to make something new and exciting, and not just the listener, but for themselves as well.
Back to that Thrill Jockey show, Barn Owl were unfurling thick swirling washed of sound, when all of a sudden, boom, a lumbering, thunderous beat rolled in, a cool pulsing murky drum machine rhythm that changed the tenor of their sound completely, and instead of drifting, they were sort of driving, the sound moving toward something a bit krautrockier, and a whole lot doomier. Sure they's played with drummers before, but this was something all together different. And on V, we get our first record glimpse of the duo's new sound, which they introduce gently, starting with the opener "Void Redux", which fills the sky with billows of chordal synth shimmer, laced with fragmented melodies, and slow shifting textures, while within, spaced out beats pulse and percolate, no specific rhythm, more adding texture, and a little motorik heft, those rhythms and rhythmic fragments drifting on the ethereal swells and ominous cinematic shimmer. A sort of blackened psychedelic new age space drift. Which is not a bad thing at all.
But fear not, the guitars have not been jettisoned completely, far from it. "The Long Shadow" sounds like Barn Owl of old, at least at first, but synths add some Arvo Part like chorales to the background, and underpin everything with deep chordal rumbles, even transforming into full on church organ at one point, the sound building gradually to a triumphant majestic coda, before devolving into a looped swirl of crumbling distortion and keening distant melodies.
Throughout the rest of the record, the band definitely flex their musical muscles, and seem to be referencing the old Barn Owl sound, rather then still embodying it, undulating tendrils of reverbed melody drift atop, thick, churning synth wash, the tracks occasionally exploding into full on psych noise chaos, but a measure chaos, that still reveals plenty of deft melodic and textural soundscaping, and when the rhythms do surface, it can sound like some sort of super space-y kosmische Muslimgauze, or like some abstract electronic shoegaze. After a brief bit of old Barn Owl guitar tangle fused to lush, prismatic new Barn Owl synth shimmer, somehow crating the perfect twang flecked synth doom dreaminess, the record finishes off with the sprawling minimal epic "The Opulent Decline", which begins as a barren landscape of synth squelch and dubbed out barely there rhythms, lots of echo and reverb, and lots and lots of space. Over the course of the song's 17+ minutes, the sound blossoms into huge billows of soft noise swirl, still driven by that slo-mo rhythmic pulse, the tempo is set to creep, the surrounding sounds following suit, oozing and melting, but then seemingly channeled heavenward, a gorgeous bit of kosmische kraut-gaze drone-doom bliss for sure.

MPEG Stream: "Void Redux"
MPEG Stream: "The Long Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "Blood Echo"
MPEG Stream: "The Opulent Decline"

BARN OWL V (Thrill Jockey) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We recently got to see Barn Owl perform at the Thrill Jockey 15th anniversary celebration, alongside Wooden Shjips, Liturgy, Eternal Tapestry, Man Forever and Trans Am, and as always, they were amazing, performing in the shadows below a constantly shifting wall of visuals, dark swirling psychedelic visions, that seemed to mirror the sounds the group were conjuring from their instruments, guitars as always, but this time the guitars seemed to play second fiddle (sorry) to their banks of synths, and tables full of gear. As we've mentioned on recent records, the duo seem to have been consciously moving away from guitars, and toward a more predominantly synth based sound, being keenly aware, that they were running the risk of making the same record over and over again. Not that we'd complain, their dusky sort of twang flecked ambient creep was and is a beautiful listen, but the expanded sonic palette, and all those synths, gave the band a much more expansive sound, and instead of just treading the same ground, only with synths instead of guitars, Barn Owl actually set out to make something new and exciting, and not just the listener, but for themselves as well.
Back to that Thrill Jockey show, Barn Owl were unfurling thick swirling washed of sound, when all of a sudden, boom, a lumbering, thunderous beat rolled in, a cool pulsing murky drum machine rhythm that changed the tenor of their sound completely, and instead of drifting, they were sort of driving, the sound moving toward something a bit krautrockier, and a whole lot doomier. Sure they's played with drummers before, but this was something all together different. And on V, we get our first record glimpse of the duo's new sound, which they introduce gently, starting with the opener "Void Redux", which fills the sky with billows of chordal synth shimmer, laced with fragmented melodies, and slow shifting textures, while within, spaced out beats pulse and percolate, no specific rhythm, more adding texture, and a little motorik heft, those rhythms and rhythmic fragments drifting on the ethereal swells and ominous cinematic shimmer. A sort of blackened psychedelic new age space drift. Which is not a bad thing at all.
But fear not, the guitars have not been jettisoned completely, far from it. "The Long Shadow" sounds like Barn Owl of old, at least at first, but synths add some Arvo Part like chorales to the background, and underpin everything with deep chordal rumbles, even transforming into full on church organ at one point, the sound building gradually to a triumphant majestic coda, before devolving into a looped swirl of crumbling distortion and keening distant melodies.
Throughout the rest of the record, the band definitely flex their musical muscles, and seem to be referencing the old Barn Owl sound, rather then still embodying it, undulating tendrils of reverbed melody drift atop, thick, churning synth wash, the tracks occasionally exploding into full on psych noise chaos, but a measure chaos, that still reveals plenty of deft melodic and textural soundscaping, and when the rhythms do surface, it can sound like some sort of super space-y kosmische Muslimgauze, or like some abstract electronic shoegaze. After a brief bit of old Barn Owl guitar tangle fused to lush, prismatic new Barn Owl synth shimmer, somehow crating the perfect twang flecked synth doom dreaminess, the record finishes off with the sprawling minimal epic "The Opulent Decline", which begins as a barren landscape of synth squelch and dubbed out barely there rhythms, lots of echo and reverb, and lots and lots of space. Over the course of the song's 17+ minutes, the sound blossoms into huge billows of soft noise swirl, still driven by that slo-mo rhythmic pulse, the tempo is set to creep, the surrounding sounds following suit, oozing and melting, but then seemingly channeled heavenward, a gorgeous bit of kosmische kraut-gaze drone-doom bliss for sure.
While they last, both the cd and the lp versions include a bonus cd, called The Factory Session / Live At Berkeley Art Museum, which is an actual cd, NOT a cd-r and features 40 minutes of exclusive unreleased music, the first three tracks, experimental, raw, swirling synthscapes recorded right here in SF at the band's rehearsal space, and a final more guitar based track, huge billows of churning distorted echo drenched sound, taking full advantage of the cavernous space in which it was recorded, which of course was at the Berkeley Art Museum, back in 2010. We're one of the few places you can get it, and once these are gone, they're gone for good, and then we'll be shipping both cds and lps SANS the bonus disc. So act fast if you're after the bonus disc.
MPEG Stream: "Void Redux"
MPEG Stream: "The Long Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "Blood Echo"
MPEG Stream: "The Opulent Decline"

BARN OWL V (Thrill Jockey) lp 21.00
We recently got to see Barn Owl perform at the Thrill Jockey 15th anniversary celebration, alongside Wooden Shjips, Liturgy, Eternal Tapestry, Man Forever and Trans Am, and as always, they were amazing, performing in the shadows below a constantly shifting wall of visuals, dark swirling psychedelic visions, that seemed to mirror the sounds the group were conjuring from their instruments, guitars as always, but this time the guitars seemed to play second fiddle (sorry) to their banks of synths, and tables full of gear. As we've mentioned on recent records, the duo seem to have been consciously moving away from guitars, and toward a more predominantly synth based sound, being keenly aware, that they were running the risk of making the same record over and over again. Not that we'd complain, their dusky sort of twang flecked ambient creep was and is a beautiful listen, but the expanded sonic palette, and all those synths, gave the band a much more expansive sound, and instead of just treading the same ground, only with synths instead of guitars, Barn Owl actually set out to make something new and exciting, and not just the listener, but for themselves as well.
Back to that Thrill Jockey show, Barn Owl were unfurling thick swirling washed of sound, when all of a sudden, boom, a lumbering, thunderous beat rolled in, a cool pulsing murky drum machine rhythm that changed the tenor of their sound completely, and instead of drifting, they were sort of driving, the sound moving toward something a bit krautrockier, and a whole lot doomier. Sure they's played with drummers before, but this was something all together different. And on V, we get our first record glimpse of the duo's new sound, which they introduce gently, starting with the opener "Void Redux", which fills the sky with billows of chordal synth shimmer, laced with fragmented melodies, and slow shifting textures, while within, spaced out beats pulse and percolate, no specific rhythm, more adding texture, and a little motorik heft, those rhythms and rhythmic fragments drifting on the ethereal swells and ominous cinematic shimmer. A sort of blackened psychedelic new age space drift. Which is not a bad thing at all.
But fear not, the guitars have not been jettisoned completely, far from it. "The Long Shadow" sounds like Barn Owl of old, at least at first, but synths add some Arvo Part like chorales to the background, and underpin everything with deep chordal rumbles, even transforming into full on church organ at one point, the sound building gradually to a triumphant majestic coda, before devolving into a looped swirl of crumbling distortion and keening distant melodies.
Throughout the rest of the record, the band definitely flex their musical muscles, and seem to be referencing the old Barn Owl sound, rather then still embodying it, undulating tendrils of reverbed melody drift atop, thick, churning synth wash, the tracks occasionally exploding into full on psych noise chaos, but a measure chaos, that still reveals plenty of deft melodic and textural soundscaping, and when the rhythms do surface, it can sound like some sort of super space-y kosmische Muslimgauze, or like some abstract electronic shoegaze. After a brief bit of old Barn Owl guitar tangle fused to lush, prismatic new Barn Owl synth shimmer, somehow crating the perfect twang flecked synth doom dreaminess, the record finishes off with the sprawling minimal epic "The Opulent Decline", which begins as a barren landscape of synth squelch and dubbed out barely there rhythms, lots of echo and reverb, and lots and lots of space. Over the course of the song's 17+ minutes, the sound blossoms into huge billows of soft noise swirl, still driven by that slo-mo rhythmic pulse, the tempo is set to creep, the surrounding sounds following suit, oozing and melting, but then seemingly channeled heavenward, a gorgeous bit of kosmische kraut-gaze drone-doom bliss for sure.

MPEG Stream: "Void Redux"
MPEG Stream: "The Long Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "Blood Echo"
MPEG Stream: "The Opulent Decline"

BARN OWL V (Thrill Jockey) lp+cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We recently got to see Barn Owl perform at the Thrill Jockey 15th anniversary celebration, alongside Wooden Shjips, Liturgy, Eternal Tapestry, Man Forever and Trans Am, and as always, they were amazing, performing in the shadows below a constantly shifting wall of visuals, dark swirling psychedelic visions, that seemed to mirror the sounds the group were conjuring from their instruments, guitars as always, but this time the guitars seemed to play second fiddle (sorry) to their banks of synths, and tables full of gear. As we've mentioned on recent records, the duo seem to have been consciously moving away from guitars, and toward a more predominantly synth based sound, being keenly aware, that they were running the risk of making the same record over and over again. Not that we'd complain, their dusky sort of twang flecked ambient creep was and is a beautiful listen, but the expanded sonic palette, and all those synths, gave the band a much more expansive sound, and instead of just treading the same ground, only with synths instead of guitars, Barn Owl actually set out to make something new and exciting, and not just the listener, but for themselves as well.
Back to that Thrill Jockey show, Barn Owl were unfurling thick swirling washed of sound, when all of a sudden, boom, a lumbering, thunderous beat rolled in, a cool pulsing murky drum machine rhythm that changed the tenor of their sound completely, and instead of drifting, they were sort of driving, the sound moving toward something a bit krautrockier, and a whole lot doomier. Sure they's played with drummers before, but this was something all together different. And on V, we get our first record glimpse of the duo's new sound, which they introduce gently, starting with the opener "Void Redux", which fills the sky with billows of chordal synth shimmer, laced with fragmented melodies, and slow shifting textures, while within, spaced out beats pulse and percolate, no specific rhythm, more adding texture, and a little motorik heft, those rhythms and rhythmic fragments drifting on the ethereal swells and ominous cinematic shimmer. A sort of blackened psychedelic new age space drift. Which is not a bad thing at all.
But fear not, the guitars have not been jettisoned completely, far from it. "The Long Shadow" sounds like Barn Owl of old, at least at first, but synths add some Arvo Part like chorales to the background, and underpin everything with deep chordal rumbles, even transforming into full on church organ at one point, the sound building gradually to a triumphant majestic coda, before devolving into a looped swirl of crumbling distortion and keening distant melodies.
Throughout the rest of the record, the band definitely flex their musical muscles, and seem to be referencing the old Barn Owl sound, rather then still embodying it, undulating tendrils of reverbed melody drift atop, thick, churning synth wash, the tracks occasionally exploding into full on psych noise chaos, but a measure chaos, that still reveals plenty of deft melodic and textural soundscaping, and when the rhythms do surface, it can sound like some sort of super space-y kosmische Muslimgauze, or like some abstract electronic shoegaze. After a brief bit of old Barn Owl guitar tangle fused to lush, prismatic new Barn Owl synth shimmer, somehow crating the perfect twang flecked synth doom dreaminess, the record finishes off with the sprawling minimal epic "The Opulent Decline", which begins as a barren landscape of synth squelch and dubbed out barely there rhythms, lots of echo and reverb, and lots and lots of space. Over the course of the song's 17+ minutes, the sound blossoms into huge billows of soft noise swirl, still driven by that slo-mo rhythmic pulse, the tempo is set to creep, the surrounding sounds following suit, oozing and melting, but then seemingly channeled heavenward, a gorgeous bit of kosmische kraut-gaze drone-doom bliss for sure.
While they last, both the cd and the lp versions include a bonus cd, called The Factory Session / Live At Berkeley Art Museum, which is an actual cd, NOT a cd-r and features 40 minutes of exclusive unreleased music, the first three tracks, experimental, raw, swirling synthscapes recorded right here in SF at the band's rehearsal space, and a final more guitar based track, huge billows of churning distorted echo drenched sound, taking full advantage of the cavernous space in which it was recorded, which of course was at the Berkeley Art Museum, back in 2010. We're one of the few places you can get it, and once these are gone, they're gone for good, and then we'll be shipping both cds and lps SANS the bonus disc. So act fast if you're after the bonus disc.
MPEG Stream: "Void Redux"
MPEG Stream: "The Long Shadow"
MPEG Stream: "Blood Echo"
MPEG Stream: "The Opulent Decline"

BARN OWL / TOM CARTER split (Blackest Rainbow) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest release from Bay Area doomfolkdrone duo Barn Owl (featuring our very own Jon Porras) who team up on this limited lp only release with long time fave Tom Carter of Charalambides who for now, seems to have shed his psych folks sound for something far more, well more on that in a second...
Up first, Barn Owl with three new tracks of bleak blackened dark ambience, invoking wide open spaces, moonlight glimmering on frosted fallow fields, of slow moving brackish water, and of ruined buildings and lonely dirt roads. It makes sense that these guys opened for Earth when they were here, as their sound carries the same spiritual weight. But where Earth employ twang and elements of gospel, Barn Owl go somewhere much deeper, and more dangerous, a swirling slow motion world of blacks and greys, of blurred landscapes slipping by through smudged windows, shafts of sunlight, moving glacially across the bare wooden floor, causing the dust motes to drift in little flickering flurries. Once the band build momentum, they create long flowing streams of warm whirring buzz, held together by simple percussive pulses, buried rhythmic throbs, all the while the guitars arc above like solar flares.
Dark swells rise and fall, wreathed in halos of soft focus FX and smeared streaks of subtle distortion, slipping from hushed shimmery whisper, to groaning wheezing metallic buzz, drifting forever slowly around a warm glowing core, and continuously emitting an aura of mournful dark mystery.
Carter approaches his side from a whole different angle, his single 16 minute track takes a slow meandering chunk of dark downtuned blues and transforms it into a coruscating wall of blown out psych buzz, rumbling chug and crunch, wailing noiseguitar freakout, heavy and buzzy and chaotic, but still warm and layered and melodic, like a rural Keiji Haino raised on avant folk and old time blues. A gorgeous ever expanding chunk of blown out heaviness and warm, slowly crumbling deconstructed blues, culminating in a beautiful almost symphonic arrangement of high end skree and warbly buzz, before slipping into a long stretch of languorous unravelling guitar shimmer. So nice.
LIMITED TO 380 COPIES. Plain black jackets with a paste on front cover, printed insert, thick black inner sleeves. We got a bunch direct from the bands, and we might be able to get more from the label when we run out, but you never know. Better to grab one while you can...

BARN OWL AND THE INFINITE STRINGS ENSEMBLE The Headlands (Important) cd 14.98
Originally available on lp (now out of print), this gorgeous collection of extended drones is finally available again, on cd...
Barn Owl are no stranger to the drone. In fact, this Bay Area duo's sound is all about the drone, a deep, brooding, moody, twangy Earth-ish cinematic devotional doomdriftDRONE that we can't get enough of. But on this recent collaboration, the band explore another side of the drone, one less dark, and one more in keeping with the traditions of modern minimal dronemusic, teaming up with The Infinite String Ensemble (consisting of a fellow named The Norman Conquest on acoustic guitar, vocals, and Moog; Theresa Wong on cello; and Ellen Fullman, on the long string instrument), Barn Owl ditching their smokey twang flecked shimmer, and instead laying down lush layers of complimentary long form drones and extended tones.
For those who are unfamiliar with Ellen Fullman, she created the 'Long Stringed Instrument', which is exactly what it sounds like, although the name does not and all prepare you for the power of actually seeing it and hearing it. Essentially, she stretches long strings across large resonant spaces, the strings sometimes 50 feet or longer, and the players proceed to scrape, and bow and vibrate the strings, creating incredible sounds. And how perfect for Barn Owl to join in and add their own drone two cents.
The result is pretty fantastic, but again, well removed from the Barn Owl most folks are used to. In fact it almost would have made more sense to bill this as an Infinite String Ensemble, with special guests Barn Owl. Either way, the players here create four loooooong tracks of shimmery sun dappled dronemusic, long streaks of metallic buzz, lush and layered, lots of shifting textures and subtle overtones, all wrapped in softly burnished reverb, space-y and kosmische and hypnotic and heady, like Taj Mahal Travelers jamming with Organum, the tracks slipping from hushed and minimal, glimmering and crystalline, to smoldering and softly cacophonous, from dreamy hazy drift, to ritualistic ur-drone. Gorgeous.
And obviously absolutely recommended for all the drone fanatics out there, which we're guessing is a whole lot of you.
MPEG Stream: "Levitation"
MPEG Stream: "Light"

BARONESS Red Album (Relapse) cd 15.98
Whoops, here's something we shoulda reviewed already but as you can imagine we get a bit swamped here. Chances are, if you're a fan of this up-and-coming metal band from Georgia (as we certainly are, along with many AQ customers) you already picked up this excellent new album on Relapse when it came out a couple months ago. But if you didn't, or aren't familiar with Baroness to begin with, let's rectify that situation with a brief write-up.
This is actually the very first full-length album from Baroness, who have previously teased us with ep-length or split releases only. Since they're one of the best American underground metal acts going (hence Relapse's interest in 'em), anticipation for the Red Album was high, and it's absolutely no disappointment. Baroness are a state-of-the-art (and we do mean art) band that's both extreme and eclectic, combining (as always) modern metalcore tech, stoner riffage, Southern sludge groove, "true" traditional metal shredding, and post-rock loveliness in one brutal, beautiful package. Press play on track one and you're in for a surprise, as things start off deceptively mellow and pretty. You wouldn't even know they were a metal band at first... but it DOES get a lot heavier though, right quick. Reminding us a bit of another AQ fave, Torche, the Red Album showcases a poppier Baroness for sure, but one that still kicks ass with their usual sinewy, old school axe attack and Maideny dual guitar harmonies. Just imagine the spawn of a hypothetical mating between post-rockers Explosions In The Sky and headbangers Skeletonwitch! Pretty much an essential purchase for fans of the likes of Mastodon, High On Fire, Isis, Pelican... but you know that 'cause you probably already bought one...
MPEG Stream: "Rays On Pinion"
MPEG Stream: "Isak"

BARONESS Yellow & Green (Relapse) 2cd 14.98
You just can't win with fans sometimes. You change your sound too much, and they give up on you; you don't change enough and you get accused of just making the same record over and over. It seems to be more difficult for metal bands, especially metal bands who have aspirations of pushing their sound beyond the strictures of metal. For instance, one of our favorite bands, Cave In, went from being incredible insanely ultra heavy, to sounding like Radiohead, and weirdly, back again. Finally ending up with a sound that improbably fused the two disparate sounds, which we love, but that whole series of transitions definitely cost them a lot of fans. And any metal band, who moves away from metal, is bound to lose the metalhead vote, which brings us to the latest from long time aQ faves Baroness who for a while now have been moving steadily away from the sort of post metal heaviness that defined their early sound, and who have finally arrived here, with this sprawling double cd, which is about as UNmetal as we've heard them. When we first threw this on, we were sort of put off, and joked about the Foo Fighters, Three Doors Down, and the like, basically the sort of mainstream stuff that these guys probably never gave a second thought to, even though they now actually sound a little bit like both. Even back on the Blue Record, we mention that "gone is the sludgey Southern stoner sound, and in its place an insanely catchy, super poppy prog metal, that sounds alternately like Torche with Brian May guitars, or Queens Of The Stoneage mixed with Mastodon." Which would essentially apply to this record too, although they're not nearly as heavy anymore as Mastodon OR Torche, but the QOTSA comparison is definitely apt.
But you know what, fuck it, if you approach this as a record by a metal band, you're bound to be disappointed, but if you approach it as something much more mainstream, well then it's actually pretty weird and cool, and sure, a little bit heavy.
We're on our 3rd or 4th listen, and it's definitely grown on us, but really this is absolutely not a metal record at all, in fact it's barely a heavy rock record, but it is pretty good, and some of the songs are pretty goddamn catchy, and there are moments of heaviness that totally hit the spot, but also inevitably had us missing the Baroness of old. But listen to the sound samples, and you'll pretty much immediately know where you stand. If you do dig some more mainstream sounds, which we definitely do, then like we said, this will definitely fall on the heavy/weird/psychedelic side of that stuff and will probably hit the spot.
MPEG Stream: "Take My Bones Away"
MPEG Stream: "March To The Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Little Things"
MPEG Stream: "Eula"

BARONESS Yellow & Green (Relapse) 2lp 32.00
You just can't win with fans sometimes. You change your sound too much, and they give up on you; you don't change enough and you get accused of just making the same record over and over. It seems to be more difficult for metal bands, especially metal bands who have aspirations of pushing their sound beyond the strictures of metal. For instance, one of our favorite bands, Cave In, went from being incredible insanely ultra heavy, to sounding like Radiohead, and weirdly, back again. Finally ending up with a sound that improbably fused the two disparate sounds, which we love, but that whole series of transitions definitely cost them a lot of fans. And any metal band, who moves away from metal, is bound to lose the metalhead vote, which brings us to the latest from long time aQ faves Baroness who for a while now have been moving steadily away from the sort of post metal heaviness that defined their early sound, and who have finally arrived here, with this sprawling double cd, which is about as UNmetal as we've heard them. When we first threw this on, we were sort of put off, and joked about the Foo Fighters, Three Doors Down, and the like, basically the sort of mainstream stuff that these guys probably never gave a second thought to, even though they now actually sound a little bit like both. Even back on the Blue Record, we mention that "gone is the sludgey Southern stoner sound, and in its place an insanely catchy, super poppy prog metal, that sounds alternately like Torche with Brian May guitars, or Queens Of The Stoneage mixed with Mastodon." Which would essentially apply to this record too, although they're not nearly as heavy anymore as Mastodon OR Torche, but the QOTSA comparison is definitely apt.
But you know what, fuck it, if you approach this as a record by a metal band, you're bound to be disappointed, but if you approach it as something much more mainstream, well then it's actually pretty weird and cool, and sure, a little bit heavy.
We're on our 3rd or 4th listen, and it's definitely grown on us, but really this is absolutely not a metal record at all, in fact it's barely a heavy rock record, but it is pretty good, and some of the songs are pretty goddamn catchy, and there are moments of heaviness that totally hit the spot, but also inevitably had us missing the Baroness of old. But listen to the sound samples, and you'll pretty much immediately know where you stand. If you do dig some more mainstream sounds, which we definitely do, then like we said, this will definitely fall on the heavy/weird/psychedelic side of that stuff and will probably hit the spot.
MPEG Stream: "Take My Bones Away"
MPEG Stream: "March To The Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Little Things"
MPEG Stream: "Eula"

BARR Beyond Reinforced Jewel Case (5 Rue Christine) cd 14.98

BARR, MICK Archive 4-5 (aRCHIVE) 2dvd 23.00
Just got these in today, list day, four new aRCHIVE dvd titles (Ai Aso, Mick Barr, Khlyst, and Suishou No Fune). So, we haven't had a chance to watch 'em yet but since they're limited and all we figured you'd rather we just went ahead and listed 'em now rather than waiting 2 weeks. And all four artists are pretty cool after all.
Man, even if we got this last week we're not sure we'd have been able to give it a proper review in time for tonight's list - it's two whole dvds fergoshsakes, and watching even a few minutes of either of 'em is probably likely to induce seizures, seeing as how they document the INSANE guitar playing of our pal Mick Barr, from such techy/mathy/metally acts as Octis, Orthrelm, and Ocrilm. It's billed as "an inclusive look at Mick Barr's estoeric approach to guitar playing", featuring solo stuff, various groups, and footage of an improv meeting with Hella drummer Zach Hill. Essential for any fan of Barr and/or crazy guitar shred.
4 panel foldout cover, tons of vellum everywhere, with scribbly art on the vellum obi by Mick himself. Limited, OF COURSE, to a pressing of just 500 copies.

BARRERACUDAS 7th Time Around (Windian) 7" 6.98
We flipped from the debut lp from these power pop punks, Nocturnal Missions, one of our favorites of 2011. Equal parts Cheap Trick, the Shoes, Dwight Twilley Band, that seventies Yellow Pills style power pop, cranked up and revved up with buzzing guitars and a hefty punk rock production. The result was easily one of our favorite punk-pop records in recent memory. This new 7" is/was part of a subscription series, but is also available on its own (we're listing the Terry malts installment elsewhere on this week's list), and is a doozy. Two 45rpm blasts of fuzzed out glammy, trashy power pop radness that sound like they could have been plucked right off Nocturnal Missions. The A side driven by some fuzzy organ and handclaps, sounding like a Yellow Pills version of the Ramones. The B side is total Cheap Trick worship, which minus the distorted buzz and blown out production would reveal some pretty perfect pop, there are even some rad falsetto backup vox. Way recommended, just like the full length.

BARRERACUDAS Nocturnal Missions (Douchemaster) cd 13.98
We talk a lot in reviews about not judging books (or records more specifically) by their covers, but when we do, it's almost always in the context of doing just that, and realizing that by doing that, we had missed out on something cool. Which leads us to this, the latest instance of us judging a book by its cover, or in this case a record by its label, the newest from power poppers the Barreracudas (and yeah, that's the spelling, assuming it's referring to barre chords), whose debut is in fact the first thing we've ever reviewed on the, uh, Douchemaster label. And yeah, judging books by their covers blah blah blah, but c'mon, it's a little tough not to judge that book's cover when the cover says Douchemaster, but that said, these guys kick up a fantastic old school big guitar super hooky power pop racket, beholden to Cheap Trick, the Shoes, the Raspberries, the Dwight Twilley band, all the great seventies and eighties power poppers, and yeah, the guitars may be a bit crunchier, the production a little louder and punkier, but only a little, at their heart these songs are pretty goddamn perfect power pop and definitely sound like they could have been transported directly here from back in the day. In fact they remind us a lot of another modern retro power pop group (which just so happens to feature a member of Cheap Trick), who we raved about a while back, Tinted Windows, just check out "Baby Baby Baby". There's also a serious punk pop vibe, think The Dickies, the Ramones and other punk bands who were always more pop than punk. All the tracks here rule, hooky and heavy, crunchy and jangly, and quickly becoming out new favorite (power) pop record!
MPEG Stream: "Numbers"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Baby Baby"
MPEG Stream: "Feet"

BARRERACUDAS Nocturnal Missions (Douchemaster) lp 13.98
We talk a lot in reviews about not judging books (or records more specifically) by their covers, but when we do, it's almost always in the context of doing just that, and realizing that by doing that, we had missed out on something cool. Which leads us to this, the latest instance of us judging a book by its cover, or in this case a record by its label, the newest from power poppers the Barreracudas (and yeah, that's the spelling, assuming it's referring to barre chords), whose debut is in fact the first thing we've ever reviewed on the, uh, Douchemaster label. And yeah, judging books by their covers blah blah blah, but c'mon, it's a little tough not to judge that book's cover when the cover says Douchemaster, but that said, these guys kick up a fantastic old school big guitar super hooky power pop racket, beholden to Cheap Trick, the Shoes, the Raspberries, the Dwight Twilley band, all the great seventies and eighties power poppers, and yeah, the guitars may be a bit crunchier, the production a little louder and punkier, but only a little, at their heart these songs are pretty goddamn perfect power pop and definitely sound like they could have been transported directly here from back in the day. In fact they remind us a lot of another modern retro power pop group (which just so happens to feature a member of Cheap Trick), who we raved about a while back, Tinted Windows, just check out "Baby Baby Baby". There's also a serious punk pop vibe, think The Dickies, the Ramones and other punk bands who were always more pop than punk. All the tracks here rule, hooky and heavy, crunchy and jangly, and quickly becoming out new favorite (power) pop record!
MPEG Stream: "Numbers"
MPEG Stream: "Baby Baby Baby"
MPEG Stream: "Feet"

BARRETT, SYD Barrett (EMI) cd 14.98

BARRETT, SYD Madcap Laughs (Vinilisssimo) lp 27.00

BARRETT, SYD Opel (EMI) cd 14.98

BARRETT, SYD The Madcap Laughs (EMI) cd 14.98

BARRETT, SYD Under Review (Chrome Dreams) dvd 21.00

BARRETTO, RAY Acid (Fania) lp 14.98

BARROW, GEOFF & BEN SALISBURY Drokk: Music Inspired By Mega-City One (Invada) cd 22.00
Originally composed as the soundtrack for an upcoming Judge Dredd film adaptation (and rejected!), Drokk finds Geoff Barrow from Portishead, teaming up with composer Ben Salisbury for a dark futuristic synthscape that looks to the classic scores of John Carpenter and Goblin, but instead of sounding like just another record jumping on the retro-futuristic synthscape bandwagon, that seems to have infected so many other groups, the sound these two have conjured up is much darker, and much more dense. And it plays out more like an actual soundtrack, since after all it is (was?) one. Drokk offers up all sorts of rhythms and melodies and arrangements and textures that definitely do feel like cues, like sounds designed to accompany specific images and actions, and while in many cases, scores loosed from their films lose a lot of their power, that is definitely not the case here. The sound reminding us in places of Blade Runner, and displaying obvious influence from groups like Tangerine Dream. There are also some Portishead like moments, creeping spare downtempo dirges that work surprisingly well with the more driving puslating synths. The opening jam definitely sets the tone, and sounds like it must have been for the opening credits/sequence, a spare bit of synth pulse, underpinned by a high sinewave like tone, the synths growing ever more ominous, expanding into fuzzy swooping synths, before exploding into full on eighties style sequenced synth stutter, laced with reverby industrial percussion, the sounds dense and lush and layered, frantic and frenetic (it is titled "Pursuit" after all). From there on out it's easy to get lost in the Barrow and Salisbury's imagined soundworld, haunting minor key melodies, woozy percolating synths, primitive rhythms, one second all washed out and cosmic, the next dark and driving and relentlessly rhythmic.
Needless to say, fans of the current crop of Carpenter/Goblin worshipping retro synthwranglers will flip for this big time, and while sonically, this does fit pretty perfectly alongside Umberto, Zombi, Majeure, Roll The Dice, Expo 70, Bitchin Bajas, Dylan Ettinger, Gatekeeper, Food Pyramid, Xander Harris and all the rest, Drokk actually manages to sound less like one of those bands looking to the past, and more like one of the originals from back in the day, looking forward, to some impossible unimaginable future, like the one we're living in today.
MPEG Stream: "Lawmaster / Pursuit"
MPEG Stream: "Helmet Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Justice One"
MPEG Stream: "Scope The Block"

BARROW, GEOFF & BEN SALISBURY Drokk: Music Inspired By Mega-City One (Invada) lp 35.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally composed as the soundtrack for an upcoming Judge Dredd film adaptation (and rejected!), Drokk finds Geoff Barrow from Portishead, teaming up with composer Ben Salisbury for a dark futuristic synthscape that looks to the classic scores of John Carpenter and Goblin, but instead of sounding like just another record jumping on the retro-futuristic synthscape bandwagon, that seems to have infected so many other groups, the sound these two have conjured up is much darker, and much more dense. And it plays out more like an actual soundtrack, since after all it is (was?) one. Drokk offers up all sorts of rhythms and melodies and arrangements and textures that definitely do feel like cues, like sounds designed to accompany specific images and actions, and while in many cases, scores loosed from their films lose a lot of their power, that is definitely not the case here. The sound reminding us in places of Blade Runner, and displaying obvious influence from groups like Tangerine Dream. There are also some Portishead like moments, creeping spare downtempo dirges that work surprisingly well with the more driving puslating synths. The opening jam definitely sets the tone, and sounds like it must have been for the opening credits/sequence, a spare bit of synth pulse, underpinned by a high sinewave like tone, the synths growing ever more ominous, expanding into fuzzy swooping synths, before exploding into full on eighties style sequenced synth stutter, laced with reverby industrial percussion, the sounds dense and lush and layered, frantic and frenetic (it is titled "Pursuit" after all). From there on out it's easy to get lost in the Barrow and Salisbury's imagined soundworld, haunting minor key melodies, woozy percolating synths, primitive rhythms, one second all washed out and cosmic, the next dark and driving and relentlessly rhythmic.
Needless to say, fans of the current crop of Carpenter/Goblin worshipping retro synthwranglers will flip for this big time, and while sonically, this does fit pretty perfectly alongside Umberto, Zombi, Majeure, Roll The Dice, Expo 70, Bitchin Bajas, Dylan Ettinger, Gatekeeper, Food Pyramid, Xander Harris and all the rest, Drokk actually manages to sound less like one of those bands looking to the past, and more like one of the originals from back in the day, looking forward, to some impossible unimaginable future, like the one we're living in today.
MPEG Stream: "Lawmaster / Pursuit"
MPEG Stream: "Helmet Theme"
MPEG Stream: "Justice One"
MPEG Stream: "Scope The Block"

BARRY BLACK Barry Black (Alias) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Archers of Loaf somewhat make my skin crawl but this is a solo outing by one of the people in the band and *it's great*. Sounds like the Thinking Fellers in grade school.

BARRY BLACK Barry Black (Alias) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Archers of Loaf somewhat make my skin crawl but this is a solo outing by one of the people in the band and *it's great*. Sounds like the Thinking Fellers in grade school.

BARWICK, JULIANNA Florine (self-released) cd 7.98
Want to get lost in hazy, shimmering sounds that would sound perfect in the pristine church of 4AD worship? Sounds pretty great right, well, the sounds of Julianna Barwick deliver just that. With her looped ethereal vocals she creates such hypnotizing sounds that really evoke a more tripped out Lisa Gerard (Dead Can Dance) or Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), a sound that is totally perfect for the crisp and cold days we've been experiencing as of late, each track a gorgeous soundtrack for bundled up evening strolls when you can see your breath in the air. Barwick has been crafting her own multi-layered, hazy and hypnotic sounds for several years now, in fact her self released debut, Sanguine, from over three years ago was a big favorite here in town at our local radio station KUSF and we're happy to have gotten that in as well which we'll most likely be gushing about on a future list. In fact that record came out just shortly after Grouper's wonderful debut Way Their Crept and the two definitely share a swirling and surreal sonic spirit.
MPEG Stream: "Anjos"
MPEG Stream: "Choose"
MPEG Stream: "Sunlight , Heaven"

BARWICK, JULIANNA Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty) cd 14.98
We knew it was only a matter of time before the ethereal magic of Julianna Barwick's music would capture the attention and imagination of the underground music scene. After two utterly gorgeous self released albums, Asthmatic Kitty wisely stepped up to sign her and release this brand new stunning set of songs, which finds Barwick's sound becoming even more pristine and dreamy. Alongside Grouper, Barwick really is doing wonders to channel the ethereal magic of 4AD's sound via Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, and Cocteau Twins. Magic Place wastes no time heading right for the sky, which is where Barwick's songs always reside. Daydream reflections, moon worship hymns, sun cycle observations, close your eyes and let these sounds take you wherever they may. Beyond beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Envelop"
MPEG Stream: "Prizewinning"
MPEG Stream: "White Flag"

BARWICK, JULIANNA Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty) lp 14.98
We knew it was only a matter of time before the ethereal magic of Julianna Barwick's music would capture the attention and imagination of the underground music scene. After two utterly gorgeous self released albums, Asthmatic Kitty wisely stepped up to sign her and release this brand new stunning set of songs, which finds Barwick's sound becoming even more pristine and dreamy. Alongside Grouper, Barwick really is doing wonders to channel the ethereal magic of 4AD's sound via Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, and Cocteau Twins. Magic Place wastes no time heading right for the sky, which is where Barwick's songs always reside. Daydream reflections, moon worship hymns, sun cycle observations, close your eyes and let these sounds take you wherever they may. Beyond beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Envelop"
MPEG Stream: "Prizewinning"
MPEG Stream: "White Flag"

BARWICK, JULIANNA Sanguine (self-released) cd 12.98
Julianna Barwick makes the kind of music that totally transports us into that sort of hazy spaced out daydream we wish would stretch out into infinity. Using just her voice and assorted manipulated loops, Barwick creates an hypnotic environment of sound that conjures up images of standing all alone in a huge cathedral, lit with washed out light filtered through ornate glass windows, reflecting off silver and gold sculptures. There is something so totally otherworldly and church-gone-cosmic to the sounds on Sanguine, like floating in a pristine sky, high on codeine as you swirl amongst fallen angels and mysterious creatures. Self released back in 2006, we are so happy to finally get this in the store as it really is one of the most mesmerizing and beautiful records to come out in the last several years. Because of the lack of its distribution the first time around, Sanguine didn't get the attention it deserved, which is too bad, because it most likely would have enjoyed the same sort of praise and popularity that groups like Grouper have so rightfully received, creating sounds from a similar template. And while the Grouper comparisons are inevitable, there really is something unique and singular about the way Barwick channels the most psychedelic and ethereal 4AD inspiration into a totally DIY hypnotic state of sound. Blissed out to perfection!
MPEG Stream: "Unt5"
MPEG Stream: "Sanguine"
MPEG Stream: "Unt8"

BARWICK, JULIANNA / IKUE MORI FRKWYS Vol.6 (RVNG International) lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another successful pairing of the older guard and the new wave, one of the latest in the RVNG label Frkwys series puts together experimental vocalist, Julianna Barwick (whose recent aQ instore was beautifully dreamy), and avant percussionist and seventies no wave music scene vet, Ikue Mori (DNA, John Zorn, Death Praxis). Recorded live during a residency at White Columns in New York last year, the two sides are the results of two different performance collaborations. The first side was made while Barwick and Mori were separated from each other in cubicles in the gallery, improvising together through aural suggestion. The second side was made with the artists working face to face. Both sides employ Mori's signature warbling crystalline electronics and sampled percussion triggers with Barwick's swelling gossamer and reverbed vocals in prolonged forays of electro-acoustic atmospherics and ambient abstraction, but each side has a different feel. The collaborative dynamics caused by closeness and distance move from a hushed majestic expansiveness to a more engrossed focused energy that demands your attention. Quite lovely!

BASEBALL ASTROLOGER Famine of the Soul (Holy Mountain) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If anything, it's about baseball of the soul... It's Tycho Brahe channeled through Ken Nordine in possession of an armload of Sandy Koufax fastballs. OK, I don't really know what Holy Mountain guru JW is talking about, but I think the Baseball Astrologer sounds like Godspeed You Black Emperor (a point of contention for sure, as JW vehemently despises Godspeed). Just as those opening deep drones backed the Native American tale of self-annihilation on F#A#oo, the Baseball Astrologer presents the booming existential monologues of Douglas Berman (painter, astrologer, raconteur, chai-maker, and dedicated walker) with the exceptional guitar drones, courtesy of Stephen Lobdell - currently of Faust. Each copy comes with a different 1970s baseball card - sorry the one with Rollie Fingers was already taken. Keep in mind we also still have the stellar solo LP from Lobdell under the name Davis Redford Triad.

BASHO, ROBBIE Bonn Ist Supreme (Bo Weavil ) cd 17.98
Bonn Ist Supreme is a rare glimpse into the live performative side of guitar soli legend Robbie Basho. Recorded in Bonn, Germany six years before his death, Basho was by then in his less interesting Windham Hill phase of his career, but you wouldn't know it by this recording. Containing many pieces from his Takoma-era heyday, Basho's fusion of Celtic, Middle Eastern and medieval influences on his guitar work made him the least blues-based of the Takoma triad of himself, John Fahey, and Leo Kotte. Melding an esoteric spirituality to his playing style, it's easy to get lost in Basho's raga like compositions. Some of the pieces do contain his unique singing which is often a dealbreaker for some (though we dig his vocal stylings), but it doesn't get in the way too much here, and shouldn't keep folks from enjoying his mesmerizingly sublime guitarwork. Nice!
MPEG Stream: "Cathedrals et Fleur De Lis"
MPEG Stream: "The Girl and The Lotus"
MPEG Stream: "Pavan India"
MPEG Stream: "California Raga"

BASHO, ROBBIE Seal Of The Blue Lotus ( Ace Records) cd 16.98
We reviewed the 4 Men With Beards vinyl reissue of this a few weeks back, and then found it was also available on cd, via Ace, so why not list that too?
Seal Of The Blue Lotus was Robbie Basho's debut, originally released on John Fahey's Takoma label in 1965. Basho was the third part of the Takoma triad which of course included Fahey and Leo Kottke. A big surprise that back then, Basho was the least popular of the three, as he has become a serious cult favorite of the genre since, and this first look into his unique take on Guitar Soli shows why.
Basho was the least interested in American forms of blues, classical and ragtime, and sought out instead Celtic and Oriental idioms which heavily influenced his music, giving his work a searching devotional quality. But he also wasn't afraid of performing with a brusque playing style as long as it captured an unfettered emotional intensity. This set definitely highlights his inventiveness as he uses the guitar body for a resonating percussive instrument and even accompanies himself on the flute on one song.
Housed in a Smithsonian Folkways style tip-on sleeve, with a simple hermetic drawing, Seal of The Blue Lotus has the feel of an arcane mystical object, one that imparts ancient wisdom to seekers of the craft. Basho's records didn't have cryptic liner notes or partake in humorous antiquated eccentricities, so their more serious reverential nature may have had something to do with his lower profile on the Takoma roster, but probably everything to do with why his records are so coveted now.
MPEG Stream: "Seal Of The Blue Lotus"
MPEG Stream: "Mountain Man's Farewell"

BASHO, ROBBIE Seal Of The Blue Lotus (4 Men With Beards) lp 17.98
A long-awaited reissue of Robbie Basho's debut, originally released on John Fahey's Takoma label in 1965. Basho was the third part of the Takoma triad which of course included Fahey and Leo Kottke. A big surprise that back then, Basho was the least popular of the three, as he has become a serious cult favorite of the genre since, and this first look into his unique take on Guitar Soli shows why.
Basho was the least interested in American forms of blues, classical and ragtime, and sought out instead Celtic and Oriental idioms which heavily influenced his music, giving his work a searching devotional quality. But he also wasn't afraid of performing with a brusque playing style as long as it captured an unfettered emotional intensity. This set definitely highlights his inventiveness as he uses the guitar body for a resonating percussive instrument and even accompanies himself on the flute on one song.
Housed in a Smithsonian Folkways style tip-on sleeve, with a simple hermetic drawing, Seal of The Blue Lotus has the feel of an arcane mystical object, one that imparts ancient wisdom to seekers of the craft. Basho's records didn't have cryptic liner notes or partake in humorous antiquated eccentricities, so their more serious reverential nature may have had something to do with his lower profile on the Takoma roster, but probably everything to do with why his records are so coveted now.
MPEG Stream: "Seal Of The Blue Lotus"
MPEG Stream: "Mountain Man's Farewell"

BASHO-JUNGHANS, STEFFEN Last Days of the Dragon (Locust) cd 14.98

BASHO-JUNGHANS, STEFFEN Late Summer Morning (Strange Attractors Audio House) cd 14.98

BASSHOLES Broke Chamber Music (Secret Keeper) cd 13.98
Heeey Bassholes fans, time to get off yer (b)asses! 'Cuz there's a new collection of their old singles and unreleased stuff from the early '90s. Broke Chamber Music brings their unmistakable trashy nasty blues rawk right back to your front stoop. Still ripe and ready to chafe many a delicate ear, these are the raw gritty folk songs to play while you're chippin' the crud off your mud-caked boots with a termite-infested twig. Seriously fucked-up, slurred vocals that sound alternately like they're being sung by someone who's had his tongue cut out and sewn back in or some stunted teenager messing with the tape speed on his tape recorder. Very Ween-ish (or maybe it's the other way around). Includes a bang-up cover of Rodd Keith's delightful song-poem "Little Rug Bug"!
MPEG Stream: "Little Rug Bug"
MPEG Stream: "Cockroach Blues"

BASTARD / GROUND ZERO (Pandemonium) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
GZ: One long, live track. Heavy on the sampling mayhem and turntable fuckery.
B: Truly bizarre, repetitive, turntablized hypno-rock.

BASTARD NOISE A Culture Of Monsters (Deep Six) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We first got a glimpse of the newly invigorated, and newly METAL-ized Bastard Noise on the recent split with The Endless Blockade, with BN sounding like the second coming of Man Is The Bastard, all heavy and noisy and bassy, but still rife with noise and electronics, incorporating our favorite elements of Bastard Noise offshoot Geronimo into a dizzying hybrid, that hit the spot like crazy. So with this new full length, Bastard Noise have pushed that sound even further. Opening with a brief spoken word monologue, the band explode in an electronic flecked bass heavy crush, the bass and drums locked tight, a lumbering lurching dirge, proggy and intricate, and weirdly melodic, with some of the SICKEST vocals ever, alternating death metal growls and throat shredding shrieks, and all over the place, thick shards of damaged electronics and fractured effects, careening wildly until finally locking into a groove that just won't quit, chaotic drumming, low slung bass buzz, the heaviest, most bad ass thing we've heard in ages. "Me And Hitler" is another blast of Man Is The Bastard style bass driven powerviolence, but with the addition of those shrieked almost black metal vocals, and still more caveman electronics... and when the band again get all proggy and intricate and heavy and groovy, they almost sound like Nomeansno, if NmN were WAY meaner and brutal and caustic, which is in NO way a bad thing.
The whole record is a crushing downtuned post-punk avant prog powerviolence electronic kraut-dirge motherfucker, the songs lurch and swing and grind and blast and pound and pummel, bursts of double kick underpin shards of crackling electronic glitchery and analog skree, there are some really strange stretches of almost jazzy drift, crooned reverbed ambience, operatic abstraction, spaced out dronemusic and moody instrumental skitter, but those brief moments only serve to balance the otherwise insanely and genius-ly brutal heaviness. Fuck, this totally rules!
MPEG Stream: "Pincers' Movement"
MPEG Stream: "Me And Hitler"
MPEG Stream: "Interior War"

BASTARD NOISE A Culture Of Monsters (Deep Six) lp 12.98
We first got a glimpse of the newly invigorated, and newly METAL-ized Bastard Noise on the recent split with The Endless Blockade, with BN sounding like the second coming of Man Is The Bastard, all heavy and noisy and bassy, but still rife with noise and electronics, incorporating our favorite elements of Bastard Noise offshoot Geronimo into a dizzying hybrid, that hit the spot like crazy. So with this new full length, Bastard Noise have pushed that sound even further. Opening with a brief spoken word monologue, the band explode in an electronic flecked bass heavy crush, the bass and drums locked tight, a lumbering lurching dirge, proggy and intricate, and weirdly melodic, with some of the SICKEST vocals ever, alternating death metal growls and throat shredding shrieks, and all over the place, thick shards of damaged electronics and fractured effects, careening wildly until finally locking into a groove that just won't quit, chaotic drumming, low slung bass buzz, the heaviest, most bad ass thing we've heard in ages. "Me And Hitler" is another blast of Man Is The Bastard style bass driven powerviolence, but with the addition of those shrieked almost black metal vocals, and still more caveman electronics... and when the band again get all proggy and intricate and heavy and groovy, they almost sound like Nomeansno, if NmN were WAY meaner and brutal and caustic, which is in NO way a bad thing.
The whole record is a crushing downtuned post-punk avant prog powerviolence electronic kraut-dirge motherfucker, the songs lurch and swing and grind and blast and pound and pummel, bursts of double kick underpin shards of crackling electronic glitchery and analog skree, there are some really strange stretches of almost jazzy drift, crooned reverbed ambience, operatic abstraction, spaced out dronemusic and moody instrumental skitter, but those brief moments only serve to balance the otherwise insanely and genius-ly brutal heaviness. Fuck, this totally rules!
MPEG Stream: "Pincers' Movement"
MPEG Stream: "Me And Hitler"
MPEG Stream: "Interior War"