DRAKE, NICK Fruit Tree (Universal Island) 3cd+dvd 60.00
This all time beloved AQ tresure, out of print for ages, finally gets reissued, in time to give as a gift, to ANYONE you know who might not have this, because everyone should own these records. Some of the most breathtakingly lovely folk music EVER. Now with new artwork, and with the addition of the recent Nick Drake documentary A Skin Too Few. To make room for the dvd, they bumped the odds and sods collection Time Of No Reply, but is not such a loss, as much of that stuff has surfaced in one form or another in the recent spate of collections gathering up anything and everything Drake ever recorded.
But here, in addition ot the movie, you get everything you need, all three classic albums: Pink Moon, Bryter Layter and Five Leaves Left. Breatless, intimate, heartfelt, tragic, lovely, dreamy, wistful, heart breaking, personal, intense and mysterious folk music that sounds as otherworldly as it does timeless.
In a super nice box, with a new 100 page book. Absolutely essential.

DRAKE, NICK Made To Love Magic (Island) cd 15.98
Here's an odd posthumous release that very well may only appeal to those hungering for *any* 'new' Nick Drake recordings. If you have Time Of No Reply, some of these songs might seem a little familiar. Many of that album's songs appear here in alternate versions that were either recently 'discovered' or have had one or all of the following applied to them: rerecorded, remixed, remastered. Released thirty years after Drake's passing, Made To Love Magic has a few moments that are indeed a bit sticky. Some artistic decisions were made that obviously Drake had no say in -- for instance, the addition of some very recently recorded orchestral arrangements to a couple of songs. This compilation closes with the one truly previously unreleased track "Tow The Line". For Drake completists only.
MPEG Stream: "Time Of No Reply"
MPEG Stream: "Tow The Line"

DRAKE, NICK Tanworth-In-Arden 1967/68 (Anthology) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Long a treasured 'bootleg' amongst Drake fans, these are 18 rare home recordings that sit comfortably beside his 4 other essential albums. So lovely!

DREAM / AKTION UNIT Blood Shadow Rampage (Volcanic Tongue) cd 19.98
This is indeed some kind of dream unit! Thurston from Sonic Youth, free jazz legend Paul Flaherty, free drum wunderkind Chris Corsano, Heather who runs Volcanic Tongue and some mysterious bassist called Count Hejnowski.
Together these monsters of abstract free jazz avant noise whip up a slow burning frenzy of roiling instrumental fury.
But let's take a step back first and talk about the cover. Wow, is the artwork cool. The cover is a painting of some strange vampiric sideburned man with a bloody beaked raven on his shoulder clutching a bloody eyeball. On the back, a headless man, all bloody necked, clutching a skull. Inside, wolves with bloody mouths and owls with bloody talons. On the disc, bloody eyed nun attacked by birds. The theme is definitely blood, and that theme runs through the music as well.
A dark roiling maelstrom of burbling, minimal groove, that builds into a furious tangle of angular guitars and bloody drum splatter, horns bleat and squeak, lap steel slips and slides and gives everything a haunting unhinged vibe. Really quite beautiful in an overthetop, head shearing free music blowout kind of way.
Most of the tracks fall into that template, a sort of skittish circling, each player warily eyeing the other, feeling the situation out, offering up little salvos of sound, before eventually all launching into the fray and wildly tearing the throats out of the instruments in glorious musical bloodbath after glorious musical bloodbath. The brooding, murky, slow swirly passages are the most moving, but it's impossible to not stand transfixed, watching as they slowly twist and contort into something fearsome and fanged. The listener like one of the cover paintings, frozen like a deer in the headlights, or a helpless teenager before a mysterious monster, just waiting to be devoured.
MPEG Stream: "Birth Of The Ghoul"
MPEG Stream: "Tales Of Entrails"

DREAM IS DEAD, THE Letter of Resignation (What Else?) cd ep 9.98
This is the raging politi-punk / hardcore debut from Indianapolis' The Dream Is Dead. With their hoarse, full-tilt vocals and thick aggressive guitars, TDID are very much akin to bands like Born Against or Poison Idea. In fact, the ep's finale is a rad cover of P.I.'s "Just To Get Away". Features cover art by Shepard Fairey.
RealAudio clip: "The Great Recline"
RealAudio clip: "Just To Get Away"

DREAM MAGAZINE #5 magazine + cd 9.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If you like to read about music as well as listen to it (we should assume you do, since you're reading our list), especially those of you who find yourselves missing the excellent-but-now-discontinued Broken Face 'zine, may we suggest the equally massive and indie-acid-folk-psych obsessed Dream Magazine from right here in California? The fifth issue is now upon us, 128 pages packed with tons of interviews and reviews (in eyeball straining tiny type). Artists featured include Ghost, Elf Power, Kemialliset Ystavat, Marissa Nadler, Tom Rapp, Sun City Girls (lots of good stuff in that interview!), John "Blind Man's Penis" Trubee, Donovan Quinn of Verdure/Skygreen Leopards, Robert Wyatt, Mushroom, Bipolaroid, Ed Hardy of Eclipse Records, and even Mats Gustafsson (not the saxophonist, but the former editor/publisher of the Broken Face!). And more. Whew. Plus, it comes with its own soundtrack: a cd compilation that's got unreleased tracks by Jack Rose, Piano Magic, Verdure, Volcano The Bear, and others...

DREAMDATE Come Over Now. (Chocolate Covered) cd 11.98
Following the 2006 self-released debut 7" ("The One I Need / Dance Party") from these Bay Area honey pies, here's Dreamdate's slightly longer winded first full length. As the 'cut to the chase' title suggests, why wait? Dreamdate get right to their business of brightening our day with their short, snappy tunes. The overall sound of Dreamdate can readily be spoken of in the same breath as early '90s crushworthy indie pop a la Lois, cub and Tiger Trap. As the unaffected and uneffected electric guitars strum away happily and the drums keep things simple with an uncluttered beat, you might find yourself hummin' along with these gals' warm, smooth female vocals. Nice.
Two songs were recorded, mixed by the equally sweet pop minded Aaron Burnham of The Makes Nice who also mastered the album.
MPEG Stream: "Back On My Feet"
MPEG Stream: "Envious Hearts"

DREAMDATE The One I Need / Dance Party (self-released) 7" 4.98
Here's a short, sweet, little treat from new Bay Area band Dreamdate! Their pair of bright girly indie pop tunes comes perfectly pressed on thick bubblegum pink vinyl. Yummy to look at, yummy to hear!

DREAMEND As If By Ghosts (Graveface) cd 9.98
Dreamend's new album brings to mind a countrified Mogwai or Godspeed You Black Emperor. Sleepy slide guitar twang cozies up to dynamic swell'n'crash waves. This contrast is perhaps best revealed in the seventh and eighth songs ("Slide Song" and The Old House & Its Occupants"). Indeed, one listen to As If By Ghosts may have you believing that Dreamend are part of the whole Montreal GYBE music collective, but they're not! Haunting and beautiful. Released on Graveface Records, home to some other fine bands we've been diggin of late -- namely Spires That In The Sunset Rise and Monster Movie.
MPEG Stream: "Slide Song"
MPEG Stream: "The Old House & Its Occupants"

DREAMIES Auralgraphic Entertainment: An Incredible Mental Experience (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.
This long-awaited legit reissue of the lost classic by one man band the Dreamies will easily provide hours of crypto-analytic fun in response to the question "Who else besides the Beatles have the Olivia Tremor Control blatantly copied/paid homage to?" Kidding aside, we promise you could totally mistake this for an OTC record...a *great* OTC record! From 1973, it is an outstanding if bizarre psychedelic album with spartanly bleak arrangements for acoustic guitar and hauntingly Donovanesque vocal melodies, injected with trippy sonic squiggles and snippets from 70s newscasts to paint a disillusioned picture of the failure of 60s ideologies. Mesmerisingly beautiful and faithfully reissued from the original masters. Recommended!!
RealAudio clip: "Sunday Morning Song"

DREAMIES Program Twelve (Wilmington Studios) cd 17.98

DREAMIES s/t (2006 Special Edition) (Wilmington Studios) cd 17.98
Hmm, it's 2005 and we've got the 2006 edition of a record that originally came out in 1973! And it's an album that we first encountered five years ago via a previous (and now out of print and obsolete) compact disc edition released in 2000. But much more important than all these dates and whatnot, is that this is such a great record that we at AQ have loved for a long time, and are super duper happy to have back in again in this improved, special edition!! As you may know, we're also long time fans of the band Olivia Tremor Control, and when we first heard the Dreamies we were struck by the similarities. Indeed, our original review of this made much of the seeming OTC/Dreamies connection. And we still promise that you could totally mistake this for an OTC record...a *great* OTC record! (And come to think of it, it also reminds us a bit of another AQ fave band, When). But it was recorded over three decades ago by a fellow from Delaware named Bill Holt, who, nearing 30 years of age in the early '70s, dropped out of his corporate job working for a Fortune 500 company to reinvent himself as a singer-songwriter, despite having little in the way of prior musical experience! Holt invested in an early Moog Sonic Six synthesizer and set up a recording studio in his basement, where he created this lost classic, an outstanding if bizarre psychedelic album with spartanly bleak arrangements for acoustic guitar and hauntingly Donovanesque vocal melodies, injected with trippy sonic squiggles and snippets from newscasts to paint a disillusioned picture of the failure of '60s ideologies. Mesmerisingly beautiful... and definitely dreamy. Never was a name so well-chosen!
Like the Olivias, Bill Holt is obviously a huge fan of the Beatles. That's pretty clear. Sgt. Peppers definitely. And, he must really have liked the White Album's notorious "Revolution Number 9"!! With two side-long songs called (hmm) "Program Ten" and "Program Eleven", the Dreamies album is a similar venture into psych-pop meets musique concrete territory, an elaborate tapestry of samples -- and this is from long before anyone called them samples, and before there was such a thing as samplers and sequencers, which means Holt used the old fashioned, labor intensive tape n' razor blade splicing method, working at home on his beloved TEAC Model 3340 reel-to-reel four-track recorder. Densely woven into his otherwise highly laid back and melodic mix, you'll hear clocks ticking, chattering machine guns in Vietnam combat, JFK speeches, crickets, frogs, NASA transmissions, and ominous but unidentifiable minimalist pulses of electronic/industrial white noise. Or even samples of the Beatles themselves! (Bits of "All You Need Is Love" and others are buried in Holt's sonic collage.) It's both unsettling and soothing at the same time, like surfing through shortwave transmissions from the late '60s psyche. And along with all the sound bites/effects, he also weaves together what must have originally been several different, distinct, enchanting songs he'd written for his voice and acoustic guitar. It's one man and his melodies alone amidst the chaos of the times. Unfortunately, the Dreamies album didn't end up leading to a career in music for Bill Holt, so sadly he was forced to return to the straight moneymaking world of 9-to-5 work. But his venture into the realm of hippy psychedelic rock music concrete lives on. And happily he's proud of his creation, leading to this "special edition", remastered by Holt himself from the original LP, claiming "better stereo sound" and "enhanced audio detail". It certainly sounds good to us. It also boasts liner notes, lyrics and photos in the cd booklet, while the cd itself for the first time divides the two original 26-minute LP tracks into thirteen more convenient parts, although really you should still listen to 'em all the way through in one sitting.
By the way, we for some reason we always used to think that this record was titled Auralgraphic Entertainment: An Incredible Mental Experience, but it seems that that was just descriptive front-cover copy, not the actual title. It is, however, a fairly accurate statement! We're so happy that this has come out again, giving us the chance to get reacquainted with an old fave. And recommended it to anyone who missed it before (or who wants to upgrade their old edition).
MPEG Stream: "Program Ten Part Five"
MPEG Stream: "Program Ten Part Six"
MPEG Stream: "Program Eleven Part Three"

DRESSY BESSY Electrified (Transdreamer) cd 14.98
Seems these Elephant 6 Collective members have shed their candy-coating for good. You'd almost believe that this is an altogether different band from the one who made the charmingly perky pop of 1999's Pink Hearts Yellow Moons or 2002's Sounds Go Round. While their last self-titled album did show some signs of change, Electrified is leaps and bounds away from the Dressy Bessy of 'old'. Now, to say that the skip in their step has been replaced by a stomp might be an overstatement, but the thought did cross our minds. Much darker, edgier, slightly dizzying, the tunes are propelled by an aggressive charge of big crunchy guitars and solid snappy drumming. The formerly pep squad-y vocals now come across a bit snarky and world weary with a maturity and composure that recalls Blondie, Throwing Muses or more recently the Canadian band Metric. Electrified, indeed!
RealAudio clip: "Side 2"
MPEG Stream: "Stop Foolin'"

DRESSY BESSY Holler And Stomp (Transdreamer) cd 14.98
Dressy Bessy have always been known for perky lo-fi indie pop that rides the fence between sweet and twee. As with pretty much all of their Elephant 6 Collective cohorts (Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc), Tammy Ealom (formerly of The Minders), John Hill (also of Apples In Stereo) are seldom at a loss in the candy-coated pop hook department. That said, many of the tunes on their fourth album, the suitably titled Holler And Stomp, jump out with far more crunch and punch than the band has ever mustered before. Maybe we should've taken the hint from their chosen cover art - an illustration of a trash and graffiti strewn alleyway with a street sign that says "Dressy Bessy Way", a butterfly smoking a cigarette flitters by. Hmmm, a Dressy Bessy makeover (or make-under)? The pumped up sassy, edgy attitude led to immediate comparisons with contemporary gal-fronted bands such as Metric and Teegan & Sara!
MPEG Stream: "Automatic"
MPEG Stream: "Dressed The Part"

DRESSY BESSY Little Music Singles 1997-2002 (Kindercore) cd 14.98
The Elephant 6 collective keeps on truckin', and here's one particular E6 troop's compilation of sugar pop singles - just in case you missed them the first time around! Lots and lots of harmonious sweetie-pie gal vocals over fuzzy-crunch guitars. Immediately hum-along-able, sunshiny indie pop blossoms just in time for spring.
RealAudio clip: "Instead"
RealAudio clip: "All The Right Reasons"

DRESSY BESSY Pink Hearts Yellow Moons (Kindercore) cd 13.98
Straight from the candy counter of the Elephant 6 soda shoppe comes the gumdrop pop of Dressy Bessy.

DRESSY BESSY s/t (Kindercore) 2cd 14.98
"Holy smokes," you might exclaim (as we did), "a double disc of Dressy Bessy?! We always knew those Elephant 6 Collective folks were prolific, but... geez!" Okay, okay, hold your horses, folks! The second disc is actually a dvd - a bonus treat including live performances at this year's South By Southwest festival and CBGB, in-studio footage, and slideshow style videos! The music disc contains eleven incredibly sunshine-y sugar pop songs that harken back to a time of wide-eyed innocence and trippy mod pop styles. Tammy Ealom sings her earnest heart out while John Hill and Ealom's guitars jangle and crunch, Darren Albert's drums snap and crack, and Rob Greene's bass keeps a steady perky thump. It's so infectious that this week almost without exception after just a few bars of a song, customers have asked what it is and bought it. Poof! Just like that... really! Dressy Bessy just might have you bouncing around like a marshmallow fight!
MPEG Stream: "This May Hurt A Little"
MPEG Stream: "Hey May"

DRESSY BESSY Sound Go Round (Kindercore) cd 14.98
Dressy Bessy have unfurled their full length follow-up to their '99 debut "Pink Hearts Yellow Moons"! Still flying their honey-pie Elephant 6 kite high in the bright blue sky and not being stingy with their bountiful battalion of pastel-hued lucky charms, these four Denver, CO twee popsters are quite possibly the most cavity-inducing of the E6 gang (much more so than Of Montreal, Apples In Stereo, or Ladybug Transistor). Somehow they've managed to skirt the hazards of all-out sugar shock. Perhaps it's the gently bouncing guitar melodies or the 60's girl group harmonies. Perhaps it's Tammy Ealom's vocal delivery - at times low, lilting and dreamy, at others high, energetic and buoyant. Quite a nice progression from their aforementioned debut. If you liked the All Girl Summer Fun Band album we reviewed in a recent AQ-list you might fancy Dressy Bessy, and vice versa.
RealAudio clip: "That's Why"
RealAudio clip: "Flower Jargon"

DRESSY BESSY You Stand Here (Drug Racer) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
John Hill of Apples in Stereo and that's what it sounds like! Limited release from U.K., only 500 copies in embossed fabric packaging. Buy now or cry later.

DREW, KEVIN (BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE) Spirit If... (Arts & Crafts) cd 14.98
Sure to please fans of Broken Social Scene!! How are we so certain of this? Well, this is the solo album from one of the band's co-founders Mr. Kevin Drew, and it also features a lot of his BSS bandmates (Feist, Emily Haines of Metric and Stars' Amy Millan) as well as Pavement's Scott Kannberg (on "Lucky Ones") and J. Mascis of all people (on the very Dinosaur Jr. college rocking "Back Out On The..."). It doesn't sound a whole lot different from the less electronic side of BSS! The album opens with a Flaming Lips-y grand scale orchestral pop swell, then the first few tunes settle down and get all ultra mellow and breezy -- a gentle guitar strum, a soft steady tap on a snare drum and hushed male vocals. Drew keeps things calmingly pleasant, but does kick it up a notch for the abovementioned song featuring Mascis.
MPEG Stream: "Safety Bricks"
MPEG Stream: "Back Out On The..."

DRIFT OF A CURSE The Wrong Witness (self-released) cd 13.98
A new somber rock trio has emerged from the Bay Area's shadowy fog featuring three SF metal vets! Though their other musical endeavors are decidedly metal leaning, Old Grandad's Max Barnett and Erik Moggridge along with Chewy Marzolo of Hammers Of Misfortune take Drift Of A Curse in a post rock direction on their debut album. Throughout the album's eight songs, the band smoothly weaves in and out of ominous overcast atmospheres and more fervent tempos. The Wrong Witness commences with "Blink" a number that creeps along at a brooding funereal pace, and things proceed along as such. Very heavy in tone and mood, but by the fourth song "Straits And Narrows" they get far more propulsive - almost poppy even! - with cool multi-part vocals and high sinewy guitars. This comparatively 'up' mood doesn't linger too long though. The very next song is the album's title track and with its subtle spacey effects and gentle gruff vocals it draws everything back down into a forbodingly solemn contemplation. If you dug the dark weathered beauty of Erik's other side project Aerial Ruin, definitely check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Blink"
MPEG Stream: "Straits And Narrows"

DRIFT, THE Ceiling Sky (Temporary Residence Ltd.) cd 14.98
This 6 track collection from Tarentel co-founder Danny Grodinski's side band, The Drift, culls together four tracks and two remixes (by Four Tet and Sybarite) from various vinyl only releases recorded between 2004-2007. While similar Chicago-style post-rock influences have been present in both bands, The Drift trades on tightness and jazz-inflected precision (due mainly to Rich Douthit's frenetic drumming) that is reminiscent of The Necks, Can, and This Heat. Like their previous full length, Noumena, six tracks cover a lot of time, nearly an hour in length, that never drags but soars swiftly through atmospheres of propulsive kineticism. Wonderful!
MPEG Stream: "Streets"
MPEG Stream: "For Grace And Stars"
MPEG Stream: "Gardening Not Architecture (Four Tet Remix)"

DRIFT, THE Memory Drawings (Temporary Residence) cd 14.98
On their second full length outing, Memory Drawings, The Drift engage in an even larger oceanic expanse of sound than before. Incorporating blurry hints of dub, Afrobeat, and free-jazz without straying too far from their post-rock dynamic roots, the songs slowly pulsate and bleed, building subtle layers of guitar and piano patterns, kinetic drumming and majestic horn-playing that soars high like a bird over choppy waters. Like The Necks or Circle's more organic recordings (Miljard or Tower), Memory Drawings is best experienced as a whole rather than a collection of individual pieces. In this sense the title is appropriate. Artist Colter Jacobsen who did the cover art, draws pictures from photographs then re-draws the same drawing from memory, letting subtle deviations through mental assumptions to occur and perpetually alter the drawing process. The Drift approach their process similarly, starting with a base musical template that subtly shifts and alters in dynamics as the pieces progress, sounding similar on the surface but never quite the same. Lovely.
MPEG Stream: "If Wishes Were Like Horses"
MPEG Stream: "Lands End"

DRIFT, THE Noumena ( Temporary Residence Ltd.) cd 14.98
This SF quartet gets things rolling on their first album Noumena, introducing themselves with some moody, brassy horn abstractions that settle into a more straight-forward Chicago-style post-rock affair. While as we mentioned this is the band's debut full length release, the bandmembers are certainly not newcomers and their experience definitely shows in these dynamic compositions. Drummer Rich Douthit plays in Halifax Pier and guitar and keyboard player Danny Grody is also a member of Tarentel. In fact this band started out as a side project for him and his Tarentel bandmate Trevor Montgomery who then pursued his solo endeavors as Lazarus. Rounding out the line-up are bassist Safa Shoukrai and trumpeteer Jeff Jacobs. Speaking of which, bask leisurely in the warming glow of his trumpet and flugelhorn which take centerstage on the first track "Gardening, Not Architecture". Next up, Shoukrai's cyclical stand-up bass sets the pace for the more groovin' "Invisible Cities". Guitars soon join in, while the horn blasts and some hazy electronic elements add texture and atmosphere. The Drift keep their jazz-inflected sounds varied and movin' right through to the final track. Oh and keep in mind that although there's 'only' six tracks, they sprawl out over the course of 55 minutes.
MPEG Stream: "Gardening, Not Architecture"
MPEG Stream: "Inconsistency Principle"

DRIFT, THE Noumena ( Temporary Residence Ltd.) lp 17.98
This SF quartet gets things rolling on their first album Noumena, introducing themselves with some moody, brassy horn abstractions that settle into a more straight-forward Chicago-style post-rock affair. While as we mentioned this is the band's debut full length release, the bandmembers are certainly not newcomers and their experience definitely shows in these dynamic compositions. Drummer Rich Douthit plays in Halifax Pier and guitar and keyboard player Danny Grody is also a member of Tarentel. In fact this band started out as a side project for him and his Tarentel bandmate Trevor Montgomery who then pursued his solo endeavors as Lazarus. Rounding out the line-up are bassist Safa Shoukrai and trumpeteer Jeff Jacobs. Speaking of which, bask leisurely in the warming glow of his trumpet and flugelhorn which take centerstage on the first track "Gardening, Not Architecture". Next up, Shoukrai's cyclical stand-up bass sets the pace for the more groovin' "Invisible Cities". Guitars soon join in, while the horn blasts and some hazy electronic elements add texture and atmosphere. The Drift keep their jazz-inflected sounds varied and movin' right through to the final track. Oh and keep in mind that although there's 'only' six tracks, they sprawl out over the course of 55 minutes.
MPEG Stream: "Gardening, Not Architecture"
MPEG Stream: "Inconsistency Principle"

DRILL MAN Rica On (FMN) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Like the rest of the FMN roster, noise and punk have their place in the music of Drill Man, but it's really much more of a pop thing at heart with this band.

DRINK THE BLEACH s/t (self-released) cd ep 5.98

MPEG Stream: "Freeway"
MPEG Stream: "There's Nothing"

DRISCOLL, DENNIS Hello Dennis Driscoll (Little Pad) cd 13.98
Up until now, young Olympia, WA pop pup Dennis Driscoll has released only a couple of 7"s, drawing a bunch of indie Oly acclaim, but finally a full length has emerged of his boyish Daniel Johnston / Jad Fair super-lo-fi, fragile, quirky pop. Shy boy odes to sweet, teenage romance. Fans of Mr. Johnston and Mr. Fair -- meet the new lad in town.

DRISCOLL, DENNIS I Hardly Ever See You (Little Pad) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Start 'em early in pop camp! Forget about all those indie Oly kids feigning prepubescence. Dennis Driscoll is the real thing. Writing and performing these four songs and drawing the record artwork. Charming and super sweet. On clear blue vinyl.

DRISCOLL, JULIE / BRIAN AUGER & THE TRINITY Streetnoise (PolyGram) cd 15.98

DRIVE LIKE JEHU Yank Crime (Swami) cd 13.98
AT LONG LAST, AGAIN BACK IN PRINT!! Here's what we said seven years ago when Swami first reissued this (and we made it a Record Of The Week):
Sometimes it's hard to believe that certain records just go out of print. I mean who would let the Conet Project go out of print, or Souled American, or the Incredible String Band. It's even weirder when the record is not old or obscure. Then it's usually some bureaucratic red tape or major label bullshit that keeps people from hearing some great record. Such is the case with the second, ultimate release from San Diego's Drive Like Jehu, originally released on Interscope in 1994. A record Allan and Andee and Jim and Sadie and Windy and quite possibly the rest of the AQ staff would rank as one of the best rock records ever! Easily as good/important as Slint's Spiderland. For those who don't know, Drive Like Jehu was fronted by John Reis of Rocket From The Crypt (who has now reissued Yank Crime on his own Swami label) and featured vocalist Rick Farr (his rock name, he's also known as Eric Froberg) who later went on with Reis to play in the Hot Snakes. Drive Like Jehu also just happened to have one of the tightest rhythm sections EVER. E V E R! Yank Crime is a tightly wound record of 'post rock' (before post rock meant watered down instrumental indie rock bullshit) with head nodding, repetitive grooves, propulsive, ultra concise drumming, and some of the most inventive guitar playing we've ever heard. All topped off with Farr's distinctive high pitched vocals (familiar to all you folks who dig the Hot Snakes). The songs are looooong and hypnotic but never boring. The band locks into totally intense, static grooves, that can go on for minutes before exploding into mayhemic bursts of controlled fury. So goddamn good. Anyone who likes the Hot Snakes MUST own this record. Drive Like Jehu is like a hyper charged, heavier, more intense and complex, MUCH BETTER Hot Snakes. Anyone who likes Feuhler or Don Cab or Slint or Engine Kid or almost any post rock will discover what all those other comers had been shooting for. This is IT. Trust us. An automatic AQ "record of the week" selection as soon as we heard it was finally being re-released - with three bonus tracks to boot! ("Bullet Train To Vegas" and "Hand Over Fist" from their Merge label 7", and the original version of "Sinews" from a Cargo/Headhunter compilation.) So even if you have the original you might want to get this reissue for those.
MPEG Stream: "Do You Compute"
MPEG Stream: "Sinews"

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS A Blessing And A Curse (New West) cd 16.98
As the new Drive-By Truckers album kicks off, we were struck by what a transformation we thought the band has gone through since their 2004's The Dirty South. Today's DBT bear an uncanny resemblance to Buffalo Tom and old Wilco... or at least on the opening song which is loaded with poppiness. From there the now ten year old band get back into their more familiar lanky Southern bluesy rock a la Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" or Skynyrd's "Gimme Three Steps". Still, the vocals continue to sound a whole lot like those of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy back in his Uncle Tupelo days... many of whose fans have surely found a new fave in DBT... or soon will! So, don't let their jokey name dissuade or mislead you, these guys are serious about their country rock, and they do it up rreeeaaall good on this their seventh full length!
MPEG Stream: "Feb. 14"
MPEG Stream: "Gravity's Gone"

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West) cd 16.98

DRIVER, TOBY In the L..L..Library Loft (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Working in a record store I've learned that records released with merely someone's given name attached -- unless they're very famous -- often tend not to receive as much attention as something released under a more fanciful, made up "group" moniker. Maybe it's that a plain ol' person's name just doesn't fire the imagination. It seems wise that Jeff Mangum was Neutral Milk Hotel, that Chan Marshall calls herself Cat Power, that Campbell Kneale makes music as Birchville Cat Motel (and Black Boned Angel, etc.), and that Tara Burke is Fursaxa, amongst many other examples -- though we're not sure how Malefic recording as Xasthur, where you've got two made up names, fits into this. So, to anyone contemplating a solo project, we'd suggest making up a "band" name for it...
Which is our way of saying, don't ignore this cd, just 'cause it's being presented under the name of Toby Driver. He's actually the main guy from the avant-metal outfit Kayo Dot, whose debut album on John Zorn's Tzadik label has been quite a favorite 'round these parts since it was released in 2003. Heavy and weird and droney and strangely poppy too, all sorts of things we like.
In the L..L..Library Loft is a solo project from Toby, with some help from his friends -- there's eight other musicians credited, a remarkable number of 'em playing the lowly tuning fork, along with other things! Another unusual instrument credit is "remote snare drum". Plus there's a more conventional array of instruments like guitar, bass, piano, violin, cello, drums, trumpet, trombone, etc. That should give you the idea that this shares with Kayo Dot an interesting style of proggy chamber rock experimentation -- indeed, the four, fairly lengthy tracks here are kinda like Kayo Dot with most of the metal removed. Though, the rumbling waves of percussion, guitar distortion, and buried screams on the track "Kandu Vs. Corky (Horrorca)" still hint at Neurosis. But there's also many non-metallic elements here as well -- fragile singing and dark, quietly moody ambience. Definitely a disc worth exploring, especially if you're already a fan of Kayo Dot (or Kayo Dot's earlier formation as Maudlin Of The Well).
And look out for Kayo Dot's new album, just released on Crucial Blast, to be reviewed here next time, hopefully!
MPEG Stream: "Kandu Vs. Corky (Horrorca)"
MPEG Stream: "Eptaceros"

DRIVING STUPID, THE Horror Asparagus Stories (Sundazed) cd 15.98
The Driving Stupid were naive, silly teenagers from New Jersey who, in the summer of 1966, decided to form a band, drive cross-country to Hollywood and become famous rock stars. Two out of three ain't bad. And apparently they did become minor celebrities on the Sunset Strip -- not from playing shows, but for cruising around always in barefeet and funny hats. They did manage to release one single, a deranged-sounding piece of nonsense called "Horror Asparagus Stories" (original title and sample lyric: "My Mother Was A Big Fat Pig") that quickly sank from sight but probably has been heard on Dr. Demento's show more than once since. The full album they recorded at the time was, not surprisingly, never released -- until now, courtesy of the weirdos over at Sundazed who apparently have nothing better to do. At long last, you can check out The Driving Stupid's complete ouevre of self-admittedly "incredibly stupid" songs (hence their name, actually, which also alluded to their "driving" beat). Such beyond-novelty numbers as "Hide The Lobsters", "The Reality of (Air) Fried Borsk" and "Green Things Have Entered My Skin, Gladys" were goofy garagey proto-punk numbers with some of the absurd humor of The Monks' 1966 "Black Monk Time" but none of their politics or malevolence. Ok, songs like "I'm Gonna Bash Your Brains In" sound scary but it's joke malevolence. All in all, this is assuredly silly stuff, that lives up to at least half of their motto "so stupid, it's fantastic!"
MPEG Stream: "Hide The Lobsters"

DRIZZOLETTO Live At KXLU (self-released) cd 8.98
Drizzoletto is a quirky quartet of wonderful Bay Area veteran musicians, namely Ralph Carney, Ted Savarese, Danny Frankel and Ashley Adams. After the joyfully off-kilter first song "Shakin'", things settle into a more conventional (albeit still quite unconventional) country-rootsy tone. Just under a half hour of highly engaging music. Recorded live at KXLU.
MPEG Stream: "Shakin'"
MPEG Stream: "Hot Stove"

DROIDS Star Peace (Repressed) cd 17.98
Droids is the '70s French space disco project of Fabrice Cuitade, former Barclay Records employee and founder of their Egg imprint - which released the likes of Vangelis, Conrad Schnitzler, and Heldon, among others. The back of this disc claims Droids to be "the Daft Punk of the 70's," but even a quick listen will prove that claim reductive. Neither will the typical Giorgio Moroder comparison suffice. So the story goes that Cuitade saw Star Wars for the first time, and then decided to make his own musical interpretation. As we first listened to the album, we heard something much more nuanced than some sort of filtered French House prototype. Maybe if you picture Battiato partying in the studio with Patrick Cowley then you're getting close. That's right. This is nothing short of some seriously progged-out space disco. But whereas many artists in that arena seem to be cold, calculated, and sterile, Star Peace is an album that manages to hold on to the funk that disco originated with. Cuitade even foreshadows the piano stab-driven funky house of Chicago's Traxx label, while hinting at the celestial impulses of Italian cosmic-groover Daniele Baldelli. Fans of disco, prog, new wave, house, or anything electronic, arpeggiated, or dancey will positively need this. Essential. (Note: includes a track you might have heard already on the now sadly out of print compilation So Young But So Cold that we love love loved...)
MPEG Stream: "Do You Have the Force (Part 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Renaissance De L'Amour"

DRONA PARVA / ULTRASOUND Songs From The Entoptic Garden Volume One (Time-Lag) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Beautifully packaged in Independent Project Press styled letterpress sleeve and dedicated to "Popul Vuh," this split release between Drona Parva and Ultrasound exists within the bleary eyed drone end of the post-rock spectrum. Ultrasound -- a collective with ties to Texas and the Netherlands -- accurately reflects Andee's hypothesis that George Winston was *the* father of post-rock. Keep in mind that Andee really likes George Winston and really likes Ultrasound, so don't take that comparison the wrong way! Here the Winston references become evident through the melancholic piano plinking coupled with delicate Pan-American-like guitar melodies washed out in a sea of shoegazing reverberation. Drona Parva -- who have previously appeared on Temporary Residence's Travels In Constants series -- persist in their subtle signature of dark drones, with this sullen composition for sustained analog synth chords, which slowly emerge into the audible realm, change slowly into a series of sad, vaguely carnivalesque melodies, and quietly fade away. Limited to 800 copies only.

DRONE (Freek) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Well we've had this for a while but I don't think it ever got listed before, and it should have, 'cause these New Zealanders (based in London UK though) create some beautiful music, not altogether drone-y despite their name. Chamber art rock with seeming influences ranging from Dead Can Dance to This Heat.

DRONES, THE Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By (ATP Recordings) cd 15.98

DROP DEAD (Clearview) 11" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The band that embodies all that is great about grindcore/hardcore. Fast, furious, angry & political. Their entire discography on one shiny black 11".

DROP DEAD Discography 1991-1993 (Armageddon) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DROP DEAD s/t 1993 (Armageddon) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DROP DEAD s/t 1998 (Armageddon) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DROP THE LIME This Means Forever (Tigerbeat6) cd 14.98

DROPDEAD / TOTALITAR split (Prank) cd 4.50
Nine minutes of raging grinding mayhem from two of the fiercest bands in the land. You heard me, 9 MINUTES! Nine tracks. 6 tracks from Rhode Island's kings of crusty grind, Drop Dead, sounding as brutal as ever. And 3 tracks from Totalitar from Sweden, thrashing garage-y hardcore. Only nine minutes but it's only $4.50. Worth every penny.
RealAudio clip: DROPDEAD "A Disease Called Man"
RealAudio clip: TOTALITAR "Hur Orkar Vi"

DRUIDS OF STONEHENGE, THE s/t (Sundazed) 10" 13.98

DRUM CIRCUS Magic Theatre (Garden of Delights) cd 21.00
Here's a pretty cool, jazz-damaged, percussion-heavy Krautrock obscurity that we just got hip to, thanks to this recent cd reissue on Garden Of Delights. As you might expect from something called Drum Circus from 1971, this has a definite hippy attitude, full of Om-drones and space-jazz piano and cosmic Eastern raga moves. It's a bit like Alice Coltrane meets Lothar And The Hand People meets early (pre-robotic) Kraftwerk. On the 21+ minute title track you'll groove to martial drums, unison chanting of mystical slogans, ominous organs...what's not to like? I mean, this has got both free-jazz freakouts and ranting incantations -- with lotsa lyrics by none other than Timothy Leary! And Drum Circus then get into some '70s Miles Davis styled funk on the aptly titled "Groove Rock". There's even some nice melodic elements too -- Andee thinks the male singer on "All Things" sounds like Roger Daltrey. But overall though, this will probably appeal more to say, folks partial to recent Boredoms output than to fans of The Who...
MPEG Stream: "Magic Theatre"
MPEG Stream: "Now It Hurts You"

DRUMHEAD s/t (Perishable) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "Swamp"
MPEG Stream: "Shoes"

DRUNK Tableside Manners (Jagjaguwar) cd 13.98
Dynamic, jangly and sentimental with bits of Elephant 6 pop obtuseness put with Movietone's melancholic meanderings.