COIL Queens of The Circulating Library (Eskaton / World Serpant) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The timeless electronic swoop of Coil's "Time Machines" repeats itself in the swelling warm drones of mostly analogue synthesis on "Queens of The Circulating Library." John Balance (without Peter Christopherson) had written a poem to be recited by Dorothy Lewis - the mother of Thighpaulsandra who aids in the breathy swells of sound.

COIL Scatology (World Serpant) cd 15.98
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COIL The Plastic Spider Thing (Eskaton) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Music for fans of Coil, made by fans of Coil, and released with the blessing of Coil. "The Plastic Spider Thing" is a remix of Coil's past works by Drazen from Black Sun Productions, a Swiss outfit that follows the Coil's aesthetic with incredible precision (often to the point of losing their own personalities to Coil's spell, when Coil themselves emphasize the necessity for individual expression). Originally, this piece was a soundtrack to a sexually explicit performance between the members of Black Sun Productions. Drawing mostly from the lunar ambience of modern Coil (i.e. post "Love's Secret Domain"), Drazen ran Coil's occultish ambience through multiple delay machines and re-sampling techniques to attain a fractured collage of pulsated loops that point back to the original Coil numbers. The lack of John Balance's whispered vocals (which were once Coil's biggest strength on early albums like "Horse Rotovator," but now are the band's weakest link) is welcome for "The Plastic Spider Thing;" but, this album never strives to escape its orbit around Coil's little black sun. If you love Coil, here's another fine album for you. If you're only curious, try the aforementioned "Love's Secret Domain" first.
RealAudio clip: "Track 6"
RealAudio clip: "Track 8"

COLD BLEAK HEAT It's Magnificent, But It Isn't War (Family Vineyard) cd 14.98
A sorta freejazz freakout from members of Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Heathen Shame, and No Neck Blues Band, featuring alto and tenor action from saxophonist Paul Flaherty.

COLD CAVE Cremations (Hospital) cd 14.98
Cremations is a collection of previously released tracks from the darling noisenik / minimal wave project Cold Cave, the bulk of which had been so painfully limited that they might as well have not been at all. The first three cuts should be familiar to most Aquarius readers, being from Cold Cave's awesome 7" single Painted Nails. The other tracks came from a cassette and an LP, both of which Cold Cave's Wes Eisold released through his Heartworm Press as editions of 100 in 2009 and 2007 respectively. The description we gave to the Painted Nails single is still apt: a morose and melodic blast of blown out noise-wave, a corrosive chunk of Cure-meets-Whitehouse or New Order-meets-Wolf Eyes. The tracks that follow the Painted Nails single on this collection certainly live up to the hype of that single, standing as lo-fi, scribbled new wave tunes for simple bass-synth lines, eerie-as-hell melodies, tinny drum machines, and alienated vocals with plenty of megaphone noise and 4-track scratchiness embedded into the mix. Cold Cave also tosses in some incidental music tracks which sort of sound like the interludes from Christian Death's Elektra Descending redone for Brian Eno's Music for Airports. It should be noted that none of the tracks here have been fleshed out like the incredible The Trees Grew Emotions And Died 12" which came and went a couple months back, and we don't mean that as a negative. Seriously, how many times have we championed the shittiest recordings on the crappiest media: flexi-disc, microcassette, wire recordings, shortwave, etc. And much of Cold Cave's grit and grime on Cremations appeals to that very aesthetic of ours. In fact a lot of these tracks remind us of some of our favorite electronic punk acts of the new dark age: The Screamers, Primitive Calculators, early Severed Heads, Dark Day, etc. You won't just be hearing it from us: this is incredible!
(This IS coming out on vinyl too, eventually, but we have no date for that yet...)
MPEG Stream: "Sex Ads"
MPEG Stream: "Heavenly Metals"
MPEG Stream: "Gates"
MPEG Stream: "Swallow The Sun"

COLD CAVE Etsel And Ruby (What's Your Rupture?) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
On one end of the Cold Cave spectrum, there is the blistering terror of low-fi electronics with sparse hints of new wave flecked through a sound better suited to Wolf Eyes; and on the other, Cold Cave can effortlessly toss out a darkly pop-eyed, minimal wave gem that wouldn't out of place next to Depeche Mode or Gary Numan. So far, Cold Cave (aka Wes Eisold) has not done us wrong no matter what he ends up producing. The hyper limited Etsel And Ruby 12" is of the latter, poppier sensibility, in the footsteps of the terminally catchy single The Trees Grew Emotions And Died from 2008. The production values here are a little higher than the gutter-punk scratchiness found on the Cremations collection; and while punchier drum machines and upfront vocals give Cold Cave a gloss with a broader appeal, we seriously hope that he doesn't leave the nastier sound behind.
The A side "Love Comes Close" is a jangly, jaunty number that could very well be a lost track from The Cure's The Head On The Door, with Eisold's croon almost sounding like Stephin Merritt. The first of two B sides finds Eisold handing over the vocal duties to an unknown female singer, whose detached, cold vocals fit perfectly with the Cure / Joy Division basslines laced around the darkened electronics. The cut is like the best Fad Gadget song you've never heard before, with an insistent electroid melody that builds and builds throughout the track. Great stuff. Limited to 300 copies!!! Available only from the label and right here at aQ!

COLD CAVE Painted Nails (Hospital) 7" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Back in print and available again for a very limited time...
Seven inches of awesomely depressive distortion drenched new wave downer pop. Imagine a couple of old school synth pop classics, dipped in a vat of white noise, then rolled around in shards of fractured synth buzz and crumbling distortion, a morose and melodic blast of blown out noise-wave, a corrosive chunk of Cure-meets-Whitehouse or New Order-meets-Wolf Eyes. The surface is a prickly wall of in-the-red lo-fi fuzz, a curtain of soft focus blacknoise, but just below that surface lurks a secret heart of classic eighties new wave, the programmed rhythms, the swirling synths, the deep dramatic vocals, but taken together, this is everything we always wanted new wave to be, harsh and heavy and dark and deliriously catchy, buzzy and brutal and abrasive but still fuzzy and hooky and weirdly melodic. The B side takes CC's noisy new wave even further out, the sound generously doused with heaps of that blissy Tim Hecker-ish blur of which we can never get enough.

COLD CAVE The Trees Grew Emotions And Died (Rais) 12" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In listening to the few releases from Cold Cave (to date, just this 12" and the "Painted Nails" 7" on Hospital), we can easily see Cold Cave becoming huge. Maybe not as megalomaniacally huge as Coldplay or U2; but maybe there's a Wire or XLR8R cover for Cold Cave to grace sometime in the future. The Trees Grew Emotions And Died predated the heavily acclaimed Painted Nails single; and like that single, this gem of crunched noise mingling with retro-garde synth pop has gone in and out of print several times. It's still a limited pressing of 500 copies, so be forewarned!
Cold Cave is the work of one Wes Eisold, who fronted a couple of East Coast hardcore bands before starting a collection of thrift store samplers and synthesizers. In wiring all of these half-functioning devices through various effects and distortion pedals, he's arrived at an abrasive minimal wave sound that has two feet firmly planted in the worlds of New Order and Wolf Eyes. Had Eisold added a guitar into the mix, Cold Cave might have ended up not all that far from those brilliant bliss pop mutations from Woodsist (i.e. Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs, Wavves, etc.), but he's admitted that part of his frustration with hardcore was over his two-decade losing battle in learning the guitar. So, the synthesizer is the instrument of choice for Cold Cave. This three track EP showcases his pop genius with minor key melodies bobbing along insistent drum machines and sinister atmospheres. "Heaven's Gate" and "Our Tears Help The Flowers Grow" start with the minor-key synth melodies which buttress Depeche Mode's Violator and The Cure's Faith, with megaphone distortion crackling the detached male / female vocals. The title track is considerably up-tempo and up-beat with a bouncy melody that WILL get stuck in your head in all the right ways, like those incredible singles which made their way onto the first Adult. album. Very highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "The Trees Grew Emotions And Died"

COLD NORTHERN VENGEANCE Domination and Servitude (Bindrune) cd 11.98
Although, from their not particularly atypical name and logo, you might expect just another business-as-usual Nordic black metal horde, corpsepainted and kvlt-y, this is NOT just another BM (or, USBM in their case as they hail from New Hampshire) band. Nosirree. We figured that out right away, when the vocals started up on "A Dangerous Wayfaring" and weren't a grim rasp, but rather a faux-British accented chorus. The more usual sort of guttural gruffness also soon appears, but CNV had piqued our interest, and we kept listening with curious anticipation that was quickly rewarded by this album's unexpected and unusual blend of underground black metal, goth rock, and industrial. Actually CNV also had our attention 'cause this comes from the same label, Bindrune, who last brought us Blood Of The Black Owl's A Feral Spirit, another unique and experimental metal offering.
This isn't quite as weird as that record, but this eclectic effort certainly captivates chaotically with majestically catchy riffage, Gobliny soundtrack synths, clean vocal singalongs, and even all-acoustic mellow moodiness ("The Shores Of New England"). Our favorite element though is what might be termed their Satanic industrial sound, with sampling and sequencing, the best example of which is "The By-Paths To Chaos", a rhythmic exercise in sinister, cut-and-paste percussive clockwork. Very cool. Hail Cold Northern Vengeance!!
MPEG Stream: "A Dangerous Wayfaring"
MPEG Stream: "The By-Paths To Chaos"
MPEG Stream: "A Past Forgotten"

COLD SUN Dark Shadows (World In Sound) cd 24.00
Dark shadows is right, dark shadows from a cold, old sun. Long dark shadows stretching across decades... This legendary 1970 demo recording from Austin, Texas psychedelic rock group Cold Sun has never before been on cd, and only just barely been on vinyl. There's record collectors sitting on desert islands somewhere out there, wishing they had a copy of this to keep them company. It's one of the most cult and obscure and oh so welcome psych reissues in recent memory, that's for sure. Well worthy of its whispered rep, Cold Sun is dark, spectral, tripped out garage-psych in the '60s Texas vein of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators. Indeed, the guys from Cold Sun went on to back up Roky in his band the Aliens, not much longer later.
Band leader Bill Miller sings, in an fragile yet urgent drawl, sounding rather like Roky himself, and also plays acid-rock leads on an electric, amplified autoharp (that's right, autoharp, a zither that's usually more of a country/folk/bluegrass instrument) which really gives Cold Sun an outsider edge... and while there's also the requisite dose of fuzz guitar here, Cold Sun can't be reduced to the "fuzz monster" category. It's all together weirder and more affecting than that. Aside from Miller's autoharp, part of what makes it so strange and so special are his lyrics. Take for instance the opening few lines of track one, "South Texas" (if we've transcribed 'em properly): "You have seen the eyes of the geko staring out watching from the crack in the wall you were thinking of going right through but it's outside it's not you you have heard the voice of the gekos telling each other here comes another robot it's a swarm of night climbing dragons crawling out searching just walking cross the ceiling..." Except when he says "robot" it sounds like someone else is saying "human" at the same time. And it just goes on and on getting weirder and weirder, its emotional essence aided by the outsiderishness of the delivery, acid-serious and plaintive. Goes so perfectly with Cold Sun's lysergic layers of sinuous sound. Yep, you can see that this is an example, perhaps thee ultimate example, of that unique Texas, desert psych style... they've got their own, otherworldly, feverish tradition of that down there.
The Cold Sun demo (and not even all of it) was pressed to acetate in 1973 in an edition of just ONE copy. And then it was lost to the sands of time, until reissue label Rockadelic did an LP version in 1990 that caused a bit of a stir amongst psych-hounds... and was limited to only 300 copies itself. But THIS cd edition is the definitive one, including all the music from the demo tape -and- two live bonus tracks! (The live tracks, recorded in 1972, are of songs not on the demo, and are quite worthy, being just a bit hissier and lower-fi than the demo itself, and maybe slightly harder rocking.) It's also got enthusiastic liner notes from noted psych nerd Jello Biafra (!), and also from Cold Sun's Bill Miller himself. World In Sound has done a nice job with this holy grail reissue, we're sure they took the responsibility pretty seriously. Now everyone, at last, can hear these truly psychedelic, (cold) sun-baked sounds...
MPEG Stream: "South Texas"
MPEG Stream: "For Ever"
MPEG Stream: "Fall"

COLD SUN Dark Shadows (World In Sound) lp + 10" 60.00
Woah. Now on vinyl, World In Sound's reissue of this lost Texas psych classic. We only got a couple of these 'cause obviously they're kinda expensive, not only due to being imports but also because they're a rather deluxe package. In super solid, thick gatefold jackets, these are heavy. And not only is it double vinyl, but it includes a extra 10" with the bonus tracks ("Live Again" and "Mind Aura") also found on the cd...
Here's our review from when we highlighted that cd version of this:
Dark shadows is right, dark shadows from a cold, old sun. Long dark shadows stretching across decades... This legendary 1970 demo recording from Austin, Texas psychedelic rock group Cold Sun has never before been on cd, and only just barely been on vinyl. There's record collectors sitting on desert islands somewhere out there, wishing they had a copy of this to keep them company. It's one of the most cult and obscure and oh so welcome psych reissues in recent memory, that's for sure. Well worthy of its whispered rep, Cold Sun is dark, spectral, tripped out garage-psych in the '60s Texas vein of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators. Indeed, the guys from Cold Sun went on to back up Roky in his band the Aliens, not much longer later.
Band leader Bill Miller sings, in an fragile yet urgent drawl, sounding rather like Roky himself, and also plays acid-rock leads on an electric, amplified autoharp (that's right, autoharp, a zither that's usually more of a country/folk/bluegrass instrument) which really gives Cold Sun an outsider edge... and while there's also the requisite dose of fuzz guitar here, Cold Sun can't be reduced to the "fuzz monster" category. It's all together weirder and more affecting than that. Aside from Miller's autoharp, part of what makes it so strange and so special are his lyrics. Take for instance the opening few lines of track one, "South Texas" (if we've transcribed 'em properly): "You have seen the eyes of the geko staring out watching from the crack in the wall you were thinking of going right through but it's outside it's not you you have heard the voice of the gekos telling each other here comes another robot it's a swarm of night climbing dragons crawling out searching just walking cross the ceiling..." Except when he says "robot" it sounds like someone else is saying "human" at the same time. And it just goes on and on getting weirder and weirder, its emotional essence aided by the outsiderishness of the delivery, acid-serious and plaintive. Goes so perfectly with Cold Sun's lysergic layers of sinuous sound. Yep, you can see that this is an example, perhaps thee ultimate example, of that unique Texas, desert psych style... they've got their own, otherworldly, feverish tradition of that down there.
The Cold Sun demo (and not even all of it) was pressed to acetate in 1973 in an edition of just ONE copy. And then it was lost to the sands of time, until reissue label Rockadelic did an LP version in 1990 that caused a bit of a stir amongst psych-hounds... and was limited to only 300 copies itself. But THIS cd edition is the definitive one, including all the music from the demo tape -and- two live bonus tracks! (The live tracks, recorded in 1972, are of songs not on the demo, and are quite worthy, being just a bit hissier and lower-fi than the demo itself, and maybe slightly harder rocking.) It's also got enthusiastic liner notes from noted psych nerd Jello Biafra (!), and also from Cold Sun's Bill Miller himself. World In Sound has done a nice job with this holy grail reissue, we're sure they took the responsibility pretty seriously. Now everyone, at last, can hear these truly psychedelic, (cold) sun-baked sounds...
So, while sixty bucks is a lot for an album, the music here is actually priceless, and WIS certainly have provided it with handsome packaging.
MPEG Stream: "South Texas"
MPEG Stream: "For Ever"
MPEG Stream: "Fall"

COLD WAR KIDS Loyalty To Loyalty (Downtown Records) cd+dvd 21.00

COLD WAR KIDS Robbers & Clobbers (Downtown) cd 14.98
Cold War Kids are like the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Before you or I have even heard a single note of music, we've already read about them in every magazine, every blog, we know we're supposed to be prepared to love them more than any band we've ever heard. It's weird, good bands do deserve to be hyped, but at some point that sort of hype does as much damage as it does good. We were pretty much prepared to hate these guys. But you know what, fuck it. We don't care what we're supposed to do, or like, or think. We threw this on and tried to forget everything we'd heard and read, and you know what, this is pretty darn good. A groovy slinky bluesy indie rock heavy on the piano, guitar jangle, simple shuffling percussion that sometimes builds into a serious thump, but it's the vocals that pretty much define their sound. A gorgeous high wailing croon, a mix of Jack White, Robert Plant, the guys from Wolfmother and Rufus Wainwright. Going from slithery to super dramatic, whispery to campy, but always super emotional, wrapped languidly around any melody that comes its way. You can definitely see these guys getting huge. They're simultaneously a jangly indie rock band and a very theatrical chamber rock performance troop. They probably kill in tiny clubs, they sound huge and flamboyant and wild, but they'll probably end up in theaters and galleries, performing for the upper crust and art elite. But maybe you'll get lucky and see them before that happens. Might already be too late.
Be sure and stick around for the hidden secret track, a killer lo-fi gospel blues jam that sounds like Wainwright via Dylan! Nice.
MPEG Stream: "We Used To Vacation"
MPEG Stream: "Hang Me Up To Dry"

COLDER Again (Output) 2cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Think Section 25 meets Stereo MCs, or the Happy Mondays with a mild case of Chain Reactive heroin house addiction suffused with a bleak monochrome whine. For fans of Suicide, Kraftwerk, Joy Division and other moody new wave darkness.

COLDPLAY A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Capitol) cd 17.98
While many would cry "over-rated flavor of the month Brit pop band!!", me thinks there's more to this band than the hype. They're certainly not bland, nor are they formulaic radio-fodder. Their last full length Parachutes was replete with a number of passionate, glistening'y poetic songs. Coldplay possess a knack for composing the loveliest of complex heartstring-pulling melodies and performing them in a lushly artistic, deluxo-produced fashion (check it out in headphones - nice!). Aww heck, its sounding good should just be a given these days - what with Capitol Records footing the bill! Most likely they had abundant access to the toppest notch recording technology, but obviously good production doesn't necessarily equal good record. Case in point, that damn Planet of the Apes movie remake. Looked amazing, but ugh, what a stinker! Alright alright, I digress, but lemme just say that's not the case with this album. It's more than a little bit folky and down to earth, laden with highly emotive lilting male vocals and subdued piano, just as their last album was. Very pretty and well-crafted. And also just as their last album did, I think A Rush Of Blood is gonna grow on me.
RealAudio clip: "Clocks"
RealAudio clip: "In My Place"
RealAudio clip: "A Whisper"

COLDPLAY Brothers & Sisters (Fierce Panda) cd ep 9.98
If you've worn thin your Rush Of Blood To The Head album, and are in dire need of more Coldplay, do not panic! Brothers And Sisters is their new domestic ep which contains three songs previously unreleased in the U.S. It originally came out in the UK back in 1999, and as can be expected it's an bit more spartan and less lush than their most recent works. Very nice nonetheless!
MPEG Stream: "Brothers & Sisters"

COLDPLAY Parachutes (Capitol) cd 16.98
Coldplay are a melding together of today's best! Radiohead, The Verve, and maybe some Red Hot Chili Peppers balladry (complete with falsetto) backed by lush piano and guitar melodies, a shuffling drumbeat, and the occasional loud guitar wash. All polished to a sleek sheen. Whether they prove to be more than just another Brit flavor of the day band remains to be seen. They've sure been receiving buckets of UK praise. Buyer beware: some of the AQ-staff think this is absolutely terrible, but others say "Pshaw! Maybe we shouldn't dismiss them so swiftly. There's some truly, finely crafted gorgeous works here."

COLDPLAY Prospekt's March (Capitol) cd 10.98
9The latest release from that very very popular UK band for whom we've had a soft spot is a limited edition mini-album. Not sure just how limited it is though (especially on the major label scheme of things!), so keep in mind snooze = lose! Five new songs as epic and liltingly gorgeous as ever plus a head-scratching special guest appearance by Jay Z (???).

COLDPLAY Viva La Vida (Capitol) cd 16.98
Having built their sound on cribbing Radiohead's abandoned early recordings, Coldplay's new release seemed poised to tackle U2's mantle of grandiose emotive narcissism. From mimiciking Bono's soaring-while-singing stance on a recent iTunes commercial to having Brian Eno produce their record, everything seems to scream, "We're taking it to the next level". But it's really the same old Coldplay. Contemporary wallpaper for mediocre television dramas and advertisments.

COLDPLAY X & Y (Capitol) cd 17.98
Don't hate them cuz they're beautiful... love 'em! Yes, this band is obscenely huge and popular, but for once it's deservingly so. Really, they've yet to disappoint. Coldplay make some of the most elegant, evocative music coming out of mainstream radio these days. It stands in such a contrast to the constant glut of blandness and mediocrity that floods the radio and video dials. The earnest emotional drench of Coldplay's music always verges on the sappy, but somehow never stumbles across the line. On X & Y all the pieces of Coldplay lock in magically -- catchy choruses, richly atmospheric layers of guitars, synths and piano, and of course those unmistakable vocals. Chris Martin has one of the most effortless swoop-up-to-falsetto voices around. Depending on what time of the year you're listening to this album, you might find many songs on X & Y capturing that end of the school year or end of summer romance wistful ache... which pretty much guarantees their inclusion in an upcoming teen movie soundtrack. However, the band continues to buck the obvious or easy routes. Take for instance the album's immediately engaging third song "White Shadows", it seems like it would've been the obvious pick for the first single instead of the less hooky seventh song "Speed Of Sound". Striking a balance between instant treats and more involving ones, this is a work that invites repeat listens, and we're happy to oblige. Grand and gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "White Shadows"
MPEG Stream: "X & Y"

COLEMAN, ANDREW Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98

COLLEEN Everyone Alive Wants Answers (Leaf) cd 13.98
Here's the debut from this French dreami-tronica artist aka Cecile Schott. Ultra blissed out and lovely compositions crafted from an array of keyboards, music boxes, glockenspiels and guitars. Nice!

COLLEEN Golden Morning Breaks (Leaf) cd 14.98
Golden Morning Breaks is the second album from Parisian electronic-folk abstractionist Colleen (alias Ms. Ceclie Schott). Her first record -- Everyone Alive Wants Answers -- made use of a plethora of keyboards, music boxes, glockenspiels and guitars, astounding many a listener with her playful if occasionally dark constructions of post-Harold Budd / Brian Eno ambience. Golden Morning Breaks picks up where that earlier album left off with gentle music box-y electronica that depending on your state of mind can be thought of as light'n'summery or creepily unsettling a la '70s Italian horror movie soundtracks. Regardless, this is lovely stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Summer Water"
MPEG Stream: "The Happy Sea"

COLLEEN Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf) cd 14.98
With each subsequent release, Colleen (aka Cecile Schott) finds a new idiosyncratic path in approaching the sounds of her desires. Having an immense love for the sounds of antique medieval and renaissance instrumentation but without the classical training or the presupposed musical discipline required to master them, she has taken artfully slow and gradual steps backwards into the learning process. She first began to sample her friend's classical record collections to create electronic looping compositions, then armed with effects pedals she began playing borrowed instruments and sampling herself. Last year's experiments with augmented antique music boxes has bolstered her confidence into further distilling the electronic "crutches" from her work and learn not only to play but to compose on some of the antique instruments herself. Les Ondes Silencieuses (The Still Waters) is the wondrous result of her latest efforts with studying the viola da gamba, (an ancestor to the cello but with seven strings made of gut instead of four strings made of steel), and the spinet (a baby harpsichord). Sometimes her pieces are accompanied by classical guitar, clarinet and crystal glass, but most of the time the pieces are spare letting the singular instruments sing out their sweet melodies all alone. Haunting and subdued, these post-classical and post-minimalist compositions are unique in the way that gazes backward and forward in musical time without fitting neatly into a specified place. We need a new genre to place her in. Loner Classical? Antique Folk? Whatever you want to call it, this is highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Sun Against My Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Echoes and Coral"
MPEG Stream: "Sea Of Tranquility"

COLLEEN ET LES BOITES s/t (Leaf) cd 10.98
Colleen is the only music maker we can think of who can so perfectly crawl into our hearts, curling up and making it feel like home, with such delicacy and the softest sweetest touch. While not the official follow up to her gorgeous sophomore outing, The Golden Morning Breaks, this is a collection of recordings she made when commissioned by the French national radio station to record music for a special broadcast of Atelier De Creation Radiophonique (Radiophonic Workshop Of Creation). In taking on this commission Colleen decided to use the opportunity to further explore her love of and work with music boxes. Using everything from miniature music boxes hidden in 1940's birthday cards to huge Victorian parlor boxes, she hijacks and tweaks these boxes to create even more melodic, haunting, and beautiful creations. Whether playing them with her fingers or using a mallet, resampling, adding delay, reverb or pitch shifting, Colleen is one of those rare souls who can somehow make the sound of music boxes even more precious, delicate and dreamlike. Luckily she was happy enough with the results that she allowed Leaf to release this under the name Colleen Et Les Boites (Colleen and the Music Boxes). And once again we wish we could commission Colleen to make music for all of our dreams. So totally beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "The Sad Panther"
MPEG Stream: "Your Heart Is So Loud"

COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Live (Opus) cd 21.00
Really excellent Czech prog rock from 1973. Collegium Musicum were an instrumental organ-bass-drums trio in the best classically-influenced tradition. In other words, E.L.P.!!! This live album (their best release) is full of extended, virtuoso soloing from all three members. Energetic, kinda heavy, sometimes happy, sometimes dark, great music. Full-on '70s prog with a nice Eastern-European vibe. And we love the cover shot! (Not new, but we got a couple and wanted to list it, along with the equally awesome Fermata disc, for the Iron Curtain prog freaks we know populate our mailing list!)
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 1"
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 2"
RealAudio clip: "Monument"

COLLETT, JASON Idols Of Exile (Arts & Crafts) cd 14.98
If you've only recently plugged into the Canadian indie music scene, you may know this fellow only as the guitarist of Broken Social Scene, but his music-making past stretches far back beyond his days in that band -- first and foremost as a solo singer/songwriter in Toronto but also supporting and collaborative player with a few fellow Canadians that you may or may not have heard of (Hawksley Workman and Andrew Cash to name a couple). This is his follow-up to 2003's Motor Motel Love Songs which was a collection of early recordings also released on the Arts & Crafts label (home to Broken Social Scene, Stars, Valley Of The Giants and the most recent American Analog Set album). What this all means is that Collett's certainly no rookie. His chops and songwriting quill are sharp, but his manner and mood are comfortingly well-worn and easy-going. Warm and casual and frequently reminiscent of (but not totally a replication of) the sounds of '70s soft (and not so soft) rockers such as Bread, Joe Walsh, and America. The third song "Brownie Hawkeye" even reminded us of the theme to Welcome Back Kotter... which we're not sure is a good or bad thing. Well, we're leaning more towards the latter actually, but it's redeemed by the punchy pop of the sixth song "I'll Bring The Sun" (in our opinion, it's the album's standout and a shining single if there were to be a designated one for this album), Then, Collett turns on a dime and delivers the hushed, achingly pretty "Tinsel And Sawdust". Nice. Sure to please fans of his more well-known Canadian connection or those of the recent '70s soft rock revivalists.
MPEG Stream: "Hangover Days"
MPEG Stream: "I'll Bring The Sun"

COLLINS, SHIRLEY The Sweet Primroses (Topic Records) cd 15.98

COLOR FILTER Sleep In A Synchrotrom (Fuzzy Box) cd 12.98

COLOSSAL YES Acapulco Roughs (Ba Da Bing!) cd 13.98
We love when folks usually associated with a certain sound and style step out and show off a different part of their make-up. Best known as the drummer for the mighty Comets On Fire, Utrillo Kushner lets his breezy sunny side shine through with his new project Colossal Yes. Perfect for those lazy days when all you wanna do is lay in the grass and stare into the rays of the sun. With really well crafted songs that incorporate lush piano into a more traditional folk/rock mix, this has made us think of the prime pop of Elephant Six related bands, early Mercury Rev, a dash of Beachwood Sparks' relaxed twang, a hint of Vetiver, the blissed out mellow hooks of Mojave 3 and the warmth of early 70's Beach Boys. There is a level of confidence in the playing that helps make this record flow so seemlessly and rise above so many others outfits going for this same sound and style with less satisfying results. Nice stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Just Like A Mademoiselle"
MPEG Stream: "A Titan's Buffet"

COLOSSAL YES Charlemagne's Big Thaw (Ba Da Bing) cd 13.98
Here's ten more piano-pop gems from Colossal Yes. Both catchy and somehow laid back, this is a record for outdoor barbeques and conversations with old friends. Not overly sappy, the record walks right through sweetness and sentimentality and emerges on the other side without the ickyness of either. The ubiquitous vocal/piano/guitar combination is fleshed out nicely with the occasional flute, organ or horn, especially noticeable in "They Feast on Us / We Feed on Them" and the penultimate jazzy track, "Outskirts of Radiant". Listening to the album on headphones (always recommended) allows the give and take between guitar (panned left) and piano (panned right) to stand out. Although at times the mix feels like the piano and guitar are fighting amongst themselves for sonic hegemony, they usually compliment each other in a way that shows quality musicianship and songwriting.
MPEG Stream: "The Fraudulent Singer"
MPEG Stream: "They Feast Upon Us/We Feed On Them"

COLOSSAL YES Charlemagne's Big Thaw (Ba Da Bing) lp 13.98
Here's ten more piano-pop gems from Colossal Yes. Both catchy and somehow laid back, this is a record for outdoor barbeques and conversations with old friends. Not overly sappy, the record walks right through sweetness and sentimentality and emerges on the other side without the ickyness of either. The ubiquitous vocal/piano/guitar combination is fleshed out nicely with the occasional flute, organ or horn, especially noticeable in "They Feast on Us / We Feed on Them" and the penultimate jazzy track, "Outskirts of Radiant". Listening to the album on headphones (always recommended) allows the give and take between guitar (panned left) and piano (panned right) to stand out. Although at times the mix feels like the piano and guitar are fighting amongst themselves for sonic hegemony, they usually compliment each other in a way that shows quality musicianship and songwriting.
MPEG Stream: "The Fraudulent Singer"
MPEG Stream: "They Feast Upon Us/We Feed On Them"

COLOSSAMITE Economy of Motion (Skin Graft) cd 13.98
After a couple of EPs, Colossamite has released their first full album of mutant hardcore/jazz-rock. This collective features Nick Sakes, the former vocalist for the Dazzling Killmen, and Chad & Ed from the Iceburn Collective. Odd angular guitar riffs and irregular time signatures played through a precisely calculated intensity. Very nice!

COLOSSAMITE Frisbee (Skin Graft) cd + frisbee 6.98
A brief but exhausting 9 minute burst of muscular noiserockskronk from these ex-members of Dazzling Killmen. Includes an unrecognizable Die Kreuzen medley--and, of course, a small frisbee.

COLOURED BALLS Ball Power (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
We recently reviewed a batch of badass Buffalo reissues courtesy of Aztec Music, an Australian label that's been mining the rich ore of that country's rock n' roll history back in the '60s and '70s. Of the other Aztec releases we've checked out so far, the two albums by a band called Coloured Balls stand out as being crucial to connoisseurs of loud guitar rock. This one's their debut from 1973, and it reveals a high energy band revelling in the oldies rock n' roll of years past (witness their cover of "Whole Lotta Shakin'") while revving up the raw, anti-hippie energy that would explode in the UK circa '77... Yeah, while Buffalo were a proto-metal outfit, sort of the Aussie uncles of Monster Magnet, the Coloured Balls, while heavy, we'd have to describe as being more punk, or proto-punk. And there's a definite dose of boogie bar band bluesiness a la George Thorogood, or better yet, UK blues rock greats the Groundhogs, circa their progressive masterpiece Split. But with much more of a hooligan, kick-yer-head in edge, that's for sure. Some other early '70s acts with similar tendencies with which Coloured Balls could be aligned include the Pink Fairies, the MC5, Crushed Butler, and, not long after, AC/DC.
Apparently they had a lot of trouble with their "anti-social" image (sorta skinheadish "sharpie" haircuts, violence at their shows) but this music's got a lot more going for it than that. The recording simply sounds fantastic, powerful. Real rock n' roll guts and gusto, played by guys who knew what the heck they were doin' -- Coloured Balls were the brainchild of an already-veteran guitar hero named Lobby Loyde, who is all over this album (as well as a bunch of other Aztec reissues as well...).
And we gotta hand it to Aztec, they do a great job in the reissue dep't. This digitally remastered cd comes in a beautiful digipack, with a thick booklet full of pictures and liner notes, including a pro-Balls blurb from Pavement's Stephen Malkmus of all people. There's even also an essay explaining the "sharpie" subculture phenomenon of the times. Plus, the cd features a slew of bonus tracks: six songs from singles, plus a sixteen minute, freeform freakout of a live track from '73 entitled "G.O.D." aka "Guitar Over Dose"!
MPEG Stream: "Human Being"
MPEG Stream: "Mama Don't You Get Me Wrong"

COLOURED BALLS Heavy Metal Kid (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
2nd album, not quite as great as their first. But the title track is a up-up-uptempo proto-glam stormer.

COMAS, THE Spells (Vagrant) cd 14.98
Comparing a band no one has ever heard of to Neutral Milk Hotel, right out of the gate, is usually the kiss of death. NMH are such an untouchable entity at this point, that they barely qualify as indie rock, or whatever you want to call them. They are Neutral Milk Hotel, and nothing else. And in their wake of course have come a million wannabes, very few of them coming anywhere close.
So while The Comas don't necessarily sound like NMH, they do share some common sonic characteristics, especially the weird crunchy harmonic soaked electric guitars, that sound acoustic half the time, and drive the songs ALL of the time. The second we threw this on, first thing we thought was NMH, but only for a second, as the record soon sprawled into all sorts of other sonic avenues. We also hear plenty of Flaming Lips, as well as a ton of the Swirlies. And if you're anything like us, Neutral Milk Hotel + the Flaming Lips + Swirlies = our new favorite pop record! But not super new, this came out last year, but we only just discovered it recently and have been listening to it nonstop.
The aforementioned crunchy guitars, super distorted processed leads, wild blown out drumming, scratchy raspy emo boy vocals, soaring angelic female vocals, cool off kilter arrangements, swooshing effects, and HOOKS galore. And while we may have been listening to this record over and over endlessly, more often than not, it's the opening track "Red Microphones", that gets locked on repeat, sounding like a super charged fuzzy Elephant 6 power pop freakout, easily one of the catchiest jams of the year. Of any year.
WAY recommended for all pop kids, or any one needing to feed their jones for smart rambunctious crunchy fuzzy pop.
MPEG Stream: "Red Microphones"
MPEG Stream: "Hannah T."
MPEG Stream: "Stoneded"

COMBAT ASTRONOMY Dreams No Longer Hesitate (Zond) cd 11.98
A couple years back, we raved about a disc called The Dematerialized Passenger, the first album from this unique band (or perhaps we should say project), remember? In case you don't, here's the deal: Combat Astronomy are a USA/UK collaboration, creating a crushing industrial/jazz/prog hybrid. Imagine Godflesh with a free improv horn section, saxophones squealing amidst the metallic riffage. Or Scorn taking a skronked-out stab at chamber music. Like their earlier release, this new Combat Astronomy opus is again laced with punishing, rigid drummachine beats, along with heavy, uber-low-end fretless bass shaking each song with doomic distortion. Which establishes an absurdly heavy context for sax, clarinet, flute and bassoon to freak out organically, like wild weeds creeping through cracks in giant slabs of concrete, on the floor of an abandoned factory somewhere.
But unlike their all-instrumental debut, this time Combat Astronomy have recruited a female vocalist, Elaine di Falco, who also plays some piano, to add yet another unusual dimension to their mashup of extremes, now reminding us slightly of James Plotkin's now forgotten post-Old project Flux. (Hmm, maybe Kayo Dot and later Ulver could be other comparisons now too.) If the addition of her vocals makes this a bit more overtly melodic, it's still no less extreme overall. And certainly just as intricate, her delicate vocal arrangements in themselves quite complex, multi-tracked, as on the urban R&B influenced (???? no, we're crazy) "Touch The Moon" and the album's whispery coda, "Ordinary Miracles". And the focus of CA is still on the ominous grooves, ambient electronics, and battling horn bleats... tracks like "Alive Inside Eternity" and "Sentinel" are lengthy epics (12:36 and 16:49, respectively) of serious beats and blats and skree, in the challenging, compelling, militant manner to which actually only Combat Astronomy can truly lay claim. The vocals, when present, then take it into another, equally unlikely, atmospheric realm of twisted prog-pop. Pretty darn cool!
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Breathe"
MPEG Stream: "Lightning In Her Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Alive Inside Eternity"

COMBAT WOUNDED VETERAN This Is Not An Erect, All-Red Neon Body (No Idea) cd 13.98
This isn't metal exactly, but it is HEAVY. And it's not punk, although it is raucous, unruly and unkempt. It's not screamo though there is a LOT of screaming. And it's not noise, but boy is it noisy! And it's for sure not powerviolence, even though it is indeed quite powerful and most definitely violent. This is more like a drum kit, a bunch of guitars, a bass, HUGE amps, and a guy screaming his lungs out, all loaded into a cannon and fired at your ear, mere inches away, blowing you head into a million pieces. Grinding, thrashing, chaotic, relentless, brutal metallic punk rock noise. Wow. 42 songs, 32 minutes, average song length about :40 (the shortest clocking in at :10, the longest still a brief 1:30) and some of the best song titles EVER: "Dead Parents, Yea!", "We Sticks Butter", "My Foot, The Catheter", "Plastic Bullets Are So '84", "Also Comes In Red, Orange And Fuck You", "Shit 3:16", "Q: What Kind Of (A Band) Name Is Scrotum Grinder? A: A Terrible One.", "Cumbersome Ant People" and thirty six more!
MPEG Stream: "Shit X 1000"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Bullets Are So '84"
MPEG Stream: "The Rise Of A Thousand Prosthetic Limbs"
MPEG Stream: "Also Comes In Red, Orange And Fuck You"
MPEG Stream: "Q: What Kind Of (A Band) Name Is Scrotum Grinder? A: A Terrible One."

COMBATWOUNDEDVETERAN Duck Down For The Torso (No Idea!) cd 9.98
A brand new, short, sharp blast of rhythmic punk rock weirdness from these Florida miscreants. Four songs, fifteen minutes, and more brutality than you can shake a stick at. The first track is a stretched out hardcore/krautrock collision. Like a super heavy Laddio Bollocko or Born Against covering This Heat, all stuttering rhythms and jagged guitars. Then two minute-or-so long tracks that scrape your earhole clean, before the finale, a damaged electronic 'song' that ends the whole thing on a severely tweaked note! Nice. Nice gory colorful comic book artwork too.
RealAudio clip: "Activate The Corpses"
RealAudio clip: "Folded Space: Mapping Unexploded Ordinance"

COMBUSTIBLE EDISON Schizophonic (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
If you 'got' it the first time, you'll like this one. As featured in the soundtrack to Four Rooms.

COMBUSTIBLE EDISON Schizophonic (Sub Pop) lp 11.98
If you 'got' it the first time, you'll like this one. As featured in the soundtrack to Four Rooms.

COMELADE, PASCAL The Slang Of Noise (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier) cd 16.98
Cult French songwriter/soundtrack composer Comelade's new album, on which he's joined by P.J. Harvey for two songs and Faust's Jean-Herve Peron for one (a remake of the Faust classic "The Sad Skinhead")!

COMETBUS Despite Everything: A Cometbus Omnibus (Last Gasp) book 14.95
After reading this tome if you still haven't gotten your fill of Aaron's writings, he also wrote the extensive liner notes for the new Jawbreaker rarities cd. And who could ever get enough of one of the greatest zines ever. Cometbus has been around (sometimes pub'd under different names) for over TWENTY YEARS! Got all the issues? Me neither. For this book Aaron personally selected the best, and filtered what he thinks of as the worst, writing from Cometbus. The most recent issues aren't here, as they are still in print, but the best of the rest of it is. So great!

COMETS ON FIRE Avatar (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Everybody's favorite Bay Area band of fuzzy freak rock throwbacks are back with their fourth proper album, the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 2004's Blue Cathedral. In the past, though very much inspired by '60s psych and '70s acid rock, Comets On Fire would always go a bit beyond, get more frenzied and noisy than any of the bands back then really got, at least on records we've heard. And they still do. But as any fan of Comets will tell you, they've gradually progressed percentage-wise from totally over-the-top distortion and Echoplex FX fueled mania to much more song- (and singing-) oriented music, reigning in their more noisy psychedelic excesses, to an extent. And Avatar is the next logical step in that progression, though rest assured there is still PLENTY of the original Comets sound shining through, blasting chaotic supernovas of spaced out electronic squiggles and fuzz guitar.
But at other times, you could actually almost mistake this for an actual, authentic '70s era classic rock record, melodic and mellow, frontman and guitarist Ethan Miller honing his whiskey-soaked Southern-rock vox, a surprising set of husky pipes last aired on the recent album by his side-project Howlin Rain. Plus you've got the influence of band member Mr. Six Organs Of Admittance Ben Chasny, known for some glorious tunefulness in his own band (as well as Rallizes-like mayhem).
Really we're a bit shocked at how darn pretty some of this is. And what's probably our fave track on this album, the nearly nine-minute, mostly-instrumental "Sour Smoke", sounds more like vintage Wishbone Ash (but with keyboards), kinda folky and proggy and definitely untouched by the "unclean" sounds of what we might term "classic Comets". Very cool though!
So, this is, to our ears, a successful mix of Comet's new-found laid back approach, alongside sonics that are still quite reminiscent of in-the-red Japanese psych destroyers like Mainliner. The common ground are the cuts wherein they kick out the jams in the vein of an especially drug-damaged Blue Oyster Cult, who we hear here especially on the song "The Swallow's Eye".
Bottom line: if you liked Blue Cathedral, you'll like Avatar too!
MPEG Stream: "Dogwood Rust"
MPEG Stream: "Sour Smoke"

COMETS ON FIRE Avatar (Sub Pop) lp 12.98
Everybody's favorite Bay Area band of fuzzy freak rock throwbacks are back with their fourth proper album, the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 2004's Blue Cathedral. In the past, though very much inspired by '60s psych and '70s acid rock, Comets On Fire would always go a bit beyond, get more frenzied and noisy than any of the bands back then really got, at least on records we've heard. And they still do. But as any fan of Comets will tell you, they've gradually progressed percentage-wise from totally over-the-top distortion and Echoplex FX fueled mania to much more song- (and singing-) oriented music, reigning in their more noisy psychedelic excesses, to an extent. And Avatar is the next logical step in that progression, though rest assured there is still PLENTY of the original Comets sound shining through, blasting chaotic supernovas of spaced out electronic squiggles and fuzz guitar.
But at other times, you could actually almost mistake this for an actual, authentic '70s era classic rock record, melodic and mellow, frontman and guitarist Ethan Miller honing his whiskey-soaked Southern-rock vox, a surprising set of husky pipes last aired on the recent album by his side-project Howlin Rain. Plus you've got the influence of band member Mr. Six Organs Of Admittance Ben Chasny, known for some glorious tunefulness in his own band (as well as Rallizes-like mayhem).
Really we're a bit shocked at how darn pretty some of this is. And what's probably our fave track on this album, the nearly nine-minute, mostly-instrumental "Sour Smoke", sounds more like vintage Wishbone Ash (but with keyboards), kinda folky and proggy and definitely untouched by the "unclean" sounds of what we might term "classic Comets". Very cool though!
So, this is, to our ears, a successful mix of Comet's new-found laid back approach, alongside sonics that are still quite reminiscent of in-the-red Japanese psych destroyers like Mainliner. The common ground are the cuts wherein they kick out the jams in the vein of an especially drug-damaged Blue Oyster Cult, who we hear here especially on the song "The Swallow's Eye".
Bottom line: if you liked Blue Cathedral, you'll like Avatar too!
MPEG Stream: "Dogwood Rust"
MPEG Stream: "Sour Smoke"

COMETS ON FIRE Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Y'know, we end up saying SO many different current bands sound "seventies" is some way, that it's beginning to seem more accurate to say that they sound "now". Does that make sense? Take the amazing Comets On Fire, a band who all AQ customers and discerning Bay Area concert goers ought to already be familiar with. Their Sub Pop debut, Blue Cathedral, is really hard to describe without referencing the '70s (ok, or the late '60s too). I mean, what could be more '70s rock than having not just one but TWO songs with the word "whiskey" in the title? (One of which is not "Whiskey River" by Budgie, though we hoped it was.) But, as we said above, this is so '70s it's not '70s anymore. On this elpee, they've got blown-out Blue Cheer biker rock stomp. MC5 high energy ramalama. Freaky free jazz jamming with sax. And fully '70s Wakeman-worthy prog rock keyboards! But nobody in the '70s really mixed all that together and took it as far out as these guys do. Not really. This is some kind of insane Frankenstein monster of all the cool, heavy '70s acid rawk motifs you'd like to hear. Plug in the electricity (lots of electricity) and IT LIVES. Plus, who in the '70s thought that Echoplex should be a lead instrument? Somehow, these geniuses have managed (for the third time) to capture all that and more in the recording studio, I'm sure littering the place with broken equipment and tangles of magnetic tape. Blue Cathedral's got the Comets' usual unbeatable freakouts, and progresses into new, more melodic territory as well. Recommended!
Note to Sub Pop about the cd version of this: the cardstock slipcover the jewel case is packaged in is nice and all, but next time please don't make that the only place to find the song titles!
MPEG Stream: "Whiskey River"
MPEG Stream: "The Antlers Of The Midnight Sun"

COMETS ON FIRE Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop) lp 12.98
Y'know, we end up saying SO many different current bands sound "seventies" is some way, that it's beginning to seem more accurate to say that they sound "now". Does that make sense? Take the amazing Comets On Fire, a band who all AQ customers and discerning Bay Area concert goers ought to already be familiar with. Their Sub Pop debut, Blue Cathedral, is really hard to describe without referencing the '70s (ok, or the late '60s too). I mean, what could be more '70s rock than having not just one but TWO songs with the word "whiskey" in the title? (One of which is not "Whiskey River" by Budgie, though we hoped it was.) But, as we said above, this is so '70s it's not '70s anymore. On this elpee, they they've got blown-out Blue Cheer biker rock stomp. MC5 high energy ramalama. Freaky free jazz jamming with sax. And fully '70s Wakeman-worthy prog rock keyboards! But nobody in the '70s really mixed all that together and took it as far out as these guys do. Not really. This is some kind of insane Frankenstein monster of all the cool, heavy '70s acid rawk motifs you'd like to hear. Plug in the electricity (lots of electricity) and IT LIVES. Plus, who in the '70s thought that Echoplex should be a lead instrument? Somehow, these geniuses have managed (for the third time) to capture all that and more in the recording studio, I'm sure littering the place with broken equipment and tangles of magnetic tape. Blue Cathedral's got the Comets' usual unbeatable freakouts, and progresses into new, more melodic territory as well. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Whiskey River"
MPEG Stream: "The Antlers Of The Midnight Sun"

COMETS ON FIRE Bong Voyage (Bad Glue) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Super limited live lp from San Francisco's kings of freaked out psychedelic garage rock. Huge shards of classic psych-rock surrounded on all sides by utter chaos: relentless tempos, feeding back guitars, flailing drums, all teetering on the edge of total collapse. Somehow they manage to keep it all in check, but just barely, and the secret thrill of hearing a kick ass rock band who at any point could chuck their instruments into the crowd and head to the bar, but until they do manage to blow your fucking mind, is just what makes Comets On Fire so damn good.

COMETS ON FIRE Field Recordings (Ba Da Bing!) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl! Here's what we had to say about the cd version:
The first thing (the only thing?) you need to know about this Bay Area band is that "electric destruction fuzz guitar" is one of their instruments of choice. Wielded by Ethan Miller, and sometimes also by important Comets associate Ben Chasny of AQ fave acid-folk act Six Organs of Admittance, their "electric destruction fuzz guitar", with help from the band's fuzz bassist and sweaty drum maniac, puts Comets On Fire squarely into the psychedelic garage punk realm, shoulder to shoulder with the likes of 60's heavies Blue Cheer, and modern-day Japanese distortion fiends High Rise. Your friends from college will understand better if you compare Comets to Monster Magnet -- they channel the same sort of MC5-ish ass-kickin' and Hawkwind-like space-outin'. And if Ethan (and Ben's) acid wah guitar leads weren't enough, the Comets take things to a whole 'nother plane of noise with the Echoplex electronic tweakery of Noel Harmonson. His overdriven oscillations multiply the freak-out quotient beyond numerical calculation. And live, his spastic jerking and clapping will occupy your attention visually, at least until the guitarist wrangles his axe into a feedback frenzy jammed up against his amp.
But, there's another side to Comets On Fire, besides the distortion and the garagey riffs. Their loud freak-out elements are only part of an ecstatic musical continuum that also allows for the free jazz / ethnic massed bells and chant of track one, "Beneath The Ice Age". Two songs later, Six Organs guy Ben takes center stage, starting "The Unicorn" off with some improvised acoustic folk. Beautiful. Don't worry, though, 'cause soon enough the electric destruction fuzz guitar is back in action.
"Field Recordings From The Sun" totally rocks, is totally awesome, and is the excellent follow-up (that we'd been eagerly anticipating) to their self-titled, self-released vinyl-only debut reviewed here last year. We sell a lot of Acid Mothers Temple, we should sell as many of these guys! And if you're local, go see 'em, we're lucky they're here.