SENTRIDOH Wasted Pieces '87 -'93 (Shrimper) cd 13.98
The last of the Sentridoh cassettes to find its way onto compact disc is "Wasted Pieces" and accordingly has been reissued with a bunch of extra tracks, all culled from another cassette called "Most Of The Worst And Some Of The Best." Sentridoh has been the outlet for Lou Barlow of Sebadoh and Folk Implosion, taking those two projects' lo-fi, home-taping ethos even further into the bedroom, as Sentridoh was pretty much always just Lou, his guitar, his four-track, and his miserable life exposed for our entertainment, voyeurism, and / or sympathy. Occasionally, Barlow produces gratingly amateurish collages of radio static, tv chatter, children's records, oversaturated tape hiss, and sporadic vocalizations uttered in between bong hits. However, the majority of the Sentridoh "Wasted Pieces" is super gritty, acoustic tunes of varying quality, both in terms of sound quality and songwriting quality, making Sebadoh sound downright crisp and clean. That said, lots of these self-deprecating confessionals could have easily found their way onto an early Sebadoh record.

SEOFON Zero Point (The Foundry) cd 12.98
For "Zero Point," San Francisco ambient technician Seofon has remixed (um, excuse me his term is "recycled") Ambient Temple of Imagination's "Mystery School" and has brought in the talents of Vidna Obmana, Steve Roach, Stephen Kent, Robert Rich, Not Breathing, and Thermal (whew!). With the best intentions of New Age harmony and sonic accomodation, "Zero Point" has become a monochromatic indigo-blue blur of deep synth washes and occasional ethnic percussion, sounding like a computer generated simulation of Eno's "Music For Airports."

SEOMPI AWOL (Gear Fab) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on cd, the archival reissue of stuff by this heavy psychedelic rock outfit. From Texas, circa 1970, and heavier than fellow Texans Josephus, man. And, it seems, one of the members is soon to be released from prison (!), so this is timed just right.

SEPPUKU / MUTANT APE split (At War With False Noise / Turgid Animal) 7" 5.98
Back in stock. Already outof print so these are the last few copies...
First vinyl release from At War With False Noise and it's a doozy.
The A side is a band called Seppuku, who not long ago sounded completely different and were called Testsuo! Ring any bells? No matter, what we've got here are two songs, the first a caustic slab of Eyehategod, caveman Sabbath style sludge doom, classic Sabbath riffs melted down into something much more raw and viscous, the vocals a feral howl, practice space drums that plod along bravely amidst the doomic din, all wrapped up in a warm swirling cloud of downtuned buzz and lurching drone. The second track is way more spare and space-y, some sort of tripped out abstract krautjam, the drums skittering along in wide open expanses of whir and rumble, riffs drifting in clouds of glittering FX, cookie monster vox waaaay off in the distance, a stumbling druggy meander that eventually careens into a chaotic free psych blow out. Sounds like a lo-fi noise rock version of Bardo Pond or Comets On Fire, but after WAY more pot and too much Hawkwind. Wait. There's no such thing as too much Hawkwind. Awesome.
The flipside is by Mutant Ape, and sounds a lot like you accidentally set the needle down directly on the label instead of on the wax. A horrifying white noise crush, electronics grind and squeal, feedback shrieks and all sorts of blown out sounds crumble and collapse only to be set afire and shoved through your melding speakers. This is indeed NOISE, and is truly for those partial to such things, or with ears of steel. And of course, it's a good aural palate cleanser, flip it over between spins of the Seppuku side, blow out all the doomy riffs, so you can begin againÉ
LIMITED TO 220 COPIES. Oversized gatefold sleeves, with laser printed full color paste on artwork, and a photocopied insert.

SEPTETO Y CONJUNTO MATAMOROS Camaron Y Mamoncillo (Tumbao) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Miguel Matamoros formed both the Septeto (1928) and Conjunto (1942) much after he'd already aquired acclaim with his trio. With the Septeto he filled out the sound by adding trumpet (Jose Macias or Jose Quintero), clarinet (Francisco Repilado), bass (Felipe Torriente or Christobal Mendive), bongos (Pedro Mena or Agustin Gutierrez) and adding piano (Armando Beltran or Ramon Dorca) for the Conjunto. The repertoire remains unchanged with the increase in ensemble size and most of the recordings found here (made between 1928 and 1950) are still primarily the Cuban Son which Miguel Matamoros was probably the greatest propagator of.

SEPULTURA Roots (Roadrunner) cd 15.98
Most amazing metal record. Traditional Brazilian percussion, didgeridoo, throat singing. Extremely powerful. Faith No More doesn't even come close.

SERENA-MANEESH D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D (4AD) 12" 9.98

SERENA-MANEESH S-M Backwards (Smalltown Supersound) 2cd 28.00

SERENA-MANEESH S-M2: Abyss In B Minor (4AD) cd 13.98
Druggy droney space rock doesn't get any cooler than this. Yeah, there's Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo and Black Angels, Heads, White Hills, Eternal Tapestry and Sleepy Sun, but there's just something special about Serena Maneesh. Drawing from the same murky well of effects-drenched Hawkwind heart-of-the-sun space rock psychedelia, motorik tranced out krautrock, and woozy abstract stoner rock, SM infuse their particular brand of dronerock with plenty of My Bloody Valentine shoegaze shimmer, Sonic Youth noise rock and a serious heaping of POP. It's a weird combo, and it could be precisely what keeps SM from blowing up, but it's also what makes their records so awesomely twisted, weirdly catchy, and gloriously druggy and hypnotic.
The opening track here "Ayisha Abyss" might be the murky droned out space rock jam of the year, all hazy streaks of low end, skittery skeletal rhythms, whirling clouds of blurred effects and streaked chordal hum, little splatters of drum machine, mumbled weary vox, and a super far out ending, a little burst of new wave squelch, some manipulated tapemusic, some piano, then a final burst of super fuzzed out cold wave. WEIRD. And awesome. But then it's straight into "I Just Want To See Your Face" which sounds like a perfect Sonic Youth / Swirlies mashup, a hooky noise pop jam, wrapped in wah guitars and strange processed effects, hooky and jangly and noisy but way way poppy. The following track takes the same elements but twists them all up and dubs them out, all super blown out incendiary guitars and swirling backwards effects, pounding processed drums, and a thick cloud of psychguitar freakout.
"Melody For Jaana" is total washed out drone doom balladry, like a female fronted Nadja, slow and lugubrious and syrupy, like My Bloody Valentine at 16 rpm. The awesomely titled "Blow Yr Brains In The Mourning Rain" is a wild squall of jagged guitars, buried vox, chaotic drumming, a gorgeous chunk of super in-the-red noisepop, more nods to Sonic Youth for sure, but much more soft focus.
The final three tracks ditch the sort of spacey heaviness in exchange for some ethereal jangle pop, "D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D" is total lysergic psychpop, that grows more and more tripped out as it progresses, and finally, the record closes with the tropical tinged Beatles-esque jangle pop of "Magdalena (Symphony #8)" complete with flutes and hazy summertime melodies.
Okay so it's not strictly a 'space rock' record, or a 'drone rock' record, it's more like a strange space-y drone-y POP record, but it's got enough sonic weirdness, blown out heaviness, and hypnotic riffery, to balance the pop hooks and sunshiney jangle, and make this one of our new favorites for sure.
MPEG Stream: "Ayisha Abyss"
MPEG Stream: "Blow Yr Brains In The Mourning Rain"
MPEG Stream: "Magdalena (Symphony #8)"

SERENA-MANEESH S-M2: Abyss In B Minor (4AD) lp 14.98
Druggy droney space rock doesn't get any cooler than this. Yeah, there's Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo and Black Angels, Heads, White Hills, Eternal Tapestry and Sleepy Sun, but there's just something special about Serena Maneesh. Drawing from the same murky well of effects-drenched Hawkwind heart-of-the-sun space rock psychedelia, motorik tranced out krautrock, and woozy abstract stoner rock, SM infuse their particular brand of dronerock with plenty of My Bloody Valentine shoegaze shimmer, Sonic Youth noise rock and a serious heaping of POP. It's a weird combo, and it could be precisely what keeps SM from blowing up, but it's also what makes their records so awesomely twisted, weirdly catchy, and gloriously druggy and hypnotic.
The opening track here "Ayisha Abyss" might be the murky droned out space rock jam of the year, all hazy streaks of low end, skittery skeletal rhythms, whirling clouds of blurred effects and streaked chordal hum, little splatters of drum machine, mumbled weary vox, and a super far out ending, a little burst of new wave squelch, some manipulated tapemusic, some piano, then a final burst of super fuzzed out cold wave. WEIRD. And awesome. But then it's straight into "I Just Want To See Your Face" which sounds like a perfect Sonic Youth / Swirlies mashup, a hooky noise pop jam, wrapped in wah guitars and strange processed effects, hooky and jangly and noisy but way way poppy. The following track takes the same elements but twists them all up and dubs them out, all super blown out incendiary guitars and swirling backwards effects, pounding processed drums, and a thick cloud of psychguitar freakout.
"Melody For Jaana" is total washed out drone doom balladry, like a female fronted Nadja, slow and lugubrious and syrupy, like My Bloody Valentine at 16 rpm. The awesomely titled "Blow Yr Brains In The Mourning Rain" is a wild squall of jagged guitars, buried vox, chaotic drumming, a gorgeous chunk of super in-the-red noisepop, more nods to Sonic Youth for sure, but much more soft focus.
The final three tracks ditch the sort of spacey heaviness in exchange for some ethereal jangle pop, "D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D" is total lysergic psychpop, that grows more and more tripped out as it progresses, and finally, the record closes with the tropical tinged Beatles-esque jangle pop of "Magdalena (Symphony #8)" complete with flutes and hazy summertime melodies.
Okay so it's not strictly a 'space rock' record, or a 'drone rock' record, it's more like a strange space-y drone-y POP record, but it's got enough sonic weirdness, blown out heaviness, and hypnotic riffery, to balance the pop hooks and sunshiney jangle, and make this one of our new favorites for sure.
MPEG Stream: "Ayisha Abyss"
MPEG Stream: "Blow Yr Brains In The Mourning Rain"
MPEG Stream: "Magdalena (Symphony #8)"

SERENA-MANEESH s/t (Honeymilk) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everybody's been flipping out about the Black Angels and their take on druggy drone-y space rock. But if you ask us, Norwegian blissrockers Serena-Maneesh is the band people should be freaking out about. If the Black Angels areÊchanneling Spacemen 3 via the Velvet Underground, Serena-Maneesh take their Spacemen 3 obsession and drag it kicking and screaming through the detuned murk of classic Sonic Youth, the psychedelic freakout of Hawkwind and the slow build cinematic roar of Mogwai and Godspeed. This is spaced out psychedelic drug rock of the highest order for sure, but Serena-Maneesh add their own special slant to the proceedings, twisting these tracks intoÊall sorts of dronier and dreamier shapes, cool boy / girl harmonies, hushed whispery sadboy vocals backed up by delicate dreamy female coo's and ooh's, both woven together into still more layers of sweet warm gauze, BIG guitars, not wispy or delicate, okay maybe once in a while, but mostly thick, crunchy and HEAVY riffs that just churn and grind, and then there's the hypnotic drone aspect, when Serena-Maneesh eventually build to a frenzied climax, they keep it going, endlessly, the riffs loop and loop, mesmerizing and completely spellbinding, effects swirl, guitar FX explode and careen wildly, wah wah's everywhere, warm washes of distorted swoooosh, the ambient sounds grow more and more dense, but the riffs plow forward, like there's no end in sight, our heads crack open spilling blinding light into the sky, as we drift and shimmer and are lifted into some blissed out drone rock nirvana like we haven't experienced since the heyday of bands like the Telescopes, Sundial, Loop, and of course Hawkwind and Spacement 3. So awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Drain Cosmetics"
MPEG Stream: "Selina's Melodie Fountain"

SERENA-MANEESH s/t (Play Louder) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everybody's been flipping out about the Black Angels and their take on druggy drone-y space rock. But if you ask us, Norwegian blissrockers Serena-Maneesh is the band people should be freaking out about. If the Black Angels areÊchanneling Spacemen 3 via the Velvet Underground, Serena-Maneesh take their Spacemen 3 obsession and drag it kicking and screaming through the detuned murk of classic Sonic Youth, the psychedelic freakout of Hawkwind and the slow build cinematic roar of Mogwai and Godspeed. This is spaced out psychedelic drug rock of the highest order for sure, but Serena-Maneesh add their own special slant to the proceedings, twisting these tracks intoÊall sorts of dronier and dreamier shapes, cool boy / girl harmonies, hushed whispery sadboy vocals backed up by delicate dreamy female coo's and ooh's, both woven together into still more layers of sweet warm gauze, BIG guitars, not wispy or delicate, okay maybe once in a while, but mostly thick, crunchy and HEAVY riffs that just churn and grind, and then there's the hypnotic drone aspect, when Serena-Maneesh eventually build to a frenzied climax, they keep it going, endlessly, the riffs loop and loop, mesmerizing and completely spellbinding, effects swirl, guitar FX explode and careen wildly, wah wah's everywhere, warm washes of distorted swoooosh, the ambient sounds grow more and more dense, but the riffs plow forward, like there's no end in sight, our heads crack open spilling blinding light into the sky, as we drift and shimmer and are lifted into some blissed out drone rock nirvana like we haven't experienced since the heyday of bands like the Telescopes, Sundial, Loop, and of course Hawkwind and Spacement 3. So awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Drain Cosmetics"
MPEG Stream: "Selina's Melodie Fountain"

SERENE LAKES s/t (self-released) cd 3.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A six-song debut EP from this SF trio. Gently swaying postrock that bring to mind the fine college rock bands from the '90s like Seam, Ida and Versus. Swells of quiet/loud/quiet electric guitars, hushed vocals and washy cymbals build atop the solid bass and drums. Very pretty and wistful.
MPEG Stream: "Tall Beam & Coke"
MPEG Stream: "Timeless"

SERIES 7 (OST) (Koch) cd 16.98
Series 7 is a recent art house hit about a game show where the goal is to kill the rest of the contestants. The ultimate reality show. If only Survivor was like that, I would have watched every week. The soundtrack (at least some of it), comes courtesy of everyone's favorite sexy-new-wave-indie-doom-rock band Girls Against Boys. Their first new music in a while.

SERPENT ECLIPSE Seven Desires & Wolves' Blood (Oaken Shield) cd 13.98
"Surreal Metal Dementia" as they call it, might not be an American Psychiatric Association approved diagnosis but it isn't a bad description of this American black metal band's somewhat unusual take on the genre. Rather than ape the droning, raw and primitive spikes n' corpsepaint stuff that seems to inspire so many USBM acts, these guys' condition seems related to a more, uh, advanced style of Norse metal, symptomatic of "666 International" Dodheimsgard and "Grand Declaration of War" Mayhem for instance. That is, they throw lots of left-field electronik experimentation into their already choppy brew of black metal chaos. If you like stuttering sci-fi synth bleepage and think that would go well with twisting-turning song structures at 100 mph, then you might do well to check this out. This nine-track album is maybe kinda short at just 25 minutes, but they sure do cram a lot in!
MPEG Stream: "Daimon Dementia"

SERPENT NOIR Sanguis XI (Daemon Worship Productions) cd ep 9.98

SERPENT THRONE Ride Satan Ride (OST) (self-released) cd 14.98
All-instrumental Sabbathy stoner metal from Philly, pretending to be a soundtrack to a '70s biker flick. Didn't fool us but it's still pretty good riffy instrumental Sabbathy stoner metal all the same.

SERPENT THRONE The Battle Of Old Crow (Vessel) cd 14.98
It might be a bit obvious, but it'll get our point across: take a look at this album's cover, an evocative image of a Neolithic stone circle out on a mystic moor somewhere, the stones jutting up into a darkened, dusky red sky. Now imagine the amid the stones also a circle of Orange amps/cabinets, cranking twin guitar jams in a '70s psych/metal style... add a bassist and a drummer who makes a point of also being credited with "cowbell", and you're perhaps getting close to an idea of what Serpent Throne's The Battle Of Old Crow sounds like.
Released by Vessel (best known as the label who previously brought us that fantastic archival release by '70s Pentagram alter ego Bedemon, a few years back), this is the 2nd full-length from these Philadelphia instru-metallists (featuring one of the guitarists from sludge-doom act Otesanek), following 2007's Ride Satan Ride. The concept for -that- album was that it was a reissue of a long-lost soundtrack to an obscure '70s biker film. And it almost could have been, but we think Serpent Throne could have gone further with the idea, like having a repeating "theme" motif throughout the album, interspersing the tracks with made up fake movie dialogue and sound effects, or including a mellow acoustic ballad "hit single" that would have played during the imaginary film's love scene... stuff like that would have made it more like the soundtracks to actual films like Psychomania and Stone. But it was a cool debut anyway, that we should have reviewed but didn't, so we're making sure not to sleep on this one too. The Battle Of Old Crow scraps the movie soundtrack concept and just provides the riffy instrumental rockin', without pretense. Which we could describe as sounding like a stoner rock Fucking Champs, maybe. Or a shut-up-n-play-yer-guitar version of The Sword. In other words, heavy and badass in the guitar dep't. Of which there's two here, guitars that is, bringing the stirring harmonies, trippy leads, and fat riffs. Heck, it's got "guitariness" on par with AQ faves Slough Feg and Hammers of Misfortune. Fans of Earthless ought to dig this too, though the songs here are just that, songs, more concise and less jammy than Earthless's extended improvs. Another fitting comparison would be to fellow Philly instrumental act Stinking Lizaveta, if they were just a bit more overtly on the retro/stoner tip. The '70s heaviness of bands like Sabbath, Scorpions (both cited on the cover sticker blurb), Wishbone Ash, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple and the like is the obvious inspiration here, and Serpent Throne have definitely learned their lessons well.
While not having a singer can sometimes be a good thing (since any given vocalist's voice, not to mention lyrics, can be so subjective a pleasure, or not), the question that usually gets asked about something like this is, well, is it boring? We'd say, no, definitely not. Not if you like tasty guitar and authentically '70s sounding bellbottomed riffage! In that case, having no singer is a plus, since there's no vocals to get in the way of the guitarists doing their thing. Which they do quite well indeed! The rhythm section is pretty tight too.
While often, the solution (or purpose) of some bands doing the instrumental thing is to get ultra-techy and complex, to grab attention that way, Serpent Throne take a different tack, writing songs that are just that, memorable songs, vocals or no. Sure, there's moments where you wouldn't mind your favorite '70s metal vocalist stepping up to the mic. But Serpent Throne's catchy riffs and purely instrumental interplay is plenty enough most of the time - powerful, mesmerizing and melodic. Recommended.
MPEG Stream: "One Percenter"
MPEG Stream: "Snakecharmer"
MPEG Stream: "Rock Formation"

SERPENT'S KNIGHT Silent Knight...Of Myth And Destiny (Shadow Kingdom) 2cd 17.98
Had to get at least a couple of these and list it. First off, it's one of our pal Brian from WFMU's current faves (and if you've ever heard his radio show, you know he digs the weirdest shit, especially where metal is concerned). Secondly, the other day this was playing in the front of the store, and from the back office, we thought it was freakin' Diamanda Galas... except it was '80s metal, sort of. But the crazy vocals and lo-fi recording quality made it sound like something totally WTF? and avant garde instead.
So, who the heck sings like that? What IS this? Well, the singer wasn't Diamanda. Or even a woman. Serpent's Knight were in fact an eighties metal band from Seattle, and the first disc of this archival double cd set consists of demos circa '83 to '85, when their singer (with the insanely high voice, and, it should be added, an equally impressive mane of platinum blond hair!) was a guy by the name Warrel Dane, best known now as the frontman for currently popular power metal outfit Nevermore. But before Nevermore, he was in a (much better in our opinion) speed metal band called Sanctuary, who debuted in '87 with an album produced by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine. And before that, he sang for these guys, Serpent's Knight, who never made an album - though they provided Sanctuary with their best track "Battle Angels", and both bands also did covers of "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. Serpent's Knight started off as a high school band doing Sabbath and Priest covers. Writing their own songs, they then moved into even more of a dark and evil-sounding Mercyful Fate influenced occult metal mode, finding a dude (Dane) who could out-screech even King Diamond himself!!
So check this out if you're into some extreme glass-shattering vocal histrionics, heavy metal or otherwise. And/or if you're already a fan of Sanctuary, or Nevermore. And of course if you're just an '80s metal nerd, like some of us! You'll love how the trebly, widdly guitars rip it up along with the vocals...
In addition to the material with Warrel Dane, there's also a couple tracks on disc one with someone named "Father Scorn" on vocals, who is also pretty bizarre. And then there's disc two, a 1989 demo from later lineup of Serpent's Knight, with a Mark G on vox. With songs like, um, "Sick Bloody Cunt" it seems they were trying for a PMRC-baiting, shock rock angle, W.A.S.P. style, though that didn't apparently lead to much success, oh well. Not bad though, more value added for the obscure '80s metal inclined. Furthermore, the 2nd disc contains a bonus 19 minute video clip, grainy footage from their first ever gig in 1984. And then there's a 22 page cd booklet with tons of color photos and EXTENSIVELY detailed band history.
MPEG Stream: "Sorcerer's Apprentice"
MPEG Stream: "Disturbing Your Peace"
MPEG Stream: "White Rabbit"

SERPENTCULT Trident Nor Fire (I Hate Records) cd ep 14.98
Formerly Thee Plague Of Gentlemen... due to a pretty horrible situation, they had to change the name, and get a new singer... still the same heavy doom metal, now with female vocals. They do a Uriah Heep cover on this debut ep.

SERPENTCULT Weight Of Light (Rise Above) cd 15.98

SERVANTS, THE Youth Club Disco (Captured Tracks) lp 16.98
The Servants were an eighties UK guitar pop band, whose sound was fantastically jangly and polished, super melodic and well produced, bucking the trend at the time to produce lo-fi ramshackle pop (although the group did appear on the C86 comp that pretty much defined that ramshackle pop movement), they even counted members of the Housemartins and the Auteurs among their ranks at one point, and their music was beloved by Belle And Sebastien frontman Stuart Murdoch, who before B&S had tried to form a band with Servants frontman David Westlake. This should all give you an idea of the sound, a little twee, a little precious, earnest and heartfelt, the sort of sound that would most definitely appeal to fans of B&S and the classic sound of groups like The Smiths and nineties NZ pop (The Clean, the Chills, etc.). Cherry Red Records released a compilation called Reserved, which went out of print, and now goes for CRAZY money on eBay, but thankfully, Captured Tracks cherry picked some of the past tracks to put together their own vinyl only collection called Youth Club Disco, and it's a perfect introduction to this band that really didn't get the love or attention they deserved. ALl the tracks here are lilting and melancholy, pure classic indie pop, jangly and dreamy and definitely not for anyone after buzz and crunch, but for folks who like smart, heartfelt pop music, this stuff is pure pop gold.
MPEG Stream: "The Sun, A Small Star"
MPEG Stream: "Loggerheads"
MPEG Stream: "Meredith"
MPEG Stream: "You'd Do Me Good"

SERVILE SECT Eternal Mind (Senseless Empire) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest from this mysterious 'alien black metal' duo whose sound definitely leans way more toward the alien than the black metal. We went pretty nuts for their Stratospheric Passenger record, a dizzying assemblage of psychedelic drones and outerspace black buzz, of dark drone metal and abstract otherworldly ambience. That record still ranks up there as one of our favorite slabs of outsider black metal weirdness, and then recently we got to see them play on THE BUS here in town, transforming an old city bus, parked under a highway overpass, into some sort of smoke filled, ear drum destroying, trance inducing sonic starship.
So here's their latest batch of strange sounds, confusingly packaged in an eye popping almost cartoonish, full color geometric cover, sealed shut with a similarly printed little band-aid style sticker. But inside, it's the same twisted blackened psychedelia we were hoping for. Spidery minor key guitars, field recordings, raspy metallic drones, harsh vokills way off in the distance. Simultaneously meditative and hypnotic, harsh and caustic, abstract and blackened, a sort of post rock black metal drift, warped and washed out and weirdly not all that black metal at all. But that's just the first track. From there on out it's a series of strange soundscapes, analog electronics, treated textural drones, creaks and thrums and moans, wreathed in strange FX and smeared into abstract sounds and shapes, everything bleary and blurry and indistinct, haunting and ghostlike, snippets of samples(?) surfacing occasionally amidst the layered drifts of chordal thrum and soft black buzz. Slow motion melodies unfurl over clouds of shortwave static, ethereal billows of muted shimmer, and delicately swirling textures, malfunctioning machinery, and all sorts of other slowly decaying sonic ephemera, suspended in some sort of rusted out, gauzy dreamworld, bleak and beautiful, creepy and claustrophobic.
LIMITED TO 80 COPIES!!! Each one hand numbered.

SERVILE SECT Realms Of The Queen (Ecstatic Peace!) cd 11.98
Finally, another dark missive from this 'alien black metal duo', long time aQ faves Servile Sect, whose ritualist spacepsych dronescapes crackle with black energy, occasionally erupting into full on metallic blackness, but just as often slowly drifting and expanding into sprawling stretches of blurred low end mesmer, laced with chant like vocals and buried bits of melody, mutant otherworldly landscapes of hushed ominous drift and muted psychedelic black ragas.
On past records, the black metal element seemed almost like an afterthought, the records way heavier on the drone and drift, but on Realms Of The Queen, right out of the gate, a blasting lo-fi drum machine rhythm sets the scene, while thick sheets of coruscating guitars and harsh shrieked vokills are laid over the top, but even then, the sound is not so much fierce and grim and sort of hazy and blackly psychedelic, like a black metal blurred into some sort of trancelike black raga, the guitars lush and layered, everything cloaked in a gauze of murky muted swirl.
But soon after, the band dial back the buzz, leaving just the black, a crunchy, distorted almost Wolf Eyesian industrial dirgescape, all mechanical creaks and staticky hiss, but underneath, a mournful piano picks out a barely there lament, a swell of black buzz rises up from the murk, sheets of hiss, like super distorted vocals drift in, the result a haunting funereal industrial doom, that again is not so much heavy and crushing, and moody and atmospheric.
The rest of the record follows a similar pattern, creating lush ritualistic landscapes of distant buzzing drones, SUNNO)))-like avalanches of crumbling distortion, hazy crystalline streaks of almost new age sounding drift, synthy soundtracky tranceouts that sound a little like Zombi or Majeure being played at 16rpm and being broadcast from speakers submerged in brackish water at the bottom of some giant cavern, there are even occasional vocals, deep dramatic croons, way down in the mix, adding a gorgeous dark pop element to certain tracks.
Thick corrosive dins collide with shoegaze-y fuzz, murky avant blackness drifts into hushed minimal shimmer, gnarled black riffage gets tangled up into epic swirling blacknoise squalls, Sunroof!-like ur-drones settle into droned out blackness, culminating in the epic closer, "Universe And Self, Sender And Receiver", which sounds like a prettier fuzzier Wold, noisy and dense and black as pitch, but shot through with subtle melody, with rich layered textures, shifting constantly, a blurred murk that finally explodes into a surprisingly lush and lustrous dreampsych shoegaze softblack blowout that sounds almost like some sort of black metal dreampop, fuzzy and washed out, but still frenetic and fierce. So fucking incredible.
MPEG Stream: "Only The Sky Is Gentle"
MPEG Stream: "Stabbing Through"
MPEG Stream: "Burning Season"
MPEG Stream: "Universe And Self, Sender And Receiver"

SERVILE SECT Realms Of The Queen (King Of The Monsters) lp 25.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
Finally, another dark missive from this 'alien black metal duo', long time aQ faves Servile Sect, whose ritualist spacepsych dronescapes crackle with black energy, occasionally erupting into full on metallic blackness, but just as often slowly drifting and expanding into sprawling stretches of blurred low end mesmer, laced with chant like vocals and buried bits of melody, mutant otherworldly landscapes of hushed ominous drift and muted psychedelic black ragas.
On past records, the black metal element seemed almost like an afterthought, the records way heavier on the drone and drift, but on Realms Of The Queen, right out of the gate, a blasting lo-fi drum machine rhythm sets the scene, while thick sheets of coruscating guitars and harsh shrieked vokills are laid over the top, but even then, the sound is not so much fierce and grim and sort of hazy and blackly psychedelic, like a black metal blurred into some sort of trancelike black raga, the guitars lush and layered, everything cloaked in a gauze of murky muted swirl.
But soon after, the band dial back the buzz, leaving just the black, a crunchy, distorted almost Wolf Eyesian industrial dirgescape, all mechanical creaks and staticky hiss, but underneath, a mournful piano picks out a barely there lament, a swell of black buzz rises up from the murk, sheets of hiss, like super distorted vocals drift in, the result a haunting funereal industrial doom, that again is not so much heavy and crushing, and moody and atmospheric.
The rest of the record follows a similar pattern, creating lush ritualistic landscapes of distant buzzing drones, SUNNO)))-like avalanches of crumbling distortion, hazy crystalline streaks of almost new age sounding drift, synthy soundtracky tranceouts that sound a little like Zombi or Majeure being played at 16rpm and being broadcast from speakers submerged in brackish water at the bottom of some giant cavern, there are even occasional vocals, deep dramatic croons, way down in the mix, adding a gorgeous dark pop element to certain tracks.
Thick corrosive dins collide with shoegaze-y fuzz, murky avant blackness drifts into hushed minimal shimmer, gnarled black riffage gets tangled up into epic swirling blacknoise squalls, Sunroof!-like ur-drones settle into droned out blackness, culminating in the epic closer, "Universe And Self, Sender And Receiver", which sounds like a prettier fuzzier Wold, noisy and dense and black as pitch, but shot through with subtle melody, with rich layered textures, shifting constantly, a blurred murk that finally explodes into a surprisingly lush and lustrous dreampsych shoegaze softblack blowout that sounds almost like some sort of black metal dreampop, fuzzy and washed out, but still frenetic and fierce. So fucking incredible.
MPEG Stream: "Only The Sky Is Gentle"
MPEG Stream: "Stabbing Through"
MPEG Stream: "Burning Season"
MPEG Stream: "Universe And Self, Sender And Receiver"

SERVILE SECT Stratospheric Passenger (Sounds Of Battle And Souvenir Collecting) cd 8.98
From the same label that brought us the amazing Gog records, Sounds Of Battle And Souvenir Collecting, comes this bizarre, and hauntingly beautiful slab of alien black metal. Not sure what else to call it, it's definitely black metal, but it's weirdly blissy and electronic sounding, more like Alcest or Amesoeurs than old school grimnity, but even then, it's still weirder, like it must have been played by robots or insects, or some massive black metal machine assembled beneath the surface of some mysterious moon. You can almost picture some mechanical monstrosity, pieces of human flesh, various organs, somehow built into the machine's inner workings, everything grinding and sparking all in a Herculean effort to produce this glorious droning buzzing blackness. A cloud of black buzz that will eventually drift through space and time swallowing any planets in its path, and extinguishing all life it encounters. Heck, even the cover of the record is the view from some sort of alien lander, looking out and the cold dead ground of some red planet, as if any minute some huge horrible black beast will lurch into view over the horizon, dashing all of our ideas about said planet being uninhabited.
The sound of Servile Sect is epic, and majestic, the guitars glistening sheets of sound, the surface of that sound peppered with bits of electronic shimmer, causing the long drawn out riffery to reflect and refract, tiny little sonic events occurring every second, the surface alive and constantly squirming and changing color, but viewed from afar, it's simply a blown out undulating buzz. Those guitars are digitized and processed, spread into thick smears of warm glowing whir, the riffs barely discernible beneath the constant roar of Servile Sect's sonic swirl
The vocals add just more buzz to the mix, howling and wailing, but stretched into streaks of sonic violence, and drums, assuming there are any, are buried, festering beneath layer after layer of crushing guitar fuzz, emitting noxious rhythms that don't so much blast or pound as they do explode into tiny squalls of still more buzz.
Occasionally, the buzz abates, leaving the guitar to sway lazily, the notes ringing out, the guitars lurking in the distance, but it's never long before the lilting melody is engulfed by a colossal buzzing roar, and the band locks into another extended psychfuzzblackdrone.
Another out of left field immediate AQ black bliss classic.
Fans of the new wave of droned out dreamy metal, black and otherwise: Nadja, Angelic Process, Ameseours, Alcest, etc. will dig this, as will dronelords who like their drones heavy and loud and yeah, a bit metallic...
MPEG Stream: "Into The Bloom"
MPEG Stream: "Stratospheric"
MPEG Stream: "Suicide From Verona Rupes"

SERVILE SECT Stratospheric Passenger (Ecstatic Peace) lp 14.98
This awesome slab of blackened outerspace buzz and drone metal weirdness, originally released as a cd on the amazing Sounds Of Battle And Souvenir Collecting, who brough us those killer Gog records, now reissued on vinyl, on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label!
Stratospheric is a fantastically bizarre, and hauntingly beautiful slab of alien black metal. Not sure what else to call it, it's definitely black metal, but it's weirdly blissy and electronic sounding, more like Alcest or Amesoeurs than old school grimnity, but even then, it's still weirder, like it must have been played by robots or insects, or some massive black metal machine assembled beneath the surface of some mysterious moon. You can almost picture some mechanical monstrosity, pieces of human flesh, various organs, somehow built into the machine's inner workings, everything grinding and sparking all in a Herculean effort to produce this glorious droning buzzing blackness. A cloud of black buzz that will eventually drift through space and time swallowing any planets in its path, and extinguishing all life it encounters. Heck, even the cover of the record is the view from some sort of alien lander, looking out and the cold dead ground of some red planet, as if any minute some huge horrible black beast will lurch into view over the horizon, dashing all of our ideas about said planet being uninhabited.
The sound of Servile Sect is epic, and majestic, the guitars glistening sheets of sound, the surface of that sound peppered with bits of electronic shimmer, causing the long drawn out riffery to reflect and refract, tiny little sonic events occurring every second, the surface alive and constantly squirming and changing color, but viewed from afar, it's simply a blown out undulating buzz. Those guitars are digitized and processed, spread into thick smears of warm glowing whir, the riffs barely discernible beneath the constant roar of Servile Sect's sonic swirl
The vocals add just more buzz to the mix, howling and wailing, but stretched into streaks of sonic violence, and drums, assuming there are any, are buried, festering beneath layer after layer of crushing guitar fuzz, emitting noxious rhythms that don't so much blast or pound as they do explode into tiny squalls of still more buzz.
Occasionally, the buzz abates, leaving the guitar to sway lazily, the notes ringing out, the guitars lurking in the distance, but it's never long before the lilting melody is engulfed by a colossal buzzing roar, and the band locks into another extended psychfuzzblackdrone.
Another out of left field immediate AQ black bliss classic.
Fans of the new wave of droned out dreamy metal, black and otherwise: Nadja, Angelic Process, Amesoeurs, Alcest, etc. will dig this, as will dronelords who like their drones heavy and loud and yeah, a bit metallic...
MPEG Stream: "Into The Bloom"
MPEG Stream: "Stratospheric"
MPEG Stream: "Suicide From Verona Rupes"

SERVILE SECT TRVTH (Handmade Birds) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
How does he do it? R. Loren of Pyramids, Sailors With Wax Wings and White Moth launched his new vinyl only label mere months ago, and already has a catalog that puts most labels who have been up and running for years to shame, releases from Blut Aus Nord, Celestiial, His Name Is Alive, Key, Evan Caminiti, Der Blutharsch (reviewed elsewhere on this week's list), with forthcoming releases from Black Boned Angel, Blood Of The Black Owl, Circle Of Ouroborus, Human Quena Orchestra, Crooked Necks, Jasper TX, Our Love Will Destroy The World, Lovesliescrushing, Panopticon, Sutekh Hexen, Locrian, White Ring, Tenhornedbeast and TONS more, a mix of reissues and brand new records, and it wouldn't be so bad if everything wasn't so good, but if you're like us, you want them ALL.
Including this, a brand new release from black metal psych drone duo Servile Sect, formerly of Arizona but now split up with one member in Humbolt, the other in NYC, but the distance doesn't seem to have made much of a difference, with TRVTH taking up right where their last full length left off, a sprawling expanse of drugged out blackened psychedelia, programmed rhythms, buzzing lumbering dirges, thick guitars blurred into washed out streaks, harsh vokills that seem to hover wraith like within ever swirling clouds of dark effects and slowed down riffage, the sound shifts from blurred murk, to smoldering black effulgence, from grinding churning crunch to hazy abstract drift, SS's version of black metal less about the blast and buzz, and more about the vibe, the sound, the tone, the texture, the ambience, the mood, the feel, the duo crouched behind their duct tape adorned synths, a holy mountain of gear, hiding these alchemists as they unfurl sprawling soundscapes equal part haunting blackness, and druggy dreamy shimmer, each grim missive a controlled chaos of black hole dopesmoke drift and blackened ritualistic ur-drone buzz.
LIMITED TO 250 COPIES!!!

SESAME STREET Old School Vol. 1 (E1 Entertainment) 3cd 22.00
Yeah, we're bustin' it out super old school. No joke, the three records in this set were released four decades ago! Each remastered album comes packaged in a cardboard sleeve with its original cover art, and all three are bundled together in a slipcover. We only wish they'd included a booklet of some sort, but alas, 'tis not to be. Oh well, since these Sesame Street treasures have never been previously released on cd, this is still a very welcome reissue! Anyhoo, let us stress that while we're for sure having some warm nostalgic fuzzies, we're definitely not on some irony-laden trip here. Although the show was originally meant for preschoolers, anyone who is young at heart will surely find the music delightful. It's silly and playful and educational, but not vacuously happy nor excessively simple. The television show's musical staff featured some totally exceptional musicians and some totally ace hook-writing composers. Of course, the latter was ideal for the purposes of facilitating the learning of mathematics, language skills, social studies, geography, science, art, and of course music, but it also just makes for a super fun listen! Musical styles run the gamut from straight-laced Welk-ish orchestrations to ragtime follies to banjo jamborees to kicky bass'n'tambourine funkiness and beyond.
The first album from 1970 starts with (what else but) the theme song sung by the original cast of kids, then slips right into a meeting of Gordon (the first "Gordon" Matt Robinson), Susan, Big Bird, and the alphabet (note: this song also appears on the second disc for reasons that become readily apparent). The nineteen songs touch on a well rounded variety of youngster focused subjects, and in true '70s album fashion, The Sesame Street Record works just as well as a single start-to-finish listening experience or broken up into individual tunes. It's definitely the most traditionally educational of the three, but inarguably the standout tracks are Oscar The Grouch's "I Love Trash" and Ernie's "Rubber Duckie".
1974's Big Bird Sings (love the cover!) is next, and despite its title it features fourteen songs not just sung by the giant yellow feathered friend, but also duets with Oscar, Snuffleupagus, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster and others friends from the neighborhood (including the second "Gordon" Hal Miller). While this record didn't have any obvious hits, it did have a subplot about Big Bird and his poetic endeavors. Think of this one as the Sesame Street sleeper!
1975's Bert & Ernie Sing-Along follows with yes, a sing along! The cast (including "Gordon" #3 Roscoe Orman) all squeeze into the bathroom for the tuneful festivities while Bert is in the tub because as Ernie states "everyone sounds better singing in the bathroom." The twenty one song selections on this album include a mix of Sesame Street originals like "C Is For Cookie", "What's The Name Of That Song?" and "Bats In My Belfry" (yes, it's sung by The Count!), as well as some old standards such as "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" and "Row Your Boat".
With the recent flurry of fine'n'dandy children's albums by contemporary artists such as They Might Be Giants, Jon Langford and Kelly Hogan's Wee Hairy Beasties or Duplex from Vancouver, it's really great to be able to visit (or revisit) some of the O.G. purveyors of the genre. The upstarts come close, but who can hold a candle to the Sesame Street gang?! We have a sneakin' suspicion that these albums were a prime source of inspiration for them as well as for countless other 40-ish (non-kids-related) music artists back in their own formative years. Recommended for young'uns and older'uns too. We can't wait for Volume 2!
PS: And for those of you wondering why we are singling out the Gordons? Well, somewhat puzzlingly, there was never any explanation given for each casting change. Did they think no one would question it? Little Cup sure did!
MPEG Stream: "I Love Trash"
MPEG Stream: "The Number Five"
MPEG Stream: "Y'All Fall Down"
MPEG Stream: "What's The Name Of That Song?"

SET FIRE TO FLAMES Sings Reign Rebuilders (Alien8 Recordings) cd 14.98
Halfspeed! You Grey Bureaucrat. Something like 6 members of this 13 piece ensemble are part of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, and Set Fire To Flames does little to hide their connection to that band, producing the same theatrical crescendos for glide guitars and string quartets, and found spoken word elements backed by dark drones. While this is obviously nothing new, Set Fire To Flames have produced an album that is way better than the last Godspeed album, "Raise Your Skinny Fists..." Definitely for fans who can't get enough of GSYBE!, A Silver Mt. Zion, etc.
RealAudio clip: "track 3"

SET FIRE TO FLAMES Sings Reign Rebuilders (Alien8 Recordings) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Halfspeed! You Grey Bureaucrat. Something like 6 members of this 13 piece ensemble are part of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, and Set Fire To Flames does little to hide their connection to Godspeed, with the same theatrical crescendos for glide guitars and string quartets, and found spoken word elements backed by dark drones. While this is obviously nothing new, Set Fire To Flames have produced an album that is way better than the last Godspeed album, "Raise Your Skinny Fists..."

SET FIRE TO FLAMES Telegraphs In Negative / Mouths Trapped In Static (Alien8 Recordings) 2cd 17.98
Cut from the same collectivist French-Canadian cloth as Godspeed You Black Emperor, the thirteen members of Set Fire To Flames take a slightly more experimental approach to creaTING INSTRUMENTALS THAT MAY at times approach the epic scale of GYBE in track length, but occupy a much less theatrical and grandiose territory in scope. "Telegraphs in Negative..." was recorded almost entirely in a collapsing barn, with instrumentation including cello, bass clarinet, guitar, saw, french horn, marimba, glockenspiel, music box, gutted two-track motors, tapes, contact mics and faulty electronics. The barn itself heavily inflects these recordings, as bits of field recordings as well as in the way the recording process captures not just the sounds of the instruments but also their interaction with space and architecture. It makes for a record that's very intimate not neccesarily in an emotional sense, but in the way it involves the listener with a very specific mood, location and group process. Opting for tangents into extended drones, collages and improvisation rather than reaching for epic melodic climaxes, the sound is sparse, crumbling and dark, but not entirely melancholy. Spread over two discs (edited and reconstructed from hours of recordings), it's also a little long to be constantly engaging. But still pretty cool.
MPEG Stream: "And The Birds Are About To Bust Their "
MPEG Stream: "Holy Throat Hiss Tracks To The Sedative Hypnotic"
MPEG Stream: "When Sorrow Shoots Her Darts"

SET FIRE TO FLAMES Telegraphs In Negative/ Mouths Trapped In Static (Alien8 Recordings) 2lp 19.98
Now On Vinyl!
Cut from the same collectivist French-Canadian cloth as Godspeed You Black Emperor, the thirteen members of Set Fire To Flames take a slightly more experimental approach to creaTING INSTRUMENTALS THAT MAY at times approach the epic scale of GYBE in track length, but occupy a much less theatrical and grandiose territory in scope. "Telegraphs in Negative..." was recorded almost entirely in a collapsing barn, with instrumentation including cello, bass clarinet, guitar, saw, french horn, marimba, glockenspiel, music box, gutted two-track motors, tapes, contact mics and faulty electronics. The barn itself heavily inflects these recordings, as bits of field recordings as well as in the way the recording process captures not just the sounds of the instruments but also their interaction with space and architecture. It makes for a record that's very intimate not neccesarily in an emotional sense, but in the way it involves the listener with a very specific mood, location and group process. Opting for tangents into extended drones, collages and improvisation rather than reaching for epic melodic climaxes, the sound is sparse, crumbling and dark, but not entirely melancholy. Spread over two discs (edited and reconstructed from hours of recordings), it's also a little long to be constantly engaging. But still pretty cool.

SETE STAR SEPT / WATCH ME BURN / DOT[.] Yaminabe Holocaust - 3 Way Split (Shifty) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK!!
Killer three way split, two parts Japanese, one part USA. Essential for Sludge doom fanatics, as this features a brand new unreleased track from Japan's mighty, unsung doomlords Dot [.]. Maybe it's the weird spelling, maybe it's the paucity of available material, but Dot [.] are every bit as cool and weird and heavy as Boris or Corrupted and this track proves that once again. But the big surprise here are the two bands we have never heard of before. both amazing, one quite possibly our new favorite band!
Up first are Japanese black thrash outfit Sete Star Sept who spew forth 4 tracks of super downtuned, blackened thrashing grind metal insanity, super low cookie monster growls, furious riffing, massive blown out production, thick swaths of shrieking white noise. Like a killer old school UK crust band super charged and run through some cracked Japanese blackgrind filter. So cool.
But holy fuck, Watch Me Burn just totally and completely knocked us on our asses. So heavy, so weird, so utterly damaged and freaked out. Imagine the Boredoms circa Vision Creation New Sun, mixed with later tripped out trancier spacerock Solar Anus (even though they're American), then imagine that band playing some super schizophrenic what-the-fuck grindcore, with tons of totally unhinged studio weirdness, random snatches of Swedish death metal guitar leads, swirling drifts of acoustic guitar and garbled beats, bizarre ambient stretches peppered with hand drums and guttural vocalizations, abstract percussion super tripped out malfunctioning studio FX, occasional plodding processed death metal chug, super spastic drum machine, bits of slowed down doom groove, weird jangly guitars, super processed slabs of rhythmic interference, blinding super brief blasts of Merzbowian face melting grind and too much other confusional fucked up randomness to even begin describing. Like Soilent Green or Brutal Truth chopped up and reassembled by a very high jungle DJ with two broken turntables. So fucking amazing.
And finally Dot [.], who give us just what we need, an absolutely crushing slow motion stoned doom drone groovescape. Starting out more Church Of Misery than Corrupted, the band sways and swings before stumbling into a druggy glacial lurch, a sick Eyehategod dirge, that crawls and slithers, wrapped in thick peals of feedback, a harsh, rasped super demonic vocal over gloriously murky downtuned sludge. Absolutely essential.
MPEG Stream: SETE STAR SEPT "D-Thred Suicide"
MPEG Stream: WATCH ME BURN "Short Attention Span"
MPEG Stream: DOT [.] "Brind Spot"

SETE, BOLA At The Monterey Jazz Festival (Verve) cd 12.98
'66 live set from famed Brazilian Afro-jazz acoustic guitarist Bola Sete (real name: Djalma de Andrada).

SETE, BOLA Ocean Memories (Samba Moon) 2cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Long overdue CD reissue of one of the seminal solo guitar albums -- in any genre -- ever recorded. Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete (Djalma de Andrade) settled on the West Coast in 1959. Throughout the '60s he toured widely with various jazz artists and recorded for such labels as Verve, ABC-Paramount, Fantasy and Columbia. In 1972 he recorded Ocean, a departure so far afield from anything else he'd ever done that Fantasy declined to issue it. In 1975 Fahey purchased the tapes and issued the album on his Takoma label. A second volume drawn from the same sessions was planned but it never materialized. Ocean Memories (issued by Bola's widow, Anne Sete) restores to print the complete Takoma album (CD 1) and the eight previously unissued songs that would have comprised Ocean II (CD 2). I could listen to this music forever -- it's deathless, perfect, ecstatic. It's interesting to compare how different Bola is from Baden Powell and some of his more technically accomplished Brazilian brothers: he's more of a sensualist, a fantasist, and he's looser -- more rock 'n' roll." -- Glenn Jones. The following is a quote from an article John Fahey wrote about Bola Sete in 1976: ""Few living people have had such an enormous influence on my life, my music, my soul, my religion -- you name it -- as has Bola Sete. I first saw him playing -- solo -- in early 1972 at David Allen's Boarding House in San Francisco. That night, I was high on drugs as I had been for several years, and -- as also had been the case for years -- I felt that I was one isolated example of an experimental species that God had forgotten about (I was wrong here). I felt I had been -- and was still -- walking and talking among shadows: 'People' who had no depth, who were not related to themselves, did not know anything about themselves -- endless, phony, shadow-people. And I was one of them. Bola played for about 45 minutes and grimaced and grunted through the whole set. Something was wrong. He couldn't 'get it out.' I knew how he felt, and I understood. Something was wrong. I was intrigued by his obvious frustration having felt that way myself almost all my life. The performance had been mediocre so far. However, the audience gave him a long ovation, and he reluctantly got up and started to play an encore, still looking frustrated, impotent, mad, seething. I knew that feeling well. But then suddenly he got hot. He got so cooking, he played song after song for another 45 minutes, forgetting (or not caring) that he was doing an encore, playing many of the same songs he had just played. My first impression that night, as I told a friend at the time, was this: Here is a man who has lived through hell and somehow miraculously got out of it. I went back to the Boarding House several times that week. I found that Bola's sets have an interesting 'plot.' They all begin and end with songs whose emotional contour is pretty, happy, light, peaceful, or ecstatic. But after the first two or three songs, the terrain gets rougher and darker, heavier and weirder. By the middle of his set, Bola is giving you pictures of hell, memories of perdition, demonic music. But then Bola gradually lightens up the spectrum of feeling and leads you out of the cave and into the sunlight, and life is paradise. Only now, one is so changed that one is temporarily aware that life really is paradise after all, the world is an ocean, etc. It is like a breath from the 19th Century or before; a breeze from times when people had passion and significance and were not mere shadows. It is as though something has finally changed. I talked to Bola's wife (I was too shaken to speak to him at the time). 'How does he keep from going crazy,' I asked her, 'when he has so much energy and tension? You can hear it in his music -- a lot of passion and tension. How did he get out of hell?' ('How can I get out of hell?' That's what I really wanted to know.) His music is so good it's eerie -- eerie because it comes from a different time, a different place, when men felt different things that we can no longer love or experience except as an echo or phantom in the best of art works. Most of Bola's music is eclectic and nongeneric. Take a song like 'Black Mommy.' Now, if you didn't know anything about Bola . . . what musical tradition, period, or era would you guess this song came from? Tasmania? Easter Island? Next door? It comes from everywhere and nowhere. The subconscious really is universal. Bola Sete's music is the best reminder of this that I have ever heard. He is a man of great spirit and great depth. Bola plays percussively, vertically, with a very heavy and insistent thumb. His playing is very masculine (the word is an anachronisism). He plays erratically and restlessly like Boll Weavil Jackson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, or Bill Monroe. But he also has inner peace and breadth . . . rhythm and dynamics are constantly changing. Bola's playing gives the impression (and like my playing it is a false impression) of being very improvisatory. His songs, on the other hand, tend to be very short and terse (unlike mine), without undue repetition. But like me, he tries to recreate each song each time he plays it, which is in effect to destroy it. . . . The only elements of a song, which change from one performance to the next, are the number of repetitions of each idea. The order of the ideas stays pretty much the same. But the speed and intensity at which they are played may vary; if Bola doesn't like the room he is playing in, or the people he is playing for, he tends to play lousy. I do the same. We both play the way we feel, but within a rigid structure. We play that way because we have to -- we can't do anything else. God help us." -- John Fahey, from the article "Bola Sete, The Nature of Infinity, And John Fahey," Guitar Player, Febuary 1976.

SETE, BOLA Shambhala Moon (Samba Moon) cd 14.98
Reissue of a 1985 recording by Brazilian new age / jazz guitarist Bola Sete. Pleasant soft fingerpicking. Plays well at those little tourist shops in sleepy beach communities. Produced by George Winston.
RealAudio clip: "The Sun Pours Through The Darkness Gently, Gently"

SETH Divine X (Osmose Productions) cd 14.98
I think French people have a different idea of what is scary. Take for example the French black metal band Seth. Makes you wonder if there are other French black metal bands called Todd, or Josh, or Erik, or Simon. Who knows? How about these song titles: 'Addicted To Psychotropic Angeldust' or 'Into The Spheres Of Spirtuality' or 'The Sons Of Seth'. Not so scary. But Seth do play some mean and -very- scary black metal. Fast and furious, with a really strange production (almost industrial at times) and some really weird playing/parts that make Seth stand out from their black metal contemporaries. Definitely fits comfortably next to your Immortal, Emperor, and Marduk records.
RealAudio clip: "Evil-X"
RealAudio clip: "The Sons Of Seth"

SETHERIAL Death Triumphant (Candlelight) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "The Limbo Of Insanity"
MPEG Stream: "Death Triumphant"

SETHERIAL Endtime Divine (Regain) cd 12.98

MPEG Stream: "Crimson Manifestation"
MPEG Stream: "The Underworld"

SETI-X Scrambles Of Earth (Seeland) cd 13.98
If you're anything like us, you've always been fascinated by aliens and outerspace and all that science (fiction?) stuff, X-Files, In Search Of, Star Trek, Cosmos, art, TV, movies, magazines, with every move forward, every discovery, every shuttle launch, every planned mission to Mars, the world comes on step close to becoming what humans once only dreamed of, and wrote about.
One of those epochal science moments, happened in 1977, when we launched a gold record into space, encoded on it were all the various things that make humans human, music, and math, voices, and languages, recordings of heartbeats, whatever scientists could think of that might help an alien species that discovered the record be able to understand and maybe communicate back (assuming they had turntables!).
Similarly, we've always been a bit obsessed with SETI, the Search For Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project, a group who monitors the sky for communications from space, and perhaps from alien beings. In all the time SETI has been active, they have not received a single confirmed alien transmission. Which brings us to the similarly named SETI-X, Search For Extra Terrestrial Intelligence in Exile program, who supposedly received transmissions, that were believed to REMIXES (!) of those records we sent into space. SETI-X meticulously reconstructed these very sound files here from the various transmissions, bits and fragments, snippets and shards of sound. Scientists were of course skeptical, so SETI-X set out to contact the micronation of Sealand, who were well known for supporting controversial and radical science, might step in to help, but a typo when searching in Google resulted in them contacting Seeland Records, Negativland's record label, and they were of course more than willing... now wait a minute...
So yeah, this incredible 'scientific document' is in fact absolutely and certainly alien remixes, NOT some elaborate and brilliantly conceived and executed musical art hoax from a band who exists to fool the foolish. The sounds begin with a twisted greeting, which then explodes in a grinding squall of distortion only to unveil a warped bit of classical music, and the greeting we originally sent skyward, and from there on out, Scrambles Of Earth is a dizzying assemblage of collaged sound, beats and rhythms, strange loops, disembodied voices, textures and drones and truncated melodies, twisted bits of pop, slowed down classical music, voice in many languages, snippets of various musics, usually wrapped around weird voices and glitched out electronics, lots of hiss and buzz, lush swells, super blown out corrosive crunch, gorgeous hypnotic bits of kosmische electronics, all manner of mysterious production, squalls of competing sounds sweeping back and forth through the stereo field, bits of jazz, blues, calypso, and so many voices, surprisingly, it's a really great listen, flowing like some twisted sonic travelogue, as if this is how the aliens see us, based on how we represented ourselves. Cool and strange. Oh, and absolutely real.
Includes extensive liner notes, with a history of the Seti-X program, a description of each track, lots of photos and diagrams, oh and did we mention that this was released on Negativland's label Seeland, but is not Negativland, but in fact actual alien remixes? Good.
MPEG Stream: "Pulsar Plus"
MPEG Stream: "Thin Dark Night"
MPEG Stream: "Ill-Tempered Wedding"
MPEG Stream: "Rushing Streams"
MPEG Stream: "Fifth Dysphony"
MPEG Stream: "Interleave"

SEVEN MILE JOURNEY The Metamorphorsis Project (Pumpkin Seeds In The Sand) cd 11.98
Ambient post rock bands are a dime a dozen these days, and bands who sound more like Godspeed that Godspeed ever did at this point probably outweigh the legions of Neur-Isis clones. But every once in a while, bands manage to remind us just why we fell in love with that sound in the first place. Danish quartet Seven Mile Journey definitely take that sound to whole 'nother level, brooding, epic, cinematic, like post rock without the rock, a sort of abstract filmic chamber music constructed from rock instrumentation.
Slow building, slow burning, so tense and intense, moody and mysterious. The drums are kept to a minimum much of the time, more for propulsion and flourish than actual beat making, but when the drums do come in, they come in hard and then drive the song, while the other instruments weave lush tapestries of sound, minor key swells, lilting overcast melodies, buzzing strings, simple piano parts draped over keening moaning minimal soundscapes, jangly guitars drifting amidst warm whirring lowercase drones, in some cases the songs build to incredible climaxes, like staring into the sun, everything blinding and chaotic and exploding like some sonic supernova, others just smolder, glowing from within, never quite easing up on the built up tension.
Fans of the usual post rock culprits - Godspeed, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky - will have very likely just found their new favorite bands, although for us, the band are at their best when they mix it up, removing the drums, spreading out the sound into impossibly emotional and moving imaginary soundtracks, ratcheting up the tension, building and building and building. Epic, transcendent and beautifully cathartic.
MPEG Stream: "Theme For The Elthenbury Massacre"
MPEG Stream: "The Catharsis Session"

SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP s/t (Southern Lord) cd 12.98

SEVEN THAT SPELLS Black OM Rising (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 26.00

SEVEN THAT SPELLS + KAWABATA MAKOTO Cosmoerotic Dialogue With Lucifer (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 17.98

SEVEN THAT SPELLS + MAKOTO KAWABATA The Men from Dystopia (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 16.98
*Acid Mothers Temple Alert*
Seven That Spells is a psych rock outfit from Croatia. But they sound a heckuva lot like Japanese kraut-channellers Acid Mothers Temple. And guess what? They've got AMT guitar guru Makoto Kawabata on hand as a special guest! He obviously feels right at home jamming with these Croatian freaks, together stirring up billowing smoke-clouds of droning space rock, the babbled and chanted vocals giving this the feel of some sort of medieval folk ritual, zapped with swirling electronic FX. And when it comes time for the guitar solo (and that time comes often) Kawabata and co. hold nothin' back. Spaced OUUUUUUT maaaaaan.
Packaging is sorta swank: the cd rests on a foam numb affixed to the inside of a heavy-duty gatefold kind of sleeve, adorned with busty, naked hippie ladies (again, in the Acid Mothers Temple tradition!).
MPEG Stream: "track 1"
MPEG Stream: "track 3"

SEVEN, LARY Rotation Cassette (Tapeworm) cassette 7.98
Latest strange sonic missive from aQ beloved UK tape label The Tapeworm, this one from a multi media artist/musician/filmmaker/soundscaper named Lary Seven, who most of us here had never heard of, but who we discovered is a bit of a NYC fixture, a legendarily cantankerous maker of art, both audial and visual, there's very little in the way of details about the sounds here, other than they were recorded live in 2001 and 2004 in different spaces in New York. The first track is a gorgeous bit of looped minimal buzzing, darkly rhythmic, and strangely hypnotic, quiet enough that you can still hear the conversations in the room, which makes for a strange collage of random voices, textured electronic crunch and stuttering blurred glitch, impossible to determine the sound source, but it does seem to essentially be a collection of whirs and hums, clicks and chirps, very machinelike and robotic, like an ungrounded speaker or an instrument with the cable just barely plugged into the jack, creating a strange array of fluctuating statics, which are then sculpted into something that sounds a bit like a way more lo-fi home brewed Raster-Noton recording.
The second side / set again features the room sound, footsteps, voices, throat clearing, sneezes, various scrapes and shuffles, until finally, Seven introduces some electrical buzz, which then undulates, pulses and thrums, extremely minimal, lushly layered but in the context of a live performance in a big room, almost like a symphony of appliance hum, eventually, Seven does crank up the voltage, creating another framework of skeletal rhythmic skitter, the electronic fields swirling around a dark, throbbing industrial thud, like some sort of weirdo mad scientist primitive house music, being performed with an array of malfunctioning Tesla coils. Again, pretty dang cool, and another weird and wonderful set of sounds to add to the Tapeworm's twisted canon.
LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, with cover art by Savage Pencil (see more SavX art and various other Tapeworm cover art in the Art Of Worms book, that's reviewed elsewhere on this week's list!).

SEVENTEEN EVERGREEN Life Embarasses Me On Planet Earth (Pacific Radio Fire) cd 12.98

SEVENTEEN EVERGREEN Life Embarasses Me On Planet Earth (Pacific Radio Fire) lp 14.98

SEVENTH SONS Raga (4 A.M. at Frank's) (ESP-Disk) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.