PURLING HISS Public Service Announcement (Woodsist) lp 14.98
WOW, did this record pretty much immediately blow us away! We had never actually heard these guys (this guy actually, he also plays in Birds Of Maya), but had always thought Purling Hiss was a pretty awesome name, so not expecting too much, we threw this on and then BAM, we were sold, smitten, obsessed even, finding ourselves playing this to death, getting these songs stuck in our heads, and not just the songs proper, but even the weird little recording anomalies and random bits of musical glitchery. For a record that sounds, and is maybe meant to sound, so lo-fi and tossed off and just sort of half assed, a druggy murky muddy home brewed pop record, it's impossibly catchy and well crafted and AMAZING.
A heady mix of classic pop songsmithery, blown out psychedelic drift, abstract tape experiment fuckery and fragmented bedroom 4 track alchemy, Public Service Announcement plays at times like some classic rock record that's been dubbed a million times and then played back in your crappy car stereo, the one with only one speaker and no bass knob, and at other times like some inspired Guided By Voices mini pop epic, and occasionally like some super baked, basement psych jam blowout, wasted and lazy and drifty and divine.
The record opens with "Run From The City", which within 5 seconds establishes itself as some impossible instant classic, with a totally killer guitar lick that IS the song's hook, the track sounding like some lost punky pop gem from the seventies or eighties that somehow got left off of every compilation since, the verses crunchy and muddy and melodic, those guitar leads just sealing the deal. In fact, we could barely get to the rest of the record cuz we just wanted to keep playing the first track.
"Porch Dude/Slight Return" offers up our first glimpse of Purling Hiss as wasted and stoned psych jam drifters, shuffling drums, swirling flanged guitars, everything hazy and wreathed in pot smoke, little spidery leads surfacing here and there, bit otherwise a blurred and bleary drift, the slight return of the title being the revisited melody from the album opener.
And then there's "Don't Even Try It", the other song we can't seem to keep from just playing on repeat, with it's folky guitar and vocal intro, the tape speed constantly shifting, the sound warped and warbly, like someone with their finger on the record as it spins, and then the chorus comes in, with it's "woo ooo ooo" refrain, and the song suddenly reveals itself as some pretty perfect pop. Lo-fi yet lush, vocal harmonies, guitar melodies, a hook to die for, all hazy and sun dappled and catchy as all get out.
After a brief (but AWESOME) minute long Van Halen loop, that manages to be totally twisted yet totally catchy, the record slips right back into fuzzy lo-fi pop, more oooh's and aaah's, summery steel string strum, dreamy harmonies, and sweet pop hooks, before unfurling some serious psychedelia in the form of "Gypsy", a sprawling droned out chunk of druggy spaciness, and at that point if you're not already under the record's spell, you bliss out and drift off and let the record carry you wherever it will, whether it be to "Zor" a thick buzzing, swirling, yet still dreamily melodic bit of dark drone, or to "Beautiful Earth Creature" which is another perfect chunk of jangly pop, replete with those warped speed fluctuations that end up becoming irrevocably part of the song, or to the heady spacepsychjam freakout of "Malice In Wonderland" or to the twisted Ariel Pink-ish warbly fuzzy FM radio pop of album close "1976".
Warped and wonderful and definitely one of our new favorite records.
MPEG Stream: "Run From The City"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Even Try It"
MPEG Stream: "Beautiful Earth Creature"
MPEG Stream: "Bedroom"
MPEG Stream: "Gypsy"

PURLING HISS s/t (Permanent Records) lp 16.98
List 357's Record Of The Week, Public Service Announcement, by Purling Hiss, was a huge hit around here, an awesomely hooky lo-fi collection of home recorded GBV style 4 track pop, mixed with slow, shimmery lysergic psychedelia, but apparently, that record was a bit of an anomaly, as all of PH's other recorded material seems to be super heavy and freaked out psych rock a la White Heaven or Burnt Hills or Acid Mothers Temple or Comets On Fire. Sure the pop element is still present, but it's buried under glorious squalls of psychguitar and pounding drum damage.
The tracks here are long too, so once the vocals fade and the song proper disappears, the songs keep on going, stretched out super extended heart of the sun psychedelic space rock excursionism, incendiary sprawls of white hot guitar freakout.
But, as mentioned above, the songs do still retain some of that poppiness, albeit in seriously small doses, but the presence however slight of that pop, manages to imbue the rest of each song with a subtle pop element, that keeps things from devolving into full on wankery. "Woo hoo" vocals abound, but they're wrapped in hazy streaks of buzz and howl, there are hooks too, they surface here and there, and occasionally, one of the shredding distorto guitars will start playing one of those perfect pop melodies, before letting it splinter and explode back into a psychedelic frenzy.
The B side is weirdly tracked, with several super short blasts of blown out psych heaviness, but right in the middle is an awesome, extended space-psych jam, the guitars explosive and white hot, but underpinned by super melodic looping, walking basslines, which sort of remind us of Redd Kross at their most psychedelic, but again, that little bit of melody, grounds the rest of the song, and transforms a sidelong blast of shreddery, into something weirdly poppy and melodic and listenable, and fucking AWESOME!
Maybe a bit too fierce and fiery for folks who were mainly into the pretty pop side of that first Purling Hiss record, but anyone into the above mentioned bands, or at all into freaked out psychedelia, then this is most definitely the shit.

PURLING HISS Water On Mars (Drag City) cd 14.98
Holy shit, these guys just keep getting better! Since we first laid ears on Purling Hiss, we were totally and utterly smitten, whether they were kicking up squalls of wild noisy psychedelic freakout, or crafting impossibly perfect Yellow Pills style seventies era power pop. But nothing could have prepared us for this, easily their catchiest, most overtly poppy, and somehow rockingest record yet. All vestiges of their lo-fi past have been completely shed, their sound is now massive, the production HUGE, the guitars thick and crunchy and fuzzy, the vocals way up in the mix, it's dare we say, downright commercial sounding, but only in that it sounds like it SHOULD be all over the radio, the sound equal parts fuzz guitar freakouts, psychedelic wah wah riffage, blasts of feedback, cool harmonized guitar licks, cool falsetto vox, killer choruses, hooks galore, what started out as a super lo-fi power pop/psych rock hybrid, has blossomed into a full on hook heavy, indie jangle classic rock radness, that will no doubt bum out lots of folks who freaked out over those other records, but as far as we're concerned, this was pretty much the way they were headed anyway, but we definitely could not have predicted how kick ass the final destination would be.
There are definitely still nods to their noisier earlier incarnation, take the angular, post hardcore, angular guitar jam "Face Down", which starts off sounding like some lost SST rarity, but quickly, as if the band can no longer help themselves, the song blossoms into something crazy poppy, and then from there on out, it's a sort of push and pull between the serpentine punk rock swagger, and fuzzed out hook heavy pop, replete with rad shredding leads, and some Zeppelin-y vocal wails. That's a weird one for sure, maybe the weirdest jam here, but then there's the title track, which definitely dips back into a more lo-fi sound, the whole track sort of muted and muffled, a driving classic rock jam looped and locked, beneath wild squalls of super distorted blown out psych guitar freakout, swaths of squealing feedback, a fantastically fractured psychedelic noise jam, but like the rest of those sorts of moments here, it's bookended by two crazy catchy fuzzy jangly jams, the Dinosaur Jr like fuzzed out indie psych pop of "The Harrowing Wind" and the garagey jangle of closer "Mary Bumble Bee", all the songs here just a wee bit druggy, with just a bit of that droned out Velvetsy druggy buzz, but when that gets peeled back, it's total jangle pop nirvana. And while plenty of PH's classic rockisms abound still, the sound this time around here is pretty much pure pop, albeit a pop that's tweaked and twisted in places, but the songs are so great, and while those old records still rank among our all time faves, this new one is definitely making a seriously strong case for best Purling Hiss record yet!
MPEG Stream: "Lolita"
MPEG Stream: "Mercury Retrograde"
MPEG Stream: "Rat Race"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Bumble Bee"

PURLING HISS Water On Mars (Drag City) lp 17.98
Holy shit, these guys just keep getting better! Since we first laid ears on Purling Hiss, we were totally and utterly smitten, whether they were kicking up squalls of wild noisy psychedelic freakout, or crafting impossibly perfect Yellow Pills style seventies era power pop. But nothing could have prepared us for this, easily their catchiest, most overtly poppy, and somehow rockingest record yet. All vestiges of their lo-fi past have been completely shed, their sound is now massive, the production HUGE, the guitars thick and crunchy and fuzzy, the vocals way up in the mix, it's dare we say, downright commercial sounding, but only in that it sounds like it SHOULD be all over the radio, the sound equal parts fuzz guitar freakouts, psychedelic wah wah riffage, blasts of feedback, cool harmonized guitar licks, cool falsetto vox, killer choruses, hooks galore, what started out as a super lo-fi power pop/psych rock hybrid, has blossomed into a full on hook heavy, indie jangle classic rock radness, that will no doubt bum out lots of folks who freaked out over those other records, but as far as we're concerned, this was pretty much the way they were headed anyway, but we definitely could not have predicted how kick ass the final destination would be.
There are definitely still nods to their noisier earlier incarnation, take the angular, post hardcore, angular guitar jam "Face Down", which starts off sounding like some lost SST rarity, but quickly, as if the band can no longer help themselves, the song blossoms into something crazy poppy, and then from there on out, it's a sort of push and pull between the serpentine punk rock swagger, and fuzzed out hook heavy pop, replete with rad shredding leads, and some Zeppelin-y vocal wails. That's a weird one for sure, maybe the weirdest jam here, but then there's the title track, which definitely dips back into a more lo-fi sound, the whole track sort of muted and muffled, a driving classic rock jam looped and locked, beneath wild squalls of super distorted blown out psych guitar freakout, swaths of squealing feedback, a fantastically fractured psychedelic noise jam, but like the rest of those sorts of moments here, it's bookended by two crazy catchy fuzzy jangly jams, the Dinosaur Jr like fuzzed out indie psych pop of "The Harrowing Wind" and the garagey jangle of closer "Mary Bumble Bee", all the songs here just a wee bit druggy, with just a bit of that droned out Velvetsy druggy buzz, but when that gets peeled back, it's total jangle pop nirvana. And while plenty of PH's classic rockisms abound still, the sound this time around here is pretty much pure pop, albeit a pop that's tweaked and twisted in places, but the songs are so great, and while those old records still rank among our all time faves, this new one is definitely making a seriously strong case for best Purling Hiss record yet!
MPEG Stream: "Lolita"
MPEG Stream: "Mercury Retrograde"
MPEG Stream: "Rat Race"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Bumble Bee"

PURLING HISS Water On Mars (Drag City) cassette 8.98
Holy shit, these guys just keep getting better! Since we first laid ears on Purling Hiss, we were totally and utterly smitten, whether they were kicking up squalls of wild noisy psychedelic freakout, or crafting impossibly perfect Yellow Pills style seventies era power pop. But nothing could have prepared us for this, easily their catchiest, most overtly poppy, and somehow rockingest record yet. All vestiges of their lo-fi past have been completely shed, their sound is now massive, the production HUGE, the guitars thick and crunchy and fuzzy, the vocals way up in the mix, it's dare we say, downright commercial sounding, but only in that it sounds like it SHOULD be all over the radio, the sound equal parts fuzz guitar freakouts, psychedelic wah wah riffage, blasts of feedback, cool harmonized guitar licks, cool falsetto vox, killer choruses, hooks galore, what started out as a super lo-fi power pop/psych rock hybrid, has blossomed into a full on hook heavy, indie jangle classic rock radness, that will no doubt bum out lots of folks who freaked out over those other records, but as far as we're concerned, this was pretty much the way they were headed anyway, but we definitely could not have predicted how kick ass the final destination would be.
There are definitely still nods to their noisier earlier incarnation, take the angular, post hardcore, angular guitar jam "Face Down", which starts off sounding like some lost SST rarity, but quickly, as if the band can no longer help themselves, the song blossoms into something crazy poppy, and then from there on out, it's a sort of push and pull between the serpentine punk rock swagger, and fuzzed out hook heavy pop, replete with rad shredding leads, and some Zeppelin-y vocal wails. That's a weird one for sure, maybe the weirdest jam here, but then there's the title track, which definitely dips back into a more lo-fi sound, the whole track sort of muted and muffled, a driving classic rock jam looped and locked, beneath wild squalls of super distorted blown out psych guitar freakout, swaths of squealing feedback, a fantastically fractured psychedelic noise jam, but like the rest of those sorts of moments here, it's bookended by two crazy catchy fuzzy jangly jams, the Dinosaur Jr like fuzzed out indie psych pop of "The Harrowing Wind" and the garagey jangle of closer "Mary Bumble Bee", all the songs here just a wee bit druggy, with just a bit of that droned out Velvetsy druggy buzz, but when that gets peeled back, it's total jangle pop nirvana. And while plenty of PH's classic rockisms abound still, the sound this time around here is pretty much pure pop, albeit a pop that's tweaked and twisted in places, but the songs are so great, and while those old records still rank among our all time faves, this new one is definitely making a seriously strong case for best Purling Hiss record yet!
MPEG Stream: "Lolita"
MPEG Stream: "Mercury Retrograde"
MPEG Stream: "Rat Race"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Bumble Bee"

PURO INSTINCT Headbangers In Ecstasy (Mexican Summer) cd 13.98
As these young ladies from Los Angeles settle into their new moniker (they first hit the scene known as Pearl Harbor) they continue to evolve their hazy take on breezy and washed out shoegaze pop. There is something about the overall sound on Headbangers In Ecstacy that induces in us such a swirling and cloudy state. With songs that seem to exist in worlds that bring to mind The Swirlies, The Feelies, Chapterhouse, Lush, and Blondie. Or what it might sound like if Ariel Pink got to produce a record for Julee Cruise. It's dream-pop that's detached enough to let your mind take it wherever you want. This is the perfect album for those days when you can't tell whether you are happy or sad but you know that you just want to keep floating somewhere in-between.
MPEG Stream: "Everybody's Sick"
MPEG Stream: "Lost at Sea"
MPEG Stream: "Silvers Of You"

PURO INSTINCT Headbangers In Ecstasy (Mexican Summer) lp 16.98
As these young ladies from Los Angeles settle into their new moniker (they first hit the scene known as Pearl Harbor) they continue to evolve their hazy take on breezy and washed out shoegaze pop. There is something about the overall sound on Headbangers In Ecstacy that induces in us such a swirling and cloudy state. With songs that seem to exist in worlds that bring to mind The Swirlies, The Feelies, Chapterhouse, Lush, and Blondie. Or what it might sound like if Ariel Pink got to produce a record for Julee Cruise. It's dream-pop that's detached enough to let your mind take it wherever you want. This is the perfect album for those days when you can't tell whether you are happy or sad but you know that you just want to keep floating somewhere in-between.
MPEG Stream: "Everybody's Sick"
MPEG Stream: "Lost at Sea"

PURO INSTINCT Stilyagi / Put Medved To Bedved (Mexican Summer) 7" 5.98

PURO INSTINCT (PEARL HARBOR) s/t (Gloriette) 12" 12.98
We really loved the Pearl Harbor record on Mexican Summer, which is sadly already out of print, there was something about it that stuck out from the onslaught of new lo-fi minded garage pop bands. With this new record, the band is transitioning into a new moniker (Puro Instinct) because of catching some grief from the '80s SF band Pearl Harbor, but luckily while the name is changing their sound is only evolving and getting more entrancing and seductive. We recently caught them opening for Ariel Pink and it was such a perfect hazy swaying daydream experience. And we have to say we have never seen a band with collectively such amazing flowing blonde hair!! Vidal Sasoon should really jump on board and sponsor them. But beyond their mesmerizing hair, their music actually feels very similar to that folicularly glowing and flowing sensation. These four new songs continue their smart take on mixing a 4AD sensibility with a washed out pop aesthetic. Like Beach House covering the Cocteau Twins, or Nite Jewel stepping away from the late night dance floor and entering an even more smoke filled blissed out world of moody mystery. Makes us want to sit in our bedrooms lit only by candles, as we lay so dazed, eyes closed, letting the sounds from the vinyl just seep into our skin and course through our veins.

PURPLE IMAGE s/t (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
When we first put this on, we were like, damn! Opening track "Living In The Ghetto" is some kick-ass, fuzz-filled, freak funk/rock from this all-black '70s act from Cleveland (whom, of course, we've never heard of before, as with so many of the Radioactive label's reissued rarities). And it was perhaps too much to ask for the whole of their eponymous 1970 album to keep up with the heavy acid rock like that track. No, soon Purple Image take a turn into some smooth and tender R&B territory, though weird synth interludes and psychedelic effects keep our interest, and there's definitely some more nuggets of tough fuzz rockin' to be found on here. The album ends with "Marching To A Different Drummer", a meandering fifteen minute mostly-instrumental garage psych R&B fusion jam, with shrill guitars, funky horns, phased drums, wild harmonica... Definitely cool, though they're no Funkadelic. Still, at least a couple of the cuts on here, particularily "Living In The Ghetto" would for sure make this worth it to any big fan of that Chains And Black Exhaust compilation!
MPEG Stream: "Living In The Ghetto"
MPEG Stream: "Lady"

PURPLE IMAGE s/t (Spiral Groove) lp 24.00
We listed a reissue of this on cd a while back, that's long out of print, but we're happy to see it's now been done on vinyl...
When we first put this on, we were like, damn! Opening track "Living In The Ghetto" is some kick-ass, fuzz-filled, freak funk/rock from this all-black '70s act from Cleveland. And it was perhaps too much to ask for the whole of their eponymous 1970 album to keep up with the heavy acid rock like that track. No, soon Purple Image take a turn into some smooth and tender R&B territory, though weird synth interludes and psychedelic effects keep our interest, and there's definitely some more nuggets of tough fuzz rockin' to be found on here. The album ends with "Marching To A Different Drummer", a meandering fifteen minute mostly-instrumental garage psych R&B fusion jam, with shrill guitars, funky horns, phased drums, wild harmonica... Definitely cool, though they're no Funkadelic. Still, at least a couple of the cuts on here, particularly "Living In The Ghetto" would for sure make this worth it to any big fan of the much beloved Chains And Black Exhaust compilation from way back when!
MPEG Stream: "Living In The Ghetto"
MPEG Stream: "Lady"

PURPLE IVY SHADOWS Whoever's South is Northern Also (Dark Beloved Cloud) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Newest in Dark Beloved Cloud's series of clear-vinyl albums cut on that famous New Zealand hand-run lathe. We've got the West Coast exclusive on these and it's limited to 100 copies worldwide. A well-crafted, desolate sort of folk/pop, the singer's voice reminds us of, like, a cross between Richard Hell and Allen Callaci from Refrigerator, very evocative.

PURPLE RHINESTONE EAGLE / NORTHERN SWORDS / FORSORCERERS Fantasy Quest (Poison Apple) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, how can you go wrong with a record called Fantasy Quest, that features awesome, high school binder, D&D fantasy pencil art, with a dog headed warrior princess wielding a shield and a tiny mouse with a sword waving a pennant, some ghosts, a winged rabbit headed warrior, a creepy forest, a castle, even harder to resist when you realize it's a compilation of all female, mostly instrumental, fuzzy, psychedelic hard rocking, metal bands from the Northwest! FUCK YEAH!
First up is Purple Rhinestone Eagle, whose record we went nuts for a while back, and their track here is just as good as anything on the full length, pounding, groovy, garagey, a little stonery, a lot space-y, riffy, metallic psych rock with a pinch of NWOBHM, so so good!
Here they're teamed up with Northern Swords, whose track is a two parter, you gotta flip the disc to hear the whole thing, and it slays, like a more loose Fucking Champs, still tight and technical, with killer harmonized guitar leads, killer drumming, the second part is super aggro and WAY technical, and relentlessly rocking, both parts sound like they COULD, or SHOULD have lyrics about dragons and swords and sorcerers, you can almost hear the airbrushed seventies van, and leather pants, the fringed jackets and feathered hair, the big amps and smoke machines.
Finally, Forsorcerers (awesome name btw!) finish things off, kicking out the only jam with vocals, total hard rocking classic garage rock, like Thin Lizzy crossed with the Runaways, more awesomely tangled guitar harmonies, and bad ass female vox.
Not sure what's going on up North, but we definitely want more.
Pressed on super striking white / black / grey splatter vinyl, with a printed insert, and the aforementioned bad ass cover.

PUSCIFER 'V' Is For Vagina (self-released) cd 15.98

PUSH KINGS Push Kings (Sealed Fate) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sweet, practical, Beatlesesque pop from Northeasterners who we predict will be huge, probably soon after the release of their second album. On the Dambuilder guitarist's label. Read recent SF Bay Guardian for a spot-on review from smart AQ-l subscriber Gabriel Roth, one of the very very few local writers we trust (well, since you asked -- other critics we trust include Alvin Lu, Chuck Stephens, and the much-missed Sia Michel who was recently wooed away to NYC by SPIN -- we wish her well and know she will not forget, as so many have, what real music writing -and appreciation- consists of.)

PUSH KINGS Push Kings (Sealed Fate) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sweet, practical, Beatlesesque pop from Northeasterners who we predict will be huge, probably soon after the release of their second album. On the Dambuilder guitarist's label. Read recent SF Bay Guardian for a spot-on review from smart AQ-l subscriber Gabriel Roth, one of the very very few local writers we trust (well, since you asked -- other critics we trust include Alvin Lu, Chuck Stephens, and the much-missed Sia Michel who was recently wooed away to NYC by SPIN -- we wish her well and know she will not forget, as so many have, what real music writing -and appreciation- consists of.)

PUSHING UP DAISIES s/t (self-released) 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 originally listed this way back in 2004, and finally managed to get another batch of these back in!
Besides having an awesome name for a metal band, Pushing Up Daisies is also an eight piece. A goddamn EIGHT PIECE! Vocalist, keyboardist, bassist, TWO drummers and THREE guitarists! And it shows. The guitars are everywhere, serpentine and slithery, jagged and ear piercing, downtuned and crushing. The dual drum attack is a pummeling unstoppable force. But it's not just about the instrumentation. Pushing Up Daisies are a fierce metal hybrid, equal parts screamo, metalcore and even a dash of black metal, with brain bendingly complex arrangements leaning WAY towards the prog end of things and plenty of weird breakdowns, from super reverbed dubbed out space rock to strangely loping Three Mile Pilot like bass driven melodic passages, to James Gang wah-guitar funk, but always bookended by crushing hook filled METAL. Lots of stops and starts, high end guitar melodies weaving in and out, punctuated by massive and muffled three-downtuned-guitar chugs that rattle your fillings they hit so hard. Lots of two guitar bands don't take advantage of their extra axe and waste it by having both guitarists play the same thing, but Pushing Up Daisies utilize their triple threat to full effect and it really adds a unique edge to everything with all sorts of slippery intertwining melodies, strangely haunting guitar harmonies and layer upon layer of sonic weirdness. One of our favorite new metal records!
MPEG Stream: "Bus Ride"
MPEG Stream: "Clipping Cupid's Wings Pt. A"

PUSSY Invasion (Vintage / Rockadrome) cd 13.98
We know a LOT of you are familiar with the band Jerusalem, one of thee ultimate holy grails of '70s proto-metal, thankfully reissued by Vintage/Rockadrome a couple years ago. We made it our Record Of The Week at the time, and still sell 'em steadily, every week!! And this list, you'll also find the vinyl version of that reissue, repressed. One of the heaviest, doomiest proto-metal finds ever, coming closer to the gods Black Sabbath than most, but with their own primitive, almost punk charm!
Jerusalem only put out that one rare lp, but that's not the end to the story. Rumor had it that there was a second album in the can, never released. Well, as we mentioned in our Record Of The Week write-up, the actual fact was that when Jerusalem broke up, sometime in 1972, 3/5ths of the ex-members immediately formed another band, Pussy, and what we've got here is Pussy's entire recorded output, finally seeing the light of day!!
Not to be confused with another British band called Pussy, a psych pop outfit from the '60s (what's with these young men liking Pussy as a band name so much? Cat fanciers, huh?), this Pussy were a power trio, consisting of Jerusalem's rhythm section plus their lead guitarist. Apparently, the lead singer and 2nd guitarist from Jerusalem had wanted to go in a more progressive/polished direction, which lead to the split, and resulted in the formation of Pussy, by those who wanted to keep things rather more raw and rockin'. However, Pussy do sound somewhat different from Jerusalem, and not just 'cause bassist Paul Dean took over on vocals (on the other hand, he was also always the main songwriter in both bands).
While their songs are full of throbbing rhythms and crunching distorted guitar riffs, Pussy don't come across quite so doomy and dark as did their previous incarnation. There's a bit more of a poppy "glam" thing going on here, Pussy sounding something like a heavier T.Rex at times! Banging a gong, getting it on, boogying down, complete with handclaps and cowbell. Slade and The Sweet could be other influences/comparisons, which means this has something in common with the proto-metal treat we listed last time, by Incredible Hog... Some songs remind us of Stray ("I Keep Remembering You"), others of early UFO ("Moonshine"), and one ("Pig Mansion") even hints at a proto-metal version of early Brian Eno. There's even a number on here that Andee thought sounded like something from the first Duran Duran album, though we're not sure if anyone else thinks so. These rollicking tracks are all energetic and fuzzed out, with lots of bouncy, rubbery riffing. Definitely a good time, and thus getting played in heavy rotation here at the store ever since it showed up!
There's a total of 16 tracks on this cd, including both sides of their only previously released record, a 7" single from 1972, the great "Feline Woman" (inspired by Sabbath's version of "Evil Woman"?) backed with "Ska-Child" (definitely NOT a ska number, though it does feature groovy hard rockin' horns!). Then there's four more songs from demo sessions circa '73, plus the ten tracks, with a new guitarist, from what was meant to be their full-length album, all produced (as was Jerusalem) by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, who also sings some backup. So cool that this long lost gem is finally available! The 20 page cd booklet includes lyrics, photos, and detailed liner notes about the Pussy story...
MPEG Stream: "Feline Woman"
MPEG Stream: "Pig Mansion"
MPEG Stream: "Take Me Home"

PUSSY Pussy Plays (Edsel) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This release from Hertfordshire UK band Pussy was overlooked upon its release in 1969 but over the years it has become a valuable find for prog/psych enthusiasts, selling now for over hundreds of dollars when originally it languished in the bargain bins. Now it has finally been officially reissued on cd. Devout fans of 60's psych are sure to be stoked. Pussy's music is sappy and trippy, but in the best meanings of both words.
RealAudio clip: "Come Back June"

PUSSY GALORE Live: In The Red (In The Red) cd 12.98
The late-80s lineup of Pussy Galore was Bob Bert, Neil Hagerty, Jon Spencer, and Kurt Wolf; this live show is from CBGB 8/5/89. Includes a cover of the Twilighters' "Nothing Can Bring Me Down".

PUSSY GALORE Live: In The Red (In The Red) lp 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The late-80s lineup of Pussy Galore was Bob Bert, Neil Hagerty, Jon Spencer, and Kurt Wolf; this live show is from CBGB 8/5/89. Includes a cover of the Twilighters' "Nothing Can Bring Me Down".

PUSSY GALORE Right Now! (Shove!) lp 19.98
The 1987 full length debut from these infamous noiseniks gets the deluxe vinyl reissue treatment. A white hot blast of lo-fi basement blues, slithery stomps and druggy creeps, driven by clanging clattery junkyard drums, strangled angular guitar and bellowed reverbed vox, courtesy of noneother than Mr. Jon Spencer. The songs are short, sharp, urgent, noisy and chaotic, Bob Bert, former drummer for Sonic Youth, provides the beats, the songs lurching and lumbering, a swaggery, staggery sprawl of noise rock punk blues that still sounds so fucking great. The band at this point was rounded out by Neil Hagerty, who would go on to form Royal Trux, and Julia Cafritz, who would later play in Free Kitten, and for as dysfunctional and drug addled as this foursome was, they were a seriously fearsome sonic unit, managing to capture much of that druggy dysfunction on tape, and it's magical. We were arguing about why some of us here LOVE Pussy Galore, but Royal Trux not so much, when someone joked that the key was, that in Pussy Galore they somehow got the heroin just right, just enough to send them spiralling into some sort of drug fueled manic psychedelic blooze zone, but not so far that it all fell apart. Right Now! is frantic and furious, wildly passionate and so twisted and soulful, and somehow, crazy catchy to boot. The record spends most of its time in a full on drugblues noiserock pound mode, but occasionally, slips into some slow, swoonsome dirgey bluesiness that has no right sounding as good as it does.
Obviously recommended for fans of all the post Pussy Galore bands (Royal Trux, Boss Hog, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Free Kitten, Howling Hex, etc.) but really anyone into other twisted strains of weirdo blues (Railroad Jerk, Bill Orcutt, Doo Rag, King Brothers, etc.) who have yet to discover the warped world of Pussy Galore, is in for a treat...
MPEG Stream: "Pig Sweat"
MPEG Stream: "Biker Rock Loser"
MPEG Stream: "NYC 1999"
MPEG Stream: "Pussy Stomp"

PYLON Chomp More (DFA) cd 14.98
Yes! Pylon's second and last record (with the original line-up) from 1983 has finally got the same expanded and remastered reissue treatment that their first record received from the hip folks at DFA. It's been a bittersweet couple of years for Pylon, emerging from years of relative obscurity, reuniting for a tour and seeing their records released once again to a legion of new fans, but sad because guitarist and founding member, Randall Bewley passed away suddenly this year. While never as popular as their Athens, GA contemporaries, R.E.M, and the B-52's, Pylon's post-punk influence has remained sturdy and can be heard in many bands from the Riot Grrl era to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Pylon's distinct guitar angularity, propulsive dance rhythms and lead singer, Vanessa Hay's seductive growl whipped audiences into a frenzy in the late seventies and early eighties and finally the original version of "Crazy" can be heard for the amazing spitfire track it is. R.E.M.'s more famous cover version just doesn't compete. Way Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Beep"
MPEG Stream: "Crazy"
MPEG Stream: "No Clocks"

PYLON Gyrate Plus (DFA) cd 14.98
DFA delves into the past to resurrect a lesser known American post-punk classic, the debut of Athens, Georgia scene-makers Pylon. Less famous than their fellow Athens compatriots, The B-52's or R.E.M., these four University of Georgia art students nevertheless mined a powerful influence. With their jangly angular art pop with dub influences and yelping female vocals, Pylon felt more in line with British bands Gang of Four and Delta 5, than the sixties/eighties retro of the B-52's or R.E.M.'s mumbling verbosity. Gyrate Plus collects their first album and singles from 1980 and listening to it now, it's surprising how timeless it feels, coming across as a precursor to bands like The Yeah Yeah Yeah's and The Gossip. So Good!!
MPEG Stream: "Cool"
MPEG Stream: "Danger!!"

PYLON Not Cobras (Last Visible Dog) cd 9.98
We've been exploiting the writing talents of Jewelled Antler's Loren Chasse a bit lately, and now Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Skygreen Leopards, Blithe Sons...) wants to get into the action too, volunteering to write something about this here disc, an archival release on Last Visible Dog of the clanging and banging of the pre-Avarus outfit Pylon (which is NOT to be confused with the Athens, GA Pylon of the early '80s). Or, to be accurate, he offered to let us use what he wrote about it on the Jewelled Antler email-list, as follows: "Damn, another breath of fresh air blowing over from the Finnish cloudfort. Pylon sends echoing flutes & ram's horn trumpets over fragmented folk & space-rock marching junkshop drums. Maybe there's a detuned guitar flailing along or a fuzzy Casio organ, someone beating out a Morse code on an oven tray or a an old typewriter. Muffled abstract vocals are performed with earnest by muppets, zombies & monks & are shrouded in effects pedals. This shares something in common with related-groups Avarus/Anaksimandros/Maniacs Dream, but with just two members there's more space around each clang & groan. With its joyous clatter, pylon seems to be urging us to dance with goats & green maidens, run wild with robots & monsters." Pretty much sums it up, thanks Glenn!
MPEG Stream: "[Track 1]"
MPEG Stream: "[Track 6]"

PYRAMID s/t (PsiFi) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
3 krautrock albums (from groups you may want to first sample on the "Unknown Deutschland" comps, see below) that were supposedly issued in the 70s in tiny editions of, like, 50 copies or something. The Pyramid album sole track is a mysterious 35-minutes of spacy drone with mellotron, moogs, and Tibetan bells. The Nazgul cd, our favorite of the three, is from 1975 and features 4 long tracks of droning ambience that's easily as good as any current space rock outfit could put together; i.e. Magnog, Labradford or anything else on Kranky. Bonus weirdness: the bandmembers are named Frodo, Gandalf, and Pippin.

PYRAMIDS s/t (Hydra Head) lp 27.00
Available now on vinyl for the first time, the debut full length from these avant / post black metal experimentalists. Here's what we had to say about it when we first heard it, and originally listed it, way back in 2008:
As much as we love that Hydra Head sound, huge churning riffage, pummeling drums, crushing metallic dirges and all things heavy heavy heavy, we're becoming more and more obsessed with the releases that don't fit so comfortably on HH, don't necessarily embody that classic Hydra Head sound. Although that's not necessarily fair, as the more bands HH sign that sound different, the more diffuse and varied that HH 'sound' becomes, which renders this whole theory moot. But whatever, stick with us for a second, there is a point. It's sort of how we were with Sub Pop, sure we loved Green River and Soundgarden and Mudhoney, THAT sound, but we got crazy obsessed with stuff like Rein Sanction and Hardship Post, the stuff that stuck out, that sounded WEIRD, maybe almost more than the regular Sub Pop stuff.
It might be just that for a band to kick someone's ass SO much, that they're willing to release a record by them, even though sonically it's a whole different ball of wax, means that the record in question is that good, that fucked up, that unique, or could be that we just like to be contrary. Either wayÉ
Whatever. We love Isis and Cavity and Pelican, but lately, we, like a lot of you, have been obsessing over Jesu, Hayaino Diasuke, Austerity Program, Torche, Pet Genius and now Pyramids, who hail from Denton Texas, and who sound like nothing on Hydra Head. If we had to pick one band, it might be Jesu, but even then, the similarities are minimal. Pyramids are blissy and fuzzy and gauzy and pretty, almost ambient at times, drifting dreamily, their sounds shimmering and glistening, everything blurred and washed out and totally fucking gorgeous, BUT, they do have some surprises up their sleeves. And it's those surprises that make this record such a mind blower.
But let's start at the beginning. The first three tracks here are totally lovely, guitars are wisps, vocals are fluttery shadows, melodies are delicate and fragile, the production is warm and sun dappled, rhythms are muted shuffles, effects swirl and sway, here and there, the sound thickens into something almost heavy, but never quite gets there, remains on the pretty drifty side of heavy. It's like a more avant freaky version of Mazzy Star or Galaxie 500, that same sort of windblown washed out blissy vibe. Until the fourth track.
Beginning with some minimal guitar buzz, amidst a whirl of chiming harmonics, shortwave interference, and blown out buzz, the drums kick in, and the riff locks into an insectoid buzz, and suddenly the Pyramids are some sort of black metal band, still bleary and blissy, but with pounding drums and buzzing guitars, eventually vocals come in and it's like a metalgaze Sigur Ros, which is most definitely awesome.
The next track too offers more of the same, a sort of swirling chaotic shoe gaze-y black metal, and in fact the rest of the record continues on in that vein, each track a twisted convoluted take on blissed out black metal, sometimes grinding and furious, but even then swathed in a warm sonic glow, sometimes more poppy and swirly, like a more abstract Swervedriver. As you can tell, it's pretty hard to describe. Not sure it's really black enough to appeal to black metallers, it's more like some shoegaze ambient metal pop band just borrowed some black metal tropes and wove them into their gorgeous blown out soundworld.
There's a second disc too, of remixes, by the likes of Jesu, James Plotkin, Loveliescrushing, Birchville Cat Motel, Blut Aus Nord and more, and we would have assumed that remixes by those folks, of this sort of music, would just render them more blissed out, but instead, at least the first two, transform the songs into furious blown out black jams. The first, remixed by Toby Driver of Kay Dot, Ted Parsons of Prong and Swans and Colin Marston of Behold the Arctopus, begins all soft and swirly, but by the end has added super distorted drums, and all manner of fried buzz. The Plotkin remix up next, strips away most of the bliss, and leaves a seriously fucked sounding lo-fi in-the-red black metal blast. The Jesu remix sounds just like you might imagine, a gauzy slowcore drift, with the vocals jacked way up, soaring through the ether, a fluttery falsetto. The two Loveliescrushing mixes bring out the soft blurred ambience of the originals, making them even more tranquil and serene. Birchville turns his mix into a virtual BCM track, using bits and pieces of the original, creating a thick slow growing drone, that builds to a buzzing crescendo before fading back into a dark moody drift. Blut Aus Nord is the most fucked up remix. Not sure if they added tons of stuff, or just did some crazy mix, but the guitars groan all dizzy and woozy and angular, the drums, pounding and machinelike, the vocals a hissy evil howl, the whole track a lurching black lope. All the mixes here are amazing, utterly transforming the originals, but in doing so hewing to the spirit of the original record, which was already pretty schizophrenic and all over the amp as it was.
Way way way recommended. A new aQ favorite for sure...
MPEG Stream: "Sleds"
MPEG Stream: "The Echo Of Something Lovely"
MPEG Stream: "End Resolve"

PYRAMIDS / HORSEBACK A Throne Without A King (Hydra Head) cd 15.98
Now available on the more affordable, less limited cd format!
A Throne Without A King was another record that was slated for release on Black Friday "Record Store Day" and was delayed... A sprawling collaboration, originally released on four sides of vinyl (it was originally an lp+7" package) between black metal / guitardrone soundscapers Horseback, and abstract sort-of black metal ambient alchemists Pyramids (whose mainman also runs the Handmade Birds label btw), a sprawling epic, which finds each band offering up their own little thing, and then putting their heads together for the bulk of the release.
The tracks from the 7" open up cd version and features Pyramids first, who after a chaotic stuttery programmed drum into, slip into a dreamy blissed out stretch of cinematic ambience, all softly swirling effects and hazy melodic drift. Horseback are up next and counter with a blast of black metal, a frantic blast beat beneath buzzing guitars that almost sounds more like blackened gypsy folk than black metal proper, until the vokills come in, and the demonic shriek clears that all up, before changing gears half way through and transitioning into a gorgeously decayed crumbling distorted dronescape.
Up next are the tracks from the lp, the collaboration between the two groups, and so of course we were imagining some sort of black metal / drone hybrid, or something similar, instead, the epic 4 part album length A Throne Without A King, plays out more like some lost Nurse With Wound album, heavy on the abstract soundscapery and mysterious collaged atmospheres, the processed garbled vocals, and truncated melodies, lots of drones and textures, and strange industrial filigree, it's haunting and hypnotic and very abstractly cinematic for sure, and finds a mysterious middle ground where neither band's influence is obvious.
Woozy industrial thrum drift beneath sine wave tones and fluttering high end melodies, all over fields of crackle and whir, mysterious voices doused in effects intone some ominous warning, as the listener is slowly pulled under, swallowed whole by deep drones and ethereal melodic drifts, wild squalls of white noise and grinding machinelike textures, the track most often settling into long stretches of UNsettling ambience, sounding not unlike Philip Jeck or The Caretaker, ominous and sinister, cinematic and haunting, the various textures constantly subtly shifting and transforming, as much a part of the sound as the melodies, everything floating in some epic expanse of nothingness, tethered to one another by thread like slivers of fuzz and buzz and thrum.
MPEG Stream: "Part 1"
MPEG Stream: "Part 4"

PYRAMIDS / HORSEBACK A Throne Without A King (Hydra Head) lp + 7" 28.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another record that was slated for release on Black Friday "Record Store Day" and was delayed, only finally reaching us well after the day, and one that we have VERY few copies of, and it's unclear whether we'll actually be able to get more, so this might be your only (non eBay) shot at it, if you're quick. A sprawling collaboration between black metal / guitardrone soundscapers Horseback, and abstract sort of black metal ambient alchemists Pyramids (whose mainman also runs the Handmade Birds Label), a sprawling epic spread out over four sides (a 7" AND an lp), which finds each band offering up their own little thing, and then putting their heads together for the bulk of the release.
The 7" comes first and features Pyramids on the A side, who after a chaotic stuttery programmed drum into, slips into a dreamy blissed out stretch of cinematic ambience, all softly swirling effects and hazy melodic drift. Horseback handle the B side and counter with a blast of black metal, a frantic blast beat beneath buzzing guitars that almost sound more like blackened gypsy folk than black metal proper, until the vokills come in, and the demonic shriek clears that all up, before changing gears half way through and transitioning into a gorgeously decayed crumbling distorted dronescape.
So when it came time to throw on the lp, we were imagining some sort of black metal / drone hybrid, or something similar, instead, the epic 4 part album length A Throne Without A King, plays out more like some lost Nurse With Wound album, heavy on the abstract soundscapery and mysterious collaged atmospheres, the processed garbled vocals, and truncated melodies, lots of drones and textures, and strange industrial filigree, it's haunting and hypnotic and very abstractly cinematic for sure, and finds a mysterious middle ground where neither band's influence is obvious.
Woozy industrial thrum drift beneath sine wave tones and fluttering high end melodies, all over fields of crackle and whir, mysterious voices doused in effects intone some ominous warning, as the listener is slowly pulled under, swallowed whole by deep drones and ethereal melodic drifts, wild squalls of white noise and grinding machinelike textures, the track most often settling into long stretches of UNsettling ambience, sounding not unlike Philip Jeck or The Caretaker, ominous and sinister, cinematic and haunting, the various textures constantly subtly shifting and transforming, as much a part of the sound as the melodies, everything floating in some epic expanse of nothingness, tethered to one another by thread like slivers of fuzz and buzz and thrum.
Vinyl and cassette only for now (although we have yet to receive the cassette), cd in January...

PYRAMIDS WITH NADJA s/t (Hydra Head) cd 17.98
Killer combo for sure, blissed out doom metal shoegaze duo Nadja, and sort-of-black-metal Hydra Head weirdos Pyramids, we weren't sure what to expect, heavy? Spacey? Trippy? Would it be more Nadja? Or more Pyramids? Having listened to this a bunch now, we can safely say, we have no idea.
There are definitely elements from both bands, but the two entities seem to have merged into something wholly new. Which seems ideal, why bother starting a new band just to sound like your old band. Four long tracks, each one a slow burning, gradually sprawling experiment in blown out sound, the opener definitely more toward the blissed out and ambient side of things, with ethereal vocals, huge sweeping sheets of shimmer, sun dappled and psychedelic, until three quarters of the way through, when the team up gets HEAVY, and suddenly we're in Nadja territory, a slow billowy lumber than pushes all out Jesu buttons, the vocals buried beneath an avalanche of swirling buzzing sound.
The second track starts off a bit more aggressively, with some crunchy FX laden guitars, only to drift off, the sound thickening, some skittery rhythmic splatter, some keening melodies, moody and ephemeral, the beats get a bit more caustic, almost jungly, super clipped and jagged, while underneath the soft sounds continue to swirl, and then vocals, LOUD vocals, way up in the mix, total keening indie boy croon, dreamy and heartfelt, before a big heaving swell of low end, and then a gradual drift to silence.
The 22 minute "Sound Of Ice And Grass" seems to be the centerpiece of the record, beginning with delicate piano, deep rumbles, ghostly vox, and swooping backwards effects. Dark and hushed, until those vocals return, sounding more choral this time, and laid over big distorted doomy guitars, reverb and delay pushing everything closer to chaos, before a blast beat erupts, but way down in the mix, the rest of the song continues to plod and drift, the vocals soft, the ambience muted and minimal, while the drums thrash wildly beneath, a strange juxtaposition, but cool sounding for sure. The second half of the song is a series of string laden, effects drenched chordal swells, and fractured melodies, gauzy vox, and all manner of buzz and crackle and whir, eventually building to a wall of grey sound.
The record closes with what sounds to these ears the most like a distillation of the two bands' sounds, beginning with layered melodies, Animal Collective like vocals, layered drones, downtuned guitar buzz, thick slabs of rumbling riffage, and some blasting metallic drum action, again muted and washed out until it's almost textural more than rhythmic, but the stretch with the bast beats is divine, dreamy, ethereal and gorgeous, eventually exploding into a full on Nadja+Pyramids drone / shoegaze / post metal / dream pop blow out. Cool!
Gorgeous packaging too, a min lp style gatefold sleeve, adorned with lush landscapes of trees and forest and streams on the outside, a strange drawing of trees and an owl on the inside, with a printed full color booklet featuring more abstract foliage.
MPEG Stream: "Into The Silent Waves"
MPEG Stream: "Another War"

PYRAMIDS WITH WRAITHS Magpie & Raven (Aurora Borealis) lp 17.98
Super limited one sided collaborative lp from avant metal weirdos Pyramids and blackened noisesmiths Wraiths, featuring Clay Ruby from Burial Hex on piano. It's a sprawling 25 minute side long single track, that starts out all dreamy and drifty with female vox over pounding reverb heavy piano, before the song kicks in proper, big chiming distorted guitars, and martial drumming, which instead of launching into blasting blackness, devolves into some strange glitched out droniness, all crumbling distortion, and crooned almost chant-like vox, and that piano from the opening few seconds. The sound is almost liturgical, certainly ritualistic, and for the next 10 minutes, the track drifts woozily, those female vocals return, the piano drives the haunting ambience, a funereal dirge of sorts, that finally explodes again at about the 15 minute mark, the drums, the bombastic crashing chords, but again, the song quickly devolves, this time into a blurred blackened squall of smeared noise and crumbling heaviness, obviously the work of Wraiths, who pull the song apart into a roiling tangle of grinding heaviness and blurred blacknoise, the whole thing laced with weird effect-ed guitars and the occasional stray melody, before, settling into a weird outro, all distant feedback, blasts of feedback, strange electronics, minimal percussion, and that haunting female voice, intoning some strange incantation, as the noise gradually dissipates leaving only emptiness...
Pressed on clear vinyl and housed in a gorgeous vellum sleeve with super striking artwork from tattoo artist Simon Erl. LIMITED TO 350 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Magpie & Raven (excerpt)"

PYROLATOR Inland (Bureau B) cd 17.98
This album has the word "synthesizer" emblazoned on its cover, in letters as big as either the artist name or the album title. And when you hear it, you will know why. This album is all about Pyrolator putting his several synthesizers through their paces. Inland was the debut lp from Germany's Kurt Dahlke aka Pyrolator (also a member of DAF and Der Plan), originally released in 1979 on his own Aka Tak label, and its synth-noise experimentation belongs both to the spacey electronic krautrock genre and to the (currently in revival) '80s minimal-wave scene. Think DIY Kraftwerk. It encompasses the abstract experimentation of someone like Asmus Tietchens, as well as other stuff that's much more melodic and Cluster-y. There's shortwave static, distant schlager transmissions, rhythmically buzzing glitchwerks, musique concrete tape edits, some blissed out white noise soundscapes... For folks who like difficult, mad scientist music, you've got squelchy distortion laced with whining, high end tones ("Inland 1"), and for the new wavers, there's trax with burbling sequenced beats, pulsing like something Zombi or Majeure might do today ("Minimal Tape 3/7.2"). Indeed, Inland is a veritable cornucopia of such ear candy for those of us enamored with the minimal coldwave synth sorta thing, the more experimental side of which, especially. You could file this with your Axxess album (that recent Record Of The Week) though a lot of this is scarier than that - Inland apparently intended as cutting edge "protest music" (those were radical days in West Germany, the Red Army Faction running rampant). But its claustrophobic character is abstract enough for us to enjoy today without any explicit political aspects made plain. Another good reference, perhaps, being Bernard Szajner.
The compact disc version of this reissue comes with 6 worthwhile bonus tracks. Oh, and Bureau B has another early but much poppier Pyrolator reissue we'll try to get to soon...
MPEG Stream: "It Always Rains In Wuppertal"
MPEG Stream: "Minimal Tape 3/7.2"
MPEG Stream: "Have A Good Ride"

PYROLATOR Inland (Bureau B) lp 17.98
This album has the word "synthesizer" emblazoned on its cover, in letters as big as either the artist name or the album title. And when you hear it, you will know why. This album is all about Pyrolator putting his several synthesizers through their paces. Inland was the debut lp from Germany's Kurt Dahlke aka Pyrolator (also a member of DAF and Der Plan), originally released in 1979 on his own Aka Tak label, and its synth-noise experimentation belongs both to the spacey electronic krautrock genre and to the (currently in revival) '80s minimal-wave scene. Think DIY Kraftwerk. It encompasses the abstract experimentation of someone like Asmus Tietchens, as well as other stuff that's much more melodic and Cluster-y. There's shortwave static, distant schlager transmissions, rhythmically buzzing glitchwerks, musique concrete tape edits, some blissed out white noise soundscapes... For folks who like difficult, mad scientist music, you've got squelchy distortion laced with whining, high end tones ("Inland 1"), and for the new wavers, there's trax with burbling sequenced beats, pulsing like something Zombi or Majeure might do today ("Minimal Tape 3/7.2"). Indeed, Inland is a veritable cornucopia of such ear candy for those of us enamored with the minimal coldwave synth sorta thing, the more experimental side of which, especially. You could file this with your Axxess album (that recent Record Of The Week) though a lot of this is scarier than that - Inland apparently intended as cutting edge "protest music" (those were radical days in West Germany, the Red Army Faction running rampant). But its claustrophobic character is abstract enough for us to enjoy today without any explicit political aspects made plain. Another good reference, perhaps, being Bernard Szajner.
The compact disc version of this reissue comes with 6 worthwhile bonus tracks. Oh, and Bureau B has another early but much poppier Pyrolator reissue we'll try to get to soon...
MPEG Stream: "It Always Rains In Wuppertal"
MPEG Stream: "Minimal Tape 3/7.2"
MPEG Stream: "Have A Good Ride"

PYSCHIC POWERS You Can't Hide Your Love Forever Vol. 4 (Geographic North) 7" 9.98

Q65 Nothing But Trouble (Rev-Ola) cd 16.98
Q: Do you love '60s psych/beat/garage stuff?
Q: Do you have any Q65 records?
If your answer to Q1 is Yes, and your answer to Q2 is No, then YOU MUST BUY THIS, NOW! It's that simple.
Q65 were Holland's version of the Rolling Stones, seriously just as good. They had the hair, they had the hooks, they had the attitude. Even though they somehow never got huge outside of their own small country. Other good comparisons would be to the Yardbirds, and especially the Pretty Things. If you like the Pretties, make sure you get hip to Q65, and here's just the ticket. This brand new compilation brings together 24 crucial cuts from the Q65, spanning their career from early 1966 singles and their magnificent debut album of killer R&B freakbeat entitled Revolution, to the even more mindblowingly psychedelic stuff they cut afterwards, up through '68. It's a true labor of love from Q65's fans at Rev-Ola, as you can tell from the fancy full-color, 22 page cd booklet, and you'll know why when you hear their songs. There's 24 good reasons here that the back cover blurb so accurately states: "You need this cd more than you need food"! From crunching garage fuzz stompers like "Cry In The Night", "Summer Thoughts In A Field Of Weed", and the Who-ish "I Got Nightmares" with its Bo Diddley beat to the much moodier, more melancholic vibes of the likes of "World Of Birds" and "Sour Wine"... wow, man. Feast on this.
They could easily compete with any of the British bluesrock acts of the era (witness their fine covers of "Spoonful", "I'm A Man", etc.), and also any of the most savage Nuggets action out there. When they tripped out in post-Sgt. Peppers agonized ecstasy, they were just as effective. With the tough but melodic vocals of Wim Bieler leading the charge, backed by the wailing axe of guitarist Frank Nuyens (responsible for the post-Q65 solo album Rainman, the reissue of which we highlighted here not long ago), Q65 were a raw, energetic, psychedelic force to be reckoned with. We recommend you reckon with them now if you haven't already.
MPEG Stream: "Cry In The Night"
MPEG Stream: "So High I've Been, So Down I Must Fall"
MPEG Stream: "I Was Young"

QLUSTER Fragen (Burreau B) cd 17.98
No, it's not a typo, that's a Q and not a C, but this is in fact a new recording featuring Roedelius of Cluster fame, alongside new sonic sidekick Onnen Block. Block has served as musical assistant and audio engineer for the Berlin Philharmonic, and has collaborated with the likes of Zeitkratzer and Christina Kubisch. Together these two have created a record that is so ominous and engaging in its tones and texture. It continues to blow us away, how even well into his '70s, Roedelius continues to create such compelling, thoughtful and dynamic music. What's equally inspiring is his openness to collaboration, this time working with someone forty years his junior. (Hopefully Cluster partner Dieter Moebius is cool with the "Q").
The sounds of Fragen evoke a sense of slight unease, with a beauty laying just beneath the surface yet still cloaked in a mysterious darkness. It's easy to make work that makes a listener feel either happy or sad, but Roedelius has shown over the years a mastery that transcends the black and white and moves boldly into something so much more fluid and wholly satisfying. A stunning outing, and without a doubt one of the best electronic albums of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Los geht's"
MPEG Stream: "Wurzelwelt"
MPEG Stream: "Haste Toene"

QLUSTER Fragen (Burreau B) lp 17.98
No, it's not a typo, that's a Q and not a C, but this is in fact a new recording featuring Roedelius of Cluster fame, alongside new sonic sidekick Onnen Block. Block has served as musical assistant and audio engineer for the Berlin Philharmonic, and has collaborated with the likes of Zeitkratzer and Christina Kubisch. Together these two have created a record that is so ominous and engaging in its tones and texture. It continues to blow us away, how even well into his '70s, Roedelius continues to create such compelling, thoughtful and dynamic music. What's equally inspiring is his openness to collaboration, this time working with someone forty years his junior. (Hopefully Cluster partner Dieter Moebius is cool with the "Q").
The sounds of Fragen evoke a sense of slight unease, with a beauty laying just beneath the surface yet still cloaked in a mysterious darkness. It's easy to make work that makes a listener feel either happy or sad, but Roedelius has shown over the years a mastery that transcends the black and white and moves boldly into something so much more fluid and wholly satisfying. A stunning outing, and without a doubt one of the best electronic albums of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Los geht's"
MPEG Stream: "Wurzelwelt"
MPEG Stream: "Haste Toene"

QUAD s/t (Acme) cd 14.98

QUAILS, THE Atmosphere + (Inconvenient) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The kids love this energetic San Francisco trio, who have recently been seen touring about with Erase Errata and Sleater Kinney. And Sleater-Kinney comparisons, while sometimes arising out of a reviewer's lack of familiarity with a broad range of female oriented post punk sounds, are relevant here to describe The Quails girl-girl-boy vocal interchanges. At points, the heavily affected vocal stylings make us here put our hands over our collective ears, although "Atmosphere" is definitely not as ouch! as their testicle liberation opera "Bon Soir." If you do dig the vocals, or at least don't mind them, you'll have a great time getting down to their highly accessible, poppy take on the arty punk thang.
RealAudio clip: "Riding The 5"
RealAudio clip: "Soon The Rest Will Fall"

QUAILS, THE The Song Is Love (Mr. Lady) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Who can resist feisty art punk with horns? If you can't, the first song on this album is for YOU! Made us eager for more, but unfortunately the trumpet only appears on that opening track. Dang! But the rest is pretty great nonetheless, packed with edgy female vocals (still drawing comparisons to Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker) occasionally coupled with more subdued male backing vocals, angular raw guitars that veer and twist as if teetering precariously on a cliff, and a driving firecracker drumbeat that seems considerably tighter than on previous releases. Actually the whole picture seems a lot more feverishly focussed (and a little less poppy) that their last full length, the well received Atmosphere+. Hmmm, a bill of The Quails coupled with Erase Errata and Sleater-Kinney would make for a damn fine show. Yeah, I know this has already happened -- these bands have toured together in the past. However on The Song Is Love, The Quails are bursting with an increased confidence and attitude that would surely add ample fuel to such a blistering fun evening of rock. Indeed The Quails seem to be the bridge between those two bands -- particularly in the aforementioned swooping grrrl vocals of S.K., the jagged postpunk dissonance of E.E., and the volatile energy of both. Right on!
MPEG Stream: "More Gender, More Of The Time"
MPEG Stream: "What I Saw"

QUAILS, THE We are The Quails (Inconvenient Press & Recordings) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Local trio featuring Jen Smith, Julianna Bright and Seth Lorinczi formerly of Circus Lupus (although *don't* take that to mean that if you liked the late great Circus Lupus, you'll necessarily like The Quails). Herky jerky quirky pop with all members trading off vocals, duelling lead guitars that weave together, and a hefty dose of Raincoats-style DIY arty punk.
RealAudio clip: "Don't Do That"
RealAudio clip: "Brighter"

QUARTETO 1111 Singles and EPs (World Psychedelia) cd 17.98

QUARTZ s/t (Majestic Rock) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BLACK SABBATH! There. Got your attention. Now let's explain.
We thought we were pretty up on all the bands that followed the Sabbatherian path: Witchfinder General, Angel Witch, Trouble, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Candlemass, Pentagram, etc. etc. But we'd missed out on one -- Quartz, from Sabbath's hometown of Birmingham, England, in fact. Turns out that this New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) band definitely also deserves a place in that list -- because they're very, VERY Sabbathy and also an awesome band! First off, this, their self-titled debut LP from 1977 (ok, predating the NWOBHM explosion by a couple years actually, though their later records were in the thick of it) was produced by none other than Black Sabbath's riff king Tony Iommi!! And, also, one of the Quartz guys, Geoff Nichols, ended up playing keyboards for the Sabs later on...
Yet Quartz don't sound very much like any of those other aforementioned Sabbath-worshiping bands. Not at all. That's because, with Iommi at the helm, this takes after what Sabbath sounded like at the time, albums like Sabotage (1975), Technical Ecstasy ('76), and Never Say Die ('78). If you're familiar with those, you'll definitely hear their influence here! This later '70s Sabbath sound isn't as often emulated, being so much more proggy and polished than their rawer, earlier, doomier LPs. Which is great, 'cause it's not a done-to-death sort of Sabbath sound. As the Sabbath clones proliferate, even today, -these- guys still sound fresh. It also helps that they seemingly share the Sabbath attitude that they're just playing rock music, not something as strictly defined as 'heavy metal'. There's no metal formula being followed. So while this IS heavy and metallic '70s style, there's bombastic prog and pretty pop and acoustic folkiness here too, with Tony Iommi contributing an uncredited flute solo to "Sugar Rain". (Ozzy apparently also sang back-up on that track!) Furthermore, Quartz, formerly known as Bandy Legs, had their roots in '60s psych-pop (featuring members of obscure acts Idle Race and World Of Oz). Though sounding -most- like Sabbath, you'll also hear Yes and Queen and Rush and the Beatles and more...
But if it's Sabbath parallels you want, you got 'em: their vocalist exudes sincerity and emotion, echoing Ozzy's loss-of-control laments. And Tony's mid-seventies guitar (and synth) sound is reproduced perfectly...apparently he's playing on a couple tracks, in fact. The riffs on here could have been written by the man -- "Around and Around" sounds like it should have been on Sabotage! And leadoff track "Mainline Riders", one of the heaviest here, sounds remarkably like Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell" even though the latter wasn't recorded until three years later... hmm, who was influencing whom?
Ultimately, Quartz' debut is a great, varied, hard-rockin' album that uniquely captures all the energetic yet melancholic charm of the latter days of Ozzy's original tenure with the Sabs, unlike any other band ever did. A lost classic for sure. We wish someone had told us about Quartz before, which is why we're duty bound to tell you about 'em now that we have this new reissue!!
MPEG Stream: "Mainline Riders"
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Rain"

QUASI American Gong (Kill Rock Stars) cd 15.98

QUASI American Gong (Kill Rock Stars) lp 15.98

QUASI Early Recordings (Touch & Go) cd 12.98
These early tracks reveal a much moodier, heavier, tweaked Quasi which seems to have resurfaced on their newest "Sword of God" album. Kinda like the Olivia Tremor Control's entwined pop melodies and swirling sonic experimentation, but more rocked up and out. There's a lot more guitar riffin' happening than on their considerably more keyboard-anchored later stuff. Nevertheless the trademark Quasi-pop hooks and Sam'n'Janet vocals never fails to shine through - if a little rougher around the edges. This compilation of 19 songs from 93/94 (in case you're keeping count, that's 3 by Janet, 11 by Sam and 5 co-written) was originally released in '95.
RealAudio clip: "Gaping Holes"
RealAudio clip: "Monkey, Mirror"

QUASI Featuring "Birds" (Up) cd 13.98
Album #2 for this Portland, OR dynamic duo! The 'Quasi' sound really clicked into gear on this one!
Lyrically they're bittersweet and occasionally razor tongued, musically they strike a balance between dreamy pop and driving rock with fantastic vocal harmonies and '60s organ stylings. Don't miss!

QUASI Field Studies (Up) cd 14.98
The third full length from Portland, OR duo Sam Coomes (Heatmiser, Donner Party) and Janet Weiss (Sleater Kinney) is overflowing with well-crafted pop. With Farfisa organs, dreamy strings, girl/boy harmonies, catchy hooks, and a dollop of full-on rock to boot, each song is an irresistible treat! Fans of Built to Spill's 'Keep It Like a Secret' and the Flaming Lips' 'Soft Bulletin' should definitely take note. When this gets played in the store, we invariably end up hitting 'play' again as soon as it ends... a few times at least! Really. Recommended!
Added attraction: Coomes' former Heatmiser bandmate Elliott Smith plays a little bass on three songs.

QUASI Hot Shit! (Touch & Go) cd 14.98
On our first couple of listens to this new Quasi (and an additional couple of looks at the rather uncharacteristic cover art), well, we really weren't sure what to make of it! Taking into consideration the most recent oddity from Quasi mainman Sam Coomes -- the swampy psych-blues stomp of Blues Goblins -- we already knew things were taking a different path from the dreamy, yet sometime crunchin' pop of Quasi's past. Has Mr. Coomes lost his marbles? Hopped aboard a boxcar? Freed his mind? All of the above? Whether it be the second song's endless riffin' on a single note, the third song's odd false start and subsequent super rawk guitar solo or the anguished handwringing of "No One", it sounds as though they're determined to let it all hang out. Very somber, tripped-out and tormented by Quasi standards with loose-limbed guitars and seemingly stream of consciousness lyrics. In fact, the only thing that seems on solid ground is Janet Weiss' drumming. Nonetheless, not unlike each of Quasi's past releases, this seems to have the strong potential of a 'grow on you' kind of album, and we don't hesitate to recommend it.
MPEG Stream: "Seven Years Gone"
MPEG Stream: "Drunken Tears"
MPEG Stream: "No One"

QUASI Hot Shit! (Touch & Go) lp 12.98
Yup, it's on vinyl too. On our first couple of listens to this new Quasi (and an additional couple of looks at the rather uncharacteristic cover art), well, we really weren't sure what to make of it! Taking into consideration the most recent oddity from Quasi mainman Sam Coomes -- the swampy psych-blues stomp of Blues Goblins -- we already knew things were taking a different path from the dreamy, yet sometime crunchin' pop of Quasi's past. Has Mr. Coomes lost his marbles? Hopped aboard a boxcar? Freed his mind? All of the above? Whether it be the second song's endless riffin' on a single note, the third song's odd false start and subsequent super rawk guitar solo or the anguished handwringing of "No One", it sounds as though they're determined to let it all hang out. Very somber, tripped-out and tormented by Quasi standards with loose-limbed guitars and seemingly stream of consciousness lyrics. In fact, the only thing that seems on solid ground is Janet Weiss' drumming. Nonetheless, not unlike each of Quasi's past releases, this seems to have the strong potential of a 'grow on you' kind of album, and we don't hesitate to recommend it.