SECTION 25 From The Hip (Les Temps Modernes) cd 16.98
To mention the terms "new wave" and "80s electro" these days will undoubtedly prompt images of Fischerspooner, Adult., The Faint, and other bands with a flashy sense of style, undercurrents of anxiety, and an effectively punishing use of roboto-rhythms. Yet, most of these bands have fixated upon a specific strain of retro-garde historicism, which has the unintended result of disregarding other variations of what "new wave" and "80s electro" meant back in the day. Contrary to the impression that the electronic aftermath of punk was always abrasive, intense, and angular, there were dozens of bands which softened their once bleak image (perhaps due to commercial pressure or shifting artistic temperament). One such band was Section 25, whose preceeding albums "Always Now" and "The Key of Dreams" had been spartan productions of death disco born out of urban blight. "From The Hip" -- the band's third album -- was a considerable departure towards more commercial waters with fluffy if slightly moody synth driven pop matched by proto-twee male / female vocals. It may have been the band's biggest commercial success but clearly wasn't as adventurous as their earlier records. Rather this is more on par the idea of "new wave" and "80s electro" that would draw comparisons to Human League, Thompson Twins, Bronski Beat, and Erasure.
RealAudio clip: "Reflection"
RealAudio clip: "Program For Light"
RealAudio clip: "Looking From A Hilltop (Restructure)"

SECTION 25 So Far (LTM) dvd 32.00

SECTION 25 The Key of Dreams (Les Temps Modernes) cd 17.98

SEDIMENT CLUB, THE The Hughes Affair (Softspot) 7" 6.98

SEE SAW Magnetophone (Simple Machines) cd 14.98
One man with a four-track and a crappy casio keyboard. Lush and lofi (sorry!) At the same time; reminiscent of early Sebadoh in a good way. Not to be confused with Bay Area band Sea Saw, who have obligingly changed their name to Swandive.

SEEDS The Seeds / A Web Of Sound (Edsel ) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everyone should own these two records. If you don't already have them you should get this new reissue of both on one cd. The fucking kings of garage. The Seeds are tough and menacing with sneering vocals and a rad style. They are one of the all time great US garage bands of the mid '60s.
RealAudio clip: "Pushin Too hard"
RealAudio clip: "Cant Seem to Make You Mine"

SEEFEEL (Ch-Vox) (Rephlex) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New six-track Seefeel.

SEEFEEL Quique (Redux Edition) (Too Pure) 2cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We made this reissue a Record Of The Week back on list 265... then Too Pure let it go out of print again! But now, wisely, they've just repressed it and we happily have it back in stock. If you missed it before, please read on to find out why picked it as a ROTW:
God, we love this record! We've never stopped loving it. In its fourteen years of existence, it's never sounded tired or dated. Can't say that for a whole lot of other electronica records. So we are really glad to see our good old friend back in print again with this super nice 2cd deluxe re-issue. If you missed this the first time around, then you are in for a real treat, and if you bought this the first time around, you may just need to buy it again to get the whole extra disc of unreleased tracks and alternate mixes. We have been playing this daily since we got it, and we're surprised how many folks have never heard of Seefeel or experienced their incredible ocean of sound.
So what is all the fuss about, you say?
Well, Seefeel at their peak were one of the main players that spawned the nineties electronica genre, at a time when there were only Dance and Rock sections in most music stores. Their sound was a delirious mash-up between the shoe-gazing swirl of My Bloody Valentine, the machinic rhythm programming of Autechre, the ambient chill of Aphex Twin and the driving pulse of Stereolab, with an early hint toward the looping repetitions of William Basinski. They bridged ambient techno and indie rock by foregoing rock music's verse and chorus structures in favor of beats and loops wrapped inside icy motorik rhythms, industrial whirs, blurbs of female vocals and dubby bass lines. Like the best work of minimal composers, Seefeel's long-form compositions create a warmly hypnotic form of static movement that refused to fit neatly into music for either dance floors or chill out lounges.
Quique was their head-turning debut following two EP releases featuring remixes by Aphex Twin. That connection surely gained them a bigger following, but Seefeel was always one of those bands that should have been bigger. Of course such a potent and influential debut would lead to many of their contemporaries, bands such as Bowery Electric, Labradford, Boards Of Canada and Flying Saucer Attack, to take Seefeel's initial explorations in sound further into Post-Rock, Trip Hop, IDM and Neo-Psych territories, leaving Seefeel at a bit of a loss for a follow-up. Signing to Warp, they delved further into a dark ambient direction in the vein of groups like Main, Ice and Scorn, that was just too stark for a wider audience to appreciate. They put out two more albums before splintering off into various side projects such as Scala, Disjecta and Sneakster.
The bonus disc contains six previously unreleased tracks, and three alternate mixes from a limited white label 12" and two ambient compilations. Out of the unreleased tracks, "Clique" sounds like it just barely missed the cut from the original album line-up while "Silent Pool" is a longer version of Quique's closing track "Signals". "My Super 20" and "Is It Now?" are long beat-less swims that are a warmer hint at their future direction and the two other unreleased tracks are versions of opening track "Climatic Phase #3, and "Time to Find Me" from their first EP. It might sound like at first listen that there is some repetition between the two discs, but it's really more in line with classic ambient music's infatuation with the Dub tradition of versioning, the adding or removing of various elements in a song to give it a totally different spin. Each version really does give a different feel even if the basic structures seem similar. Seriously, the second disc is just more of what you love already, and gives us a little more of the stuff we've been missing for ages.
Listening to Quique fourteen years later, it has lost none of its powerful splendor and warmly chilled charm. Add this to the list of favorite one record bands like My Bloody Valentine and Stone Roses. So Amazingly Awesome!!!! Reissue of the year so far and so totally recommended!!!!!!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Climatic Phase #3"
MPEG Stream: "Plainsong"
MPEG Stream: "Filter Dub "
MPEG Stream: "Signals"

SEEFEEL s/t (Warp) cd 16.98
It's been nearly 15 years since we last heard from seminal electronic shoegazers Seefeel, and nearly 18 years since their breathtaking debut Qique. During the nineties, few could touch Seefeel, their sound a glorious mash up of Stereolab, My Bloody Valentine, Autechre and Aphex Twin, warm and hypnotic, dubby and drifty, programmed beats, and swirling psychedelic textures, lush minimal female vox, industrial buzz, glitchy electronics, austere atmospheres, haunting and mysterious and otherworldly, a sound that today still sounds fresh and original and miles beyond most modern electronic outfits.
We had no idea what to expect, after such a long absence, and without Mark Van Hoen, who went on to do Locust (not THE Locust) after Seefeel. Obviously we would have loved another Qique, but at the same time, it would have been rather anticlimactic to wait all that time for more of the same, especially when we have a legion of groups doing their best Seefeel already. So it seems, the band have returned with a whole new sound, and while not ditching their old sound, it is a pretty drastic shift, right from the start, a thick, gristly bit of tangled glitch and spacey effects, giving way to a spare robotic beat, laced with distorted shards of melody, a strangely stuttery, crunchy, aggressive chunk of abstract, electrophunk, underpinned by a warm fluid bassline, and some softly swirling chordal swells, some ethereal vox, the sound gradually gaining cohesion, blossoming into a fantastically hypnotic, softly psychedelic bit of stuttery shoegaze glitch. After a brief bit of electronic buzz and shimmer, comes the record's single, released as a 10" a few months back, hazy female vox, over another super minimal beat, wrapped around some deep low end warble, all wreathed in a halo of electronic crackle, a strange alien groove, subtly warped and warbly, laced with sun dappled streaks of melody, the group once again creating their own sort of electronic shoegaze, something at once beholden to the sound they pioneered, and simultaneously sounding fresh and new, and very little like anything else.
Sci-fi lazer blasts drift over tinkling melodies and video game bleeps and bloops, thick washed out swirls of prismatic shimmer whirl around shuffling industrial rhythms, waves of warm guitar wash over skeletal beats, chiming glimmering melodies rain down like sunflakes glistening in winter sunlight, dubsteppy bass warbles wrap around jagged synths and breathy dreampop vox, the sounds crunchy and glitchy, warm and whirring, lush and layered, ever shifting soundscapes of fragmented pop and fractured abstract electronica, of fuzzed out psychedelic shoegaze, and downtempo dreamlike drift, a gorgeous collection of fantastically ethereal, ephemeral, buzzy electro bliss. Incredible.
MPEG Stream: "Dead Guitars"
MPEG Stream: "Faults"
MPEG Stream: "Rip-Run"

SEEFEEL s/t (Warp) lp 24.00
It's been nearly 15 years since we last heard from seminal electronic shoegazers Seefeel, and nearly 18 years since their breathtaking debut Qique. During the nineties, few could touch Seefeel, their sound a glorious mash up of Stereolab, My Bloody Valentine, Autechre and Aphex Twin, warm and hypnotic, dubby and drifty, programmed beats, and swirling psychedelic textures, lush minimal female vox, industrial buzz, glitchy electronics, austere atmospheres, haunting and mysterious and otherworldly, a sound that today still sounds fresh and original and miles beyond most modern electronic outfits.
We had no idea what to expect, after such a long absence, and without Mark Van Hoen, who went on to do Locust (not THE Locust) after Seefeel. Obviously we would have loved another Qique, but at the same time, it would have been rather anticlimactic to wait all that time for more of the same, especially when we have a legion of groups doing their best Seefeel already. So it seems, the band have returned with a whole new sound, and while not ditching their old sound, it is a pretty drastic shift, right from the start, a thick, gristly bit of tangled glitch and spacey effects, giving way to a spare robotic beat, laced with distorted shards of melody, a strangely stuttery, crunchy, aggressive chunk of abstract, electrophunk, underpinned by a warm fluid bassline, and some softly swirling chordal swells, some ethereal vox, the sound gradually gaining cohesion, blossoming into a fantastically hypnotic, softly psychedelic bit of stuttery shoegaze glitch. After a brief bit of electronic buzz and shimmer, comes the record's single, released as a 10" a few months back, hazy female vox, over another super minimal beat, wrapped around some deep low end warble, all wreathed in a halo of electronic crackle, a strange alien groove, subtly warped and warbly, laced with sun dappled streaks of melody, the group once again creating their own sort of electronic shoegaze, something at once beholden to the sound they pioneered, and simultaneously sounding fresh and new, and very little like anything else.
Sci-fi lazer blasts drift over tinkling melodies and video game bleeps and bloops, thick washed out swirls of prismatic shimmer whirl around shuffling industrial rhythms, waves of warm guitar wash over skeletal beats, chiming glimmering melodies rain down like sunflakes glistening in winter sunlight, dubsteppy bass warbles wrap around jagged synths and breathy dreampop vox, the sounds crunchy and glitchy, warm and whirring, lush and layered, ever shifting soundscapes of fragmented pop and fractured abstract electronica, of fuzzed out psychedelic shoegaze, and downtempo dreamlike drift, a gorgeous collection of fantastically ethereal, ephemeral, buzzy electro bliss. Incredible.
MPEG Stream: "Dead Guitars"
MPEG Stream: "Faults"
MPEG Stream: "Rip-Run"

SEELAND How To Live (Loaf) cd 14.98

SEELENGREIF Jenseits Der Schatten (Tour De Garde) cd ep 12.98

MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "III"

SEEN THROUGH Extant (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Seen Through is the duo of Pseudoarcana head honcho Antony Milton and one half of the group Empty Mirror, whose now out of print cd-r we reviewed and raved about a while ago. Dreamy spaced out guitar scrapes and slides. Lots of plink and twang, creak and moan. Hazy melodies stretched out in fields of tape hiss and amp buzz with a wild burst of good old NZ noise rock guitar squall right at the end!
MPEG Stream: "Insect Darkens"
MPEG Stream: "Systems Down"

SEESSELBERG Synthetik 1 (Plate Lunch) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Obscure reissues like this really make our day. This disc brings to light German brothers Eckhart und Wolf-J.'s experiments in instrumental electronic music circa 1971-73, a la early Kraftwerk, Kluster, Conrad Schnitzler, and the Silver Apples... Short, freeky pieces done with home-built synths in some Dusseldorf basement. Give me weirdo D.I.Y. krautrock electronics like this over the output of today's laptop dorks any day!
MPEG Stream: "Overture - Jeder Ist Heutzutage Glucklich"
MPEG Stream: "Speedy Achmed"

SEGALL, TY Caesar (Goner) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another blast of fuzzy jangle rock bliss from aQ fave Ty Segall, two killer jams of stripped down warped garage pop.
The A side, taken from Ty's recent Lemons album, starts out all strummy and jangly, with some seriously fuzzy bass, the vocals a reverbed croon, shifting into a falsetto here and there, at one point getting all tangled up in effects in a twisted distorted psychedelic freakout. There's even a super rocking PIANO SOLO! But all that stuff is just icing, on what is a killer hook, and a crazy catchy jam.
The B side is a little more grimy and buzzy than the first track, sounding almost like the Stooges "Search And Destroy" slowed down to a garagey dirge, but again, Segall wraps that jangle and crunch around a hook most bands would kill for. Awesome.
It's about time someone took all these 7"s and compiled them on a single collection, cuz like all the rest, this one is limited too, and will likely be gone before you know it.

SEGALL, TY Cents (Goner) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Good time to love the damaged and super charged garage prowess of Ty Segall as he's got great songs just gushing forth with a whole slew of new releases, most of which are of course crazy limited. There's his split with Thee Oh Sees, two new 7"s of his own, a split 12" with Black Time and a brand new full length coming soon on Goner. We were slow on the draw on the last round of TS 7"s which are sadly already out of print, so we're happy we were able to grab some of these before they disappeared too.
"Cents" is one of Segall's best songs yet and it'll probably be on his forthcoming full length too. Packed with infectious raw and dirty guitar and those slightly distorted yet crisp vocals, all coming together to make your body do the herky jerky. The 'b' side has two great fast and furious pop nuggets that are as timeless and potent as perfectly crafted garage rock gets. The kid is on fire!

SEGALL, TY Goodbye Bread (Drag City) cd 14.98
Album number four, from San Francisco's garage-pop mastermind Ty Segall. It wasn't that long ago when we talked about how much promise this young guy named Ty seemed to have, and now he's an internationally renowned force to be reckoned with, and this just happens to be his debut full length for Drag City. Segall has been climbing up the musical ladder the righteous way, not by hype or gimmicks, but by touring his ass off and releasing one great record after another.
Goodbye Bread, finds Ty continuing to really focus on being a songwriter who doesn't rely on feedback or distortion to create cool songs, but instead the skeletal core of these songs is where the real meat is stored. Many of these jams show a slower paced, more laid back and almost paisley psych-pop disposition. Sounding like a scrappy cross between Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, and Roky Erikson, yet none of it feeling like a put on and all of it delivered with an understated ease. Not to worry, there are still wonderful moments of fuzz and distortion, maybe more than ever, but those moments accent the album instead of shape it.
Ty has found ways to stay raw and spirited without having to hide behind a simple means of recording and playing. He's more than proved his mettle as one of the most captivating and commanding songwriters around. And no matter if the songs are slow or fast (we love how the last ten seconds of "My Head Explodes" morphs into the guitar shredding intensity of an early '80s hardcore-punk song) they all stick in our heads like crazy. It's funny that this is the most sneering and agitated recording he has made. Taking advantage of a slower pace in songs to amplify the moments of tension and release. It sounds so corporate rock magazine of us to say, but this really does sound like an amazing combination of Kurt Cobain's aesthetic and introspection mixed with Jack White's musical prowess and garage rock roots appreciation. But damn, just because they were/are huge doesn't mean being compared to Nirvana and The White Stripes is a bad thing, in fact it's fucking rad! Once again, Ty hits the mark RIGHT ON.
MPEG Stream: "Goodbye Bread"
MPEG Stream: "California Commercial"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Feel It"

SEGALL, TY Goodbye Bread (Drag City) lp 17.98
Album number four, from San Francisco's garage-pop mastermind Ty Segall. It wasn't that long ago when we talked about how much promise this young guy named Ty seemed to have, and now he's an internationally renowned force to be reckoned with, and this just happens to be his debut full length for Drag City. Segall has been climbing up the musical ladder the righteous way, not by hype or gimmicks, but by touring his ass off and releasing one great record after another.
Goodbye Bread, finds Ty continuing to really focus on being a songwriter who doesn't rely on feedback or distortion to create cool songs, but instead the skeletal core of these songs is where the real meat is stored. Many of these jams show a slower paced, more laid back and almost paisley psych-pop disposition. Sounding like a scrappy cross between Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, and Roky Erikson, yet none of it feeling like a put on and all of it delivered with an understated ease. Not to worry, there are still wonderful moments of fuzz and distortion, maybe more than ever, but those moments accent the album instead of shape it.
Ty has found ways to stay raw and spirited without having to hide behind a simple means of recording and playing. He's more than proved his mettle as one of the most captivating and commanding songwriters around. And no matter if the songs are slow or fast (we love how the last ten seconds of "My Head Explodes" morphs into the guitar shredding intensity of an early '80s hardcore-punk song) they all stick in our heads like crazy. It's funny that this is the most sneering and agitated recording he has made. Taking advantage of a slower pace in songs to amplify the moments of tension and release. It sounds so corporate rock magazine of us to say, but this really does sound like an amazing combination of Kurt Cobain's aesthetic and introspection mixed with Jack White's musical prowess and garage rock roots appreciation. But damn, just because they were/are huge doesn't mean being compared to Nirvana and The White Stripes is a bad thing, in fact it's fucking rad! Once again, Ty hits the mark RIGHT ON.
MPEG Stream: "Goodbye Bread"
MPEG Stream: "California Commercial"
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Feel It"

SEGALL, TY Horn The Unicorn (HBSP-2X) lp 16.98
Awesome odds and ends collection from mighty lo-fi garage rocker, Ty Segall. Horn The Unicorn includes his first cassette which forecasted the fucked up brilliance to come, as well as the recent and way out of print Skin 7" which we never managed to get. Also within the grooves of Horn The Unicorn, you'll find Segall's songs from a split cassette with Superstitions, as well as a few tracks that have never appeared anywhere else before.
By this point you probably already know that when it comes to impassioned, stripped to its core and way in the red garage rock it just doesn't get a whole lot better or more exciting then Ty Segall. It's pretty awesome to see how hard Segall is working, playing shows in town almost every week solo or in one of his bands, and busting out new songs at the same ferocious speed without sacrificing quality. You might recognize a few of these tracks even if you didn't get to hear them in their original incarnations the first time around, as some of them have been re-recorded and reworked on both of Segall's proper albums. We have to say though, that we kind of love how those songs sound here in their original even more raw form. While this collection gives folks a chance to grab so many songs that have gone out of print, there's no saying how long this vinyl collection will stay in print itself so better act fast to avoid losing out again.

SEGALL, TY I Can't Feel It (Drag City) 7" 5.98
Just in time for summertime, it's two new jams from San Francisco's finest garage rock wunderkid, Ty Segall. Both of these tracks prove once again that Ty doesn't even need to be lo-fi or or in the red to sound super rad, cuz the fact is he can write seriously and undeniably damn good songs. Both of these tracks have a sun soaked and dusty quality that burns with such a nice slow sizzle. Hot on the heels of his record store day release of T. Rex covers, you can tell Ty's been basking in some '60s and '70s psych glory as of late. There are nice echoes of Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, and Moby Grape in these two tracks. Whether his songs are full throttle rockers or more mellow and spaced out like these two are, they always sound so damn good!

SEGALL, TY Lemons (Goner Records) cd 13.98
We've been in love with the raw passionate sounds of Ty Segall ever since we first heard him, his sound channeling the best of garage punk's past while sounding so immediate and charismatic and heartfelt, with a distinctive style all his own.
Lemons is his newest full length and it once again proves that we're going to be hearing great music from TS for so many years to come. One of those rare examples of someone who has both technical talent (a shredder on the guitar, perhaps that's why he's recently been recruited as a member of Sic Alps!), but he also understands that less can be so much more than, well... more! Stripping away the fat and keeping only the notes and sounds that matter, stripped down and urgent, lean and mean. While Lemons does contain the fast and blasting way blown out sound that he's become known for, we're also happy to hear a few slower songs that demonstrate he can really write strong and irresistible songs that get jammed in your head. Lots of Lemons has us imagining raw demos of Nirvana jamming out covers of the Sonics and tracks from the first Redd Kross record. Whether soaked in psychedelic fuzzed out acid garage rock or bursting with infectious melody and surf rock undertones, all the disparate elements on Lemons come together for such a potent result. Much like his buddies Thee Oh Sees, Segall's massive output of totally great songs of late proves that the he is still totally on fire!
MPEG Stream: "Standing At The Station"
MPEG Stream: " Lovely One"
MPEG Stream: "Cents"
MPEG Stream: "Die Tonight"
MPEG Stream: ""

SEGALL, TY Lemons (Goner Records) lp 14.98
We've been in love with the raw passionate sounds of Ty Segall ever since we first heard him, his sound channeling the best of garage punk's past while sounding so immediate and charismatic and heartfelt, with a distinctive style all his own.
Lemons is his newest full length and it once again proves that we're going to be hearing great music from TS for so many years to come. One of those rare examples of someone who has both technical talent (a shredder on the guitar, perhaps that's why he's recently been recruited as a member of Sic Alps!), but he also understands that less can be so much more than, well... more! Stripping away the fat and keeping only the notes and sounds that matter, stripped down and urgent, lean and mean. While Lemons does contain the fast and blasting way blown out sound that he's become known for, we're also happy to hear a few slower songs that demonstrate he can really write strong and irresistible songs that get jammed in your head. Lots of Lemons has us imagining raw demos of Nirvana jamming out covers of the Sonics and tracks from the first Redd Kross record. Whether soaked in psychedelic fuzzed out acid garage rock or bursting with infectious melody and surf rock undertones, all the disparate elements on Lemons come together for such a potent result. Much like his buddies Thee Oh Sees, Segall's massive output of totally great songs of late proves that the he is still totally on fire!
MPEG Stream: "Standing At The Station"
MPEG Stream: " Lovely One"
MPEG Stream: "Cents"
MPEG Stream: "Die Tonight"
MPEG Stream: ""

SEGALL, TY Live In Aisle Five (Southpaw) lp 15.98
At this point we really don't need to go on and on about why we love Ty Segall so much. If you go back to all the records we've reviewed you'll get a sense of how much his raw, impassioned garage rock really moves us. With the release of his first proper live album, we can reflect on how lucky we are being right here in SF and getting so many chances to see him play, so this record is a chance for everyone else to hear what they've been missing...
Whether its a house party, a small club, or an impromptu jam, whenever Segall plays live he lays it all on the line. Being able to perfectly mix his impeccable guitar playing alongside unhinged spirit and sparks of kinetic energy.
Recorded live this past summer just down the street from aQ, at Amnesia, this is a perfect representation of the fierce power of the Ty Segall live experience. The set-list pulls from Ty's three albums as well as a brand new jam and a couple scuzzy covers of tracks by G.G. Allin and the Vibrators.
Limited to 1,000 copies, best to jump on this before its too late.

SEGALL, TY Melted (Goner) cd 13.98
While Ty Segall may be as prolific as they come when it comes to 7"s, splits, and collaborations, a new one seemingly coming out monthly, weekly even, faster then we can keep up with, there's still something so special, thought out, and so damn satisfying about Segall's full-length albums proper.
Especially this new one. No longer can you just reduce a summarization of his music as 'way blown out lo-fi garage radness.' Although that's definitely some of it, but Segall has begun to widen his scope in such thrilling ways. Melted finds his sound more punchy, a dizzying mix of psychedelic, pop, surf, gritty rhythm & blues, punk rock, in fact the album opener is a perfect example, it begins all fey and jangly, but then the guitar kicks in, surprisingly heavy and crunchy, swaggery and sorta bad ass, big loud drums, and then suddenly, a super tripped out squiggly synth solo! The second track too, begins all acoustic guitar, until in comes a groovy walking bassline, and it's total sixties jangle pop that finishes off in a flurry of fluttery flutes....
From the very beginning of the record, the whole thing takes such awesome twists and turns, getting all tweaked and super far out right when you might expect straight ahead jangle, and getting all poppy and heartfelt, right when it sounds like it was gonna explode into chaotic whatthefuckness. Alongside influences like The Gories, Thee Headcoats, and The Sonics, you can even hear some Led Zeppelin, albeit stripped of its excess and indulgence and boiled down to its primitive and riveting core, kind of what it felt like when we heard The White Stripes for the first time. Not reinventing the wheel for sure, but instead pressing the pedal to the metal and spinning all four wheels in a frenzy of unfettered creativity, OWNING these sounds, making totally original music out of borrowed bits, and blowing away so many of the bands around him in the process. Along with that intensity, Segall has a crazy knack for incredible hooks, deep rooted melodies, crafting perfect pop all wrapped up in fiery, fierce rocking crunch.
"Girlfriend" may just be song of the year! It's impossible not to listen to it over and over from the beginning with Ty growling and then it bursting into one of the most catchy, sweat inducing, body shaking songs ever, the sort of jam you would want to put on every mix tape you make. As always, Segall writes and plays just about every note of music himself on the album, but there are some nice moments where his friends lend a helping hand, like John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees laying down some FLUTE on "Caesar", and Mike Donovan from Sic Alps adding vox, as well as some guitar on a couple tracks, including the absurd blown out brilliance of the simple yet so totally addictive "Mike D's Coke". And on tracks like "Imaginary Person" it's like this awesome blend of early Adam & The Ants crossed with The Misfits for an all out sonic showdown.
Segall has a found a way to bring together primitive and powerful stripped down Bo Diddley-like energy and a very honest and sincere emotional undercurrent in his songs that convinces us that once this latest lo-fi garage revival dies down, Segall will still be making engaging, moving and truthful sounds. He is for real!
MPEG Stream: "Finger"
MPEG Stream: "Ceasar"
MPEG Stream: "Girlfriend"
MPEG Stream: "Mike D's Coke"

SEGALL, TY Melted (Goner) lp 14.98
This recent Record Of The Week, NOW ON VINYL!!!
While Ty Segall may be as prolific as they come when it comes to 7"s, splits, and collaborations, a new one seemingly coming out monthly, weekly even, faster then we can keep up with, there's still something so special, thought out, and so damn satisfying about Segall's full-length albums proper.
Especially this new one. No longer can you just reduce a summarization of his music as 'way blown out lo-fi garage radness.' Although that's definitely some of it, but Segall has begun to widen his scope in such thrilling ways. Melted finds his sound more punchy, a dizzying mix of psychedelic, pop, surf, gritty rhythm & blues, punk rock, in fact the album opener is a perfect example, it begins all fey and jangly, but then the guitar kicks in, surprisingly heavy and crunchy, swaggery and sorta bad ass, big loud drums, and then suddenly, a super tripped out squiggly synth solo! The second track too, begins all acoustic guitar, until in comes a groovy walking bassline, and it's total sixties jangle pop that finishes off in a flurry of fluttery flutes....
From the very beginning of the record, the whole thing takes such awesome twists and turns, getting all tweaked and super far out right when you might expect straight ahead jangle, and getting all poppy and heartfelt, right when it sounds like it was gonna explode into chaotic whatthefuckness. Alongside influences like The Gories, Thee Headcoats, and The Sonics, you can even hear some Led Zeppelin, albeit stripped of its excess and indulgence and boiled down to its primitive and riveting core, kind of what it felt like when we heard The White Stripes for the first time. Not reinventing the wheel for sure, but instead pressing the pedal to the metal and spinning all four wheels in a frenzy of unfettered creativity, OWNING these sounds, making totally original music out of borrowed bits, and blowing away so many of the bands around him in the process. Along with that intensity, Segall has a crazy knack for incredible hooks, deep rooted melodies, crafting perfect pop all wrapped up in fiery, fierce rocking crunch.
"Girlfriend" may just be song of the year! It's impossible not to listen to it over and over from the beginning with Ty growling and then it bursting into one of the most catchy, sweat inducing, body shaking songs ever, the sort of jam you would want to put on every mix tape you make. As always, Segall writes and plays just about every note of music himself on the album, but there are some nice moments where his friends lend a helping hand, like John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees laying down some FLUTE on "Caesar", and Mike Donovan from Sic Alps adding vox, as well as some guitar on a couple tracks, including the absurd blown out brilliance of the simple yet so totally addictive "Mike D's Coke". And on tracks like "Imaginary Person" it's like this awesome blend of early Adam & The Ants crossed with The Misfits for an all out sonic showdown.
Segall has a found a way to bring together primitive and powerful stripped down Bo Diddley-like energy and a very honest and sincere emotional undercurrent in his songs that convinces us that once this latest lo-fi garage revival dies down, Segall will still be making engaging, moving and truthful sounds. He is for real!
MPEG Stream: "Finger"
MPEG Stream: "Ceasar"
MPEG Stream: "Girlfriend"
MPEG Stream: "Mike D's Coke"

SEGALL, TY s/t (Castle Face) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Holy shit this record totally floors us! We're not the most easily moved and impressed when it comes to most garage rock that we hear these days so a record really has to be packed with explosive energy and endless hooks to win us over, but oh my lord Ty Segall makes us want to be locked in a small and sweaty garage while he belts out his one man band jams and makes us jump and sweat and lose ourselves like only true rock n' roll has the power to do. We knew that Ty was something special ever since we heard his homemade and way out of print cassette Horn The Unicorn and saw him play in countless charming and kick ass bands (Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, etc.) all before even being 21 years old.
There is a difference between being retro and making music that is timeless and Ty Segall's full length debut falls perfectly in the latter category. This could have been recorded in '81, '91 or today and it would still hold up and blow us away. All the songs are around two minutes, no wasted space allowed, total urgency filled with punk spirit and pop songwriting chops that set him head and shoulders above so much of the current garage flock. We bet labels like Swami or In The Red wish they had put out this record and it makes such perfect sense that it's being released on Jon Dwyer's label as there is a similar spirit to the energetic and frantic sounds he created in The Coachwhips and the crafty songwriting and right on lo-fi production he employs with The Ohsees. Drenched in reverb and full of such a vibrant punch we hear hints of everything from Hasil Adkins to The Rip Offs and Thee Headcoatees but most of all we hear the emergence of one of the most exciting new voices in modern day, sweat soaked, soul filled rock n roll!
MPEG Stream: "Go Home"
MPEG Stream: "Oh Mary"
MPEG Stream: "So Alone"

SEGALL, TY s/t (Castle Face) lp 11.98
Now on Vinyl!
Holy shit this record totally floors us! We're not the most easily moved and impressed when it comes to most garage rock that we hear these days so a record really has to be packed with explosive energy and endless hooks to win us over, but oh my lord Ty Segall makes us want to be locked in a small and sweaty garage while he belts out his one man band jams and makes us jump and sweat and lose ourselves like only true rock n' roll has the power to do. We knew that Ty was something special ever since we heard his homemade and way out of print cassette Horn The Unicorn and saw him play in countless charming and kick ass bands (Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, etc.) all before even being 21 years old.
There is a difference between being retro and making music that is timeless and Ty Segall's full length debut falls perfectly in the latter category. This could have been recorded in '81, '91 or today and it would still hold up and blow us away. All the songs are around two minutes, no wasted space allowed, total urgency filled with punk spirit and pop songwriting chops that set him head and shoulders above so much of the current garage flock. We bet labels like Swami or In The Red wish they had put out this record and it makes such perfect sense that it's being released on Jon Dwyer's label as there is a similar spirit to the energetic and frantic sounds he created in The Coachwhips and the crafty songwriting and right on lo-fi production he employs with The Ohsees. Drenched in reverb and full of such a vibrant punch we hear hints of everything from Hasil Adkins to The Rip Offs and Thee Headcoatees but most of all we hear the emergence of one of the most exciting new voices in modern day, sweat soaked, soul filled rock n roll!
MPEG Stream: "Go Home"
MPEG Stream: "Oh Mary"
MPEG Stream: "So Alone"

SEGALL, TY Singles 2007-2010 (Goner) cd 13.98
Even though we reviewed a lot of em, we had no idea Segall had been cranking out singles at such a crazy clip, nearly 20 tracks from 2007-2010, and that's not even counting the full lengths. And if you're a faithful reader of the aQ list, you probably already know we're a huge fan of Segall's fuzzed out jangle and crunchy garage rock stomp, and it's kind of great to have em all gathered up in one place, especially considering that we somehow missed a whole bunch of these.
Just check out the opening salvo, "Where We Go", 90 seconds of fuzzy, murky jangle and pound, all murky and fuzzy, with some weird percussion and some reverby sing along vox... then there's "It", which is also pretty far out, super lo-fi, and way dynamic, with a strange stop start arrangement, and a KILLER chorus. And then "Sweets" which is of a classic garage groover, but if those three songs don't knock your socks off, well, there must be something wrong with you.
We could go track by track, but pretty much everything here kills, some highlights include "Caesar", which, starts out all strummy and jangly, with some seriously fuzzy bass, the vocals a reverbed croon, shifting into a falsetto here and there, at one point getting all tangled up in effects in a twisted distorted psychedelic freakout. There's even a super rocking PIANO SOLO! But all that stuff is just icing, on what is a killer hook, and a crazy catchy jam. And the B side from that 7", "Bullet Proof Nothing", which is a Simply Saucer cover, is a little more grimy and buzzy than "Caesar", sounding almost like the Stooges "Search And Destroy" slowed down to a garagey dirge, but again, Segall wraps that jangle and crunch around a hook most bands would kill for. There's also Segall's cover of Thee Oh Sees' "Maria Stacks", a song which might just be Andee's favorite Oh Sees jam, not just cuz it's hooky and catchy, but it also immortalizes AQ pal and amazing artist/zine-maker Maria Forde. Ty finds a way to make the song a bit more lo-fi and fucked up sounding while still holding on to the great melody that makes the original stick like it does. We also dig "Cents", which still ranks as one of our favorite Segall jams ever, but there's also "Booksmarts", which we had never heard before, but is definitely now also in the running for best Segall jam, in fact, the more we listen to this, the more contenders there seem to be. Lots of the A sides from various singles did end up on the full lengths, but some of these versions are pretty dramatically different. Segall also does a pretty killer version of the Gories' "I Think I've Had It", with some chiming jangly guitars, lo-fi drum pound, and some crazily distorted vox.
In addition to the singles, there are also a handful of demo tracks, which are gloriously low fidelity, the yelped reverbed vox super reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees, which makes sense as Segall and Thee Oh Sees have shared numerous stages and records, and all except one have never popped up anywhere before, and even in their raw form, sound as good as anything else here.
Obviously if you dig Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin and Bare Wires and the rest of that Bay Area garage rock crew, you probably already own most of Segall's records proper, and need this too (trust us), but if you somehow don't, this is as good a place to start as any!
MPEG Stream: "Where We Go"
MPEG Stream: "It"
MPEG Stream: "Sweets"
MPEG Stream: "Son Of Sam (Chain Gang)"
MPEG Stream: "Bullet Proof Nothing (Simply Saucer)"

SEGALL, TY Singles: 2007 - 2010 (Goner) 2lp 23.00
NOW ON VINYL!! Deluxe double lp pressed on 150 gram wax, includes MP3 downloads of the whole comp as well...
Even though we reviewed a lot of em, we had no idea Segall had been cranking out singles at such a crazy clip, nearly 20 tracks from 2007-2010, and that's not even counting the full lengths. And if you're a faithful reader of the aQ list, you probably already know we're a huge fan of Segall's fuzzed out jangle and crunchy garage rock stomp, and it's kind of great to have em all gathered up in one place, especially considering that we somehow missed a whole bunch of these.
Just check out the opening salvo, "Where We Go", 90 seconds of fuzzy, murky jangle and pound, all murky and fuzzy, with some weird percussion and some reverby sing along vox... then there's "It", which is also pretty far out, super lo-fi, and way dynamic, with a strange stop start arrangement, and a KILLER chorus. And then "Sweets" which is of a classic garage groover, but if those three songs don't knock your socks off, well, there must be something wrong with you.
We could go track by track, but pretty much everything here kills, some highlights include "Caesar", which, starts out all strummy and jangly, with some seriously fuzzy bass, the vocals a reverbed croon, shifting into a falsetto here and there, at one point getting all tangled up in effects in a twisted distorted psychedelic freakout. There's even a super rocking PIANO SOLO! But all that stuff is just icing, on what is a killer hook, and a crazy catchy jam. And the B side from that 7", "Bullet Proof Nothing", which is a Simply Saucer cover, is a little more grimy and buzzy than "Caesar", sounding almost like the Stooges "Search And Destroy" slowed down to a garagey dirge, but again, Segall wraps that jangle and crunch around a hook most bands would kill for. There's also Segall's cover of Thee Oh Sees' "Maria Stacks", a song which might just be Andee's favorite Oh Sees jam, not just cuz it's hooky and catchy, but it also immortalizes AQ pal and amazing artist/zine-maker Maria Forde. Ty finds a way to make the song a bit more lo-fi and fucked up sounding while still holding on to the great melody that makes the original stick like it does. We also dig "Cents", which still ranks as one of our favorite Segall jams ever, but there's also "Booksmarts", which we had never heard before, but is definitely now also in the running for best Segall jam, in fact, the more we listen to this, the more contenders there seem to be. Lots of the A sides from various singles did end up on the full lengths, but some of these versions are pretty dramatically different. Segall also does a pretty killer version of the Gories' "I Think I've Had It", with some chiming jangly guitars, lo-fi drum pound, and some crazily distorted vox.
In addition to the singles, there are also a handful of demo tracks, which are gloriously low fidelity, the yelped reverbed vox super reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees, which makes sense as Segall and Thee Oh Sees have shared numerous stages and records, and all except one have never popped up anywhere before, and even in their raw form, sound as good as anything else here.
Obviously if you dig Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin and Bare Wires and the rest of that Bay Area garage rock crew, you probably already own most of Segall's records proper, and need this too (trust us), but if you somehow don't, this is as good a place to start as any!
MPEG Stream: "Where We Go"
MPEG Stream: "It"
MPEG Stream: "Sweets"
MPEG Stream: "Son Of Sam (Chain Gang)"
MPEG Stream: "Bullet Proof Nothing (Simply Saucer)"

SEGALL, TY Spiders (Drag City) 7" 5.98
Ty Segall's Goodbye Bread record has been in constant rotation since it came out, so we were super psyched for this brand new single, but we were totally unprepared for what at first blush sounds like some crazy heavy noisy freakout, the title track opening with SUPER distorted guitar, all crunchy and in the red, which proved to be just a false start, but then the main riff comes in, and it too is totally heavy and sludgey, and we were convinced it was playing at the wrong speed, but no, this is just a dense slab of psychedelic garage pop heaviness, all murky and dirgey and almost doomy sounding, distorted echoey vox over that churning blown out riffage as well as some rad psychedelic guitar. The second track also has a bit of a false start, and while a bit more traditionally psychedelic and garage poppy, it too is petty noisy and distorted, lots of feedback, still a killer pop song, like the first one, just slathered in noisy distortion, and it sort of suits him.
The flipside is way more groovy and sixties garage rock sounding, fuzzy and poppy with a killer chorus that definitely reminds us of the recent Mikal Cronin Record Of The Week. This is definitely our new favorite single, and might even trump Goodbye Bread in terms of our favorite Ty Segall release. WAY recommended.

SEGALL, TY Universal Momma b/w 86'D (True Panther Sounds) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Good time to love the damaged and super charged garage prowess of Ty Segall as he's got great songs just gushing forth with a whole slew of new releases, most of which are of course crazy limited. There's his split with Thee Oh Sees, two new 7"s of his own, a split 12" with Black Time and a brand new full length coming soon on Goner. We were slow on the draw on the last round of TS 7"s which are sadly already out of print, so we're happy we were able to grab some of these before they disappeared too.
"Universal Momma" finds Ty exploring a more slowed down and drugged out vibe with a Roky Erikson sound heavy in its grooves and the title isn't just some rock talk, his mama Cherrie Segal actually co-wrote the song with him. The flip side "86'd" is also a bit more on the midtempo side proving Segall's far from a one trick pony, instead he's a seriously immediate and satisfying garage rock songwriter and is one of the folks helping the current scene sound so vibrant and alive. Limited to 500 of which we only have a handful.

SEGALL, TY & MIKAL CRONIN Reverse Shark Attack (Kill Shaman) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
No doubt about it, Ty Segall is really one of our favorite garage rockers around. We're lucky enough to get to see him play all the time and the incredible sweat and energy of his live shows manages to seep its way into his recordings as pretty much every slab of wax he's released has delivered way raw fucked up garage rock at its absolute best!
Teamed up with his pal Mikal Cronin, the two take things to even more of a blasted and fractured state of garage mayhem with Reverse Shark Attack, tons of moments that remind us of the amazing thrashing garage pop scorch of the great Japanese band Acid Eater or some dream universe where Syd Barrett got to jam out Brainbombs covers. In fact they do an amazing cover of the Barrett era Pink Floyd gem "Take Up The Stethoscope And Walk" - it was so rad when we played this in the store for the first time and an enthusiastic customer screamed out "Who is doing some serious fucking justice to the spirit of Syd Barrett right now!?" and we totally understand where that impassioned and immediate reaction comes from! Segall continues to tap into the kind of music making that truly grabs a hold of your body to give you a totally enthralling pure and raw physical experience. We had heard an awesome 7" these two did together earlier in the year that sadly we weren't able to get our hands on, and it seems that Cronin really encourages Segall to go more into the outer limits of sound than on his own and we have to say we really love it! And we pretty much love any and all of what Ty does whether it's the amazing pop hooks he's capable of creating in his great songs on his proper solo albums or when he totally just goes way free and enters a total garage freak-out state that goes way beyond fuzz, like the tracks on Reverse Shark Attack. So rad!

SEGALL, TY / BLACK TIME split (Telephone Explosion) lp 14.98
We couldn't highlight this awesome split when we listed it a couple weeks ago as we were told it had gone out of print! Well apparently they just pressed some more of them as we were able to get a handful again, yay! So, a re-listing is in order.
It's been raining Ty Segall the last few weeks with a slew of rad vinyl offerings that have flown out the door. This new split LP with Black Time finds Ty at his most raw and rocking! Seven brand new songs including a smoking cover of The Dwarves "Be A Caveman" from back in their total garage punk days. Black Time were new to our ears and they definitely prove that London can get raw and fuzzy with the best of them, as their way lo-fi and in-the-red sound make them a perfect match for Segall. Maybe a bit more punk in sound and aesthetic then TS while still totally tapping into the more damaged and distorted side of primitive garage punk. Such a good time to be a fan of raw and impassioned garage rock cause folks like Ty and Black Time are totally coming correct.

SEGUNDO, COMPAY Calle Salud (Nonesuch) cd 16.98
The second lovely Nonesuch solo disc for Mr. Segundo, a Buena Vista Social Club veteran. Chalk another one up for all these elderly Cuban fellows now getting their due.

SEGUNDO, COMPAY Lo Mejor de la Vida (Nonesuch/Elektra) cd 16.98
Buena Vista Social Club alumnus Compay Segundo plays the armonico, an instrument of his own creation which combines the guitar and the tres -- the armonica has seven strings but only six tones, which produces its unique sound. An oldtimer who's an alumnus of the legendary Trio Matamoros, Segundo recorded this record in Havana in 1997.

SEHT Antarctica Download Form (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another classic slab of dark dreamy drone from Stephen Clover aka Seht. The title definitely hints at what you'll find on this here disc: a slow moving glacial drone, icy and crystalline, throbbing and reverberating, shifting and swirling, barely there but somehow totally and gorgeously suffocating. Lush layers of sound, piled atop one another, as we watch each layer slowly merge with the one beneath it, sonic tendrils surreptitiously exploring the layers around it, until all the layers are inexorably linked, a slowly squirming intertangled mass, dreamy and hypnotic, but haunting and foreboding as well. The second track threw us for a loop though, when a seemingly out of place shuffling drum beat kicked in, all dubbed out and effected, which at first seemed totally distracting, but quickly drew us in with its propulsive throb, and the whole thing quickly becomes some sort of gorgeously alien krautrock. Really cool.
MPEG Stream: "Phone Order"
MPEG Stream: "Despoiler Pt. 2"

SEHT Communion Longplayer (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another mysterious outfit on Celebrate PSi Phenomenon, who we've come to love, if not know entirely. How could we? Each record is a huge expanse of mysterious sound. A barely there sonic travelogue, a slow motion trip through a foggy and murky underbelly. As if somehow we figured out how to sneak behind all of the records ever made. Hidden behind the grand facades of commercial radio and punk rock rebellion and experimental noodling, is a vast expanse of concrete hallways that seem to go on into infinity, in every direction, even down. Tiny sounds echo through the halls forever, making it impossible to discern when the original was made, ten minutes ago? Ten years? A thousand? A dark and creepy seemingly endless glacial drift, the hum of machinery can be heard, just barely, through the thousands of feet that separate these deserted halls from the surface. The distant chirping of some tiny underground insect sometimes intrudes on the shimmering stillness, but just as soon drifts away, leaving ghostlike traces of sounds, and far away impressions of melodies that once were.
MPEG Stream: "Drinks After Work"
MPEG Stream: "Van Allen's Belt"

SEHT Dead Bees (Pseudo Arcana) cd 13.98
Brand new disc of free drone weirdness from long time aQ fave Seht, aka Stephen Clover, whose discs never disappoint, whether he's crafting long form minimal dronemusic, or kicking up a clattery freerock buzz, Dead Bees is a little of both, two looooong tracks, the first a super minimal dronejam of deep soft shimmers and warm warbly whirs, that begins soft but gradually gains momentum, and along with that momentum, layers of gradually thickening whir, what begins as a barely there whisper quickly transforms into a heaving slab of rumbling static heaviness, eventually introducing some unlikely melody to the mix, the sound suddenly almost orchestral, a layer of horn like drone draped over the undulating lowend backdrop, the grit and buzz and fuzz slowly sloughing off eventually leaving a smooth stretch of soft soft shimmer.
The second track, another long one, is much more active, beginning with some random clatter, and slowly transforming into a weird pulsing circusy abstract pulse, with strange haunting melodies, almost like Chain Reaction via a New Zealand 4-track, soon the playful pulse is enveloped in a cloud of hiss, creating a haunting gauzy throbbing drift that is both mesmerizing and mysteriously unclassifiable. And once again, the hiss dissipates, leaving a warm whirling warble that slowly settles into a dark, dreamlike drift.
MPEG Stream: "One Moment"

SEHT Dronemusic (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We at AQ have long been fans of Campbell Kneale and his project Birchville Cat Motel who along with the Dead C, Omit, Gate and a handful of others have helped to define one of the richest free-rock-noise-drone scenes in the world. For years Kneale has been releasing cds, lps and cassettes (most of them quite limited) of noisy electronic soundscapes and gorgeous organic drones. So when we discovered Kneale also ran a label, we figured it was definitely worth checking out. And how right we were. Not only is all of the music on Celebrate Psi Phenomena amazing, but the packaging is perfectly and stunningly designed as well (quite nice considering this is a cd-r label. See our crappy cd-r packaging rants in the last three or four lists) with each cd in a plastic sleeve nestled between two sheets of old fashioned textured wallpaper, printed, and sealed with a gold star.
Dronemusic indeed. Seht is one Steven Clover, who has released a handful of limited lathe cuts under different names. On 'Dronemusic' Clover crafts deep, rich sonorous drone music, seemingly simple but lush with harmonic overtones. As the record progresses, the drone becomes less and less obvious, from looped guitars and spastic rhythmic guitars to vaccuum cleaner drones and distorted woofer rumble to super austere almost Bernard Gunter-esque minimal dronescapes.
RealAudio clip: "The Dark Room"

SEHT Federacy Boot (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 12.98
Latest cd-r from NZ sound sculptor Stephen Clover otherwise known as Seht. Three tracks, nearly an hour of soft sonic sweetness, warm beds of barely there glitch and click underpin thick rich billowy clouds of cotton candy like organ drones, airy and slowly shifting and overlapping, melodies ghostlike and nearly transparent. Occasionally the organ drifts off leaving a strange hissing minimal fuzz, dense and rife with subtle rhythm and not quite melodies, like some muted guitar riff pulled apart and spread out into a delicate gauze. Or like an alien insect buzzing out some simple message, expressing itself in subtle shades of grey. The final half hour track begins as soft swell of keening high end trill before dispensing with the subtle shadings altogether, allowing the organ to step forward and offer up huge thick swirls of sound, still peppered with subtle glitches and unlikely hiccups and jumpcuts, this is like some epic Charlemagne Palestine jam, but played through a PA with faulty wiring, a stuttery soundscape of warm organ melody and implied rhythmic interference. So cool.
MPEG Stream: "Old Feet Pt. 1"
MPEG Stream: "Old Feet Pt. 2"

SEHT Goodbye, America & Have A Nice Day (Pseudo Arcana) cd-r 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is a sort-of-reinterpretation of the amazing 'Dronemusic' cd-r released on a while back on Celebrate Psi Phenomena. This is very minimal with lots of incidental clatter and totally random noise. Sounds a bit like some guy cleaning/re-arranging his kitchen, with lots of thumps and bumps and clicks and even some bird calls(!). After about 10 minutes, the drones finally make their presence known. Joined gradually by warbly guitars and wisos of melodies. But almost as soon as they're there, they diappear again. Then it's back to the ambient clatter, discussions, room sound. A reverby piano or buzzing harpsichord surface occasionally, but it always seems to return to our house cleaning, room tidying protagonist. Very strange...
RealAudio clip: "Goodbye America And Have A Nice Day"

SEHT Guyrz Nz You Are Thus Alienated (Ruralfaune) cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest release from NZ free drone sound sculptor Seht, aka Stephen Clover. A single 34 minute track,
a lengthy soundscape of slow burn decay and abstract shimmer. The first 17 minutes are an ultra minimal crawl, through a bleak landscape of barely audible keyboard sputter and amp buzz. Distant grinding gears of some murky machine, drifting strands of simple guitar strum floating to and fro, before everything coalesces into a thick twisting snarl of corrosive drone and reverberating rumble before drifting back into another extended tranquil drift. Haunting and quite gorgeous.
A hand decorated cd-r packaged with a cool textured paper sleeve with iridescent designs on one side, and a full color insert. And as with lots of things like this, it's also unfortunately criminally limited. How limited?
LIMITED TO 86 COPIES!!! We got a handful. Once those are gone, we won't be able to get more...
MPEG Stream: "Guyrz Nz You Are Thus Alienated"

SEHT Sputnik II (Diagnosis...Don't! ) 3"cd-r 6.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
One of three new 3" cd-r releases on the Grey Daturas' Diagnosis ... Don't! label, each super limited, and housed in cool hand made packaging.
Of all the noisemakers from New Zealand and Australia, Seht, aka Stephen Clover, is by far the dreamiest and droniest and -least- noisy. Which might be why he holds such a special place in our hearts. And ears. Every Seht disc is a gloriously blissed out tranquil exploration of some deep dark ambient wonderland. There's nothing harsh or heavy, caustic or corrosive, instead, listening to Seht is like drifting through space, or floating a hundred feet below the surface of some clear blue sea. Everything shimmers and sparkles, flows and swirls, the sounds are soft and delicate, distant and dreamy, ethereal and indistinct. Soft focus and beautifully blurry. And this little three inch is no different. Gorgeous and serene. This disc definitely feels like a dark drift along the ocean floor, due to the haunting sonar-like pulse that permeates the whole track, it's not at all distracting though, just the contrary, very hypnotic and soothing, an organic, super minimal pulse, a barely there framework for the slow shifting liquid drones.
AS ALWAYS, ULTRA SUPER LIMITED!! We only got about 30, and probably won't be able to get more...
Packaged in thick textured paper black mini 3" sleeves, with a printed (band name, label info, liner notes) Japanese style obi. Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Sputnik II (excerpt)"

SEHT The Green Morning (Digitalis) cd 12.98
Another amazing sonic document from one of our favorite sound makers, NZ outfit Seht, aka dronelord Stephen Clover. The Green Morning picks up right where the recently reviewed Federacy Boot left off. If anything it's even darker and dreamier, which is quite a task considering how much we dug the last one. Opening the proceedings is a gorgeously lugubrious soundscape of slow subterranean rumbles, a glacial low end shimmer, that gradually begins to allow dreamy song fragments to surface, just barely breaking the surface, before slowly going under again, a droning dreamlike voyage across a thick fuzzy sonic sea. In fact the first three tracks here all sort of follow the same template: a lengthy barely shifting slab of densely layered deep dark drones, while beneath all sorts of random melodic fragments and sonic debris drift and bob. Almost like a thirty minute three part epic. The second to last track is less droney as it is dreamy, the bulk of the song is a murky melody, smeared into a shape so indistinct it almost does become a drone, but somehow hovers just this side, very underwater sounding, almost like a slowed down Oval, with a strange slow motion rhythm picked out by a sporadic glitchy crunch, like footsteps on gravel. The final track is a 20 minute epic, that returns to the sonic theme of the opening trilogy, but manages to go even deeper and slower and more abstract, delivering a delicate drone that barely shifts, just sort of pulses gently, the whole thing wrapped in a barely there layer of sparkling static.
MPEG Stream: "Valles Marineris"
MPEG Stream: "Olympus Mons"

SEHT The Voice Of The Taniwha (Last Visible Dog) cd 12.98
Seht are a modern New Zealand outfit carrying on the tradition of what was once referred to as NZ noise. A good simplified scene summary perhaps, but not all that accurate. In the eighties and nineties, there was an explosion of small labels and loads of bands in New Zealand, all exploring sound in similarly unique ways, but all inhabiting their own unique sonic space. From the clattery free noise of the Dead C and Gate, to the jangle pop of almost every Flying Nun band, to the avant minimalism of groups like Omit and A Handful Of Dust. And the cool thing about the scene, was that the pop bands incorporated occasional swaths of noise and bursts of chaos, and the 'noise' bands were not above introducing a bit of poppiness here and there. Seht fall somewhere in the middle of all those groups, not really crafting songs as much as 'pieces' or maybe more accurately assemblages of sounds, but in doing so, using traditional instruments often guitars, In fact the steel string acoustic guitar is sort of a them running throughout the whole record, picking out simple melodies, while beneath, drones rumble and whir, snippets of conversations surface, as do occasional bursts of static and noise. Collages of found sounds become hypnotic drones, running water becomes a tranquil stretch of dreamy ambience, samples of laughter become a dada-ist sound poem, some strange percussive melody played on a buzzing stringed instrument becomes a lost snippet of unlikely 'world' music, and creaking industrial clatter becomes a strangely tribal exploration of sound and space. NZ noise indeed!
MPEG Stream: "Make The Baby Jesus Cry Some More"
MPEG Stream: "Ac Gtr. #2"
MPEG Stream: "(Middle Eight)"

SEHT & STELZER Exactly What You Lost (Intransitive) cd 12.98
AQ fave Seht (aka Stephen Clover, who is all over this week's list, also appearing as part of The Stumps) teams up with East Coast sound maker Howard Stelzer for an intercontinental drone drift long distance relationship, and the results are absolutely divine. Both are masters of crumbling decayed ambience and slow shifting organic drones, both of which are present and accounted for on Exactly What You Lost. Field recordings, old tape loops, old tape recorders, all contribute to the gorgeously frayed soundscapes. Thick warm swells shimmer and slowly expand, the louder they get, the more they seem to crumble and dissipate, until the tones becomes staticky blasts of garbled sonic interference. Haunting faded melodies drift through dense clouds of abstract whir, all wreathed in a druggy haze, bits of tape manipulated into strange rhythms and textures, all leading up to the nearly half hour long final track, the darkest and heaviest on the record, a slow drift through a blissed out fuzz drenched universe, drifting in a slow orbit around both the Earth and the SUNNO))), floating on thick swells of downtuned thrum, a crumbling mass of glacial guitar, ominous, foreboding, but also strangely pretty, eventually emerging into a more serene soundworld of murky shimmer, oscillating overtones and strange footstep-like percussion. Mysterious, and quite cool!
MPEG Stream: "Two"
MPEG Stream: "Three"

SEIDR For Winter Fire (The Flenser) cd 9.98
Featuring one part Kentucky crusty black metallers Panopticon, and one part Kentucky blacknoise buzzers Wheels Within Wheels, one might not have expected something so melodic, but for all its melody, the debut from Seidr is also a crushingly heavy slab of doooooooooom. Laced liberally with post rock, shoegaze, blackdrone, and really pretty much anything else these guys felt like mixing in. The good news is that somehow, even with all of those disparate elements, the final sound is so much more than its constituent parts.
The tracks are long, and they build slow, the guitars spidery and softly reverby, the drums tribal, eventually exploding into thick swaths of blackened doom, the guitars grinding and chugging, the drums pounding, the vocals a demonic bellow, but even once the heaviness ensues, those spidery guitar melodies keep right on, intertwining with the heavier chug and churn, transforming what would otherwise be more standard doom/sludge into something weirdly washed out and sort of pretty. And yeah, we know you're not supposed to describe stuff this heavy as pretty, but fuck it, we're pretty sure that's what these guys were going for, the perfect balance of extreme heaviness and delicate melody.
The obvious comparisons will be Neurosis, Isis, Pelican, even Asunder and Agalloch, but Seidr's sound is way more black and way more doooooooomy, plus there's definitely plenty of Mogwai and Godspeed and Explosions In The Sky going on as well, which is fine with us. The sound is darkly emotional, heavy as fuck, and super melodic, even at its heaviest, the sound manages to exude emotion and melody, which is rare, especially without losing any of its heft, Seidr definitely seem like the oddball on Flenser, which has so far trafficked pretty much exclusively in black metal, but Seidr's sound is still pretty black, and hell, maybe this is the band that gets Flenser noticed beyond the grim kvlt underground. Although, that said, for all of Seidr's post rockisms, and melody, they're far from being anywhere close to mainstream, this is still some seriously twister, blackened postrock black doom heaviness, and we're digging it big time.
MPEG Stream: "A Vision From Hlidskjalf"
MPEG Stream: "On The Shoulders Of The Gods"

SEIJAKU Mail From FUSHITSUSHA (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
FUSHITSUSHA! No, that wasn't a sneeze. We're trying to get your attention, if you're into that band, Fushitsusha. Those of us here who are big Keiji Haino fans (and we're talking BIG fans), will readily admit that while we love all of the Tokyo psych shaman-in-shades' multi-instrumental solo outings (including solos for guitar, hurdy gurdy, percussion, and electronics) and various collaborative efforts (with Pan Sonic, KK Null, Boris, Sitaar Tah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Merzbow, etc.), it's really his best-known band, the legendary Fushitsusha, that got us into Keiji in the first place, and that we love the most. Avant-garde, free-rock, garage-psych heaviness taking off from obvious sonic/spiritual '70s inspirations Les Rallizes Denudes into the realms something even more experimental and "outsider", a la the Dead C. Unfortunately for us, Fushitsusha disbanded some years ago. But at long last, we've got these, the simultaneously released TWO debut albums from Haino's new "permanent band", Seijaku. Like Fushitsusha, an improvisational power trio, led by Haino's amped up guitar. He's also on "blues harp" on one of these discs, steel guitar on the other, and of course trademark anguished vocals (or should we borrow the metal term vokills?). Besides Dark Lord Haino, the Seijaku trio consists of Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Korekoyjin, Sanhedolin) on bass, and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (Acid Mothers Temple, Nishinihon, ISO) on drums.
And yes, the "blues harp" does mean that the idea here is Haino & Co. playing "the blues". Or what the label suggests is a fusion of Delta blues, and Noh theater. But electric, very electric. And, well, Haino sure sounds like he's got the blues, bluer blues than any blues EVER, judging from how his guttural cries sound like each word is being tortuously torn not just from his throat, but from his very soul, as if it's the last thing he's ever going to be able to say, or scream, in this world. A striking contrast to his relatively calm and trad harmonica playing. But quite in keeping with sheets of feedbacky guitar skree, utterly Fushitsusha style, that Haino often unleashes. At other times, his guitar is a chiming, slashing, distorted twang, part of the fractured "blues" vibe, along with the plodding percussion and low end rumble that gives this an apocalyptic atmosphere indeed. Would Robert Johnson recognize this stumbling, staggering, scrabbling music as the blues? Well, he knew about dealing with the devil, right, so the vocals wouldn't faze him, and yeah we think might well appreciate the improvisational and spiritual aspects of the Seijaku sound. But beyond that...
Of the two discs, Mail from FUSHITSUSHA (bless you!) (it really is all caps in the disc's title) is the one that, according the Haino, represents "21st century blues". The title obviously makes the connection clear to Haino's earlier outfit, they're apparently "adhering to the Fushitsusha method", and the back cover credits Haino as the "originator". There's ten tracks, with titles like "Forced To Think You Love" and "Please Send Me A New Heart"... this one has a sheet of lyrics provided, in Japanese though, but we think we might get already have gotten an idea of what Haino is so down about.
Meanwhile, the 2nd of the two discs (by catalog number), You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens, with the whiter/lighter cover, is dedicated to "Albert King, The Doors, and Steppenwolf"! It's meant as Haino's tribute to the SPIRIT (if not exactly the sound) of 20th century blues, and is the one with his occasional harp blowing. It features four (long) tracks, titles include "Keep On Fighting" and "Look Over Here From The Other Side".
While each is a bit different, Mail From... with more short sharp shocks, You Should... stretching out soulfully, rollin' but mostly tumblin' hard, we're pretty certain that if you want one, you'll also want the other! Both come in handsome digipacks, like all Doubtmusic releases, of course.
MPEG Stream: "Forced To Think You Love"
MPEG Stream: "Not Too Bright (#1) "
MPEG Stream: "Humiliation To Be Selected To Come Down From Elsewhere"

SEIJAKU You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens (Doubtmusic) cd 24.00
FUSHITSUSHA! No, that wasn't a sneeze. We're trying to get your attention, if you're into that band, Fushitsusha. Those of us here who are big Keiji Haino fans (and we're talking BIG fans), will readily admit that while we love all of the Tokyo psych shaman-in-shades' multi-instrumental solo outings (including solos for guitar, hurdy gurdy, percussion, and electronics) and various collaborative efforts (with Pan Sonic, KK Null, Boris, Sitaar Tah, Tatsuya Yoshida, Merzbow, etc.), it's really his best-known band, the legendary Fushitsusha, that got us into Keiji in the first place, and that we love the most. Avant-garde, free-rock, garage-psych heaviness taking off from obvious sonic/spiritual '70s inspirations Les Rallizes Denudes into the realms something even more experimental and "outsider", a la the Dead C. Unfortunately for us, Fushitsusha disbanded some years ago. But at long last, we've got these, the simultaneously released TWO debut albums from Haino's new "permanent band", Seijaku. Like Fushitsusha, an improvisational power trio, led by Haino's amped up guitar. He's also on "blues harp" on one of these discs, steel guitar on the other, and of course trademark anguished vocals (or should we borrow the metal term vokills?). Besides Dark Lord Haino, the Seijaku trio consists of Nasuno Mitsuru (Altered States, Korekoyjin, Sanhedolin) on bass, and Ichiraku Yoshimitsu (Acid Mothers Temple, Nishinihon, ISO) on drums.
And yes, the "blues harp" does mean that the idea here is Haino & Co. playing "the blues". Or what the label suggests is a fusion of Delta blues, and Noh theater. But electric, very electric. And, well, Haino sure sounds like he's got the blues, bluer blues than any blues EVER, judging from how his guttural cries sound like each word is being tortuously torn not just from his throat, but from his very soul, as if it's the last thing he's ever going to be able to say, or scream, in this world. A striking contrast to his relatively calm and trad harmonica playing. But quite in keeping with sheets of feedbacky guitar skree, utterly Fushitsusha style, that Haino often unleashes. At other times, his guitar is a chiming, slashing, distorted twang, part of the fractured "blues" vibe, along with the plodding percussion and low end rumble that gives this an apocalyptic atmosphere indeed. Would Robert Johnson recognize this stumbling, staggering, scrabbling music as the blues? Well, he knew about dealing with the devil, right, so the vocals wouldn't faze him, and yeah we think might well appreciate the improvisational and spiritual aspects of the Seijaku sound. But beyond that...
Of the two discs, Mail from FUSHITSUSHA (bless you!) (it really is all caps in the disc's title) is the one that, according the Haino, represents "21st century blues". The title obviously makes the connection clear to Haino's earlier outfit, they're apparently "adhering to the Fushitsusha method", and the back cover credits Haino as the "originator". There's ten tracks, with titles like "Forced To Think You Love" and "Please Send Me A New Heart"... this one has a sheet of lyrics provided, in Japanese though, but we think we might get already have gotten an idea of what Haino is so down about.
Meanwhile, the 2nd of the two discs (by catalog number), You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens, with the whiter/lighter cover, is dedicated to "Albert King, The Doors, and Steppenwolf"! It's meant as Haino's tribute to the SPIRIT (if not exactly the sound) of 20th century blues, and is the one with his occasional harp blowing. It features four (long) tracks, titles include "Keep On Fighting" and "Look Over Here From The Other Side".
While each is a bit different, Mail From... with more short sharp shocks, You Should... stretching out soulfully, rollin' but mostly tumblin' hard, we're pretty certain that if you want one, you'll also want the other! Both come in handsome digipacks, like all Doubtmusic releases, of course.
MPEG Stream: "Want To Head Back"
MPEG Stream: "Keep On Fighting"
MPEG Stream: "Showa Blues"

SEIKAZOKU Live In Japan (Vivo ) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanophile AQ-customers may already be familiar with Seikazoku, or at least with work of the three individual musicians that make up this band: Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Korekyojin, Koenji-hyakkei, Akaten, etc.), Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple this, Acid Mothers Temple that, etc.), and Tsuyama Atsushi (Omoide Hatoba, Akaten, Acid Mothers Temple, Zoffy, etc.)! So you'll expect what you get here, psych-drone-freakout weirdness improvised on a multitude of instruments, live in Japan like it says. Some of the 13 tracks on this disc are drifting, mellow krauty jams with hippie hand-percussion, electronics, and fake throat-singing (courtesy of goofy vocal specialist Tsuyama we think, though we know Yoshida is capable of some fairly over-the-top vocals as well). But then there's also the other side of the Seikazoku coin: spazzy jazzy manic meltdowns at greater volume and velocity. It's all got a bit of an indulgent ADD vibe, and might be an easier listen if they stuck to one mood (if not the other). We'd say the primitive bliss of the mellower tracks would be the way to go. But there is indeed a lot of crazed chaos here, so those of you who share their silly, hairy mania should dig the whole set.
MPEG Stream: "track 2"
MPEG Stream: "track 7"