VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Pawn Hearts (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
YES! Fancy new vinyl reissues of these prog rock classics!
Pawn Hearts was Van Der Graaf's fourth album, originally released in 1971. Like its immediate predecessor He To He Who... it's certainly one of their classics, equally as epic, emotive, and extravagant. These guys were outrageous musicians, ambitious lyricists, and definite prog rock nutters who made music so outre and intense at the time that it should appeal to weirdos today just as much as it did back in the early 1970s.
The side-long, ten-part "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" is one of those prog rock suites that belongs in the pantheon alongside "Karn Evil 9", "Supper's Ready" and "Gates Of Delerium" for sure. Next to King Crimson (whose Robert Fripp contributes some guitar work on both of these albums), VDGG is the darkest, weirdest, most "outside" commercially-popular '70s prog rock band we can think of from the UK. A worthy contemporary to the likes of Magma, Amon Duul II and Goblin from the Continent.
MPEG Stream: "Lemmings (Including Cog)"

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Present (Virgin UK) 2cd 32.00
They're back... and pretty darn good, Vandergraffy all the way. One disc of new songs, one disc of improvs. Peter Hammill and Co. still have it.

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Still Life (Virgin / EMI) cd 16.98
Ok, here's another one for ya from the nice new reissue series of albums by these '70s prog faves of ours, Van Der Graaf Generator. We're trying to list 'em all (eventually) just 'cause we think if you like prog or really any sort of unusual, emotional rock music you should at least give VDGG a try. If you make it to the end of the 12+ minute "Childlike Faith In Childhood's End" on this album, for instance, chances are you will be a convert! We'll admit they might be a bit of an acquired taste, 'cause VDGG are darker and weirder than the general run of classic British prog a la Yes and Genesis and even (closest comparison) King Crimson. And even if you're down with the "usual" blend of epic length songs, pastoral pop, symphonic keyboards, virtuosic playing, and complex compositions, with VDGG you've also gotta handle a good deal of saxophone and the exceedingly dramatic vocal stylings of singer Peter Hammill. So you've been warned. But if you shop at AQ you probably like a challenge!
The prog rock juggernaut known as Still Life was VDGG's sixth album, dating from 1976 (during the band's second-wind peak era in the mid-'70s) and is full of all the poetry and pain you should expect from a classic VDGG album, all the grand melody and raw fist-clenched vocal monologues, the extremes of gentleness and angsty intensity... yes indeed a fine place to plunge into the VDGG oeuvre if you haven't already.
It's hard to explain, but as much as we love the flash and fantasy of other prog bands, like ELP for instance, VDGG are just the more psychological, serious artists.
This reissue comes remastered, with copious liner notes and printed lyrics and a previously released bonus track -- "Gog" (10:26) recorded live in Wales in '75.
MPEG Stream: "Pilgrims"
MPEG Stream: "La Rossa"

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR The Aerosol Grey Machine (Fie) cd 14.98

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other (Virgin / EMI) cd 16.98
Real nice, these new Van Der Graaf Generator reissues are. We're glad they they've now got US distribution, though we'd have happily paid $30 for the import versions (Andee and Allan both did for some of 'em, actually, oops). All the prog fans here are stoked, 'specially since VDGG are one of our top prog faves. We've already listed the reissues of Pawn Hearts and H To He Who Am The Only One, and we'll try to get to them all, one by one... so here's This reissue, in addition to being digitally remastered and boasting extensive liner notes in the cd booklet, also features two bonus tracks, the single version of "Refugees" and its non-album B-side, "Boat Of Millions Of Years". Recently we came across an old print advertisement for this single, the tag line of which was: "Some of today's violence is innocence defending itself... some of today's music is Van Der Graaf Generator."
MPEG Stream: "Refugees"
MPEG Stream: "Whatever Would Robert Have Said?"
MPEG Stream: "After The Flood"

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other (4 Men With Beards) lp 16.98
YES! Fancy new vinyl reissues of these prog rock classics!
VDGG's second album, from 1969 (following their debut Aerosol Grey Machine, not a part of this reissue series), maybe the first that really displayed their signature sound in a fully formed fashion. That sound: bombastic, epic, emotional, complex, slightly jazzy, eccentric. And probably an acquired taste. Partly because VDGG's instrumentation isn't the standard guitar/bass/drums - they've got saxophone and keyboards, mainly, alongside the drums. Plus their most distinctive sonic feature, Peter Hammill's exceedingly dramatic, dominating vocals! Love 'em or hate 'em vocals, we'd venture to guess. His voice is perfect, though, for the sweeping grandeur of VDGG's music, which can be quite gentle (as on this album's most pop hit, speaking loosely, "Refugees"), and at other times so much darker, heavier, and more hectic (as on "White Hammer" wherein Hammill sings about the Inquisition). All this power and passion is reflected in Hammill's intelligent, questioning, quasi-mystical lyrics, and is furthermore augmented by the suggestion of church and worship brought in by the use of the electric organ.
Yes indeed, VDGG is very weird and very much it's own thing... there's definite connections to the likes of King Crimson and Genesis, and '60s psychedelia, but ultimately nothing else sounds quite like these guys. The Least We Can Do, which features a surreal depiction of an actual Van Der Graaf generator on its cover, is a fine starting point and/or an essential part of their discography for fans building a VDGG collection.
MPEG Stream: "Refugees"
MPEG Stream: "Whatever Would Robert Have Said?"
MPEG Stream: "After The Flood"

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Time Vaults (Abstract Sounds) cd 9.98
Ok, so it's taken us a little while to list this, since it got reissued on cd domestically last year (originally this came out as a cassette release in 1982). But, doesn't matter, it's called Time Vaults after all, it's super old already, being an odds and sods collection of unreleased (at the time) material recorded in the early '70s by British progressive rock weirdos Van Der Graaf Generator, one of our fave prog acts ever, when the band was officially on hiatus (between their Pawn Hearts and Godbluff albums). So, these tracks are of varying production quality, some sound like they could have been on either of those two actual albums, while others have more bootleggy sonics. Likewise, while a few are fully realized songs (e.g. dramatic, melodic opener "The Liquidator", and the quite jagged and intense "Rift Valley"), many others are more improv/experimental/instrumental type things, like the bizarre collage style title track (shades of Faust), but still interesting though, and not just to VDGG buffs, though of course that's who we'd mostly expect to pick this up. If you like VDGG, and aren't uptight about "perfect sound quality" then it's quite recommended. With wonderfully distorted rehearsal space jams like "Drift (I Hope It Won't)" complete with background chatter and feedback, this is vintage VDGG with their hair down, their trademark sound (bombastic vocals, with sax-and-keys instead of guitar) gone all lo-fi, like a lot of bands in the current underground. It's almost like a shitgaze VDGG, a VDGG that you could put on a mix tape with Sic Alps or Ducktails or something like that! Heck, they should/could have reissued it on cassette, again...
MPEG Stream: "Rift Valley"
MPEG Stream: "It All Went Red"

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Vital (Virgin / EMI) cd 16.98
1978 release, VDGG tearing it up on what was originally a double live LP (now a single cd).

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR World Record (Virgin / EMI) cd 16.98
From 1976.

VAN DUREN Are You Serious? (Water) cd 15.98

VAN HALEN A Different Kind Of Truth (Interscope) cd 16.98
First things first, recommended. Yes, you heard us right!
Ok, like everyone else, after catching an appalling earful of the... errr, flaccid lead-off single trumpeting the return of THE Van Halen WITH David Lee Roth, we were totally gun shy and almost ready to toss the new album in the dumper unseen and unheard, especially after so much drama and so many false starts and empty promises (read: bottles) over the last twenty seven years (!), BUT to honor old allegiances to the genius pre-1985 Van Halen (i.e. before Roth left), we just had to give the new disc a fair spin. So, we did, albeit somewhat gingerly. Needless to say, we skipped right past the lame opening track (the abovementioned "Tattoo"), and kicked things off with "She's The Woman" (a reworked version of a 1976 demo), and... HOLY SHIT... it... really... sounds... and... grooves... like... THEM (circa VHII, Fair Warning, Women And Children First, 1984). Once we recovered from the shock, the goosebumps and glee took over! That song slays like '79 all over again! Really should have been the first single...
Yeah, we know at this point you're probably thinking "what are they thinking?!" Still a bit skeptical, right? Sure, the relationships seem to be business-calculated. Sure a bunch of the songs are based on old demos, and many songs are fundamentally riffin' on archetypes of their various early styles, for instance, the terrific "Stay Frosty" = "Ice Cream Man", but over the majority of this record this all actually works in the favor of the band, and these tunes ultimately reveal themselves to be more than mere sonic nostalgia (and actually the band's practice of reworking old material is nothing new, it was their modus operandi after the first couple years of existence).
But try to block out all the hype, preconceptions, and "Tattoo". Forget the embarrassing, drunken EVH YouTube clips. Don't scoff and dismiss before you've given it a listen... or two or three. If you like/love vintage Van Halen, you will be surprised and happy and super stoked to hear that everyone has risen to the challenge. The playing is technically and musically brilliant, and as entertaining and fun as old VH. They're still the mad geniuses expertly disguising themselves as airheads. Meticulously composed, deceptively complex, yet totally on the verge of careening out of control. Eddie in particular sounds absolutely revivified. There's some spine tingling EVH guitar playing going on here. The bongo-Bonzo intricate drumming is unmistakably Alex Van Halen, with his signature snare and cymbal sounds. David Lee Roth's vocal range ain't what it used to be, but it's still plenty there, with authentic deliveries of his usual characterizations, delivered Tarzan-like (we'll forgive/turn a blind eye to his shout-out to Facebook). And what about Wolfgang Van Halen's bass playing? Totally fat. Very solid, and full of Michael Anthony-esque beefy vrroooms and BASS counterpoints. Wolfgang's sound is a little tighter than MA's, and he is really fantastically locked in here. The whole band is really quite on fire and up-to-snuff with their best vintage material throughout A Different Kind Of Truth. Most importantly - because VH were known to record their albums very quickly and quite live - the band sounds rejuvenated without sounding reliant on modern technology (unlike most other reunited rock bands and their love affair with the rhythm grid). The faithful vintage vibe is at many times remarkably fast, heavy and crammed full of mesmerizing riffery from all involved (check out "China Town", "Bullethead", "Outta Space", "Honeybabysweetiedoll", "As Is", and "Big River"). A welcome return to form, as VH was largely devoid of any sense of wild danger or threat of pyrotechnic-wizard combustion during the non-DLR years. Well, it's clear that something has sparked, and the friction makes for some magical chemistry and hard rock firepower channelled through all four players. Really, the only obvious element (and it is a considerable one) that could make this an old VH fan's complete dream come true would be the return of Michael Anthony, but we doubt that'll ever happen since it seems obvious that Wolfie's been groomed to be the VH bassist since he was a tot. He rips on this record though, and his backing vocals are quite satisfactorily in the ballpark of the MA model. And the band IS called Van Halen.
So, there you have it. A major portion of A Different Kind Of Truth fucking smokes! We can only guess that the "Tattoo" single debacle was an ill-timed April fool's joke and/or a poor decision by them. But these guys ain't no dummies, so maybe it was all part of a reverse-psychology master plan - that is, to first deliver what everyone naturally expected from the even-up-til-recently-EVH-trainwreck, and then hot on its heels deliver what everyone hoped for, yet doubted they could ever actually have (i.e. pretty much the rest of the album). Heavy rock comeback of the year! (At least until the Black Sabbath record? Assuming they have Bill Ward. Cuz while we may have been convinced to abide a Michael Anthony-less VH, a Bill Ward-less Sabbath reunion is utterly unacceptable)!
MPEG Stream: "She's The Woman"
MPEG Stream: "Honeybabysweetiedoll"
MPEG Stream: "Outta Space"

VAN HOEN, MARK The Warmth Inside You (Very Friendly) cd 13.98

VAN PATTERSON QUARTET, THE Live At F.W. (The Tapeworm) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest release in the ever expanding, and extremely eclectic catalog of mysterious (possibly Touch Records related) UK tape label The Tapeworm. Past Tapeworm releases from Philip Jeck, Stephen O'Malley and Simon Fisher Turner have been big hits around here, as was a strange reading of works by Jean Baudrillard. This one might be the weirdest of the bunch though. For several reasons.
Purportedly a lost live set from a band called the Van Patterson Quartet, nothing at all can be found online about the VPQ, -except- all sorts of folks trying to find out who the heck these guys were. One record collector claims to have stumbled across an unlabeled 12", which in fact turned out to be these recordings, but the dearth of information leads us to believe that maybe this is not actually a real artifact of sixties psych, but instead an elaborate, and incredibly kick ass hoax. There's the sound too, which on the surface definitely sounds vintage, the recording super fuzzy and fucked up, lots of tape warble, and lo-fi primitive recording artifacts, but at the same time, the sound is weirdly modern, the effects blown out and trippy, sure there's tons of Hammond organ, which again lends this some serious vintage vibes, but plenty of the tracks get super heavy and super damaged, because of the degraded recordings, much of this sounds like a sixties psych rock Faxed Head, drop outs and hiss as much a part of the jams as the jams themselves. The guitars and organ are HEAVY, the drums mathy and jazzy and powerful, everything hazy and druggy, but the tracks are laced with seriously tweaked effects, and hell, if this IS really a band from the sixties, then this is THE HOLY GRAIL, and the fact that it has never been heard before boggles the mind, and makes it criminal that it's being released on a tape label in a run of only 250 copies. If this WERE real, it would be the reissue of the year, the DECADE. It's that fuzzy and fucked up, dark and droney and hypnotic, which definitely leads us to believe it's some young rockers who built themselves a band / time machine, and are channeling some vintage sounds, and just added all the crowd noise and record crackle and tape hiss and bleedthrough to confuse and obfuscate. It hardly matters really, this is some seriously heavy, droney, twisted, hypnotic, druggy, tripped out shit, fans of modern retro psych like the Wooden Shjips and the Heads and the Telescopes will go nuts for this, as will sixties psych-heads who might want to see if they can figure out if this stuff is new or old. But like we said, hardly matters, cuz what it is, is fucking AWESOME.
LIMITED TO 250 COPIES.

VAN SHE s/t (Modular) cd 8.98
When we first heard about this band, it's because some magazine touted them as having "the best keyboards since Van Halen's "Jump"! We hardly needed more than that to get us curious. And when we first heard the single "Kelly" we pretty much concurred, a winsome eighties MTV rock ballad, with a soft swooshy chorus and THOSE keyboards everywhere. But when we finally got this EP, the big surprise was the opener "Mission", quite possibly our most played to death pop song these days. Some impossible mix of Tears For Fears or Fun Boy Three or ABC, and one of the more modern retro rockers like the Killers or Maximo Park or The Kaiser Chiefs, with spacey reverbed guitars, electronic drums, soulful crooning, crunchy guitars, that explode into an absolutely KILLER chorus thick with buzzing synths, swooshy space rock FX, a huge hooky riff and awesome falsetto vocals. Absolutely worth it just for that track, definite contender for pop song of the year, but "Kelly" is a definite guilty pleasure, and "Sex City" is a dead ringer for the Fixx, and the closer is some weird Ultravox / Echo And The Bunnymen hybrid. There's also a super awesomely cheesy video for "Kelly", but if you're anything like us, you'll just throw on "Mission" and set your cd player to repeat FOREVER!! So good!
MPEG Stream: "Misson"
MPEG Stream: "Kelly"

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF Ex Patris (Important) cd 14.98
Now on cd with 2 extra tracks!!
A few of us were very lucky to catch Jozef Van Wissem's recent AQ instore where he played his new 13 Course Swan Neck Baroque Lute, a super long and intricately exquisite variation of the lute we've never seen before, that he wielded mightily, rocking out heavy metal guitar style, and also played whilst walking around the store like a medieval troubadour (check our blog for pictures!). While unfortunately it wasn't our best attended instore, Van Wissem played like it was, and we were graciously rewarded with an intimate and beautifully hypnotizing performance. NEXT time, don't miss him!
And that is what you will find with his latest release on Important. Ex Patris (The Fathers) gives us six new tracks of gorgeous plucked string majesty. Building upon his repertoire of mirrored palindromic compositions, he focuses this release on layered and repeating melodies rather than sparse reductions of past releases. Like harp or kora music, the repetitions beautifully spiral in on themselves creating mesmerizing patterns with a melancholic resonance. At times, we wonder if he might be using overdubs, something we haven't noticed before in his recordings or if it is just that his new lute offers more depth and range than the ones he used in the past. Hard to tell, but oh so easy to become seduced by its magnificent spell!
MPEG Stream: "The Day Is Coming"
MPEG Stream: "Amor Fati (Love Is A Religion)"
MPEG Stream: "Afte The Fire Has Devoured All, It Will Consume Itself"

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF Ex Patris (Important) lp 22.00
A few of us were very lucky to catch Jozef Van Wissem's recent AQ instore where he played his new 13 Course Swan Neck Baroque Lute, a super long and intricately exquisite variation of the lute we've never seen before, that he wielded mightily, rocking out heavy metal guitar style, and also played whilst walking around the store like a medieval troubadour (check our blog for pictures!). While unfortunately it wasn't our best attended instore, Van Wissem played like it was, and we were graciously rewarded with an intimate and beautifully hypnotizing performance. NEXT time, don't miss him!
And that is what you will find with his latest (vinyl-only) release on Important, Ex Patris. On vinyl only (for now at least), Ex Patris (The Fathers) gives us four new tracks of gorgeous plucked string majesty. Building upon his repertoire of mirrored palindromic compositions, he focuses this release on layered and repeating melodies rather than sparse reductions of past releases. At times, we wonder if he might be using overdubs, something we haven't noticed before in his recordings or if it is just that his new lute offers more depth and range than the ones he used in the past. Hard to tell, but oh so easy to become seduced by its magnificent spell!
MPEG Stream: "The Day Is Coming"
MPEG Stream: "Amor Fati (Love Is A Religion)"
MPEG Stream: "Afte The Fire Has Devoured All, It Will Consume Itself"

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF It Is All That Is Made (Important) cd 14.98
The cover of this latest Jozef Van Wissem release is one of our favorite photographs of him, showing the mighty lute player wearing a studded leather wrist cuff, head low with hair hanging down, wielding his instrument like a heavy metal guitar. And while he doesn't necessarily "shred" the same way a metal axeman would, there's definitely a connecting thread between Van Wissem's hermetically spiritual lute extrapolations and the doom-laden esotericism of today's drone metal practitioners.
Thematically based on the first chapter of Genesis, the seven pieces here are at first played forward then reversed in an attempt to create the feeling that the pieces have no beginning or end. Van Wissem often uses mirror imaging and palindromic takes on classical lute music to create these compositions, but more and more, he's using plenty of space and restraint placing a greater emphasis on the concentrated listening experience, instead of musically filling the space. Thus the pieces are becoming ever more glacial and dramatic, highlighting the dark beauty of creation but never denying the slow decay of death in all its infinite and ever spiraling momentum. Transcendent!
MPEG Stream: "It Is All That Is Made"
MPEG Stream: "The Stars Fall From The Sky and The Heavens Are Rolled Up Like a Scroll"

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF The Joy That Never Ends (Important Records) cd 14.98

VAN WISSEM, JOZEF & JIM JARMUSCH Concerning The Entrance Into Eternity (Important) cd 14.98
We always knew that famed indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch had good taste in music, judging by the soundtracks to his movies, but we were only vaguely aware of his extracurricular musical activities. In fact it was with some surprise that we recently encountered him on record, as a guest guitarist in a cameo appearance on the latest 12" by avant-punks Fucked Up! Meanwhile, AQ fave experimental Renaissance lutist, Jozef Van Wissem (who, yes, is also the ONLY experimental lutist we know, though if there were others he'd probably still be our favorite, after his rocked out performance at a memorable aQ instore awhile back) has collaborated in the past with a variety of interesting personages - Gary Lucas, Smegma, James Blackshaw. And now, Jim Jarmusch! Who actually played on a track on Van Wissem's previous album, The Joy That Never Ends, one we stocked and listed on our website but somehow never managed to get around to reviewing, which we should have 'cause really everything we've heard by Van Wissem has been excellent and that one is no exception... Anyway, we'll try to make up for that lapse by reviewing this new one, his full-on duo disc with Jarmusch. And it's a beaut.
Slowly and steadily, Van Wissem plucks prettily at the strings of his instrument, while Jarmusch's electric guitar hovers gently in the background, an ambient wash. As the disc goes on, though, Jarmusch becomes more assertive, accompanying Van Wissem like a ghostly, twanging echo, until eventually the cyclical note patterns chiming from Van Wissem's lute are almost fully enveloped by Jarmusch's doleful dense guitar distortion, approaching Ulaan Khol or Urthona levels of softly droning bliss. His past association with Neil Young (Dead Man) definitely makes sense...
The disc as a whole, at all points in the Van Wissem/Jarmusch duet, is meandering, melancholic, mesmeric... The final track, "He Is Hanging By His Shiny Arms, His Heart An Open Wound With Love", is perhaps the loveliest, and happiest, all-acoustic, brought to a close with a brief spoken supplication from Jarmusch, reciting words by St. John of the Cross.
So, another Van Wissem winner - and we'd definitely be happy to hear more electric guitar emanations from Jarmusch, how 'bout a solo album?
By the way... is it possible that Jarmusch and Van Wissem got together because both men are members of a secret society called The Sons Of Lee Marvin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sons_of_Lee_Marvin)? Jarmusch is known to be a founding member, and Van Wissem looks like he might qualify...
MPEG Stream: "Concerning The Entrance Into Eternity"
MPEG Stream: "Continuation Of The Last Judgement"
MPEG Stream: "The Sun Of The Natural World Is Pure Fire"

VANDER / TOP / BLASQUIZ / GARBER Sons: Document 1973 Le Manor (Seventh / AKT) cd 16.98
Here's a pretty fantastic discovery we just made (although the disc was released a few years ago). It's a seventy-minute long single track entitled "Neheh", the result of four members of French prog-weirdos Magma jamming together one night in '73. We thought this would sound like a scaled down Magma, or some sort of jazz improv session. But, instead, this neither. It's absolutely unlike the jackboot precision of Magma circa '73's "Mechanik Destructiw Kommandoh" (which was in fact recorded, like, the next day!). Although this does share the esoteric spiritual aspects of Magma, there's none of Magma's grandiose rock/jazz/Wagner fusion here. Rather, it's a late-night excursion into kosmiche avant-hippy freakout realms, starting with unearthly vocal chant/drone and moving into percussion spasms, clarinet eruptions, and organ improv. So, instead of mother-band Magma, this should be compared to Amon Duul, the Sun City Girls, the No Neck Blues Band, Yahowah 13, and (closer to home) Thuja. Beautiful and wild, totally inspired. It's strange that this went unreleased until the '90s-- maybe Vander and Co. didn't want to dilute the Magma concept with something so loose and organic and, uh, 'of the times'. Still, it's one of our absolute favorite Magma-related documents, and should even appeal to those scared off by Magma's prog/fusion chops. Recommended!! (By the way, along with this, we've restocked a bunch of Magma classics, and we definitely have 'em at the best price you'll probably find anywhere.)

VANDER, CHRISTIAN Korusz (Seventh) 2cd 28.00
Christian Vander = Magma. He's the mastermind behind the monumental music of spiritual prog/rock/jazz group Magma, one of the late twentieth century's (and now early 21st century's) obscure musical visionairies. Not, perhaps, in the godlike catagory with his hero John Coltrane, but a genius nonetheless. This double cd set is brand new on Magma's Seventh Records, but consists mostly of tracks recorded between 1972 and 1975, with a two minute piano/voice coda newly recorded this year. It's Vander solo, purely solo (live in concert), on his main instrument: the drums! Two discs's worth of epic, incredible drum soloing, yes! That might sound tedious and self-indulgent, but, if you're in the right frame of mind/soul, it's not. It's really a religious experience, as Vander turns his drum kit into a virtural orchestra for his personal spiritual celebration via percussion. Some vocals make an appearance, such as the bizarre high pitched yelps and low guttural proclamations at the start of the twenty-two minute "Korusz III" but mostly, it's drums, lots of drums...and some mysterious indeterminate noises...if there every was anybody who could coax 'feedback' out of an acoustic drum kit, I suppose Vander could... I haven't quite deciphered the French liner notes, but apparently the Korusz concept has something to do with the elements, with the cymbals symbolizing (cymbalizing?) fire, etc. There's also lots of great black & white pictures here of a seemingly-possessed Vander (who always looks a bit cave-man) behind his kit, wild hair flailing, beating the drums with abandon. In sum, true Magma fans (no, not fans--there must be a more appropriate word: followers? devotees? acolytes?) need this. Maybe not anybody else could handle it. You remember "Metallica Drummer"? Well, this is for the "Magma Drummer" in you... Amazing, exhausting, AND energizing.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux (Seventh) cd 23.00
Magma fans, heads up. Magma maestro Christian Vander does a bird-themed "orchestral" release (voices, piano, percussion, and keyboards -- no real orchestra, unfortunately, but it sounds loads better than Glenn Danzig's orchestral synth effort, remember that?). The vocals are definitely the thing here most in the Magma vein, totally over the top at parts, Vander and his wife Stella taking the lead but with plenty of choral back-up from their zeuhl cohorts. Musically, it's got its massive and majestic moments, with pretty piano interludes linking big, stirring emotional passages.
So, the big question: without the Magma connection, would I likely be listening to this sort of thing? Well, and this is tough for a guy with a Magma wristwatch to admit, but, probably not... it's a bit too Peter & The Wolf at times. The vocals are awesome, the fake flutes aren't. Still, I bought one, and enjoyed it!
We really have to quote the label's press release on this, just for kicks: "Fifteen years in composition (1982 - 1997) and more than four years in the making, this music is something entirely new, bridging the compositional efforts of the 20th Century post Schoenbergian greats to create a 21st Century music which grasps the essence of the vast interior stillness behind all sound and pierces the intensity of silence behind all noise. Disavowing all mechanical tempos, this free-flowing masterpiece reveals itself through the formless form of vortices and spirals, cascading, recursive, ineffable. 65 minutes of fluttering wings, of song, of cries, of absolutely different sensations, this is a neo-impressionist composition of revolutionary proportions and aspirations." "I have found in the motion of swans and crows a parallel with the inner motion of the Kosmos itself. Or, at least, this is what I perceive in it."--Christian Vander, 6th March 2002
Wow. Dunno about all that, but as a bird-inspired cosmic keyboard symphony from the mastermind behind one of the most astounding '70s prog rock rock bands ever, this will tempt serious Magma fans!
MPEG Stream: "Sahiss Siiaaht"
MPEG Stream: "Les Cygnes Et Les Corbeaux Sont Venus"

VANDER, CHRISTIAN To Love (Seventh) cd 16.98
Magma's Christian Vander (with his wife, vocalist Stella Vander) and others.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN Un Homme... Une Batterie (Seventh Records) dvd 27.00
Best drummer in the world? Well that can be argued, and we don't want to get into that right now (good thing Elliott's not here anymore, I bet he and Andee could go on for hours discussing their favorite drummers...). But the point is that Magma mastermind Christian Vander definitely deserves to be included in the pantheon of percussionists who might be considered for the title of world's best. He'd certainly get the vote of quite a few fans of wigged-out prog rock, as exemplified by the band that he's led since the late '60s, the science fictional, spiritual French prog institution known as Magma. Such fans will probably be very interested in this release, a dvd version of what's essentially Vander's "drum instructional video", originally issued on video cassette in 1988. No, it's not a regular drum clinic thing like you might get from Carmine Appice or Dale Bozzio...
It's basically an interview (in French, with English subtitles) with Vander, the burly Magma mastermind smoking cigarettes while sitting (naturally enough) at his drum kit, ready to physically illustrate his answers to any drumming-related questions, which is pretty much what this film's all about. The Q&A is both philosophical and practical, touching upon specific Magma compositions, Vander's drumming theory and technique, and his influences (various American jazz drummers that his rather hip parents happened to know, and of course the music of John Coltrane). You'll learn about how he used to practice with his wrists underwater, with hammers, and with weights on his feet (which he doesn't recommend!). The disc is indexed into 33 sections, with titles like "How It All Started", "The Single Stroke Roll", "The Wrists", "The Respiration", "MDK", "The Memory Of Things...", "The Obsessive Music", "Before The Stroke", and "Striving For Ascension". Intercut with the interview segments, Vander provides many drumming demonstrations, shot from various camera angles, and sometimes repeated in slow-motion for clarity. Of course, he does some pretty amazing stuff. If you love drum solos, this is for you! (And connoisseurs of "drummer faces" will certainly find much to amuse them here -- Vander definitely gets into a "possessed" mode when he's doing his thing on the kit.) Probably essential for any Magma fans who are also drummers. Heck, for drummers who've never heard of Magma too. But non-drummer Magma fans should also find this interesting and enlightening, as it reveals a lot about one of the major elements of Magma that makes them such an incredible band. Approx. 1 hr, NTSC, all regions.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN Wurdah Itah (Seventh) cd 17.98
Early '70s Vander solo record that is really a scaled-down Magma in disguise, doing soundtrack music for a film version of Tristan & Isolde. I really want to see the movie after hearing this music, can't imagine how they work it into the action. Very hyper stuff -- Ruins fans be aware that is is the sort of Magma that will remind you most of that band. Recommended.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN QUARTET Au Sunset (Seventh) cd 16.98
More Coltrane-worship from Magma's Christian Vander and co.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN TRIO 65! (Seventh) cd 16.98
More inspired jazz, Coltrane 1965 style, from Magma's Mr. Vander.

VANDER, CHRISTIAN TRIO Jour Apres Jour (Seventh) cd 16.98
Impulse! style jazz from Magma's Vander. Includes a version of Coltrane's "Like Sonny".

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Cellar Door (Barsuk) cd 13.98
The seemingly tireless John Vanderslice keeps 'em coming. Fans will surely be delighted by this, his fourth full length and follow-up to Life and Death Of An American Fourtracker. Continuing to do that which he does exceptionally well, Mr. Vanderslice has crafted a dozen more of his distinct, intelligent indie pop tunes. His music is at once expansive yet still very down to earth. From what we can tell, unlike his last couple of full lengths, Cellar Door doesn't seem to be bound by concept and quite possibly as a result it may be his most scaled down and direct work to date. And yet it's still filled with his distinct achingly pretty, soaring melodies and lush array of instrument arrangements. The second to last song "When It Hits My Blood" is a particular heartmelting highlight. Splendid!
MPEG Stream: "Pale Horse"
MPEG Stream: "When It Hits My Blood"

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Cellar Door (Post-Parlo Records) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
And now, on (180 gram) vinyl! The seemingly tireless John Vanderslice keeps 'em coming. Fans will surely be delighted by this, his fourth full length and follow-up to Life and Death Of An American Fourtracker. Continuing to do that which he does exceptionally well, Mr. Vanderslice has crafted a dozen more of his distinct, intelligent indie pop tunes. His music is at once expansive yet still very down to earth. From what we can tell, unlike his last couple of full lengths, Cellar Door doesn't seem to be bound by concept and quite possibly as a result it may be his most scaled down and direct work to date. And yet it's still filled with his distinct achingly pretty, soaring melodies and lush array of instrument arrangements. The second to last song "When It Hits My Blood" is a particular heartmelting highlight. Splendid!
MPEG Stream: "Pale Horse"
MPEG Stream: "When It Hits My Blood"

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Emerald City (Barsuk) cd 13.98
Whether he's manning the helm of his Tiny Telephone recording studio or performing his own music, John Vanderslice is a renowned Bay Area crafty, creative and tireless fellow. This is his sixth full length. Very much akin to the recent recordings by Bright Eyes, Mountain Goats, and M. Ward, it might be his most focused and most straightforward pop album to date. Emerald City picks right up from where 2005's Pixel Revolt left off with its nine lush, very easy on the ears folk-edged pop songs whose melodic breeziness stands in stark contrast with his emotively delivered lyrics. They bring a sobering gravity to the proceedings addressing concerns of post 9/11 despair, ongoing political turmoil and personal heartache.
MPEG Stream: "Kookaburra"
MPEG Stream: "The Parade"

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Life and Death Of An American Fourtracker (Barsuk) cd 11.98
Always a pleasure to hear and to see is the fellow who goes by the name John Vanderslice. Hot on the heels of his second full length Time Travel is Lonely, he's brought forth another concept album. This time he sticks closer to home, telling an equally lonesome tale... of home recording (hence the four-track mentioned in the title). One wonders if this is, in part, autobiographical. An increasingly skilled arranger, he knows the value of a subtle, slightly off-kilter detail. Some well-placed gentle twang here, some sparse, faint piano there, and over it all, John's lilting, earnest voice. There's still a very prominent Jeff Mangum / Neutral Milk Hotel influence that flows through the proceedings, but he's tempered it with the input from a bunch of his Barsuk labelmates and fellow music pals, namely members of Spoon, Death Cab For Cutie, Mates Of State, Beulah and the Mountain Goats.
RealAudio clip: "Me And My 424"
RealAudio clip: "Fiend In A Cloud Pt. 2"

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Mass Suicide Occult Figurines (Barsuk) cd 13.98
From the label that brought us Death Cab for Cutie comes a local project worthy of your attention: John Vanderslice's solo debut. As any fan of MK Ultra would know, John's brand of pop is complex, interesting, uncompromising, and most EPIC. Like Neutral Milk Hotel, whom Vanderslice obviously adores (enough to name this album after an NMH lyric), there's enough emotional intensity and Brit-pop-worthy melodicism here to satisfy the most demanding of sweet tooths. Recommended.

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Pixel Revolt (Barsuk) cd 13.98
In every review of a John Vanderslice album you'll undoubtedly find some mention of how nice a guy he is, and that's certainly true... He's also got a great recording studio here in SF... And on average, he's also released one fine album a year for the last five years, and he continues his abundant creative output with Pixel Revolt. Although his two chosen subject matters might be rather disparate (albeit we're sure equally close to his heart) -- the current political climate and the end of a personal relationship -- this album is definitely his most cohesive sounding and contains some of his most accessible, engaging songs to date. His usual roaming sonic explorations seem to have been set aside in favor of keeping more close to 'home' (i.e, traditional song structures). Pretty melodies are in abundance. Over the years, he's drawn comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel (whom he admittedly admires immensely), Death Cab For Cutie (former Barsuk labelmates), and Mountain Goats, but these days we actually thought that he's sounding like more recent Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst (hey, no complaints there!).
MPEG Stream: "Letter To The East Coast"
MPEG Stream: "Peacocks In The Video Rain"

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Romanian Names (Dead Oceans) cd 14.98
John Vanderslice reaches the seventh album marker with what is arguably his most immediately engaging work to date. He hasn't completely left behind the roaming patchwork-y feel of his previous albums, but each song seems a bit more focused and encapsulated. Softly rumpled like a comfy sweater, Vanderslice's hushed vocal delivery draws the listener in close, and as always, his achingly earnest introspective songs take a pluck at your heartstrings. Slowly playing out intertwined melodies in gentle fashion, the album's multi-layered instrumentation is lush but never seems heavy handed. Gauzily drifting in and out of focus, Romanian Names maintains an airiness throughout. As a point of reference, at times we found it to be quite akin to the latest solo album by Grandaddy's Jason Lytle or Calexico's more pop moments. Good stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Tremble And Tear"
MPEG Stream: "D.I.A.L.O."

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Romanian Names (Dead Oceans) lp 14.98
John Vanderslice reaches the seventh album marker with what is arguably his most immediately engaging work to date. He hasn't completely left behind the roaming patchwork-y feel of his previous albums, but each song seems a bit more focused and encapsulated. Softly rumpled like a comfy sweater, Vanderslice's hushed vocal delivery draws the listener in close, and as always, his achingly earnest introspective songs take a pluck at your heartstrings. Slowly playing out intertwined melodies in gentle fashion, the album's multi-layered instrumentation is lush but never seems heavy handed. Gauzily drifting in and out of focus, Romanian Names maintains an airiness throughout. As a point of reference, at times we found it to be quite akin to the latest solo album by Grandaddy's Jason Lytle or Calexico's more pop moments. Good stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Tremble And Tear"
MPEG Stream: "D.I.A.L.O."

VANDERSLICE, JOHN Time Travel Is Lonely (Barsuk) cd 13.98
The nicest of nice fellows John Vanderslice (formerly of MK Ultra) is back with the follow-up to his debut "Mass Suicide Occult Figurines" continuing his exploration of the indie rock/pop realm. Once again giving a hearty tip of the hat to his faves Neutral Milk Hotel, but also revealing shades of Eno's "Here Come The Warm Jets" period. A bit more melancholic this time around. Lonely piano melodies and highly emotive boy vocals counter the more perky numbers. Eclectic and imaginative pop for today.

VANDERSLICE, JOHN White Wilderness (Dead Oceans) cd 14.98

VANESSA VAN BASTEN Closer To The Small / Dark / Door (Robotic Empire) cd 9.98
Vanessa Van Basten is not in fact a person, but an oddly named Italian band, a duo in fact, who collaborate with an ever shifting extended musical collective to create, lush, sweeping, super melodic, epic and majestic slow building moody post rock. Somewhere between Mogwai and M83, Explosions In The Sky and Jesu, these guys craft sweeping landscapes of propulsive rhythms, of chiming guitars, spidery melancholy melodies, big booming drums, lush layered atmospheres, sometimes laced with female vox, piano, occasionally super heavy, churning riffs and grinding crunch, electronics, programmed beats, all woven into a surprisingly emotional and organic whole. There's even sax once in a while that transforms the sound completely, turning into some weird retro classic rock, before slipping right back into something more mathy and almost metallic, or something lush, epic and Godspeedy, or something blown out and superdistorted and shoegazey.
Think Isis, Godspeed, Pelican, Mogwai, M83, Explosions In The Sky, Jesu, Nadja, Snowblood, that sort of thing, super varied, but at its core, epic emotional melodic post rock. And be sure and stick around for the hidden track, a super processed, totally distorted, blown out, heavily effect, digitally fucked with dirge metal freakout that might be the best thing on the record!
MPEG Stream: "Porzellangasse"
MPEG Stream: "L'Uomo Che Comprava Il Tempo"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck The Best, Take The Rest"

VANESSA VAN BASTEN Psygnosis EP (ConSOULing Sounds) cd ep 13.98
Vanessa Van Basten are from Italy and are a they, not a she. We were never able to get copies of VVB's last record, so we wanted to make sure we didn't miss out this time around. Two long tracks, total post rock nirvana, equal parts, Mogwai, Pelican, with plenty of nineties style mathrock mixed in, a bit of Polvo, a little Pitchblende, the result is a super rocking, epic and majestic sound that may borrow much in terms of sound and influence, but is totally all their own.
Anyone who's been digging any of the various post rock, math rock and shoegaze stuff on the list lately will no doubt be digging VVB's particular strain of instrumental rock, with the occasional sample filling in for vocals, these guys definitely rock, there are moments where the sound drifts and shimmers, but when the band are on, they are ON, super heavy, aggressive riffing, kick ass drumming (replacing the drum machine that drove the last release), and some awesome songwriting, super dynamic with plenty of push and pull, back and forth, not the usual start slow, get loud, although the title track does lean in that direction, beginning as a brooding drift, before the drums kick in and the song slowly transforms from minor key shuffle to super crunchy almost metallic heaviness, before getting all glimmery and shimmery and finally slipping back into a softly tangled mathy fade out.
It's definitely short, 2 tracks, 23 minutes, but these guys pack a lot into those two tracks, and again, any one digging on Pelican or Isis or Anapparatus or Conifer or any of that stuff, this will definitely hit the spot.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!! Packaged with a thick cd booklet in an oversized black and red sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Tutto Avanti All'indietro"
MPEG Stream: "Psygnosis"

VANGELIS Who Killed The Dragon? (The BYG Sessions) (Finders Keepers) 12" 14.98

VANISHING VOICE Nordic Visions (Important) cd 14.98
NOW AVAILABLE ON CD! !!
This was previously available as a super limited vinyl-only release which is now out of print. Here's what we had to say about the record when we listed the lp:
Another missive from the Wooden Wand Universe, a dizzying world so filled with hokum and smoke, character changes and rotating pseudonyms that it's really hard to keep things straight. We may be only half-right on the details, so bear with us. Vanishing Voice, (the choral and instrumental Body of the Wooden Wand Mind) taking advantage of Wooden Wand's momentary dalliance with spiritual advisor Satya Sai and the Sky High Band in California, has retreated into the dark woods of Norway (or perhaps Vermont?) to imbibe in some dirty pagan Ur-folk jams. Kicking up a whirring dust devil vortex of clatter and murk, the title track is a side-long excursion and sounds fresh off the Gypsy Freedom sessions except minus the free jazz horns and howling vocals. The three ghostly tracks on side B, offer up some haunted banjo picking, subdued chanting, wolf howls and something we can only describe as "baby skree", which sounds like the mewling of a lost baby animal whose cries are unraveling like thread through the branches. Remember that scene in the Blair Witch Project, where the lost campers wander into that grove of trees with all those creepy hanging stick sculptures and strangely wet piles of rocks?
Well, this record sounds like it was recorded there. Spooky!
MPEG Stream: "Eideltrout"
MPEG Stream: "Black Gold"

VANISHING VOICE Nordic Visions (Gypsy Sphinx) lp 26.00
Another missive from the Wooden Wand Universe, a dizzying world so filled with hokum and smoke, character changes and rotating pseudonyms that it's really hard to keep things straight. We may be only half-right on the details, so bear with us. Vanishing Voice, (the choral and instrumental Body of the Wooden Wand Mind) taking advantage of Wooden Wand's momentary dalliance with spiritual advisor Satya Sai and the Sky High Band in California, has retreated into the dark woods of Norway (or perhaps Vermont?) to imbibe in some dirty pagan Ur-folk jams. Kicking up a whirring dust devil vortex of clatter and murk, the title track is a side-long excursion and sounds fresh off the Gypsy Freedom sessions except minus the free jazz horns and howling vocals. The three ghostly tracks on side B, offer up some haunted banjo picking, subdued chanting, wolf howls and something we can only describe as "baby skree", which sounds like the mewling of a lost baby animal whose cries are unraveling like thread through the branches. Remember that scene in the Blair Witch Project, where the lost campers wander into that grove of trees with all those creepy hanging stick sculptures and strangely wet piles of rocks?
Well, this record sounds like it was recorded there. Truly Fucking Spooky!

VANISHING VOICE Stone Tablet (Important) cd 14.98
On their debut outing for Important, Vanishing Voice (sans Wooden Wand) give us another heaping spoonful of freaked out forest psyche madness. Composed of two tracks (with a mysteriously extra song title but no song), the first is the epic 40 minute title track (or it could be called "Peace Symbols", -we're very confused on the song listing), which takes on a long whirling vortex of clattering percussion (provided by Magik Marker's Pete Nolan) and damaged electronic passages before propelling momentously forward with a Krautrock-like acid jam. The second song (we think it's called "The Last Evil") begins with a twisted sing-a-long that reminds us of "On Top of Old Smokey" but perhaps sung by the mutant children from the recent remake of The Hills Have Eyes, before developing into further mutated lo-fi weirdness.
MPEG Stream: "Peace Symbols"
MPEG Stream: "Last Evil"

VANISHING VOICE Stone Tablet (Important) lp 16.98
On their debut outing for Important, Vanishing Voice (sans Wooden Wand) give us another heaping spoonful of freaked out forest psyche madness. Composed of two tracks (with a mysteriously extra song title but no song), the first is the epic 40 minute title track (or it could be called "Peace Symbols", -we're very confused on the song listing), which takes on a long whirling vortex of clattering percussion (provided by Magik Marker's Pete Nolan) and damaged electronic passages before propelling momentously forward with a Krautrock-like acid jam. The second song (we think it's called "The Last Evil") begins with a twisted sing-a-long that reminds us of "On Top of Old Smokey" but perhaps sung by the mutant children from the recent remake of The Hills Have Eyes, before developing into further mutated lo-fi weirdness.
MPEG Stream: "Peace Symbols"
MPEG Stream: "Last Evil"

VANISHING, THE In The Bat Haus (Cochon Records) cd ep 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The vinyl's long gone, but The Vanishing's debut ep is available on a shiny 'lil cd. What we said before:
San Francisco's The Vanishing proves that a Goth band with a female lead vocalist doesn't have to sound like Siouxsie & The Banshees (but it's not necessarily a bad thing if they do since several other AQ goth novices think this does indeed sound quite a bit like Siouxsie!). Not that I don't find Siouxsie's records quite good (especially "Juju" and "Kaleidoscope"), but the small Gothic resurgence that's paralleling the New Wave revival has mostly been mimicking the aloof theatrics of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy, or Siouxsie, without really saying anything beyond their heroes. Fortunately, the trio of Jessie Trashed (formerly of the Subtonix), Brian Hock, and AQ's own Sadie Shaw (also of The Lies, The Husbands and the co-director of the 8mm indie-gore film "Charm") have developed a pretty unique (or referentially obscure) signature sound. The Vanishing builds an intense, dissonant gloom through monotonous, distorted basslines and Carnival of Souls' organs twisted into sinister melodies, all without any guitars. Jessie's haunted vocals have been treated with an eerie tremolo warble as a well-executed complement to The Vanishing's throbbing music. As Sadie has admitted to having never heard X-Mal Deutschland before, I can safely say that The Vanishing has unintentionally arrived at a Goth sound previously carved out by that oft-forgotten 4AD band. And that's fine by me!
RealAudio clip: "Assisting Suicide"
RealAudio clip: "The Disaffectionate"

VANISHING, THE In The Bat Haus (Cochon Records) 10" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
San Francisco's The Vanishing proves that a Goth band with a female lead vocalist doesn't have to sound like Siouxsie & The Banshees (but it's not necessarily a bad thing if they do since several other AQ goth novices think this does indeed sound quite a bit like Siouxsie!). Not that I don't find Siouxsie's records quite good (especially "Juju" and "Kaleidoscope"), but the small Gothic resurgence that's paralleling the New Wave revival has mostly been mimicking the aloof theatrics of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy, or Siouxsie, without really saying anything beyond their heroes. Fortunately, the trio of Jessie Trashed (formerly of the Subtonix), Brian Hock, and AQ's own Sadie Shaw (also of The Lies, The Husbands and the co-director of the 8mm indie-gore film "Charm") have developed a pretty unique (or referentially obscure) signature sound. The Vanishing builds an intense, dissonant gloom through monotonous, distorted basslines and Carnival of Souls' organs twisted into sinister melodies, all without any guitars. Jessie's haunted vocals have been treated with an eerie tremolo warble as a well-executed complement to The Vanishing's throbbing music. As Sadie has admitted to having never heard X-Mal Deutschland before, I can safely say that The Vanishing has unintentionally arrived at a Goth sound previously carved out by that oft-forgotten 4AD band. And that's fine by me!
RealAudio clip: "Assisting Suicide"
RealAudio clip: "The Disaffectionate"

VANISHING, THE Songs For Psychotic Children (Gold Standard) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Born from the grim, death disco of the Subtonix and the oppressive gloom rock of The Lies, The Vanishing are no strangers to the Goth aesthetic and manage to pull off the typically stilted genre with a considerable amount of panache. "Songs For Psychotic Children" is the debut album for The Vanishing, who at the time of this recording included the SF's reigning Goth queen Jesse Trashed, Brian Hock, and Aquarius' dearly departed (not dead, just moved on to a new job) sweetie-pie Sadie Shaw who recently left the band to pursue her garage band The Husbands. Rather than turn to portentous swan songs and plodding atmospherics like the kind often produced for Projekt or Cleopatra records, The Vanishing finds success almost entirely through the theatrical wailings and panicky screams of vocalist / bassist Jesse Trashed, who has developed a vocal style that's clearly in keeping with the traditions of Goth culture, but separate from icons like Siouxsie Sioux, Nina Hagen, and Danielle Dax. Driven by her expressive, intense voice and sinewy basslines, The Vanishing furthers their black clad references with Sadie's haunted carnvival organs which would not be out of place on the seminal "Carnival Of Souls" soundtrack and with Brian exhuming the propulsive rhythm sections of the forgotten Batcave bands: Sex Gang Children, Specimen, and The March Violets. "Songs For Psychotic Children" comes together flawlessly, and marks a very good start for this local band.
MPEG Stream: "White Walls"
MPEG Stream: "Obituary"

VANISHING, THE Songs For Psychotic Children (Gold Standard) lp 10.98
Born from the grim, death disco of the Subtonix and the oppressive gloom rock of The Lies, The Vanishing are no strangers to the Goth aesthetic and manage to pull off the typically stilted genre with a considerable amount of panache. "Songs For Psychotic Children" is the debut album for The Vanishing, who at the time of this recording included the SF's reigning Goth queen Jesse Trashed, Brian Hock, and Aquarius' dearly departed (not dead, just moved on to a new job) sweetie-pie Sadie Shaw who recently left the band to pursue her garage band The Husbands. Rather than turn to portentous swan songs and plodding atmospherics like the kind often produced for Projekt or Cleopatra records, The Vanishing finds success almost entirely through the theatrical wailings and panicky screams of vocalist / bassist Jesse Trashed, who has developed a vocal style that's clearly in keeping with the traditions of Goth culture, but separate from icons like Siouxsie Sioux, Nina Hagen, and Danielle Dax. Driven by her expressive, intense voice and sinewy basslines, The Vanishing furthers their black clad references with Sadie's haunted carnvival organs which would not be out of place on the seminal "Carnival Of Souls" soundtrack and with Brian exhuming the propulsive rhythm sections of the forgotten Batcave bands: Sex Gang Children, Specimen, and The March Violets. "Songs For Psychotic Children" comes together flawlessly, and marks a very good start for this local band.

VANISHING, THE Still Lifes Are Failing (GSL) cd 14.98
From the electro-schtick of Soft Pink Truth's rewiring of punk to the DFA's revisitation of the 99 Records catalogue with a artful sense of irony, we are living in an age that has glorified certain stylistic conceits of the '80s. In looking at these revisionist histories, you could get the impression that the '80s were in fact very cool and had none of the banal dreck of disposable major label pop that persists today. Where most of the '80s retro fascination has its tongue firmly planted in cheek, The Vanishing exhumes the whole bloated corpse of the '80s Goth community. There's not just a bunch of black clothes, clove cigarettes, and blood-red wine to go with The Vanishing's Goth revivalism; there's also Nik Fiend's pasty white make-up, smeared black eyeliner, and ripped fishnet stockings and Daniel Ash's insistence on throwing sax solos into Bauhaus songs. Yeah, the Vanishing do a great job of reclaiming this particular Goth sound from the '80s; but that's also their undoing, as the Vanishing aren't really interested in attempting to update this sound. If they are attempting to do on Still Lifes Are Failing, well then they haven't done a very good job. But if it's The Cure's Pornography and Xmal Deutschland's Fetisch that their going for, well that's another story. The Vanishing's spry death disco grooves and primitive synth lines builds a seering claustrophobia which in most instance is the evil little sister of the DFA cocaine beats. So The Vanishing can only really be recommended if you've got that streak of Goth that tickles you from time to time. But if Adult. and The Rapture aren't dark enough for you, then boy do we have a record for you!
MPEG Stream: "Lovesick"
MPEG Stream: "Cuckoo Spit"