MILKWOOD TAPESTRY s/t (Gear Fab) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Debut album from 1969 sees itself reissued on disc. This NYC-based duo were popular for their tender ballads played out on classical and acoustic guitar and cello, with the added flourishes of maracas and harpsichord, and appropriately fey vocals. Will not only appeal to fans of the Incredible String Band, but also fans of Belle and Sebastian. An essential purchase only for those of you intrepid scholars of psychedelic esoterica.
RealAudio clip: "Wonderous Fairy Tale"
RealAudio clip: "Signs of the Invisible Chalk"

MILLENNIUM, THE Begin (Sundazed) lp 21.00

MILLENNIUM, THE Magic Time: The Millennium / Ballroom Recordings (Sundazed) cd 38.00
Here's an apparently much sought-after rarity now reissued (thanks again to the fine folks at Sundazed), that we have to confess we'd never heard of until now. But that's one of the great things about reissues, isn't it? And as reissues go, this one's a doozy: three discs of sugary, sunshiney psychedelic pop dating from 1965-1968, produced by the interrelated studio groups The Millennium, The Ballroom, Sagittarius, Summer's Children, and others (all creations of, among others, songwriter/producer Curt Boettcher, a man whose work we're told Brian Wilson was stunned by). Demos, singles, instrumentals, unreleased alternate takes, plus the full albums (Ballroom's "s/t" and The Millennium's "Begin") from these guys: it's all here. And it's all pretty great -- magical, even. Often dreamy. Well, sometimes goofy too (unfortunately reminding us of that "Drugsachusetts" Kroft Super Show parody sketch from Mr. Show!). Ok, if you're not in the mood, it'll make you vomit, but if song titles like "Dancing Dandelion", "Sunshine Today", "Milk And Honey", and "Karmic Dream Sequence" make you smile, then you'll want to have this for those special moments when today's Elephant 6 output just doesn't cut it. (And by that we mean to suggest that if you're a fan of Olivia Tremor Control or Apples in Stereo, you'll find so much to love here -- the music is as sweet as the Olivias but with a really good grit to it too.)
62 tracks total, that's almost 3 hours of material, all direct from the original analog tapes in Columbia's vaults. This massive reissue package, which includes extensive liner notes and many photos as well as those three compact discs of geniune genius '60s "Soft Pop" music, was assembled with the active cooperation of the original musicians.
RealAudio clip: THE BALLROOM "Love's Fatal Way"
RealAudio clip: THE MILLENNIUM "To Claudia On Thursday"
RealAudio clip: THE BALLROOM "Magic Time"

MIN BUL s/t (Universal Norway) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's one I remember reading about in one of them rare-ass record collector books and thinking, wow, I'd like to hear that. A 1970 jazz-rock improv trio from Norway, featuring the young guitarist Terje Rypdal (later an ECM staple), balanced somewhere between psych-rock and Impulse-inspired energy jazz. Well at last it's been reissued on cd (first time ever legit reish we're told) and it is indeed damn good. Rypdal makes a good claim here to being Norway's answer to Sonny Sharrock or Ray Russell, and rips it up on some soprano sax as well as electric guitar. The six tracks here range from sheer freakout implosions to calmer, groovier stuff, with bassist Bjornar Andresen's Mingus-meets-Cream composition "Champagne of Course" being a monster highlight. Definitely a jazz record more than a rock one, but quite intense and heavy and experimental and sometimes beautiful too. And it's another NWW-list entry by the way. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "I Cried A Million Tears Last Night"
MPEG Stream: "Champagne Of Course"

MIRRORS Hands In My Pockets (Overground) cd 15.98
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Rare tracks from this band of punk rock new wave misfits. Active for about three years in the about-to-be-obscenely-fertile Cleveland punk rock scene, the Mirrors formed in 1972 and were broken up by 1975, just as Cleveland was poised to unleash a barrage of snotty punky new wave mayhem on an unsuspecting public in the form of the Dead Boys, Rocket From The Tombs, The Electric Eels, the Pagans, Pere Ubu and more!
Think early punk rock mixed with a little Velvet Underground. Thirteen unreleased tracks and two exclusive tracks!
RealAudio clip: "Cheap and Vulgar"
RealAudio clip: "Muckraker"

MIRRORS Something That Would Never Do (Violet / Hovercraft) lp 24.00
A killer vinyl sort-of best of from these legendary Cleveland punk rock new wave misfits. The Mirrors were only active for about three years in the mid seventies, in the about-to-be-obscenely-fertile Cleveland punk rock scene, breaking up just as Cleveland was poised to unleash a barrage of snotty punky new wave mayhem on an unsuspecting public in the form of the Dead Boys, Rocket From The Tombs, The Electric Eels, the Pagans, Pere Ubu and more!
Think early punk rock mixed with a little Velvet Underground. Awesome stuff. LIMITED TO 800 COPIES. Maybe sold out already, we have a small handful...

MISUNDERSTOOD, THE The Lost Acetates: 1965-1966 (UT) cd 14.98

MODULO 1000 Nao Fale Com Paredes (World In Sound) cd 23.00
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All right! It's about time this legendary slice of South American psych got a not-inordinately-expensive cd reissue we could stock. We've been into this band/album ever since a REALLY expensive but beautiful (and now long-gone) vinyl reissue came out on Shadoks some years ago. Now World In Sound makes it available on cd in a fancy thick triple-fold sleeve that preserves the great psychedelic gatefold art from the original LP -- art that Acid Mothers Temple would die for! There's a 14-page booklet with notes and photos as well. This is definitely one for all you '70s heavy psych freaks! Super fuzz wah guitar and organ jamming stoner psych-prog from Brazil, circa 1970. Nine tracks packed with sinewy jams, trippy fx, weighty grooves... definitely appealing to the same head-space as contemporaries like Iron Butterfly, Dug Dug's, Captain Beyond, Speed Glue & Shinki, Hendrix, Flower Travellin' Band, etc. And we're pretty certain that current South American stoner rock faves Los Natas must be into this album too... Also, you may in fact have heard one track from this before, on the ever-recommended Love, Peace & Poetry: Latin American Psychedelic Music comp also on Shadoks, but that track only hints at how cool this album is. (They also have a track on the LP&P Brazilian volume too.)
Here's a quote from one of the band members, the organist, that ought to give some flavor of what they were all about: "The music of Modulo 1000 had its own appeal to an audience that wanted a heavy, raw, experimental, psychedelic sound. Our kind of music did not make it to the radio stations. It was too wild. The distribution of the record was done in a very limited way. The record label directors, which probably didn't understand or even didn't like our music, did zero promotion for the LP." Thus, one darn heavy, weird, and utterly rare record!
This reish also includes seven bonus tracks (from where/when is left unexplained) some of which are freaky enough to fit with the actual record itelf, but just aren't as heavy -- more Latin groovy.
MPEG Stream: "Nao Fale Com Paredes"
MPEG Stream: "Salve-Se Quem Pudea"

MOGOL, LES (MOGOLLAR) Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie (World Psychedelia Ltd.) cd 17.98
Like we said in the 3 Hur-el review, above, the Middle Eastern '60s/'70s psychedelic rock scene is quite a happenin' phenomenon here at Aquarius -- bands from Istanbul blending the "heavy" beat sounds of London, L.A. and San Francisco with their own ethnic musical traditions. So, along with that great 3 Hur-el disc, we're *really* pleased to have just gotten cd copies in stock of a 1971 album by the fantastic Mogollar (or Les Mogol as they were known in France, where this LP was first released). This band has been a super favorite of ours ever since we first heard 'em on the "Love Peace & Poetry: Asian Psychedelia", "Turkish Delights", and "Hava Narghile" compilations. Yep, they appeared on all three of those fab comps, deservedly so as they were not only one of Turkey's biggest pop bands of the time but also one of the best, near as we can tell. They formed in 1967, playing a style of experimental psychedelic rock based on the folk music of the Anatolian region of Turkey. Their unique Anatolian (or Anadolu) "pop" sound is simply a delight, as amply demonstrated by this particular album. It features 13 tracks (none of 'em to be found on the aforementioned comps) that are based on traditional songs -- but for sure the original versions didn't sound like this, so groovy and hip. They employ some standard sixties rock instrumention -- plenty of electric organ getting almost "In-a-gadda-da-vida"-ish at times -- but also really bring the traditional Turkish instruments to the fore, playing ikligs and baglamas and darbukas and kasiks...all kinds of stringed and percussion instruments, often used traditionally but more often just fiercely strummed to great rock 'n' roll heights. Compared to 3 Hur-el's "Hurel Arsivi" this almost-all-instrumental album is folkier *and* jazzier, the electric organ giving some tracks a kind of Martin Denny exotica vibe. Both discs, though, would make great party records. Highly recommended!!
(Windy's new favorite record -- thus proving once again that in her personal canon of favorite all time records, about 90% of them are from 1971-74. And she's delighted to find that the track "Wildflower" was liberally sampled by none other than AQ-fave Amon Tobin for his stellar "Verbal" song... thus proving once again what great taste Tobin has, we says.)
MPEG Stream: "Madimak"
MPEG Stream: "Fairy Chimneys"
MPEG Stream: "Wild Flower"

MOGOLLAR s/t (World Psychedelia Ltd) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Anadolu Pop, yeah! It's no secret that for the Aquarius staff and quite a few of our customers, the rock 'n' folk of hippie-era Turkey holds a BIG attraction. We're way into all the comps and reissues that have come out in recent years documenting how back in the late '60s and early '70s Turkish youth took the Western beat and psychedelic sounds that were current at the time and melded them to traditional Turkish folk forms, with fuzz guitars and ethnic instrumentation like saz and iklig combined into an energetic, 'exotic' and exceedingly infectious hybrid pop music. And perhaps the best example of this Middle Eastern psych-rock is the band Mogollar (aka Les Mogol). We've already freaked out about the one cd of their stuff we've previously been able to stock, the Danses et Rythmes de la Turquie album from 1971. Now, the same Korean reissue label brings us another, their rare self-titled second album (also it seems from '71), and it's just as good! The first track you might recognize from the Asian installment of the Love, Peace, & Poetry series. And one of the bonus tracks is on Hava Narghile compilation, while two are amped-up versions of songs from Danses et Rhythmes. Yep, there's eight utterly kick ass bonus tracks, all from 1970 or '71 singles releases, that are a bit more rocked (and tripped) out than the somewhat folkier instrumentals on the album proper. You can hear more of an Iron Butterfly influence on a few of these...and Byram hears hints of the Beefheart rhythm section circa Mirror Man on "Behind The Dark", one of the couple English-language tracks here. Awesome, essential. As is the whole album. Languid grooves, frenzied fretting, such great atmosphere, just wonderful stuff. The cd booklet includes photos and an informative English-language essay detailing the history of the band, which is great to have (even if it doesn't tell us in what year this was released). Definitely add this to your Turkish psych-pop collection, or start one with this!!
MPEG Stream: "Hicaz Mandira"
MPEG Stream: "Karsiki Yayla"
MPEG Stream: "Behind The Dark"

MOJO MEN, THE There Goes My Mind (Sundazed) cd 13.98

MONKEYWRENCH, THE Sugarman/The Pusher (Estrus) 7" 3.99
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No... it really can't be! But Yep, it gosh darn is. The Monkeywrench are back after a mule's age. Please don't ask me what a mule's age is. Just figure it's a pretty long time. you may better know The Monkeywrench as: Mudhoney's Mark Arm and Steve Turner, Gas Huffer guitarist Tom Price, Martin Bland, and the infamous Tim Kerr. Many moons ago, these fine fellows released an awesome bourbon and reverb-drenched fiery full-length on SubPop. Join them today in the ol' saloon as they perform "Sugarman" by Jesus Rodriguez and Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher" as only they know how. The latter features that familiar raspy howl courtesy of Mr. Arm. Sigh, very cool.

MONKS Black Monk Time (Repertoire) cd 17.98
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The classic proto-punk record made by these weirdo American GI's in Germany circa '66. An essential.

MONKS Black Monk Time (Light In The Attic) cd 16.98
Oh Happy Day! Another pre-list aQ classic returns to see the light, and we finally get to write a review of it! Back in the day (nearly thirteen years ago!) when we first moved into our current digs from our old storefront on 24th street, the first reissue of Black Monk Time from 1966 was on constant rotation, right next to Os Mutantes, Sounds of Doomsday Cults, North American Frogs, Neutral Milk Motel and of course, The Conet Project. Sadly, it eventually went out of print before we ever got to express how we felt about it on the list. And now enough time has passed between represses, that one of our own (younger) employees didn't get the Monks reference on last month's Wire Magazine cover featuring SUNNO)))!
Formed in the mid '60s by five ex-GIs stationed in Germany, the band mastered a minimalist sixties freakbeat sound driven more by amphetamines than by songwriting ability. But their masterstroke was to adopt another kind of confrontational militant image to match its biting commentary on war, dehumanized social mores and fucked up romance. Dressed in all black matching uniforms with white knotted rope ties to match their painted white instruments, the final touch was to shave their heads in the middle like a classic monks tonsure. Thus The Monks were born! Penning primitive stompers like "Shut Up" and "I Hate You" ("I hate you with a passion, baby... but call me!") with searing organ swells, fuzzed bass and electric banjo over martial and polka rhythms adding to the overall weirdness. Keep in mind this was 1966 and outside of the US, where the terms, psych, punk, and garage had yet to be coined! Their lone album and two singles disappeared as quickly as they came, but have gained a heavy cult following over the years, culminating in a string of reissues and an autobiography by bassist Eddie Shaw. This fine reissue combines the full album, a couple of live and unreleased cuts not featured on previous reissues, plus a full booklet with essays, history and praises from just about everybody from Dead Moon to the White Stripes. Fucking Essential!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Shut Up"
MPEG Stream: "I Hate You"
MPEG Stream: "Complication"
MPEG Stream: "Pretty Suzanne"

MONKS Black Monk Time (International) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The classic proto-punk record made by these weirdo American GI's in Germany circa '66, now reissued on vinyl. Not too many in stock...

MONKS Black Monk Time (Light In The Attic) 2lp 26.00
Now reissued on Deluxe Double Vinyl, thereby making any record collection without it, incomplete!
Oh Happy Day! Another pre-list aQ classic returns to see the light, and we finally get to write a review of it! Back in the day (nearly thirteen years ago!) when we first moved into our current digs from our old storefront on 24th street, the first reissue of Black Monk Time from 1966 was on constant rotation, right next to Os Mutantes, Sounds of Doomsday Cults, North American Frogs, Neutral Milk Motel and of course, The Conet Project. Sadly, it eventually went out of print before we ever got to express how we felt about it on the list. And now enough time has passed between represses, that one of our own (younger) employees didn't get the Monks reference on last month's Wire Magazine cover featuring SUNNO)))!
Formed in the mid '60s by five ex-GIs stationed in Germany, the band mastered a minimalist sixties freakbeat sound driven more by amphetamines than by songwriting ability. But their masterstroke was to adopt another kind of confrontational militant image to match its biting commentary on war, dehumanized social mores and fucked up romance. Dressed in all black matching uniforms with white knotted rope ties to match their painted white instruments, the final touch was to shave their heads in the middle like a classic monks tonsure. Thus The Monks were born! Penning primitive stompers like "Shut Up" and "I Hate You" ("I hate you with a passion, baby... but call me!") with searing organ swells, fuzzed bass and electric banjo over martial and polka rhythms adding to the overall weirdness. Keep in mind this was 1966 and outside of the US, where the terms, psych, punk, and garage had yet to be coined! Their lone album and two singles disappeared as quickly as they came, but have gained a heavy cult following over the years, culminating in a string of reissues and an autobiography by bassist Eddie Shaw. This fine reissue combines the full album, a couple of live and unreleased cuts not featured on previous reissues, plus a full booklet with essays, history and praises from just about everybody from Dead Moon to the White Stripes. Fucking Essential!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Shut Up"
MPEG Stream: "I Hate You"
MPEG Stream: "Complication"
MPEG Stream: "Pretty Suzanne"

MONKS Five Upstart Americans (Omplatten) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Omplatten, after reissuing those fabulous Os Mutantes records, has dug up the demo tapes from the Monks before their infamous "Black Monk Time" album. Formed in the mid 60s by five ex-GIs stationed in Germany who sported monk-styled coiffures, The Monks mastered a minimalist 60's freakbeat driven more by amphetamines than by songwriting ability. Even in demo form, these proto-punk songs still pack a nasty punch with caustic organ chords and a wall of reverb drenching the primitive rhythms--indeed, to these ears they don't sound that much different from the actual "Black Monk Time" sessions. But, with the domestic cd reissue of *that* sadly out of print (and with some differences in song-selection anyway) this disc will be essential for Monks novices, and tempting to fans.

MONKS Let's Start A Beat (Varese Sarabande) cd 16.98
The legendary ex-GI beat group that invented nihilistic punk rock back in '66, return thirty years later for a phenomenal reunion show (at the garage-rock fest Cavestomp '99 in New York City), documented here. Even though their trademark monk-style haircuts are more or less naturally occuring now, these guys don't seem all that old from the sounds on this disc! Nothing lame about this at all! Monk Time '99 sounds just like Monk Time '66, wild and crazy, and all Monks fans will be happy with this, it's a blast. There's also some cd-rom video footage of the show for those with computers.

MOOLAH Woe Ye Demons Possessed (EM Records) cd 28.00
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YESS!!! Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Those are direct quotes from Allan the day he discovered, totally out of the blue, that this album had been reissued on cd by the Japanese label EM Records (same folks who put out the Symphony of the Birds reish reviewed elsewhere this list). Kerry and Andee were both in the office that day and can attest that Allan just about jumped out of his skin, his voice positively yelping with excitement. And now we're ALL going ohmigod, ohmigod too since the box from Japan that Allan ordered arrived and Moolah is among us.
Ok, so what the heck is Moolah?? Well we're talking a super-obscure psychedelic/experimental Holy Grail album here. Allan only knew about it 'cause he'd heard some of it on a cd-r burn that our pal Loren Chasse had gotten from Jan Anderzen of Finland's Kemialliset Ystavat. Totally weird, damaged, krautrocky cosmic psych with electronic drones, haunting classical piano, and fucked up rhythms! According to Anderzen, it was an ultra rare LP from the '70s by a band called Moolah, entitled Woe Ye Demons Possessed. Wow. Allan found it hard to believe that was really true, and that it wasn't just something recorded by some genius Finnish forest freak friend of Anderzen's directly for the cd-r. But some diligent research revealed that the mysterious Moolah was indeed a band from New York who released an album on what was probably their own label, Druidstone (!), in 1974. But it was still pretty much unknown and almost utterly unobtainable. It didn't seem to have ever been reissued. And even our most '70s knowledgable psych-rock reissue supplier in Sweden hadn't heard of it at all. But we never lost hope. And now, thanks to the extremely strange and cool Japanese label EM Records, here at last we present to you Moolah on cd! We're still left in the dark about a lot of the details of this mysterious record's history (EM's sales info is mostly in Japanese*) but from the album cover notes reproduced in the cd package we can tell you that the men behind Moolah were a duo named Walter Burns and Maurice Roberson, who recorded this, "their paranormal concertwork ...a cosmic rock relaxation creation" at a "secret studio in New York's Greenwich Village". There's also some amazing pagan poetry on the sleeve, here's a few lines: "Licking BLOOD Drinking TEARS Sacrificing LOVE on the Altar of Tomorrow Eating FRUITS of Stolen Vineyards With Withered Young Mouthes That Sing The OLD SONGS WHICH WERE FORBID".
And the music is as amazing as what Allan remembered. Dreamy, beautiful ambience -and- disturbingly chaotic, claustrophobic sounds. Shimmery, murky, distorted, primitive... is it even rock music? For the day, about as far out as you could get. Indeed, ahead of its time. Such tracks as "Crystal Waters", "Terror Is Real" and "The Hatd Hit" are lo-fi jams full of dubby echo effects, indistinct voices intoning New Age ideas, crazy backwards percussion, and insectoid squiggles of electronics. And we think we heard a purring cat in there too. The question is: did the Moolah duo simply inhabit their own, messed-up, mystical little world (which seems likely, judging by those sleeve notes of theirs), or had these guys heard records by early Kraftwerk, Amon Duul, Kluster, and Neu!? We wonder. But either way, the krautrock scene's freakiest had nothing on Moolah. File with such rare, eccentric, outsider psych artifacts as the Cromagnon's Orgasm, Yahowha 13's Penetration, and Comus' First Utterance. What a find. If you like weird, lost, lovely, maybe a bit frightening music THIS IS FOR YOU.
*Here's Google's automatic translation of the Japanese-only info EM provided: "The [kozumitsuku] psychedelic album where 1974, two youths of New York are identified [mura] and announce. The piano, the keyboard and the percussion musical instrument electric set and electronic sound, esoteric Buddhism vocal sound, drawn, concrete sound, the delay effect, it is the work which is formed with tape opposite revolution."
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Waters"
MPEG Stream: "Courage"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror's"

MOONEY SUZUKI, THE People Get Ready (Estrus) cd 14.98
No, this band has nothing to do with the seminal German band Can nor with their two vocalists Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki. Expecting a little krautrock? Think again. Think NYC rock'n'roll, baby. That's right. "People Get Ready" is a dozen sweaty badass numbers. With plenty of soul and bluesy firepower. Where else but on Estrus Records? Recorded by Tim Kerr.

MOONKYTE Count Me Out (Sunbeam Records) cd 16.98

MOPS, THE Psychedelic Sounds In Japan (Victor Entertainment) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Psychedelic pioneers in their home country, The Mops (great name!) were one of the originators of the Japanese GS (Group Sounds) scene. They were among the first in Japan to experiment with psychedelic studio effects like flanging and phasing, as well as with psychedelic stage lighting effects -- trying as best they could to make up for the scarcity of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD in Japan! This cd reissues their 1968 debut LP, which is supposedly their best although we haven't heard the other seven albums they later released. This album's colorful, Peter Max/Yellow Submarine styled artwork should clue you in to what they were all about -- a trip to the San Francisco Summer of Love of their imagination, full of fuzz and fantasy. As with most teen rock bands of the period, these kids played a lot of sometimes-cheesy covers of big British and American bands -- The Animals, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors -- but they also wrote originals, such as their Monkees-like theme song, the wonderful "I'm Just A Mops" (which was one of the many gems in the recent Nuggets II box set). Derivative and dated, yes, of course, The Mops were and are -- but at their best (doing their own stuff particularily) they're also irresistably enthusiastic and energized. There were better Japanese GS bands, for sure -- the melancholy, timeless sounds of The Jacks being a good example -- but when they're telling you they're just a Mops, can you ask for more? Charming stuff.
RealAudio clip: "track 1"
RealAudio clip: "I'm Just A Mops"
RealAudio clip: "track 7"

MORGEN s/t (Phoenix) cd 17.98
As heavy-ish late sixties psychedelia from the garage goes, this one-off 1969 album from Long Island's Morgen is a worthy contender. The b&w Edvard Munch "Scream" on the cover is perhaps a clue that this will be fairly dark and tripped out, and it is, with druggy lyrics like: "Come take a bite from my gingerbread house, and let your troubles fade away...". That's from the album's first (and we think bestest) track, a definite fuzz psych classic, "Welcome To The Void". The fuzz is so thick, you could cut it with a knife. The singer (who's a better guitarist) delivers some turned on tales of popular nursery rhyme characters, but mainly you'll be hearing fuzzzz. And there's lotsa wild guitar and more fuzz as the album goes on. For fans of Electric Prunes, Plastic Cloud, The Litter, etc. If you haven't found a previous reissue of this already, we now have this limited numbered edition put out in the UK by Phoenix.
MPEG Stream: "Welcome To The Void"
MPEG Stream: "Of Dreams"

MOTIONS Introduction to ... /Their Own Way (Pseudonym Records) cd 14.98

MOVING SIDEWALKS, THE Flash (Akarma) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another one from Akarma's back catalog of classic and obscure LPs reissued on cd, now in a jewel case at a cheaper price than before. This is a reissue of a 1968 recording by Houston, Texas' premiere psych-rock band The Moving Sidewalks, which featured none other than Billy Gibbons (guitar & vocal) who later grew his beard really long and earned his fame in ZZ Top. Along with the 13th Floor Elevators, these guys were one of the major bands that put Texas on the '60s garage psych map. On Flash, they rocked the house with groovy organ jammin', Gibbon's Hendrixy guitar, a dose of the blues and some trippy hippiness.
This reissue also contains five bonus tracks taken from singles that The Moving Sidewalks also released, including their classic "99th Floor" and a cover of The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand."
MPEG Stream: "99th Floor"
MPEG Stream: "Eclipse"

MUMMI KUTOO s/t (Ektro) cd 14.98
Don't know much about this new Ektro release -- all the info we can find is in Finnish and of friend Jussi of Ektro/Circle has a cryptic way about him -- but we do know that it's a reissue of a '70s Finnish folk/prog LP by a band with the pleasant sounding name of Mummi Kutoo. They play a weird (and you may think wonderful) concoction of rustic folk, psychedelic rock, New Orleans jazz, honkytonk, and bluegrass...one track might be all flutes and Floyd, the next a brass band number! Quite diverse in mood and musical style. In parts, it's a bit like a countrifed Dungen, if you're familiar with that current-yet-retro Swedish band. And it's certainly the soft seventies mellow pop psych cuts, the dreamiest stuff on here, that we like the best. With 23 songs on here (14 from the band's self-titled album released on Love Records in 1975 plus another 9 bonus tracks from the era) there's plenty to enjoy.
MPEG Stream: "Toijala Mielessaan"
MPEG Stream: "Hevoslaulu"

MUNDY, MARC s/t (Companion) cd 14.98
BACK IN STOCK!
We really like this album, but went through a few phases in appreciating it. First off, when we heard about it, we were like, cool! This first-time-on-cd reissue of an extremely obscure, self-released 1971 LP checks out pretty well, on paper: it was a one-off record of tragic love songs done in late '60s psych pop style written and recorded by a teenager from Cyprus recently relocated to New York City. Heck, Middle Eastern psych, we can't get enough! But when we actually heard it, at first it was a little hard to get past how odd it sounded -- it wasn't quite what we were expecting. Marc Mundy's voice and lyrics eventually charmed us, but it's easy to see why he never make it big on the pop charts in the USA, with his foreign accent and amateur (but decent) singing skills. Then there's his lyrics, written in English, which perhaps explains how awkward his turns of phrase can be -- though again, in the end we found ourselves marveling at his heartfelt, heartbreak poetry. Such lyrics as "baby I love your lips / when they're wet with wine and desire / I love your hair / when it is messed up in the wind / baby I love your arms / when your soft, warm flesh touches mine / I love your eyes / when the lovelight lies / not for me the cold, calm kiss of a virgin / not for me / the bless of a saint..." might at first seem like typical love song stuff, but not really... coupled with his so-sincere delivery, Marc's words will find their way closer to your soul than most pop music lyrics ever do. Maybe it's the atypical metaphors, situations and stories that crop up in his songs, some of which must be inspired by the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern folk songs he'd heard in his youth.
For example, "How Can I Marry This Language" is about a father refusing to allow his daughter to marry the song's narrator, in language that he (the frustrated narrator/suitor) can't even understand. It's actually (intentionally, we think) humorous, which isn't the case with most of the sad, melancholic material on this album! Another track, "The Tragic House", is about an empty, abandoned house where the narrator's love used to live, before she vanished to who knows where, or why. Yup, super sad and melancholic. There's definitely lots of stuff on here if you ever need material for a breakup mix tape!! "Our Love Can Never Be", "Give Up Your Pride", "I'm Crying Your Name", "Don't Love Me Anymore", and others...
Yet despite the sadness, these songs percolate along, Marc taking the melodic lead on vocals and guitar, accompanied by a now-anonymous band of musicians, sounding vaguely exotic while also of its time and place (the Greenwich Village coffeehouse folk-rock scene, also home to The Devil's Anvil you'll recall). Ethereal female backing vocals also add to the lovely moodiness...
This reissue is one of those wonderful finds you've got to thank some obsessed collector for, and comes complete with lyric sheet and new liner notes. And it's fully authorized by Marc, whom we're told gave up on music as a career soon after this album was originally released and now lives back on Cyprus, teaching school (and hopefully not still pining for lost loves!).
MPEG Stream: "How Can I Marry This Language"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Love Me Anymore"

MUSIC EMPORIUM s/t (Sundazed) cd 12.98
When the first line of lyrics you hear on a record are something about "velveteen clouds" you know you're listening to something psychedelic -- in this case, a reissue of the rare 1969 album by LA psych-popsters the Music Emporium. Swirling organ, fuzz guitar, Buddhist chant, gentle melancholic female vocals: this has got it all. As musical '60s artifacts go, the Music Emporium record is a pretty worthwhile one! Sundazed has been killing us lately with the high quality Cali psych reissues they've been pumping out (The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Millennium, etc.) and here's yet another. And for bonus tracks you get five instrumental versions of album cuts.
RealAudio clip: "Nam Myo Renge Kyo"
RealAudio clip: "Gentle Thursday"
RealAudio clip: "Sun Never Shines"

MUSIC EMPORIUM s/t (Sundazed) lp 21.00
We listed the cd of this last time, but subsequently got the fancy 180 gram vinyl reissue as well, complete with die-cut cover. Lovely. Here's the review of what's in the grooves: When the first line of lyrics you hear on a record are something about "velveteen clouds" you know you're listening to something psychedelic -- in this case, a reissue of the rare 1969 album by LA psych-popsters the Music Emporium. Swirling organ, fuzz guitar, Buddhist chant, gentle melancholic female vocals: this has got it all. As musical '60s artifacts go, the Music Emporium record is a pretty worthwhile one! Sundazed has been killing us lately with the high quality Cali psych reissues they've been pumping out (The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Millennium, etc.) and here's yet another. Includes a couple of instrumental bonus tracks, not as many as on the cd release though.

MUSICA DISPERSA s/t (Discmedi) cd 21.00
Now considered something of a classic, here's an awesome acid-folk rarity recorded thirty-five years ago by a gaggle of hippies in Barcelona. This is something we've had sporadically in stock before ('cause people in the know were asking about it) but now at last we've got enough to list -- and they're cheaper than they were before, too! This, Musica Dispersa's only album, was originally released in 1970 and now appears on cd, digitally remastered, in a nice digipack complete with folded booklet/poster (the liner notes are all in Spanish but there are lots of sepia-toned photos for non Spanish readers to look at).
Their sound is both dainty and drugged-out, occassionally playful but most often melancholic and mellow... with moaning vocals, sad flute, organ, mandolin, piano, bongos, and various other percussion instruments, Musica Dispersa made quite quiet and gentle, dismally beautiful music (that was apparently very political in the context of their times/place as well). They tend to draw comparison to both the archaic, acoustic approach of the Incredible String Band and other UK folk acts of the era, and the freaky freeform ramblings of early Amon Duul. And we're strongly reminded of another krautrock band, AQ faves Siloah. Definitely something for which the phrase "weird and wonderful" was always intended. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Hanillo"
MPEG Stream: "Gilda"
MPEG Stream: "Fluido"

NAZZ Open Our Eyes The Anthology (Sanctuary) 2cd 19.98

NEGATIVE SPACE Hard, Heavy, Mean & Evil (Vintage / Rockadrome) cd 12.98
Like the Poobah reviewed last list, here's another, though much moldier, oldie previously reissued by Monster Records, now made available again by Rockadrome. The Monster version had different art/graphics and was titled The Living Dead Years, but these are the same tracks. And since the main reason collectors are into Negative Space is probably because their 1970 private press album was called Hard, Heavy, Mean and Evil (aren't YOU intrigued?) it's a good idea for Rockadrome to use that title for this edition, which includes that very album plus bonus tracks from post-Negative Space act Snow and other related stuff.
Unfortunately, not much of this is actually all that hard, heavy, mean or evil. Unless you think garage psych covers of "Summertime" count (track two here, pretty laid back but for some sudden eruptions of fuzz guitar distortion). There's a song here with a title that would seem promising, "The Long Hair", but that one's actually way mellow. While this is still a cool underground artifact of grungy garage at the dawn of the seventies, let's just say Sabbath had nothing to fear from these guys. Negative Space at their heaviest are more like a scuzzy Steppenwolf. Rather than being proto metal, these guys were already sounding retro in 1970-71 (among the bonus tracks there's covers of "Light My Fire", "Purple Haze", "Johnny B. Goode", and also Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher", a hit for ol' Steppenwolf y'know).
The tracks that ARE heavy ("Calm Before The Storm" and "Forbidden Fruit" in particular) WILL get Blue Cheer fans excited. But the solo acoustic demos from NS leader Rob Russen tacked on at the very end of this disc might kill that buzz. Heck, we don't really mean to slag this, it IS cool for what it is. Just be aware, it's not exactly what the title and band name and wishful thinking might lead you to believe. It's certainly ultra distorted and wailin' at times, but only at times, otherwise just a bit bleak and moody. Their mean & evil, hard & heavy reputation probably had more to do with their live show. In the cd booklet (packed with lyrics and liner notes in thorough Rockadrome tradition) mention is made of a studio engineer asserting "how impossible it was to capture and contain the power and fury of Negative Space's music". Apparently so, since so much of this is not-so-hard hippie rock, with its own rough hewn charms however, plus ever-lurking fuzz blasts to tease those here only for the heavier fare.
MPEG Stream: "Isolated Ivory Tower"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Wall"
MPEG Stream: "Forbidden Fruit"

NEON PEARL 1967 Recordings (Acme Gramophone) cd 15.98
Finally able to get more of this classic psych pop gem back in stock!
It sometimes seems like, that if everyone stopped making music right now, we could coast along for years with all of the lost and undiscovered classics from the sixties and seventies that keep surfacing. It's definitely not a bad thing at all. Makes us wonder though about folks in the year 2040 and which of our current favorite bands will be re-discovered and reissued then. Neon Pearl was a precursor to legendary psych / prog outfit T2. You won't find much prog here, instead, Neon Pearl were a psychedelic soft pop combo falling sonically somewhere alongside groups like the Zombies, Sam Gopal, Kaleidoscope, the Association and other practitioners of sundazed sixties pop. Dreamy and sonorous, with liliting melodies, swirling organs, acoustic guitars and harmonium, and fuzzed out electric guitars, all supporting the rich almost-falsetto of lead vocalist/drummer Peter Dunton, with lots of 'lalala's and 'doodoodoo's. So so nice.
MPEG Stream: "What You See "
MPEG Stream: "Dream Scream"

NEW AGE, THE All Around (RD) cd 23.00
One of the more heartbreaking stories of the mid to late sixties Northern California music scene also contains a newly discovered trove of beautiful raga folk that has rarely been heard before now. The New Age were a trio of musicians, namely Susan Graubard (who also played in The Habibiyya, which we raved about a few lists back - on an apologetic side note, we're sorry we mistakenly thought she was a guy) on flutes, viola and tamboura and singer and guitarist Patrick Kilroy whose haunting three octave voice and love for indigenous musical forms and instrumentation, namely the Indian raga, gave the trio a majestic Eastern spiritual quality with an Appalachian folk edge (they had all studied under Ali Akbar Khan). Playing numerous shows, with many famous players of the time in Big Sur, Los Gatos, Berkeley, New York, San Francisco and even at the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park, The New Age seemed destined to make a big impact on the West Coast folk scene. Yet, one album half-recorded with Elektra in New York (Light of Day) was never finished due to a falling out Kilroy had with the arranger. Even more tragically, these sessions they recorded with Warner Brothers (featuring Bruce Langhorne) were shelved when Kilroy suddenly took ill and died from Hodgkin's Disease at the end of 1967, before the album could be completed. Graubard, now a school teacher in Berkeley, saddened that The New Age never garnered even a footnote or mention in any written sixties musical history, held onto the tapes, in hopes of sometime releasing them. When Raymond Dumont of RD records heard lost tapes of Light of Day, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that more recordings existed and here we are. Great timing, too, that re-issues of The Habibiyya, Extradition, The Christ Tree, Malachi, Joakim Skogsberg along with The New Age are opening up a window into a little seen past where making music was as it should be, a human-spiritual-communal connection.
MPEG Stream: "Dance Around The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Bhairavi"
MPEG Stream: "All Around (Adagio)"

NEW CREATION, THE Troubled (Companion) cd 14.98
What would happen if the Shaggs had found God before recording their seminal LP? We've found the answer and it is The New Creation. Recorded in 1970, a year after the Shaggs' "Philosophy of the World" was released, one wonders if the group may have been inspired by the Shaggs D.I.Y. attitude. Hailing from Vancouver, B.C. The New Creation were the most unlikely blend of Christian evangelism with a flower-power hippy outlook which propelled their unique vision through an extremely off-kilter musical vehicle pieced together with leftover body parts: the Velvet Underground taped to the side of the Shaggs chassis with a rebuilt Pat Boone engine under the hood. Ramshackle and tentative, but so earnest and heartfelt and surprisingly catchy. And the lyrics aren't as positive as the music and the presentation might lead you to believe, focusing more on damnation, fire, and brimstone. These are biblical tales in which God wields his might and power for the purpose of final judgement. The biggest surprise is the opening track 'Countdown To Revolution', an epic, acid fried, unstructured freak out with strange effects, 'trippy' reverb, and all manner of TESTIFYIN'!! Creepy but cool!
From the same folks who brought us the amazing Teen Dance Music From China And Malaysia compilation.
MPEG Stream: "Countdown To Revolution!"
MPEG Stream: "Songs To Sing"
MPEG Stream: "Sodom And Gomorrah"

NEW DAWN, THE There's A New Dawn (Jackpot) cd 16.98
Sometimes the timing of certain 'lost classic' reissues is too perfect, giving us a glimpse of the seeds of sounds to come, a prequel to certain musical trends that are gaining so much momentum in the here and now. Such is the case with this great, lost, lonesome psych classic from the Pacific Northwest, which was originally released in 1970. We're not sure if he's heard it or not, as this has been a really tough one to track down until recently, but man do we hear plenty of Kurt Vile in these old recording! With a fuzzy and faded vibe, The New Dawn crafted breezy yet dirgy pop songs that sound like some awesome combination of Lee Hazlewood, The Sonics, Roy Orbison, George Brigman, The Byrds, and the Velvet Underground. We can't get enough of the warm organ, haunting vocals, hypnotic percussion, just all the right sonic elements that really do evoke some desolate street at night, wet from a recent downpour and the flickering reflection of the moon on the shimmery black of the slick asphalt. So mesmerizing and intoxicating, we're beyond stoked this album is getting its beyond deserved moment!
Besides the obvious influence on Kurt Vile we could see so many other current AQ favorites being super into these sounds...Beach House, Silver Pines, Broadcast, Thee Oh Sees (circa Sucks Blood), The Beets, The Soundcarriers, Gary War, Sic Alps, as well as folks from the '80s and '90s that we love like Rain Parade, The Telescopes, Beachwood Sparks, Dream Syndicate, etc. Forty years after it was originally released There's A New Dawn is still completely captivating!
MPEG Stream: "(There's A) New Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Hear Me Cryin'"
MPEG Stream: "We Need Each Other"

NEW TWEEDY BROS!, THE s/t (Shadoks Music) cd 16.98
Reissue of rare 1968 collectible from this obscure (but of course legendary) psychedelic San Francisco band. A bit dour in a good way, imagine Moby Grape, with unison harmony vocals like a depressed Mamas and Papas. Another reason to get this is the glorious silver hexagonal digipak, a miniature of the original LP sleeve's "cosmic cube" design. It folds out and everything!

NGOZI FAMILY 45,000 Volts (No Smoke) cd 25.00
Man, have we been waiting for this! Why? Well, does Chrissy Zebby Tembo mean anything to you? The group that backed him up on his wonderful My Ancestors album from 1974 have a rare record of their own that's just been reissued, the electrifying indeed 45,000 Volts, and it's another killer document of Zambian heavy fuzz rock ("Zamrock"!) from the '70s! Founded by Paul Dobson Nyirongo, otherwise known as Paul Ngozi, a Hendrix-styled guitarist (he even did the trick of playing with his teeth), the Ngozi Family band released this winning album in 1977, and now that we've heard it, it goes right to the top of the selection of awesome garage fuzz rock from Africa in our collections, a small but ever growing category thanks to ruling reissues like this (we're also looking forward to Shadoks' impending cd edition of The Witch album, also from Zambia, next month, you should be too). And it's not so lo-fi as that Tembo disc, much better sound, though the production still sounds very "live", we think it's perfect, capturing both the thud and grace of the Ngozi Family's music.
There's ten tracks (including one bonus from a 7"), containing so much raw FUZZ! Burbling, sizzling, wah wah action. Along with wicked beats, soulful sincere vocals (some songs in English, others in a Zambian language, Nyanja perhaps), and groove that just won't quit. Most of the tracks are in a Western psych-rock style with distinct African influences, though a couple tracks near the end of the disc are much more like traditional Afrobeat, with hand percussion and mass chanting vocals. As far as the rock stuff goes, even when they kick back on the mellower, more sunshiney numbers there's still lotsa fuzz and snappy beats. And Ngozi actually translates to Danger in English, so you know that they don't neglect the harder and heavier fare on this album. Particularly proto-metal-ish is "Night Of Fear", with immensely fat riffing and echoed lyrics about graveyards and nightmares! Here and elsewhere we're reminded of Los Dug Dugs. Heck even a little Blue Cheer. And of course Ofege and Chrissy Zebby Tembo and others from Africa.
Timeless stuff, highly recommended. Tembo's My Ancestors, reissued on the same label, is already out of print on cd, and this reish is equally limited too, 500 copies only, so get it while you can. FYI there's also a vinyl version but our supplier is already out of those, at the moment anyway, if we're able to get more we'll list it then.
MPEG Stream: "Everything Is Over"
MPEG Stream: "Nizaka Panga Ngozi"
MPEG Stream: "Night Of Fear"

NICO Chelsea Girls (4 Men With Beards) lp 15.98
Classic and most essential Nico Record.

NOSTRADAMOS s/t (World Psychedelia) cd 17.98
While we wish we could boast about having a large section of Greek '70s psychedelia, this one and only full length by Nostradamos, recorded in 1972, will now be the very high standard by which we will judge any other Greek acid-folk-psych-pop we are lucky enough to get our ears on. And that's kind of unfair for any of those records because this is truly an amazing and unique record.
As intricate and eclectic as they were poppy and infectious, Nostradamos utilized the regular rock band instrumentation but added elements like violin, flute, horns and harp which gave their songs a rich and colorful luster. Hints of more traditional Greek folk are infused into their psychedelic pop, giving an incredible range to the album and even within the songs themselves, thus making for an incredibly exciting and pleasurable listening experience. We definitely hear a kinship between this and some of the more earthy Tropicalia happening at the same time in a totally different place on the globe. Nostradamos still sounds so alive and relevant today. So many moments on this record would be at home on something by an Elephant 6 band, and we could see lots of today's indie folk stars like Beirut, Coco Rosie, Rio En Medio and even Dungen totally digging on this, we sure are!
MPEG Stream: "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Track 11"

NOTARO, MARCONI No Sub Reino Dos Metazoarios (Time-Lag) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We are big fans of the Brazilian pastoral psych of Lula Cortes, whether it be the phenomenal Satwa record or his later legendary mid-'70s masterpiece with Ze Ramalho, Paebiru, So you can imagine how our hearts went all aflutter when we got this latest Time-Lag reissue of the sole release by Marconi Notaro, a revolutionary Brazilian poet who recorded this album with both Cortes and Ramalho in 1973, the same year the Satwa record was released. Almost reading like a second Satwa album while at the same time predicting the later ecstatic fuzz experimental rock of Paebiru, the sunbaked exuberance and joy of these recordings belie their political spirit. Miraculously recorded and independently released amongst the harsh authority of the 1970's Brazilian government, Notaro, Cortes and Ramalho and others in the small and previously little-known Recife music scene were somehow able to bypass restrictions on music that was viewed as vehemently anti-state. Using acidy tape loop effects, electric and acoustic guitars, trancy folk percussion and the tricordio, a sitar/dulcimer hybrid that Cortes built himself, the songs here are mind-meltingly beautiful. Sadly Notaro passed away in 2000 of Hepatitis C leaving behind this record and seven published books of poetry. But with the authorization of Notaro's daughter and Lula Cortes himself, this classic masterpiece of protest is finally unearthed for us all. Totally Recommended!!
MPEG Stream: "Ah Vida Avida"
MPEG Stream: "Made in PB"
MPEG Stream: "Simphonia em Re"

NOTARO, MARCONI No Sub Reino Dos Metazoarios (Time-Lag) lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We are big fans of the Brazilian pastoral psych of Lula Cortes, whether it be the phenomenal Satwa record or his later legendary mid-'70s masterpiece with Ze Ramalho, Paebiru, So you can imagine how our hearts went all aflutter when we got this latest Time-Lag reissue of the sole release by Marconi Notaro, a revolutionary Brazilian poet who recorded this album with both Cortes and Ramalho in 1973, the same year the Satwa record was released. Almost reading like a second Satwa album while at the same time predicting the later ecstatic fuzz experimental rock of Paebiru, the sunbaked exuberance and joy of these recordings belie their political spirit. Miraculously recorded and independently released amongst the harsh authority of the 1970's Brazilian government, Notaro, Cortes and Ramalho and others in the small and previously little-known Recife music scene were somehow able to bypass restrictions on music that was viewed as vehemently anti-state. Using acidy tape loop effects, electric and acoustic guitars, trancy folk percussion and the tricordio, a sitar/dulcimer hybrid that Cortes built himself, the songs here are mind-meltingly beautiful. Sadly Notaro passed away in 2000 of Hepatitis C leaving behind this record and seven published books of poetry. But with the authorization of Notaro's daughter and Lula Cortes himself, this classic masterpiece of protest is finally unearthed for us all. Totally Recommended!!
MPEG Stream: "Ah Vida Avida"
MPEG Stream: "Made in PB"
MPEG Stream: "Simphonia em Re"

NOVA LOCAL, THE Nova 1 (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Featuring The Cateroeternally Live Sound" it says, whatever that means...well, it means it's from the psychedelic '60s of course! Yep, the '60s psych pop reissues never seem to stop coming. Obscure bands with one collectable LP to their name having their tunes dug up and put out on cd at long last. In trying to keep up with the constant deluge, we've of course learned that not every reissue shoulda been -- but this 1967 album IS a good example of a worthwhile reish!
Dunno much about 'em, and being a Radioactive disc there ain't much in the way of liner notes, but we know The Nova Local were an American band (from Chapel Hill, NC), who seem equally influenced by both Hendrix and the Beatles. Their songs feature lovely vocal harmonies alongside heavy organ and psych fuzz guitar work, and range from garagey, Nuggetsy fare a la the Electric Prunes to more orchestrated lite-psych, with some trippy interludes of surreal '60s silliness. The first track on side one, "$5 A Ticket" deserves minor hit status, we think (and no, of course it's not a song about going to a Fugazi show!). And they do a really great, uniquely laid-back and lengthy version of the oft-covered "Tobacco Road".
One thing that makes this band something special is the voice of rhythm guitarist Randy Winburn, who sings lead on a lot of these tracks. Randy is indeed a fella, but his voice is high, almost weirdly womanly, contributing to the band's nice blend of dark and light here.
MPEG Stream: "$5 A Ticket"
MPEG Stream: "Hitch Hike"

NOVEMBER 2:a (Sonet Grammofon) cd 17.98
1971 Swedish hard rock power trio rarity, now available on cd. Pretty great heavy psych rock, kind of proggy too. Just like their first one. If you're into the heavy '70s psych that's not yet metal, you might want to check these guys out.

NOVEMBER 6:e (Sonet Grammofon) cd 17.98
1972 Swedish hard rock power trio rarity, now available on cd. Pretty great heavy psych rock, kind of proggy too. With some bonus tracks, including some English language versions.

NOVEMBER En Ny Tid Ar Har... (Sonet Grammofon) cd 17.98
1970 Swedish hard rock power trio rarity, now available on cd. Pretty great heavy psych rock, kind of proggy too.

NOWIK, WILLIAM Pan Symphony In E Minor (Guerssen) cd 17.98
We hate to say it, or maybe we don't really hate to say it, but it seems like, well, you could pass a (rather draconian) law that no new music is allowed to be recorded or released, EVER, and even then, just by virtue of folks digging up and reissuing old obscure recordings from the '60s, '70s, etc., there'd still be enough awesome releases for Aquarius at least to still have a kick ass New Arrivals list of reviews every two weeks, right?? The cool reissues that keep on coming seem like proof of this. Here's the latest great example.
Long forgotten, private press, early '70s American psych-prog, rather pastoral (it's dedicated to the pagan Greek god Pan after all), masterminded by some earnest, bearded prog nerd doing his musicianly best to emulate his English/European heroes of the day, shades of Pink Floyd and King Crimson. That sorta sums up this all-instrumental album, recorded by composer William Nowik with a little help from his friends somewhere in upstate New York back in 1974. Except, that doesn't quite convey quite how fantastic and unusual Pan Symphony In E Minor really is! Possibly Nowik was into krautrock too, and we do know that the Master Musicians Of Joujouka had some influence on his musical vision of Pan.
Nowik's meticulously crafted, moody song-suites flow gorgeously, making precise sudden shifts as well. There'll be mellow rustic folkiness one moment, then -wham- it starts rockin' out with some fairly heavy guitar riffing, but then things wend and wind along further, and it's back to all-acoustic folk or jazzy bliss, but wyrd y'know, and then wyrder, with parts that are downright experimental, such as the passage towards the end of the disc which sounds like people climbing stairs while a church organ plays, followed by the sounds of a ticking clock, then plinking thumb piano...
There's just something ELSE to Nowik's music, an x-factor (the -actual- influence of Pan, perhaps?) that's hard to define but makes it more than just another obscure '70s prog effort. He takes things further, the music goes places other than where you'd expect, and dwells there longer, before heading off in another surprising direction (acoustic folky groove morphing into disjointed funk, ferinstance, at one point). But in all cases it really pulls you naturally there along with it. And it's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Much will appeal to fans of Six Organs of Admittance, among other acts (Citay too?), we think.
The cd booklet is filled with enthused liner notes & lots of vintage b&w photos, giving a glimpse into the album's creation and the subsequent career of its creator. Since only a mere handful of copies were originally pressed in '74, and it was barely distributed to boot, thank Pan that it's been reissued and more folks can enjoy this today.
We will note one oddity of the cd reissue: though there's 14 tracks listed, the actual disc is only indexed into 3 tracks (one very short, two quite long). Doesn't really matter though, as you should listen to the whole thing all the way through every time anyway...
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 3"

NOWIK, WILLIAM Pan Symphony In E Minor (Guerssen) lp 26.00
We hate to say it, or maybe we don't really hate to say it, but it seems like, well, you could pass a (rather draconian) law that no new music is allowed to be recorded or released, EVER, and even then, just by virtue of folks digging up and reissuing old obscure recordings from the '60s, '70s, etc., there'd still be enough awesome releases for Aquarius at least to still have a kick ass New Arrivals list of reviews every two weeks, right?? The cool reissues that keep on coming seem like proof of this. Here's the latest great example.
Long forgotten, private press, early '70s American psych-prog, rather pastoral (it's dedicated to the pagan Greek god Pan after all), masterminded by some earnest, bearded prog nerd doing his musicianly best to emulate his English/European heroes of the day, shades of Pink Floyd and King Crimson. That sorta sums up this all-instrumental album, recorded by composer William Nowik with a little help from his friends somewhere in upstate New York back in 1974. Except, that doesn't quite convey quite how fantastic and unusual Pan Symphony In E Minor really is! Possibly Nowik was into krautrock too, and we do know that the Master Musicians Of Joujouka had some influence on his musical vision of Pan.
Nowik's meticulously crafted, moody song-suites flow gorgeously, making precise sudden shifts as well. There'll be mellow rustic folkiness one moment, then -wham- it starts rockin' out with some fairly heavy guitar riffing, but then things wend and wind along further, and it's back to all-acoustic folk or jazzy bliss, but wyrd y'know, and then wyrder, with parts that are downright experimental, such as the passage towards the end of the disc which sounds like people climbing stairs while a church organ plays, followed by the sounds of a ticking clock, then plinking thumb piano...
There's just something ELSE to Nowik's music, an x-factor (the -actual- influence of Pan, perhaps?) that's hard to define but makes it more than just another obscure '70s prog effort. He takes things further, the music goes places other than where you'd expect, and dwells there longer, before heading off in another surprising direction (acoustic folky groove morphing into disjointed funk, ferinstance, at one point). But in all cases it really pulls you naturally there along with it. And it's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Much will appeal to fans of Six Organs of Admittance, among other acts (Citay too?), we think.
The cd booklet is filled with enthused liner notes & lots of vintage b&w photos, giving a glimpse into the album's creation and the subsequent career of its creator. Since only a mere handful of copies were originally pressed in '74, and it was barely distributed to boot, thank Pan that it's been reissued and more folks can enjoy this today.
We will note one oddity of the cd reissue: though there's 14 tracks listed, the actual disc is only indexed into 3 tracks (one very short, two quite long). Doesn't really matter though, as you should listen to the whole thing all the way through every time anyway...
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 3"

NSU Turn On, Or Turn Me Down (Breathless) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NSU's record taught me (Allan) a little lesson. I came across a cd reissue of the lone LP by this obscure Scottish sixties psych band a couple years ago, and picked it up for its heaviness potential (it had been described as being really heavy by an overseas dealer). At first hearing, though, the heaviness I wanted wasn't really there. I had been hoping for a proto-metal album like, say, Toad or Leaf Hound, and so was disappointed and set the NSU aside. But then, some weeks later, I gave it another chance and, as so often happens when you aren't judging something by your wishful expectations but instead taking it on its own terms, I ended up really really liking it. I realized, this was a pretty nifty album with some marvelous songs and vibe from a pretty cool band, that while not quite competition for Black Sabbath or Blue Cheer, still operates on the cusp of proto-metal heavy, sixties style, and surely provides lots of wailing guitar! So now we're quite happy to have this in stock, a new nice digipack cd reissue of what we've come to regard as a bit of a gem, if you have any sort of a soft spot for Cream-y British '60s guitar blues psychedelia! Originally released in 1969 on Stable, the same label (and year) as the record by Lemmy's old band Sam Gopal that we love so much, and that this reminds us of just a bit, especially the more mellow and laid back parts, and they also share a penchant for lyrical subject matter that tends towards the dark and/or druggy! One song is even simply titled "Stoned".
So again, a lesson, give stuff more than one listen! You never know what you might like better then second time... We're still wondering, though: N.S.U.? What's it stand for? It's a Cream song, right?
MPEG Stream: "Turn Me On, Or Turn Me Down"
MPEG Stream: "You Can't Take It From My Heart"

NSU Turn On, Or Turn Me Down (Earmark) lp 24.00
NSU's record taught me (Allan) a little lesson. I came across a cd reissue of the lone LP by this obscure Scottish sixties psych band a couple years ago, and picked it up for its heaviness potential (it had been described as being really heavy by an overseas dealer). At first hearing, though, the heaviness I wanted wasn't really there. I had been hoping for a proto-metal album like, say, Toad or Leaf Hound, and so was disappointed and set the NSU aside. But then, some weeks later, I gave it another chance and, as so often happens when you aren't judging something by your wishful expectations but instead taking it on its own terms, I ended up really really liking it. I realized, this was a pretty nifty album with some marvelous songs and vibe from a pretty cool band, that while not quite competition for Black Sabbath or Blue Cheer, still operates on the cusp of proto-metal heavy, sixties style, and surely provides lots of wailing guitar! So now we're quite happy to have this in stock, a new nice digipack cd reissue of what we've come to regard as a bit of a gem, if you have any sort of a soft spot for Cream-y British '60s guitar blues psychedelia! Originally released in 1969 on Stable, the same label (and year) as the record by Lemmy's old band Sam Gopal that we love so much, and that this reminds us of just a bit, especially the more mellow and laid back parts, and they also share a penchant for lyrical subject matter that tends towards the dark and/or druggy! One song is even simply titled "Stoned".
So again, a lesson, give stuff more than one listen! You never know what you might like better then second time... We're still wondering, though: N.S.U.? What's it stand for? It's a Cream song, right?
MPEG Stream: "Turn Me On, Or Turn Me Down"
MPEG Stream: "You Can't Take It From My Heart"