TRISTEZA These Walls (Gravity) cd ep 7.98
Hot on the heels of their remix collection "Mixed Signals" comes this EP. It seems that recently this mellow instrumental quintet have been moving further from their gentle guitar-dominant post-rock tracks into more gentle electronic-accented post-rock sounds. This release seems quite transitional. Overall, it's just what we've come to expect from these San Diego fellows - well-executed, unobtrusive, pleasant soundtracks. Perhaps you may find the docile repetition either shimmeringly hypnotic or numbingly sleep-inducing? However, track 6 jolts us out of our slumber with a disruptive, skronky, horn-filled jazzy jam-out. And did they intend for the cover art to resemble intestines? Puzzling.
RealAudio clip: "Stop Grass"
RealAudio clip: "Auxilio Mate"

TRMRS Sea Things (Dead Beat) lp 14.98
NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL!! Here's what we said about the previous cd-r version of this fave:
Ever hear of the TRMRS? Neither had we. Not until a couple scruffy looking dudes came into the store and dropped off a copy of their new cd-r, a hand painted, home made little gem, that definitely had us wondering what might be inside. And shit, if what's inside doesn't make these guys the next big thing, then we'd be pretty goddamn surprised.
Think Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps, Waaves, Surfer Blood, Soft Pack, that sort of jangly, super hooky, slightly surfy psychedelic garage rock, and while there is definitely a glut of folks going for that sound, these guys do it way better than most, and totally make it their own. Self described as 'trash pop', that's pretty much what this sounds like, trashy and poppy, and loose and super rocking, the guitars are crunchy and jangly, the vocals a melodic yelp, the drums propulsive, reverb all over the place, and the songs are hooky as hell. More garagey and raw, than purely poppy, but that raw garage is infused with plenty of poppiness, reminding us a bit of a slightly more song oriented Coachwhips, you can definitely tell that live these guys probably have the crowd bouncing and sweaty and losing their shit. And it's easy to hear why.
Definitely a new favorite. And we'd be shocked if these guys didn't get snapped up by Mexican Summer or In The Red or Woodsist or even Captured Tracks or Woven Bones, and if any of that stuff is your jam, then these guys just might be your new favorite band.
MPEG Stream: "Shorter Days"
MPEG Stream: "Hello Self"
MPEG Stream: "Green Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Come In"

TRMRS Sea Things (self-released) cd-r 8.98
Ever hear of the TRMRS? Neither had we. Not until a couple scruffy looking dudes came into the store and dropped off a copy of their new cd-r, a hand painted, home made little gem, that definitely had us wondering what might be inside. And shit, if what's inside doesn't make these guys the next big thing, then we'd be pretty goddamn surprised.
Think Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps, Waaves, Surfer Blood, Soft Pack, that sort of jangly, super hooky, slightly surfy psychedelic garage rock, and while there is definitely a glut of folks going for that sound, these guys do it way better than most, and totally make it their own. Self described as 'trash pop', that's pretty much what this sounds like, trashy and poppy, and loose and super rocking, the guitars are crunchy and jangly, the vocals a melodic yelp, the drums propulsive, reverb all over the place, and the songs are hooky as hell. More garagey and raw, than purely poppy, but that raw garage is infused with plenty of poppiness, reminding us a bit of a slightly more song oriented Coachwhips, you can definitely tell that live these guys probably have the crowd bouncing and sweaty and losing their shit. And it's easy to hear why.
Definitely a new favorite. And we'd be shocked if these guys didn't get snapped up by Mexican Summer or In The Red or Woodsist or even Captured Tracks or Woven Bones, and if any of that stuff is your jam, then these guys just might be your new favorite band.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES. Each one in a super fancy hand painted, silkscreened, collaged cover, every one unique, and all hand numbered!
MPEG Stream: "Shorter Days"
MPEG Stream: "Hello Self"
MPEG Stream: "Green Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Come In"

TRMRS Surf Titties (Words & Dreams) cassette 5.98
These guys kicked out asses recently with the distortion drenched blown out garage rock jangle pop of their debut Sea Things, positioning them firmly alongside sonic brethren like Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Sic Alps, Waaves, Surfer Blood, Soft Pack, and all the rest. This new tape offers up a handful of new songs, paired with a selection of tracks from Sea Things, so for those who somehow missed out on that gem, or who were waiting for the cassette version (?), well here's what we had to say about Sea Things (the rest of you can skip this part):
Jangly, super hooky, slightly surfy, psychedelic garage rock. And while there may be a glut of folks going for that sound, these guys do it way better than most, and totally make it their own. Self described as 'trash pop', that's pretty much what this sounds like, trashy and poppy, and loose and super rocking, the guitars are crunchy and jangly, the vocals a melodic yelp, the drums propulsive, reverb all over the place, and the songs are hooky as hell. More garagey and raw, than purely poppy, but that raw garage is infused with plenty of poppiness, reminding us a bit of a slightly more song oriented Coachwhips, you can definitely tell that live these guys probably have the crowd bouncing and sweaty and losing their shit. And it's easy to hear why.
The new tracks here, are as you might have guessed, more of the same, cut from the same sonic cloth, with maybe a bit more production polish here and there, some cool backwards effects, a slightly less lo-fi sound, but then the sound is as much of this music as the songs are, so the sound stays appropriately fuzzy and washed out and reverby, and in places gets even more noisy and crunchy than before, the 4 jams here offering up another heaping helping of gloriously buzzy Sixties influenced surf rocky fuzz pop that could have (and probably did) come straight from the same sessions that produced Sea Things, but hell, we're not complaining, more TRMRS is what we were hankering for anyway, so here it is. And the new songs do kill, hooky and rocking, sweat drenched and distorted, and catchy as all get out. And like we mentioned before, we're surprised these guys haven't yet landed on some big label (Mexican Summer? In The Red?) yet, but we're guessing it's only a matter of time.
Comes with two stickers, one of which has a download code for a digital version of the whole tape! Sweet occultic skull artwork too!

TROLL Pathless Land (Orange Sun) cd 6.98
This Pathless Land contains five moody latenight multilingual tunes, and certainly leaves you craving more! Subtle, smoky and just a little bit mysterious and trippy. The second song "Western" is a definite stand-out bringing to mind the wonderful duets of Serge Gainsbourg and Francoise Hardy or Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. In-store play never fails to draw more than a few customer queries. A very impressive follow-up to their Que Son los Trolls y en Que Nos Ayudan? cd from a couple of years ago!
MPEG Stream: "Western"
MPEG Stream: "Tex Bossa Redux (Aero-Mic'd Remix)"

TROLL Que Son los Trolls y en Que Nos Ayudan? (Orange Sun) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Local quintet Troll has made a delightfully ambitious record. The flavor is sort of Pizzicato 5 meets Os Mutantes meets Amon Duul, and each song is a minor gem, albeit a little rough 'round the edges', with multiple vocalists, epic harmonies, intensely simmering guitar, and well-written, unpredictable songs, dynamic pieces that grow and develop within themselves. Being smart folk with wonderful taste in music (we should know: they're AQ-customers!), Troll describe themselves quite accurately: "The sound is a combination of hard Nordic and Spanish garage, mellow blissful euro-tinged psychedelia, Japanese tropicalia and ambient jazz. The languages sung on the album are Danish, Spanish, Japanese, French and English." Nice.
RealAudio clip: "Blue Skies"
RealAudio clip: "Silver Mountain"
RealAudio clip: "El Vampiro"

TROLLER s/t (Living Tapes) cassette 8.98
To dedicated readers of the New Arrival list, there can be no doubt that goth and industrial sounds from the eighties are back in a huge way. But rather than riding the nostalgia train, most of the groups we love who are mining this sound and putting their own spin on it, adding unique elements to distinguish a sense of honest and progressive devotion from a mere genre exercise. Case in point is this debut tape from Austin-based heavy gloomers, Troller. Coming out of the same fervent scene that was birthed from the ashes of Silver Pines: Pure X, Survive, Sleep Over, and Thousand Foot Whale Claw (for a good overview of this scene, check out the Brain Club Vol. #000001 LP compilation), Troller mine classic death rock, but slow it down with a heavy shoe-gazing doominess. You can tell the female singer has a voice as big as Zola Jesus, or Siouxie, but what we like most about it is that she restrains her delivery from overwrought passion up front in the mix, instead letting it moulder at times in a dour misanthropic mire with the chilly synths and the booming plod of the drum machine patterns. In between each proper song is an untitled instrumental that shows the band's knack for sculpting dark ambient soundscapes that are alien, pensive and luridly bleak.

MPEG Stream: "Milk"

TROPES s/t (Paradigms) cd 12.98
Two new releases from UK boutique label Paradigms this list, both continuing Paradigms' shift toward sounds more abstract and ambient. An eclectic label for sure, we'd imagine there's definitely some fucked up heaviness lurking in the future, bit for now, we're happy to just drift through gorgeous hazy soundscapes with this latest disc from a group called Tropes, the work of German vocalist and soundscaper Susan Bauszat.
The sounds here are delicate and crystalline, shimmery, gauzy and utterly dreamy, but not without some ominous stirrings, the music is all soft muted synths and strings, guitar, flute, violin, all washed out and blurred into reverb drenched streaks, the perfect backdrop for Bauszat's layered vocals, tangled harmonies, dense and complex, but ethereal and angelic. Think Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Islaja, 4AD record and even more modern cd-r stuff like Grouper and Inca Ore. Dark and mysterious, lush expanses of billowing glistening sound, underpinned by shortwave buzz, insectoid skitter, bits of subtle glitch, swooping backwards melodies and all manner of soft focus sonic texture, but at it's heart the sound of Tropes is a simple stirring folk, vocals lustrous and emotive, drifting dreamlike through clouds of shimmer, abstract tangles of acoustic guitar wound gently around minimal electronic rhythms,soft washed out whirs and haunting cinematic strings. So lovely.
LIMITED TO 750 COPIES. Packaged in a mini lp style jacket, wrapped in a hand stamped brown paper outer sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Silence May Whisper"
MPEG Stream: "What If I Say"

TRUBROT s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 17.98
The "Icelandic Invasion" continues, as Shadoks reissues some more crucial '60s/'70s psych-prog action from that island nation. Last time we highlighted the groovy "hairy funk" heaviness of Odmenn. This time, two more: the sole album by Svanfridur (1972), and this one, the debut from Trubrot (1969). Both bands demonstrate definite Beatles influence, and do so well, but also are quite eccentric in their own right, which perhaps can be ascribed to their Icelandic heritage?
Trubrot at their inception were already basically Iceland's #1 "supergroup", consisting of members of two popular R&B acts, Flowers and Hljomar. Big things were hoped for 'em, they even played for a few weeks in New York City, but they never really broke outside of Iceland, though they did go on to make several more well-regarded albums (which it would be nice if Shadoks would reissue as well). This one got them off to an excellent start, and as we also said about the Svanfridur reissue, we think it would go down well with fans of current Scandinavian psychsters Dungen. It's a mix of pop and prog, with bits of jazz and folk, and besides their own ambitious originals, it notably includes a diverse selection of cover songs, Trubrot doing Icelandic language interpretations of tunes originally performed by The Beatles ("Things We Said Today", to which they've added an amazingly kickass instrumental intro), Jose Feliciano, and The Supremes. And one more, the band's organist having worked up an arrangement of a song from the Richard Wagner opera "Tannhauser", which astonishingly enough got them some grief from the classical music authorities of the day. Ah, the old high brow/low brow battles fought by so many prog bands back then...
Likewise, their originals (also all sung in Icelandic, of course) also range all over the place, from the serious and sombre (in keeping with the Wagner) to much zanier fare, like the "dinner party" sound effects that take over in the middle of "Konopujufirinn" to the 24-second long "Bryjenda Boogie" which in its brevity is basically the boogie equivalent of Napalm Death, we guess. On the opposite extreme is the album ending programmatic nine-minute "Afgangar", a schizophrenic "rock opera" of sorts. Here, and everywhere, Trubrot will go from fuzzed out groove to gentle female vocals to vaudeville music hall numbers to musique concrete... hey why not? We said they were ambitious.
This reissue includes six bonus tracks mostly from a couple 1970 singles, and the cd booklet has lots and lots in the way of liner notes and photos.
MPEG Stream: "Sama Er Mer"
MPEG Stream: "Pu Skalt Mig Fa"
MPEG Stream: "Frelsi Andans"

TRUCK Surprise, Surprise (Guerssen) cd 21.00
Here are the few facts we've gathered about this band Truck and their (apparently only) album entitled Surprise, Surprise: they were from faraway Malaysia, released this rare record back in 1974, and were obviously pretty big Beatles fans by the sound of it! And (less of a fact, more of an opinion) they're pretty rad. Sung in English, the ten tracks here are wonderful pop psych that could have come out of London in '68, by a band like Kaleidoscope... well, except for one element: the unexpected strains of spacey analog Moog synth heard in many of these songs. That helps make this Truck album extra-special. But it would be pretty special anyway, with its blend of dreamy, sunny melodies, lush studio orchestration, and a bit of fuzz guitar riffing. And while seemingly inspired by the Fab Four, Truck aren't just about them. We hear hints of The Who, The Creation, and even Joe Walsh in there just as much as ELO or Badfinger. But of course we'd recommend it to people who like obscure, Beatlesy bands like The Aerovons or Peru's We All Together. Released on cd (supposedly limited edition) by the Spanish label Guerssen, this is one of those cool out-of-the-blue reissues we're always stoked to hear! Nice!!
MPEG Stream: "Surprise, Surprise"
MPEG Stream: "This Is Our Love Song"

TRUCKS, THE s/t (SpinArt / Click Pop) cd 14.98
From the sounds of their rather raunchy tune "Titties", these gals had us wonderin' if they might be horning in on Peaches' sexed-up pottymouth territory. "Yikes!" we exclaimed. And they are in a way, at least here and there, lots of sassy shit kicking tough girl action, and of course plenty of the f-word peppering The Trucks' lyrics, but as a whole, theirs is a much less abrasive and much more endearingly perky approach. Snappy, quirky synth pop / electro / indie jangle with vocals that alternate between pep squad (Go! Team), pre-teen soul diva (Smoosh) and indie popster (Mirah). Lots and lots of girlish fun fun fun! But with a definite dark undercurrent, in both the lyrics and the melodies. Beware to the boys (or girls) who might wish to do them harm, split up the group, or break any hearts. You will be dealt with, in song form: a wicked musical lashing. But even at their darkest and meanest, they still manage to make it fun. Judging from the photos, their shows must be crazy wild and over the top, and while the music is totally different, they seem like the perfect band to share a bill with party black metallers JonnyX And The Groadies!
MPEG Stream: "Titties"
MPEG Stream: "Man Voice"

TRUE WIDOW As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth (Kemado) cd 13.98
When we discovered the debut full length from Texas slowcore doomgaze trio True Widow, it was a revelation. How could a band like that exist and not be HUGE? Why were they not everyone's favorite band? No one we knew had heard of them, in fact, a few random folks claimed to not even like them. But we were smitten. More than smitten. OBSESSED. It had been years since a record, or a band, had blown us away like that. We contacted the label, ordered the record, made it our Record Of The Week, and sold HUNDREDS. Just at aQ! We had them play our showcase at South By Southwest, where they blew everyone away (even after SXSW asking us why we wanted them to play at all?!). We got them to play Noise Pop out here, and again, everyone was mesmerized, watching slackjawed, utterly entrancedÉ That record, it made us zealots, we felt like we were spreading the good word, the True Widow sonic scriptures, trying to convert everyone we could. Playing that record incessantly, for everyone, all the time. And guess what? It seems like maybe all that proselytizing paid off. Oh and maybe it was the relentless touring those guys did, but c'mon, all we wanted was the rest of the world to catch on, and these guys (and gal) to be adored, and worshipped, their music to move people the way it moved us.
So here we are, a couple years later, and lo and behold, True Widow find themselves on ultrahip label Kemado, and getting showered with the praise we knew they so deserved all along. And more important that any and all of that, it this here is a BRAND NEW True Widow record! Which we've essentially been waiting for since we first got the last record, and we're happy to report, it RULES.
Not as immediately as catchy as the first one, although it's hard to be objective after hundreds of listens, but it hasn't take long for this one to sink it's claws in. The sound remains essentially the same, the guitars thick and liquid, super distorted, almost crumbling, the bass, dense and buzzy, the drums solid and motorik, all wreathed in a druggy haze, a psychedelic soft focus gauze, the boy / girl vocals laid back and languid, a sound like Beach House on Thorazine, or a doom metal Low, or some sort of impossible Codeine / My Bloody Valentine / 4AD hybrid, pressed onto a 7" and spinning at 16rpm, this is total cough syrup slo-mo jangle pop doom drift bliss. Warm and whirling, hushed and minimal, mesmerizing and enthralling and totally hypnotic.
Opener "Jackyl" is a super distorted dream pop craw, the vocals sultry and witchy, the guitars pouring from the speakers like black tar, the song lit by streaks of sunlight through the slats of an old barn, blurred droney chugs spread out over swirls of low end thrum and lush reverbed shimmer. And then "Blooden Horse" begins, with some chiming minor key guitar, and when the band come in together, it's magical, super melodic, impossibly catchy, the vocals perfect, weary, but emotional, the various chiming melodies, the heaving downtuned doomic crush at one point, all woven into a perfect slab of slowcore doom jangle bliss. Our tendency is to go song by song by song, and we most definitely could here, but we'll just mention two more, "Skull Eyes" another perfect pop song, here cast in black, and wreathed in crumble and crunch, the female vocals so warm and enveloping, the melody so impossibly catchy, the boy/girl harmonies make this sound almost like like a slowed down drowsy Heavy Vegetable, the same perfect interplay, it's like it must be a cover of some classic pop song, but it's not, which is what makes it so good. And finally, the epic closer, "Doomseer", 9+ minutes of brooding slo-mo twang, the guitar not so much riffing as unfurling thick layers of rumble and whir, a sort of minimal dronerock ballad, laced with ethereal angelic background vox, a killer high end squall of psychedelic feedback near the end, and a groove that sounds like it's gradually melting before your ears, the whole thing somehow sounding impossibly too short at 9 minutes. So goddamn good. We want to go on, and describe every song in exquisite detail, but by now, it should be abundantly clear how we feel about True Widow, and about this record, and odds are, all it'll take is a few minutes of the below sound samples for you to be as utterly and completely under their spell as we are. Record of the year contender for sure...
The vinyl version is limited to 2000 and hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Jackyl"
MPEG Stream: "Blooden Horse"
MPEG Stream: "Skull Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Doomser"

TRUE WIDOW As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth (Kemado) 2lp 22.00
When we discovered the debut full length from Texas slowcore doomgaze trio True Widow, it was a revelation. How could a band like that exist and not be HUGE? Why were they not everyone's favorite band? No one we knew had heard of them, in fact, a few random folks claimed to not even like them. But we were smitten. More than smitten. OBSESSED. It had been years since a record, or a band, had blown us away like that. We contacted the label, ordered the record, made it our Record Of The Week, and sold HUNDREDS. Just at aQ! We had them play our showcase at South By Southwest, where they blew everyone away (even after SXSW asking us why we wanted them to play at all?!). We got them to play Noise Pop out here, and again, everyone was mesmerized, watching slackjawed, utterly entrancedÉ That record, it made us zealots, we felt like we were spreading the good word, the True Widow sonic scriptures, trying to convert everyone we could. Playing that record incessantly, for everyone, all the time. And guess what? It seems like maybe all that proselytizing paid off. Oh and maybe it was the relentless touring those guys did, but c'mon, all we wanted was the rest of the world to catch on, and these guys (and gal) to be adored, and worshipped, their music to move people the way it moved us.
So here we are, a couple years later, and lo and behold, True Widow find themselves on ultrahip label Kemado, and getting showered with the praise we knew they so deserved all along. And more important that any and all of that, it this here is a BRAND NEW True Widow record! Which we've essentially been waiting for since we first got the last record, and we're happy to report, it RULES.
Not as immediately as catchy as the first one, although it's hard to be objective after hundreds of listens, but it hasn't take long for this one to sink it's claws in. The sound remains essentially the same, the guitars thick and liquid, super distorted, almost crumbling, the bass, dense and buzzy, the drums solid and motorik, all wreathed in a druggy haze, a psychedelic soft focus gauze, the boy / girl vocals laid back and languid, a sound like Beach House on Thorazine, or a doom metal Low, or some sort of impossible Codeine / My Bloody Valentine / 4AD hybrid, pressed onto a 7" and spinning at 16rpm, this is total cough syrup slo-mo jangle pop doom drift bliss. Warm and whirling, hushed and minimal, mesmerizing and enthralling and totally hypnotic.
Opener "Jackyl" is a super distorted dream pop craw, the vocals sultry and witchy, the guitars pouring from the speakers like black tar, the song lit by streaks of sunlight through the slats of an old barn, blurred droney chugs spread out over swirls of low end thrum and lush reverbed shimmer. And then "Blooden Horse" begins, with some chiming minor key guitar, and when the band come in together, it's magical, super melodic, impossibly catchy, the vocals perfect, weary, but emotional, the various chiming melodies, the heaving downtuned doomic crush at one point, all woven into a perfect slab of slowcore doom jangle bliss. Our tendency is to go song by song by song, and we most definitely could here, but we'll just mention two more, "Skull Eyes" another perfect pop song, here cast in black, and wreathed in crumble and crunch, the female vocals so warm and enveloping, the melody so impossibly catchy, the boy/girl harmonies make this sound almost like like a slowed down drowsy Heavy Vegetable, the same perfect interplay, it's like it must be a cover of some classic pop song, but it's not, which is what makes it so good. And finally, the epic closer, "Doomseer", 9+ minutes of brooding slo-mo twang, the guitar not so much riffing as unfurling thick layers of rumble and whir, a sort of minimal dronerock ballad, laced with ethereal angelic background vox, a killer high end squall of psychedelic feedback near the end, and a groove that sounds like it's gradually melting before your ears, the whole thing somehow sounding impossibly too short at 9 minutes. So goddamn good. We want to go on, and describe every song in exquisite detail, but by now, it should be abundantly clear how we feel about True Widow, and about this record, and odds are, all it'll take is a few minutes of the below sound samples for you to be as utterly and completely under their spell as we are. Record of the year contender for sure...
The vinyl version is limited to 2000 and hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Jackyl"
MPEG Stream: "Blooden Horse"
MPEG Stream: "Skull Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Doomser"

TRUE WIDOW I.N.O. (Kemado) 12" 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What more can we say about Texas slowcore doomgaze heavies that we haven't already? We made their debut our Record Of The Week and sold TONS of them, they played our South By Southwest showcase and completely destroyed, they played the Noise Pop festival here and totally stole the show, they are without a doubt one of our favorite bands of the last few years, and we are so psyched people are finally discovering these guys (and gal). But then how could they not, one listen, the very first time we heard the very first song on that very first record, that was it. That record still gets played ALL the time, as does their equally ruling follow up, they're like some modern version of our nineties slowcore faves, Codeine, Low, Seam, but way heavier, their songs brooding and moody, the sound lush and blown out, and so utterly distinctive, at this point, they may be reminiscent of those other bands, but they sound like no one else. Hooks deftly woven into droned out dirges, fuzz drenched dream pop rendered in thick slabs of sun baked guitar, simple doomkraut drumming, and weary washed out vox, we could listen to this stuff forever, and pretty much do.
This latest 12"s is a sort of odds and sods collection, with some alternate versions, and some tracks from the demo that were left off the new record, it might not be the best place for newbies to start, but really, even hearing this record first, we'd be surprised if anyone wasn't immediately blown away.
The acoustic opener is an alternate version of the closing track on the most recent full length, a gorgeous acoustic folk number, which leads directly into the epic title track, the main reason to pick this up, 14+ minutes of hazy heaviness, of blissed out dreamdoom slowcore dirgery, the band letting it rip more than they often do, building to a serious psychedelic blow out, before finishing off with 4+ minutes of droned out abstract psych guitar drift. So awesome. "Bathyscaphe" is up next another track from As High As The Highest Heavens, which doesn't sound that different from the album version, but it's a beauty, and well worth hearing again. And again. And again. The last two tracks are from their 2009 demo, "S.Y.B.", a slithery sun dappled creep, gauzy and woozy and washed out, the distinctive shimmery guitar twang in full effect, the band drifting and meandering hypnotically, the whole this wreathed in warm fuzz guitar shimmer, and finally "S.F.H.D.", which displays the band at their poppiest, sounding like some lost nineties classic, the vocals powerful and not at all buried in the mix, and the boy/girl harmonies utterly divine.
Obviously, everyone who bought either/both of the other True Widow records (and that's a LOT of you) is probably gonna want this, at least to tide you over until the next proper record, but even not as a stopgap, as a proper release, this half-hour ep stands up pretty gosh darn well, and is actually the sort of thing most other bands spend their whole careers trying to pull off...
And FYI, we got as many copies as we could, but like a lot of vinyl-only Kemado stuff, this is limited, no doubt, and we don't know when/if we will be able to get more...
MPEG Stream: "I.N.O."
MPEG Stream: "S.Y.B."

TRUE WIDOW s/t (End Sounds) cd 13.98
Records like this come along so rarely. The sort of record that immediately reveals itself as something so more then just another disc to add to your collection, or the sort of record you play once or twice and then file. The second we heard this, we knew we had to hear more, and hear it over and over and over again. We discovered these guys online, heard a few songs and immediately bought a copy, and then set out to order them for the store (one of us was so obsessed, he even ordered all the records by the True Widow mainman's OLD band).
Not sure what it is exactly about True Widow, it could be that after hundreds of records of rumbling dronemusic and blasting grim buzz and hushed ambient shimmer, that a band that writes songs, incredibly catchy and melodic and heavy songs, is exactly what our ears craved. Not to take anything away from the band, even if we were immersed in straight up pop and heavy rock (which we sort of are also), these guys (and gal) would most definitely shine. This is the sort of music we rarely hear anymore. We originally expected this to be metal, maybe some sort of heavy post rock metal hybrid, and while it is heavy, it's way more indie rock, or maybe slowcore, more like some haunting mix of the two, the guitars are thick and distorted, but not metallic, and they drift into slow drifting creeps as easily as they do pounding majestic roars. Other reviewers have described True Widow as 'sonic noir' and 'stonegaze', both of which are fairly appropriate, it's definitely dark and moody, certainly shoegazey, and a little bit stonery, but it's really just some sort of perfect gloomy heavy postrock. We hear Codeine, Low, Seam, the vibe is laid back and disaffected, weary and washed out, but still somehow completely rocking.
Every song here is practically perfect, and each one segues seamlessly into the next, the sort of record where you don't just remember the melody or the lyrics, but which songs comes next, and how long the pause between songs is, the sound just so hypnotic and mesmerizing, a sort of lyseric doom pop, a druggy post rock, but the thing is, none of that really explains how addictive these songs seem to be. Literally, from the moment we first heard this record, we have not been able to stop listening to it. We've found other reviewers elsewhere who had the same reaction. Which speaks to the power of the songs, so well crafted, brooding, yet incredibly catchy. Just check out opener "Aka", with its strange mesmerizing main riff, the mysterious pause, and then when the band kicks in, it give you chills, and it's 40 seconds into the record.
The second track, "Duelist", is one of the few tracks that features vocals from bassist Nicole Estill, her warm purr draped over big drums and a simple minimal bass throb, before the band launches into a slow burning minor key lope, only to crank up that opening part, infusing it with just a bit more muscle, and peppering the proceedings with a cool woozy chorus. Then there's "Sunday Driver", a gorgeous hazy reverby almost ballad, skeletal guitars, the drums still solid and loud, the vocals laid back and drugged out, the main melody so catchy, and a chorus that kills. Just writing this now, we've skipped back to the beginning of that song 3 times!
This isn't really new, it came out last year, but we only just discovered it, and it had such an impact on us, we figured it was worth sharing with the rest of you. Cuz even if only a fraction of you have the same sort of response to True Widow that we did, it was well worth it. This has immediately leapt to the top of our year end best of list, even though it didn't come out this year, and hell, for some of us, True Widow immediately made it onto our best EVER list. And yeah we know, we traffic in hyperbole a lot around here, we can't help it cuz we love music so much and are excited to turn people on to the music we love, but there's no denying the empirical evidence, we can't seem to listen to anything else but this record. And that doesn't look like it will be changing anytime soon.
Just listen to the sound samples, the first two tracks alone should do the trick. So goddamn good.
On both cd and 2lp, the vinyl version is super deluxe (hence the price, sorry), 180 gram vinyl, full color ultra thick gatefold sleeve, two printed color inserts, pretty fancy, and very limited.
MPEG Stream: "AKA"
MPEG Stream: "Duelist"
MPEG Stream: "Sunday Driver"
MPEG Stream: "Flat Black"

TRUE WIDOW s/t (End Sounds) 2lp 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Records like this come along so rarely. The sort of record that immediately reveals itself as something so more then just another disc to add to your collection, or the sort of record you play once or twice and then file. The second we heard this, we knew we had to hear more, and hear it over and over and over again. We discovered these guys online, heard a few songs and immediately bought a copy, and then set out to order them for the store (one of us was so obsessed, he even ordered all the records by the True Widow mainman's OLD band).
Not sure what it is exactly about True Widow, it could be that after hundreds of records of rumbling dronemusic and blasting grim buzz and hushed ambient shimmer, that a band that writes songs, incredibly catchy and melodic and heavy songs, is exactly what our ears craved. Not to take anything away from the band, even if we were immersed in straight up pop and heavy rock (which we sort of are also), these guys (and gal) would most definitely shine. This is the sort of music we rarely hear anymore. We originally expected this to be metal, maybe some sort of heavy post rock metal hybrid, and while it is heavy, it's way more indie rock, or maybe slowcore, more like some haunting mix of the two, the guitars are thick and distorted, but not metallic, and they drift into slow drifting creeps as easily as they do pounding majestic roars. Other reviewers have described True Widow as 'sonic noir' and 'stonegaze', both of which are fairly appropriate, it's definitely dark and moody, certainly shoegazey, and a little bit stonery, but it's really just some sort of perfect gloomy heavy postrock. We hear Codeine, Low, Seam, the vibe is laid back and disaffected, weary and washed out, but still somehow completely rocking.
Every song here is practically perfect, and each one segues seamlessly into the next, the sort of record where you don't just remember the melody or the lyrics, but which songs comes next, and how long the pause between songs is, the sound just so hypnotic and mesmerizing, a sort of lyseric doom pop, a druggy post rock, but the thing is, none of that really explains how addictive these songs seem to be. Literally, from the moment we first heard this record, we have not been able to stop listening to it. We've found other reviewers elsewhere who had the same reaction. Which speaks to the power of the songs, so well crafted, brooding, yet incredibly catchy. Just check out opener "Aka", with its strange mesmerizing main riff, the mysterious pause, and then when the band kicks in, it give you chills, and it's 40 seconds into the record.
The second track, "Duelist", is one of the few tracks that features vocals from bassist Nicole Estill, her warm purr draped over big drums and a simple minimal bass throb, before the band launches into a slow burning minor key lope, only to crank up that opening part, infusing it with just a bit more muscle, and peppering the proceedings with a cool woozy chorus. Then there's "Sunday Driver", a gorgeous hazy reverby almost ballad, skeletal guitars, the drums still solid and loud, the vocals laid back and drugged out, the main melody so catchy, and a chorus that kills. Just writing this now, we've skipped back to the beginning of that song 3 times!
This isn't really new, it came out last year, but we only just discovered it, and it had such an impact on us, we figured it was worth sharing with the rest of you. Cuz even if only a fraction of you have the same sort of response to True Widow that we did, it was well worth it. This has immediately leapt to the top of our year end best of list, even though it didn't come out this year, and hell, for some of us, True Widow immediately made it onto our best EVER list. And yeah we know, we traffic in hyperbole a lot around here, we can't help it cuz we love music so much and are excited to turn people on to the music we love, but there's no denying the empirical evidence, we can't seem to listen to anything else but this record. And that doesn't look like it will be changing anytime soon.
Just listen to the sound samples, the first two tracks alone should do the trick. So goddamn good.
On both cd and 2lp, the vinyl version is super deluxe (hence the price, sorry), 180 gram vinyl, full color ultra thick gatefold sleeve, two printed color inserts, pretty fancy, and very limited.
MPEG Stream: "AKA"
MPEG Stream: "Duelist"
MPEG Stream: "Sunday Driver"
MPEG Stream: "Flat Black"

TRUMAN'S WATER Action Ornaments (Runt) cd 12.98
This new recording has Cat Power's Chan Marshall guesting on a track and a fellow from the Supreme Dicks on some others.

TRUNK, JONNY Scrapbook (Trunk) cd 16.98
Jonny Trunk is a true tastemaker. With his Trunk label he has unearthed gems from the likes of Basil Kirchin, John Baker, Sven Libaek, Desmond Leslie, and more more more. His fine taste for rare soundtrack grooves and left of center electronics has always totally hit the spot for us here in AQ land. But with the release of Scrapbook, Trunk mixes it up and shifts into the role of musical creator instead of just music aficionado and the results are totally terrific.
If you've followed the releases on Trunk, his own musical stylings should make perfect sense as these are all instrumental jams and grooves that could be the sounds of some great lost library music collection. Short satisfying tracks filled with breaks you could totally imagine on a J Dilla or Madlib record. Trunk is extremely self deprecating in the funny liner notes and you can tell as someone who has released other people's exquisite music over the years he has been reluctant to release his own bedroom recordings from the last decade, and while we appreciate his humble and self-conscious musings they are so not necessary as Scrapbook more than holds its own, held up alongside any of the lost treasures he's helped shine a light on. We'll take Jonny Trunk's scraps anytime!
MPEG Stream: "Lesbian 77"
MPEG Stream: "News"
MPEG Stream: "New Piano"
MPEG Stream: "DT Three"

TRUNK, JONNY Scrapbook (Trunk) lp 17.98
Jonny Trunk is a true tastemaker. With his Trunk label he has unearthed gems from the likes of Basil Kirchin, John Baker, Sven Libaek, Desmond Leslie, and more more more. His fine taste for rare soundtrack grooves and left of center electronics has always totally hit the spot for us here in AQ land. But with the release of Scrapbook, Trunk mixes it up and shifts into the role of musical creator instead of just music aficionado and the results are totally terrific.
If you've followed the releases on Trunk, his own musical stylings should make perfect sense as these are all instrumental jams and grooves that could be the sounds of some great lost library music collection. Short satisfying tracks filled with breaks you could totally imagine on a J Dilla or Madlib record. Trunk is extremely self deprecating in the funny liner notes and you can tell as someone who has released other people's exquisite music over the years he has been reluctant to release his own bedroom recordings from the last decade, and while we appreciate his humble and self-conscious musings they are so not necessary as Scrapbook more than holds its own, held up alongside any of the lost treasures he's helped shine a light on. We'll take Jonny Trunk's scraps anytime!
MPEG Stream: "Lesbian 77"
MPEG Stream: "News"
MPEG Stream: "New Piano"
MPEG Stream: "DT Three"

TRUST Bulbform (Sacred Bones) 12" 9.98
We were never able to review the debut single from this Canadian dark-dance-pop-wave combo, cuz for whatever reason we could never get enough copies to list, which is a shame cuz we dug it like crazy. But this extended 12" single takes the dancier elements from that 7" and pushed them right up front, the A side a sizzling, pulsing, buzzy blast of bass heavy almost housey sounding new wave, with some thick bassbuzz that sounds almost dubsteppy, weird vox with a serious eighties vibe transforms this into something more than retro dancefloor worship, and then there's the last few minutes where the song (d)evolves into an ominous John Carpenter / Goblin like bassy, droney super cinematic outro. Killer.
The flipside starts off with a brief bit of eighties electro pop, all synthy and propulsive, and seriously eighties, and again with some truly strange vox, before slipping into a remix of the track on the A side, which adds some heft to the proceedings, making it fuzzier and more distorted and a lot more shoegazey, all washed out and dreamy, but still finishing off with that same killer creepy outro.
Cool gothy disco big hole 12" sleeve too...

TRUTH & JANEY No Rest For The Wicked (Rockadrome / Vintage) cd 13.98
We had a reissue of this beloved badass '70s psychedelic proto-metal obscurity some years back (list 127) on the now-defunct Monster label. Rockadrome kinda took over from Monster, and now they've gotten around to making this available again as part of their Vintage series. The graphic design has been improved, but otherwise it's the same as the previous edition (including the bonus tracks) with no additions.
Here's what we said about it before: Reissue of a rare 1976 album by this legendary (among collectors anyway) trio of hard-rockin' Midwesterners. Truth & Janey were heavy and energetic and had some great songs but disco apparently killed 'em off. We're left with this album and the the bonus singles tracks that comprise this cd. Guitarist/vocalist doesn't quite have the voice for the two blues covers they attempt, but the rest is mighty good. These longhaired youngsters were into bellbottoms and fully-cranked Marshalls -- so if you are too, check this out! Another authentic '70s stoner rawk classic for today's fans to listen to and learn from!
MPEG Stream: "Down The Road I Go"
MPEG Stream: "It's All Above Us"

TRUTH AND JANEY Erupts! (Rockadrome / Vintage) cd 14.98
The other album from the hard rockin proto-metal trio responsible for the badass No Rest For The Wicked from '76 also recently (re-)reissued. It's a live album, with material from that record and more. Erupts, indeed!

TSAR Band-Girls-Money (TVT) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Band-Girls-Money"
MPEG Stream: "Wanna Get Dead"

TSUYUKO, AKI Hokane (Thrill Jockey) cd + book 15.98
The first chapter of this cool new series of limited edition book/cd sets from Thrill Jockey starts things out in quite a dreamy, downy fashion. Much of the music sounds as though Aki Tsuyuko was composing a soundtrack to a children's fairytale. Hokane is a mostly instrumental album of hushed pastel interludes sprinkled with infant-like cooing vocals. Simple melodies teeter and totter and tiptoe about with a doe-eyed innocence. Imagine a dewy meadow filled with baby bunnies or if you prefer an interior scene, an antique doll slowly coming to life amid a landscape of wooden building blocks and tin toys.
The accompanying hardcover book is filled with comparatively more vibrant saturated colors and striking geometrics. Actually this is like a Japanese counterpart to the recent book'n'cd set by Michael Andrews. Both are musically warm'n'gentle (although Andrews' is more song-oriented) and visually fanciful'n'shapely.
Limited edition of 2000.
MPEG Stream: "Owlet Hymn"
MPEG Stream: "Rainbow Train"

TTC Batards Sensibles (Big Dada) cd 16.98
French hip hop with elements of IDM.

TTOTALS s/t (self-released) 12" 8.98

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey) lp 16.98

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Furrowed Brow (ATP) cd 15.98
Experimental folk music for moonlit nights. Tucker, multi-instrumentalist and member of Ginnungagap, has a voice that fits nicely between Ben Chasny and Brian Eno, however most of Furrowed Brow is instrumental. These long cyclical numbers fall between melodic acoustic guitar progressions with melodicas and spacey keyboards and out-music workouts of clarinet and guitar distortion. Perfect for a moody and mind-altering evening around the campfire.
MPEG Stream: "Spout Of Light"
MPEG Stream: "Saddest Summer"

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Furrowed Brow (ATP) lp 14.98
Experimental folk music for moonlit nights. Tucker, multi-instrumentalist and member of Ginnungagap, has a voice that fits nicely between Ben Chasny and Brian Eno, however most of Furrowed Brow is instrumental. These long cyclical numbers fall between melodic acoustic guitar progressions with melodicas and spacey keyboards and out-music workouts of clarinet and guitar distortion. Perfect for a moody and mind-altering evening around the campfire.
MPEG Stream: "Spout Of Light"
MPEG Stream: "Saddest Summer"

TUCKER, ALEXANDER Old Fog (All Tomorrows Parties) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "Hag Stones"
MPEG Stream: "Old Fog"

TUCKER, ALEXANDER & DECOMPOSED ORCHESTRA Grey Onion (Latitudes) cd 14.98

TUCKER, ALEXANDER & DECOMPOSED ORCHESTRA Grey Onion (Latitudes) lp 16.98

TUCKY BUZZARD Time Will Be Your Doctor: Rare Recordings 1971-1972 (Castle / Sanctuary) 2cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This early '70s hard rock band's claim to fame may have been that they were proteges of manager / producer Bill Wyman (whom you might know as the bass player from a band called the Rolling Stones). But that's not the reason we were interested in hearing this double-cd Tucky Buzzard set -- it was 'cause of that name of theirs, Tucky Buzzard. Tucky Buzzard! We just like saying it.
Turns out that with a name like Tucky Buzzard you can't go wrong. That is, if you like a mixture of '70s proto-metal a la Led Zeppelin, '60s pop-psych, symphonic prog, and Southern style barroom boogie! Which of course we do, when it's all done with the panache of a Tucky Buzzard.
Time Will Be Your Doctor's two discs contain Tucky Buzzard's first three (of five) albums in their entirety. There's ten tracks from 1971's eponymous debut, nine cuts from their 2nd album Warm Slash (also 1971), and the five tracks (including the lengthy, proggy suite of the title track, performed with the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra) from 1972's Coming On Again, the rarest of Tucky Buzzard LPs as it was recorded and released only in Spain, where these Brits had been popular since their days in a '60s psych outfit called The End.
They also drew some notice in the USA, where they toured opening for Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. Doubtless their burly boogie grooves and most metallic Led Zeppish material -- full-tilt riffy rockers with high wailing Plant-like vox -- went over best in front of those crowds (such as many of the tracks from Warm Slash, like "Heartbreaker", "Fill You In", "Mistreatin' Woman" and "Burnin'"). But all three albums also have their share of moody melodiousness and sunny '60s pop-psych stylings too. The song that gives this set its name, "Time Will Be Your Doctor", the lead-off track on their first album, is a wonderful slice of poppy, polished, pastoral vocal-harmony-rich grooviness. Another standout track, from Coming On Again, is "You're All Alone", a trembling beauty that could be from a Colin Blunstone (Zombies) solo album.
They went on through the mid-seventies to record another two albums that we haven't yet heard. But, despite the patronage of Rolling Stone Wyman, Tucky Buzzard never became much of a "buzz" band apparently. Nor did they achieve the cult stoner-status of the equally Zep-influenced, legendary Leaf Hound, for instance. But if you like Leaf Hound, or other early '70s "heavy" acts that also have a lighter side, you should check out this nicely done collection! Tucky Buzzard!
MPEG Stream: "Time Will Be Your Doctor"
MPEG Stream: "Heartbreaker"
MPEG Stream: "You're All Alone"

TUDOR LODGE It All Comes Back (Scenescof) cd 14.98

TUJIKO, NORIKO Blurred In My Mirror (Room 40) cd 15.98
Moving further away from those 'Japanese Bjork' comparisons which have (not unjustly) followed her through her past releases, Ms Tujiko's latest album presents her fresh, new, increasingly vaporous, softly glitchy electronic tracks for our enjoyment. Indeed, Blurred In My Mirror is considerably more spacious and less 'concrete' but no less finely crafted than her past releases. Perhaps it's the influence of collaborator Lawrence English who composed and performed most of the electronic tracks this time around, while she focussed more on lyrics. Her vocals verge on stream-of-consciousness, surfacing here and there sung or spoken in her native tongue. Fluttery, airborne loveliness.
MPEG Stream: "Niagara Hospital"
MPEG Stream: "Tablet For Memory"

TULLY Sea Of Joy (EM Records) cd 21.00
Last list we highlighted two somewhat unusual "surf music" reissues, by Farm and Peter Martin & Finch, both brought to us by our favorite Japanese reissue label, EM Records, as part of their Summer 2007 "EM Under Water Series"! Those were quite cool, and now we've got the remaining three discs in the series, all of 'em (like those first two) soundtracks to several now-legendary surfing movies from back in the sixties/seventies. With the exception of Farm (from the USA) all the bands in EM's series are Australian, and in all cases the movies they were doing soundtracks for were Australian productions and/or featured Australian surfers. And as before, this isn't your typical SoCal Jan & Dean, Beach Boys style surf music... it's *psychedelic* surf music. Well 2 out of 3 of these anyway (the Tim Gaze Band album being more of a yacht rock outing).
Tully were apparently a pretty successful sixties rock act in their native Australia, despite playing total "head" music, not anything you could boogie to. They were popular enough to do a TV show, and even played with the Sydney Orchestra! They came from the same "alternative surf" scene as Tamam Shud, and were just as musically progressive, having the freedom to develop their material while touring as the backing band for an Australian production of "Hair", getting into poncho-garbed spirituality and electronic experiments (being the first band Down Under to possess a Moog). Somewhere along the way they merged membership with acid folk outfit Extradition, before recording their very freeform second album, this one, the 1971 soundtrack to Sea Of Joy, a surf movie directed by Paul Witzig (same guy who shot Evolution, for which Tamam Shud did the soundtrack).
Angelic female vocals, gentle organ grooves, hippie folk blissfulness, mellow instrumental textures -- it's truly glorious, lovely stuff. Quite exploratory too, with a freeform, organic feel. Tully's Sea Of Joy can be sunshiney (quite literally, on songs like "I Feel The Sun" and "Brother Sun") one moment, almost spooky the next (on such sinisterly electronics-laden tracks as "Follow Me" and "Down To The Sea"). And their interest in Eastern Indian mysticism comes through on the raga-like "Syndrone", for instance. EM says this moody, mesmeric album is the one in the series that's been selling best for them, and we're not surprised.
MPEG Stream: "Sea Of Joy (Pt.1)"
MPEG Stream: "Follow Me"
MPEG Stream: "I Feel The Sun"

TULLYCRAFT City of Subarus (Cher Doll) cd 12.98
Girl/boy noisepop from Seattle.

TULLYCRAFT City of Subarus (Cher Doll) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Girl/boy noisepop from Seattle.

TULSA DRONE Songs From A Mean Season (The Perpetual Motion Machine) cd 10.98
There's definitely a knack to crafting, moody, sweeping post rock epics, sure any one can string together a few minor key chords, add a little rhythmic shuffle and whip it all up into slow building crescendos, but much like drone music, or black metal, or anything really, it's not the being able to do it, it's the being able to do it in some super special way. To make it sound at once warm and familiar, but alien and challenging. That part is tough.
Richmond, Virginia's Tulsa Drone pull it off big time, with a sound that is epic and majestic, a gloomy, metal-tinged post rock Appalachia, mesmerizing, droney, slightly twangy, incredibly spacious, with a definite deserty vibe, due in no small part to the instrumentation. Sure the arrangements are ace, evoking all sorts of wide open vistas and barren landscapes, but the fact that these guys augment their bass / drums / guitars lineup with harmonica, slide guitar, theremin and most importantly (and uniquely) hammered dulcimer is what really seals the deal. We can't really even think of another rock band with a dulcimer player, but after spending some time with this disc, there sure as hell should be more. Lots more. The sound of that instrument is so organic, and meshes so well with the more traditional rock instruments, but is also weirdly buzzy and percussive, and has much to do with TD's unique sound.
Each song here is spacious, expansive, brooding, dreamy and lovely, with looping moody melodies, motorik rhythms, haunting harmonicas, wheezing out dusty distant textures, the drums simple but expressive, the guitar unfurling languid smokey melodies, lots of twang and shimmer, bit of Morricone for sure, the slower sultrier tracks sounding a bit like some Dirty Three post rock threnody, darkly dramatic, but with harmonica instead of violin. A few songs even feature vocals, but instead of mucking up a perfect instrumental record, they add another unique and gorgeously haunting element, the vocals, delivered in a deep Nick Cave like croon, wrapped in billowy reverb, only add to the mystery and moodiness of Tulsa Drone's windswept desert crawl. So good.
MPEG Stream: "Monongahela"
MPEG Stream: "Risk Guitar"
MPEG Stream: "We'll Take Oregon Hill"

TUMA, SCOTT Dandelion (Digitalis) cd 15.98
Now available on cd, this incredible out of print lp from guitarist/dronescaper and former Souled American member Scott Tuma, with nearly twenty minutes of bonus material! More on that in a second, first, Dandelion...
By now, most AQ customers are probably well familiar with Mr. Scott Tuma, who we of course first discovered playing guitar for legendary stoner slow-mo-country geniuses Souled American, in some ways, his underwater woozy guitar haze helped define that group's sound, and after striking out on his own, that sound became more and more distinctive, and we of course became more and more obsessed with Tuma's incredible abstract Appalachian soundscapes, equal part ambient drone music and haunting minimal guitar music.
Dandelion might just be Tuma's darkest and most abstract outing to date, after several brief tracks of music box ambience, delicate chimes, hazy melodies, wheezing smoldering rumbles, disembodied shimmer and rickety barely there rhythms, the record unfolds into it's first longform piece, an absolutely gorgeous driftscape, clouds of hiss and blur swirl softly and in slow motion, before a skeletal banjo, picks out a mournful melody, one note at a time, letting each note drift into the ether, before sending the next to follow. Around this haunting bit of abstract drift all manner of field recordings, sirens in the distance, chirping birds, whipping winds, tinkling chimes, rustling branches, a riveting stretch of folkdrone ambience for sure.
A brief bit of tangled glistening guitar melody leads into the second epic, this one ominous and foreboding, slivers of guitar buzz and shards of feedback draped over a softly swirling morass of muted buzz and smeared psychedelic swirls, clouds of cymbal shimmer hover in the background, as do tinkling chimes and flurries of abstract percussion, before fading out into a hushed bit of skeletal Appalachia.
The second half of the record dissolves into dense swells of low end, a blackened dronescape that almost sounds Wolf Eyes worthy, abject and bleak, grim rumbles beneath ashen layers of whir and hiss, those sounds seem to gradually coalesce into melodies, and what sounds like strings, the mood shifting dramatically, more cinematic, and epic, still haunting and dour, but infused with a warm glow, laced with still more random free drum skitter and glimmering cymbal shimmer, the gradually evolving sound stately, and elegiac, darkly and mysteriously lovely.
Finally, Dandelion finishes off with a stretch of sound more like the older Tuma recordings, less dark, with that woozy Souled American vibe, delicate crystalline guitars set over reverbed landscapes of amorphous sway and drift, the two tracks forming the perfect sun dappled cloud covered coda to a fantastic, and fantastically enigmatic songsuite, from one of our favorite sonic alchemists...
This cd version tacks on an additional mini songsuite, the three part "Smallpipes", which continues that old school Tuma / Souled American vibe, all hazy, reverb drenched detuned country drift, the first two shorter tracks nearly ambient, gorgeous gauzy twangscapes, while the lengthy final part is all melancholy tarpit bluegrass, a country hoedown trapped in amber, stop motion flicker driven sonic drawl, woozy and warbly, and like the record proper, utterly gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "San Luis Freeze"
MPEG Stream: "Red Roses For Me"
MPEG Stream: "Again And Again"
MPEG Stream: "Smallpipes 2"

TUMA, SCOTT Dandelion (Digitalis) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
By now, most AQ customers are probably well familiar with Mr. Scott Tuma, who we of course first discovered playing guitar for legendary stoner slow-mo-country geniuses Souled American, in some ways, his underwater woozy guitar haze helped define that group's sound, and after striking out on his own, that sound became more and more distinctive, and we of course became more and more obsessed with Tuma's incredible abstract Appalachian soundscapes, equal part ambient drone music and haunting minimal guitar music.
Dandelion might just be Tuma's darkest and most abstract outing to date, after several brief tracks of music box ambience, delicate chimes, hazy melodies, wheezing smoldering rumbles, disembodied shimmer and rickety barely there rhythms, the record unfolds into it's first longform piece, an absolutely gorgeous driftscape, clouds of hiss and blur swirl softly and in slow motion, before a skeletal banjo, picks out a mournful melody, one note at a time, letting each note drift into the ether, before sending the next to follow. Around this haunting bit of abstract drift all manner of field recordings, sirens in the distance, chirping birds, whipping winds, tinkling chimes, rustling branches, a riveting stretch of folkdrone ambience for sure.
A brief bit of tangled glistening guitar melody leads into the second epic, this one ominous and foreboding, slivers of guitar buzz and shards of feedback draped over a softly swirling morass of muted buzz and smeared psychedelic swirls, clouds of cymbal shimmer hover in the background, as do tinkling chimes and flurries of abstract percussion, before fading out into a hushed bit of skeletal Appalachia.
The flipside is three loooooong tracks, the first taking up almost half of the side, beginning with dense swells of low end, a blackened dronescape that almost sounds Wolf Eyes worthy, abject and bleak, grim rumbles beneath ashen layers of whir and hiss, those sounds seem to gradually coalesce into melodies, and what sounds like strings, the mood shifting dramatically, more cinematic, and epic, still haunting and dour, but infused with a warm glow, laced with still more random free drum skitter and glimmering cymbal shimmer, the gradually evolving sound stately, and elegiac, darkly and mysteriously lovely.
The record finishes off with two more tracks, more like the older Tuma recordings, less dark, with that woozy Souled American vibe, delicate crystalline guitars set over reverbed landscapes of amorphous sway and drift, the two tracks forming the perfect sun dappled cloud covered coda to a fantastic, and fantastically enigmatic songsuite, from one of our favorite sonic alchemists...

TUMA, SCOTT Hard Again (Truckstop) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally managed to get some of these back in stock. A former aQ Record Of The Week, still seemingly out of print, but got a bunch direct from the man himself! Still, not sure how many he has to spare though, so get 'em while you can...
You know how you can go on at length about this and that, but when you prepare to talk about that one thing you totally love, you find yourself completely tongue tied. I, Andee, kind of feel like that about this record. The minute we put this on, I knew this was it. One of my favorite records of the year, easy. Maybe one of my favorite records period.
Scott Tuma is probably not a household name to most of you, except those of you, who like me, were obsessed with Souled American, since that's where he spent most of the eighties, helping create those molasses slow, rickety bluegrass song-skeletons that we here at AQ love so much. And his time spent in Souled American shows here, on his first 'solo' record. But unlike the stoned and unsteady lurch of SA, 'Hard Again' is all crystalline shimmer, with Tuma's guitar, guiding us unsteadily through soundscapes of tape hiss and skittering snares, moaning chords and weeping melodies.
Take a little John Fahey, Jim O'Rourke's Bad Timing, Souled American, maybe some spacey Brian Eno, play it back on a ancient tape machine, and listen to these understated and completely gorgeous guitarscapes, warbling notes, shimmering harmonics and tape hiss and ambient noise all over. Some of the tracks take the Souled American sound and stretch it to its breaking point. Notes versus space, and the space always wins. But the space is never complete, each note rings out, reverberating into the next, creating a delicate latticework of notes and overtones. On one of the tracks a drummer chimes in, but takes a completely new direction with his kit, sounding as if pebbles and sand were being scattered on the snare, with rattles and sizzles scattered between the notes of the lush guitar. Probably the closest 'Hard Again' gets to an actual song is song 5. Wintery and glistening, with carnival melodies played unsteadily and gently, evoking late afternoon strolls through abandoned carnival midways, light blanket of snow on the ground, while the entire scene is hazy seen through the veil of snowflakes filling the sky. This record is just one long lush walk through a cloudy landscape of foggy daydreams and wistful memories. Similar to the way Philip Jeck takes turntables and crafts old fashioned film strip flashbacks of days gone by, Tuma, takes the guitar, and paints vivid images, faded by the passing of time, the snow on the ground, the water in the basement and the rays of the sun, and evidence by clicks and whirrs and hum, which only add another layer to this already rich document.
So so beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "Beautiful Dreamer"
MPEG Stream: "Your N Baby"
MPEG Stream: "Drums Midway"

TUMA, SCOTT The River 1 2 3 4 (Truckstop) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of two long out of print records from Scott Tuma back in stock! Technically still out of print, we're getting them direct from Tuma himself, so they might run out quick, so if you somehow missed out on this the first time around, don't blow it again...
This is record number two from AQ fave Scott Tuma and it's just as beautiful as last year's Hard Again album that we couldn't stop raving about. For those who don't know, Tuma spent the majority of his career as the guitar player for stoned country deconstructionists Souled American. And Tuma has continued to deconstruct that sound even further. Taking the glacial slow motion country of Souled American as a jumping off point, Tuma manages to remove most of the distinctly 'song' elements and focus more on sound, and the impression of that sound. Slow and dreamy, full of space and even more purposeless in terms of song structure than ever, but consequently more effective at creating moods, evocative and stunning, epic and totally timeless. The instrumentation is simple, acoustic guitars, banjos, harmonica, organ, with plenty of ambient clatter, instrument buzz, foot steps, chairs creaking, breathing and shuffling all add to the spare beauty. Wheezing chords underpin purposeful notes gently plucked and left to hang momentarily in the warm air, before drifting gently out of earshot. Melodies slowly reveal themselves from a smattering of notes introduced slowly and sporadically somehow knowing that they will all eventually fall snugly into place. Lush, slowly shifting drones with barely-there melodies suspended within like insects in amber. Warm blankets of sound, woven simply, but perfect in their simplicity. Completely mesmerizing and so soothing. Like Phill Niblock composing for Palace, or Godspeed backing up John Fahey, or Philip Jeck and a handful of country 78's. Simply amazing.
MPEG Stream: "The River 1"
MPEG Stream: "The River 2"

TUMULT Button Set (tUMULt) 2 x buttons 1.00
Finally, now you can not only proclaim your love for Andee's record label and all the killer bands who have released records on tUMULt: Weakling, Leviathan, Iran, Hammers Of Misfortune, Harvey Milk, Bathtub Shitter, Souled American, but also your disdain for all other bands! Or maybe just ALL bands...
This two button set features one button with the ubiquitous tUMULt upside down cross logo, a logo so heavy it seems to have slid down the button, to settle near the bottom, the other featuring the ever popular "I hate your band" legend printed all by its lonesome. Perfect as a non verbal response to the age old query "So, what did you think of my band" or even "How did you like the cd I gave you". Just point, and problem solved! So c'mon, represent!!
Both buttons are extra big too, not tiny band button sized, but also not huge weird soccer mom button size either, just a little bit bigger than your typical 1" button (they're 1.5" just so you know), so they're small enough to decorate your favorite denim vest or trucker hat or tube top, but big enough to make the rest of your buttons cower in terror!

TUNE-YARDS Who Kill (4AD) cd 14.98

TUNE-YARDS Who Kill (4AD) lp 14.98

TUNNELS The Blackout (Thrill Jockey) lp 16.98
Thrill Jockey seem to be snapping up lots of underground faves, Barn Owl, Eternal Tapestry, Wooden Shjips, Sun Araw, and now Tunnels. We have to say we were a bit surprised, as Tunnels seemed WAY underground, but it makes sense as Tunnels, aka Nicholas Bindeman, is also a member of Eternal Tapestry (as well as a sometime member of Jackie-O Motherfucker). And we were also surprised when we threw this on, cuz the sound here is nothing like the Tunnels of old. All of the various cd-r's we'd reviewed in the past from Bindeman had been super minimal dronemusic, or occasionally tripped out dritfy psychedelia, but The Blackout threw us for a loop. Not sure if there's an element of bandwagoning going on, but the NEW Tunnels sound is strangely similar to the NOW sound, a sort of retro gloomy gothy electro wave, or cold wave, or synth wave, or whatever you want to call it. Apparently Tunnels' new sound began a while back, as a sort of primitive lo-fi Suicide live experiment, but eventually evolved into this, a sound we dig for sure, and one that seems like it would have been right at home on Sacred Bones or Captured Tracks. And to be fair, for all of its similarities to other modern retrowave outfits, Tunnels influences seem to go back further, the sound more machine like, more classic industrial. The label mentions Throbbing Gristle, and we definitely hear some of that, we also hear a little Gary Numan on opener "Crystal Arms", and a little Devo on "Volt 1979", but all via some lost eighties new wave. And really once our initial shock faded (we were expecting some dreamy psychedelic dronemusic after all), this record really began to grow on us, twisted and Teutonic, gloomy and gothy, and pretty dang catchy and poppy. And poppy is the key for us. For all the industrial crunch and old school electronic bleep and bloop, the icy sung/spoken vox, it's the low slung basslines and the crazy catchy hooks that go with them that transform this from some vanity experiment into a seriously killer chunk of retro industrial electro pop!
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Arms"
MPEG Stream: "Volt 1979"
MPEG Stream: "Deux"

TUNNG Good Arrows (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98

TUNNG Good Arrows (Thrill Jockey) lp 13.98

TUNNG Mothers Daughter And Other Songs (Ace Fu) cd 14.98
Released last year on Static Caravan in the UK, and only now re-issued stateside on cd by Ace Fu, we've been wanting to review this for a while, but only recently were we able to finally get enough to list.
Imagine if the Beta Band, instead of following in Beck's funky folk footsteps, were born of the current underground cd-r culture, their electronica tinged folk more a product of New Weird America and musical compatriots like Devendra Banhart than MTV ot the NME. Thus, Tunng. Rich and lush strummed acoustic guitars, gorgeous harmony vocals, droney and drifting, a crackling campfire intimacy, glitchy skittery beats, strange found sounds, hiccuping loops, skipping cds, an unlikely combination, but the result is totally amazing. Like a Boards Of Canada produced Vetiver record, or the Feathers Family recording for Warp, this is classic sounding seventies British folk, filtered through a damaged off kilter electronica kaleidoscope. Banjos collide with shuffling muted drum machines, soft tonal chimes drift over sweetly fingerpicked guitars, soft hushed vocals emote over a smattering of glitches and squelches, a gorgeous guitar figure will begin to skip, faster and faster, smearing into an ambient soundscape that underpins a whispery sadboy croon and delicate shimmering chimes. So totally lovely. This has been one of our most listened to records lately, check out the sound samples and you'll immediately understand why.
MPEG Stream: "Mother's Daughter"
MPEG Stream: "People Folk"
MPEG Stream: "Out The Window With The Window"