SLOAN Don't You Believe A Word (Universal) cdep 9.98

SLOAN Navy Blues (Koch) cd 15.98
Newly reissued! The four guys in Sloan have always had distinct songwriting styles, but the differences seem much more pronounced on 1998's Navy Blues. And its not as even a split of songs between the four this time -- although there's plenty of tunes penned by Chris Murphy and Patrick Pentland (both solo and in tandem), this album disappointingly has only two Jay Ferguson songs, but surprisingly three written and one co-written by the usually more elusive Andrew Scott. The overall sound though is still very Beatles and Big Star influenced, but filtered through '70s freewheelin' rock. Chris Murphy conjures the glammy rock flamboyance of Kiss on the album's lead-off track "She Says What She Means". Jay Ferguson follows that up with a drastic contrast in the shape of his candy-hued perky number "C'mon C'mon", then Patrick Pentland tumbles right in between the two with "Iggy & Angus" complete with Thin Lizzy sounding guitars. Andrew Scott shifts the band's gears into a more 'grown-up' (Chicago-ish?) feel with funky keyboards and horns... and that's all in the span of the first four songs!
MPEG Stream: "C'mon C'mon (We're Gonna Get It Started)"
MPEG Stream: "Money City Maniacs"

SLOAN Never Hear The End Of It (Yep Roc) cd 15.98
Sloan continue their Canadian pop rock reign with Never Hear The End Of It. The whopping thirty songs long running time might seems a little excessive and overwhelming, but we're not complaining. They pace the album well and keep the energy and focus up-up-up from start to finish. They don't tire and neither will you! With each subsequent album, Chris, Patrick, Jay and Andrew somehow keep things both bright'n'fresh and comfortingly familiar. They get increasingly polished, but never to the point of slick. Their four distinct voices deliver the swoonworthy boyish harmonies and their dual guitar attack launches out the electrifying riffs, embedding irresistible hooks at every turn. Absolute power pop nirvana for sure! Soooo good!
MPEG Stream: "Flying High Again"
MPEG Stream: "I've Gotta Try"
MPEG Stream: "Someone I Can Be True With"
MPEG Stream: "Ill Placed Trust"

SLOAN One Chord To Another (Murder Records) cd 15.98
One of our favorite Sloan records EVER. Hell favorite records period. Not sure why this never got the sprawling gushing review it so richly deserves. We'll remedy that one of these days, but for now, buy this. You won't be sorry.

SLOAN Parallel Play (Yep Roc) cd 14.98
A new Sloan record is big news around these parts, especially since the two resident Pop freeks at aQ count Canada's Sloan among their all time pop favorites! But the interesting thing about Sloan, is that every record, bar one or two, are definitely growers. We talked about this in the review of Action Pact, about how somehow all of the past Sloan records are on such constant rotation, even years later, and the songs so firmly lodged in our heads and hearts, that a new record can't help but disappoint. At least at first. Like every Sloan record so far, all it took was a handful of listens, and suddenly Parallel Play slipped effortlessly into Sloan's pantheon of perfect pop. They have a sound that is so distinct, the voices, the harmonies, the sounds of the guitars. A good example was when we were driving the other day, flipped on the radio, and heard two seconds of crunchy guitar, and immediately, we thought "Why is Sloan on NPR?" And whadda you know? It was indeed them. And weirdly enough, hearing Parallel Play in that context, helped win us over as well. Even though these guys are so talented, and write such amazingly catchy songs, you still don't hear them on the radio. So hearing that sound, THAT sound, all we could think was what a revelation Sloan must be for someone who had never heard them.
And so it remains. The sound incredibly varied, since the four members share songwriting duties, and thus vocal duties, and each of them can handle whatever instrument is left vacant, bass, guitars, piano, drums, after a while, Sloan fanatics definitely pick their favorites, but fuck it, they're all great, and Parallel Play is no different, right out of the gate, the band kick it off with the crunchy power pop anthem "Believe", a should-have-been hit single if we've ever heard one, and from there on out it's pure Sloan, a sound that could really be no one else, slipping from super bouncy pop, to stripped down rockers, to brooding ballads, and all the various stops in between.
As good a place to start as any for Sloan newbies, but we'll always be partial to Twice Removed and One Chord To Another. Another fantastic record from one of our all time favorite pop groups EVER!!
MPEG Stream: "Believe In Me"
MPEG Stream: "Witch's Wand"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Not A Kid Anymore"

SLOAN Parallel Play (Yep Roc) lp 25.00
A new Sloan record is big news around these parts, especially since the two resident Pop freeks at aQ count Canada's Sloan among their all time pop favorites! But the interesting thing about Sloan, is that every record, bar one or two, are definitely growers. We talked about this in the review of Action Pact, about how somehow all of the past Sloan records are on such constant rotation, even years later, and the songs so firmly lodged in our heads and hearts, that a new record can't help but disappoint. At least at first. Like every Sloan record so far, all it took was a handful of listens, and suddenly Parallel Play slipped effortlessly into Sloan's pantheon of perfect pop. They have a sound that is so distinct, the voices, the harmonies, the sounds of the guitars. A good example was when we were driving the other day, flipped on the radio, and heard two seconds of crunchy guitar, and immediately, we thought "Why is Sloan on NPR?" And whadda you know? It was indeed them. And weirdly enough, hearing Parallel Play in that context, helped win us over as well. Even though these guys are so talented, and write such amazingly catchy songs, you still don't hear them on the radio. So hearing that sound, THAT sound, all we could think was what a revelation Sloan must be for someone who had never heard them.
And so it remains. The sound incredibly varied, since the four members share songwriting duties, and thus vocal duties, and each of them can handle whatever instrument is left vacant, bass, guitars, piano, drums, after a while, Sloan fanatics definitely pick their favorites, but fuck it, they're all great, and Parallel Play is no different, right out of the gate, the band kick it off with the crunchy power pop anthem "Believe", a should-have-been hit single if we've ever heard one, and from there on out it's pure Sloan, a sound that could really be no one else, slipping from super bouncy pop, to stripped down rockers, to brooding ballads, and all the various stops in between.
As good a place to start as any for Sloan newbies, but we'll always be partial to Twice Removed and One Chord To Another. Another fantastic record from one of our all time favorite pop groups EVER!!
MPEG Stream: "Believe In Me"
MPEG Stream: "Witch's Wand"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Not A Kid Anymore"

SLOAN Pretty Together (Murderecords) cd 16.98
It happens to me every time. I can't wait to get the new Sloan record. I excitedly throw it on when it finally arrives and... I hate it. Seriously, every time. Myabe hate is too strong a word. But I am definitely disappointed and seriously bummed. So I listen to it some more, trying to figure out how a band that is so great can disappoint me. And I put the record on again, and I immediately think to myself, "Oh, this one, I like this song." And for a second I forget that I am listening to a -new- Sloan record that I DON'T LIKE. And then it happens with the next song, and the next song, and suddenly, I like it. With no warning or anything. And suddenly, again, I am able to proclaim "Sloan has still not made a bad album!" But let's not go crazy, this is by no means the best Sloan record ever. That honor still belongs to the practically perfect in every way 'Twice Removed.' But this is a great record. A great pop record. A great Sloan record. All four of the fellas still write and sing their own songs, trading off guitar and drum and piano duties, ensuring that the record is weird and varied enough to keep even the most jaded popster's attention, while not losing sight of the hook, of the -pop-. Like almost all the Sloan records, there might be a dud or two, but even so, Sloan continue to make some of the best pop around!
RealAudio clip: "The Life Of A Working Girl"
RealAudio clip: "In The Movies"
RealAudio clip: "The Other Man"
RealAudio clip: "I Love A Long Goodbye"
RealAudio clip: "Are You Giving Me Back My Love"

SLOAN Smeared (Koch) cd 15.98
Reissued 1993 debut from a fave band of ours! A brief synopsis of 'way back when': in grunge rock's heydays these then slightly grungey four Canadian lads got signed to Nirvana's label DGC. To put it mildly, back then their music butted heads with the grunge scene and with the label's expectations/demands, and continued to do so as time went on. Long story short, they got dropped from the label. Much to the chagrin of their non-Canadian fans and the misfortune of their potential new fans, this effectively putting a deadbolt on their stateside catalog... until now. Yes folks, it's time to restart you Sloan engines, and get 'em revvin' and rollin' all over again. This is *the* album which contains *the* stand-out song ("Underwhelmed") that started it all for these Canadian power pop/rock dynamos. The very Sonic Youth-y Smeared offers just a glimpse of the clever lyrical twists, fantastic pop hooks and harmonies that were to come.
MPEG Stream: "Underwhelmed"

SLOAN The Double Cross (Yep Roc) cd 14.98
It's been years now that we've been singing the praises of Canada's Sloan, easily one of THEE best power pop bands EVER. And certainly one of Andee's favorite bands ever. And while we'd always suggest that Sloan newbies start with Smeared or Twice Removed or One Chord To Another, we'd absolutely stand behind each and every one of their records. And while we often find that some of 'em are slow growers, we realized that it might be because we're always anxiously waiting for a new Sloan record, and all that time we're listening to the one before it, until it becomes our favorite and so the cycle continues.
This record though, is kinda crazy catchy right out of the gate, "Follow The Leader" is some seriously hook filled organ driven power pop, and immediately sticks in your head, fuzzy and jangly, with some cool unlikely instrumentation, and that immediately recognizable Sloan melodic sense, and it's also weird, beginning the record as they often do with some strange sonic something, whether it be a fake live audience, or a snippet of a different song, and here they even mess with the end of the song, starting what does in fact seem to be an entirely different song during the last 30 seconds, sounding totally melodically unrelated, until it sort of seems to tie back in, but instead it just becomes the next track, another killer catchy jam. String laden, super melodic, and again jangly and hooky as hell. And so it goes. Of the last few Sloan records this one is definitely the least in need of repeat listens to lodge itself in the pop center of your brain. If you're a fan you already own this. If you're not, but you've got a pop sweet tooth, give this a try, and for goodness sake, grab those other three Sloan records. Odds are you'll become obsessed, as most Sloan fans do, and need em all. We can only do so much proselytizing, needless to say, Sloan is one of the only bands whose records get played all the time by the popnerds around here, all their records, all the time, STILL. And we've been listening to this one like crazy since it came in. Which is really the best recommendation we can think of.
MPEG Stream: "Follow The Leader"
MPEG Stream: "The Answer Was You"
MPEG Stream: "Unkind"
MPEG Stream: "Shadow Of Love"

SLOAN The Double Cross (Yep Roc) lp 21.00
It's been years now that we've been singing the praises of Canada's Sloan, easily one of THEE best power pop bands EVER. And certainly one of Andee's favorite bands ever. And while we'd always suggest that Sloan newbies start with Smeared or Twice Removed or One Chord To Another, we'd absolutely stand behind each and every one of their records. And while we often find that some of 'em are slow growers, we realized that it might be because we're always anxiously waiting for a new Sloan record, and all that time we're listening to the one before it, until it becomes our favorite and so the cycle continues.
This record though, is kinda crazy catchy right out of the gate, "Follow The Leader" is some seriously hook filled organ driven power pop, and immediately sticks in your head, fuzzy and jangly, with some cool unlikely instrumentation, and that immediately recognizable Sloan melodic sense, and it's also weird, beginning the record as they often do with some strange sonic something, whether it be a fake live audience, or a snippet of a different song, and here they even mess with the end of the song, starting what does in fact seem to be an entirely different song during the last 30 seconds, sounding totally melodically unrelated, until it sort of seems to tie back in, but instead it just becomes the next track, another killer catchy jam. String laden, super melodic, and again jangly and hooky as hell. And so it goes. Of the last few Sloan records this one is definitely the least in need of repeat listens to lodge itself in the pop center of your brain. If you're a fan you already own this. If you're not, but you've got a pop sweet tooth, give this a try, and for goodness sake, grab those other three Sloan records. Odds are you'll become obsessed, as most Sloan fans do, and need em all. We can only do so much proselytizing, needless to say, Sloan is one of the only bands whose records get played all the time by the popnerds around here, all their records, all the time, STILL. And we've been listening to this one like crazy since it came in. Which is really the best recommendation we can think of.
MPEG Stream: "Follow The Leader"
MPEG Stream: "The Answer Was You"
MPEG Stream: "Unkind"
MPEG Stream: "Shadow Of Love"

SLOAN Twice Removed (Koch) cd 15.98
Yay! Yaaay! Finally the long-overdue domestic release of a bunch of albums by one of Andee and Cup's all-time fave Canadian pop bands... SLOAN! Yaaaaaaaaaay! Before the New Pornographers, before Arcade Fire, before Hot Hot Heat, before Godspeed You Black Emperor, Bassist Chris Murphy, drummer Andrew Scott, and dual guitarists Jay Ferguson and Patrick Pentland were rockin' and representin' for the land of the maple leaf! Twice Removed is by far Cup's favoritest album of theirs. She pretty much knows it by heart. So does Andee in fact! Perhaps you'll wanna get geekily acquainted too -- y'know, be able to distinguish a Chris song from an Andrew one or be able to recognize Jay's guitar playing from Patrick's? A general rule of thumb: the oft-falsetto-piped Murphy writes a lot of the more bombastic power pop songs such as the lead-off track "Penpals" which reportedly was based on a sneak peek at their former DGC labelmates Nirvana's fanmail, the angelic voiced Ferguson pens the peppier boyish pop tunes such as "Snowsuit Sound" (a definite album highlight if you had to single one out and maybe one of the greatest pop songs EVER!), bespectacled Pentland's contributes many of the slower heartfelt romantic numbers, and the drollest of the bunch Scott inserts a bit of slightly eccentric artiness. And that's not even taking into consideration how they support one another, fleshing out each song with great multi-part harmony backing vocals which elevate things to a whole 'nother level. Soooo good! With each of the four bandmembers contributing an equal share of the songwriting and singing, it's not difficult at all to imagine each of the fellows leading his own band, but fortunately for us they haven't 'cause of course their chemistry does add that significant intangible extra 'something'. While other bands frequently go through line-up changes with varying degrees of success, the founding foursome have stuck together for over a dozen years and maintained their high pop standard and their seemingly inexhaustible fountain of hooks that balances brains and balls. Ultra highly recommended, and if you disagree, well then you'll have to face the wrath of Cup and Andee!
MPEG Stream: "Penpals"
MPEG Stream: "Snowsuit Sound"
MPEG Stream: "People Of The Sky"

SLOATH s/t (Riot Season) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We love Riot Season. Easily one of our favorite labels, consistently delivering fucked up heavy weirdness, far out psychedelia, and pretty much every variation in between, Shit And Shine, Acid Mothers Temple, Aluk Todolo, Black Boned Angel, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Todd, Skull Defekts, Mainliner, Circle, Hey Colossus, Aufgehoben, most recently Ultraphallus, and now Sloath, who couldn't have found a more fitting home for their sprawling slo-mo downtuned doomage.
The label mentions Sleep and Sabbath and Melvins and Earth (old Earth we presume), and while these guys do carry on the tradition of doomed out heaviness, it's also it's own warped beast. Three epic jams, super hypnotic and mesmerizing, the guitars massive, so distorted that at times it sounds like the speakers are getting fried, but it's also melodic, lumbering and moody and epic, the vocals, wordless and chantlike, the band locking into full on psychedoomdelic space jams, like some sort of ultra heavy Hawkwind, the tracks laced with streaks of feedback, occasionally getting super dynamic, slipping from lurching groove to Harvey Milk like extreme plod to woozy slowcore slither.
The final track is a massive 22 minute epic, beginning all post rocky and lightly psychedelic, clean guitars, simple minimal rhythm, but still subtly doomy and heavy, the sort of thing that psych rock heavies should be flipping for, the vocals delivered like some psych doom shamen, and after about 9 minutes, the hammer falls, the guitars explode, even more distorted than before, the track building to a seriously majestic in-the-red space rock doom sludge blow out, wild psych leads draped over the churning Sabbathy swing underneath, totally heavy and epic and fucking incredible.
This RULES. These guys are the perfect bridge between the doom/sludge scene and the space rock / psych world, two sounds that really aren't all that far removed from each other as they seen anywayÉ
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES.
MPEG Stream: "Black Hole"
MPEG Stream: "Cane Trader"

SLOGUN / SICKNESS split (Pacrec) cd 7.98

SLOUGH FEG The Animal Spirits (Profound Lore) cd 13.98
Huzzah! San Francisco's idiosyncratic old school metal masters Slough Feg are back with a new record, already! We made their previous album, 2009's Ape Uprising, a Record Of The Week, and wrote, like, thousands of words about it. So we'll be a bit briefer here, whilst still giving this our highest recommendation. If you liked it when they Aped it Up, then you know what you're in for on The Animal Spirits. Kinda...
Slough Feg already did an album called Atavism, but THIS is their most atavistic yet. Their most '70s rock. (Heck, most Broadway too.) In part, heavy, ripping, raw. In part, majestically melodic. So very melodic, and often major-key, almost pop instead of metal. But not "pop-metal", no not that. And always, always, eccentric. Also epic, can't forget epic, though none of the songs are even over 5 minutes long. Speaking of epics, what metal band would do a song about somebody named Thor, on an ocean voyage, and have it NOT be about Vikings? Slough Feg, naturally, with this album's "Kon-Tiki", about Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl's daring raft expedition across the Pacific in 1947. Another unusual, historical number is "The 95 Thesis", about Martin Luther and the Reformation, maybe the only metal song on that subject and certainly the only one to features the lines "Some hide in sophistry but you had the balls / to nail your thesis to the cathedral wall", as it's not so much about religious history as it is about someone being a badass.
So, perhaps even moreso than on other Slough Feg albums, expect the unexpected. Like the crude but cool b&w artwork, for instance, drawn by the band's vocalist/guitarist/mastermind Mike Scalzi himself. Or the Alan Parsons Project (!) cover they do, "The Tell-Tale Heart", which utterly sounds like a Slough Feg tune, Scalzi totally owning the vocal part originally sung by none other than Arthur "I Am The God Of Hellfire" Brown on the 1976 original.
It's also perhaps unexpected that this record would be released on cult avant blackened doom label Profound Lore (though they've lately been signing a lot of the Bay Area underground's best, it seems). Sure, PL has put out some somewhat "trad" metal before, like the last Hammers Of Misfortune double disc and the recent, recommended Dawnbringer opus, but this still has to be the weirdest release on Profound Lore ever... who, by the way, claim that Slough Feg are America's most important heavy metal band of the past 20 years!
Over those years, especially with their current lineup, Slough Feg certainly have earned a reputation as an incredible live act, really you won't see too many more impressive or entertaining performances from a metal band, or any band, these days. They're a band that rejoices in being on stage, that revels in the skill they possess and the power they wield, and they capture that spirit and energy and showmanship and sense of abandon with these new songs for sure. The Animal Spirits is lively, dare we say playful. Sometimes cryptically, cleverly humorous. Bold and brash and totally unselfconscious. So they can do rockin' tracks like the frantic boogie of opener "Trick The Vicar", or the thrashy closer "Tactical Air-War" (which features special guest vocalist, Bobbie Wright of another San Fran metal cult, Brocas Helm!!), and in between find room for a few numbers that are closer to musical theater, though still quite heavy.
We've talked about the unexpected, the other hand, you CAN of course expect plenty of guitar harmonies, shredding leads, bombastic vocals, and memorable riffs... they still sound 100 percent like Slough Feg (and thus a bit like Maiden, a bit like Priest, a bit like Sabbath, and a bit like Thin Lizzy). If you've ever said, nobody makes music like that anymore, well Slough Feg do. But they're original about it too.
Oh, and good thing they released this in time for Halloween, as there's songs about both vampires and werewolves on here. The latter, live stand out "Lycanthropic Fantasies", is a show stopper on stage, and one of this disc's best as well. The former, "Ask The Casket", is a ridiculously melodic dirge inspired by the cult '60s TV gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows.
Another of our favorite tracks is "Second Coming", which starts off acoustically, and features one of Scalzi's most emotive and heartfelt vocal performances, as well as (more) gorgeous twin lead guitarwork... like Slough Feg's earlier "The Sea Wolf", it's a song inspired by writer Jack London, but maybe 'cause the lyrics make reference to San Francisco, it seems like Scalzi's really singing about himself here, somehow.
Finally, by the way, unlike Ape Uprising, which did have a song or two about apes, The Animal Spirits is NOT about animals (or spirits). The title refers to an archaic philosophical concept that Scalzi finds amusing, and we don't think pertains to the content of any of the songs on here.
MPEG Stream: "The 95 Thesis"
MPEG Stream: "Lycanthropic Fantasies"
MPEG Stream: "Ask The Casket"
MPEG Stream: "Free Market Barbarian"

SLOUGH FEG The Animal Spirits (Cruz Del Sur) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
AS PROMISED, NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL, AS IT SHOULD BE!! And with this import lp, you get an insert with band photos not found in Profound Lore's cd version, about which we penned the following:
Huzzah! San Francisco's idiosyncratic old school metal masters Slough Feg are back with a new record, already! We made their previous album, 2009's Ape Uprising, a Record Of The Week, and wrote, like, thousands of words about it. So we'll be a bit briefer here, whilst still giving this our highest recommendation. If you liked it when they Aped it Up, then you know what you're in for on The Animal Spirits. Kinda...
Slough Feg already did an album called Atavism, but THIS is their most atavistic yet. Their most '70s rock. (Heck, most Broadway too.) In part, heavy, ripping, raw. In part, majestically melodic. So very melodic, and often major-key, almost pop instead of metal. But not "pop-metal", no not that. And always, always, eccentric. Also epic, can't forget epic, though none of the songs are even over 5 minutes long. Speaking of epics, what metal band would do a song about somebody named Thor, on an ocean voyage, and have it NOT be about Vikings? Slough Feg, naturally, with this album's "Kon-Tiki", about Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl's daring raft expedition across the Pacific in 1947. Another unusual, historical number is "The 95 Thesis", about Martin Luther and the Reformation, maybe the only metal song on that subject and certainly the only one to features the lines "Some hide in sophistry but you had the balls / to nail your thesis to the cathedral wall", as it's not so much about religious history as it is about someone being a badass.
So, perhaps even moreso than on other Slough Feg albums, expect the unexpected. Like the crude but cool b&w artwork, for instance, drawn by the band's vocalist/guitarist/mastermind Mike Scalzi himself. Or the Alan Parsons Project (!) cover they do, "The Tell-Tale Heart", which utterly sounds like a Slough Feg tune, Scalzi totally owning the vocal part originally sung by none other than Arthur "I Am The God Of Hellfire" Brown on the 1976 original.
Over the years, especially with their current lineup, Slough Feg certainly have earned a reputation as an incredible live act, really you won't see too many more impressive or entertaining performances from a metal band, or any band, these days. They're a band that rejoices in being on stage, that revels in the skill they possess and the power they wield, and they capture that spirit and energy and showmanship and sense of abandon with these new songs for sure. The Animal Spirits is lively, dare we say playful. Sometimes cryptically, cleverly humorous. Bold and brash and totally unselfconscious. So they can do rockin' tracks like the frantic boogie of opener "Trick The Vicar", or the thrashy closer "Tactical Air-War" (which features special guest vocalist, Bobbie Wright of another San Fran metal cult, Brocas Helm!!), and in between find room for a few numbers that are closer to musical theater, though still quite heavy.
We've talked about the unexpected, the other hand, you CAN of course expect plenty of guitar harmonies, shredding leads, bombastic vocals, and memorable riffs... they still sound 100 percent like Slough Feg (and thus a bit like Maiden, a bit like Priest, a bit like Sabbath, and a bit like Thin Lizzy). If you've ever said, nobody makes music like that anymore, well Slough Feg do. But they're original about it too.
Oh, and good thing they released this in time for Halloween, as there's songs about both vampires and werewolves on here. The latter, live stand out "Lycanthropic Fantasies", is a show stopper on stage, and one of this disc's best as well. The former, "Ask The Casket", is a ridiculously melodic dirge inspired by the cult '60s TV gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows.
Another of our favorite tracks is "Second Coming", which starts off acoustically, and features one of Scalzi's most emotive and heartfelt vocal performances, as well as (more) gorgeous twin lead guitarwork... like Slough Feg's earlier "The Sea Wolf", it's a song inspired by writer Jack London, but maybe 'cause the lyrics make reference to San Francisco, it seems like Scalzi's really singing about himself here, somehow.
MPEG Stream: "The 95 Thesis"
MPEG Stream: "Lycanthropic Fantasies"
MPEG Stream: "Ask The Casket"
MPEG Stream: "Free Market Barbarian"

SLOW MOTION COWBOYS Buzzard Songs (self-released) cd 10.98

SLOW POISONERS The Days Of The Soft Breaks (Heyday) cd 11.98
The Slow Poisoners do what they do very very well! And that is, mainman Andrew Goldfarb and his merry band of minstrels craft a plethora of gleeful, slightly trippy retro 60s/70s-ish tunes, and they certainly seem to have a splendid time doing so. Their second full length is a characteristically playful affair filled with multi-layered vocal harmonies, gently tweaked lyrics and quirky harpsichord and organ embellishments. Make no bones about it (where did that saying come from anyway!), these Bay Area super-polished popsters have been deeply moved by the works of the Beatles and David Bowie. Song by song, the deep reverence is more than evident. As well, on a number of songs, there's an ample dose of Donovan-esque folky eccentricities too. Toothsome, intelligent and fun.
MPEG Stream: "Tomorrow Man"
MPEG Stream: "Strange Thing Happening "

SLOW POISONERS The God That Failed (Rocktopus) 7" 2.98
These SF eccentric songsters have released a new 7" that's chock full o' nuts - five suitably off-kilter new songs. The Slow Poisoners are definitely a hard group to pinpoint. Led by mainman Andrew Goldfarb, they've followed their muse hopping from genre to genre and mood to mood for five years now. Perhaps we could call this folk-glam? Hmmm... sorta, but not quite. Give 'er a spin!

SLOW READER s/t (Fueled By Ramen ) cd 13.98
If angels started a pop band, they wouldn't sound like Built To Spill. They wouldn't sound like the Polyphonic Spree. They wouldn't sound like Grandaddy. They wouldn't sound like Elliott Smith. They would sound like Slow Reader. Although they would have to be angels that had broken hearts and who didn't know how to talk to that one girl, and who remember that one summer, and who are lonely and misunderstood, and who sit at home on their cloud writing perfect little pop songs, who even thogh they are angels sound sort of 'emo', who sing in perfect falsettos in perfect harmony and who sing about amputees and lost loves and drugs and stuff.
Slow Reader take elements of all of the above bands and mix them into a perfect, dreamy sweetpop confection. Not to intimate that this is light in any way. This is just as melancholy and dark as anything, it's just that the darkness is wrapped up all snug and tight in a radiant, delicate pure white cloud of rapturous sound, all pure and angelic, etherial and heavenly (to stretch this allusion to its breaking point). Heavily strummed acoustic guitars, pianos that tinkle and drop notes around your ears like spring showers, warm and rich organs that wrap everything in a dreamy haze, peculiar rhythms that range from super processed, heavily affected drums that sound almost electronic to "We Will Rock You" style handclap/footstomp percussion. But it's the vocals that really get me. Gorgeous and drenched in reverb, with a whispery urgency like Elliott Smith, capable of turning misanthropic tales of amputees into daydreamy lullabies. Outside of the Goldcard record reviewed elsewhere on this list, this is almost all I've been listening to. Fans of any of the bands mentioned NEED this.
Random note: Not sure what it is, but Slow Reader are the second brilliant pop band in recent memory to be born from weird punk/ska band roots (the first being The Stereo, who we've repeatedly raved about in the past). Not sure if it means anything, but it just seemed interesting.
MPEG Stream: "I Like You Most"
MPEG Stream: "Anesthetic For The Amputee"
MPEG Stream: "Politics Music And Drugs"
MPEG Stream: "Stupid Bet"

SLOWBLOW s/t (Mobile) cd 16.98
Hurray, available again! Back in 2004, this Icelandic duo's self titled album made its way across the pond and into our welcome ears. Mind you, we had to turn every noisy machine in the store and hope for a respite from the jackhammering road work outside... yes, their music is really that hushed and hanging-by-a-thread intimate. Maybe best listened to late at night in a darkened room or deep in the woods? Daylight would surely overwhelm it.
Here's what we said about it the first time around:
Slowblow whisper out the gentlest of folk-pop, and they're assisted in their quiet mission by some baby-girl cooing vocals courtesy of Kristin Anna Valtysdottir from fellow Icelanders Mum. Some of their songs are so frail that a full drumkit would surely overwhelm them, thus instead a soft beat is tapped out on a woodblock. The livelier numbers do feature a more fleshed out rhythm section complete with handclaps. Although most of the album is of the hushed and earthy nature, every so often Slowblow take an unexpected musical detour or two. For instance, while the fourth song "Second Hand Smoke" sounds like a secret menagerie of wooden and tin toys, the very next track is a raw, almost garagey and Fall-ish tune with distorted vocals and clatterous percussion. Then, it's back into a somber, countrified number with plucked banjo and beleaguered Arab Strap-y male vocals. Depending on your sugar tolerance, you might find the songs with Kristin's vocals a bit cloying, but overall this album is ultra wistful and pretty.
MPEG Stream: "I Know You Can Smile"
MPEG Stream: "Aim For A Smile"

SLOWDIVE Souvlaki (Creation) cd 12.98
My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive embody the term shoegaze. If you have, have had, or may one day have even the smallest interest in said genre, you have this or you need this. Guitars are simply texture, bass and drums take the driver's seat, and vocals flutter here and there. This is their second to last album, but kinda the last. After this was Pygmalion, which was recorded by only half the band's members (one more than the other) and caused Creation to kick them off the label. Oh, we should mention that Brian Eno produced one song, and he played on two.
Not to mention any names, but one (former) AQ staffer has a Slowdive tattoo. This record is more than recommended, it's essential.
Includes 4 bonus tracks "not on import".
MPEG Stream: "Alison"
MPEG Stream: "Machine Gun"
MPEG Stream: "40 Days"

SLOWER THAN (Army Arm) 7" 2.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of Andee's favorite local bands records two instrumentals for a children's production of Alice In Wonderland. Great!

SLOWSIX Private Times In Public Places (Western Vinyl) cd 14.98
The beautiful Slowsix cd Private Times In Public Places was originally released by Habit Of Creation back in 2004, and it has now been reissued on cd by Western Vinyl!
Here's what we said the first time around: Mesmerizing! Something new from the Brooklyn, NY Habit Of Creation label who brought us the two wonderful Edison Woods albums. If you dug Seven Principles of Leave No Trace, you'll surely wanna check this out! Slowsix is very much in the same glistening yet darkly mooded spirit as E.W. but less song-oriented and more soundscape-y. Treading solemnly in the footsteps of Philip Glass, their open, spacious aural atmospheres are crafted primarily from strings, guitars, sampled dialogue and Rhodes keyboards (both processed and clean).
Sound good? Yes. And don't let the fact that there is only three tracks mislead you. With a running time of 73 meditative minutes long, this is a perfect cd to sink in and drift off to... especially on such a chilly winter's day as today. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Evening Without Atonement (excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Evening Without Atonement (excerpt 2)"

SLUG GUTS Howlin' Gang (Sacred Bones) cd 13.98
With a name like Slug Guts, you might expect some ugly ultradoooooom from this band, but they express their misanthropy and disgust in another genre, as these punks Slug Guts are in fact Aussie underground garage rock wranglers, swampy and sinister in the grand tradition of Nick Cave & The Birthday Party, also sharing deviant DNA with the likes of Bird Blobs, King Snake Roost, Lubricated Goat, The Scientists, and other degenerate Down Under gutter crawlers of that ilk, from over the years...
We'd first heard 'em on their import-only debut Down On The Meat a couple years back, and are stoked that Sacred Bones have added them to their fine roster for this sophomore outing. Even if we hadn't heard of 'em before, the SB seal of approval (and the band name!) would have gotten us onboard.
Plus we love this sort of thing, being big fans of the bands mentioned above, so we're primed for Slug Guts' insidiously catchy caterwauling and late night, whiskey soaked dirgery. Perhaps not quite so noisy/nasty as Down On The Meat was, here Slug Guts show off their pop side, such as is, the record being a rollin' and tumblin', slow drunkard's stagger consisting of eerie guitar jangle, low-slung bass, and deep, drawled vocals, all bathed in loads of reverb, and menace. Opener "Howlin'" has a bit of a sinuous "Painted Black" vibe and indeed the entire album is cloaked in damnation and darkness.
MPEG Stream: "Howlin'"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Bones"
MPEG Stream: "Chrome Crucifix"

SLUG GUTS Howlin' Gang (Sacred Bones) lp 14.98
With a name like Slug Guts, you might expect some ugly ultradoooooom from this band, but they express their misanthropy and disgust in another genre, as these punks Slug Guts are in fact Aussie underground garage rock wranglers, swampy and sinister in the grand tradition of Nick Cave & The Birthday Party, also sharing deviant DNA with the likes of Bird Blobs, King Snake Roost, Lubricated Goat, The Scientists, and other degenerate Down Under gutter crawlers of that ilk, from over the years...
We'd first heard 'em on their import-only debut Down On The Meat a couple years back, and are stoked that Sacred Bones have added them to their fine roster for this sophomore outing. Even if we hadn't heard of 'em before, the SB seal of approval (and the band name!) would have gotten us onboard.
Plus we love this sort of thing, being big fans of the bands mentioned above, so we're primed for Slug Guts' insidiously catchy caterwauling and late night, whiskey soaked dirgery. Perhaps not quite so noisy/nasty as Down On The Meat was, here Slug Guts show off their pop side, such as is, the record being a rollin' and tumblin', slow drunkard's stagger consisting of eerie guitar jangle, low-slung bass, and deep, drawled vocals, all bathed in loads of reverb, and menace. Opener "Howlin'" has a bit of a sinuous "Painted Black" vibe and indeed the entire album is cloaked in damnation and darkness.
MPEG Stream: "Howlin'"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Bones"
MPEG Stream: "Chrome Crucifix"

SLUG GUTS Playin' Time With The Deadbeat (Sacred Bones) cd 14.98

SLUG GUTS Playin' Time With The Deadbeat (Sacred Bones) lp 19.98

SLUGLORDS Sluglords Forever (self-released) cd 11.98

MPEG Stream: "FTW (Trails Of Slime EP)"

SLUGLORDS Sluglords Forever (self-released) cd 11.98

MPEG Stream: "FTW (Trails Of Slime EP)"

SLUMBER PARTY 3 (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
Slumber Party's third full length is indeed titled 3! The breezy follow-up to this Detroit, MI quartet's 2001 Psychedelicate album features more of their unadorned jangling electric guitars and casually sung vocals. Although most of their songs are straightforward barebones, lo-fi pop reminiscent of Velvet Underground (particularly on songs like the very "Waiting For My Man"-ish "No Sleep Tonight"), Lois and Marine Girls, they do weave into a porchswing-y, down-by-the-creek laidback earthiness on the harmonica'n'tambourine-laced seventh song "Black Heart Road". Nice.
MPEG Stream: "No Sleep Tonight"
MPEG Stream: "Black Heart Road"

SLUMBER PARTY Musik (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
We've said it before and we'll go ahead and say it again: Fans of Young Marble Giants, Marine Girls, Raincoats, Velvet Underground, check out these Detroit rock minimalists! Their music often sounds like it's from 'back in the day' (circa late '70s/early-mid '80s), but they're not. Aliccia Berg and co.'s fourth album Musik just came out and is mostly comprised of their usual sweet summery folksy tunes. Think: cozying up under a patchwork quilt rather than walloping your pals in a pillow fight.
That said, we'd add that this time it sounds like they've developed a little chip on their collective shoulder as there are also a few edgier post-punk-y numbers amongst the lilting pop tunes.
MPEG Stream: "Thin Is Wide"
MPEG Stream: "Madeupmind"

SLUMBER PARTY Psychedelicate (Kill Rock Stars) cd 13.98
This is the second full length from these four sweetie pies from Michigan. Gretchen, Aliccia, Marcie and Leagh make dreamy, retro and folky songs with sweet girl vocal harmonies. The guitar sound is soft and pretty. Low key and unassuming, this is quite reminiscent of the Marine Girls, Young Marble Giants and Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley. Nice!
RealAudio clip: "My Little One "
RealAudio clip: "Soldier"

SMALL BLACK New Chain (Jagjaguwar) cd 14.98
We tried so hard to get our hands on the 12" Small Black released last year to review on the list, with no success, which was a bummer as it was really one of the best slabs of wax to come out of the then just blossoming chill-wave scene. Luckily those songs made it to the ears of a good range of folks via blogs and college radio, and Jagjaguwar were smart enough to sign the band and release this, their debut full length.
New Chain is brimming with awesome waves of Hacienda inspired pop, equal parts dream and dance. One of the things that has been making Small Black stand out over lots of their chill-wave friends is the fact that they are actually a full band, able to pull of live what they capture so well on their recordings. In fact lots of folks we know who saw them open on tour for Washed Out agreed that Small Black gave a way better live performance. They sit right near the top of the crop with folks like Washed Out, Neon Indian and Nite Jewel, in delivering lo-fi soaked sounds with such great hooks and inviting melodies. Hazy and blissful pop that hits the spot!
MPEG Stream: "Camouflage"
MPEG Stream: "New Chain"
MPEG Stream: "Photojournalist"

SMASH Todas Sus Grabaciones (1969-1978) (Rama Lama Music) 2cd 23.00
Fuzz guitars, sitar-psych, blues licks, flamenco influences, anarchic comedy, melancholic pop brilliance: that's Smash! Nope, not something new at all, this is actually a 2001 release reissuing music much older than that. Y'know, not only do we try to review as many crucial new releases and newly reissued things as we can (which isn't nearly as many as there are, unfortunately!), there's also all kinds of not so new, but new to us (and quite possibly new to you, too) stuff that we come across and really really dig and want to let y'all know about too.
This would be one of those things, just discovered by Allan last year. Now we have finally got enough of 'em to write up on our list. Smash were a psychedelic rock band from Spain that flourished from 1969 to about 1972 or so, and this double cd compiles their complete recorded output as far as we can tell -- all their singles, both their albums Glorieta De Los Lotos and Esta Vez Venimos A Golpear (aka We Come To Smash This Time), and their half of a split LP. 32 tracks on two cds! And it's all pretty great. Since it's everything they ever did, the music here explores wide territory...from the blues to rustic folk to raga rock to psych pop to hard rock heaviness. Variously, Smash would seem to have been Spain's answer to the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin, all. We're also reminded a bit of Os Mutantes at times. And we can make a couple of more modern comparisons: the slow n' sad beauty of Smash's "I Left You" totally could be a song off that Elope album we loved from last year, and their dark, drifting "Look At The Rainbow (Flying In The Sky)" is a dead ringer for something by Japanese psych shamans Ghost! They do it all, and really really well. Just imagine that Musica Dispersa reissue we recommended recently, if they also cranked things up occassionally to rock n' roll ya on a Mississippi mountain side... The last time a double cd of vintage psych stuff impressed us this much would have been when that amazing Public Nuisance collection came out.
MPEG Stream: "I Left You"
MPEG Stream: "Behind The Stars"
MPEG Stream: "Fail Safe"

SMASHING PUMPKINS Adore (Virgin) cd 16.98
If any of us ever bother listening to this, we'll let you know how it is.

SMASHING PUMPKINS Machina : The Machines of God (Virgin) cd 17.98
Billy's got one of those egos that thrives off of the love/hate relationship he has with the media. And while selling Smashing Pumpkins records is not AQ's bread & butter, it's a morbid curiousity to listen in... and no, not much is there: the romantic drama of Duran Duran, a few heavy licks, and Billy's squealing whine. Regardless of what we say, you'll either want it or not.
RealAudio clip: "Raindrops and Sunshowers"

SMASHING PUMPKINS Zeitgeist (Martha's Music / Reprise) cd 17.98
The Smashing Pumpkins are back. Well at least Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin. You probably know where you stand on the Pumpkins by this point, and while some of us here have never been fans and a few who never made it past Gish (which still ruleez says Andee!) there are a few of us here who aren't ashamed one bit to let it be known that we have always had a big ol' soft spot in our hearts for the Smashing Pumpkins. If you came of age in the '90s it's pretty much impossible not to have some nostalgia for how perfect their angst sounded in our poster decked teenage bedrooms. And love him or hate him Billy Corgan is one great guitar player who's managed to write some of the most memorable songs of the last couple decades. That being said they do leave lots of room for criticism and this new outing probably won't be the one to convert you if you've never been a big fan. But for those of you with that aforementioned soft spot, we think you should check this out and play it for a few times before you make your mind up as we've found this one to be a serious grower with repeated listens.
MPEG Stream: "7 Shades Of Black"
MPEG Stream: "Neverlost"

SMEGMA Rumblings (Hanson) cd 14.98

SMEGMA / WOLF EYES No Face Lives (De Stijl) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Portland's clattery, free improvised noise unit meets Ann Arbor's caustic power electronic doom-synth trio, for an unprecedented meeting of the..uh..minds. Smega seem to come out on top, with the overall sound falling squarely in their clinking, crashing, hippie music concrete by way of No Neck Blues band free folk clatter and Negativland-ish plunderphonic found sound collage. The strong sonic personalities in Wolf Eyes seem to have no problem playing the supporting role here, underscoring the ramshackle freeness of Smegma, with their buzzing homemades synths, and grinding electric guitar grit.

SMITH WESTERNS Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum) cd 14.98
These kids from Chicago are musically way wise well beyond their age. Barely out of high school they proved on their debut that they were most definitely a musical force to be reckoned with, playing infectious guitar driven pop that fits somewhere between the sounds of their slightly older peers and touring pals, Girls and Hunx & His Punx. With their second full length, they have upped the ante even more, once again demonstrating their knack for creating songs with huge hooks and melting warmth. Their love of T. Rex can be heard boldly throughout these songs, but you also get the feeling they spent a lot of last year being swept away by Beach House's Teen Dream, as there is a new level of sophistication and a whole other layer of woozy warmth woven into their sound. We love how SW's are both so full of energy yet also ridiculously talented musicians who have found a way to merge spirit and talent in such satisfying ways.
MPEG Stream: "Weekend"
MPEG Stream: "Still New"
MPEG Stream: "Imagine Pt. 3"

SMITH WESTERNS Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum) lp 14.98
These kids from Chicago are musically way wise well beyond their age. Barely out of high school they proved on their debut that they were most definitely a musical force to be reckoned with, playing infectious guitar driven pop that fits somewhere between the sounds of their slightly older peers and touring pals, Girls and Hunx & His Punx. With their second full length, they have upped the ante even more, once again demonstrating their knack for creating songs with huge hooks and melting warmth. Their love of T. Rex can be heard boldly throughout these songs, but you also get the feeling they spent a lot of last year being swept away by Beach House's Teen Dream, as there is a new level of sophistication and a whole other layer of woozy warmth woven into their sound. We love how SW's are both so full of energy yet also ridiculously talented musicians who have found a way to merge spirit and talent in such satisfying ways.
MPEG Stream: "Weekend"
MPEG Stream: "Still New"
MPEG Stream: "Imagine Pt. 3"

SMITH WESTERNS s/t (HoZac Records) cd 12.98
We'll be the first to admit that sometimes our customers are quicker than us to be turned on to the newest coolest sounds. We hadn't heard the Smith Westerns but a few of our regular customers kept gushing about them and told has we had to check it out. And we're so glad they did. While there has been no shortage of lo-fi garage pop in the last couple years, Smith Westerns have their own endearing and charming take on that kind of fuzzy bubblegum garage pop we can never seem to get enough of. While they hail from Chicago, these guys would be so at home right here in the Bay Area as they share a similar spirit and aesthetic with folks like Hunx & His Punx, Girls, Thee Oh Sees, Nobunny, Personal & The Pizza's, etc. In fact we just found out they will be playing a Valentines Day show here in San Francisco with the above mentioned Girls and Hunx & His Punx. So perfect!! We love how Smith Westerns bring in a wide range of influences, from T. Rex to girl groups, to create songs that are fleshed out and lushly lo-fi while bursting with bright eyed excitement. So fucking cool!
MPEG Stream: "Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Gimme Some Time"
MPEG Stream: "Diamond Boys"

SMITH WESTERNS s/t (HoZac Records) lp 14.98
We'll be the first to admit that sometimes our customers are quicker than us to be turned on to the newest coolest sounds. We hadn't heard the Smith Westerns but a few of our regular customers kept gushing about them and told has we had to check it out. And we're so glad they did. While there has been no shortage of lo-fi garage pop in the last couple years, Smith Westerns have their own endearing and charming take on that kind of fuzzy bubblegum garage pop we can never seem to get enough of. While they hail from Chicago, these guys would be so at home right here in the Bay Area as they share a similar spirit and aesthetic with folks like Hunx & His Punx, Girls, Thee Oh Sees, Nobunny, Personal & The Pizza's, etc. In fact we just found out they will be playing a Valentines Day show here in San Francisco with the above mentioned Girls and Hunx & His Punx. So perfect!! We love how Smith Westerns bring in a wide range of influences, from T. Rex to girl groups, to create songs that are fleshed out and lushly lo-fi while bursting with bright eyed excitement. So fucking cool!
MPEG Stream: "Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Gimme Some Time"
MPEG Stream: "Diamond Boys"

SMITH, CHES Congs For Brums (Free Porcupine Society) cd 14.98
The debut solo album from percussionist / vibraphonist about town (and beyond) Ches Smith! He's built quite a name for himself as both a studio and touring percussionist. Perhaps you've seen/heard him perform with the likes of Secret Chiefs 3, Marc Ribot, Xiu Xiu, Carla Bozulich or Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant? Congs For Brums is comprised of ten explorations in rhythmic and dynamic progressions incorporating a broad spectrum of percussion instruments, both the conventional and the less so. The works range from the absolutely stark single strike per instrument tour at the beginning of the second track "My Motherfuckin' Roda!" to the more fleshed out full kit rush of "Metal Vacation" to the resonant vibraphone tones of "The Clarinet In B Flat" (uh, there is no clarinet!) and "Mental Vacation". A particular fave is a repeating segment of track #5 "Homemade Posi" that brings to mind a drunken camel. While this disc may not find itself on regular rotation in your living room, it's so well recorded that we'd bet that pieces of it are going to resurface as prime sample material for many other musicmakers.
MPEG Stream: "Metal Vacation"
MPEG Stream: "Homemade Posi"

SMITH, CHRIS Bad Orchestra (Death Valley) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally! After years of being a huge fan of Australian guitarist Chris Smith, and only being able to track down split eps and comps, or collaborations, we've finally got our hands on the latest, and seems only in-print cd releases from this amazing musician. Some of you might remember Smith from the split FatCat 12" he shared with Jewelled Antler outfit The Ivytree a while back, or more recently, the killer collaboration with fellow Australian Justin Fuller, reviewed at the beginning of this year (and still in stock!).
All of Smith's proper releases, even a stateside collection of 'greatest hits' are all out of print and unavailable, which is s massive shame as this man is a guitar genius. But where other records feature Smith mostly solo, using his guitar to weave magical landscapes of abstract sound, on Bad Orchestra, he seems to have put together an actual band (a Bad Orchestra?) and written some songs, for a record that is as rock as we've heard him for sure. Thankfully, Smith's rock is as good as his non-rock, dark and emotional, epic and intense, at times sounding like Dinosaur Jr. channeling Crazy Horse, right down to the vocals, a whiney plaintive croon, at others sounding a bit like a more moody meandering Dirty Three, and still at others unwinding into sparse deserty twang. The guitars thick and reverb drenched, the drums slightly distorted and heavy, acoustic guitars below sheets of psyche rock fuzz, that alone would have made Bad Orchestra a winner, but the rock tracks here are scattered amidst more abstract (and more familiar to us) pieces, guitarscapes and expansive ambience, the opener, a brief spell of Scott Tuma style Appalachian murk, to the forlorn sounding piano-in-a-warehouse of "Glue Factory" or the glistening high end raga of "Slight Problems (Intermission)", the Dead C like fractured noise pop of "Jimmy's Theme" to the blurred Tim Hecker like washed out soundscape of "Your Tunnel".
A pretty perfect mix of gorgeous ambient experimentalism, blown out RAWK, and haunting dark desert pop. Obviously WAY recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Living Dead Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Glue Factory"
MPEG Stream: "Grain Elevator Blues"
MPEG Stream: "The Orbit"

SMITH, ELLIOTT An Introduction to... (Kill Rock Stars) cd 12.98
As the years pass after Elliott Smith's sad suicide, it's becoming more clear that his musical legacy will have the same impact and influence on future generations that Nick Drake's did a few decades before. He created such intimate and fragile songs that anyone with a heart (that's been broken) could relate to and find warmth, comfort and solace from. His songs have proven to be so practically perfect and seemingly timeless. He wasn't a part of any musical fad or trend. Instead he was one of those rare songwriting geniuses, the ones that only come along every few generations and craft songs that become the soundtrack to so many of our lives.
An Introduction To... is just that. A selection of his best songs spanning all his albums as well as a couple tracks from New Moon, the collection of B sides and demos during the era he was on Kill Rock Stars. We're sure the only problem the folks at KRS had with this collection was having to narrow it all down to fourteen tracks, as he did leave behind so many amazing songs. But we have to say they did an impeccable job choosing which songs and in what order to craft this ultimate ES mixtape.
There are also great liner notes written by Tape Op editor Larry Crane which gives a nice history and plenty of insight into the music of Elliott Smith. For any of our friends who somehow slept on his music in the past, we must INSIST this you at least pick this up, you'll soon be under his spell for sure, we can't imagine many lovers of music not finding so much beauty and richness in these stunning songs.
We miss you Elliott!
MPEG Stream: "Waltz #2 (XO)"
MPEG Stream: "The Biggest Lie"
MPEG Stream: "Happiness (Single Version)"
MPEG Stream: "Last Call"

SMITH, ELLIOTT An Introduction to... (Kill Rock Stars) lp 14.98
As the years pass after Elliott Smith's sad suicide, it's becoming more clear that his musical legacy will have the same impact and influence on future generations that Nick Drake's did a few decades before. He created such intimate and fragile songs that anyone with a heart (that's been broken) could relate to and find warmth, comfort and solace from. His songs have proven to be so practically perfect and seemingly timeless. He wasn't a part of any musical fad or trend. Instead he was one of those rare songwriting geniuses, the ones that only come along every few generations and craft songs that become the soundtrack to so many of our lives.
An Introduction To... is just that. A selection of his best songs spanning all his albums as well as a couple tracks from New Moon, the collection of B sides and demos during the era he was on Kill Rock Stars. We're sure the only problem the folks at KRS had with this collection was having to narrow it all down to fourteen tracks, as he did leave behind so many amazing songs. But we have to say they did an impeccable job choosing which songs and in what order to craft this ultimate ES mixtape.
There are also great liner notes written by Tape Op editor Larry Crane which gives a nice history and plenty of insight into the music of Elliott Smith. For any of our friends who somehow slept on his music in the past, we must INSIST this you at least pick this up, you'll soon be under his spell for sure, we can't imagine many lovers of music not finding so much beauty and richness in these stunning songs.
We miss you Elliott!
MPEG Stream: "Waltz #2 (XO)"
MPEG Stream: "The Biggest Lie"
MPEG Stream: "Happiness (Single Version)"
MPEG Stream: "Last Call"

SMITH, ELLIOTT Either/Or (Kill Rock Stars) cd 14.98
Finally, the new album from the fine introspective singer/songwriter formerly from the band Heatmiser. His songs will break your heart... seriously. One of his best.

SMITH, ELLIOTT Either/Or (Kill Rock Stars) lp 17.98
Finally, the new album from the fine introspective singer/songwriter formerly from the band Heatmiser. His songs will break your heart... seriously. One of his best.

SMITH, ELLIOTT Figure 8 (Dreamworks) cd 13.98
Yes, the much-anticipated new full length release from Mr. Smith is here. Kicking off this album is an uptempo version of his song "Son of Sam" (quite a drastically different take on this tune from his quietly moving solo voice and guitar performance here in SF recently). Figure 8 continues on the winding path of highly polished and pleasing, ever-expanding pop grandeur that was very evident on his XO album. Track 5 entitled "Everything Means Nothing To Me" gives a nod to the Flaming Lips' "Soft Bulletin" with its blown-out percussion and grand string arrangements. Already overheard in AQ, "hey, this was playing in that restaurant we were in this morning!" You will be hearing this everywhere (if you aren't already!).