SIEWERT, MARTIN & MARTIN BRANDLMAYR Too Beautiful To Burn (Erstwhile) cd 14.98
Experimental electro-acoustic improv label Erstwhile has put out a lot of great stuff, but this is perhaps their best release in a while! Too Beautiful To Burn documents the musical meeting of two Martins, guitarist Martin Siewert and drummer Martin Brandlmayr, both from Austria. Siewart we've heard before playing in groupings with the likes of Christian Fennesz, Werner Dafeldecker, Taku Sugimoto, Kevin Drumm, and Jim O'Rourke to name a few. Meanwhile, Brandlmayr we know as the drummer for the fantastic Viennese post-rock outfit Radian. Together, with Martin S. manipulating guitars, lap steel, electonics and synth and Martin B. playing drums, percussion and vibraphone, they've conjured a wonderful 5 track, 45 minute soundscape, ranging from Raster-Noton or Sachiko M style sine-wave tonalities to more vigorous abstract noise that at times even reminds us of the Dead C.
This is spacious, minimal, very beautiful stuff, with layers of gentle electronics, hiss and drone, and glitchy rhythms. Radian fans can perhaps imagine an ambient version of that band, more mellow and drifty. With the guitar as sound source, certainly fellow Austrian Fennesz would be another referent. The duo's live playing gives this a physicality so often absent from laptop computer music, so even though their sounds enter the hard-disc realm at some point, they retain a warm, human element. You can get a sense of how this originated in a live event with two musicans interacting. Extremely successful, and indeed, too beautiful to burn -- so buy it.
MPEG Stream: "Form "
MPEG Stream: "Is This Love?"

SIGH Gallows Gallery (Baphomet Records) cd 11.98
Whoa! We were taken by surprise (in several ways) by the sudden appearance of a new album from Japanese black metal mavericks Sigh. We all loved the avant garde, psychedelic, stoner rock horror show of their 2001 disc Imaginary Sonicscape but we hadn't heard much about them since. Well, the press release for Gallows Gallery explains that this sixth Sigh opus was recorded last year but Century Media, previous label, refused to release it because it allegedly makes use of experimental, illegal "sonic weapon techniques" developed during World War II! Warning is given that this album could be hazardous to the listener's health -- in fact, supposedly one of the members of Sigh was hospitalized during the recording sessions due to the effects of this sonic weapon stuff. But... we're having a hard time believing all that! If you're expecting some sort of bowel-rupturing, flesh-decaying subsonic rumble you'll have to get a different cd (I'm sure we can find you something). Listening to this record is more likely to leave one puzzled rather than sickened.
Having heard it, our guess is that the REAL reason that Century Media dropped Sigh is that, even by Sigh's previous standards, this is just so darn eccentric, confusing, and (to us) amusing. We're thinking that if this "sonic weapon" stuff exists, it operates in the realm of psychological warfare, 'cause it does seem possible that this music could drive a person insane. IT certainly is! Kind of like the way a catchy jingle might drive you crazy. They've definitely upped the pop element of their sound here. That's right, POP. But not normal pop that could ever be, uh, popular. No this is weird...weird....weird. And it's still metal of course. Just not black metal really, more like European "power metal" with speedy drums and hooky choruses. But their voices are kind of chipmunky, and there's weird effects, psychedelic organ jamming, throat singing, sitars and saxophones... Yup, their genre-fuckery is still in full effect. This might sound like Dag Nasty punk one second, Iron Maiden metal the next, with a schmaltzy lounge-jazz interlude following that! And the James Bond theme gets hinted at as well. Totally the sort of thing that should be on Trey Spruance's Mimicry label, though it's on Baphomet instead.
Apparently whatever Japanese insane asylum wherein the guys in Sigh reside allows visitors, as this album features members of the Meads Of Asphodel (who are about the only band in the world that we'd say are all that similar to Sigh!), Necrophagia, The Red Chord, Yakuza, Dark Tranquility, Firewind, and Thine, helping out with the shredding guitar runs, dramatic narration, saxophone solos, and things like that. Someone else also contributes a trancey techno remix of one of the album's songs at the end of the disc, preceeded by the untitled electronic noises of track ten, which we suspect might be the "weaponized" one. So...be careful, especially since it's gonna require repeated exposure to ever figure this album out.
MPEG Stream: "Confession To Be Buried"
MPEG Stream: "Midnight Sun"

SIGH Hail Horror Hail (Cacophonous) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Want weird? Watch out for this Japanese black metal band that tries to combine New Wave of British Heavy Metal guitar licks with Schoenbergian classical chamber music--it's like Venom sitting in with Bernard Herrmann to score a horror flick. One guy in the band is credited with, among other things of course, playing the triangle! See the quote at end of this month's AQ-L for more info!

SIGH Hangman's Hymn (The End) cd 12.98
It's a panic attack of over the top black metal theatrics from this notoriously 'round the bend band from Japan! The frantic tempo barely ever lets up as Sigh cram as much in the way of grandiose keyboards, blazing fretwork, thundering drums, and pompous choirs as they can into every nutty nook and crazy cranny of this album. The rapid, rasping delivery of the liberetto is dizzying too... we say "liberetto" because this album is divided into three acts, and has a definite operatic feel to it. Black metal opera. At 200 mph. It's like they've been listening to a lot of Devil Doll and Cradle Of Filth back to back, on crack.
Starting off years and years ago as Japan's truest "Nordic" black metal act (with their first album set for release on Euronymous of Mayhem's record label, before his murder by Count Grishnack of Burzum), Sigh went on to establish a career of horror soundtrack-inspired genre-fuckery that had critics comparing 'em to John Zorn and the Boredoms as much as Burzum. After their brilliant mashup of stoner rock psych and black metal mayhem on 2001's Imaginary Sonicscape, this cult took things maybe a bit too far for some of their fans with the unexpected (even for them) chipmunk-voiced poppy power metal moves of that album's long-awaited follow-up in 2005, Gallows Gallery. WE were happily confused and amused, though. And now Sigh has sharpened their blades to shred even harder on this album, dispensing with the chipmunks and also with the occasional saxophone lounge jazz and techno detours that popped up on Gallows Gallery. Absurdly bombastic, mixing heavy metal heroics with Morricone melodies, the fierce, frenzied, fixated Hangman's Hymn is as ridiculous as anything they've done but also undeniably, insanely impressive and entertaining.
MPEG Stream: "Introitus / Kyrie"
MPEG Stream: "Inked In Blood"
MPEG Stream: "Me-Devil"

SIGH Imaginary Sonicscape (Century Media) cd 14.98
Japan's best black metal band (along with Sabbat) are back with their first US domestic release, having just been signed by big metal label Century Media. We've always been fans of their fucked-up genre-mangling horror movie soundtrack metal, and this might be their best album yet! While Sigh are considered a black metal band, that has more to do with their history (you'll read in the Lords of Chaos book that their first album was supposed to be released on Euronymous' Deathlike Silence label, before he got stabbed to death) and love of Venom, than their actual sound, which manages to combine '80s heavy metal licks with everything from lounge-jazz to 20th century classical. At first listen, "Imaginary Sonicscape" might seem less crazed than some of their previous efforts, but that's just 'cause they've become masters at writing good metal songs whose weirdly juxtaposed components actually gel rather than jar (and also because the first track is one of the most conventionally accessible). You'll get totally into this as a heavy metal record, nodding your head to the riffs and so forth, and then suddenly "wake up" and wonder what the hell is going on with the sizzling '70s psychedelic synths and handclaps and disco breaks and pop hooks and classical piano solos, etc. Yet it flows so well, you'll still be nodding your head just the same. Imagine Venom, Ennio Morricone, Sleep, The Boredoms, Loudness, Boston, Goblin, and Satyricon (and their respective record collections as well) all rolled into one fat PCP-dusted joint. Hallucinogenic, catchy, absurd, fucking incredible.
RealAudio clip: "Ecstatic Transformation"
RealAudio clip: "Nietzschean Conspiracy"
RealAudio clip: "A Sunset Song"

SIGH Scenario IV: Dread Dreams (Cacophonous) cd 17.98
Japan's strangest black metal band returns with another mind-boggling rock 'n roll horror flick soundtrack-styled disc that surpasses their previous efforts in the genre-bending department. As enamored of John Zorn as they are of Venom, this trio combine catchy metal licks with 20th century classical. At one point in their the song "Black Curse" the band lurches into a country western vamp that'll make you think you've wandered into a Jim O'Rourke record! Such curious shifts though are executed so smoothly though that this comes across much better than the sort of Satanic Mr. Bungle you might imagine. The "metal" pick of the month, next to Satyricon.

SIGHTINGS Arrived In Gold (Load) cd 12.98

SIGHTINGS End Times (Fusetron) cd 14.98

SIGHTINGS Or What (Freedom From) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Noisy, lo-fi (read: poorly recorded, but that's the charm (read: novelty)) "art" punk from New York (where else?). The press release says "DNA meets High Rise" and makes many no-wave references (what better way to hype your band?). Don't want to be a prick and write this band off just yet, but it sounds like a bunch of emo kids decided emo wasn't hip anymore and decided no-wave and free jazz was the way to go. Seriously, this literally just sounds like in-the-red four track recordings of a hardcore/emo band, which is fine in itself, but no-wave? I bet their friends think they're "amazing". And I know we'll get a shitload of hate mail from a bunch of whiny emo-turned art rock turds defending their friends' crappy band. Whatever. Records forthcoming on Troubleman Unlimited and Load.

SIGHTINGS s/t (Load) cd 12.98
The pristine, calming baby blue and pink bars that make up the cover art of this release give not a hint of the chaotic sonic stew contained within. Sightings are a New York cacophonous trainwreck spewing a distorted murky mess of vocal screaches and howls over spazzy guitar, bass and drumming.
This is the dissonant and flailing full length follow-up to their debut 7".
RealAudio clip: "Cuckoo"
RealAudio clip: "Wax Doors"

SIGHTINGS s/t (Load) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The pristine, calming baby blue and pink bars that make up the cover art of this release give not a hint of the chaotic sonic stew contained within. Sightings are a New York cacophonous trainwreck spewing a distorted murky mess of vocal screaches and howls over spazzy guitar, bass and drumming.
This is the dissonant and flailing full length follow-up to their debut 7".
RealAudio clip: "Cuckoo"
RealAudio clip: "Wax Doors"

SIGHTINGS Through The Panama (Load) cd 13.98
Some of us here at aQ feel like Brooklyn's sightings have never really gotten a fair shake (and some of us here, also, never gave 'em a fair shake!). Their particular brand of speaker-fried, uber-distorted, 4-track noise bludgeoning has never really caught on in same way as some of their Load Records cohorts, despite being every bit as jagged, intense, brutal and engaging as anything else that label has to offer. That said, over the course of a half dozen records Sightings have slowly and quietly (well, as quietly as a band this mammothly loud can do things...) refined their aesthetic, adding subtle electronic tones and touches, and moving slowly away from the confrontational pummeling that characterized their earlier recordings.
For Through The Panama, their 4th full length on Load, Sightings have taken a step further toward reinventing themselves completely. Gone are the blown out production values, the throat shredding yowls, and the muscular relentlessness of their earlier records. In their place? Cleaner production courtesy of Andrew WK and a simmering, sinewy intensity that ties together a range of disparate influences (This Heat's fractured tape loop groove, DNA's angular guitar skree, to name but two...) into something so tightly wound that it feels constantly on the verge of completely falling apart. The whole thing churns along at a low boil of muttered vocals, rumbling bass, tinkling piano flourishes and rhythmic density with occasional bursts of their old, frenzied selves breaking through. It's almost like you can hear the band trying to reign everything in and failing in really fantastic ways.
Hopefully this will be the record that pushes the band out of the shadows and garners them the attention they deserve. Totally, thoroughly, completely recommended.
MPEG Stream: "A Rest"
MPEG Stream: "Perforated"
MPEG Stream: "Certificate Of No Effect"

SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR BERG A Little Lost (Bottrop-Boy) cd 16.98
Another marvelous album from Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, one of the founding members of the Icelandic experimental / electronica ensemble Stilluppsteypa. Generally speaking, the themes of contradiction and tension that run through Stilluppsteypa's recordings also appear in the solo work of Sigmarsson, although he spends much more time allowing all of his ideas to unravel, slowly articulating each sound before offering semiotic and / or acoustical counterpoints. "A Little Lost" opens with a fluttering drone from a digitally enhanced church organ sounding quite similar to the sounds heard on "Ship" his sublime debut for Trente Oiseaux. Flicking in and out of audibility, these drone hamonics subtly couple with a quiet smoldering of static to offer an expanse of lulling sound. Throughout the album, Sigmarsson slowly dismantles the hypnotic atmosphere, first with pronounced lapses of the drones in favor of delicate textural sounds, then through a series of repeated chunks of elemental grit sliding backwards and forwards against the grain of the drone, and climaxing with a tumultous blast of digital noise shaped into offkilter metal riffs which abruptly cut to some drunk yokel barking the alarm call from a German U-boat. Sigmarsson's genius becomes apparant in how he has moved from the calm beginning of the album to this abrasive pinnacle with a self-contained intelligence and sly continuity in sound construction. The album returns to a sense of calm through the final track, a lengthy remix of mutant minimalism provided by Irr.App.Ext, the sorely under-represented project of Santa Cruz artist Matt Waldron. Very, very nice!
RealAudio clip: "My Treasure Ship"
RealAudio clip: "The Day Microphones Came To Life..."

SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR BERG A Long Wait Produces Nothing Further (ERS) lp 13.98

SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR BERG Ship (Trente Oiseaux) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is a member of the transplanted Icelandic trio Stilluppsteypa, whose work has evolved over the past decade from avant-rock wackiness to studied drone / glitch work but has always maintained an off-kilter and at times absurdist approach toward their concepts. "Ship" is Sigmarsson's debut solo recording and continues in the minimalist direction that Stilluppsteypa has taken recently. Sigmarsson's album uses the metallic hull of a half buried ship as the source material for this album. Sigmarsson's "Ship" austerely floats through a gradually shifting topography of delicate, complementary harmonics, which come close to the more active drone moments from the latest Bernhard Gunter records.
RealAudio clip: "Ship"

SIGMARSSON, SIGTRYGGUR BERG This One Comes Highly Recommended (Fire Inc) cd 16.98
While the majority of contemporary digital minimalists furrow their brows while contemplating which filter to tweak in order to get the perfect attenuation of a completely inaudible sound, a few practitioners of minimalism have managed to dig a little deeper and revolt. Known best for his membership in the Icelandic ex-patriot ensemble Stilluppsteypa, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is one odd-ball minimalist who presents his delicate electro-acoustic compositions as exercises in Dadaist aburdity. Investigating Sigmarsson's aesthetics, you will find an exceptional album of microsounds, loaded with scraping textures of metal grinding against metal, complemented by tone-float purities that are expanded through timestretch / sinewave / glitch manipulation only to collapse into low-end rumbles, the sort usually found within Francisco Lopez's work. Sigmarsson's debut recording -- the transcendently beautiful "Ship" -- got Bernhard Gunter's stamp of approval as it was released on his Trente Oiseaux label, yet "This One Comes Highly Recommended" is perhaps even more interesting and definitely more active.
The artwork is a series of poorly shot photographs of urban detritus, grimy hallways, discarded plastic bags, refrigerators filled with frozen meat, empty bottles of vodka, children's drawings, and even a portrait of Sigtryggur after an extended bender. Not the most readily discernable collection of images, but provides the sense that Sigmarsson still views himself as the chaos-loving Icelandic punk who founded Stilluppsteypa a decade ago. Match the music and the images with such idiosyncratic titles as "If I Remember, I Have Always Been Certain" or "The Sometime Charm," and Sigmarrson has developed an intriguing set of semiotic puzzles that may or may not have any solutions. When asked by Rob Young of The Wire if his Stillupsteyppa was willfully obscurist, his obvious answer was "In a way we are astronauts, we are filling in the missing gaps." Anyway, this is an album the more than lives up to its title.
RealAudio clip: "Everything Will Be Ready In Good Time"
RealAudio clip: "Not Sure About This One Anymore"
RealAudio clip: "If I Remember, I Have Always Been Certain"

SIGNAL Centrum (Raster-Noton) cd 15.98
Signal is the Raster supergroup/collaborative effort between Frank Bretschneider (aka Komet), Olaf Bender (aka Byetone), and Carsten Nicolai (aka Noto). Having set up an arsenal of laptops, black boxes, and oscillators, Signal's caustic electronics have produced a synthetic aural approximation of the Pantone spectrum of grey. Dessicated rhythms form terse electronic structures within layers of timestretched sinewaves and digital clickery. Nice work.

SIGNAL Robotron (Raster-Noton) cd 17.98
The latest chunk of clinical otherworldly, stark white dancefloor anti-funk from the always amazing Raster-Noton label comes from Signal, who we haven't heard from in ages, a sort of modern minimalist supergroup, featuring Frank Bretschneider (Komet), Olaf Bender (Byetone) and label head Carsten Nicolai (aka Noto), and you might think with that many cooks in the sonic kitchen, the result would be dense and messy and chaotic, but anyone even slightly familiar with these guys and this label know that nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, this is just as minimal and stripped down as anything we've heard from any of these guysŠ
But like much of the later Raster-Noton releases, the label's Ikeda-ish trademark super spare high end low end sine wave click and buzz has been tempered with bits of melody, subtle hints of groove, the result a strange alien robot dancemusic.
Beginning with a thick swirl of buzzing synth, almost like an electronic SUNNO))), the buzz quickly gives way to a glorious minimal skeletal funkiness. Where Chain Reaction took minimalism into a fuzzy, grungy underworld and wrapped it in murk and whir, these guys lay the whole thing out in a bright white space, all metallic edges and sanitized surfaces, a gloriously machinelike and propulsive future funk abstraction of techno created in some alien vacuum. The best part about this Signal disc is that in addition to all the stark minimalism and clipped robotic beats, they've also introduced some, well, maybe 'dirty sounds' might be the best way to describe them in this context, some air conditioner hum, some spurts of Geiger counter glitch, bits of blurry fuzz, smears of distortion and crumbling effects, some low end buzz that is chopped up into what almost sounds like metallic riffing. Rather than sounding out of place, they simply add more texture, more grit, make the music sound slightly more human and less alien, they also serve to highlight just how clinical and awesomely austere the beats and sounds are when those bits of buzz and hum drop out, a dramatic sonic shift that almost makes your ears pop. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Ermafa"
MPEG Stream: "Naplafa"
MPEG Stream: "Robotron"

SIGNAL Waves + Lines cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ultra minimalism from the three heads of Noton/Rastermusic - Olaf Bender (aka Byetone), Frank Bretschneider (aka Komet), and Carsten Nikolai (aka Noto) - whose combined effort is abstract digital sound structures based on the very simple clarity of sine waves and noise modulation.

SIGNAL TO NOISE MAGAZINE Fall 2007 Issue #47 magazine 4.95
Yet another jam packed issue of outsider rock, modern music, free jazz and everything in between. If you already read the Wire, you should definitely make room for Signal To Noise, they both cover similar sonic territory, but each with their own bent, meaning they compliment each other pretty perfectly.
This month Animal Collective is on the cover. And inside: Akron/Family, Andrew Hill R.I.P., Astral Social Club, The Terminals, Rod Poole R.I.P., People, Future Rapper, Khate, a piece on the Chicago drone movement, and a seriously massive collection of reviews, cds, lps, books, performances, installations and more.

SIGNAL TO NOISE MAGAZINE Issue #49 Spring 2008 magazine 4.95
If you read the Wire, and we know lots of you do, you sure as hell should be reading Signal To Noise as well. Very similar, so lots of stuff that should appeal to you Wire readers, but different enough to make it it's own unique beast. Lots of great writers, and of course they write about tons of amazing music.
This time around, Diamanda Galas on the cover. Inside: Atlas Sound, experimental banjo player Paul Metzger, jazz combo Edmund Welles, chamber group Slow Six, pianist and harpist and Coil sidekick Baby Dee, artist Jeff Schlanger, psych rock trio Radio Massacre International, NY noiseniks Carlos Giffoni, Dom Fernow and Brian Sullivan, and of course reviews galore, shows, installations, performances, dvds, cds, lps, books and even mp3s! Always a great read. And like every issue WAY recommended for music nerds and sound freeks.

SIGNAL TO NOISE MAGAZINE Spring 2007 Issue #45 magazine 4.95
Latest issue from this amazing modern music magazine, giving the Wire a serious run for their money! This time around Jarboe's on the cover, obscured by trees, while inside: Arbouretum, Harris Wulfson, Blood Brothers, guitarist Peter Walker, jam band The Slip, vocalist Lauren Newton, saxophonist Jean Derome, tripped out poster artists Patrick and Amy Borezo, the Globe Unity Orchestra, composer Milton Babbitt, trombonist Steve Swell, Sean O'Hagen of the High Llamas and then an overwhelming array of reviews, insightful and well written, books, live performances, tons of cds, dvds lps and even mp3's, 7", 3"s and tapes, and finally a whole mess of reissues...

SIGUR ROS ( ) (MCA / Fat Cat) cd 13.98
Quite simply, this album is a beauty. These days, the fact that Sigur Ros are Icelandic seems to overshadow the music itself. However geography books aside, there is definitely something palpably distinct about the music that's been coming out of that country (eg. of course Bjork, Emiliana Torrini and Mum). Indeed, an "Iceland sound" exists which is in full bloom with this Sigur Ros album. It may draw parallels to that which has come forth from Montreal (Godspeed You Black Emperor, Fly Pan Am, Do Make Say Think, et al) in recent years. Perhaps it's that they originate from countries that offer some degree of support for the art community? Hmmm. That said, there's a strong sense of focus and patience in their songcraft. Each song unfolds slowly releasing ethereal wisps of notes - both vocal and instrumental - to the air. Clearly SR are fully attentive to detail with a firm grasp of scale - the grand and the minute. Much like groups such as GYBE and Radiohead (they've toured with both, and actually some of their vocals bear a striking resemblance to Mr. Yorke's wavering, mournful wail), Sigur Ros are crafting meticulous, immensely moving compositions whether it be an epicly soaring soundscape or a fragile ghost of a ballad. Although just as the other two groups do, SR does have a tendency to occasionally go a little overboard in the overwrought / melodrama department, overall the result is an album of grace and beauty.
RealAudio clip: "Untitled (track 1)"
RealAudio clip: "Untitled (track 3)"

SIGUR ROS Agaetis Byrjun (Fat Cat) cd 15.98
WE WISH WE COULD SAY THAT THIS IS TOTALLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, BUT NOW IT'S BEEN REISSUED DOMESTICALLY... SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER THIS VERSION, GET THE OTHER ONE, IF YOU MUST.
Here's a list of the accolades given to Sigur Ros: a near sweep of the Icelandic Grammys, constant praise from the UK rock gossip mongers, and bookings for a European touring opening for Radiohead. First, while Aquarius has nothing against the island state of Iceland, are there all that many entrants in the Grammys contest there? Second, putting critical faith in what NME has to say is about as sensible as brushing your teeth with e-coli laced toothpaste. Third, if you have heard the new Radiohead record, the differences between "Kid A" and "OK Computer" are so vast that anybody who sees Radiohead is not going to concern themselves with who is opening, rather they'll be scratching their heads wondering why "Karma Police" sounded so weird.
No, we still don't much like the much hyped Sigur Ros, but if you like heavyhanded soundtracks to excessively melodramatic movies that patronize the audience with self-aggrandizing pseudo-philosophies, and sub-Cocteau Twins vocalizing, then boy have we got an album for you. For Sigur Ros fans not already put off by the above (and we'll admit that our Allan liked their last ep quite a bit -- the super bombastic parts reminded him of something by the Icelandic black metal band Potentiam, who should have won the Grammy, maybe they were even up for it?), we should mention that this full-length includes two tracks you probably already have, from their 2 prior Fat Cat eps.

SIGUR ROS Agaetis Byrjun (PIAS/Fat Cat) cd 16.98
Back in stock at long last, now as a domestic major label cd (which means, of course, that it costs more than the indie-label import did). But, at least it's here, so everyone who's been sent into a salivating tizzy by the relentless next-big-thing hype can finally get their copy. No, we're not fans of these guys' Godspeed-for-Yuppies output. The Sigur Ros backlash began here at Aquarius many months ago, but so far nobody else seems to share our low opinion of these Icelandic orchestral popsters. So, enjoy!

SIGUR ROS Heima (Deluxe Edition) (XL) 2dvd 32.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We will forewarn you that we only have a handful of these super deluxe editions of this Sigur Ros double dvd release! So if you or someone you know is a Sigur Ros fan, and you wanna treat yourself (or him or her), you better hop to it!
This edition of Heima is ultra ultra limited (meaning we won't be able to get more than what we currently have in stock!). It comes packages in an elegant slipcover with a stylin' hardcover book filled with color photographs. As with everything Sigur Ros create, this is a beautiful treasure for the eyes and ears. The title is the clue to what's inside. The word "Heima" translates roughly from Icelandic into English as "at home" or "homeland". Dvd One features an hour and a half long band documentary, and Dvd Two is filled with fantastic live performance footage from their 2006 tour across Iceland (the shows were free and unannounced!). The camerawork is artfully shot in glimpses and lingering gazes of the band and their surroundings. As always the band leaves a haunting impression that's both epic and intimate, formidable and ephemeral!
FYI: We also have the regular version in stock. It's the same dvds but instead of a companion hardcover book, it comes with a considerably thinner but still splendid insert booklet.

SIGUR ROS Heima (Regular Edition) (XL) 2dvd 16.98
This is the regular (i.e., non-deluxe) slipcovered digipak'd version of Sigur Ros' Heima double dvd set. We have a handful of the limited edition hardcover book version, but if you miss the boat on 'em, don't feel too bad because c'mon folks, it's Sigur Ros we're talking about here! Nothing from them is ever ordinary or less than strikingly beautiful. The title is the clue to what's inside. The word "Heima" translates roughly from Icelandic into English as "at home" or "homeland". Dvd One features an hour and a half long band documentary, and Dvd Two is filled with fantastic live performance footage from their 2006 tour across Iceland (the shows were free and unannounced!). The camerawork is artfully shot in glimpses and lingering gazes of the band and their surroundings. As always the band leaves a haunting impression that's both epic and intimate, formidable and ephemeral!

SIGUR ROS Hvarf / Heim (XL) 2cd 14.98
Sigur Ros resurrect a few of their old beloved songs on their new double cd Hvarf / Heim. It could easily have been titled Sigur Ros Plugged and Unplugged, but then again that's trademarked isn't it? Anyhoo, they've electrified some early acoustic numbers and acousticified (uhh, is that a real word? "Unplugged" is so much more catchy!) some previously electric ones. Proof of that old adage that the sign of a good song is if it survives translation in various instrumentations and genres. At once possessed with an ephemeral lightness and a heart-aching gravity, Sigur Ros make it seem so effortless. Hearing these songs again reminds us of the first time Sigur Ros touched our ears. 'Twas (and still is) absolutely enchanting. Now before we get all tear'd up and descend into more maddeningly cliched 'relive the magic!' ad taglines, need we say? As always, glisteningly beautiful.
MPEG Stream: "Agaetis Byrjun (Heim)"
MPEG Stream: "Salka (Hvarf)"

SIGUR ROS Ny Batteri (Fat Cat) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is second release from Sigur Ros for Fat Cat, outside of a half dozen self-released albums. Soaked in a melancholic theatricality, Sigur Ros plays mournful funereal dirges with instrumentation similar to the indie-ensembles of Godspeed You Black Emperor or Rachel's, with expressive cellos and deep horns. While this release never really reaches the majestic tension of Godspeed You Black Emperor, this is a much better outing for Sigur Ros than the dreadful heavy-handedness of their Fat Cat debut - "Sven-G-Englar."

SIGUR ROS Ny Batteri (Fat Cat) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is second release from Sigur Ros for Fat Cat, inspite of a half dozen self-released albums. Soaked in a melancholic theatricality, Sigur Ros plays mournful funereal dirges with similar instrumentation to the indie-ensembles of Godspeed You Black Emperor or Rachel's, with expressive cellos and deep horns. While this release never really reaches the majestic tension of Godspeed You Black Emperor, this is a much better outing for Sigur Ros than the dreadful heavy-handedness of their Fat Cat debut - "Sven-G-Englar."

SIGUR ROS RIMUR cd ep 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SIGUR ROS Saeglopur (Worker's Institute) cdep+dvd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's an unbeatably splendid Sigur Ros deal -- a dvd and a cdep for less than eleven dollars!
Musically there aren't any surprises... but who needs surprises? They stick with their tried and true which is simply more of their gorgeous crystalline elegant atmospheres we know and love. The title track is taken from their most recent full length Takk and the other three songs are new new new!
Visually it's nothing short of Sigur Ros-ian shivering sumptuousness -- three breathtaking videos for "Saeglopur", "Glosoli" and "Hoppipolla". Oh la la!
MPEG Stream: "Refur"
MPEG Stream: "Kafari"

SIGUR ROS Sven-G-Englar (Fat Cat) cd 10.98
More proof that you should never believe anything that NME or Melody Maker has to say about music. Praised by the UK asskissers at NME as the next thing to follow up Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sigur Ros does attempt to orchestrate lengthy passages for a large ensemble. But, instead of the psychic wastelands of Godspeed which soar with a grandiose majesty, Sigur Ros soaks their orchestral rock in a heavy-handed, melodramatic goop that is inexcusable. The CD has twice as much material as the vinyl!

SIGUR ROS Sven-G-Englar (Fat Cat) 12" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More proof that you should never believe anything that NME or Melody Maker has to say about music. Praised by the UK asskissers at NME as the next thing to follow up Godspeed You Black Emperor, Sigur Ros does attempt to orchestrate lengthy passages for a large ensemble. But, instead of the psychic wastelands of Godspeed which soar with a grandiose majesty, Sigur Ros soaks their orchestral rock in a heavy-handed, melodramatic goop that is inexcusable. Bad, kitty! Very, very bad!

SIGUR ROS Takk (Geffen) cd 15.98
With each Sigur Ros album it seems that this Icelandic group have perfected their sound -- you wonder how they could possibly make it any better or where they could possibly go from there -- but somehow the very next album brings something fresh to their already glorious world. The highly anticipated follow-up to 2002's ( ) is no exception, sending new blissful shivers down your spine. Sigur Ros' music is the aural equivalent of those glistening intricate patterns of frost that form on the windowpanes of old houses. The crystals existence hang in peril of your warm breath as you gaze out into the wintry night. On Takk, they've encorporated more traditional structured songs and orchestral arrangements, more strings, more singing (you can easily imagine Coldplay's Chris Martin slipping in to contribute vocals on some of them) and even a mini brass band interlude! We could gush further, but you get the picture, don't you? Shimmering. Dreamy. Sublime. Wonderful. And the packaging is too!
MPEG Stream: "Glosoli"
MPEG Stream: "Gong"

SIGUR ROS Von (Smekkleysa) cd 23.00
When people first started raving about Sigur Ros, back before they were *everywhere* (we've even just noticed their music used as the soundtrack to an autopsy scene on the TV show CSI!) and we had yet to hear them, we were so excited. This sounded like the band for us. Ethereal but rocking, with strange ghostly vocals, and bizarre production, lush and dark and lovely. When we finally heard them, we were a bit underwhelmed. Not to take anything away from Sigur Ros. They ARE a great band, it was just a case of too much hype and expectations set way to high. But weirdly enough, the first Sigur Ros record we heard was not in fact their first record. But THIS is their first record. And up until recently, pretty much unavailble here in the States. Well, it's finally been licensed and man is it great! If we had heard THIS record first, we would have been totally sold. Von totally lives up to the hype. A weird mix of Radiohead and Pink Floyd and My Bloody Valentine, with those eerie alien sounding falsetto vocals and lots of gorgeous ambience. It sounds kind of like the soundtrack to the scariest movie you've ever seen. The tracks on Von are dark and slowly building, rumbling and creaking, with distant melodies, and whispery vocalisations (in Sigur Ros's made up language 'Hopelandic'). So intense. And when they do rock, they REALLY ROCK. Thumping and hypnotic, heavy and repetitive. A little like Mogwai or Explosions In Ths Sky. One of the highlights is definitely the third track, a swirl of creepy introspective ambience with haunting otherworldly vocals, that eventually turns into a pounding shoegazing / noiserock dirge, simple and relentless, until near the end when the tape starts slowing down and the riff gets chopped up like a skipping cd. Weird and beautifully massive. Most of this record is way darker and way more aggressive than later Sigur Ros and as you can tell from our review, we think that this is a very good thing! Packged in a dark purple jewel case with a creepy doll head on the cover. SO GREAT!
MPEG Stream: "Hun Joro"
MPEG Stream: "Dogun"
MPEG Stream: "Von"

SIGURDSSON, VALGEIR Ekvilibrium (Bedroom Community) cd 15.98
Frosty, shimmering and yes, oh so distinctly Icelandic. This is the new album from Valgeir Sigurdsson. An unfamiliar name perhaps? Well, if you looked closely to the credits for some of your favorite Icelandic artists' albums, you'd probably find his name listed as the producer, engineer, collaborator among other roles... particularly for Sigur Ros, Mum and one Ms Bjork! Sigurdsson steps to the other side of the recording studio console to make his solo debut. It's a tapestry of delicate, stuttery IDM waves and chiming melodies. On tracks such as "Focal Point" the airiness is countered by the sound of heavy fingers on (toy?) piano keys. Enchanting!
Features guest appearances by Bonnie Prince Billy and Dawn McCarthy of Faun Fables!
MPEG Stream: "Evolution Of Waters"
MPEG Stream: "Focal Point"

SILBERBART 4 Times Sound Razing (Progressive Line) cd 22.00
Silberbart's one-off LP from 1971, with its non sequitur of a bleeding silver gnome on the cover, is one of those heavy krautrock rarities spoken of in hushed tones, in record-collector tomes like Cosmic Dreams At Play ("...legendary...extreme...") and the equally authoritative Crack In The Cosmic Egg ("...excellent...schizophrenic..."). It's desirable in part 'cause it's so darn obscure, yes. But also 'cause it IS heavy. In a loose and demented, frayed and jangled, utterly freakish way. The four tracks here (long ones, with great titles demonstrating Silberbart's psychedelic illogic: "Chub Chub Cherry", "Brain Brain", "God", "Head Tear Of The Drunken Sun") are crazy quilt of distorted guitar riffing, acid-fried songwriting, and unusually frantic, strangled vocals. The band's hippie power trio psych is played with an escaped lunatic's "what's next?" abandon, making for progged-out, crooked-grinning, drug-induced weirdness that deservedly garners comparisons to early Guru Guru.
Compact disc reissues of this have always been hard to come by. But we found a small supply and thought that there had to be some AQ customers who've always been curious about 4 Times Sound Razing...it's not exactly a work of genius but it's odd enough to please a few of you we wager!
MPEG Stream: "Brain Brain"
MPEG Stream: "God"

SILENCER Death - Pierce Me (Autopsy Kitchen) cd 14.98
It seems like a lot of the black metal we've been digging lately has been of the 'tortured anguished vocals' variety. Sterbend from last list is probably the most obvious. But Marblebog too. Also Hekel elsewhere on this list. But go back a ways and you can find plenty of black hordes who not only buzz grimly, but howl and wail as if their souls were trying to escape from their bodies, Bethlehem, SF cult legends Weakling, and of course Silencer. This record isn't really new, and actually we have been trying to track down copies of this forever. Silencer are spoken of with hushed reverence, and for good reason. Death - Pierce Me is dark and damaged, grim and suicidal miserablist doom-drenched black metal of the highest order. Talk to any of the current crop of the black metal elite, Wrest from Leviathan, Malefic from Xasthur, and they will fawn unabashedly over Silencer. Thankfully, Autopsy Kitchen have stepped up and rescued this all time black classic from oblivion. And now you can finally experience one of the original black cults who expressed their blackened misery through impossibly anguished vocals. Hysterical shrieks, frenzied and overwrought howls of absolute terror. Never has a band captured grief and misery and loneliness so perfectly and in such an utterly frightening way.
But it's not just the vocals, the music is completely intense and seething as well, with an unrestrained turbulence, dense and buzzing and so emotional and personal and overwhelming. Heart rending minor key melodies emeshed in black swirls of buzz, the riffing so intense and totally manic, exposing a tortured inner world wrought with drama and tension, a dark soul exposed, a damaged personal hell expressed through shriek and buzz. The anguished blasts of blackness are separated by dark doomy ambient passages, from simple mournful acoustic guitar to droney piano fugues to simple melodic doom metal minimalism, but when the riffs and the vocals kick in, a huge brutal blackness dropping on you from above, it's the sort of musical moment that gives you chills, makes your hair stand up on end, and in the right frame of mind makes you want to just break down. Which is precisely why Silencer and Death - Pierce Me are so revered, this record set the template for ALL depressive suicidal black metal to follow, and while some have come close, Xasthur and Nortt certainly, there is just something so special, and so utterly frightening about this record that keeps anyone from ever capturing the same black musical world of abject fear and unmitigated misery.
MPEG Stream: "Death - Pierce Me"
MPEG Stream: "Sterile Nails And Thunderbowels"
MPEG Stream: "Taklamakan"

SILENTIST Chariot Swing (Celestial Gang) cd ep 8.98
Second release from Silentist, a bizarre grindcore twentieth century classical hybrid. At least that's what they used to sound like. Originally described to us as a classical pianist playing with a relentlessly blast beating drummer, their sound ended up being more like a grind band with a pianist and no guitarist. Which was still pretty darn amazing. This time around it's a whole different beast. All the metal and the downtuned fury, the blast beats, the shrieked vocals, all gone. In their place is a strangely avant garde piano, vocals and drum cabaret. Wild and splattery, ultra dramatic and completely unlike anything we've ever heard. Wild atonal piano intertwined with pounding tribal drumming, accompanied by over the top super dramatic vocals. A brief flurry of manic and impossibly intricate piano drum interplay before the drums drop out and the piano becomes a multiphonic blur, a lush jazzscape of shimmering cymbals, repetitive piano figures and crooning keening vocals. A strange pop song with fuzzed out rhythms, affected vocals, shuffling jazz drums, sounding a bit like a jazzier Animal Collective... But it's the final track that kicks in with a bit of Silentist's old heaviness. But only a bit. A super distorted low end rhythmic buzz over haunting creepy piano melodies, and wailed mournful vocals, all drenched in reverb, laced loosely to a lurching loping tempo, a weirdly catchy minor key epic that builds and builds with manic drumming surfacing beneath the seasick tempo and turning an already harrowing sounding track more and more intense. Really really strange and completely amazing!
MPEG Stream: "Easy Tines"
MPEG Stream: "Chariot Swing"

SILENTIST House On The Hill ep (Celestial Gang) cd ep 7.98
We've pretty much totally fallen for these guys. Big time! Initially we were lead completely astray by a friend who described them as a classical pianist / grindcore drummer duo. We were expecting something like that weird Dave Lombardo record where he drums along to Vivaldi. What we got was much different but no less satisfying. A demented dark grind band with a pianist who added all sorts of unlikely tonal color, and weird melodic flourishes. On their second ep, they ditched the grind completely and replaced it with some sort of damaged cabaret, with super dramatic vocals, insane piano, and all sorts of swirling jazzisms. Well, here we are at ep #3 (what is it with the ep's guys?) and they've gone and done it again. It's almost like they're a different band each time. But there's always something that links all their disparate musical personalities no matter how tenuous. On House On The Hill, Silentist are some sort of doomy, gothy slowcore band. The opening track is a loping dirge, simple shuffling drums over a rumbling bass drone and drawled sung spoken vocals, with occasional bursts of anguished howls and extra-pounding drums, almost like a much more malevolent Codeine with some distinct Swans influence. The second track is equally as dark, but is a super dramatic sort-of-industrial version of the first song, music box melodies, weird distorted electric piano, grinding fuzz synths, pounding drums and moaned baritone vocals, that also occasionally shift into black metal screams. Imagine some neo-classical, black metal Birthday Party and you might be close. Very dark, and very creepy and strangely psychedelic. Heavy too, but not like metal heavy, more sort of dense and disturbing. This record is almost like the perfect mix of the first two, wild whiplash grind and super glammy cabaret, a blackened glam grind maybe? Some tracks are sweeping and epic, some are blasting and chaotic, but always the interplay between the drums and piano manage to hold it all together. Dreamy minor key melodicism jammed up against lightning fast blast beats, howled tortured vocals draped over sweetly melancholy ambience, dizzying and confusing, but so fucking great.
MPEG Stream: "Cut "
MPEG Stream: "Evil Triad"

SILENTIST Nightingales EP (Celestial Gang) cd ep 8.98
Local noiseniks the Yellow Swans hipped us to this band, describing Silentist as a classical pianist, with a drummer playing blast beats behind the piano. Hell, we were sold without even hearing it! Their descption was not all that far off the mark, although we might have described them as a grindcore band with a pianist instead of a guitarist. Either way this is pretty weird stuff. Manic twentieth century free jazz piano, angular and melodic, occasionally picking out mournful minor key melodies, sometimes pounding out chords and riffs, all kept in check by an incredibly kick ass drummer who swings from ultra complex, polyrhythmic jazz freakouts, to blurry lightning fast blast beats. Occasional shrieked vocals and downtuned guitars add some more typical 'heaviness' to the proceedings, but to be honest its the interplay between the drums and the piano that has our head spinning. Imagine Matthew Shipp jamming with Dave Lombardo, backed up by Brutal Truth here and there! Woah! Free jazz grind? Um, how about grind jazz? Or twentieth century grind? I know, modern free grind! Whatever it is it's fucking amazing!
FYI we're pretty sure the piano player is the same guy who shared that recent split with Growing, Mark Evan Burden.
MPEG Stream: "Kimono Mask"

SILKK THE SHOCKER Charge It 2 Da Game (No Limit) cd 15.98
Another rapper from the No Limit/Master P stable, a newer release than the above. His best, one of our favorite No Limit releases!!

SILKK THE SHOCKER My World My Way (No Limit / Priority) cd 17.98
No Limit, uh huh, No Limit. Master P protege Silkk The Shocker (who is neither silky nor shocking, really) unleashes his latest, 23 tracks (including the obligatory skits) of sure-to-be-big-selling ghetto hiphop, with guests Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Mystikal, Master P and others from that crew... Not as great as his Charge It 2 Da Game from a few years back, but still fulla thumpin beats for your trunk or whatever. "Seems Like A Thug" should be the hit for its faux-Destiny's Child singing and Timbaland knockoff beats. Lovely how that's followed by "Them Boyz" with Mystikal's frothing maddog rappin'. A guilty pleasure I guess, and certainly low attention span stuff (except for the skits) as there's always a new beat or guest rapper around the corner.

SILKWORM Blueblood (Touch & Go) cd 13.98
New label for angsty Northwesterners sans Joel R. Phelps (who, if we are lucky, will be playing instore here next month).

SILKWORM Blueblood (Touch & Go) lp 9.98
New label for angsty Northwesterners sans Joel R. Phelps (who, if we are lucky, will be playing instore here next month).

SILKWORM Developer (Matador) cd 13.98

SILKWORM Even A Blind Chicken Finds A Kernel Of Corn Now And Then (Matador) 2cd 15.98
Amazing compilation of way out of print Silkworm vinyl 1990-94, including their first album L'Ajre, the His Absence Is A Blessing 12", their kickass cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain", their blissfully minimal cover of Tom Petty's "Insider", some four-track demos, and tons more!! And then Joel Phelps left the band and now they kinda suck, but this proves that at one point Silkworm ruled!

SILKWORM Firewater (Matador) cd 14.98

SILKWORM Firewater (Matador) lp 9.98