ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT R.I.P. (Vagrant) cd 14.98
There's no doubt about it, Rocket From The Crypt were one of the most exciting and entertaining rock bands to come out of the '90s PERIOD. In the pre-Strokes and pre-White Stripes landscape they were the only ones really championing the eternal power of rock n' roll's spirit to indie, punk, garage, and pop kids across the nation. John Reis was born to be a lead man, with his fiery guitar playing, witty mind and Elvis meets Johnny Thunders stage presence. R.I.P. is a recording of their last ever live show which went down in San Diego on Halloween of '05. Anyone who saw RFTC live knows that they always brought the goods full throttle. Their shows were meant to make your body move, and we can remember the great feeling of so much sweat pouring out of our bodies at so many of the amazing Rocket shows we got to see. Not many other bands could inspire so many people to get tattoos of their logo (which if you had one you could get into any show they played for free). The band called it quits before they got stale or tired, as even 15 years after their birth they still could tap into the fires of rock n' roll like magic when onstage. As with all the RFTC records, there are some super funny liner notes by Mr. Reis himself. Long live RFTC!
MPEG Stream: "A+ In Arson Class"
MPEG Stream: "Born In '69"
MPEG Stream: "Sturdy Wrists"

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS Day The Earth Met (Smog Veil) cd 16.98
Rocket From The Tombs was borne of the same urban decay that coughed up the Electric Eels, the Consumers and Pere Ubu. While not as well known as the any of those bands or the other bands like the Stooges or the MC5 that shared their sound/ideals (although fairly well known as the band that Rocket From The Crypt stole their name from) RFTT kicked serious ass, spitting out trashy, classic seventies anthemic punk. I LOVE this shit! 'Day The Earth Met' is a collection of rare and live tracks (great recording quality considering). Perhaps "The best record never recorded". Two Stooges covers and some songs that would later became Pere Ubu songs (RFTT's Peter Laughner's next band) The lyrics are desolate and depressing, hopeless and punk and stupidly brilliant (or brilliantly stupid).
To quote their song "Ain't it Fun": "Ain't it fun when you're always on the run / Ain't it fun when your friends despise what you've become / Ain't it fun when you get so high you can't cum / Ain't it fun when you know your gonna die young / Such fun / Such fun / Ain't it fun when you feel you just gotta buy a gun / Ain't it fun cuz your takin care of #1 / Ain't it fun when you just can't find yer tongue / Cuz you stuck it way to deep in something that really stung / Ain't it fun / Somebody came to me and they spit right in my face and I didn't even feel that / It was such a disgrace I broke the window / smashed my fist right through the glass / But I couldn't even feel it, it just happened to fast. / It was fun / Such fun / Such fun"
Definitely for fans of the aformentioned bands as well as anyone into dirty, scuzzy, nasty, snotty catchy garage/punk/rock!
RealAudio clip: "Ain't It Fun"
RealAudio clip: "Life Stinks"
RealAudio clip: "Sonic Reducer"

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS Day The Earth Met (Smog Veil) 2lp 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on vinyl!! Rocket From The Tombs was borne of the same urban decay that coughed up the Electric Eels, the Consumers, Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. While not as well known as the any of those bands or the other bands like the Stooges or the MC5 that shared their sound/ideals (although fairly well known as the band that Rocket From The Crypt stole their name from) RFTT kicked serious ass, spitting out trashy, classic seventies anthemic punk. I LOVE this shit! 'Day The Earth Met' is a collection of rare and live tracks (great recording quality considering). Perhaps "The best record never recorded". Two Stooges covers and some songs that would later became Pere Ubu songs (RFTT's Peter Laughner's next band) The lyrics are desolate and depressing, hopeless and punk and stupidly brilliant (or brilliantly stupid).
To quote their song "Ain't it Fun": "Ain't it fun when you're always on the run / Ain't it fun when your friends despise what you've become / Ain't it fun when you get so high you can't cum / Ain't it fun when you know your gonna die young / Such fun / Such fun / Ain't it fun when you feel you just gotta buy a gun / Ain't it fun cuz your takin care of #1 / Ain't it fun when you just can't find yer tongue / Cuz you stuck it way to deep in something that really stung / Ain't it fun / Somebody came to me and they spit right in my face and I didn't even feel that / It was such a disgrace I broke the window / smashed my fist right through the glass / But I couldn't even feel it, it just happened to fast. / It was fun / Such fun / Such fun"
Definitely for fans of the aformentioned bands as well as anyone into dirty, scuzzy, nasty, snotty catchy garage/punk/rock!
RealAudio clip: "Ain't It Fun"
RealAudio clip: "Life Stinks"
RealAudio clip: "Sonic Reducer"

ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS Rocket Redux (Smog Veil) cd 13.98
Everyone's favorite Ohio proto-punks return all grown up, reform and re-record a handful of their old classics! Featuring the star studded lineup of David Thomas (Pere Ubu), Richard Lloyd (Television) Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys), Steve Mehlman (Pere Ubu), and Craig Bell (Saucers). Maybe not as fierce and urgent as the original versions, but pretty cool nonetheless.
MPEG Stream: "Sonic Reducer"
MPEG Stream: "Never Gonna Kill Myself Again"

ROCKET SCIENCE AND THE NIGGER LOVING FAGGOTS s/t (Vulgar Tango) lp 8.98
Pretty provocative name huh? These problematically monikered nineties Bay Area improvised noise makers, in fact, boasted a pretty surprising and stellar pedigree, the duo included Kelvin Pittman now of Portland Bike Ensemble, and Kyp Malone, of fellow SF noiseniks Iran and now of... TV On The Radio!!? Huh? Yep, long before Malone was playing huge festivals and helping send Pitchfork into conniptions, and releasing solo records, and impressing the indie rock throngs with his impossible and impressive facial hair, he was in fact one half of Rocket Science, a raucous, blasting, psychedelic combo, who spit out a wild fusion of free jazz and free noise, and this was their only record, released on Vulgar Tango way back when, along with the debut Iran lp reviewed elsewhere on this week's list. The Vulgar Tango dude discovered a stash of records (both Iran and Rocket Science) that had been hidden away for close to a decade, and decided to let us have them!
So yeah, we always sort of wondered why in all the articles about TV On The Radio, they never ONCE mentioned Kyp's time in RSATNLF, although we can sort of guess. Which is too bad, cuz these guys ruled. Nothing at all like TV On The Radio of course, or Iran really (except for some of the noisiness), Rocket Science took guitars and bells and drums and some 'singing' and wound 'em all up into a super charged take on that SST jazz sound, filtered through a warped SF noiserock filter. Sometimes surprisingly melodic and tranquil, but more often than not, fierce and free and heavy and loud, skittery percussion, tangled grinding guitar gnarl, some serious psychedelic crunch, lots of feedback, all woozy and warped, chaotic and off kilter, brief squalls of splattery atonal skronk, give way to warbly drone psych squiggles, which gives way to drum-kit-down-the-stairs cacophony, which then gives way to some almost metal chug and thud, which always seems to blossom into a crumbling mass of swirling sound and amp damaging free-rock delirium. Gloriously ramshackle and seriously challenging, an extremely noisy and loud look back at one of our favorite unsung outfits that helped define the SF underground in the early 2000s...

ROCKETSHIP Garden of Delights (Drive-In) 12 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New recording propels Rocketship away from twee pop and into the realm of murmury, quiet electronica soundscapes... Very, very good (and we hear a lotta stuff of this ilk, believe me)!

ROD POOLE TRIO Iasis (Transparency) cdep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
So lovely! British guitarist (living in LA) Poole, who has done two great, trance inducing solo albums of his "just-intonation" improvisations, here has his acoustic guitar accompanied by the droning, bowed guitars of Douglas Williford and Joseph Hammer, for 18 minutes of bliss. Our only complaint is that this is not a full-length.

RODAN Rusty (Quarterstick) cd 14.98

RODIER, ROGER Upon Velveatur (Sunbeam) cd 16.98
Wow! Yet another amazing re-issue from this exciting new reissue label Sunbeam. We haven't been this excited about a rediscovered psych-folk classic since Red Hash by Gary Higgins. Nobody knew what to expect from the cover photo of Rodier, (looking a lot like Geddy Lee) staring out at us from a hazy meadow with the strange enigmatic title: Upon Velveatur. But by the second song, we had immediately snatched up the only two copies. So we knew we had to get more and share this with the rest of you. Upon Velveatur is a dreamy French-Canadian psych-folk pop suite that varies from hushed mystical songs lushly orchestrated with strings and theremin to more rock-oriented numbers featuring stinging electric guitar. Lazy comparisons to Nick Drake are inevitable, and if we must go there, Upon Velveatur is closest to Bryter Later in terms of feel and production value. But Rodier can also sound like John Lennon with Cream as the band, Fleetwood Mac on backing vocals,and produced by Roger Nichols and his Small Circle of Friends all on one song! We get the feeling that maybe some folks like Neil Halstead were onto the sounds of Rodier as we were listening to some Mojave 3 and could totally hear Rodier's voice and stylings being transmitted by Mr. Halstead. Featuring bonus singles from an earlier psych folk project, Rodier-Gauthier, and liner notes from the man himself. Totally Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "My Spirit's Calling"
MPEG Stream: "The Key"
MPEG Stream: "While My Castle's Burning"

RODRIGUEZ Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) cd 17.98
Pop quiz! Quick: who's the "street poet" singer with no first name*, son of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Detroit Michigan, whose debut album from 1970 sounded like a fuzz-soul-psych version of Bob Dylan and/or Donovan, and was an underground hit in South Africa of all places?? Duh, Rodriguez of course. It's about time his inexplicably obscure Cold Fact got the deluxe reissue treatment it deserves. Seriously, after listening to this for the first time, you'll feel like you just heard a bona fide '60s classic, and be amazed you had never heard these songs before. They ought to be all over "oldies" rock radio. It's ridiculous like that. Songs like "Sugar Man" and "I Wonder" seem like they should be fixtures of the baby boomer memory lane hit parade. It's so very of its era, "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues" is certainly a sixties song title, isn't it? Likewise "Rich Folks Hoax", "Hate Street Dialogue", and "Crucify Your Mind"... But, maybe he was just a little too freaky and right on, and (crucially) never got the right sort of record label support to become well known to the Woodstock Nation, though this album had some rather random, surprising success so far off in the Southern Hemisphere, in South Africa and Australia and New Zealand, which Rodriguez himself was unaware of for many years!
If left to his own devices, perhaps Rodriguez would have come off sounding a bit too much like Dylan. But Cold Fact was a "Theo-Coff" production, from the badass Motor City team of Mike Theodore and funk guitarist Dennis Coffey, and they helped accentuate the more underground and urban aspects of Rodriguez's sound. With his hip, Dylanesque poetry set amidst lush orchestration and gritty grooves, Rodriguez's Cold Fact is a super catchy, tripped out slice of street-level, soulful psychedelia, full of drug references and radical political critique. We alluded to "fuzz" above, but on the track "Only Good For Conversation" we mean FUZZ. That track's a stone(d) cold classic when it comes to heavy duty fuzz guitar crunch.
This reish comes in a nice digipack, with cover embossing and a big ol' cd booklet stuffed with text (liner notes, lyrics) and photos. One of the several cd booklet essays explains in part Rodriguez's unexpected appeal in South Africa - apparently, in that repressive society, it was due to the edgy, uncensored nature of his lyrics. "I Wonder", for instance, with its lines about "I wonder how many times you had sex / And I wonder do you know who'll be next" was considered so risque that if you were a teenager and wanted to be cool, you HAD to have this record. Apparently, many folks in South Africa thought of Rodriguez as being a star up there with the Beatles, and when they didn't hear more from him, all sorts of wild rumors spread that he'd died, been accidentally electrocuted, OD'd, or even committed suicide on stage! When, in fact, he simply had no idea how "big" he was in South Africa, and his recording career had stalled out elsewhere after his sophomore album, 1971's Coming From Reality (also soon to be reissued). Turns out he's still alive and well, today, and has actually gone to South African to pay arena (?!) shows in recent years.
In fact, when we've had album in the store before, it was only available on cd as an expensive import - from South Africa! So we're, again, super stoked that Light In The Attic put the effort in to do this long overdue, definitive domestic reissue.
*actually, his first name was Sixto, but he usually just went by Rodriguez.
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Man"
MPEG Stream: "Only Good For Conversation"
MPEG Stream: "Hate Street Dialogue"

RODRIGUEZ Cold Fact (Light In The Attic) lp 23.00
Pop quiz! Quick: who's the "street poet" singer with no first name*, son of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Detroit Michigan, whose debut album from 1970 sounded like a fuzz-soul-psych version of Bob Dylan and/or Donovan, and was an underground hit in South Africa of all places?? Duh, Rodriguez of course. It's about time his inexplicably obscure Cold Fact got the deluxe reissue treatment it deserves. Seriously, after listening to this for the first time, you'll feel like you just heard a bona fide '60s classic, and be amazed you had never heard these songs before. They ought to be all over "oldies" rock radio. It's ridiculous like that. Songs like "Sugar Man" and "I Wonder" seem like they should be fixtures of the baby boomer memory lane hit parade. It's so very of its era, "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues" is certainly a sixties song title, isn't it? Likewise "Rich Folks Hoax", "Hate Street Dialogue", and "Crucify Your Mind"... But, maybe he was just a little too freaky and right on, and (crucially) never got the right sort of record label support to become well known to the Woodstock Nation, though this album had some rather random, surprising success so far off in the Southern Hemisphere, in South Africa and Australia and New Zealand, which Rodriguez himself was unaware of for many years!
If left to his own devices, perhaps Rodriguez would have come off sounding a bit too much like Dylan. But Cold Fact was a "Theo-Coff" production, from the badass Motor City team of Mike Theodore and funk guitarist Dennis Coffey, and they helped accentuate the more underground and urban aspects of Rodriguez's sound. With his hip, Dylanesque poetry set amidst lush orchestration and gritty grooves, Rodriguez's Cold Fact is a super catchy, tripped out slice of street-level, soulful psychedelia, full of drug references and radical political critique. We alluded to "fuzz" above, but on the track "Only Good For Conversation" we mean FUZZ. That track's a stone(d) cold classic when it comes to heavy duty fuzz guitar crunch.
This reish comes in a nice digipack, with cover embossing and a big ol' cd booklet stuffed with text (liner notes, lyrics) and photos. One of the several cd booklet essays explains in part Rodriguez's unexpected appeal in South Africa - apparently, in that repressive society, it was due to the edgy, uncensored nature of his lyrics. "I Wonder", for instance, with its lines about "I wonder how many times you had sex / And I wonder do you know who'll be next" was considered so risque that if you were a teenager and wanted to be cool, you HAD to have this record. Apparently, many folks in South Africa thought of Rodriguez as being a star up there with the Beatles, and when they didn't hear more from him, all sorts of wild rumors spread that he'd died, been accidentally electrocuted, OD'd, or even committed suicide on stage! When, in fact, he simply had no idea how "big" he was in South Africa, and his recording career had stalled out elsewhere after his sophomore album, 1971's Coming From Reality (also soon to be reissued). Turns out he's still alive and well, today, and has actually gone to South African to pay arena (?!) shows in recent years.
In fact, when we've had album in the store before, it was only available on cd as an expensive import - from South Africa! So we're, again, super stoked that Light In The Attic put the effort in to do this long overdue, definitive domestic reissue.
*actually, his first name was Sixto, but he usually just went by Rodriguez.
MPEG Stream: "Sugar Man"
MPEG Stream: "Only Good For Conversation"
MPEG Stream: "Hate Street Dialogue"

RODRIGUEZ Inner City Blues / I'm Gonna Live Till I Die (Light In The Attic) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ, OMAR Calibration (Is Pushing Luck And Key Too Far) (n20 Records) cd 13.98
Mars Volta fans! We're sure you're well acquainted with the name Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, aren't you? Well, your fave band's guitarist goes solo once again (this is his fifth solo release)... and gets all electronic and acid jazz-y in the process. Emphasis as usual is on the (fusion and free) jazz side of things, mind you! We've heard some call these tracks experimental soundscapes, but once you get past the first minute and twenty seconds we think better terms to use are improvs or jams. They are far more active and melodic than the former term implies. Furthermore, there is a definite open-weave feel to the proceedings, and all of Rodriguez-Lopez's musical influences (other artists such as Santana and Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as geographic regions Latin America) are palpable at every turn. If you dig those stretches when he totally goes off during a live MV set, then you'll probably get deep into these recordings. Lots of mad flourishes of percussion, guitar and synth noodling, some cool segments that you wish would develop into full-blown songs but instead abruptly stop and jump to something else, it's sort of like an audio sketchbook of his time spent in Amsterdam although you'll also feel like he jetsetted to other exotic locales during the recordings. It wasn't a solo mission by any means. You'll hear plenty of contributions from his MV comrades as well as six-string buddy John Frusciante and Money Mark too.
MPEG Stream: "El Monte Tai"
MPEG Stream: "Glosa Picaresca Wou Men"

ROEDELIUS Jardin Au Fou (Bureau B / Paragon) cd 17.98
The pastoral half of Cluster explores his penchant for French romanticism in this dazzling suite of spacious baroque minimalism from 1979. Produced with the assistance of Peter Baumann, Roedelius broadens his focus as a traditional composer and displays ample musicianship with an eclectic array of instrumentation: flutes cellos, pianos and harpsichords, steering away from the abstracting qualities of the sequencers and processors normally employed in his main group. There's a carnivalesque playfulness to the tracks here, suggesting carousels and waltzes, penny arcades, and street performers, but with a refined restraint that evades schmaltz. Like the perfect accompaniment to a Resnais film, each piece is a delightful handmade miniature strung together in a labyrinthian web. Liner notes by longtime friend Asmus Tietchens with six bonus tracks ONLY on the cd version, including three new songs, and three remixes from the album. Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Fou Fou"
MPEG Stream: "Rue Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "Cafe Central"

ROEDELIUS Jardin Au Fou (Bureau B / Paragon) lp 17.98
The pastoral half of Cluster explores his penchant for French romanticism in this dazzling suite of spacious baroque minimalism from 1979. Produced with the assistance of Peter Baumann, Roedelius broadens his focus as a traditional composer and displays ample musicianship with an eclectic array of instrumentation: flutes cellos, pianos and harpsichords, steering away from the abstracting qualities of the sequencers and processors normally employed in his main group. There's a carnivalesque playfulness to the tracks here, suggesting carousels and waltzes, penny arcades, and street performers, but with a refined restraint that evades schmaltz. Like the perfect accompaniment to a Resnais film, each piece is a delightful handmade miniature strung together in a labyrinthian web. Liner notes by longtime friend Asmus Tietchens with six bonus tracks ONLY on the cd version, including three new songs, and three remixes from the album. Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Fou Fou"
MPEG Stream: "Rue Fortune"
MPEG Stream: "Cafe Central"

ROEDELIUS Lustwandel (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Along with the beautiful compilation of seventies recordings from Roedelius' Selbstportrait series (Diary Of The Unforgotten), we also have this lovely reissue of his 1981 recording Lustwandel. This was Roedelius' third solo record between the chamber baroque miniatures of 1979's Jardin Au Fou and the airy open-ended pastoralism of Wenn Der Sudwind Weht, recorded the same year as this. The music on Lustwandel is a perfect segue between the two approaches, comprised largely of solo piano works with subtle textural nuances of ambient atmospherics and classical inflected melodies, that occasionally transition into works for strings as well as harpsichord. But there are also some strange turns here and there into a warm angularity of soft martial rhythms and ballet moods, as well as some medieval sounding short pieces with pipes and hand percussion. It's a slowly sauntering set that takes its time to move from parlor to forest in an almost pageant like procession. Quite Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Lustwandel"
MPEG Stream: "Drausen Worbei"
MPEG Stream: "Wilkommen"
MPEG Stream: "Langer Atem"

ROEDELIUS Lustwandel (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Along with the beautiful compilation of seventies recordings from Roedelius' Selbstportrait series (Diary Of The Unforgotten), we also have this lovely reissue of his 1981 recording Lustwandel. This was Roedelius' third solo record between the chamber baroque miniatures of 1979's Jardin Au Fou and the airy open-ended pastoralism of Wenn Der Sudwind Weht, recorded the same year as this. The music on Lustwandel is a perfect segue between the two approaches, comprised largely of solo piano works with subtle textural nuances of ambient atmospherics and classical inflected melodies, that occasionally transition into works for strings as well as harpsichord. But there are also some strange turns here and there into a warm angularity of soft martial rhythms and ballet moods, as well as some medieval sounding short pieces with pipes and hand percussion. It's a slowly sauntering set that takes its time to move from parlor to forest in an almost pageant like procession. Quite Beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "Lustwandel"
MPEG Stream: "Drausen Worbei"
MPEG Stream: "Wilkommen"
MPEG Stream: "Langer Atem"

ROEDELIUS Offene Turen (Nepenthe) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Offene Turen (Open Doors), Roedelius's little known fifth album from 1982 and issued on cd for the first time, is definitely not like the others. Often considered his "experimental" record, Roedelius completed it shortly after the last major Cluster record, Curiosum, and it sometimes seems as if he wanted to make a record through the eyes of his more taciturn partner, Moebius. While it doesn't quite have Moebius's way with mechanical musical calibrations, the vibe is more stark and atmospheric and the closest we've heard any of the Cluster clan come to sounding cinematically proggy in the vein of John Carpenter and Goblin. Lots of church organ sounds and bell tones with an occasional glimpse into Roedelius's classical romantic side, but less so than on other releases. Definitely one of the worthier weirder records in the Cluster canon, perhaps not the place to start with, but for fans who are looking for something more unusual, there's lots to love, from songs that are seriously spooky and almost Oneohtrix-like, to other tracks that are charmingly naive experiments with the newest (at the time) digital tech. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Abenteuerliche Begegnung"
MPEG Stream: "Mit offenem Visier"
MPEG Stream: "Spiegelung"

ROEDELIUS Offene Turen (Bureau B) cd 17.98
We had a compact disc reissue of this once before, but now Bureau B has reissued it again, with the original cover art - and done vinyl as well as cd!
Offene Turen (Open Doors), Roedelius's little known fifth album from 1982, is definitely not like the others. Often considered his "experimental" record, Roedelius completed it shortly after the last major Cluster record, Curiosum, and it sometimes seems as if he wanted to make a record through the eyes of his more taciturn partner, Moebius. While it doesn't quite have Moebius's way with mechanical musical calibrations, the vibe is more stark and atmospheric and the closest we've heard any of the Cluster clan come to sounding cinematically proggy in the vein of John Carpenter and Goblin. Lots of church organ sounds and bell tones with an occasional glimpse into Roedelius's classical romantic side, but less so than on other releases. Definitely one of the worthier weirder records in the Cluster canon, perhaps not the place to start with, but for fans who are looking for something more unusual, there's lots to love, from songs that are seriously spooky and almost Oneohtrix-like, to other tracks that are charmingly naive experiments with the newest (at the time) digital tech. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Abenteuerliche Begegnung"
MPEG Stream: "Mit offenem Visier"
MPEG Stream: "Spiegelung"

ROEDELIUS Offene Turen (Bureau B) lp 22.00
We had a compact disc reissue of this once before, but now Bureau B has reissued it again, with the original cover art - and done vinyl as well as cd!
Offene Turen (Open Doors), Roedelius's little known fifth album from 1982, is definitely not like the others. Often considered his "experimental" record, Roedelius completed it shortly after the last major Cluster record, Curiosum, and it sometimes seems as if he wanted to make a record through the eyes of his more taciturn partner, Moebius. While it doesn't quite have Moebius's way with mechanical musical calibrations, the vibe is more stark and atmospheric and the closest we've heard any of the Cluster clan come to sounding cinematically proggy in the vein of John Carpenter and Goblin. Lots of church organ sounds and bell tones with an occasional glimpse into Roedelius's classical romantic side, but less so than on other releases. Definitely one of the worthier weirder records in the Cluster canon, perhaps not the place to start with, but for fans who are looking for something more unusual, there's lots to love, from songs that are seriously spooky and almost Oneohtrix-like, to other tracks that are charmingly naive experiments with the newest (at the time) digital tech. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Abenteuerliche Begegnung"
MPEG Stream: "Mit offenem Visier"
MPEG Stream: "Spiegelung"

ROEDELIUS The Diary Of The Unforgotten: Selbstportrait VI (Bureau B) cd 17.98
What a great time this is, and how lucky we are to be living in it, as the back catalogs of both Cluster members, Moebius and Roedelius, have been getting the long overdue reissue campaign they so rightly deserve. So many gems to be found in both of their discographies, in fact, they're almost all gems.
The Diary Of The Unforgotten is a collection of musical sketches that Roedelius made between the years 1973-1978. It never saw release until 1990, and sadly that pressing came and went quickly, so most of us here had never heard these amazing tracks before.
Shimmering with dreamy atmosphere, melancholic and flowing with a soft grace, you can tell Brian Eno was so in tune with these same sounds, sounds which would eventually evolve into their future collaborations as well as on Eno's own records like Before & After Science and Another Green World. What's so miraculous about these tracks is that while they flow with such a golden ease, they were actually recorded in such a lo-fi manner. Roedelius would just let the tape roll and would not add any overdubs afterwards. Perhaps that's why the emotional quality of these songs hits us so strongly. Nine of the ten songs range in the three to five minute range and then there's the epic twenty four minute centerpiece "Hommage A Forst". While we could argue forever about which Roedelius or Cluster offshoot release is our favorite, right now The Diary Of The Unforgotten is making a pretty great case for that honor.
MPEG Stream: "Remember Those Days"
MPEG Stream: "Du"
MPEG Stream: "Hommage Ë Forst"
MPEG Stream: "Ausgeredet"

ROEDELIUS The Diary Of The Unforgotten: Selbstportrait VI (Bureau B) lp 17.98
What a great time this is, and how lucky we are to be living in it, as the back catalogs of both Cluster members, Moebius and Roedelius, have been getting the long overdue reissue campaign they so rightly deserve. So many gems to be found in both of their discographies, in fact, they're almost all gems.
The Diary Of The Unforgotten is a collection of musical sketches that Roedelius made between the years 1973-1978. It never saw release until 1990, and sadly that pressing came and went quickly, so most of us here had never heard these amazing tracks before.
Shimmering with dreamy atmosphere, melancholic and flowing with a soft grace, you can tell Brian Eno was so in tune with these same sounds, sounds which would eventually evolve into their future collaborations as well as on Eno's own records like Before & After Science and Another Green World. What's so miraculous about these tracks is that while they flow with such a golden ease, they were actually recorded in such a lo-fi manner. Roedelius would just let the tape roll and would not add any overdubs afterwards. Perhaps that's why the emotional quality of these songs hits us so strongly. Nine of the ten songs range in the three to five minute range and then there's the epic twenty four minute centerpiece "Hommage A Forst". While we could argue forever about which Roedelius or Cluster offshoot release is our favorite, right now The Diary Of The Unforgotten is making a pretty great case for that honor.
MPEG Stream: "Remember Those Days"
MPEG Stream: "Du"
MPEG Stream: "Hommage Ë Forst"
MPEG Stream: "Ausgeredet"

ROEDELIUS Wasser Im Wind (Bureau B) cd 17.98

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Now available on cd, after a recent vinyl reissue highlighted here too!
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!
MPEG Stream: "Wenn Der Sudwind Weht"
MPEG Stream: "Mein Freud Farouk"
MPEG Stream: "Auf Leisen Sohlen"

ROEDELIUS Wenn Der Sudwind Weht (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Roedelius's fourth solo record from 1981 has obvious connections to his first record, Durch Die Wuste as evidenced from the similar album covers involving feet and water. But while his first record was a head-first dive into exploring the palatable possibilities of mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, Wenn Der Sudwind Weht is all about the tranquil relaxed after-glow, drying off in the afternoon sun. Limiting the instruments to just organ, synthesizers and piano, Sudwind is surprisingly rich and layered and arguably the most stunning of his solo records, reminding us of the pastoralism of Popol Vuh and early Deuter, but never succumbing to new age music's typical lack of focus. In fact it's the most focused Roedelius record of the last couple that have been reissued. While the Cluster-Harmonia catalog with all its off-shoots and solo projects can be quite unwieldy especially in the middle of its currently aggressive reissue campaign, but this may be the most essential Roedelius reissue of the bunch. Highest recommendation!

ROEDELIUS & CHRISTOPHER CHAPLIN, HANS-JOACHIM King of Hearts (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98
Any fan of '70s krautrock / electronic legends Cluster - and Cluster's constituent humans Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius - know that both gents remain exceedingly prolific music-makers to this day. Try as we might, we don't always manage to review everything either of them release, though we don't doubt that it's always quite good stuff. This new disc on Sub Rosa did happen to just catch our ears, however, and we felt we should share. It finds Roedelius (sometimes considered to be the more melodic half of the Cluster duo) collaborating with an interesting fellow we haven't encountered before, Christopher Chaplin, who is (true fact) the youngest son of famous actor Charlie Chaplin. The two, Roedelius & Chaplin, first met at an Art Brut themed festival in Vienna in 2010; and when in 2011 the BBC invited Roedelius to record a live session with a musician of his choosing that'd he'd never previously worked with, he selected Chaplin. That recording (some portions of which are heard here) eventually lead to them working together the next year on this album project.
King Of Hearts is centered around the beautiful, romantic piano playing that Roedelius is known for, while Chaplin processes and remixes it, bringing in additional electronics and other unnerving elements. Mysterious hisses and drones and mad scientist laboratory sounds pervade otherwise blissful piano reveries. On one track, there's some heavily effected, indecipherable vocals in the mix, and on a few others, someone (presumably Chaplin) plays distorted electric guitar, raw and lo-fi. One piece is based on a song from the Brian Eno album Before And After Science, in which Roedelius & Moebius participated.
However, the overall mood of this album is lush and lovely, and full of interesting detail. It's perfect music for staring out the window at the landscape on a cold winter's afternoon, while staying warm inside.
MPEG Stream: "Comme Ca"
MPEG Stream: "Autrement"
MPEG Stream: "Bien Sur"

ROEDELIUS / SCHNITZLER Acon 2000/1 (Captain Trip) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Krautrock electronics legends and former collaborators in seminal proto-ambient-industrial act Kluster, Conrad Schnitzler (prolific solo artist, initial member of Tangerine Dream) and Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster, Harmonia, solo) get up to their old tricks for this hour-long set of experimental electronics recorded last year... Abstract, spacey stuff that could as easily be from the '70s as now. Japanese import, with cool looking, special op-art style cover.

ROEDELIUS, HANS-JOACHIM Durch Die Wuste (Bureau B) cd 17.98
Now also reissued on cd! Durch Die Wuste was the first solo outing by Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia fame, and originally came out in 1978 on the always impeccable Sky label. Melding his tastes for classical composition, spaced out ambience, and electronic rock possibilities, this album found Roedelius simmering in warm rolling waves that just invite you to get lost and daydream in their subtly hypnotic pull. What's most amazing and compelling about this album is how organic it all sounds. Years before folks were really getting a grasp of how to intertwine traditional instrumentation with electronics, Roedelius was doing it masterfully. We're also so taken by the divine percussive quality that rises to the surfaces on lots of the album, especially the record's last two songs where Roedelius manages to play the drums himself and creates an amazing orbital groove that we could listen to forever. Durch Die Wuste manages to combine both his more dark and outsider tendencies with his ability to create the ultimate in shimmering cosmic bliss. We can't believe that some of us had never heard this record before, we are so beyond happy that it's been reissued as this stands up against any of Cluster's breathtaking moments. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Johanneslust"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Livingstone"
MPEG Stream: "Regenmacher"

ROEDELIUS, HANS-JOACHIM Durch Die Wuste (Bureau B) lp 17.98
Durch Die Wuste was the first solo outing by Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia fame, and originally came out in 1978 on the always impeccable Sky label. Melding his tastes for classical composition, spaced out ambience, and electronic rock possibilities, this album found Roedelius simmering in warm rolling waves that just invite you to get lost and daydream in their subtly hypnotic pull. What's most amazing and compelling about this album is how organic it all sounds. Years before folks were really getting a grasp of how to intertwine traditional instrumentation with electronics, Roedelius was doing it masterfully. We're also so taken by the divine percussive quality that rises to the surfaces on lots of the album, especially the record's last two songs where Roedelius manages to play the drums himself and creates an amazing orbital groove that we could listen to forever. Durch Die Wuste manages to combine both his more dark and outsider tendencies with his ability to create the ultimate in shimmering cosmic bliss. We can't believe that some of us had never heard this record before, we are so beyond happy that it's been reissued as this stands up against any of Cluster's breathtaking moments. Highly recommended! Oh and for those of you who need/prefer to have this on cd it will be reissued in that format in August!
MPEG Stream: "Johanneslust"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Livingstone"
MPEG Stream: "Regenmacher"

ROEDELIUS, HANS-JOACHIM & TIM STORY Inlandish (Gronland) cd 14.98
Most 74 year olds aren't still making vital music, let alone going on tours with their kraut/kosmische pioneering outfits Cluster and Harmonia, but then again Hans-Joachim Roedelius really does seem like one of a kind. Hot on the heels of his stunning performances here in the Bay Area with Cluster (including a never to be forgotten AQ instore!) Roedelius has quietly released a new collaborative album with Tim Story. And while the pairing of Roedelius with a Windham Hill alumni may make some AQ faithful squirm, we have to say that while this does fall on the very soft and pretty side of things it still remains very tasteful, and shimmers with a subtle beauty and a hazy gaze. Like some of the more calming and subdued outings by folks we love like Harold Budd, Max Richter and Brian Eno, Roedelius proves that even when he's in a soothing kind of mood he's able to transcend the mediocre new-age/massage parlor sound of other artists of a similar ilk, who forego subtly and lay the schmaltz on thick. We've been giving Klimek and the Pop Ambient series a break from being our go-to-sleep nighttime listening, and in their place, Inlandish has been the perfect soundtrack to guide us to a blissful dreamstate.
MPEG Stream: "As It Were"
MPEG Stream: "Ripple And Fade"

ROGEFELDT, PUGH Ja, da a da! (Metronome / Warner Sweden ) cd 19.98
Here's something definitely for fans (like us) of Sweden's Dungen -- you know, the retro-pop-sike wunderkind whose Ta Det Lugnt cd has been flying out the door here of late. Well, we're pretty sure that seventies Swedish psych-folk singer/songwriter Pugh Rogefeldt was a big influence on Dungen's Gustav Ejstes. We just got in this brand new import reissue of Pugh's 1969 classic debut, and quite a bit of it sure sounds a lot like what Dungen does, although overall it's somewhat folkier and more eccentric. Like the Dungen album, this is total ear candy for anyone into somewhat rustic psychedelic sixties pop. And oh yeah, Janne Karlsson of Hansson and Karlsson fame plays drums! And we should note that along with folks who like Dungen, DJ Shadow fans will also find this of interest, 'cause you ought to recognize the very first sounds you hear on this album as the (uncredited) intro to "Mutual Slump" from DJ Shadow's Endtroducing. One of those "so that's where that comes from!" moments, and more evidence of Shadow's excellent taste...
MPEG Stream: "Love, Love, Love"
MPEG Stream: "Har Kommer Natten"

ROGEFELDT, PUGH Pughish (Metronome / Warner Sweden) cd 19.98
For everybody who freaked out about Pugh Rogefeldt's 1968 Ja, da a da! album, the cd reissue of which we recently reviewed, we've now got the reissue of the 2nd Pugh album, Pughish, originally released in 1970. Dunno if DJ Shadow has ever sampled anything from this, but it's almost as good as Pugh's first (from which Shadow lifted a neat phrase for Endtroducing). Anyway, if you liked that other Pugh and want more, this is recommended. Weird and whimsical psych/folk/rock/prog sung in Swedish, full of fun and surprises. Again, an LP we bet Dungen's Gustav Ejstes has in his collection!
MPEG Stream: "Stinsen I Bro"
MPEG Stream: "Aindto"

ROGERS SISTERS, THE Invisible Deck (Too Pure) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We heart The Rogers Sisters! Their new album kicks so much serious butt we can hardly take it! Each of the ten songs packs the combined wallop of a fierce glare, a cigarette burn and a doubleshot of bourbon. The gritty crunch and smeared lipstick snarl of their guitars... The snotty sneer of their throaty (sort of a cross between Kim Deal and Kate Pierson) vocals... The bratty yet solid stomp of the drums... Sooo rad! This is bad boy/bad girl music that makes you wanna get up to no good too. Don't get us wrong, The Rogers Sisters ain't no possessed wild men of rawk a la Screamin' Jay Hawkins or The Monks, but they do have their own brand of prickly bluesy garagey electricity. Can't wait to see this trio live! We'd say more, but we're too busy rocking out. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Why Won't You"
MPEG Stream: "Emotion Control"

ROGERS SISTERS, THE Invisible Deck (Too Pure) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We heart The Rogers Sisters! Their new album kicks so much serious butt we can hardly take it! Each of the ten songs packs the combined wallop of a fierce glare, a cigarette burn and a doubleshot of bourbon. The gritty crunch and smeared lipstick snarl of their guitars... The snotty sneer of their throaty (sort of a cross between Kim Deal and Kate Pierson) vocals... The bratty yet solid stomp of the drums... Sooo rad! This is bad boy/bad girl music that makes you wanna get up to no good too. Don't get us wrong, The Rogers Sisters ain't no possessed wild men of rawk a la Screamin' Jay Hawkins or The Monks, but they do have their own brand of prickly bluesy garagey electricity. Can't wait to see this trio live! We'd say more, but we're too busy rocking out. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Why Won't You"
MPEG Stream: "Emotion Control"

ROGERS SISTERS, THE Three Fingers (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 11.98
If you're into the New York post-nowavedarkwavelectroclashp/funk scene that's been going for the past few years, YOU'LL LOVE The Rogers Sisters. The sisters Rogers and Miyuki Furtado kraft spare angular fashionistal neu-glam rock on their debut, Three Fingers. Just over 20 minutes long, their album is all in your face for just about all of it. Dueling angular vocals fight through the continual driving beats grasping for your attention. All the while, you know they look good, each chunk of hair placed in perfect position. Hottt!
MPEG Stream: "Freight Elevator"
MPEG Stream: "45 Prayers"

ROGERS, WAYNE Blues-Ul Alb (Twisted Village) lp 14.98

ROGUE WAVE 10:1 (Sub Pop) cd ep 3.98
Here's a four-song appetizer to whet your Rogue Wave pop appetite (their new full length comes out in October)! This EP kicks things off with the forthcoming album's first single "10:1" which is followed by three previously unreleased songs exclusive to this disc -- "Interruptions", "Wait For It" and "Crush The Camera". Happy to hear that the band has picked up right from where they left off on their 2003 debut (Out Of The Shadows). That is, makin' sensitive smart-pop that doesn't skimp in the energy department. Can't wait for the full length Descended Like Vultures!
MPEG Stream: " 10:1"
MPEG Stream: "Wait For It"

ROGUE WAVE Asleep At Heaven's Gate (Brushfire Records) cd 14.98
Oops, I do believe you've caught us napping! Sorry folks, not sure why it took us so long to come up with words to describe this SF band's latest full length. Of course we love it! Rogue Wave has been a trusted spring of utterly disarming pop tunes since their debut, 2003's Out Of The Shadows. They polish each one until it sparkles. Each of the dozen tracks on Asleep At Heaven's Gate is exceptionally well crafted and smart, the instrumentation warm and lush. Really, it's not an overstatement to say that the album starts strong with "Harmonium" and ends even stronger with "Cheaper Than Therapy". Zach Rogue's honey drop vocals are at their most lilting and earnest. We think fans of the high lonesome melancholia of My Morning Jacket might also find themselves caught in the comforting aural embrace of Rogue Wave. Soooo good!
MPEG Stream: "Harmonium"
MPEG Stream: "Cheaper Than Therapy"

ROGUE WAVE Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Hooooray! Here's the second album from Bay Area pop dreamies Rogue Wave. No sophomore slumps here. No way! Hearing Descended Like Vultures in many ways reminds me of hearing Death Cab For Cutie's first album Something About Airplanes for the first time. Descended Like Vultures is soft, sweet and immediately endearing with its melted ice cream boyish vocals and lush pop arrangements. Mainman Zach Rogue is one dandy songwriter and composer with an overflowing treasure chest of irresistibly dreamy hooks and melodies. Very reminiscent of The Beatles, Raspberries, Bread and the abovementioned Ben Gibbard and co. You can bet yer boots that popcraft as splendid as this certainly comes highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Bird On A Wire"
MPEG Stream: "Publish My Love"
MPEG Stream: "Salesman At The Day Of The Parade"

ROGUE WAVE Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop) lp 12.98
Hooooray! Here's the second album from Bay Area pop dreamies Rogue Wave. No sophomore slumps here. No way! Hearing Descended Like Vultures in many ways reminds me of hearing Death Cab For Cutie's first album Something About Airplanes for the first time. Descended Like Vultures is soft, sweet and immediately endearing with its melted ice cream boyish vocals and lush pop arrangements. Mainman Zach Rogue is one dandy songwriter and composer with an overflowing treasure chest of irresistibly dreamy hooks and melodies. Very reminiscent of The Beatles, Raspberries, Bread and the abovementioned Ben Gibbard and co. You can bet yer boots that popcraft as splendid as this certainly comes highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Bird On A Wire"
MPEG Stream: "Publish My Love"
MPEG Stream: "Salesman At The Day Of The Parade"

ROGUE WAVE Out Of The Shadows (Responsive) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You might've caught sight of this new SF quartet opening for AQ faves Spoon at the Fillmore recently. One dozen delightful tunes that take turns lulling you sweetly and perking you back up again. A couple of songs particularly bring to mind the intelligent pop of bands like Thingy, American Analog Set, Death Cab For Cutie or Pinback. And well, if you have any inclination of how we feel about those bands, then you know this bodes very very well for our appreciation of these new popsters.
Fantastic lilting vocal harmonies, crafty hooks, and little embellishments like delicate chimes or birdy chirps to pretty things up even more. But heck, don't just take our word for it, see for yourself! Check out the album's third song, the gentle pop confection "Be Kind + Remind". Aaah, so lovely, and such a great debut!
MPEG Stream: "Be Kind + Remind"
MPEG Stream: "Nourishment Nation"

ROGUE WAVE Out Of The Shadows (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Now on Sub Pop! You might've caught sight of this SF quartet opening for AQ faves Spoon at the Fillmore a whiles back, and they keep on winnin' fans over with each subsequent show. Word is definitely spreadin' about this fine pop combo, and deservingly so. That's probably one of the reasons why Sub Pop thought it'd be a good idea to re-issue their previously self-released debut album... remastered with some nice new cover art, in a digipack! (And on vinyl too, for the first time.) The only disappointment is that there aren't any bonus new tunes. Ah well.
Here's what we said about it last July:
One dozen delightful tunes that take turns lulling you sweetly and perking you back up again. A couple of songs particularly bring to mind the intelligent pop of bands like Thingy, American Analog Set, Death Cab For Cutie or Pinback. And well, if you have any inclination of how we feel about those bands, then you know this bodes very very well for our appreciation of these new popsters.
Fantastic lilting vocal harmonies, crafty hooks, and little embellishments like delicate chimes or birdy chirps to pretty things up even more. But heck, don't just take our word for it, see for yourself! Check out the album's third song, the gentle pop confection "Be Kind + Remind". Aaah, so lovely, and such a great debut!
MPEG Stream: "Be Kind + Remind"
MPEG Stream: "Nourishment Nation"

ROGUE WAVE Out Of The Shadows (Sub Pop) lp 13.98
Now on Sub Pop! You might've caught sight of this SF quartet opening for AQ faves Spoon at the Fillmore a whiles back, and they keep on winnin' fans over with each subsequent show. Word is definitely spreadin' about this fine pop combo, and deservingly so. That's probably one of the reasons why Sub Pop thought it'd be a good idea to re-issue their previously self-released debut album... remastered with some nice new cover art, in a digipack! (And on vinyl too, for the first time.) The only disappointment is that there aren't any bonus new tunes. Ah well.
Here's what we said about it last July:
One dozen delightful tunes that take turns lulling you sweetly and perking you back up again. A couple of songs particularly bring to mind the intelligent pop of bands like Thingy, American Analog Set, Death Cab For Cutie or Pinback. And well, if you have any inclination of how we feel about those bands, then you know this bodes very very well for our appreciation of these new popsters.
Fantastic lilting vocal harmonies, crafty hooks, and little embellishments like delicate chimes or birdy chirps to pretty things up even more. But heck, don't just take our word for it, see for yourself! Check out the album's third song, the gentle pop confection "Be Kind + Remind". Aaah, so lovely, and such a great debut!
MPEG Stream: "Be Kind + Remind"
MPEG Stream: "Nourishment Nation"

ROGUE WAVE Permalight (Brushfire) cd 15.98
Permalight is the fourth full length from this fine Bay Area band. Rogue Wave don't whip out an album a year, but take their time (usually about 2-3 years) crafting their absolutely wonderful heartfelt gems. Always well worth the wait! With each one the band maintains a remarkable consistency, and yet also continues to grow and evolve. This time we noticed a few more electronic elements blipping and bleeping dreamily around their buoyantly wistful pop/rock core of guitar, keyboards, bass and drums. Also, it could just be our ears, but lead singer Zach Rogue's vocal phrasing and intonation seem a bit different than we remember. We can't quite put our finger on just what it is yet (maybe a shortening of vowel enunciation?), but what we can say though is if you swoon over the lovely pop sensitivities of bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, Postal Service or Nada Surf, or perhaps reaching further back Simon And Garfunkel, you just gotta give Rogue Wave a spin. Really good!
MPEG Stream: "Good Morning"
MPEG Stream: "Right With You"

ROLL THE DICE MEETS POLE In Dubs (Leaf) 12" 13.98
What can we say that the title doesn't already tell you. Yes, this is Pole (aka Stefan Betke) remixing three tracks from Roll The Dice's last record, In Dust. Pushing the Swedish duo's carefully crafted kosmiche epics into ghost in the alien dub machine techtonics. From the darkly pretty and mysterious "Calling Dub Workers" to the heavy intense dub of "Echo Hands" and finally the Middle Eastern skittering excursion of "The Skull is Built Into The Version", this is a match made in heaven!

ROLLERBALL Long Walk for Ice Cream (Cochon Records) cd 14.98
Rollerball scares up all sorts of psychologically charged demons within their cabaret theatrics, not unlike the atmospheres that saturate the works of Barry Adamson and to a lesser extent Tom Waits and Nick Cave (due to the fact that Rollerball's vocal duets / croons are engaging, but not as engrossingly powerful as either Waits or Cave, but the accompaniments remain similar). The slow patter of brushed drums, a minor chord on a piano, and melody lines from clarinet, accordion, and trumpet fix a darkened mood upon their jazz-decay creakiness. Occasionally, Rollerball dissolves the structures into epic free-jazz spaciousness that recalls their Portland comrades Jackie-O Motherfucker. "Long Walk For Ice Cream" collects the "Sam Donaldson" 7" single and the "Zapatos" 10" previously released through Cochon as well as four new tracks.
RealAudio clip: "Theme From A Movie With Characters"
RealAudio clip: "Blu Lu"

ROLLING STONES, THE Exile on Main Street (Universal) cd 15.98

ROLLING STONES, THE Exile On Main Street (Universal) 2lp 35.00

ROLLO Pinhole (Inoxia) lp 21.00
As much as we'd prefer not to, we're sure some of you would appreciate if we started this review with one of those AQ alerts. Goes something like: BORIS ALERT!!!! BORIS ALERT!!!! NEW ON INOXIA!!!! BORIS RELATED NEW RELEASE!!!! Okay, so now all you Boris obsessive can skip right to the buy button and move on, you're probably gonna want this, cuz A. it's on Inoxia, and B. it's produced by Atsuo from Boris! Oh, and let's not forget C. IT'S LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!!
For the rest of you, who need more than a loose Boris connection, this is in fact a pretty awesome slab of drifting droning acid psych. No huge pounding sludge, or blown out fuzz rock, most of the tracks on Pinhole meander aimlessly, wandering from fluttery folks, to ambient drift, and back again, with the occasional squall of distorted buzz.
The record opens with a thick wash of blurred guitar, dense and swirling, groaning waves of distortion flecked with streaks of feedback, while beneath lurks a playful little melody, gently swaying peacefully beneath the sonic turbulence. Then suddenly, the record shifts gears, and we're floating weightless through some sun dappled glade, lilting detuned guitars unfurl gentle melodies all wistful and abstract, WAY off in the background some tape hiss and crumbling distortion. It's very spare and lo-fi, wreathed in sparkling solar flares and soft focus reverb, sort of like a druggy mix of Jandek, Loren Connors and the Durutti Column. Elsewhere reverbed guitars sway suspended in clouds subtle delay, nursery rhyme melodies and hummed / mumbled vocals draped over a shimmery crystalline latticework of delicate drifts of sound, super simple and unobtrusive percussion as well as barely audible field recordings. Now and again, the band launches into some super aggressive strumming, kicking up dense clouds of high end skree and blown out free noise fuzz, but even at their noisiest, Rollo are never far away from settling back down into another long stretch of soft psychfolk shimmer. Good stuff for sure. Not necessarily sonically something Boris fans will automatically love, although some of this did remind us of Boris at their dreamiest and most abstract, but fans of Japanese stuff like L, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Masaki Batoh, Eddie Marcon and the like will be in heaven.

ROLLO TREADWAY, THE s/t (Rollosound) cd 14.98
Pop music definitely seems more and more like a lost art every day. For every hundred bands that can whip up a chaotic noise rock racket, or every thousand bands who tune down and unfurl walls of crumbling low end sludge, there are maybe only one or two bands, who are creating true, timeless, amazing pop music. Rife with amazing production, incredible songwriting, lush harmonies, clever lyrics, mind blowing hooks, maybe even horns and strings, and out of those bands, maybe only a fraction are doing something truly original. Aping the Beach Boys or the Zombies or the Beatles can only take you so far. And to be totally honest, way too many bands claim the Beach Boys or the Zombies as an inspiration, most taking just the surface stuff, which was only part of the musical magic involved.
So thus we have the strangely named Rollo Treadway, from Brooklyn, although on first listen we would have sworn they were from sixties London, or perhaps sixties Los Angeles. This disc showed up out of the blue in the mail one day, and on first listen we were already proclaiming this pop record of the year. How could we not, this is everything we love. Retro pop so good, that if you didn't know better, you might assume this was the real thing. And heck, it IS the real thing, just 40 years later. The strangest thing about this band is the fact that the drummer is Blake Fleming, formerly of the Mars Volta, and before that, the godlike Laddio Bolocko! But don't be expecting any of that sort of stuff, this is pure pop. Lush, string laden, harmony drenched pop. Mellotrons, warm organs, jangly guitars, and some of the most gorgeous breathy vocals harmonies we've heard in ages. The other amazing thing about this disc, is that it's a concept record of sorts, the first song, "Kidnapped" is sung by the male half of a couple of siblings who have been kidnapped, it's strangely moving, and super creepy. Later in the record, a track begins with the sound of a typewriter, and the song reveals itself as a letter from the kidnapper to the kids' family. The high concept never derails the songs though, and the songs are damn near perfect.
The opener, is quite possible THE pop song of the year. Quite reminiscent of Belle And Sebastian's "Step Into My Office, Baby" from their Dear Catastrophe Waitress (a record even the B&S hating Andee LOVES), beginning with twangy Western guitar, some cool percussion, maracas, shakers, a woozy guitar melody, all beneath a super effected stuttering main riff, then a circusy bridge, with gorgeous falsetto vocals, soaring strings, even some horns, a very Zombies like string break, there's even a flute solo. It manages to be dreamy and ethereal, but also surprisingly rocking. We've probably listened to this song a hundred times since we first got this in. Thankfully, the rest of the record is just as gorgeous, borrowing heavily from the above mentioned influences, but wrapping those influences in their own distinct song writing, some incredible intricate guitars, super varied drumming and percussion, horns and strings everywhere, whirring organs, but the focal point is definitely the vocals, lush and whispery and soft, the harmonies rich and layered and seemingly effortless.
"Dear Mr. Doe" continues the kidnapping plotline, the typewriter leading into a jaunty organ riff, and a simple propulsive rhythm, wandering bassline, and the vocals, multi tracked, each one complimenting the other, vibes, more organs, a shimmery sixties groove, almost dreamlike, while the lyrics instruct the parents not to call the police and where to leave the money if they ever hope to see the kids alive again.
It's really hard to explain what exactly is so magical about this record, other than the sound is amazing, and the songs are fantastic. Just listen to the sound samples, if "Kidnapped" doesn't immediately send you into paroxysms of pop bliss, then you need to march right down to your local Pop Music headquarters and turn in your membership. Pop kids of any stripe will dig this like crazy. If you love the Zombies, Beach Boys, Badfinger, Beatles, Kinks, or more modern pop revivalists like Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, the Wondermints, Silver Sun, Redd Kross, Belle And Sebastian you will definitely love getting lost in the Rollo Treadway's lush baroque pop wonderland.
MPEG Stream: "Kidnapped"
MPEG Stream: "Dear Mr. Doe"
MPEG Stream: "Rua Gararu 188"
MPEG Stream: "You Laugh, I Cry"