GALAXIE 500 On Fire (RykoDisc) cd 12.98

GALAXIE 500 Peel Sessions (20 20 20) cd 10.98
Whoa, this really takes us back! Seminal dream pop band Galaxie 500 were as dreamy as ever when they stopped by John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show for these sessions back in 1989 and 1990. These eight tracks were compiled from those two visits -- the first four were recorded 10/30/90 and the second were from 09/24/89. Included are a few tasty covers of tunes by Young Marble Giants ("Final Days"), Buffy Sainte-Marie ("Moonshot") and Jonathan Richman("Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste").
MPEG Stream: "Final Day"
MPEG Stream: "Moonshot"

GALAXIE 500 The Portable... (RykoDisc) cd 15.98
A selection of twelve of Galaxie 500's finest recordings, gathered from their four albums and the Galaxie 500 box set... & the CD-rom track is the video of "Blue Thunder".

GALAXIE 500 This Is Our Music (RykoDisc) cd 12.98

GALAXIE 500 Uncollected (RykoDisc) cd 14.98
It sure is a great season for fans of Galaxie 500! Hot on the heels of the fine double-dvd retrospective "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste: 1987-1991" comes the individual cd release of Uncollected (originally compiled for the G500 box set). It's a 14-song rarities collection that includes their loving covers of songs by Jonathan Richman, Young Marble Giants, The Rutles and The Beatles as well as the added attraction of their "Blue Thunder" video. Uncollected serves as a great overview for newcomers to the enduring, wonderful, shimmering dream pop songs of these short-lived, long-disbanded, indie rock deities.
MPEG Stream: "Final Day"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Believe It's Me"

GALBRAITH / NEILSON / YOUNGS Belsayer (Time-Lag) lp 23.00
Totally mind blowing collaboration between three masters of drone / raga / free / folk / noise. New Zealander Alastair Galbraith is a long time AQ fave as is the UK's Richard Youngs. Alex Neilson while not an instantly recognizable name in his own right, has played on oodles of amazing records (including some by Matt Valentine, Taurpis Tula) and you may recognize his name due to the fact that he and Mr. Youngs were the back up band for Jandek at his first ever live performance! None of that has very much to do with this, two sides of incredibly dreamy modern folk raga. Lighter than air swirls of falsetto vocals drift and shimmer, harmonies slowly shifting, all over a long slow drawn out ur-drone, constructed from buzzing steel strings, bits of percussion, warbling synthesizers, spaced out effects, electronic buzz and glitch, strummed guitars get stretched into fuzzy blurs, melodies float by in the distance, chimes tinkle and sparkle, almost the whole disc is made up of languorous, lazy stretches of dreamlike sound, EXCEPT for the opening and closing tracks on side 2, when some wild drumming is introduced, and the FX levels get pushed all the way into the red, and what was once tranquil bliss, is transformed into a snarling, chaotic super tripped out space rock.
Packaged in beautiful simple full color offset printed and debossed sleeves, with deluxe debossed inserts, LIMITED TO 900 COPIES, each insert has the record's number debossed along with of the liner notes, pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl!

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR Cry (Emperor Jones) cd 14.98
The fourth solo album from New Zealander Alastair Galbraith is a stunner. Rarely has music this experimental been so ACCESSIBLE. But that's genius at work, folks, right here. "Cry" mixes pastoral folk drones with muted electric guitar outbursts, ominous organ rumblings, and Alastair's sung poetry. It's super pretty and quiet and haunting and we highly recommend it. Even if you've never heard this veteran of the Kiwi music scene's records before, this is a fine, fine place to start.
RealAudio clip: "Bellbird"

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR Head Soup Dream/From the Empire (Crawlspace) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited to 200 numbered copies, this is two new instrumentals from New Zealand's respected experimentalist.

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR Mirrorwork (Emperor Jones/Trance Syndicate) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mr. Galbraith spent two years recording these buzzing lo-fi songs onto a four-track reel-to-reel. Haunting. Those of you who loved his set at Terrastock will enjoy this cd, it sounds the closest of all his albums to what he did at that wonderful show.

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR Orb (Nextbestway) cd 16.98
Oh Alastair, how we have missed you. Although there have been a handful of reissues, a collaboration here and there, and those incredible long wires discs, there's something magical about the strange world Galbraith is able to conjure up give a whole record to work with. A dizzying blend of folky freaky lo-fi experimental pop, handmade instruments, ambience and noise, all held together by some ineffable magic that very few possess, but some, like Galbraith have mastered and seem to unfurl effortlessly.
Orb is the first proper solo record in years and also marks the re-activation of Galbraiths Xpressway label, now called Nextbestway. And once again, we're transported to some mysterious glade, where a strange man is hunched over a small arsenal of sound making devices, and like some sort of mad scientist is assembling an endless series of perfect little sonic gems.
The opening track is so immediately warm and recognizable, with it's warped warbly organ, and Galbraith's haunting multi tracked vocals, reminding us once again, that long before Neutral Milk Hotel, Galbraith was shaping similarly powerful little spiritual pop songs, and "Here Not There" is no different. Less than two minutes, but in that brief span, he's able to lull and soothe, trip out and transport. The second track is even shorter, less than a minute, but it's a killer chunk of billowy krautrock drift that finishes in a flurry of digital skipping.
Galbraith has a sort of Guided By Voices thing going, giving us tantalizing glimpses of incredible hooks, cool moody riffs, fluttering bits of sweet folk, but then nips them in the bud, songs that could very well stretch on for hours, slip away after minutes, sometimes seconds, creating these brief magical flourishes that have us returning over and over to sample briefly, always wanting more.
Like all Galbraith discs, the sounds are disparate, but interconnected, clattery feedback drenched Dead C style noise rock, with crumbling distortion and fuzzy sheets of synth, murky detuned folk ramblings, keening scarping strings, high end skree and metallic reverberations, utterly heartbreaking perfect pop, stretches of field recordings overlaid with soft shimmery drones, wheezing organs and delicate plucked strings, thick swaths of dense guitar buzz and super distorted vocals, black metal via NZ noise rock, meandering abstract Appalachia draped over soft swells of mumble and drift, warm warbly guitar and every possible combination in between.
So lovely, so magical and so totally mysterious. Galbraith is truly a bard from beyond, a songsmith who transcends genre, perhaps even time and space. And we're so glad to have him back.
MPEG Stream: "Here Not There"
MPEG Stream: "One Direction"
MPEG Stream: "Lost"
MPEG Stream: "Bird Ghost Viola"
MPEG Stream: "Short Dream FOr Fire Organ"

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR Rivulets (Camera Obscura) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Some of the finest new material we've heard in a long while from this solo Kiwi musician, who composes beautiful songs from fragments of melody, treated voice, and guitar etc.

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR Talisman (Table Of The Elements) cd 16.98
AQ favorite, New Zealand experimentalist Alastair Galbraith has redesigned Syd Barrett style folk/psychedelia for acoustic guitar, violin, and his voice... with lots of backwards masking, tape loops, and hints of his other project A Handful of Dust. Outstanding bedroom recordings, originally pressed on his own Next Best Way Label, and now issued through Table Of The Elements.

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR W/ PIPP PROUD Me & Gus (Emperor Jones) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of our favorite iconoclastic New Zealanders accompanies his idol Pipp Proud, an older Aussie who writes quiet, heartfelt songs.

GALBRAITH, ALASTAIR / DEMARNIA LLOYD (Roof Bolt) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Both Kiwis, Alastair strums the guitar while Demarnia sings all breathy-like.

GALLHAMMER Ill Innocence (Peaceville) cd 16.98
May as well re-list the cd while we're at it (the brand new import vinyl version is being listed nearby).
Ok, hopefully all of you into dooooooooooooooooom have heeded our recommendations in the past ("best band EVER" we may have said, in a moment of infatuation) and are already well acquainted with this cult Japanese band who exude a magnificently miserable mixture of slow, atmospheric doominess and crusty black metal thrashing, inspired by the likes of Celtic Frost/Hellhammer (natch), Amebix, and Corrupted. This is their 2nd full-length studio album, following 2004's Gloomy Lights debut and last year's The Dawn Of Gallhammer demos n' live cd+dvd collection. That's the one where we busted out the Simpsons Comic Book Guy impersonation in our review, but it's this album that really seals the deal, when it comes to Gallhammer's position in the pantheon of most depressive doom bands ever, anyway. They're up there, no doubt about it, as is proved by this collection of ten tracks, each one of 'em often (but not always) a slow-motion trudge through the depths of emotional bleakness in the form of monotonously massive low-end guitar riffage, wretched cookie monster screams, and simple, gloomy melodies. Several of the song titles are quite indicative of their sound: "Long Scary Dream", "SLOG", "Ripper In The Gloom"... Many of these varied tracks feature a dynamic combination of knock-you-over-with-a-feather soft n' sad prettiness setting you up for some smash-you-with-a-hammer heaviness, or even manage both at the same time. It's the former element, this band's almost post-rock instrumental mesmeric moodiness, for which we think Gallhammer should be best noted. Not that it has any of post-rock's usual complexity, this is raw and primal and ritualistic, perfectly encapsulated by the way the stark, repetitive slowcore acoustic guitar part at the start of "Ripper In The Gloom" suddenly, shockingly gives way to a full-on punk rock assault.
It also seems possible that Gallhammer, along with their interest in underground '80s doom-crust, also shares some of the Velvet Underground fixation displayed by their contemporaries from the Japanese psych-rock scene, like LSD-march and Doodles. Heck, track one, the nearly eight minute "At The Onset Of The Age Of Despair" seems to have echoes of VU's "Venus In Furs"... If one of Gallhammer's songs wound up on a PSF Tokyo Flashback comp someday we'd be surprised, yes, but only a little. Though it sure wouldn't be a track like "Killed By The Queen" or "Blind My Eyes", two of the punked out, filthy metal blitzes on here, the latter of which throws in some uncharacteristic Melt-Banana style yelping, dogwhistle vocals along with the usual guttural grunting and growling.
Hey, we made it all the way to the end of this review without mentioning Gallhammer's major non-musical selling point... we said they're a "cult" band above, but were tempted to say "cute", as this trio just happen to all be attractive young Japanese ladies, their looks further enhanced by the tasteful application of gothy corpsepaint makeup. No this fact doesn't make Gallhammer's music sound any better (or worse) but it's, um, interesting. Happily, though, Peaceville isn't using Gallhammer's sex appeal to sell this album, there's not even any pictures of the band at all included in this classy-lookin' white-and-silver digipack. Recommended nonetheless!
MPEG Stream: "SLOG"
MPEG Stream: "Killed By The Queen"
MPEG Stream: "Ripper In The Gloom"

GALLO, VINCENT Recordings Of Music For Film (Warp) cd 17.98
While writing a recent review about his favorite group King Crimson (!), Vincent Gallo allowed himself the indulgence of a viperous tangential rant against Harmony Korine: "When a mini-dwarf rich kid from Nashville like Harmony Korine flies first class and moves to New York City's Soho in his 'plush safe' apartment, running around town quoting Godard with lines like, 'Fuck the bourgeois', it's insincere, it's calculated, it's unoriginal, and it's the worst thing in the world, 'trendy'. He already knows that he and his boring girlfriend Connecticut Chloe Sevigny are going to be on the cover of 'The Face'. He knows he'll get his run at The Angelica and be hip in Japan. But no one will ever make an important film because they saw 'Gummo' or 'Donkey Boy'." (http://www.vincentgallo.com/writing/KingCrimson.html) The irony of such a statement is that many of Gallo's critics have uttered very similar attacks against him. In a lot of ways, Gallo brings it upon himself with the public display of a blunt persona that is crass, misogynistic, and brutally ugly. Yet amidst these horrible aspects of humanity, Gallo's facade cracks with wondrous displays of romantic dreams that sing the praises of 'pretty girls,' Genet-like love stories borne out of abjection, and the ephemeral magic of his musical constructions. How much of this dichotomy falls under the category of artistic calculation and how much of it is a hyper-dramatization of Gallo's polarization of human characteristics -- both positive and negative.
Of course, Vincent Gallo doesn't give a fuck what you or I may think about his art, as he's already convinced that's he a genius. I (Jim) enjoyed the grim artistry of "Buffalo 66" but was initially skeptical of his music, as a passing fancy for dilettante who somehow managed to convince Warp Records to sign him. Yet, in setting my pre-conceptions aside and actually listening to his previously published "When" (a bit of a sleeper hit among several of us here at Aquarius) and now "Recordings Of Music For Film," Vincent Gallo is a musician whose talent is not easy to dismiss as a cultural fluke. Like "When," his film scores to "Buffalo 66," "The Way It Is," "Downtown 81" and "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" are delicate, bittersweet wisps of song fragments, with ghostly guitar strumming that recalls late '80s Jandek, Gallo's Chet Baker-like voice, passing flourishes from a clarinet or a melodica, and very little else. What is most impressive is the consistency between all of these recordings despite the 15 years between "Buffalo 66" and "The Way It Is," whose scores make up the majority of this album. Regardless, it ends up being beautiful, no matter what opinion you may hold about Vincent Gallo.
RealAudio clip: "Her Smell Theme"
RealAudio clip: "The Girl Of Her Dreams"
RealAudio clip: "Six Laughs Once Happy"
RealAudio clip: "Lonely Boy"
RealAudio clip: "A Somewhere Place"

GALLO, VINCENT When (Warp) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While it's probably true that the reason this album got released on hip UK electronica label Warp is that Vincent "Buffalo 66" Gallo is a famous guy, that doesn't mean it's a bad album. Some folks here at Aquarius wanted to assume that, but repeated listenings have made even the worst AQ Gallo-skeptics willing to admit that it's not bad. And some of us (Allan, for one), think it's pretty great. After all, there's a reason why the guy is famous, and it has to do with (aside from his striking good looks) the fact that he's talented. So forget your knee jerk reactions to his celebrity status and consider the possibility that unlike most actors-turned-musicians, he's managed to make some nice music. All right all right, what does it sound like? Well, it's NOT the full on prog rock opus that some of us were hoping Gallo's overt Yes obsession would produce, but it's a lovely, lonely singer-songwriter effort (with, indeed, echoes of the mellow pop psychedelia found on early King Crimson LPs). Introspective and quiet, having just a few sonic elements per song: a whispered vocal here, a xylophone there, some wistful piano and strummed guitar there, a fragmented drum beat here. A near-ambient, melancholic, almost-folky disc full of heartbreak and longing (well, it seems that way, not that we've studied the lyrics closely as yet). There's no more of anything (vocals, beats) than is absolutely necessary (which argues well for Gallo's genuine artistry) (well, except for some shameless courting of his famous friends like the filthy rich party girl Paris Hilton who's namedropped in the first track's title). The vocals make this kinda sound like what Smog or Jandek would sound like if they recorded for Warp. We're also reminded of Tarwater and even Chet Baker. Worth checking out, after all!
RealAudio clip: "When"
RealAudio clip: "Was"

GANDALF 2 (Sundazed) cd 15.98
Unreleased archival stuff from New Jersey '60s psych outfit Gandalf...unfortunately while their actual album (also reissued on Sundazed) is a classic, this disc doesn't hold a candle... don't bother.

GANDALF s/t (Sundazed) cd 13.98
Tolkien fans, be warned -- this sixties psych pop group from New Jersey was only hastily dubbed "Gandalf" mere weeks before their debut was recorded in 1967. As Mike "Ugly Things" Stax' liner notes say (with perhaps some unnecessary scorn for the inhabitants of Middle Earth): "The group's name is actually a misnomer; although full of magic, the Gandalf record is thankfully free of wizards and hobbits." Previous to their Gandalf incarnation, the band was called the Rahgoos, named, believe it or not, after the Ragu brand of spaghetti sauce! (The liner notes again: "What was needed was a new, more 'with it' name." So they chose Ragu? What?) Whatever the name, though, the band's lone LP, now reissued by Sundazed, is pretty darn great, with gentle, melancholy singing, hypnotic piano and Hammond B3, and plenty of psychedelic tape echo courtesy of a piece of equipment (the Binson Echorec) that the band had acquired soon before the recording sessions and used to great effect, ahem.
Gandalf is especially known (to those in the know, that is, who speak of them in hushed whispers we'd imagine) for their amazing, dark, psychedelic version of the old standard "Golden Earrings" with which they open the disc. Along with that cover, they also interpret several songs by Tim Hardin as well as Eden Ahbez's famed "Nature Boy". But they had a fine songwriter in the band as well, Peter Sando, and his "Can You Travel In The Dark Alone" equals the spooky effect they achieved with "Golden Earrings", while Sando's album-closing "I Watch The Moon" rocks out a bit more with some tasty fuzz guitar -- which you'll also hear in their "Nature Boy", for one!
As long lost, forgotten '60s psych gems go, this is the real deal, not baseless hype based merely on how much some ponytailed psych collector was willing to pay for an original vinyl copy. Sundazed gets our thanks once again!
RealAudio clip: "Golden Earrings"
RealAudio clip: "Hang On To A Dream"
RealAudio clip: "Can You Travel In the Dark Alone"
RealAudio clip: "Nature Boy"

GANDALF s/t (Sundazed) lp 13.98
Now on vinyl! Tolkien fans, be warned -- this sixties psych pop group from New Jersey was only hastily dubbed "Gandalf" mere weeks before their debut was recorded in 1967. As Mike "Ugly Things" Stax' liner notes say (with perhaps some unnecessary scorn for the inhabitants of Middle Earth): "The group's name is actually a misnomer; although full of magic, the Gandalf record is thankfully free of wizards and hobbits." Previous to their Gandalf incarnation, the band was called the Rahgoos, named, believe it or not, after the Ragu brand of spaghetti sauce! (The liner notes again: "What was needed was a new, more 'with it' name." So they chose Ragu? What?) Whatever the name, though, the band's lone LP, now reissued by Sundazed, is pretty darn great, with gentle, melancholy singing, hypnotic piano and Hammond B3, and plenty of psychedelic tape echo courtesy of a piece of equipment (the Binson Echorec) that the band had acquired soon before the recording sessions and used to great effect, ahem.
Gandalf is especially known (to those in the know, that is, who speak of them in hushed whispers we'd imagine) for their amazing, dark, psychedelic version of the old standard "Golden Earrings" with which they open the disc. Along with that cover, they also interpret several songs by Tim Hardin as well as Eden Ahbez's famed "Nature Boy". But they had a fine songwriter in the band as well, Peter Sando, and his "Can You Travel In The Dark Alone" equals the spooky effect they achieved with "Golden Earrings", while Sando's album-closing "I Watch The Moon" rocks out a bit more with some tasty fuzz guitar -- which you'll also hear in their "Nature Boy", for one!
As long lost, forgotten '60s psych gems go, this is the real deal, not baseless hype based merely on how much some ponytailed psych collector was willing to pay for an original vinyl copy. Sundazed gets our thanks once again!

GANE, TIM & O'HAGEN, SEAN La Vie D'Artiste (OST) (Too Pure) 2cd 13.98
Stereolab and High Llamas fans know well the atmosphere sculpting talents of Tim Gane and Sean O'Hagen. So it is no surprise that together they make wonderfully enveloping mood music for film. Gane and O'Hagen have composed a swoonsome beauty of a soundtrack to the film La Vie D'Artiste. Lots of fleeting glimpses and glimmers of their main bands' best features -- smooth jazzy horns, retro electronic escapades, cascading vibes and woodwinds, lite kraut-y loopiness, et al -- performed with a lovely panache. Sure to please followers of both bands.
MPEG Stream: "La Vie D'Artiste (generique)"
MPEG Stream: "Cora Prend La Fuite (alternate mix)"

GANG GANG DANCE God's Money (Social Registry) cd 14.98
We ended up digging the last GGD, even though it took us a little while to get into. And we're guessing this new one might also take us a little while. Not because it's a bad record, it's just... weird. But weird in a way we don't always find appealing right off the bat. The first record set up the sound: a chaotic almost dancey mix of hypnotic drum circle clatter, off kilter This Heat-ish rhythmic propulsion, scattered snatches of jazzy piano, almost circusy melodies, burping low end and all sorts of other sounds. The sound on this record is quite similar, if not a bit more refined. And definitely a bit busier. Like they had this band, and then had all their friends over, and had each friend add the one thing they really loved, whether it was those weird new age pan pipe flutes, or brittle music boxes, or Copshootcop junkyard percussion or any one of a million things that makes this record such a scattered, albeit joyous mess. But the maker or breaker here is the vocals. Very childlike and heavily affected, a bit like the vocalist from Deerhoof mixed with Laurie Anderson or Diamanda Galas, swooping and wailing and mumbling and back to wailing, all in the space of a single track. Very haunting and strange, but a definite acquired taste. This record is at its best when it sort of blisses out and becomes an expansive abstract sound field, all glittering and spacious. Because the music here definitely hits all the right buttons, woozy and drone-y, skittery and playful, sometimes ominous and aggressive, sometimes joyful and resplendent in all its post-funk splendor, but then the vocals kick in and you're either sold or you're not. Listen to the sound samples and you make the call.
MPEG Stream: "Egowar"
MPEG Stream: "Before My Voice Fails"

GANG GANG DANCE Hillulah (Social Registry) cd ep 9.98
Man, that last record we got from Gang Gang Dance was great! Hopefully some of you had a chance to see them live this summer for a mesmerizing, other-worldly performance. On Hillulah, they bring us several great live recordings from 2003 and early 2004 cut together to create a 33 minute-long audio document of noisy soundscapes that delve into the more raucous feel of the band from that time. It seems that since then, they've nicely lifted off into some sort of ethereal otherness.
As a bonus, Hillulah's "enhancement" contains 30 minutes of video footage! With this nice little document, Gang Gang Dance continues to impress.
MPEG Stream: "Stanton St./Knitting Factory 10/24/03"
MPEG Stream: "North Six 5/04/03"

GANG GANG DANCE Rawwar (The Social Registry) cd ep 11.98
Over the years Gang Gang Dance have proven to be one of the more adventurous and interesting bands to emerge from the NYC/Brooklyn scene. Since their last full length they've been busy cultivating their sound, DJing and being active members of the late-night-night-club scene. Rawwar is a three song ep which finds them continuing to grow and explore. The first song is a pretty perfect blast of fused sonics that somehow manages to sound like Siouxsie meeting M.I.A. at a super warped late night rave. The second track is a swirling instrumental that offers up a slightly more beautiful sound than what we got on God's Money and the 11+ minute closer is just how you wished trip hop sounded now, had it continued to evolve. Their journey continues to excite us and this will keep us pretty satisfied until they unleash their next full length offering.
MPEG Stream: "Nicoman"
MPEG Stream: "The Earthquake That Frees Prisioners"

GANG GANG DANCE Rawwar (The Social Registry) 12" 11.98
Now available on vinyl! Here's our review of the cdep when we first listed it a while back:
Over the years Gang Gang Dance have proven to be one of the more adventurous and interesting bands to emerge from the NYC/Brooklyn scene. Since their last full length they've been busy cultivating their sound, DJing and being active members of the late-night-night-club scene. Rawwar is a three song ep which finds them continuing to grow and explore. The first song is a pretty perfect blast of fused sonics that somehow manages to sound like Siouxsie meeting M.I.A. at a super warped late night rave. The second track is a swirling instrumental that offers up a slightly more beautiful sound than what we got on God's Money and the 11+ minute closer is just how you wished trip hop sounded now, had it continued to evolve. Their journey continues to excite us and this will keep us pretty satisfied until they unleash their next full length offering.
MPEG Stream: "Nicoman"
MPEG Stream: "The Earthquake That Frees Prisioners"

GANG GANG DANCE Retina Riddim (The Social Registry) cd + dvd 15.98
After their last great record, God's Money, we've been increasingly excited to see where Gang Gang Dance might head next. One of the few bands who managed to transcend all the hype of the Brooklyn/NYC city scene of the last few years and who have proven to be purveyors of continually interesting, challenging and rewarding sounds. Retina Riddim isn't the proper follow up to God's Money but instead a multimedia project which includes a dvd that GGD member Brian DeGraw created matching psychedelic images to a great blending of the bands past records & live recordings. The cd is one twenty-four minute track which incorporates everything from violins, to air horns, and even distorted beats, all melded together to create a wonderful cacophony of sound. Very cool!
MPEG Stream: "Retina Riddim"

GANG GANG DANCE s/t (Fusetron) cd 14.98
Boy this is a weird one. A sloppy but strangely compelling mess of random spastic percussion, strangely jazzy piano, ambient affected guitar spinning wildly into oblivion, and creepy falsetto voices howling, whooping and sometime spitting out sing-songy sort-of nursery rhymes. But what does it sound like, all of those disparate elements jammed together into one band. Howsabout the No Neck Blues Bands jamming with the Teletubbies in a haunted house? Or maybe Diamanda Galas as a young girl, invoking musical demons with the help of Sunburned Hand of The Man? Or even a battle of the band between Deerhoof, Dave Brubeck and Acid Mothers Temple all jamming simultaneously. While this is definitely werid and wooly and wild, Gang Gang Dance are at their best toward the end of each of these lengthy tracks when things sort of bliss out and become a warbling, woozy tinkling outer space ambience.
MPEG Stream: "One"

GANG GANG DANCE s/t (Fusetron) lp 15.98
Boy this is a weird one. A sloppy but strangely compelling mess of random spastic percussion, strangely jazzy piano, ambient affected guitar spinning wildly into oblivion, and creepy falsetto voices howling, whooping and sometime spitting out sing-songy sort-of nursery rhymes. But what does it sound like, all of those disparate elements jammed together into one band. Howsabout the No Neck Blues Bands jamming with the Teletubbies in a haunted house? Or maybe Diamanda Galas as a young girl, invoking musical demons with the help of Sunburned Hand of The Man? Or even a battle of the band between Deerhoof, Dave Brubeck and Acid Mothers Temple all jamming simultaneously. While this is definitely werid and wooly and wild, Gang Gang Dance are at their best toward the end of each of these lengthy tracks when things sort of bliss out and become a warbling, woozy tinkling outer space ambience.
MPEG Stream: "One"

GANG GANG DANCE Saint Dymphna (The Social Registry) cd 14.98
Over the course of several years Gang Gang Dance have made the evolution from totally whacked out and hard to describe collage of sound weirdness to slowly injecting more structure and carving out actual songs while still keeping an aura of mystique and playful experimentation in their sound.
Saint Dymphna pushes their evolution with even more structure and a kind of hypercolor sheen providing a psychedelic soundtrack that sounds a bit like Kate Bush performing at an all night psychedelic rave. Its evident that for the first time in fully realized form the band is really embracing the last word of its moniker, making music for the kind of late night dance parties we'd love to frequent. Maybe it's some of the band members' strong involvement in late night culture as DJ's and partiers over the last few years that has helped shape this exciting shift in their sound. You can tell they've been listening to lots of the most interesting dance music around as there are healthy hints of Bhangra that pop in and out of the songs on Saint Dymphna as well as a more nuanced take on what lots of the Italians Do It Better camp (Chromatics, Glass Candy) have been up to lately. But what made us originally fall in love with Gang Gang Dance is still present, their true sense of adventure and a fearless ability to merge influences that usually seem so disparate, into a seamless whole. Not many other bands could have a record with a song that sounds so much like the mostly swirly moments of My Bloody Valentine ("Vacuum") followed by a song with Tinchy Stryder on the mic for a track that would be at home on M.I.A's latest. That is the true beauty of Gang Gang Dance, they really understand how to blend and merge color and sound to create something that can takes on its own life. We've just begun to immerse ourselves in this record and so far we are loving the ride, and we have a feeling that this one will be on nonstop play in the weeks and months to come!
MPEG Stream: "Bebey"
MPEG Stream: "Vacuum"
MPEG Stream: "House Jam"

GANG GANG DANCE Saint Dymphna (The Social Registry) lp 14.98
This big time aQ fave, and highlight from last list, now available on lp!!!
Over the course of several years Gang Gang Dance have made the evolution from totally whacked out and hard to describe collage of sound weirdness to slowly injecting more structure and carving out actual songs while still keeping an aura of mystique and playful experimentation in their sound.
Saint Dymphna pushes their evolution with even more structure and a kind of hypercolor sheen providing a psychedelic soundtrack that sounds a bit like Kate Bush performing at an all night psychedelic rave. Its evident that for the first time in fully realized form the band is really embracing the last word of its moniker, making music for the kind of late night dance parties we'd love to frequent. Maybe it's some of the band members' strong involvement in late night culture as DJ's and partiers over the last few years that has helped shape this exciting shift in their sound. You can tell they've been listening to lots of the most interesting dance music around as there are healthy hints of Bhangra that pop in and out of the songs on Saint Dymphna as well as a more nuanced take on what lots of the Italians Do It Better camp (Chromatics, Glass Candy) have been up to lately. But what made us originally fall in love with Gang Gang Dance is still present, their true sense of adventure and a fearless ability to merge influences that usually seem so disparate, into a seamless whole. Not many other bands could have a record with a song that sounds so much like the mostly swirly moments of My Bloody Valentine ("Vacuum") followed by a song with Tinchy Stryder on the mic for a track that would be at home on M.I.A's latest. That is the true beauty of Gang Gang Dance, they really understand how to blend and merge color and sound to create something that can takes on its own life. We've just begun to immerse ourselves in this record and so far we are loving the ride, and we have a feeling that this one will be on nonstop play in the weeks and months to come!
MPEG Stream: "Bebey"
MPEG Stream: "Vacuum"
MPEG Stream: "House Jam"

GANG OF FOUR Entertainment! (Warner) cd 17.98
The roots of Gang of Four can be traced back to 1976, but from opposite ends of the globe. In their native England during that year, The Sex Pistols, The Damned, and The Clash dropped the bomb that was punk whose shockwaves can still be felt to this day through music, literature, art, politics, fashion, etc. In China also in 1976, a renegade faction of communists staged a leadership coup after the death of Mao Zedong, holding out for 10 days and calling themselves the Gang of Four. Back in England a year later, a punk band began as four art students from Leeds appropriated not only the name but also the insistance upon bold ideological stances from those Maoist revolutionaries. After achieving considerable success with their debut Damaged Goods EP on the remarkably prescient Fast Productions (who also signed The Mekons early on as well), Gang of Four landed a deal with EMI which resulted in Entertainment. This album -- like Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and the first three Wire albums -- transformed punk with its ingenious marriage of intelligence, angst, politics, and aesthetics, and has not been improved upon since, despite the best efforts from the current crowd of post-punk revivalists (i.e. The Rapture, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, etc.).
Gang of Four were Andy Gill, Jon King, Dave Allen, and Hugo Burnham; well at least for Entertainment and the two follow up records. Entertainment's politics have been at the center of most of the reviews you'll find praising this record, but those politics wouldn't have been heard had Gang of Four not been a fucking tight band, with Gill's rapid fire guitar arppeggios, Allen's agitated funk-punk basslines, and Burnham's explosive post-disco rhythms. Every thing that has been written about Gang of Four in the past is true, especially from those kind people at Pitchfork who sneered at the end of their review of Entertainment that "anyone who says it's played out is a douchebag." Truer words have not been spoken.
MPEG Stream: "Damaged Goods"
MPEG Stream: "At Home He's A Tourist"
MPEG Stream: "Anthrax"

GANG OF FOUR Return The Gift (V2) cd 15.98
There's no real clear answer to why this album was recorded or even released. It's not that it's bad; actually these recently recorded versions of a bunch of Gang of Four classics are pretty darn good. "Damaged Goods," "Anthrax," "To Hell With Poverty," and "At Home He's A Tourist" are just as aggressive, punchy, and groovy as the originals. Especially since Gang of Four just reissued their masterpiece Entertainment, there's not much justification for the album. But if you need to hear Entertainment and a whole bunch of the later singles redone with the benefit of a pristine digital recording, look no further!
MPEG Stream: "I Love A Man In A Uniform"
MPEG Stream: "To Hell With Poverty"

GANG OF FOUR Solid Gold & Another Day / Another Dollar (EMI) cd 14.98

GANG WIZARD Byzantine Headache (Load) cd 14.98
Noisy, experimental rock band Gang Wizard hadn't ever really interested us much before, but we gave this new album a listen nonetheless and to our surprise, for the first eight minutes, we were captivated... rhythmic, spare, lo-fi shambling weirdness that was remarkably listenable! But, from then on the going gets a bit rougher... it's clear they used the word "headache" in the title for a reason. Intrigued, though, ended up enjoying this varied disc's more cacophonous parts as well. Heck we like throbbing distorto-jams, screamy noise, and bits that sound like beginner guitarist Allan practicing (he'll try to perfect "Soft Crust From 00" before his next guitar lesson) just as much as the next record store. Ok, maybe there's a tad too much screaming ("The Pretty Ape" is just a little taxing). So although the way the singer howls it out on "When The Song Begins" reminds us of Eugene from Oxbow, we'd have to say that the vocals aren't our favorite element of Gang Wizard, we're more into their prettier, abstract Starfuckers-ish soundscaping, and give this the thumbs up for that. Load lovin' noise rock fans ought to be pleased. As will be people who desire cd artwork which appears to be a famous Vietnam war photo melded with a notorious National Lampoon magazine cover...
MPEG Stream: "Another Misplayed Endgame"
MPEG Stream: "When The Song Begins"

GANG WIZARD El Cortez Buy Y' A Drink (Black Bean & Placenta) cd 11.98

GANG WIZARD Jeckyll Loves Hyde (Ecstatic Peace) lp 13.98

GANG WIZARD & FRIENDS FOREVER split (Deathbombarc) cd 13.98

GANGER Canopy (Merge) cdep 9.98
Scottish group who recently toured with Mogwai but sound VERY MUCH like Tortoise, only less arty and more accessible. Good!

GANGER Hammock Style (Merge) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Neo Kraut, bass heavy grooves from this British emsemble that sound like a propulsive, non adult-contemporary version of Tortoise.

GARNEAU, CHRIS Music For Tourists (Absolutely Kosher) cd 13.98
Another unassuming, slightly off-kilter singer/songwriter joins the strong stable of artists at the Absolutely Kosher camp. Chris Garneau is his name and Music For Tourists is his debut album -- a baker's dozen folk pop tunes played out mostly on piano and guitar augmented by strings. Sweet and hushed, Garneau's boyish vocals seem to pursue the sensitive intimacy of the late Elliott Smith. The album as a whole has an underlying bedroom recorded feel, but with a fully fleshed out lush production afforded these days via the now easily accessible, user friendly recording technology. Pleasant lo-fi pop recorded with hi-fi capabilities.
MPEG Stream: "Relief"
MPEG Stream: "So Far"

GARNER, SUE Shadyside (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98
Sue Garner possesses one of those lovely voices that flows along so warm and smooth, but with a tendency to suddenly swoop up all high'n'lilting or slink down low to a dry, almost spoken delivery. With the varied tempos and styles of her third solo album Shadyside, her music brings to mind a melding of Joni Mitchell, Sally Timms and Ani Difranco - full of heart and presence. The lyrics of four of these songs are actually previously existing poems written by Fay Hart (who also penned a song for one of Garner's former bands The Shams). She invited a number of her talented musician friends to help flesh out the songs - namely husband Rick Brown (with whom she recorded as Run On), Marc Ribot, Jim O'Rourke, and Yo La Tengo's James McNew. The result is a dramatic, diverse musical backdrop with bass clarinet, bass harmonica, kalimba, organ, accordion, electric piano and an array of percussion joining the assembled guitars, bass and drums.
RealAudio clip: "Don't Still The Flicker"
RealAudio clip: "Handful Of Grapes"

GARRIE, NICK The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislaus (Rev-ola) cd 16.98
Another day, another rare sixties pop-psych reissue with quite a bit of collector cachet... that is also pretty darn great! First time on cd for this Eddie Vartan-produced 1969 LP, wonderfully dreamy and baroque and folky and orchestrated. Lots of languid, lazy-day la, la, la's here!
Talented, curly-haired singer-songwriter Nick Garrie was youthful, peripatetic, and quite cosmopolitan (you can tell from his lyrics, referencing all corners of Europe). He had a Scottish mother, a Russian father, and was raised in both France and England, calling Paris his home at the time this record came out. Though nowadays it gets compared to the work of Nick Drake, Billy Nichols, Peter Sarstedt, Bill Fay, and others of note, due to music biz circumstances beyond Nick's control, it immediately sank into obscurity upon initial release. But now thanks to Rev-ola it's been reissued, complete with extensive liner notes, track-by-track commentary by Nick himself, and seven bonus tracks including his fantastic and even harder to find than the LP 1968 single "Queen Of Spades" b/w "Close Your Eyes" (the B-side of which you may have already heard on the Nightmares at Toby's Shop compilation we listed last year). Great stuff for fans of UK popsike like Kaleidoscope.
MPEG Stream: "The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislaus"
MPEG Stream: "Bungles Tours"
MPEG Stream: "Queen Of Spades"

GASENETA Sooner Or Later (PSF) cd 16.98
Not remotely new (the catalog number for this is PSF-17, it was released some years ago) but something that we thought we'd get a few of and list 'cause we were doing an order with the PSF label in Tokyo and hadn't ever reviewed this cult classic before. Anyone into the speedfreak psychedelic acid punk of flagship PSF band High Rise (or Mainliner, or Musica Transonic, etc.) ought to check out Gaseneta, a Japanese combo from the late '70s who helped pioneer that sound (and were later covered by High Rise). This disc contains archival recordings mostly from 1978, all of 'em ultra distorted, in-the-red recordings of a band simply destroying, sonically wrecking the place. We mean, if you thought Boris kicked out the noisy jams on Pink... well this is a whole 'nother kettle of raw fish of course, way punker than Pink, but of potential interest to Boris fans wanting to check out their antecedents. There's eleven energetic tracks on Sooner Or Later, bursting with skronky guitar solos (Black Flag style) and the spittle of guttural vox, backed by urgent bashing rhythms. Four of 'em are live recordings, which are especially lo-fi but since you should be playing this LOUD anyway that just adds to the effect. Way cool.
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 3"

GASTR DEL SOL Camofleur (Drag City) cd 12.98
Why do I keep thinking Terry Gross is going to do a special on these guys soon? Very very appealing fragmented post rock post everything that wears influences on sleeve (Fahey, bluegrass etc). It doesn't hold together all that well but then again that's always kind of been the point with Gastr del Sol. Recommended!

GASTR DEL SOL Camofleur (Drag City) lp 13.98
Why do I keep thinking Terry Gross is going to do a special on these guys soon? Very very appealing fragmented post rock post everything that wears influences on sleeve (Fahey, bluegrass etc). It doesn't hold together all that well but then again that's always kind of been the point with Gastr del Sol. Recommended!

GASTR DEL SOL Crookt, Crakt, Or Fly (Drag City) cd 14.98

GASTR DEL SOL Mirror Repair (Drag City) cd 11.98

GASTR DEL SOL The Harp Factory on Lake Street (Table of the Elements) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

GASTR DEL SOL The Serpentine Similar (Dexter's Cigar) cd 14.98
The first, long-out-of-print Gastr album, pre-Jim O'Rourke, reissued! the most Bastro-ish and brilliant.

GASTR DEL SOL The Serpentine Similar (Dexter's Cigar) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The first, long-out-of-print Gastr album, pre-Jim O'Rourke, reissued! the most Bastro-ish and brilliant.