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IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion):
Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps "out of print/unavailable" notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock -- or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us -- please email our mailorder department for availability status -- or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.


album cover SPACE MACHINE 3 (Tiliqua) 2lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest blast of analog synth madness from Takushi Yamazaki, othewise known as Masonna, the one man Japanoise wrecking crew, with a belt full of effects and a wall of white noise unparalleled. But don't expect any of that noise here. Space Machine is the vehicle that Yamazaki uses to indulge his fetish for rare seventies analog synths and all the spacy madness that they can conjure up. This is all swoosh and whir, bleep and swoop, like Acid Mothers Temple at their most unstructured, or better yet, like the music at the planetarium when you're soaring through galaxies, into the farthest reaches of the universe. Gorgeous double lp on orange vinyl in a nice gatefold sleeve. Two sides of solo studio recordings, two sides of live mayhem, four sides of far out, freaked out buzzing blooping bliss.

album cover SPACE MACHINE Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Osaka-based artist Takushi "Maso" Yamazaki has taken quite a turn these past couple of years. His more well-known alter-ego Masonna is best known for ear shredding cut'n'paste sonic assaults. Masonna's live performances consisted of Yamazaki screaming into two or three microphones, hurling himself onto effects boxes and destroying just about anything in his way. Yamazaki's interest in analogue electronics and modular synthesis was evident on his collaboration with Fusao Toda (of Angel 'In Heavy Syrup) -- Christine 23 Onna's "Shiny Crystal Planet" -- a hyper blend of '60s exotic breaks flooded with psychedelic synthesizers and tons of echo. As Space Echo, Yamazaki goes one on one with The Putney, a compact modular synthesizer developed in 1969 by EMS, as well as the Doepfer A-100 Modular system and a slew of echo machines for total tripped out effect! Not rhythmic like Christine 23 Onna, but very similar in Yamazaki's tweaked out knob twiddling and full on psych-distorto overload. The first in Alchemy's Inner Mind Music Series of cosmic psychedelia themed sonicscapes.
RealAudio clip: "6"

album cover SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-101 (Dimension Degenerator) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Space Machine is Takushi "Maso" Yamazaki's outlet for the use and abuse of vintage analog synth equipment, where he leaves aside the violence and extremity of his work as Masonna in the "Japanese noise" idiom and instead attempts to channel the spirit of early '70s German electronic experimentalists like Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler. After three previous full-length recordings (Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter on Alchemy being our fave) now comes the first two installments in a series of 3" eps, each of which sees Space Machine operating as a duo of Maso plus guest.
For Model-101, the guest is Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C./Astro. He also plays the synthesizer. Recorded live at Penguin House in Tokyo, February 2004, this starts with a whoosh and whooshes onward and upward. It's a nice, dense twenty or so minutes of droning, whirring, bleeping spaced-out spirals of psychedelic synth!
On Model-102, Yamazaki and his synths team up with Acid Mothers Temple guitarist Makoto Kawabata for nearly twenty minutes of interstellar exploration, recorded live at Cafe Futuro in Osaka, Japan in April 2003. That it's recorded live in a cafe is evident on the disc, what with the murmer of conversation heard in the background, as Maso and Makoto and their machines hum and drone and drift and glow in the foreground. Abstract yet effective, it's actually incredibly mesmerizing and soothing. Of the two 3" discs, Model-101 is the more bleepy and loud and science fiction soundtracky, while Model-102 is quieter and perhaps less cliched. Both are recommended to all Space Machine/AMT/sci-fi synth fans.
MPEG Stream: "Dimension Degenerator"

album cover SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-102 (Orbit Vector Generator) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Space Machine is Takushi "Maso" Yamazaki's outlet for the use and abuse of vintage analog synth equipment, where he leaves aside the violence and extremity of his work as Masonna in the "Japanese noise" idiom and instead attempts to channel the spirit of early '70s German electronic experimentalists like Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler. After three previous full-length recordings (Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter on Alchemy being our fave) now comes a series of 3" eps, each of which see Space Machine operating as a duo of Maso plus guest.
For Model-101, the guest is Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C./Astro. He also plays the synthesizer. Recorded live at Penguin House in Tokyo, February 2004, this starts with a whoosh and whooshes onward and upward. It's a nice, dense twenty or so minutes of droning, spaced-out spirals of psychedelic synth!
On Model-102, Yamazaki and his synths team up with Acid Mothers Temple guitarist Makoto Kawabata for nearly twenty minutes of interstellar exploration, recorded live at Cafe Futuro in Osaka, Japan in April 2003. That it's recorded live in a cafe is evident on the disc, what with the murmer of conversation heard in the background, as Maso and Makoto and their machines hum and drone and drift and glow in the foreground. Abstract yet effective, it's actually incredibly mesmerizing and soothing. Of the two 3" discs, Model-101 is the more bleepy and loud and science fiction soundtracky. Quieter and less cliched perhaps is Model-102. Both are recommended to all Space Machine/AMT/sci-fi synth fans.
MPEG Stream: "Orbit Vector Generator"

album cover SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-201 (Space-Time Echo) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More analog synth hi-jinx from Japan's Space Machine (the retro electronica obsessed alter ego of Takushi Yamazaki aka Masonna). The nifty Modular Series of 3" cds, the first two of which paired Yamazaki and his synths up with equally psychedelic sparring partners, sees Yamazaki going solo for installments number three and four. Model-201 is the third in the series, and it's an impressive, oppressive 13+ minutes of squelching, zinging, droning electronics (specifically, Yamazaki's credited with playing the Maestro Echoplex EP-3 and P-tronic Sound Lab Mini-Synth here), not unlike the sound of a series of flying saucers taking off and landing at a busy Area 51 UFO base. Soothing music for your inner malfunctioning robot.
MPEG Stream: "Space-Time Echo"

album cover SPACE MACHINE Modular Series - Model-202 (Zone Of Avoidance) (P Tapes) 3" cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More analog synth hi-jinx from Japan's Space Machine (the retro electronica obsessed alter ego of Takushi Yamazaki aka Masonna). The nifty Modular Series of 3" cds, the first two of which paired Yamazaki and his synths up with equally psychedelic sparring partners, sees Yamazaki going solo for installments number three and four. Model-202, Zone Of Avoidance is the fourth in the series, with Yamazaki utilizing Roland System 100, System 100M, and RE-501 to create close to twenty minutes of jittery, minimally repetitive dronage that arcs into a realm of Jurassic birdcalls as recorded by dying, batteries-running-down technology...or something. And just as Space Machine fetishizes their vintage equipment, P Tapes have managed to make these attractively designed 3" discs into fetish objects themselves for fans of this sort of electronic voodoo.
MPEG Stream: "Zone Of Avoidance"

SPACE MTN s/t (self-released) cd ep 5.98

album cover SPACE NEEDLE Recordings 1994-97 (Eenie Meenie) cd 14.98
Space Needle were a strange bunch. Part of the mid-nineties indie rock scene, but only barely, something about them was just a little too weird, a complicated mix of pretty and creepy, a sonic world not immediately recognizable to the average Pavement fan or Yo La Tengo booster. Their sound was based not on guitar jangle but on strange rhythms and thick swaths of synthesizer. Probably had a lot to do with the fact that SN mainman Jud Ehrbar was a drummer. Vocals were appropriately indie sad boy style, from monotone Pavementy croon to reedy straining-to-hit-the-high-notes near falsetto, but they were dropped into totally alien landscapes. Those distinct vocals moped and dragged their feet amidst strange militaristic drum jams, thick washes of layered organs, serpentine low end synthbasslines, slithering and twisting chaotically beneath thick wheezing organ whir, strangely detuned guitars, strummed into hypnotic jangly jams over ultra simple motorik drumming, all the while, the vocals pushed WAY up in the mix, sort of languorous and deadpan, not so much drifting as sort of lazily shuffling. The melody almost entirely carried by the vocals (with occasional assistance from the synthesizer). The sound was definitely skeletal, often just vocals and drums, sometimes a simple throbbing bass line, but most of the tracks build to a massive climax, with guitars building into huge fuzzy drones, the synth lines getting more and more distorted, both swirling into thick squalls of blown out psychedelia.
At their heaviest, Space Needle almost sound like Loop or Spacemen 3, simple riffs repeated over and over, building a super hypnotic groove, while over the top, guitars and synths wrestle in a thick cloud of buzz and fuzz. But the rest of the time, they really sounded like no one else. Some tracks are just random sonic experiments, super washed out guitars or ultra distorted synths, locked into super hot, crumbling in-the-red, looped dirges. But the heart of Space Needle's sound was a hauntingly alien, lilting loping abstract indie rock, melancholy and super laid back, but also dark and slightly ominous. Phrases repeated over and over mantra like, the vocals almost sounding choral at moments, each track unfurling and taking its own sweet time as it ambles toward its inevitable end. A sonic allegory for the sadness and loss suffusing SN's whole sound.
This collection, gathers the best bits from Space Needle's two albums, and tacks on two live tracks, the best being a 15 minute long psych jam entitled "Where The Fucks My Wallet?", a live set staple that starts off all gentle guitar and builds into a wild sprawl of angular guitars and chaotic instrumental freakout, even a sort-of drum solo.
We sort of forgot how much we dug this band, but hearing these tracks again, man, they sound so fresh, and so fucking amazing, they've really held up well, unlike LOTS of their indie contemporaries. These tracks could just as easily be from some current experimental fucked up abstract noisepop cd-r band as a forgotten nineties indie rock outfit. Definitely enough jangle and sweet and sour melody to hit the spot for all you Blonde Redhead / Modest Mouse / Black Heart Procession / Yo La Tengo / Silver Jews indie rockers of today, but certainly fucked up enough to appeal to all you lovers of free noise and art rock weirdness as well, plus this is just the sort of record to give all those indierockphobes out there something to think about.
Includes liner notes, new artwork, and blurbs from the band about the recording of each track.
MPEG Stream: "Eyes To The World"
MPEG Stream: ""Dreams""
MPEG Stream: "Before I Lose My Style"

SPACE NEEDLE The Moray Eels Eat The Space Needle (Zero Hour) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Indie-pop-prog soundscapes, with cover art by Roger Dean.

album cover SPACE OPERA s/t (Collector's Choice Music) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's another reissue of a '70s obscurity that we wanted to hear simply on the basis of what we'd read about it: apparently Space Opera were a band from Texas who blended Byrdsian 12-string psych pop with proggy avant-gardisms. They made just one album, released in 1973 on Epic, which has now been reissued on cd. We got it in and gave it a listen and...yes! It turns out what we'd read about Space Opera was pretty accurate. We hear some Beatles too, and Southern rock Skynrd-worthy balladry. It's probably the distorted fuzz guitar harmonies -- especially when employed in epic "minature symphonies" (like the progtastic seven-plus-minute instrumental "Guitar Suite") -- that are the highlights of this album for us, but the band's lighter moments are exquisite too. So impressive. They've got pop vocal harmonies, jazz and classical flourishes, country roots, complex arrangements, inventive effects, wow. We can understand why this band was once the biggest thing on the scene in Forth Worth... and may be again, as we hear the original members have reunited. Recommended. And, need we say again: hurrah for reissues (when they're as good as this)!
MPEG Stream: "Country Max"
MPEG Stream: "Holy River"

SPACE PONCH The World Shopping With... (Moikai) cd 14.98
Japanese synth-pop craziness compared to Perrey & Kingsley, Giorgio Moroder, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. And they're not kidding about the vocoder overload! Music for futuristic cartoon characters to party to. On Jim O'Rourke's always interesting Moikai label.

SPACE STREAKINGS (Skin Graft) 7"+comic book 5.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Japanese outerspace looniness.

SPACE TRAVELERS Black Hole (Future Primitive Sound) 12" 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A super limited single (only 700 were made!!!) from the Space Travelers which features DJ Quest (of Live Human) and Cue, whose title track "Black Hole" will appear on the upcoming Future Primitive compilation "Urban R(evolution)". The huge electro break is cast in a downtempo groove with flashy turntable tricks and elements of Missile Command-esque video game noise, horn flares, and funk bass snippets that almost resemble Tackhead. Z-Trip's "Further Explorations into the Black Hole" on the flip side fills out the minimalist electro funk of "Black Hole" with cut-up Sci-Fi narratives and a slightly different handclap driven break. Along with these two tracks, 'instrumental' versions of each respective track and bonus beats of the Z-Trip remix are also present.

album cover SPACE VACATION s/t (self-released) cd-r 9.98
Glad to finally get to list something by these guys, an awesome local melodic metal band who we became fairly rabid fans of just from checking out their MySpace page a while ago, though when you hear 'em, you'll think its something we've been fans of ever since 1984 or so, long before MySpace or the Internet even existed, since they sound sooooooo '80s melodic NWOBHM / arena rock it's amazing. But they're a relatively young band from here in San Francisco, and this debut of theirs Allan here considers a top ten metal album of 2010, easy... and it's just a self-released cd-r, what in the old days you'd call a demo. Wish it was a real cd or vinyl album, it should be, these songs are really fucking good!
And please don't let the goofy name put you off, we were surprised too when when we first heard 'em, but Space Vacation are indeed one of the best '80s influenced, heavy but brilliantly poppy metal band we've come across in ages. With galloping riffs, shredding solos, catchy licks, stick twirling hard hitting drumming, and stick-in-yer-head choruses, what's not to love? Classic stuff. The vocals are key, the dude (who also plays lead guitar) is not afraid to SING. Though he'll also happily shut up and play his guitar, as on the Eddie Van Halen-esque instrumental break "Streaker". And the band as a whole is not afraid to be a little (or a lot) cheesy, but in a good way. Good enough to remind us of cool EARLY Def Leppard and other greats. And we'd put this up against anything today of that old school melodic metal ilk, like Priestess, Cauldron, whomever. And you ironic inde rock types can take solace in the clever, not as cliched as you'd think lyrics that both celebrate and subvert the cliches of heavy metal.
It's the pop element that puts this over the top, as our pal Glenn, another big SV fan, puts it, "it's like the most rudimentary NWOBHM from 1980 mixed with what you might get from a one-off juvenile indie-pop band formed as a joke by guys from Sloan and New Pornographers for a bachelor party for one of the members."
We'd already heard 6 or 7 of these tracks via their MySpace but the others, new ones, are cool too. There's a "blast off" count-down intro going into a track called "Space Vacation"... a bit forced perhaps, doing the band-name-song, but then they hit their stride with "Keith's Sister" and you realize you are on a rocket ride indeed. Songs that as soon as you hear 'em, sound like you've been rockin' out to them forever. And look out for the hidden bonus track(s) at the end... the extra-poppy drinking song "Wicked Hammid"! Something else to look for, online: the band's awesome/silly DIY practice space video for "Keith's Sister" on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBREOCxXbH0.
If you couldn't tell, recommended, if you like to rock!
FYI We've also got a Space Vacation split 7" with an LA band called The Amplifiers, SV's side featuring "Keith's Sister", for those who want her on wax.
MPEG Stream: "Keith's Sister"
MPEG Stream: "Highway Master"
MPEG Stream: "Die! Heavy Metal!"

album cover SPACE VACATION / THE AMPLIFIERS split (Champagne and Cocaine) 7" 4.98
See our review of the Space Vacation's s/t cd-r to see why you should pick this up! One of our fave tracks from that disc pressed to vinyl, on one side of this split single with a rockin' LA band we know nothin' about.

SPACE: 1999 (OST) (Silva) cd 16.98

SPACEBOY Getting Warm On The Trail Of Heat (Frenetic) cd 10.98
From the same label that brought us the awesome Champs (er, C4AM95) disc comes some more excellent local SF neo-metal action. Superheavy, technical grindish brutality with an obvious love of Voivod and jazz, and pot...recommended. LP version due soon.

album cover SPACEBOY Searching The Stone Library For The Green Page Of Illusion (Southern Lord) cd 13.98
Spaceboy is San Francisco's oddest avant-metallic combo, starting with their name (and album title) and going from there. They smoke a lot of pot and play music like prog rockers gone death metal. Actually it sounds like half the band is playing death metal or metalcore, the other half jamming out trippy space/stoner rock. Not surprisingly, ex-Champs member and massive Magma fan Adam Cantwell plays bass.
This, their second full-length (and first for SoCal's premier doom metal label, Southern Lord, home to SUNNO))), Khanate, Warhorse, Boris, etc.) clocks in at nearly an hour. There's eleven tracks, with every odd-numbered track being a brief, spacey instrumental interlude. The songs proper are super-heavy and dark, full of complex technical metal guitars & drums, distorted vox, and stoned drone ambience.
All we can do is cite a bunch of stuff that this seems influenced by or kinda reminds us of: Neurosis, Voivod, Meshuggah, Mahavishnu, Hawkwind, King Crimson, Today Is The Day, Old Man Gloom...
Listening to this, though, is like trying to peer through some nebular haze in a distant galaxy. It's going to take a while to fully understand the advanced calculus at work here. One thing we do understand: it's heavy!
RealAudio clip: "Eye Pillow"
RealAudio clip: "The Monsoon"

SPACEBOY The Force That Holds Together A Heart Torn To Pieces (Howling Bull) 10" 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New 4-song release of cannabis-fuelled art-metal prog-pummell from this talented SF combo, one of the first non-Japanese releases on the up and coming Howling Bull America label. A bit spacier than their first album (...but not more boyish). For fans of The Champs (as this features an ex-Champ), Neurosis, Voivod, Alchemist, etc. Heavy.

SPACEBOY The Force That Holds Together A Heart Torn To Pieces (Howling Bull) cdep 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
New 4-song release of cannabis-fuelled art-metal prog-pummell from this talented SF combo, one of the first non-Japanese releases on the up and coming Howling Bull America label. A bit spacier than their first album (...but not more boyish). For fans of The Champs (as this features an ex-Champ), Neurosis, Voivod, Alchemist, etc. Heavy.

SPACEHEADS (Dark Beloved CLoud) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mainly powerhouse percussionist Richard Harrison and trumpeter Andy Diagram (ex-Honkies and Dog Faced Hermans horn section) plus a host of others helping out in the recording process (Stock, Hausen and Walkman plus Marion of DFH singing like Bjork on one song, etc.), this record properly fits into the context of the electronic experiments of Tortoise, Skylab, and even the humorous DJ Food, without sounding overtly like anything but themselves. Ranging from sample-heavy (speeded-up gurgling laughter, prison worksongs) to dark slow intense & layered, much of this was recorded -live- to DAT, which will AMAZE you when you hear the record, laden as it is with vocal loops, echos, and triggered synths, fuzz trumpet through a whammy pedal, etc. We LOVE this album, and we hope it will open many ears to a new world of sound, as did Tortoise back in 1995. Live they're rumored to be as unbelievable as the Hermans -- those of you who attended recent years' DFH live shows will know what I mean.
Many of you were impressed with the wonderful set this British duo bestowed at Terrastock West. Described as "abstract dance music" (though it is plenty "rock" too), their sound comes from Andy Diagram's looped, distorted, feedbacked trumpet (!) and Richard Harrison's krautrocky percussion. One of the AQ-staff's favorite groups.

SPACEHEADS Angel Station (Merge) cd 14.98
A head-on collision between the ancient roar of trumpet and drums, and the spaceage buzz of electrified sound. One of the AQ-staff's favorite bands. You will be amazed when you hear the intensity, fullness, and melodicism of looped, sampled (live!) trumpet mixed with motorik, krautrockish drumming. Spaceheads will grace the Bay Area again with live shows in June.

SPACEHEADS Live 1999 (Insound) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mostly tracks from 'Angel Station' (their most recent album on Merge), this is a great compilation of live tracks from their 1999 tour, including that amazing show at the Make-Out Room here in SF! Truly the awesome thing about Spaceheads is how splendidly they are able to deliver live the layers upon layers of clean sampling, funky trumpet and infectious rhythms found on their releases. You probably wouldn't even know this was a live recording if not for the applause that ends each track. Clocks in at just under an hour, but you'll wish it to go on and on.

SPACEHEADS Live 1999 (with extra artwork) (Evil Twin/Insound) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've listed this item before, but now we've received an even fancier version with lots of artwork and photos. Mostly tracks from 'Angel Station' (their most recent album on Merge), this is a great compilation of live tracks from their 1999 tour, including that amazing show at the Make-Out Room here in SF! Truly the most awesome thing about Spaceheads is how splendidly they are able to deliver the layers upon layers of clean sampling, funky trumpet and infectious rhythms live that are found on their studio releases. You probably wouldn't even know this was a live recording if not for the applause that ends each track. Clocks in at just under an hour, but you'll wish it to go on and on.

album cover SPACEHEADS Low Pressure (Merge) cd 14.98
Another album from AQ faves Spacehead, the London-based duo of powerhouse percussionist Richard Harrison and trumpeter Andy Diagram, whose otherworldly looped and sampled trumpet and other horns give Spaceheads their signature, singular sound. While previous albums saw the duo playing with prison worksongs and addictively krautrocky rhythms, this record does have some of that but also goes relentlessly in a new direction. Backwards whooshes marshalled into order, ominous rumblings, and lots of atmospherics mark the most experimental record these guys have made yet. There are even three remixes, two of them from the Bleach Boys (a duo which includes drummer Richard Harrison). Not their best work, nor the album to start with (that would be their selftitled one, or Angel Station), but if you've already got their other records and want to witness Spaceheads' sound develop, here ya go.
RealAudio clip: "Low Pressure"
RealAudio clip: "On a Clear Day"

album cover SPACEHEADS AND MAX EASTLEY The Time Of The Ancient Astronaut (Bip Hop) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The UK duo Spaceheads have long been AQ staff favorites for their unique combination of the propulsive, addictive percussion of Richard Harrison and the otherworldy looped trumpet of Andy Diagram. And there have been times when we were so lulled by the endlessly evocative trumpet that we wish it would happen in slow-motion just to stretch out the blissfulness of it all. Well, on this new outing, Spaceheads have teamed up with Max Eastley, who wields The Arc (an electric acoustic monochord), and done just that -- removed the motorik syncopated driving beats and replaced them with shimmering cymbals and small percussive gestures and squiggles, while extending the trumpet into neverendingly evocative chilled-out washes of pure vibratoless horn. Although I am not quite sure what the monochord looks like or how it works, it sounds much like an early analogue moog synth, erupting in wails at times hellish and chaotic, at times placid and harmonious. An ambient record. Relaxing yet with an undercurrent that will unsettle you in a good way.
RealAudio clip: "The Black Drop of Venus"
RealAudio clip: "Generator X"

album cover SPACEMAN, J. Guitar Loops (Treader) cd 17.98
A new solo outing by Jason Pierce of Spiritualized and Spacemen 3 fame! The embossed golden birdy on the front cover gives nary a hint of the music contained within the otherwise unassuming orange cardboard sleeve, but the title does offer some general parameters. This thirty five minute long one-take improv roams through lengthy lullingly hypnotic passages punctuated by occasional jarring outbursts of noisy distortion, skronkiness and gritty static. Spark up and sink in.
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "excerpt 2"

album cover SPACEMAN, J. & MATTHEW SHIPP SpaceShipp (Treader) cd 17.98
This match-up had to happen really, even if it was just so they could call the record SpaceShipp. Legendary Jazz pianist Matthew Shipp teams up with Spacemen 3's Jason Spaceman for two extended pieces of modern minimal dronemusic.
Apparently the two performed live together at Patty Smith's Meltdown Festival, and this recording is an extension / corollary of that performance. And it's a doozy. Shipp abandons the piano in favor of the Harmonium, while Spaceman wields his trusty Vox Starstreamer, the two conjure up some seriously deep drones. The opener is the 41 minute "Inner", and is a slow moving near static stretch of massive minimalism, the guitar and organ unfurling long tones, creating all sorts of layers and textures, complex overtones, and subtle barely there rhythms, the obvious references are Reich, Niblock and Palestine. The piece occasionally shifts and the tones become fuzzier, a bit more blown out and buzzy, but they quickly revert to their more murky washed out state. Total divine Ur-drone action, mesmerizing, hypnotic, and dreamlike.
The second track, "Outer", is only 11 minutes long, and features Shipp on the Celeste, creating delicate crystalline music box like melodies, while Spaceman creates all sorts of scrapes and buzz in the background, which slowly coalesces into a Spacemen 3 sort of looped buzz, the two elements at odds, but strangely complimentary, the combined sound woozy, warped and warbly, but still haunting and strangely lovely.
Gorgeously packaged like all Treader releases, this one features a blue matte paper fold over sleeve, with a metallic gold jellyfish embossed on the front.
MPEG Stream: "Inner"
MPEG Stream: "Outer"

album cover SPACEMAN, J. / SUN CITY GIRLS Mister Lonely (Drag City) cd 14.98
Harmony Korine tapped both the Sun City Girls and Jason Pierce (aka J. Spaceman of Spiritualized and formerly of Spacemen 3) to write the soundtrack to his film Mister Lonely. No, it's not a collaboration; but rather two opposing forces that may or may not work within the context of the film. As of the release date of the soundtrack, the film has not been released, so we can't comment on how it work in the film. Much like the restrained interludes on recent Spiritualized albums, Pierce offers lushly cinematic arrangements with spectral guitar crescendos, pretty-pretty pastoral tunes from string and woodwind ensembles, and sustained eerie ambience; and the Sun City Girls don't. These tracks do account for the final recordings ever to be made by the Sun City Girls, as drummer Charles Goucher passed away shortly after their completion. That said, these SCG tracks are not as absurdly weird as some of their soundtrack ventures (e.g. Dulce, Juggernaut, and Piasa: Devourer Of Men), but Alan Bishop's off kilter croon emerges alongside the rickshaw guitar picking of his brother Richard, plenty of out of tune piano ditties, and some cacophony between a transistor radio and a harmonica. It goes without saying that the Girls had to deliver a spectacular cover of the Bobby Vinton tune "Mr. Lonely." Hey, is that Werner Herzog issuing some demonstrative claim between a couple of the tracks? Why yes, it is!
MPEG Stream: J. SPACEMAN "Blues 1"
MPEG Stream: J. SPACEMAN "Garden Walk"
MPEG Stream: SUN CITY GIRLS "Stooges Harmonica"
MPEG Stream: SUN CITY GIRLS "Mr. Lonely Viola"

album cover SPACEMAN, J. / SUN CITY GIRLS Mister Lonely (Drag City) lp 17.98
ALSO NOW IN STOCK ON VINYL! Harmony Korine tapped both the Sun City Girls and Jason Pierce (aka J. Spaceman of Spiritualized and formerly of Spacemen 3) to write the soundtrack to his film Mister Lonely. No, it's not a collaboration; but rather two opposing forces that may or may not work within the context of the film. As of the release date of the soundtrack, the film has not been released, so we can't comment on how it work in the film. Much like the restrained interludes on recent Spiritualized albums, Pierce offers lushly cinematic arrangements with spectral guitar crescendos, pretty-pretty pastoral tunes from string and woodwind ensembles, and sustained eerie ambience; and the Sun City Girls don't. These tracks do account for the final recordings ever to be made by the Sun City Girls, as drummer Charles Goucher passed away shortly after their completion. That said, these SCG tracks are not as absurdly weird as some of their soundtrack ventures (e.g. Dulce, Juggernaut, and Piasa: Devourer Of Men), but Alan Bishop's off kilter croon emerges alongside the rickshaw guitar picking of his brother Richard, plenty of out of tune piano ditties, and some cacophony between a transistor radio and a harmonica. It goes without saying that the Girls had to deliver a spectacular cover of the Bobby Vinton tune "Mr. Lonely." Hey, is that Werner Herzog issuing some demonstrative claim between a couple of the tracks? Why yes, it is!
MPEG Stream: J. SPACEMAN "Blues 1"
MPEG Stream: J. SPACEMAN "Garden Walk"
MPEG Stream: SUN CITY GIRLS "Stooges Harmonica"
MPEG Stream: SUN CITY GIRLS "Mr. Lonely Viola"

album cover SPACEMEN 3 DJ Tones (Space Age Recordings) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Lately we've been revisiting some of our old favorites, with Records Of The Week from Loop, the Telescopes and Swervedriver, but as much as we love those bands, and we do LOVE them a LOT, we can't help it, our hearts will always belong to Spacemen 3. The dreamiest and druggiest of the bunch, pretty much every record, every different stage of the band, every song, has utterly entranced us. Blurred and bleary jangle pop stretched out into meditative space rock mantras, no one could conjure up the same sort of woozy elegance that these guys could. And while this is not a new record proper, and most of us have spent years tracking down every bit of recorded Spacemen 3, even a new ep with alternate mixes and some rare gems has us all in a tizzy. And judging from the responses of aQ customers, you're probably the same way. We've been selling out of these over and over, and have only just now gotten enough to list.
So drug addled space rock freaks of the world, we give to you, DJ Tones, a super limited (only 2000 copies) ep, containing TWO PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS(!!!), a radically different mix of their Red Krayola cover, and on cd for the first time, a track called "I Love You", originally released as a white label vinyl only promo, limited to 50 copies. And finally, a studio version of the track "Ecstasy Symphony".
For folks who are new to Spacemen 3, this might not be the place to start, although it wouldn't necessarily be bad, but may we recommend Playing With Fire, or Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To, for the rest of you, the obsessed, buy this now.
Up first is "These Blues", a gorgeous laid back jangle pop jam, that might convince us that Oasis probably own some Spacemen 3 records, along with "Modulated Tones", a gorgeous fuzzy minor key minute and a half of looped echo drenched guitar, so great, the kind of thing that could have stretched out into a whole Spacemen 3 set, both those tracks UNRELEASED!
Their cover of the Red Krayola's "Transparent Radiation" is the Violin Mix, so besides the skeletal guitar and drawled vocals, the bulk of the song is carried by strings, and the result is pretty divine. "I Love You" is a weird one, a programmed beat, beneath a stuttering synth rhythm, super echoey vocals, spare guitars, all moody and woozy and eighties sounding. Quite cool for sure, a little garage-y, a bit poppy, and all very druggy and dreamy. And finally, "Ecstasy Symphony", nine minutes of lush drones, dense and layered, slow motion melodies played out over long streaks of near static sound, total divine, sun dappled ur-drone bliss.
Packaged in a trippy little paper sleeve, a bit pricey for 5 songs (although it is nearly half an hour) but for fans of all things Spacemen 3, absolutely worth it.
And again, LIMITED TO 2000 COPIES WORLDWIDE!
MPEG Stream: "Transparent Radiation (Violin Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Modulated Tones"

album cover SPACEMEN 3 DJ Tones (Great Pop Supplement) lp 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!! The cd version we previously highlighted went out of print lickety-split but thankfully there's now a vinyl edition, also probably quite limited...
Lately we've been revisiting some of our old favorites, with Records Of The Week from Loop, the Telescopes and Swervedriver, but as much as we love those bands, and we do LOVE them a LOT, we can't help it, our hearts will always belong to Spacemen 3. The dreamiest and druggiest of the bunch, pretty much every record, every different stage of the band, every song, has utterly entranced us. Blurred and bleary jangle pop stretched out into meditative space rock mantras, no one could conjure up the same sort of woozy elegance that these guys could. And while this is not a new record proper, and most of us have spent years tracking down every bit of recorded Spacemen 3, even a new ep with alternate mixes and some rare gems has us all in a tizzy. And judging from the responses of aQ customers, you're probably the same way.
So drug addled space rock freaks of the world, we give to you, DJ Tones, a super limited ep, containing TWO PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS(!!!), a radically different mix of their Red Krayola cover, and on cd for the first time, a track called "I Love You", originally released as a white label vinyl only promo, limited to 50 copies. And finally, a studio version of the track "Ecstasy Symphony".
For folks who are new to Spacemen 3, this might not be the place to start, although it wouldn't necessarily be bad, but may we recommend Playing With Fire, or Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To, for the rest of you, the obsessed, buy this now.
Up first is "These Blues", a gorgeous laid back jangle pop jam, that might convince us that Oasis probably own some Spacemen 3 records, along with "Modulated Tones", a gorgeous fuzzy minor key minute and a half of looped echo drenched guitar, so great, the kind of thing that could have stretched out into a whole Spacemen 3 set, both those tracks UNRELEASED!
Their cover of the Red Krayola's "Transparent Radiation" is the Violin Mix, so besides the skeletal guitar and drawled vocals, the bulk of the song is carried by strings, and the result is pretty divine. "I Love You" is a weird one, a programmed beat, beneath a stuttering synth rhythm, super echoey vocals, spare guitars, all moody and woozy and eighties sounding. Quite cool for sure, a little garage-y, a bit poppy, and all very druggy and dreamy. And finally, "Ecstasy Symphony", nine minutes of lush drones, dense and layered, slow motion melodies played out over long streaks of near static sound, total divine, sun dappled ur-drone bliss.
MPEG Stream: "Transparent Radiation (Violin Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Modulated Tones"

SPACEMEN 3 For All The Fucked Up Children Of The World We Give You... (Sympathy For The Record Industry) cd 13.98

album cover SPACEMEN 3 Forged Prescriptions (Space Age Recordings) 2cd 18.98
This is my second favorite Spacemen 3 record, second only to the breathtaking Playing With Fire (which we just listed last time and is still in stock). But the more I listen to this, the more it inches closer and closer. It follows the same sonic path as Playing With Fire, with shimmery, hazy, druggy garage rock drone scapes and occasional squalls of fuzzed out buzz-saw riffs, and while it lacks some of the dreamy summery ambience of PWF, it makes up for it in gritty urgency and bleary, cloudy atmosphere. Some of these songs appear elsewhere, but these are the definitive versions, the way the band had always intended them to sound, adding layers and layers of guitars that were impossible to replicate live. This double disc reissue collects demo versions covers, and previously unreleased songs, all of them amazing. From the opening track 'Things'll Never Be The Same', a blast of thick Stooges-y sludge, to the Velvets-esque 'Walking With Jesus', a fuzzy, sun-spangled, lo-fi drone-y ramble, all shimmery strum and sing-songy vocals, to the bluesy swagger of 'Come Down Easy' sounding like Delta blues broadcast from outer space and dipped in LSD, this stuff is all so good. Yet another band that allows a straight edge goodie-two-shoes like me to dabble in dark and dangerous, dreamy and druggy excess!
MPEG Stream: "Walking With Jesus"
MPEG Stream: "Come Down Easy (Demo Version)"
MPEG Stream: "Things'll Never Be The Same"

album cover SPACEMEN 3 Performance (Fire Records) lp 16.98
Hmm. There's no point in really "reviewing" Spacemen 3 records at this point. They're surely one of the top 10 greatest bands to ever exist and even with their influence touching so many bands everywhere, no one - NO ONE - sounds like Spacemen 3. They just got it in ways other bands couldn't. Simple as that. It sure is great to have the band's Glass Records output, their first three full lengths, available on vinyl (some nice 180 gram vinyl to boot) for the first time in God knows how long. They look amazing in their heavy duty sleeves, and after years of absorbing every molecule of the shitty looking Taang Records cd versions, seeing these records as they were initially presented puts things into perspective even more. They just look so classic, so timeless, and so many years later, it makes perfect sense why we felt like we uncovered some secret portal when we discovered this band. Any song they ever did is the perfect soundtrack to any moment of any or every day.
Performance was released to fulfill contractual obligations with Glass, sort of an easy solution before moving on to bigger things. Still, it comes completely recommended, as it captures Spacemen 3 in a live setting on the Perfect Prescription tour, and there's no reason to complain about that. Apparently they weren't exactly pleased with this particular set, and the drums are surprisingly low in the mix, but they tear things up just as you would expect, with the molten guitars taking over everything everywhere. Recorded in 1988 in a setting one could imagine the band being quite comfortable in - Amsterdam - Performance is a fiery run through some early classics, and it will no doubt give you further insight into Spacemen 3's revolutionary approach. Goddamn, there sure aren't any bands like this these days.
MPEG Stream: "Mary Anne"
MPEG Stream: "Take Me To The Other Side"
MPEG Stream: "Starship"

album cover SPACEMEN 3 Playing With Fire (Space Age Recordings) 2cd 17.98
Andee sez: This is the best Spacemen Three record ever, hands down. Period. As much as I love the garage-y fuzz rock of their early records, Playing With Fire is where their hypno-drone tendencies were finally fully realised. It's like classic Spacemen Three, but filtered through that Galaxie 500 summer-sun-space-reverb. All shimmer and throb, oscillating into the ether. This record is what sunspots on a lazy, humid afternoon would sound like. Or you know when you look out over the highway on a hot day, and the air is all warbly and distorted. This record is what I imagine that wavy, shimmering air sounds like. Gently plucked melodies over langorous, lazy riffs, underpinned by processed, delayed guitars that are bundled into reverberent pulses that spread out lazily, like sonic ripples. So absolutely, perfectly gorgeous. Occasionally, the tranquility is briefly upended by squalls of wooly fuzz and propulsive garagerock riffs, but things quickly smooth out and the musical narcotics begin to flow again and you drift right back off..... Comes with an extra disc of demos and alternate mixes!
MPEG Stream: "How Does It Feel?"
MPEG Stream: "I Believe It"
MPEG Stream: "Revolution"

SPACEMEN 3 Recurring (Space Age Recordings) cd 14.98

album cover SPACEMEN 3 s/t (Threebie 3) (Space Age Recordings) cd 11.98
It's funny, there are so many Spacemen 3 records, but ultimately it seems like they only had maybe 10 songs, and every record just featured different versions of the same songs, edits, extended mixes, demos. But they sound so good it almost didn't matter! As it is, most Spacemen 3 songs are so blissfully buzzy and hypnotic that I kind of wish they would go on forever. So maybe they do. Sort of. This ep was originally available only via mail with a coupon from their Playing With Fire record. Recorded live in Amsterdam in 1989, this is PRIME Spacemen 3. Walls of thick guitar, sun dappled and effevescent, sheets of feedback, and that unmistakable, throbbing pulse, that makes all Spacemen 3 tracks lull you into a druggy psychedelic trance. So good.
MPEG Stream: "Suicide (live)"
MPEG Stream: "Revolution (live)"

album cover SPACEMEN 3 Sound Of Confusion (Fire Records) lp 16.98
Hmm. There's no point in really "reviewing" Spacemen 3 records at this point. They're surely one of the top 10 greatest bands to ever exist and even with their influence touching so many bands everywhere, no one - NO ONE - sounds like Spacemen 3. They just got it in ways other bands couldn't. Simple as that. It sure is great to have the band's Glass Records output, their first three full lengths, available on vinyl (some nice 180 gram vinyl to boot) for the first time in God knows how long. They look amazing in their heavy duty sleeves, and after years of absorbing every molecule of the shitty looking Taang Records cd versions, seeing these records as they were initially presented puts things into perspective even more. They just look so classic, so timeless, and so many years later, it makes perfect sense why we felt like we uncovered some secret portal when we discovered this band. Any song they ever did is the perfect soundtrack to any moment of any or every day.
Sound Of Confusion was the band's first statement after building up a repertoire for a few years. It's their most aggressive record and even though the future was full of surprises, it is the album that set the template for how most people will describe Spacemen 3: loud droning guitars, a minimal but intensely psychedelic approach that is almost violent in its focus, and of course, an inseparable cloak of drugginess. Lyrically, you just can't fuck with songs like "Losing Touch With My Mind" and their mindblowing cover of Juicy Lucy's "Just One Time", retitled as "Mary Anne". The album contains three originals, and three amazing covers that manage to become originals, and a sort of original/cover hybrid. Everything Spacemen 3 did is worth your time, they're definitely an appropriate band to get obsessed with, so why not start at the beginning?
MPEG Stream: "Losing Touch With My Mind"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Man"
MPEG Stream: "Mary Anne"

SPACEMEN 3 Starship (Live) (Space Age Recordings) cd 15.98
Four live tracks recorded in Melkweg, Amsterdam (6/2/88) -- Starship, Revolution, Suicide & Repeater -- and one studio track -- Live Intro Theme (XTACY) -- recorded in 1988.

album cover SPACEMEN 3 Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To (Space Age Recordings) cd 15.98
Thought we'd better get around to listing this, since it was finally reissued domestically at a much cheaper price! "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To" is one of the best album titles ever, and at least for the heavy pharmaceutical users in Spacemen 3, it's certainly a fitting one. Recorded in the winter of 1985 / 86, the album is actually the most rock of all of the Spacemen 3 albums as their 13th Floor Elevators buzz meets the intensity of early Stooges. Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce felt that the versions of the songs found on "Taking Drugs" were better than those on the subsequent albums. And that may just be true! Easily one of the best and most important documents of eighties space-psych!
MPEG Stream: "The Sound Of Confusion"
MPEG Stream: "Losing Touch With My Mind"

album cover SPACEMEN 3 The Perfect Prescription (Fire Records) lp 16.98
Hmm. There's no point in really "reviewing" Spacemen 3 records at this point. They're surely one of the top 10 greatest bands to ever exist and even with their influence touching so many bands everywhere, no one - NO ONE - sounds like Spacemen 3. They just got it in ways other bands couldn't. Simple as that. It sure is great to have the band's Glass Records output, their first three full lengths, available on vinyl (some nice 180 gram vinyl to boot) for the first time in God knows how long. They look amazing in their heavy duty sleeves, and after years of absorbing every molecule of the shitty looking Taang Records cd versions, seeing these records as they were initially presented puts things into perspective even more. They just look so classic, so timeless, and so many years later, it makes perfect sense why we felt like we uncovered some secret portal when we discovered this band. Any song they ever did is the perfect soundtrack to any moment of any or every day.
For some people, it's Playing With Fire. For others, probably most, it's The Perfect Prescription, Spacemen 3's ultimate statement and the record where everything was working together in absolute harmony. The record cover itself seems to completely capture the essence of Spacemen 3, with Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce holding their guitars, eyes closed, no doubt concentrating deeply on the contents of their minds. It seems fair to call this their pinnacle, as things would become increasingly more split between the group's mainmen from this point on. The Perfect Prescription is one of those rare albums that is completely beyond criticism. Don't even try. Beginning in classic Spacemen 3 style with "Take Me To The Other Side", the album subsequently incorporates a wide array of influences and styles, from soul to gospel to country, making it clear that, even though they did it better than anyone else, there was far more to this band than just walls of fuzzed out drones. Even with this diversity, everything on the album belongs to Spacemen 3 - especially their cover of the Red Crayola's "Transparent Radiation" - and they were able to harness all their powers into something which is, yeah, pretty fuckin' definitive. We could go on forever, but we won't.
MPEG Stream: "Take Me To The Other Side"
MPEG Stream: "Walkin' With Jesus"
MPEG Stream: "Feel So Good"

SPACEMEN 3 Translucent Flashbacks: The Glass Singles (Fire) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Amongst the dozens of records that Spacemen 3 have released, the group never had a huge repertoire of neo-psychedelic / post-punk songs that they recorded. Instead, they preferred to rework the same dozen or so songs as increasingly diffuse, droning, and drugged out versions. Thus by the time the three members split for Spectrum, Spiritualized, and Alphastone, Spacemen 3 had completely abolished the song structure in favor of the drone supreme. "Translucent Flashbacks" hadn't quite yet gotten entirely to that point in Spacemen 3's career, but they were getting close on a couple of the tracks, especially on their 17 minute cover of the 13th Floor Elevator's "Rollercoaster." This may not be the best version of "Rollercoaster" (which undoubtably is found on "Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To"), but Spacemen 3's versions were for the most part better than the original. That version of "Rollercoaster" plus more renditions of "Walkin' With Jesus,""Feel So Good,""Take Me To The Other Side," 2 versions of "Transparent Radiation" and a few other Spacemen 3 goodies pop up on this collection of mid-'80s singles originally appearing on Glass Records. This collection ranks up there with the aforementioned "Taking Drugs..." and "Playing With Fire" as some of Spacemen 3's finer moments.
RealAudio clip: "Rollercoaster"
RealAudio clip: "Transparent Radiation"

SPACER Sensory Man (Pussyfoot) cd 17.98
Highly anticipated full length from spy-jazz-trip hoppers who remind us of Barry Adamson making junglish music. With nicely non-annoying diva vocals. On (Bjork's new boyfriend) Howie B's label, and highly recommended!

SPACEWURM See You Later Oscillator (Gravity) cd 6.98

SPARHAWK, ALAN Solo Guitar (Silbermedia) cd 14.98

album cover SPARK Robotic Girl Next Door (n5MD) cd 14.98
"The Robotic Girl Next Door" is certainly an apt title for this playful IDM album from the Canadian knob twiddler Spark. Saturating chipper 8-bit melodies with reverb and tone-bending tricks, Spark offers an upbeat revision of the standard IDM melancholia as a means of generating romantic odes. In a lot of ways, the end result sounds like Boards of Canada at 45rpm.
MPEG Stream: "Devine Nursery Rhyme"

SPARKLEHORSE Distorted Ghost (Odeon) cd 6.98
Three new songs from the amazing Mr. Linkous ("Waiting For Nothing," "Happy Place," & "My Yoke Is Heavy"), plus three live versions of songs off the first two albums.

album cover SPARKLEHORSE Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain (Astralwerks / EMI) cd 16.98
Hard to believe it's been five years since we last heard from Mark Linkous and Sparklehorse. It seems like every record has involved some sort of struggle or personal tragedy. Linkous has had a seriously rough life, an accident that almost killed him, and which left him crippled for life, struggles with anxiety and depression, but the result of all that anguish is one of the most incredible bodies of work in modern music. Sparklehorse is sort of like the country rock Flaming Lips. Starting life out as a super scrappy rock band, and then discovering the joys of the studio, learning to use the studio like another instrument, creating an incredibly expansive sound palette, and eventually creating a unique world of unbelievably lush sounds, like a modern day Brian Wilson. And this record is no different. It's rich and dense and lush and sweet, the vocals, a plaintive heartstring pulling croon, guitars strum and shimmer, melodies drift, harmonies float and glisten, everything woven together into gorgeously perfect twang flecked pop. The vocals are multi tracked, doused in effects, swathed in reverb, guitar parts are simple and spare, the record is dotted with bits of strange digital glitch, or fuzzy record crackle. Some tracks are crystal clear, simple and straight forward, others are dense and dizzying, with strange edits, and extreme stereo panning, there are a few super fuzzed out rockers, but for the most part Dreamt For Light Years is a record of sun dappled divinity and sweetly melancholy drift. A gloriously and dreamily psychedelic excursion into the heart of darkness. So lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Take My Sunshine Away"
MPEG Stream: "Getting It Wrong"
MPEG Stream: "It's Not So Hard"

album cover SPARKLEHORSE Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain (Astralwerks / EMI) lp 17.98
Hard to believe it's been five years since we last heard from Mark Linkous and Sparklehorse. It seems like every record has involved some sort of struggle or personal tragedy. Linkous has had a seriously rough life, an accident that almost killed him, and which left him crippled for life, struggles with anxiety and depression, but the result of all that anguish is one of the most incredible bodies of work in modern music. Sparklehorse is sort of like the country rock Flaming Lips. Starting life out as a super scrappy rock band, and then discovering the joys of the studio, learning to use the studio like another instrument, creating an incredibly expansive sound palette, and eventually creating a unique world of unbelievably lush sounds, like a modern day Brian Wilson. And this record is no different. It's rich and dense and lush and sweet, the vocals, a plaintive heartstring pulling croon, guitars strum and shimmer, melodies drift, harmonies float and glisten, everything woven together into gorgeously perfect twang flecked pop. The vocals are multi tracked, doused in effects, swathed in reverb, guitar parts are simple and spare, the record is dotted with bits of strange digital glitch, or fuzzy record crackle. Some tracks are crystal clear, simple and straight forward, others are dense and dizzying, with strange edits, and extreme stereo panning, there are a few super fuzzed out rockers, but for the most part Dreamt For Light Years is a record of sun dappled divinity and sweetly melancholy drift. A gloriously and dreamily psychedelic excursion into the heart of darkness. So lovely.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Take My Sunshine Away"
MPEG Stream: "Getting It Wrong"
MPEG Stream: "It's Not So Hard"

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