BOXHEAD ENSEMBLE Niagra Falls (Atavistic) cdep 10.98
'Recordings from the 'Dutch Harbor' United States film screening tour.' Featuring David Grubbs, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Michael Krassner, et. al.

BOXHEAD ENSEMBLE Quartets (Atavistic) cd 15.98

BOXLEITNER / TOTAL SHUTDOWN Split 7" (Zum / Thin the Herd) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pressed on white vinyl in an edition of 500. Two Bay Area bands duke it out for the title of aggro art rock noise kings. Split release on our friendly friends at Zum and Oly WA's Thin the Herd.

BOY IN STATIC Newborn (Alien Transistor) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Alright, let's get the obvious outta the way... the boy (aka Alexander Chen) certainly is in static. Really! Ha ha ha! Ahem. Strummy acoustic guitar with whispery male vocals (sorta like a drowsy Billy Corrigan), all a-wash with soft organ tones and shimmery Oval-esque electronics. Very wistful, pretty and frequently quite reminiscent of LaliPuna or Ms John Soda (perhaps not so coincidentally this album was released on Alien Transistor, the new label run by The Notwist), but the sad thing is this sound has become so associated with bank, car and prescription drug commercials it's getting increasingly difficult to push the visions of floating pills, VW Bugs and men in suits from your mind. But don't let that keep you from picking this up because it's pretty darn good!
MPEG Stream: "Bellyfull"
MPEG Stream: "Stay Awake"

BOY IN STATIC Violet (Mush) cd 13.98
Imagine yourself awakening at a seaside villa. You've nothing to do except take a leisurely stroll down to the water's edge, the tide lapping gently at your feet. In such a sigh inducing setting, your mind's allowed to wander, to dream. Stress and clutter begone! Well geez, that sounds mighty good, doesn't it? But alas, most of us can't afford a week on the coast of Spain or Italy right now, so we'll have to settle for the shoegazerly electronic pop stylings of Violet conjure such blissful aquatic scenes. Softly sanded electronic washes, warm blanketing organ drones, smoother stringed instruments and the murmured vocals of this Boy (aka Alexander Chen) keep the tones hushed and the mood ultra mellow.
For fans of Broken Social Scene, The Notwist, and Caribou. So nice.
MPEG Stream: "First Love"
MPEG Stream: "Without Grace"

BOY IN STATIC Violet (Mush) lp 10.98
Imagine yourself awakening at a seaside villa. You've nothing to do except take a leisurely stroll down to the water's edge, the tide lapping gently at your feet. In such a sigh inducing setting, your mind's allowed to wander, to dream. Stress and clutter begone! Well geez, that sounds mighty good, doesn't it? But alas, most of us can't afford a week on the coast of Spain or Italy right now, so we'll have to settle for the shoegazerly electronic pop stylings of Violet conjure such blissful aquatic scenes. Softly sanded electronic washes, warm blanketing organ drones, smoother stringed instruments and the murmured vocals of this Boy (aka Alexander Chen) keep the tones hushed and the mood ultra mellow.
For fans of Broken Social Scene, The Notwist, and Caribou. So nice.
MPEG Stream: "First Love"
MPEG Stream: "Without Grace"

BOY SETS FIRE This Crying, This Screaming, My Voice Is Being Born (Magic Bullet) cd 8.98

BOYCRAZY Foreign Words (Magic Marker) cd 14.98
Goodness, is this the Vaselines reincarnate??? I'd swear it was Eugene Kelly singing. No, wait! On second thought, it's Belle and Sebastian. Slouchy Scottish-y pop by way of Portland, OR. The breezy indie pop duo Bryce and Rachel (of the Minders) deliver delightful boy/girl harmonies and straight-up playful pop melodies. Watch the K Records kids swoon.

BOYER, GABE AND THE THOUSAND EYES The Textbook Tapes (Mutable Press) cd 7.98
The Textbook Tapes contain a healthy dose of lo-fi, sci-fi ramshackle pop excursions full of youthful exuberance and experimentation. Bouncy sing-song tunes bump curiously into brief urgent spoken word segments, leisure suit organ numbers into dainty toy piano melodies. Vocals are delivered in affected dramatic tones and oddball falsetto. Although this cd is subtitled "A Musical Exploration Of The Novel, The Manikin Textbook, By Colin Jacks", in spirit it actually comes across sounding just as much like an indie tribute to the Krofft Supershow. Fun and quirky. And hey! If you dig this cd you might wanna check out the lp called A Journey To Happiness Island which is a wonderfully strange children's album created by the same folks.
MPEG Stream: "Fugitive Whore"
MPEG Stream: "Manikin Textbooks"

BOYJAZZ In The City Tonight (Frenetic) cd 13.98
Yep, that's a dumb name. Yep, that's a drum machine. Yep, Boyjazz actually DO kick ass. Seriously, ya wanna rock? We've got a band for you here! They're called, uh, Boyjazz. Ignore their dumb name and enjoy their dumb rawk. This'll give you a buzz quicker than quaffing a six pack of Pabst. Boyjazz are a duo, consisting of Sexmouth and Supertouch (Adam and Aaron to their moms). Sexmouth sings and plays guitar and bass. Supertouch handles the production and the drum programming (although live, oddly enough, he plays real drums, but prefers to program them on record, which actually sounds great). The deal here is fuzzed out, distorted ROCK. Metal, punk, stoner, cock-rock. Simple, catchy riffage with a definite glam vibe (both '70s and '80s varieties of glam). The likes of Grand Funk, T-Rex, Sabbath, Kiss, Crue, are all no doubt influences, and we'd say that this oughta appeal to fans of The Darkness, Drunkhorse, and Andrew W.K. Not only does Sexmouth manage to actually pull off the rawk vocalisms required, he writes lotsa great clever/dumb lyrics. Sample song titles: "You + Me = Fight" and "Tuff Luv". One song, "Swedish Dates", is all about how they're gonna go over and tour Scandinavia and show the Hives & co. a thing or two. Might even be a true story someday. With very few of the dozen songs on this disc even reaching the three minute mark, you know they're all about dealing out the short, sweet, swift ass-kicking your rock needs require. F'n recommended, for when you're in the mood to hear a singer yelling "yeah!" and "all right!"
MPEG Stream: "Potfinger"
MPEG Stream: "Stank On The Halo"

BOYRACER Happenstance (Happy Happy Birthday To Me) cd 10.98
Remember the early 90s tweepop bands like Scotland's Heavenly (or any other Amanda Fletcher fronted band), Sacramento's Tiger Trap (or any other Rose Melberg fronted band) or Vancouver's Cub? If you do, then you're probably also familiar with this likeminded UK band. Indeed they were all part of a global sugarshock epidemic fueled by a steady diet of cute, candy-coated lo-fi pop (primarily traceable via sparkly kitty stickers and Dubble Bubble wrappers to K Records in Olympia, WA). From the crunchier, sharp-witted side of the genre's cookie jar, Boyracer could raise quite a raucous, yet non-aggressive fuzzy guitar racket, then turn around and dole out invitations to a jangly, sunshiney teddy bear picnic. On the 23-song long Happenstance, they prove they still can in abundance. Granted many of the songs are less than two minutes long, but still... Simply stated, Stewart Anderson and his band Boyracer can't be stopped! This is the first release in a string of many due to be unleashed in the next couple of months (so absurdly prolific, since they got back together in 2001, they've already released five). Ah, cuddlecore lives!
MPEG Stream: "Vinegar Evenings"
MPEG Stream: "Flinch At The Light"

BOYRACER We Are Made of the Same Wood (Slumberland) cd 13.98
On Slumberland Records purveyors of primo pop sweetness.

BOYSETSFIRE After The Eulogy (Victory) cd 14.98
Hardcore emo stylings from Boysetsfire with nods to Hot Water Music or even Jawbreaker, but if the guy from Refused were singing.

BOYSKOUT Another Life (Three Ring) cd 12.98
Since her band's 2004 debut album School Of Etiquette (a particular Andee and Cup fave of that year), SF cool gal and headmistress of poppy post-post-punk grrrls Boyskout Leslie Satterfield has not only moved to NY and back, but she's also assembled an entirely new lineup! And we're happy to report that the music hasn't skipped a beat. Although Boyskout's sound is usually anchored by a mopey Smiths-ian moodiness driven by reeling guitar and keyboards and distinct breathy pout of Satterfield's vocals -- even more so on this album than on the last -- they do insert a warm sunbeam here and there. Take for example the softly snappy retro-pop of "Everybody Knew". It makes for a nice, unjarring shift on the band's modus operandi. The places where it seems this album loses its focus and falters just a bit are those when it seems the creative control and vocal duties were wrested from Satterfield's usually solid grip. A particularly noticeable slip in momentum comes at the cover of Kraftwerk's "The Model" -- ably executed but a bit flat in comparison to the rest of the songs' punch. A far more effective and downright spooky cover is their take on The Beatles' "Drive My Car" (oooh, spoiler: it's the album's closing track simply listed as "Track 12"). Nonetheless, Another Life is a terrific sophomore release. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Spotlight"
MPEG Stream: "Everybody Knew"
MPEG Stream: "Track 12"

BOYSKOUT School Of Etiquette (Alive) cd 14.98
Besides being just about the cutest band in the the Bay Area (although they've recently left SF for NY), Boyskout more importantly manage to meld elements of queer grrrl punk, new wave, pop and goth into super buzzy, catchy, hypnotic perfection.
Three distinct vocalists keep things really interesting: one a petulant pout of a voice, another closely resembles Siouxsie's dark, throaty sultriness, and the third is all Kim Gordon-ish whispery, and almost-spoken. So varied and cool. The music has the propulsive new wave simplicity of Interpol, the playful purr of the Cure, and the buzzy intensity of classic punk rock, with claustrophobic minor key melodies, crunchy punchy guitars, thick circus-y Gary Numan-ish synths, and super catchy hooks EVERYWHERE. The more we listen to this the more we love it! Includes one of the songs from their debut 7". The cd also contains a video for the track "Back To Bed", a spicy, saucy romp, reflecting the song's sexy lyrics, with the band making out with each other and rolling around in their underwear!
MPEG Stream: "Back To Bed"
MPEG Stream: "Secrets"

BOYSKOUT Secrets / Pictures From The Moon (Isota) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In anticipation of their debut full length which is due out in January (Andee and Cup have been diggin' the advance copy they kindly dropped off a month ago), Bay Area foursome Boyskout offer up a two song vinyl appetizer of darkly edgy and emotive feist-pop in many ways quite reminiscent of equally kick-ass gals The Need. Well worth checkin' out!

BOZART Bunge (Frenetic) cd 8.98
2nd album (or long ep) by this guitar/drums math-rock combo, on the same label that brought us The Champs, Mechakucha, and Spaceboy. The sort of instrumental interplay favored by postrock fans into the proggier side of that genre. Cool.

BOZART Kurth (Bozart/Frenetic) cd 8.98
This has been out for a few months now, but didn't get listed. Bozart are a two piece instrumental math-rock combo from Minneapolis. File with Don Caballero, etc. Now on Frenetic Records, who were responsible for The Champs record.

BOZART The Steel Bridge cd 9.98
This new mini-album's got 24 more minutes of mathematical musicality from the Minneapolis/Portland based Bozart. They're just a duo of guitar and drums, playing post rock instrumentals that sometimes totally remind us of AQ-faves The Fucking Champs, though this has got lotsa quiet parts, really chop-sy *and* beautiful, and is really not so metallic throughout as those Champs fucking are. Nor are Bozart as noisy and hectic and "extreme" as some other bands you might equate them with, formula-wise, like Lightning Bolt and Crom Tech/Orthrelm. No, if those bands are Slayer these guys are Opeth. The tracks on "The Steel Bridge" almost seem to alternate between the pretty proggy ones and the epic, heavier metal compositions. There's spacey psych shoegazer stuff, sometimes repetitive like Circle doing a guitar clinic. But then there's also total epic Champsiness as well. And let's not forget the all-guitar, no drums tour de force of track two. Metal that's not so evil, these men cry real tears. This third Bozart release is a fine one.
MPEG Stream: "Pucker Up"
MPEG Stream: "Frost"
MPEG Stream: "Damaging Winds"

BOZULICH, CARLA Evangelista (Constellation) cd 14.98
Wow, this new album from Ms Bozulich is her darkest yet. With members of Godspeed You Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion, Gowns, Black Ox Orkestar and Mae-Shi in attendance, Evangelista find her exorcizing all of her demons. Her wails match those of the church organ with a fraction of Diamanda Galas' tormented severity -- which taking into consideration the extremities of Ms Galas is still quite potent. They perch atop a smoldering bed of strings and unsettling sounds that are reminiscent of Nurse With Wound's creaking ship on Salt Marie Celeste. Further on in the album things simmer down to a disintegrating lullaby pace as though all emotions and energies have been spent. A broken beauty pervades. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Evangelista I"
MPEG Stream: "Prince Of The World"

BOZULICH, CARLA I'm Gonna Stop Killing (DiChristina Stair Builders) cd 10.98
Want some more slow, despairing avant-country dirges from the former leader of the Geraldine Fibbers? You get seven previously unreleased live tracks here, plus two album cuts taken from Bozulich's excellent Red Headed Stranger cd -- one of which, "Can I Sleep In Your Arms" happens to feature Willie Nelson, who was responsible for the original Red Headed Stranger record back in the '70s. Now, we're not sure about the marketing theory behind this, as you'd imagine that anyone interested in the live cuts already has the studio album, but $10.98 ain't bad for 41 minutes of live material. The live tracks are recorded at various times and venues with different line-ups, all tracks but one featuring the guitar of Nels Cline, and many with melancholic strings, usually courtesy of the violin of Carla Kihlstedt. From a cover of Neil Young's "Running Dry (A Requiem For The Rockets)" to the the 13+ minute Bozulich composition "Outside Of Town" this nicely showcases Bozulich and company's knack for a dark, sorrowful blend of trad. country-folk stylings and more improv-oriented droning, noisy bits.
MPEG Stream: "Running Dry (Requiem For The Rockets)"
MPEG Stream: "Arrow To My Drunken Eye"

BOZULICH, CARLA Red Headed Stranger (DiCristina Stair Builders) cd 13.98
This came out back in the fall, and though we keep selling 'em we hadn't gotten around to listing it 'til now. But we didn't want it to slip through the cracks, so here's a little blurb on this fine record. Singer/guitarist Carla Bozulich you know from Geraldine Fibbers and her band with partner (and AQ fave guitarist) Nels Cline, Scarnella. Nels is part of this project as well, in which Carla takes on the entire Red Headed Stranger album by C&W legend Willie Nelson. Her re-interpretation of this classic both brings a new avant/underground vibe to its downer Americana but still hews close to Nelson's vision: enough that Willie himself plays and sings on a few tracks on this record! Real real nice. I (Allan) saw Carla, Nels and co. perform songs from this (along with other tunes, including some old Geraldine Fibbers favorites) at this past year's All Tommorrow's Parties festival in LA, and it was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend. Traditional country melachony and outright string drone, entrancing.
MPEG Stream: "Time Of The Preacher"
MPEG Stream: "Red Headed Stranger"

BR. DANIELSON Brother Is To Son (Secretly Canadian) cd 14.98
Here's the sixth album from this unmistakable, eccentric, secular musical group who have always been hard to categorize -- as a Christian band or otherwise. Br. Danielson is the newest in the line of Danielson incarnations which feature an ever-shifting cast of players anchored by mainman Daniel Smith. The Danielson Famile, Tri-Danielson and Danielsonship are the others which have indeed included a number of his other siblings. Brother Is To Son kicks off with the fiery hillbilly stomp "Things Against Stuff" then over the course of the next seven songs gradually slows to the yearning, somber "Physician Heal Yourself". Actually the latter half drew comparisons to Devendra Banhart, and similarities are palpable from the lyrical content (sometimes weighty, sometimes bizarre) to the distinctive untethered vocal delivery to the overall sense of newfound urgency. Daniel Smith once again sings in his chirpy shrill falsetto, while sister Megan provides soft backing vocals. Keep an ear out for Sufjan Stevens' pluckety pluck banjo too.
MPEG Stream: "Things Against Stuff"
MPEG Stream: "Physician Heal Yourself"

BR. DANIELSON Brother Is To Son (Secretly Canadian) lp 14.98
Here's the sixth album from this unmistakable, eccentric, secular musical group who have always been hard to categorize -- as a Christian band or otherwise. Br. Danielson is the newest in the line of Danielson incarnations which feature an ever-shifting cast of players anchored by mainman Daniel Smith. The Danielson Famile, Tri-Danielson and Danielsonship are the others which have indeed included a number of his other siblings. Brother Is To Son kicks off with the fiery hillbilly stomp "Things Against Stuff" then over the course of the next seven songs gradually slows to the yearning, somber "Physician Heal Yourself". Actually the latter half drew comparisons to Devendra Banhart, and similarities are palpable from the lyrical content (sometimes weighty, sometimes bizarre) to the distinctive untethered vocal delivery to the overall sense of newfound urgency. Daniel Smith once again sings in his chirpy shrill falsetto, while sister Megan provides soft backing vocals. Keep an ear out for Sufjan Stevens' pluckety pluck banjo too.
MPEG Stream: "Things Against Stuff"
MPEG Stream: "Physician Heal Yourself"

BRAGG, BILLY Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (Yep Roc) 2cd 22.00
Three cheers for Billy Bragg! Uh, make that four! One for each of these reissued albums -- Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP, and this one. This reissue comes with a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings. Hip hip hooray, indeed!
(Psst, for Bragg super fans, there's the Volume One 9-disc box set which boxes the four reissues along with a bonus dvd!)

BRAGG, BILLY Don't Try This At Home (reissue) (Yep Roc) 2cd 21.00
Holy smokes! It's nothing but reissue mania for Sir William of Braggville! You might recall those fine folks at Yep Roc Records' first batch of four reissues which came out early this year. Collectively known as Billy Bragg Volume 1, they included Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP. Super great!
Well, the autumn brings forth four more of ol' Billy's best, all splendidly remastered and rereleased. They are England, Half English, William Bloke, Worker's Playtime and this one from 1991. You may or may not recall, this is the album where Bragg pulled out the big guns for back-up -- Johnny Marr, R.E.M.s Michael Stipe and Peter Buck and Kirsty MacColl -- though he really didn't 'need' 'em!
As with the previous bunch, each one comes in a trayless digipak with new cover art and a bonus disc of rarities. Ahh, but isn't it such a bittersweet pleasure to hear them again after all these years with Bragg's early '80s socio-political commentary still ringing relevant and true today more than ever?
(Oh yeah, and if you wanna go completely Bragg wild, there's a Volume Two boxset that has all these releases and a dvd packed together with a big booklet. Let us know if you're game!)
MPEG Stream: "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood"
MPEG Stream: "Tighten Up Your Wig"

BRAGG, BILLY England, Half English (Yep Roc) 2cd 21.00
Holy smokes! It's nothing but reissue mania for Sir William of Braggville! You might recall those fine folks at Yep Roc Records' first batch of four reissues which came out early this year. Collectively known as Billy Bragg Volume 1, they included Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP. Super great!
Well, the autumn brings forth four more of ol' Billy's best, all splendidly remastered and rereleased. They are Don't Try This At Home, William Bloke, Worker's Playtime and this, his most recent album proper, originally released in 2002.
As with the previous bunch, each one comes in a trayless digipak with new cover art and a bonus disc of rarities. Ahh, but isn't it such a bittersweet pleasure to hear them again after all these years with Bragg's early '80s socio-political commentary still ringing relevant and true today more than ever?
(Oh yeah, and if you wanna go completely Bragg wild, there's a Volume Two boxset that has all these releases and a dvd packed together with a big booklet. Let us know if you're game!)
MPEG Stream: "He'll Go Down"
MPEG Stream: "Mystery Shoes"

BRAGG, BILLY Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy (Yep Roc) 2cd 22.00
Three cheers for Billy Bragg! Uh, make that four! One for each of these reissued albums -- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP, and this one. This reissue comes with a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings. Hip hip hooray, indeed!
(Psst, for Bragg super fans, there's the Volume One 9-disc box set which boxes the four reissues along with a bonus dvd!)

BRAGG, BILLY Must I Paint You A Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg (Rhino) 2cd 27.00
Haven't heard from the ever-engaging socio-political troubadour Billy Bragg in some time. His last release was 2002's England, Half English and prior to that Mermaid Avenues Vol. 1 and 2, his Woody Guthrie-penned collaborations with Wilco. But almost as if to remind us of his immense body of work that spans two decades, and to spur us on to revisit it - here is a double cd collection of some of his most well-known songs. Included are "A New England", "Levi Stubbs' Tears", his cover of "Walk Away Renee", "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood", "She's Got A New Spell", "Help Save The Youth Of America"... the list goes on and on. There's also a handful of the Bragg/Wilco songs as well as a bonus disc of rare Bragg odds and ends. All the essentials, indeed!
MPEG Stream: "A New England"
MPEG Stream: "Levi Stubb's Tears"

BRAGG, BILLY Reaching To The Converted (Rhino) cd 15.98
Seventeen tracks, a collection of UK singles and rarities dating back to 1985.

BRAGG, BILLY Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (Yep Roc) 2cd 22.00
Three cheers for Billy Bragg! Uh, make that four! One for each of these reissued albums -- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP, and this one. This reissue comes with a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings. Hip hip hooray, indeed!
(Psst, for Bragg super fans, there's the Volume One 9-disc box set which boxes the four reissues along with a bonus dvd!)

BRAGG, BILLY The Internationale EP / Live & Dubious EP (Yep Roc) cd+dvd 22.00
Three cheers for Billy Bragg! Uh, make that four! One for each of these reissued albums -- Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, and this one. This reissue comes with five bonus tracks and a bonus dvd of two live performances (one from 1986 in Lithuania and the other from 1988 in East Berlin). Hip hip hooray, indeed!
(Psst, for Bragg super fans, there's the Volume One 9-disc box set which boxes the four reissues along with a bonus dvd!)

BRAGG, BILLY William Bloke (Yep Roc) 2cd 21.00
Holy smokes! It's nothing but reissue mania for Sir William of Braggville! You might recall those fine folks at Yep Roc Records' first batch of four reissues which came out early this year. Collectively known as Billy Bragg Volume 1, they included Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP. Super great!
Well, the autumn brings forth four more of ol' Billy's best, all splendidly remastered and rereleased. They are England, Half English, Don't Try This At Home, Worker's Playtime and this, perhaps one of his most stark and downcast works, from back in 1996.
As with the previous bunch, each one comes in a trayless digipak with new cover art and a bonus disc of rarities. Ahh, but isn't it such a bittersweet pleasure to hear them again after all these years with Bragg's early '80s socio-political commentary still ringing relevant and true today more than ever?
(Oh yeah, and if you wanna go completely Bragg wild, there's a Volume Two boxset that has all these releases and a dvd packed together with a big booklet. Let us know if you're game!)
MPEG Stream: "Brickbat"
MPEG Stream: "Goalhanger (demo)"

BRAGG, BILLY Worker's Playtime (Yep Roc) 2cd 21.00
Holy smokes! It's nothing but reissue mania for Sir William of Braggville! You might recall those fine folks at Yep Roc Records' first batch of four reissues which came out early this year. Collectively known as Billy Bragg Volume 1, they included Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, Brewing Up With Billy Bragg, Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, The Internationale EP and the Live & Dubious EP. Super great!
Well, the autumn brings forth four more of ol' Billy's best, all splendidly remastered and rereleased. They are England, Half English, Don't Try This At Home, William Bloke and this one -- in our opinion quite possibly one of his best! -- from way back in 1988. It features such gems as "She's Got A New Spell" and "Waiting For The Great Leap Forward". So good.
As with the previous bunch, each one comes in a trayless digipak with new cover art and a bonus disc of rarities. Ahh, but isn't it such a bittersweet pleasure to hear them again after all these years with Bragg's early '80s socio-political commentary still ringing relevant and true today more than ever?
(Oh yeah, and if you wanna go completely Bragg wild, there's a Volume Two boxset that has all these releases and a dvd packed together with a big booklet. Let us know if you're game!)
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For The Great Leap"
MPEG Stream: "She's Got A New Spell (demo)"

BRAGG, BILLY & WILCO Mermaid Avenue (Elektra) cd 14.98
Those Wilco boys join forces with Billy Bragg in a valiant and quite often successful attempt to put new music to some of the hundreds of song lyrics which Woody Guthrie wrote before his death. Although he is physically outnumbered, musicially Mermaid Avenue is heavier on the Bragg than the Wilco sound.

BRAGG, BILLY & WILCO Mermaid Avenue (Elektra) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Moderately successful attempt to put new music to some of the hundreds of song lyrics which Woody Guthrie wrote before his death. Musicially this is heavier on the Bragg than the Wilco sound.

BRAGG, BILLY & WILCO Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (Elektra) cd 14.98
On their first foray together, recording songs from previously unreleased lyrics of Woody Guthrie, Wilco and Billy Bragg produced - in our minds - a fairly unremarkable effort. With their follow up album we find ourselves pleasantly surprised. Not only is the music here much more akin to Wilco than Bragg (in stark contrast to the first), but Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy also thankfully sings a lot more as well. There's even a shocker of a cameo by singer Natalie Merchant sounding decidedly unlike Natalie Merchant. This is one of those albums that, when we put it on in the store... Yeah, you know the rest. Recommended.

BRAIN DONOR Drain'd Boner (Invada) cd 14.98
Good grief, "Drain'd Boner" would be a stupid title, of course, if it wasn't so brilliant, in this case. That clever play on words heralds the return of the Julian "Druid dude" Cope's heavier-than-thou, super-Stoogey "stupor groop" Brain Donor, also featuring members of Spiritualized releasing their inner cock rock axe demons. The resultant splooge comes close to Mainliner, High Rise, Acid Mothers Temple territory, especially on track two, the ten minute "Nagasaki Mushroom" which is a suitably apocalyptic, head nodding heavy guitar grind... meanwhile other tracks like the more uptempo "Where Do We Take U?" (some sort of Hawkwind meets UK post punk ditty) demonstrate the English origins of these pagan rockers. Definitely lots to love here for fans of drunken, droning punk-metal psychedelic sludge! Kinda like Vincent Black Shadow playing the SUNNO))) songbook. Nicely packaged, as well, in a slipcased jewelcase.
MPEG Stream: "Nagasaki Mushroom"
MPEG Stream: "Just About Now"
MPEG Stream: "Metsamor (First Place Of Metal)"

BRAIN DONOR Drain'd Boner (Invada) lp 26.00
Good grief, "Drain'd Boner" would be a stupid title, of course, if it wasn't so brilliant, in this case. That clever play on words heralds the return of the Julian "Druid dude" Cope's heavier-than-thou, super-Stoogey "stupor groop" Brain Donor, also featuring members of Spiritualized releasing their inner cock rock axe demons. The resultant splooge comes close to Mainliner, High Rise, Acid Mothers Temple territory, especially on track two, the ten minute "Nagasaki Mushroom" which is a suitably apocalyptic, head nodding heavy guitar grind... meanwhile other tracks like the more uptempo "Where Do We Take U?" (some sort of Hawkwind meets UK post punk ditty) demonstrate the English origins of these pagan rockers. Definitely lots to love here for fans of drunken, droning punk-metal psychedelic sludge! Kinda like Vincent Black Shadow playing the SUNNO))) songbook. Nicely packaged, as well, in a slipcased jewelcase.
MPEG Stream: "Nagasaki Mushroom"
MPEG Stream: "Just About Now"
MPEG Stream: "Metsamor (First Place Of Metal)"

BRAIN DONOR Get Off Your Pretty Face (Impresario) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A two-song single from this project featuring Julian Cope (the former The Teardrop Explodes guy and self-proclaimed Krautrock expert) and two guys from Spiritualized, playing propulsive, heavy Stooges-style punkrock (Iggyish vox, loads of distorted psychedelic/metal guitar skree). Under ten minutes in length, but packing a lot of rock action in there. Great day-glo pink cover design!

BRAIN DONOR Love Peace & Fuck (Impresario) cd 19.98
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Brain Donor is the latest musical offering from Krautrock aficionado Julian Cope, who qualifies this Stooges / thug rock outfit as his 'stuporgroup.' Along with longstanding collaborator Thighpaulsandra (who is also a member of Coil and Spiritualized), Cope has recruited the help of "Dogman and Keviar from Spiritualized." It's not clear who are really behind these pseudonyms, but this sounds very little like the halcyon gospel of Spiritualized. Brain Donor instead offers immediately punchy proto-punk riffs that could have easily been lifted from any of the "Funhouse" sessions, played with a glam metal attitude. You can tell these guys are having a ball acting like bad-asses. Totally dumb and totally fun.
RealAudio clip: "She Saw Me Coming"
RealAudio clip: "Odin's Gift To His Mother"

BRAIN DONOR s/t (Mister E) cd 13.98
Stooges. That's not what these guys are, but it's who they'd like to be! As in Iggy and the. They wanna be your dog and do a damn good job of it. A couple years ago we reviewed an import album and single from this band, the "stuporgroup" brainchild of psych rawk aficionado Julian Cope (of The Teardrop Explodes, now equally well known for his expertise in such subjects as krautrock and megalithic Europe), featuring Cope plus collaborators Thighpaulsandra (of Coil) and some pseudononymous guys from Spiritualized (Doggen and Kevlar). This domestically released cd compiles the key tracks from Brain Donor's 2001 Love Peace & Fuck album (the one we listed) and their Too Freud To Rock'n'roll, Too Jung To Die album from 2003.
As we said before, they play propulsive, heavy Stooges-style punk rock (Iggyish vox, loads of distorted psychedelic/metal guitar skree), packing a lot of rock action into these tracks. Pure Detroit worship, done by guys who know what they're doing! With amps set to 11, titles like "My Pagan Ass" and the band done up in full glam regalia, it's hard to say this is more than dumb, good fun, but really that's enuff isn't it? Hopefully they'll follow up this release with a new album soon (supposedly being recorded here in San Francisco with members of Monoshock!)...otherwise we'll be left waiting for the next Mudhoney, or a Thee Hypnotics reunion, to get our Stoogey rock fix.
MPEG Stream: "My Pagan Ass"
MPEG Stream: "Shaman U.F.O."

BRAIN POLICE San Diego's Only Psychedelic Cops (Shadoks Music) cd 14.98
Reissue of recordings by San Diego's Brain Police made between 1964 and 1969. Garage Psych, acid blues rock jams a la Iron Butterfly.

BRAINBOMBS Cheap (Load) 12" 10.98
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Four new tracks from everyone's favorite filthy Swedes. Dark, disgusting murky sludge rock with titles like "I Wish I Was Dead She Said" and "Cum In Blood" grace side one. Side two features the highly anticipated and lengthy remix of "It's A Burning Hell" by the one and only Destroyer himself, Alec Empire. Don't think this will make it onto cd anytime soon, so don't delay.

BRAINBOMBS I Need Speed / End Up Dead (Big Brothel Cornucopia) 7" 5.98
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What really needs to be said about the Brainbombs? Other than they totally fucking rule! Happy to report that rumors of their demise were greatly exaggerated, this is the second 7" in the last year from these demented Swedes and it's another killer. Two tracks of gritty, grimy, sludgy Stoogesy garage stomp. Murky and lo-fi, thick and abrasive, bleating trumpet skronk and strangled whiney vocals are buried within a massive roiling blast of divine scuzz rock. Blown out, sloppy and sick, a single badass riff pounded into your skull over and over and over and over, while some lunatic rants about his need for speed and how you'll just end up dead. Completely godlike!

BRAINBOMBS Obey (Releasing Eskimo & Slow Dance) cd 13.98
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Don't let the jaunty little Lawrence Welk ditty that opens Obey lull you into any sort of peaceful state, you'd best be prepared for the hateful murderous mayhem that Obey has in store for you. Then again, that's probably precisely what the Brainbombs had in mind. A gentle voice luring you into a dark alley, a shiny trinket distracting you while the burlap sack goes over your head and you're dragged kicking and screaming into the woods, a sweet piece of candy draws you just close enough so you can be knocked unconscious, tied up, and stuffed in the trunk. Those of you familiar with the brutal musical world of Brainbombs will know exactly what we're going on about. The rest of you, be very very careful. They traffic in a sludgey, jazzy garage rock scuzz stomp, repeated riffs, simple pounding drums, a lurching leering fuzzed out psychedelic dirge underpinning tales of murder and mayhem, murder and rape, death and dismemberment. This is probably their most overtly harsh record. Mostly because unlike the rest of their releases you can actually hear what these Swedes are singing about. All delivered in a sort of fey, heavily accented English. As if the song titles weren't enough,"Kill Them All", "Die You Fuck", "Anal Desire", "Lipstick On My Dick", "Fuckmeat", the lyrics are misogynistic, misanthropic and just plain messed up. The sound is like Melvins meets Whitehouse filtered through the fuzzy garage stomp of the Stooges but with a maniacally repetitive looped quality, that cranks up the tension, while the vocalist slowly unravels and gets meaner and meaner, more and more insane. And let's not forget the occasional warbly warped trumpet (!). What can we say? We love Brainbombs.
We've never listed this one before, as it has been seemingly out of print for ages. Thankfully a distributor managed to scrape up a bunch, but we can't be sure how long we'll have these.
MPEG Stream: "Die You Fuck"
MPEG Stream: "Anal Desire"
MPEG Stream: "Lipstick On My Dick"

BRAINBOMBS Obey (Armageddon) cd 14.98
Finally back in print, one of the most gloriously sick and scuzzy, blown out slabs of misanthropic sludgey jazzy garage-y dirge rock EVER!!!
Don't let the jaunty little Lawrence Welk ditty that opens Obey lull you into any sort of peaceful state, you'd best be prepared for the hateful murderous mayhem that Obey has in store for you. Then again, that's probably precisely what the Brainbombs had in mind. A gentle voice luring you into a dark alley, a shiny trinket distracting you while the burlap sack goes over your head and you're dragged kicking and screaming into the woods, a sweet piece of candy draws you just close enough so you can be knocked unconscious, tied up, and stuffed in the trunk. Those of you familiar with the brutal musical world of Brainbombs will know exactly what we're going on about. The rest of you, be very very careful. They traffic in a sludgey, jazzy garage rock scuzz stomp, repeated riffs, simple pounding drums, a lurching leering fuzzed out psychedelic dirge underpinning tales of murder and mayhem, murder and rape, death and dismemberment. This is probably their most overtly harsh record. Mostly because unlike the rest of their releases you can actually hear what these Swedes are singing about. All delivered in a sort of fey, heavily accented English. As if the song titles weren't enough,"Kill Them All", "Die You Fuck", "Anal Desire", "Lipstick On My Dick", "Fuckmeat", the lyrics are misogynistic, misanthropic and just plain messed up. The sound is like Melvins meets Whitehouse filtered through the fuzzy garage stomp of the Stooges but with a maniacally repetitive looped quality, that cranks up the tension, while the vocalist slowly unravels and gets meaner and meaner, more and more insane. And let's not forget the occasional warbly warped trumpet (!). What can we say? We love Brainbombs.
MPEG Stream: "Die You Fuck"
MPEG Stream: "Anal Desire"
MPEG Stream: "Lipstick On My Dick"

BRAINBOMBS s/t (The Singles Collection II) (Polly Maggoo) cd 15.98
Oh lord, are we ever in filthy, crusty, demented, depraved, misanthropic, sludge rock heaven! That's right, FINALLY, it's the second collection of 7"s from Sweden's mightiest musical export (well, if you ask us, at least!) THE BRAINBOMBS! Everything we love about these musical miscreants is in full affect, the pummeling trash can percussion, the downtuned fuzz drenched ultra distorted guitars, the bizarre, sort of fey, sort of scary vocals, regaling tales of murder and mayhem, rape and torture, death and destruction, the warbly dented drunken trumpet, all wrapped up into a stumbling, hypnotic, and seriously fucking disturbed package. 
It's like they took their favorite Stooges riff, stole a bunch of instruments from the music store, and set up in the basement of the local highschool, where in between kidnapping and torturing students, they would record these slabs of abject musical horror, each one a single riff, pounded and pummeled into submission, sometimes flecked with bits of slide guitar, or that damaged trumpet, but always dripping and oozing with all manner of pestilence and putrefaction. And we can't get enough. 
Folks who love Bone Awl and Akitsa and other primitive droning black metal outfits, will probably hear lots of that foul blackness all tangled up in the Brainbombs primitive garage stomp, and folks who have bee digging stuff like the Violent Students and Clockcleaner and Shit And Shine and Rusted Shut and other similar noisy bastards absolutely need this!!
Includes the single that came out on Andee's tUMULt label, the most recent Stinking Memory 7" on Anthem, as well as the Wabana Gun Court single, the Ken Rock single as well as the Big Brothel single. Easily some of our favorite BB tracks ever, "Stigma Of The Ripper", "The Grinder", "I Need Speed"... fuck! If only more bands could do so much with so little. Stripped down and blown out, catchy as all get out but still grimy and brutal and very very very fucked up.  
Also included are some rare live tracks, all time BB classics, "Urge To Kill" among them, recorded live in Norway way back in 1993, the sound appropriately distorted and low fidelity, and don't miss the hidden last track, a minute long, post performance Brainbombs sign off, with some demented crowd action, chanting for more...
Essential!
MPEG Stream: "Stigma Of The Ripper"
MPEG Stream: "The Grinder"
MPEG Stream: "Stinking Memory"

BRAINBOMBS Stigma Of The Ripper / Street Cleaner (tUMULt) 7" 4.98
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Who would have thought that the joyous occasion of the first tUMULt 7" vinyl release would also bring such sadness and despair. But sadly it's true, the Brainbombs are no more. But thankfully, they've gone out with a bang. The bang being this grungy, scuzzy, pummelling 45 rpm, two song farewell kick in the face. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sweden's Brainbombs, think prime Stooges, recorded in a smelly sweaty basement, on a boom box, amidst scattered porno mags, corpses, weapons and human excrement. While a whining vocalist spits up mysogynistic and misanthropic tales of hyper violence. Then add in the occasional bleat of a demented-jazz trumpet and some fucked up fuzzy blown-tweeter bass. So good. And these two tracks are some of the best Brianbombs material ever. The A side starts with a stuttery, super distorted beat before the sky collapses and you're buried in a pile of violently squirming barbed wire guitars, while a ghostly, sort-of-Eastern melody weaves surreptitiously through the melee. Track two trawls similarly dark territory, a 'Fun House'-ish dirge with a warbley trumpet melody desperately trying to keep from being sucked under by the muck and grime. While the Brainbombs may be dead, they have not entirely ruled out the possibility of more mayhem in the future. But for now, this is a suitably brutal and brilliant epitaph. On thick white vinyl. And we mean THICK. Maybe the thickest vinyl we've ever seen!! Seriously, it's like a ceramic salad plate or something!

BRAINBOMBS Stinking Memory (Anthem) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We thought we had heard the last of these Swedish musical miscreants with their Stigma Of The Ripper 7" on tUMULt a while back, but according to the band, these two tracks here are actually their last will and testament, the band have finally officially called it quits, with various members continuing on in their own perverse musical pursuits.
And a fitting way to end it. Nothing new or spectacularly different, just more of that murk, filthy, jazzy garage sludge we have come to know and love. A simple riff, doused in distortion and played through some beat up old amp, repeated over and over and over, mantra like, hypnotic and disturbing, the drums propulsive and motorik, a horn bleating and skronking within the murk and mire, while the vocals, delivered in a totally detached deadpan drawl, recount tales of fucking and sucking, rape and incest, and all manner of sexual depravity and ultra violence.
"Stinking Memory" is perfect Brainbombs, a simple riff, ultra fucked up lyrics, some damaged jazz skronk, all wrapped in a thick production of murky muddiness, and pounded out relentlessly, a damaged demented scuzzy filthy garage rock stomp. "Insects" is even better, taking the stomp of side 1 and blowing out the guitar even more, sounding impossible catchy while getting even filthier, every spare bit of space filled up with tangled scrabbling angular guitar solos, so convoluted and dense, they seem to just add another layer of noisy buzz to the proceedings.
God, we're gonna miss these guys...
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